The following information was taken from the book "Early History and Genealogy of the Anderson-McCullough-McCune Families and Related Lines" by Elizabeth Brubaker Wolff printed cir 1953.

A brief history of the Seceder Church to which the Andersons were members, follows:

The United Presbyterian Church is the successor of two religious branches, the Seceders and the Associate Reformed.

Rev. R. G. Ferguson, one time minister of this church, in "Old Mercersburg " explains the reason for secession. "The origin of the Seceder Church was a secession from the National Church of Scotland in 1773, where the rights of the people were trampled upon by titled patrons and the doctrine of grace was set aside by church courts under rationalistic leadership. The name that they took at the outset was the Associate Presbytery."

The Seceder Church, to which members of the Andersons belonged was located on the left of the road leading to Greencastle. A log meeting house was erected about the year 1772 and was also used for school purposes. James Buchanan, former President of the United Stated, was said to have been a pupil there. A brick church took its place in 1828, which was later removed to Mercersburg where it became a dwelling. The charter of this church is said to be in Carlisle, Pa. Courthouse. The graveyard was located not far from the church and for upward of 100 years burials had been made in the plot. Today there are but few gravestones with inscriptions but there are many native stones scattered about. A number of years ago a marker was placed here for two Revolutionary soldiers, Oliver Anderson and David Humphrey, his father-in-law. Chester Anderson, of Upton; Mrs. Roy Stouffer, Williamson; Mrs. D. Singer Geiser and Mrs. Charles E. Wolff, both of Waynesboro, Pa., were responsible for the erection of the marker. Today, the burial plot is overgrown with brush and trees and only in winter when trees are denuded of foliage can one catch a glimpse of markers from the roadside.

The Rev. C. Y. Love of the West Conococheague congregation of the "Big Spring Presbytery" gives the following description of the Slate Hill Church:

"The West Conococheague Church was located about a mile-and-a-half from Mercersburg on the road leading to Greencastle. It stood upon a hill, and was generally known as Slate Hill Church. It was a log building and probable erected in 1782. The deed for the land upon which it stood was dated September 10th, 1777, in which William McCune conveyed to the trustees of the Associate Congregation one acre of land, with the privilege of a neighboring spring for the sum of five shillings. The land is described as that upon which the church was already built. The Rev. John Rodgers was presented with a call from the churches of Conococheague and Big Spring at a meeting of Presbytery held at Oxford, November 12th, 1771. Mr. Rodgers' pastorate did not take place until his installation in the summer of 1772, because of a lack of church buildings. The Conococheague part of Mr. Rodgers' pastorate was composed of two organizations - one on the East and the other on the West Conococheague, as all the settlements were near streams of water. It seems that Mr. Rodgers served this congregation until 1781. In 1783 Matthew Lind was installed pastor of the congregation along with the congregation at Greencastle, Chambersburg and Great Cove. This pastorate continued until 1798. Rev. John Young was the next pastor, serving from 1799 till 1808. He was succeeded by Rev. John Lind (son of Matthew Lind) whose ministry extended from 1808 until 1817. In 1786 the town of Mercersburg was laid out and soon became a center of population. The Presbyterian Church, which was located about one-and-a-half miles from the town, saw the advantages of the position and moved into the growing town. Inasmuch as the two churches were so nearly alike in doctrine, government and religious forms of worship, many could see no reason why the one should be preferred to other, and for convenience sake fell in with the village church. The West Conococheague Church began to decline, and after Mr. Lind's resignation in 1817, the congregation could get but little supply of preaching from the Presbytery. They had no prospect of ever having another pastor and were unable to secure even a supply except for an occasional Sabbath. They preserved their organization until the disastrous union of 1822 broke up the Presbytery. The presumption is that the congregation never disbanded, but just melted away and ceased to exist. Some joined the Presbyterian Church, some united with the Associate Church that was struggling into existence in Mercersburg, some moved away and some remained just as they were. The old meeting house on Slate Hill remained unoccupied for years, and was finally sold and removed to another place where it served as a dwelling house."

From "Old Mercersburg" we find the following:

"Lots 131 and 132 were the property of the Seceder Church. The church stood on the lot now owned by Mrs. Bristor. It was under this church that the rifles belonging to the town were concealed during the Confederate raids. Miss Sallie McCracken lived in the sexton's cottage now owned by Atcheson Divilbiss. The graveyard belonging to this congregation was on the rear of these two lots. The bodies have been removed to other burial grounds. The stone church which this congregation erected stood on the "point" now occupied by the residence of William Smith".

A record of the early membership of this church is in possession of the John Anderson family of Williamson, Pa., and is as follows:

"A list of the subscribers for the Labour of the Rev. Matthew Lind in the West Conococheague Congregation James Ramsey, David Humphrey, Samuel McCune, James Miller, Oliver Anderson, John Sterrat, James Stuart, Adam Rush, Robert Rodgers, Thomas McClelland, Ann Anderson, James and Andrew Read, Edward Mannon, John Bruce, William Dickey, David Reed, William Davidson, John Moore, Joseph Boggle, Daniel McCurdy, James Clark, John Martin, James Dodd, James McMaster, Thomas Rodgers, Samuel Reed, Thomas H. Sloan, Thomas Dunlap, Robert Miller, Thomas Shannon, James Bogle. Adam Lowry and James Clark.

In addition to the above list Mrs. Virginia Fendrick of Mercersburg, in her publication "Revolutionary Soldiers of Franklin County", gives the following "A receipt by James Ramsey, February 22, 1794, shows the names of Sarrah Davis and Walter Maxawell as paid 'steppens for Mr. Lind".

The following items pertaining to members of the Andersons were gleaned from various sources

Carlisle Quarter Sessions. Vol. 3. Peters Twp. 1768.

