Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives


Source: July 1983 Volume 21 Number 3, Pages 79–84


History of St. John's Presbyterian Church

Eva D. Noll

Page 79

On April 13 and 14 in 1682, William Wood of Derby, England, and William Sharlow of Spithfield, Middlesex, England, purchased in England two thousand acres in Chester County from William Penn. The lands were surveyed in 1684. In 1704 they were divided into two tracts, with one thousand acres (including the area of present-day Berwyn) going to the descendants of William Wood, and one thousand acres (including today' s Devon) going to William Sharlow. In 1746 the latter tract was sold to Richard Harrison and Samuel Harrison.

For almost two hundred years, the area stayed predominantly farm land, affected only by changes in methods of transportation. Nearby were churches, mills, taverns at the cross roads, and, by the nineteenth century, a few villages. The Philadelphia-Lancaster Turnpike, completed in 1794, was the major road used by the farmers to send their produce to market in Philadelphia.

In 1832 the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad was formally opened, with its eighty-one miles of track. With it the population began to increase. The Pennsylvania Railroad purchased it in 1857, and after the Civil War it really began to develop the area, building new stations and new first-class large hotels. People came out from Philadelphia to spend their summer vacations in the country. By 1874 there were fifty-four boarding houses between Philadelphia and Downingtown that could accommodate thirteen hundred people. The area continued to be popular for summer homes and vacations until the New Jersey shore took over.

Page 80

The Devon station, named for Devonshire, England, was first built in 1866 and rebuilt in 1881. The fashionable Devon Inn, a frame structure, with a tree-lined boulevard leading to the new station, was also completed in 1881. When it burned down two years later, it was replaced with a stone and brick building.

As the area became more fashionable, real estate developers arrived, and by 1883 the Messrs. Coffin and Altemus, of Philadelphia, owned 617 acres in the Devon area. By the 1890's lots had been sold, large estates had been built, and the grand Devon Inn was flourishing, with rooms for 250 guests, illuminated with electric lights!

In April of 1892 a group of ten men from Devon got together to start a Sunday School in the home of Mr. J. Lewis Twaddell, on Valley Forge Road. The group was soon known as the Devon Sabbath School, and its leaders were Mr. J. Herbert Jefferis and Mr. and Mrs. Frederick E.Hastings, along with Mr. Twaddell. Hoping to become a Presbyterian Church, they applied to the State of Pennsylvania for a charter.

On June 14, 1893 they received the "Charter of the Devon Chapel", a corporation under the laws of Pennsylvania. It was signed by Mr. J. H, Jefferis, Mr, F. E. Hastings, Mr. J. L. Twaddell, Mr. Louis Warner, and Mr. S. D. Walton. A plot of ground was donated by Coffin & Altemus, and on it a building was erected in the fall of 1893. Its cost was $3,500.

The Chapel grew in membership, and during the summer of 1895 services were conducted by Mr. Edward Keigwin, a student at Princeton Seminary. That same year a church bell was purchased, inscribed "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, Devon Chapel 1895".

By 1897 the work of the Church had prospered, and it was felt that a full-time minister could be in charge. The Reverend Joel Swartz, D.D. was called, and became the first pastor. [Editor's note: we now believe that the correct spelling is "Schwartz"]

Hoping to become affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, thirty-one charter members organized the Devon Church on June 10, 1900. The first elders were Mr. J. Lewis Twaddell, Mr. J. Herbert Jefferis, Mr. H. O. Hildebrand, and Mr. Frederick H. Treat.

Early in 1903 a petition was presented to the Presbytery of Chester. It was approved, and the Devon Church became St. John's Presbyterian Church of Devon. (The congregation had voted unaminously to change the name.) Mr. Jefferis, Clerk of Session, wrote, "The Presbytery appointed a Commission of five ministers and the elders to come to Devon Thursday, April 3rd, to install our pastor and to congratulate our people, and to offer their good wishes for our future. For thus 11 years are ended as a union in the work of the Church. We shall start off as a full-fledged Presbyterian Church under the brightest of auspices, and we look for God's richest benedictions upon this part of his vineyards."

Page 81

The Devon Chapel 1895

During the early years of St. John's the members showed a great concern for the local community. Many Italians had arrived in the area, as gardeners on the large estates and as workers in the local quarries. Until they acquired their own Church in Strafford, they used St. John's for worship on Saturday nights.

The women of the Church organized a Women's Society in 1903, for the purpose of assisting in the work of St. John's, and especially to help with the Italian community. In that year 132 families were visited, and the women gave out 50 Bibles and 75 tracts.

Another concern of the times were the gangs working on the railroads, and also the boys playing baseball on the Sabbath.

Under Dr. Swartz the Church continued to grow and prosper. In 1907, at the age of 80 years, he resigned and went to live with his son in Webster Grove, Missouri.

The next year the congregation called the Rev. Hugh W. Rendall from Elwood City, Pennsylvania. His father was also a minister, and the very popular president of Lincoln University. By 1912 the membership at St. John's had increased to 138. Mr. Rendall enjoyed a prosperous pastorate of eight years. He resigned in 1916, and was succeeded by Dr. Charles S. Stevens of Philadelphia, who, after a service of two years during the First World War, left to accept a call to a larger church.

