The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1903-03-07
Johnston's History
Of q! Cecil County.
CHAPTER XVIII.

Inc presbyterian Church ut the head
of Broad Creek, near Bethel, there is
reason to believe, was founded by the
LawsonS and AleXanders from Society
and New Munster Il few of whom had
settled in that neighborhood The meet
ing house stood near the old graveyard
the site Of which is marked by some old
tombStoneS which stand in the field Il
few yards from the State Line and Il
short distance east of Bethel Church, ut
what is known as the Pivot Bridge The
creek, the name of which was applied to
this church, has been nearly obliterated
by the construction of the Chesapeake
and Delaware Canal, the channel of
which is identical with the channel of the
creek.
This church is notable OH account of
its failure. or its early history but very
little is known, except that in 1923 Rich
ard Thompson leased an acre of land to
Samuel Alexander and Peter Bouchel
for twcnty-one years, for the use of the
Presbyterian congregation at that place.
for an annual rent of one ear of Indian
corn. The first pastor was the Rev
Alexander Hutchinson. Scotch Irish
Presbyterian, who was installed in 1928
1t appears to have always been feeble
was directed by the Presbytery to supply
the Presbyterian Church on Elk River,
as the Rock congregation was then call
ed. Peter Bouchell was one Of the first
elders, as was probably Samuel Alcxan-
der, and certainly also John Brevard.
This church seems to have been almost.
if not quite, extinct in 1910, when Rev.
George Whitciield visited Bohemia Ma
nf &c IN mar nl,o1,I v inip
ed the Forest Church in Delaware. when
that church was organized in 1850.
Whitefed first visited this section of
country in 1879. rs is stated in his jour
nal, copy Of which, containing his auto
graph may be seen in the library of
Pennsylvania Historical Society. On
the Bird of December of that year. he
preached at North East; but little notice
having been given, there were only about
1000 persons present. On the 1ith of
May, 114O, he addressed II large meeting
at Nottingham. after which he went
south. visiting Georgia and the Caro-
fnas. and returned the following autumn
and preached mt Nottingham again to an
audience of 5000 persons. After this he
visited Bohemia Manor. and on the 9th
of November preached at the house of
Mrs. Bayard to an audience of 1000
persons. He does not mention the Broad
Creek church in his Journal. from which
it is inferred that the church had ceased
to exist ut that time, or WAS So very
feeble that it did not exist much longer
1t was no doubt during this interval,
when j"urneying from Nottingham to
Bohemia, that WhiGctield stopped at Elk
ton. or the Head of Elk, as the place
WAS then called; for the town, if there
was one then, was 50 small that it had
no name. Tradition says that he preach
ed to Il large audience ut this place.
which was assembled under the shade of
an oak tree that stood Il short distance
west of Bow street. and probably about
hundred yards north from the river
While he was preaching here some of
his audience for some reason are said
to have started away from the crowd he
was addressing, ana he is said to have
cried out, in stcntorian tones THE devils
at your heels - 1t was owing to the
preaching of this great evangelist that
the first Presbyterian Church was or
ganzed i'll ElktOn, for the next year
Q74D William Alexander and Araminta
his wife, decided an acre of land, the
same Whcrcon Whtchcld had preached
the year before. to Robert Lucas, Irbu-
lon IlollingSworth, Thomas Ricketts, and
Robert Evans. uf Cecil County. and
David Barr, of New Castle County.
upon which to build a mccting-hou>c
convenient for people assembling to wol'-
ship God and hear His Word preached,
and for til" use of such ministers Of
the Protestant persuasion or religion. and
particularly the Presbyterian ministers,
as shall from time to time attend there
to preach and oiliciat" in the service and
worship of Almighty God" This deed
contained Il stipulation that if the meet
ing-hOuSe ceased to be occupied as q
place of worship for three consecutive
years. the land was t" revert to the
grantor. 1t was owing to this stipula-
ton. and the fact that the Presbyterian
congregation at Elktnu aftrrward be
came quite small and feeble. so much
so that most of the members joined the
church at Glasgow. that this land re-
vertcd to the heirs of the persons who
gave it to the congregation.
The preaching of Whitrfcld was pro-
ductivc Of much good 20 many ndivid-
uals. inaSmuch ~ many were converted
by it; but it certainly did more harm
than good to the Presbyterian congrc-
cations in this and the adjoining count
les, many of which We're rent in twain
by the disScnSionS that it rngendcred.
This was the case with Nottingham and
Rock Churches But little of interest to
the general reader occurred i'll the his
tory of the Nottingham Church till the
arrival of Whitctcld. at which time the
Westinghouse stood on the brow of the
hill short distance northwest of the
village of Rising sun. After this dis
ruption of the church QTln. the new
side (aS those who adhered to the doc
tline of Whitciicld were called erected
another Westinghouse in the meadow
across the brook. Il short distance west
of the other one. and in 174t. presented
a call TO the Rev. Samuel Finley, who.
in that year. became their pastor. Such
,r ,l,t Il