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VOLUME 12
McCONNELLSBURG, PA., DECEMBER 15, 1910.
NUMBER 13
WILLIAM A. GRAY, DEAD.
Was the Fourth County Superintendent
of This County and Served from
June, I860 to June, 1863.
CREW TO MANHOOD IN WELLS VALLEY
William Alexander Gray was
bora August 21, 1822, was mar
ried December 31, 1850 to Miss
Julia A. Moore, and he died at
his residence in Adams, Nebras
ka, November 22, 1910, being the
last surviving grandchild of
Alexander Alexander, the first
permanentsettler of WellaValley.
Mr. Gray was born in Everett,
Pa., and at the death of his moth
er, when only five years of age,
he was adopted by his aunt, Mrs.
Bar ah Bradley, of Wells Valley,
this county, where he was
brought up. After receiving a
good common school education he
attended Jefferson College where
he finished his education, after
which, for several years, he
taught a select school in Wells
Valley where a number of young
men prepared for College.
In May, I860, he was elected
County Superintendent of schools
of Fulton County, and filled that
position for three years. Sep
tember 8, 1864, he enlisted in
Company K., 202d Regiment
Penn Infantry, and served un
til the close of the war.
In the fall of 1868, he, with his
family, moved to Nebraska and
settled on a farm near Adams,
where they lived until the fall of
1886, when they moved into
Adams.
i He was a sincere Christian and
lived a consistent life; he was an
Elder in the old Wells Valley
Presbyterian Church, and was
instrumental in organizing the
Presbyterian Church in Adams,
which he served as long as his
strength permitted. He was es
pecially reverent of the Sabbath
and a close student of God's word
and its promises and consolations
were on his lips to the last.
Mrs. Julia A. Gray, wife of
William A. Gray, was born in
Shirleysburg, Huntingdon Coun
ty, Pa., January 28, 1829, and
died at her residence in Adams,
Nebrasks, November 11, 1910,
preceding her husband by only
eleven days. She was a daugh
ter of Dr. James Moore who
moved to Wells Valley in 1841,
and a Bister of Mrs. Rebecca
Alexander, late of this place.
Mrs. Gray was converted in
childhood and united with the
church of which she remained a
consistent member during her
long life; she, with her husband
and children, were charter mem
bers of the Adams Presbyterian
church organized in 1880.-
Mrs. Samuel Grissinger.
Mrs. Annie Grissinger, wife of
Samuel Gnssinger, died at their
home near Cherry Grove, Hunt
ingdon county, Thursday, De
cember 8, 1910, aged 49 years, 10
months, and 11 days. The funer
altookylace on Saturday, the
Hev Fleegal of the M. E. church
officiating.
Mrs. GrlsBinger was a daugh
ter of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Gas
tor, and an estimable woman.
Besides her husband, she is sur
vived by two sons and two daugh
ters, namely, James and Ernest,
indCloe and Philear; also, by
her mother "Grandma" Gaster,
and three brothers Samuel,
near Waterfall; Harry, in Wells
Valley, and Jacob, In the pest
Mrs. Grisstnger was about her
household work as usual, when
the was stricken with paralysis,
&uk to the porch on which she
aa when the stroke came, was
unconscious immediately, and in
very few minutes the spark of
Me had disappeared.
The family have the sincere
y apathy of a wide circle of
friends in this sudden removal of
lwing wife and mother.
Between two evils it's better
for a woman to marry a man who
chews tobacco rather than one
ho ig always chewing the reg.
HILL McGOVERN,
Miss Nellie Elizabeth McGovern Became
Bride of Mr. James R. Hull at
High Noon Yesterday.
A very pretty home wedding
occurred at the residence of Mr.
and Mrs. Leslie McGovern in
Ayr township, at high noon yes
terday, when their daughter Miss
Nellie Elizabeth became the brde
of James R. Hull, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Isaac Hull, of this place.
The -beautiful and impressive
ceremony was performed by the
bride's pastor, Rev. John McClay
Diehl.of the Presbyterian church,
assisted by Rev. E. Clifford Hays,
of the Lutheran church, the
groom's pastor.
Tho bride was gowned in white
satin and looked very pretty.
