responsibilities in the general
oversight of the churches, and may review, confirm or reverse the decision
of the presbyteries. The General Assembly, which is the highest court of
appeal, is constituted from the synods, and its decision is final. In the
Presbyterian church all the ministers are of equal rank; the moderator of
the General Assembly, the great tribunal of the church, is merely a
presiding officer, and has authority only during its session. It will then
be seen that eminence in the church is attained only by virtue of talent
and piety.The Church of
Scotland had its origin with the reformation, about 1527, and fifty years
later, the Presbyterian polity was introduced into the country by Andrew
Melville, who had studied the workings of the system at Geneva. Its
introduction, and the teachings of John Knox, were opposed by the King and
the priesthood, but many of the nobility embraced the cause of the people.
But the Stuart kings hated the Presbyterian church because it was in its
very nature independent of the crown and they aimed to make the Episcopal
church the church of Scotland, and compel obedience to their demands. They
desired to establish in Scotland the same form of church government as had
been established in England, in which the king is the head of the church,
and under him in their order are the descending grades of the clergy, from
arch-bishops down through a host of minor officials to the laity. Thus to
the king, whatever his character or fitness may be, all the clergy and
laity are bound in obedience.
But the system introduced into
Scotland by John Knox and his followers held the very opposite view. They
proclaimed an equality of the clergy; that Christ, and not the king or the
Pope of Rome was the supreme head of the church, and that the Holy
Scriptures, and not the decrees of bishops and councils, are the only rule
of faith and practice.
Notwithstanding the opposition of
the king and his adherents, the Presbyterians increased in numbers and
influence, attaining such strength that it was not safe to attack them
openly. James VI of Scotland who afterwards became king of England, was
intent upon the restoration of Episcopacy in the former country, and was
able to enforce the passage of laws which made the Episcopal church, the
only church recognized by law in Scotland. His son, Charles I, went still
further, and attempted to force the liturgy of the Church of England upon
the Presbyterians of Scotland, and established a set of canons which
abolished the control which kirk sessions and presbyteries had held in
ecclesiastical affairs.
These measures were resisted by the
multitude, and those who were opposed to them entered into a combination
known as the "Solemn League and Covenant," which was generally signed
throughout Scotland, and which bound its supporters to resist all measures
tending toward the establishment of prelacy. They lent their aid to the
measures which resulted in the overthrow of the Stuarts, and the
establishment of the Commonwealth.
After the restoration in 1660,
Charles II endeavored to force the Episcopal form of church government
upon Scotland. An Order in Council, Oct. 1, 1662, commanded that all
ministers who had not received presentations from lay patrons and
ordination at the hands of bishops, should be removed from parishes, and
their adherents were forbidden to attend upon their ministry, expecting
thereby to compel the obedience of all the Presbyterian clergy in
Scotland. But the consequence was that about three hundred and fifty
ministers, about one-third of all in Scotland, resigned their churches,
choosing poverty rather than renunciation of their faith.
The Parliament commanded the Solemn
League and Covenant to be burned at the Cross of Edinburgh, and it was
prohibited, under pain of death, to attend upon the ministry of those
clergymen who adhered to the Covenant, and the most brutal measures were
taken to compel obedience. The exiled ministers were compelled to hold
their services among the mountains and on barren moors in places well
known to their followers, who went armed to the places of meeting, where
they could not easily be followed or surprised by the soldiers who were
sent to disperse the congregations.
In those unhappy times there arose a
custom which is still followed in a few churches in this vicinity. The
sacrament was observed in the open air, and as many of the communicants
came from a distance, some of them would not be known to many of the
congregation, and it was necessary to devise some expedient to distinguish
those who were entitled to receive the sacrament, as the country abounded
with spies and informers. On the day before the service the minister with
the elders stood in front of the congregation, the applicants passed
before them in single file, and to each, when identified by one of the
elders, was presented a small metal disk, called a "token," which entitled
the holder to receive the sacrament, and thus the intrusion of
unauthorized persons was prevented. This is the origin of the use of
"tokens," and it might seem that a custom with such deep historic interest
should not have been discontinued.
The Covenanters, or as they were
often called from one of their leaders, the Cameronians, were not rebels
against the laws, and only asked leave to worship God according to the
dictates of their own consciences, but they were treated as if their views
were intended to destroy religion and society, to be exterminated by fire
and sword. Between 1661 and 1688, it has been computed that out of a
population of Scotland not exceeding a million, sixteen thousand persons
"suffered for the faith." Men, women and children were put to death
without any form of trial, and in cruel and treacherous ways.
