John Witherspoon Was Born 300 Years Ago

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One of the great leaders of the early American Presbyterian church, John Witherspoon, was born 300 years ago, on February 5, 1723. We remember him as a minister, a President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton), a Founding Father of the United States of America, and as moderator of the first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA).

Witherspoon was born in the village of Gifford, Scotland, where John Knox was also born two centuries before. He went on to attend the Haddington Grammar School, and later graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a Master of Arts in 1739, where he continued his studies in theology. He received an honorary doctoral degree in divinity from the University of St. Andrews in 1764. He ministered in Beith, Ayrshire (1745–1758), where he married Elizabeth Montgomery (they had ten children, with five surviving to adulthood), and at the Laigh Kirk, Paisley (1758-1768).

After declining the first invitation in 1766, Witherspoon accepted the second invitation to serve as President of the College of New Jersey in 1768. Already well-respected as a theologian and author on this side of the pond, Witherspoon became an important voice in American ecclesiastical affairs, and in the political realm as well.

He taught moral philosophy and other subjects at Princeton. He helped to organize the Nassau Presbyterian Church there, and he served in the Continental Congress as a delegate from New Jersey, and as chaplain, and signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He preached a famous fast-day sermon called The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men (1776), which includes these memorable words:

If your cause is just, you may look with confidence to the Lord, and intreat him to plead it as his own. You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At this season, however, it is not only lawful but necessary, and I willingly embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without any hesitation, that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature. So far as we have hitherto proceeded, I am satisfied that the confederacy of the colonies has not been the effect of pride, resentment, or sedition, but of a deep and general conviction that our civil and religious liberties, and consequently in a great measure the temporal and eternal happiness of us and our posterity, depended on the issue. The knowledge of God and his truths have from the beginning of the world been chiefly, if not entirely confined to those parts of the earth where some degree of liberty and political justice were to be seen, and great were the difficulties with which they had to struggle, from the imperfection of human society, and the unjust decisions of unsurped authority. There is not a single instance in history, in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.

In his later years, Witherspoon married for a second time and had two more children. He was elected as the moderator of the PCUSA General Assembly in 1789. He wrote the preface to the 1791 Isaac Collins Bible, the first family Bible published in America. He died at his farm Tusculum, just outside Princeton, in 1794, and was laid to rest at Princeton Cemetery.

Statues have been sculpted in his honor on both sides of the Atlantic and may be found in Washington, D.C., at Princeton University, at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley, and at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia. Witherspoon is remembered today as a man whose ideals included personal piety, ecclesiastical purity, and civil liberty, and who left his mark on the course of American and Presbyterian history. We honor him today as a man who contributed much to the shaping of the Presbyterian church, and whose legacy has left its mark on the whole world for good.

A Hurricane 250 Years Ago Changed American History

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God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm — William Cowper (1773)

Recently, Hurricane Ian became one of the strongest storms ever to hit the American coast, leaving a trail of destruction and causing great loss of life in Florida and other parts of the Southeast. Two-hundred and fifty years ago, another major hurricane left devastation in its wake throughout the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and, eventually, the area between what is now Pensacola, Florida and Mobile, Alabama. This particular is known to history by several different names — Hurricane San Agustin of 1772, the Alexander Hamilton Hurricane of 1772 or Bernard Roman's Gulf Coast Hurricane of 1772 — and its association with Alexander Hamilton is what we aim to highlight today.

In August 1772, Alexander Hamilton, a native of the island of Nevis (now the nation of St. Kitts and Nevis), was living in Christiansted, on the island of St. Croix (then a Danish territory, now part of the U.S. Virgin Islands) and working as a store clerk. Earlier that year, in May, Hugh Knox — an Ulster Scot Presbyterian who had studied at the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and was ordained by Aaron Burr, Sr. — had arrived at St. Croix from Saba, also in the Dutch West Indies. He had assumed the pastorate of the Scotch Presbyterian church in St. Croix but also served on occasion as the editor of the Royal Danish American Gazette. In God’s Providence, the hurricane that struck Christiansted on August 31, 1772 (reckoned by modern standards to have been a Category 5 storm) was to bring Hamilton and Knox together in such a way as to change American history.

A few days after the storm had left almost total devastation in St. Croix, Rev. Knox gathered his flock at the local Dutch Reformed church and delivered a sermon titled A Discourse Delivered on the 6th of September, 1772, in the Dutch Church of St. Croix: On Occasion of the Hurricane (1772). Young Hamilton had previously written some poetry that had been published in the Gazette. The same day that Knox delivered his discourse, Hamilton, then seventeen years old, wrote a letter to his father which, having shown it to Knox, was persuaded to allow it to be published in the Gazette. It appeared in the October 3rd issue, with a preface by Knox, and caused a sensation. Local businessmen were motivated to raise funds for the education of the young clerk who had described the destruction of his city and island so eloquently and vividly.

It is believed that Knox became Hamilton’s chief sponsor as well as his tutor and mentor. Hamilton’s biographer, Ron Chernow, attributes a change — as it appeared before and after the hurricane — in Hamilton’s poetry to a more religious tone, to the mentorship of Knox (Alexander Hamilton [2004], p. 34). By 1773, the funds had been raised for Hamilton to sail to the mainland, where he would go on to study at King’s College (now Columbia University) in New York City, and later served his adopted country as a Founding Father of the United States, as Secretary of the Treasury, and as an author of The Federalist Papers. His image appears today on the $10 bill. Tragically, he was killed in a duel with Aaron Burr, Jr. in July 1804. Chernow notes that it was almost certainly from the lips of Hugh Knox that Alexander Hamilton first heard the name Aaron Burr. It is one of the remarkable ironies of history that the son of the man who ordained Hugh Knox — it was Knox who, recognizing his talent, primarily encouraged Hamilton to come to America to study — should be the one who took Hamilton’s life.

Knox’s Discourse and Hamilton’s letter are both available to read at Log College Press here. It is worthwhile to contemplate the providential path that brought such a storm to St. Croix, that inspired Hamilton’s letter, that led to his removal to America, where he would go on to contribute to the founding of the new nation of the United States. Rather than remaining an unknown illegitimate store clerk in the Caribbean, because of a storm and a friend who saw something remarkable in his writing, Hamilton left a profound mark on a young nation despite his premature death. As Cowper has so wisely said, “God moves in a mysterious way.”

Samuel Doak's 1780 Sycamore Shoals Muster Sermon & Prayer

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In the summer of 1780, five years into the American War of Independence, Major Patrick Ferguson of the British Army was assigned the task of organizing Loyalist militia forces and protecting the flank of Lord Cornwallis’ main force in the Carolina backwoods. A pivotal event in the Southern campaign of the war was the Patriots’ victory over Tory and regular forces at the Battle of Musgrove Mill In Laurens County, South Carolina on August 18, 1780. It inspired Patriots in the area to believe that the South Carolina backcountry was up for grabs. By September 25, Colonels Isaac Shelby, John Sevier and Charles McDowell, with their 600 Overmountain Men, had united with Col. William Campbell and his 400 men from Virginia in the territory of the Watauga Association at Sycamore Shoals near what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee, in preparation for what would become a major battle in the war at Kings Mountain in South Carolina.

