My Presbyterian ancestor

I was very glad to know that when my local Episcopal parish needed a place to worship while our heating system was being replaced, the nearby Presbyterian church came to our rescue.

And, as many events do, this one reminded me of an ancestor - in this case my 7th great-grandfather John James Muirhead. 

John Muirhead was a martyr for the right to worship in the Presbyterian religion in Scotland in 1666, in the village of Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Of course, there was a serious connection between religion and politics, but I believe for John Muirhead anyway, he died for his religious convictions. He was only 28 - his wife Elspethe had died two years earlier, and his two surviving sons were young (James was 13 and Claud was 9; another son, John had died at the age of 4) - yes, if you're doing the math, Mr. and Mrs. Muirhead were only 15 when they started their family! Fortunately for me, someone else raised the boys and they eventually came here after also living in Ireland. The name Muirhead was changed to Moorhead, the birth surname of my great grandmother: Emily St. Clare Moorhead. . . and by then we were back to the Episcopal Church.

I hope that like John Muirhead I would have the courage to die for the things I believe in, while all the time praying, I will not come to that test!

According to Wikipedia: "Presbyterianism is a Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders. Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word Presbyterian is applied to churches that trace their roots to the Church of Scotland or to English Dissenter groups that were formed during the English Civil War."