I particularly recommend to you to take pains that when the Service is at an end, the several Officers return to you the Arms and Accoutre- ments of their Company to be by You preserved in safe and proper place, till You shall receive my further directions about them. — I have only further to recommend to You all possible despatch in the execution of Your Com- mission, and that you will from time to time keep me informed of Your proceedings — I am Sir, Your Most Obedient Truly Humble Servant, James Hamilton. To the Reverend M^. John Elder. 82 3 f^ p^ O bfl c Ph X MEMORIES OF PAXTON CHURCH DURING EIGHTY YEARS In planning this record of old Paxton we felt it would be incomplete without the reminiscences of our oldest church member and most faithful worker, Miss Ruther- ford, oldest daughter of the late John P. and Eliza Ruth- erford, who is lovingly known to every one as "Miss Lizzie." Someone has written, "A woman must have dis- tinctive individuality to be known to an entire community by her first name." It takes but slight acquaintance with our Miss Lizzie to feel this truth. She is, ever has been, a power in Paxton Church and in the community, and her memories of by-gone days are invaluable. Though over eighty, her remarkable memory is never at fault; in case any doubtful point needed verifying, invariably Miss Lizzie was right. Many of her recollections are embodied in other sketches, partcularly those of the church proper and of the manse, but this little talk brings vividly to Us the ways of bygone years. Can I tell you when I first remember Paxton Church? Let me see! Rev. James Sharron mar- ried father and mother and baptized me, but as he died when I was very small, I naturally do not recall him clearly. Mother had great respect for him and often told us children how very good he was. He visited around among the people when he came up to preach, usually arriving Sat- urday afternoon on horseback and staying until 83 Monday. He was a tall, slender man, very deli- cate looking, and was in poor health for years, but it never seemed to interfere with his work. He had a very solemn, serious manner, and all the young people of the church stood in great awe of him and used to dread when their turn came for the Sunday visit. I was still a very little girl when Mr. Boggs was here, but remember him well. Everyone went to church those days no matter how hard it was to get there. We lived near "Beaufort,'^ at the foot of the mountains and each Sunday all of us but the baby would be driven seven miles to church. There were two long sermons with a recess between, but we had to sit up straight, not wriggle and tell the text and ser- mon heads to father when we went home. Mr. Boggs was a young fellow, good looking, with pleasant manners and nice to children. In those days we stood in great awe of the minister, but I well remember he came to our house one day when no one was at home and was so nice to us children that we all loved him. He boarded with Widow Elizabeth Elder, who was a Miss Sherer, and later went to Pittsburgh to live. Her house was on the Pike, just opposite the Wilhelm place, where Aunt Margaret lived so many years. The church put a partition in the old "Session House" to give him a bedroom, and he used to walk all that distance for his meals, winter and summer.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

I particularly recommend to you to take pains that when the Service is at an end, the several Officers return to you the Arms and Accoutrements of their Company to be by You preserved in safe and proper place, till You shall receive my further directions about them. — I have only further to recommend to You all possible despatch in the execution of Your Commission, and that you will from time to time keep me informed of Your proceedings — I am Sir, Your Most Obedient Truly Humble Servant, James Hamilton. To the Reverend M^. John Elder. f^ p^ O bfl Ph MEMORIES OF PAXTON CHURCH DURING EIGHTY YEARS In planning this record of old Paxton we felt it would be incomplete without the reminiscences of our oldest church member and most faithful worker, Miss Rutherford, oldest daughter of the late John P. and Eliza Rutherford, who is lovingly known to every one as "Miss Lizzie." Someone has written, "A woman must have distinctive individuality to be known to an entire community by her first name." It takes but slight acquaintance with our Miss Lizzie to feel this truth. She is, ever has been, a power in Paxton Church and in the community, and her memories of by-gone days are invaluable. Though over eighty, her remarkable memory is never at fault; in case any doubtful point needed verifying, invariably Miss Lizzie was right. Many of her recollections are embodied in other sketches, partcularly those of the church proper and of the manse, but this little talk brings vividly to Us the ways of bygone years. Can I tell you when I first remember Paxton Church? Let me see! Rev. James Sharron married father and mother and baptized me, but as he died when I was very small, I naturally do not recall him clearly. Mother had great respect for him and often told us children how very good he was. He visited around among the people when he came up to preach, usually arriving Saturday afternoon on horseback and staying until Monday. He was a tall, slender man, very delicate looking, and was in poor health for years, but it never seemed to interfere with his work. He had a very solemn, serious manner, and all the young people of the church stood in great awe of him and used to dread when their turn came for the Sunday visit. I was still a very little girl when Mr. Boggs was here, but remember him well. Everyone went to church those days no matter how hard it was to get there. We lived near "Beaufort,'^ at the foot of the mountains and each Sunday all of us but the baby would be driven seven miles to church. There were two long sermons with a recess between, but we had to sit up straight, not wriggle and tell the text and sermon heads to father when we went home. Mr. Boggs was a young fellow, good looking, with pleasant manners and nice to children. In those days we stood in great awe of the minister, but I well remember he came to our house one day when no one was at home and was so nice to us children that we all loved him. He boarded with Widow Elizabeth Elder, who was a Miss Sherer, and later went to Pittsburgh to live. Her house was on the Pike, just opposite the Wilhelm place, where Aunt Margaret lived so many years. The church put a partition in the old "Session House" to give him a bedroom, and he used to walk all that distance for his meals, winter and summer.

Historic Paxton, her days and her ways, 1722-1913