CONTENTS

 Introduction
 Fort Beelor, and the Village It Became
 History of Raccoon Church
 Burial Grounds of Raccoon Church
 First Ordination to the Presbyterian Ministry West of the Alleghenies
 Rev. Joseph Patterson Memorials
 Death of a Panther
 William Bailey’s Escape
 Last Indian Killed
 Kerdek Family
 Name of the Church
 Church Building
 Old Letter
 In Memoriam
 Sources of Information

Fort Beelor, and the Village it Became      (Back to Contents)

 

            The site of the settlement of Candor is Robinson Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.  At the time it was being settled by white men it had a double location.  Virginia claimed a large part of southwestern Pennsylvania and did not withdraw to the present line between it and Pennsylvania until 1779.  During the period of the dispute each state had its own governmental unit, the name being changed from time to time by the creation of a new county or the division of an existing one.  To the people who were sympathetic to the Virginia claim, the local county successively was Spottsylvania, Augusta, West Augusta and, the last, Yohogania, which was established in 1776.  To those who favored the claim of Pennsylvania, the local county successively was Cumberland, Bedford, Westmoreland and, the last, Washington, which was established by act of assembly approved November 6, 1780.  This act directed the formation of townships and the site of Candor fell within the lines fixed for Robinson.  While these counties were being formed and reformed the inhabitants of eastern Pennsylvania referred to this part of the state as the, “Western Wilderness” and the pioneers knew each particular section by the name of its watershed; the Candor one being the Raccoon; a name said to be derived from the Indian word “arathcone” meaning “the washer.”  In time the site became known as Fort Beeler on the Raccoon.  The latter part of the name came from the creek, of course, and the former part from the name of the first settler and the use of his place as a neighborhood stronghold against raiding Indians.

 

            During the period of controversy between Pennsylvania and Virginia for control of the territory, the Indians were resisting the encroachment by white men.   Pennsylvania believed the land had been acquired from the Indians by the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1769.  The Indians denied that the treaty was valid and also asserted that, even if it might be valid, the land ceded did not extend so far west as the white men said it did.  The Raccoon district, lying centrally within the bend of the Ohio River between the present sites of Pittsburgh and Steubenville, was highly exposed to marauding.  The Indians could invade it to almost any depth overnight and retreat to safety across the river before the settlers could organize for defense.   There was constant fear in every cabin.   This condition continued until 1794 when General Anthony Wayne decisively defeated the Indian forces at Fallen Timbers on the Upper Maumee River.  Peace negotiations were concluded on August 3, 1795.  It was then, for the first time, that the Raccoon district and the other districts south and east of the Ohio River became safe from savages(natives*).  They were the last Indian frontiers east of the Mississippi.

 

            Captain Samuel Beelor was the first white man to take formal steps to acquire any of the land on which the village of Candor was to develop.  He believed it was in Virginia and preempted 1,000 acres under the laws of that state.  Commissioners of the State of Virginia, appointed for adjusting claims to unpatented land, certified on February 2, 1780 that he made actual settlement in the year 1774 and by reason thereof was entitled to 400 acres and also to an additional 1,000 by preemption.  Pursuant to this certificate, an official survey was made March 17, 1782 by B. Johnston, Deputy, and endorsed by W. Crawford Surveyor of Yohogania County, Virginia, and recorded in the proper public record on July 17, 1782.  This survey shows a single tract of 801 acres; 400 in satisfaction of grain right and the remaining 404 as a part of the preemption.  Captain Beelor then obtained a deed for the tract as shown on the survey.  The deed was signed by P. Henry, Esquire, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia and bears date of March 8, 1785.  The certificate of settlement, the survey, and the deed are all of record in the Virginia State Library, Richmond Virginia; the certificate and the survey in Survey Book Vol. 1 Folio (89).  A peculiar feature of all these documents is that they were made after Virginia had stipulated that the land was outside the limits or that state.  Probably they were intended to aid Captain Beelor in his later efforts to persuade Pennsylvania that he was equitably entitled to the land.

 

            The fate of this William Crawford, surveyor of Yohogania County, Virginia, brings home the fact that while the pioneers were laboring to establish homes law, and order they had not succeeded in removing an ever present danger of Indian reprisal.  Mr. Crawford lived near the present site of Connellsville, Pa.   He endorsed the Beelor survey on or shortly after March 17, 1782.  On June 7, following, he was captured while on an expedition against the Indians in the vicinity of the Sandusky River, held prisoner, tortured and on the evening of June 11, was burned at the stake.  Simon Girty was with the Indians at the time.  Crawford pleaded with the renegade to shoot him and end the agony.  Girty is reported to have replied he was sorry but did not have a gun.

 

            Captain Samuel Beelor’s Virginia title having failed, he and his son applied to Pennsylvania and were able to acquire most of the land described in the Virginia deed.  The son obtained the southerly part, claiming by settlement.  The father obtained the northerly part, by having his Virginia warrant for grain right honored.  The tract patented to Samuel Jr. contained 154 and 5/8ths acres and was called “Springfield”.   The tract patented to Captain Samuel contained 400 acres and was called “Big Levels.”  Both patents are of record in the Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs at Harrisburg; the former in Patent Book P-12-193 and the latter in Patent Book P-13-37.  The Beelors must have been disappointed, having begun their difficult and dangerous effort with the expectation of some day owning 1,400 acres of land and succeeding only to 554.  Soon after acquiring good title they sold their holdings, and as neither father nor son is listed in the 1790 United States Census for Pennsylvania they probably moved out of  the state.  Captain Beelor by his deed dated March 21, 1789 sold Big Levels to James Clark, who by deed dated January 4, 1790, sold to his son John.  Samuel Beelor, Jr. sold Springfield to this John Clark by deed dated October 5, 1791

 

            The limits of the village include not only a part each of Springfield and Big Levels but also a part each of two other tracts of land patented from Pennsylvania.  These four tracts had a common corner just west (100 feet or on a guess) of the present location of the church.  The patent names and acreages of these tracts were “Beautiful” of 307 acres to the southwest and “The Purchase” of 356 acres to the northwest.  Beautiful was warranted on August 8, 1781, to Abraham Scott, who assigned the claim to John Wilson, to whom the land was patented September 24, 1787, and Wilson quickly sold to Alexander Dunlap.  The Purchase was warranted on August 26, 1784, to John Ward, who assigned the claim to John Dunlap, to whom the land was patented on July 10, 1818.  The dates of warrants and patents have little bearing on the dates of actual entry on the land as acquiring title of record was a long process.  Accordingly, the chronological order of the coming of the settlers can not be established but, on the record, the Beelor’s came first and the Beelors and the Dunlaps were the first permanent residents of the settlement.

 

            The Beelor group included at least the father, the mother, the son, and seven slaves.  That there were slaves and that there were seven of them is shown by the Public Slave Register as abstracted for Crumrine’s History of Washington County.  On March 1, 1780, Pennsylvania passed a law, the first one of its kind in the colonies, providing for the gradual abolition of slavery.  In effect, slaves then owned would continue to be slave for life, but any child born to a slave after the date of the law would become free at the age of twenty-nine years.  Further, under this law, owners were required to registered their slaves.  Samuel Beelor, on October 3, 1792, registered seven.

 

            The Alexander Dunlap family is listed in the 1790 Census as one free white male over 16 years, two younger free white males, and two free white females.   These figures probably represent a father, mother, two sons, and one daughter.  The John Dunlap household is listed as one free white male over sixteen years, five younger free white males, and two free white females.  These figures probably represent it father, mother, five sons, and one daughter.

 

            The Beelor place became a center for religious services.  The earliest record of meetings comes from the Rev. John McMillan, a pioneer missionary west of the Allegheny Mountains.  He noted in his private journal that he preached on the first Sabbath of December 1778 “at Raccoon” and on the Tuesday after the third Sabbath of June 1779 “at Bailer’s (Beelor) place on Raccoon.”  Services continued to be held through the years and a formal call for a regular pastor was made on April 9, 1789.  This call is shown in full in a history of Raccoon church by Margaret S. Sturgeon, written about 1899.  It was addressed “To Mr. Joseph Patterson, Preacher of the Gospel,” signed by 154 persons representing themselves as members of the united congregations of Mountour and Raccoon, and requested him to become their joint pastor.  Homestead sites of signers show congregational bounds, within which there are now at least eleven Protestant and three Roman Catholic churches.  Members lived in the present locations of Cherry Valley, Burgettstown, Bavington, Murdocksville, Virsoix, Imperial, and Noblestown.  Some of the signers who had the longest trips to meetings were Matthew and William Rankin and Mary Cherry of Cherry Valley; Moses Hays, John Bavington and Thomas Biggart of Raccoon Valley; James Gaston, John and James Stewart of Potato Garden Run, and John Glenn, Henry Noble and Gabriel Walker of Robinson Run.

 

            So the public records show that Fort Beelor for its first fifteen years or so was a settlement of four families, two of Beelor and two of Dunlap, and a gathering place for safety and worship for settlers of a large surrounding community.  It was not the usual settlement of just one settler in a lonely Spot.  It was a grouping of four families with a fort and church.  The number of dwellings is not known but known log houses and traces of former ancient houses indicate that the Beelors had, at least three separate homes and that each of the Dunlap families had a home of its own.

 

            No one knows with certainly what kind of structure Fort Beelor was or where it stood.  It may have been a stockade.  More likely, as stated in Crumrine’s History of Washington County, it was simply the Beelor home.   Crumrine makes the further statement that the home and the church were believed to be about 100 yards apart, north-south.  The conclusion that the fort was the home was based on the fact that the copy of the survey which was attached to the Virginia grant to Beelor showed one building only, an unusually large one of two stories.  All copies of surveys of that time would be freehand drawings and no two would probably be alike.  A photostatic copy of the official record of the survey shows two buildings, one large and one smaller.   They are shown opposite each other on a road running northeastwardly which is labeled “To Turner’s Fort” with another road across the north boundary or the tract labeled “To Dillow’s Fort.”   The buildings are noted out of scale and their positions are approximate but the distance between them measures about 100 yards.  The large building is to the north and on land which later became a part of Big Levels.  It is on or near the site of the present church.  This present site, according to church history, is the same as that of the first building and the first building was erected in 1781, a year before the survey was made.  The smaller building is to the south on land which later became a part or Springfield.  The title to Springfield depended on residence while title to Big Levels being rested on grain right required no residence.  It seems plain that the Crumrine writer was misled as to the number of buildings by an incomplete copy of the survey and that the two structures noted on the record copy represent the church and the settler’s cabin. 

 

            There is other good proof that a building did once stand on or near the location of the smaller building noted on the survey and that it was not just the ordinary cabin of the day.  This house is shown on a map or plan of Candor in Caldwell’s Atlas of Washington County (1876).  Stones which appeared to have been it part of an old foundation were unearthed at this place during the pastorate of the Rev. T. Clifford Hay (1961 - 65).  When Mr. Hay made a garden in ground which after being used as a pasture for many years had remained unused for over forty years.  Two deeds give substantial evidence of the position and extent of this structure.  The deeds were made by William Clark on January 8, 1839; one to William Conley and one to Rebecca Conley.  The deed to William conveyed the northeasterly half of the house with its adjacent land, and the deed to Rebecca conveyed the southwesterly half of the house with its adjacent land.  The line through the house is described in the deed to William as “thence through the center of the house north fifty-six an done-half degrees east four and nine-tenths perches,” and in the deed to Rebecca as “thence through the center of the house south fifty-six and one-half degrees east four and nine-tenths perches.”  This Conley line has been carried down through deeds and is now a dividing line between the parsonage lot and a small lot which separates it and a spring lot.  The division of this house presumably for double occupancy indicates that it was large, as Beelor’s house is reputed to have been.  There would seem to be no reasonable doubt that it was the Beelor home; and, if the Crumrine theory is correct, also Fort Beelor.

