Washington County Historical Society, 48 E Maiden Street, Washington, PA (2026)

06/02/2026

PIGEON CREEK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. The diary of the Rev. John McMillan throws much, light upon the early history of this church, in which it is stated : — 1775, the fourth Sabbath of August, preached at John McDowell's. Monday, rode about six miles to Patrick McCullough's, on Pigeon Creek. Tuesday, preached at Arthur Forbes's, and lodged with Patrick Scott. Patrick McCullough lived on the farm now owned by David McNary, Esq., and Arthur Forbes's farm is the property of Frederick Whitely, and Patrick Scott's residence is the property of Adam and Samuel Wier. The sermon alluded to was the first sermon preached within the bounds of the Pigeon Creek congregation, and on that day of August, 1869, the congregation celebrated its centennial anniversary.

Rev. John McMillan returned to his father's home, at Foggs' Manor, in October, 1775, but returned and preached at Pigeon Creek on the 4th Sabbath of January, 1776, and on the following Sabbath at Chartiers. He returned to the east in the following March, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Donegal, which met at Chambersburg, June 19, 1776, to take charge of Pigeon Creek and Chartiers congregations, having received a call from these churches April 23, 1776. His connection with Pigeon Creek church ceased early in the spring of 1794, and the Rev. Boyd Mercer was called to its pastorate April 22, 1794, and served until 1799. Rev. Andrew Gwin was installed in 1800, and the pastoral relation was dissolved in 1817. He was succeeded by Rev. Andrew Wylie, D. D., January 24, 1822, and ceased to act in September, 1829. The church had no regular pastor until September 26, 1831, when Rev. W. C. Anderson was elected. He was ordained and installed April 17, 1832, and served until July 15, 1836. His successor was Rev. Ebenezer S. Graham, called September 30, 1837, and installed the following month, and the pastoral relation was dissolved in October, 1842. The congregation did not elect a pastor until April 8, 1844, when James Sloan, D. D., was elected, and he was subsequently installed in the December following. The pastoral relation was dissolved in October, 1862. His successor was Rev. S. M, Henderson, called June 5, 1863, ordained and installed November 4, 1863, and pastoral relationship closed April 24, 1867. The present efficient and honored pastor is the Rev. John S. Marquis, who was called March 2, 1868, and installed on June 5, 1868. As a successful laborer in his Master's cause, for humility and charity, and in dispensing gospel truth, he has no superior in the bounds of the Presbytery. To him am I indebted for the history of this church, which was planted in the wilderness more than one hundred years ago, and has proven itself a fruitful vine.

(NOTE: Dr. John McMillan (1752-1833) (FIRST PICTURE). The Rev. John McMillan DD was born in Fang's Manor, Chester County, Pennsylvania, 11 November, 1752; died in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, 16 November, 1833. After graduation at Princeton in 1772 he studied theology, was licensed to preach in 1774, and performed missionary service in Maryland, western Virginia, and western Pennsylvania. On the fourth Sabbath of August 1775, the Rev. John McMillan, later to be known as "The Apostle of Presbyterianism in the West," preached to a gathering of neighbors at the home of John McDowell, not far from the site of the present Chartiers Hill church building. On that day the roots of the "Hill" Church began to grow. In 1775 he organized the churches of Pigeon Creek and Chartiers, Pennsylvania, over which he was ordained in 1776. Dr. McMillan was called as pastor by the congregations of Chartiers and Pigeon Creek in 1776. He served these two churches for 19 years. He married Catherine Brown (1749-1819) on May 6, 1776. Together they had 7 children. He endured many hardships, owing to troubles with the Indians on the frontier during the Revolutionary war, and lived in a log-house in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, which he partly built RD. He founded there in the log cabin a classical school in 1785. It developed into Canonsburg academy in 1790 the forerunner of Jefferson College. From this institution he received the degree of S. T. D. in 1805. Dr. John McMillan and Catherine Brown McMillan are buried in Chartiers Hill Cemetery, Canonsburg, Pa. SECOND PICTURE)

(NOTE: Rev. Boyd Mercer (1766-1841) was born in 1766 in Frederick County, Virginia and died 1841 in Somerset Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was the second pastor of the Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church, serving from 1794-1798. He succeeded Dr. John McMillan. He was buried in Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania. – no grave photo.)

