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Colonel George Steuart and His Wife Margaret Harris, Robert Stewart, 1907, p26
VIII. - Sodt Garland
This lady, the daughter of Silvester Garland, is named "Sodt" in her father's and her brother John's wills, but by
Webster, "Suitt," and on her tombstone "Suit," while the same name is perpetuated among her posterity, under the forms
"Sutia," "Sutiah," and "Satira." Where the word came from we cannot tell. Possibly it was the Christian, or the
family, name of her mother, or of one of her mother's relatives. "Souter" is not an unknown appellation. It means "sewer."
Suit Garland was born, probably in New Castle, Delaware, in the year 1694 - judging from her tombstone inscription.
According to the registry of the First Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, she was married to the Rev. James Anderson
"12-5-1712" which means probably Feb. 5, 1713, according to the present style. Her name is recorded "Sout" and she
doubtless married in Philadelphia. For some years after this she lived with her husband at New Castle in a house belonging
to her father, but afterwards bequeathed to her. About 1717 she removed to New York, and in 1727 to Donegal, Lancaster
(then Chester) County Pennsylvania. Several of her eleven children were born in each of these places. She died at
Donegal, Dec. 24, 1736. On one side of a torn leaf of the record in her husband's family Bible is a "reference to the
death of a very beautiful woman by small-pox," who is supposed to have been Mrs. Anderson. The esteem in which she was
held may be inferred from the number of her namesakes in every generation of her descendants. She lies buried in the
Donegal churchyard under a large stone slab devoted to her memory and that of her husband.
VIII. - Rev. James Anderson
Whom Sodt Garland married was one of the most prominent men in the Presbyterian Church of this country during its
early days. Several sketches of his life and character have been published. These may be found in Sprague's Annals of
the American Pulpit (vol. III, p.19, note), Webster's History of the Presbyterian Church (pp. 326-332), Nevin's History of
the Presbytery of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Central (pp. 98, 99), Centennial History of the Presbytery of Carlisle,
(vol. II, pp. 17-21), Pennsylvania Genealogies (First edition, pp. 24, 25.)
Notes and Queries edited by Dr. Egle (vol. I, p. 380), the Presbyterian Weekly of Philadelphia for Oct. 2, 1873,
History of Lancaster County (pp. 774, 775), and elsewhere.
From these sketches, as well as from original sources, we learn the following: -
Rev. James Anderson was born in Edinburg, Scotland, November 17, 1678. Of his family we know little; but that little shows it to
have been highly respectable. "A brother Hon. John Anderson, of Perth Amboy, N.J., was in 1712 made one of the Council of the
Province in place of William Pinborne, Esq., and when he died in March, 1736, aged 73 years, he was President;" and for eighteen days, owing to the
death of Gov. Cosby, he had been acting Governor of the Province. [See Webster (p. 332), and Mulford's History of New Jersey
(p.333). Gov. Hunter appointed him to the Council in place of a Churchman, because, although a Dissenter, he was "a man of sense."]
A writer in the Presbyterian of October 21, 1903, says: "He was the Captain of the ship Kincorn, in the Scottish
expedition to Darien and, after the failure of that enterprise, he settled in Monmouth, N.J., and married Anna Reid, daughter of another
Scotchman." "Colonel" is the title given him on his tombstone.
[His son John Anderson, Esq., was one of the nine incorporators of the Synod of New Jersey, as named in the grant made,
February 21, 1749, and a Judge in the County Courts. He died in his 90th year, July 19, 1793, and is buried in the Tennent grave-yard.
Several descendants served in the Revolution; and the State, as well as the Church found the family faithful and zealous.]
James Anderson was educated at Edinburg under the care of Principal Stirling, of Glasgow, and was ordained by Irvine Presbytery,
November 17, 1708, "with a view of his settlement in Virginia," on the urgent call of Francis Makemie and others for ministers for that
part of the country. He sailed March 6, 1709, and arrived on the Rappahannock, April 22, following, but, after a stay of six months,
found matters there so unfavorable to the introduction of any religion but episcopacy, that he went northward, and, September 20, 1710,
joined the Presbytery of Philadelphia. He then settled at New Castle where he remained seven years as pastor.
The Presbyterian Church of New Castle was composed of Dutchmen, Huguenots, Scotch-Irish, and other settlers, who were
non-episcopalians. There had been religious services in the place by various branches of the Lutheran or Reformed Church
almost from the beginning. Finally the Presbyterians acquired a permanent foothold and absorbed the greater part of the
strength of these different classes. As early as 1702 the Rev. John Wilson preached in the court-house. The next year he
returned. And from that time on he appears to have served
the congregation quite regularly, after a time supplying also White Clay Creek and Apoquinimy, or Drawyer's Creek. But he was
never installed as a pastor, says Webster, and after Mr. Anderson arrived "he probably devoted all his time to White Clay
until his death in 1712."
Mr. Anderson was, therefore, the first regular pastor of the New Castle congregation. And his labors appear also to have
been very acceptable to the people, for they objected to his removal to New York when a call came to him from that city, in 1717.
[Erskine says, 1716.— Centennial Memorial, Carlisle Presbytery, Vol. II, p. I8.]
The Presbyterian Church in New York was probably started by the Rev. Francis Makemie, who preached there as early as January 19, 1707.
