DONEGAL HISTORIANS

A SHORT SKETCH OF DONEGAL CHURCH

      (This is the first in a series of chapters from a booklet written by the Rev. Frank G. Bossert, pastor of Donegal Church from 1909 to 1918.  It was presented at the 200^th anniversary of the church, June 16^th, 1921.  Because Donegal is having a 285^th anniversary this year, 1721 to 2006, the Donegal Historians decided to include a segment of the booklet in each monthly issue of the Witness.)

      (The history begins with an introduction explaining the beginnings in Scotland and Ireland.)

      If we are to understand the history of Donegal Church, we must go back in thought to the old country, the country of Ireland.  Here in the north, we shall find two counties famous in history – the County of Donegal and the County of Derry.  These counties were settled from Scotland by Queen Elizabeth, in order that Protestantism might be established in the midst of an alien population.  They never lost their independent character.  Whether King or Protector was arrayed against them, they ever stood firm for their civil and religious rights.

      In 1688, there was a Revolution in England.  James II was driven out and William and Mary seated on the throne.  But only part of Ireland favored the new king.  The southern counties rose for King James and made war against the northern.  For 100 days Londonderry was besieged and only relieved when the good ship Mountjoy broke the boom stretched along the river and brought relief to the town.

      Great was the joy of the Presbyterians upon the winning of the war by King William.  But their happiness was short-lived.  Soon King William and afterwards Queen Anne passed laws making conformity to the Church of England obligatory.  The Presbyterians of Donegal and Derry resisted, but with no effect.  All who would not go to the Church of England were excluded from office.

      So great was the pressure that between the years 1700 and 1720 large numbers decided to emigrate.  They loved liberty and were determined to have it, if not in Great Britain, then in the American colonies.  There was no fairer opening than in the smiling valleys of Pennsylvania, where William Penn guaranteed not only civil but religious freedom.

      The first Presbyterian church in Philadelphia was organized in 1698. (Preceded by other churches, though few, in New England, Long Island, Delaware and Maryland.)  Rev. Jedidiah Andrews came from New England and officiated in the Barbados warehouse on the northwest corner of Second and Chestnut Streets.  From this beginning, Presbyterianism spread westward up the Chester Valley and into what is now Lancaster County.  The Quaker and German were halted for a time at the Conestoga Creek, while the Scotch-Irish pressed forward and preempted the beautiful country lying between the Conestoga on the east and the Susquehanna on the west.  They were the fighters of that early day, and by their hardihood, intrepidity and aggressiveness, stood between the Indians and their non-resistant neighbors.

                                    Next month:   BEGINNINGS

Rev. Frank G. Bossert (1879-1950) received his education at the University of Pennsylvania, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Monmouth, New Jersey, 1903. After serving two New Jersey churches, he became pastor of Mount Joy and Donegal in 1909, but resigned during World War I to do overseas YMCA service.  Afterwards he served a Roxborough, Philadelphia church until 1940.

NEW BOOKS FOR
HISTORICAL LIBRARY COLLECTION
The Donegal Society has recently purchased two highly recommended books which will help further the history and heritage of the Scots-Irish who founded our church. 
How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman is subtitled “the true story of how Western Europe’s poorest nation created our world and everything in it.”  The author claims that the Scots invented our modern ideas of democracy and free market capitalism as well as making many contributions to science, education, medicine, and other wonders of our modern world.
The other book is Born Fighting: how the Scots-Irish shaped America.  This book has been designated a national bestseller and is written by James Webb who was just recently elected a U.S. Senator by the state of Virginia.  While it details the early history of the Scots-Irish, it also is somewhat biographical as James Webb’s ancestors were Scot’s Irish.  They settled first in Lancaster County in the 1700’s, before following the trail of the many such immigrants who moved into the Appalachians and further south.
Both books will be available for your reading pleasure and information.
 

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Last Edited on 01/24/2008