The number of Presbyterians increased to such an extent that in 1680 Colonel Stevens asked the Presbytery of Laggan in Ireland for a godly minister to gather the band of exiles into a church. Francis Makemie was sent as a result. Soon Rehoboth Church was organized by him, as well as a number of other churches in the neighborhood. The exact date of the beginning of Rehoboth Church is uncertain, but it is probable that the first building was erected about 1683. For some years Makemie travelled from place to place, preaching and organizing churches as he went, but from 1699 to 1708, except in 1704 and 1705, when he visited Europe, he lived in the neighborhood and preached at Rehoboth whenever he was at home. When it became necessary to erect a new church building, he decided to have this on his own land, because of Maryland's intolerant laws. This building, which is still in use, dates from 1706, the year when its builder assisted in organizing the first Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church at Philadelphia. Makemie's name will ever be connected with the struggle for religious liberty. He had a certificate from the court that permitted him to preach in the Province of Maryland, but he had many trying experiences in spite of this fact. His congregation groaned under the necessity of paying taxes to support the rectors of three neighboring parishes. The greatest trial was not in Maryland, but in New York, where he spent a portion of 1706 and 1707. His experiences there should be familiar to all who are interested in the struggle for religious liberty in America. The story is told in a curious document written by Makemie himself, which was printed in New York in 1707, under the title "A Particular Narrative of the Imprisonment of two Non-Conformist Ministers; and Prosecution & Tryal of one of them, for Preaching one Sermon in the city of New-York. By a Learner of Law and Lover of Liberty." The warrant for the arrest of the "criminal" was addressed to Thomas Cordale, Esqr., High-Sheriff of Queens County on Long-Island, or his Deputy, and was signed by Lord Cornbury. It read: "Whereas I am informed, that one Mackennan, and one Hampton, two Presbyterian Preachers, who lately came to this City, have taken upon them to Preach in a Private House, without having obtained My Licence for so doing, which is directly contrary to the known Laws of England, and being likewise informed, that they are gone into Long-Island, with intent there to spread their Pernicious Doctrines and Principles, to the great disturbance of the Order by Law established by the Government of this province. You are therefore hereby Required and Commanded, to take into your Custody the Bodies of the said Mackennan and Hampton, and then to bring them with all convenient speed before me, at Fort-Anne, in New-York."