The Manokin Presbyterian Church is a historic church located in

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

Somerset County, Maryland Somerset County is the southernmost county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,620, making it the second-least populous county in Maryland. The county seat is Princess Anne. The county is p ...

. It is a -story brick structure with a three-story entrance tower on the east end. The walls of the main section were built in 1765, and the tower was added in 1888. It is one of the first organized

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Churches established in America. In 1672, a group of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who had settled on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, petitioned the Grand Jury of Somerset County for a civil permit to hold services of worship and to have their own minister. The permission was granted, and Robert Maddox was called by the Grand Jury to preach on the third Sunday of each month, at the home of Christopher Nutter, 'at the head of the Manokin River,' the present site. In 1680 a request was sent by Colonel Stevens of Rehobeth to the Presbytery at Laggan, Ireland, for an ordained minister, and three years later, in answer to that request, the Reverend

Francis Makemie Francis Makemie (1658–1708) was an Ulster Scots clergyman, widely regarded as the founder of Presbyterianism in the United States. Early and family life Makemie was born in Ramelton, County Donegal, Ireland part of the province of Ulster. ...

, a 25-year-old, recently ordained minister, arrived in Somerset County. Under his leadership, this church, and those at Rehobeth, Pitts Creek, Snow Hill, and Wicomico were organized. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976.

References

External links

New Castle Presbytery History
*, including undated photo, at Maryland Historical Trust website Churches in Somerset County, Maryland Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Churches completed in 1765 Presbyterian churches in Maryland Scotch-Irish American culture in Maryland 18th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, Maryland Brick buildings and structures in Maryland {{Maryland-Presbyterian-church-stub