David Steele, Sr. (2 November 1803 – 29 June 1887) was a
Reformed Presbyterian or
Covenanter minister.
Early life
He was born in Upper Creevagh,
Donegal, Ireland to David Steel and Sarah Gailey. His father was a fourth-generation descendant of Capt. John Steel of
Lesmahagow,
Lanarkshire
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scotl ...
, Scotland, a local leader in the
Covenanter uprising of 1679.
[Evans, Nelson W. and Emmons B. Stivers. '' A History of Adams County, Ohio, from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time.'' ]West Union, Ohio
West Union is a village in Adams County, Ohio, United States, about southeast of Cincinnati. The population was 3,241 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Adams County. West Union is served by West Union High School, the Adams Count ...
: E.B. Stivers, 1900
/ref> His grandparents, on both sides of the family, were Covenanters. His paternal grandfather, John Steel, had resided in Fanet. He moved to Creevaugh sometime prior to the birth of his grandson. His maternal grandfather, Andrew Gailey, resided in Killylastin. His father died when he was an infant, in February, 1805. According to Steele, his only recollection of his father was conducting family worship.[Steele, David. ]
Reminiscences. Historical and Biographical of a Ministry in the Ref'd Presbyterian Church, During Fifty-Three years.
'' Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
: William Syckelmoore, 1883. Next to the Bible, Steele claimed the greatest impression made on him, in his youth, was Thomas Boston
Thomas Boston (17 March 167620 May 1732) was a Scottish Presbyterian church leader, theologian and philosopher. Boston was successively schoolmaster at Glencairn, and minister of Simprin in Berwickshire, and Ettrick in Selkirkshire. In additio ...
's ''Four-fold State of Man'' and ''A Cloud of witnesses for the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ''. The latter work is an account, published in 1714, of the Scottish martyrs who perished during the persecutions, known as the Killing Times, during the reigns of Charles II and James VII
James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
. In his seventeenth year 820
__NOTOC__
Year 820 ( DCCCXX) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Abbasid Caliphate
*Abbasid caliph Al-Ma'mun appointed Isa ibn Yazid al-Juludi as Abbasid gove ...
he entered the Academy in Londonderry, where he pursued his studies for three years, including the study of languages.[Glasgow, William Melancthon]
''History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in America''.
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
: Hill and Harvey, 1888.
Emigration to America
In 1824 he emigrated to the United States. He settled in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania
Huntingdon is a borough in (and the county seat of) Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located along the Juniata River, approximately east of Altoona and west of Harrisburg. With a population of 7,093 at the 2010 census ...
, where he worked, for a time, in his uncle's store, while he pursued classical studies. In the spring of 1825, he was retained to teach at the Academy of Ebensburgh. The following year he entered the Western University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
, from which he graduated, in 1827. After this, he began a course of studies in theology under the direction of the Rev. Dr. John Black, at Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
. In 1830, on April 8, he was licensed by the Pittsburgh Presbytery of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. On May 4, 1831, he married Eliza Johnston, of Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio
Ross County is a county in the Appalachian region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 77,093. Its county seat is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, th ...
. He accepted the unanimous call to serve as pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian congregation in Brush Creek
A brush is a common tool with bristles, wire or other filaments. It generally consists of a handle or block to which filaments are affixed in either a parallel or perpendicular orientation, depending on the way the brush is to be gripped durin ...
, Adams County, Ohio
Adams County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,477. Its county seat is West Union. The county is named after John Adams, the second President of the United States.
Geography
According to the ...
. On 6 June 1831, he was ordained and installed, as the third pastor, by two brothers, members of the Ohio Presbytery, Rev. Gavin and Rev. Hugh McMillan. During this time, he had several preaching assignments, one being in Mill Creek, Kentucky. When the Reformed Presbyterian Church split into " Old Lights" and " New Lights," in 1833, Steele and his Brush Creek congregation remained in ecclesiastical connection with the " Old Lights" party. He was appointed Clerk of Synod in 1833 and, in 1838, he was assistant clerk.
