FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON. D. D. 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
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 JAN 20 1932 
 
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 Centennial Volume 
 
 OF TlIK 
 
 First Presbyterian Church 
 
 of Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 
 1784 — 1884. 
 
 PITTSBURGH : 
 
 Wu. G. Johnstox & Co.. Printers, 711 Lihkrty .Street. 
 1884. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Preface 5 
 
 Historical Sermons 9 
 
 Period I 15 
 
 H 31 
 
 Link between Periods II and III 45 
 
 Period III 48 
 
 Characteristics 67 
 
 Closing Words 92 
 
 Dr. Speer's Sabbath School History 99 
 
 Dr. Paxton's Sermon 118 
 
 The Church and the City , 129 
 
 Historical Fragments ] 49 
 
 Plan of Pews in Old Log Church 155 
 
 Missionary History 1 1 ! 1 
 
 Woman's Work in the First Church 171 
 
 Dr. Paxt( >n's Address • 187 
 
 ( 'haracteristics and Incidents, by R. Lea 189 
 
 Some Eminent Elders of the First Church: — 
 
 John M. Snowden 200 
 
 Harmar Denny 203 
 
 Francis Bailey 207 
 
 Supplementary Statement Concerning the Eldership 210 
 
 Reminiscences of Dr. Lea 223 
 
 List of Elders, with Date of Election 225 
 
 Reminiscences 227 
 
 Appendix — Brief History of the First Pastorate 237 
 
 Letter of Redick McKee, Esq 241 
 
 " " John Rea 244 
 
 Invitation to Anniversary Exercises 245 
 
 Dr. Herron's Testimony 246 
 
 Dr. Lea's Address at Communion 247 
 
 Copy of Grant of Property by Penn Heirs 253 
 
 Church Organization 255 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 Little would seem to be needed as preface, in addition to what 
 is given as introductory to the Historical Discourses; yet it is a 
 privilege here anew to record the church's profound gratitude to 
 God for His goodness, as exhibited in its entire history, and in 
 permitting so satisfactory a celebration of its first century, and 
 in bringing into embalming print this commemorative volume. 
 -( >ne generation shall praise Thy name to another." [Ps. cxlv:4.] 
 "That the generation to come might know [the praises of the 
 Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath 
 done] * * * * who should arise and declare them to their 
 children : That they might set their hope in God, and not forget 
 the works of ( rod, but keep His commandments." [Ps.lxxviii:6,7.] 
 
 Hen' is afforded an opportunity also to express sincerest thanks 
 to the collaborators in this volume, not now immediately con- 
 nected with the church, without whose co-operation its materials 
 could not have been gathered and shaped. 
 
 The volume will have some claims to be read even by those 
 who attended the commemoration, because of the new material 
 introduced in the paper on "The Church and the City," and in a 
 careful re- writing and enlargement of " Woman's Work," of the 
 "Historical Discourses," of the " Historical Fragments," and of 
 the "Supplementary Statement concerning the Eldership," and 
 in the Appendix. 
 
 The whole material has been as carefully edited as seemed 
 necessary for explanation and for the narrative of the centennial 
 celebration, while the editor has not been careful to erase all 
 repetitions. Some have been allowed to remain either as testi- 
 monies to the same facts from independent sources, or as 
 improvement of the same incidents in different moral relations. 
 Indulgence is yet to be craved of the many interested, in view 
 of omissions or imperfections, or possibly some inaccuracies which 
 
may be discovered. It may be said of all those who have helped 
 to make the volume, that new duties or pressing ones elsewhere, 
 forbade that entire consecration of time on the part of any one 
 of us which would have been necessary to make a faultless book. 
 Tt has taken no small amount of time and patient attention 
 to make it as good as it is. If, however, that which has been 
 the experience of the writers shall be the experience of the 
 readers, viz : thinking more than ever of the old church, the 
 result will indicate the book's right to be, despite its imperfections 
 and the time and expense incident to its publication. 
 
 Some things may possibly commend the volume to a wider 
 circle of readers than those locally interested. The position of 
 Pittsburgh in the early history of our country makes all that 
 relates to its inner life significant. We have here one of the 
 developments of Scotch-Irish immigration — a most notable factor 
 in our national character. The formation of our Synod and its 
 declarations on matters of church polity may awaken the interest 
 of those who care to discover the earliest enunciations of the 
 principles of our denominational life. The relation of the Church 
 to the Seminary may make its history interesting to a widely 
 extended ministerial circle. 
 
 Above all, may the book be useful in its chief end and aim, as 
 a stimulus to yet nobler doing and grander living for the time to 
 come. Earl Russell quoted to men who were eulogizing the 
 distinguished : 
 
 "They who <>n noble ancestry enlarge, 
 Proclaim their debt, instead of their discharge." 
 
 In the deep sense of the debt, and claiming no discharge, the 
 First Church now commits to its mission, whether wider or nar- 
 rower, this memorial of a century earnest in endeavor and rich 
 in benediction, and to God, who, sitting "within the shadows,'' 
 "keepeth watch" over the results of the lives of "His own," as 
 certainly as He puts their tears in His "bottle," and treasures 
 their prayers in the "vials full of odors." 
 
 SYLVESTER F. SCOVEL. 
 
 The University of Wooster, September, 1884, 
 
SABBATH MORNING. 
 
 April 13th, 1884. 
 
 The congregation of the First Church had heen anticipating 
 this day for at least a decade, with an interest deepening as the 
 period of the first century of church life approached its close. 
 It was a happy coincidence that the Sabbath day was the very 
 same day of the month as that on which the original " supplica- 
 tion for supplies" was made to the Presbytery. There was Easter 
 morning gladness in the hearts of many worshipers, younger 
 and older, as they went together to the house of the Lord. The 
 thoughts of the past seemed to make dearer the spot where hal- 
 lowed associations had been so long accumulating. "I love Thy 
 kingdom, Lord, the house of Thine abode," came involuntarily to 
 many memories. The occasion began auspiciously and continued 
 deepening in interest to those most concerned, to its very close. 
 The notice of the -Commercial Gazette (about contemporary in age 
 with the church) is as follows : 
 
 The centennial anniversary of the First Presbyterian Church was in- 
 augurated yesterday morning. A congregation of 1,000 people filled the 
 magnificent temple, including not only the church members, but persons 
 connected with other Presbyterian churches and many aged ladies and 
 gentlemen from a distance, who in years past had a membership here. 
 The auditorium looked cheerful and bright since its recent renovation 
 and improvement. The polished chestnut ceiling, re-varnished seats and 
 galleries, new cushions and carpets, have relieved the sanctuary of the 
 sombre gloom with which many people thought it formerly marked, and 
 the morning sunlight streaming in through the stained glass windows im- 
 parted much of Nature's Easter glory and freshness to the interior. The 
 special music selected for the occasion was imposing. The grand swell 
 of the organ in Mr. C. C. Mellor's opening voluntary rolled from choir 
 
SABBATH MORNING. 
 
 loft to pulpit, from pews to the arched roof above, in the sublimest chords. 
 A choir of thirty voices, under the direction of Prof . Amos Whiting, 
 sang "Hallelujah" as a voluntary, and subsequently rendered the anthem, 
 "Gloria in Excelsis," by Wilson. 
 
 Three ministers occupied seats in the pulpit. They were the Rev. 
 William M. Paxton, D. D., who was pastor of the church from 1851 to 
 1865; Rev. S. F. Scovel, pastor from 1866 to 1884; Rev. S. H. Kellogg, 
 the present stated supply. The latter divine announced and read the 
 hymns, Dr. Paxton offered prayer, and Rev. Mr. Scovel delivered an 
 historical discourse. 
 
Historical Sermons. 
 
 Ex. xx : 5, 6. 
 
 " For I the Lord thy < Jod am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the 
 fathers upon the children unto the third and "fourth generation of them 
 that hate me : and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me 
 and keen my commandments." 
 
 There can be no sunlight in nature without shadow ; and there 
 can be no love in God without jealousy. The great retributive 
 and rewarding movements of God equally demand generations 
 for their visible accomplishment. Every occasion in which the 
 generations arc brought to view, reminds us of this great law of 
 the generations. Down through them all goes the vital weaving. 
 The thread of retribution and reward appear with unerring 
 certainty. 
 
 But we have reason to be profoundly thankful that evil is 
 short and runs its course in three or four generations, while good is 
 indefinitely long: The "eternal years of God" are represented 
 in the "thousands" of generations to which God's "mercy" 
 extends. Our review-occasion will be of profit to us if it teaches 
 us the lessons of the consideration annexed to the second com- 
 mandment ! And it ought to teach us that some evil descends, 
 but much more good. 
 
 The importance of the influences which have been so largely 
 molding for a body of communicants constantly depleted and 
 constantly renewed, reaching three THOUSAND souls since 1818, 
 is evident. And then consider the influence which these souls 
 have exerted in their turn upon all around them! And add 
 still the direct influence of the place itself upon the whole sur- 
 rounding. No one can rightly estimate these things. If the 
 problem of one man's influence is insolvable, what shall be said 
 
10 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 of such bewildering complexities as a century's history of a 
 church like this brings into account ? But we can study and 
 learn where we cannot fully comprehend. 
 
 The motives for such a review are as Aveighty and honorable 
 as they are numerous. 
 
 (1.) The present reaps the fruits of the past. 
 
 (2.) The present is the product of the past. 
 
 (3.) The noble men of other days were the friends of some of 
 us and relatives to others. 
 
 (4.) The heritage of Christian character and life is the 
 Church's true glory — the proof of the power of her Lord, her 
 Head, the Vine of which each Christian is a branch. 
 
 (5.) The knowledge of early struggles nerves ws to effort, 
 and the victories of their faith become the victories of our faith. 
 
 (6.) The complex elements of our life of to-day need to look 
 face to face upon the more simple life of the past. 
 
 (7.) How shall we better honor God than by remembering 
 what He has done through men ? Let us help to keep the good 
 men of the past from being forgotten ! Their example, their 
 heroism, their loyalty to Christ, their graces, their sorrows borne 
 and labors accomplished : these all are full of interest and use to 
 us. Keep their memories fresh ! Church traditions are as useful 
 as those of the family or the nation ! 
 
 Allow, also, a few preliminary cautions. 
 
 (1.) He wrestles with a giant, and must needs repeat Joshua's 
 miracle, who strives to put a century into an hour. A detailed 
 history is manifestly impossible ; and yet merely general history 
 is the least interesting, and perhaps least valuable on such an 
 occasion. There must therefore be selections made as to the 
 periods on which most attention can be bestowed. 
 
 (2. ) The principle of selection is, evidently, that we are rather 
 here to celebrate beginnings — the struggles and cares of the 
 pioneers in our church's life ; and since we can speak more freely 
 of the dead than of the living, the main attention must be given 
 to the first two periods. Moreover, these are the less well known 
 to the present generation, and there is more need of setting them 
 forth carefully, that their just relation to our present and their 
 instruction for our future may not be lost. 
 
 (3.) There must be the same omissions in regard to individuals. 
 To call the roll of the officers whose faithfulness suggested their 
 
responsible positions, and who adorned their station, would leave 
 only an indistinguishable whirl of names, and for special mention 
 but few can be selected. 
 
 (4.) And it is to be remembered that by the distribution 
 visible in the programme much that might properly have been 
 mentioned in the first contribution to the history, belongs to 
 subsequent papers ; and omissions must not be considered final 
 until the whole exercises have been concluded. [Though, even 
 then, some which would- have been gladly avoided will prove 
 inevitable.] 
 
 (5.) Moreover, as there could not be (and probably ought not to 
 have been) any consultation among the writers and speakers of 
 the occasion, there may be now and then a slightly discrepant 
 date, or a divergent judgment, or a different estimate of character 
 or movement. These will only serve to show (after final correc- 
 tions), that there never was (and by the, nature of the case never 
 can nor ought to be) a Presbyterian Church history a century 
 long, in which the evidence that Presbyterians are "Independents" 
 in everything but church government, does not somewhere appear. 
 
 (6.) Nor is it to be expected that all the interest or profit of 
 the occasion will be found in the more formal papers. In our 
 united worship by song and prayers, in greetings and reminiscences, 
 we come somewhat closer to the heart-throbs of real spiritual life. 
 May God vouchsafe His guidance and blessing upon all that shall 
 be sung, said and done. 
 
The History. 
 
 PERIODS I - III 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 15 
 
 PERIOD I 
 
 The First Church is older than the General Assembly. There 
 had been formed a Synod on the seaboard. Its creative act for 
 Redstone Presbytery, reads thus: "At a meeting- of the Synod 
 of New York and Philadelphia, held in Philadelphia the Kith of 
 May, 1781, the Rev. Messrs. Joseph Smith, John McMillan, James 
 Power and Thaddeus Dodd having requested to be erected into a 
 separate Presbytery, to be known by the name of the Presbytery 
 of Redstone, the Synod grant their request, and appoint their 
 first meeting to be held at Laurel Hill Church, the third Wednes- 
 day of September next, at 11 o'clock A. M." 
 
 This is the entire minute. No bounds. No designated churches. 
 A point of organized force in a vast wilderness (like a portable 
 saw mill set down in an unsurveyed forest). This was the first 
 Presbytery formed west of the Allegheny Mountains. 
 
 That Presbytery met "according to the appointment of the 
 Reverend Synod of New York and Philadelphia, at Pigeon 
 Creek, as the circumstances of some of the members, by reason 
 of the incursions of the savages, rendered it impracticable for 
 them to attend at Laurel Hill. U. P. P. S. the Rev. Messrs. 
 John McMillan, James Power and Thaddeus Dodd. Elders, 
 John Neil, Dennis Lindley and Patrick Scott. Absent, the Rev. 
 Joseph Smith." * 
 
 The next stated meeting, appointed for April, 1782, was 
 abandoned, because of these "incursions of the savages," and in 
 October, 1782, they met at Delap's Creek. This record and that 
 of Pigeon Creek, March, 1783, and that of Mount Pleasant. 
 October, 17*.°,, are searched in vain for any notice of Pittsburgh ; 
 
 * Incursions were not feared at the place of meeting but at their own homes, west 
 of the Moncmgahela. Mr. Power living on the east side, was present at Pigeon 
 Creek— [VeechVs Secular History. Centenary Memorial. Note to p. 348.] 
 
16 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 but in the fifth meeting, "Buffalo, April the 13ih, 1784," it is 
 recorded, that along with supplications for supplies from the 
 congregations of Muddy Creek and the South Fork, and a vacant 
 congregation near Robinson's Run, came in an " application for 
 supplies from Pittsburgh." 
 
 That is our first infant cry! On the next day (April 14th, 
 1784,) the Presbytery acknowledged the infant by taking it up 
 in arms (Chinese fashion), and appointed Mr. Smith to "preach at 
 Pittsburgh the fourth Sabbath of Augvst." 
 
 That was all. Not any imposing coming out of a great eccle- 
 siastical body and laying formal hands on any spot in the wilder- 
 ness ; but just a cry of a few Christian men and women, and 
 the answer of a single supply ; even the name of " Smith " has 
 nothing remarkable about it. There is no gratification for pride 
 of circumstance in such an origin, however gladly we celebrate 
 to-day the fact that the cry was uttered and the answer made. 
 
 The circumstance is the more peculiar, because neither in any 
 record of the Presbytery nor in any contemporary record is there 
 preserved any mention of who signed the petition or presented 
 it, or to whose care the minister came. And thus again our 
 existence at the point of origin seems to come very near to 
 a disembodied condition, and to be like John the Baptist— a voice 
 in the wilderness: but like him also, a herald of the Christ, 
 
 Something must have happened at Pittsburgh. Hitherto 
 nothing has come from the inhabitants gathered about the old 
 fort; and very little has come to them. Romish chaplains had 
 baptized and buried, and administered the sacraments. Beatty 
 had been heard, and Duffield on a single visit. Once, perhaps, 
 McMillan had thundered his message. Somebody must have 
 come to town now, or this supplication for supplies would never 
 have been sent, Fortunately (and as an encouragement to all 
 who would do good to destitute neighborhoods, such as this now 
 well-evangelized community then was,) we know something 
 about what had happened and who had arrived. 
 
 Mr. John Wilkins' account, a kind of autobiography written 
 for his family in 1809, and kindly furnished me by his descend- 
 ants, is an illumination at this point. 
 
 "'In the middle of October, 1783, I left Carlisle and set out in 
 the wagon with a light gun in my hand, and arrived in Pittsburgh 
 November 10. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 17 
 
 "'When I first came here I found the place filled with old 
 officers and soldiers, followers of the army, mixed with a few 
 families of credit. All sorts of wickedness were carried on to 
 excess, and there was no appearance of morality or regular order. 
 As I have already remarked, when I first came to this town there 
 appeared to be 110 signs of religion among the people, and it 
 seemed to me that the Presbyterian ministers* were afraid to 
 come to the place lest they should be mocked or mistreated. I 
 often hinted to the creditable part of the people that something 
 ought to be done toward establishing a Presbyterian church in 
 this place and encouraging it. After some time a Rev. Samuel 
 Barr came to town and preached a few sermons. We seemed 
 pleased with him and made him an offer, which he accepted, and 
 was ordained in what is now called the First Presbyterian con- 
 gregation in Pittsburgh. We labored much among the people 
 to join us before we amounted to what appeared a small congre- 
 gation. Shortly after Mr. Barr's establishment we authorized 
 him to go to Philadelphia to beg for us and to apply to Presby- 
 tery for lots for a graveyard, and also to the Legislature to 
 incorporate us as a congregation, in all of which he succeeded. 
 AVe then began to take in subscriptions to build a house of 
 worship. 
 
 "'Mr. Wallace and myself were appointed to take subscriptions 
 and superintend the building. Mr. Wallace paid little attention 
 and the whole business devolved on me. I myself worked at the 
 building with my own hands and chunked and daubed it with 
 the assistance of attendants. At a settlement with the trustees 
 the 20th day of October, 1793, the congregation remained in my 
 debt for money advanced over the subscription £4 3s. 5d., which 
 sum is not yet settled. After some time Mr. Barr got in a 
 dispute with the congregation, was reduced by the Presbytery 
 and left us. Since then we have had several ministers. 
 
 '"We have now where the old church stood an elegant new 
 church, and our congregation has become large and respectable 
 and is daily increasing. At the first establishment of the church 
 I was ordained as an elder, and still hold that position.' " 
 . (It is also stated on excellent authority that Major Isaac 
 Craig, one of the six officers of the revolutionary army among 
 the eleven original trustees, was on the building committee of this 
 and of the 1804 church edifice also.) 
 
IS HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 Religion seems to have been invisible to at least one early 
 observer.— Arthur Lee, a Virginian, visited Pittsburgh in 1783, 
 and wrote thus : " It is inhabited almost entirely by Scots and Irish, 
 who live in paltry log houses and are as dirty as in the north of 
 Ireland, or even Scotland. * * There are in town four 
 attorneys, two doctors, and not a priest of any persuasion, nor 
 church nor chapel, so that they are likely to be damned without 
 benefit of clergy." 
 
 But Arthur Lee had no ear forthe echoesof Beatty and Duffield's 
 preaching in 1758 and 1766, of McClure's in 1772, of McMillan's 
 in 1775, besides that of the garrison pastors, and of the faithful 
 German (Webber) since 1782. Nor did he see that the First 
 Church had already arrived in John Wilkins, who, though he 
 found "some sort of a town" and only "a few families of credit," 
 and traders with Indians as unprincipled as any of our own day, 
 and found, too, that "Presbyterian ministers seemed to avoid the 
 place lest they should be ill-treated," labored "much" and finally 
 succeeded. 
 
 The First Church was thus bom of the people. It gave itself 
 the first sign of life in applying to the Presbytery of Redstone 
 for supplies on the 13th of April, 1784. The Rev. Joseph Smith 
 was appointed to preach in August. No other notice of organi- 
 zation is made in the Presbyterial records. This year of 17*4 was a 
 year of favor. It marked the close of the controversy about boundary 
 between Pennsylvania and Virginia which had been hindering 
 everything good, and a clerical member of the Mason and Dixon's 
 line commission brought 160 Bibles to be distributed. The treaty 
 with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix settled many conflicts con- 
 cerning Indian titles. This year Wesley ordained Coke as American 
 bishop, to bring hither his heart of flame which was more than 
 His consecration. This year the first Episcopalian bishop for 
 America, Sam'l Seabury, was consecrated by non-juring bishops 
 in Aberdeen. This was the year of the last effort to make a 
 general civil assessment to support the established religion in 
 Virginia. This year interest was kindled in property in Pitts- 
 burgh by the large purchase of Bayard and Craig, followed by 
 Wood's plan of the city made for the proprietaries. In fact all , 
 was ready except the restless Red Men, who were not finally 
 (piieted until 17!)4. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 19 
 
 No record of the preaching of the Rev. Mr. Smith on the 
 fourth Sabbath of August, 1784, has been preserved, even in 
 tradition. The people were not, probably, absent at Cresson and 
 the sea shore, and there were no church-doors to close in the 
 summer solstice. No doubt there were faithful souls rejoiced to 
 hear the precious truths, and join in the songs of Zion, familiar 
 elsewhere. And we know something of the preacher himself, 
 though so little of the audience. The Rev. Joseph Smith was the 
 fourth in order of the early ministers of our region. He came 
 west in 1779, and was pastor at Buffalo and Cross Creek. He is 
 described as " like the others, a graduate of Princeton. In per- 
 sonal appearance, he was tall and slender, of fair complexion, 
 well featured, and had eyes that were fairly brilliant. His 
 preaching was energetic and full of convincing force. In fidelity 
 to his work, in depth and fervor of piety, and in zeal to promote 
 religion and education, he was not inferior to any of his associ- 
 ates." [Hamilton Redstone Centennial, pp. 32, 33.] 
 
 Pittsburgh came again to Presbytery at Chartiers, the same 
 year, [October 19th, 1784,] with "supplication for supplies," and 
 her name was at least as euphonious as those of "Pike Run," 
 "Horseshoe Bottom" and "Bullock Pens," which appear beside 
 hers in such petitions. Mr. Power was appointed to "supply at 
 Fort Pitt," (they scarcely knew our name then in Presbytery) 
 for "ye fifth Sabbath of October," and Mr. Smith "at Pittsburgh 
 — one day, at discretion." It seems a small amount of preaching 
 to exist upon for six months, even for that day. The Rev. James 
 Power is described as "the oldest" of the three ministers who 
 formed Redstone Presbytery in 17S]. He is thirty-eight, of fair 
 complexion, medium height, erect and rather slender in person. 
 noticeably neat though plain in dress, courteous in his manners, 
 but not lacking gravity. He came to the region in 1 7 7 ( >. with 
 his family, himself, a wife and four young daughters, all mounted 
 on three horses, and enough room left for the luggage. He died 
 August 5th, 1830, aged 85. (U. S. pp. 20, 21.)* 
 
 :: Mr. Power was born in Chester comity, Pa., in 174(5, and in 1776 was ordained sint 
 titulo to go to the "western part of this province." He was a dignified and graceful 
 speaker, with a distinct yet sweet voice, and a fine memory of faces and names. His 
 written and committed sermons were not vehement as McMillan's, nor so pungent and 
 alarming as Joseph Smith's, but were judicious and instructive and blessed to the 
 edification of Christians. His communion was interrupted at Hannastown, (July, 
 1782,) when that place was attacked and burned. (0. R. p. -42.) 
 
20 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 No application seems to have been made to Presbytery in 
 April or June, 1785. This probably occurred because of the 
 presence in Pittsburgh of that afterward eminent man, (of whom 
 more is to be said at another point in the exercises) Alexander 
 Addison. He appears in Presbytery in December, 1785, and 
 opens its sessions with a sermon. Not fully received to its mem- 
 bership, but permitted to preach, he began his labors in Wash- 
 ington, Pa., temporarily, and received a like permission again in 
 April, 1786. But finally, differences of opinion between the 
 Presbytery and Mr. Addison gave the law and the Bench their 
 greatest ornament in Western Pennsylvania of the last century. 
 In October, 1785, the Rev. Samuel Barr, licentiate of London- 
 derry Presbytery, Ireland, appeared in the Presbytery of Red- 
 stone, having had his attention directed to Pittsburgh as a field, 
 by merchants who met him at the house of his father-in-law, at 
 New Castle. There was not complete satisfaction on the part of 
 the Presbytery at first, but Mr. Barr's work began and went for- 
 ward without formal installation. The church of Pitts Township, 
 (now Beulah Church) united with the First Church in the call 
 to Mr. Barr. 
 
 Where the church at first worshiped, no scrap of record remains 
 to inform us. There had been a bent fixed toward a certain prop- 
 erty by the burial there of certain soldiers and officers of the 
 earliest days, and a faint tradition exists (coming through the 
 descendants of Col. Scott, one of the original trustees) that 
 worship was held under the trees which shaded that spot. The 
 church, however, had no legal title to it until later. 
 
 It was on the 4th of December, 1786, that a bill was intro- 
 duced into the Legislative Assembly at Philadelphia, asking, by 
 an amendment, that "lots for a church and burying ground" 
 should be added to a proposed new laying out of things. " For 
 what church?" was asked. "There is but one church there," an- 
 swered Hugh Henry Brackenridge, the representative, "all go to 
 that." The bill was printed for consideration. But it seems also 
 that earlier than this Mr. Brackenridge had " drawn up a peti- 
 tion" on which another bill had been "founded," asking incorpo- 
 ration of a "Religious Society in Pittsburgh." This bill had 
 been presented to the Assembly of 1785, before Mr. Brackenridge 
 had become a member of that body. When presented, it proved 
 to he a hill to incorporate a "Presbyterian Congregation in Pitts- 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 21 
 
 burgh, at this time under the care of the Rev. Samuel Barr." 
 This bill was called up in the Assembly on December 12, 1786. 
 During the discussion on it, Mr. Brackenridge expressed more 
 fully the same sentiments, that there was but one religion in 
 Pittsburgh, and that they wanted but one church. He urged 
 that to incorporate a Presbyterian Society would be to divide the 
 people and to make probable the loss of the church thev had, 
 which loss would be "great," he said, "because religion was use- 
 ful to keep up order and enforce the practice of morality." Find- 
 ing the bill out of order, because coming over from the formei 
 House, after once reading, Mr. Brackenridge withdrew it, amended 
 it by inserting the words, "Religious Christian Society, under the 
 care of the Rev. Samuel Barr," and presented it again. On Thurs- 
 day, 14th of December, it was called up, read a second time, and 
 debated by paragraphs, ordered transcribed and printed. Thus 
 it rested nearly a year, during which time we were, as far as leg- 
 islative power could make us, a specimen of that church of the 
 future for which some are still striving. But when the bill was 
 again called up in September, 1787, it was amended, upon motion 
 of Mr. Findley, to read "Presbyterian Congregation," etc. So it was 
 ordered to be engrossed and passed finally in that shape on the 
 29th day of September, 1787. This narrow escape from the 
 unionism of that day may have been hastened by Mr. Barr's 
 mission East, to obtain money for building and a grant of land. 
 In the latter office he was successful in a more important way than 
 in the first, and shortly before the Assembly had acted, (i. e, on the 
 24th of September, 1787,) the Penn heirs had deeded 2| lots <.i' 
 the ground already designated, for the nominal "consideration of 
 five shillings, as well as of the laudable inclination they have for 
 encouraging and promoting morality, piety and religion in general, 
 and more especially in the town of Pittsburgh." [Language of 
 the document.] This deed was executed to eleven trustees, whose 
 names often appear in our subsequent history. It is on parch- 
 ment and still in our possession. On the ground thus secured, 
 the church proceeded to erect (some think had already begun to 
 erect) their first house of worship — -a structure of "moderate 
 dimensions, and squared timber." Another lot was purchased 
 with foresight and private means, by the Rev. Mr. Barr, and came 
 later into the hands of the trustees (1802.) Happily, we have 
 lately obtained the manuscripts which contain the words probably 
 
22 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 used when the people of Pittsburgh were called together to con- 
 tribute (and possibly used also in the mission eastward, to gain 
 help in building,) and those which were spoken on the day when 
 the house was first occupied. Let him, being dead, still speak, 
 who first ministered on this spot, while I read his very words from 
 these time-stained pages written by his own hand: 
 
 My audience, you have heard the encouragement given in my text to 
 be generous and useful as God in the wisdom of His providence lias en- 
 abled us, and we ought to he influenced and regulated in our practice 
 thereby. The nature and design of the bequest which is now humbly re- 
 quested, you are perhaps already acquainted with, but let that be as it 
 may, you will permit me just to remind you that it is for the purpose of 
 erecting a house of public worship in the town of Pittsburgh, a place 
 where the like has never before been attempted, and were I to describe 
 the state of the place not long ago it would excite your astonishment to 
 think that so short a time could effect such an amazing reformation: to 
 think that a number of people who had been bred up to different per- 
 suasions should unite in love and harmony to promote the gospel of 
 Christ. An instance of the like kind is rarely to be found in the annals of 
 modern history. How pleasing to reflect that in this place, the very spot 
 of the Western country which was most noted for vice and immorality, 
 should bid the fairest for piety and godliness. My audience, to reflect 
 that this place, where not long ago the wigwam and tomahawk were 
 erected, (wielded,) and nothing but the yell and screech of the savage was 
 heard; how pleasing, I say, in place of infidels and their idols to behold 
 then the temple of God and his devout worshipers assembled to cele- 
 brate His praise and using every means to establish religion and support 
 His cause. Surely, my audience, their laudable efforts deserve our warmest 
 encouragement. Undoubtedly our efforts in this instance will be pleasing 
 to our feelings, and if done with proper views be acceptable to God. 
 How pleasing it will be at a future time to reflect that we have been the 
 instruments in the hands of the Most High for promoting this most laud- 
 able purpose. 
 
 It was a joyful day when the house was completed, as is set forth 
 in another sermon by Mr. Barr, an extract of which I will read : 
 
 He has not only made the world for our accommodation, but also pre- 
 serves our peace and liberty by His blessing and goodness. They are in- 
 gredients without which life cannot possibly be comfortable and happy. 
 They are blessings which we at present enjoy in this land of peace and 
 liberty. Like spreading trees they are flourishing, and our inhabitants, 
 under the sacred shade, are now fed on their choicest fruits. But why ? 
 To what cause can this public happiness be ascribed ? By what hand are 
 the fair plants watered and encouraged to grow ? By the providence of 
 God and by His mercy from generation to generation. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 2'-> 
 
 (rod has not only granted us social powers but He has established His 
 church in this world, where the devout worshipers may assemble and 
 bless His name together; where they may behold and admire His truth, 
 which endureth to all generations. This day affords us a pleasing in- 
 stance of the divine faithfulness ; to us His benignity hath reached. Look 
 around you, my brethren ; behold these walls a standing monument of di- 
 vine immortality. This is the place, this is the hallowed ground which 
 God hath chosen for His own, and*while we behold the gift gratitude de- 
 mands a tear of thankfulness; a tear poured forth in the abundance of our 
 hearts to the bountiful giver of so rich a blessing. 
 
 * * * The church is the sacred place where the Lord delights to 
 dwell ! He hath promised to maintain her dignity against the efforts of 
 the wicked and the malice of infernal spirits. She may be brought 
 low, she may be dishonored and despised by Satan and his servants, 
 ungrateful men, but the gates of hell shall not totally prevail against her. 
 She is founded on a rock, and that rock is Christ. She is ye 
 
 pleasure of ye Captain of our Salvation, and therefore she shall endure 
 from generation to generation. 
 
 Prophetic words of simple faith ! How bright they seem, read 
 at the end of a century's experience of their truth on this spot ! 
 
 Closing, the feelings of the occasion seem to reach their 
 strongest expression. 
 
 My audience, let me call forth your gratitude and thankfulness for the 
 distinguishing blessings of the Almighty ! 
 
 In this place we have wandered long, alas ! too, too long, in the wide 
 field of folly and dissipation ! It is now high time that we should return 
 to our father's house ! I blush to mention it, the time is long since this 
 place was first inhabited by numbers who had been taught the glorious 
 system of Christianity. On the 25th of November, 1758, Gen'l Forbes 
 erected the British flag on Fort Duquesne. Astonishing to reflect ! that 
 29 years should be squandered away in carelessness and ingratitude for 
 the protection and favors of the great Jehovah ! And has He been kind to 
 you ? Has He brought you through perils and dangers and preserved you in 
 safety, notwithstanding your thoughtlessness and unthankfulness for His 
 blessings? Oh, how should every principle within you be kindled up! 
 Borne on the wings of gratitude, how should your spirits soar in blessing 
 and in magnifying His holy name ! 
 
 But, my audience, however disagreeable a reflection on the past may be, 
 blessed be God, the dark clouds of folly seem now to he passing by. The 
 sun of righteousness deigns to lift his healing wings and a ray of gospel 
 light has appeared unto us, by the blessing of heaven. Some small attempts 
 have been made to cherish and foster it. Witness this dome! where the 
 servants of the Most High may assemble to bless His name. Happy refor- 
 mation ! pleasing prospect ! Oh, how comfortable to reflect that the place 
 where not long since the wigwam and the tomahawk were erected, and 
 
24 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 where nothing but the screeches and cries of savages were heard; how 
 pleasing, I say, in the place of infidels and their idols, to behold the temple 
 of God and His devout worshipers assembled to bless and praise His name ! 
 Oli, how happy to reflect that we have been the instruments in the hand 
 of God to establish His church and support His cause ! Such a prospect 
 must swell our hearts with joy and gladness for the present and inspire 
 sublime satisfaction in the latest pages of our memory ! And if done 
 through proper views, I have no doubfit will be acceptable to God. How 
 ecstatic the joy which at some future period shall spring up to the mind, 
 that we have been, the instruments of rescuing some whose minds are 
 pregnant with inveterate habits; and still more of rescuing their yet in- 
 nocent and helpless children from the vices and crimes of their fore- 
 fathers! This is a work which claims the attention of every Christian — 
 to instruct the ignorant and propagate the knowledge of Jesus and of his 
 religion. To this we are excited by every consideration of the public 
 benefit and by all the motives of the gospel of Jesus, for it has the 
 promise of happiness in this life and in that which is to come. 
 
 •Thus was the' first house (as the very last was) dedicated to 
 the work as well as the worship of God, and especially to the 
 salvation of children. 
 
 The house of worship thus erected was among the earlier, though 
 not among the earliest in our whole region. [The author of that 
 invaluable book, Old Redstone, says, (p. 44) : " I believe that no 
 churches or houses of worship were erected in the country until 
 1790. Even in winter the meetings were held in the open air." 
 But this statement is so far modified by the important contribu- 
 tion of Judge Veech to the " Secular History of Western Penn- 
 sylvania Presby terianism " — Mem. vol. p. 324 — that the assertion 
 of the text may be regarded as correct.] 
 
 But in the building of the spiritual house worse than frontier 
 difficulties were experienced. The church beside Fort Pitt had 
 less to fear from the Indians than the more exposed, outlying 
 districts ; but its moral foes were more vigorous and subtle than 
 the sons of the soil with all their forest-craft. Liquor was a 
 prominent factor in everything, social life included. Cards and 
 dancing (now so largely banished by Christian common-sense 
 and bitter experience of their unspiritualizing effects) went with 
 the whiskey as adjutants. Social ties were often irregular. The 
 years intervening to the close of the century were years of con- 
 stant trial and difficulty. A history of the times asserts that the 
 church was not " remarkable, early, for exemplary piety. Many 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 25 
 
 of thera were gay, fashionable, worldly people, conforming to the 
 customs and manners of the time*." (Old Redstone, p. .'177.) 
 
 Mr. Barr's ministry closed in 17.su amid charges and counter- 
 charges, the Synod finally acquitting Mr. Barr, and the Presby- 
 tery finally relieving the accused members without any grave 
 penalty. Whatever misunderstandings of Mr. Barr's position 
 and relations appear in opinions expressed within the last quarter 
 of a century, disappear under more careful investigation. His 
 record is clear, both before and after his pastorate here, and even 
 while here in the other half of his pastoral charge [Pitts Township, 
 now Beulah], as witness the following documents, which I found 
 in possession of his family, and copied in Washington, I). C. : 
 
 "Londonderry, May 18, 1784. 
 
 That the Rev. Mr. Samuel Barr, after having passed through 
 a regular course of classical learning, and finished his academical 
 studies, was entered upon trials in our Presbytery, in the different 
 parts of which he acquitted himself very much to our satisfac- 
 tion. Since licensed, he has preached the gospel within our 
 hounds, and elsewhere, with very great acceptance ; and in the 
 whole of his moral character has behaved altogether unexcep- 
 tionably ; maintaining a life and preserving a conversation suit- 
 able to his profession. And as he now intends to visit the United 
 State's of America, we do earnestly recommend him to the care 
 of any Presbytery to which he may apply. 
 
 Signed in the name and by the order of the Presbytery of 
 Londonderry. 
 
 DAVID YOUNG, 
 
 Moderator? 
 
 Immediately upon his arrival in this country he was admitted 
 to the Presbytery thus : 
 
 "These are to certify that the bearer hereof, the Rev. Mr. 
 Samuel Barr, having produced to us from the Presbytery of Deny, 
 in Ireland, testimonials of his good standing as a licensed can- 
 didate for the gospel ministry, and this Presbytery, as .usual in 
 such cases, having conversed with him (to satisfaction) upon the 
 principles of religion, was received under our care and employed 
 for nine months to preach to the congregations in our hounds, 
 which he did to good acceptance, obtaining from the people 
 among whom he labored, a character as well for abilities as for 
 
26 
 
 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 religion and morals. Having also passed through the usual 
 trials for ordination before us, with approbation, and declared his 
 acceptance of the Westminster Confession of Faith and Cate- 
 chisms and their directory for worship, discipline and govern- 
 ment as the same are received in this church, he was this day, by 
 this Presbytery, agreeable to a permission granted by Synod, 
 solemnly set apart to the work of the gospel ministry, sine titub. 
 
 And as he signifieth to us his inclination to visit our Western 
 and Southern churches, we concur with his desire, and do hereby 
 recommend him to the conduct of divine providence and the 
 kind notice of the churches to whom he may come, as a worthy 
 minister of Christ. 
 
 Signed in the name and by order of the Presbytery of New 
 Castle, convened at New London, June loth, 1785. 
 
 Per ROBEPvT SMITH, 
 
 Presbytery's ( 'lerk" 
 
 Mr. Barr's connection with the other part of his charge seems 
 to have been a happy and useful one. A minute book is still in 
 existence, covering almost the whole period of his pastorate. It 
 is a very minute book, to be sure, but it is the only scrap of record 
 which either church possesses of the history of either in the last 
 century; and it still testifies to labors and success. [A full copy 
 of its record has been made for our archives.] I have here also, 
 (by the kindness of a daughter of Mr. Barr) the word of satisfac- 
 tion and commendation written by the Session of Pitts Township, 
 as Mr. Barr left them. 
 
 "This is to certify that the bearer hereof, Rev. Samuel Barr, 
 has been our minister several years, that he fulfilled the duties 
 of his office, in all respects, to our satisfaction, and ministered to 
 us both by his precept and example as became a worthy minister 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 Given by the unanimous approbation of the people and Session 
 at Pitts Township. 
 
 May 3d, 1790. JOHN JOHNSTON, S. C." 
 
 Mr. Barr appears to have made a visit to Pitts Township, in 
 1795, but we have no record of his having been present in the 
 First Church at that time. He was subsequently installed as pastor 
 at Christiana Bridge and New Castle (Del.) August 9th, 1791, 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 27 
 
 where he died on the 31st of May, 1818. He was born near 
 Londonderry, Ireland, and educated in literature and theology at 
 the University of Glasgow. [Of his family of twelve children, 
 two were born in Pittsburgh, one of whom died at the close of 
 1870. But two now survive, and the dead are nearly all buried 
 beside their father, in the cemetery at New Castle. 
 
 We do not know the salary offered to the pastor, and it must 
 have been difficult to fix any values, while the continental cur- 
 rency fluctuated so violently. [In 1781, a congregation of Dau- 
 phin county called a pastor on a promised salary of "600 bushels 
 Of wheat, or a sum of hard money equivalent thereto."] We do 
 know that the collection of the salary was not always prompt, 
 since Mr. Barr reports to Presbytery, on April 18th, 1788, that 
 the Pittsburgh church was indebted to him in the sum of £17« 
 12s. 9d., and Pitts Township in the larger sum of £28 9s. 8d. 
 
 It is now impossible to sum up accurately the whole case and 
 determine the just dues of all the parties to the only great trouble 
 internal, which our century has witnessed. There was evidently 
 room for difficulty in the entrance of a stranger entering the pas- 
 torate of a church rather lax in some matters of deportment and 
 discipline, under the care of a Presbytery noted for the severity 
 of its views and its rigid adherence to them. It is possible that 
 Mr. Barr did say: "narrow-hearted McMillanites" of the Presby- 
 terv, and that its members thought him, in turn, responsible for 
 the type of piety in the church which was unsatisfactory to 
 them. It is possible that had he been firmer, those who needed 
 discipline might have been less aggressive. This much, however, is 
 clear, that the church and community might well feel a larger 
 sense of obligation to and interest in the first pastor. Mr. Brack- 
 enridge said of him in the Assembly: "We have but one clergy- 
 man, a gentleman of reputation and a good preacher." He 
 brought hither a full measure, for the time, of culture and of 
 talent. He came with a true missionary spirit, and at personal 
 sacrifice, from an excellent position at the East. He secured the 
 necessary conditions of church permanency and growth by im- 
 mediate personal effort, and gained it a right of way (so to speak ) 
 by wise and energetic movements. He was a public-spirited and 
 useful citizen. His preaching (judging from a small number of 
 sermons in my possession,) was evangelical and earnest, and his 
 private life irreproachable. Difficulties might perhaps have been 
 
28 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 • 
 
 adjusted, had not, as at least her daughter supposes, the fears <»!' 
 her mother and her inexperience in the trials of Western life 
 hastened finally his return to the East,* 
 
 To go on : From June, 1789, to November, 1792, there were only 
 supplies, Mr. Robert Findley being the principal one. From No- 
 vember, 1792, to October, 17'.):;, Mr. Samuel Mahon (a licentiate of 
 ( 'arl isle Presbytery,) preached and received a call. The Presbytery 
 conversed with him on "his acquaintance with experimental re- 
 ligion, and proposed to him several eases of conscience, but did 
 not receive such satisfaction as would induce them to proceed to 
 his ordination. Therefore he requested a dismission, which was 
 accordingly granted him." [Min. p. 113.] Mr. Mahon had 
 graduated at Dickinson College in 1789— the third graduating 
 class of that college. When a student, young Mahon was re- 
 garded as " very talented." Because of the obstacle that inter- 
 vened and prevented his becoming the settled pastor of the First 
 Church, he retired from the ministry, studied law and practised 
 it in Natchez. He became a member of the Legislature, and 
 finally died in Mississippi. 
 
 Afterward came Mr. Cunningham Sanlple, who preached as 
 supply some time during the year 1794. He also became a law- 
 yer. Little else is known of him. He baptized that lady of so 
 remarkable a memory, so recently deceased, (Mrs. Eichbaum) who 
 
 ■'The whole matter given rise to such an exhibition of facts as this : 
 
 t. It is plain there was card-playing and drinking, sometimes to excess. 
 
 2. That the pastor had been misunderstood or had not been sufficiently explicit in 
 his testimony against these things. 
 
 :',. That he seemed not to have any settled practice as to the baptism of infants of 
 parents not. members of the church. 
 
 4. That there was no dishonesty on either side. 
 
 5. That there was early catechizing of children ami youth, and that it was highly 
 esteemed, and that the germ of the then future Sabbath School was present in Mr. 
 
 Barr's custom of appointing " the children to meet him at the meeting-house, there to 
 be catechized," which " practice was followed for the most part every summer since, 
 
 i ITSo) on the Sabbath evenings." 
 
 6. That Mr. Barr differed from the Presbytery more in feeling than in substance. 
 
 7. That the Presbytery was faithful in its counsel, as witness the following minute : 
 (p. 58.) The Presbytery expresses " its disapprobation of card-playing, night reveling, 
 and using any expressions leading to immodest ideas, as practices very unbecoming 
 in any professor of religion, and such as would lay a just foundation for exclusion 
 from Christian privileges in any congregation where discipline is duly exercised; and 
 that, therefore, such of the elders of the church of Pittsburgh as have appeared before 
 us to be guilty of such things, ought to be and are hereby admonished to abstain from 
 such practices for the future, and be informed that without a reformation they ought 
 to be further dealt with." 
 
told me that an old friend, in view of Mr. Sample's later life, had 
 suggested she should be "baptized over again." 
 
 The situation was still far from satisfactory. Indeed the 
 church was passing through the deepest shadows which ever 
 gathered within its century. There seems to have been little 
 life in itself, and it was out of relation to its Presbytery, the sole 
 source of supply. The evidence of a sort of chronic irritation 
 between the First Church and the Presbytery of Redstone which 
 is apparent in various ways in the records, seems to find confirma- 
 tion in a recently discovered fact. In taking up the records of 
 the General Assembly of 171)4,' we find a petition sent by the 
 "congregation of Pittsburgh, requesting to be separated from the 
 Presbytery of Redstone, and to be annexed to the Presbytery of 
 Carlisle." It was "moved that the -prayer of the petition be 
 granted," but decided in the negative.. Messrs. Smith and Hall 
 Avere appointed a committee to write a letter to the congregation 
 of Pittsburgh "relative to the decision on their petition ;" said 
 committee reported, and the letter was ordered to be transcribed, 
 signed by the Moderator and transmitted to the congregation as 
 soon as convenient. [Min. of G. A. of 17M4, p. 413.] 
 
 From October, 179:-), to October, 1800, is almost a blank. There 
 are no Sessional records (as there are none, indeed, until 1818), 
 and the church does not appear in Presbytery, in any form, 
 except in April, 1795, to ask supplies, and then again in June, 
 1799. No meetings of Presbytery are held here. Time of 
 declension is mourned by the Presbytery, and fast day appointed 
 in January, 1796, for "prevailing infidelity, vice, immorality and 
 spiritual sloth." The first Tuesday afternoon of each quarter is 
 set apart in October, 1797, as a " time of prayer for a revival of 
 religion." Then the Assembly appoints the fourth Thursday of 
 August, 1798, as a day of fasting and prayer; and the windows 
 of heaven are opened. Great revivals follow in the country, but 
 the city is as the heath of the desert. The First Church is 
 asleep in the midst of a harvest. This period witnessed the 
 " Whiskey Insurrection," and the only thing we know favorable 
 in the church's history is that her leading members and attend- 
 ants, many of whom were high in local office and of wide 
 influence, were altogether true and largely helpful to the govern- 
 ment. Especially may this be said of the noble Judge Addison, 
 whose charge is still a model of faithfulness, ability and courage. 
 
30 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 The whole period closes in a sort of gloom, according to man's 
 reckoning, save that a singular gleam of promise (long to be 
 deferred in fulfillment) is perceived in the preaching of Dr. 
 Francis Herron once in the old log church in 1799 — and this 
 was much to the " annoyance of the swallows," he quaintly said, 
 which seemed to claim the neglected building. 
 
 This first period of our history may be characterized as that 
 of the initial draggle for existence. It reached from 1784 to 1800. 
 The second period — secondary straggles for establishment — occupies 
 from 1800 to 1811. The third — the period of success, reaches 
 from 1811 — let us hope, until the Master's second coming. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the first period subdivides into 
 five — thus : 
 
 I. Inception. 
 II. First Pastorate : December 21st, 1785-June 12th, 17*9. 
 
 III. Supplies : June, 1789-November, 1792. 
 
 IV. Mr. Mahon : November, 1792-October, 1793. 
 V. Supplies: October, 1793-October, 1800. 
 
 Out of sixteen years the pastoral relation had existed consid- 
 erably less than four years ; but with true Presbyterian pluck 
 and perseverance the church may be described at the end of the 
 period and of the century, as " faint, yet pursuing." 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 31 
 
 PERIOD II. 
 
 We may pass now to the second period. Its interest is not 
 inferior to that of the first. Its struggles for establishment 
 supplement those for existence, and lead the way to the period of 
 permanent and large success. There are more abundant materials 
 for this period, and some who retained the memory of it have but 
 lately passed away from us ; but time permits only an account of 
 its salient features. 
 
 First among these appears the recurrence of trouble in the re- 
 ception of the church's chosen pastor by the Presbytery. Relief 
 from their long period of occasional and scanty supplies seemed 
 to appear in the person of the Rev. Robert Steele, who, fleeing 
 from persecution in Ireland for opinions not in harmony with 
 Ireland's consolidation in the British Empire, was drawn to Pitts- 
 burgh by the presence here of a brother engaged in business. 
 Mr. Steele had indeed appeared in Presbytery in June, 1799, and 
 stated his case, but that body hesitated and referred the matter 
 to the Synod — Mr. Steele being, on account of the circumstances, 
 destitute of the usual testimonials. So much of confidence, 
 however, was felt, as issued in a permission to preach, and he may, 
 therefore, have officiated during that year in the First Church. 
 In October, the Presbytery found that the Synod had not decided 
 on Mr. Steele's case, but had referred the matter to the General 
 Assembly. Thereupon, they concluded that they could no longer 
 authorize Mr. Steele's ministrations. In June, 1800, the Assembly 
 having acted meanwhile, Mr. Steele applied for membership in 
 the Presbytery, "on probation," agreeably to the regulations of 
 the General Assembly. [Min. p. 191.] The Presbytery seemed 
 yet unsatisfied, and postponed the matter further. At the meet- 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 ing of that autumn, appeared Mr. Denny "with a commission 
 
 from the Session of said congregation, as their representative, and 
 was accordingly admitted to a seat." [This refers, no doubt, to 
 Major Ebenezer Denny, who was not an "elder," as entered, but 
 a trustee.] Mr. Steele was received- on probation, and a theme 
 assigned him for a sermon at the next meeting. An examina- 
 tion on experimental religion shows that the Presbytery had re- 
 laxed nothing of its diligence against " moderatism." Mr. Steele 
 was appointed to "supply at Pittsburgh" until the spring meet- 
 ing, "except one Sabbath at Pitts Township, and two others north- 
 west of the Allegheny river, discretionary as to time and particu- 
 lar place." This was certainly "ample room and verge enough." 
 Application was again made, in the spring of 1801, for Mr. Steele, 
 as "stated supply until Presbytery shall finally receive or reject 
 him." The appointed discourse was delivered and another theme 
 assigned for the fall meeting. In the autumn the Presbytery 
 "proceeded to examine," says the record, "the discourse delivered 
 by Mr. Steele yesterday, but did not sustain it : but agreed to con- 
 tinue him on further trial, and appointed him to prepare a dis- 
 course on Matt. xi:28, to be delivered at their next stated 
 meeting." (p. 171.) This sermon was delivered accordingly in 
 April, 1802. Then, runs the record— "Mr. Steele having now 
 gone through the several parts of trial agreeably to the regula- 
 tions of the General Assembly for the admission of foreign min- 
 isters, Presbytery did, from the combined evidence of the whole, 
 agree to receive him as a member. Ordered, that the Stated Clerk 
 lav before the Synod, at their next meeting, a copy of the above 
 minute, together with all the certificates and other testimony on 
 which Mr. Steele was received." The Synod at its first meeting, 
 September, 1802, "approved of the proceedings of the Presbytery 
 in the case, and agreed to receive Mr. Steele as a member of the 
 Presbyterian body in America. Mr. Steele, therefore, being in- 
 formed by the Moderator of his reception, took his seat as a mem- 
 ber." (Svn. Min. ]). (i. ) Mr. Steele was chosen the Clerk of 
 Presbytery at its next meeting, (October, 1802,) the call of the 
 " congregation of Pittsburgh put into his hands by the Moderator, 
 and Mi-. Steele declared his acceptance thereof." (p. 129.) 
 
 Thus terminates the long process of reception. There is no 
 remnant of friction in the record or traditions. The whole shows 
 how careful onr forefathers were, even in the midst of such desti- 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 tutions, being rather willing- that the ground should be seedless 
 than to admit knowingly the sowing of tares. The long uncer- 
 tainty, from June, 1799, to October, 1802, must have been trying 
 to all concerned, and the keeping together of minister, people and 
 Presbytery in harmony, under the ordeal, is complimentary to all 
 concerned. 
 
 But the trouble was not all external, as, indeed, was found by 
 the church-general just after Pentecost, Dissatisfaction within 
 was expressed by some as early as December, 1800, and a suppli- 
 cation was brought in [to Presbytery] from a number of persons 
 belonging to the Presbyterian profession in Pittsburgh, respecting 
 supplies. Presbytery were of opinion that the prayer of the sup- 
 plication cannot be granted on account of some existing difficulties 
 in the congregation, and with a reference to said difficulties, 
 agreed that their next meeting should be in Pittsburgh. The 
 meeting took place in April, 1801. It was only the second time in 
 twenty years that Presbytery met in Pittsburgh, and on both oc- 
 casions for considering difficulties in the church. Happily, there 
 appears no allusion to the matter in the record of that meeting, 
 and probably some composition of the difficulty had been reached 
 without the help of Presbytery. But the probability is that the 
 composition was but temporary, and that the same line of pref- 
 erences appears in the petition which was presented to Presby- 
 tery in June, 1803, and which finally issued in the formation of 
 the Second Church. It stands upon the record thus : "A petition 
 from a number of the inhabitants of Pittsburgh, praying that 
 they might be erected into a different congregation, and .receive 
 supplies, was laid before Presbytery. After mature deliberation, 
 Presbytery agreed to refer the matter to Synod at its next meet- 
 ing." At that meeting, in October, 1803, held in this church, the 
 petition was supported by the following memorial: 
 
 "To the Kev. Synod, now sitting in the borough of Pittsburgh, 
 [this memorial] most humbly showeth : — 
 
 That we, the subscribers, being appointed by a number of our 
 brethren, either already united to the Presbyterian Church or 
 desirous of being so united, as becometh the general supporters 
 of the Christian cause, do represent that we have not united in 
 the call of the Rev. Robert Steele as pastor of the Presbyterian 
 Church in Pittsburgh, but that nevertheless, being adverse to a 
 separation if it could be avoided consistently with our spiritual 
 
34 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 advantage, did for some time attend the preaching of the said rev- 
 erend gentleman, and most of us did subscribe to his support, but 
 rinding no kind of spiritual advantage, have long since withdrawn 
 and are now as sheep without a shepherd. We bring forward no 
 charges against Mr. Steele, or any member of said church, con- 
 sidering that if even sufficient ground should exist, this is not our 
 present object, but assure the Rev. Synod that our present object 
 is to receive the immediate benefits of what we deem to be a 
 
 Gospel Ministry. 
 
 James Morrison, 
 
 Wm. Barrett, 
 Wm. Semple, 
 Wm. Gazzam." 
 It has sometimes been thought that the desire for new rela- 
 tions "originated in the crime of giving out to be sung two lines 
 of a stanza instead of the time-honored one," [see McKnight's 
 History of First Church Sabbath Schools] — but this does not ap- 
 pear in the records. When the commissioners on behalf of the 
 "established congregation of Pittsburgh," brought forth reasons 
 against the petition, Synod did not grant organization, but or- 
 dered Presbytery to grant supplies. This, even, was too much for 
 those who felt the cause would be imperiled by another church, 
 and Alexander Addison, on the afternoon of the same day, (October 
 7th, 1803,) brought in a protest against the decision of Synod, 
 and appealed to the General Assembly. The appellants take 
 ground against any authority in Synod to "erect a congregation" 
 where one is already existing. They say that the policy of sup- 
 plies will only be divisive. They do not speak kindly of the pe- 
 titioners, either as to their thorough Presbyterianism or as to 
 their ability to sustain a church. They urge, finally, that no 
 "decent support" can now be provided, and that if the prayer of 
 the petitioners be granted, "instead of two congregations with 
 two pastors, there may be no pastor at all." The protest and appeal 
 was signed by Mr. Addison for the trustees, and then by the 
 pastor himself, and then by the Session, at that time composed 
 of Jeremiah Sturgeon, James B. Clow, John Wilkins and William 
 Dunning. At the meeting of Presbytery, in the same month, a 
 petition "from certain inhabitants of the town of Pittsburgh, to 
 apply to the Presbyteries of Ohio and Erie for supplies," was at 
 first granted and then reconsidered, doubtless because the case 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. .'>,") 
 
 was now before the Assembly. That body rendered its decision 
 in the following May — the Synod ascertained the fact by attested 
 copy of the Assembly's minute, October 4th, 1804, and on Octo- 
 ber 16th the following record is made in Presbytery : 
 
 "A petition from a number of the inhabitants of Pittsburgh, 
 styling themselves the Second Presbyterian Congregation of 
 Pittsburgh, praying for liberty to supplicate the Presbyteries of 
 Ohio and Erie for supplies, was read ; and Presbytery finding that 
 the judgment of Synod in favor of the petitioners having supplies 
 granted to them, and which was protested against and appealed 
 from by Mr. Steele and the elders and trustees of the incorporate 
 Presbyterian congregation of Pittsburgh, was confirmed by the 
 General Assembly, did grant their request." [Min. p. 198.] 
 
 Thus begins that admirable chapter in the history of our city's 
 Christian life, which has been since written by our brethren of 
 the Second Church. It was evidently " of the Lord." And as 
 clearly was it of the people. Like our own origin, it was not 
 urged nor helped much by the Presbytery, but it displayed 
 vitality and perseverance. It was not created but simply recog- 
 nized. Supplies were appointed until, in October, 1805, the Rev. 
 Nathaniel R. Snowden accepted its call. From what so often 
 appears evil to short-sighted men, a broader providence evokes 
 incalculable good. The condition of difficult finances did come, 
 as anticipated, and both churches floundered on for many years, 
 but the kindred struggles only trained the people to work for the 
 same great end. It was as much a mistake to suppose that 
 the formation of a second church would result in no church, as 
 it was for Mr. Hugh Brackenridge to think in 1786 (as he said 
 in the Legislature) that " if a division took place among the 
 inhabitants in consequence of styling the church they had a 
 Presbyterian congregation, they would be unable to support that 
 one, the loss of which would be great." Growth came to both 
 churches alike in proportion to their faithfulness. And they 
 grew together. Dr. Herron's hands were strengthened later, by 
 the coming of pastor Hunt, and yet more by Dr. Swift, who 
 came in 1819. The revival of 1827 was a delightful common 
 experience, as other revivals since have been. At one time, when 
 there were less than one hundred communicants in the Second 
 Church, and its whole income was $650, there was also a press- 
 ing debt of $10,000, and the property was ready to fall under 
 
36 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 the sheriff's hammer. There lias been one heart in both churches, 
 and indeed at one time there came near being one organization, 
 a proposition having been made by the Second Church to combine 
 with the First in a "collegiate" charge, Dr. Herron to be the 
 pastor, with an assistant to be chosen by both churches. Full 
 proof, tli is, of an amity and comity never since disturbed, ami 
 which recent events have only served tit consolidate. .May it he 
 perpetual. 
 
 Another event of great significance in the religious life of this 
 period, is the formation of the Synod of Pittsburgh. It was 
 created by act of the ( General Assembly in 1802, and held its first 
 meeting in October of that year, and in this church. One of its 
 first acts was to receive Mr. Steele into full membership ; and on 
 its first board of trust appears the name of William Plummer, 
 one of our most esteemed members. The first six meetings of 
 the Synod were held in this church ; Mr. Power had been 
 appointed to preach the opening sermon, but in his illness, Dr. 
 McMillan officiated. His text was from Romans viii> 6 : "For 
 to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is 
 life and peace." An admirable opening theme indeed. What 
 an occasion this must have been. It was the first great represen- 
 tative meeting of the men who made Western Pennsylvania 
 Presbyterianism. A roll call of them would be significant of 
 infinite character, devotion and heroism. How fresh were they 
 from great revivals! What thunders of voice and truth alike 
 from McMillan ! What pleadings at the throne of grace ! What 
 gratitude that the time had come for this great step in advance! 
 Their missionary zeal, born of a stalwart faith in God rather 
 than in any discerning of signs of the times, flamed out in that 
 famous first resolution : "The Synod of Pittsburgh shall be 
 styled the Western Missionary Society." Grand thought ! 
 ( Grander fact ! The Synod was pre-eminently a body for its 
 place and time. These representative men — elders as well as 
 ministers — brought with them Presbyterian "organization" and 
 "distinctive doctrine," and its "beliefs and teachings concerning 
 the infinite worth of the human soul, and the dignity of man 
 as man." They graved those characteristics upon our church 
 in this region, enumerated with equal historical acumen and 
 rhetorical vigor by our lamented Professor Wilson : 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 37 
 
 I. Its interest in and service to the cause op education. 
 II. Family religion. 
 
 III. Loyalty to the principles of constitutional liberty. 
 
 IV. Faith in the inspiration, power and sufficiency of the 
 Holy Scriptures, resulting in "mighty revivals of religion," and 
 in the " spirit of missions." 
 
 These things were here — in this church — seminallv, and not 
 for this region only, but for a great and indefinite West with its 
 millions ; and then by many channels — for the world. It was a 
 "time of favor" for a long future; and it was a season of 
 quickened spiritual interest." "The Synod spent some time in 
 inquiring into the state of religion, and having heard from some 
 of their members that there were comfortable evidences that the 
 Lord was graciously and powerfully visiting some parts of the 
 church in their bounds: On motion, it was agreed that the 
 second Tuesday of December next be observed as a day of fast- 
 ing, humiliation and prayer, to implore the effusion of the divine 
 influences on the churches under the care of this Synod, and 
 through the world; and at the same time thankfully to acknowl- 
 edge the manifestations of God's grace to some of our congrega- 
 tions." The encouraging effect of the formation of the Synod 
 and of this first meeting was visible straightway. There was no 
 revival, alas ! in the city ; but deeper influences were felt. 
 The union between city and country, so long delayed, at last 
 began, and proved effective. Pittsburgh knew more, now, of the 
 great cordon of living churches by which it was surrounded. 
 The meetings of the Synod continued long to be marked events. 
 I cannot quote testimonies other than to allude to that of the 
 Rev. Richard Lea, which has been published, and to instance this 
 sentiment of Mr. Daniel Bushnell (now an elder in the Third 
 Church, who united with this church more than fifty years ago): 
 " I remember what interest was felt when the Synod met there, 
 (First Church) and -the old pioneers came together. There was 
 old Dr. McMillan, Dr. Ralston, Dr. MeCurdy, Dr. Johnston, Dr. 
 Anderson — all of whom I have heard speak in the old church. 
 They were giants, well fitted for the times in which they lived, 
 and did a great work for the church in those da vs." 
 
 The next striking feature of the period is the church building 
 of 1804. Doubtless stimulated by a new sense of denomina- 
 tional strength in the surroundings, and anxious to develop at 
 
38 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 the centre, and in nowise daunted by their own feebleness, (less 
 than fifty persons being in active membership), nor yet by the 
 establishment of a second church beside them ; with a large mea- 
 sure of confidence in the future of the now growing city, the 
 church went forward with considerable dash and vigor into this 
 its largest enterprise hitherto attempted. The first steps already 
 taken had been eminently wise. Pastor Barr had foreseen the 
 importance of Wood street, and had bought the whole lot front- 
 ing on it and parallel with those given the church by the heirs 
 of William Penn. It was now time that it should come into 
 possession of the church. On the 21st of December, 1801, 
 a congregational meeting had been called to purchase [this] 
 " lot No. 440, and to erect a new church building." The lot cost 
 about £80— $400, It was an excellent investment and stood the 
 congregation in good stead, a section of it selling in 1814 for 
 $3,000, and corner sections (substituted in place of the former 
 section,) selling in 1827 for $4,000. By February 19th, 1802, 
 the subscription had reached $2,400. On March 22d, 1802, it 
 had been resolved to build of brick, forty-four feet in width and 
 fifty feet in length, exclusive of the steeple, (which it was in- 
 tended to add, but which never aspired). An admirable building 
 committee, Messrs. Isaac Craig, Ebenezer Denny and Alexander 
 Addison, were appointed managers to "contract and carry on the 
 building." 
 
