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HISTORY 


OF  THE 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 


IN 


SOUTH  CAROLINA, 

By  GEORGE  HOWE,  D.  D., 

Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Columbia,  South  Carolina 


Prepared  by  Order  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina. 


VOL.  II. 


PUBLISHED  AND  SOLD  BY 
W.  J.  DUFFIE, 

Columbia,  S.  C. 

WALKEE,  EVANS  &  COGSWELL,  PHINTEBS,  CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

1883. 


/  ■:-■ 


UNTEEED  ACCORDING  TO  ACT  OF  CONGBESS,  IX  THE  YEAR  1883, 
BY  REV.  GEO.  HOWE,  D.  T>. 


PREFACE 


In  the  year  1849,  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  adopted  a  scheme 
for  secnrin<r  a  History  of  the  Church  covered  by  their  jurisdiction. 
The  scheme  was  elaborate,  unbracing  many  particulars:  and  it  was 
the  pleasure  of  Synod  to  appoint  the  present  writer  tbeir  Historio- 
grapher. 

The  oflice  involved  an  amount  of  labor  and  consumption  of  time,  in 
the  preparation  of  the  first  vohime,-  of  which  he  did  not  have  the  least 
conception,  although  the  scheme,  as  marked  out,  was  not  fully  accom- 
plished. The  History  was  to  be  brought  down  to  1850,  the  middle  of 
this  Century.  In  1870  the  first  volume  was  issued,  bringing  the  work 
down  to  the  year  1800.  The  volume  which  is  now  issued,  has  been 
prepared  at  such  intervals  as  could  be  secured  in  vacation,  when  the 
author  was  relieved  from  his  ordinary  official  duties..  As  the  whole  of 
an  ordinary  generation  has  passed  away-since  the  year  18o0,  the  year  to 
which  his  appointment  extended,  it  has  been  the  desire  of  the  author 
to  bring  the  History  down  more  nearly  to  the  present  time,  and  he 
had,  to  some  extent,  received  the  materials  for  doing  so.  But  dur- 
ing the  past  Summer  his  health  began  seriously  to  fail  liim,  and  his 
most  judicious  friends  advised  him  to  stop  at  the  original  limit  of  1850, 
saying  that  it  was  the  proper  pla(»  to  stop:  that  the  History  of  the 
Church  through  our  late  civil  war,  and  the  efibrts  it  put  forth  in  those 
days  of  supreme  trial  and  since,  deserve  a  fuller  treatment  than  he 
could  now  give  it.  To  this  advice  he  has  j'ielded,  and  although 
this  did  not  occur  until  the  work  showed  manifest  allusions  in  several 
instances  to  a  later  period,  he  removed  from  the  remainder  of  his  manu- 
script all  such  references,  except  those  which  could  not  well  be  erased. 
Some  of  the  materials  furnished  from  the  Churches  are  brief  Others 
far  more  extended,  which,  in  some  Instances,  have  been  greatlj'  abbre- 
viated, and  in  others  more  amply  given.  The  author  is  fully  conscious 
of  the  many  defects  of  his  work,  and  submits  the  result  of  his  labors 
to  that  indulgence  of  his  brethren  which  it  so  greatly  needs. 

The  migration  of  our  own  Presbyterian  people  to  the  South  and 
Southwest  has  been  great,  as  these  pages  will  show,  carryiu'j'  tlieir  insti- 
tions  with  them.  The  last  Census,  that  of  1880,  proves  that  this  ex- 
pansion has  been  true  of  our  popiilation  in  general  :  that  50,195  of  the 
residents  in  Georgia  were  born  in  South  Carolina ;  that   :!5,764  of  the 


IV  PREFACE. 

residents  of  Alabama  were  born  here ;  that  18,522  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Florida;  31,157  of  those  of  Mississippi;  2,637  of  those  of  Missouri; 
16,121  of  those  of  North  Carolina;  11.698  of  those  of  Tennessee;  22,124 
of  those  of  Texas;'  15,107  of  those  of  Arkansas,  were  natives  of  this  State ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  42,182  of  the  re-iidents  of  South  Carolina  were 
born  elsewhere  than  within  its  own  bounds,  many  of  them  in  foreign 
lands.  The  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  portion  of  our  land,  though 
exceeded  in  numbers  by  some  other  denominations,  has  always  been 
an  influential  one,  and  it  is  hoped,  that  for  soundhsss  of  doctrine,  and 
the  proimtion  of  'knowledge  and  education  among  our  people,  its  influ- 
ence may  never  be  less. 


ADDENDUM. 


The  lamentert  au(;hor  of  this  work  was  summoned  to  the  eternal 
World  when  lie  had  almost  finished  the  present  volume,  only  the  index 
renisining  to  be  completed.  In  the  judgment  of  his  friends,  it  is  deem- 
ed proper  to  append  a  brief  biographical  notice  of  himself  to  the 
account  given  by  his  hand  of  deceased  ministers  who  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  It  will  be  the 
office  of  some  future  historian  to  expand  the  record  of  a  life  which,  for 
over  half  a  century,  was  devoted  to  theological  education,  and  made 
Ml  indelible  impress  upon  more  than  five  hundred  candidates  for  the 
Gospel  Rlinistry. 

The  Rev.  George  Howe,  D.D.,  LL.P.,  was  born  at  Dedham,  Massa- 
chusetts, November  0th,  18U2.  His  father,  William  Howe,  was  the  son 
of  Thomas  Howe,  of  Dorchester,  wh*  was  lineally  descended  frpm  one 
of  the  pilgrim  fathers  who  landed  at  Plymouth  Bock.  His  mother, 
JIary,  was  the  daughter  of  Major  George  Gould,  a  rei^olutionary  officer 
who  sei'ved  under  Washington  when  he  occupied  Dorchester  Heights, 
and  Rachel  Dwight,  the  daughter  of  Samuel  Dwight,  of  Sutton,  a 
woman  of  great  energy,  fortitude,  perseverance  and  piety,  who  liyed  to 
be  over  ninety  years  of  age.  When  twelve  years  old,  he  removed  with 
his  father  to  Holmesburg,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  attended  the  school 
of  IMr  Scofield.  His  teacher  having  gone  to  Philadelphia,  he  followed 
him.  There  he  was  hopefully  converted  under  the  miilistry  of  Dr. 
James  Patterson,  and  joined  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
Nortliern  Liberties,  of  which  Dr.  Patterson  was  pastor.  He  was  pre- 
pared for  college  .by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Biggs,  of  Frankford,  near  Phil- 
adelphia; was  graduated  at  Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  in  1822,  and 
at  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  where  he  took  a  full  course,  in  1825. 
Having  been  appointed  Abbot  scholar,  he  studied  for  more  than  a 
year  on  that  foundation  He  then  became  Phillips  Professor  of 
Sacred  Theology  in  Dartmouth  College,  New  Hampshire,  in  which  re- 
lation he  continued  until  18'W,  when  his  health  failing  him  he  came  to 
the  South.  In  the  Fall  of  1831,  he  was,  by  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  elected  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  in  the  Theologi- 
cal Seminary  at  Oolumbia,  S.  C.  In  October,  183S,when  he  was  thirty- 
four  years  of  age,  he  received  a  tall,  signed  by  Thomas  H.  Skinner, 
Knowies  Taylor  and  Ichabod  S.  Spencer,  to  the  Professorship  of  Sacred 
Literature  in  Union  Theological  Serair.ary,  New  York.     He  was  also 


VI  ADDENDUM. 

at  different  times  solicited  by  several  important  churches  to  become 
their  pastor.  All  these  calls  he  dechned,  and  devoted  his  learning  and 
his  energies  to  the  maintenance  of  the  institution  with  which  he  had 
cast  his  lot.  To  it  he  adhered  with  a  love  which  was  as  affecting  as  it 
was  enduring,  through  all  its  financial  difficulties,  until  the  summons 
came  which  terminated  his  labors  on  earth. 

In  November,  1881,  the  Alumni  of  the  Seminary  held  a  semi-centen- 
nial commemoration  of  his  connexion  with  it,  when  he  received  the 
congratulations  of  his  former  pupils.  He  lived  to  see,  with  great  joy, 
the  re-opening  of  the  institution  after  a  suspension  of  its  exercises  for 
two  years,  occasioned  by  the  failure  of  its  funds. 

On  Sabbath,  April  1st,  1883,  after  having  for  the  last  time  partaken 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  while  riding  homeward,  he  was  thrown  from 
his  carriage  and  one  of  his  legs  was -fractured.  He  lingered,  express- 
ing his  trust  in  the  Saviour,  and  offering  most  touching  prayers  for  his 
belovtd  Seminary,  until  Sabbath,  April  15th,  when,  without  a  struggle 
or  groan,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age,  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  His 
funeral  service  was  held  at  the  Presbyterian  Church,  amidst  the  tears 
of  his  brethren  and  numerous  friends,  and  his  venerable  form  was 
committed  to  its  last  resting-placarin  the  cemetery  of  that  cJuirch. 

Dr.  Howe  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Mary  Bushnell,  the 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Jedediah  Bushnell,  whom  he  characterized  as  a 
man  of  singular  piety  and  wisdom.  She  died  a  little  more  than  a  year 
after  her  marriage  and  was  buried  wliere  his  own  remains  now  sleep. 
His  second  wife  was  Mr.^.  Sarah  Ann  McConnell,  the  daughter  of 
Andrew  Walthour  of  Walthourville,  Liberty  County,  Georgia.  This 
lovely  saint,  who  had  blessed  him  with  her  devoted  affection  and  little 
less  than  angelic  ministrations  during  life,  and  nursed  him  with  ten- 
derest  assiduity  in  his  last  illness,  bade  him  farewell  in  the  hope  of  a 
not  distant  meeting  in  the  paradise  of  God. 

Dr.  Howe's  learning  was  extensive.  He  was  deeply  versed  in  Ori- 
ental literature  and  intimately  acquainted  with  the  controversies  in 
regard  to  the  Sacred  Text.  He  was  a  godly  man,  an  eminent  exemplar 
of  the  attractive  graces  of  Christianity;  when  at  the  full  bent  of  his 
noble  faeujties,  was  a  powerful  preacher  ;  and  as  a  man  and  citizen  was 
esteemed  ana  loved  by  a  community  in  intercourse  with  which  he  had 
lived  for  half  a  century.  Almost  his  whole  ecclesiastical  life  was 
passed  in  connexion  with  the  Synoci  of  South  Carolina  und  the  Charles- 
ton Presbytery.  His  death  is  sincerely  lamented  by  these  bodies,  and 
by  the  whole  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  of  which  he  was  a  distin- 
guished ornament.  J.  L.  G. 


CONTENTS 


Vol.  II. 


BOOK  I. 
CHAPTER  I. 

James  Nisbet.  The  Blood  of  the  Martyrs.  FirstSettlement  in  North 
Carolina.  Two  F.actors  in  the  History  of  the  Churph-  To  Csesar  the 
things  that  are  Caesar's.  The  Church  and  the  School.  The  Higher 
Education,  21.  • 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE   INDEPENDRNT   .\ND   CONGKEGATIONAL   CHURCHES,   1800  —  1810. 

The  Religion  of  the  State,  22— The  Religion  of  the  Church,  28— Re- 
pairs of  Church,  24 — Form  of  New  Edifice,  2') — Charitable  Efforts,  2S — 
Early  Benefactors,  29,-  31 — Female  Benefactors,  31 — Reasons  for  this 
Exhibit,  32— The  Result^  33— Wappetaw,  34— Death  of  Dr.  McCalla, 
35,  37 — Dorchester  and  Beech  Hill,  38 — Midway  Church.  Georgia,  39- 
Stoney  Creek,  40 — Rev.  James  Gourlay,  41 — Rev.  Robert  M.  Adams, 
42 — Stoney  Creelt,  43,  44 — Congregational  Association,  43 — B.  M.  Pal- 
mer's Ordination.    Plan  of  Union,  52. 

CHAPTER  III. 

1800-1810. 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston,  53 — Rev.  Dr  Buist,  his  Char- 
acter, Death  and  Buriai,  53,  58— Presbytia rian  Church  of  James  Island, 
60— John's  Island  and  Wadrnalaw,  61 — Of  Edisto  Island  and  Wilton, 
62— Of  Bethel,  Pon  Ponand  Saltkehatchie,  Savannah,  Williamsburg,  and 
Bethel  Church,  64,  65— Mr.  Malcomson,  66,  67— Indian  Town,  Thomas 
Dickson  Baird,  D.  D.,  68,  69— The  Frierson  Congregation,  70— Hopewell, 
Aimwell,  P.  D.,  71— Black  Mingo,  Red  Bluff,  72.  73— Bli^ck  River,  Win- 
yaw,  Saiem  Black  River,  74,  75— Concord,  New  Hope,  Midway,  Ephesus, 
76,77. 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1800—18:0. 

Columbia  Church,  77 — Rev.  John  Brown,  I)  t).,  78 — Bethesda,  of 
Camden.  Andrew  Flinn,  D.  D.,  79,  81 — A.  F,  Dubard,  Zion  Church, 
Winnsboro-  Rev.  Geo.  Reid,  Lebanon  Church,  (Jackson's  Cr.)  Fair- 
field. Officers  in  Church  and  State,  84,  85 — Mt.  Olivet,  Horeb,  Concord, 
Aimwell,  86,  87 — Beaver  Creek,  Hanging  Rock.  Miller's,  Catholic  (Ches- 
ter), 88,  90-Hopewell  (Chester)  Purity,  91— Rev.  John  Douglas,  90,  94— 
Edmonds  (Fishing  Creek),  Richardson  (Bullock's  Creek),  95,  96 — Naza- 
reth and  Dr.  Joseph  Alexander,  97,  102 — Bethesda  (York),  and  Rev- 
Robt.  B.  Walker,  Ebenezer,  Beersheba,  Unity,  Shiloh.  Bethel  (York;, 
102,  106 — "Old  VVaxhaw"  and  its  Revivals,  its  Pastor  Rev,  John  Brown. 
Testimony  of  Rev.  John  McGready,  of  Rev.  Dr.  Furman.  Bodily  Agita- 
tions. The  Exercises.  Effects  of  Strong  Emotion.  Opinion  of  D'r 
Alexander.  The  Power  of  Sympathy,  107, 120 — Bethany,  Granby,  Mt. 
Bethtl,  Academy,  Indian  Creek,  Grassy  Spring,  Little  River,  121,123 — ■ 
Duncan's  Creek,  Mrs.  Gillara,  John  Boyce,  Rocky  Spring,  Liberty  Spring, 
Union  and  Grassy  Spring,  Fairforest,  Nazareth,  Camp  Meeting,  124, 131 — 
Religious  Services.  Their  Effects.  Cases.  Attendance.  I^ffects,  132, 
137 — Fairview,  N.  Paeolet,  Newton,  Cuffey  Town,  German  Church, 
Greenville,  Smyrna,  Rocky  Creek,  Hopewell  (Abbeville),  D'r  Wiiddel, 
138,  14-5 — Rocky  Rivei',  Long  Cane,  Bradaway,  Roberts  and  Good  Hope, 
Hopewell  (Keowee),  Carmel,  Bethlehem,  Cane  Creek  and  Bethel,  Inde- 
pendent Chun^h,  Savannah,  Fii-st  Presbyterian  Church,  Augusta,  Rev. 
John  Springer,  146, 157 — William  C.  Davis,  1.58,  163 — Harmony  Presby- 
•  terv.  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  Second  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  164, 166. 

CHAPTER  V. 

1800—1810. 

The  Charleston  Presbytery,  167,  172 — Emancipation,  172— Missions, 
173,  174— Missions  to  Mir-sissippi,  175,  176— Natchez,  177, 179— Rev.  Wil- 
liam Montgomery,  181 — Missionaries  to  the  Natchfcz  Rev.  James  Smylie, 
182, 18,3— Otner  Missions,  186,  187— Schools,  Indian  Tribes,  188, 189. 


BOOK  II. 

1810—1820. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Reorganization,  189-191. 

CHAPTER  II. 

Congregational  Church,  Charleston,  191— Dr.  Keith,  192,  194— Dr.  B. 
M.  Pahner,  195— Dr.  Hollingshead,  196,  198— Two  Places  of  Worship 
199— Rev.  Mr  Foster,  200— History  of  the  Separation,  201,  208— Result 
Reached,  209— Rev.  Anthony  Forster,  210,  211— Wappetaw,  Dorchester, 


CONTENTS.  IX 

Stoney  Creek,  Rev.  L.  D.  Parks,  Beaufort,  White  Bluflf,  Midway,  Liberty 
County,  212,  218— Frencii  Church  Charleston,  P'irst  Presbyterian 
Church  Charleston,  220— Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  Dr.  Flinn, 
222 — Ecclesiastical  .Jurisdiction,  Religious  and  Benevolent  Societies, 
22(),  229— James  Island,  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw,  Wilton,  Bethel 
Pon  Pon,  Saltkehatchie,  229,  233— Independent  (Uiurch,  Savannah,  Dr. 
Kollock,  233,  243. 

« 

CHAPTER  III. 

Ezra  Fisk  and  Richard  S.  Storrs.  Th«  Union  Missionary  Society, 
244,  245— Williamsburg,  Bethel.  Rev-  R.  W.  James.  Indian  Town, 
Black  River  Winyah,  Salem,  Black  River,  246,  249— Mt.  Zion.  Concord, 
New  Hope  Midway,  Chesterfield  Court  House,  Little  Pee  Dee,  Reel 
Bluff,  250,  253— Columbia,  Dr.  T.  C  Henry,,  Dr.  E.  D.  Smith,  254,  261— 
Bethesda,  Camden,  Pine  Tree,  Zion  Winnsboro,  262,  264— Salem,  L.  R. 
Lebanon,  Aimwell,  Concord,  Beaver  Creek,  Catholic,  Hopewell,  Augusta, 
265,  267. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Purity  Church,  Fishing  Creek,  Bullock's  Creek,  Abjuration  of  W.  C. 
Davis,  Salem  t.'hurch  (Union  District), Bethesda  (York),  Ebenezer,  Beer- 
sheba, Shiloh,  Bethel  (York,)  Waxhaw,  Presbyterial  Changes,  268,  2iSl. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Grassy  Spring,  Little  River,  Duncan's  Creek,  Rocky  Spring,  Liberty 
Spring,  Warrior's  Creek,  LTnioh,  Crane-  Creek,  Fairforest,  Nazareth 
^Spartanburg),  Fairview,  N.  Paeolet,  Milford,  Smyrna,  Greenville  (for* 
merly  >Saluda).  Abbeville,  Rocky  Creek  (now  Rock  ®hurch).  Old  Cam- 
bridge, Hopewell  (Abbeville),  Willington,  Dr.  Waddel,  Lower  Long 
(Jane,  Rev.  Henry  Reid,  281,  294 — Rocky  River,  Upper  Long  Caue,  Gen. 
Andrew  Pickens,  Little  Mountain,  Bradaway,  Good  Hope  and  Roberts, 
Thomas  D.  Baird.  D.  D.,  Hopewell  (Keowee),  Bethlehem,  Cane  Creek, 
Nazareth  (B.  D.),  Augusta,  Rev.  J.  R.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  29^5,  305. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Education  for  the  Ministry,  Wm.  C  Davis,  Presbytery  of  Hopewell, 
Ordinations,  Sinetitulo,  Right  of  Presbyteries  in  Ordination,  Missions, 
Cases  Decided,  Various  Decisions,  Missionary  Society  of  tlie  Synod, 
295,318. 


X  COX'TENTS. 

BOOK  III. 

1820—1830. 

>   CHAPTER  I. 

Independent  Church,  Charleston,  Archdale  Street.  Wappetaw,  White 
Bluff.  Congregational  Church,  Midway,  Ga  Charleston  Union  Pres- 
bytery, Bethel  Presbytery,  S19,  324. 


CPIAPTER  II. 

French  Protestant  Church,  Charleston.  First  Presbyterian,  Charles- 
ton. Second  Presbyterian  Church.  Rev.  Dr.  Henry.  His  Death.  Rev. 
Wm.Aslimead,  327,  328— Third  Presbyterian  Church.  329,  330— James 
and  John's  Islands,  331— Edisto.  332, 334— Wilton,  335,336— Bethel,  Pon 
Pon,  Saltcatcher.  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  Savannah.  Second 
Presbyterian  Cliurch,  Beech  Island,  St.  Augustine,  Presbytery  of 
Georgia,  337,  341. 

CHAPTER  III. 

Williamsburg,  Bethel  and  Indian  Town.  Union  of  the  Churches, 
342.  343 — Aimwell,  Hopewell  P.  D.,  Concord,  Sumterville,  Rev  Isaac  R. 
Barbour,  Rev.  John  Harrington,  Mount  Zion,  Sumter,  Salem  (B.  R  ). 
Midway  and  Bruington,  344,  349— Chesterfield  Court  House,  Pine  Tree, 
Little  P.  D.,  350,  351 — Darlington,  Cheraw,  Rev.  N.  R  Morgan,  Boiling 
Springs,  352,  354.  ^ 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Columbia,  Bethesda  (Camden),  Zion,  Winnsboro,  Salem  (L.  R.),  Leba- 
non and  Mt.  Olivet,  Concord  (Fairfield),  Beaver  Creek,  Catholic,  Eliezer 
Brainard,  Hopewell,  Purity,  Beckhamville,  Fishing  Creek,  355,  366— 
Richardson,  Bullock's  Creek.  Bethesda  (York),  Ebenezer,  Beersheba, 
Yorkville,  Shiloh,  Bethel  (York),  Waxbaw,  Little  Britain,  Duncan's 
Creek,  etc.,  3(17, 372. 

CHAPTER  v. 

Indian  Creek,  Gilder's  Creek,  Grassy  Spring,  Little  River,  Duncan's 
Creek,  Rocky  Spring,  Liberty  Spring,  Warrior's  Creek-,  Friendship, 
Union,  Cane  Creek,  373,  378— Fairforest,  Nazareth,  Fairview,  IV.  Pacolet, 
Smyrna  (Abbeville).  Greenville  (Abbeville,  formerlv  Saluda i,  Rockv 
Creek  (now  Rock  Church),  Cambridge,  Hopewell  (Abbeville),  Rock 
River,   Willington,   Sardis,   Long  Cane,  Little  Mountain,  Shiloh,  379, 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

387— Lebanon  (Abbeville).  Memories  of  the  Revolution,  Traditions, 
Westminster,  Bradaway,  Roberts  and  Good  PTope.  Rev.  David  Hum- 
phreys, 3H8, 395— frovidence.  New  Harmony,  Hopew.ell  (Keowee).  Car- 
mel,  Bethlehem,  Cane  Greek  and  Bethel,  Westminster,  Nazareth  (B.D.), 
396,  398— First  Presbyterian  Clmrch  in  Augusta,  Presbvterian  Church 
m  aiacon,  Ga  ,  396,  4U1— Missions,  Mission  to  the  Seamen,  Chickasaws, 
To  the  South  and  Southwest,  401,  410— Education  for  tlie  Ministry,  The- 
ological Seminaries,  Princeton  Literary  and  Theological  Seininary, 
Theological  Seminary,  Proposed  Change,  Forfeiture  of  Subscriptions, 
402,  422— Geographical  Limits  of  Synod— Presbytery  of  Harmony, 
423,  428. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

APPENDIX    TO   THE  THIRD   DECAt)E. 
1820—1830. 

Indian  Missions  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  429. 44e. 


BOOK  IV. 

1830—1840. 

CHAPTER  I. 

• 
The  Independent  or  Congregational  (Circular)  Church,  Dr.  Post, 
Wappetaw,  Rev.  James  Lewers,  The  Congregational  Church  of  Dor- 
chester and  Beech  Hill,  Stonefy  Creek  Independent  Presbyterian  Church, 
Beaufort,  Waynesboro,  Burke  County,  Ga.,  White  Bluff,  Congregational 
Church,  Midway,  Ga.,  446,  452. 

CHAI'TER  11. 

Fbench  Protestant  Church,  Charleston.  First  Presbyterian  i  hurch, 
Charleston.  Rev.  Arthur  Buist.  Rev.  John  Forrest,  afterwards  D.  D. 
Second  Presbyterian  Church.  Rev.  Alexander  Aikman  and  Rev.  J.  B. 
Waterbury.  Hev.  Thomas  Smyth.  Third  Presbyterian  Church.  Dr. 
William  A.  McDowell.  Wm.  C.  Dana,  afterwards,  D.  D.  James  Island. 
Rev.  Dr.  Leland  S.  S.  Rev.  Edward  Tonge  Buist,  452,  455— John's 
Island  and  Wadmalaw.  Dissents  from  the  General  Assembly.  Declares 
its  Independence.  Law  Suit  and  its  Issue.  Edisto  Island.  Rev.  Wm. 
States  Lee.  Wilton  Presbyterian  Church.  Rev.  Zabdiel  Rogers.  Bethel 
Pon  Pon.     Rev.  Edward  "Palmer      Mr,    Gilclirist.     Saltkatcher      Rev. 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

John  Brevort  Van  Dvck,  456,  464 — Independent  Church  Savannah. 
Eev.  Daniel  Baker,  D.  1).  Eev.  Willard  Preston.  D.  D.  Beech  Island, 
Hamburg,  Orangeburg,  St  Augustine,  464,  473. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

"Williamsburg,  Rev.  John  M.  Erwin,  Indian  Town,  Geo.  H.  W.  Petrie, 
Indian  Town,  Hopewell  P.  D.,  Darlington,  Concord,  Sumterville,  Har- 
niony,  Bruington,  474, 48.3— Midway,  Salem  B.  E,,  Mount  Zion  (Sumter), 
Chesterfield,  ]S'ew  Hope.  BishopviHe,  Cheraw,  Action  on  the  State  of 
the  Church,  The  Sabbath  School,  Great  and  Little  Pee  Dee,  Pine  Tree, 
Red  Bluff,  Mount  Moriah,  Bethesda  (Camden,)  494,  496, 


CHAPTER  IV. 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  Columbia.  Rice  Creek  Springs,  Horeb, 
Aimwell  (Fairfield),  Beaver  Creek.  Hopewell,  Sion  (Winnsboro),  Leba- 
non, Salem  L.  R.,  Rev.  Robert  Means,  I>.  D.,  Concord,  Mt.  Olivet,  C.  L. 
R.Boyd,  M.  Peden,  Catholic,  Purity,  Eev.  John  Douglas,  Pleasant 
Grove,  Fisliing  Creek,  496  509— Cedar  Shoals,  Bullock's  (reek,  Bethesda 
(York),  Rev.  Robert  B.  Walker  Rev.  Cyrus  Johnson,  D.  D..  Ebenezer, 
Unity,  Beersheba,  Yorkville,  Sandy  Spring,  Shiloh,  Bethel  lYork), 
Waxhaw,  Six-Mile  Creek,  Lancasterville,  Rev.  J.  H.  Thornwell,  Cane 
Creek  (Union).  Fairforest,  Letter  of  Eev.  D.  L  Gray,  Eev.  John  Boggs, 
Other  Churches  of  the  Independents,  Adherents  of  Eev.  \V.  C  Davis, 
510,  529. 

CHARTER  V, 

Aveleigh  Church,  Extracts  from  a  Letterof  Chancellor  Job  Jolins  one, 
Smyrna,  .'lilder's  Creek.  Little  River,  puocan's  Creek,  Liberty  Spring, 
Warrior's  Creek,  Friendship,  Nazareth  (Spartanburg),  Fairview,  North 
Pacoiet,-  Smyrna,  Greenville  (Abbeville),  Eockv  Creek  (now  Rock 
Church),  r,30,  537— Old  Cambridge,  Hopewell  (Abbeville),  Rocky  Eiver 
(Abbeville),  Willington,  Eev.  Dr.  Waddell,  Long  Cane,  Upper  Long 
Cane  Society,  Little  Mountain,  Bradaway,  Midway,  Good  Hope  and 
Roberts,  Rev.  David  Humphreys,  Roberts'  Clmrch,  Providence  Church, 
Anderson,  Jlidwav,  Richland,  538,  551- Laurensville,  Hopewell  (K), 
Sandy  Spring,  Carmel,  Na/areth  B.  D  ,  New  Harmony,  Bethany  Eeho- 
both,  Bethel.  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Augusta,  Macon,  Ga.,  5 12,  .555, 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Foreign  Missions,  Southern  Board  of  Missions,  Congregational  and 
Presbyterian  Education  Society.  01<1  and  New  School,  Plan  of  Union, 
Act  and  Testimony,  Opinions  V;irious,  Dr.  Alexander,  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  Dissent  of  \V.  C.  Dana  and  others,  Explani^tion, 
Committee  of  Conference,  Proposed  Union  of  Seminaries,  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, Appropriations. 


COXTENTS,  Xlll 


BOOK  V. 


1840—1850. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Independent  or  Congregational  (Cieculae)  Chuhch  of  Citarles- 
TON,  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.  I).,  Wappetaw,  Dorchesttir  and  Beech  Hill, 
Stonej'  Creek,  Savannah,  Dr.  Preston,  679,  690. 

CPIAPTER  II. 

French  Hufruenot  Church,  Charleston.  First  Presbyterian  Church, 
Charleston.  Rev.  Dr.  Forrest.  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  Rev.  Dr. 
Adger.  Third,  or  Central  Church.  Corner  Stone  of  the  New  Church 
Kdiflce.  Charleston  Union  Presbytery.  Decision  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. Action  of  the  Synod.  590,  604— Glebe  Street,  Charleston.  Its 
Organization.  Evangelization  of  the  Colored  People.  Action  of  the 
Presbytery.  Dr.  Adger  called  to  Embark  in  this  Work.  Its  Commence- 
ment, 590,  610— James  Island,  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw  declare  for 
Independence.  The  John's  Island  Case.  Decision  of  the  Court.  The 
Church  Rescinds  its  Resolution.  Death  of  Rev.  Mr.  White,  611,  618— 
Edisto  Island,  and  Memorial  of  William  States  Lee.  Wilton  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  Death  of  Rev.  Zabdiel  Rogers.  Rev.  John  L.  Girardeau, 
618,  626 — Bethel  Pon  Pon,  Saltkehatchie,  Boiling  Springs,  Barnwell 
Court  House,  Beech  Island,  Hamburg,  Orangeburg,  027,  632, 

C^IIAPTER  III. 

Williamsburg,  Indian  Town,  Hopewell,  Pee  Dee,  Darlington,  Great 
Pee  Dee,  Little  Pee  Dee,  Pisgah,  Pine  Tree,  Cheraw,  Hon.  John  A. 
Inglis,  Carolina  Presbyterian  Church,  6'.V2,  645 — Midway,  Bruington, 
Concord,  Sumterville,  Rev.  Donald  McQueen,  D.  D.,  646, 648— Salem  B. 
R.,  Rev.  Robert  W.  James,  Rev.  G.  C.  Gregg,  Bishopville,  Harmony, 
648,  656— Manning,  Pine  Tree,  Bethesda,  657,'658. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Columbia,  658,  665 — Horeb,  Aimwell,  Scion  (Winnsboro),  Lebanon, 
Salem  (L.  R.),  Mt.  Olivet,  Concord  (Fairfield),  Beaver  Creek;  Catholic, 
665.  672— Six-Mile  Creek,  Purity,  Fishing  Creek,  Bullock's  Creek,  Wm. 
B.  Davies,  Mt.  Pleasant,  Bethesda,  Rev.  P.  E.  Bishop,  673,  682 — Ebenezer, 
Unity,  Salem,  Yorkville,  Shiloh,  Bethel  (York),  Rev-  S.  L.  Watson, 
683,691 — Ministers  raised  in  Bethel,  Old  Waxhaw,  Birth  Place  of  An- 
drew Jackson,  Pleasant  Grove,  Cane  Creek.Unionville,  Fairforest,  Bath, 
Shiloh,  692,  699— The  Covenanters,  Rev.  Wm.  Martin,  Rev.  Thomas 
Donnelly,  Rev.  John  Riley,  Their  Churches  and  Ministers,  700,  708— 
Liberty  Spring,  Duncan's  Creek,  Friendship,  Rocky  Spring,  708,  711. 


XIV  CONTEXTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Aveleigh  Church.  Chancellor  Job  Johnston,  Ecclesiastical  and  Civil 
Courts,  Humor  and  Repariee,  The  Law  of  Marriage,  Contributions, 
Testimony  of  O.  R.  Mayer,  Smyrna,'  Lebanon,  Bethia,  Mt.  Bethel, 
Bethany,  Warrior's  Creek,  New  Harmony,  Laurensville,  Rev.  S.  B. 
Lewers,  Rock  Church,  Rev.  Edwin  Cater,  Rev.  John  McLees,  Sandy 
Spriup;,  711,  732 — Long  Cane,  Dr.  McNeill  Turner,  David  Lesly,  Rev. 
\Vm.  H.  Barr,  D.  D  ,  Chancellor  Bowie's  Memorial  of  Dr.  Barr,  732, 741— 
Bradaway,  Bethesda  (Abbeville),  Nazireth,  N.  Pacolet,  Carmel,  Pickens, 
Gooii  Hope  and  Roberts,  Rev.  Mr.  Humphreys,  Gilder's  Creek.  Spar- 
tanburg, Mt  Tabor,  Autioch,  Anderson,  Midway,  Hopewell  (Keowee), 
741,  749 — Greenville  (Abbeville),  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  New  Harmony 
(Abbeville),  Fairview,  Providence,  Rocky  River,  Washington  Street 
(Greenville),  Hopewell  (Abbeville),  Willington,  AVestminster,  Bethel, 
New  Harmony  (Laureiis,)  Nazareth  (B.  D.),  750,  760 — Missions,  Rev.  Dr. 
Smyth,  761,  7G4. 


HISTORY 


OF'    THE 


PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 

IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 


VOL.  II. 


BOOK  FIRST. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Our  first  volume  has  given  a  brief  outline  of  the  ante- 
American  history  of  the  people  which  are  represented  in  the 
Presbyterian  Churches  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  and  has  traced  their  subsequent  history  more  or  less 
perfectly  from  the  first  permanent  occupation  of  the  country 
by  European  colonists  on  the  17th  of  March,  1670,  to  the 
opening  of  the  present  century.  Many  of  them  fled  from 
their  native  lands  of  their  own  accord,  because  they  could  not 
wor-ihip  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  owr^  consciences, 
without  the  loss  of  their  earthly  possessions  and  life  itself. 
Some  were  forcibly  transported  hither  against  their  will. 
Some  were  offered  the  alternative  of  expatriation  or  ignomini- 
ous death.  Such  was  the  case  of  James  Nisbet,  of  the  parish  of 
L&ndon,  who  suffered  in  Glasgow,  at  the  Howgate  head, 
June  5th,  1684. 

In  the  course  of  his  last  speech  and  testimony  he  said  : 
"  Now  I  know  there  will  many  brand  me  with  self-murder, 
because  I  have  got  many  an  offer  to  go  to  Carolina  upon  such 
easy  terms.  But  to  this  I  answer,  self  preservation  must 
stoop  to  truth's  preservation."   He  thus  refused  to  succumb  to 


16  JAMES    NISBKT. 

the  demands  of  his  persecutors.  "  Now  I  have  to  take  m)- 
leave  of  all  created  comforts  here;  and  I  bid  farewell  to  the 
sweet  Scriptures.  Farewell  reading  and  praying.  Farewell 
sinning  and  suffering.  Farewell  sighing  and  sorrowing, 
mourning  and  weeping.  Atid  farewell  all  Christian  friends 
and  relations.  Farewell  brethren  and  sisters,  and  all  things 
in  time.  And  welcome  Father,  Son  and  ^oly  Ghost.  Wel- 
come Heaven  and  everlasting  joy  and  pj-aise,  and  innumerable 
company  of  Angels  and  Spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect. 
Now  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit  for  it  is  thine. 

Sic  Subscribitur,  JAMES  NISBET." 

It  might  be  doubtful  as  to  the  special  locality  meant  by  Caro- 
lina in  this  address.  On  the  13th  of  June,  1665,  Clarendon 
and  his  associates  had  obtained  a  new  charter  from  Charles 
the  Second,  granting' them  all  the  land  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean,  between  twenty-nine  degrees  and  thirty-six 
degrees,  thirty  minutes,  north  latitude,  a  charter  which  never 
went  into  effect,  being  superseded  on  the  south  by  the  charter 
granted  by  George  the  II.  on  the  gth  of  June,  1732,  to  Ogle- 
thorpe and  his  associates  "  in  trust  for  the  poor,"  which 
erected  the  country  between  the  Savannah  and  the  Altamaha, 
and  from  the  headsprings  of  these  rivers  due  west  to  the 
Pacific,  into  the  Province  of  Georgia. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  made,  in  what  is  known  as 
North  Carolina,  was  in  1663,  when  William  Drummond  a 
Scotchman  and  a  Presbyterian  was  made  its  first  governor. 
A  general  division  into  North  and  South  Carolina  dates  as  far 
back  as  1693.  Yet  the  dividing  line  between  North  and 
South  Carolina  was  not  run  till  1738,  nor  fully  cornpleted  till 
afterwards.  And  as  we  have  shown  in  our  First  Volume, 
Chap.  II.,  pp.  78-86,  that  Charleston  or  Port  Royal  was  the 
destination  of  those  who  were  banished,  or  who  voluntarily 
removed  for  safety  from  Scotland,  this  we  suppose  was  the 
Carolina  that  was  in  the  mind  of  the  heroic  martyr. 

All  this  occurred  nearly  200  years  ago.  Yet  it  is  well  for 
us  to  remember  what  our  ancestors  suffered  for  the  faith  we 
profess.  The  saying  is  true  that  "  The  blood  of  the  martyrs 
is  the  seed  of  the  Church."  It  has  lived  and  flourished  in 
the  midst  of  persecution.  It  is  said  that  the  Reformed  Church 
of  France  in  1751  could  count  2,150  Churches.  That  the 
Church  of  Orleans  hgid  7,000  members  and  5  ministers.     That 


"The  blood  of  the  martyrs."  17 

in  1561  there  had  been  200,000  cut  off  by  martyrdom  :  From 
the  Church  of  Caen  alone  about,  15,000;  of  Alencon,  5,000; 
of  Paris,  13,000;  ofRheims,  12,000;  of  Troye,  12,000;  of  Sens 
9,000;  of  Orleans,  8,000;  of  Angiers,  7,500;  of  Poictiers. 
12,000.  (Quiclc's  Synodicon,  p.  lix.,  Ix.,  and  so  on.) 
Above  200,000  in  a  few  years  were  cut  off  for  the  Gospel, 
p.  h'x.     And  to  some,  Carolina  became  a  place  of  refuge. 

The  few  Congregational  Churches  of  our  seaboard  have 
been  so  united  with  those  which  were  fully  Presbyterian  in 
their  polity,  that  their  history  has  been  given  with  equal  par- 
ticularity. The  method  pursued  was  adopted  from  the  felt 
necessity  of  preserving  the  facts  of  the  past  before  they  should 
be  lost  out  of  the  memories  of  men,  before  the  various  notices, 
of  them  yet  existing  in  ephemeral  contemporaneous  literature 
should  utterly  perish,  and  the  'scattered  items  tliat  might  be 
gathered  out  of  private  correspondence  should  wholly  disap- 
pear. Much  of  all  this  had  been  lost  already  by  the  accidents 
of  fire  and  flood,  and  cruel  war,  and  by  that  decay  which  is 
consuming  all  the  works  of  industry  and  art.  To  keep  up  the 
sequence  of  events  as  to  their  succession  in  time  was  impor- 
tant, that  each  congregation  might  be  able  to  trace  back  its 
own  history  was  no  less  so,  and  to  hold  up  to  view  that  ante- 
cedent discipline  in  the  school  of  adversity  through  which  our 
ancestors  passed,  which  has  moulded theircharacter  and  ours, 
was  equally  important. 

It  was  not  unknown  to  the  author  that  there  is  a  connec- 
tion of  cause  and  effect  which  history  siiould  disclose;  that 
each  event  is'to  be  conceived  of  asboth  the  product  of  some 
other  that  has  preceded  it,  and  a  potential  cause  of  those  which 
follow  ;  that  there  is  a  development  in  history,  and  a  progress, 
answering  to  that  in  the  ideas  of  men  educated  by  the  circum- 
stances in  which  they  are  placed.  Society  is  ever  advancing, 
but  by  a  movement  by  no  means  uniform  nor  always  in  one 
direction.  When  men  of  education  and  refinement  migrate 
from  the  midst  of  culture  to  a  wilderness  where  they  must 
find  the  means  of  support,  and  protect  themselves  from, savage 
beasts  and  more  savage  men,  it  is  natural  that  they  should 
lapse  by  degrees  from  former  pursuits  into  the  life  of  the 
trapper  and  the  hunter,  from  this  into  chat  of  the  herdsman, 
and  then  into  that  of  the  cultivator  of  the  soil.  It  will  be 
difficult  tor  them  and  their  faj^iilies  to  retain  all  the  outward 
decencies  of  worship  and  culture  as  they  were  enjoyed  in  the 


18  TWO  FACa'ORS  IN  THE  HISTORY  OF  THI-:   CUVUCU. 

countries  which  they  left.  Tlieir  manners  will  becomt;  for  a 
season  more  rude  and  simple.  As  settlements  enlarge  and 
wealth  increases,  and  artificial  wants,  in  the  progress  of  socie- 
ty, are  created,  these  outward  customs  of  social  life  will 
change,  and  new  phases  of  public  and  social  character  must 
needs  appear.  New  theories  of  government,  too,  are  ever  and 
anon  arising.  Some  exalting  and  some  depressing  tiie 
individual  man,  the  human  mind  passing,  under  the  ordinary 
providential  government  of  God,  from  one  extreme  towards 
the  other  in  almost  perpetual  oscillation.  In  the  history  of 
the  Church  then  are  tvvo  factors.  On  the  one  hand  there  is 
God's  truth  made  the  object  of  the  mind's  contemplation  by 
the  word  revealed  from  Heaven  and  enforced  by  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  are  the  depraved  will  of  man 
on  the  other,  and  the  mysterious  and  hostile  influences  of  thc 
powers  of  darkness.  The  development  of  the  Churcli  on 
earth  has,  under  these  circumstances,  not  been  a  constant  and 
uniform  progress.  It  has  often  gone  backward  both  in  its 
doctrine  and  its  government.  And  the  only  true  progress  it 
ever  can  make  is  ever  to  /ooA  back  to  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament  for  the  form  of  doctrine  given  to  the  Church, 
when  it  \i'as  enjoined  upon  it  to  go  foith  into  all  the  world 
preachinjj  tiie  Gospel,  and  to  the  entire  Scriptures  for  the 
system  of  doctrine  to  be  believed  unto  salvation. 

From  the  age  of  Constantine  when  Christianity  ascended 
the  throne  of  Caesar  to  this  our  day,  one  of  the  last  things  the 
Church  has  been  able  rightly  to  comprehend,  is  its  own  inde- 
pendence of  the  State.  This  would  seem  logically  to  follow 
from  tlie  doctrine  of  our  Confession,  that  Christ  alone  is  King 
and  Head  of  the  Church,  and  that  all  ordinances  of  worship 
and  forms  of  Church  governnieiit  are  ordered  by  him  alone  ; 
thatthere  are  two  Commonwealths  equally  appointed  by  God, 
the  civil,  whose  office  is  to  protect  the  person  and  property 
and  promote  the  well  beine  of  m.en  as  they  are  members  of 
civil  society;  and  the  religious,  the  conunonwcalth  of  Israel, 
whose  object  it  is  to  train  men,  as  they  are  sinners,  for  glory 
and  immortality.  Although  these  exist  together  in  tliis 
world,  each  is  independent  of  the  other  in  its  own  sphere. 
In  the  civil  commonwealth  there  is  one  and  the  same  civil 
authority  ruling  in  its  own  proper  sphere  over  all.  The 
Church  of  Christ,  as  it  is  visible  in  any  country,  is  divided 
among  many  denominations,  who  act  in  their  appointments 


TO  CA'IJAU  THE  TIIINUS  THAT  ARE  C.KSARS.  19 

for  religious  observance  independent  of  each  other,  eacii  being 
responsible  to  Christ  their  head.  It  has  been  in  our  happy 
country  alone,  under  its  present  form  of  governniant,  that  this 
has  obtained  a  full  acknowledgment,  though  in  practice  this 
independence  has,  alas  !  been  now  and  then  invaded,  and  it  has 
been  forgotten  that  unto  Cs3sar  only  the  things  that  are 
Caesar's  are  to  be  rendered  and  to  God  alone  the  tilings  that 
are  God's.  Our  own  Presbyterian  Church  by  its  solemn 
leagues  and  covenants  and  by  its  republican  forrn  of  govern- 
ment has  done  much  to  destroy  the  bondage  of  despotism 
under  which  the  British  nation  would  have  otherwise  con- 
tinued to  groan,  and  has  done  much  to  introduce  that  form  of 
regulated  liberty  which  our  own  country  enjoys.  But  the 
solemn  league  and  covenant  when  attem.pted  bv  the  British 
Parliament  to  be  imposed  upon  the  nation,  looked  forward  to 
the  establishment  by  law  of  an  absolute  uniformity  of  reli- 
gious faith.  The  contest  in  Elngland  was  a  contest  for  civil 
liberty,  m  Scotland  for  religious  purity  and  freedom.  In 
England  it  was  under  the  guidance  of  political  principles,  in 
Scotland  mainly  under  those  which  the  religion  of  Christ  iii- 
s[jires,  whose  fruit  is  peace.  But  the  close  union  of  Church  and 
State  which  the  Long  Parliament,  the  majority  of  whom  were 
Presbyterians,  still  contemplated,  would  have  placed  dissen- 
ters under  civil  disabilities  and  have  led  to  oppression,  if  not 
absolute  persecution  of  the  less  numerous  sects.  The  Inde- 
pendents who  were  numerous  and  represented  largely  in  Crom- 
well's army,  being  a  minority  in  the  Westminster  Assembly, 
were  clamorous  for  liberty  of  conscience,  but  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  it  was  liberty  of  conscience  for  themselves  alone. 
For  when  they  set  up  their  own  government  in  Jlassaclui- 
setts,  they  made  membership  in  the  Church  a  prerequisite  to 
civil  office  and  inflicted  penalites  and  exile  upon  the  Anabap- 
tists and  Quakers,  chiefly,  perhaps,  because  of  certain  fanatical 
conduct  which  disturbed  the  public  peace,  but,  we  fear,  also 
because  of  alleged  error  in  doctrine.  Cromwell  approached 
nearly  to  the  truth  when  he  declared  "that  all  men  should  be 
left  to  the  liberty  of  their  own  consciences  and  that  the  magis- 
trate could  not  interfere  without  ensnaring  himself  in  the  guilt 
of  persecution."  Yet.  net  even  he  saw  clearly,  at  all  times, 
the  necessity  of  a  complete  severance  of  the  union  between 
Church  and  State,  nor  realized  the  inauspicious  results  which 
such  a  union  must  inevitably  produce,  the  great   injustice  it 


20  THE    CHURCH  AND  THE  SCHOOL. 

must  ever  do  to  dissenters  from  the  religion  of  the  State,  and 
the  hypocrisy  to  which  it  leads.  While,  therefore,  we  can 
jii.';tly  point  to  the  earlier  history  of  our  fathers  as  illustrating 
in  their  exceeding  sufferings,  the  disinter-estedness  and  earnest- 
ness of  true  piety,  the  power  of  faith,  their  own  surpassing 
courage  and  constancy,  their  ardent  love  for  civil  and  reli- 
gious liberty,  the  tendency  of  adversity,  encountered  nobly 
by  brave  and  trustful  hearts,  to  develop  character  and  to  pro- 
mote vital  godliness — the  whole  being  a  grand  testimony  to 
the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  we  can  point  to  it,  on  tlie 
other  hand,  as  exhibiting  chiefly  in  their  opponents  the  narrow 
blindness  and  selfishness  of  bigotry,  the  folly  of  persecution, 
the  evil  of  Erastianism,  the  tendency  to  cruelty  and  deeds  of 
blood  in  a  dominant  Church,  the  guilt  of  forcing  religion  on 
an  unwilling  people,  the  conflicting  claims  which  may  arise 
between  Church  and  State,  and  the  necessity  of  a  complete 
severance  of  one  from  the  other,  and  the  power  of  the  volun- 
tary principle  to  sustain  all  the  institutions  which  the  Church 
shall  need  and  authorize. 

The  severance  in  this  countiy  has  been  made  complete. 
And  though  our  customs  and  our  common  law  have  arisen 
under  the  Christian  faith,  the  Jew,  the  Mohammedan,  the  Pagan 
and  the  Deist  are  alike  protected  in  what  are  the  distinctive 
features  of  the  faith  they  profess,  not  because  the  national 
belief  sanctions  their  creeds,  but  bfcnuse,  otherwise,  the  rights 
of  conscience  cannot  be  maintained.  Whatever  approaches 
to  an  established  religion  in  any  of  the  States  of  the  Federal 
Union,  existed  in  the  colonial  period,  have  disappeared  since 
the  Revolution,  and  the  nineteenth  century  begins  without 
these  disturbing  influences  in  our  social  state. 

Under  the  colonial  government  the  refinements  of  the 
higher  civilization  were  kept  up  in  our  seaboard  country  by 
its  constant  intercourse  with  the  British  Isles,  whither  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  the  wealthy  were  often  sent  for  their  educa- 
tion. But  in  the  upper  country  the  church  and  the  school, 
both  accommodated  at  first  in  the  rudest  and  most  primitive 
structures,  were  almost  inseparably  connected,  until,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  the  last  fifteen  years  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
institutions  for  the  higher  learning  bad  almost  everywhere 
arisen,  if  not  in  a  form  and  with  endowments  which  rendered 
them  permanent,  yet  conducted  with  a  becoming  energy  of 
purpose,  apd  afforcjing  the   means  of  a   valuable  education  to 


THE    HIGHER    EDUCATION.  21 

those  who  were  to  become  the  future  leaders  in  the  Church 
and  the  State. 

^  In  his  Retrospect  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  pubHshed  in 
1 808  by  Dr.  Samuel  Miller,  late  of  Princeton,  the  belief  is 
ex-pressed  that  the  learned  languages,  especially  the  Greek, 
were  less  studied  in  the  Eastern  than  in  the  Southern  and 
Middle  States,  and  that  while  more  individuals  attended  to 
classical  learning  there  than  here,  it  was  attended  to  more 
superficially.  The  reason  he  gives  is,  that  owing  to  the  supe- 
rior wealth  of-individuais  in  the  latter  States,  more  of  their 
sons  were  educated  in  Europe,  and  brought  home  with  them 
a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the  classics  and  set  the  example 
of  more  thorough  study.  The  most  of  our  clergy,  especially, 
whether  educated  at  home  or  abroad,  were  full  of  labor  in 
the  pulpit,  or  the  school,  or  in  missionary  work,  and  few  of 
them,  in  the  period  over  which  we  have  passed,  had  leisure, 
or  pecuniary  means,  to  make  any  important  contributions  to 
the  literature  of  the  church. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    INDEPENDENT    AND    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCHES. 
1800—1810. 

In  resuming  our  history  of  individual  churches  we  begin 
with  those  which  were  either  strictly  Congregational,  or 
admitted  only  of  the  Congregational  Presbytery.  The  first 
of  these  is  The  Independent  or  Congregational  Church 
IN  THE  City  of  Charlpston,  for  whose  .preceding  history  we 
refer  the  reader  to  the  pages  indicated  in  the  Index  to  our 
First  Volume.  We  have  there  quoted  on  pp.  459,  460,  the 
general  character  and  polity  of  this  church  as  set  forth  from 
their  own  records.  We  have  not  sufficiently  indicated  the 
doctrinal  creed  they  profess,  and,  to  do  so,  are  obliged  to  revert 
to'the  time  when  these  doctrines  were  prominently  set  forth. 

The  inequalities  which  existed  under  the  Colonial  Govern- 
ment when  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the  Church  of 
England,  was  by  law  the  Established  Church  of  the  Coloriy 
of  South  Carolina,  were  removed  by  the  Provisional  Consti- 
tution of  1778,  and  the  permanent  State  Constitution  of  1790. 
Under  the  Constitution  of  1778,  the   name  of  an   established 


22  THE  KEIJGION  OF  THE  STATE.  [1800-1810 

church  v/ns  retained,  but  on  sucl)  a  broad  basis  as  to  compre- 
hend all  denominations  of  Protestant  Christians,  each  havinsj 
equal  risjhts  and  capacities,  and  public  pecuniary  supporc 
being  withheld  from  all.  The  Protestant  religion  was  declared 
the  establisiied  leiigion  of  the  State,  and  it  was  enacted  that 
any  society  consisting  of  fifteen  persons,  or  upwards,  should 
be  an  established  church,  and  entitled  to  incorporation,  on 
petitioning  for  it,  after  they  had  subscribed,  in  a  book,  the 
five  following  articles  : 

1.  There  is  one  Eternal  God,  and  a  future  state  of  rewards 
and  punishments. 

2.  God  is  to  be  publicly  worshipped. 

3.  The  Christian  religion  is  the  true  religion. 

4.  The  Holy  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  aie 
divinely  inspired,  and  are  the  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 

5.  It  is  lawful,  and  the  duty  of  every  man,  being  thereunto 
lawfully  called,  to  bear  witness  to  truth. 

These  articles  were  readily  subscribed  by  the  Church,  but 
were  not  considered  by  its  members  as  going  far  enough  ; 
they,  therefore,  added  an  explanation  of  their  particular  creed, 
as  follows  : 

''  Although  we  acknowledge  that  the  foregoing  articles  do 
not  contain  anything  contrary  to  truth,  yet  as  they  do  not  dis- 
criminate truth  from  error,  and  are  no  ways  declaratory  of 
those  distinguishing  ti  uths  which  this  Church  has  always 
heretofore  acknowledged,  and  at  this  time  do  recognize  to  be 
the  Scripture  doctrines  of  grace;  and,  as  the  foregoing  arti- 
cles are  now  received,  by  this  Church,  merely  in  compliance 
with  the  requisitions  of  the  legislative  body  of  this  countr)', 
and  in  order  to  entitle  it  to  the  privileges  of  establishment 
and  incorporation,  lest  any  person  should  take  occasion,  from 
them,  to  attempt  to  introduce  any  doctrines  into  this  Church, 
not  heretofore  received  and  acknowledged  by  it  as  Scripture 
doctrines,  we  lay  down  the  following  three  articles  as  the 
fundamental  doctrines  of  this  Church: 

''  I.  That  there  are  three  distinct  persons  mentioned  in  the 
Scriptures,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  to  each 
of  whom  the  name  of  God  is  properly  given,  divine  attributes 
are  ascribed  and  religious  worship  is  due  ;  that  these  three, 
the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  are  one  God,  the 
same  in  substance,  power,  and  glory. 


1800-18]0.]  THE  RETJGION  OF  THE  CHURCiH.  23 

''  2.  That  the  Scriptures  reveal  and  declare  man  to  be  a 
fallen  creature  ;  that,  by  his  transgressions  of  the  law  of  God, 
he  has  lost  the  divine  Image  in  which  he  was  at  first  created, 
and  incurred  the  displeasure  of  God,  and  subjected  himself 
to  the  penalties  annexed  to  the  breach  of  His  most  holy- 
law,  and  has  become  so  wholly  impotent,  that  he  can  do 
nothing  meritoriously  to  atone  for  his  guilt,  recover  the 
forfeited  favor  of  God,  and  restore  the  divine  image  in  his 
depraved  soul. 

"  3.  That  the  Scriptures  reveal  a  method  of  recovery  for 
fallen  man  through  the  divine  interposition,  to  accomplish 
which  the  Eternal  Father  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  to 
become  a  substitute  for  man  ;  that  the  Eternal  Son  volun- 
tarily submitted  to  this  appointment  and  substitution,  and  in 
the  fullness  of  time  took  upon  Him  our  nature,  and  was 
made  under  the  Law,  to  which  he  paid  a  perfect  obedience, 
and  died  as  a  sacrifice  and  attonement  for  human  guilt ;  that 
by  his  active  and  passive  obedience,  lie  perfected  and  brought 
in  an  everlasting  righteousness,  by  the  imputation  of  which, 
through  faith,  mankind  are  again  restored  to  the  lost  image 
and  forfeited  favor  of  God,  and  delivered  from  the  curse  of 
the  Law  ;  that  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  his  enNghtening  influences 
and  saving  operations  on  the  human  heart,  is  the  author  and 
efficient  of  that  faith  by  which  we  apprehend  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ,  and  through  which  we  are  made  partakers  of 
the  blessings  of  grace." 

"  It  was  never  so  much  the  intention  of  this  Church,"  says 
Dr.  Ramsay,  ''to  build  up  any  one  denomination  of  Christians 
as  to  build  up  Christianity  itself  Its  members  were,  there- 
fore, less  attached  to  names  and  parties  than  to  a  system  nf 
doctrines  which  they  believed  to  be  essential  to  a  correct 
view  of  the  Gospel  plan  of  salvation.  These  have  been 
generally  called  tlie  doctrines  of  the  reformation — of  free 
grace — or  of  the  evangelical  system.  The  minister  who 
preached  these  doctrines,  explicitly^  and  unequivocally,  was 
always  acceptable,  whatever  his  creed  might  be  in  other 
respects,  or  to  whatsoever  denomination  he  might  belong. 
On  the  other  hand,  where  these  were  wanting,  no  accordance 
in  other  points— no  splendor  of  learning — no  fascination  of 
eloquence  could  make  up  for  the  defect. 

The  doctrines  above  stated  have  always  been  the  doctrines 
of  this  Church,  but  they  were  formally  adopted  as  such  in  its 


24  UEPAIRS    OF    CHURCH.  [1800-1810. 

Constitution  ratified  on  the  20th  day  of  August,  1804,  as 
follows  :  ''  It  is  now  further  declared,  that  the  view  of  the 
Holy  Bible,  which  is  taken,  nnd  the  construction  which  is 
given  to  its  contents,  by  this  Church,  is  the  same  as  is 
taken  and  given  in  the  confession  of  faith,  and  the  catechisms 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
is  that  accepted  by  the  General  Assembly  at  their  session  in 
May,  1805." 

Early  in  this  decade,  in  consequence  of  the  increasing  cm- 
gregation,  measures  were  taken  for  the  enlargement  of  churcii 
accommodations.  In  1798  its  funds  amounted  to  ;^  18,857, 
loaned  to  the  State  Treasury,  and,  in  common  with  all  other 
contemporaneous  evidences  of  debt,  suffered  a  depreciation 
by  which,  in  1783,  they  were  reduced  to  ^3,515.68.  In  con- 
sequence of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  the  Church  was 
temporarily  disorganized  and  dispersed.  For  six  years  it 
remained  without  a  settled  minister,  and  divine  service  was 
discontinued  for  half  that  period.  When  the  British  Vandals 
evacuated  thp  city,  December  14th,  1782,  they  left  nothing 
but  the  shell  of  the  ancient  edifice — the  pulpit  and  pews 
having  been  taken  down  and  destroyed,  and  the  empty 
enclosure  used,  first  as  a  hospital  for  the  sick,  and  afterwards 
as  a  storehouse  for  provisions  for  the  royal  army.  Even  the 
right  of  sepulture  in  the  cemetery  was  denied  to  the  families 
of  worshippers,  who  were  in  Charleston,  after  her  capitula- 
tion, as  prisoners  of  war.  About  thirty-ei^jht  heads  of  these 
families  had  been  exiled,  partly  to  St.  Augustine,  in  1780, 
and  partly  to  Philadelphia,  in  1781.  The  exiles  in  Philadelphia, 
even  while  the  royal  army  yet  occupied  Charleston,  anticipating 
a  speedy  departure  of  the  foe.  took  provisional  measures  for 
the  supply  and  recognition  of  their  Church  as  soon  as  itshould 
be  delivered  from  thraldoin.  The  remnant  in  Charleston  began, 
from  the  time  of  the  evacuation,  to  devise  means  for  the  repair 
of  their  dilapidated  and  desecrated  temple,  and  a  subscription 
was  opened  for  that  purpose,  to  which  there  was  a  general 
contribution,  even  among  members  of  other  Christian  denomi- 
nations. The  repairs  were  soon  completed,  at  the  cost  of 
^6.000,  and  the  renovated  edifice  opened  and  consecrated 
anew,  to  Divine  worship,  December  11,  1773,  with  an  excel- 
lent and  appropriate  sermon,  from  the  recently  arrived  pastor 
of  the  Church,  the  Rev.  Wm.  Hollinshead,  afterwards  D.  D., 
on  December  11,  1783,  the  very  day  appointed   by  Congress, 


UOO-ISIO.]  FOR^I  OF  NEW  EDIFICE.  25 

as  a  Day  of  Thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  for  tlic  blessings 
of  peace  and  independence. 

In  1772,  the  increased  numbers  and  flourishing  condition 
of  the  congregation,  induced  them  to  erect  or  complete 
another  house  of  worshii),  in  connexion  witli  the  one  already 
established  on  Meeting  Street,  This  pioject  had  originated, 
as  early  as  1772,  and  had  made  such  progress  that  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  the  walls  of  a  new  house  of  worship, 
located  in  Archdale  Street,  had  been  completed,  the  whole 
covered,  and  most  of  the  pews  put  up  ;  but  it  remained  in  this 
unfinished  state  during  the  ei^ht  years  of  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  for  some  time  after  the  termination  of  that  contest. 
The  cost  of  converting  the  unfinished  shell  of  the  new  church 
into  a  suitable  place  of  worship,  was  ^6,000;  and  it  was  opened 
for  public  worship,  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  HoUingshead,  on  the  25th 
October,  1787.  The  next  year  the  Rev.  Isaac  Stockton 
Keith,  afterwards  D.  D.,  was  regularly  inducted  and  settled  as 
co-pastor.     Of  this  we  gave  an  account,  Vol.  i,  p.  458. 

The  labors  of  the  colleague  pastors  had  been  exceedingly 
blessed,  and  in  fifteen  yeans  after  divine  service  began  to  be 
performed  in  the  Archdale  Street  Church,  Josiah  Smith,  the 
Treasurer,  informed  the  Ciiurch  that  all  the  pews,  in  both 
houses  of  worship,  were  taken  up,  and  a  number  of  applicants, 
for  some  time  past,  had  been  turned  off  from  the  want  of 
pews  to  supply  them — whereupon  it  was  resolved  "  that  a 
committee  be  appointed  to  examine  into  the  practicability  of 
making  an  alteration  or  addition  to  the  houses  of  worship,  so 
as  to  make  room  for  more  worshippers.''  On  the  I3tli  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1804,  it  was  resolved  to  build  an  entire  new  brick 
church,  of  a  circular  form,  of  88  feet  interior  diameter.  The 
argument  in  favor  of  this  form  were:  that  it  was  the  least  ex- 
pensive mode  of  enclosing  any  requisite  area  of  a  church — 
that  it  admitted  of  such  a  location  of  the  pulpit  and  pews  as 
brought  the  whole  audience  more  completely  in  view  of  the 
preacher,  and  the  preacher  in  view  of  the  hearers,  than  any 
other  of  the  usual  forms  of  churches — that  it  required  less 
exertion  of  the  voice  of  the  preacher  to  be  heard  than  would 
be  nece.ssary  in  another  form  of  equal  area — that  it  was  favora- 
ble to  di.-itinct  hearing  in  the  pews  most  distant  from  the 
pulpit.  Some  of  these  advantages,  with  respect  to  hearers,  in 
some  parts  of  the  church,  were  diminished  and  an  unpleas- 
ant echo  introduced,   in    consequence  of  a   partial    departure 


26  ITS  ADVANTAGKS  AND  DEFE(JT,S.  [1800-1810. 

from  the  complete  circular  form,  which  had  been  recommended 
by  the  original  projector,  and  by  Mi'.  IVIills,  the  ingenious 
architect  who  delineated  the  plan  of  the  present  circular  build- 
ing. The  substitution  of  a  ri'.-ht  line  in  place  ofa  segment  of 
a  circle,  in  the  frort  ofthe  church,  was  adopted  by  the  build- 
ing committee,  to  favor  the  erection  ofa  steeple  on  the  West- 
ern extremity  of  the  church,  opposite  to  the  pulpit,  and  is 
supposed  to  be  the  cause  of  the  echo.  Mr.  Mills  has  since 
completed  a  church,  in  Philadelphia,  of  a  larger  area,  wholly 
on  the  circular  form,  in  whicli  there  is  no  echo.  In  it  a  low 
voice,  very  little  above  a  whisper,  can  be  distinctly  heard  at  a 
dist-ince  of  90  feet,  over  the  gallery,  and  distinctly  across  from 
the  two  e.Ntreme  points  ofthe  interior  diameter.* 

A  proposition  for  pulling  down  the  old  building,  which 
might  have  lasted  seveial  years,  and  erecting  a  new  circular 
one,  at  the  expense  of  ^60,000,  on  its  site,  would  first  liave 
been  promptly  rejected,  but  from  the  agency  of  Providence, 
which  oveirules  the  hearts  of  man,  it  was  after  repeated  delib- 
erations, PL-aceably  and  unanimously  adopted.  On  this  occa- 
sion the  venerable  Treasurer  of  the  Church,  (Josiah  Smith,) 
gave  an  example  worthy  of  imitation  by  the  minority  of  all 
deliberative  bodies.  The  opposers  of  the  circular  form  were 
at  first  very  numerous  ;  but  they  all  successively  came  into 
the  measure,  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Smith.  When  he 
perceived  the  change  that  had  taken  place,  and  the  final 
question  was  about  to  be  put,  he  walked  out ;  but  gave  up 
all  opposition,  and  continued  from  that  day  to  be,  as  he  had 
always  been  before,  a  most  active,  disinterested,  zealous  friend 
ofthe  churcl). 

For  the  two  years  which  elapsed  between  the  puUing  down 


*The  church  to  which  reference  is  here  made  we  suppose  to  be  the 
Sanson!  Street  Baptist  Church,  in  Philadelphiii.  The  ceiling  of  this 
was,  we  believe,  not  vaulted — like  a  dome,  but  was  more  like  the  in- 
terior surface  ofa  hollow  cone.  The  ease  with  whicli  the  speaker's  voice 
could  be  heard  are  perhaps  due  to  this  method  of  construction.  The 
echo  in  the  Circular  Church  was  painful  and  exceedingly  annoying  to 
the  speaker.  His  voice  returned  to  him,  as  if  some  one  was  mimicking 
him  from  beneath  the  pulpit  or  elsewhere.  The  chorister  was  wont  to 
give  out  the  first  line  from  the  gallery  or  organ  loft,  and  the  echo  was 
very  distinct  and  disturbing  to  the  stranger  who  might  at  the  time  be 
occupying  the  pulpit.  One  walking  up  the  side  aisle  when  the  church 
was  empty  would  hear  his  footsteps  repeated,  as  of  one  walking  down  • 
the  aisle  on  the  side  opposite.  These  echoes  are  the  accidents  of  archi- 
tecture, and  are  sometimes  as  surprising  as  they  are  unexpected. 


1860-1810.]  sAJj-:  OF  I'Kws.  27 

of  the  old  building  and  the  finishing-   of  tJie  new  circular  one," 
Uie    worshippers    Were   accommodated   witii    the    use    of  the 
South  Carolina  Society's  building,  in   Meeting   street,  for  the 
performance  of  divine  service.     On  the  25  of  May,    1806,  the 
Circular  Church*  was  opene.d  in  the  presence  of  a   numerous 
congregation,  with  an  appropriate  sermon  of  each  of  its  co- 
pastors:  the  other  house  of  worship   was   ibr   that  day   shut. 
When  all  demands  came  in,  it  was  found  that  the  expense  of 
the  building  so  far  exceeded  tlie   estimate,  that  a   large   sum 
must  be  raised  from  the  pews.      To   make   the   most   of  this 
source  of  income,  was  a  matter  of  some  delicacy  and  difficulty. 
The    descendants    of  the    founders,    and    of  other  old  mem- 
bers, had  claiins  to  be  accommodated  with  pews  at  a   reason- 
able rate,  as  all  the  funds  which  had  been  acquired  for  a  cen- 
tury past,  were  given  up  in    the    first   instance   to   defray   the 
expenses  of  the  buiidintr.      In  tlieir  behalf,  it  was   urged   that 
they    should   have   the  first  choice  of  pev/s,  and  that  the   sur- 
plus should  be  sol'd  to  the  hit^rhest  bidders.     To  their  reason- 
able claims  the  necessities  of  the  church  were  opposed.     The 
size  of  the  church  and  the  number  of  the  pews  (166,  exclusive 
of  those  in  a  large  gallery)  furnished  the  means  of  an    amica- 
ble compromise.     The  northern  half  of  the    gallery  was  gra- 
tuitously given  to  the  negroes.     And  it  accommodates  about 
four  hundred  of  them,  who  are  orderly,  .steady,  and  attentive 
worshippers.     The  south   gallery   is   reserved    for  the   future 
disposal   of  the  church,  and,  in  the  meantime,  it  is  free  to  all 
such  persons  as  choose  to  worship  there.      It  was  agreed,  after 
an  animated  discussion,  that  si,xty  pows   should,    in   the  first 
instance,  be  sold  to  whosoever  might  be  the  highest  bidders  ; 
and,  afterward-^,  the  surplus  should  be  assigned   on   a   valua- 
tion to  the  former  worshippers,    who,   in   p  oportion  to    their 
respective  claims  as  contributors   to   the   old   church    should 
have  a  priority  of  choice.     To  favor    the  sale,  an   agreement 
■was  made  with  Mr.  William  Payne,  that  he  should    have   the 
first  choice  of  a  pew,  on  his  consenting  to  pay  for  it   ^300  in 
cash,  and  to  discoujit  all  that  it  sold  for  beyond  that  sum,   in 
lieu   of  his    commission   for   doing   the  whole  business  of  the 
church,  as  its  auctioneer  and  accountant.      Under  these    cir- 

*The  form  of  the  house  of  worship  gave  rise  to  tho  popular  designa- 
tion of  the  Church  and  congregation  henceforth,  as  the  white  color  of 
the  structure  which  preceded  it  had  done  before.    See  Vol.  I.,  p.  184, 


28  CHARITABLE  EFFORTS.  [1800-1810. 

cumstances  lie  purchasecl  for  himself  the  first  choice  of  a  pew 
for  ^605.  This  so  enhanced  the  value  of  the  subsequent  sales 
that  $20,390  was  raised  in  one  day,  from  tlie  sale  of  sixty 
pews  at  auction.  The  remaining  ones  on  the  ground  floor, 
were  cheifly  distributed  on  a  fair  valuation,  amoujiting,  in  the 
whole,  to  1^25,550,  among  the  unsupplied  former  worshippers 
and  others.  In  every  case  a  fixed  annual  rent  varying  from 
;^8  to  $'^0,  and  in  one  case  to  ^40,  was  imposed  on  every  pew 
in  addition  to  the  original  purchase  money.  By  these  means 
upwards  of  $40,000  was  secured  to  pay  for  the  building,  and 
an  annual  income  of  $3,978  (when  the  pews  on  the  ground 
floor  are  all  rented,  and  the  rent  thereof  punctually  paid)  to- 
wards defraying  the  salaries  of  ministers  and  other  contingent 
expenses.  To  the  pew-holders,  a  fee  simple  title  to  their  pews 
was  given  by  the  corporation,  subject  to  be  sold  for  pew  rents 
due  by  their  owners  to  the  church,  but  not  for  any  other  debt 
whatever.  The  building  was  commenced  with  inadequate 
funds,  and  without  any  subscription,  but  with  a  strong  reliance 
on  Providence,  that  the  pews,  added  to  the  old  funds,  would 
raise  a  sufficient  sum  to  pay  for  the  building,  and  be  an  an- 
nual source  of  income  forall  necessary  expenses.  These  bold 
hopes  were  realized. 

This  congregation  were  generous  promoters  of  the  various 
objects  of  Chrisiian  charity.  An  annual  sermon  was  preached 
through  this  period  in  the  interests  of  "  The  Society  for  the 
Relief  of  Elderly  and  Disabled  Ministers,  and  the  Widows 
and  Orphans  of  the  Clergy  of  the  Independent  and  Congre- 
gational Church  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina."  Most  of 
the  members  of  this  Society  belonged  to  this  congregation. 
It  consisted  in  1808  of  forty-seven  members.  The  annual 
subscription  of  a  pound  sterling  and  the  addition  of  its  sur- 
plus fund  to  the  principal  ha(i  given  it  a  capital,  at  this  date, 
of  over  $29,000,  its  annual  income  being  about  $2,000  more 
than  its  expenditures.  The  first  Domestic  Missionary  Society, 
in  the  South,  and,  it  is  believed,  the  second  in  the  United 
States,  was  formed  in  this  congregation  in  1801,  and  was 
called  ■'  the  Congregational  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Reli- 
gion in  South  Carolina."  In  all  acts  of  benevolence  they 
were  encouraged  and  led  on  by  their  pastors,  of  whom  Dr. 
Keith,  being  posse;,sed  of  larger  means  than  most  of  his  pro- 
fession, set  theai  a  noble  example.  In  the  following  dona- 
tions to  this  Church  may  be  found  those  which  belong  to  tiie 


1800-1810.]  EARLY    BENEFACTORS.  29 

period  now  before  us,  although  the  list  begins  at  a  date  almost 
a  century  earlier.  It  is  quoted  from  Dr.  Ramsay's  Histury 
of  the  Independent  or  Contjregationiil  Churcli  in  Ciiarlesfon, 
SoutJi  Carolina,  printed  tor  the  author  at  Philadelphia  in  1815, 
and  in  that  of  Richard  Yeadon,  Esq.,  printed  in  Charle.ston 
in  1853. 

OF  THE  BENEPACTOES  TO   THE   CHUKCH. 

1704 — Frances  Simonds,  widow  of  Henry  Simonds,  planter,  frave  a  lot  of 

land,  on  which  the  old  White  Meeting  was  built,  100  by  130  feet. 

Afrreeable  to  the  designs  other  husband,  long  before  his  decease. 

1707 — Frances  Simonds  also  bequeathed  anotherplot  of  garden  ground, 

adjoining  the  preceding,  and  one  large  silver  cup  marked  H.  S. 

1730 — Andrew  Allen,  merchant,  gave  a  part  of  three  several  town  lots, 
which  forms  a  part  of  the  burying  ground. 

1730 — Lydia  Durham  bequeathed  a  moiety  of  yearly  rents,  arising  on 
houses  and  her  lands,  on  the  bay  of  Charleston,' subject  to  some 
deductions. 

1730 — Robert  Tradd,  the  first  male  child  born  in  (Hiarleiston,  bequeathed 
to  Miles  Brewton,  Thomas  Lamboll,  and  Garret  Van  Velson,  and 
to  the  survivor  or  survivors  and  thei'r  successors,  the  sum  of  one 
thousand  pounds,  current  money,  upon  trust,  that  they  should 
put  out  the  said  sum  to  interest,  yearly,  on  good  security,  and  pay 
the  clear  profits  thereof,  yearly,  forever,  unto  such  minister  or 
preacher  successively,  as  should  fr  'Ui  time  to  time  officiate  in  the 
Presbyteiian  Church  in  Charleston,  aforesaid  (of  which  Society 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Bassett  was  then  minister),  according  to  the  form 
and  discipline  of  the  same,  to  be  and  remain  to  the  proper  use 
and  behoof  of  such  ministers  and  preachers,  for  their  better 
support,  (tc 

1731 — William  AVarden  gave  a  slip  of  land  now  part  of  the  burying 
ground. 

1732 — Thomas  EUery  gave  a  piece  of  ground  adjoining  the  above. 

1737— Samuel  Eveleigh  bequeathed  500Z  for  a  pew,  free  of  rent,  to  his 
heirs. 

1740 — Charles  Peronneau  bequeathed  1,500/. 

1745 — James  Mathewes  bequeathed  2001. 

17o4 — Henry  Peronneau  bequeathed  5001. 

]75i) — Benjamin  D'Harriette  bequeathed  500Z.  1 

1760 — John  Mathewes  bequeatlied  iOOl. 

1761— Theodora  Edings  bequeathed  200/. 

Ann  Mathewes  bequeathed  500/. 

1768 — George  Mathewes  bequeathed  350/. 

176!) — William  Dandridge  bequeathed  350/. 

1770— Mary  Heskit  bequeathed  200Z. 

1774 — Alexander  Peronneau  bequeathed  500/. 

1776— Othniel  Beale  bequeathed  150Z. 

In  1776— and  partly  in  1786,  eighty-three  ladies  subscribed  and  paid, 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  pulpit  in  the  Archdale  Street 
Church.  1650. 

1779 — Sarah   Stoutenburg  bequeathed   $1,905.    The  current  money,  in 
this  year,  was  so  far  depreciated  as  to  be  worth,  on  an  average,  1 
not  more  than  fourteen  for  one. 


30  LIST   OF    BEXEFACTOKS.  [1800-1810. 

^Josiah  Smith  presented  to  the  church  a  lot  of  land,  on  ArAdale 

Street,  and  two  tenements,  which,  in  1774,  anterior  to  deprecia- 
tion, cost  him  4,0001.  currency.  The  buildings  were  removed  and 
placed  on  Kins?  Street,  and  now  bring  in  an  annual  rent  of  |300. 
The  south  wall  of  the  churi;h  is  built  on  part  oi'said  lot. 

Mrs.  Mary  LamboU  Thomas,  in  1777,  j^ave  2,660/.  towards  the  purchase 
of  another  lot  and  tenement.  This  was,  by  depreciation,  reduced 
to  1,360/  4s  lOd.,  and  the  church  paid  a  balance  of  904/.  18s.  5d., 
due  on  the  purchase  ;  subject  in  like  manner  to  depreciation. 

1780— Mrs.  Mary  Ellis  bequathed  3,000/.  in  indents,  which  was  depre- 
ciated by  law  to  129/.  5s.  sterling. 

1784— George  Smith  taequeated  a  pew  in  St.  Michael's  Churah,  which , 
being  sold  in  1787,  produced  $300, 

1792— Dr.  Richard  Savage  bequeathed  50/.  sterling 

1799— Widow  liuth  Powell  bequeathed  100/  sterling. 

John  Scott,  Jr.,  bequeathed  150/.  sterling. 

1801— Mrs.  Frances  Legare  bequeathed  n  house  in  Tradd  Street,  subject 
to  the  payment  of  100/.  to  the  Baptist  Church  fund,  for  the  edu- 
cation of  pious  young  men  for  the  ministry.  The  clear  sum 
accruing  to  the  church,  from  the  sale  of  the  house,  was  650 
guineas. 

1806 — Rev.  Dr.  Keith  released  the  church  from  the  repaynient  of  $300, 
which  he  had  loaned  to  the  building  committee,  to  assist  in  pay- 
ing the  expenses  of  building  the  Circular  Church,  on  their  paying 
off  the  assessment  on  two  or  three  pews,  which  are  to  remain 
the  property  of  the  church,  and  to  be  leased  or  granted,  Iree  of 
rent,  to  poorer  members,  especially  widows — and  that  $100  should 
be  credited  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Bee,  in  payment  of  half  the  assess- 
ment on  her  pew. 

1807 — One  hundred  and  forty-seven  ladies  gave,  towards  building  the 
pulpit  in  the  Circular  Church-,  S2,063. 

1808 — Rev.  Dr.  Keith  bequeathed,  by  his  will  of  that  date,+.o  the  church 
the  reversion  of  about  $5,000,  unfettered  with  any  binding  restric- 
tions, but  with  an  implied  trust,  or  rather  strong  recommenda- 
tion, that  the  income  alone  should  be  expended,  at  their  diattre- 
tion,  foi'  pious  purposes.  The  intentions  of  the  testator  were 
expressed  in  the  following  words:  "Although  I  d6  not  judge  it 
expedient  to  lay  upon  the  said  church  any  positively  binding 
restrictions,  yet  I  think  it  jir.iper  to  declare,  that  it  is  my  desire 
and  hope,  that  the  said  church  should  consider  itself  rather  as 
the  trustee,  than  the  absolute  proprietor  of  the  said  pro()erty  ; 
and,  that  after  funding  it  in  the  manner  that  may  be  judged  the 
most  safe  and  advantageous,  the  clear  prolits  thereof  be  applied, 
under  the  direction  of  the  aforesaid  church,  chiefly,  if  not  wholly, 
to  the  purpose  of  aiding  young  men,  of  approved  piety  and  talents, 
when  such  assistance  may  be  necessary,  in  obtaining  a  suitable 
education  for  the  gospel  ministry;  or,  of  aiding  sister  churche.?, 
in  supporting  the  ministration  of  the  gospel,  and  providing  for 
the  accommodation  of  worshippers,  in  their  attendance  on  the 
ordinances  of  the  Christian  sanctuary,  or  of  aiding  charitable 
institutions  or  societies,  founded  on  Christian  principles,  for  pro- 
moting the  interests  of  religion,  by  spreading  the  light  and  bless- 
ing of  the  gospel  among  those  who  might  otherwise  remain 
destitute  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  of  the 
.salvation  whicli  is  in  Christ,  with  eternal  glory." 


1800-1810.]  FKMALE    BENIOFACTORS.  -'H 

1810— Rev.  Dr.  Keith  frave  the  pulpit  branches  to  the  Circular  Church, 
whicli  cost  liim  §1 95.21!. 
Besides  the  proper  estate  belonsinp;  to  the  church,  manv  of  the  indi- 
viduals  (composing  it  form  the  society,  incorporated  in  1789,  "  For  tlie 
relief  of  elderly  and  disabled  ministers,  and  the  widows  and  orphans 
ofthecler.ay  of  the  Independent  and  Congregational  Church,  in  the 
StateofSoiith  Carolina,"  that  its  capital  stock,  amounting  to  $30,000 
[now  about  $40,000],  may,  in  a  qualified  sense,  be  considered  as  an 
appendage  to  the  church.  An  annual  collection,  enforced  by  an  appro- 
priate sermon  in  its  favor,  is  [directed]  by  a  standing  order  of  the 
church  ;  [but  it  has  been  irregularly  omitted  for  many  years  past,  in 
consequence  of  the  wealth  of  the  Society,  being  largely  beyond  its 
wants,  or  the  legitimate  calls  on  its  income."] 

FEMALE    BENEFACTOK.S. 

We  add  to  the  li.-t  of  Benefactor.^  a  number  cf  the  Mar>'S 
of  the  Church— of  that  sex,  who  were  "  In.st  at  the  Cro-.s  of 
tlie  £iucified  Redeemer,  and  first  at  the  tomb  of  tlie  risen 
S.u'ionr  " — and  vyho,  all  having,  in  life,  cho-^en  "  that  good 
pirt  which  bhould  not  be  taken  from  tiiem,"  have  all  gone  to 
their  heavenly  reward. 

1  Mi.ss  Elizabeth  Huxhani,  who  bequeathed  a  legacy  of  $1,000  to  the 
ch\ir.'h,  appropriating  the  income  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  females  of 
the  congregation,  who  receive  pecuniary  relief  on  Sacramental  occa- 
sions;  besides  leaving  $1,000  to  the  Ladies'  Benevolent  Society. 

2.  Mrs.  Eliza  Lucilla  Simons,  who  bequeatheu  a  legacy  of  $2,000  to 
the  church,  directing  the  income  to  be  applied  to  the  repairs  of  the 
church  ;  besides  leaving  $5,000  to  the  Theological  Seminary,  at  Cohim- 
bia.  Cn  this  donation,  we,  learn  that  "Simons' Hall"  was  constructed, 
in  connection  with  the  Seminary. 

3.  Mrs  Jane  Keith,  who  bequeathed  a  legacy  of  nearly  $10,000  to 
Miss  Sarah  Stevens,  to  be  appropriated  for  the  promotion  of  the  spread 
of  the  Gospel  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  glory  of  (rod  She  also, 
in  her  lifetime,  made  many  munificent  donations  to  the  church.  Among 
the  latter,  v/as  a  donation  of  |2,500,  towards  the  purchase  of  the  present 
magnificent  organ  of  the  church  increased  by  a  legacy  of  $2,000,  for  the 
same  purpose,  under  her  will.  She  also  presented  the  church  with  its 
elegant  marble  baptismal  font. 

4.  iVliss  Sarah  Stevens,  -who  bequeathed  much  the  larger  portion  of 
Mrs.  Keith's  legacy  to  the  Pastor  and  Deacons  of  the  Circular  Church, 
to  tie  approiiriated  by  them  to  the  preaching  of  the  Gosjsel  to  the  poor 
of  Charleston.  The  fruit  of  this  munificent  benefaction  is  thus 
described  in  the  "  Southern  Presbyterian." 

5.  Mrs.  Rebecca  Barksdale,  who  was,  in  her  lifetime,  an  annual  bene- 
factor of  the  church,  in  the  way  of  voluntary  contribution. 

6.  The  late  Mrs  Dr.  Francis  Y.  Porcher,  who  was  also,  in  her  lifetime, 
a  liberal  donor  [Dr.  Ramsay's  History  of  the  Independent  Church,  1815, 
and  that  of  Richard  Yeadon,  Esq's  History  of  the  Circular  Church,  1853.] 

This  we  are  tempted  to  quote,  although  it  anticipate.s,  by 
several  decades  of  years,  the  general  progress  of  ojir  history. 


;]2  REASONS    FOR    THIS    EXHIBIT.  ,[1800-1810. 

At  the  .same  time  the  date.s  go  back  over  the  period  cov- 
ered by  our  fir.st  volume  There  i.s  this  advantajije  accru- 
ing, that  tliere  is  thus  an  uninterrupted  view  given  of  the  pro- 
gre.s.s  the  Church  has  made  in  the  144  years  which  '  preceded 
the  date  of  the  facts  to  which  we  now  refer,  and  which  are 
mentioned  in  the  Sonthcrii  Presbyterian  under  the  head  of 

CHURCH    EXTEN.SION. 

The  most  pleasina;  and  hopeful  feature  of  the  present  state  of  things, 
is  the  waking  up  of  the  church  to  a  sense  of  her  duty  in  re>?ard  to  the- 
spread  of  the  gospel.  The  divine  command, ."  Tro  j/«  irato  oW  tlu  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  is  no  longer  a  destd  letter.  There 
are  still  those  in  the  church  who  plead  for  "  a  little  more  sleep,  a  little 
jnore  folding  of  the  hands,"  but  with  the  church  of  Christ  atlarge,  it  is 
fast  settling  down  as  a  principle,  that  "  wherever  there  are  people, 
THERE  MOST  BE  A  CHURCH."  "  Church  extension  "  is  the  order  of  the 
day.  This  city,  we  rejoice  to  see,  is  in  full  harness,  ready  and  wilting  to 
lay  out  her  strength  in  moving  forward  the  eonquej-ing  car  of  the  gospel. 
?rbt  to  speak,  at  present,  of  aux-  of  those  greater,  those  overshadowing 
acts  which  always  proclaim  their  own  praise,  we  have  set  out  to  notice 
two  of  those  unpretending  efforts  in  this  way,  which  at  once  deserve 
commendation,  and  indicate  a  hopeful  advance— one  iu  the  suburbs, 
the  other  in  the  vicinity, of  the  city.  The  rebuilding  ofWappetaw 
Church  at  or  near  the  village  of  Mount  Pleasant. 

As  a  preliminary  remark,  it  is  proper  to  state  that,  some  years  ago, 
Mrs  Jane  Keith  and  Miss  Sarah  Stevens,  ladies' of  distinguished  piety 
and  benevolence,  in  this  city,  left  a  fund,  in  trust  of  the  Pastor  and 
Deacons  of  the  Congregational  Church,  the  income  of  which  was  to  be 
devoted  to  supplying  the  poor  and  destitute  with  the  gospel.  In  con- 
formity with" this  arrangement,  Kcv.  G.  C.  Halleck  was  engaged  last 
Fall  as  "  city  missionary."  The  rapid  extension  of  the  city  towards 
the  northwest,  indicated  that  region  as  his  proper  field  of  labor.  There 
he  found  scores  of  families  who  not  only  had  no  church  connection, 
but  attended  no  church;  their  children  growing  up  in  ignorance  of 
religious  truth.  A  room  was  rented,  the  children  were  gathered  into  a 
Sabbath  school,  and  public  services  for  the  congregation  were  appointed 
for  the  Sabbath  day.  The  prospects  of  a  permanent  location  being  en- 
couraging, the  erection  of  a  new  house  of  worship  was  suggested  A 
lot  was  purchased  at  a  cost  of  f  1,000.  A  neat  and  commodious  little 
church — finished  throughout,  at  a  cost  of  $1,100 — now  stands  a  beacon 
of  hope  and  a  conservator  of  morals'  to  that  growing  suburban  portion 
of  our  population.  The  funds  for  this  building  were  contributed  chiefly 
by  a  few  benevolent  individuals  coiinected  with  the  Circular  Church. 

The  Sabbath  school  has  now  on  its  roll  about  100  scholars,  and  a  fine 
library  has  been  contributed  by  the  South  Carolina  Sunday-School 
Union.  There  are  many  others,  both  adults  and  children,  in  the 
vicinity  who  will  become  members  of  this  congregation  and  this  school. 
Thus  has  been  opened  here  a  new  and  important  Held  of  usefulness. 

Much  is  due  to  the  zeal  and  efforts  of  Rev.  Mr.  Halleck  in  advancing 
this  enterprise  His  health  having  failed,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
this  undertaking.  We  are  happy  to  learn,  however,  that  his  place  is 
now  filled  by  our  excellent  brother,  Eev.  W.  P.  Gready,  a  native  of 


1800-1810.]  THK    RESUI/IS,  33 

this  city,  and  a  son  of  tlie  church  under  whose  auspices  this  enterprise 
was  commenced.  We  commend  it  to  the  Icind  regards  and  fervent 
prayers  of  Christ's  followers. 

The  numerical  .streng-th  of  this  church  in  1802  was:  white 
members,  239;  black,  166— total,  405.  In  1806,  whites,  256; 
blacks,  286 — total,  542.  Six  whites  and  nineteen  persons  of 
color  added  during  the  year.  For  sime  years 
we  find  no  satisfactory  statistics  of  this  church,  but  in  De- 
cember, 18 10,  there  were  280  white  members,  and  235 
colored  members,  making  a  total  of  515  in  the  mimbership 
of  this  church.     Records  of  the  Congregational  Association, 

"  The  Imdepende.nt  or  Congreg.\tional  Church  worship- 
ping AT  VVappetaw,  in  Christ's  Church  Parish,"  was  mod- 
elled upon  the  same  platform  with  that  in  Charleston.  Its 
confession  of  faith  is  expressed  throughout  in  nearly  the  same 
words. 

"  In  matters  of  Church  Government,"  thev  say,  "  we  hold 
it  to  be  an  inalienable  right  as  a  Christian  Church  to  govern 
ourselves  in  such  manner  as  to  us  appears  most  expedient 
and  best  .suited  to  our  circumstances,  without  control  in  eccle- 
siastical matters  from  any  man  or  set  of  men  ;  nevertheless, 
in  difficult  cases,  we  think  it  prudent  to  ask  advice  of  such 
Protestant  Churches  and  Ministers,  as  we  may  judge  proper." 

■'  As  we  profess  not  to  confine  ourselves  to  elect  Pastors 
from  any  one  denomination  of  Protestant  Christians,  if  it 
should  so  happen  that  the  Minister  of  our  choice  should  have 
different  opinions  of  Church  government  from  that  we  hold, 
he  shall  be  at  full  liberty  to  follow  his  own  judgment  in  all 
matters  which  concern  himsilf  only ;  provided  lie  makes  no 
atternpt  to  introduce  into  the  Church  any  of  the  particular 
modes  of  the  denomination  to  w^liich  he  belongs  ;  for  the 
more  effectual  prevention  of  which  it  shall  be  a  standing  form 
in  all  our  calls  to  Ministers,  that  they  accept  the  charge  of  this 
Church  according  to  the  constitution  thereof"  These  arti- 
cles are  the  same  word  for  word  in  the  constitution  of  the 
two  Churches,  and  it  is  further  declared  in  both,  that  "  The 
denomination  of  this  Church,  the  mode  of  performing  Divine 
service  therein,  as  at  present  practiced,  and  the  government 
thereof  by  its  own  members  and  supporters,  shall  forever  re- 
main unalterable,  and  no  other  part  shall  be  altered  but  by  the 
concurring  voice  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  and  supporters 
thereof"  Both  Churches  have  Deacons  ''  to  provide  the  neces- 
3 


34  THE    CHURCH    AT    WAPPETAW.  [1800-1810. 

sary  articles  for  Communion,  to  serve  the  communicants,  to 
receive  charitable  contributions,  and  to  dispose  of  the  same 
among  the  helpless  poor  of  the  congregations."  Both  have 
Wardens,  twoor  four,  to  collect  the  pew  rents,  to  keep  in 
repair  the  Chuich  and  Church  Yard,  and  to  attend  to  other 
temporalities,  and  to  procure  supplies  to  the  pulpit,  with  the 
approbation  of  the  Deacons,  when  opportunity  will  not  admit 
of  taking  the  sense  of  the  Church. 

This  Church  still  enjoyed  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  Daniel 
McCalla,  D.  D.,  for  whose  service  and  eventful  life,  pages  462 
e(  seg.,  and  505  of  our  first  volume,  may  be  consulted,  and 
should  be,  if  it  is  desired  that  a  connected  view  of  his  char- 
acter and  history  be  obtained. 

For  it  is  one  of  the  infelicities  of  the  plan  wc  have  adopted 
that  the  different  portions  of  the  lives  of  our  ministers  are 
distributed  according  to  the  epochs  into  which  we  have 
thought  it  best  for  other  reasons  that  our  history  should  be 
divided.  Dr.  McCalla  was  honored  with  the  degree  of  D.  D., 
from  the  College  of  South  Carolina,  in  1808.  But  he  was 
then  approaching  the  termination  of  life.  He  died  on  the  6th 
of  April,  \_South  Carolina  Gazette,  in  May,  Sprague's  Annals, 
III,  320,]  1809,  in  great  peace,  and  in  the  joyful  confidence 
of  a  better  life,  having  been  pa.stor  of  this  Church  for  twenty 
years. 

The  following  obituary  too,  covers  briefly  his  entire  his- 
tory : 

"Died  on  the  6th  instant  (April,  1809),  in  the  6ist  year  of 
his  age,  the  Rev.  Daniel  McCalla,  D.  D.,  for  21  years  pastor 
of  the  Independent  or  Congregational  Church  in  Christ 
Church  Parish,  S.  C. 

To  eulogise  the  dead  can  neither  confer  merit  on  the  un- 
deserving nor  add  to  the  lustre  of  excellent  endowments  in 
the  worthy.  But  when  men  of  distinguished  eminence  die, 
to  record  their  character  is  but  a  just  tribute  to  their  worth 
and  a  reasonable  compliance  with  public  expectation.  Few 
men  are  better  entitled  to  encomium  than  the  subject  of  this 
paper.  Born*  of  most  excellent  and  pious  parents,  he  was 
early  instructed  by  them  in  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
religion,  and  attended  on  this  species  of  instruction  with  un- 
common expansion  of  mind  and   great  seriousness  of  reflec- 

*  He  was  born  at  Nesbamiuy,  Pa.,  in  1748. 


1800-1810.]  DEATH   OF   DR.  M'CALI.A.  35 

tion.     He    received   the   rudiments   of  his    educatioa    at  the 
grammar  school    ia   Foggs-manor,   Pennsylvania,   under  the 
direction   of  the   Rev.   John    Blair,  where  he  acquired  a  taste 
for  classical  learning,  which  did  honor  to  his  preceptor,  and 
displayed  the   opening   of  a   refined  and  manly  genius.     At 
this  place  he  was   also   distinguished  for  his  early  piety,  and 
wa.s  admitted   to   the  communion  of  the  Church  in  the  13th 
year  of  his  age.     When  properly  qualified  he  was  removed  to 
Princeton,  where  hy  intense  application   his  constitution  was 
endangered,  and   parental    interference   became   necessary  to 
prevent  his   falling  a  .sacrifice  to  the  ardor  of  his  mind.     In 
1766  he  finished  his  course  at  college,  and  was  honored  with 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  with  the  reputation  of  extra- 
ordinary attainments.     Being  now  only  in  his  18th  year,  Mr. 
McCalla  was   prevailed   upon   by  the  solicitations  of  several 
respectable  and  literary  characters  in  Philadelphia  to  open  an 
academy  in  that  place  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  languages 
and  science.      In   this    useful    employment  he  acquitted  him- 
self with  honor  and  with  general  approbation.     In  the  mean- 
time, in  addition  to  his  favorite  studies  of  theology  and  belles 
letters,    he  made    himself  acquainted    with    the    .science    of 
medicine  and  the   collateral    branches   of  literature,  and   ob- 
tained a  critical  knowledge  of  the  French,  Spanish  and  Italian 
languages.     On   the  8th   of  July,    '.Jjg,  he  was   licensed  to 
preach  the  Gospel  and  received  the  testimonials  of  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  Philadelphia   of  their   high  approbation.     His 
popular  talents  soon   attracted  the  attention  of  several   con- 
gregations  who    wished  to  obtain  his  residence  among  them 
as  pastor.      He  gave  the  preterence  to  the  United  Churches  of 
New  Providence    and   Charleston  in  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
ordained  their  minister  in  1774.    In  this  situation  he  preached 
to  great  acceptance   till  the   commencement  of  the  American 
Revolution  when  a  new  field  opened  for  the  exercise  of  his 
eloquence,  and   he  became    peculiarly  useful  in  directing  the 
views  and  confirming  the   patriotism   of  many  others  as  well 
as    those  of  his   own  congregations.     After  the  commence- 
ment of  hostilities,  when  the  troops   under  the  command  of 
Gen.  Thompson  were  ordered  to  Canada,  at  the  solicitation  of 
,several  officers  he  was   appointed  by   Congress   to  the  chap- 
laincy to  attend  that  corps.     His  opportunities  for  ministerial 
usefulness  however  were  not  equal  to  his  wishes.     For  soon 
after  his  arrival  in   Canada  he  was  made  prisoner  in  company 


36  DEATH   OI^   DR.    m'cALLA.  [1800-1810. 

with  Thompson  and  .several  of  his  officers  at  Trois  Riviers. 
After  several  months  confinement  on  board  ot  a  loathsome 
prisonship  he  was  permitted  to  return  lo  his  friends  on  parole 
and  was  restored  to  his  congres^ations  in  the  latter  end  of 
1776.  But  the  tranquility  he  enjoyed  here  was  not  long  till  it 
was  interrupted  by  an  order  issued  by  the  commander  of 
the  British  army  then  in  Philadelphia  for  apprehending  him 
on  a  pretense  of  his  having  violated  his  parole  in  praying  for 
his  country.  He  had  timely  notice  of  this  order  and  returned 
to  Virginia.  Having  received  information  of  his  release  from 
parole  by  an  exchange  of  prisoners  he  returned  to  the  uncon- 
trolled office  of  his  ministry  and  took  charge  of  a  respectable 
Academy  in  Hanover  County.  Btit  it  pleased  the  head  of 
the  Church  by  a  train  of  providences  to  remove  him  once  more 
to  a  station  better  suited  to  iiis  inclinations  in  Christ  Church 
Parish  where  in  undisturbed  retirement  he  might  pursue  his 
beloved  studies  and  indulge  his  amp'e  mind  in  inquisitive 
research.  Through  liis  whole  residence  in  this  country, 
though  other  subjects  occupied  a  portion  of  his  regard,  his 
attention  was  principally  directed  to  the  sacred  scriptures. 
He  read  them  diligently  in  the  originals  and  in  the  several 
languages  into  which  they  have  been  translated;  collected 
and  compared  the  various  readings  from  many  authorities  and 
had  it  in  design,  had  life  been  spared  him,  to  have  digested  his 
remarks  and  arranged  them  in  an  order  which  would  have 
rendered  them  useful  to  posterity.  But  infinite  wisdom 
determined  otherwise.  An  afflictive  providence  in  the  death,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-six,  of  a  most  amiable,  excellent  and  dutitul 
daughter,  an  only  child,  the  wife  of  Dr.  John  R.  Witherspoon, 
accelerated  the  event,  which  Irequent  attacks  on  a  constitu- 
tion already  almost  exhausted  by  protracted  disease  must 
'  soon  have  been  biought  to  pass.  He  bore  the  affliction  with 
exemplaiy  submission  and  while  he  felt,  he  blessed  the  hand 
that  laid  the  stroke  upon  him.  In  religion  he  found  resources 
sufficient  to  support  his  spirit,  but  not  sufficient  to  fortify  his 
enfeebled  frame  against  the  power  of  disease.  In  calm  sub- 
mission to  the  paternal  will  of  God  he  met  the  King  of 
Terrors  with  the  composure  and  submission  of  a  Chri-stian, 
and  sweetly  resigned  his  soul  into  the  arms  of  the  Saviour,  in 
whom  he  had  long  placed  an  unswerving  confidence. 

Dr.  McCalla  was  in  person  of  a  graceful  figure,  polite,  ea.sy 
and  engaging  in  his  manners,  entertaining  and  improving  in 


1800-1810.]  DEATH    OF    DJl.  m'cALLA.  37 

his  conversation,  of  S  lively  fancy  and  a  generous  heart;  of 
unfettered  liberality  and  undissembled  candor.'  He  was  easy 
of  access;  a  friend  to  mankind;  but  peculiarly  attached  to 
men  of  science  and  religion.  His  powers  of  mind  were  equal 
to  his  piety  and  benevolence.  He  justly  held  a  conspicuous 
place  in  the  foremost  rank  of  learned  and  good  men.  He  whs 
a  profound  scholar,  combining  the  wisdom  of  antiquity  with 
the  refinement  of  modern  literature.  In  biblical  learning, 
criticism,  and  sacred  history,  he  was  exceeded  fcy  none.  As 
a  divine  his  theological  opinions  were  founded  solely  on  the 
authority  of  the  Scriptures,  and  without  servile  attachments 
to  party  distinctions  of  any  name,  he  professed  himself  a 
moderate  Calvinist.  ,  On  the  subject  of  Church  government  he 
was  liberal;  but  thought,  says  the  writer  from  whom  we  quote, 
"  the  popular  plan  of  Congregational  Churches  the  most  con- 
sonant to  apostolic  and  primitive  practice,  and  best  fitted  to 
'  promote  the  interests  of. piety  and  religion. 

"As  a. preacher  the  eloquence  of  his  manner,  the  perspicuity 
of  his  style,  the  abundant  variety  of  his  information,  enforced 
by  a  manly  and  almost  unequaled  eloquence,  at  once  charmed, 
convinced  and  interested.  The  subject  of  his  pulf)it  addresses, 
never  uninteresting,  seldom  speculative,  were  always  calcu- 
lated to  inform  the  understanding  and  improve  the  heart.  To 
liave  been  languid  or  unbenefitted  under  his  ordinary  preacli- 
ing  would  have  evidenced  great  insensibility  or  great 
depravity. 

"As  a  teacher  of  youth  he  had  a  peculiar  facility  of  com- 
municating the  knowledge  with  which  he  was  so  copiously 
endowed,  and  the  peculiar  happiness  of  commanding  obedi- 
ence and  respect  without  severity  or  hauteur.  As  a  man  of 
piety  and  virtue,  with  as  few  infirmities  as  usually  fall  to  the 
lot  of  good  men  in  the  present  world,  his  example  in  every 
department  of  life  was  worthy  of  imitation,  and  displayed  a 
rectitude  of  mind  which  could  only  result  from  perfect 
integrity  of  principle.  His  loss  to  the  Church,  to  the  partner 
of  his  life,  to  his  friends  and  country  is  unspeakable.  'Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant,"  and  "a  mansion  in  Heaverj,is 
his  reward." — -Soiitii  Carolina  Gazette. 

Dr.  McCalla  published  a  sermon  at  th-e  ordination  of  James 
Adams  in  1799.  In  1810  two  volumes  of  his  works  edited 
by  his  son-in-law.  Dr.  John  R.  Witherspoon,  were  published 
with  notices  of  his  life  by  Dr.  Hollingshead.     These  volumes 


38  DORCHESTER  AND  BEACH  HILI^.  [1800-1810. 

contain  nine  sermons  on  different  subjects;  Remarks  on  the 
"Age  of  Reason,"  by  Thomas  Paine,  over  the  signature  of 
"Artenias  ;"  Remarks  on  Griesbach's  Greek  Testament ;  An 
Essay  on  the  Excellency  and  Advantages  of  the  Gospel ;  Re- 
marks on  the  Theatre  and  Public  Amusements,  in  thirteen  num- 
bers; Hints  on  Education.infourleen  numbers;  the  Sovereignty 
of  the  People,  in  twelve  numbers;  a  Fair  Statement  and 
Appendix  to  the  same  in  eighteen  numbers,  containing  an 
address  to  Pre.sident  Adams  ;  Servility  of  Prejudice  Displayed, 
in  nine  numbers  ;  Federal  Sedirion  and  Anti-democracy,  in 
six  numbers  ;  a  Vindication  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  two  numbers; 
and  the  Retreat,  a  poem. 

The  Congregational  Church  of  Dorchester  and  Beach 
Hill.  Of  the  restoration  of  the  church  edifice,  probably  the 
oldest  now  standing  in  South  Carolina,  and  the  revival  of  the 
church  organization  after  the  Revolution  we  have  made  men- 
tion, Vol.  I.  p.  566.*  The  Rev.  James  S.  Adams,  who  was 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Congregational  Associa- 
tion of  South  Carohna,  remained  in  charge  of  this  Church 
until  the  5th  of  March,  1805,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of 
declining  health.  During  his  ministry  of  .six  years  he  had  been 
"greatly  beloved  and  eminently  successful  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  But  the  loss  o,t  his  first  wife  and  children,  as  was 
believed  through  the  insalubrity  of  his  situation,  and  his  own 
very  feeble  health,  induced  his  return  to  the  healthful  air  of 
his  native  hills,  in  York  District  where  he  was  born.  His 
resignation  was  reluctantly  accepted  by  the  Congregation, 
who  in  a  letter  highly   complimentary  to  him,  signified  their 

*Dec.  1,  1800.  The  Congregational  Church  of  Dorchester  and  Beach 
Hill  was  first  organized  and  the  churches  used  alternately  for  public 
worship  about  A.  D.,  1700.  The  first,  of  brick,  now  stands  in  the  Parish 
of  St.  George,  Dorchester,  on  a  tract  of  ninety-five  acres.  The  other,  of 
wood,  wa^  (destroyed  long  since  by  fire  or  material  decay  and  was  on 
another  parcel  of  land,  of  ninety-five  acres  in  the  Parish  of  St  Paul. 
This  is  the  land  given  to  Trustees,  of  whom  Dr.  ^tevens,  deceased, 
was  the  last  survivor.  By  the  removal  of  most  part  of  the  worshippers- 
with  their  minister,  Kev.  John  Osgood,  about  forty  years  ago,  said 
churches  have  been  neglected,  and  fallen  into  a  decayed  state,  and  for 
BoiAe  time  past,  no  worship  of  any  kind  has  been  regularly  carried  on 
in  the  Parish  of  St  George,  Dorchester.  The  petition  for  the  Act  of 
Incorpuration  also  speaks  of  the  said  two  tracts  and  one-twenty-sixth 
part  of  undivided  land  around  Dorchester,  given  in  trust  for  said 
Church.  The  records  in  1802  speak  of  the  fourth  payment  of  Madam 
Fenwick's  legacy  as  received,  and  the  fifth  in  1803,  another  in  1805,  and 
so  on  in  1816,  1818. 


] 800-1810]  MIDWAY  CHURCH,  GA.  39 

appreciation  of  his  services  and  their  regret  at  the  separation. 
Mr.  Adams  was  reported  among  the  absentees  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Association  until  early  in  1803.  He  had  addressed 
them  on  the  26th  of  November,  1808,  from  Lincoln  County, 
N.  C,  requesting  a  dismission  from  their  body,  giving  reasons 
for  his  absence  since  his  removal  from  the  Lower  Country. 
His  reasons  were  sustained  and  his  request  was  granted.  The 
Church  then  called  the  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer, pastor  at  Beaufort, 
who  must  have  visited  them,  as  there  is  evidence  that  $2J 
were  paid  him  for  services,  Failing  in  this  application  they 
request  Dr.  Hol'ingshead,  June,  1805,  to  aid  them  in  their 
efforts  to  secure  the  labors  of  a  settled  minister,  offering  a 
salary  of  ^860.  They  request,  Dec.  30,  Rev.  Mr.  Mcllhenny 
to  serve  tliem,  and  he  consents  to  do  so  [i8o5]  as  long  as  he 
shall  remain  in  that  vicinity.  The  number  of  members  in  tlie 
Dorchester  Qhurch  in  i804was  twenty-six,  white;  sixteen, 
black  ;  total,  42.  The  church  received  the  fourth  payment 
from  Madam  Fenwick's  Trust  Fund  [see  Vol  L,  p.  569,]  in 
1802  and  the  fifth  in  1805. 

■  Historically  related  to  this  is  The  Congregational 
Church  of  Midway,  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  which  migrated 
from  Dorchester,  S.  C,  in  1752-54,  (Vol.  I.,  p.  268,  269, 
376,  377,)  had  enjoyed  the  labors  of  the  Rev.  Abiel  Holmes, 
afterwards  D.  D.  In  May,  1784,  Mr.  Holmes  being  in 
South  Carolina,  and  the  Midway  Cliurch  learning  of  his 
intention  of  entering  the  ministry,  made  application  to  hitn  to 
preach  for  them  one  year.  He  consented  to  their  proposal, 
and  in  the  following  August  commenced  his  ministerial  labors 
among  them.  Li  June,  1785,  being  about  to  return  to  New 
England,  he  was  solicited  by  the  Church  and  congregation  to 
receive  ordination  and  to  become  their  pastor.  For  this  pur- 
]iose  he  was  ordained  at  New  Haven  on  the  15th  of  September, 
1785.  The  ordination  took  place  in  the  College  Chapel  the 
day  after  Commencement  in  connection  with  the  Concio  ad 
Clerum,  wliich  was  delivered  on  that  occasion.  He  returned 
to  Georgia  in  November  following,  and  assumed  the  pastor- 
ship of  Midway  Church.  His  health  becotuing  impaired  he 
went  to  the  North  in  the  Sumner  of  1786,  and,  instead  of 
returning  to  his  charge  in  the  Autumn,  as  he  had  intended,  he 
made  an  arrangement  with  his  friend,  Mr.  Jedediah  Morse, 
afterwards  Rev.  Dr.  Jedediah  Morse,  then  a  tutor  in  Yale  Col- 
lege, by  which  an  exchange  of  duties  and    place  was  effected. 