On September 26, 1780, at the Sycamore Shoals muster, Rev. Samuel Doak led the Patriots in a religious service which has become legendary in American history. The text from his sermon and prayer, given below, is handed down to us through the courtesy of Mrs. Rollo H. Henry of Washington College, Tennessee and comes from the scrapbook of her father, J. Fain Anderson, as recounted in Pat Alderman, One Heroic Hour at King's Mountain (1968).

Samuel Doak’s Sermon:

My countrymen, you are about to set out on an expedition which is full of hardships and dangers, but one in which the Almighty will attend you.

The Mother Country has her hands upon you, these American Colonies, and takes that for which our fathers planted their homes in the wilderness — OUR LIBERTY.

Taxation without representation and the quartering of soldiers in the home of our people without their consent are evidence that the Crown of England would take from its American Subjects the last vestige of Freedom.

Your brethren across the mountains are crying like Macedonia unto your help. God forbid that you shall refuse to hear and answer their call — but the call of your brethren is not all. The enemy is marching hither to destroy your homes.

Brave men, you are not unacquainted with battle. Your hands have already been taught to war and your fingers to fight. You have wrested these beautiful valleys of the Holston and Watauga from the savage hand. Will you tarry now until the other enemy carries fire and sword to your very doors? No, it shall not be. Go forth then in the strength of your manhood to the aid of your brethren, the defense of your liberty and the protection of your homes. And may the God of Justice be with you and give you victory.

Samuel Doak’s Prayer which followed:

Let us pray.

Almighty and gracious God! Thou has been the refuge and strength of Thy people in all ages. In time of sorest need we have learned to come to Thee — our Rock and our Fortress. Thou knowest the dangers and snares that surround us on march and in battle.

Thou knowest the dangers that constantly threaten the humble, but well beloved homes, which Thy servants have left behind them.

O, in Thine infinite mercy, save us from the cruel hand of the savage, and of tyrant. Save the unprotected homes while fathers and husbands and sons are far away fighting for freedom and helping the oppressed.

Thou, who promised to protect the sparrow in its flight, keep ceaseless watch, by day and by night, over our loved ones. The helpless woman and little children, we commit to Thy care. Thou wilt not leave them or forsake them in times of loneliness and anxiety and terror.

O, God of Battle, arise in Thy might. Avenge the slaughter of Thy people. Confound those who plot for our destruction. Crown this mighty effort with victory, and smite those who exalt themselves against liberty and justice and truth.

Help us as good soldiers to wield the SWORD OF THE LORD AND GIDEON.

AMEN.

Following these inspiring words, the Overmountain Men departed and headed towards the forces under Major Ferguson’s command. Encamped in Cherokee County, South Carolina, Ferguson was given a warning of the Patriot advance by two informants. He is reported to have exclaimed that, "he was on King's Mountain, that he was king of that mountain, and God Almighty could not drive him from it.” However, on October 7, 1780, the Overmountain Men contributed to the Patriot victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain, which in fact proved to be a major turning point in the war, and in fact Major Ferguson died in battle. The words of Samuel Doak still echo through time, as do these words from Scripture:

And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's (1 Sam. 17:47).

Davidson's Desiderata

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Early on in its history, in May 1853, a discourse was delivered at the Presbyterian Historical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Robert B. Davidson: Presbyterianism: Its True Place and Value in History (1854). After an overview of the history of Presbyterianism in Scotland and in early America, Davidson left his hearers with a list of things things desired or wanted in connection with the goal of preserving the history of Presbyterianism - a desiderata. This list was an inspired effort to steer the work of the Presbyterian Historical Society as it began to put into practice the vision of its founder, Cortlandt Van Rensselaer.

  1. Collections of pamphlets, tractates, controversial and other essays, bearing on the history of the Presbyterian church in this country, especially touching the Schism of 1741. These should be bound in volumes, and arranged in chronological order, handy for reference. No time should be lost in this work, for pamphlets are very perishable commodities, and speedily vanish out of sight. A copy of Gilbert Tennent’s Remarks on the Protest cannot now be obtained. One was understood by Dr. Hodge, when he wrote his History, to be in the Antiquarian Library, in Worcester, Mass., but the work is reported by the librarian as missing. This shows us that we should hoard old pamphlets and papers with Mohammedan scrupulosity, especially when there are no duplicates.

  2. Collections, like Gillies’, of accounts of Revivals, and other memoranda of the progress of vital religion. Such collections would be supplementary to Gillies’ great work, which does not embrace the wonderful events of the present century in America.

  3. Collections of memoirs of particular congregations, of which quite a number have been at various times printed, and which ought to be brought together and preserved.

  4. Collections of occasional Sermons, both of deceased and living divines. As old productions are of interest to us, so such as are of recent publication may interest posterity. Such collections would furnish good specimens of the Presbyterian pulpit, and might be either chronologically or alphabetically arranged.

  5. Collections of discourses delivered about and after the era of the Revolution. They would exhibit in a striking and favorable light the patriotic sympathies of the clergy at that period, as also the popular sentiment on the independence of the States, and their subsequent union under the present constitution.

  6. A similar collection of Discourses preached on the day of Thanksgiving in the year 1851, would be very interesting; exhibiting the various views held on the Higher Law, and the preservation of the Union, and also the value of the Pulpit in pouring oil on the strong passions of mankind.

  7. Biographical sketches of leading Presbyterian divines and eminent laymen. It is understood that one of our most esteemed writers is engaged in the preparation of a work of this sort, embracing the different Christian denominations. Whatever emanates from his elegant pen will be sure to possess a standard value; but it is thought, from the very structure of his projected work, such a one as is now recommended will not interfere with it, nor its necessity be superseded. Mark the stirring catalogue that might be produced, names which, though they that bare them have been gathered to their fathers, still powerfully affect us by the recollection of what they once did, or said, or wrote, and by a multitude of interesting associations that rush into the memory: Makemie, the Tennents, Dickinson, Davies, Burr, Blair, the Finleys, Beattie, Brainerd, Witherspoon, Rodgers, Nisbet, Ewing, Sproat, the Caldwells, S. Stanhope Smith, John Blair Smith, McWhorter, Griffin, Green, Blythe, J.P. Campbell, Boudinot, J.P. Wilson, Joshua L. Wilson, Hoge, Speece, Graham, Mason, Alexander, Miller, John Holt Rice, John Breckinridge, Nevins, Wirt. Here is an array of names which we need not blush to see adorning a Biographia Presbyterianiana. And the materials for most of the sketches are prepared to our hand, and only require the touch of a skilful compiler.

  8. Lives of the Moderators. There have been sixty-four Moderators of the General Assembly; and as it is usual to call to the Chair of that venerable body men who enjoy some consideration among their brethren, it is fair to infer that a neat volume might be produced. Many were men of mark; and where this was not the case, materials could be gathered from the times in which they lived, or the doings of the Assembly over which they presided.

  9. A connected account or gazetteer of Presbyterian Missions, both Foreign and Domestic, with sketches of prominent missionaries, and topographical notices of the stations. Dr. Green prepared something of this sort, but it is meagre, and might be greatly enlarged and enriched.

