174
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
of Ohio had ever received. He pointed
out that the convention
allowed two weeks discussion on the
proposition of a bond issue
for good roads, and "permitted
without limitation a discussion
for nearly three weeks of the liquor
question." 18 In spite of this
appeal for fairness the convention gave
less than two days to the
question which most delegates considered
the most important
one before them.19 Lastly,
most of the delegates were of the
opinion that the great majority of women
were opposed to re-
ceiving the franchise.
An analysis of the debates would prolong
this paper beyond
the twenty minute limit, and add little
to its effectiveness.20 As
in 1873, several delegates favored a
referendum by the women
alone. Its impracticability and doubts
as to its legality caused
its defeat. The committee on the
Elective Franchise reported a
proposal which passed the convention by
a vote of 76 to 34. This
amendment was defeated at the polls by
nearly 100,000 votes,
and the women of Ohio were left to
exercise the limited fran-
chise granted at an earlier period.
EARLY RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN PITTSBURGH.
BY HOMER J. WEBSTER, PH. D., UNIVERSITY
OF PITTSBURGH.
Pittsburgh is distinguished today as a
city of wealth and
manufactures. It is equally true, though
not so well known, that
she is conspicuously a city of churches,
and of church going
people. Today she has several
denominational colleges, and three
Theological Seminaries, the latter
representing the different
branches of the Presbyterians. And
almost from the beginning
of her history, Presbyterianism has been
prominent.
The Roman Catholics, however, preceded
the Presbyterians,
since their chaplain, Friar Denys Baron,
a Recollect Priest, ac-
companied the French to Fort Duquesne,
conducted services there
in the newly erected chapel in 1754, and
ministered to them dur-
ing their occupation. From the French
evacuation of the fort in
18bid., p. 619 (Prof. Knight).
19 The debates cover pp. 600-639.
20 See
especially speeches of Marshall, Bowdle, Marriot and John-
son (Williams Co).
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 175
1758, until 1808, the Roman Catholics in
Pittsburgh were few
in number, and had no resident priest.
They were visited occa-
sionally by missionaries on their way
westward, services being
held in private houses.
No sooner were the English established
at Fort Pitt, in
1758, than Presbyterian ministrations
began. Rev. Chas. Beatty
preached a Thanksgiving sermon on the
Sunday following the
French evacuation. The Presbyterian
Synod of New York and
Philadelphia sent missionaries
repeatedly to the fort and western
settlements for brief labors there. Some
of these missionaries
also visited the Indians on the
Muskingum, and took back a stir-
ring report to the next Synod, to the
effect that the fields were
white and the laborers few. For over
twenty years, however,
progress was painfully slow, and nothing
of permanence or
stability was secured prior to the
establishment of a resident
minister. Rev. James Power was the first
ordained minister, who
settled with his family in western
Pennsylvania. He came in
1776 and for several years worked in the
vicinity of Pittsburgh.
In the same year, the Rev. John McMillan
founded the Log Col-
lege near Canonsburgh, Pennsylvania, the
forerunner of Jeffer-
son College, one of the two parent stems
of Washington and
Jefferson College.
The Redstone1 Presbytery was created by
the Synod of New
York and Philadelphia at its meeting in
Philadelphia, May, 1781.
This was the first Presbytery formed
west of the Allegheny
Mountains,2 and held its
first meeting at Pigeon Creek, in Sep-
tember, 1781. In the record of this
Presbytery no mention is
made of Pittsburgh until its fifth
meeting, held at Buffalo, Wash-
ington County, Pennsylvania, 1784, when
it received from Pitts-
burgh an application for supplies.
Accordingly the next day,
the Presbytery appointed the Rev. Joseph
Smith, a graduate of
Princeton, to preach at Pittsburgh the
fourth Sabbath of August.
This was the first appointment by the
Presbytery of a supply to
Pittsburgh.
1 Redstone Creek joined the Monongahela
River at Redstone Old
Fort, fifty-five miles above Pittsburgh,
but the term, Redstone, was ap-
plied to the whole region west of the
mountains.
2 In
1793 the Presbytery of Ohio was formed part from the old
Redstone Presbytery, and thus the latter
was divided.