Ms8 Ruth Kendall, was the Maid
of Honor, and Miss Maria Dick
son Alexander played the wed
ding march.
( More than half a hundred
invited guests were present, and
after the ceremony elaborate re
freshments were served.
The bride and groom are ex
cellent young people and have the
very best wishes of their numer
ous friends for a long life of hap
piness and prosperity.
Dogs Fooled Him.
Daniel Mellott, who lives near
Sipes Mill, was awakened a few
nights ago by the excited barking
of his dogs.. Having visions of
smoke-house robbers or granary
thieves, he jumped out of bed,
and without going to the trouble
of putting on bis Sunday clothes,
he rushed down stairs, out
through the front door, and on in
the direction indicated by the
barking canines. After a care
ful examination of the premises
and finding everything all right,
he came to the conclusion that
the dogs had awakened from an
ugly dream and were barking at
random; so he went back to the
house.
Now, during Mr. Mellott's ab
sence from the house, a polecat
happened to be passing, and see
ing the door open, and getting a
sniff of the warmth inside, walk
ed right in. The stair door being
open, the cat's curiosity led it up
stairs. - While the cat was up
stairs, Mr. Mellott returned, and
while stopping by the fire to warm
before going back to bed, he was
surprised to see the cat come
down stairs. The cat was not'ex
pecting to see Mr. Mellott, and
to hide its embarrassment, took
shelter under a three-cornered
cupboard. Then there was a
bght on, Mr. Mellott chasing the
cat from one point to another,
and the cat ijmg its beBt to make
it unpleasant for Mr. Mellott.
Finally, Mr. Mellott, got hold of
his gun, took careful aim, and
the cat was out of business.
It is said the house does not
need fumigating, and its inmates
will be immune against the in
fection of any disease from tooth
ache to small pox for a long time
to come.
' Cove Farms Sold.
On Friday 'of last week, the
"Mack" Kendall farm in Ayr
township, was sold at public sale
to Wm. Secnst, of Thompson
township for $12,700. Mr. Se
cnst, is a substantial young man,
and a son-in-law of J. Calvin
Comerer. . .
This week, G. Newton Hoke
sold bis farm a half mile south of
McOonnellsburg, containing 145
acres of farm land, and 60 acres
of mountain land, to Conrad Gla
zier of Ayr township, for $15,000.
Mr. Glazier is, comparatively, a
young man. Ha started out on a
rented farm, and managed to get
enough ahead to buy a few years
ago, a ten-thousand dollar farm
on the Cove road, four miles south
of McConnellsburg, where he
now resides. This addition of
the Hoke farm is merely an op
portunity for the investment of
surplus funds.
Subscribe for tie "News, 'only
?1.C0 a yetr.
THE OLD SECEDER CHURCH
OF AYR TOWNSHIP.
A Paper Read Before the' Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish Society,
February 24, 1910, by T. Elliott Patterson.
L v : vV- H?v--- :'-'.' v V-'VxisV .i.-r:k jpi
LIKES ILLINOIS.
" THE OLD SECEDER CHUKCH OF AYK TOWNSHIP.
Carlyle was proud of the work
of his stone-mason father, and
liked to look on the houses be had
built, for he knew "they were
honest masonry;" and with like
satisfaction may we loots on the
work of our fathers.
Early in the last century, a con
gregation of Associate Reformed
Presbyterians, Covenanters, and
descendants of the Church ot
England, settlers in the Great
Cove, then part of Bedford, now
Fulton, County, after worship
ing for some years in McOon
nellsburg, in 1828 built a stone
church south of McConnellsburg
in Ayr Township. The natue of
the township indicates the stock
of people that comprised the settlement-
As early as 1777 it is
mentioned as part of toe fourth
election district of Bedford
County.
