The record-union., 1896-12-04
A Mckinley RELIC.
The Church in Pennsylvania Which
His Ancestors Attended.

grandmother Of the President elect.
William Mckinley, attended, and the
old dwelling occupied by her people, are
still standing in Lancaster County, Pa.
The city is, however, that the original
huose in which she was born is no
longer to be seen: excepting for a few
stones which mark the outlines of the
foundation of the old place, there is not
trace Of it's eighteenth century arch1-
lecture.
In the beautiful Donegal Valley,
among the rolling hills Of Lancaster
County, and looking down upon the
rapid waters of the Susquehanna, lies
the village Of Donegal, where the Ste
Vensons built their long, low house, in
Which the ancestor of a President was
born. The valley is one Of the prettiest
In the State, and that is saying a great
deal, for the State is filled with pictur-
esque places lying among verdant hills,
on the sides of which cling tenaciously
the most attractive of well-kept farm
houses. Donegal lies about eighteen
miles northwest Of the town of Lancas-
ter, and to get to it one had better
leave the train at Marietta, where a
conveyance can be obtained to make the
five-mile journey still to be accom-
plished
Strictly speaking. Donegal is not a
village nor town, and it is doubtful
II 1T can claim to be a borough, for
there is merely a sprinkling of farm
houses upon the hills, too far apart al
most to form a community. In the
midst OF this fertile spot lies imbedded
in the trees, which even at this time
OF the year hide it, the old Donegal
presbyterian Church, which has been
standing since early in the eighteenth
century. 1t has been remodeled, of
course, in order to preserve it, but it
stands practically the same to-day as it
did in the days of George II.
tablet of marble, attached to the
wall OF the church gives about all the
history that IS known Of the old struct-
ure. From this it seems the church was
founded by Arthur Patterson in the
year 1122, and in the year 1740 the
church received a patent from John
Thomas and Richard Penn. During the
Revolution the pastor of the little
church was a Royalist, but one day his
congregation took him out and made
him swear allegiance to The colonies
under white oak in front Of the
church, and the tree, now a mighty
king OF the forest, known as the wit
ness oak, on account of this circum .
stance. is loved almost as much as the
little white plastered church itself.
In the early part of the last century,
at the time when George l. was King,
there was large number of imni-
grants from the north Of Ireland.
About that time the Ulster men were
having an irreconcilable controversy
about the rates for land rents, and as a
result they decided to leave the old
country and seek refuge in the New
World. The majority of these settled
west of the Blue Ridge, and a large
number of the Scotch became the pio.
neers Of the western part Of Pennsylva-
MIA Among those who came over at
this time was a certain James Steven
son, who had also spclt his name as
Stephenson, and VINO had it spelled for
him in the patent from the proprietor
Of the colony Stinson.
The precise date of his arrival is un
known, but it was undoubtedly, from,
appearances, while the first George was
still reigning. In the year 1140, tn.
same year the church obtained a pat
ent, he received patent for land ag-
gregating 334 acres in Donegal. He was
consequently one Of the pioneers In the
State, and he must have been one of
the earliest in Donegal, for his property
is choicely located, being. as described
in his will, north and adjoining the
Donegal Church"
James Stevenson had two sons and
four daughters One of these, the
eldest son, Nathaniel, who died q
bachelor, inherited the property, and
at his death went to the
eldest daughter, Anne, who married
John Watson, in whose family the
property remained until 1872, when it
was sold to General Simon Cameron.
The Steyensons were a well-to-do peo-
pie, and at one time had number of
slaves. The second eldest daughter,
Hannah, married John Gray, who lived
near the Susquehanna, at Bainbridge,
and afterwards in Westmoreland Coun-
ty. Their daughter, Sarah Gray, mar
ried David Mckinley on December 10,
1870.
David Mckinley was in the bloom Of
manhood at this time, having returned
from the war, in which he had served
twenty-one months. having enlisted no
less than eight times in as many diff
ferent companies. Their second son.
James Stevenson Mckinley. was born
September 10, 1888. He subsequently
settled in Mercer County where he
married Mary Rose, and their son,
William Mckinley, became the father
Of Major William Mckinley, who has
just been elected President Of the
United States.
The old brick house, with its numer-
Gus wings and spacious porches, which
overlooks the church, was built by DR..
John Watson between the years 1905
and 1908, the old structure, in which a
great-great- t-grandmother of MajorWill-
lam Mckinley was born, having been
torn down In 1906 This fine old resi-
dence was called by DR.. Watson THE
| Seat Of Beauty" and there seems to be
no reason why the name should be
changed now. For the past twenty
years or more ii has been the Cameron
homestead Here General Cameron
breathed his last few years ago, and
here his son, Senator Don Cameron,
spends portion Of his summers
Reading Herald.