 And now, in 1*04, as testifies the front window figure, 
 so plainly discernible in so many memories, and even in 
 the lithographs extant, the building began to rise. It was finish- 
 ed, as shown by advertisements for renting the pews, in 1805. 
 But alas! the intervening years had not developed liberality and 
 ability equal to the task, and the embarrassing debt, for that day, 
 of $1,500, was found to be an accompaniment of all the rejoic- 
 ings which probably accompanied possession of the house. The 
 new brick structure changed the front significantly, from Sixth 
 avenue to Wood street. The church was to become more im- 
 portant to the city. Enlargement and permanency were meant, 
 both in position and building. But the struggle seemed beyond 
 the strength of the church, and on the 4th of January, 1806, 
 the Board of Trustees gave up the attempt to collect the money 
 needed, and fell into the way of the times and established, 
 through the proper public legislation, a h>tt<>nj. There were two 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 39 
 
 schemes, a first and a second, but both were drawn for the "fur- 
 nishing" of the church. The amount to be raised was $3,000. 
 The matter seemed to linger unaccountably. In March, 1808, 
 the trustees ordered the " completing of front door, painting and 
 plastering, if the workmen will take their pay in lottery tickets 
 of the second class." (Min. p. 39.) At the same time a "general 
 statement " of the whole results was ordered, but apparently it 
 was not prepared, as notice to settle the second class scheme was 
 given December 18th, 1809. Suit was even ordered to be en- 
 tered against the managers of the lottery, and an account was 
 again demanded for a congregational meeting, 25th June, 1810, 
 and a committee was appointed to inform the Governor of the 
 "delinquency of the commissioners of the lottery." "No correct 
 account of the amount of tickets sold was ever rendered," writes 
 Judge Snowden. It was evidently a thorny thing to handle, and 
 it has been a sore spot ever since. "One thing is certain," 
 (writes elder Snowden in 1839,) "that lottery business resulted 
 in a complete failure. It brought no aid to the funds of the con- 
 gregation, but tended rather to increase their difficulties." And 
 he adds, "No better result ought to have been expected from so im- 
 proper a measure." We may believe the congregation's repent- 
 ance for the lottery began very early, for Judge Snowden had 
 been an elder since 1812 ; and it has been such genuine repent- 
 ance that never in any entertainment, or bazaar, or fair of any 
 description, has the shadow or shade of chance ever been suffer- 
 ed to appear. "In all things ye have approved yourselves to be 
 clear in this matter." 
 
 As intimated, the debt was not reduced. Indeed it went on 
 increasing. Efforts at loans were futile. Repeated resolutions 
 calling for payment of arrearages were all in vain. Some new- 
 obligations, generous ones, were undertaken, and in June, 1810, 
 the debt«reached $2,772, and this was exclusive of lottery ticket 
 accounts of which they had no statements. It was evidently 
 of the Lord, to whom our fathers would have been helped to 
 look, had the just moral legislation of our own day been in 
 force, which prevents any temptation to lean upon a revolving 
 wheel — a very unstable underpinning' for anything, and much 
 more than unstable for a church building. 
 
 It was through such mingled scenes of encouragement and 
 discouragement as have been outlined, that Mr. Steele's ministry 
 
40 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 was prosecuted to its close. There was uncertainty at its open- 
 ing, and sufficient uneasiness throughout its duration to keep the 
 good man from any undue elevations. There is no record of his 
 installation, as there was none of the pastor before him, nor 
 even of his successor's. But his work went steadily forward. 
 Liberty-loving and tyrant-hating he fled on account of inform- 
 ers and spies, to the free air of our great West. While here he 
 was undemonstrative, but strong, and patient and true to his 
 convictions. He was tall, of excellent manners and pleasant 
 address, with fresh complexion, and wore satin breeches, silk 
 stockings, knee-buckles and pumps. He read his sermons, though 
 the congregation seemed to prefer unwritten ones. He was 
 quiet in preaching and made excellent addresses, without manu- 
 script, at funerals and on other occasions. Mr. Steele also taught 
 school. " His Sabbath School was a real one. In it religious 
 instruction was given, and given freely, as in contrast with the 
 1<S(MI Sunday School, sustained by those noble men, Mr. Johnston, 
 Major Ebenezer Denny and Mr. Gibson. In that the teachers 
 were all paid one dollar for each day. Mr. Lowrie was one, and 
 Mr. Gillan, a Catholic, was another. No Bible, and no prayer 
 ever used. The instruction was purely secular. It did not last 
 a year. The boys carried off the stationery. Mr. Steele's school 
 went on from 1800 to 1806, probably. [Others say it lasted only 
 two years, being interrupted by the new building]. The older 
 scholars taught the little ones their letters, and then listened to 
 Mr. Steele." [Mrs. Eichbaum's reminiscences, given me in an 
 interview 7 in 1ST 7.] This school was held in the afternoon of 
 the Sabbath, and attention called to it at the morning service. 
 Mr. Steele taught alone. He is said to have had a " kindly, 
 familiar, and explanatory and conversational way of teaching." 
 Mis salary was $450, finally increased to $600. He had rive 
 children, three sons and two daughters. He lived scantily, but 
 the people shared often with him what they had. He was 
 highly respected in the community. "He was a Free Mason. 
 A lot being purchased, some mechanics gave each a day's work 
 to help to build the back part of a dwelling house into which 
 he moved. He was industrious and wrought in his own garden. 
 He caught the cold which caused his death in a few days, 
 by working at a 'fire' at four o'clock of a cold morning." 
 [Mrs. Way's memories.] His death occurred on the 22d of 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 41 
 
 March, 1810, and was regarded as a severe affliction to the 
 church. Already, in February, 1804, Messrs. A.ddison, Steven- 
 son and Clow, had been appointed to memorialize the General 
 Assembly against a decree of the Synod in liis case, and Judge 
 Addison's name in the protest and appeal already referred to, is 
 evidence that Mr. Steele must have been both a faithful and a 
 competent pastor. Judge Snowden writes of him as "much 
 beloved by the church," and that "his death caused much sym- 
 pathy." Resolutions of the Board of Trustees [it is a grief 
 every way, that no Sessional records of this period exist] were 
 passed, expressing respect and esteem. The church was ordered 
 to be draped in mourning. The second resolution gave the pew 
 rents to the widow until another pastor f should be chosen, and 
 after that an annuity of $200 during her widowhood. This was 
 finally commuted, December Kith, 1.S17, by the payment of a 
 single sum of $400. It is an almost unparalleled example, and 
 was deserved by this ladylike and talented woman. 
 
 The religious life of this whole period may readily he inferred 
 from the facts now recited. The tide was very strong toward 
 much that did not favor high spirituality. Church growth was 
 slow and devotional life feeble. Immigration brought help, hut 
 there were few conversions. The total number of communicants 
 in the year of Mr. Steele's death was fifty-eight only. The 
 struggles of the period had eventuated in establishment, as those 
 of the previous period in existence, and in neither case with any 
 great margin. The depression of debt was the more keenly felt. 
 because of the ineffectual (because improper) method of attempt- 
 ing to remove it. But real progress was being made, neverthe- 
 less. The church now appears in Presbytery, for the first time, 
 with £5 for the Commissioner's fund, entered naively, I think, 
 to "the First Presbyterian Congregation of Pittsburgh — the first 
 collection." (Min. p. 210.) Our church seems to have been late 
 in learning to give to general objects. Even in 1808 it does no! 
 appear among the missionary contributors of the Presbytery — nor 
 in 1<S00, nor in Synod's tables of 1808-1812. The membership 
 numbered 45 in 1808, -is in 1809, and 65 in 1810, so that the 
 last years of Mr. Steele's ministry were some of the most fruitful. 
 Around us there had been growth. Cross Creek Church num- 
 bered 255 ; Cross Roads and Three Springs, ( McCurdy's charge, I 
 numbered 2o7, and many others about 200 members. Putt the 
 4 
 
A'2 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 city and the country were widely dissimilar in moral condition. It 
 is the record of a struggle indeed within these corporation lines. 
 We need far better knowledge of the times and manners and 
 morals and limited resources of the time, to enable us to under- 
 stand the sacrifice and labor ami prayer of faithful ones which is 
 represented in the maintenance and advancement of our church 
 during the first decade of this century. Think how differently 
 our well equipped churches start into being nowadays ! Let lis 
 remember that their patience and endurance instruct us in our 
 enlarged work, and that even in mistakes they were working out 
 their education and our safety. 
 
 Ho cuds Period II — in establishment. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 43 
 
 PERIOD III 
 
 Concluding Sermon, April 20th, 1884— Sabbath Morning. 
 
 1 Timothy, Hi : 14, 15. 
 
 " These things write I unto thee that thou mightest know how thou 
 oughtest to behave thyself in the house of ( k>d, which is the church of the 
 living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." 
 
 That is the moral purpose which all the recitals of this golden 
 week are designed to subserve. Whether celebration of the 
 virtues and graces of the good men and women of other days, or 
 recounting their hair-breadth escapes, or even acknowledging 
 their foibles and faults, whether remembering the days of dark- 
 ness and discouragement or those of favor and progress, all is 
 meant to teach us how to lead our lives in. relation to the church 
 of our own day, with all its peculiar difficulties and responsibili- 
 ties or larger means and opportunities. 
 
 And to this we ought to be stimulated by remembering what 
 the "house of God" is! Deficient in many things it may be, 
 soiled with this and that spot, marred with such and such excres- 
 cences, and sometimes weak to tottering, yet remember, if you 
 would behave rightly in it, that it is the "church of the living God, 
 the pillar and ground of the truth." 
 
 And nothing can prove it better than the history of a single 
 century in a single church. Here, but for the grace of God and 
 the truth of God, there had been found unsanctified human 
 nature enough to have buried the church under its corruptions, 
 or exploded it by contentions, or to have forsaken its work and 
 
44 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 worship for worldliness. The contrary — so richly proven — is due 
 to the great fact of the text. The First Church lias been held and 
 led and disciplined as part of the "church of the living God," and 
 it has been the "pillar and ground of the truth," because its own 
 steadiness came from the unfailing power of the God who gave 
 spiritual life to its members. 
 
 Let us seek, therefore, in what remains, both directly and indi- 
 rectly, to be learning how we may behave ourselves in and toward 
 and through the "house of God, which is the church of the living 
 God, the pillar and ground of the truth." 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 4") 
 
 LINK BETWEEN PERIODS II and III. 
 
 Few churches have been so favored as this one, in those who have 
 supplied from time to time the periods intervening between pastors 
 — and in the longer periods of pastoral absence. Dr. S. H. 
 Kellogg, with whom your satisfaction is now so pronounced, was 
 preceded in 1879 by Dr. S. J. Wilson, our admired and lamented 
 Professor, whose reception and honors here, just a year ago, are 
 so fresh in our mind, and yet seem to blend with the mournful 
 pageant of his funeral. He was preceded in 1872 by the beloved 
 and persuasive Dr. Wm. H. Hornblower, whose kindness won 
 universal esteem, as his preaching secured universal approval ; 
 and with his ministrations were joined in the same year, those 
 of the lamented and admired, the many talented Dr. M. W. 
 Jacobus. They were preceded by Dr. Archibald Alexander 
 Hodge, in 1865, whose marvelous facility was only equaled by his 
 depth. Before him was Dr. W. W. Eels, whose how still abides 
 in strength. And with a long interval, during those years when 
 some kindly offices were necessary to its very existence, the 
 church was ministered to in the period between Mr. Steele's 
 death in March, 1810, and Dr. Herron's arrival in June, 1811, 
 by the Rev. Joseph Stockton. His father Robert was a cousin of 
 Richard, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 
 Robert Stockton removed to Washington, Pa., in 17<s4, (the year 
 of organization) and was ordained as one of the four first elders 
 of the church formed there subsequently, (as his father, Thomas 
 Stockton, had been an elder before him). He was one of the 
 early delegates to the Presbytery of Redstone. Joseph Stockton 
 was educated at Canonsburg, and studied theology with John 
 McMillan. In 1801 he became pastor at Meadville, and came 
 
46 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 thence in 1809 as Principal of the Pittsburgh Academy, which 
 afterwards became the Western University of Pittsburgh. Thus 
 he was brought to the aid of this church in its time of trial, by 
 those scholarly tastes which marked his -whole life. He was 
 received By the Presbytery of Redstone, October, 1810, and 
 appointed supply of the " First Congregation of Pittsburgh, as 
 often as convenient," After his service here, which was of the 
 greatest value to the church, he continued teaching until 1819.* 
 Then removing to Allegheny, he gathered its first handful of 
 worshipers and prepared the way for the late)- organization of 
 the First Church of Allegheny. In the history of that church 
 the fuller record of his labors has been made. He was one of 
 the most accomplished of the early ministers. His published 
 school books aided education largely, as did his own admirable 
 teaching. He was skilled in Medicine, and his unfinished volume 
 on Theology displays the depth of his acquirements, as other 
 things their variety. His life was a pattern of usefulness 
 and devotion. Fie was President of the "Pittsburgh Sabbath 
 School Union," and served "with efficiency and power." 
 
 His missionary labors in all this region -were given almost 
 without reward and freely, from the Arsenal and Allegheny to 
 Sharpsburg and Pine Creek (the churches at the latter two 
 points being erected under his care). And even his service, so 
 important at the time, to our own church, was probably gratui- 
 tous. A certain sum was declared due by the Board of Trus- 
 tees, but there is no evidence of its payment. He probably 
 refused it, as family tradition says he did, out of consideration to 
 Mr. Steele's family, and out of sympathy with the struggling 
 church. The name of Stockton is precious in many a home 
 within these borders. Snatched away by cholera in October, 
 1832, and dying away from home, he was sustained with an 
 unfaltering trust. "The battle is nearly fought," said the dying 
 
 * It was in 1S14 that the Presbytery feared Mr. Stockton's conformity to the views 
 it held, ueeded to be inquired into: but it was easily satisfied with the absence of 
 evidence, and with his own statement in which "he acknowledged that he had bap- 
 tized a child for Mr. Cromwell, which was apparently at the point of death, but denied 
 that he had dined abroad with any party or parties on the Sabbath, or that he had 
 played at backgammon, or either directly or indirectly advocated balls and dancing, 
 and that he had decidedly spoken against all theatrical exhibitions and the circus." 
 Thus he completes the list— Addison, Barr, Mahon, Steele and Stockton, which shows 
 how watchful the old Presbytery of Redstone was, and how decided its views were on 
 " questions of conscience.'' 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 47 
 
 minister. "And will you gain the victory?" said one beside. 
 • Yes," he replied, "I feel that I shall— I feel that Christ is with 
 me." He frequently prayed, " Come, Lord Jesus ! Come quickly ! 
 
 Thy servant waits." His character is well illustrated in the fact 
 that the Pittsburgh Humane Society (the object of which was 
 •'tn alleviate the distress of the poor, to supply the wants of the 
 hungry, to administer comfort to the widow, the orphan and the 
 sick,") had Mr. Stockton for its President : and by the fact that the 
 ladies decided, early in 1832, to hold the meetingthat resulted in the 
 Orphan Asylum (so successful since) at his house : and that when 
 the public meeting was called in this church, April 17, 1832, by 
 Mrs. Page, Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Denny, and others, the Rev. 
 Joseph Stockton "led the devotions." Thus one of his latest 
 official acts was to implore the divine blessing upon so fruitful a 
 beginning winch was to carry forward the spirit of his own life, 
 and in which, so many years afterwards, descendants of his own 
 should still be efficiently and officially interested. 
 
 The record of the church-life of this intercalary year was not 
 one of discouragement, though naturally, not one of great 
 progress. The total number of communicants in April, 1810, 
 was sixty-five. In April, 1811, twenty-one infants had been bap- 
 tized, one member had been dismissed, four had been received on 
 examination, and six by certificate, and the total number of com- 
 municants stood at seventy-four. 
 
 Thus was forgred the link between Periods II and III. 
 
4,S HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 PERIOD III 
 
 It was God's time now for the third period— that of success. 
 The Reverend Francis Herron, pastor at Rocky Springs since 
 1800, came to visit his relative, Dr. Brown, of Washington, Pa., 
 and preached in the First Church by request. Great interest 
 was excited and such a call followed him home, as brought him 
 hack again in the spring of 1811. What he found may he in- 
 ferred from what has been said. One who knew, has written : 
 "The church was found to he in an almost hopeless state of 
 pecuniary embarrassment ; hut far worse than this, religion, by 
 a large portion of the people, was utterly discarded, and with 
 many of its professors had little more than the semblance of 
 form." Judge Snowden's history states that "the number of 
 persons who then attended upon the preaching of the Word was 
 comparatively small, and the laxity of discipline was equally 
 lamentable." Dr. Herron was heard afterwards " frequently to 
 speak of the prevalence of fashionable follies, the strength of 
 pernicious social habits, the influence of worldliness over the 
 church, and the mournful absence of the spirit and power of 
 vital godliness that characterized that period." [Dr. Paxton's 
 "Memorial," pp. 37, 38.J Several striking traditional utterances 
 of that time fully substantiate these authorities, but they need 
 not be quoted. Evidently the first years were to be those of 
 struggle still. Things more powerful than the "swallows" of 
 171)*) were now to be encountered and dispossessed. Indeed 
 there seemed to be a spiritual chill upon the region. In 1813 
 there was noted by the Synod, troublous times, "bitter party 
 accrimination" was lamented, which impaired the "peace of 
 society " and threatened its "safety,' and "exerted a baneful in- 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 4J| 
 
 fluence on the harmony and edification of the church of God." 
 (p. 100). Growth was slow in every direction. 
 
 Allegheny was then so unimportant that the Clerk of Presby- 
 tery spells it without a capital letter, and the Presbytery itself 
 thought it "out of order to grant the Key. Joseph Stockton 
 permission to preach there." (Red. Min. p. 263.) 
 
 The First Church numbered, in 1814, as total of communi- 
 cants, 65. (Not very rapid thirty years growth.) And in 1816 
 it numbered only 78. But in 1 <S1 7 it had risen to 120, and in 
 1818 it had reached loo. Its first mission contribution recorded 
 is in -1815, $60, but in 1818 it gave $177.36. Here is noticed 
 the first hint of organized Woman's Work. The "Female 
 Cent Society of Pittsburgh," gave to the Western Missionary 
 Society, $57. 
 
 The membership seems to fluctuate, though there was real 
 progress. In 1820, 180 communicants are reported; in 1821, 
 174 are enrolled, and in 1*22, only 1B7. Many are dismissed 
 each year, and doubtless the population more rapidly changed 
 than now. The depression was great at the point of the finances. 
 On the 8th of July, one hundred per cent., was added to the pew 
 rents, to be paid in one, two and three years. The debt amounted 
 to 84,800. The salary paid was but $600 per annum. And 
 this though the city was in a condition of prosperity. 
 
 But difficulties only stirred the noble and evangelical pastor 
 to exertion. Some method of relief must be found, and early 
 in 1814 the sale of a large corner lot from the front on Wood 
 street was finally determined upon, by which to pay all indebt- 
 edness. The $3,000 paid for it by the Bank of Pittsburgh, paid 
 the judgment and costs of the sheriff's sale in 1813, and placed 
 in the Treasury a balance of 8181. [Relief it was, but final 
 loss, for when later efforts (1808) were made to regain the prop- 
 erty sold, it had become too valuable. Yet, when resold to 
 the church in 1824 by the Bank (and generously) for just what 
 had been paid for it, and two lot* sold to pay for the one, they 
 brought in a surplus over cost, and that stands yet ( I suppose) 
 in the ornamental iron fence in front.] 
 
 In l<Sl(i an enlargement was determined upon, ami carried out 
 in 1817. What interest there must have been in the community, 
 replacing former indifference, is shown in the fact that the pews 
 sold then for $7,470 — a remarkable result in a church number- 
 
f)0 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 ing seventy-eight communicants. No better proof could be given 
 that the people were beginning to learn the worth, to them, of 
 such a church and pastor. The light in the candlestick of gold 
 was brightening and it was fittingly symbolized in the gift of 
 the famous O'Hara chandelier. 
 
 Progress was still to be made, and in 1818 the pulpit was 
 altered and the session room built. There was now a place to 
 pray for the persevering few who had the spirit of prayer, better 
 than the one dimly lighted corner of the main room to which 
 the faithful had resorted. And here, as in every addition to the 
 instrument of His service, (hid accepted and blessed what His 
 people wrought. How eminently a sacred spot has that session 
 room always been ! How many seasons of spiritual power have 
 been experienced in it ! Some who have been most helpful have 
 seen the light- spiritual there. Every Sabbath morning the Session 
 and others met there for prayer. " There the young men com- 
 menced their prayer meeting," says Dr. Lea, " and laid their 
 plans for the formation of the Third Church. There the AYestern 
 Theological Seminary first convened. It contained the library 
 and the first class, ami there, more than anywhere else, was 
 formed the Western Foreign Missionary Society." [Dr. L.'s 
 paper, read July 4th, 1880, Communion season.] 
 
 For help out of all difficulties, the truth as it is in Jesus was 
 first of all relied upon. Faithful and affectionate preaching and 
 earnest pastoral work wrought these changes and others. 
 
 The revival of 1822 followed. The backslidden were reclaimed, 
 the hands of the constant strengthened, and the attention of 
 the worldly attracted. Not lotteries this time, hut prayer meet- 
 ings and spiritual life were sought unto as the means of escape 
 from difficulty. And they were blessed, as always. The decided 
 stand against the fashionable follies of the time that won for Dr. 
 Herron the then significant title, "Methodist," won also their 
 better judgment, and finally their help. The impetus of the 
 Sabbath School movement had already begun to he felt. Dr. 
 Herron and the pious Joseph Patterson formed the Sabbath 
 School Association of Pittsburgh in 1817, and in the First Church, 
 for itself, in 1825, and thus kept the First Church true to its 
 work when others tired of it. So that in 1*32 the maximum 
 interest reached recorded 12 schools and 1,222 scholars. A special 
 building for this purpose, first of its kind in all the region, was 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 51 
 
 erected in 1826, (cost $700.) The blessing of God continued on 
 
 the church which cared for its own and other children. (Sabbath 
 School Association endured until '52.) The Third Presbyterian 
 Church was formed in 1833, with full consent and approval of 
 the First, and some .of the choicest material of the First entered 
 the enterprise, a few of whom have survived to celebrate its 
 semi-centennial in the midst of prosperity and promise. 
 
 But all that had gone before could not so have encouraged the 
 heart of the indomitable and faithful pastor as did the revival of 
 1*27. Some are vet living who passed through its scenes. The 
 church, nay, the town was never the same afterwards. It was the 
 final evidence that the grace of God and His gospel could conquer 
 anywhere. Here is the description of one eye witness, ( in addition 
 to which you are referred to'Dr. Paxton's Memorial Sermons, pp. 58 
 -64, and to Dr. Lea's Communion paper in the Appendix.) Mr. 
 Daniel Bushnell writes: "After the lecture room was built the 
 prayer meetings were better attended, but I did not know much 
 about them until the winter of 1827, when a great revival among 
 God's people was manifest, and many conversions to God re- 
 sulted. I have been informed that the revival was the result of 
 the earnest preaching of Dr. Herron on the importance of more 
 consecration of God's people and the importance of special effort 
 of Christians to benefit the souls of sinners around them. The 
 Dr. called his Session together, told them that he saw signs of 
 encouragement in the congregation, and proposed special meet- 
 ings for prayer. The effort was made and meetings appointed in 
 various parts of the city: God's blessing followed the effort and 
 the result was that all the churches were revived more or less, 
 and great numbers were converted to God. At the communion 
 in February, 1828, about fifty persons, old and young, united 
 with the First Church, and about the same number on the next 
 communion. The result of that revival remains to this day. The 
 tone of piety was greatly elevated; Christians began to realize 
 that they individually had something to do in advancing the 
 cause of Christ, and took hold of the work at once. Sabbath 
 Schools gained a new impulse. Mission work was commenced in 
 destitute parts of the city, and all religious efforts were greatly 
 promoted. Meetings were held in the lecture room every night, 
 and were well attended, though it rained almost incessantly all 
 that winter. The Dr. was well supported by his ministering 
 
• r )2 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 brethren from the surrounding country, and many of them ob- 
 tained such refreshing from the influence of these meetings that 
 they were able to communicate to their own churches, and thus 
 the leaven spread." 
 
 After 1827 spiritual success was assured. Then the church 
 learned where its true strength laid. Then it gained the power of 
 despising circumstances and inconveniences in order to do good. 
 "Very dark nights" and "very deep mud" meant nothing as ob- 
 stacles. The "wet winter" was a winter of power. All testimonies 
 bear witness to the vigorous spring forward in all earnest Chris- 
 tian living and working which followed and proved the genuine- 
 ness of this revival. 
 
 Among the results came that large piece of work, the desire to 
 accomplish which was born of the missionary spirit, and which 
 was to fill so large a space in the spiritual history of our com- 
 munity and of our country and beyond. Early deliverances of the 
 Synod lamented the distance of young men from Princeton, and 
 earnestly determined were the men of the West to educate their 
 own sons for the ministry on their own soil. Dr. McMillan had 
 been appointed professor of theology at Jefferson College, but 
 something larger was necessary now. Dr. Herron's address ami 
 casting vote secured the Seminary, but what a burden came with 
 it for him! Nobly was it borne. In the long train of years noth- 
 ing better illustrates the staunch character of both pastor and 
 people than the filially successful struggle to maintain our beloved. 
 Seminary. Nobly were they assisted by others, as for example by 
 Mr. Graham, of Beulah, who rode over his whole country side 
 collecting funds and gave $50 himself out of a salary of $700 ; and 
 as by Richard Lea's agency, of which our Michael Allen paid all 
 the expenses; but Dr. Brownson has well written that there were 
 long, long years when any faltering on Dr. Herron's part would 
 have been " fatal." The education of " poor but pious youth" 
 was one of the passions of his life, and he knew that a populous 
 centre was the place to bring them to for a proper training in 
 Christian work. And thoroughly has the result vindicated the 
 wisdom of his struggles. What multitudes of souls in our own 
 country and in heathen lands have reason to bless God for 
 the zeal and prudence and persistence which built up this school 
 of the prophets ! 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 53 
 
 Dr. Herron early realized, with others, the power of the press. 
 Glowing resolutions were passed by the Synod concerning a 
 religious periodical in October, 1821, and Rev. John Anderson 
 was chosen editor. Dr. Herron was one of the committee to 
 "assist Mr. Anderson by purchasing material, and to procure an 
 editor if Mr. Anderson shall decline." The "Recorder," and another 
 "Missionary Journal" were valuable publications, as well as 
 "The Preacher." [Pains should be taken to secure full sets of 
 them for the church archives.] 
 
 In 1823 the church numbered 216 
 
 In 1824 the church numbered 1!U 
 
 In 1825 the church numbered 219 
 
 In 1826 the church numbered 230 
 
 In 1827 the church numbered 262 
 
 This last year the contribution to Missions reached $354. 
 
 In 1828 the church reported, I revival, !»•"> added i :;i!> 
 
 In 1829 the church reported 330 
 
 In 1830 the church reported 359 
 
 At this time a number of members, Mrs. John Grubbs, Stephen 
 Straight, John Patterson and wife, Mary Anderson, Isabella 
 Stewart, Mr. Irwin and Mr. Semple, were granted letters in a 
 body to form the First Church of Allegheny City. < Jthers went 
 also, among them the useful Elder John Hannen (who was long 
 known as "the beloved disciple " for his gentle manners and 
 devoted life.) 
 
 About this time (1828) began the settlement of the principles of 
 denominational action in the carrying forward of the evangelizing 
 work of the church. Union had been attempted, but friction 
 resulted, and it was believed that much more could be accom- 
 plished if each branch of the church of Christ were thoroughly 
 organized to do its own work. The first point which came up for 
 decision concerned education. In October, 1828, the Synod's 
 resolution about theological education, took ground looking away 
 from the "American Education Society." Better work could be 
 done for the Seminary, as well as through it, if the church would 
 work by its own instrumentalities. A "Society of Education" 
 was formed, auxiliary to the "Board" of Education, (and Dr. 
 Herron, by the way, was a member of the committee which 
 drafted the Constitution of that Board.) Funds were then con- 
 
54 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 tributed in obedience to that decision, which are blessing the 
 church and the world of to-day with their product. 
 
 Simultaneously came the similar decision concerning church 
 work in Missions. Had this region dune nothing else for our 
 denomination as a whole, its early and firm enunciation of this 
 principle (now universally adopted, but then ccntroverted) would 
 entitle it to everlasting remembrance. The principle was asserted 
 in this same Synod of 1828 — carried further in 1829, and in 
 
 1830 ; and finally reached organization in 1831. How full, and 
 large, and clear the utterance was! The swing of the diction 
 marks it, I think, as Dr. Swift's. 
 
 At that same Synod, (1828, convened in this church,) a new- 
 hold was taken on the press. "The Spectator" was to receive the 
 Rev. H. Jennings as editor. Drs. Swift and Hoge were a com- 
 mittee to plead for it by an address to the public. 
 
 Presbyterianism in its citadel, viz.: its eldership, was guarded 
 by resolutions denying the privilege of voting in ecclesiastical 
 bodies to mere " committee men," from congregational churches. 
 It was, in many regards, the greatest deliberative meeting ever 
 held in this church. Temperance was commended and organiza- 
 tion counseled. Sabbath Union and Sunday School Union were 
 endorsed. Revivals were prayed for and expected, and special 
 Christian work of all kinds commended. The enthusiasm of the 
 West began to tell upon the East, and became visible in the 
 General Assembly. It was in answer to a call in the latter body, 
 that a group of young and earnest ministers, among whom were 
 Dr. Cowan's father and my Father, came West in 1829. Ah ! 
 when the church arises she shines. It is inaction she has to fear 
 far more than any external foes. 
 
 In 1831 the church numbered 389. Now was felt the stir 
 which increased to separation of the denomination. Subscription 
 ex annuo had been required in 1826, by action of Synod. A book 
 was ordered to be subscribed. " I, A. R., do receive," etc. In 
 
 1831 the beginnings of the conflict became visible, both as to 
 subscription and the eldership versus, committee men. Suffice it to 
 say that the prevision of the leaders here has been justified by 
 the adoption of their principles by the entire denomination. 
 Immediate church work went on. Help was appealed for in 
 behalf of the Theological Seminary furnishment ; and it was 
 stated that "considerable additions were probable, and their hoard 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. •)•) 
 
 would be reduced to seventy-five cents a week, provided a suffi- 
 cient number of rooms in the Seminary building' were furnished 
 for their reception." "Pious music teachers" were sought, and 
 the growth of Sabbath Schools noticed. 
 
 Larger feelings about the great Western Valley began now to 
 show themselves. Pittsburgh is pronounced the "commercial 
 centre of more than 8,000 miles of steamboat navigation. God, 
 in His providence, seems almost to have annihilated distance." 
 " Gigantic influence " of this point seems sure to them. There 
 was an amazing increase of population, and more thousands were 
 expected. The Synod says : "The member of this Synod is still 
 living, who first sounded the silver trumpet of the gospel, and 
 broke the first loaf of the bread of life (to a handful convened in a 
 log barn) wed of the Ohio! Population has more than doubled 
 every ten years. At this rate there will be a population west of the 
 Allegheny Mountains, in twenty-five years, of 20,000,000 ! ! Can 
 we close our eyes? Brethren, keep the sacred fire ever burning 
 upon our own altars, and send down this immense valley one thou- 
 sand torch bearers." Besides this, the African Missionaries were 
 "about to embark," in 1832, and were commended to the prayers 
 of the church. The zeal and faith of our forefathers attacked 
 the foreign missionary world at its darkest point. They were of 
 heroic faith. The greater the difficulties the more the enterprise 
 appeared to be of God. 
 
 This large-hearted general condition of things was necessarilv 
 accompanied with growth in this individual church. In 1832 
 the church numbered If.29. Then it was crowned with revival, 
 (see Dr. Paxton's Memorial, pp. 64—8, ) and that was crowned 
 again by planting a new centre of light and power — the Third 
 Church. Then followed closely again the revival of 1<S84, in 
 which the number of conversions from the Sabbath Schools was 
 larger than ever before. But it was time for trouble again. This 
 time it came in connection with the denominational history. Of 
 the whole epoch of division, 1885, '6, '7, nothing need here be 
 said beyond the record of the fact that pleasant personal relations 
 seem to have been maintained, even though the Third and 
 Minersville Churches became attached to the New School. The 
 whole discussion may have been fruitful of knowledge as to some 
 disputed doctrines, and certainly was fruitful in exhibiting the 
 principle of church work in education and evangelization ; but it 
 
■"><> HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 seems to have been an era unfruitful of large growth. It was 
 an evidence of good, sterling Christian character, and of the 
 
 presence of the grace of God, that such discussions could go 
 forward through many years and leave no deeper marks. 
 
 In 1839 the Session appointed Elder J. M. Snowden to prepare 
 a history of the church, which is recorded in the minute book 
 of the Session begun at that time. It is invaluable now. There 
 was the same early deficiency to complain of then as now, and it 
 is strange to us that the Session should have kept no records 
 before 1818. Thirty-four years of the church lost, so far as the 
 inner record of its spiritual life is concerned. There was never 
 kept a record of marriages and baptisms ; but we may repeat 
 with emphasis now, (forty-five years later,) what Judge Snowden 
 then wrote : "Much ground is afforded for confidence, gratitude 
 and praise; for goodness and mercy have followed the congrega- 
 tion through many difficulties." 
 
 During the "forties" little seems to have occurred which de- 
 mands special notice. In 1847 resolutions were passed and the 
 Session asked to call the congregation to provide a co-pastor for 
 Dr. Herron, but the movement failed. 
 
 In 1850, the burden, both of the church and of years, seemed 
 too much to be borne by the now venerable pastor. That 
 meeting must have been a solemn and tender one, in 
 which the attached friend and faithful elder, Harmar Denny, 
 read his resolutions touching his pastor's resignation. "Resolved, 
 in testimony of our affectionate regard for our beloved pastor, 
 who has spent an almost unprecedented period of labor and use- 
 fulness in our midst, characterized by uniform harmony, and 
 with manifold tokens of divine favor ; we tender him a sense of 
 our profound gratitude, and assurance of our cordial esteem for 
 his ministerial and personal worth, with the cherished hope and 
 desire that in his retirement he may realize the full consolations 
 of the gospel and ultimately the reward of a zealous and faith- 
 ful ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 A noble tribute! Most affectionate and most sincere. It was 
 accompanied with promise of provision for his comfort. Heaven 
 and the best of earth seem to blend in that scene. It is an 
 ideal spectacle, assuring us that there is nothing in this whole 
 world so holy, and tender, and deep, as "fellowship in the gospel." 
 It was the reward of faithfulness here and the pledge of 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 57 
 
 approval above. The First Church is an exceptionally noble 
 people to serve in the gospel, to live among and to die among. 
 
 And how richly fulfilled was this benediction upon the closing 
 days of this grand life. They were serene and calm in experi- 
 ence, and most useful in preaching, and prayer, and counsel. 1 
 have related to you formerly the history of the revival of 1851, 
 (as given me by Dr. Paxtori) when Dr. Herron's counsel to 
 " call an inquiry-meeting" seemed to be the turning point to a 
 wonderful ingathering. His soulful words of final confession of 
 the sufficiency and power <>f the gospel of Christ, and final ap- 
 peal to "fellow sinners" to be saved by this only way of salva- 
 tion, delivered as the last sermon in the old house, lingers in 
 many a heart and deserves to be hung in illuminated type some- 
 where on these walls. [See Appendix.] 
 
 What a blessing was that noble presence with the silver hair and 
 the treasured memories which wove him into the heart of every 
 household, as Sabbath by Sabbath he occupied the great chair 
 beneath the pulpit! It was a life-evening so calm, so bright, so 
 typically perfect that it seemed, like a far northern sky, 
 rather to melt into heaven's morning than to die into any darkness. 
 Taken as a whole it was a marked life throughout for its 
 power of personal influence. It was Dr. Herron's character (like 
 Washington's in the Revolution) more than his genius, to which 
 the people came as to a refuge and strength. Mrs. General 
 Butler (a bright and accomplished woman, but of skeptical mind ) 
 would invite Mrs. Herron to her parties, but not the Doctor, sav- 
 ing that he was a "Methodist" and an "enthusiast." But when 
 a great thunder storm arose she would come over to Dr. 
 Herron's house. He asked, "Do you think yourself safer 
 here ? " She answered, " Oh, you are a Methodist, but you are a 
 good man, and if there is any place safe it will be this." [Mrs. 
 Smith's reminiscences.] 
 
 Thus let him remain forever in the minds of men. When the 
 community first knew his supreme earnestness and steadfast op- 
 position to every form of evil, it called him an " enthusiast," 
 but as they saw the gospel he loved and preached bringing order 
 out of confusion, and joy amid sorrow, they began to feel that 
 it was safe to be where the good man was. Dr. Herron's personal 
 influence was illustrated by his remarkable power of enlisting 
 help in any work which engaged him, and in setting men to 
 
58 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 work on lines suited to their special endowments, as in Dr. 
 Nevin's Sabbath afternoon lectures on "The Analogies of 
 Religion." The Session of the church recorded their gratitude 
 for "the trials he endured, the difficulties he surmounted, the in- 
 fluences for good he put into operation, the controlling influence 
 he exerted in this whole community, and the moral and spiritual 
 reformation which he effected in this church." [Memorial, p. 
 136.] 
 
 The dates of his life are these. Born June 28th, 1774, near 
 Shippensburg, Pa., of Scotch-Irish and pious parents, and 
 trained by them and the times to faith and manliness. Dickin- 
 son graduate, May, 1794; theology with Cooper; licensed 4th 
 October, 1797; toughened by* severe journey West, 1798-9 ; 
 kindled by great revivals in progress there ; settled at Rocky 
 Springs, Pa., in April, 1800, and after eleven years of successful 
 pastoral life translated to Pittsburgh, First Church, thence to 
 heaven, on December 6th, 1860. As preacher, careful in prepa- 
 ration, biblical, experimental, and always impressive. As pastor, 
 affectionate, accessible, persuasive and progressive in methods. 
 As presbyter, a born leader in Presbytery and Synod, and 
 Moderator of the General Assembly in 1827. As president, 
 directing the Board of Directors of the Western Theological 
 Seminary from its first meeting until his death. As citizen, de- 
 voted to the city's interests, jealous of its morals, helpful in 
 extending its churches, founding the first " Moral Association," 
 and holding the first Temperance meetings. 
 
 Dr. Herron's piety was marked. It was early, tender, strong, 
 equable yet stimulated by revivals, characterized, no less by 
 prayer than by active zeal. He was pre-eminently a man to 
 mold the times. " There are but two things in Pittsburgh," was 
 once said, " Dr. Herron and the Devil, and the Doctor seems to 
 be getting the advantage." In personal majesty of presence 
 unequaled, in influence commanding and magnetic. Equal to 
 emergencies in church or city, with pronounced convictions and 
 well matured opinions, sound judgment and warm sympathies, of 
 remarkable courage and great practical wisdom. When he died 
 all mourned a father. Business and even the Courts were sus- 
 pended in his honor. Tributes of every description were paid 
 to his worth. The tablet erected by a grateful people, in 1874, 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 59 
 
 the centennial of his birth, "bears these closing words : " Revered 
 by the church he served and the city he adorned." 
 
 Dr. Herron was a true Moses to this people. During his forty 
 years pastorate they were led from an Egypt of bondage to debt, 
 and out of the murmurings of the desert for some forbidden grati- 
 fications, to the promised land of abundance, to become a strono- 
 and settled generation of devoted servants to God. 
 
 Let his noble face and stature be perpetuated in picture and 
 description, let his fame be preserved in anecdote and history and 
 storied tablet, for all these things bring to mind is the product of 
 that gospel he held up to man with the firm accents of youth 
 and the tremulous hands of age, which he illustrated by his life 
 as he proclaimed it with his lips, and which is our only hope of 
 salvation. 
 
 More and more should be done to keep the rising generations 
 of this church and-of this community thoroughly familiar with 
 this nobly complete type of Christian manliness, unreserved per- 
 sonal consecration, indomitable will and unflinching perseverance 
 and undaunted faith, so that they may bravely pioneer in the 
 paths of moral struggles as he did, and loyally live for and peace- 
 fully die in the Christ he loved. So it should be that not only 
 those of our past who lie around him in the cemetery now, but 
 the hundreds of others who will be buried there, should be 
 thought of as one family, and that when the resurrection morning 
 comes, he should rise with them to commend them (mayhap, 
 also, the pastors who have followed him and have sought to 
 drink into his spirit) to Christ the Lord, saying, "Here am land 
 the children whom thou hast given me." 
 
 When the change became necessary in 1850, one was soon 
 found and called with perfect unanimity, whom the ex-pastor re- 
 ceived with as much esteem and trust as the congregation exhib- 
 ited of enthusiasm and admiration. As he "received him with 
 open arms," so for the remaining ten years of his life Dr. Her- 
 ron "cherished" his successor "with the magnanimity of his great 
 Christian heart and the tenderness of a parental affection." [Me- 
 morial, p. 72.] The training and impulses of Dr. William M. 
 Paxton when he came hither after two years pastorate at Green- 
 castle, Pa., were such as to make all his abilities tributary to 
 carrying the church forward in the direction now at last so 
 firmly taken. It was but a short interval until the new pastor 
 
(i() HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 was on the field (early in 1851,) and but another short interval 
 until the evident blessing of God in the edification of the older 
 and the attraction of the younger began to be visible, anddmt 
 another short interval until the crowning blessing came in a gra- 
 cious, protracted and productive revival. The crisis of this 
 fourth pastorate of our century was passed when this revival 
 came, as that of the third was when the revival of 1827 came. 
 There are those, and many of them, still living among us, who can 
 bear witness to the deep and tender solemnity of that refreshing 
 season. Home date the beginning of their spiritual life from that 
 Sunday afternoon inquiry-meeting out of which most of the sev- 
 enty-five present went savingly impressed. It was a time of 
 power when Dr. Herron was here to counsel, and Dr. Paxton to 
 preach, and such men as Beer and Bailey and Lorenz and Laugh- 
 lin and Spencer and McCord and others to pray, to plan, and to 
 work. 
 
 The rapidly increasing congregations, combined with the con- 
 dition of city prosperity and the recognized pecuniary ability of 
 the church, together with the condition of the 1804 building, 
 pointed to a new church edifice. It was undertaken in 1852, and 
 finished in 1853, was one of the handsomest of its time, and has 
 stimulated many others of like grade. From '53 to '57 there was 
 steady growth, and then came another wave of spiritual interest. 
 Like '27, '32 and '51, it was deep and strong in its influence. 
 The revival immediately preceding had originated, none knew 
 how, within the congregation itself ; this one grew out of the Syn- 
 odical Convention of December, 1857, [see Dr. Paxton's address,] 
 and grew in common with the remarkable work of '57 and '58, the 
 marks of which are yet visible on the whole Christian surface of 
 the world. This church was thoroughly aroused. Young men's 
 activities began then as union meetings began. Mission schools 
 were now also more largely developed. The communions and 
 confession scenes of that period were marked seasons of solemnity 
 and consecration. 
 
 Scarcely had the enlarged work consequent upon this "time of 
 harvest" been well compassed when the pastor was called to a 
 work requiring much labor and study on his part, and some sacri- 
 fice on the part of the congregation, but one to which he was so 
 plainly designated by special gifts that all acquiesced in his de- 
 cision to undertake it. Here began his teaching the Science of 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 61 
 
 Homiletics in the Western Theological Seminary, which was con- 
 tinued until the termination of his pastorate and for several years 
 afterwards. It is needless to say that what he could do so sig- 
 nally well he could teach with equal success, and especially as 
 the church has just called him from the New York pastorate of 
 multiplied years and affections and its accompanying responsibili- 
 ties in denominational work ; to exercise the same office again in 
 her most venerable school for the ministry. 
 
 Scarcely had this work been well begun when the hot breath 
 of war was felt in the air, and the duties and anxieties of that 
 period came alike upon pastor and people. And how admirably 
 both did the duties and bore the anxieties ! The pulpit gave no 
 uncertain sound, and its prayers were incessant, while the whole 
 church was ever ready with moral influence, with money, with 
 men at the front and with faithful women, not a few, in all the 
 varied labors by which they sustained the army in the held. 
 The great " Sanitary Association" meeting held in this church 
 will never be forgotten. 
 
 During this whole term the unity of feeling between pastor 
 and people was never for a moment impaired. The one was 
 sympathetic in affliction, clear in counseling inquirers, efficient 
 in discipline, unrivaled in the pulpit; the other satisfied, united, 
 hearty and active. There was great development in the useful- 
 ness of the Session during this period, and many of the names 
 which will be longest remembered for faithfulness and devotion, 
 were identified with it. The old choral choir, under the spirited 
 and spiritual guidance of Mr. Wright, continued throughout, 
 and many of its voices are gratefully remembered. The church, 
 throughout this period, at least after 1800, maintained so strong 
 a protest against sinful amusements that a pledge to abstain 
 from opera, theatre, circus and cards, was made a term of com- 
 munion for all who made confession of their faith. The be- 
 nevolence of the church made rapid increase, and its whole life 
 was strong, glowing, and often intense. The years of this pas- 
 torate were years of the "right hand of the Most High." They 
 were enviable years of prosperity in external and internal things. 
 Even the city extension and prosperity seemed to increase the 
 time of favor. The church life deepened as it strengthened, 
 and one must go far to find a record in which there is so much 
 cause for rejoicing, and so little left to desire, as in the history' 
 
62 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 of the First Church from 1850 to 1865. In June of that year 
 (just after an important meeting of the General Assembly in 
 this building) the pastor was constrained to bring these pleasant 
 and fruitful relations to an end, on account of considerations of 
 health, (his own and that of his son.) Reluctantly the con- 
 gregation acquiesced in what the pastor deemed imperative, and 
 you have appeared to be receiving something of compensation 
 for this painful separation, in the continued life and usefulness 
 elsewhere of the pastor to whom you were devoted, in his pres- 
 ence and words of instruction and cheer on this occasion and in 
 having been permitted recently to hear, from this pulpit, (before 
 which he was baptized) the son for whose health's sake, in part, 
 the ties of the past were sundered, and through whose life there 
 is such good hope of continuing the father's usefulness. It has 
 been your frequent privilege since 1865 to welcome with most 
 attentive hearing, the ministrations of Dr. Herron's successor and 
 friend, as it has mine to know and acknowledge his constant 
 kindness and support, so that in a way rather unusual there lias 
 been a continuance of the influences, feelings and traditions which 
 have permeated the church life, from 1811 onward. 
 
 When your late pastor was called, in December, 1865, and be- 
 gan his work with January, 1866, there was little to do but 
 build on foundations already firmly laid. However, with the 
 ever increasing volume of the city population, and the change 
 in the character of that part of it surrounding the church, (now 
 distinctly considered as located in the "old" part of the city.) 
 came the evident demand for additional aggressive work for 
 different classes. Attractive suburbs were calling away many 
 who had been active and faithful in their church relations, and 
 those moving to the city from elsewhere did not choose to reside 
 near the old centre. The indication of Providence was plain, 
 and the church addressed itself by degrees to this work (at once 
 a new and an old one.) Development in this direction was 
 aided by the reinstallation of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciation, which took place in this church in December, 1866, by 
 the Christian Conventions and the inspiring zeal of Mr. Moody, 
 and by the re-formation of the Young Men's Union in our own 
 church. The grand impulse of lay-evangelization was felt 
 among us, and has been responded to in various directions ever 
 since. The work of City Missions began in 1867, with the 
 
HISTORICAL 8EKMONS. G3 
 
 labors of the Rev. S. C. Faris, a faithful and devoted man. 
 Support was arranged by the gift of one thousand dollars per 
 annum by Mrs. E. F. Denny, and a contribution of $300 for 
 house rent from several gentlemen. Miss Ellen McNutt was 
 employed about the same time for a portion of each day, and 
 supported by private subscription. Others have aided in the 
 work from time to time. Mr. E. McGinnis, Deacon Newell, 
 Miss Mary Smith, Mrs. Anna Logan, and now Mr. John Thomp- 
 son have carried it forward with mingled zeal and discretion. Each 
 has contributed something of peculiar influence and wisdom, 
 and spiritual power, to this quiet but noble and successful work. 
 There was also co-operation, at one time, with the Woman's 
 Christian Association of the city, a district being assigned us, 
 and much faithful volunteer work being done in it. The result 
 has fully justified all the expenditure of time and means. 
 There are some in the church to-day, as in the Sabbath School, 
 and some in other churches, and some in the church above, who 
 would never have been drawn within the power of the gospel by 
 any other means. 
 
 In close connection with this going out to "compel them to 
 come in," has progressed the work of enlarging our Sabbath 
 School. The church discovered that a small home school was 
 discouraging even the attendance of church families, and that 
 mission schools stitched to the church by the slender thread of 
 pecuniary support, failed to gather into any fold even those who 
 were led into the " way of life" by the few persevering workers 
 in them. Enlargement being determined upon, the recruiting 
 by diligent visiting was begun, the consolidation of mission 
 schools followed, the senior department was organized and after- 
 noon sessions became the rule. The need of a new building was 
 felt, but the building was postponed. The church wrought earn- 
 estly to regain the position of 1<S32, in which year there had been 
 more than 1,200 scholars under her care in Sabbath Schools. 
 
 The same missionary spirit led to perfecting the inner organi- 
 zation of the church. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society 
 was formed in 1871, and $500 collected by it the first year. Other 
 agencies were instituted in their turn, chief among them the 
 Board of Deacons, (the first in the history of the church,) which 
 has proven every way helpful and efficient. Indeed, there seems 
 little to desire as to methods of Christian work. The church is 
 
64 HISTORICAL 8ERMONS. 
 
 prepared for them all, and if every member were as thoroughly 
 vitalized as the church is organized, success would be assured in 
 a larger measure than ever yet attained. The work of the Ses- 
 sion has continued unremitting and fruitful throughout. The 
 pecuniary obligations of the church have been fully met and its 
 benevolence has increased. In 1866-67, a debt of $5,000 was 
 paid, and expensive repairs to the church property, without and 
 within, (especially in 1868 and lN71)have been promptly pro- 
 vided for. The new organ came in 1869, and has been since 
 improved at considerable outlay. A handsome parsonage was 
 purchased in 1876-9, at the cost of $18,000, and in 1880-81, the 
 long desired Sabbath School and Lecture Rooms, with facilities 
 for Christian work of every description, were erected at a cost 
 of $24,000. 
 
 In the general life of the denomination, this period was signal- 
 ized by the re-union days of November, 1869. The never-to-be- 
 forgotten scenes of enthusiasm and hope will be a cherished part 
 of the history of this church forever. They cannot now be de- 
 scribed, in the general life of the city, this period is marked by 
 the sadly-contrasting scenes of the riots of 1877. On that "black 
 Sunday" of July we worshiped here and commended the cause 
 of public justice to the God of all our rights, and the pulpit 
 theme was the "Supremacy of Law." 
 
 During these years the traditional connection of the First 
 Church and the Theological Seminary was maintained by your 
 contributions, by the Presidency of the Board of Trustees, held 
 by one of our most esteemed members, by your pastor's member- 
 ship throughout in its Board of Directors, and by his service for 
 two years as Instructor in Hebrew. It is likely to be maintained 
 in the future by the elders who represent you on its Boards, 
 and i.t is affectionately commended to your prayers and benefac- 
 tions " throughout your generations." 
 
 Within this period the custom of annual sermons has been in- 
 augurated and observed, and this review so steadily made ami 
 once, at the fifteenth year, extended over the whole previous 
 portion of the pastorate, renders unnecessary more detail now. 
 Along with this, and both, I hope, will be permanent, we have 
 adopted the old Moravian custom of a year-text, I believe, upon 
 careful review, that some of these year-texts exercised a, consid- 
 erable influence ami gave coloring to the spiritual life of the 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 65 
 
 year. The whole purpose of annual review and year-text com- 
 bined was so to remember our past as rightly to build our future. 
 The " heartiness" of Hezekiah, 1872-3; the "Bible year," (text 
 from Ezra, 1878,) and the year of progress— (text, "Go forward,") 
 are instances, I think, all will remember. 
 
 The crisis of this fifth pastorate seems to have been past with 
 the first months of 1867. Then came to the church (as to most 
 of the churches of the city,) a season of sustained spiritual inter- 
 est and activity, specially characterized by its result in a large 
 ingathering into all the churches of converted young men. A* 
 new impulse was felt to have been secured and preparation for 
 the advanced work which followed was thus made. The move- 
 ment went steadily forward until, in the review of 1872, it was 
 noted that now it had been settled by God's goodness that the 
 First Church was not to become a church of the past. It was re- 
 corded then that our membership was increasing; that the Sab- 
 bath School was enlarging ; that the net gain of the year (without 
 unusual meetings,) was greater than ordinary; that our organiza- 
 tion was more complete, our interest in the poor and adapta- 
 tion to work for them, was more evident ; that our communion 
 contained more young people, and that more work than ever was 
 being undertaken for Christ. The prophecy was then also an- 
 nounced, which is now fulfilled, that it was "certain, with God's 
 blessing, the church will reach its centenary ( in twelve years) more 
 vigorous than ever." As in the review of 1866 it was recognized 
 that the church life was becoming more aggressive and more in- 
 terested in young men, and then the blessing came in the conver- 
 sion of young men ; so the next revival, in 1<S7(>, was character- 
 ized especially by interest in our Sabbath School, and a large 
 accession of the young of both sexes. Families within and with- 
 out the church were blessed, ami the fruits yet remain. Those 
 were scenes of great tenderness ami solemnity in the prayer- 
 meetings after Sabbath School and in the inquiry-meetings. The 
 pastor had uttered the key note in the year-text, "go forward"; 
 the Session had re-echoed it in a stirring appeal, printed and sent 
 to every member of the church ; the Sabbath School teachers felt 
 the -low of endeavor, and we were probably then more nearly a 
 whole church at work for Christ than ever before in our history, 
 unless in 1S27. It was emphatically a revival of the member- 
 ship and it was specially their work that wn< blessed, the lesson 
 
66 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 of encouragement in which fact will never, I trust, he lost from 
 the memory. of the church. 
 
 There were other scenes of interest which cannot now he par- 
 ticularized [especially that one of 1879, when the faithful evan- 
 gelists, Wishard and Johnson, lahored with us,] and in general 
 the additions to the membership continued. No communion, I 
 think, occurred without some accessions, and but one, if I re- 
 member correctly, without any addition by confession, though 
 there were several at which only one came to our Lord's table 
 for the first time. The fact is to be recorded with profound grati- 
 tude, that notwithstanding our common infirmities and repeated 
 negligence and coldness, the dear old church, in spite .of all that 
 has been untoward and difficult, has reached the century mile- 
 post of her journey with enlarged membership and undiminished 
 resources of every kind. 
 
 The termination of the fifth pastorate is too recent to allow — 
 so fresh are the feelings of six months ago — of anything more 
 than the bare record that it took place in connection with what 
 seemed an imperative call to a different service for the Master, 
 which came, singularly enough, almost simultaneously with the 
 similar call which carried the fourth pastor from the pulpit to the 
 professorial chair; and with this record the most grateful and 
 heartfelt acknowledgments of your abundant kindness when the 
 hour of separation came. May the blessing of God descend upon 
 this church for its unvarying trust in, co-operation with, and 
 provision for its pastors. 
 
\8~MaMMi ^. ^Qxfoyfc. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. Hi 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS 
 
 The history of a hundred years would only be baffling to in- 
 terest by its multiplicity of detail and equally void of spiritual 
 profit were there not distinguishing characteristics which give unity 
 to details and point spiritual lessons. Such characteristics are 
 sure to emerge in any history, and the record now before us 
 seems to be more than ordinarily rich in them. They become 
 most clearly visible when seen in vista, or when arranged as 
 similar beads may be on a single thread. In describing the charac- 
 teristics of the church all the scaffolding is taken down and the 
 building becomes visible from foundation to spire. There have 
 been variable pecuniary conditions and different currents of 
 popular estimation traceable in the history as there have been 
 changes of pastors, and many influences from without, and all 
 these have their importance ; but now we turn to look more 
 closely into the products of the church's life and at its outworhings 
 rather than at its outward conditions. 
 
 The First Church has naturally, and by reason of intelligent 
 zeal also, been a, place of beginnings. Influences have originated 
 here of measureless extent, and enduring institutions have been 
 born on this spot. It was the place of the first meeting of the Synod 
 of Pittsburgh, in the year 1802, and we have seen the grasp of 
 that body on great questions and great territories. The " Moral 
 Association," about 1812, was formed here, for the city. The 
 "Sabbath School Association" began here in bSU. The first 
 temperance meetings were held here. The "Western University 
 was inaugurated herein 1819. The "Western Missionary So- 
 ciety" was formed here in 1802 by the Synod, and the "Western 
 Foreign Missionary Society" had its beginnings here in 1831, in 
 
<>' s HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 the counsels of the little Session room between Swift and Herron 
 and like-minded ones ; the first to do faithful work for our own land 
 for twenty-seven years and be merged into the Assembly's Board 
 of Missions, with the full consent of its originators ; and the second 
 to present and represent the great principle of church action in the 
 conversion of the world, until it became triumphant in 1837, and 
 the " Western Foreign Missionary Society" became, " as it was 
 always intended it should become," (said Dr. Swift,) "the Board 
 of Foreign Missions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America." Here the first mission- 
 aries were commissioned, and Pinney lived to speak from the same 
 pulpit from which fifty years before he was sent to Africa. The 
 Western Theological Seminary had its beginnings here likewise, 
 (1825-7,) and its first classes recited here. The General Assem- 
 bly met in the First Church at its first venture West of the 
 Mountains, in 1835 — again met therein 1836, then in bS"4H, then 
 in 1865, then gave it (with the Third Church) the hallowed asso- 
 ciations of re-union, with its communion in 1869, and met here 
 again — the first meeting in the new series of Assemblies which 
 pay their own expenses — in 1878 ; and it was made the place of 
 the first effective gathering of Western Presbyterianism's precious 
 memories by the Memorial Convention of 1875, with its admirable 
 resultant volume. Some of these ten beginnings will have no 
 endings. 
 
 "2. A second characteristic is, that the First Church has always 
 been a church of tJie people. 
 
 It was apparently suggested by the people, (see the statement 
 of John Wilkins' diary,) and came to the Presbytery as a child 
 desiring motherly care. Indeed the need of the church came to 
 be felt, because the need of the people was so evident. It was 
 altogether a noble origin. 
 
 Moreover, our church history emphasizes the same character- 
 istic in its proving to be the place of combination for city and 
 country forces. At the very first this did not exist. Pittsburgh 
 as a military point, was the key to the surrounding country. 
 When in the enemy's hands the peojde fled from the frontier — 
 when in rightful possession they returned to their homes. But 
 communication with the city seemed to be small, (there was little 
 at first, even of trade,) and religiously the neglect seems to have 
 been perfect. McMillan either could not or would not find 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. (">9 
 
 hearers there (though preaching once in 1775,) while others 
 seemed to stay away as though afraid of "ill-treatment." [Wil- 
 kins.] Thus the beginnings were feeble and thus misunderstand- 
 ing could easily arise between the country Presbytery and the 
 first city ministry. But Providence provided the link in sending 
 Dr. Herron to preach beside McMillan in the revival of 1798-9, 
 and bringing him years afterward to the city church. Then the 
 immigration from country to city began to find the First Church 
 and it began to find the immigrants. Ever since it has been fed 
 and strengthened by these streams from without. Many are the 
 illustrative incidents which might be but cannot now be given. 
 
 And in the same direction it is to be noted that this has ever 
 been a church for all classes and conditions within the city itself. 
 The people were always welcome here. Very cruel and hindering 
 misapprehensions have been extant in later years on this point, 
 but whoever will take pains to investigate will find the truth to 
 be as I state it. The church has always contained many who had 
 no worldly possessions to tempt them to buy heaven with contri- 
 butions and obtain dispensations from conscience for easy com- 
 pliance with the fashions and follies of the times. Undoubtedly, 
 for a church in a populous manufacturing centre, it has had far too 
 few laboring men and mechanics in it, but this has never been 
 more than a sin of omission. That there have been and are in it 
 so many that are poor in possessions and rich in faith, is an evi- 
 dence that the way has always been frankly open for all who 
 wished to hear and obey the gospel, to enjoy its services and make 
 part of its membership. The foundation for upbuilding largely 
 here from all classes, and for all classes, is found in the whole 
 history of the church. Its way among men can never be blocked 
 but by forgetfulness of its record, added to criminal departure 
 from the spirit of Christ its Master. 
 
 3. A third characteristic, is the engagement of the church in 
 all the organized Christian work of the community. 
 
 It began very early in the Pittsburgh " Moral Society," the 
 admirable " proclamation " of which deserves now to be repub- 
 lished. It was formed in 1809, and Ebenezer Denny was its 
 President. [See McKnight's Sabbath School History, p. 19.] 
 This care for the morality of the community was further evinced 
 in an early share in the movement for temperance. The first 
 meetings were held here, and they were needed even within the 
 
church ; for at the point of the beginning of our Sessional records, 
 (1818,) there are three cases of discipline for intoxication within 
 one year. In 1816 it was resolved by the Synod of Pittsburgh, 
 that ardent spirits ought never to be used, except as a medicine 
 — that the habitual use of ardent spirits at " entertainments and 
 social visits," is "one of the fashions of the world to which 
 Christians ought not to conform," and is " training up thousands 
 for poverty, disgrace, the prison, the gallows and eternal misery." 
 [Min. p. 121.] This was heartily reiterated when the Synod 
 sat in this church in 1817. Ah ! how much would Pittsburgh have 
 saved if it had heeded that voice of warning! There is immense 
 propriety in the First Church being decidedly given to the tem- 
 perance reform. Not only does the early stand of effort and 
 discipline beckon its members in this direction, but the record of 
 suffering through the drink during the church's century, is fearful 
 to contemplate. There are spots on the church's reputation which 
 it has left. There are scars on wounded hearts that are painful 
 yet, and there have been scores of them on hearts that nothing 
 could soothe but the rest of heaven, into which they have now 
 passed. The heaviest burdens, the most crushing sorrows of the 
 century, have been due to intoxicating drinks. Ruined and 
 broken homes there have been. Days and nights of terror have 
 been spent by helpless women. Long anxieties and sickening 
 vibrations from hope to despair, silent tears and public shame. 
 Oh! no one can read the inner and unwritten history of this 
 dear old church, and not see what a world of anguish and disap- 
 pointment, and baffled endeavors of parents and pastor's and 
 teachers, and of nameless suffering for the poor victims them- 
 selves, lies hidden in the cup. For God's sake, and for man's 
 sake, let there not be another century's history like it in this 
 regard. There ought to be really no bounds to the determination 
 and zeal with which this church should fight that curse. Not a 
 member but should be a faithful opponent by legislation sought, 
 and influence used, and spotless example maintained. 
 
 In regard to the maintenance of the Sabbath, the influence of 
 the church has always been pronounced. Curiously enough, 
 among the few sermons preserved from the pen of the first pastor, 
 (Barr,) there is a series of three on the observance of the Sabbath. 
 They are excellent, orthodox, determined. Dr. Herron's influence 
 was so felt at this point, that one of Pittsburgh's most useful and 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 honored citizens (General Howe,) told me in his later life, that 
 he counted it a crisis passed in his life when he resolved to heed 
 the Doctor's earnest protest against Sabbath-driving-out by the 
 young men. No public movement in behalf of the Sabbath has 
 ever been made without our participating in it. 
 
 When the American Bible Society was formed we were early 
 in the field, and at the formation of the Allegheny County Aux- 
 iliary in 1818, Harmar Denny was chosen its first President. 
 The same was true of the Sunday School Unions, both local and 
 American. Nor less was it true of every organization for the 
 supply of the wants of the poor, the widow and the orphan, 
 whether they were temporal or spiritual needs. 
 
 And such is the record in educational enterprise. The Western 
 University was first inaugurated in 1 822, with flattering and brill- 
 iant expectations. "It was a public pageant in which the people 
 and the civic authorities participated, and was attended with more 
 than ordinary pomp and ceremony. There was a procession with 
 music, banners and badges, in which the city fathers, the judici- 
 ary, gentlemen of the different learned professions, the trustees 
 and students marched to the old First Presbyterian Church, where 
 the venerable and accomplished Dr. George Stevenson, the then 
 President of the Board, delivered the inaugural address to the 
 faculty, which was happily responded to in the solid, massive 
 eloquence of the Rev. Dr. Bruce, the Principal." [Judge 
 McCandless.] 
 