  10. Reprints of scarce and valuable works. It may be objected that we have already a Board of Publication, who have this duty in charge; but it is not intended to do anything that would look like interference with that useful organ. The Board are expected to publish works of general utility, and likely to be popular, and so reimburse the outlay; this society would only undertake what would not fall strictly within the Board’s appropriate province, or would interest not the public generally, but the clerical profession.

  11. A continuation of the Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church to the present time. The valuable work of Dr. Hodge is unfinished; and whether his engrossing professional duties will ever allow him sufficient leisure to complete it is, to say the least, doubtful.

  12. Should that not be done, then it will be desirable to have prepared an authentic narrative of the late Schism of 1838; or materials should be collected to facilitate its preparation hereafter, when it can be done more impartially than at present. Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge did a good service in this way, by publishing a series of Memoirs to serve for a future history, in the Baltimore Religious and Literary Magazine.

  13. It might be well to compile a cheap and portable manual for the use of the laity, containing a compact history of the Presbyterian Church in America.

Other proposals on Davidson’s list include a history of the rise and decline of English Presbyterianism; a history of the French Huguenots; and a history of the Reformation in Scotland as well as biographical sketches of Scottish divines.

It is a useful exercise for those who share Davidson’s interest in church history to pause and reflect on the extent to which the goals that he proposed have been met. The Presbyterian Historical Society itself — located in Philadelphia — has certainly done tremendous legwork in this regard as a repository of valuable historical materials which has allowed scholars the opportunity to study and learn from the past. We are extremely grateful for the efforts of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Samuel Mills Tenney’s similar vision led to the creation of the Historical Foundation of the Presbyterian and Reformed Churches in Montreat, North Carolina. The PCA Historical Center in St. Louis, Missouri is another such agency that has done great service to the church at large as a repository of Reformed literature and memorabilia.

We do have access today to Gilbert Tennent’s Remarks Upon a Protestation Presented to the Synod of Philadelphia, June 1, 1741. By 1861, we know that a copy was located and deposited, in fact, at Presbyterian Historical Society. Though not yet available in PDF form at Log College Press, it is available for all to read online in html through the Evans Early American Imprint Collection here.

The biographical sketches then in progress that Davidson referenced in point #7 were carried through to publication by William B. Sprague. His Annals of the American Pulpit remain to this day a tremendous resource for students of history, yet, as Davidson wisely noted, though many writers have followed in Sprague’s footsteps on a much more limited basis, there is always room for more to be done towards the creation of a Biographia Presbyterianiana.

Regarding the Lives of Moderators (point #8), we are grateful for the labors of Barry Waugh of Presbyterians of the Past to highlight the men that Davidson had in mind. The lists and biographical sketches that he has generated are a very useful starting point towards achieving the goal articulated by Davidson, and help to bring to mind the contributions of Moderators to the work of the church.

There are a number of organizations that have taken pains to reprint older Presbyterian works of interest. Too many to list here, the contributions of all those who share this vision to make literature from the past accessible to present-day readers is to be applauded, including the efforts of Internet Archive, Google Books and others who digitize such works. We at Log College Press also strive to do this both with respect to reprints and our library of primary sources. For us, the past is not dead, primary sources are not inaccessible, and the writings of 18th-19th century Presbyterians are not irrelevant. It is worth noting that there are topical pages with growing resources available on Log College Press that highlight material on biographies, church history, the 1837 Old School / New School division, sermons and much more.

Much more could be said in regards to the extent to which organizations, historians and others have carried forward the goals articulated by Davidson. But for now we leave it to our readers to consider Davidson’s Desiderata, articulated over 150 years ago, and its connection to our shared interest in preserving the history and literature of early American Presbyterianism.

Historian of the Alabama Presbyterian Church: James W. Marshall

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The monumental labors of Rev. James Williams Marshall (1882-1964) to document the history of the Presbyterian Church in Alabama are legendary. His 8,000 page typewritten manuscript is held by the Presbyterian Historical Society, along with many other materials collected and donated by him. But it was largely through the determined quest of his wife, Marion (who passed away in 1983), and the editorial labors of others, that led to the posthumous publication of his history.

Rev. Marshall had a vision to do for the Presbyterian Church in Alabama what George Howe had done for the history of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. In the preface to Marshall’s history he wrote:

I like to think that the work may prove a link in the chain which began to be forged by our forefathers. Dr. Charles Hodge issued his Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America from his home in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1840, which brought the story down to 1788. Dr. George Howe by order of the Synod of South Carolina almost completed his History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina before he died in Columbia, 1883, ending the story at 1850. Dr. James Stacy almost completed his History of the Presbyterian Church in Georgia before he died in Newnan, 1912. Next in the line geographically and chronologically stands Alabama.

Yet Rev. Marshall entered into his rest in 1964 leaving a request to his life-long companion, Marion, to see the work of getting his history published through to completion. Below is a letter which shines a light on the challenges involved in that process. Rev. C.G. Partridge of Troy, Alabama wrote to Rev. William C. Robinson in 1965 on behalf of Marion Marshall to consult about how to accomplish the goal of publishing a condensed version of that 8,000 page manuscript. Rev. Partridge alludes to his discussions with Dr. Thomas H. Spence of the Historical Foundation at Montreat, North Carolina about it. (Rev. Marshall’s preface makes reference to the contributions of Dr. Thomas H. Spence, Dr. Samuel M. Tenney, and Dr. Guy S. Klett in his work.) We share this letter which was found in a copy of the 2-volume History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina by George Howe owned by the writer which comes from the library of Rev. Marshall and contains his handwritten notes.

November 4, 1965 Letter from Rev. C.G. Partridge to Rev. William C. Robinson (photo credit: R. Andrew Myers).

Ultimately, a dozen years later, the Presbyterian Historical Society of Alabama, with Robert Strong as editor, published The Presbyterian Church in Alabama (1977). Another edition was published in 1985 under the title Presbyterian Churches in Alabama, 1811-1936, with Kenneth J. Foreman as editor. These volumes comprise a rich store of church history. John W. Kuykendall, in a 1981 review of the 1977 volume, says as much, while also critiquing its readability. His point is certainly valid, and the 1985 volume includes among the introductory matter a piece titled “Marshall’s History and How to Get the Most Out of It,” which addresses the different sorts of interests that would lead one to pick up the book, and how each sort of reader can benefit best from the work. But be assured the benefits are many. These works are not available on Log College Press, but the student of church will enrich themselves greatly by searching out their own copies to read and study.

Quoting George Howe, Rev. Marshall writes of the Church of God that “History is her memory.” We cherish the labors of such men who have spent their time and energy to bring to remembrance the works of God in the lives of men, women and children who went before us in service to Christ’s kingdom.

A Look Back at the Year 1572

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Note: This post was originally published on June 13, 2018 and is here slightly edited. We are republishing it today on the 450th anniversary of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, which occurred on August 24, 1572. It was a profoundly significant event in church history which is worthwhile to pause and consider today. Also, on this date in history, 2,000 Puritans were ejected from their pulpits in what was known as the Great Ejection, on August 24, 1662, called Black Bartholomew’s Day.

The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (August 24, 1572).

Church history matters. As William Pratt Breed put it, "Ecclesiastical history is the record of the outworking of God's decree for the world's renovation. It is the complicated story of the progress of the truth, its assaults upon error, the resistance of error to these assaults, and the results, in the life and experience of men and nations, of these onsets and oppositions — results many of them cheering and glorious, some of them fearful and bloody. Full of food for the head and the heart is such a story!"