Packers' Path, the old bridle
trail leading over the mountains,
passed throught, and on it tra
dition locates an Indian trading
post about two miles south of Mc
Connellsburg. Following the
pack horse and bis narrow foot
way came the Conestoga, and the
stage coach period, when the
turnpike (built 1814-15) leading
from Philadelphia and Baltimore
to the west, from that point, be
came tho great highway across
the State. A half mile east of
McConnellsburg, the Philadel
phia and Baltimore turnpikes
joined, and at the point of their
intersection was fought the first
full cavalry engagement (June
29th, 1803,) between the Federal
and confederate forces, and a
mile south of it were lighted the
last camp fires (July 31st, 1864,)
of the confederacy north of the
Mason and Dixon line. Two Con
federate graves mark the former,
a letter of the late Confederate
General Bradley T. Johnson con
firms the latter. Of the customs
and manners ot the Conestoga
and stage coach days, we are not
dependent upon Buchanan Reed's
'Wagoner of the Alleghenies,"
nor upon the forsaaen and dilapi
dated wogoners' inns thpt mark
the entire route from the Chesa
peake and the Delaware to the
Monongahela and the Ohio to tell
us, but from eye witnesses, and
from father to son we learned of
tne overcrowded stables com pell
ingthe team sters to feed their hors
es in the streets of the smaller
towns at the great wagon troughs,
part of evory well-equipped con
estoga, that, like the box over the
"lazy board' for the convenience
of the driver, had enough of the
stuff within easy reach "to drive
dull care away" and break1 the
monotony of the long wearisome
trip. The stage coaches, too,
were crowded, and the four-in-hand
was no unusual sight down
to the opening of the Civil War.
But the days of the wagon train,
stage coach, and long droves of
cattle on their way to the eastern
markets, like their belled teams,
coach drivers' horns, and the cat
tle call of the drovers, have passed
to their only successor, that great
Scotch-Irish transportation com
pany, known to this Society as
the Pennsylvania Railroad Com
pany, which has supplanted the
wagon and stage coach, and has
taken over into its cold stprage
embrace and protection the en
tire cattle business, "hoof, horns,
hide and hair."
Of the early settlers attracted
to this locality were a number ot
Scotch-Irish families from the
Cumberland Valley, who estab
lished homes that in many in
stances are to this day in pos
session of their descendants.
Their names(McConnell, Kendall,
Taggart, Logan, Patterson, Hun
ter, McClelland, Sloan, Johnston,
Nelson, Alexander, and later,
McNaughtoa, McCullough, and
Peoples) suggest the line from
which they sprung. In that
township is buried the first white
woman of the settlement Mar
garet Kendall whose descend
ants are among the most substan
tial citizens of that valley to-day.
And with but three or four ex
ceptions, all of the above families
were worshippers in that old
stone church that for many years
was the centre of the most pro
nounced type of Scotch-Irish and
English Puritan training within
the State.
Archibald Johnston Lord War
riston the distinguished lawyer
and eloquent speaker whomCrom
well elevated to the bench and
Charles II condemned to the gal
lows, on which he was executed
July 22d, 1603, has to-day a de
scendant by the same name
Archibald Johnston over eighty
years of age, a member of the
same old Seceder congregation,
in which fifteen or eighteen of the
descendants of John Cromwell
(whose father came to Virginia in
1620) were also members, and to
gether they sang in Rouse's ver
sion the same old Psalms that
had inspired their fathers before
them to deeds' of sacrifice and
honorable service. The 80th of
January, with memorial services
to St. Charles I, had so place in
their ecclesiastical almanac.
THE FIRST ELDERS,
From the lips of a grandson,
himself an elder and now living
at the age of eighty-six years,
the following description was
given of his grandfather, one of
the first elders'of that congrega
tlon. "Tall, well-built, and in
bis old days wore his hair long
and parted in the middle." lie
was a soldier m tho Revolution, a
member ot the last Legislature
that sat in Philadelphia in 1704,
a Federalist in politics, and his
reverent and devotloual manner
in addressing the Deity "Great,
Great and Holy" is spoken of
among his descendants to the
present time. He was born June
12th, 1749, and died May 18th,
1846, at the advanced age of near
ly ninetv-seven years. Two of
his grandsons succeeded him as
elders in the same church, and
two of his great-grandsons are
now elders in the United Presby
terian branch of the same congre
gation; for, true to the traditions
of their fathers, the day came
when the old stone church was
not large enough for their differ
euces, which like those of their
Scotch-Irish brethren in the
mountains of Virginia, were pos
sibly more imaginary than real,
for even the counsel for the lat
ter, old Col. Baldwin of Staunton,
said he did not understand their
difference unless "one set sang
through their noses and the other
did not." That they were tenaci
ous goes without saying, and
down to the early sixties it was
no unusual Bight on the Sabbath
day to see three branches of
Presbyterians pass and repass
each other on the same common
highway, but leading to different
portions of the common vineyard
committed to their sacred keep
ing. And this in the face of the
biblical descriptions given to their
own land-holdings, as in the case
of the old elder above mentioned,
a portion of whose farm is des
cribed in the records in Bedford
County as "Nebuchadnezzar's De
feat, "and the grantor's name was
Abednego Stevens.