(NOTE: Rev. Andrew Wylie (1789-1851) (THIRD PICTURE) was an American academic and theologian, who was president of Jefferson College (1811–1816) and Washington College (1816–1828) before becoming the first president of Indiana University (1829–1851). Andrew was educated at home and in local schools in Washington County, Pennsylvania.[2] In 1804, at age fifteen, Wylie entered Jefferson College, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated with honors in 1810 and was immediately appointed a tutor at the college. The next year, in 1811, Wylie was elected unanimously to serve as president of Jefferson College. He was licensed to preach in 1812, and in 1813 was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. While president of Jefferson College, Wylie led a controversial effort to merge with nearby Washington College. When that effort failed, in 1816 Wylie moved on to become president of Washington College and pastor of the Presbyterian church. In 1825 Wylie was given an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Union College, in Schenectady, New York. Wylie resigned his presidency in 1828, over a theological dispute among local Presbyterian groups in Washington, Pennsylvania. In 1828, the trustees of the newly formed Indiana College wrote to Wylie offering him the position of president. He guided the school through an important time of transition as the state legislature rechartered the college as Indiana University in 1838. In 1842, Wylie established the law department at Indiana University, which became the School of Law in 1889. Wylie died in office in 1851, after complications from a wood-chopping accident. He is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Bloomington, Indiana.- FOURTH PICTURE.)

(NOTE: Rev. William Caldwell Anderson (1804-1870) (FIFTH PICTURE) was the first settled pastor of Pigeon Creek Church after the organization of the Presbytery. He was a son of Dr. John Anderson of Buffalo, New York and was born August 14, 1804 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He was a graduate of Washington College in the class of 1824, a theological pupil of his father and licensed by the Presbytery of Washington. He was ordained as pastor at Pigeon Creek April 17, 1832, after a year of service as stated immediately following his licensure, and resigned July 15, 1836. He was, at different times later, a very popular pastor of prominent churches in New Albany, Indiana; Washington, Pennsylvania; San Francisco, California; Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio; besides serving as Professor of Hanover college and President of Miami University. He died on August 28, 1870 in Junction city, Kansas and was buried in Highland Cemetery, Junction City, Kansas. – SIXTH PICTURE.)

(NOTE: Rev. EBENEZER.STEVENSON GRAHAM (1800-1846) was born in Cross Creek township, this county. He received his elementary education in the rate schools of the day, then attended Cross Creek Academy, and finally took a thorough course at Jefferson College, graduating therefrom in 1834. In 1837 he was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Pigeon Creek, Washington county, where he remained until 1842 proving a very popular minister. After preaching in a heated schoolroom on one occasion, he caught a cold which terminated in bronchitis, and he then took a trip to Florida in search of health, residing at Tampa Bay for several years; he died in 1846. In the early part of his ministry he had married SARAH JOHNSON (1805-1841), daughter of John Johnson, who was born near Washington, Penn, and died a few years after her marriage leaving four children. John J., a farmer of Washington county, who moved to Kentucky, thence to Knox county, Ohio; Hannah J. a wife of James Morrison, of Mercer county, Penn; George S. whose name opens this sketch; and Sarah E., Mrs. James Maxwell, of Mercer, Penn., all now deceased except our subject. (They are buried in Pigeon Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Eighty-Four, Pennsylvania. )

