xt7xks6j1r1f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7xks6j1r1f/data/mets.xml George, William, Presbyterian minister. 1880  books b92-71-27213772 English s.n.], : [S.l. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Bethel Church (Fayette, County, Ky.) Presbyterian Church Kentucky Fayette County. Memorial sermon  : delivered on the ninetieth anniversary of the organization of Bethel Church in Fayette County, Kentucky / by W. George. text Memorial sermon  : delivered on the ninetieth anniversary of the organization of Bethel Church in Fayette County, Kentucky / by W. George. 1880 2002 true xt7xks6j1r1f section xt7xks6j1r1f 






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NITIKTH ANNIVZRSARY

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   IN  AYIETTE COUNTY





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A



MEMORIAL SERMON,


          DELIVERED ON THE



 VYIA; rIzz r N  AWirVZ s ftF


             OF THE



ORGANIZATIONo' BETHEL CHURCH



IN FAYETTE COUNTY, KENTUCKY.






  BYIRE:V. W. G1ORCE





        PRIN(TED) BY
     F. L.  J. R. McCHESNEY,
       PARIS, KY., 1880.


 
This page in the original text is blank.

 










REV. WV. GE:ORGE:
  Dear Brother-The undersigned members of the Session of Bethel
Church having heard with both pleasure and profit your very excellent
Memorial Sermon delivered in our church on the 13th of July, 1879, and
feeling assured that the facts, dates, names and incidents brought out In
the review of ninety years past are linked with precious associations in the
minds of the present generation, and believing that the preservation of
these il a more permanent form would be beneficial to the interests of the
ehurelh and the comdmunity, (lo, on their own behalf, and also on behalf
of the congregation, eatnettlfy deoire a copy of the same for publication.
                             Fraternally,
                                 GLASS MARSHALL,
                                 JOEL H. MA.RVIN4
                                 PATRICK DOLAN,
                                 ROBERT MARSHALL.
  l)one ty order of Session, December 28th, 1879.
                                   (.. MARSHALL, Clerk of Session.


                                0o


To Messrs. G. Marshall, P. Dolan, J. H. Marvin and Robert Marshall:
  Dear Brethren -As the Memorial Sermon (of which you have asked a
e.)p.y f.ar publication. and have also generously contributed the funds
necessary to that end) was prepared solely for the edification of the
surviving members of Bethel Ctiureh, it is hereby submitted to you,
trusting that, under the blessing of God, it may be an incentive to the
members and office-bearers of the chur-th. in the discharge of their
respective duties.
                             Fraternally,
                                                  WV. GEORGE.
 LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY, December 29th, 1879.


 
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    MEMORIAL SERMON.


        TExT-Gen. 28:19: "And he called the name of that place BetheL"
  This day is to us one of profound solemnity. We turn, aside from the
ordinary services to commemorate the mercies of God vouchsafed to this
church and people, from generation to generation, through a period of
ninety years.
  We desire to make this service expressive of our thankfulness to God
for His past mercies, and to tell our children what the God of our Fathers
has done "in the times of old," so that they in turn may tell to others
who are to follow them, the wonderful mercies of God continued.
  In attempting to take a retrospective and rapid review of God's dealings
with this church and people during the ninety years of its existence, I feel
the embarrassment common to all who undertake such a task, for at the
very outset I am reminded of the fact, that, as a historian, I am not at
liberty to draw from the storehouse of fancy, nor to indulge in poetic
imagination, nol to borrow the fascinating arts which impart interest to a
theme. All these tempting embellishments must be sacrificed for the
sake of truth, and a rigid adherence to this must be maintained in
detailing facts or incidents, as they relate to and influence each other.
  There is no section of the Presbyterian Church on the American
continent whose history has been more interesting or more eventful than
that planted in Kentucky by the early pioneers. Their elevated and
indomitable spirit, their love of liberty, both civil and religious, is traced
back through Pennsylvania and the Valley of Virginia, across the broad
ocean to the north of Ireland and to the heath-clad hills of Scotland,
where the heroic few stood up against fearful odds and maintained with
unflinehbn- cou. age "4 Christ's Crown and Cotvenant. "


 