 As to the Theological Seminary we know that it came hither 
 through Dr. Herron's influence and casting vote, and all testi- 
 monies, corroborate Dr. Brownson when he says, "His (Dr. H.'s) 
 faltering at any time during these early years would have been 
 certain death. His moral influence in sustaining the sinking 
 spirits of others, and the force of his name and efforts abroad, in 
 securing contributions, were only less than the power wielded 
 among his own people." [Mem. vol. p. 152.] The early elders 
 nobly sustained their pastor. The Rev. Richard Lea was the 
 Seminary's agent, and elder Allen paid his entire expenses. We 
 have been always represented in its Board. Dr. Paxton served 
 it as Professor of Homiletics, and without salary from 1860-65, and 
 your last pastor as Instructor in Hebrew, the compensation being, 
 given to benevolent objects. 
 
72 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 This educational work was continued also in the upbuilding of 
 and large contributions to the Pennsylvania Female College. 
 Not less than $50,000 were given to this institution within the 
 first ten or twelve years of its existence, and valuable time of 
 pastor and officers contributed to its management. 
 
 The benefit which has accrued to the community and to the 
 church through thiswork is incalculable. It has been most marked, 
 of course, in the history of the Theological Seminary. The whole 
 succession of noble men who have lived and prayed and preached 
 and taught in this community and church, has been one of the 
 most signal powers for good ever enjoyed here. But call the 
 names of Drs. Nevin and Halsey and Plumer and Jacobus and 
 Wilson and Hornblower, and instantly it is seen that the Semi- 
 nary has been an unspeakable blessing to tins community. And 
 that is saying nothing of the missionary and Sunday School Labors 
 of a continuous body of devoted young men. More would be lost 
 if all this influence were subtracted than can well lie expressed. 
 
 The same general interest has found expression also in the work of 
 the Young Men's Christian Association. Its re-organization in I860 
 was encouraged. A sort of installation took place in this church 
 in December of that year. Such words as these were then used 
 by your pastor: "Henceforth the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
 ciation takes its place as a recognized organ of Christian activity. 
 This shall be an honorable place. The institution shall be 
 cherished. Redeem your early promise. You speak of 'live' 
 associations and 'live' meetings. You know that money and 
 furniture and membership will not (one or all of them) make 
 real life. Keep up your spirituality. Keep near to Christ. 
 Write the Christian in your name in large chirography." How 
 well the charge has been kept, and how earnestly we (and 
 other churches) have co-operated with them, and how much of 
 blessed influence in the revival of 1807 and other seasons of 
 grace came to the community through this, many of you remem- 
 ber well, and the beautiful building just completing proves 
 abundantly. 
 
 In all these ways the church has taken active part in the 
 organized Christian work of the community. 
 
 4. The First Church has always been benevolent. The very 
 first instance was in 1791-3 in the contributions of our member- 
 ship to the building of the German Church, which has been 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 7;; 
 
 handsomely acknowledged in their recent centennial celebration 
 and volume. Mrs. Eichbaum remsmbered Mr. Ebenezer Denny 
 and Mr. Johnston (her father) sitting, about the opening of the 
 century, at the door to receive the contributions given as the 
 worshipers entered the church— a custom still observed in Scot- 
 land. The church led the columns of the first missionary 
 societies and leads them still in purely church subscriptions. At 
 one time Dr. John Breckinridge, Secretary of the Board of Ed- 
 ucation, asked and obtained in a meeting in Dr. Herron's parlor, 
 $10,000, most of which came from the First Church. Materials 
 from its manufactories (donated) and money from its gains have 
 gone into hundreds of houses of worship in the West. Its bene- 
 factions to the Theological Seminary equaled "all the rest of the 
 Synod" (Brownson) not without some "decided protests" of the 
 benevolent Michael Allen at the "parsimony of the churches." 
 [Mem. vol. p. 132.] One honored member, Mr. James Laugh- 
 lin, whose courage sustained the whole Board in one of the Sem- 
 inary's many crises, and whose generosity equaled his courage, 
 gave also $5,000 to the Western University and 825,000 to the 
 Pennsylvania Female College, really saving (with another dona- 
 tion of $10,000 by another member, Mr. John Moorhead,) the 
 property and life of that noble institution. Generous plans as 
 to its ,,wu property and support have sometimes created debts, 
 even in later time,; hut well directed appeals (as in 1866, 1868,' 
 and 1 874 ) always sufficed to remove them. Grounds for Orphan' 
 Asylum, in Allegheny, and North Presbyterian Church, were 
 given by Gen. William Robinson. Mrs. E. F. Denny gave 
 ground for West Penn'a Hospital and for many churches. Mr. 
 John Arthurs left a large legacy to the Bible Society. The 
 methods of benevolence have been simple and direct. Even in fairs 
 and festivals, older or later, no overcharge or resort to chance 
 was ever permitted. In the Memorial Year, $24,000 were con- 
 tributed. To the Chicago fire, and all great calamities, contribu- 
 tions were made. In 1875 I marked the growing liberality of the 
 church, noting it, aggregate benevolence as $50,000 subscribed. 
 A -rand total was reached, of actual payments, in 1875-6, of $40,- 
 000. The defect has been in too great dependence on the gifts 
 of a few large contributors and in neglect of systematic gather- 
 ing up of the smaller amounts. Attention has been again and 
 
 again called to this and measures debated to correct the evil ■ vet 
 (i > j > 
 
74 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 .save in the women's collection for Foreign Missions, without suc- 
 cess. The church has been careful of its own poor, first by the 
 Sessional fund, and latterly by the Deacons' Board, and always by 
 private charity. The Deacons were established to do a work, 
 also, outside of the church, through its benevolent care for the 
 temporal necessities of the poor, and have clearly vindicated 
 this conception of their office. From $700 to $900 has been 
 actually expended, annually, through this agency, besides the 
 support of the City Missionaries, whose main work has been in 
 finding and caring for those who needed help. 
 
 But one limit to the beneficence of the church seems to have 
 laid (and it is difficult to account for it,) in the direction of per- 
 sonal consecration to the ministry, whether at home or abroad. 
 Two who came from its Sabbath School gave themselves to the 
 ministry, one to become a missionary, the other to die upon the 
 threshold of the work; and only two sons of the church have 
 reached the ministry and only two daughters of the church have 
 been given to the foreign missionary work. The most precious 
 things, after all, have been somewhat withheld. During the last 
 thirty-three years (since perfect records) the benevolence of the 
 church amounts, in round numbers, to $750,000. 
 
 5. The history has been further characterized by harmony. 
 A Session of excellent men grew up gradually, added to generally 
 after seasons of quickened interest and from such men as had 
 been "proved" in prayer and work ; and to this Session the church 
 has always accorded implicit trust. No serious dispute since that 
 with the first pastor, within, and none without, save that at the 
 organization of the Second Church, has ever arisen ; and this was 
 so short in duration, that in 1818 "the Board of Trustees of the 
 Second Church sent a letter to James Ross, President of the 
 Board of Trustees of the First Church, proposing to unite in a 
 collegiate church under Dr. Herron, with a colleague to be 
 chosen by joint vote of the two congregations." Services were 
 sometimes shortened in one church so that its members might 
 commune with the other church. The First has been called the 
 "Mother Church of Pittsburgh. All the other five churches 
 (this in 1854) and the church of Allegheny City and Lawrence- 
 ville, were more or less formed out of it. Two of them were 
 literally colonies from it." [Old Bedstone, p. 378.] Those 
 Formed since are generally indebted to it. The continual 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 75 
 
 exodus from the centre to the circumference has become habitual 
 and the old church is used to it and thrives under it, as, indeed, the 
 other central churches do. And this pleasantness of relation ex- 
 tends to other denominations. There is no so generally recognized 
 "union-centre" as the old church. The older members of all 
 denominations feel at home there. It has always been Christian 
 as well as Presbyterian. Even an exception proves the rule in 
 this case. In 1820 Synod passed some orders about inter-com- 
 munion, counseling against communion with those who deny the 
 "doctrines of grace," but deciding against exclusion of any such 
 as "hold Arminian views," provided they "after conversation" 
 give "satisfactory evidence of piety." [Syn. Min. p. 162.] A 
 case arose. A most godly man communed with his wife in the 
 Methodist Church, to which she withdrew. The Session took 
 action in resolutions, to be read to the congregation, affirming 
 that the "practice of occasional communion with those churches 
 which are known to support doctrines utterly repugnant to those 
 declared in the standards of the Presbyterian Church," was 
 "calculated to divide and distract the church ; to weaken the con- 
 fidence of its members in the importance of many of the leading 
 doctrines of divine revelation, and to destroy that testimony which 
 the church has always borne for the great truths of Christianity." 
 Appended was the assurance that the Session would take note of 
 infringement of these rules, and the whole was read to the con- 
 gregation. But this excellent man would commune with his 
 wife in the church referred to. When the time came to take up 
 the matter, the Session seemed to hesitate and ended by passing 
 a resolution inviting to communion with m all whom they believed 
 to be "sound in doctrine, subjects of regenerating grace and of life 
 and conversation becoming the gospel of Christ." Then they re- 
 ferred the whole matter to Presbytery, which body could scarcely 
 have been as liberal as the church Session, since suspension 
 resulted in January, 1821. So by the mistake of supposing that 
 all private members are pledged to all the doctrinal statements of 
 the Confession, and that we cannot be loyal to them and commune 
 with those that do not hold them, we lost a most excellent member 
 (Mr. Benjamin Page) whose godly walk and high spirituality 
 many remember. 
 
 (>. Continuing with these more internal characteristics, note 
 the faithfulness of the church to discipline. This has not been 
 
7() HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 without many extensions of long suffering and patience, and 
 perhaps not (in later years,) without some undue leaning to 
 mercy's side, but in the general course of the history its adminis- 
 tration has been faithful and its just principles have never been 
 abandoned. Cases of discipline for lewdness have been very rare, 
 those for drunkenness comparatively frequent. The selling of 
 liquors was made disciplinable in 1834, and the first case prose- 
 cuted to suspension, and since that time (notwithstanding repeated 
 applications) no liquor seller has ever been admitted to com- 
 munion. The discipline of the church sought out sins of speech 
 and conduct, and even of business. As early as 1818 the token at 
 communion was withheld from a gentleman with a military title 
 until his " behavior on the evening of the last general election " 
 could be investigated. Two women who fought each other in 
 1819, were reconciled by a judicious committee of the Session. 
 One who had neglected communion was readmitted in the same 
 year "after admonition." A member was warned, in 1826, not to 
 appear at the presentation of his child for baptism — the mother 
 must present it alone. An exhibitor of a museum was dealt with 
 in 1832, for certain exhibitions in it, professed repentance and 
 was admonished. And there is one administration of discipline 
 for sending a challenge to fight a duel, so late as 1836. The 
 fretting question always was, of cpurse, that of amusements. Very 
 early it became apparent that even the judgment of the world 
 was decidedly against the worldly amusements. Of the days in 
 which the card-parties and dancing were freely indulged in, it 
 was often said by those who saw the change afterwards, and by 
 one who was a contemporary — the First Church "had no re- 
 ligion " then. That was not said when the church took a definite 
 and uncompromising stand upon such questions. About 1817 
 Presbytery [possibly Synod,] issued an affectionate and serious 
 testimony against the participation, by Christians, in balls and 
 fashionable amusements. It was called "a solemn and interest- 
 ing period of conflict of the church of God against the ensnaring 
 spirit of the world." Christians are appealed to not to "be 
 found among the enemies of the Saviour, frustrating by their 
 opinions and practices the labors of His ministers, weakening their 
 hands and promoting the cause of the ' god of this world,' instead 
 of coming forth to the 'help of the Lord against the mighty.'" 
 Sncli practices were declared "censurable, and church Sessions 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS 
 
 were enjoined to act accordingly/' The struggle against the felt 
 and bemoaned incursions of sinful amusements has been kept up 
 always from the pulpit and through the Session and in the gen- 
 eral opinion of the congregation. But as to the other disciplin- 
 ary power there have been changes. In 1834 two persons 
 arc remonstrated with for "irregular attendance on divine 
 ordinances and attendance on a theatrical exhibition." A 
 signal prophecy that wherever the theatre would come 
 in, regular attendance on the services of the house of God 
 would go out. That conjunction has not failed in later days. 
 Prom 1<SH0 to 1867 what was known as the "Amusement Rule" 
 was in force. In the latter year, after careful consideration by 
 the Session, it was abrogated and the reasons given in full to the 
 congregation. It seemed, under the circumstances of inequality 
 as to the practice of different churches, impossible to preserve 
 our own unity. Moral force alone was to lie relied on ; but candor 
 compels the admission that indulgence in cards and theatre- 
 going and dancing has increased, and the results have been 
 noticeable — as a rule — in a lessened interest in spiritual things, 
 to say nothing of other injurious effects. The crisis will come 
 again and the battle once won will be won again. The lesson of 
 the century's history is too plain to be denied or forgotten. ( )ur 
 best periods have been those in which there was least compro- 
 mising of the church's purity and spirituality by indulgence in 
 (|iiestionable amusements. 
 
 7. Another marked characteristic of the church has been the 
 simplicity which has been preserved in its houses of worship, its 
 services, and, to a commendable degree, in almost everything. It 
 has seemed to be easily satisfied with substantial and to have 
 had little craving for novelties. No difficulty was experienced 
 with regard to the psalmody which was so fruitful a source of 
 contention in other churches. Denominational deliverances were 
 made very early. A committee on selections was appointed by 
 Presbytery in 1785, and their action approved in 17*7. Liberty 
 was given to all in the whole matter in an action for which 
 Messrs. Finley, McMillan, Power, and our first pastor, Barr, voted 
 in unison. The eminent Judge Addison introduced hymn books 
 before the (dose of last century. Others were brought out after 
 the 1804 building had been erected. The service of soul; has 
 been always cared for, and invariably conducted by those who 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 were in sympathy with its spiritual meaning. As early as 1803 
 the trustees put on record that "twenty-four dollars annually be 
 paid in quarterly payments to a Clerk, whom the Session may ap- 
 point for service in psalmody in publick worship, and that the 
 President draw orders on the Treasury, to be paid out of the con- 
 tingent money for this purpose." They began right in principle 
 as to the Sessional supervision of the service of song, and that 
 principle has never been abandoned. The salary was in propor- 
 tion to the size of the log church. In 1807 a committee was 
 appointed to wait on Mr. James B. Clow (an elder) to know " on 
 what terms he will engage to Clerk for the church." A petition 
 of twenty members was presented to him and $50 offered him 
 again in 1808. In 1818 Mr. Chute resigns as Clerk and is 
 thanked for services and requested to continue until other ar- 
 rangements can be made, and a committee is appointed to " report 
 a plan for obtaining a leader of psalmody for the congregation." 
 It was an important affair, you see. The salary was now about 
 $75 per annum. Excellent resolutions about church singing 
 were passed in 1829. Instruments were ordered out in November, 
 1833, by the trustees, but the matter was soon after left to the 
 Session, and in 1846 it was noted that $50 were voted to "pay the 
 bass viol." At one time the " young men of the congregation who 
 compose the choir" asked that the salary of a chorister "be 
 devoted to benevolent purposes," they proposing to "conduct the 
 singing." It is a little singular that concerning no other partic- 
 ular of the church life have we so full and particular a record 
 from the opening of this century. The large chorus-choir for so 
 many years conducted by that true son of Asaph — who prayed 
 as fervently as he sang— Mr. John Wright, was a source of pride 
 and satisfaction, and edification too, to the congregation. The 
 organ was introduced in 1862, changed for a better one within 
 ten years from its introduction and improved again a few years 
 later. It has spoken to us through many scenes of sacred joy and 
 sorrow by the skillful touch and gifted perceptions and reverent 
 style of Mr. C. C. Mellor, for all these years. The later arrange- 
 ments have all been satisfactory in a high degree. The intro- 
 duction of our present enlarged and carefully edited book of 
 hymns, accompanied with music, has helped us to keep this 
 service simple by the regular use of the adapted music, and to 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 develop its usefulness by many new and noble hymns, and by 
 acquaintance with their authorship and date. 
 
 The communion method of the church is peculiarly illustrative 
 of its adherence to the simplicity of old customs. The sacraments 
 have always been marked with special seriousness and impressive- 
 ness. Only one effort has ever been made to change the custom 
 now in use. In 1834 it was resolved to sit together in the front 
 pews, that communion be held in the afternoon, the exercises all to 
 be appropriate to that service. No tokens were to be distributed. 
 The experiment was soon abandoned and the old observance 
 restored, except the tokens* For a long time early in this 
 century, Mr. Clow seemed to be the only elder to officiate at 
 the communion (Mr. John Wilkins not engaging in this duty 
 until very late in his life). Elders of other churches would 
 often assist, and Father Patterson and Dr. Swift were often 
 present. 
 
 Thero is something of extreme interest in looking over a 
 century of such simplicity in church customs. The spiritual has 
 always been confessedly the first interest ; the merely pleasing has 
 been wholly subordinate and the spectacular never considered at 
 all. How undisturbed the access of these worshiping souls has 
 been to God ! What seasons of hallowed communion, with no 
 dream of interest derived from novelty, and yet with the varying 
 experiences of life and the marked occasions of ingathering and 
 refreshment, giving a never-ending and genuine variety. Ah ! 
 nothing is so interesting as life ! And with the simplest instru- 
 mentalities spiritual vitality will create an interest which the 
 highest appliances of art can no more furnish than a grain of 
 sand can produce a stalk of wheat. Long may simplicity of form 
 and spirituality of soul reign in the First Church. If ever lost 
 temporarily, may it speedily return. May it prevail in plainness 
 of speech in the pulpit, of adornment in the house, of dress in the 
 pew, of ritual in worship, and indirectness and honesty and spiritu- 
 ality of approach to God in His house ; to be followed, as it will 
 surely be, by directness and honesty and sincerity in business- 
 life and speech. All the success of the past has been won under 
 
 *This matter of tokens came even before Presbytery, where Dr. Herron, pleading 
 tor their disuse, mentioned the ease of a lady so embarrassed in finding the token that 
 she arose in tears from the table. Dr. H. kindly reseated her. but always thereafter 
 felt the token to be undesirable. 
 
SO HISTOKICAL 8ERMON8. 
 
 simple methods of worship and the sincerity they tend to preserve. 
 And this great city can be won for Christ under no other condi- 
 tions. "Singleness of heart" before God will aid in singleness of 
 aim to glorify Him in converting the masses about us. Excess 
 of ornament in church building or church worship invariably 
 waves away from the doors of the sanctuary, though it may be 
 with an invisible hand, those whom it is the church's first mission 
 to reach, because they need her most. 
 
 9. Yet another characteristic of the church is found in its 
 real and honest use of the means of grace. As to prayerfulness, the 
 very foundations of the church seem to be laid in prayer. The 
 mother of the first pastor had an "apartment in her house con- 
 secrated to purposes of private devotion where she retired regu- 
 larly and steadily to hold communion with God, and where she 
 took her children, one by one, to instruct them in the principles 
 of the Christian religion, praying with them and for them, and 
 dedicating them over and over again to the God of the covenant." 
 Who can doubt that she followed her eldest sod with earnest 
 prayer through his educational career, then across the trackless 
 ocean to the home of his adoption and afterwards to his chosen 
 field of labor? Perhaps much of the harmony and prosperity of 
 the First Church to the present day, may be attributed to the 
 fervent prayers of this Christian mother, for "are they not all in 
 God's book ?" ( Miss Jane Barr's reminiscences.) 
 
 During the first quarter-century of our history this element did 
 not appear with any prominence; but about 1815 Dr. Herron, 
 (assisted by the Rev. Thomas Hunt, of the Second Church,) ap- 
 pointed special meetings for prayer. This was the point of 
 greatest interest to the then struggling pastor, and this has been 
 called later (by Dr. Howard, ) the turning point of the spiritual 
 history of our churches in this city. It was a light kindled in 
 darkness by the attrition of earnest hearts against the declension 
 and wickedness of the times. It wa.s a stir amid indifference and 
 a venture of faith even against opposition. Six praying women 
 and one elder, with the two pastors, were all. "For eighteen months 
 that little company continued to wrestle in faith and prayer with- 
 out a single addition to their number." [Memorial of Dr. Her- 
 ron, p. 43.] It was a bit of spiritual bravery to meet for 
 prayer, when the church buildings were closed against it, and 
 it was called fanaticism, and even when it was formally said, 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 81 
 
 "this extravagance could not be endured and a stop must be put 
 to these meetings at once." But they "endured" as "seeing 
 Him who is invisible." They prayed on and won the victory. 
 They gave aid— the aid most needed— at the critical time. 
 Charges were answered by well-doing. Interest grew. Conver- 
 sions followed and the course and character of the church were 
 settled. But, even later it was true. As Mr. Daniel BushneU has 
 said— "I remember when the prayer meeting was held in the 
 church building, one corner of which was lighted up a little, but 
 it was a cheerless place and few were there to worship." After 
 the building of the additional room in 1818, there was a Larger 
 attendance. The interest grew gradually until the revival of 
 1827, which came through prayer, gave the people an impulse to 
 pray never since wholly lost. The prayer-groups around the 
 stove in the lecture room, and continued from evening to evening 
 and that prayer meeting at the house of Mother Irish, gave life 
 to the great movement of 1827-8. Sunrise prayer meetings 
 came on later, and one of our precious dead— dying above eightv 
 years of age— told me that she has gone to such meetings carry- 
 ing one child and leading another, and then returned to get 
 breakfast for her boarders. Every second Sabbath a sunrise 
 prayer meeting was held for the children, and a most admirable 
 contemporary description of them from the pen of an eye wit- 
 ness, will be found preserved in Mr. David McKnight's Sabbath 
 School History. A long succession of men and women whose 
 lives were specially characterized by prayerfulness was main- 
 tained. Let me mention no others than Michael Allen, the elder 
 who "prayed on horseback;" Alexander Laughlin, whose pray- 
 ers were remarkable even after other speech had become inco- 
 herent by reason of weakness, and Elders Bailey and Beer, the 
 one praying in all the houses of the congregation once a year for 
 twenty years, and the other praying "all night" just before a 
 wonderful revival. Ah! here is the secret of what has been 
 good and strong in the life of the dear old church. There were 
 never wanting some who "stirred themselves up to take hold on 
 God." Certain evenings and seasons of prayer anion- our young 
 men also, which have wonderfully consecrated the little room in 
 the rear of the pulpit, have shown, too, that this spirit has not 
 been confined to those advanced in life. Far from it, as shown 
 again by the fervor and success with which our young men have 
 
82 
 
 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 within the last two decades sustained cottage prayer meetings 
 and conducted prayer services in hospitals and charitable institu- 
 tions. This spirit may be, and may it become a universal and 
 unfailing characteristic. 
 
 The church has not been lacking, either, in devotion to the 
 word of God. It shared in the results of the earliest Bible 
 distribution on this soil — that by the Commissioner of the Mason 
 and Dixon line survey. It took part in the first Bible society at 
 its formation. It furnished the earliest schools, both pastoral 
 and congregational, for the study of the Bible. It heard the 
 lectures of Dr. Nevin in the interpretation and defense of the 
 Scriptures. It established Bible classes for young people, and 
 occasionally for adults also. Latterly the church entered 
 heartily into the pastor's plan for reading the Bible through 
 in one year, and twice a considerable number accomplished the 
 task and enjoyed the reading and the results. Then followed 
 congregational reading in concert for three years, according to 
 a system in which many churches were united ; and for some 
 years past the concert reading has been in the passages selected 
 for daily readings in connection with the Westminster Series of 
 Sabbath School lesson-preparations. The church has never 
 received an encomium of which it may be more justly proud, 
 than the remark of the lamented Mrs. Professor Wilson — "I 
 love the First Church, because it is such a Bible Church." No 
 discourses were ever more warmly welcomed than those which 
 either expounded large portions of Scripture, or opened a whole 
 book or defended the inspiration of God's word. The amount of 
 difficulty or doubt at this point during the whole century has 
 been an absolute minimum. 
 
 In general terms the same may be affirmed concerning that 
 other means of grace — the day of God. There was early 
 staunchness, and the church did its part to make and keep the 
 Sabbath of Pittsburgh, which, until within say fifteen years, was 
 a distinguishing honor of our city. Dr. Herron's appeals for its 
 observance were long remembered. The voice of the church lias 
 never failed in remonstrating against violation of the just civil 
 restrictions which go to preserve the day of rest from the sins 
 and the greed of men. The opinion has been steadily in favor 
 of a spiritual as well as restful day. There has been a general 
 silence in the manufactories under the control of the church- 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. $3 
 
 membership. If here and there complications have arisen in 
 matters of conscience concerning the Sabbath-keeping, the 
 church has been true, as a whole, to the day of God ; and will 
 remain so. May it be without any yielding to the growing 
 temptations to laxity. 
 
 In the attendance upon the sanctuary services, there has been 
 a good degree of earnestness and constancy. Men have always 
 attended at this church. The congregation has not bee.11 man- 
 worshiping, staying away when not just satisfied with this or 
 that ministration. To an exemplary degree, church-going has 
 been a matter of principle and not of mere preference, and there 
 have been many cases of special faithfulness. There was always 
 more to be desired, and the pastor ventured to say in 1871, that 
 his New Year's present, (could he make one to the membership,) 
 would be " cloaks for the ladies and boots for the gentlemen, 
 which should be water-proof on Sundays ;" having noticed that 
 the "sort now used are proverbially insufficient for Sunday 
 rams ;" but there was always such an attendance as evidenced 
 some gladness in the worship and instruction of God's house. 
 And when here, the congregation has been attentive. This 
 feature has been marked by every pastor and by many supplies, (as 
 for example by the late esteemed Dr. Hornblower.) A most 
 excellent trait indeed ! No one ever occupied this pulpit, I 
 think, who did not recognize the air of serious thoughtfulness 
 pervading the congregation. It has become the custom of the 
 place and the thoughtless, even, have generally conformed to it. 
 The people have been ready to demand serious and thorough 
 work in the pulpit, rather than to cultivate any striving for 
 mere titillation of "itching ears." They seemed to say— "We 
 are all here present before God, to hear all things that are com- 
 manded thee of God." (Acts x: 33.) By such earnest and 
 reverent use of the means of grace it has come to pass that they 
 have never been wholly in vain. The generations successively 
 have felt their power. The Holy Spirit has breathed through 
 them. Sacred song, and the whispers of prayer, and the sug- 
 gestive beauty of the ordinances, and the rich treasures of the 
 word, all enjoyed with prepared hearts on a sanctified and conse- 
 crated day, have wrought their just results and increasing 
 numbers have worshiped here the God of their fathers. That 
 makes the duty of the present and the hope of the future abso- 
 
84 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 lately plain and assured. Only persevere and grow in a hearty. 
 honest and constant use of the house, the day, the word of God, 
 and in clinging close to the mercy seat, and all will go well. 
 
 9. The church has always been considered conservative and 
 staid in demeanor and method, yet its history has been marked 
 as a revival history. This feature was not early developed, but 
 the contrary. From 1781 to 1787, was a period of extensive 
 revivals in the country surrounding Pittsburgh. Cross Creek, 
 Upper Buffalo and other churches were the seats of continu- 
 ous influences, marked by very deep convictions. The spring 
 of 1787, while our little log church was building, was the 
 point of greatest interest. All uight meetings were held in 
 many places. Then in 1711.") and until 1798 ; and then again 
 in 1802-3. But all this time the little church in the centre 
 thai would seem to have been planted so opportunely, had no 
 share in the gracious shower. And so it continued until nearly 
 thirty years had gone. Not before the revived interest which 
 began in 1814, and lasted into 1816, could it enter upon its 
 course of greatest usefulness. But the results of that season 
 were gracious and permanent. The era of organized activity 
 mav lie said to have begun with that movement. By Sabbath 
 School work, and other means, effective helpers were trained 
 up to the winning of souls. In 1822 and 1823 another season 
 of ingathering came.- Details with regard to these earlier 
 revivals have not, unfortunately, been preserved ; and perhaps 
 on that account the larger and more aggressive life. of the 
 church has been ordinarily dated from the movement of 1827-8. 
 There are a very few still living who can tell us of those 
 scenes of power. It was in December, 1827, (a December 
 spiritually also,) that the pastor and a few spiritually minded 
 members of the church gathered after prayer meeting about 
 the stove and talked quietly, but earnestly, about the state of 
 religion. Then they prayed over it as earnestly, parting to 
 meet again for more prayer on the ensuing Saturday evening. 
 The hearts of godly women were much touched in their prayer 
 meeting, and on Sabbath evening the Spirit was evidently 
 present in power. The text : "O, Lord, revive thy work," and the 
 sermon aroused intensest interest, and the after meeting filled the 
 lecture room. The services were continued, and all obstacles of 
 "dark streets and deep mud" were overcome. Other churches 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 85 
 
 were refreshed and large and permanent fruits were garnered. 
 A fourth revival came in 1832. Fifty-four were added on ex- 
 amination, and the next year saw the birth of that most vigor- 
 ous colony, the Third Church. At this tune the church 
 experienced the value of communion with the country, as it had 
 been in assisting brethren there in revival meetings, that Dr. 
 Herron seemed to catch the glow with which others were warmed 
 when he returned. The fifth baptism came in connection with 
 the labors of Mr. Gallagher, in 1834-5. Though there may 
 have been objectionable methods and some measure of disap- 
 pointment with final results, there can be no doubt that much 
 good was accomplished. So Richard Lea describes it, The letters 
 of Mrs. E. F. Denny to her husband, (then absent at Congress,) 
 which speak of 1827, tell us also of 1834. Writing on Decem- 
 ber 12th, she says : "I had a delightful day yesterday. In the 
 morning we had a sermon from Father Herron, that gave me 
 much comfort. In the afternoon, we all communed in Mr. 
 Riddle's church, where we had the joy of beholding a great 
 number for the first time join the church — fifty-eight of them. 
 I expect great numbers will join our church this week." On 
 December 14th, she writes: "Last night eighty or ninety went 
 forward and took their seats separate from the congregation ; 
 
 among whom were , etc. A great number of very genteel 
 
 young men that I do not know, are determined to join the 
 church. I took tea at Dr. Herron's last night. He is so elated 
 and thinks a larger addition will be made than ever to the 
 church." There did follow a sort of chill during the period 
 of 1836-1839; but that was the period of disruption of the de- 
 nomination, and scarcely any other state of things could be ex- 
 pected. Yet from 1818-1839, there were four hundred and 
 eight additions upon examination, and only two hundred and 
 eighteen by certificate. Considering the large growth of the 
 city within those two decades, and the position of attraction occu- 
 pied by the church, these figures show that conversions were 
 sought, and that spiritual life steadily grew and prevailed. In 
 1840-41 and '43, there were further displays of divine power to 
 save. This may be called the sixth gracious season. At this 
 time "new measures" were most vigorously discussed. [See dis- 
 cussion between the Rev. Mr. Davis and Dr. Kevin. Denny 
 Theolog. Pamphlets, vol. 2.] In ;1851, just after Dr. Paxton's 
 
86 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 accession, a most welcome and powerful work of grace began. 
 This, as that of 1857, are too recent to need detailed description ; 
 as are those in the last pastorate of 1867 and 1876 and 1879, 
 [under the labors of Messrs. Wishard and Johnson.] These re- 
 vivals were all, (if we leave out of view some things of 1834,) 
 simple in method, scriptural in spirit, moderate in tone and 
 healthful in results. Some were general revivals, and others, as 
 1867, in young men, and 1876, in children and strangers, were 
 characterized by special features. In the latter year the addi- 
 tions were, on profession, seventy-three, and by certificate, forty- 
 nine. From this total of one hundred and twenty-two, thirty- 
 one dismissions and one removal, by death, are to be subtracted, 
 leaving the net gain of that year at ninety, the largest of any 
 year, I believe, in the history of the church. Besides these 
 seasons of revival, there was gradual and sometimes large growth, 
 as in 1872 and 1874, without special meetings. In the latter 
 year there were one hundred and ten additions, of which forty- 
 seven were on examination. Subtracting a loss of forty-four, 
 there remains a net gain for that year of sixty-six. What 
 abundant reason for gratitude ! How God has watched over this 
 vine of His own planting ! 
 
 Nor must it be forgotten there have been held in the First 
 Church a series of four distinctively revival conventions, em- 
 bracing the membership of several Western Synods, all of them 
 productive of much edification, and two of them, to wit : 1842 
 and 1857, followed by great outpourings of the Spirit, In the 
 former, all church work was to be considered, and " educational 
 interests to be set forward." There was vivid remembrance of 
 former seasons of revival, and frank acknowledgment of sins 
 was made. The population of the "Great West" was seriously 
 laid to heart, and "Ministerial Emigration" was proposed to 
 supply the wants of the "Mississippi Valley." Ministers were 
 solemnly called upon to "consider whether their usefulness 
 would not be greatly increased" by giving up comfortable 
 homes eastward and venturing into the comparative wild. Such 
 are the known connections of the 1857 meeting, that some have 
 traced directly to its influence the presumedly perpetual conven- 
 tion of prayer "for the outpouring of .the Spirit upon all flesh," 
 called the "Week of Prayer," the Sabbath day of the interces- 
 sory year. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 87 
 
 The whole experience of the First Church's first century is 
 clearly in favor of revivals. Not of revivals relied upon as any 
 substitute for regular growth and daily faithfulness and system- 
 atic instruction in the things of God ; for all these things have 
 always been present in this history. Nor yet of revivals ac- 
 companying the special labor ah extra, of some evangelist. 
 Evangelists have been welcomed, but the best seasons of growth, 
 by revival, have been under the ministrations of the pastors, with 
 occasional assistants. May this characteristic continue and the 
 church be ever a conservatively revival church. 
 
 10. The last characteristic to be noted is the constancy of the 
 old church. It is not known here by any programme, but by its 
 record. It has been true to the line for a century. This is first 
 illustrated in its leadership. It was first in the primitive form of 
 the Sabbath School, as illustrated by the Sabbath catechumen 
 classes of pastors Barr, Steele and Herron. It was first in the 
 regular Sabbath School in 1815 ; first in advocacy of Union Sab- 
 hath School effort in 1817 ; first to provide instruction for colored 
 children by Dr. Herron's encouragement of James Wilson ; first 
 in the city to engage in City Missions ; first (and last) to erect a 
 building specially tor Sabbath Schools and purposes of Christian 
 work. And this has been by the force of circumstances and a 
 certain amount of inward vigor. 
 
 This constancy has been illustrated also in the attachment of 
 the church to its pastors. There has been no important disagree- 
 ment, save with the first, and that was due to the peculiar 
 circumstances of the times. Such resolutions and declarations of 
 confidence have been passed, and such adequate and prompt 
 support has been given, and so many unlooked for and unprom- 
 ised kindnesses extended to them all, that those who live, and the 
 representatives of the dead, have only one voice — a unison of 
 gratitude. The reciprocal attachment of the pastors to the 
 church has been just as manifest, each one of the three since 
 1811, having refused calls elsewhere, variously advantageous 
 when offered. The experience of the church would seem to be 
 favorable to long pastorates, and these are favorable to continu- 
 ance of the customs of church life and hostile to disturbing 
 innovations. [And there is no little interest in the fact that the 
 church of the long pastorates has been also the church of what 
 modern impatience terms long sermons. The three pastors since 
 
88 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 1811, have been alike in only one thing — a disposition to leave 
 as little sand in the traditional hour-glass as possible.] 
 
 The constancy of the church has been evidenced in the tran- 
 quility with which all ecclesiastical changes have been passed 
 through. Philadelphia Presbytery was formed in 1704. The 
 division of the Philadelphia Synod from New York Synod, took 
 place in 1741. The re-union came on in 1758 — the very year in 
 which the English flag was planted on the conquered fort here by 
 General Forbes. This Synod organized the Redstone Presbytery 
 in 1781, and that was the first ecclesiastical body of which our 
 infant church became conscious. Then we knew the Synod of 
 Virginia, formed in 1785. Next came the General Assembly, 
 whose first meeting was held in 1789. The first general mis- 
 sionary collections were taken under its order in the latter part 
 of 1789, and in the same year contributions were made to the 
 Synod of Virginia, to aid in supporting "missionaries for vacant 
 congregations." The first recorded approval of Presbytery 
 Minutes is in 1700. The impulse of the missionary work, 
 ordered both by Assembly and Synod, reached us in 1800. Next 
 •came the change to the Synod of Pittsburgh, in 1802. In 1822 
 it was propssed to form a Presbytery of Pittsburgh, but the peti- 
 tion was not granted. Instead, in October of that year our 
 church (with others) was attached to the Presbytery of Ohio, 
 which had been formed in 1793. The Assembly met here in 
 1836, and disruption came on in 1837. It is unnecessary tosay that 
 this church was not among the exscinded. When the division 
 came on the issue of loyalty to the government, there was no 
 doubt as to its position. Its faith was then fairly demonstrated 
 by its work. Then came the glorious re-union day of 1809, our 
 passage into the new relations (Synod of Pittsburgh and Presby- 
 tery of Pittsburgh) in 1870 ; and in 1882 into the consolidated 
 Synod of Pennsylvania. In all these changes the church has 
 swung easily and quickly into the denominational grooves, 
 adding its own strength and gaining the strength of others. Its 
 century is a good argument for the steadying power of Presby- 
 terian unity and order as against the disintegration of Independ- 
 ency. The church has simply stood in its lot and accepted the 
 changes ordered by its own representatives. Then it has quickly 
 perceived and rapidly undertaken its duty at every change. 
 [The sole complaint it has ever had to utter, under all these eccle- 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. ,sj) 
 
 siastical changes, was that petition of last century, to be released 
 from the Presbytery of Redstone and transferred to the Presby- 
 tery of Carlisle.] 
 
 This constancy has been seen in the general consent of the 
 church to the doctrines which arc considered representative of 
 our denomination. In May, 1825, the Session purchased "one 
 dozen Confessions of Faith for distribution among the poor." 
 rhe sentence of Judge Snowden, written in 1839, has been kept 
 good until this day : "The Session have at all times adhered to 
 the principles contained in the Confession of Faith. Direct. ay 
 for Worship, etc., and in enforcing the doctrines or exercisin 
 discipline of the church, they have received them as their 
 acknowledged, public standard." Our church has had its full 
 measure of interest in that acknowledgment of our region's 
 soundness in the faith which is conveyed in the phrase— - the 
 backbone of Presbyterianism." Dr. Alexander wrote to Dr 
 U eed, (of Wheeling) in 1838 : "Pittsburgh Synod is the purest 
 and soundest limb of the Presbyterian body. When we fall to 
 pieces in this quarter and in the far West, that Synod will he 
 like a marble column which remains undisturbed in the rui 
 a mighty temple." We can s ee now , how much smaller the 
 calamity actually was than this admirable man judged it would 
 be; but also how sagacious he was in discerning the character 
 and forecasting the conduct of the Pittsburgh Synod 1 
 found true and solid. And we can now see what he could not 
 foresee, the rebuilding of the whole edifice in re-union of 1869 
 for which our church furnished so appropriate a place for our 
 division s part in the work. I think there are no si ; ,s of failure 
 now m this, mission of constancy. There is the same con vim ,1 
 adherence to what we believe to be the word of Go,! that was 
 found of old. I know no church less disturbed by doctrinal 
 doubts. 
 
 But more than the constancy to denominational truth is to be 
 considered our loyalty to the grand central truths which are the 
 tge of all denominations ami which compose the spinal 
 column of the whole body. The First Church is now, has ] 
 always, and must ever be positive in its convictions concerning 
 the leading truths of religion. "We know what we worship" may 
 be reverently said. Inspiration and atonement, justification 
 sanctification and adoption are terms that cover realities to us 
 
00 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 Such positiveness belongs to our Bible, our creed and our ances- 
 try. It was evident from the beginning that the church for such 
 a field was to be evangelical. There were grave difficulties at the 
 outset, it is true. The cases of Mr. Barr, (first pastor,) of Mr. 
 Mahon (stated supply,) of Mr. Steele (second pastor,) with that 
 of Judge Addison and probably of Mr. Semple, who both turned 
 to the law, as they were adjudicated in Presbytery, are to be in- 
 terpreted by the lesser importance attached at one time, in Ire- 
 land, to the doctrine of a converted membership and personal 
 experience, and by the state of affairs which gave such decision 
 to the "Log-Coll3ge" men of this country as men of revival in- 
 fluences and methods and of clear personal testimony to an in- 
 terest in Christ, We have here probably the trans-Allegheny 
 echoes of controversies over the sea, and of those which resulted 
 in the schism of 1745, in the midst of ourselves. Spirituality 
 w r on the day eventually, and has established supreme dominion, 
 as witness the history of the Second Church from 1802, and of 
 the First from 1811, the period of Dr. Herron's accession. This 
 will prove a sheet-anchor for the future. More than half a 
 century after his entering the church as a boy, the Rev. Dr. 
 Richard Lea, who has always lived beside the church of his 
 youth, read these words at our communion-season in July, 1880. 
 They are so touching a tribute to this characteristic that they 
 deserve to be incorporated here : "This church does not shine 
 comparatively as conspicuously as it did of yore, for the blessed 
 reason that so many bright lights burn all around it. Positively, 
 it has constantly increased in power. It is no ancient ruin, like 
 Castle Dudley or Kenilworth, but a mighty fortress, such as 
 Stirling or Warwick. Peace has been within these walls, pros- 
 perity within the palaces. It has sent forth streams to make glad 
 the city of our God ; but has maintained its own fullness. 
 Silently but steadily its communicants have marched heaven- 
 ward, some of them grandly, some of them very humbly, but all 
 surely. They never halted except to gather new power. Never 
 seriously mutinied, never fired upon each other, kept right on, 
 even in the great schism. And now, with undiminished numbers, 
 inscribe upon their banner, " Good will to all. Love to each other. 
 Loyalty to the king." 
 
 Such, then, are the characteristics which most plainly disclose 
 the life of the church for the century now closed. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 91 
 
 1. It has been naturally, and by reason of zeal, a place of be- 
 ginnings. 
 
 2. It began and continues as a church of the people. 
 
 3. It has ever sought alliance with all organized Christian 
 work. 
 
 4. It has made itself widely felt by timely and unceasing 
 benevolence. 
 
 5. Within, it has been harmonious and has encouraged inter- 
 denominational fellowship. 
 
 6. Its discipline has been regular and firm in principle with 
 a possible leaning to leniency in application. 
 
 7. Its simplicity in church-life and forms of worship is estab- 
 lished and accented. 
 
 8. It has always made an earnest and honest use of the means 
 of grace. 
 
 9. It has been richly blessed with revivals along with its con- 
 tinuous and steady growth. 
 
 10. It has been constant in personal and ecclesiastical and con- 
 fessional and in evangelical relations and doctrines. 
 
 The sober analysis of the facts of its history does not distinguish 
 any the less clearly a multitude of shortcomings, even in the de- 
 grees in which these characteristics have been characteristic. 
 Alas ! how much more the church might have been in all these 
 directions and how much less in some others. 
 
 But such as it is, the record is matter for prof ound and adoring 
 gratitude to God. The history has been made up of the richest 
 fragrance of redeemed souls in prayer and service. With all 
 the imperfections which may mar its surface, the whole stands as 
 in that struggle-ending promise of the glorified Christ : " Him 
 that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God." 
 So pillar-like, firm and unshaken (whether ornamental or not,) 
 may the dear old church stand. "And he shall go no more out." 
 
92 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 CLOSING WORDS. 
 
 Standing at the close of this first century of our church-life, 
 we have an impressive exhibition of the change which rules in 
 the affairs of men, and of the permanency of spiritual thi 
 As this life has silently unfolded, what a panorama has been 
 afforded by the nations of the world. Our own land passed the i 
 of the Constitution and lived through three wars. France has 
 entered upon and completed the cycle of amazing changes, exhi- 
 bitions of forces sadly contrasting with our own comparatively 
 quiet progress, but ending in permanent liberty, let us hope. 
 Germany has been pulverized, and wringing victory from defeat 
 by careful study and patient waiting, is now imperialized. Italy's 
 long submission to Papal temporal power is over, and final inde- 
 pendence and unity are gained. Russia's growth and power have 
 astonished the world, and its terrible internal struggles have 
 painfully interested the world. England's drum-beat has been 
 following the sun, and the vast changes in the Indias under her 
 rule, arc but typical of the many changes which have awakened 
 and aroused to action and progress the torpid millions of the East. 
 Who could have dreamed a century ago of a pierced wall for 
 ( Ihina, and a western civilization regnant in Japan? What prog- 
 ress of the flying angel "having the everlasting gospel" during 
 these flying years! Its echoes are now thrilling in almost every 
 language of the globe. What marvelous developments of popular 
 liberty and education! Who could have predicted the half- 
 miracles of science and discovery and invention and inter-com- 
 munication V And even those who thought most of Pittsburgh's 
 future then, would acknowledge now that their wildest expecta- 
 tions had been exceeded. During these world-changes, Iioav 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 93 
 
 silently the life within these walls and alone; the lines of spiritual 
 force has developed. Aside from all, breathed into men's hearts 
 from another world, yet for all and in all and helped by all, this 
 life has persisted. Empires come and go, but the church is 
 "praying yet." 
 
 Here has been presented a record which may well challenge 
 the attention of men of the world, and even of unbelievers and 
 scoffers. Let them "go round about" this Zion, leveling their 
 eye-glasses at its every course made visible as the process of con- 
 struction has been unfolded and at every finished turret. They 
 will find many faults, but not half so many as have all the time 
 been found and pointed out and lamented and repented of by the 
 patient generations of builders. And what else may they find ? 
 Can the decency, the social influence, the business energy and in- 
 tegrity, and the benevolence and the law abiding loyalty which 
 have been characteristic of this church for a hundred years, he 
 denied by them? Now let them, seeing these things are matters 
 of fact, account for them. Do sacred themes unfit men for 
 business in the light of this church's record? Do not the grand 
 motives of religion hold men to nobler character, and does not 
 the supreme love to God produce love to fellow men? Does 
 "other worldliness" make men unable to he dutiful citizens ami 
 loyal patriots and strong artisans and successful manufacturers 
 and notable professional men? The "paths of peace and pleas- 
 antness" have been trodden by the vast majority of the thousands 
 who have communed at these tables; and the sacred life of 
 happy homes in all these generations lias testified to the benefi- 
 cent power of the gospel in and for this life. How many, even 
 of those the city has admired and honored, would you find (could 
 you call them hack,) willing to testify that they owed all they 
 valued in this world to the principles of the religion they learned 
 and professed here ! Let men deal honestly with the church of 
 Christ, and they cannot deny the moral and conservative and 
 sustaining power of a body of Christians like those who have 
 worshiped and do worship here. How few of these thousands 
 have been found enemies of their fellow men by crimes of pecu- 
 lation or violence, or intemperance or impurity! Which has 
 fed the jails and penitentiaries, this church and those which have 
 sprung from it, or Barney Coyle's saloon (which Father Maguire 
 mentioned,) and its progeny of thousands like it? What of 
 
!>4 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 the gospel here and the theatres on the avenues hard by as 
 teachers of moi'als, purity of life and thought? To which 
 ought a frightened city, becoming nervous for its own safety, 
 turn as the great popular educator in the noble art of right 
 living ? The review of our century, rightly taken up, would be 
 fraught with lessons for our whole population, and especially 
 for our civil officers and our press. 
 
 But this witness for the truth of God has been borne by men 
 and women (and children too,) who were themselves being 
 borne away — caught up when their testimony was finished, as is 
 God's promise : leaving the banner to other hands. In all these 
 years what a steady exodus to heaven ! Some have gone every 
 year, and in some years many. Parents after the children, whose 
 early death, it may be, led them to the Saviour. Clusters of 
 lilies has the Master gathered from these borders as the bap- 
 tized children were called to His arms. Rest has He given the 
 weary and the aged. Work here has He exchanged for work 
 there in many an earnest middle life. In the comforting view of 
 our beautiful faith, the portals of heaven have been always open 
 above this spot : and the souls of believers " made perfect in holi- 
 ness," have been "immediately passing into glory" through the 
 very shadows that seemed, at times, to gather so heavily about 
 those that were left. With what gratitude we ought to remem- 
 ber that not one of all the hundreds of Christians called from 
 this communion to that of the "church of the first-born," lias 
 ever been called to die in the midst of darkness or spiritual de- 
 sertion. [Certainly I have never heard of a case of the kind.] 
 And on the other hand, how many displays of unfathomable 
 grace in the dying experiences of these dear people of God. Ah ! 
 how I remember some of them. How richly .God's promises have 
 comforted you as they were comforting them who were passing 
 into the unseen to meet Him who lights it all up as a palace by 
 the very fact of His presence there. How many times there has 
 been nothing left us but to "rest and be thankful " when God 
 had taken His own to Himself. So shall it be with us in our 
 turn. All shall be well. Heaven is not far away. The door 
 seems fairly ajar, and the song of redemption almost audible, 
 as we look upward toward that now "great cloud of witnesses" 
 that has been gathering there from this church alone during a 
 century of time. 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 95 
 
 But now to the last words of this whole occasion. The great 
 impulse of our centennial is forward ! The past is to be re- 
 membered only as the foundation of a house is— it is something 
 to build upon. It may give shape, as it will give solidity to 
 the superstructure, but it is no end to itself. In the Annual 
 Sermon of 1869, I said, "Thinking over what we have done 
 rather than of what remains to do, is productive 'only of a weak 
 sort of self-dandling. Luxuriating in past attainments, is a vice 
 of some Christians and of some churches. We are tempted to 
 think that much which is done, when, for our opportunities, it 
 may be pitifully small. And sometimes (remembering the past 
 achievements, without the conditions of toil and patience which 
 accompanied them,) we can grow morose because things now 
 seem more difficult to do. So far as the past is in danger of be- 
 coming a snare by ministering to a weak Vanity or to bitterness, 
 let it be forgotten— "forgetting the things that are behind." 
 
 But on the other hand, to remember the past as a sacre.l 
 deposit in* our hands, and all its achievements, with all their 
 cost, as entrusted to us to be maintained and developed, is to 
 experience a tingling sense of mingled pride and responsibility, 
 out of which may grow a glowing Christian heroism, ami an 
 invincible forward impulse. Oh, ma;, God so help the First 
 Church to use this whole memorial celebration. Ours is a holy 
 trust. What has been gained by faith and patience, must be 
 conserved, perpetuated and enlarged by zeal ami devotion. 
 Amid the thronging memories of former days, we ought to find 
 the germs of future consecrations. We have been tracing 
 upward the stream, and noting the oneness of our life with 
 thai which they lived, only to erne hack to the starting point 
 to start anew in the other direction, with added wisdom and 
 determination. Only thus, beloved, can the experience of the 
 century past enter with large and beneficent power into the history 
 of the century to follow. 
 
 The lessons of these past struggles are before us, and with 
 one voice they testify to the power that " overcometh the 
 world— even our faith." Where has God failed to help when 
 our fathers leaned upon Him ? At the first infant-cry, help 
 came. When the hewn logs were being piled into the modest 
 cabin for worship, was He not there to aid at everv step, planting 
 the small vine, literally, in a broad place? When a second 
 
96 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 groat effort was made, and faith seemed to fail and false means 
 were resorted to and strange fire burned on the altar, how quickly 
 God left even His own to discover that "except the Lord build 
 the . house, they labor in vain to build it." The evil effects of 
 the lottery were visible until the first revivals came. And in 
 these first gracious outpourings of the Spirit, and the efforts 
 which followed them, how present God was to help. And thus 
 it has been to the very last of our larger enterprises. The 
 church has an-ever precious, (dear and vivid record of the 
 divine acceptance of her every earnest effort. Never, either 
 in more temporal concerns, or in purely spiritual matter, has the 
 church roused herself to any great duty, or undertaken any 
 great work, but God has crowned it with success. 
 
 And now that the struggles for maintenance seem to be over 
 (probably forever) — now is the time to remember that we arc 
 nearer than ever to the objects for which those struggles were 
 entered upon, and by divine grace made successful. The work 
 for which the century past has been preparing 'the First 
 Church, is just before it! "Rest on every side" — Prom exigen- 
 i i of frontier life, from savages, from disputed territorial limits, 
 from pecuniary embarrassments, from denominational division.-, 
 from defective instrumentalities and accommodations, from 
 almost everything that can hinder : is for what object .' Why 
 docs a fruit tree pass from slender shoot to stalwart trunk 
 and waving branches and whispering leaves? T<> stand tin:,; 
 ami he handsome .' Ah. no ! The curse of the Master rings on 
 the wind and touches every quivering leaf — if such a thoughl 
 enters our hearts ! A church grows that it may grow : it bears 
 fruit, that that fruit— having its ,<rvd in itself by the divine law 
 of the new creation — shall bear more fruit ! Think ! ! Has the 
 church grown alone .' Where there were ten- and then hundreds 
 and then thousands, there are now tens of thousands. The struggles 
 for maintenance must only be changed to struggles for productive- 
 ness. Some account must be given to God, (aye, even to men 
 — aye, even to our own consciousness, ) for the resources piled 
 up here in men and means, and education and opportunity. 
 There is the great lesson of the centennial. The Red 
 Sea and the desert, and even the Jordan, are behind us that we 
 may go up — in common with all other parts of God's host — to 
 "possess the land" That means earnest, thoughtful, intense, self- 
 
HISTORICAL SERMONS. 97 
 
 surrendering work, [t means work in the detail of church life, 
 in the outreaching forces of organized Christian love: by the de- 
 nominational arms that take hold of life over our whole land (in 
 
 religion and education,) and which pierce the world with avenues .by 
 
 which "gifts" may follow graces, and faith be proved by "works." 
 The church may uot be compared to a century plant, for it 
 
 blossoms at all times. Still less is it an evergreen, for its' leaves 
 are deciduous and successive generations of believers disappear. 
 It cannot be called an oak— for even oaks must die. It has no 
 simile hut His life in whom it lives. Perennial productiveness 
 must he its motto. " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." 
 No church can he Christ's church and not underwrite that decla- 
 ration — "I, too, work." 
 
 ^ Turn your faces, then, with -lad confidence toward the future. 
 There the greater life of the church is still to he lived. Flash 
 the light of the past upon that future and walk in the beaming 
 path that light marks out for you. Carry the warmth of loyal 
 affection, largely increased and intensified by this week of review, 
 into the worship and work of that future. Advance boldly^ 
 asking at every step : What are the difficulties for us to meet : 
 by what instrumentalities shall we grasp and set forward the 
 work now given us to do : what measure of devotion in personal 
 endeavor, earnest prayer, and freely given means, is required by 
 the situation of to-day, and what are our motives? With our 
 •Town, our church, our city, our country and the kingdom of our 
 Christ as motives, we ought not to fail of devotedness. With 
 such motives we can push through the problem of how to secure 
 a much larger proportion of Christian living to be lived through 
 the church, making it less an incident and more an essential. 
 Thus we shall solve the problem of "how to reach the masses." 
 Thus we shall learn to overcome the thronging temptations that 
 start upon every side for ourselves, our children and the world. 
 Thus we shall submit cheerfully to these final conditions of success 
 in the work of the First Church in its second cent my. 
 
 They are these: — 
 
 1. A spiritual life, maintained by devout communion with 
 ( rod, and diligent use of the means of grace to the highest possi- 
 ble degree. 
 
 2. A just comprehension of the duties required of us and the 
 opportunities placed he fore us. 
 
98 HISTORICAL SERMONS. 
 
 3. A thorough knowledge of our dangers, with deliverance 
 from pride and presumption. 
 
 4. Old-fashioned severity of conscience. 
 
 5. Willingness to sacrifice tastes and inclinations for the more 
 serious and imperative claims~of imperiled souls. 
 
 6. Patient study of our past and its principles, by the suc- 
 cessive generations as they rise, so that the reverence for what 
 " God hath wrought " shall never be lost. 
 
 7. Learning, by mistakes even, to avoid isolation and narrow- 
 ness, and contentions about little things. 
 
 8. Eclectic common sense, joined with principled conservatism. 
 
 9. Unfaltering Faith in God. 
 
 " God of our fathers, from whose hand 
 The centuries glide like grains of sand," 
 
 Who hast so signally been the God of the century now com- 
 pleted, to Thee we commit this church of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 for the century which now begins. 
 
DR. SPEER's SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. !)9 
 
 SABBATH AFTERNOON., 
 
 The Sabbath Schools of the Second and Third Presbyterian 
 Churches, omitting their regular services, marched to the First 
 Church and were comfortably seated on the main floor of the 
 church, and the exercises proceeded in presence of a large audi- 
 ence in the gallery. The occasion was throughout of the highest 
 interest. 
 
 After devotional exercises, Dr. Win. Speer was introduced. It 
 was with peculiar gratitude that many heard the voice of this 
 admirable writer, of whom the church is justly proud. He had 
 been Superintendent for years, and had gone from the heart of 
 the church in which he had grown up into the heart of that vast 
 empire — China, accompanied by one of the noblest spirits among 
 the consecrated young women of our history. Returning thence 
 on account of ill health, he had engaged in varied labors for 
 Christ as Missionary to the Chinese on the Pacific coast, as 
 author of one of the best books for China ever written, and as 
 Secretary of the General Assembly's Board of Education. He had 
 again devoted his life to the interests of the Chinese by laboring 
 for them in this country, and sought special qualifications for it 
 by a second journey through China. 
 
 It was one of the gratifications of the occasion that he could 
 be with us, and thanks are due that he undertook and completed 
 the preparation of two such valuable papers as those which were 
 contributed to the Sabbath School history and on the Missionary 
 history of our church century. His paper that afternoon is as 
 follows, and is replete with interest : 
 
100 dr. speer's sabbath school history, 
 
 DR. SPEER'S SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 
 
 Some of you probably have read the story of a man, Luke 
 Short, who died in New England, at a hundred and sixteen years 
 of age. When over a century old, in the prospect of death, lie 
 remembered a sermon which he had heard when a youth, in 
 England, from the celebrated preacher, John Flavel. The text 
 was, "if any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be 
 anathema maranatlia;" that is, "let him be accursed when the Lord 
 shall come," The thoughts of Jesus Christ as a loving Saviour, 
 yet as a just Judge, brought him to repentance. Thus this won- 
 derful thing happened, that a man over a hundred years old was 
 converted by a sermon which he heard when a hoy. To-day we 
 are to talk about things which have occurred during the hundred 
 years which arc past, and to learn lessons which shall be profit- 
 able for all our lives to come. One of the blessings of the gospel 
 is that it prolongs life. Each generation of Christians now lives 
 Longer than that preceding it. There maybe some boy or girl 
 but a few years old anion-' the Sabbath School children that have 
 met here this afternoon, who will join a hundred years from now in 
 celebrating the immeasurably greater blessing which God has 
 promised through the Lord Jesus Christ to bestow upon His 
 church in these crowning days of this dispensation. Maythe Holy 
 Spirit make all the life of every one of us, whether it be Ion- or 
 short, fruitful in works which the dear Saviour will bless to many 
 on earth, and crown with joy when he shall come as the Judge 
 of all. 
 
 The glorious psalm which has been read, the forty-eighth, 
 was intended for grand occasions like the present, when we are 
 met to commemorate God's wonderful goodness to us as a church 
 
DR. SPEER's SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 1()1 
 
 and people for a hundred years. God put it into this hook ; and 
 He has preserved the book for more than two thousand years, 
 that Christians now, as well as those who have lived in all tin' 
 ages before us, might have thoughts and words suitable and ac- 
 ceptable for justsuch memorable and happy days in the history 
 of His people as this one. Let us all join, the young and the 
 old, parents and children, teachers and scholars, in proclaiming 
 to His praise, "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praise, 1 in 
 the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness." This 
 city has been in many respects in the past "a city of our God ;" 
 and this church has been greatly honored by Him as "a mountain 
 of His holiness." Therefore we should greatly praise Him from 
 our hearts and with our tongues to-day. 
 
 The psalm teaches His people for what they should praise 
 God, under such circumstances : 
 
 I. It looks back to the past, to what God had given to them 
 in the land where Israel dwelt of old; the beautiful and rich 
 country and its remarkable situation in the world. It was 
 "beautiful for situation ;" "the joy of the whole earth." These 
 things were designed to be pledges of great blessings to them from 
 Him as the creator of the world and the governor of its nations. 
 
 II. The psalm declares, "as we have heard, so have we seen, 
 in the city of the Lord of Hosts, in the city of our God :" that 
 is, that those pledges have been fruitful in the best , f the 
 present What God had promised in' the covenants of the past 
 had all been beheld and enjoyed in the history and experiences of 
 His people and in the comforts and enjoyments which His hand 
 had poured out upon them. 
 
 III. We are authorized of God .to "tell all these things" to 
 our children: that they may love and serve God still better than 
 we, and may depend upon the certain fulfillment of the promises 
 of far greater future good which God is to grant to the church and 
 to the world. "Mark well," "consider," all these facts and all 
 this history, "that ye may tell it to the generation following." 
 
 The subject assigned to me is "The Sabbath School and Mis- 
 sionary History of the First Church." 
 
 Let these divine suggestions indicate the heads of the address 
 to-day, in our review of the first century of the Sabbath School 
 history of the church. Part of what is said in respect to it will 
 be applicable to the other branch of the subject, the Missionary 
 
102 dr. speer's sabbath school history. 
 
 history, which will he given at another time. We will now 
 consider, 
 
 I, 1784. The beginning of the century ; its pledges of 
 blessing to our fathers. 
 
 II, 1884. The present ; the bestowments of blessings which 
 the century has brought to ourselves. 
 
 III, 1984. The future. The promises of blessing to our 
 children. 
 
 1. The Pledges of Blessing to Our Fathers. Jerusa- 
 lem was "beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, en 
 the sides" or margin or borders, "of the North." I have not time 
 to describe the exceeding interest of the "situation" of Palestine, 
 the very centre of the Old World : and how Jerusalem was set 
 from the beginning to be " a joy of the whole earth ;" and tell all 
 the beautiful stories of her relations to Babylon, the mighty 
 ancient empire of the North, the political and intellectual influ- 
 ence of which, and the commercial intercourse of its people, then 
 extended from the Mediterranean and Red seas to India and 
 China in the far East—what grand pledges of blessing from the 
 beginning these geographical and national relationships were to 
 the Israel of old. 
 
 And are the same kind of evidences of God's creating and all 
 controlling power of wisdom and goodness, in America, and in 
 Pennsylvania, and in Pittsburgh, to be disregarded and forgotten 
 by His better beloved and more highly blessed spiritual Israel 
 of to-day ? God, in his mercy, forbid. It is not our place now to 
 recount God's blessing to other localities and Christian commu- 
 nities. But I do desire to lead these children and their teachers 
 and parents, and the Christian people here to-day, to mark well 
 and consider the blessings of God's word, which so many utterly 
 slight ; so that they shall remember them, and associate them 
 with these centennial observances as long as they live, and 
 teach them to the generation following. 
 
 I say, " beautiful for situation" is Pittsburgh, and the great 
 region of the valley of the Ohio, of which this group of cities and 
 towns is the centre. 
 
 How wonderfully our nation, the United States, sits as a queen 
 upon this grand American continent ! Her sapphire throne, the 
 shining waters of the Mexican Gulf. Her left arm, thrilling 
 with the nerves and blood, the life and enterprise of the grand 
 
DR. SPEER's SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 103 
 
 valley of the Ohio, a thousand miles in length. Her open palm, 
 "here at Pittsburgh, to receive, as it were, by the extended fingers 
 of these great water and land communications, the tribute of the 
 Atlantic States and of the transatlantic commerce. Her right 
 arm, the mighty Missouri, with its water courses and land high- 
 ways outstretched to the borders of the Pacific, and ready to dis- 
 tribute there the munificent gifts of blessings which God has sent 
 along with the westward course of the sun since the beginning of 
 our era. "Beautiful for situation" is Pittsburgh. jNo one knows 
 how beautiful this region is who has not seen much of other parts 
 of the world. Pittsburgh is planted of God just where it is, in 
 order to be " a joy" to the continent. He would have it "a joy to 
 the whole earth." And so may it be. 
 
