My Genealogy Hound

REV. HUGH PARK McCLURKIN, D. D.
The death of Dr. McClurkin, at his home, No. 1198 Fillmore street, Topeka, on February 18, 1905, removed an able divine, a man of deep spiritual character and one of the great expounders of the Presbyterian faith. He was born near Rock Creek, Chester County, South Carolina, November 12, 1823, and was a son of John and Elizabeth McClurkin.

The parents of Dr. McClurkin were deeply religious people, who gave up all the advantages they enjoyed in a beautiful Southern home, because they were conscientiously opposed to slavery. They removed to Illinois in the fall of 1833, settling near Sparta.

Inheriting much from these worthy parents, our subject was also a youth of strong mentality, and during his school days and at Duquesne College (now Western University), Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1845, he was far in advance of his fellow-students. Upon completing his theological course in the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Cincinnati, he was licensed by the Lakes Presbytery, April 20, 1848, was ordained by the Pittsburg Presbytery and on October 15, 1850, was installed Pastor of the congregation at Salt Creek (now known as New Concord), Ohio. This charge he resigned in October, 1882, after 32 years of work in this field. From 1884 to 1891 he was pastor at Wahoo, Nebraska; from 1891 until 1893, he was pastor of the United Presbyterian Church at Denison, Kansas. He then came to Topeka, where he served as pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church from 1896 until 1902.

Since the close of this last pastorate Dr. McClurkin was in failing health. During his active years no clergyman wielded a more powerful influence, which was not confined to the pulpit, but permeated the communities in which he lived, bringing about reforms and arousing public sentiment. In reproducing the resolutions adopted by the Topeka Ministerial Union on this sad occasion, an evidence is shown of the high value placed upon his years of fidelity to his calling and of the reverence in which he was held. This paper reads as follows:

Resolved, by the Topeka Ministerial Union, That in the life work and zeal of the late Rev. H. P. McClurkin, D. D., we recognize with gratitude to God, the noble man, the Christian gentleman, the ripe scholar, the wise teacher, the sound theologian, the loving companion, the loyal Christian, and zealous worker and helper in all good causes within his reach. His long and useful life was a blessing to the world, and his faithfulness’ to this union for many years gives a fragrancy to his memory which we will cherish through all the coming years. (Signed):
John D. Knox,
Stewart Sheldon.

Dr. McClurkin is survived by his widow and six children, namely: Mary E.; Juliett, who lives at home; Emma; Eva; Albert W. and Carrie. Mary E. is the wife of Rev. T. P. Stevenson, D. D., pastor of the First Reformed Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have five children: Waldo, a minister of the Presbyterian Church and missionary to Cuba; Clara, wife of Matthew McConnell, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Helen and Eva, who live at home; and T. P., Jr., a civil engineer under Queen Wilhelmina, of The Netherlands. Emma is the wife of Rev. J. C. Gibney, of Newton, Kansas. They have two children, Albert and Harry, who are students at Tarkio College, Tarkio, Missouri. Eva is the wife of L. E. Gruber, an attorney-at-law at Lincoln, Nebraska. They have two daughters, Helen and Alberta. The only son of our subject, Rev. Albert W. McClurkin, is a Presbyterian minister of Chicago, Illinois. He married Anna Garland of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and they have three children: Eleanor, Rachel and Jean. Carrie is the wife of W. H. Meyer, a merchant at Enid, Oklahoma. They have one daughter, Lois.