Pennsylvania USGenWeb Archives

Centennial History

of Methodism

in Clearfield, PA

1810 - 1910

George W. Rheem

Chapter 3

transcribed for the Clearfield County PA USGenWeb by

Ellis Michaels

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CHAPTER III

  New Washington and Karthaus having been cut off from the circuit in 1850, the work was considered too great and further divisions were suggested for the action of the Annual Conference. Caledonia, in Elk, was made a mission in 1852. Glen Hope received their first preacher, P. B. Smith, in 1855. Clearfield and Centre and Curwensville were made into a circuit in 1855, with A. M. Barnitz as pastor. In 1855 Philipsburg Circuit was formed, which took in Philipsburg and surrounding towns and Bradford township, with Charles Cleaver and W. M. Showalter as pastors.

  Here we note the death of Rev. Adam Haughenberry. His last appointment was made by Bishop Ames at the Annual Conference held in Baltimore, March 1st, 1853, to Clearfield Circuit, with R. A. Bathurst as assistant. The parsonage was in Clearfield, on north side of Walnut street, two doors west of Third street, the property of James T. Leonard, and the house is still standing. There was a scourge of typhoid fever in Bradford township in the years 1854 and 1855, and this being part of his work he contracted the disease soon after Conference and lingered along until the 28th of August, when he died a triumphant death, of which these few lines are a copy of his obituary taken from the Conference Minutes by W. L. Spottswood:

  "He asked some brethren present to sing. They sang the first three verses of the hymn

  ""I would not live alway."

  He said there is another verse, and they sang it.
 

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   "He exclaimed, 'What music is that I hear? Don't you hear it? Why, it is the angels who are singing.' He said to his wife, 'I am going home.' He clapped his hands and shouted, 'I have the victory. All is well,' and in a little while he slept in Jesus."

  Those of us who remember him can speak of him as a man of marked natural ability and if he had lived would have become a leader in the ministry. He died at the age of thirty years and four months. His body lies in the new cemetery in Clearfield, Pa., and care is taken of the ground.
Rev. A. M. Barnitz succeeded Adam Haughenberry in 1854, and his services were highly appreciated. He was a good singer as well as a good preacher.

  The fever, still raging in Bradford township, was the cause of the death of Geo. W. Rheem, Sr., August loth, 1855; a very valuable member and class leader in the Church. He was always ready to visit the sick and after attending a meeting at Dale's Church, in Bradford township, he, with old Father Dale, visited some of the families that were suffering with the fever, and it not being considered contagious, as it now is, they had no fear of it; but he was fatally stricken with it and after lingering nine days, he died, August loth, 1855. He was one of the singers in Bro. Haughenberry's death chamber.

  It was thought advisable to employ a sexton to attend to the Church, instead of depending on volunteer service, and the sum of ten dollars per year was considered a fair compensation for the service, and it was so agreed on and paid regularly at the end of the year, and George W. Rheem, Jr., was the first sexton at that salary.

  Clearfield and Centre and Curwensville now being a separate charge, the names of some of the older members
 

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at Clearfield, who were looked upon as leaders, were John Moore, exhorter and class leader; Joseph Jones, exhorter; Geo. W. Rheem, Sr., class leader; and their wives; John W. Shugart and wife, Joshua Tate and wife, Wm. Tate and wife, Samuel Tate and wife, Isaac Southard, Joseph Goon and wife, Mrs. Wm. Radebaugh, Mrs. Jonathan Boynton, Mrs. Wm. Jones and Lewis R. Carter. Of course there were many others interested in all the affairs of the Church and were faithful, but those named were the leaders. It may not be out of place to say that they were of varied temperaments, whilst all of them were loyal Methodists, a few of them would defend Methodism against all attacks in a very belligerent way and possibly do more harm than good, especially when they would get into controversy with any defender of the Calvinistic faith, which frequently occurred, and these had no very warm feeling for the doctrine of free salvation as taught and believed by Methodists, then and now, and the controversies were frequently very warm, and they were never of any practical good and as much fault could be found with one side as the other.

  Especial mention might be made of one of the exhorters, Joseph Jones, as an example of extreme selfishness. He was a man who lived by sight and not by faith, and in any Church enterprise, whether paying quarterage or any benevolence, he would never pay unless he could see somehow or other he could get it back in kind, and he was not exceedingly careful in business transactions but always kept Jones to the front, and one such transaction was his undoing. He took advantage of his license as an exhorter and would sometimes take a text and preach a sermon.