(NOTE: REV. JAMES SLOAN (1807-1871) (SEVENTH PICTURE - young), son of James the pioneer of the family, was born on the old homestead farm of his father, in Hopewell township. He was twice married, first in 1832, to SARAH LINDSEY, by whom he had one daughter, who became the wife of R. C. McIlvain, of Somerset township, Washington county, a cousin of Judge John A. McIlvaine. Mrs. Sarah Lindsey Sloan dying one year after her marriage, her bereaved husband, for his second wife, was united in marriage in 1840 with MARGARET GORDON (1815-1881), by which union there were two children: James G., and Martha A., the latter of whom died at the age of nine years. (Was a minister. Licensed April 22, 1835. Ordained Dec. 28, 1836 and installed the same day at Frankfort Church. Later installed Dec. 1844 at Pigeon Creek Church which continued until 1862. He then served the church of Waynesburg until ill health compelled him to relinquish. He died at Monongahela March 11, 1871.) (He and Margaret Gordon Sloan are buried in Monongahela Cemetery, Monongahela, Pennsylvania. – EIGHTH PICTURE.)

(NOTE: Rev. Samuel McF. Henderson (1839-1879) was born in New Hagerstown, Ohio on December 24, 1839. He graduated from Washington College in 1860 and from Western Theological Seminary in 1863. He was licensed in 1862 by the Prebytery of Steubenville. He was ordained as pastor at Pigeon Creek by this Presbytery on November 4, 1863 and served that church with ability and faithfulness for four years, when he accepted a call to Wilkinsburg, where he labored for eleven years more. He was a fine scholar as well as an earnest minister. Whilst pastor at Wilkinsburg he temporarily conducted the studies of a chair in the Allegheny Seminary, and the last year of his life was spent as a professor in Biddle Institute, North Carolina. He died April 2, 1879 and was buried in Wooster Cemetery, Wooster, Ohio. - NINTH PICTURE)

(NOTE: Rev. John Stephenson Marquis (1825-1893) was born May 19, 1825 in Cross Creek Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania and died September 11, 1893 in Washington, Pennsylvania. He studied at Cross Creek Academy. He graduated from Washington College in September, 1848. He studied theology at the Western Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was licensed to preach by the Washington Presbytery. In the fall of 1853 he went to Sistersville, Tyler County, Virginia and remained there four years. In April 1855 he left Sistersville and settled in Ohio preaching to churches in New Cumberland. After four years he moved to Richmond, Jefferson County, Ohio. He was compelled to resign on account of failing health. He removed to a farm near Cross Creek Village and resided there until 1868 when he was called to Pigeon Creek Church. He labored there seventeen years and then removed to Washington, Pennsylvania. He was for three years Professor of Greek at Jefferson Academy, Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and served Lower Ten Mile Church, Amity, Pennsylvania. Up to the time of his death which occurred September 11, 1893 at Aledo, Illinois. He was buried in Washington Cemetery, Washington, Pennsylvania. – TENTH PICTURE.)

From History of Washington County by Alfred Creigh.

06/01/2026

We need your help in rebuilding American History!

The reconstruction of the West Augusta Courthouse, the first courthouse west of the Allegheny Mountains, is in its final stretch before our June 14 dedication. This project is part of US250PA, and it has become one of the most meaningful ways our community is honoring the nation’s 250th anniversary.

We’re close. Really close. And this is the moment when extra hands make all the difference.

Whether you’re someone who can lift heavy timbers or someone who prefers low‑impact finishing work, there is truly something for everyone. Every hour helps. Every set of hands matters.

We’re on site this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9am to 7pm.
If you’ve been thinking about jumping in, now is the time. Come be part of something lasting. Something your kids and grandkids will point to and say, “We helped rebuild that.”

Let’s finish strong.
Let’s finish together.
Rebuilding American History.

Call of text 724-206-8709 if you are interested in volunteering. Or message out Facebook.

