REV. JOHN TAYLOR

The First Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church of Pittsburgh and His Commonplace Book.

By Charles W. Dahlinger.

Although Trinity Episcopal Church of Pittsburgh was not incorporated until 1805, there was an Episcopal church in the village a number of years prior to that time. It is probable that such a church was in existence as early as September 24, 1787, that being the date of the deed by which John Penn, Jr., and John Penn, conveyed the land on Sixth Avenue on which the present Trinity Episcopal Church stands, to John Gibson, John Ormsby, Devereux Smith and Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, Trustees "of the congregation of the Episcopalian Church, commonly called the Church of England." It is unlikely that this conveyance, dated on the same day as the deed to the Presbyterian congregation, for lots on Woods Street adjoining those conveyed for the use of the Episcopalians would have been made, had there not been an Episcopal church organization in Pittsburgh at the time.

The earliest Episcopal services in Pittsburgh of which there is any authentic account were conducted by the Rev. Francis Reno, a pioneer Episcopal clergyman. It is related that in 1794 he officiated alternately at Pittsburgh, and Chartiers, a few miles from this place. But the minister who is recognized as the first rector of Trinity Church, and of the congregation of which it was the mediate successor, was the Rev. John Taylor. Much of the early Information in regard to this church to be found in the local histories, so far as it relates to Mr. Taylor, seems to be based on the memorial sermon delivered on October 3, 1869, by the Rev. John Scarborough then rector of Trinity Church, on the occasion of the last service in the old church which stood on the site of the present structure. (1) In this sermon Dr. Scarborough stated that in 1797 a handful of churchmen resident in Pittsburgh invited the Rev. John

(1) Rev. John Scarborough: The Sermon preached at the Farewell Service in Old Trinity Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 3, 1869, Pittsburgh, 1869.

Taylor to officiate as their pastor, and intimates that the church organization dates from that year, and that Mr. Taylor then began his ministrations in Pittsburgh.

Through the kindness of Mr. Lewis Irwin of this city, a great grandson of Mr. Taylor, the writer has been permitted to examine and study the little Commonplace Book kept by Mr. Taylor for forty-five years. The book contains a skeleton account of his activities from 1788 until the latter part of 1833. The Rev. John Taylor was born in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1754, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. It is not known when he came to America. He was originally a member of the Presbyterian church and in the United States became a convert to Episcopalianism. In the little manuscript prayer book left by him, and also owned by Mr. Irwin, are entries showing that he taught school in various places in Pennsylvania before being ordained a minister of the Gospel. On May 27, 1790, he commenced "in the College as tutor." There is nothing to indicate either the name or location of this college. On "September 25," presumably also in 1790, he began teaching school at "the meeting house of Dry Run" in Allen Township, Northampton County. On May 2, 1791, he commenced teaching at Easton. It is known that he married Susanna Woodruff, the widow of William Huston, a Revolutionary officer, who, after the declaration of peace served in the regular army of the United States. He was ordained a deacon on October 12, 1794, in Philadelphia by Bishop White.

Mr. Taylor probably went West in the early spring of 1797. At this time he resided at Bald Eagle, now Minesville, in Center County. The entries in the Commonplace Book are not always made consecutively, and it is necessary to read the entire volume in order to obtain a comprehensive view of his career. The earliest entries which have any bearing on his life in the West are those referring to the vendue which he held on October 26, 1796. This sale perhaps took place at his former home in anticipation of his removal to Western Pennsylvania. Most of the articles sold were household effects, the others being light farming implements such as might be used in the cultivation of a small plot of ground.

The Commonplace Book reveals the fact that the first few years spent by Mr. Taylor in the West, were not passed in Pittsburgh, but in Washington County, in this State, in the vicinity of the headwaters of King's Creek in that part of Hanover Township which was incorporated with Beaver County on its erection in 1800. That he resided in this township is substantiated by the fact that in the list of subscribers to the church and school which he established there, were Samuel Swearingen and his son, Thomas Swearingen, William Langfitt, James Whitehill, David Kerr, Obadiah Applegate, Robert Doak, James Ferrell, Robert Kennedy, James Reed and Captain David Patton. These men all dwelt in the neighborhood of King's Creek, Indian Creek, or Mill Creek, and their names appear in the list of taxables in Hanover Township, Beaver County, for the year 1802. (1) Samuel Swearingen was the great grandfather of Judge Joseph M. Swearingen of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, and William Langfitt was the grandfather of Dr. William J. Langfitt, and former State Senator Joseph A. Langfitt, both of Pittsburgh. Other subscribers living in Hanover Township were William Huston, Thomas Ferrell, James Gifford and Mrs. Moore. Benoni Dawson, and Thomas Dawson, his son, resided near the Ohio River in Second Moon Township, Allegheny County. Their names are entered among the taxables in that township for 1802, when it had become part of Beaver County. (2) Benoni Dawson was a pioneer settler, and the founder of Georgetown, and an early communicant of St. Luke's Episcopal Church of that place. Anthony Wilcoxon and John Wilcoxon lived across the State line in Brooke County, Virginia, and in 1800 the former was a member of St. John's Episcopal Church, situated about ten miles northeast of Charleston, now Wellsburgh, of which Dr. Joseph Doddridge, the author of the famous Notes on the Settlement and Indian Wars, was rector. If additional evidence was needed to prove that at this time Mr. Taylor was a resident of Han