Among the many tales which have come
down from those terrible days is one related by a minister of Covenanting
ancestry in this vicinity which we have never seen in print:
During the times of the persecution
in Scotland, little bands of peopie used to assemble for worship among the
hills, and one day word was brought to a small company of these faithful
people that the soldiers were coming. They all fled among the bushes,
creeping around the hills, when the leader heard the pursuers very near.
He raised his eyes and prayed in these words, "Oh Father, hide Thou us in
thy plaidie." Just then a heavy mist arose, and in the darkness they
escaped.
The last person of eminence to
suffer was Rev. James Renwick, who was executed on the 17th of February,
1688. He was a clergyman of great eloquence, and of exemplary life. His
name is held in reverence among the Covenanters as a martyr to the faith,
and the editor of this volume has discovered among the Covenanting
families of Ryegate and Barnet, the names of forty-seven persons who were
named for him, and many for Daniel or Donald Cargill, as well as other
worthies of the times of the persecution.
The Covenanting churches of Ryegate
and Barnet are the lineal descendants of the Covenanters of Scotland two
hundred and fifty years ago, and there have been among them many who would
have died for their faith as bravely as did their ancestors in the times
of the persecution.
At the revolution in 1688, freedom
of conscience was granted to all, and the Presbyterian church was declared
to be the national church of Scotland, and the Episcopal church that of
England. But there was a small body among the Covenanters who felt that
the revolution had not gone far enough in not recognizing the Solemn
League and Covenant, and declined to take oaths in support of the
government.
The habit of independent thinking
which Calvinism inspires has made Scotland what it is and has transformed
one of the most turbulent countries in Europe into a nation whose
influence in the world has been out of all proportion to its size or
population.
But this independence of thought led
to a division in the national church. At the reformation the nobility
seized upon a large part of the lands and revenues which had belonged to
the church, and assumed the burden of supporting the clergy of the
reformed faith. The owners of the land in a parish claimed the right to
nominate the clergyman maintained at their expense. This was called
"patronage," and as the patrons were often men of widely different views
from the members of the churches, they nominated, in many cases, very
unfit men, and men of dissolute life were placed in the pulpit, the courts
deciding that the presbyteries could not refuse to ordain men thus
presented. In some cases the appointments were so obnoxious that the
military had to be called.
upon to enforce the ordination and
the minister was left to preach to empty pews. This system was denounced
by many excellent men, and in consequence of some very unworthy persons
being thus obtruded into the ministry, Dr. Ebenezer Erskine of Stirling,
in a discourse before the Synod of Fife in 1737, denounced the system with
great earnestness and power. For this he was ordered to be rebuked for
slandering the church, and this sentence being confirmed, on his appeal,
by the General Assembly, he with three others in 1733, left the
established church, and formed a separate communion called the Associate
Presbytery. This communion which became very prosperous, and drew
thousands from the established church, was generally known as the Seceder
Church. The United Presbyterian church at Ryegate Corner was formed by
ministers of the Associate Presbytery, and bore the name till 1858. Mr.
Miller often speaks of that church as the "Seceder" church, thus recalling
here in Rye-gate a controversy whose entire history was in Scotland. As
the cause of the disruption had no existence in America, members of the
established church who settled here, usually connected themselves with
this church.
In 1747, a schism arose in this body
as to the lawfulness of accepting a clause in an oath which the law
required should be taken by the burgesses, or magistrates, of the larger
towns. One party held that taking this oath was unlawful, as it implied
the approval of a civil establishment with all its evils. Those who
thought thus left the Associate church and formed another body called the
General Associate Synod. These latter were called the Anti-Burghers, and
the former the Burghers. Some of the early settlers of Ryegate and Barnet
presented certificates from the General Associate churches. Both these
bodies prospered, and were at variance with each other. But in process of
time these dissenting bodies began to approximate toward each other, and
the burgess oath being repealed at the close of the wars of Napoleon, the
two bodies were re-united under the title of the United Secession church.
This name was afterwards changed to the United Presbyterian church, in
consequence of the accession of another body, called the Relief church.