 

            There was another house on Beelor land.  It is reported to have been the first village store and was located on a to which William Clark sold to Moses Allen by deed dated February 9, 1837.  This lot is now a part of the parsonage ground and some large stones which appeared to have been used for a chimney foundation were discovered and lifted during the pastorate of the Rev. Greer M. Kerr (1871-1931).  The deed describes the lot as four and nine-tenths perches by eight and two-tenths perches, rectangular, adjoining the Rebecca Conley lot on the northeast and extending southwardly between the end lines of the Conley lot projected to Clark’s Lane.  This lane as widened at this section is now a part of the Midway Road.  The Clark deeds show that the Conley and Allen lots fronted to the southeast on a lane.

 

            The third house on Beelor land still stands and is located next to the cemetery north of the above mentioned alley.

 

            There were two log dwellings on Dunlap land, both well known to people of today.  They were located on the John Dunlap tract, The Purchase, northwest of the church and across the road.   One of these buildings was razed in 1966 and the other was destroyed by fire in 1967.  It is very probable that there was also a cabin on the Alexander Dunlap tract, Beautiful, built for shelter and as an “improvement right in obtaining a patent,” but no information has been handed down concerning it.

 

            The first church building, according to church history, was made of logs and completed in 1781.  It was razed and replaced by it larger structure on the same location in 1785-86.  This second building was used for services until 1830, when it was razed and replaced by a brick structure on the same location.

 

            By the deeds previously mentioned for Big Levels and Springfield, the proprietorship of the settlement, presumably of five dwellings and a church, changed from the Beelors and the Dunlaps.  There were various transactions among the Clarks.  John Clark by deed dated April 11, 1808 conveyed his land to his brother, Thomas, who by deed dated September 13, 1818, conveyed an interest to each of his sons, James and William.  Then, Thomas added to their holdings.  He acquired 25 acres of Beautiful from Alexander Dunlap by deed dated May 23, 1806 and seven acres of The Purchase from John Dunlap by deed dated January 21, 1822.  These last two deeds extended the Clark ownership to include all the land in the village site, except a part which had been sold to the church. 

 

            The first sales by the Clarks were made to meet the needs of church activities.  The Rev. Joseph Patterson, first pastor of the church, needed a base for his livelihood and work.  The Clarks sold him the northern 150 acres of Big Levels by deed dated June 29, 1790, the community needed control of the land it had been improving and using for religious meetings.  The Clarks sold a tract of seven acres, made up of a part each from Big Levels and Springfield, for this purpose.  The deed, dated January 19, 1793, was made to the “Trustees of Raccoon Congregation now under the care of the Rev. Joseph Patterson,” and the land was described generally as “being the land whereon said congregation has erected their meeting house.”

 

            The next sales by the Clarks were of two pieces of land along the southern borders of their tracts.  A small parcel was sold to James Laird by deed recorded in 1801 and a 40-acre piece was sold to Christopher Smith by deed recorded in 1814.  Mr. Smith conducted a tavern at his place at the sign of the “Green Tree.”  Both tracts fronted on a drove road to Pittsburgh.  The origin of this road was probably a petition filed at the 1783 September term of the Court of Washington County.  The petition was for a road from Well’s mill (near Avella) on Cross Creek to Samuel Beelor’s fort on Raccoon Creek.  A map of 1781-88 in Crumrine’s History shows a road from Well’s mill to Pittsburgh.   It passes through the Candor district on the Robinson Run-Raccoon Creek divide and these two parcels of land drain to the south into Robinson Run and to the north into the Raccoon Creek.

 

            The remaining Clark land, over 400 acres, was apparently treated as being two farms and a village.  One farm was to the north and the other to the South.  The Clarks kept this northern (central if the Patterson part is taken into consideration) part to the last and called it “Homeside Farm.”  The first sale, by the Clarks of any land in the village was the sale of the Southern farm, containing 105 acres, more or less, to James Gilmore by deed dated April 3, 1833.   Gilmore sold the tract by deed dated April 1, 1834 to Samuel McFarland, who subdivided the land adjoining the village settlement.

 

            It is not probable that the use of the name Fort Beelor was, continued throughout the period of 43 years (1789 or 1791-1833) which followed the departure of the Beelors and during most of which the Clarks owned the whole place.  The name was probably soon dropped.  A reference to Clarks or the church would have been the simplest way to identify the location or to give directions to travelers.  The next known name of the Village was Webster, and this was followed by the name Candor. 

 

            The name Webster was probably chosen by Samuel McFarland.  His plan of lots was never recorded and it is not known whether the name was originated by it or before or after it was made.  In any event, McFarland’s first deed for a town lot, dated April 3, 1831, describes it as a lot in the “Village of Webster.”  His last deed calling for this name is dated May 6, 1834.  His next deed, dated April 12, 1838, calls for Candor.  William Clark began selling lots in his part of the village by several deeds dated February 1837 and all call for Webster.  His last deed calling for this name is dated November 21, 1838.  His next deed, dated January 28, 1839, calls for Candor.   The McFarland deeds indicate that the name was changed from Webster to Candor in or before April of 1838, and the Clark deeds place the date between November of 1838 and January of 1839.

 

            Reasons for the change of name from Webster to Candor are unverified.   It has been said that the postal authorities made the change when an office was established in the place.  Also, there is a legend that Watson Allen, the district’s first storekeeper, became aware of the existence of another town named Webster and used the new name to avoid confusion in shipments of merchandise.

 

            The Allen legend implies that he chose the name, Candor, on impulse.  However, the fact that it received acceptance leads one to imagine that he gave the subject serious thought.  Presumably, he meditated on the names of other towns and why they had been selected.   He would recall towns named for individuals who had been prominent for a while and then forgotten, and towns named for animals, hills, creeks, or stones.  Thinking further, he might remember such names as Liberty, Independence, Prosperity, and Amity.  These he would find to be of splendid connotations and something on the order of what he would be happy and proud to claim for his address.  A mental search for some characteristic common to his fellow townsmen, or one he would like them to possess, may have led him to the word “candor.”  It is derived from the Latin word “candere,” meaning to shine.”  Candor is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary (1966) as follows: “1. The quality of being open-minded or fair; impartiality.  2. Honesty in expressing oneself; sincerity; frankness.

 

            After 1831 sale to McFarland, the settlement was to develop within a few years into a village with its storekeeper, postmaster, doctor, carpenter, wagonmaker, blacksmith, tailor, dressmaker, and shoemaker.  In time, a miller and an academy were added.  After a half century or a little longer, railroads and industries were to come and locate in the outlying valleys of Robinson Run and Mountour Creek; and Condor, high on a headwater of Raccoon Creek, was to be cut down gradually to its present size of 18 occupied dwellings and a church.

 

 

 

History of Raccoon Church     (Back to Contents)

 

            A brief historical sketch of the first three pastorates of Raccoon Church (sometimes, in early years, called Upper Raccoon to distinguish it from a church of the same name near the mouth of Raccoon Creek) to the year 1854 appears as a footnote (on page 384) in Joseph Smith’s book Old Redstone.  A history of the church prepared by the Rev. Greer M. Kerr, D.D., is contained (on page 384) in Crumrine’s History of Washington County, Pennsylvania.   Another history of the church was written by Margaret S. Sturgeon and published in pamphlet form about 1890.  (Only a few copies of this pamphlet are now known to exist.)   In the latter part of the year 1876, after the close of the fifth year of his pastorate, Mr. Kerr embodied a history of the church in a sermon, which he preached from its pulpit.  This early effort to assemble salient facts of almost a century of the life of Raccoon Church follows:

PSALM C111:2

Bless the Lord, O my soul and

“forget not all his benefits.”

 

            A great difference of opinion prevails as to the value of history.   Some are inclined to regard everything that is old as consecrated and to them all new ideas are intolerable.  Others, on the contrary, are favorable to anything fresh and novel and are impatient and disrespectful toward all that is old. 

 

            It is true that the wisdom of the ancients was not infallible.  It is just as true that the innovations of the moderns are not all improvements. 

 

            There have been radicals and conservatives among men from the beginning – the one despises much of the past and the other despises much of the present.  

 

            One of the difficult problems of life is to strike the golden mean of these two extremes and do equal justice to what is and what has been without empty dreams or idle admiration of either.  We should act in the living present carefully using the light or the past to shape our actions with it wise reference to the future.

 

            In the spirit of subjection to the powers that be which is scriptural; our attention is to be directed today to our own history as a congregation.  And hearkening to the voice of the General Assembly let us not be deaf to the word of God which also admonishes us that the Lord’s benefits should not be forgotten.

 

            Some of you through personal interest, common curiosity, and a natural belief for such things may relish a rehearing of the origin and history of this church, while others impatiently endure the thought of hearing the many details, names, dates, etc. that in their opinion might as well be consigned to that oblivion from which it seems almost impossible to rescue them. 

 

            Yet who is there among you unwilling to return frequently on the wings of memory and imagination to the sweet, fine, innocent years of his own childhood?

            Who would not rejoice in another day with his schoolmates?

            Who cannot feel himself refreshed and strengthened by such a visit, even if allowed but one hour? 

 

            So may it refresh us as a congregation to visit the scenes of our youth – shake hands with the old-time pastors Patterson, Allen and McKaig, and have them hear us recite the Catechism, receive the bread and wine from their faithful elders around that old communion table in the grove, God’s first temple here, and even surround the old family altar along with brother, sister, father, and mother.

 

            Does not the thought prompt us to say “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits?”

 

 

I.  Our Origin

 

            The beginning of the Lord’s work in this place is not positively known.   The only complete record that remains is the one that was kept in Heaven.  That eternal register of human actions is not yet open to our inspection and we are obliged at the present to seek the desired information from less reliable sources.  And we must be content with this imperfect knowledge until “the books are opened and the dead are judged out of those things which are written in the books according to their works.  “Then we will know it all, “for there is nothing hid that shall not be manifested.” 

 

            The Dunbars, Dunlaps Baileys, Atens, Donaldsons, Crooks, McDonalds, Sturgeons, Kerdeks, McCartys and Scotts were early of the field and their third and fourth generations are still here, active and useful members.  Among them there is a vast amount of family tradition current that is interesting, but generally that precision of dates and circumstances is wanting which is indispensable before it can be reduced to a shape worthy of the name of history.

 

            The oldest tombstone in the graveyard marks the resting-place of one who was buried there in 1780.  But it is said there was a burying place located here before there was any church building or organization.   Two brothers named Shearer and two named McCandless were shot by Indians while reaping grain and their bodies were probably the first buried in the cemetery.  From time-to-time others were buried in the same place, and very probably this led to the location of the church here.

 

            Tradition justifies the belief that a religious society existed and worshiped here for some time previous, but it is most likely the first house dedicated to public worship was a rustic log cabin erected sometime in 1781, which gave place to a large and commodious hewed-log structure erected in 1786.  On each of the longer sides of this building there was a recess of considerable size, a device to furnish support for the ends of timbers, the size of the house requiring two lengths.  In one of these recesses the pulpit was located.  The other on the opposite side, was appropriated to the use of colored slaves.  This house continued in use until 1830.

 

            From the written minutes of the old Presbytery of Redstone, now in the possession of the Rev. John M. Barnett of Connellsville, Pa., it appears that at a meeting of Presbytery at Round Hill Church near Elizabethtown (then called the lower meeting house in the forks) on April 19, 1785, there was a supplication for supplies for Raccoon.   This is the first mention of the name Raccoon in the minutes of Presbytery.

 

            But one year previous to that, on April 13, 1784, at a meeting of Presbytery at Buffalo there was a supplication for supplies for a vacant congregation near Robinson Run.  Mr. Smith of Buffalo and Cross Creek was appointed to come on the first Sabbath of May – Mr. Dodd of Ten Mile on the first Sabbath of July, and Mr. Clark of Bethel and Lebanon on the third Sabbath of May.  The three names, “Robinson Run,” “Raccoon”, and “Potato Garden,” seem to have been interchangeable.  No two such congregations ever obtain supplies at the same meeting of Presbytery.  Sometimes the application was from one and the supplies were sent to another, and when Raccoon obtained a settled pastor the other names disappeared from the records altogether.