176 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
Some idea of conditions in Pittsburgh at
that time may be
gained from Arthur Lee, who visited it
in 1784, and who said:
"Pittsburgh is inhabited almost
entirely by Scots and Irish, who
live in paltry log houses. * * * There
are in the town four
attorneys, two doctors, and not a priest
of any persuasion, nor
church, nor chapel, so that they are
likely to be damned without
benefit of clergy." In the same
year, a clerical member of the
Mason and Dixon's Line Commission
brought one hundred sixty
Bibles to Pittsburgh for distribution.
Meanwhile Rev. Samuel Barr had visited
Pittsburgh, and
had preached a few times. In the fall of
1785 he began regular
pastoral work in what is now called the
First Presbyterian Con-
gregation of Pittsburgh, which was then
formed. In September,
1787, a bill was passed by the
legislature at Philadelphia, to in-
corporate a Presbyterian congregation in
Pittsburgh. In the
same month, through the efforts of the
Rev. Samuel Barr, the
Penn heirs had deeded to this church two
and one-half lots of
ground for five shillings. This deed was
executed on parchment
to eleven trustees and is still
possessed by the First Presbyterian
Church of the city. On this ground the
church erected their first
house of worship, - a structure of
"moderate dimensions and
squared timber." This was the first church building in Pitts-
burgh. Samuel Barr's pastorate closed in
1789, and for several
years thereafter, the church had no
regular minister, being at-
tended mostly by successive supplies.
There were hard and lean
years for the Presbyterian Church of
Pittsburgh. It had little
life in itself and was out of harmonious
relation with the Red-
stone Presbytery.
From 1794 to 1800, the history of the
First Church is almost
a blank. A call for supplies was made in
1795 and again in 1799.
No meetings of the Presbytery were held
in Pittsburgh dur-
ing this period. A fast day was
appointed by the Presbytery in
January, 1796, for "prevailing
infidelity, vice, immorality, and
spiritual sloth." The first Tuesday afternoon of each quarter
was set apart in October, 1797, as a
"time of prayer for a revival
of religion." Perhaps the greatest
enemy with which the pioneer
church had to deal in those days was
intemperance. A ray of
hope in this dark period of its history,
came with the sermon
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 177
of Dr. Francis Herron in the old log
church in 1799, which, in
his own words, was much to the
"annoyance of the swallows"
which inhabited the neglected building.
As early as 1782, the Rev. Johann
Wilhelm Weber first came
to Pittsburgh. The town then contained
about sixty houses and
huts, and about one hundred families. As
an outgrowth of
Weber's labors, a German Lutheran
congregation was organized
by 1783. This was the first religious
body to form an organiza-
tion in Pittsburgh. A little later, a
church was erected by them
on ground secured from the Penns. The
Rev. Mr. Weber served
as their pastor for twelve years, and
the church continued to
develop during the ensuing years, and
became a permanent factor
in the life of the place.
In 1787, when the Penns donated lands to
the Presbyterians
and Lutherans, they also deeded the same
amount, two and one-
half lots, to the trustees of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, who
were just then organizing in Pittsburgh.
This land was used
from the beginning as a burial place,
but not for thirty-seven
years as the site for a church. One of
the trustees of this church
was Col. John Gibson, who was commandant
for a time at Fort
Pitt, and later secretary to Gov.
Harrison in Indiana Territory.
In 1797, Rev. John Taylor was called to
act as pastor. The first
services were held in the court house,
and other places, public
and private. In 1805 a charter was
secured for the incorporation
of Trinity Church, and a new plot of
ground was bought, on
which was erected the First Trinity
Church. This was known
as the "Old Round Church,"
being octagonal in form, and was
the mother of all Episcopal Churches in
Western Pennsylvania.
For twenty years it was not prosperous,
and was supplied by
various rectors for short periods. In
1824, John Henry Hop-
kins became rector and greatly
strengthened the church, and a
new building was erected the following
year.
