Fort Cumberland Bridge about 1820

Churches in the Wilderness

Although those organizing the Diocese of Pennsylvania knew there were Episcopalians in the western part of the state, they focused on building up the east. Bishop White had been a bishop for forty years before he made his first trip to western Pennsylvania. In the meantime, western Episcopalians struggled to plant the seeds of a church, worshipping in homes or log chapels until they could build something more substantial, and recruiting men for ordination, (often with Methodist or Presbyterian training).