 And God gave to Israel not alone its location but its soil and 
 minerals and productions of every kind. He created for its use 
 "a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths 
 that spring out of valleys and hills, a land wherein thou shalt eat 
 bread without any scarceness ; thou shalt not lack any thing in 
 it ; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou 
 mayest dig brass." And no less for His own glory, and for the 
 good of those that were appointed to dwell therein, has God en- 
 dowed this part of the American continent with a peculiar 
 abundance and variety of sources of wealth and power. He has 
 enriched this region in an extraordinary measure with fertile 
 soils, unbroken to the hill tops, suited to the growth of the most 
 nutritious 'grains and to afford the most abundant pasture for 
 herds and flocks, and with fountains and streams of water ; and 
 with the common minerals, iron and coal and lime, which are the 
 most valuable of all that the earth affords as means of creating 
 diversified and beneficial industries, and in multiplying popula- 
 tion and wealth. The coal and iron and lime of Pennsylvania 
 are far better gifts of God than the gold and silver of California 
 and Nevada. These are the minerals which the vast and ener- 
 getic growth and spread of population in this new world most 
 needed. It is these which have supplied the rails and the wires 
 and the bridges, the engines and the machinery for a multitude 
 of commercial and manufacturing uses and for manifold designs, 
 both great and small, the utensils of peace and the implements 
 of war. 
 
104 DR. SPEER's SABBATH school HISTORY. 
 
 And still further, God gave to the land its people, the chosen 
 race, who took possession of it. He led Israel out of bondage, 
 and avouched them to be his peculiar people, and blessed their 
 
 land and their store houses. And it was the same God who led 
 to this region those who were to occupy it. He caused the 
 primary and controlling population of this favored part of the 
 
 New World to be a people fitted for the n'd beneficent 
 
 ends which He would here accomplish througn them, by many 
 centuries of national and intellectual and spiritual education and 
 discipline in the islands of Western Europe. Children in school 
 should mark and consider, in studyin aphy and his 
 
 the wonderful way in which during two thousand years God 
 ired our ancestors for their task in this republic. 
 
 The people of this oldest Presbyterian Church are peculiarly 
 called to consider these prim with reg lis region 
 
 and its history, inasmuch as they have the chief original in I 
 in them. Its founders planted in this locality, amidst most 
 perilous and trying circumstances, what, with perhaps one ex- 
 ception, was the first organization and h the spiritual 
 worship of the living and true God. For nineteen years it was 
 the only one of the Presbyterian order. For nearly half a cen- 
 tury from the origin of it, there was only one other church of 
 that order in Pittsburgh and Allegheny. And its history has 
 lent it a peculiar prominence in respect to the Presbyterian in- 
 terests of the valley of the Ohio. 
 
 II. .In 1884 we turn to review the centur 
 whether God HAS BESTOWED the BLESSINGS upon the genera- 
 tions of tlieir children which the pledges at I ming of it 
 seemed to indicate? Let us group the evidences that He has 
 DONE so under several heads. 
 
 1. God has poured forth direct spiritual blessings upon this 
 region in a measure scarcely paralleled elsewhere. Here, more than 
 anywhere else in the land, the po svival of 1800 
 was felt, and its best fruits enjoyed. 
 
 2. The wild condition of the frontier at thai time made this 
 a field in which zealous missionary efforts were imperatively re- 
 quired. It was so among the young even more than among the 
 adult people. And thus it arose that Pittsburgh was one of the 
 first places in the world where the modern missionaryMdea of the 
 Sabbath School was conceived and put in practice. From the 
 
dr. speer's SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 105 
 
 earliest ages of Christianity there had been catechetical and 
 doctrinal instruction of the children of the church and of religious 
 inquiries from the world. But the philanthropist, Robert Raikes, 
 in 1781, seeing the ignorance and viciousness and wretchedness 
 of the poor in Gloucester, England, determined to try and benefit 
 and reform those whom he could by collecting and instructing 
 their children. 
 
 The children of the soldiers and mixed classes of poor settlers 
 about Fort Pitt, as they increased in number, afforded a similar 
 field for missionary labors. The Sabbath day was spent by them , 
 in noisy 'games, amusements about the water, walks upon the 
 neighboring hills, and sometimes in intoxication and fights. In 
 the summer of 1809 Major Ebenezer Denny, who had been a 
 soldier in the Revolutionary war, remembering the prayers and 
 counsels of his pious mother in Carlisle, Matthew B. Lowrie, 
 brother of Walter Lowrie, the first Secretary of our Board of 
 Foreign Missions, and other good men connected with the First 
 and Second Presbyterian Churches, formed what they entitled a 
 " Moral Society," one of the efforts of which was to establish a 
 school where children and young people could be instructed on 
 the Sabbath day. Mr. Lewis F. Allen, of Buffalo, K Y., a youth- 
 ful teacher in it, describes the school. It was commenced in the 
 old Court House, in the square on Market street. The room was 
 filled with a rude and ignorant crowd, of all ages up to manhood 
 and womanhood ; white and black mingled together. Some of 
 them were disfigured by bloody fights, then of almost daily occur- 
 rence. A well grown boy was without a nose ; it had been bitten 
 off in a fierce battle. A number of earnest people gladly gave 
 their time, outside of church hours, each Sabbath, to teaching 
 these vicious aud neglected young people to spell and read, and 
 recite verses of the Scriptures and the Shorter Catechism. The 
 people of the town generally regarded this humble and self-deny- 
 ing work with contempt and open opposition. The life of Robert 
 Raikes notices this truly missionary effort in Pittsburgh with 
 marked interest, as the first example in America of the same form 
 of missionary Sabbath School which that eminent philanthropisi 
 had succeeded in planting in several of the seaport and manufac- 
 turing cities of England. 
 
 Four years later, in 1813, and two years earlier than the date 
 sometimes given, as a number of facts preserved by the members 
 8 
 
!()(> dr. speer's SABBATH SCHOOL history. 
 
 of his family sh >\v, William Lecky, a member and trustee of the 
 Fust Presbyterian Church,mxde an important advance up »n the 
 former movement. Pitying the poor children who ran wild upon 
 the Sabbath in the upper part of the town, about the region of 
 the church, he gathered a number of them on that day into his 
 wagon shop, which was opposite to the church on Wood street. 
 He engaged a powerful auxiliary in a young lady, Miss Eliza 
 Irwin, who undertook to teach the children to sing Watt's hymns. 
 Some of the older people were shocked by this occupation of the 
 holy day in such unwonted employments, and arraigned Mr. 
 Lecky before the church Session. But the wiser pastor Sustained 
 him, saying, "letJiim go on with his teaching, something will 
 come of it." And before long the youthful objects of his 
 compassion were permitted to occupy the Session room in the 
 rear of the church building. A portion of them he enticed into 
 his pew to hear the sermon of the good pastor. This little school 
 gave to some of these children instruction which made them ex- 
 emplary men and women, and led them to become faithful fol- 
 lowers of Christ. 
 
 Here then we see, at a frontier town on the Ohio, only three- 
 quarters of a century ago, two of the earliest experiments of 
 that grand and powerful and divinely blessed missionary agency, 
 for the salvation of mankind through the youth of each genera- 
 tion, which now has scattered over the American continent 
 ninety thousand schools, which contain a hundred thousand 
 teachers and seven millions of scholars, and by which a hundred 
 and thirty thousand members are added yearly to the church of 
 Christ. Indeed, the Missionary Sabbath School is now one of 
 the most potent of evangelistic means for the revival of the dead 
 or paralyzed Protestantism of some parts of the world, for the 
 conversion of multitudes in Romanist countries and for the 
 teaching of all nations whatsoever the blessed Redeemer and 
 Lord hath commanded. The need of the Scriptures for the Sab- 
 bath School was the principal cause of the formation of the first 
 Bible Society ; which was in Great Britain, in 1804. Its inter- 
 national lessons have stimulated the study of the Scriptures in all 
 Christian nations, and in foreign missionary fields. The influence 
 of the Sabbath School has revolutionized the music and the lyric 
 poetry of the church, and made music an ally in all aggressive 
 
DR. SPIER'S SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 107 
 
 Christian and humanitarian work. It has powerfully aided in 
 quickening the Christianity of the age. 
 
 3. The spiritual influence of its Sabbath School work lias 
 been one of the most happy features in the history of the First 
 Church. 
 
 Labors for the instruction and conversion of the young, ever 
 brings down a peculiar blessing from Him who so loved children 
 when on the earth. We early trace in our Sabbath School records 
 the evidences of the influence upon teachers and parents. Meet- 
 ings for prayer were held ; many of them at daylight in the 
 morning, that ordinary domestic or business employments might 
 not be interfered with, and that the thirsting spirits of the sup- 
 pliants might be refreshed for duties of the Sabbath or of secular 
 life. A separate monthly concert of prayer for Sabbath Schools 
 was held by the members of the church for many years. The 
 pastors have testified that the labors of devoted teachers were 
 among the chief means by which the children and young people 
 were brought to feel the claims of Christ upon their hearts and 
 to confess His name before men. These fervent labors prepared 
 the way for revivals of religion. 
 
 The simple memorizing' of Scripture, though the knowledge of 
 those days had not yet made the study of God's book so delight- 
 ful in some things as it is now, was a supreme benefit. At the 
 close of the year 1828, the principal school of the church re-* 
 ported that the scholars, averaging an attendance of a hundred 
 and ten, had committed, during the year, sixty thousand verses. 
 This seems, in our questionable way of learning the Scripture 
 lesson, a great quantity. But have not the Chinese boys in our 
 mission schools, of whom there are some who have thoroughly 
 committed the whole seven thousand nine hundred and twenty- 
 nine verses of the New Testament, besides some portions of the 
 Old Testament, done far more thereby to form a solid and 
 strong Christian character, than the boys in America do without 
 this ? It is a mistake of our present mode of teaching to instruct 
 the young in "the word of God," otherwise than by "the word* of 
 God." Jesus says he spake " the words " which the Father gave 
 to him. It is " not the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but 
 which the Holy Ghost teacheth," that impart spiritual wisdom, 
 and spiritual peace, and spiritual power ; the power which is 
 " mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds," 
 
108 
 
 DR. SPEER'S SABBATH SCHOOL IlfsTOIiY. 
 
 wherever they have been reared in opposition to Him throughout 
 the world. 
 
 4. The missionary atmosphere in which the first Sabbath 
 School was born here has animated its subsequent life. Teachers 
 and pecuniary aid were sent forth to plant, in numerous destitute 
 spots of the city and its suburbs, nurseries of the tree of life. At 
 Ferry and Fourth streets ; in Virgin alley, and in Exchange alley; 
 down at the Point ; on Penn, near Fifth street ; in a saw mill on 
 the Allegheny, near Eighth street ; towards the Monongahela 
 river, on Second street, between Smithfield and Wood streets ; 
 up in Kensington or Soho, and at other places in the lower parts 
 of the city, the children of the families of the vicinity, most often 
 the poor, were gathered into schools on the Lord's Day. Mem- 
 bers of the "church living at more distant points, as on Prospect 
 Hill and at Minersville to the east, up on the top of Coal Hill 
 to the south, and in Temperanceville below it on the Ohio, 
 where the laborers in the coal pits and glass works could be 
 reached, engaged in this precious though toilsome work, and were 
 joined in it by others who went gladly to their help. In 1817, 
 James Wilson and others collected an African school ; for Pitts- 
 burgh was always a convenient and comparatively safe refuge 
 for the hunted fugitives from the South. In buildings of all 
 kinds, shops, factories, ward school houses, the good work was 
 Carried on. In Allegheny, a German lager beer saloon supplied 
 a room above it, where a school, sometimes called the "Lager Beer 
 School," was taught, which in time was baptized by the more 
 religious name of the "Providence School." A great deal of 
 money was bestowed for these efforts from the general church 
 funds ; but more still from individuals who were personally en- 
 listed in them. Thomas Plumer made, in 1835, a bequest of two 
 hundred and fifty dollars for Sabbath Schools, the interest of 
 which the church Session has used with much advantage to 
 several of them. John Wright, a faithful elder, himself built 
 a hall for a school. Several gentlemen, now living, have 
 annually given large sums to others on this and the Allegheny 
 side of the river. There were those who devoted what is far 
 more valuable than money, health and life itself. Thomas B. 
 Beer, son of an elder of the church, a graduate of Jefferson 
 College entering upon studies for the ministry, it was believed at 
 the time, sacrificed health, and in March, 1838, his life, to disease 
 
DR. SPEER'S SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 109 
 
 caused by labors among the poor and suffering families of the 
 children of the Kensington School. 
 
 The planting and care of Mission Schools was the principal 
 object in the formation of the Pittsburgh Sabbath School Union, 
 in 1817, sustained by the two Presbyterian churches and the 
 Methodist. This association had under its care, in 1823, when 
 the population of these cities was perhaps not above a tenth of 
 what it is now, the surprising number of twenty-one schools, 
 with two thousand scholars and three hundred and twenty teachers 
 on their rolls. In 1825, the First Presbyterian Church organized 
 an independent association, which, in 1882, sustained twelve 
 schools, having one thousand two hundred and twelve scholars, 
 nineteen superintendents, and a hundred and three teachers! 
 This organization continued its work, though latterly with de- 
 creasing interest, for twenty-six years. 
 
 It is not difficult to trace the origin of several of the Presby- 
 terian churches of the city and its vicinity to these Mission 
 Schools. And as each new effort prospered, it in turn assisted to 
 furnish workers for more destitute fields. Thus the old church 
 was far from performing the whole of the grand work described. 
 The daughters sometimes excelled the mother in real sacrifices 
 and toils. And to all the other Presbyterian churches full and 
 hearty praise must be rendered for the willing and zealous labors 
 of their members in these missionary enterprises and for the noble 
 fruits which have sprung from them. 
 
 5. The influence of these Christian efforts upon the city and 
 its increasing population, through this hundred years, has been 
 very great. No human mind can estimate the effect of a sound 
 religious faith and morality and zeal, upon all the commercial, 
 and political and social, and humane and educational and ecclesi- 
 astical spirit and institutions and operations, of a rapidly growing 
 community in the New World. All Pittsburgh, and all the 
 regions where its commercial communications extend, and its sons 
 and daughters emigrate, owes a large debt to this church and the 
 churches which have sprung from it. 
 
 The various nationalities of this manufacturing community 
 have shared the benefit. Many cases would illustrate the extent 
 of it. Let us mention three German boys out of our prin- 
 cipal school. One of them is now at the head of a bank in the 
 city, a prosperous manufacturer and an able counsellor and intel- 
 
110 DR. SPEER'S SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 
 
 ligent and generous supporter of his own branch of the Christian 
 church and of numerous public enterprises. Another is the 
 earnest and respected superintendent of one of the largest Pres- 
 byterian churches in the city of New York. Another is a useful 
 missionary in the empire of Brazil. 
 
 The literature of the schools has been a benefit to the public, 
 circulating, as it has done, through a multitude of families, by 
 papers and tracts and the books of libraries, adapted not alone to 
 juvenile readers, but also to young men and women and to 
 mat urer minds. Missoinary and expository lectures have been 
 •riven at times. During one year two professors of the Theo- 
 logical Seminary in Allegheny, lectured in alternate weeks at 
 the teachers' meetings. 
 
 6. The various branches of the general work of the Presby- 
 terian Church in the country have been aided by contributions 
 from the Sabbath Schools. Children have been supported in 
 .Missionary Schools in heathen fields, and among the freedmen of 
 the South. The eloquent Christian Brahmin, Sheshadri, belong- 
 ing to the Scotch Free Church mission in India, received the 
 gifts of some of the children for a time. Mr. Scovel's Bible class 
 carried Daoud Kurban, now an assistant in the Syrian Mission, 
 through four years of his preparatory study at the college in 
 Beyrout. Occasional help has been given to home missionary 
 and Sabbath School claims. 
 
 7. The personal relations to our Sabbath Schools of those 
 who have gone forth to foreign and home missionary fields, who 
 have rendered important services to the cause of education in 
 various directions, who have become pastors of churches, or who 
 deserve honor as benefactors by means of their pecuniary con- 
 tributions to religious and humane and educational objects, would 
 itself be a theme sufficient for a most interesting address or paper. 
 We can but touch upon it briefly. 
 
 If we cast our eyes upon the foreign work of the Presbyterian 
 Church, we see at its head Dr. John C. Lowrie, who was super- 
 intendent of two of the Mission Schools — that on the hill to 
 the east, called the Arthursville school, and that on Coal 
 Hill, now Mi Washington. He was licensed in this church, 
 June 6, 1832, and sent as the pioneer of our missions to India, in 
 1833. Wells Bushnell, one of the two pioneers of the North 
 American Indian work of the Western Foreign Missionary and 
 
DR. SPEER S SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. Ill 
 
 Foreign Board, was converted under Dr. Herron's preaching, and 
 lie married the daughter of John Hannen, long an elder here and 
 in the Allegheny church : while Joseph Kerr, the other pioneer, 
 married Mary Ann Caldwell, Mr. Hannen's step-daughter. All 
 these were connected in various ways with the schools. James 
 Wilson, long missionary in Lodiana, Allahabad and Agra, was 
 superintendent of the Arthursville school. Albert 0. Johnson, 
 one of the missionaries murdered at Cawnpore during the terrible 
 Sepoy Rebellion in 1857, was a member of this church while in 
 the Seminary, and was a sharer in its work. John Cloud, the 
 martyr in Africa, and two or three other early missionaries, 
 probably were teachers. Of those who have labored in China, 
 Dr. A. P. Happer was associated with the First Church ; William 
 Speer was scholar, teacher and superintendent in the home 
 school in 1844, and also a teacher in the Kensington school; 
 and Cornelia Brackenridge, who became Mrs. Speer, was scholar 
 and teacher in the home school. Annie K. Davis, daughter of 
 an elder, is aiding in the wonderful work now in progress in 
 Japan. John Rea, brought up from childhood in the church, 
 has been our representative in the great mission fields of Wash- 
 ington Territory and California. 
 
 Many of the studentsof the Theological Seminary who have since 
 then been honored in pastoral and educational labors, have been 
 members of the church, or attendants upon its < irdinances. Dr. Rich- 
 ard Lea, of Lawrenceville, grew up in the church and its Sabbath 
 School, and was a teacher and superintendent. The Rev. Dr. Alex- 
 ander B. Brown, President of Jefferson College; Dr. Aaron Wil- 
 liams, professor in the same institution ; Dr. Thomas H. Robinson, 
 recently elected a professor in the Western Theological Seminary ; 
 Dr. James W. Wightman, late President of the College at Bowling 
 Green, Ky., now in the Steubenville Female Seminary ; Mrs. 
 Samuel J. Beatty, of the Seminary for the Freedmen at Char- 
 lotte, North Carolina ; Mrs. Cooper, formerly Miss Skinner, whose 
 husband is laboring in a Western missionary field, and others, 
 have been Sabbath School workers. And we might add a list of 
 honored pastors of churches, and of pastors' wives, names familiar 
 to all — Comingo, McKaig, Robinson, Miller, McKibbin, and 
 others — some now in heaven, some yet on earth, who have been 
 sharers in the toils and recompenses of serving in this part of the 
 vineyard. 
 
112 
 
 DR. SPEERS SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 
 
 It sorely grieves us to mention hut these names and scant 
 details in respect to a branch of our subject which is capable of 
 affording so much which would he of deep and abiding interest, 
 and help to illustrate the history of the influence of the church 
 and its Sabbath Schools upon the best and highest interests of 
 religion and of mankind. 
 
 And yet this would still he but a partial view of the subject. 
 It would be opening but one of the lines of illustration of which 
 it is capable, were we, to notice the lives of some who have been 
 scholars in these Sabbath School classes, whose large-hearted con- 
 secration of life and property and pecuniary means for religious and 
 philanthropic and educational and scientific purposes have justly 
 made their names beloved and honored in wide regions, some of 
 them throughout the nation and foreign lands. 
 
 8. The equipments for work have gone on co-extensively 
 with chat which God opened before the church in behalf of 
 the children under its care. The little germ in the Session 
 room behind the church, in 1813, outgrew its accommodations. 
 In 1826, it was settled comfortably in the quarters on Sixth 
 avenue; which was one of the first buildings in the country, 
 some claim it was the first, specially erected and furnished 
 with reference to Sabbath School uses. The several thousand 
 dollars thus spent was a very large expenditure for the time, 
 in a line of church work whose importance was yet little 
 comprehended. Large improvements were made in 1840, in the 
 same direction. 
 
 Of recent years the thoughts of the membership have been 
 directed more and more towards the nature of the influence 
 which this church is to exert for the future upon this city 
 and its population. Its history from the beginning, its rela- 
 tions to the general spiritual interests of the region, the disper- 
 sion of many of its families into other sanctuaries in the 
 suburban districts, and the wants of a great number of 
 children and young persons of both sexes, whom the excite- 
 ments and temptations of the present age are powerfully 
 estranging from the religion of the Bible, the observance of 
 the Sabbath, 'and the restraints of even common morality, all 
 have manifested the importance of enlarged efficiency in its im- 
 mediate Sabbath School work. This work has gradually been 
 made more systematic and complete. The Infant School had 
 
DR. SPEER's SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 113 
 
 been begun in 1830. In 1871, the more advanced of the young 
 people were added to the previous Bible class of the pastor, and 
 three departments were established, the "senior," the "intermedi- 
 ate" and the "infant." But where shall accommodations be 
 found, for the expanding work and its still broader aspirations ? 
 
 It was a joyful day when, on February 11th, 1881, after several 
 years of delays caused by legal difficulties, now finally removed, 
 an assembly of this people joined by friends from other churches 
 dedicated to labors for "the glory of God and the highest good of 
 men," the spacious and complete and beautiful edifice which had 
 been reared at an expense of nearly twenty-seven thousand 
 dollars on the church ground. It was, indeed, as the earnest 
 pastor, by whose faith and prayers and labors chiefly this noble 
 effort had attained success, then declared, a time when " God made 
 them rejoice with great joy, and the wives also and the children 
 rejoiced." Oh, that this church may never forget the spirit and 
 ends of that dedication ; and the solemn declaration that this 
 house was now set apart for the performance, by men and women, 
 of those varied acts of spiritual instruction and Christian charity 
 by which they best imitate the earthly life of Jesus Christ. 
 There may many of the poor be taught the gospel, the broken- 
 hearted be healed, the captives in the chains of vice and intem- 
 perance be delivered, multitudes of the spiritually blind recover 
 their sight, and of those bruised of Satan be set at liberty. And 
 Oh, that abundant and royal gifts of salvation bestowed here from 
 on high, may prove that the time in which we live and act is the 
 dawn of the promised time which the servants of God have long 
 waited for, "tbe acceptable year of 'the Lord." 
 
 III. Another date remains upon our programme for this 
 hour— 1984. 
 
 We have considered the wondrous gifts with which God 
 equipped us a century ago for the work which he committed to 
 our fathers. We have glanced at foundations of good which we 
 have been enabled by His grace to lay here during this first 
 century of the history of this church and of Christianity in this 
 part of the land. What are the promises and duties of the future .' 
 What shall we say to the children who are with us to-day? 
 What shall we say to those who must carry on the Avork which 
 will be commemorated when the next occasion like the present, 
 
114 dr. speer's sabbath school history. 
 
 a swift century from this time, will call together another audience 
 within these walls? 
 
 Come, let us cast our eyes forward for a moment over the 
 century to come. Oh, what a century this will be ! The crown- 
 ing century of this dispensation ! The harvest time of the world ! 
 It has been barren winter, toiling and hoping seed-time, prepara- 
 tion and endurance, until now. But the time of the harvest has 
 come. We see a thousand signs of promise in God's word, and 
 in the condition of the church and of the world, that this coming 
 century will bring much more of blessing to the cause of 
 Christ on earth, and to the race of man universally, than all 
 of the thousands of years of the world's history hitherto. The 
 marriage of the church, the wife of the Lamb, the joyful ac- 
 knowledgment and honor of her who has long sat in the dust as a 
 eaptive and slave, draws near. Jesus will be crowned with many 
 crowns the " Lord of all." The Bible is full of promises and 
 prophecies of the glory and joy of this final day of salvation, this 
 triumphant acceptable year of the Lord when all His enemies 
 shall bow before Him and offer gifts at His feet. 
 
 Oh, "tell it to the generation following !" Tell it earnestly at 
 once to all, wherever you can, that they may come at once to 
 Jesus, and hasten to kiss Him in submission and obedience, lest in 
 this day of conquest and judgment of His enemies He break them 
 in pieces like a potter's vessel. Oh, that none of you may perish 
 from the way. But above all, tell it to the young, "to the gener- 
 ation following." Come, children — even those of you who are 
 but a few years old, some of whom perhaps will live until this 
 last century of this final thousand years of the church militant 
 shall be almost finished — come, children, give your hearts, give 
 your lives, give your all, to the ever-blessed Jesus, to Him as your 
 Saviour and your King. Love Him as you ought, and serve Him 
 as you ought, with all your soul and all your might. He only is 
 worthy to receive all you can bestow upon Him. Let us all begin 
 to use the vast wealth of the gifts of nature which God has be- 
 stowed upon this region, and to employ all the immense power 
 and influence of our manufactures and our trade and agencies of 
 good or of evil, for the temporal and spiritual good of our fellow 
 immortal beings and for the honor of God, in a measure far 
 beyond that which our fathers have done in their days of feeble- 
 ness and conflict. From this day let there be a new era of love, 
 
DR. SPEER'S SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 115 
 
 and devotion, and self-sacrifice, in all ways and in all things, for 
 Christ and His Kingdom. 
 
 Oh, that Pittsburgh may become in truth, a " city of our God ;" 
 that the church here and in the region about us, may be a 
 "mountain of His holiness." Let each man, and woman, and 
 child, do all he or she can for good all round you, and to help to 
 bring all these cities, this commonwealth and this nation, and to 
 lead all the nations of the world, to learn of Christ, the great 
 Saviour and the great King. Let us send forth from this church, 
 and those surrounding us, men and women and gifts of good of 
 every kind, which shall spread abroad in this and all lands, and 
 make this city, like Jerusalem of old, " a joy of the whole earth." 
 
 After the admirable address and singing came greetings from 
 other schools, first among them that from the Third Presbyterian 
 Church. It was a pleasant feature of the occasion that this 
 greeting was conveyed by the highly esteemed elder of that 
 church, Mr. Daniel BushnelL who had united with the First 
 Church in the revival of 1K27-K, and had been one of those 
 upon whom the hand of D«. Herron was laid in 1S32, when 
 he indicated to some of the most valuable members, that the 
 time had come to form another church, and that they ought 
 to go forth to the work. 
 
 The greeting of Mr. Bushnell was brief, but hearty. He re- 
 ferred touchingly to the revival in which he was brought to 
 Christ, and certified to its great influence in the church circles 
 and over the city in general. The great changes for the better 
 in Sabbath School facilities were mentioned. He spoke of the 
 many good men and women who had worshiped then and since 
 in the old First Church. He alluded to the formation of the 
 Third Church, as done in perfect good feeling, and with the 
 design of extending the Redeemer's Kingdom : Closing, he ex- 
 pressed the most earnest wishes for the continued prosperity and 
 usefulness of the First Church. 
 
 Rev. Mr. Hill, pastor of the Minersville Church, followed. 
 The Minersville Sabbath School was the seventh one that was 
 organized and supported by the First Church. Although the 
 school is now fifty years old, it is not so larsxe as it might be. 
 
116 DR. SPEEK's SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 
 
 But he was glad that in this day the good old mother and her 
 beautiful children had not forgotten them ; it will encourage them 
 to go on and accomplish still greater things. Fifty years ago they 
 had to dig up the thorns and thistles at Minersville before the 
 good seed could be sown. The first time attention was attracted 
 to the place was in 1826. At that time it was the custom to 
 drink much whiskey at social gatherings. A corn husking took 
 place at Minersville, the neighbors had gathered in, and as a 
 result of the whiskey there was a fight and a murder. When the 
 news was brought to the city an effort was made to establish a 
 mission at Minersville. It proved a failure. Four years later 
 another effort was made, and after a while a lot was found and a 
 church built, On the lot was a black thorn tree, which Mr. 
 John Herron, the donor of the property, stipulated should remain 
 as a memorial of what the community was before it was leavened 
 by the gospel. Although the congregation of the church is not 
 large now, they have a Sabbath School larger in proportion than 
 the church membership. Some people who attend down-town 
 churches, let their children attend the Minersville Sabbath School. 
 There are some Germans who care nothing for religion themselves, 
 who nevertheless desire their children to get religious instruction, 
 and permit their children to attend'the Sabbath School. 
 
 Rev. Mr. McKibbin, of the Second Church, was introduced, 
 and said : 
 
 "It is a vastly encouraging thing to think of all the difficulties 
 that this church has had to contend with — difficulties compared 
 with which those we have now are only child's play. It is en- 
 couraging to remember these difficulties, because it shows what can 
 be accomplished in spite of them. There is one characteristic thing 
 that ought to be imitated and perpetuated — how many of the 
 old members of the church have been associated with the Sabbath 
 School and assisted in it ! If the older people can't get interested 
 in the Sabbath School, then there is something the matter with 
 the older people. The Sabbath School is a spiritual power in the 
 church ; it has repaid back to the chnrch every dollar that was 
 spent in its behalf. It is a pleasant thing to stand here and feel 
 that I have something invested in this work. For our school, I 
 
DR. SPEER's SABBATH SCHOOL HISTORY. 117 
 
 bid you God speed ; and if we can't get ahead of you, and can't 
 keep up with you, we will be close behind you, and if you'stop I 
 give you warning that we will pass you." 
 
 Superintendent Laughlin made a few remarks, urging the 
 school to go on with the same power and the same willingness in 
 the future that they have shown in the past. 
 
 The singing of a verse of a hymn, and the benediction by the 
 Rev. Dr. Cowan, closed the exercises for the afternoon. 
 
118 DR. PAXTON'S SERMOJT. 
 
 SABBATH EVENING. 
 
 Other Presbyterian Churches adjourned their services, and 
 the people came in throngs to the old centre. 
 
 The Commercial Gazette of the next morning said : So great 
 was the crowd that attended the evening service, that hundreds 
 of people were turned away unable even to get within the doors. 
 Pews Avere uncomfortably crowded. Two rows of chairs were 
 placed in every aisle, and hundreds of people stood all evening in 
 the passage ways and in the gallery. Two thousand people is a 
 reasonable estimate for the size of the congregation. In the 
 pulpit were the Rev. Messrs. Kellogg, Scovel, Paxton, Allison, 
 Cowan and McKibbin. At 7.30 the exercises were opened by 
 an organ voluntary. Mrs. Chas. C. Mellor sang Gounod's beau- 
 tiful solo, " There is a Green Hill Far Away," and the choir 
 rendered the anthem, " O, Saving Victim." The sermon of the 
 evening was delivered by Rev. Wm, M. Paxton, D. D., of New 
 York, formerly pastor of the First Church of Pittsburgh. As 
 the well-remembered pastor advanced to the sacred desk to begin 
 his discourse a respectful silence gathered over the auditorium. 
 For fully a minute he stood surveying the upturned faces. The 
 quiet deepened into impressiveness. Then, before announcing 
 his text he said, slowly and solemnly : 
 
DR. PAXTON'S SERMON. 11 '.I 
 
 DR. PAXTON'S SERMON. 
 
 This church is one hundred years old. This simple fact is 
 significant. It shows the enduring power of God's word, and the 
 perpetual youth of the gospel. You listen to it with as much 
 freshness this day as when it was first uttered upon this spot one 
 hundred years ago. Truly, "the word of the Lord endureth 
 forever." 
 
 Under these circumstances it seems to me that the message 
 which comes to us this night reverberating along the echoes 
 of the century is that contained in the first chapter of First 
 Corinthians and eighteenth verse : 
 
 "For the preaching of the cross is to them, that perish foolishness; l>ut 
 unto us which arc saved it is the poiver of God." 
 
 You have doubtless often observed the different impressions 
 which men get of an object from the different standpoints from 
 which it is viewed. Looking at the rising moon, for example, 
 from our position upon the northern side of the equator, the 
 outside curve of its orb, before it is full, is towards the right. 
 But when it is seen from a position south of the equator, the 
 outside curve is towards the left. And yet it is the same moon. 
 
 Such are also the different aspects which moral objects present, 
 owing to the different points of observation from which they are 
 regarded. The Apostle presents us such a contrast in the text — 
 the same object looking so differently and producing such oppo- 
 site effects upon different classes of persons. The one object 
 which they both contemplate is the cross of Christ as held up in. 
 the preaching of the gospel. To the one class it appears as 
 foolishness, to the other it is the power of God ; and the differ- 
 
120 dr. paxton's sermon. 
 
 ence of impression indicates the different points of observation 
 from which they form their opinions. The one sees the cross 
 from the standpoint of a lost, perishing man, the other from the 
 standpoint of a saved believer. 
 
 "The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness ; 
 but to us who are saved it is the power of God." 
 
 Hence in this text we have : 
 I. The object presented to our view — the cross of Christ. 
 II. The estimate which we form of it — to some it is foolish- 
 ness, to some it is the power of God. 
 
 III. The standpoint which this estimate indicates— that of 
 the lost or the saved. 
 
 I. The object presented to our view in the gospel — the 
 cross. Literally, the cross was the wooden instrument of 
 torture and death upon which our Lord was crucified. To 
 the Jew and the heathen it conveyed the idea of shame and 
 infamy ; but in our minds it is associated with everything that 
 is beautiful in virtue, attractive in benevolence, sacred in religion, 
 and sublime in self-sacrifice. It is the token of heaven's love, 
 the emblem of the loftiest heroism, the symbol of our faith, 
 the sign of our Passover rescue from sin and death, and the 
 pledge of eternal salvation. The character of Him who died 
 ui)on the cross surrounds it with a halo of glory. The principles 
 which it embodied and expressed live in the heart of the 
 world and destine the cross to a perpetual renown. The bless- 
 ings which it brings us are so precious, and its results in the 
 world's history so great, as to embalm it in our dearest memories 
 and encircle it with the chaplet of immortality. He who hung 
 upon it was for the suffering of death crowned with glory and 
 honor. The cross was the stepping-stone to the throne. It con- 
 verted the malefactor into the monarch, and the crown of thorns 
 into a diadem of glory. Hence the cross has a wondrous mean- 
 ing that it will take the history of all time to tell, and the sweep 
 of all eternity to celebrate. Constantine inscribed it upon his 
 banners, and the Roman legions followed it as the sign of victory. 
 Art adopts it as its most sacred symbol. Science exhibits its 
 image and superscription. Piety consecrates it as the symbol of 
 its devotion. Taste imitates its form in gold and precious stones, 
 and makes it the adornment of beauty and grace. Progress 
 adopts it as the watchword of its advance. Poetry gilds with it 
 
dr. paxton's sermon. 121 
 
 its highest inspirations, and in all the visions of the future it is 
 the cross Ave see triumphing over the wrecks of time. 
 
 The cross, then, means the doctrine of the cross, the great 
 truth which the cross embodies and expresses. 
 
 Hence it follows that the preaching of the cross is the utter- 
 ance, the proclamation of this truth in the ears of men. It is not 
 simply the telling of the story of the death of Jesus of Nazareth 
 upon the cross, for that alone would simply be the preaching of 
 the crucifix. 
 
 To preach the cross is to tell who He was who died upon it— 
 that He was the Son of God. 
 
 It is to explain the meaning of His death — that it was the ex- 
 pression of God's great love to men. 
 
 It is to show the purpose of His death — that it was to make an 
 atonement for the sins of men. 
 
 It is to exhibit the results of His death — that it secures pardon 
 and reconciliation with God. 
 
 It is to make a free offer of pardon and salvation through the 
 death of Christ to all who believe. 
 
 The preaching of the cross is then the gladdest tidings that the 
 tongue of man ever uttered or the ears of men ever heard. It tells 
 us that all that conscience ever foreboded in reference to our guilt 
 is true, that we are sinners more wretched and guilty than we ever 
 properly understood— but that God, the great God with whom 
 we have to do, loves us. He so loved us that He could not 
 permit us to perish in our wretchedness, nay. that He so loved 
 us as to give His own Son to die for us, that if we would know 
 how much He loved us we must measure God's love to His only 
 begotten Son, and then think that He delivered Him up for us, 
 and that will be the measure of His love to us. It tells us 
 that this death was the expiation of our guilt, and that now He 
 invites us with open arms to come back to His love and embrace. 
 
 Now what impression does this make upon you? This is the 
 preaching of the cross. As it holds up salvation through the 
 atoning death of Jesus Christ to the eyes of men— what estimate 
 do you form of this preaching of the cross ? 
 
 II. This is the second point of the text. To some the preaehing 
 of the cross is foolishness. 
 
 Is not this strange ? If you were to carry the promise of a 
 pardon to a condemned culprit in his cell, it would not be fool- 
 
 ♦7 
 
122 dr. paxton's sermon. 
 
 ishness to him. Or if you take a message of a life-boat coming 
 to the rescue to a company of passengers despairing in the hold 
 of a sinking vessel, it would not be foolishness to them, but the 
 gladdest sound their ears had ever heard. Yet strange to say, the 
 preaching of the cross, the message of God's pardon to the con- 
 demned, the tidings of God's rescue to the perishing, is heard, 
 turned aside, and scorned as foolishness. Why is this? The 
 key to the answer we have already suggested. The stand- 
 point which we occupy determines the impression which we 
 receive. If the culprit should listen to our promise of pardon in 
 a spirit of unbelief, he would reject it as foolishness. Or if you 
 announce the coming of a life-boat to passengers who are not 
 aware of any danger, it will bring no joy to them. In both these 
 cases the subjective mental state of the person determines the 
 impression which your message will make. In the same way the 
 estimate which each one forms of the preaching of the cross 
 depends upon his own moral state. A man whose heart is deeply 
 corrupt will not believe in virtue, and one whose heart is at 
 enmity toward God will reject the gospel as folly. There is 
 nothing in him to which this blessed truth gives answer. With 
 this principle as our guide, we are able to particularize. 
 
 First, The gospel is foolishness to those who look at it from the 
 standpoint of their own wisdom. There has always been a genera- . 
 tion of men who have made their own reason the standard of 
 judgment, and who prefer their own wisdom to the wisdom of 
 Gocl. This was the case with the Jews. In one of the following 
 verses the Apostle tells us that the preaching of the cross was to 
 the Jews a stumbling block, and he gives the reason. " The Jews 
 seek after a sign." Their constant demand was, "What sign 
 showest thou?" That is, they "demanded external, supernatural 
 evidence as the ground of their faith." They fixed arbitrarily 
 upon certain signs which their own wisdom dictated as the 
 authentication of a divine messenger, and would not accept any 
 others. They settled it in their own minds that the " Messiah 
 was to be a glorious temporal Prince who was to deliver and exalt 
 their nation." " Hence to present to them one who had been 
 crucified as a malefactor as their Messiah, was the greatest possi- 
 ble insult." He was to them "a stone of stumbling and a rock 
 of offense." 
 
dr. paxton's sermon. 12- 
 
 These Jews represent a permanent class of thinkers as common 
 in this age as in that of the Apostle. They demand, first of all, 
 as the very condition of their listening to the gospel, a certain 
 species of evidence which they choose and designate. If such a 
 demand were to be insisted upon in other departments of knowl- 
 edge, it would destroy the foundation of all reasoning. Science, 
 for example, is based upon facts. The theory which explains the 
 most facts, and is directly contradicted by none, is accepted. But 
 suppose some one should say, I demand the explanation of causes. 
 I will not listen to anything until you show me the exact nature 
 of the law by which a cause produces its effects, or the reason why 
 such and such sequences exist. This would put an end to all 
 reasoning, because science in its most exact form is based upon 
 intuitions which cannot be demonstrated. Why then permit the 
 application of a principle to religion which would not be tolerated 
 in science? And if such arbitrary reasoning would be scouted 
 by scientists as foolishness, why permit the same unreasonable 
 principle to reject the preaching of the cross as foolishness ? 
 
 Of this same class, though somewhat different, were the Greeks. 
 In the twenty-third verse the Apostle says that the preaching of the 
 cross was to the Greeks foolishness, and again he gives the reason. 
 It was because they sought after wisdom. They sought rational 
 evidence. They would receive nothing as true which they could 
 not understand upon the ground of human reason. They were 
 seeking to comprehend the "first principles and elements of 
 things." Hence nothing could be more irritating to these refined 
 speculatists in Grecian wisdom than to be told that they must 
 renounce their own vaunted wisdom, and become, as they con- 
 sidered, fools, that they might be wise. 
 
 These Greeks also are a type of a permanent class of reasoners 
 still existing. They say, "I do not ask for signs. I put no con- 
 fidence in miracles and inspiration, but I want to see the depth 
 and mysteries of things for myself. I want to employ faculty 
 and power in finding out truth and in forming a system which 
 will commend itself to my reason and be constructed by the 
 power which God has given me." Like the Greeks, they seek 
 after wisdom. But here again is a principle which would be 
 utterly destructive in science and philosophy. Who has ever 
 grasped the depth and mystery of things? If we are not willing 
 to believe until this point is reached, we shall never believe any- 
 
124 DR. PAXTONS SERMON. 
 
 tiling. In chemistry, for example, we see certain combinations. 
 These are facts : but what is the connection of these facts, why 
 these combinations take place, is a mystery beyond the region of 
 reason. All that the chemist knows is a backward guess from 
 facts to principle. In astronomy the laws of Kepler express 
 facts, but the principle of gravitation by which we strive to 
 explain these facts, lies outside of demonstration. "We know 
 nothing" (says a philosopher) "of that quality of matter, if their 
 be such a quality, which enables matter to attract matter." 
 
 If, then, both science and philosophy work upon principles 
 which lie outside the domain of demonstration — why apply to 
 religion the principle that Ave cannot believe until we have 
 grasped the depth and mystery of things? Is not this foolishness, 
 and shall we permit folly to pronounce the preaching of the cross 
 foolishness ? 
 
 Secondly. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who 
 look at it from the standpoint of their conscious wants. If you propose 
 to bring a physician to a man who feels himself to be in perfect 
 health, he treats your offer as foolishness because he has no felt 
 need of the physicians skill. If a business man receives a letter 
 from a friend telling him to be of good cheer, that he has plenty 
 of means at command, and that he will not permit him to sink 
 into bankruptcy, that man of business, aware of no financial em- 
 barrassment, will hurl the letter into the fire and laugh at his 
 friend's foolishness. In both these cases the offer is treated as 
 foolishness because the recipient has no felt need of such 
 assistance. 
 
 For this same reason the preaching of the cross is often re- 
 garded as foolishness. It offers a man healing for his moral 
 malady, but he does not feel that he is sick. It offers him help 
 in his' moral bankruptcy, but he is not aware that he owes to 
 justice ten thousand talents and has nothing to pay. Shall then 
 this ignorance of his, this want of a felt sense of his need, be 
 accepted as a proper standard of judgment? Here is a young 
 man pursuing reckless courses. You approach him tenderly and 
 give him advice. But no, he wants no advice. He is too wise 
 to need counsel. Shall this want of a felt consciousness of his 
 own need be a reason for letting him alone? Nay, is not this 
 very want the pitiable feature in the case? And is not the same 
 thing true of the sinner ? The fact that he regards the gospel as 
 
dr. paxton's sermon. 125 
 
 foolishness is the pitiable feature in the case. Shall then the 
 gospel be called foolishness because a man ignorant of his own 
 wants esteems it so ? Suppose the business man to whom I have 
 referred to be one who is careless or afraid to investigate the 
 question of his own solvency, and that the friend who proffered 
 him assistance had means of knowing his business standing 
 better than he did — should not the fact of his making such a 
 proffer startle the man to think ? Instead of treating it as fool- 
 ishness, should not the fact of such an offer coming from one who' 
 had the means of knowing, be taken as a proof that such assist- 
 ance was needed? In like manner when God, who knows our 
 true moral state, sends us the gospel offer, should it not rouse 
 men to think? If we are not perishing, why this offer of rescue? 
 The strongest proof of our peril and ruin in sin, is that God has 
 provided such a remedy. That business man may burn the 
 letter containing his friend's offer of help to-day, but to-morrow 
 he may awake to find ruin staring him in the face, and then he 
 turns to find that the offer which he accounted as foolishness is 
 his only hope. Just so is it that sinners are ever and anon 
 waking up to find this preaching of the cross which they 
 accounted foolishness is the only refuge set before them. 
 
 III. This leads us to the third point of our text. There is 
 another estimate ivhiclt men form of the preaching of the em**. To 
 them it is the power of God. 
 
 If there is any one thing in this world which we universally 
 recognize as the power of God, it is the lightning. But lightning 
 neglected is God's power to smite, to scatter, to destroy. If, 
 however, it is appropriated, accepted, and used as God's gift, it 
 becomes our slave, to do our work, to light our streets, to heal our 
 diseases, to write our letters, to send our messages of love and 
 business to the ends of the earth. 
 
 In like manner the gospel is the power of God. If it is 
 neglected, it becomes God's power to smite, to curse, to destroy ; 
 but if it is accepted and appropriated, it is the power of God to 
 bless, to save, to glorify. " For the preaching of the cross is to 
 them that perish, foolishness ; but unto us which are saved, it is the 
 power of God."' 
 
 There is one way, above all others, in which the gospel is the 
 power of God. It is the instrument which God has appointed 
 for the salvation of men. By it He designs to effect in mairthat 
 
12(> dr. paxton's sermon. 
 
 whole moral change which is included in the salvation of the 
 soul. To this end He promises that He will accompany its preach- 
 ing with the influence of the Holy Ghost, thereby making it 
 "the power of God unto salvation to every one that belie veth." 
 God works by many agencies in this world, but there is no one 
 instrument by which He has promised to work as He does by 
 the preaching of the cross. It is the one solitary agency to 
 which the power of God is bound by promise. It is a power 
 because it is God's means of communicating divine influence to 
 the souls of men. Hence the text tells us that to those "which 
 are saved, it is the power of God." This is the estimate that they 
 form of it. They are conscious in their experience of a power 
 producing effects on them which nothing short of divine power 
 can accomplish. 
 
 The power is felt in many ways. 
 
 It has a power to arrest How many will tell you that they 
 were wandering away from God like lost sheep, but the gospel 
 call followed them, arrested them, and brought them back to the 
 cross of Christ. 
 
 It has a power to awaken. The preaching of the cross finds 
 us slumbering in carnal self-security, and awakens us like men 
 roused out of a deep sleep, and seeing at a single glance our 
 danger, we fly for safety. 
 
 It has a power to convict Some men have such a low, dull, 
 imperfect moral consciousness that they have little sense of sin. 
 Others are filled with doubts. Their unbelief serves as a shield 
 against conviction, but the preaching of the cross sends a sharp 
 arrow into their conscience, or a flood of light into their minds, 
 and then sin starts into view, guilt and condemnation hang over 
 them, doubt and unbelief take their flight, and the gospel which 
 they had thought foolishness becomes tidings of great joy. 
 
 So, too, this preaching of the cross has a power to comfort, to 
 quicken, to consecrate, to sanctify, in a word, it is the power of 
 God unto salvation. The believer feels this in his experience. 
 Against nature, against sin, against temptation, against the world, 
 it has drawn him to Christ, and wrought in him such peace, such 
 hope, such strength, such comfort, that he knows that nothing 
 but a divine power could effect such blessed results. Hence 
 while others call the preaching of the cross foolishness, he says it 
 is the power of God. 
 
dr. paxton's sermon. 127 
 
 IV. This brings us to the fourth point of the text, the stand- 
 point which this estimate indicates. In other words, the estimate 
 which every one forms of the preaching of the cross determines 
 the position in which he stands, either as a perishing or a saved 
 soul. " For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish fool- 
 ishness ; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." 
 
 First, those who esteem the preaching of the cross foolishness, 
 perish. The word translated perish does not express a completed 
 act, but one in the course of completion. It does not mean that 
 they have perished, but that they are perishing ; the process of 
 perishing has begun and is daily going on. The evil forces are 
 already at work which, unless arrested by God, will inevitably 
 bring them to eternal death. They are now beyond human 
 help, but are still within the reach of Christ's salvation, and yet 
 they are daily going further from it. 
 
 In common conversation we sometimes say of a man, " he is 
 gone." "When a young man has reached a point at which he 
 will not listen to advice, regards the counsels of father and 
 mother and friends as foolishness, you look on and say, that 
 young man is ruined, that is, he is on the way to ruin, the 
 forces which will end in ruin are already at work in him. 
 Just so when a sinner reaches the point at which he esteems 
 the preaching of the cross as foolishness, he is perishing. 
 
 Let us take another illustration. Our recent experiences of 
 bitter cold has added interest to an account given in one of 
 the papers of a man who was resuscitated after well nigh 
 perishing from the cold. Riding alone in his sleigh he felt 
 himself becoming chilled, then followed such severe pain and 
 discomfort from the cold that he resolved to drive rapidly and 
 stop at the first house ; but before he reached a stopping place 
 the pain ceased and he began to feel such a warm glow that 
 he did not think it necessary to stop. This was followed by an 
 exhilaration of spirits, the horses seemed to go with great speed, 
 and every object flew past him with great rapidity ; but soon 
 he sank into drowsiness and fell in unconsciousness in the 
 bottom of the sleigh. Now these experiences were the signs 
 that he was in a perishing condition. He was not aware of it. 
 The glow and the sense of comfort he took as evidence that 
 he needed no warmth, but in fact they were symptoms and 
 evidences that he was perishing. This is just the Apostle's 
 
128 dr. paxton's sermon. 
 
 idea. When a man reaches the point of esteeming the preach- 
 ing of the cross as foolishness, it is a sign of a perishing soul. 
 He may not be aware of it. He may take it as the sign of a 
 more healthful state of mind ; but like the warmth and drowsi- 
 ness of the freezing man, it is the symptom and sign that the 
 process of death is going on. " The preaching of the cross is to 
 them that perish foolishness." 
 
 . Secondly, let us cast a single glance at the other side. But to 
 them that "are saved it is the power of God." That is, they who, 
 as the result of experience, esteem the preaching of the cross as 
 the power of God, are saved. The meaning is not that the work 
 is finished, but they are being saved, the work is in the process 
 of completion. Spiritual forces are operating in their souls which 
 eventuate in salvation. The fact that they feel this power at 
 work in their hearts, and that it causes them to attest that the 
 gospel is a divine power, shows that the Holy Ghost is moving 
 upon their souls, and we know that He who hath begun a good 
 work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the one case the man is turning his back to the cross and is 
 going from it. . He is perishing. In the other case the man 
 has his face turned to the cross and is going towards it. He is 
 being saved. 
 
 Now, my dear friends, the application of this subject needs but 
 a word. 
 
 You see how everything depends upon the standpoint which 
 we occupy. Our thoughts about the cross will tell us precisely 
 the position which we hold, and to which class we belong. They 
 who regard the cross as foolishness, or who neglect the cross, or 
 turn away from the preaching of the cross with indifference, as if 
 it were the utterance of empty folly, are perishing. They have 
 the signs of death already on them. 
 
 But those who, as a matter of conscious experience, regard the 
 preaching of the cross as the power of God, are being saved. " 
 
 Where do you stand ? Are you, to-day, a perishing or a 
 saved soul ? 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 129 
 
 MONDAY AFTERNOON 
 
 April 14th, 1884. 
 
 An excellent audience assembled at the appointed hour. The 
 Rev. Dr. Elliot E. Swift, connected with the early religious life 
 of the city by his father's work and precious memory, and pastor 
 of the First Church of Allegheny, which was largely formed 
 from the First Church, presided, and conducted the devotional 
 exercises. 
 
130 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 [This paper must be regarded as only a substitute for the one which had 
 been expected to occupy this point in the programme. The proportions 
 of the matter collected and papers already written and partly printed, 
 forbid at this writing (Aug. 22d,) any other than the briefest treatment of 
 that for which ample and interesting materials are at hand. It may serve 
 as an index for some future historian of the church, to a fruitful field and 
 a pleasant task.] 
 
 The propriety of some recognition at this centennial celebra- 
 tion of the relations between the church and the city, is evident 
 to the slightest consideration. These relations could not fail under 
 the circumstances to be intimate and important. The church has 
 in fact been characterized by its attachment to and interest in the 
 city with which it has grown up. Its life began in the very 
 year in which the final city plan was adopted, and it has always 
 maintained a marked place among the institutions which were 
 receiving and exerting influence during the entire century. 
 Though connected, in the first call, with a church outside of the 
 citv, that connection even was insufficient to nullify the distinct 
 isolation of the church (in its earliest years) from the country 
 and its corresponding identification with the city. When the 
 dissolution of the first pastorate took place, the difference of 
 opinion concerning the pastor which existed between the two 
 parts of the united charge may have served to emphasize the 
 feeling of estrangement from the country which seemed to exist. 
 And, as already seen, the relations of the church to the sur- 
 rounding Presbytery, were only such as served to preserve its 
 ecclesiastical life, and from these, even, it once petitioned the 
 General Assembly for relief. During the last century it was the 
 
THK CHURCH AND THE CITY. 131 
 
 only church which seems to have made any distinct impression 
 upon the life of the city. And in later times, after the isolation 
 ceased, it became more useful in receiving from the country its 
 choicest influences and aiding to make them effective among the 
 rapidly increasing population. 
 
 1. There are interesting points 'of common origin which may 
 be barely indicated. 
 
 (1.) Such a picture of the world as that given by Bancroft 
 in his recent History of the Constitution of the United States 
 (Vol. II, pp. 364-5) as existing at Washington's Inauguration, 
 (Ap. 1789,) may with profit be consulted as presenting the same 
 general position as that which obtained five years earlier, when 
 our century began. 
 
 (2.) Many were the interesting circumstances of our country. 
 The request by Congress for abandonment of State-claims to 
 certain territory, was made in 1780. There had not been a long 
 interval since Conolly's traitorous effort against Pittsburgh, from 
 Lake Chautauqua (1782), and the raid he instigated which cul- 
 minated in the burning of Hannastown, and our infant city is 
 not over clear of a speck of Toryism in 1781. Indeed, while 
 McMillan was preaching to our church on Sabbath, 10th day of 
 September, 1785, Conolly was plotting in Boston. The land was 
 still politically unsettled and the dangers of the experiment of 
 the confederation were beginning to be experienced, while, as 
 yet, the remedy of the Constitution was not visible. The com- 
 merce of the country was .so insignificant that in this very year, 
 17<S4, "eight bales of cotton, shipped from South Carolina, were 
 seized by the customs authorities of England on the ground that 
 so large a quantity could not have been produced in the United 
 States." As our church antedates the Ecclesiastical Assembly, so 
 it preceded the Federal Constitution. The civil relations of the 
 times suggest, in fact, the thought that in no disorder can it ever 
 be out of order to carryforward the kingdom of Christ in the souls 
 of men ; but "if thou canst be free, use it rather." Dr. Herron was 
 born in 1774, the year of the "Declaration of Rights by the 
 Continental Congress." [Story on the Constitution, p. 271.] Our 
 church was established in the same year a great ordinance was 
 passed concerning land "Northwestof the Ohio," and nearly on the 
 same day — 23d April, 1784. Our first church building was coinci- 
 dent with the still greater ordinance of 1787, setting apart the whole 
 
Northwestern Territory, on the borders of which we were planted 
 and which we were to influence so constantly through emigration, 
 through development of commerce, through sending early mis- 
 sionaries, by contributions to build churches, and most of all, by 
 the Theological Seminary. That noble document contains 
 " liberty of conscience," side by side with the necessity of " re- 
 ligion, education and morality ;" and these added to trial by 
 jury and habeas corpus ; and judgment of peers before loss of 
 either liberty or property ; and no taking from savages but by 
 purchase ; and no deceit in trading with them ; and regulations 
 for division into States and — no slavery. The coincidence of the 
 foundation of this church and some of these circumstances may be 
 interpreted as a specimen act of a wise Providence which secures 
 without any intention on man's part, a supply of the moral and 
 spiritual forces needed for newly opened regions. Certainly the 
 widening influence of this church has been constantly helpful in 
 all the directions marked out by that great instrument and over 
 all the region indicated. 
 
 (3.) There are State-coincidences worth noting. Our church 
 history is nearly coincident with the second century of the history 
 of our great commonwealth. We know something of the influ- 
 ences which helped to determine the complexion of our State's 
 noble record. The cheap land this side the mountains attracted 
 the agricultural Scotch-Irish, who stumbled by or rolled over the 
 Quaker and the German, until they came to rest where one horse 
 was worth two hundred acres of land, and a "good still of one 
 hundred gallons" would purchase the same amount within "ten 
 miles of Pittsburgh, and in Kentucky could be exchanged for a 
 much larger tract." Alas! if some were land-hungry others were 
 still-thirsty (and some of their descendants are thirsty still). We 
 know how they came over the mountains in 1784. [See Old 
 Redstone, pp. 38, 39.] We know how they dressed — for even until 
 1792 asien in Pittsburgh read, "skin-dresses-and-breeches-maker." 
 Stores began to be established only when our log church was 
 building, (1787). Trains of pack horses were going then — two 
 men to fifteen horses, single file over the tedious mountain paths. 
 The first wagons came in 1789 : and they came so slowly that even 
 when Mr. Francis Bailey came out, he walked in advance of them. 
 But the character of the few who came to plant the church was 
 of more consequence than all the circumstances. Our church 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 133 
 
 represented the Scotch-Irish, and they were commissioned to 
 maintain the moral alongside of the material progress of this end 
 of our great State. Pennsylvania's significance in the Union as 
 representing the most advanced standard of personal liberty was 
 greatly aided by the whole force of the Scotch-Irish immigration 
 into the west ; and its significance for peace and honesty in deal- 
 ing with the Indians received emphasis also, but not without some 
 grievous errors and sins. Much as has been said concerning this 
 immigration, there is still room to say that the history of our 
 church and of our city (with that of the surrounding country ) 
 for the past century, illustrates the indisputable traits of " indom- 
 itable energy, capacity for hard work, stern devotion to prin- 
 ciple and susceptibility to the tenderer and mellowing influences 
 of religion" with which Thomas Sinclair so lately credited them. 
 Colonists themselves originally, they have been equal to all the 
 exigencies of colonization. Steady in the Scotch love of principle 
 and education, they have shown also something of Irish fervor 
 and flexibility. They absorb readily, but never wholly lose their 
 own flavor. They came here fond of liberty and humanity, and 
 have grown fonder of them. And they came to these unoccupied 
 regions of Pennsylvania as "the only place on the continent 
 where Presbyterians were as good before the law as the best of 
 mankind." They came as a "chastened and thoughtful people" 
 and have been most helpful in "polishing the keystone" and 
 keeping it in place and power ever since their coming. [See 
 Chancellor Met Vaeken's paper at Belfast, July 4th, 1884.] Early 
 and late, then and now, our church-life owes much to what God 
 had done beforehand in molding the Scotch-Irish. 
 
 ( 4.) How much of interest attaches to the early days in connec- 
 tion with the Indian. The exposures and heroisms of the day can 
 never be forgotten. Col. Bouquet's victory of 1 764 did not secure 
 lasting peace. While Mr. Dod was preaching in 1783 or 1784 at 
 the house of Caleb Lindsley, (in the ten mile region,) tidings 
 came of the murder of a family on Wheeling Creek. Services 
 closed immediately and several young men started with their 
 guns to bury the dead and follow the Indians if practicable. 
 Though our fort made this point more secure, there were constant 
 fears. Then there were Indian titles to adjust and "rights of 
 actual settlers" to be respected. There was trade to be built up 
 with them, and the dominion of law to be asserted over them. 
 
134 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 General Harmar's defeat in 1790, and that of General St. Clair 
 in 1791, were alarming. And not until 1794 was there a settled 
 condition of things. That the church began early to take some 
 interest in special cases and treated Christianized Indians with 
 c< msideration and helpfulness, goes without saying ; but we have 
 no records of any devoted or contiuous mission work among 
 them before the opening of this century. In the church and in 
 the state alike, the varied elements came into a more orderly 
 arrangement slowly. There was weakness in the church, while 
 there was confusion in society in several directions, unfortunately. 
 (5.) Narrowing our circle still, we find a glance necessary at 
 the city itself. Pittsburgh was certain to be of importance in 
 the history of a century ago. It was at the head of navigation 
 for any extensive traffic, and the trade had begun. It was at the 
 end of wagon roads. It must attract notice because on the route 
 from Canada to the Valley of the Mississippi. The struggle 
 between the rival claimants was at least quadrangular. The 
 Indian titles were by no means considered extinguished. France 
 claimed by right of discovery. England claimed by patents from 
 the Crown : and Pennsylvania's claim was resisted by that of 
 Virginia. The population was composite — peculiar, according to 
 all descriptions. From the east the Ohio Company forms in 
 1748, and sends its agent, Christopher Gist. On the north, 
 Dela Galissoniere sends Celoron in 1749, to forestall any 
 attempts to wrest the young empire from France. Gist brings 
 eleven families to Mount Braddock, (Fayette county,) in 1752. 
 Pittsburgh grows only more pivotal as the population advances. 
 It was so at Washington's visit in 1753. It was so in 1754 
 when occupied by Trent in February, and when taken by 
 Contrecoeur in April ; in 1755 as the objective point of Brad- 
 dock's unfortunate expedition ; in the gloomy years that fol- 
 lowed when Chesterfield and Walpole in England and Presidents 
 Davies and Burr lamented the favorable outlook for France ; in 
 1757-8, when the genius of Chatham brought hope and the expe- 
 dition of Forbes planted the Protestant flag on the spot ; in 17H2 
 at the treaty of peace when "about four thousand inhabitants" 
 regained " quiet possession of the lands they were driven from 
 on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland," 
 (Smollett ;) and even to 1764, when the Indians were subdued 
 by Col. Bouquet, and even as a point of importance in 1812. 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 135 
 
 It was a glad day when " the youthful hero, Washington, 
 could point out to the army the junction of the rivers," and 
 when, "with one voice," they named the coveted spot Pitts- 
 burgh. Bancroft has well said : " It is the most enduring trophy of 
 the glory of Wm. Pitt. America afterwards raised to his name 
 statues that have been wrongfully broken, and granite monu- 
 ments of which not one stone remains upon another ; but long 
 as the Monongahela and the Allegheny shall flow to form the 
 Ohio — long as the English tongue shall be the tongue of freedom 
 in the boundless valley which these waters traverse, his name 
 shall stand inscribed on the gateway of the West." McMillan 
 preached on this spot in September, 1785. Fifteen years before, 
 (1760,) the population west of the Alleghenies was thought to 
 be four thousand. The census of 1790, fifteen years after 
 McMillan's sermon, gave the region fifty thousand. Pittsburgh 
 was the pivot in many things and the key in many other 
 things, and it meant something when the church was planted 
 at the moment the city began its most vigorous life. Though 
 there was a sort of town plan in 1765, and though "out-lots and 
 indots" were talked about at the survey of Allegheny in 1780, 
 there were but few houses gathered about the fort in 1781. 
 It was only in 1784 that Major Isaac Craig and Lieutenant 
 Colonel Stephen Bayard formed a business partnership (and both 
 were closely identified with the First Church,) and "purchased 
 of the Penn's the first ground that was sold within the limits of 
 Pittsburgh. * * * Four months after this purchase was made, 
 the Penn's laid out the town, and Craig and Bayard waived the 
 right which they had acquired to the undivided three acres, and 
 accepted a deed, executed on the 31st of December, 1784, for 
 thirty -two lots of ground which covered all the ground in the 
 three acres except that portion in the streets, and in addition all 
 within the outworks of Fort Pitt." Craig and Bayard had 
 partners in Philadelphia and extended their business largely. 
 [See Life and Services of Major Isaac Craig, by N. B. Craig, 
 p. 51.] 
 
 The church thus became the only metropolitan for a large 
 region. It was the only church in a city or town for many 
 years. County seats had not yet been selected. There was not 
 even a village from Pittsburgh to Brownsville, and no town on 
 the Ohio from Pittsburgh to Wheeling — unless perhaps Beaver. 
 