Courthouse reconstruction is located on Sylvan Drive of of Franklin Farms Road near the Damn. Turn on Grandview Drive from Franklin Farms and then right on Sylvan

06/01/2026

SOMERSET TOWNSHIP (FIRST PICTURE from Caldwell’s Atlas of Washington County, Pa. – 1876). Was erected into a township by the Court of Quarter Sessions, and afterwards confirmed by the Supreme Executive Council, on April 3, 1782. It was bounded by Strabane, Peters, and Nottingham townships on the north; the Monongahela River on the east; Fallowfield and Bethlehem on the south, and Amwell and Strabane on the west. Its present boundaries are North Strabane and Nottingham on the north; Fallowfield and "West Pike Run on the east; West Bethlehem and "West Pike Run on the south, and "West Bethlehem and S. Strabane on the west. It is centrally distant from "Washington 12 miles. Its greatest length is 10 miles — breadth, 0 miles. It is drained by the north and south forks of Pigeon Creek on the east, and by branches of Little Chartiers' Creek on the west. In 1860 its population was 1723, of which 62 were colored. The "Williamsport and Washington” turnpike runs along the northern boundary. It contains four stores, nine schools, with six male and three female teachers, the former receiving $35 and the latter $30; having 348 scholars (180 male and 168 female), tuition costing $1.14 per month. Amount of tax levied for school purposes, $1347, and receiving from the State appropriation $111.93. The towns in the township are Bentleyville (SECOND PICTURE from Caldwell’s Atlas of Washington Co., Pa. – 1876) and Vanceville.

BENTLEYVILLE. This town was laid out by Shesbazzar Bentley, Jr., on the 4th of March, 1816, on the waters of Pigeon Creek. It is 25 miles from Pittsburg, 9 miles from Monongahela City, 10 miles from Brownsville, and 15 miles from Washington. Shortly after the town was laid out the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist families united and erected a union church, which was destroyed by fire about the year 1828. In 1848 the Methodist Episcopal church was built, in which Rev. J. B. Yarnall officiates. On May 2, 1868, by a decree of the court, it became a borough, and contains 36 dwelling-houses, 3 stores, 1 school-house with two apartments, a literary society, 2 grist and saw-mills, 1 steam tannery, and has a population of about 300.

(NOTE: Sheshbazzar Bentley Jr. (1786-1866) (THIRD PICTURE) was born on April 30, 1786 in a hewed log cabin on what is not the Bertovich farm (Hilcrest Dairy). When his father's estate was divided among his children, Sheshbazzar made plans for the first sale of lots for a town. Thirteen of the fifty-four lots put up for sale were sold. The next year tragedy struck the Bentley family when his wife of eight years, Elizabeth Moore Bentley, died and was buried with her infant daughter in the family cemetery near the old home on the hill. Soon after the death of Elizabeth, Sheshbazzar was married to a young Quaker widow Hannah Cleaver Kenworthy, a remarkable woman who was a force for good in the community. "Mr. Bentley was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1819, and his name is found on many important documents. He and James Rainey served as overseers of the poor of Somerset Township. His town was named for him, and many young lads were named Sheshbazzar. He was buried in Bentley Cemetery, Bentleyville, Pennsylvania. – FOURTH PICTURE.)

Vanceville is a small village, having about twelve houses, and is situated on the south branch of Pigeon Creek.

From History of Washington County by Alfred Creigh.

05/31/2026

POETS. Smith township has the honor of contributing more poetry to the intellectual world than any township or borough in the county. Mr. David Bruce, a native of Scotland, emigrated to America in 1784, and in the year 1794 he settled in Burgettstown as a merchant. In his leisure moments he devoted his time to composing poems, written in the Scottish dialect, under the signature of the Scots Irishman, which were first published in the Western Telegraph, published in Washington by John Colerick, who afterwards embodied them into a valuable work on account of their merit. In these poems Mr. Bruce displays a vivid imagination, and both wit and satire are at his command, while patriotism flows in gentle and harmonious strains.