Of the other elders, the vener
able forms of Sloan, Nelson, John
son, and Kendall are still within
the memory of the older worship
ers ol that congregation.
MEMBERSHIP.
Their membership was a little
community of itself, and though
black and white alike sat at the
same sacramental table, there
was no "occasional hearing," and
in matters of faith and discipline
the Pope himself ruled with no
firmer hand than did the Scotch-
Irish preacher and schoolmaster
of those times in both secular and
religious affairs alike. And so
deeply impressed was the late
Judge Trunkey with the sturdy
teachings and customs of that
community, while on a visit
among them, that he said they
reminded him more of what he
bad read of old New England Pur
titanism than anything he had
ever witnessed.
(OuBtlnued next ,)
Howard Bolton, on whom, an
inquest was held at the London
hospital, died from the effects of
swallowing a tooth brush while
endeavoring to dislodge a tiece
of meat that had stuck in Lis
throat.
Excerpts From a Private Letter From
Mrs. Rhoda Lake Edwards For
merly of This County.
While not written for publica
tion, the following from a letter
from Mrs. Rhoda Lake Edwards,
a sister of Joseph W. Lake, a
former merchant at Pleasant
Ridge, will be read with interest
by her many friends and relatives
in this county.
"We like Illinois very much.
The country is fine. We are liv
ing 8 miles north of the town of
Kansas, 111., and just one mile
due north of the home of my
brother J. W. Lake. Today,
Sunday, brother Joe and family,
mother Lake, and ourselves,
spent the day very pleasantly in
the home of Ernest Peck and
family. Mother Lake has been
with us a week. She likes Illi
nois very much, and she has had
better health since she came
out here than she has had for
many years.
We have a great deal of feed
ing to do getting three carloads
of cattle, and lots of hogs, ready
for market.
Crops have been very good
here this season. Corn "shuck
ing" is about completed. There
were over a hundred acres to
"shuck" on this farm.
I cannot tell you just how much
we do enioy the weekly visits of
the Fulton County News in our
new home.
ABOUT PEOPLE YOU KNOW
Heard Geo. Shoemaker Preach.
Mrs. L. F. Tritle (Ada Mc
Donald) of Spirit Lake, Iowa, in
sending another year's subscrip
tion to the Fulton County News
says: "My two daughters and I
have just made a visit to Water
loo to my daughter, Mrs. L. J,
Van Niman, and had the pleasure,
while there, of hearing Rev Geo,
Shoemaker preach in the First
Methodist church. We all en
joyed his good sermon very
much.
We also had a very pleasant
visit witu Rev. Shoemaker, wife
and daughter at their new home
at Cedar Falls. We spent the
day very pleasantly recalling old
times and friends we all knew at
good old McConnellsburg.
"inis nas been a prosperous
year with us. Everybody had
good crops, and we all had good
health for which we are thankful.
"We all enjoy reading the
jnews and nope it will continue
to come to us every week for a
long time to come."
Not Mrs. John A. Hauman.
On account of being wrongly
informed in regard to the death
of Mrs. Hauman, near Sal u via,
the News last week was led into
writing up the obituary of the
wrong person, and it is one of
instances in which a person lives
to read her own obituary. In
stead of its having been Mrs.
John A. Hauman, it was Marga
ret, wife of David Hauman, near
Saluvia, aged about 84 years.
She died Saturday night, Decem
ber 3, 1910, and was buried at
Sideling Hill Christian church,
the following Monday. Mrs.
