Chapter One
The Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church

By James Wudarczyk

Although the history of the Presbyterian Church in Lawrenceville dates back to 1828, one figure who dominated that denomination’s activities in the area for over sixty years was the Reverend Richard Lea. Born in Covington, England, on April 23, 1810, he came to America with his parents at the age of ten, and arrived in Pittsburgh in 1821. Educated first at the Western University where he took a classical course and later at the Allegheny Theological Seminary, this zealous young minister swiftly took charge of the Presbyterian Church at Lawrenceville, where on June 15, 1836, he was installed by the Ohio Presbytery as its first pastor. Installation services were presided over by the Reverend Dr. Herron, with Professor Halsey of the seminary preaching the sermon and the Reverend Dr. Swift delivering the charges.

The first Presbyterian minister to serve Lawrenceville was Reverend Joseph Stockton, who while serving as the principal of the Pittsburgh Academy, journeyed three miles to preach as frequently as possible to the soldiers and artisans clustered around the Allegheny Arsenal. Services were conducted in the village schoolhouse. Reverend Stockton continued in this ministry until 1829 when he began to alternate conducting services with Reverend John Joyce, who founded the East Liberty Presbyterian Church the previous year. It is believed that Reverend Joyce continued to minister to the congregation on a biweekly basis until 1832 when he was engaged by the Western Theological Seminary, and was sent to England where he died on December 29, 1833.

Another early minister who served the Lawrenceville Presbyterian congregation was Aaron Williams, who began to preach in the area late in September 1832. Licensed by the Ohio Presbytery on October 5, 1831, Reverend Williams began preaching at Lawrenceville and later extended his ministry to Minersville (now part of Pittsburgh’s Hill District).

In 1832 the congregation purchased a lot of one-half acre for $150.00 and dug the basement for a church. The meager income of the parish inhibited immediate construction of a church, thus all services and Sabbath School instructions were conducted in the basement until early in January 1834, when the structure was completed. The cost of construction was $2,600. Dr. Halsey of the Western Theological Seminary preached the sermon and presided at that culminating event.

Although Reverend Lea’s starting salary was $400.00 a year, the sum was gradually increased since the congregation consisted of such distinguished persons as Malcolm Leech, General Whitley, a daughter of John Harris (founder of Harrisburg), Mrs. Thompson, Dr. Agnew, and about thirty other families. In his long tenure of pastor, Reverend Lea was instrumental in founding four other Presbyterian Churches. It has been noted that Reverend Lea preached the funeral sermon for all of the early members of the parish and buried some 1,200 persons in his sixty-one years in the ministry. One week after organizing the Lawrenceville Church, Dr. Lea married Mary Cameron, a lineal descendant of the great exponent of the Covenanter Church. They became the parents of one son, who taught music in the neighborhood.

An interesting character, Richard Lea preached and practiced a motto of, “Keep out of other people’s business, keep out of debt, and keep out of the way of the law and you’ll never have much trouble at all.” After fifty-three years of active ministry, Reverend Lea asked the congregation (to) accept his resignation, but they refused, making him pastor emeritus with the understanding that once every three months he would come from his retirement home in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, to preach the communion services.

Through the efforts of L. S. Johns, parish historian, and Miss Katherine E. Hoerr, assistant historian, much of the early history and events of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church was preserved. Their history was compiled for the diamond anniversary of the Lawrenceville church. This history indicates that the deed to the property was given by Alba and Fanny Fisk, Dunning and Catherine McNair, John and Hannah Sarber, and Samuel and Maria Garrison to Malcolm Leech, George Gassin and Aaron Williams, in trust for the Lawrenceville Presbyterian congregation, and included one-half acre of ground for the consideration of $150.00. The deed further stipulated that the property was to be used only for the worship of God according to the standards and usages of the Presbyterian Church.

Reverend Williams resigned from the Lawrenceville church in 1834 following the reduction of troops stationed at the Allegheny Arsenal. He requested permission to travel to other Presbyteries. Following his leaving the Lawrenceville church, the ties that bound it with the Minersville Church were dissolved.

