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Greenbrier Presbytery was organized in 1839 primarily through the extensive missionary efforts of the father of the Presbyterian Church in West Virginian, John McElhenney. In the publication available for PDF download via the button at the end of this introduction, Historical Sketch of Greenbrier Presbytery by William L. Price, Rev. McElhenney’s ministry supplying pulpits and […]

From 1830 to the beginning of the First World War almost ninety percent of all German and German speaking emigrants found their new homes in the United States and during the nineteenth century alone more than five-million emigrated to the United States. Nineteenth-century German immigrants settled all over the nation, but the area from New […]

A special service was held at five o’clock in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 5, 1885, on the campus of Union Theological Seminary to dedicate a memorial plaque honoring Rev. John Holt Rice, D.D. At the time, the seminary was located on the campus of Hampden-Sydney College, but it relocated in 1898 to Richmond where […]

October 31, 2017 marks the quincentennial of the event considered the beginning of the Reformation. Even though some historians contend that it was not Luther that posted the theses but rather one of his students while others say they were not posted at all, it is clear the theses were composed by Luther and then […]

James Woodrow was born in Carlisle, England, May 30, 1828, the son of Rev. Thomas Woodrow, D.D., a native of Scotland. In 1886 the family moved to Canada, then the next year settled in the United States in Chillicothe, Ohio, where Rev. Woodrow was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. James’s preparatory education for […]

One of the subjects mentioned in the two-volume set, Historical and Literary Memorials of Presbyterianism in Ireland, 1623-1731, by Thomas Witherow, as well as other histories of Ireland and its churches is the regium donum. The Latin regium donum means “Royal Gift” or “Royal Bounty.” It refers to funds given in Ireland to select denominations […]

After the United States declared war on April 6, 1917, the military and organizations associated with supporting the troops overseas were trained and prepared for relocation to the front. Included among the collection of organizations interested in supporting the troops were denominational chaplains and interdenominational workers. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States […]

Last week a biography of Dr. Abel McIver Fraser (1856-1933), who was for most of his ministry the pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Staunton, Virginia, was posted on Presbyterians of the Past.  This week a PDF copy of the book honoring him edited by William E. Hudson is available for download. At the time the book […]

Available for PDF download is a copy of the pamphlet by Conway P. Wing, A Ministry of Fifty Years. A Discourse Delivered February 20, 1881, Before the First and Second Presbyterian Congregations of Carlisle. He heads the first page of the discourse as a “Sermon” with Romans 5:4 and 1 Thessalonians 5:21 as his texts, but […]

This year Reformation Day marks the 499th remembrance of Martin Luther’s presentation of his theses against Roman Catholicism’s use of indulgences and it anticipates the celebration of the quincentennial in 2017. Luther presented the theses–originally titled A Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences–by nailing them to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg. […]

Up until roughly the end of the nineteenth century, the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA), the Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS), and other Presbyterian and Reformed denominations opened and operated many educational institutions. Chicora College was one of several Presbyterian schools operated in South Carolina that has either closed or […]

The Presbytery of Fayetteville of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was established a presbytery of the Synod of the Carolinas on October 2, 1812. The geographic bounds of its authority included, roughly, the land west of New Bern, South of Raleigh, and east of Greensboro. Its members at the time […]