In 1872, he published a book which looked back at the state of Presbyterianism three hundred years previous: Presbyterianism Three Hundred Years Ago. In fact, 1572 was a momentous year in church history. It was the year that the first English presbytery was formed, the year that the Huguenots of France were massacred on St. Bartholomew's Day, the year that John Knox entered glory. In this book, Breed paints a picture, sketching where the Protestant church stood in Europe in that eventful year. The tales he tells ought to enlighten and inspire Presbyterians, not only of the 19th, but indeed the 21st, century.

Thus was it with Presbyterianism three hundred years ago, and well were it for us all were we more familiar with the thrilling, bleeding, glorious tale. Well were it for our Church could our youthful Presbyterians be induced to fill their minds with the records of those days that so sorely tried men's souls, with the true character and history of our glorious Presbyterianism, with the heroism to which it gave birth, the heroes that glorify its progress and the services it has rendered the world....How instructive, too, and in many respects how cheering, is the contrast between those days and ours! Over all the round world, almost, no hindrance to the free propagation of the unsearchable riches of Christ.

How does all this relate to American Presbyterianism? By 1572, because of the missionary vision of Admiral Coligny, two Protestant (Huguenot) colonies had already been planted on American soil. But beyond this, it is worthwhile to consider how we as Christians, as Presbyterians, got where we are today. What challenges did our spiritual ancestors face, and how did they, by the grace of God, overcome them? In the words of Michael Crichton, "If you don't know history, you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree." William Breed's book is a helpful look back so that we may better understand the present, and be encouraged about the future.

Introducing an American Heroine: Rachel Caldwell

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The names of Alexander Craighead (1707-1766) — “the spiritual father of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence” — and David Caldwell (1725-1824) — of the Caldwell Log College are well known to both North Carolinians and to students of Presbyterian church history. Less well-known, but of great significance to civil and ecclesiastical history, is a woman with ties to both men: Rachel Brown Craighead Caldwell (1742-1825), daughter of Alexander and wife of David.

Alexander was a firebrand Presbyterian — the first Covenanter minister in America — of Scots-Irish descent. He and his family moved from Pennsylvania to Virginia (he was a founding member of Hanover Presbytery) to North Carolina. Rachel was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania just a year before her father renewed the Scottish covenants at Middle Octorara in 1743. Later, Rachel would sometimes speak of her experience growing up in western Virginia during the French and Indian War of the 1750s, as a period fraught with danger. At one point, after General Braddock’s 1755 defeat, Indians were coming in the front door as the family was exiting the rear door.

David, who was older, first met Rachel while attending services led by Alexander; she was four years old at the time. They met again some years later and were married in 1766, the year her father passed away, when David was 41 and Rachel was 24. Alexander had four daughters and two sons, and believed strongly in educating all of his children thoroughly. Rachel was at once devout, intelligent and compassionate, all qualities which served her family and her husband’s students well in the years which followed.

In 1767, the Caldwells settled on land near what is now Greensboro, North Carolina. They built a homestead, a farm and an academy, which became known as the Caldwell Log College. This school became a nursery, as it were, for both the church and state. Richard P. Plumer wrote (Charlotte and the American Revolution: Reverend Alexander Craighead, the Mecklenburg Declaration & the Foothills Fight for Independence, p. 67):

Caldwell Academy, which Reverend Caldwell began in 1767, became the most well known and longest lasting of any of the thirty-three Presbyterian log colleges that were established before the Revolutionary War. At the time the academy closed, almost all of the Presbyterian ministers in the South were either graduates of or had taught at the college, about 135 ministers in all. Five governors, fifty U.S. senators and congressmen and numerous doctors had attended Caldwell Academy. Rachel got to know all the students at the academy, was extremely kind to them and instructed them in every way possible on their salvation. It was said that ‘David Caldwell made them scholars, but Mrs. Caldwell made them preachers.’

James McGready, the noted Presbyterian revivalist, John M. Morehead, North Carolina governor, and Archibald Murphey, “the Father of Education in North Carolina,” were among those future leaders who studied there. As alluded to above, Rachel Caldwell had a particular gift for encouraging the students and their pastoral studies.

Passionate for the gospel, she was also compassionate towards those in need. David Caldwell, who helped write part of the 1776 North Carolina state constitution, was forced with his family to leave his homestead for part of the War of American Independence (British General Cornwallis placed a £200 bounty on Caldwell’s head, his house was plundered, his library and livestock destroyed, and his family was mistreated by British soldiers). Before and during the 1781 Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Caldwell was forced to hide in a nearby swamp as the British used his property as a staging ground for the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. After the battle, the Caldwells returned and David — who was not only a minister and an educator, but also a physician — and Rachel both tended to the wounds of soldiers lying on the field.

David and Rachel were married almost 60 years, and had thirteen children, some of whom died in infancy. Nine grew to maturity, and at least three of the boys became ministers. Much like Catherine Tennent, who was mother not only to her sons, also students at the original Log College, but also the other students — Thomas Murphy described her as “the real founder of the Log College” — Rachel Caldwell was mother not only to her own children but also to the many students at the Caldwell Log College. A pioneer Presbyterian preacher’s daughter and a teacher’s wife, she not only served her family and the Caldwell academy, but also the church and the cause of liberty in America. She died a year after her husband and their son, Rev. Samuel Craighead Caldwell, both passed away. Rachel and David were laid to rest side by side at the Buffalo Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Greensboro. The David and Rachel Caldwell Historical Center in Greensboro honors their sacrifices and contributions to North Carolina today and keeps alive their memory.

We conclude this brief notice of an American heroine with the words of E.W. Caruthers, who made these remarks in his sketch of the life of David Caldwell:

For good sense and ardent piety, [she] had few if any equals, and certainly no superiors, at that time and in this region of the country. In every respect she was an ornament to her sex and a credit to the station which she occupied as the head of a family and the wife of a man who was not only devoted to the service of the church, but was eminently useful in his sphere of life. Her intelligence, prudence, and kind and conciliating manners were such as to secure the respect and confidence of the young men in the school, while her concern for their future welfare prompted her to use every means, and to improve every opportunity, for turning their attention to their personal salvation; and her assiduity and success in this matter were such as to give rise and currency to the remark over the country that, 'Dr. Caldwell made the scholars, but Mrs. Caldwell made the preachers.’

Davenport's Presbyterian Meetinghouse

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Much has been written here and elsewhere about the impact and legacy of Samuel Davies on Virginia Presbyterianism. After a 12-year ministry in Hanover County and surrounding parts, Davies left Virginia to assume the office of President of the College of New Jersey at in 1759 (he died at Princeton two years later). He had much occasion before his departure, however, to spend time in Williamsburg, Virginia, then the capital of the colony, in order to obtain his license to preach as a dissenter from the General Court, among other matters, and because his second wife was the daughter of the former mayor of Williamsburg.

George Davenport’s Presbyterian Meetinghouse at Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.