Early elders of the church were Malcolm Leech and D. S. Williams with Mr. Williams acting as recording clerk. Leech and Williams were both appointed to eldership during the Spring of 1836. The first entry in the Session Minute Book was entered on June 18, 1836, with the admitting of Margaret Scott and James Moore to membership upon examination. Mr. and Mrs. Fowler were recorded as having been the first couple married by Reverend Lea in 1836. It was not until October 12, 1837, that a third elder, William D. Moore, was elected. In those early days the congregation worked, as well as donated, to the upkeep of the church with the ladies cleaning and the men tending the fire. Occasional collections were taken for coal, which sold for four cents a bushel.

Apparently membership in the congregation was considered to be a privilege. The historical record shows that late in 1837 and early in 1838 the session was busy investigating charges against some of the members, which resulted in the suspension of one person.

In March 1838 the first report was made to the Presbytery showing that the Lawrenceville Church had seventy-eight members with several children having been baptized during the year. This report also showed that the congregation, which had contributions of $437.50, Sabbath School offerings of $15.50, and $200.00 from the Board of Domestic Mission, was considered to be financially self-sustaining and would no longer require aid from the board.

By 1837 the congregation consisted of 105 members and apparently was still financially self-sustaining, for in this year the Lawrenceville church donated $300.00 to the Western Theological Seminary. On August 27, 1842, the church was incorporated as the First Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville with Giles S. Bates, Gahn Linton, John H. McKee, James Estler, and George F. Rahauser serving as trustees. It is at this point that L. S. Johns and Katherine Hoerr interjected the interesting observation that at the time of the writing of the history only one of the founding families was still in the church. The charter of incorporation also contains the provision that trustees were to be elected annually with the election scheduled for the second Tuesday in April, and voting would be restricted to pew holders and members who had subscribed annually for not less than four dollars. This charter remained in effect until October 28, 1865, when it was amended to make the annual congregational meeting the first Tuesday in May, and provided for three trustees to be elected for two years and one for one year at each congregational meeting. The revisions also gave the board the power to fill vacancies for terms that were not yet expired.

Church membership continued to increase. By 1851, over 150 persons held membership and it was deemed that the small church, which had been previously extended by twenty-two feet, was inadequate to meet the needs of the growing congregation. In 1852 a building committee consisting of Patterson, Bates, Kaufman, Petty, and Williams began the work of erecting a new edifice. Other members of this congregation at this time included Major Butler, John Chislett Sr., S. F. Barlett, and Dr. Robinson. The new structure was completed in 1853. Another sideline of history may be found in the dispute over the instruction of a melodeon, which prompted one elder and thirteen members to withdraw from the church in protest to the use of instrumental music. Miss Maria Davis was the first organist with Mr. John Blair leading the choir.

During the course of the Civil War, some eighty-four men of the congregation served the Union cause, with four of them losing their lives. The disastrous explosion at the Allegheny Arsenal on September 17, 1862, resulted in the death of three members of the congregation, and shattered all of the windows of the 39th Street Church. Reverend Lea delivered the funeral sermon at the burial in Allegheny Cemetery for the victims of the Arsenal explosion. Preaching on Matthew 24:42, “Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come,” Reverend Lea recounted the tragedy and was quick to praise the courage that took place as physicians, clergymen, men and women toiled to bring comfort to the injured.

In 1866 a congregational meeting raised the salary of the pastor from $1,000.00 per year to $1,500.00. However, the trustees apparently did not pay any mind to the matter for the board voted Lea $1,250 as compensation for that year. The church treasurer was also voted $100.00 as a salary for administration of church funds.

The church of the 1860’s admitted L. Johns, Abbie Hoerr, Valeria Whitely (later Mrs. L. Johns), Clarence Johns, Harry Bartlett, John Hoerr, Rebecca Jones, George A. Moke, W. S. Williams, Martha Hoffmeister, S. Becker, and Stella Johns.

October 9, 1872, saw the birth of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, which was organized in the home of Mrs. Johns, with Mrs. Robert Davis, serving as its first president, Mrs. Johns as vice-president, Mrs. E. B. Hodges as secretary, and Mrs. Culbertson as treasurer. Membership in the beginning consisted of fifty-four members but was increased shortly thereafter to sixty members. There is no indication to show that the society ever grew any larger. First year’s contributions were $206.78, with the largest amount of $377.49 being donated in 1880. From 1873 until 1883 the church donated $100.00 annually, which helped “Mrs. Tracy with her work in India.” The congregation doubled their annual support in the period from 1884 to 1888. Records indicate that Mrs. Tracy visited the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church in 1880.

