The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-02
M'KINLEY,s ANCESTORS.
The Old Church Dating Back to the
Times OF George I.

Times Of George l.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.
The church where the great-great-
great-grandmother of the president
elect, William Mckinley, attended, and
the old dwelling occupied by her peo-
pie, are still stGnding in Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania. The pity Is,
however, that the original house 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 a trace Of Its
eighteenth century architecture.
In the beautiful Donegal valley.
among the rolling hills of Lancaster
county, and looking down upon the
rapid waters Of the Susauehanna. 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 pretti-
est In the state, and that Is saying a
great deal, for the state Is filed with
picturesque places lying among verdant
hills on the sides of which cling tenaci-
ously the most attractive of well kept
farms and the whitest of white walled
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 Marietts, 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 1t is doubtful
If it can claim to be borough. Tor
there Is merely sprinkling Of farm
houses upon the hills. too far apart al
most to form community. In the
midst of this fertile spot lies embedded
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 1t, but 1t
stands practically the same today as 1t
did in the days of George II.
A table or marble attached TO the wall
of the church gives about all the his
tory that Is known or the old structure.
from TINS II seems tine churcn was
1oundea py arthur Patterson IN tne
year l'22. ana IN the year l'4O the
cnurch received patent from John
Ihomas ana hichard Pehn: during
the revolution tne pastor oi the nttie
church was hoyaiist' put one aay MS
congregation TOOK MN out anu irlaue
MN swear ms aiiesiahce 10 tne coionies
uhuer u Wnite OAK III front OF tne
cnurch, anu tne tree now Inishty
klns ol the forest, known as witness
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