40  STONEY    CREEK.  []  800-1810. 

Mr.  Morse  resigning  his  place  as  tutor,  and  Mr.  Holmes  tak- 
ing/««  place  in  the  tutor.ship.  Mr.  Morse  was  ordained  on 
the  9th  of  November,  and  the  next  day  set  out  for  his  place 
of  destination  in  Georgia.  Here  he  remained  about  six 
months,  during  which  time  overtures  were  made  to  him  of 
settlement  from  James  Island,  Sunbury  and  Savannah..  Mr. 
Holmes  having  held  the  tutorship  for  a  year,  returned  to  his 
charge  in  November,  1787,  and  continued  in  great  harmony 
with  his  people  until  1791,  when  ill  health  compelled  him  to 
leave  the  State,  though  he  always  remembered  with  great 
affection  the  Church  and  society  at  Midway.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded in  December,  1791,  by  C\rus  Gildersleeve,  who  first 
preached  as  a  licentiate,  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of 
New  Brunswick,  in  1792,  and  continued  in  this  pastoral 
charge  till  181 1. 

The  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  of  Stbney  Ckeek. 
This  Church  was  fully  organized  with  pastor,  elders  and  dea- 
cons, ordained  with  prayer  and  laying  on  of  hands,  and  held 
that  "such  churches  as  have  not  officers  so  ordained  are  dis- 
orderly, there  being  something  still  wanting';  but  atth^same 
time  believed  that  every  particular  Churcii  of  Christ  is  inde- 
pendent; and  that  no  one  Church  hath  any  priority  orsuper- 
intendency  above  or  over  another."  It  therefore  was  not 
represented  in  Presbytery.  Its  pastor,  however.  Rev.  James 
Gourlay,  was  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  in- 
corporated in  1790.  He  continued  Pastor  of  this  Church  till 
his  death,  Jan.  24ih,   1803.* 


*The  following  is  his  epitaph  :  "Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Rev. 
James  Gourlay,  who  presided  as  Minister  about  thirty  years  over  the 
congregation  of  Stoney  Creek  Church,  much  beloved  by  his  flock,  and 
esteemed  by  all  who  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintam-e.  He  was  a 
native  of  ^cotland,  and  departed  this  life  on  the  24th  of  Jan.,  1803. 

This  stone  is  erected  by  his  affectionate  congrejation  as  a  memorial  of 
their  respect  for  his  long  and  faithful  labors  among  them,  in  the  Gospel 
of  .Jesus  Christ."    M6S.  of  Rev.  Robert  M.  Adams. 

There  is  found  among  Mr.  Gourlay's  papers  the  following  project  of 
an  Association  for  the  promotion  of  religion  ;  but  whether  it  ever  went 
into  operation  we  have  no  knowledge. 

The  subscribers,  ministers  and  representative^  of  certain  congregations 
of  Christians  in  Beaufort  District,  conceiving  that  by  uniting  together  for 
the  purpose  of  religious  improvement  and  the  extension  of  the  Redeem- 
er's Kingdom,  they  may  obtain  so  desirable  an  end,  do  agree  to  form 
ourselves  into  a  society  for  these  general  purposes,  as  well  as  for  any 


18O0-181O.]  EEV.  JAMES   GOUKLAV.  41 

As  far  as  appears  from  the  records  of  the  Cluirch  there  was 
no  pastor  or  supply  for  tlie  next  four  j'ears,  when  the  Rev. 
Robert  Montgomery  Adams  fom  Scotland  was  called  and 
settled.  Mr.  Adams,  as  appears  from  his  papers,  was  en: 
gaged  as  a  student,  preparing  for  the  ministry  at  Edinboro' 
from  the  year  1794  to  April,  1800.  He  was  tutor  in  the 
family  of  H.  Gavin  Park  for  over  three  years,  as  was  usual 
with  can(hdates  for  the  ministry,  who  needed  the  income  such 
services  procured.     The  certificates  of- his   Theological    Pro- 


other  which  may  condiire  to  the  particular  benefit  of  our  congregations, 
and  to  be  governed  by  the  following  Rules  and  Regalations : 

1st.  This  society  shall  be  called  the  Protestant  Union  and  shall  consist 
of  the  pastors'and  congregations  of  any  Christian  Protestant  denomina- 
tion, whose  tenets  agree  in  tlie  main,  with  what  is  mentioned  in  the 
following  Rule  : 

2d.  We  agree  to  admit  ipto  this  Society  any  Congregation  whose 
■articles  of  faith  are,  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead  in  three  distinct  sub- 
sistencies,  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit;  the  necessity  of  Divine  Ctrace 
to  renew  tlie  heart,  and  the  all'  sufficiency  of  the  atonement,  mediation 
and  righteousness  of  the  God-man,  Christ  Jesus  ;  and  in  the  operations 
of  the  Holy  Sjiirit,  as,  also,  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  holines.s  in  lieart 
and  life  without  which  no  one  can  see  God.  We  reject  no  one  from 
our  Society  upon  the  account  of  any  differences  in  rites  anil  ceremonies 
as  far  as  these  may  be  implied  or  expressed  in  the  Holy  Si-riptures. 

3d_  The  Society  shall  have  one  general  meeting  in  the  year  at  such 
time  and  place  as  sliall  be  agreed  upon  at  each  meeting. 

4.  The  Society  shall  consist  of  the  Pastor  of  each  Church  or  Congrega- 
tion, and  of  one  or  more  lay  delegates,  but  not  exceeding  thref. 

5.  The  objects  of  the  meeting  shall  be  to  enquire  into  the  State  of 
religion  in  the  bounds  of  each  Congregation,  to  settle  disputes  that  may 
arise  between  the  Pastor  and  his  people,  but  in  this  respect  only  as  an 
advisory  council;  To  as.sist  vacant  congregations  with  ministerial  ser- 
vices occasionally  ;  to  wati:h  over  each  other  in  love,  and  to  excite  and 
animate  one  another  in  i:  holy  walk  and  life, and  generally  and  spei-iaby 
all  such  things  relating  to  church  government  as  mav  be  brought  before 
it. 

6.  The  meeting  of  the  So-iety  shall  always  begin  and  end  with  prayer, 
and  these  meetings  shall  never  separate  without  participating  together 
in  the  most  Holy  Communion  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  to  which  all  worthy 
communicants  of  any  Protestant  Church  may  be  admitted. 

7th  A  Moderator  and  Secretary  shall  bo  chosen  at  each  annual  meet- 
ing for  that  period  and  to  remain  in  office  only  during  the  meeting. 
Hi.s  power.-i  are  to  observe  order  in  the  transactions  of  the  Society,  to 
put  the  questions,  &c.  The  Secretary  is  to  Iceep  a  fair  account  of  the 
minutes,  &c. 

8th.  At  the  opening  of  the  annual  meeting  an  appropriate  sermon  shall 
be  preached  by  one  of  the  pastors,  and  the  meeting  close  with  the  same 
by  another,  besides  intermediate  discourses  agreeably  to  circumstances. 


42  REV.  ROBT.  M.  ADAMS.  1800-1810.] 

fcssoi's  yet  exist   which  reveal  the  care  taken  by  the  Church 
of  Scotland  in  the  training  of  their  ministers.* 

He  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Ayr,  September  30, 
1801.     The  certificate  of  his  licensure  is  as  follows: 

At  Ayr,  the  tliirtieth  day  of  September,  one  thousand,  eight  hundred 
and  one  years.  Which  day  the  Presbytery  of  Ayr,  having  taken  into 
oonsidetation,  that  Mr.  Robert  Adamj,  student  in  Divinity,  after  passing 
the  requisite  course  of  study  at  the  University,  had  laid  before  them 
satisfactory  testimonials  from  the  Professor  oi' Divinity,  respecting  his 
proficiency,  his  character  and  his  having  delivered  the  usual  Discourses ; 
that  their  Committee  of  private  e.Kamination  had  reported  him  as  qual- 
ified to  be  entered  on  public  probationary  trials  and  that  the  concur- 
rence of  the  Synod  thereto  having,  in  consequence  of  intimation  to 
Presbyteries,  been  obtained  in  due  form,  Mr.  Robert  Adams  had  accord- 
ingly been  admitted  to  said  trials,  all  of  which  he  having  gone  through  ; 
Did  on  a  review  of  his  whole  appearances  declare  their  satisfaction  with 
the  specimens  he  had  given  of  his  qualifications  to  be  a  licentiate  of  this 
Church,  and  authorize  their  Moderator  to  license  him.  Whereupon 
the  questions  pre.scribed  b\'  the  10th,  Act  of  Assemby,  1711,  were  put 
to  him,  to  a'l  which  he  gave  satisfying  answers ;  also  the  Act,  17-59, 
against  Simoniacal  practices  was  i-ead  to  him,  and  then  he  did  iudicially 
subscribe  the  Formula.  After  which  the  said  Mr.  Robert  Adams  was 
licensed  by  the  foresaid  Presbytery  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  and 
exercise  his  gifts  as  a  Probationer  for  the  Holy  Ministry,  and  he  is 
.allowed  an  extract  of  this  his  license  in  common  form  when  called  for. 
Extracted  by  WILLIAM  PEEBLES,  Pres  Clk. 

He  preaclied  at  Camregan  from  1801  10x804.  Froin  1804 
to  1806  he  was  assistant  Minister  to  Dr.  Gordon  at  Sorn.  A 
new  society  was  formed  in  this  parish  which  called  him  as 
their  minister  on  a  salary  of  ;£'iOO  Sterling,  whose  house  of 
worship  was  to  bs  in  Sorn  or  Cattune.  Not  wishing  to  divid.e 
ihe  parish  he  prudently  declined  this  offer.  Migrating  to 
America,  after  some  short  time  spent  as  an   assistant  teacher 

*Edinburoh,  25th  April,  1800.— That  Mr.  Robert  Adams  was  enrolled 
as  a  student  of  Divinity  here  in  the  two  last  sessions;  that  he  attended 
the  hall  for  a  ve.ty  short  time  on  each  of  them  ;  that  he  delivered  a 
Lecture  and  Exegesis,  both  of  which  I  approved  as  certified  by 

A  HUNTER,  S.  T.  P. 

"That  the  bearer  Mr.  Robert  Adams  hath  been  enrolled  here  as  a 
student  of  Theology  for  four  sessions,  1794,  'j,  6  and  7  ;  That  he  attended 
the  Theological  Lectures  so  assiduously  through  the  three  former  ses- 
sions as  not  to  have  been  noted  ab.sent  in  any  one  of  them  above  eight 
or  nine  times,  and  that  in  the  last  he  was  present  for  the  first  month, 
but  seldom  afterward  ;  that  he  delivered  a  homily  during  the  cur- 
rency of  these  sessions,  and  that  so  far  as  is  known  to  me  his  behaviour 
hath  been  in  all  respects  unblamable  and  suitable  to  his  profession  as 
i^ertified.  ROBERT  FINDLAY,  S.  S.  Theo.  Prof. 

Glassgow,  Nov.  18,  1798. 


] 800-1810.]  STOREY    CREEK.  43 

under  Dr.  BiiLst  in  the  College  at  Charleston,*  he  became 
pa.stor  at  Stoney  Creek  in  Prince  William  Parish,  Beaufort 
Di.strict,  South  Carolina,  in  1807. 

Mr.  Adams,  in  a  letter  to  his  parents,  speaks  pleasantly  of 
his  new  home:  "  In  my  letters  of  last  summer,"  says  he,  "I 
gave  you  an  imperfect  description  of  this  part  of  the  United 
States.  The  Parish  of  whicii  I  am  minister  is  reckoned  one 
of  the  most  wealthy  and  beautiful  of  the  whole  State.  Many 
of  lier  gentlemen  are  possessed  of  an  immense  number  of 
slaves,  and,  of  consequence,  very  ample  landed  property. 
Their  crops  of  cotton,  rice,  indigo,  and  others,  are  very  abun- 
dant. Their  mansions  sometimes  splendid,  with  every  ele- 
gance and  luxury.  Some  of  the  most  respectable  and  worthy 
of  them  are  members  of  my  church,  and  elders  of  the  congre- 
gation. The  funds  of  the  church  are  sufficient  to  pay  their 
clergyman  and  defray  every  necessary  expense.  I  have 
enjoyed  as  good  health  since  I  came  to  America  as  ever  I  did 
in  Europe.  Last  summer  my  congregation  gave  me  leave  of 
absence  five  months,  and  will  do  the  same  this  summer,  by 
which  lime  I  shall  be  enured  to  the  climate."  After  writing 
a  letter  to  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  of  Beaufort,  (afterwards  D  D.,) 
to  secure  him  lodgings  there,  where  he  had  spent  the  preced- 
ing summer,  he  alters  his  mind,  resolving  to  spend  the  sum- 
mer at  Rock  Spring,  in  the  neighborhood  of  which  he  had  a 
church  erected,  and  where  he  regulacly  officiates.  "At  Rock 
Spring  and  at  there  are  twelve  families,  who  make 

these  places  their  summer  residence,  and  who  are  the  most 
wealthy  and  respectable  in  St.  Luke's  Parish.  The  society 
at  Rock  Spring  is  certainly  the  most  pleasant  and  amiable  I 
have  ever  met  wiih  in  the  course  of  my  life.  They  are  all 
people  of  good  information,  some  of  them  extremely  rich,  and 
their  sole  occupation  during  the  Summer  months  is  to  enjoy 
themselves.  They  exliibit  human  felicity  in  its  fairest  forms. 
The  public  dinners  are  both  frequent  and  splendid,  and  every 
evening,  Sundays  excepted,  are  devoted  to  the  cliarms  of 
music  or  the  pleasures  of  conversation.  If  rational  enjoy- 
ment, combined  with  elegance  of  taste  and  agreeableness  of 
manners,  is  anywhere  to  be  found,  it  is  at  Rock  Spring.  I 
administer  the  Lord's  Supper  at  my  new  church  on  the  second 
Sabbath  in   September,  and  will  be  assisted  by  two  Presbyte- 

*Historiral  Sketch  of  the  Charleston  College,  Vol.  XII.  American 
Quarterly  Eegister,  p.  168. 


44  STONEY    CREKK.  [1800-18,10. 

rian  clergymen,  Mr.  Beck  and  Mr.  Crawford.  I  do  not  know 
if  you  have  heard  of  Mr.  Crawford.  He  is  pos.se.ssed  of  very 
ample  property,  of  very  respectable  character,  and  I  am  toKi 
i.s  a  man  of  talents,  but  his  delivery  is  not  agreeable.  He  and 
Mr.  Beck  have  a  church  about  thirty  (?)  miles  from  Rock 
Spring,  where  they  alternately  officiate,  without  salary,  as 
tliey  are  both  independent.  J  think  it  would  be  an  object 
worthy  our  attention  to  have  these  gentlemen  members  of  our 
Presbytery,  which  I  believe  they  very  much  wish."  There 
then  follow  some  remarks  about  Dr.  Kollock,  with  certain 
-speculations  as  to  the  strength  of  Presbytery,  (if  they  had  the 
new  church  built  for  him,  Prince  William's,  Saltkehatchie  and 
Pon  Pon  together,)  with  some  few  gentlemen  in  North  Caro- 
lina,* and  should  meet  now  in  North  Carolina  and  now  in 
Georgia.  Mr.  Adams  was  accustomed  to  write  the  first  draft 
of  his  letters,  mingled  up  with  snatches  of  sermons,  in  a  vei  y 
obscure  hand,  while  his  careful  writing  was  plain,  and  often 
beautiful.  We  do  not  know  t©  whom  this  letter  was  ad- 
dressed, probably  to  Dr.  Buist,  nor  are  we  certain  that  we 
have  rendered  every  word  correctly. 

Notwithstanding  the  glowing  description,  colcur  de  rose, 
above  given  of  society  in  Prince  William's  and  St.  Luke's,  he 
confesses  to  another  friend  that  he  "  has  had  to  contend  with 
those  who  blasphemed  the  name  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  vio- 
lated the  sanctity  of  the  ffoly  Sabbath,  and  opposed  or  neg- 
lected the  worship  due  to  His  most  holy  name  in  the  family." 

His  lists  of  communicants,  found  scattered  among  his 
papers,  embrace  names  of  the  most  respectable  families  of  the 
neighborhood,  as  Postell,  Wigg,  Baker,  Kensey,  Jenkins, 
Taylor,  Main,  Farr,  Bowman,  Roberts,  F'orshae,  Pilot,  North, 
Neufville,  Webb,  Cuthbert,  Doylie,  Hutson,  Hutcheson, 
Findlay,  Richardson,  Fraser,  Love,  Gadsby,  Chancey,  Davi-i, 
John-itiine,  Frampton,  McLeod,  Heyward,  Cuthbert,  Lamb- 
right,  Porchcr,  Metier,  Ferguson,  Pringle,  Getch,  Sliepheard, 
Morrison,  Gilbert,  some  of  whom  'may  have  been  occasional 
'Communicants  from  other  neighboring  churches 

At  this  point  a  report  of  the  hiring  of  the  pews  shows  the 
following  names  as  the  supporters  of  the  church:  James 
Bowman,  Frederick  Fraser,  Charles  Love,  J.  R.  Pringle,  J.  E. 

*Dr.  Buist  had  written  to  him  JIarch  24,  1808:  "  Two  Minisiers  from 
North  Carolina  have  written  to  me,  proposing  to  be  admitted  members 
of  our  Presbytery." 


1800-1810.]  COJ^GKEGATIONAL    ASSOCIATION.  4  5 

McPherson,  John  A.  Oglevie,  J.  A.  Cuthbeit,  A.  F  Gregorie, 
Robt.  Reid,  Wm.  Heyvvard,  Jno.  Frampton,  Jno.  McLc(id, 
Wm.  M.  Hiitson,  Kenney  J.  Jtnkin.s,  Chri.stophcr  T.  Daniier, 
W.  H.  Williamson,  J.  Lockwood,  J.  S.  Taylor,  Mrs.  Maine;, 
Dr.  Richardson,  Ed.  Nuiifville,  Jno.  Izd.  Wright,  R.  Brown, 
Josiah  Heyward,  By  Dr.  Ramsay,  the  Stony  Creek  church 
is  represented  as  not  only  Presbyterian,  but  as  connected 
with  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  of  which  its  minister, 
Robert  M.  Adams,  was  a  n)ember.  (See  liis  History,  Vol  11, 
p.  25,  published  in  1808.) 

THE    CONGKEGATIONAL    ASSOCIATION    OF    SOUTH    CAROLINA. 

An  application  made  towards  the  close  of  the  year  1800, 
by  the  Indepen'dent  Congregational  Church  in  ilie  neigh- 
borhood of  Waynesboko',  Burke  Co.,  Georgia,  to  the 
mil-listers  of  the  <  :ongres.Tational  Churches  of  Charleston  and 
its  vicinity,  for  the  ordination  of  a  pastor,  gave  origin  to  the 
"  Congregational  Association  of  South  Carolina,"  which  was 
organized  on  the  25th  of  March,  1 801,  and  remained  in  ex- 
istence for  iwenty-one  years.  The  circumstances,  as  set 
forth  in  the  first  pages  of  their  records,  are  as  follows  : 

"Application  having  been  made  some  time  in  the  latter  end 
of  the  year  1800.  by  Mr.  Loami  Floyd,  a  candidate  for  the 
ministry,  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hollingshead  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Keith,  of  Charleston,  and  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  of  Dor- 
chester, to  concur  in  setting  him  apart,  by  solemn  ordination, 
to  the  sacred  office;  and,  also,  to  as.sist  him  in  soliciting  the 
concurrence  and  aid  of  such  ministers  in  the  neighboihood  of 
Cliarleston,  on  the  solemn  occasion,  as  they  might  think 
proper  to  have  associated  with  them  in  this  important  trans- 
action ;  application  also  having  been  made,  by  letter,  from 
the  Independent  Congregational  Church  in  the  vicinity  of 
Waypesboro',  Burke  Count)',  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  to  the 
ministers  of  the  Independent  Congregational  Churches  in  and 
and  near  Charleston,  to  set  aside  Mr.  Loami  Floyd  to  the 
ministerial  ofifice,  that  he  might  more  effectually  exercise  the 
functions  of  his  ministry  among  them;  the  above  named 
gentlemen,  to  whorn  these  applications  were  first  presented, 
agreed  to  take  the  advice  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCalla,  of  the 
Independent  or  Congregational  Cliurch  of  Christ  Church,  and 
the  Rev.- Mr.  Price,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  James' 
Island;  and,  if  the  way  should    be   clear   in  other  respects,  to 


46  CONGREGATIONAL    ASSOCIATION.  [1800-1810. 

request  their  attendance  witli  theni  at  the   solemnity,  at  such 
time  and  place  as  may  be  aijreed  upon  hy  them  jointly. 

"  In  the  meantime,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hollingshead,  having  con- 
ferred on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Floyd's  application,  gave  it  to 
him  as  their  opinion,  that,  though  they  could  not  determine 
wliat  might  be  the  mind  of  the  ministers  in  the  vicinity  who 
ought  to  oe  consulted  on  the  occasion,  yet  it  would  hi  proper, 
before  any  regular  proceedings  could  be  had  in  the  business, 
that  Mr  Floyd  should  furnish  them  with  a  more  particular 
account  of  the  church  of  which  he  is  invited  to  take  the  pas- 
toral charge  ;  and  that,  as  Mr.  Floyd  is  a  stranger  to  them, 
and  has  belonged  to  another  connection,  it  would  be  proper 
he  should  produce  a  certificate  of  his  good  standing  with  that 
connection  at  the  time  of  his  witlidrawing  from  them. 

Mr.  Floyd,  accordingly,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1801, 
presented  to  Dr.  Hollingshead  and  Dr.  Keith  a  certificate  of 
his  not  having  been  accused  of  any  immorality  when  he  with- 
drew from  the  Methodists,  signed  by  John  Garven,  Secretary 
of  their  Conference,  held  at  Camden,  dated  January  6th,  1801. 
This  certificate  being  satisfactory,  invitations  were  sent  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  McCalla,  the  Rev.  Thomas  N.  Price,  and  the  Rev. 
James  S.  Adams,  requesting  their  attendance  in  Charleston 
on  the  25th  of  March,  if  that  day  should  not  be  inconvenient 
to  them,  to  proceed  to  Mr.  Floyd's  examination,  and,  if  ap- 
proved of,  to  set  liini  apart  by  prayer  and  imposition  of  hands 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

Agreeably  to  this  invitation,  the  following  gentlemen,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Hollingshead,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Keith,  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
James  S.  Adams  and  Thomas  H.  Price,  met  at  the  Rev.  Dr. 
HoUingshead's,  on  the  2Stii  day  of  March,  1801,  and  they 
agreed  to  form  themselves  into  an  Association  ;  to  assume  the 
style  and  title  of  The  Congregational  Association  of  South 
Carolina,  and  tlit  Rev.  Dr.  Hollingshead  being  appointed  Mod- 
erator, opened  the  Association  with  prayer,  and  Mr.  Price  was 
chosen  Scribe. 

The  following  account  of  the  Independent  Congregational 
Church,  near  Waynesboroiigh,  was  laid  before  the  Associa- 
tion : 

'*  We,  the  underwritten,  a  Committee  of  the  Independent 
Congregational  Society,  in  the  vicinity  of  Waynesborough, 
Burke  County,  Georgia,  being  desirous  to  have  tlie  gospel 
preached  among  us,  together  with  the  administration  of  all 
its  ordinances,  do  represent  our  situation  to  the  Rev.  William 


1800-1810.]  CONGREGATIONAL   ASSOCIATION.  47 

HoUingsliead,  D.  D,,  the  Rev.  Isaac  S.  Keith,  D,  D.,the  Rev. 
Daniel  McCalla,  M.  A.,  the  Rev.  James  Adams,  and  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Price,  and  the  other  Minister.s  of  their  vicinity,  whom 
they  may  think  pro[)er  to  consult  on  the  occasion." 

"  On  the  eleventh  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
1790,  a  charter  of  incorporation  for  our  congregation  was 
obtained  from  His  Excellency  Edward  Telfair,  Governor  of 
the  State,  who  had  been  authorized  by  an  Act  of  the  General 
Assembly,  passed  the  23d  day  of  December,  1789,  to  grant 
such  charters  of  incorporation." 

"On  the  20th  of  Se[)tember,  1790,  Mr.  Henry  G.  Caldwell 
was  received  as  minister,  and  on  the  3d  day  of  March,  1794, 
he  resigned  the  appointment.  Since  that  time  we  have  had 
no  established  minister,  or  regular  performance  of  Dii-ine 
worship.  In  the  Spring  of  1799  Mr.  Floyd  was  introduced  to 
the  congregation  by  one  of  its  members,  but  Mr.  Floyd  being 
at  that  time  engaged  as  an  itinerant  preacher,  could  not  make 
a  permanent  settlement,  and  only  visited  us  at  convenient 
intervals.  He  was  requested  then  to  become  the  pastor  of 
our  congregation,  but  his  engagements  prevented  him  from 
giving  us  any  decisive  answer.  In  January,  1800,  he  returned 
to  Georgia,  and  expressed  a  wish  to  render  us  his  ministerial 
services.  The  congregation  made  arrangements  for  his  sup- 
port, and  a  regular  ministry,  we  hope,  is  only  wanting  to 
organize  the  congregation  in  a  proper  manner." 

"  Exc'ted  some  time  past  by  the  same  desire  which  now 
prevails  among  us,  we  addressed  the  Ministers  of  the  Inde- 
pendent Congregational  Church,  in  Charleston  and  its  vicinity, 
requesting  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Floyd.  We  return  you  our 
thanks  for  your  attention  to  our  request.  As  you,  however, 
thought  it  not  sufficiently  explicit,  we  are  willing  to  give  all 
the  satisfactory  information  on  the  subject  in  our  power.  We 
hope  that  what  has  been  said  will  merit  your  attention,  and 
that  our  recommendation  of  Mr.  Floyd  will  justify  his  being 
ordained,  and  fenable  him  to  perform  the  various  ministerial 
functions  as  pastor  of  our  congregation." 

(Signed,)  "  DAVID  ROBINSON. 

"JOSHUA  E.  WHITE. 
"WILLIAM  DOUGLASS, 
"J.  WHITEHEAC. 
"AMOS  WHITEHEAD, 
"ALEX'R  CARTER. 
•■GEO.  POYTRESS." 


48  CONGREGATIONAL    ASSOCIATION.  [18uO-lS10. 

Mr.  Floyd  was  ordained,  in  pursuance  of  these  proceedings, 
in  the  Independent  (or  Congregational)  Church,  in  Archdale 
Street,  March  26,  1801,  Dr.  Hollingshead  preaching  the  Ser- 
mon from  Romans  x.,  15.  Mr.  Adams  offering  the  ordination 
prayer,  and  Dr.  Keith  delivering  the  charge  to  the  pastor.  A 
letter  vvas'addressed  to  the  Ciiurch  in  Burke  County,  inform- 
ing them  of  the  fact,  and  of  the  hope  the  Association  enter- 
tained that  his  mmistry  among  them  would  be  abundantly 
blessed. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted  for  their  better  regulation,  till  such  time  as  a  more 
ample  Constitution  should  be  adopted,  (pp.  17-19): 

Resolved,  i.  That  this  .'\ssociation  presumes  not  to  exercise 
any  authority  over  the  Churches  with  wMch  its  members  are 
in  connexion,  it  being  our  opmion  -that  every  Church  has  a 
rij^ht  inherent  in  itself  to  be  governed,  on  the  principles  of  the 
Gospel,  by  its  own  members. 

2.  Tliat  a  perfect  equality  be  preserved  among  the  members 
of  the  Association. 

3.  That  the  stated  meetings  of  the  Association   be  held  on 
■  the  second  Tuesdays  in  May  and  December,  at  such  places  as 

m,iy  be  agreed  unon  at  each  time  of  adjournment. 

4.  That  a  Moderator  and  Scribe  be  chosen  at  every  stated 
meeting. 

5.  That  nvtxy  meeting  of  the  Association  be  opened  and 
concluded  with  [iraytT,  and  that  the  business  before  the  AssOt 
ciation  be  attended  to  in  order. 

6.  That  the  object  of  the  Association  being  humbly  to  en- 
deavor to  promote  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world,  the 
members  agree,  as  far  as  may  appear  expedient  to  each  one,  to 
report  the  state  of  religion  in  the  society  with  which  he  is 
cnnnected,  and  that  means  be  proposed  for  promoting  the 
interests  of  religion,  nnd  mamtaining  its  life  and  power  in  our 
coiigre'^ation. 

■7.  That  tiie  Association  also  receive  and  consider  applica- 
tions from  churches  to  ordain  their  ministers. 

8.  That  the  Moderator,  with  the  concurrence  of  any  mem- 
ber, may  call  an  occasional  meeting  of  the  Association,  when 
they  sh.ill  think  it  expedient. 

9.  That  a  fair  record  be  kept  of  the  proceedings  of  the  As- 
sociation, in-a  book  provided  for  that  purpose,  and  that  there 


KSOO-1810.]  CONGREGATIONAL   ASSOCIATIOX.  49 

be  a  stated  clerk,  who  shall  h^ve  the  custody  of  said  book, 
into  which  he  shall  transcribe  the  minutes  of  the  Association, 
and  whatever  other  papers  thev'  may  think  proper  to  insert  in 
it,  and  that  siid  boik  be  produced  at  every  meet'ng  of  the 
Association. 

lo.  That  the  Scribe  shall  furnish  the   stated    Clerk   with  a 
correct  copy  of  the  minutes  from  session  to  session. 

The  Rev.  Drs.  Hollingshead  and  Keith  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  suggest  a  plan  for  providmg  a  fund  for  promot- 
ing the  interests  of  religion.  This  committes  reported  that 
there  are  many  indigent  and  ignorant  families  in  the  State, 
and  some  considerable  districts  entirely  destitute  of  the  Gos- 
pel, which  might  be  benefitted  by  the  well  directed  exertions 
of  a  society  to  be  formed  for  this  purpefse;  that  subscription 
papers  should  be  offered  to  persons  in  their  own  connection  ; 
that  if  a  sufficient  amount  could  be  raised  among  their  own 
denominations,  others  should  not  be  solicited.  (See  also 
Keith's  Works,  p.  267.)  That  two  objects  should  be  princi- 
pally aimed  at,  the  distribution  of  books  on  the  most  necessary 
subjects  of  religion,  which  was  all  they  could  probably  do  at 
first,  and  when  their  funds  should  be  sufficiently  enlarged,  the 
sending  out  of  missionaries  to  preach  the  Gospel  where  people 
were  unable  or  unwilling  to  support  ministers  among  them- 
selves. Funds  were  to  be  raised  by  annual  subscriptions  of 
members,  by  donations  of  others  not  members,  by  charity 
sermons,  and  by  the  publication  of  small  tracts,  the  profits  of 
which,  though  small,  might  enhance  the  stock  of  the  society. 
These  recommendations  of  the  committee  were  approved. 
Members  were  to  give  five  dollars  as  a  donation,  and  to  sub- 
scribe five  dollars  annually.  Some  fifty  subscribers  were  soon 
obtained,  whose  subscriptions  would  yield  ^250  annually; 
.some  ^750  were  subscribed  by  members,  as  donations,  and 
some  ^530  by  persons  not  wishii;ig  to  become  members,  and 
thus  the  projected  society  was  ushered  into  existence  on  the 
1 2th  of  January,  1802. 

The  original  members  of  Congregational  Association  of 
South  Carolina,  at  its  formation,  in  1801,  were  the  Rev.  Wm. 
Hollingshead,  D.  D.,  the  Rev.  Isaac  Stockton  Keith,  D.  D., 
The  Rev.  James  S.  Adams,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Price. 
The  Rev.  Loami  Floyd  became  a  member  on  his  ordination, 
March  26,  1801,  and  the  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer  on  the  28th  of 
4 


50  CONUKEGATIONAL   ASSOCIATION.  [1800-1810. 

April,  1804.  The  Rev.  Dis.  HoIling.shead  and  Keith,  and  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Price,  were  originally  Presbyterian  Ministers,  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  previous  to  his  ordination,  in  1799,  was 
a  Licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Orange. 

During  this  decade  the  Church  in  Beaufort  re-appears, 
now  an  Independent  or  Congregational  Church.  In  our  first 
volume  it  appears  as  a  Presbyterian  Church,  having  its  con- 
nection with  the  old  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  (pp.  279,  322, 
400,402,474) 

It  is  in  connection  with  this  church  that  we  first  meet  with 
the  name  of  B.  M.  Paltner.  He  was  the  fourth  of  the  sixteen 
children  of  Job  Palmer,  and  his  eldest  son,  and  a  grandson  of 
the  Rev.  Samuel  Palmer,  who  died  in  1775,  the  only  minister 
for  forty  years,  and  for  most  of  that  time  the  only  physician  of 
Falmouth,  Mass.  Th'e  father,  Job  Palmer,  migrated  to  Charles- 
ton before  the  War  of  the  Revolution,  was  exiled  by  the 
British  to  Philadelphia,  where,  in  a  fortnight  after  the  arrival 
of  his  parents  in  that  city,  B.  M.  Palmer,  the  first  of  that 
name,  was  born  on  the  25th  of  September,  1781.  From  early 
life  Dr.  Palmer  was  equally  distinguished  for  exemplary 
morals  and  piety,  and  high  talent,  and  the  promise  of  boyhood 
and  youth  was  fully  realized  in  ripened  manhood.  He  re- 
ceived his  school  education  at  the  College  of  Charleston, 
under  Rev.  Bishop  Smith,  who  then  presided  over  that  institu- 
tion, and  giaduated  at  Princeton  College,  under  Dr.  Samuel 
Stanhope  Smith,  greatly  indebted  to  his  pastor,  Dr.  Keith,  by 
whose  efforts  the  means  of  pursuing  his  education  were  fur- 
nished. He  studied  divinity  under  Drs.  Hollingshead  and 
Keith,  and  was  licensed  on  the  7th  of  June,  1803,  by  theCon- 
gregatioi^al  Association  of  South  Carolina.  He  preached  to 
a  Congregational  Church,  organized  m  Beaufort,  which  soon 
sought  him  as  their  pastor  in  the  following  terms: 

"  TO  THE  REVEREND  THE  MODERATOR  OF  THE  CONGREttA- 
TIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

"  Beaufort,  S.  C,  December  4th,  1803. 

"  Reverend  Sir  and  Gentlemen  : 

"The  Independent  or  Congregational  Church  in  Beaufort  having 
received  satisfaction  in  the  ministerial  labors  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  M. 
Palmer,  who  was  licensed  by  you  lately,  and  having  given  him  a  call, 
unanimously, to  undertake  the  office  of  Pastor  to  the 'said  Church, 


1800-]810.]  B.  M.  PALMER'S  ORDINATION.  51 

request  you  to  ordain  him  to  this  offije,  agreeably  to  your  for.n?  and 
institutions. 

"  In  behalf  of  the  Church, 

"  We  are,  &c., 

"STEPHEN  LAWRENCE,  \  n      „ 
"JAMES  E.  B.  FINLKY,      (" -'^«««''"'» 
"  SAMUEL  LAWRENCE,  Sen.,  1  „r     ,       „ 
"JOHN  BENTON,  ']  Wardens" 

Mr.  Palmer  was  ordained,  pursuant  to  this  reque.st,  at  Beau- 
fort, on  the  28th  of  April,  1804.  At  this  time  the  Church  had 
18  white  and  2  black  members.  In  1806  the  number  of  white 
members  was  24,  of  black  6.  The  Independent  Church  of 
Beaufort  was  incorporated  December  21,  1804,  (Statutes  at 
Large,  Vol.  VIII.,  p.  223.) 

A  "  Plan  of  Union  "  proposed  by  the  General  Association 
of  Connecticut  in  1801,  and  adopted  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America,  to  take  effect  in 
the  mixed  population  of  the  new  settlements,  provided,  that 
if  any  Church  of  the  Congregational  Order  should  call  a 
Presbyterian  mini.ster  as  their  pastor,  the  Church  might  still 
conduct  its  discipline  on  Congregational  principles,  the  minis- 
ter being  subject  to  his  6wn  Presbytery  ;  any  difficulty  be- 
tween the  minister  and,  his  Church,  or  any  member  of  it, 
should  be  referred  to  the  Presbytery  to  which  the  minister 
belonged,  if  both  parties  should  agree  to  it,  otherwise  to  a 
council,  one-half  Congregationalists  and  the  other  half  Pres- 
byterians, mutually  agreed  upon  by  the  parties. 

Congregations  might  be  composed  partly  of  Presbyterians 
and  partly  of  Congregationalists.  They  might  agree  in 
choosing  and  settling  a  minister.  In  this  case,  the  Church 
should  choose  a  Standing  Committee  from  its  communicants, 
whose  business  it  should  be  to  call  every  member  to  account 
who  should  conduct  himself  inconsistently  with  his  Christian 
profession,  and  give  judgment  on  his  conduct.  If  the  person 
condemned  be  a  Presbyterian,  he  shall  have  liberty  to  appeal 
to  the  Presbytery ;  if  he  be  a  Congregationalist,  he  may 
appeal  to  the  body  of  the  male  communicants.  In  the  one 
case  the  decision  of  the  Presbytery  shall  be  final,  unless  the 
Church  appeal  to  the  Synod,  or  from  that  to  the  General 
Assembly.  If  he  be  a  Congregationalist,  he  may  appeal  to 
the  body  of  tlie  male  communicants,  and  from  this  an  appeal 
may  be  made  to  a  mutual  council.     If  said  Standing  Commit- 


52  PLAN   OF    UNION.  [1800-18UI. 

tee  of  any  Church  shall  depute  one  of  themselves  to  attend 
the  Presbytery,  he  may  have  the  same  right  to  sit  in  Presby- 
tery as  a  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This 
Plan  of  Union  is  found  in  the  Assembly's  minutes  of  1801, 
pp.  221,  224  and  in  Baird's  Digest,  p.  555. 

There  is  a  remarkable  coincidence  of  dates  between  the 
origin  of  The  Congregational  Association  of  South  Carolina 
and  that  of  The  Plan  of  Union.  The  former  was  organized 
on  the  25th  of  March,  1801,  and  the  Overttire  of  the  General 
Association  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  to  the  General 
Assemby  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States 
bears  date  in  the  same  year.  The  Plan  of  Union  was 
adopted  by  that  Assembly  on  the  29th  May,  1801,  and  was 
ratified  by  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  before  the 
meeting  of  the  Assembly  in  1802.  It  remained  in.  force 
until  it  was  abrogated  in  1837,  a  year  memorable  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  these  United  States. 

But  though  these  two  acts  were  cotemporaiieous,  or  nearly 
so,  there  was  this  difference,  that  the  Southern  organization 
was  intended  to  separate  the  Congregational  element  from  the 
Presbyterian,  by  providing  a  specific  organization  for  the 
former ;  while  the  Northern  plan  was  adapted  to  accom- 
modate the  state  of  affairs  in  a  newly  settled  country,  so 
that  Presbyterians  and  Congregation alists  could  be  members  of 
one  and  the  same  Church  ;  the  discipline  to  be  conducted,  if  the 
party  were  a  Congregationalist,  as  far  as  possible  after  the 
Congregational  form,  and  if  a  Presbyterian,  as  far  as  possible 
in  accordance  with  the  form  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

A  good  understanding  between  Congregationalists  and 
Presbyterians  had  existed  in  earlier  times.  Of  this  "the 
Heads  of  Agreement"  drawn  up  by  the  ministers  of  London 
in  i6go,  for  a  basis  of  Union  between  the  two  sects,  is  an 
evidence.  Of  this,  Increase  Mather,  President  or  Rector  of 
Harvard  University,  being  then  in  England,  was  greatly  instru- 
mental. The  principle  of  Presbyterianism,  of  higher  and 
lower  courts,  had  also  been  introduced,  in  a  modified  sense,  in 
the  Saybrook  Platform,  adopted  in  Connecticut  in  1708,  which, 
besides  the  Association  of  the  pastors  of  a  particular  district, 
provided  for  a  Consociation,  covering  a  larger  district,  to 
which  these  Associations  should  report,  and  the  decision  of 
which  should  be  final. 


1800-1810.]  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  53 


CPIAPTER  III, 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  have  given  such  an  account  as 
we  have  been  able  to  coinuile  of  the  Independent  or  Congre- 
gational Churches  of  the  Low  Country.  We  have  seen  them 
separating  themselves  more  distinctly  from  their  Presbyterian 
brethren  and  organizing  themselves  for  more  independent 
action.  We  now  turn  to  those  Churches  more  strictly  Pres- 
byterian. The  first  we  mention  is  the  French  Protestant 
Church  of  Chakleston,  the  only  survivor  of  the  Huguenot 
Churches  of  the  Low  Country  or  of  the  States.  It  had  lost  its 
house  of  worsliip,  we  have  seen,  vol.  I,  570,  in  the  great  fire 
of  June  13,1796.  It  was  rebuilt  in  1800,*  but  the  congrega- 
tion had  been  dispersed.  The  Rev.  Marin  DeTargny,  whose 
register  begins  January,  1805,  seems  to  have  ministered  to 
the  people  till  1808.  The  last  entry  in  his  register  is  in 
November,  1807.  From  this  date  to  the  end  of  this  decade 
the  Church  was  without  a  pastor. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Charles- 
ton continued  to  enjoy  through  the  larger  part  of  this  decade 
the  labors  of  its  beloved  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buist.  On  the 
28th  of  October,  in  the  year  1805,  he  was  appointed  by  the 
Trustees  of  Charleston  College,  Principal  of  that  institution. 
He  had  for  years  taught  a  large  grammar  school,  which  he 
now  removed  to  the  college  building.  His  assistants  were  a 
Mr.  O'Dunovan,  of  Ireland,  the  Rev.  Robt.  M.  Adams,  of 
Scotland,  Mr.  Hedley,  an  English  Episcopal  Minister,  Mr. 
Raphael  Bell,  afterwards  a  licentiate  of  Charleston  Presbytery, 
Mr.  Assalit,  a  French  teacher,  and  Mr.  (afterwards  the  Hon.) 
Mitchell  King.  The  plan  of  the  college  was  to  educate  boys 
for  practical  life,  or  for  the  learned  professions.  The  course 
marked  out  for  the  first  class  was  arranged  for  nine  years, 
that  of  the  second  class  for  eleven  years.  There  were  about 
one  hundred  boys  in  the  various  stages  of  education,  none 
of  whom  graduated  under  Dr.  Buist's  administration,  no  class 
having  attained  a  higher  rank  than  that  of  Sophomore.  Dr. 
Buist  had  the  choice  and  superintendence  of  the  subordinate 
teachers,  confining  his  own  instructions  to  the  highest  classes 
which  were  co-ordinate  with  those  of  the  college  proper.   For 

*Daniel  Ravenel,  1799  Mills. 


54  EEV.    DR.    BUIST.  [1800-1810. 

this  position  he  was  eminently  quahfied,  both  because  of  his 
own  attainii.ents  in  classical  learning  and  his  ideas  of  college 
discipline.  (Am.  Quart.  Register,  vol.  XII.,  p.  i68.)  Under 
his  guidance  the  college  attained  a  respectability  it  had  not 
acquired  before,  and  if  his  superintendance  could  have 
continued  longer,  it  would  have  passed,  ere  long,  from 
the  character  of  a  grammar  school  which  it  substantial Ij* 
was,  to  an  institution  for  the  higher  branches  of  learning 
and  science.  Dr.  Buist  retained  his  Scotch  notions  of  Presby- 
terian Church  government,  but  he  cautions  his  friend;  Robert 
M.  Adams,  against  'pushing  them  too  far.  '  You  know 
enough  t'rom  your  own  people,"  (those  of  Stoney  Creek)  he 
says,  "to  find  that  we  cannot  carry  the  principles  of  Pre-sby- 
terianism  to  their  full  extent  in  this  part  of  the  world;  and 
we  must  rather  do  what  we  can,  than  what  we  wisli  or  think 
best."  (MS.  Letter,  Feb.  29,  1808.)  It  was  through  him  that 
the  old  Presbytery  of  Charleston  made  its  overture  for  union 
with  the  General  Assembly  in  1804,  "but  without  connecting 
themselves  with  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas."  (Vol.  I,  p.  675.) 
The  Hon.  Mitchell  King,  to  whom  he  was  partial,  and  who 
was  invited  by  him  to  occupy  a  situation  as  teacher  in  the 
College,  informs  us  as  to  his  general  habits.  In  his  (Dr. 
Buist's)  very  short  absence  from  the  College,  his  communica- 
tions in  respect  to  its  government  were  ordinarily  made  to 
him.  He  owned  a  farm,  about  four  or  five  miles  from  town, 
where  he  ordinarily  spent  his  Saturday  holiday.  Thither  Mr. 
King  sometimes  accompanied  him,  and  almost  every  Satur- 
day he  dined  with  him.  "  From  early  life,"  says  Mr.  King, 
"  he  was  a  great  student,  and  his  love  of  learning  and  knowl- 
edge seemed  to  increase  with  his  increasing  years.  When 
he  was  first  called  to  the  ministry,  he  composed  a  great  num- 
ber of  sermons,  which,  after  his  marriage,  and  with  the  cares 
of  an  increasing  family,  and  the  labors  of  conducting  an  im- 
portant literary  institution,  he  was,  in  a  great  measure, 
obliged  to  continue  to  iise,  His  excellent  delivery  still 
recommended  them  to  his  hearers.  Had  he  been  spared, 
and  enabled  to  give  himself  to  the  composition  of  new  ser- 
mons, it  is  confidently  believed  that,  with  his  increased  learn- 
ing, and  experience,  and  knowledge,  he  would  have  left  works 
behind  him  which  the  world  would  not  willingly  let  die. 
The  sermons  which  were  published  after  his  death  were 
among  his  early  productions,  and  are   by  no  means  to  be  re- 


1800-1810.]  HIS   BURIAL.  55 

garded  as  adequate  .specimens  of  his  attainments  and  abilities 
in  the  later  period  of  his  life.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say 
that,  with  his  literary  tastes  and  great  diligence,  he  was  a  pro- 
ficient in  various  departments  of  learning,  While  he  was  a 
student  at  the  University,  as  well  as  afterwards,  he  was  pas- 
sionately fond  of  the  .study  of  Greek.  I  have  heard  him  say 
that,  during  his  college  course,  he  was  accustomed  frequently 
to  start  from  his  sleep  and  fine  himself  repeating  some  favor- 
ite Greek  author." 

But  the  life  of  Dr.  Buist  was  cut  short  "  in  the  midst  of  his 
days."  On  the  27th  of  August,  1808,  he  had  invited  a  friend 
whose  wife,  with  her  infant  child,  was  suffering  in  health,  to 
accompany  him  to  his  farm,  hoping  the  jaunt  might  be  bene- 
ficial to  both.  On  the  way  he  complained  of  feeling  unwell, 
on  the  next  day,  being  Sabbath,  a  physician  was  sent  for,  and 
on  Wednesday  night,  August  31st,  at  half-past  11  o'clock,  he 
expired,  after  an  illness  of  only  four  days,  in  the  39th  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  interred  in  the  Scotch  Church-yard,  in  a 
spot  of  ground  he  had  some  time  before  chosen,  attended  by 
the  Masonic  Lodge,  the  St.  Andrew's  Society,  the  congrega- 
tion, the  College  boys,  headed  by  their  Masters,  and  a  num- 
ber of  friends.  A  greater  concourse  of  the  citizens  has  never, 
I  understand,  been  witnessed  in  this  city."  (The  Letter  of 
Clias.  E.  Rowand  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  Rock  Spring,  near 
Coosahatchie,  dated  Sept.  14th,  1808.)  His  funeral  service 
was  performed  by  his  intimate  friend,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Furman, 
of  the  Baptist  Church.  More  elaborate  eulogies  have  been 
pronounced  upon  him',  but  we  here  produce  the  following 
closing  portion  of  a  sermon  delivered  by  Rev.  Robert  M. 
Adams,  of  the  Stony  Creek  Church,  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Charleston,  probably  on  a  communion 
occasion,  some  short  time  after  his  death,  which  we  have  met 
with  among  Mr.  Adams'  manuscripts. 

"  These  reflections  on  the  universality  and  consequences  of 
death  recall  forcibly  to  our  remembrance  the  decease  of  your 
late  worthy  and  ever  to  be  lamented  Pastor.  If,  in  the  circle  of 
your  domestic  connections,  you  have  had  a  friend  or  a  brother 
whom  you  tenderly  loved,  whose  name  was  dear  to  your 
heart,  and  in  whom  you  experienced  all  that  affection  can 
confer  or  virtue  adorn,  the  tear  of  sensibility  must  run  down 
at  the  recollection  of  your  loss. 

"  Let  us  contemplate  him,  for  a  moment,  as  a  man,  as  a 
scholar,  and  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel. 


56  DR.    BUIST.  [1800-lSlO. 

"  As  a  man — he  was  distinguished  by  those  quah'ties  which 
adorn  human  nature,  and  add  to  the  splendor  of  illustrious 
intellectual  power,  the  charms  of  pure  and  energetic  virtues. 
Possessed  of  tliose  superior  endowmonts  of  mind  with  which 
few  of  the  sons  of  men  are  favored  on  an  equal,  and  almost 
none  in  a  superior  degree,  he  shone  as  a  star  of  the  first  mag- 
nitude, keen  and  penetrating,  he,  at  one  intuitive  glance, 
discriminated  characters,  and  was  able  to  appreciate  worth 
and  excellence.  He  looked  beyond  the  external  appearance, 
and  entered  deep  into  the  recesses  of  the  human  heart. 
Hence,  he  detected  the  pretensions  of  arrogance,  and  exposed 
the  concealed  artifices  of  hypocricy.  With  a  candor,  which 
is  the  fairest  ornament  of  human  nature,  and  discovered  the 
purity  and  excellence  of  his  own  heart,  he  never  for  one 
moment  would  prostitute  integrity  for  the  fleeting  applause 
of  the  time-serving  sycophant.  But,  most  distinguished  as 
the  powers  of  his  mind  certainly  were,  he  never  effected  that 
superiority  which  disgusts  rather  than  gains  the  admiration 
and  love  of  others.  On  the  contrary.  Dr.  Buist  was  modest 
and  unassuming^a  perfect  judge  of  merit  in  others,  he  often 
undervalued  or  imperfectly  appreciated  the  qualities  in  him- 
self but,  in  another's  character,  he  would  have  admired  as 
bright  and  luminous.  Hence,  in  society,  he  was  a  most 
agreeable  and  pleasingcompanion,  whose  mind,  being  replen- 
ished with  an  inexhaustable  store  of  the  most  interesting 
anecdotes  or  useful  and  improving  truths,  he  had  the  peculiar 
felicity  of  communicating  in  an  easy  and  engaging  manner. 
Nor  was  he  less  amiable  in  his  dome.stic  relations  than  in  his 
social  intercourse  with  mankind.  As  a  husband  and  as  a  father 
he  discharged  with  exemplary  fidelity  the  duties  of  his  sta- 
tion. 

"As  a  scholar,  Dr.  Buist  was  eminently  distinguished. 
Possessed  of  those  powers  of  mind  which  are  essential  to  the 
acquisition  and  communication  of  knowledge,  he  was  dis- 
tinguished in  very  early  life  as  one  who  bade  fair  for  future 
excellence.  Hence,  the  first  university  in  the  world,  for  the 
learning  of  its  Professors  and  the  number  and  attainments  of 
its  pupils,  conferred  on  him  the  highest  honors  with  which 
genius  rewards  merit.  His  acquisitions  of  skill  in  the  learned 
languages  have  seldom  been  surpassed,  and  his  acquaintance 
with  the  various  departments  of  philosophy  were  peculiarly 
distinguished.      Indeed,    he    seems    to    have    been    fitted   by 


1800-1810.]  I>H.  BUIST.  57 

Providence  to  act  in  a  more  enlarged  sphere  of  useful  labor 
than  is  generally  the  lot  of  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  Of 
this  his  fellow-citizens  seem  to  have  been  fully  aware,  and 
unanimously  called  him  to  the  head  of  an  institution,  in  the 
conducting  of  which  he  has  gained  to  himself  immortal 
honor,  and  will  live  in  the  grateful  remembrance  of  the  suc- 
ceding  generation.  His  place  in  the  College  of  Charleston 
may  be  occupied  by  another,  but  there  is  little  hope  that  it 
will  ever  be  filled  by  one  so  illustrious  and  successful. 

As  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  Dr.  Buist  has  ever  been 
esteemed  as  occupying  the  first  rank.  This  was  the  depart- 
ment in  which  he  chose  to  excel — to  which  all  the  force  of 
his  genius  was  devoted — and  in  which  he  soon  felt  that  his 
efforts  were  to  be  successful.  For,  from  the  veiy  commence- 
ment of  his  theological  studies,  he  gave  pressages  of  iiis 
future  attainments  ;  and  in  the  societies  of  his  youthful  com- 
panions, laid  the  foundation  of  that  splendid  reputation  which 
for  near  twenty  years  of  meritorious  service,  continued  to  in- 
crease, and  which  has  procured  for  him,  as  a  religious 
instructor,  access  to  the  understandings  and  hearts  of  the 
most  cultivated  inhabitants  of  the  United  States. 

"  To  you,  my  brethren,  who  have  long  enjoyed  the  ines- 
timable blessing  of  his  religious  instruction,  it  is  unnecessary 
to  describe  the  qualities  of  the  luminous,  fascinating  eloquence 
with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  enlighten  and  arouse  your 
hearts.  We  have  never  heard  any  one  who' excelled,  or  even 
equalled  him,  in  the  most  distinguished  requisites  of  pulpit 
oratory,  in  profoundness  of  thought,  in  vivid  flashes  of  imagina- 
tion, or  in  pathetic  addresses  to  the  heart.  There  never  was 
a  public  teacher  in  whom  all  these  were  combined  in  juster 
proportions,  placed  under  the  directions  of  a  more  exquisite 
sense  of  propriety,  and  employed  with  more  uniform  success 
in  conveying  useful  and  practical  instruction.  Standing  on 
the  foundation  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Prophets,  he  exhibited 
the  doctrines  of  Christ  in  their  genuine  purity,  separated  from 
the  dross  of  superstition,  and  traced  with  inimitable  elegance 
through  all  their  beneficial  influence  on  the  condition,  on  the 
order,  and  on  the  virtue  both  of  public  and  private  life. 
Hence,  his  discourses  united  in  the  most  perfect  form  the 
attractions  of  utility  and  beauty,  and  frequently  brought  those 
into  this  sacred  temple  who  would  otherwise  have  been  found 
in  the  society  of  the  foolish  or  the  abodes   of  the  dissipated. 


58  SECOND    PRESBYTEBIAN    CHURCH.  [1800-1810. 

The  wavering  have  acknowledged  that  his  sermon.s  established 
their  faith,  and  the  pious  have  felt  the  flame  of  divine  love 
kindled  with  greater  ardor  iti  their  hearts  when,  under  his 
ministrations,  they  worshiped  in  the  temple  or  drew  near  to 
present  their  offerings  on  the  holy  altar. 

"  But. divine  wisdom  has  seen  meet  to  remove  him,  in  tlie 
midst  of  his  usefulness,  from  the  Church  on  earth  to  the 
Temple  in  the  Heavens.  He  has  gone  to  give  an  account  of 
his  stewardship  ;  we  are  left  beliind  to  mourn  his  loss.  Let 
us  pray  thit  tlie  great  Shepherd  of  Israel  may  give  you 
another  pastor,  who  will  lead  you  amid  the  green  pastures  and 
beside  the  .still  waters,  until  you  shall  pass  into  that  blessed 
state  where  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  throne 
shall  lead  you  to  living  fountains  of  water,  and  God  Himself 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  your  eyes." 

.  Dr.  Buist  was  married  in  1797  to  Mary,  daughter  of  Capt. 
John  Somers.  She  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  though 
her  father  was  from  Devonshire,  England.  Mrs.  Buist  died 
in  1845.  They  had  six  children,  four  sons  and  two  daughters  ; 
of  the  sons,  two  became  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Ciiurch, 
Rev.  Arthur  Buist  and  Rev.  Edward  T.  Buist,  D.  D.,  one, 
George,  a  lawyer,  and  one  a  physician.  In  1809  a  selection 
from  Dr.  Buist's  sermons  was  published  in  two  volumes,  8 
vo.,  with  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life.  Dr.  Buist  was  succeeded 
in  1809  by  Rev.  John  Buchan,  D.  D.,  of  Scotland,  who  was 
"  called  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Church,  with  the 
approbation  of  the  Rev.  Presbytery  of  Charleston."  [Charge 
by  Rev.  Robt.  M.  Adams,  in  MS.j  He  was  regularly 
installed  by  the  old  Presbytery  of  Charleston. 

THE   SECOMD    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    CHARLESTON. 

The  number  of  Presbyterians  multiplied  in  the  city  and 
throughout  the  State.  The  Church  in  Charleston  wa.s  found 
insufficient  to  accommodate  those  who  wished  to  worship 
with  Presbyterians  The  house  was  always  crowded,  seals 
could  not  be  procured,  except  by  long  delay  and  the  neces- 
sity of  another  Presbyterian  Church  b>;came  apparent. 

Previous  to  181 1,  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  was  the 
only  accommodation  for  Presbyterians  in  Charleston.  As 
early  as  the  year  1804,  the  necessity  of  a  new  erection  was 
felt  and   the   design  encouraged  by  Dr.  Buist,  then  pastor  of 


lSOO-1810.]  SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN'    CHURCH.  59 

the  church.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Malcomson,  who  arrived  from 
Ireland  in  1894,  and  had  been  settled  as  pastor  for  many 
years  in  Williamsburg,  in  tiiis  State,  was  engaged  to  prearh 
for  those  who  wished  to  form  another  congregation,  and  the 
temporary  use  of  the  French  Churcii  was  procured.  His 
death,  which  occurred  in  September  of  the  same  year, 
blighted  the  sanguine  hopes  which  were  entertained  that  ere 
long  another  Presbyterian  Church  and  congregation  would 
be  formed.  It  was  not  until  tlie  year  1809,  when  the  inability 
to  find  accommodation  in  the  existing  church,  made  the 
matter  urgent,  that  the  determination  was  finally  and  effectu- 
ally made  to  enter  upon  the  formation  of  the  present  Second 
Presbyterian  Church. 

It  was  on  Wednesday  evening,  F'ebruary  8th,  1809,  that 
the  following  gentlemen  being  assembled  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Flemming,  entered  into,  an  agreement  to  unite  their  efforts 
to  secure  a  suitable  building  for  a  Presbyterian  Church,  viz  : 
Benjamin  Boyd,  William  Pressly,  John  Ellison,  Archibald 
Pagan,  George  Robertson,  Samuel  Robertson,  William  Wal- 
ton, James  Adger,  Caleb  Gray,  John  Robinson,  Alexander 
Henry,  Samuel  Pressly,  William  Aiken,  John  Porter. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  on  March  6th,  a  subscription 
paper  for  the  support  of  a  minister  was  presented,  when  by 
the  subscription  of  a  number  present,  of  one  hundred  dollars 
each,  for  two  years,  more  than  a  sufficient  salary  being  sub- 
scribed, a  committee  was  appointed  to  request  the  Rev. 
Andrew  Flinn,  then  connected  with  the  united  congregation 
of  Williamsburg  and  Indian  Town,  to  organize  and  take 
charge  of  the  congregation,  with  a  salary  of  two  thousand 
dollars.  That  committee  consisted  of  Benjamin  Boyd,  John 
Cunningham,  Joseph  Milligan,  Samuel  Robertson  and  John 
Robinson,  who  is,  in  1837,  the  only  present  surviving  mem- 
ber. This  invitation,  the  claims  of  his  charge  having  been 
voluntarily  surrendered,  Mr.  Flinn  accepted;  when  a  irieeting 
for  the  formation  of  a  Second  Presbyterian  Church  was  held 
at  Trinity  Church  on  Monday  evening,  April  24th,  1809. 
Committees  were  appointed  to  attend  to  the  secular  biisiness, 
to  purchase  a  site  for  the  erection  of  a  church  and  to  obtain 
subscriptions.  The  first  standing  committee  to  attend  to  all 
the  secular  affairs  of  the  chuich  and  to  purchase  a  site  for 
the  church,  were  Benjamin  Boyd,  John  Cunningham,  Joseph 
Milligan,  John  Robinson  and  Samuel  Robertson. 


60  JAMES   ISIjAMD.  [1800-1810. 

Tlie  committee  to  procure  subscriptions  consisted  of  Ben- 
jamin Boyd,  John  Cunningham,  Joseph  Milligan,  Alexander 
Henry,  John  Stoney,  John  Eihson,  William  Porter,  George 
Robertson,  James  Gordon,  William  Aiken,  William  Walton, 
William   Pressly,  John  Robinson. 

As  a  record  of  the  munificence  of  the  donors,  who  were 
not  confined  to  Presbyterians,  it  was  resolved  that  the  names 
of  the  subscribers  should  be  preserved  in  parchment  and 
deposited  in  the  archives  of  the  church.  This  parchment 
though  somewhat  defaced  in  one  part,  is  still  preserved.  By 
May  i6th,  the  plan  of  the  church  was  presented  by  William 
Gordon,  who  was  appointed  to  build  it,  and  who  immediately 
entered  upon  the  work.  In  1809  an  Act  of  incorporation  wan 
obtained. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  James  Island. — In  1801  the 
Rev.  Thomas  H.  Price,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  James 
Island,  was  one  of  the  persons  who  was  consulted  as  to  the 
ordination  of  Mr.  F"loyd,  and  one  of  the  original  members  of 
the  Congregational  Association,  organized  March  25,  1801, 
(see  p.  — ,)  yet  while  the  other  Churches  whose  ministers  united 
in  that  act  are  styled  "  Independent  or  Congregational,"  this 
is  styled  "  Presbyterian  "  , 

The  ordination  sermon  of  Mr.  Price  was  preached  by  Dr. 
McCalla,  but  in  what  year  we  are  not  informed.  See  McCalla's 
Works,  series  IX.,  vol.  I,,  p.  247. 

Mr.  Price  is  reported  in  the  minutes  of  the  Association, 
through  this  decade,  and  was  the  Scribe  of  that  body,  and  the 
Associa  ion  once  met  at  his  house.  Dr.  Ramsay,  also,  in 
1808,  reported  this  Church  as  belonging  to  the  Independents, 
(Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  18,)  but  without  an  act  of  the  congregation 
itself,  this  is  not  positive  proof  of  any  change  of  its  original 
character.  The  Church  was  reported  by  Mr.  Price  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  decade  to  have  a  membership  of  27  whites  and 
6  blacks.  Total  33.  At  the  close  its  white  membership  was 
20,  its  black  26 — total  46.  Mr.  Price,  himself,  originated  in 
the  Bethel  Congregation  in  York  County,  and  was  a  licen- 
tiate of  Presbytery. 

We  retain  the  name  of  James  Island  among  the  Presbyte- 
rian Churches  a/though  it  seems  not  to  have  been  fully  con- 
nected with  Presbytery  until  November,  1853,  when  it  was 
represented  in  Presbytery  by  an  Elder,  Mr.  Edward  Freer. 
It  had,  however,  been  dependent  on  Presbytery  for  the  preach- 


1800-1810.]  JOHN'S  ISLA^'D  AND  WADMALAW.  61 

ing  of  the  Word  and  pastoral  services.  There  were  other 
Churches  bearing  the  name  of  Presbyterian,  which  .remained 
for  a  series  of  years  independent,  without  any  direct  represen- 
tation in  Presbytery,  except  through  its  ministerial  supply. 

The  Pkesbyterian  Church  of  John's  Island  and  Wadma- 
LAW  had  applied  to  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  for  the 
ordination  of  Rev.  James  Mcllhenny.  We  have  seen  (Vol.  I., 
P-  573))  that  this  Presbytery  was  divided,  and  by  the  division 
two  Pre.sbyteries,  the  First  and  the  Second  Presbyttries  of 
South  Carolina  were  created.  The  territory  on  the  Southwest 
side  of  Broad  River,  [which  as  it  flows  on  becomes  (on  receiv- 
ing the  Saluda)  the  Congaree,  and  this  (on  receiving  the  Wa- 
teree)  the  Santee.]  in  its  course  to  the  ocean  would  embrace 
the  John's  and  Wadmalaw  Islands.  'J  he  Second  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina  "  having  received  satisfactory  information 
of  the  earnest  desire  of  the  Church  on  John's  and  Wadmalaw 
Islands  to  have  him  ordained  at  this  time  to  settle  among 
them,  proceeded,  on  the  I2tli  of  February,  1800,  at  its  meet- 
ing at  Fairforest,  to  set  apart  Mr.  Mcllhenny  to  the  work  of 
the  gospel  ministry  by  prayer  and  imposition  of  the  hands  of 
Presbytery,"  Rev,  Andrew  Brown  preaching  the  ordination 
sermon,  and  the  Rev.  William  Williamson  delivering  the 
charge  to  the  newly  (Jrdained  minister,  "  after  wliich  Mr.  Mc- 
llhenny, being  invited,  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  Presby- 
tery." "  The  Clerk  was  directed  to  write  a  letter  to  the 
Church  on  John's  and  Wadmalaw  Islands,  giving  them  offi- 
cial inforrriation  of  the  ordination  of  Mr.  James  Mcllhenny  as 
their  pastor,  and  also  on  the  expediency  of  having  him  in- 
stalled among  them  if  practicable.  Mr.  Mcllhenny  soon  after, 
on  March  13,  1800,  was  married  to  Mrs.  Susannah  Wilkin- 
son,* relict  of  Francis  Wilkinson,  Esq.,  Dr.  Keith  officiating. 
On  the  9th  of  April,  1801,  a  letter  was  received  by  Presbytery 
trom  Mr.  Mcllhenny,  giving  his  reasons  for  absence  from  the 
sessions,  and  expressing  his  desire  to  resign  his  pastoral 
charge,  "  whereupon  it  was  ordered  that  the  Clerk  cite  that 
Church  to  appear  by  their  representation  at  our  next  stated 
sessions  to  show  cause,  if  any  they  have,  why  the  Presbytery 
should  not  accept  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Mcllhenny." 

At  the  Fall  meeting,  September  24,  1801,  the    Church   ad- 

*This  was  his  second  marriage.    He  first  married  Miss  Jane  Moore,  of 
Bethesda,  York,  who  lived  but  a  short  time,  leavjnj^  him  one  child, 


62  EDISTO    ISLAND.  [1800-1810. 

dressed  Presbj'tery,  by  letter,  and  the  result  was  that  Mr. 
Mcllhenny  was  released  from  his  pastoral  charge,  (the  reason 
alleged  being '■  want  of  harmony  between  the  parties,")  and 
the  Church  declared  vacant.  We  do  not  see  any  other  acts 
of  that  Presbytery  during  this  decade  touching  the  churches 
of  the  Low  country.  In  1806  the  Rev.  Dr.  Clarkson,  who 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Presbytery,  was  a 
licentiate  of  the  same  in  1795,  and  was  reported  as  pastor  of 
Greenwich  and  Bridgetown  in  1796,  became  pastor  of  this 
Church.  In  1808  Dr.  Ramsay  reports  this  Church  as  one  of 
''  seven  congregations  which  look  up  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Charleston  for  religious  instruction,"  and  Dr.  Clai'kson  as  one 
of  the  "  five  ministers  of  which  the  Presbytery  consists."  His 
ministry  continued  into  the  next  decade. 

Presbyterian  Church,  Edisto  Island. — The  Rev.  Donald 
McLeod  continued  pastor  of  this  Church.  He  did,  indeed,  on 
March  2,  1803,  signify  his  intention  to  resign.  But  on  the 
19th  of  March,  1804,  they  renewed  their  call,  raising  his 
salary  to  ;£^300,  it  having  been  ;£'200  before.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
McLeod  was  at  this  time  the  stated  Clerk  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Charleston. 

Wilton  Church. — We  have  seen.  Vol.  I.,  p.  576,  that  the 
Rev.  Andrew  S  eele  was  ministering  to  "this  congregation  in 
1800,  and  that  he  removed  to  Mississippi,  and  for  the  reasons 
there  given  had  devoted  himself  to  the  practice  of  medicine. 

In  a  paper  dated  April  19th,,  1803,  mention  is  made  of  a 
Thomas  Stewart,  who  ws.^  probably  a  minister,  and  served  the 
con£;regation  for  some  time. 

From  1803  to  1807  no  record  remains  to  show  who  minis- 
tered to  the  congregation.  Previously  to  1807,  or  early  in 
that  year,  the  church  building  erected  in  the  pine  land  about 
three  miles  from  the  former  site,  at  the  Bluff,  and  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  road  vrhich  runs  parallel  with  the ,  Edisto 
or  Pon  Pon  River,  was  burned,  the  fire  having  communicated 
to  it  from  the  woods. 

There  is  a  "notice"  bearing  date  May  ist,  1807,  request- 
ing the  members  of  the  Wilton  congregation  to  assemble  on 
business  of  importance,  at  the  ruins  of  the  Church  lately 
burnt.  This  meeting  was  held  May  21st,  when  it  was  re- 
solved "that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  examine  into  the 
state  of  the  funds  and  property  of  the  congregation  generally, 
and  to  enquire  what    would    be   the    cost    of   rebuilding   the 


1800-1810.]  8ALTKEHATCHEE.  63 

Church,  and  the  means  vvhereby  it  may  be  done."  IVJr. 
Cliampney,  Mr.  Ashe  and  Mr.  Hamilton  were  appointed  the 
committee.  The  only  report  of  their  examination  remaining 
is  the  list  of  donors  which  wa.s  published  in  our  first  volume, 
p.  577.  which,  being  without  date,  was  [lublished  with  the 
history  of  the  period  from  1790 — 1800;  but  it  isjustas  proba- 
ble that  it  belongs  here. 

The  spot  where  the  Church  stood,  which  was  built  when  it 
was  judged  expedient  to  remove  it  from  the  Bluff,  is  marked 
by  some  remains  of  the  ruins  and  a  few  grave  stones  which 
still  stand  in  tolerable  preservation.  On  one  of  these  is  the 
name  of  John  Berkley,  of  honored  memory,  who  was  one  of 
the  Deacons  of  the  Church  ;  and  on  another  that  of  Mrs. 
Maltby,  the  widow  of  Rev.  Joiin  Maltby,  who  was  pastor  of 
the  Church  from  1769  to  1771.  A  few  hundred  yards  from 
this  spot  are  a  few  remaining  signs  of  the  place  where  the 
parsonage  stood.     (M5S.  of  J.  L.  Girardeau,  D.  D.) 

Bethel  Presbyterian  Church  and  Congregation  of  Pqn 
PoN  had  the  Rev.  Andrew  Steele  as  its  pastor,  who  seems  to 
have  served  this  Church, as  well  as  Wilton,  till  1802,  when  the 
Rev.  Loami  Floyd,  who  had  relinquished  the  charge  of  the 
Church  at  Waynesboro',  Ga.,  was  installed  its  pastor.  Mr. 
Floyd  continued  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Association, 
and  reported  in  December,  I  806,  "thfit  the  Lord's  Supper  had 
not  been  administered  in  the  Church  of  which  he  is  pastor  for 
many  years,  until  Sabbath,  the  7th  of  that  month,  when  he 
had  the  happiness  to  administer  the  sacrament  to  14  persons, 
5  of  whom  were  whites,  and  9  persons  of  color."  (Minutes 
of  Association,-  p.  49.) 

Saltkehatchee. — This  church  still  existed,  but  after  the 
death  of  Mr  Gourlay,  was  probably  dependent  on  occasional 
supplies.  They  erected  a  new  house  of  worship,  and  invited 
t'he  Rev.  Dr.  Buist  to  open  it  for  them  on  the  second  Sabbath 
in  May,  1808.  On  the  25th  of  November,  1809,  they  ad- 
dressed Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  through  their  trustees,  William 
Patterson,  Archibald  S.Johnston,  and  Wm.  C.  V.  Thompson, 
requesting  a  portion  of  his  services,  "  if  agreeable  to  the 
gentlemen,  trustees  of  Prince  William's.  Our  funds,"  they 
add,  ''  are  not  considerable,  but  your  labor  shall  be  recom- 
pensed." They  request  an  answer  "  against  the  commencement 
of  a  new  year."  This  church  was  incorporated  December  17, 
1808,  by  the  name  of  "  The  Saltkehatchee  Independent  Pres- 
byterian Church."     (Statutes,  Vol.  VIII.  248.) 


64  SAVANNAH WILLIAMSBURG.  [1800-1810. 

During  thi.s  decade,  Savannah,  the  sister  city  to  Charleston, 
had  received  into  the  pulpit  and  pastorate  of  the  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church,  the  much  admired  and  greatly  beloved 
Dr.  Henry  KollocU,  who  removed  to  that  city  in  the  fall  of 
1806,  while  Charleston  had  lost  Dr.  Malcoinson,  whose  his- 
tory belongs  to  Williamsburg,  in  the  first  year  of  his  residence 
in  that  city,  in  1804,  and  his  friend,  Dr.  Buist,  followed  him 
to  the  eternal  state  four  years  later. 

The  Church  in  Williamsburg  became  divided  in  the  way 
we  have  described  in  the  first  volume,  pp.486,  et seq.,  and  578, 
et  seq.  The  feud  which  had  been  created  was  not  to  be 
healed  till  years  had  elapsed  and  one  generation  had  passed 
away.  The  party  that  retained  possession  in  law,  and,  also, 
the  tiiie  of  the  Williamsburg  Church,  had  Dr.  Malcomson  as 
their  pastor  till  his  removal  to  Charleston,  in  1804.  The 
church  remained  without  the  stated  means  of  grace  for  many 
years,  receiving  occasional  supplies  from  Rev.  Messrs.  Knox 
and  Thompson.*  In  1809  the  Rev.  Thomas  Ledly  Birch,  of 
Washington,  Pa.,  and  a  native  of  Ireland,  was  invited  to  visit 
the  congregation  with  a  view  to  settlement,  but  he  declined 
coming."     (Wallace,  p.  88.)t 

Dr.  Stephenson,  Pastor  of  the  Bethel  Church,  whose 
memoir  is  given  in  Vol.  I,  581,  et  seq.,  was  a  man  if  peculiar 
earnestness,  faithfulness  and  piety.  The  beginning  of  this 
century  was  signalized  by  extensive  revivals  of  religion  in 
many  parts  of  the  Southern  Church.  They  began  in  Kentucky, 
in  the  summer  of  1799,  but  reached  their  height  in  that  State 
in  1800  to  1801.  Crowds  flocked  to  the  sacramental  occa- 
sions, and  as  the  neighborhood  did  not  furnish  sufificient 
accommodations,  they  came  in  wagons  loaded  with  provisions, 
and  fitted  up  for  temporary  lodging.  Camp-meetings  thus 
arose,  the  first  of  which  was  held  in  Kentucky  m  July,  1800, 
in  the  congregation  of  Mr.  McGready,  formerly  of  North 
Carolina.     One  was  held  at    the  Waxhaw   church,  in  South 


*ThiB  Mr.  Thompson  was  from  North  Carolina,  and  a  man  of  some 
excentricity  Dr.  MoC.  and  his  brother  went  into  the  church  one  day, 
after  service  had  commenced.  Mr.  T.  drew  out  his  watch  and  said  : 
'  ■  It  is  half-past  ]  1  o'clock."  Having  occasion  to  allude  to  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon,  of  Princeton,  he  interposed  the  correction  :  "  He  is  no  connec- 
tion of  the  Witherspoons  here,  though — not  at  all." 

t  "  Rev.  Thomas  Ledlv  Birch  wns  permitted  to  emigrate  to  America 
on  account  of  his  sympathy  with  the  rebellion."  (Beid's  Hist,  of 
Ireland,  Vol  III,  p.  428,  Note  45.) 


1800-1810.]  BETHEL  CHURCH,  WILLIAMSBURG.  65 

Carolina,  on  the  2 1st  of  May,  and  another  at  Nazareth  on  the 
2d  of  July,  i802,  accompanied  with  ever  memorable  re- 
vivals, and  attended,  in  the  case  of  many,  with  remarkable 
bodily  agitations.  In  the  summer  of  this  year,  a  camp-meet- 
ing was  held,  following  the  example  which  had  thus  been 
set,  at  the  Sand  Hills,  near  the  road,  three  miles  above  Kings- 
tree,  which  was  attended  by  the  Rev.  John  Brown  (aftei  wards 
D.  D.),  of  the  Waxhaw  church.  Rev.  Duncan  Brown,  of 
Hopewell,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  McWhorter,  of  Salem.  Mr. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  Stephenson's  preaching  had  already  been  at- 
tended with  happy  results  to  his  people.  Dr.  Brown  had  just 
enjoyed  a  blessed  work  of  grace  among  his  flock,  in  which 
Mr.  Stephenson,  among  others,  had  assisted.  He  opened  the 
meeting  with  a  sermon  in  e.xplanation  and  defense  of  t\te  re- 
vival, now  becoming  more  and  more  extended,  which  con- 
vinced the  people  that  the  work  was  genuine,  and  the 
wonderful  scenes  which  occured  were  accompanied  by  the 
influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  There  were,  indeed,  doubters 
and  opposers.  "  The  exercises  "  which  attended  this  revival 
in  Kentucky  in  a  more  extreme  degree,  had  accompanied  it 
in  South  Carohna,  and  were  exhibited  here  ;  and  Mr.  Mal- 
comson  did  not  conceal  his  disapprobation  of  these  things, 
nor  did  Dr.  Buist,  as  the  note  appended  to  his  discourse  on 
Mr.  Malcomson's  death  will  show.  The  two  congregations 
were  intermingled  with  each  other.  Their  houses  of  worship 
were  less  than  one  hundred  yards  apart  (Vol.  I,  p.  488),  and 
they  were  supplied  with  water  from  the  same  well ;  yet  Mr. 
Malcomson's  people  were  not  affected  by  these  exercises,  nor 
were  the  negroes,  which  is  harder  to  be  believed.  Mr. 
Stephenson  continued  pastor  of  this  church  till  his  removal 
to  Tennessee,  in  180?.  The  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn  succeeded 
him  in  the  Bethel  church  in  1808.  After  a  short  interval,* 
he  was  succeeded  by  Daniel  Brown,  of  the  Fayetteville  Pres- 
bytery, whose  ministry  was  signally  owned  by  God,  especially 
in  his  labors  among  the  blacks  f  The  only  statistics  we  find 
of  this  church  are  for  the  year  1802,  when  it  reported  to  the 
General   Assembly    104  communicants.      In   about    1806  or 

*Less  than  a  year. 
'  tWe  find,  too,  that  the  Presbytery  appointed  for  this  church  during 
this  period  occasional  supplies,  viz :  G.  G.  McWhorter,  in  1807  ;   Duncan 
Brown,  John  Cousar,  and  Andrew   Flinn  in   1808,  and  Duncan  Brown 
and  John  Cousar  in  1809. 
&. 


6C  ME.  MALCOMSOX.  [1800-1810. 

1807,  the  Bethel  congregation  gave  up  their  original  site,  and 
built  a  new  hou.se  of  worship  about  half  a  mile  distant  from 
the  former. 

Of  Mr.  Malcomson,  whose  name  has  been  introduced  in  the 
preceding  pages,  Dr.  Buist  speaks  in  the  sermon  preached  at 
his  funeral,  in  the  following  terms  : 

"  There  he  continued  for  nearly  ten  years,  discharging 
with  fidelity  and  diligence  the  duties  of  his  pastoral  office, 
much  and  justly  esteemed  by  the  members  of  his  congre- 
gation. 

Wiih  his  ministerial  functions  hp  combined  (what  should 
always,  if  possible,  be  united  in  remote  country  settlements, 
where  a  physician  .seldom  is  resident),  the  profession  of  medi- 
cine;»in  which  he  possessed  no  small  degree  of  skill,  and 
which  he  practised  with  considerable  success.  He  also  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  benefit  of  the  district  in  which  he  was 
settled,  by  promoting  the  institution  of  an  academy  which  he 
afterwards  superintended  with  credit  to  himself  and  profit  to 
his  pupils.  And,  at  a  later  period,  he  vindicated  with  ability 
and  success,  both  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  the  cause  of 
genuine  and  rational  religion,  in  opposition  to  some  mis- 
guided men  who  wished  to  maintain  that  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  consists  not  so  much  m  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy 
in  the  Holy  Ghost  as  in  enthusiastic  raptures,  and  in  violent 
bodily  contortions  and  agitations  which  they  absurdly 
denominated  being  religiously  exercised.  In  that  district  there 
unhappily  existed,  long  before  his  residence  in  it,  religious 
and  political  divisions  and  prejudice.<!,  too  deeply  rooted,  and 
too  inveterate  to  be  easily  eradicated  ;  and  though  his  useful 
labors,  upright  conduct  and  very  obliging  and  agreeable 
manners  gained  him  the  sincere  and  universal  attachment  of 
his  own  congregation  and  of  all  men  who  had  discernment  to 
appreciate  and  liberality  to  acknowledge  merit,  he  found  that 
the  most  inoffensive  conduct  will  not  always  secure  from  the 
tongue  of  the  slanderer  those  whom  he  has  resolved  to  perse- 
cute, and  he  experienced,  o.i  various  occasions,  the  unhappi- 
ness  of  living  in  a  society  where,  though  we  are  for  peace, 
others  are  obstinately  bent  on  war.  With  a  view  to  tscape 
the  evils  of  this  state  of  society,  in  hope  of  providing  more 
amply  for  the  education  and  support  of  a  numerous  and 
increasing  family,  and  induced  by  the  opinion  of  respectable 
friends,  that  his  labors  as  an  instructor  of  youth  and  a  minis- 


1800-1810.]  MR.  MALCOMSON.  67 

ter  of  religion,  would  here  meet  with  encouragement  and 
success,  he  removed  to  Charleston  in  the  beginning  of  this 
year.  Here  his  expectations  were  more  than  realized.  Lib- 
eral and  discerning  men  did  justice  to  respectable  talents,  to 
attainments  far  above  mediocrity,  to  upright  and  exemplary 
conduct,  to  agreeable  manners  and  to  an  unexampled  suavity 
and  piacidness  of  disposition  which  is  justly  deemed  one  of 
the  be.-;t  proofs  of  a  Christian  temper.  He  had  obtained  a 
respectable  and  numerous  academy;  daily  accessions  were 
making  to  a  congregacion  already  considerable  for  numbers 
and  justly  and  sincerely  attaciied  to  their  pastor,  and  he  had 
the  fairest  prospect  of  being  highly  useful  and  respected  in 
the  community,  and  of  making  a  handsome  provision  for  his 
family.*  When,  alas  !  to  the  inexpressible  grief  of  his  family 
and  friends  and  to  the  great  loss  of  society,  in  the  prime  of 
life,  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  faculties,  in  the  thirty-sixth  year 
of  his  age,  he  is  removed  from  us  to  occupy  a  more  exalted 
station  in  anotlier  region  of  God's  infinite  dominions. 

We,  who  witnessed  its  closing  scene,  are  able  to  add  an 
authority  still  more  unexceptionable  and  impressive.     For 

"  A  death-bed's  a  detector  of  the  heart : 
'  "  There  tir'd  dissimulation  drops  the  masli  : 
''  There  real  and  apparent  are  the  same." 

YOUNQ. 

How  much  was  it  to  be  wished  that  the  infidel  and  the 
worldling  had  be^n  present  in  the  last  moments  of  our  de7 
parted  friend  !  That  they  who  foolishly  barter  an  eternity  of 
bliss  for  an  hour  of  transitory  enjoyment,  had  heard  his  senti- 
ments on  the  vanity  of  all  sublunary  things  !  That  they  who 
are  carried  down  the  stream  of  pleasure,  unmoved  by  the 
sorrows,  and  insensible  even  to  the  joys  of  others,  had  wit- 
nessed the  heart-rending  but  instructive  scene,  when,  finding 
liis  end  approaching,  he  called  his  family  and  friends  around 
him,  comforted  his  afflicted  consort,  exhorting  her  to  trust  in 
the  living  God  who  had  all  along  befriended  them,  and  who 
would  still  prove  her  protector  and  guardian  ;  when  he  took 
his  infant  child  in  his  arms,  blessed  her,  and  commended  her 
to  the  providential  care  of  the  Almighty ;  when  he  charged 
such  of  his  offspring  as  had  understanding  sufficient  to  com- 
prehend his  meaning,  to  persevere  in  the  virtuous  course  in 
which    they    had    been  initiated,  and  diligently    serve    Him 


68  INDIAN   TOWN.  [1800-1810. 

whom  their  father  had  served  ;  when  he  expressed  to  his 
weeping  friends  and  some  of  the  affectionate  attendants  on 
his  ministry  who  were  present,  his  ardent  wi.shes  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  gospel,  and  for  the  interests  of  reh'gion  and  virtue, 
declared  his  unfeigned  assent  to  the  truth  of  Christianity, 
devoutly  thanked  God  for  the  comforts  and  hopes  of  religion, 
and  desired  his  friends  to  join  in  the  performance  of  that 
divine  exercise  of  praise,  which  he  was  soon  to  enjoy  in  per- 
fection in  the  mansions  above." 

Indian  Town  Presbyterian  Church  was  associated  with 
Bethel  as  the  pastoral  charge  of  Dr.  Stephenson,  and  he 
resided  in  its  vicinity.  He  labored  successfully  and  satisfac- 
torily among  them  for  the  space  of  nineteen  years.  He 
preached  his  valedictory  sermon  at  Indian  Town  on  Ae  28th 
of  February,  1808,  and  set  out  for  Maury  County,  Tennessee, 
with  a  colony  of  about  twenty  families  of  the  Bethel  Church 
(some  part  of  whom,  however,  had  preceded  him),  and  set- 
tled on  a  tract  of  land  which  they  had  jointly  purchased  from 
the  heirs  of  General  Green.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  pas- 
torate by  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  afterwards  D.  D.,  in  1809. 
The  history  of  James  White  Stephenson,  as  written  by  Rev. 
J.  A.  Wallace,  subsequently  pastor  of  the  churches  of  Bethel 
and  Indian  Town,  is  given  by  us  in  our  first  Volume,  pp.  581, 
587,  and  was  also  published  in  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Review,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  102. 

It  was  during  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Stephenson  that  Thomas 
Dickson  Baird,  afterwards  D.  D.,  became  a  resident  within 
the  bounds  of  this  congregation  and  a  member  of  this  church. 
He  was  born  in  the  County  of  Down,  Ireland,  on  the  26th 
of  December,  1773,  of  parents  who  were  members  of  the 
Burgher  Secession  Church.  In  early  life  he  had  a  strong 
desire  for  knowledge,  and  for  a  liberal  education,  w'nich  his 
father  felt  obliged  to  deny  him,  intimating  to  him  that  he  was 
destined  to  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith.  But  while  tailing  at 
the  anvil  he  made  himself  acquainted  with  arithmetic,  and 
advanced  considerably  in  Lilly's  Latin  Grammar,  which  was 
the  more  difficult  as  it  was  itself  written  in  the  Latin  tongue. 
He  was  at  the  same  time  a  diligent  student  of  the  scriptures, 
and  acquired  a  good  knowledge  of  .systematic  theology.  At 
eighteen  he  became  a  member  of  the  church  to  which  his 
parents  belonged,  and  afterwards  joined  the  Reformed  Church 
or  that  of  the  Covenanters.     On  the  12th  of  December,  1796, 


1800-1810.]  THOMAS    DICKSOX  BAIRD,  D.  D.  69 

he  was  united  in  marriage  witli  Isabella  Mackey,  and  returned 
again  to  the  Associate  Church. 

He  was  a  participant  in  the  Irish  rebellion  of  1796,  and. 
eluding  the  vigilance  of  the  authorities,  in  the  year  t802  he 
embariced  for  America  and  landed  at  Newcastle,  Delaware, 
on  the  9th  of  July.  He  was  employed  at  his  trade  in  Penn- 
sylvania nearly  three  years,  when,  receiving  letters  from  a 
relative  in  Williamsburg,  S.  C.,he  left  Philadelphia  in  March, 
1805,  and  traveled  by  the  way  of  Charleston  to  the  place 
wiiere  his  relative  resided.  In  the  following  autumn  his  wife 
was  seized  -with  the  prevailing  fever,  which  proved  fatal,  and 
shortly  after  his  two  little  boys  fell  victims  to  the  same  dis- 
ease and  were  laid  by  the  side  of  their  mother.  He  himself 
was  then  seized  by  the  same  malady,  and  escaped  death  as  if 
by  a  miracle.  The  man  who  made  the  coffins  for  his  wife 
and  children  was  still  living  in  1858.  It  was  at  this  period 
that  Mr.  Baird  began  more  seriously  to  meditate  the  purpose 
of  entering  the  ministry.  He  had  already  united  with  the 
church  at  Indian  Town,  and  gradually  became  reconciled  to 
singing  the  version  of  the  Psalms  then  in  use. 

His  purpose  of  entering  the  ministry  was  subsequently 
thwarted  again  and  again.  Yet  it  was  not  abandoned.  He 
wrote  a  sermon  while  he  was  yet  at  Indian  Town  which  he 
exhibited  to  a  few  of  his  friends.  The  vestiges  of  his  house 
were  still  shown  a  few  miles  from  the  church  on  the  6th  of 
February,  1858.  Persevering  in  a  purpose  so  early  formed, 
in  April,  1809  he  quit  his  worldly  occupation,  sold  the  little 
property  he  had  accumulated  and  again  entered  on  a  course 
of  study.  He  availed  himself  of  the  instruction  of  the  Rev. 
Moses  Waddel,  then  the  principal  of  a  very  popular  school 
at  Willington,  Abbeville  District,  S.  C,  while  at  the  same 
time  he  was  acting  as  tutor  in  the  institution.  In  the  spring 
of  J  81 1  he  was  taken  under  "the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina,  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  and  on  8th 
of  April;  1812,  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel. 

The  succe.ss  of  the  Presbyterian  colony  led  forth  by 
Dr.  Stephenson,  may  be  known  by  the  following  hi.story  of 
"  the  Frierson  Congregation,"  so  called  by  the  prevalence 
of  that  name  among  them.  And,  indeed,  down  to  this 
time,  several  of  that  name  have  entered  the  Pre.sbyterian 
ministry. 


70  THE   FRIERSON    COXGREUATIOK.  [1800-1810. 

A  REMARKABLE  CONGREGATION. 

We  take  the  following  sketch  from  correspondence  of  the  Louisville 
Presbyterian  Herald  .- 

The  history  of  the  Frierson  congjegation  is  somewhat  unique  and 
peculiar,  and  deserves  from  me  more  than  a  passing  notice.  About  the 
commencement  of  the  present  century  a  number  of  families  belonging 
to  a  Presbyterian  congregation  in  South  Carolina,  determined  to  emi- 
grate to  the  West  for  several  reasons.  Tlie  land  on  which  they  lived 
was  much  exhausted  and  the  climate  of  South  Carolina  was  so 
unhealthy  that  their  children  sickened  and  died  before  arriving  at  the 
age  of  maturity.  They  had  heard  of  a  promised  land  in  the  West  and 
determintd  to  seek  a  residence  in  it  But  they  formed  a  resolution  to 
carry  with  them  the  institutions  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  implore  the 
blessing  of  God  on  their  enterprise.  They  could  not  go  unless  God 
went  with  them,  and  they  determined  to  acknowledge  him  in  all  their 
ways.  Their  minds  were  bent  on  making  a  settlement  in  Louisiana, 
but  to  reach  that  territory  which  had  been  but  recently  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  it  was  necessary  to  pass  through  Tennessee.  Louisiana 
was  at  that  time  supposed  to  be  a  perfect  paradise.  In  the  spring  of  the 
year  1805,  four  families  came  out  and  settled  for  a  time  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Nashville,  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  n^moval  of  the  whole 
colony.  They  had  to  traverse  mountains  and  nearly  all  the  way  they 
had  to  pass  throngh  an  unbroken  wilderness.  But  Providence  was 
kind  to  them  and  "  they  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville  at  the 
time  the  purchase  was  made  from  the  Indians  of  the  lands  whereon 
they  afterwards  settled,  of  which  purchase  they  knew  nothing  previous 
to  their  emigration."  Such  is  their  own  statement,  made  in  a  journal 
or  history  of  the  colony,  which  is  still  in  existence.  That  purchase  of 
Indian  territory  was  the  means,  in  the  hands  of  Providence,  of  fixing 
the  permanent  residence  of  the  colony  of  Tennessee. 

In  the  year  1806,  eleven  other  families  removed  from  South  Carolina. 
Temporary  places  of  abode  had  been  prepared  for  them  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Franklin,  about  twenty  miles  southeast  of  Nashville.  Their 
journey  was  a  prosperous  one.  They  thankfully  recorded  that  the  rivers 
were  lowered  so  that  they  had  not  to  ferry  a  single  stream,  nor  had  they 
a  single  shower  of  rain  to  wet  them  or  to  make  tiie  I'oads  muddy.  Not 
an  accident  of  a  serious  nature  occurred  during  the  journey.  These 
families  traveled  in  two  companies.  One  company  rested  on  the  Sab- 
bath day  and  conducted  public  worship  by  singing,  praying  and  read- 
ing a  sermon.  The  other  had  hired  wagons  to  convey  their  families, 
without  any  written  agreement,  binding  the  drivers  of  their  wagons  to 
stop  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  when  the  Sabbatli  came  they  geared  up 
their  horses  and  would  go  forward.  The  party  that  kept  the  Sabbath 
arrived  at  their  journey's  end  just  one  hour  after  the  other,  with  their 
wagons  and  horses  in  a  much  better  condition.  Resting  on  the  Sab- 
bath had  proved  to  be  profitable  both  to  man  and  beast. 

In  1807,  the  colony  purchased  five  thousand  acres  of  land  from  the 
heirs  of  General  Greene,  in  Maury  County,  and  prepared  to  settle  on  it 
permanently.  'I  hey  went  into  the  cane  brake,  divided  their  land  and 
built  a  house  of  worship  in  the  center  of  their  tract  near  a  spring,  and 
then  went  to  work  to  build  small  cabins  for  the  accommodation  of  their 
families.  We  do  not  believe  that  the  same  thing  can  be  said  of  any 
settlement  that  has  ever  been  made  in  the  West.    I  never  heard  of  any 


1800-1810.]  THE    FRIBRSON    COXGRECJATION.  71 

other  emigrants  who  built  a  house  of  worship  before  they  cut  flown  a 
single  stiuk  of  timber  to  make  i.'onifortable  residences  for  their  own 
families.'  AVliat  is  also  remarkable,  they  had  no  preacher  with  them, 
and  tiieir  worship  bad  to  be  conducted  by  laymen.  Their  pastor  did 
not  join  them  until  several  years  after  their  removal  into  the  wilder- 
ness. He  first  paid  them  a  visit,  and  afterwards  moved  into  tlie  midst 
of  them.  With  pleasure  we  make  the  following  extracts  from  the  his- 
tory of  the  congregation.  It  gives  a  pleasing  view  of  the  state  of  feel- 
ing among  the  Friersons  on  a  very  important  subject : 

"  A  Committee  named  our  Sooiety  Zion  In  the  fall  of  1808,  Rev. 
Gideon  Blackburn  preached  for  us;  in  the  winter,  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Finley._  In  the  spring  of  1809,  Rev.  James  W.  Stephenson  removed  to 
our  neighborhood,  and  became  our  stated  supply.  Six  elders  were 
elected  and  set  apart  for  that  office  ;  two  had  been  previously  set  apart, 
so  that  the  session  consisted  of  eight  elders. 

The  houses  not  being  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  people,  we 
erected  a  stand  and  made  a  shed  before  the  meeting  house.  In  August, 
180.9.  the  sacrament  was  administered  for  the  first  time,  and  we  trust 
much  good  resulted. 

About  this  time  a  goodly  number  of  our  black  people  appeared  to  be 
under  awakening  influences  and  petitioned  to  be  admitted  to  church 
privileges.  To  our  shame  we  have  to  acknowledge  that  the  education 
of  these  people  had  hitherto  been  criminally  neglected.  A  great  num- 
ber of  them  had  been  the  companions  and  nurses  of  our  infantile  years. 
They  had  been  doomed  to  hard  slavery  in  order  to  procure  means  for 
our  education  and  to  let  us  live  in  ease,  and  yet  we  had  not  taken  that 
pains  and  trouble  which  we  ought  to  have  taken  in  training  them  and 
teaching  them  a  proper  knowledge  of  the  God  who  made  them,  of  their 
lost  condition  by  nature,  of  the  pure  requisitions  of  God's  law,  or  of  the 
plan  of  salvation  through  a  Redeemer.  *  *  *  *  *  j^ 
sense  of  that  neglect  made  a  considerable  impression  on  the  minds  of  a 
number  of  the  congregation.  The  session  resolved  to  pay  due  attention 
to  them,  and  to  take  them  under  charge  as  catechumen. 

[Sprasjue'.s  Annals,  vol.  III.,  pp.  550,  1554,  vol.  IV.,  476, 
478.] 

The  Churches  of  Hopewell  and  Aimwell,  on  Pee  Dee, 
united,  both,  a.s  "vacancies,"  remained  under  one  and  the 
same  pastoral  charge  through  the  most  of  this  decade.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  century  they  were  vacant  and  were 
dependent  still  on  occasional  supplies.  (See  Vol.  I.,  p.  593.) 
On  September  the  29th,  1803,  Duncan  Brown  applied  to  the 
First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  which  embraced  that  por- 
tion of  the  State  Northeast  of  the  Broad,  Congaree  and  Santee 
Rivers,  to  be  received  under  their  care,  pijoducrng  a  certificate 
of  dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Orange.  The  tradition 
is,  that  he  was  pastor  of  the  two  churches  from  the  year  1800. 
He  may  have  preached  to  them  as  a  licentiate  from  that  date, 
and  probably  did  so,  but  he  was  not  connected  with  the  Pres- 
bytery to  which  these  churches  were  amenable    till   the    date 


72  HOPEWELL    AKD    AIMWELL.  [1800-181C. 

mentioned  above.  A  call  from  these  two  churches  for  his 
pastoral,  services  was  presented  to  the  Presbytery  at  this  meet- 
ing, and  by  him  accepted.*  At  an  intermediate  meeting,  lield 
at  Hopewell,  on  the  19th  of  November,  1803,  he  was  solemnly 
ordained  to  the  whole  work  of  the  gospel  ministry  by  prayer 
and  the  imposition  of  hands,  and  installfd  as  pastor  of  the 
united  congregations  of  Hopewell  and  Aimwell  (Pee  Dee.) 
The  ordination  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Moderator,  Rev. 
Geo.  G.  McWhorter,  and  the  charge  delivered  by  Rev.  Jas.  W. 
Stephenson.  He  remained  in  this  pastoral  charge,  faithfully 
performing  its  duties,  until  October  2d,  1809,  when  the  pas- 
toral relation  was  dissolved  at  his  own  request,  and  with  the 
concurrence  of  his  people.  He  was  at  the  same  time  dismis.sed 
to  join  the  Presbytery  of  Transylvania. t 

The  only  statistical  reports  we  find  of  Hopewell  and  Aim- 
well  during  this  period  are  for  the  year  1.805.  Total  commu- 
nicants reported  57  Infants  baptized  5.  For  the  year  1807, 
communicants    56;  Baptisms,  i  adult  and  12  infants. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  o^  Black  Mingo  still  had  the 
Rev.  William  Knox  as  its  pastor.  He  was  a  minister  of  the 
old  school,  and  probably  regarded  many  of  his  brethren  as 
too  rigid,  and  perhaps  fanatical. 

•    THE  RED  BLUFF  CHURCH. 

The  site  of  the  old  Red  Bluff  Church  is  still  to  be  seen  in 
Marlboro'  County,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Little  Pee  Dee 
River,  on  a  high  bluff,  from  which  it  takes  its  name.  It  was 
perhaps  the  oldest  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  State  on  the 
cast  of  the  Great  Pee  Dee.  We  have  failed  to  get  the  exact 
date  of  its  organization.  It  was  doubtless  organized  some 
years  previous  to  the  great  revival  of  1802,  by  Scotch  settlers, 

*This  call  was  signed  by  Alexander  Gregg,  .Tames  Bigham,  Jr.,  E. 
Birch,  David  Bigham,  William  Gregg,  Sr.,  John  Muldiow,  Joseph  Gregg, 
Thomas  McCall,  Hugh  Mnldrow,  Alex.  Gregg,  Jr.,  Jeremiah  Brown, 
John  Cooper,  James  Hudson,  Samuel  Bigham,  John  Gregg,  Samuel 
Gregg,  S.  1  ritchard,  Charles  Rinacklea,  John  McCown,  Hanor  Davis, 
JRobert  Gregg,  James  Neuter,  Gavin  Witherspoon,  John  Ervin,  Hugh 
Ervin,  Stephen  Thompsim,  Moderator  of  the  meeting,  Rev.  James  Ste- 
phenson, of  South  Carolina  Presbytery,  and  Pastor  of  Williamsburg 
Church.    (MSS.  ofEev.  W.  A.  Gregg.)" 

fMSS.  Minutes  of  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  pp.  53,  55,  60,  61 
and  124. 


]  800-18]  0.]  RED   BLUFF   CHURCH.  73 

who  came  down  into  that  region  from  the  Cape  Fear  settlement. 
At  that  time  (i8o3)  Rev.  Cohn  Lindsey  was  preaching  there 
to  a  regular  organized  church,  and,  as  far  as  we  can  learn,  a 
church  of  some  considerable  strength.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  a 
good  degree  of  excitement,  and,  perhaps,  some  excesses 
attended  the  revival  meetings.  Mr.  Lindsey,  it  is  said,  at  first 
tolerated,  then  afterwards  took  strong  grounds  against  the 
revivalists,  and  a  goodly  number  of  the  congregation  sided 
with  him.  This  caused  two  parties  in  the  church,  very  bitter 
in  their  feelings  toward  each  other.  The  revivalists  were 
called  the  New  Lights.  They  did  not  at  first  secede  from 
the  church,  but  invited  Rev.  Murdoch  Murphy,  of  Robeson 
County,  who  held  the  same  views,  to  preach  for  them  on  a 
different  day  from  Mr.  Lindsey's  appointment.  A  well  estab- 
lished tradition  said  the  Old  Lights,  or  anti-revivalists,  to 
defeat  this  movement,  built  a  high  rail  fence  around  the  church 
on  the  night  previous  to  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Murphy. 
The  elder  who  kept  the  church  key,  (Mr.  John  McRay.)  siding 
with  the  New  Lights,  leaped  over  the  fence,  opened  the  church 
door,  ?nd  bid  the  minister  and  congregation  to  fo  low,  which 
they  did,  and  worshiped  without  further  molestation.  After 
this.  Mr.  Murphy  preached  at  private  houses  until  a  new 
house  of  worship  was  erected  by  the  revivalists,  about  one  and 
a  half  miles  east  of  the  old  church.  This  was  called  Sharon 
Church,  and  continued  a  number  of  years  a  separate  organiza- 
tion. After  Mr.  Lindsey's  death  the  two  parties  came  to- 
gether again  at  the  old  stand.  Which  party  was  right  in  this 
controversy  we  cannot  fully  determine,  but  are  rather  inclined 
to  side  with  the  revivalists.  There  was'  evidently  more  piety 
on  that  side,  and  their  views,  after  lopping  off  excesses,  finally 
prevailed  in  the  community.  Had  Mr.  Lindsey  been  a  more 
pious  and  prudent  man,  this  breach  in  the  household  of  faitli 
might  have  been  prevented.  This  leads  us  to  say  of  Mr.  Lind- 
sey, that  in  the  judgment  of  posterity  he  was  a  man  of  some 
talent,  but  little  piety.  A  well  founded  tradition  says  that  he 
was  often  assisted  into  the  pulpit  by  some  one  of  the  elders, 
and  preached  to  the  people  under  the  influence  of  strong 
drink,  and  would  say  to  the  people  :  ''  Do  not  as  I  do,  but  as  I 
say."  We  have  learned  the  name  of  but  one  elder  during  Mr. 
Lindsey's  tirne.  Mr.  John  McKay,  whose  name  is  mentioned 
above,  and  who  withdrew  with  the  revivalists.  The  elders  of 
Sharon  were  John  McRay,  Hugh  iVIcLaurin,  Duncan  Rankin, 


74  blaCk  river,  wixvaw.  [isoo-isio. 

Daniel  Mclntyre,  and  Archibald  Thompson.  After  the  re- 
union the  followinsj  elders  were  elected:  Daniel  McLeod, 
Daniel  McLaurin,  and  John  McRae.  Mr.  Murphy  supplied 
the  Sharon  Church  but  a  short  time.  He  removed  Westward, 
and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Malcom  McNair.  (Liberty  Co., 
Ala.,  Dr.  Wall's  Diar.,  &c.,  p.  lo.) 

Some  attention  was  drawn  to  Presbyterianism  in  other 
localities  in  this  general  region  of  the  State.  "  A  few  people 
near  the  Long  Bluff  on  Pedee  Rfver,  and  a  people  near 
Kingstree.  request  to  be  noticed  by  this  Presbytery."  [Min- 
utes of  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  September  21, 
1802.]  On  the  15th  of  March,  1805,  Murdoch  Murphy,  who 
had  been  appointed  in  October,  1804,  by  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas,  a  missionary  for  the  lower  part  of  South  Carolina, 
was  received  as  a  licentiate  from  Orange  Presbytery,  N.  C. 
A  call  was  presented  to  Presbytery  for  his  pastoral  services 
from  a  conj^regation  by  the  name  of  the  churcli  and  congre- 
gation of  Black  River,  Winyaw,  in  Georgetown  District, 
which  was  put  in  Mr.  Murphy's  hands  and  by  him  accepted. 
On  May  17,  1805,  an  Intermediate  Presbytery  was  held  at 
Black  River  Church,  tlie  evening  session  being  held  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Samuel  Green.  On  the  following  day  the  ordi- 
nation services  took  place  at  the  church,  the  Rev.  Geo.  G. 
McWhorter  preaching  the  sermon,  Dr.  Stephenson  proposing 
the  constitutional  questions  to  the  candidate,  and  the  usual 
charge  being  given  to  the  minister,  the  Rev.  Murdock  Mur- 
phy, and  the  address  to  the  people  over  whom  he  was  placed. 
This  church  was  located  very  near  the  spot  where  an  Epis- 
copal Cliurch  had  stood  in  former  days.  Mr.  Murphy  was 
dismissed  March  2d,  1809  to  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  and 
it  is  not  probable  that  his  connection  'with  this  church  con- 
tinued longer.     [Mm.  ist  Presbytery,  p.  116] 

Salem  Church  (Black  River). — The  Rev.  Joiui  Foster 
was  released  from  his  pastoral  charge  at  the  meeting  of  the 
PresbyteVy  at  Bethesda,  Maich  27,  1801.  On  the  i6th  of 
March,  1805,  he  was  cited  to  appear  before  Presbytery,  at  its 
next  stated  meeting,  to  answer  for  non-attendance  upon  its 
sessions  and  neglect  of  ministerial  duty.  The  citation  was 
renewed  at  the  next  session.  On  the  13th  of  March,  1806, 
he  appeared  and  plead  bodily  indis|josition  as  his  reason, 
which  was  accepted.  He  was  again  cited  September  29th,  1807, 
for  the  same  fault  and  for  indifference  to  their  orders.     The 


lSOO-1810.]  SALEJI,  BLACK  RIVER.  75 

citation  was  repeated  with  greater  sharpness  and  severity  on 
March  3d,  1808,  and  lie  was  ordered  to  appear  at  the  next 
session  to  answer  the  charges  exhibited  against  hii;n.  At 
the  fall  sessions,  October  3d, '''Mr.  Foster,  being  called  to 
answer  to  the  several  specific  parts  of  such  charge,  was  heard 
in  each  in  his  own  defense  in  justification  for  supposed  neglect 
ot  duty  as  stated  in  the  same,  and  his  reasons  were  such  as 
induced  the  Presbytery  to- acquit  him.  However,  Mr.  Foster 
unequivocally  denies  his  violation  of  his  own  word,  and 
promises,  as  stated  in  such  charges,  and  Presbytery,  without 
any  hesitation,  admit  that  such  charge  is  to  be  considered  as 
carrying  with  it  some  degree  of  harshness."  [Minutes,  p.  102,] 

The  -strictness  of  the  Presbytery  is  at  the  same  time  shown 
by  the  citation  of  the  Rev.  Murdock  Muiphy  to  appear  per- 
sonally or  by  letter  at  the  next  stated  sessions  to  inform  them 
"  of  the  reasons  of  his  former  non-attendance." 

'' The  Rev.  John  Foster  continued  to  fulfil  the  ministerial 
duties,"  says  M.  P.  Mayes,  clerk  of  the  session  of  Salem 
Church,  "  until  the  time  he  left  us  and  removed  to  the  back 
country.  Our  church  was  now  vacant,  with  only  occasional 
supplies.  Rev.  Mr.  Roxborough  gave  us  a  sermon  or  two, 
and  perhaps  others.  In  September,  1802,  the  Rev.  George 
Gray  McWhorter  came  on  as  a  missionary  from  some  onq  of 
the  North  Carolina  Presbyteries,*  preached  to  us,  pleased  us, 
and  became  our  pastor,  without  any  Presbyterial  installation. 
On  September  2d,  1804,  the  Brick  Church  was  dedicated  by 
him,  and  two  elders — William  Wilson  and  Charles  Story — 
were  ordained." 