6               BETHEL CHURCH -MEM3RIAL SERMON.

  Three generations ago the the silence of what was then a tangled
willerness was broken only by the howl of the wild beast or the war-
whoop of the red savage. The dark forests, the impenetrable canebrakes
and thickets were stoutly disputing with men armed with the axe, the
rifle and firebrand their right to the virgin soil.
  Gradually, but sullenly and reluctantly, the Indian began his retreat
before advancing civilization, fighting his way towards the more remote
hunting grounds. The intercourse of these early settlers with the remote
Eastern States was conducted in a slow, primitive style. Then the
merchants rode on horseback to Philadelphia, carrying their money
in saddle-bags, toiling weary days and nights through the forests and
along the rugged sides of the Alleghenies, cantent to make their journey
in thirty days, and wait patiently thirty or forty more for their wares and
nerehandise, transported on pack mules, winding their way through by-
paths and blazed roads.
  But now, where once the red man built his council fires and danced
to his war-song, that wilderness hav been reclaimed and made to blossom
as the rose. Where once stood the majestic forest, now stands the stately
edifice where God is warshipped, the Bible read and truth proclaimed.
  Amidst such privations and such perils, and under suchi circumstances,
your forefathers laid the broad and deep foundations of all the civil, social
and religious privileges we this day enjoy. Hence, the age in which we
live is itself a product of the past. Our freedom, our religion, our social
institutions, our forms of polity, civil and ecclesiastical, are all a heritage
from the mighty past, and therefore this rapid and hasty review.
                           ORGANIZATION.
  As near as can be now ascertained, Bethel Church was organized ifi the
year, 1789, by R2v. Samuel Shanton, a graduate of Princeton College,
New Jersey, and a member of Transylvania Presbytery.
  Owing to the fact that the early Records of the church from the year
1789 to the year 1818, a period of twenty-nine years, were lost, many
interesting incidents connected with the early history of this church
cannot now be reproduced. Even the names of the original office-bearers
and members cannot now be stated with accuracy.
                          REORGANIZATIoN.
  At what may be termed the reorganization of the church, in the year
1822, there are several interesting incidents and instructive facts recorded
in the Session Book of this church, from which I make the following
extracts:
  In the fall of 1822 Rev. Robert Marshall drew up the following article
or covenant as though a new organization was then effected:


 



BETHEL CHURCH MEMORIAL SERMON.



  "WHEREAS, The congregation at Bethel has, in a great measure, for five
years, last past, been scarcely in a state of regular organization, being a
considerable part of the time without a suitable house of public worship;
almost without Ruling Elders wholly without Records and a list of its
members, and,
  "WHERI-AS, God, in His good Providence towards us, has put it into
our power to build a house for His worship, which is now in a commend-
able state of forwardness, therefore, we, whose names are hereunto an-
nexed, being members of said congregation, in full communion, do hereby
again associate anew and join ourselves together, with our families, to be
known, as heretofore. by the name of Bethel congregation, and we promise
subjection in the Lard ti the regular officers that are, or may be appointed
and ordained over us, to study the peace, purity and harmony of the
church;
'Y.fvo.reoier, We will attend with our families to the Word preached
and ordinances duly administered, while we live in the bounds of said
congregation, and God shall give us opportunity, and bear a proportional
part of the necessary expense attending the house and worship of God,
and we will not forsake the house of our God."
This paper was subscribed by the following members, then in full com-



munion:
Rev. Robert MLrshall,
Robert Stevenson,
Jane Officer.
Collier Duncan,
James Vance,
Anni Rusk,
James McConnell,
James Dougherty,
Mrs. Irwin,
,Mltrtha Morris,
Mary Logan,
Widow Scroggins,
Sarah Lyle,



Wm. Irwin, (R. E.)
Mrs. Stevenson,
Samuel Laird, (R. E.)
Kitty Duncan,
Jane Vance,
Thomas Kenney,
Sarah McConnell,
Mrs. Dougherty,
Elizabeth Marshall,
Mrs. Linu,
Jane Logan,
Roland Chambers,
Mrs. Wm. Chambers,



Catherine C. Irwin,
James Officer,
Mrs. Laird,
Martha Beauford,
Robert Long,
Martha Kenney,
Mary Stevenson,
John Irwin,-
James L. Marshall,
Valinda Logan,
Mrs. Presley Self,
Mrs. Chambers,
Mrs. Wm. Stevenson,