136 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 We were quite alone in our glory, indeed, for there was not even 
 a mail from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia in 1784. "The first 
 regular post from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, was started in 
 1788." [Old Redstone, p. 162.] But metropolitan meant nothing 
 very large, though unique. The Pittsburgh Gazette, which began 
 with July 29th, 1786, said on its ninety-eighth birthday, "Pitts- 
 burgh was then (1786,) a frontier village composed of about one 
 hun'dred families, clustered around a fortification, whose value as 
 a strategic point had caused numerous conflicts in colonial clays, 
 and the field was not an inviting one for journalistic enterprise. 
 The pack horse was the only medium of commercial traffic 
 between East and West. The Conestoga wagon had not yet ap- 
 peared upon the road, and rapid transit by the 'raging canawl' 
 was undreamed of. There are more people in Pennsylvania to- 
 day than there were in the whole United States in 1790, when 
 the first census was taken." (P. G., July 28th, 1883.) And in the 
 initial number of the Gazette, Judge Brackenridge is quoted as 
 describing an island " four or five hundred yards from the head 
 of the Ohio," as "covered with wood, and at the lowest part is a 
 lofty hill, famous for the number of wild turkeys which inhabit 
 it," [Craig's History, p. 190.] In 1788, Dr. Hidsett, giving 
 account of an emigration party from the Yough, passing 
 Pittsburgh in their flatboat, says it then " contained four or 
 five hundred inhabitants and several stores ; and a small garrison 
 of troops was kept at old Fort Pitt. To our travelers, who had 
 lately seen nothing but trees and rocks, with here and there a 
 solitary hut, it seemed to be quite a large town. The houses 
 were chiefly built of logs ; but now and then one had assumed the 
 appearance of neatness and comfort," [O. R. p. 355.] Mr. G. 
 Imlay wrote in 1792 : "The whole country abounds in coal, 
 which lies almost upon the surface of the ground. The hills op- 
 posite Pittsburgh, upon the banks of the Monongahela, which 
 are at least three hundred feet high, appear to be a solid body of this 
 mineral" Though that is rather an exaggerated estimate of the 
 coal veins, yet no language could well be too strong to show 
 fairly what these treasures of the hills and the power of the sit- 
 uation, and the blessings of the clouds in these rivers have done 
 for the city. And side by side with it, with interactions too com- 
 plicated for human skill to trace, has been growing the church. 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 137 
 
 2. After these matters, which show at how many points of 
 common interest the church and the city are in contact at the 
 point of origin, some brief mention may be made of the connec- 
 tion between the church and the business life of the city. 
 Of the original trustees to whom the grant of property was made, 
 all were (I believe,) business men, and they certainly were then 
 the business soul of Pittsburgh. One of the earliest members of 
 the congregation, (as appears elsewhere,) was Col. John Gibson, 
 uncle of the late Chief Justice Gibson. It is well ascertained 
 that he was one to whom the reckless Conolly made traitorous 
 proposals attempting to bribe him, but utterly without success. 
 The first pastor was a man of business as well as a busy man in 
 his sacred calling, and the Gazette of March 10th, 1787, records that 
 " a meeting of the inhabitants of Pittsburgh was held on the 
 1st instant, and Messrs. Hugh Ross, Stephen Bayard and the 
 Rev. Samuel Barr were appointed a committee to report a plan 
 for building a market house and establishing market days." 
 Mr. John Wilkins may have been too busy " daubing and chunk- 
 ing " the log church then being built, to serve on this committee : 
 but it is worthy of remark that the church and the market 
 house came together to Pittsburgh. The enterprises for opening 
 up of trade were then largely conducted by the people of our 
 church and congregation. They thought it not necessary to 
 separate moral conduct and material gain. They helped to 
 lay the foundation for that solid character which has been 
 the just pride of Pittsburgh's business men so long, and which 
 will never be lost unless the pernicious theory prevails that it 
 can be maintained without the precepts of religion, by which 
 it was first obtained. 
 
 "Fort Fayette" was built within the city limits, by Major 
 Isaac Craig, and was so named because Mr. Pressley Neville 
 (Major Craig's brother-in-law,) had served with the philanthropic 
 Frenchman as " aide-de-camp." The same indefatigable officer 
 constructed boats for Wayne's army in 1792, and shipped provi- 
 sions hence for its support in 1794, and superintended in 1798 
 the construction of " two row-galleys which were meant to be used 
 for retaliating measures on the lower Mississippi against Spain, 
 the ally of France," thus showing the apprehension caused away in 
 these ends of the earth by the singular vigor of the revolutionary 
 government of France and the extreme uncertainty as to what it 
 10 
 
138 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 might do next. These were the first sea-going vessels ever built 
 at Pittsburgh, and had two masts with large lateen sails, and 
 mounted one heavy gnu." Another of the early members well 
 known in business life, was Colonel Samuel Scott. Through him 
 the tradition reaches us that the first preaching and first cele- 
 bration of the communion in 1784, and thereafter the services 
 until the church was built, were under the trees which shaded 
 the spot afterwards deeded to the church. He was born in 
 Maryland and came to the West in 1784. Mrs. William Dilworth 
 (Sr.) was his daughter, and remained a member of this church for 
 sixty years. Her husband was long a prominent and successful 
 business man, and from that well remembered home on the hill 
 have gone many families well known for enterprise and integrity 
 There have been many descendants of Colonel Scott of exemplary 
 piety and devotedness in this and other Presbyterian churches. 
 Much has been said, in other connections, of Major Ebenezer 
 Denny, so long a trustee and one of the most notable figures of 
 our early history, and of General James O'Hara, whose chandelier 
 was only one of his gifts to the church. Their place as citizens 
 was equally pronounced. The first glass works erected west of 
 the mountains was the venture of General O'Hara and Major 
 Isaac Craig. The chandelier gift came at an auspicious time in 
 the external affairs of the church. Improvements had just been 
 made, the offer of consolidation with the Second Church had just 
 been received, and the quaint note of General O'Hara to the 
 trustees deserves a place in this record as an indication of the 
 brightness of the time. 
 
 Pittsburgh, 25th August, 1818. 
 Gentlemen : 
 
 A chandelier is presented to you for the First Presbyterian 
 Church, in token of a glowing desire to promote the lustre of this 
 enlightened society. With sincere regard, 
 
 By their humble servant, 
 (Sign ed,) JAMES O'HARA. 
 
 A resolution of thanks was passed and a committee of the 
 Messrs. Page, Liggett, Simpson, Scull and Ross was appointed 
 " to present the above vote of thanks to General O'Hara, to re- 
 ceive the chandelier from the General, and to superintend the 
 putting up of the same within the church." Mr. John Thaw, 
 whose business career will always remain a marked one in our 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 139 
 
 city history, came into the Board of Trustees at a time of the 
 greatest perplexity. His careful exhibit of the apparently 
 fathomless financial situation of 1813, still remains, covering many 
 pages in a characteristically finished and positive chirograph v. 
 He was everywhere active, suggestive and strong. His thorough- 
 ness led to the radical remedy of the then current difficulties, and 
 had it been continued by successors other painful subsequent em- 
 barrassments might have been prevented ; among them the one in 
 which the trustees were allowed to request the pastor to consent 
 to a reduction of his salary from fifteen hundred to twelve hun- 
 dred dollars, and to accept also a further donation of one hundred 
 dollars on large arrearages which were due him. (This was in 
 1821.) 
 
 General William Robinson, who became a communicant late 
 in life, was always identified with the church and helpful in its 
 affairs. When I first saw him in December, 1865, he rose from 
 his couch saying : " Gentlemen, I am this day eighty years old, 
 and I am the first white child born in all the territory north of 
 the Ohio and Allegheny rivers." What a commentary on the 
 unprecedented growth of our country ! How enterprising he was, 
 and what a landmark his home was, and what honors he received 
 from his fellow citizens, all know who have grown to maturity 
 here. 
 
 Harmar Denny's name and services to the church, as those 
 of Judge Snowden, John Hannen, Hugh McClelland, Francis 
 Bailey, Robert Beer, John Herron, Frederick Lorenz, Samuel 
 Spencer, Alexander Laughlin, Joseph McKnight, Samuel Rea, 
 and R. W. Poindexter, have elsewhere been mentioned, but these 
 faithful elders were also shoulder to shoulder with others in the 
 work of the city and of the general community. 
 
 To their names must be added many which space forbids to 
 particularize. Here are Michael Allen, and William Plummer, 
 and Thomas Fairman ; and earlier, John Johnston and Dr. George 
 Stevenson ; and then William Anderson, and James Irwin, and 
 Boyle Irwin, and Wm. Hays, and Wm. Steele, and John Darragh, 
 and Wm. McCandless, and David Pride, and Robert Simpson, and 
 Wm. Lecky, and Samuel Bailey, and Benjamin Page, and Wm. 
 Graham, and John Arthurs, and James Brown, and Wm. Blair, and 
 S. R. Johnston, and Richard Edwards, and Daniel Bushnell, and 
 Benjamin Darlington, and Alexander Brackenridge, and James 
 
140 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 Dalzell, and Jno.B. McFadden, and A.M.Wallingford,and Jacob 
 Painter, and James Laughlin, and John P. Pears, and John 
 McD. Crossan, and Lewis Peterson, with Messrs. Sample, and 
 Cooper, and Breed, and Albree, and Dawson, and Thomas Clark. 
 How many of these have "wrought righteousness" and set 
 forward large interests at the same time. Nearly all of them 
 were trustees in the church as well as all thoroughly trusted 
 outside of the church. What infinite variety of character they 
 have manifested, but almost without exception founding all upon 
 humble faith in the word of God and in the work of Christ. How 
 hard it is to turn away without attempting to embalm in this 
 little volume some of the striking characteristics, natural and 
 religious, of this long list of Christian citizens. The mutual debt 
 of city to church and of church to city, can never be over- 
 stated, and the mutual honor of the relations of the past ought 
 never to be forgotten. The greatest of all the citizens, however, 
 was probably the great pastor, Dr. Herron. His coming was 
 coincident with the launching of the first steamboat by Roosevelt, 
 Livingston and Fulton. Steam power and spiritual power went 
 well together, as both city and church went rapidly forward. Ad- 
 mirably does Dr. Paxton's Memorial Discourse say : "Dr. Herron 
 was a public man of the highest type. In the earlier history of 
 the city he took a lively interest — in every mill and factory that 
 was erected — in every enterprise to promote the convenience of 
 the people or the adornment of the city — in the opening of new- 
 avenues of trade, and in the securing of new business and com- 
 mercial advantages to the community. He was one of the 
 'fathers' of this city, and no man loved it better or did more to 
 promote its highest welfare." [pp. 129, 130.] 
 
 The times of commercial prosperity and church growth did 
 not always coincide, but the general lines of progress have been 
 marvelously parallel in the church and in the city. And this 
 whole recital of eminent citizenship in the old First Church is 
 full of instruction. It shows what a really and spiritually "live" 
 church may be able to do for a city. It shows that many 
 of the best business opportunities built up by principled fathers 
 may be lost by vicious or nerveless descendants, and thus shows 
 character to be better than inheritance. It demonstrates the 
 friendliness of real principle to permanent success, and repeats 
 that "godliness hath the promise of this life." 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 141 
 
 3. The First Church touched the city's early civil and judi- 
 cial life in a remarkable way. The grant of property shows its 
 patriotism in the fact that six of the original trustees had been 
 officers in the United States Army. When the boundary ques- 
 tion was mooted and the conflict as to jurisdiction raged, Captain 
 (afterwards General) Neville seized and held with troops the 
 fort, that he might guard against the machinations of Lord 
 Dunmore and his confederate Conolly. This was done the very 
 day after McMillan preached on this spot — Sabbath, September 
 10th, 1785. Through that whole conflict the influence of our 
 church, and of the Scotch-Irish in the surrounding churches, 
 was directly in favor of Pennsylvania, and there was great jov 
 here when the war of the Revolution ended all danger of Vir- 
 ginia's usurpation. The year of our birth was the year when the 
 boundary line was finished, and our Presbytery aided • in dis- 
 tributing the 160 copies of the Scriptures which were brought on 
 by Dr. Ewing, of the Boundary Commission. 
 
 When Allegheny county was formed in 1788, it covered a 
 very large territory, and it is singular that in the first Court of 
 Quarter Sessions, held December 16th of that year, the entire 
 bench was composed of First Church people. Geo. Wallace was 
 President Judge, while James Scott, John Wilkins and John 
 Johnston were the Associates. We know how familiar these 
 names are in our earliest church history. The first term of 
 Common Pleas was held March, 1789; and also before "George 
 Wallace and his assistants." [Judge White, Ap. 83.] 
 
 When the Courts were organized under the Constitution of 
 1790, Judge Alexander Addison was appointed President Judge. 
 His commission bore the date of August 23d, 1791. How closely 
 this eminent man was connected with our church you all re- 
 member. He had probably preached here often while awaiting 
 final decision of his application for ordination at the hands of our 
 Presbytery. The earliest records of our church, those of the 
 trustees, beginning April 27th, 1801, are in his handwriting as 
 Secretary of the Board, and "the Scheme of the Meeting House," 
 carefully drawn and numbered, is the work of his hand. He ap- 
 peared as our representative in the protest presented to the 
 Synod in 1802. He was a member of the building com- 
 mittee for the edifice of 1804. "He resided in Pittsburgh until 
 his death, and took an active interest in the affairs of the First 
 
142 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 Church, and was its efficient friend and supporter." [Old Red- 
 stone, p. 340.] What Judge Addison became to the community 
 is frankly acknowledged on all sides. I deeply regret that the 
 particulars of his personal history and characteristics and public 
 services and bravery against a false public opinion, (as manifested 
 in the heroic charge of September 1st, 1794 — during the Whiskey 
 Insurrection,) cannot here be given. But a monograph would be 
 necessary to do the subject justice, and it should be written. 
 Room must be made for this incident, related by the Rev. 
 Richard Lea, (in a letter to the niece of Judge Addison, Miss 
 Eliza Darlington.) "He was deputed by General Washington 
 to settle matters relating to the Whiskey Insurrection. He col- 
 lected evidence about Washington, Pa., and started toward 
 Bedford to report to his chief, without a guard, carrying his 
 valuable documents in his saddle bags behind himself on horse- 
 back. The leaders of the insurrection followed him at a distance 
 into Westmoreland county, until they knew he had lodged with 
 his friend, Judge Findley, when they halted near the house, 
 watched until all the lights were extinguished, and resolved to 
 have, at early dawn, either his papers or his life, or both. 
 Addison could not sleep, and not wishing to arouse any of 
 the family, arose after midnight, saddled his horse and continued 
 his journey. Before daylight the 'whiskey boys' surrounded 
 the house, feeling sure of their victim. Morning came ; they 
 entered the house. Judge Findley trembled for his friend. 
 But what was the chagrin of the pursuers to find the guest- 
 chamber empty ! They swore at the household, bayoneted the 
 beds, broke into closets, etc. At last, rushing to the stable, to 
 the infinite delight of the host and family — the horse was 
 gone. The tracks were plain enough, but they could guess 
 that hours must have elapsed since he started, they knew he was 
 armed, and that he must be near the settlements. The only 
 unconcerned one was Addison himself. He finished his busi- 
 ness at Bedford, and learned, upon his return, of his narrow 
 escape." 
 
 In connection with the same insurrection, much might and 
 ought to be written concerning the brave part in aid of the 
 lawful authorities taken by General John Neville, already 
 alluded to. His acceptance of the office of Inspector drew 
 upon him — once most popular — the hatred of many rash and 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 143 
 
 inconsiderate men. He was attacked in his house by thirty- 
 six armed men, but with his negro servants so defended it 
 that the mob left with six wounded, and one of them mortally. 
 Subsequently his residence was burned to the ground, and his 
 own life, with difficulty, saved. Our general church authori- 
 ties were true throughout to the government, as would witness 
 their action if it could be quoted. 
 
 Nor might less be said of James Ross's prominence and 
 power in our courts and in the community in general; and 
 notice should be made of the brilliant Sidney Mountain 
 and others, as has been elsewhere made of Judge Snowden. 
 Here, as everywhere, the influence of the church has been 
 for the stability of the times, for the just and the true. 
 The very latest occasion at which any special opportunity 
 was given, came in connection with the riots of 1877, at which 
 time your pastor (side by side with the Catholic Bishop 
 Tuigg,) was sent as part of the citizens' committee, to endeavor 
 to reach the ear of the mob, at that moment about to attack and 
 burn the station house of the Pennsylvania Railroad. We were 
 only there long enough to learn the old lesson, that mobs will 
 not reason, and to regret more deeply than ever that there should 
 be so little left of the Sabbath for railroad employes and so 
 slender a conscience as to obedience to human law as one 
 result of disobedience to divine law. But the final results 
 proved, as every disturbance in these borders has proved, that 
 society is solidly organized and that the laws must prevail. 
 
 4. Something has been already said of the church's efficiency 
 in advancing educational interests. We have also a literary record, 
 to which a single word is due. It began with the writings of the 
 Rev. Joseph Stockton, so useful to the youth of two generations 
 ago. It was continued in the writings of Hugh Henry Brack- 
 enridge, concerning whom I adopt almost entire, the notice of 
 Mr. Wm. Darlington, in the Memorial Volume of Western Penn- 
 sylvania Presbyterianism, (p. 272.) " He was born in Scotland in 
 1748, and came to America when a child, with his parents, who 
 settled in York county. Entered Princeton College at the age 
 of eighteen, and after graduating, was for some time a tutor. 
 Studied divinity. In 1777 he was chaplain to a regiment in the 
 Continental Army. Studied law under Judge Chase, of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States. He came to Pittsburgh in 
 
144 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 1781. Iii 1786 he was elected to the Legislature. In 1792, the 
 first two volumes of his celebrated work, 'Modern Chivalry,' were 
 published at Philadelphia : the third volume was published in 
 Pittsburgh, in 1793. It was printed at the office of the Pittsburgh 
 Gazette, by John Scull, [who, by the way, was a pew holder in 
 the First Church in 1801,] and was the first book printed and 
 published west of the mountains. The fourth and last volume 
 was not published until 1797, at Philadelphia, the Whiskey In- 
 surrection having occurred, concerning which his next book was 
 written, in 1795. He was one of the Judges of the Supreme 
 Court for sixteen years, to the time of his death at Carlisle, in 
 1816. He wa,s a man of great scholastic and legal attainments, 
 eccentric, witty, and independent." 
 
 He was followed by the one who became the historian par 
 excellence of the city he adorned, Neville B. Craig. The follow- 
 ing notice is also by another hand : 
 
 NEVILLE B. CRAIG. 
 
 Neville B. Craig was the son of Maj. Isaac Craig, and grandson 
 of Gen. John Neville, both of the Revolutionary Army. 
 
 He was born in Bouquet's Redoubt, March 29th, 1787. After 
 preparing at the Pittsburgh Academy, he entered Princeton in 
 1805, but did not complete his course. He was admitted to the 
 bar August 13th, 1810. His law partners were Walter Forward 
 and Henry M. Watts. He married Miss Jane A. Fulton, May 
 1st, 1811. He was the first City Solicitor, holding the office 
 from 1821 to 1828 or 1829, and Clerk of Select Council from 
 1821 to 1825. 
 
 He owned and edited the Pittsburgh Gazette, from 1829 to 
 1841, making it a daily, the first in the city. About this time 
 he was elected to the Legislature. Subsequently an investi- 
 gation was made in regard to members supplying themselves 
 illegally with merchandise, at the expense of the State, showed 
 that "every member except Mr. Craig, of Allegheny, had re- 
 ceived a share." 
 
 His works are authorities on local history. They are : " The 
 Olden Time," 1846-7 ; "History of Pittsburgh," 1851 ; "Memoir 
 of Maj. Robert Stobo," and "Life and Services of Maj. Isaac 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 145 
 
 Craig," 1854; and "Exposure of Misstatements in H. M. Brack- 
 enridge's History of the Whiskey Insurrection," 1859. 
 
 He united with the church shortly before his death, which 
 took place March 3, 1863. 
 
 Pittsburgh's literature is not voluminous in quantity, but is of 
 a high rank in quality, and the writers who have been mentioned, 
 with many contributors to the daily and weekly press who might 
 be mentioned, (chief among them, the Banner, with its editor, the 
 Rev. James Allison, D. D.) have done much to mold the genera- 
 tions as they came upon the stage, and especially to keep the 
 later ones from forgetting the hardships and exertions and solid 
 attainments and noble characters of the generations which had 
 preceded them. 
 
 5. The church's portion in the city's life of charity scarcely 
 needs mention. Early gifts were made to build churches. The 
 Hospital grounds in one of our cities and the site for the Orphanage 
 in the other, were given by members of the First Church, and 
 the Presidency of the Orphanage rested upon the heart of one of 
 our noblest women for thirty-five years. Very early the 
 "Humane Society" was formed, and largely from our church, 
 which did not wait for modern altruism to teach the lesson of 
 love to one's neighbor. Its design was to " alleviate the distress 
 of the poor, to supply the wants of the hungry, to administer 
 comfort to the widow, the orphan and the sick." Sabbath School 
 scholars were early sought out and clothed and helped. In all 
 sorts of charities, whether corporate, or by legacy, or by 
 church contributions, or by City Missions, or individual relief, or 
 by the last and best organized system — the "Society for the Im- 
 provement of the Poor," the First Church has been an aid. 
 
 6. We press closer yet to the connections of the church and the 
 city when we recall the efforts of the first to mold the morals of 
 the second. Pittsburgh's reputation a century ago was not envi- 
 able. It had the characteristics of frontier towns and not of the 
 rural population. It has been thought that some of the felons 
 and undesirable citizens annually shipped from England, and 
 there were many of them, congregated about this point. [Veech's 
 Secular History, etc. p. 309.] They are said to have been the 
 class which became violent in the Virginia usurpations and in the 
 Whiskey Insurrection, and otherwise a stain to the good name of 
 
146 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 the Scotch-Irish. Whipping posts, and clipping of ears, and 
 pillories with liberty to pelt the pilloried with stones (one a piece) 
 were thought necessary until 1788. Even around us the vicinity 
 is described as having "an immense amount of ungodliness and 
 profanity — sufficient to have appalled the stoutest heart." [Old 
 Redstone, p. 138.] Mr. Brackenridge, when pleading for a 
 Christian, rather than a Presbyterian Society to be incorporated, 
 did it because he saw the need of a church which would reach 
 the people — "the loss of- which would be great, as religion was of 
 the highest use in keeping up order and enforcing the practice of 
 morality" — an object Mr. B. had much at heart. Upon this 
 mission, in the midst of many families constituted without mar- 
 riage, and surrounded by desecrated Sabbaths and abounding 
 profanity, and all the worse amusements, (theati'es excepted,) to 
 which even during war the isolated garrison thought itself obliged 
 to resort, and, above all, flowed in upon and around Avith and 
 overflowed by whiskey, the infant church began its mission. 
 And at first its work was hindered by its own imperfect standards 
 and practice. But what a work it has accomplished. The good 
 took heart from the first. Domestic purity made its claims heard. 
 The gospel was found to be laden with the blessings of peace 
 and good order. Temperance was furthered in its own time. 
 The Sabbath was respected. There was a steady fire from the 
 pulpit and a growing conformity to high standards in the pews : 
 and city mothers began to do as the country mothers are de- 
 scribed as doing — "trained their children to fear God, to tell the 
 truth, to reverence the Sabbath, to work hard, and to be honest 
 in their dealings." [Old Redstone, p. 109.] There has never 
 been a time in which the city could have spared the First Church 
 as an element in its moral life. And when, after an enviable 
 standard of social purity and upright dealing, and respect for the 
 Sabbath had been gained, the people began to turn away from the 
 stricter views (largely through foreign influences,) the symptoms 
 of moral weakening began to appear and the voices of warning 
 were heard again from this pulpit, it would have been well had 
 they been thought to have been less of croaking and more of 
 prophecy. Unfortunately, now there can be no mistaking it. 
 Despite all the progress of the past, the First Church enters the 
 work of her second century for the morals of Pittsburgh under 
 some circumstances of as great difficulty as any that existed in 
 
THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 147 
 
 1784. Some amusements are worse. Social impurities are again 
 increased. Sabbath newspapers, and Sabbath gardens, and Sab- 
 bath grog shops have created a current that flows so strongly 
 away from all the means of grace themselves, that you who 
 work here in time to come must be as earnest as they who would 
 save the life of a man rushing by upon a piece of driftwood in 
 one of the spring freshets. But the past contains all the encour- 
 agement the present needs. The God of that past still reigns. 
 The better nature of man can be awakened and sinful nature can 
 be renewed. With no thought of fear, but also with no thought 
 of ease, the dear old church must brace itself to do again what 
 it so powerfully helped once before to do. 
 
 7. And now that which is most important of all — the relations 
 of the church to the religious life of the city, may be treated most 
 briefly of all, because it has received so much distinct attention in 
 the exercises as a whole. Here might well be unfolded the relation 
 of our church to the occasional Roman Catholic ministrations and 
 the irregular German worship which preceded it. Sufficient to 
 say that the first real organization was our own, and the first 
 house of worship, and that we generously contributed to the 
 other two when they came to seek a local habitation and a 
 name. Then should come the exacter history than has yet 
 been given of every bud and branch which has shot forth 
 from the old stem, with some estimate of their own growth and 
 aggregate results of all for the denominational strength. Then 
 should follow a careful history of the churches of other denomi- 
 nations which have grown up beside us, with the just analysis of 
 growing districts and populations, and the whole result for the 
 kingdom of God. But all this, sadly enough, must be now re- 
 linquished, as well as any sufficient account of the whole work of 
 distinctively City Missions, which, with its invitations, its visits, 
 its gathered statistics, its discovered families, its faithful workers, 
 and its blessed results, might well form a little chapter in our 
 church's history by itself. 
 
 Suffice it now to say, that just in proportion as the influence of 
 the church upon the city has been definitely religious, in that 
 proportion exactly has it proved to be efficient in all that was of 
 good report among men. Then has it taken hold upon men to 
 reform them, when it has grasped their hearts with the gospel to 
 lead them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then has it done most 
 
148 THE CHURCH AND THE CITY. 
 
 good when it has lived the most pure and upright life : and then 
 has its life been brightest when its devotion was deepest and its 
 spirituality highest. Least of all could the city have spared the 
 First Church in its religious influence. Let there be an echo 
 here, as I bring this last writing to a close, of the noble utterance 
 of the venerable pastor's last sermon in the old brick church. 
 " If men are ever to be saved from sin here and suffering here- 
 after, it must be by the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ," — of 
 this let the church of Christ never be ashamed. To bear that 
 which is distinctively the source of all true religion, the offer of 
 redeeming grace, to win men thus from darkness to light, and to 
 bring them from the power of Satan unto God, is still the com- 
 mission of the dear old church. 
 
 May the Saviour who wept over Jerusalem and then died for 
 it, lead in the second century to such consecration, devotion and 
 success as will couple in still stronger and more grateful recol- 
 lection — The Church and the City. 
 
 [Mr. Scovel, when called upon for the City History, explained the cir- 
 cumstances which had defeated the preparation by another of that 
 important paper, promised to prepare, if possible, something of the same 
 nature for the centennial volume (now printed above) and read the fol- 
 lowing Historical Fragments :] 
 
HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 149 
 
 HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 Of these fragments, the first was an incidental contribution 
 made by Mr. Wm. Darlington, whose early years were connected 
 with the First Church, and whose notes on its earliest history, as 
 given in the Memorial (Centenary) Volume of Western Presby- 
 terianism, are of such value. Alluding to a certain charge 
 concerning the first pastor's irregular administration of baptism, 
 which was prominent in the trial before Presbytery, Mr. Dar- 
 lington says : " General Gibson's child, referred to therein, I 
 believe was his Indian child — Polly Gibson, well known in Pitts- 
 burgh. Her father had her well taken care of and respectably 
 reared. The late General William Robinson told me that he 
 knew her very well. It is interesting to remember the fact that 
 this child was the only survivor of the infamous massacre of 
 the celebrated Chief Logan's family, in April, 1774, on the 
 Ohio, near Yellow Creek, (below Wellsville.) Gibson's Indian 
 wife was Logan's sister, who was shot through the head by a 
 white savage, at a few feet's distance. The child at her bosom 
 fell, and Avas the only one rescued in the canoe. This murder 
 was the main cause of the bloody Indian war, known as Dun- 
 more's or Cresap's war. The celebrated speech of Logan, about 
 which there has been so much controversy as to its genuineness, 
 was delivered to this same General John Gibson. He had lived 
 for many years among the Indians, as a trader, was Colonel of a 
 regiment during the Revolution, after its close resided in Pitts- 
 burgh, was an Associate Judge of the Courts of this county, 
 and died at the house of his son-in-law, Geo. Wallace, at Brad- 
 dock's Fields, in 1824. He was uncle to the late Chief Justice 
 Gibson." * * * * 
 
 To return. As the First Church's first building was erected 
 in the summer of 1786, I have no doubt that the congregation 
 had an express promise from the proprietaries of a gift of the 
 ground whenever an act of incorporation should be passed. 
 
150 HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 Without some such promise or agreement, assuredly John Wil- 
 kins, Mr. Barr and the rest would not have entered upon ground 
 from which they would be liable at any time to be ejected with the 
 loss of the building, to say nothing of their liability for trespass. 
 This is quite obvious. Should I, in my researches amongst the 
 Penn papers, in our Historical Library at Philadelphia, find any- 
 thing at all about it, I will communicate it to you. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Barr seems to have been, for that time, a 
 man of considerable pecuniary means, as he purchased a number 
 of town lots from the Penns. In one of the deeds he is styled 
 'The Reverend Samuel Barr, clerk,' 1 in accordance with the old 
 English custom." 
 
 The second fragment read was an account of the "falling ex- 
 perience" as witnessed on one occasion in the First Church, 
 and the only occasion. The recital was given by Mrs. Eichbaum, 
 (identified in her earliest years with the First Church,) to whose 
 clear memory our Sabbath School history is so much indebted, 
 and was substantially as follows : 
 
 The first and only case occurred in 1802. It was at a com- 
 munion season. Pastor Steele was being assisted in the services 
 by the Rev. Mr. Porter. The latter had seen genurhe cases of 
 conversion accompanied by such strange phenomena, and was 
 disposed to regard the matter favorably. Symptoms of moaning 
 were heard from a woman by the pastor during prayer by Mr. 
 Porter. The former immediately interrupted the prayer — saying, 
 "Remove the person who is disturbing the congregation." But 
 the latter answered — "Not so ; the Word is her only comfort," etc. 
 The woman presently fell in the aisle. But before there could 
 be much ado made over her, Major Ebenezer Denny and Mr. 
 Johnston carried her out of the door. 
 
 The second case occurred in the Court House, where there was 
 preaching by Mr. Porter. The same woman, who seemed not 
 averse to the experience, fell again and was considerately laid on 
 the table — the council-table. At the request of some one, 
 "Polly," the bound servant of Mr. Johnston's family, (Mr. J. was 
 Mrs. Eichbaum's father,) went forward to sustain the head of the 
 fainting woman in her lap. The meeting was dismissed at last 
 and Polly was left still holding the head of the apparently un- 
 conscious woman. Mrs. Eichbaum, then a little girl, was sent 
 
HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 151 
 
 from home with another person to bring Polly. Mr. Porter was 
 rhapsodizing over the supposed trance, and thought the woman 
 probably in communion with the Supreme and insensible to pain. 
 Mrs. E. found a pin and being seated beside Polly reached be- 
 hind her and gave a "prod" with it. The woman proved to be 
 not so unconscious as she seemed and Polly was very soon relieved 
 and taken away home. The woman finally turned out a dis- 
 solute character. "Falling" did not obtain in Pittsburgh. [Re- 
 lated to S. F. S., February 24th, 1871.] 
 
 A third fragment was this : 
 
 Mrs. Mary Cochrane (who died at the advanced age of 90,) told 
 me that in 1801 there was no house on the Allegheny side of the 
 river, except the one which stood on the Robinson estate. She 
 remembered that when the father of General Wm. Robinson 
 came to the city (in the time of the depression of the Continental 
 currency) he had with him $100, received as pay for a whole 
 year's work elsewhere : but it only sufficed to purchase for him 
 "a breakfast and a gill of whiskey." In the stress of those times, 
 she knew that the family of one of those who became wealthiest 
 afterwards went entire to the cornfield. The father took his gun, 
 the mother took her infant in its cradle, and both took their hoes. 
 Mrs. Cochrane was the only one living in the last pastorate 
 known to have attended the final communion in the log church, 
 celebrated while it was encased in the brick building. 
 
 A fourth historical fragment consisted of reminiscences of the 
 First Church, in statements made by Mrs. Abishai Way, of 
 Sewickley, taken down and kindly transmitted by her son, John 
 Way, Jr. 
 
 Mrs. Abishai Way, nee Anderson, was born in Carlisle, Pa., 
 June 6th, 1794. Her father, William Anderson, and his family, 
 came to Pittsburgh in April; 1797. William Anderson became 
 a trustee of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Mary Ann Ander- 
 son, his wife, was a member of the church. At their house the 
 trustees often met ; the ministers were frequently entertained ; 
 and from it went many a gift of game, or garden products, for the 
 minister's family. These reminiscences were confirmed by Mrs. 
 Way in April, 1877. She died in peace on October 20th, 1881, 
 in her 88th year. 
 
152 HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 Rev. Robert Steele and his wife, with an infant child, came 
 from Ireland — fleeing from the Rebellion of 1800. He either 
 had taken or was supposed to have taken, some part in it against 
 the government, and would have been hanged had he not fled. 
 They encountered a terrible storm in their passage, which lasted 
 for three days. Their sons followed them some time after. Mr. 
 Steele's brother William (called 'Squire Steele, why, I can't say) 
 lived in Pittsburgh at that time, and kept a store on Market 
 street, I think in a square (hewed) log house, below the Diamond. 
 His wife was David Pride's sister. ' 
 
 Rev. Mr. Steele was a Free Mason, and chaplain to a Free Mason 
 lodge, the meetings of which were held in the second story of a 
 house on the corner of the Diamond, where Joseph Fleming's drug 
 store now is. (S. E. corner, in Irvine's Hall, where the Allegheny 
 County Courts were held in or about the year 1795.) [Old Mrs. 
 Knox, mother of Robert and Miss Polly Knox, formerly of 
 Fourth street, I have heard speak of the Allegheny County 
 Courts of an earlier date, held in a large house (most probably 
 log) on S. E. corner Market and Front streets. She, then a 
 young girl, with others would go to the second story room, lift , 
 a board off the floor, and look down upon the assembled Court. 
 Note by John Way, Jr.~\ 
 
 Mr. Steele was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. His 
 salary was $450. Some time afterwards it was increased to $600. 
 His family consisted of three sons and two daughters. His sons 
 (most probably the two oldest ; the other children must have 
 been born in this country. J. W. Jr.) came to this country some 
 time after their father, in company with a young Irishman, who 
 afterwards married here. 
 
 On the arrival of Mr. Steele's sons, an entertainment was made 
 for them at my father's. The young Irishman was invited, and 
 distinguished himself when helped to boiled corn on the ear, a 
 dish altogether new to him, by eating the cob ! 
 
 My first recollection of Mr. Steele is on the occasion of my 
 mother making a call on the family, taking me with her. Mr. 
 Steele was then a tutor, perhaps principal, of the Western Uni- 
 versity, or Academy, and lived in the University building, corner 
 Cherry alley and Third street ; the dwelling house fronting on 
 Cherry alley. On our return, my father asked about the visit. 
 
HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 153 
 
 My mother replied, " Well, one thing I noticed ; they must be 
 very, very poor ! " My mother had some chickens caught and 
 sent up to the family the next day. I was sent with the boy to 
 show him the house. 
 
 I don't think he remained long at the University. He re- 
 moved thence to a small red frame house on the south side of 
 Second street (Second avenue), below Redoubt alley. There 
 were but two rooms and a kitchen, down stairs, to this house ; 
 and in it Mr. Steele's family lived, and he kept a school for girls. 
 He had but seven or eight scholars. My sister Letitia, Kitty 
 Willock, and Beckey Johnston were among the number. The 
 school room was up stairs. Some time afterwards Mr. Steele 
 bought a lot from Col. O'Hara, on the corner of Seventh street 
 and — (don't remember whether Smithfield or Grant). Here 
 he built the back building of a house and removed to it. My 
 father's workmen and others, mechanics, gave him each a clay's 
 work on his house. He was an industrious man himself, and 
 ready to turn his hand to anything that was required, willing to 
 do his best. 
 
 Upon one occasion he told my father that he had been hard 
 at work all day — "Yes," said Mrs. Steele, "on something that 
 anybody might worship and not break the commandment." It 
 was a bake oven, which, by reason of his deficient education in 
 that direction, had assumed an unusual and extraordinary shape. 
 Mr. Steele always had a fine garden, which he worked himself. 
 
 One very cold winter morning, about four o'clock, a fire broke 
 out in a row of cheap frame houses on Wood street, above 
 Sixth. The weather was intensely cold. Water was carried from 
 the river in buckets, cutting through the ice to get it. Mr. Steele 
 was at the fire, worked hard, got wet, took cold, and in nine days 
 died. 
 
 The Free Masons raised $800 for Mrs. Steele. She lived on 
 Seventh street some years, and afterwards moved to Col. O'Hara's 
 old log house (corner of Perm and Pitt), in the King's Orchard. 
 Mrs. Steele was a highly educated woman. She had Shakespeare 
 at 'her tongue's end. 
 
 One of Mr. Steele's sons, after his death, got a situation as 
 
 clerk with Mr. Cowan, a nail maker. After some time he was 
 
 able to earn $800 per annum. Another son went into Nicholas 
 
 Cunningham's store, on Market street. The third and youngest, 
 
 11 
 
154 HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 was quite a boy when his father died. He afterwards went to 
 Louisville. 
 
 Mr. Steele was a tall, slender man. He wore black satin 
 breeches, silk stockings, knee buckles and pumps. 
 
 On one occasion, Rev. Mr. Reed, principal of a boys' school in 
 Huntington, attended Synod at Pittsburgh. He usually staid at 
 my father's. On this time he went on Saturday to stay over 
 Sabbath with Mr. Steele, and to preach for him. On going to 
 church next morning, Mr. Steele took by mistake, instead of the 
 hymn book, "Scott's Lessons," a popular school book of the day. 
 (We used to call it "Scotch Lessons.") He left it in the pulpit and 
 took a seat below. Opening the book to give out a hymn, Mr. 
 Reed's eye fell upon "John Gilpin." Leaning over the pulpit 
 and looking down at Steele, the minister gravely said, "Is this 
 the kind of Psawms ye sing here ? " 
 
 As times grew better with Mr. Steele, his wife was enabled to 
 keep a servant. Catherine O'Hara one day quarreled with her 
 mistress, upon which Mr. Steele reproved her. She retorted by 
 pushing him behind 'the door, and would have proceeded further, 
 but the maid's mother suddenly appeared upon the scene and 
 rescued the minister, with the exclamation, "You hussy! wad 
 ye bate the priest ? " 
 
 The precentor in the First Church, in Mr. Steele's time, was an 
 old gentleman named Reed, who kept a tavern on the S. W. 
 corner of the Diamond and Diamond alley. It was his custom to 
 "line out the hymns," and lead the singing. He always gave his 
 salary for this service to Mrs. Steele. 
 
 I do not know the size of the old log church, nor the number 
 of pews : nor have I any recollection of attending any preaching 
 in it until Mr. Steele came. I well remember services (Episcopal,) 
 being held in the new Court House, which had been built (in the 
 Diamond, west side of Market street,) shortly before we came to 
 Pittsburgh. 
 
 I have a general idea of the position of the church, its 
 entrances, and the position of some of the pews. This diagram 
 represents it. It will be observed, the front door faced Virgin 
 alley. A side door faced Wood street. I cannot remember 
 whether or not there was a side door opposite the Wood street 
 entrance, but I think not, The size of the house would not 
 require it. 
 
HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 155 
 
 PLAN OF PEWS IN OLD LOG CHURCH* 
 
 WITH PEWHOLDEKS. 
 
 1801. 
 
 SIXTH STREET. 
 
 S3 
 
 
 c3 
 
 w 
 
 >> 
 
 c 
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 a> 
 P 
 
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 GO 
 
 a 
 
 43 
 
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 »-5 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
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 00 
 
 0) 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 
 
 -a 
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 Ha 
 
 0) 
 
 s 
 
 
 43 
 
 ««! 
 
 
 Hi 
 
 
 l-» 
 
 
 Pulpit. 
 
 45 "»J 
 
 GO 
 
 
 
 
 sib 
 
 a 
 J3 
 
 g 
 
 "3 
 
 CO 
 DO 
 
 o 
 
 "8 
 
 c 
 
 S 
 
 KH 
 
 o 
 
 GO 
 
 3 
 P 
 
 g 
 
 43 
 O 
 
 eS 
 
 s 
 
 c3 
 
 
 HS 
 
 t-s 
 
 h- 1 
 
 t-s 
 
 | 
 
 33 34 35 36 37 38 
 
 32 31 
 
 d 
 
 £ 
 
 go 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 U 
 
 O 
 
 
 § 
 
 w 
 
 
 GO 
 
 
 03 
 Hs 
 
 
 Geo. Stevenson. 
 
 Jas. Robinson. 
 
 Jno. Wilkins, Jr. 
 
 Jno. Woods. 
 
 Wm. Morrow. 
 
 And. Richardson. 
 
 30 
 
 29 
 28 
 27 
 26 
 25 
 24 
 23 
 22 
 21 
 20 
 
 Steel Semple. 
 
 G. McGonigle. 
 
 David Pride. 
 
 Wm. Anderson. 
 
 James Riddle. 
 
 Jos. McCully. 
 
 Robt. Smith. 
 
 Thos. Collins. 
 
 Alex. Addison. 
 
 O 
 
 I £ 
 
 5 6 
 
 VIRGIN ALLEY. 
 
 Whole number of Pews 38 
 
 Number rented in 1801. 31 
 
 Highest Pew Rent $12.00 
 
 Lowest Pew Rent 9.00 
 
 * The plan inserted has been substituted for that drawn according to Mrs. Way's 
 memory, as somewhat more complete, and accompanied by a list of pewholders. It is 
 the work of his Honor Judge Addison, and was drawn in 1801. — S. F. S. 
 
156 HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 The pews, so called, were really only benches with hacks, and 
 not very substantially set up. I remember upon one occasion, 
 that the seat of our "pew" fell down at one end, making quite a 
 noise, my mother falling with it. Mrs. O'Hara, who sat just behind, 
 leaned forward and said to my mother in a low voice, "Why, 
 Mrs. Anderson : you are the last woman I should have thought 
 would have made a disturbance in the church !" She referred to 
 an incident that had taken place a short time before, when a 
 young girl from Washington county, who had been through the 
 exciting scenes of the falling work, then very prevalent in south 
 western part of the State, had "fallen down" in the church with 
 screams and moans. Major Denny had peremptorily ordered her 
 out, and assisted "Harris, the bell ringer," in carrying her out 
 and throwing water on her. 
 
 I cannot remember anything about the "pulpit" nor the 
 windows. The house itself was built, I think, of unhewed logs* 
 and stood quite a distance in the yard. 
 
 The brick church was built in Mr. Steele's time. It was a 
 necessity, the log church not being large enough to hold the con- 
 gregation. The subscriptions for the building of the church fell 
 far short of the actual expense, so a lottery was proposed and 
 many tickets sold. My father sold tickets to all his work-hands. 
 He also gave me one — which drew a six dollar prize. Mr. James 
 Thompson drew $100. The lottery wheel was in 'Squire Wilkins' 
 office, on Wood street, corner of Fourth. Squire Wilkins had 
 a large garden, extending from his house up Wood street to 
 Diamond alley, and from Wood street to the Diamond. 
 
 When the " drawing " was made, Mr. Steele's two oldest sons 
 turned the wheel. 
 
 William Wilkins (Judge,) took quite an interest in the project, 
 but somehow it was not a success. Somebody, I do not know 
 who, was said to have drawn a prize of $1,000. 
 
 Elijah Trovillo and old Mr. Goudy were the brick layers of 
 the brick church. The new house was built around and over the 
 old one. Trovillo, who was somewhat of a wag, used to tell the 
 country people that when the new 'walls were up, the old church 
 was to be burnt out of the way ; and he actually appointed a day 
 for some of them to come in and see the sight. The pulpit of 
 the new church was a large round box, rather high up. It was 
 always a mystery to me in my childhood how the minister got 
 
HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 157 
 
 into it: the steps up to it were in some way concealed 
 behind it. 
 
 The communion table was placed across the house in front of 
 the pulpit. It was a long table with benches. They had silver 
 goblets and nice white table linen. Mr. James Cooper was one 
 of the elders, and his daughter, aunt Peggy Davis, always took 
 care of the communion service. The pews of the new house were 
 arranged, as near as possible, after the same plan as in the old 
 house, and each family had relatively the same locality in the 
 new, as they had in the old house. 
 
 The new house, however, faced Wood street, unlike the old, 
 which, as I said before, faced Virgin alley. 
 
 At Mr. Steele's death the pulpit was draped in black, and re- 
 mained so until Mr. Herron's arrival. 
 
 Old Mr. Graham, of Wilkinsburg, preached Mr. Steele's funeral 
 sermon. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Graham one day came to my father's with the 
 abrupt question : "Have ye a devil about you?" " Well, I don't 
 know," said my father, " they are very plenty about here. Were 
 you wanting one?" It proved to be some particular kind of 
 ])loiv he wished to borrow. 
 
 I spoke of " Harris, the bell ringer." I never knew any other 
 name for him. He was always called that. He was father of 
 Isaac Harris, the "Directory" man. He was sexton of the 
 church, and rang the bell for church and school. The bell 
 was not at the church, but at the Court House, and did service 
 for all the town. It was not put up until some years after the 
 Court House was built. 
 
 Among my earliest recollections, is that of assembling with 
 the other children in the church after service, to be catechized 
 by the minister. 
 
 Hymn books were very scarce and hard to be got. I think 
 we had no hymn books in the congregation, as a general 
 thing, until after the brick church was built. Nicholas Cun- 
 ningham brought the hymn books from Philadelphia. I have 
 mine yet. It was presented to me by Mr. John M. (afterwards 
 Judge) Snowden. My name and the date are written on a fly 
 leaf. (January 1, 1814.) 
 
158 HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 (Copy of title page): 
 
 Psalms carefully suited to the Christian Worship in the 
 United States of America : being an improvement of the old 
 versions of the Psalms of David. "All things written in the laws 
 of Moses, and the Prophets and the Psalms, concerning Me, must be 
 fulfilled:' New York: printed and sold (wholesale,) at 156 
 Pearl street, by D. & G. Bruce, 1808. 
 
 (Copy of 2d title page) : 
 
 Hymns and Spiritual Songs. In three Books. 
 I. Collected from the Scriptures. 
 II. Composed on Divine Subjects. 
 
 III. Prepared for the Lord's Supper, by I. Watts, D. D. 
 
 "And they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy, etc., for 
 thou wast slain and had redeemed lis, etc" Rev. v. 9. " Soliti 
 essent (i. e. Christiani) convenire, Carmenque Christo quasi Deo 
 dicere" " Plinius in Epist." New York : printed and sold 
 (wholesale,) at 156 Pearl street, by D. & G. Bruce, 1808. 
 
 (The Psalm Book contains the one hundred and fifty Psalms, 
 with six doxologies, one of which is headed "As the 113th 
 Psalm:" another ".Is the HUh Psalm." In the Hymn Book 
 the hymns are numbered in each part separately. Part first 
 contains hymns CL. Part second, hymns CLXX. Part third, 
 hymns XLV, including twenty so called doxologies and hosannas. 
 There is also the usual index of subjects and table of first 
 lines, both of which are also found in the Psalm Book.) 
 
 "Mr. Steele was buried in the graveyard attached to the 
 
 church." 
 
 The fifth of these fragments concerns the incidental early con- 
 nection with the First Church of no less a personage than Bishop 
 Henry Hopkins. The extracts are taken from his life written by 
 his son, and show how near we came to having a bishop among 
 us permanently. 
 
 "In May, 1816, arriving the first evening in Pittsburgh, they 
 were the guests of their dear friends the O'Hara's ; and on Sun- 
 day went to the Presbyterian meeting with them, as a matter of 
 course, Dr. Herron being then the leading preacher in all that 
 region of country. * * * When the singular kindness of the 
 O'Hara's is remembered and the absence of all definite church 
 principle as yet, in my father's mind, is kept in view, it will not 
 seem strange that on his coming to live in Pittsburgh, my parents. 
 
HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 159 
 
 went on Sundays, as a matter of course, to Dr. Hermit's Presby- 
 terian meeting, with seats in the O'Hara pew, and there they 
 would probably have remained had it not been for one of those 
 trifling things which the world calls accidents. (Mr. H. was re- 
 quested to become the organist in Trinity Church.) In 1816, '17 
 and '18 the Presbyterian Society was by all odds the dominant 
 one in Pittsburgh, whether for numbers, wealth, or social and 
 intellectual power and weight. Few and feeble were the Church- 
 folk in Western Pennsylvania in those days, and the worst step 
 a young man could take who wished to rise in the world as a 
 lawyer, was to quit the Presbyterians and 'join the Episcopals.' 
 [pp. 60, 61.] 
 
 After the Rev. Mr. Carter left Trinity a long and painful va- 
 cancy followed. Now one was obtained for a time, now another, 
 but of such moderate abilities, that but little growth could be 
 expected of their leadership. One of them experienced great diffi- 
 culty in the preparation of his sermons, and made no secret of it. 
 He lived in a house the rear of which looked upon the rear of 
 that which was occupied by the Rev. Mr. McElroy, (long known 
 as Dr. McElroy, of New York City,) then a young Presbyterian 
 minister of leading ability and a kind heart, and the gardens be- 
 tween them were narrow. Each had his study in the rear of the 
 house. The story runs, that once upon a time, in the summer, 
 our rector had found himself utterly unable during the week to 
 write the dreaded sermon, and on Saturday, at about noon, de- 
 spairing of success, bent down his head over his crossed arms upon 
 his study table and wept audibly from sheer helplessness and 
 mortification. The windows were all open and the kind hearted 
 Presbyterian dominie, seeing his predicament and pitying him 
 sincerely, called out loud enough to be heard through the gardens : 
 'Don't cry, brother . I'll lend you a sermon.' " [p. 63.] 
 
 The sixth of the fragments was a reminiscence of First 
 Church Hospitality. 
 
 The Rev. Sylvester Scovel, declining invitations to Eastern 
 fields, came West in 1829, having been married in Philadelphia 
 on the day the journey began, to Miss Hannah Matlack. Arriv- 
 ing at Pittsburgh on Saturday, after a wearisome journey of 
 nearly a week, they were found to be at the hotel. Dr. Herron 
 
160 HISTORICAL FRAGMENTS. 
 
 sent one of his daughters (my mother remembers yet how hand- 
 some a family it was) to conduct them to his own house. They 
 spent the Sabbath there. Mr. Scovel preached in the morning in 
 this pulpit. In addition he preached in the afternoon in the 
 Second Church, then under the pastorate of Dr. Swift. On 
 Monday, Dr. and Mrs. Herron, with Mr. and Mrs. Scovel, were 
 entertained at dinner at Dr. Swift's, in Allegheny. 
 
 When obliged to resume their journey, the family rose as early 
 as two o'clock in the morning to send them away to the missionary 
 work of years in the then great West — the valley of the Ohio, 
 and near Cincinnati. This rest and refreshment of Christian 
 care and fellowship has now been a bright spot in my mother's 
 memories for nearly fifty-five years. The date of the Sabbath 
 on which it occurred is corroborated by the diary of Dr. Swift, 
 and by the account given in 1881 by the Rev. Dr. Adam Tor- 
 rance, recently deceased. He, a student in the Seminary and 
 boarding at Dr. Swift's, dined there with those already mentioned 
 on the Monday, and had preserved in his diary a record of my 
 father's text and an appreciative notice of the sermon. 
 
 That Sabbath — July 5th, 1829 — was the communion occasion 
 in the Second Church, and seventeen persons were added upon 
 examination. The Rev. Dr. Jennings preached in the morning? 
 Avho has long been my own, as he was my father's friend. (They 
 had been in Princeton Seminary together.) It is to be noted as 
 an apt illustration of that promise of the xlvth Psalm (which I 
 remember Dr. McGill's quoting to me when I handed in my first 
 commission to the General Assembly, in 1860) — "instead of the 
 fathers I will take the children : " that during these services 
 (nearly fifty-five years after that Sabbath) there will be present 
 Dr. Swift's son (who presides over the meeting this afternoon), 
 and the son of Dr. Jennings, (the Rev. Philip S. Jennings) and 
 my father's son. 
 
 These incidents I have desired to find some place in our cele- 
 bration, as they show (1) the lasting blessings of that simplicity of 
 life which does not consume everything upon itself but leaves a 
 large margin for Christian hospitality ; and they show (2) what 
 a delightful state of good feeling then reigned between the two 
 churches and has ever since endured ; and they show (3) that 
 the ministers' sons do not all go to the bad. 
 
MISSIONARY HISTORY. 161 
 
 MISSIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 DR. WM. SPEER. 
 
 [The Missionary History was then read by the Rev. Dr. Wm. Speer, 
 and will be found to embrace many most interesting details now collected 
 for the first time.] 
 
 It is a conspicuous fact in the religious history of America, 
 that Pittsburgh has been a very prominent centre of missionary 
 interest, and of corresponding influence, not alone in the Presby- 
 terian, but to some extent in other churches of the nation. To 
 what cause is this due ? , 
 
 The condition of the country west of the Allegheny mountains 
 a century ago was such as to make, at that early day, what we 
 classify as "foreign missionary work" a stern necessity. 
 
 The heathen were the owners and occupants of nearly the 
 whole of the country where we now have reared innumerable 
 cities and luxurious homes. Thomas and Richard Penn had 
 bought, for ten thousand dollars, from the Indian tribes called 
 the "Six Nations," the land between the Susquehanna and Alle- 
 gheny rivers. But the savages understood little and regarded 
 still less what such a sale meant ; and dwelt upon and hunted 
 over it. And so they did in all the country west of the Allegheny, 
 which they sold in like style to the Penn's during the very year 
 which we are commemorating. 
 
 Causes which we cannot now consider had created intense 
 and increasing hatred, and caused unsparing and deadly warfare to 
 exist between the Indians and the whites. Many horrible mas- 
 sacres of either people by their enemies had given a terrible 
 notoriety to the region. They watched, and hunted, and slew 
 
162 MISSIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 each other like wild beasts. The local authorities of the whites 
 paid rewards for the dead scalps or living bodies of Indians, vary- 
 ing in their sums from a hundred and fifty down to fifty dollars, 
 according to sex and age. Some, even Christian people, had 
 persuaded themselves that the Indians were the Canaanites of the 
 land, and to be utterly destroyed without mercy. 
 
 So blind and vindictive was the hatred of all Indians that in 
 March, 1782, a party of men from about Fort Pitt, upon an ex- 
 pedition through what is now the State of Ohio, came upon three 
 villages of Christian Indians — Gnadenhutten, Shonbrunn and 
 Salem, where had been gathered and were living in peaceful 
 industry and quiet, some of the converts of the pious Moravian 
 missionaries, Post, Zeisberger and Heckewelder. These Indians 
 and their teachers had taken pains to avoid connection with their 
 heathen kindred in their deeds of violence, and to exhibit to the 
 whites on the Ohio river and at Fort Pitt their anxiety for 
 friendship and peace. On the other hand they had, with great 
 efforts and much danger to themselves, prevented many of the 
 heathen Indians accepting the solicitations of the British at 
 Detroit, to serve them in the war then raging against the Amer- 
 ican colonies. Yet many of the Fort Pitt people refused to 
 accept the declaration of these things. 
 
 On Monday, the 6th of March, the white party appeared at 
 the villages, and were kindly entertained by the Indians with 
 corn, and venison, and honey, of which they emptied their stores 
 and beehives. They refused to receive warnings which some of 
 their friends gave them, of danger. They talked with the 
 whites of God and Christ Jesus, and their faith. On Thursday, 
 there were hot debates in the white camp. The* Shonbrunn 
 people became alarmed and fled into the forest. In the afternoon 
 a party of the whites collected the Salem and Gnadenhutten 
 people ; they bound them in couples, and put all the women and 
 girls into one house, the men and boys into another at Gna- 
 denhutten. The night was spent by the captives in prayer and 
 singing of hymns. In the morning a band of men entered each 
 house. With clubs, mallets and hatchets, they murdered the 
 entire number confined there, save two boys, one of whom hid 
 himself in the cellar, and the other escaped through the door. 
 Ninety-six people, five of them Christian assistants of the mis- 
 
MISSIONARY HISTORY. 163 
 
 sion, perished. The whites scalped the bodies, took fifty horses, 
 what plunder they could carry, and returned to Fort Pitt. 
 
 Only two months afterwards the heathen Indians defeated 
 Col. Crawford's expedition, and inflicted a horrible vengeance 
 upon the Pennsylvania people for that massacre at Gnadenhut- 
 ten. They burned Col. Crawford and several other captives at 
 the stake, with mocking and fearful tortures. 
 
 In such events as these, there were two overwhelming argu- 
 ments for Christian missions to the Indian tribes. The first, the 
 troubles and dangers inflicted upon the white population of this 
 region and all their interests by the proximity of the barbarous 
 Indians. The other, the assured fact that the gospel of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ had power to change the most savage nature, to 
 impart habits of civilization, and industry and peace, and to 
 enable men and women, born in heathen darkness, to live lives 
 and to die deaths which bear comparison with those of the 
 Christian martyrs of the first centuries or of the Protestant Refor- 
 mation. 
 
 The condition of the white population, which was forming 
 infant settlements in the most eligible spots, afforded two similar 
 arguments for home missions. On the one hand there were resi- 
 dent in this new frontier, some men and women and families of tried 
 and fervent and intelligent piety ; a piety made • like gold, the 
 more pure and shining by the fires through which it passed and 
 the dross with which it was contrasted. The people, save a few 
 Germans, were almost all of the Scotch blood, disciplined by a 
 sojourn in the north of Ireland. But the greater part of the 
 white population, from Fort Pitt to the mouth of the Ohio, was of 
 a very abandoned and desperate character. Some of them lived 
 with the Indians, and incited them to the commission of many of 
 their acts of atrocity. Deeds of bloodshed and crime were fre- 
 quent, and many of them unpunished. Drunkenness and vice 
 corrupted much of what society there was. The soldiers of Fort 
 Pitt were almost beyond restraint. A military commander sent 
 there in 1782, reported to the Secretary of War at Philadelphia, 
 "they are the most licentious men, and the worst behaved, I ever 
 saw." These were the circumstances in which a few men and 
 women, dwelling among them, whose righteous souls from day 
 to day were vexed with the unlawful deeds and with the filthy 
 conversation of the wicked, sought for deliverance through the 
 
l')4 MISSIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 help from on high, and began to pray that the Lord would 
 bring in preachers of righteousness. 
 
 In the year 1784, a day of better things began to dawn. The 
 town of Pittsburgh was laid out. The portion of the State of 
 Pennsylvania west of the Allegheny river, was bought from the 
 Indians of the Six Nations. Steps were taken during the year to 
 obtain regular preaching by Presbyterian ministers. We see 
 how, from the beginning, the church inhaled an atmosphere 
 which kindled the pulses of an energetic missionary life ; one 
 which has continued strong and fervent in its youth and in its 
 prime. 
 
 And the Holy Spirit of God gave to His people in all this 
 region the promise that the day which then dawned in such 
 darkness, should be one of great it uitf ulness and joy, by pouring 
 out upon the churches here and there rains of unexpected grace, 
 which, in the years until the present century fairly opened, 
 multiplied and spread over this and other lauds. This was the 
 beginning of the mighty advance which religious history entitles 
 "the Great Revival of 1800." 
 
 The second jjeriod in the missionary history of this church, is 
 that associated with the rise of organized activity in the spread 
 of the gospel 'at home and abroad. 
 
 Previous to the current century, there had been in New 
 England and on the western frontiers, irregular missionary 
 efforts of individuals and of associations. But there was now a 
 swelling of the river of the water of life, which called for new 
 and powerful ecclesiastical machinery and enterprise. 
 
 Pittsburgh was the place which the position in respect to mis- 
 sionary fields, the character of the people, and the spiritual 
 baptism which this western region had received in richer measure 
 than the East, indicated as ordained of Providence to be the source 
 of such a movement in the Presbyterian church of the nation as 
 would qualify her to fulfill her high obligations to Jesus Christ 
 and to mankind in all future time. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact in the religious history of America, that 
 while the missionary efforts of other branches of the Christian 
 church have been experimental and unsystematic, the Spirit of 
 God guided the Presbyterian church here at once to the very 
 form and order and methods of the control and performance of 
 
MISSIONARY HISTORY. 165 
 
 such work which time has proven to be, as to its membership, 
 the most suitable, practical, permanent, and capable of expansion 
 until its operations should extend throughout the nation, and we 
 know not yet where throughout the world. "The Board of 
 Trust," which the Synod of Pittsburgh organized and appointed 
 at its first meeting in 1802, was the germ and the model of all 
 subsequent Presbyterian Missionary Boards, home and foreign, 
 in our own and in other bodies of the Presbyterian name. Con- 
 gregational ideas of church government interfered with it for a 
 time and proved its strength and vitality. But the influence of 
 this region restored the original plan. At last it triumphed fully, 
 and for all the future, in the acceptance by the General 
 Assembly of the organization reared here, and in the adoption of 
 it for the whole church in 1837, under the name of the Board of 
 Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. A portion of the 
 great Presbyterian body refused for a third of a century to 
 conform to this mode of operations. It was a joyful day when, 
 on that memorable Friday morning, the 12th day of November, 
 1869, what had been called the Old and New School divisions 
 of the church met here in the same city, and on the very ground 
 where the Synod of Pittsburgh had, in 1802, planted the tree, 
 and sat down together as one reunited and rejoicing family, to 
 eat and drink under its now widely extended and fruitful 
 branches. 
 
 This old church well deserved that distinguished honor. The 
 first seven annual meetings of the Synod of Pittsburgh were 
 held under its roof ; and of the first twenty-two meetings, that 
 is until the year 1833, sixteen were held in the same place ; the 
 other six were held in the town of Washington, a deserved 
 tribute to the noble body of men in that vicinity. The Western 
 Foreign Missionary Society was presided over, during its exist- 
 ence, by Harmar Denny, an elder, as President, and by Dr. 
 Herron, as Chairman of its Executive Committee; and its 
 meetings were generally held in the lecture room of this church. 
 The contributions of the people of the church were the largest, 
 with few exceptions, made to its treasury. 
 
 And yet it would be neither just nor modest were we to dis- 
 parage the co-operation of many other churches, and other 
 ministers and elders ; some in this region, some elsewhere, par- 
 ticularly in the cities of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and 
 
166 MISSIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 Cincinnati. And high above all other men of the Presbyterian 
 name in fervent zeal, comprehensive knowledge, moving elo- 
 quence and arduous labors for foreign missions, was the pastor 
 of the Second Presbyterian Church and Corresponding Secretary 
 of the Society, Dr. Elisha P. Swift, the son of Lucy Elliot, a de- 
 scendant in the fourth generation of the famous first apostle to 
 the Indians of America, John Eliot, of Massachusetts, and a 
 kinsman of the Payson's and others of the saintliest spirits of 
 modern ages. 
 
 The very limited time permitted to the present address allows 
 me only to sketch the bolder outlines of the causes and facts 
 which have created the eminent missionary character of this 
 church and this region. It has sustained this character by the 
 liberality of its contributions to all forms of missionary and 
 benevolent work in this and other lands ; by the personal efforts 
 of its sons and daughters in many ways for the advancement of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, and its influence upon the students of 
 the Theological Seminary, which have been noticed more partic- 
 ularly in the Sabbath School history ; and by the part which 
 it has taken in establishing and fostering the religious and 
 literary institutions of the neighborhood and of the land. Its 
 pastor was an active participant in the steps by which the Gen- 
 eral Assembly organized the Presbyterian Board of Education, 
 and he was continued by his Synod or the Assembly a member of 
 the Board, during most, if not all the time, for forty years, 
 until his death in 1860. A son of this church was the Corres- 
 ponding Secretary and executive officer of that Board, in Phila- 
 delphia, for nearly eleven years. The largest contributions of 
 the means by which the operations of the Western Theological 
 Seminary were sustained, came, for many years, as also those by 
 which it was at first built and when burned rebuilt, from members 
 of this church. A summary of the history of your first century 
 would be incomplete without the record of these facts for the 
 inspiration of those who shall follow, to still better deeds. And 
 far better and larger efforts truly are needed from those to come 
 — home missionary work, especially for the conversion of the 
 millions of foreign emigrants who threaten our republican in- 
 stitutions with their most serious danger ; and foreign missionary 
 work, to send, according to the Redeemer's last command, the 
 gospel to every creature. 
 
MISSIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 167 
 
 A third period of advancement in the missionary life of this 
 church is so closely associated with the general progress of the 
 Presbyterian body and of Christianity in the nation, as to de- 
 mand' distinct commemoration in a review of the century of its 
 history. We have seen the success of the efforts to give form to 
 the organizations of the Presbyterian Church ; now, how shall 
 life be infused into them ? Bone and sinew and muscle and skin 
 are of little value without an animating spirit and vital energy. 
 