 

            The source of Robinson Run is two miles east of this place.  The Raccoon Creek has one branch three miles south and another one half-mile north and the main creek is three miles west of this place.  Potato Garden Run is four miles north of this.  Very probably in early times any one of these names would be used to designate the locality of this congregation, whose outside limits then approached Hickory on the south, Clinton on the north, and included Noblestown on the east and Burgettstown on the west.

 

            According to the records of Presbytery the first sermon known to have been preached here was by the Rev. Joseph Smith, pastor of Cross Creek and Buffalo, on the first Sabbath of, May 1784.  This, however, does not disprove what has been said about earlier services here.  The first reference in Presbytery’s minutes is to a Vacant Congregation, implying previous organization.  Supplies continued to be sent here by Presbytery from the above dates until April 21, 1789.

 

 

II  First Pastor

 

            At that time (April 21, 1789) this church and Montour, ten miles east of this, presented to Presbytery a united call dated April 9, 1789 for the Rev. Joseph Patterson.  He kept the call until the next meeting of Presbytery, reserving his decision on account of some unnamed difficulties subsisting between the two congregations.  By the next meeting these affairs were adjusted and he accepted the call.  He was ordained and installed here Wednesday, November 11, 1789.  On that occasion the Rev. T. Dodd preached from Acts 20:28.  “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”  Mr. McMillan presided and Mr. Robert Findley gave the charge.

 

            There was no register during the Patterson pastorate of the names of the officers and members of the church.  From Presbytery’s records it appears that Mr. Samuel Riddle represented this church as an elder at Presbytery in 1793.  The original deed of the land on which the church stands is now in the hands of the trustees and is dated January 19, 1793.  This deed is for seven acres, strict measure, for which the sum of seven pounds specie was paid.  It is from John Clark and Jane, his wife, to whom the land was previously deeded by James Clark and Esther, his wife, who received it from Samuel Beelor and Emila, his wife, and Samuel Beelor Jr., who held it by patent from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania bearing the date of March 16, 1788.  From this instrument it appears that the trustees of this church in 1793 were William Rankin, Peter Kidd, William McCandless, Matthew Bailey, John Dunlap, and Alexander Wright.  At the close of Mr. Patterson’s pastorate the Session consisted of William McCandless, Thomas Hays, John Riddle, Thomas Miller, Benjamin Chestnut, William Moore, and Archibald McCandless.

 

            Mr. Patterson was a remarkable man.  His history is inseparably connected with the history of the Presbyterian Church in Western Pennsylvania.  A sketch of his life by Dr. E. P. Swift was published in a book called Old Redstone (out of print).   This community is still full of anecdotes and traditions about him.

 

            Born in the North of Ireland, 1752.  Noted for his early piety.  Received his first clear apprehension of the way of Salvation during an affectionate explanation of it by his father while ploughing in the field.  At that time he was enabled cordially to accept it and embrace Christ as his everlasting portion.  (If fathers generally would go and do likewise such instances of early piety and lifelong usefulness would not be so rare.)

 

            At the age of ten years, he along with three or four little companions conducted a stated children’s prayer meeting.  At twenty he married and emigrated to America.  After a short stay in Pennsylvania he settled in Saratoga County, New York, in 1772.  In 1774, his parents arrived in this State and he returned to Pennsylvania.  He is spoken of as a weaver, a farmer, and a schoolteacher.  In 1776, he was teaching in Philadelphia and was present at the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence.  He left his school and enlisted as a volunteer in the American Army.   After leaving the Army he lived a short time in York County, Pennsylvania.  In the fall of 1779, through the influence of Judge Edgar, he came to Cross Creek, Washington County, Pennsylvania.  At the time he was a seceder with strong prejudice against the singing of hymns in the worship of God.  His neighbor Squire Graham succeeded in changing his views on this subject, and he afterwards became very fond of singing hymns.

 

            In Cross Creek Congregation, he became an active leader in meeting for social prayer.  In the winter of 1782-83, he was appointed elder in that congregation.  In the fall of 1785, he was received by Presbytery as a candidate for the ministry.   He studied three years under his Pastor Joseph Smith and was licensed to preach on August 12, 1788, at the age of 36.  Eight months afterwards, he settled as pastor of Raccoon and Montour.  In 1798, he resigned Mountour and gave all his time to this church, where he remained until 1816.

 

            The only record of his work here which he has left is this brief memorandum made on demitting his charge into the hands of presbytery: “I resigned my charge on account of bodily infirmity after being Pastor of Raccoon twenty-seven years and six months, for every day of which I need pardon through the blood of Christ.”  Soon afterwards he removed to Pittsburgh, where his two sons resided.  After 14 years of active evangelistic work at the landings, in boats, and from house to house, collecting funds, and distributing tracts and Bibles in the at city, he died aged 80.

He was preeminently a man of faith and prayer.

 

 

III  Second Pastor

 

            On the 27^th of May 1817, seven months and eleven days after the resignation of Mr. Patterson, the Rev. Moses Allen was installed pastor of this congregation, and he held that office for 22 years.  During that time there were two elections of elders; in 1830, Robert Wallace, Garret Van Eman and Edward McDonald, and in 1836; John Sturgeon, David Miller, Robert Smith and Richard Donald, Mr. Smith and Mr. Donaldson are still here and have served the people in this capacity forty years (last March).

 

            During this pastorate, in 1830, a new house of worship was built.   It was a large brick edifice, 66 by 76 feet, capable of seating 600 adults.  Some of its peculiarities were a very high pulpit on the side instead of the end, five front doors, a very broad transverse aisle in front of the pulpit in which the communion table was spread, and a roof of four similar sides all tapering towards a point in the center upon which was a modest belfry.  This building continued in use forty-two years.

 

            Mr. Allen was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania on September 5, 1780.  In his youth he obtained a knowledge of the millwright business, which he pursued diligently and successfully for some years.  He received his education at Jefferson College and studied theology under the direction of the Rev. John McMillen.  He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Ohio on June 23, 1807, and in November of the same year ordained and installed pastor of the united churches or New Providence and Jefferson in Greene County, Pennsylvania.  In May 1817, he was installed pastor at Raccoon.  He continued the pastoral office here faithfully until 1838, and was afterwards pastor for eight years at Crabapple, Ohio, where he died January 10, 1847, aged sixty-six.

 

            From memoranda kept by himself it appears his labors were abundant. “I was pastor of Raccoon Congregation 22 years during which I preached 2,685 sermons, administered the Lord's Supper 75 times, admitted to communion of the church 324, baptized 15 adults and 558 children and solemnized 190 marriages.”

 

            Mr. Allen was a man of decided and positive character and of strong mental ability.  He was a sound theologian and was always spoken of as a very logical and forcible preacher.  And the records of session abundantly show that he regarded Church discipline as an ordinance of God and means of grace.

            Under his ministry the church grew in numbers and increased in strength and at the close it was reckoned among the largest and most important country churches in the whole Synod.

            After his resignation the congregation was without a pastor for about two and one-half years.

 

IV.  Third Pastor

 

            In June 1841 the Rev. Clement V. McKaig is ordained and installed as pastor of this people.  He continued pastor in charge until December 1865 (24 1/2, years).

 

            During that time there was but one election or elders.  In 1857, John Simonton, Thomas Wilson, J.S. Russell, J.L. Moore, and Joseph Wallace were elected to that office.

 

            Among the first acts of his ministry was an earnest effort to awaken more interest in and increase the efficiency of the Sabbath School.  In April 1841, session passed a series of resolutions with reference to the Sabbath School and ordered them to be read from the pulpit.  They have the right ring.  Here is the fourth: “That we believe it is the bounden duty of every Christian to cooperate with and by every proper means further the prosperity or the Sabbath School and especially to pray earnestly and constantly for the blessing of God upon it.”  A constitution and by-laws were then adopted, written in the wonderfully beautiful handwriting of their author, William Quinn Gardine, then secretary of the School.

 

            In a sermon preached on a Thanksgiving Day near the close of his pastorate Mr. McKaig made this record:

                     “In 21 years, 430 have been added to this church, 312 of these on examination.  The average increase per year has been 20.  The highest number received in any one year was 33 in 1857.  In the same time 83 members have died and 207 have been dismissed.  Of 84 communions there were two where none was added - they are distinctly marked in my mind and on my record.  I pray God no other such may occur.  465 children have been baptized.  And in 21 years contributions to benevolence have been $6,126.00.  I have pleasure in recalling the fact that in our meetings of Session from the first time I met with them there has been uniform kindness, harmony and fraternal intercourse.   Differences of opinion have been candidly and freely expressed but no unkind or offensive word uttered.  This Session has always been a peacemaker while living at peace among themselves.  This is a chief and honorable trait of Christian character especially in a ruler of the church.  This is no vain eulogy –”Blessed are the peacemakers.”

 

            On account of an obstinate and protracted affection of the throat Mr. McKaig felt constrained first to take a vacation and finally to request a dissolution of the pastoral relation.  At a meeting on December 18, 1865, the congregation joined in the request and coupled their action with an expression sorrow and regret.  I take the liberty of making some extracts from it:

                     “Notwithstanding repeated respite from active service, at the Sessions of the Presbytery of Ohio held in the month of April last, our beloved pastor deemed it his duty to ask for a dissolution of the tender ties which during the revolving years of a quarter of a century have bound us together in the sacred relationship of pastor and people.   Averse even to consider the matter at the time the subject was waived by the congregation, with the hope that on further relaxation from labor and a short sojourn in a more invigorating climate his health might be restored.   He closed his home, repaired to the healthful shores of Lake Superior, and now with health and spirits invigorated he is permitted to report the good hope of ultimate recovery.  Yet it seems that his own judgment and the earnest advice of family relations still unite in a requisition of relief from the labors of this pulpit and the pastoral care of a congregation so large and widely scattered.

                        In view therefore of all the facts, the sad duty is placed upon us of announcing our acquiescence in the Divine will and uniting in the request now on the table of the president.

                     And while on such an occasion it might not be improper to make a public declaration of the cordial relations which have subsisted between us and to bear testimony to his faithful and tender services, we can but little more than pronounce the well-merited plaudit ‘Good and faithful servant’ and leave it for sweet memory to inscribe on her enduring tablets the full record of his labors here.  In view of his long, earnest and well tried services we now desire simply to record a tribute of the gratitude and affection we bear for a minister who has not failed to proclaim the whole counsel of God.  Others may minister at the holy altar but until the golden bowl be shattered or the pitcher broken at the fountain the sacred memories of other days will still be precious.  We can still remember him as around the old ever burning altar we continue to bend the knee and raise the voice to God.

 

            Mr. McKaig has been quiterestored to health and at present is pastorate Bloomfield, a church in the suburbs of Pittsburgh.

 

            After the resignations of Mr.McKaig the church was without a pastor for almost six years.  But in the meantime there was no intermission of the regular services.  Callswere made out and presented for the Revs.’ John Kerr, J.J. Beacom, J.B. Dickey and R.K. Campbell, but for various reasons none of these calls was accepted.   TheRev. John Kerr, without formally accepting his call, labored here three years with good success, receiving 54 in one year.

 

           There was an election of elders on June 26, 1869.  John Farrar, J.M. Stevenson, John Kennedy, J.N. McDonald and Richard Crooks were chosen.  The first three were ordainedand the others declined to serve.

 

 

V.  Fourth Pastor

 

            On March 27, 1871, a call wasmade out for Greer M. Kerr, a licentiate of the Presbytery of Shenango and then a member of the senior class in the Western Theological Seminary.  Following the advice of Professor S. J. Wilson, he accepted this call and was ordained and installed on June 14, 1871.  Dr. Wilson presided at the ordination, the Rev. John Gillespie preached the sermon, W.W. McKinney charged the pastor and S.M. Henderson charged the people.  The relation thenestablished still continues.

