The immigrant and shipwreck survivor, John McPherrin 1720, married "Martha" (maiden name unknown). They had a large family of eleven children, seven daughters and 4 sons. Bernard has discovered evidence of marriages of a few of the sons and daughters from church records, and some land transactions by the brothers. He also notes that the youngest son, Andrew McPherrin, was living in Huntingdon County, PA, at about age 60, and was granted a Revolutionary War Pension. It appears that this generation remained in Pennsylvania. Martha outlived John 1720, who died about 1781-2 in Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania. We don’t have Martha’s death date, but she was mentioned in records after John’s death.
Their 10th child and third son, John 1757, is our direct line. He was born in Cumberland Township, (then York County), PA, 15 November 1757. I have voluminous notes about John 1757. He is quite an interesting character. I’ll include an excerpt here from the Butler County, PA biographical sketches:
REV. JOHN McPHERRIN was one of the founders of Presbyterianism in western Pennsylvania, the pioneer minister of that denomination in Butler county, and the first pastor of the Butler church. He was a native of what is now Adams county, Pennsylvania, born November 15, 1757, whence the family removed to Westmoreland county.
His preparatory studies were pursued under [p. 681] Rev. Robert Smith, D.D., of Pequea, Pennsylvania, and he graduated at Dickinson College in 1788. He studied theology under the direction of Rev. John CLARK, of Allegheny County, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Redstone, August 20, 1789. On September 22, 1790, he was ordained by the same Presbytery, and installed pastor of the congregations of Salem and Unity, in Westmoreland County, where he remained until 1803. In the meantime, however, he had visited this portion of the State on a missionary tour, coming here in the summer of 1799 and preaching to a congregation under the spreading branches of a large tree that stood near the site of Concord Presbyterian church, in what is now Concord township, Butler County. Several of his audience requested him to name the embryo church, which he did, calling it "Concord," the title it has borne to the present day.
In 1803 Mr. McPHERRIN returned to this county and accepted calls from Concord and Muddy Creek churches, both of which he took charge of the same year. In 1805 he became a member of the Presbytery of Erie, and continued to minister to the congregations mentioned until 1813, when he resigned the Muddy Creek charge, having been installed pastor of the Butler church April 7, 1813, in connection with the church of Concord. It is also said he was pastor of Harmony church for several years. He remained pastor of Butler and Concord churches until his death, which occurred at Butler, February 10, 1822. Before coming to Butler county, Mr. McPHERRIN was married to Mary STEVENSON, a daughter of John STEVENSON of Washington county. His children were as follows: Amelia, who married Walter LOWRIE; William; Samuel; John; Clark; Mary, who married John SULLIVAN; Ebenezer; Josiah, and Anderson.
The following tribute to his memory is from the pen of Hon. Walter LOWRIE, his son-in-law: Mr. McPHERRIN did not write his sermons. He used very brief but comprehensive notes, which he placed in a small pocket bible. It is no easy matter to draw a faithful likeness of Mr. McPHERRIN's character and appearance. He was tall in person, his hair, when I first saw him, quite gray, and his whole appearance the most venerable of any man I have ever seen. Decision and energy were the leading traits of his character. He knew not the fear of man, though sometimes his firmness degenerated into obstinancy. His natural temper was warm; hypocrisy formed no part of his character, and his heart was the seat of friendship and goodwill to man. He possessed a strong mind and strong natural abilities. At Dickinson College, under the celebrated Dr. NESBIT, he had received a thorough education, and by his studious habits his mind was in a constant state of improvement. As a minister of the gospel, his zeal in his Master's cause never flagged, and a sincere desire to do good was his ruling passion through life. His eloquence was classically chaste, yet strong and nervous. His hearers were, in general, rather awed than charmed, more instructed than delighted, yet often did the tears of his audience flow before they were themselves aware of it. All his sermons were, in the highest degree, evangelical. Christ Jesus and Him crucified, was the burden of his message; and yet in every discourse he urged in the strongest manner the necessity of good works and a holy and Christian walk, not as a means or ground of acceptance with God, but as an evidence of being in the right way.
I have obtained a list of the early graduates of Dickenson College, which still exists, by the way. John McPherrin’s name is included in one of the earliest graduating classes. They were very helpful and gracious about digging through the archives for me.
This additional bit provides some poignancy to the description of John 1757:
He was a warm and zealous preacher but appears to have been of a nervous, sensitive temperament, ill fitted for the rough contact with life.
Dr. Loyal YOUNG, his successor, relates the following of him:
...for a few years, he labored under great mental depression. A sense of his unworthiness sometimes led him to the conclusion that it was wrong for him to engage in ministerial work. Sometimes on Sabbath morning he would tell his wife that he could not preach that day, and would seem inclined not to fill his appointment. She would persuade him to go and conduct prayer-meeting, if he could not preach. On such occasions he would generally preach sermons of unusual power.
Reverend John McPherrin 1757 married Mary Stevenson, daughter of John Stevenson and Mary "Jean" McComb. Jean McComb was born in Pennoir, Ireland, they say. John Stevenson was born in PA, but his parents were from Ireland, so Mary Stevenson was of clear Irish descent. She was first married to Joseph Nelson, giving birth to sons James and John Nelson before becoming a young widow. Rev. John 1857 and Mary subsequently married and had nine children of their own. Mary apparently was of strong stuff since it seems she outlived the Reverend John, as well raising her eleven children.