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Coolspring Church |
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relation with Cool Spring and Upper Salem continued until June 25th, 1806,
when he relinquished the charge of Upper Salem, and gave half his time to
the newly- organized church at Mercer. In June, 1813, the people of Cool
Spring having made arrangements to worship at Mercer, then a small village
of only ten years growth, he gave part of his time once more to Salem, and
in 1826 relinquished Cool Spring, and gave all his time to Mercer, where
he continued his pastorate
until his death, which occurred June 2d, 1841, in the seventieth year of
his age, and forty-first of his ministry. Mr. Tait’s appearance was
remarkable. He was six feet two inches in height, erect in his bearing,
and possessed of a firm, grave cast of countenance. He is said to have
been wonderfully eloquent, and, at times, would sway his congregations
remarkably. He was much esteemed by all who knew him, and the We
take the description of Mr. Tait, and the building of the Cool Spring
Church principally, from the “History of the Presbytery of Erie.” This
church stood near the old grave-yard, in the eastern part of the township,
built on a tract of land known as “Hogue’s residue,” near land owned
by the Alexanders. The land is now the property of
Mr. Riney.
Following is an account of the building of the church: "Mr.
Tait had much of the missionary spirit, He was endowed with great physical
strength and endurance, and used them well in the Master’s cause.
Having been sent out by the Presbytery of Ohio, in the spring of
1800, to preach where he could find hearers, he came to a settlement
called Cool Spring in Mercer county, Pa., and about five miles from where
the town of Mercer now stands. Having preached on the Sabbath, he told the
people that if they would procure a lot and build a church, he would come
and preach to them. A lot was at once promised, and the next Thursday
appointed as the day when the people would assemble to build a
meeting-house. On
the day appointed, they assembled with their axes. The site was selected;
‘axes were lifted up upon the thick trees;’ the forest resounded with
the blows made by sinewy and willing arms; the bodies of the rough logs
were cut off the proper length, but were too heavy to be brought into
position, although near to the site of the building. There was but one
team in all the settlement, and that was a yoke of oxen, belonging to a
professed infidel. It would not do to ask him to bring his team for such a
purpose. Just as the
necessity became pressing, Mr. S. [Stokely] was seen approaching with his oxen,
crying out with his great merry
voice: ‘Here comes the devil with his
oxen, to help you build your meeting house!”
The work then went gayly forward. “The
next important thing was the appearance of Thomas
McLean, with a small,
flat keg of whiskey under his arm. This
was placed in Mr. Tait’s hands, when all took a drink, beginning with
the minister and ending with the donor himself. Three cheers were given for Thomas McLean, with his promise that
when the church was organized he should be the first elder.
This promise was afterward fulfilled, and Mr. McLean was the first
elder elected. |
“By
sundown, the church was built, covered with clapboards, floored with
puncheons, and round logs rolled in for seats.
The house was so located that a huge stump answered the purpose of
a pulpit, with two puncheons set upright in front, and one across, secured
to the uprights with pins, on which the Bible might be placed.
A puncheon seat for the minister completed the arrangement.
Here was a building that afforded the people ample room and
abundant comfort in the worship of God. “But
luxury soon began to creep in to trouble the church. After a time, one of the members of the congregation had a
bench made and set in the church for his family to sit upon. During
the recess, on the next day of worship, little groups might have been seen
discussing the matter of the new bench, some affirming that such pride
should not be tolerated, and that, if his neighbors could sit on a log to
hear the gospel preached, William McMillan could do the same, as neither
he nor his family were better than others.
Others affirmed that is William McMillan could afford a bench with
legs to it, he had a right to have one.
The contention, like that between Paul and Barnabas, waxed
exceeding sharp, but was finally settled by the minister declaring for the
largest liberty - - each one being permitted to provide such a seat as he
chose. “Soon
the first house was found too small to contain the people.
The difficulty was remedied by cutting out the logs from one side
of the building and erecting a kind of shed as an addition.
Subsequently, as the congregation increased, another shed was
erected on the other side.” Rev.
Ira Condit was the second pastor of the Cool Spring Church, being
installed for one-third of his time, on the 24th of June, 1829, and
continuing until his death, which occurred October 24th, 1836.
He was the first pastor after the re-organization of the church, in
1827. After Mr. Condit, came
Rev. David Waggoner, who also gave the one-third of his time, continuing
his relation with them for a short time only.
The next pastor was Rev. James G. Wilson, installed in 1842, in
connection with Salem, giving one-half of his time to each.
The present pastor [1877] is Rev. John W.
McCune, ordained and
installed June 23rd, 1852, in connection with Sandy Lake; one-half of his
time to each. The
people now occupy the third church edifice [1877], a comfortable and neat
structure, and a vast improvement over the primitive temple which was
erected in a day, but we doubt if they enjoy the more extensive facilities
for conducting worship better than they did when cushioned seats were
unheard of, chandeliers and stoves were mere idealities, and only hard
logs, without backs, and a pulpit, without ornament, were the greatest
comforts inside their rude church, except, the privilege of being
permitted to listen to the outpourings of eloquence, as they fell from the
lips of their beloved pastor, Mr. Tait. From
The History of Mercer County, 1877, pages 25-26.
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