TIME LINE: JOHN CRAIG
1709 - Born - August 17th, in the parish of Donagor, County Antrim, Ireland - John Craig - destined to be the first to Presbyterian minister to the people of the area which has come to be known as the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.
1732 - John Craig graduated with and M.A .in the College of Edinburgh, Scotland. Later, speaking of that time: "America was then much in my mind, accompanied with the argument that service would be most pleasing and acceptable where most needful and wanting, which raised in me a strong desire to see that part of the world."
1734 - John Craig embarked from Larne Harbor, Ireland June 10th,1733 and after 67 days at sea, landed at New Castle, Delaware August17th - which was also his 25th Birthday.
1737 - In September John Craig was ordained as a Minister of the Presbyterian Church. He had "entered on trials" and was licensed by the Presbytery of Donegal, having read under the Rev. John Thompson during several years of teaching school.
1738 - During 1727-38 James Anderson formed a Christian Society among settlers in "the Triple Forks of the Shenando" in the Virginia wilderness. Members of this society sent petitions to the Synod of Philadelphia asking for a minister in 1738 and l739.
1740 - Rev. John Thompson followed James Anderson briefly as a supply minister. In reply to the petition of l739, Rev. John Craig was sent to the congregation of the valley. Ordained in 1740.
He, and his congregation, built the sanctuary in which worship services are held today - Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church, Fort Defiance, Virginia.
A.L.M. March 28, 2003 [c282wds]
