Organized in 1783, this pioneer congregation first worshipped in a 50-foot-square log building with rough benches for seats, constructed in 1786 on the site of the present manse. Its first pastor, Doctor Samuel Ralston, was born in Northern Ireland of Scotch parents, received his education at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and was installed as pastor in 1796. The present church was built in 1831. In the old log meeting house, the Mingo Creek Boys, leaders in the Whiskey Insurrection, held their meetings and laid plans in 1794 to resist the federal tax of 7 cents per gallon on Monongahela rye whiskey, the pioneers' money crop. An armed force of 500 men led by Major James MacFarlane marched to attack the Bower Hill home of General John Neville, the federal tax collector; MacFarlane, an officer in the American Revolutionary War, was killed in the attack and is buried in Mingo Cemetery.