Page 82

In December of 1920 the Church called the Rev. Warren J. Johnson as pastor. The membership continued to increase, and in 1925 extensive additions were made to the church building, including the transcept, thus basically creating the present sanctuary. Mr. William C. Kirk gave a new pipe organ in memory of his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Wilt presented a beautiful stained glass window in memory of their only daughter Ethel.

Mr. Johnson died in 1927 as a result of an accident, and was succeeded by the Rev. Theodore Brown Williams, who served until his death in 1936.

During the Second World War many young men from St. John's enlisted in the armed forces; four boys who had grown up in the Church were killed - Norman Porlaman, William Cunningham, Robert Penlington, and Edward Benner.

In 1945 the Rev. B. Frank Moss Jr., who had been pastor for the past eight years, resigned the pastorate to accept a call in Huntington, Long Island, New York.

During the 1950's numerous building and expansion programs were completed to provide adequate room for the fast-growing membership of the Church and Sunday School. The first step in the building program was a one-story addition at the rear of the Church structure, enlarging the Sunday School area. It was completed in 1951, with the Nursery, Junior, and Young People's departments housed in the new addition while the Primary and Beginners departments continued to meet in the renovated portion of the older church building. In addition to its service for the Church, the new building also served a community need in providing a home for the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Brownies.

In 1955 the second story of the Sunday School building was added, and later the Carriage House, built in the 1890's for Henry C. Davis' estate, and additional grounds were purchased. The Rev. John Dwight Pentecost served St. John's from 1946 through the early building program, leaving in 1951 to teach at the Philadelphia Bible Institute. The Rev. Charles E. Olwine came in 1952.

The Rev. Olwine was pastor at the time of St. John's' 50th anniversary celebration in 1953, commemorating fifty years as a Presbyterian Church and sixty years as an organization. At that time the enrollment of the Church was the largest in its history. As even the recent addition had been outgrown, the Church sanctuary was completely remodeled, and was re-dedicated that fall. At the happy fiftieth birthday dinner on November 18th, the Rev. Henry L. Woll, pastor of the Havertown United Presbyterian Church, was the speaker. (Mr. Woll is now retired and a member of St. John's.)

Page 83

In 1954 Mr. Olewine left for the First Presbyterian Church in Springfield, Pennsylvania, and in October of 1955 the Rev. W. Edward Jordan was installed as pastor of St. John's. He served until his death in 1959. He and his wife, Jeanette Kinnear Jordan, were very interested in the missions supported by the Church, both national and international. In November 1957 the Church held a three-day Fall Missionary Conference.

On February 10, 1960, the Reverend Ernest L. McMillan was installed as the tenth pastor of St. John's Presbyterian Church. He and his wife June, and their four children, had recently returned from Abadan in South Iran, where he had organized a new church under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions and Great Britain. Mr. McMillan has now served St. John's for twenty-three years.

During this time two more anniversaries were celebrated - the 70th and also the 75th, In 1973, at the 70th anniversary dinner, members for more than thirty years were honored, along with Mr. Arch McQuilken, who was the first lay member to be elected the president of Christian Endeavor International, a position he held for two two-year terms. Again, at the 75th anniversary dinner, the long-time members of the Church were honored, with the Rev. Hugh W, Rendall, D.D., St. John's second pastor from 1908 to 1916, and his wife were very special guests.

In the sixties the organ chamber was rebuilt, the choir loft extended, and the twin pulpits installed. At the same time the library room, was created. A large piece of property, in the shape of a "T", was purchased and a new parking lot and driveway built, as well as a circular drive in front of the Church. In addition, the porches on both sides were enclosed, and the Carriage House rebuilt.

From this Church, over the past ninety years, eleven members have entered the ministry. It is now the easternmost church in the Presbytery of Donegal, which comprises the United Presbyterian Churches in Chester, Lancaster and York counties.

In a folder recently prepared for the Church, the following description of it is given:

"To this day St. John's retains much of the charm of a small country church. Its white clapboard exterior, stained glass windows, and warm fellowship remind many in our community of the church of their childhood while its renovated interior, with oak pews, pulpit and choir loft, offers a quiet dignity for worship in this space age.

"St. John's offers many related services to its members and to the community. Boy and Girl Scout troops meet weekly in the Christian Education Building. The Church School provides classes from the nursery department to the adult groups. A youth program is conducted by dedicated leaders for Junior Highs and Senior Highs.

Page 84

The volunteer adult and youth choirs and bell choir provide excellent music for the Sunday Worship Services. The Women's Association, comprised of morning and evening circles, meet monthly in St. John's charming Carriage House or in the members' homes. At stated times during the year several series of Wednesday evening programs are held to study current concerns from the Christian point of view."

But the true history of a Church is not to be found in earthly records. These written words contain only appointments of ministers, acquisition of property, erection of buildings, and other external events. They do not tell of the prayers said by the people, of the influence and direction given by ministers and members of the Church, the spirit of Rally Days, the Sunday School picnics, the Vacation Bible Schools. Nor do they tell of the weddings, baptisms, and funerals, the joys and the sorrows, the sacrifices and the generous donations, the full religious life of the members of St. John's Presbyterian Church of Devon, Pennsylvania.

St. John's Presbyterian Church

 
 

Page last updated: 2014-07-26 at 09:35 EDT
Copyright © 2006-2014 Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society. All rights reserved.
Permission is given to make copies for personal use only.
All other uses require written permission of the Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society.