“I JOYED WHEN TO THE HOUSE OF GOD” Ch: 7

“I JOYED WHEN TO THE HOUSE OF GOD” Ch: 7

Chapter 7

“I JOYED WHEN TO THE HOUSE OF GOD, GO UP, THEY SAID TO ME.” (PSALM 122)

Between the years 1718 and 1770, as we have seen, many thousands of folk left the shores of Ulster to seek a better life in the American colonies. Great must have been the effects in the land they left, almost denuding whole districts of friends, neighbours, workers, and employers. In their new homeland, too, they soon made their presence felt, but on the migrants, themselves, the effects must have been really transforming. Whilst their lives in Ulster had been far from easy, beset as they had been by so much religious prejudice and hostile acts, the familiar scenes of their home district would have given them a comparative sense of security. The discomfort, food shortage, and dangers of the sea voyage over, they would then encounter the uncertainties of a life ahead in a really vast, unknown, and, in many cases, unfriendly and dangerous land. But the Scots are noted prodigious travellers and settlers adapting themselves readily to the new living conditions, or moulding unfavourable or hostile surroundings to suit them, and these members of the hardy race from Ulster were to prove no exception.

Mostly in families they had embarked at the ports of Belfast, Londonderry, Lame, orNewry, and in families they would mostly remain as they journeyed inland from the ports of Philadelphia, Newcastle, Charleston, or Boston. Very few remained in American costal towns or districts. There were several means of transport used by them on their travels towards the interior of that immense continent. Pack animals like the horse and mule were in some places replaced by cattle, which would serve a dual purpose. In the later years in the Shenandoah Valley and along the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road (which Ulster Scots largely constructed – a distance of almost 450 miles – from the great Pennsylvanian port to the River Yadkin beyond Western Virginia) the pack animals were replaced by whale-bellied Conestoga wagons, which became a very popular and effective means of transporting several families and their belongings.

This co-operation lessened the loneliness on the journey and also added strength in the event of Indian attack. In some cases the fast-flowing tributaries of the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers were used for carrying, not only the people and their possessions, but also the pack-animals as well. This method was chosen by such fearless and resourceful Ulster-Scottish pioneers as James Robertson, Andrew Lewis, John Harris. and John Finley on their perilous journeys of exploration farther West. On the arrival of the sellers at a place they deemed suitable, they would, perhaps, spend several nights on beds of dry leaves under the stars, until their first dwelling was constructed. This, in most cases, would be a log cabin, although it is recorded in the “Witherspoon Genealogy” by Robert Witherspoon that, in their rather unfortunate plight, they had to spend months in a mud house. This was upriver from Charleston in South Carolina. Also in this book there is a description of the tools provided by the State authorities to each “hand over 16″, namely one axe, one broad hoe, and one narrow hoe. This was in the year 1134, the axes would be used to provide the logs for constructing a cabin, to make a clearance around it, and for other necessary preliminary work.

This included “circling” other trees to mark the boundaries of the settler’s land. This cutting round the bark also ensured the withering later of the leaves on the upperparts of the forest giants to provide additional light in and around the cabin. Unfortunately, this practice led to groups of unsightly “trunks” in the settlements. In the clearing a garden would be prepared with the hoes, in which to grow potatoes, Indian corn, and other vegetables. The hogs, the cattle, the sheep, and the poultry were bought later, if not brought with them. Cabins were built near each other by several families, who next set about the making of a fort, with a stockade around it. Both of these were erected with strong selected logs. In the case of the fence, the
axes came in most useful for pointing both ends of the “posts,” which were placed into trenches in upright positions. Soils and rocks, filled in around them, strengthened the whole erection to make a very formidable and effective means of defence against even mounted Indians. At each corner of this palisade, the settlers made a fortified accommodation for lookouts, while along its inner sides were built platforms. on which they could position themselves to fire out through well-spaced loopholes.