 

           This pastor is a child of the covenant of Scotch-Irish Presbyterian lineage.   For three generations both his paternal and maternal ancestry have resided in the eastern end of this county within the bounds of Mingo and Pigeon Creek Congregations, bearing the names of Kerr, McIivitin, Varner, Campbell, Porter, Paxton.  He was born onNovember 23, 1843, in the bounds of Pigeon Creek, where he was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Graham, pastor.  While he was yet in hisinfancy his parents removed to Mercer County, Pennsylvania, where they still reside.  He entered Westminster College at New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, at the age of 15 and received the diploma of that institution on June 29, 1867.  In the meantime he taughtschool for needed funds (at Centerville and at Mercer).   He united with the church of Neshannock by profession in the winter of ‘66 - ‘67, one hundred and seven others uniting at the same time.   He entered theWestern Theological Seminary on September 10, 1868, was licensed by the Presbytery of Shenango on April 28, 1870, at Beaver Falls, was graduated at the seminary April 19, 1871, began the pastoral work here on the June following and completed his fifth year in June last.

 

            On February 3, 1875, therewas a meeting of the congregation for the purpose of electing additional elders.  James Meloney, W. S. Russell, Dr. B. F. Hill and T. V. Smith were chosen.   The first two accepted andwere ordained and the other two declined to serve. 

 

            In 1872 the present house ofworship was erected.  It is 52 feet by 80 with abasement story 11 feet high and a main room 22 feet to the square with a dome ceiling, seven feet high in the center.   It is tastefully frescoed and furnished throughout with carpet and cushions.  The total cost ofthe building was $14,093.  The house wasdedicated on November 26, 1873.  On thatoccasion Mr. McKaig, formerly pastor, read a historical sketch of the church, Dr. S. J. Wilson preached and Revs. J. T. Fredericks, W. R. McKee and John Kerr took part in the various exercises

 

           During the five years of his labors the present pastor has preached 399 times, conducted 53 funerals, baptized six adults and 70 infants, administered the Lord's Supper 18 times, received into the church on certificate 47 and on examination 41 (total 88), dismissed 52 members and conducted the funerals of 23. The number of regular members now on the roll is 260.  Contributions to benevolence in five years were in the total sum of $3,078 and to church purposes $22,397 or a total of $25,475.  The pastor hopes that nothing in this closing section has been prompted by pride or vainglory.  Yourpastor, cherishing the warmest gratitude for kind help both human and divine, hopes to walk in the footsteps of his predecessors and continue to build on the same solid foundations that they have so wisely and carefully laid.

 

           Now, to recapitulate, what are some of the leading and marked benefits conferred upon us by God apparent in this brief epitome of the past?

              (1)  Perpetual enjoyment of the ordinances of the Sanctuary.
“Continual dropping wears away the rock.” But, alas, some hearts are hardened.

              (2)  A happy variety of ministerial personal influence.
All these living epistles have been written in different styles:
Patterson, a kind, gentle, winning, pious father.
Allen, an able preacher, rigid in discipline, persistent in catechizing, resolute and faithful in every duty.

McKaig, a sympathizing friend, an accomplished Christian gentleman.   The ministry here has been “all things to all men in order to win some.”

              (3)  Exemplary leaders.
No pastor, elder, or trustee has ever brought reproach upon the church.  Nonehas been a stumbling block in the way of the weak.  Every one has been faithful and true in the performance of his office.

              (4)  An intelligent, industrious, upright, moral, pious, congregational ancestry.

 

           My brethren, are we worthy sons of these worthy sires?  Shall we hand down to thoseafter us in ecclesiastical honor unsullied?  Shallwe preserve and transmit our spiritual heritage whole find untarnished?

 

           While we bless God and forgetnot all his benefits, let us so live that after another century it call be said of us “Their generation, also, was fruitful in every good work and increased in the knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:10)

 

            The foregoing sermonwasprepared without knowledge of the existence of the McMillan diary or of material later published by Butterfield.   Some passages in it can be amplified or corrected from these and other sources.

 

           Col.William Farrar, in his address at the Raccoon Centennial of August 2.1, 1892, inferred from passages in Butterfield’s publication of Washington-Irvine correspondence of 1781-83 that the that the burial date of the victims of the Shearer massacre was later, not earlier than that of Mrs. Martha Bigger, whose gravestone is the one referred to in the sermon.  According tothe inscriptionon the stone Mrs. Bigger died May 20, 1780. Accordingto Col. Farrar’s deductions, the Shearer incident took place during the week following July 7, 1780.

 

           The diary of the Rev. John McMillan, D.D., discloses that he had been holding services in the Raccoon district during the seven years preceding April 19, 1785, the date of the first mention of Raccoon in the minutes or Presbytery.   Hisdiary is published in “The Life and Work of Rev. John McMillan” written in 1915 by Daniel M. Bennett, of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, records that McMillian preached at Raccoon on the first Sabbath, of December 1778, at Mr. Bailer’s place on Raccoon “on the Tuesday after the third Sabbath of June 1779, at Raccoon on the third Sabbath of June 1780,” at Mr. McDonald’s place on Robinson Run “on the fourth Sabbath of July 1780, and at Raccoon on the Sabbath of October 1782.”

 

            Samuel Riddle, who isnamedinthe sermon as apparently having represented Raccoon at Presbytery in 1793, was a member of Montour, not Raccoon.   A John Riddle is named in the Crumrine and Sturgeon histories as having been an elder at Raccoon at that time.  Inadditiontothe men named as those serving as elders at the close of Mr. Patterson’s pastorate, two are listed in the Crumrine and Sturgeon histories as having done so earlier in the Patterson pastorate – Alexander Wright and Alexander Bailey.

 

           Veryprobably, additional menmight have been included in the list of elders under Rev. Patterson if circumstances had permitted fuller research.   Theminutesof Redstone Presbytery and the Presbytery of Ohio list several elders as attendants at meetings in the period of this pastorate without stating their church connections.   Amongthese were a John Glenn and a William Gordon.   Menof these names signed the call to Mr. Patterson and were active in the church.  AlsoJamesGaston and JamesSteward, both of Potato Garden, were among the signers to the call, and the family history of each relates that he was one of the first elders at Raccoon.

 

 

 

Burial Grounds of Raccoon Church   (Back to Contents)

 

           TheRaccoon Cemetery ischurchproperty, and its management is an activity of the church.  Historicallynochurch organization was complete without both a place for the living to worship and a place of burial for the dead a house of worship and “God’s Green Acre” beside it.

 

           Astime is measuredinsouthwestern Pennsylvania, the graveyard of Raccoon Church is an old one.  Itsfirstgraves were dug and filled within the front lines of the white man’s westward advance, at a time of bitter struggles within those lines.   TheIndians, the Pennsylvanians, and the Virginian’s all were claiming the territory, and each of these three factions was fighting the others.  About ten years before theconflict of ownership between Pennsylvania and Virginia was settled, and about twenty years before the danger of Indian attack was removed as a result of Gen. Anthony Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers, the cemetery at Raccoon became established as a place of common burials.

 

           Itwas within the periodofconflict and uncertainty that Capt. Samuel Beelor and his son, Samuel, Jr., settled on land which now includes the cemetery.   TheVirginiasurvey of the Beelor land, dated March 17, 1782, places the original Beelor dwelling at a spot near the present location of the cemetery.  This house acquired thenameof “Fort Beelor” because it was used from time to time by settlers of the neighborhood as a refuge from raiding Indians.   Apparentlythe graveyard was started on the natural death of one of the refugees.

 

           Ifany church record of earlyburials was kept, it has long been lost.   Theonlyknown such record begins with 1906.   Fortheidentity or persons buried prior to that date, the only sources are stones still standing, biographies, and tradition.

 

           Mr.and Mrs. John Allen, whose son, Moses Allen, became the second pastor of Raccoon, apparently attempted to settle at a place near which the line separating Robinson and Smith Townships was later established.   Mrs.Allenlived to in advanced age.  Reportedly,sheoften spoke of her frontier experiences and among her listeners was a Thomas Stevenson, born 1797, who retold them to Col. William M. Farrar, who repeated them in his address at the Raccoon Centennial of August 1882.   Partsofhis speech have been preserved by a clipping from an old newspaper report of the occasion, the name of the publisher not being shown.

 

           According,to Mrs. Allen’s story, as related by Col. Farrar, the first burial was of a little girl.  Whenthe fort was inthe process of construction, an Indian alarm was sounded and some of the settlers gathered there for safety.  Duringtheir stay the childbecame sick and died.  Mrs.Allen assisted inpreparing the body for burial.  It was placedin a gravenearthe fort on land which later became church property.   Thestatementthatthe fort was just being built at the time indicates that the interment may have taken place not long before or shortly after July 5, 1774, the date of Capt. Beelor’s settlement.

 

           Afterthis, according to theAllen story, neighbors of a McKinley family, apparently two men, were buried near the grave of the little girl.   TheMcKinley’s,who lived on the Allen place, had been attacked and killed by Indians while attending their horses.

 

           Nextcame the burial of Martha Bigger.  TheBiggershad settled on land three or four miles north of the fort but had been driven off by Indians.  Theyselecteda new location on Millers Run, where Mrs. Bigger died.   Thedateofher death, May 20, 1780, is inscribed on the stone over her grave – the oldest written record of the cemetery.

 

           Severalgraves were added in one day about two months after Mrs. Bigger’s death.  The Shearers had settledonland two miles or farther north of the effort.   InJuly 1780, William Bailey, two sons of William McCandless, and a Mr. McNely were helping Robert Shearer, Jr., and possibly his brother, Hugh, to cradle wheat.   Thegroupwas attacked by Indians and all were killed except Mr. Bailey.  Thebodiesof the dead were taken to the cemetery and buried in the evening, it is said, of the same day upon which they had been slain.  Williamlived to a full age, and on his death his body was laid in a grave near the graves of his coworkers whose lives had been lost while his was saved.

 

           RobertShearer,Sr., and hisson Hugh, Father and brother of Robert Jr., also are said to have met death at the hands of the Indians.   Thefatherwasonce captured by Indians on a Sabbath morning while in his cabin, taken down the Ohio River to Mehicken, and held prisoner for 11 months.   Heescapedandreturned to his home.   Nostatementisknown to have been made in any record or story of when or under what circumstances he was killed.   Hughis said in some accounts to have been one of the victims of the 1780 massacre with Robert, Jr.   However,thenameHugh Shearer is signed to the 1789 pastoral call to the, Rev. Joseph Patterson and also is listed in the 1790 United States Census for Pennsylvania.   Accordingtootheraccounts Hugh was killed by Indians after the death of Robert, Jr., while working in a cornfield.   Althoughthe annals are not clear, it has long been accepted locally without question that not only Robert Shearer, Jr., but also his father and his brother Hugh were killed by Indians and all are buried in Raccoon Cemetery.

 

           Thefirstburial was a harbinger of more than apparently were foreseen, as time passed on for almost a century.  Theplacementofgraves give, no evidence of advance planning of the cemetery at that time.   Eachnewgravewas placed next to the preceding one, not always very close to it but with no allowance for paths.   Apparentlytheoriginalgraveyard had become overfilled by 1870.   Inthat year additional adjoining land was bought and became the first part of the cemetery to be laid out in a formal plan.  Thedescription in the deedfor this addition excludes a small strip approximately 28 by 200 feet and implies that the burial ground had encroached over the churchyard line and into this strip.  Oldstones bearing datesearlier than that of the deed confirm the fact of encroachment.   Thisdeedand the locations of old gravestones suggest that dimensions of the original part of the graveyard were about 170 by 200 feet.   Thiswouldprovide space for about 1,000 graves.   Ofthegraves actually made, about 400 are still marked by stones; the others, possibly up to 600, now lack any identifying marks.

 

           A full record of allthedeadwho lie buried in the old graveyard would provide interesting information, but such a list would have been too much to ask of the men who were responsible for the work of the church.   Mostof them were active not only in church work but also in public affairs, and their time was limited.  Theirdays were days of labor and scarcity.  Daylighthours were taken upby the tasks of providing food, clothing, shelter and other bare necessities of life for themselves and their families.  Inhoursof darkness they had only the light of the moon, their home fires and candles.   Paperwas scarce. A notebook was a rarity.  Inkwas homemade, and pens were of feathers.   Thesemenhad neither the time nor the facilities with which to record day-to-day happenings.  Perhapsalso,they considered earthly keeping to be of minor importance.  Therecordwith whichthey were concerned was “The Lamb’s Book of Life”.

