First Presbyterian Church

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1812 Reverend James Hervey reportedly “rode into town on horseback, performed the office of janitor, rang the dinner bell for services, and preached the gospel,” and thus began the First Presbyterian Church. The town’s population at the time was less than 1000.

 

Even before an actual building was constructed, a Sabbath School was organized in 1818, with Redick McKee as the first superintendent. Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, and Quakers attended. From its first enrollment of 30 scholars, the school grew to ten times that number within just a few weeks. (Note: If those numbers are correct, the 300 scholars enrolled in the Sabbath School represented about 30% of the entire population of Wheeling at the time!) Sunday School was serious business - in those days the school met twice on the Sabbath, an hour and a half in both morning and afternoon sessions.[i]

 

The Sunday-School organizer, Redick McKee (1800 – 1886), was a very interesting and accomplished man. He came to Wheeling in 1818 from McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a town founded by his father and still bearing the family name. He was a “dealer of merchandise” for some thirty years and was part owner of the sternwheeler “Virginia.” He was also active in public affairs – in 1835 he was a one of eleven men representing Wheeling at the Brownsville Railroad Convention (which was the impetus for bringing the B&O Railroad to Wheeling) and in 1840 was one of a seven-member Wheeling delegation appealing the the Virginia Legislature for public education. In the 1850s, he served as a United States Indian Agent attempting to stop bloodshed on the California frontier. The fascinating book Little White Father: Redick McKee on the California Frontier describes his adventures in California. The Indians gave him his nickname in deference to his fair treatment of them in treaties. The book (available through inter-library loan) is good reading for those wishing to know more about federal government relations with Northern California Indian tribes during the 1850s and early 1860s. It is a fascinating study of a man who wanted to "help" the Indians according to his moralistic and paternalistic ideals. It also describes how his treaties – made in good faith – were later resoundingly defeated by the newly-created and anti-Indian California legislature[ii].

 

Beginning in 1823, long before his California adventures, McKee was one of seven trustees who sought funds for the construction of a Presbyterian church building in Wheeling. Land was deeded to the congregation by Noah Zane, son of Wheeling’s founder Ebenezer Zane, and by 1825 the first building was constructed at a cost of $10,000 (nearly $200,000 today). It is believed to be the oldest building still standing in downtown Wheeling and the oldest Presbyterian church in the state. The Greek Revival style of the front of the church remains to this day, with four Ionic columns spanning a 5-bay front. The foundation was made of cut stone, and it is believed that the bricks, soon covered with stucco, were made on site. Church records show that John Laughlin purchased Pew #1 for $107, the equivalent of over $2400 today.

 

On May 26, 1826, the church organization was officially approved by the presbytery. At that time, there were 44 charter members of the church – a number that soon grew to 113. At first, pastoral duties were shared equally by James Hervey and William Wylie. Then “Rev. Wylie received a call for two-thirds of this time, the members having concluded that they were financially able to pay for more extended regular services and that they ought to have them. This arrangement threw Rev. Hervey out of a portion of his stipulated time and thereupon he resigned, and gathered a congregation to which he preached in the Court House. This movement caused a division in the congregation” until both groups “came to terms and agreed to reunite on the basis that they would dismiss both Mr. Hervey and Mr. Wylie and call another minister in their place, which was accordingly done, and Rev. Henry Weed, D. D., was called” in 1835.[iii] The first three elders to be elected were Redick McKee, Andrew Woods, Sr., and Peter W. Gale. [Andrew Woods and his brother Archibald (who owned the land that is now Woodsdale) came to Wheeling around 1783. Andrew married the widow of Sam McColloch, who made the famous leap off Wheeling Hill.]

During this time, temperance was of major concern in town. Prior to the huge influx of Germans and other immigrants beginning in the mid 1850s, most people in Wheeling were of Scotch-Irish descent. They were described as possessing “the well-known traits of that historic people … of fervent temperament, quick intellect and ready speech … they had conspicuous energy and persistence of purpose and of achievement, and were exceedingly firm, even obstinate, in their convictions, whether right or wrong.”  This description goes on to say that “many of them, like their descendants, had more of Scotch-Irish vim than of divine grace, and there was much in the adversity of the times to tempt them.[iv]” 

 

During the early years of First Presbyterian Church there were reports of at least two disciplinary cases that reflected on the temptations of the times. One case dealt with by the elders is illustrated in the First Church minutes for May 19, 1829 – “Common fame having charged [a member identified only by his initials] P.W.G. ... with the sin of intemperance, and he having in private conversation with two members of session acknowledged the truth of said report, session met for the purpose of taking this case into consideration …After a full and free conversation in which [this gentleman] … freely admitted the truth of the charge being made against him by common report, viz., that of being seen under the influence of spiritous liquors at Reynold’s Tavern, expressing the deepest sorrow and repentance for his sin … and his firm determination in future to refrain ENTIRELY from the use of inebriating drink, session gave their advice to the gentleman as follows (1) To draw up in his own handwriting a statement of all circumstances relating to this unhappy case, which should be publicly read before the congregation on Friday evening next, (2) that he suspend his attendance at the communion table on the approaching occasion, and until regularly reinstated by the session.”[v]

 

In another case, a public trial was held of another member, identified as “Mr. Charles L. H. – on the charge of being guilty of at least the occasional use of profane language” on April 28, 1838. The witness in the case stated, “A few Sabbaths ago in giving an improbable narrative of some adventure to a crowd at the Virginia Hotel, when his veracity was called in question, he said he wished he might be d—d if it were not true.”  Not only was Mr. H. suspended, but notice of his suspension and the cause were posted in the church.[vi]

 

A list of early members admitted to First Presbyterian included “Betty – a coloured woman of Mrs. Riddle” on June 12, 1833 and “Ellen Lawson – colored, from the home of Judge Foy of Charleston.”[vii] The slaves of Adeline Caldwell also attended services, sitting, of course, in the balcony. [After emancipation, Miss Caldwell is said to have purchased a family pew for her former slaves.]