  He moved into the country near town on a small farm, and as a farmer he bought the contents of a barnyard from
 

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a neighbor farmer and in removing it he dug up an iron crowbar which the farmer had lost, and contended very vigorously that it should not be taken away; but Jones thought otherwise and carried it away. A short time after he was preaching, and the neighbor farmer was in the congregation, and Jones in closing up his sermon, wondering whether any other arguments could be offered, exclaimed : "And what more shall I say," repeating "What more shall I say," when the old German called out in his broken English, "Why Chones, shust say crowbar and then sit down." Of course Jones sat down. His license was revoked and, thinking he could make more money by some worldly calling, he went to selling whisky, and from that to worse, and after living an abandoned life in other places he came back to Clearfield and died in Philipsburg, a miserable wretch. He ought never to have been licensed as an exhorter, as he never was a credit to the Church nor of any value.

  In 1856 Rev. John W. Elliott was sent to serve us as a pastor and occupied the parsonage in Curwensville, which had just been bought, and he died there January 19th, 1857.

  We were now, in 1855, in the Bellefonte District, with John Poisal as Presiding Elder. He was a beautiful singer as well as a fine preacher. The circuit bought a parsonage in Curwensville for the sum of $850, being the first one owned at any time by the circuit. Curwensville agreed to pay $500 and Clearfield and Centre $350, all of which was promptly paid, and this was used as a parsonage until the separation between Clearfield and Curwensville, and then by them until they built one on the ground adjoining the Church.

  At this time it was estimated that the amount required

4
 

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Rev. Geo. Berkstresser, 1850.     Rev. Jos. S. Lee, 1839.

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to cover all expenses of this new circuit would be $607.00, which was apportioned as follows:

Curwensville,   $250.00
Clearfield,        250.00
Centre,             75.00
Collections,        32.00
                    $607.00

  The missionary contributions from this circuit were $25.30.

  We are called on to record the death of Rev. Jno. W. Elliott, which occurred in Curwensville on the 19th of January, 1857. His disease was typhoid fever and for ten weeks he was a great sufferer, and owing to the depressing nature of his disease he was a great sufferer mentally. At times his reason was dethroned and doubts and fears as to his future were a great torture to him, but in the final struggle God graciously gave him the victory over all his doubts and fears and he clapped his hands in great peace in his death. His body was laid away in the Curwensville cemetery, January 21st, 1857, to await the resurrection of the just.

  At the first Quarterly Conference held in Clearfield in 1857 (no date given), the trustees of the Curwensville Church asked permission to sell their lot and building, which was granted.

  By action of the General Conference, the Baltimore Conference was divided and the East Baltimore Conference was formed, of which we became a part, and in 1858 we were placed in the Juniata District, with Geo. Guyer as Presiding Elder, and Thos. Barnhart preacher in charge.
 

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  In 1859 Rev. W. Lee Spottswood was appointed to this circuit. Prior to this his circuit had been Bedford. In his book, "Brief Annals," some interesting incidents concerning Clearfield and Curwensville occur and will be read with pleasure. A short time before the Annual Conference the Presiding Elder, Guyer, said to Mrs. Spottswood, "Sister, where would you like to go next year?" She answered, "Anywhere but to Clearfield and Curwensville." She had formed her opinion of the citizenship of these places by the rough appearance of the raftsmen as she had seen them in other places in the rafting season in the spring. But the next time the Elder met her after the Conference was in the parsonage in Curwensville, and by the way, she was among the finest women that ever graced a Methodist parsonage.

  He describes his start for and arrival in Clearfield as follows:

  "We started on our journey from Bedford, spent the night at Tyrone, left in the morning over miserable roads. At Bald Eagle a fellow opened the door of the stagecoach and shouted, `Hip, Hip, Hoora! I'm one of your drinkin', swearin' kind.' See here, stranger,' said a passenger inside, `we've got a preacher in here, and there's to be no swearing in this coach; if you swear we will pitch you out head foremost." That ended the swearing.