 

First Ordination to The Presbyterian Ministry West of the Alleghenies    (Back to Contents)

 

            The first ordinationofaPresbyterian minister west of the Allegheny Mountains took place at Raccoon, and the minister ordained was the Rev. Joseph Patterson.  These facts arefoundrecordedin the Minutes of the Presbytery of Redstone.  This presbyterywas the first one established in western Pennsylvania.   Itseasternboundary was the Allegheny Mountains and its territory extended westward without limit.  TheRedstonePresbytery’s minutes are the official record of Presbyterianism during the period of its organizational beginning and early growth in the district.

 

           TheSynod of New York and Philadelphia, at a meeting held in Philadelphia on May 16, 1781, erected the Presbytery of Redstone pursuant to a request from four ministers; Joseph Smith, John McMillan, James Power, and Thaddeus Dodd.   Theseministershad moved to western Pennsylvania, separately and independently, and had been settled over congregations as follows: Mr. Smith at Cross Creek and Buffalo, Mr. McMillan at Pigeon Creek and Chartiers, Mr. Power at Sewickley and Mt. Pleasant, and Mr. Dodd at Upper and Lower Ten Mile.   Bythisaction of synod they became the original members of the new presbytery.  Thepresbyteryfirst met and organized on September 19, 1781, at Pigeon Creek.

 

           By1787, four additional ministers had moved to the district and had been added to the membership of Redstone Presbytery, preparation had been made for training students for the ministry, and four applicants for the training hall been received and approved.  Thefournew ministers, the pastorates to which they were called, and the dates of the calls were: the Rev. James Dunlap, Delap’s Creek and Laurel Hill, October 15, 1782; the Rev. John Clark, Bethel and Lebanon, March 12, 1783; the Rev. James Finley, Round Hill and Rehoboth.   April21,1785; and the Rev. Samuel Barr, Pittsburgh and Pitts Township, April 17, 1787.  The fourcandidatesfortheministry were John Brice and James Hughs, who were approved on August 16, 1786, and Joseph Patterson and James McGready, who were approved on April 19, 1787.

 

           Allfour candidates completed their trials and were licensed to preach in 1789, Brice and Hughs on April 16, and Patterson and McGready on August 13.   Ofthesefour men, only McGready was delayed in entering active pastoral work.  In1789,he applied for and received permission to spend the winter in Carolina, and on April 20, 1791, “being detained by indisposition of body in the hounds of the Presbytery of Orange,” he was dismissed at his own request to join that presbytery.  Hewent on from thisnewlocation to a remarkably successful ministry.   Pastoralcallsfor the three others were submitted to Redstone Presbytery on April 22, 1789: one for Mr. Patterson from Raccoon and Montour; one for Mr. Hughs from Short Creek and Lower Buffalo; and one for Mr. Brice, from Three Ridges and the Forks of the Wheeling.   Thecallswere approved and the ordination dates were fixed; for Mr. Patterson, November 11, 1789; for Mr. Hughs, April 21, 1790; and for Mr. Brice, April 22, 1790.

 

           Presbytery met on November11,1789, at Raccoon and, after disposing of other matters, “proceeded to the ordination of Mr. Patterson, and did by fasting and prayer, and with the imposition of the hands of Presbytery set him apart to the holy office of “Gospel Ministry.”   Mr.Thaddeus Dodd preached upon, the occasion from Acts 20:28.  Mr. John McMillanpresided,and Mr. Robert Finley gave the charge.   Mr.Pattersonwasalso installed in office and became the ninth settled pastor in the Presbytery of Redstone, each of the nine being in charge of two congregations.

 

 

Rev.JosephPatterson Memorials   (BacktoContents)

 

           Two memorials stand atRaccoonfor the Rev. Joseph Patterson; a cenotaph in the cemetery and a bronze tablet in the church.

 

           Afterhis retirement in 1816,Mr. Patterson moved to Pittsburgh and lived in that city until his death.  Afterhisdeath, his friends of Raccoon, desiring a constant and enduring reminder of his influence and work in his one and only pastorate, caused a cenotaph to be erected just east of the church.  Themain inscription isasfollows:

“Sacred

Tothe memory of the

Rev.JosephPatterson first pastor of Raccoon and Montour Run congregations, who died on the 4th of February, 1832, in the 80th year of his age and the 44th of his ministry.  Thisvenerableservant of Christ was eminently distinguished among the fathers in planting these western churches, for zeal, piety and usefulness, and his exemplary life formed a practical commentary on the text of his last sermon; “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

 

           Inaddition to the main inscription, the stone bears side inscriptions concerning the death and age of members of his family who preceded him in death and the place of burial of Mr. Patterson and two of his children.   EstherPatterson,daughter, died on February 21, 1813 in the 24th year of her age, and she and her father were interred in Pittsburgh.   BenjaminPatterson,son, died in December 1778 in the second year of his age and was interred in York County, Pennsylvania.  Nancy Patterson,daughter,died on February 18, 1796 in the 21st year of her age.   JaneMoakPatterson,wife and mother, died on February 4, 1808, in the 58th year of her age.   SamuelPatterson, son, died on December 14, 1811 in the 22nd year of his age.   Nothingis stated of the place of burial of Mrs. Patterson, Nancy and Samuel.  Thepresentlocation of Mr.Patterson’s grave is believed to be unknown.   Ithasbeen said that he was buried in the graveyard at the side of the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, and that in the removal of bodies to make way for a commercial building the identity of his remains was lost.

 

           In 1932, a bronze tablet inMr. Patterson’s memory was placed on the pilaster west of the pulpit.  Theinscription is as follows:

“SacredtotheMemory of the Reverend Joseph Patterson

BorninCountyDown, Ireland,                        1752

DiedinPittsburgh,                       1832

FirstPresbyterian Minister ordained west of the Alleghenies

PastorofRaccoon Church                         1789-1816

TheLordis my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?   TheLordis thestrength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

Psalm27:1

Erectedbyhisgrandson

ThomasHamiltonHoge Patterson of Philadelphia.”

 

Death of a Panther  (Back to Contents)

 

           TheRev.Joseph Pattersonkilled a panther, and the incident may have taken place not far from church grounds.  Thestoryisrelated in several biographies of Mr. Patterson and in some Washington County Histories.

 

           Mr.Pattersonlived during his pastorate on a farm of 150 acres, which he bought from John Clark on January 29, 1790.   Mr.Clarkconveyedthe church property to the “Trustees of the Raccoon Congregation” by deed dated January 19, 1793.  Bothproperties were a partofan original tract of land of 400 acres called Big Levels, which had been patented to Captain Samuel Beelor and sold by him to James Clark, who sold to John.  The Patterson partofthepatent was the northeastern corner, and the church part was the southwestern corner.  The distancebetweenMr.Patterson’s home and his church could not have been more than half a mile.

 

           In1794, Mr. Pattersonsolicited subscriptions from members of his congregations of Raccoon and Montour “to forward the Academy Building at Canonsburg.”   (Theschoolreferred to later became Washington and Jefferson College.)  Hispersonalsubscription was six dollars in cash.   Onthe day set for all to contribute, he did not have the money.  Hestarted to the church for the meeting with his heart heavy over his pending failure to keep his promise.  He stopped topray.  While hewaspraying he was startled by the sight of a panther gliding in his direction.   Likemostof his neighbors, he always carried his rifle, with him.   Hewaiteduntil the right moment, aimed, fired, and killed the animal with his first shot.   Thebountythen being paid on panthers was equal to the amount of his subscription.

 

           This experience of Mr.Patterson became after the passage of time a prime source of speculation and entertainment for children of the vicinity.  Surely the encounter did notoccur on land directly between the probable site of his home and the church.  Thatland is level and rolling, and suitable for cultivation.   PerhapsMr.Patterson turned aside on his way and selected the woods of Beech Hollow, in the northwest part of his farm, as his retreat for prayer.  Aspring was downthere,surrounded by trees and at the head of a valley having many slight turns.  Becauseofthese trees and turns a wild animal could easily have chanced to come upon a man who happened to be there in prayer, removed in thought from the world and retaining only his instinct to survive.  Hereit all could have happened - the stillness, the startling sight of the approaching beast, the aim of the rifle true to its mark, the crack of the shot, the death struggle of the powerful brute, the realization that now a promise would be kept, and the further assurance that God cares for his children.  No doubt many a boyhasreenacted the event and thrilled to the emotions which it stirs.

 

           Thisstory of the six-dollarsubscription and its payment through a bounty on a panther was handed down through the congregation of Raccoon, generally, and included in the history of the church written by Margaret S. Sturgeon.  Inthe History of thePresbytery of Washington, 1889, about ten years before the Sturgeon history, Cross Creek lays claim to the tale.  Mr.Patterson lived in thatneighborhood for 10 years or so (approximately 1779-1789) and was an elder in its church at the time of his entry into training for the ministry.  Accordingtothe Cross Creek version the subscription was four dollars for the pastor’s salary or maybe for church repair, and the animal was a wolf.   TheRev. Mr. Stockton, pastor of that church at a later time, is reported to have said, “As the fish brought the money to Peter, so the wolf brought the subscription money to Patterson.”

 

WilliamBailey’sEscape  (BacktoContents)

 

TheBailey families settled a mile or so north of Fort Beelor.  Their neighbor to the north was William McCandless.   NeighboringtheBaileysand also Mr. McCandless to the east were the Shearer families.   TheBaileys owned a total of 850 acres of land made up of three adjoining tracts known as White Plains, Disappointment, and Plenty With Care.   Mr.McCandless had 357 acres known as Fruitful.   TheShearer brothers, Robert and High, each had his own tract, Robert’s known as Comfort and Hugh’s known as the Triple Dividend.   Thesetwo tracts together contained a little more than 700 acres.   Most of the land was uncleared, but the families, of course, raised grain and other crops.

 

About the seventeenth day of July 1780, William Bailey, two sons of William McCandless, and Mr. McNely gathered to help Robert Shearer or possibly both Shearer brothers cradle wheat.  When the work was finished,William Bailey set down on a stump to rest.  The others went to a nearby spring for a drink.  Whilethey were there, presumably free of thoughts of danger, a band of Indians jumped from concealment and killed all of them.  William,being at a distance, had a chance to escape.   Hisdirect route home lay over three small ridges, but he took a longer course down stream.  Hesucceededin keeping ahead of his pursuers until he reached the main creek.   Therehehadto make a jump.  Hismissedthe top of the far bank, fell backwards, and was caught.   Althoughthe Indians had killed his companions, they were satisfied to take him as a prisoner.  Theybound his wristandstarted for their home grounds and safety beyond the Ohio River.

 

Somewherein the present vicinity of Frankfort Springs the raiding party stopped to rest by a small stream.  The Indians who had made akill took advantage of the stop to prepare their freshly taken scalps for curing.   William lay bound on the ground, and, in his sight the savages (natives*) scraped the excess flesh from the scalps of his lost friends and washed the clotted blood from the matted hair.

Inthe meantime, word of the raid had somehow spread, and the neighbors gathered for the rescue.  The posse, havingabletrackersand knowing the habits of Indians, traveled continuously and overtook the raiders as they were beginning to cross the Ohio River.   The fight began.  No white menwerekilled,butthe Indians lost at least one of their number.   The buck who had William in his canoe was fatally shot.   As he fell he deliberately upset the boat in an attempt to take his prisoner with him in death.  William was rescued from the water, and he returned with his friends to his home.

 

The story of the Bailey incident is given here substantially as it has been told time and time again by the old to the young.  Accounts of it in local historical writings differ from each other.   They differ fromthis one in some of its details and are silent as to others.  Noneattempts to identify the grainfield, or the valley of the chase.   Onedisputes the manner of rescue.

 

Variousplaces have been said to be the site of the raid.  Theone most favored is on the Triple Dividend, in a side valley leading eastward to a north feeder of Bailey’s Run.   Thisfeeder has its rise in the district where the William Penn Highway (old Pittsburgh-Steubenville Pike) crosses the Allegheny-Washington county line.   Thesidevalley is the third south from the highway.   Thespringis said to have been “French-drained” out of existence years ago.  Thefarm has been destroyedby stripping for coal.  Novestige now remains of theside valley, except its mouth.