Thos. Ditwiddie, (R. E.) John Lackland,   Mrs. Lackland,
Widow Logan,          Sallie White,         James Stevenson,
Jane Stevenson,
Just fvrty-six in all, every one of whom, so far as we know, have gone
to their graves. Here, according to the Record, we find several things
worthy of commendation:
  1. Though cmparatively a mere handful, they determined to erect a



7


 


BETHEL CIhURCH-MRMORIAL SERMON.



house of worship; and though almost without office-bearers, they cove-
nanted to worship God and not forsake His house:
  2. They evidently received sound instruction from the Word of God
for they herein not only promise subjection to those placed over them in
the Lord, but also vow to study the peace, purity and harmony of the
church, and to contribute their fair and just proportion of their worldly
substance to carrying on the Lord's work.
  3. A commendable and and praiseworthy liberality was manifested by
the Rev. Robert Marshall, then in charge of the church, who contributed
almost all of his salary, for five consecutive years, to the erection and
completion of the church building.

  Let those who now enjoy the luxuries of life and whose fields wave
with golden grain-but who think themselves heavily taxed in maintain-
ing the ordinances of God's house, learn a lesson from this part of the
history of their forefathers.
                        DOCTRINES TAUGHT.
  During this period these people evidently were taught ti-at the doctrines
worship and government of God's house were to be taken from God's
Word alone and not left to the wisdom or the caprice of men. Manifestly
they had a profound reverence for the revealed Word of God as unfolding
the scheme of Redemption in all its bearings.
                   THEIR INFLUENCE PERMANENT.
  Though they were few in numbers, they were always foremost in every
good word and work. They were steadfast In their adherence to correct
principles, and to their convictions of right and duty, always staunch
advocates of that system of education which blends the mental with the
moral training, insisting that the discipline of man's moral nature must
proceed step by step with the development of his mental faculties, and
that the most complete and purest spiritual culture can be realized only by
professing the faith and practicing the virtues of Christianity. Hence,
their influence on the community was powerful and permanent.
                INCENTIVE TO SURVIVING MEMBERS.
  With a view to awakening the surviving members of Bethel Church to
a due appreciation of their exalted privileges and to arouse their slumber-
ing energies to enter with appropriate zeal upon the broad field of useful-
ness, and to meet with lofty faith and manly courage the duties which God
in the orderings of His Providence has cast upon you, this rapid review
of the faith and practice of your forefathers is now brought before you.



8


 


BETHEL CHUJECH-XEMORrAL SERMON.



                         BMPONSIBIXITnWE.
  It is no light or trivial enterprise to educate and train a neighborhood;
to mould the minds that shall shape the character and destiny of others
in coming generations.
  How solemn, then, are the responsibilities devolved upon you survivors!
How vast the power conferred! How marked the honor! How sacred
and how urgent the duty to perpetuate this church in your midst, to
observe her ordinances, to keep brightly burning the sacred fires upon her
holy altar!
                          OFFICE-BEARERS.
  From the Records now in possession of the Clerk of Session It appears
that on the 20th day of June, 1829, David Morris, James Kelley, Benjamin
Windsor and W. C. OIfutt were unanimously elected Deacons in this
church, all of whom, (with the exception of David Morris, who declined
to act), were duly ordained and installed.
  Benjamin Windsor served four years and was dismissed to some church
in another State.
  W. C. Offutt served as Deacon until February 10, 1833, and was then
elected Ruling Elder.
  James Kelly served nearly four years, and on April 19, 1835, waselected
Ruling Elder.
  1842, March 27, Alfred D. Offutt, Glass Marshall, Edward Washington
and Wm. H. Crooks were elected Deacons, and on the 1st of May
following were ordained and installed, except W. H. Crooks, who had
been previously ordained. He was at this time Installed.
  On the 2d of June, 1842, Alfred D. Offitt was elected Treasurer, and on
9th of April, 1854, he was dismissed to the Georgetown church, where he
is at this time a Ruling Elder.
  Glass Marshall served as Deacon for a period of thirteen years, and was,
on the 4th day of August, 1855, elected Rnling Elder.
  Edward S. Washington served a little over five years, and on the 20th
of June, 1847, he was dismissed with his family and servants to the
Frankfort church.
  W. H. Crooks served nine years, and was, on the 13th of April, 1851,
elected Ruling Elder.
1848-On the 15th of October, 1848, John Thompson Glass, Canon
Wingate and Dr: Edward T. Polk were elected Deacons, and all of whom
were ordained and installed, except Canon Wingate, who took farther
time to deliberate on the matter, but who died on the 20th of June, 1849,
reposing his confidence In a crucified Saviour.



