Scots Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia, Pa.)

With the help of the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania, a presbytery was established in Philadelphia in 1766, to which Scots Presbyterian Church traces its roots. The congregation's elders were chosen and ordained the following year and a plot of land was purchased near Fourth and Shippen (now Bainbridge) Streets, on which a church and minister's home were erected.

Rev. William Marshall, born in Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1740 and ordained by the Associate Presbytery of Pennsylvania in 1765, was called from his post at Deep Run, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in 1768 to serve the Philadelphia congregation. He replaced Rev. David Telfair and was installed as pastor of Scots Presbyterian Church in 1771. For the majority of his time with the Philadelphia congregation, Marshall held services at the organization's second house of worship on Pine Street above Third, while other services continued to be held at the first church at Fourth and Shippen. The Pine Street church still survives today, though not in its original architectural form, and is now referred to as Old Pine Street Church.

Soon after the Revolutionary War, during which Scots Presbyterian Church was used by the British as a hospital for Hessians and later as a stable, some members of the congregation believed that the church should free itself of affiliations with any foreign ecclesiastical body, such as the one it held with the Scottish synod. They also wanted to unite with other reformed Presbyterian branches in America. Rev. Marshall and about one-half of the congregation opposed these actions, and as a result was prohibited from occupying the pulpit after the "reformers" took possession of the church in 1786. A series of lawsuits ensued over the course of the next three years, and Marshall and his followers were forced to find a new place of worship after property rights for the Pine Street church were granted to the reformers. Marshall, who was replaced by Rev. Robert Annan of Boston, and his devotees held services at Fourth and Arch Streets under the auspices of the Associate Presbytery until 1791 when they entered a new church that had been erected at Fourth and Walnut Streets. He served there until his death in 1802 and was buried in front of the church.

Around 1822 Scots Presbyterian Church severed its connection to the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church of America because of the congregation's desire for "more liberty of worship, and more catholicity of communion." The church was transferred to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America and, in so doing, became the Eighth Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia. During the 1860s membership in the church waned as the pastorate changed hands almost every other year. In 1869 the church's Board of Trustees voted unanimously that "Whereas: It is painfully evident that with its greatly reduced membership and diminished resources, our church cannot be efficiently and prosperously carried on in its present locality."

The church was practically closed and without members until 1884 when the decision was made to unite the Scots Presbyterian Church with the South Broad Street Presbyterian Church. The property on Pine Street was sold for the sum of $17,000 and the bodies of the dead, which had been buried in the adjoining graveyard, were re-interred at Mt. Moriah Cemetery. A new church was built for the united congregation at Broad and Castle Streets in 1887.

From the description of Scots Presbyterian Church records, 1768-1791. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 62080146