Early Methodism had a difficult field to
cultivate in Pitts-
burgh and vicinity. The soil was
preoccupied. The Presbyterians
came early, settled thickly, held on
tenaciously, and gained much
afterward from immigration, while
Methodism gained little from
this latter source. At the Methodist
Conference, held at Union-
town, Pennsylvania, July, 1788, the
Pittsburgh Circuit was
Vol. XXV-12
178 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
formed, partly from the Redstone Circuit
which lay south of
Pittsburgh, and Chas. Conway was
appointed preacher for the
new circuit. This was the first
appearance of the name of Pitts-
burgh in the annals of Methodism. The
Presbyterians, Lu-
therans, and Episcopalians were already
organizing in Pittsburgh,
when Conway arrived in 1788. Three years
earlier, Rev. Wilson
Lee, preaching on the Redstone Circuit,
had visited Pittsburgh,
and preached there the first Methodist
sermon. But there was
no organization and Conway came
"not to serve a church, but
to make one, not called by a church, but
to call a church," and
his field of labor extended to the
vicinity as well as to the town.
In 1789, Bishop Asbury made his first
visit to Pittsburgh. He
wrote in his journal that the people
were very attentive, but
that "alas they are far from God,
and too near the savages in
situation and manners." At the
close of the second year, 1790,
the minutes showed ninety-seven members
in the Pittsburgh Cir-
cuit, though few of these were in
Pittsburgh. In the next few
years, additional preachers were
appointed to assist Conway,
yet between Satan on the one hand and
the Calvinists on the
other, there was little chance for
Methodism in Pittsburgh in
these early years.
The first important accession came with
arrival of John
Wrenshall, merchant, in 1796. He was
also a minister of much
experience and ability, and to him
perhaps as much as to any
other one man, belongs the honor of
establishing Methodism in
Pittsburgh. Regular services were held
for a time in the old log
building, which had been deserted by the
Presbyterians, and
later in the old barracks of Fort Pitt.
But no permanent home
was secured for their services, until in
1810 a lot was purchased
and a plain brick church erected. The
membership increased
so rapidly from this time that by 1817,
the membership of the
Pittsburgh church alone, numbered two
hundred eighty, and a
site was purchased for the erection of a
new building. Thus
arose the Smithfield Street Church, the
mother Methodist Epis-
copal Church of Pittsburgh.
The church now known as the United
Presbyterian in Pitts-
burgh, formed in 1858, was an outgrowth
of the Associate, or
Associate Presbyterian Church. At
Philadelphia in 1800 was
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 179
organized the Associate Synod of North
America, consisting of
four Presbyteries, including that of
Chartiers. The Associate
Presbytery of Chartiers met and
organized at Canonsburgh,
Pennsylvania, in June, 1800.
Several congregations were under its
care. At a meeting
of this Presbytery at Buffalo,
Pennsylvania, in 1801, a petition
was presented from Pittsburgh and Turtle
Creek for preaching.
In response to this, elders were elected
at Pittsburgh, and they
called as their first minister, in
November of that year, the Rev.
Ebenezer Henderson. Thus the First United Presbyterian
Church of Pittsburgh was organized under
the name of the
Associate Congregation of Pittsburgh.
Henderson became dis-
couraged and was released in 1804.
During his pastorate, the
congregation had no church building, and
worshiped in the
court house. In 1808 Robert Bruce,
recently from Scotland, be-
came pastor, and the congregation
worshiped in the German
Church. Finally in April, 1810, a lot
for a church building was
purchased, but the building was not
ready for occupancy until
1813. This first church was a rude
building of brick, with un-
plastered walls, unpainted pews, and no
vestibule. But these
pioneer days passed by, and the
congregation grew in numbers
and strength until it is today one of
the strongest in Pittsburgh.
The Baptists were organized in
Pittsburgh, rather later than
the other denominations. The first
congregation, in 1812, con-
sisted of six families, with Rev. Edward
Jones as pastor. The
services were held in various places.
The congregation was
not chartered until 1822. It
belonged to the Redstone Baptist
Association, whose minutes are published
beginning with 1804.
In that year this Association included
twenty-five churches, with
a total membership of over one thousand.
It met annually, and
its records indicate the progress of the
Baptists in Western
Pennsylvania. In 1808, the number of
churches was thirty-five
with a membership of over fifteen
thousand. Then for a series
of years the number decreased, and in
1810, there were only
about twelve thousand. In 1823 this
Association convened at
Pittsburgh. Only twenty-one churches
were represented with
memberships ranging from nine to one
hundred twelve each.
