and was a place of considerable note in the palmy days of the "National Pike," along which wagons and stage-coaches moved in almost unbroken procession, and its inhabitants and also those of the neighborhood have been distinguished for general intelligence and sturdy Presbyterianism. But it is not too much to say that the special distinction of Claysville clusters in and around its Presbyterian church, of which the Rev. Thomas Hoge was the founder, and from which so many ministers of the Gospel have gone forth.

To the people of that church last Thursday was a delightful occasion. On that day a tablet to the memory of its first pastor, Rev. Thomas Hoge, donated by his daughter, Mrs. Esther Holmes Hoge Patterson, of Philadelphia, was unveiled in the presence of a large assembly, consisting mostly of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those to whom Mr. Hoge had ministered. The tablet, which is an exquisite work of art, by Tiffany & Co., of New York, was presented to the church, on behalf of Mrs. Patterson, by J. T. Noble, Esq., and was received, on the part of the congregation, by the pastor, Rev. Frank Fish. Rev. Henry Woods, D.D., of Washington and Jefferson College, read a sketch of the church of Buffalo, of which he is pastor, also founded by Mr. Hoge. Rev. G. W. F. Birch, D.D., LL.D., of New York, sketched the times in which Mr. Hoge lived and labored, his character, and the results of his work. Among those present were the following descendants of Mr. Hoge: Robert Patterson (a son of the donor), wife and son, of Pittsburgh, and Miss Hazeltine, a granddaughter of Mrs. Patterson.

Remarks

MADE BY J. T. NOBLE, OF CLAYSVILLE, PENN., OCTOBER 8, 1896, IN PRESENTING TABLET OF HER FATHER BY MRS. ESTHER HOLMES HOGE PATTERSON TO THE CLAYSVILLE PRESBY. TERIAN CHURCH.

This church has just completed seventy-five years of history, and is just entering upon the last quarter, which, when completed, will make up the century of history. In reviewing the seventy-five years already completed we see much that is gratifying as well as much that is full of sadness, such sadness as necessarily comes to every church and every community. There has been much that has required hardships and self-denials in connection with this church, but, after all, its work has been crowned with such success as to make the hardships and self-denials on the part of so many, matters of much gratification and pleasure. The work of this church has been full of successes, and it has proven itself in a multitude of respects the equal of any church in the Presbytery of Washington, and I think I may say the equal of any church of like character in Western Pennsylvania. Its success has been so great as to engage the interest and admiration of people in many parts of the country. In one respect I may say this church stands out very prominently, and I think I may justly say as promi

nently perhaps as any church in the Washington Presbytery-for the number of young men who have become prominent in professions, as well as for the large number of useful citizens it has furnished to so many different communities.

To no one is this church so much indebted for its success and usefulness, and this community as well for its rapid advancement and development, as it is to the early efforts and privations of the Rev. Thomas Hoge. Mr. Hoge bore much the same relation to this community and this region of country as did the Rev. John McMillan and the Rev. Thaddeus Dodd to the regions of country east and south of us. A man of sturdy Scotch-Irish ancestry, well educated at the University of Edinburgh; possessing more means than was usually found among ministers of that day; having a strong and vigorous constitution, but with no desire to be a preacher in that popular sense which his opportunities, his education, and his general surroundings would have naturally afforded to him-but his whole ambition and desire seemed to be simply to establish Christianity permanently in this section of country which was then upon the frontier. He was a man of great ability. His ability was oftentimes recognized by the frequency with which he was elected Moderator of the Presbytery, and the many years that he served as its Stated Clerk; and then, again, by being chosen as Moderator of the Synod. No minister of his time was more highly regarded by his co-presbyters and coworkers than was Mr. Hoge; and, had he so desired, his ability and the high order of his attainments, the high esteem in which he was held, on several occasions

would have placed within his reach some of the most desirable pulpits in the country; but he preferred to labor in the way of extending and establishing Christianity by building churches in this new and undeveloped country, a work for which he was especially fitted and for which he seemed to be especially set apart. The hardships which he endured in coming on horseback each and every Sabbath morning for a period of fifteen years to preach to this congregation; the hardships which he endured visiting the widely scattered families in times of sickness and death; giving at least one-third of the money himself necessary to erect this building, which has been occupied by this congregation for the last sixty-five years-so fully demonstrates his singleness of purpose, and his devotion to that single object-to found Christianity in this region of country for the generations that were to come after. He was largely instrumental in having this church erected at a time when the early settlers were practically without money and were struggling to clear these farms and establish homes for themselves and families. Mr. Hoge was also valuable to the people of this section at that time in many directions, procuring for them assistance in the way of money, and also furnishing them valuable information and advice as to how to clear their farms and build themselves homes, he being a man who was deeply interested in agriculture and familiar with the wool-growing industry, a nucleus to the thrift and prosperity which this industry afterwards brought to all our people.

From 1835 to 1846 this church was supplied by a number of pastors who, on account of a variety of

reasons, encountered many difficulties in endeavoring to maintain this church organization, and not until the year 1846, when the Rev. Alexander McCarrell became pastor, were the splendid foundations that were laid by Mr. Hoge builded upon successfully. Mr. McCarrell possessed such qualities as enabled him to successfully supplement the work which had been begun by Mr. Hoge. He continued the pastor of this church for a period of thirty-six years. Under his ministry the lines put out by Mr. Hoge were extended in many directions, and through his earnest labors this church grew continuously. He was not a man who depended so much upon the eloquence of preaching in the achievement of his success, but by sympathy and the gentleness of his nature, and the wonderful regularity with which he performed all his duties, he most successfully extended the boundaries of this church and accomplished a remarkable work, so that when he laid down his life in the year 1881, he left this church a legacy to his successor, a stronghold which will stand forever as a monument especially to the memory of the Rev. Thomas Hoge and himself.

Mrs. Patterson, a daughter of the Rev. Thomas Hoge, living at 1728 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, is the only surviving member of the Rev. Thomas Hoge's family, she having attained the ripe old age of eightysix. She is a most interesting and remarkable woman; remarkably active in body, and still taking the keenest interest in all passing events. Mrs. Patterson has more than an ordinary interest in this church to-day because of her father's connection with it, he being its founder and first pastor; and she herself feels that