Constable, James McDowell; Supt. of Roads, John Anderson.

Overseer of Poor, William Duffield and William Waddell.

Overseer of Fences, Henry Anderson and William Holliday.

                                          Signed Samuel Davis, William Holliday.

      History of Lancaster County, Rupp p. 370. First Reformed Church. A relic in the archives of the church dated 1764, which is a curiosity, is worthy of being put on the record. A letter from the frontier.

                                                                                                                                     Conococheague.

                                                                                                                                     2nd April 1764

Gentlemen

      We embrace this opportunity of Returning you with ye other contribution of your society - our hearty acknowledgment for your liberal contribution toward ye support of our Frontier in helping us to Raise a Ranging Company, to cover us in our Distresses. Your Liberality to ye amount of ten pounds, four shillings, we have received by ye hands of John Wray.

      We are, Gentlemen, your obliged and humble servants,

                                                                                                                                      William Smith

                                                                                                                                  Henry Anderson

From the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Scotch-Irish Pioneers in Ireland. Hometown of Ulster families.

1691-1718.

James Anderson, Ruling Elder in Duncan, Antrim in 1710-1715.

Samuel Anderson, Ballymina, Antrim, a Ruling Elder in 1710.

       (The above names Samuel and James, are frequently used in the Anderson clan).

 

The following is an abstract of Henry Anderson's will as copied from the original in the family of John Anderson of Upton, Pa.

Peters Twp., Cumberland County, 1778.

To Ann, his wife.

Allen Anderson, my brother John's eldest son.

Elizabeth, John and Rebeckah, my brother John's other children.

Brother Thomas Anderson in Ireland and his children whose names are unknown.

Congregation on the west side of the Conococheague in care of Associate Presbytery. After this congregation is dissolved to go to the next Associate Congregation.

To Rev. John Rodgers accepting the call to this congregation.

Sister Mary Dysert, widow in Ireland and her two children whose names are unknown.

To nephew, Henry Marshall, son to my brother-in-law, William Marshall.

To Henry Wray, son of James Wray.

To William Anderson, eldest son of Oliver Anderson and to his second son, Henry Anderson and to his daughter, Jane.

In presence of George Humphrey, Robert Humphrey and Henry Anderson.

Executors: David Humphrey, Oliver Anderson and John Work.

Henry Anderson died in 1778.

Ann, his wife, died in 1797.

They are buried in Slate Hill graveyard.

John, eldest of the Anderson family, married Margaret Wray, daughter of James Wray, pensioner, and his wife, Margaret Wray. James died at the advanced age of eighty-three years on February 7, 1838. His wife Margaret died September 7, 1804, at the age of fifty-nine.

John Anderson and wife, Margaret, had issue:

1. Allen, 2. Elizabeth, 3. John, and 4. Rebecca.

John Anderson and wife are buried in the Robert Kennedy Memorial Church graveyard at Welsh Run.

Henry Anderson married Ann (surname unknown). They were faithful members of the Slate Hill Church and are buried in the burial plot there. They had no issue.

William Marshall and his first wife, Mary, settled in "The Corner" section early. William was a taxable there as early as 1750 to 1751 when Peters Township was erected. They lived on a tract of land called "Todds Plains". His neighbors in 1795 were James and William Rankin to the North; Oliver Anderson on the South and in the East other lands of William Marshall. The farm was along the Licking creek. The Marshall home is still standing along the upper "Corner" road beyond the Johnston Rankin home.

One of the early forts built as a protection from the Indians was in this vicinity. J. H. Brubaker, father of the writer, told his children many times about this old fort on their frequent visits to their grandfather Anderson's home a short distance away. Mrs. Harriet Anderson, Williamson, Pa., now in her 94th year, recounts the story told her of a woman being killed at this fort by the Indians as she was milking a cow.

A trail leading over the Cove Mountain to the Little Cove was called the Marshall Trail. This foot path in all probability was an early Indian Trail and it is used today to provide a short route across the mountain from the Corner.

William Marshall's home was in District No. 4 of the "Upper West Conococheague Presbyterian Church near Mercersburg".

William and his wife Mary had issue:

1. John; 2. Elizabeth; 3. Martha; 4. Henry; 5. William, Jr.

John and Henry gave service in the Revolution.

William, Sr. married, second, ---Anderson. He deceased in 1802.

I. Oliver Anderson , the subject of this genealogy, was born in Ireland in 1742 and came to America with other members of the family, presumably as early as 1750 and to the Corner by 1764. He was a farmer by occupation, taking up three hundred and twenty acres of land from the Government, part of which was mountain land. It was then in Cumberland County. His farm was six miles southwest of Mercersburg. A Seceder in faith, he attended the Slate Hill Church and served as ruling elder for many years and collected funds for the support of the ministers in charge of the congregation. He was one of the early educators, teaching school in winter while farming was not in progress.

He served in the Revolutionary War and was one of the trusted men who were left in camp near Trenton in 1776-1777, to keep the camp fires burning to deceive the waiting British while General Washington with his army stealthily reached the safety of Princeton. Tradition tells us Oliver Anderson also served at Valley Forge.

His further service in the Revolution is as follows:

  From Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D. C.

  Private in Second Batt. of Cumberland County Militia commanded by Col. John Allison now under the care of James Erwin, Capt., from 6th of December to the 24th, 1776.

  Pa. State Library at Harrisburg.

  Private under Capt. Samuel Patton's Co. 6th Batt., Cumberland Co. Militia, 1777.

  From Adj. Gen. Office.

  Private under Capt. Wm. Huston's Co., Cumberland Co. Militia, commanded by Col. Samuel Culbertson. 1780-1781.

 

---

 

 

 

Lane from cemetery to Rt 16 (Two Top Mountain in background)