This was a further secession from the established church in 1753, by some
clergymen who refused to assist in the ordination of certain ministers
whom they considered as unworthy of a place in the ministry. They rejected
the idea of an established church altogether, and formed a synod called
the Relief, that is, relief from the exactions and tyranny of the
presbyteries. This became a very influential body and its union with the
United Secession church was brought about by a course of events which
removed the small differences between them. John Park and wife, John McLam
and wife and others were members in Scotland of the Relief church.
Meanwhile a great controversy was
going on in the established church, which led to a disruption in 1842,
under the lead of the celebrated Dr. Thomas Chalmers, and Dr. Thompson,
out of which grew the Free Church of Scotland. Many of the later corners
to Ryegate were from the Free church. In 1904, this body combined with the
United Presbyterian church, to form the United Free Church of Scotland.
The various divisions and
subdivisions of the Presbyterian church in America are, generally, outside
of our range of inquiry. It is enough to say that in 1858, a union was
formed between the Associate Presbyterian synod, to which the Ryegate
church belonged, and the Associate Reformed synod, under the title of the
United Presbyterian church of America.
The Reformed Presbyterian church,
known as Covenanters, had no independent organization in America after
1782, but its affairs were managed by a committee of the Reformed
presbytery in Scotland. In the latter year, the Reformed Presbyterian
church of the United States was formed by Revs. McKinney, King, and
Gibson, the latter of whom, lately arrived from Ireland, was for many
years settled in Ryegate. The ordination, in 1804, at Ryegate, of Rev. S.
B. Wylie, was the first ordination of a Covenanting minister in America.
In 1808, the synod of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United
States was constituted.
In 1833, a division arose in this
body upon the subject of the elective franchise, and a separate
organization, bearing the same name, was formed. This decision was
reflected in Ryegate by the formation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church
at South Ryegate, and was generally distinguished from the parent body by
the title of New School Presbyterians, locally called the "New Lights."
In this hasty survey no attempt has
been made to indicate the theological differences between these branches
of the Presbyterian churches.
The first religious service held in
Ryegate was by Rev. Peter Powers of Newbury, and probably in the year
1774. Mr. Powers was a Presbyterian, and the Congregational church at
Newbury was organized in 1764, upon a basis which was, in part at least,
Presbyterian. Mr. Powers preached frequently in the town, and baptized
several children. He was highly esteemed, and in 1779, a deputation from
Ryegate sought to obtain his services for part of the time.
As the law stood for many years
after its settlement, the minister was paid by a tax, and so we must in
the absence of other authority, consult the town and company records for
such meagre information as they convey concerning early ecclesiastical
services in Ryegate.
At a meeting of the members of the
Company Aug. 17, 1784, it was voted, "That the inhabitants will join in
proportion with the inhabitants of Barnet toward supporting the gospel."
Six years later, March 9, 1790, the town appointed the selectmen and
elders a committee "to conclude what sum is necessary for the support of
the gospel." On the 10th of April the committee seem to have reported, and
40 bushels of wheat were voted "for the support of the gospel in town the
ensuing year." At the March meeting in the following year the town voted,
"not to raise anything for the support of the gospel or for a school."
This may not imply that there were to be neither school nor preaching that
year, but they were to be supported by subscription. No further action of
the town is reported till 1795, when it was voted, "to build a meeting
house." But the vote alone did not build it, as a special town meeting two
weeks later, "could come to no agreement about a meeting-house." But two
years later they seem to have come to some agreement, as the town voted,
March 14, 1797, "To build a meeting-house on John Orr’s land" (where the
town house now stands). On the 30th, James Henderson, William Neilson and
Alexander Miller were chosen a committee "to build a meeting-house 40 x
30, 20 ft. post." It was also voted "to raise a tax of nine pence on the
Pound on the List of 1796, ¾ of said tax to be paid in materials laid on
the spot and 1/4 in cash, to be paid into the town treasury by the 1st of
August, 1797." They also voted "a sufficient sum to pay the remaining part
of the expense of completing the outside and ground floor to be paid into
the town treasury in cash or wheat at cash prices."
On Dec. 20, 1797, the town voted "to
underpin the meeting-house with rough stone, John Gray to superintend the
work."