But for about ten years it had no regular organization, and, for some time longer, no building. In 171b', however, they took
measures to form a regular congregation, and the next year made out a call for the Rev. James Anderson, of New Castle, who
had providentially preached for them "with much profit" while on a visit to the city in 1716, when they are said to have
been a small handful of people. He is described to have been at that time "a man of talent and piety - a graceful and popular
preacher." After careful consideration of the call, Mr. Anderson's Presbytery allowed him to accept, and in the autumn of 1717,
he was installed as the first Presbyterian pastor of the City of New York.
At first he preached, by permission, in the City Hall; and the congregation increased in numbers and importance.
"In a series of interesting letters, written in December, 1717, to Principal Stirling, of Glasgow, describing his new
pastorate and urging his claims for immediate assistance," he says;
"This place, the City of New York, where I now am
is a place of considerable amount [probably account] and very populous, consisting, as I am informed, of about 3,000
families or housewives. 'Tis a place of as great trade and business, if not more,
as any in North America. In it are
two ministers of the established Church of England, two Dutch ministers, one French, an Anabaptist, also a Quaker Meeting."
Further on he says:
"The people here who are favorisers of our church persuasion, as I have told you, are yet but few and
none of the richest, yet for all, I am not without hopes that with God's blessing and concurrence they shall in a little
time increase. The chief thing in all appearance now wanting is a good, large, convenient house, a church to congregate in."
He
concludes by saying:
"I believe by this time you smell my drift. I don't know how to begin to beg any more at your door lest
I should be reckoned (to use our own Scots' word) mislear'd. But if any of your substantial merchants, or some other Synod,
could be prevailed upon to contribute toward the building of a Scots' Church, ah, how acceptable it would be to us, how
serviceable it would be to religion and our interests in this place.
[The above extracts are taken from an articlo published in the New York Observer, bearing tho date of October 18, 1891.]
Among the members of the congregation were Patrick Macknight, Dr. John Nicholl, Gilbert Livingston, Thomas Smith, William Smith, and
William Livingston - all well-known citizens. The Livingstons were grandsons of the celebrated John Livingston,
minister of Ancrum, aud the ancestors of some of the prominent people of that name in New York and New Jersey in
subsequent times. Gov. Hunter was also a great friend of the church.
In 1718 land was purchased for a building and the next year a house was erected upon it.
[Webster. The deed was made to the Rev. James Anderson and others, July 1, 1780. See Record Book 30, p. 134.
A similar deed was made to John Nicholls, May 5,1721. See Book 30, p. 158.]
This lot previously known as "Stattenburg's Garden," was bounded by Wall, Broadway and Nassau Streets,
and was 88 ft. by about 120 ft. fronting on Wall.
A heavy debt, however, rested on the congregation after the building was finished, and Mr. Anderson felt constrained
to write to Scotland in 1723 as follows: -
"We are now brought to the utmost pinch of necessity, so that if we meet not
with speedy relief, we shall in all human probability be obliged to quit striving and give up our interest in this
place." "The need of the young church was too apparent to be overlooked,"
says the writer of the article in the New York Observer above referred to.
"In 1724 £401 was sent and it was arranged that the church building should be secured to Presbyterians for future use by a bond of £2000." Subscriptions
had been solicited with great urgency throughout New York, Connecticut and Scotland and about £600 was collected before
the process of erection began, none of which it seems had come from Scotland.
The church had great difficulty in getting a charter, owing to the opposition of Episcopalians. This may have been one
reason why the Rev. James Anderson and others in whose names the title to the property stood, transferred it, May 16, 1730,
to the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, who had official and legal standing even in the eyes
of the English Chnrch.
But Mr. Anderson's pastorate did not continue in all respects prosperous and pleasant. Some of his people turned against him,
and complained to Presbytery that his settlement was irregular, and two of his sermons offensive. But Presbytery sustained him;
though they said, "the terms of his sermons in some passages were not so mild and soft as they could have wished." This, however,
did not end the trouble, Thomas Smith, one of the disaffected, sent to New Haven for some one to start a new congregation, and,
as a result, the celebrated Jonathan Edwards, then barely nineteen, preached to Smith and his friends from August, 1722, till
April 26, 1723; but this was the end of organized opposition to Anderson from this quarter. However, it is probable that his
"strict Presbyterianism," and "rather severe preaching," and the consequent indifference of some of his members to
his pecuniary support, [Arrears of salary were not paid until 1730]
as well as a new difficulty which arose between Dr. Nicholl [This name is variously spelled Nicholl, Nichols, and Nicoll]
and the officers of the church about money
matters, were the causes of his early determination to remove elsewhere.
September 24, 1726, he got a call from Donegal Church in Chester (now Lancaster [Lancaster Co. was organized
from Chester, May 10, 1729. Centennial Memorial, Vol. I, p.50]) County, Pa., and accepted it; and having been
installed the last Wednesday of August, 1727, became its first pastor.
Mombert calls this the oldest Presbyterian Church in Lancaster Co. Of its origin West, in his Origin and History of Donegal
and Carlisle Presbytery, says: "In 1714, the tide of emigration, following up the eastern side of the Susquehanna, had reached
the valley of the Clequesalunga, now in Lancaster Co., where Donegal Church was organized in that year."§
August 1, 1721,
application was made by it to New Castle Presbytery for supplies. It was then called Chicken's Longus (or Chequesalunga).
Gillespie, Cross, McGill, Hutchinson and Evans were among the first preachers sent. They served the church mora or less
regularly from 1721 to 1724, and in 1725 "Donegal" obtained one-sixth of Mr. Boyd's time, but Mr. Anderson was the first installed pastor.'
