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The First
Presbyterian Church, of Mercer, has a history
connected with the Presbyterian Church of Cool Spring, from which it
originated. The Cool Spring Church was organized in 1800, by Rev.
Samuel Tait, who was its first pastor, and who preached in it until
1813, when, by some arrangement made at Mercer, the people of Cool
Spring agreed to worship in the village, and the Cool Spring Church was
practically disbanded, but reorganized, in 1827, on petition of the
people. An extended account of the Cool Spring
Church,
and Mr. Tait, will be found in the history of Cool Spring township.
In
the year 1804, the First Presbyterian Church, of Mercer, was organized
with Rev. Samuel Tait
as its first pastor, and a membership numbering twenty.
The
First Place of Worship was in a room over the jail—a two-story
building, which has since given place to what is now known as the Bank
Block, on the north side of the public square. On pleasant days,
open-air services were held in “Sample’s orchard;” that, then, occupied
the square just north of where the Second Presbyterian Church edifice
stands. After some time, a brick-church was built, just back of where
the present structure stands; but, being considered unsafe, was
abandoned after some years. Services were frequently held in the old
court house and the academy building and, on communion occasions, in
the grove of the grand old oaks, which reared their, heads aloft, above
what was known as the “Tent Spring,” just south of the borough, to the
left as we go south, near where the Butler road diverged from the road
to Hope mills. There is a spring near the original one still known as
the “Tent Spring,” but is not the same one which discharged its waters
at the spot three-fourths of a century ago.
The
present [1877] building is nearly half-a-century old, having been
erected in 1830, but has since been remodeled, and greatly improved.
Mr. Tait gave the whole of his time to this church, after January,
1826, and continued to minister to them until his death, which occurred
June 2d, 1841, in the seventieth year of his age, and forty-first of
his ministry. His remains are interred at the rear of the pulpit, where
be so long had preached.
The
second pastor was Rev. Joseph T.
Smith (now D. D.). He was born and raised in Mercer, and
ordained and installed April 20th, 1842, he was released April 18th,
1849, after a pastorate of seven years. At the same time, he was
dismissed from the Presbytery of Erie to that of Baltimore, where he
became pastor of the Baltimore Central Presbyterian Church,’ and still
retains his position. He occasionally visits the home of his boyhood,
and addresses the members of the flock from the same pulpit which came
to know him so well during his seven years occupancy of it.
The
third pastor was Rev. Robert S.
Morton, who was installed September 10th, 1851, and
released September 14th, 1852. He is now pastor of the churches of
Little Beaver and Petersburg, Lawrence county, Pa.
The
fourth pastor was Rev. Robert F.
Sample, now D. D., who was ordained and installed October
18th, 1853; released May 7th, 1856. He is now pastor of the
Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The
fifth pastor was Rev. John R.
Findley, who was installed April 29th, 1857, and released
about the first of February, 1874, after a long and successful
pastorate of seventeen years. Mr. Findley is now [1877] pastor of the
Presbyterian Church of Rock Island, Illinois.
The
Rev. R. H. Van Pelt
was called to the pastorate in the summer of 1874, but was never
installed. He served the church in the relation of pastor-elect from
October, 1874, to April, 1876, when he returned the call.
The
following is a list of the ruling elders of this church, given in
succession from its organization: Judge
Alexander Brown, Adam Forker, John Alexander, Fergus Smith, Asa Arnold,
‘Squire Joseph Smith, Robert Stewart, John Young, Sr., Samuel Bowman,
Elias Alexander, A. M. Barber, Jacob Zahniser, John Bowman, Joseph
Fleming, Samuel Giebner, Edward E. Lachelle, William L. Fleming, S. R.
Mason, John McKim, Thomas P. Grub, John D. Nickum, Adam Boston,
and Alexander McCullough.
The first four or five were ruling elders in the mother church of Cool
Spring.
History
of Mercer County,
1877, page 106
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