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The
Presbyterian Church of Leesburg
was the first church organized at
the village, that event taking place in 1853, with thirteen members,
all of whom are dead. The first elders were Robert
Stevenson and William
Rice. Rev. David Waggoner served the congregation as a
supply for three or four years. In fact, the organization had no
ministers except supplies until 1864, when its first pastor, Rev. S. A. Hughes, was called,
and he divided his time between this and a church at Rich Hill,
Lawrence County. He resigned his pastorate of the Leesburg congregation
in 1866, and was followed by Rev.
A. W. Boyd in 1887, and he by Rev.
Cooper in 1869. In 1877 the present pastor, Rev. B. M. Davis, was called,
ordained and installed. Rev. A. W.
Boyd is the only one of the pastors, who has served this
church, who is dead. The following have been ruling elders since the
terms of Rice and Stevenson: J. M. Orr, Osben Grandy, Samuel
Drake, B. F. Gordon, W. A. Munnell and G. S. Elliott. Of these Grandy and Elliott are dead, as also Rice and Stevenson. The present
membership is 225, and the church is in a prosperous condition. History
of Mercer County, 1888, pg. 598
The First Presbyterian Church at Leesburg
was erected about 1854, and its first regular pastor was Samuel Hughes, the pulpit having been supplied by the
Presbytery for several years after its organization.
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History of Mercer County,
1877, page 81
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Some Exceptional Gatherings
1869- Rev.
Boyd, 85 converts
1877- Rev.
Davis, 35 converts
1888- Rev.
Davis, 50
converts
1893- Rev.
Kirkbride, 27 converts
1909- Rev.
Pearson, 50 converts
- One Hundred Years of the Shenango
Presbytery, 1808 - 1908
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