 Pittsburgh was looked to, from all parts of the land, as the 
 city whose central location, the spirit of the people, the tone of 
 religion, and the influence in the regions related to it, rendered it 
 the most suitable for some of those great convocations whose 
 transactions have formed eras in the great efforts to deepen and 
 spread the efficiency of the gospel of salvation. 
 
 The First Church, as the oldest and best known in the com- 
 munity, and honoring thus those which sprang from it, has been 
 selected to be the scene of a series of religious conventions, during 
 the last half century, which attach great interest to the locality 
 —have greatly affected the character and influence of the mem- 
 bership of this and the other churches here. These conventions 
 may be classified as designed for ecclesiastical ends ; as for the 
 promotion of general objects of religious interest or of various 
 reforms ; or as devotional convocations of prayer for the outpour- 
 ing of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The ecclesiastical conventions began in the times of resistance 
 to the aggressions of the great voluntary societies of New Eng- 
 land upon the benevolent operations of the Presbyterian Church. 
 When the General Assembly of 1835 met in Pittsburgh, a con- 
 vention of this kind for counsel and prayer was held in the 
 Second Church. After the disruption of the Presbyterian body, 
 a general convention of the ministry and eldership of the Synods of 
 Pittsburgh, Wheeling and Ohio, a meeting of remarkable interest, 
 was held in this church in November, 1842. Many of the old 
 fathers of the church were present. Elisha McCurdy made there 
 his farewell plea before his translation to heaven, in behalf of 
 revivals and missions. The claims of the several Boards of the 
 Church and of the Theological Seminary were represented. The 
 prayers and addresses greatly quickened the churches of this part 
 of the land. A convention of a kindred nature, in behalf of 
 church work, was held here in the first week of December, 1867. 
 
168 MISSIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 In the same month of 1875, a convention of the four Synods of 
 Pittsburgh, Erie, Cleveland and Columbus celebrated here the 
 centenary of the commencement of the labors of the Rev. Dr. 
 John McMillan and the first planting of the Presbyterian literary 
 and theological institutions. It commemorated by a number of 
 valuable papers the ecclesiastical and missionary history of this 
 region, which have been published together in a volume. 
 
 Another class of conventions held in the church has had refer- 
 ence to general religious objects, temperance and other reforms. 
 In November, 1867, there was held a "Christian convention," 
 presided over by Mr. D wight L. Moody, the object of which Was 
 to perpetuate the Christian activity aroused by the years of Avar, 
 in the direction of efforts in behalf of the needy and the vicious. 
 One of the most interesting of these general conventions was the 
 first meeting in the United States of what is styled "the Biennial 
 Conference of the American Branch of the Evangelical Alliance," 
 in October, 1875. Representatives of most of the Christian de- 
 nominations of the country were present. Able papers were read, 
 and useful counsels held, in regard to many of those great prac- 
 tical objects in which all evangelical Christians may combine 
 their efforts, resources and influence in antagonism to the errors 
 and vices of the land, and to advance the interests of spiritual 
 religion in the world. 
 
 Another class of conventions has been principally of a devo- 
 tional aim : to unite the prayers of believers to God for the ful- 
 fillment of His promises of the gifts of power from on high, through 
 the Holy Spirit. Such a convocation of the ministry and elder- 
 ship of the four Synods of the upper valley of the Ohio was held 
 in the dark days of the winter of 1860-61, when the terrible 
 shadows of the coming civil war hung over the country. For 
 three days — January 15th to 17th — they entreated the Lord of 
 hosts for mercy upon our sinful nation. His mercy was granted 
 through the swift exercise of justice. The rebellion in behalf of 
 the maintenance of slavery He "cut short in righteousness. A 
 short work did the Lord make upon the earth." The Allwise 
 and Almighty often answers prayer in ways which His people 
 "understand not now," "to the praise of the glory of His grace." 
 We might allude also, if time permitted, to the interesting and 
 largely attended convention for prayer in November, 1878. But 
 we hasten to notice that convention for which above all others 
 
MISSIONARY HISTORY. 169 
 
 the name of the old First Church of Pittsburgh will be remem- 
 bered on the earth ; that is, the convention of December 1st to 3d, 
 1857. It was opened by a sermon from the venerable Dr. James 
 Hoge, of Columbus, Ohio, from the text " not by might, nor by 
 power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." This was the 
 key note of the whole meeting, in which there were at times such 
 heart-broken and believing supplication to God, such earnest 
 appeals to the consciences and hopes of His servants, and such 
 manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit to melt the souls 
 of men, as have been witnessed upon few occasions in modern 
 times. We cannot in this very brief address attempt any de- 
 scription of the transactions of that convention. We can only 
 advert to some of its results. 
 
 It was the first assembly of ministers and Christian people to 
 pray for that vast outpouring of the Holy Spirit which extended 
 from the rising to the setting sun, during the ensuing three years. 
 It was the nation's preparation for the stern conflict which re- 
 sulted in the universal and complete overthrow of African 
 slavery, the evil which above all others threatened the destruction 
 of our republican existence, and of the institutions of spiritual 
 Christianity, which are the best hope of the world's conversion to 
 (rod. It started the flow of numerous forms of evangelistic life 
 and power, which have continued to operate in the land and in 
 the world. It kindled a flame of missionary supplication and 
 effort which has brought a new life from heaven to many fields 
 of labor in heathen, Mohammedan and antichristian countries. 
 It prompted, in India, the effectual establishment of the week of 
 prayer for the conversion of the world, which is one of the most 
 distinct memorials of the convention among us. It was the 
 pledge and earnest of those final gifts of the Spirit from on high 
 which shall regenerate "all flesh," and bring all nations to joyful 
 submission to Jesus Christ as their glorious Redeemer and Lord. 
 
 We know not what millions of souls have been born to God 
 through the influences of that revival of 1857 to 1861. Eternity 
 only can reveal the fruits of it to churches, to nations and to 
 mankind. Let me name two individuals whose everlasting life 
 began in circumstances of special interest to us in this house and 
 on this occasion. A young Frenchman, a student of the Uni- 
 versity of Paris, was present in this house. That convention 
 made him a child of God. And now Theodore Monod, a son of 
 12 
 
170 MISSIONARY HISTORY. 
 
 the eminent French preacher, Frederic Monod, who was with 
 him here, through the training of our Theological Seminary, and 
 the impulses received in these churches, has become the Me- 
 lancthon of that great revival which to-day promises to regener- 
 ate France, and which must affect spiritual Christianity over the 
 continent of Europe. 
 
 The other individual was a woman. In February, 1858, she 
 was baptized in the aisle before me. The whole congregation 
 was affected by the sight, many of them to tears. She had been 
 the Chinese nurse of the children of the Rev. Dr. Happer. Mrs. 
 Tsang went back to China, on fire with what she had seen, in 
 churches east of the mountains and here, of the wondrous scenes 
 of that revival. This was one of the means by which was set 
 and kept in operation that woman's work in Canton, which is 
 one of the most interesting and hopeful features of the advance- 
 ment of Christianity in China. 
 
 Brethren and sisters in Christ, let each of us go forth from 
 this centennial convention, assured by such wondrous and mul- 
 tiplied pledges of God's willingness to bless us exceeding 
 abundantly above all that we ask or think, to lives of more in- 
 cessant and believing prayer ; to a more hearty and complete 
 consecration of life, and children, and property, and time and 
 effort to the service of our Divine Redeemer and King. God's 
 infallible word declares that the greatest gifts which the church 
 on earth has ever received, the outpourings of primitive Chris- 
 tianity, of the Lutheran Reformation, and of recent generations, 
 are but the preparations, "the former rains" of blessings from 
 the Holy Spirit of which the great "latter rains" shall flood the 
 Avhole earth with the prophetic sea of the knowledge, and holi- 
 ness, and joy of the Lord. 
 
woman's work in the first church. , 171 
 
 WOMAN'S WORK IN THE FIRST CHURCH. 
 
 All would have felt the occasion incomplete without some careful at- 
 tempt to trace the influence of the Tryphenas and Tryphosas of our First 
 Church History. Certainly there have been too many who " labored much 
 in the Lord" to allow of any very narrow limits being put upon the paper 
 that should commemorate their faithfulness and commend their examples. 
 Accordingly some liberty has been taken by Mrs. Scovel, both in the 
 original preparation of the paper and in the re-writing of it— in both 
 cases largely from materials furnished by Miss Matilda Denny and Miss 
 Jennie Brooks. It is gladly printed in full. 
 
 In this day and generation, the expression " woman's work" 
 has widened beyond the home, which formerly defined its limits, 
 and is mainly identified with organized effort in church and 
 society. To the women of early days the expression, as used in 
 the old adage, 
 
 " Man's work's from sun to sun, 
 
 But woman's work is never done," 
 had not the faintest reference to missionary, church or temper- 
 ance societies, but to that ceaseless round of household duties, 
 unaided by modern helps and conveniences, which fell to her lot. 
 The Sabbath was to her the coveted time when, on one day of 
 seven, she could sit awhile with folded hands as she listened to 
 the ministry of the Word, and it would seem quite possible that 
 as her eye would stray through the opened windows upon the 
 quiet churchyard, she might sometimes long to be laid there at 
 rest, while her freed soul should be refreshed by the ministries 
 of heaven. 
 
 But because she only wrought at home during the week and 
 went to church for her own edification on Sundays, had she no 
 part in the century's history of woman's work ? 
 
172 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 Yes ! — if we rightly estimate faithful training of children in 
 the fear of the Lord and unquestioned loyalty to the church whose 
 foundations she silently cemented with unceasing labors of love 
 and prayer. Her strong desire for church ordinances and her 
 unwearying attendance upon its services have made secure the 
 very existence of the church. If the women had relaxed their 
 zeal in maintaining church life, from first to last of the century, 
 where would have been the glorious history we are to-day met to 
 recall ? Could all the wifely and motherly entreaties, admoni- 
 tions and spurs to duty be summoned before us, how many of 
 the courageous, devoted deeds and counsels of the elders and 
 brethren, and even of the pastors themselves, might be traced 
 to the loving urgency of these sources ! 
 
 The easy strife of words was not the only means employed, but 
 deeds as well, were wrought into the upbuilding of the church. 
 Yet these women of the olden time would hardly think of calling 
 that " work " which , to them, was a profitable diversion, a sort of 
 spiritual pastime. 
 
 At the first experiment of a prayer meeting begun by Dr. 
 Herron and Mr. Hunt, of the Second Church, the women 
 who braved opposition to come, outnumbered the men as six 
 to one, and even to this day a suggestive disproportion is some- 
 times found. 
 
 In the matter of contributions to the support of the ministry, 
 they have borne an essential part, and their pecuniary aid has 
 helped to rear all the church buildings, from the log house down 
 to the new chapel. In the grace of hospitality, when entertain- 
 ing strangers savored so much of drudgery, the pioneer women 
 kept their doors wide open to the pilgrim ministry of the early 
 times, desiring as payment only the good man's prayers and 
 blessings upon their households. Will the plea of " no room " in 
 the house for the Lord's messengers suffice for withholding such 
 gracious influences from the lives of the little ones in the stately 
 mansions of to-day ? 
 
 The care and attention to many details of church service rested 
 largely upon its women. It was during the first quarter of the 
 century that Mrs. Gen. O'Hara replaced the common bowl then 
 used upon baptismal occasions, with one of silver belonging to 
 her own tea service, which, still in use, has become consecrated 
 by countless associations and tender memories. 
 
woman's work in the first church. 173 
 
 It has been a genuine cause for gratitude, that believing parents 
 in this church have not been remiss to their covenant obligations, 
 and that, as a rule, a goodly row of babies is presented to receive 
 the precious ordinance, and to delight the hearts of those who 
 pray for the prosperity of Zion. 
 
 The early communion salver and cups, and the linen for the long 
 tables, were also gifts from the same generous donor. The care 
 of this sacramental service is interwoven with a long line of 
 loving ministries. The silver was polished for years by a 
 daughter of one of the elders, and the bread was carefully pre- 
 pared by one of the Lord's hidden ones, until prevented by the 
 infirmities of age. The time-hallowed custom still preserved in 
 this church, of seating communicants at tables extending through 
 the aisles, gave additional care to some, who counted it a privilege 
 to keep the linen whole and white, freed from spot or wrinkle or 
 any such thing. When, lately, some linen that had been used 
 from time immemorial had been stolen, the ruthless invasion 
 ■of sacred memories was most deeply felt by the devout women 
 of the church, who cherished its impressive communion services 
 and all the accessories, with most loyal and fervent devotion. 
 
 In the Sabbath School the part perseveringly sustained by 
 women, has proved indispensable and most efficient. One who 
 has never known any other church home, writes that of old, 
 ""the upper school room Avas furnished with long hard benches, 
 and classes were not so easily managed as now, when the 
 teacher is partly surrounded by the scholars. Mrs. Wilkins 
 had a large class of boys, and Mrs. Barnet, afterwards Mrs. 
 Malin, a similar one of girls on each side of the pulpit. All 
 the teachers were supplied with ratans as pointers, for at first 
 picture cards were used. The rods were retained and used by 
 the two above mentioned, to attract the wandering attention 
 of their scholars." Some leading citizens can still testify to 
 the sensations caused by a sudden tap upon their restless heads, 
 and some demure matrons can well remember the blushes, smiles, 
 and even tears, called forth by a similar reminder, the large 
 bonnet of the time serving to conceal the emotions as well as to 
 modify the sharpness of the stroke. Modern appliances and 
 methods of teaching have been gradually adopted, and the 
 infants of later days, under the wise and faithful care of Mrs. 
 Murphy, are kept too fully occupied with blackboard exercises 
 
174 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 and singing, not forgetting occasional lessons on missions, tem- 
 perance, and even liberality to their pastor, to find much 
 "mischief still for idle hands to do." 
 
 A reminiscence is furnished by Mrs. Dr. Smith, one of the 
 daughters of Dr. Herron, of some other teaching undertaken by 
 women. 
 
 " I have a dim remembrance of a school called the "Adelphi," for 
 the instruction of poor children in reading and writing, sewing 
 and knitting ; taught by the young ladies of the church, among 
 whom was Miss O'Hara, (Mrs. Harmar Denny,) Mrs. Dr. Camp- 
 bell, Miss Milnor and several others. I do not know how the 
 school was supported. 
 
 "In this connection I should mention two ladies, the Misses 
 Cowles, from New England, who came to open a school for girls. 
 They were very poor, and remained at our house until a suitable 
 house could be obtained. They proved devoted, self-denying, 
 useful in every good work. As teachers they were esteemed for 
 the religious knowledge imparted." 
 
 Industrial schools have been maintained from time to time, and 
 are still used, to accomplish the double purpose of elevating the 
 mission classes and of attaching them more closely to the 
 church. 
 
 Thus by prayer, precept and example the women have con- 
 tributed large supplies to the strongest currents of spiritual life, 
 and have, in addition to all these, made the name of the church 
 honorable by a generous support and wise management of the 
 numerous charitable institutions of the city. 
 
 So thoroughly identified are they with all public charities, that 
 it is safe to assert, that either as managers or contributors, some 
 of them may be found connected with every unsectarian benevo- 
 lent enterprise in the neighborhood. 
 
 Of the long line of faithful women who have thus labored in 
 the Lord, two lives stand out in clear relief, and two names will 
 be inevitably suggested : Mrs. Harmar Denny and Mrs. Mary 
 Wilkins. It will not be too much to say of Mrs. Denny, that 
 next to the name of Dr. Herron, hers will be found most inti- 
 mately interwoven with the real life of the church as experienced 
 during the last two generations. From the age of nineteen, when, 
 with her mother, she professed her faith in Christ, her whole life 
 wa^ turned with singular sincerity and devotion to His service. 
 
woman's work in the first church. 175 
 
 and continued undiminished until her pilgrimage of more than 
 four-score years was ended. Full of love for the word of God, 
 she taught many of the daughters of the church to prize and 
 practice its holy precepts. While freely giving of her means 
 to every good object, she found time, even when surrounded 
 by pressing family cares, to give attention and counsel to many 
 important benevolent societies ; being President of one, the Alle- 
 gheny Orphan Asylum, from its founding, during the remaining 
 half century of her own life. Simple and unostentatious in mat- 
 ters of taste and expenditure, her example has made the occu- 
 pants of the pews of what lias often been called " the aristocratic 
 First Church" conspicuous as least given to display. She was 
 adorned with the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, and clothed 
 with humility. Who now is fitted to worthily wear her mantle ? 
 With the name of Mrs. Mary Wilkins our smiles and tears are 
 unconsciously mingled. Her vivacity and beauty doubtless 
 added largely to the peculiar ministry of good Avorks she rendered 
 this church and community during her long life of Christian 
 activity. How her image rises before the minds of the long 
 succession of Sabbath School children that passed under her care ! 
 The stranger in our midst rarely failed to receive her friendly wel- 
 come, and her presence in social and church gatherings was always 
 felt. As representing this church in connection with various 
 benevolent institutions, Mrs. General Robinson stood side by side 
 with Mrs. Denny and Mrs. Wilkins. Her ready wit and re- 
 markable judgment, combined with careful attention to details, 
 made her counsel most valuable in the perplexities and trials 
 which environ every newly organized charity. She filled the 
 position of Treasurer of the Orphan Asylum from its beginning 
 throughout the remaining years of her long and useful life. 
 Daughters of the second and even the third generation of these 
 and other noble founders of our benevolent institutions are to-day 
 filling their most important offices. 
 
 If we wish to find the beginning of organized missionary 
 work among the women of the First Church, we must go back 
 to 1828 or '29, and find it in a band of three school girls. 
 
 Mary Jane Craig, afterwards Mrs. Orr. 
 Hannah Laughlin, afterwards Mrs. J. Kea. 
 Susan Irwin, afterwards Mrs. Travelli. 
 
176 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 It was not long after the remarkable revival of 1827. These 
 little girls became interested in missions by reading the Youth's 
 Magazine, edited by Rev. Job Halsey, and largely devoted to 
 missionary work. They began their work by making pen wipers, 
 which they sold to their schoolmates at five cents a piece. On 
 hearing what they were doing, one of their teachers remarked 
 that all their profits would be but a mite, so they adopted that 
 as their name, and were called the " Mite Society." 
 
 This was the first Juvenile Missionary Society. Rev. Job 
 Halsey and Rev. Elisha P. Swift took much interest in this 
 effort, and helped by their advice. They were soon joined by 
 others. 
 
 The next names on the roll are : 
 
 Mary Herron, afterwards Mrs. Smith. 
 Mary Denny, afterwards Mrs. Spring. 
 Isabella Craig, afterwards Mrs. Comingo. 
 
 Still their number did not exceed eight or ten. They enlarged 
 their business by making all sorts of fancy articles, children's 
 clothing, etc. In 1833, having accumulated quite a stock of 
 these articles, they were placed in a basket, and carried 
 from house to house by Miss Isabella Craig, (Mrs. Comingo.) 
 In this way thirty dollars was realized, which was given to 
 Rev. Wm. M. Thompson, then just starting off as a Missionary 
 to Syria. He is the. author of that valuable work, "The Land 
 and the Book," and his daughter is now one of the teachers in 
 the Seminary for Arab girls in Beirut. 
 
 In the Foreign Missionary Chronicle of that same year, we 
 also find this entry : 
 
 "Society of young ladies of First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, 
 to constitute their pastor, Rev. Dr. Herron, life member, $30." 
 
 In the Chronicle for January, 1836, we find this notice: 
 
 Organization of the Young Ladies' Missionary Society of the First 
 Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, auxiliary to the Western Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Society, took place in the lecture room of the First Church, 
 November 12th, 1836. 
 
 Prayer by Dr. Herron. 
 
 Officers: President, Miss Isabella Craig; Vice President, Miss Mary 
 Herron; Secretary, Miss Hannah P. Laughlin ; Treasurer, Miss Jane 
 Buchanan ; Agent, Miss Nancy Caldwell. 
 
woman's work in the first church. 177 
 
 They then met regularly once a week at the members' houses, 
 and in 1840 had their first "Annual Sale," the name "Fair" 
 not being allowed. Their advertisement was written in rhyme, 
 by Mr. John B. Newell, long a member of the choir, and who 
 died within a few years- 
 It has fortunately been preserved, and in style and sentiment 
 is an excellent model for the use of succeeding generations of 
 wise hearted women and maidens in their labor for the Lord. 
 
 TheYoung Ladies' Missionary Sewing Society, connected with the First Presby- 
 terian Church, will hold a sale of useful and fancy articles in the lover room of 
 the new building attached to th<<t church, on Thursday evening, the 24th inst., 
 commencing at seven o'clock; mid to all who may be disposed to aid their efforts, 
 respectfully tender their 
 
 CARD OF INVITATION. 
 
 Friends and neighbors, "all hail," 
 
 Won't you come to our sale, 
 And examine the tasteful variety 
 
 Of things useful and gay, 
 
 Which we mean to display, 
 And all made by the Sewing Society ? 
 
 Ladies, come one and all, 
 
 And give us a call ; 
 We are sure you will not find us dear : 
 
 Our prices are low, 
 
 And our work, we well know, 
 Is as good as you find anywhere. 
 
 Come, gentlemen, too, 
 
 We have something for you : 
 Such as guards, kerchiefs, collars and purses, 
 
 Witli many more trinkets, 
 
 We sincerely think its 
 Too hard e'en to name in our verses. 
 
 We don't call it a " Fair," 
 
 Though fair dealing you'll share, 
 And your change you shall justly be paid. 
 
 Whilst we will not employ 
 
 Any arts to annoy, 
 Those who kindly may give us their aid. 
 
178 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 Little folks, you'll be there, 
 
 We have things that you wear ; 
 Such as mittens, and muslins,' and socks, 
 
 And some aprons and caps, 
 
 Which you're wanting perhaps, 
 And some dolls, too, and little girls' frocks. 
 
 We wish it well understood, 
 
 That our variety is good, 
 And we hope you'll be pleased while you stay, 
 
 And we think it is meet 
 
 To have something to eat, 
 And that none need go hungry away. 
 
 You will not repent 
 
 For the time you '11 have spent 
 In paying our sales-room a visit ; 
 
 For something to look at, 
 
 To eat, or to laugh at, 
 We think you will find, you can't miss it. 
 
 Then come one and all, 
 
 And give us a call ; 
 We think you'll have not to regret. 
 
 Remember our sale 
 
 Will take place without fail, 
 On Christmas Eve : So don't forget. 
 
 Christmas Ere, 1840. 
 ■ftS'Advocate and American, please copy. 
 
 Work was usually begun early in the afternoon, but when 
 the time for the sale approached, it was continued until nine 
 o'clock. That being the orthodox hour for dispersing, they 
 wended their way home by the light of the modest lantern, no 
 gas or electric light to guide them through the streets which 
 were little improved, and great care had to be taken lest a 
 mis-step should find them over shoe-top in mud. The members 
 subscribed fifty cents a year, and were fined for absence. 
 Only two gentlemen, Capt. Beer and Mr. W. R. Murphy, aided 
 them in annual subscriptions, and with these exceptions the 
 money was all earned by their own hands. The "Sales" were 
 all held in the lower Sunday School room, the only refresh- 
 ments being ice cream and cake. Yet the earnings of one year 
 amounted to eight hundred dollars ! The proceeds were equally 
 divided between Home and Foreign Missions. 
 
woman's work in the first church. 179 
 
 Fully to appreciate the work done by these women, "we must 
 remember that it was long before the advent of the sewing 
 machine, and that there were no stores for ready-made clothing. 
 Many a woman was weary enough of "seam, and gusset, and 
 band, and band, and gusset, and seam," to "fall asleep over 
 the buttons," and call herself excused from any stitch not 
 required in her own household. 
 
 Before the first sale, Mrs. Barnett had assembled her Sabbath 
 School class, and producing a paper funnel, said she wanted to 
 give to each one, rich and poor alike, something to spend at 
 the sale, remarking that she did not think they had money of 
 their own. She then distributed a new ten cent piece to each 
 girl. The class was large, and must have produced a sensation 
 when they marched into the lower room. The generous deed 
 and sensible proceedings are worthy of imitation at the present 
 time. As years went on the Society devoted itself mainly to 
 Home Missionary work. Fancy articles were still made, but 
 the public sales were abandoned for many years. The custom 
 of sending a basket from house to house, was practised at 
 intervals, and was always successful. A rosy-cheeked son of 
 the pastor (Charlie Scovel,) had charge of it several times, and 
 his account of the remarks made by the buyers is very amus- 
 ing. The money was almost always used in preparing boxes 
 of clothing for missionaries, which, for many years, were packed 
 at the store of one (D. Cooper & Co.) whose thoughtful kindness 
 
 has been unfailing. 
 
 Upon several occasions Indian schools were supplied with 
 clothing. The cloth suits cut by a tailor and sewed by the ladies. 
 
 Two meetings for this purpose were held at the house of the 
 pastor, (Dr. Paxton,) then living on Union avenue, Allegheny. 
 Although the regular meetings were now held in the Session 
 room, where wraps were removed to facilitate sewing, extra 
 meetings were occasionally held at private houses. Two such 
 were held at the house of one who, as one of the band of 
 little girls, laid the foundations of the present Society in 1829. 
 
 Preparation was there made for the outfit of Rev. and Mrs. 
 Albert O. Johnston, who were among the Cawnpore martyrs. 
 They had the pleasure of having Mr. and Mrs. Johnston take 
 tea with them on one of these evenings. A little matter to 
 record, but pleasant now to remember as significant of the 
 
180 
 
 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 heart that was put into the deeds, and which doubtless cheered 
 the brave missionaries, whose touching faith in the anguish of 
 suspense which preceded their martyrdom, has made their 
 names a precious legacy to the church of God. 
 
 The work of the Society increased year by year, and the 
 contributions were surprisingly large. 
 
 How far have we, of later years, with our largely increased 
 members, with our more abundant leisure, our more abundant 
 means, our greater facilities, and with wide open doors on every 
 side, followed in their footsteps ? Let every woman in the con- 
 gregation put the question to her conscience— but before she 
 answers, let her compare the figures, eight hundred dollars in 
 one year ! Our average, with the help of Sabbath School bands, 
 for the past eighteen years, is but $1,266. Without that 
 help it would not be much over $800. Have we done what 
 we could? 
 
 It is recorded that "in 1850, a Juvenile Society, formed of 
 Sabbath School scholars, was organized through the influence of 
 Miss Matilda Denny. Miss Hannah Laughlin, now Mrs. Dr. 
 John Rea, presided, opening . the meetings with devotional 
 exercises, and was succeeded, after her marriage, by Miss 
 Melizina Denny, now Mrs. Brereton. 
 
 Members : Matilda Denny, Carrie St. Clair Denny, now Mrs. Du Barry, 
 Agnes Mahon, Mary Robinson, now Mrs. Shoenberger, Belle Carotbers, 
 now Mrs. Talmadge, Julia De Kay Morgan, now Mrs. Beach, Olivretta 
 Graham, now Mrs. Singer, Agnes Clarke, now Mrs. Kennedy, Amelia 
 Neville Chaplin, Annie M. Arthurs, Janie T. Brooks. 
 
 The meetings were profitable and pleasant. Fancy Avork was 
 made and sold for the benefit of missions, and affectionate 
 interest was shown their two pastors, Dr. Herron and Dr. 
 Paxton, by presenting each, in 1851, a pair of slippers wrought 
 by their own hands. When school days were ended, they 
 joined the parent Society — and several are yet there, engaged 
 in the delightful work. (Miss Janie Brooks.) 
 
 We can claim the first missionaries who actually went to work 
 under the Western and Foreign Missionary Society for the women 
 of the First Church. 
 
 Rev. Jno. Lowrie and Rev. Wm. Reed received their appoint- 
 ments earlier, but did not get to work as soon as Rev. Joseph 
 Kerr. 
 
"woman's avork in the first church. 181 
 
 Rev. J. Kerr was married October 15th, 1833, in the old church, 
 to Miss Mary Jane Caldwell, and accompanied by Miss Nancy 
 Henderson, also a member of this church, went out to Indian 
 Territory and there established the first station of that Board 
 among the Wea Indians, where they labored successfully for sev- 
 eral years. Mr. and Mrs. Kerr are still living, and last October 
 celebrated their golden wedding. Although Mr. Kerr has but 
 partial use of his right hand, he has kindly written, giving some 
 account of their journey and work, and expressing their interest 
 in our anniversary. 
 
 To the next, the First Church of Allegheny will doubtless dis- 
 pute our claim. But Susan Irwin was one of the three little 
 girls who in 1828 founded the Young Ladies' Mission Society. 
 She afterwards became a member of the First Church of Alle- 
 gheny. She married Rev. J. S. Travelli, and in July of 1836 
 sailed for Singapore, India, where they arrived after a voyage of 
 one hundred and fifty days. There she was at the head of a 
 boarding school numbering fifty or sixty pupils, over whom she 
 is said to have had great influence. She not only had the care of 
 the school, but was mother and sister to the entire Mission. As 
 there was constant sickness among the missionaries, her cares 
 were very arduous. After five years of toil her health was en- 
 tirely broken down and she was obliged to return to this country 
 alone. Some time afterwards Mr. Travelli also returned. 
 
 The next is one who is still lovingly remembered by many in 
 the congregation. Cornelia Brackenridge was young, beautiful, 
 highly cultivated, and surrounded at home by everything that 
 could make life attractive. She was a great favorite in society, 
 and those who were her companions still speak tenderly of her 
 affectionate disposition, her sprightliness of manner and her ac- 
 complishments as well as her'personal beauty. While yet a mere 
 child of thirteen, she united with the church in company with 
 her father and mother. She afterwards became an active and 
 successful Sabbath School teacher both in the First and Seventh 
 Churches, and those who were privileged to be her scholars still 
 hold her in affectionate remembrance. In May, 1846, she married 
 the Rev. Wm. Speer and sailed for China in August of the same 
 year. Owing to adverse winds the voyage occupied five long 
 months. The confinement of the voyage completely broke down 
 her health, and on the 16th of the April following (1847) she 
 
182 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 died at the early age of twenty-four years. The day her friends 
 at home received the news of her safe arrival, was also the day 
 of her death. She is buried in the beautiful cemetery of Macao, 
 belonging to the East India Company, beside the graves of the 
 Morrisons, Dr. Dyer and others, and on the 8th of July, 1847, 
 her babe was laid beside her. Beautiful and useful was her life, 
 and her death was radiant with hope and trust in the Lord. 
 Though earnestly desiring to glorify God in the missionary field, 
 she expressed herself as " willing by His grace to suffer, recover, 
 or die." God chose that she should glorify Him by her suffer- 
 ings and death, and did not even allow her to see her chosen 
 field. Yet may not her death, like that of Harriet Newell, have 
 been silently instrumental in causing the spread of the gospel, 
 and which is now so signally blessed to the Chinese women of 
 Canton ? 
 
 For a long period all special efforts and gifts by the women 
 for Foreign Missions, were made through the old Domestic 
 Missionary Society. It naturally became a centre from which 
 many and varied needs for occasional help was supplied, 
 though it never failed to adhere to its charter, in annually 
 preparing missionary boxes. One such, of more than ordinary 
 interest, was sent through the Society, at the expense of one 
 member, (Mrs. Harmar Denny,) to Miss Sue McBeth, Mis- 
 sionary to the Nez Perces Indians, mainly for the students of 
 her "Theological Seminary." The box arrived at Lapwai the 
 night before the four licentiates had to start for Presbytery 
 at Portland, Oregon. Their devoted teacher having, by her 
 faithful instructions, well furnished them in the inner man, 
 had a true feminine satisfaction in seeing them completely 
 clad from head to foot, in clothing appropriate for an intro- 
 duction to their clerical brethren of the far away Presbyterv. 
 Her grateful letter of acknowledgment contained a photograph 
 of the group for their unknown, but kind hearted benefactors. 
 One of these four Nez Perces ministers, James Rubens, re- 
 cently stood before the General Assembly and large audiences 
 elsewhere, to plead for his people, and another, Archie Lawyer, 
 has expended large sums in restoring some of his grossly 
 wronged tribe to their former home. 
 
 At the memorable time when the heart of the nation was 
 stirred by the sound of war, and troops marched through our 
 
woman's work in the first church. 183 
 
 streets, and wounded soldiers filled our hospitals, this Society 
 turned willingly aside from its peaceful pursuits to make 
 flannels, knit socks, pick lint, and to prepare delicacies to be 
 distributed by the Sanitary Commission. One memorable meet- 
 ing was held at the house of one of our elders, Mr. Samuel 
 Rea, where several sewing machines and many hands were 
 kept busy from morning till night. The strongest had need of 
 her strength, and the weakest might not slacken, at a time 
 when every heart was strained with fears for the government, 
 and with anguish unutterable over the daily bulletins of the 
 wounded and dead, fresh from the battle fields far and near. 
 
 At other times, when the regular season's work was over, 
 untiring hands were ready to make up and alter clothing for 
 Sabbath School scholars, for the always needy Orphan Asylums, 
 and for much work of a similar character, thus exemplifying 
 the text, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy 
 might." Among the many capable women and wise managers 
 of this Society, no one is more affectionately remembered than 
 Mrs. John D. McCord, whose own diligence, combined with rare 
 graces of heart and mind, made her a good example to follow. Her 
 loss was keenly felt when she removed to another city. A unique 
 and suggestive record would be presented if a complete list of 
 donations, work, etc., had been preserved from first to last. 
 
 Horses, buggies and a cow have been bought, a roof, a floor 
 and doors for a missionary's house provided ; churches have 
 been carpeted, cushioned and lighted ; pulpits have been furnished 
 with Bibles, Hymn Books and communion service also, to com- 
 plete the appointments of the house of worship. School houses 
 have been built and rooms furnished in different boarding 
 schools, "Homes" and seminaries. 
 
 The work has passed through many hands, gone on for many 
 years, and gladdened many hearts, all the time bringing a sweet 
 reward to those who did it from love to Christ and in fulfill- 
 ment of His law, " Bear ye one another's burdens." 
 
 When, in 1871, a general movement resulted in the formation 
 of the " Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbyterian 
 Church," the women of the First Church of Pittsburgh, true to 
 the spirit and tradition of their goodly ancestry, were quick to 
 hear this special call, and before the close of the year they 
 organized a distinctly Foreign Missionary Society, and became 
 
184 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 enrolled among the first auxiliaries to the new Board. Its officers 
 were : 
 
 President, Mrs. S. F. Scovel ; Secretary, Mrs. II. D. Mann ; Treasurer, 
 Mrs. W. R. Murphy. 
 
 In the following year this Society, with six others, united in 
 forming the Presbyterial organization known as the Pittsburgh 
 and Allegheny Committee for Foreign Missions. 
 
 Its first and only President for twelve years, and still its honor- 
 ary President, is Mrs. H. G. Comingo, who in 1836, as Miss 
 Isabella Craig, was the President of the Young Ladies' Society 
 of the First Church, and who, as Principal of the Infant School, 
 compiled and partly composed a book of Hymns for its use. 
 
 The original meeting for organization, all the monthly meet- 
 ings, and most of its annual meetings, have been held upon this 
 spot, where, in 1831, the Board of Foreign Missions first had its 
 birth. 
 
 Greatly stimulated, doubtless, by this circumstance of place and 
 leadership, the work of the Committee has been greatly prospered' 
 and strong helpful agencies here begun and fostered, have pro- 
 moted spiritual growth, and secured combined effort throughout 
 the Presbyteries in sending the gospel to all lands. 
 
 Large meetings of women in connection with the General 
 Assemblies, the union services of the week of prayer, with gath- 
 erings for the purpose of welcoming and hearing the missionaries 
 from the field, those vital and visible links between the work 
 abroad and the workers at home, have been attracted hither upon 
 the cordial invitation of the Foreign Mission Society of this 
 church. 
 
 The object of this society was to develop a spirit of missions, 
 as well as to contribute to their support, and prayer and study 
 have been controlling elements in its existence. The systematic 
 conduct and devotional character of its meetings soon began to 
 be felt in other channels of church work. 
 
 Similar methods have been adopted in the old Domestic (now 
 the Home) Missionary Society, and in a recent organization 
 known as the "Woman's Christian Association," which embraces 
 committees for deacons' aid for visiting strangers, the sick and the 
 poor, for church sociables and for industrial classes. A woman's 
 prayer meeting, that inestimable source of church power, was 
 soon afterwards begun and is faithfully sustained. 
 
woman's WORK in the first church. 185 
 
 The first year of the Foreign Mission Society the funds were 
 raised by subscription, and aided in building- the Louisa Lowrie 
 Home for Missionaries at Mynpoorie, India. The next year's con- 
 tributions were applied to furnishing the Home,(the Sunday Schools 
 giving an organ,) and in addition the Society began the support 
 of a missionary, pledging an annual payment of four hundred 
 dollars in gold. Mrs. J. A. Alexander, then and ever since a 
 most valued member of the Mission of Northern India, was chosen 
 to be its representative on heathen soil. 
 
 In 1873 the plan of holding a fair was adopted, for the purpose 
 of gathering up the littles which remain after regular subscrip- 
 tions and occasional contributions are secured. This proved to 
 be most successful, and became specially useful in promoting 
 Christian fellowship, and in affording every one, rich and poor, 
 an opportunity to unite in concentrated labor for consecrated giving. 
 
 The First Church women count themselves privileged in per- 
 petuating an example so remarkably well begun by the women 
 of the first half of the century, and they also find sacred warrant in 
 the cases of the wise-hearted Hebrew women who spun for the 
 tabernacle, and of the virtuous woman who could consider, buy 
 and sell, thereby earning honorable mention and high praise in 
 the inspired word. In the thirteen years about $11,000 have 
 been contributed for foreign missions, including contributions 
 from young peoples' bands and societies. One distinctive feature 
 has been to encourage systematic and intelligent giving among 
 the younger members of our church and families. 
 
 A large number of bands and circles have been formed from 
 the Sabbath School classes, some of which have given much time 
 and study, as well as money, to the cause of missions. It would 
 be interesting to trace among their names descendants of even the 
 third and fourth generations of those who founded this church 
 and have sustained it during the past. The youngest of these 
 modern societies, formed within a year, must have a place in 
 this record.. It is called the "Scovel Mission Band," and de- 
 votional exercises, studies, and sewing, are all conducted by the 
 young girls under the supervision of their faithful teacher, Mrs. 
 T. C. Pears. Names of members : 
 
 President, Anna Waring ; Vice President, Mary Cochran ; Secretary, 
 Burdette Shephard ; Treasurer, Lizzie Miller. Mary Davis, Agnes 
 Johnston, Maud Kreps, Maud Fundenberg, Helen Duff, Anna Lecky, 
 
 13 
 
186 woman's work in the first church. 
 
 Jane Lecky, Nellie Chalfant, Annie Chalfant, Annie Birch, Cornelia 
 Brackenridge Ewart. 
 
 The best contribution from our young people was one of their 
 own number to become a missionary to Japan. Thirty years had 
 passed since Mrs. Speer consecrated her life to the cause of 
 missions, and now another came forward and signified her will- 
 ingness to go anywhere or do anything to serve the Lord among 
 the perishing women of heathen lands. Miss Anna K. Davis 
 is a daughter of one of our valued elders, was baptized in the 
 church, and early in life gave her heart to the Lord. The 
 friends of her childhood and her mother's friends had the pleasure 
 of assisting in preparing her outfit, and with tears and prayers 
 bade her good bye when she left all most dear on earth to take 
 up her life-work in Japan. Since then she has been faithfully 
 engaged in teaching in a girls' school at Tokio. Her associate 
 teachers and Japanese pupils, with expressions of Oriental fervor, 
 have testified to her unusual fidelity and her strong desire to win 
 the bright native girls from the worship of idols to the service of 
 the living God. 
 
 One more addition to the long list of first things that have trans- 
 pired within the precincts of the First Church, is a little meeting- 
 held in connection with the Assembly of 1878, which after some 
 months resulted in the formation of the " Woman's Executive 
 Committee of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church." 
 
 Since this event, the old Domestic Society of this church has, 
 in addition to the preparation of missionary boxes and special 
 gifts, undertaken the support of a missionary teacher in Utah, in 
 which it is aided by the Third Church Society. Thus the women 
 have sought to be joined to every good word and work, and it may 
 be that this whole-hearted devotion to the activities of the church 
 has been the secret of that delightful spirit of harmony for which 
 the congregation is famed, as a place singularly free from 
 troublers, though not always a place of rest, 
 
 May the chroniclers of "Woman's Work" in the second cen- 
 tury find as radiant a retrospect to record as have those of the 
 year 1884. 
 
DR. PAXTON'S A.DDRESS. 187 
 
 DR. PAXTON'S ADDRESS. 
 
 At the close of the paper on Woman's Work, the Rev. Dr. 
 Paxton, who kindly deferred important work to remain with the 
 congregation, was called upon. 
 
 He intimated that certain humorous stories of the older time, kin- 
 dred to others which had been already given, had been floating 
 through his mind, and he had thought of contributing them to the 
 occasion; but on second thought, it .seemed best not to close so 
 great and solemn a meeting with a recital of that nature. His 
 mind had been particularly drawn, during the paper of Dr. Speer, 
 to the convention of 1857. It was a revival conference in the 
 truest and highest sense. It was attended by many representa- 
 tive men froin the three large neighboring Synods. A remark- 
 able sermon was preached on the opening evening. But next 
 morning, on assembling, the anxiety which all felt seemed so deep 
 as almost to amount to discouragement, and the services went 
 forward most earnestly but with a feeling akin to depression. 
 But before noon had arrived it seemed as though the exact word was 
 given by the Spirit to the venerable Dr. Plumer. He directed the 
 attention and the faith of the convention to the compassionate, 
 the risen and glorified Christ. The name of "Jesus" seemed to 
 waken the chords of tenderest feeling and joyful hope. And 
 other work of the Spirit was also going forward. In the after- 
 noon the letter of the convention addressed to the churches of 
 the whole region was read. That letter Dr. Jacobus had been 
 commissioned on the previous day to prepare. Keenly he felt 
 the responsibility of it and took the matter to God — it is said — 
 with "strong crying and tears." The letter was written after 
 wrestling in thought and prayer continued until midnight and 
 
188 dr. paxton's address. 
 
 beyond. When first read to the convention it was deeply im- 
 pressive and was at once recognized as voicing the heart of that 
 prayerful assembly. It was printed and read in hundreds of 
 churches. This letter, and many other results of the convention, 
 went abroad with power. The great movement which began 
 soon thereafter has been largely traced to their influence. It is 
 thought that the Week of Prayer originated within their circle, 
 through the touched heart and strong faith of the Missionary 
 Morrison, in India. There was an almost simultaneous outpour- 
 ing of the Spirit in Philadelphia, and before long the land was 
 ablaze. 
 
 The influence of the convention upon the First Church was 
 direct and immediate. Dr. Paxton shortly thereafter met the 
 one we were accustomed to call the model elder, Mr. Francis 
 Bailey, who seemed deeply impressed with the conviction that 
 an immediate and great blessing was impending. He said, "Do 
 you know that Mr. Beer has been praying all night ? " His 
 faith was strong and proved well founded. Meetings were called. 
 The work began straightway and continued long, and there was 
 a large ingathering. The convention marked a period of great 
 interest in the church, the region, and even in the world. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Swift, who presided, closed the interesting servi- 
 ces with a brief address of congratulation, in which he referred 
 to the early relations sustained by the First Church of Pittsburgh 
 and the First Church of Allegheny, and expressed the best wishes 
 of his own heart and of the-people of his charge for the continued 
 prosperity of the church now celebrating the completion of its 
 first century. The benediction was pronounced by Dr. Paxton. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 189 
 
 TUESDAY AFTERNOON. 
 
 April 15th, 1884. 
 
 The Rev. E. P. Cowan, pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church, pi-e- 
 sided, and conducted the devotional services. 
 
 The Rev. Richard Lea, D. D., who has known the church from his 
 boyhood in 181o, and has lived throughout his pastoral experience 
 within the city, and has known much of the surrounding country by 
 traversing it as Agent for the Theological Seminary, and been intimately 
 acquainted with many of the worthies of the whole region, read a paper, 
 unique and characteristic — a paper which no one else could have prepared. 
 It is as follows : 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF 
 THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, PA. 
 
 BY R. LEA. 
 
 One hundred years ago forts and towns and large villages were 
 safe from regular sieges of the Indians — but liable to surprises 
 and sudden invasions. Rev. Marquis, the "silver tongued," was 
 lodging at the house of the late Samuel Ewalt, just above where 
 the Arsenal now is. One night Ewalt said to his guest, "I have 
 observed that you go out early in the morning to the large syca- 
 more to pray. Now to-morrow morning pray at your bedside ! 
 Signs which I understand, indicate the presence of Indians at 
 Girty's run. They will cross the river in darkness, and at day- 
 light to-morrow, your scalp would not be safe outside of the 
 house." Marquis either forgot the warning or trusted implicit)" in 
 God, and passed through the chamber of his host at early dawn to 
 his trysting place. Even in sleep Ewalt could hear the passing 
 step, and seizing his rifle, followed. Marquis was upon his knees 
 unconscious of the fact that the hand of a savage was raised to 
 
190 CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 hurl the tomahawk. A ball crashed through the throat of the 
 Indian, and the preacher was saved. In relating this, Ewalt was 
 accustomed to say, "After that Marquis did good service in the 
 great revivals. Ain't I entitled to half t I saved his life ! I 
 know I am not good — but half of his good deeds, added to all of 
 mine, will make one pretty safe." Rev. Porter, of Congruity, used 
 to examine his rifle before he announced his text. Father 
 Boyd said, "Once I was going to preach without my rifle, when, 
 to my horror, a painted warrior was behind a tree, on one side 
 of the road. To call for aid was useless. He Avas twice my size, 
 and armed. So I pretended not to see him, and kneeled down 
 and prayed. Every moment I expected an arrow, or his toma- 
 hawk. At last I arose. He was gone ! Several of my hearers 
 arrived — we saw his tracks where he stood and when he turned 
 to go, but he was neither seen nor heard of afterwards. I wa& 
 saved, but never passed that tree afterwards without shuddering,, 
 or without gratitude. 
 
 Many of the country churches had pastors, while only supplies 
 were appointed to a log church which stood where the First 
 Church building now stands. Some of these supplies were not 
 well pleased with the aristocratic bearing of the military officers, 
 nor much better with the fashions of the day, nor the recklessness 
 of the traders, nor with the drunkenness and profanity so greatly 
 abounding. Yet the preaching in that log house was noted for 
 its faithfulness. The fiery eloquence of -McCurdy was often- 
 times very effective. The wisdom of Barr was acknowledged. 
 The irresistible logic of Anderson always commanded respect. 
 The theme most dwelt upon by these early supplies was, "A 
 certain and eternal hell for all impenitent sinners." Some of 
 these I have heard preach. Their hell was as local as heaven. 
 Their torment and flame — as real as the worm which never 
 dieth, and the fire which shall never be quenched, spoken of 
 by the Lord. They did not attempt to fill up the impassible 
 gulph, nor strive to enclose the bottomless pit, within man's 
 own consciousness. 
 
 Amidst so many good ministers, was any one the acknow- 
 ledged leader ? Undoubtedly Dr. John McMillan. Dr. Ralston 
 equaled him in learning, and nearly in stature. Several were 
 thought to excel him in piety, and nearly all were more polite. 
 But he had the indomitable will — the power of influencing 
 
CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 191 
 
 others. Crossing the mountains on foot, leading a pack-horse 
 loaded with his wife, child and few effects, he settled at 
 Chartiers, used a sugar trough for a cradle, reared his cabin with 
 fearlessness. As Calvinistic as Cromwell — as laborious as Wesley. 
 With a voice which in open air meetings appeared to shake the 
 forest. I heard one aver that he distinguished the words 
 "sovereign grace of God," a mile distant. When he died he 
 wished that he could bequeath his lungs to serve some one 
 another, generation. Twice I heard him in the First Church. 
 Dr. Herron helped him into the pulpit. He kept on his broad 
 brim hat until he reached the altar; wore a shad belly 
 coat and breeches, a fashion he never changed ; pulled off his 
 bandanna from his throat and began ; soon he opened his 
 waistcoat, displaying a breast dripping with perspiration ; used 
 no arts of oratory — he was old — but over an hour he held his 
 audience breathless, closed unwearied ; walked down the aisle, 
 Mrs. McDonald taking his arm. He was the first settled pastor 
 in the Synod of Pittsburgh, the founder of Jefferson College, 
 and introduced many into the ministry. "A King of Men." 
 
 Pittsburgh was then the grand trading point. At the foot of the 
 Alleghenies and at the head of navigation, it allured the trader ; 
 cheap food enticed the laborer and artisan ; our physicians and 
 lawyers were eminent ; our hotels models of comfort ; our 
 rivers were stocked with fish, and surrounding forests with game ; 
 sometimes clouds of wild pigeons darkened the air ; wild honey 
 and maple sugar abounded ; fuel boundless. 
 
 The city grew, and soon the old log church was surrounded 
 with a brick edifice ; the congregation worshiping as usual, 
 until they pulled the logs through the windows and doors of 
 the new house. It is reported that the trustees resorted to a 
 lottery to obtain funds. If so, forgive them, please. They were 
 not acquainted with our festivals, balls, chances, and various 
 devices, and had to use the only artifice with which they were 
 familiar to operate upon pockets closed against giving upon 
 principle. The brick church continued to occupy a large space 
 of ground, including that upon which " Trinity Church " now 
 stands. How pleasant the wide sj)reading trees ! How green 
 the sods which covered the graves ! An oasis amidst the dust 
 and bustle of a growing city. Old Archie, the sexton, prided 
 himself in keeping it in perfect order ; his tyranny was tolerated 
 
192 CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 on account of his real value. He took special pains to form 
 the grave the exact size and shape of the coffin. ( >ne day Dr. 
 Herron expressed to him his wonder that he could measure and 
 fit, to an inch, so perfectly ! Archie was touched in his weak 
 spot, and replied, "Ah ! Dr. you may well say it is a beauty. 
 No man in the county could match it. But Dr. when you die 
 I will dig a far handsomer grave for you." He was perfectly 
 sincere in the promise, which he did not live to fulfill. 
 
 Of yore, the wealth and beauty of the town largely attended 
 Dr. Steele's church. We have heard him described as a good 
 preacher ; in social life a gentleman, somewhat tolerant of worldly 
 fashions ; a good player upon the violin ; indulgent toward erring 
 members. His piety was not cpiestioned, but in the great revivals 
 of the time, his name comes not to the front. We have heard it 
 advanced, that he was just the man for the Pittsburgh of that 
 day. That a sterner disciplinarian could not have held together 
 the free living, talented, fearless ones with whom he had to do. 
 Be this as it may, he lived and died the pastor of this church. 
 You can read the inscriptions upon the tombstones in your own 
 yard which cover his remains and those of part of his family. In 
 his days and long after, Indians displayed their skill in archery 
 around the Point, wandered through our streets at night 
 wdiooping, and when they returned from Congress, successful in 
 their claims, would engage in a grand war dance, at the foot of 
 Liberty street. I can remember that two brothers (white men,) 
 could match them with the bow, and excel them with the rifle. 
 Hinney could give them odds in a, foot race. Plenty could outbox 
 and throw them down. Numbers could drink more Avhiskey and 
 remain standing, and many boys could outsteal and outswear 
 them. The Avhites (hen and now were the superior race. 
 
 Paupers were let to the lowest bidders ; schoolmasters were skill- 
 ful in the use of the rod; the goods of defaulting renters were 
 sold by Osborne, the Market constable ; debtors were imprisoned, 
 and juries starved into agreement. In the country, the house of 
 God was more reverenced — witness their names, Bethlehem, 
 Pisgah, Sharon, Mount Carmel, Rehoboth, Beulah, Bethany, 
 Lebanon, etc. Are there not "sermons in logs as well as stones ?" 
 Communions were the great occasions, several congregations 
 uniting. The prayer was long, explanation of the psalm longer, 
 sermons longest. McMillan would " fence the tables" until no one 
 
CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 193 
 
 dare approach ; Anderson would open a door of hope ; Patterson 
 would invite the contrite; McCurdy and Marquis would address 
 the rejecters of Christ. The people would start early, sit all day, 
 sometimes require a night service, and yet Bronchitis unknown ! 
 
 Prof. Halsey once said in class, " Young gentlemen, cultivate 
 your voices; the people followed the voices of McMillan and 
 Marquis as an army marches to the drum and fife." 
 
 Patterson and Marquis were the first missionaries sent by the 
 Synod of Pittsburgh to the North Western Indians. On their 
 return, McMillan said, "How did you get on, Patterson ?" "Well, 
 we started with no provision but corn meal and bear's grease. 
 My stomach soon revolted at this fare ; I must either return or 
 get sick. So, as I believe in special prayer, we knelt down. I 
 told the Lord I was willing to serve Him, but He must give me 
 something which I could eat, or I would die." " Did He answer 
 your prayer ? " "Yes!" " What did He give you ? " "Nothing 
 better to eat." "Then how ?" " Why you see I laid down in His 
 forest, slept safely under His care, and when I awoke He had 
 given me an appetite so voracious that corn meal* and bear's 
 grease tasted good, which was as much an answer to prayer as 
 though He had sent me beef and pudding." 
 
 A colony from Dr. Steele's pastorate had built in Diamond 
 alley, and called first Rev. Hunt, then Dr. Swift, and Dr. 
 Herron, on the death of Dr. Steele, was called to the First 
 Church. His personal appearance in youth was tall and slender, 
 in mid life, full and vigorous. Rev. Graham, his classmate, 
 used to say, "He is the only 'preacher I would fear in a personal 
 encounter. He is all bone, all muscle; has no fear and would 
 die before he would yield." 
 
 Just here let me state: At that time Pittsburgh had fire 
 engines worked by hand. A line of men, women and boys, with 
 fire buckets, would form and work heartily passing water to the 
 engine and up ladders to quench the burning. On one of these 
 occasions, the Doctor observed two young men calmly surveying the 
 fire, rather promptly left the line, tapped them, not in the gentlest 
 manner, upon the shoulder, exclaiming, "Young men! why don't 
 you help save property, perhaps life ? " They were two young 
 officers of the army, and next clay sent a challenge to the Doctor 
 to fight a duel. While he was considering the situation, they, 
 
194 CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 having learned his profession, entered his house in person to 
 ■withdraw the challenge and tender an apology. 
 
 The Doctor was generally too busy to study. In debate, prompt 
 to lead, most skillful in retreat. Would disarm opponents by 
 frank concession ; fond of Presbyterian order ; ardently desired 
 the glory of God and the good of the church. Never quarrel- 
 some. A perfect gentleman. He assumed the place in Synod 
 which Dr. McMillan held in Presbytery, i. e., he bossed — as 
 nearly as Presbyterians will allow themselves to be governed — 
 for having neither Archbishop nor King, Jesus of Nazareth is 
 the only one they will implicitly obey. His nospitality was 
 boundless. Whatever jealousy might have existed between the 
 First and Second Churches, A\as speedily extinguished. His large 
 •heart rejoiced in the prosperity of everything good, and Dr. Swift 
 loved everything like the Master. These two noble brethren 
 used to shorten their own exercises upon communion days, that 
 one could aid the other, with as many of the people as chose to 
 follow. 
 
 One day, perhaps in 1823, the speaker called upon Father 
 Patterson. "Do you know," said Patterson, "that next Sabbath 
 is communion at the First Church?" "Yes." "Do you intend to 
 join the church?" "No!" "Why?" "lam too young, only thirteen."" 
 "Too young to sin — too young to die ?" "I am not fit to join !" 
 " How long would it take you to become fit, if you staid away 
 from the Lord Jesus Christ ?" Silence, while he wrote a paper, 
 handing it to me. It read nearly like this : " I, on this date, 
 deliberately reject the Lord Jesus Christ." "Sign this," he said 
 solemnly. " I cannot ! " " Why, this paper would be a true record 
 on next Monday, with this change : ' I did yesterday reject 
 Jesus, openly' — the very thing you mean now to do." "Then I 
 will not reject Him." I see the Session now, present on Saturday. 
 Father Cooper, the eldest ; pale, consumptive Blair, faithful unto 
 death ; Judge Snowden, whom all loved ; good old John Hannen, 
 an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile. The examina- 
 tion was short. I received a token, and on Sabbath a long table 
 was spread down the middle aisle, shorter ones in the front aisle,, 
 forming a cross — Drs. Herron and Swift within the railing, Pat- 
 terson sitting at the table, the elements before him. Noiselessly 
 the elders collect the leaden tokens. Patterson begins with 
 prayer: "We thank Thee for light, water, the air, these elements 
 
CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 195 
 
 of Christ's body and blood. Thy church is one fold, one shep- 
 herd. Some of the under shepherds have built fences across the 
 fold, hindering communion. Crooked man made fences. Come, 
 Jesus, and destroy these fences which hinder inter-communion, and 
 make Thy people one with Thee," Dr. Herron served another 
 table, Dr. Swift a third — each one making a short address at the 
 last. Patterson calling upon non-communicants to rejoice in the 
 rejection of Jesus, if they could. Dr. Herron often preached 
 thrice a day ; also strove to fill his pulpit with every variety of 
 talent. Henry Bascom poured forth his eloquence, so long con- 
 tinued that Archie had to replenish the chandelier with candles. 
 He would invite the Bar to hear Robert Brackenridge, the con- 
 verted lawyer. Dr. Reuter had preached a sermon in the Smithfield 
 Street Methodist Church, on Jacob and Esau, from an Arminirtn 
 standpoint. The Doctor invited him to preach it for him, and 
 urged his people to come and listen. Dr. Brown and the pro- 
 fessors of the Seminary were often called upon ; and Pro- 
 fessor J. W. Nevin gave a course of lectures in the afternoons 
 of Sabbaths, upon the "Analogy of Nature and the Bible." But 
 at ecclesiastical meetings he prepared a choice treat for his people. 
 Rev. Lewis, a Welshman, in his broken English would say, 
 " God will not graciously adopt a child, and then permit him to 
 be finally lost to His family. A lord in Ireland had everything 
 in his castle but a child. A poor tenant had his cabin full of 
 children, whom he could hardly feed. The noble offered the peas- 
 ant a thousand pounds for one of his children, whom he would 
 adopt. The offer was cheerfully accepted. On the set day the 
 lord and his lady came to make their 'choice. The children, 
 with washed faces, stood in a row. 'This one,' said the lord, 
 pointing to the eldest boy. 'Oh, no, sir, he is just coming 
 to be useful.' 'Then,' said the lady, 'this girl !' 'Oh, no ! she is 
 my companion,' pleaded the mother. One carried the father's 
 dinner ; another always ran to meet his return ; another was 
 sickly and needed nursing. Not one could be spared. ' Well, 
 then,' said the visitors, ' we'll take the baby !' 'Oh, no ! no ! no !' 
 shouted all in a breath, ' we cannot spare the baby ! ' Thus spake 
 parental love, even when the change appeared so beneficial 
 to the child. And will God lose one of His children, when He 
 can so easily support them all ? No ! Never ! Never ! Not even 
 the baby!" 
 
196 CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 I am a boy again, and going to church on Sabbath morning. 
 We are late and the Doctor is praying. The doors open and shut 
 with a creak and a bang, without care, and the Doctor does not 
 meekly endure interruption. A number of us are waiting until 
 prayer is ended. "How far is lie on," asks a new arrival, " has he 
 got to the dry bones yet?" The yes, or no, determined how long 
 we had -to wait, for he hardly ever changes his morning prayer. 
 We enter on the right hand, and find Mrs. Oliver, with her 
 young ladies — a scat full. Mr. Cameron, a devout Highlander, 
 and family — Addison, Sidney, Tannehill, Mountain, the elocpient 
 lawyer ; Dr. Speer and family ; Brackenridge, a son of the well- 
 known judge ; McKee and Graham, business men ; Davis, father- 
 in-law to Dr. Crumpton ; Mr. Thaw, the banker, and family; 
 Watson, the host of General Wayne; quiet Mr. Boggs, and 
 Wrenshaw ; James Willson, my school teacher ; Brown ; fashion- 
 able Simpsons ; wise Lorenz ; the Woods, Robinsons, Crossan, and 
 Ramsey, "mine hosts;" unassuming Mr. Brown ; Michael Allen, 
 with his eyes shut during singing, making every sound but the 
 right one ; McKnight, the Market street merchant ; McClellan, 
 oftentimes the liner and singer. The Blairs, and their relative, Gen. 
 Patchell ; Judges Riddle, McCandless, Darrah, Porter, and Snow- 
 den ; Hays ; Judge Addison, from whose legal decision an appeal 
 was never taken. But this church is more indebted to him for his 
 three daughters, Mrs. Mowry, Ann Addison, and Jane Dar- 
 lington ; and the church of Lawrenceville was perhaps more 
 indebted to them for their labors. Lawyer Ross, Dalzells, Benja- 
 min Darlington, who escorted Jackson, Adams, and all other 
 distinguished guests who lodged with him, to hear the Doctor 
 preach. The dignified Harmar Denny, who twice represented us 
 in Congress, and in company with AValter Lowry and Theodore 
 Frelinghuysen, founded the Congressional Prayer Meeting, which 
 existed until the various churches attracted the devout Congress- 
 men within their pale. He was one of the finest looking men on 
 horseback, charitable to the poor, and possessed a wife every 
 way qualified to adorn him. Thomas Fairman, brave, sincere, 
 rash. When Dr. Herron was won by the young folk to sanction 
 the formation of a choir, Fairman yielded : but "they should 
 never play an instrument — no, never !" His nephew took up a 
 bass viol, and only playing when the choir sang,. Fairman for 
 several Sabbaths was none the wiser, but alas ! for a voluntary. 
 
CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 197 
 
 Blair began to tune. Fairman jumped from his seat into the 
 aisle. " Where are you going?" exclaimed a peace maker. "To 
 the gallery, to smash that fiddle!" "Sit down, Tom— it's been 
 playing there a month, and never hurt us." He sat down to 
 consider the question, and never formally reported. 
 
 Dr. McMillan once asked a Seceder pastor, "What would you 
 do if your Session would appoint one of their own number to 
 play the viol in church?" "The moment he touched the 
 string, I would leave !" "Just like Saul's devil," bluntly replied 
 the Doctor ; "he never could stand David's harp." 
 
 I am not infallible, but I do not believe that Dr. McMillan, Dr. 
 Herron«Mr. Allen, and Samuel Bailey, singly or in chorus, could 
 sing any tune through correctly, with or without notes. Lewis 
 used to say that the only difference he knew in tunes, was fast or 
 slow, soft or loud. I really cannot speak for brother Paxton, but 
 Dr. Steele and brother Scovel belonged to the musical fraternity. 
 Oh, how grandly five of them are singing now ! 
 
 Time would fail me to tell of faithful John Wright, Robt- 
 Campbell, Treasurer, the Misses Manns, without whom a prayer 
 meeting would seem incomplete. A noble band of younger men, 
 like pillars round a palace set, and daughters like polished stones, 
 of Mrs. Irish, Mrs. Blair, and almost sainted Mrs. McWilliams, 
 purified by suffering ; of McCord, Beer, the Laughlins ; but I must 
 stop with the tall, slender, gentlemanly, fearless, crusty, keen editor 
 of the " Gazette" Neville B. Craig. In truth, the congregation was 
 a grand one; from it sprung directly the Second and Third 
 Churches, with East Liberty and the Sixth Churches. What 
 church in the cities has not a representative from this? Of yore, 
 a church could hardly be erected within one hundred miles, with- 
 out the nails, the glass, the cash of its firms and members. 
 
 It is safe to say, that for the first twenty years of its life the 
 Western Theological Seminary would have gone down without 
 the aid of Dr. Herron and his church. His modes of collection 
 were peculiar. He would set clown sums opposite to names, 
 call upon those whom he supposed might refuse another, obtain 
 their offerings and start them after the remainder. Once he 
 sent for a number of his rich members to meet Dr. John Breck- 
 enridge. This wonderful man explained to them his "education 
 scheme," and asked them if they could not begin the subscription 
 with $10,000 ? They were silent. Allen's eyes closed devoutly. 
 
198 CHARACTERISTICS AND INCIDENTS. 
 
 Breckenridge said to him, with great fervor, "My dear sir, set 
 them the example! You can spare $1,000 and have enough left 
 to damn every child you have got." Dr. Herron bit his lips. 
 Allen had but one child. The situation was becoming comical. 
 Quickly, however, the Doctor remarked, "Yes, Michael, begin!" 
 That voice was potent and the point gained. 
 