 

Due to “feeble health” in his later years, Rev. Weed requested the aid of a co-pastor, and Rev. John F. Baker answered the call.[viii] In July of 1861, Baker, a southern sympathizer, called a congregational meeting and resigned. His reason for leaving was the fact that the Presbyterian Churches of Pittsburgh had adopted resolutions of full support for the Union cause and refused to provide aid to the Confederate states and their supporters.

 

The next full-time pastor was Rev. Daniel Fisher, who served the congregation beginning in early 1862. He resigned in 1876 to become the president of Hanover College, Indiana. Several modifications to the church building were made during his tenure.

 

The first part of the church built included the distinct portico, vestibule, and the 54 feet of the sanctuary nearest the street. The second phase of building occurred in 1855, following problems with the foundation at the pulpit end of the church. A sandbank was found to be undermining the foundation there. The west wall was removed, and the building was lengthened by 24 feet. The church was lengthened again in 1871, and elaborate remodeling occurred in 1885, when side balconies were removed. At one time, the interior walls were painted “Williamsburg green,” while window frames, cornices, and trim were painted a medium gray.[ix] Pressed metal ceilings in the interior were added in 1892, along with electric lights.

 

Stained glass windows were dedicated in 1886 in remembrance of early members of the church. Included are dedications to John Laughlin (1792-1856), who purchased Pew # 1 and whose grandson George founded Laughlin Chapel; Samuel Ott (died 1868), who was a founder of Second and Third Presbyterian Churches; Adeline Caldwell (c. 1806-1884), wealthy spinster and slave owner – she was a member of the extended Caldwell family, who were among the first settlers in Wheeling, and is a distant relative of Bob Mead; Samuel McClellan (died 1860), whose son, Samuel, Jr. was Mayor of Wheeling in 1869; Dr. Archibald Todd, inventor of “Todd’s Liver Pills”; and James Paull (1817-1875), WV Supreme Court Judge and great, great grandfather of Lee Paull, III.[x]

 

The most unique feature of the church no longer remains, and that was the tower that once stood on its roof. The tower was erected in 1836 for the purpose of a church bell and town clock. The tower was designed by Philadelphia architect Charles Chislett at a cost of over $3,400 (nearly $70,000 today). Shortly afterward, the city of Wheeling and the church had a dispute over who was responsible for the clock, and reports state that there was an “unexplained disappearance of the clock.” The tower stood until around 1912.

 

Another noted pastor and his wife were Dr. David A. Cunningham and Annie Sinclair Cunningham. Rev. Cunningham served the First Church congregation from 1876 until 1908. While in Wheeling, the Scottish-born Mrs. Cunningham (1832-1897) was elected president of the Foreign Missionary Society of the Presbytery of Washington, PA – a position she held for the next 20 years. She’s most well known locally for her founding of the “West Virginia Home for Aged and Friendless Women.” First located on 13th Street in East Wheeling, the organization eventually moved to the donated home of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Bloch, and is now called – much more appropriately – “Elmhurst, The House of Friendship.” In recognition of Annie Sinclair Cunningham’s work, she was elected to the Wheeling Hall of Fame in 2004.[xi]

 

The old church house that stood to the south of the church was demolished in 1957, and the new Christian Education building replaced it. It was designed by Philadelphia architect Harold Wagoner and built by the Byrum Construction Company. Johnson McKinley, father of Congressman David McKinley, was the consulting engineer.

 

When the Second United Presbyterian Church was demolished in the 1960s, several of its Tiffany-style windows were moved to First Church and grace it today.

 

The congregation is still active, in a building with no bell tower; the current minister is Rev. Bob Willits.

 

 

 

[i] Cranmer, Gibson Lamb. History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia. 1902.

 

[ii] Little White Father: Redick McKee on the California Frontier http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/~go1/kellogg/biblio.html

 

[iii] Cranmer, Gibson Lamb. History of Wheeling City and Ohio County, West Virginia. 1902.

 

[iv] History of the Presbytery of Washington. 1889

 

[v] Intelligencer, 1963

 

[vi] ibid

 

[vii] First Presbyterian Church Records

 

[viii] Osmond, Jonathan. History of the Presbytery of Luzerne, State of Pennsylvania. Presbyterian Historical Society, 1897.

 

[ix] Historic American Building Survey, No. WV-202.

 

[x] Windows of First Church: Light for the Soul (brochure).

 

[xi] Wheeling Hall of Fame – Annie Sinclair Cunningham. http://www.ohiocountylibrary.org/wheeling-history/wheeling-hall-of-fame-annie-sinclair-cunningham-/4190