Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church - Rockbridge, VA the site
http://p210.ezboard.com/fboarsheadpubfrm45.showMessage?topicID=4.topic
Founded by Scots-Irish families who settled in that part of Augusta County,
Virginia in the 1730s before Augusta was divided and became present day
Rockbridge County in 1778, was Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church. That area
is considered the oldest community in Rockbridge County, the main town being
Lexington,and the church was the earliest in the area. (Lexington, the
county seat, was a part of the Borden Grant, acquired in 1739 by Gilbert
Campbell, and became a town in 1777 - US GENWEB)
Ephraim McDowell, an Ulsterman, his family and friends settled there in
1737, calling it Timber Ridge. It was not until 1746 a proper meeting house
was erected and then about that time joined the New Providence congregation
and made an "official" church during a missionary visit by the Rev. John
Blair, from the Presbytery of Donegal in PA.
Their first minister was to have been a Rev. William Dean, called in 1748
but, dying before assuming his duties. His replacement was not sent until
1755, the Rev. John Brown. The call to Rev. Brown was signed by 116 people,
the first signature being that of John Houston from Co. Antrim stock and
grandfather of Sam Houston, the Gov. Of Tennessee and Texas. Surnames
included in the list of signatures were McDowels, Lyles, Davidsons,
McClungs, Campbells, Paxtons, Thomsons, Mackeys, Alexanders, etc., all
families who had immigrated a few years earlier to the Colonies from
Northern Ireland.
The stone church was built around 1755-56 with John Lyle and James McClung
heading up the building committee. A tablet made from marble and bearing the
date 1756, was added to the front wall of the church and the land (one acre)
had been given in deed to the church by Robert Houston. The building (it's
pretty small), is the nave of the present church today. Daniel Lyle was the
stonemason and his building and work has been in use for more than 240
years. This building was also designed to be used as a fortress during times
of trouble during the French and Indian War.
They didn't have pews as we have today but, instead, each family had their
own appointed split logs for seats, a tradition, though in the form of pews,
that continues to some degree even today.
Per Billy Kennedy's research ( The Scots-Irish in the Shenandoah Valley) Dr.
Lyle Kinnear, Shenandoah historian, said of them and other Scots-Irish
settlers, " They kept the Sabbath and everything else they could get their
hands on." They had defended their homes in Ireland, so they were trained
for the frontier. They often came in clusters: from being relatives and
neighbors in the North of Ireland to being relatives and neighbors in
Augusta and Rockbridge Counties. (Billy Kennedy - The Scots-Irish in the
Shenandoah Valley 1966)
There's a nice photo of the church on this site:
barbjscott.freeservers.co...rRidge.htm
A brief history of New Providence Presbyterian Church can be found here:
home.ntelos.net/~newprov/history.html
USGENWEB Rockbridge County:
www.rootsweb.com/~usgenwe...ckbrid.htm
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians From Ulster to Rockbridge by Angela Ruley
Rockbridge USGENWEB
www.rootsweb.com/~varockbr/scotpres.htm
Records for Rockbridge begin:
marriage, land, probate & court - 1778
death - 1853-70
birth - 1853-96
Sal
Registered User
(4/15/02 8:37 pm)
Reply Re: Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church - Rockbridge, VA
I have a copy of the Timber Ridge Church History written by Taylor Sanders
of W&L.
Chapter 6, begin at page 117 - Captain William Lyle became an elder at
Timber Ridge in 1799....and served until 1837.........Lyle, who also served
as high sheriff, militia leader and country magistrate, "helped develop the
collegiate connection between Timber Ridge Church and Washington
College.".....One of his five daughters, Sarah, married Henry Ruffner, a
long time professor and later president of the school, who was paster at
Timber Ridge from 1819 to 1829.
I am named for that lady, Sarah - called Sally Lyle. Dr. Henry Ruffner is my
gggrandfather on my father's side.
I was there last summer. The home they lived in is almost next door to the
center classrooms of the school. Needless to say it is still being used as a
professor's residence. Around Lexington Henry Ruffner filled many pulpits
off and on. He had graduated from Washington College and then took up
education to be a Presbyterian Minister. Henry Ruffner's name appears many
times as the officiating minister at mattiages.
~Wehali Usdi~<Look not at the Eyes but at the Soul>