In the minutes of this Association for
1805, there are two
180 Ohio Arch. and Hist.
Society Publications.
interesting queries. One was: "Is
it consistent with gospel
order, or our Lord's rule of equity, to
hold any of our fellow
creatures in perpetual slavery?"
Answered unanimously, "No."
The other was: "Do we hold
fellowship with any church which
holds fellowship with any members, who
hold slaves in perpetual
servitude?" This query was referred
to the next annual Asso-
ciation for an answer. At that time it
was resolved that this
query "be struck out, leaving the
case of slavery wholly to the
prudence of the Legislature, praying
that the Lord would put
it into their hearts to liberate
them."
Though the Roman Catholics were the
first in this section,
not until 1808, did they have a resident
priest. In that year
Rev. Wm. O'Brien came from Baltimore to
Pittsburgh. He
promoted the erection of St. Patrick's
Church, which was begun
in the same year. This was a brick
building and its dedication
in August, 1811, was the occasion of the
first visit of a Roman
Catholic Bishop to this place. During
the building of this church,
Father O'Brien said mass in a stable
fitted up for a chapel. After
twelve years of service among the
missions of that region, in
which he ministered to perhaps not more
than three hundred
souls, Father O'Brien preached his
farewell sermon in the spring
of 1820. He was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Maguire, under whose
ministrations, a magnificent new church,
St. Paul's, was erected.
As the history of the Presbyterians has
been sketched here
only to 1800, a few further facts concerning
them should be
presented. Their history has been
divided into three periods.
First, the initial struggle for
existence, 1784-1800, which has
been outlined above. During the sixteen
years of this period,
the pastoral relation existed but about
one-fourth the time,
(1785-'89).
The second period, 1800-1811, was a
struggle for establish-
ment. In 1802 the Synod of Pittsburgh was
formed by Act of
the General Assembly, and held its first
meeting in October of
that year. This was the first great
representative meeting of
the men who made Western Pennsylvania
Presbyterianism.
Their missionary zeal was shown in their
first resolution, that
"the Synod of Pittsburgh shall be
styled the Western Missionary
Society." The effects of the
formation of the Synod and of this
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 181
first meeting were soon felt. The union
between the city and
the surrounding country, thus far
delayed, was now begun and
proved effective.
In 1801 a dissension arose within the
church at Pittsburgh,
and persisted until 1804, when upon
petition, a part of the con-
gregation was authorized to organize the
Second Presbyterian
Church of Pittsburgh. Supplies were
granted the new branch
until October, 1805, when a regular
minister accepted its call.
This division increased financial
difficulties, already great, on
account of the erection of a building.
Despairing of raising the
debt by subscription, a lottery was
resorted to in 1806, but was
not successful, and the debt continued.
During all this early
period the religious life was at a low
ebb, and progress was slow.
The First Presbyterian Church numbered
but forty-five mem-
bers in 1808, fifty-eight in 1809, and
sixty-five in 1810. Around
Pittsburgh, however, there had been
considerable growth. Cross
Creek Church numbered two hundred
fifty-five, Cross Roads and
Three Springs two hundred thirty-seven,
and many others about
two hundred each.
The early churches of Western
Pennsylvania were rural
and they developed later in the towns.
The country people were
the Christians, the townspeople, the
"pagans," says Smith, in
respect to their early destitution of
churches. Pittsburgh, Wash-
ington (Pennsylvania) and Wheeling were
all suppliants at the
door of the Redstone Presbytery, begging
for supplies. And
just as rural life develops sturdy
manhood, so it develops sturdy
churches, so that by 1833, Dr. Alexander
could write: "The
Pittsburgh Synod is the purest and
soundest limb of the Presby-
terian body. When we fall to pieces in
this quarter and in the
far West, that Synod will be like a
marble column, which remains
undisturbed in the ruins of a mighty
temple."
In 1811 the Presbyterian Church entered
upon the third and
successful period of its history, which
has continued to the
present time. In that year the Rev.
Francis Herron became the
pastor of the First Church, and so
continued for thirty-nine years.
