4 February 1742
A.D. Alexander Dobbin—Scots Covenanter
Presbyter, Educator, Pastor of Rock Creek Presbyterian, Gettysburg, PA
Myers, David T. “February 4: Birth of Alexander
Dobbin.” This Day in Presbyterian History. 4 Feb 2014. http://www.thisday.pcahistory.org/2015/02/february-4-4/.
Accessed 4 Feb 2015.
February 4: Birth of Alexander Dobbin
If any
of our readers are among the one and one half million visitors to the
Gettysburg National Military Park in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, you know that
you and your family can not possibly see the entire Civil War battlefield
without stopping for a meal. And among the restaurants in that south central
Pennsylvania town is the Dobbin’s House and Restaurant.
Many
who park in its lot may not notice the small sign to the left of the building
which identifies it as a Presbyterian historical site. In fact, many will
not know anything about its Reformed Presbyterian roots unless they turn to the
back of the menu and read something about its connection to American
Presbyterianism. It was built in 1776 and was the home of the Rev.
Alexander Dobbin, his wife Isabella, and eventually a family of eight children.
It was the manor house of a three hundred acre homestead, a Covenanter
homestead, and a classical school, which was the first school west of the
Susquehanna River.
Alexander
Dobbin was born on this day, February 4, 1742 of Scottish heritage. His
father was described as a “pious sailor.” Early on in his education at
Glasgow University in Scotland, from which he graduated in 1771, he had a
desire to enter the gospel ministry. Eventually he was ordained by
the Reformed Presbytery of Ireland on August 20, 1772. He left with his
wife Isabella in 1773 to go to the American colonies, accompanied by the
Rev. Matthew Linn of the same presbytery to engage in missionary work.
Together with the Rev. John Cuthbertson, they would establish the first
Reformed Presbytery of America at Paxtang, Pennsylvania. Rev. Dobbin became
the pastor of the Rock Creek Presbyterian church in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Teaching
Latin, Hebrew, and Greek in his classical school, twenty-five of his male
students became ministers of the gospel. He was instrumental in advancing
the cause of the gospel in that section of Pennsylvania. Working with
James Gettys, he helped lay out the streets of what later on became
Gettysburg. When his first wife died, he married a widow by the name of
Mary Agnew, with ten additional family added to his home.
Later
on, he would divide his ministry at Rock Creek with the Lower Marsh Creek
Presbyterian Church west of Gettysburg. The building of that congregation
is still to be found on the grounds of what is now a congregation of the
Presbyterian Church U.S.A.
When
the Civil War came to the area culminating in that three day battle on July 1 –
3, 1863, the Dobbin House became a hospital with both Union and
Confederate wounded in it. Before that, it was one of the stops of the
Underground Railroad, all of which took place after his death. His son
Matthew was one of the “captains” of that railroad ferrying on escaped slaves
to points north.
Alexander
Dobbin died on June 1, 1809. He is buried in the Lower Marsh Creek Presbyterian
Church burying ground off of Knoxlyn Road.
Words to Live By:
It was said of Rev. Dobbin that his visage was not at all an imposing one. He had a dark eye, a pointed nose, and was rather small in stature. In other words, it was not so much his outward appearance which was effective in drawing worshipers to the visible church, but it was the spiritual zeal of his character and conduct which drew men and women to the gospel message. Too much emphasis in the author’s opinion is placed today on the outward appearance of our pastor-teachers, when we should be spending more attention on his spiritual qualifications. Pray that the Holy Spirit will fill your pastor daily as he seeks to please Him who called him to the gospel church. And join with him as he labors to build up God’s kingdom in and through your local church to a needy world.
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