1773-
Preacher

  John Morehead (variously, Moorehead) was born in Belfast, Ireland circa 1703. He was educated, though, in Scotland, as a Presbyterian minister.(7.50) As an Ulster Scot, John Moorehead traveled to America in 1718. He settled in Boston Massachusetts. In 1727 the Federal Street Presbyterian Church was erected, and John Moorehead was chosen to serve as its first pastor. He was ordained on 21 March 1730. The Reverend John Morehead married Sarah Parsons and they gave birth to three children. John died in 1773.

  The first Presbytery in New England was organized at Londonderry, April 16 1745. It was called the Presbytery of Boston. It was composed of Rev. John Moorhead, of the Federal Street Presbyterian Church, Boston; Rev. Robert Abercombie, of Pelham, N. H.; and Rev. David McGregore, or Londonderry, with the congregations under their charge.

  The church at which the Reverend John Moorehead preached has been known variously as: The Church of the Presbyterian Strangers; The Long Lane Church; The Federal Street Church; and, most recently, The Arlington Street Church. The Church of the Presbyterian Strangers initially met in a barn on Long Lane. The congregation hired the Reverend John Moorhead, who was a Harvard graduate. Reverend Moorehead was well received, and his preaching brought in new members. The congregation numbered 250 by 1735. A church edifice was constructed in the year 1773, the year that Reverend Moorehead died.

  A ballad titled Long Lane Teague became popular in Boston a year following Reverend Moorehead’s death. The song referred to Federal Street as Long Lane, the name it once possessed. The word ‘Teague’ in the ballad’s title referred to the common name for an Irishman.