In 1817 the church was enlarged and
regular weekly prayer meet-
ings were established. From 1817 to 1824, the
Pittsburgh Bible
Society, formed in 1814 in this church,
delivered 2,382 Bibles,
182 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
and 1,180 testaments. In 1817 the
Western Missionary Society
of Pittsburgh, that is, the Presbyterian
Synod of Pittsburgh,
assembled and appointed missionaries to
all the Indian districts
of the west.
In 1818 the Pittsburgh Union Society, or
Sunday School
Association, for promoting Sunday School
work, organized and
founded the Adephi Free School, a
combined Sunday and public
school for the benefit of poor children.
At the time of the first
annual report of the Sunday School
Association, February, 1819,
it comprised ten Sunday Schools in
Pittsburgh. During its first
year the Association gathered about five
hundred fifty children
into the Sunday Schools, maintained a
free colored school, and
embraced every church in Pittsburgh and
vicinity.
In May, 1820, the United Foreign Missionary Society, com-
posed of several denominations of the
city, requested from the
Western Missionary Society of
Pittsburgh, aid for missions to
the Osage Indians. This appeal was
responded to by raising
over $1,200
in cash, and a large supply of provisions
and build-
ing materials. The first faculty of the
Western University of
Pennsylvania, now the University of
Pittsburgh, was composed
of six of the most eminent clergymen in
the community.
These facts illustrate the activity of
the churches of Pitts-
burgh during the early years of the
nineteenth century, and ex-
plain in part their growth in power,
influence and Christian
service.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Files of the Pittsburgh Gazette,
(1786-).
Centenary Volume of the First
Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh.
(1884.) Edited by Sylvester Scoville.
Minutes of the Redstone Presbytery.
(1781-1831.)
Minutes of the Redstone Baptist
Association. (1786-1836).
History of the First United Presbyterian
Church of Pittsburg. (1801-
1901). W. J. Reid.
Centenary Memorial Volume of the
Smithfield Street Methodist Epis-
copal Church Celebration. (1888).
"Pittsburgh as seen by Early
Travelers." (1783-1818). Compilation of
Extracts made by Carnegie Library,
Pittsburgh.
Volume on the Centennial of the
Incorporation of Pittsburgh. (1894).
Article by Dr. Wm. J. Holland.
Old Redstone, by Dr. Joseph Smith.
(1854.)
Annual Meeting Ohio Valley Historical
Association. 183
Records of the Synod of Pittsburgh.
(1802-1832).
Centenary Memorial Volume of
Presbyterianism in Western Pennsyl-
vania. (Papers by Darlington and Veech.)
History of Pittsburgh, by N. B. Craig.
(1851).
History of Pittsburgh, by Sarah H.
Killikelly. (1906).
History of Pittsburgh, by Erasmus
Wilson. (1898).
EARLY RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN THE
MUSKINGUM
VALLEY.
BY C. L. MARTZOLFF, OHIO UNIVERSITY.
The dominant note in the settlement of
the majority of the
colonies was, as we know, religious
freedom. The spirit of
modern history which has as its slogan, "All
men are free,"
found in those days expression in terms
of religion, with the
result that the most of men's acts were
determined by a religious
motive.
While the settlement of the Muskingum
Valley, which in-
cludes practically all of southeastern
and eastern Ohio, was
not prompted by the same reasons which
urged the fathers to
come across the Atlantic and establish
colonies in the name of
religious freedom, yet the fact that
these men were their fathers,
leads us confidently to expect that the
founding of the church
was contemporaneous with the founding of
a settlement.
"Like father, like
son." So, noble sons of noble sires had
learned the experiences of the elders
and had received a thor-
ough training in the traditions, growing
out of the acts which
had made history. We have only to
recall, therefore, that this
section of Ohio was settled in a great
measure by Puritans from
Massachusetts, Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania and New Jer-
sey, and Quakers and Germans, also from
our eastern neighbor,
to at once conclude that the statement
made in the previous
paragraph is a correct one.
While, figuratively speaking, the Lilies
of France once
floated over this section of Ohio, and
we might with some degree
of assurance look for the presence of
the Jesuit missionary in
these parts, yet we have no record of
any of these black cowled
messengers of the Cross ever being in
this region. Yet, we are
quite certain that their influence was
felt upon the Indians who