Members of the Scotchtown Church who have entered the ministry, 1796-1896

1. John H. Morrison went as a missionary to India in 1838 and was connected with the station at Allahabad and was among the earliest missionaries of the Presbyterian Board. His wife died of cholera at Calcutta, April, 1838, on his way to his field of labor. On account of his fearlessness he was known as the “Lion of the Punjaub,” and yet in personal intercourse he was affable and genial and thoroughly devoted to his work. The “Week of Prayer” now so universally observed by Christians of every name the world over is said to have originated with him. After the great Sepoy rebellion in 1857 he moved the Lodiana Mission to call upon all Christendom to observe an annual week of prayer for the conversion of the world. In 1863, while on a visit to this country, he was chosen Moderator of the General Assembly at its annual meeting at Peoria, Illinois. His death occurred at Dehra, India, September 16th, 1881. He has two sons and a daughter (Mrs. Dr. Thackwell) in the mission work in India.

2. Samuel G. Weeks, while teaching here united with the church and entered on a course of study preparatory to the ministry, graduating from Princeton College in 1838, and from the Seminary there in 1842. He was stated supply of the Presbyterian Church at Leonidas, Michigan, in 1842-’43; of the church at Haw Patch, Ind., in 1843-’44; and of the churches of Wolf Lake, Haw Patch, and Warsaw, 1844-’46. He died at Wolf Lake, Ind., May 21st, 1846.

3. Samuel W. Mills graduated from Rutgers College in 1838, and from the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick in 1842. Was the pastor of the Reformed Church in Bloomingburgh from 1842 to 1858, and of the Reformed Church in Port Jervis from 1858 to 1872.

4. Arthur Harlow graduated at Union College in 1858. Entering Princeton Seminary in 1860, and graduating in 1863. He was pastor of the 2d Presbyterian Church at Washingtonville from 1863 to 1871. Died near Goshen, June 19th, 1873.

5. Patrick L. Cardon, after competing his College and Seminary studied, went to Siam as a missionary, after laboring there for some time he returned to America and was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Manteno, Ill., in 1871, and for a few years subsequently. After that he served as stated supply for several years at Marysville, Cal., and from 1887 until his death, in 1890, he served the church at Red Bluff, Cal.

6. T. Cumming Beattie, son of Rev. David Beattie, was a graduate of Princeton Seminary, and was ordained and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Chester, by the Presbytery of Hudson, on June 27th, 1882. At the present time and since 1890, he has been pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico. He also served the church at Las Animas, Col., as stated supply from 1888 to 1890.

7. James A. McWilliams graduated from Union Theological Seminary, N.Y., May, 1885, and was ordained by the Presbytery of Hudson and installed pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Port Jervis in 1885, and is at the present time pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Sing Sing.

Four of the above have ceased from their labors while the remaining three are present to-day [the July 28, 1896 centennial celebration] and participating in these interesting exercises.

In addition to the foregoing, there was a Mr. [Fred] Calderack, a laboring man, an enthusiastic member of the Christian Endeavor Society of this church, who attended Mr. Simpson’s Missionary school in New York City, and was sent out to Africa under the care of his school as a Missionary, although not ordained. His death occurred a year or two since.

These records were taken from The Scotchtown Memorial; or The Centennial of the Presbyterian Church of Scotchtown. 1796-1896 (Newburgh, NY: E. G. Hulse, 1896).

Further note on Mr. Calderack: “Mr. Calderack sailed for the Congo in May, 1892, and died the following year. Strength, energy and devotion were the keynotes of his life.” from Rev. George Palmer Pardington, Twenty-five Wonderful Years, 1889-1914: A Popular Sketch of the Christian and Missionary Alliance (New York: Christian Alliance Publishing Co., 1914), 195-196.