OLDEST
A recent
That date, 1732, also was claimed by no less than Samuel Evans,
co-author of the well-known Ellis and
As for Donegal’s construction date, it is unfortunate that
while we have written confirmation of the date of founding (1721), we cannot
prove any date for our building. If any such information should ever
appear in a letter, it would be most welcome.
DONEGAL’S
4TH OF JULY SYMBOL
Donegal members are all aware of the Witness Tree story as it was
retold by Dave Martin at the dedication of the newly beautified Witness Tree
site. For those who may not have seen it, there is landscaping with
benches on a stone surface, and in the center a permanent cast, or footprint,
of the stump of our historic tree. We are grateful to all contributors
and to the Donegal Society for achieving this great improvement. Donegal
Chapter of the DAR, and memorials to Jap and Margie Heisey and members of the
Slaymaker family accounted for major gifts for which plaques have been put in
the church narthex case.
Though the event may not have happened in July of 1776, our Witness
tree through these many years has been a symbol of freedom and independence.
By their decision to surround the large white oak tree, members of the
battalion and the congregation, knowing the British army was about to invade
Pennsylvania, made a certain and irreversible decision to sever all connection
to Britain and cast their lot for the cause of freedom.
It has often been said that
almost every able-bodied Donegal Presbyterian man served this country in the
Revolution. Among them were 17 colonels most of whose names appear on the
DAR monument in the church entrance area. We are told that only officers
of the Revolution and French and Indian War are named on the monument. It
is also a fact that the Scots-Irish were much more apt to have served in the
military than those of other nationalities.
At
one time it was said that as many as 40 veterans of the Revolution were buried
in the Donegal cemetery; however the list of existing stones includes only
twenty-one. We have information that names other veterans who are
supposed to be interred at Donegal. It may be that their stones did not
survive, or perhaps there were no markers. We also have a 1912 chart of
the cemetery that lists 91 unmarked sites where it is believed there were
burials. Flags are put on the graves of all veterans before Memorial Day
by the Maytown American Legion. Sometimes, the 13-star flag is used for
Revolutionary soldiers.
Regarding the Declaration of Independence, we are reminded that its adoption
was uncertain until a Scotch Presbyterian pastor, the venerable Rev. John Witherspoon,
member of the Continental Congress, made this “fiery, fearless utterance.”
“To hesitate at this moment is to consent to our own slavery. The noble
instrument on your table, which insures immortality to its author, should be
subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house. He who will not
respond to its accents and strain every nerve to carry into effect its
provisions is unworthy of the name of freeman. Whatever I may have of
property or reputation is staked on the issue of this contest; and although
these gray hairs must descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather
that they descend hither by the hand of the executioner than desert at this
crisis the sacred cause of my country.”
This is a powerful declaration, and the risks were just as he stated. Our
gratitude and appreciation should be expressed more often. Dr.
Witherspoon later became the president of the