 The Doctor called the prayer meeting the thermometer of the 
 church. He enlisted at different times Job Halsey, Dr. Camp- 
 bell, Watson Hughes, the students of the Seminary, his own 
 laymen, while his daughter Mary and Mrs. Wilkins were always 
 present and could sing. At Presbyteries and Synods, which then 
 generally met in the First Church, he could induce them to ad- 
 journ on Wednesday evenings and feast his people. All through 
 the year he lodged traveling ministers, and compelled them, if 
 necessary, to speak. The lecture room was the birthplace of 
 many souls. There was a little room back of the church. Here 
 the Session met on Sabbath mornings for prayer ; here they ex- 
 amined applicants for membership; here, I think, the Third 
 Church began, with Bushnell, and Gray, and Dawson, and 
 Edwards, and Breed, and Higby, and others ; here began the 
 Western Foreign Missionary Society, with dear old Father 
 Andrews as Secretary ; here Dr. Swift taught the first class of 
 the Western Theological Seminary, amidst the library, while 
 the seminary building was in erection ; here the ladies' circles 
 met and Sabbath School teachers planned ; it was the holy of 
 holies in this sanctuary. When age enfeebled him, and another 
 pastor was called, he adopted brother Paxton as a son — rejoicing 
 in his success. 
 
 The First Church has had within one hundred years four 
 pastors — a grand quartette. The church has been strong, harmo- 
 nious, active, useful, blessed in every way, and worthy of its 
 pastors. One hundred years old and in the prime of life, re- 
 joicing in a numerous progeny. Churches cluster around it lov- 
 ingly. Thousands pray for its welfare. Its sainted dead almost 
 innumerable. The French and Indians have gone. The power 
 of England passed away. Yet with undiminished energy the 
 grand old organization says, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to 
 do?" Dr. Paxton ably succeeded Dr. Herron, and lovingly laid 
 him to rest. The church grew in power under Dr. Scovel. Both 
 of these beloved brethren will pray for the success of the fifth pastor 
 
CHARACTERISTIC'S AND INCIDENTS. 199 
 
 in the field which they know and love so well. Dr. Paxton appro- 
 priated to himself, fairly, one of the church's brightest gems. 
 Dr. Scovel was adorned by one every way worthy of him. Dear, 
 stately Mrs. Herron yet lives in the memory of many. Mrs. 
 Steele I never saw. Rev. Aaron Williams married Jane Herron, 
 Rev. Smith married Mary Herron, both daughters of the Doctor. 
 Rev. Thos. Beer married Margaret Cameron and celebrated with 
 her his golden wedding. Rev. R. Lea married Mary Cameron. 
 Isabella Craig, Eleanor and Sarah Hannen, Mrs. Hannah Barnet 
 and Cornelia Brackenridge married clergymen. All these taught 
 in your Sabbath School. Rev. David Waggoner and Dr. Win. 
 Marshall worked well ; also, Revs. McCandlish and Pollock. 
 Dr. Wm, Speer remained with you until licensed, and last Sabbath 
 told your Sabbath Schools how God had blessed them in olden 
 times. Many students prayed and sang with you, as Ralston, 
 Coe, Orr, the latter marrying Miss Craig,* and leaving his brother 
 in your choir. 
 
 What changes you have seen. Your chapel is worth more 
 than the log and brick churches combined. The front of your 
 church patterns after York Minster. The pitch pipe of Evans 
 has given place to a grand organ. Instead of O'Hara's chan- 
 delier, beautiful by the way, numerous gas lights blaze through 
 every part of the buildings. The old tin plate stoves displaced 
 by modern furnaces, destroying Archie's trade in hot bricks. 
 The assemblage now here cries : Grand old century, Farewell : and 
 hails the commencement of another century with joy, and gratitude, 
 and faith, for God governs, and never makes mistakes. His, the 
 past, present and future. 
 
200 SOME EMINENT ELDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 
 
 SOME EMINENT ELDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 
 
 [The Rev. Dr. James Allison, a member of the First Church during 
 his course of study at the Theological Seminary, and who has good 
 reason for continuing his interest perpetually, in view of the excellent 
 life companion he found there, (a daughter of that most useful elder and 
 admirable citizen, Judge Snowden,) and who worshiped with the church 
 during some years after he became editor of the Presbyterian Banner, 
 appeared with the greatest propriety in the pulpit lie had so well known 
 during the last two pastorates and a portion of Dr. Herron's, and which he 
 had been always so ready *to assist in every good work, to aid the occasion 
 with the admirable paper which follows:] 
 
 The duty of preparing brief sketches of the lives and char- 
 acters and labors of three elders of this church, has been assigned 
 to me. Each one of them had a marked individuality. Each 
 one of them occupied a sphere in life different from the ones 
 occupied by the other two ; but they were alike in the estima- 
 tion in which they were held by the people, in their attachment to 
 this church and in their love to the King and Head of the Church 
 Universal : and their memories are precious heritages, not only 
 to this church, but also to this community, and should be 
 carefully preserved for the benefit of those who are to succeed 
 the present generation. 
 
 JOHN MORGRIDGE SNOWDEN. 
 
 The oldest of them in age and the first one of them connected 
 with this church, was the Hon. John Morgridge Snowden. 
 Shortly after the first settlement of Virginia, a large family by 
 the name of Snowden came to that colony. The Snowdens of 
 New York and Pennsylvania are descended from the Snowdens 
 who came from Virginia about the year 1663. William Snowden, 
 who was the great ancestor of John M. Snowden, owned land in 
 what is now Philadelphia, in 1669, thirteen years before the 
 arrival of William Penn. His son, John Snowden, was born 
 there in 1685, and was one of the founders of the First Pres- 
 
SOME EMINENT ELDERS OP THE FIRST CHURCH. 201 
 
 byterian Church of that city. Isaac Snowden, a sou of John, 
 was one of the founders of the Second Presbyterian Church 
 of the same city. 
 
 John Morgridge Snowden, better known as John M. Snow- 
 den, was born in Philadelphia, in 1776. His father was a sea 
 captain, and entered the service of the Continental Congress 
 at the beginning of the Revolutionary War, was captured by the 
 British, and died in one of the "prison ships." His mother 
 was a woman of wonderful energy, of a high order of intelli- 
 gence, great force of character, and most ardently devoted to 
 the cause of American Independence. Not only did she 
 assume the support of her three sons and two daughters, dis- 
 daining to receive assistance from her Tory relations on the 
 side of her parents, but she performed a difficult and dangerous 
 part that her country, for which her husband had died, might 
 be free. She was the trusted friend of General Washington, 
 and from her he received, by means of trusted messengers, his 
 knowledge from time to time, of the numbers and operations 
 of the British while they held Philadelphia, 
 
 In early life, John M. Snowden was apprenticed to the cele- 
 brated Matthew Carey, to learn the "art and mystery of print- 
 ing." And the influence of Mr. Carey was felt by his apprentice 
 during his entire after-life. Mr. Snowden's first venture on 
 his own account, was in the establishment of a newsjmper in 
 connection with his brother-in-law, Mr. McCorkle, at Chambers- 
 burg, in this State. But in 1798 they removed to Greensburg, 
 Westmoreland county, where they published "The Fanner* 
 Register," the first newspaper in the west after the Pittsburgh 
 Gazette. It acquired a large circulation and wielded great 
 political influence. Here he united with the Presbyterian 
 Church, of which Rev. William Speer, father of the venerable 
 and beloved Dr. James R. Speer, of this city, was then pastor. 
 While in Greensburg, he married Elizabeth Moor, daughter of 
 the Hon. John Moor, the first President Judge of Western Penn- 
 sylvania, and who was one of the leaders in the organization 
 and defense of Pennsylvania at the time of separation from 
 Great Britain. She was in every way fitted to be the wife of 
 such a man. Her death took place December 2, 1860. 
 
 In 1811, Mr. Snowden removed to Pittsburgh, purchased the 
 Commonwealth newspaper, from Ephraim Pentland, and changed 
 14 
 
202 SOME EMINENT ELDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 
 
 the name to the Mercury, the office of which was at first on 
 Market street, between Third and Fourth streets, and afterwards 
 on Liberty street, near the head of Wood. He continued to be 
 editor of this paper, which was widely circulated and exerted 
 great power upon the public mind, until 1831. In the meantime 
 he published a number of valuable works, and had a large book 
 store. By means of the press, his sale of books, his social rela- 
 tions, his undoubted integrity, his interest in public affairs and 
 his activity in every good work, he was widely known and recog- 
 nized as one of the leading citizens of the State of Pennsylvania. 
 He was of medium stature, lithe physical structure, quick in per- 
 ception and decided in action. 
 
 Coming to Pittsburgh about the time that Dr. Herron took 
 charge of this church, he united with it and afterwards was 
 elected one of its elders (in 1812.) He was strongly attached to 
 his pastor, and his pastor set a high estimate upon his soundness 
 of judgment and devout piety. The early history of this church 
 was written by Mr. Snowden, and is still in existence. When 
 Pittsburgh obtained a City Charter he was elected an Alderman. 
 He was a Director of the Bank of Pittsburgh, Recorder of Deeds 
 under the administration of Gov. Wolf, Mayor of this city in 
 1825, '26 and '27, and Clerk of the Orphans' Court. 
 
 His close habits of study, his long and varied experience, his 
 broad common sense, and his judicial mind, fitted him, in a re- 
 markable degree, for the important duties devolving upon him 
 when he became Associate Judge with the Hon. Benjamin Patton. 
 He was appointed April 16th, 1840, re-commissioned March 31st, 
 1841, and held the office at the time of his death. While on the 
 bench he received high commendations from the public and from 
 the Bar. On more than one occasion he differed with the Presi- 
 dent Judge as to the law, and so expressed himself to the jury, 
 as he had a right to do. Several times he exhibited an acquaint- 
 ance with the principles of common law, also of statutory law, 
 which surprised old and learned attorneys. When one of: the 
 most intricate and important cases ever tried in this county was 
 pending, the attorneys on both sides agreed, if the President 
 Judge would retire, to go on with the trial before Associate Judge 
 Snowden. The President Judge left the bench, and Judge Snow- 
 den tried the case in a way that elicited the highest admiration 
 and the profoundest respect. 
 
SOME EMINENT ELDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 203 
 
 Mr. Snowden stood high in favor with General Jackson. He 
 had recommended a gentleman to President Jackson for an im- 
 portant office. Shortly afterwards a friend of another applicant 
 for the same office appeared before the President and denounced 
 the man recommended by Mr. Snowden, as being utterly unfit 
 for the place. Old Hickory, with eyes flashing fire, roared out : 
 " How dare you say that ? Do you think John M. Snowden 
 would recommend a man unfit for the position? No, never, 
 by the eternal ! " Mr. Snowden's man got the office. 
 
 On the 2d of April, 1845, Mr. Snowden died suddenly of dis- 
 ease of the heart. Years before he had been told by his physi- 
 cians that his death would be sudden and that it might occur 
 at any time. When the summons came he was ready to obey. 
 The Pittsburgh Post, of April 3d, 1845, said: "There can be no 
 more evidence of the high estimation in which Judge Snowden 
 was held, than the deep and general concern which is manifested 
 at his death by all manner of persons. Every one seemed to feel 
 that his departure had left a void that cannot be filled. To his 
 family and friends, it is useless to say the loss is irreparable." 
 
 "Mr. Snowden — a man of strong mind and judgment in all things, 
 worldly and spiritual, was considered a great acquisition to the eldership. 
 I have often heard my father speak of the efficiency of Mr. Snowden 
 and Mr. Denny, in church courts especially." (Mrs. Smith, April, 1883.) 
 
 HARMAR DENNY. 
 
 In 1745 two brothers, William and Walter Denny, of English 
 parentage, came from Chester county, Pa., and located west of 
 the Susquehanna, in what is now Cumberland county, Pa., near 
 Carlisle. Subsequently William Denny married Agnes Parker, 
 became a prominent citizen, and was the first Coroner appointed 
 west of Carlisle. Their first child, Ebenezer Denny, was born 
 March 11th, 1761. When only fifteen years old he was the 
 trusted bearer of important dispatches to Fort Pitt and other 
 places. For a time he commanded the quarter deck of a vessel 
 bearing letters of marque and reprisal and bound for the West 
 Indies. Subsequently he accepted a commission as ensign of the 
 First Pennsylvania Regiment. He was present at the surrender 
 of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, and was detailed to plant the 
 first American flag on the British parapet. Then he served in 
 the Carolinas and at a later period he was Adjutant to General 
 
204 SOME EMINENT ELDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 
 
 Harmar and Aid-de-Camp to General St. Clair. He was also 
 one of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati, 
 founded in 1783. After the close of the Revolutionary War he 
 came to Pittsburgh and was largely and successfully engaged in 
 business. In 1794 he was appointed commander of the expedi- 
 tion to LeBoeuf, ostensibly to protect the Commissioners engaged 
 in laying out the town of Presque Isle, now the city of Erie, but 
 really to prevent the Six Nations from uniting with the Miami 
 Indians against General Wayne. During the Avar of 1812 he faith- 
 fully met the extraordinary demands upon him to furnish sup- 
 plies for the troops at Erie and elsewhere. He was a Commissioner 
 of Allegheny county; its first Treasurer, in 1803, and again in 
 1808; and when Pittsburgh became a city, in 1816, he was its 
 first Mayor. 
 
 July 1st, 1793, this Major Ebenezer Denny married Nancy 
 Wilkins, daughter of Captain John Wilkins, Sr., and sister of 
 Quartermaster General John Wilkins, Jr., and of the late Hon. 
 Win. Wilkins, who, in his lifetime, was a Judge, United States 
 Senator, Minister to Russia and Secretary of War. His first 
 child, Harmar Denny, was born in Pittsburgh, May 13th, 1794. 
 He' was named for the bosom friend and chivalric officer to 
 whose staff the father had belonged. Harmar Denny pursued 
 his preparatory studies in his native place, and graduated from 
 Dickinson College, at Carlisle, in 1813. He was admitted to the 
 Bar of this county November 13th, 1816, and was afterwards 
 taken into partnership by his legal preceptor, Henry Baldwin, 
 who at length became one of the Judges of the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. 
 
 Mr. Harmar Denny soon became a public man widely and 
 favorably known, and through his entire life he seemed to be 
 more devoted to the general welfare of the people than to his 
 personal comfort or private emolument. He faithfully repre- 
 sented his county in the State Legislature when the Pennsylvania 
 Canal was a question of absorbing interest. He was a member 
 of the National Congress for four successive terms, from 1829 
 to 1837, and throughout his eight years of service in that body 
 he was the advocate of a protective tariff, as was evinced by 
 his able speech of May, 1830, in reply to Mr. McDuffie, of 
 South Carolina, and by his no less able speeches of June, 1832, 
 and of February, 1833. He was a member of the Reform 
 
SOME EMINENT ELDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 205 
 
 Convention of 1837 and '38, which met in Harfisburg and 
 Philadelphia, that prepared a new Constitution for this 
 State. In that Convention he was a man of note, as is 
 evident from his speeches and votes. In the Councils of 
 this city and in other offices of trust, he was prominent 
 and influential. He encouraged the construction of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Railroad, and was the honored and efficient President of 
 the Pittsburgh and Steubenville Railroad, upon whose bonds was 
 the likeness of his own countenance. In every way he was the 
 friend of Western Pennsylvania. The farmers derived no small 
 benefits from the improved agricultural implements he introduced 
 and from the blooded stock imported by him. He was fully 
 identified with the cause of liberal education, was a Trustee of the 
 Western University of Pennsylvania and a Director of the West- 
 ern Theological Seminary. His library was large, well selected, 
 and valuable; and in 1848 he was elected a member of the 
 American Philosophical Society, organized in Philadelphia in 1743. 
 About the time Mr. Denny was admitted to the Bar, he 
 made a confession of faith and was received into membership 
 by the First Presbyterian Church of this city, to which Dr. 
 Francis Herron then ministered so successfully. When the 
 Young Men's Western Auxiliary Bible Society was organized in 
 1817, the year after the American Bible Society had been founded 
 in New York, Mr. Denny was chosen its President, and at the 
 first anniversary, November 3d, 1818, he delivered an address 
 which was greatly admired by those who heard it, and was after- 
 wards published in pamphlet form, a copy of which is now in pos- 
 session of Rev. Joseph A. Murray, D. I)., of Carlisle. Immediately 
 after the delivery of this address, the venerable Rev. Joseph Pat- 
 terson went to Mr. Denny's young wife and said : "You may be 
 justly proud of having such a man for your husband." April 
 12th, 1829, he was ordained a ruling elder in this church, and 
 most faithfully and acceptably did he discharge the duties of 
 this high office, by the example of his own unblemished char- 
 acter and his active interest in all that pertained to the 
 welfare of the church. As a member of the Session of this 
 church, and of the higher ecclesiastical courts, he was modest 
 nnd prudent, and his advice or opinion always carried great 
 weight. When a member of Congress, he, with the Hon. Walter 
 Lowrie and Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen, formed the old Con- 
 
gressional prayer meeting. He had been long and actively con- 
 nected with the Western Foreign Missionary Society, founded 
 and controlled by the Synod of Pittsburgh. And when, in 1837, 
 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church organized its 
 Board of Foreign Missions, he was made one of its first members. 
 At the Baltimore Convention on the Observance of the Sabbath, 
 November 27th, 1844, there were seventeen hundred delegates. 
 John Quincy Adams presided and Mr. Denny was one of the 
 three Secretaries. 
 
 On the 25th of November, 1817, Mr. Denny was married to 
 Elizabeth Febiger O'Hara, daughter of General James and Mary 
 Carson O'Hara. General O'Hara was a man of large enterprise and 
 great foresight. He had been a Commissary and Quarter- 
 master General of the United States Army during the Indian 
 hostilities subsequent to the Revolutionary War ; had been ex- 
 tensively engaged in business operations of his own : and had, in 
 partnership with Major Isaac Craig, established the first glass 
 works in Pittsburgh. Mrs. Denny was the elder daughter, and 
 survived every other member of her father's family. She was 
 a noble woman, an earnest and intelligent Christian, of great 
 energy of character and of large hearted benevolence. After 
 the death of her husband she lived nearly twenty-six years, 
 dying January 18th, 1878, in the seventy-ninth year of her age. 
 
 Mr. Denny was tall, erect and dignified in appearance, but 
 modest, courteous and kind. His character was symmetrical 
 and well established. No one ever questioned his high sense 
 of honor, his integrity, the purity of his life or the sincerity 
 of his religious profession. His home was loved by himself 
 and in it he practised a generous hospitality. Morning and 
 evening he worshiped God with his household. His life was 
 not a long one, but an active and useful one. After a linger- 
 ing and painful illness, which he was enabled to endure with 
 cheerful resignation, supported by the precious hopes of the 
 Christian faith and soothed by the loving attentions of those 
 near and dear to him, he peacefully entered into rest through 
 death, January 29th, 1852, in the fifty-eighth year of his age. 
 The Bar of Allegheny county, at a meeting presided over by the 
 late Hon. Walter Forward, paid a high tribute to his worth and 
 gave expression to the high estimation in which he was held. 
 The corporations to which he had belonged, and the press of the 
 
country, recognized his distinguished character and spoke of the 
 deep sorrow so widely felt because of his departure. "The mem- 
 ory of the just is blessed." 
 
 FRANCIS BAILEY. 
 
 Francis Gelson Bailey was born at Bally Water, County Down, 
 Ireland, on the 24th of February, 1797. When about eighteen 
 years old he came to this city and engaged in mercantile busi- 
 ness. His pecuniary means Avere not large, but the habits of 
 industry acquired in the home he had left — where thrift was 
 looked upon as almost necessary to respectability — and his 
 energy of character, soon won him a place in the foremost rank of 
 the business men of this region. His success here soon led his 
 father and mother and the other members of his family, to come 
 hither also and make this city their home. 
 
 In connection with his younger brother, Samuel, and his 
 brother-in-law, Alexander Laughlin, he continued in the success- 
 ful prosecution of various business enterprises until 1850, when, 
 having accumulated a generous competency, he retired in a great 
 measure from active worldly pursuits, not to spend the remainder 
 of his days in idleness, but to devote them more fully to the 
 good of his fellow men and the glory of God. The energy and 
 industry of his business life was carried into the service of the 
 church. 
 
 A child of the covenant and trained by a godly father, whom 
 he greatly resembled, Mr. Bailey had connected himself with the 
 church at an early age. In 1819 he became a member of the 
 First Associate Reformed Church of this city, of which the late 
 Rev. Joseph McElroy, D.D. was then pastor. In 1824 he united 
 with this church because of the kindness with which he had 
 been treated by its pastor, Rev. Dr. Herron, and also because 
 his spiritual life had been greatly quickened, if not really 
 begun, under his ministrations. The intimacy between these two 
 devout men ripened with their advancing years and has linked 
 their names together. 
 
 In 1827, with a heart warmed by a great revival with which 
 this church had been visited, Mr. Bailey removed to East Liberty. 
 At that time there was in that place a church building partly 
 erected, on which work had stopped — a growing population 
 and abounding wickedness. His soul was stirred within him 
 
and he determined to have the house of worship completed and 
 a church organized. To accomplish these things involved no 
 small difficulty and self denial. On presenting the petition 
 requesting an organization to Presbytery, he was met with the 
 chilling statement : " There is nobody in East Liberty to make 
 a church ; there are no Presbyterians there with whom to form 
 an organization." Mr. Bailey, with great modesty, but with 
 characteristic ardor, replied: "There are plenty of people there, 
 and we expect to have them converted, and then they will make 
 a church." The church was organized; Mr. Bailey Avas elected 
 an elder. The first pastor, Rev. W. B. Mcllvaine, now of Mon- 
 mouth, Illinois, for a time made his home in the family of Mr. 
 Bailey. The Holy Spirit was poured out and many were con- 
 verted. The large and prosperous churches now in what was 
 then East Liberty, show the plentiful harvest yielded by the seed 
 sown then by Mr. Bailey. 
 
 In 1841 he returned to the city, and was immediately elected 
 to the eldership in this church, always so dear to him. In 1842 
 he became a Director of the Western Theological Seminary, and 
 he was President of its Board of Trustees from its organization ; 
 and in the prosperity of that institution he took a deep interest. 
 
 The wife of Mr. Bailey was Mary Ann Dalzell, daughter of 
 John Dalzell, of Oneida county, New York, who was the last of 
 an old family of Scotch Covenanters that had established itself in 
 County Down, near Belfast. His sympathies had been with the 
 Irish rebellion of 1798, and becoming an active participant, he 
 was compelled to emigrate hastily to America, leaving all his 
 property behind, and it w 7 as confiscated by the government. A 
 brother of Mrs. Bailey, Robert Dalzell, resided in Rochester, New 
 York, and another, James Dalzell, in Columbus, Ohio. She was 
 born in 1802, and died January 18th, 1869. In person she was 
 tall, with a clear complexion, and she was at the same time 
 possessed of a most happy temperament, To her no self denial 
 was wearisome, if it would add to the comfort of her children, or 
 others. She was always ready to encourage her husband in his 
 work of Christian love and to rejoice in his success. 
 
 Before concluding this sketch of Mr. Bailey, I may say a few 
 words of his contemporaries in the Session, whose names have 
 not been mentioned. Hugh McClelland was never so happy as 
 when listening to the gospel or sitting in the prayer meeting in 
 
SOME EMINENT ELDERS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 209 
 
 yonder upper room, leading the singing. So closely did he 
 watch the walls of this building as they went up, that he could 
 almost have counted the stones and the bricks. Bluff, honest 
 and hearty Frederick Lorenz, was a man whose sincerity no one 
 ever doubted. Alexander Laughlin was a successful Sabbath 
 School worker, of most upright life, loved by all and devoted to 
 the welfare of this church. Samuel Ray, gentle in manner, of 
 few words, and wise in counsel, was one wdiose memory will be 
 long cherished by those who knew him. Joseph McKnight! who 
 of the older members of this church does not recall him? Warm 
 hearted, impulsive, generous, ever ready to weep with the suffer- 
 ing and to encourage the unfortunate. John D. McCord, though 
 a resident of Philadelphia, is here to-day. What manner of 
 man he was and is, yon all know. May it be a long time before 
 any one will be called upon to write his obituary or pronounce 
 his eulogy. Mr. Poindexter was a pattern Christian gentleman. 
 
 But Mr. Bailey had a closer companionship with Captain 
 Bobert Beer than with any other member of the Session. When 
 one left the city the other went with him. At the summer 
 resorts, wherever one was seen the other was not far off. Together 
 they went up and down these streets and alleys, to the houses of 
 the rich and the dwellings of the poor, to the fashionable parlor 
 and to the bedside of the sick and dying. Of the salvation in 
 Christ they spake to the giddy girl and to the dependent old 
 woman, to the millionaire and to the beggar, to the aged or the 
 little child. So much were they together and so much were they 
 alike in spirit, that Mr. Bobert Dalzell, of this church, named 
 them the "Siamese Twins." 
 
 But at length Mr. Bailey's work was done. For more than a 
 year and a half he glorified God in the fires, but his faith failed 
 not. The last request which those around him were able to in- 
 terpret, was, "pray." A few hours before his death, a friend, 
 whose other inquiries had been answered by a slight elevation 
 of the hand, asked: "Is Jesns still precious?" With sadden 
 energy his hand was extended the entire length of his arm, as if 
 he was about to take a solemn oath before God. That was a fitting 
 close to more than half a century of faithful service to the divine 
 Master. Mr. Bailey died at midnight, Thursday, August 4th, 
 1870, in the 74th year of his age. 
 
210 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT CONCERNING THE 
 ELDERSHIP. 
 
 [After Dr. Allison's paper, Mr. Scovel made a Supplementary Statement 
 with regard to the eldership, which (rewritten and enlarged,) is as follows:] 
 
 Some paragraphs at least must be allowed, besides what have 
 already been allotted, and so well employed, on that succession 
 of noble men in the eldership for which the First Church has 
 often felt and expressed its gratitude. Taken as a whole, even 
 within my pastorate, and how much more when taken through 
 the century, the eldership has been remarkable as furnishing 
 instances of all the finest types of Christian character. My 
 heart, and many hearts, would overflow in testimonies to the 
 gentle, the strong, the trustful, the aggressive and bold, the spirit- 
 ual and prayerful men we have known in this relation. Their 
 faith and their constancy are known to observation and tradition 
 as well as by the results which they have wrought. And it is to 
 be gratefully remembered that they have all been of the people. 
 They have been selected with the insight of spirituality rather 
 than for any external or even unusual intellectual qualifications. 
 The fact that new elections generally succeeded revivals, is sig- 
 nificant. So it was after the revival of 1827-8, when Denny, 
 and Plumer, and Wilson were added, and after 1832, when 
 Edwards, andHerron,and Laughlin, and Davis and Hanson were 
 chosen : and so in our later history. During seasons of interest 
 the people were more ready to see the need of more internal 
 work, and had better opportunity to see who were fitted for it. 
 The eldership has not been numerically lai'ge. We have had 
 forty-nine elders in a century — while, for example, our sister 
 First Church, in Allegheny, has had fifty-nine elders in forty-six 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 211 
 
 years. It is an evidence that the church does not meddle with 
 them that are given to change, and is not likely to adopt the 
 rotary system. 
 
 From 181-9 the Session's office seems to have been increas- 
 ingly honored. Up to that date Dr. Herron had examined ap- 
 plicants for admission to the church unaccompanied by the 
 Session. But a resolution was then passed that "the Session, or 
 a committee thereof," should be present at all such examina- 
 tions, and the very sensible ground is assigned in the records 
 for this action, that it was " desirable for the Session to know 
 the congregation." A hint for to-day and all days. But a still 
 broader one is found in the minutes of January, 1833. At that 
 time the congregation (numbering four hundred and thirty-nine 
 communicants,) was districted, and arrangements made for super- 
 vision by the Session, in the following admirable manner : "At 
 a meeting of the Session in January, 1833 — convened for the 
 purpose of carrying into effect the recommendation of ye last 
 Synod — and for promoting the interest of religion in this branch 
 of the church — we have agreed to adopt the following plan for the 
 above purpose, viz : The city to be divided into six districts, and 
 the families in those districts to be visited by such members of 
 the Session as are willing to undertake the duty, and that this 
 duty shall be attended to previously to our next communion, and 
 on every three months afterwards, when ye members of Session 
 shall change their districts, so that each elder may have an op- 
 portunity of visiting all the families belonging to ye congre- 
 gation in each year. The above plan was adopted and carried 
 into effect. This plan was well accepted by the congregation 
 and was pleasant to the elders themselves." The elders present 
 when that record was made, were Snowden, Denny, Laughlin, 
 Wilson, Edwards, Herron, Wright, Hanson. 
 
 That which stands written of the Session in 1839, may 
 now, in 1884, be repeated with emphasis. "The eldership 
 have generally endeavored to discharge their duty in the fear 
 of God and with an eye to His glory, although sensible of many 
 imperfections. The harmony and good feelings that exist among 
 them and the respect and confidence of their brethren in the 
 church which they have the happiness to enjoy, are by them 
 justly and highly appreciated. It is a fact highly gratifying 
 to them on review, that there never has been an appeal from any 
 
212 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 of their decisions ; and that their admonitions have always 
 been kindly and affectionately received." [Judge Snowden.] 
 
 I think the three pastors of this century whose opinions are 
 accessible, unite in saying that the First Church has been blessed 
 with the best Session that ever was. They have been kind and 
 firm. They have always moved together and have always been 
 prayerful and solicitous for the good of the people. They have 
 been faithful in the Sabbath School and full of sympathy for 
 the suffering. [Perhaps they might have visited more.] 
 
 To the elders that are yet living, but removed from us to other 
 fields of usefulness, either in this city or elsewhere, only the 
 general tribute can be paid, that without the least exception 
 their connection with official duty in this church was productive 
 of good and their conduct an ornament to their profession and 
 office. We rejoice in the remembrance of their fellowship and 
 service, as well as in their continued and growing usefulness 
 in other parts of the Master's vineyard ; and shall keep them 
 enrolled in our official history with mingled pride and thankful- 
 ness. Such special mention as time and space admit and infor- 
 mation warrants, may now be given concerning others than those 
 whose biographies have just been read. 
 
 The early non-attendance of our eldership at Presbytery was 
 rather marked. When Mr. Barr first appeared with an elder in 
 1787, at Laurel Hill, it was one of the Pitts Township Session — 
 Mr. James Milligan. The first appearance in Presbytery, really 
 ascertained, is that of the entire Session in connection with the 
 trial at the termination of the first pastorate, in June, 1789. In 
 August of that year, Mr. John Wilkins appears as the first regular 
 representative of the congregation. George Plumer appears in 
 April, 1801, and Mr. Wm. Dunning in a later meeting of the 
 same year. June 28th, 1803, Mr. James B. Clow appears. In 
 October of that year, Mr. Wilkins is registered in the Synod as 
 representative, and the entire Session appears on the record as 
 protestants against the organization of a second church in the 
 city. Then the body consisted of Messrs. Jeremiah Sturgeon, 
 James B. Clow, John Wilkins and Wm. Dunning. From that 
 time onward attendance is more regular, but still the Session 
 evinced no fondness for the general work of the church courts. 
 The besdnnina; of influence in that direction seems to have been 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 213 
 
 at the accession of Mr. Snowden, in 1812, and its continuance by 
 that of Mr. Denny, in 1829. 
 
 Of Mr. John Wilhins no more need be now said than to refer to 
 his early zeal in gathering the people to organize and build, and to 
 note that the period of his official service was one of the longest 
 the church has ever known. He does not seem (according to 
 the remembrance of Mrs. Eichbaum,) to have been willing to 
 " lead in prayer and to serve at the communion table, until 
 very late in life." 
 
 Mr. James Beach Clow is the second of our elders to appear 
 in a marked way in the church history. For a long time he 
 seems to have been the only elder who appeared at the com- 
 munion seasons to assist Mr. Steele in distributing the elements. 
 He was chosen an elder quite early in life, and his spirituality 
 was always marked. Dr. Herron called him his " praying- 
 elder." His term of service was also long, though interrupted 
 by removals. He was famed for his sweet voice, and led the 
 devotions of the congregation for years. Many times have the 
 dear old lines, "Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove/' set the 
 tone to the revival meetings as he set the tune to them. Such 
 prayers to the Spirit have been often answered within these walls. 
 In later life Mr. Clow wrote out his consecration to God, that he 
 might be the better able to live the life of the Christian. The 
 precious paper is still in the hands of his descendants, some of 
 whom are still with us. 
 
 Concerning Mr. James Cooper, little information seems to 
 be accessible. But fortunately the following reminiscence has 
 been given by Mrs. Smith, [Miss Mary Herron.] "I only remem- 
 ber one of the number that were in the church Session when 
 father was called, and that for the reason that he lived close by 
 us; and his daughter, aunt Peggy Davis, as we called her, with 
 all her oddities was a most excellent Christian woman and the 
 delight of us young folks. Mr. Cooper was not a strong man, 
 as far as knowledge of this world was concerned, but was wise 
 in spiritual things. At first he was among the number that bit- 
 terly opposed prayer meetings and Bible classes and denounced 
 father as a Methodist. But when I remember him he was an 
 advocate for all that was good — an humble Christian trying to 
 do what he could for the kingdom of Christ, and a devoted friend 
 of my father." [April, 1883.] 
 
214 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 Elder John Hannen was chosen in 1818, and remained in the 
 office until 1828. Thereafter his work is found recorded in the 
 history of the First Church of Allegheny, of which he was one 
 of the originators. There and here he manifested the same graces. 
 For his remarkably earnest and affectionate character, he was 
 called "the beloved disciple." Many remember his old-fashioned 
 ivory headed cane, his sedate but cheerful demeanor, and his in- 
 timacy with his pastors, Drs. Herron and Swift, his consistency 
 in everything and his fervent efforts to bring souls to Christ. 
 One writes that he "was an excellent member of the First 
 Church (our church,) Session in things spiritual ; but I always 
 dreaded meeting him, as he would speak on the subject of religion, 
 which was not palatable at the time." [Mrs. Mary Smith, 1883.] 
 Dr. Elisha Swift said of him, " He was pre-eminent among the 
 entire eldership of these cities, for the depth and vigor of his 
 piety and the abundance of his efforts to do good. The linea- 
 ments of his countenance bore the impress of the tranquility of 
 his mind and the kindness of his heart." 
 
 Mr. William Phimer, chosen in 1829, removed before many 
 years to New Albany, Indiana. There as here, he was known 
 most favorably as consistent, intelligent, and devoted. He was 
 specially active in Sabbath School work, and it is a singu- 
 lar fact that a large part of the Sabbath School training of 
 your last pastor (and the entire Sabbath School training of his 
 wife,) should have been under his superintendency. The reflec- 
 tion makes me all the more certain that we were " nourished 
 up in sound doctrine." [Mr. John Bushnell, who united with 
 this church in 1828, was also assistant superintendent, for many 
 years, of the New Albany school, and a fit companion and friend 
 for Mr. Plumer, and is yet honored for a more than fifty years 
 eldership in the First Church of New Albany. It is a joy to 
 have the privilege of recording in this way our sense of obli- 
 gation to these two excellent men, whose prayers and godly 
 example perpetuated the influence of this First Church in that 
 one, and aided to prepare those who have been last your 
 helpers in the work of Christ. Certain Sabbath School boxes 
 in use in the old lecture room we recognized at once as the 
 familiar appliances of the Sabbath School of our childhood.] 
 
 Mr. James Wilson was chosen an elder in 1829. The following 
 obituary was published shortly after his death at an advanced age : 
 
[From Presbyterian Banner of March, 1883.] 
 
 In Mkmoriam — James Wilson was born in Mifflin township, Alle- 
 gheny county, Pa., April loth, 1793, and died January 31st, 1883, at his 
 residence, No. 38 Darragh street, Allegheny City, Pa. 
 
 Nearly ninety years old ! How long it seems to us ! How short it 
 must now seem to him ! He had thoroughly learned the lesson of that 
 great life-Psalm of "Moses, the Man of God," and had lived wisely as 
 well as long. He began by being a man of enterprise. Among the earliest 
 and then most successful of all our merchants was he. Yet earthly good 
 never made him less than a man of principle. When it was not at all a 
 popular thing to do, he, with one other, founded about 1815 the first Sab- 
 bath School for colored children in this city. Later, his leaving the 
 church of his early choice to help establish another (New School), was 
 equally due to what he held as conscientious conviction, and his honesty 
 was never questioned. He was nevertheless a man of peace. He knew 
 how to hold convictions and obey them without disparaging the convic- 
 tions and conduct of others. He seemed to arouse the least possible 
 antagonism in others, and I never heard him say an ill word of any other 
 man. And these things grew directly out of his being a man of piety. 
 Other features of his character were plain ; this was striking. He made 
 a confession of his faith in connection with the First Church nearly sixty- 
 five years ago, going with trembling steps but with firm faith to the pastor 
 who for so many years thereafter was his firm friend. He meant what he 
 said in that pastor's study. He ratified it by his life. He was from the 
 first punctual in every religious duty, and soon came to be depended upon 
 by the church. He was closely associated with the first subscriptions 
 taken for mission purposes, and has shown me the books, in which Dr. 
 Herron leads the list. He was among the company which, more than 
 fifty years ago, formed the Allegheny County Bible Society. In April, 
 1829, he was chosen an elder with Harmar Denny, and no name appears 
 more regularly on the list of meetings or more frequently on committees 
 charged with difficult duties. In the great revivals of the church's history 
 he was deeply interested, and loved the memories of those times of re- 
 freshing. After an interval, in which he wrought earnestly in another 
 church, he returned to the First. Older now, his was mainly the life of 
 love of the ordinances and of prayer. The early Sabbath morning prayer 
 meeting was his delight. As he came out of its room and the pastor entered 
 it, the latter was sure of a warm greeting, and felt the stronger for know- 
 ing that he, and others of like spirit, had been praying so close to the 
 pulpit. He bore his advancing infirmities with exemplary patience, and 
 submitted calmly to the severer trials of the death of his two sons, the 
 first in 1880, the second in 1881. He received with appreciation and 
 returned in affection the unremitting care of the faithful companion of 
 his life (ten years ago they had celebrated their golden wedding) and of 
 the four daughters who survive him. His end was " peace." No clouds. 
 No shadows even. He had long " walked with God," and he is not, be- 
 
216* SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 cause God has taken him. His character, his life and his death, are 
 trophies of grace and treasures forever to his family and the church. 
 
 S. F. S. 
 
 Mr. John Herron was chosen to the eldership in 1832. His 
 sound judgment and firm character were always relied upon. He 
 removed to Minersville and gave himself and his property to the 
 work of building up the much needed and always useful church 
 there. He always loved this church, and many of his descend- 
 ants have worshiped here ; but the record of his life work prop- 
 erly belongs to the history of that part of our city's growth in 
 religious things. He was distantly related to Dr. Francis Herron 
 and much esteemed by him. His influence was for many years 
 a marked and constant force in behalf of all that was good. 
 
 Mr. John, Wright was also chosen in 1832. His was the dispo- 
 sition to be energetic and aggressive in Christian work. Among 
 the very earliest was he, with his warm friend, Mr. James Wilson, 
 to engage in Sabbath School work. Mrs. Mary Smith, in 1883, 
 thus wrote of him: "For many years he was the efficient 
 superintendent of the Infant School. With one or two others, 
 he thought that the church did not take decided enough ground 
 on the subject of slavery. They withdrew and formed a church 
 organization that came to naught. Later it became the success- 
 ful Central Church. To use his own language, he 'repented 
 in sackcloth and ashes' the rest of his life. During the preva- 
 lence of the cholera, he lost his wife and two of his sons. He 
 then removed to a farm in Westmoreland county, where he lived 
 a useful life until his death, about two or three years ago." I 
 heard often of Mr. Wright's continued activity as well as of his 
 former efficiency in the First Church. Occasionally he visited 
 the city in later years, but it was my misfortune never to have 
 been able to see him. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Ijaughlin was another of that number upon 
 whom the hands of the church were laid in 1832. He lived a 
 life of consistent piety and was specially gifted in prayer. It 
 was his constant and his latest language. The Session put on 
 record the following minute, at the close of his long and useful 
 life, in 1867 : 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased Almighty God to call away from earth His 
 aged servant, Alexander Laughlin, an elder in this church, our associate 
 and brother : and 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 217 
 
 Whereas, by this dispensation of Providence the church has lost a 
 zealous disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, this Session a faithful member 
 and a venerated co-worker and counsellor, his family a beloved husband 
 and father, and the world the beneficent example of a Christian man : and 
 
 Whereas, we all have admired and loved our departed brother, and 
 now revere his memory; therefore, in testimony of our profound regard, 
 
 Resolved, That we submit to the decree of Omnipotence with humility; 
 that we recognize in it the hand of a merciful and gracious Father, and 
 worship reverently at His feet. " The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken 
 away : blessed be the name of the Lord." 
 
 Resolved, That while mourning the decease of our dear brother, "we 
 sorrow not even as others which have no hope," but with confidence in 
 the promises of a covenant-keeping God, and in the confident belief that, 
 he who has served Jesus Christ these many years through temptations and 
 trials, is now forever at rest. "Blessed are the dead which die in the 
 Lord ; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their 
 works do follow them." 
 
 Resolved, That we recall his presence among us with unfeigned 
 pleasure, and his counsels with profit ; we review with honor his long life 
 of humble piety, and remembering his faith and works, we pray that a 
 double portion of his spirit may descend upon us. 
 
 Resolved, That we sympathize deeply with his bereaved family in their 
 affliction, and yet entreat them to be comforted — to address their prayers 
 to a gracious God ; to put their trust in His might and love, assured that 
 He does all things well. 
 
 "The Lord bless them, and keep them, the Lord make his face to shine 
 upon them, and be gracious to them ; the Lord lift up his countenance 
 upon them, and give them peace." 
 
 Here let me group the three elders elected in 1840, all of whom 
 have left precious legacies of earnest work : 
 
 Mr. Frederick Lorenz was well known in business relations and 
 faithful in all church duties. He was on the building com- 
 mittee of 1851-3, and gave the work much time and attention. 
 For simplicity and sincerity of character he will be always 
 remembered. 
 
 Mr. Hugh McClelland was specially useful in all prayer meet- 
 ing life and work. 
 
 Mr. R. W. Poindexter's activities in the early Sabbath School 
 work are recorded in McKnight's Sabbath School History. He 
 was stately and kindly too. He had been a teacher before his 
 business career, and possessed considerable literary taste. He was 
 most thoroughly the gentleman everywhere. 
 15 
 
218 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 Of the twenty-seven elders chosen during the first seventy-one 
 years of our century, none survive except Mr. Richard Edwards, 
 the faithful elder of the Third Church, whose presence and 
 words last year at the "Jubilee" of that church, makes us regret 
 the more his absence from our "Centennial." May he be re- 
 stored and spared for other years of consistent life and great 
 usefulness. 
 
 In 1855 four additions were made to the eldership — the large 
 ingathering of 1851, the completion of the new church building 
 and the rapidly growing congregation pointing evidently to this 
 step. Of these but one survives, Mr. John D. McCord, (now of 
 Philadelphia — an elder in the Spruce Street Church,) whose pres- 
 ence Avith us, whose satisfaction in all that is cheering in our 
 outlook, and the warm clasp of whose hand are evidence that he 
 will never forget the church he first loved and served — as it 
 surely will not forget him. 
 
 Mr. Samuel W. Spencer (of that four) was not spared long to 
 discharge the duties of the office to which he had been earlier 
 unwilling to be elected, but he had so earnestly engaged in other 
 duties that his memory will be cherished carefully. He died in 
 1856, March 12th, aged sixty years. He came to America in 
 1816, and to Pittsburgh in 1821. Born of Christian parents, (a 
 mercantile family in Londonderry,) he first settled himself in 
 a church, then in business. Here he was successfully engaged 
 from 1821 to 1850, when he retired. That year he formed his 
 connection with the First Church. He was the Treasurer of the 
 Building Committee for the new church, and gave an immense 
 amount of time and attention to the work. He was the intimate 
 friend of Mr. Francis Bailey, and Dr. Paxton wrote one of his 
 sons, after his death, thus : "In the loss of your father, I feel that 
 I have shared your bereavement. During the short period of 
 his official connection with, our church, I learned to love him 
 very much, and to lean upon him as a judicious counsellor and 
 efficient help. Oh, how earnestly did he follow Christ ! ' For him 
 to live was Christ, to die was gain.' " 
 
 At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the First Presbyte- 
 rian Church of the City of Pittsburgh, held on Saturday, the 
 15th day of March, A. D. 1856, the following preamble and res- 
 olution were offered by William McCandless, and unanimously 
 adopted : 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 219 
 
 We are called upon again, iu the Providence of (rod, to mourn the loss 
 by death of one of our number. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Spencer is gone, and the "place that knew him once shall 
 know him no more." As a member of the Board he was kind, affable 
 and courteous ; as our Treasurer lie was strict in his integrity, and as a 
 man we loved him for his great kindness of heart and his manly deport- 
 ment in all his intercourse with us. Chosen from the congregation by 
 his fellow communicants to the office of ruling elder in the church, and 
 having but a few brief days before entered upon the duties of his office, 
 we have been permitted to see his Christian bearing in all its beauty and 
 simplicity, his sympathy, his love of Christ, all blended in beautiful har- 
 mony and displaying the brightness of the Christian's life. But the sum- 
 mons came and found his lamp trimmed and burning, waiting the coming 
 of the Bridegroom. His Redeemer has called him home, to join in the 
 chorus of the redeemed in heaven. Thy will, O Lord, be done, not ours. 
 
 Resolved, That we cherish the memory of our brother and friend, and as 
 a remembrance of him, Ave direct this preamble and resolution to be 
 entered at large on the minutes, and that a copy be furnished to his sur- 
 viving relatives. 
 
 WM. McCANDLESS, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Rea, one of the four chosen in 1855, was one of the 
 manliest figures and solidest characters of our church history. He 
 made his way among men by unquestioned integrity and sound 
 judgment, As an intelligent hearer of the gospel he had no 
 superior. Well I remember his face the first day I stood before 
 the congregation, and I have always missed it since God took 
 him. He was fond of sacred song, long a member of the volun- 
 teer choir, and often relied upon at social meetings to lead the 
 singing. He was pre-eminently the counsellor "of the Session, and 
 both pastors since 1855 knew the soundness and sureness of his 
 convictions. He was certainly one of the firmest men ever known 
 here, while never dictatorial or opinionated. The following is 
 the Session's record of appreciation : 
 
 Nearly a quarter of a century has passed away since elder Samuel Rea 
 was called by the united voice of the people of the First Church to serve 
 them as a member of its Session. These swiftly flying years have but con- 
 firmed the wisdom of their early choice, as they daily brought into clearer 
 light and beauty the noble traits and Christian graces which first attracted 
 their notice. 
 
 Throughout his active and useful life he fully deserved, as he always 
 received, the confidence and regard of all who knew him. From the large 
 circle who knew him intimately, he received, to the fullest extent, their 
 abiding esteem and most complete confidence. 
 
220 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 His modest self-depreciation, and quiet demeanor, were only equaled 
 by the well formed judgment and conscientious purpose which helped to 
 make his counsel so highly valued in church and society. No experiences 
 of life could take' from him a life long trust in God's goodness, and a 
 cheerful faith in his fellow men, which bore constant fruitage in kindly 
 words and deeds and loving prayers. 
 
 The unvaried testimony to a life without reproach from those who met 
 him daily amid the thronging pressure of business activities, is but the 
 fitting counterpart of ours who knew and loved him in the closer relations 
 of church and home life. There are many to rise up and call him blessed 
 for his example, counsel and help : and we confidently believe he has 
 received the benediction of the Master : Well done, good and faithful 
 servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord. 
 
 We shall cherish the remembrance of his character and example for 
 ourselves, and will commend it to the membership of the whole church he 
 so devotedly loved and so faithfully served, as another link in the chain 
 of precious memories which, for nearly a century, God has been weaving 
 for the comfort and edification of His people here. 
 
 "The fathers, where are they ?" But "our hope is in Thee." 
 
 [Entered by order of Session, November 3d, 1878. 
 
 D. ROBINSON, Clerk.] 
 
 Mr. Robert Beer was the last to leave us of those elected in 
 1855. His early youth was spent in the hardships of frontier 
 life, and his early manhood was employed in varied undertakings, 
 almost always successful, which made his name and form one of 
 the hest known of our older citizens for years. There was a singu- 
 lar purity and love of religion in him from his youth up. He 
 has told his friends that he sometimes came to town unprepared 
 to appear in church as he wished ; but, while other men roamed 
 the streets, he would sit on the stone steps "in his tow-clothing 
 where he could hear" and then get away before the congregation 
 was dismissed. He was our type of a perfectly sensitive con- 
 science, and an absolute determination to do everything that was 
 right. He was as careful of the feelings of others as he was care- 
 ful, in later years, of exposing himself to a "draught." He loved 
 the house of God, and made the gift that completed the pure 
 silver of the communion service, and ordered the tablet which 
 commemorates Dr. Herron. His visiting with elder Bailey (as 
 Mr. B.'s Lieutenant, he used to say,) for twenty years, made him 
 known to hundreds of Christian families. He taught at almost 
 the beginning of the Sabbath Schools, and approved the motion to 
 buy the " sweet cakes " which garnished the first anniversary 
 festival for the children. The Session were often his guests that 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 221 
 
 he might share in its counsels, after it became too great 
 an exposure for him to venture out at night. Once he said, 
 what deserves always to be remembered as a way of decision for 
 a perplexed soul : " It has been a little dark with me, lately : but 
 I know this, anyhow : " Whatever' s for Jesus Christ, that I'm for." 
 The Session entered this expressive minute at his death : 
 
 Elder Robert Beer, for more than half a century an honored and con- 
 sistent member of this church, and for twenty-five years past an esteemed 
 member of its Session, departed this life on the 24th day of May, 1880. 
 
 For a number of late years, Mr. Beer was, in this Session, the only re- 
 maining representative of a worthy body of men, who many years since 
 were chosen by the congregation to rule over them in spiritual things. A 
 noble company of men indeed they were, well deserving the respect and 
 affection which the people of the First Church had been accustomed to 
 pay them : and among them all there was no one to whom these were 
 more universally given than to him whose absence we now mourn. 
 
 His daily life among us for all these years was so steady a flow of kind 
 and loving deeds, so deeply marked by a simple and unaffected piety, a 
 humble estimate of himself, and a conscientious fear lest he should in any 
 way give offense to any of his brethren : so full of generous charities to 
 the poor, and so liberal in gifts to all the work of the church at home and 
 abroad, that these virtues became so much a part of himself, that to re- 
 member him, is to recall them also. 
 
 He has entered into his rest, full of years, rich in faith, and we doubt 
 not has received his Divine Lord's welcome : " Well done, good and 
 faithful servant ; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make 
 thee ruler over many things." 
 
 Of the four elders elected in 1862, two are in service elsewhere, 
 (Messrs. Renshaw and Spencer,) two are with us still, (Messrs. 
 Robinson and Davis,) and one has been called to his reward. Mr. 
 Joseph McKnight will always be remembered among us by his 
 tenderness, his kindness to the poor and his ardent interest in 
 the instruction and salvation of the young. Who will ever 
 forget his pleadings to children not to defer (as he had done,) 
 the acceptance of Christ until childhood had passed! Most, 
 perhaps all, of the young ladies of his Bible class, became mem- 
 bers of the church. [Two of them are now married to ministers.] 
 He was a most genial companion and had the warmest of 
 warm hearts. The record made on the Session's minutes is as 
 follows : 
 
 Elder Joseph McKnight, greatly beloved by the people of the First 
 Church, and for ten years past a member of its Session, departed this life 
 <m the 25th day of the past month, (October, 1872.) He was suddenly 
 
222 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 called, it seemed to us who remain, from the midst of unfinished business 
 plans, an endeared family circle, and abundant church labors in which his 
 heart and his hands were warmly engaged, to the higher companionship 
 and restful activities of heaven. But as we remember his frequent 
 mention during the past months of his probable early decease, we are 
 assured that he had learned, " that as you work, your heart must watch," 
 and was ready and waiting when the Master called. 
 
 The pastor and Session would bear their sincere testimony to the Christian 
 character and labors of one whom they both loved and honored, and whose 
 death they deeply deplore. Full of generous impulses, and wise in counsel, 
 ready to every good word and work, yet averse from much publicity, kind 
 to the poor, and open handed in support of the work of the church at 
 large, we shall remember with profit, the warm hearted zeal of our de- 
 parted brother for the spiritual interests of Zion, but most gratefully do 
 we call to mind the tender concern he seemed always to have for the sal- 
 vation of the children and young people of this church and congregation. 
 
 We thank God for the grace He bestowed upon His servant while living 
 among us, for the "hope in his death" and for the "exceeding great 
 reward " upon which he has entered. 
 
 Of those elected in 1868 two are now connected with the East 
 Liberty Church (Messrs. Wishart and Dickson) and two are 
 dead. One of these remained but a short time with us before 
 removal and the other served but about eighteen months and then 
 went on to the higher service. 
 
 Mr. Ebenezer T. Cook was the youngest elder (save one) this 
 church ever had and the only one to die among us in youth. 
 He was an honest convert and a devoted Christian worker, 
 Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association of the city 
 and an elder in the church within about one year. So quickly did 
 one follow upon the other that it would seem to be God's purpose 
 to show how much can be done by a devoted soul in a brief life. 
 
 The Sessional record reads thus : 
 
 Ebenezer T. Cook, aged twenty-eight years, admitted to the communion 
 of this church, upon profession of faith, March 7th, 1867 ; ordained an 
 elder therein, March 2d, 1868 ; entered into rest, October 13th, 1869. 
 
 How brief the record ! He put his hand to the plow, and lo ! it was a 
 palm. He walked with us here but a few days, yet long enough to awaken 
 in our hearts the most hopeful anticipations of an honored and useful life ; 
 long enough to win the esteem and affection of all who knew him ; long 
 enough to make his example a cherished remembrance among the young 
 men of the church, 'and "in the morning" the Master called. 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 223 
 
 " I had much work laid out for Jesus," he said, " but others will do it 
 better;" and so, content, he passed into the "land of cloudless sunshine 
 where Jesus is the King." We cherish his memory. The mention of his 
 name among us is an argument for consecration, a stimulus to labor, and a 
 plea for patience. Lord Jesus, help us each to follow him as he followed 
 Thee. 
 
 The two elders elected in 1860, (Messrs. J. E. Ayers and 
 Henry Forsyth,) both removed after a few years of earnest ser- 
 vice, which they continued elsewhere. 
 
 The present Session is composed of the two already mentioned, 
 chosen in 1862, of the three chosen in 1873, (Messrs. John A. 
 Caughey, A. M. Marshall and James Laughlin, Jr.) and of the 
 four chosen in 1879, (Messrs. Samuel A. Espy, Chas. Holmes, 
 James L. Marshall and John T. Daniel). May the same confi- 
 dence and esteem which has so marked the past relations of the 
 church and its Session continue to be manifested to them and to 
 their successors forever. Thus shall the church "have rest and 
 [be] edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord and in the com- 
 fort of the Holy Ghost [be] multiplied." (Act's ix :31.) 
 
 The following reminiscences of the Rev. Dr. Richard Lea are 
 printed here as mainly referring to this portion of the history, 
 and may well stand as "provoking to love and good works" all 
 who follow in the succession of the eldership : 
 
 Pittsburgh, May 3d, 1883. 
 
 Dr. Scovel : 
 
 In the year 1823 Rev. Dr. Herron had his famous Bible 
 class. At first nearly the whole church attended — the aged members 
 sitting in the gallery, or back seats, the younger ones around the pulpit. 
 It almost entirely consisted of question and answer ; the more advanced 
 scholars frequently questioning the Doctor. No text book or commentary 
 in class. That winter I joined the church. 
 
 Elders : John Hannen, " an Israelite indeed, in whom there was no guile ;" 
 Wm. Blair, a stern, good man from the north of Ireland ; Judge Snowden, 
 an accomplished, Christian gentleman ; Father Cooper, the terror of all 
 young applicants, whom he always questioned on " Hopkinsianism." Mr. 
 James Clow, the singer, had moved to Beaver county. These all ruled 
 the church and obeyed the Doctor. Mr. Evans, with his tuning fork and 
 music book, stood before the pulpit and led the mechanical part of the 
 singing. Dr. Herron relished " Pisgah," and the chorus of " Silver Street." 
 He knew no more of other tunes than did Frederick the Great. The 
 
224 SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 elders who succeeded these five you can trace in the records. Hugh McClel- 
 land led the singing at the prayer meetings of the " revival." Harmar 
 Denny was very dignified in his appearance, and one of the finest figures 
 as a "cavalry officer" when the company trained at the lower end of Lib- 
 erty street. Mr. Hanson was quiet. Your friend William Plummer, had 
 a kind manner — the voice and manner of John Bvshnel, soft as a lady's. 
 John Wright, faithful unto death. James Wilson, always reliable. lie- 
 Corel, gentlemanly. James Marshall, impetuous, mostly right. Robert 
 Beer nearly idolized successively his three pastors. Francis Bailey, every- 
 thing that an elder ought to be ! 
 
 Now, if I do not stop, you will cry out as Festus did to Paul ; and if 
 so, I believe I should make the same reply. William Plummer had two 
 brothers. George studied divinity ; left our body. Thomas, in his will, 
 left a legacy for First Church Sabbath School, which first built a school 
 house, then, under Judge Porter and others, it became the Sixth Presby- 
 terian Church. I think John Herron, of Minersville, was once an elder 
 in the First Church ; at any rate, he was a godly man. 
 
 I think it is not too much to say that the Western Theological Seminary, 
 in its earlier years, was sustained mainly by the First Church. Dr. Her- 
 ron's casting vote decided its location, and he pressed a willing people 
 often to the verge of endurance for its support. When I was appointed 
 agent to raise $10,000 for its endowment, I was empowered to say that 
 Michael Allen would pay the tenth, and that a son of elder Blair paid 
 my traveling expenses. There was then a great cry against agents, but 
 one thus heralded could not be spoken against. The Western Foreign 
 Missionary Society was born in the little lecture room back of the old 
 church building. In Dr. Herron's parlor, John Breckenridge succeeded 
 in raising a pledge for $10,000 for his "educational scheme," which he 
 avowed was absolutely necessary to ensure the success of his plea elsewhere. 
 The late James Laughlin was useful to you. His presence always recalled 
 to memory his brother, Alexander Laughlin ; and the late James Dalzell 
 was linked in memory with his noble brother John. 
 
 Dear brother, is young Pittsburgh equal to old Pittsburgh in solid 
 worth ? Can you mate those who labored with Herron and Paxton ? I 
 hope so ! 
 
 The Richard Lea of 1823, aged thirteen, subscribes himself, 
 
 Yours, 
 
 R. Lea. [1883.] 
 
 [Received May 3d, 1883.— S. F. S.] 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 225 
 
 The following full list of elders, with date of election, is 
 printed here for convenience of reference : 
 
 Ordained 
 
 James Hanson 1832 
 
 Frederick Lorenz 1840 
 
 In Office in 
 
 Robert Galbraith 1789 
 
 John Wilkins 1789 
 
 Wm. Dunning 1789 
 
 George Pluramer 1801 
 
 Jeremiah Sturgeon 1803 
 
 James B. Clow 1803 
 
 John Wilkins 1803 
 
 Wm. Dunning 1803 
 
 James Cooper 1811 
 
 [As early as 1803.) 
 
 James B. Clow 1811 
 
 Ordained. 
 
 James Brown 1812 
 
 JohnM. Snowden 1812 
 
 Wm. Blair 1818 
 
 Thomas Hazelton 1818 
 
 J. Thompson 1818 
 
 John Hannen 1818 
 
 James Sample 1827 
 
 Harmar Denny 1829 
 
 Wm. Plummer 1829 
 
 James Wilson 1829 
 
 John Herron 1832 
 
 John Wright 1832 
 
 Richard Edwards 1832 
 
 Alexander Laughlin 1832 
 
 James H. Davis 1832 
 
 F. G. Bailey 1840 
 
 Hugh McClelland 1840 
 
 R. W. Poindexter 1840 
 
 Samuel Spencer 1855 
 
 Robert Beer 1855 
 
 Samuel Rea 1855 
 
 John D. McCord 1855 
 
 David Robinson 1862 
 
 Joseph McKnight 1862 
 
 Joseph W. Spencer 1862 
 
 John A. Renshaw 1862 
 
 Robert S. Davis 1862 
 
 J. W. Wishart..... 1868 
 
 James Dickson 1868 
 
 E. T. Cook 1868 
 
 Robert A.Clarke 1868 
 
 J. E. Ayers 1870 
 
 Henry Forsyth 1870 
 
 John A. Caughey 1873 
 
 A. M. Marshall 1873 
 
 James Laughlin, Jr 1873 
 
 Samuel A. Espy 1879 
 
 Charles Holmes 1879 
 
 James L.Marshall 1879 
 
 John T. Daniel 1879 
 
 At the conclusion of this paper, the Rev. William Miller, 
 pastor of Beulah Church (Presbytery of Blairsville), being in- 
 troduced, presented the congratulations of that venerable church. 
 Mr. Miller called to mind the fact that in the first pastorate, that 
 of the Rev. Samuel Barr, the church of Beulah (then known as 
 Pitts Township Church,) was associated with the First Church in 
 the call, and the two constituted the charge. He referred to the 
 fact that the church of Pitts Township made a call upon the 
 Presbytery for help, similar to ours, and very soon after it. As 
 the First Church appeared alive at the April meeting, the other 
 appeared at the October meeting of that same eventful year, 
 1784. Some pleasing facts were given concerning the early 
 friendship between the pastors and the churches, and intelligence 
 
22(l SUPPLEMENTARY STATEMENT. 
 
 given of the steady life and growth of the Beulah Church. 
 Though we had been independent of each other since 1789, there 
 had always been many bonds of intimacy and fellowship between 
 the congregations. Mr. Miller intimated that there would be a 
 celebration of their centennial in October, and invoked the 
 blessing of God upon the work of the century to come. 
 
 The Rev. Wm, Robinson, pastor of the Providence Church, 
 Allegheny City, followed. Mr. Robinson claimed a certain affinity 
 with the old church, which he defined as — because he had married 
 one of the sisters — that of a brother-in-law. He had worshiped 
 here when a student at the Theological Seminary and had always 
 known the work and history of the church. His own charge, 
 which had been indeed a "Providence" to many in spiritual 
 things, had originated in the faithful work of one Christian woman 
 of this church [Mrs. R. W. Poindexter], who, many years ago, 
 and assisted by two theological students, had planted the church 
 by organizing a Sabbath School in a lager beer hall. The con- 
 gratulations and best wishes of Mr. Robinson were expressed 
 with great fervor and found an echo in many hearts. 
 
 Thus closed the more formal exercises of the occasion. A few 
 words from Dr. Cowan, announcements for the evening social 
 meeting, and the audience separated. 
 
REMINISCENCES. 227 
 
 TUESDAY EVENING. 
 
 APRIL 15TH, 1884. 
 
 REMINISCENCES. 
 
 Very early in the evening the people began to assemble in the 
 lecture room and Sabbath School rooms. These, because of their 
 perfect adaptation to all the demands of the occasion, gave new 
 cause of thankfulness that they had been completed. Busy hands 
 had arrayed them most tastefully, and the scene presented as the 
 upper floor with its tributary rooms and galleries were filled with 
 happy throngs and became vocal with eager greetings and bright 
 with the good cheer of Christian fellowship, renewed in many in- 
 stances after years of interval, was one long to be remembered. 
 The contrast with the homeless condition of the infant church, 
 utterly unfurnished a century ago for either work or worship, 
 pressed itself upon many hearts. How gladly were welcomed 
 some of the aged members who made special exertions to attend 
 the re-union. Reminiscences too sacred for the public services, 
 came up to mutual remembrance. There were moistened eyes too, 
 as well as merry faces, when the thought came of some the 
 church had loved and honored, who seemed but a few years ago 
 cpaite as reasonably to anticipate mingling in these pleasant fes- 
 tivities as any who were present. But as they were remem- 
 bered, who can say they were not in some sense present joying 
 and beholding the order ? 
 