 

Thecoal stripping was done before Pennsylvania had any restoration law.  Preparatoryto the framing and passing of such legislation, the then Governor, Edward martin, made a personal trip with his advisers and some coal men to several open pit operations.   They visited this one and on their tour of it probably stood in sight of the location of the spring and the valley down which Bailey made his run.   The governor, onviewing the desolation of the place, reportedly said, “Gentlemen this was once a part of the best sheep-producing land in the world.”  To some of the men whoseminds were preoccupied with problems of production of coal, tonnage, costs, and profits, the statement was pointless but he men slain there, over a century and half earlier, would have understood and appreciated the remark.  Surelythey never dreamed the day would come when man would deliberately destroy the fields they had labored to clear and cultivate, and from which they had harvested crops in abundance.  More likely their thoughtsasthey cradled the wheat were in harmony with the song of the Psalmist – “he shall come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him,” (Psalm 126:6)

 

Butterfield’spublication based on correspondence between General Washington and Brig.-Gen. William Irvine in 1781-83 indicates that the Bailey rescue could be attributed to the Army.  Butterfield relates that in 1780, Indians raid the settlements south and southwest of Fort Pitt had killed or captured more than 40 men, women, and children before the end of April.  Settlerswere fleeing from their homes.  Many believedthe countrywouldagain become a wilderness.  OnJuly10, 1780, Col. DanielBrodhead sent a detachment down the Ohio River from Fort Pitt to guard against further depredations.  Withinaweekthe soldiers reported that a war party of 30 savages (natives*) has been intercepted and all had been killed “not however until some unsuspecting harvesters had been surprised and shot” (quoted portion from page 48 of Butterfield’s publication).  Col.WilliamFarrarbelievedthis report referred to the Bailey affair, and in his Raccoon Centennial address of August 1882 he gave credit for the rescue to Brodhead’s men.

 

 

LastIndianKilled in the Community   (Backto Contents)

 

           AlexanderWright settledonland two miles or farther north of the church.   Hemusthave been fearful for the success of his venture into the frontier for a new life: the name he gave to his 400-acre tract was “Danger.”

 

           One night he heard a pigsquealing in pain or fright.  Hepickedup his rifle andslipped out of his cabin toward the pen.  Bythemoonlighthe saw an Indian astraddle the pig, trying to stick it with a knife.   He leveled his gun, fired, and shot the Indian dead.  Immediatelyherealizedheshould not have acted without having done some scouting and that very likely the Indian had comrades nearby who were setting themselves for revenge.   He dropped to the ground and remained there for a long time, peering in all directions for shadowy movements.   None appeared.  Hereturned to the cabin as stealthily as possible and stayed on guard the rest of the night.   Inthe morning he searched for signs, of other Indians and came to the conclusion that the dead man had been travelling alone.   Hequickly scalped the Indian, buried the body, and covered the grave with a pile of brush.

 

           Mr. Wright had a respected position in the community.  Hewasacharter member and trustee of Washington Academy (now Washington and Jefferson College), and a justice of the peace for Robinson Township and Washington County.  He served asa memberoftheHouse of Representatives under the Pennsylvania constitution of 1790.  He was one of the signers of the pastoral call to Joseph Patterson and a guarantor of the preacher’s salary.   Hefurnished a house and provisions for the family of Samuel Porter, the first son of Raccoon to enter the ministry, while he, Porter, was pursuing his studies.  Mr.Wright’ssonJames became the fifth ministerial son of Raccoon.   Hisdaughter Eleanor became the wife of the Rev. Robert Johnston (who, by the way was a lineal descendant of Oliver Cromwell, through Bridgett, Cromwell’s eldest daughter).  Two ofMr.Wright’sgrandchildren became ministers of the Gospel.  He,himself, was an elder of Raccoon.  Asthestory goes he joined with other elders in communion on the Sabbath following the day of his gruesome deed.

 

           Thistalewas passed from generation to generation as one not to be repeated lightly.  The circumstances makeithardto believe.  Manyhave thought the story simply could not be true.  Surelyno man of thecharacter of Mr. Wright would put a higher value on the life of a pig than on the life of a human being.  However,old public recordsshow that the incident actually occurred.   The1790United States Census for Pennsylvania lists one and only one Alexander Wright.  IntheWashington County section the townships of residence are not stated, but his name appears among names including Benjamin Fullum, Alexander and William Bailey, John and Alexander Dunlap, Rev. Joseph Patterson, and Thomas Biggart, all men of the Raccoon vicinity.   Therecordofthe Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, as reported in Creigh’s History of Washington County, bear the following entry:

 

“InCouncil, Philadelphia, March 21, 1783

Anorder was drawn on the Treasurer, in favor of Matthew Ritchie, for twenty-five pounds specie, to be paid by him to Alexander Wright and William Minor, being the reward allowed by proclamation of Council for two Indian scalps taken in the County of Washington.

 

TheCouncil taking into consideration the proclamation of the 22^nd day of April 1780 offering a reward for Indian scalps, and the reasons upon which the same was founded no longer continuing: RESOLVED, that the same be made null and void, anything therein contained to the contrary notwithstanding.”

 

           The story is true.  AlexanderWright did kill an Indian, and the scalp money ordered paid was the last under the proclamation providing for a bounty.

 

Kerdek Family   (Backto Contents)

 

            The Kerdeks (or CordecksorCardikes) were a free Negro family.  Theylivedin the valley of St. Patrick’s Run on land which later became part of the old McDonald Water Works site.   TheWilliamPenn Highway (Old Steubenville Pike) passes through the tract and, just to the west, crosses over the bridge which spans the run and forms a part of the “Death Curve” where many fatal accidents have occurred.  Thissection of the old roadis said to follow approximately the course of an old Indian path, the McKeesport-Sandusky Trail.

 

           Legend has it thataKerdektraveled occasionally with Lew Wetzel, the scout and Indian fighter.  TheKing’s Creek watershed lies a few miles west of the Kerdek place and Wetzel’s carved initials have been reported to be visible on the side of a cave in the creek bank.   Thefactthat both men frequented the same territory makes it seem probable that they at least knew each other.

 

           TheKerdeks were an integral part of community life.  Theyhelpedtheir neighbors and their neighbors helped them in work which could be done best by a group of men, such as building, reaping, and threshing.   Theyspentsocialevenings in the home of their neighbors and, in turn, the neighbors were received by them.  TheKerdeks were goodsingersof all parts - bass, tenor, contralto, and high soprano.   Thewomenwere good cooks.  Thefamilywas active in the church and supported it by membership, presence at meetings, and contributions for its local and missionary expenses.   Theywere generous to a fault.  There is still extant achina doll given by Rosie Kerdek to her pastor on the birth of his first child, a daughter.

 

           From the beginning, it would seem, thought of segregation never entered the minds of the people.  Some of the members of thechurch were slaves, and pews in one section were designated for their use.  Thedistinctionwas between slave and free, not black and white.

 

           The happy relationship between the Kerdeks and their white associates became broken in one respect.  Once when the men of thecongregation were giving their labor toward improving the cemetery grounds, one of them expressed his determination not to be buried side by side with a Negro.   Theremarkwasoverheard by one of the Kerdeks.   Theyweresensitiveand proud people, and they were neither self-assertive nor contentious.   Nocomplaint was made by them.  Theysimply and quietly withdrew as to burial and laid out a family graveyard on a southern hillside of their own land.  Thereaftertheirfinal resting places were apart from those of other people – segregation at death by their own choice.

 

           TheRev. Joseph Patterson,inhis record of gifts for the Academy at Canonsburg (June 9, 1794), lists John Cardike as a donor of two bushels of wheat and describes him as a “pious Negro.”   Pietywashanded down to the children.  It is recountedherethird-hand, at most, that; at a communion service John Kerdek, Jr., was noticed by the pastor to be sitting aside from the communicants with the non-communicants, a group usually composed of persons not members in good and regular standing of any evangelical church.  Afterthe service, on beingasked the reason for his abstinence, he answered that he had been unable to attend a preparatory service.  Tohimthere was meaning in the admonition of Paul, “For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body” (I Cor. 11:29).

 

           ThisKerdek died on July 11,1871, at an age of nearly 90 years.   Itwaswritten of him as follows: “As a neighbor and fellow citizen he always enjoyed the respect of us all.   Buttomany of us he stood in a nearer and more intimate relation - that of a brother in Christ Jesus.  Witha bright and cheering hope and a faith firm to the last, he could tell us he wanted “to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.”  MayGodgive us the grace to honor his memory by giving heed to the words of truth he spoke to us - and by choosing the Savior of his choice.”

 

 

Name of the Church  (Backto Contents)

 

           Namingthechurch was no problem at all.  Asa meetinghouse was only a house made with hands, no name could be selected which might lead anyone to confuse it with the “House not made with hands.”  Also,noname would do whichmight tend to substitute some other being or an object for God.   Allthatwasneeded and desired was an indication of a place where people could meet in praise and worship.  Therewerenoroads, except two Indian paths crossing nearby.  There were notowns orvillages.  There was evennoStatewhichcould claim the territory without contradiction by another; in fact, there was a strong possibility that the land still belonged to the Indians.   Itwasa wilderness with only streams for landmarks.  Thesettlersof Mingo Creek, Pigeon Creek, Ten Mile Creek, Buffalo Creek, Chartiers Creek and Cross Creek, all, were establishing or had established meetinghouses bearing the appropriate creek name.  Whensettlementby white menreached the hills and valleys of Raccoon Creek, Raccoon became the name of their meetinghouse as a matter of course.  “RaccoonChurch”isthe name by which it became known, and it is the name which was carried on and made a part of the articles of incorporation obtained on May 21, 1857, in the Court of Common Pleas of Washington County.  As the large districtwhich the church originally served developed into many and various localities casual suggestion was made, now and then, of a change to a dignified name or one better fitted to current conditions; but the name held fast.

 

           The reaction to such a name, of people who are unacquainted with the conditions of Western Pennsylvania’s frontier life and the strong convictions of its men, is illustrated by the following excerpt from a historical novel entitled “The Latimers,” centering around the Whiskey Rebellion and published in 1899.  CaptainLatimer,thelocal hero of the story, was conveying General Neville and the general’s niece, Blanche, down the Ohio River by flatboat from Pittsburgh to Wheeling, and he passed some of the time by telling his passengers a tale of local adventure.  ThestorywasofFather Smiley of Upper Buffalo, who took a flatboat load of flour down the Monongahela, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans for the purpose of obtaining cash with which to pay the pastor’s long overdue salary.

 

           “Thusitcameabout.  Mr.Smithwas settled overthecongregation of Cross Creek and Upper Buffalo.”

           “Whatanodd name for a church,” quota Blanche.

           “Trueenough”interposedthe General.  “Ourpeoplehave the habit of naming their places of worship from their localities, particularly from the creeks and runs near which they are always built.  Thissometimes gives an uncouth not to say irreverent title, as for example, the ‘Raccoon Creek Church,’ or the ‘Church of Horseshoe Bottom.’   ButourScotch-Irish settlers would think that it savored of the ‘dregs of prelacy’ to name a meetinghouse ‘St. Andrew’ or ‘St. Paul;’ although their Scottish ancestors had no scruples, it appears, in holding such titles.   Excusemyinterruption, Captain.  Go on withyourstory.”

           Onewriter, name unknown, described the place as “a country church whose name, Raccoon, carries with it a flavor of arborean adventure and nocturnal reminiscence that ought to delight the soul.”

