Neat Bit of Trivia For the Church History Nerds

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Backwoods Presbyterian

Backwoods Presbyterian

Puritanboard Amanuensis
I have always known my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather was a Presbyterian Minister but no one knew much about him. Well I had found a bit through the library at PTS but not too much more. I was searching on Google for something else (as is usually the case) and I came upon a Book called "West Virginia and Its People" which lists the more prominent families in the State's history. Well I ran into his name, Rev. David R. Preston, there and it listed a number of things I did not know previously.

1) He was a student and graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary from 1825-1828. (Studying under Archibald Alexander, Samuel Miller, and a young Charles Hodge for one year).

2) He served as a "home missionary" at the Naval Base in Pensacola, Florida right out of seminary.

3) Then from 1831-1835 was a "church planter" and was founding Pastor of what became the First Presbyterian Church, St. Joseph, Missouri.

4) After this he pastored the Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church in Abingdon, VA from 1835-1841. The cool thing about this pastorate was he was an "old-school" Presbyterian and kicked out the "New-school" part of the congregation.

5) He evidently had health problems and moved back to the family farm in what is now West Virginia and served as a Stated Supply at the Presbyterian church in Union, WV until his death in 1850.
 
Here's some more to explore:

Historical sketch of Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church, at Abingdon, Virginia, 1773-1948 /
by Mattie Rountree Stephenson
1948
104 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. [s.l. : s.n.,
US,KY BEREA COL KBE
US,MA AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOC AQM
US,NC APPALACHIAN STATE UNIV NJB
US,NC DUKE UNIV LIBR NDD
US,TX HOUSTON PUB LIBR TXN
US,TX UNIV OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN IXA
US,VA COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY VWM
US,VA EMORY & HENRY COL VEH
US,VA LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA, THE VIC
US,VA PRINCE WILLIAM PUB LIBR VPW
US,VA RANDOLPH COLLEGE VLR
US,VA ROANOKE CITY PUB LIBR RNC
US,VA UNION PRESBYTERIAN SEMINARY VUT
US,VA UNIV OF VIRGINIA VA@
US,VA VIRGINIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBR VG8
US,VA VIRGINIA TECH VPI


Woolwine, Mrs. Lewis, Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church : 1772-1972.
[Abingdon, Va. : Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church, 1972. 12 p.; maps; 22 cm.
US,FL VOLUSIA CNTY PUB LIBR FDB
US,NC APPALACHIAN STATE UNIV NJB

Clapp, W.B., The life of the Rev. James McChain : pastor of Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church, Abingdon, Virginia, 1841-1867. [Abingdon, Va.? : Sinking Springs Presbyterian Church, 2005. 31 p. ; 28 cm.
US,NC APPALACHIAN STATE UNIV NJB

The church itself, if still in existence, may have copies of at least the most recent published history.

James McChain papers, 1851, Archival Material, 0.04 cubic feet (1 folder)
The collection consists of a sermon delivered at the dedication of the Sinking Spring Presbyterian Church (Abingdon, Va.), September 19, 1851, which traces the history of the congregation to 1851.
Collection is held at COLUMBIA THEOL SEMINARY. PM me to get the archivist's email address or locate that on their web site.

Horvath, Sue, St. Joseph's Presbyterians, 1843-1993 : a history.
[St. Joseph, Mo. : s.n., 1993. 30 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
US,MO STATE HIST SOC OF MISSOURI MXM
US,PA PRESBYTERIAN HIST SOC
 
I know Sinking Spring is still there, it is unfortunately a PC(USA) church.

Thanks a bunch for that Wayne, you as usual, are the man.

---------- Post added at 01:04 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:46 AM ----------
books
 
Preston shows up well in a Google search ["Rev. David R. Preston", in quote marks], though there's a lot of duplication among the returned entries.

Does the Dunlap house in Union, WV still exist? Apparently Preston lived there and was responsible for several additions to the home.

If you are ever in St. Louis, drop by with time to browse through the Charleston Observer and/or the Christian Observer. Might be some things there about him.

Also, I do have at least a published history of Greenbrier Presbytery and will look there to see if any mention of him.
 
Wayne again with the awesomeness.