It was on June 17, 1765 that a group of seventeen men petitioned the Court for permission to maintain a place of worship for dissenting Presbyterians at the home of George Davenport (d. 1766), who was a respected clerk for legislative committees at the House of Burgesses. That Presbyterian Meetinghouse, along with Davenport’s home and related buildings, has been restored as an historical landmark at Colonial Williamsburg.

Courtesy of Rich Brown.

Our friend Rich Brown recently brought Davenport’s Presbyterian Meetinghouse to mind. This place of worship was the only place one could meet for worship as a dissenter in Williamsburg prior to the American War of Independence in a district dominated by Bruton Parish Church (Anglican). Stephen Nichols on the 5 Minutes in Church History podcast has a segment titled “17 in 1765” which tells the story of how this important landmark in the history of religious freedom developed. Whereas the birthplace of Samuel Davies, as we have noted before, is in a state of great disrepair, we are thankful that Colonial Williamsburg has seen fit to restore and maintain this historical site, the Davenport Presbyterian Meetinghouse for today’s generation to remember a key time and place from the past in the history of Virginia Presbyterianism.

Interior signage at the Davenport Presbyterian Meetinghouse (courtesy of Rich Brown).

Davenport did not live long after approval for his house of worship was granted. His wife Catherine continued to maintain the property, and the congregation, though without a regular pastor, continued with preaching by various Presbyterian ministers, including (in 1767), the notable James Waddel. See more about George Davenport at his page on Log College Press, and if you are in the area of Colonial Williamsburg, be sure to check out the Presbyterian Meetinghouse, the Davenport House, the Davenport Stable, the Davenport Kitchen and the Davenport Stable, and consider the legacy that endures.

The Church of the Puritans (Presbyterian)

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The Church of the Puritans, Presbyterian of New York City had its beginnings with a small group that began meeting together in the summer of 1869 in a house on the corner of Lexington Avenue and 128th Street. That assembly developed, under the authority of the Presbytery of New York, into a congregation that became known as the First Presbyterian Church of Harlem in 1871, which met at Harlem Hall. Its continued growth necessitated the creation of a Second Presbyterian Church of Harlem, which was organized in March 1872.

Later that year a call was issued to Edward L. Clark (1838-1910) to become pastor of this second congregation. He was installed as pastor on October 24, 1872, at which time John Hall preached the sermon, Howard Crosby gave the charge to the pastor, James O. Murray gave the charge to the people and an address was given by Thomas S. Hastings.

The corner-stone of a new building on 130th Street near Fifth Avenue was laid on June 26, 1873. George B. Cheever gave an address on this occasion. He was also a major benefactor of the work and it was a condition of his financial gift (most cheerfully accepted) that the congregation be renamed “The Church of the Puritans.” Cheever had previously served as pastor of The Church of the Puritans, Congregational in New York City at Union Square and 15th Street, and it was $87,000 received from the sale of the lease of the Union Square property which Cheever donated in part to carry on the name. Construction of the work was supervised by architect James W. Pirsson and conducted in the Gothic Revival style. The Financial Panic of 1873, however, severely impeded progress.

Dedication of the church building took place on April 15, 1875. The sermon was preached by George B. Cheever, prayer was offered by Philip Schaff, and addresses were delivered by John Hall and others. The following month all debts were paid, which was a tremendous relief to a congregation that had endured the weight of financial pressures since the Panic ensued.

Part of the means to pay off the church’s debts involved the sale of the 1875 George Jardine & Son organ to the St. Cecilia Roman Catholic Church in Harlem. In 1921, it is known that the Church of the Puritans had another (Alexander Mills) organ in use - despite the well-known historic Puritan opposition to the use of instrumental music in worship, especially by means of organs.

Rev. Clark resigned not only as minister of The Church of the Puritans, but also withdrew from the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) in 1893 in protest of the decision in the trial of Charles A. Briggs. That departure marked the beginning of the decline of what had been a congregation with a promising future. The church conducted a Puritans Chapel on 135th Street with Mr. George C. Lay as Superintendent from 1902 to 1907. In 1936, the decision was made to sell the building to St. Ambrose, a black Episcopal parish, led by Rev. Elliott E. Durant.

This picture, taken in 2014, shows St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, as the congregation is now named.

The early history and architecture of this congregation is told by Edward L. Clark in The Church of the Puritans, Presbyterian (1889). Today, one might well pass the St. Ambrose Episcopal Church on W. 130th St. and not realize that this Gothic church building was once a Presbyterian landmark in the city of New York with a memorable name.

Samuel Davies' Communion Tokens

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The practice of employing communion tokens represents a chapter of church history well worth studying. Their use predates the Reformation by many centuries, but it was in the Protestant Reformation that usage of communion tokens really became part of Reformed church history. Walter L. Lingle, in his introduction to Mary McWhorter Tenney’s classic study of Communion Tokens (1936) [not yet available on Log College Press], writes of the significance of communion tokens.

The Communion token stood for something. It was usually a small piece of metal which served as a ticket of admission to the Communion table. As the Communion season approached preparatory services were held. The people were examined by the ministers and elders as to their knowledge of the way of life and as to their way of living. Only those who were approved receive the tokens and only those who had tokens could approach the Communion table. People took their religion seriously in those days.

Mrs. Tenney writes of the origin of this practice in the early church and traces its reappearance in the Reformation to Geneva, Switzerland in 1560 where John Calvin and Pierre Viret helped to bring back the custom as a way of keeping the Lord’s Supper from being profaned by the scandalous and the profane (p. 17).

Used throughout Europe, especially in Scotland, the custom of employing communion tokens was transplanted to America as Protestants migrated there, particularly in the 18th century. In 1747, Presbyterians in Virginia were small in numbers but scattered throughout the center of the British and Anglican colony. The labors of Francis Makemie on the Eastern Shore a half century previously had born fruit, but when Samuel Davies was sent by the Presbytery of New Castle (Delaware) that year as a missionary to Virginia, at that time very spiritually dry, he was used by the Lord as part of a Great Awakening which was then spreading over the land. Davies would ultimately help to organize seven churches in five counties with very little in the way of additional manpower. (We have written previously of how Davies had to ride on horseback over a wide parish and once got lost in the woods.)

George Pilcher writes that “a prominent facet of Davies’ pastoral work [was] his use of tokens….Virginia Presbyterians adhered to this [Protestant] practice closely, identifying it with the process of catechetical instruction.” He goes on to say (Samuel Davies: Apostle of Dissent in Colonial Virginia, p. 93) that

In using tokens, Davies was following the established customs of Scottish Presbyterianism and apparently was trying to make his practice conform to this claim of being a member of the Church of Scotland. But instead of using the Presbyterians’ traditional small stamped metal disks, the New Light minister distributed engraved cards that allowed him to present longer inscriptions or passages of his own poetry pertinent to the event, such as:

Do this says Christ ‘till Time shall end,
In Memory of your dying Friend.
Meet at my Table and Record
The Love of Your departed Lord.

The cards also were probably less expensive than metal disks, although they were made from steel engravings, which no doubt had to come from England. Davies placed a high value on these cards and exercised painstaking care in their preparation.

Samuel Davies’ paper communion token used at the Polegreen Church, Hanover, Virginia. Source: Presbyterian Historical Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Union Seminary, Richmond, Virginia.

