A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF WILLIAM MCCLENAHAN,

FOUNDER OFROCKVILLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

Circa 1822

                William McClenahan was born in Ireland around the year 1795.  William's family, on his father's side, was from the Reuben's Glen area of County Londonderry, District Loughinsholin, (Northern) Ireland.  This is about 4 or 5 miles south of the city of Tubbermore.  William's father had moved to the town of Garragh, 40 miles north, when he heard of a Protestant religious reformer named Alexander Carson who was preaching in the area of Tubbermore.  William's father was so impressed with Carson that he moved to Balinascreen, 2 miles West of Tubbermore, so that "he might receive benefit of his (Carson's) religious instruction" (Millennial Harbinger, 1845, p. 43).

                Alexander Carson had been a Presbyterian minister in the Synod of Ulster, but left the Synod and became an independent preacher in the Scottish Haldane tradition.  (Robert Haldane was a Scottish reformer whose thought was somewhat influential in Scottish Congregationalists and instrumental in the formation of the Restoration Movement in America.)  Although no longer officially sanctioned, Carson continued to preach in Tubbermore and gathered a large following -- Carson is credited with beginning the Baptist church in Ireland.  Amongst his works, Carson wrote a treatise titled Baptism, Its Mode and Subjects, that became a standard reference for many Baptist and early Restoration Movement leaders.  Significantly, during the years 1816-1818, William McClenahan was employed as a tutor for Carson's children (Millennial Harbinger, 1845, p. 44).  This rules out 1817 -- the commonly accepted date -- as the founding of Rockville Christian Church, since McClenahan is still in Ireland.  At this time McClenahan's residence was just south of Moneymore, a city which lies about 20 miles south of Tubbermore.

                Sometime between 1819 and 1820, McClenahan immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland.  The census record from 1820 records a William McClenahan, "aged 16 to 26," living in the 6^th ward of Baltimore, which is today approximately the "Little Italy" area on the Inner Harbor near Fells Point.  With the age and uniqueness of name, this fits the picture closely enough that we can be sure that this is "our" William McLenahan.  Living with William is a "free white woman, aged 16 to 26" -- likely his wife Elizabeth.  The 1820 census only records a minimum of information:  the name of the head of household and the number of others living in that dwelling according to race (white, black [slave or free] or "foreign"), gender, and age approximation.  It has not been established when and where William married -- in the 1850 census we find that Elizabeth was born in Ireland, and she is 5 years younger than William.

                While living in Baltimore, McClenahan likely made several key contacts with other men who helped build the emerging Restoration Movement church of that area and throughout America.  (At this early period the Restoration Movement was still a loose smattering of congregations who shared similar ideas on baptism, leadership, communion, etc. -- it would be several more years until an identifiable network of churches emerged.)  Charles Farquharson immigrated to America from Scotland.  Farquharson arrived in Baltimore around 1817, and began preaching in a Baptist church.  When his views were considered too aberrant, he left that congregation and began preaching independently in the Fells Point area. Charles was a preacher in the Haldanian tradition and was preaching out of his home in the 3^rd ward -- his entry in the 1820 census (which records his name as Chas. Fargaharson) is separated from McClenahan's by a little over 60 names.  Additionally, living in the 6^th ward, which sits just north and a little east of the 3^rd ward, was another early Baltimore church leader, William Carman.  In 1819, Carman began a Sunday School which eventually developed into a church that would be named the "North Street Church."  In a letter from 1835 published in the Millennial Harbinger, Carman rather too affectionately called McClenahan "our brother?in Rockwell (sic)" which helps to further establish an existing relationship between Carman and McClenahan (Millennial Harbinger, 1836, p. 34).

                In late 1820 or 1821, McClenahan also likely met one of the budding leaders of the embryonic Restoration Movement -- Walter Scott.  A Haldane church in New York City published a letter on baptism in 1820 which fell into Scott's hands and immediately excited him.  So great was Scott's interest that he directly left his duties as the principal of an academy in Pittsburgh and walked(!) to New York to meet with this group.  When he arrived in New York, however, he was greatly disappointed by the congregation -- their practice was not to Scott's liking.  Despondent, Scott began a return trip to Pittsburgh for another job as tutor, but rather than taking a direct route, he decided to go to Washington City by way of New Jersey and Baltimore City.  While in Baltimore he met with a small church "in a very low condition, but kept alive by bretheren Carman and Ferguson" (Farquharson's name is notoriously misspelled) (Baxter, Life of Elder Scott, p. 54).  While we cannot as yet prove that McClenahan met Walter Scott at this time, the timing of these events is difficult to ignore. 

