Paxton Church
Paxtang, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Organized as a congregation in 1732 with William Bertram as first pastor. The second pastor was the famed "Fighting Parson," John Elder. In the churchyard are buried John Harris, Jr., William Maclay and other notables of this region.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Organized as a congregation in 1732 under William Bertram, Paxton Church counted among its early ministers the famous "Fighting Parson," John Elder, who led both a pulpit and a frontier militia in perilous times. Its churchyard holds notables of the region, including Harrisburg's founder John Harris, Jr., and Senator William Maclay. Faith and frontier defense mingled freely in this Scotch-Irish community.
Why it matters
The congregation and its militant pastor embody how backcountry churches doubled as centers of leadership and self-defense on the contested Pennsylvania frontier.
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Related people
- · William Bertram
- · John Elder
- · John Harris, Jr.
- · William Maclay
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Paxton Church
Paxtang, PA · est. 1947
Nearby stands Paxton Church, an early-18th-century Presbyterian congregation whose first pastor was installed in 1732. Its churchyard holds figures who helped shape the region and the young republic — among them John Harris, Jr., founder of Harrisburg, and United States Senator William Maclay. The old burying ground reads like a roster of the leaders who built central Pennsylvania.
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