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The First
United Presbyterian Church is the successor of one of the very oldest
societies in the county, and was organized in the early part of 1801,
being known as the Cool Spring Church. Its first house of worship,
located about three miles from the present one, was built of round
logs, chinked and daubed with mud, and was 18x20 feet in dimensions.
Its windows were of greased paper, and the door opened at one end of
the building into the aisle, which led up the center of the church
between the pews of split logs, laid parallel to each other at right
angles to the sides of the structure, to the pulpit, which, like its
primitive fellows, consisted of a huge stump, delicately festooned with
a rich growth of green moss.
The
“meetin’
house” of the regular Presbyterian Church, known by the same name, of
which Rev. Samuel Tait was pastor, was located about a half mile away,
and between the two churches there was a narrow foot-path, the only
means of communication. The first regular pastor of the Cool Spring
Seceder flock was Rev. Thomas McClintock, who began his labors May 8,
1803. Among its early members were Mr. McClintock (no relative of the
pastor) and family, Mr. McDonald and
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Trinity Presbyterian Church
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family, Mr.
Bradley and family,
Mr. Garvin and family and Mr. Braden and wife. Rev.
McClintock
continued until July 2, 1805, when his pastoral
relations were
terminated. An
amusing incident is related of him, which shows how strong was his
desire for the right to prevail. At one of his services two dogs, which
had by stealth made their way into the church, became engaged in a
fight, the noise of which so disturbed the pastor that he was compelled
to cease preaching. As two of his congregation seized the unruly curs
and began applying a liberal chastisement, preparatory to ejecting them
from the church, he looked calmly on, with an appearance of impartial
interest, and at length, in a slow, devout tone, similar to that which
characterized his preaching, addressed the two conservators of the
congregation’s peace, exclaiming: “Give the yellow dog the most, for he
began it.”
It was
during his pastorate that the name Cool Spring was exchanged for
that of Mercer, and the old log church deserted. Services were first
held, after the removal, in the open air at a spring situated near the
old tannery, and known as the tent spring. Meetings were held here in
the summer of 1805, and upon the approach of winter a tent was erected,
which served as part shelter from the cold and snow. In this manner
services were maintained until 1807, when the erection of the old
court-house furnished better quarters. Private houses were, of course,
utilized in the extreme winter, and it is related that the old tavern,
which stood upon the present site of the post-office, was also
occasionally occupied by the devout congregation. The second pastor,
Rev. John Walker, was installed July 11, 1811.
The
ordination services were held in open air under the shade of two
large oak trees that marked the location of the tent spring, and were
conducted by a Rev. Duncan. His pastorate lasted but three years, and
came to a close August 14, 1814, his farewell sermon being preached on
the same ground that beheld his installation. Near the spring was a
large pool of water, on the bank of which had been placed a huge log.
Two of the brethren seated themselves upon this rustic pew, and while
preparing to drink deeply of the fountain of wisdom that was expected
to fall from the preacher’s eloquent lips, as he bade his flock a final
farewell, became somewhat drowsy. The sermon had been protracted to an
unusual length, when the good brother sitting on the end of the log
nearest the water, at last succumbed to the sedative influences, lost
his balance, and in endeavoring to regain it, seized his companion and
fell with him into the pool below. The water had a cooling effect,
however, and the two quickly clambered out, and during the remainder of
the sermon successfully resisted the wiles of Morpheus.
Rev. Walker
was followed, after an interval during which no regular
services were held, by Rev. Isaac Beggs, who was installed September
19, 1827, the exercises on that occasion being held in the Rocky Spring
Church. The new pastor was a man of rather irascible temper, and
possessed a firm will. Upon one occasion the Presbyterians and
Seceders, through mistake, appointed their respective services in the
courthouse at the same hour. Rev. Tait, the shepherd of the former
flock, arrived first, and was about to ascend to the pulpit, when Beggs
entered, strode hastily forward, pushed his clerical compeer to one
side, and began the exercises himself, indulging for four hours in a
disquisition upon the virtues of psalmody, to the delight and
edification, doubtless, of his Calvinistic auditors, who were greatly
in the majority. During his ministry, however, much progress was made,
both spiritually and materially. In 1834 the old brick church, 40x60
feet in dimensions, situated on a lot just behind the present dwelling
of Hon. S. Griffith, was erected and occupied. This was the first
regular house of worship the Mercer congregation had ever enjoyed, the
Cool Spring log house having been occupied but a year or two.
Rev.
Beggs’ pastorate terminated in 1836. He was succeeded by Rev. D. H. A.
McLean, D. D., who was installed in 1841, and released in 1845. His
successor, Rev. G. O. Vincent, D. D., began his ministry in December,
1847, having been called the previous August, and continued until
December 28, 1852. For four years following a vacancy occurred, which
was filled by the advent of Rev. D. W. French, who was installed
October 21, 1856, the ser vices being conducted in the present church,
which bad been erected in the previous summer, at a cost of $10,000.
Preparatory to its completion the court-house had been occupied, in
which Rev. French had begun his labors in March, 1856. This ministry
was the longest the church has yet known. It continued with gradually
increasing success until March 16, 1875, when it was terminated by
death. Rev. J. M. French, a brother of the preceding, then began a
pastorate that ended in 1880. In 1881 Rev. J. S. McKee was installed,
and released in 1884. Rev. H. W. Orabbe, the last regular pastor, began
his labors in 1885, and closed them in 1887.
A list of the
ruling elders of the congregation, as complete as possible, follows:
James Braden, John Hamill, John Kerr, John Galey, Samuel White, Hugh
White, Livingston Carmen, Thomas L. Cummings, Joseph Black, Henry
Humphreys, William Cummings, George Grey, William Wallace, David Barr,
Adam Sheriff, John Sheriff, A. P. Black, William Hamilton, J.R. Hanna,
James Duff, David Wallace, James Humphreys, William H. McCormick, John
Blair, Hugh Jordan, Andrew Robinson, William Vincent, Andrew Stranahan
and A. F. Moore.
History
of Mercer County, 1888, pages 354-356
First
United Presbyterian Church.—According to History of Mercer County, 1877
This
church, at its organization, in 1810, was known as the Associate
(Seceder) Church, and retained this title until the union, in 1858, of
the two bodies known as the Associate and Associate Reformed churches,
when they assumed the name of the United Presbyterian Church. Rev.
David French—father of the present [1877] pastor, and of his brother,
the preceding pastor—assisted Rev. Mr. Duncan at its organization.
The
order of its regular pastors, is as follows: Rev. John Walker, Rev.
Isaac Begges, Rev. D. H. A. McLean, D. D., Rev. George C. Vincent,
D.D., Rev. D. W. French, D.D., and Rev. J. M. French.
The
present house of worship is a fine structure, erected about 1856, at a
cost of $8,000 or $10,000. Its membership is about 150, and its
Sunday-school numbers 116 individuals. Rev. D. W. French was pastor of
the church about twenty years, and was greatly beloved by all his
members, and universally respected and esteemed by all who knew him. He
died in March. 1875, and his pulpit, now filled by his brother, will
undoubtedly see its present [1877] incumbent become also a popular and
greatly admired shepherd, with the flock of which he has charge. This
church, and the Second United Presbyterian were organized nearly at the
same time, although, the second church claims the honor of being first
organized, if so, the name should be transferred to the other.
(Source:
History
of Mercer
County,
1877, page 106)
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