Hauman was highly esteemed by
her neighbors, and was a con
sistent member of the Christian
church. Beside her husband,
she Is survived by two daughters
Florence wife of Adam Wible,
living at Broad top, and Mrs. Geo.
W. Strait, at Akersviile.
A Christinas Present
What shall I select for a Christ
mas present? ' This is the per
plexing question just now. Hun
dreds ot dollars are spent every
year for stuff that costs good
money, and that is of no earthly
use to the one that gets it Let
us give you a tip. Send your
friend the Fulton County News
This Is a present that will not be
throwu aside unappreciated and
forgotten, but that will stay fresh
and good, and will be appreciat
ed for a whole year and will cost
you only one dollar. Try It Your
friend will think of yon and be
thanking you every week fra
whole ytri
Snapshots at Their Comings and Goings
Here for a Vacation, or Away
for a Restful Outing.
NAMES OF VISITORS AND VISITED
Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Heefner,
of Taylor township, spent a few
hours in town last Friday.
James Raker, near Fort Little
ton, was a pleasant visitor in the
home of John Mumma last Sun
day. . Miss Lillian Fleming ot Clear
Ridge spent last Saturday in
town doing some Christmas shop
ping.
Ex County Commissioner, W.
C. Davis, of Licking Creek town
ship, was in town last Friday at
tending1 to business.
Ex-Prothonotary James P.
Waltz, ot Thompson township,
was among the out of town visi
tors in town last Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Mellott, of
Ilustontown took a 6leigh ride to
McConnellsburg Tuesday and
did some holiday shopping.
L. L Cunningham, N. G. Cun
ningham and Roswell Stains all
of New Grenada, were in town
Tuesday attending to business.
Mr. S. W. Cunningham and
family, and Mrs. James Mumma
and Mrs. Chas. Si pes, were visi
tors m the home of John Snyder
lest Sunday.
Benjamin W. Fisher, who has
spent the past several months at
Lewisburg, Pa., is visiting his
mother Mrs. Sarah Fisher on
East Water street.
E. V. Mellott, Howard Swope,
and Misses Margaret Daniels,
Gertrude and Daisy Mellott all
of Sipes Mills, formed a sled load
of people that made a trip to Mc
Connellsburg last Saturday.
Rev. D. W. Kelso, of Knobs
ville, called at the News office a
few minutes while in town Tues
day. From his bright cheery
manner one would suppose he
was pretty well satisfied with the
world, and the world pretty well
satisfied with him.
Mr. Morgan Deshong, and his
son William and daughter Flor
ence (Mrs. Michael Mellott) took
advantage of the good sledding
and came to town Tuesdav.
v -
Morgan says that the scarcity of
water is putting a good many
farmers in hard straitsjover that
way.
Leslie Hart, son of Mr. and
Mrs. W. V. Hart in Whips Cove,
went to the University Hospital,
34th and Spruce Sts., Philadel
phia for treatment on Tuesday of
last week. Leslie has been sick
for several months, and it is to
be hoped that his trip to the hos
pital will be greatly beneficial to
him.
Misses Mary Pittman, Kathryn
Cook, Netha Nesbit, Minnie
Reisner, and Gertrude Hoke, and
Messrs. W. U. Greathead and B.
Frank, Henry, formed a sledding
party that weat to Fort Littleton
last Thursday evening, and had
supper at the Wilt Hotel. Roy
Cromwell took them up in one of
bis backs on runners, and they
had a very pleasant outiug.
They Did Her Good.
Mrs. Sophia (Gress) Smith, of
Edmburg, Indiana, wishes
through the columns of the Ful
County News, to thank her many
old-time relatives and friends in
Fulton county, for the loving
thoughtfulness that prompted
them to send her such a large
shower of beautiful post cards
on her seventy-third birthday.'
There were seventy-eight cards.
Mrs. Smith wishes to say to her
friends that she is in fairly good
health, and that the names on
the cards revived in . her mind
many happy thoughts of by-gone'
days.
Mrs. Smith is a sister of Mrs.
Leonard Hon man of town and of
fir. Geora Gress, over the
1:-3.