It would appear that the
meeting-house.was begun, but not finished, as the town on the 12th of
March two years later, "chose Andrew Brock and Hugh Gardner, a committee
to call on the meeting-house committee and find out why it (the
meeting-house) is not finished." No report of the committee is preserved,
but it would seem that the outside of the house was finished, and the
inside, in some sort made so it could be used. It is believed that it was,
during the first year provided with temporary benches, on which the
congregation sat. A very curious entry in the town records is that on Dec.
25, 1800, when the warning for a special town meeting contained as Article
5, "In regard to the meeting-house:
To see if some punishment cannot be
inflicted on persons who allow their dogs to follow them to meeting, or on
the dogs themselves." No action is reported, and we are left in the dark
as to the specific offence of the poor doggies. Whether they were
inattentive during the sermon or objected to the teachings of the
catechism, we shall never know. This meeting voted: "To complete the
meeting-house, and adopt a plan presented by James Whitelaw for the form
and order of the seats, except some alterations in the gallery." They also
voted to erect a porch at each end of the house and "that the mode for
raising money shall be by choosing a committee to appraise the pews—then
have a public vendue, each pew to be sold as high as the appraisal. James
Whitelaw, Benjamin Wright, Jabez Bigelow, John Cameron, James Henderson
and Josiah Page were chosen the committee.
The completed meeting house was built in the manner
common in New England at that day, and modeled after the one at Newbury,
which was long considered one of the best in the state. It was not as
large, or as elaborately constructed, and had no steeple. A diagram of the
interior, found among the Henderson papers, gives a very good idea of its
seating arrangements, and it will be observed that there was more vacant
space than our modern houses of worship have. There were twenty-six pews
on the main floor and twenty-eight in the gallery—the Newbury meeting
house having forty-eight pews on the ground floor and thirty-five in the
gallery. The pews were square.
On the 12th of January, 1801, the pews were sold at
public vendue, paid in notes, one-half due in one year, to be paid in cash
or wheat, the remainder in the next year, and paid in cash or beef cattle
at cash prices with interest. The purchasers and the prices paid for them
were as follows:
The gallery pews sold for $905.74; all the pews in the
house bringing $2082.24. The entire cost of the house we do not know.
The building thus completed was for many years the
principal building in Ryegate, and the center of the religious, political,
and social life of the town. From it all roads radiated, and the return of
the Sabbath brought almost the entire population of Ryegate within its
walls. It was the only large public room in town, and was used for many
purposes, the Presbyterians of Scotland, like the Puritans of New England,
attaching no special sanctity to the building in which public worship was
held. It was the occasion, not the place, which was sacred. It stood till
1855, when it was taken down and the town house erected on its site. The
annals of that building, during its life of nearly sixty years, would, if
they could be collected and properly arranged, form a most interesting
volume, and a record of the inhabitants of the town, such as no other book
could ever give. It is to be regretted that some one, familiar with the
subject, has not woven its history and associations into narrative.
No provision for warming the building in winter was
made for the first twenty years, and it was not until 1817, that measures
were taken for that purpose. At a special town meeting held on the 18th of
November, Alexander Miller, John Neilson and Robert Whitelaw were chosen a
committee "to get glass, repair the porches and the doors leading to the
west gallery, and put on corner boards, also to procure a good stove, one
knee, and 30 feet of large pipe." The cost of these improvements was
$73.62, raised by subscription, and to be paid in cash or wheat. In the
next year four gallery pews, whose owners were gone, dead, or unable to
pay, were sold at auction. The town records show that small repairs were
made from time to time for many years, and that not all the notes given in
1801 for pews, had been paid twenty years later. -
In 1805 the town voted: "To support the selectmen in
opposing persons who claim the Glebe lot." This was probably in opposition
to the action of the Episcopal church in claiming the church lands. What
result the action had is not preserved.
From the outset there was more or less friction about
the use of the house, between the two congregations by whom it was
occupied, and the matter had, more than once, to be settled in town
meeting. On the 14th of July, 1812, the town voted:
To appoint a committee of five persons, two of which to
belong to each society, and one to be neutral, whose business it shall be
to arrange the days on which each society shall occupy the meeting-house
in proportion to their interest in the same, three of whom shall be a
quorum, viz.:
one of each society, and the neutral one, whose powers
shall continue till the next March meeting, and no longer. John Gray and
James Henderson on the part of the Seceders, James Whitehill and Alexander
Miller on the part of the Covenanters, with Josiah Page as the neutral
were chosen.