There  is  one  error  in  this  statement.  Mr.  McWhorter  was 
a  member  of  the  Old  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  organized 
in  1785.  He  was  ordained  pastor  of  Bethel  and  Beershcba 
in  1796  ;  was  one  of  the  original  men)bers  of  the  Fint  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Carolina,  on  the  division  of  the  Old  Presby- 
tery, and  was  released  from  his  charge  of  Bethel  and  Beer- 
sheba  by  act  of  Presbytery,  September  29,  1801.  Salem  had 
67  communicants  in  1807. 

*  Rather  from  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  The  Old  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Carolina  was  set  off  from  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  in 
]785.  On  the  6th  of  November,  1799,  it  was  divided  into  the  Pint  and 
Second  Presbyteries  of  South  Carolina,  the  waters  of  Broad  River  on 
their  way  to  the  Ocean  being  the  southern  boundary  of  the  First  Pres- 
bytery. 


76  CONCORD — NEWHOPE — MIDWAY.  [1800-1810. 

Concord  Church,  Sumter  District,  was  organized  by- 
Rev.  George  G.  McWhorter  about  l8o8  or  1809,  while  he 
acted  as  pastor  of  Salem  Church.  It  is  about  eight  miles 
from  Sumterville.  on  tlie  road  to  Kingstree  and  Georgetown. 
The  Pre.sbytery  to  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  McWhorter  at  that 
time  belonged  was  known  as  the  First  Pre.sbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  the  original  Presbytery  of  South  Cyrolma  having 
been  divided  in  1799  inco  the  First  and  Second  Presbyteries 
of  South  Carolina. 

Newhope. — This  was  a  church  gathered,  we  believe,  by 
the  labors  of  the  Rev.  John  Cousar  while  yet  a  licentiate.  A 
call  was  presented  to  him  through  the  Presbytery  on  the  29th 
of  September,  1 803.  "  The  First  Presbytery  of  South  Caro- 
lina held  its  ninth  regular  ses.sion  at  this  church.  And  on 
the  i9th  of  March,  1804,  during  the  session,  the  Rev.  Geo. 
G.  McWhorter  preached  an  ordination  sermon  from  Jeremiah 
I  :  VII.,  last  clause, '  For  thou  shalt  go  to  all  that  I  shall  send 
thee,  and  whatsoever  I  shall  command  thee  thou  shalt  speak;' 
after  which  Mr.  John  Cousar  was,  by  prayer  and  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands  of  the  Pre.sbytery,  solemnly  ordained  and  set 
apart  to  the  exercise  ot  the  whole  of  the  gospel  ministry,  and 
installed  ijastor  of  the  congregation  of  Newhope.  A  suitable 
charge  was  then  given  by  Mr.  Walker,  after  which  Mr.  Cousar 
took  his  seat  in  Presbytery."  [Minutes,  p.  60.]  Newhope 
had  21  communing  members  in  1805.  It  had  23  in  1809,  and 
10  infants  were  baptized  that  year.  Mr.  Cousar  was  dismissed 
from  Newhope,  and  the  church  declared  vacant,  April  5,  1811. 
[Minutes  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  p.  28.] 

Midway  is  another  church  over  which  Rev.  Mr.  Cousar 
presided.  It  is  named  in  the  Assembly's  Minutes  in  1808, 
and  had  twelve  communing  members  in  1809,  when  the 
Lora's  Supper  was  administered  among  them  for  the  first 
time.  An  account  which  we  have  received  of  it  is  as  follows: 
"  Sometime  in  September,  1801,  the  following  named  gentle- 
men, John  Witherspoon,  John  Witherspoon,  Jr.,  R.  Archibald 
Knox,  William  Mcintosh,  Thomas  Rose,  Sr.,  Daniel  Epps, 
John  McFaddin,  Thomas  McFaddin,  and  Samuel  Fleming, 
met  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Mary  Conyers  to  deliberate  as  to 
the  propriety  of  organizing  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  com- 
munity. The  result  was  favorable  to  such  an  organization. 
No  documents  are  accessible  informing  us' who  organized  the 
church.     We  only    know   that  a  church   was   organized,  and 


1800-1810.]  COLUMBIA.  -JJ 

that  the  two  Witherspoons,  aboved  named,  and  Archib.ild 
Knox  were  its  first  elders.  A  plain  building,  costing  nomore 
than  g  180,  was  first  erected  On  November  loth,  1802,  the 
building  was  completed,  and  called  Midway,  because  it  was 
half-way  between  Salem  (Black  River)  and  Williamsburg 
Churches.  The  Rev.  G.  G.  McWhorter.  pastor  of  the  Salem 
Church,  on  invitation,  gave  one-fourth  of  his  time  to  the  new 
church.  He  preached  his  first  sermon  in  Midway  October 
22d,  1803,  and  continued  to  supply  the  church  till  January  i, 
1809.  The  Rev.  John  Cousar,  in  March,  1809,  gave  to  this 
church  one-half  his  time,  and  to  Bruington  the  other  half 

[Ephesus]  Church  or  Congregation. — On  the  i8th  of 
March,  1803,  "^  supplication  "  was  received  "from  a  people 
on  Tomb's  (Tom's)  Creek,  in  Richland  District,  requesting 
that  they  may  be  enrolled  on  our  minutes  and  be  known  by 
the  name  of  Ephesus,  and  be  appointed  supplies."  [Minutes 
of  First  Presbytery,  p.  48.]  Tnis  request  was  doubtless  attend- 
ed to  by  the  Committee  on  Supplies.  The  appointments  for 
general  supplies  are  recorded  but  five  times  during  this  de- 
cade. Samuel  W.  Yongue  supplied  it  by  appointment  three 
of  these  times.  The  neighborhood  is  about  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  miles  from  Columbia,  in  "the  Fork  "  of  the  Wateree  and 
Congaree,  where  now  a  different  denomination  prevails. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

COLUMBIA — MR.    DUNLAP. 
1800—1810. 

Columbia  Church. — The  death  of  the  Rev.  David  Ellison 
Dunlap  occurred,  as  we  have  seen  (Vol.  I,  p.  596),  on  the 
loth  of  September,  1804,  his  wife  and  he  dying  on  the  same 
day,    and    being    interred    in    the    same    grave. f     We    learn 

t  Mr.  Dunlap  was  licensed  April  16th,  1793.  was  appointed,  Sep- 
tember 25th,  to  preach  at  James'  Island,  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw, 
Fishing  Creek,  Ebenezer,  Bethel,  N.  Pacolet,  Milford  and  Nazareth,  each 
one  Sabbath,  and  a+  Lebanon,  two.  From  Lebanon  he  received  a  call. 
In  April,  1794,  he  was  ordered  to  preach  at  John's  Island  and  Wadma- 
law, Dorchester,  Bethel,  Lebanon,  Fishing  Oreek  and  Nazareth,  each 
one  Sabbath,  at  Colnmbiafour,  and  the  restat  discretion.  He  was  called 
to  Columbia  September  23d,  1794,  and  was  ordained  and  installed  June 
4th,  1795,  the  Presbytery  meeting  in  the  State  House,  where  his.  ordina- 
tion took  place.     (See  Vol.  I,  p.  595.) 


78  REV.  JOHN    BROWN,  T).  D.  [1800-1810. 

nothincr  more  of  the  congregation  to  which  he  ministered 
until  1810.  It  is  not  mentioned  among  the  churches  of  the 
first  Presbytery  (either  as  vacant  or  otherwise),  in  the  report 
made  by  this  Presbytery  to  the  General  Assembly  in  1808. 
There  are  two  conjectures  :  one  that  it  was  never  fully  organ- 
ized under  Mr.  Dunlap  ;  another,  that  it  had  become  wholly 
disintegrated  as  a  church  after  his  death.  In  the  Act  of  the 
Legislature,  passed  December  19th,  1801,  Rev.  D.  E.  Dunlap, 
Rev.  John  Brown,  and  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Yongue,  and  Thomas 
Taylor,  one  of  the  fir.'^t  elders  of  the  Columbia  Church,  were 
named  among  the  Trustees  of  the  College  of  South  Carolina, 
at  that  time  founded.  There  were  no  other  clerical  members 
named.  It  may  be  that  this  denomination  was,  at  this  time, 
and  had  been  before,  more  thnn  any  other,  devoted  to  the 
education  of  our  youth.  Mr,  Dunlap  was  present  at  the  first 
meeting  of  the  Trustees,  at  the  house  of  the  Governor,  on  the 
1 2th  of  February,  in  the  City  of  Charleston.  At  this  meeting, 
the  Rev.  Jonathan  Maxy,  former  President  of  Brown  Uni- 
versity, and  then  President  of  Union  College,  was  elected 
President  of  the  College  of  the  State,  and  the  Rev.  Robert 
Wilson,  then  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Long 
Cane,  was  chosen  the  first  Professor  of  Languages,  an  office 
which  he  did  not  accept,  though  afterwards  he  became  Presi- 
dent of  the  University  of  Ohio.  Rev.  Joseph  Caldwell  was 
elected  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  in 
i8o5,but  declined  the  appointment.  The  election  of  the  Rev. 
John  Brown  to  the  Professorship  of  Logic  and  Moral  Philoso- 
phy in  South  Carolina  College,  April  25th,  1809,  was  con- 
nected with  the  renaissance,  or  with  the  regular  ecclesiastical 
organization  of  the  Church  in  Columbia.  The  early  history 
of  Rev.  (afterwards  Dr.)  John  Brown  we  have  briefly  given  in 
our  first  volume,  p.  616.  He  removed  to  Columbia  in  the 
early  fall  of  the  same  year,  and  the  religious  interests  of  the 
Presbyterians  in  this  community,  and  those  favorable  to  their 
doctrines  and  discipline,  engaged  his  attention. 

We  were  greatly  in  error  in  saying,  in  our  first  volume, 
that  he  was  born  in  "  Chester  District."  It  appears  that  he 
was  born  in  Ireland,  in  Antrim  Co.,  on  the  15th  of  June, 
1763.  His  father,  who  was  not  blessed  with  the  wealth  of 
this  world,  with  many  others,  availed  himself  of  the  "  King's 
bounty,"  as  it  was  called,  by  which  he  obtained  a  free  passage 
to  America,  and  a  title  to    160   acres   of  land   in   one   of  the 


]800-]810.]  BETHESDA,  OP  CAMDEN.  79 

Carolinas.  He  chose  his  location  in  Chester  District,  S.  C, 
and  lived  to  see  his  son  John  a  distinguished  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  We  have  there  spoken  of  the  limited  period  of  his 
school  education,  in  all,  but  eighteen  months,  during  a  part 
of  which  time  he  was  a  schoolmate  of  Andrew  Jackson.  At 
the  age  of  sixteen,  as  we  have  there  said,  he  exchanged  the 
,  groves  of  the  academy  for  the  bustle  of  the  camp,  and  fought, 
under  General  Sumter,  the  battles  of  his  country.  Having 
improved  his  mind  by  private  study,  he  put  himself  under 
the  instruction  of  Dr.  S.  E.  McCorkle,  of  Salisbury,  N.  C, 
and  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  in  1788. 
After  this  he  was  engaged  in  teaching,  became  pastor  of  the 
Waxhaw  Church, and  remained  as  such  for  some  ten  years. 
At  the  time  of  his  election  to  the  Professorship  in  South. 
Carolina  College,  he  had  given  up  the  pastorship  of  Waxhaw, 
and  had  resorted  again  to  his  favorite  employment  as  a  teacher. 

Rethesda,  of  Camden. — Of  the  settlement  of  the  town  of 
Camden  we  have  written.  Vol.  I,  pp.  495-497.  We  have 
mentioned  (p.  598)  the  statement  of  Mills — that  there  was 
a  Presbyterian  liouse  of  wor.ship  there  before  the  Revo- 
lution. We  did  not  mention  the  statement  of  Rev.  Dr.  Fur- 
man  (Appendix  No.  VII  to  Ramsay's  History)  that  the  Pres- 
byterian house  of  worship  was  burnt  by  the  British.  The  in- 
scription on  the  tombstone  of  Miss  Smith,  referring  to  her 
legacy,  is  spoken  of  (p.  497),  as  is  also  the  ordination  of  Mr. 
Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Caindfen,  and  the  preaching  of 
Mr.  Logue.  But  whatever  outward  demonstration  of  Presby- 
terianism  there  may  have  been,  it  seems  to  have  disappearetl. 

During  the  year  1804,  a  number  of  gentlemen  united 
in  the  laudable  effort  of  building  a  Presbyterian  Church  on  the 
site  assigned  by  the  founder  of  Camden  for  that  purpose,  and 
having  finished  the  undertaking  by  voluntary  subscription, 
the  first  act  on  record  is  the  following,  dated  12th  July,  1803, 
viz : 

1st.  Resolved,  That  the  Society,  for  the  purpose  of  inducing 
the  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn  to  settle  in  Camden  as  the  regular 
pastor  .of  the  congregation,  will  guarantee  to  him  the  sum 
of  eight  hundred  dollars  a  year  during  his  continuance 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  pastor. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  if  the  assessment  on  the  pews  should 
not  be  sufficient  to  raise  the  above  sum  of  eight  hundred  dol- 
lars, a  subscription  be  opened  to  make  up  the  balance. 


80  BETHESDA,  OF    CAMDEN.  [1800-1810. 

3d.  Resolved,  That  the  persons  whose  names  are  hereunto 
subscribed  agree  to  carry  the  above  resolutions  into  effect, 
and  secure  the  above  guarantee. 

Signed — Isaac  Alexander,  Isaac  Dubose,  Wm.  Lang,  Joseph 
Brevard,  Zick  Cintey,  John  Kershaw,  Abram  Blanding, 
John  Adamson,  Jas.  Clark,  John  McCaa,  Ben  Carter,  Win. 
Parker,  Jas.  Mickle,  John  Kirkpatrick,  Francis  S.  Lee,  Saml. 
Bread,  Jonathan  Eccle.s,  Henry  H.  Dickinson,  Danl.  Rose, 
William  Huthison,  Jamis  Young,  John  Trent,  J.  D  Diveaux, 
Thomas  Wilson,  James  W.  Ker,  William  Cloud,  Jos. 
H.  Howell,  Reuben  Arthur,  Alexander  Mathison,  Wylie 
Dangham. 

At  a  meeting  held  the  6th  July,  1805  of  the  Presbyterian 
congregation,  at  the  Court  House,  Camden,  Dr.  Isaac  Alex- 
ander was  appointed  Chairman,  and  Abram  Blanding,  Secre- 
tary.    The  names  above  enrolled  being  all  present. 

Resolved,  That  the  congregation  for  the  purpose  of  secur- 
ing the  services  of  the  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  do  hereby  guar- 
antee to  him  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  dollars  per  annum 
during  his  continuance  to  discharge  the  duties  of  pastor. 

The  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  having  accepted  the  call  from  the 
Church,  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the  office  on  the  ist  of 
January,  1806. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  held  at  the  church  on 
the  20th  of  February,  1806,  an  election  for  Ruling  Elders 
was  held,  when  the  following  persons  were  duly  elected,  viz  : 

Isaac  Alexander,  William  Lang,  John  Kirkpatrick,  William 
Ancrum,  James  S.  Murray. 

Mr.  William  Ancrum  having  declined  to  act  as  Elder,  Mr. 
Zebulon  Rudolph  was  elected  in  his  room. 

Meanwhile  Rev.  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Flinn,  at  the  meeting 
of  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  held  at  Zion 
Church  (Winnsboro')  on  the  i  itli  of  March,  1806,  presented  a 
certificate  of  dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  by 
which  he  was  licensed  and  ordained  and  was  received  as  a 
member  in  connection  with  that  Presbytery.  At  the  same 
time  "  the  Rev.  Duncan  Brown  in  behalf  of  a  people  in  the 
town  of  Camden  and  its  vicinity,  petitioned  that  the  said 
people  may  be  taken  under  the  care  of  this  Presbytery,  be 
known  by  the  name  of  Bethesda  of  Camden,  and  receive  sup- 


J800-1810.]  ANDREW    PLINN,   D.    D.  81 

plies."  The  prayer  of  their  petitioner  was  granted.  Presbytery 
on  the  next  day  appointed  the  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn  "stated  sup- 
ply at  Bsthesda  of  Camden  until  thsir  next  niseting,  and  that  he 
attend  to  the  organization  of  that  society."  At  their  nextsession 
at  Bethel,  York,  September  30  and  October  i.  Mr.  Flinn  re- 
ported that  he  had  acted  as  stated  supply,  and  had  effected 
the  organization  of  the  Society  as  he  had  been  directed.  At 
their  next  meeting.'March  4th  and  5th,  1807,  the  call  from 
Camden  was  presented  to  Presbytery,  placed  in  his  hands, 
and  by  him  accepted,  and  the  Rev.  William  C.  Davis  was 
appointed  to  embrace  the  earliest  opportunity  to  install  Mr. 
Flinn  as  pastor  of  the  congregation.  The  fir.st  of  these  dates 
are  tVom  the  MS.  account  of  the  church  l)y  the  venerable  Jas. 
K.  Douglas,  written  late  in  1852;  the  last  is  from  the  minutes 
of  Presbytery. 

ANDREW    FLINN,  D.  D., 

The  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn  was  born  in  Maryland  in  1773. 
His  parents  removed  to  Mecklenburg  County,  N.  C,  when 
he  was  little  more  than  a  year  old.  When  he  was  twelve 
years  of  age  his  father  died,  leaving  his  widowed  motner  with 
si.x  small  children,  and  with  stinted  means.  The  extraordi- 
nary promise  of  his  youth  induced  certain  of  his  friends  to 
encourage  him  to  pursue  a  life  of  study,  and  to  aid  him  in  its 
prosecution.  He  prepared  for  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina under  the  instruction  of  Rev.  Dr.  James  Hall  and  some 
others,  where  he  graduated  with  distinction  in  1799.  He  was 
licensed  to  preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  some  time  in 
1800,  and  his  first  pulpit  efforts  excited  great  attention.  Hav- 
ing preached  at  Hillsborough  and  some  other  places,  he 
accepted  in  January,  1803,  an  invitation  to  supply  the  pulpit 
in  Fayetteville,  vacated  by  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Robinson, 
where  he  was  ordained  in  the  month  of  June  and  installed  as 
pastor.  The  labor  of  teaching,  which  he  was  obliged  to  add 
to  those  of  the  pulpit,  proving  too  oppressive,  he  felt  himself 
obliged  to  resign  his  charge  and  accept  the  invitation  to  Cam- 
den. He  remained  here  till  1809,  when  his  pastoral  relation 
with  the  concjregation  of  Bethesda  of  Camden  was  dissolved. 
A  temporary  arrangement  for  the  supply  of  the  pulpit  was 
made  with  the  Rev.  W.  Brantly,  until  a  regular  pastor  dould 
be  procured.  On  the  i6th  of  October,  1809,  the  Rev.  B.  R. 
6 


82  ZION   CHURCH,  WINNSBORO.  [1800-1810. 

Montgomery  was  called,  with  a  salary  of  g6oo.  Bethesda,  of 
Camden,  was  reported  as  having  thirty-three  communicants 
in  September,  1809. 

As  our  thoughts  turn  towards  the  Zion  Church  they  pause 
for  a  momLMit  on  the  locality  of  the  German  Reformed  Pkes- 
BYTERJAN  Church  ON  Cedar  Creek,  and  to  the  name  of  Du- 
bard,  its  preacher,  at  the  period  of  the  revolution.  The  organ- 
ization has  long  since  passed  away,  and  been  superseded  by 
one  of  ai^other  denomination,  but  the  name  of  the  ancient 
minister  still  remains,  and  was  borne  by  A.  F.  Dubard,  a 
Christian  man  of  many  virtues,  well  known  and  much  appre- 
ciated, who  was  killed  a  few  months  .since,  in  these  times  of 
misrule,  by  an  assassin's  hand  as  he  was  quietly  returning  in 
the  evening  on  the  public  highway,  from  the  town  of  Colum- 
bia lo  his  own  dwelling. 

Zion  Church  (Winnsboro')  had  applied  to  be  received 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  in  Octo- 
ber, 1799. 

It  had  been  agreed  at  the  fall  meeting  of  the  Presbytery 
in  1798,  that  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  should  be 
divided,  and  that  Broad  River,  in  its  whole  course  to  the 
Ocean,  should  be  the  dividing  line  between  the  two  bodies 
thus  constituted.  The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  was  to  act  on 
this  proposition,  at  its  impending  meeting  at  Hopewell  Church 
on  tne  31st  of  October,  1799.  This  division  was  effected. 
The  members  on  the  northeast  side  of  the  river  constituted 
the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  members  on 
the  southwest  side  were  to  be  known  as  the  Second  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina.  This  action  was  taken  by  the  Synod  of 
the  Carolinas,  and  The  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  held 
its  first  session,  as  direrted,  at  Bullock's  Creek  {alias  Dan)  on 
the  7th  of  February,  1800.  At  its  second  meeting,  attJnity 
Church,  on  the  29th  of  September,  1800,  Zion  Church  re- 
newed its  petition  for  supplies.  These  occasional  supplies, 
the  first  of  whom  is  said  to  have  been  the  Rev.  Robt.  McCul- 
loch,  it  was  privileged  to  enjoy,  and  the  administration  of 
baptism  to  their  children.  Their  next  supply  was' the  Rev. 
John  Foster,  who  had  been  called  in  March,  1801,  from  Salem 
Church,  Black  River,  to  the  Presidency  of  Mount  Zion  Col- 
lege. He  was  employed  to  preach  to  them  a  part  of  his  time, 
and  this  arrangement  continued  during  the  two  years  of  his 
presidency. 


1800-1810.]  EEV.    GEORGE   REID.  83 

On- the  27th  of  September,  1805,  a  letter  was  laid  before  the 
First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  at  its  session  at  Richardson 
Church,  endorsing  a  ca'l  from  the  congregation  of  Zion  Church, 
for  the  pastoral  services  of  George  Reid,  a  licentiate  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery.  The  confidence  of  the  Presbytery  in 
the  ability  of  this  young  man  in  matters  of  business,  is  mani- 
fested by  their  electing  him  tlieir  treasurer  on  the  resignation 
of  his  piedecessor  in  that  office.  (Minutes,  p.  43,  72).*  The 
call,  on  the  next  day,  was  put  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Reid, 
and  by  him  accepted;  but  it  appeared  by  an  accompanying 
letter  that  the  congregation  had  elected  elders  who  were 
willing  to  serve,  but  had  never  been  ordained.  The  llev. 
Samuel  B.  Young,  of  Lebanon  Church,  was  appointed  to  or- 
dain and  install  them  in  their  office  before  the  next  legular 
meeting  of  Presbytery,  which  it  was  agreed  should  be  held  at 
Zion  Church,  Winnsboro'.  The  ordination  of  the  elders  took 
place  according  to  appointment,  and  was  duly  reported. 
(Minutes,  p.  79.) 

These  transactions  occurred  on  the  28th  of  September, 
1805,  at  a  meeting  held  at  Richardson  Church.  The  next 
regular  session  of  Presbytery  was  held  at  Zion  (Winnsboro') 
on  the  nth  of  March,  1806,  and  on  the  13th,  Mr.  Reid  was 
ordained  "to  the  whole  of  the  "Gospel  ministry,  the  ordination 
sermon  being  preached  in  the  college  by  the  Rev.  John  B. 
Davies,  from  i  Thess.,  ii  :  4,  and  after  the  rite  of  ordination 
was  performed,  ''  a  suitable  and  pathetic  charge  was  addressed 
to  Mr.  _  Reid  and  the  congregation  by  tlie  Rev.  Andrew 
Flinn."  (Minutes  of  First  Presbytery,  p  79.)  In  June,  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  dispensed  to  this  Church 
for  the  first  time.  Twenty-seven  communicants  and  two 
elders  united  in  celebrating  the  sufferings  and  death  of  their 
Lord  and  SavJour.f     In  1807    their  pastor  left  them."     (MS. 

*  A  two-fold  delegation  waited  upon  Mr.  Reid,  at  this  time,  of  men 
held  in  high  esteem,  one  in  behalf  of  the  Mount  Zion  Society,  which 
had  elected  him  President  of  the  College,  and  one  in  behalf  of  the  con- 
gregation, expecting,  between  the  two  offices,  to  secure  to  him  a  com- 
petent support.  At  that  time  there  Was  no  division  in  the  community, 
all  apparently  favoring  the  Presbyterian  faith  and  order. 

t  The  communion  was  held  in  an  outbuilding  in  Mr.  Creighton 
Buchannan's  yard  (afterwards  Mr.  McMaster's),  and  was  an  occasion  of 
great  joy  to  the  Church.  Measures  had  already  been  inaugurated  for 
the  constructing  of  a  church  edifice ;  a  suitable  lot  had  been  given  as 
its  site  by  Maj.  Thomas  Means.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  in  1809,  but 
the  church  was  not  finished  nntil  1811.  The  Court  House  was  the  or- 
dinary place  of  public  worship. 


84  LEBANON   CHUECH,  FAIRFIELD.  [1800-1810. 

Hist.  Session  Book.)  The  record  in  the  Presbyterial  Minutes 
dates  the  dissolution  of  tiie  pastoral  connection  by  act  of 
Presbytery,  on  September  29th,  1807.  (Minutes,  p.  90.  of  First 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.)  At  the  same  time.Mr.Reid 
applied  for  leave  to  travel  out  of  the  bounds  of  Presbs  tery  for 
six  months,  which  leave  was  granted,  and  Mr.  Reid  and  Mr. 
Stephenson,  who  had  obtained  leave  for- one  year,  were  furnished 
with  certificates  of  their  standing.  The  Zion  Church  was  de- 
clared vacant,  and  John  Foster  was  twice  appointed  by  Presby- 
tery to  supply  it.  Mr.  Reid  appears  to  have  returned  from  his 
travels  after  a  brief  absence,  and  to  have  resumed  nearly  his 
former  position  in  the  community.  The  congregation  were 
satisfied  with  him  as  a  preacher,  and  those  who  had  children 
and  relatives  in  college,  and  the  students  themselves,  recog- 
nized his  abilities  as  a  teacher.  The  Society  in  Charleston, 
however,  withdrew  their  countenance  from  him.  For  a 
season  he  continued  to  teach  on  his  own  account  in  the  col- 
lege, until  notice  was  served  upon  him  that  another  pro- 
fessor would  be  appointed.  The  trustees  in  Winnsboro' 
recommended  Rev.  John  Foster,  who  was  appointed  a 
second  time  as  principal  in  the  school.  The  congregation, 
however,  or  the  large  majority  of  them,  desired  him  to  con- 
tinue, both  as  their  pastor  and  the  teacher  of  their  children. 
As  soon  as  it  became  necessary  to  give  place  to  Mr.  Foster 
in  the  college  building,  other  and  desirable  quarters  were 
procured  for  him,  and  he  continued  his  usual  labors  in  both 
capacities  through  the  remainder  of  thisdecade.  Dui;ing  the 
entire  period  of  Mr.  Reid's  ministry,  the  general  interests  of 
religion  prospered. 

Mount  Zion  Congregation  was  incorporated  by  the  Legis- 
lature December  20th,  1810.  (Statutes,  Vol.  VII,  p.  258.) 
An  earlier  incorporation  had  been  made  March  19th,  1778. 
{Ibid,  p.  139.) 

The  Elders  in  Zion  Church:  James  Beaty,  elected  in  1805, 
had  been  an  elder  in  Mt.  Olivet  Church  ;  John  Porter,  elected 
in  1808,  an  elder  elsewhere  before;  Wm.  McCreight,  elected 
in  1808,  installed  January  15,  1809,  had  been  an  elder  in 
Lebanon  Church,  Jackson's  Creek. 

Lebanon  Church  (Jackson's  Creek)  Fairfield  was  minis- 
tered to  by  Rev.  Samuel  Yongue,  during  this  decade.  We 
have  been  able  to  learn  but  a  few  facts  pertaining  to  its  his- 
tory.    The   two  congregations    of  Lebanon   and    Mt.  Olivet 


1800-1810.]  OFFICES    IN    CHUHCH    AND    STATE.  85 

remained  united  under  liis  pastoral  care.  (Sse  vol.  i,  p.  599.) 
Mr.  Yongua's  compensation  from  his  churches' was  small,  as 
it  was  wont  to  be  at  that  time,  and  alas,  still  is  with  ministers, 
his  family  was  increasing,  and  he  sought  and  obtained  the 
offices  of  Clerk  of  Court  and  Ordinary,  whose  duties,  with  the 
assistance  of  his  family,  he  continaed  for  a  length  of  time  to 
perform,  and  which  enabled  him  to  live  in  spite  of  the  small 
compensation  for  ministerial  services  he  received.  His  ab- 
sence from  the  meetings  of  Presbytery  were,  under  these  cir- 
cumstances, quite  frequent.  In  reference  to  cases  of  this 
kind  the  Presbytery  exhibited  great  solicitude,  as  it  was 
faithful  also  in  other  cases  in  watching  over  the  conduct  of 
its  members.  On  the  7th  of  October,  1807,  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing action  recorded  :  Whereas  the  Synod  of  the  Caro- 
linas  at  their  last  sessions,  in  consequence  of  an  overture 
introduced  through  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  requesting 
their  opinion  respecting  the  propriety  of  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  accepting  and  holding  civil  offices  whjch  divert  their 
attention  from  their  ministerial  duty  and  bring  reproach  upon 
the  sacred  ministry,  have  expressed  their  disapprobation  of 
such  conduct  and  passed  a  resolution  requiring  those  Pres- 
byteries where  such  instances  are  to  be  found,  to  adopt  the 
most  effectual  measures  to  induce  such  ministers  to  lay  aside 
such  offices  and  devote  themselves  wholly  to  their  ministerial 
duties.     Therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Yongue  and  the  Rev. 
William  G.  Rosborough  be  cited  to  appear  at  our  next  sessions, 
that  the  Presbytery  may  enter  into  a  conference  with  them 
with  respect  to  the  inconsistency  of  their  continuing  in  those 
offices  which  they  respectively  hold. 

Ordered  that  the  clerk  furnish  each  of  those  members 
before  mentioned  with  a  copy  of  this  minute,  accompanied 
with  a  citation  to  appear  at  our  next  sessions. 

At  their  next  session,  held  at  Bethel  Church,  "  the  Presby- 
tery entered  into  a  free  conversation  with  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Yongue  and  Rosborough,  and,  after  some  time  spent  on  the 
business, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  matter,  as  a  general  question  of  disci- 
pline, be  referred  to   the  General  Assembly  for  their  decision. 


86  MT.    OLIVET HOEEB  [1800-1810. 

"  The  question  is  in  the  words  following  :  '  Is  it  inconsistent 
with  the  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America  that  ministers  of  the  Gospel  hold  any  civil 
office  under  our  civil  Government?'  " 

The  Rev.  William  C.  Davis,  who  represented  the  Presby- 
tery in  1808,  reported  that  the  General  Assembly  answered 
this  question  "  in  the  negative,  i.  e.,  that  it  is  not  inconsistent." 
(Minutes  of  the  First  Presbyter)'  of  Soulh  Carolina,  pp.  85,  88, 
103.)  The  direct  action  on  this  case  was  to  reaffirm  the  decision 
of  the  Assembly,  in  1806,  in  the  case  of  Rev.  Boyd  Mercer,  of 
Ohio  (who,  being  too  infirm  in  health  to  discharge  the  regular 
duties  of  the  ministry,  devoted  himself  to  the  functions  of  an 
Associate  Judge),  that  "there  is  nothing  in  the  Scriptures,  or 
in  the  Constitution,  acts,  or  proceedings  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  these  United  States  expressly  prohibitory  of  such 
union  of  office."  That  decision,  however,  is  accompanied 
with  a  caution  to  the  clergy  "against  worldly-niinded- 
ness,"  exhorts  thetn  "  not  to  aspire  after  places  of  emolument 
or  civil  distinction ;  "  reminds  them  "  that  the  care  of  souls 
is  their  peculiar  business,  and  they  who  serve  at  the  altar 
ought,  as  far  as  possible,  to  avoid  temporal  avocations." 
(Minutes  1806,  p.  363  ;  1808,  p.  399;  Baird's  Digest,  p.  69.) 
Lebanon  Church  reported  1 20  members  in  1810. 

Mt.  Olivet. — This  Society,  which  haa  usually  been  called, 
from  the  stream  near  which  it  stood,  the  Wateree  Chukch 
AND  Congregation,  requested  Presbytery  (the  First  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina)  at  the  fall  meeting  in  the  year  1800,  that 
it,  in  future,  should  be  known  on  the  Minutes  by  the  name  of 
Mount  Olivet.  It  was  a  portion  of  the  charge  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Whorter  Yongue.  He  was  licensed  April  i6th,  1793,  and 
supplied  this  congregation  some  two  or  three  years.  He 
received  a  call  to  this  charge  in  conjunction  with  Lebanon, 
and  was  ordained  in  February,  1796,  and  became  pastor  here 
in  1798.  The  salary  voted  him,  October,  1799,  was  ;£'40 
sterling  for  half  his  time.  The  full  organization  of  the  con- 
gregation, as  indicated  by  the  rules  adopted  by  it,  was  in  the 
year  1796.  The  first  house  of  worship  was  a  frame  building, 
which  served  the  uses  of  the  congregation  for  about  forty 
years. 

HoREB  Church. — This  church  was  formed,  according  to 
the  recollection  of  the  oldest  member  of  the  congregation 
who  was  living  in  1850,  about  the  time  Mr.  McCaule  resigned 


1^00-1810.]  CONCORD — AIMWELL.  87 

the  Presidency  of  Mt.  Zion  College  and  the  charge  of  Jack  ■ 
son's  Creek,  2. ,?.,  about  1791  or  1792.  Its  first  elders,  ac- 
cording to  her  recolleaion,  were  James  Brown,  one  by  the 
name  of  Boyd,  and  another,  name  not  remembered.  It  is 
near  Crooked  Run,  a  tributary  to  Cedar  Creek,  and  affluent 
of  Broad  River,  and  was  first  known  on  the  Minutes  of  the 
Presbytery  by  the  name  of  the  stream,  "  Crooked  Run."  It 
requested,  on  ttie  8th  of  February,  1800,  that  it  should  be 
known  by  the  naTie  Horeb,  and  should  receive  supplies.  It 
presented,  through  Presbytery,  a  call  to  Wm.  G.  Rosborough 
for  his  services,  September  30,  iBoD,  simultaneou-ily  with 
Concord  Church.  On  the  4th  of  February,  1801,  Mr.  Ros- 
borough was  ordained  by  tiie  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina 
(then  holding  its  third  session  at  Horeb),  as  pastor  of  the  united 
congregations  of  Concord  and  Horeb,  Rev.  John  B.  Davies 
preaching  the  sermon  from  2d  Cor.,  iv.,  5.  Rev.  Robt.  B. 
Walker  presided,  and  gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor  and 
•people.  On  the  13th  of  March,  1806,  Mr.  Rosborough  was 
released  from  his  pastorate  here,  and  the  church  declared 
vacant.  The  church  was  often  called  by  the  name  of  its  first 
settled  pastor,  and  is  so  named  in  Mills'  atlas  and  map  of  the 
State.  It  was  now  dependent  for  some  time  on  occasional 
-  supplies.  Horeb  Church  is  about  eight  miles  south  from 
Winnsboro. 

Concord  Church  is  about  ten  miles  from  Winnsboro',  and 
was,  as  we  have  seen,  united  with  Horeb  under  Mr.  Ros- 
borough, in  the  same  pastoral  charge.  He  retained  the  pas- 
torship of  Concord  until  his  death. 

AiMWELL  Church  (on  Cedar  Creek)  is  about  eight  miles 
west  of  Winnsboro'.  It  was  received  under  the  care  of  the 
old  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  October  25,  1799,  just 
before  its  division  into  the  First  and  Second  Presbyteries. 
The  first  church  edifice  seems  to  have  been  built  about  1799, 
on  land  given  by  Francis  Robinson  the  year  previous.  John 
Rosborough  was  the  first  elder.  About  two  years  elapsed, 
when  Wm.  Robinson  was  ordained  as  elder.  Rev.  George 
Reid,  who  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  Zion  Church,  Winns- 
boro', and  was  principal  of  Mount  Zion  College,  preached  to 
this  church  for  about  7  years  before  he  removed  to  Camden. 
If  this  were  the  case,  Mr.  Reid's  ministry  must  have  com- 
menced here  in  about  1802,  and  while  he  was  yet  a  licentiate. 
The  church  consisted,  it  is  supposed,  in  Mr.  Reid's  time,  of 
about  thirty  members. 


88  HANGING   ROCK — MILLER's.  [1800-1810. 

The  church  of  Beaver  Creek  is  situated  on  the  stream  so 
called,  about  21  or  22  miles  a  little  west  of  north  from  Cam- 
den. The  Rev.  Robert  McCulloch  fcad  been  dismissed  by 
the  Presbytery  from  the  pastoral  charge  of  this  church  in 
October,  1792,  ''  in  consequence  of  the  congregation  failing 
greatly  in  the  support  promised  in  the  call.  The  congrega- 
tion is,  at  present,  in  a  broken,  disorderly  state."  (Historical 
account  sent  up  to  the  Assembly  in  April,  1694.)  It  remained 
vacant  during  this  decade.  It  was  supplied,  under  order  of 
Presbytery,  by  Rev.  George  G.  McWhorter,  in  1808,  and  by 
Robt.  McCulloch  in  1809.  On  March  1st,  in  this  year,  the 
First  Presbytery  held  its  regular  sessions  at  this  church. 

Hanging  Rock,  named  from  one  of  the  tributaries  of  Little 
Lynch's  Creek,  was  in  the  general  neighborhood  of  Beaver 
Creek  church,  and,  probably,  in  Lancaster  District.  Mr. 
McCulloch  was  ordered  to  supply  it  at  two  different  times,  in 
1807  and  1808.  Beaver  Creek  and  Hanging  Rock  are  re- 
ported, in  1808,  as  "  vacancies  "  able  to  support  a  pastor.  ■ 

Miller's  Church.  This,  with  Beaver  Creek  and  Hanging 
Rock,  were  reported  as  vacant  in  1800,  but  are  represented 
as  able,  united,  to  support  a  minister.  The  First  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina  held  its  eleventh  stated  session  at  this 
church  on  the  15th  and  i6thof  March,  1805.  The  attendance 
was  small — G.  G.  McWhorter,  J.  B.  Davies  and  John  Cousar, 
ministers  present,  with  James  Crawford  and  William  Carter, 
elders  ;  absent.  Rev.  Messrs.  Alexander,  McCulloch,  Stephen- 
son, Walker,  Yongue,  Foster,  Rosboruugh,  and  D.  Brown. 
Miller's  Church  does  not  appear  on  the  Minutes  of  Presby- 
tery much  longer.  It  was,  probably,  soon  absorbed  by  the 
church  of  Beaver  Creek. 

Catholic*  Church,  Chester  District.  Rev.  Robert  McCul- 
loch continued  the  pastor  of  this  church,  in  connection  with 
PuRiTV,  until  his  lamentable  fall.  In  consequence  of  this,  he 
was,  on  the  13th  of  November,  i8oo,  deposed   from  the   min- 

*The  reason  for  giving  the  name  "  Catholic  "  to  the  Church  was 
owing  to  the  mixed  character  of  the  families  who  united  in  erecting  the 
house— consisting  of  emigrants  wlio  had  been  connected  with  the  dif- 
ferent branches  of  the  Presbyterian  Societies  of  Ireland,  viz :  the  Pres- 
byterian (so-called),  the  Associate  and  the  Keformed  Presbyterians,  or 
the  Covenanters — agreeing  that  it  should  become  the  property  of  which- 
soever should  succeed  in  obtaining  the  first  settled  pastor,  and  it  thus 
became  the  property  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  under  the  care  of  the 
General  As.sembly. 


1800-1810.]  CATHOLIC   CHURCH.  89 

istry  and  suspended  from  the  privileges  of  the  church.  These 
things  are  proofs  of  human  imperfection  ;  and  yet  religion 
has  its  place  in  the  world,  and  the  Church  still  stands  ;  nor 
were  such  instances  of  defection,  even  of  renowned  servants 
of  God,  wanting  in  Scripture  times.  It  was  probably  in  view 
of  this,  and  moved  by  the  evidences  of  his  repentance,  that 
his  Church,  September  28,  1801,  petitioned  for  his  restoration 
to  the  ministry.  This  the  Presbytery  did  not  then  grant, 
first,  because  it  would  be  improper  to  return  him  to  the  minis- 
try before  he  was  received  into  the  communion  of  the  Church, 
and  secondly,  there  should  be  very  satisfactory  evidence  of 
repentance,  reformation  and  aptness  to  teach.  But  after  he 
should  give  satisfaction  to  the  Church,  Presbytery  had  no 
objection  that  he  should  use  his  talents  among  them  in  their 
religious  meetings  for  their  instruction,  yet  in  such  a  way  as 
was  consistent  with  the  dutic-s  of  a  private  Christian  only.. 
In  those  unofficial  labors  he  engaged,  holding  prayer  meet- 
ings, accompanied  with  exhortation,  through  the  congrega- 
tion, and  drawing  back  to  him  the  affections  of  his  people. 
On  the  17th  of  March,  1802,  the  congregation  renewed  their 
petition,  being  satisfied  of  his  repentance  and  that  he  v/ould 
be  as  useful  as  ever  in  tlie  ministry,  if  not  more  so,  if  restored. 
Presbytery,  after  careful  enquiry  and  full  communication  with 
the  offender  absolved  him  from  the  sentence  of.  deposition 
and  appointed  him  to  preach  in  their  vacant  Churches.  This 
he  did  both  to  his  own  Church  and  to  others.  For  several 
years  he  was  reported  as  a  minister  withtjut  charge,  and 
Catholic  Church  as  vacant.  The  defection  of  Mr;  McCullocli 
was  followed  by  a  great  decline  in  Catholic  congregation  just 
when  the  interests  of  religion  were  advancing  rapidly  else- 
where. Many  withdrew  from  the  communion  of  tiie  Cliurch, 
some  of  whom  joined  the  Covenanters,  some  the  Old  Asso- 
ciate, and  some  the  Associate  Reformed,  and  some  remained 
out  of  the  communion  of  any  Church.  The  Reformed  Pres- 
byterians and  many  of  those  who  regarded  themselves  as 
a  branch  of  the  Kirk  of  Scotland,  kept  up  their  "  Society 
meetings,"  taught  their  children  the  principles  of  religion, 
and  observed  the  Sabbath  strictly.  Those  Presbyterians  who 
were  of  Irish  birth  were  warned  by  friendsin  the  old  country 
to  beware  of  the  "  New  Lights."  Without  discriminating, 
they  included  under  this  term  not  only  those  inclined  to 
Socinianism  who  had  come  here  from  Ireland,  but  the  Ameri- 


90  HOPEWELL,  CHESTER   DISTRICT.  [1800-1810. 

can  Presbyterians,  and  Whitefield,  and  the  advocates  of  Mod- 
ern Revivals.  Hence  they  were  little  affected  by  tlie  revivals 
which  prevailed  in  many  congregations  of  the  South  in  1802, 
upon  which  many  of  the  Irish,  and  the  Scotch  no  less,  looked 
with  disapprobation. 

Between  1802  and  1805  John  Brown,  Sr.,  a  soldier  of  the 
revolution;  John  Graham  and  Samuel  Ferguson,  were  added 
to  the  session,  and  after  the  death  of  John  Graham,  Joseph 
Simpson  was  elected  in  his  place.  Mr.  McCuliock  continued 
to  preach  at  Catholic.  In  the  years  iSo/and  1808  he  preached 
one-fourth  of  his  time  at  Rocky  Mount.  On  the  first  of  the 
year  1809  he  commenced  preaching  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Beckhamville,  at  a  newly  built  church  called  Bethlehem,  a 
branch  of  Catholic,  one-fourth  of  his  time.  (Papers  of  Rev.  J. 
B.  Davies,  D.  C.  Stinson,  and  Rev.  Jas.  H.  Saye.) 

HOPEWELL,    CHESTKR    DISTRICT. 

"A  new  Church  had  arisen  in  the  former  bounds  of  Catholic, 
of  which  we  were  not  aware  when  our  first  volume  was  issued. 
The  separation  between  Hopewell  and  Catholic  took  place  in 
1788.  These  people  had  existed  as  one  society  for  about 
seventeen  years.  The  two  old  elders,  Thos.  McDill  and  Da- 
vid McQueston,  who  had  been  elders  in  Ireland,  assisted  at 
the  first  communion  at  Catholic.  The  division  between  these 
Churches  was  geographical.  Draw  a  line  from  Hugh  McDon- 
ald's and  Robert  Parker's,  the  plantation  now  owned  by  Mrs 
Moore,  Sam  McCallough's  plantation,  now  owned  by  VVm. 
Caldwell,  David  McCallough,  now  Caldwell's  mills,  on  Bull's 
Creek  ;  Robert  Jamison's  and  Corder's.  West  of  this  line  is 
Hopewell  ;  east,  Catholic,  down  to  Catawba  River.  Those 
families  that  seemed  to  be  all  connected,  divided  this  line,  to 
wit :  Geo.  Cherry  and  wife,  brother-in-law  to  Chestnut,  to 
Moffatt,  McDill  and  Meek.  They  lemained  in  Catholic.  The 
brother-in-law  of  David  McQueston  was  a  ruling  elder  in  old 
Richardson  Church.  At  that  day  people  entered  the  Church 
most  convenient  to  them.  After  January,  1801,  when  Rev. 
Robert  McCuliock  was  suspended  from  the  ministry,  many 
persons  went  over  to  Hopewell  Church,  to  wit :  Sam,  Macauly 
and  family,  David  Macauly  and  the  Nixon  girls,  step-daugh- 
ters, and  some  others.  F"rom  Purity,  Ed.  McDaniel,  a  ruling 
elder,   and    Matthew    Elder's  family.    There    were    frequent 


1800-1810.]  PURITY    CHURCH.  91 

changes  from  one  Church  to  the  other,  even  down  to  the 
present  time." 

Purity  Church,  the  congregation  of  which  bordered  upon 
that  of  Cathohc,  and  which  was  united  under  the  same  pasto- 
rate, is  in  the  centre  of  Chester  District  (or  as  it  is  now  called 
county,  as  vas  the  case  formerly),  and  had  its  house  of  worship 
within  two  miles  of  Cliesterville.  While  the  Presbytery  was 
in  session  at  Catholic  Church  in  the  case  of  Mr.  McCullock, 
it  is  alleged  that  there  were  many  outside  and  improper  influ- 
ences introduced  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution.  Tlie  resent- 
ment of  the  people  against  the  accuser  was  so  great  for  the 
manner  in  which  he  attempted  to  bias  testimony  and  suborn 
witnesses  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  apply  for  a  military 
guard  to  protect  his  person.  There  had  manifestly  been 
great  imprudence  on  the  part  of  the  accused  and  a  criminal 
intent.  This  he  admitted,  but  denied  criminality  of  outward 
act.  He  was  deeply  afflicted  at  the  decision  but  bowed  sub- 
missively to  it.  There  was  a  decided  opinion  in  relation  to 
him.  But  he  won  back  the  affections,  confidence  and  sym- 
pethies  of  the  congregation  of  Catholic,  which  remained  till 
they  were  earnest  for  his  restoration,  and  did  not  rest  till  it 
was  accomplished.  Purity  Church  did  not  unite  in  the  peti- 
tion, nor  were  they  willing  to  receive  him.  It  therefore  re- 
mained vacant  with  only  occasional  supplies  until  1806.  In 
March,  however,  1802,  a  call  was  sent  up  to  the  First  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Carolina  for  the  ministerial  labors  of  Thomas 
Neely  (then  a  licentiate),  by  Purity  and  Catholic  Churches 
conjointly.  It  was  infoimal,  not  being  duly  certified,  and 
probably  coming  only  from  a  minority  of  Catholic  Church. 
It  was  returned  to  the  congregation  with  explanations.  Cer- 
tain grievances  of  a  portion  of  this  congregation  were  laid 
before  Presbytery. 

"  The  petition  of  a  number  of  persons  representing  them- 
selves as  beirjga  part  of  Purity  congregation,  praying  redress 
of  certain  grievances,  was  taken  under  consideration,  and 
after  some  general  observations  were  made,  on  motion,  it 
was — 

Resolved,  That  each  paragraph  be  separately  considered. 

"  The  first  paragraph  was  then  read  as  follows.:  We  believe 
that  the  Churches  had  all  the,  instituted  means  of  grace  and  sal- 
vation before  the  existence  of  camp  meetings  among  us,  nor  can 
we  think  that  there  is  any  divine  warrant  for  them. 


92  PURITY   CHURCH.  [1800-1810. 

"  From  observations  dropped  from  different  quarters  of  the 
house,  It  appeared  that  a  diversity  of  opinion  prevailed  on 
this  subject.  Therefore,  upon  motion  made,  the  question  was 
put  whether  we  had  a  divine  warrant  for  camp  meetings  or 
not,  and  carried  in  the  affirmative.  The  yeas  and  nays  being 
required  to  be  inserted  in  the  minutes,  are  as  follows  : 

Yeas — The  Rev.  Messrs.  Alexander,  Stephensan,  Brown, 
Walker,  Davis,  Rosborough  and  Messrs.  McCreary  and 
Crafford,  Elders — 8. 

Nays — The  Rev.  Messrs.  McCulloch,  Dunlap,  Yongue  and 
S.  IVIcCulloch,  Elders — 4. 

"  The  second  paragraph  was  read  as  follows  :  Ministers  of 
other  denominations  have  been  permitted  to  preach  in  those  as- 
.semblies  and  to  associate  zvith  our  ministers  in  the  exercise  of 
religion  without  the  apptobation  of  our  Church  or  even  any  terms 
of  religions  correspondence,  union  and  communion  entered  upon 
by  the  parties  themselves,  known  to  us. 

"  Respecting  this  paragraph  we  take  the  liberty  to  observe 
that  inasmuch  as  the  petitioners  have  not  been  sufficiently 
explicit  in  pointing  out  the  denominations  to  which  they 
refer  we  conceive  that  we  cannot  give  an  explicit  answer  in 
this  case. 

"The  third  paragraph  was  read,  viz  :  Members  of  the  Metho- 
dist persuasion  have  been  admitted  to  the  table  of  the  Lord  in 
communion  with  the  Presbyterians.  We  do  conceive  that  the 
Methodists  are  very  erroneous  in  some  of  the  most  important 
articles  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  therefore  we  consider  it 
highly  improper  that  such  a  toleration  should  be  granted  to  that 
class  of  people  in  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

"  R<;specting  this  paragraph  we  also  observe  that  we  cannot 
think  that  merely  the  circumstance  of  a  man's  being  called  a 
Methodist  is  a  sufficient  reason  why  a  person  should  be 
excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  church,  provided  he 
be  otherwise  qualified,  and  as  the  petitioners  have  not  defined 
the  particular  doctrines  held,  or  supposed  to  be  held  by  the 
Methodists,  which  they  conceive  to  be  erroneous,  we  cannot 
with  propriety  go  into  a  decision  on  them. 

''  The  fourth  paragraph  was  read  in  these  words  : 

"  Another  subject,  which  tve  take  the  liberty  to  represent  and 
state ^  is,  that  a  t  egular  system  of  psalmody  has  been  introduced 
into  this  congregation  contrary  to  our  consent  and  approbation. 


1800-1810.]  EEV.   THOMAS   NEELY.  93 

The  truth  is,  iice  are  not  as  yet  persuaded  tliat  it  is  our  duty  to  sing 
any  oilier  but  the  Psalms  of  David  in  Christian  tvorship.  We 
must  claim  the  privilige  of  tvorshippiug  God  agreeably  to  the 
dictates  of  our  oivii  consciences,  and  in  the  way  which  ivas  for- 
merly practiced  in  this  congregation. 

*"  On  this  subject  we  would  observe  thaf,  in  as  much  as  the 
late  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philiidelphia,  and  the  General 
Assembly,  have  already  made  certain  regulations  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Psalmody,  we  beg  leave  to  refer  the  petitioners  to  their 
printed  extracts  ;  at  the  same  time  observing  that,  as  the 
Synod  aforesaid,  and  the  General  Assembly,  do  not  oppose 
the  use  of  any  particular  system  of  Psalmody,  or  any  con- 
trary to  their  wish,  neither  do  we." 

"  On  the  I  ith  of  March,  1806,  Purity  united  with  Edmonds 
(a  church  recently  organized  some  eight  miles  northwest  of 
Chester  C.  H.)  in  a  call-to  Mr.  Neely  to  become  their  pastor, 
and  he  was  accordingly  ordained  and  installed  over  these 
two  churches,  on  the  17th  of  October  in  that  year,  the  Rev. 
W.  C.  Davis  presiding  and  delivering  the  charge,  and  Rev. 
J.  B.  Davies  preaching  the  sermon  from  2d  Cor.,  iv.  13.  last 
clause.  Mr.  Neelj'  was  a  native  of  York  District,  pursued 
his  theological  studies  with  Dr.  Joseph  Alexander,  of  Bullock's 
Creek,  and  continued  in  this  charge  throuiJh  the  remainder 
of  this  decade.  In  the  last  part  of  it  he  labored  in  the  midst 
of  much  bodily  infirmity.  On  September  agtii,  1809,  he  ex- 
cused himself  from  attending  on  Presbytery  (as  also  did  Rev. 
Mr.  r>.osborough)  for  this  reason,  and  requested  that  supplies 
be  appointed  toJiis  charges  until  the  design  of  Providence  in 
respect  to  him  may  be  ascertained."  During  the  labors  of 
Mr.  McCulloch  witli  Purity  congregation,  the  Bench  of  Elders 
consisted  of  Wm.  Lewis,  Edw.  McDaniel,  Robert  Boyd, 
James  Kennedy,  Andrew  Morrison,  and  John  Wilson.  In 
1800  appear  the  names  of  John  Bell  and  Hugh  Gaston. 
After  the  trial  of  Mr.  McCulloch,  John  Bell  and  Edward 
McDaniel  withdrew  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  at 
Hopewell,  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  John  Hemphill.  John 
Wilson  removed  to  the  State  of  Kentuck-y.  One  year  pre- 
vious to  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Neely,  William  Bradford,  John 
Harden,  and  Robert  Walker  were  ordained  ruling  elders. 
These  three,  with  James  Kennedy  and  Wm.  Lewis,  consti- 
tuted the  eldership  at  this  time. 

The  Rev.  John  Douglas,  who  is  our  authority  for  much  of 


94  PURITY,  ITS  FIRST  CHURCH  EDIFICE.         [1800-1810. 

what  we  have  here  said,  in  his  History  of  Purity  Church, 
written  in  1865  and  pubhshed  in  1870,  thus  describes  the 
houses  of  worship  :  "  The  first  house  of  worship  erected  by 
this  congregation,  which  was  many  years  before  Mr. 
McCulloch's  day,  was  a  small  loghouse,  which  stood  only  a 
few  paces  in  the  rear  of  the  site  of  the  present  building.  It 
was  made  of  the  roughest  materials,  not  of  such  cedar  trees 
and  fir  trees  as  Hiram  gave  Solomon.  It  was  neither  ceiled 
with  cedar,  nor  painted  with  vermilion,  nor  did  it  go  up  with- 
out sound  of  hammer  or  axe.  Each  neighbor  brought  in  his 
own  unhewn  log,  freshly  cut  from  the  adjacent  forest ;  thus, 
nearly  in  a  day,  a  shelter  was  provided  that  would  screen  the 
worshipper  from  the  summer's  scorching  sun  and  the  pelting 
storms  of  winter.  It  was  built  of  round  logs,  covered  with 
clapboards,  fastened  down  witii  weiglit-poles.  It  was  built 
on  a  piece  of  vacant  land  of  about  eleven  acres  in  extent." 
It  seems  that  the  architect  of  "  tJie  second  temple  "  had  not 
studied  among  the  ruins  of  Athens,  Corinth  or  Ephesus. 
"  It  was  during  Mr.  McCulloch's  ministry  at  Purity,  the 
second  house  of  worship  was  built.  This  stood  directly  in 
front  of  the  present  church.  It  was,  no  doubt,  the  design  of 
its  framers  that  "  the  glory  of  this  latter  house  should  be 
greater  than  the  former."  Unlike  Solomon's  chariot  it  was 
not  made  of  the  wood  of  Lebanon,  nor  were  its  pillars  of 
silver,  nor  its  coverings  of  purple,  nor  was  it  always  paved 
with  love.  It  was  a  loghouse,  though  its  timber  were 
hewed,  had  a  shingled  roof,  but  like  Noah's  ark  had  but  one 
window  and  not  many  doors.  Accurately  to  describe  its 
form  or  dimension  by  cubit  or  rules,  would  require  much 
greater  architectural  skill  than  the  writer  professes  to  pos- 
sess, although  he  still  has  its  ineffaceable  picture  distinctly 
daguereotyped  in  his  mind.  As  for  its  form  there  could 
have  been  no  idolatrous  design  to  violate  the  second  com- 
mandment, for  ''  it  was  not  niade  in  the  likeness  of  anything 
that  was  made,"  "  neither  was  it  made  according  to  the  pattern 
God  gave  Moses  in  the  Mount."  It  was  intended  more  for 
"  the  useful  than  the  ornamental"  One  of  the  most  memo- 
rable reminiscences  connected  with  this  venerable  house  of 
God  (especially  with  the  juveniles),  was  its  so-called  "seats" 
or  benches.  They  were  of  split  timbers,  hastily  hewed  and 
not  carefully  planed,  with  high,  strait-backs,  so  high  from  the 
floor  the   young  could    not  touch    it  with  their  toes,  conse- 


1800-1810.]  EDMONDS — FISHING   CHEEK.  95 

quently  they  had  no  means  of  shifting  po.sition  or  relieving 
the  tedium  so  peculiar  to  them  in  "  tiiis  prison  of  boyiiood." 
Even  to  those  of  riper  years  and  more  devout  feelings,  they 
were  so  unpliant  and  so  uncomfortable  that  they  must  hnve 
felt  more  like  being  seated  on  the  "  stool  of  repentance"  than 
engaged  in  the  pleasant  devotions  of  the  sanctuary.  Though 
unique  and  rustic  in  its  exterior,  this  house  served  its  day 
and  was  pulled  down  to  give  place  to  one  more  becoming  the 
service  of  God.  It  is  very  plain  the  authors  of  this  iiouse  of 
worship  did  not  agree  with  a  celebrated  modern  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  that  cushioned  seats  are  truly  "means  of  grace." 

Edmonds  Church,  mentioned  above,  says  Rev.  John  B. 
Davies,  was  reorganized  as  a  church  September  22,  1802,  and 
for  two  or  three  years  was  supplied  by  Mr.  George  Reid,  a 
licentiace  of  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carotina.  It  is 
near  Sadler's  Cross  Roads  in  the  northern  part  of  Chester 
District.  It  was  fully  organized  by  Rev.  Robt.  B.  Walker, 
and  as  such  reported  to  Presbytery  in  1 805.  In  1806  they 
united  with  Pyrity  under  the  ministerial  labors  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Neely,  who  served  them  through  the  remainder  of 
this  decade. 

Fishing  Creek  (upper)  and  Richardson's  (formerly  Lower 
Fishing  Creek). — The  Rev.  John  B.  Davies  became,  as  we 
saw,  Vol.  I,  p.  603,  pastor  of  these  churches  May  14,  1799,  and 
continued  so,  far  beyond  the  period  of  which  we  now  write. 
In  common  with  many  otiier  churches,  they  shared  in  the 
quickening  and  refreshing  intluences  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in 
1802,  which  continued  on  with  happy  results  for  some  four 
years.  The  following  additions  were  made  to  the  session  in 
successive  years:  In  1801,  Hugh  Gaston;  in  1804,  Josiah 
Porter,  Charles  Brown,  Wm.  Walker,  and  D.  Davis  ;  in  1808, 
James  Steele,  James  Wallis,  and  Samuel  Lewis.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  list  of  communicants  at  the  beginning  of  his  min- 
istry, in  1799,  viz:  Rev.  J.  B.  Davies,  Pastor;  Samuel  Neely, 
David  Carr,  David  Neely,  Thos.  Neely,  and  Thos.  Latta, 
Elders;  Mrs.  Polly  Davies,  Sarah  Neely,  Margaret  Carr, 
Agnes  Neely,  Prudence  Neely,  Martha  Latta,  John  and 
Margaret  Latta.  Eliza  Chambers,  Widow  McClure,  Martha 
Gaston,  Hugh  McClure,  Jane  McClure,  Mary  Porter,  David 
and  Jane  Davis,  Thomas  and  Agnes  Wright,  Wm,  Anderson, 
Joseph  Walker,  Widow  Bishop,  Widow  McColloch,  Mary 
Elliot,  Jas.  and   Jane   Armstrong,   Charles   Brown,  Wm,  and 


96  bullock's  ceeek.  [isoo-isio. 

Agnes  Thorn,  John  and  Martha  Walker,  Jane  Walker.  Eh'za- 
beth  Lemon,  Widow  Knox,  David,  Margaret  and  Sarah 
Boyd,  Cliristopher  and  Rose  Strait,  John  Mills,  Sarah  Gill, 
J'lsiah  and  Rachel  Porter.  Total — 48.  Received  in  1799. 
Elizabeth  Mills,  Elizabeth  Neely,  Isabel  Allen, Sarah  McHugh, 
Thomas  Miller,  making  a  total  of  53  at  the  beginning  of 
this  century.  The  total  of  members  at  the  end  of  1800  was 
60;  at  the  end  of  i8or,  68  ;  of  1802,  65  ;  of  1803,  68  ;  of 
1804,  77-  Down  to  this  time,  80  had  been  received  into  the 
Church  on  profession,  and  24  by  certificates.  Some  had 
died,  many  had  been  dismissed,  and  the  number  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1810  was  75. 

In  Richardson  Church  there  were  elected  as  elders,  in 
18 10,  David  Patten,  Thomas  Nesbit,  and  Abram  Walker. 
This  church  was  part  of  the  charge  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Davies. 

Bur. lock's  Creek. — At  the  commencement  of  this  century 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Alexander  was  still  the  pastor  of  this  church. 
We  have  anticipated,  in  our  first  volume,  a  few  years  in  this, 
indicating,  as  we  have  done,  on  page  603,  his  release  from 
his  pastoral  charge,  which  took  place  by  his  own  request  on 
the  27th  of  March,  1 80 1.  He  speaks  of  the  number  of  com- 
municants being  small,  and  reduced  from  what  it  once  was, 
amounting,  at  that  time,  to  85  ;  of  their  diminished  interest, 
in  public  worship,  and  in  the  business  of  the  Church  ;  of  their 
perfect  inattention  to  the  collection  of  his  stipend,  and  want 
of  interest  in  his  ministry,  as  the  reasons  of  his  request.  It 
betokens  a  low  state  of  religion  in  a  community  when  these 
things  are  so.  But  it  is  the  calamity  which  often  comes 
upon  the  aged  minister,  though  he  may  have  worn  his  life 
0ut  in  the  service  of  the  Church.  He  was  honored,  as  we 
have  before  said,  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  in 
1807,  some  two  years  before  his  death.  He  was  held  in 
honor  by  his  brethren  in  the  ministry,  as  the  foUo'wing  reso- 
lution of  the  Presbytery  shows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Alexan- 
der, who  departed  this  life  on  the  30tli  day  of  July  last,  brings 
to  our  lively  recollection  the  sense  we  entertamed  of  his  great 
usefulness  in  planting  many  of  our  churches,  and  in  devot- 
ing forty  or  fifty  years  of  his  life  to  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  these  Southern  States."  (Minutes,  September  29, 
1809.) 


1800-1810.]  NAZARETH    CHURCH.  97 

Dr.  Alexander  was  succeeded,  for  a  season,  by  William 
Cummins  Davis,  who  was  born  December  i6,  1760;  was 
graduated  at  Mt.  Zion  College,  where  he  was  both  student 
and  tutor,  in  1786;  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  in  1787  ;  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  Nazareth  and 
Milford  churches  in  1789.  He  was  released  from  this  charge 
in  1792.  He  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord, 
October  13th,  1797,  and,  soon  after,  was  settled  as  pastor  of 
OIney,  N.  C.  In  1803  he  was  appointed  by  a  commission  of 
Synod  to  "  act  as  a  stated  missionary  "  to  the  Catawba  Indians 
until  the  next  stated  meeting  of  Synod,  and  to  superintend 
the  school  in  that  nation.  In  1805,  by  permission  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Concord,  he  supplied  the  church  of  Bullock's 
Creek.  On  the  30th  of  September,  1806,  he  was  received 
into  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  and  at  the  same 
meeting,  a  call  was  presented  to  him  from  Bullock's  Creek, 
which  he  accepted,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  install 
him.  He  was  twice  appointed  commissioner  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and  in  1808  he  attended  the  sessions  in  Philadel- 
phia. He  was,  also,  in  1805,  1806,  1807  and  1808;  on  the 
General  Assembly's  Standing  Coinmittee  of  Missions.  He 
was,  therefore,  so  tar,  a  man  held  in  honor,  of  a  vigorous  in- 
tellect, of  considerable  influence  among  the  people,  an  inter- 
esting preacher,  given  more  than  most  men  to  metaphysical 
speculation.  This  led  him  into  error,  which  brought  him 
under  the  notice  of  ecclesiastical  courts,  and  was  followed  by 
dissentions  and  divisions  for  many  years.  Of  these  our  pages 
will  shortly  speak.  The  only  recorded  statistical  report  from 
Bullock's  Creek  is  in  1807,  in  which  it  reported  70  communi- 
cants and  7  baptisms. 

"  Nazareth  Church,"  says  the  Rev.  Robt.  H.  Reid, 

"  was  organized  by  Dr.  Alexander.  He  continued  to  preach  as  their 
stated  supply  until  after  the  Revolutionary  War.  He  was  succeeded  by 
the  Rev.  William  C.  Davis  The  road  that  leads  from  this  place  to 
Pinckney ville  on  Broad  River,  was  first  opened  by  tliis  congregation,  as 
a  bridle  way  for  Dr.  Alexander  to  travel  when  he  came  to  preach  to 
them.  For  the  following  excellent  biographical  sketch  of  Dr.  Alexan- 
der, which  I  kiiow  will  be  read  with  interest,  I  am  indebted  to  the 
kindness  of  Robert  Y.  Russell,  of  York  District: 

"  Of  the  nativity  and  early  training  of  Dr.  Alexander,  we  are  not,  at 
this  late  day,  prepared  to  speak  with  certainty.  So  far  as  a  general  im- 
pression remains  upon  the  mind  of  the  writer,  he  entertains  the  opinion 
that  Dr.  Alexander  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  He  graduated  at 
Princeton  College,  New  Jersey,  in  1760  ;  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gos- 


98  DR.  JOSEPH  ALEXANDER.  [1600-1810. 

pel  by  the  Presbytery  of  Newcastle  in  1767,  and  in  October  of  that  year 
was  dismissed  as  a  licentiate  to  the  Hanover  Presbytery,  and  accepted 
a  call  from  Sugar  Creek,  N.  0.  He  was  ordained  at  Buffalo  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1708.  and  in  May  following,  was  installed  pastor  of  Sufrar 
Creek,  N.  C,  where  he  for  several  years  performed  the  duties  of  his 
office  in  the  midst  of  a  papulation  deservedly  ranked  amongst  the  most 
intelligent,  virtuous  and  patriotic  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  American 
colonies.  In  so  fair  a  field,  his  highly  cultivated  mind,  professicjnal 
zeal,  and  ardent  patriotism,  all  found  ample  scope  for  successful,  devel- 
opment. Under  the  mighty  causes  then  at  work  to  stamp  upon  the 
American  mind  its  permanent  character,  young  Alexander  felt  the 
vivifying  influence,  and  soon  became  prominent  as  a  powerful  preacher 
and  an  earnest  remonstrant  .against  the  oppressive  measures  at  that 
day  sought  to  be  enforced  upon  the  colonies  in  America.  However 
painful  the  task  to  relinquish  a  station  of  service  in  which  he  found  so 
much  that  accorded  alike  with  his  tastes  and  with  what  he  had  pro- 
posed to  himself  as  the  great  aim  of  his  life,  nevertheless,  so  urgent 
were  the  calls  that  with  distressing  frequency  fell  upon  the  minister's 
ear,  from  hundreds  of  destitute  churches  and  congregations,  all  over 
the  Southern  country,  that  our  young  minister  felt  it  impossible  longer 
to  resist  the  "  Macedonian  cry,"  and  in  obedience  to  the  suggestions  of 
duty,  yielded  the  pleasant  and  flourishing  field  of  his  labors  to  other 
hands,  and  removed  with  his  family  to  South  Carolina."  About  the  year 
177()  he  settled  in  Bullock's  Creek  Congregation,  York  (then  Camden) 
District,  of  which  he  assumed  the  pastoral  charge,  and  entered  promptly 
upon  the.  duties  of  his  mission.  He  found  himself  surrounded  with 
amoral  waste  stretching  in  all  directions  over  an  immense  area,  with 
here  and  there  the  cabin  of  a  pious  Pennsylvanian  or  a  Scotch-Irish 
Presbyterian.  From  these  Bethels  in  the  wilderness,  the  rjiorning  and 
the  evening  prayer  had  come  up  in  remembrance  before  God  ;  and  in 
answer,  the  dawn  of  a  gospel-day  was  now  rising  upon  the  darkness 
whiclj  had  so  long  enshrouded  the  Broad  River  Valley. 

Like  Paul  at  Athens,  the  newly  arrived  minister  felt  his  spirit  stirred 
within  him,  as  he  surveyed  the  wild  and  rugged  fields  he  had  under- 
taken to  cultivate. 

All  his  resources  were  taxed  to  their  utmost  to  meet  the  exigencies  of 
his  people,  but  implicitly  confiding  in  the  pledges  of  the  Master  whom 
he  served,  and  encouraged  and  sustained  by  the  hearty  co-operation  of 
the  few  pious  families  whose  urgent  appeals  had  brought  him  amongst 
them,  he  diligently  persevered  in  his  work,  and  saw  it  advance  with 
slow  but  steady  progress.  In  the  tract  of  country  he  occupied,  the 
forests  abounded  with  game,  and  the  streams  with"  the  finest  of  fish. 
Luxuriant  grasses  clothed  the  hills,  and  almost  impenetrable  cane- 
breaks  darkened  the  creek  and  river  low-lands  Hence  with  the 
exception  of  the  labor  required  to  cultivate  a  few  acres  planted  in  corn 
and  wheat,  to  bread  the  family,  and  a  patch  planted  in  tobacco,  and 
another  in  indigo  (the  commercial  staple  of  upper  Carolina  at  that  day) 
to  procure  a  few  dollars  to  meet  unavoidable  expenses,  the  settlers 
along  the  Broad  River  and  its  tributaries,  composing,  what  was  then 
called  Bullock's  Creek  Congregation,  passed  their  time  in  what  the 
Mantuan  Bard  would  have  termed  "inglorious  ease."  The  amusement 
of  fishing  and  hunting  furnished  not  only  a  delightful  entertainment  to 
the  pleasure-loving  lords  of  the  forest  and  their  wild  growing  lads,  but 
at  the  same  time  contributed  largely  to  the  stock  of  materials  necessary 
to  family  subsistence,  and  were,  therefore,  looked  upon  as  a,  commenda- 


1800-1810.]  DR.  JOSEPH  ALEXANDER.  99 

ble  feature  in  their  .system  of  provisional  economy.  Meanwhile  the  culti- 
vation of  the  mind,  and  the  importance  of  subjerting  the  moral  and  reli- 
gious elements  of  our  nature  to  the  renovating;  and  transporting  power  of 
tlie  Gospel,  seemed  to  be  matters  that  few  had  bestowed  a  practical 
thought  upon.  This  state  of  things  rendered  it  necessary  for  Mr.  Alexan- 
der to  undergo  immense  labor  in  bringing  the  scattered  materials  on  which 
lie  had  to  operate  within  the  sphere  of  his  ministerial  influence.  No  one 
who  properly  estimates  the  unyielding  nature  of  inveterate  habits,  forti- 
fied by  the  native  hostility  of  the  human  heart  to  the  otfices  of  religion, 
but  will  at  once  admit  that  nothing  short  of  Divine  wisdom  and  power 
could  have  directed  and  crowned  liis  efforts  with  success.  To  win  this 
numerous  class  of  the  population  ,to  virtue  and  religion,  he  must  first 
conciliate  their  attachment  to  himsell,  which  he  accomplished,  after  a 
time,  by  means  of  regular  family  visitations.  The  familiar  and  friendly 
intercourse  established  in  this  way  between  himself  and  his  thought- 
less parishioners  soon  won  upon  their  regards,  and  secured  a  patient 
ear  to  such  suggestions  as  he  chose  to  offer  on  the  subject  of  religion, 
as  hp  sat  by  their  firesides,  encircled  with  a  listening  houseliold. 

Ere  long,  our  judicious  and  zealous  pastor  had  the  satisfaction  to  look 
down  from  his  pulpit  on  a  Sabbath  morning  and  mark,  now  one,  and 
then  another,  and  there  a  third  one,  of  the  families  upon  whom  he  had 
bestowed  his  attentions  and  his  prayers,  timidly  entering  the  doors 
of  the  church,  and,  fearful  of  attracting  the  notice  of  the  congregation, 
quietly  seating  themselves  in  the  nearest  vacancy  to  listen  to  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel.  From  witnessing  the  fruits  of  this  apostolic 
measure,  Mr.  Alexander  was  stimulated  to  ply  his  energies  with  an 
industry  so  untiring  that,  in  due  time,  a  crowded  auditory  thronged  the 
house  of  worship  and  gave  evidence  of  their  appreciation  of  the  gospel 
at  his  mouth  by  a  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ,  and  an  exhibition 
of  the  fruits  of  that  faith  in  a  life  of  practical  holiness. 

Thus,  under  the  early  ministry  of  Or.  Alexander,  was  a  church-altar 
erected  on  Bullock's  Creek,  and  a  flame  enkindled  upon  it  whicii  has 
not  ceased  to  give  forth  its  light  through  all  the  changes  of  well-nigh  a 
century,  up  to  the  present  hour  So  long  as  he  was  able  to  serve  the 
Church  as  a  minister,  he  was  careful  to  employ  a  portion  of  his  time  in 
fostering  the  growth  of  family-religion  by  going  from  house  to  house 
throughout  his  congrega'ions,  conversing  with  heads  of  families,  in- 
structing the  youth  and  children  of  the  household,  and  uniting  with 
them  in  prayer  for  the  Divine  blessing.  He  was  accustomed  at  stated 
periods  to  conduct  oatechetical  examinations,  held  on  his  own  appoint- 
ment in  the  several  quarters  of  his  congregations,  at  which  both  old 
and  young  were  strictly  enquired  at  concerning  their  knowledge  of 
Divine  truth,  and  their  experience  and  progress  in  practical  religion. 
Those  wisely-directed  labors  were  productive  of  the  very  best  fruits. 
The  congregations  under  his  care  advanced  apace  in  the  acquisition  cf 
Bible  knowledge,  the  pastor  and  elders  were  cheered  with  frequent  and 
large  accessions  to  the  communion  of  the  Church  from  the  youth  under 
their  joint  care  and  instruction,  and  the  several  churches  in  charge  of 
the  beloved  minister  became  vigorous  and  flourishing  branches  of  the 
"  True  Vine,"  clothed  in  beauteous  foliage,  and  laden  with  the  fruits  of 
righteousness. 

In  addition  to  the  church  of  Bullock's  Creek,  Dr.  Alexander  organizea 
(as  we  have  been  informed)  Nazareth  Church,  in  Spartanburg  District, 
and  Salem  Church,  in  Union  District— a  section  at  that  day  composing  a 
part  of  Ninety-Six — in  each  of  which  his  ministry  contributed  greatly 


100  DE.    JOSEPH    ALEXANDER.  [1800-1810. 

to  advam'e  the  cause  flf  religion,  and  to  further  the  interests  of  our 
National  Independence. 

During  the  lapse  of  nearly  forty  years,  embracing  the  memorable 
period  of  the  American  Revolution,  Dr.  Alexander  continued  to  serve 
the  churches  wliioh  his  labors  had  been  blessed  in  planting  and  rearing 
up  until  within  the  last  three  or  four  years  of  his  life,  when  the  infirmi- 
ties of  age  forced  liim  to  demit  his  pastoral  charge,  and  to  rest  forever 
from  his  ministerial  toils. 

We  have  learned,  from  the  men  who  grew  up  under  his  ministry, 
that  his  style  of  preaching  was  bold  and  pungent,  leading  the  under- 
standing captive  to  the  demonstrations  of  truth,  and  the  applicatory 
appeals  with  which  he  was  accustorped  to  close  his  sermons,  terrible  as 
the  storm,  scattering  in  fragments  the  strongholds  in  which  sin  and  im- 
penitence seek  shelter  and  repose.  Fidelity  to  the  character  and  to  the 
valuable  services  of  this  excellent  man  demands  that  a  note  be  made 
of  the  influence  of  his  efforts  in  the  cause  of  his  country,  as  well  as  in 
that  of  the  Church  and  the  Gospel. 

Ofsoardentva  type  was  Dr.  Alexander's  patriotism,  that  from  the 
days  when  the  Stamp  Act  and  Boston  Port  Bills  passed  the  British  Par- 
liament until  the  hour  when  the  snioUe  cleared  away  from  the  last  gun 
fired  in  defence  of  our  National  Independence,  the  glowing  fires  of  his 
truly  American  heart,  impatient  of  control,  burned  with  intenseness  in 
his  conversation,  and  with  the  force  of  lightning  shot  from  the  pulpit, 
when  on  suitable  occasions  he  drew  the  picture  of  our  country's  wrongs, 
and  in  the  names  of  humanity,  liberty  and  religion,  summoned  her 
sons  to  the  rescue.  His  unfaltering  and  spirited  liostility  to  British 
tyranny  and  oppression,  and  to  Tory  butchery,  arson  and  plunder,  pro- 
cured for  him  a  prominence  that  frequently  perilled  his  property,  his 
person,  and  the  regular  exercise  of  his  professional  functions.  But  he 
had,  with  mature  deliberation,  transferred  his  temporal  all  on  board  the 
bark  of  the  Kevolution,  and  resolved  to  share  her  fortunes,  and  with 
her  to  sink  or  swim. 

In  the  dark  day  of  Carolina's  prospects,  when  the  British  and  Tory 
ascendency  lowered  like  the  clouds  of  death  over  her  sky,  from  the 
seaboard  to  the  mountains,  so  fierce  and  threatening  was  the  storm 
that  raged  around  the  partisan  preacher,  and  so  deep  was  his  hold  upon 
the  afl'ections  of  his  people  that  the  few  men  and  lads  of  Bullock's  Creek 
not  out  at  the  time  in  the  public  service,  habitually  repaired  to  church 
on  the  Sabbath  morning  with  their  rifles  in  their  hands,  and,  stationing 
themselves  around  what  the  next  generation  called  "  The  old  Log  Meet- 
ing House,"  guarded  the  minister  and  the  worshipping  congregation 
while  he  preached  the  Gospel  to  them  On  the  very  spot  where  these 
services  to  God  and  the  country  were  performed 'has  the  writer  sat  and 
listened  with  spell-bound  attention  to  the  recital  of  these  stirring 
scenes,  at  the  lips  of  some  of  the  venerable  actors  themselves,  as  the 
tears  shot  down  their  cheeks,  aiid  told  with  an  impressiveness  still  more 
forcible  than  their  words,  the  price  it  had  cost  them  to  place  in  our 
hands  the  charter  of  Freedom  and  the  unchallenged  right  to  worship 
the  God  of  our  fathers  according  to  the  sanctions  of  the  Bible  and  the 
dictates  of  conscience.  May  Bullock's  Creek  preserve  the  legacy  unim- 
paired so  long  as  civil  liberty  and  sound  Christianity  are  allowed  one 
acre  on  earth  they  can  call  tlieir  own. 

Emerging  from  the  perils  of  the  revolution.  South  Carolina,  from  the 
peculiarly  trying  position  allotted  her  in  the  bloody  drama,  presented  a 
picture  calculated  to  awakeji  the  tenderest  sympathies  nf  the  human 


1800-1810.]  DR.    JOSEPH    ALEXANDER.  101 

heart.  Her  farms  and  plantations  had  been  burned  with  fire— lier  fac- 
tories, worlc -shops,  academies  and  .school-houses,  that  had  escaped  the 
vandalism  of  the  foe,  were  left  to  silence  and  decay— the  sires  and  sou.s, 
the  mothers  and  daughters  who  had  survived  the  carnage  of  privations 
incident  upon  the  war,  were  reduced  to  poverty — in  a  word,  the  plow- 
share of  devastation  had  torn  through  and  ruptured  all  the  resources  of 
her  former  prosperity.  But  thanks  to  Heaven  over  the  dreary  desola- 
tion, the  voice  of  liberty  and  independence  nowrung  with  a  restorative 
power  and  awakened  into  life  and  activity  the  intellectual,  the  moral, 
and  the  physical  energie.s  of  all  classes,  and  immediately  summoned 
them  to  the  noble  work  of  repair  and  improvement  Ever  ready  to 
move  with  the  foremost  in  planning  and  prosecuting  measures  promo- 
tive of  good,  to  mankind  at  large  and  to  his  countrymen  in  particular. 
Dr.  Alexander,  impressed  with  the  duty  of  lending  his  aid  to  the  diffu- 
sion of  learning  throughout  the  State,  embarked  with  other  literary 
men  of  the  country  in  the  business  of  opening  schools  and  seminaries 
for  the  benefit  of  the  children  and  youth,  who  from  the  necessity  of 
the  times  -had  been  hitherto  almost  entirely  neglected.  About  the 
year  1787,  he  opened  a  capital  school  near  his  own  residence,  situated 
a  little  over  a  mile  southwest  of  Bullock's  Creek  Church,  and  in  a  few 
months  the  infant  seminary  was  thronged  with  young  men  from  his 
own  and  the  adjoining  Districts.  For  a  number  of  years  he  continued 
to  discharge  the  duties  of  Preceptor  with  eminent  ability,  and  hg,d  the 
happiness  in  after  years  to  see  many  of  his  pupils  in  stations  of  honor 
and  usefulnes  as  clergymen,  physicians,  jurists  and  statesmen,  ilany 
Presbyterian  ministers,  wlio  from  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
until  the  time  of  their  death  contributed  largely  to  give  strength  and 
extension  to  that  arm  of  the  Church  in  York  and  the  neighboring 
Districts,  had  been  not  only  classical  students  of  his,  but  were  also 
indebted  to  him  for  their  early  attainments  in  Theological  science  The 
late  venerable  Governor  Johnson  furnishes  to  the  memory  of  many  of 
us,  a  specimen  of  the  solid  stamp  of  true  South  Carolina  character  and 
early  scholarship  with  which  himself  and  many  others  of  Dr.  iVlexan- 
der's  pupils  were  permitted  during  a  long  life,  to  adorn  society  and 
benefit  the  State.  Governor  Johnson  entertained  while  he  lived,  a  high 
regard  for  his  venerated  Pre.;eptor,  and  spoke  with  pride  of  his  once 
flourishing  academy  standing  on  a  ridge-land  in  the  Bullock's  Creek 
forest. 

From  an  intimate  personal  acquaintance  with  a  number  of  the  old 
men  of  Bullock's  Creek  congregation,  who  had  grown  up  from  children 
under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Alexander  and  who  were  tried  and  honored 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Revolution,  and  members  and  elders  of  the 
church,  the  writer  had  an  opportunity  of  forming  a  tolerably  accurate 
estimate  of  the  mighty  results  which  acrue  both  to  the  Church  and  the 
State,  from  the  permanent  labors  of  an  enlightened  and  faithful  gospel 
ministry.  The  religion,  the  morality,  the  patriotism  and  the  sound- 
common. sense  maxims  of  the  Bible,  had  been  brought  to  bear,  with  a 
steady  and  formative  influence  upon  the  youthful  mind  in  the  congre- 
gations with  whose  interest  and  progress  the  greater  part  of  Dr.  Alex- 
ander's life  had  been  identified,  and  the  result  was  that  a  generation  of 
men  matured  under  his  pastoral  instructions,  whose  worth  to  their 
country  as  soldiers  in  war  and  as  citizens  and  Christians  in  peace,  is 
beyond  all  our  powers  of  appreciation.  What  these  men  had  been  on 
the  field  of  battle  we  could  only  learn  from  the  pen  of  the  historian; 
the  scars  which  they  carried  on  their  persons,  and  their  own  recital  of 


102  BETHESDA    CHURCH.  [1800-1810. 

the  scenes  of  mortal  strife  through  which  they  had  passed  ;  but  what 
they  were  as  men  and  as  citizens  ii-e  hiow,  for  we  listened  to  their  words 
and  looked  upon  their  lives  as  they  passed  with  noble  and  venerable 
bearing  before  our  eyes.  As  Christians,  they  bowed  with  reverence  to 
the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  in  all  they  believed  and  in  the 
duties  they  performed.  The  family  altar,  the,  sanctity  of  the  h'abbath 
and  the  House  of  God,  were  enshrined  in  their  hearts.  Their  lives 
were  a  lucid  comment  on  the  wisdom,  the  purity  and  the  strength  of 
primitive  Presbyterianism  as  an  embodiment  of  the  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity and  of  the  elements  of  nationa'  prosperity  and  greatness.  But 
they  have  passed  from  amongst  us,  and  with  the  venerated  man  whose 
labors  and  example  contributed  so  much  to  make  them  all  they  were, 
have  gone  into  the  communion  of  an  immaculate  and  glorious  church- 
fellowship  near  the  throne  of  God,  and  are  become  citizens  of  an  illus- 
trious commonwealth,  the  grandeur  and  perpetuity  of  whose  honors 
and  immunities  were  not  won  by  the  valor  of  the  soldier  on  the  battle- 
fields of  earth,  but  were  achieved  by  the  blood  of  the  cross,  and  are 
bestowed  by  the  hand  of  Him  who  is  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the 
earth. 

Dr.  Alexander  closed  his  eventful  life  on  the  30th  of  July,  1809,  in  the 
74th  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  at  Bullock's 
Creek.  A  simple  stone  taken  from  the  mountain  quarry  of  our  District, 
stands  at  the  head  of  his  grave,  inscribed  with  his  name,  his  age,  and 
the  time  of  his  death,  and  marks  the  resting  place  of  all  that  was  mortal 
of  this  eminently  useful  and  patriotic  Divine.  L. 

York  District,  July  24th,  1855. 

Rev.  James  Gilliland,  Jr.,  was  licensed  by  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  April  8th,  1802,  and  was  or- 
dained the  pastor  of  Nazareth  and  Fairview,  on  the  7th  of 
April,  1802.  (Vol.  I,  p.  626.)  He  was  a  lively  speaker,  a 
good  scholar  and  popular  in  his  manners.  The  church 
flourished  greatly  under  his  pastorate. 

Bethesda  Church  enjoyed  the  labors  of  its  beloved  and 
excellent  pastor  the  Rev.  Robt.  B.  Walker.  "  As  to  the  nu- 
merical strength  of  the  church  previous  to  this  century  we 
have"  says  Mr.  Harris,  "  no  definite  information,  but  it  wa.s 
probably  large  from  the  first.  In  the  beginning  of  the  century 
we  have  been  informed,  the  membership  was  about  one 
hundred." 

Since  the  year  1804,  when  large  additions  had  been  made 
to  the  membership,  we  have  reliable  data,  from  which  we 
ascertain  that  the  average  annual  report  of  members  for  fifty 
years  wis  one  hundred  and  sixty,  being  the  highest  in  1818, 
when  it  was  nearly  four  hundred,  and  lowest  in  1850,  when, 
in  consequence  of  tlie  years  of  immense  mortality  preceding 
and  also  the  extensive  emigration  to  the  West,  it  was  reduced 
to  one  hundred  and  five  (105.) 


1800-1810.]  BETHESDA   CHUKCH.  103 

There  must  evidently  then  have  been  frequent  and  impor- 
tant accretions  to  the  communicants  in  the  church  to  fill  up 
the  breaches  made  by  death  and  emigration;  and  this  is  what 
might  be  expected  fi-om  the  character  of  her  ministry,  and 
the  churche's  known  fidelity  to  her  children  and  families,  and 
by  the  aid  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  But  besides  this  gradual  but 
constant  increase  of  members,  there  was  at  intervals  a  very 
large  influx  mto  her  communion,  for  Bethesda  has  enjoyed 
several  seasons  of  general  religious  awakening,  and  as  Father 
Walker  used  to  say,  "  the  people  expected  one  every  fifteen 
years."  The  first  of  these  occurred  in  the  beginning  of  this 
century,  and  we  shall  permit  the  lamented  Bishop  to  describe 
it: 

In  1802,  the  wonderful  work  of  grace  which  commenced  in  Kentucky, 
extended  to  this  region  of  country.  In  the  spring,  or  early  in  the  sum- 
mer of  this  year,  a  "protracted  meeting"  was  appointed  at'  Bethe.sda,  at 
which  time  the  first  "  Camp  Meeting"  was  held  at  this  Church.  The 
neighboring  ministers  were  invited  and  masses  of  men  assembled  in 
expectation  of  a  revival.  They  came  from  the  two  Carolinas  ;  some  as 
far  as  thirty  and  forty  miles,  to  attend  this  solemn  occasion.  Revivals 
of  great  power  had  already  appeared  in  some  of  the  surrounding  con- 
gregations ;  but  a  special  work  of  grace  appeared  now  in  Bethesda.  It 
passed  through  that  vast  assembly  like  some  mighty  whirlwind.  "The 
people  were  moved  as  the  trees  of  the  wood  are  moved  by  the  wind." 
Subjects  were  taken  from  almost  every  aye,  class,  character  and  condi- 
tion. Hundreds  retired  from  that  assembly  who  had  felt  the  mighty 
power  of  this  work,  and  very  many  returned  to  their  homes  "rejoicing 
in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God  " 

Thus  commenced  that  remarkable  work  in  the  congregation,  known 
as  the  "  old  revival,"  and  which  continued  with  great  power  between 
three  and  four  years.  Such  masses  now  crowded  the  house  of  God,  that 
in  pleasant  weather  want  of  room  compelled  them  to  retire  to  the  grove. 
They  assembled  early  on  Sabbath  morning  at  the  place  of  worship,  not 
for  worldly  conversation  or  amusement,  but  to  transact  business  for  the 
eternal  world.  Immediately  on  their  arrival,  not  waiting  on  the  pres- 
ence of  the  pastor,  the  people  commenced  prayer,  praise,  religious 
conference  and  conversation  with  the  anxious  enquirer.  In  such  exer- 
cises, in  connection  with  public  worship,  was  the  day  measurably  spent, 
and  at  evening  the  people  retired  to  their  homes  with  an  overwhelming 
sense  of  eternal  things  possessing  the  soul.  Meetings  for  prayer  during 
the  days  or  nights  of  the  week  were  appointed  in  different  parts  of  the 
congregation  and  attended  by  crowds,  for  they  now  considered  secular 
pursuits  as  secondary  to  the  interests  of  eternity.  Such  was  the  all- 
prevailing  solemnity  resting  on  the  public  mind  that  fashionable  amuse- 
ments, sports  and  pastimes  which  had  been  so  common,  disappeared, 
as  darkness  does  at  the  approach  of  dawn,  and  the  chill  of  winter  with 
the  return  of  spring.  The  business  of  life  was  not  neglected ;  but  such 
was  the  absorbing  interest  then  felt  in  the  things  of  the  soul  that 
wherever  men  assembled,  were  it  even  to  repair  or  construct  the  roads, 
to  raise  the  house,  clear  the  fields,  or  remove  the  rubbish,  and  even  to 


104  BJJTI-IESDA    CHURCH.  [1800-1810. 

"husk  the  corn,"  (at  other  times  demoralizing)  the  work  of  grace  then 
progressing,  and  the  salvation  of  the  soul,  were  the  general  topics  of 
conversation.  And  even  when  they  assembled  at  the  house  on  such 
occasions,  to  take  their  meals,  it  was  not  uncommon  to  spend  a  time 
in  social  prayer  and  praise,  and  religious  conference,  before  resuming 
their  labor. 

•'  ThosP  were  happy  golden  dayp, 
Sweetly  spent  in  prayer  and  praise." 

What  number  of  persons  Vjecame  hopeful  subjects  of  grace  during  this 
revival,  can  be  learned  in  eternity  alone.  Many  from  a  distance,  it  is 
believed,  were  savingly  impressed  while  attending  protracted  meetings 
at  Bethesda,  who  returned  to  their  homes,  and  whose  subsequent  his- 
tory was  of  course  unknown  to  this  Church.  Many  hopeful  subjects  of 
this  gracious  work  united  themselves  to  other  branches  of  the  Church, 
and  large  additions  were  made  to  this  Church.  It  is  known  to  some  of 
you,  I  am  informed,  that  at  the  commencement  of  this  gracious  worK 
the  number  of  persons  in  actual  communion  in  this  Church,  did  not 
amount  to  eighty,  and  at  the  close  of  the  revival  it  largely  exceeded 
three  hundred  !  And  even  after  the  Church  supposed  the  revival  to 
be  at  an  end,  its  gleanings  for  years  continued  to  come  into  the  Church. 
From  all  I  can  learn,  I  am  induced  to  believe  that  Bethesda  alone 
received  more  than  three  hundred  members  on  profession  of  their  faith 
as  the  fruits  of  this  one  revival. 

There  were  some  things  connected  with  this  work  which  were  very 
peculiar  in  their  nature,  in  relation  to  which  good  and  judicious  men 
sincerely  differed.  Of  these  I  am  not  at  this  time  called  to  express  an 
opinion.  Some  who  came  into  the  Church  afterwards  dishonored  their 
profession ;  but  the  large  mass,  as  j'ou  yourselves  are  aware,  gave  evi- 
dence of  genuine  piety.  There  are  still  some  subjects  of  that  revival 
living  among  us,  whom  we  love  and  revere  ;  but  the  greater  part  are 
"  fallen  asleei?."  So  that  whatever  may  be  said  of  thealleged  irregulari- 
ties and  excesses  of  those  times,  certain  it  is,  that  this  Church  and  com- 
munity have  reaped  lasting  benefit  from  that  work  of  grace.  Unbelief 
and  skepticism  were  confounded,  and  in  many  in.stances  compelled  to 
acknowledge  that  it  was  the  "  finger  of  God."  The  caviler  was  silenced  ; 
the  hardened  sinner  and  even  the  bold  blasphemer  were  melted  and 
subdued,  and  changed.  Many  who  once  had  been  leaders  in  sin,  now 
resembled  the  man  in  the  Gospel,  who,  from  a  wild  demoniac,  was  seen 
"  clothed  in  his  right  mind  and  sitting  at  thefeet  of  Jesus."  The  Church 
made  much  advancement.  For  ih  addition  to  its  large  accession  of 
numbers,  the  people  of  God  were  refreshed  and  invigorated,  and  took  a 
higher  position  in  the  community,  and  religion  acquired  an  ascendency 
over  the  public  mind,  which  it  had  not  previously  held  here  and  which 
to  some  extent  has  continued  to  this  day. 

To  this  the  writer  of  this  historical  sljetch  can  add  that  he 
has  a  h'st  of  names,  David  Sadler,  Ro.  Steele,  Ro.  Love  and 
Frank  Ervin,  of  per.sons  who  at  the  commencement  of  this 
religious  interest  signed  a  pledge  to  one  another  that  they 
would  not  yield  to  the  influences  now  developing  so  exten- 
sively among  the  people,  but,  as  the  result  proved,  all  of 
these  were  during  the  meeting,  made  genuine  converts,  thus 


1800-1810.]  EBENEZER BEERSHEBA.  105 

evincing  the  power  of  efficacious  grace  and  God's  "  making 
the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  him." 

Of  the  ministers  who  have  arisen  from  this  congregation 
we  mentioned  the  names  (Vol.  I.,  pp.  6ii,.6i4)and  gave 
something  of  the  history  of  the  two  McElhenny's,  James  and 
John,  the  ministry  of  one  of  whom  began  in  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  of  the  other  in  this.  Rev.  John  McElhenny, 
D.  D.,  who  was  licensed  by  Lexington  Presbytery,  in  1808, 
died  in  1871,  since  our  first  volume  was  published,  and 
was  buried  among  the  lamentations  of  good  men,  and  yet 
were  their  sorrows  mingled  with  alternate  joy,  that  one  who 
had  labored  so  faithfully  and  so  long,  and  whom  the  age  in 
which  we  live  has  cause  to  remember,  has  gone  up  higher  to 
receive  his  reward.  Bethesda  Church  reported  1 50  members 
in  1805,  and  1.^9  in  1 8 10. 

Ebenezer  is  enumerated  among  the  vacant  churches  at  the 
beginning  of  this  century,  unable  to  support  a  pastor,  and  so 
also  in  the  Assembly'.^  minutes  in  1808.  It  was  not  over  ten 
miles  in  a  direct  line  from  Bethesda,  and  was  within  reach  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Walker.  Mr.  Harris  says  :  "  For  twenty- five  years, 
in  connection  with  Bethesdii,  he  also  ministered  at  Ebenezer 
Church  with  the  same  degree  of  acceptance  and  success  as 
here  in  his  pastorate."  As  Ebenezer  does  not  apply  to  Pres- 
bytery for  supplies,  it  depended  probably  upon  him.  Its 
statistics,  as  given  in  different  years,  enumerate  35,  59,  54,42 
and  43  communicants.     Infant  baptisms,  7  and  11, 

Beersheba,  in  York,  was  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  George 
G.  McWhorter,  in  connection  with  Bethel,  until  September, 
1801,  when,  with  the  consent  of  the  churches,  he  resigned 
his  charge  and  removed  to  Salem,  on  Black  River.  The 
ruling  elders  at  this  time  werq  John  Peters,  John  Chambeis, 
John  Venable,  and  Robert  Kennedy.  Beersheba  Church 
reported  130  members  in  communion  in  1 810.  In  1802 
both  churches  petitioned  for  supplies.  They  both  ask 
and  obtain  leave  to  employ  the  Rev..  Humphrey  Hunter, 
of  Concord  Presbytery,  who  supplied  the  pulpit  for  one  or 
more  years.  Beersheba  asks  leave  in  September,  1805,  to 
call  Rev.  Jas.  S.  Adams,  then  a  member  of  the  Charleston 
Association.  The  leave  is  granted,  provided  Mr.  Adams  ob- 
tain a  dismission  from  the  Association  and  join  the  Presby- 
tery. In  September,  1806,  they  obtain  leave  to  continue  Mr. 
Adams  as  their   stated  supply.     Leave  is   again   asked  and 


106  UNITY^SHILOH — BETHEL.  [1800-1810. 

obtained  to  the  same  effect  in  September,  1807.  He  seems 
to  have  continued  as  their  supply  for  several  years,  dividing 
his  time  between  this  church  and  Olney,  across  the  line  in 
North  Carolina-  Mr.  Adams  obtained  his  dismission  from 
the  Congregational  Association  in  1809. 

Unity  Chukch,  in  the  Old  Indian  Reservation,  was  a  part 
of  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  John  Brown  in  connection  with 
Waxhaw.  It  became  vacant  by  his  removal  in  1803.  It  was 
supplied  by  Humphrey  Hunter,  of  North  Carolina,  in  1805  ; 
by  Mr.  Foster  and  Geo.  Reid  in  1807,  and  by  Mr.  Walker  in 
1808.  The  second  regular  sessions  of  the  First  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  were  held  at  this  church  from  the  29th  of 
September  to  the  1st  of  October,  1800,  and  the  sixteenth 
regular  sessions  from  September  28th  to  the  30th  in  1807. 

Shiloh  (formerly  Calvary),  on  King's  Creek,  west  of  Bethel, 
on  the  North  Carolina  line,  sought  supplies  at  the  beginning 
of  this  century.  W.  C.  Davis  preached  to  it  by  Presbyterial 
appointment  in  1807  and  1808,  but  it  was  chiefly  dependent 
on  the  services  of  Rev.  Jas.  S.  Adams,  who  ministered  to  it 
for  some  years,  from  time  to  time. 

Bethel  Church  (York)  was  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
Rev.  Geo.  G.  McWiiorter,  in  connection  with  Beersheba,  until 
the  29th  of  September,  1801.  By  permission  of  the  Pres- 
bytery it  was  supplied  by  the  Rev.  Humphrey  Hunter,  from 
North  Carolina,  for  one  or  two  years.  Mr.  Walker,  Mr. 
Neely,  Mr.  Geo.  Reid,  are  appointed  as  supplies  for  it  in 
1807  and  1808.  During  this  vacancy  the  present  church 
building  was  erected — the  third  since  the  organization  of  the 
church.  Other  ministers  sprung  from  this  church  in  addition 
to  those  mentioned.  (Vol.  i,  pp.  605,  607.)  Only  one  ot 
whom  should  be  mentioned  here,  viz  :  Thos.  H.  Price,  whom 
we  have  found  as  minister  on  James  Island,  originated  in  this 
congregation. 

As  we  pass  over  the  Catawba  into  Lancaster  District,  we 
meet  fi.rst  with  that  ancient  church  often  called  Old  Waxhaw. 
In  the  beginning  of  this  century  the  Rev.  John  Brown  was 
pastor  of  this  church  and  of  Unity,  giving  to  this  last  one- 
fourih  part  of  his  time.  During  his  ministry,  in  May,  1802, 
occurred  a  memorable  revival  of  religion,  the  tradition  of  which 
still  lingers  in  the  memories  of  many,  and  is  called  "the  old 
revival."  The  following  letters,  written  by  men  whose  names 
cannot    be    mentioned  without    respect,  and    who  were  wit- 


1800-1810.]  '■  OLD  WAXHAW."  107 

nesses  of  these  extraordinary   scenes,  will   convey  some  faint 
idea  of  their  character. 

Dr.  Samuel  E.  McCorcle  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  theo- 
logical attainments,  and  had  made  acquisitions  in  science  and 
literature  above  the  majority  of  his  cotemporaries.  He  par- 
ticipated in  these  meetings,  which  were  now  held  in  various 
congregations,  in  imitation  of  those  in  Kentucky.  He 
believed  in  revivals  as  extraordinary  outpourings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  but  was  strongly  prejudiced  against  considering  "  the 
exercises  "  as  a  part  of  the  Spirit's  work,  and  was  inclined  to 
doubt,  because  of  these,  whether  the  work  which  had  now 
commenced  was  of  God  or  not.  He  held  out  a  long  time, 
the  disorders  he  witnessed  giving  new  strength  to  his  doubts.. 
But  at  a  meeting  he  was  attending  at  Bell's  Mills,  in  North 
Carolina,  in  January,  i8o2,  his  own  son  was  among  those 
who  were  struck  down,  and  he  was  sent  for  to  come  and  pray 
for  him.  This  turned  his  thoughts  in  a  new  direction,  and 
the  various  extraordinary  cases  he  witnessed  at  that  meeting 
at  length  removed  the  difficulties  under  which  he  labored. 
He  attended  the  meetings  at  Third  Creek  and  the  Cross-Roads, 
in  Iredell  and  at  New  Providence,  N.  C,  of  which  he  gives 
some  account,  preached  the  opening  sermon  at  the  canip- 
nieeting  at  Waxhaw,  but  relies  for  a  description  of  its  progress 
upon  the  following 

TESTIMONY   OF    REV.    JNO.    m'gREADV. 

May  28,  1802. 

"  I  have  just  returned  from  a  general  meeting  (so  called 
because  different  congregations  and  different  denominations 
were  invited  to  join  in  it)  at  Waxhaw's,  in  South  Carolina, 
which  commenced  on  Friday,  21st  instant,  and  closed  on  the 
ensuing  Tuesday. 

"About  twenty  ministers  of  different  denominations  attended, 
one  hundred  and  twenty  wagons,  twenty  caits,  and  eight 
carriages,  and  by  a  rough  computation,  about  three  thousand 
five  hundred  persons,  of  whom  more  than  one  hundred  were 
exercised  on  the  occasion,  few  of  whom  received  the  sensible 
comfort  of  religion.  I  am  happy  that  I  attended,  because  I 
have  returned  with  answers  to  two  or  three  objections  which 
were  made  here  against  the  least  degree  of  divine  agency  in 
this  work.  Those  objections  originated  from  facts  that  had 
taken  place  at  two   common   sacramental   occasions  which   I 


108  "the  old  revival."  [I8OO-I8IO. 

had  just  before  attended — one  in  the  vicinity,  the  other  at 
home.  At  tlie  first  of  these,  the  oppo.sers  were  numerous, 
wretched,  restless  and  daring.  They  cursed,  and  scoffed,  and 
threatened,  and  fortified  themselves  with  ardent  spirits  to  pre- 
vent the  stroke  or  animate  for  opposition.  And  yet  not  one 
of  them  was  struck  down.  At  the  other  sacrament  a  number 
of  females  were  afflicted,  but  not  one  man.  These  circum- 
stances could  not  escape  observation,  united  with  another, 
viz :  that  it  is  at  the  close  of  all  our  meetings,  when  the  body 
is  debilitated,  and  the  mind  impressed  with  a  long  series  of 
dreadful  sights  and  sounds,  that  by  far  the  greater  number 
fall. 

"  At  Waxhaw's  I  saw  these  objections  vanish  away. 
About  twenty  persons  fell  the  first  day;  the  far  greater  num- 
ber throughout  the  whole  occasion  were  men,  and  few  op- 
posers  escaped  ;  not  less  than  twelve  of  the  most  notorious 
tell.  The  second  person  that  I  saw  struck  was  a  man  who 
had  boasted  that  he  would  not  fall.  However,  struck  he  was, 
fled,  fell,  was  found  and  brought  to  a  tent,  where  I  saw  iiim, 
and  heard  him  cry  for  mercy.  Curiosity  had  compelled 
another  to  attend,  and  the  fear  of  falling  had  induced  him  to 
drink  freely,  so  that  it  was  doubtful  when  he  was  struck 
down,  what  was  the  true  cause.  Time  determined.  I  saw 
him  twelve  hours  after,  and  he  was  tryitig  in  ardent  language 
to  express  his  repentance,  love,  joy,  gratitude,  resolution  and 
hope.  I  saw  another,  soon  after  he  had  fallen.  His  com- 
panion was  gazing  on.  A  respectable  by-stander  told  me 
that  they  were  racing  horses  into  the  encampment  that  morn- 
ing, that  they  were  swearing  and  talking  profanely,  that  the 
fallen  had  boasted  that  nothing  but  his  bottle  should  ever 
bring  him  down,  and  that  lie  would  not,  for  the  value  of  the 
whole  camp  be  degraded  by  falling  for  anything  else. 
Another  was  struck  down,  and  by  one  of  the  ministers  (who 
told  me)  he  was  urged  to  pray.  This  he  peremptorily  refused. 
He  was  urged  again,  and  then  declared  that  he  would  rather 
be  damned  than  pray.  Such  a  comment  on  the  enmity  and 
pride  of  the  human  heart  I  never  heard  before.  After  lying 
all  night  on  the  ground,  he  crept  away  the  next  morning, 
and  I  heard  no  more  of  him. 

"  A  remarkable  occurrence  took  place  on  my  return,  not 
far  from  the  encampment.  A  young  man  was  exercised  in  a 
thick  wood  ;  he  was  found,  and  then   called  tor   his  relatives 


1800-1810.]  DK.    FURMAlSr'S    LETTER.  109 

and  neighbors,  to  whom  he  gave  a  very  ardent  exhortation. 
His  exercise.s  were  joyful,  as  they  respected  himself,  but 
became  painful  when  his  thoughts  turned  on  his  thoughtless 
or  opposing  relatives  and  neighbors.  But  the  most  singular 
circumstance  was  his  own  solemn  declaration  that  he  had  ex- 
perienced this  painful  work  in  that  very  wood  long  before  he 
had  ever  seen  it  in  others  ;  and,  therefore,  he  cried  out  with 
unusual  animation,  '  O,  my  friends,  this  work  is  the  work  of 
God,  and  not  sympathy,  as  some  of  you  suppose.'  " 


DR.  FURMAN'S  LETTER. 

The  following  letter  from  Rev.  Dr.  Furman,  of  Cliarleston, 
to  Dr.  Rippon,  of  London,  is  a  description  of  the  same  meet- 
ing by  a  distinguished  and  well-known  minister  of  the 
Baptist  Church,  who  was  present  at  and  a  participant  in  its 
religious  exercises  : 

Charleston,  August  ii,  1802. 
"  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir  : 

"  Having  promised  you  some  information  respecting  the 
extraordinary  meeting  at  the  Waxhaws,  to  which  I  purposed 
going  at  the  time  I  wrote,  in  May,  and  having  accordingly 
attended  it,  I  now  sit  down  to  perform  my  promise. 

It  was  appointed  by  the  Presbyterian  clergy  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  but  clergymen  of  other  denominations  were 
invited  to  it,  and  it  was  proposed  to  be  conducted  on  the  same 
principles  and  plan  with  those  held  in  Kentucky.  The  place 
of  meeting  is  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  from 
Charleston,  in  the  mid.st  of  a  large  settlement  of  Presbyte- 
rians, but  not  far  distant  from  some  congregations  of  Baptists 
and  Methodists.  This  Presbyterian  congregation  is  one  of 
the  first  which  were  formed  in  the  upper  part  of  this  State, 
has  for  its  pastor  a  Mr,  Brown,  who  is  a  respectable  character 
and  is  furnished  with  a  commodious  place  of  worship.  But 
as  the  place  of  worship  would  not  be  in  any  wise  equal  to  the 
numbers  expected,  a  place  was  chosen  in  the  foiest  for  an 
encampment.  The  numbers  which  assembled  from  various 
parts  of  the  country  formed  a  very  large  congregation,  the 
amount  of  which  has  been  variously  estimated;  to  me  there 
appeared  to  be  three  thousand  or  perhaps  four  thousand  per- 


110  DR.    FURMAn's    letter.  [1800-1810. 

sons,  but  some  supposed  there  were  seven  thousand  or  eight 
thousand.  My  information  respecting  the  number  of  minis- 
ters who  attended,  was  probably  not  correct,  but  from  what  I 
observed  and  collected  from  others,  there  were  eleven  Presby- 
terians, four  Baptists  and  three  Methodists.  The  encamp- 
ment was  laid  out  in  an  oblong  form,  extending  from  the  top 
of  a  liill  down  the  soutli  side  of  it,  toward  a  stream  of  water 
which  ran  at  the  bottom  in  an  eastern  direction,  including  a 
vacant  space  of  about  three  hundred  yards  in  length  and  one 
hundred  and  fifty  in  breadth.  Lines  of  tents  were  erected  on 
every  side  of  tiiis  space,  and  between  them,  and  behind,  were 
the  waggons  and  riding  carriages  placed,  the  space  itself  being 
reserved  for  the  assembhng  of  the  congreijation,  or  congre- 
gations rather,  to  attend  public  worship.  Two  stands  were 
fixed  on  for  this  purpose  ;  at  the  one  a  stage  was  erected 
under  some  lofty  trees,  wiiich  afforded  an  ample  shade;  at  the 
other,  which  was  not  so  well  provided  for  with  shade,  a 
waggon  was  placed  for  the  rostrum. 