(NOTE: David Bruce (1760-1830), according to the History of Washington County Pennsylvania (ed. Boyd Crumine, 1882), David Bruce emigrated from Scotland to Bladensburg, Md. in 1784. He later opened a general store in Bavington (Smith Township, Washington County, PA; a mill town that once existed on the old Steubenville Pike). He was also postmaster and served as executor and administrator of several estates. History says that David "was a bachelor, short in stature and thick set, with but one eye. In his leisure hours he was given to rhyming, and wrote many poems, which were published in the Western Telegraphe, over the signature of "The Scots Irishman." In 1795, David Bruce moved his store to "Burgett's Town" where he lived the remainder of his life. In 1830 he was buried in the churchyard of the Westminster United Presbyterian Church. – FIRST AND SECOND PICTURES. His obit is THIRD PICTURE.)

In the year 1800 Mrs. Sally Hastings removed from Donegal township, Lancaster County, to this county, and composed many fugitive pieces of poetry, which she afterwards collected into a volume, together with her diary, and published in the year 1808. Her family commenced their journey on Oct. T, 1800, in the mode then used — a wagon — to travel two hundred and eighty miles, and, after twenty-three days' journey, arrived in Washington County, of which she says, " The inhabitants appear to be a sober, rational, and even courteous people, who prefer convenience to parade, and partake those blessings which bounteous Providence allots them, without ambition, envy, or stupidity." On October 31 the family left Canonsburg for their new home in Smith township, and having arrived on the land, she thus writes, "I shall take a seat on the trunk of a tree, while the men are cutting a road to the house, and endeavor to describe the spot of which I am now to consider myself an inhabitant."

(NOTE: Sally Anderson Hastings (1773-1812) was born March 25, 1773 in Donegal Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to Robert Anderson and Margaret Clark Anderson. Brice Clark, who had come up from Delaware, was first married to Mary, sister of Col. James Crawford. She died early; about the same time as Robert Anderson’s death left his wife a widow and his children fatherless. Their surviving mates made another match and Sally Anderson became the stepdaughter of Brice Clark before he moved in 1783 to Donegal. There Sally met and married Enoch Hastings, a carpenter, and they dwelt for a time in Maytown (FOURTH PICTURE of house). She soon discovered that her family had been wiser than herself in their objections to her choice of a husband. Years of separation ensured, which only failed to culminate in a divorce because her stepfather had sterner Presbyterian ideas on the legal dissolution of marriage than prevail later. After separating from Enoch she also kept a journal of her 24-day, 250-mile trip west to Washington, Pennsylvania in 1800. In 1800 she left Maytown in company with her sister Rebekah, Rebekah’s husband Joseph Barton, two servants, and five children crossing the Allegheny Mountains in a two-horse wagon with the destination of Cross Creek in Washington County. Sally’s sister Rebekah died not long after arriving at a farm Rebekah’s husband had previously purchased at Cross Creek. Rebekah was already in ill health during the treacherous journey. When Rebekah soon died Sally found herself exclusively responsible for her sister’s children in this new frontier community. In February 1805 her stepmother arrived to care for the children and Sally availed herself of the opportunity of returning to Donegal Township in Lancaster County for an extended visit that would last for three years. Her account of her original journey to the west in 1800, together with sixty of her original poems (FIFTH PICTURE), was published in 1808 by William Dickson, the editor of the Lancaster Intelligencer and Weekly Advertiser. Sally Hastings died in 1812 from tuberculosis at the age of just 39 in Washington, Pennsylvania after embarking upon a second trip to the west in 1808 to serve as a nanny and housekeeper for her widowed brother Robert Anderson and his three children. Her burial details are unknown. Her obit is SIXTH PICTURE.)

From History of Washington County by Alfred Creigh.

05/30/2026

BURGETTSTOWN. Presbyterian Church. In the year 1845, a petition was sent to the Presbytery of Washington, for the organization of a church at Burgettstown, which prayer was denied, and an appeal taken to the Synod of Wheeling, who granted the request and directed the Presbytery to organize the church. This was effected October 18, 1849, and Reverend Joel Stoneroad was elected the pastor. In October, 1850, he was succeeded by the Rev. James P. Fulton, and remained its pastor until 1857; and in the spring of 1858 the Rev. James T. Frederick, the present pastor, was called and ordained in October following. In 1800 the church was enlarged and refitted.