  Drag, drag, drag, through the mud. We dined at Philipsburg at 4 o'clock. Far on in the watches of the night we gained the top of the hill overlooking Clearfield. Some one said there's Oldtown. My wife inquired, `How far is it to Clearfield?' The gentleman said, `Oldtown is Clearfield.' Dragging along through Market street we heard a cheery voice, 'Aleck, have you the Methodist preacher on board?" Yes. "Well, just drive around to
 

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our house' (on Third street). And when the stage stopped a young man with his pants stuffed in his boots and a lantern in his hand (he had been wading through the mud), met us at the coach door. It was George W. Rheem. He gave us a hearty welcome and so did his mother, with whom, and her deceased husband, Geo. W. Rheem, Sr., we had been well acquainted in Carlisle. We were soon seated at a table groaning with a generous supply of good things to which we all did ample justice with a relish which hunger alone can give."

  It was the fashion in those days for men to wear heavy shawls in place of overcoats. Good old Sister Welch at Centre, had a sharp controversy on the propriety of men wearing them. She was told that the new preacher wore one. She would not believe it, but if he did she would not hear him preach. "But alas for me, Bro. Jonathan Boynton had searched all of Philadelphia for one large enough for me, and finding it, presented it to me, and at my next appointment I walked into the Church wearing it, and true to her threat, the dear old saint jumped up and hastened out of the Church, with mingled sorrow and reproof shown in her face. But a reconciliation came about later on." After serving two years as our pastor, he spoke of Clearfield and Curwensville as being one of his most pleasant charges in all his ministry.

  In February, 1860, the trustees of Curwensville Church reported the estimated cost of their new Church to be $4,800, and subscriptions for $4,360 were made. The Church was completed in 1862 and the whole cost was $9,000 and was dedicated in the early spring. Aquila Reese preached from John 13: 7 "what I do thou knowest sot now but thou shalt know hereafter."

  About this time an effort was being made in Clearfield
 

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to build a church and $3,200 had been subscribed, but owing to the troubled condition of our country, caused by the Civil War, and a general stagnation of business, it was thought advisable to postpone further action until the return of peace.

A charter of incorporation for the Clearfield Methodist Episcopal Church was granted by the court on the 29th day of September, 1860. The application was signed by fifteen male members of the Church as follows: Jos. B. McEnally, Geo. W. Rheem, Latimer R. Merrell, Z. Coston McCullough, Thos. J. McCullough, Wm. R. Brown, John W. Shugart, Wm. Tate, Jeff. Litz, John Moore, John Troutman, Joseph Goon, H. Bucher Swoope, J. Blake Walters and Richard B. Taylor, none of whom are now living except Geo. W. Rheem.

The trustees named in the charter are John Moore, John W. Shugart, William Tate, Geo. W. Rheem and J. B. McEnally. Geo. W. Rheem is the only survivor.

At a Quarterly Conference held in Clearfield, February 22nd, 1862. The trustees of Centre Church reported the completion of their Church at a cost of $1,200, and it was dedicated some time in the spring of that year and no record being made of it, Miss Ann Goodfellow furnished the following item:

The pastor was Rev. Thos. D. Gotwalt, and the sermon was preached by Rev. Jos. S. Lee, who had been the Preacher in charge of the Circuit in 1839 and his text was from Haggai, 2nd chapter and 9th verse:

"The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of Hosts." This Church is still standing and is in constant use by the Methodist people.

Rev. Thos. D. Gotwalt was sent in March, 1861, as
 

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our pastor and the old plan of paying the pastor was changed and his salary was fixed at $641.00.

  Mr. Jonathan Boynton purchased from James T. Leonard, lots Nos. 61 and 62 in the borough plan, on the west side of South Second Street and conveyed them by deed, March 14th, 1863, to the Methodist Episcopal Church for the purpose of erecting thereon a church building at as early a date as possible.

  Inasmuch as the erection of a new Church at Clearfield had been abandoned to a future time, it was thought advisable to put the present one on Cherry Street in better repair. The walls were thoroughly cleaned and papered, all the wood treated to a thorough cleaning and painting. The ceiling kalsomined, the old wood stoves removed and a very large soft coal stove put in place, and a great change in the lighting system. The old tallow candles were abandoned and so were the old tin candelabra.

  Lard oil lamps hung on the ropes in groups of four each, and two large coal oil lamps on the pulpit gave such a brilliant light as to be almost dazzling, but the coal oil had to be used sparingly, as it was then selling at $1.50 and $2.00 per gallon. The neat appearance made by these changes made us feel as though we had gotten a new Church and we were well contented.

