Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-12
TO CELEBRATE BIRTH
Plans Of Hyattsvllle Presby-
terian Church.
TWO CENTURIES OLD
EXERCISES TO EXTEND OVER
PERIOD OF SEVERAL DAYS.
History of the Congregation and
Various Houses of Worship
The Present Pastor.

An event which in many respects Will De
the rarest that has occurred in or near
Washington for long time, and which to
churchmen, and more especially Presby-
terians, will be frought with great interest
and significance, will take place one week
from tomorrow, when the Hyattsville
Presbyterian Church. Rev S. Ward RICHTER,
pastor. will begin a three days celebration
of the two hundredth anniversary of its
founding According to the court records
of Upper Marlboro Prince Georges county.
Md, this church organization was in exist
ence and secured property. exactly two CEN
turtles from that date. 1t has been called the
father of Presbyterianism in Washington
and the vicinity while in the denomination
in this country it holds a position In the
very front rank through its vital connec-
ton with the beginnings of this body of
''Dissenters'' across the ocean. Inc facts
which the celebration will recall and the
existing historical objects on which 1t will
center attention are regarded as of more
than UNCONVENTIONAL or even religious in
tereSt.
The church boasts of having belonged to
the first classic presbytery on American
soil; of having been the gathering place and
center for the dissenting" churchmen of
Prince Georges county in the days long be-
fore the revolution, and of having taken
direct hand in securing the independence of
the colonies In 11T5 it was located in that
now quaint old village of Bladensburg,
which during the war was a recruiting sta
ton, barracks and magazine. 1t was fore
most in putting through the general synod
of the denomination a measure sustaining
the Continental Congress, and doubtless
some of the Well-knoWn figures of those
days were counted among its members.
The church has occupied at least four
different buildings. The first was at Up
per Marlboro; the second two were at Bla-
densburg, and the last and present one is
in Hyattsville, just across the creek from
Bladensburg. The first two structures are
no longer in existence, but the third stands
on little knoll near the Chesapeake
beach railroad and is still in good condi-
ton, being used by coored Baptists of the
neighboring country. This building al
though it has been repaired to some extent
yet retains most of the features which
marked the style of architecture of the
year 1t was erected-1S1S.
The First Meeting in HyattsvilIe.
1t was March u, 1873. in the home of Mrs.
Thompson, that the first recorded meeting
of the congregation was held in Hyattsville
October "a of the following year the cor
ner stone of the present building was laid,
DR.. Benjamin F. Bittinger, the veteran
stated clerk of the presbytery of Washing
ton, delivering the dedicatory address, The
first congregational meeting in the new
edifice was held April %, 1875
On ground donated by Col Ninian Beall
the first building at Upper Marlboro was
erected 1t not elaborate house of
worship, but plain country building with
a seating capacity of about $50, probably
constructed of brick and with no attempt
at Ornamentation, floors over mother
earth and no heating apparatus save the
personal foot stoves or heated bricks of
those old days. According to rumor the
property occupied by the Episcopal
Church in Upper Marlboro is that which
was originally given to these Presbyte-
| rians by Elder Beall. If this is true, how
and when it changed hands is not ascer-
tainable, but surely not before 1852, which
was the time the Presbyterian organiza-
ton of Marlboro is said to have gone to
sleep
The Bladensburg Buildings.
The old Bladensburg cemetery was the
site of the second building, which is be-
lieved to have been constructed about the
year 171S. When the first church at Mari
boro began to be sighted, this new body
began to absorb the Presbyterians of the
surrounding country. Ultimately the first
organization was merged into the second
This church stood on the brow of a hill
facing west. about two three hundred
feet from the road and near large, forked.
red cedar tree which, Id now In full vigor.
e esng the G s kna syss hn S e the vi
of brick Of the iargSsor thade n English
molds and brought Ger This c6nntry In
this building Esv HNgh sann drama tically
the brevity OF huInan MfessS and here Rev.
James Hunt preacher the Gospel For thirty
years and Rev. John Breckenridge. prom
inent in the early ,histeryfdf the denomina-
ton. presided for forty years.
OF special interest to Washingtonians is
the memory of the laSt-named minister on
whose tombstone In the Soldiers Home
grounds of the District of Columbia is the
following inscription: -
Rev. John Breckenridge. died May, 1871;
ton city and who also served the church in
Bladensburg forty years.
Just 100 years after the erection of the
first Bladensburg building the second Bla-
densburg building is said TO have been con-
structed. 1t now stands In fairly good re-
pair, as has been stated 1t is only five
minutes walk from the Hyattsville Preshy
terrain Church, which has succeeded IT as
the place of worship for the Presbyterians
of the community. In it the style of archi-
lecture of the second structure Is supposcd
to be preserved in all it's quaintness and
simplicity, inside and out.
A Quaint Structure.
1t has a shingle roof and small beIfry.
and Is A by 80 feet In size Curious feat
ures of the building are the ancient iron
ISIS" which run through the interior and
bind the walls; the great brass lock and the
Immense key, which fits into an inverted
keyhole the old walnut pews, and s very
small gallery, in which the slaves OF the
"befo' -de-wah'' Marylanders used to sit
and listen to divine services AS a monu
ment of days long gone by-as an example
of the true meeting house, town hall and
school house combinedLit deserves to re-
main for future generations to behold; but