"In  addition  to  the  minutes  of  Donegal  Presbytery
we  have  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation
the  unvarying  claim  of  our  ancestors,  that  this  was  the
first  church  phinted  in  this  valley.  I  have  heard  my
grandfather,  who  preached  in  Harrisburg,  in  1793,
and  also,  Sir.  Elder,  of  Harrisburg,  whose  ancestors,
I  believe,  preached  at  Paxton  in  1737,  give  to  this
church  the  priority  I  claim."

"From  the  date  of  its  organization,  in  November,
1734,  until  the  present  time,"  continues  Colonel
Snowden,  "this  church,  through  all  the  changes  that
have  nuirked  the  civil  and  religious  institutions  of
this  continent,  has  maintained  its  existence,  preserv-
ing in  their  purity  and  simplicity  the  truths  of  the
covenant  and  the  forms  of  worship  taught  to  the
founders  by  the  fathers  in  the  land  from  whence  they
came;  not  only  in  doctrines  and  forms  of  worship  has
there  been  uniformity,  but  also  in  the  character  of
the  people  who  have  composed,  and  still  compose  its
membership.  The  founders  were  of  that  hardy  and
indomitable  bra\'e  race,  designated  the  world  over  as
Scotch-Irish,  and  you  will  find,  by  a  reference  to  the
records,  that  the  descendants  of  these  men  and  men
of  the  sjime  race  now,  and  at  all  previous  times,  have
been  preachers,  elders,  trustees  and  ruling  spirits,
with  rare  exceptions,  and  have,  indeed,  constituted
nearly  the  whole  of  its  membership.
"  From  November,  1734,  until  1739,  the  pulpit
was  supplied  as  Presbytery  found  opportunity.  In
addition  to  Rev.  Alexander  Craighead,  Revs.  Ber-
tram, Thomas  Craighead,  Gelston,  Black,  and  Thom-
son, preached  to  the  people.  In  1738  this  church
and  the  one  at  Carlisle  united  in  a  call  to  the  Rev.
