The Planting of Presbyterianism in the Bluegrass State

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As the city of Harrodsburg, Kentucky this month celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding on June 16, 1774, we at Log College Press pause to remember the planting of Presbyterianism in the Bluegrass State.

It was in Harrodsburg on October 12, 1883, that Presbyterians came together to commemorate the centennial of that event, which has been recognized as a sermon preached by “Father” David Rice at Fort Harrod in October 1783. The addresses delivered on that occasion are notable and worthy of our attention today.

• J.N. Saunders gave an Historical Address;

• E.P. Humphrey gave a necrological report titled The Dead of the Presbyterian Church of Kentucky;

• L.G. Barbour spoke on The Relation of the Presbyterian Church to Education in Kentucky;

• T.D. Witherspoon related The Distinctive Doctrines and Polity of Presbyterianism (Log College Press has republished this address under the title The Five Points of Presbyterianism [2017]); and

• Moses D. Hoge addressed The Planting of Presbyterianism in Kentucky One Hundred Years Ago.

“Father” David Rice is buried in Danville, Kentucky.

As recounted by Saunders and Hoge, David Rice is credited with delivering the first Presbyterian sermon in Kentucky just one month after the Treaty of Paris brought an end to hostilities between the American colonies and Great Britain, and officially granted independence to the United States of America. The text for that sermon (and for Hoge’s 1883 discourse) was: “The people which sat in darkness Saw great light; And to them which sat in the region and shadow of death Light is sprung up” (Matt. 4:16). This signified that the light of the gospel was dawning among a people who lived largely in spiritual darkness.

There is, however, an asterisk to be noted here. Many sources indicate that it was Terah Templin who preached the first Presbyterian sermon in Kentucky perhaps three years before Rice.

Terah Templin is buried in Bardstown, Kentucky.

The First Presbyterian Sermon in Kentucky was by the Rev. Terah Templin, probably in 1781; he was not ordained until 1785. In the spring of 1783, Rev. David Rice (“Father Rice” he was generally called, although only in his 50th year) visited, and in October following immigrated from Virginia to Danville, and became a power in the church and in furthering the cause of education. — Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky, Vol. 1 (1878), p. 515

Louis B. Weeks indicates that Templin was the first Presbyterian preacher in Kentucky and that he arrived in 1780, preaching “several times that summer as a licentiate of Hanover Presbytery” (Kentucky Presbyterians [1983], p. 13).

In 1784, the first Presbyterian Church in Kentucky was organized by Rice in Danville; the Transylvania Presbytery was established in 1786 with Rice serving as Moderator; and the rest, as they say, is history.

This is a replica of the original log cabin meetinghouse for the Concord Presbyterian Church in Danville, Kentucky which was organized by David Rice in 1784.

The memoirs of David Rice, published by Robert Hamilton Bishop 200 years ago in 1824, tell us much about this gifted pioneer minister but only mention Terah Templin in passing. Certainly, it was Rice that left a tremendous legacy for which all Presbyterians are greatly indebted. But he was not alone in building the Presbyterian Church of Kentucky, and the names of many other illustrious men are worthy of note too, such as James Mitchel, Caleb Wallace, Adam Rankin, James Crawford, James Blythe, and James McGready, who played a prominent role in the Great Revival of 1800. Humphrey alludes to the roll call of faith found in Hebrews 11 as he recounts these and many other names.

The seeds planted in the 1780s have borne much fruit in the centuries since, and as Harrodsburg celebrates a very special anniversary, we praise God for his work and for the saints he has raised up in this part of the Lord’s vineyard.

Presbyterian Landmarks of American Literature

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It is well known that the Bay Psalm Book (a New England Puritan Psalter) was the first book published in British North America (1640). One of the editors of this work was John Eliot (1604-1690), the famous “Apostle to the Indians,” who also wrote Communion of churches, or, The divine management of gospel-churches by the ordinance of councils constituted in order according to the Scriptures as also the way of bringing all Christian parishes to be particular Reforming Congregationall Churches, humbly proposed as ... a means of uniting those two holy and eminent parties the Presbyterians and the Congregationals (1665), a work which has led some to propose that Eliot was a Presbyterian at heart.*

Whether or not he is rightly classified as a Presbyterian or a Congregationalist, or something in-between, there are some notable examples apart from the Bay Psalm Book which constitute Presbyterian landmarks in American literature.

Pennsylvania was the home of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, whose publication of so many Presbyterian works from the 1730s forward we have discussed previously here.

The first Presbyterian book published in the South was by Old Side minister John Thomson (1690-1753): An Explication of the Shorter Catechism (1749, Williamsburg, Virginia).

John Thomson’s exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism was the first Presbyterian book published in the American South.

In 1765, layman John Redick (whose dates are not known and who is not yet on Log College Press) authored the first book published in Baltimore, Maryland: A Detection of the Conduct and Proceedings of Messrs. Annan and Henderson, Members of the Associate Presbytery’s Whole Sitting at Oxford Meeting-House, April 18th, Anno Domini 1764, Together with Their Abettors; Wherein is Contained Some Remarks. Printed by Nicholas Hasselbach, only one copy is known to exist. It came into the possession of George W. McCreary, librarian of the Maryland Historical Society, who reprinted 300 copies of it in 1903, under the title The First Book Printed in Baltimore Town, with a history of the printer and the book, one of which is in the possession of this writer. The book is an account of a financial transaction between Redick and Hugh Scott, a blacksmith, which later led to ecclesiastical charges.