The story is told in James W. Alexander, The Life of Archibald Alexander, pp. 180-181, of how Mr. and Mrs. John Morton, members of the Anglican Church, were moved to attend an “action sermon” preached by Davies, whereupon, in the middle of the service, Mr. Morton called on Rev. Davies to admit him to the sacrament, and after further examination by the minister, Mr. Morton was given a communion token and allowed to participate.

The communion tokens employed by Davies were part of an historic tradition that was in widespread use in his day among Presbyterians, but they were remarkable in that they were made of paper rather than metal and also in their use of sacramental poetry by Davies himself.*

They represent a special facet of a bygone Protestant and Presbyterian tradition which illustrates how seriously the duty of fencing the table was taken and what a privilege it is to being admitted to the table of the Lord. As we look back on this bit of church history, consider how important these little paper tokens were to Davies and his flock of Virginia Presbyterians as emblems of Christ’s love to them, which made them precious indeed.

* “A Token For the Sacrament” appears in Richard Beale Davis, ed., Collected Poems of Samuel Davies, 1723-1761 (1968), p. 157.

Cleland Boyd McAfee: The Man Who Coined the TULIP Acrostic

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Although many [1] credit Loraine Boettner (1901-1990) in The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (1932) with originating the acrostic for the Five Points of Calvinism known as TULIP [2] it is believed that the true originator was instead Cleland Boyd McAfee (1866-1944), who did so in 1905. We are thankful to Wayne Sparkman of the PCA Historical Center for highlighting this important footnote to church history in the past.

William H. Vail wrote a 1913 article in The Outlook which describes McAfee’s TULIP lecture, delivered before the Presbyterian Union of Newark, New Jersey, in the context of others who have written about the Five Points of Calvinism. Here is McAfee’s version of TULIP according to Vail:

And here is Boettner’s 1932 version for comparison:

The Five Points may be more easily remembered if they are associated with the word T-U-L-I-P; T, Total Inability; U, Unconditional Election; L, Limited Atonement; I, Irresistable (Effacious) Grace; and P, Perseverance of the Saints (source: The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination (1932), p. 60).

We can see that Boettner modified McAfee’s list slightly as to the meaning of the U in TULIP, but otherwise retained McAfee’s usage.

McAfee would go on to serve as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America (PCUSA) in 1929. His legacy may be studied from various perspectives — including his authorship of a famous hymn: Near to the Heart of God — but his TULIP acrostic, which rightly (see Boettner [3]) or wrongly [4} has certainly left its mark on history.

Note: This is an updated edition of a post published previously in 2018.

1. See, for example, Roger Nicole, Foreword to David N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas & S. Lance Quinn, The Five Points of Calvinism Defined, Defended, and Documented (1963, 2004), p. xiv.
2. An allusion to the 1619 Canons of Dort, formally titled The Decision of the Synod of Dort on the Five Main Points of Doctrine in Dispute in the Netherlands.
3. Boettner employs the acrostic with great effectiveness albeit with this caution: “Let the reader, then, guard against a too close identification of the Five Points and the Calvinistic system. While these are essential elements, the system really includes much more. As stated in the Introduction, the Westminster Confession is a balanced statement of the Reformed Faith or Calvinism, and its gives due prominence to the other Christian doctrines.”
4. See, for example, Richard A. Muller’s negative assessment of the TULIP acrostic in Calvin and the Reformed Tradition: On the Work of Christ and the Order of Salvation (2012), p. 58ff.

Nathan Strong (1748-1816): Founder of the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine

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Editorial Note: Our guest writer today is Tom Sullivan, who for 36 years has served as The Narrated Puritan at Puritan and Reformed Audiobooks, and also serves as a research assistant for Dr. Sam Waldron, President, Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.

Nathan Strong, was born in Coventry, Connecticut; ordained on Jan. 5, 1773; and served as pastor of the First Church, Hartford, where he remained until the close of life, Dec. 25, 1816.

This church received its fame from its first pastor Thomas Hooker, the Puritan founder of the Colony of Connecticut. It was known in Strong's day as the North Presbyterian Church in Hartford.

In 1798, Strong became the chief organizer of the Connecticut Missionary Society. Two years later, he became the principal founder and editor of The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine, which was also at that time a new departure, and which was destined to continue through fifteen volumes.

From an article in the Christian Spectator for 1833: “The plan of this work originated with Dr. Strong, and the labor of conducting it devolved chiefly on him. It was continued fifteen years, and amounted to as many volumes.” The first seven volumes were titled The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine (1800-1807); the next eight were titled The Connecticut Evangelical Magazine; and Religious Intelligencer (1808-1815).

Christian periodicals had long found their usefulness in England, but the reason for it not known in the Colonies was supposed that there was not enough material to keep the magazine interesting. However, at the beginning of the 19th century numerous revivals had been reported not only in local assemblies, but at the College of New Jersey under the presidency of Ashbel Green, and Yale College under the presidency of Timothy Dwight.

In the first editorial, Strong wrote, “The late wonderful outpouring of the Holy Spirit and revival of experimental religion, in large districts of the American Church will furnish much matter for publication to delight the hearts satisfy the benevolence of the children of God. There has not hath been so great and extensive a work of divine grace in this land since the years 1742 and 1744.”

Another goal of this magazine was to report on “the wonderful spirit of missions to heathen people, and to our new and scattered settlements on the borders of the wilderness…” The timing of this was providential for the magazine was started at the same period that the “Great Revival of 1800” had just started in Kentucky under the pastoral charge of James McGready (1763-1817). It was to Nathan Strong that Archibald Alexander wrote in January 1802, including correspondence from George A. Baxter, concerning a report on that notable revival.

From the Annals of the American Pulpit, Vol. 2, p. 36, William Sprague wrote: “It may be doubted whether he ever rendered a more important service to the church or to the country, than in the part which he took in establishing and sustaining the Connecticut Missionary Society.”

In 1801, he was honored with the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the College of New Jersey. A eulogy written from Thomas Robbins upon his death:

Dr. Strong was, for many years, my neighbor and intimate friend. I had an opportunity of observing him and there is perhaps no man who has departed, in respect to whose character I have a more definite and well considered opinion. [As the end of Strong’s mortal life approached] I remember to have been present on one occasion, when a neighboring minister put to him the question, “Are you ready to go yet?” and he replied, — “Yes, tomorrow, if God pleases."

Such was the piety of this long-time minister of God’s Word, founder of the Connecticut Evangelical Magazine.

Archibald Alexander's 250th Birthday

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Today marks the 250th anniversary of the birthday of Archibald Alexander, one of America’s most notable theologians, born near Lexington, Virginia, on Friday, April 17, 1772. His son and biographer, James W. Alexander, records the location of his entrance to this world in Archibald’s own words (written in 1839):

The house in which I was born was built of square logs, as were most of the houses at that time. The place is rough, and is near a little mountain stream, called the South River, which, after joining the North River, falls into the James River, just above its entrance into the mountains. Nearly opposite to the place, Irish Creek, a bold stream from a gorge of the mountain, falls into the South River. This my birthplace was at that time in Augusta County, which was unlimited to the west; it is now in Rockbridge County, and is about seven miles from Lexington, in an eastern direction.