(1) Rev. Joseph H. Bausman, A. M.: History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania-New York, 1904. Vol. II, p. 1215. (2) Ibid. p. 1217.

over Township, it is supplied by the fact that wheat was delivered for him by Samuel Swearingen at Brooke's Mill. This mill was located on King's Creek and was the most convenient mill to the settlements on King's Creek, Indian Creek and the headwaters of Mill Creek.

It is probable that both the church and the school were in the log building erected by the Presbyterians of the neighborhood of King's Creek, about three miles northwest of the present village of Florence in Washington County. It was known as the King's Creek Presbyterian Church. This church was either the oldest or the next oldest congregation in that part of Washington County and in what is now Beaver County. The honor was claimed by both King's Creek Church, and by the Mill Creek Presbyterian Church, located on a branch of Mill Creek in the present county of Beaver, about eight miles north of King's Creek. The earliest information in regard to these churches is found in the minutes of the Redstone Presbytery. The minutes show that Mill Creek Church asked for a supply on April 20, 1785, and King's Creek Church for one on October 19, 1785. The dates, however, are not conclusive of the organization of the two congregations.

At the time Mr. Taylor came to Washington County, the air of newness which had pervaded the district was disappearing. The Indian wars were at an end; the land titles obtained under the "Corn law" of Virginia, which State had formerly claimed this territory, or by virtue of the "Tomahawk rights" of Pennsylvania, were being exchanged for more substantial evidences of ownership. But the stories of Indian outrages had not been forgotten. The sites of the burnt cabins were landmarks; families who had lost members in sudden Indian attacks still bewailed their murdered kindred. The churches had suffered along with their members. An Indian foray against King's Creek Church was long talked about among the settlers. The event happened while the Rev. Joseph Smith, known to the irreverent as "Hell Fire Smith," from the lurid way in which he portrayed the terrors of hell, was serving the church as supply. He was engaged in the communion service; there was a sudden an

nouncement of the approach of a band of Indians; the service was brought to an abrupt close; and in hot haste minister and congregation mounted their horses, and rode to a place of safety nearly twenty miles away. (1) In 1797, the building was empty and deserted, the congregation having removed to Cross Roads, the name by which Florence was then known. The Rev. Elisha Macurdy was the first pastor after the removal. David Elliott in his life of Dr. Macurdy related that the removal took place about the year 1798. (2) This date was not intended to be more than approximate, and the true date was no doubt earlier than 1797. It is entirely likely that the Episcopalians living within a radius of ten miles of King's Creek Church, being desirous of establishing a church of their own, secured the vacant building and procured Mr. Taylor to minister to them. Among the subscribers to the school were Presbyterians who may have been former members of King's Creek Church, and who joined the Episcopalians in the undertaking in order to obtain a teacher for their children.

Here Mr. Taylor preached the Gospel, and conducted a school for the children of the countryside. The school was opened on May 2, 1797, with eleven scholars, which in the next few months increased to between thirty and forty. His book fails to disclose that any baptisms or funerals were conducted by him. What may be the reference to a marriage ceremony is an entry in May, 1798, of the receipt from James Whitehill of a gallon of whisky, under which is written the significant word "Wedding." Whisky was the indispensible emblem of hospitality on every public and private occasion, and no doubt Mr. Taylor provided the whisky in anticipation of a wedding service which he had been engaged to perform.

Accounts were opened with the subscribers, and they were charged with church and school subscriptions which were in pounds, shillings and pence, Pennsylvania currency. There were debits for medical attendance which would lead

(1) Joseph Smith, D.D.: Old Redstone, Philadelphia, 1854, p. 70. (2) David Elliott: The Life of the Rev. Elisha Macurdy, Allegheny, 1848, pp. 34-35.