The committee seems to have managed matters
successfully for a few years, but trouble seems again to have arisen, and
the following extracts show how it was decided:
"At a meeting of the Associate Congregation, Oct. 1,
1822, at Ebenezer Morrill’s house, a committee consisting of William
Neilson, James Henderson. James Whitelaw, William Gray and William Gibson
were appointed to confer with, and receive proposals from the Reformed
Congregation of the town, or of any persons claiming an interest in the
Meeting-house, the object being to apportion the use of the house in
proportion to ownership."
"Oct. 7, 1822. The
Reformed Congregation being informed that the Associate Congregation had
appointed their committee, met this day and made choice of Campbell Sym,
Alexander Miller, Walter Buchanan, John Harvey and John Hunter as a
committee on their part. They found that the share of the Meeting-house
owned by members of the Reformed Congregation was $863.03, and the portion
of the Associate Congregation was $476.83."
It being then found that the proportions of the house
owned by the members of each society would give its use for 33 Sabbaths in
each year to the Covenanters, and 19 to the Associate Congregation, it was
decided that "Mr.Milligan should improve the house 8 Sabbaths and Mr.
Ferrier 5 Sabbaths in each quarter, the committee to furnish wood, make
repairs, and take care of the house."
In 1825 the Associate Congregation erected a house of
worship of its own, leaving the old building to the Covenanters. In
January, 1826, a petition from 17 members of the latter congregation
petitioned a meeting for repairs to the house. Robert Whitelaw, Alexander
Miller, and John Nelson were chosen the committee and instructed to make
partial repairs— "patch the roof, fix the loose clapboards on the front of
the house, and put on what corner boards are wanting, raise the porches to
the house and repair the windows, to receive their pay out of such notes
in the hands of the treasurer as are collectable."
After the erection of a new church in 1850, the old
building was left to the town, and when it was taken down in 1855, had
become much dilapidated. The old building was sold to A. S. Miller, who
used a part of it in some out-building. It stood with its side to the road
the pulpit was on the North side of the house, with a broad aisle to a
large door which was in the middle of the front side. There was a sort of
stoop with an entrance at the west end, to an aisle which ran the length
of the church. The stairs to the galleries were in the body of the house.
As the services of the earlier ministers who preached
for any length of time in Ryegate were engaged and paid for by the town,,
it may be as
well to note here what we know of them. The details are
very meagre, and, probably a number of clergymen preached here for longer
or shorter periods, whose names have not come down to us. Rev. Thomas
Good-willie, about 1863, .prepared for Miss Hemenway an account of the
Associate church, from which we copy the following:
"Before, during and after the Revolutionary war,
several Scotch clergymen came, and preached occasionally, and sometimes
administered baptism. Gen. Whitelaw, on his way to Ryegate in 1773, called
on Rev. Thomas Clark, a Scotch clergyman of the Associate church, settled
in Salem, N. Y., and Col. Harvey, on his way to Barnet in 1774, called
also upon him, and to this clergyman John Gray of Ryegate traveled on foot
140 miles to obtain his services. He gave them a favorable answer April 8,
1775 and came and preached some time in Barnet and Ryegate, in the latter
part of the summer of that year. He revisited these towns several times
afterward, during the war. Rev. Hugh White, a Scotch clergyman, preached
in Ryegate at the end of 1776. Rev. Robert Annan preached in both towns in
1784, and returned next year. Rev. David Annan preached for some time in
1785.
Rev. John Huston was present with the session of Barnet
August 31, 1786, where the record says, "a petition was drawn up by the
elders of Barnet and Ryegate, and referred to the Associate Presbytery, to
sit at Peterboro, Sept. 27, 1786, earnestly desiring one of their number
might be sent to preach, visit and catechise the two congregations and
ordain elders at Barnet. Accordingly the Presbytery appointed Mr. Huston
for that purpose."
He goes on to say that Mr. Huston came in October,
1786, and remained till May, returning in October. In .the Barnet session
records his name is spelled Houston, and from the Whitelaw correspondence
he seems to have been a nephew of that William Houston at Glasgow who was
the business head of the Company in Scotland.
The town meeting on March 17, 1789 voted a committee to
appoint preaching and settle with the minister agreeable to the Acts of
the state. John Gray, Andrew Brock, William Neilson, James Henderson and
Hugh Gardner were the committee.