                At the time, Walter Scott was grieved by the general state of these Haldane/nonconforming Baptist churches throughout America.  Along with the despondency about the church in New York City, and the low estate of the Baltimore church, when he arrived in Washington City he found that group had lapsed into Calvinism.  Scott climbed to the top of the Capitol Dome and "sat myself down, filled with sorrow at the miserable desolation of the Church of God."  However, not long after his return to Pittsburgh, he met a like-minded young man, Alexander Campbell.  Campbell and Scott soon became fast friends, and it was by their evangelistic and literary efforts (along with others such as Barton Stone, et al.) that a cohesive movement soon swept across the American frontier.  More importantly, for the immediate concern, is that the existing relationship between the Baltimore group and Scott helps explain why these churches identified with the nascent Restoration Movement at such an early time.  Furthermore, I think it is likely that this network of likeminded men -- Carman, Farquharson, Scott and eventually Campbell (through his writings) -- is the key to unlocking why McClenahan goes with the Restoration Movement from its earliest period.  This network of acquaintances is especially important as McClenahan leaves the metropolitan Baltimore area for the relatively isolated community of Rockville.

                The appointment of William McClenahan to the English department of the Rockville Academy occurred on November 20, 1822.  While the original handwritten notes of the Rockville Academy Trustees are no longer extant, an excellent typewritten abstract of those notes is on file with the Rockville Historical Society in the Rockville Academy file, and another copy with the Montgomery County Historical Society in the E. Guy Jewell collection.  The notes, which begin in 1810 and go through the 1850s, record a few items about McClenahan besides the date of his appointment.  His salary is set at $300 in 1825.  William's wife is also appointed to teach in the English department -- females were eventually admitted to some classes at the Academy.  His job description changes now and again as he taught not only English but also mathematics, and possibly surveying, navigation and geography as well.  On July 1, 1836, McClenahan resigns from the Academy, but is back in the English department on March 3, 1843.  He continues to be re-elected for several years as teacher, and then, in the late 1840s, his name disappears from the notes.

                There are other records of McClenahan's activities in the Rockville area outside of the church and Academy.  There are at least six transactions that were recorded with Montgomery County for buying and selling property.  The first transaction is from 1834 when he bought what is today known as the Bingham-Brewer house, which sits at 307 Great Falls Road.  The last transaction is from 1843; the record shows that he bought two horses, one wagon and harness, one cart and harness, one cow, one hog, and a large variety of household items.  McClenahan also held a trader's license from 1835 to 1844.  Trading does not appear to be a primary job for him, however, since the value of stock he held is consistently worth $1000, a fairly modest amount.

                Well known is the fact that while McClenahan was in Rockville, he was active in beginning what is now Rockville Christian Church.  The Millennial Harbinger, the flagship periodical for the Restoration Movement, records several letters from and about McClenahan.  In 1832 he writes to Alexander Campbell, the editor of the Harbinger, to correct what he perceives as a misstatement about Alexander Carson (the reformer in Ireland).  In June of 1835, McClenahan writes that there were a number of recent baptisms, including his 13-year-old son James, as well as Joseph Braddock, a 25-year-old man trained in law who also was active in teaching at the Rockville Academy.  (Incidentally, the notes from the Rockville Academy also record a scandal in which Joseph admits to some kind of "aberration of morality" -- he submits his resignation, but the resignation is not accepted as there would be no English teacher for the Academy.)  Also, some African-Americans were being baptized by McClenahan at this time.  In all, 11 baptisms are reported for 1835 in that letter. 

                The church record, a short narrative written in 1878, gives us more information about McClenahan's activity at Rockville Christian Church.  Along with some of the basic biographical information, it says that his wife and sisters (Mary and Sarah) and his mother were also with him, helping the cause.  It mentions that William was "an able teacher and a zealous expounder of the word."  It also mentions the baptisms of 1835, which had increased from the 11 that William reported in his letter to the Harbinger.  This includes the baptisms of four or five other African-Americans that were not mentioned in the 1835 letter.  Some of these baptisms may be duplicates but it appears that there are a number that were not reported in William's letter to the Harbinger -- that is, if the church's record written 43 years later is accurate. 

