Like Mr. Elder, Mr. Sharon was a practical farmer and lived on his farm near Derry. At first he gave two-thirds of his time to the Derry congregation; later he reversed this arrange- ment. During his pastorate the first extensive repairs were made on Paxton church. The first Sunday School at Paxton was organ- ized about 1820, and held its session in the Dau- phin County almshouse, for the children of that institution. In a few years this school, includ- ing the almshouse children, was transferred to the church and continued for several years, when it was discontinued until about 1845. Miss Mar- garet Gray was the first superintendent. About this time she, with Mrs. Elizabeth Elder and Joseph Campbell, started a weekly prayer meet- ing, which was abandoned about the same time as the Sunday School. 109 In 1835 old Paxton Church was visited by thieves, who carried off the old Bible and pulpit hymn-book, now in the archives of the church. The loss was not discovered until the following Sabbath, when Mr. Sharon ascended the high pulpit. As he was giving Paxton but a third of his time then, before the next church service, three weeks later, the Bible was recovered; but the mystery of its loss was never solved. It was found by John Shaner, more generally known as "Jube," a bound boy in the family of John Bigger, and was secreted at the bottom of an oats bin in Mr. Bigger's stable at the Old Tavern. As it was neatly tied up in an old bag, together with the missing hymn book, it was none the worse for its travels and was used until soon after Mr. Williamson came. The first Bible, used by Parsons Elder, Snowden and Williams was re- placed in 1830, but no one knows what became of it. Mr. Sharon's name, by the way, was pro- nounced Sharr-on almost to rhyme with baron. After the Sesqui-Centennial celebration in 1890 one of the older members of his flock complained at the modern pronunciation of the name as it is spelled. He writes: "No one likes to have his name miscalled: it is an offense against good manners, and that offense is not lessened when applied to the dead who cannot reply. I well remember the towering voice of ruling elder and precentor Jordan, as he would stand in the south door each Sabbath morning and call to us gathered in the grove, ^Gentlemen ! Mr. Sharr-on has gone in.' " 110 Rev. John Marshall Boggs 1845—1847 After two more years of supplies in which we find Mr. Boggs, a licentiate of Donegal Presby- tery, preaching for Derry and Paxton, he was finally called in 1844. He was not ordained, however, until the following year, as he asked permission to go to Princeton Theological Sem- inary for the winter as a graduate student. On April 9, 1845, he was ordained and installed in Paxton church by the Carlisle Presbytery. John Marshall Boggs was born near Cross Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and was graduated from Franklin College, Indiana, in 1840. For the next few years he was a professor of lan- guages at Towanda, Pennsylvania; thus Paxton was his first charge.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Like Mr. Elder, Mr. Sharon was a practical farmer and lived on his farm near Derry. At first he gave two-thirds of his time to the Derry congregation; later he reversed this arrangement. During his pastorate the first extensive repairs were made on Paxton church. The first Sunday School at Paxton was organized about 1820, and held its session in the Dauphin County almshouse, for the children of that institution. In a few years this school, including the almshouse children, was transferred to the church and continued for several years, when it was discontinued until about 1845. Miss Margaret Gray was the first superintendent. About this time she, with Mrs. Elizabeth Elder and Joseph Campbell, started a weekly prayer meeting, which was abandoned about the same time as the Sunday School. In 1835 old Paxton Church was visited by thieves, who carried off the old Bible and pulpit hymn-book, now in the archives of the church. The loss was not discovered until the following Sabbath, when Mr. Sharon ascended the high pulpit. As he was giving Paxton but a third of his time then, before the next church service, three weeks later, the Bible was recovered; but the mystery of its loss was never solved. It was found by John Shaner, more generally known as "Jube," a bound boy in the family of John Bigger, and was secreted at the bottom of an oats bin in Mr. Bigger's stable at the Old Tavern. As it was neatly tied up in an old bag, together with the missing hymn book, it was none the worse for its travels and was used until soon after Mr. Williamson came. The first Bible, used by Parsons Elder, Snowden and Williams was replaced in 1830, but no one knows what became of it. Mr. Sharon's name, by the way, was pronounced Sharr-on almost to rhyme with baron. After the Sesqui-Centennial celebration in 1890 one of the older members of his flock complained at the modern pronunciation of the name as it is spelled. He writes: "No one likes to have his name miscalled: it is an offense against good manners, and that offense is not lessened when applied to the dead who cannot reply. I well remember the towering voice of ruling elder and precentor Jordan, as he would stand in the south door each Sabbath morning and call to us gathered in the grove, "Gentlemen! Mr. Sharr-on has gone in." Rev. John Marshall Boggs 1845—1847 After two more years of supplies in which we find Mr. Boggs, a licentiate of Donegal Presbytery, preaching for Derry and Paxton, he was finally called in 1844. He was not ordained, however, until the following year, as he asked permission to go to Princeton Theological Seminary for the winter as a graduate student. On April 9, 1845, he was ordained and installed in Paxton church by the Carlisle Presbytery. John Marshall Boggs was born near Cross Creek, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and was graduated from Franklin College, Indiana, in 1840. For the next few years he was a professor of languages at Towanda, Pennsylvania; thus Paxton was his first charge.

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