After the Old/New Lights split
After the split, in 1833, Steele expressed hope that the "Old Lights" would revive the law of the Church concerning " occasional hearing" and tighten the prohibition on "voluntary association
A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to ac ...
s." With the re-admission of the Rev. Robert Lusk, in 1834, he found a kindred spirit.[Steele, David. "Memoir of the Rev. Robert Lusk." ''Contending Witness'' 3.5 (March 1846) ed. David Steele. ]Xenia, Ohio
Xenia ( ) is a city in southwestern Ohio and the county seat of Greene County, Ohio, United States. It is east of Dayton and is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the Miami Valley region. The name comes from the Gree ...
: J.H. Purdy.
These two ministers spent the next six years witnessing and challenging a return to the original ''Act, Declaration and Testimony'' (1761) of the Scottish Covenanters, together with a restoration of history to its proper place in that Testimon
In 1838, he went together with a few others to attend the death bed of the Rev. William Gibson, the last surviving minister who had participated in re-erecting the Reformed Presbytery in 1798. Gibson left his dying testimony against the practice of "voluntary associations." This served to confirm Steele and his stricter Covenanting brethren in their course of pressing the matter in Synod. In 1840, Steele, on behalf of a number of his brethren, presented a paper (#30) to Synod petitioning for redress on the matter of "voluntary associations." This paper was set aside for later consideration at a future meeting of Synod. This was, for Steele and Lusk, the final stra
Synod adjourned on June 26, 1840, and the following day, he protested and separated from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America
The Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) is a Presbyterian church with congregations and missions throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, and Chile. Its beliefs—held in common with other members of the Reformed Presbyteria ...
, along with fellow minister Robert Lusk and elders William McKinley, William Wylie and Nathan Johnston, on the grounds that the RPCNA had "corrupted the doctrines and worship, and prostituted the government and discipline of the house of God
Establishing the Reformed Presbytery
They constituted themselves as the Reformed Presbytery and set about to return the "old paths." He remained in Adams County, Ohio
Adams County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,477. Its county seat is West Union. The county is named after John Adams, the second President of the United States.
Geography
According to the ...
, until 1859, ministering to adherents in that area. At that time, he removed to Hill Prairie, near Sparta, Illinois
Sparta is a city in Randolph County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,095 at the 2020 census.
The city was the principal filming location for the 1967 film '' In the Heat of the Night''.
Consumer ammunition manufacturer Underwood a ...
and served adherents of Presbytery in that vicinity. In October, 1866, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. In Philadelphia, he pastored a small congregation and established a small theological school. In 1885, he moved for a brief period of time to Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...
.
Return to Philadelphia and death
However, in the fall of 1886, he returned to Philadelphia. It was there he died of old age and from the effects of a slight stroke of paralysis, Wednesday, June 29, 1887. His death was announced in the Public Ledger of Philadelphia on June 30. "STEELE. – On the 29th inst., Rev. DAVID STEELE, Sr., D.D., in the 84th year of his age. The remains may be viewed by relatives and friends, on Friday evening, July 1, from 6 until 8 o'clock, at 2732 Brown Street. Interment in Petersburgh, Pa., on Saturday morning, July 2, 1887." Though he was never known to use the title of " D.D." during his life, it was a degree granted him, in 1884, by the Western University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
. His epitaph reads, "I have kept the faith."
Legacy
Although he lived in the United States for sixty years, Steele never became an American citizen, believing that the U.S. Constitution sanctioned "atheism and slavery."[Steele, David. ''Reminiscences. Historical and Biographical of a Ministry in the Ref'd Presbyterian Church, During Fifty-Three years.'' ]Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
: William Syckelmoore, 1883, page 21-2
Steele died in June 1887, and with him died his small denomination. The Reformed Presbytery failed to produce another minister other than Lusk and Steele, and with the death of the two founders, the "presbytery" ceased to be.
His church survives tenuously, without ordained ministers, as the Reformed Presbyterian Church (Covenante
also known as the "Steelites." The term is also used to describe other secessions from the RPCNA and other bodies that also claim inspiration from Steele, including the Reformed Presbytery in North America (General Meeting
and the Covenanted Reformed Presbyterian Churc
External links
*
*
Works by David Steele
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, David
American Presbyterian ministers
Reformed Presbyterian Church (denominational group)
1803 births
1887 deaths
People from County Donegal
University of Pittsburgh alumni
People from Sparta, Illinois
19th-century American clergy
Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923)