Donegal Township was the centre of a large Scotch-Irish settlement - immigrants from the north of Ireland, particularly County Donegal,
whence the new settlement finally derived its name. They were an energetic, liberty-loving, religious people, strongly attached to the
Presbyterian faith; and all possessed some worldly means. It is said that none were Redemptionists, that is persons who paid for their
passage to America by service afterwards.
A beautiful spot three miles from Marietta, and about the same distance from Mt. Joy, was selected as their church home.
Egle's Notes and Queries of Pennsylvania, William Henry Egle, 1886, p24
James Anderson, b. November 17, 1678 in Scotland; was educated at Edinburgh, under the care of Principal Stirling, He was ordained by Irvine Presbytery, November 17, 1708, with a view to his settlement in Virginia.
He sailed March 6, 1709, and arrived in the Rappahannock on the 22d of April following; but the condition of affairs not being favorable for introducing any other religion than that of the established Church of England in that Colony, he came northward, and was received by the Presbytery September 20 following. He settled at New Castle, where he was installed pastor in 1713. In 1714, out of regard for the desolate condition of the people in Kent county, he was directed to supply them monthly on a Sabbath, and also to spend a Sabbath at Cedar Creek, in Sussex.
In 1716, receiving a call from the first church organization of New York city, he went there and labored with his accustomed zeal and energy; but his strict Presbyterianism and rigid Scottish habits and doctrines were distasteful to the people, and his charge, consequently, did not prove to be happy or comfortable, and he desired a removal.
He was called September 24, 1726, to Donegal, on the Susquehanna, and accepted. He was installed the last Wednesday in August, 1727. In September, 1729, he gave every fifth Sabbath to the people on Swatara, and joined the congregation of Derry, thus becoming the first settled pastor over that church, until the call to Rev. William Bertram, in 1732.
He died July 16, 1740. In the language of Presbytery, "he was high in esteem for circumspection, diligence and faithfulness as a Christian minister." His name and fame are associated with the early history of the Presbyterian church in America. He was a man of talent, learning, and piety a graceful and popular preacher - a leader among men.
Mr. Anderson was twice married; m. first, February, 173, Mistress Suit Garland, daughter of Sylvester Garland, of the Head of Apoquinimy, Delaware, who d. December 24, 1736, and lies buried in Donegal churchyard, where a large flat stone marks the resting place of herself and her distinguished husband.
From a mutilated leaf in the Rev. James Anderson's Bible, (Imprint "Edinburgh, A.D.1676,") on which was recorded the family registry, is copied the following imperfect list of births and deaths. In his will he names only James, Susannah and Thomas, but refers to all his children. He left a large estate, including most of the land upon which Marietta now stands, a valuable ferry-right called "Anderson's Ferry," land on the opposite side of the river, together with several slaves:
2. i. Garland, b. Nov. 21, 1714; m. Jane Chevalier.
ii. [..], b. July 24, 1715, in New Castle.
iii. [..], b. Feb. 17, 1717-8, in New York.
iv. [..], b. Feb. 23, 1718-9, in New York.
3. v. James, b. May 14, 1721; m. Ruth Bayley.
vi. [A son], b. Dec. 18, 1722, in New York.
vii. John, b. Jan. 13, 1724-5, in New York.
viii. Susannah, b. Oct. 4, 1725-6, in New York.
ix. [A son], b. March, -; d.s.p. in Md.
x. [..], b. July -, in Md.
xi. Thomas.
II. GARLAND ANDERSON,2 (James1)
b. November 21, 1714 in New Castle, Del.; m. JANE CHEVALIER, daughter of Peter Chevalier, of
Philadelphia, whither he removed, and died young. He administered on his father's estate, in conjunction
with his stepmother, Rebecca Anderson, (who renounced as executrix.) He left a daughter,
Elizabeth, of whom it is recorded that she was "a woman of great excellence."
License to marry issued January 6, 1768, to Samuel Breeze and Elizabeth Anderson (Penn'a Archives, 2d, sert, v).
They lived in New York. The Rev. E. Hazzard Snowden, of the Presbyterian church of Kingston, Pa, is a
descendant of this branch.
The Rev. James Anderson m., secondly, December 27, 1737, Rebecca Crawford, of Donegal. After his death the Widow Anderson married Joshua Baker, whose daughter, Mary Baker, became the wife of the Rev. John Elder, of Paxtang. Several of his children appear to have died young, and none of his descendants remain in Lancaster county.
A History of the Presbyterian Church in America, Webster, p326
JAMES ANDERSON
Was [Miller's Life of Rogers] born in Scotland, November 17,1678, and was ordained by Irvine Presbytery, November 17,1708, with a view to his settlement in Virginia. [Anderson to Principal Sterling, of Glasgow]
He sailed March 6, 1709, and arrived in the Rappahannock, April 22; but, the state of things not warranting his stay, he came northward, and was received by the presbytery, September 20. He settled at Newcastle.
He was directed to write, in conjunction with Wilson, to the Synod of Glasgow; and the application was answered by sending hither Wotherspoon and Gillespie.
In 1714, out of regard to the desolate condition of the people in Kent county, he was directed to supply them monthly on a Sabbath, and also to spend a Sabbath at Cedar Creek, in Sussex.
An effort seems to have been made, after the acquittal of Makemie, to have the city of New York supplied with a minister of our church. Vesey [Albany Documents] wrote to a friend December 2, 1709, "that the Dissenting preacher is likely to gain no ground." His stay was brief; but the people kept together, and met for worship, with few interruptions, and with a gradual increase of numbers, till 1716, when they took measures to form a regular congregation. The next year found them strong enough to undertake the support of a minister, being doubtless encouraged by promises from the ministers of Glasgow.