(NOTE: Rev. Joel Stoneroad (1806-1884) (FIRST PICTURE) was born January 2, 1806 in Mifflin, Juanita County, Pennsylvania and died August 11, 1864 in Laurel Hill, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Stoneroad was educated at a common country school and at Lewistown Academy under Rev Dr James S Woods, a son-in-law of the famous Rev Dr. Witherspoon, the president of Princeton College, New Jersey, at which academy he remained for a year and a half, there applying himself to study with such remarkable assiduity and cleverness in acquirement as in that brief period of time to fit himself to enter the junior class of Jefferson College, Washington, Penna, as he did in the fall of 1825, graduating from that institution in 1827; whereafter he entered the Theological Department or Seminary of Princeton College, New Jersey, where he remained three years, taking what was then not the custom to do, the full course and receiving a diploma. Leaving the seminary he was licensed to preach and returned home to Mifflin County whence with saddle, bridle and horse, provided him by his father, he set out upon missionary work under the commission of the Board of Home Missions and betook himself at first to Hancock County, Maryland, where he preached his first sermon and from thence to Morgantown, and Kingwood, Preston County, West Virginia, at which place he continued in his missionary labors for about a year when he accepted the call of the Presbyterian Church of Uniontown, Fayette County, in 1831, of which church he was pastor for about eleven years. An important incident in his history while residing at Uniontown was the active part he took in 1836 in the trial of the celebrated Rev Albert Barnes for doctrinal heresy by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of which he was a member and then in session in Pittsburgh. The controversy was at its height when Mr. Stoneroad made a most telling speech, which was extensively published through the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia papers, and has frequently been quoted from since. Leaving Uniontown he received a call from the church of Florence, Washington County, Penna, where he remained eight years. His next call was the joint or united one of Laurel Hill, Franklin township and Tyrone, Fayette County. After holding this double charge for about twelve years, he relinquished that of Tyrone and devoted himself to Laurel Hill with Bethel added, for about sixteen years, when after having been in the active ministry nearly fifty years, he resigned this charge, his health having failed him, through too great a devotion to his pastoral duties and consequent exposure to the severities of an inclement climate, which broke down in good part a constitution which was apparently and otherwise might have continued to be one of the most robust. Since that time Mr. Stoneroad has taken no active part as a clergyman. He now resides with his family in their quiet, romantically located farmhouse, in Woodvale. He was buried in Laurel Hill Presbyterian Cemetery, Laurel Hill, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. – SECOND PICTURE.)

(NOTE: Rev. James Power Fulton (1824-1913) (THIRD PICTURE) was born October 10, 1824 in West Newton, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania and died January 4, 1913 in Harper County, Kansas. Having Spent his boyhood in his native town, he with his parents removed to Washington County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Washington College in 1846, from Western Theological Seminary in 1849, and in the same year was licensed and ordained a Presbyterian minister. He served as a pastor of the Burgettstown Church for seven years, pastor of the Salem church nine years, Paluski church three years, and the Dunlaps Creek Church nine years. In 1878 he removed from Pennsylvania to Kansas and for more than seven years was pastor of the Harper church. The remaining active years were spent as a home missionary in Harper and adjourning counties. He was buried in Harper Cemetery, Harper, Kansas. – FOURTH PICTURE.)

(NOTE: Rev. James Turner Fredericks (1827-1886) was born February 21, 1827 in New Jersey and died July 21, 1886 in Washington County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Western Theological Seminary. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery, Burgettstown, Washington County, Pennsylvania. – FIFTH PICTURE.)

There are two United Presbyterian churches in this township, the former in Burgettstown. It (Westminster Presbyterian Church, formerly First United Presbyterian Church - SIXTH PICTURE) was organized about 1809, the Rev. W. C. Brownlee, D. D., was pastor from May 3, 1809 to September 1, 1812; Rev. Alexander Donnan, from July 6, 1819 to May 12, 1840; Rev. R. J. Hammond from 1845 to April 15, 1856; Reverend S. H. Graham is the present pastor. It has a membership of 160.