           Aspeakerat a church celebration of long ago, name also unknown, a part of whose speech was reported, said,

 

           “Ithas sometimes been suggested to change the names of some of our oldest western churches.  For ourselves, we wouldassoon think of changing the names of Bunker Hill and Stony Point, or any other unmusical name which has become dear to every American patriot.  Uncouthperhaps the designations may have been which our fathers bestowed upon the places where they gathered to worship God; yet to one who reads attentively the story of their humble but holy lives, the rude names of their lovely temples become invested with a peculiar charm.  Avisit to one of thesesacred spots, and a quiet meditation among the graves of the patriarchs whose remains have there been laid to rest, must stir the Christian heart as it would not be stirred by a pilgrimage to far-famed fields where earthly ambition has won its proudest triumphs.  Inthechronicles of heaven, when on the list of those rough-hewn tabernacles reared in troublous times by poor toilers who loved the gates of Zion, it shall be recorded that this and that man was born there into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, the homly titles of these sanctuaries will stand high upon a roll on which Marengo and Sedan will not be regarded as worthy to be written.”

           Givingthe church the name ofa stream was the simple and natural thing to do in frontier days.  Yetadopting,giving, or using such a name may have been accompanied by reflections such as are touched upon in the following passages from the Raccoon Church Manual prepared for use during the year 1891:

 

           “Perhapsit wasnamed with the idea, and the hope, and the prayer, that it should be ‘a stream that should make glad the City of God.’ However that may be, there are many here and many in far-off homes who regard it as a place where one may be led ‘in green pastures and by still waters’ and where they, themselves, first drank of that ‘water, which if a man drink, he shall never thirst.’  In the future may it be astrue of the church as of the brook:

 

‘Menmaycome and men may go,

ButI go on forever’.”

 

 

CHURCH BUILDING  (Backto Contents)

 

           OnDedication Day, November26, 1873, J. M. Clark, Esq., reported thus on behalf of the building committee: “That they had performed the duties assigned to them, that on this little hillock, sacred to many of us as a place where our fathers had met and worshipped for many generations, we have erected another house of prayer at a cost of $12,987.75, exclusive of the old church, and of $1,105.25 for carpet, cushions, and furniture; total cost $14,093.00.   Thewholeexpenses are provided for and now we are ready to hand the keys over to the regular officers of the congregation.”   TheSessionand the Trustee assented “that the edifice shall become and be a house of worship separated from secular uses and devoted sacredly to the ordinances of religion according to the customs of the Presbyterian Church in these United States.”  Thesewords,taken from the congregational minutes, note the formal beginning of the use of the present church building.

 

           Thisbuilding stands on thesite of the preceding one.  Itis a two-story solid brickstructure, 52 by 80 feet.   Clayformaking the bricks was dug, it is said, from the farm, a part of Springfield, which the Rev. Clement V. McKaig acquired, made his home during his pastorate, and on leaving sold to Samuel Neal.  Thebrickswereformedand kilned on the church property, near the front of the building site.   Sawed oak was used for timbers, joints and sills.   The other wood used was pine except the railings and spindles of the stairways, which are walnut.  The church bell wag obtained locally.  Mouldedonitare the words “Cast by A. Fulton, Pittsburgh, for Raccoon Church.”  Fortherecordamarble tablet was set in the gable bearing the inscription “Raccoon Church built A.D. 1781, Rebuilt A.D. 1785, A.D. 1810, A.D. 1872”

 

           Onthefirst floor a centraldoor opens to a central hall.   Two side halls, onetotherightand one to the left, extend along the front of the building for its remaining widths.   Each side hall contains an open stairway to the second floor.  The centerhallcontinuespastthe side halls and between two small rooms, 14 by 19 feet each, to the entrance of the first floor main room, 49 by 50 feet.   Thesmallrooms, each with a door to the hall and another to the main room, were originally the “Session Room” to the right and the “Ladies Parlor” to the left, the former is now used by the primary Sunday School class, and the latter has been made a kitchen.   Themainroom, which occupies the remaining space of the first floor, is used for Sunday School purposes, small meetings, and social gatherings.  Onits walls hang anold chartshowing the names and pews of pewholder days, a composite photograph of members of Presbytery of Pastor McKaig’s time, and he photographs of Pastors Patterson, and Allen, and their successors.  There is also aphotograph ofthe Rev. John McMillan, who is credited with being the founder of Raccoon Church.

 

           Thesecond story of the building is the main auditorium.   Itsfloorspace is 49 by 65 feet with an alcove at the rear over the first floor entrance and between the stairwells.   Therearefive windows to the east, five to the west, and a clustered one to the south; this last being directly above the first floor entrance door.  Stainedglassfor the windows was imported from England.  Thiswas discarded recently and replaced by colored glass in the original sashes.   Anelevatedpulpit and an “Amen corner” on each side fill the front floor space.   Anaisle,7 feet wide, extends in front of the pulpit and across the room.   Twoaisleslead between this cross aisle and the entrance doors.

 

           The pews, pine with walnutrails, of the auditorium were set solidly on the floor by mortise and tenon; a middle block of double, divided, pews between the two aisles, and a single block on each side.  Alectern, five high-backed chairs and a table with a white marble top, all walnut, were supplied for the pulpit arrangement.  Allarestill in use.  Fourchandeliersoffour oil lamps each, all brass, were suspended from the ceiling by iron rods.   Thelampsarenowwired for electricity and chains have been substituted for the iron rods.

 

           Twomemorialtablets havebeen placed on the auditorium walls.  One,which has been mentioned before, is on the, pilaster west of the pulpit.  Itwas erected in 1932 pursuant to the will of the late Thomas Hamilton Hoge Patterson of Philadelphia in memory of his grandfather, the Rev. Joseph Patterson, first pastor of the church.  The other tablet is onthepilaster east of the pulpit.  Itwas erected by members of the Presbytery of Pittsburgh to commemorate the meeting of that body in the building on June 14, 1921, the fiftieth anniversary of the installation of the then pastor, the Rev. Greer McIlvain Kerr, D.D.

 

           Organshave been placed at both the front and rear of the auditorium.   Thecombinationpipe and reed organ in the loft at the back was purchased in 1906.   Itcost$1,500, of which $760 was paid by Andrew Carnegie under a standing offer by him to churches generally whose members desired an organ and raised half of the price.  Originally thebellowswerehand pumped; later an electric motor was installed.  TheHammond organ to the east of the pulpit was given in 1960 by the late James McIlroy Rea in memory of his wife, the late Cynthia Russell Rea.   Mr.andMrs. Rea had left western Pennsylvania and made their home in Carlsbad, California, more than 30 years earlier, but like J.M. Clark, they retained an attachment to the place where their fathers for generations, and they, themselves, had met, worshipped and served.  Theorgan was dedicated witha special Service held July 10, 1960.

           Words of dedication usedonthat day are fittingly applicable to the whole church:

“Dedicated–

           Tothe worship of God in spirit and in truth.

           To comfort the sorrowing, tocheer the lonely.

           To encourage the faint, to impart peace to distraught minds.

            To quicken thefaithofthefaltering.

           Toinspirefaithand hope and love in all who worship in this place.

           Toadvancethe Kingdom of Godin the hearts of all who worship in this place

           theirsoulsin the doing of his holy will.”

 

An Old Letter  (BacktoContents)

 

           For its first 10 yearsthefirst pastorate at Raccoon was joint with that of Mountour, Mr. Patterson serving both congregations.  Then it was decided thateachchurch should have it’s own pastor.   Mr.Pattersonresignedthe charge of Montour, on April, 16, 1799, and continued at Raccoon.   Thisof course, increased expenses, and there seems to have been some discontent at Raccoon over the plan adopted to increase collections.   Atrustee’s letter to a complaining parishioner, still preserved, reads as follows:

           Mr.------

           Itakethisopportunity to answer your note of the 6th of December, 1800, respecting Raccoon Congregation.  DearSir;thetrusteesof said congregation find themselves very happy in joining with you in expressing their satisfaction in the unity of the two congregations in the share of a minister who has never yet expressed himself dissatisfied with them as a people, and as to his willingness to spend and be spent for his charge it is out of all dispute.  But as to having a minister,we liked the first plan well and as long as the two congregations remained united the plan was good.  Butassoon as separationtook place attention became necessary to what is likely these “terms and fashions” alluded to in your note.

 

            Now ifthesebe“termsand fashions” I think they are very advantageous ones.  As for instance,supposeIwouldhire a laborer for one month for four dollars.   Suppose I like his behavior well and that person came to me in two weeks and tells me that if I would give him six dollars he would stay with me two months.   If I would consider the harvest is great and the laborers few I think I would be ready to accept his offer.

 

           DearSir,wemake no dispute as to your being active in the support of Mr. Wallace at the time he was building the meetinghouse, but as to ill usage in respect to your sitting in the meetinghouse we can not put up with the charge you name, Sir.  In the first regulations of the seats in the meetinghouse whenever a seat became vacant and was not filled by the proprietor it then became the duty of the trustees to fill up the seat.   Now if your seat had been filled with persons of mean appearance there would be ground for complaint but him having one gold band about his hat and the wife two about hers was a pointed instance of respectability.   Itshould not be complained of.

 

           Yousaythat the trustees made you pay for their sitting and that Mr. Bailey said you were the ablest and make you pay for it, and Mr. Patterson said he had it in his hand and would keep it.  Nowasto what Mr. Baileysaid we all know it to be the truth but as to the justice of it I can not say much.  Butjusticeandtruth are not connected.  As to what Mr. Patterson said I think it was right, for a bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

 

           Buttoconclude Sir, it never was the desire of the trustees to make any man pay more than he is willing.  Therefore,ifyouwill, please pay the arrearages in the sum you formerly paid, which was three dollars per annum, and we will submit the remainder to your generosity with reminding you that where much is given much is required.

           Iam,Sir, with respect, your most obedient and very humble servant.

           RichardDonaldson, Tr.

 

January29,1801

 

 

In Memoriam  (BacktoContents)

 

           Formerlyit was customary to publish a tribute to the memory of any member of the church who was called by death.  Thememorialswere personal.  Aserieshas been assembled,some of the items in whole and some in part.   Itis presented here in the hope that it will provide some insight into individual and congregational life of the past and will be found to hold at least vague hints of the real history of the church.  

 

Eachmemorial followed by the initials “G.M.K.” was written by the Rev. Greer M. Kerr.

           Died–February 28, 1885, in Smith Township, Washington County, Pa. Mr. David A. Russell, in the 35 ^thyearofhis age.

            Only one-halfofthethree-scoreyears and ten was allotted to him.  Buthelivedwhilehe lived.  Neitheridlenessnormisdirectionof his energies consumed the brief and precious years.   He sought admission to the Church early.   To cautious friends who suggested that he was to young, he replied “I am not too young to die.”   And for almost eighteen years he gave constant evidence that it was no unconsidered impulse of youth that prompted him.

            Few arepermittedtoapproachdeath with so clear a mind, so firm a faith, and so bright a hope.  His departure from this world was like a setting sun in a cloudless sky.   Hesaidtohis friends “I am going to die.   Butalliswell.  ItrusttheSavior, and I am not afraid.”  Then he called his little family to his bedside and gave them such counsel and farewell as will never be forgotten.

           “Marktheperfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.” G.M.K.

 

           Died – at Candor, Washington County, Pa., on August 20, 1886, Mr. J. Manson Matchett, in the 52 ^ndyear of his age.

           Asa tribute to his memoryitmay be fitly said, “This was a man of integrity.”  Therearevarious ways of showing in the outward life the effects of the power of grace within.   Thereis no better way to live than to live a life of honesty and truth.  Nohighereulogy wasever put into words than this, “Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.”  In him there was a degree ofreticence and reserve.  Butthisgave all themore weight to his words.  For twenty years hehad followed the life of a professed disciple of Christ among those who had known him from his youth, and all who knew him felt most assured that his profession was not made of words lightly spoken.

           He was a carpenter by trade, and it was not in this worldly calling alone that he followed and imitated the Master.   Incontracts fulfilled, in work well done, in comfortable homes built by his hands, he left his monuments and mementos.  And these arewitnesses to us that now he has a “building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”

 

           Died – at Candor, Washington County, Pa., Margaret Johnson, in the 25 ^thyearofherage.

           Thiswasnotan untimely death.  Although it occurred at an age when natural powers have just arrived at maturity, and usefulness begins, yet life’s chief end was attained.   Many things confirm this hope.  One was her knowledge of the Scriptures, so accurate, thorough, and familiar.   SabbathSchool,hometraining, and personal study had made the Bible the book of her head, heart and life.  Another was her disposition, so gentle, quiet, patient, and peaceful.