They presented [MS. Records of Newcastle Presbytery] their call for Anderson, by the hands of Mr. Thomas Smith and Mr. Gilbert Livingston, to Newcastle Presbytery during the first meeting of synod. They considered the matter, and, having heard Anderson's reasons for removal, referred it to the synod: a large committee was appointed to meet at Newcastle and "audit" the objections of his people and fully determine the affair. The commissioners attended the committee, and Anderson was allowed to accept the call.
Public worship was held in the City Hall. The original friends of Presbyterianism seem all to have passed away. Prominent among their successors were Patrick Macknight, Dr. John Nicoll,
Gilbert Livingston, Thomas Smith, William Smith, and William Livingston.
The bold, free, handsome signature of P. Macknight, at the head of the representatives, indicates his position as a merchant and a man of property. He was from the North of Ireland. Dr. Nicoll was a graduate of Edinburgh University,—a physician of eminence; he died October 2, 1743, aged sixty-four. Gilbert Livingston
was the youngest son of Robert Livingston, son of the venerable minister of Ancrum,
and was the grandfather of Dr. Gilbert R. Livingston, of Philadelphia.
William Livingston was the nephew of Robert, and father of the Governor of New Jersey.
[Error: Governor William Livingston was the son of Philip Livingston, eldest son of Robert Livingston. Philip Livingson died in NYC. Since Governor
Livingston was a child in 1716, not clear who this William Livingston was. The person usually referred to as "The Nephew" was
Robert Livingston, the first cousin of Robert Livingston, 1st Lord of Livingston Manor.]
Thomas Smith was from England: he lived to an advanced age.
William Smith was a native of Newport-Pagnel, in England, and came to New York in 1715 in the same ship with James Alexander,
who, like Smith, became distinguished as a lawyer and an opponent of an arbitrary executive. He was afterwards a judge, and a member of the King's Council.
In 1718, Dr. Nicoll, Macknight, Gilbert Livingston, and Thomas Smith purchased a lot on Wall Street, near Broadway, and, in the following year, built a church. Besides the donations in the city, the Legislature of Connecticut directed a collection to be taken up throughout the colony for their benefit.
Cotton Mather
[Mather MSS. American Antiquarian Society. Wodrow wrote to Mather, January 23, 1713, "I presume to give my kindest regards to Mr. James Anderson, my old acquaintance." He desires to hear of the condition of our brethren in Pennsylvania and Maryland, and thereabouts.— Wodrow Correspondence.]
wrote to Dr. Nicoll (January 20, 1719-20) the following letter "to be communicated:" -
"Brethren :—
"We are very sensibly touched with grief at the information you give us of the strange difficulties under which your evangelical affairs are labouring. But, since it is from you only we have been informed of them, this gives us a little hope they may not grow to the extremity you may be afraid of. The opposition your work suffers from the great adversary is but an argument that it is a work of God; and if you keep looking up to Him, who is infinitely stronger than he that is in the world, you may soon see all the opposition happily conquered. But it would be a wisdom in the opposers to consider seriously who and what they may be acting for. As for us, we have never yet had any disadvantageous representations of worthy Mr. Anderson made to us; nor shall we receive any thing to his disadvantage without first giving him and you an opportunity of vindication. May the glorious Lord, who knows the services and patience of his ministers, be near his faithful minister,—a God of patience first and then of consolation. It has been a trouble to us that we have been able to do so little among our people for your assistance in your laudable design of erecting an edifice for the worship of God."
Macknight and Nicoll, with Joseph Blake, John Leddel, and Thomas Inglis, representatives of the congregation, wrote (May 9, 1720) a letter
[MSS, in Secretary of State's Office, Hartford] of thanks to the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, Members of Council, and Representatives of the General Court of Connecticut. A twelvemonth before, they had applied to their honours, "for a brief for a general and voluntary contribution for assisting in building our house of worship, which, being begun, we could not finish without the charitable aid of others; which was cheerfully and readily granted. Now, with rejoicing, we crave leave to acquaint this assembly that, by the assistance we experienced from Connecticut, we were not only encouraged to go on with our begun building,—which otherwise was like to drop and go to ruin,—but were able also to get it under roof, so that now with joy we enjoy the ordinances dispensed to us therein. We heartily thank you for your opportune, free, and voluntary liberal aid to a small despised handful, which, we hope, designs nothing else but the honour of the glorious Lord and the eternal good of their souls and their children's." The sum raised in Connecticut was less than they expected,—" the charity of some having been cooled by false and malicious reports dispersed through the colony. However, we do not blame anybody but 'the accuser of the brethren,' who hath indeed all along opposed the good work with the utmost malice. But this does not in the least discourage us, but rather demonstrates to us that the work is God's, who, as he has brought it this length, will undoubtedly finish it in opposition to Satan and all his instigations."
The congregation [Case of the Scots Presbyterian Congregation in New York]
petitioned the King's Council (March 4, 1719-20) to incorporate, by letters-patent under the great seal of the province, the ministers, elders, and deacons of the Presbyterian congregation in the city of New York. They style themselves Scots, from North Britain, and state, that they have erected a house for the worship of God after the manner of the Presbyterian church. They urge their request on the ground of the great inconvenience of vesting the title to their property in certain individuals, which they must do until incorporated. This application was signed by Anderson and the five representatives. The president of the council was Peter Schuyler; the members, A. Depeyster, Rip Van Dam, John Barberie, Thomas Byerly, and
John Johnston. The vestry of Trinity Church appeared by counsel to oppose, and the request was refused.