  In the years 1860 and 1861, the county commissioners were building the new court house and there being no hall of any kind to hold the courts, they applied to the trustees to rent the church for that purpose, and it was agreed to, but it is not known what amount of rent was paid.

  In those two years there were three persons tried for murder, John Cathcart, for the murder of his wife, whom he charged with breach of the marital relations and the
 

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Rev. Adam Haughenberry, 1853.     Rev. George Guyer, 1852.

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jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree and Judge Linn on the bench passed sentence of death on him, but he hung himself in the jail, thereby avoiding the legal penalty.

  James Hockenberry for shooting John Thompson at Lumber City, tried for murder, but as it was in a drunken fight, the jury rendered a verdict of murder in the second degree and he served a term in the Western Penitentiary.

  Mrs. Sarah Brenneman, tried for infanticide, but the evidence not being sufficient to find a verdict against her, she was acquitted.

  In 1863, the Civil War having been on for more than a year and a terrible state of feeling and unrest existing all over the country, Clearfield County was largely in the forefront of the turbulent ones. And the churches were not by any means free from disturbances. The preachers throughout the Methodist Churches in the county were without an exception, exceedingly loyal, but as much could not be said of all of its members.

  Rev. Leonard M. Gardner was the preacher in charge and one of the most outspoken in loyalty to the government in sermon and prayer and speech, so as to bring down on himself all sorts of abuse from the disloyel ones in the Church. He never resorted to discipline, but hoping for a better condition of things he bore it all patiently. We here append a letter written by himself giving some account of his pastorate.
 

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LETTER OF REV. L. M. GARDNER.
Recollections of my Pastorate at Curwensville and Clearfield, 1863-64.
York Springs, Pa., Jan. 10th, 1910.
 

  In March, 1863, the annual session of the East Baltimore Conference met in York, Pa., At its close I was appointed by the Bishop to Clearfield and Curwensville. On my return to Lock Haven, where I had spent the two previous years, we hastily packed up our household goods and prepared to start to our new home. The weather was yet very cold, the mountains covered with snow and the roads in a fearful condition. From Lock. Haven to Bellefonte we travelled in a hired conveyance. We had three children, one of which was not yet two years old. We reached Tyrone by railroad and spent: the night at a hotel. The next morning we took the cars again and went as far as Sandy Ridge, on the top of the mountain where the railroad then building terminated. Here all the passengers were transferred to a stage coach, which was overcrowded, to descend the mountain to Philipsburg.

  A gentleman, myself and wife, occupied one seat and each one held a child on their knees. In this condition through deep snow and slush, over corduroy bridges and through long stretches of mud roads, we rode in pain for seven miles.

  At Philipsburg we stopped for dinner, having yet to travel eighteen miles before reaching our destination. My wife was so exhausted that she could not endure a further-ride in the crowded stage coach that day. Fortunately for us, Gen. Patton, who had arrived in Philipsburg
 

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that morning, placed his private conveyance at my disposal. This was a happy relief to us and we rode over the Erie turnpike all afternoon in a comfortable carriage drawn by two little black ponies. Night closed in on us before we reached the end of our journey, and the last four miles had to be travelled in darkness. One incident of the journey we could never forget. When we reached the Susquehanna river and entered the bridge it was so dark we could not see the horses, but could hear the rush of the waters below. Trusting to their sagacity to keep the right course, we allowed them to move along at their own gait till we emerged at the other end. Before our dismal journey was ended, we found that we were passing along the road where at the right there was a steep hill and on the left the sound of water in the river. This gave us painful anxiety again, not knowing at what moment we might miss the road and meet with an accident.

  About 8 o'clock we halted in front of the hospitable Patton home, with the delightful consciousness that we were safe at our journey's end. The parsonage stood on the opposite side of the street and on the next morning we took possession of it and awaited the arrival of our goods. We found ourselves comfortably fixed in the centre of the town and were soon able to adapt ourselves to our new surroundings.