On alarms being sounded, signalling the approach of enemies, everyone in the cabins would rush with flint-lock guns, ammunition, and provisions to the fort, closethe gates and make every effort to drive off the attackers. The women and children,although usually in the fort itself, would sometimes accompany the men and boys topositions around the platforms against the stockade. There they could help with the loading of firearms. Another building, at times, erected inside the fortified area was a church. Most of those far-travelled people had left Ulster to enjoy religious freedom, and there can be little doubt that many of the families would carry with them, as their most treasured possession, the large family Bible. For they were especially “the people of the Book.” It is recorded by Professor Leyburn that, as they had done in the Old World, so they did in the new. Each night, father would read aloud to the family from the Bible, and pray with them. Mother considered it her duty daily to hear the children recite the answers to the questions of the Shorter Catechism. The Longer Catechism was also studied and many families had copies of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

In spite of these family meetings, there was throughout the scattered communities a great desire for the spiritual encouragement of ministers and churches. Itinerant preachers or circuit riders, as they were called, with their Bibles and meagre belongings packed in saddle bags. rode many miles and for many hours to preach in scattered settlements. The times of the services would quickly be made known and the people would assemble in somones cabin or barn to hear the much awaited minister. Among such preachers who regularly visited the Ulster Scottish settlements was one whose story probably more than others typifies the stamina, patience, and indomitable courage of those self forgetting men. He was James Waddell, who had

been born in Newry in County Down in Ulster. Although blind, he travelled widely throughout the valley of Virginia. covering thousands of miles on horseback in all weathers and in face of dangers which would have daunted many. The diary recorded by a Rev. John Cuthbertson reveals the dedication of those early Presbyterian pastors. The extract reads -“After being forty six days at sea from Derry Loch. landed safely at Delaware port of Newcastle. August 5th 1751 about 8 o’clock in the forenoon. Lodged in T. Griffith s, Then 5th at 4 o’clock in the afternoon took horse and rode twenty miles to Moses Andrews,” Even immediately after a long and probably exhausting dangerous voyage, he took merely a few hours of rest before he felt called on to make a daunting and uncomfortable journey into a countryside completely unknown to him. During his long service of almost forty years chiefly in Pennsylvania. he rode on horseback for more than 60.000 miles preached on more than 2.400 days. baptized over 1,600 children and married some 250 couples. Another minister, Rev. Charles Beatty, made a circuit of the presbyterian settlements in 1766, Some extracts from his daily records were :-

25th Monday. Set out from Capt. Patterson’s this morning. as early as we could. We travelled up the Juniata river eight miles through a bad road called the Narrows. After riding about 21 miles we carne to Mr. Thomas Holt’s much fatigued, where we rested an hour or two. 28th August. Set out for Fort Littleton, crossing the Juniata at the mouth of Aughweed river and being conducted by the man in whose house we lodged about twelve or thirteen miles along a small path which led up the river Aughweed. We passed an Old Indian town, now deserted where Fort Shirley was built in the late war. Hitherto we saw but two or three house’s.”

As the numbers of people increased in the various settlements, the time came when periodic visits by clergymen no longer sufficed. The people wanted their own pastors. For many years the supply did not meet the demand, The chief reason for this was the insistence by the authorities of the Presbyterian Church (that is of representatives elected from the various churches) on the very highest educational standards for their ministers. Only the Scottish universities were deemed satisfactory to provide training adequate to meet these high requirements. Because of this shortage, many Baptist pastors became the spiritual leaders of Ulster Scots in dispersed and remote settlements. It took about six years to prepare a Presbyterian minister whilst the Baptist pastor could preach in less than six months. However the setting up of training colleges in America itself the supply level carne closer to satisfying of demand. This is borne out by figures quoted by Rev. W.F, Marshall in his book “Ulster Sails West”. These show that in 1760 there were over 400 congregations with Presbyterian ministers in the American colonies which according to Hanna the historian some of these in that year were as far West as Tennessee and Kentucky and by 1780, even into Ohio.