9


 


BETHEL CHURCH-MEMORIAL SERMON.



  John Thompson Glass died on the 14th of August, 1852.
  Dr. Edward T. Polk served about six years, and on April 5th, 1854, was
dismissed to the 3d Church Louisville, where he now resides in the practice
of his profession.
  1855-On August 4th, 1855, James Smee, Pat Dolan and C. B. Lewis
were elected Deacons. C. B. Lewis declined to act, but Pat Dolan and
James Smee were duly ordained and installed.
  Pat Dolan served as Deacon twenty-one years. He was faithful in the
discharge of his duties, and as amanifestation of the esteem and confidence
of the members of this church, he was elected a Ruling ElderJune 11, 1876.
  James Smee served for six years and was dismissed to Lexington
November 20, 1861.
  1865-October 8, 1865, John Herriott, Sr., was elected Deacon and at
this time fills that office.
  1876-June 11, A. D. Piatt, James W. Herriott, and Chas. B. Williams
were elected Deacons and on the the following day (June 12, 1876,) were
duly ordained and installed.
  It is due to them to say thatthey are prompt and efficient in the discharge
of their official duties and have the full confidence and esteem of the
entire church.
                          RULING ELDERS.
  Wim. Irwin was a Ruling Elder in the year 1822. He was one of the
signers of the covenant at what was called the reorganization of the
church and died March the 20th, 1828, in the seventy-sixth yearof his age.
  James Stevenson was also a Ruling Elder, but when he wani elected or bow
long he served I cannot tell. His name appears on the roll of the signers
in 1822, and in the following year, October 12, 1823, he died.
  1823-Tn the year 1823, Samuel Laird and John M. C. Irwin were
elected, ordained and installed Ruling Elders. Both of them were signers
of the covenant at the reorganization of the church.
  Samuel Laird served as Ruling Elder in this church for six years, and
on January the 7th, 1829, he was dismissed to Mt. Horeb Church. In the
same year, March the 28th, he was elected a Ruling Elder in that church.
During his lifetime he was noted for his liberality to the church.
He gave 10,000 to the Theological Fund raised by the Synod of Kentucky
before the establishment of the Seminary at Danville. After the General
Assembly established that Seminary, and elected the Rev. Robert J.
Breekinridge Professor of Theology, Mr. Laird added 10,000 to his former
contribution to endow Dr. Breckinridge's chair, making in all 20,000.
One of the last business acts of his life was to convey to the Trustees of
Mt. Horeb Church a valuable property known as the "Laird Parsonage."



lo


 
BETHEL CHURCH-MEMORIAL SERMON.