  The Civil War had been in progress for two years and was still raging with violence, and though far away from the scenes of conflict, the political passions of the people were excited to the highest degree. It required the utmost discretion on the part of the pastor to conduct the affairs of the church harmoniously amid the conflicting elements. Social intercourse with the people was of the
 

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most agreeable kind, and during the two years spent on the charge, bonds of friendship were formed which have lasted through all subsequent life. At Curwensville, we had a large and substantial brick church with a bell tower in front. The audience room was finished in the best style for that date, and beneath it a large room was finished for prayer meeting and Sunday School and other services. This Church was located on the same ground where the beautiful Church now stands. At Clearfield the Church was a substantial frame building, sufficiently large to accommodate the congregation, which was not as large as at Curwensville.

  The third appointment was at Centre, located midway between the two towns. The plan of service was to preach at both towns alternately morning and evening, and at Centre in the afternoon every two weeks. Although the excitement of the war absorbed public attention the usual revival meetings were held at the different points and resulted in a number of conversions. It is worthy of notice that quite a number of young men belonging to the Church, or families connected with it, were in the army. I had a singular experience with some of these soldier parishioners. On the Sunday morning following the battle of Gettysburg, I was on the field on the first day's fight, while helping the wounded I looked into a dark corner underneath a large stone barn and asked if there were any men from Clearfield there, two or three voices replied immediately. When I came to them and inquired their names I found they were members of my Church. A pathetic scene followed.

  I might here state that one company of the celebrated Bucktail Regiment was recruited in Curwensville and the surrounding county and went to the front under the
 

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command of Capt. Edward A. Irwin, a son of one of the elect ladies of our church. The facts here stated kept alive an interest in all the operations of the army. In the spring of 1864, when the armies began to move, several of the brethren called on me to say that they wanted some one from the community to go down to the army and render any service that could be done for the comfort of their boys and they concluded I was the proper person to go and I at once consented and a few days afterward the Church bells were rung and the people were called together. I made an appeal in behalf of the Christian Commission and received a contribution of $825.00. Leaving home the next morning, I went to Philadelphia and received a commission from Geo. H. Stewart, the president of the commission, and then proceeded to Fredericksburg, Va. Here I remained in the hospital work for a week and then was sent forward to the front. Here I came in contact with the Clearfield men again and remained with them until the army crossed the James river. During my absence of seven weeks there was no preaching in any of the Churches on my charge, but on my return the routine of service was resumed.

  The two winters I remained in Clearfield County were unusually severe. The snow in the forests was not less than five feet deep. During the intensely cold weather the river would be frozen over and I often went to Clearfield and back home on my skates. In the summer, when the roads were,- good, I preferred to walk and visit the families along the road.

  It is needless to say that I never received more generous hospitality or liberal treatment from any people I have served than the people of this charge. From the
 

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Rev. John W. Elliott, 1856.     Rev. Alex. M. Barnitz, 1855.

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beginning to the end of my ministry there they gave me every evidence of appreciation. It might seem invidious to mention some persons and omit others in this narrative, but friendship and gratitude compel me to mention a few.

  Gen. John Patton was a man of rare worth to the Church and community. Prominent in public life, successful in business, liberal in his benefactions and genial in social intercourse, he was the constant and reliable friend of his pastor. His mother, grandma Patton, was a woman of astonishing energy and devotion to her family. Her daughter, Mrs. Jane Irwin, was the intimate friend and generous supporter of the pastor's wife and family. Judge Thompson, with his large family, steady and regular in his religious duties. Sister McDowell, plain and simple hearted and distinguished for her personal interview with President Lincoln, concerning her son. Dr. Thompson, who watched over the health of the pastor's family. Jackson Robinson, a local preacher. William Dale, gentle and kind hearted. Father Ross and his wife, who always cheered the pastor by their presence in the Sanctuary. Jacob Cole, a singer in Israel, meek and humble, whose son was killed in the army near the close of the war. Besides these, there were many worthy of mention.

  At Clearfield, Jonathan Boynton and wife, both gentle of manner and kind to the pastor and liberal to the Church. Their three children were yet in their youth and it was an ideal home. Jos. B. McEnally, son of a Methodist preacher, gentle of disposition and firm in his devotion to the cause of God.