On the 19th of September, they renewed their petition, Governor Burnet
[The "Address of the Presbyterian Ministers of New York and Long Island" to him in October, 1720, contains a high compliment to his father's memory, the historian.—Bradford's Weekly Mercury. ]
being come to the province and appearing friendly. With him there was a discrepancy between appearance and intention. He was for the Church, right or wrong, by fair means or foul: he rent the French congregation by his illegal interference, and deceived the Presbyterians by much fair speech.
The council were, A. D. Philipse, George Clarke, Robert Walter, Caleb Heathcote, and John Byerly,—probably all Churchmen. Counsel was heard on both sides; and the council declined to act, because no instance had occurred of granting corporate privileges to a body of Dissenters.
Their petition, dated May 10, 1724, was transmitted to the "Lords of Trade;" and the Attorney-General for Ireland, Richard West, gave his opinion that, in the general and abstract view of the thing, there was nothing in the request unreasonable or improper.
On the 16th of May, 1730, the church was completed, being eighty feet long by sixty feet wide.
The Synod of Glasgow and Ayr, in 1719, invested a collection in goods, and sent them to New York. The Synod of Philadelphia gave a tenth of the nett produce to aid in the support of Anderson, and sent to their Scottish friends "hearty thanks for their kindness to the interest of religion in these wilderness parts."
The letters to Boston and Connecticut had referred to malicious reports, widely dispersed, against Anderson, and which had cooled the charity of some towards the infant church. Gilbert Livingston and Thomas Smith were much dissatisfied, and complained to the synod of the Presbytery of Long Island in regard to the settlement of Anderson. The synod heard their representations, and, by a large majority, decided that the proceedings were regular. The two gentlemen also complained of two sermons of Anderson's; they were read, and approved as orthodox and godly in substance, though the terms in some passages were not so mild and soft as they could have wished. Dr. Nicoll was present in synod as an elder; Andrews and Dickinson wrote to Livingston and Smith; Jones, Gillespie, and Evans wrote to the congregation.
These gentlemen [Documentary History of New York, third volume]
petitioned the council not to grant corporate privileges to the congregation, as this would confirm the property to Anderson and those who adhered to him.
They asked that they might be released from the bonds which they, jointly with Macknight and Nicoll, had given for the land and the building,
as Macknight was about to go to Europe, and they had experience enough of Nicoll's instability and other faults.
The matter was not healed. The source of the difficulty is wholly to be guessed at. Andrews calls it "a squabble."
[The narrative given in the preface to the Records of the Trustees of the Congregation was drawn up twenty years after by William Smith, who takes no notice of this original difficulty between "the undertakers," but refers solely to the subsequent difficulty between Dr. Nicoll and the minister, and presents the view taken of the matter by Dr. Nicoll. Dr. Rodgers has added a marginal note, that Anderson was a graceful, popular preacher, and a worthy man.]
The trustees of New Haven College sent missionaries, at the request of Smith, to erect a new congregation. The synod (in 1721) approved of the action of Long Island Presbytery; but, having received a letter from the trustees, desiring the synod to send some of their number to confer with them on the interest of religion in general and the unhappy difference in New York, the synod directed the presbytery to meet with them. The conference was held at Stamford, in October, but was fruitless. The synod approved of the presbytery's management of the affair.
[Morgan to Mather, October 31, 1722 :-" Our synod have justified all that the Long Island Presbytery have done in the affair of New York. I only stood up and dissented; more would, but have been mistrusted to have had a hand in setting up the separate meeting; but all knew that I was against that being set up, for I look upon it as a very hurtful thing."—American Antiquarian Society.]
Jonathan Edwards,
[Immediately on being licensed, in consequence of an application from a number of ministers, who were intrusted to act in behalf of the Presbyterians of New York, he went thither. "I had," Edwards says, "abundance of sweet religious conversation in the family of Madam Smith." After leaving, "sometimes I felt my heart ready to sink with the thoughts of my friends in New York."]
barely nineteen, preached to Smith and his friends from August, 1722, till April 26. He loved to remember the pleasant days spent there, and his delight in the society of the pious Madam Smith and her son,—probably the Rev. John Smith, of Rye.
The separation terminated on Edwards's departure.
In the "Antiquarian Library" at Worcester, Massachusetts, is a letter from Rebecca Nicoll, to Cotton Mather, (May 23, 1723,) representing that the whole difficulty lies with Smith, and Grant and his son, and intimating that they were unreasonable. They "had a meeting by themselves; but most of Grant's family went to the English church." Mr. Grant reports, "that the Boston ministers engage £60 yearly to aid the separate meeting. We have a faithful pastor, as all who know Mr. Anderson acknowledge him to be. It is a shame to send aid to humour a part of two families. Madam Smith has a letter, confirming the report of aid. Ten of the people are very scandalous. Mr. Jephson and his family have returned to us. Her excuse for writing was, 'having been one of your flock.'"
Dr. Nicoll took a voyage to Scotland, and engaged the General Assembly to assist them; and, by their order, a large collection was taken up.
New troubles were in store for Anderson; the representatives and elders complaining of Dr. Nicoll to the presbytery and synod. Without consulting the representatives, (trustees,) he had applied to the payment of the church debt, the money sent from Great Britain, and refused to cancel or deliver up the bonds paid with the public money. He disregarded the presbytery, would not attend the synod when notified, and, as though the church were his property, applied to Boston for a minister. The synod (in 1726) pronounced his conduct unjustifiable, and wrote to the ministers in Boston not to countenance him till he gave satisfaction.