Sherman Isbell adds this bit of information:

William's son Archibald was born on his grandfather's land on South River, nearly opposite the mouth of Irish Creek. Just north of Irish Creek, a private bridge on the left crosses to the west side of the South River. Dr. Archibald Alexander was born in a log house on the west side of the river, on April 17, 1772. An historical plaque to mark the area where Dr. Alexander was born was set up about 1958, but has been repeatedly washed out by local flooding, and until recently was stored in the basement of the Rockbridge Historical Society's Campbell House at 101 East Washington Street in Lexington. We have received a report that the plaque has now been mounted on a rock by Dr. Horace Douty at the intersection of Irish Creek and South River Road, not far from its previous location.

From a log cabin on the farm owned by his father, William Alexander, Archibald went on serve the kingdom of God as a missionary, a pastor, a college president, moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and as the first theological professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, not to mention as a husband and a father. He was a man of eminent piety, diligent in his labors, and fruitful in his service.

Although we commemorate his earthly birth on this date, which we consider a tribute to this man of God, yet he would say that it is regeneration, that is, the new birth of the soul by the power of the Holy Spirit, that ought to be of the greatest concern to every individual in this world: “There is no more important event which occurs in our world than the new birth of an immortal soul” (A. Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience, p. 53).

For more biographical information concerning the life of Archibald Alexander, consider the following resources at Log College Press:

The semiquincentennial of Archibald Alexander’s birth falls on the Lord’s Day this year, and we give glory to God for the remembrance of his most excellent of divines, who called Alexander to the ministry and caused him to leave a lasting spiritual legacy that endures. May his life of faithful service to the King of kings inspire many even in our day and beyond to dedicate themselves to the work of the kingdom for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Celebrating Thomas E. Peck's 200th Birthday

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It was 200 years ago today that Thomas Ephraim Peck was born in Columbia, South Carolina on January 29, 1822. Clement Read Vaughan’s biographical sketch, found on his page on Log College Press and in Vol. 3 of Peck’s Miscellanies, edited by Thomas Cary Johnson, tells the story of his life (take note also of Iain H. Murray’s sketch in Vol. 1 of the same, as republished by Banner of Truth in 1999).

After training for the ministry at Columbia Theological Seminary, Peck served pastorates in Baltimore, Maryland, and collaborated with Stuart Robinson in an editorial capacity, before spending the final 33 years of his life as a professor at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. His preaching was highly regarded and his literary endeavors show him to be a man great intellect and deep spirituality. He died on October 2, 1893, and his body was laid to rest in the Union Theological Seminary Cemetery, Hampden Sydney, Virginia.

Peck was truly notable leader in the 19th century Presbyterian church, whose life and ministry are to be remembered on this bicentennial anniversary of his birth. Vaughan said of him, “As an expositor of truth, as an exegete of Scripture, as a philosophic student of history, he was probably without a rival in his day.” Read his works online here, and get to know Thomas E. Peck, a Southern Presbyterian worthy.

Some American Presbyterian Links and an Updated Book Set

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Have you seen these recent articles on 19th century American Presbyterianism?

  • “Spirituality of the Church,” by Dr. Alan Strange

  • “Hearts Aflame,” by Dr. David Filson — a three-part series on Old Princeton’s commitment to an informed mind and enflamed heart (Part 1 and Part 2; Part 3 does not yet appear to be online but can be found in Volume 2, Issue 2 [Fall 2021] of the Westminster Magazine)

Also, the second edition of Dr. Milton Winter’s 3-volume history of Mississippi Presbyterians is now printed (see covers below), and he has sets available for $50, plus $10 s/h. You can send him a check to order at:

Milton Winter
177 N. Highland St., Apt 311
Memphis, TN 38111

An "Exile Song" by an Eastern Shoreman: L.P. Bowen

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If you have visited, or lived on, the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Virginia before, you may relate to the song of an “exile” who wrote Makemieland Memorials (1910). L.P. Bowen, who was born in Berlin, Maryland (1833), and ministered in Lewes, Delaware and Pocomoke City, Maryland, was noted for his biographical study of Francis Makemie, widely credited as the “Father of American Presbyterianism,” and who did much to confirm where Makemie was buried, and who discovered Makemie’s desk, which now resides at Union Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, was also a poet, as well as a homesick Eastern Shoreman. Bowen’s writings very often reflected his historical interests in early American Presbyterianism and its growth on the Eastern Shore, as well as his love for the land itself. He entered his eternal rest just shy of reaching the 100 years old mark, and his body was laid to rest in Marshall, Missouri, but a commemorative tablet in his hometown reads: “In memory of Rev. L.P. Bowen, D.D., June 5, 1833 - Apr. 8, 1933. A loyal son of Berlin, author, Poet, Historian, Preacher, Finder of Makemie’s grave.”

This statue marks the spot on Holdens Creek, Temperanceville, Virginia where Francis Makemie is buried.

Written in landlocked Missouri, this song resonates with all other “exiles” from the Eastern Shore. Here is “The Exile’s Song” by L.P Bowen.

Old Eastern Shore, dear Eastern Shore,
An exiled son of thine
Sends loyal greetings from afar
And loves to call thee mine
Land of the laurels and the pine,
Land of the spicy fox-grape vine,
Land where the water-lilies twine,
‘Mid maiden’s heart as pure
Fair Eastern Shore, rare Eastern Shore,
My fatherland, my Maryland,
My dreamland and my fairyland,
Delightsome Eastern Shore!

Old Eastern Shore, dear Eastern Shore,
The heart is sometimes sad,
And oft leans back to days of yore
A little barefoot lad;
Land of the oyster-banks and shad,
Land of the terrapin and crab,
Land where the welcomes make all glad—
With larders brimming o’er;
Fair Eastern Shore, rare Eastern Shore,
My fatherland, my Maryland,
My dreamland and my fairyland,
Delightsome Eastern Shore

Old Eastern Shore, dear Eastern Shore,
Thy glories I will speak
The Ocean’s sweetheart evermore
The bride of Chesapeake
The beaches and the smiling creek,
The curlew’s song, the osprey’s shriek,
I listen—teardrops course my cheek,
And recollections soar
Fair Eastern Shore, rare Eastern Shore,
My fatherland, my Maryland,
My dreamland and my fairyland,
Delightsome Eastern Shore!

Old Eastern Shore, dear Eastern Shore,
Loved by no feeble race
Ancestral blood distilling pure
From far Colonial days
Old Churches where our kinsmen praise,
Old graveyards where tradition strays,
Old homes where in life’s twilight haze
Skies smile with open door;
Fair Eastern Shore, rare Eastern Shore,
My fatherland, my Maryland,
My dreamland and my fairyland,
Delightsome Eastern Shore

Holdens Creek on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

Remembering Theodore L. Cuyler on His 200th Birthday

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Theodore Ledyard Cuyler was born two hundred years ago today in Aurora, New York on January 10, 1822. He was a graduate of Princeton University (1841) and Princeton Theological Seminary (1846). He served as pastor of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York from 1860 to 1890.