He was a faithful office-bearer for nearly forty years, and he died in the
full faith of the Gospel, September 10tb, 1858.
  John M. C. Irwin served as Ruling Elder in this church twenty-six
years, and on the 15th of February, 1849, he was dismissed to wherever
Providence might cast his lot.
  Thomas Dinwiddie, one of the original members at the reorganization
of this church, and also a Ruling Elder, died in the year 1825, in the
seventy-fourth year of his age.
  1828-January 13th, Hugh Foster was elected Ruling Elder. After
serving six years as Ruling Elder he was dismissed October 5th, 1834.
  1833-February 10th, W. C. Offutt and Robert Marshall (son of Rev.
Robert Marshall), having been previously elected, were each ordained and
set apart to the office of Ruling Elder.
  On the 24th of March, 1833, W. C. Offutt was elected Treasurer, and on
the 22d of December, 1833, he was dismissed to the Shelbyville church.
  Robert Marshall was elected Treasurer December 28th, 1833, and was
dismissed October 5th, 1834. He died October 11th, 1864.
  1835-March 29th, Henry Stevenson and James Kelly were elected
Ruling Elders, and on the 19th of April, 1835, were ordained and installed.
  Henry Stevenson served as Ruling Elder for twenty years. On the
7th of October, 1855, he was dismissed to the Georgetown church, where
lie was elected Ruling Elder November 11th, 1865, and served as such
until the time of his death, February 17th, 1879.
James Kelly served as Ruling Elder for a period of seventeen years and
died March 21st, 1852. aged sixty-eight years.
1840-October 17th Ephraim Herriott was elected and installed Ruling
Elder. He had been ordained a Ruling Elder in the North Middletown
Church. He served as Ruling Elder in this church for a period of fifteen
years. up to the time of his death, which occurred April 1st, 1855.
  1851-April 13th, Wm. H. Crooks and John H. Rusk were elected
Ruling Elders. Mr. Rusk declined to accept. Mr. Crooks was ordained
and installed April 27th, 1851. He faithfully served this church as Ruling
Elder until the 27th of February, 1870, when he was dismissed to the
church at Versailles. He now lives in Shelby county, Kentucky. May
God spare him long to the people amongst whom his lot is cast.
1855-August 4th, W. A Leavy and Glass Marshall were elected Ruling
Elders.
  W A. Leavy having been previously ordained a Ruling Elder in the
2d Presbyteriana Church, Lexington, Kentucky, was, on the 9th of
September, 1855, installed a Ruling Elder in this church. He served
nearly four yearn and was dismissed to the Midway Church, on the 20th



11


 



12            BETHEL CHURCH-MEMORIAL SERMON.
of March, 1859, where he served as an efficient Ruling Elder until the day
of his death, December 5th, 1878, in the   year of his age.
  Mr. Leavy, during the greater portion of his life, was devoted to
  Sabbath School work in the 2d Church, Lexington. Many who are now
fathers and mothers revere his memory for his faithful and kind
instructions given as their Sabbath School teacher. Mr. Leavy was also
noted for his remarkable power of memory. He was always prompt in
attending the courts of the church, even in his old age, and was an
efficient member of Presbytery. He leaves to mourn his loss an
interesting family, consisting of his wife, two sons andabeloved daughter.
May God bless and protect them!
  On the 9th of September, 1855, Glass Marshall was ordained and
installed. On July 5th, 1857, he was elected Clerk of Session, and
continues to discharge the duties of that office at this time. He was for
some six years the only Ruling Elder in this church. As an office-bearer
he has gone out and in before you for a period of thirty-eight years. His
record is his life amongst. you. May God spare him for many years "to
watch for your souls as one who must give an account to God!" When
he is laid away out there in the old grave yard, his memory will be
revered for wise counsel, for steadfast adherence . to the old truth, for
unflinching fidelity in the discharge of duty.
  1876-June 11th, Joel H. Marvin, Pat Dolan and Robert Marshall were
elected, and on the day following were ordained and installed Ruling
Elders in this church, and with Glass Marshall constitute the present
session.
  In the case of J. H. Marvin and in his connection with this church there
is a remarkable illustration of the Providence of God, in ordering and
directing the footsteps of his children, showing that "though man maty
propose, yet God disposes!" When a youth his lot was cast in this
neighborhood and he was received into the communion of this church on
the 27th of June, 1847. On November 23, 1848, he was dismissed to the
churqh at Danville, where he went to accomplish the cherished purpose
of his heart-a collegiate education.
  On the 14th of May, 1854, upon a letter of dismission from the
Danville church, he was again received into the communion of this
church; and on November 6th, 1859, he was dismissed to the Versailles
church. From there to the Midway church, and from theMidway church
he was again with his family received into this church on the 26th of
December 1875, into the same old field of his early labors, and was elected
a Ruling Elder, as before stated. Truly God's ways are wonderful in the
execution of His purposes through the instrumentality of His servants.


 
BETHEL CHURCH-MEMORIAL SERMON.