I browsed a little bit on the google books and found documentation that he was evidently involved with the court case in PA between the Old School-New School as an examiner for the Old School.
 
That might be the case that Samuel Miller, Jr. wrote a book about:

Report of the Presbyterian Church Case (Philadelphia : W.S. Martien, 1839), 596pp.; 24cm.

You can probably find that on Googlebooks or archive.org, or borrow it via interlibrary loan.

Edit: Both actually. I prefer archive.org -
Report of the Presbyterian church case: The commonwealth of Pennsylvania, at the suggestion of James Todd and others, vs. Ashbel Green and others : Green, Ashbel, 1762-1848, defendant : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive
 
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Did you already have this info from the Princeton biographical catalogue:

Princeton Seminary--Library

1933 Biographical Catalogue of the Princeton Theological Seminary, page 40

Class of 1828

Preston, David R. - born, Kentucky, 25 April 1803; TranC; PTS, 25-8; ord evan, Pby New Brunswick, 8 October 1828; ss, Abingdon, VA, 1829-1835; ss, Union, 1835-1841; res, Union, 1842-1844; Lewisburg, VA, 1845-1850; died, Lewisburg, VA, 8 March 1850.
 
Too much fun.

Look what I've got in the Historical Center:

West Virginia
• Lewisburg - Montgomery, John Fleshman, History of Old Stone Presbyterian Church, 1783-1983. Parsons, WV: McClain Printing Company, 1983. Hb, v, 347 p.; 22 cm.
• Union [Monroe County] - Banks, James W., 200 Years From Good Hope. Parsons, WV: McClain Printing Company, 1983. Hb, [8], v, 245 p.; 23 cm. Inscribed by the author.

I'll check both tomorrow and report back.
 
Keep digging and you eventually find stuff:

West Virginia and Its People, vol. 3, pp. 925-927.

Note that David apparently married well, as his wife was a Creigh, and that family figures prominently in Greenbrier county history. See
GHS - GENEALOGICAL
and
http://www.greenbrierhistorical.org/documents/JOURNALSFORSALE.doc

Also, you can get a photocopy of the marriage bond issued for David and his wife:
GHS - PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS: Marriage Bonds

I see a trip in your future (for one, go see the actual marriage bond in person), and perhaps you might well consider writing an article for their journal [I'll want a copy of course!]

My guess is that David is buried on the Tuscawilla Farm property, which is on the National Historic Register.
 
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So...I'm related to John Alden who came over on the Mayflower. Does that mean he was a Puritan?
 
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Thanks Wayne. Totally cool stuff. I know all the surrounding family stuff (like the Creigh's, who were from Creetown, Scotland in far western Dumfries and Galloway, and their farm, Tuscawilla, which is still there) but it is really cool to find out his Ministerial history. He is buried at the Old Stone Presbyterian Church in Lewisburg with the rest of my family. I have the book of the history of that church.
 
he beholds said:
So...I'm related to John Alden who came over on the Mayflower. Does that mean he was a Puritan?
Click to expand...

No, different John Alden. Shoe salesman. Story didn't end well.

:D

MAJOR EDIT., MAJOR OOPS: I mean to reply to your post, not heavily edit it!
Mea culpa [Latin for "My bad"]
 
Ben:

I didn't find him among a listing of headstones at Old Stone. Lesson learned for me is to remember that those listings are often very incomplete.
 
Ben:

A few last notes:

In The Church on the Western Waters: History of Greenbrier Presbytery (1940), p. 27, there is mention that Rev. Preston was present at the formation of the Presbytery, on the second Tuesday of April, 1838. Seven pastors and six ruling elders were present.

In 200 Years from Good Hope, by James W. Banks, there is mention of Rev. David Robinson Preston on pages 46-54, 56, and 132. This book is the history of Union Presbyterian Church. There is a picture of Preston on page 47. Other Preston's mentioned include James F., 70; Jeanette C., 52; John, 95; Minnie Frazier, 52; Nancy, 47; Sarah Ann Caperton, 69, 70; Walter, 47.

Abebooks.com currently has a paperback copy of the book for sale by a Utah bookseller, for $23.00 + s/h. Or PM me with your email address to obtain image scans of the relevant pages.
 
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