The Johns-Hoerr history does not only provide an interesting insight into the life of the congregations with such facts as the elimination of fermented wine for community services on May 5, 1874, but also sheds light on community life with the paving and grading of 39th Street by the city in 1872. An assessment of $1,000.00 was levied against the church to help pay for the improvement. Mr. Woolslayer donated $100.00 to help defray expenses. It appears that this was the only contribution. Efforts by a committee consisting of J. W. Campbell, T. R. Robinson, and L. E. Johns were unsuccessful in their efforts to raise additional funding.

J. M. Patterson, Mr. Poindexter, Miss Drumm, Miss Reilly, and Mr. Gleffer, organist, comprised the first paid choir, formed in 1878.

By 1882 the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church fell into financial problems but was saved by the Reverend J. S. McConnell, pastor from 1876 to 1887, who donated $500.00 of his salary to lighten the burden of his congregation.

On June 26, 1883, Reverend Lea granted some forty-nine letters of dismissal to persons who subsequently chartered the Forty-third Street Presbyterian Church. Although this division left a drain on membership, the congregation at the time of the death of Reverend J. S. McConnell on October 29, 1887, still appeared relatively large with 403 persons belonging to the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church and a Sunday school of 751.

In the 1870’s the Lea Literary Society was instrumental with the furnishing of one of the rooms in the basement of the church, but this society was eventually dissolved apparently following a dispute with the elders. It was the result of the missionary zeal of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church and two elders, Moore and Sharman, that the McCandless Avenue Presbyterian Church was founded in 1887.

From October 17, 1888, until September 11, 1906, the spiritual needs of the congregation were attended by Reverend A. E. Linn. He left the Lawrenceville church to assume the pastorate of the First Presbyterian Church in Cannonsburg. It was during the pastorate of Reverend Linn that the Young People’s Association was organized. This organization later became the Endeavor Society, which was instrumental in obtaining a piano for the lecture room. Some fifteen members comprised the Golden Rule Mission Club, formed on January 11, 1898, with the purpose of studying missions. This club produced five literary journals. During the tenure of Reverend Linn, the church organized a small but highly effective band.

One of the important aspects of the church history is that it compiled from Reverend Lea’s diaries the names the members of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church, who served as veterans of the Civil War. They are as follows: John Robinson, P. Langdon, Eugene Alexander, Alfred Jones, T. M. Houstin, Jared Powell, John Zeigler, Samuel P. Barr, George Hoerr , James Todd, Joseph Leech, Robert Thompson, Jackson Reed, George Kaufman, Edward Pearson, Alfred L. Pearson, John Hoerr, Edward J. Wilkins, Thomas Burton, George W. Barr, John Leech, Jno. S. Teese, James D. Teese, Lewis Arensburg, Samuel Becker, Andrew M’Cready, John Kinsey , Robert Esler, George Meyers, John Beckit, Henry Chalmers, George Petty,, Charles Johnson, Edward Johnston, James Johnson, Samuel Woolslair, Conrad Arensburg, Herman Meyers, Louis Schreiner , Samuel Black, William Alexander, James Snowden, William Wilson, Samuel Richards, John Butler, Dr. Rezo Robinson, Tobias Dietrich, Andrew Hair, Robert Laird, William Seaton, James Thorp, George Shafer, Edward Faber, David Doughty, James Artman, J. J. McKelvey, William Garrison, William Craven, Giles Bates, Samuel Matthews, William King, John Matthews, Leopold Hart, George Hoyle, Chas. Chamberlin, Charles Irwin, George Teese, Clarence Johns, Samuel Keller , William Whitten, Joseph Whitten, Neri Whitten, Edward Jones, Isaiah B. Becker, George Tackleberry, Lewis Tackleberry, James P. Hunter, Ellis M’Clure.

Industrialist Adam E. Daum served for 15 years as elder of the Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church. Daum was noted for his executive roles in the oil, paint and varnish, and cement and brick industries in Pittsburgh.

Unfortunately the church no longer stands. It is widely held that it was demolished around 1940, and houses now occupy the site.