Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 August 1889 — OLD DONEGAL CHURCH. [ARTICLE]

OLD DONEGAL CHURCH.

An Historic Building' Dear to the Hearts of the Camerons. Old Donegal church, so frequently mentioned in sketches of Hie late Gen. Simon Cameron, is one of the most interesting relies of pioneer Christianity in this country. A Mount Joy (Pa.) dispatch says: East Donegal township in this county, w&a settled by sturdy Scotch-Irish emigrants more than 175 years ago. In 1728 they organized Hie East Donegal Presbyterian society. Li 1740 John Richard and Thomas Penn, the proprietors of Pennsylvania, conveyed to the society 200 acres of land for church purposes. In that year the church was built. It' replaces a log church which had been put up in 1724, in which the Rev. James Anderson, one of the first Presbyterian preachers in New York city, had preached since 1726, having accepted a call from Hie East Donegal church in that year. The present church is built of stone, the wails being covered with plaster. It stands in a grove of ancient trees. Originally it had but one door, a double one, on he southeast side,, but about 1750 a door was cut in each end and the interior somewhat changed to accommodate the increased attendance. The church has no steeple. Among the relics that are preserved with the church is the original communion table, a heavy walnut table, put together with wooden pegs. The table was used in the old log church as early as 1727. One of the most revered objects connected with the old East Donegal church, which is looked upon as part of the quaint sanctuary, is an immense oak tree that stands in the yard in front of the church and casts a vast expanse of shade when in leaf. This tree, although not less than four centuries old, is as sound and sturdy as it was when the aborigines camped beneath its spreading branehes. It is called “the wituess oak.” In 1777 the Rev. Colin McFarquhar, a learned Scotch divine, was pastor of the church. His wife and, family were ill the mother country, and, while he had never positively avowed his loyalty to the king, be had not shown that he favored the American cause in the revolution. His sermons often counseled conciliatory measures in the struggle, and the Sunday before the battle of Brandywine he was preaching such a Sermon. His congregation was made up of stern and uncompromising patriots, and on that day they resolved to give positive demonstration of their love for the American cause. They left the church before servioes were over, and taking the pastor with them, formed a cirole around the big oak tree, and with it as a witness, they swore an oath of allegiance to the colonial government and its cause, and compelled the Rev. Colin McFarquhar to do the same. A few days later the most of that band, under Hie leadership of the dashing and impul* sive Col. Alexander Lowry, fell at the Brandywine, and mingled their blood with its waters, , The old Donegal residence, so dear to Gen. Cameron, and where "he died, is near this ancient church, and is so situated that to drive upon its grounds requires a wide circuit around the church grounds. Some years ago Gen. Cameron offered to endow the church in the sum of SIO,OOO and secure the same sum from his brother William, to be used for the benefit of the Bociety, which was and is barely selfsustaining, provided the society would grant him the right of Way through a corner of the church grounds, so that he eould reach his own grounds without having to drive so much out of his way. He was then in active and the East Donegal congregation contained several prominent anti-Comer-on men. Under the lead of one of these the congregation refused the offer, an act since deeply regretted by the society. But this rejecHon of his generous offer did not serve to lessen ; Gen. Cameron’s affection for the old church, dear to him through boyhood association and by the presence of the graves of his father and mother in its burial ground. Only & few months ago he wrote a touching letter to his legal adviser in Lancaster, in which ha requested a lawyer to meet him at Donegal springs and draw up a paper in which the old church was to be substantially remembered.