"  The  public  service  began  on  Friday  afternoon,  the  21st  of 
May,  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCorcle,  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  after  which  the  congregation  was  dismissed, 
but  at  the  same  time  the  hearers  were  informed  that  they 
would  be  visited  at  tlieir  tents  and  exhorted  by  the  ministers, 
during  the  course  of  the  evening.  To  this  information  an 
exhortation  was, added,  that  they  would  improve  the  time  in 
religious  conversation,  earnest  prayer  and  singing  the  praise 
of  God.  This  mode  of  improving  the  time  both  by  the  min- 
isters and  a  large  proportion  of  the  hearers  was  strictly 
adhered  to  ;  not  only  were  exhortations  given,  but  many 
sermons  were  also  preached  along  the  lines  in  the  evening, 
and  the  exercises  continued  by  the  ministers  in  general  till 
midnight,  and  by  the  Metliodist  ministers  among  their  adhe- 
rents nearly  or  quite  all  the  night. 

On  Saturday  morning  the  ministers  assembled  after  an 
early  breakfist  and  appointed  a  comnittee  to  arrange  the 
services  for  that  day  and  the  two  following.  The  committee 
consisted  wholly  of  Presbyterian  Ministers.  They  soon 
performed  the  work  of  their  appointment  and  assigned  the 
several  ministers  present  their  respective  p.irts  of  service.  By 
this  arrangement  the  public  ser^^ices  were  appointed  at  each 
stand  for  that  day;  three  for  the  Sibbath,  together  with  the 
administration  of  the   communion,  at  a  place  a  little  distant 


1800-1810.]  DR.    FUEMAN'S    LETTER.  Ill 

from  the  encampment,  and  two  at  each  stand  again  for  Mon- 
day. The  intervals  and  evenings  in  particular  to  be  improved 
in  the  same  manner  as  on  the  former  day.  Necessary  busi- 
ness callin;:j  me  away  oii  Sunday  evening,  I  did  not  see  the 
conclusion  of  the  meeting.  This,  however,  I  can  say,  it  was 
conducted  with  much  solemnity  while  I  was  at  it,  and  the 
engagedness  of  the  people  appeared  to  he  great.  Many 
seemed  to  be  seriously  concerned  for  the  salvation  of  their 
souls,  and  the  preaciiing  and  exhortation  of  the  ministers  in 
general  were  well  calculated  to  inspire  right  sentiments  and 
make  right  impressions. 

In  the  intervals  of  public  worship  the  voice  of  praise  was 
heard  among  the  tents  in  every  direction,  and  frequently  that 
of  prayer  by  private  Christians.  The  communion  service  was 
performed  with  much  apparent  devotion  while  I  attended, 
which  was  at  the  serving  of  the  first  table.  The  Presbyterians 
and  the  Methodists  sat  down  together,  but  the  Baptists,  on 
the  principle  which  has  generally  governed  them  on  this  sub- 
ject, abstained. 

Several  persons  suffered,  at  this  meeting,  those  bodily 
affections  which  have  been  before  experienced  in  Kentucky, 
North  Carolina,  and  at  other  places  where  the  extraordinary 
revivals  in  religion  within  this  year  or  two  have  taken  place. 
Some  ot  them  fell  instantaneously,  as  though  struck  with 
lightning,  and  continiied  insensible  for  a  length  of  time; 
others  were  more  mildly  affected,  and  soon  recovered  their 
bodily  strength,  with  a  proper  command  of  their  mental 
powers.  Deep  conviction  for  sin,  and  apprehension  of  the 
wrath  of  God  was  professed  by  the  chief  of  them  at  first,  and 
several  of  them  afterwards  appeared  to  have  a  joyful  sense  of 
pardoning  mercy  through  a  Reedemer.  Others  continued 
under  a  sense  of  condemnation  after  those  extraordinary 
bodily  affections  ceased,  and  some  from  the  first  appeared  to 
be  more  affected  with  the  greatness  and  goodness  of  God, 
and  with  the  I'ove  of  Christ  than  with  apprehensions  of  Divine 
wrath.  In  a  few  cases  there  were  indications,  as  I  conceived, 
of  enthusiasm  and  even  affectation,  but  in  others  a  strong 
evidence  of  supernatural  power  and  gracious  influence.  Sev- 
eral received  the  impression  in  their  tenbs,  others  in  a  still 
more  retired  situation,  quite  withdrawn  from  company,  some 
who  had  been  to  that  moment  in  opposition  to  what  was  thus 
going  on  under  the  character  of  the  work  of  God,  and  others 


112  DR.    FUEMAn's    letter.  [1800-1810. 

who  had  been  till  then  careless.  The  number  of  persons  thus 
affected  while  I  was  present  was  not  great  in  proportion  to 
the  multitude  attending.  I  have,  indeed,  been  informed 
several  more  were  affected  the  evening  after  I  came  away  and 
the  next  day,  but  in  ail,  they  could  not  be  equal  to  the  pro- 
portional numbers  which  were  thus  affected  at  some  other 
meetings,  especially  in  Kentucky.  Several,  indeed  a  very 
considerable  number,  had  gone  seventy  or  eighty  miles  from 
the  lower  part  of  this  State  to  attend  this  meeting.  Of  these,  a 
pretty  large  proportion  came  under  the  above  described  im- 
pressions, and  since  their  return  to  their  homes  an  extra- 
ordinary revival  has  taken  place  in  the  congregation  to  which 
they  belong.  It  has  spread  also  across  the  upper  parts  of  this 
State,  in  a  western  direction.  There  are  some  favorable  ap- 
pearances in  several  of  the  Baptist  churches,  but  my  accounts 
of  them  are  not  particular  enough  to  be  transmitted.  Taking 
it  for  granted  that  you  have  seen  the  publication  entitled 
"  Surprising  Accounts,"  by  Woodward,  of  Philadelphia,  con- 
taining the  accounts  of  revivals  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina,  I  therefore  say  nothing  of  them  ;  but  only 
that  the  work  in  North  Carolina  increases  greatly;  opposition 
however  is  made  by  many,  and  I  am  informed  that  the  con- 
gregation of  which  I  have  been  writing  so  much  (that  at  the 
Waxhaws)  is  likely  to  be  divided  on  account  of  it,  and  that 
Mr.  Brown  has  been  shut  out  of  the  place  of  worship  since 
the  meeting  was  held  there,  by  some,  I  suppose,  a  majority, 
of  his  elders  and  adherents.  A  particular  reason  of  the 
offense  taken  by  them,  as  I  have  understood,  was  the  practice 
of  communing  with  the  Methodists.  Having  mentioned  this 
denomination  frequently,  I  thmk  it  proper  to  say  that  it  is  that 
class  of  Methodists  who  are  followers  of  Mr.  Wesley,  which 
is  intended  ;  few  of  the  followers  of  Mr.  Whitfield  are  to  be 
found  in  the  United  States,  not  at  least  as  congregations. 
These  general  meetings  have  a  great  tendency  to  excite  the 
attention  and  engage  it  to  religion.  Were  there  no  other 
argument  in  their  favor,  this  alone  would  carry  great  weight 
with  a  reflecting  mind,  but  there  are  many  more  which  may 
be  urged.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  conceded  that  there 
are  some  incidental  evils  which  attend  them  and  give  pain  to 
one  who  feels  a  just  regard  for  religion.  Men  of  an  enthusi- 
astic disposition  have  a  favorable  opportunity  at  them  of  diffu- 
sing their  spirit,  and  they  do  not  fail  to  improve  the  opportu- 


1800-1810.]  BODir,Y    AGITATIONS.  113 

nity  for  this  purpose,  and  the  too  free  intercourse  between 
the  sexes  in  such  an  encampment  is  unfavorable.  However, 
I  hope  the  direct  good  obtained  from  these  meetings  will 
much  more  than  counterbalance  the  incidental  evil. 

"  I  am  reverend  and  dear  sir,  your  friend  and  servant  in 
the  Gospel, 

RICHARD  FURMAN."* 

The  revivals  of  this  period  were  attended  with  bodily  agi- 
tations and  nervous  excitement  far  more  perhaps  than  at  any 
other.  But  in  the  Caroiinas  the  bodily  exercises  never  pro- 
ceeded to  such  extravagant  and  even  frightful  extreme  as  in 
the  West,  and  especially  in  Kentucicy.  There  was  exhibited 
as  Dr.  Davidson  in  his  excellent  history  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Kentucky, has  described  them,  the  falling  exercise, 
the  jerUings,  the  rolling,  the  running,  the  dancing,  the 
barking  exercise,  to  which  he  adds  visions  and  trances.  In 
the  falling  exercise  some  fell  suddenly  as  if  struck  by  an 
invisible  power,  while  others  were  seized  with  a  universal 
tremor  before  they  fell.  Many  uttered  loud  shrieks  in  their 
prostrate  state,  or  cries  of  "glory  !"  Some  were  more  or  less 
convulsed  after  they  fell,  drumming  with  their  heels,  or  with 
their  bodies  bouncing  on  the  floor,  and  sometiniesthere  was 
a  prancing  over  the  benches,  possibly  from  an  attempt  to 
resist  the  impulse  before  they  actually  fell.  They  would 
remain  in  this  state  from  fifteen  minutes  to  two  or  three 
hours.  And  the  numbers  so  affected  would  be  counted  by 
hundreds,  and  was  computed  in  one  instance  by  thousands. 
This  falling  under  deep  religious  impression  had  occurred 
before,  as  under  VVhitefield.  (See  vol.  i  of  this  work,  p.  239, 
the  case  of  Mi".  Bull.}  So  in  the  days  of  Edwards  and  the 
Tennents.  Tlie  jerks  first  occurred  at  a  sacrament  in  East 
Tennessee,  and  were  quickly  propagated.  In  the  least  violent 
cases  it  was  a  jerking  of  the  forearm  from  the  elbow  down- 
wards— quick,  sudden,  apparently  uncontrolable.  It  some- 
times extended  to  other  members,  the  head  wo.uld  be  thrown 
vif)lently  backward  and  forward,  or  from  side  to  side,  or  from 
right  to  left,  with  extreme  velocity  so  that  scarcely  a  feature 
could  be  discovered.  In  the  roiling  exercise  the  head  and 
heels   would   be  drawn    together,  and  thi  person  would  roll 

*Benedit;t's  History  of  the  Baptists,  vol.  II.,  p.  167,  Boston  Edition,  of 
1813.  • 


114  BODILY   AGITATIONS.  [1800-1810. 

like  a  wheel,  or  turn  over  and  over  sideways  like  a  log.  In 
the  running  exercise  the  person  would  run  with  amazing 
swiftness,  leaping  over  obstacles  with  wondrous  agility,  pran- 
cing over  benches  fo  some  time  and  perhaps  falling  at  last 
in  a  swoon.  Again  some  would  leap  and  jump  without  any 
measured  step,  or  dance  with  a  gentle  and  not  ungraceful 
motion  to  a  hvely  tune.  To  all  human  appearance  these 
acts  were  involuntary  and  there  are  many  examples  adduced 
to  show  that  they  were  not  under  the  control  of  the  will,  as 
even  ungodly  men  were  struck  down  and  yet  were  not  con- 
verted, or  when  persons  resolved  that  they  would  resist 
their  impulses,  but  were  unable.  Instances  are  on  record 
were  persons  were  so  seized  when  they  were  entirely  alone, 
when  they  were  at  their  own  homes,  and  stayed  away  from 
those  places  of  public  concourse  that  they  might  avoid  those 
singular  affections  and  the  exposure  they  would  occasion. 

There  was  also  in  some  of  those  meetings  great  confusion. 
The  multitude  was  so  great  that  different  preachers  addressed 
them  from  different  stands,  and  then  in  those  seasons  of 
excitement  they  would  break  into  groups,  the  voice  of  the 
preacher  disregarded,  each  knot  of  people  conducting  their 
worship,  each  as  seemed  ro  them  good.  On  some  occasions 
the  female  part  of  the  worshippers  laid  aside  that  delicacy, 
reserve  and  self-respect  that  belonged  to  them  and  in  the 
warmth  of  affection  on  either  side  intercourse  between  the 
sexes  was  without  that  decorum  which  the  usages  of  society 
and  nature  itself  imposes.  These  things  were  magnified  by 
opposers  and  rules  of  conduct  were  at  length  framed  by  the 
church-leaders  and  their  assistants  for  the  abatement  of  these 
evils. 

If  our  space  would  allow  us  we  might  bring  forward  indi- 
vidual cases  to  substantiate  what  we  have  mentioned  thus 
generally.  But  we  must  refer  the  curious  reader  to  the 
compilation  Er.  Davidson  has  made  from  various  sources. 
There  is  enough  that  is  strange  without  reverting  to  the  tes- 
timony of  the«  eccentric  Lorenzo  Dow,  who  says,  "  I  have 
passed  a  meeting-house  where  I  observed  the  undergrowth 
had  been  cut  for  a  camp  meeting,  and  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
saplings  had  been  left  breast  high,  on  purpose  for  the  people, 
who  were  jerked  to  hold  on  by.  I  observed  where  they  had 
held  on,  they  had  kicked  up  the  earth  as  a  horse  stamping 
flies.     It    iiTay    well    be    suspected   that    Lorenzo    Dow  was 


1800-1810.]  THE    EXER(;iSES.  115 

imposed  ypon,  and  that  the  saphngs  were  left  as  hitching 
posts  for  horses. 

The  question  is  left  us  as  to  whether  these  phenomena 
were  natural  or  supernatural,  and  if  the  latter,  whether  they 
were  from  a  divine  source,  or  the  work  of  "  him  who  lieth  in 
wait  to  deceive." 

After  a  review  of  all  that,  Dr.  George  Baxter,  of  Virginia, 
who,  when  entering  the  ministry,  spent  a  month  in  Kentucky 
in  attendance  upon  these  meetings,  says  of  them,  (the  London 
Christian  Observer  says)  :  "  It  is  a  well-known  fact,  that,  in 
general,  these  strange  emotions  are  not  so  involuntary  as  they 
appear  to  be ;  fur  it  has  been  usually  found  to  be  very  easy 
for  the  preachers  to  repress  them  whenever  they  are  inclined 
to  do  so."  "  Let  us  request  any  one  to  weigh  well  this  ques- 
tion, whether  he  can  ascribe  to  God,  the  God  of  order  and 
wisdom,  such  wild  and  disorderly  effects  as  have  been  de- 
scribed ?  May  they  not  even  be  the  devices  of  that  enemy, 
who  is  emphatically  called  in  scripture  'the  deceiver'  of  the 
world,  who  would  thus  delude  men  into  a  false  estimate  of 
their  spiritual  state,  and  also  bring  into  disrepute  the  com- 
mon, but  far  more  valuable,  effects  produced  by  the  zealous 
and  faithful  preaching  of  the  gospel?"  (Vol.  i,  p.  672.) 
"By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  Dr.  Baxter  testifies,  that 
"tiie  characters  of  Kentucky  travelers  were  entirely  changed; 
that  such  men  became  as  remarkable  for  sobriety  as  they  iiad 
been  for  dissoluteness.  I  found  Kentucky,  to  appearance, 
•the  most  moral  place  I  had  ever  seen.  A  religious  awe 
seemed  to  pervade  the  country;  and  some  deistical  charac- 
ters had  confessed  that,  from  whatever  cause  the  revival 
mioht  proceed,  it  made  the  people  better."  The  great  num- 
ber of  sound  conversions,  the  fruits  of  which  were  abiding, 
is  a  testimony  that  the  real  agency  was  not  from  beneath. 

Were  these  strange  bodily  affections,  then,  the  special  and 
direct  effects  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ?  This  question  must  be 
answered  in  the  negative.  "  God  is  not  the  author  of  con- 
fusion, but  of  peace,  as  in  all  the  churches  of  the  saints," 
Even  in  the  day  of  miracle  the  Corinthian  Church  is  guarded 
against  sucii  scenes  of  confusion.  Even  then  "  the  spirits  of 
the  prophets  were  subject  to  the  prophets,"  and  the  direction 
was  "  Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order." 

We  are  to  look,  therefore,  to  the  influence  of  natural  causes, 
working  through  that  mysterious  connection  of  the  body  with 


116  EFFECTS  OF   STRONG    EMOTION.  [1800-1810. 

the  mind.  Any  powerful  impression  made  upon  tlie  mind 
acts  through  it  upon  the  body.  Fear  often  paralyzes  all  our 
corporal  energies,  and  an  imagined  calamity  often  produces 
as  great- agitation  a.s  one  that  has  really  occurred.  Religious 
emotions,  the  sense  of  guilt,  the  dread  of  its  punishment,  the 
love  of  God,  the  power  of  faith,  the  vision  of  a  world  to  come, 
may  act  powerfully  upon  the  corporal  frame.  Edwards  speaks 
of  a  young  lady  of  remarkable  personal  beauty,  of  refined 
tastes,  of  wonderful  sweetness,  calmness  and  universal  benevo- 
lence of  mind,  whose  views  of  spiritual  objects  were  often  the 
most  delightful  and  overpowering,  nature  often  sinking  under 
the  weight  of  divine  discoveries  ;  the  strength  of  the  body 
being  takfen  away,  so  as  to  deprive  her  of  all  ability  to  stand 
or  speak  ;  sometimes  the  hands  clenched  and  the  flesh  cold, 
but  the  senses  still  remaining."  This  young  lady,  Sarah 
Pierrepont,  became  his  own  wife,  and  the  knowledge  of  her 
experience  under  the  impressions  of  true  religion,  made  him 
more  tolerant  than  he  might  otherwise  have  been  to  these 
bodily  affections  in  seasons  of  revival.  If  there  is  now  added 
to  this  the  power  of  sympathy,  and  the  tendency  to  imitation, 
the  whole  of  these  phenomena  is  accounted  for  from  natural 
causes.  Epilepsy  is  itself  "  catching."  The  children  in  a 
poor-house  at  Harlem  were  seized  with  fits  from  seeing  one 
of  their  number  attacked  ;  nor  could  any  stop  be  put  to  this 
epidemic  malady  until  Dr.  Boerhave,  with  great  sagacity, 
forbade  the  administering  of  medicine,  and  sought  to  produce 
an  impression  upon  the  mind.  He  introduced  into  the  hall 
where  the  children  were  assembled,  several  portable  furnaces, 
ordered  that  certain  crooked  irons  should  be  heated  and  ap- 
plied to  the  arm  of  the  first  individual  that  was  taken.  The 
convulsions  at  once  ceased.  There  was  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren in  Chelmsford,  Mass.,  one  of  whom  was  afflicted  with 
St.  Vitus'  dance;  the  rest  imitated  his  gestures  for  sport, 
until  they  participated  in  his  disease.  The  father  prepared  a 
block  and  axe,  and  threatened  to  decapitate  the  first  who  ex- 
hibited these  affections  except  the  original  sufferer,  and  the  rest 
were  affected  no  more.  So  the  Romans,  when  in  the  excite- 
ment of  the  Comitia,  their  public  meetings  for  elections,  one 
was  seized  with  epilepsy,  adjourned  the  Comitia,  lest  others 
should  be  siezed,  as  experience  showed  they  would  be,  by  the 
same  disorder,  the  Morbus  Comitialis.  So,  in  these  meetings, 
these  e[)idemic  convlutions  were  propogated  by  sympathy. 


1800-1810.]  OPINION  OF  DR.  ALEXANDER-  117 

The  conclusion  to  which  Dr.  Alexander,  of  Princeton,  in 
his  letter  to  the  Watclunan  and  Observer,  was  brought,  is  thus 
expressed  : 

Princeton,  N.  J.,  September  5,^1846. 

Mr.  Editor  :  Tiie  letter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Baxter,  giving 
an  account  of  the  great  revival  in  Kentucky,  in  the  year  1800 
and  1801,  recently  published  by  you,  was  written  before  the 
results  could  be  accurately  known.  Dr.  Baxter  himself 
changed  his  views  respecting  some  appearances,  of  which  he 
expresses  a  favorable  opinion,  in  this  letter.  And  many  facts 
which  occurred  at  the  close  of  the  revival  were  of  such  a 
nature  that  judicious  men  were  fully  persuaded  that  there  was 
much  that  was  wrong  in  the  manner  of  conducting  the  work, 
and  that  an  erratic  and  enthusiastic  spirit  prevailed  to  a 
lamentable  extent.  It  is  not  doubted,  however,  that  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  really  poured  out, -and  that  many  sincere 
converts  were  made,  especially  in  the  coinmencement  of  the 
revival,  but  too  much  indulgence  was  given  to  a  heated 
imagination,  and  too  much  stress  was  laid  on  the  bodily  affec- 
tions, which  accompanied  the  work,  as  though  these  were 
supernatural  phenomena,  intended  to  arouse  the  attention  of 
a  careless  world.  Even  Dr.  Baxter,  in  the  narrative  which 
he  gives  in  this  letter,  seems  to  favor  this  o[)inion,  and  it  is 
well  l<fiown  that  many  pious  people  in  Virginia  entertained 
similar  sentiments. 

Thus,  what  was  really  a  bodily  infirmity,  was  considered  to 
be  a  supernatural  means  of  awakening  and  convincing  infidels 
and  other  irreligious  persons.  And  the  more  these  bodily 
affections  were  encouraged,  the  more  they  increased,  until  at 
length  they  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  formidable  nervous 
disease,  which  was  manifestly  contagious;  as  might  be  proved 
by  many  well  attested  facts. 

Some  of  the  disastrous  results  of  this  religious  excitement 
were : 

1st.  A  spirit  of  error,  which  led  many,  among  whom  were 
some  Presbyterian  ministers,  who  had  before  maintained  a 
good  character,  far  astray. 

2d.  A  spirit  of  schism,  a  considerable  number  of  the  sub- 
jects and  friends  of  the  revival  separated  from  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  formed  a  new  body,  which  preached  and 
published  a  very  loose  and    erroneous  system   of  theo.logy  ; 


118  OPINION  OF  Dlt.  ALEXANDEE.  [1800-1810. 

and  though  a  part  of  these  schismatics,  when  the  excitement 
had  subsided,  returned  again  to  the  bosom  of  the  Church, 
others  continued  to  depart  further  from  the  orthodox  sybtem, 
in  which  they  had  been  educated,  and  which  they  had  long 
professed  and  preached.  Among  these  was  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Stone,  who  became  the  leader  of  an  Arian  sect,  which  con- 
tinues unto  this  day. 

3d.  A  spirit  of  wild  enthusiasm  was  enkindled,  under  the 
influence  of  which,  at  least  three  pastors  of  Presbyterian 
churches  in  Kentucky,  and  some  in  Ohio,  went  off  and  joined 
the  Shakers.  Husbands  and  wives  who  had  lived  happily 
together  were  separated,  and  their  children  given  up  to  be 
educated  in  this  most  enthusiastic  society.  I  forbear  to  men- 
tion names  for  the  sake  of  the  friends  of  these  deluded  men 
and  women.  And  the  truth  is- — and  it  siiould  not  be  con- 
cealed— that  the  general  result  of  this  great  excitement  was 
an  almost  total  desolation  of  the  Presbyterian  Cliurches  in 
Kentucky  and  part  of  Tennessee.  For  the  religious  body 
commonly  denominated  "  Cumberlands,"  arose  out  of  this 
revival.  The  awakening  commenced  in  the  south  part  of 
Kentucky,  and  extended  into  the  bordering  counties  of  Ten- 
nessee. The  Cumberland  Presbytery,  .situated  in  that  region, 
in  utter  disregard  of  the  rules  ot  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
which  they  had  solemnly  adopted  at  their  ordination,  went  on 
to  license  a  number  of  men,  and  to  ordain  some  who  h*ad  no 
pretensions  to  a  liberal  education  ;  and  they  no  longer  re- 
quired candidates  for  the  ministry  to  subscribe  the  Presby- 
terian Confession,  but  openly  rejected  some  of  the  cardinal 
doctrines  of  Calvinism.  The  Synod  ^of  Kentucky  sent  a 
large  "  Commission  "  to  deal  with  the  Presbytery,  who  in- 
sisted on  examining  .the  persons  who  had  been  licensed  and 
ordained  contrary  to  order;  and  when  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
bytery refused  to  submit  their  newly  licensed  candidates  to 
the  examination  of  the  Commission,  they  were  suspended  by 
this  body.  Thence  arose  a  new  body  of  Presbyterians,  pro- 
fessing, for  the  most  part,  Arminian  doctrines.  Still,  how- 
ever, adhering  (though  inconsistently)  to  tiie  doctrine  of  the 
Saint's  Perseverance,  and  to  the  Presbyterian  Principles  of 
Church  Government, 

A  few  years  since,  when  nciu  measures  were  coming  much 
into  vogue.  Dr.  Baxter's  letter  was  published,  I  think,  in  the 
New  York  Evangelist,  to  support  those  measures.      Dr.  Bax- 


]8u0-1810.]      .  THE    POWER    OF    SYMPATHY.  119 

ter,  on  being  informed  of  it,  promised  the  writer  that  he 
would  publish  an  explanation  ;  which,  however,  he  did  not 
live  to  perform.  A.  A. 

"Among  human  beings,"  says  a  medical  writer,  "there  exists 
such  a  power  of  sympathetic  consent  that  a  multitude  may 
be  apparently  possessed  by  the  same  spirit ;  the  organism  of 
each  instaneously  taking  on  the  same  action  simply  from  the 
general  attention  being  directed  to  the  same  objects.  If  we 
would  learn  the  full  extent  of  sympathy,  we  must  study  the 
records  of  the  Dancing  Mania,  or  see  the  Barkers,  the  Shak- 
ers, the  Jumpers,  the  Dervi.ses,  and  other  Convulsionaires  at 
their  devotions.  There  are  many  facts  which  tend  to  con- 
vince us  that  a  large  company  may  be  put  into  such  relation 
to  each  other,  under  similar  circumstances,  as  that  the  very 
same  idea  shall  present  itself  to  ail  at  the  same  moment." 
The  use  of  the  body  in  relation  to  the  mind."  By  George 
Moore,  M.D,,  Member  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians, 
etc.,  etc.,  p.  66 

Let  us  separate  then  this  revival  itself,  as  a  re- 
ligious work  upon  the  soul,  from  these  co»poreal  phe- 
nomena, to  which  the  religious  element  does  not  attach.  As 
a  revival  it  was  a  great  and  glorious  work,  but  marred  sadly, 
in  more  parts  of  the  country  than  one,  by  its  unnecessary 
accompaniments.  The  General  Assembly  in  its  pastoral  let- 
ter of  1804  noticed  these  in  language  of  disapprobation.* 

In  May,  1802,  during  the  Great  Revival,  Mr.  Brown  intro- 
duced Dr.  Watts  Psalms  ahd  Hymns.  This  was  deemed  a 
sacrilege  by  that  portion  of  the  congregation #whose  ears 
were  accustomed  only  to  Rouse's  Version.  1  Nor  did  they 
approve  ofthe  proceedings  in  tlie  revival.  Dr.  Brown,  leav- 
ing the  next  year,  and  the  Associate  and  Associate  Reform- 
ed ministers  finding  willing  ears,  a  rent  was  occasioned  in  the 
congregation  which  never  has  been  healed.  The  elders  that 
drew  off  were  Robert  Montgoipery,  Robert  Dunlap,  John 
Harris  ;  and  the  elders  tliat  remained  were  Alexander  Carnes, 
Moses  Stephenson,  and  Nathan  Barr.  The  dissentients 
claimed  the  Black  Jack  church,  and  had  supplies  until  Mr. 
Kitchen   was   called  as  their    pastor.     There    are    two    large 

*Davidson's  Hist,  of  Pres.  Vh.  Ky.,  Chap.  V.  vii.  Princeton  Kev.  Vol. 
VI.  Dr.  Baxter's  Fetters,  Watchman  and  Observer,  Sept.  5,  1846. 
Tracy's  Great  Awalcening,  Chap.  XIII. 


120  WAXHAW   CHUIW'H.  .      [1800-1810. 

and  flourishing  churches  now  in  that  quarter,  viz:  Tirza  and 
Shiloh,  under  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Rev.  D.  P.  Robin- 
son. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  century,  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  was  divided  into  two  Presbyteries,  the  First  Presby- 
tery and  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carohna,  John 
Brown  being  at  that  time  the  pastor  of  VVaxhaw  and  Unity 
churches.  In  1803  he  was  released  from  the  pastoral  care  of 
the  Waxhaw  congregation,  by  the  First  Presbytery,  at  his 
own  request.  His  subsequent  history  is  well  known.  He 
had  charge  of  a  High  School  at  VVadesboro',  N.  C,  for 
several  years,  and  a  flourishinij;  academy  at  Salisbury.  He 
became  Professor  of  Logic  and  Moral  Philosophy  in  South 
Carolina  College  in  1809;  President  of  the  University  of 
Georgia  in  181 1,  in  which  year  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity  was  conferred  on  him  by  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 
He  died  at  Gainesville,  Ga.,  in  his  8ath  year,  December  rith, 
1842;  a  man  of  great  simplicity,  modesty,  and  purity  ;  affec- 
tionate, discriminating  in  his  conceptions,  and  wonderfully 
fluent  as  a  speaker;  indifferent  to  the  world,  and  generous 
heyontl  his  means,  which  were  never  ample;  a  good  man, 
and  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Brown,  this  church  remained 
without  a  pastor  for  a  period  often  years.  A  few  years  after 
his  departure,  the  house  of  worship  was  burned  down  by 
accident,  and  the  congregation  erected  "  a  stand  "  opposite 
the  spot  where  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Foster  now  is,  the 
water  being  better  there  than  at  the  site  of  the  old  church, 
and  the  seri»ices  were  held  there  for  ninny  years.  Among 
their  occasional  supplies,  the  names  of  Dr.  James  Hall  and 
Dr.  Barr  are  recollected.  At  this  spot  they  commenced  the 
building  of  a  new  church.  The  old  members  were  not  satis- 
fied, however,  to  leave  the  graves  of  their  fiithers  ;  and  it  was 
finally  agreed  to  go  back  to  their  original  site.  On  the  23d 
of  December,  1807,  therefore,  the  congregation  purchased  an 
additional  piece  of  land  from  Robt.  Thompson,  and  taking 
down  the  frame  that  had  been  erected,  built  the  present  church 
edifice  where  it  now  stands.  During  this  period  of  vacancy, 
they  received  occasional  supplies  by  appointment  of  the  First 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  among  which  were  the  names 
of  John  B.  Davies  Wm.  G.  Rosborough,  Robt.  B.  Walker, 
and  George  Reid,  J.   B.   Davies'    name    occurring    most    fre- 


1800-181(t.l  BETHANY — GRANBY.  121 

quently.  During  this  period,  too,  Mr.  F.  Porter,  the  father 
of  four  ministers  of  that  name  who  have  been  successively 
educated  at  the  Columbia  Seminary,  taught  the  grammar 
school  in  the  bounds  of  the  congregation,  and  as  a  licensed 
preacher,  was  able  materially  to  assist  them  in  maintaining 
divine  worship.-  The  elders  of  the  church  about  this  time 
were  Robert  Montgomery,  John  Cousar,  William  Dunlap, 
John  Scott,  Nathan  Barr,  George  Dunlap,  Robert  Davis,  and 
Dr.  Samuel  Dunlap.     [j.  H.  Saye.] 

Of  the  Bethany  in  Lancaster  District,  received  March  20th, 
1798,  and  of  FiSHDAM,  mentioned  as  another  "  vacancy,"  we 
read  no  more  in  the  Presbyterial  Minutes  of  these  ten  years, 
though  reported  to  the  Assembly,  as  are  Witherspoon  and 
Calvary  in  1802.  But  Littlp:  Bethel  Church  in  Lancaster 
applied  September  28th,  1801,  to  be  taken  under  Presbyterial 
care  and  to  receive  supplies,  and  a  petition  was  presented 
by  William  Wherry  in  behalf  of  a  people  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Benjamin  Dunlap,  in  the  Indian  Land,  praying  for 
supplies  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Neely,  which  was  granted  them. 
[Minutes  of  First  Presbytery  met  at  Ebenezer  October  3d, 
1808.] 

Of  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw,  and  its  call  for  the 
pastoral  services  of  Rev.  James  McElhenny,  of  his  ordination 
and  his  dismission  from  that  church  we  have  already  spoken. 

[Vol.  L  p.  573  ;  vol.  H,  p. —.J 

Granby — This  was  a  preaching  station  of  Rev.  Daniel  E. 
Dunlap  for  a  season.  [Vo'.  I,  p.  595,  596.]  It  is  stated  in  this 
passage  that  a  call  was  presented  by  the  people  of  Granby  to 
the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  in  October,  1799,  just 
before  the  dissolution  of  that  body,  for  the  pastoral  services 
of  Giorge  Reid,  then  a  licentiate.  It  seems  that  they  had 
not  yet  been  fully  organized  as  a  church,  and  as  Granby  was 
in  a  state  of  decadence,  its  prospects  less  flattering  on  account 
of  the  establishment  of  the  seat  of  government  at  Columbia, 
and  the  gradual  removal  thitherof  the  population,  the  people 
had  paid  no  attention  to  the  advice  of  Presbytery  touching 
the  steps  they  ought  to  have  taken  to  secure  the  object  of 
their  call,  which  had  been  accepted  by  Mr.  Reid  some 
eighteen  months  before.  He  was,  therefore,  released  by  the 
Second  Presbytery  from  his  implied  obligation  and  was  dis- 
missed at  liis  own  request  as  a  licentiate  in  good  standing,  to 
join  the  First  Presbytery. 


122  MOUNT    BETHEL    ACADEMY.  [1800-181 

Mount  Bethel  Academy,  in  Newberry  District,  was  one 
of  the  earlier  classical  schools  in  the  upper  part  of  the  State. 
It  was  founded  by  the  Methodists,  by  the  influence  mainly  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Dougherty;  Elisha  Hammond,  the  father  of  Gov- 
ernor Hammond,  and  Josiah  P.  Smith,  being  its  principal 
teachers.  "It  gave  to  the  country,"  says -Judge  O'Neal. 
(Annals  of  Newbarry,  p.  62)  such  men  as  Judge  Crenshaw, 
his  brothers,  Dr.  Crenshaw- and  Walter  Crenshaw,  Chancellor 
Harper,  John  Caldwell,  Esq.,  Dr.  George  W.  Glen,  John  R. 
G.jidmg,  Governor  Richard  J.  Manning,  John  G.  Brown,  Dr. 
Thomas  Smith,  of  Society  Hill,  N,  R.  Eaves,  of  Chester,  and 
Thomas  W.  Glover,  of  Orangeburg.  It  furnished  the  first 
students  and  graduates  of  the  South  Carolina  College," 
(See  also  Ramsay,  vol.  II.,  p.  205,  Duffie's  Edition.)  This 
school  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Indian  Creek. and  Gilder's 
Creek,  affluents  of  the  Enoree,  where  there  had  alvva\-s  been 
a  considerable  Presbyterian  population  since  the  first  settle- 
ment. It  was,  perhaps,  partly  to  accommodate  those  people 
or  to  win  their  influence  that  Josiah  P.  Smith  from  Bethel 
Academy  applied  to  tlie  Second  Presbytery  on  the  8th  of 
August,  1806,  for  supplies  for  that  place.  The  application 
was  granted  ;  and  we  find  that  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy,  Hugh 
Dickson  and  James  Gilliland,  were  appointed  to  preach  there, 
but  whether  this  arrangement  was  at  all  permanent  we  are  not 
able  to  say.     The  presumption  is  that  it  was  not. 

The  Church  of  Indi.an  Creek  was  still  the  scene  of  Robt. 
McClintock's  labors.  The  church  does  not  appear  on  the 
minutes  of  the  Second  Presbytery.  Nor  was  Mr.  McClintock 
a  member  of  that  body.  If  connected  with  any  Presbytery  it 
was  with  the  Old  Presbyterv  of  Charleston.  We  have  already 
said  that  his  baptismal  register  contains  the  names  of  2,080  per- 
sons baptised  by  him.  One  hundred  and  fifty-nine  of  these  were 
of  persons  baptized  between  the  1st  of  Jan.  1 800,  and  June  5, 
1803.  The  name  of  the  parents  are  given  and  a  large  share  of 
these  were  persons  living  in  this  portion  of  Newberry  district. 
He  died  after  a  life  of  active  service,  soon  alter  this  date.  The 
last  baptism  but  two  which  he  administered,  were  those  of 
John  and  Robert,  his  own  children,  baptized  on  the  23rd  of 
April,  1803.  (See  Vol.  I,  p.  617.)  We  are  not  able  to  trace 
this  church  further  in  this  decade,  nor  to  indicate  on  whom  it 
depended.  Morrison  and  McCosh  frequently  exch*anged  pul- 
pits with  Mr.  CUntock  during  his  lifetime  ;  one,    at   least,  of 


1800-1810.1  INIJJAN-    CREEK — (U1ASSY  SrUINCi.  123 

whom  survived  him,  and  the  names  of  several  others,  as 
Warnocli,  Scott,  Thomson,  Meneely,  Martin  and  Lindsay,  we 
have  met  with,  whose  locations  and  employments  we  have 
never  ascertained.  It  is  just  as  probable  as  otherwise  that 
this  flock  here  and  elsewhere  were  absorbed  by  other  congre- 
gations. 

Gkassy  Spring,  in  the  neighborliood,  where  Maybinton 
now  is,  was  under  the  charge  of  the  Rev.  William  William- 
son until  1802,  who  had  preached  to  it  one-fourth  of  his  time, 
but  now-  withdrew  from  it  as  its  pastor.  From  this  time,  fre- 
quent supplies  were  afforded  it  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Wm.  Wil- 
liamson, Montgomery,  and  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy,  and  now 
especially  the  latter,  until  August  8,  1806,  when  IDaniel  Gray* 
was  ordained  and  became  its  pastor,  Mr.  Davis  by  request  of 
Presbytery  preaching  the  ordination  sermon  from  2  Tim.  iv. 
6,  in  place  of  Mr.  Dickson,  who  was  indisposed,  the  charge  to 
the  pastor  and  exhortation  to  the  people  being  delivered  by 
the  Rev.  Moses  Waddel.  This  ordination  took  place  at  Union 
Church  during  the  14th  regular  sessions  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byter}'  of  South  Carolina,  in  pursuance  of  a  united  call  pre- 
sented to  Presbytery,  Sept.  28,  1805,  from  the  Churches  of 
Fairforest  for  one-half,  of  Union  for  one-fourth,  and  of  Grassy 
Spring  for  one  fourth  of  the  ministerial  laborers  of  Daniel 
Gray,  and  the  pastoral  relation  thus  constitutecj,  continued 
through  the  remainder  of  this  decade. 

Little  River. — A  portion  of  this  congregation  resided  in 
Newberry  District  and  a  part  in  Laurens.  The  Rev.  John  B. 
Kennedy  was  then  pastor,  divitiing  his  labors  between  this 
Church  and  that  of  Duncan's  Creek.  The  elders  from  the 
time  of  Mr.  Kennedy's  settlement  were  Col.  John  Siinpson, 
James  Caldwell,  Samuel  Henderson  and  James  Burnsides. 
Later,  but  still  during  his  ministry,  Washington  Williams, 
Maj.  John  Griffin,  Maj.  John  Black,  Dr.  A.  T.  Golding,  John 
Burnside  and  Samuel  Caldwell  held  this  office. 

Duncan's  Ceeek  in  the  eastern  corner  of  Laurens,  was  unit- 
ed with  Little  River  in  the.same  pastorate,  sharing  equally  with 
it  the  ministerial  labors  of  Mr.  Kennedy.  This  congregation 
and  those  in  Newberry  were  of  the  same  Presbyterian  stock. 
Of  several  of  those  in  Newberry,  Judge  O'Neal  in    his    An- 

*  "He  was  probably  educated  by  Dr.  Book,  of  East  Tennessee."     Let- 
ter of  his  nephew,  B.  L.  Gray,  to  Rev.  J.  H.  Say©.    Feb.  28,  1850. 


124  DtlXCAN's    CREEK,  [1800-1810. 

nals  of  Newberry  District  speaks.  The  father  of  the  Hon. 
KeV  Boyce,  the  distinguished  millionaire  of  our  own  day,  he 
characterizes  as  "an  industrious,  thriving  Presbyterian  Irish- 
man.'' "Col.  David  Glenn  and  his  wife  was  among  the  last 
of  the  emigrants  that  were  permitted  to  leave  Ireland  before  the 
American  Revolution.  They  landed  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  and 
thence  came  to  South  Carolina  and  settled  on  Enoree,  at  a 
place  once  known  as  Glenn's  Mills,  now  Brasejman's."  He 
first  served  in  the  mounted  troops  as  a  private,  and  was  with 
Sumter  at  Wemyss'  defeat  at  Trighdam,  and  Tarleton's  at- 
Blrtckstock's  in  1780.  He  was  adjutant  and  commissary  un- 
der Col's.  Giles  and  Lindsay.  Col.  Glenn  accompanied 
Morgan  at  the  battle  of  the  Cowpens,  and  was 
at  the  seige  of  Ninety  Six,  and  the  battle  of  Eutaw.  His  life 
was  sought  by  the  "Bloody  Cunningham,"  and  his  party,  who 
surrounded  his  house  and  put  to  death  Mr.  Chesky,  who  was 
asleep  in  the  upper  part  of  the  house,  while  he  escaped  by  a 
violent  effort  out  of  their  hands,  undressed  as  he  was.  They 
came  upon  him  at  his  .mill,  but  a  friend  of  whom  they  inquir- 
ed the  way,  divested  them  by  a  roundabout  road,  threw  a  bag 
of  corn  on  his  own  horse  to  conceal  his  purpose,  rode  quickly  to 
the  mill  and  gave  the  Colonel  timely  warning,  who  plunged 
into  tJie  Cane  Brake  on  the  Enoree  and  escaped.  He  was 
Representati^ve  of  Newberry  in  the  first  Legislature  of  South 
Carolina  after  the  Revolution.iry  war,  and  was  the  father  of 
Dr.  George  VV.  Glenn,  elder  of  the  .'\veleigh  Church.  There 
were  John,  William,  and  James  Caldwell  and  their  sisters 
Mrs.  Richie,  Mrs.  Patrick  Calhoun,  (the  mother  of  John  C. 
Calhoun,)  Mrs.  Moore.  Mrs.  GiUham,  Mrs.  East,  and  Mrs. 
Dr.  Martin.  This  family  were  .sharers  in  the  hardships  of  the 
Revolutionary  struggle.  John  Caldwell  was  a  member  of 
the  first  provincial  Congress  of  South  Carolina  which  met  at 
Charleston,  Jan.  1 1,  1775.  He  was  appointed  a  captain  and 
raised  a  company  in  which  William  Cunningham,  (afterward 
the  Bloody  Bill,)  but  then  a  highly  influential  young  man,  and 
other  respectable  young  men  of  Saluda,  Little  River,  and 
Mudlick  Creek,  were  members.  They  were  concerned  in  the 
capture  of  Fort  Charlotte  on  the  Savannah,  and  were  ordered 
to  Charleston  in  the  Spring  of '75.  Whatever  v»as  the  cause 
of  grievance,  of  which  there  are  several  different'versions. 
Cunningham  returned  after  the  fall  of  Charleston  at  the  head 
of  a  band  of  bloody  scouts,  to  wreak  his  vengeance  upon  his 


1800-1810.]  MRS.    GILLAM.  125 

former  neighbors.  In  November,  1781,  at  Easley's  sliop 
he  or  his  p.irty  killed  Oliver  Towles  and  two  others.  Mrs. 
Gillam  (Elizabeth  Caldwell,)  alone  visited  the  shop  soon  after 
they  left  and  fpund  the  three  lifeless  bodies,  one  of  them  regu- 
larly laid  out,  as  in  mockery  on  the  vice  bench.  Shasaw  the 
party  before  they  reached  the  house  of  Maj.  John  Caldwell,  Cun- 
ni.Tgham's  former  commander.  The  party  halted  at  the  gate 
and  hailed,  Caldwell  walked  out,  and,  according  tq  one  ac- 
count, Cunningham  drew  a  pistol  and  shot  him  ;  according 
to  another,  two  of  his  men  tvho  were  in  the  advance  perform- 
ed the  deed,  and  when  Cunningham  arrived  he  affected  to  de- 
plore the  bloody  act.  Yet  in  the  next  instant,  his  house,  by 
his  orders,  was  in  flames,  and  his  widow  left  with  no  other 
covering  but  the  heavens,  seated  by  the  side  of  her  murder- 
ed husband.  Mrs.  Gillam  w.as  the  first  of 'the  family  at  the 
smoking  ruins,  her  brother  on  his  lace  in  the  yard.  In  the 
year  '81  or  '82,  (probably  the  latter,)  a  lad,  James  Creswell, 
afterward  Col.  Creswell,  remarkable  for  hisactive  hostility  to  the 
Tories,  was  at  Mrs.  Caldwell's,  (Mrs.  Gillam's  mother.)  A 
negro  gave  the  alarm.  In  an  instant  the  old  lad)'  directed 
her  daughter  Betsey,  (Mrs.  Gillam)  to  hide  herself,  and  Cres- 
well to  dress  himself  in  clothes  of  her  daughter  which  .she 
furnished.  As  the  Tories  approached  her  house,  she  ordered 
her  own  horse  and  that  of  her  daughter  Betsey  to  be  saddled, 
as  she  was  compelled  to  visit  Mrs.  Neely.  Sambo  had  the 
horses  at  the  door.  The  old  lady  called  Betsey,  "Come 
along,"  said  she,  "I  am  in  a  hurry."  Out  walked  Creswell  in 
Betsey's  toggery,  her  bonnet  slouched  over  his  face  covered 
his  features;  he  and  the  old  lady  mounted  in  the  presence  of 
the  Tories,  and  away  they  went  to  visit  Mrs.  Neely,  while  the 
Tories  set  about  searching  for  Jenmiy  Creswell.  They  found 
the  true  Betsey,  became  aware  that  Creswell  had  escaped, 
and  soothed  themselves  by  sweeping  pretty  much  all  of  Mrs. 
CaTdwell's  household  goods.  One  of  them  declared  that  he 
thought  Betsey  took  mighty  long  steps,  as  she  went  to  her 
horse.  "Gen.  James  Gilham"  now,  in  1  871,  and  elder  in  the 
Rock  Church,  Abbeville,  is  the  son  of  this  Mrs.  Gillam,  and 
of  her  he  has  most  justly  remarked,  that  "she  and  all  the 
other  members  of  the  Caldwa-ll  family  were  Presbyterians,  and 
hence  she  was  strict  in  the  instruction  of  her  children."  She 
was  baptized  in  infancy  by  the  Rev.  Patrick  Henry,  uncle  of 
Virgmia's  celebrated  orator.     She  was  long  a  member  of  Lit- 


126  JOHN    BOYCB.  [1800-1810. 

tie  River  Church,  near  Belfast,  Laurens,  but  when  Aveleigh 
Church  near  Newberry  was  organized,  she  became  a  meni- 
ber  of  it. 

John  Boyce,  the  father  of  Ker  Boyce,  was  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  stoi:k.  Alexander,  his  brother,  was  a  captain,  and  fell 
at  the  siege  of  Savannah,  at  the  head  of  his  company.  John 
Boyce  was  in  the  battles  of  Blackstock's,  King'.s  Mountain, 
Cowpens  and  Eutaw.  On  his  return  to  his  family,  after  one 
of  these  Battles,  he  had  scarcely  saluted  his  wife  and  children 
when  he  was  startled  by  the  sound  of  approaching  horses. 
He  sprang  to  the  cabio  door  and  saw  a  party  of  Tories, 
'headed  by  William  Cunningham  and  a  man  of  less  note, 
McCombs,  immediatel).'  before  him.  Four  of  the  horses  were 
already  abreast  of  his  door.  He  threw  his  hat  in  the  face  of 
the  horses,  which  made  theni  open  right  and  left.  He 
sprang  through  the  opening  and  ran  for  the  woods  about 
seventy-five  yards  before  hiin.  Cunningham  was  alongside, 
and,  striking  a  furious  blow,  it  took  effect  on  his  raised  hand 
as  he  avoided  the  charge,  nearly  sundering  three  of  his 
fingers.  Before  the  blow  could  be  repeated  he  was  in  the 
thick  brush  of  a  wood  imperietrable  to  the  cavalry.  He 
watched  the  retreat,  hurried  to  his  house,  had  his  wounded 
hand  bound  up,  was  in  the  saddle  on  the  way  to  his  com- 
mander, Casey,  and  before  night  Casey,  with  a  party  of  fifteen, 
was  in  pursuit,  and  on  the  Enoree,  near  the  mouth  of  Dun- 
can's Creek,  captured  eleven  or  twelve  of  the  party,  among 
whom  was  McCombs.  These  were  conveyed  to  a  place 
where  the  Charleston  road  crosses  the  old  Ninety-Six  road, 
(now  VVhitmire's)  and  there  "  a  short  shrift,"  a  strong  rope 
and  a  stooping  hick'ory  applied  speedy  justice  to  them  all. 
A  common  grave  at  the  root  of  the  tree  is  their  resting 
place  for  all  time.  On  another  occasion  Mr.  Boyce  was 
captured  and  tied  in  his  own  barn,  while  a  bed  cord  was 
sought  for  to  hang  him  ;  his  negro  man  (long  afterward 
known  as  old  Sindy)  being  hid  in  the  straw,  and  knowing 
the  necessity  of  speedy  relief  while  his  captors  were  absent 
on  their  fell  purpose,  came  to  his  rescue  and  untying  him, 
both  made  good  their  escape.  John  Boyce  lived  long 
after  the  war.  He  died  in  April,  1806.  He  was  a  Presby- 
terian and  an  elder  in  McClintock's  church,  Gilder's  Creek. 
(Then  Indian  Creek,  to  which  Gilder's  Creek  has  succeeded.) 
In  the  graveyard   there  rest    his    remains.     He    was  a  mer- 


1800-1810.]  EOCKY   SPRING.  127 

chant  and  a  dLstiller.  He  made  and  sold  whiskey,  and,  strange 
to  say,  not  one  of  his  many  sons  ever  drank  to  excess.  This 
no  doubt  is  to  be  attributed  to  tlie  "Let  us  worship  God," 
heard  night  and  morning  at  his  family  board.  Captain  James 
Caldwell,  brother  of  John  and  William  was  in  the  battle  ot 
Covvpens  under  General  Pickens.  In  this  engagement  he 
was  severely  wounded  and  mutilated  in  his  hands  and  head. 
He  was  a  man  deservedly  popular,  fie  died  in  1813.  He 
united  himself  to  the  Presbyterian  Cliurch  of  Little  River,  of 
which  he  was  a  devout  and  exemplary  membertill  his  death. 
The  preceding  accounts  are  from  the  late  Judge  O'Neal's 
Annals  of  Newberry  District.  '1  hey  relate  to  the  Revolu- 
tionary period  of  our  history,  which  we  have  long  since 
passed,  but  some  of  the  actors  in  those  scenes  were  still  living 
in  this  decade,  and  they  show  the  kind  of  stuff  of  which  the 
men  and  women  found  at  that  day  in  this  group  of  Presby- 
terian churches,  were  made,  some  of  whose  virtues  we  may 
hope  have  been  inherited  by  their  descendants. 

Rocky  Spring — One  of  the  churches  of  Rev.  Robert 
McClintock,  a  short  distance  east  of  Laurens  C.  H.  We  are 
not  able  to  trace  its  history  by  any  sources  of  information 
before  us  through  this  decade.  Robert  M.  Clintock  began 
to  preach  there  in  1787.  In  vol.  I.,  p.  528,  tradition  says  that 
the  first  who  preached  the  gospel  thei'e  was  Rev.  John 
McCosh,  who  preached  at  a  stand  in  the  woods  near  the  site 
of  the  present  church.  This,  it  is  conjectured,  was  about 
1780.  The  first  church  edifice  was  of  unhewd  logs,  with  a 
dirt  floor.  The  next  was  of  plank,  sawed  one  edge  thin  and 
the  other  thick  with  a  whip  saw,  the  frame  being  of  hewed 
logs.  Whether  Mr.  McCosh  or  Mr:  McClintock  formerly 
organized  the  church  is  not  certainly  known.  (Z.  L.  Holmes 
in  ''Our  Monthly,"  Sept.,  1872.)  After  the  death  of  Mr. 
McClintock,  in  1803,  the  church  was  served  by  the  Rev.  J,  D. 
Kennedy  through  this  decade. 

Liberty  Spring,  in  the  southern  part  of  Laurens-  District. 
Mr.  Kennedy  continued  to  preach  to  this  congregation  as 
often  as  was  in  his  power.  From  1803  to  1807  he  devoted 
to  them  one-third  part  of  his  ministerial  labors.  After  this 
they  obtained  a  fourth  part  of  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Benja- 
min R.  Montgomery,  whose  residence  was  at  a  more  conve- 
nient distance.  In  addition  to  this,  certain  Presbyterian  sup- 
plies were  appointed,. as  of  Mr.  Kennedy  iji    1800  and  18OJ, 


128  LIBERTY    SPRING.  [1800-1810. 

Mr.  Templeton  in  1803,  Mr.  Dick.son  and  Mr.  Montgomery  in 
1807,  of  Mes.sr.s.  Kennedy,  Waddei,  and  Gilliland  in  1808. 
"Mr.  Kennedy,"  says  Dr.  Robt.  Campbell,  "wa.s  an  excellent, 
sound  doctrinal  Preacher,  a  man  of  great  piety,  and  indefatig- 
able in  all  his  ministerial  duties.  Tbere  is  mu;h  due  to  his 
memory  for  the  good  he  was  instrumental  in  doing  at  Liberty 
Spring  Ciiurch.  There  were  but  few  of  the  old  members  be- 
longing to  the  church  when  lie  commenced  preaching,  and 
in  the  cour.se  of  two  or  three  years  he  had  a  very  flourishirig 
church.  Much  harmony,  unity,  and  good  feelmg  existed  all 
the  time  he  preached  there.  In  ihe  first  year  or  two,  espe- 
cially, the  accessions  to  the  church  were  numerou.s.  About 
this  time  there  appeared  to  be  a  divine  work  mailifesting  its 
power  in  a  very  miraculous  manner  in  the  upper  Districts  of 
South  Carolina.  Under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  many 
persons  would  apparently  lose  voluntary  power  and  tall,  pros- 
trate, as  if  struck  with  apoplexy  and  would  remain  in  a  state 
of  prostration  from  an  hour  to  one  or  two  hours.  When 
they  begun  to  speak  thoy  expressed  deep  conviction  of  their 
state  as  sinners  and  asked  God  to  have  mercy  on  them. 
Some,  v\hen  they  would  rise  to  their  feet,  admonished  and 
exhorted  those  around  them  to  repent  and  seek  the  Lord.  I 
have  never  had  any  doubt  m_\self,  in  relation  to  the  work 
being  of  divine  origin.  If  it  was  not  the  work  of  God  why 
would  the  sincere  cry  to  the  Lord  to  Jiave  mercy  on  him  ? 
Moreover,  in  many  cases,  I  had  a  right  to  'judge  the  tree  by 
its  fruits.'"  Such  is  the  testin)ony  of  Dr.  Robert  Campbell,  a 
man  of  wisdom,  intelligence,  and  piety,  now  no  more,  from 
whose  manuscript  we  quote.  The  elders  ordained  by  Mr. 
Kennedy  were  Johnathan  Johnson,  Esq.,  Major  John  Middle- 
ton,  Captain  John  Robinson,  James  Neikels,  Joseph  HoUings- 
worth,  and  Samuel  Freeman,  wrongly  printed  Truman  in  our 
Vol.  I.  p.  621.  We  re|jeat  the  names,  desiring  thus  to  cor- 
rect this  error.  Mr.  Kennedy  continued  preaching  at  Liberty 
Spring  till  near  the  close  of  this  decade,  and  was  succeded  by 
Rev.  Benjamin  Montgomery,  D.D  ,  who  preached  one-fourth 
of  his  time  the  year  after  P/Ir.  Kennedy  left.  He  lived  some 
time  before  this  in  Abbeville,  and  taught  a  Male  Academy  at 
Cambridge.  He  was,  says  Dr.  Campbell,  a  man  of  fine  talents 
and  eloquent.  His  eloquence  was  characterized  by  both 
gravity  and  warmth.  After  he  left  Liberty  Spring  he  was 
called  to  preach  at  Camden,  thence  lo   Columbia  as  Professor 


1800-1810.]  UNION  AND  GRASSY  SPRING.  129 

in  the  South  Carolina  College  and  pastor  in  the  Columbia 
Church.  He  died  in  the  prime  of  life  in  one  of  the  British 
Isles  whether  he  had  gone  in  the  pursuit  of  health.  MS.  of 
Dr.  Campbell.  [MS.  Hist,  of  Second  Presbytery,  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Waddel.  Rev.  J.  B.  Kennedy,  Hugh  Dickson,  Committee. 
Minutes  of  Second  Presbytery.] 

Union  Presbyterian  Church  — A  part  of  Dr.  Joseph  Alex- 
ander's ministerial  labors  were  devoted  to  this  people  until 
1802,  when  the  Rev.  William  Williamson  took  the  pastoral 
charge.  A  great  revival  occurred  here  in  this  year,  which 
was  productive  of  blessed  effects  in  many  instances.  In  1805 
Mr.  Williamson  removed  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  having  first 
taken  hi.s  dismission  from  Presbytery  to  join  the  Presbytery 
of  Washington  in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  Mr.  Williamson 
owned  a  number  of  slaves  which  he  wished  to  emancipate, 
and  it  was  the  same  disaffection  with  slavery  which  induced 
him,  Robt.  G.  Wilson,  and  James  Gilliland,  Sr.,  to  remove  to 
the  free  states  of  the  West  about  the  same  time. 

On  September  28,  1805,  Daniel  Gray  was  called  to  this 
church  in  connection  with  Fairforest  and  Grassy  Spring;  he 
was  ordained  as  has  before  been  mentioned,  and  continued 
in  connection  with  these  churches  through  tliis  period.  Pres- 
byterial  supplies  were  ordered  for  it  also.  Messrs.  William- 
son and  Kennedy  in  1800  and  1801  ;  Messrs.  Williams  and 
Montgomery  in  1 803,  and  Messrs.  Williamson  and  Kennedy 
in  1804.  Besides  the  elders  of  this  church,  Wm.  Kennedy 
and  Joseph  Mcjunkin,  ordained  before  the  present  century, 
and  John  Savage,  Joseph  Hughes  and  Christopher  BVandon, 
mentioned  Vol.  I.  p.p.  530-532  ;  two  others,  Thomas  Kenne- 
dy and  James  Gage  were  ordained,  between  1800  and  181 5. 
(J.  H.  S.) 

Fairforest. — We  have  before  seen  Vol.  I.  p.  551,  552, 
that  Rev.  Wm.  Williamson  was  pastor  of  this  church  until  his 
removal  with  a  portion  ofliis  congregation  in  Ohio  to  1804-5. 
The  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Wilson,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  after- 
wirds  Dr.  Wilson  of  the  .Union  Thelogical  Seminary,  but  at 
that  time  licentiate,  supplied  the  church  for  six  months  in  the 
year  1805.  This  congregation  was  the  first  within  the  bounds 
of  its  Presbytery  where  the  great  revival  of  I  802  made  its  ap- 
pearance. Many  were  awakened  anrl  the  happy  results  were 
observable  in  the  holy  walk  of  many  truly  converted  persons 
for  many  years.  "It  is  still  for  a  memorial,"  says  the  MS. 
9 


130  FAIKFOEEST NAZARETH,  [1800-1810. 

History  of  the  Second  Presbytery  written  in  1809.  Thomas 
Williamson,  M.D.,  and  Daniel  Gray  also  preached  for  this 
people  as  licentiates  under  the  care  of  Presbytery  in  Septem- 
ber, 1805.  Thomas  Williamson  was  the  brother  of  Rev. 
Wm.  Williamson.  He  abandoned  the  practice  of  medicine 
for  the  ministry,  and  preached  with  great  zeal,  but  died  before 
being  ordained.  Daniel  Gray  was  brought  up  in  Abbeville 
District,  and  was  a  pupil  of  Dr.  Moses  Waddel,  he  was  or- 
dainad  pastor  of  this  Church  in  Connection  with  Union  (for- 
merly Brown's  Creek,)  and  Grassy  Spring  (now  Cane  Creek) 
in  August,  1805.  He  was  spoken  of  as  an  able  and  zealous 
preacher  as  well  as  sound  Divine.  He  taught  a  classical 
school  at  the  church  for  sometime.  Rev.  Ihomas  Archi- 
bald, Wm  Means,  A.  VV.  Thompson,  David  McDowell,  and 
Wm.  K.  Clowney  were  among  his  pupils. 

Nazareth  Church,  Spartanburg  District,  was  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  century  ministered  to  by  the  Rev.  James 
Templeton  as  stated  supply.  His  connection  with  the 
church  in  this  capacity  ceased  before  April  7th,  1802,  when 
the  church  petitioned  Presbytery  for  supplies.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1802  in  connection  with  the  church  of  Fairview,  they 
called  James  Gilliland,  Jr.,  (who  was  licensed  on  the  8th  of 
April  in  that  year,  to  be  their  pastor.  He  was  ordained  on 
the  7th  of  April,  1803,  at  Fairview  church,  at  the  regular 
meeting  of  Pjesbytery,  the  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy  presiding, 
and  Rev.  James  Templeton  preaching  the  sermon.  This  Mr. 
Gilliland  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  parents  unable  to 
afford  him  an  education.  Their  minister,  who  was  also  em- 
ployed in  teaching,  observing  the  bright  parts  of  the  lad,  said 
to  his  parents,  "Give  me  your  son  James,  and  I  will  help  him 
with  his  education."  (The  minister  is  supposed  to  have  been 
Mr.  Templeton.)  James  went  to  live  with  the  preacher  and 
had  a  variety  of  work  to  perform.  But  he  always  carried  his 
book  with  him,  and  occasionally  looked  into  it  even  while 
ploughing.  His  progress  was  rapid.  He  married  a  Miss 
Nesbit.  His  father-in-law  furnished  the  funds  which  enabled 
him  to  obtain  an  education  at  College.  He  taught  a  classical 
school  in  the  Nazareth  congregation,  while  he  was  preparing 
for  the  ministry  and  before  he  was  licensed,  which  was  at- 
tended by  Dr.  John  McElhenney  from  1798  to  1801,  Dr. 
Samuel  B.  Wilson  of  the  Union  Seminary,  Virginia,  being  his 
school-mate  at  that  time.     Mr.  Gilliland  contmued  the  pastor 


1800-1810.]  CAMP    MEETING.  131 

of  Nazareth  and  Fairview  Cliurclie.s  through  the  remainder  of 
this  decade.  To  excellent  .scholarship,  James  Gilliland,  Jr.,* 
added  the  attractions  of  an  animated  speaker,  and  of  a  man  of 
engaging  and  popular  manners.  The  church  grew  and  flour- 
ished under  his  pastorate.  In  this  society  too  the  revival  of 
religion  of  which  we  have  spoken  made  its  first  most  remark- 
able appearance  early  in  July,  1802.  The  members  of  the 
Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  generally  attended  a 
camp  meeting  previously  appointed,  and  administered  the 
Lord's  Supper.  During  the  solemnity  which  several  thou- 
sands attended,  many  persons  were  stricken  down  and  exer- 
cised in  a  manner  to  account  for  which  the  wisest  -lersons 
present  were  puzzled.  From  this  the  work  was  diffused  and 
there  were  few  if  any  societies  in  the  bounds  of  the  Presby- 
tery in  which  its  effects  did  not  appear  in  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree within  a  short  time  afterwards.  [MS.  Hi.st.  of  Pres.,  Min- 
utes of  Do.  Letters  of  J.  H.  Saye  and  Dr.  Joim  McElhenney, 
MS.  of  Rev.  ,Robt.  H.  Reid.]  The  following  letter  more  fully 
describes  the  occasion  to  which  the  preceding  alludes,  [p. 
404  of  Footed  Sketches  of  N.  C] 

A  TEUE  ACCOUNT  OF  A  GREAT    MEETING    HELD    IN  THE  DISTRICT 
OF  SPARTANBURG,  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Abbeville,  {S.  C.)  July  yth,  1802. 

"My  Friend  :  I  have  just  returned  from  Nazareth,  where  I 
have  seen  and  heard  things  which  no  tongue  can  tell,  no  pen 
can  paint,  no  language  can  describe,  or  of  which  no  man  can 
have  a  just  conception,  until  he  has  seen,  heard  and  felt.  I 
am  willing  that  you  should  have  a  perfect  detail  of  all  the 
circumstances  attending  this  meeting;  and  of  all  occurrences 
which  there  took  place.  But  you  must  accept  the  acknowl- 
edgments of  my  inadequacy  to  draw  a  just  representation; 
yet,  as  far  as  I  may  be  able,  I  will  now  give  you  an  account 
of  some  things  : 

*The  author  greatly  regrets  the  error  which  occurs  in  his  first  volume 
page  506,  in  .an  extract  from  the  Central  Presbyterian,  which  confounds 
James  Gilliland,  Jr.,  with  James  Gilliland,  Sr.,  who  became  a  member 
of  South  Carolina  Presbytery  in  1796,  and  was  pastor  at  Bradaway 
Church,  went  to  Ohio  in  1805,  and  never  taught  in  Nazareth  congrega- 
tion. It  was  James  Gilliland,  Jr.,  who  was  not  licensed  until  1802,  and 
did  not  leave  the  State  until  1810  or  1820.  The  two  Gillilands  it  is  be- 
lieved were  not  related  to  each  other,  or  if  so,  very  remotely.  The  one 
was  called  Naaarelh  Gilliland,  and  the  other  Bradaway  Gilliland  from 
their  respective  places  of  labour. 


132  RELIGIOUS    SERVICES.  []8n0-]8]0. 

''The  meeting  was  appointed  some  months  since  by  the 
Presbytery,  and  commenced  on  Friday,  the  2nd  inst.  The 
grove  wherein  the  camp  was  pitched  was  near  the  water  of 
Tyger  River;  and  being  in  a  vale  which  lay  between  two  hills 
gently  inclinmg  towards  each  other,  was  very  suitably  adapt- 
ed to  the  purpose.  The  first  day  was  taken  up  in  encamp- 
ment until  two  o'clock,  when  divine  service  commenced  with 
a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy.  He  was  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  William  Williamson,  in  an  .address  explanatory 
of  the  nature  and  consequences  of  such  meetings.  The  as- 
sembly was  then  dismissed.  After  some  time,  service  com- 
menced again  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  James  Gilliland, 
who  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Robert  Wilson,  in  a 
very  serious  and  solemn  exhortation.  Afterwards  the  eve- 
ning was  spent  in  singing  and  prayer  alternately.  About  sun- 
down the  people  were  dismissed  to  their  respective  tents.  By 
this  time  the  countenances  of  all  began  to  be  shaded  by  the 
clouds  of  solemnity,  and  to  assume  a  very  serious  aspect. 
At  ten  o'clock  two  young  men  were  lying  speechless,  motion- 
less, and  sometimes  to  all  appearance,  efxcept  in  the  mere  act 
of  breathing,  dead.  Before  day,  five  others  were  down;  these  . 
I  did  not  see.  The  whole  night  was  employed  in  reading 
and  commenting  upon  the  word  of  God;  and  also  in  singing, 
praying  and  exiiorcing;  scarcely  had  the  light  of  the  morn- 
ing sun  dawned  on  the  people,  ere  they  were  engaged  in 
what  may  be  called  family  worship.  The  adjacent  tents  col- 
lecting in  groups,  here  and  there,  al'l  round  the  whole  line. 
The  place  of  worship  was  early  repaired  to  by  a  numerous 
throng.  Divine  service  commenced  at  eight  by  one  of  the 
Methodist  breihren,  whom  I  do  not  recollect.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shackleford,  of  the  Baptist  profession. 
Singing,  praying  and  exhorting  by  the  Presbyterian  clergy- 
men continued  until  two  o'clock,  when  an  intermission  of 
some  minutes  was  granted,  that  the  people  might  refresh  them- 
selves with  water,  &c.  By  this  time,  the  audience  became  so 
numerous,  that  it  was  impossible  for  all  to  crowd  near  enough 
to  hear  one  speaker;  although  the  ground  rising  above  the 
stage  theatrically,  afforded  aid  to  the  voice.  Hence,  the 
assembly  divided,  and  afterwards  preaching  was  performed  at 
two  stages.  An  astonishing  and  solemn  attention  in  the 
hearers,  and  an  animating  and  energetic  zeal  in  the  speakers, 
were   now   everywhere  prevailing.     Service  commenced  half 


1800-1810.]  EEHGIOUS   SERVICES.  133 

after  two  by  the  Rev.  John  Simpson  at  one  stage,  and  at  the 
other,  by  the  Rev.  James  M'Elhenney,  who  were  succeeded 
by  the  Rev.  Francis  Cummings.  Afterthese  sermons,  fervent 
praying,  &c.,  were  continued  until,  and  through  the  night,  in 
which  time  many  were  stricken,  and  numbers  brought  to  the 
ground. 

"  The  next  morning  (Sabbath  morning,)  a  still  higher,  if 
possible,  more  en^jaged  and  interesting  S[)irit  pervaded  the 
whole  grove  ;  singing  and  praying  echoed  from  every  quarter 
until  eight  o'clock,  when  divine  service  commenced  again  at 
both  stages,  before  two  great  and  crowded  assemblies.  The 
action  sermons  were  delivered  by  the  Rev  Robert  Wilson,  at 
one  stage,  and  the  Rev.  William  Cummings  Davis  at  the 
other.  I  did  not  hear  Mr.  Wilson.  But  Mr.  Davis's  was  one 
of  the  most  popular  orthodox  gospel  sermons  that  I  ever 
heard.  No  sketch,  exhibited  in  words,  would  be  adequate  to 
portray  the  appearance  of  the  audience  under  this  discourse. 
Imagine  to  yourself  thousands  under  a  sense  of  the  greatest 
possible  danger,  anxious  to  be  informed  in  all  that  related  to 
their  dearest  interests,  in  the  presence  of  a  counsellor,  who, 
laboring  with  all  his  efforts,  should  be  endeavoring  to  point 
out  the  only  way  to  security;  and  you  will  have  some  faint 
conception  of  this  spectacle. 

"  Then  ensued  the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
To  the  communion  sat  down  about  four  hundred  persons.  It 
was  a  matter  of  infinite  satisfaction,  to  see  on  this  occasion 
the  members  of  the  Methodist  and  Presbyterian  Churches 
united  ;  all  owning  and  acknowledging  the  same  God,  the 
same  Saviour,  the  same  Sanctifier,  and  the  same  Heaven. 
We  are  sorry  to  add  that  the  Baptists  refused  to  join  ;  whether 
their  objecfions  were  reasonably  justifiable,  I  shall  not  pre- 
sume to  say. 

"  The  evening  exercises,  although  greatly  interrupted  by 
the  intemperance  of  the  weather,  progressed  as  usual,  until 
about  dark  ;  when  there  commenced  one  of  the  most  sublime, 
awfully  interesting  and  glorious  scenes  which  could  possibly 
be  exhibited  on  this  side  of  eternity.  The  penetrating  sighs, 
and  excruciating  struggles  of  those  under  exercise  ;  the  grate- 
ful exultations  of  those  brought  to  a  sense  of  their  guilty 
condition,  and  to  a  knowledge  of  the  way  to  salvation, 
mingled  with  the  impressions  which  are  naturally  excited  by 
the   charms   of  music  and   the   solemnity  of  prayer   on  such 


134  THEIE    EFFECTS.  [1800-1810. 

occasions;  and  to  all  this  added  the  nature  of  the  scenery,  the 
darkness  of  night  and  the  countenances  of  the  spectators, 
speaking  in  the  terms  more  expressive  than  language,  the 
sympathy,  the  hope  and  the  fear  of  their  hearts,  were  suffi- 
cient to  bow  the  stubborn  neck  of  infidelity,  silence  the 
tongue  of  profanity,  and  melt  the  heart  of  cold  neglect,  though 
hard  as  adamant.  This  scene  continued  through  the  night. 
Monday  morning  dawned  big  with  the  fate  of  its  importance. 
The  morning  exercises  were  conducted  as  usual.  About  half- 
past  seven  the  assembly  met  the  ministers  at  the  stage,  and 
service  commenced  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Waddel,  after  which 
ensued  singing,  exhorting  and  a  concert  of  prayer.  At  length 
the  business  closed  with  an  address,  energetic  and  appropriate, 
by  the  Rev.  Francis  Cummins.  In  the  course  of  this  day, 
many  were  stricken,  numbers  of  whom  fell- 

"  1  cannot  but  say  that  the  parting  was  one  of  the  most 
moving  and  affecting  scenes  which  presented  itself  through- 
out the  whole.  Families,  who  had  never  seen  each  other 
until  they  met  on  the  ground,  would  pour  forth  the  tears  of 
sympathy,  like  streams  of  waters ;  many  friendships  were 
formed,  and  many  attachments  contracted,  which,  although 
the  persons  may  never  meet  again,  shall  never  be  dissolved. 
Not  one-quarter  of  an  hour  before  I  mounted  my  horse  to 
come  away,  I  saw  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  whichever 
mortal  beheld.  It  would  not  only  have  afforded  pleasure  to 
the  plainest  observer,  but  the  profoundest  philosopher  would 
have  found  it  food  for  his  imagination.  The  case  to  which  I 
allude  was  the  exercise  of  Miss  Dean,  one  of  the  three  sisters 
who  fell  near  the  close  of  the  work.  Her  reflections  presented 
mostly  objects  of  pleasure  to  her  view.  But  sometimes,  for 
the  space  of  a  minute,  she  would  lose  them  ;  the  consequence 
of  which  was  painful  distress.  By  the  very  features  of  her 
face  I  could  see  when  her  afflictive  sensations  approached,  as 
plain  as  ever  I  saw  the  sun's  light  obscured  by  the  over-pass- 
ing of  clouds.  In  her  happy  moments  she  awakened  in  my 
recollection  Milton's  lively  picture  of  Eve  when  in  a  state  of 
innocence. 

"  Another  extraordinary  case  occurred  at  the  very  moment 
of  departure.  Two  men  disputing,  one  for,  the  other  against 
the  wor):,  referred  their  contest  to  a  clergyman  of  respecta- 
bility, who  happened  to  be  passing  that  way.  He  i  .miedi- 
ately   took   hold    of  the    hand    of  the   unbeliever    and   thus 


1800-1810.]  CASES.  135 

addressed  him  :  '  If  you  were  in  your  heart's  desire  to  wait 
on  the  means  of  grace,  God  would  show  you  the  truth.  You 
may  expect  mercy  to  visit  you  ;  but  remember,  my  hand  for 
it,  it  will  cost  you  something;  a  stroke  would  not  now  come 
at  a  successless  hour.'  Scarcely  had  the  words  dropped  from 
his  lips,  when  the  man  was  on  the  ground,  pleading  for  an 
interest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  begging  pardon  of 
God  for  his  dishonoring  him  and  the  cause  of  religion,  through 
unbelief  I  understood  the  man  to  be  a  pious  mm,  and  his 
hesitations  of  a  religious  and  conscientious  kind.  The  other 
men  who  had  been  in  the  crowd  where  many  were  lying 
under  the  operations  of  the  work,  attempted  to  run  off.  One, 
leaving  his  hat  in  his  haste,  ran  about  twenty  or  thirty  paces 
and  fell  on  his  face.  His  shrieks  declared  the  terrors  and 
anguish  under  which  he  labored.  The  other  ran  a  different 
course  about  fifty  yards,  and  fell. 

"  The  number  of  those  who  were  stricken  could  not  be 
ascertained,  but  I  believe  it  to  be  much  greater  than  any  one 
would  conceive.  On  Sabbath  night,  about  twelve  or  one 
o'clock,  I  stood  alone  on  a  spot  whence  I  could  hear  and  see 
all  over  the  camp,  and  found  that  the  work  was  not  confined 
to  one,  two  or  three  places,  but  overspread  the  whole  field, 
and  in  some  large' crowds  the  ground  appeared  almost 
covered.  In  the  course  of  one  single  prayer,  of  duration 
about  ten  minutes,  twelve  persons  fell  to  the  ground,  the 
majority  of  whom  declared,  in  terms  audible  and  explicit,  that 
they  never  prayed  before. 

"  There  attended  on  this  occasion  thirteen  Presbyterian 
preachers,  viz.  :  Messrs.  Simpson,  Cummins,  Davis,  Cunning- 
ham, Wilson,  Waddel,  Williamson,  Brown,  Kennedy,  Gille- 
land,  Sn,  M'Elhenny,  Dixon  and  Gilleland,  Jr.,  and  an  un- 
known number  of  Methodists  and  Baptists. 

"  The  multitude  on  this  occasion  far  exceeded  anything 
which  had  come  under  my  observation.  There  were  various 
conjectures  of  the  number  present,  some  allowed  three,  some 
four,  some  five,  some  six,  some  seven,  and  some  eight 
thousand.  I  had  not  been  in  the  habit  of  seeing  such  multi- 
tudes together,  and  therefore  do  not  look  upon  myself  ca- 
pable of  reckoning  anyways  accurately  on  the  subject.  But 
I  do  candidly  believe  five  thousand  would  not  be  a  vague 
conjecture.  The  District  of  Spartanburg,  where  the  meeting 
was  held,  contains  no  less  than  twelve  thousand  souls.     Men 


136  ArrBNDANCE,  [1800-1810. 

of  information  who  reside  therein,  said,  to  one  who  might  be 
travelling,  the  country  would  appear  almost  depopulated,  and 
hesitated  not  in  the  least  to  say  two-thirds  of  the. inhabitants 
were  present.  Now  supposing  only  one-third  to  have  at- 
tended from  that  district  itself,  there  would  have  been  four 
thousand.  Besides,  there  were  multitudes  from  the  districts 
of  Union,  York,  Laurens  and  Greenville.  Numbers  from 
Pendleton.  Abbeville,  Chester  and  Newberry,  and  some  from 
Green,  Jackson,  Elbert  and  Franklin  counties,  of  the  State  of 
Georgia.  Of  carriages,  the  number  was  about  two  hundred, 
including  wagons  and  all  other  carriages. 

"  In  a  thinking  mind,  an  approach  to  the  spot  engendered 
awful  and  yet  pleasing  reflections.  The  idea  which  necessa- 
rily struck  the  mind  were,  thousands  in  motion  to  a  point, 
where  to  meet,  tell,  hear,  see  and  feel  the  mighty  power  of 
God.  Believe  me,  sir,  no  composition  can  exaggerate  the 
spirit  of  one  of  these  occasions,  although  facts  may  be  mis- 
represented. For  a  lively  rniniature,  I  refer  you  to  an  extract 
of  a  letter  contained  in  a  book  lately  published  and  entitled, 
'■Surprising  Accounts'  -whttra  this-  expression  is  used,  'The 
slain  of  the  Lord  were  scattered  over'the  fields.' 

"  I  cannot  omit  mentioning  an  idea  expressed  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liamson. After  taking  a  view  of  the  general  prevalency  of 
dissipation  and  slothful  neglect  in  religious  affairs,  he  con- 
cluded, saying,  "  These  works  appear  like  the  last  efforts  of 
the  Deity  to  preserve  his  church,  and  promote  the  cause  of 
religion  on  this  earth.'  To  see  the  brilliancy  and  sublimity  of 
this  idea,  we  need  only  recur  to  the  state  of  society  for  a  few 
years  back,  especially  in  the  Southern  States  of  United 
America,  when  and  where  Satan  with  all  his  influence  ap- 
peared to  be  let  loose  and  was  going  about  like  a  roaring  lion 
seeking  whom  he  might  devour.  This  extraordinary  work 
carries  in  itself,  demonstratively,  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion.  Men  who  fall,  and  many  there  are  who  have  paid 
no  attention  to  the  holy  scripture,  yea,  even  infidels  of  the 
deepest  dye,  cry  out  "  their  sinful  state  by  nature,'  '  their 
alienation  from  God,'  'and  man's  incapacity  to  satisfy  the 
justice  of  the  law  under  which  he  stands  condemned,'  '  and  of 
course  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  Redeemer.'  When  receiv- 
ing comfort  from  this  last  consideration,  I  heard  none  crying 
for  Mahomed,  Brainma,  Grand  Lama  or  Hamed ;  none  but 
Christ  was  their  healing  balm,  in  Him  alone  was  all  reliance 
fixed,  on  Him  alone  was  all  dependence  placed. 


1800-1810.]  EFFECT^ NORTH    PACOLET.  137 

"It  would  be  exceedingly  difficult  to,  draw  an  intelligible 
representation  of  the  effects  of  this  wo'rk  upon  the  human 
body.  Some  are  more  easily  and  gently  wrought  than  oth- 
ers ;  some  appear  wholly  wrapped  in  solitude;  while  others 
cannot  refrain  from  pouring  out  their  whole  souls  in  exhorta- 
tion to  those  standing  round ;  different  stages,  from  mild 
swoons  to  convulsive  spasms,  may  be  seen  ;  the  nerves  are 
not  unfrequently  severely  cramped  ;  the  subjects  generally 
exhibit  appearances  as  though  their  verv  hearts  would  burst 
out  of  their  mouths  ;  the  lungs  are  violently  agitated,  and  all 
accompanied  with  an  exhalation  ;  they  universally  declare 
that  they  feel  no  bodily  pain  at  the  moment  of  exercise, 
although  some  complain  of  a  sore  breast  and  the  effects  of  a 
cramping,  after  the  work  is  over;  the  pulse  of  all  whom  I  ob- 
served beat  quick  and  regular,  tiie  extremities  of  the  body  are 
sometimes  perceptibly  cold.  In  short,  no  art  or  desire  would 
imitate  tlie  exercise.  No  mimic  would  be  able  to  do  justice 
to  the  exhibition.  This  demonstrates  the  error  of  the  foolish 
supposition  of  its  being  feigned.  I  will  conclude,  my  dear 
sir,  acknowledging  that  alt  I  have  here  written  is  incompe- 
tent to  give  you  any  complete  idea  of  the  work.  Therefore 
to  you  and  all  who  wish  to  be  informed,  I  say,  come,  hear, 
see  and  feel. 

I  am  yours,  respectfully, 

"EBENEZER  H.  CUMMINS." 

These  statements  are  ver)''  remarkable,  yet  we  abide  in  the 
opinions  expressed  on  former  pages. 

Fa IRVIEW  Church,  Greenville  District.  The  connection 
of  this  church  with  Rev.  James  Templeton,  the  halt  of  whose 
labors  they  had  enjoyed  since  1794,  ceased  in  1800.  They 
received  supplies  as  a  vacant  church  from  John  Simpson, 
James  Gilliland,  Sen.,  and  Wm.  Williamson,  until  1802,  when 
they  united  with  the  Nazareth  Church  m  a  call  to  Rev,  James 
Gilliland,  Jr.,  with  whose  labors  ihey  were  favored  through 
the  remainder  of  this  decade.  About  the  year  1 809  Alexan- 
der Peden,  William  Peden  and  Anthony  Savage  were  chosen 
as  elders. 

North  Pacolet  was  supplied  as  a  vacant  church  through 
this  decade.  In  iSoo  James  Templeton,  in  1802  James  Tem- 
pleton and  James  Gilliland,  Sen.  ;  in  1803,  Gilliland;  in  1804, 
Templeton  and  James  Gilliland,  Jr. ;  in  1805,  Templeton;    in 


138  NEWTON — CTXFFEY  .TOWN.  [1800-1810. 

1806,  Templeton  and  Gilliland  ;  in  1807,  Templeton  and 
Daniel  Gray  ;  in  1808,  Gray;  in  1809,  Gilliland  and  Gray. 
Under  Mr.  Templeton  in  1800,  W.  Logan  and  M.  Logan,  Jr., 
R.  McDowell  and  his  wife  and  J.  McDowell  and  his  wife 
became  members  of  the  church.  Under  the  labors  of  J.  Gil- 
liland in  1806,  W.  Jackson  and  Mrs.  Jackson  became  mem- 
bers. Thus  the  succession  of  a  church,  apparently  never 
large,  was  kept  up  and  transmitted. 

MiLFORD  is  often  associated  with  North  Pacolet  in  these 
supplies.  In  1800' James  Templeton;  in  1802,  Templeton 
and  Gilliland,  Sen. ;  in  1803,  Gilliland  and  Benjamin  Mont- 
gomery; in  1804,  Gilliland,  Jr.,  and  Templeton;  in  1806, 
Gilliland;  in  1807,  Templeton  was  appointed  as  supply. 
In  Sept.  1801,  Milford  contributed  to  the  Missionary  Fund 
through  their  Elder. 

Newton,  "at  the  head  of  Tyger  River"  was  supplied  in  this 
decade  by  Mr.  Gilliland,  Sen.  ;  in  1805,  by  Mr.  Templeton  ; 
in  1806,  by  the  same,  if  the  Presbyterial  appointments  were 
fulfilled,  as  in  this  Presbytery  they  generally  were. 

CuFFEY  Town,  in  Edgefield  District,  on  CuffeyTown  Creek 
for  which  see  Vol.  I,  p.  642,  had  frequent  supplies  duringthis 
decade.  "Cuffey  Town  Church  petitioned  for  supplies" 
(Minutes  of  Second  Presbytery,  p.  104.)  In  1800  and  1801, 
Dr.  Cummins;  in  1802,  Hugh  Dickson  and  Robert  G.  Wil- 
son, (afterwards  D.  D.) ;  in  1803,  Wilson  and  Dickson,  and 
in  1807  Williamson  were  appointed  on  this  service. 

The  German  Chukch,  on  Hard  Labor  Creek  begins  to  be 
named  among  those  for  which  supplies  are  appointed.  "The 
German  Church  on  Hard  Labor  petitioned  for  supplies"  Sept. 
28,  1804,  Minutes,  p.  74.  Rev.  Messrs.  Dickson,  Wilson  and 
Waddel  were  appointed  for  this  purpose  in  1 804,'  Messrs. 
Waddel,  Dickson  and  Montgomery  in  1805,  Messrs.  Waddel 
Dickson  and, Gray  in  1806,  Messrs.  Waddel  and  Montgomery 
in  1807,  and  Dr.  Waddel  the  most  frequently  of  them  all. 
The  German  Church  is  naOied  and  Cuffey  Town  is  not  in  the 
report  of  the  Second  Presbytery  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
1809.     Did  the  one  organization  supersede  the  other. 

Smyrna  Church,  Abbeville.  There  was  a  destitute  neigh- 
borhood near  Whitehall- which  had  associated  together  for 
the  purpose  of  public  worship.  They  had  sent  up  to  Presby- 
tery a  request  to  be  taken  under  their  care  and  to  be  known 
by    the  name  of  Smyrna  Congregation.     They  were   received 


1800-1810.]  SMYRNA — GREENVIIXE  CHURCH.  139 

see  Vol.  I,  p.  633.  Uniting  with  Greenville  Church  they 
petitioned  Presbytery  Sept.  22,  1800,  each  for  one  lialf  of  the 
services  of  Hugh  Dickson,  wiio  had  been  licensed  at  the 
Spring  Sessions,  as  their  stated  supply.  The  petition  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Supphes.  They  appointed  him 
to  serve  these  churches  each  three  Sabbaths,  Hopewell  and 
Carmel  each,  one,  and  the  rest  of  his  time  to  preach  at  his 
own  discretion.  At  the  Spring  Sessions  May  9th,  1801,  they 
presented  a  regular  call  for  him  as  their  pastor,  which  he 
accepted,  and  was  ordained  as  pastor  of  ffiese  congregations 
at  an  Intermediate  Presbytery,  which  was  held  at  the  house 
of  John  Hairston,  in  the  middle  ground  between  the  two  con- 
gregations, on  the  nth  of  November,  1801,  the  Rev.  Francis 
Cummins  preaching  the  sermon,  and  the  Rev.  Robert  Wilson 
presiding  and  putting  the  questions  prescribed  in  the  Disci- 
pline, making  the  consecrating  prayer  and  delivering  the 
charge  to  the  pastor  and  an  exhortation  to  the  people,  and 
Mr.  Dickson  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his 
office.  At  the  time  of  the  settlement  in  the  congregation 
there  was  no  regular  session.  The  people  elected  Andrew 
and  Alexander  White,  David  Logan,  John  Hairston,  and 
Samuel  Weems  to  the  office  of  ruling  elders,  into  which  office 
they  were  inducted  by  ordination.  These  men,  by  deaths  and 
removals,  soon  disappeared  from  among  the  people.  The 
efforts  made  to  obtain  others,  and  the  singular  fatality  attend- 
ing them,  probably  belong  to  a  later  period. 

Gneenville  Church  (formerly  Saluda),  Abbeville.  This 
church  was  left  vacant  by  the  dissolution  of  the  union  between 
it  and  the  Long  Cane  Church  in  1797.  We  mentioned  that 
the  congregation  was  supplied  once  in  the  month  for  one  year 
afterwards  by  Rev.  Robert  Wilson.  But  this  period  having 
elapsed  it  was  left  vacant,  and  in  this  situation,  with  a  few 
occasional  supplies,  it  continued  until  the  spring  of  1800,  when 
it  was  visited  by  Mr.  Hugh  Dickson,  a  licentiate,  under  the 
care  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  He  preach- 
ed to  them  occasionally  through  the  summer,  and  at  the  fall 
sessions  he  received  an  invitation  to  spend  half  of  his  time 
among  them  as  a  stated  supply  till  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery.  This  was  through  the  hands  of  Presbytery, 
under  whose  direction  he  was.  It  took  the  course  we  have 
indicated,  but  for  substance  it  w^s  accepted  on  his  part,  and 
he  commenced  his  labors.     There  were  at  that   time  but  two 


140  ROCKY    CREEK.  [ISGO-ISIO. 

officiating  elders,  James  Watts  and  John  Bell,  and  about  forty 
communicants.  Many  had  removed  to  the  new  settlements 
in  Pendleton,  and  a  degree  of  coldness  prevailed  among  the 
people  generally.  The  old  house  of  worship  was  very  much 
racked,  and  a  new  one  was  to  be  built,  and  the  session  en- 
gaged. Both  these  objects  were  attended  to.  The  house 
was  built,  and  John  Weatherall,  George  Brownlee,  and  Ed- 
ward Sliarpe  were  elected  to  the  office  of  ruling  elders,  and 
were  ordained.  The  great  religious  excitement,  which  pre- 
vailed in.  many  par*  of  the  country  in  1802,  produced  little 
effect  on  the  congregation  There  were  a  few  additions  to 
the  church.  [MS.  Letter  of  Rev.  Dickson  to  Rev.  J.  C.  Wil- 
liams, March  9th,  1^*53.]  In  the  Minutes  of  Presbytery  there 
is  on  record:  "A  memorial  from  the  Trustees  of  Greenville 
congregation  stating  that  a  specific  contract  was  made  be- 
tween them  and  Mr.  Dickson,  their  pastor,  seven  years  since 
stipulating  a  certain  sum  of  money  in  consideration  of  his 
labors  amcmg  them,  the  performance  of  which  had  become 
almost  impracticable  to  them;  and  praying,  not  for  a  disso- 
lution of  their  relation'as  pastor  and  people,  but  for  an  exon- 
eration from  the  obligation  on  their  part  as  to  the  specific 
sum.  To  which,  with  Mr.  Dickson's  consent,  the  prayer  of 
the  memorial  was  granted."  (Minutes  of  the  meeting  at 
Hopewell  Church,  April  5th,  1808,  p.  120.)  We  remember 
that  the  alleged  inability  of  this  congregation  to  pay  the  half 
of  Dr  Robert  G.  Wilson's  salary  was  the  reason  of  the  dis- 
.soliition  of  the  pastoral  relation  with  him.  But  in  this  case 
"  things  went  on  smoothly,"  and  the  minister  did  not  "  count 
the  loss  of  enrthly  goods."  The  church  at  this  time,  accord- 
ing to  a  briet  history  sent  up  to  the  General  Assembly,  con- 
sisted of  aboLit  fifty  communing  members. 

Rocky  Ckeek,  now  Rock  Church,  continued  to  rely  on 
Piesbyterial  supplies.  Among  these  we  name  Robert  Wilson, 
in  1800,  1801,  1803;  J.  B.  Kennedy  and  Hugh  Dickson,  in 
1803  ;  Moses  Waddel  and  Hugh  Dickson,  1804,  in  which 
year,  on  the  third  Sabbath  in  July,  Messrs.  Waddel,  Kennedy, 
Dickson,  and  Montgomery  were  appointed  to  administer  the 
communion;  Hugh  Dickson,  Thos.  Williamson  and  Daniel' 
Gray,  in  1805  ;  Hugh  Dickson,  in  1806;  J.  B.  Kennedy  and 
Jas.  Gilliland,  Jr.,  in  1808;  J.  R.Kennedy,  Hugh  Dickson 
and  Benjamin  Montgomery,  in  1809.  John  Sample  and 
George    Heard   were   appointed   ruling  elders  in  1804.     The 


1800-1810.]  HOPEWELL,    ABBEVILLE.  141 

existence  of  this  church  seems  to  have  been  continued  under 
these  inadequate  means.  The  congregation  is  in  the  south- 
east part  of  Abbeville  District.  Below  it  and  near  the  Edge- 
field line  lies  old  Cambridge,  or  Ninety-Six,  of  Revolutionary 
renown,  said  to  have  eight  stores,  five  of  which  were  quite 
extensive,  if  we  may  credit  tradition.  The  seat  of  justice  for 
tlie  judicial  district  of  Ninety- Six,  and  the  site  of  an  institution 
of  learning,  which  would  one  day,  it  was  believed,  grow  into  a 
university,  where  Creswell,  Springer,  and  others  preached,  Is 
not  named  in  the  records  of  Presbytery  during  this  decade. 
In  1803  the  Cambridge  Association  was  incorporated  by  tlie 
Legislature.  The  college  and  lands  belonging  thereunto,  the 
court  house  and  jail,  and  the  public  lots  in  the  village,  were 
vested  in  this  Association,  to  be  sold  and  disposed  of  for  these 
objects,  the  college  property  b.'ing  held  exclusively  for  ths 
uses  of  the  institution  the  Association  was  to  establish.  The 
Cambridge  Baptist  Ciuirch  was  chartered  at  the  same  time. 
The  old  college  building  was  of  wood.  The  Association 
erected  an  academy  building  of  brick.  The  Presbyterian 
interest  revived  again  in  this  locality  at  a  subsequent  period. 

Hopewell  Church,  Abbeville  (Lower  Long  Cane),  re- 
ceived supplies  as  a  vacant  church  in  1800.  Rev.  Messrs. 
Simpson,  Dickson  and  Gilleland,  Sr.,  preached  to  them  by 
order  of  Presbytery  that  year.  In  1801  Rev.  Dr.  Waddell 
left  Columbia  County,  in  Georgia,  and  opened  a  school  in 
Vienna,  Abbeville  District,  South  Carolina,  where  he  also 
labored  in  preaching  the  gospel.  This  place  was  laid  out  as 
a  ti.wn  on  the  Savannah  River  in  expectation  of  its  becoming 
a  place  of  commerce.  Three  other  places  were  laid  out  at 
the  same  time.  Vienna,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Broad  River, 
in  Georgia,  at  its  confluence  with  the  S.ivaniiah  ;  S  luth  Hamp- 
ton on  the  hill  above  Vienna,  two  others  on  the  Georgia  side, 
Petersburg  in  the  fork,  and  Lisbon  on  the  south  sid:;  of  Broad 
River,  of  high  sounding  names,  all  rivals  for  the  trade  of  the 
two  rivers,  and  all  destined  to  an  ephemeral  existence. 
Hopewell  Church,  on  the  24th  of  Se.itemlDer,  1801,  petitioned 
Presbytery  for  liberty  to  call  Mr.  (afterwirds  Dr.)  WadJell,  a 
minister  of  Hopewell  Presbyteiy  in  Georgia,  as  their  pistor, 
another  neighboring  congregation  unitmg  with  them  in  this 
call,  and  desiring  to  be  known  on  the  records  by  the  name  of 
MoRiAH.  This  church  was  the  one  called  Liberty,  Vol.  1, 
p.  631,  and  was  still  so  called,  notwithstanding  this   effort  to 


142  HOPEWELL,  ABBEVILLE.  [1800-1810. 

change  its  name.  The  prayer  was  granted,  and  on  the  7th  of 
April,  i8o3,  Mr.  Waddel  was  received  as  a  member,  and  was 
accompanied  by  Mr.  William  Huiton,  a  delegate  from  the 
session  of  Hopewell  Church.  In  1804  Mr.  Waddel  removed 
from  Vienna  to  Willingloii,  a  country  seat  which  he  had  estab- 
lished. Mr.  Waddel  requested  leave  of  Presbytery  September 
28th  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge  of  Vienna.  To  this  Pres- 
bytery replied  that  as  Vienn.i  is  not  now,  nor  has  been  at  any 
former  period  known  as  a  church  under  the  care  of  Presby- 
tery, and  never  presented  any  call  to  Mr.  Waddel  through 
that  body,  he  cannot  be  consid.-red  bound  otherwise  than  by 
private  contract,  which  may  hi  dissolved  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  parties.  Willintjton  was  about  six  miles  below  Vienna, 
and  a  little  more  than  six  from  Hopewell  Church,  the. chief 
scene  of  his  pastoral  labors.  The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Di- 
vinity was  conferred  upon  him  by  the  College  of  Sjuth  Caro- 
lina in  1807.  As  an  illustration  of  Dr.  Waddel's  character, 
and  a  revelation  of  his  per.sonal  history  beyond  those  bounds 
which  limit  our  own  knowledge,  we  again  quote  from  the 
contribution  of  Mrs.  M.  E.  D.,  from  the  point  at  which  we 
left  it  on  p.  654  of  our  first  volume  :  "  When'Dr.  Waddel  was 
disconnected  with  South  Carolina  Presbytery  his  interest  in 
it  did  not  cease — he  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Mr.  Springer 
at  Liberty,  and  while  a  resident  of  Georgia  often  preached  at 
Hopewell  in  this  Slate,  whether  a«  a  missionary  or  as  a  supply 
I  cannot  determine. 

"In  these  excursions,  after  crnssinc:;  the  Savannah,  he  usually 
remained  a  ni<rht  with  Capt.  P.  Ro^er,  or  with  Pierre  Gibert,  Esq., 
French  settlers  on  oppusite  sides  of  Little  River,  and  by  the  assistance  of 
these  friendly  familiei  he  was  ferried  across  in  a  small  canoe,  while  his 
horse  either  fordeil  or  swam  accordinj^  to  tlie  condition  of  the  river. 
And  here  we  may  notice  an  indication  of  tliat  punctual  habit  which 
tlius  early  acquired,  followeil  hiiu  tlirougli  life,  and  which  aided  by  his 
remarliatjle  perseverance  triumphed  over  every  trifling  obstacle,  and 
suffered  neither  wind  nor  weather  to  detain  him  behind  the  time,  or 
in  any  way  to  disappoint  a  consrrejiation.  For  several  years  previous  to 
his  entire  reuioval  l>r.  Cummin^s  had  resigned  the  care  of  Hopewell, 
but  continued  at  Rocky  River,  and  the  proximity  of  these  churches 
pi-epared  tlie  way  for  an  intimacy  between  the  mini.sters  which  lasted 
for  years,  many  letters  having  passed  on  both  sides  after  the  removal  of 
Dr.  C.  to  nreensboroujrh. 

"  In  pursueinfi  this  ccjurse  several  years  had  elapsed  in  the  life  of  the 
young  widower,  when,  being  appointed  Commissioner  to  the  Assembly 
at  Philadelphia  he  passed  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and  met  again  the 
object  of  his  earliest  love,  Vliss  Elizabeth  Pleasance,  his  first  cousin.  A 
juvenile  attachment  had  subsisted  between  them  ;  but  the  engagement 


1800-1810.]  DR.    WADDEL.  1'13 

was  broken  off  by  the  parents,  who  refused  to  let  their  daufrhter 
encounter  what  was  then  Bonsiderc<l  the  wilds  of  Georgia.  The  devo- 
tion (jf  the  lady,  however,  triumphed  over  this  difficulty;  and  a  few 
days  or  weeks  before  his  marriapte  with  j\Iiss  Calhoun,  he  reeeivLMl  inti- 
mation that  his  former  friend  was  willing  to  meet  the  inconveniences 
of  frontier  life.^  God  was  pleased  by  the  death  of  the  first  wife  to 
develop  the  amiable  qualities  of  this  excellent  woman,  who  by  patience, 
perseverance  and  meekness  was  so  well  fitted  to  her  station,  and  her 
constancy  rewarded  by  the  privilege  of  ministering  for  more  than 
thirty  years  to  the  comfort  of  an  eminent  servant  of  Christ. 
^  Immediately  after  this  marriage  Mr-  W  addel  settled  in  South  Caro- 
lina, resuming  his  classic  vocatitm  in  a  decent  Academy  built  by  a 
Board  of  Trustees  in  the  vihage  of  Vienna. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  rich  and  beautiful  situations  on  the  ir^avannah 
River,  for  some  mil6s  below,  had  been  taken  up  by  several  worthy 
descendants  of  the  Scotch-Irish  colony,  and  some  few  had  been  drawn 
from  a  distance  by  the  already  famous  character  of  the  school  at 
Vienna.  Among  the  latter  was  the  widow  of  a  Mr  Bull,  a  relative  of 
Govr.  Bull  of  Charleston,  with  her  two  youthful  and  talented  sons 
She  was  a  dignified  and  superior  lady,  and  lived  an  ornament  to  the 
church,  but  the  younger  other  sons,  the  late  beloved  Elder  of  Willing- 
ton  was  a  man  of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy.  They  all  lie  side 
by  side  in  the  church  yard,  and  the  mother's  stone  once  so  lonely  is  now 
crowded  with  companions.  ' 

"These,  in  connection  with  the  warm-hearted  French,  were  the 
patrons  of  .Mr  Waddel.audas  he  was  now  a  regular  supply  at  Hopewell, 
and  was  preaching  at  Liberty,  ten  or  twelve  miles  below, 'it  appeared  to 
them  both  convenient  and  desiiable  that  he  should  make  a  more  per- 
manent settlement  among  them.  On  the  high  healthy  ridge  which 
succeeds  to  the  lowlands,  and  about  five  miles  from  his  former  position, 
a  tract  of  land  was  obtained  for  him,  which  had  been  included  in  the 
grant  of  a  French  settler — and  in  1804  he  set  up  on  his  own  responsi- 
bility in  the  little  secluded  valley  destined  to  become  so  well  known, 
and  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Wilington. 

For  educational  purposes  he  had  at  first  but  a  log  house,  ventilated 
by  a  wide  open  passage  ;  and  as  the  place  seemed  so  strait,  and  the 
number  of  pupils  continually  increased,  sonn  a  great  number  of  little 
wooden  tents  or  domicils  surrounded  the  log  cabin,  peeping  out  here 
and  tliere  from  among  the  Chinquapin  bushes — some  with  little  pipes 
ofw(joden  chimneys  plastered  with  mud — others  mure  pretentiously 
built  of  brick  looking  decrepid  and  ricketty  ;  yet  supjilying  all  that  the 
erratic  wishes  of  a  student  might  require.  Here,  in  this  classic  camp, 
the  teacher,  by  his  own  vigilance,  and  by  means  of  monitors  main- 
tained the  .strictest  subordination.  Some  men  seem  born  to  rule,  and 
such  was  Moses  Waddel.  Though  rather  below  the  medium  height,  as 
his  frame  matured,  he  became  stout  and  athletic,  and  his  large  head 
and  heavy  eyebrows  gave  promise  of  that  unconquerable  will,  which 
was  never  found  swevering  from  the  path  of  duty. 

"  I'his  is  said  to  be  a  "  fast  age,"  but  if  by  a  precocious  manhooil.  and 
a  false  indulgence,  the  purposes  of  education  are  now  defeated  ;  it  is  no 
less  true,  that  in  the  primitive  state  of  our  society,  the  teacher  must 
have  met  a  much  greater  hardihood  and  boldness  of  nerve.  Boys 
trained  to  out-of-door  sports,  and  nurtured  in  warfare  could  not  be 
easily  frowned  into  submission,  and  the  young  Dictator  in  the  intro- 
duction of  his  new  system  had  many  and  severe  contests,  the  memory 


144  DR.    WADDEL.  [1800-1810. 

of  which  affected  his  risible?  for  the  remainder  of  his  life  He  honestly- 
believed  that  the  wise  su^iyestiun  of  Solomon  was  the  only  safety-valve 
for  the  fol'ies  of  youth,  and  he  acted  upon  that  belief  with  boldness 
and  decision  No  man  could  administer  reproof  with  more  point,  and 
few  better  understood  its  application— should  reproof  fail,  the  rod  was 
the  dernier  but  sure  resort. 

I  suppose  that  a  volume  might  be  filled  with  anecdotes,  illustrative 
of  his  belief  in  the  superior  efficacy  of  coercive  measures.  I  will  give 
only  one:  A  young  man  who  refused  to  meet  the  INIonitor's  bill  on 
Monday,  played  truaiit,  and  in  order  to  return  home  borrowed  a  horse 
from  some  of  the  unsuspecting  peasantry — for  in  these  days  the  sound 
of  the  stage-horh  had  never  frightened  the  peaceful  echoes  of  Willing- 
ton.  Before  leaving,  however,  he  ventured,  booted  and  spurred,  into 
the  precincts  of  the  camp.  The  mister,  appearently  with  no  hostile  in- 
tention, but  with  a  rod  concealed  under  his  arm,  came  out,  and  approach- 
hvf  the  stirrup-iron  of  the  delinquent,  by  a  skillful  manoeuvre  unhor.sed 
hira,  and  giving  him  a  severe  flagellation,  ordered  him  to  proceed  on 
his  journey  — biit  no  !  the  horse  was  dismis.sed,  and  the  truant  chone  now 
to  remain,  and,  said  the  old  man  in  relating  it,  "  I  never  had  a  better  or 
more  obeciient  pupil  than  he  was  from  that  day." 

Though  ilr.  Waddel  had  much  confidence  in  the  birch,  he  had  more 
hope  in  (lod,  and  his  heart  was  overflowing  with  love  to  his  pupils  and 
with  zeal  for  their  spiritual  improvement.  They  had  always  been  con- 
veneil  for  morning  and  evening  prayers,  and  had  heard  many  lectures 
on  s|iiritual  as  well  as  on  moral  themes  ;  he  had  given  them  all  his 
vacant  Sabbaths ;  but  not  satisfied  with  this,  he  commenced  in  1806  a 
regular  course  of  preaching  on  Friday  afternoons 

The  people  followed  up  these  lectures,  and  to  accommodate  the 
audience  they  were  mostly  given  out  of  doors.  His  engagements  had 
now  become  so  numerous  that  some  must  suflfer.  The  charge  of  Kocky 
Kiver  was  now  added  to  Hopewell,  Dr.  Oummings  having  in  1803  or  4 
remcived  to  Georgia,  and  it  was  his  custom  to  convene  his  family  for 
worship  by  candle  light  on  Sabbath  morning,  ride  on  horseback  to 
these  places — the  one  ten,  the  other  fifteen  miles,  preach  and  return 
the  same  day 

"The  fragment  of  the  Huguenots  at  Liberty  received  but  one  Sab- 
bath, and  sometimes  that  was  necessarily  a  failure.  Advantage  was 
taken  of  this  opening  by  some  ministers  of  the  Baptist  denomination, 
who,  without  regard  to  ministerial  etiquette  took  possession  of  the 
place  for  a  time.  This  order  had  been  gradually  increasing  in  the 
neighborhood,  while  the  elder  French  were  being  swept  away  by  the 
ruthless  hand  of  time,  and  while  these  were  immersing  at  Liberty,  the 
secimd  generation  of  the  French  people  found  themselves  carried  away 
by  those  influences  which  were  radiating  round  a  new  organization. 

"  In  .1809  the  fruits  of  Jlr  Waridel's  assiduous  labors  began  to  be 
manifested  in  his  school— a  most  interesting  revival  took  place  there, 
which  extended  to  the  people  of  t|ie  surrounding  country,  and  they 
began  seriously  to  feel  the  inconvenience  attending  the  want  of  a  house 
of  worship.  Some  of  the  more  influential  citizens — among  the  most 
prominent  of  whom  was  P.  Gibert,  Esq.,  made  application  to  the 
Trustees  at  Vienna  for  the  Academic'  building  at  that  place,  which  was 
most  generously  granted  them ;  and  sliortly  it  arose  beneath  the  already 
consecrated  groves  of  Willingt  >n.  Besides  four  convenient  recitation 
rooms  it  contained  a  small  Chapel,  and  here  in  1813  the  church  was 
regularly  organized,  William  Noble,  Pierre  Gibert  and  Moses  Dobbins 
constituting  the  session. 


1800-1810.1  DK.    WADDEL.  145 

"At  this  time  the  church  at  Rocliiy  Biver  was  resigned  to  Mr.  Gamble 
and  Mr.  Waddel  alternated  between  Willington  and  Hopewell. 