At an adjourned town meeting held May 30, 1798, it was
Voted; "That the money due for pine timber from the
Glebe lot be paid for preaching done after this date, Mr. Goodwillie to
have one-third and Mr. Forsythe two-thirds."
Voted; "That the money to pay Mr. Forsythe for
preaching through the summer be paid by subscription when the timber money
is done."
On the 17th of September the town voted:
"To pay Mr. Wm. Forsythe $6 per week for the time he
has preached to date, out of the pine money.
To hire Mr. Forsythe, and settle him as minister for
the town, as soon as he produces proper credentials. 40 yeas, 6 nays."
Voted; "To pay Mr. Forsythe $200 for the year ensuing,
and increase his salary as the grand list increases, till it amounts to
$250."
Mr. Forsythe declined the offer, but the town seemed
desirious to retain him, as at a meeting on the 13th of November it was
Voted; "To pay Mr. Forsythe $200 the 1st year, and let
the salary advance with the list till it amounts to £80 per annum."
This offer was also declined, and there appears nothing
further in the town records about the man. Mr. Miller, after transcribing
the votes of the town, says—"I know nothing about him, think he was a
Covenanter." We are more fortunate. Some letters of his, (in which it
appears that while living here he taught school) among the Whitelaw
papers, led the editor to inquire about him. Through the kindness of Prof.
J. B. Calkin, L. L. D., for more than thirty years principal of the Nova
Scotia Normal School at Truro, we learn that Mr. Forsythe was from
Scotland, and educated there, and ordained by a College of Lay Elders in
the United States, becoming in 1800, pastor of the Associate Presbyterian
congregation at Cornwallis, in which he continued till his death in 1840.
Dr. Calkin prepared an historic sketch of the church at
Cornwallis, in which he says that Mr. Forsythe, "in addition to the care
of his congregation, taught a private school, in which he won a high
reputations and his work was of priceless value to the community."
"Mr. Forsythe was a sturdy, decided man, with distinct
views of his own, and was possessed of the full courage of his
convictions, ready to state what he believed in no unmistakable terms."
Dr. Calkin, who is a native of Cornwallis, is one of
the few persons living who remember this first minister of Ryegate. We
speak of him as the first minister, because he was the first who, while
preaching in Ryegate, was actually living here at the time.
In his letters to Gen. Whitelaw, he appears to have
regretted having left Ryegate, and it would seem, in the light of his
subsequent career, that the town should have retained the services of so
valuable a man. A printed sermon of his, in pamphlet form, delivered
before the "Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Harmony Lodge, at
Danville," June 25, 1798, is also interesting as being, as far as we know,
the first printed publication of a resident of Ryegate. A copy is in the
library of the Vermont Historical Society.
At a special town meeting held Sept. 4, 1799, it was
voted to give Rev. William Gibson, who had been preaching here for a few
weeks, a call to settle. Those voting in the affirmative were:
John Cameron, William Neilson, 2d, John Smith, David Reid, Jonathan
Gates, James Neilson, Hugh Gardner, Campbell Sym, Alexander Holmes,
William Craig, Jr., John Orr, James Taylor, James Aikin, Samuel Ingalls,
James Whitehill, James McKinley, Robert Hall, John Hunter, Josiah Page,
Alexander Miller, Hugh Laughlin, John Johnson, George Ronalds, John Park,
William Craig, Sr., John Harvey, John Dunn, John Holmes, Kimball Page. 29
Those voting Nay were:
Lieut. Wm. Neilson, John Gray, Samuel Johnson, Andrew Warden, Benjamin
Wright, Andrew Brock, William Johnson, James Whitelaw, Alexander Shields,
Jacob Page. 10
Seven others voted by proxy.
John Cameron, James Henderson and Josiah Page were
chosen a committee to wait on Mr. Gibson and receive his answer. At a town
meetting held Dec. 10th, the committee reported Mr. Gibson’s answer in the
affirmative. The above vote gives some idea of the relative strength of
the Covenanters and the "Seceder" or Associate Presbyterians. The March
meeting in 1800 voted "to support the minister this year by voluntary
subscription."
The annual meeting in March, 1801, voted to raise Mr.
Gibson’s salary by subscription. Alexander Miller was chosen to take the
subscription paper, one-half to be paid by Sept. 1, and the other half by
March 1, 1802. John Cameron, James Henderson, and William Neilson were
chosen a committee.