The first book published in Baltimore was by a Presbyterian layman.

The first book published in Kentucky was by Presbyterian minister Adam Rankin (1755-1827): A Process of the Transilvania Presbytery (1793). We have previously given an account of this work here.

The first book published in Kentucky was by Presbyterian minister Adam Rankin.

The first book of poetry published in Georgia was by Presbyterian minister Samuel Jones Cassels (1806-1853): Providence and Other Poems (1838).

The first book of poems published in Georgia was by Presbyterian minister Samuel J. Cassels.

This brief survey of Presbyterian landmarks in American literature is just a cursory look at some noteworthy highlights and is far from complete, just merely scratching the surface of this intriguing topic. But it suggests the importance of Presbyterian literature in the colonial era and in the early days of the American republic. It is natural that books and Presbyterians go hand-in-hand, and these landmarks provide a snapshot of this truism in early American history.

* William Henry Roberts wrote, “Eliot was a Presbyterian by conviction, and the splendid service which he rendered from 1637 to 1690, in the conversion and education of the heathen on our shores, made him the forerunner, not only in the general work of American foreign missions, but also in the labors of the Presbyterian Church for the conversion of the heathen world. His was the first voice of an American Presbyterian crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ye ready the way of the Lord’” (“The Part Which American Presbyterians Have Had in Foreign Missions in the Past,” in David McConaughy, ed., The World-Call of Men To-Day: Addresses and Proceedings of the Men’s Missionary Convention, Held in Philadelphia, February 11-13, 1908 (1908), p. 84).

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The First Book Published in Kentucky was by a Presbyterian Minister - Adam Rankin

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The first book printed in the State of Kentucky (which became a state in 1792) was published on January 1, 1793 by a Pennsylvania-born (March 24, 1755) Presbyterian minister, Adam Rankin. It is titled, A Process of the Transilvania Presbytery, which refers to the presbytery covering the territory of Kentucky within the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, established in 1786. Adam Rankin had been charged with several offenses which involved worship and doctrinal differences between him and others. This book is his account of the matter.

In this interesting work, Rankin fired the first literary salvo in his controversy with the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA), specifically, the Transilvania (Transylvania) Presbytery of Kentucky, of which he was a member. The controversy led to the further publishing of 1) A Narrative of Mr. Adam Rankin's Trial by the Transylvania Presbytery (1793); and 2) Adam Rankin’s A Reply to a Narrative of Mr. Adam Rankin's Trial (1794). Here, in A Process, he lays out the particular charges that were leveled against him, along with his defense. Additional sections of the book set forth his reasons for separating from the PCUSA (he later joined the Associate Reformed Church); a digest of his positions on matters of controversy at that time between the PCUSA and the ARC, including the free offer of the gospel, terms of communion, national covenanting, marriage licenses and more; followed by “A Appendix on a late performance of the Rev. Mr. John Black of Marsh Creek, Pennsylvania,” in which Rankin sets forth satirically a “Modern Creed” which lays out the arguments of the opposition, largely regarding the place of the Psalms in worship.

One of the major issues between Rankin and the Transylvania Presbytery was his conviction that the Psalms of David alone were to be sung in public worship, to the exclusion of Isaac Watts’ imitations. A Process, in fact, constitutes one of the earliest published American defenses of exclusive psalmody. Following the January 1, 1793 publication of A Process, we have at Log College Press also a February 7, 1793 letter of encouragement from ARC minister Robert Annan to Rankin touching on this very issue.

Rankin is famous in church history for possessing difficult temperament. Here is an opportunity to read his own words in the heat of controversy to see for yourself how he expressed himself. Also available at LCP is his Dialogues, Pleasant and Interesting, Upon the All-Important Question in Church Government, What are the Legitimate Terms of Admission to Visible Church Communion? (1819). John Wilson Townsend, Kentucky in American Letters, 1784-1912, Vol. 1, p. 18 (1913), says: “His Dialogues …, is really his most important publication, but it has been greatly overlooked in the recent rush among Kentucky historical writers to list A Process as the first book published in Kentucky.”

Controversy followed Rankin even in the ARC in the form of a dispute with Robert Hamilton Bishop, which resulted in church discipline for both men. Eventually, Rankin left the ARC too, bidding his Lexington, Kentucky congregation farewell with plans to travel to Jerusalem. He died on the way in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 25, 1827. James Brown Scouller, A Manual of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, 1751-1881, pp. 493-494, writes:

There can be no question that Mr. Rankin was “encompassed with infirmities,” that he was sensitive, a little jealous, impulsive and strong of will, so that he soon put himself on the defensive, and always with his face to the foe, and he had the misfortune of living at a time when ecclesiastical things did not always run smoothly. On the other hand it is just as certain that he was loyal to the truth and valorous in its defence, however faulty his methods. He was of unquestioned piety, and commanded the full confidence of those among whom he lived. He possessed unusual eloquence and power in the pulpit, and often moved a whole congregation to tears.