It  is  said  that  he  refused  to  enter  into  the  pastoral  relation,  which 
was  attributable  in  part  to  the  fact,  that  his  vocation  as  a  teacher  inter- 
fered with  the  proper  discharge  of  the  duties  of  that  sacred  office,  and 
partly,  to  the  missionary  spirit  he  had  imbibed  in  early  youth,  which 
inclined  him  to  labor  as  an  Evangelist  whene.ver  it  should  be  practica- 
ble. He  was  fond  of  going  to  the  help  of  his  ministerial  brethren,  and 
this  habit  became  so  confirmed  that  in  his  advanced  age  he  was  much 
from  home. 

We  have  the  best  authority  for  stating  that  Mr.  A'addel  adopted 
early  in  life  the  declaration  of  St.  Paul  as  his  motto :  "  I  am  chargeble 
to  no  man,  &c.,"  but  however  noble  and  self-sacrificing, this  might  have 
been  in  his  own  person,  it  was  not  calculated  to  produce  the  fruits  of  a 
righteous  stewardship  in  others.  The  wants  of  the  age,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  his  ministry,  and  his  independent  mode  of  living,  made  it  easy 
and  perhaps  proper  for  him  to  render  gratuitous  service  ;  but  it  is  be- 
lieved by  some  that  absolution  from  pecuniary  obligation  to  the  church 
for  so  many  years,  has  induced  a  torpidity  on  this  subject  in  these  con- 
gregations which  has  ever  since  been  manifesting  its  unsanctifying 
efforts  ;  unless  early  trained  in  liberal  things  it  is  very  hard  for  men 
to  realize  that  they  who  "preach  the  Gospel  should  live  of  the  Gospel," 
and  that  those  "who  sow  sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly,"  there  are 
^  not  wanting  here,  men,  who  are  willing  to  believe  that  a  secular  calling 
is  perfectly  compatible  with  the  Gospel  ministry,  and  who  quote  Dr 
Waddel  as  a  precedent  for  generous  self-devotion. 

"  It  is  true  that  in  all  benevolent  enterprises  brought  before  the 
church  his  own  examp  e  of  great  liberality  had  some  effect  upon  his 
contemporaries ;  for  there  were  many  noble  and  large  minded  Chris- 
tians in  that  day,  bi*t  these  consequences  were  developed  in  the._ future. 
By  the  exercise  of  great  industry  and  economy,  combined  with  the 
fewness  of  his  wants  in  his  simple  and  patriarchal  mode  of  living,  Mr. 
Waddel  soon  found  himself  acquiring  a  competent  estate,  so  that  he 
was  enabled  to  become  a  cheerful  giver ;  but  his  disbursements  were  all 
made  in  the  faith  of  one  wh?  lends  to  the  Lord,  and  this  sentimenthe 
saw  no  reason  to  change  to  the  end  of  his  days.  Giving  on  one  occasion 
the  last  twenty-five  dollars  from  his  pocket  to  a  traveling  agent,  he 
returned  that  night  from  a  marriage,  and  displaying  the  same  amount 
of  money  to  a  friend,  remarked  witli  a  smile,  "I  knew  the  Lord  wnuld 
return  it ;  but  I  did  not  know  that  he  would  send  it  to-day."  (MSS  of 
Mrs.  M.  E.  D.,  see  Vol.  1,  p.  442.) 

Rocky  River  Church.  When  Rev.  Francis  Cummins  re- 
signed the  pastoral  charge  of  Hopewell  Church  in  1796,  he 
still  retained  that  of  Rocky  River  in' the  north  ivester'n  part  of 
Abbeville  District.  In  the  .spring  of  1803  the  pa.storal  con- 
nection of  Mr.  Cummins  with  this  church  was  dissolved,  and 
he  removed  to  the  State  of  Georgia.  In  1804  the  Rev.  John 
Simpson  was  directed  to  preach  at  this  church  as  a  supply. 
In  1805  at  the  solicitation  of  the  people,  Dr.  Waddel  con- 
sented to  preach  to  them  a  part  of  his  time  and  took  upon 
himself  the  charge  of  the  church,  in  which  he  continued. 
10 


146  EOCKY   RIVEE.  [1800-1810. 

Tn  the  early  days  of  this  church  there  was  used  what  was 
called  a  shade  or  shelter  in  place  of  a  house  of  worship. 
About  the  time  of  its  regular  organization  a  house  was  built 
of  hewn  logs,  which  was  used  till  A.  D.  1800,  when  a  large 
frame  building  was  put  up.  The  early  settlers  in  this  con- 
gregation were  foreigners,  but  the  largest  portion  at  this 
time  and  even  earlier  were  from  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania, 
to  all  of  whom  tradition  gave  the  honor  of  havmg  taken  ah 
active  part  in  the  Revolutionary  struggle.  (MS.  by  John 
Spear.) 

The  eldership  had  been  increased  since  1790  by  the  addi- 
tion of  John  Caldwell,  and,  at  a  late  period,  of  Ezekiel  Cal- 
houn, Wm.  H.  Caldwell  and  Robt.  Crosby.  Mr.  Calhoun  to 
fill  the  vacancy  made  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Allen;  Mr.  Cald- 
well to  fill  that  of  his  father,  and  Mr,  Crosby  that  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  Mr.  Baskin.  This  addition  was  made  to  the 
session  about  the  year  1805. 

In  the  years  1800  and  1802  there  were  camp  meetings  held 
at  this  church  and  also  in  1804,  at  which  there  was  great 
excitement,  and  great  numbers  in  attendance.  "  I  attended 
two  of  these  meetings ;  I  was  then  seventeen  years  old. 
There  was  no  noise,  yet  many  would  fall  down  and  appear 
for  hours  insensible.  But  so  far  as  my  knc^wledge  extends  I 
could  perceive  no  reformation  in  after  life.  I  only  speak  from 
my  own  observation.  In  two  or  three  years  the  Presbytery 
generally  gave  up  those  camp  meetings.     I  think  it  was  well 

to  do  so."  A.  gilb:s, 

Monterey,  S.  C,  October  ^,  ^Sjj. 

There  was  a  difference  of  opinion  then  among  good  inen  as 
to  these  extraordinary  scenes. 

Long  Cane  Church,  formerly  Upper  Long  Cane,  enjoyed 
the  labors  of  Rev.  Robert  Wilson,  D.  D.,  until  November, 
1804.  This  is  the  statement  in  vol.  I.,  p.  628  of  this  history, 
in  which*  we  anticipated  "the  progress  of  our  narrative.  On 
consulting  the  minutes  of  the  Second  Presbytery  we  find  that 
Dr.  Wilson's  desire  to  resign  his  pastoral  charge  was  made 
known  October  2d,  1804,  and  the  church  cited  to  appearand 
shew  cause,  if  they  h^ve  any,  why  the  request  should  not  be 
granted,  but  that  the  official  release  from  his  pastoral  charge 
was  on  the  third  of  April,  1805.  The  three  ministers,  Robert 
Wilson,  William    Williamson    and  James  Gilliland,  Sr.,  were 


1800-1810.]  LONG    CANE — BRADAWAY.  147 

on  the  same  day  dismissed  to  join  the  Presbytery  of  Wash- 
ington, in  the  State  of  Kentucky.  The  moving  cause  of  the 
migration  of  two  of  these  ministers,  Messrs.  Wilson  and  Gilli- 
land,  was  opposition  to  the  institution  of  slavery.  The 
Presbytery  of  Washmgton  belonged  to  the  Synod  of  Ken- 
tucky, but  extended  over  the  Southern  portion  of  Ohio, 
where  these  three  ministers  took  up  their  abode.  After  this, 
the  congregation  was  frequently  supplied  by  Presbyterial  ap- 
pointment, Messrs.  Dickson,  Thomas  Williamson,  Waddil 
and  Kennedy  being  appointed  at  sundry  times,  Rev.  Dr. 
Montgomery  and  Thos.  Williamson  the  most  often.  With 
each  of  these  last  named  ministers  they  were  about  forming  a 
pastoral  relation  which  was  prevented  by  the  death  of  the 
latter  and  by  the  d.iath  of  the  wife  of  the  former,  which 
turned  his  attention  in  a  different  direction. 

At  a  special  meeting  of  Presbytery  held  at  Poplar  Tent,  N. 
C,  October  6th,  1809,  William  H.  Barr,  a  licentiate  under  the 
care  of  Concord  Presbytery,  was  received,  and  a  call  was  laid 
before  Presbytery  from  the  Long  Cane  congregation  for  his 
services,  which  was  by  him  accepted.  At  z-pro  re  nata  meet- 
ing held  at  this  church  on  the  27th  of  December,  1809.  he 
passed  his  trials,  and  on  the  28th  was  ordained  pastor  of  this 
church,  Dr.  Waddel,  presiding,  and  John  B.  Kennedy  preach- 
ing the  ordination  sermon,  from  Col.  i. :  28.  Thus  was 
inaugurated  a  ministry  which  was  peculiarly  happy,  able,  and 
attended  with  blessed  results.  Tlie  number  of  church  mem- 
bers in  full  communion  at  this  time  was  about  120.  (MS. 
of  Robert  Wardlaw,  MS.  Hist,  of  2d  Pres.,  by  Dr.  Waddel, 
Chairman.     Minutes  of  Pres'y.) 

Bradaway  Church,  in  Pendleton  District,  was  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  James  Gilliland,  Sr.,  till  April  4,  1804,  when 
the  pastoral  relation  between  him  and  this  people  was  dis- 
solved and  he  had  leave  to  travel  without  the  bounds  of 
Presbytery.  His  dismission  occurred,  as  we  have  indicated, 
and  his  subsequent  history  was  given,  vol.  I.,  pp.  634,  635. 
"  In  July,  1802,  the  general  revival  in  the  Southern  States, 
appeared  here,  where  multitudes  attended  a  communion  sea- 
son and  a  most  astonishing  solemnity  prevailed,  the  lasting 
effects  of  which,  says  the  Committee  on  the  History  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  which  Dr.  Waddel  was  Chairman,  "  are  still  hap- 
pily experienced  and  visible  in  some."  After  Mr.  Gilliland's 
departure  the  church  was  dependent  on   Presbyterial  supplies 


148  ROBERTS    AND    GOOD    HOPE.  [1800-1810. 

among  which  occur  more  than  once,  the  names  of  Simpson, 
Templeton,  McElhenny,  Giliiland,  Jr.,  Montgomery,  William- 
son, and  Dickson.  This  church  consisted  in  1 809  of  forty  com- 
municants and  was  able  to  pay  half  the  expenses  of  a 
minister. 

Roberts  and  Good  Hope  were  united  under  the  care  of 
Rev.  John  Simpson,  till  his  lamented  death  in  October,  1807. 
After  his  death  these  churches  secured  for  a  short  time  the 
services  of  Rev.  Samuel  Davis,  as  a  supply.  It  is  not  known 
how  long  or  with  what  success  he  labored.  He  appeared,  says 
Rev.  David  Humphries,  to  be  a  devout  man,  a  Nathaniel  in 
whom  there  is  no  guile.  He  removed  to  the  mountain  re-, 
gions  of  North  Carolina  and  labored  there  for  some  years  ;  in 
1 821  he  returned  to  this  State  and  settled  in  Anderson  Dis- 
trict on  Broad  Mouth  Creek,  and  was  there  for  a  few  years 
without  a  charge,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  former  settle- 
ment in  North  Carolina.  He  raised  a  pious  family.  Nothing 
further  is  known  of  his  history.  (MSS.  of  David  Humphries.) 
The  Rev.  Andrew  Brown  was  appointed  by  Pre.sbytery  to 
preach  at  Roberts  as  a  supply  in  1808,  and  Dr.  Waddel  at 
Good  Hope.  Rev.  Mr.  McEihenny  was  remembered  by  Mr. 
Humphries  to  have  also  preached  at  Good  Hope  and  Roberts 
as  a  supply,  but,  as  dates  are  not  given,  this  may  have  been 
in  the  next  decade. 

As  there  are  no  records  preserved  giving  an  account  of  the 
organization  of  these  churches,  we  can  barely  give  the  names 
of  some  whom  tradition  reports  to  have  been  among  their 
first  elders.  The  names  of  Messrs.  Stephenson,  Gilman,  Hen- 
derson, Martin,  Allen  and  Anderson,  are  mentioned.  These 
are  all  remembered  as  very  upright  and  worthy  men,  honor- 
ably filling  the  offices  of  elders  in  the  church  of  Roberts. 

Of  the  first   elders  of  Good    Hope  little  comparatively  is 

known.     Esquire Lu.sk  was  one  of  the  first  that  held  the 

office.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  the  doctrines  and  polity 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  man  of  prayer  and  exemplary 
in  all  his  conduct.  He  with  several  others  from  this  church 
moved  to-Pickens  District  and  formed  a  portion  of  the  Bethel 
Church.  He  is  said  to  have  died  at  Cedar  Springs,  Abbeville. 
Mr.  McCreight  was  also  early  an  elder  here.  He  removed  to 
Green  County,  Alabama,  in  1820.  Mr.  Samuel  Parker  was 
another,  a  man  of  a  spiritual  mind  and  much  concerned  for 
the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  church.     Mr.  Steele  also  was 


1800-1810.]  HOPEWELL,  (KEOWEE.)  149 

one  of  the  first  bench  of  eldsrs.  Mr.  Thomas  Beaty  was  an 
eld.ir  here  at  an  early  day.  He  came  from  North  Carolina 
with  a  large  family,  which,  for  a  time,  formed  a  large  portion 
of  the  church.  Many  of  their  descendants  are  still  here. 
He  removed  to  Bethel  Church  in  Pickens  District.  (MSS.  of 
Rev.  David  Humphries.) 

Hopewell  (Keowee.) — This  congregation  was  aependent 
still  longer  on  the  Presbytery  for  supplies.  The  minutes  of 
Presbytery  show  that  Rev.  Mr.  Simpson  was  appointed  twice 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Dickson  once  to  preach  to  thein  in  i8oo.  Mr. 
Gilliland,  Sr.,  Mr,  McElhenny  and  Mr.  Montgomery  in  1802, 
and  Mr.  Templeton  an  i  Mr.  Gilliland,  Jr.,  in  1804.  On  the 
1 2th  of  September,  1803,  a  cill  was  presented  from  this 
church"  or  one-lialf  the  ministerial  services  of  the  Rev.  James 
McElhenny,  and  from  the  same  for  one-fourth  the  ministerial 
services  of  Rev.  James  Gilliland,  Sr.  ;  also  a  call  from  Car- 
mel,  heretofore  associated  with  Hopewell  (Keowee),  in  the 
same  pastoral  charge.  Mr.  Gilliland  accepts  the  call  so  far 
as  it  respects  himself;  Mr.  McElhenny  tikes  it  into  consid- 
eration. A  year  passed,  and  Mr.  McElhennv  had  not  signi- 
fied his  acceptance  of  these  calls,  but  Hopewell  again  presents 
a  call  for  half,  and  Carmel  for  half  of  the  ministerial  labors  of 
Benjamin  R.  Montgomery.  Presbytery  is  embarrassed,  but 
places  the  calls  in  Mr.  Montgomery's  hands,  "  not  knowing 
but  it  may  be  the  design  of  the  people  to  obtain  the  services 
of  them  both."  The  result  was  that  Mr.  Montgomery  be- 
came their  ordained  pastor  April  4th,  1805,  Presbytery  hold- 
ing its  spring  sessions  at  that  Church.  The  ordination  sermon 
was  preached  by  Dr.  Waddell.  and  the  charge  was  delivered 
by  Rev.  John  Simpson,  the  Moderator  of  Presbytery.  Mr. 
Montgomery  remained  in  this  pastoral  charge  for  two  years, 
and  was  dismissed  from  it  in  September,  1807.  The  Rev. 
James  McElhenny,  who  was  now  residing  among  them,  and 
preached  to  them  half  his  time,  was  their, pastor  through  the 
remainder  of  this  decade.  The  church  was  often  known  in 
popular  language  as  "The  Stone  Cliurch,"  the  house  of 
worship  being  built  of  that  material  in  the  year  1802.  The 
great  revival  of  1802  was  felt  here,  and  some  persons  now 
living  recollect  the  camp  fires  around  the  church,  among  the 
memories  of  their  youth. 

Carmel  Church,  which  stands  a  few  miles  eastward  of 
Flopewell,  was  formed  in  connection  with  Hopewell,  and  had. 


]  50  CAEMEL.  [1800-1810. 

in  these  early  times,  a  parallel  history.  It  was  supplied  in 
like  manner  at  the  beginning  of  the  century,  Messrs.  Gilliland, 
Sr.,  Dickson,  Cummins,  McElhenny,  Templeton,  Brown  and 
Montgomery  being  appointed  to  supply  its  pulpit.  The  Rev. 
Benjamin  R.  Montgomery  was  pastor  of  this  church  in  con- 
nection with  Hopewell,  as  Dr.  Reese  had  been  before,  and 
James  McElhenny  afterward. 

One  of  the  first  elders  of  this  church,  v/hohas  passed  away 
since  the  author  commenced  gathering  his  materials  for  this 
history,  was  Thomas  Hamilton.  His  father  migrated  from 
Scotland  to  Pennsylvania,  where  they  lived  for  some  time, 
at  a  place  there  called  Little  York.  It  was  during  this 
time  that  Thomas  Hamilton  was  born.  His  father  then 
removed  to  York  District,  South  Carolina.  Thomas  was 
sixteen  years  of  age  when  the  war  with  Great  Britain  com- 
menced, and  at  this  early  age  he  entered  the  service  of  his 
country.  For  seven  years  he  was  more  or  less  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  struggle  which  tried  men's  souls.  Finding  his 
own  horse,  he  served  the  greater  part  of  this  period  in  the 
cavalry,  without  any  compensation,  except  twenty-eight 
dollars,  which  he  received  while  acting  for  a  short  time  as 
wagon-master.  It  is  known  that  he  served  under  General 
Sumter  and  Wade  Hampton.  He  was  in  several  battles, 
besides  many  .skirmishes,  and  often  nairowly  escaped  with 
his  life.  He  has  often  been  heard  to  describe  the  circum- 
stances of  the  battle  of  the  Cowpens,  Blackstock,  Six  Mile 
House  (near  Charleston),  and  the  three  weeks'  siege  at  Nine- 
ty-Six. He  had  connected  himself  with  the  church  in  York 
District.  Soon  after  his  settlement  in  this  vicinity,  he  was 
elected  an  elder  of  Carmel  Church,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  the  cause  of  his  Master  more  than  fifty  years.  The 
following  obituary  notice  of  this  worthy  elder  is  from  the  pen 
of  his  pastor,  the  Rev.  John  Leland  Kennedy. 

DIED — On  the  3d  instant,  at  the  residence  of  his  son,  Col.  D.  K. 
Hamilton,  in  Anderson  District,  S.  C,  Mr.  THOMAS  HAMILTON, 
aged  93  yeajs,  10  months.  To  record  all  that  was  excellent  in  the  life 
and  character  of  this  venerable  man — to  portray  that  bright  and  im- 
pressive exemplification  of  the  Christian  character  displayed  during  a 
long  and  useful  life — yet  more  strikingly  during  his  last  years,  and  in- 
creasingly so  till  his  expiring  moments,  would  require  rather  the  pages 
of  a  volume  than  such  space  as  may  be  claimed  in  the  public  journal. 
He  was  one  among  the  remnant  of  noble  spirits  that  periled  life  in  the 
cause  of  freedom.      So  soon  as  that  priceless  boon  was  secured,  he 


1800-1810.]       BETHLEHEM,  OANE  CREEK  AND  BETHEL.  151 

entered  the  service  of  the  King  of  Saints— the  only  acknowledged 
sovereignty  of  such  spirits. 

Though  not  blessed  with  any  opportunity  of  a  liberal  education,  his 
mind  was  trained  in  the  scliool  of  Olirist ;  "his  memory  was  stored  with 
a  treasure  of  divine  knowledge.  The  principles  of  trulh  had  been  most 
carefully  implanted  and  nurtured  from  infancy  ;  for,  to  all  within  the 
circle  where  he  moved,  it  was  known  that  he  loved  and  practiced  truth 
unwaveringly.  This  world's  wealth  and  honor  was  trash  in  his  estima- 
tion, when  compared  with  the  Christian's  portion.  That  his  treasures 
were  laid  up  in  heaven  could  be  doubted  by  none,  for  his  heart  and 
conversation  were  there. 

Having  been  blessed  with  a  pai'tner  of  kindred  spirit,  he  raised  a 
large  family  in  comfort,  but  not  in  affluence— without  earthly  wealth, 
yet  in  the  luxury  of  content.  His  humble  abode  was  the  delightful 
resort,  the  hospitable  resting-place  for  all  pilgrims.  Nor  were  any,  rich 
or  poor,  ever  repulsed.  Destitute  of  splendor  at  home,  and  equally  un- 
ostentatious abroad,  he,  with  his  household,  were  cordially  greeted  and 
welcomed  among  the  wealthy  and  distinguished.  Cheerful  piety 
beamed  from  his  own  eye,  ami  was  infused  into  all  around  ;  while 
daily  praise  warbled  from  every  tongue,  as  that  precious  volume  from 
Heaven,  administered  richly  the  food  and-  water  of  life,  followed  by 
that  morning  and  evening  incense,  ascending  from  paternal  lips,  which 
was  met  by  the  gracious  smile  of  a  reconciled  father,  beaming  through  a 
beloved  Saviour's  face  upon  the  eye  of  faith,  hmren  directed,  by  the  life- 
giving  Spirit.  But  we  must  limit,  to  facts  more  personal.  This  venera- 
ble patriarch  had  been  a  ruling  elder  in  (Jarmel  Church  more  than  fifty 
years;  and  Presbyterial  records, concurring  with  many  living  witnesses 
would  allov\'  that  "he  was  ever  a  true  and  faithful  servant  of  the  Church. 

In  proportion  to  meaiis,  with  the  foremost  in  liberality— excelled  by 
none,  in  consistent,  (lonstant  zeal,  he  lived  a  burning  and  shining  light 
holding  forth  the  Word  of  Life.  Tiiough  very  infirm  for  years  before 
his  death,  his  love  for  the  House  of  God — his  delight  there  to  be— his 
deep  felt  increasing  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  Ciirist's  Kingdom  bore 
him  onward  superior  to  his  frailty  and  infirmity.  Ever  watchful  for 
the  good  of  the  flock,  cspecJaW;/  the  youth,  his  benevolent  soul  thought 
and  labored  for  all  within  his  reach. 

Bkthlehem,  Cane  Creek  and  Bethel  Churches.  The 
Rev.  Andrews  Brown  had  been  settled  over  the  two  first  of 
these  churches  on  the  i8th  of  July,  1799.  They  had  been 
gathered  bv  him  while  a  licentiate.  On  the  I2lh  of  Septem- 
ber, 1803  he  obtriined  a  dismission  from  his  pastoral  relations 
to  these  churches,  and  leave  to  travel  beyond  the  bounds  of 
the  Presbytery.  His  absence  could  not  have  long  for  we  find 
him  not  long  after  present  regularly  at  Presbyterial  meetings 
and  he  continued  preaching  to  these  same  churches  as  a  stated 
supply.  On  the  2nd  of  April,  1805,  he  reports  Bethel  as  a 
new  church  organized  by  him,  which  sends  up  its  contribu-. 
tion  for  ecclesiastical  purposes. 

Nazereth   (Beaver   Dam).      On   the    12th   of  September, 
18OJ,  "a  society  in   the  fork  between   Tugaloo  and   Keowee, 


152  INDEPENDENT    CHURCH,    SAVANNAH.         [1800-1810. 

known  by  the  name  of  Nazareth  on  the  Beaver  Dam  desires 
to  be  entered  on  our  minutes  and  supplied  with  the  gospel," 
(Minutes,  p,  62.)  Supplies  are  ordered,  viz,:  Messrs.  Simpson, 
Gilliland,  Jr.,  and  McElhenny,  in  1803  ;  Gilliland,  .Sen.,  Brown 
and  Simpson,  in  1804;  Simpson  and  Brown,  in  1805  and 
1806. 

Rabourn's  Creek.  On  the  30th  of  September,  i8og,  "a 
petitition  was  handed  into  Presbytery  from  a  neighborhood 
between  Reedy  River  and  Rabourn's  Creek  in  Laurens  Dis- 
trict desiring  to  be  known  on  our  Presbyterial  book  bearing  the 
name  of  Rabourn's  Creek  Congregation,  at  the  same  time  re- 
questing supplies"  (p.  139  of  Minutes  of  2d  Pres'y)  Messrs. 
Dickson  and  Montgomery  were  appointed  to  visit  them  with 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 

The  Independent  Church  of  Savannah. — It  seems  that 
the  early  records  of  the  Independent  Church  of  Savannah 
were  destroyed  in  the  fire  of  1796  or  1820,  and  that  the  exact 
year  of  the  organization  of  the  church  is  unknown.  Piobably 
before  1756  at  which  time  a  grant  was  obtained  for  a  site  on 
which  to  erect  a  house  of  worship.  Biit  previous  to  this,  as 
early  as  February,  1743,  the  inhabitants  of  Vernonsburg  and 
the  villages  adjacent  in  the  neighborhood  of  Savannah 
desiring  a  minister  of  the  Calvinistic  faith  sought  to  obtain 
through  the  trustees  of  Georgia  the  services  of  Rev.  John 
Joachim  Zubly,  a  native  of  St  Gall  in  Switzerland,  of  all  which 
we  have  spoken  in  our  first  volume,  pp.  266,  267.  After  preach- 
ing in  different  places  he  was  settled  at  the  Wappetaw  Church 
on  Wando  Neck  in  the  neighborhood  of  Charleston.  There 
he  received  a  call  from  the  German  and  English  churches  of 
Savannah  for  his  pastoral  services.  This  call  was  prosecuted 
before  the  church,  and  the  arguments  for  his  removal  pre- 
vailed. And  as  an  evidence  of  the  close  union  between  it  and 
the  Independent  Church  in  Charleston,  known  in  our  day  as 
the  Circular  Church,  his  farewell  sermon  was  preached  in  the 
City  Church  on  the  28th  of  January,  1759,  see  Vol.  I.,  p.  267. 
The  Confession  of  Faith  of  this  Independent  Church  in 
Sarannah  was  "the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Scotland 
agreeably  to  the  Westminster  Confession."  They  were 
incorporated  as  The  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  about 

1755- 

Mr.  Zubly  went  we  suppose  immediately  from  the  Wappe- 
taw Church  to  Savannah,   preaching  to   that  congregation  in 


1800-1810.]  INDEPENDENT    CHURCH,  SAVANNAH.  153 

English,  to  another  in  German,  and  to  another  in  French. 
The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  on  him  by 
the  College  of  New  Jersey  in  1770.  He  took  an  active  part 
in  the  dispute  between  the  mother  country  and  her  American 
colonies  in  favor  of  the  latter,  and  so  great  was  the  confidence 
of  the  people  of  Georgia  in  his  patriotism  }:hat  he  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1775-76,  but  he 
opposed  the  actual  separation  from  the  mother  country,  and 
when  the  question  of  actual  independence  was  carried,  he 
quit  his  post  in  Congres.s,  returned  to  Georgia  and  took  sides 
against  the  colonies,  became  unpopular,  and  ceased,  it  is  sup- 
posed, to  serve  the  Church  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He 
was  a  man  of  decided  ability,  and  until  the  change  in  his 
political  course  was  high  in  the  estimation  of  his  people.  He 
left  two  daughters  whose  descendants  are  most  highly 
esteeined  among  the  citizens  of  Georgia.  He  died  in  South 
Carolina  on  the  23d  of  July,  1781.  After  Dr.  Zubly's  retire- 
ment the  Rev.  Messrs.  Philips  and  Johnson,  sent  by  Lady 
Huntington  to  take  charge  of  the  Orplian  Asylum  served  the 

church. Philips   came   in  1778  and  left  in  1790. 

Johnson  came  in  1790,  1791  and  left  in  1793.  During  his 
time  the  ordinances  were  administered,  but  Philips  probably 
was  only  a  licentiate.  The  Rev.  Thomas  H..  McCaule,  the 
former  principal  of  Mt.  Zion  College  in  Winnsboro,  S.  C, 
who  had  opened  a  classical  school  in  Savannah,  became  their 
next  supply.  A  call  for  his  pastoral  services  was 
presented  to  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  on  the 
8th  of  April,  1794,  but  not  being  found  in  order  was 
returned  that  it  migjht  be  presented  in  a  more  regular  form 
His  death  is  recorded  on  the  ministers  of  Piesbylery  in  1796, 
till  which  time  he  continued  to  preach.  He  was  followed  by 
Rev.  Walter  Monteith  from  1797 — 1799.  The  church  edifice 
was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1796,  when  the  congregation 
worshipped  in  the  Baptist  Church,  which  was  then  without  a 
pastor.  In  1800  the  Rev.  Robert  Smith  took  charge  of  the 
church,  but  he  fell  into  declining  health  and  in  about  two  years 
died.  The  next  pastor  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Clarkson,  D.  D., 
who  served  them  without  a  formal  cah  for  three  years.  He 
was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Kollock,  D.  D.,  in  the  fall  of 
1806,  who  served  this  people  with  great  acceptance, till  1809, 
when  his  relation  as  pastor  was  dissolved  with  a  view  of  his 
removal  elsewhere.     But  this  removal  did  not  take  place.     He 


154  FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  AUGUSTA.    [1800-1810. 

remained  with  his  people  greatly  admired  and  beloved  till  his 
death. 

FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH — AUGUSTA,    GA. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of  Augusta,  Georgia, 
was  first  organized, by  the  Rev.  Washington  McKnight,  in 
A..  D.  1804. 

Messrs.  John  Taylor,  William  Fee  and  George  Watkins, 
were  ordained  elders,  and  the  sacraments  were  regularly 
administered  from  that  time. 

In  the  course  of  Providence,  Mr.  McKnight  was  removed 
by  death  in  September,  1805  ;  after  having  been  the  honored 
instrument  of  planting  this  church,  and  after  having  set  before 
his  little  flock  an  example  of  humble  and  uniform  piety,  which 
caused  his  memory  to  remain  long  after  his  departure  to  his 
rest,  precious  in  the  hearts  of  a  surviving  people. 

After  his  decease,  the  church  remained  destitute  of  a  pastor 
until  July  3d,  i8o5,  when  a  call  was  presented  to  Mr.  John  R. 
Thompson,  a  licentiate  from  New  York,  and  then  rector  of 
Richmond  Academy,  inviting  him  to  the  pastoral  charge  of 
the  congregation.  This  invitation  was  accepted  by  Mr. 
Thompson,  and  he  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  gospel 
ministry  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  May  gth,  1807,  and 
immediately  entered  upon  his  pastoral  labors  in  the  congrega- 
tion. 

At  the  same  time  the  following  persons  were  elected  elders, 
and  set  apart  by  the  pastor  to  that  office : — Oswell  Eve, 
Thomas  Gumming  and  Augustus  Moore. 

At  the  decease  of  Mr.  McKnight  the  church  consisted  of 
thirteen  members  in  full  communion.  Between  this  and  the 
ordinntion  of  Mr.  Thompson,  fourteen  additional  members 
had  been  received  into  full  communion,  makmgiii  all  twen- 
ty seven  members  at  the  commencement  of  Rev.  Mr.  Thomp- 
son's ministry. 

The  congregation  at  this  time  worshipped  in  the  building 
belonging  to  the  corporation  of  the  Richmond  Academy,  and 
known  as  "St.  Paul's  Church,"  which  stood  upon  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  church  edifice,  owned  by  the  Episcopal  con- 
gregation.in  this  city ;  known  also  by  the  name  of  "St.  Paul's." 
From  the  rents  of  pews  in  that  building,  funds  were  raised  for 
the  salary  of  the  minister,  and  the  other  current  expenses  of 
the  church. 


1800-1810,]    FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  AUGUSTA.  155 

At  the  expiration  of  the  year  ending  May,  1809,  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  Richmond  Academy  declined  renting  "  St. 
Paul's  Church"  to  the  Session  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
for  the  special  use  of  the  congregation,  on  the  plea  that  it 
ought  not  to  be  given  up  to  the  control  of  any  one  particular 
denomination,  but  should  be  free  to  all.  By  this  act,  the 
congregation  which  had  for  a  longtime  worshipped  God,  and 
maintained  the  ordinances  of  religion  in  this  building  with 
regularity  and  profit,  were  virtually  excluded  from  their  cus- 
tOLnary  place  of  worship,  and  scattered  abroad.  Measures 
were  immediately  taken  for  the  erection  of  a  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  the  following  extract  from  the  records  of  the 
session  for  that  year  (1809),  shows  the'  spirit  and  zeal  which 
dictated  the  enterprise.  "  Under  this  privation,"  referring  to 
the  refusal  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  above  referred  to,  "the 
session  feel  animated,  in  common  with  the  members  of  the 
congregation,  in  witnessing  the  active  zeal  which  pervaded 
the  community,  and  the  friends  of  religion  in  particular,  in 
the  laudable  work  of  preparing  a  new  Presbyterian  Church 
within  which  we  anticipate  with  pleasure,  in  reliance  upon 
the  Providence  of  God,  to  see  a  reunion  of  the  scattered  flock, 
offering  up  iheir  prayers  and  praises  where  there  will  be 
'  none  to  make  afraid.'  " 

Measures  had  been  taken  two  years  previous  to  this,  for 
obtaining  subscribers  to  a  new  Presbyterian  Church,  and  ap- 
plication had  been  made  to  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  for  an 
act  of  incorporation  for  seven  individuals  therein  named,  to 
constitute,  with  their  successors,  the  "  Trustees  of  Christ 
Church  in  the  City  of  Augusta."*  This  application  was 
granted,  and  in  December,  1808,  the  Legislature  passed  "an 
act  authorizing  and  requiring  the  conveyance  of  a  lot  on  the 
common  of  Augusta,  to  certain  trustees  and  their  successors, 
for  the  purpose  of  building  a  new  church,  and  to  incorporate 
the  trustees  of  said  church.  This  act  is  signed  by  Benjamin 
Whitaker,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
Henry  Mitchell,  President  of  the  Senate,  and  approved  i6th 
December,  1808,  by  Jared  Irwin,  Governor.  The  following 
are  the  persons  named  as  trustees,  and  who  constituted  the 
first  Board  of  Trustees  of  this  church  : — John  Taylor,  James 
1 . — ^ 

*  The  name  of  the  church  was  changed  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  in 
1836,  to  "The  First  Presbyterian  Churcli  in  Augusta." 


156  FIRST  PEESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  AUGUSTA.    [1800-1810. 

Pearre,   John   Wilson   (the   elder),  Thomas   Gumming,   John 
Campbell,  John  B.  Barnes  and  Wiliianj  White. 

After  the  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained,  a  meeting  of 
the  subscribers  to  the  new  church  was  held  in  Augusta,  on 
Tuesday,  May  29th,  1809,  at  which  the  trustees  reported  the 
proceedings  of  the  Legi.slature  in  the  act  of  incorporation,  and 
that  they  had  obtained  the  title  deeds  of  the  lot  selected  as 
the  site  of  the  intended  edifice.  Whereupon  resolutions  were 
passed,  declaring  that,  in  the  opinion  of  the  meeting,  prepara- 
tions for  building  the  church  ought  to  be  commenced  without 
delay;  and  making  provision  for  the  issuing  of  stock  to  a 
sufficient  amount  to  defray  the  expense  of  its  erection,  One 
of  the  resolutions  adopted  at  this  meeting,  with  its  preamble, 
is  as  follows  : — 

"  And  whereas,  it  is  truly  desirable,  and,  indeed,  essential 
to  the  prosperity  and  well-being  of  every  congregation  of 
worshippers,  that  the  public  services  and  ordinances  of  reli- 
gion should  be  i^erformjd  '  decently  and  in  order,' and  thus 
be  exempted  from  those  contentions  and  changes  attending 
places  of  worship,  which,  under  the  nominal  plan  of  being  free 
and  open  to  all,  are,  by  experience,  found  to  be  really  useful 
to  none  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  to  avoid  all  causes  of  discord  or  douSt  on 
this  point,  so  important  to  good  order  and  harmony  among 
the  members  of  every  congregation :  We  do  hereby  agree, 
make  known,  and  proclaim,  that  the  subscribers  heroto  do 
consider  themselves  as  associated  in  a  conffresation  of  The 
Presbyteri.an  Church." 

At  this  meeting  the  following  persons  were  elected  a 
Building  Committee,  and  the  plan,  size,  and  materials  ot  the 
intended  church  were  submitted  to  them  in  connection  with 
the  Board  of  Trustees :  John  Murray,  David  Reid,  Robert 
Cresswell,  Oswell  Eve,  and  Ferdinand  Phinizy. 

The  work  of  obtaining-  subscriptions  to  the  church  stock 
was  prosecuted  with  great  energy,  and  in  a  very  short  time  a 
sufficient  amount  was  obtained  to  warrant  the  commencement 
of  its  erection.  The  plan  of  the  building  was  furnished  by 
Mr.  Robert  Mills,  of  Philadelphia,  and.  with  a  few  slight 
modifications,  was  adopted  by  the  Building  Committee  and 
Board  of  Trustees.  The  edifice  a?  erected  is  about  one  hun- 
dred by  seventy  feet  in  size,  and  will  iseat  a  congregation  of 
eleven  hundred  persons. 


1800-1810.]  EEV.    JOHN   SPRINGER.  157 

The  corner  stone  was  laid  July  4th,  1809,  by  John  Murray, 
M.  D.,  Chairman  of  the  Building  Committee,  in  the  presence 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  and  subscribers,  the  Intendant  and 
members  of  the  City  Council,  trustees  of  Richmond  Academy, 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  county  militia,  and  a  large  assem- 
bly of  the  citizens  generally.  (Brief  hi.st.  of  the  Pres.  Ch.  in 
Augusta,  Ga.,  by  Rev.  E.  P.  Rogers.     Charleston,  S.  C,  1851.) 

As  early  however  as  1773  applications  for  supplies  were 
sent  up  from  St.  Paul's  parish  in  Georgia,  to  the  Synod  of 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  Mr. .Caleb  Wallace,  a  candi- 
date, was  directed  to  "preach  there  some  time."  (Minutes  p. 
448.)  So  that  although  St.  Paul's  was  received  under  the 
cire  of  Hopewell  in  1806,  there  was  a  St  Paiirs  petitioning 
for  supplies  23  years  before  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell  ex- 
isted, (Minutes  of  Synod  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  p. 
448.) 

A  name  long  remembered  in  Georgia  was  that  of  John 
Springer.  He  and  J.  W.  Stephenson  (afterwards  D.  T).'),par 
nobile  fratrnm,  were  lioensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  on  the  i8th  of  October,.  1788,  and  John  Springer 
was  ordained  at  an  intermediate  se.ssion  of  that  Presbytery 
held  at  Washington,  Ga.,  on  the  21st  of  July,  1790. 

Rev.  John  Springer  was  the  first  Presbyterian  ministf^r, 
says  the  Rev.  John  S.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  that  was  ordained  south 
of  the  Savannah  River.  He  was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina,  in  the  town  of  Washington.  '  No  house  of 
worship  existed  in  the  place  at  that  time,  and  consequently  the 
ordination  service  Was  performed  under  the  shade  of  a  large 
tulip  or  poplar  tree,  standing  on  the  grounds  belonging  to 
A.  L.  Alexander,  Esq.  He  was  installed  Pastor  of  Smyrna 
congregation,  whose  house  of  worship  stood  ■^ome  three  miles 
southeast  of  Washington,  on  the  Augusta  road.  Mr.  Springer 
died  in  1798.  Some  of  his  descendants  still  reside  in,this 
State. 

The  churches  northeast  of  the  water  of  Broad  River  in  their  course  to 
the  ocean  continued  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  First  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  until  the  year  1810.  In  the  year  preceding;  a  new 
Presbytery  by  the  name  of  Harmony  was  erected  by  the  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas,  embracing  the  low  country  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 
This  arrangement  confined  the  Territory  of  the  First  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  to  the  Districts  of  Lancaster,  York,Chester,  Fairfield  and 
part  of  Kershaw.  But  in  the  year  1810  the  Presbytery  was  dissolved 
and  its  members  and  churches,  except  those  located  in  Fairfield  and 
Kershaw  Districts,  were  added  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord.     This  is 


158  WM.  C.  DAVIS.  [] 800-1810. 

relating  in  this  decade  what  occurred  in  the  beginning  of  the  next. 
But  that  which  led  to  the  dissolution  of  this  Presbytery  was  the  contro- 
versy and  vexatious  proceedin,:is  which  were  produced  in  dealing  with 
the  Rev.  William  C.  Uavis,  on  account  of  the  peculiarities  deemed  hereti- 
cal, introduced  and  advocated  by  him.  This  was  a  season  of  sore  afflic- 
tion to  the  Church,  and  wounds  were  inflicted  on  this  part  oi  our  Zion 
which  remained  to  quite  a  late  period  unhealed.  Asihism  was  produced 
and  a  considerable  number  of  some  of  our  churches  were  withdrawn 
from  our  communion.  Mr.  Davis  had  been  received  as  a  member  in 
1806.  Priorto  his  reception  he  had  commenced  the  propagation  of  his 
peculiarities;  and  on  his  admission  he  was  located  at  Bullock's  Creek 
and  Salem,  lately  separa  ed  from  Bullock's  Creek  By  this  location  it 
became  convenient  forhim.to  associate  with  the  brethren  of  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  With  them  he  frequently  interchanged 
ministerial  labors.  His  departure  from  some  of  our  Confessions  of 
Faith  was  perceived,  and  animadverted  on  in  their  social  interviews. 
Mr.  Davis  was  extremely  tenacious  of  what  he  seemed  to  regard  as  new 
discoveries,  though  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  had,  in  the  progress  of  the 
Church,  been  broached,  advocated,  exploded,  died  away,  and  hail  been 
forgotten.  -And  when  he  was  opposed  in  argument,  he,  possess. ng  uo 
inconsiderable  ingenuity  and  shrewdness,  warded  off  the  force  of  their 
reasonings,  and  was  carried  step  by  step  until  his  departure  from  the 
received  doctrines  of  the  Confession  of  faith  was  regarded  so  objection- 
able as  to  call  for  the  action  of  the  judicatories  of  the  church.  But  as 
Mr.  Davis  had  propagated  his  views  mostly  without  the  territorial 
limits  of  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber, and  to  which  he  was  amenable,  its  members  for  tlie  most  part, 
were  not  so  fully  apprized  of  the  character  of  the  peculiarities  he  advo- 
cated, and  the  Presbytery  felt  somewhat  at  a  loss  what  attention  should 
be  paid  to  them.  However,  a  memorial  under  date  of  Sept.  Ist,  1807, 
was  prepared  and  sent  up  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  by  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  complaining  of  what  they  deemed  inat- 
tention in  his  Presbytery  to  the  erroneous  doctrines  which  Mr.  Davis 
inculcated  in  his  public  discourses.  In  consequence  of  this  memorial 
the  Synod  judged  it  to  be  their  duty  to  give  special  directitm  to  the 
First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to  take  the  case  of  Jlr  Davis  under 
con.sideration,  and  to  proceed  in  it  as  duty  and  the  discipline  of  the 
Church  demanded.  At  their  sessions  in  March,  1808,  the  First  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina  passed  an  order  requiring  Mr.  Davis,  not  then 
present,  to  appear  at  their  next  session,  that  a  conference  might  be 
held  with  him  in  relation  to  the  doctrines  contained  in  the  memorial 
sent  up  to  the  Synod,  and  forwarded  to  the  Presbytery.  Accordingly  he 
appeared  at  the  meeting  of  Presbytery  in  October  1808  At  this  meet- 
ing he  made  such  explanations  in  regard  to  the  doctrines  charged 
against  him,  in  the  aforesaid,  memorial,  that  the  opinion  prevailed  that 
it  was  not  expedient,  at  that  time,  to  table  a  charge  against  Mr.  Davis 
on  a,;co:int  of  those  doctrines.  It  w.is,  however,  proposed  and  agreed 
to  to  send  up  to  Synxl  the  following  q'le^tion:  "Whether  th.e holding 
any.  and  what  doctrines,  apparently  repugnant  to  the  letter  of  the  con- 
fession, will  justify  a  Presbytery  in  calling  a  member  to  public  trial?" 
In  giving  the  subject  this  direi'tion  there  was  far  from  being  that  har- 
numy  of  opinion  desirable  in  Ecclesiastical  proceedings.  This  resulted 
in  some  measure  from  the  sympathy  that  was  feit  by  some  of  the  mem- 
bers for  the  man,  if  not  for  the  opinions  he  advocated.  This  state  of 
feeling  was  manifested  by  a  few  of  the  members  of  the  Presbytery 


1800-1810.]  WM.    C.    DAVIS.  159 

during  the  whole  course  of  the  controversy,  which  created  no  incon- 
siderable degree  of  emharrassment  both  to  the  Presbytery,  and  to  the 
Synod  to  which  it  was  carried  up.  When  the  above  query  was  laid  be- 
fore the  Synod,  it  failed  as  well  it  might,  to  give  satisfa'ction  Upon 
whicli  the  Synod  passed  an  order  requiring  the  First  ajid  Second  Pres- 
byteries of  South  (.arolina  to  meet  forthwith  the  Second  to  prepare 
and  table  charges  against  Mr.  Davis  ;  and  the  First  Presbytery  to  receive 
and  adopt  measures  to  dispose  of  the  case  as  required  by  the  discipline 
of  the  Church  Agreeably  to  the  direction  given  by  Syncid  thfe  two 
Presbyteries  convened.  Charge^  were  drawn  up  and' tabled  before  the 
First  Presbytery,  in  behalf  of  the  Second  Presbytery,  embracing  the 
following  items,  viz.     that  Mr.  Davis  teaches. 

1.  That  what  has  been  termed  the  passive  obedience  of  Christ,  is  all 
that  tlie  law  of  God  can  or  does  require  in  order  to  the  justification  of 
the  believer  :  and  that  his  active  obedience  is  not  imputed. 

2.  That  saving  faith  precedes  regeneration,  and  has  nothing  holy  in 
its  nature,  as  to  its  first  act 

3.  Tliat  the  Divine  being  is  bound  by  his  own  law,  or  in  other  words 
by  the  moral  law. 

4.  That  Adam  was  never  bound  to  keep  the  moral  law,  as  the  federal 
head,  or  representative  of  his  posterity;  or  in  other  w.jnls,  tliat  the 
moral  law  made  no  part  of  the  condition  of  the  Covenant  of  works. 

These  and  a  few  other  points  Mr.  Davis  industriously  taught  wherever 
he  was  called  to  preach  the  Gospel,  both  amongst  the  people  of  his 
charge,  and  in  neighboring  congregations.  The  Fir.-it  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  held  a  meeting,  by  order  of  Synod,  at  Bullock's  Creek 
Church,  which  was  a  part  of  his  pastoral  charge,  in  the  November  fol- 
lowing At  this  meeting  Mr.  Davis  appeared  ;  and  when  his  case  was 
under  coiisideration,  and  the  Pre.sbytery  were  about  to  proceed  agree- 
ably to  the  instructions  of  the  Synod,  it  was  found  on  inquiry  tliat  there 
was  no  member  of  the  Second  Presbytery  present,  authorized  to  a  -t  as 
prosecutor  in  the  case,  Mr.  Davis  discovered  that  the  record  of  the 
Synod  in  the  case  was  not  present,  and  in  opposition  to  the  communi- 
cation made  by  a  member  as  to  the  nature  of  the  record,  he  gave  a  con- 
tradictory statement  of  its  purport,  and  refused  to  answer  to  the  charges 
exhibited  against  him  by  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  in 
conformity  with  the  instructions  of  the  Synod  in  the  case  In  conse- 
quence of  "this  state  (if  things,  the  Presbytery  was  reduced  to  the  dilem- 
ma, either  to  adjourn  to  another  time,  or  to  take  up  and  act  on  the  case 
in  somewhat  of  a  different  form.  This  course  being  fixed  on,  with  the 
consent  of  the  accused,  the  Presbytery  proceeded  immediately  to  hear 
and  consider  the  case.  Mr.  Davis  admitted  the  relevancy  of  the  charges 
tabled  against  him,  with  ('ertain  modifications  and  ,explanations.  His 
explanations,  as  extracted  at  the  time  of  trial  from  his  written  defense, 
are  as  follows,  viz  : 

In  regard  to  the  first  item,  he  explained  by  stating,  ''  By  the  active 
obedience  of  Christ ;  I  mean  his  perl'ect  obedience  to  the  precepts  of  the 
moral  law,  exclusive  of  tlie  sufferings  which  he  endured  in  obeying  the 
penalty  of  the  law,  by  way  of  atcjnement,  whicfi  last  I  mean  by  his  pas- 
sive obedience.  Therefore,  although  I  believe  and  maintain  that  the 
active  obedience  of  Christ  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  a 
sinner,  not  only  as  an  example,  but  also  to  render  the  atonement  valid 


160  WM.   C.    DAVIS.  [1800-1810. 

and  acceptable  in  the  si^ht  of  God,  without  which  it  would  not  be  im- 
puted, nor  efficacious  if  it  could;  yet  this  active  obedience  is  not  imputed 
to  the  believer  for  justilication  ;  but  the  passive  obedience  only" 

In  regard  to  the  •2d  item  he  explained  "  Although  I  affirm  the  neces- 
sity of  regeneration  as  a  very  principal  part  of  our  salvation,  and 
although  I  argue  not  as  to  time  excepting  a  mere  mathematical  differ- 
ence betwixt  the  cause  and  effect,  and  although  I  acknowledge  that  the 
exercise  of  the  faith  of  a  believer,  after  he  is  united  to  Christ,  is  subse- 
quent to  regeneration,  and  consequently  may  be  holy  ;  yet  the  first  act 
of  saving  faith  which  unites  to  Christ,!  affirm  to  be  previous  to  regen- 
eration, and  consequently  in  its  nature,  although  it  is  an  act  of  obedi- 
ence, yet  it  is  not  a  holy  conformity,  or  a  holy  obedience  to  the  moral 
law,  and  consequently  cannot  be  a  holy  act." 

In  regard  to  the  3d  item  he  explained,  "  In  speaking  of  the  Divine 
Being  we  are  obliged  to  speak  after  the  manner  of  men,  for  want  of 
language  capable  to  reach  the  sublime  state  of  our  Glorious  God.  And 
inasmuch  as  God  himself  uses  such  language  to  represent  himself  to  His 
creatures,  I  hope  no  advantage  wiil  or  can  be  taken  of  me  when  I  use 
the  words  bound,  obligated,  necessary,  etc.,  in  this  acknowledgment,  and 
defence,  as  I  do  not  intend  to  give  the  idea  of  any  inferiority  or  depen- 
dance  which  would  be  in  any  degree  derogatory  to  the  infinite  perfec- 
tion of  the  Deity  Therefore  I  observe  that  the  mural  law,  in  its  radical 
principles,  is  the  only  standard  of  moral  perfection  and  glory,  and  is 
consequently  the  rule  of  moral  action  for  all  intelligent  beinss  ;  and  it 
is  impossible  for  any  rational  being  to  possess  moral  excellence  or  glory 
but  in  conformity  to  this  law.  I  don't  mean  the  ten  commandments  or 
any  class  of  precepts  founded  on  the  moral  law,  so  modified  as  to  suit 
the  peculiar  circumstances  of  any  pjfrticular  class  of  beings;  but  the 
radical  principles  of  justice  and  equity  which  is  the  foundation  of  all 
moral  laws.  In  this  view  of  the  matter,  I  affirm  that  God  is  bound  by 
the  moral  law,  so  that  his  moral  perfeciion  and  glory  is  in  consequence 
of  perfect  conformity  to  this  law,  as  suited  to  the  state  of  the  Ulvine 
Being,  and  it  would  be  impossible,  otherwise,  for  God  to  be  morally  ex- 
cellent or  glorious." 

In  regard  to  the  4th  item  he  explained  :  "  I  acknowledge  that  Adam 
as  well  as  all  intelligent  creatures,  was  and  forever  will  be,  bound  by  the 
moral  law,  as  the  imly  infallible  rule  of  moral  action  ;  and  that  everj' 
transgression  of  it,  did,  does  and  will  incur  guilt.  But  I  deny  that  the 
moral  law  was,  or  could  be  the  condition  of  the  Covenant  of  works, 
which  Adam  had  to  fulfil  for  himself  and  foj-  his  posterity.  And 
although  the  moral  law  had  an  immediate  consequential  connection 
with  the  condition  of  the  Covenant,  either  as  to  the  keeping  or  break- 
ing said  Covenant,  yet  it  is  not  the  guilt  of  transgressing  the  law  that  is 
imputed  to  Adam's  posterity,  but  only  the  guilt  of  eating  the  forbidden 
fruit," 

To  these  explanations  Mr.  Davis  added  a  protracted  defence.  Not- 
withstanding this  the  Presbytery  entered  upon  record  a  judgment  con- 
demning his  views  as  errors  contrary  to  the  Confe.ssion  of  Faith  and 
the  word  of  God,  yet  they  regarded  the  errors  as  not  being  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  strike  at  the  vitals  of  religion,  and  therefore  as  not  inferring 
suspension  or  deposition,  as  held  by  Mr  Davis.  Yet  they  were  deci- 
dedly of  opinion  that  i\fr.  Davis  had  acted  with  some  degree  of  impru- 
dence in  espousing  and  propagating  these  opinions  without  consulting 
with  his  brethren  and  the  judicators  of  the  Church. 


1800-1810.]  WM.   C.   DAVIS.  161 

The  resolutions  adopted  by  them  were  as  follows  : 

"Resolved,  ist.  That  the  Rev.  William  C.  Davis  is  guilty  of 
propagating  the  doctrines  which  are  specified  in  the  several 
numbers  of  the  charge  exhibited  against  him  by  the  Second 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  agreeably  to  his  own  confes- 
sion and  explanation. 

"  2d.  That  God  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience  and  hath 
left  it  free  from  the  doctrines  and  commandments  of  men, 
which  are  in  any  thing  contrary  to  His  word  or  beside  it  in 
.  matters  of  faith  or  worship,"  therefore  Presbytery  consider 
the  rights  of  private  judgment  in  all  matters  that  respect  reli- 
gion as  universal  and  inalienable. 

"j^.  That  truth  is  essentially  necessary  in  order  to 
goodness,  and  the  great  touchstone  of  truth  is  its  tendency 
to  promote  holiness,  according  to  our  Saviour's  rule,  "  by 
their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them,"  and  that  no  opinion  can  be 
either  more  absurd  or  more  pernicious^  than  that  which 
brings  truth  and  falsehood  upon  a  level,  and  represents  it  as 
of  no  consequence  what  a  man's  opinions  are.  On  the  con- 
trary. Presbytery  are  persuaded  that  there  is  an  inseparable 
connection  between  faith  and  practice,  truth  and  duty  ;  other- 
wise it  would  be  of  no  consequence  either  to  discover  truth  or 
to  embrace  it. 

"  4.lh.  That  while  under  the  conviction  of  the  above  prin- 
ciple they  think  it  necessary  to  make  effectual  provision  that 
all  who  are  teachers  in  the  Church  be  sound  in  the  faith  ;  they 
also  believe  that  there  are  truths  and  forms  with  respect  to 
which  men  of  good  characters  and  principles  may  and  do 
differ.^  And  in  all  these  they  think  it  the  duty  both  of  private 
Christians  and  societies  to  exercise  mutual  forbearance  towards 
each  other. 

"  S^h-  That  under  the  conviction  of  these  truths  and 
agreeably  to  the  constitution  of  the  Church,  Presbytery  feel 
themselves  at  liberty  to  exercise  the  dictates  of  their  own  con- 
sciences in  passing  decisions  respecting  the  opinions  or  senti- 
ments of  any  of  their  brethren,  agreeably  to  the  holy 
scriptures  which  are  the  cmly  rule  of  faith  and  manners,  and 
that  no  church  judicatory  ought  to  pretend  to  make  laws  to 
bind  the  consciences  in  virtue  of  their  own  authority,  and 
that  all  these  decisions  should  be  founded  on  the  revealed 
will  of  God. 
U 


162  WM.   C.    DAVIS.  [1800-1810. 

"  6th.  That  agreeably  to  the  constitution  of  this  church, 
though  heresy  and  solicism  may  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
infer  deposition,  yet  errors  are  to  be  carefully  considered 
whether  they  strike  at.  the  vitals  of  religion  or  are  likely  to 
do  much  hurt. 

"  Jth.  That  though  the  doctrines  stated  in  the  charge  are, 
in  the  opinion  of  this  Presbytery,  contrary  to  the  word  of 
God  and  the  Confession  of  Faith,  yet  as  the  constitution  of 
this  church  has  declared  that  there  are  errors  of  such  a  nature 
as  do  not  strike  at  the  vitals  of  religion,  Presbytery  do  humbly 
conceive  that  said  doctrines  are  of  this  nature,  and  therefore 
do  not  infer  suspension  or  deposition  as  they  are  held  by  Mr. 
Davis,  yet  Presbytery  are  decidedly  of  opinion  that  Mr. 
Davis  has  acted  with  some  degree  of  imprudence  in  espous- 
ing and  propogating  those  opinions  without  consulting  his 
brethren  and  the  higher  judicatories  of  the  church,  as  the 
preaching  such  doctrines  to  the  vulgar  at  large  has  a  tendency 
to  introduce  division  in  theChuich  and  to  excite  a  distrust  in 
the  minds  of  Christians  with  respect  to  a  stability  in  the  doc- 
trines of  religion." 

Although  this  judgment  was  recorded,  no  censure  was  inflicted,  no 
admonition  was  given  nor  any  restraint  imposed  on  him  as  to  the  pro- 
pagation of  his  doctrine. 

When  the  records  of  the  Presbytery  in  this  case  were  presented  to 
Synod  for  review,  a  general  dissatisfaction  at  the  proceedings  of  the 
Presbytery  prevailed,  as  not  meeting  the  instructions  and  the  expecta- 
tions of  the  Synod.  Upon  which  the  Presbytery  was  called  upon  to 
answer  why  they  had  not  conformed  to  the  instructions  given  at  the 
preceeding  session,  which  being  complied  with,  the  absence  of  the 
prosecuting  body  in  person  or  by  representatives,  and  the  discrepance 
of  statement  which  had  occurred  at  the  IS'ovember  meeting  was  com- 
municated by  the  Presbytery,  as  the  ground  of  their  procedure  in  this 
case.  Whereupon  the  prominent  actors  in  this  case  at  the  former  meet- 
ing of  the  Synod,  and  then  present,  gave  a  decided  and  unequivocal  ex- 
pression of  their  convictions  that  the  ground  taken  by  the  accused  was 
unwarranted  and  without  foundation. 

The  Synod-  was  dissatisfied  with  the  course  pursued.  It 
did  not  in  their  view  conform  with  their  directions  of  the  last 
year,  nor  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  They  resolved  to 
take  the  case  under  consideration  from  the  report  of  their 
Committee  on  Review,  and  were  proceeding  to  an  investiga- 
tion and  trial  when  Mr.  Davis  protested  and  appealed  to  the 
General  Assembly.  To  this  body  the  Synod  themselves 
finally  remitted  the  case  and  sent  up  also  an  overture  respect- 


1800-1810.]  WM.   C.   DAVIS.  163 

ing  the  book  Mr.  Davis  had  published,  denominated  "  The 
Gospel  Plan,"  in  which  his  sentiments  were  expressed  at 
large.  The  further  action  of  the  church  courts  in  this  vexa- 
'  tious  case,  and  the  sequel  of  this  attempted  act  of  discipline 
for  opinions  deemed  heretical  by  the  church,  belong  to  the 
history  of  the  next  decade.  It  .should  be  stated,  however, 
that  before  the  Synod  proceeded  to  a  trial  of  the  case  they 
ordered  the  First  Presbytery  to  "  withdraw  and  either  issue 
the  case  in  a  manner  more  agreeable  to  the  order  of  Synod  in 
our  last,  or  refer  it  to  this  Synod."  The  Presbytery  accord- 
ingly met  during  the  sittings  of  Synod,  and  resolved  "  that 
they  cannot  go  into  the  measure  recommended  by  Synod  in 
said  order,  inasmuch  as  it  would  be,  in  their  opinion,  nullify- 
ing their  former  judgment,  which  they  cannot  do  upon  con- 
stitutional grounds." 

There  were  several  irregularities  in  these  proceedings,  of 
which  Mr.  Davis,  in  his  defence,  subsequently  written,  com- 
plains. And  the  Rev.  J.  R,  Davies  in  his  historical  sketch  of 
those  transactions  from  which  we  have  largely  drawn,  says' 
that  "  for  the  want  of  experience  some  errors  were  fallen  into 
which  proved  highly  embarrassing  and  doubtless  contributed 
to  the  failure  6f  the  process  against  Mr.  Davis." 

These  irregularities  however  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
question  whether  the  newly  adopted  opinions  of  Mr.  Davis 
were  consonant  with  the  Confession  of  Faith,  which  at  his 
ordination  he  accepted,  and  contrary  to  which  he  might  not, 
as  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  teach.  For  this  he 
and  all  other  ministers  of  this  church  had  adopted  as  embra- 
cing the  system  of  doctrines  contained  in  the  Scriptures. 

The  minutes  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  was  as 
follows  : 

"  The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  after  a  lengthy  and  serious 
consideration  of  the  relation  in  which  the  Rev.  William  C. 
Davis  and  the  churches  in  our  bounds  at  present  stand,  came 
to  the  following  resolution  : 

"  That  the  members  of  this  Synod  are  firmly  attached  to 
the  system  of  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  United  States  of  America ;  that  they  highly 
disapprove  of  the  doctrines  complained  of  in  the  charges 
exhibited  against  the  said  Mr.  Davis;  that  a  Committee  be 
r  appointed,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  Jamss  McRee,  Samuel  C. 
Caldwell,   John    Robinson  and  John   M.  Wilson,  to  meet  at 


164  HARMONY    PRESBYTERY.  [1800-]810. 

Poplar  Tent  on  the  second  Wednesday  of  November  next,  to 
prepare  a  pastoral  letter  to  be  addressed  to  our  churches, 
stating  a  brief  history  of  the  business,  and  testifying  a  decided 
disapprobation  of  the  doctrines  alluded  to  in  the  charges 
exhibited  by  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  against 
the  Rev.  William  C.  Davis,  and  that  this  letter  contains  a 
solemn  caution  to  our  churches  against  being  seduced  from 
the  form  of  sound  words,  which  hath  been  received  and 
adopted  as  the  standard  of  their  faith  and  practice,  next  in 
autliority  to  the  love  of  God." 

"  On  request,  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  did  at  their  ses- 
sions at  Poplar  Tent,  North  Carolina,  in  October  loth,  1809, 
constitute  a  Presbytery  out  of  the  territory  of  the  First  and 
Second  Presbyteiies  and  the  Presbytery  ot  Hopewell,  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  Harmony,  whose  boundary  should 
begin  on  the  sea  coast,  following  the  divisional  line  of  North 
and  South  Carolina  till  it  strikes  Lynch's  Creek,  thence  down 
said  creek  to  Evan's  Ferry,  thence  to  Camden,  thence  to 
Augusta,  thence  in  a  direction  nearly  south  (including  St. 
Mary's),  and  which  should  consist  of  the  following  ministers, 
viz:  Of  the  First  Pre.sbytery  of  South  Carolina — Rev.  George 
G.  McWhorter,  Andrew  Fhnn  and  John  Cousar;  and  of  the 
Presbyter  of  Hopewell,  the  Rev.  John  R.  Thompson  ;  that 
they  should  hold  their  first  meeting  in  Charleston  on  the  first 
Wednesday  in  March,  1810,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  or  in 
case  of  his  Sbsence,  the  oldest  minister  present  to  open  the 
meeting  and  preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen. 

EXHIBIT   OF   THE   TWO    PRESBYTERIES. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  boundaries  of  the  Pres- 
byteries had  been  changed  at  the  close  of  the  preceding 
century.  In  October  31st,  1799,  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  then  existing,  petitioned  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
that,  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  it  might  be  divided,  and  the 
Broad  River  as  it  passes  through  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
should  be  the  line  of  division,  that  the  members  on  the  north- 
east side  of  this  line  should  be  constituted  a  Presbytery.  The 
First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  was  to  meet  at  Bullock's 
Creek  on  the  first  Friday  of  February,  1800,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Alexander  to  preside,  or  the  senior  member  in  his  absence. 
This  accordingly  was  done.     The  First  Presbytery  of  South 


1800-1810.]     FIRST  PRESBYTERY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.  165 

Carolina  was  organized  at  Bullock's  Creek  [alias  Dan)  on  the 
7th  of  February,  1800. 

The  Ministers  and  Churches,  according  to  this  division, 
were  as  follows : 

Ministers.  Congregations. 

The  Kev-  Joseph  Alexander. Bullock's  Dan. 

EoBEET  McCuLLOCH CathoUc  and  Purity. 

James  W.  Stephenson  Indian  Town  and  Williamsburgh. 

John  Browx Waxhaw  and  Unity. 

Robert  B    Walker Bethesda. 

David  E.  Dunlap Columbia. 

Samuel  W.  Yongue Lebanon  and  Mt.  Olivet. 

John  Foster  ; Salem. 

George  G,  McWhoetee Bethel  and  Beersheba. 

John  B.  Davies Fishing  Creek  and  Richardson. 

Licentiates.  Vacancies. 

Mr.  William  G.  Rosborough Hopewell,  P.  D  ,  and  Hopewell. 

John  Cousar Beaver  Creek,  Hanging    Rock  and 

Miller's. 
Candidates. 

Mr.  Tho.mas  Neely Shiloh,  Fishdam,  Concord,  Horeb  or 

Crooked  Run,  Bbenezer,  Ainiwell 
on  Cedar  Creek,  Mount  Zioii,  and 
Bethany. 

Ideally,  the  Second  Presbyterv  of  South  Carolina  em- 
braced all  that  portion  of  the  State  which  should  lie  to  the 
southwe^  side  of  the  Broad  River  on  its  way  to  the  ocean. 
On  the  sea-coa.st,  therefore,  its  line  extended  from  the  mouth 
of  the  Santee  to  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River.  Beyond 
the  Savannnah  was  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell.  In  all  the 
low-country,  however,  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Caro- 
lina had  no  transactions  with  any  church  except  that  of  John's 
Island  and  Wadmalaw.  The  ministers  and  churches  were  as 
follows  : 

Ministers.  Churches. 

John  Simpson Good  Hope  and  Roberts. 

James  Templeton,  S.  S Nazareth. 

Francis  Commins Rocky  River. 

Robert  Wilson .■ Long  Cane. 

William  Williamson Fairforest  and  S.  S.  Grass  Spring. 

James  Gilleland Beadaway. 

John  B.Kennedy Duncan's  Creek  and  Little  River. 

Andrew  Brown   Bethlehem  and  Ebenezer,  on  Cane 

Creek. 

Licentiates.  Vacancies. 

■ . Hopewell  (Abbe%'ille.) 

James  MoElhenny  Hopewell  (Pendleton.) 

George  Rbid Carrael,  Greenville,  Rocky  Creek. 


166  SECOND  PRESBYTERY  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA.     [1800-I&10, 

Candidatei. 

Hugh  Dickson Beaver  Dam,  Cuffey  Town. 

Thomas  Neely Fairview,  Newton,    Liberty    Spring, 

Smyrna,    Granby,  John's  Island 

and  Wadmalaw. 

At  this  first  meeting  at  Fairforest  Church,  February  7th, 
1 800,  they  ordained  James  McFlhenny,  Rev.  Andrew  Brown, 
preaching  the  sermon,  and  Rev.  William  Wilhamson,  deliv- 
ering the  charge.  The  clerk  was  directed  to  write  a  letter  to 
the  church  at  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw,  giving  them 
official  information  of  the  ordination  and  suggesting  the  ex- 
pediency of  having  him  installed  among  them.  He  remained 
however  in  that  charge,  as  we  have  seen,  but  about  a  year. 
James  Gilliland,  Jr.,  also  was  taken  under  the  care  of  Pres- 
bytery as  a  candidate  for  the  Gospel  Ministry,  at  the  same 
meeting,  and  Hugh  Dickson  was  licen.sed  (February  12, 
1806).     At  this  second  session  at  Fairview,  September  23d, 

1800,  Robert  Robbins  was  received  as  a  candidate  for  the 
ministry.     At  their  third  session  at  Little  River,  April  gth, 

1801,  Benj,  Montgomery  was  taken  under  the  care  of  Presby- 
tery as  a  candidate.  During  their  fifth  session  at  Greenville 
Church,  Jas.  Gilliland,  Jr.,  was  licensed  April  8,  1802,  and  at 
the  same  meeting  Thomas  Williamson,  M.  D.,  was  received 
as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry.  During  their  sixth,  session 
at  Bradaway,  Daniel  Gray  was  received  as  a  candidate  on  the 
1 6th  of  September,  1802,  and  Robert  Dobbins  was  licensed 
to  preach.  During  their  seventh  session  at  Fairview,  Benj. 
Montgomery  was  licensed  on  the  8th  of  April,  1803.  During 
their  ninth  sessions  at  Fairview  the  licentiate,  Mr.  Dobbins, 
was  dismissed  April  4,  1804,  to  join  the  Washington  Presby- 
tery of  Kentucky.  At  their  tenth  sessions  at  Fairforest, 
Thomas  Williamson,  M.  D.,  and  Daniel  Gray  were  licensed 
(October  2d,  1804',  to  preach  the  everlasting  gospel  At  the 
same  meeting  John  O'Neal  was  received  under  their  care  as 
a  candidate,  but  his  trials  were  never  continued  to  him  here, 
and  he  fell  at  length  under  censure.  Thus  in  the  first  few 
years  of  this  decade  seven  young  men  were  introduced  into 
the  ministry  under  the  supervision  of  this  Presbytery. 


1800-1810.]  THE    CHABLESTON    PRESBYTERY.  167 


CHAPTER  in. 

1800—1810. 

Having  now  finished  what  we  have  found  connected  with 
the  history  of  individual  churches  and  concrregations,  we 
proceed  to  those  more  general  matters  which  are  equally 
connected  with  the  purf>oses  before  us.  It  is  not  only  the 
hi.story  of  individual  men  in  wliich  we  are  interested,  which 
is  more  strictly  confined  to  the  department  of  biography,  nor 
that  of  individual  churches,  but  it  is  the  interaction  of  these 
churches  among  themselves,  of  Presbyteries  upon  Presby- 
teries, and  the  influence  of  the  Synod  and  the  General  Assem- 
bly, which  bind  all  together,  and  fill  up  that  idea  of  Church 
unity  which  pervades  the  scriptures,  and  suggests  to  our 
minds  the  conception,  not  of  a  congeries  of  churches,  but  of 
one  Church,  cemented  by  the  bonds  of  mutual  charity,  and 
outwardly  and  visibly  one  (under  Christ  our  Head),  that  we 
have  in  view.  And  whether  it  be  discipline,  whether  it  be 
the  great  interests  of  religious  and  ministerial  education,  or 
the  conduct  of  missions  at  home  and  abroad,  mutual  counsel 
and  combined  efforts,  they  can  best  be  secured  by  that  unity 
of  action  which  flows  from  the  central  and  controlling  thought 
of  the  unity  of  the  Church. 

There  is  often  a  centrifugal  force  in  the  attempted  union  of 
ecclesiastical  bodies,  which  overcomes  the  centripetal  power 
of  Christian  love.  For  some  reason  the  overture  made  by 
the  Old  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to  the  Synod  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  in  1770,  never  went  into  effect,  al- 
though the  terms  were  fair  and  honorable  on  the  part  of  the 
Assembly.  We  have  briefly  alluded  to  these  matters  in  Vol. 
I,  pp.  673,  675.     But  they  deserve  a  further  treatment. 

These  overtures  were  renewed  on  the  part  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Ruist  in  behalf  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  which  had 
been  reorganized  after  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  was 
incorporated  by  the  Legislature  in  1790,  the  only  example  of 
an  incorporated  Presbytery,  at  that  time,  in  our  history.  A 
letter  from  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  was  received  by  the 
First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  at  its  first  meeting,  Feb- 
ruary 7th,  1800,  addressed  to  the  Presbytery  of  South  Caro- 
lina, which  had  recently  been  divided.     It  was  signed  by  the 


168  THE   CHARLESTON   PRESBYTEBY.  [1800-1810. 

Moderator  and  Clerk,  in  behalf  of  the  Presbytery,  and  found 
to  relate  to  matters  which  lie  more  immediately  before  the 
Second  Presbytery,  and  was  therefore  remitted  to  them,  their 
territorial  limits,  as  ordered  by  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
including  Charleston  and  its  vicinity.  The  letter  proposed  a 
conference  with  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  Messrs. 
Brown  &  Williamson,  of  the  Second  Piesbytery,  were  ap- 
pointed to  draught  a  letter  to  Dr.  Buist  on  the  subject,  which 
was  accordingly  done,  reported  to  Presbytery  on  the  nth  of 
February,  and  ordered  to  be  forwarded  On  the  i6th  of  May, 
1800,  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  Assembly,  sitting  at 
Philadelphia: 

"  Dr.  Green  laid  before  the  Assembly  a  petition  from  a 
body  styling  themselves  '  The  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  in 
South  Carolina,'  requesting  to  be  received  into  connection 
with  this  body,  accompanied  with  other  papers;  which  being 
read,  on  motion  (Minutes,  p.  188,  Engles'  Ed.,  Phiiad.), 

"  Resolved,  That  Drs.  Rodgers,  McWhorter  and  Green,  and 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Cathcart,  Wilson  and  Anderson,  be  a  com- 
mittee to  take  the  same  into  consideration,  and  i:eport  to  the 
Assembly  as  soon  as  may  be  convenient. 

"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  by  the  General 
Assembly  the  tonsideration  of  an  application  from  the  Charles- 
ton Presbytery,  in  South  Carolma,  to  be  taken  into  connection 
with  the  Assembly,  made  their  report,  which,  being  corrected, 
was  adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz : 

"After  examining  the  papers  and  propositions  brought  for- 
ward by  the  Charleston  Presbytery,  the  Committee  think  it 
expedient  that  the  General  Assembly  refer  this  business  to 
the  consideration  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  with  whom 
this  Presbytery  must  be  connected,  if  they  become  a  constitu- 
ent part  of  our  body.  That  the  said  Synod  be  in- 
formed that  the  Presbytery  ought,  in  the  event  of  a  connection 
with  us,  to  be  allowed  to  enjoy  and  manage  without  hindrance 
or  control,  all  funds  and  moneys  that  are  now  in  their  posses- 
sion; and  that  the  congregations  under  the  care  of  the  Presby- 
tery be  permitted  freely  to  use  the  system  of  psalmody  which 
they  have  already  adopted.  That,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Synod  must  be  careful  to  ascertain  that  all  the  ministers  and 
congregations  belonging  to  the  Presbytery  do  fully  adopt,  not 
only  the  doctrine,  but  the  form  of  government  and  discipline 


1800-1810.]  THE   CHARLESTON   PRESBYTEKY.  169 

of  our  Church.  That  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinn.s,  under  the 
guidance  of  these  general  principles,  .should  be  directed,  if 
agreeable  to  them  and  to  the  Presbytery,  to  receive  said  Pres- 
bytery as  a  part  of  that  Synod.  But  if  the  Synod  or  the  Pres- 
bytery find  difficulties  in  finally  df;ciding  on  this  subject,  that 
they  may  refer  such  difficulties,  and  transmit  all  the  informa- 
tion, they  may  collect  relative  to  this  business,  to  the  next 
General  Assembly  :  Ordered,  That  the  Stated  Clerk  furnish 
the  parties  conceined  with  an  attested  copy  of  the  above  min- 
ute."   (Minutes  of  Assy.  p.  189.) 

These  negotiations  were  resumed  in  1804..  May  23d,  "A 
letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buist  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Charles- 
ton, presented  by  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures  was 
read,  and  made  the  order  of  the  day  for  Monday,  the  21st. 
After  some  consideration  it  was  referred  to  a  committee  con- 
sisting of  Dr.  Samuel  Smith  and  Randolph  Clark  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  New  Brunswick,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Hall  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Concord,  to  which  was  afterwards  added  the  Rev. 
Robert  Wilson  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina. 
Their  report  was  piesented,  considered  and  adopted  on  the 
23rd  of  May,  and  is  as  follows: 

"A  letter  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Buist  was  presented  to  the  As- 
sembly by  the  Committee  of  Overtures,  and  read,  requesting, 
in.behalf  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  in  South  Carolina, 
that  they  may  be  received  into  connection  with  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  without  connecting 
themselves  with  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas. 

Inasmuch  as  this  subject  has  been  regularly  before  the  As- 
sembly- in  the  year  1800,  and  certain  resolutions  adopted 
thereon,  which  appear  not  to  have  been  complied  with,  and 
the  application  comes  before  the  Assembly  in  an  informal 
manner. 

Resolved,  That  the  Assembly  cannot  now  act  upon  the 
representation  of  Dr.  Buist,  but 

Resojved,  Further,  that  Dr.  Smith  be  appointed  to  write  to 
Dr.  Buist,  informing  him,  and  through  him,  the  Presbytery  of 
Charleston,  that  this  Assembly  are  by  no  means  indisposed 
to  admit  that  Presbytery  to  ^  union  with  their  body,  upon  a 
plan  which  may  be  hereafter  agreed  upon,  provided,  that  the 
application  for  that  purpose  come  before  them  in  an  orderly 
manner  from  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  ;  provided,  further. 


170  THE   CHARLESTON   PRESBYTERY.  [1800-1810. 

that  it  shall  be  made  to  appear  to  the  Assembly  that  the  dif- 
ficulties of  their  or  other  circumstances,  render  it  inexpedient 
for  that  Presbytery  to  be  connected  immediately  with  the 
Synod  of  the  Carolinas  ;  and  provided  that  they  give  the 
requisite  assurance  to  the  Assembly,  that  the  Presbytery  and 
the  churches  under  their  care  do  fully  adopt  the  standards  of 
doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  iu  the 
United  States  of  America.     (Minutes,  p.  296.) 

Against  this  action  the  Second  Presbytery  drew  up  their 
solemn  remonstrance,  as  follows  : 

"  A  remonstrance  against  the  admission  of  the  Charleston 
Presbytery  into  the  General  Assembly  on  the  terms  proposed 
at  their  last  meeting  was  prepared  by  the  Presbytery,  which 
was  as  follows  : 

"  The  Second-  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  having  heard 
that  the  General  Assembly  which  met  in  May,  1804,  deter- 
mined to  admit,  on  certain  terms,  the  Presbytery  of  Charles- 
ton (South .  Carolina)  into  their  body,  and  that  the  said 
Presbytery,  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
and  within  the  limits  of  our  Presbytery,  will  not,  when 
received,  be  in  immediate  connection  of  either,  but  with  some 
distant  Synod.  Relying  upon  the  correctness  of  the  infoi- 
ination  the  Presbytery  have  thought  it  their  duty  to  remon- 
strate against  receiving  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  in  the 
manner  proposed. 

1.  Because  it  interferes  with  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Synod 
of  the  Carolinas  and  particularly  this  Presbytery,  by  acknowl- 
edging as  part  of  the  Assembly  a  Presbytery  within  our  bounds 
and  not  immediately  connected  with  us. 

2.  Because  the  reason  alleged  against  an  immediate  con- 
nection with  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  (viz.,  the  danger  of 
travelling  to  the  back  country  in  the  fall  season)  is  nugatory. 
The  circuit  judges  travel  from  Charleston  to  the  different 
parts  of  the  State  at  the  same  season  of  the  year  in  which  the 
Synod  meets  without  any  injury  to  their  health,  and  but  one 
member  of  the  Charleston  Presbytery  resides  in'  Charleiton, 
and  with  regard  to  the  others  th^y  are  not  more  remote  than 
some  of  onr  present  members  who  usually  attend  Synod. 

3.  Because  we  believe  that  in  a  distant  Synod  certain  reports 
usually  thought  to  be  reproachful  to  the  character  of  a  Gospel 


3800-1810.]  THE   CHARLESTON   PEESBYTERY.  171 

minister  could  not    be    investigated  with    the    same    conve- 
nience. 

4.  Because  if  in   this  case  foreigners    be  allowed  to   form 

themselves  into  a   Presbytery  in  order  to  their  reception  by 

the  Assembly,  it  will  be  opening  a  door   by   which    all  such 

may  evade  the  salutary  regulations  which  have  been  adopted. 

We  are,  with  esteem,  yours  in  the  Lord." 

Which  remonstrance  was  ordered  to  be  transcribed  and  for- 
warded by  Mr.  Waddel  to  the  next  General  A.ssembly.  This 
letter  was  forwarded  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  took  no 
action  in  the  premises  except  to  resolve  "that  this  letter  be 
kept  on  the  files  of  the  Minutes,"  p.  341. 

The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  took  action  on  this  subject  at 
their  Sessions  at  Bethesda  Church,  Oct.  3d,  1805.  "Synod 
being'  informed  that  certain  persons  within  their  bounds  had 
petitioned  the  Assembly  to  receive  them  into  connection  by 
the  name  oi  the  Presfyieiy  0/  C/iar/eston,  without  being  in  con- 
nection with  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  proceeded  to  draw 
up  a  remonstrapce  to  the  Assembly  against  their  being  re- 
ceived in  such  circumstances  as  unconstitutional,  and  reflect- 
ing on  the  Synod."  * 

The  remonstrance  of  the  Synod  was  communicated  to  the 
General  Assembly  by  letter.  A  committee  was  appointed  to 
report  on  the  same,  which  report^  having  been  received  and 
considered,  was  adopted  and  is  as  follows  : 

"Your  committee  find  that  this  letter  contains  a  remon- 
strance against  receiving  into  union  with  this  Assembly  a 
body  of  men  styling  themselves  the  Presbytery  of  Charles- 
ton; that  this  subject  was  regularly  before,  the  Assembly  in 
the  year  1800;  thac  certain  resolutions  affecting  the  case  were 
then  adopted,  to  which  that  body  of  men  have  not  conformed 
on  their  part,  and  that  no  application  has  been  made  by  them 
to  this  Assembly.  Your  committee,  therefore,  submit  the 
following  resolution,  viz. : 

Resolved,  That  this  subject  be  dismissed." — Minutes,  p.  363. 

The  subject  came  before  the  Assembly  again  in  181 1, — 
Minutes,  pp.  467,  475. 

Another  subject  was  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  'Eccle- 
siastical judicatories,  that  of  Emancipation.  The  following 
oveiture  had   been   introduced  to  the  Svnod  of  the  Carolinas 


172  EMANCIPATION.  [1800-1810. 

in  1799,  viz.  :  "That  Synod  appoint  a  committee  to  correspond 
with  the  highest  judicatories,  coriventions,  associations  and 
conferences  of  the  Christian  Church  of  other  denominations 
within  the  bounds  qf  Synod,  to  use  their  influetice  with  the 
people  under  their  respective  jurisdictions  when  the  subject 
shall  be  sufficiently  matured  in  the  several  churches,  that  pe- 
titions might  be  brought  forward  to  our  several  State  legis- 
latures in  fdvor  of  emancipation,  in  order  to  have  it  on  the 
footing  which  it  has  obtained  in  some  of  the  Northern  States  ; 
that  is,  that  all  children  of  slaves,  born  after  the  passing  of  such 
an  act  shall  be  free  at  such  an  age,  which,  being  read  and 
considered,  was  agreed  to  —  whereupon  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
David  Caldwell,  Francis  Cummins,  James  Hall,  Samuel 
Doake,  Robert  B.  Walker,  Gideon  Blackburn,  and  Moses 
Waddell  were  appointed  a  committee  for  the  purpose  of  car- 
rying the  above  overture  into  effect." 

Mr.  Walker  accordingly  brought  this  matter  before  the 
notice  of  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  at  its  first 
meeting  in  February,  1800,  praying  for  their  advice  and  direc- 
tion. 

Presbytery  then  proceeded  to  take  th/^  above  matter  into 
consideration,  and  after  the  mo-;t  serifius  and  mature  deliber- 
ation on  this  important  subject  r^.fr-'/z^fa?,  "that  notwithstanding 
Presbytery  earnestly  pray  for  and  wish  to  see  the  day  when 
the  rod  of  the  tyrant  and  tiie  oppressor  shall  everywhere  be 
broken,  yet  it  appears  to  us,  that  any  attempt  at  the  present 
to  bring  about  a  legislative  reform  in  this  case,  in  this  State, 
would  not  only  be  attended  with  want  of  success,  but  would 
be  attended  with  evil  consequences  to, the  peace  and  happi- 
ness of  our  country,  and  probably  be  very  injurious  to  those 
who  are  in  a  state  of  slavery.  And  as  the  overture  of  Synod 
only  recommends  the  exercise  of  prudence  in  the  case,  it  is 
therefore  recommended  to  Mr.  Walker  not  to  proceed  in  this 
business  until  further  advice  be  iiad  from  the'Synod.  And  it 
is  hereby  rf  commended  and  enjoined  on  every  member  of 
this  Presbytery  to  attend  the  next  meeting  of  Synod  to  recon- 
sider this  matter;  and  with  this  further  in  view,  that  if  such 
measures  are  not  adopted  as  may  correspond  with  what  ap- 
pears to  us  to  be  duty,  that  those  who  think  proper  may  en- 
ter their  protest." 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  held  at 
Sugar   Creek,  Oct.   2,    1800,  the  committee  having  made  no 


1800-1810]  MISSIONS.  173 

progress,  a  new  committee  consisting  of  Rev.  David  Caldwell 
James  Hall  and  James  W.  Stephenson,  was  appointed  to  re- 
consider this  whole  matter  and  report. 

Their  report  was  as  follows  :  "That  though  it  is  our  ardent 
wish  that  the  object  contemplated  in  the  overture  should  be 
obtained.  Yet,  as  it  appears  to  us  that  matters  are  not  yet 
matured  for  carrying  it  forward,  especially  in  the  Southern 
parts  of  our  States,  your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  tne 
overture  should  be  now  laid  aside,  and  that  it  be  enjoined 
upon  every  member  of  this  Synod  to  use  his  influence  to  carry 
into  effect  the  direction  of  the  Synod  of  New  York  and  Phil- 
adelphia, and  those  additionally  made  by  the  General  Assem- 
bly, for  the  instruction  of  those  who  are  in  a  state  of  slavery 
to  prepare  them  the  better  for  a  state  of  freedom  when  such 
an  object  shall  be  contemplated  by  the  legislatures  of  our 
SouthernStates. 

The  subject  of  Missions  engaged  the  attention  of  the  Pres- 
byteries and  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  during  this  decade. 
There  were  two  classes  of  missionaries  sent  forth  bv  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly — pastors  temporarily  withdrawn  from  their 
charges  and  sent  on  tours  of  from  one  to  six  months,  and 
missionaries  who  were  expected  to  find  a  settlement  among 
the  people  to  whom  they  were  sent.  Of  this  last  class  were 
several  of  the  earliest  ministers  in  Carolina.  The  Assembly 
had  remitted  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  the  matter  of 
sending  missionaries  into  the  destitutions  of  this  portion  of 
the  South,  and  to  the  remote  Southwest.  And  the  minutes 
of  the  Presbyteries  show  that  continual  efforts  were  being 
made  to  raise  funds  from  the  churches,  for  this  object,  by  the 
ministers  and  licentiates  acting  as  collectors.  The  General 
Assembly,  in  1800  appointed  the  Rev.  James  Hall,  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Concord,  a  missionary  to  the  "  Natchez  "  for 
several  months,  to  commence  about  the  fir.et  of  October,  in 
that  year.  The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  meeting  at  Sugar 
Creek,  expressed  themselves  as  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  the  mission,  and  that  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Hall 
"  ought,  if  possible,  to  have  company,  determined  to  send 
with  him  two  members,  viz-  the  Rev.  Messrs.  James  H. 
Bowman  and  William  Montgomery,  who  are  directed  to  spend 
eight  months,  if  convenient,  and  they  find  it  expedient,  in 
that  country  and  places  adjacent — commencing  their  mis- 
sion   about    the    15th     instant.      And    for    the     support    of 


174  MISSIONS.  [1800-1810. 

these  missionaries,  the  Synod  pledges  itself  to  -give  them 
thirty-three  and  one-third  dollars  per  month  from  the  time 
they  engage  in  the  work  ;  they  rendering  a  regular  account 
of  all  moneys  received  by  them  during  their  mission." 

Arrangements  were  made  for  the  .»upply  of  Dr.  Hall's  and 
Mr.  Bowman's  churches  in  North  Carolina,  and  Mr.  Mont- 
gomery's, in  Georgia,  by  detailed  appointments  made  by 
Synod  from  the  several  Presbyteries.  The  modern  facilities 
of  travel  were  at  that  time  unknown.  The  only  mode  then 
was  on  horseback.  The  route  was,  first  to  Nashville,  Tenn., 
and  thence  lo  Natchez,  through  the  nations  of  the  Shawnee, 
Cherokee,  Chickasaw,  and  Choctaw  Indians,  over  the  road 
known  as  the  "  Natchez  Trail  " — the  road  from  Nashville  to 
Natchez,  and  the  only  road  in  the  country.  It  was  infested 
by  a  band  of  robbers  under  the  celebrated  Mason,  the  Robin 
Hood  of  that  day,  whose  marvelous  exploits,  talents  and, 
sometimes,  high-toned  chivalry  are  handed  down  in  the  tra- 
ditions of  the  country.  To  see  a  human  body,  covered  with 
blood,  by  the  road  side,  the  pockets  and  saddle-bags  rifled 
gave  no  surprise.  Travelers  set  out  heavily  armed,  and  pre- 
pared to  m'eet  the  most  desperate  contingencies.  James  Hall 
had  been  a  soldier  of  the  Revolution.  WhenSouth  Carolina 
was  overrun  by  the  forces  of  Cornwallis,  he  had  assembled 
his  flock,  and  called  them  to  take  up  arms  in  defense  of  their 
neighbors.  A  company  of  cavalry  was  organized,  and  they 
demanded  him  for  their  leader.  To  th'is  demand  he  yielded 
and  led  them  in  1779  on  an  expedition  into  South  Carolina, 
in  the  double  office  of  Commander  and  Chaplain  When  at 
a  subsequent  period  the  American  forces  marched  into  the 
Cherokee  country  in  Georgia,  he  accompanied  them  as  Chap- 
lain. He  had  but  one  opportunity  of  preaching  during  the 
expedition,  and  his  lips  pronounced  the  first  gospel  sermon 
ever  heard  in  that  Indian  Territory.  In  the  skirmish  at  Cow- 
ansford,  on  the  Catawba,  when  General  Davidson  fell,  he  was 
selected  by  General  Green  to  succeed  him  as  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral, and  a  commission  was  offered  him,  which  he  declined. 
He  was  now  leader  of  a  different,  smaller,  but  nobler  expe- 
dition, under  the  invisible  banner  and  guardianship  of  the 
Prince  of  Peace.  They  were  unarmed  now,  for  the  weapons 
of  their  warfare  were  not  carnal.  They  led  an  extra  horse  as 
a  pack-horse,  the  bearer  of  their  provisions  and  camp  fixtures. 
They  swam  or  forded  streams,  and  pitching  their  tent  at  night, 


.1800-1810.]  MISSION   TO   MISSISSIPPI.  175 

tethering  their  horses,  they  cooked  their  evening  meal,  and 
"  the  wild  woods  rang  with  their  hymns  of  lofty  cheer."  Near 
Pontotoc,  in  the  State  of  Mississippi,  they  called  and  spent 
the  night  at  the  mission  station  which  had  been  established 
three  years  before  by  Rev.  Joseph  Butler,*  who  resided  there 
with  an  assistant,  Mr.  Ebenezer  Rice.  They  had  fallen  in 
with  men  after  leaving  Nashville  who  were  driving  horses 
South  for  families  who  had  gone  down  the  river  in  boats,  who 
were  ill-provided,  expecting  to  buy  from  the  Indians  what 
they  might  need.  But  the  Indians  had  gone  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi on  their  fall  hunt,  and  the  missionaries  to  whom  these 
men  werefcoth  company  and  protection  furnished  them  until 
their  stock  gave  out,  except  a  little  meal,  of  which  they  made 
"  water  gruel  "  and  partook  of  with  thankful  hearts.  At  one 
time  they  captured  a  raccoon,  which  they  roasted  and  ate 
without  salt  or  other  condiments.  Pressing  forward  night 
and  day  as  fast  as  their  horses  could  carry  them,  for  their 
circumstances  were  becoming  desperate,  on  the  morning  of 
December  4th,  1800,  about  two  o'clock,  they  drew  near  to  a 
dwelling  on  Big  Black  River,  the  first  intimation  of  which 
was  the  crowing  of  a  rooster,  which  was  music  to  their  ears. 
They  hastened  to  the  house,  aroused  the  inmates,  pleading 
starvation  as  their  apology.  They  were  kindly  received,  and 
a  meal  was  speedily  prepared  of  corn  bread,  bacon  and  coffee. 
"  A  night,"  said  Mr.  Montgomery,  forty  years  afterwards, 
"  never  to  be  forgotten  by  any  of  us." 

At  Big  Black  they  established  a  preaching  station, 
another  a  few  miles  further  south,  at  Grindstone  Fort, 
another  still  further  south,  on  Clark's  Creek.  The  first  town 
they  reached  was  "  Gibson's  Port,"  now  Port  Gibson.  They 
found  Mrs.  Gibson,  the  wife  of  the  original  settler,  dead,  and 
at  the  request  of  Mr.  Gibson,  her  funeral  sermon  was  preached 
by  William  Montgomery,  the  first  sermon  ever  preached  in 
the  place.  There  were  none  professing  religion  there  of  any 
church,  but  they  were  treated  with  great  kindness  by  an  in- 
telligent and  hospitable  people.  A  few  miles  further  south 
they  found  a  few  Presbyterian  families  anxious  for  religious 

*Rev.  Joseph  Butler  was  graduated  at  Yale  in ;  was  settled  in 

Windham  County,  Vt.,  as  pastor  of  a  Congregational  Church  for  twenty 
years.  In  1797,  he  established,  under  the  Missionary  Society  of  New 
York,  a  mission  among  the  Chickasaws,  near  the  modern  town  of  Pon- 
totoc, in  Mississippi. 


176  MISSION   TO-  MISSISSIPPI.  [1800-1810. 

privileges,  who  united  and  built  a  loghouse  for  worship  ;  a 
congregation  was  collected,  and  the  name  of  Bayou  Pierce 
was  given  to  it.  Further  south  they  were  attracted  to  a 
small  village,  not  now  existing,  called  Union  Town,  where 
their  road  crossed  Cole's  Creek,  by  the  name  of  The  Mont- 
gomeries,  who  lived  there,  and  who  had  migrated  from  Georgia 
to  Kentucky,  and  thence  to  that  locality.  They  were  Pres- 
byterians, and  by  their  aid  they  found  seven  families  of  Con- 
gregationalists  who  had  migrated  to  that  neighborhood  with 
Rev.' Samuel  Swazey  from  New  Jersey,  whose  church  had 
been  broken  up  by  the  Spanish  authorities  ;  the  wife  of  Felix 
Hughes,  an  Irishman,  who  had  been  member  of  a'cliurch  in 
North  Carolina;  John  Bolls,  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  had 
been  a  ruling  elder  of  Hopewell  Church,  in  North  Carolina, 
before  the  Revolution,  was  in  the  Convention  which  adopted 
the  Mecklenburg  Declaration,  served  in  the  army  through 
the  war,  and  was  present  in  the  closing  scene  at  Yorktown. 
Three  years  afterwards,  in  1804,  these  families  were  organ- 
ized into  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  Southwest,* 
Alexander  Montgomery,  John  Bolls,  Alexander  Callender, 
and  John  Griffen  being  the  elders. _  On  land  belonging  to 
Alexander  Callendar  they  built  a  log  meeting  house,  which 
was  popularly  called  "  Callender's  Church."  The  house  is 
no  more,  but  the  graveyard  is  sacredly  preserved.!  The  next 
point  was  Was-hington,  the  capital  of  the  territory,  in  whose 
vicinity  were  several  Presbyterian  families,  and  where  they 
established  a  preaching  station.  1  he  next  point  was  Natchez, 
where  they  found  only  one  Presbyterian  family,  that  of  John 
Henderson,  a  mm  identified  w.th  the  subsequent  history  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  region,  Of  their  reception 
at  Natchez  we  will  soon  speak. 

Their  next  point  was  "  the  Jersey  Settlement,"  southeast 
from  Natchez.  The  members  of  the  church  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Swazey, J  which  the  Spaniards  had  broken  up,  cheerfully  co- 

*The  organization  was  effected  by  Eev.  Joseph  Bullen,  who  had  moved 
to  this  vicinity  in  i803.  He  remained  its  pastor  till  1822.  He  died  in 
1826 

t  It  contains  the  graves  of  Rev.  Joseph  Bullen,  Mrs  Hannah  Bullen, 
the  Colemans,  Callenders,  Curtis,  Smith,  &c. 

X  He  had  emigrated  from  New  Jersey,  where  he  had  been  a  Congre- 
gational minister  for  thirty  or  forty  years,  with  his  brother  Eic-hard 
and  their  numerous  families,  and  others.  These  he  organized  into  a 
Congregational  Church  in  about  1772.  He  was  the  first  minister  of 
the  gospel  in  that  territory  which  then  belonged  to  Great  Britain.    In 


180C-1810.]  NATCHEZ.  177 

operated  with  them  and  united  with  the  few  Presbyterian 
families  in  their  vicinity,  and  here  another  preaching  station 
was  established.  Still  further  south  they  established  another 
at  Pinckneyville,  which  at  that  time  was  in  the  Spanish  terri- 
tory, of  which  circumstance  they  were  not  aware.  , 

Of  the  nine  preaching  stations  they  thus  established,  five 
were  subsequently  organized  into  Presbyterian  Churches, 
and  were  the  germ  of  the  first  Presbytery  in  the  Southwest, 
which,  in  1816,  in  the  next  decade,  extending  from  the  Per- 
dido  River  westward  over  what  is  now  the  territory  of  several 
entire  Synods 

The  missionaries  made  their  headquarters  at  Natchez,  and 
supplied  these  nine  stations  in  rotation.  Theye  were  con- 
stantly employed  in  the  work  for  which  they  were  sent. 
When  the  time  for  their  departure  arrived,  the  citizens  of 
Natchez  held  a  public  meeting  to  bid  them  farewell.  On  his 
return  to  North  Carolina,  Ur.  James  Hall  published  in  a 
pamphlet  form  "  A  Summary  View  of  the  Country,  from  the 
Settlements  on  the  Cumberland  River  to  the  Mississippi 
Territory,"  in  which  he  gave  his  impressions  of  the  peo- 
ple, of  the  manner  in  which  the  missionaries  were  received, 
and  a  farewell  address  to  them,  adopted  at  a  public  meeting 
of  the  chief  citizens  of  Natchez. .  This  portion  we  here  quote 
(pp.  ^4  to  40) : 

"  This  is  a  circumstance,  perhaps,  peculiar  to  that  country, 
that  the  most  opulent  citizens  are  the  people  of  the  best 
morals,  together  with  the  few  possessors  of  religion  in  the 
lower  class.  This  remark  .will  apply  with  particular  force  to 
the  citizens  of  the  town  of  Natchez.  For  more  than  four 
months  which  I  resided  in  the  territory,  a  great  part  of  which 
I  spent  in  that  town,  with  one  exception,  I  never  heard  a 
profane  oath  from,  or  saw  the  appearance  of  intoxication  on, 
an  inhabitant  of  the  place,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  a  gentle- 
man ;  but  this  was  far  from  being  the  case  among  the  lower 
class  of  mechanics,  carters,  &c.  My  colleagues  and  myself 
were  received  with  much  cordiality,  and  treated  by  all  classes 
of  the  citizens  with  the  utmost  friendship  and  attention.     We 

1779  it  was  transferred  to  Spain,  which  power  established  in  it  the 
Roman  Catholic  faith.  Eev.  Samuel  Swayze  died  in  1784,  and  was 
buried  at  Natchez,  in  the  old  graveyard  which  was  below  Fort  Rosalie. 
It  was  on  a  high  bluff  which  has  since  been  washed  away  by  the  Mis- 
sissiDpi,  "the  Father  of  Waters." 
12 


178  NATCHEZ.  [1800-1810. 

all  had  repeated  and  pressing  solicitation.s  to  return,  in  order  to 
make  a  permanent  settlement  among  them  ;  and  the  regret 
appeared  to  be  common  between  them  and  us,  that  our  obli- 
gations to  our  respective  pastoral  charges  prevented  us  from 
giving  that  encouragement  which  to  them,  we  were  well 
assured,  would  have  been  highly  agreeable. 

"  Such,  indeed,  were  my  attachments  to  tliat  people  on 
account  of  their  peculiar  friendship  to  us,  and  the  influence 
which  our  continuing  among  them  promised,  that,  in  parting 
with  friends,  I  never  experienced  more  tender  sensations,  or 
as  they  may  be  called,  wringings  of  heart,  than  I  felt  in  part- 
ing both  with  families  and  societies ;  especially  as  it  was 
under  this  impression,  '  That  they  should  see  my  face  no 
more.'  Let  the  following  address  serve  as  a  specimen  of  the 
disposition  of  the  people  toward  us. 

"  It  was  presented  to  us  on  the  day  of  our  departure,  and 
was  signed  by  more  than  thirty  of  the  principal  citizens  of 
the  town  and  vicinity  of  Natchez,  among  whom  were  a  con- 
siderable number'  of  the  leading  civil  characters  of  the 
territory : 

' !  Messrs.  Hall,  Bmvman  and  Montgomery  . 

"  Rev.  Gentlemen  :  The  citizens  of  Natchez,  viewing  as 
arrived  the  moment  of  your  departure,  wish  to  discover  a 
part  of  what  they  feel  on  this  affecting  occasion. 

"  While,  gentlemen,  we  desire  to  return,  through  you,  our 
sincere  thanks  to  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  for 
their  great  attention  to  our  dearest  interests,  we  cannot  refrain 
from  expressing  our  cordial  approbation  of  your  conduct 
while  amongst  us. 

Although  we  have  not  all  been  educated  in  the  pale  of  that 
Church  of  which  you  are  ministers,  yet  we  all  feel  interested 
in  the  object  of  your  mission,  and  disposed  to  maintain  the 
doctrines  you  have  delivered.  For  we  have  pleasingly  wit- 
nessed that,  so  far  from  portraying  those  shades  of  religious 
opinions  not  practically  discernahle,  you  have  exhibited  to  us 
a  moral  picture  to  all  equally  interesting  (and  ought  to  be), 
equally  engaging.  Omitting  points  barely  speculative,  you 
have  insisted  on  points  radical znd  essential,  and  evinced  by 
your  deportment  a  desire  to  produce  a  combination  of  in- 
fluence to  support  our  common  Christain  faith. 

"Such   dispositions  and  exertions   we    consider    as  proper 


1800-1810]  NATCHEZ.  179 

and  necessary  to  couateract  the  influence  of  infidelity,  which 
had  ahnost  produced  alarming  symptoms  of  moral  and  social 
depravity  ;  and  it  is  with  pleasure  we  add  that  since  your 
coming  among  us,  we  have  observed  some  indications  of  a 
beginning  change  in  opinions  and  habits. 

"  It  would,  gentlemen,  be  too  great  a  restraint  upon  our 
feelings,  not  to  mention,  also,  the  great  pains  taken  by  one  of 
you  to  instruct  us  in  things  merely  material,*  and  we  trust 
we  were  morally  affected  by  the  explanations  given  to  us  of 
those  sublime  and  beautiful  laws  which  govern  nature,  as 
well  as  religiously  disposed  by  your  unfolding  the  far  more 
interesting  principles  of  grace  in  the  moral  system  of  things 
whose  indistructable  nature  shall  survive  the  general  wreck 
of  our  present  physical  existence. 

"  Influenced  by  considerations  so  affecting  to  our  mental 
feelings,  we  offer  you  our  thanks  for  the  faithful  execution  of 
your  well-timed  mission  among  us  ;  and  our  minds  follow 
you  with  sincere  wishes  for  a  safe  return  to  your  respective 
residences. 

"  Receive,  gentlemen,  the  unfeigned  expression  of  our  con- 
current sensations,  and  permit  us  to  add  an  earnest  solicita- 
tion for  your  return  to  our  territory.  Should  this,  however, 
be  impracticable,  you  will  please  to  exercise  your  influence 
in  procuring  and  sending  others,  whose  zeal  and  abilities 
may  operate  to  accomplish  the  incipient  reformation  your 
labors  have  instrumentally  effected. 

"  We  are.  Reverend  Gentlemen,  with  sentiments  of  grateful 
esteem,  your  much  obliged,  most  obedient  servants, 

"JOHN  STEELE,  &c." 

This  seems  much  in  favor  of  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  that  country,  that  the  most  oppulent  citizens  and  influen- 
tial characters  appear  to  be  most  forward  for  its  encourage- 
ment. One  of  their  most  wealthy  and'  enlightened  citizens 
expressed  himself  to  me  in  these  or  similar  words  : 

"  Besides  promoting  the  great  object  of  religion,  I  think 
that  a  learned  and  respectable  ministry  would  have  a  happy 
influence  to  meliorate  the  state  of  civil  society  among  us  with 
respect  to  morals,  and  would  be  the  best  means  for  the  pro- 
motion of  literature." 


*  This  refers  to  a  course  of  lectures  on   Natural   Philosophy,   held 
weekly  by  oue  of  us,  in  the  town  of  Natchez. 


180  MISSION    TO    MISSISSIPPI.  [1800-1810. 

Respecting  the  bulk  of  the  citizens,  it  may  be  affirmed  that, 
for  hospitality  to  strangers,  for  politeness  of  manners,  and 
sumptuous  living  among  the  oppuknt,  they  may  vie  with  any 
part  of  the  Union. 

They  left  the  territory  in  April,  1801,  after  receiving  this 
extraordinary  address,  set  their  faces  toward  the  wilderness, 
and  returned  to  Carolina  over  the  same  long  and  perilous 
route  by  which  they  had  come.  They  found  the  territory  of 
Mississippi  exceedingly  destitute  of  religious  privileges  and 
teachers.  "Only  one  Episcopalian,"  says  Dr.  Hall,  "one 
Methodist  and  two  Baptist  clergymen,  besides  a  few  exhorters, 
all  illiterate  except  the  former,  are  in  the  Territory."  Dr. 
Hall  gives  a  conjectural  statement  as  to  the  population  at  that 
time,  but  the  census,  which  was  then  being  taken  exhibits  a 
population  exclusive  of  Indians,  of  8,850  of  whom  3,489  were 
slaves.  The  pamphlet  published  by  Dr.  Hall  is  mostly  occu- 
pied with  a  description  of  the  country  as  to  its  history,  settle- 
ment, revolutions,  general  appearance,  soil  and  produce,  cli- 
mate, manners,  character  and  customs  of  the  people,  trade  and 
commerce,  curiosities,  hurricanes,  Indian  tribes,  and  contri- 
buted no  little  to  awaken  a  general  interest  in  it  which 
advanced  its  settlement.  In  a  religious  point  of  view,  hardly 
any  domestic  missionary  efforts  of  the  present  century  have 
been  covered  with  greater  success  or  wakened  a  deeper  inter- 
est in  this  department  of  Christian  effort. 

Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Hall  was  at  this  time  pastor  of  Beth- 
any and  Concord  churches  in  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  ; 
James  H.  Bowen,  pastor  of  Eno  and  Little  River  in  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Orange;  William  Montgomery,  pastor  of  Greensboro 
and  Little  Britain  churches  in  Georgia.  He  was  born  in 
Shippensberg,  Pa.,  in  1768.  In  his  early  youth  his  father 
migrated  to  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Mount 
Zion  College,  Winnsboro  ;  was  ordained  by  the  Presbj'tery  of 
South  Carolina  in  1795  ;  he  married  the  sister  of  Gen.  Lane, 
who  in  1862  was  a  candidate  f6r  the  Vice  Presidency  of  the 
United  States  on  the  ticket  with  John  C.  Brecken ridge  for  the 
President.*  In  181 1  he  returned  to  Mississippi  with  his  family 

*He  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  thePresbytery  of  Hopewell ; 
in  17<.i7  was  pastor  of  the  Churches  of  Siloam  and  Little  Britain,  then  of 
New  Hope,  from  the  pastorship  of  which  he  was  suspended  under  the 
censures  of  Presbytery  in  May,  1802,  and  again  restored  at  the  petition 
of  the  Congregation  in  November  of  the  same  year.  He  was  dismissed 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  in  1814 — 1815. 


1800-1810.]  REV.    WILLIAM    MONTGOMERY.  181 

and  tliere  labored  faithfully  till  his  death  ;  was  at  one  time 
President  of  Jefferson  College  at  Washington,  the  capital  of 
the  Territory,  and  afterwards  pastor  of  Ebenezer  and  Union 
churches  for  thirty-seven  years.  He  was  an  excellent  class- 
ical scholar  and  kept  up  the  study  of  the  Latin  cla.ssics  to  the 
end  of  life.  His  favorite  was  Horace,  whom  in  old  age  he 
familiarly  called  "his  friend  Horace,"  many  of  whose  odes  he 
could  repeat  from  memory.  In  his  youth  he  had  great  per- 
sonal endowments,  was  a  pattern  of  manly  beauty,  dignified 
in  his  bearing,  yet  candid,  kind  and  frank,  and  singularly  ani- 
mated in  his  delivery.  The  two  churches"  which  have  been 
mentioned  were  not  his  only  charge  but  those  which  he  served 
during  the  chief  part  of  his  ministry  in  the  West.  They  were 
in  the  Scotch  colony  in  Jefferson  County ,'and  under  his  labors 
grew  to  be  the  most  influential  as  well  as  the  largest  country 
churches  in  the  Synod.  He  was  a  profound  Theologian,  a 
thorough  Calvinist  and  AJure  divino  Presbyterian.  His  prompti- 
tude and  punctuality  to  his  engagements  were  perfect  even 
to  a  fault,  but  begat  punctuality  on  the  part  of  his  people. 
Only  twice,  at  the  death  of  his  wife  and  at  the  death  of  his 
son,  did  he  fail  to  meet  his  appointments,  and  then  he  sent  a 
tnissen^er  to  make  known  the  cause.  His  salary  was  a  small 
one,  amounting  from  his  two  churches  to  some  ^300.  But 
by  the  assistance  of  a  friend  he  became  possessed  of  a  valua- 
ble piece  of  land.  From  the  one  negro  servant  he  brought  from 
Georgia  proceeded  a  numerous  family;  he  was  thus  provided 
with  a  comoitence  ifi  old  age,  and  left  something  to  his  heirs. 
He  rode  even  in  his  old  age  through  flood,  storm  and  rain  to 
his  apjointmints.  His  last  hour  at  length  came.  He  rode 
to  church  thirteen  miles  through  the  rain  and  preached  in 
dam-)  clothes.  PneumDuia  was  the  result.  Like  the  soldier 
on  the  mirch  or  on  the  eve  of  an  engagement  he  braved  the 
element,  true  to  the  banner  of  the  Cross  under  which  he  en- 
listed. He  died  in  184.8  in  great  peace  anJ  was  laid  by  the 
side  of  the  wife  who  preceded  him. 