Anderson at once desired liberty to remove from New York, and the congregation was allowed to call another minister in an orderly manner, as soon as they paid the arrears now due.
He was called, September 24, 1726, to Donegal, on the Susquehanna, and accepted it. His removal did not heal the difficulty: the arrears were not paid till 1730. The synod gave leave to his friends, Blake, Leddel, and Inglis, to "join as to sacramental communion" with any of our neighbouring congregations.
Application was made by Andrew Galbraith to Newcastle Presbytery, August 1,1721, for supplies for Chicken's Longus, (Chiquesalunga;) and Gillespie and Cross were sent. Rowland Chambers renewed the request next year. In May, 1723, Conestoga applied; but Hutcheson failed to go, being unable to obtain a guide thither; in the fall, he and McGill were sent to Dunngaal. In 1725, Donegal obtained one-sixth of Boyd's time; and he served them till they called Anderson. He was installed the last Wednesday in August, 1727. In September, 1729, he gave every fifth Sabbath to the people on Swatara, and joined the congregation of Derry.
The Presbytery of Donegal held its first meeting October 11, 1732, and consisted of Anderson, Boyd, Orr, and Bertram. As early as September, 1735, the emigration to Virginia attracted the attention of Thomson, of Chestnut Level; and he proposed to Donegal Presbytery to employ an itinerant in Virginia. The overture was "simply approven;" that is, fully, as in Romans xii. 8:—"He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity,"—without stint or abatement: so they concurred in his plan heartily. Each year brought up the case of the back-parts of Virginia; and in April, 1738, the presbytery approved of the plan of John Caldwell to ask the synod to send a deputation to wait on the Virginia government and solicit its favour in behalf of our interest there. The synod wrote to the governor, and sent Anderson to bear the letter, providing supplies for his pulpit, and allowing for his expenses suitable to his design."
Caldwell was a member of Thomson's congregation, having come with four single sisters from county Antrim. He removed to Frederick county; then to Campbell and Prince Edward's. He was the father of Caldwell, of Elizabethtown, and of Major John Caldwell, of Virginia, who was shot by a Tory during the Revolution. John C. Calhoun was his great-grandson.
Anderson performed his mission satisfactorily. In April of the next year, the presbytery blamed him for having sent Dunlap from New England to Virginia without knowing any thing certainly of his ecclesiastical standing. This was probably the Rev. Robert Dunlap, who settled in Maine.
He married
[From his family Bible: copied by Mr. Hazard]
Mistresse Suitt Garland, daughter of Sylvester Garland, of the Head of Apoquinimy, February, 1712-13. She died December 24, 1736. He married Rachel Wilson, December 27, 1737. His son, Garland Anderson, was one of the witnesses of Andrews's will, in 1742. He married Jane, daughter of Peter Chevalier, of Philadelphia: he died early. His daughter Elizabeth married Samuel Breeze, and resided in New York, a woman of great excellence.
Anderson died July 16,1740, probably on his return from a visit to Opequhon, and just in the trying emergency when he was needed to stand in the breach. A worthless fellow sought to bring a reproach on him after his death, and the presbytery promptly came forward with a declaration that he was high in esteem for circumspection, diligence, and faithfulness as a Christian minister.f
[His correspondence with Principal Sterling, of Glasgow, is preserved in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.]
Blair, in his answer to "The Querists," speaks of him as pressing forward, at Fagg's Manor, to dispute with Whitefield, almost before he had finished preaching. He afterwards, at Newcastle, proposed to have some conference with Whitefield, but was told that, since he and his friends had made their queries public, he could have no communication with him except through the press.
His brother, the Hon. John Anderson,
[Albany Documents. "A Scotch Presbyterian who had the command of a ship of the Darien Company, and enriched himself by plundering it." Rev. Mr. Henderson, of Dover, Delaware, wrote thus to England, to involve Governor Hunter in trouble.]
of Perth Amboy, was made, in 1712, one of the Council of the Province, in place of William Pinhorne, Esq. Governor Hunter was obliged to excuse himself to the government at home for having displaced an obstinate Churchman to make way for a man of sense who was a Dissenter. He died in March, 1736, aged seventy-three, being then President of the Council.
The Planting of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Virginia, James R. Graham, 1904
Mr. Gelston was followed by Rev. James Anderson, one of the most distinguished of the early Presbyterian ministers in America. Born and ordained in Scotland, he left there in 1709. After preaching for brief periods at different places, he became, in 1717, the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in the city of New York; but difficulties arising in his charge, he, in 1726, accepted a call to Donegal Presbytery; and eleven years thereafter (1737) we find him visiting Opecquon [VA]. This visit was made memorable by the fact that either in that year, or within the next two years, he organized our "old Opecquon Church."
From 1735 the claims of the settlers on this side the Potomac engaged the attention of the Presbytery at every session. At first, however, a serious bar to its efforts was found in the hostility of the Virginia Government to the worship of the "Dissenters." East of the Ridge they were persistently persecuted; and west of it they were barely tolerated. Therefore, in 1738, the Synod, at the request of Presbytery, sent a deputation, with a letter to Governor Gooch, soliciting his favor on behalf of the Presbyterian interests of the colony. This action was taken at the instance of John Caldwell, a Ruling Elder of Chestnut Level, Pa., and the great grandfather of John Caldwell Calhoun, of South Carolina. The Rev. Mr. Anderson was deputed to bear the letter of the Synod. He was kindly received by the Governor, and his mission resulted very satisfactorily.
