The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-16
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
PTesbyterians Open Their COnyen-
ton in Philadelphia.

The birthplace of the Church in
Americu-First Presbytery Held in
the Quaker City-His.orIc Incl
dents Recalled by the Events.
PHILADELPHIA, May 1.-THE Pres
byterian General Assembly opened its
sessions in this city today Philadelphia
is the birthplace of organized Presbyteri-
anism- Historians of the church. anxious
to sink the foundations of their institu-
ton as far as possible into the depths of
I time, point to a little frame church that
was erected in I70i. and that stood for II6
years at the corner of Market and Bank
Streets as the meeting place of the first
American Presbytery-
From that modest gathering of minis
tiers and Iaymen to the great company
/ which convened today is truly a wide
I compass; no man living then dared to
/ dream of what was to be in the next two
centuries-that the far-f1ung lines Of Pres
! byterianism would be radiating from this
| humble cradle to places and peoples and
! hosts then uncomfortable
/ This first Presbytery adjourned to meet
! in Freehold, n. J., and there, in Deem
! Der Of the same year it's members did an
/ other noteworthy thing. John Boyd, a
/ candidate for the ministry was examined
J by the Presbyt>ry and having been found
/ worthy and wei qualified he was ordain-
/ ed-the first Presbyterian ordination in
/ the New World.
John Boyd miIistered to the coHgrega-
! ton that grew out of that handful Of
/ Scottish refugees who fed from their
/ homes in 1885 to escape religious persecu-
! ton. Their ship was driven by stress Of
weather on to the north jersey coast
! Soon after their landing the "Presbyteri-
! an Congregation Of Freehold" was organ
! lied and in 1892 they built a log church in
I which tie foundation of the American
Presbyterian ministry was laid.
/ For many years this Freehold Church
/ was known rs Old Scot's-now but a
name as briars and weeds cover the site
/ Of that famous place. In little more
! than a generation after Old Scots was
built its people had erected the stately
/ building known as Tennent Church,
! structure that is pre-eminent, not only in
/ Presbyterian annals, but in secular his
/ tory Such names as John Tennent, VIII
liam Tennent, jr- David Brafnerd, George
/ Whitehead and John Woodruff are in
/ voIved in its story and give it unique
place in Presbyterian Church affairs 1t
was named for William Tennent, jr-, sec
ond son of the founder of the famous Log
/ College, he became pastor of the church
in 1913 and died in the pastorate there IN
In the days Of the Revolution Tennent
Church was CONSPICUOUS iancflaFft-
The battle Of Monmouth ragged near II
and in its graveyard are gathered many
Of the dead from the struggle on that
fatefuI June day Of MS Colonel Monck-
ton. OF the Royal Grenadiers, was knee
near the old parsonage in a coillsIon with
General Wayne's troops, and his remains
lie buried a the west end of the church
Another notable New Jersey Presoyte
ian Church Of ancient origin and historic
associations is the picturesque structure
at Shrewsbury This; foundation too
dates back 10 the seventeenth century al
though a church house was not erected
until 1127- This building was improved
and enlarged in 1871, and again in lSi2-r
Famous among the New England freS-
byterian churches is the First Cnurch
lUId South of Newburyport- Mass me
present building was erected in 1856 ten
years after its congregation was organ
lied It's first pastor was Rev Jonathan
Parsons the devoted friend of EvanSet-
list George NhiteheId, and it was in Par
sons house that the great nome ms
sionary died The dust OF the Two
friends ROW miugIeS in a grave under he
trgIDit OF the church Some vandal One
stole the bones Of Whiteheld's right arm
and kept them for twenty years Aifald,
perhaps, to mention the nature Of his CT
nos. the collector Of the ghaStly trophies
returned them as mySleTlOuSly as he StDl"
them and they were restored to the grave
in the presence of the church officers
One OF the sacred relics OF Dld South Is
tn. evangelist s Bible which has been in
constant use for more than a century
And still another curiosity that attracts
the attention of visitors is its whisper
ing gallery. the faintest sound being car
ried from one corner Of the church to the
other Giagoually opposite William Lloyd
Garrison, the celebrated AbOliuonist- was
born in little house adjoining the
church
Prominent among Pennsylvania Pres
byterian Churches in Old Donegal, about
four miles from Marietta Lancaster
county II was the nursery Of Presbyte-
rianisn in farther Pennsylvania, ana Il
stands today monument to the &ESTeS-
siye Scotch-Irish who came to that coun-
~ as early as 1Il0, and who, as Tar BACK
as iii. had some sort of congregations
{ existence Their first church edItlce was
of logs. Then came prosperity and new
church of stOne-the shell OF the present
building Repeated remodeiiugs have
sadly affected the interior OF the StTuc-
/ ture although in the main II is outward
~ much the same as when originally
built.
ton with Old Donegal at the close Of the
I colonial era. Rev. Colin McFarquhar had
come from Scotland a short time before
I the breaking out OF the Revolution one
Sunday IN his sermon ne took occasion to
I urge q policy OF fOrbeaTauCe with Eng
land on the part Of his hot-headed parish
/ toner's. After the benedicttOn ne Il en- Of
/ the congre cation met under great oak
tree in front OF the church, and after
some discussion they Joined hands ana
/ vowed to oppose England with all the
/ means in their power and 10 strive IoT
| the establishment Of independence IN
America That sermon of Dominic Nc
Farduhar is probably a potent factor in
the membership of Donegal Chapter,
| Daughters Of the American Revolution.
| Norton Presbyterian Church, on the
| Germantown pike, about five miles north
| of Norristown, is known as the mother
| of congregations of that faith for many
! miles around. Church historians claim A
very great antiquity for its congregation.
/ and that it's battle-ground was in use
/ long before 100. Although its history that
/ far back is somewhat misty. still there is
( definite enough data to fix the existence
| OF the present quaint stone structure at
| long before 1741.
| Old Norriton parted with its frst-bOrn
! about that year, when the Providence
| congregation was organized as a result
! Of the schism which then divided the
| Presbyterian Church
| The old church was q landmark in the
DAYS Of the Revolution, and tradition says
it was one of the many places thronged
| bloody October day at Germantown in
III Later on, in that winter. it was one
I Of the posts for the sentries who patrolled
| the lines from Valley Forge. Philadelphia