"The  voice  at  midnight  came. 

He  started  aip  to  hear  ; 
A  mortal  arrow  pierjed  his  frame. 

He  fell  bat  felt  no  fear. 

Tranquil  amid  alarms, 

It  found  him  on  the  iield, 
A  veteran  slumbering  on  his  arms, 

jBeneath  his  red  cross  shield. 


182  MISSIOSTAEIES   TO   THE    NATCHEZ.  [1800-1810, 

The  pains  of  death  are  past ; 

Labour  and  sorrow  cease  ; 
And  life's  long  labour  closed  at  last. 

His  soul  is  found  in  peace. 

Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done  ; 

Praise  be  thy  new  employ  ; 
And  while  eternal  ages  run, 

Eest  in  thy  Saviour's  joy." 

Venerable  old  man !  A  favorite  with  the  young  to  the  end 
of  life  ;  held  in  veneration  in  his  own  churches,  by  other  de- 
nominations, and  the  people  at  large  ;  a  genial  companion, 
an  honest  man,  a  true  minister  of  Christ.  His  son  William, 
a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  of  great  promise,  died  a  member 
of  the  Senior  Class  in  Oakland  College.  Another,  Rev. 
Samuel  Montgomery,  is  pastor  (in  i87i)of  Union  and  Bar- 
salem  Churches.  Mr.  Bowman,  another  of  the  three  Mission- 
aries settled  in  Georgia,  and  afterwards  in  Tennessee,  where  he 
died. 

(Abridged  chiefly  from  "  Beginnings  of  Presbyterianism  in 
the  Southwest,  published  in  the  S.  W.Presbyterian  for  1871.) 

The  Synod  of  (he  Carolinas  still  nursed  this  Missionary 
field.  In  October,  1801,  they  re-appointed  Rev.  Wm,  Mont- 
gomery, of  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  and  Mr.  John  Mat- 
thews, a  licentiate  of  Orange  Presbytery,  as  Missionaries  to 
the  Mississippi  Territory,  from  the  15th  of  November,  to  act 
as  long  as  they  shall  judge  convenient.  Mr.  Montgomery 
did  not  go  at  that  time,  but  Mr.  John  Matthews  performed 
his  tour  of  service,  read  his  report  to  the  Synod  in  October, 
1802,  and  received  its  thanks  for  his  diligence.  They  also 
appointed  Hugh  Shaw  a  Missionary  to  the  Natchez,  and  as 
Mr.  Matthews  expressed  a  desire  to  return,  a  commission  was 
ordered  for  him,  and  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  was  ordered 
to  ordain  him,  should  he  go.  The  Synod  at  the  same  time 
appointed  a  commission  of  Synod  to  attend  regularly  to  their 
Missionary  operations.  In  October,  1804,  Rev.  Daniel  Brown 
and  Malcolm  McNeil  were  appointed  Missionaries  to  the 
Natchez  for  six  months  or  more,  and  in  October,  1805,  Rf^^- 
James  Smylie,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  commission  of 
Synod  and  had  been  ordained  by  Orange  Presbytery,  made  a 
favorable  report  of  his  mission  to  the  Mississippi  Territory, 
and  presented  a  letter  addressed  to  Synod,  asking  for  further 
aid.     Mr.  Smylie  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  about  1780, 


1800-1810,]  EEV.    JAMES   8MYLIE.  183 

received  his  classical  and  theological  education  under  Rev. 
Dr.  Caldwell,  at  Guilford,  was  licensed  by  the  Orange  Pres- 
bytery, by  whom  he  was  ordained  in  1805.  He  settled  at 
Washington,  the  Capital  of  the  Territory,  and  took  the  charge 
of  the  congregation  which  the  Missionaries  who  preceded 
him  had  collected.  This  he  organized  in  1807,  into  a  regular 
church  with  twenty  members  and  three  elders.  It  received 
the  name  Salem.  It  was  afterwards  removed  to  Pine  Ridge, 
four  miles  distant,  and  was  known  as  the  Pine  Ridge  Church. 
He  removed  in  181 1  to  Amite  County  and  was  actively  en- 
gaged in  Missionary  labors  and  organizing  churches  in  Missis- 
sippi and  contiguous  parts  of  Louisiana.  He  was  for  many 
years  pastor  of  Bethany  and  Friendship  Churches  and  the 
teacher  of  a  classical  school,  and  many  of  the  leading  men  of 
that  region  are  indebted  to  him  for  their  early  education.  In 
1814  he  travelled  on  horseback  through  the  Choctaw  and 
Chickasaw  nations  to  Tennessee  to  induce  the  Presbytery  of 
West  Tennessee  to  petition  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  for  the 
erection  of  a  Presbytery  in  the  Southwest.  In  1815  that 
Synod  erected  the  first  Presbytery  of  Mississippi,  which  was 
organized  March  16,  1 8 18,  with  the  Perdido  river  for  its 
eastern  boundary,  with  a  jurisdiction  extending  indefinitely 
westward.  This  was  the  commencement  of  a  contested 
claim  of  jurisdiction  between  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  and  the  Synod  of  Kentucky,  afterwards  expressed 
in  a  memorial  from  the  former  body  to  the  General  Assembly. 
Probably  it  was  the  greater  proximity  of  the  Presbytery  of 
West  Tennessee  to  Mr.  Smylie's  residence  which  led  to  this 
application.  In  1836  the  Chilicothe  Presbytery  addressed  a 
violent  abolition  letter  to  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi,  which 
Mr.  Smylie  answered.  It  was  an  enlargement  of  a  sermon  on 
the  subject  of  slavery  which  he  had  preached  extensively 
before,  and  which  is  said  to  have  been  of  great  use  to  the 
members  of  the  Legislature  and  other  public  men  in  their 
researches  on  the  same  topic.  In  his  old  age  he  devoted 
himself  exclusively  to  the  religious  instruction  of  the  negroes. 
He  anticipated  Dr.  Jones  in  preparing  a  catechism  for  them 
which  received  the  sanction  of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi.  He 
was  a  close  ob.server  and  thinker,  had  an  acute  and  original 
mind,  was  an  accurate  Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  a  good  theo- 
logian, and  like  Mr.  Montgomery  a  jure  devino  Presbyterian. 
He  was  twice  married,  left  one  child  by  each   marriage,  who 


184  OTHBK   MISSIONS.  [1800-1810. 

still  survive  him.  He  died  in  1853,  aged  about  73  years. 
He  kept  an  accurate  diary  which  may  be  of  historic  value 
and  is  in  the  hands  of  his  nephew,  Rev.  John  A.  Smylie,  of 
Milford,  Texas.  (Southwestern  Presbyterian,  of  February 
23d,  1871.) 

For  so  much  of  missionary  labor  performed  during  this 
decade,  and  followed  by  such  lasting  consequences,  is  the 
Southwest  indebted,  under  God,  to  the  old  mother  Synod 
of  the  Carclinas  and  to  the  churches  of  this  State  and  her 
sisters,  North  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Precious,  and  blessed 
in  its  fruits,  is  the  communion  of  sailits,  and  pleasant  were 
the  bonds  which,  in  those  days,  bound  these  affiliated  churches 
together.  The  noble  structure  was  rising,  its  living  stones 
cemented  together,  the  mystic  body  was  growing,  held  in 
union  by  that  which  every  joint  supplieth.  And  still  shall  it 
grow  into  nobler  and  more  majestic  proportions,  unless 
through  our  own  sins  it  shall  please  Him  who  "  holds  the 
stars  in  his  right  hand,"  aud  "  walketh  in  the  midst  of  the 
golden  candlesticks,"  "  to  remove  our  candleistick  out  of  his 
place." 

Nearer  at  home  also  were  these  missionary  labours  ex- 
tended. In  1801  Thomas  Hall,  a  licentiate  of  Concord  Pres- 
bytery, was  appointed  to  itinerate  through  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia,  for  the  space  of  eight  months.  He  read  his  report 
before  Synod  and  received  its  thanks  for  his  diligence.  In 
October,  1803,  the  Commission  of  Synod  reported  that  they 
had  commissioned  eight  missionaries  within  the  bounds  of 
Synod,  one  of  whom,  Win.  C.  Davis,  was  to  visit  the  Catawba 
Indians.  Reports  were  heard  from  these  missionaries,  and  it 
was  "  ordered  that  the  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Davis  act  as  a  stated 
missionary  to  the  Catawba  Indians  until  our  next  stated  meet- 
ing of  Synod  ;  that  he  superintend  the  school  in  that  nation, 
now  taught  by  Mr.  Foster,  and  that  he  obtain  the  assistance 
of  Rev.  James  Wallis  as  far  as  may  be  convenient.  Ordered 
that  the  several  Presbyteries  under  our  care  be  directed  to 
pay  particular  attention  to  the  subscription  business  for  the 
support  of  the  missionaries,  especially  as  we  now  have  a 
promising  prospect  of  teaching  the  Catawba  Indians  to  read, 
and  pay  some  attention  to  the  gospel.  In  1804  Murdock 
Murphy,  a  licentiate  of  Orange  Presbytery,  was  appointed 
for  the  lower  part  of  South  Carolina.  We  have  seen,  p.  1 19, 
that  he  was  settled  as  pastor  of  Black    River  Church   (Win- 


1800-1810.]  OTHER    MISSIONS.  185 

yaw)  in  the  following  year.  He  was  afterwards  pastor  of  the 
Midway  Church,  Liberty  Countj',  Georgia,  and  thence  emi- 
grated to  Florida.  From  the  minutes  of  the  commission  and 
the  reports  of  the  missionaries  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas 
in  1805,  it  appeared  that  the  school  among  the  Catawbas  had 
been  conducted  at  considerable  expense;  the  proverb  about 
"the  new  broom"  had  been  fulfilled;  at  first  the  Indians 
were  much  interested  in  the  instructions  and  exhortations  of 
the  teacher,  but  after  a  while  grew  weary  ;  and  that  there  had 
been  but  little  preaching  among  them.  The  prospect  was  not 
flattering.  The  commission  was  reappointed,  but  in  i8o6 
reported  that  tliey  had  done  nothing.  The  synod  itself  ap- 
pointed three  missionaries,  Dr.  James  Hall,  Wm.  H.  Barr,  a 
licentiate  of  Orange,  and  Mr.  Thos.  J.  Hall,  to  itinerate  within 
their  own  bounds. 

Dr.  Hall  in  his  report  to  Synod  in  1807  says  :  "Approach- 
ing the  low  country  in  South  Carolina,  the  professors  of  reli- 
gion became  less,  and'the  bigoted  attachment  to  party  doc- 
trines appeared  to  be  stronger.  These  doctrines  which  they 
call  their  principles,  are  so  frequently  brought  into  the  pulpit, 
that  sometimes  a  private  member  of  one  of  those  denomina- 
tions, wlien  he  goes  to  hear  a  preacher  of  the  other,  expect- 
ing what  will  come  forward,  has  his  scriptural  notes  prepared 
and  reads  them  against  the  doctrines  delivered,  on  which 
issue  IS  joined,  and  the  doctrines  are  debated  in  the  presence 
of  the  congregation.  From  these  and  other  circumstances,  it 
appears  that  few  attend  on  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  except 
the  bigoted  adherents  to  their  respective  parties."*  Mr.  Wil- 
liam H.  Barr  also  read  his  report.  Both  were  commended  as 
exhibiting  "great  industry  and  much  labor." 

In  1808  the  Commission  of  Synod  reported  that  they  had 
appointed  Dr.  Hall,  Rev.  E.  B.  Currie  and  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Barr. 
Mr.  Currie  had  not  been  commissioned.  The  others  read 
long  and  interesting  reports.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Hall  had  trav- 
elled 1 132  miles,  preached  40  times,  and  received  $64.68.  He 
thought  it  would  be  more  advisable  to  cherish   our   own   va- 

*It  was  probably  during  this  missionary  tour  that  Dr.  Hall  preached 
his  sermon  from  Prov.  XIV,  31- •  "Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation; 
bnt  sin  is  a  reproach  to  any  people,"  before  the  Court  at  Barnwell,  and 
more  fully  before  the  Court  of  Laurens  District,  in  South  Carolina  at 
their  spring  Session,  A.  D.,  1807.  Printed  at  Raleigh  by  William  Boylaf 
1807,  pp.  25,  12mo. 


186  OTHER   MISSIONS.  [1800-1810. 

cancies.  than  to  establish  new  societies,  and  recommended 
vigorous  exertions  on  the  part  of  Synod  to  encourage  the 
education  of  young  men  for  the  ministry.  Mr.  Barr  con- 
curred with  Dr.  Hall  that  it  would  be  better  to  change  mis- 
sionary action  from  the  itinerant  to  the  supplying  our  vacan- 
cies with  more  regular  preaching." 

In  urging  the  cause  of  education,  Dr.  Hall  says:  "Other 
wise,  our  churches,  if  any  should  remain  must  be  supplied 
with  ignorant  and  illiterate  preachers,  or  they  must  receive 
foreigners,  which  past  experience  has  for  the  most  part  shown 
not  to  be  very  eligible  ;  as  we  may  expect  little  except  the 
dregs  of  European  Churches.  Should  none  of  these  be  the 
case,  our  people  must  sink  into  ignorance  and  barbarism,  and 
stand  exposed  to  every  wind  of  doctrine."  Mr.  Barr  appears 
to  have  been  a  most  industrious  missionary. 

A  commission  of  Synod  was  appointed,  "to  regulate  the 
whole  of  the  missionary  business,  to  meet  the  first  Wednes- 
day of  November,  at  Unity  Church,  ftidian  Lands,  of  which 
Dr.  Hall  was  appointed  moderator." 

In  Oct.,  1809,  the  Commission  reported  that  they  had  ap- 
pointed Dr.  Hall  and  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn  to  act  as  mission- 
aries to  the  vacancies  within  their  bounds.  Mr.  Flinn  did 
not  fulfill  the  appointment.  Dr.  Hall  spent  four  months  and 
thirteen  days  in  the  mission,  travelled  1545  miles,  preached 
sixty-nine  times,  held  three  communions  and  several  evening 
societies.  "Previously  to  departure  from  home,  he  had  ex- 
tracted four  hundred  and  twenty  questions  from  our  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  and  di.sseminated  them  through  eight  ofour  va- 
cancies for  the  perusal  of  the  people  until  he  should  return 
to  finish  his  mission,  at  which  time  they  were  to  be  called 
upon  for  public  examination."  The  success  of  this  was  very 
encouraging. 

Great  irregularities  in  connection  with  the  revivals  and 
camp-meetings  had  sprung  up  in  the  congrega:tions  of  Long 
Creek  and  Knobb  Creek  in  Orange  Presbytery.  The  Pres- 
bytery had  appointed  in  1804  a  large  and  able  Committee  to 
examine  into  these  and  deal  in  some  suitable  manner  with 
them.  Some  who  were  laymen  laid  claims  to  special  divine 
guidance,  and  moved  as  they  said,  by  a  divine  impulse  had 
administered  the  ordinances  of  the  Supper  and  Baptism. 
For  these  and  other  irregularities  many  had  been  suspended 
from  the  privileges  of  the   Church.      He   spent  considerable 


1800-1810.]  HISTORY   OF   THE   CHURCH.  187 

time  in  the  Knobb  Creek  congregation  and  heard  from  some 
of  the  most  intelligent  and  pious  their  heartfelt  lamentations 
and  horror  at  their  past  extravagances,  and  their  gratitude  to 
God  that  they  were  not  given  over  to  the  most  wild  and  de- 
lusive fanaticism.  "When  I  fell  into  those  extraordinary 
exercises,"  said  one  of  them,  "I  found  such  pleasure  in  them 
that  I  would  not  think  of  parting  with  them  ;  yet  when  they 
went  off,  I  found  the  power  of  religion  so  declining  in  my 
heart,  that  I  was  conscious  that  in  that  state  I  never  need 
expect  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  ;  and  they  have  cost 
me  many  sleepless  hours  in  prayer  and  wrestling  with  my  own 
wretched  heart,  before  I  could  give  them  up."  "Let  some, 
however,"  says  Dr.  Hall,  "think  unfavorably  or  even  lightly, 
of  those  deep  and  heart-affecting  exercises,  both  distressful 
and  joyous,  to  which  no  doubt  we  have  all  been  witness  and 
many  of  which,  if  we  judge  by  their  fruits,  we  have  reason  to 
believe,  were  produced  by  the  powerful  operations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  by  which  from  an  overwhelming  sense  of 
divine  things,  these  effects  were  produced  upon  tiie  body." 

He  was  witness  to  the  solemn  and  ample  acknowledgment 
of  his  error  by  an  elder  who  had  been,  with  many  others,  sus- 
pended by  the  sentence  of  Presbytery  from  church  privileges 
for  his  adherence  to  these  extravagances,  and  who  had  held 
out  long  and  obstinately,  and  now  had  humbly  yielded,  and 
with  expressions  of  gratitude  and  thankfulness  had  been  fully 
restored  to  the  Communion  of  the  Church.  He  again 
presses  the  subject  of  an  educated  ministry  as  of  prime 
importance  to  the  Church.  Such  were  the  earnest  efforts 
of  these  Presbyteries  and  this  Synod  of  the  Carolinas 
in  the  horrie  missionary  work,  which  have  accrued  in  more 
good  than  we  know  of  to  our  generation,  and  whose  benefits 
will  extend  themselves  into  the  distant  future. 

History  of  the  Church. — Very  commendable  efforts  were 
made,  both  in  the  First  and  Second  Presbyteries,  to  provide 
materials  for  the  history  of  the  Church.  On  the  14th  of 
November,  1800,  Rev.  John  Brown  and  John  B.  Davies  were 
appointed  by  the  First  Presbytery  to  make  out  as  correct  a 
history  of  the  First  Presbytery  as  possible,  to  be  transmitted 
to  the  General  Assembly,  March  27,  1801  ;  the  failure  of 
the  committee  to  perform  this  duty  is  excused,  but  Mr. 
Davies  is  directed  to  prepare  the  reports  that  have  been  sent 
in,  and  Mr.  Brown  to  assist  him,  under  pain  of  censure  if  they 
fail. 


188  SCHOOLS.  [1800-1810. 

On  September  24th,  i8oi,  the  Second  Presbytery  directed 
the  stated  clerk  to  lay  before  that  body  the  necessary  mate- 
rials for  the  history  of  that  Presbytery.  Again,  April  i, 
1806,  the  following  minute  is  found:  "  In  compliance  with 
an  order  of  the  General  Assembly,  for  the  collection  of  ma- 
terial for  forming  a  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
America,  it  was  enjoined  on  every  member  to  endeavor  to 
collect  the  proper  information  in  their  respective  churches, 
as  to  their  origin,  succession,  pastors,  present  standing,  &c., 
and  render  a  statement  of  the  same  at  the  next  stated  session 
of  Presbytery." 

Agreeably  to  this  order,  the  members  of  Presbytery  were 
called  on  at  tlie  next  sessions,  August  8,  1806.  "  The  infor- 
mation laid  before  Presbytery  was  put  into  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Kennedy,  and  he  directed  to  form  a  general  report  on  this 
subject,  and  lay  the  same  before  our  next  stated  sessions  for 
inspection,  that,  in  the  end,  Presbytery  may  be  enabled  to 
forward  to  the  General  Assembly  their  quota  of  information 
forming  a  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  America." 

The  subject  was  brought  forward  at  each  successive  meet- 
ing. October  3d,  1808,  the  matter  was  taken  out  pf  Mr. 
Kennedy's  hands  and  placed  in  Dr.  Waddel's,  who,  after  some 
delays  for  want  of  materials,  prepared  the  proposed  history 
(of  which  we  have  frequently  availed  ourselves),  and  for- 
warded it  to  Dr.  Green,  at  Philadelphia.  The  Syriod  did 
not  cease  to  urge  the  attention  of  its  Presbyteries  to  this 
matter. 

Grammar  Schools. — The  Synod  had  directed  its  Presby- 
teries to  "  establish  within  their  respective  bounds  one  or 
more  grammar  schools,  except  where  such  grammar  schools 
are  already  established,  and  that  each  member  of  the  several 
Presbyteries  make  it  their  business  to  select  and  encourage 
youths  of  promising  piety  and  talents,  and.  such  as  may  be 
expected  to  turn  their  attention 'to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel." 
It  was  therefore  "ordered"  by  the  First  Presbytery  "  that 
each  member  pay  particular  attention  to  this  business  and 
endeavor  to  come  to  some  conclusion  in  their  own  minds 
where  it  may  be  proper  to  encourage  such  institution  or  insti 
tutions."  At  their  next  meeting  they  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  "  inasmuch  as  there  are  a  number  of  such  institutions 
already  established  and  vigorous  exertions  made  for  their 
encouragements,  it  is  conceived  to.be  inexpedient  to  pay  any 


1810-1820.]        REARRANGEMENT    OF    PRESBYTERIES.  189 

further  attention  to  this  business  at  present."  Of  the  same 
import  was  the  conclusion  reached  by  the  Second  Presbytery. 

Indian  Tribes. — The  General  Assembly  had  required  the 
Presbyteries  below  to  report  respecting  the  Indian  Tribes  and 
frontier  settlements.  Messrs.  James  Gilliland,  Andrew  Brown 
and  the  elder,  Gen.  Andrew  Pickens,  were  appointed  by  the 
Second  Presbytery  on  this  business.  Than  the  last  named 
gentleman  there  was  none  that  had  been  more  concerned  with 
these  people  in  peace  and  war,  and  none  more  feared  as  a  foe 
or  honored  as  a  friend  than  he.  The  report  was  made  at  the 
next  sessions  and  ordered  to  be  sent  on  to  the  Assembly. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  mission  of  the  First  Pres- 
bytery to  the  Catawbas  set  on  foot  by  the  Synod's  Commis- 
sion. 


BOOK    SECOND. 

1810—1820. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  arrangement  as  to  Presbyteries  hitherto  existing 
began  with  this  century,  so  far  as  Carolina  is  represented  in 
them,  and  ended  with  its  first  decade.  The  vvhole  seems  to 
have  been  a  matter  of  agreement  and  deliberation.  The  First 
Presbytery  suggested  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  its  own 
dissolution  and  division.  The  upper  division  to  include 
Rev.  William  C.  Davis  pastor  of  Bullock's  Creek,  the  Rev. 
Robert  B.  Walker,  pastor  of  Bethesda,  Rev.  John  B.  Davies, 
of  Fishing  Creek  and  Richardson,  Rev.  Thomas  Neely, 
pastor  of  Purity  and  Edmonds,  and  the  vacant  congregations 
of  Waxhaw,  Unity,  Hopewell,  Ebenezer,  Bethel,  Beersheba, 
Shiloah,  Yorkville  and  Salem  to  be  united  with  the  Presby- 
tery of  Concord,  and  the  rest  with  the  proposed  Presbytery  of 
Harmony.'  This  is  acceded  to  by  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas. 
At  its  meeting  at  Fairforest  Church,  October  6,  1810,  they 
had  declared  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  dissolved 
and  that  the  Second  Presbytery  is  hereafter  to  be  knoWn 
and  distinguished  by  the  name  of  The  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina.  They  had  previously  at  their  session  held  at 
Poplar  Tent,  October  5,  1809.  a(ioptedan  overture  for  a  new 
Presbytery,  to  be  known  as  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  ;  its 
bounds  to   begin    on   the    seacoast    where  the    division    line 


190  REORGANIZATION.  [1810-1820. 

between  North  and  South  Carolina  commences,  thence  till 
the  line  strikes  Lynches  Creek,  thence  to  Evan's  Ferry, 
thence  to  Camden,  thence  to  Columbia,  thence  to  Augusta  in 
Georgia,  thence  in  a  direction  nearly  South  (including  St. 
Mary's)  to  the  seacoast.  The  coast  line  of  Harmony  Pres- 
bytery, according  to  this  division,  was  co-extensiye  with  that 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  the  division  between  it 
and  the  Presbytery  of  Si^uth  Carolina  was  probably  then  un- 
derstood to  be  the  travelled  road,  which  at  that  time  crossed 
the  Savannah  river  at'  Campbell's  Town,  a  short  distance 
above  Augusta.  Where  there  are  no  natural  lines  the 
travelled  road  vi^ill  suggest  the  ideal  division,  although  it 
should  change  somewhat  from  time  to  time. 

The  Presbytery  of  Harmony  was  constituted  by  order  of 
the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  at  its  meeting  at  Poplar  Tent,  on 
the  5th  of  October,  1809,  "  out  of  the  territory  of  three  others, 
to  consist  of  the  following  members:  Rev.  George  McWhor- 
ter,  Andrew  Flinn  and  John  Cousar,  of  the  First  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina;  John  R.  Thompson,  of  Hopewell  Pres- 
bytery; who  were  appointed  to  meet  for  the  first  time  in  the 
City  of  Charleston  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  March,  1810; 
the  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  or  the  senior  member  present,  to 
preside  and  open  the  Presbytery." 

In  pursuance  of  this  order,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  D.  D., 
the  Rev.  John  R.  Thompson,  of  Augusta  ;  the  Rev.  John 
Cousar,  and  the  Rev.- George  G.  McWhorter,  and  Mr.  Oswald 
Eve,  an  elder  from  St.  Paul's  Church,  Augusta,  met  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of  Charleston.  The 
Rev.  Drs.  William  HoUingshead  and  Isaac  Ktfith,  and  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Price,  of  the  Congregational  Association,  and 
the  Rev.  jedediah  Morse,  D.  D.,  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  at 
one  time  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  were 
present  by  courtesy  as  corresponding  members.  At  the 
request  of  Dr.  Flinn,  the  meeting  had  been  opened  with  a 
sermon  by  Dr.  Morse,  from  Malachi  i  :  2,  and  the  Presby- 
tery instituted  with  prayer  by  Dr.  Flinn.  Dr.  Flinn  had 
been  chosen  as  Moderator,  and  the  Rev.  John  Cousar  as 
Clerk.  The  way  being  opened,  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  city  applied  by  their  representative,  Mr.  Benj. 
Boyd,  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of  Presbytery,  were  received, 
and  Mr.  Boyd,  an  elder  in  the  Second  Church,  took  his  seat 
as  a  member.  No  other  business  of  importance  was  done. 
The  installation  of  Dr.  Flinn  was  postponed  until  the  house 


1810-1820.]    CONGREGATIONAL  OHUECH,  CHARLESTON.  191 

of  public  worship,  then  building  for  the  Second  Church, 
should  be  opened,  of  which  the  Moderator  should  give  due 
notice.  After  appointing  a  commissioner  to  the  General 
Assembly,  and  attending  to  other  neces.sary  business,  the 
Pre-sbytery  then  adjourned,  to  meet  at  St.  Paul's  Church,  in 
Augusta,  in  September. 

But  immediately  after  the  reception  of  the  Second  Church, 
a  letter  was  received  from  the  Rev.  Donald  McLeod,  Stated 
Clerk  of  the  (Old)  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  complaining 
of  the  conduct  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  in  laying  off  and 
constituting  the  Presbytery  within  their  bounds,  which  com- 
plaint was  principally  bottomed  on  the  opinion  that  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Charleston  had  been  admitted  as  a  constituent  part 
of  the  Genf^ral  Assembly.  It  was  resolved  that  the  above 
memorial  be  referred  to  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas. 


CHAPTER  II. 

We  resume  our  history  of  the  individual  churches,  with 
those  which  were   Congregational  or   Independent,  and  first. 

The  Independent  or  Congregational  Church,  in  the  City 
of  Charleston.  This  church  was  in  a  very  flourishing  condi- 
tion at  the  commencement  of  this  decade.  From  the  reports 
given  in  the  minutes  of  the  Congregational  Association  from 
time  to  time,  by  Dr.  Holiingshead,  it  would  seem  that  the 
membership  in  i8o6-was  246  whites,  286  blacks,  total,  542, 
Subsequent  reports  would  swell  the  number  to  403  whites 
and  290  blacks,  total  693  in  18 13.  In  that  year  Dr.  Holiings- 
head reported  109  whites  added.  But  as  nothing  is  said  of 
diminutions  by  deaths,  dismissions  and  removals,  these  num- 
bers may  be  exaggerated.  Dr.  Keith  died  suddenly  on  the 
14th  of  December,  1813,  in  the  59th  year  of  hisage.  Rev. 
Benjamin  Morgan  Palmer,  who  had  lately  removed  to  Charles- 
ton haying  resigned  his  charge  at  Beaufort,  was  chosen  pas- 
tor in  his  stead  as  a  colleatjue  with  Dr.  Holiingshead,  in  the 
year  18 14.  Dr.  Holiingshead  did  not  long  survive  his  former 
colleague  Dr.  Keith.     He  died  on  the  26th  of  January,  1817. 

"The  Eev.  Dr.  Isaac  Stockton  Keith  was  born  in  Buck's  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, January  20th,  A.  D.,  1755,  and  was  educated  in  the  grammar 
school  and  college  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  when  the  Eev  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  was  President.    His  diligence  and  progress  in  his  studies  were 


192  DR.    KEITH.  [1810-1820. 

SO  great  that  at  every  examination  of  thie  school  he  was  honored  with 
a  premium.  In  1775  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  A.  B.  His  pious 
parents,  from  early  youth,  dedicated  li-im  to  ihe  ministry,  and  his  own 
inclination  concurred  with  their  fond  anticipations.  Soon  after  he  lef*. 
the  college  he  commenced  the  study  of  divinity,  under  the  direction  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Smith,  of  Pequea,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1778  was 
licensed,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia  to  preach  the  Gospel  Af- 
ter itinerating  for  short  time,  lie  settled  in  Alexandria  in  Virginia,  and 
continued  there  in  the  excercise  of  liis  ministerial  functions  till  the  year 
1788,  when  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Charleston,  to  be  co-pastor  thereof,  in  connection  with  the  Rev. 
Dr.  HoUingshead.  He  there  served  the  church  with  ability  and 
lidelity  for  twenty-five  years,  a  period  exceeding  tliat  of  an^  one  of 
his  eleven  deceased  predecessors.  In  1791,  he  was  constituted  D.D. 
by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  was  thrice  married  ;  first  to 
Miss  Hannah  Sproat,  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr  Sproat,  of  Phila- 
delphia, who  died  onthcSOth  Sept.,  1796;  second  Miss  Catharine  Legare, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Legare,  Esq.,  of  Charleston;  who  died  of  a 
lingering  disease  on  the  15th  of  May,  1803;  third,  to  Miss  Jane  Hux- 
ham,  a  native  of  Exeter,  in  England,  and  daughter  to  Mr.  William 
Huxham,  who  had  resided  many  years  in  South  Carolina.  As  a 
man,  as  a  Christian,  and  as  a  preaclier  of  the  Gospel,  Dr.  Keith  was 
respected  and  beloved.  On  all  the  relations  of  life  in  which  he  was 
placed,  he  reflected  honor — given  to  hospitality  and  aboundinginchar- 
ity,  his  heart  and  his  house  were  open  to  the  stranger,  and  his  purse  to 
tiie  indigent;  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  marked  his  intercourse  with 
men  ;  it  influenced  the  wliole  of  his  deportment,  and  impressed  a  dis- 
tinctive character  on  all  his  transactions.  "He  rejoiced  with  those  that 
did  rejoice,  and  wept  with  those  who  wept."  In  pastoral  visits  to  tiie 
sick  and  afflicted  he  was  indefatigable  ;  to  their  impressible  minds  he 
presented  divine  truths  with  such  sympathy,  affection  and  discretion, 
as  with  the  blessing  of  God  often  terminated  in  the  happiest  result. 
He  was  fond  of  assembling  children  around  him,  and  of  conversing  with 
them  in  a  pleasant  cheerful  manner,  mingled  witli  instruction.  Thouah 
not  a  parent,  he  had  deeply  imbibed  thespirit  of  a  judicious  affectionate 
Christian  parent.  Many  were  the  books  which  he  gave  in  presents  to 
adults,  but  more  to  children,  under  such  circumstances  of  love  and 
affection  as  could  scarcely  fail  of  ensuring  an  attentive  perusal  of  their 
important  contents.  His  heart  overflowing  with  love  to  God  and  man 
disposed  him  to  spend  and  he  spent  in  promoting  the  glorj;  of  the  one 
and  the  happiness  of  the  other.  In  the  work  of  the  ministry  he  was 
diligent,  laborious,  and  successful,  and  he  was  well  fnrnished  with  gifts 
and  graces  for  its  faithful  discharge.  Sensible  that  souls  were  commit- 
ted to  his  care  he  shaped  his  instructions,  admonitions  and  warnings 
according  to  this  dread  responsibility.  Jesus  Christ  was  the  centre  and 
tlie  sum  of  his  sermons.  These  were  distinguished  for  their  manly 
sense,  evangelical  piety,  and  searching  truth.  The  divinity  of  Christ, 
and  atonement  through  his  blood,  were  with  him  essential  doctrines. 
He  deemed  that  sermon  of  little  value  which  had  not  in  it  something 
of  Christ.  The  doctrines  of  grace  were  his  usual  topics,  and  he  stated 
and  defended  them  with  zeal  and  ability.  The  entire  depravity  of  the 
human  heart — the  absolute  necessity  of  divine  influences  to  change  the 
heart  and  to  sanctify  the  souJ,  were,  with  him,  articles  of  primary  im- 
portance, and  urged  on  the  consciences  of  his  hearers  as  indispensably 
necessary  to  a  correct  view  of  the  Gospel.  In  his  preaching  he  was 
particularly  attentive  to  the  dispensations  of  Providence.     Epidemic 


1810-1820.]  DR.   KEITH.  193 

diseases,  destructive  fires,  earthquakes,  hurricanes,  tornadoes,  and  un- 
usual convulsions  of  the  elements,  were  never  suffered  to  escape  his 
public  notice.  They  were  always  the  subjects  of  appropriate  prayers 
and  sermons,  and  made  tributary  to  the  instruction  of  his  hearers.  He 
was  among  the  first  in  the  United  States  in  aiding,  with  pecuniary  sup- 
port, the  interest  of  evangelical  missions  and  translations  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  the  East  Of  the  Charleston  Bible  Society  he  may  in 
some  respects  be  called  the  father.  On  Monday,  the  13th  of  December, 
1813,  he  zealously  and  successfully  advocated  a  motion,  the  object  of 
which  was  to  send  the  Scriptures,  in  their  native  language  to  the  French 
inhabitants  of  Louisiana,  and  in  the  course  of  the  n,ext  thirty  hours  he 
was  called  to  the  bosom  of  his  Father  and  his  God,  after  he  had  served 
his  generation  fifty-eight  years  and  eleven  months.  He  died  childless, 
with  an  Estate  of  about  thirty  thousand  dollars  at  his  disposal.  Of  this 
he  bequeathed  a  considerable  part  for  the  most  important  and  benficent 
usues  Besides  a  large  legacy  left  to  the  Church  of  which  he  was  pastor 
to  be  hereafter  particularized,  Dr.  Keith  bequeathed  about  five  thou- 
sanii  dollars  to  the  general  assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  !America.  To  each  child  nam.ed  after  himself  or  either 
ot  his  three  wives  (about  twenty  in  number,)  he  bequeathed  a  copy  of 
Woodward's  edition  of  Dr.  Scott's  Commentary  on  the  Bible.  The 
Church  directed  a  monument  to  be  erected  to  his  memory  in  the  Circu- 
lar Church,  with  the  following  inscription  : 

Sacred  to  the  memory  of 

The  Eevd.  Isaac  S.  Keith,  D.  D., 

for  25  years  a  beloved  co-pastor  of  this  Church,  from 

which  he  was  suddenly  removed,  by  death,  on  the 

fourteenth  of  December,  1813,  in  the 

fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 

He  was 

a  learned,  amiable,  and  successful  minister 

of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ : 

In  prayer,  copious  and  fervent ; 

in  doctrine,  clear  and  evangalical ; 

in  exhortation,  warm,  affectionate,  and  persuasive 

In  his  pastoral  intercourse, 

and  in  his  private  and  public  deportment, 

he  adorned  the  doctrine 

of  his  Lord  and  Saviour. 

His  charity  to  the  poor, 

his  hospitality  to  the  stranger, 

his  patronage  to  the  meritorious, 

his  munificence  to  the  Church, 

his  suavity  of  manners  and  unwearied  activity 

in  the  cause  of  humanity  and  religion, 

conspired  to  render  hi  m 
dear  to  his  people  and  society  at  large. 

His  mourning  congregation, 

in  testimony  of  his  merit  and  their  affection, 

erect  this  monument. 

[This  monument  was  on  the  eastern  wall  of  the  Church,  to  the  right 
of  the  pulpit  as  one  would  approach  it,  while  the  Church  was   still 
standingj 
13 


194  DR.   KKITH.  [1810-1820. 

Dr.  Keith  published  several  sermons  and  addresses  deliver- 
ed on  special  occasions  during  his  life,  which,  with  a  few 
others  and  the  sermon  occasioned  by  his  death,  which  was 
preached  by  the  Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  D.  D.,  a  brief  biograph- 
ical notice  of  him,  and  a  selection  from  his  correspondence 
were  published  in  1816,  making  an  8vo  volume  of  448  pages. 

"  The  personal  appearance  of  Dr.  Keith,"  says  the  Rev. 
Edward  Palmer,  who  was  one  of  the  congregation  to  the  day 
of  the  Dr's  lamented  death,  "'was  imposing.  Large  in  stat- 
ure, dignified  in  manner,  grave  in  aspect  and  speech,  it  was 
impossible  not  to  feel  that  you  were  in  the  presence  of  a  much 
more  than  ordinary  man.  But,  notwithstanding  his  appear- 
ance and  manner  were  such  as  to  repel  everything  like  frivolity, 
he  was  so  courteous  and  affable  as  to  invite  the  confidence  of 
the  most  timid  child.  Indeed,  the  affectionate  freedom  with 
which  the  young  of  his  numerous  flock  actually  approached 
him,  showed  how  easy  of  access  he  really  was.  His  example 
was  in  beautiful  keeping  with  his  religious  profession — it  was 
an  epistle  of  Christ  known  and  read  of  all  men."  "As  a  man, 
as  a  Christian  and  as  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  says  Dr. 
Flinn,  he  was  deservidly  fevered,  respected  and  belm>ed.  Ven- 
erable and  grave  in  his  aspect,  his  presence  forbade  the  rude 
approach  of  impertinence.  To  a  stranger,  his  first  appearance 
seemed  rather  distant  and  severe ;  but  he  soon  found  that 
in  the  presence  of  dignity,  it  was  dignity  softened  and  em- 
bellished with  every  benign  and  generous  affection.  An 
affectionate  husband,  a  humane  master,  an  obliging  neighbor, 
and  a  distinguished  philanthrophist.  His  heart  and  his  house 
were  open  to  the  stra,np-er  and  his  purse  to  the  indigent.  As 
a  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  this  amiable  man  was  humble, 
watchful  AVid,  devout.  But  it  was  from  the  walls  of  Zion  that 
he  shed  the  brightest  glory  o*"  the  gospel.  Of  his  sermons, 
Jesus  was  the  centre  and  the  sum.  They  were  distinguished 
for  their  manly  sense,  and  simplicity  of  style,  evangelical  piety 
and  searching  truth."* 

"  On  the  22cl  of  August,  1814,  the  Eev  Benjamin  Morgan  Palmer,  A. 
M.,was  elected  co-pastor  with  Dr.  Hollingshead,  in  the  place  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Keith.  He  had  served  the  Church  the  preceding  seven  months,  in 
the  capacity  of  a  temporary  supply,  and  for  ten  years  anterior  to  that 
temporary  appointment,  had  been  settled  in  Beaufort,  S.   C,  as  pastor 

*The  Charleston  Bible  Society  is  said  to  have  been  set  on  foot,  at  the 
stiggestion  and  by  the  eftorts  of  Dr.  Keith. 


1810-1820.]  DR.    B.    M.    PALMER.  195 

of  the  Congregational  Church  in  tliat  plapc.  He  was  the  fourth  of  the 
sixteen  children  of  Mr  Job  Palmer,  who  had  been  a  worthy  member 
of  the  Independent  Ctiurch  in  Charleston,  for  the  preceding  forty-two 
years.  He  was  also  the  grandson  of  the  Rev  Samuel  Palmer,  who  for 
forty  years  immediately  prior  to  the  year  1775,  in  which  he  died,  had 
been  only  minister,  and  for  the  greater  part  of  the  period  the  only 
physician  of  Falmouth  in  Barnstable  county,  Massachusetts,  where  he 
was  much  beloved  and  respected.  The  Revd.  Mr.  B.  M.  Palmer  spent 
the  summerof  1810,  in  the  Northern  States,  for  the  benefit  of  his  health, 
and  part  of  it  at  Falmouth.  This  une.x;pected  visit,  from  the  distance  of 
a  thousand  miles,  of  a  clerical  grandson  of  their  former  beloved  pastor, 
was  highly  gratifying  to  the  Oongretional  Church  of  that  place.  They, 
particularly  the  gray-headed  veterans  in  that  county  of  longevity, 
received  him  with  transports  of  joy.  Their  then  minister,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Lincoln,  after  closing  the  religious  services  of  the  evening,  invited 
his  clerical  brother  Palmer,  just  arrived,  and  then  attending  as  a  hearer, 
to  address  the  congregation.  Mr.  Palmer  accepted  this  invitation,  in- 
tending to  speak  only  for  a  few  minutes  ;  but,  animated  from  the  con- 
sideration of  his  being  in  the  vicinity  of  the  bones  of  his  ancestors,  and 
of  his  standing  in  the  place  of  his  grandfather,  and  speaking  to  a  con- 
gregation among  whom  his  father  had  been  born,  and  his  father's  father 
laboured  as  a  gospel  minister  for  forty  years,  he  was  insensibly  urged 
by  his  feelings  to  continue  his  extemporaneous  address  for  nearly  an 
hour,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  his  hearers,  who  rejoiced  that  their 
pastor,  though  he  had  ceased  from  his  labours,  for  thirty-five  years,  still 
lived  in  the  person  of  his  grandson,  devoted  to  the  same  profession,  in 
the  exercise  of  which  his  venerable  ancestor  had  been  so  useful  to  them. 
Mr.  Benjamin  M  Palmer  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  in  about  two  weeks 
after  his  parents  had  arrived  there,  in  the  character  of  exiles,  driven 
from  Charleston,  in  the  year  1781,  by  the  then  British  paramount  power 
in  South  Carolina.  On  the  termination  of  the  revolutionary  war  the 
wh9le  family  returned  to  Charleston  Mr.  B.  M.  Palmer's  classical 
education  commenced  in  Charleston  college,  when  it  was  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Rt.  Revd.  Bishop  Smith.  In  the  year  1797,  he 
was  removed  to  Princeton  college,  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  S.  Smith 
presided  over  the  institution  There,  in  1800,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
degree  of  A.  B.  This  extensive  course  of  education  was  not  entered 
upon  without  serious  and  deliberate  consultation.  The  buddings  of 
Mr  Palmer's  genius  inspired  hopes  that  he  might  easily  be  made  a 
scholar.  His  correct,  orderly  habits,  and  early  religious  impressions, 
pointed  him  out  as  a  suitable  person  to  be  educated  with  a  view  to 
the  ministry  ;  but  there  were  difficulties  in  the  way.  The  times  were 
hard— money  scarce  —education  dear— his  father's  family  large  In  this 
crisis  the  Revd.  Dr.  Keith  interposed  with  his  usual  ardour  in  doing 
good,  and  urged  with  all  his  energies  of  persuasion  that  the  promising 
yonth  should  be  put  forward  in  a  collegiate  course  of  studies,  and  he 
seconded  his  arguments  with  more  than  advice.  A  generous  friend- 
ship between  the  parties  was  thus  commenced.  It  was  excited  on  one 
side  by  gratitude,  and  fanned  into  flanie  on  the  other  by  frequently 
repeated  acts  of  disinterested  benevolence.  The  attention  of  the  Church 
on  their  late  bereavement,  by  the  the  much  lamented  dfeath  of  Dr. 
Keith,  was  naturally  turned  towards  Mr.  Palmer,  as  being  known  to 
them,  from  his  infancy,  to  be  distinguished  for  corre3t  conduct,  respec- 
table for  his' genius  and  literary  attainments,  for  his  fervent  piety,  and 
in  his  adult  years  for  the  distinguished  excellence  of  his  compositions 


196  DE.    HOLLINGSHEAD.  [1810-1820. 

for  the  pnlpit.  With  the  exception  of  the  Kev.  Josiah  Smith,  he  was 
the  only  Carolinian  that  had  ever  been  offered  as  a  pastor  for  their 
Church,  though  it  had  been  constituted  above  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years.  In  addition  to  these  strong  recommendations,  he  was  known  to 
have  possessed  the  fullest  confidence  of  their  lately  deceased  beloved 
pastor,  and  also  his  highest  esteem  and  applause  as  an  able,  faithful, 
and  accomplished  preacher.  The  circumstances  of  the  case  were  par- 
ticular, and  seemed  to  point  out  that  the  hand  of  God  was  in  the  matter. 
Mr.  Palmer's  congregation  in  Beaufort,  was  so  small  as  to  be  unequal  to 
his  comfortable  support.  His  friend.  Dr.  Keith,  had  long  urged  him  to 
leave  that  place  and  come  to  Charleston,  and  open  school  there  for  his 
immediate  support  (which  he  did  for  a  time)  till  Providence  opened 
another  door  for  the  regular  exercise  of  his  ministerial  functions  ;  in 
the  meantime,  having  it  in  view  to  supply  a  vacant  Presbyterian 
Church,  on  John's  island,  with  preaching  every  Sabbath  during  the 
winter  months.  On  the  15th  of  November,  1813,  exactly  twenty-nine 
days  before  his  death.  Dr.  Keith  wrote  to  Mr.  Palmer,  just  recovering 
from  distressing  sickness,  as  follows :  "  Be  assured,  my  friend,  that  I 
have  felt  much  for  you,  not  only  on  account  of  your  bodily  sufferings, 
but  also  of  your  difficult  situation  and  discouraging  prospects  in  Beau- 
fort. It  seems  as  if  a  variety  of  circumstances  were  combining  to  indi- 
cate that  your  residence  cannot  be  much  longer  continued  in  Beaufort, 
as  without  a  considerate  change,  not  perhaps  to  be  soon  expected  in  the 
present  state  of  our  country,  the  means  of  supporting  your  family  are 
likely  to  fail  you.  But  what  shall  you  do?  Or  whither  shall  you  go? 
I  wish  I  could  tell.  Perhaps  the  finger  of  Providence  will  point  out  to  you 
when  and.  how  you  are  to  be  next  employed;  and  perhaps  a  visit  to  Charles- 
ton, and  you  spending  some  time  here,  as  soon  as  you  can  conviently 
come,  may  be  the  means  of  placing  you  on  a  ground  a  little  higher  than 
that  on  which  you  now  stand,  so  that  you  may  be  able  to  see  a  little 
further  and  more  clearly  around  you." 

Mr  Palmer  accordingly  came  to  Charleston  and  after  much  serious 
consultation  and  anxious  mental  conflict,  assented  to  the  recommenda- 
tion of  his  friend — issued  proposal-*  for  opening  a  school,  and  on  the 
forenoon  of  the  14th  of  December,  1813,  sent  off  to  his  Church  in  Beau- 
fort, a  letter  of  resignation  of  its  pastorship.  In  two  hours  alter  this 
was  done,  Dr.  Keith  was  struck  with  apoplexy,  and  in  seven  hours 
more  breathed  his  last." 

History  of  the  Circular  Church,  p.  7. 

William  Hollingshead  was  born  of  respectable  parents  in 
Philadelphia,  October  8,  1748.  His  father,  William  Hollings- 
head, who  was  considerably  distinguished  in  civil  life  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution,  was  the  j'oungest  son,  who 
lived  to  manhood,  of  Daniel  Hollingshead,  who  came  from 
Lancashire,  England,  to  Barbadoes,  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Hazell,  the  daughter  of  a 
wealthy  sugar  planter  on  the  Island,  and  some  time  after 
came  to  New  Jersey  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  New 
Brunswick.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  tiif  eldest  of 
fifteen  children.  He  discovered  a  serious  disposition  from 
early  childhood,  and  at  the   age   of  fifteen   became  a  comniu- 


1810-1820.1  DR.    HOLLINGSHEAD.  197 

nicant  in  the  Church.  He  was  graduated  at  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania  in  1770.  He  wa.s  licensed  to  preach  by  the 
Presytery  of  Philadelphia  in  1772;  and  was  ordained  and 
installed  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Fairfield,  N.  J., 
the  next  year.  Here  he  was  greatly  esteemed,  and  enjoyed  a 
high  degree  of  popularity  throughout  the  whole  region  ;  and 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  say,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  that  he 
had  never  known  any  happier  years  than  those  which  he 
spent  in  his  connection  with  this  congregation. 

In  the  year  1783,  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  Independent 
Congregational  Church  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina — a  call 
from  the  same  Church  having  been  sent  to  him  the  preceding 
year,  but  not  accepted  on  account  of  some  informality.  Here, 
also,  he  was  received  with  great  favor ;  and  soon  acquired  an 
extensive  influence,  both  as  a  man  and  a  minister.  In  1788, 
the  Rev.  Isaac  Keith,  who  had  been  previously  settled  over 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Alexandria,  D.  C  ,  was  associated 
with  him  in  the  pastoral  office;  though  there  were  two  places 
of  worship  belonging  to  the  congregation  in  which  the  two 
pastors  alternately  officiated. 

In  1793,  Mr.  Hollingshead  was  honored  with  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  College  of  New  Jersey. 

Dr.  Hoiliiigshead  continued  in  the  active  discharge  of  his 
duties  till  March,  18 15,  when  he  suddenly  lost,  in  a  great 
measure,  his  power  of  recollection,  while  engaged  in  the 
public  service  of  the  Sabbath.  In  connection  with  this,  he 
suiifered  great  depres.sion  of  spirits  ;  and,  early  in  the  sum- 
mer, traveled  into  the  Northern  States,  in  the  hope  that  his 
malady  might  yield  to  rest  and  relaxation.  He  returned 
home  in  December  following  without  having  experienced  any 
essential  relief;  and  from  that  time  he  continued  in  a  low  and 
declining  state,  until  the  26th  of  January,  1817,  when  he 
closed  his  earthly  career,  aged  sixty-eight  years  and  three 
months. 

Dr.  Hollingshead  published  a  sermon  on  the  new  meeting 
house,  1787;  a  sermon  on  the  advantages  of  public  worship, 
1794;  a  sermon  ciimmemoraiive  of  General  Moultrie,  1805. 

He  was  married  to  a  sister  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  M'Calla,  but 
they  had  no  children. 

"  In  stature,"  says  the  Rev.  William  States  Lee,  who  was 
reared  under  Dr.  Hollingshead's  pastoral  care,  ''  he  was  not 
much  above  medium  height ;  but  was  remarkably  dignified  in 


198  DK.    HOLLINGSHEAD.  [1810-1820. 

his  deportment.  His  features  were  very  regular  and  attractive; 
his  manners  combined  the  apparently  opposite  qualities  of 
great  refinement  and  Christian  simplicity.  So  great  was  his 
influence  among  the  people  of  his  charge  during  the  first 
years  of  his  ministry  in  Charleston,  and  so  marked  was  their 
attachment  to  him,  that  he  was  tauntingly  spoken  of  by  many 
in  other  denominations  as  "  the  white  meetingers'  Saviour." 
He  maintained  a  distinguished  reputation  for  biblical  knowl- 
edge, piety,  and  eloquence,  to  the  close  of  life.  His  manner 
in  the  pulpit  was  earnest  and  impressive.  He  spoke  like  one 
who  felt  deeply  his  responsibility  to  God,  who  truly  estimated 
the  value  of  the  soul,  and  whose  ardent  love  to  God  and.  man 
cause  him  to  forget  himself  in  his  efforts  to  advance  the  inter- 
ests of  Christ's  Kingdom. 

In  his  intercourse  with  his  fellow-men  he  was  urbane  and 
courteous.  Never  forgetting  what  was  due  to  his  office,  and 
what  was  reasonably  expected  of  him  as  a  Christian  and  a 
Christian  minister,  his  cheerfulness,  and  mildness,  and  un- 
affected -interest  in  the  welfare  of  all,  rendered  his  character 
peculiarly  attractive,  and  his  company  exceedingly  welcome 
to  persons  of  all  ages.  His  pastoral  intercourse  was  charac- 
terized by  tenderness  and  fidelity.  Prepared  at  all  times  to 
advise,  direct,  commend,  and  even  censure,  if  need  be,  in  a 
manner  peculiarly  his  own,  he  could  check  the  presumptuous 
without  repelling  them,  and  encourage  the  timid  or  despond- 
ing without  bringing  to  their  view  any  false  ground  of  de- 
pendence. Christ  and  Him  crucified,  the  sinner's  hope,  the 
Christian's  example  and  life,  was  the  theme  that  seemed  ever 
present  to  his  mind,  both  in  public  and  in  private. 

The  following  inscription  to  his  memory  was  to  be  found 
on  a  mural  monument  on  the  eastern  wall  of  the  Church  (pre- 
vious to  the  conflagration  of  1861),  to  the  left  of  the  pulpit  as 
one  should  approach  it : 

Sacred  to  the  memory 

of  the 

Rev.  William  HolIingshead,  D.  D. 

This  venerable  servant  of  God 

Was  the  Senior  Pastor 

Of  the  Independent  Church,  in  this  City, 

Nearly  one-third  of  a  century. 

After  a  long  and  afflicting  illness, 

Sustained  with  the  most  pious  resignation. 

He  was  called  to  the  joy  of  his  Lord, 

On  the  26th   day  of  January,  A.  D.  1817, 

In  the  68th  year  of  his  age. 


1810-1820.]  TWO  Places  of"  worship.  199 

He  was  blessed  with  a  meek 

And  gentle  spirit, 

Which  peculiarly  qualified  him 

To  be  a  teacher  of  the  benevolent  doctrines 

Of  his  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. 

He  was  fervent  in  prayer, 

Earnest  and  eloquent  in  his  public  discourses, 

And  eminently  persuasive  and  consoling, 

In  his  pastoral  visits  to  the  sick 

And  the  afflicted. 

His  active  beneficence,  ardent  piety. 

His  humility,  blended  with  mild  dignity, 

And  his  faithful  labors  in  the  ministry. 

Greatly  endeared  him  to  his  own  people, 

And  procured  him  the  respect  of  others. 


His  Congregation,  deeply  sensible  of  his  great  worth. 

And  of  their  severe  loss, 

Erect  this  monument  to  the  memory 

Of  their  beloved  Pastor. 

In  the  year  1814,  a  few  moaths  only  having  elapsed  since 
the  death  of  Dr.  iCeith,  the  church  called  Mr.  Palmer  to 
become  their  pastor  as  colleague  with  Dr.  Hollingshead. 
The  next  year  he  was  honored  with  the  title  of  D.  D.  by 
the  College  of  South  Carolina.  During  the  decade  of  which 
we  now  .=peak  there  were  published  of  his  the  following  ser- 
mons :  Gratitude  and  Penitence  recommended  from  the 
united  consideration  of  national  judgments;  a  Sermon  de- 
livered on  a  day  appointed  for  humiliation,  thanksgiving  and 
prayer  in  Charleston,  1814;  the  Signs  of  the  Times  discussed 
and  improved ;  two  Sermons  delivered  in  the  Independent 
Church,  Charleston,  1816  ;  a  charge  at  the  ordination  of 
Rev.  Jonas  King  and  Re'v.  Alfred  Wright,  the  former  when 
he  was  ordained  as  City  Missionary  in  Charleston,  among 
the  seamen  and  others ;  the  latter  as  a  Missionary  to  the 
Choctaw  Indians  in  18 19;  a  Sermon  on  the  Anniversary  of 
the  Sabbath  School  Association  in  Charleston,  1819. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  church,  though  incorpo- 
rated as  one  body,  consisted  of  two  congregations,  meeting 
in  two  distinct  places  of  worship,  the  house  popularly  known 
as  the  Circular  Church,  in  Meeting  street,  and  that  known  as 
the  Archd lie  Street  Church;  that  they  were  served  by  two 
associate  or  colleague  pastors  who  officiated  in  the  respec- 
tive churches  alternately,  morning  and  evening.  Early  in 
the  spring  of  18 15,  the  Rev.  Anthony  Foster,  who  had  been 


200  EEV.   MR.    FORSTEE.  [1810-1820. 

preaching  for  some  short  time  in  the  Independent  Church  at 
Wappetaw,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston,  and 
the  Church  on  John's  Island,  was  engaged  as  a  temporary 
supply  in  the  room  of  Dr.  Hollingshead,  whose  age  and  infir- 
mities forbade  the  expectation  that  he  would  ever  be  able  to 
resume  his  labors.  In  the  autumn  of  this  year  he  was  at- 
tacked with  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs  and  did  not  resume  his 
labors  till  sometime  in  the  Spring  of  1816.  In«January  of 
the  next  year,  as  we  have  seen.  Dr.  Hollingshead  died. 

Mr.  Foster  was  born  in  the  County  of  Brunswick,  in  North 
Carolina,  January  i  ith,  1785.  His  father  dying  when  he  was 
yet  a  child,  his  education  was  provided  for  by  his  guardian, 
who  sent  him  and  his  brother  to  the  University  of  North 
Carolina  where  they  entered  the  preparatory  school,  he  being 
at  this  time  but  twelve  years  of  age.  He  resided  at  this  insti- 
tution for  five  years  and  at  the  advice  of  friends  commenced 
the  study  of  law.  But  he  was  found  to  be  poring  over 
volumes  of  theology  which  chance  threw  in  his  way,  rather 
than  perusing  Blackstone  or  Coke.  His  health  failing, 
through  this  too  sedentary  life,  under  the  advice  of  friends  he 
accepted  an  Ensign's  commission  in  the  army,  bearing  date 
March,  1804.  He  was  stationed  on  the  Western  frontier  of 
Georgia,  was  promoted  to  a  Lieutenancy  and  had  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  brave,  correct  and  active  officer  until  October,  1806, 
when  he  resigned  and  retired  from  the  service.  He  was  then 
for  a  season  employed  in  the  United  States  Factory  estab- 
lished at  the  fort  where  he  had  been  stationed',  and  then 
returned  to  his  legal  studies  at  Milledgeville.  After  some 
time  thus  spent  he  was  attacked  with  a  severe  illness  from 
which  he  never  fully  recovered.  He  then  returned  to  Noith 
Carolina  and  became  private  secretary  to  General  B.  Smith, 
his  former  guardian,  who  was  at  that  time,  1810,  Governor  of 
the  State.  ■  Here  his  desire  returned  to  dedicate  himself  to 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  With  this  view  he  became  as- 
sistnnt  teacher  in  the  Raleigh  Academy,  under  the  Rev.  Dr. 
McPheeters,  who  was  its  principal,  and  at  the  same  time 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Raleigh.  Early  in  1813 
he  was  licensed  as  a  preacher  by  Orange  Presbytery,  and  till 
November  of  that  year  officiated  as  a  voluntary  Missionary 
in  various  parts  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  He  was 
married  in  December,  1813,  to  Miss  Altona  H.  Gales, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Joseph  Gales,  of  Raleigh,  and  sister  of  Mr. 


1810-1820.]  HISTORY  OF  THE  SEPARATION.  201 

Gales,  afterwards  of  Washington  City.  She  was  born  in 
Altona,  in  Holstein,  and  her  full  name  was  Altona  Holstein 
Gales. 

Mr.  Forster  was  a  man  of  popular  manners  and  very  con- 
siderable talent.  So  far  as  his  theological  education  was 
concerned,  it  had  been  in  the  Calvanistic  faith,  and  the  creeds 
and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  he  must  have 
assented  icf,  or  he  cpuld  not  have  been  authorized  by  it  to 
preach  the  Gospel.  But  he  could  not  have  been  a  thorough 
and  well-read  theologian.  And  when  he  came  under  the 
personal  influence  of  a  Unitarian  friend,  in  the  City  of  Charles- 
ton, he  was  led  to  adopt,  more  or  less,  his  opinions,  and  to 
favor  doctrines  which  are  subversive  of  the  Gospel. 

The  following  history  of  these  ever-to-be-lamented  events 
is  compiled  from  the  narrative  of  a  committee  appointed  July 
14th,  1817,  "to  collect,  collate  and  submit  a'  statement  of 
the  causes  which  led  to  a  separation  of  this  congregation." 

"  For  a  time,"  say  thi.s  committee,  "  his  preaching  and  con- 
duct won  greatly  upon  his  hearers,  while  his  pecuniary  cir- 
cumstances awakened  their  sympathy.  He  was  engaged  for 
the  church  at  the  small  annual  stipend  of  ^1,140,  which  was 
made  thus  narrow  by  the  necessity  of  continuing  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  salary  of  Dr,  Hollingshead.  His  pecuniary 
necessities  were  relieved  from  private  sources.  But  the 
necessities  of  Dr.  Hollingshead  being  soon  after  provided  for 
by  the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  Disabled  Ministers,  Mr. 
Forster  had  placed  at  his  disposal  the  annual  sum  of  ^2,140. 
The  death  of  Dr.  H.  created  a  vacancy  which  the  existing 
engagement  with  Mr.  F.  could  not  be  construed  to  embrace. 
It  was,  however,  no  less  necessary  that  some  person  should 
officiate  as  a  temporaty  stipply,  on  the  same  terms  as  before 
stated.  The  members  and  supporters  gave  another  evidence 
of  respect  for  Mr.  F.  by  a  unanimous  election  of  him  to  fill 
this  new  vacancy.  The  second  contract  with  Mr.  F.  was 
of  the  ordinary  duration,  and  so  prevalent  was  the  opinion 
that  he  would  succeed  as  co-pastor,  that  the  course  indicated 
by  the  Constitution,  and  similarly  pursued  on  similar  occa- 
sions, was  not  resorted  to.  It  was  during  this  latter  en- 
gagement that  some  of  his  discourses  awakened  apprehensions 
of  the  unsoundness  of  his  principles  in  the  minds  of  the  most 
intelligent  and  discerning  members  of  the  congregation. 
These  impressions  were   received   with    caution  and   uttered 


202  HISTORY   CONTINUED.  [1810-1820. 

with  hesitation.  Such  was  the  deh'cacy  observed  towards 
hiin,  and  such  the  confidence  of  the  church  in  him,  that  the 
day  for  the  election  of  co-pastor  was  already  announced  and 
not  one  effort  essayed  to  obtain  another  candidate.  On  the 
day  appointed  for  the  election,  the  members  and  supporters 
of  the  church  were  convened.  Pursuant  to  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  Constitution,  the  members  in  communion  first 
assembled  to  determine  on  the  expediency  of  proceedings 
forthwith  to  elect  a  co-pastor,  an  election  which  they  well 
knew,  for  the  causes  above  stated,  must  eventuate  in  favor  of 
Mr.  Forster.  While  thus  deliberating,  two  of  the  members 
stated  to  their  brethren  that,  to  satisfy  certain  doubts,  they 
had  waited  on  and  held  a  personal  communication  with  Mr. 
F.,  the  result  of  which  was  a  confirmation  of  those  opinions 
which  previously  existed  but  in  doubt;  and  further,  substan- 
tially declared  that  the  tenets  of  Mr.  Forster  were  at  variance 
with  those  adopted,  and  which  had  uniformly  obtained  in 
that  church;  and  they  sincerely  believed  that,  even  if  elected, 
he  would  not  subscribe  the  Constitution  and  articles  of  faith. 
This  important  communication  from  gentlemen  whose  vera- 
city was  above  suspicion,  and  whose  intelligence  and  zeal 
left  no  room  to  suppose  the  existence  of  error,  awakened  the 
most  poignant  reflections,  and  became  the  source  of  extreme 
embarrassment.  Could  they  imagine  that  he  who  had  been 
received  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  in  the  view  of  a 
written  constitution,  embracing  those  great  doctrinal  points 
or  articles  of  faith  which  had  been  interwoven  with  its  very 
existence ;  which  had  been  recently  reviewed  and  solemnly 
confirmed,  and  with  which  every  member  of  the  congregation 
was  supposed  to  be  conversant  ?  Could  he  have  been  ignorant 
at  the  moment  of  his  acceptance  of  so  important  and  respon- 
sible a  charge,  that  such  was  their  constitution,  such  their 
faith  ?  They  were  aware  that  it  was  impossible.  Even 
ignorance,  under  such  circumstances,  was  culpable  and  with- 
out the  pos,sibility  of  extenuation.  Could  he,  then,  possess 
ing  principles  hostile  to  both,  voluntarily  become  their 
spiritual  guide,  without  intending  secretly  to  sap  the  most 
venerable  and  beautiful  pillars  of  the  Institution? 

Mr.  F  had  been  received  into  the  Church  in  the  true  spirit 
of  Christian  :)hilanthropy.  It  had  in  advance,  and  while  he 
was  yet  a  stranger,  bestowed  its  confidence  and  affection. 
Could  he,  in  return,  retain  thosa  principles  lockid   up   in  his 


]810-18.'20.]  HISTORY   CONTINUED.  203 

own  bosom  until  his  increasing  popularity  should  awaken 
the  spirit  of  discord  and  erect  this  triumph  on  the  divisions 
of  the  church?  Or  did  he  imagine  their  concealment  for*  a 
time  essential  to  the  great  object  of  effecting  a  gradual  change, 
and  having  once  set  afloat  the  immutable  principles  of  the 
church  on  the  tempestuous  ocean  of  theological  speculation, 
deign  graciously  to  become  their  pilot,  and  guide  them,  by 
the  polar  Star  of  his  opinions,  to  a  haven   of  more  security? 

Whatever  suggestion  this  intelligence  gave  birth  to,  con- 
strained them  either  to  impute  to  him  a  conduct  so  wholly 
opposite  to  the  sacred  character  he  sustamed  —  to  that 
correct  and  honorable  sentiment  which  must  ever  constitute 
and  give  dignity  to  that  character — or  to  regard  with  an  eye 
of  suspicion  a  communication  which,  in  the  o|)inion  of  several, 
was  directly  confirmed  by  his  own  discourses. 

On  a  review  of  this  conduct  the  mind  intuitively  pauses, 
and  the  question  is  irresistibly  obtruded,  was  it  in  human 
ingenuity  to  devise  a  measure  more  liberal,  ingenuous  and 
respectful,  than  to  ''  instruct  the  deacons  of  the  church  to 
inquire  and  ascertain  from  Mr.  Forster,  whether,  if  elected, 
he  would  subscribe  the  constitution  and  articles  of  faith?" 
The  only  known  candidate  was  represented  as  opposed  to 
that  constitution,  by  virtue  of  which  he  was  to  be  elected,  and 
to  that  faith  which  the  church  required  him  to  enforce  by 
precept  and  illustrate  by  example.  An  inquiry  into  the  fact 
was  indispensable,  because  enjoined  by  the  most  sacred  duty, 
and  a  postponement  of  the  election  absolutely  necessary,  be- 
cause an  election  would  have  been  nugatory  and  void.  To 
whom,  then,  could  an  inquiry,  so  peculiar  in  its  character  and 
consequences,  have  been  so  properly  committed,  as  to  the 
responsible  and  solemnly  recognized  .  officers  of  the  church, 
the  deacons.  Having  adopted  these  measures,  the  supporters 
were  called  in,  and  the  chairman  announced  to  them,  that  the 
members  in  communion  deemed  it  inexpedient  to  proceed  at 
that  meeting  to  an  election  for  a  co-pastor.  A  motion  was 
then  made  by  one  of  the  supporters,  that  the  church  should 
pursue  its  usual  course  on  such  occasions,  and  that,  as  here- 
tofore, a  committee  be  appointed  to  inquire  for  and  report  the 
names  of  suitable  clergymen  as  candidates  for  the  office  of 
co-pastor,  which  having  been  concurred  in,  the  meeting  ad- 
journed. 

Availing  themselves  of  the  earliest  moment,  the  deacons  ad- 


204  HISTORY   CONTINUED.  [1810-1820. 

dressed  a  respectful  letter  to  Mr.  Forster,  to  which  they 
received  an  answer  of  a  character  so  evasive,  that  they  would 
have  been  fully  justified  in  not  holding  any  further  communi- 
cation with  him,  and  in  reporting  these  proceedings  to  the 
church  ;  but  a  spirit  of  forbearance  prevailed,  and  a  second 
was  addressed.  The  result  mortified  the  hopes  of  all  to  whom 
the  peace  of  the  church  was  dear.  The  committee  appointed 
to  inquire  for  a  suitable  candidate,  also  wrote  to  Mr.  F.,  en- 
closing a  copy  of  the  constitution,  and  requested  to  be  in- 
formed whether  he  would  become  a  candidate  under  its 
provisions.  His  answer  to  this  communication  referred  to  his 
correspondence  with  the  deacons,  from  which  even  the  faintest 
ray  of  information  on  those  essential  points  sought  after  by 
the  church,  could  not  be  elicited. 

A  few  days  subsequent  to  the  occurrences  just  developed 
he  addressed  a  letter  (o  Mr.  Thos.  Jones,  the  venerable  chair- 
man of  the  church,  in  which  he  expatiated  at  length  on  the 
blasphemy  of  creeds,  and  commenced  with  acrimony  on  those 
who  subscribed  to  them,  alluding  particularly  to  the  members 
of  the  church.  Nor  did  he  wait  the  effect  this  last  effort  was 
calculated  to  produce  on  the  minds  of  the  congregation,  bvt 
gave  it  to  the  public  in  pimphlet  form.  To  temporize  was  to 
submit — replication  involving  doubt  was  inadmissible  ;  under 
such  circumstances  even  forbearance  ceased  to  be  a  virtue. 
The  adherents  to  the  constitution  and  faith  of  the  church  were 
importunately  required  to  act,  and  at  a  numerous  meeting  of 
the  members  and  supporters  immediately  subsequent,  the 
connection  between  the  church  and  Mr.  F.  was  solemnly  dis- 
solved. Hence  arose  that  division  which  eventuated  in  the 
separation  of  the  congregation  and  of  the  two  churches.  That 
in  Archdale  Street  was  yielded  to  the  advocates  of  Mr.  F., 
that  in  Meeting  Street  to  those  who  adhered  to  the  constitution 
and  faith  of  the  church. 

For  the  motives  which  induced  a  unanimous  vote  on  the 
question  of  separation,  the  views  which  governed  the  opposite 
party,  and  for  embodying  much  valuable  information  relative 
to  this  interesting  occurrence,  your  committee  take  the  liberty 
of  embracing  in  their  report  a  report  of  a  committee  who  were 
appointed  to  carry  into  effect  and  arrange  the  several  matters 
growing  out  of  a  division  of  the  churches,  and  which  was 
made  to  a  select  meeting  of  the  friends  and  adherents  to  the 
Constitution,  as  follows: 


1810-1820.]  HISTORY   CONTINUED.  205 

"  This  meeting  has  been  solicited  by  the  committee  who 
consider  themselves  the  representatives  of  the  friends  and 
adherents  of  the  constitution  of  the  church.  The  motives  are 
to  have  a  free  conference  on  the  state  of  the  church,  without 
being  controlled  by  the  presence  of  those  who,  unhappily  for 
the  church,  have  organized  a  violent  opposition  to  its  rules 
and  constitution.  The  present  state  of  this  church  is  beyond 
all  example  in  its  past  history  critical  and  ominous. 

A  large  portion  of  worshipers  have  leagued  with  a  floating 
mass  composed  of  persons  who  claim  to  have  a  voice,  but 
whose  voices,  until  now,  have  not  been  heard  in  the  concerns 
of  the  church,  and  who,  neither  by  attendance  on  worship, 
nor  by  contributing  to  its  support,  have  ever  manifested  any 
extraordinary  interest.  It  is  not  to  be  disguised  that  the 
party  at  present  opposed  to  the  constitution  of  the  church  is 
composed  of  various  materials  and  that  they  are  influenced 
by  various  motives.  'A  portion  of  them,  and  not  a  small  por- 
tion, have  sprung  from  a  party  heretofore  subsisting  on  the 
lifetime  of  our  late  venerable  pastors.  Others  are  influenced 
by  personal  attachments  to  Mr.  F.  and  others  by  religious 
opinions,  conforming  to  those  he  is  supposed  to  possess  and 
which  have  decided  this  church  to  withdraw  from  him  their 
support. 

Others  there  may  be  who,  partaking  of  none  of  those 
motives,  have  been  driven  by  that  wayward  spirit  of  opposi- 
tion too  often  found  among  men,  and  others  drawn  in  by  the 
personal  influence  of  the  zealous.  Various  as  may  be  the 
motives  of  this  party  tiiere  is  one  point  in  which  they  all 
agree,  either  to  divide  these  churches  or  to  upturn  them  from 
their  foundations.  They  were  to  have  taken  the  most  effec- 
tual means  of  securing  united  counsels  and  of  acting  with 
combined  force  on  these  their  favorite  points.  They  have  not 
left  the  men  of  their  party  to  that  freedom  of  will  which 
seeks  the  line  of  prudence  in  free  and  common  discussion  at 
a  fair  church  meeting,  but  they  meet  separate  and  apart,  hear 
arguments  on  one  side  only,  and  resolve  before  -hand  what 
they  will  do,  before  they  meet  their  other  brethren  of  the 
church. 

To  deliberate  under  such  circumstances  is  nugatory.  They 
come  not  to  deliberate,  but  to  act.  This  was  sufficiently 
manifested  at  the  last  church  meeting,  which  must  be  fresh  in 
every  one's  recollections.    The  result  of  that  meeting  showed 


206  HISTORY   CONTINUED.  [1810-1820. 

what  extremities  the  affairs  of  this  church  are  fast  ap- 
proaching. 

Your  committee  felt  deeply  the  importance  of  the  charge 
and  the  weight  of  responsibility  under  which  they  acted. 
They  could  not  but  perceive  that  what  might  be  done  was 
pregnant  with  great  effects  on  this  church  and  on  posterity; 
that  it  was  to  be  reviewed  by  their  cotemporaries  and  looked 
back  to  by  posterity  with  censure  or  approbation.  They  felt 
themselves  bound,  therefore,  to  suppress  theirpassion  or  indig- 
nation at  what  had  passed,  and  taking  a  long  view  of  the 
actual  state  of  the  church,  from  whatever  cause  it  had  arisen, 
concert  such  measures  as  promised  to  diminish,  if  not  eradi- 
cate present  evils,  and  leave  an  open  door  of  hope  for  more 
prosperity  and  harmony  in  future.  It  is  manifest  that  this 
could  be  done  only  by  union  or  disunion  ;  that  is  by  again 
harmonizing  present  parties  under  the  prfesent  constitution  of 
the  church,  or  by  separating  the  congregation  into  the  two 
distinct  churche.s,  so  that  each  might  be  organized  by  itself, 
without  interfering  with  one  another.  It  is  needless  to  tell 
this  meeting  how  more  than  hopeless,  how  utttrly  imprac- 
ticable it  was  to  attempt  the  first.  Independently  of  all  other 
considerations,  the  party  in  opposition  had  so  completely 
identified  their  cause  with  that  of  Mr.  Forster  that  nothing 
short  of  his  being  brought  in  as  co-pastor  of  both  churches, 
could  have  met  their  concurrence. 

It  is  superfluous  to  state,  how  perfectly  repugnant  this 
would  be  to  those  whom  we  represented.  Measures 
had  gone  too  far  on  both  sides  fo"r  Mr.  F.,  ever  to  have  be- 
come a  bond  of  union.  To  sit  again  under  the  ministry  of  a 
man,  not  only  more  than  suspected  of  being  erroneous  in 
the  fdith,  but  who,  with  a  most  unsparing  hand  had  lavished 
grossest  abuse  upon  the  living  signers  of  the  constitution  of 
the  Church,  and  the  memory  of  those  who  had  died  in  the 
faith  of  it,  was  abhorrent  to  every  principle. 

To  agree  to  differ,  was  the  only  alternative,  or  to  wage  a 
war  of  doubtful  issue.  When  your  committee  say,  of  doubtful 
issue,  they  mean  to  say  doubtful  on  which  side  victory  would 
be  found.  But  in  one  respect  this  issue  is  not  at  all  doubtful, 
for  let  the  victory  settle  where  it  might,  it  would  be  a  grievous 
or  disastrous  victory,  one  to  be  bewailed  by  victors  and  van- 
quished. 

If  the  friends  of  the  constitution  maintained  the  ascendency, 


1810-1820.]  HISTORY   CONTINUED.  207 

they  would  maintain  their  favorite  constitution,  it  is  true, 
but  they  would  empty  both  Churches  of  a  very  large  number 
of  effective  member.s.  These  would  go  away  and  rear  a  hostile 
Church,  the  germ  of  endless  animosity,  .leaving  this  Church 
reduced,  wounded  and  bleeding  in  every  part.  It  is  no  trifling 
consideration  too,  that  this  state  of  things  would  rear  the 
demon  of  discord  in  the  bosom  of  private  families.  How 
many  cases  are  there,  where  the  nearest  connection,  not  ex- 
cepting husband  and  wife,  differ  from  one  another.  In  the 
best  issue  therefore  to  which  the  contest  might  or  could  be 
brought,  we  should  have  much  to  lament  and  regret  as  indi- 
viduals— and  much  as  a  Church.  How  deeply  would  it  suffer 
in  its  friends  and  in  its  vital  interests,  it  is  impossible  to  fore- 
tell. It  is  even  to  be  apprehended  that  it  might  lose,  not 
only  the  whole  body  of  the  vanquihed  party,  but  that  others 
either  from  personal  connection  with  them  or  from  uneasines.'; 
of  mind,  would  seek  peace  in  the  bosom  of  some  other 
Chury:hes.  Many  years  at  least  must  roll  away,  perhaps  the 
present  generation  must  pass,  before  the  Church  would  re- 
cover. If  our  principal  fears  and  alarms  are  from  the  hazzard 
of  organizing  a  Socinian  Church  in  this  city  ,»that  event  would 
be  at  least  as  certain  in  the  issue  we  are  now  contemplating, 
as  in  any  other  that  might  occur.  Opposition  is  sonictimes 
the  parent,  but  always  the  nurse  of  Sectarianism.  The  pas- 
sions of  men  always  mingle  with  their  principles,  whether 
political  or  religious,  and  never  fail  to  push  those  principles 
further,  and  give  them  more  activity  and  effect  than  they 
would  ever  have  attained' by  their  own  accord.  Men  may, 
through  spite  and  opposition,  become  rooted  and  confirmed, 
where,  if  left  to  their  cool  and  dispassionate  judgment,  they 
would  have  forsaken  the  soil  into  which  they  had  become 
transplanted  in  the  first  moments  of  schism.  It  is  very  cer- 
tain that  a  great  many  of  the  present  adherents  of  Mr.  Forster 
profess  to  disbelieve  the  facts  of  his  being  of  Arian  or  Socin- 
ian principles,  and  some  have  declared  that  if  it  turn  out 
otherwise,  they  will  forsake  him.  How  many  would  adhere 
to  him  after  his  avowal  of  these  principles,  and  whether  there 
would  be  a  number  sufficient  to  maintain  a  distinct  church, 
it  is  difficult  to  say.  But  of  one  thing  we  may  be  certain, 
that  the  number  will  be  greater  when  the  establishment  is 
made  through  the  medium  of  angry  passions,  than  when  it 
springs  from  the  unaided  force  of  mere  opinion. 


208  HISTORY   CONTINUED.  [1810-1820. 

If  the  character  and  views  of  Mr.  Forster  are  not  greatly- 
mistaken,  he  will  be  more  governed  by  the  necessity  of  a 
parochial  establishment  than  by  his.  zeal  for  revolutionizing 
the  theological  opinions  of  tiie  public  ;  and  if  he  finds,  as 
we  trust  the  truth  is,  that  the  favorers  of  those  opinions  are 
comparatively  few,  the  opinions  will  be  submerged,  and  we 
shall  hear  nothing  of  them.  But  let  us  for  a  moment  reverse 
the  scene  and  suppose  the  possible  case,  that  the  other  party 
shall  obtain  a  constitutional  majority,  and  be  proud  in  pos- 
session of  a  complete  victory.  Then  they  will  have  it  in 
their  power  to  alter  the  whole  constitution — to  expunge  all 
articles  of  faith,  to  abolish  everything  that  distinguishes  this 
Church  from  any  other,  and  to  bring  to  the  communiontable 
any  man  of  any  sect  who  merely  professes  to  believe  the  Scrip- 
tures. It  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  principles  avowed  and  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Forster^o  most  decidedly  that  whole  length.  His 
publication  is  their  text-book,  and  what  would  be  the  result 
of  this?  It  must  drive  our  present  pastor  out  of  the  pulpit, 
the  body  of  the  communicants  and  a  large  portion  of  the 
supporters  from  the  church  forever,  and  both  buildings  become 
the  temple  of  ei^ery  sect,  as  mixed  and  heterogenous  as  the 
audience  of  a  theatre.  Should  the  heat  of  the  triumphant 
party  abate  a  little  when  the  paroxysm  of  triumph  is  over, 
they  might  deign  to  allow  us  to  collect  in  the  Archdale  Street 
Church.  The  qualified  negative  of  the  body  of  the  com- 
municants, that  most  valuable  protecting  principle,  would 
probably  be  abolished  in  both  churches;  for  the  party  possess 
great  hostility  to  it.  Indeed,  so  much  darkness  and  horror 
surround  the  church  in  this  event  of  things  that  it  is  equally 
difficult  and  painful  to  anticipate  the  result.  If  this  result 
should  not  be  the  worst  that  could  occur,  it  would  not  be 
for  the  want  of  mischievous  passion  to  work  the  engine  of 
destruction.  And  if  the  future  situation  of  the  constitutional 
worshippers  should  be  better  than  our  fears,  they  must  enjoy 
it  under  the  humiliating  sense  that  they  owe  it  to  the 
clemency  and  concession  of  the  dominant  party.  There  is  a 
third  result  to  which  the  contest  might  be  brought,  perhaps 
full  as  probable,  and  not  less  disastrous  in  its  consequences 
than  either  that  has  been  contemplated. 

Our  opposers  might  obtain  a  decided  majority  at  the  church 
meeting,  though  not  quite  a  majority  of  all  the  voting  mem- 
bers of  the  church.      To  what  extremity  they  would  carry 


1810-1820.]  RESULT   REACHED.  209 

their  power  under  the  passion  now  excited  and  the  aggrava- 
tions that  would  attend  the  struggle  it  is  difficult  to  say  and 
painful  to  anticipate.  They  would  probably  leave  nothing 
undone  that  is  constitutionally  in  the  power  of  a  majority  to 
do,  calculated  to  draw  the  minority  into  terms  of  their  pre- 
scribing. But  as  men,  when  possessed  of  power  and  strongs 
ly  excited  do  not  always  measure  their  steps  by  the  rules  of 
legitimate  right,  they  might  seize  one  or  the  other  of  the 
churches  for  their  favorite  minister,  and  leave  us  to  contest 
the  question  of  right  in  the  courts  of  law.  They  might  flatter 
themselves  that  we' would  submit  to  almost  anything,  rather 
than  embrace  a  long  contested,  and  acrimonious  and  distract- 
ing litigation,  or  that  our  ranks  would  become  thinned  while 
the  contest  lasted,  while  they  would  be  in  possession,  and  not 
without  the  chances  of  a  sufficient  number  of  individuals  join- 
ing their  party,  for  the  sake  of  putting  an  end  to  so  painful 
and  unprofitable  a  controversy.  In  the  meantime  the  shep- 
herd might  be  drawn  away  and  the  flock  scattered — the  foun- 
dations of  the  ancient  and  venerable  church  torn  up — the 
aged  worshipper  driven  from  the  sanctuary  and  left  to  mourn 
between  the  porch  and  altar. 

Your  committee  could  not  contemplate  either  of  these 
results  with  minds  prepared  to  embrace  them.  Neither  re- 
sentment, nor  indignation,  nor  zeal  for  victory,  nor. any  nor 
all  personal  considerations  could  stimulate  them  to  put  so 
much  to  hazard.  They  had  a  meeting  by  themselves  prior  to 
the  joinfmeeting,  and  taking  a  calm  and  solemn  view  of  the 
state  of  things,  they  resolved  upon  the  expedient  of  dividing 
the  congregation,  if  they  should  find  the  party  ready  to  go 
into  the  measure  on  proper  principles.  They  saw  that  some 
difficulties  in  detail  might  occur,  out  they  were  not  of  such  a 
nature,  but  they  might  not  be  adjusted  either  by  previous 
arrangement  or  by  individual  negotiations." 

The  result  that  was  reached  at  last  was  that  the  two 
churches  or  congregations  of  Archdale  and  Meeting  Streets 
should  be  separated  wholly,  and  be  thereafter  established  as 
independent  churches  with  power  to  elect  their  own  Pastors, 
and  that  the  church  in  Meeting  Street  should  be  liable  for 
two-thirds  and  that  in  Archdale  Street  for  one-third  of  the 
church  debt,  which  liability  of  Archdale  Street  Church  should 
be  a  condition  in  the  deed  of  conveyance  of  said  church. 
After  the  separation  some  89  male  members  were  found 
14 


210  REV.    ANTHONY    FOESTBR.  [1810-1820. 

adhering  to  the  Circular  Church,  and  63  to  the  Archdale 
Street  Church.  A  number  of  the  members,  especially  female 
members,  returned  to  the  Circular  Church  and  some  left  both 
churches  for  other  churches  of  the  Presbyterian  faith  or  of 
other  denominations  that  had  not  been  involved  in  this 
strife. 

Mr.  Forster  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  covering  his  dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Orange  to  put  himself  under  the  care  of  that  Presbytery. 
This  letter  came  before  Presbytery  on  the  28th  of  October, 
1814.  Presbytery  appointed  him  as  a  supply  to  the  churches 
of  Charleston  and  Beaufort  Districts  and  appointed  a  meeting 
for  his  ordination.  This  was  held  on  the  igth  of  November, 
1814,  and  on  the  next  day  his  ordination  as  an  Evangelist 
took  place  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  Dr.  Leiand  preaching  the  sermon  from  i  Tim.  iv. 
16:  "Take  heed  to  thyself  and  to  thy  doctrine;  continue  in 
them,  for  in  so  doing  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself  and  them 
that  hear  thee,"  Mr.  Forster's  name  appears  on  the  minutes 
of  Presbytery  until  April  30th,  18 17.  In  a  letter  to  the  Mod- 
erator dated  April  29,  1815,  he  announced  his  declination  of 
its  jurisdiction  on  the  ground  of  "the  inconsistency"  of  the 
Presbyterian  "system  of  Church  government  with  our  civil 
institutions — with  our  habits  and  our  mode  of  thinking  on 
other  subjects;  its  establishment  of  a  tribunal,  by  whose  de- 
cisions the  exercise  of  private  judgment  is  fettered,  and  by 
which  a  difference  of  opinion  might  be  tested  as  involving  as 
much  of  a  crime  as  a  violation  of  moral  duty,"  little  remem- 
bering that,  "What  think  you  of  Christ?"  was  the  searching 
question  of  our  Saviour,  the  answer  to  which  involved  the 
moral  character  and  eternal  destinies  of  man.  In  November 
of  the  same  year  the  following  overture  was  made  to  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  for  their  decision  : 
"What  shall  be  done  in  a  case  when  a  man  places  himself 
under  the  care  of  Presbytery,  professed  our  doctrines  and 
consents  to  our  Government,  receives  ordination,  and  thus 
becomes  a  member,  afterward  renounces  our  government, 
rejects  our  doctrines,  preaches  heresy  and  demands  a  regular 
dismission  ?"  The  Synod  directed  that  the  Presbytery  should 
"proceed  with  such  persons  as  directed  and  authorized  by  the 
Book  of  Discipline."  The  final  action  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony  at  Columbia,  April  30th,  1817,  was  as  follows  : 


lSlO-1820.]  SBV.    ANTHONY    FORSTEE.  211 

"Whekeas,  Rev.  Anthony  Forster  having  at  our  last  Spring 
session,  brought  forward  and  submitted  to  Presbytery  a 
written  document  in  which  he  declined  the  authority  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  consequence  of  conscientious  scru- 
ples as  to  the  scriptural  authority  of  its  discipline,  and  where- 
as he  voluntarily  declined  availing  himself  of  whatever  rights 
and  advantages  he  considered  himself  entitled  to  from  said 
declinature  for  some  time.     It  is  therefore  hereby 

Resolved,  That  the  said  Anthony  Forster  be  and  he  is  here- 
by dismissed  from  all  connection  with  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  that  his  name 
be  stricken  from  the  records  of  this  Presbytery  as  a  member 
thereof"      MS.  Min.  Vol.  I.,  p.  259-270. 

During  the  short  period  which  intervened  between  the  dis- 
continuance of  Mr.  Forster's  connection  with  the  co-ordinate 
churches  or  church,  worshipping  in  Meeting  and  Archiiale 
Streets,  he  preached  to  crowded  auditories  which  assembled 
in  the  Hall  of  the  South  Carolina  Society,  drawn  thither  in 
part  by  the  excitement  of  this  controversy.  But  when  the 
final  decision  was  made,  his  friends,  to  whom  the  possession 
of  the  church  in  Archdale  Street  was  accorded,  organized 
under  the  name  of .  the  Second  Independent  Church  in 
Charleston,  but  which  has  since  been  known  properly  as  the 
Unitarian  Church. 

Such  was  the  unforeseen  result  of  the  device  set  on  foot  by 
William  Tenneni  before  the  Revolution,  to  provide  increased 
church  accommodations  for  the  city  of  Charleston,  involving 
a  colleague  pastorship  and  two  places  of  worship,  and  two 
congregations  under  one  independent  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion. It  was  during  this  same  decade,  1810-1820,  that  the 
memorable  and  open  avowal  of  Unitarianism  in  the  Congre- 
gational Churches  in  Massachusetts  took  place. 

Mr.  Forster  spent  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1817,  while 
the  fever  was  raging  so  fatally  in  Charleston,  at  the  North, 
where  he  was  sick  in  Philadelphia.  Returning  in  December, 
be  continued  his  laborS'  most  of  the  winter.  The  next  sum- 
mer was,  in  like  manner,  spent  at  the  North  in  pursuit  of 
health.  His  last  sermon  was  preached  on  the  7th  of  March, 
iBrg.  He  remained  with  his  people  till  May,  1820,  when  he 
went  with  his  family  to  Raleigh,  N,  C,  where,  after  nine 
months  of  almost  insensible  decline,  he  died  on  the  morning 
of  January  i8th,  1820.     A  brother  of  his,  who  had   no  sym- 


•212  WAPPETAW.  [1810-3820. 

pathy  with  his  errors,  has  been  long  a  worthy,. honored  and 
useful  minister  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  A  vol- 
ume of  Mr.  Forster's  sermons,  with  a  memoir  of  his  life,  was 
published  at  Raleigh  in  1821  ;    pp.  335,  8vo. 

The  Independent  or  Congregational  Church  of  Wappe- 
TAW,  in  Christ  Church  Parish  after  the  death  of  Dr.  McCalla, 
in  April  1809,  appears  to  have  remained  vacant  for  some 
time,  and  dependent  upon  such  casual  services  as  could  be 
obtained  from  neighbouring  Clergymen.  Near  the  close  of 
the  year  1813,  they  invited  the  Rev.  Anthony  Forster,  of  whom 
we  have  spoken  in  the  preceding  pages,  who  had,  in  the  early 
part  of  that  year,  been  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Orange 
at  its  meeting  in  Raleigh,  to  settle  with  them  as  their  pastor. 
This  invitation  he  was  induced  to  accept  and  he  removed 
early  in  January  18 14,  with  his  wife  to  whom  he  had  been  re 
cently  married,  into  the  bounds  of  the  congregation  to  enter 
upon  the.  dutie.s  of  this  charge.  But  he  discovered  the  reality 
of  his  position  there  to  be  essentially  different  from  the  expec- 
tations he  had  been  led  to  form,  and  he  sought  to  recall  from 
the  congregation  his  acceptance  of  their  invitation.  To  this 
request  they  as.sented.  He  contiued  laboring  among 
them  till  the  month  of  June,  when  their  call  was  formally 
repeated  which  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  decline.  (Memoirs  pre- 
fixed to  his  works.)  How  this  Church  was  supplied  between 
this  and  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1817.  is  unknown.  On 
the  26th  of  December  of  this  year,  Mr.  William  Perrin,  a 
licentiate  of  the  Royalton  Association,  Vermont,  was  receiv- 
ed under  the  care  of  Harmony  Presbytery  at  their  meeting  in 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston,  when  a  call  from 
the  Congregational  Church  at  Wappetaw  for  his  pastoral  ser- 
vices was  laid  before  that  body,  and  by  them  placed  in. his  hands 
and  accepted.  At  an  intermediate  session  held  at  Wappetaw 
on  the  17th  of  January  1818,  at  which  Drs.  Flinn,  Leland  and 
Rev.  John  Cruickshanks  were  present,  Mr.  Perrin  was  ordain- 
ed, Mr.  Cruickshank  preaching  the  sermon,  and  Dr.  Flinn  pre- 
siding and.  giving  the  charge.  Mr.  Perrin  continued  their 
pastor  through  the  remainder  of  this  decade,  and  we  find  from 
the  first  report  of  the  Religious  Tract  Society  of  Charleston 
which  began  its  operations  in  1815,  that  634  Tracts  were  de- 
livered to  Dr.  Leland  and  Rev.  Mr.  Osborn  for  distribution 
in  Christ  Church  Parish,  so  that  Mr.  Forster  and  Mr.  Perrin 
were  probably  not  the  only  laborers  within  the  bounds  of  the 
congregation  during  the  period  of  which  we  speak. 


1810-1820.]  dorchester.  213 

The  Congregational  Church  of  Dorchester  and  Beech 
•Hill.  The  Rev.  L.  D.  Parks,  the  pastor  of  the  Church  at 
White  Bluff  below  Savannah,  was  invited  early  in  tlie  decade 
to  supply  this  Church  at  a  salary  of  ;^6oo  for  the  year.  He 
wrote  to  them  from  Hagget's  Hill,  Dec.  26,  181 1,  and  on  the 
20th  of  May,  1812,  accepted  their  invitation.  At  the  meeting 
of  Charleston  Association,  May  nth,  181 3,  he  reported  the 
addition  of  7  white  and  11  black  members  to  the  Church 
since  his  connection  with  it,  and  the  whole  membership  at  15 
whites  and  50  blacks.  His  salary  was  increased  to  $700.  In 
March  1814,  he  declined  to  serve  them  further,  but  is  prevailed 
on  to  continue  till  June  27th.  Dec.  13,  1814,  he  informs  the 
Association  of  his  resignation  of  this  charge  and  of  his  pres- 
ent employment  as  a  Missionary.  The  congregation  next 
turned  their  attention  to  William  States  Lee,  a  native  of 
Charleston,  who  was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  College  in  1812, 
and  was  taken  under  the  care  of  the  Congregational  Associa- 
tion of  So.  Ca.  Dec  13th  18 14,  and  by  them  licensed  as  a  pro- 
bationer and  jireached  his  first  sermon  in  Bethel  Church  St. 
Bartholomew's  Parish,  on  Dec  25th  of  that  year.  On  the  5th 
of  June  he  was  called  on  a  salary  of  ^550,  which  call  he  ac- 
cepted and  was  ordained  on  the  last  Sabbath  of  February  18 16, 
as  their  pastor.  A  meeting  0/ the  Association  was  held  at 
this  Church  on  the  9th  of  June  1819  at  which  Mr.  Henry 
White,  a  graduate  of  Williams  College,  Mass.,  who  had  been 
licensed  as  a  probationer  by  the  Association  on  the  13th  of 
May,  1818,  was  ordained.  Sine  titulo,  Dr.  Palmer  preaching  the 
sermon,  Mr.  Parks  offering  the  ordination  prayer,  and  Mr. 
Lee  delivering  the  charge.  On  the  12th  of  March,  1817,  the 
Congregation  resolved  to  offer  for  sale  50  and  45  acres  of 
land  extending  from  the  road  to  the  river.  In  January,  1818, 
they  took  measures  for  the  erection  of  a  parsonage. 

The  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  of  Stony  Creek. 
The  Rev.  Robt,  M.  Adams  continued  pastor  of  this  church 
until  his  death,  which  took  place  on  the  29th  of  October, 
181 1.  On  the  i6th  of  October,  1810,  at  the  request  of  the 
Saltkehatchee  Church,  he  had  been  permitted  to  devote  one- 
fourth  of  his  time  to  its  service.  The  church  seems  to  have 
been  much  in  arrears  for  his  .salary  and  did  not  pay  it  wholly 
until  1817.  Mr.  Adams  was  bv  no  means  deficient  inability. 
His  sermons,  existing  in  MSS.,  and  which  are  written  in  full, 
are  evangelic  in  spirit,  manly  in   tone,  and  often   elegant  and 


214  STONY   CREEK.  [1810-1820. 

eloquent  in  diction.  He  did  not  need  to  borrow  ever  from 
the  labors  of  others.  • 

Mr.  Adams  was,  we  believe,  never  married.  Some  of  his 
habits  were,  we  judge,  somewhat  peculiar,  and  might  not 
have  existed  to  the  degree  they  did  if  he  had  not  so  long  re- 
mained in  that  state  in  which  the  highest  of  all  authorities 
declared  His  judgment  when  He  said,  '"  It  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone."  Yet  he  appears  to  have  been  a  faithful 
pastor.  At  the  close  of  an  appropriate  and  eloquent  sermon 
on  Public  Worship,  deliyered  at  the  opening  of  a  new  house, 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  God,  he  thus  alludes  to  himself: 
"  I  trust  I  shall  not  be  inattentive  to  preparation  for  the  dis- 
charge of  my  public  duty.  Educated  from  my  earliest 
years  for  the  labors  of  the  holy  ministry,  I  glory  in  the  name 
of  an  ambassador  for  Christ!  I  shall  peither  be  found  in  the 
society  of  the  dissipated,  nor  the  abodes  o'f  the  idle  ;  but  with 
my  labors  for  your  spiritual  and  eternal  good,  I  shall  unite 
my  prayers  with  yours  at  the  throne  of  grace.  And  happy 
shall  I  be — inexpressibly  happy — if  I  shall  be  honored  to  be 
the  instrument  of  your  salvation.  The  night  is  far  spent,  the 
day  is  at  hand  ;  let  us,  therefore,  gird  up  the  loins  of  our 
mind,  and  prepare  for  that  state  of  existence  where  the  wicked 
cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest;  where  hope 
shall  be  no  more  pained  by  disappointment,  and  where  the 
sorrows  of  time  are  forgot  in  the  joys  of  eternity!  " 

This  Church  was  incorporated  in  1785  (Statutes  at  large, 
Vin,  127),  but  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  seems  to  have  been 
lost,  for  it  was  again  incorporated  in  18 16  {Idem,  279,  280). 
Both  are  perpetual  charters.  The  second  was  adopted  by 
the  Church,  with  the  name  therein  contained. 

Mr.  Adams  himself  was  doubtless  a  member  of  the  old 
(Scotch)  Presbytery  of  Charleston.  The  old  Stony  Creek 
Church  claimed  from  the  beginning  to  be  independent, 
formed  much  on  the  model  found  in  the  writings  of  John 
Owen.  Its  Confession  of  faith,  substantiated  by  scripture- 
proof — the  work,  probably  of  its  first  pastor,  Wm.  Hutson — 
though  wrong  in  its  theory  of  church  government,  is  an  ad- 
mirable document.    • 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Adams,  the  church  seems  to  have 
labored  under  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  supplies  for  their 
pulpit.  There  is  evidence  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Trustees  of  con- 
tinued efforts  to  have  the  vacancy  filled,  but  without  any  other 


1810-1820.]  KEV.    L.    D.    PARKS.  215 

success  than  the  serving  of  occa.sional  supplies.  From  1817 
the  Rev.  L.  D.  Parks  occupied  the  pulpit — whether  as  pastor 
or  stated  supply  is  not  clear,  and  this  was  the  condition  of 
things  through  this  decade. 

In  relation  to  Mr.  Parks  the  following  minute  is  found  on 
the  records  of  the  Congregational  Association  of  South  Car- 
olina, under  the  date  of  Dec.  14,  1819: 

"The  Association  have  heard  with  regret,  that  the  Rev.  L. 
D.  Parks,  one  of  the  rnembers,  has  associated  in  an  ordination 
with  persons  holding  sentiments  which  they  deem  subversive 
of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Gospel,  they  consider 
such  conduct  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution  and 
calculated  to  produce  serious  evil  : — Wherefore  agreed  that 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Parks  be  cited  to  assign  reasons  for  his  conduct 
to  be  laid  before  the  Association  at  the  meeting  to  be  held  in 
April,  1820."  This  has  reference  to  the  part  taken  by  Mr. 
Parks  in  the  ordination  of  Rev.  (afterwards)  Dr.  Oilman  as 
pastor  of  the  Arclidale  Street  Church,  popularly  known  as 
The  Unitarian  Church. 

"Lycen  D.  Parks,"  says  Eev.  John  Douglas  in  his  history  of  Steel 
Creek  Church,  N.  C.,  "Was  the  eldest  son  of  Captain  Hugh  Parks  of 
that  congregation,  and  was  licensed  in  1813  or  14  to  preach  the  Gospel," 
and  alludes  to  his  becoming  connected  with  the  Congregational  Asso- 
ciation, speaks  of  their  action  disapproving  his  course,  and  of  the  pub- 
lications respecting  him  in  the  public  prints,  especially  that  over  the 
signature  of  Rev  B.  M.  Palmer,  Sr.  D.  D.  He  says  that  even  in  these 
Dr.  Palmer  did  not  accuse  him  of  being  a  Unitarian.  That  after  this  he 
married  the  widow  of  Mr  William  Hayne  and  settled  on  a  plantation 
near  Walterboro.  And  that  not  many  months  before  his  death,  he  was 
sent  for  by  a  neighbor  who  was  on  his  death  bed,  who  wished  the  pres- 
ence and  prayers  of  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  As  he  approached  the 
bedside,  the  dying  man  thus  addressed  hfm :  "Mr.  Parks,  I  am  a  dying 
man,  and  I  wish  prayers  of  mercy  for  me  before  I  go-  Tell  me  frankly 
do  you  believe  in  the  Godhead,  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost?  Are 
you  a  firm  believer  in  the  adorable  Trinity !"  To  which  he  replied  :  "To 
you,  a  dying  man,  I  aver  my  solemn  belief  in  the  adorable  Trinity,  the 
Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost."  "Then,"  said  the  dying  man, 
"kneel  down  and  pray  for  my  soul."  Mr.  Parks  died  early,  short  of 
middle  life,  either  in  1822  or  1823,  and  is  buried  at  "Hayne  Hall"  near 
Bethel  Church,  S.  Paul's  Parish,  S.  C.  History  of  Steel  Creek  Church, 
by  Rev.  John  Douglas,  Columbia,  1872. 

The  Church  in  Beaufort.  The  Church  in  Beaufort  was 
served  by  the  Rev.  B  M.  Palmer  (afterwards  D.  D.)  until 
November  or  December,  1813,  when  having  been  afflicted 
with  a  severe  illness,  and  despairing  of  adequate   support,  he 


216  BEAUFOET.  [1810-1820. 

removed  to  Charleston  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  and 
was  elected  soon  after  the  successor  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Keith  in 
the  Circular  Church.*  The  Rev.  Anthony  Forster  was  ap- 
pointed on  the  28th  of  October,  1814,  a  missionary  for  Charles- 
ton and  Beaufort  Di.stricts  and  for  this  end  he  was  ordained, 
as  has  already  been  mentioned.  The  Church  in  Beaufort  now 
came  under  the  care  of  Harmony  Presbytery  as  a  Presbyte- 
rian Church  and  Dr.  Flinn  ajid  Messrs  Leiand  and  Forster 
were  directed  to  preach  in  it  one  Sabbath  each  before  the 
next  meeting  of  Presbytery.  These  appointments  were  not 
fulfilled,  and  Dr.  Leiand  reported  in  behalf  of  himself  and  the 
others.  "That  owing  to  the  peculiarly  exposed  situation  of  the 
Town  and  Island  of  Beaufort  to  the  incursion  of  the  British 
cruisers,  the  inhabitants  had  generally  removed."  At  the 
meeting  of  the  Presbytery  in  November,  1816,  Rev.  Mr, 
Cruickshank  was  ordered  to  supply  one  Sabbath  at  Beaufort. 
The  Church  at  Waynesborough,  Burke  County,  Georgia 
had  a  similar  history.  It  was  supplied  by  Rev.  John  Boggs. 
On  the  5th  of  April,  181 1,  it  applied  to  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony informing  them  that  owing  to  the  removal  of  their  late 
pastor  they  were  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace  Bnd  petitioned 
for  supplies.  The  Rev.  John  R.  Thompson  of  Augusta  and 
Rev.  Ezra  Fisk,  then  a  missionary  employed  by  the  Presby- 
tery, were  appointed  to  visit  them.  The  Rev.  John  Joyce 
also  at  a  later  period.  January  21,  i8i8,  Mr.  E.  Caldwell,  a 
licentiate  of  the  Salem  Association  (Mass.)  was  received  as  a 
candidate  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and 
a  call  WEis  presented  for  his  pastoral  services  by  the  Congre- 
gational church  of  Waynesborough  which  he  accepted.  Pres- 
bytery met  at  the  Church  in  Waynesborough  on  the  3rd  of 
July,  1818.  Present,  the  Rev.  William  McWhir,  Murdoch 
Murphy,  &  Thomas  Goulding.  The  Rev.  Murdoch  Murphy 
preached  the  sermon  from  I  Timothy  3:2  ;  the  Rev.  Mr. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  McWhir  presided  and  propounded  the  Consti- 
tutional questions.  Mr.  Caldwell  was  ordained  by  prayer 
and  the  imposition  of  hands,  and  a  charge   was  delivered   to 

*During  the  residence  of  Dr.  Palmer  in  Beaufort,  the  Beaufort  Bible 
Society  was  organizeJ,  of  which  Robert  Barnwell,  Esq.,  was  president 
and  he  one  of  the  secretaries.  It  w^as  formed  in  the  lattei-  part  of  March 
1810.  A  Beaufort  Religious  Tract  Society  is  al&o  spoken  of  ia  the  first 
annual  report  of  the  Religious  Tract  Society  of  Charleston  June  10, 1816, 
which  had  received  from  the  Charleston  Society  1,900  tracts  for  distri- 
bution. 


1810-1820.]  WHITE   BI^UFF.  217 

pastor  and  people.  Before  the  sessions  of  Noveihber,  1819, 
his  ministry  on  earth  was  terminated.  "Since  our  last  ses- 
sions, departed  this  life,  in  the  lively  hope  of  a  glorious  im- 
mortality, our  beloved  brother  the  Rev.  EbenezerB.  Caldwell 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  Waynesboro."  [Minutes  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Harmony,  Vol.  I,  p.  323.] 

The  Congregational  Church,  of  White  Bluff,  in 
Chatham  County,  Georgia,  made  application  to  thi.  Congre- 
gational Association  of  South  Carolina  on  the  8th  of  May, 
1810,  for  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Lycan  D.  Parks,  a  licentiate 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  whom  they  had  called  to  be 
their  pastor.  The  application  was  signed  by  David  Johnson, 
Daniel  Keefer,  Geo.  Nungizer,  Geo.  PouUen,  N.  Adams,  and 
E.  Floyd.  Mr.  Parks  produced  a  di.smission  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Concord,  was  examined  as  to  his  own  religious 
expe^ience,  read  a  confession  of  his  faith,  and  the  Association 
having  received  competent  satisfaction,  complied  with  the  re- 
quest of  the  congregation  of  White  Bluff,  and  resolved  that 
his  ordination  take  place  on  the  following  Sabbath,  at  the 
Church  in  Archdaie  street;  that  Dr.  Hollingshead  preach 
the  sermon,  Mr.  Price  offer  up  the  ordination  prayer,  and 
Mr.  Floyd  deliver  the  charge.  This  was  accordingly  done, 
Mr.  Parks  was  furnished  with  a  certificate  of  his  ordination, 
and  a  letter  was  addressed  to  the  congregation  of  White  Bluff 
signed  by  the  Moderator  and  Scribe.  [MSS.  Minutes  of  the 
Association,  pp.  54,  57. 