Along with this increase in the number of churches carne the traditional Presbyterian build up in administrative structure. The Presbytery of Philadelphia, largely organized by Francis Makemie in 1705. had grown so much, that in 1716 it was able to divide into three smaller Presbyteries. In 1717 their representatives met at the first American Synod. In 1729 the Londonderry Presbytery was formed in New England, in 1732 the Donegal Presbytery in the Chesapeake Bay area, the New York Presbytery in 1738, the Boston in 1745. With these the Philadelphia Synod had been operating since 1717. There were three Carolina Presbyteries by 1755, and several in Virginia before the Revolution in 1776. All these bodies came together to form the first General Assembly of American Presbyterian Churches in 1789. Some of the early churches had delightful names. “The Church of the Presbyterian Strangers”, was the title chosen for one in Boston. There. Rev. John Moorhead was ordained in 1730. He was the son of a farmer at Newtownards, in County Down. He received his training for the ministry at Edinburgh University. The building was later called Federal Street Presbyterian Church. “Blue Springs Church” was the name selected for one of the early meeting houses in Kentucky. Here, Robert Marshall, who had been bom in County Down in 1760, was ordained. In the broad Cumberland Valley in Virginia, a log meeting house was given the pleasantly sounding name of “Silver Springs Church.” Its first minister was another Ulsterman, Rev. Samuel Thomson, installed there in 1739. Rev. Benjamin Chambers, from County Antrim, was installed at “Falling Springs Church in Chambersburg, in Pennsylvania in 1730. It was to “Tinkling Springs Church” in the valley of Virginia that John Craig, bom in Ulster in1709, came as pastor in 1740. He ministered also to the neighbouring congregationat Augusta, and later at “Triple Forks Church”.

His life story well illustrates the courage of those pioneering Presbyterian pastors. He travelled from his first charges to organize congregations as far West as the Holston River in Tennessee. His selection of ruling elders cannot always have been easy as he said, “Where I cud na get hewn stanes, I tuk dornacks.” Like many of his fellow ministers, he was actively engaged in all aspects of frontier life which effected his congregations. It is no surprise to read that at Triple Forks Church, which was situated in a district South West of the Blue Ridge Mountains, exposed to murderous Indian attacks, he organized the men of the congregation so that they could defend the settlement better. He, himself, had his gun resting against the pulpit, many of the men in the pews carried firearms, while others acted as look-outs a distance from the church, during the services. Another minister, John Steel, after particularly savage Indian raids, had a detachment of his people formed and led them against the perpetrators to bring, at least, a temporary respite from attacks. He later was tobecome a distinguished officer of militia in the colonial forces in the War of Independence.

The story of the Old Derry Church, in Pennsylvania would seem to be typical of the development of Scotch Irish meeting houses in those pioneering days. Before 1717almost 40 families had settled in that district in the valley of the Shenandoah River. In 1725 those who were able shared the work of building their first place of worship of logs. This was improved in 1769 by being weather boarded. It was roughly 38 feet square. The windows, which were formed of small and very numerous panes, reached from about half-way up the walls to near the ceiling. The pulpit was small, but towered high above the pews, the backs of which were stiff and straight backed. Even then there were deuce niceties in the seating arrangement, the deacons’ pew

was to be found near the door, while the pews for the leading elders were raised about a foot higher than the others. The first heating was installed in 1788, when it was decided “to take out the seat occupied by Henry McDonnell for the use of putting a stove there, in case McDonnell is agreed.” Leyburn has written that Sunday observance was strict and services long. In the West of Virginia some of these had begun at 10 a.m. and went on till sunset, with one hour interval for dinner. The Lord’s Supper service sometimes extended for four days, with sermons on three of these, This would include the solemn “Fencing of the Tables” address during which the need for serious self examination to prepare for the solemn act was stressed. The long cmmunion tables extended from the pulpit end to the door. Tokens of lead or spelter with the initial letters of the church or some distinctive symbol embossed were used by the communicants. Of course, all this was typical of services held under Presbyterian auspices in Scotland and in Ulster at that period of the 18th century. In this way was the Presbyterian Church established in America in the 17th and18th centuries, mainly by Ulster Scots. It became known as the Presbyterian church in the U.S.A. Like the “mother church” of Scotland and its “daughter” in Ireland, in America, it suffered the controversy and subsequent division of the 1830′ s, which resulted in the formation of two churches – the Old School Presbyterian Church and the New School Presbyterian Church. The heart breaking struggle of the American Civil War in the 1860′s brought a further split and the end of that war found two main Presbyterian Churches in America, namely The Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (commonly known as the Northern Presbyterian Church) and The Presbyterian Church in the U.S. (commonly known as the Southern Presbyterian Church) Be these divisions as they may, they detract nothing from the successful planting of the Blue Banner across the Atlantic in the 17th Century.