BUFFALO CROSSROADS -- The Buffalo Presbyterian Church, organized in 1773, was the first church established in the Buffalo Valley, only five years after the territory was opened to settlement. Scots-Irish Presbyterians first met in the countryside where the Old Buffalo Church later would be built.
Around 1784, Edward and Joseph Shippen gave five acres to the Presbyterian congregation on which to build a meetinghouse and burial place, along Route 192, also known as Buffalo Road.
The first meetinghouse was a log structure with three doors and nine windows -- one window behind the pulpit plus two on each side, front and back. In 1791, 36 pews were rented for 1 pound 9 shillings up to 3 pounds 5 shillings, and occupied by 83 members.
In 1816, a stone church replaced the log structure. The building was 52 feet by 40 feet, containing four rows of seats and the pulpit. Jacob Hartman did all the carpentry work and painting for $625, and William McLaughlin did the masonry work for 75 cents per perch, or 16.5 feet.
The cornerstone was laid July 23, 1816, and the building completed by Dec. 29, 1816. This stone church stood at the northwest corner of the cemetery grounds.
In 1846, the present Greek Revival, brick structure was built, necessitated by the early deterioration of the stone church when its foundation became unsound. Stones from the 1816 church were used in the foundation of the brick church and in part of the cemetery wall.
Ministers serving this congregation included the Rev. Hugh Morrison, a native of Ireland who served from 1787 to 1801, Thomas Hood (1805-35), Isaac Grier (1835-84), W.K. Foster (1885-90), E.H. Snook (1891-99) and M.H. Calkins (1900-1919).
Over the years, worshipers had come from all parts of Union County to Old Buffalo Church, but as the neighboring towns grew, membership declined as families joined churches closer to their homes. The last 19 members transferred to the Lewisburg church in 1919.
Old Buffalo has been called the "Mother of Churches" because from its membership the following churches were formed: Mifflinburg Presbyterian in 1819; Bethel-Washington, Allenwood, in 1831; Laurel Run, later Hartleton, in 1832; Lewisburg in 1833; and New Berlin in 1841.
Revolutionary War soldiers John Campbell, William Irwin, George Lashells, Alexander McEwen and Hugh Wilson; War of 1812 veterans William Cornelius, James Magee and John McGee; and Civil War soldiers George W. Lashells, David M'Creight, Isaac Magee and Joshua Weiser are among those buried in Buffalo Crossroads Cemetery.
The Old Buffalo Presbyterian Church Cemetery Association has maintained the cemetery since acquiring it from the Northumberland Presbytery in 1975. At the same time, the 1773 Buffalo Church Association took ownership of the church and grounds and is bound by deed to maintain it for religious and historic purposes. The church can be rented for weddings and other events.
In 1975, Buffalo Church was included in the Pennsylvania Inventory of Historic Places, and on Jan. 30, 1976, it was enrolled in the National Register of Historic Places. The old oak trees on site are estimated at more than 200 years old.
To learn more about Old Buffalo Church, read "Old Buffalo Church" by the 1773 Buffalo Church Association; "Linn's Annals of Buffalo Valley;" "Snyder's Union County, Pennsylvania: A Celebration of History;" "Union County Heritage V. II," 1970, and other material at the Union County Historical Society library.
n Elaine Wintjen is on the staff at the Union County Historical Society, 103 S. Second St., Lewisburg. The society's library is open Mondays through Fridays, 8:30 to noon and 1 to 4:30. For information, call 524-8666, e-mail hstoricl@ptd.net or visit www.unioncountyhistoricalsociety.org. "Once Upon A Time In ..." is a Monday feature provided by historical societies in the four counties. The column focuses on people, places and objects of historical significance.
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