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During the year 1766, Rev. Charles Beatty was appointed by the Mission Board of the Presbyterian Church, to visit and preach to the frontier people and Indians living in the area we now call Perry County. On September 9, 1766, land was surveyed for a church by Thomas Ross for the congregation known as Tyrone. The tract of land was not officially recorded until 1820, and was called "Devotion".
A log meeting house was built on a hill near a spring in a forest of oak trees. Conditions were primitive; there was no heat in the building and stumps were the only seats. Church members walked or rode horses. Indian wars had ceased by this time, but guards stood watch outside during the service in case of an attack. The pioneers worshipped in the log church until 1793. Records show that, in 1777, Rev. John Linn was installed as the first pastor, and continued in this capacity for 42 years.
As membership increased, an agreement was signed on July 26, 1793, for a stone building to be constructed. In the year 1859, a new frame building was built near the site of the first church.. With support from William Scott Coyle of Carlisle, houses were built nearby for the pastor and the church sexton.
Over the years, improvements were made, which included the addition of stained glass windows, dedicated in 1953, and a Christian Education building, dedicated in 1958.
The cemetery nearby is probably the burial ground, for those massacred during the Indian attack at nearby Fort Robinson. Rev. Linn, his wife, and many who helped start the church are also buried there.
(Information gathered from a selection called "Church, History," Centre Presbyterian Church 1766-1991, written by Donald Briner, County Historian)
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