Miller, Samuel, Jr. Report of the Presbyterian Church Case: The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, At the suggestion of James Todd and others, vs. Ashbel Green and others. Philadelphia: William S. Martien, 1839. First Edition. [9080]
Full sheep, small nick top of spine, 9 1/4 x 6 inches, old paper label with call numbers on spine. Several ink name stamps from an historical society within. Preface page. 596 pp., light foxing, tight. Good.
The division of the Presbyterian Church into Old and New School parties resulted in a distribution of properties that were incorporated entities with Trustees and thus liable to trial and judgement in civil court. The Old School side cut off several Presbyteries and denied their Trustees a seat in the General Assembly. The New School side represented by James Todd and others won the case and although a new trial was ordered it was never held. Much is made of the Plan of Union with the Congregational Churches (1801) and included in the amended constitution (1821), which the court considered to be a precedent accepted by the General Assembly at the time, but rejected by the Old Schoolers in 1837. The two sides continued as separate denominations, each claiming constitutional validity, until reunited in 1869.