 Below, most admirable arrangements had been made for just 
 such refreshments as best helped, but would not hinder the re- 
 
uniting of a family so widely scattered. Children and parents 
 (and some grandparents) were there together, and many helpful 
 ones of former days came with many representatives of sister 
 churches, at the widely circulated invitation of the committee. 
 The reputation of the old church for hospitality, suffered noth- 
 ing in connection with the ample and admirable arrangements 
 of the evening. The present membership seemed to vie with 
 each other in doing the utmost of each to make the occasion 
 pleasant to former members and older members, and reassuring 
 as to future attachment to the dear old church. 
 
 About nine o'clock the throngs were gradually transferred to 
 the main audience room. They were Avelcomed there with an 
 anthem by the choir, whose magnificent choral singing through- 
 out the exercises had lent so much of devotional interest to the 
 occasion, and to whom most earnest thanks are due. 
 
 It was greatly to be regretted that a sudden indisposition 
 prevented the attendance of Dr. Paxton. Many had anticipated 
 that his reminiscences would prove one of the most delightful 
 and valuable features of the whole occasion. Addresses, im- 
 promptu, were made by a number of those present, of which 
 such imperfect fragments as can now be gathered are presented. 
 
 It was fitting that the first of these kindly expressions 
 should be made by Dr. E. P. Cowan, the already well known 
 and beloved pastor of the Third Presbyterian Church. Though 
 so recently come among us, one of his first duties had been to 
 conduct the semi-centennial festival of the Third Church, and 
 thus he had learned to know the mother church in studying the 
 childhood of the daughter. Dr. Cowan happily mingled the 
 grave and the gay in congratulating the church upon the long 
 period of life now passed. The assurance that the First Church 
 was "orthodox," was received with merriment enough to make it 
 evident that the community understood the constancy of the old 
 congregation. The warm and hearty words of Dr. Cowan found 
 their echo in a freshened sense of the tender ties with which the 
 First is bound to the Third, and a quickened desire for its pros- 
 perity and special blessing upon the faithful labors of its present 
 pastor. 
 
 Mr. John Renshaw being called upon in behalf of Shadyside 
 Church, responded in remarks which referred to his memories 
 of the time when he was connected with the old church. Mr. 
 
REMINISCENCES. 229 
 
 Renshaw had been an elder in the First Church, and was 
 really the founder of the Shadyside Church. It was a gratifi- 
 cation that one honored in both congregations and so trusted 
 in the whole community, could be present to represent one of 
 the most flourishing of the younger churches into which the 
 life of the old church has freely entered. 
 
 The Rev. N. B. C. Comingo (of a suburban church,) would 
 have been designated by his name, (Neville B. Craig,) even had 
 he not been by the esteem in which he is held by the present 
 membership of the First Church. His presence was a peculiar 
 pleasure, accompanying as he did, his mother, whose name is con- 
 nected so prominently with the earliest activities of the young 
 women's first associations for missionary work. Mr. Comingo 
 mentioned the fact, scarcely to be paralleled, that six generations 
 of the family to which he belonged had worshiped in the church 
 since its origin in 1784. He recalled the accounts of the past 
 which he had heard from others, and spoke of the blessing which 
 had come to the city and community through the steady life and 
 work of the First Church during its completed century. 
 
 The earnest and vigorous pastor of the Sixth Church, the 
 Reverend H. C. McClelland, spoke of the early relations of that 
 church to the First, of the constancy which had been charac- 
 teristic of the First Church history, of the solid (and in length 
 abundant,) pulpit instruction which had been given to theo- 
 logical students and others who worshiped here : and, true to his 
 own burning zeal, exhorted the church to a devotedness which 
 should surpass its past in bringing many sons unto glory. 
 
 Mr. William Little, being introduced by Mr. Scovel, spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : When I was a little boy, nearly 
 three-quarters of a century ago, I sometimes declaimed a little 
 speech commencing in this way : 
 
 "You'd scarce expect one of my age 
 To speak in public on the stage." 
 
 If such a thing would be unexpected in a boy scarce three 
 feet high, how much more so must it appear for one who has 
 passed the allotted period of man's life, thus to make an exhibi- 
 tion of himself. 
 
230 REMINISCENCES. 
 
 My only excuse for such conduct in one who ought to know 
 better, is that my friend Mr. Scovel must be held responsible, 
 and it happened in this wise : 
 
 Some time since I met the Doctor, and in conversation with 
 him on the approaching centennial celebration, I innocently re- 
 marked, " Do you know, Doctor, that I am perhaps the only 
 living person who was baptized by Mr. Steele, the predecessor of 
 Dr. Herron?" "Is that so?" said he. "Then we must have you at 
 the anniversay." " Certainly I will be there, if alive," said I, not • 
 dreaming that the Doctor had any hidden design upon me. Ac- 
 1 cordingly I came here to-night, on invitation of your committee, 
 and now learn that I am expected to exhibit myself as a 
 veritable antique. [Laughter.] You know that connoisseurs in 
 gems are particularly delighted if they can obtain one of un- 
 doubted antiquity, and if it is a little battered, if it only gives 
 undoubted evidence of age and original purity, it is prized accord- 
 ingly. Whether these qualities Avill apply to me or not is for 
 you to judge. As to the antiquity there can be no doubt, and so 
 I now present myself before you, as a veritable antique in a 
 tolerably good state of preservation. 
 
 To prove my title, I believe I am expected to relate some 
 reminiscences of the olden time when this old church was young. 
 
 In this matter I have been largely forestalled by my vener- 
 able friend, Rev. Richard Lea, who this afternoon gave a very 
 full and succinct history of the earlier men and days of the 
 church, leaving but little for me to say, and I might stop just 
 here, and say in the words of another, slightly altered, " which I 
 saw, and part of which I was." Mr. Lea, himself, is an antique 
 gem of purest water, and I gladly here drop a tribute to the worth 
 of a man who, from boyhood up to the mature age at which he 
 has arrived, has truly borne the reputation of being " an Israelite 
 indeed, in whom is no guile." 
 
 I remember, with great distinctness, all the venerable men 
 whom he mentioned as the pillars of the church under Dr. 
 Herron's administration — Elders Cooper, Hannen, Snowden, 
 Spencer, Wright, and many other worthies as they ministered at 
 the altar of their Master. I recall also, in my mind's eye, 
 the noted old families of Pittsburgh who occupied the large 
 square pews in the front part and corners of the church. The 
 old square church, built as you have heard, over the original 
 
REMINISCENCES. 231 
 
 log house, the addition of the wings, the hanging of the elegant 
 chandelier presented by General O'Hara, all are as fresh in my 
 recollection as if of yesterday. You will excuse me, I am sure, 
 if I relate an anecdote or two of that odd genius who for so 
 many years officiated as sexton of the church, to the great comfort 
 of the congregation, and afterwards to their intense amusement. 
 I mean Archie Henderson. As to the church, it was always kept 
 in complete order; dirt and dust were strangers to the place. 
 But Archie did not like boys and dogs. He was the terror of all 
 bad boys, but to dogs he had a particular aversion. 
 
 In those days there must have been more dogs in proportion 
 to the population than at present, or else they were more 
 piously inclined, for certain it is, they very often intruded their 
 presence in the church, to the great disgust of the sexton. He 
 was always, however, equal to the occasion, and arming himself 
 with a cudgel, he would follow the unhappy canine all through 
 the house, until an opportunity to inflict corporal punishment 
 offered, when down came the clubhand loud rose the lamentations 
 of the unfortunate cur, whilst the congregation, to their shame 
 be it said — laughed. 
 
 On one occasion, an unlucky dog in search of his master 
 got far into the church before he was discovered, but he 
 was pursued with relentless vigor until cornered. Archie 
 seizing him by the neck, was carrying him howling from the 
 church, when Dr. Herron stopped in his sermon. Archie noticing 
 the stop, turned round and waving his hand to the Doctor, ex- 
 claimed, "Go on, Doctor, go on; never mind me." Imagine the 
 situation if you can. 
 
 He had a great regard for the proprieties. One day one of 
 Dr. Herron's daughters thought she would take a seat in the 
 gallery. This did not suit the sexton's ideas of propriety, so step- 
 ping up softly to where she was sitting and reproving her 
 sharply, he took her by the wrist, led her along the gallery, down 
 the stairs and up to the pastor's pew, and seating her in her 
 proper place, walked off. 
 
 The chandelier presented by General O'Hara, was a never 
 ending source of delight to him, as it was to the boys, who often 
 went to church just to see it lit up "at early candle light" (as Dr. 
 Herron's announcements always were made for evening service.) 
 It was a very handsome affair, and it was a treat to see Archie 
 
232 REMINISCENCES. 
 
 light it up for service ; each sperm candle had been previously 
 tipped with turpentine so that as the torch touched it it went off 
 in a bright flame, and as the hundred candles were thus lighted 
 one after another, in rapid succession, it was a source of never 
 ending pleasure to Archie and the boys, of whom it need not be 
 said (perhaps) your speaker was one. 
 
 Mr. Lea, in his address, remarked on the extreme nicety and 
 accuracy with which he dug the graves of the people. It was 
 his great pride to have an exact fit, and the soil being well 
 adapted for this, he never failed. (In parenthesis I would here 
 say, that in those earlier days the dead were buried in plain coffins 
 of cherry, walnut or mahogany, and not in the extravagant 
 caskets, so called, of the present day.) But Archie's day at last 
 came, and the problem was solved, "Who should bury Archie 
 Henderson, when he had buried everybody else ? " 
 
 It was not my privilege to attend a Sabbath School in my boy- 
 hood. I do not remember any such in immediate connection 
 with the First Church. My Sabbath School was by my mother's 
 side. Every Sabbath afternoon I was expected to recite the 
 Shorter Catechism, until at last I knew every word of it from 
 beginning to end; but we did have Bible classes conducted by Dr. 
 Herron himself in the church building on Sabbath afternoons in 
 the winter. These were attended by the older boys and girls, 
 and by many young men and women, and were interesting and 
 instructive occasions ; a portion of the Scriptures being under 
 examination, and each person being expected to be prepared to 
 answer any question put to him or her. 
 
 Here I first met Eichard Lea, a long headed boy, who thus 
 early was remarkable for his good behavior and studiousness, and 
 was even then predestined to be a preacher of the gospel. 
 
 But as the hour is late and Presbyterian bedtime (as it has 
 been called to-night,) being near at hand, I must bring these 
 desultory and unprepared remarks to a close, and commending 
 your venerable church to the fatherly care of that good Lord 
 who for one hundred years has prospered you so largely, I pray 
 that the future may be as the past, but yet more abundant. 
 
 The Rev. Geo. Webster represented the church on the South 
 Side, in which some of the members of the First Church took 
 part when it was being planted as a Sabbath School : and which 
 had been lately aided by the First Church (and other churches,) 
 
REMINISCENCES. 233 
 
 to escape the burden of debt. He spoke of the general life of a 
 church as part of the body of Christ, and gave warmest acknowl- 
 edgments of the work which the great Head of the Church has 
 accomplished by the instrumentality of the church now celebrat- 
 ing its centennial. The interest attaching to his remarks is 
 deepened by the fact that in the interval to this writing his 
 useful life has been closed, and his reward in heaven has begun. 
 He knows now the life of the "church of the first-born which 
 are written in heaven." 
 
 DevotionaJ exercises, serious and tender, were then conducted. 
 In them Dr. J. N. Brownson, of Washington, took part, and they 
 were closed by the last pastor of the church. 
 
 Thus ended a celebration for which there was ample reason, 
 and which, by all that transpired during its progress, emphasized 
 the grace of God, and the tender care of the church's Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the necessity of the presence of the Holy Spirit : 
 which showed how the memory of the just is blessed : which has 
 made a landmark of progress, and increased the knowledge of 
 that progress : and which cannot but be useful both as a guide 
 and a stimulus to progress in the future. 
 
 May God own all His own which was in it, to His own glory. 
 "To whom be glory, and dominion, and power, for ever and ever. 
 Amen." 
 
 16 
 
234 
 
 CHURCH BUILDINGS. 
 
 '8* 
 
 If 
 
 'ipf 
 
 It I l#f Ijlllf 
 
 liHlBifi. 
 
 ijj ijiij |i 
 
 Old Sabbath School Koom— 1816. 
 
 Church Building— 1852. 
 
 New Sabbath School Room— 1881. 
 
236 PREFACE TO APPENDIX. 
 
 PREFACE TO APPENDIX. 
 
 Extracts from the two first papers here printed, together with 
 the letter of the Rev. John Rea, were read in the services of 
 Sabbath Morning, April 20th. The remaining documents are 
 printed as contributions to the Church History, or mementoes of 
 its centennial celebration, or records of its present organization. 
 
sLOv"UJv\mX viKWV. 
 
APPENDIX. 237 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FIRST PASTORATE. 
 
 BY THE DAUGHTER OF THE PASTOR, MISS JANE A. BARR. 
 
 Note. Several of the children of the Rev. Samuel Barr were of eminent piety. 
 No one was either more gifted or more devoted than the writer of this notice of her 
 father. She passed the closing years of her life at Washington, D. C, where I had the 
 pleasure of seeing her in February, 1877. Her interesting correspondence and the 
 manuscript of this history will be found in our archives. Scarcely any language 
 can express the affectionate esteem in which she was held by her younger sisters and 
 the other still younger members of the family circle. May the printing of this tender 
 memorial of her father help to make blessed the memory both of father and daughter. 
 -[S. F. S.] 
 
 My father, the Kev. Samuel Barr, one of the earliest pioneer preachers 
 of the gospel in Western Pennsylvania, and first pastor of the First Pres- 
 byterian Church in Pittsburgh, was born February 4th, 1751, near Lon- 
 donderry, Ireland. His father, who died in comparatively early life, was 
 a respectable farmer. His mother was of Scotch parentage, and was dis- 
 tinguished for her devoted piety and great decision of character. She 
 had an apartment in her house consecrated to purposes of private devo- 
 tion, where she retired, regularly and statedly, to hold communion with 
 God ; and where she took her children, one by one, to instruct them in 
 the great principles of the Christian religion, praying with, and for them, 
 and dedicating them, over and over, to the God of the Covenant. 
 
 Who can doubt but that she followed her eldest son with earnest 
 prayer through his educational career, then across the trackless ocean, to 
 the home of his adoption, and afterwards to his chosen field of labor ? 
 Perhaps much of the harmony and prosperity of the First Church in 
 Pittsburgh, up to the present day, may be attributed to the fervent 
 prayers of this Christian mother, "for are they not all in God's Book?" 
 
 My father received his collegiate and theological education at the 
 University of Glasgow, Scotland ; and I have in my possession numerous 
 certificates from the professors in that time honored institution of 
 
238 APPENDIX. 
 
 learning, dating from 1775 to 1783. One of these I will transcribe here 
 as a specimen of the quaint and cautious Scotch professor : 
 
 Glasgow College, April 5th, 1780. 
 
 This is to certify that the bearer, Mr. Samuel Barr, student in Theology in this 
 
 University, did attend the Ecclesiastical History lectures, given here this season, from 
 
 the opening of the same to the date hereof, and that he behaved himself dutif ull .- , 
 
 properly, and worthily, in that and in every other respect, as far as is known to me. 
 
 J. F. Macleod, Historical Professor. 
 
 My father was licensed to preach the glorious gospel of the blessed 
 God, late in 1783, or early in 1784, as in the latter year he came to Amer- 
 ica, one year after the preliminaries of peace had been signed between 
 the United States and Great Britain, thus constituting him a citizen of 
 this country, almost from the period of its existence as an independent 
 nation. It would seem as if there was a special Providence in my father 
 bringing with him from his native land a letter of introduction to Mr. 
 James McDowel, of New London, Chester county, whose eldest daughter be 
 married the following year ; and as the church at New London was then 
 without a pastor, my father was immediately invited to fill their pulpit, 
 as stated supply, which he did for several months, so much to their ac- 
 ceptance, that they gave him a unanimous call, which he held under 
 advisement for some time, but afterwards declined, to go to the more 
 destitute West. The church of New London was at that period one of 
 the oldest and most respectable in the country, perhaps, outside of the 
 large cities. Their organization dated back to 1720. Among others, they 
 had enjoyed the ministry of the Rev. Francis Allison, D. D., who was 
 not only eminent as a preacher, but who had established among them, as 
 early as 1743, a classical academy, at which some of the most useful and 
 distinguished men of that day were educated. He was called from them 
 to fill the high position of Vice Provost and Professor of Moral Philos- 
 ophy in the University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 As my parents both died in my early childhood, and all are dead from 
 whom I could derive information, I am left to conjecture as to why my 
 father made so unselfish a choice, and I account for it in the following 
 way : Mr. McDowel, my grandfather, in addition to the cultivation of 
 a large farm, was also extensively engaged in the manufacture of flour, 
 which he exported largely to the West Indies, and had a train of wagons 
 constantly employed in carrying it to Fort Pitt, then the very far West, 
 the few settlers beyond coming into that place to obtain their supplies. 
 Hotels were scarce at that time, and all genteel travelers from the West, 
 the merchants especially, coming East to make their purchases — more 
 especially those gentlemen to whom my grandfather consigned his flour — 
 were all entertained at his hospitable mansion, which was on the direct 
 route between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. My father meeting these 
 responsible gentlemen from Pittsburgh there, as I suppose, was so im- 
 pressed by them with the importance of the field and its entire destitution, 
 that he decided in favor of Pittsburgh. Being without local attachments, 
 
APPENDIX. 239 
 
 the country " was before him where to choose, and God," I trust, " his 
 guide." 
 
 I have no idea he made this decision without a positive understanding 
 with these gentlemen of standing and influence ; he was too prudent and 
 sensible a man, too devoted as a husband and father through his whole 
 life, for me to entertain for a moment any other supposition. Neither 
 would my grandfather have been justifiable in permitting his daughter to 
 leave her comfortable home upon any uncertainty. Accordingly he was 
 ordained by the Presbytery of New Castle, (sine titulo) at New London, 
 June 15th, 1785, and on the 29th of October following, was united in 
 marriage to Miss Mary McDowel ; and in a few days after they set out 
 for Pittsburgh, performing the whole journey on horseback, taking with 
 them as a servant, a colored girl, who also rode a horse, to which she was 
 strapped to prevent her falling off in case she went to sleep. I presume 
 they reached their destination in November, from which period I date 
 the commencement of my father's ministry in Pittsburgh. 
 
 As to the value of the land on which the First Church is built, 
 which was obtained from the heirs of Penn, through my father's 
 agency, more is known to the church than to myself. My father's 
 ministry was short, something less than five years. So far as I 
 can learn, his interest in the field was undiminished, but, as was to be 
 expected, my mother was unhappy at the separation from her family, and, 
 as I am informed, she could not accustom herself to the rough country 
 and people, and being of a timid disposition, she lived in continual terror 
 of the Indians, who were very numerous, and who would carry off one 
 or the other of her infant boys and keep them all day in their wigwams, 
 she being afraid to show any want of faith in them, even so much as to 
 ask them not to take them, or enquire when they would bring them back ; 
 but when they did return them, she always felt as if she had received 
 them from the dead. I infer from this fact, often related by my brother 
 (lately deceased) to his children, and who had learned it from his mother's 
 own lips, that the Indians must have, at this time, outnumbered the white 
 population. Hannah, the servant girl, when she returned to New London, 
 entertained the servants at her old master's with the war whoop, with 
 which she had become familiar in Pittsburgh. 
 
 But while my father's stay in Pittsburgh was short, it was long enough 
 for him to create sufficient interest among all classes to build the first 
 house of worship ever attempted to be erected in the present large city 
 of Pittsburgh ; the humble mother church, from which many other Pres- 
 byterian churches in Pittsburgh have sprung. He sowed the good seed 
 of the Word, which has brought forth fruit a hundred fold to the glory 
 of God. In going West just when he did, and undoubtedly he made great 
 sacrifices in going, I believe he helped to save that region of country to 
 Protestantism certainly, and perhaps very largely to that grand organiza- 
 tion — the Presbyterian Church. 
 

 240 APPENDIX. 
 
 I regret exceedingly that in the frequent removals of my father's family 
 after his death, most of his valuable papers were scattered and lost. 
 They no doubt contained much that would have been interesting at the 
 present day, not only to the First Church, but to the citizens of Pitts- 
 burgh generally. My father was chairman of the committee which 
 Located the first market house in Pittsburgh; and I have no doubt, from 
 his executive talents, that he did much to advance the temporal as well as 
 the spiritual interests of the community. That facilities in the mode of 
 traveling had greatly increased in a few years, I infer from the fact that 
 we have furniture in the family which our parents bought and used in 
 Pittsburgh, and brought it with them when they came from the West. 
 
 After returning to the East, my father settled in New Castle, Delaware, 
 within twenty miles of my mother's home. The church in New Castle 
 claims to be the oldest Presbyterian church in the country, with the 
 exception, perhaps, of the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, and 
 the church at Snow Hill, Maryland. They were an organized church in 
 1700, and earlier. The building occupied at that time, and in which my 
 father preached in 1790, is an excellent and substantial structure yet, 
 though they have erected alongside of it a handsome modern edifice. 
 The congregation, though never very large, has always been remarkable 
 for piety and culture. As early as 1709, Thomas Janvice was a ruling 
 elder in this church. This gentleman was a Huguenot, who had escaped 
 from France in the reign of Louis XIV, upon the revocation of the 
 Edict of Nantes. My youngest sister, Margaret, is married to one of his 
 lineal descendants, Mr. Benjamin A. Janvice. 
 
 My father departed this life May .".1st, 1818, and with my mother, who 
 died four years previously (April 25th, 1814), was buried at New Castle. 
 
 Copied from the family record : 
 
 " James MeDowel, first son of Samuel and Mary Barr, was born at Pittsburgh, Pa., 
 September 14th, 17*0: was baptized April 24th. 1787, by the Kev. Joseph Smith, and 
 died of consumption at New Castle, December 3d, 1814." 
 
 " Robert Hamilton, second son of Samuel and Mary Barr, was born at Pittsburgh. 
 Pa., May 25th, 1788 ; was baptized August 16th, by the Rev. James Dunlap, and died 
 in New Castle, December 25th, 1875, aged eighty-seven years and seven months." 
 
 He attained to more than the years of his fathers, yet his hearing was 
 perfect, his eye not dim, nor his mental faculties in any degree impaired. 
 To the last he cherished a warm affection for the place of his birth, and 
 always rejoiced in its increasing prosperity. 
 
 There were ten children born in Delaware, most of whom, with the two 
 born in Pittsburgh, are interred with our parents in New Castle. Said 
 the aged Barzillai, " When I die, bury me beside my father and my 
 mother." Two only, of the twelve children, died in their early infancy ; 
 but not until they had been baptized into the name of the Divine Trinity ; 
 "and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their forehead." 
 
 Three daughters, Jane, Elizabeth and Margaret (the youngest of the 
 family), still survive, and are living witnesses that the promises of God 
 are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus. 
 
APPENDIX. 241 
 
 Signed by the eldest surviving daughter of the first pastor of the First 
 Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. 
 
 Jane A. Barr. 
 September 12th, 1877. 
 
 No. 1753 Rhode Island Avenue, •> 
 
 Washington, D. C, April 10th, 1884. } 
 
 Rev. S. F. Scovel, 
 
 Wooster, Ohio. 
 Dear Brother : On the 5th instant, at my request, my son David 
 R. McKee acknowledged the receipt of your letter of the 28th ultimo, 
 conveying the kind invitation of the Session of the dear old First Church 
 of Pittsburgh, to participate in its centennial anniversary on the 13th, 
 14th and 15th instant. I then feared that my physical condition would 
 debar me from the pleasure of joining you on that interesting occasion, 
 but sent word that I would write definitely in a few days. I write now 
 to say that I think it will be dangerous to my health to make so long a 
 journey in the present unsettled state of the weather. I am still suffering 
 somewhat from the effects of a fall on an icy pavement ; but chiefly from 
 the fact that a cataract lias almost wholly darkened the windows of my 
 earthly tenement. 
 
 If time served, and I were not apprehensive of wearying you, I could 
 detail many incidents touching the early history of the church and con- 
 gregation which might be new to the present generation. I must, 
 however, be very brief. 
 
 I am now in my eighty-fourth year and my life has been a busy and 
 eventful one ; but its courses and chief activities undoubtedly have been 
 laid, shaped and directed greatly by the influence exerted upon me as a 
 young man by the pastor and members of »the First Presbyterian Church 
 of Pittsburgh. I was- born at MeKeesport, December 7th, 1800. My father 
 died in February, 1807, and in the fall of that year my mother removed 
 her family to Fort Pitt. My recollection is that the First Church had then 
 for minister the Rev. Mr. Steele, and that the congregation worshiped in 
 a log building on Wood street, which was not taken down until the walls 
 of the new brick church were erected around it ; and that Dr. Herron 
 soon afterwards arrived from Cumberland county and assumed the pas- 
 torate. Passing over the intervening nine or ten years, which I partly 
 spent on the farm of my uncle McCoy,, in Washington county, and in the 
 service of Messrs. Hugh & James Jelly, merchants, in Pittsburgh, I 
 come to the most important epoch of my life, when in the winter of 1817- 
 '18 I was arrested in a career of worldliness and frivolity — born again, as 
 I believe, and under the ministry of my dear old pastor, Dr. Herron, was 
 admitted to the communion of the church. Thenceforth I seemed to live 
 in a new world, and became desirous to serve a loving and compassionate 
 Master. 
 
242 APPENDIX. 
 
 At this time I was the book-keeper of J. L. Thompson, a merchant on 
 Market street. Soon after this, Dr. Herron and his Session selected three 
 young men to be educated by the church for the gospel ministry; of 
 which number I was one. The other two were William McComb and 
 Wells Bushnell. After anxious and prayerful consideration, and frequent 
 consultation with my friends, I reached the conclusion that the ministry 
 ought not to be my future vocation. The other two brethren accepted 
 the invitation of the Session, received a collegiate education at Canons- 
 burg, a theological training at Princeton, were in due time licensed to 
 preach the gospel, and for many years, as I am informed, served the 
 Master in Ohio and Northern Pennsylvania. Thus " two were taken and 
 one was left." Among the friends with whom I consulted on this im- 
 portant question, besides Dr. Herron, were the venerable and beloved 
 Rev. Joseph Patterson, James Cooper, Samuel Thompson, James Clow r 
 Hugh McClellan, James Brown and Robert Beer. 
 
 In 1818, Messrs. Southmayd Scovel and Thomas L. Pierce, of Zanes- 
 ville, Ohio, contracted with the manufacturers of salt on the Kanawha 
 river for all the salt made or to be made during several years, at one 
 dollar per bushel, and established a depot at Wheeling, in connection with 
 a mercantile store. For the management of this important concern I was 
 most unexpectedly selected. By the advice of my brother and other 
 friends, I accepted the appointment, and in July of that year removed to- 
 Wheeling, where I resided for upwards of thirty years. 
 
 Wheeling was then a small town of about 1,000 inhabitants ; but being 
 the western terminus of the great National Boad, was destined to become 
 a city of importance. Its moral status was, however, vastly different 
 from that of the city from which I had recently come. The Sabbath was 
 a day of recreation and ordinary business pursuits. There was no per- 
 manent church organization of any kind, and there was little attention 
 paid to the education and religious instruction of the youth. The town 
 was considered within the bounds of the "Forks of Wheeling Presby- 
 terian Church," six or seven miles distant, and was visited by the pastor 
 of that church, the Rev. James Hervey, once in two weeks. He lived on 
 a farm some four or five miles distant ; rode in on Sabbath mornings and 
 preached to a limited number in the old court house, and then rode home. 
 There were several respectable families in the town, called Presbyterians ; 
 but on inquiry I could find but one man and some five or six old ladies 
 who were communing members of that church. The missionary labors 
 of Mr. Hervey had not resulted in the establishment of either a Sabbath 
 School or weekly prayer meeting.* 
 
 To me the change was very great and discouraging; but Providence 
 had evidently sent me there, and, young as I was, I felt it incumbent 
 upon me to do something to better the morals of the place. In this I was 
 greatly blest. In the fall of that year, 1818, I established the first 
 Wheeling Sabbath School (the first,' I think, in Western Virginia), and 
 was superintendent of it for twenty-five years following. About the same 
 
APPENDIX. 243 
 
 time, or soon after, Wednesday night prayer meetings were established, 
 and in two or three years the Presbyterians were formally organized as a 
 congregation, and in 1823 as a church, by the Kev. Mr. McCurdy, and the 
 services of Kev. William Wylie were secured for alternate Sundays. 
 From this time forth the church grew with the prosperity of the city, and 
 before I left Wheeling there were four churches of our order in the city, 
 with regular pastors. By the grace of the Great Head of the Church, 
 the "little one had become a thousand." Elected an elder in 1823, I was 
 called frequently to attend meetings of Presbytery and Synod, and in 
 1823 served my first term in the General Assembly. 
 
 In 1827 I was elected by the General Assembly a member of the first 
 Board of Trustees for the location and organization of the Western 
 Theological Seminary. After careful and prayerful consideration of the 
 various sites proposed, this honored school of the prophets was finally 
 given to Allegheny City. It was my privilege to attend the semi-centen- 
 ary of that school, in 1877, at that place. Dr. C. C. Beatty and myself 
 were then the only survivors of the original Board of Trustees. He has 
 since gone to his rest, and I alone remain. 
 
 In 1850 I was appointed by President Fillmore to be one of three 
 United States Commissioners to California, to settle the Indian difficulties 
 then existing. In this we were happily successful, and I had the honor 
 of locating six hostile tribes on the first reservation ever allotted to 
 Indians on that coast. At the end of my term of service I concluded to 
 remove my family to California, which I did, in 1852. 
 
 It would extend this letter to an unreasonable length were I to detail 
 my participation in the establishment of Sabbath Schools and churches 
 on the Pacific coast. I will mention, however, that the eminently pros- 
 perous Calvary Church of San Francisco was organized in 1854, and from 
 its start I have served, in my feeble way, as a ruling elder through the 
 highly successful pastorates of Dr. Scott, Dr. Wadsworth and Rev. Mr. 
 Hemphill, and still retain my ecclesiastical connection with that church. 
 About the organization of the Theological Seminary of the Pacific coast 
 and the unexampled growth of the Presbyterian church in that part of 
 the country, and about other church matters in different sections of the 
 country in which I have been interested, including the organization of 
 the great American Tract Society in New York, * and my service during 
 five sessions of the General Assembly, I am admonished to forbear 
 further detail. 
 
 In conclusion, I beg you to do me the favor to communicate to the 
 meeting a brief summary of the foregoing, and to express my grateful 
 remembrance of the guidance and assistance I received from the pastor 
 
 *In 1877, at the Semi-Centennial of the American Tract Society, but four of 
 the founders were known to be living. Three were present, of whom Mr. R. McKee 
 was one. Now, August, 1884, Mr. McKee is the only survivor of the four. Mr. McKee 
 has also received the honor of honorary membership in the Cliosophic Society of 
 Princeton College, because of his pioneer work in behalf of education in West Vir- 
 ginia, Missouri and California. 
 
244 APPENDIX. 
 
 and members of the First Church in my youthful days. My prayer is 
 that their successors of the present day may be equally instrumental in 
 advancing the cause and kingdom of the Saviour in the time to come. 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 ^ 7^7 
 
 570 Thirteenth Street, ^ 
 
 Oakland, Cal., April 9th, 1884. } 
 Dear Old First Church : 
 
 It is with sincere regret that I send a letter instead of coming in person 
 to the centennial. I know you will have a glorious time, and I almost 
 repine at not being able to be there. 
 
 A visit to the dear old place would at any time call up much of what 
 has gone into tbe years that are now numbered, but, at such a service as 
 that in which you are now engaged, all the past would be brought up with 
 intense vividness. My earliest recollections of the old home church run 
 back to the days when, accompanying my father to the choir gallery and 
 stepping down toward the front, I was cautioned not to touch the big 
 fiddles, — and I still recall with unfeigned pleasure my admiration of the 
 glories of "the great chandelier." 
 
 Certain days are very distinct. The one on which, in company with 
 one lone deaf lady, whose name I never knew, I stood up to confess the 
 Saviour and to hear the solemn words of our dear Dr. Paxton reminding 
 me that "holy angels were interested spectators of this scene." 
 
 I remember well the ordination of father, with Mr. McCord and others, 
 to the eldership,— and last but not least, my first Sabbath School work 
 done between the first and second posts in the old Sabbath School room. 
 
 With the exception of my seminary life, it has been twenty-two years 
 since I was part and parcel of the old home church, yet I have never lost 
 my affection for it. 
 
 And, indeed, I am more and more coming to feel that it has been the 
 one place whence the holiest and most enduring influences have fallen 
 upon and followed my life. 
 
 Dear old church ! < Let my right hand forget her cunning if I forget 
 thee ! Peace be within thy walls ! For my brethren and companions' 
 sake, — Peace be within thee ' — is the prayer of 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 JOHN EEA. 
 
APPENDIX. 245 
 
 1784 — 1884. 
 
 The Committee op Arrangements 
 
 Cordially invite you to attend the exercises in 
 connection with the celebration of the 
 
 lOOth. ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OF THE ORGAXIZATION OF 
 
 THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 
 
 Pittsburgh, Pa. 
 
 ORDER OF EXERCISES. 
 
 Sunday, April 13— Services, 10.30 A. M. and 3 and 7.30 P. M. 
 
 Monday, April 14 — Anniversary Meeting, 3 P. M. 
 
 Tuesday, April 15 — Reminiscences, 3 P. M. Reception, 7.30 P. M. 
 
 The following persons will participate in the exercises : 
 Rev. S. F. Scovel, Rev. Wm. Speer, Rev. Wji. M. Paxton, 
 
 Rev. Richard Lea, Rev. Jas. Allison, and others. 
 
 SUNDAY SCHOOL CENTENNIAL SERVICES, 
 FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, PITTSBURGH, 
 
 April 13, 1884. 
 
 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of OUR 
 COD, in the mountain of His holiness. 
 
 1784. 
 Pledges op Blessing to our Fathers. "Beautiful for situation, 
 the joy of the whole earth." 
 
 1884. 
 Bestowments of Blessing upon Ourselves. "As we have heard 
 so have we seen in the city of The Lord of Hosts." 
 
 1984. 
 Promises op Blessing to our Children. " Tell it to the generation 
 following." 
 
246 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 DR. HERRON'S TESTIMONY. 
 
 The following extract from the Presbyterian Banner, preserves an ex- 
 tract from a special sermon by Dr. Herron, and is 'peculiarly valuable as 
 an example of his fervor and of the positiveness of his convictions. The 
 sermon itself was destroyed by fire, after having been carefully kept by 
 the Doctor's family for years. 
 
 " The house of worship belonging to the First Presbyterian Church of 
 this city, which preceded the present large, substantial and commanding 
 edifice, was erected in 1804. Tbe late Eev. Francis Herron, D. D., had 
 begun his labors here in 1811. It was, therefore, with great propriety 
 that he was invited to preach the last sermon in the old house, which he 
 did with much force and deep feeling, although nearly eighty years old. 
 At the close of the sermon he made this declaration : 
 
 'And now I wish to say, in conclusion, my career in the gospel ministry is drawing 
 very near to a close. And having, in my feehle manner, preached ' the glorious 
 gospel of the blessed God,' for more than half a century, to my fellow-sinners, both 
 here and elsewhere, I wish it to be recorded and remembered, that I am not ashamed 
 of the gospel of Christ. And would to God that it was written as 'with a pen of iron 
 and with a point of a diamond,' on every heart, both of saint and sinner, that this 
 gospel is the only remedy for the ruined creature, man. And, my fellow-sinners, if 
 you are ever saved from the ruins of your apostacy, you must be saved by this gospel, 
 according to God's plan of salvation through Christ, to whom be glory for ever. 
 Amen.' 
 
 Such a testimony from such a man, when his work was about completed 
 and his long life nearly ended, is of great weight. He had been a close 
 observer of men and things, and had wielded an influence in this commu- 
 nity such as no other man possessed. He had seen the utter worthlessness 
 of everything else as a substitute for the gospel of Christ, and had often 
 witnessed the mighty power of God in the salvation of sinners." 
 
APPENDIX. 247 
 
 AN ADDRESS AT THE COMMUNION. 
 
 READ BY THE REV. DR. RICHARD LEA, 
 
 In the First Presbyterian Church, on the Fourth of July, 1880, more than 
 fifty-seven years after his first communion in 1823. 
 
 [Note. A copy of this unique and invaluable address was made and placed in 
 the corner-stone of the new lecture room. The original will be preserved in the 
 «hurch archives.] 
 
 In the year 1823, there stood where this building now stands, a large 
 brick building with three aisles, and a heavy gallery around three sides. 
 At night, candles were in the pulpit and on the pillars of the gallery, also 
 blazed over the centre aisle from a glass chandelier, at that time the 
 largest in the city. Three large stoves, one at each front door, just inside 
 the aisles, warmed the spacious building sufficiently for the hardy worship- 
 ers, while warm bricks could be procured from the sexton, at a reasonable 
 rate, for those whose health or frame was more delicate. At that time 
 there was one very small weekly meeting, every Wednesday night, with 
 so few men to lead in prayer, that sometimes a pious old lady was called 
 upon to pray. [Mrs. Mary Wilkins, who died January, 1879. — S. F. S.] 
 
 There was no instrument of music ; an organ, or choir, would by many 
 have been esteemed an abomination. One man, with a scarcely tolerated 
 pitchpipe, sat at the front of the pulpit, a small Englishman, a professional 
 musician, who almost invariably slept through the other services, and was 
 not unfrequently awakened by those depositing the collection bags to per- 
 form his duty at the close. Interments were then made in the yard, 
 which embraced the ground now occupied by Trinity Church. The green 
 sward, fine trees, and elevated position, with its multitude of tombstones, 
 made it a quiet, beautiful and spacious spot, where hundreds walked, 
 wept, and prayed. The congregation was then by far the most influential 
 in the city, presided over by its dignified and earnest pastor, Kev. Dr. 
 Herron, in the prime of useful life. The Sabbath School (before infant 
 schools were known here,) was taught in the lecture room, and in the rear 
 
of the church there was a small room where the elders not only convened 
 for business, but met every Sabbath morning for prayer, inviting, on com- 
 munion morning, all who wished to come and worship with them. That 
 little room was a sacred place. There the elders so long prayed. There 
 the young men commenced their prayer meeting, and laid their plans 
 for the formation of the Third Church. There the Western Theological 
 Seminary first convened ; it contained the library and the first class ; 
 and there, perhaps more than anywhere else, was formed the Western 
 Foreign Missionary Society. But we are now speaking of 1823, and 
 must not anticipate. Then the Second Presbyterian Church was in 
 Diamond alley. It was customary on communion Sabbaths, for one of the 
 pastors to shorten the services in his church, to enable him and others 
 wishing to do so, to attend the other cluirch in time to commune with 
 them. This fraternal intercourse was very precious to the few who par- 
 ticipated. The first communion I ever witnessed in Pittsburgh, was in 
 this church, I am almost certain, in 1823. On that morning Dr. Swift 
 entered in his solemn, stately way, and was warmly greeted by Dr. Herron. 
 Behind him came one or two of his elders, who walked up to the elders of 
 this church and received tokens for a few of the members of the Second 
 'Church who wished to commune. Communion services commenced. The 
 senior elder, Mr. Cooper, was slightly paralyzed, his hands shaking with 
 great violence when much excited. He was very particular in everything 
 connected with the tokens and insisted upon every young applicant being 
 well posted in the shorter catechism, and being perfectly free from Hop- 
 kinsianism, the error feared in that day. Judge Snowden was exceedingly 
 polite and gentlemanly in all his actions. Mr. Blair was calm, but 
 prompt, sterner, and perhaps feared more than the others, while Mr. 
 llannen appeared to be either praying, or doing something to promote the 
 comfort of somebody else all the time. Blessed men ! a noble line of 
 elders followed you, but they too would be pleased with the veneration 
 and love with which my soul goes out to you this day. While the hymn 
 was sung : 
 
 " 'Twas on that dark, that doleful night," 
 
 (a hymn which Dr. Herron always sang at communion, and I always after 
 him, until it was. dropped from the Hymnal, to my great regret,) the 
 people rose from all parts of the house, to occupy the first table, prin- 
 cipally family by family rising and going forward together, leaving 
 behind the non-communicants — who pretty generally remained. Some- 
 times this separation of families produced powerful impressions. All 
 seated, and the tokens lifted by the elders, a chair was taken from the 
 altar and placed at the head of the table for old father Patterson. He 
 was too old to stand, and sitting like a patriarch at the head of his 
 family, he commenced his prayer of consecration, "Oh, God, we thank 
 Thee for the light of this blessed day. We deserve Egyptian darkness ! 
 We thank Thee for the air we breathe, given by Thy goodness ; for the 
 Water we drink. . Oh ! for the water of life." Concluding with special 
 
mention the elements before him. "This is the Lord's table," he con- 
 tinued, "only believers have a right here, but all believers are welcome. 
 Some of the under shepherds, without any right to do so, have built 
 fences across the fold, thus debarring brethren from communing one with 
 another. Lord, come down speedily and destroy these crooked, unsightly, 
 illegal fences, that there may be but one fold, one shepherd. Say what 
 you will of church order, no man has a right to debar his brother from 
 the Lord's table." Dr. Herron explained the ordinance, in a clear and 
 lengthy manner. Dr. Swift made an impassioned appeal to the com- 
 municants. Three tables were leisurely filled, one after the other. Father 
 Patterson, after he had served the third table, looked around upon the non- 
 communicants, saying in his tremulous way : " I have a request to make 
 of you. Go home and write in your diary : This day I deliberately rejected 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, staid in my pew, while dear friends arose and 
 left me. It may be, that you may be left behind when they enter into 
 His kingdom." Those solemn words made a deep impression upon many 
 hearts that day. 
 
 At that communion, or some time after, a poor lady lost her token ; it 
 became mixed with her handkerchief in her reticule. Father Cooper did 
 not notice her confusion, and still held out his hand to receive it. She arose 
 from the table. Dr. Herron led her back witli assuring words, but her 
 agony hardly ever abated ; she took it as an evil omen. Afterwards, in a 
 debate in the Synod of Pittsburgh on tokens, the Doctor gave this instance 
 as the reason why he abandoned in this church their further use. 
 
 At that communion table sat many private members, who were soon 
 afterwards to be prominent in and out of the Session : my Sabbath School 
 teachers, James Wilson and Alexander Laughlin ; John Herron, Robert 
 Beer, so lately deceased ; his brother Thomas, and likely Rev. Wells Bush- 
 nell ; Francis Bailey, prominent in establishing the church at East Liberty ; 
 Thomas Plummer, who by will endowed the Mission School which became 
 the germ of the Sixth Church ; Judge Porter, who patronized the same 
 church so liberally ; Eliza Mowry and her sister Jane, so useful in Lawrence- 
 ville, and perhaps the majority of that noble colony which went down to the 
 Point among the, destitute, with their pastor's co-operation, and founded 
 the Third Church, which from the beginning came to the front in activity. 
 Indeed it was at that time said, that no church could be built in or near 
 Pittsburgh, without the iron and glass, the men and women of the First 
 Church. It has a noble set of helpers now, but not one of the newer 
 organizations is envious of the ancient glory of the mother church. 
 
 What occurred before 1823, a child thirteen years old can hardly be 
 expected to tell, but the forty-eight communions which, as a member, I 
 enjoyed, are precious memories. One night Dr. Herron preached a 
 sermon upon the text, "Lord, revive Thy work." He had given it out in 
 the morning and an unusual attendance was present. Soon after com- 
 mencing his sermon, some one rose in the audience and made for the 
 door; the Doctor stopped, and looked at him without speaking until 
 
 17 
 
250 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 lie was fairly out, and then proceeded. 80011 another restive one arose; the 
 Doctor waited until he was gone, and then said, "If any more wish to 
 go, I will wait, as I do not wish to be disturbed." After awhile another 
 rude one arose in the gallery and began clattering down stairs. The 
 Doctor paused, making the steps more audible, until the man, evidently 
 angry, closed the door with a bang. " It appears," said the Doctor, "that 
 the devil is determined to annoy us to-night ; if any more wish to go, go ! 
 I shall not stop, but finish my discourse amidst any confusion." At 
 the close, he informed the people that the lecture room was lighted, 
 and after the benediction was pronounced, he hoped that the careless 
 would go home, and those who were desirous of a revival, would meet 
 him there, to pray for half an hour for the descent of the Holy Spirit 
 upon the church. The lecture room was crowded to its utmost capacity. 
 Dr. Campbell was wonderfully stirred up. The two, aided occasionally 
 by Mr. Joice and other ministers, held meetings every night during a 
 dark, rainy winter, the people coming with lanterns and umbrellas, 
 through unlighted streets, for an hour of singing, prayer and exhorta- 
 tion ; that was all. Sometimes the anxious were called to stand up, or 
 wait after the dismissal for private conversation, but no striving for 
 novelty. Quietly, steadily, mightily the work progressed. But Oh ! 
 what communions we then had. Accessions every time, of praying 
 youth. Men of thought and power, who joined to labor and to love. 
 Then began the practice of receiving the accessions at the front of the 
 pulpit. 
 
 Then, too, [after the revivals of 1824 and 1825,] came an era of 
 Sabbath Schools, infant schools, prayer meetings and monthly concerts — 
 a vast amount of work done with holy quietness and power. New 
 elders also succeeded the old ones, chosen now for their ability to feed 
 the flock and lead them in works of benevolence. Some of these in- 
 stallations were peculiarly impressive. John Wright, perhaps the oldest 
 elder of this church now alive, is perhaps the main pillar of the church 
 at Black Lick, Pa. .We hope father Willson will commune to-day. 
 
 A peculiarity of that revival was, that neither of the speakers presented 
 much variety. Dr. Herron's prayer meeting addresses were often monot- 
 onous. He never could tell an anecdote, or declaim. Dr. Camp- 
 bell's addresses nearly always ended in the same way. "Young man 
 in the midst of pride and power, beware how you spend your talents. 
 Old man with white locks waving in the winds of death, the great white 
 throne and the judgment bar is just at hand. Thoughtless young girls, 
 prepare to meet God in judgment." Mr. Hugh McClelland, in old-fash- 
 ioned style, led the singing, almost always beginning as we assem- 
 bled, with "Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove." Undoubtedly the Holy 
 Spirit was there, and gave efficacy to the simplest means. About that time 
 began the Young Men's Saturday night prayer meeting, and Young Men's 
 Education Society, with ladies' sewing circles, and City Tract Distribution, 
 monthly ; one Fair and Festival was tried, but Professor Nevin, Miss Mary 
 
APPENDIX. 251 
 
 Herron and a few others so opposed it, Mr. Nevin powerfully through 
 the press, that for a time this modern growth was cheeked. He also wrote 
 a pamphlet against the anxious seats, and delivered, on Sabbath after- 
 noons, a solid course of lectures on "the Analogies of Eeligion" with 
 truth, science, etc. Here was one source of Dr. Herron's powe*— he could 
 set others to work ! In his church then, emphatically, General Assemblies, 
 and Synods, and Presbyteries and Conventions, met and prayed and com- 
 muned together. His membership were the elite of the city, bringing to 
 the First Church visiting Presidents and traveling great men. He gath- 
 ered into his puli.it great preachers of every denomination. Henry 
 Bascom one night preached nearly three hours, poor Archie relighting 
 the candles so sparingly, that the darkness appeared to add to the 
 solemnity. Everything great and good he brought to his church as a 
 centre. He aided every good cause mightily, but that kind of liberality 
 which leaves its own church prayer meetings to languish, and lends its 
 best efforts to novel schemes, lie was too far behind? or before ? this age 
 to understand, i. e., he held the high place of Zion, and was equal to the 
 position. At that time, too, some of Pittsburgh's wisest and best (outside 
 of the communion,) lent their influence to the cause. His trustees ^frv 
 often conspicuous as editors, doctors, and lawyers. It will be Ion- before 
 the names of Craig, Ross, Agnew and others, are forgotten. 
 
 An infidel lecturer once said: "Free thought and liberal action can have 
 no chance in Pittsburgh until Dre. Herron, Black and Bruce die." Infidel- 
 ity has lately said, that the churches would die, if unsupported by the 
 women! We thank them for thus complimenting our worthies, how- 
 ever unintentionally, but assure them that when all our present communi- 
 cants have joined the past, others here will be pressing on to the "mar- 
 riage supper of the Lamb." Woman gave the human Saviour birth ; 
 wis... men presented to His infancy gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 
 The truly wise and good have followed Him ever since. The future 
 is as sure as the past. The God-man is now upon the throne. All 
 opposing voices will be unheard amidst the hallelujahs of heaven. 
 
 The "Gallagher Revival" which followed, extended over the city. He 
 had more churches and preachers to help him. Music/under Billings 
 and Gilbert, awoke. Temperance and missions enlisted, more than ever, 
 all classes. 
 
 Another old mortality will some day retouch these inscriptions. 
 I close by saying, between 1830 and 1830, Rev. Alex. Brown went from 
 this church and founded the church at Birmingham. Joseph Reed 
 became pastor at Highland. Thos. Beer selected as his helpmeet one 
 of your best Sabbath School workers, and went to Mount Hope, Ohio. 
 Young Comingo persuaded Miss Craig to Steubenville. Aaron Williams, 
 with Jane Herron and another family of same name, established 
 the church at Minersville. Following their examples, I allured another 
 of your daughters to Lawrenceville, often coming back on the Saturday 
 before communion, until one day— the old elders of 1823 all o- on e, the 
 
252 APPENDIX. 
 
 old house gone, hosts of communicants gone — they told me, that my old 
 pastor wax gone! From this pulpit, heavily draped, I looked there into 
 his coffin, and amidst his mourning congregation saw his venerable form 
 for the last time. Never mind ; some day soon, with fourteen hundred 
 of my own communicants, I will find him among his people, around the 
 Master they so faithfully served, and will give and receive a welcome 
 so warm that eternity cannot cool it. The Lamb who is in the midst of 
 the throne, shall lead us unto fountains of living waters, and God himself 
 "shall wipe away all tears from our eyes." Speaking of tears, I never saw 
 the Doctor cry but once. After the funeral services of one of his elders 
 were closed, he being quite old, approached the coffin, looked at the face 
 of the dead sorrowfully for a while, then said, with all his frame con- 
 vulsed, "Good bye, Harrnar!" and passed on. 
 
 I have confined my history to the pastorate of Dr. Herron, because he 
 was the only pastor I ever had. His predecessor, Mr. Steele, had finished 
 his work long before 1823. Both of his successors received a rich legacy 
 from the one which preceded him. Both sowed and reaped plentifully ; 
 with them seed time and harvest followed each other swiftly. The 
 blessing of God still rests upon both. Long may their useful lives be 
 preserved ! This church does not shine comparatively as conspicuously 
 as it did of yore, for the blessed reason that so many bright lights burn 
 all around it. Positively it has constantly increased in power. It is no 
 ancient ruin, like Castle Dudley or Kenilworth, but a mighty fortress, 
 such as Stirling or Warwick. Peace has been within these walls, pros- 
 perity within the palaces. It has sent forth, on every hand, streams to 
 make glad the city of our God, but has maintained its own fullness. 
 Silently, but steadily, its communicants have marched heavenward, some 
 of them grandly and some of them very humbly, but all surely. They never 
 halted, except to gather new power. Never seriously mutinied. Never 
 fired upon each other. Kept right on, even in the great schism. And 
 now, with undiminished numbers, inscribe upon their banner, "Good will 
 to all. Love to each other. Loyalty to the king." 
 
 [Note. T have really striven to give names sparingly, lest the paper should weary 
 you. Should you wish to know the names of all the good, and true, and well beloved 
 who have gone from this church, you must call the roll. Were we to call it, how 
 solemn the silence would be ! No answer ever comes from the departed ! " But we 
 which are alive shall not prevent them which are asleep, for the Lord himself shall 
 descend from heaven with a shout! with the voice of the archangel ! and with the 
 trump of God ! and the dead in Christ shall rise .first .' Then we which are alive, and 
 remain, shall be caught up together with them, to meet the Lord in the air ! and so 
 shall we ever be with the Lord."] 
 
COPY OF THE ORIGINAL GRANT OF PROPERTY BY THE 
 HEIRS OF WILLIAM PENN. 
 
 [Note. — The original parchment is still in possession of the church and iu excellent 
 preservation.] 
 
 This Indenture, made the twenty-fourth Day of September, in the 
 Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, Between 
 The Honorable John Penn, Junior, and John Penn, of the City of Phila- 
 delphia, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Esquires, late Proprieta- 
 ries of Pennsylvania, of the one Part, And The Trustees of the Presby- 
 terian Congregation of Pittsburg and the vicinity thereof, in the County of 
 Westmoreland, in Pennsylvania aforesaid, of the other part, Witnesseth : 
 That the said John Penn, Junior, and John Penn, as well for and in Con- 
 sideration of the laudable Inclination which they have for encouraging 
 and promoting Morality, Piety and Religion in general, and more espe- 
 cially in the town Pittsburg as of the sum of Five Shillings, Current 
 Money of Pennsylvania, unto them in hand paid by the said Trustees of 
 the Presbyterian Congregation of Pittsburg and the Vicinity thereof, at 
 and before the Sealing and Delivery hereof, the Receipt whereof is hereby 
 acknowledged, Have given, granted, bargained, sold, released and con- 
 firmed, And by these Presents DO give, grant, bargain, sell, release and 
 confirm unto the said Trustees of the Presbyterian Congregation at 
 Pittsburg and the vicinity thereof, in the County of Westmoreland, their 
 Successors and Assigns, Two Certain whole Lots or pieces of Ground and 
 the one full equal half part of a Lot or piece of < hound, lying contiguous 
 to each other, situate in the Town of Pittsburg, containing in Breadth, 
 
 on the whole, One Hundred and Fifty Feet and in Length or Depth 
 
 feet (The said two whole Lots marked in Colonel Wood's 
 
 Plan of the said Town, Nos. 439 and 438, and tbe said half Lot is part 
 of No. 437.) Bounded southeastward by the remainder of said Lot 
 437, conveyed for the Use of the Episcopal Church ; northeastward, by 
 Sixth street; northwestward, by vacant Lot No. 440 ; and southwestward, 
 by Virgin alley, Together witli all and singular the Right, Members and 
 Appurtenances whatsoever thereunto belonging or in any way apper- 
 taining ; To have and to hold the said two whole Lots and the said 
 
254 APPENDIX. 
 
 half Lot or pieces of Ground, Hereditaments and Premises hereby 
 granted or mentioned, to be granted with the Appurtenances unto the 
 said Trustees of Presbyterian Congregation of Pittsburg and the vicinity 
 thereof, in the County of Westmoreland, their Successors and Assigns, 
 To the only proper Use, Benefit and Behoof of the said Trustees of the 
 Presbyterian Congregation at Pittsburg and the vicinity thereof, their 
 Successors and Assigns forever, according to the true Intent and Meaning 
 of an Act of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
 vania aforesaid, enacted into a Law the twentieth day of September, 
 instant, entitled "An Act to Incorporate the Presbyterian Congregation 
 at Pittsburg and the vicinity thereof, at this Time under the Pastoral Care 
 of the Reverend Samuel Barr ;" and to and for no other Use, Intent or 
 Purpose whatsoever. 
 
 In Witness whereof, the said Parties have interchangeably set their 
 Hands ami Seals hereunto. Dated the Day and Year above written. 
 
 Sealed and delivered by the said ^j 
 John Penn, Junior, in presence of I 
 
 Peter Miller, f JOHN PENN, JuN. [l. s.] 
 
 John Spooner. J 
 
 Sealed and delivered by the said 
 
 John Penn, in presence of | 
 
 John T. Mieelin, V JOHN PENN. [l. b.] 
 
 Peter Miller. I 
 
 Be it remembered, That on the twenty-fourth Day of September, A. D. 
 1787, Before me, George Bryan, being one of the Supreme Court of the State 
 of Pennsylvania, came Peter Miller, of the City of Philadelphia, < rent, and 
 upon his solemn affirmation according to Law, did say that he was 
 present and did seethe above named John Penn, Junior, and John Penn, 
 Esqs., seal and as their act and Deed deliver the above written Indenture, 
 And that he did also see John Spooner and John T. Mifflin subscribe 
 their names as witnesses to the Execution thereof; And that the name 
 Peter Miller, thereunto also subscribed as witness to the Execution 
 thereof, is his own Handwriting. 
 
 Witness my Hand and Seal, the Day and Year aforesaid. 
 
 GEO. BRYAN, [l. s.] 
 
APPENDIX. • 255 
 
 FIEST CHUECH OEGANIZATION. 
 
 Pastor, 
 
 * ELDERS. 
 
 Eobert S. Davis, ordained 1862. Charles Holmes, ordained 1879. 
 
 David Eobinson, ordained 1862. James L. Marshall, ordained 1879. 
 
 John A. Caughey, ordained 1873. Samuel A. Espy, ordained 1879. 
 
 A. M. Marshall, ordained 1873. John T. Daniel, ordained 1879. 
 Jas. Laughlin, Jr., ordained 1873. 
 
 DEACONS. 
 
 David W. Bell, William E. Newell, 
 
 Charles Holmes, < >. M. Ilartzell, 
 
 Frederick Discjue, Thos. P. Day. 
 
 TRUSTEES. 
 
 Eobert Dalzell, President, John W. Chalfant, 
 
 Jas. T. Wood, David W. Bell, 
 
 William Means, Chas. E. Speer, 
 
 Jacob Painter, David Eobinson, 
 
 • James Laughlin, Jr., R. C. Miller. 
 
 Eobert S. Davis, Treasurer. 
 J. F. McConnell, Janitor. 
 April 1st, 1884. 
 
256 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 SABBATH SCHOOL. 
 
 OFFICERS AND TEACHERS, 1884. 
 
 Superintendent James Laughlin, J r. 
 
 Associate Superintendent Fred. Disipie. 
 
 Primary Department — Sup't Mrs. W. R. Murphy. 
 
 Primary Department — Ass't Miss Nannie McClure. 
 
 Recording Secretary Jno. T. Daniel. 
 
 General Secretary Frank W. Gill. 
 
 Treasurer R. C. Miller. 
 
 Assistant Secretary Thos. C. Pears. 
 
 Alexander McClure, 
 
 Librarian* <^ Harry F. Davis, 
 
 Oscar Bingham. 
 
 Miss Maggie McKnight, Organist, 
 
 Miss Sadie E. Smythe, 
 
 Choir / Miss Florence Huggins, 
 
 Mr. C. C. McCord, 
 
 Mr. J. M. McFrederick. 
 
 TEACHERS. 
 
 Mr. David Rohinson, 
 
 Mrs. Matthew Bigger, 
 
 Mr. S. A. Espy, 
 
 Mrs. J. I. Logan, 
 
 Mr. J. L. Marshall, 
 
 Mrs. J. T. Daniel, 
 
 Mr. W. C. Lilley, 
 
 Mrs. Mary Poindexter, 
 
 Mr. Charles Holmes, 
 
 Mrs. J. M. Taylor, 
 
 Mr. R. C. Miller, 
 
 Mrs. F. A. Smith, 
 
 Mr. John Thompson, 
 
 Mrs. A. W. Bell, 
 
 Mr. T. C. Pears, 
 
 Mrs. T. C. Pears, 
 
 Mr. Matthew Bigger, 
 
 Miss A. W. Miller, 
 
 Mr. T. S. Brown, 
 
 Miss M. L. Chalfant, 
 
 Mr. W. G. Stewart, 
 
 Miss Nellie McKnight, 
 
 Mr. J. L. Moore, 
 
 Miss Maggie McKnight, 
 
 Mr. C. F. Perkins, 
 
 Miss Luella Rees, 
 
 Miss Ettie M. Speer, 
 
 Miss Douglass, 
 
 Miss Nellie Richards, 
 
 Miss Craig, 
 
 Miss Mollie Armstrong, 
 
 Mrs. Bessie Home, 
 
 Miss Florence Pickersgill, 
 
 Miss Nannie Patrick, 
 
 Miss M. D. Lecky, 
 
 Miss Josephine Scott, 
 
 Miss Kate M. Reifsnyder, 
 
 Miss J. H. Lecky. 
 
APPENDIX. 257 
 
 YOUNG Men's ONION. 
 Matthew Bigger, . Presidmt 
 
 J. F. McConnell, - Vice Pre9idenU 
 
 T.S.Brown, - . Vice President. 
 
 Thoa. C. Pears, . Secretary. 
 
 Thos. P. Day, - _ • _ 2W ^ 
 
 Wm.R. Newell, - . Librat 
 
 irmii. 
 
 Prayer Meeting, Monday Evening. 
 Business Meeting, Monthly. 
 
 WOMAN'S WORK. 
 
 FOREIGN Missions. 
 
 Mrs. Richard Waring, - President. 
 
 Mrs. Anna Logan, - . Vice President. 
 
 Mrs. I). W . Bell, - . Secrd 
 
 Mrs. Wm. R. Murphy. . . Treasurer. 
 
 HOME MISSIONS. 
 
 Mrs. Samuel Rea, ' . President. 
 
 Mrs. II. A. Collier, - . Vice President. 
 
 Mrs. Thomas Pears. . Secretary. 
 
 Mrs. Matt. Bigger, - . . Treasurer. 
 
 CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Mrs. Anna Logan, President. 
 
 Miss M. Lenny, . y irr Pfes ident. 
 
 Mrs. Samuel Rea, Vice President. 
 
 Miss Emma Bailey, - . Secretary. 
 
 Miss A. Arthurs, - . Treasurer. 
 
 WOMEN'S MEETINGS. 
 
 Foreign Missions, . . . .First Friday of the month, 2* P. M 
 
 Home Missions, Second Friday of the month, 2 J P. M 
 
 PrayerJMeeting, Third Friday of the month, 2 j P. M 
 
 Christian Association, . . Last Friday of the] month, 2' I >. M 
 
258 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 CHURCH CHOIR. 
 
 Professor Amos Whiting, 
 Mr. Chas. C. Mel lor, 
 Sopranos — Mrs. C. H. Kloman, 
 
 Miss Sadie E. Sraythe, 
 Miss Mamie Markle, 
 Miss Lizzie Orth, 
 Miss Mary Caughey, 
 Miss Saide Bailey, 
 Miss Mattie Taylor, 
 Miss M. Cunningham, 
 Miss Clara Lambert. 
 Altos — Miss Lizzie Mcllwaine, 
 Miss Carrie S. Whiting, 
 Miss Georgie Taylor, 
 Miss Florence. Huggins, 
 Miss Emma Crawford. 
 
 Director. 
 Organist. 
 
 Tenor— C. Il.^Siedle, 
 N. Coffin, 
 J. B. McMillan, 
 Minor Scovel, 
 C. C. McCord, 
 S. P. Kennedy. 
 
 Basso — J. N. Bebout, 
 
 R. H. L. Naylor, 
 J. M. McFrederick, 
 J. M. Jones, 
 J. Hanson Rose. 
 
 Abstract from Annual Report to Presbytery, April 1st, 1**4. 
 
 Church Membership, - 706 Deacons, 7 
 
 Elders, ... 9 Sabbath School Membership, 467 
 
 Amount contributions for all purposes during the year, - 8:21,412 
 
 Property Valuation : 
 
 House of Worship, - $140,000 
 
 Chapel and Sunday SchooljRoom, ... 25000 
 
 1'arsonage, - .... i, Sj 000 
 
SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 250 
 
 SOURCES OF INFORMATION. 
 
 The following are sources of information for any who may 
 desire to trace more fully the history of the "elder days," and 
 will be found full of interest : 
 
 1. The contemporary journals of the city, especially the Pittsburgh Ga- 
 zette and the Mercury. 
 
 2. The works of Messrs. Brackenridge and Craig, mentioned in " The 
 Church and the City." 
 
 3. The printed records of Redstone Presbytery. 
 
 4. The minutes of the Synod of Pittsburgh from 1802-1832. [Edited by 
 Mr. L. Loomis.] 
 
 5. "Old Redstone," by the Rev. Joseph Smith. 
 
 6. "The Centenary Memorial of Presbyterianism in Western Pennsyl- 
 vania," especially Mr. Win. Darlington's paper therein (1876). 
 
 7. "Black Robes," Robert Nevin. 
 
 8. Dr. Paxton's "Memorial of Dr. Herron." 
 
 9. David McKnight's Sabbath School History of the First Presbyterian 
 Church. 
 
 10. Dr. John Douglass's Sabbath School Pamphlet. 
 
 11. Craighead's "Scotch and Irish Seeds in American Soil."