A History of Lancaster County, H.M.J. Klein, 1926
James Anderson, who was the first regular pastor of Donegal Presbyterian church, made his home in Donegal from 1727 to his death, 1740. He was born in Scotland in 1678, and had been in the ministry in America since 1709. He was one of the founding members of Newcastle Presbytery in 1716, was later in a New York charge, and accepted call to Donegal in 1726.
He was a man of broad mind, and was not long in Donegal before he saw that distorted matters of land-title needed straightening, and he gave them his careful inteligent attention. He himself purchased a tract of 305 acres in 1727 from Peter Allen, an Indian trader. It was not until 1737 that he straightened the titles of some of the land holdings of some of his congregation, "which then included nearly the whole population of Donegal township." He frequently rode to Philadelphia to plead the cause of the people with the Provincial Government in the differences over land-titles, and finally cleared the disputes to general satisfaction. This accomplished, Rev. Anderson gave some thought to his own affairs.
He had for ten years lived on a farm he had exchanged with William Wilkins for the Peter Allen tract he had bought. The Wilkins tract was along the river, and upon part of it the borough of Marietta developed. But when Rev. James Anderson was able to think of his own affairs, in 1737, he only saw in his river-farm the possibility of establishing a ferry. He applied for a patent for a ferry, but was unable to get it for some time, owing to the objections of John Wright, who then had a ferry three miles further down the river. However, he secured the right eventually; and it was probably because of that ferry patent that his son held to the land, and also his grandson, James (3d), and great-grandson, James (4th), who founded the town of Waterford in 1804, which town was merged with another ultimately to form the borough of Marietta.
McClintock Biblical Encyclopedia
ANDERSON, JAMES - a Presbyterian minister, was born in Scotland, Nov. 17, 1678, and was ordained by the Irvine Presbytery Nov. 17, 1708, with a view to his settlement in Virginia, America. He sailed March 6, 1709, and arrived in the Rappahannock April 22; but the state of things not warranting his stay, he came northward, and was received by the Presbytery on Sept. 20, and settled at Newcastle. In 1714 he was directed to supply the people of Kent County monthly on a Sabbath, and also to spend a Sabbath at Cedar Creek, in Sussex. In 1717 he was called to labor in New York city. Public worship was held in the City Hall. Troubles arose, and the Synod in 1726 pronounced his conduct unjustifiable, and wrote to the ministers in Boston not to countenance him. He was called, Sept. 24, 1726, to Donegal, on the Susquehanna, and accepted. In September, 1729, he gave every fifth Sabbath to the people on the Swatara, and joined the congregation of Derry. The Presbytery of Donegal held its first meeting on Oct. 11, 1732, and Anderson was one of the four members. In 1738 the Presbytery sent Anderson to wait on the Virginia government and solicit its favor in behalf of their interest there. He performed his mission satisfactorily. Mr. Anderson died July 16, 1740. He was a man; high in esteem for circumspection, diligence, and faithfulness as a Christian minister. See Webster, Hist. of the Presb. Church in Amer. (1857); Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, 3, 19.
Enclyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church in the USA, Alfred Nevin, 1884
He [James Anderson] was born in Scotland, November 17th, 1678, and was ordained by Irvine Presbytery, November 17th, 1708, with a view to his settlement in Virginia. He arrived in the Rappahannock, April 22d, 1709, but the state of things not warranting his stay, he came northward, and was received by the Presbytery, September 20th. He settled at New Castle, Del.
In 1717 he accepted a call to a congregation in New York City, which, at the time was worshiping in the City Hall.
September 24th, 1726, he received a call to Donegal, on the Susquehanna, and accepted it. He was installed the last Wednesday in August, 1727. In September, 1729, he began to give every fifth Sabbath to the people on Swatara, and joined the congregation of Derry.
In April, 1738, at the behest of John Caldwell, the founder of Cub Creek Congregation in Charlotte Co., Virginia, the Presbytery decided to ask the Synod to send a deputation to wait on the Virginia Government, and solicite its favor in behalf of Presbyterianism there. The Synod wrote to the Governor, and sent Mr. Anderson to bear the letter, providing supplies for his pulpit, and allowing for his expenses "in a manner suitable to his design." This mission he performed satisfactorily.
He died July 16th, 1743. At the time of his death, he owned a farm of 305 acres well stocked and three slaves. He was a charter member of Donegal Presbytery October 11, 1732, and was Moderator of the Synod of Philadelphia May 23, 1739.
February, 1713 he married Suit Garland, daughter of Sylvester Garland of the head of Apoquiminy, by whom eleven children. She died December 24, 1836 and he married Rebecca Crawford of Donegal, Pennsylvania.
Authentic history of Donegal Presbyterian Church, J.L. Ziegler, 1902
The first pastor of Donegal, "The Rev. James Anderson
was born in Scotland, November 17th, 1678; he was ordained
by Irvine Presbytery, November 17th, 1708; he arrived in this
country April 22d, 1709; he settled in Newcastle; he was
called to supply a church in the city of New York, where he
remained until 1726; he was called, September 24th, to Donegal
on the Susquehanna and accepted it; he was installed the last
Wednesday in August. 1727." — (Webster's History.)
"The Donegal Presbytery was organized and held its first
meeting at Donegal, Oct. nth, 1732, and consisted of Messrs.
Anderson, Boyd, Orr, Thompson of Chestnut Level, and he
proposed to Donegal Presbytery to employ an itinerant in Vir-
ginia. In April, 1738, Anderson was sent to Virginia, bearing
a letter to the government of Virginia soliciting its favor in be-
half of our interests. The Synod provided supplies for his pulpit
and allowed for his expenses in a manner suitable to his design.
