David Steele (minister)

He was born in Upper Creevagh, County Donegal, Ireland to David Steel and Sarah Gailey.

John Steel of Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland, a local leader in the Covenanter uprising of 1679.

[2]: 13  Next to the Bible, Steele claimed the greatest impression made on him, in his youth, was Thomas Boston's Four-fold State of Man and A Cloud of witnesses for the royal prerogatives of Jesus Christ.

[2]: 18  The latter work is an account, published in 1714, of the Scottish martyrs who perished during the persecutions, known as the Killing Times, during the reigns of Charles II and James VII.

He settled in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he worked, for a time, in his uncle's store, while he pursued classical studies.

He accepted the unanimous call to serve as pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian congregation in Brush Creek, Adams County, Ohio.

[6]: 314–5 After the split, in 1833, Steele expressed hope that the "Old Lights" would revive the law of the Church concerning "occasional hearing" and tighten the prohibition on "voluntary associations.

In 1840, Steele, on behalf of a number of his brethren, presented a paper (#30) to Synod petitioning for redress on the matter of "voluntary associations.

[7] Synod adjourned on June 26, 1840, and the following day, he protested and separated from the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, along with fellow minister Robert Lusk and elders William McKinley, William Wylie and Nathan Johnston, on the grounds that the RPCNA had "corrupted the doctrines and worship, and prostituted the government and discipline of the house of God".[8].

At that time, he removed to Hill Prairie, near Sparta, Illinois and served adherents of Presbytery in that vicinity.

The remains may be viewed by relatives and friends, on Friday evening, July 1, from 6 until 8 o'clock, at 2732 Brown Street.

Although he lived in the United States for sixty years, Steele never became an American citizen, believing that the U.S. Constitution sanctioned "atheism and slavery.