                From these various records we also have a good idea of the names of William's children.  In the 1835 letter to the Harbinger, William mentions a 13-year-old son named James.  In the church record from 1878, two daughters, Elizabeth Ann and Mary Jane, are baptized in 1835 -- no ages are given.  Further, in the U.S. census from 1850, several other younger people with the same last name are living with William and his wife -- presumably they are his children, but relationships are not recorded on the census form.  In order of appearance on the census sheet their names are:  H. Bell McClenahan, male, 24; B. Franklin McClenahan, 19, whose occupation is "clerk"; a 20-year-old female named E. Adam McClenahan (the name is difficult to read -- this could be Elizabeth Ann, but that would mean she was only 5 years-old in 1835 when the church record says she was baptized, which is a little young for a family staunchly practicing "believer's baptism"); Robert McClenahan, 15; and John L. McClenahan, 13.  At this time, this is the best list we are able to establish about McClenahan's children -- there may be other children as there is not one single complete list that I have found.  Additionally, some of those on the 1850 census may not be his children, but that seems unlikely.

                The letters from the Millennial Harbinger also help us solve one of the mysteries of our story -- what happened to William McClenahan after he left Rockville?  In letters dating to the late 1840s and early 1850s, we find McClenahan back in Baltimore, serving as an Elder in a church.  In one letter he invites Alexander Campbell to come to Baltimore and preach -- an invitation which Campbell accepts.  On that trip Campbell also spoke before the U.S. Congress in Washington and began dreaming of a great church building for the city.  That dream would eventually spawn the Vermont Avenue Church, which in turn would become National City Christian Church.  In another letter dated December, 1850, William McClenahan said that his congregation was collecting money to help build a house for the bretheren in Washington.  He asked 25 cents from each in his congregation and reports that to date they had raised $40. 

                William's role within the Baltimore church appears to be as a lay pastor.  In the winter of 1841-42, Walter Scott also returns to preach in Baltimore; he met with two elders of the Baltimore church named George Austen (sic) and Francis Dungan (Baxter, Life of Elder Walter Scott, pp. 389-392).  These two elders are of interest because in the letters to the Harbinger that McClenahan pens a decade later, Austin and Dungan's names are again listed as elders; however, McClenahan's name is consistently the first name listed, showing that he is likely the "head" elder for the congregation. 

                The U.S. Census from Baltimore in 1850 gives some other information of significance.  It places McClenahan in the 3^rd ward on September 18, 1850.  It also gives McClenahan's age as 55, which is the primary source for establishing his birth year.  His occupation is listed as "teacher."  Living with William at the time are the five (presumed) children listed above, his wife Elizabeth (50), his sister Sarah (67), as well as three others whose relation is unclear -- Cathy Remond (56); Mary A. Haughey (65), and Jane Johnston (60) -- all of whom were born in Ireland.

                William McClenahan died on March 17, 1856, from complications associated with "several strokes of paralysis."  The report of his death and a touching eulogy, penned by the Baltimore elder George Austin, are in the Millennial Harbinger from that year (p. 419).  In tribute, Austin says that "A purer spirit never breathed."  Austin continues his eulogy by telling us something of McClenahan's life and character.  McClenahan was richly gifted by his Creator, intellectually gifted, but simple in his manner.  He loved the Old and New Testaments, his fellow-man, and he was a wonderful friend and companion.  McClenahan's intellect and character were such that he was consistently appointed by unanimous consent to the most responsible stations in whichever congregation he held membership.  Austin closes with a poignant statement about the loss he feels, "The decline of (McClenahan's) physical and mental powers (due to repeated strokes)?I can but regard as one of the greatest losses that has ever been sustained by the church in Baltimore.  As an individual, I have lost a friend, a counselor, and a brother."

                There is a smattering of information of what happened to the family following William's death.  According to the 1860 U.S. Census, Elizabeth lived with her son, H. Bell, in Abingdon, Maryland.  H. Bell is a farmer with real estate holdings of $4000.  With them is a 6-year-old boy named Willie S.C. McClenahan -- doubtless a grandchild.  Beyond this, however, the trail grows cold.

                In closing, this endeavor has been a rewarding challenge -- one that is not completely finished.  I hope to fill in a few more minor gaps.  Nevertheless, I submit this to my congregation as a labor of hope and love and continued service in God's kingdom, and in service to the endeavor that William McClenahan began almost 200 years ago.

Rev. David Chisham