            Those who havemeanscanshowthe reality of power and grace by their munificent gifts of charity and benevolence.   Those who have health and strength may face and endure the toils and privations of missionary work.  Such lives are grand, heroic and triumphant.  Butnonetheless are those who through delicate health and long protracted periods of suffering and weakness fulfill their mission of God to us by showing that even then there is a peace of God that passeth understanding to all who put their trust in him.

 

           Died–onDecember 21, 1896, near Midway, Washington County, Pa., Mary Duncan, in the 87^th year of her age.

           Forsomeof the departed,God’s people are comforted with a strong consolation.  Evenwhencharityis cherished for all and seeking to sit judgement upon none, still the memory of these is a benediction.

           MaryDuncanwasone whose fellowship on earth was precious – but now she is gone, it can be said with confidence, “Our loss is her gain.”

           Sheknewthe scriptures fromher youth.  Bornin the bounds of Raccoon Church, baptized by the Rev. Joseph Patterson, its first pastor, catechized by the Rev. Moses Allen.   Nonewhohassince ministered in the same field has ever had a more attentive or intelligent and appreciative hearer.

           The constancy of her pietywas unvarying.  Neverdrivenaboutby “winds of doctrine,” or “slight of men.”   Nofluctuatingpurposesor moods or views.   Fromfirsttolast her life was one to command respect while here, and surely to win approval in his presence who said, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

 

           Died–on November 30, 1896, in Cherry Valley, Washington County, Pa., Mr. Robert Farrar, in the 76 ^thyearofhis age.

            Robert Farrar wasthesecondofsix sons of Samuel and Jane Symington Farrar.  Hewasamemberof Raccoon Church for about forty years.  It was there he was baptized in childhood, and there it was that he had met with the worshipers of God in the Sabbaths of his boyhood, youth, and young manhood.   In1852 along with a company of young men from the same neighborhood he made the trip overland to California to engage in mining for gold.   After his return he settled down on a farm in the fertile and loved Cherry Valley, the place of his nativity, and as a highly respected and useful citizen devoted the remainder of his life to the production of wool and general farming.

           Any one who had the privilege of visiting him in his last sickness might well say, “Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my last end be like his.”  Hehadbeeninformed that his malady was incurable and he conversed freely as to his prospects after death with equanimity.  Hehadimplicitconfidencein the Savior.  Hewasnot afraid to die.

           Ofthe last scene of his earthly course it could be truthfully said,

           “Sustained andsoothed

           Byanunfaltering trust, ‘he’ approached the grave

           Likeone who wraps thedraperyof his couch

           Abouthimand lies down to pleasant dreams.”

 

           Died– September22, 1902, while on a visit to her daughter, Mrs. Jas. M. Wilson, of Hanover Township, Washington county, Pa., Mrs. Marie Annan, in the 87 ^thyearof her age.

           Mrs. Annan was thedaughterofThomas and Nancy (Ravenscraft) Trimmer.   Herfather’smotherwas a sister of General Anthony Wayne, of the Army of the Revolution.   Shewas born in Washington County, Pa., August 22, 1816.  She was married to Mr.Wm.T.Annan at Canonsburg, Pa., December 1842.   Shehadsixchildren, two of whom survive her, and also three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

           Shewas a member of theAssociate Reformed Presbyterian church of Robinson’s Run, and in June 1851, was transferred by letter to Raccoon Presbyterian church, where her husband belonged, and now after a widowhood of twenty-six years they rest side by side in the churchyard, close by the sacred place where they worshiped God with his people so many years.

           With a natureofgreatintensity, a will indomitable and a heart affectionate and loyal, she was devoted to her God, her husband and her family.   “Blessedare the dead that die in the Lord.   Theydo rest from their labors and their works do follow them.”

 

           Died–January 19, 1910, at Candor, Washington County, Pa., Benjamin F, Hill, in the 82nd year of his age.

           Dr.Hillbegan his practice in Candor among friends and acquaintances of his boyhood.  Shortly afterwardhewasappointed assistant surgeon of the 140th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, and was with that regiment through the many battles in which it became famous.   Returninghome at the end of the war he resumed the practice of medicine and continued to relieve the suffering of his fellowmen, and comfort the sorrowing of the dying by his Christian counsel, until the infirmities of advancing years obliged him to retire.

           Heunitedwith Raccoon church on profession of faith in 1866.  Hewas elected a ruling elder in 1879.  Forseveralyears he served as trustee and as treasurer of the congregation.  He was ateacher of anadultBible class for the last 20 years of his life, which was the work he laid aside the very last of all.   HerepresentedthePresbytery of Pittsburgh as a commissioner to General Assembly at Detroit in 1891, a meeting in which he took intense interest and delight.

           Dr.Hillwas endowed by nature with it fine physique.  Hewas thoroughly equipped for the profession to which his life was dedicated.  Asthe peoplefrom all the countryside gathered at his burial were reminded by the inclement weather of the day, he willingly endured exposure while ministering to them so many years.  Hislifewas rich in service far beyond any monetary return to him.  Hecould have beentheoriginal of Ian MacClaren’s inimitable sketch of a “Doctor of the Old School.”  His life was such thatapassage from the Scriptures suggests itself as suitable for his eulogy and epitaph:

“Comeyeblessed of my Father – I was sick and ye visited me.” G.M.K.

 

           Died –atBoulderCity, Nevada, suddenly, on Christmas Eve of 1937, the Rev. Thomas Edwards Stevenson, youngest son of James M. and Hannah Van Eman Stevenson, in the 64th year of his age.

           Hewasborn in SmithTownship, Washington County, Pa.  Hewas one of the sons in the ministry of Raccoon and is buried in its cemetery.  Hisyouth was spent on the farm of his parents and in school: Washington and Jefferson College (1897) and Western Theological Seminary (190l).   Theyearfollowing his graduation was spent in a lumber camp at Ashtola, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and following he served as pastor, in turn, at Inglewood, Ell Centro and Burbank, California.  Forthelast seven years of his life, he was at Boulder City, Nevada.

           Hewas selected fortheBoulder Dam project as minister of interdenominational work because of the success of big efforts with men and boys, and the getting was ideal for one of his disposition and talents.  Atfirst,there were only the desert and the mountain.   Outofit developed the great dam and the beautiful city.  Withinthat city and underhis ministration an edifice was erected and a congregation formed of worshiping people of various and any races and creeds.

           Andwithin reasonable travelling distances, nature’s wonders abounded, including the Valley of Fire, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and Death Valley.

           Hissister, Alice, had died on December 18, 1937.  Hewasinclined to poetry, and after word of her death and during the few days intervening between it and his own, he wrote the following (unedited) lines:

           “Finale

Becausetherewas no other place to look

Thatquietday, my frightened eyes went high.

AndsoIsaw the far-flung pattern

Ofbrave, swift wings beat down the clouding sky,

Insearchofdrifting green, of distant spring.

Theywingedtheir way, and watching them I knew

Notallthebirds that flew in gallantry

Wouldfind the South: That there would be a few

Whosewaywouldend before the flight was done:

Endnoiselessly. Whenbirds in passing die,

Thereis no cry, no faltering; unwatched

Theircrumpledwingsdrop swiftly down the sky.

SowouldI go; Around me all the surge

Oflifethat seeks the dawn, the South, the spring.

Oh,it would be a glorious thing to find

Eternityonbrave, unbroken wing.”

 

 

Sources of Information    (BacktoContents)

Therecordsof patents referred to in these notes were examined by the writer in the archives of the Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, Harrisburg; deeds, in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds for Washington County, Pennsylvania.  Informationonearly burials and on William Bailey’s escape was derived from a family scrapbook containing newspaper clippings of current accounts of J. Murray Clark’s Dedication Address of 1872 and Col. William Farrar’s Raccoon Centennial Address of August 24, 1882, names of the publishers not being shown.   GovernorEdward Martin’s remark on viewing the Triple Dividend was related orally to the writer by the then chief engineer of the Pittsburgh Coal Company, who was among those present when the remark was made.  Publicationsfrom which information was derived are the following:

 

Anon.

           1893            CommemorativeBiographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania. J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago

Bennett,DanielM.

           1935           The Life andWork of Rev. John McMillan, D.D. Bridgeville, Pa.

Butterfield,C. W.

           1882           Washington-IrvineCorrespondence. DavidAtwood. Madison, Wis.

Caldwell,J.A.

           1876            Caldwell’sIllustratedHistoricalCentennialAtlas of Washington County, Pennsylvania. Condit, Ohio.

CreighAlfred

           1871           History ofWashington County.Edition 2, B. Singerly (printer). Harrisburg, Pa.

Crumrine,Boyd

           1882           HistoryofWashington County, Pennsylvania.   Philadelphia,Pa.

Doddridge Joseph

           1912           NotesontheSettlement and Indian Wars.  Originallypublished 1824) Ritenour and Lindsay. Pittsburgh.

Hamilton,W. F., Woods, Henry, and others (editors)

           1889           Historyof thePresbytery of Washington, Pennsylvania, Jas. B. Rodgers Printing Co. Philadelphia.

Junkin,David X., Williams, Aaron, and others

           1876           CentenaryMemorialof Presbyterianism in Western Pennsylvania. Synods of Pittsburgh, Erie, Cleveland, and Columbous.  BenjaminSingerly (printer). Pittsburgh.

Kauffman,DanielW.

           1847           HistoryofWesternPennsylvania. Pittsburgh.

McFarland,JosephF.

           1910           History ofWashington County, Pennsylvania.

McKinney,WilliamWilson (editor)

           1958           The PresbyterianValley. Davis& Warde, Inc. Pittsburgh.

RedstonePresbytery

           1878           Minutesof thePresbytery of Redstone Pittsburgh Synod.

Simpson,Joseph

           1894           Historyof CrossCreek Graveyard.

Smith,Joseph

           1854            Old Redstone.Lippincott, Grambo & Co. Philadelphia.

Sturgeon,MargaretS.

           1890            HistoryofRaccoonChurch,1778-1899.

 

           Specificreferencestosome source materials, by author, a page number,

follow:

EarlySettlements.Crumrine,p. 900.

FortBeelor.  Doddridge, p.310;Crumrine,p.73; Western Pennsylvania Historical Survey, p. 127; Mulkearn, p. 344.

BeelorFamily. Crumrine,p.900.

BeelorSlaves. Crumrine,p.258.

WilliamCrawford. Surveys: Crumrine, pp. 124, 192. Death: Kaufman, p. 209; Doddridge, p. 266; Creigh, p. 288.

Gen.Wayne’s Campaign. Kaufman, pp. 284-301.

RaccoonChurchand Cemetery. Crumrine, p. 905; Creigh, pp. 112-113; Sturgeon, pp. 1-31; Western Pennsylvania Historical Survey, p. 127; Mulkearn, pp. 343-344; Bennett, p. 304.

JosephPatterson.Biography;Junkin, p. 386; Hamilton, pp. 263, 414; Crumrine, p. 725; Pastoral Call, Sturgeon, p. 9; Ordination; Smith, p. 385. Killing of Panther, Hamilton, p. 270; Creigh, p. 112; Sturgeon, p. 14.

Bailey’sEscape.Crumrine,p. 901; Creigh, p. 58; Appendix; Anon, p. 916.

RobertWallace,Crumrine,p.805; Simpson, p. 5; Butterfield, p. 99; Anon, p.1,025; McFarland, p. 768. (Presbyterian Banner, Jan. 21, 1904).

Alexander Wright. Academy Trustee: McKinney, p. 44; Justice of the Peace; Creigh, p. 278; State Representative; Hamilton, p. 18: Signer of the Patterson Call: Sturgeon, p. 12; Elder: Sturgeon, p. 16; Aid to Porter: Hamilton, p. 402: Father, son, and grandchildren: Hamilton, p. 417; Panther Bounty; Creigh, p. 65.

ElderWilliam Smiley. Crumrine, pp. 811-822.