  Patrick Dolan was received into the communion of this church May
31, 1846. He served as Deacon for twenty-one years and then was elected
a Ruling Elder. He has been a consistent member and a faithful
office-bearer. He clung to this church in her darkest days. Always at
his post, giving a portion of his time every Sabbath to teaching in his
humble way, exerting an influence for good, especially upon those in his
emnploy. May he long go out and in before you taking the oversight of
the flock.
  Robert Marshall-I would do violence to thefeelingsofthiscongregation
and the whole canimunity were I pass by in silence the labors of Robert
Marshall in their midst. His untiring efforts not only for the welfare of
the church, but for the whole community, are duly appreciated. The youth
of this church and community will bear testimony to his faithfulness in
directing them in the paths of duty and of virtue. In the darkest days of
the church he clung to her, giving his time, his talents, his energy and
money; anl the impression he has made upon the youth of this
congregation and neighborhood will be felt for generations to come.
You have elected him to bear rule over you. A higher appreciation of
eminent services spontaneously given to a young man rarely ever occurs.
May his indomitable zeal, his unflagging energy and ceasless activity
niever wane, but grow from year to year.
  Thus during a period of fifty-seven years you have had seventeen Ruling
Elders, and all of these but five are now laid beneath the clods of the valley.
  The Session at this time is composed of Glass Marshall, Joel H. Marvin,
Patrick Dolan and Robert Marshall. Let them have your prayers and
your hearty co-operation in their labors of love amongst you. I bear
themn testimony, one and all, that they are faithful in the dis-earge of
their dutiei, having sincerely at heart the interests of the church, and are
always willing and ready to co-operate with each other and -vith their
l):pstor in building up this portion of G(ads Zion.
                     OFFICIAL ACTS OF SESSION.
  Be 1ddes the ordinary business of the Session in its oversight of the flcek,
there appears on the Records several offieial acts worthy of notice:
  Onl the 20th of November, 1827, a Bible Society under the Auxiliary
Bible Society of Fayette County was organized in Bethel Church. Its
l)r)un(lary was detined and a constitution adopted. Rev. Robert, Marshall
was elected President and John M. C. Irwin Vice-President; Henry
,stevinson, Thos. C(1hanibers and George Chambers, were appointed
(ollectors; Hugh Foster, Depository and Treasurer; S,9mtuel Laird,
I)eleg-ite, and Joseph (. Marshall, Secretary.



13


 
BETHEL CHUWiR-MEMORIAL SERMON.



  To this constitution there is a list of eighty-six names, subscribing for
annual payments from 5.00 down to twelve and a half cents each,
amounting to the sum of 82.87.
  This Society continued to meet from year to year until 1831, when,
having supplied their district, adjourned finally.
                        ACT AND TESTIMONY.
  Amongst the other official acts of Session there is a resolution in
reference to the "Act and Testimony" so noted in the history of the
Presbyterian Church at large, and which finally resulted in a division of
the Church-the "Act and Testimony" party being designated "Old
School," and the seceding party beingstyled "New School." This is the
record made: "August 4th, 1834: The 'Act and Testimony' was presented
for consideration; whereupon, Resolved, unanimously, That we highly
approve the 'Act and Testimony' of a number of Ministers and Ruling
Elders of the Presbyterian Church, and we hereby declare our approval
of and hearty concurrence in said 'Act and Testimony."'
                               J. H. LOGAN, Moderator.
                                   ROBERT MARSHALL, 1
                                   HUGH FOSTER,        I Elders."
                                   JNO. M. C. IRWIN,  J
  In the year 1850, March the 1st, the Session directed a collection to be
taken up in the congregation for the purpose of purchasing a full set of
the b3oks published by the Presbyterian Board, to be used as a
congregational library in Bethel Church and neighborhood. The books
came to hand on the 11th of March, 1854), and Wm. Stevinson and James
Kelly, Jr., were appointed librarians "to take charge of the books, and to
let them out to the members of the congregation and see that the same
are returned in good order."
In the year 1857. there is another act in reference to Systematic
Benevolence: March 27th, 1857: Resolved, 1st, That we approve of the
action of the General Assembly, dispensing with agents ill securing
ccntributions for our Boards. And. 2d, That we will make diligent effort
to have annually presented to all the members of our church the following
causes, i. e.: Church Extension, Education, Publication, Home and Foreign
Missions, Fund for the Support of the Widows and Families of Disabled
Ministers, e.
                                 S YERKES, Moderator.
                                      W. A. LEAVY,
                                      G. MARSHALL, Elders.
                                      W. H. CROOKS,



14


 


BETHEL CHURCH-MEMORIAL SERMON.



