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In 1775, the Rev. John McMillan, crossed the Monongehela and carried the gospel to Chartiers and "Pigeon Creek". In October, 1775, the congregations at these two places sent to the Presbytery of Donegal a request for Rev. McMillan's services, and in the spring of 1776 he accepted the call. Although the danger from Indians prevented him from taking his family west until 1778. After receiving academic training at the classical schools of John Blair at Fagg's Manor and Robert Smith at Pequea, he entered Princeton College. Licensed to preach in 1774 by the Presbytery of New Castle, he spent the summer of 1774 and the following winter as a missionary in Western Pennsylvania. Ordained at Chambersburg in 1776, he returned to the Redstone region to become paster of Chartiers and Pigeon Creek Presbyterian churches in Washington County. As a preacher, he was "strong, earnest, and sometimes eloquent, though without much pulpit action.".
The Rev. John McMillan, D.D., crossing over the mountains on his third missionary journey, noted in his diary in 1776: "Tuesday (Nov. 5th) preached at Peter's Creek, baptized 5 children." This date of November 5, 1776 is the first recorded date we have of a preaching service in what is now Bethel Presbyterian Church. The district west of the Monongahela and Ohio Rivers was separated from Westmoreland County March 28, 1781 to form Washington County. Bethel was then included in Peter's Township, one of thirteen original townships. September 24, 1788, Allegheny County was formed from parts of Washington and Westmoreland Counties. Allegheny was divided into Moon, St. Clair, Mifflin, Elizabeth, Versailles, Plum and Pitt Townships. In 1839, a division of St. Clair Township put Bethel Presbyterian Church in Upper St. Clair Township. Bethel became part of Snowden Township October 6, 1845, formed from parts of Upper St. Clair and Jefferson Townships. The name of Bethel for the township in which our church is located, was first suggested in 1802 for the upper end of St. Clair Township "that being the name of the meeting house" but it was not until June 7, 1886 that it was officially separated from Snowden Township.
The early meetings of the Peter's Creek congregation were held in the log Cabin of Oliver Miller. It was a "rude two-story structure with a winding staircase in one corner, bare of everything promotive of bodily comfort." Ranged around the room were the trusty rifles of the settlers. At one end of the room stood the preacher, with the hearers grouped in front. All were garbed in the dress of the day, the men in deerskins and the women in homespun linen or linsey, or flannel. Records show that Dr. McMillan's guiding hand was seen throughout these early years.
The Oliver Miller Home
Oliver Miller's son, James replaced the log cabin with a stone house around 1808. Bethel Presbyterian Church was first called Peter's Creek from its location at the headwaters of Peter's Creek, which empties into the Monongahela River. A few years later, the congregation divided into two groups know as the Eastern Division and the Western Division of Peter's Creek congregation. Sometime between October 18, 1785 and April 18, 1786, the Eastern Division was changed to Lebanon and the Western Division to Bethel. |
