Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1894-08-03
THE FIRST KENTUCKY CHURCH.
ESTABLISHED BY AUGUSTA COUNTY Sc,
LERS IN THE WILDERNESS.

The FIRST KENTUCKY CHURCH.
ESTABLISHED BY AUGUSTA COUNTY SET.
LERs IN THE WILDERNESS.
The Louisville Courier-J Journal prints an
attractive sketch of sod Pisgah," the
first church built in Kentucky, which is
an interesting record of the work of Au-
gusta county pioneers who went to that
State. 1t is situated in Woodford county
in the heart Of the blue grass country. 1t
says: Tin 1879, three families, the Stew
ensons, the Gays and the Dunlaps, were in
the van of those hardy pioneers who laid
the foundation of the great State of Ken
lucky. Samuel Stevenson held grant
from the legislature of Virginia of several
thousand acres in what is now Woodford
county. He and Mr.. Dunlap had mar
ried sisters Of their friend, John Gay; SO
when it was decided to leave their pleasant
home in Augusta county, Va, the three
families so closely united by ties of blood
started together on the perilous Journey
the Wasons and McIlvains, sturdy Scotch
Irish stock, who were their friends and
neighbors. When Lexington was reached
the country was so wild and the savages so
hostile it was found necessary to stay in
the shelter of the rude fort that had been
constructed there a few years before.
Finally these hardy pioneers went about
nine miles from the fort, made clearings
in the wilderness and built their rude log
houses. Samuel Stevenson, to whom the
original grant had been made, set apart
| two acres for a church and graveyard. and
there, soon after building their own rude
homes, they took hewn logs from the forest
and built house 'sset apart fol- the worship
of God" Statelier churches have been
reared and more costly, but none have
evinced truer spirit of self-sacriice and
devotion than this first Presbyterian
church out in the wilds. At first they had
no preacher, and it is probable that Samuel
Stevenson himself, like one of the patri-
archs of old, led the little band in its Sun
day services. Soon, however, other fami-
lies came into the little community, the
Trimbles, of whom came old Gov. Trimble
of Ohio; the Aliens, the Carrots and the
Coxes. The children began to grow up,
and hardly the church school house was
built. A Mr.. Andrews was the first teach
Ell there and also preached at the church.
So that things in the little community were
now fourishing, and the church was called
Pisgah, for from the hill where it stood the
beautiful country. like land of promise,
rolled out in sweeping curves before the
eye. Meanwhile the legislature of Virgin
ia had, in 1880, made a grant of 10000 acres
for establishing a school for higher educa
tion in the province of Kentucky.
s'This school was started in Danville,
KY, but the French ideas" Of theology
in that period having gotten possession of
/ the Board of Trustees, the orthodox Pres
| byterian at the head Of the school was de-
posed and disciple of Priestly put in his
place. This so aroused the Presbyterians
that they built another school at Pisgah
church to which George Washington and
John Adams each subscribed 800. This
school was afterwards removed to Licking
ton, KY.
''The present members of the old church
are almost entirely descendants of the orig
inal founders; not only that, but they also
own the same land which those sturdy
pioneers won. In March, 1892, there was
re- union of the Gay family, all descen-
dants of old John Gay. at which was as
sembed many prominent people of the
| Hbo
inalIy Guy, and the family was from Scot
! land.
"From old Samuel Stevenson is descend
ed the Hon. Adlai Stevenson, the present
| Vice President Of the United States. Sam
mel Stevenson died at Pisgah in 1925, in his
eighty-second year, and together with his
devoted wife he is buried in the cemetery
which he gave so many years before. The
Wasons are another large family. The son
of the old pioneer was an elder at Pisgah
more than fifty years, while two of the
grand daughters are now wives Of elders,
and another is the wife of a deacon.
''Of the Coxes, William Cox, now an
elder, is the fourth generation of the fami-
| Iy UndC has Occupied GudI pCSIGIOll Ill tue
church. So with the CARROTS and Aliens
and other old families; they live on the
Same land, cling to the same faith, and
cherish the old family traditions.
SIT is also matter of record and of
pride among the Pisgah people that for a
hundred years Oh more their church has
never had its doors closed on Sunday
preachers have come and gone, but these
old Scotch-Irish and their descendants have
never allowed the Lord s day to pass unob-
served"