Notwithstanding  the  existence  of  a  Congregational  Associ- 
tion  in  Charleston,  the  churches  of  that  order  or  their  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry  seem  to  have  sought  licensure  and 
ordination  from  Presbytery.  Nor  did  the  Presbj'tery  of  Har- 
mony "decline  upon  such  occasions  to  meet  for  the  transaction 
of  business  in  their  congregations.  This  was  the  case  with 
the  church  and  congregation  of  White  Bluff  which  had  so 
lately  applied  to  the  Congregational  Association.  On  the 
2ist  of  December,  iBii,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  during  its  fourth  session,  held  in  Savannah  from 
20th  to  the  30th  of  that  month,  Thomas  Goulding.  of  Sunbury, 
was  received  under  its  care  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry. 
He  was  licensed  at  the  eighth  session  of  that  Presbytery,  at 
Augusta,  on  Sabbath,  the  31st  of  October,  18 13.  At  the 
1 2th  stated  sessions  at  Columbia  he  received  through  the 
Presbytery  a  call  to  the  church  at  White  Bluff  and  at  an  in- 


218  MIDWAY,  LIBERTY   COUNTY.  [1810-1820. 

termediate  session  held  at  the  latter  place  he  was  ordained 
and  installed  over  that  congregation  in  the  form  provided  in 
the  form  of  government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  John 
R.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  preached  a  sermon  from  2  Tim.,  24, 
25,  Rev.  William  McWhir  presiding,  and  delivering  the 
charge  to  the  minister  and  people.  This  ordination  and  instal- 
lation took  place  on  the  27th  of  January,  18 16.  Here  he 
labored  faithfully,  acceptably  and  successfully  through  the 
remainSer  of  this  decade.  (Minutes  of  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony.) 

Congregational  Church  at  Midway,  in  Liberty  County, 
Georgia. — The  Rev.  Cyrus  Gildersleeve  was  still  pastor  of  this 
church  at-  the  commencement  of  this  decade.  In  181 1  he  re- 
linquished his  pastorate  m  Georgia  and  was  soon  after  settled 
over  the  church  in  Bloomfield,  New  Jersey.  He  died  in 
Elizabethtown,  in  1838,  aged  about  69  years. 

The  Rev.  Murdoch  Murphy  who  had  been  received  by 
Harmany  Presbytery  from  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  Decem- 
ber 27,  181 1,  at  its  sessions  in  Savannah,  succeeded  Mr. 
Gildersleeve. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Murphy  had  settled  at  Midway  the  inhabit- 
ants were  called  upon  to  arm  themselves  in  defence  of  their 
country's  rights,  in  the  war  familiarly  known  as  the  war  of 
1 812.  In  Septembr,  1814,  the  descendants  of  the  heroic  men 
of  the  American  Revolution  formed  a  committee  of  safety, 
and  commenced  the  building  of  "  Fort  Defence"  and  pro- 
tected the  country  from  the  predatory  detachments  of  Admi- 
ral Cockburn,  whose  main  occupation  was  to  plunder  the 
merchant  of  his  merchandize  and  the  planter  of  the  products 
of  the  soil.  [The  Congregational  Church  of  Midway,  Ga.,  by 
John  B.  Mallard,  A.-M.,  Savannah,  1840.] 

At  the  intermediate  Presbytery  at  White  Bluff,  Mr.  Robert 
Quarterman,  a  Deacon  of  the  Midway  Church,  was  taken 
under  the  care  of  Presbytery  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry. 
He  was  licensed  on  th.^  7th  of  November,  18 19,  during  the 
twentieth  regular  session  held  at  Columbia. 

We  now  turn  our  attention  to  those  churches  which  aie 
more  strictly  Presbyterian.  And  we  again  mention  as  the 
oldest  of  them  all,  the  French  Protestant  Church  of  the 
City  of  Charleston.  It  seems  to  have  remained  for  seven 
years  without  a  pastor.  "  In  18 16  the  Rev.  Robert  Henry, 
a    native    of    Charleston,    who    had    spent  some  years     in 


1810-1820.]  FRENCH   CHURCH,  CHARLESTON.  219 

Europe  pursuing  liis  studies,  who  had  acquired  meanwhile  a 
knowledge  of  several  European  languages  and  was  highly 
educated  in  the  several  departments  of  learned  study,  return- 
ed to  his  native  city,  and  through  him  the  attempt  was  made 
to  conduct  the  worship  of  the  congregation  alternately  in 
French  and  English  according  to  one  authority*  ;  according 
to  another,  he  preached  in  French  once  a  month.  (Duyck- 
inck's  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Literature.)  The  services  in 
English  were  conducted  by  means  of  a  Liturgy  for  the  Lord's 
Day  made  by  Mr.  Henry.  In  Deceniber,  1818,  Mr.  Henry 
was  elected  Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Logic  in 
South  Carolina  College  at  Columbia,  and  resigned  his  position 
in  the  Church  of  Charleston.  A  small  congregation  had 
been  formed,  but  the  experiment  of  service  in  French  and 
English  was  not  satisfactory.  It  made  parties  in  the  Church, 
and  a  few  French  gentlemen  who  were  members  of  the  Cor- 
poration induced  that  body  to  make  another  effort  to  revive 
the  former  French  services,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Courlat  was 
elected  to  the  Church."  This  took  place  in  1819.  (From 
the  MS.  of  Mr.  -Daniel  Ravenel,  to  whom  we  have  been  in- 
debted greatly  in  the  historic  outline  of  this  ancient  church 
of  the  City  of  Charleston  in  our  preceding  pages.)  Mr. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  Henry's  ecclesiastical  conviction  was  with 
the  Old  Scotch  Presbytery  of  Charleston  :  "Robert  Henry, 
Minister  of  the  French  Calvinist  Church  in  Charleston,  S.  C," 
begins  his  baptismal  register,  August  13th,  1815,  in  English. 
The  last  entry  is,  March  2Sth,  18 1 8. 

First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of  Charleston. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  John  Buchan,  was  pastor  of  trhis  Church  at 
the  beginning  of  this  decade  as  the  successor  of  Dr.  Buist. 
How  long  he  continued  in  this  relation  is-not  known  to  the 
present  writer.  The  minutes  of  Harmony  Presbytery  show 
that  on  the  8th  of  April,  1813,  at  their  sessions  in  Camden, 
a  call  from  this  church  for  the  ministerial  labors  of  the  Rev. 
Aaron  W.  Leland  was  presented  and  read,  accompanied  with 
a  letter  from  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Leland  accepting  this  call. 
Mr.  Leland  had  been  licensed  on  the  5th  of  April,  181 1,  had 
been  ordained  as  an  evangelist  on  the  3rd  of  May,  1812,  and 
was  installed  on  the  i8th  of  April,  1813,  in  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church,  Dr.  Flinn  preaching  the  sermon,  and  Dr. 
Montgomery  presiding  and  giving  the  charge. 

■    *Southern  Quarterly  Review  for  April,  1856,  p.  189. 


220        FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  CHARLESTON.    [1810-1820. 

Dr.  Buchan  attempted  to  apply  Scotch  rules  in  the  admin- 
istration of  church  government,  "  and  the  Scotchmen  of 
America  could  not  stand  it,"  and,  to  use  the  expression  of  our 
informer,  "  blew  him  up."  There  was  a  secession  from  the 
Scotch  Church  (the  First  Presbyterian),  which  built  a  new 
church  for  him  in  1814,  at  northwest  corner  of  Archdale  and 
West  Streets,  and  was  known  as  The  St.  Andrew's  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Charlestion.  Dr.  Buchan's  mind  became  de- 
ranged, and  he  returned,  at  length,  to  Scotland.  The  con- 
gregation, without  a  pastor,  discouraged,  and  burdened  with 
debt,  disposed  of  their  premises  on  the  condition  that  the 
church  should  bs  held  sacred  as  a  place  ot  public  Christian 
worship,  and  the  ground  attached  thereto  be  continued  as  a 
cemetery.  The  First  Presbyterian  Church  had  erected  a  new 
edifice  in  1814,  during  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Leland,  on  the 
southwest  corner  of  Meeting  and  Tradd  Streets.  A  poor, 
wooden  building  had  served  the  purposes  of  the  congregation 
hitherto.  The  dimensions  of  the  church  were  120  feet  long 
by  70  feet  wide.  The  order,  externally,  is  Roman  Doric. 
The  front  exhibits  a  recessed  portico,  flanked  by  two  towers 
surmounted  by  cupolas.  The  building  is  ^of  brick  covered 
with  stucco. 

The  following  information,  derived  from  a  sermon  preached 
by  Dr.  Leland  at  the  dedication  of  the  present  house  of  wor- 
ship on  December  29th,  18 14,  may  be  of  value  to  our 
readers  :  "At  the  close  of  the  17th  century,  soon  after  the 
first  settlement  of  this  city,  a  religious  society  was  formed, 
chiefly  by  persons  from  Scotland  and  New  England,  who 
erected  a  place  of  religious  worship,  then  called  the  Presby- 
terian Meeting.  For  more  than  thirty  years  they  continued 
united,  obtaining  their  ministers  from  the  Presbyterian  estab- 
lishments in  Europe.  At  length,  there  appeared  a  disunion 
of  sentiment  upon  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  government; 
the  Europeans  being  zealously  attached  to  the  forms  and 
discipline  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  while  the  majority  pre- 
ferred the  Congregational  or  Independent  system.  This 
difference  of  opinion  terminated  in  an  amicable  separation. 
This  took  place  in  1832,  when  the  Presbyterians,  consisting 
of  about  twelve  families,  formed  another  society,  purchased 
the  ground  adjoining  this  church,  and  erected  a  small  con- 
venient place  of  worship.  They  guarded  against  the  evils 
they  had  experienced,  for  in  the  titles   to   the  land,  it  is  ex- 


1810-1820.]  FinST    PRESBYTERIAN.  221 

pres.sly  stipulated  that  it  is  for  the  use  of  a  Presbyterian 
Church,  according  to  the  forms  and  discipline  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  having  ministers  ordained  in  the  Pieslpyterian 
form,  believing  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  and 
to  be  converted  to  no  other  purpose  forever.  The  names  of 
these  patriarchs  of  our  congregation  were  James  Abercrombie, 
Joiin  Allen,  Daniel  Crawford,  John  Bee,  John  Frasjr,  George 
Duraff,  and  James  Paine.  Their  first  minister  was  the  Rev. 
Hugh  Stewart,  from  Scotland.  HiS:  place  was  supplied  by 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Grant,  Kennedy,  Lorimer,  and  Morrison, 
who  successively  filled  the  pastoral  office  until  the  year  1763, 
At  that  time  the  Congregation  had  .so  increa.sed  that  a  con- 
siderable addition  was  made  to  the  church  to  render  it  more 
capacious.  The  trustees  then  were  George  Marshall,  William 
Woodrup,  George  Inglis,  Dr.  John  Murray,  William  Simp- 
son, George  Murray,  Alexander  Rantowl,  and  James  Grind- 
lay.  The  Church  cho:5e  for  their  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hewat, 
of  Edinburgh,  who  continued  with  them  until  1775.  when, 
on  account  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  he  returned  to  England, 
and  afterwards  settled  in  London.  At  the  time  the  church 
was  dispersed  by  vvar,  the  trustees  and  leading  members  were 
Messrs.  Robert  Phelps,  Robert  Brisbane,  William  Glen, 
Robert  Wilson,  William  Aiicrum,  Robert  Rowand,  Andrew 
Marr,  Alexander  Chisolm,  William  Wilson  and  James  John- 
ston ;  when  1,455  pounds  currency  was  the  sum  annually 
subscribed  for  the  support  of  the  minister.  In  1784  the 
Church  was  reorganized,  at  which  time  Dr.  Robert  Wilson, 
Messrs.  David  Lamb,  James  Gregorie,  John  Mitchell,  and 
James  O'Hear  were  elders.  The  Rev.  James  Graham  offici- 
ated as  minister  until  1788,  when  Rev.  Mr.  James  Wilson,  a 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  then  residing  in  New 
York,  was  called  to  the  pastoral  office,  which  he  held  for  four 
years,  when  ill  health  caused  him  to  resign.  The  corpora- 
tion then  addressed  a  letter  to  Rev.  Drs.  Robinson  and  Blair, 
requesting  them  to  choose  and  send  them  a  clergyman,  when 
the  church  had  the  distinguished  felicity  to  obtain  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Buist.  He  arrived  in  Charleston  in  June,  1793,  and  was 
installed  in  November  following.  The  congregation  flourished 
under  his  ministry.  Near  the  close  of  his  life,  it  was  deter- 
mined to  erect  a  new  church,  and  considerable  progress  made 
in  providing  funds,  when  the  church  was  called  to  mourning 
by  the  sudden  removal  of  their  pastor.     The  important  va- 


222  SECOND    PRESBYTEKIAN  CHURCH.  [1810-1820. 

cancy  was  filled  by  Rev.  Dr.  Buchan,  from  Edinburg,  who 
was  succeeded,  in  i8i2,  by  tiie  present  pastor,"  i.  e.,  "  Rev. 
Aaron  W.  Leland,  D.  D.  Under  him  the  present  edifice  was 
completed,  and  at  that  time,  as  I  gather  from  a  tablet  in  the 
church,  the  following  gentlemen  were  elders  :  Robert  Wil- 
son, Robert  Rowland,  Thomas  Ogier,  David  Haig,  James 
Blair,  David  Lamb,  Samuel  Wilson,  George  Macaulay  and 
John  Cliampney.     Dr.  Leland  was  followed  by  a   Mr.  Reed. 

The  only  thing  which  enables, me  to  approximate  the  num- 
ber of  communicants,  is  the  number  of  "  tokens  "  used  upon 
communion  occasions.  There  were  two  hundred  of  pure 
silver,  and  five, hundred- of  alloy,  and  all  were  generally  given 
out.  The  congregation  must  have  been  large.  These  tokens 
were  used  until  the  beginning  of  the  war,  when  they  were 
captured  or  destroyed  with  the  Federal  occupation  of  Colum- 
bia, where  with  the  church  records  they  had  been  sent  for 
safety.  They  were  c?ircular.  in  size 'slightly  larger  than  a 
quarter,  and  upon  on  side  had  the  figure  of  a  burning  bush, 
inscribed  by  the  motto  "  JVec  tamen  consumedatur ;"  on  the 
other  the  representation  of  a  communion  table  with  the  cup 
and  bread,  under  which  were  the  words,  "Presbyterian  Church 
of  Charleston,  S.  C,  1800,"  and  around  it.  "This  do  in  remem- 
brance of  me."  It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  that  for  years 
this  Church  had  its  own  hearse.  The  tablets  within,  and  the 
tomb-stones  around  it,  bear  some  of  the  most  honored 
names  connected  with  tne  history  of  this  city. 

With  grateful  remembrances,  I  am  sincerely  yours. 

W.  T.  THOMPSON. 

The  Skcond  Presbyterian  Church  and  Congregation  in 
THE  City  of  Charleston  proceeded  to  carry  into  execution 
their  purpose  to  erect  a  house  of  worship  of  ample  dimen- 
sions and  an  ornament  to  their  city.  But  previous  to  this, 
ah  organization  in  due  form  was  effected. 

"At  a  meeting  in  January  25,  1 810,  a  subscription  paper 
was  presented  for  the  signatures  of  those  who  wished  to  be- 
come members  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  to  be 
governed  by  pi  escribed  rules  and  by-laws,  when  the  following 
persons  signed  their  names,  viz  :  Benjamin  Boyd,  Stephen 
Thomas,  Robert  Fleming,  Richard  M'Millan,  Caleb  Gray, 
Richard  Cunningham,  James  Adger,  John  Porter,  William 
H.  Gilliland,  Alexander  Gray,  John  Blackwood,  John  Cun- 


1810-1820.]  SECOND   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  223 

ningham,  Alexander  Henry,  John  M'Dowell,  William  Wal- 
ton, Samuel  Robertson,  John  Walton,  Thomas  Fleming,  John 
Robin.son,  James  Beggs,  George  Robertson,  J.  C.  Martindale, 
John  Brownlee,  William  Scott,  John  Johnson,  Charles 
Robiou,  William  Aiken,  George  Keenan,  Archibald  Grahame, 
James  Carr,  Lewis  A.  Pitray,  James  Leman,  John  Noble, 
David  Bell,  James  Evans,  John  Ellison,  B.  Casey,  William 
M'Elmoyle,  John  Davis,  William  Pressly,  Thomas  Johnson, 
George  Miller,  James  Blocker,  Robert  Belshaw,  Samuel 
Corrie,  Samuel  H.  Pratt,  James  Pennal,  Thomas  A.  Vardell, 
John  Steele,  Nathaniel  Slawson,  John  C.  Beile,  William  Por- 
ter, Samuel  Patterson,  Samuel  Browne,  John  M.  Eraser, 
Thomas  Milliken,  John  Smyth,  John  Mushtt,  John  Crow, 
John  Geddes,  Peter  Kennedy,  James  Wall,  Charles  Martin, 
Alexander  Howard,  William  Tliompson,  John  Dunn,  William 
Smith,  William  L.  Shaw,  Edward  Carew,  C.  B.  Duhadway, 
Samuel  Pilsbury,  William  Scott,  R.  Gailbraith,  Richard  Eair, 
Edward  M'Grath,  James  Cooper,  William  Simms.  It  was 
dedicated  to  the  worship  of  Almighty  God,  by  a  sermon  from 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Flinn,  on  Wednesday,  April  3d,  181 1  ;  and  con- 
nected with  the  Ecclesiastical  Judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  This  was  the  first  session  ever  held  in  Charleston, 
.  by  a  Presbytery,  connected  with  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  these  United  States.'^  The  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery  also  held  its  first  session  in  this  church, 
April  loth,  1823.  Thus  was  consecrated  to  the  service  of 
religion,  that  edifice  in  which  we  and  our  fathers  have  so 
delightfully  and  profitably  Avaited  upon  the  ordinances  of  the 
sanctuary.  The  sermon  preached  on  that  occasion  is  still 
extant,  though  rarely  to  be  met  with  ;  but  few  who  were 
present  on  the  interesting  occasion  survive  to  tell  its  tale. 

Although  great  munificence  was  exercised  by  the  founders' 
of  this  church,  its  cost  far  exceeded  both  their  expectations 
and  their  means.  By  the  account  of  the  Treasurer  presented 
up  to  April,  1812,  it  appears  that  the  sum  of  fifty-five  thou- 
sand five  hundred  and  forty-eight  dollars  had  been  expended, 
and  that  a  large  amount  would  be  still  necessary  to  carry  out 
the  plans  and  pay  the  incurred  debt.  To  meet  this,  a  heavy 
assessment  was  laid  upon  the  pews  of  the  church,  in  March, 
181 1  ;  and  another,  to  three  times   its  amount,  in    December, 

*The^r'S<  session  of  Harmony  Presbytery  was  held  in  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church,  March  7th,  1810. 


224  EEV.    DR.    FLINN.  [1810-1820. 

1815.  Notwithstanding  these  efforts,  in  June,  1816,  it  ap- 
peared that  the  sum  of  thirty-one  thousand  one  hundred  and 
fifty-six  dollars  twenty-five  cents  was  still  due,  when  it  was 
resolved  to  sell  all  the  pews  on  which  the  assessment  had 
been  paid." 

"  The  first  pastor  of  this  church  was  the  Rev.  Andrew 
Flinn,  D.  D.  He  was  called  in  February,  1809;  installed 
April  4th,  181 1.  Dr.  Flinn  was  born  in  the  State  of  Mary- 
land, in  the  year  1773,  of  honest  and  pious,  but  humble 
parentage.  When  he  was  about  a  year  old,  the  family  mi- 
grated to  Mecklenburg  County,  North  Carolina,  where  his 
father  died  in  1785.  For  his  early  education,  as  well  as  moral 
training,  he  was  indebted  to  a  mother,  characterized  by  sin- 
cere and  ardent  piety.  Through  the  kind  assistance  of  some 
friends,  the  buddings  of  his  genius  were  encouraged  by  the 
fostering  spirit  of  a  liberal  education.  He  entered  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina,  where  he  was  graduated  with  con- 
siderable distinction  in  the  year  1798.  He  engaged  in  the 
study  of  theology,  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Orange, 
and  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  in  1800.  He  soon 
gave  proofs  of  that  eloquence,  [)iety  and  success  with  which 
he  afterwards  labored  in  the  ministry.  His  first  pastoral  con- 
nection was  with  the  church  in  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina, 
where  he  remained  a  few  years  ;  afterwards  he  removed  to 
Camden,  and  from  thence  to  the  united  congregations  of 
Bethel  and  Indiantown,  in  Williamsburg,  South  Carolina. 
From  this  place  he  was  called  to  Charleston  in  1809,  where 
he  organized  this  church,  dedicated  this  house  of  worship, 
and  built  up  this  congregation.  In  181 1  he  was  honored  with 
the  degree  of  D.  D.  by  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  In 
1812  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  General  Assembly,  preached 
the  opening  sermon,  and  was  elected  Moderator.  In  1813  he 
again  preached  the  sermon  at  the  opening  of  the  Assembly 
from  the  words,  '  Be  tlioii  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give 
thee  a  a  own  of  life!  On  February  24th,- 1820,  in  the  forty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  after  a  long  and  painful  illness,  Dr. 
Flinn  was  removed  from  the  scene  of  his  earthly  labors. 
During  the  whole  of  his  sickness,  he  was  eminently  sup- 
ported by  those  truths  he  had  long,  faiihfully  and  ably 
preached  to  others.  His  last  moments  were  employed  in 
taking  a  solemn  and  affectionate  farewell  of  his  mourning 
family,  and  his   surroundmg   friends,  in   which  he  exhibited 


]810-18.'20.]  EEV.    DR.    FLINN.  225 

tliat  serenity  of  mind,  and  that  deep  impression  of  soul,  which 
belong  to  those  who  die  in  the  Lord.  He  then,  with  great 
composure,  raised  up  liis  hands  and  eyes  to  heaven,  and  said, 
'  Jesus  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit.'  Being  charac- 
teristically an  extemporaneous  sp^raker,  using  but  partial 
notes.  Dr.  Flinn  has  left  behind  him  no  other  publications 
than  a  few  sermons,  which  were  published  during  his  life." 

The  elders  who  served  during  Dr.  Flinn's  pastorate  were  : 
Benjamin  Boyd,  ordained  March  4,  1810;  died  January,  181 1. 
John  Cunningham,  ordained  March  4,  1810;  died  November, 
1815.  William  Pressly,  ordained  February,  1812;  died  1820. 
Henry  Bennet,  ordained  July  9,  1812  ;  died  1820. 

Pkesidents  of  the  Congregation. — Benjamin  Boyd,  elect- 
ed 1809.  Samuel  Robertson,  elected  18 10.  Stephen  Thomas, 
elected  1813.  Wiliam  Smith,  elected  1815.  Samuel  Patter- 
son, elected  18 18.     Thomas  Fleming,  elected  1819. 

The  reports  made  to  Presbytery  for  the  year  ending  April, 
18 1 2,  show  that  the  additions  to  the  membership  for  that  year 
had  been  "jj,  making  the  total  of  communicants  91.  The 
additions  of  next  year  were  reported  to  be  30  ;  the  total  mem- 
bership, 116.  The  additions,  April  14,  1814,9;  the  total, 
120.  The  additions  reported  for  the  year  181 5  were  57  ;  the 
total  number  of  members,  176.  The  reports  in  the  following 
years  are  not  given  in  the  Presbyterial  records,  but  these  show 
a  state  of  great  prosperity  in  this  (at  that  time)  infant  church. 

The  city  of  Charleston  included  at  the  close  of  this  decade 
some  24  or  25,000  souls.  A  census  was  taken  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1820,  and  gave  24,780  as  the  population  of  the  city. 
It  was  taken  however,  in  the  summer  at  which  time  from 
1,500  to  2,000  of  the  inhabitants  were  usually  absent,  princi- 
pally at  the  North.  Including  the  suburbs  the  whole  popu- 
lation was  37,471.  Of  this  the  half  or  more  were  of  the  Afri- 
can race.  Among  the  whites  there  was  more  than  usual  re- 
finement, intelligence  and  wealth. 

Among  the  Churches  which  are  represented  in  this  history 
while  there  was  a  general  accordance  with  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  and  Catechisms  as  to  doctrine,  in  church 
government  there  was  less,  some  constructing  their  church 
discipline  according  to  the  Presbyterian  and  some  according 
to  the  Congregational  order,  and  both  perhaps  mingling  the 
elements  of  the  one  discipline  somewhat  with  the  other. 
And  perhaps  there  was  wanting  sometimes  that  fraternal  spirit 
15 


226  ECCLESIASTICAL    lUEISDICTION.  [1810- 1820. 

which  can  deal  temperately  with  differences  of  practice  in  that 
wide  and  comprehensive  work  in  which  the  ministers  and 
elders  in  the  church  are  called  on  to  be  employed. 

'The  question  of  territorial  jurisdiction  was  revived  again 
as  has  been  mentioned  in  our  preceding  pages.  And  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Henry  Koilock  and  the  Rev.  John  Brown  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  draught  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
McLeod  on  this  subject  and  forward  it  to  him  or  lay  it  before 
Presbytery  at  their  next  meeting.  This  letter  was  reported  to 
the  Presbytery  at  its  meeting  in  Charleston  in  April,  1811,  ap- 
proved and  ordered  to  be  signed  by  the  Moderator  and  sent 
to  Mr.  McLeod. 

A  very  intemperate  pamphlet  from  the  pen  of  Rev.  Raphael 
Bell  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  which  reflects 
little  credit  upon  himself,  and  we  may  hope,  did  not  faithfully 
represent  the  temper  of  his  brethren,  appeared  from  the 
Charleston  Press  and  was  reprinted  in  1817.  In  this  an  at- 
tempt of  the  Charleston  Presbytery  to  form  a  union  with  the 
General  Assembly  about  seventeen  years  before  is  referred  to, 
and  it  is  said,  "when  the  Presbytery  asked  their  Congrega- 
tions' permission  to  do  so,  'they  opposed  and  absolutely  re- 
fused their  assent  to  this  measure  ;'  alleging  as  their  reason, 
'that  they  could  not  dispense  with  divine  service  for  nearly 
three  months  in  the  year,  while  their  ministers  were  gossip- 
ing over  the  country,  attending  Synods  and  General  Assem- 
blies, which  in  no  way  whatever,  promoted  their  spiritual  im- 
provement.' 

"Nolumus  leges  mutare  hactrnus  usitatas  atque  prohalas.  'We 
will  not  change  our  ancient  and  venerable  customs,  said  they, 
we  wish  our  Presbytery  to  continue  (as  it  has  always  existed 
from  the  first  settlement  of  this  State,  and  which  has  been 
found,  by  long  experience,  the  only  test  of  ability,  fully  to 
answer  all  the  purposes  of  religious  instruction)  an  indepen- 
dent one — independent  of  Synods  and  General  Assemblies, 
which  were  only  intended  to  retain  ministers  in  their  Churches 
contrary  to  the  wishes  and  intentions  of  the  people.  One 
court  was  fully  sufficient  to  try  the  disputes  that  might  un- 
fortunately arise  between  them  and  their  ministers."  The 
people  then,  are  to  be  blamed,  and  not  the  Presbytery,  if  it 
has  not  yet  connected  itself  with  the  General  Assembly.  We 
have  waited  with  patience  for  some  overtures;  but  we  have 
waited  in  vain.     It  is  not  tiue  that  we  were  ever  invited  to 


1810-1820.]  EELIGIOUS   SOCIETIES   EFFORTS.  227 

join  the  Harmony  Presbytery.  We  have  had  no  communi- 
cations ; — we  expected  some  written  propositions,  but  none 
have  ever  been  received ;  the  resolve  of  the  General  Assembly 
requires  that  we  should  effect  a  comprotnise."  We  know  of  no 
subject  of  difference  or  controversy  that  requires  to  be  com- 
promised. The  supposed  subjects  of  difference  or  controversy 
are  directed  in  the  event  of  a  failure  to  be  submitted  to  the 
Synod  of  the  Carolinas.  It  could  hardly  be  expected  that  a 
corporate  independent  body,  having  a  status  atque  nomen  juris 
would  submit  its  rights  and  property  to  the  decision  of  a  body 
having  no  legal  existence  or  competent  jurisdicticn,  who  are 
suspected  to  be  our  enemies,  and  who  are  publicly  noted  for 
an  instance  of  persecution  and  op  )ression  that  has  no  parallel 
in  the  records  of  our  State."  The  pamphlet  is  otherwise  full  of 
bitterness,  ascribing  the  secession  in  the  Independent  Church, 
in  the  case  of  Mr.  Forster  to  "the  same  ecclesiastical  junto." 
The  pamphlet  abounds  in  personalities,  chiefly  directed  against 
Dr.  Flinn,  and  does  little  credit  to  the  head  or  heart  of  its 
author.  The  Rev.  Raphael  Bell  was  born  in  the  Brewington 
settlement,  was  educated  under  Dr.  Buist,  was  a  teacher  in 
Charleston  College,  in  1807,  and  previous  to  this,  had  been 
licensed  by  the  Charleston  Presbytery.* 

To  (his  writer,  prayer  meetings  and  evening  lectures  and 
such  religious  efforts  seemed  an  abomination,  to  be  classed 
with  camp  meetings  and  other  indecorums. 

Of  a  far  different  spirit,  we  trust,  were  the  great  body  of 
evangelical  christians  in  that  city.  Their  activity  in  benevo- 
lent and  Christian  efforts  for  their  fellow  men  is  shown  by  the 
numerous  organizations  which  existed  for  this  end. 

The  Charleston  Bible  Society  was  organized  in  1810, 
(its  Constitution  was  adopted  on  the  19th  of  June  and  its 
officers  chose-n  on  the  loth  of  July),  six  years  before  the 
organization  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  In  18 19  it  had 
distributed  five  or  six  thousand  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
Ladies  Benevolent  Society  instituted  September  15,  1813,  for 
the  relief  of  the  sick  and  poor,  relieved  some  three  hundred 

*Sketch  of  the  College  of  Charleston,  Am.  Quarterly  Register,  vol. 
xii ,  p.  168,  and  the  pamphlet  in  question,  entitled  "  The  Veil  With- 
drawn ;  or.  Genuine  Presbyterianism  Vindicated,  and  the  character  arid 
intolerance  of  its  enemies  exposed  in  a  letter  to  a  respectable  planter, 
by  a  minister  of  that  church."  ''  Semper  ego  auditor  tantumf  Nunguam 
reponam.'^  Juvenal.  Charleston:  Re-printed  byA.E.  Miller,  No.  29 
Queen  street,  1807. 


228  RELIGIOUS    SOCIETIES   AND    EPFOBTS.  [1810-1820. 

cases  and  expended  in  seven  years  $2,600.  The  Religious 
Tract  Society  was  formed  in  1815,  Tiie  Congregational  and 
Presbyterian  Union  Female  Association  for  assisting  in  the 
education  of  pious  youth  for  the  gospel  ministry  was  formed 
in  1815.  In  three  years  it  had  raised  and  expended  over 
^5,000  and  founded  a  scholarship  in  Princeton  Seminary. 
The  Female  Bible  Society  and  the  Sabbath  School  Associa- 
tion were  formed  in  1816.  In  1819  it  had  distributed  851 
copies  of  the  Bible.  The  Marine  Bible  Society  was  formed 
in  1818,  and  in  the  same  year  the  Female  Domestic  Mission- 
ary Society  was  established  to  provide  and  support  missions 
in  the  City  of  Charleston.  The  Rev.  Jonas  King,  since  the 
well  known  missionary  in  Greece,  served  them  faithfully  as 
their  missionary  in  the  latter  part  of  18 19,  and  the  early 
months  of  1820.  His  report  read  before  the  Society  in  May, 
1820,  was  published  in  pamphlet  form  the  same  year. 
Mr.  King  was  ordained  by  the  Congregational  Association  of 
South  Carolina,  at  the  request  of  the  Female  Domestic 
Missionary  Society,  that  he  might  the  better  serve  them  in 
the  mission  in  which  he  was  engaged,  at  the  same  time  with 
Mr.  Alfred  Wright,  who  was  ordained  at  the  request  of  Dr. 
Worce.ster,  Secretary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  that  he  might 
be  better  equipped  for  the  missionary  work  among  the  Choc- 
taws  to  which  he  had  been  appointed.  The  first  successful 
effort  to  give  seamen  in  the  port  of  Charleston  the  preached 
gospel  was  made  under  the  auspices  of  the  Female  Domestic 
Missionary  Society  by  Rev.  Jonas  King.  In  May,  1819, 
"  The  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Society  for  pro- 
moting the  interests  of  religion,'  which  had  existed  for 
some  time,  changed  its  name  to  ''  the  Congregational  and 
Presbyterian  Missionary  Society  of  South  Carolina,"  and 
gave  greater  simplicity  lo  its  plan.  They  had  employed 
since  July,  1818,  Rev.  Henry  White,  who  was  a  graduate 
of  Williams  College,  Mass.,  and  had  been  a  member 
of  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  Utica,  New  York,  and  was 
licensed  by  the  Congregational  Association  of  South  Caro- 
lina on  tiie  13th  of  May,  1818,  as  their  Missionary.  His 
health  being  imperfect  he  seems  to  have  had  a  kind  of  roving 
commission.  Beginning  in  Western  New  York,  he  passed 
into  some  destitute  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  thence  through 
Kentucky  into  Tennessee,  laboring  through  Davidson,  Wil- 
liamson,  Maury  and   Giles    Counties.     He  then  spent  some 


1810-1820.]       RELIGIOUS  AND  BENEVOr.ENT  SOCIETIES.  229 

time  in  Northern  Alabama,  spoke  of  Huntsvilleas  a  desirable 
missionary  .station.  The  citizens  were  wealthy  and  had  it  in 
contemplation  to  build  a  large  and  commodious  house  of 
worship  ere  long.  The  Society  wanted  to  engage  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  King  and  Smith  as  Missionaries  for  the  destitute  parts 
of  South  Carolina  and  to  support  Rev.  Mr.  Kingbury  as  their 
Missionary  among  the  Choctaws.  In  September,  1819,  tiiey 
had  a  Missionary  laboring  in  the  upper  districts  of  South 
Carolina.    [Southern  Evan.  Intelligencer,  vol.  i,  pp.  70,  220.] 

A  Sunday  School  Union  Society  was  formed  September, 
1 8 19,  thoue;h  there  were  Sabbath  schools  in  the  Circular 
Church  in  January,  1817,  in  the  Second  Church  in  1818,  in 
the  Archdale  Street  Church  in  July,  1819,  and  an  Association 
had  existed  in  18 16,  The  Elliot  Society,  named  out  of  re.s- 
pect  to  Elliot,  the  Missionary,  who  died  in  May,  1690,  was 
instituted  in  1819,  f)r'  the  purpose  of  sustaining  missions 
among  the  Indian  tribes.  The  Associate  Reading  Society 
was  instituted  in  the  Circular  Church,  in  18 19,  which  met 
weekly  to  work  for  the  Choctaw  Indians,  connected  with  the 
school  of  Rev.  Mr.  Kingsbury.  These  are  the  evidences  of 
Christian  action  and  Christian  union  in  this  city  which  in 
former  years  has  had  a  greater  number  of  charitable  institu- 
tions, in  proportion  to  its  population,  than  any  other  in  the 
Union.  There  were  also  many  active  and  benevolent  ladies, 
of  whom  were  Mrs.  Martha  L.  Ramsay,  daughter  of  Henry 
Laurens,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  President 
of  Congress  and  prisoner  in  the  tower  of  London,  for  his 
country's  sake,  of  Huguenot  descent  and  a  nob  e  Christian, 
and  wife  of  Dr.  Ramsay,  the  historian,  who  died  June  10, 
1811,  and  left  behind  her  a  shinmg  example  of  the  power 
there  is  in  the  life  of  an  intelligent,  refined  and  active  woman, 
like  those  of  the  gospels,  who  were  "  last  at  the  cross, 
and  first  at  the  sepulchre."  [See  and  read  memoir  of  her 
by  her  husband.] 

The  Church  on  James  Island  was  associated,  through  its 
pastor,  at  lea -it,  during  a  part  of  this  decade,  with  the  Congre- 
gational Association,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Price  bein^  a  member  of 
that  body.  He  .was  born  March  16,  1773,  on  Crowder's 
Creek,  in  the  southern  part 'of  Lincoln  County,  N.  C,  about 
five  miles  northwest  of  Bethel  Church,  in  York  District.  He 
was  a  schoolmate  with  the  Rev.  James  Adams,  so  long  the 
pastor  of  that  church,  and    received   his   early   education  in 


230  JOHN'S    ISLANJ)    AND    WADMAI^AW.  [1810-1820. 

that  congregation.  His  theological  education  he  obtained 
under  the  tuition  of  Rev.  James  Hall,  of  Iredell  County,  N.  C. 
Mr.  Price  is  represented  as  being  a  man  of  energy,  and  of 
practical  talent.  His  wife  was  a  Miss  Baxter,  of  Bermuda. 
His  daughter  was  married  to  Mr.  F.Jenkins  Mikell,of  Edisto. 
He  died  on  the  i6th  of  June,  1816.  We  are  not  at  prestnt 
informed  who  was  his  immediate  successor.  The  Rev.  Aaron 
W.  Leland  appears  as  pastor  of  this  church  in  the  Minutes  of 
the  Assembly  for  1819. 

The  Presbytekian  Church  of  John's  Island  and  Wad- 
MALAW. — The  Rev.  William  Clarkson  continued  pastor  of  this 
church  until  September,  1812,  when  death  put  an  end  to  his 
labors.  He  had  the  affections  of  his  congregation  and  was 
well  esteemed  by  his  brethren  in  the  mini.stry  as  a  man  of 
more  than  usual  ability  and  worth.  He  was  commonly  known 
as  Dr.  Clarkson,  his  title  being  derived  from  his  degree  as 
Doctor  of  Medicine.  The  following  is  the  inscription  upon 
his  tombstone  : 

In  memory  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Clarkson, 
who,  during  the  last  six  years  of  his  life,  sustained  the  pastoral  charge 
of  the  united  Presbyterian  Churches  on  this  Island  and  on  Wadmalaw. 
And  while  zealously  discharging  the  important  duties  of  his  ministry, 
was  by  a  short  illness  summoned  from  his  useful  labors  to  enter  into  ■ 
the  joy  of  his  Lord  on  the  9th  day  of  September,  1812,  and  in  the  50th 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  and  of  very  respect- 
able parentage  and  connections.  As  a  husband,  a  father,  a  friend,  and 
in  the  various  relations  of  life,  he  exhibited  an  amiable  example  of 
affection,  tenderness,  and  Christian  integrity  in  his  public  character 
and  service.    As  a  minister  of  Christ, 

"  I  would  express  him,  simple,  grave,  sincere. 
In  doctrine  uncorrupt :  in  language  plain. 

And  plain  in  manner ; 

Much  impressed 

Himself,  as  conscious  of  his  awful  charge, 
And  anxious  mainly  that  the  fiock  he  fed 
Might  feel  it  too :  affectionate  in  look 
And  tender  in  address,  as  well  becams 
A  messenger  of  grace  to  guilty  men." 

For  him  to  live  was  Christ,  to  die  was  gain. 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  Clarkson  they  are  said  to  have  been 
supplied  for  a  year  or  two  by  a  Mr.  Morse  [Letter  of  Rev.  A. 
F.  Dickson,  then,  Sept.  6,  1854,  pastor  of  this  church.]  A 
letter  tvas  received  from  this  Church  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony  at  its  meeting  in  Charleston,  April  14,  18 14,  "re- 
questing to  be  taken  under  the  care    of  this   Presbytery   and 


1810-1820.]  WILTON BETHEL  PON  PON.  231 

supplicating  for  supplies.  On  motion  it  was  resolved  that  the 
prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted."  [MS.  Minutes,  p.  171.] 
The  Church  appears  after  this  among  the  vacant  Churches  of 
this  Presbytery.  On  the  26th  of  April  1816,  Mr.  John 
Cruickshanks  was  received  as  a  Licenciate  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  New  Brunswick,  and  "a  call  from  the  united  congre- 
gation of  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw  was  profered  to  him, 
requesting  him  to  become  the  pastor  of  said  Churches,  which 
call  he  declared  his  willingness  to  accept."  "It  was  ordered 
that  the  Rev.  Drs.  Flinn  and  Leland,  Mr.  Forster  and  Couser 
be  a  Presbytery  to  meet  at  John's  Island  Church  on  the  2nd 
Wednesday  of  May  next  to  ordain  Mr.  Cruickshanks  and  in- 
stal  him  Pastor  of  said  Churches  ;  that  Dr.  Leland  preach  the 
sermon  and  that  Dr.  Flinn  preside  and  give  the  charge." 
[Minutes  p.  234,  267.]  His  ministry  was  a  short  one.  His 
death  was  reported  to  Presbytery,  Nov.  5,   1818. 

Sub.s.equent  to  this  the  Rev.  Mr.  Abbot  supplied  the  Church 
during  the  winter  of  1818,  1819,  and  in  the  year  last  named 
Rev.  Mr.  Wright  preached  to  his  Church  for  a  short  time. 
Richard  Cary  Morse,  who  afterwards  was  one  of  the  origina- 
tors of  the  New  York  Observer  and  a  licentiate,  supplied  this 
Church  for  a  season.  In  18 18  this  Church  is  mentioned  in 
the  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  as  one  of  the  vacant 
Churches  of  Harmony  Presbytery. 

The  Presbyterlvn  Church  on  Edisto  Island,  enjoyed  the 
labours  of  their  esti  .lable  and  able  pastor,  the  Rev.  Donald 
McLcod",  through  this  decade.  Their  connection  through 
their  pastor  was  with  the  old  Charleston  Presbytery  whose 
last  recorded  act  known  to  us  was  the  licensure  of  James  S. 
Murray,  son  of  a  wealthy  planter  of  this  congregation  which 
occurred  on  the  15th  of  April,  1819.  [So.  Evan.  Intell.,  Vol. 
I,  p.  47  and  Raphael  Bell's  Pamphlet,  p.  32.] 

Wilton  Peesbytebian  Church.  We  have  no  means  of 
ascertaining  who  ministered  to  this  people  till  near  the  end  of 
this  period.  In  1819  the  Rev.  L.  Floyd  preached  to  the  con- 
gregation on  alternate  Sabbaths.  Either  in  this  year  or  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  year  previous,  money  was  raised  by  sub- 
scription for  the  erection  of  a  new  house  of  worship.  [MS.  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Girardeau.] 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Bethel  Pon  Pon  was  served 
during  this  decade  by  Rev,  Loammi  Floyd  who  was  settled 
as  its  pastor  in  l802.     Of  the  numerical  strength  of  the   con- 


232  SAI>TCATCHEK.  [1810-1820 

gregation  during  this  period  we  have  not  the  means  of  judg- 
ing. The  report  of  Mr.  Floyd  to  the  Congregational  Asso- 
ciation in  1811,  was  three  whites  and  40  blacks  in  communion. 
In  1813  he  reported  the  addition  of  7  whites  and  20  blacks. 
We  think  that  in  reference  to  the  white  communicants  in 
181 1,  there  must  be  some  mistake  in  the  record.  It  proba- 
bly refers  to  the  additions  during  that  year,  and  not  to  the 
total  membership.  ■ 

Saltcatcher.  There  are  several  memoranda  among  the 
papers  of  Rev.  R.  M.  Adams,  pastor  of  Stony  Creek  Church. 
One  is  an  enumeration  of  arguments  tg  be  set  before  the  con- 
gregation in  St.  Luke's  Parish  to  induce  them  to  accede  to 
the  proposition  of  Saltcatcher  Church  that  he  should  labor 
with  them  a  part  of  his  time.  It  would  unite  the  two  Churches 
and  prevent  the  intrusion  of  ignorant  or  false  teachers.  It 
would  afford  the  Gospel  to  those  who  had  been  long  desti- 
tute of  it.  The  pious  and  devout  would  have  more  frequent 
opportunities  of  enjoying  the  Holy  Ordinance  of  the  Supper. 
The  Church  in  St.  Luke's  would  have  a  claim  upon  them  for 
the  services  of  their  minister,  when  that  should  be  destitute 
and  Saltcatcher  be  supplied.  Another  paper  proposes  the 
arrangements  which  will  be  adopted  for  the  supply  of  the  two 
congregations  from  the  1st  of  November  to  the  1st  of  June, 
and  also  for  the  intervening  five  months  of  Summer,  and  for 
the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Among  them  is  the 
purpose  expressed  of  visitmg  the  members  of  the  Church  at 
least  once  a  year  as  their  minister. 

They  are  to  see  that  the  church  building  be  finished  and 
the  church  yard  enclosed  with  a  parapet  wall  and  railing  on  the 
top  as  soon  as  convenient.  He  enters  into  minute  particulars  ; 
as  that  a  new  Bible,  Church  Register,  Confession  of  Faith, 
Psalm  and  Hymn  Book,  Pulpit  cloth  and  cushion,  Sacramen- 
tal tables,  cloths,  flagon,  baptismal  basin,  towels,  chairs  in 
front  of  the  pulpit,  a  box  with  lock  and  key  beneath  the  pul- 
pit seat  to  contain  the  books  of.the  Church,  benches  for  the 
vestry  room,  the  appointment  of  a  sexton  and  precentor,  five 
elders  to  be  elected  and  ordained,  seven  copies  of  Psalms  and 
Hymns  to  be  procured ;  thirty  dollars  to  be  requested,  and  a 
like  sum  from  the  Trustees  of  Prince  Williams,  to  purchase  a 
silk  gown.  A  thoughtful  and  careful  minister  indeed  I 
Whether  these  were  private  memoranda  for  his  own  guidance 
or  public  propositions  to  his  Church,   we   are   not  informed. 


1810-1820.]  INDEPENDENT    (UIURCII,  SAVANNAH.  233 

He  is  said  to  have  been  especially  attentive  to  his  own  per- 
sonal appearance.  His  hair  was  powdered,  and  he  rode  to 
Church  in  his  carriage,  hat  in  hand,  lest  his  hair  should  be 
disarranged. 

Mr.  Adams'  ministerial  labors  were  terminated  with  his 
death,  which  occurred,  as  before  stated,  on  the  29th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1811.  The  next  we  learn  of  Saltcatcher  is  the  record 
from  pp.  76  and  "JJ  of '  the  MS.  Records  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Harmon)',  April  9,  1812.  "  Mr.  Colin  Mclver,  a 
licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  produced  a  dismission 
from  that  Presbytery  to  put  himself  under  -the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  applied  to  be  received.  He  was 
received  accordingly."  A  letter  from  the  Representatives  of 
the  Saltcatcher  Church,  which  had  formerly  been  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  assigning  reasons  for 
their  withdrawing  from  the  jurisdiction  of  that  Presbytery, 
and  praying  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  was  received  and  read.  Whereupon,  after  consid- 
eration, resolved  that  the  prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted. 
A  call  was  then  preferred  from  the  Church  of  Saltcatcher  for 
the  whole  of  the  ministerial  labors  of  Mr.  Mclver,  read,  pre- 
sented to  him  and  ^accepted.  The  Presbytery  met  by  appoint- 
ment at  Saltcatcher  Church  on  the  29th  of  April,  18 12,  when 
Mr.  Mclver  passed  his  trials,  and  was  ordained.  Dr.  Kollock 
preaching  the  sermon,  from  I.  Thess.  v:  21,  and  Dr.  Flinn 
presiding  and  giving  the  charge.  Twenty-two  members  were 
reported  as  added  to  the  church  during  the  following  year, 
and  the  whole  number  of  communicants  as  thirty.  Mr. 
Mclvet  did  not  remain  long  in  this  pastoral  charge.  He  was 
leleased  from  it  on  the  loth  of  April,  i8i3,and  was  dismissed 
on  the  19th  of  May,  1814,  to  tiie  Presbytery  of  Fayetteviile. 
The  Church  of  Saltcatcher  reported  thirty  members  in  1815, 
twenty-two  of  whom  were  added  the  last  year. 

The  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  in  Savannah. — 
Of  this  we  have  writte*n  briefly,  and  of  the  ministers  who  pre- 
ceded Dr.  Kollock.  One  name  we  neglected  to  mention,  that 
of  Rev.  Robert  Kerr,  of  whom  we  only  learn  that  his  memory 
was  cherished  with  grateful  affection  by  surviving  members, 
but  at  what  period,  a;id  how  long  his  labors  were  enjoyed,  we 
are  not  informed 

In  the  fall  of  1806  the  Rev.  Henry  Kollock,  D.  D.,  who 
was  then  Professor  of  Theology  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey, 


234  DE.   KOLLOCK.  [1810-1820. 

and  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Princeton,  was  called 
to  be  the  pastor  of  this  important  church,  and  in  the  autumn 
of  that  year  he  removed  to  Savannah,  and  undertook  the 
charge  of  the  congregation  with  zeal,  fidelity,  and  forcible  and 
eloquent  presentation  of  divine  truth,  which  were  attended 
with  great  success. 

At  the  first  communion  after  he  entered  upon  his  labors, 
twenty,  and  at  the  second  eighteen  persons  made  a  [)ublic 
profession  of  their  faith.  Dr.  Kollock  was  born  December 
14,  1778,  at  New  Providence,  New  Jersey,  to  which  his  pa- 
rents had  retired  from  Elizabethtown  as  refugees  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  His  father  was  active  in  that  struggle, 
was  a  man  of  intelligence,  and  for  some  time  the  editor  of  a 
paper.  His  son  showed  a  great  thirst  for  knowledge  in  his 
youth,  and  having  entered  the  Junior  Class  of  the  College  of 
New  Jersey,  was  graduated  in  1794,  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen 
years  and  nine  months  as  Bachelor  of  Arts.  In  1797  he  was 
appointed  tutor  in  college,  his  colleague  in  the  tutorship 
being  John  Henry  Hobart,  afterwards  Bishop  of  New  York, 
between  whom  and  himself  there  existed  an  intimate  friend- 
ship, though  differing  widely  on  politics  and  ecclesiastical 
government,  if  not  in  theology.  "  Although  he  was  both  a 
Democrat  and  a  Calvinist,"  said  Hobart,  of  Dr.  Kollock,  "  he 
was  the  most  intelligent,  gentlemanly  and  agreeable  com- 
panion I  ever  knew."  He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel 
by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  on  the  7th  of  May,  1800. 
The  first  sermon  he  preached  at  Princeton  after  his  licensure 
on  "  The  future  blessedness  of  the  righteous,"  was  listened  to 
with  the  intensest  interest.  Nor  did  this  interest  diminish 
during  the  time  of  his  tutorship.  In  October,  1800,  he  was 
called  nearly  at  the  same  time  to  a  colleague  pastorship  with 
Dr.  McWhorter,  of  Newark,  and  to  the  church  of  Elizabeth- 
town,  the  place  of  his  early  education,  and  where  mosi  of  his 
relatives  resided.  Here  he  was  ordained  on  the  loth  ot  Sep- 
tember, 1800.  His  reputation  sustained  no  diminution,  but 
the  reverse.  The  favorite  authors  of  this  entire  period  of  his 
life  were  Owen,  Bates,  Charnock,  Howe,  Baxter,  Tillotson, 
Barrow,  Leighton,  Bishop  Hall  and  Pictet's  larger  work  in 
French,  for  his  professional  reading.  His  life  at  this  period 
was  one  of  even  excessive  devotion  to  study.  He  allotted 
little  time  to  sleep,  preserved  the  most  rigid  abstinence  and 
mj.de   rapid  progress.     In    December,    1803,   he   was  called 


1810-1820.]  DR.    KOLLOCK.  235 

with  urgent  solicitations  to  the  pastorate  of  the  Dutch  Pres- 
byterian Church  at  Albany,  and  soon  after  was  appointed 
Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  College  of  New  Jersey.  During 
his  pastorship,  in  concert  with  James  Ricliards,  Asa  Hillyer, 
Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  Amzi  Armstrong,  Matthew  La  Rue 
Perrine,  and  Robert  Finley,  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  men  of 
note,  he  devoted  some  portion  of  his  time  to  missionary 
labors  in  the  mountainous  regions  of  Morris  and  Suffolk 
Counties.  Of  these  preaching  tours  Mr.  Kollock  was  wont 
to  speak  with  great  satisfaction.  The  flowing  tears  coursing 
down  the  cheeks  of  these  hardy  men  from  the  mines,  coal 
pits  and  furnaces,  gave  him  more  pleasure  even  than  the 
wrapt  attention  of  the  most  polished  city  audience.  On  their 
return'he  and  his  brethren  would  sometimes  spend  the  last 
day  of  the  week  in  preaching  in  some  one  of  their  congrega- 
tions. After  such  a  day  had  reached  its  close,  at  Basking 
Ridge,  Mr.  Finley's  charge,  as  the  congregation  was  about  to 
be  dismissciJ,  Mr.  Finley  arose  with  emotion  too  deep  for  ut- 
terance. After  laboring  in  a  few  broken  sentences,  his  tongue 
was  loosed  and  he  burst  forth  in  such  impressive  eloquence 
as  Mr.  Kollock  said  he  had  never  before  heard.  The  con- 
gregation, before  apparently  passive,  was  powerfully  moved 
and  remained  after  the  benediction,  sobbing  and  overwhelmed. 
A  powerful  revival  of  religion  followed  which  extended  to 
other  congregations  around.  In  May,  1803,  when  a  little 
more  than  two  years  in  the  ministry,  he  was  called  to  preach 
the  missionary  sermon  before  the  General  Assembly,  usually 
counted  a  distinguished  honor,  and  performed  the  duty  with 
great  acceptance.  This  sermon  was  published,  the  only  one 
he  gave  to  the  world'  in  a  pamphlet  form. 

The  duties  of  Mr.  Kollock  in  the  Divinity  Chair  at  Prince- 
ton, in  which  he  succeeded  a  Dickinson,  a  Burr,  an  Edwards,  a 
Withefspoon,  were  to  supply  the  college  and  the  adjoining 
congregation  with  preaching,  and  instruct  such  of  the  students 
as  were  in  preparation  for  the  ministry,  in  Theology  and  the 
Hebrew  language.  He  also  lectured  to  them  or  examined 
them  on  their  studies  in  the  several  departments  of  Theologi- 
cal learning.  In  the  commencement  of  1806  he  was  honored 
at  the  age  of  28  years,  with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity 
from  Harvard,  and  in  a  few  months  afterward  from  Union 
College. 

For  two  or  three  years  after  his  settlement  in  Savannah,  at 


236  DR.    KOLLOCK.  [1810-1820. 

tile  wish  of  his  friends,  he  spent  the  Summer  months  in  jour- 
neying in  the  Northern  States.  On  one  of  these  excursions 
he  travelled  through  New  England  and  attracted  great  atten- 
tion wherever  he  preached.  This  was  the  case  especially  in' 
Boston,  which  he  visited  on  three  different  excursions.  Multi- 
tudes were  attracted  by  his  eloquence,  and  in  1808  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Park  Street  Church,  their  spacious  house  of 
worship  being  completed,  called  him  unanimously  as  their 
pastor.  He  had  this  call  for  sometime  under  consideration. 
According  to  one  account,  his  connection  with  the  Church  in 
Savannah  was  dissolved  with  aview  to  his  removal.  Accord- 
ing to  another,  he  was  prevailed  upon  by  the  trembling  anxie- 
ty, and  affectionate  entreaties  of  the  people  of  his  charge,  aged 
and  young,  male  and  female,  to  remain  with  them,  and  in 
Sept.,  1809,  he  wrote  to  the  Park  Street  Church  declining 
their  call,  and  they  immediately  extended  it  to  that  eminent 
man,  Edward  Dorr  Griffin,  his  former  neighbor  in  New  Jer- 
sey, then  Bartlett  Professor  of  Rhetoiic  in  the  Seminary  at 
Andover,  who  was  gradually  prevailed  on  to  accept. 

At  the  second  stated  sessions  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony 
at  St.  Paul's  Church  in  Augusta,  Sept.  27,  i8iO,  Dr.  John 
Cumming  was  present  as  a  ruling  elder,  but  there  being  no 
quorum  present  it  was  agreed  that  a  meeting  be  called  by  the 
Moderator,  which  was  accordingly  summoned  for  January  11, 
181 1,  agreeably  to  a  resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
1796.  At  this  meeting  Dr.  Cumming,  a  ruling  elder  from  the 
church  in  Savannah  was  present  as  a  member,  and  Dr.  Kol- 
lock  was  received  as  a  member  of  Presbytery,  upon  a  dismis- 
sion from  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Piopewell,  bearing  date  July  13,  1809.  The  Presby- 
tery of  Harmony  had  been  constituted  since  that  date,  and 
that  portion  of  Hopewell  Presbytery  which  then  held  Savan- 
nah within  its  bounds,  was  now  covered  by  the  geographical 
limits  of  Harmony.  The  Sai^annah  Church  was  several  times 
represented  in  this  Presbytery  by  one  of  its  elders,  and  the 
4th  regular  sessions  of  the  body  was  held  in  that  Church  from 
the  20th  to  the  30th  of  December,  18 II.  In  1810  Dr.  Kol- 
lock  was  called  to  the  Presidency  of  the  University  of  Georgia, 
but  this  office  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  decline.  The  winter 
of  181 1  was  rendered  memorable  by  the  earthquakes  by  which 
the  city  of  Savannah  was  visited,  which  may  have  made  the 
minds  of  the  people   less   certain   of  the  endurance  of  earthly 


1810-1820.]  DR.    KOLLOCK.  237 

things.  Their  attention  was  directed  to  their  eternal  state  and 
under  the  influences  of  the  Spirit,  the  Word  of  God  as  it  was 
preached,  was  effectual  to  the  conversion  of  many.  Besides 
preaching  with  unaccustomed  power  on  the  Sabbath,  his 
week-day  meetings  were  numerous,  and  much  of  his  time  was 
occupied  in  counselling  those  who  were  inquiring  the  way  of 
salvation.  In  the  .same  year  he  published  a  volume  of  ser- 
mons which  were  much  admired  and  extensively  read. 

Dr.  Kollock  became  each  year  more  and  more  firmly  en- 
throned in  the  affections  of  his  people.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
regretted  that  their  should  have  been  anything  to  mar  a  life 
so  apparently  useful  and  happy.  But  the  usages  of  .society 
as  to  alcholic  and  intoxicating  drinks  were  a  temptation  to 
many  of  all  professions  and  classes  of  society.  A  man  could 
not  live  in  society,  whether  cultivated  or  otherwise,  without 
having  wines,  often  the  most  costly  and  tempting,  or  liquors 
more  fiery,  and  less  expensive,  set  before  him  as  a  mark  of  at- 
tention and  hospitality,  which  it  were  rude  and  uncivil  to 
refuse.  Under  these  circumstances  there  were  men  of  every 
profession,  grave  judges,  able  lawyers  and  physicians,  mer- 
chants of  influence  and  wealth,  and  occasionally  re  verend 
divines,  who,  before  they  were  aware,  were  seduced  by  these 
subtile  and  unsuspected  poisons,  to  their  great  injury  and  to 
the  no  small  impairing  of  the  respect  in  which  they  were  held 
by  others.  It  was  regarded  as  necessary,  in  the  severe  seasons 
of  the  year,  in  wearisome  journeys,  in  times  of  peculiar  ex- 
posure, in  malarious  climes,  on  occasions  requiring  peculiar 
efforts,  and  even  in  social  hilarity,  to  have  recourse  to  such 
stimulants  as  these.  In  1812,  the  General  Assembly  passed 
very  earnest  stringent  resolutions  on  the  subject  of  intemper- 
ence  which  came  before  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at  its 
meeting  in  Augusta,  in  November  of  that  year,  for  its  action, 
at  which  meeting  the  subject  of  these  remarks  was  present. 
In  1813,  rumors  were  rife  that  he  had  yielded  to  these  in- 
fluences, and  the  moderator  was  called  upon  by  several  minis- 
ters and  elders,  to  call  by  letter  a  pro  re  nata  meeting  to  in- 
vestigate the  rumors  that  were  afloat  prejudicial  to  his  stand- 
ing in  the  Ciiurch.  Such  a  meeting  was  held  at  Edgefield  C.  H, 
on  the  nth  of  August,  1813.  At  the  meeting  in  1812,  such  ru- 
mors were  known  to  the  Presbytery,  and  were  privately  com- 
municated to  him  with  much  tenderness  and  candor,  and  assur- 
ances were  received  from  him  offuturecircumspection  and  con- 


238  DE.    KOLLOCK.  [1810-1820. 

sistency  in  his  walk.  But  new  instances  were  alleged  as  having 
publicly  occuned,  and  charges  were  reluctantly  tabled,  and 
witnesses  summoned,  and  testimony  at  a  distance  taken  and  he 
cited  to  appear  to  answer  to  these  charges,  but  while  they 
were  on  the  threshold  of  this  painful  duty,  they  were  furnished 
with  a  document  from  him  prepared  with  care,  in  which  he 
informed  them  that  he  felt  it  his  duty  to  withdraw,  and  says, 
"  I  do  hereby  withdraw  from  the  Presbyterian  Government." 
There  follows  this  withdrawal  an  argument  stated  with  (no 
inconsiderable)  ability  and  extended  to  some  length,  designed 
to  prove  that  there  is  no  other'than  the  parochial  or  congre- 
tional  Presbytery  known  to  scripture  or  discoverable  in  what 
is  known  of  the  first  ages  of  the  Church.  To  tliis  the  Pre.sby- 
tery  replied,  expressing  the  oi)inion  that  no  human  councils 
profess  the  right  of  controlling  the  consciences  of  inen,  or  of 
restraining  or  preventing  them  from  exercising  such  forms  of 
church  discipline  as  is  most  agreeable  to  themselves,  yet  that 
the  time  and  circumstances  under  which  this  declaration  is 
presented,  the  Presbytery  having  been  making  efforts  for  the 
recovery  of  an  offending  brother  and  having  been  frustrated 
by  the  alleged  repetition  of  the  crime,  and  being  now  called 
upon  in  the  most  solemn  manner  to  take  further  steps  of 
dealing  with  him,  were  peculiarly  unfortunate,  inasmuch  as  it 
will  be  judged  that  the  fear  of  conviction  is  the  real  cause  of 
this  declinature,  and  not  any  conscientious  scruples  which  are 
alleged  to  have  lately  arisen  with  respect  to  the  scripture  au- 
thority of  the  Presbyterian  form  of  Church  Government. 
The  Presbytery  proceeded  to  pronounce  its  judgment  that 
the  declinature  of  Dr.  Kollock  was,  under  the  circumstances, 
an  act  o{  contumacy ,  to  express  its  abiding  conviction  that 
the  standard  of  doctrine  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  is  agreeable  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  suited  to  secure 
the  peace,  purity  and  prosperity  of  the  Church;  and  to  de- 
clare Dr.  Kollock  as  suspended  from  the  duties  of  the  minis- 
try on  account  of  his  contumacy  in  refusing  obedience  to  the 
orders  and  authority  of  Presbytery.  He  was  served  with  a 
record  of  its  proceedings,  and  cited  to  appear  at  the  next 
stated  sessions,  to  show  reason  why  a  sentence  of  deposition 
should  not  be  passed  against  him.  These  sessions  were  held 
by  invitation  in  the  Scotch  Church,  in  Charleston,  April  14-16, 
1 8 14,  and  after  rehearing  the  several  steps  of  process  which 
had  been  taken,  from  the  private  admonition,   to   the    public 


1810-1820.]  DK.    KOLLOCK.  239 

suspension,  they  proceeded  to  depose  him  from  the  office  of 
the  holy  ministry,  Dr.  Kollock  having  failed  to  appear.  Thus 
matters  remained  until  a  pro  re  nata  meeting  was  held  at 
White  Bluff,  below  Savannah,  on  the  25th  and  26th  of  January, 
18 16.  This  meeting  was  held  for  the  ordination  and  installa- 
tion of  Thomas  Goulding  as  pastor  of  that  church,  for  the 
receiving  of  any  candidates  who  might  present  themselves,  and 
for  the  relief  of  the  vacant  churches  in  that  part  of  the  coun- 
try. At  this  meeting  Rev.  William  McWhir,  John  Cousar, 
John  R.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  and  Murdoch  Murphy,  ministers, 
were  present,  and  in  the  course  of  their  proceedings  they  dis- 
annulled the  sentence  of  deposition  passed  against  him,  and 
recommended  that  he  be  regarded  and  treated  as  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  in  good  standing  m\}a.G  Independent  Presbyterian 
Church,  to  which  he  is  now  attached.  And  it  was  ordered 
that  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  transmitted  to  each  member  9f 
Presbytery,  and  to  the  Moderator  of  each  Presbytery  under 
the  General  Assembly.  The  Presbytery,  however,  at  its  regu- 
lar stated  sessions,  did  not  ratify  this  action  of  the  meeting 
pro  re  nata,  on  the  ground  that  those  present  had  transcended 
their  powers,  and  had  in  other  respects  not  acted  in  a  way 
authorized  by  the  rules  of  discipline,  nor  had  any  direct  com- 
munication from  Dr.  K.,  as  a  Presbytery,  nor  any  clear  ex- 
pression of  his  repentance.  The  communications  were  in- 
formal, and  could  not  in  themselves  be  a  ground  for  Presby- 
terial  action.  These  transactions  were  painful  in  the  extreme 
to  Dr.  Kollock.  In  reference  to  their  first  action  he  says  :  ''  I 
do  not  then  attend  the  Presbytery  ;  and  I  cannot  recognize 
your  authority  over  me.  It  is  to  me  of  little  consequence 
what  you  do.  Life  has  lost  its  charms  to  me ;  and  confiding 
in  the  cross  to  which  I  have  fled,  relying  on  that  infinite 
grace,  which  is  all  my  plea,  hoping  as  a  pardoned  sinner  to  sing 
the  song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  I  wait  for  the  liberating 
stroke  of  death.  I  have  received  a  wound  in  my  heart  which 
will  cause  me  to  groan  all  my  days."  He  had  committed  a 
great  mistake.  At  the  moment  that  he  was  to  be  brought  to 
trial  he  had,  in  a  spirit  of  resistance,  disowned  the  authority 
of  that  body  he  had  sworn  to  obey.  If  his  opinion  as  to  the 
lawfulness  of  Presbyterial  government  had  undergone  a 
change,  that  was  not  the  time  to  avow  it.  If  he  had  appeared 
before.  Presbytery  he  would  have  found  that  those  who  had 
been  faithful  to  him,  and  wept  and  prayed  with   him  in  pri- 


240  DR.    KOLLOCK.  [1810-1820. 

vate,  would  have  been  ready  to  accept  any  manifestations  of 
repentance,  to  have  made  the  sentence  as  light  as  pos.sible, 
and  to  remove  it  on  the  evidence  of  reformation.  The  prove 
nata  meeting  again  had  committed  an  error,  led  into  it  by 
their  own  kindness  of  heart,  and  the  representations  infor- 
mally made  to  them  by  a  near  relative  of  the  accused.  But 
his  congregation  still  remained  enthusiastically  devoted  to 
him,  and  although  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  had  been  in- 
formed that  if  they  did  not  take  action  in  the  case,  a  neigh- 
boring Presbytery  was  resolved  to  do  it,  they  could  not  see 
that  they  could  have  done  otherwise.  It  was  much  blamed 
by  those  who  did  not  understand  the  Constitution  and  Gov- 
ernment of  the  Church,  and  had  loose  views  of  it  besides,  as 
arbitrary,  unwise  and  tyrannical.  Under  these  circumstances 
they  addressed  the  General  Assembly  of  1816  directly  by 
letter,  rehearsing  their  whole  proceedings,  and  earnestly  re- 
questing, to  use  their  own  words:  "That  our  proceedings 
may  either  be  rectified  by  your  wisdom,  or  decisively  sanc- 
tioned by  your  approbation.  The  state  of  public  feeling  in 
this  vicinity,  the  abused  cause  of  discipline  and  of  truth,  and 
the  few  and  persecuted  advocates  of  ecclesiastical  law  and 
order,  all  implore  and  demand  the  effectual  interference  of  the 
General  Assembly."  "  The  General  Assembly  will  easily 
perceive  the  most  unpleasant  situation  in  which  these  trans- 
actions involve  us.  A  circular  is  out  declaring  that  we  have 
restored  Dr.  Kollock.  He  declares  that  he  nev^r  expressed 
penitence  nor  asked  for  restoration.  Surrounded  by  the  ene 
mies  of  Presbyterianism,  and  the  friends  of  Dr.  Kollock,  our 
situation  is  peculiarly  embarrassing.  We  have  acted,  as  we 
believe,  cautiously,  conscientiously  and  firmly.  We  beseech 
you  to  examine  our  conduct.  If  you  find  us  wrong,  censure 
us;  if  right,  give  us  the  support  of  your  public  approbation." 
The  Assembly  replied  by  letter,  and  tlie  Presbytery  laid  all 
its  proceedings  in  tlie  case  before  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  at  their  Sessions  at  Willington,  in  November, 
18 16,  which  decided  that  the  act  of  the  Presbytery  at  White 
Bluff  was  irregular,  and  that  the  Presbytery,  meeting  at 
Charleston,  acted  rightly  in  its  repeal. 

AH  these  unpleasant  things — unpleasant  and  painful  to  both 
parties — did  not  cause  the  piety  of  Dr.'^K.  to  be  questioned 
by  those  who  knew  him.  Even  if  they  admitted  much  of 
what  had  been  alleged,  they    remembered  that  none  are  per- 


1310-1820.]  DR.    KOLLOCK.  241 

feet;  that  Noah,  Abraham,  David  and  Peter  had  grievously- 
erred,  and  were  yet  owned  by  God  as  hi.s  chosen  servants. 
To  Dr.  K.,  it  seemed  that  liis  case  was  greatly  exaggerated. 
"  Is  not  your  address,"  said  he,  in  an  unpublished  reply  to 
the  authors  of  the  Letter  to  the  Assembly,  "  calculated  and 
designed  to  represent  me  as  perfectly  abandoned  to  intem- 
perance ?  And  yet  you  well  know  that,  on  this  point,  I  had 
long  abstained  from  the  very  appearance  of  evil,  and  was  not 
only  temperate,  but  rigidly  abstemious."  It  was,  then,  a 
fault  which  had  been  corrected,  and,  perhaps,  by  the  painful 
discipline  to  which  he  had  been  subjected. 

He  continued  to  attend  assiduously  to  the  duties  which  his 
large  and.  increasing  flock  imposed  upon  him,  remaining  now 
during  the  sickly  season  when  sometimes  he  was  the  only 
minister  in  the  city,  "  the  care  of  all  the  churches,"  as  it  were 
upon  him,  the  pastor,  in  some  sense,  of  them  all,  visiting  the 
sick  and  dying,  and  following  them  to  their  graves.  ^  Under 
these  circumstances,  his  health  gave  way,  and,  at  the  advice 
of  physicians  and  the  urgent  solicitations  of  friends,  leaving 
his  brother  in  charge  of  his  pulpit,  he  sailed  for  England  in 
March,  1817,  visiting  the  chief  cities  of  England,  Scotland, 
Ireland  and  France.  He  was  received  with  marks  of  great 
respect,  and  in  Great  Britain  he  preached  to  overflowing  and 
admiring  congregation!?.  One  object  he  had  in  view  was  to 
procure  materials  for  the  life  of  the  great  reformer,  John  Cal- 
vin, which  he  had  projected  and  had  commenced.  In  this  he 
was  disappointed.  Returning  in  the  month  of  November,  on 
the  evening  of  the  monthly  meeting  for  prayer,  he  delivered, 
to  a  crowded  congregation,  a  deeply  interesting  discourse 
from  I  Sam.,  vii.  17  :  "And  his  return  was  to  Ramah,  for 
there  was  his  house;  and  there  he  judged  Israel ;  and  there 
he  built  an  altar  unto  the  Lord." 

In  1819,  on  the  9th  of  May,  he  dedicated  the  new,  spacious 
and  noble  house  of  worship,  his  congregation,  now  greatly  in- 
creased, had  erected.  But  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  that  year,  the  pestilence  raged  in  Savannah  with  unusual 
violence,  and  under  his  severe  labors  he  became  again  en- 
feebled ;  but  in  proportion  as  his  health  declined  did  he 
become  the  more  earnest  to  accomplish  the  work  it  was  given 
him  to  do.  He  had  appointed  the  13th  of  December  as  the 
day  when  he  would  preach  a  charity  sermon  in  behalf  of  the 
orphans.  Against  the  remonstrance  of  his  friends  he  entered 
16 


242  DE.    KOLLOCK.  [1810-1 820. 

the  pulpit,  and  delivered  an  impressive  and  touching  discourse 
on  the  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  the  last  he  ever 
prcciched.  While  listening  in  the  afternoon  to  a  sermon  on 
the  subject  of  Death,  preached  for  him  by  a  stranger,  he  ex- 
perienced a  slight  paralysis  of  the  arm,  which  soon  passed 
off,  but  on  returning  home  he  fell  prostrate  under  a  new  shock 
at  his  own  door.  On  the  next  Sabbath  the  disease  returned 
with  new  violence,  depriving  him  of  reason  and  conscious- 
ness, and,  on  the  29th,  he  died  at  the  comparatively  early 
age  of  forty-one.  On  the  Wednesday  before,  his  reason  was 
restored  to  him,  and  as  Dr.  Capers,  who  was  called  to  his 
bedside  has  written,  "  He  lay  with  his  countenance  lookin^j 
as  if  bathed  in  the  light  of  the  third  heavens,  serene  and  tri- 
umphant. Mrs.  K.  was  in  great  agony,  and  his  attention  was 
most  tenderly  directed  to  her.  He  asked  for  Bunyan's  Pil- 
grim's Progress,  and  caused  one  of  the  family  to  read  the 
pilgrim's  passage  through  the  swellings  of  Jordan,  and  begged 
her  to  be  comforted.  He  called  for  the  singing  of  the  hymn 
of  Watts'  : 

'  Why  should  we  start,  or  fear  to  die ! ' 

and  when  it  could  not  at  once  be  found,  he  repeated  the  hymn, 
'  There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight,'  his  face  lighted  with  holy 
joy. 

"Observing  me  approaching  his  bed,  he  gently  extended 
his  hand,  and  as  I  pressed  it  in  mine,  he  uttered,  with  some 
effort,  '  Blessed  be  God,  even  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Father  of  mercies,  and  the  God  of  all  consolation, 
who  comforteth  us  in  ail  our  tribulation,  that  we  may  be 
able  to  comfort  them  which  are  in  any  trouble,  by  the  com- 
fort wherewith  we  ourselves  are  comforted  of  God.'  And 
shortly  after  he  had  spoken  these  words,  he  felL  asleep  in 
Jesus." 

The  portrait  of  Dr.  Kollock  prefixed  to  his  works,  which 
were  printed  in  four  octavo  volumes  in  1822,  exhibits  a  coun- 
tenance of  manly  beauty,  and  of  great  expression;  his  presence 
was  commanding,  his  gestures  appropriate  and  graceful,  his 
voice,  if  not  of  the  highest  melody  and  of  the  greatest  com- 
pass, was  clear  and  distinct.  His  style  was  simple,  yet  suffi- 
ciently ornate,  full  of  pathos  and  characterized  by  great 
energy  and  vigor.  His  eloquence  was  a  strong,  uniform  and 
noble   stream,  acquiring   velocity,    beauty   ani    power  as   it 


1810-1820.J  DE.   KOI.LOCK.  243 

advanced.  There  was  a  glowing  eafnestness  and  emotion 
which  touched  the  soul.  His  descriptive  powers  were  great 
and  when  his  own  feelings  and  those  of  his  audience  were 
wrought  up  to  the  highest  pitch,  he  would  sometimes  burst 
forth  in  a  short  prayer  or  an  apostrophe,  which  gave  utter 
ance  to  his  own  emotions  and  those  of  the  hearers,  that  hung 
on  his  lips.  "His  eloquence"  says  Dr  Capers,  "was  the 
unique,  the  living  expression  of  what  he  believed,  approved 
and  felt.  Its  primary  elements  were  light  and  love,  and  its 
instruments,  I  think,  were  chiefly  exquisite  sensibility  and  a 
refined  taste."  He  wrote  his  sermons  out  in  full  and  placed 
the  manuscript  in  the  Bible  before  him.  A  glance  of  the  eye 
on  a  page  enabled  him  to  repeat  the  whole,  and  he  rarely 
recalled  a  word  or  hesitated  in  uttering  a  syllable.  "  In  the 
latter  part  of  his  life,  his  brightest  efforts  of  eloquence  were 
purely  extempore.  Then  his  understanding  seemed  all  light, 
his  heart  a  fountain  gushing  with  sensibility,  every  feature  of 
his  face  beamed  with  glowing  thought,  and  his  whole  person 
looked  as  if  animated  with  a  new  life.  I  have  not  heard," 
says  Dr.  Capers,  "  more  than  one  speaker  in  my  life  whom  I 
have  thought  fairly  on  a  par  with  him,  and  that  was  Dr. 
Jonathan  Maxy,  the  first  President  of  South  Carolina  Col- 
lege." He  was  fond  of  society  and  his  frank,  cordial  and 
unassuming  manner  made  him  always  a  welcome  visitor, 

He  introduced  no  metaphysical  or  philosophic  specula- 
tions into  his  sermons,  and  seldom  displayed  the  stores  of 
Biblical  learning  he  unquestionably  possessed.  The  truths 
he  brought  forward  were  the  plain  doctrines  of  the  Bible 
presented  in  a  form  which  the  people  would  feel  and  under- 
stand. 

He  was  married  in  1804  to  Mrs.  Mehetabel  Campbell, 
widow  of  Alexander  Campbell,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  and 
daughter  of  William  Hylton,  of  the  Island  of  Jamaica.  She 
survived  her  husband  a  number  of  years.  He  had  no  children. 
He  was  a  man  of  large  benevolence,  and  was  generously 
sustained  by  a  generous  people,  his  salary  being  $3,000,  in- 
creased afterwards,  in  18 18,  to  $4,000. 


244  EZRA   FISK  AND  RICHARD  S.  STORRS.  [1810-1820. 


CHAPTER  in. 

The  Presbytery  of  Harmony  in  the  earliest  period  of  its 
history  gave  great  attention  to  the  subject  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions. At  its  second  session  in  Augusta,  January  nth,  13th, 
181 1,  Mr.  Ezra  Fisk,  a  licentiate  of  the  Hampshire  Associa- 
tion, Mass.,  and  Mr.  Richard  S.  Storrs,  licentiate  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Long  Island,  expressed  to  Presbytery  their  willing- 
ness to  itinerate  as  missionaries  vvithin'their  bounds  and  on 
the  frontiers  of  Georgia,  and  produced  letters  recommenda- 
tory from  these  bodies  as  suitable  persons  for  this  service. 
They  were  received  under  the  care  of  Presbytery  and  em- 
ployed for  four  months.  Without  applying  to  the  Synod, 
Presbytery  proceeded  to  ordain  Mr.  Fisk  after  the  ordinary 
examination,  which  was  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  (St. 
Paul's)  ill  Augusta.  On  the  13th  the  ordination  took  place 
in  the  Methodist  Church,  Dr.  Brown  presiding,  and  Dr. 
Kollock  preaching  the  sermon  from  Acts  xx.,  28.  They 
travelled  and  preached  in  the  counties  of  Green,  Hancock, 
Putnam,  Morgan,  Randolph,  Clark,  Oglethorpe,  Wilkes  and 
Burke ;  in  Liberty,  Mcintosh,  Screven,  Washington  and 
Baldwin,  arriving  in  Savannah  December  i,  18 10,  having 
travelled  1,100  miles,  having  preached  eighty  sermons  be- 
sides attending  private  societies  and  exhorting,  as  opportunity 
offered,  visiting  many  families  and  inculcating  religious  truth 
at  the  fireside. 

Measures  were  at  once  taken  to  form  a  Missionary  Society 
and  the  Rev.  John  Brown,  Drs.  HoUingshead  and  Keith,  Rev. 
Andrew  Flinn  and  Dr.  Kollock  and  the  elders  Zebulon 
Rudolph,  of  Columbia,  and  Dr.  Harral,  of  Savannah,  were 
appointed  a  Committee  to  draft  a  plan  and  Constitution  for 
the  same.  The  Presbytery  addressed  a  letter  to  the  church 
of  Braintree,  Mass.,  requesting  them  to  release  Mr. 
Storrs  from  his  obligation  to  them  and  permit  him  to 
remain  longer  in  the  missionary  work,  but  without  suc- 
cess. Mr.  Fisk  was  engaged  in  missionary  labor  also 
from  the  loth  of  April  to  the  2Sth  of  December,  181 1, 
during  which  time  he  itinerated  for  three  months  through 
tiie  Counties  of  Burke,  Jefferson  and  Warren  ;  Wash- 
ington,  Hancock,   Baldwin,  Jones,  Putnam,  Randolph,  Mor- 


1810-1820.]  THE    UNION    MISSIONARY    SOCIETY.  245 

gan,  Clarke,  Oglethorpe,  Green  and  Wilkes,  traveling  about 
one  thousand  miles,  preaching  sixty-five  times,  lecturing  also 
and  exhorting  where  opportunity  offered.  Congregations 
were  larger,  listened  with  more  candor  and  interest,  and  were 
more  favorable  than  before  towards  the  Presbyterian  Church 
and  its  missions.  In  Morgan  County,  he  had  the  happiness 
of  seeing  the  Church  called  Pergamos  organized ;  elders 
ordained,  and  about  thirty  seal  their  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
at  the  communion  table  in  the  midst  of  fhe  wilderness.  In 
July  he  took  his  station  at  Washington,  Wilkes  County,  where 
he  spent  most  of  the  Sabbaths.  He  performed  missionary 
labor  in  the  neighborhood  of  Washington,  and  visited  again 
most  of  the  counties  mentioned  before.  (Min.,  pp.  58-61.) 
On  the  30th  of  December  the  Presbytery  adopted  the  Con- 
stitution of  '■  The  Union  Missionary  Society,"*  to  meet  alter- 
nately on  the  second  Thursday  of  January,  in  Charleston  and 
Savannah,  and  appointed  Messrs.  John  Bolton,  of  Savannah, 
and  Stephen  Thomas,  of  Charleston,  its  Treasurers:  {lbid,yi) 
The  missionaries  thus  alluded  to  were  "Rev.  Richard  S.  Storrs 
(afterwards  D.  D.),  of  Braintree,  Mass.,  father  of  Rev.  Rich- 
ard S.  Storrs,  Jr.,  D.D.,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,and  Rev.  Ezra  Fisk, 
who  afterwards  married  the  daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Francis 
Cummins,  of  Georgia,  was  for  twenty  years  pastor  of  the 
Church  in  Goshen,  N.  Y.,  and  received  the  degree  of  D.  D. 
from  Hamilton  College  in  1825. 

In  1812  the  Synod  of  South  'Carolina  and  Georgia  returned 
to  the  hands  of  the  Assembly  the  conduct  of  Domestic  Mis- 
sions, before  entrusted  to  them,  and  the  direct  action  of  the 
Presbytery  in  the  control  of  this  matter  does  not  again  appear 
during  this  decade. 

On  October  28,  18 14,  the  Presbytery  received  an  applica- 
tion from  a  number  of  subscribers  in  the  Counties  of  Tatnall 
and  Montgomery,  Ga.,  praying  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of 
Presbytery  and  to  be  furnished  with  supplies.  Messrs.  Mur- 
phy and  Goulding  were  directed  to  visit  them  as  often  as 
practicable,  and  at  the  next  meeting  it  was  reported  that  it 
had  been  done  ;  t.hat  they  were  a  duly  organized  congrega- 
tion, and  both  able  and  willing  to  support  a  pastor.     A^nd  at 

*So  called  because  it  was  to  be  supported  by  the  Presbyteries  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  those  Associations  which  receive  the 
Westminster  Commission.  Its  missionaries  to  be  ministers  or  proba- 
tioners in  regular  standing  in  the  Presbyterian  or  Independent  Church, 
and  were  to  be  stationary  or  itinerant  as  the  Managers  should  direct. 


246  WILLIAMSBURG.  []810-182a 

the  meeting  at  White  Bluff,  to  which  allusion  has  before  been 
made,  a  delegation  from  Mcintosh  County  appeared  in  Pres- 
bytery, representing  several  Societies  in  Mcintosh,  described 
the  destitute  situation  of  the  inhabitants,  and  prayed  for  relief 
A  similar  application  was  made  by  the  inhabitants  of  Louis- 
ville, Ga.,  and  supplies  were  appointed  at  the  two  next  stated 
meetings  for  each  of  these  places.  Among  the  ministers 
named  were  Murdock  Murphy,  Thomas  Goulding,  Dr.  Mc- 
Whir,  A.  G.  Forster,  John  Cousar,  A.  G.  Fraserand  Anthony 
W.  Ross. 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  South  Carolina,  east  of  the 
Santee,  was  the  ancient  Church  of  Williamsburg,  which  con- 
tinuing in  connection  with  the  old  Scotch  Presbytery,  remained 
vacant,  so  far  as  we  know,  through  this  decade.  The  Rev 
Mr.  Birch,  spoken  of  on  a  preceding  page,  in  a  letter  written 
to  Dr.  William  Dollard,  in  i8il,  and  which  breathes  a  heav- 
enly spirit,  recommended  to  them  a  Rev.  Robert  Reid,  also 
a  native  of  Ireland,  and  resident  in  Pennsylvania;  but  it  is 
not  known  that  he  was  ever  invited  to  visit  the  church.  Mr. 
Birch  seems  to  have  been  acquainted  with  Mr.  Malcomson  in 
Ireland,  and  makes  affectjonate  inquiry  after  him,  as  his  old 
friend.     [Wallace,  p.  89,  and  MS.  Memoranda  of  the  Church.] 

On  the  first  of  January,  18 19,  after  Mr.  Covert  had  served 
the  neighboring  congregations  of  Bethel  and  Indian  Town, 
with  great  acceptance,  "  the  original  congregation  of  Wil* 
liamsburg  "  addressed  the  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer,  Moderator  of  the 
Congregational  Association  of  South  Carolina,  through  their 
committee,  who  expressed  their  desire  that  Mr.  Covert  should 
be  ordained  by  them  "  in  the  Independent  order,"  "  that  he 
may  be  qualified  to  discharge  all  the  functions  of  the  minis- 
terial office,  and  to  advance  (under  the  divine  blessing)  the 
.'spiritual  interest  of  the  congregation."  This  request  was 
joined  in  by  Mr.  Covert,  who  presented  ^  dismission  from 
the  Presbytery  of  New  York,  by  which  he  was  licensed,  and 
read  a  confession  of  his  faith,  which  was  approved  by  the 
Association.  His  ordination  took  place  in  the  Circular 
Church,  Charleston,  on  the  nth  of  February,  1819,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Palmer  presiding.  The  ordination  sermon  preached  by 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Parks,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Floyd  having  preached  an 
introductory  sermon  the  evening  before,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lee  offer- 
ed the  ordaining  prayer,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer  delivered  the 
charge.     [MS.  Minutes  of  Association,  pp.  86-88.]     The  old 


lSlO-1820.]  BETHEL   CHURCH.  247 

Presbytery  of  Charleston  had  not  yet  ceased  to  exi'-t,  for  on 
the  15th  of  April,  "  at  a  meeting  of  the  incorporated  Presby- 
tery of  Charleston,  Mr.  James  Murray,  of  Edisto  Island,  was 
licensed  by  them  to  preach  the  gospel  wherever  God  in  his 
providence  may  call  him." 

The  settlement  of  Mr.  Covert  over  this  congregation  was  a 
propitious  event,'  as  will  afterwards  be  disclosed.  The  only 
elders  of  that  church,  whose  names  are  recollected,  are  John 
McCiary  and  Thomas  and  James  McConiiell.  Thomas  Mc- 
Connell  died  in  1801.     All  were  men  of  piety  and  worth. 

Bethel  Church,  Williamsburg.  We  have  seen  that  at 
the  beginning  of  this  decade,  this  Church  was  enjoying  the 
useful  ministry  of  Rev.  Daniel  Brown.  He  was  received  as 
a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  on  the  14th  of  Jan- 
uary, 18 II,  but  probably  had  already  been  preaching  for  some- 
time to  this  congregation.  On  a  visit  to  his  native  place,  in 
the  summer  of  1815,  he  was  seized  with  a  sudden  illness  and 
died ;  and  there  sleeps  with  his  fathers.  [Wallace,  p.  90.] 
During  the  vacancy  which  existed  for  nearly  two  years,  divine 
service  was  regularly  kept  up  by  the  elders.  On  the  2Sth  of 
March,  1817,  this  Church,  in  connection  with  that  of  Indian 
Town;  made  arrangements  with  the  Rev.  John  Covert  as  a 
supply  for  one  year.  John  Covert  was  a  native  of  New  York 
and  a  student  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton.  A 
manuscript  letter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Miller,  dated  May  29th,  1816, 
addrcs.sed  to  Dr.  Flinn,  speaks  of  him  as  having  been  appoint- 
ed by  the  Assembly's  Committee  of  Missions,  upon  the  ap- 
plication of  Dr.  Thompson  of  Augusta  for  missionary  services 
in  a  large,  and  important  district  of  country  between  Augusta 
and  St.  Mary's.  He  was  to  go  into  that  country  as  early  in 
the  fall  as  may  be  deemed  expedient  and  safe,  and  to  spend  a 
number  of  montHs  in  a  missionary  tour.  He  was  directed  to 
receive  advice  and  orders  as  to  his  route  from  Dr.  Flinn  as  the 
member  of  the  Assembly's  Committee  of  Missions  for  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  Dr.  Flinn  was  probably  the  means, 
after  Mr.  Covert  had  served  a  few  months  on  an  itinerant  ser- 
vice in  the  field  for  which  he  was  originally  designed,  of  di- 
recting him  to  his  own  former  field  in  Williamsburg.  On  the 
23rd  of  March,  1818  the  Rev.  Robert  Wilson  James,  a' native 
of  that  District,  a  graduate  of  South  Carolina  College,  and  of 
Princeton  Seminary,  and  a  grandson  of  Major  John  James,  of 
whom  we  have  written,  Vol.  I,  p.  407,  4O9,  480,   was  chosen 


248  EEV.  E,  W.  JAMES — INDIAN  TOWN.  [1810-1820. 

as  joirit  Pastor  of  the  two  Churches  of  Bethel  and  Indian  Town, 
Mr.  James  was  received  by  Harmony  as  a  licentiate  under  its 
care  from  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  and  at  the  same  time  a 
call  for  his  services  was  laid  before  Presbytery,  and  put  into 
his  hands  and  by  him  accepted-  He  was  ordained  and  in- 
stalled at  Bethel  Church  on  the  nth  of  February,.  1 8 19,  con- 
currently with  the  ordination  and  installation  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Alexander,  as  pastor  of  Salem  and  Mount  Zion  Churches,  the 
representatives  of  these  congregations  being  also  present. 
The  Rev.  Geo.  Reid  preached  the  ordination  sermon  from 
Mark  16:  15,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Flinn  presided  and  delivered 
the  charge  to  the  pastors  and  congregations. 

There  were  in  the  Bethel  Church  as  elders  prior  to  the 
ministry  of  Mr  James,  Robert  Frierson,  Samuel  Frierson,  Dr. 
John  Graham,  Samuel  Wilson,  JohnWilson,  William  Wilson, 
James  Bradley,  and  Thomas  Witherspoon.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  Mr.  James'  ministry  there  were  of  these  living. 
Samuel  Wilson,  William  Wilson,  Robert  Frierson,  and 
Thomas  Witherspoon.*  In  18 18  there  were  added  to  the  ses- 
sion by  ordination,  David  McCiary,  Robert  I.  Wilson,  Samuel 
E.  Fu'ton,  R.  S.  Witherspoon  and  I.  B.Witherspoon.  [Wallace 
•p.  91.] 

The  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Indian  Town 
was  much  •  interwoven  with  that  of  Bethel  through  the  ten 
years  of  which  we  write.  They  were  united  under  the  same 
pastors,  and  supplies,  Daniel  Brown,  1810-1815  ;  John  Covert, 
1817,  and  Robert  W.  James,  1818.  Of  the  two  the  Church 
of  Indian  Town  was  the  largest.  In  181 2  Bethel  reported  to 
Presbytery  56  as  the  total  number  of  communicants  and  In- 
dian Town  94,  Afterwards  their  reports  were  joint  reports 
and  the  total  number  of  communicants  was  164  in  the  united 
churches.  * 

The  united  Churches  of  Hopewell  and  Aimwell  on  Pee- 
Dee  were  left  vacant  by  the  removal  of  Rev.  Duncan  Brown  to 
Tennessee.  See  Vol,  I,  p.  1 18.  Daniel  Brown  was  appointed 
to  supply  Hopewell  in  1811.  On  the  9th  of  April  1812, 
Daniel  Smith  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  was 
received  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and 
at  the  same  meeting  a  call  for  two-thirds  of  his  ministerial 
labors  was  received  by  Presbytery,  and  being  tendered  to  him 

*Thomas  Witherspoon  was  the  father  of  Rev.  Thos.   A.  Witherspoon 
of  Alabama. 


1810-1820.]       RLACK  RIVER  WINYAH — SALEM,  B,  R.  249 

was  accepted.  He  was  ordained  and  installed  at  Hopewell 
Church  on  the  7th  of  January,  1813,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Brown 
preaching  the  ordination  sermon  from  I  Tim.,  iv:i6,  and  the 
Rev.  George  G.  McWhorter,  presiding  and  giving  the  charge. 
The  remainder  of  his  time  he  preached  at  the  Aim  well  church 
On  the  26th  of  December,  1819,  "the  Rev.  George  Reid  in 
behalf  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Smith  applied  to  Presbytery  for  the 
di.ssolution  of  the  pastoral  relation  between  him  and  the  con- 
gregration  of  Hopewell,  in  consequence  pf  the  continuance  of 
his  ill  health  whereby  he  was  altogather  incapable  of  discharg- 
ing his  ministerial  duties  toward,  them,  and  had  but  little 
prospect  of  recovering  his  health. sufficiently  to  do  so.  Tiie 
application  was  granted  and  the  pastoral  relation  was  dis- 
solved. [Minutes,  283.]  At  the  end  of  this  decade  the  Aim- 
well  church  became  extinct.  The  house  of  worship  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Baptists,  who  put  it  in  repair  about  -the 
the  year  1850  to  52,  and  have  preached  in  it  occasionally 
since  as  a  missionary  chapel.  John  Witherspoon  had  left  in 
his  last  will  and  testament  tiie  Lower  Ferry  on  Lynches 
Creek  to  the  church  as  long  as  it  continued  of  the  Presbyterian 
faith  and  order.  Since  the  church  organization  has  become 
extinct  his  family  has  sold  the  ferry  to  other  parties.  The 
comnmnicants  in  the  tvyo  churches  in  181 1  were  67,  in  1815, 
"J"]  in  number. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Black  Mingo,  named  in 
1808  by  Dr.  Ramsay  (Hist.,  Vol.  H,  p.  25),  as  being  one  of  the 
churches  of  the  old  Presbytery,  and  of  which  Rev.  William 
Knox  was  pastor,  must  have  been  in  existence  during  this 
decade,  but  we  have  been  unable  to  find  any  items  of  history 
respecting  it. 

The  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  , make  no  allusion  to  the 
Church  of  Black  River,  Winyah,  in  Georgetown  District 
during  this  decade.  It  probably  had  but  a  transitory  ex- 
istence. The  Rev.  Murdoch  Murphy,  its  former  pastor, 
applied  to  Presbytery,  December  27th,  i8li,to  be  received 
again  from  Orange  Presbytery,  to  which  he  had  been  dis- 
missed three  years  before.  But  he  was  now  pastor  of  Midway 
Church,  Georgia  (p.  492). 

The  Church  of  Salem,  Black  River,  by  the  removal  of 
Rev.  George  G.  McWhorter,  became  vacant,  and  on  the  4th 
of  March,  181 1,  petitioned  Presbytery  for  supplies.  The  Rev. 
John-Cousar,  Rev.  David  Brown,  Rev.  John  Brown,  and  Rev. 


250  MOUNT  ZION.  [1810-18'20. 

Andrew  Flinn  were  appointed  from  time  to  time  to  visit  it, 
preach,  cateciiise,  and  administer  the  co  iimunion.  On  the 
19th  of  May,  1814,  the  Rev.  Robert  Anderson,  who  had  been 
licensed  on  the  lOth  of  April,  18 13,  and  had  been  sent  to  the 
church  as  a  supply,  was  ordained  and  installed  as  their  pastor, 
the  Rev.  Geo.  Reid  preaching  the  sermon  from  2d  Cor.,  iv  5  : 
"  For  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus,  the  Lord," 
Rev.  Daniel  Brown  proposing  the  questions  and  giving  the 
charg?  to  the  pastor  and  people.  He  was  a  minister  greatly 
beloved,  and  while  he  remained,  discharged  with  great  faith- 
fulness and  zeal,  all  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office  ;  but  fiom 
motives  of  health  he  was  forced  to  leave  them.  On  the  9th 
of  November,  1815,  he  was  released  from  his  pastoral  chargj 
and  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Lexington,  Va.  The 
church  was  supplied  by  the  two  Messrs.  Hillhouse,  in  the 
winter  of  1816,  and  by  Rev.  John  Joyce,  in  the  winter  of 
1816  and  1817.  In  January,  1817,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Alex- 
ander, a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  vi'iited  Salem 
and  preached  to  them  till  tiie  April  following'.  The  people 
resolved  on  extending  to  him  a  regular  call  to  the  pastoral 
office.  In  April,  1818,  he  was  received  as  a  member  of  Har- 
mony Presbytery,  a  united  call  for  the  two  Churches  of  Salem 
and  Mount  Zion  was  presented  to  him,  and  he  was  ordained 
(the  first  appointment  having  failed),  concurrently  with  Rev. 
R.  W.  James,  on  the  11  of  February,  1819,  at  the  Bethel 
Church,  representatives  of  both  Salem  and  Mount  Zion  being 
present.  Two  elders,  William  Bradley  and  John  Shaw* 
were  ordained  in  May  following. 

Mount  Zion,  in  Sumter  District,  owes  its  foundation  to 
the  efforts  of  three  benevolent  individuals,  Capt.  Thomas 
Gordon,  Capr.  John  DuBose,  and  Thomas  Wilson,  Esq.,  in 
the  year  1809.  By  an  arrangement  among  themselves,  Capt. 
Thomas  Gordon  furnished  the  whole  of  the  Lumber  for  the 

*0n  the  9th  of  June,  1810,  the  Presbyterian  Churches  of  Medway, 
Salem  and  Mount  Zion,  met  according  to  previous  notice  at  Salem 
Church  and  organized  the  "  Salem  Auxiliary  Union  Society,"  whose 
object  shall  be  to  co-operate  with  the  Bible  Society  of  Charleston,  also 
to  aid  the  funds  of  the  Missionary  and  Education  Societies  and  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  each  of  the  three  last  being  under 
the  care  of  the  General  Assemnly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  Of  this  Society  Rev.  John  Cousar  was  elected  the 
President,  Robert  Witherspoon  1st,  and  Robert  Wilson  2d  Vice-Presi- 
dent, and  Rev.  Thomas  Alexander  Corresponding  Secretary.  (Evan- 
gelical Intelligencer,  September  11, 1819) 


1810-18:20.]  CONCORD — NEW    HOPE.  251 

house  of  worship  free  of  charge  John  DuBose  gave  the  land, 
and  Thomas  Wilson  raised  a  subscription  of  ;?400,  for  which 
Mr.  Samuel  DuBose  agreed  to  build  the  church.  In  the  year 
1810,  Rev.  Geo.  G.  McWhorter  accepted  an  invitation  to 
preach  to  the  congregation,  and  during  that  year  preached 
from  a  stand  erected  for  that  purpose.  Near  the  close  of  this 
year  the   church  was  completed.      During  the  years    1811, 

1812,  1813  and  1814,  Mr.  McW'horter  preached  to  them  one- 
half  of  his  time  in  the  new  church.  It  receives  its  fir«t  men- 
tion, so  far  as  we  have  discovered  in  the  minutes  of  Presby- 
tery, on  the  8th  of  April,  1813,  when  it  was  represented  in 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  by  William  Carter,  an  elder. 
Whctt  was  the  precise  date  of  its  organization  we  are  not  able 
to  say.  The  statistical  table  which  is  appended  to  this,  the 
Seventh  Stated  Sessions  of  the  Presbytery,  gives  Rev.  Geo. 
G.  McWhorter  as  the  pastor  of  Concord,  Mount  Zion  and 
Beaver  Creek,  and  the  number  of  communicants  in  this 
united  charge  as  102.  The  same  report  of  the  same  united 
charge  is  made  at  the  April  sessions  of  1814;  the  same  at 
April  sessions  of  1815.  Mr.  WcWhorter  Itft  this  charge 
about  the  beginning  of  1815.  It  was  dependent  now  upon 
such  occasional  supplies  as  it  could  obtain.  As  Rev.  George 
Reid  was  appointed  to  supply  Mount  Zion,  both  in  the  year 
1816  and  1817,  it  remained  vacant  durmg  those  years  and 
until  in  i8i8,  it  was  united  with  Salem,  under  the  pastoral 
charge  ot  the  Rev.  Thomas  Alexander.     The  three  persons 

'so  active  in  the  erection  of  the  house  of  worship,  Thomas  Wil- 
son, Thomas  Gordon  and  John  DuBose,  all  left  before  the 
church  was  organized.  Messrs.  Robert  Wilson,  William 
Carter  and  John  Fleming  were  the  first  elders. 

Of  Concord  Church,  in  Sumter  District,  we  know  as  little. 
The  same  tables  show  us  that  it  was  under  the  pastoral  case 
of  Rev.  Mr.  McWhorter  in  1813,  1814,  1815  ;  that  it  continued 
so  till  May,  1819,  is  established  by  the  Minutes  of  the  As- 
sembly, which  show  that  Mr.  McWhorter  was  the  joint  pastor 
of  Beaver  Creek  and  Concord  B.  K.  at  that  time. 

Newhope,  was  served  still  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cousar.  The  total 
number  of  communicants,  January  11,  1811,  was  28. 

Mount  Hope,  is  mentioned  as  one  of  his  churches  in  April, 

1813.  It  may  be  another  name  for  the  same  organization. 
Neither  of  these  names  appear  after  this  latter  date. 


252  MIDWAY — CHESTEEriELD  C.  H.  [1810-1820. 

Midway  Chukch,  which  is  on  the  N.  E.  side  of  the  eastern 
branch  of  Biack  River  or  in  what  is  now  called  Clarendon 
District  or  County,  and  Bruington,  which  is  south  of  the 
south  western  Branch  continued  to  be  the  charge  of  Rev.  John 
Cousar,  Midway  in  January  i8i  i,  reported  twenty  members 
in  communion,  an  increase  of  eight  since  the  report  in  1809. 
In  the  Spring  of  1812,  the  membership  was  twenty-seven  in 
number,  eleven  having  been  added  and  four  dismissed.  Bru- 
ington, which  is  now  mentioned  for  the  first  time,  is  said  to 
have  been  established  in  1811  or  1812,  during  which  year  a 
house  of  worship  was  built  and  the. Rev.  John  Cousar  con- 
stituted its  pastor.  The  same  authority  says  it  consisted  at 
first  of  but  five  rtiembers,  viz  :  Jane  Nelson,  James  Nelson, 
Isabella  Nelson,  and  Samuel  Pendergrast,  In  ihe  statistical 
report  to  the  Assembly,  under  date  of  April  13,  1812,  it  had 
eleven  members.  In  the  two  churches,  thirty-eight.  In  the 
Sprin'.j  of  18 13,  the  united  membership  of  Mid  A-ay,  Bruington 
and  Mt.  Hope,  is  fifty-nine,  of  whom  twenty-three  were  added 
during  the  preceding  year.  In  the  Spring  of  1815,-  the  total 
of  communicants  in  Midway  and  Bruington  was  eighty-five, 
fourteen  having  been  added.  Neither  New  Hope  nor  Mount 
Hope  appear  anymore. 

Chesterfield  C.  H.  among  the  supplies  appointed  on  the 
13th  of  April,  1812,  were  those  of  Daniel  Smith,  who  was  di- 
rected to  preach  two  Sabbaths  in  the  Districts  of  Darlington 
and  Chesterefild.  On  the  gth  of  April,  1813,  Mr.  McNeil 
Crawford,  an  elder  from  the  congregation  of  Chesterfield, 
appeared  in  Presbytery  and  made  known  the  desire  of  that 
congregation  to  place  themselves  under  presbyterial  care  ;  the 
application  was  acceded  to,  and  Mr.  Crawford  took  his  seat 
as  a  member.  At  the  same  meeting,  Rev.  Colin  Mclver  was 
released  from  the  pastoral  at  charge  of  Saltcatcher  congrega- 
tion and  was  appointed  to  supply  at  least  one  Sabbath  at 
Chesterfield  C.  H.  On  the  19th  of  May,  [814,  Mr  Mclver 
was  dismissed  at  his  own  request  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayette- 
ville  into  whose  bounds  he  had  removed,  and  on  the  28th  of 
October,  a  letter  was  received  from  him.  praying  the  Presby- 
tery to  give  permission  to  the  churches  of  Chesterfield,  Pine 
Tree  and  Sandy  Run,  to  make  their  reports  to  the  Presbytery 
of  Fayetteville  and  to  request  that  Presbytery  to  receive  those 
reports  and  attend  to  the  interests  of  those  churches  so  long 
as  a  member  of  their  body  shall  minister  to  them  as  their 


1810-1820.]  LITTLE    PEEDEE — RED    BLUFF.  253 

pa.stor.  The  prayer  was  granted.  Before  i8ig,  as  appeared 
from  the  reports  made  to  the  General  Assembly  in  that  year, 
the  Rev.  John  McFarland,  also  of  the  Presbyteryof  Fayette- 
ville,  had  succeeded  to  the  pastoral  care  of  these  churches, 
though  Che.sterville  and  Pine  Tree  are  reported  in  the  same 
minutes,  as  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  as  being 
vacant. 

Changes  were  also  taking  place  which  led  not  yet,  but  in 
the  next  decade,  to  the  establishment  of  a  Church  known  as 
the  Little  Peedee. 

This  was  found  in  what  was  originally  a  colony  from  Ash- 
pole  Church  in  N.  C.  In  their  new  home  they  did  not  neglect 
the  assemi)ling  of  themselves  together,  but  met  on  Sabbath 
days  at  the  house  of  Mr.  John  Mnrphy,  one  of  their  members, 
for  religious  worship  ;  sermons  were  read  by  Dugald  and 
Duncan  Carmichae],  Esqrs.,  and  by  Mr.  Murpny  himself. 
Rev.  Mr.  Lindsay  of  North  Carolina  had  occasionally  visited 
them  at  their  request.  Afterwards,  and  during  their  religious 
services,  the  Rev.  Mr.  McDiarmid  preached  occasionally  at 
private  houses.  These  ministerial  visits  were  between  the 
years  of  1805  and  1820.  About  the  year  1815,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Caldwell  of  Concord'  Presbytery,  preached  in  the  house  of 
Mr.  Peter  Campbell,  while  he,  Mr.  Caldwell,  was  employed  as 
a  teacher  at  Marion  Court  House.  These  religious  exercises 
prepared  the  way  for  what  supervened  m  the  next  decade. 

Red  Bluff. — This  church  still  belonged  to  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina,  though  in  Marlboro'  County,  South  Caro- 
lina. "  The  first  meeting  of  Fayetteville  Presbytery  was  held 
af  Centre  Church,  Robeson  County,  N.  C,  on  the  21st  of  Oc- 
tober, 1813.  The  roll  of  churches  is  not  given,  but  simply 
the  roll  of  ministers.  Red  Bluff  was  doubtless  one  of  the 
original  churches,  for  soon  afterward  we  find  it  supplied  by 
the  Rev.  Malcom  McNair.  in  connection  with  Centre,  Ashpole 
and  Laurel  Hill.  This  date  gives  us  a  clue  as  to  the  length 
of  time  that  Sharon  existed  as  a  separate  congregation.  It 
could' not  have  been  more  than  ten  or  twelve  years. 

The  Fikst  PuEgBYXERiAN  Church,  in  Columbia,  so  far 
as  our  historical  researches  have  yet  discovered,  although 
existing  in  some  form  in  1795,  (see  Vol.  I,  59$,)  received 
its  first  artd  complete  organization  as  a  Presbyterian  Church 
under  Rev.  John  Brown,  afterwards  D.  D.,  who  had  re- 
cently become  a  Professor  in  the  South  Carolina  College.     A 


254  COLUMBIA.  [1810-1320. 

meeting  was  held  early  in  the  year  1810,  at  the  hou.se  of  Mr. 
Daniel  Grey,  at   which    were    present   Rev.  Mr.  Brown,   Mr. 

Thomas  Lind,  Mr. Becket,  Mr.  James  Young,  Mr.  James 

Douglas,  Mr.  Daniel  Gray  and  Mr.  John  Murphy.  Having 
agreed  to  associate  themselves  together  as  a  Presbyterian 
Congregation,  they  proceeded  to  the  nomination  of  Ruling 
Eyers  ;  and  after  consultation  and  conference  on  the  subject, 
Mr.  Lmdsayand  Mr.  Murphy  being  nominated  were  elected 
by  the  suffrages  of  the  members  present  at  the  meeting. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  the  15th  of  May,  1810,  at  the  house 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown,  the  members  entered  into  and  sub- 
scribed a  more  formal  agreement,  and  appointed  the  Saturday 
next  ensuing  as  a  Day  of  Fasting,  Humiliation  and  Prayer  for 
the  Divine  blessing  on  the  Church  in  general,  and  the  newly 
formed  society  in  particular,  and  especially  for  His  blessing  to 
await  them  in  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Sacramental  Supper 
of  our  Lord,  which  it  was  agreed  should  be  administered  in 
the  College  Chapel  on  the  next  Sabbath." 

"At  a  meeting  held  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brown, 
Col.  Thomas  Taylor,  Mr.  Lindsay  and  Mr.  Murphy  were  or- 
dained Ruling  Elders  in  the  manner  prescribed  in  the  '  Forms 
for  the  Government  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America.' "  [Old  Records  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  cf  Columbia.] 

