When Pocomoke Was Young- A continuing weekly feature.

 

(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.