(Chapter flow:)
ITS ORIGIN AND TOWN LIMITS
TOWN LIMITS
GROWTH, CHANGE OF NAME, ETC.
MERCANTILE ASPECT
MANUFACTURING
TRADES ETC.
SHIPPING INTERESTS
EASTERN SHORE STEAMBOAT CO.
SHIP BUILDING ETC.
HOTELS, LIVERY STABLES, ETC.
PHYSICIANS
LAWYERS
POST OFFICE
PRINTING OFFICES
SOCIAL ASPECT, ETC.
MORAL ASPECT
TEMPERANCE CAUSE
SCHOOLS
CHURCHES
Note: In duplicating this material for publishing on The Pocomoke Public Eye we have made minor adjustments to correct some of the spelling, punctuation, etc. We believe the errors were not in Rev. Murray's original writing but occurred in the process of formatting the material to a digital format for viewing online.
CHURCHES (CONTINUED)
In 1844, the Presbyterian Church, in New Town, was
built, and on the 1st day of January, 1845, it was dedicated
to the worship of Almighty God. The reader will be
informed that the Presbyterian organization in New Town
is a branch of the Pitt's Creek Presbyterian Church at
Beaver Dams, which was organized by the Rev. Francis
Makemmie as early, probably, as A. D. 1683 or 1684.
At this primitive church, the Presbyterians of the sur-
rounding country, worship in the days of yore. When
in the course of time the population of New Town
increased and the members of the Presbyterian Church
became more numerous in the town and in its immediate
vicinity, the necessity of the situation demanded a house
of worship in New Town, and hence the present estab-
lishment in 1845. The Pitt's Creek Presbyterian Church
at Beaver Dams and New Town is a unit in name, each
having their names upon the same church record. They
are a unit in doctrine, in church polity, and in every
interest that constitutes one church; the pastor of one is
the pastor of the other, and they all, in common, are
responsible for his support. The Presbyterian Church in
New Town is built of the best material, and in work-
manlike manner. It has good proportions and is kept in
the neatest style.
It stands on a small elevation on a beautiful lot on
Market street, and presents, to the passer by a picturesque
appearance. Nearly all of those who aided in its erection
have passed away. Chief among contributors were Handy
Mills, David Smith, Jacob Boston, Stephen Hargis, John
S. Stevenson, James T. Dickinson and Thomas W.
Hargis. This church has been endowed with some
legacies. The venerable Handy Mills bequeathed to it
two farms, worth at that day, probably, seven or eight
thousand dollars, and David Smith also bequeathed to it a
valuable farm. The church in New Town and the ground
upon which it stands cost four thousand dollars. It has a
beautifully located parsonage which cost thirty-two hundred
dollars. The church owns a beautiful cemetery on the
old Winter Quarter farm. The cemetery cost about eight
hundred dollars. The whole property of the Pres-
byterian Church in Pocomoke City, cost eight thou-
sand dollars. The membership of this church including
Pitt's Creek is one hundred and ten. The church
in Pocomoke City has a fine Sabbath School with
fourteen officers and teachers, and the names of seventy
pupils on the school roll, and fifty in average attendance,
and three hundred volumes in the library. I will say as a
matter of justice to this school, that it lost, by removal,
during the year 1880, twenty-six scholars, which has
detracted from its average standing in numbers. The
running expenses of the church and Sabbath School in
Pocomoke City annually, including pastors salary,
benevolent collections and incidental expenses amounts
to 1300 dollars.
There is an item of history connected with Pitts Creek
Church that will be interesting to the reader. The facts
are these. The original church was built by Francis
Makemmie the pioneer of Presbyterianism in this country
while it was yet subject to the dominion of Great Britain,
consequently it was among the first Presbyterian churches
built in this country. Again, Mrs. Holden, of Accomac Co.,
Va., the daughter of Francis Makemmie, left a legacy
to the church at Pitt's Creek, the interest of which is
annually appropriated to the support of the gospel in said
church. The pastors who have served this church from
its organization so far as I have any means of ascertaining,
are as follows : first, Francis Makemmie. How long Mr.
Makemmie was pastor of this church, I have no data upon
which to fix the term of his pastorate, and indeed, I have
no record of any pastor of this church, from the days of
Francis Makemmie, until the time when the Rev. Samuel
McMaster was its pastor. I can only say that I have had
dates of his pastorate from 1795 to 1801, and there the
record stops until 1818. It may be of interest to the
reader, to be informed that the Rev. Samuel McMaster
was the grandfather of Samuel S. and Dr. John T. B.
McMaster. In 1818, the Rev. S. Sanders was pastor of
Pitt's Creek Church. How long Mr. Sanders was in the
pastorate is unknown.
The Rev. Thomas B. Balch D. D. succeeded Mr.
Sanders in the pastorate, but dates are wanting to show
the time when he entered and retired from it. But
this much I can say of him, that the name of Dr. Balch
was a household word in the community. In 1831, the
Rev. Cornelius Mustard was pastor of the church. After
Mr. Mustard retired, then followed in succession, the
Rev's. J. J. Graff, James M. Olmstead, B. G. McPhail,
Elkanah Mackey, William D. Mackey, Joesph L. Polk,
L. P. Bowen and James Conway. Mr. Conway has but
recently resigned the pastorate of this church, having had
a call to serve another church in the state of Delaware.
Consequently the church is without a pastor for the time
being. The above list comprises the names of all the '
ministers, so far as I have any knowledge or means of
ascertaining, who have been pastors of the church from its
organization to the present time. The Presbyterian
Church in Pocomoke City is quite popular and
prosperous.
CONCLUDES NEXT SATURDAY HERE AT THE POCOMOKE PUBLIC EYE.
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