(NOTE: Rev. W. C. Brownlee (1783-1860) (SEVENTH PICTURE) was born in 1783 in Torfoot, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Glasgow, and at a subsequent period received the degree of D.D. from the same institution. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Sterling in 1808. He came to America soon after his licensure and was ordained and installed pastor of Mount Pleasant congregation by the Presbytery of Chartiers May 3, 1809. In September, 1812 he accepted a call to become pastor of the Associate Congregation of Philadelphia. Soon after removing to Philadelphia, he connected himself with the Reformed Dutch Church, in which his connection he retained until the year 1860 in New York, when he died. He was buried in New York city Marble Cemetery, East Village, New York.)

(NOTE: Rev. Alexander Donnan (1775-1859) was born in 1775 in Scotland and died June 3, 1859 in Hickory, Washington County, Pennsylvania. At the age of seventeen, he entered the University of Glasgow. He was licensed to preach the gospel by the Presbytery of Kilmarnock in 1800. In the spring of 1818 he emigrated with his family to America. In January, 1820, he received and accepted calls from what was then the Associate, now the United Presbyterian congregation of Mount Pleasant and Burgettstown, both located in Washington County, Pa. Each of the aforesaid congregations received one-half of his pastoral labels until the year 1840, when he resigned the pastoral care of Burgettstown. The congregation of Mount Pleasant enjoyed his undivided labors from the year 1840 to 1852, when, on account of infirmities of age, he resigned the charge of it also. After resigning this charge he lived upwards of seven years in the bounds of Mount Pleasant congregation. He was buried in Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Hickory, Pennsylvania. – EIGHTH PICTURE.)

(NOTE: Rev. Robert Johnson Hammond (1820-1900) (NINTH PICTURE) was born Jan. 21st 1820 in New Athens, Ohio and died in Americus, Kan. August 22nd, 1900. He graduated from the Franklin College in new Athens Ohio in 1838, from the Theological Seminary at Canonsburg, Penn. In 1842. He was married to Miss Ann Eliza Rankin at Washington, Penn. in 1843. Robert received a call from Albany New York in 1843 where he preached 3 years, removing to Burgettstown, Pennsylvania where he had charge of a congregation for 15 years when owing to failing health he moved with his family to Washington, Iowa, then came to Americus in 1878 where he lived till the time of his death. He was buried in Americus Cemetery, Americus, Kansas. – TENTH PICTURE.)

(NOTE: Rev. Samuel H. Graham (1834-1921) was born in April, 1834 in Reynoldsburg, Ohio and died in 1921 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Westminster college in 1858. He was buried in Highwood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. – ELEVENTH PICTURE.)

Centre U. P. Church (TWELFTH PICTURE of original church in Midway, Pennsylvania) was organized in 1859. Rev. D. S. Kennedy has been its pastor from September 4, 1862 until the present time, with a membership of 150.

(NOTE: Rev. David Stewart Kennedy (1834-1898) was born April 26, 1834 in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio and died May 17, 1898 in Chicago, Illinois. He entered Westminster college at the age of twenty-two and graduated in 1858. Soon after he entered the Allegheny Theological Seminary, from he graduated in 1862. His first pastorate was at Center Presbyterian Church in Midway, Washington County, Pennsylvania. He remained there for ten years. Next he was called to a congregation in Sewickley, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania for six years. Then he received a call from the Somonauk United Presbyterian church, where he was installed as pastor September 5, 1878. He served this congregation for fifteen years when he resigned due to ill health. He was buried in Oak Mound Cemetery, Somonauk Township, Illinois. – THIRTEENTH PICTURE.)

There was, many years since, on the farm of David Leech, Esq., on the road leading from Hickory to Burgettstown, about half way, a United Presbyterian church called Mount Vernon, but the organization does not now exist.

From History of Washington County by Alfred Creigh.

Washington County Historical Society

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