Anderson performed his mission satisfactorily. He married
Mistress Suit Garland, daughter of Sylvester Garland, of the
head of Apoquinomy, February, 1712-13. She died December
24th, 1736. He married Rebecca Crawford, Dec. 27th, 1737."
— (Webster's History, page 332.)
Anderson died July 16th, 1740. (He and his wife, Suit, are
buried at Donegal, grave No. 127.) " His son, Garland
Anderson, was one of the witnesses of Andrew's will (Jedediah) in
1742. He married Jane, daughter of Peter Chevalier, of
Philadelphia; he died early. His daughter, Elizabeth, married
Samuel Breeze and resided in New York; a woman of great
excellence." — ( Webster' s History. )
The list of the Rev. James Anderson's children is from a
mutilated leaf of his family bible. In his will the names of
James, Susannah and Thomas alone occur, but he refers to all
his children. He left a large estate, including the present site of
Marietta, the ferry called "Anderson's Ferry" and land on the
opposite side of the river.
The last will and testament of James Anderson of Donegal in Lancaster County.
I give and bequeath to my dearly
beloved wife, Rebecca Anderson, the half of this plantation
whereon I now live, including the house, barn, run to or about
the place where Bank's house and improvements was, with some
land at the riverside bottom, during her natural life; also I give
and bequeath to her assigns forever the third part of my
moveable estate and ye use and services of the negro wench
Dinah while she and Dinah lives.
In the next place, I give and
bequeath to my son James the other half of this plantation to
him, his heirs and assigns forever, to the possession of which
he is to enter when at age or marries, and that piece of land
over the river opposite to the place I also give to him and his
heirs forever. I have payd and have a warrant in lien under
the hand of Receiver General and paid for the patent to Mr.
Peter's to him and his heirs and assigns forever. I also give
and bequeath to him the negro man Pline to him and his heirs
and assigns forever; this in the meantime my will is that he pay
one-half of the mortgage and quit rent yearly till all the mortgage
be payed.
Item: I give to my daughter Susannah the negro
wench Bell to her and her heirs.
Item: I give to my dearly
beloved wife Rebecca my son Thomas as her own son and child
to be brought up by her as her own in the way she shall see
cause. Tho' my desire is that if possible that he may be brought
up to learning and particularly to the ministry, and that half of
the plantation that I have left to my wife during her natural life
fall in after her descease to him and his heirs and assigns forever.
The remains of my estate, if there be any, my will is that it be
equally divided between all my children.
Item: My will that
if any of my children die without heirs that is hereby left to
them shall be equally divided between all the rest.
Item: I leave my said dearly beloved wife sole and only executrix of this
my last will.
Item: I give to my niece Susannah Rradford
those bills and bonds which belonged to my former fatherinlaw,
now in the hands of Mr. Sherer of Newcastle.
Ja. Anderson.
This 14th day of July, 1740, witness William Allison, Robert
Allison."
Be it remembered, that on the 22d of July, Anno Dom:
1740, the last will and testament of James Anderson, Dec'd, was
proven in due form of law and administration with the Testament
of the Said Dec'd annexed was granted unto Rebecca Anderson
and Garland Anderson (the executrix having renounced) they
having first given Bond well and truly to administer the Said
Deceased's Estate and bring an inventory thereof unto the regis-
ter's office in Lancaster County on or before the 24th day of
August next and also to render an account of Said Administra-
tion on or before the 24th day of July, 1741.
All his children were his first wife's. His son Garland be-
comes one of his administrators, although not mentioned in his
will as a legatee.
Historic Paxton, Helen Bruce Wallace, 1913, p99
Rev. James Anderson
1726-1732
In the obscure records of Paxton's earliest days we first focus definitely on the name of Rev. James Anderson, of Donegal, who, after 1726, gave one-fifth of his time to Derry and
Paxton. He was a Scotchman, born in 1678, educated in the University of Edinburgh, ordained by the Presbytery of Irvine and sailed for America in 1709. Landing in Virginia, his
Calvinistic ways took not kindly to the gay Cavaliers. He comes over the border, is pastor at New Castle, Delaware, but later is pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of
New York City, built in Wall Street in 1719. At his own request he was transferred to Donegal in 1726, and thus came into touch with this church.
Mr. Anderson was of the old-time Covenanter type and his rigid views of life and discipline were none too well received by his New York flock. According to an old
historian he was a man of talents, learning and piety, a graceful and popular preacher, sternly orthodox, and domineering of disposition. Like Mr. Elder, he
was bitterly opposed to Whitefield. One one occasion, after the great revivalist finished preaching, Parson Anderson rushed furiously to the stand
to refute him but was restrained.
Mr. Anderson severed his connection with Paxton and Derry in 1732 - according to Pastor WSilliam Downey's History he was never more than a stated supply - but
did not die until 1740, being buried at old Donegal.
He had two wives, the first Mistress Suit Garland, daughter of Sylvester Garland, who died in 1736 after twenty-two years of married life. The following
year, almost to the day, he married Rebecca Crawford.
The will of Parson Anderson gives a curious picture of the times as we find him bequeathing to his beloved wife Rebecca "ye use & services of
ye negro wench Dinah." He also bequeaths her his son Thomas to be raised by her as her own child and specially desires that "he be brought up to learning
& particularly to the ministry."
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Copyright © 2003, Mary S. Van Deusen