In his ministerial career and lifetime he published many books, and around 4.000 articles in the press. It is has been said that he was the “Dean of the American Pulpit.” He was a world-traveler, and was friends with many notable leaders of the church and society, including Charles H. Spurgeon, William Adams, Eliakim Littell, Richard S. Storrs, Samuel H. Cox, Henry W. Beecher, Archibald Alexander, James W. Alexander, Joseph A. Alexander, Charles G. Finney, Benjamin M. Palmer, James McCosh, Horatius Bonar, Dwight L. Moody, President Benjamin Harrison, President Abraham Lincoln, William Gladstone, Thomas Guthrie, Thomas Binney, Albert Barnes, William B. Sprague, Stephen H. Tyng, and others, many of whom he wrote about in his autobiography, Recollections of a Long Life (1902).

He was noted for inviting the first woman to preach from an American Presbyterian pulpit — Sarah Smiley, a Quaker, in 1872 — while at the same time publicly opposing women's suffrage (see his 1894 pamphlet, “Shall Women Be Burdened With the Ballot?”). Cuyler was also a Unionist, an abolitionist, and a teetotaler.

Source: The American Monthly Review of Reviews, Vol. 25 (Feb. 1902), p. 153.

Perhaps most significantly, Rev. Cuyler lost two infant children, as well as a 22 year-old daughter, and in the midst of his grief, he wrote God’s Light on Dark Clouds (1882), and other books and articles which spoke words of comfort to his readers. Many would say that the experiences he endured gave fruit to a spiritual comfort that only one who had walked through the valley of the shadow of death could comprehend and convey to others.

He died of bronchitis on February 26, 1909, in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 88, and is buried at Green-Wood Cemetery.

Two centuries after his birth, we remember Rev. Cuyler with great appreciation, and invite our readers to explore his works which are available to read at Log College Press. A very prolific writer, we are still adding his works to the site, but there is much of great value to read even now. Though his name was often in the press of his day, he was a most humble minister of the gospel. A park in Brooklyn is named after him but he declined the erection of a statue in his honor. He once said, "A genuine revival means trimming of personal lamps." When remembering Cuyler, we give glory to the God who called him to the ministry, and we note that Cuyler’s legacy points us, even now, to Beulah-Land.

An Introduction to the Work of the Westminster Assembly

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To mark the tercentenary of the Westminster Assembly, the Presbyterian Historical Societies of England and America joined together in 1943 to publish a study by Samuel W. Carruthers on The Everyday Work of the Westminster Assembly with a foreword by Thomas C. Pears, Jr. This valuable contribution to Westminster studies has recently been added to Log College Press.

Pears notes: “This is an important work; by all odds the most important on the Westminster Assembly since the publication of the Baird Lectures by Alexander F. Mitchell in 1882.” He adds: “The author, Dr. S.W. Carruthers, is eminently fitted for his task. He is the greatest living authority on the text of the Confession of Faith, having served his apprenticeship in this field under the direction of his father, the late Dr. William Carruthers. In 1937, he published an account of the preparation and printing of the seven leading editions of the Westminster Confession of Faith, together with a critical text of the Confession.”

This study focuses on:

  • Relations with Parliament

  • The Solemn League and Covenant

  • Relations with the Scottish General Assembly

  • Relations with Foreign Churches

  • Procedure

  • Payment of Members

  • Devotional Exercises

  • Fasts and Thanksgivings

  • Sectaries and Heretics

  • The Thirty-nine Articles

  • The Metrical Psalms

  • Supply of Ministers

  • Chaplains

  • Universities

  • Examination of Ministers

  • Personal Matters

Students of church history will appreciate this volume, which was republished in 1994 by Reformed Academic Press. Carruthers and Pears made a tremendous contribution to the knowledge that we have today concerning Westminster and its work. Take note of their labors, and consider the legacy of this synod of most excellent divines (Richard Baxter).

Four Centuries Since the First Traditional American Thanksgiving

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O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever (Ps. 107:1).

Apart from the French Huguenots who celebrated a thanksgiving at Fort Caroline, near modern-day Jacksonville, Florida on June 30, 1564, and the celebration at Jamestown, Virginia on December 4, 1619, what is traditionally referred to as the first American Thanksgiving, observed by the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, took place in the autumn of 1621, four hundred years ago.

George B. Cheever tells us briefly about this special occasion in The Pilgrim Fathers: or, The Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, New England, in 1620 (1849), pp. 231-232.

We find in this volume the very first instance of the New England thanksgiving. It is referred to by Mr. Winslow in his letter to a friend. It was after the gathering in of the harvest, and a fowling expedition was sent out for the occasion by the Governor, that for their Thanksgiving dinners and for the festivities of the week they might have more dainty and abundant materials than ordinary. That week they exercised in arms, and hospitably feasted King Massasoit and ninety men. The Governor is said by Mr. Winslow to have appointed the game-hunt after harvest, that so the Pilgrims "might after a more special manner rejoice together, after they had gathered the fruit of their labours." This admirable annual New England custom of Thanksgiving dates back therefore to the first year of our Forefathers' arrival.

W. Carlos Martyn also recounts the tale in The Pilgrim Fathers of New England: A History (1867), pp. 132-133, also drawing on Edward Winslow.

"There was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison." The fowlers had been sent out by the governor, "that so they might, after a special manner, rejoice together, since they had gathered the fruit of their labors;" this was the origin and the first celebration of the national festival of New England, the autumnal THANKSGIVING. On that occasion of hilarity they "exercised their arms," and for three days "entertained and feasted" Massasoit and some ninety of his people, who made a contribution of five deer to the festivity. Health was restored; household fires were blazing brightly; and in good heart and hope the lonely but thankful settlers disposed themselves to meet the rigor of another winter.

As we reflect on that moment in church history which illustrates the goodness of God to his people, and the tradition that is known as the American Thanksgiving, and as we count our blessings with gratitude to God, we thank you, dear friends, once again for all of your support for Log College Press. It means a great deal to us. We wish each of a very Happy Thanksgiving, and God’s richest blessings to you and yours.

Nevin's Presbyterian Encyclopedia

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There are some wonderful modern dictionaries and encyclopedias of Presbyterianism (D.G. Hart & Mark Knoll’s Dictionary of the Presbyterian and Reformed Tradition in America [2005], and Donald K. McKim’s Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith [1992] come to mind). But in this writer’s view, though somewhat limited in usefulness to the modern student of church history by its late 19th century date of publication, still nothing compares to the magnificent Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Including the Northern and Southern Assemblies (1884) by Alfred Nevin.

Alfred Nevin’s Presbyterian Encyclopedia.

It is a treasure that spans over 1,200 pages, and includes many illustrations, and also Henry C. McCook’s Historic Decorations at the Pan-Presbyterian Council: A Lithographic Souvenir, a collection of beautiful tributes to the people and places of the First and Second Reformations which were a highlight of the 1880 Pan-Presbyterian Council. The Encyclopedia itself is full of biographical sketches of noted Presbyterian ministers, and articles on different aspects of church history, in rich detail.

Noted contributors to Nevin’s Presbyterian Encyclopedia include B.B. Warfield, Charles A. Stillman, A.A. Hodge, James C. Moffat, W.A. Scott, Sheldon Jackson, Henry Van Dyke, Sr., J. Aspinwall Hodge and others.

Title page.

We at Log College Press often return to this volume as we work to expand our knowledge of American Presbyterianism and make accessible the men and women and their writings which are reflected therein to all. Take note of this remarkable resource for your own studies of church history and biography, which is available to read online at the Alfred Nevin page.