  George W. Rheem, quiet and unobtrusive, but firm as a rock in his attachment to the Church, one of those men you could always depend upon to be in his place
 

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to perform his duty. H. Bucher Swoope, a lawyer by profession and a brilliant orator, with exhorter's license he frequently preached with delight and profit to all who heard him. John Moore, a plain old Methodist, ready to pray whenever called upon, and shout when he received a blessing. John W. Shugart, firm and steady. Along the river at Clearfield the Hon. Wm. Foley's family, the mother a model Christian woman. Her daughter, Honora, became the wife of Gen. John Patton. Another daughter, Clara, became the wife of James H. McCord, a Methodist preacher and a member of the Central Pennsylvania Conference. At Centre, Philip Antes, Alexander Caldwell and his estimable wife were the leaders in Church work. Their homes always welcomed the preacher.


  At the Conference held in Danville, March, 1865, I was transferred to the Exeter Street Church in Baltimore. Our departure from Curwensville was attended with some of the inconveniences of our going there. The snow was deep and we had to travel by private conveyance as far as Philipsburg. On the day before our leaving, a heavy rain set in and continued all night. The snow began to melt and the streams to rise rapidly. Before we reached Philipsburg the flood had overflowed the Moshannon Creek and by the time our wagon load of household goods arrived they could scarcely cross the stream. I made a short visit to Clearfield and Curwensville a few days after removing and then, after an absence of forty years, I paid them a visit. What wondrous changes had taken place in those intervening years. The grand pine and hemlock forests had been almost swept away. The whole region had been permeated by railroads. Coal mines were visible everywhere.
 

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Large manufacturing plants had sprung up in every direction, the population of the towns multiplied. All that capital could do in improving the architecture of the towns and introducing the most modem conveniences of life had been done. The wand of commercial prosperity had been waved over the country and riches seemed to flow as a river in the midst.

  The Churches shared in the prosperity. My pastorate had been divided in three separate appointments. At Curwensville, a large and magnificent Church, with all modem improvements stands on the same spot as the former one. The society is large and liberal, and is now regarded as one of the best stations in the Conference. I had the privilege of preaching in its pulpit and was gratified to be greeted by so many people who remembered me after a lapse of forty years.

  At Clearfield, where I spent a day, they are building a Church much larger than the old one. It is Cathedral within and without. I write this narrative in my 79th year. I have been for many years on the superannuated list. Memory often reviews the scenes of the past and as the sun of life is setting with me, I indulge the blessed hope of a happy reunion with all those over whom I have exercised a pastoral care and from no field of labor do I expect to greet again in the better land more faithful and devoted saints than those to whom I ministered in holy things in Curwensville and Centre and Clearfield."

  He was followed by Rev. David S. Monroe, who thought the disturbers had been dealt too leniently with, and we place a short extract of a letter from him as to the course he pursued with them.

  "On entering my work in Clearfield and Curwensville, I found about forty of the members in Clearfield neglect-

5
 

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ing all of our services and out of sympathy with the Union cause. After several conversations with their leader, I said to him in July, 1865, I don't want any of you to leave the Church, nor do we want to interfere with your politics, but I do insist that you attend to your Church duties and quit abusing the Church and the preachers. And I will give you until September 1st to decide whether you will resume your duties, or withdraw from the Church or stand a trial. At the end of the time they said we will not withdraw as we cannot enjoy ourselves in any other Church. I said then I will preach here next Sunday evening, and will expect to see you there and they all came and the trouble was ended. The following year we had a glorious revival and everything was at peace."

  There did not exist at this time the most cordial relations among the Churches and during revival services the children and young persons of other Churches were not generally allowed to attend them.

  During the revival spoken of above by Dr. Monroe, he was prevented by his buggy breaking down, from getting here at all one evening, and whilst we were considering what had best be done, the Presbyterian minister, Rev. J. M. Galloway, came in, and we went to him and asked him to open our meeting, but he very promptly said, "No, I am only here as a spectator," and refused to assist us in any way. We carried on the meeting without a preacher and had a good time of it.

  This sort of a feeling gradually wore away and when Rev. John G. Archer came to serve the Presbyterian congregation his disposition was to be exceedingly friendly and it was the beginning of better times, which have continued all along these years. At a memorial service
 

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held in the court house on account of his sad death on the railroad, a universal sadness prevailed in all the Churches.

  In 1867 the desire for a new Church came to both Methodist and Presbyterian congregations, and the cordial relations between both churches was manifested in the interest each took in the other, and whilst the expense incident to such work was heavy on both sides, the Presbyterian people were among the best contributors toward our building.
 

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Rev. W. Lee Spottswood, D. D., 1859.     Rev. Thos. Barnhart, 1857.

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