                   PASTORS AND STATED SUPPLIES.
  The following Ministers of the Gospel have been Pastors or Stated
Supplies in Bethel Church:
  The Rev. Samuel Shannon, a graduate of Princeton College, New
Jersey- then under the Presidency of the celebrated Rev. John
Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence-was admitted
a member of Transylvania Presbytery April 29th, 1789.
  He took charge of the Bethel and Sinking Springs churches, and
continued Pastor for four years, when he resigned and took charge of the
Woodford Church, where he continued preaching until the year 1806. In
the year 1812 he volunteered and joined the American Army as Chaplain.
He was a man of great physical strength. His fist was like a sledge
hammer, and he was said to have lopped off a stout branch of a tree at a
single stroke of his sword when charging through the woods. The latter
years of his life were spent in missionary labors, chiefly in the destitute
parts of the State of Indiana, where he died in the year 1899.
  The Records of the church from the year 1789 to the year 1822 have been
lost, hence I am not able to give the names, nor any account of the
ministers who officiated in this church during that period of thirty-three
years.
  In the Memoirs of Rev. David Rice (collected and arranged by Rev.
Robert H. Bishop, Professor of History in Transylvania University, and
published in the city of Lexington, Ky., 1824), page 153, I find this
statement: "The Rev. Robert M. Cunningham, from Georgia, was the
second Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Lexington, Kentucky. He
commenced his ministerial labors in April or May, 1808. He labored
among them faithfully and affectionately during fourteen years, and had
his pastoral connection with them dissolved by mutual consent Oetober
Ith, 1822."1
The first statement made on the present Records of Bethel Church is,
that the Rev. Robert M. Cunningham declined preaching at Bethel about
the month of December, 1818, showing that while Pastor of the Lexington
Church, he also supplied this church. Of his subsequent labors and death
I have no knowledge.
                     REV. ROBERT MARSHALL.
 On the 13th of June, 1793, the Rev. Robert Marshall was ordained
 Pastor of Bethel and Blue Spring churches--known at an earlier date as
 McConnell's Run Church.t His official connection with Bethel Church
embraced a period of nearly thirty years.

:Bisbop's Memoirs, page 286.
tflavidson, page 106.



16


 
16            BETHEL CHURCH-MEMORIAL SERMON.

  With the exception of about ten years-feom 1802 to 1812-he spent the
whole of his ministerial life in this church and amongst this people-a
thing that does not usually occur in the life of a minister of the Gospel.
Justice to history, justice to his memory, and to his children, and to his
grand children, and to his great-grand children, and to the church, and to
you who once knew him, requires more than a mere passing notice:
  He was born in the North of Ireland, in the noted county of Derry, in
the year 1760. His ancestors were of the Scotch-Irish race, so noted, not
only in the history of their own country, but in the history of all countries
where God has a worshiper, or truth an adherent, or liberty, civil and
religious, a defender. The story of their heroic and persistent struggle for
truth and righteousness, ever has and ever must nerve the arm and inspire
the soul of all who love principle more than expediency. From his
childhood the principles of evangelical religion were inculeated-as these
principles were deduced from the Word of God and formulated in the
Larger and Shorter Catechisms.
  At the age of twelve years he emigrated with his mother-his only
surviving parent-and her family to the State of Pennsylvania. There lie
received the elements of a plain English edncation. Four years
afterwards, when he was only sixteen years old, he enlisted in the
American Army, then struggling for liberty, both eivil and religicus.
He was in six general engagements in the Revolutionary war, one of
which was the hard fought battle of Monmouth, where he narrowly
escaped with his life-a bullet grazing his locks.. While in the army lie
never swore an oath,t though profanity was common in the camp, and he
never drank a drop of ardent spirits, though it formed a part of the daily
ration. When not on duty he retired to his tent and deevoted himself to
ardent study. After the close of the war, on his return home, lie connected
himself with what was then known as the Seceder Church, but afterwards
doubled wh