This  is  the  first  communion  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Columbia  of  which  we  have  any  record.  Those  who  were 
present  and  participated  in  it  frequently  referred  to  it  as  a 
season  of  peculiar  interest.  The  number  of  communicants 
was  precisely  the  number  of  those  who  first  sat  down  at  the 
Sacramental  Supper  when  it  was  instituted  by  Christ.  Their 
names  have  been  traditionally  preserved,  and  it  may  be 
proper  to  record  them.  They  are  as  follows:  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
James  Young,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Douglass,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Zebulon  Rudolph,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Preston,  Mrs.  Chancellor 
Harper,  Mr.  David  Grey,  Mrs.  James  Lewis,  Mrs.  Dr.  Brown 
and  Miss  Clementine  Brown,  afterwards  Mrs.  Golding,  to 
which  list  must  be  added,"  says  Dr.  Palmer,  from  whose  MSS. 
we  are  culling  most  of  these  facts,  ''  Col.  Thomas  Taylor,  the 
Patriarch  of  the  settlement,  who  subsequently  became  an 
Eider  in  the  Church,  but  who  then  communed  for  the  first 
time  under  circumstances  of  peculiar  interest.  This  venerable 
gentleman,  so  justly  revered  as    one  of  the    Fathers  of  the 


1810-1820.]  COLUMBIA.  255 

Town,  and  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  appears  to  have  been 
through  h'fe  a  man  of  strong  reh'gious  sensibilities.  By  edu- 
cation he  was  an  Episcopahan,  that  being  the  church  of  his 
father.  For  himself,  however,  he  had  not  been  sufficiently 
satisfied  with  any  existing  church  to  attach  himself  to  it. 
When  on  this  occasion  he  saw  the  table  spread  in  the  Chapel 
of  the  College,  and  heard  the  free  invitation  given  to  God's 
children  to  celebrate  the  Redeemer's  Passover  in  the  Supper, 
his  mind  was  powerfully  affected.  He  had  found  the  people 
among  whom  he  was  willing  to  cast  in  his  lot,  and  yielding 
to  the  strong  impulse  of  his  heart,  he  went  forward.  Speak- 
ing with  the  emotions  which  mastered  him,  he  bowed  his  head 
upon  the  table  among  the  communicants,  who  were  all  happy 
that  the  Lord's  Tabernacle  was'  established  among  them. 
When  the  Elders  came  around  to  collect  the  tokens,  (which 
were  then  used,)  being  ignorant  of  the  usages  of  the  Church, 
he  slipped  a  piece  of  coin  into  the  hand  of  the  Elder,  who 
with  a  smile  returned  it.  But  though  not  exactly  qualified 
as  to  Church  form,  he  was  not  disturbed  ;  all  recognized  his 
pious  emotion  as  the  true  token  that  he  was  the  Lord's  disci- 
ple. This  circumstance  he  often  referred  to  in  later  years, 
when  he  had  become  an  officer  in  the  Church,  and  is  now  fre- 
quently spoken  of  by  his  few  surviving  compeers,  who  dwell 
with  affection  upon  his  memory;  which  is  the  memory  of  a 
pure  life  and  virtuous  deeds."  MSS.  Hist,  by  Dr.  Palmer, 
pp.  8,  9. 

We  have  referred  to  this  circuirntance  in  Vol.  i,  p.  597,  not 
being  perfectly  satisfied  as  to  whether  it  occurred  under  the 
Mr.  Dunlapor  Mr.  Brown's  ministry.  That  Mr.  Dunlap  should 
have  preached  in  Columbia  nine  years  after  his  ordination 
without  ever  administering  the  communion  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  seemed  to  us  somewhat  strange.  Then  the  sequence 
in  the  "old  recoids."  The  meeting  at  the  house  of  Mr. 
Grey  early  in  1810.  their  agreeing  to  associate  as  a  congrega- 
tion, electing  Messrs.  Lindsay  and  Murphy  as  elders,  the 
more  formal  subscription  and  agreement  May  i3,  18 10,  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Brown,  and  their  having  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  before  the  communion,  their  holding  a  meeting  at 
the  house  of  Mr.  Brown,  at  which  the  twp  elders  btfore  men- 
tioned and  Col.  Taylor  were  ordained,  does  not  give  a  natural 
sequence  of  events,  unless  the  communion  in  question  was 
administered  by  the  two  elders,  when  as  yet  their  ordination 


266  DR.    BROWN — DR.    MONTGOMERY.  [1810-1820. 

bad  not  taken  place.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  the 
tradition,  at  the  time  of  the  writing  of  the  history  of  this 
church  by  Dr.  Palmer,  was  in  accordance  with  his  statement. 
And  his  conclusion  was  that  elders  were  induced  to  come 
from  neighboring  churches  to  assist  in  the  communion  when 
administered  by  ivlr.  Dunlap.  "  Dr.  Brown's  useful  labors  in 
Columbia  were  terminated  by  the  resignation  of  his  office  as 
Professor  in  the  South  Carolina  College,  which  was  on  the 
first  of  May,  1811.  He  soon  afterwards  removed  and  trans- 
ferred his  relations  to  Hopewell  Presbytery,  having  been 
elected  as  President  of  the  University  of  Georgia,  established 
at  Athens.  His  short  stay  was,  however,  pre-eminently  use- 
ful, as  by  him  the  church  was  fully  organized  and  a  spirit  was 
infused  which  has  continued  to  this'  day."  The  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  on  him  by  the  College  of 
New  Jersey  in  181 1. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  at  Columbia,  in  1831,  Dr.  Brown  was  present  as  a 
worshipper  in  the  church  for  the  last  time,  and  overpowered 
with  emotion,  alluded  to  the  circumstances  and  scene  of  their 
first  communion,  in  which  he  participated.  Some  of  the 
letters  written  from  Columbia  while  he  was  resident  here 
and  addressed  to  his  friend.  Dr.  Flinn,  are  marked  by  that 
easy  and  flowing  style,  that  childlike  simplicity  and  that 
language  of  affection  for  which  he  was  always  so  remarkable. 
Did  our  limits  allow  we  would  be  glad  to  follow  this  good 
man  through  the  remainder  of  his  career.  He  resigned  the 
Presidency  of  the  University  of  Georgia  in  1816,  was  twelve 
years  pastor  of  Mount  Zion  Church,  in  Hancock  County, 
when  he  removed  to  Fort  Gaines  and  entered  into  the  eternal 
re.st  on  the  nth  of  December,  1842,  in  the  80th  year  of  his 
age.  "  Our  Apostle  John,"  he  was  sometimes  called,  a  man 
of  guileless  simplicity  and  universally  beloved.  Sprague's 
Annals,  vol.  iii.,  LaBorde's  Hist.  S.  C.  College. 

The  immediate  fruits  of  his  labors  here  were  reaped  by  his 
successor,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  R.  Montgomery,  elected  to  the 
chair  of  Moral  Philosopy  and  Logic,  November  27th,  18 11. 
"His  ministration  as  Chaplain  of  the  State  Institution  were 
attended  by  the  people  and  he  became  as  Dr.  Brown,  their 
quasi  pastor."  The  members  of  the  church  being  desirous  of 
assuming  a  more  regular  form  of  connecting  themselves  more 
nearly  with  Dr.  Montgomery  as  their  pastor,  held  a  meeting 


lMO-1820]  COLUMBIA.  257. 

on  the  19th  of  July,  1812,  in  the  Court  House,  in  the  town  of 
Columbia.  Col.  Taylor  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  meet- 
ing. At  this  time  the  following  paper  was  drawn  up  :  "We 
whose  names  are  hereby  subscribed,  do  hereby  agree  to  asso- 
ciate ourselves  into  a  congregation  for  religious  worship,  under 
the, pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Montgomery,  and  his  suc- 
cessors, whom  we  may  hereafter  choose.  Divine  service  to 
be  performed  according  to  the  Presbyterian  or  Independent 
form  of  public  worship.  Signed  by  Thomas  Taylor,  Sr., 
Henry  D.  Ward,  James  Douglas,  Thomas  Lindsay,  J.  Smith, 
John  Murphy,  H.  Richardson,  Henry  W.  DeSaussure,  D. 
Coattes,  William  Shaw,  James  Young,  Abram  Nott,  Zebulon 
Rudolph,  A.  Mulder,  James  Davis  and  John  Hooker.  At 
the  same  meeting  Col.  Taylor,  Judge  Nott  and  Maj.  Ward 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  procure  a  proper  place  for 
building  a  church. 

Thus  far  the  members  of  the  church  and  congregation  had 
been  accustomed  to  worship  in  the  College  Chapel,  occupy- 
ing the  galleries,  while  the  body  of  the  building  was  filled  by 
the  students.  As  the  church  grew  in  numbers  this  arrange- 
ment was  no  longer  convenient. 

When  the  town  of  Columbia  was  originally  laid  out  by  a 
Commission  of  the  Legislature,  a  square  of  land  containing 
four  acres  was  reserved  for  a  public  burying  ground  in  the 
southern  portion  of  which  interments  were  made. 

At  a  later  period,  there  being  some  dissatisfaction  in  the 
location  of  this  public  ground,  an  Act  was  passed  in  the  year 
1808,  the  same  year  in  which  the  town  itself  was  incor- 
porated, authorizing  the  sale  of  half  this  square  as  yet  unoc- 
cupied by  graves.  ,  The  proceeds  of  this  sale  were  to  be  ap- 
propriated to  the  purchase  of  another  burial  place.  This  was 
done  and  the  surplus  of  money  over  and  above  the  purchase 
was  to  be  divided  equally  between  the  four  denominations. 
The  two  remaining  acres  were  appraised,  were  to  be  the 
property  of  the  Episcopalians  and  the  Presbyterians.  It  was 
not  advisable  that  their  houses  of  worship  should  be  so  near 
each  other,  and  it  was  agreed  that  one  of  these  denominations 
should  buy  out  the  rights  of  the  other.  Lots  were  cast  to  de- 
termine which  of  the  two  should  buy  out  the  other  party  and 
become  the  sole  proprietor.  The  decision  was  that  the  Pres- 
byterians should  hold  the  ground,  extinguishing  by  purchase 
the  just  claims  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  A  contract  was 
17 


258  COLUMBIA.  [1810-1820. 

made  on  the  22d  of  Jun^;,  1813,  for  building  a  house  of 
worship.  The  whole  expen.ses  of  which,  including  what 
was  spent  in  procuring  the  site,  is  estimated, to  amount  to 
gS.OOO. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1 814,  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony 
met  in  Columbia  and  at  this  time  the  church  was  dedicated. 
We  do  not  know  what  the  services  of  dedication  were.  But 
the  Presbytery  was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Flinn  from  Revelation,  2:10.  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death 
and  I  will  give  thee  a  ciown  of  life,"  The  building  at  this 
time  was  in  a  most  incomplete  state,  being  only  enclosed  and 
floored,  but  without  pew.s  and  sashes.  Rude  seats  were  con- 
structed for  the  occasion,  and  the  Methodist  church  was  cour- 
teously tendered  to  the  Presbytery  for  the  services    at  night. 

During  the  year  18 15  the  building  was  completed.  In 
October,  1817,  a  bell  waa  added,  the  same  indeed'  which  now 
calls  us  to  worship.  These  first  houses  of  worslhip  irf  Colum- 
bia were  not  in  the  highest  style  of  church  airehitecture- 
which  is  now  affected.  The  Presbyterian  Church,  like  most 
of  the  others  was  of  wood.  It  had  two  square  towers  sur- 
mounted by  cupolas  in  front,  and  perhaps  was  ratrfcer  more- 
tasteful  and  aspiring  than  the  other  churches,  thought  ii  would' 
appear  not  very  imposing  to  the  men  of  the  generationn  now 
coming  on  the  stage  of  action.  ' 

Dr.  Montgomery,  though  still  the  chaplain  of  the  coEege- 
was  permitted  to  officiate  in  the  qhurch,  the  students  accowi- 
panying  him  from  the  Chapel.  He  continued  to  minister  tO' 
them,  receiving  from  the  people  the  stipend  of  ;g500,  per  an-- 
num  till  the  year,  18 18.  During  the  six:  years  of  his  residence 
and  labors  in  Columbia,  the  leading  incidents  were  the  erec- 
tion of  a  house  of  worship  with  all  its  necessary  furniture,  the 
gracious  work  of  God's  Spirit  in  the  first  year  of  his  ministry 
during  which  36  persons  were  added  to  the  church  and  the 
election  of  a  truly  worthy  and  valuable  elder.  Mr,  Thomas 
Lindsay,  one  of  the  three  original  elders  having  removed  to 
St.  Charles,  Missouri,  Edward  D.  Smith,  M.  D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy  in  South  Carolina  College 
was  chosen  to  fill  his  place.  About  the  first  of  the  year  i8i8 
Dr.  Montgomery  began  to  meditate  a  removal  to  Missouri, 
and  the  church  having  grown  in  size  and  importance,  realized 
the  want  of  a  settled  pastor  whose  whole  time  and  talents 
might  be  devoted  to  their  interests,     A  public  meeting  of  the 


T 810-1820.]  DK.   T.    C.    HENRY.  259 

pew  holders  was  called  on  the  28t-h  of  April,  1818,  to  take  this 
.subject  into  consideration.  The  result  was  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  of  seven,  consisting  of  Col.  Thomas  Taylor,  Hon. 
Judge  Nott,  Ainsley  Hall,  Zebulon  Rudolph,  who  had  before 
been  an  elder  in  the  church  in  Camden,  Samuel  Guirey, 
David  Thompson,  and  Dr.  Edward  D.  Smith,  to  vs^hom  was 
committed  the  whole  matter  of  inquiring  for  a  suitable  candi- 
date, and  when  t/iey  were  satisfied,  of  conducting  all  the  ne- 
gotiations for  his  settlement  in  the  pastorate.  By  this  arrange- 
ment, the  congregation  bound  itself  to  submit  to  the  judg- 
ment of  a  select  committee  ;  but  they  sought  to  protect  them- 
selves by  a  condition  in  the  settlement  which  Hmited  the  con- 
tract to  a  term  of  three  years,  when  it  would  expire  of  itself 
but  might  be  renewed  at  the  pleasure  of  the  parties.  This 
rule,  wholly  unknown  as  it  is  to  the  constitution  of  the  Pres- 
byterian church,  proved  afterwards  a  prolific  source  of  evil. 
But  it  was  the  only  check  which  they  could  place  upon  the 
power  which  they  had  unwisely  deposited  in  the  hands  of  a 
committee  to  call  and  settle  a  pastor  at  (ketr  discretion. 

The  committee  vested  with  this  power  and  being  aware 
that  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Porter,  D.  D.,  then  Bartlett  Prof 
of  Rhetoric  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  afterwards  President  of  the  same,  was  obliged 
to  spend  his  winters  in  the  South  to  avoid  the  rigors  of  a 
Northern  climate,  and  supposing  that  on  that  account  he 
might  prefer  a  Southern  residence,  expressed  the  desire  that 
he  would  consent  to  receive  a  call  from  this  church.  In  the 
following  November  he  was  chosen  President  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Georgia.  Both  offers  were  declined  by  Dr.  Porter, 
through  his  supreme  devotion  to  the  Theological  Seminary 
with  which  he  was  connected.  [Memoir  of  Dr.  Porter  by 
Lyman  Matthews,  p.  75.]  They  next  directed  their  atten- 
tion to  Mr.  Thomas  Charlton  Henry,  son  of  Alexander 
Henry  of  Philadelphia,  a  graduate  of  Middlebury  College  and 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  and  at 
this  time  a  licentiate  under  the  care  of  the  West  Lexington 
Presbytery,  Kentucky.  Though  personally  unknown  to  the 
conamittee  he  was  warmly  recommended  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Joyce,  then  of  Augusta,  and  by  several  persons  in  Charleston. 
Accordingly  a  letter  was  addressed  to  hirn  on  the  23rd  of 
June,  1818,  which  resulted  in  his  being  ordained  and  installed 
the  first  Pas/ffr  of  ihe  church,  if  we  except  Mr.    Dunlap,   who 


260  l)K.    T.    C.    HENRY.  [I810-l«'i0.; 

had  been  ordained  here  by  the  old  Presbytery  of  South  Car- 
olina in  1795.  During  the  interval  of  the  five  years  between 
the  death  of  Mr.  Dunlap  and  the  advent  of  Dr.  Brown,  there 
has  yet  appeared  no  trace  of  the  church's  history.  The  Pres- 
bytery of  Harmony  met  in  the  town  of  Columbia  on  the  5th 
of  November,  1818. 

At  the  earnest  desire  of  the  congregation,  Mr.  Henry 
passed  through  the  several  parts  of  his  trial,  and  was  ordained 
and  installed  on  Saturday,  the  7th  of  November,  1818,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Montgomery  preaching  the  sermon  from  2nd  Cor. 
ii :  16,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Flinn  presiding  and  delivering  the  charge 
to  the  pastor  and  the  people. 

Dr.  Montgomery,  at  the  same  meeting,  was  dismissed  to 
join  the  Presbytery  of  Missouri.  A  subscription  was  set  on 
foot,  as  soon  as  the  call  was  made  out,  to  raise  the  .'-alary, 
which  was  $2,000,  and  to  procure  a  residence.  This  church 
was  incorporated  in  i8i3,by  the  name  and  style  of  The  First 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Town  of  Columbia.  The  total 
of  communicants  reported  by  Dr.  Montgomery  was  forty- 
eight;  twenty-six  were  received  under  Mr.  Henry's  ministry 
before  the  close  of  1 8 19. 

The  church  met  with  a  serious  loss  in  the  summer  of  18 19 
in  the  death  of  Edward  Darrill  Smith,  M.  D.,  one  ot  its  elders, 
.  who  was  greatly  beloved.  He  was  descended  from  the  Land- 
grave Thomas  Smith,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Carolina,  was 
born  in  the  City  of  Charleston  in  May,  1778,  and  was  the 
youngest  son  of  Josiah  and  Mary  Smith,  who  gave  him  the 
advantages  of  a  liberal  education.  He  was  graduated  with 
distinction  at  Princeton  at  the  age  of  17,  and  took  his  degree 
of  M.  D.  at  Philadelphia.  In  January  7,  1802,  he  entered 
into  partnership  in  the  practice  of  medicine  with  his  uncle, 
Dr.  William  S.  Stevens,  and  Dr.  Joseph  H.  Ramsay,  and  was 
married  in  November  of  the  same  year  to  Miss  Sarah  J. 
North,  who  survived  him  many  years,  an  ornament  and  ex- 
ample to  all,  and  universally  beloved.  In  March,  1807,  he 
removed  to  Pendleton,  where  the  death  of  his  eldest  daughter 
quickened  the  religious  impressions  made  upon  the  mind  of 
/Mrs,  Smith  and  himself  He  joined  the  Hopewell  Church, 
under  Mr.  McElhenny,  in  the  summer  of  1810,  and  set  up  the 
altar  of  prayer,  without  delay,  in  his  house.  The  solemn 
covenant  he  entered  into  at  that  time  was  found  among  his 
papers   after  his   death,  and  ,is   worthy  of  preservation  as  an 


1810-1820.]  BR.    E.    D.    SMITH.  261 

example  lo  others  The  chair  of  Chemistry  and  Natural 
Philosophy  ill  the  College  of  South  Carolina  being  vacated 
by  the  lamented  death  of  Professor  Charles  Devvar  Simons, 
wiio  was  drowned  on  his  way  home  from  Charleston,  he  was 
elected  to  succeed  him,  November  26th,  1812,  and  removed 
his  family  to  Columbia  in  January  following.  He  transferred 
his  membership  to  the  church  in  Columbia,  took  an  active 
part  in  the  erection  of  the  church  edifice;  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Lindsay,  one  of  the  three  original  elders,  having  removed  to 
St.  Charles,  Mo.,  he  was  elected  an  elder  in  his  place.  As  a 
Christian,  he  was  much  in  prayer  ;  as  a  college  officer,  a  man 
of  wonderful  diligence,  methodical  in  his  habits,  successful  as 
a  teacher,  and  beloved  and  revered  by  his  pupils.  He  was  of 
a  magnanimous  and  generous  nature,  sacrificing  his  own  ease 
for  the  good  of  others,  a  model  of  manly  viriue.  He  sat  at 
the  Lord's  table  at  the  communion  in  July  for  the  last  time. 
On  Monday  morning  he  left  for  Missouri  with  his  friend,  Mr. 
David  Coulter;  was  attackea  with  bilious  fever  soon  after  his 
arrival  at  his  friend's  house,  and  died  in  the  month  of  August 
(far  away  from  the  wife  and  children  of  his  bosom,)  where  his 
remains  were  interred.  Great  was  the  sorrow  at  his  death.  In 
the  epidemic  which  had  prevailed  in  Columbia  in  i8i5,  his 
duties  in  college  were  suspended  that  he  might  bestow  his 
professional  labors  upon  the  suffering,  to  whom  he  was  often 
the  instrument  of  good. 

The  Bethesda  Church,  Camden. — The  Rev.  Andrew 
Flinn  having  resigned  his  pastoral  charge  on  the  14th  of 
August,  1809',  the  church  was  declared  vacant,  and  a  tem- 
porary engagement  for  the  conduct  of  its  worship  made  with 
the  Rev.  W.  Brantly,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  until  a  pastor 
could  be  procured. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  congregation,  on  the  i6th  of 
October,  1809,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  the  Rev.  B. 

On  Thursday,  February  4,  1819,  the  Columbia  Sunday  School  Union 
was  formed.  Col.  John  "Taylor,  President;  Dr.  James  Davis,  Dr.  E.  D. 
Smith,  Major  C.  Clifton,  and  Eev.  Prof.  R.  Henry,  Vice-Presidents ;  Rev. 
T.  C.  Henry,  Corresponding  Secretary  ;  John  Dickson,  Recording  Secretary  ; 
Andrew  Wallace,  Treasurer;  Messrs.  Zeb'n  Rudulph,  Wm.  Cline,  D. 
Thompson,  and  Wm.  DeSaussure,  Directors.  On  the  resignation  of  Dr. 
Davis,  Rev.  W.  B.  Johnson  was  appointed  in  his  place.  This  organiza- 
tion embraced  different  denominations.  Schools  No.  1,  2  and  3  are 
referred  to,  and  the  objects  of  the  organization  seem  to  have  been  car- 
ried forward  with  great  system  and  efficiency.  Among  the  most  dili- 
gent and  interested  workers  in  this  Society  was  Dr.  E.  D.  Smith. 


262  BETHESDA,   CAMDEN.  [1810-1820. 

R.  Montgomery  be  called  to  the  pastoral  cliarge  of  the  con- 
gregation, and,  finding  that  the  pew  rents  amounted  to  about 
six  hundred  dollars,  that  this  sum  be  guaranteed  to.  him  an- 
nually as  a  compensation  for  his  services. 

The  Rev.  B.  M.  Montgomery  entered  upon  the  duties 
of  hi:i  office.  January  1st,  i8n,  and  Mr.  WiUiam  Lang' 
and  Jarnes  K.  Douglas  were  at  that  time  elected  elders. 
From  this  position  he  was  called  to  a  professorship  in  the 
College  in  Columbia.  Dr.  Laborde  says  (Hist,  of  S.  C.  Col- 
lege, p.  95)  his  first  official  act  bears  date  February  9th,  i8tO. 
"  In  a  letter  now  before  me,"  says  Dr.  Laborde,  "  I  am  as- 
sured that  never  was  a  separation  between  a  pastor  and  his 
people  more  trying.  Nothing  but  the  importance  of  uniting 
the  pastoral  relation  of  the  young  and  feeble  church  at  Colum- 
bia with  the  professor's  chair  in  College  could  have  induced 
him  to  relinquish  his  connection  with  the  chur.ch  at  Camden. 
He  was  often  heard. to  say  that  the  most  sorrowful  day  of  his 
life  was  when  he  left  Camden.  His  farewell  sermon  was 
preached  from- 2d  Corinthians,  xiii.  11.  One  who  heard  it 
writes  that  "  it  was  an  occasion  never  to  be  forgotten  by 
those  present.  There  was  not  a  tearless  eye  in  the  church, 
and  niany  irrepressible  bursts  of  sorrow  testified  the  love  and 
attachment  between  a  beloved  pastor  and  his  people."  (^Ibid, 
pp.  95,  96.)  The  parting  of  pastor  and  people,  when  there  is 
even  the  common  bond  of  friendship,  is  always  painful.  But  the 
description  reminds  the  present  writer  of  what  was  said  of 
Dr.  Montgomery  by  Dr.  Loland,  lately  departed,  that  "he 
was  capable  of  great  eloquence  ;  "  and  by  Dr.  Campbell,  who 
also  departed  this  life  some  years  since,  that  the  most  brilliant 
discourse  he  ever  heard  was  pronounced  by  Dr.  Montgomery. 
But  his  pulpit  effort.s  were  not  always  equal.  Dr.  Mont- 
gomery's stay  in  Camden  was  comparatively  a  brief  one.  He 
was  elected  to  the  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy  and  Logic,  iii 
the  College  of  South  Carolina,  November  27,  1811. 

The  church  was  again  declared  vacant,  and  the  Rev.  Geo. 
Reid  was  called  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  resigna- 
tion of  Rev.  B.  M.  Montgomery,  and  remained  until  the  year 
18 19,  when  he  removed  to  Charleston,  and  the  church  was 
again  vacant.  Various  methods  were  adopted  to  keep  open 
the  house  of  God,  and  to  sustain  the  interest  of  the  people  in 
religious  things.  At  a  meeting  held  January  7,  1819,  it  was 
resolved   to    invite    Mr.  John    McEwen,   who    was   not   yet 


1810-1820.]  PINE   TREK   CHURCH.  263 

licensed,  to  read  a  sermon  each  Sunday  at  the  usual  hour  of 
service.*  It  was  dependent  on  temi)orary  .supplies,  among 
whom  wa."?  Rev.  Alfred  Wright,  afterwards  missionary  to 
the  Choctaw  Indians.  (MS.  of  Jas.  K.  Dougbis,)  The  num- 
ber of  communing  members  in  this  church  in  1809  was  33. 
Other  reports  made  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  give  tlie 
total  communicants,  in  different  years  as  39,  48'.  52  and  45. 

Pine  Tree  Church. — The  Rev.  Colin  Mclver  is  reported 
in  the  extracts  from  the  minutes  of  the  General  rV.«sembly  for 
1812  as  employed  for  three  months,  "  between  Charle.ston, 
S.  C,  and  Baltimore,  on  missionary  ground."  (Extracts.  &c  . 
p.  12.  Mr.  Mclver  was  a  young  minister  recently  from 
Scotland,  who  came  into  this  neighborhood  about  tliis  time, 
and  preached  to  several  Scotch  Presbyterians,  both  in  English 
and  Gaelic,  .who  had  settled  between  Camden  and  Big  Lynch's 
Creek,  and  during  that  year,  as  our  informant  says,  organized 
tiiem  into  a  church.  The  number  of  members  is  not  known,' 
but  the  first  elders  were  Daniel  McLeod,  Daniel  McLean, 
and  Peter  McCaskill.  During  his  ministry  a  house  of  worship 
was  built,  near  a  branch  which  was  called  "  No  Head,"  by 
which  the  church  was  generally  known  for  a  number  of  years. 
Mr.  Mclver  preached  first  at  the  house  of  Benjamin  McCoy, 
and,  afterwards,  at  other  private  residences  before  the  hou.se 
of  worship  was  built.  (MSS.  of  J.  R.  Shaw,  Oct.  4,  1878.) 
There  maybe  some  error  in  dates,  for  we  find  Mr.  Mclver 
received  as  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony  on  the  9th  of  April,  1812,  accepting 
a  call  from  the  church  of  Saltcatcher,.  and  was  ordained 
and  installed  over  that  church  on  the  29th  of  April,  1812. 
[MSS.  Minutes  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  Vol.  I,  pp.  yy,  93.] 

He  must  have  returned  to  his  former  field  of  labor.  In 
their  statistical  report  to  the  General  Assembly  in  May,  1844, 
he  is  reported  as  laboring  at  Chesterfield,  Pine  Tree,  and 
Sandy  Run.  He  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayette- 
ville,  May  19,  18 14. 

ZiON  Church,  (Winnsboro') — In  1804  the  corner  stone  of  a 

*This  John  McEwen  was  from  Bdinburg,  had  been  a  student  of 
divinity  in  the  Relief  Church,  was  received  under  the  care  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony  February  10,  1819.  Presbytery  addressed  a 
letter  to  hiim  on  the  9th  oj  November,  1819,  expressing  their  disappro- 
bation of  his  performing  the  duties  of  a  licentiate  before  receiving 
license,  and  forbade  his  officiating  in  any  manner  in  a  public  capacity 
till  authorized  bv  them. 


264  ZION,    WINJS'SBOKO.  [1810-1820. 

new  church  was  laid,  which,  after  great  exertions  and  much 
expense  was  finally  completed  and  dedicated  to  the  service  of 
Almighty  God  in  September,  1811.  During  the  period  of 
Mr.  Raid's  ministry  gradual  accessions  were  made  to  the 
church  and  the  interests  of  religion  were  generally  promoted. 
The  Presbyterial  minutes  furnish  but  occasional  notices  of 
this  church,  especially  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  period. 

The  church  was  reprt^sented  in  Presbytery  by  its  session 
and  returned  in  April,  1812,  six  additions  and  thirty-one  as 
the  total  of  their  membership.  In  May,  1816,  Rev.  Anthony 
W.  Ross  commenced  his  ministry  among  them.  At  the  14th 
session  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  held  at  Edgefield  C.  H. 
on  November  jtli,  1816,  he  was  received  as  a  licentiate  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Concord;  calls  were  presented  to  Presbytery 
from  the  congregations  of  Zion  (Winnsboro')  and  Salem, 
Little  River,  for  an  equal  dividend  of  his  ministerial  labors. 
A  special  meeting  of  Presbytery  was  ordered,  at  which 
Messrs.  McCulioch.Yongue,  Forster,  McWhorter,  Cousar  and 
Montgomery  were  ordered  to  be  present  for  the  examination 
of  Mr.  Ross  for  ordination.  Presbytery  met  as  appointed, 
and  on  Saturday,  January  25th,  1817,  the  ordination  and  in- 
stallation took  place.  Dr.  Montgomery  preaching  the  sermon, 
from  Luke  ii  :  34,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Yongue  presiding 
and  delivering  the  charge  to  the  minister  and  the  congrega- 
tion. Previous  to  this  Dr.  Montgomery,  Colin  Mclver,  and 
John  Forster  had  been  appointed  as  supplies. 

The  church  was  prosperous  and  harmonious  under  Mr. 
Ross  until  a  division  of  ssntiment  arose  on  the  subject  of 
Psalmody.  Several  persons  felt  themselves  aggrieved  by  the> 
singing  of  Dr.  Watts'  version  of  the  Psaln-.s.  After  frequent 
correspondence  had  taken  plade  between  the  minister  and  the 
disaffected  members,  it  issued  in  a  secession  from  the  congre- 
gation, which  secession  erected  a  small  church  in  the  village 
where  they  could  enjoy  "  liberty  of  conscience"  and  sing  a 
Psalmody  of  their  own  choice.  After  some  time  had  elapsed 
the  animosities  subsided  and  different  members  of  both  con- 
gregations frequently  mingled  their  devotions  together  in  the 
worship  of  God.     (Session  Book  of  Zion  Church). 

The  ladies  of  Sion  Church  and  those  of  Salem  L.  R., 
made  their  pastor  Rev.  Anthony  W.'  Rioss,  a  member  for  life 
of  the  American  Bible  Society.  And  a  Female  Missionary 
Society    was   organized    in    Winnsboro',  denominated   "the 


1S30-1820.]  SALEM  (LITTLE  RIVER)  —  LEBANON.  265 

Missionary  Society    of  Zion    Church,"  which   is  constituted 
an  auxiliary  to  "  The  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society." 

There  was  a  Bible  Society  formed  also  at  Winnsboro', 
known  as  "The  Auxiliary  Bible  Society  of  Fairfield  District," 
the  object  of  which  was  to  co  operate  with  the  American 
Bible  Society.  The  names  of  its  officers  were  David  R. 
Evans,  President,  John  Mickle,  John  Pickett,  John  Johnson, 
William  Joiner,  Rev.  James  Rog-ers,  Charles  Bell,  Rev.  Mr. 
Montgomery,  Rev  Anthony  Ross,  Vice-Presidents,  Rev. 
Samuel  W.  Yongue,  Treasurer,  John  Bachman,  Jun.,  Secre- 
tary. Its  first  anniversary  \yas  celebrated  on  the  first  of  May, 
1819.    [Quar.  Intelligencer  of  July  21,  1819.] 

Salem  (Little  River),  which  had  been,  recentfy  organized, 
applied  at  the  sixth  stated  session  of  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony, held  in  Augusta  from  the  12th  to  the  i6th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1812,  to  be  taken  under  its  care.  Supplies  were  at  dif- 
ferent times  appointed  for  it,  mostly  to  be  filled  by  Rev. 
Saml.  W.  Yongue,  until,  as  we  have  seen,  it  united  with  Zion 
Church,  Winnsboro,  in  calling  Rev.  Anthony  W.  Ross,  and 
shared  with  it  in  his  pastoral  labors. 

Lebanon  Church,  (Jackson's  Creek,)  Fairfield. — Mr. 
Yongue  was  still  its  pastor.  His  occupations  were  much  as 
before,  and  he  was  again  cited  for  non-attendance  at  Presby- 
terian meetings.  He  was  appointed  to  duties  beyond  his  own 
charge,  as  a  supply:  for  example,  to  the  vacant  congregations 
of  Concord,  Horeb  and  Aimwell,  and  Salem,  (Little  River). 
He  served  both  the  Lebanon  and  Mt.  Olivet  Churches 
through  this  entire  period.  The  total  membership  in  the  two 
churches  in  April,  1813,  was  120.  The  same  number  is  re- 
ported in  April,  1 8 14. 

Mt.  Olivet  Church  (or  Wateree)  had  the  same  pastor 
who  ministered  to  Lebanon,  Both  congregations  were  com- 
posed of  similar  materials,  with  few  exceptions  they  were  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent  ;  possessed  the  same  hardy  virtues, 
and  were  attached  to  the  same  doctrines,  church  order  and 
discipline. 

Horeb  Church  is  associated  in  the  minutes  of  the  Presby- 
tery through  this  decade  in  connection  with  Aimwell,  is 
represented  as  vacant  and  unable  to  support  a  pastor,  is  sup- 
plied by  appointment  of  Presbytery  in  the  earlier  part  of 
this  period  by  Messrs  John  Foster  and  Yongue,  Doubtless 
the    ministers    resident    in    Winnsboro'    preached    for    these 


266  AIMWELL — CONCORD — BEAVER   CREEK.       [1810-1820. 

churches  far  oftener  than  tlie  mere  day-!  when  they  did  so  in 
obedience  to  Presbytery.  The  Rev.  B.  M.  Montgomery,  D.  D., 
began  to  preach  in  this  church  in  February,  1819.  His  regis- 
try of  baptisms  begins  in  that  year. 

Aim  WELL  Church  (on  Cedar  Creek)  was  vacant  for  about 
two  years.  Rev.  WilUam  G.  Rosborough  or  Rev.  Francis  H. 
Porter,  who  was  principal,  about  1812,  of  Mount  Zion  Col- 
lege, at  Winnsboro,  preached  for  it  an  occasional  sermon. 
Rev'.  Anthony  W.  Ross  is  said,  in  tiie  records  of  the  session, 
to  have  preached  to  Salem  one-fourth,  to  this  church  one- 
fourth,  and  to  Winnsboro'  one-half  his  time. 

A  log  building  was  then  erected  near  the  site  of  the  present 
building,  which  remained  in  use  till  a  frame  building  was 
erected  in  1833. 

Concord  Church,  Fairfield  District. —  Rev  Mr.  Rose- 
borough,  who  had  ministered  to  Horeb  Church  in  connection 
with  Concord,  died  on  the  5th  of  May,  1810.  His  remains 
were  interred  in  the  cemetery  connected  with  Lebanon  Church. 

For  a  year  or  two  after  this  the  congregations  were  again 
vacant,  though  supplied  in  part  by  Rev.  Francis  H.  Porter. 
then  residing  in  Purity  congregation.  In  1 81 3  they  obtained 
the  labors  of  Rev.  Robert  McCuUoch  for  one-fourth  of  his 
time.  In  1814  they  secured  one-half  his  time.  This  arrange- 
ment continued  through  the  remainder  of  this  decade. 

Beaver  Creek. — We  are  able  to  make  no  statement  of  the 
condition  of  this  church  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  decade.  It 
had  already  absorbed  into  itself  Miller's  Church.  In  the 
minutes  of  the  6th  sessions  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony, 
November  12-16,  i8l2,  p,  104,  we  read  that,  "report  being 
m  ide  to  Presbytery  that  the  congregation  of  Hanging  Rock 
had  become  extinct,  and  the  iew  remaining  members  had 
attached  themselves  to  the  Beaver  Creek  Church,  wiiereupon 
it  was  resolved  that  no  further  notice  of  it  be  taken  on  our 
minutes."  It  is  recorded  (Minutes,  Vol.  I,  p.  24,  of  Presby- 
tery of  Harmony)  that  Rev.  George  G.  McWhorter  had 
removed  from  the  Salem  Church.  This  was  in  April,  1811. 
His  name  occurs  in  the  reports  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
connection  with  the  united  churches  of  Concord  (Sumter 
District),  Mount  Zion  and  Beaver  Creek,  the  total  member- 
ship of  his  united  charge,  102.  He  seems  to  have  remained 
in  charge  of  Beaver  Creek  and  Concord  (Sumter  District)  till 
the  end  of  this  decade. 


1810-1820.]  CATHOLIC^ — HOPEWELL — AUGUSTA.  267 

Catholic  Church.  Chester  District. — The  Rev.  Robert 
McCuUoch  continued  the  pastor  of  this  church  through  the 
whole  of  this  period.  He  continued  to  preach  one-fourth  of 
his  time  at  Bethlehem,  a  branch  of  Catholic,  near  Beckham- 
ville,  as  before,  until  iSll.when  his  time  was  wholly  occupied 
by  his  labors  between  Cutholic  and  Concord  (in  Fairfield), 
which  was  some  ten  miles  distant.  The  combined  statistics 
of  these  two  churches  are  twice  given  in  the  Presbyterial 
minutes:  in  the  spring  of  i8 13,  127  members  of  the  church, 
1 1  having  been  added  the  preceding  year,  and  41  infant  bap- 
tisms; in  the  spring  of  1814,  the  total  of  church  members 
was  125,  the  addition.s  the  preceding  year  16,  infants  baptized, 
31.  There  had  been,  therefore,  18  lost  to  the  two  churches 
by  dismissions,  removal,  or  death. 

This  church  formed,  according  the  boundaries  of  tlie  Pres- 
bytery of  Harmony,  as  settled  by  the  act  of  the  Synod,  the 
outward  limit  of  the  jurisdiction  of  that  Presbytery  on  the 
northwest. 

Hopewell  CHURcri,  Che.ster,  in  the  only  notice  we  have 
found  of  it,  during  this  period,  is  represented  as  vacant. 

The  Church  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  was  thrown  within  the 
limits  of  this  Presbytery,  whose  boundary  extended  thence  to 
the  St.  Mary's.  Of  the  earliest  notices  on  record  of  this 
church  we  have, made  mention  in  preceding  pages.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Thompson,  its  pastor,  was  present  at  the  first  meeting  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  March  7,  18 10,  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  and,  while  his  health  continued,  was  an  active 
member  of  that  laody.  This  Presbytery  held  its  6th  sessions 
in  Auga.sta,  from  the  12th  to  the  l6th  of  November,  1812  ; 
its  8th,  October  28,  1813  ;  its  17th,  April  17,  1818,  and  its 
19th,  April  IS,  1819.  The  church  of  Augusta  reported  it 
had,  in  September,  1810,  54  members,  and  had,  during  the 
year,  baptized  2  adults  and  20  infants.  In  April,  1812,  they 
had  added  lO,  their  total  was  65,  their  baptisms  the  preceding 
year  19  infants.  In  April,  1813,  they  had  added  20,  their 
total  was  83,  they  had  baptized  2  adults  and  11  infants.  In 
the  spring  of  18 14  they  report  4  additions,  total  of  communi- 
cants 83,  and  15  baptisms,  infants.  Other  reports  are  not  re- 
corded in  the  minutes. 

Dr.  Thompson's  healtlj  seems  to  have  declined  in  1817. 
At  the  meeting  in  November  of  that  year,  a  letter  was  re- 
ceived from  the  session  of  the   Augusta  Church,  requesting 


268  HARMONY    PRESBYTERY.  [lSlO-1820. 

Presbytery  to  appoint  the  Rev.  John  Joyce,  who  was  received 
dt  tiiat  meeting  as  a  ineinber  in  good  standing  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Philadelphia,  as  a  supply  to  the  pulpit  of  Dr. 
Thompson  during  his  absence  for  the  recovery  of  his  health. 
He  was  accordingly  appointed  until  the  next  stated  meeting 
of  Presbytery.  At  the  next  meeting,  April  29,  1817,  we  find 
the  following  record  :  "  The  Presbyteiy  have  learned,  with 
deep  regret,  that,  since  their  last  stated  sessions,  they  have 
lost,  by  death,  their  brother,  Rev.  Dr.  John  R.  fhotiipson. 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  Augusta,  who  departed  this  life  fully 
sensible  of  the  approach  of  death,  in  the  lull  possession  of  his 
mind,  and  in  the  triumph  of  fiith,  on  the  18th  of  December, 
1816,  in  the  town  of  Nassau,  New  Providence."  Mr.  Joyce 
was  appointed  to  supply  four  Sabbaths  at  Augusta,  and  one 
at  Waynesborough. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

We  have  now  gone  through  the  territory  occupied,  at  this 
time,  by  the  Harmony  Presbytery.  A  few  names  of  candi- 
dates or  licentiates  have  occurred  in  the  minutes  which,  per- 
haps, have  not  been  mentioned  on  these  pages.  J.  R.  Golding 
who  commenced  his  trials  in  this  Presbyteiy  was  dismissed 
to  tiie  Presbytery  of  Hopewell.  William  Houck  was  licensed 
in  April,  1813,  with  a  view  to  his  laboring  among  the  German 
emigrants,  but  afterwards  joined  the  Lutheran  Church.  Dan- 
iel F.  McNeil,  commenced  his  trials,  but  was  afterwards 
stricken  from  the  list  of  candidates.  John  Murphy,  a  deacon, 
say  the  minutes,  but  more  probably  an  elder  of  the  Columbia 
Church  and  a  graduate  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  com- 
menced his  trials  for  licensure.  Hiland  Hulburd  also,  but 
was  dismissed  as  a  candidat;e  to  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina.  Alexander  G.  Fraser  was  licensed  the  27th  of 
April,  1816,  and  dismissed  April  23,  1818,  to  the  Presbytery 
of  New  Jersey. 

We  have  seen,  that  when  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony 
was  created,  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  re- 
quested of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  that  it  might  be  dis- 
solved and  its  territory  be  so  divided  that  the  lower  part  of  it 
should  fall  into  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  and  the  upper  into 


1810-1820.]  IHTRITV    CHURCH.  1269 

the  Presbyteiy  of  Concord.  It  was,  perhaps,  believed  that 
the  here.sy  of  Wm.  C.  Davis  would  be  more  successfully  dealt 
with  thus  than  if  all  remained  as  before.  The  upper  division 
included,'  as  we  have  seen,  the  Rev.  William  C.  Davis,  pastor 
of  Bullock's  Creek  Church,  the  Rev.  Robert  B.  Walker,  of 
Bethesda,  Rev.  John  B.  Davies,  of  Fishing  Creek,  L.  Richard- 
son, the  Rev,  Thomas  Neely,  of  Purity,  and  Edmonds;  also 
the  vacant  congregations  of  Waxhaw,  Unity,  Hopewell,  Ebe- 
nezer,  Bethel,  Beersheba,  Shiloh,  Yorkville  and  Salem.  In 
this  division  was  also  the  residence  of  John  Williamson,  a 
candidate. 

These  churches,  included  in  this  triangular  portion  of  ter- 
ritory tliat  remained  true  to  us,  we  must  now  consider.  That 
which  stnnds  nearest  to  the  then  existing  line  of  Harmony 
Presbytery,  is  Purity  Church. 

PuKiTY  Church,  in  Chester  District,  is  about  two  miles 
from  tiie  Court  House,  on  the  road  from  Chester  village  to 
Rocky  Mount.  As  we  have  seen,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Neely 
was  pastor  of  this  church  at  the  close  of  the  first  decade  in 
this  century.  "  Owing  to  feeble  health,"  says  Rev.  John 
Douglas,  in  his  history  of  this  church,  "  he  was  not  able  dur- 
ing the  few  last  years  of  his  life,  to  apply  himself  with  much 
energy  or  efficiency  to  his  work,  though  he  rarely  failed  to 
meet  his  appointments."  He  was  "' suffering"  under  a  wast- 
ing disease,  from  which  few  recover  and  by  which  many  are 
carried  away."  "Of  his  acceptance  and  fidelity  we  may  judge 
from  the  affection  and  regard  with  which  his  memory  is  still 
revered  by  those  who  sat  under  his  ministry.  There  was 
nothing  like  a  revival  of  religion  during  his  ministry  ;  nor 
were  there  any  internal  dissentions  to  mar  the  peace  of  the 
people  of  God.  The  fallow  ground  was  broken  up  and  the 
good  seed  sown,  the  harvest  of  which  future  laborers  were  to 
enjoy  the  privilege  of  reaping." 

Mr.  Neely  died  November,  26th,  1812,  aged  41  years,  3 
months  and  21  days,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  yard  of 
Bullock's  Creek.  He  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Martha 
Feamster,  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter  and  a  son  who  were 
left  orphans  at  an  early  age,  for  she  survived  him  but  a  short 
time.  She  died  February  24th,  ,1814,  and  was  buried  in  the 
same  grave  with  her  departed  husband. 

The  church  was  now  left  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd. 
What  Presbyterial  supplies  they   had  from    181 2   to    1815   is 


270  PURITY  CHURCH.  [1810-1820. 

unknown.  For  the  years  1815  and  1816  they  procured  the 
labors  of  Rev.  Francis  H.  Porter.  Mr.  Porter  was  the  .son  of 
David  Porter,  of  the  contjregation  of  Bethesda.  in  York.  His 
primary  education  he  received  from  his  pastor,  the  Rev.  Robt. 
B.  Walker.  At  a  proper  age  he  repaired  to  the  High  School 
of  Dr.  James  Hall,  in  North  Carolina,  and  there  perfected  his 
attainments  in  the  higher  branches  of  learning,  and.  under 
the  same  teacher,  pursued  the  study  of  theology.  He  was 
licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  in  iS\2.  He  had 
charge  of  Mount  Zion  College  at  Winnsboro,  and,  for  a  time, 
preached  in  that  vicinit)-.  At  the  time  of  his  taking  charge 
of  Purity  Church,  he  was  a  married  man.  Two  of  his  chil- 
dren lie  buried  in  Purity  Cemetery,  and  one  survived  his  brief 
residence  here,  and  others  were  subsequently  born  to  him. 
Four  of  his  sons  have  been  ministers  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  (All  of  them,  Abner,  Rufus,  David,  Joseph,  have 
now  passed  away.)  He  lemained  here  two  years,  in  the  last 
of  which  he  encountered  some  unpleasant  opposition  from 
those  who  were  offended  at  the  use  of  Watts'  Psalms  and 
Hymns,  which  may,  perhaps,  have  been  the  cause  of  his  re- 
moval. After  this,  for  two  years,  the  church  had  only  occa- 
sional supplies.  Mr.  Porter  is  said  to  have  preached  also  at 
Concord  a  portion  of  his  time  while  residing  within  the  bounds 
of  this  congregation,  and  ministering  to  it  in  things  spiritual. 

After  this  he  removed  to  Asheville,  N.  C,  and  ministered 
to  the  Asheville,  Rimm's  Creek,  and  Swanano  Churches, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  coYiducted  a  flourishing  classical 
academy. 

In  the  year  1819  they  obtained  the  labors  of  the  Rev. 
Aaron  Williams,  for  a  part  of  his  time,  then  a  licentiate  of 
Concord  Presbytery. 

The  original  elders  of  this  church  began  to  disappear  by 
removals  and  death.  James  Williamson  had  returned  to 
Bethesda  congregation,  where  he  died  ;  William  Bradford 
became  an  elder  at  Fishing  Creek ;  Robert  Boyd  remained 
with  the  same  congregation  ;  John  Harden  died,  February 
28,  1816,  at  the  age  of  53;  Andrew  Morrison  also  had  died, 
when  in  June,  1818,  John  Walker,  Charles  Walker  and 
Matthew  McClintock  were  elected  to  the  eldership,  and  were 
ordained  by  Rev.  John  B.  Davies,  of  Fishing  Creek. 

Edmonds'  Church,  a/ias  Pleasant  Grove,  continued  under 
the  ministerial  labors  of  Rev.  Thomas  Neely  until  the  year 


lS10-]820.]        FISHING   CKEEK — BULLOCK's   CREEK.  271 

l8i2.  After  liis  death  tlie  church  withdrew  from  Presby- 
tery and  connected  themselves  with  the  Independents,  or 
the  followers  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  C.   Davis. 

Fishing  Creek,  which  is  situated  near  the  creelc  of  that 
name,  about  two  miles  below  where  the  York  and  Chester 
line  crosses  that  stream,  was  still  served  by  that  indefati- 
gable minister  of  Christ,  Rev.  John  B.  Davies.  This  church 
shared  richly,  from  time  to  time,  in  the  quickening  in- 
fluences of  the  Holy  Spirit.  These  seasons  were  of  shorter 
or  longer  duration,  from  two  to  four  or  five  years.  Christians 
were  quickened  and  encouraged,  sinners  were  awakened  and 
constiained  to  take  refuge  in  Christ,  and  numbers  were 
added  to  the  church.  Ihe  first  of  these  seasons  commenced 
in  1802,  and  continued  about  four  years ;  the  second  in 
1817,  and  continued  two  years.  ICncouraging  indications 
of  the  Divine  Presence  were  observed  two  years  before,  in 
1815.  At  the  beginning  of  this  decade,  in  1810,  the  com- 
muning members  of  this  church  were  79  or  80  to  83.  In 
April,  1820,  says  Rev.  Mr.  Saye,  there  were  162,  an  increase 
in  the  ten  years  of  83.  In  181 2  the  name  of  James  Seele 
disappears  from  the  list  of  elders,  and  James  E.  McFadden 
and  John  Boyd  are  added  to  it. 

The  Chukch  of  Richardson,  or  formerly  Lower  Fishing 
Creek,  as  it  had  been  called  during  the  preceding  decade, 
was  a  part  of  the  pastoral  charge  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Davies.  The 
church  was  smaller  in  size  than  the  Church  of  Fishing  Creek, 
having  less  than  one-third  as  many  members.  Governor  Wil- 
liam Richardson  Davie  and  his  family  supported  this  church 
as  long  as^ny  of  them  remained  in  the  community,  but  the 
tide  of  emigiation  was  always  setting  against  it. 

Bullock's  Creek. — We  have  seen  that  Rev.  William  C. 
Davis  became  pastor  of  this  people  in  1806,  and  that  he  con- 
tinued his  labors  among  them  for  four  years  of  thelast  decade 
until  1 8 10.  "Shortly  after  Mr.  Davis's  settlement  here  he 
broached  and  published  certain  views  of  Christian  doctrine 
which  were  at  variance  with  the  received  doctrines  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  as  stated  in  our  Confession  of  Faith,  for 
which  he  was  arraigned  before  an  Ecclesiastical  Court." 

We  have  before  seen  that  the  First  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  had  been  dissolved  at  its  own  suggestion,  a  part  of 
its  members  and  churches  annexed  to  the  new  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  and  the   other  portion,  in  which  was  W.    C.  Davis 


272  ABJURATION  OF  W.  C.  DAVIS.  [1810-1820. 

and  his  adherents,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  in  the  hope 
that  in  that  Presbytery  he  might  be  subjected  to  discipline, 
and  the  eyes  of  his  adherents  be  openled  to  his  aberrations  in 
doctrine.  An  extra  meeting,  was  called  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Concord  to  eonsider  liis  case,  when  Mr.  Davis,  aware  that  it 
must  now  progress  to  a  termination,  determined  to  decline 
the  jurisdiction,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  declare  inde- 
pendence. He,  therefore,  sent  his  declinature  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Concord,  as  follows  : 

"  To  the  Reverend  Presbytery  of  Concord,  to  sit  at  Hopewell 
Church,  on  the  third  Wednesday  of  this  instant,  or  when- 
ever or  wherever  said  Presbytery  may  sit;  and  through 
them  to  all  the  judicatories  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  of  America  : 

"  October  9,  18 10. 
"After  mature  deliberation.-  In  the  presence  of  the  Om- 
niscient God,  with  the  day  of  judgment  in  ttiy  eye^ ;  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  alone  is  Lord  of  the  conscience  ; 
and  Head  of  the  Chnrch;  under  the  influence  of  the  Word  of  God; 
I  do  hereby  declare  that  from  the  date  of  these  presents,  I  am  and 
do  hold  myself  to  be  withdrawn  from  the  govermncnt  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in-thc  United  States  af  America,  and  am  con- 
sequently not  amenable  to  the  rules,  edicts,  discipline,  or  com- 
mands of  said  Church,  from  henceforth,  sine  die.     Amen." 

The  Presbytery  did  not  consider  this  act  of  his  as  a  sufficient 
ground  on  which  to  stop  the  process ;  he  was  cited  a  second 
time,  and  as  he  persisted  in  his  contumacy,  the  Presbytery 
proceeded  agreeably  to  the  rules  of  discipline,  and  suspended 
him  ;  and  at  length  he  was  deposed,  for  his  continued  con- 
tumacy, in  1812. 

Mr.  Davis  assembled  his  congregation  of  Bullock's  Creek, 
at  which  were  present  many  of  the  members  of  Salem  Church. 
Sixty-one  were  present  at  this  meeting.  By  a  vote  of  5 2  out 
of  61  persons  present,  they  withdrew  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Presbytery,  and  forwarded  their  proceedings  to  that  body. 
To  these  documents  the  Presbytery  replied  through  tneir 
committees  in  separate  communications  to  Mr.  Davis  and  the 
congregation.  But  both  parties  adhered  to  the  positions  they 
had  taken,  until  all  efforts  proving  unavailing,  the  sentence  of 
deposition  was  pronounced. 

They  formed  themselves  into  an    independent   community, 


1810-1820.]  SALEM    CHURCH.  273 

under  the  title  of  "  Tlie  Independent  Presbyterian  Church." 
He,  however,  labored'  amongst  theni  but  for  a  short  time, 
until  he  removed  to  the  West.  After  the  removal  of  Mr.  D. 
the  congregation  returned  again  to  their  connection  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  year  1817,  and  obtained  the 
labors  of  Rev.  Aaron  Williams,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Concord,  who  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  over  the 
church  in  August',  1819.  Mr. -Williams  also  became  pastor 
of  the  adjoining  Church  of  Salem,  which  had  gone  with  Mr. 
Davis.  By  these  untoward  circumstances  the  congregation 
was  greatly  reduced  in  its  numbers  and  its  harmony  destroyed, 
and  became  separated  into  two  jarring  societies.  Who  con- 
stituted their  first  bench  of  Elders  is  not  certainly  known,  but 
as  nearly  as  can  be  remembered  they  were  John  Dickey, 
Joseph  Feemster,  Stewart  Brown,  John  Smith,  Henry  Plexico, 
Allen  Dowdle."— [MS.  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Davis.] 

Salem  Churck,  on  the  west  side  of  Broad  River,  in  Union 
District,  was  formed  by  the  early  labors  of  W.  C.  Davis,  was 
received  under  tlie  care  of  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Caro- 
lina, March  7,  1810,  and  sympathised  with  their  pastor.  There 
were  members  of  Edmond's  Church  which  eventually  went 
over  to  him,  and  who  sympathized  with  him  during  the  whole 
period,  as  also  there  were  in  the  congregations  ofShiloh,  and 
in  Olney,  in  North  Carolina.  Delegates  from  all  these 
churches  met  in  Bullock's  Creek  Meeting  House,  in  October. 
1813,  and  framed  a  Constitution,  consisting  of  the  radical  arti- 
cles of  the  faith  and  discipline  of  Mr.  Davis,  and  of  the  inde- 
pendent sect  which  he  established.  This  Constitution  was 
sent  to  a  printing  office  in  Salisbury,  N.  C,  for  publication, 
but  the  printer  dying  before  the  Constitution  was  put  to  the 
press,  the  manuscript  was  lost.  The  congregation  of  Salem, 
as  well  as  that  portion  of  Bullock's  Creek  congregation-,  the 
large  majority  of  which,  according  to  the  authority  from 
which  we  now  quote,  [Historical  Sketch  of  the  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  Columbia,  1839,] 
.sided  with  Mr.  Davis,  were  greatly  discouraged  when  the 
pastor,  and  a  licentiate  in  the  ministry,  Robert  M.  Davis, 
(licensed  we  suppose  by  the  Congregational  Presbytery  of 
Bullock's  Creek,)  removed  with  some  of  the  members  of  the 
church  to  the  West.  It  was  after  the  departure  of  Mr.  Davis, 
and  the  arrival  of  Rev.  Aaron  Williams,  that  the  remarkable 
revival  commenced  which  visited  so  many  churches,  "  On 
18 


27-t  BKTHESDA.  [1H]0--182('. 

the  first  S;ibliath  iii  August,  1817,"' says  Rev.  Robert  H. 
Walker,  in  a  letter  to  the  editors  of  the  Evangelical  Intelli- 
gencer, published  in  Charleston,  "  where,  on  a  sacramental  oc- 
casion, at  Bullock's  Creek  Church,  the  Lord  appeared  in  the 
(galleries  of  His  grace,  and  poured  out  of  His  Holy  Spirit, 
thirteen  were  added  to  the  church,  and  many  were  awakened. 
At  the  close  of  t.lie  meeting  it  was  announced  that  the  Sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper  would  be  administered  at  Salem,  a 
branch  of  the  Bullock's  Creek  Church,  on  the  fourth 
Sabbath  of  the  same  month.  The  appointed  day  arrived, 
the  people  met,  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  attended,  and 
twenty-one  were  added  to  the  church."  The  letter,  a  part  of 
which  this  is  an  abstract,  proceeds  to  describe  the  Sacrament 
at  Bethe,'--da  and  at  Bethel,  makes  allusion  to  the  work  at 
Fishing  Creek,  Beersheba  and  Olney.  See  Evangelical  hiicl- 
ligenctr,  Vol.  L  PP-  149,  237  A  writer  in  the  Weekly  Re- 
corder, whose  letter  is  dated  October  14,  j8i8,  says:  "In 
Bullock's  Creek  many  (perhaps  to  the  number  of  78  at  one 
communion)  have  turned  from  the  error  of  their  ways." 

Bethesda,  in  York  District,  still  had  the  labors  of  Rev. 
Robert  B.  Walker  bestowed  upon  it.  Among  the  ministers 
who  originated  in  this  congregation  was  the  Rev.  Francis  H, 
Porter,  of  whom  we  have  spoken  while  giving  the  history  of 
Purity  Church. 

After  his  residence  in  North  Carolina,  there  referred  to,  hejcame  hack 
to  South  Carolina,  and  conducted  an  Academy  at  Cedar  Spring,  preach- 
ing meanwhile  at  Kairforest  and  perhaps  Nazareth  Churches.  He 
visited  Alabama  as  early  as  1818,  held  a  two  days'  meeting  there,  and 
administered  the  Lord's  Supper  under  a  spacious  oak.  He  repeated 
his  visit  in  1821,  and  held  a  similar  meeting.  On  both  these  occasions 
parents  carried  their  children  thirty  miles  to  have  them  baptized.  He 
removed  from  South  Carolina  in  the  spring  of  1828,  and  joined  the 
Presbytery  of  South  Alabama.  He  there  labored  both  as  a  preacher  of 
the  gospel  and  an  instructor  of  youth.  He  supplied,  respectively,  the 
churches  of  Flat  Creek,  in  Monroe  County  ;  Good  Hope,  in  Lowndes  ; 
Pisgah  and  Selma,  in  Dallas  ;  and  Hebron  and  New  Hope,  in  Green 
County.  As  a  preacher,  he  was  solid,  sound,  practical  and  instructive. 
As  a  teacher,  he  had  many  peculiar  qualifications,  and  was  eminently 
successful,  having  been  the  educator  of  many  distinguished  men,  among 
whom  are  ex-Gov.  Swain,  of  North  Carolina  ;  ex-Gov.  Gist,  of  South 
Carolina.  His  earthly  labors  ended  in  1845,  when  he  passed  to  his  rest, 
in  the  59th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  buried  at  Bethsalem  Church,  in 
Green  County,  Ala.  His  death  was  deeply  regretted,  and  his  memory 
duly  honored  by  the  Presbytery  of  Tuscaloosa  and  the  Synod  of  Ala- 
bama, as  their'  minutes  of  October,  1845,  declare.  He  married  the 
daughter  of  Kev.  C.  D.  Kilpatrick,  of  North  Carolina.  [MS.  of  Bev. 
Jno.  S.  Harris  and  Dr.  Nail's  "  Dead  of  the  Synod  of  Alabama."] 


1810-1820.]  BETHESDA.  275 

Another  of  the  ministers  who  rose  in  this  congregation,' was  Rev. 
John  Williamson,  a  son  of  the  Elder,  Samuel  Williamson,  who  received 
his  classical  education  under  Mr.  Walker.  He  was  liceiised  to  preach 
in  1812,  and  settled  in  North  Carolina.  From  1818  his  labors  were  be- 
stowed upon  the  church  and  congregation  of  Hopewell,  in  North  Caro- 
lina, where  he  died  in  1841.  He  was  a  man  of  brilliant  and  vigorous 
mind— fluent  and  chaste  in  his  style  and  delivery,  poli^hed  and  3gree» 
able  in  his  manners,  and  a  highly  esteemed  and  useful  minister  of  the 
gospel.  He  left  his  widow  and  children  a  large  worldly  estate,  as  well 
as  a  holy  and  exemplary  life,  lo  be  enjoyed  as  their  heritage.  [MS.  of 
Rev.  J.  S.  Harris.] 

"  Rev.  Samuel  Williamson,  D.  U.,  was  also  from  Bethesda,  being  a 
brother  of  the  former.  After  an  academical  course  under  Father  Walker, 
he  was  graduated  with  distinction  in  the  South  Carolina  College  in  1818. 
After  a  few  years  of  teaching  and  private  study  of  theology,  he  was 
licensed  by  Concord  Presbytery, and  preached  at  the  churches  of  Prov- 
idence and  Sharon,  in  Mecklenburg  County,  N.  C,  and  ta,ught  an  Acad- 
emy in  the  bounds  of  the  former.  After  a  pa^to^ate  of  about  fifteen 
yeirs,  he  was  elected  a  Professor  in  Davidson  College,  an  office  he 
.accepted  in  1838.  much  against  the  wishe.s  of  the  congregations,  and  he 
was  sh  rtly  afterwards  promoted  to  the  Presidency  of  the  same  Insti- 
tution. This  position  he  filled  until  1854,  when  he  resigned  and  retired 
to  the  Church  of  Hopewell,  and  served  that  people  until  1856,  in  the 
fell  of  which  he  removed  to  Washington,  Arkansas,  where  he  is  still  an 
aged  but  active  pastor.  The_ writer  hopes  to  be  pardoned  in  saying  of 
Dr.  Williamson  that  his  partialities  for  him  are  very  great.  Nor  are 
they  unreasonable  when,  besides  his  real  worth,  it  is  known  that  he 
married  our  parents,  baptized  ourself  and  brother  and  sisters,  buried 
.our  ancestry,  taught  us.  the  alphabet,  led  us  through  college  as  the 
president  an-ij  pastor,  and,  lastly,  received  us  into  the  communion  of  the 
.ehurcJi      Of  him. as  a  son  may  Bethesda  ever  be  proud."    Ihid. 

The  elders  who  were  inducted  into  their  office  in  this  decade  were 
Frank  Ervin,  born  in  York  District,  received  into  the  church  in  1802, 
a.nd  promoted  to  the  eldership  in  181 2  After  several  years'  of  official 
duty,  in  which  he  exhibited  more  than  usual  religious  fervor  ind  zeaj 
for  the  cause  tf  God,  he  volunt<irily  demitted  the  active  exercise  of  his 
office,  .and  partially  withdrew,  owing  to  some  change  in  his  doctrinal 
views,  from  tbe  communion  of  the  church,  but  afterwards  returned,  and 
died  much  lamented,  February  8th,  1839,  aged  70." 

■"  James  Black  was  elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death 
lof  Ms  father  in  1812,  and  faithfully  did  he  execute  the  duties  of  his 
office  until  he  removed  to  Alabama  i:^  1820.      He  died  in  Mississippi." 

Kabejrt  Robertson,  a  native  of  North  Carolipa,  was  admitted  to  the 
■eldership  in  1815.  He  was  a  man  of  exemplary  Christian  character. 
He  reimoved  to  Hall  County  in  182(j,  where  he  died  ip.  1840." 

"  Allison  Hope  was  born  in  Cabarras  County,  N.  C,  in  1780  When 
■quite  a  young  man  he  canje  into  the  bounds  of  Salem  Church,  in  Union 
District,  in  which,  for  a  short  time,  he  was  an  elder.  In  1812  he  removed 
.to  Bethesda,  and  was  re-elected  an  elder  in  1815.  After  twenty-three 
years  of  devoted  service  here  he  was  constrained,  by  the  necessitous 
■condition  of  the  Church  of  Mount  Pleasant,  just  organized  near  his 
residence,  to  transfer  bis  services  thither.  But  after  a  few  years  that 
church  was  dissolved,  and  he  returned  to  Bethesda,  and  rested  from  his 
labors,  Augru^t  29th,  1S42,  being  B2  years  old.    His  wife,  whose  maiden 


276  BETHESDA.  [1810-1820. 

name  was 'Jane  Mnore,  survived  him  several  years,  and  of  his  children, 
Robert  S  was  invested  with  the  office  so  long  and  exemplarily  filled 
by  his  father." 

"In  1817  a  precious  .season  of  divine  grace  was  expe- 
rienced in  this  church.  Concerning  this  the  Rev.  R.  B. 
Walker  wrote  in  one  of  the  periodicals  of  the  day  as  fol- 
lows :  '  The  communion  at  Bethesda  was  held  on  the 
second  Sabbath  of  September,  five  weeks  after  that  of  Bul- 
lock's Creek,  and  two  after  the  Salem  meeting.  Bethesda, 
once  remarkably  favored  of  the  Lord,  was  now  sunk  into  a; 
state  of  languor  as  to  divine  things.  Many  had  begun  to  fear 
that  the  Lord  had  forgotten  to  be  gracious,  that  His  mercy 
had  clean  gone  forever,  and  that  the  harvest  was  past  and  the 
summer  ended,  and  many  were  not  saved.  The  .services  of 
the  sanctuary  commenced  on  Friday.  Almost  every  brow 
appeared  to  indicate  deepening  irnpressions  and  a  desire  to 
hear  the  words  of  eternal  life.  Forty  joined  the  church  and 
partook  of  the  Lord's  Supper  for  the  first  time.  The  weather 
was  unpleasant,  rain  poured  down  in  almost  incessant  tor- 
rents, which  were  exceeded  in  nothing  unless  in  the  showers 
of  divine  grace.' 

"  The  crowds  in  attendance  were  not  so  large,  and  the  num- 
bers under  divine  influence  were  not  so  great,  but  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  most  competent  observers,  the  church  received 
more  real  strength  than  in  the  great  revival  fifteen  years 
before.  The  precise  number  brought  to  the  Saviour  cannot 
be  ascertained,  but  it  far  exceeded  the  number  first  admitted 
to  the  Lord's  Supper  before  mentioned,  and  on  good  authority 
we  may  say  that  two  hundred  at  least  were  gathered  in  as  the 
fruits  of  this  revival. 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  and  ecclesiastical  changes 
wrought  by  William  C.  Davis,  between  1807  and  1812,  no 
commotion  ruffled  the  serenity  of  Bethesda.  Her  elders,  in 
the  persons  of  Thomas  Black  and  Elias  Davidson,  were  pres- 
ent  in  the  Presbyteries  where  his  case  was  under  adjudication, 
and  always  gave,  by  vote,  judgment  against  him.  And  al- 
though Mr.  Davis  had,  at  one  time,  many  admirers  in  the 
congregation  and  many  personal  friends,  yet  he  eventually 
had  no  adherents  to  his  erratic  creed,  and  so  the  church  lost 
no  members  by  the  schism  ;  and  only  a  few  families,  and 
those  by  intermarriage,  have  sought  church  membership  with 
his  followers.     The  storm   raged  and  deeply  agitated  some 


1810-1820.]  EBENEZER — BEERSHEBA — SHILOH.  277 

surrounding  churches,  yet  it  left  Bethesda  unmolested  and 
united." 

Ebenezer  was  still  a  part  of  the  charge  of  Rev.  R.  B. 
Wahker.  It  most  probably  shared  in  the  work  of  grace  with 
the  neighboring  Church  of  Bethesda,  and  in  which  other 
churches  in  this  vicinity,  from  1817  to  1819,  participated.  It 
was  connected  now  with  the  Presbytery  of  Concord.  Its  last 
report  to  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  before  its 
dissolution  in  1810,  gave  it  forty-four  members  in  communion, 
with  seven  baptisms  of  infants. 

Beersheba,  in  York,  was  ministered  to,  as  a  stated  supply, 
through  this  decade,  by  Rev.  James  S.  Adams,  who  at  first 
divided  his  labors  between  this  church  and  Olny,  in  North 
Carolina,  and  afterwards  between  this  and  Bethel  (York).  It 
reported  in  1810  one  hundred  and  thirty  members,  a  number 
which  probably  it  never  afterwards  exceeded.  It  shared  in 
the  revivals  of  1817  to  1819,  which,  to  the  churches  of  this 
neighborhood,  was  a  season  of  refreshing  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord.  [Rel.  Intelligencer,  New  Haven,  Nov.,  1817, 
p.  464.    Christian  Spectator,  New  Haven,  Aug.,  1819,  p.  442.] 

Unity,  in  York  District,  was  one  of  the  vacant  congrega- 
tions of  the  First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  at  its  disso- 
lution, and  became  connected,  with  others  of  this  region,  with 
the  Presbytery  of  Concord.  Its  history  during  this  decade 
is  unknown  to  us.  From  the  minutes  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly for  1819  we  learn  that,  with  Providence  Church,  North 
Carolina,  it  was  a  part  of  the  joint  charge  of  the  Rev.-  James 
Wallis,  whose  death  occurred  in  that  year.  See  Vol.  I,  668, 
Note. 

Shiloh,  formerly  Calvary,  on  King's  Creek,  in  the  north- 
western corner  of  York  district.  Besides  the  labors  of  Rev. 
James  S.  Adams,  who  supplied  it  for  some  years,  it  was  favor- 
ed at  one  time  with  the  services  of  Rev.  Hen'y  M.  Kerr. 
Probably  this  was  earlier  than  this  decade.  Under  their 
labors  this  church  seemed  to  prosper.  This  was  succeeded 
by  a  season  of  long  and  dreary  night.  The  ways  of  Zion 
mourned,  and  a  high  degree  of  spiritual  declension  became 
prevalent.     [MS-  of  Rev.  J.  15.  Davies.] 

"  For  ten  or  fifteen  years,"  continues  Mr.  Davies,  "  the 
means  of  grace  were  not  enjoyed ;  the  house  of  worship  went 
to  ruins,  and  the  attention  of  the  people  was  only  now  and 
then,  at  intervals  of  months,  and   sometimes  of  years,  called 


278  BETHEL  (YOKK),  [lglO-18.'JO. 

to  the  ministrations  of  the  gospel.  During  this  period  of 
darkness  and  declension,  removals  took  place  by  which  the 
Presbyterian  Church  was  completely  disorganized  and  dis- 
persed. The  Baptist  denomination  formed  the  congregation 
of  Antioch  under  very  promising  circumstances." 

It  was  claimed  by  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Davis  and  his  followers  as 
one  of  the  constituent  portions  of  the  Independent  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  In  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  for  1819  it  is 
set  down  as  one  of  the  vacant  churches  of  the  Concord 
Presbytery.  , 

Bethel  (York). — The  vacancy  in  this  church  continued 
until  181 1,  when  the  Rev.  James  S.  Adams  removed  his  resi- 
dence to  Bethel,  the  place  of  his  nativity,  and  was  employed 
by  the  congregation  as  a  stated  supply.  He  continued  his 
labors  among  them  for  many  years  beyond  the  period  con- 
cerning which  we  now  write.  He  was  a  man  after  the  Mas- 
ter's own  heart,  a  good  man  and  full  of  tlie  Holy  Ghost.  It 
was  during  this  period  that  this  church,  in  common  with 
others,  enjoyed  a  special  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spiiit.  In 
a  letter  of  Mr.  Adams  to  Mr.  W.  W.  Woodward,  of  New 
Haven,  dated  "York  District,  S.  C,  October  27,  1817,"  he 
says  :  "  We  have  had  a  glorious  revival  of  religion  in  thi.-* 
country.  It  commenced  in  July,  and  has  made  its  way  into  a 
number  of  our  churches.  I  have  attended  five  communions 
in  the  churches  around,  including  my  own,  and  we  have 
admitted  162  to  the  church  for  the  first  time  ;  a  large  propor- 
tion of  whom  are  young  people ;  but  we  have  some  of  alt 
ages.  Tne  work  appeared  to  spread  with  great  rapidity.  It 
differs  from  the  former  revival  we  had  in  this  country  in 
several  paiticulars.  In  this  we  have  no  bodily  exercises  ;  the 
work  is  powerful,  but  mental ;  much  weeping  and  praying. 
In  this  we  have  no  opposition  as  yet."  [Religious  Intelli- 
gencer, New  Haven,  Vol.  I,  p.  464,  for  November,  1817.] 
The  Christian  Spectator,  of  August,  1S19,  says  ;  "  Several 
of  the  churches  in  York  District,  S.  C,  have  been  favored 
with  a  '  time  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.' 
Very  considerable  additions  have  been  made  to  the  churches 
of  Salem,  Bethesda,  Fishing  Creek,  Beersheba  and  Olney." 
[Chr.  Spec,  Vol.  I,  p.  442.J  Another  letter  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Adams  to  the  Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs,  Jr.,  dated  December  10,  181S, 
and  published  in  the  Boston  Recorder,  says  ;  "  A  Bible  So- 
ciety has  been  in  operation  with   us  for  more  than  two  years- 


i8]0-1820.]  WAXHAW.  279 

It  is  under  the  direction  of  our  Presbytery.  In  all  our  con- 
gregations we  have  established  Tract  Societies.  In  my  own 
congregation  we  have  also  e.stablished  Circulating  Library 
Societies,  and  we  sometimes  pay  a  little  to  the  support  of 
missions.  Twelve  months  ago,  at  a  communion  season,  the 
Lord  was  pleased  to  pour  out  His  Spiiit  in  a  remarkable 
manner.  From  that  time  it  has  spread  until  all  the  churches 
in  the  district  have  partaken  in  the  happy  effects.  If  I  am 
correct  in  my  account,  more  than  400  have  been  added  to  our 
churches  within  these  bounds.  I  have  added  to  my  two 
congregations  138,  and  the  work  is  still  going  on." 

I  he  Bethel  Acadumy  was  an  important  means  of  educa- 
tion, of  which  many  haH  availed  themselves.  Rev.  Mr.  Adams 
was  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  attended  on  Fri- 
day afternoons  to  hear  the  declamations  and  compositions. 
At  this  time,  Samuel  Williamson,  a  graduate  of  South  Caro- 
lina College  under  President  Maxcy,  was  the  teacher.  There 
had  been  schools  in  this  congregation  almost  from  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country,  and  tradition  makes  Andrew  Jackson 
to  have  received   some   portion  of  his   early  education   heic. 

Waxhaw  Church. — John  Williamson,  of  whoin  we  have 
spoken  before  in  connection  with  Bethesda  congregation 
took  cliarge  of  t-he  Academy,  which  had  been  taught  by 
Rev.  Francis  H.  Porter  and  others  previously,  in  181 1.  In 
1812  he  became  a  licensed  preacher,  and  preached  frequently 
for  this  church.  He  was  ordained  on  the  20th  of  August, 
1813.  At  this  date  Alex.  Carnes,  William  Dunlap,  George 
Dunlap,  Charles  Miller  and  Robert  Walkup,  were  elders.  The 
congregation  is  named  among  the  vacant  churches  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Concord,  in  the  Minutes  of  the  Assembly  which 
met  in  May,  18 19. 

The  name  of  Little  Bethel  does'  not  appear  in  the  minutes 
before  us,  but  Yorkville  is  enumerated  among  the  vacant 
churches  of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  in  1819,  and  we  learn 
from  the  papers  of  D.  G.  Stinson,  Esq.,  that  .preaching  vvas 
commenced  in  Yorkville  in  1813. 

The  Second  Presbytery  was  deprived  of  that  portion  of  its 
territory  which  was  below  a  line  extending  from  Columbia  to 
Augusta,  and  between  that  and  the  sea,  in  which  territory  it 
had  before  exercised  practically  little  or  no  jurisdiction.  This 
was  now  in  the  newly-constituted  Presbytery  of  Harmony. 
The  fourteenth  stated  sessions  of  that  Presbytery  was  held  at 


280  PRESBYTERIAL    CHANGES.  [1810-1820. 

Edgefield  Court  House  on  the  7th  of  November,  18 16.  Some 
intermediate  sessions  were  held  at  the  same  place,  showing 
that  this  was  regarded  as  included  within  its  bounds.  The 
First  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  being  dissolved  on  the 
6th  of  October,  18 10,  the  Second  was  dropped  from  its  title 
as  no  longer  appropriate,  and  it  received  the  name  of  "  The 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,"  which  it  retained  without 
change  until  the  year  1878.  Passing  over  the  line  of  the 
Broad  River  we  find  no  Presbyterian  Churches  either  in  the 
Districts  of  Lexington  or  Edgefield  north  of  this  line.  The 
jireaching  station,  which  existed  in  the  preceding  decade  on 
Cuffcy  Town  Creek,  in  the  upper  part  of  Edgefield,  was 
already  discontinued,  the  Presbyterian  population  having; 
moved  higher  up  and  being  gathered  into  Presbyterian  organ- 
izations in  Abbeville  or  elsewhere. 

During  this  decade, 

Henry  Eeid  was  received  as  a  candidate  from  the  First  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina,  April  3d,  1810,  and  was  licensed  at  a  meeting  held  atth(^ 
house  of  Andrew  Pickens,  in  the  congregation  of  Hopewell  (Keowee), 
April  5th  of  the  same  year,  and  was  ordained  May  12th,  1813 

Alexander  R.  Callihan  was  received  as  a  candidate  and  beneficiary, 
April  4,  1810,  but  his  trials  were  discontinued  August  28,  1811. 

John  D.  Murphy  was  received  as  a  licentiate  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Orange  August  27,  1811. 

Thomas  D.  Baird  was  received  as  a  candidate  October  4,  1810,  was 
licensed  April  8, 1812,  and  ordained  April  30,  1818. 

James  Oiimhle  was  received  as  a  candidate  April  8,  1812,  was  licensed 
October  4,  1813,  and  ordained  April  21,  1815. 

John  Bull  was  received  as  a  candidate  April  8,  1812. 
.  Richard  B.  C'r/ter- was  received  as  a  candidate  April  8, 1812,  was  licensed 
April  4,  1814,  and  ordained  April  6,  1816. 

John  Harrison  was  received  as  a  candidate  September  26,  1812,  was 
licensed  November  1,  1814. 

Williafn  Means  was  received  as  a  candidate  April  7,  1813,  was  licensed 
April  22,  181 5. 

James  Hillhouse  was  received  as  a  candidate  October  2,  1813,  was 
licensed  IS^ovember  14.  1815. 

Thomas  Archibald  was  received  as  a  candidate  October  2,  1813,  was 
licensed  November  14,  1815,  and  ordained  November  7,  1817. 

Joseph  Hillhouse  was  received  under  the  care  of  Presbytery  as  a  can- 
didate October  4,  1813,  licensed  November  14,  1815. 

James  L.  &I0SS  was  received  as  a  candidate  November  13,  1815,  was 
licensed  November  18,  1817,  and  ordained  as  an  Evangelist,  November 
18, 1817. 

Alexander  Kirkpatrick  was  received  as  a  licentiate  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Balymena,  Ireland,  April  5, 1817,  and  was  ordained  July  31, 1818. 
John  S.  Wilson  was  received  as  a  candidate  April  5,  1817,  was  licensed 
October  9th,  1819. 


1810-1820.]  GEASSY   SPRIKG — LITTLE   RIVER.  281 

David  Humphreys  was  rereived  as  a  candidate  October  3d,  1817,  was 
licensed  October  9, 1819. 

James  Y.  Alexander  was  received  as  a  candidate  October  3d,  1817. 

Hiland  Hulberl  was  received  as  a  candidate  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony  November  5tli,  1817.  wa.8  licensed  November  6th,  1817,  and 
ordained  as  Missionary  Evangelist' October  3,  1818. 

Michael  Dickson  was  received  as  a  candidate  November  18,  1817. 

Thomas  C.  St.nart,  who  had  been  received  as  a  candidate  November  1.5, 
1816,  was  licensed  April  3d,  1819 

Benjamin  Dupre  was  taken  under  the  care  of  the  Presbvtery  as  a  can- 
didate October  8,  1819. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Of  the  localities  of  Mount  Bethel  Academy  and  the  church 
of  Indian  Creek,  the  predecessor  of  Gilder's  Creek,  which, 
not  ivcn  in  the  preceding  decade,  was  traceable  in  the  min- 
utes of  the  Presbytery,  we  find  no  notice  in  this. 

Grassy  Spring,  in  Newberry  District,  enjoyed  still  the 
ministerial  services  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Gray.  He  was  a  good 
preacher  and  sound  in  the  faith.  The  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Davis 
ascribed  the  first  active  opposition  to  his  "Gospel  Plan"  to  Mr. 
Gray  and  Major  Mcjunkin.  Mr.  Gray  felt  into  a  "  decline," 
lingered  a  few  years  and  died  between  the  April  .^nd  Novem- 
ber meetings  of  Presbytery  in  i8l6.  Mr.  Gray  is  believed  to 
have  been  a  native  of  Abbeville  District  and  to  have  received 
his  education  in  part  there,  and  under  Dr.  Doak.ofEast 
Tennesse,  (MSS.  of  Rev.  J.  H.  Saye  and  letter  of  D.  L. 
Gray.)  The  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Gray  and  Rev.  D.  L.  Gray,  of 
Ttnnessee,  were  his  nephews.  Mr.  Gray  did  not  serve  this 
church  through  all  these  years  till  his  death,  as  its  pastor. 
He  was  dismissed  from  this  portion  of  his  pastoral  charge  on 
the  2d  of  April,  i8i  i.  It  was  afterwards  supplied  as  a  vacant 
church  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Kennedy,  Daniel  Gray,  Hugh  Dickson, 
in  i8ii  and  i8i2.  It  suffered  very  much  from  emigration  to 
the  West.  Many  of  the  families  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  church  removed  and  the  remoter  ones  fell  into  the 
membership  of  the  Ciiurch  of  Cane  Creek,  which  was  most 
convenient  to  their  own  residence. 

Little  River,  Laurens  District.  The  Rev.  John  B.  Ken- 
nedy was  the  pastor  of  this  church  during  this  period. 

Duncan's  Creek  was  the  other  part  of  the  pastoral  charge 
of  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy.     An  unpleasant  misunderstanding 


282  DtrprcAN'8  creek — eockv  sprikg.       [1810-1820. 

between  one  of  the  session  of  this  church  and  its  pastor  was 
reported  to  the  Presbytery  in  October,  1817,  and  an  ad- 
journed meeting  of  that  body  was  iield  at  Duncan's  Creek, 
one  of  the  issues  of  which  was  the  reconciliation  of  the  dis- 
sensions and  the  restoration  of  Christian  harmony  and  fellow- 
ship. It  appeared,  however,  that  the  reconciliation  was  not 
permanent,  but  the  Klder  withdrew  himself  from  the  worship 
of  God  in  that  church.  The  case  seemerl  complicated  by  the 
fact  that  one  of  the  same  name,  a  person  of  standing  in  so- 
ciety and  probably  a  relative  of  the  recusant  Elder,  addressed 
a  letter  to  the  session,  declining  further  church  connection 
witi)  tliem.  But  it  appeared  that  this  was  done  when  the 
session  were  about  to  call  him  to  account  for  some  immo- 
rality. Presbytery  unanimously  reasserted  the  principle  in 
accordance  with  the  discipline  of  the  church,  "  that  a  declina- 
'  ture  after  the  commission  of  an  immoral  act  which  called  for 
the  discipline  of  the  church  is  not  to  be  considered  valid  in 
any  case,  and  that  the  church  session  is  clotiied  with  as  full 
power  and  authority  to  call  the  guilty  person  before  their  bar 
to  answer  for  his  fault  as  though  such  declinature  had  never 
been  handed  in."  This  difficulty  seems  to  have  passed 
away.  The  Presbyterial  records  at  least  are  silent  respect- 
in  <r  it. 

Rocky  Spring,  in  Laurens  District,  was  vacant  through 
the  largest  portion  of  this  decade  and  a  petitioner  for  sup- 
plies. Messrs.  Kennedy,  Henry,  Reid,  John  Harrison,  Jas. 
Hillhouse  and  Thomas  Archibald,  were  appointed  to  preach 
to  this  congregation  as  temporary  supplies  in  1810,1811, 
1812,  1815,  1816.  Of  all  these,  Mr.  Kennedy's  are  believed 
to  have  been  the  most  constant.  In  April,  1817,  they  called 
Thomas  Archibald,  who  had  been  licensed  in  18 14,  for  one- 
half  his  time.  This  call  he  accepted  and  he  was  accordingly 
ordained  and  installed  at  Rocky  Spring  Church,  November 
7th,  1 8 17,  the  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater  nreaching  the  sermon 
from  2d  Tim.,  2  :  15,  and  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  presiding  and 
giving  the  charge  to  pastor  and  people. 

Liberty  Spring. — The  ^Rev.  Benjamin  R.  Montgomery 
was  dismissed  from  the  second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  April  3d,  1810,  and  this 
church  applied  to  the  Presbytery  for  supplies  for  its  pulpit, 
On  the  6th  of  April,  1816,  a  call  was  presented  to  Presbytery 
for  one-half  of  the  ministerial  labors  of  Mr.  John  Harrison,  a 


1810-1830.]       IJBERTY  SPRING— WARRtOR's  CREEK.  283 

licentiate  under  its  care.  This  call  Mr.  Harrison  declined 
accepting,  yet  he  preached  to  the  church  in  the  years  1816 
and  18 17.  Says  Dr.  Campbell,  "He  was  a  good  preacher,  as  a 
young  man."  He  was  a  native  of  Greenville,  married  the 
daughter  of  Alonzo  Stewart,  of  Abbeville,  and  from  Liberty 
Spring  removed  to  Georgia.  It  was  in  1816,  during  his  min- 
istry, that  Dr.  Robert  Campbell  was  elected  an  Elder  of  this 
church.  The  next  preacher  was  the  Rev.  Alexander  Kirk- 
patrick.  He  accepted  a  call  from  this  church  for  one-half  of 
his  labors  and  v/as  ordained  on  the  31st  of  July,  1818,  Rev. 
Jumes  Gamble  preaching  the  ordination  sermon  from  i  Tim. 
3:  I.  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  of  good  na- 
tive intellect,  of  rather  a  cold  temperament,  a  didactic  and 
argumentative  preacher,  a  man  of  great  diffidence,  good  hu- 
mor and  benevolence.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Wm. 
Ligon.  John  McGowan,  Robert  Hollingsworth  and  Alexan- 
der Austin,  were  elected  Elders  under  the  ministry  of  Mr. 
Kirkpatrick.  One  of  the  old  Elders  had  died  and  two  had 
removed  to  the  West.  (MSB.  of  Dr.  Campbell  and  minutes 
of  Presbytery.) 

Warrior's  Creek. — At  the  38th  regular  session  of  the 
Eresbytery  of  South  Carolina,  held  at  Good  Hope  from  Octo- 
ber I  to  October  3,  1818,  the  congregation  of  Warrioi's 
Creek,  about  seven  or  eight  miles  north  of  Laurensviile,  in 
Laurens  District,  was  received  under  the  care  of  that  body, 
but  no  information  as  to  the  supply  of  its  spiritual  wants  is 
recorded,  save  that  in  1818-19,  it  is  associated  with  Liberty 
Spring  as  under  the  care  of  Alexander  Kirkpatrick. 

Raboorn's  Creek  congregation  received  supplies  during 
the  decade.  Jas.  GiUiland,  Wm.  H.  Barr,  John  Harrison 
and  Jas.  Hillhouse  were  appointed  as  supplies  in  i8ioand 
181 1.  It  is  only  in  the  earlier  years  of  this  period  that  the 
appointments  of  supplies  are  recorded,  and  when  they  are 
noted,  the  appointees  are  directed  to  preach  so  many  times, 
at  their  own  discretion,  the  places  where,  not  being  indicated, 
so  that  those  fragmentary  notices  of  vacant  congregations  are 
very  unsatisfactory. 

Union  Presbvterian  Church  (formerly  Brown's  Creek.) 
The  Rev.  Daniel  Gray  continued  to  preach  to  this  church  in 
connection  with  Fairforest,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
i8i6.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Hillhouse,  who 
gave  a  portion  of  his  labors  to  this  congregation  while  settled 


284  UNION — CANE   CHEEK.  [1810-1820; 

at  Fairforest.  During  his  ministry  he  commenced  preaching 
statedly  at  Unionvilie.  At  what  exact  period  this  began  we 
are  not  informed.  It  may  have  been  near  the  end  of  this  de- 
cade or  soon  after.  The  members  of  the  church  thought  it 
proper  to  nbandon  their  place  of  worship  in  the  country  and 
build  a  house  of  worship  in  the  village.  The  lot  on  which  tlie 
church  edifice  stands  was  given  by  Mr.  Alexander  Macbeth, 
George  Brandon  and  .\bram  Mcjunkin,  were  ordained  Elders 
by  Mr.  HiUhouse,  after  lie  began  preaching  at  Unionvilie, 
probably  about  1819.     (MSS.  of  Rev.  J.  H.  Saye.) 

Cane  Creek  Church  is  ten  miles  from  Unionvilie  near  the 
road  leading  from  the  latter  place  to  Columbia  and  nearly 
equi  distant  from  Broad  and  Tyger  Rivers.  "It  was  formed 
about  the  year  1809  by  a  few  members  of  the  old  Grassy 
Spring  church  uniting  with  a  few  from  Brown's  Creek.  They 
purchased  from  Mr.  Spi.lsbj'  Glenn  the  building  now  called 
Cane  Creek  Church.  It  had  been  erected  by  the  Society 
of  Friends,  and  from  them  Mr.  Glenn  had  purchased  it  be- 
fore it  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Presbyterians.  The  land 
upon  which  the  church  stands  was  purchased  from  Mr.  Isaac 
Hawkins,  the  agent  of  the  Society  of  Friends  and  contains  in 
the  whole  about  ten  acres.  The  names  of  the  persons  who 
came  from  the  Grassy  Spring  Church  and  united  in  forming 
the  Cane  Creek  Church  are  the  following,  viz.  :  Maj.  Samuel 
Otterson  and  his  wife,  Ruth,  Henry  Walker  and  his  wife 
Mary,  Mrs.  Samuel  Lay,  James  Dugan,  Esq.,  and  his  wife, 
Frances,  Jeremiaii  Hamilton  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Bu- 
ford,  James  Otterson,  widow  Brummit,  Miss  Ruth  Otterson, 
Robert  Crenshaw,  Sen.,  and  Robert  Crenshaw,  Jr.,  and  one 
other.  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  members  who 
came  from  the  Brown's  Creek  Church,  viz. :  Maj.  Joseph 
Junkin,  elder,  and  his  wife  Ann,  John  Cunningham  and  his 
wife  Ellen,  Miss  Jane  Mcjunkin,  Abram  Mcjunkin  and  his 
wife  Margaret,  making,  in  the  whole  23.  Soon  after  the  pur- 
chase of  the  land  and  building  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Gray  were  secured  as  a  stated  supply  for  one-fourth  of  his 
time.  He  preached  here  two  years,  during  which  Mary  and 
Thany  Otterson,  daughters  of  Maj.  S.  Otterson,  and  Mary 
Buford  became  members  of  the  church.  Majors  Otterson  and 
Mcjunkin  officiated  as  Ruling  Elders,  and  constituted  the 
session  at  this  period.  From  1811  to  1816  the  church  was 
almost  entirely  destitute  of  preaching.     Sometimes  a  sermon 


1810-1820.]  FAIRFOREST.  285 

was  preached  by  a  minister  of  the  Mtthodist  denomination 
who  came  by  invitation.  And  when  no  minister  could  be 
procured,  the  Elders  and  members  frequently  met  for  prayer, 
praise,  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures.  In  the  mean  time 
occasional  supplies  were  sent  by  Presbytery.  In  November, 
1816,  a  petition  was  preferred  to  Presbytery  for  supplies  and 
Mr.  William  Means,  a  licentiate,  served  this  church  as  a 
.stated  supply  for  six  months.  From  this  time  onward  till 
1620,  the  church  had  supplies  only  occasionally."  [From 
the  Records  of  Cane  Creek  Church.]  The  country  around 
was  originally  settled  mostlj'  by  Quakers.  The  house  of 
worship  as  we  have  seen  was  built  by  them.  In  the  first 
years  of  the  present  century  they  left  the*  country  and  went 
to  Ohio  and  Indiana.  The  original  purchasers  of  the  house 
unfortunately  allowed  other  denominations  to  occupy  it  in 
common  until  nothing  but  a  forcible  expulsion  would  induce 
them  to  relinquish  what  they  claim  as  their  right.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  church  eventually  erected  a  house  of 
worship  about  seven  miles  west  of  Cane  Creek  Church  where 
the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  are  statedly  dispensed."  The 
above  is  extracted  from  the  records  of  the  session.  But  it  is 
probable  that  the  persons  stated  in  the  preceding  sketch, 
to  have  formed  the  Cane  Creek  Church  did  not  regard  them- 
selves at  the  time  as  uniting  in  a  duly  organized  church 
capacity,  but  as  merely  making  arrangements  for  sustaining 
Gospel  ordinances.  They  were  regarded,  those  especially 
from  Brown's  Creek,  as  still  members  of  that  church,  and  it 
may  have  been  so  with  those  from  Grassy  Spring.  (MSS.  Mr. 
Saye.) 

Fairforest  Church. — The  Rev.  Daniel  Gray  continued 
in  this  pastorate  until  his  death  in  1816.  He  fell  into  "  a 
decline,"  and  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  were  years  of  suf- 
fering and  weakness.  He  was  a  good  preacher  and  .sound  in 
the  faith.  The  church  was  disturbed  during  his  ministry  by 
the  errors  of  VVm.  C.  Davis,  and  at  the  meeting  of  Presby- 
tery, April  3d,  1811,  Mr.  Gray  informed  this  body  that  a 
number  of  persons  in  the  congregation  had  imbibed  the  prin- 
ciples set  forth  in  "  The  Gospel  Plan,"  written  by  him,  and 
sought  to  be  directed  by  Presbytery  as  to  his  treatment  of 
these  persons.  Dr.  VVaddel  and  Mr.  Brown  were  directed  to 
prepare  a  letter,  to  be  addressed  to  that  congregation,  stating 
to  them  the  light   in   which   Presbytery  viewed  this   matter. 


286  FAIRFOREST.  [1810-1820. 

Tlie  letter  was   .submitted  to    Presbytery,  was  approved  and 
forwarded,  and  was  as  follows  : 

"  Beah  Friends  and  Brethren  :  The  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina 
Viave  learned  with  unfeigned  regret  that  soine  members  of  your  society 
liave  viewed  certain  steps  talien  by  the  Presbytery,  at  their  last  sessions, 
as  being  rather  rigid.  They  feel  it  as  their  duty  towards  tliose  of 
Christ's  household  to  use  their  endeavors  to  preserve  both  the  peace 
and  purity  of  the  church,  and  are  sorry  to  understand  that  there  are 
any  symptoms  of  di.seord  among  the  members  of  a  society  once  so 
respectable.  In  present  circumstances,  though  far  from  desiring  to  lord 
it  over  (iod's  heritage,  yet  we  consider  it  as  not  transcending  the  bounds 
of  our  duty  to  admonish  you  to  mark  and  beware  of  those  unstable  per- 
sons who  cause  divisions  among  you,  and  endeavor,  by  every  proper 
and  prudent  method,  to  reclaim  them.  The  elders  we  exhort  to  treat 
such  with  all  due  lenity  consistent  with  the  purity  of  the  church  ;  and 
should  it  be  deemed  proper  or  necessary  in  order  to  reduce  the  tempo- 
ralities of  your  church  to  a  state  of  greater  regularity,  as  well  as  to 
ascertain  the  number  of  those  among  you  who  are  still  disposed  to 
adhere  to  and  support  the  principles  of  the  church  to  which  we  belong, 
we  recommend  that  a  new  subscription  be  opened  and  the  members 
invited  in  that  way  to  testify  their  sentiments.  Should  any  member, 
after  subscribing  in  the  manner  proposed,  afterwards  evince  himself  to 
be  an  advocate  for  error,  we  do  recommend  that  he  be  dealt  with  as  the 
discipline  of  our  church  directs  in  cases  of  error.  Finally,  brethren,  we 
admonish  you  to  endeavor  to  stand  fast  in  the  faith,  striving  together 
in  prayer  to  God  for  his  direction  and  protection,  and  may  the  God  of 
peace  and  the  peace  of  God  be  with  you." 

Mr.  Gray  was  succeded  in  the  pastorship  of  this  church  by 
Rev.  Joseph  Hillhouse,  who  was  brought  up  in  Anderson 
District,  received  his  classical  studies  at  the  academy  ab  Va- 
rennes,  and  finished  his  course  of  preparatory  studies  with 
Dr.  Waddell  at  Willington.  A  call  for  one-half  of  his  min- 
isterial services  was  laid  before  Presbytery  at  its  twenty-fourth 
.stated  sessions,  November  13,  1816,  and  he  was  ordained  at 
Fairforest  on  the  19th  of  July,  1S17,  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy 
preaching  the  ordinatiorj  sermon  from  Col.  4  :  17,  Dr.  Wad- 
dell presiding  and  delivering  the  charge  to  the  newly-ordained 
pasi or  and  people.  Mr.  Hillhouse  also  preached  at  Brown's 
Creek,  and  began  to  preach  statedly  at  Unionville.  During 
his  ministry  a  new  brickhouse  of  worship  was  erected  at 
Fairforest.  Under  his  ministry  the  congregation  of  Brown's 
Creek  erected  a  house  of  worship  at  Unionville.  Mr.  William 
Means  also  preached  in  this  church,  probably  before  Mr. 
Hillliouse,  but  from  debility  he  abandoned  the  ministry  and 
was  never  ordained.  From  the  period  of  the  settlement  of 
Mr.  Hillliouse,  things  began  to  assume  a  more  favorable 
aspect.   The  ordin.tnccis  of  God's  house  were  slriqtly  attended 


1810-1820.]  NAZARETH.  287 

to,  and  now  and  then  a  repenting  returning  sinner  was  found. 
No  very  visible  outpouring  of  tlie  Spirit  was  ob=erved  until 
about  the  beginning  of  April,  1818,  when  an  unusual  solem- 
nity was  perceived  to  prevail  in  the  assembly  which  usually 
attended.  Many  hearts  were  filled  with  grief  at  the  recol- 
lection of  their  past  ingratitude.  Many  sought  to  obtain  a 
seat  at  the  table  of  the  Lord,  whom,  by  their  sins,  they  had 
pierced.  In  the  last  of  May  twenty-five  publicly  professed 
their  attachment  to  Christ  and  his  cause;  and  in  August,  at 
another  communion,  twenty-eight  more  separated  themselves 
from  the  world  to  follow  after  the  Lord  ;  thus  making  an 
aggregate  of  fifty-three,  ip  four  months,  who  have  made  a 
public,  and,  in  most  instances,  a  hopeful  profession."  (Letter 
dated  Union  District,  S.  C,  October  14,  181S,  addressed  to 
the  Weekly  Recorder,  and  republished  in  the  Religious  Intel- 
ligencer, New  Haven,  of  November,  1818.)  Fairforest  lias 
been  blessed  with  an  eldership  of  no  common  excellence. 
Among  them  was  Gen.  Hugh  Means,  tlie  son  of  James  Means, 
one  of  the  early  settlers,  the  second  child  born  in  the  settle- 
ment. His  mother  died  soon  after  his  birth,  and  he  was 
nursed  by  Mrs.  Story  with  her  own  son,  George.  He  entered 
the  service  of  his  country  at  an  early  period,  and  won  distinc- 
tion on  various  occasions,  especially  at  the  battle  of  the  Cow- 
pens,  where  he  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  company  of  Captain 
Patton.  He  commanded  a  regiment  in  the  war  of  1812.  After 
the  close  of  the  revolutionary  struggle  he  was  distinguished 
by  his  energy  and  kindness  in  providing  for  the  pressing 
necessities  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  his  fallen  comrades. 
He  was  chosen  a  ruling  elder  at  an  early  period  of  life,  ;ind 
discharged  the  duties  of  his  office  much  to  the  edification  of 
the  church.  He  was  an  earnest  and  devout  Christian,  and  a 
whole-souled  man  and  neighbor.  His  posterity  is  numerous, 
but  all  scattered  through  the  regions  of  "The  far  West.'' 
There  were  other  elders  whose  useful  lives  extended  into  the 
times  subsequent  to  this,  and  whose'names  deserve  to  be 
remembered.  [MSS.  of  J.  H.  Saye  and  Minutes  of  Presbytery.] 
Nazareth  Church,  Spartanburg'  District.  This  church 
flourished  much  under  tlie  pastoral  labors  of  Rev.  James 
Gilliland,  Jr ,  who  was  a  lively  preacher,  a  good  scholar  and 
popular  in  his  manners.  At  the  meeting  of  Presbytery  in 
April,  1815,  he  and  Rev.  Daniel  Gray  obtained  leave  to  travel 
beyond  the  bounds  of  Presbytery  during  the  Summer.     And 


288  FAIRVIEW.  [1810-1820 

it  appears  to  have  been  the  understanding  that  every  minis- 
tei-  traveling  abroad  should  do  so  with  the  consent  of  Presby- 
tery, and  bearing  credentials  attested  by  the  stated  clerk  or 
by  the  presiding  Moderator  and  clerk,  At  the  meeting  No- 
vember r3th,  i8[6,  a  letter  was  received  from  iiim  stating  his 
removal  beyond  their  bounds,  suing  for  a  dismission  from 
his  pastoral  relation  with  Nazareth,  accompanied  with  his 
account  book  and  the  moneys  held  by  him  as  the  Treasurer 
of  Pres^bytery.  These  accounts  were  audited  and  found  cor- 
rect, the  Commissioner  of  the  congregation  was  heard,  and 
Mr.  Gilliland  was  regularly  dismissed,  and  the  congregation 
now  declared  a  vacancy  \x\.  good  standing,  having  fulfilled  all 
its  contracts  with  its  pastor.'  On  the  3rd  of  April  tiiey  applied 
for  one-half  the  labors  of  the  licentiate  William  Means  for  one 
year,  this  application  was  accepted  by  him.  He  perhaps  had 
served  them  before  in  the  same  bapacity,  for  he  is  said  to  have 
served  them  four  years  after  the  dismission  of  Mr.  Gilliland 
until  1820.  [Minutes  and  MSS.  of  Rev.  R.  H.  Reid.]  Mr. 
Gilliland  removed  to  Mississippi  after  having  rendered  the 
country  very  efficient  service  in  the  pulpit  and  the  school- 
room where  many  eminent  men  were  his  pupils. 

Faikview  Church.  This  church  was  under  the  charge  of 
Rev.  James  Gilliland  jointly  with  Nazareth  .until  September 
28,  1812,  when  Mr.  Gilliland  applied  for  a  dismission  and  was 
directed  to  cite  his  people  to  appear  by  their  commissioner 
at  the  next  meeting  to  show  cause  (if  any)  why  the  dismis- 
sion should  not  be  granted.  As  neither  Mr.  Gilliland  nor 
any  commissioner  appeared,  the  business  was  laid  over.  James 
Hillhouse,  Thomas  Archibald,  Joseph  Hilihouse  and  Alexan- 
der Kirkpatrick  were  subsequently  appointed  by  Presbytery 
as  supplies.  The  statement  we  have  received  is,  that  the  Rev. 
Hugh  Dickson  took  charge  of  the  congregation  at  the  Fall 
meeting  of  Presbytery  in  1 8 14  a  fourth  of  his  time  at  a  salary 
of  75  dollars,  was  succeeded  by  James  Hillhouse  at  the  Spring 
Presbytery  of  1 8 16,  th'at  on  the  3rd  Sabbath  of  October  he 
resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Thos.  Archibald  who 
preached  until  the  Spring  Presbytery  of  1817,  then  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Kirkpatrick,  a  native  of  Ireland,  preached  from 
June,  1817,  to  May.  1818.  And  during  this  period  the  Rev. 
Thomas  D,  Baird,  from  Ireland  occupied  the  pulpit  some  por- 
tion of  the  time.  During  this  decade  Dr.  Thomas  W.  Alex- 
ander, Lindsay  A.  Baker,  were  elders,  and  James  Peden  about 


1810-1820.]  N.  PACOLET— MILFORD — SMYRNA.  289 

the  year  1816.  (Brief  history  compiled  by  a  committee  of  the 
church.)  The  regular  sessions  of  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  were  held  at  this  church  on  the  1st  of  April,  1814, 
and  the  7th  of  October,    1819. 

North  Pacolet.  James  Gilliland,  Jr.,  was  appointed  by 
Presbytery  to  supply  this  church  in  1810,  181 1,  1812  ;  Dan- 
iel Gray,  in  i8ro,  and  Thos.  Archibald,  in  1817.  The  brief 
statement  made  to  us  in  1853  is,  "In  1817  Rev.  Braynard  and 
J.  Hillhouse  labored  as  pastors,  during  whose  service  A.  F. 
Jackson  and  his  wife,  A.  Cunningham  and  his  wife,  S.  Caruth 
M.  and  E.  Scott,  W.  Kelso,  Jr.,  and  his  wife,  and  J.  and  P. 
Kelso  became  united  with  the  church." 

MiLFORD.  This  name  does  not  appear  on  the  minutes  of 
Presbytery  during  this  decade.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Cuffey  Town  congregation  on  CufFey  Town  Creek  in  the 
upper  part  of  Edgefield  District. 

The  Gekman  Church  on  Hard  Labor  Creek  is  once  men- 
tioned in  the  minutes  of  Presbytery.  August  28th,  1811, 
Henry  Reid,  then  a  licentiate,  was  appointed  to  preach  at 
"the  German  Church."  This  was  probably  the  continuation 
of  the  Cuffey  Town  congregation  made  up  of  German  emi- 
grants from  the  Palatinate  who  suffered  such  bitter  persecu- 
tions in  the  preceding  century  and  were  settled  in  the  old 
township  of  Hillsboro  in  1760  and  1770.     See  Vol.1,  p.  642. 

Smv'rna  Church,  (Abbeville.)  The  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  still 
ministered  to  this  church  one-half  of  his  time.  "In  their  effort 
to  replenish  their  eldership,  removed  by  death,  the  church 
elected  Samuel  Speece  and  Philip  Stiefle  who  were  inducted 
into  office  as  their  successors.  They  lived  but  a  short  time. 
Two  others  were  appointed  to  take  their  places.  They  required 
some  time  for  deliberation  and  before  they  had  obtained  their 
consent,  they  both  died  suddenly  without  ordination.  Two 
others  were  appointed  to  fill  their  office,  they  died  in  like 
manner.  This  is  mentioned  as  a  singular  providence.  Robert 
Redd  was  then  appointed  and  continued  to  act  through  the" 
following  decade."     (MSS.  by  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson.) 

Greenville  Church,  (formerly  Saluda,)  Abbeville.  Rev. 
Hugh  Dickson  continued  the  joint  pastor  of  this  and  the  last 
named  congregation.  All  things  moved  on  in  the  even  tenor 
of  their  way  with  few  accessions  until  1815,  when  14  new 
members  were  added  to  the  church.  Prio»  to  this,  Edward 
Sharpe  having  died,  Isaac  Cowan  was  appointed  Ruling  Elder 
19 


290  ROCKY  CREEK — C'AMBRIIJCiK.  [ISIO-lSL'll. 

in  liis  place.  Shortly  after  this  John  Seawright  and  Samuel 
A^new  were  added  to  the  Session.  (MSS.  of  Rev.  Hugh 
Dickson.) 

Rocky  Creek  now  JIock  Church.  Supplies  were  ap- 
pointed for  this  church  as  follows  :  Wm.  H.  Barr,  in  l8lO; 
Henry  Reid.  in  i8ll.  1812;  Daniel  Gray,  John  B.  Kennedy 
and  Hugh  Dickson,  in  1812,  and  John  Harrison,  in  1814. 
Most  of  these  appointments  were  for  a  single  Sabbath,  some 
were  for  two  or  more.  "The  Rev.  Henry  Reid,"  says  Rev. 
Joiin  McLees,  now  (in  1872)  pastor  of  tlii.s  church,  "was  li- 
censed by  South  Carolina  Presbytery  about  the  year  1810. 
He  supplied  the  church  occasionally  until  18 19."  Another 
MSS.  account  says  "We  have  no  trace  of  its  history  left  (i.  c, 
after  1805)  till  1 8 10,  when  it  was  supplied  by  Rev.  Henry 
Reid  till  :8i2."  It  was  then  vacant  for  five  years,  when  Mr. 
Reid  returned  and  preached  once  a  month  durirtg  the  )-ears  of 
i8i8and  1819.  He  left  it  and  it  was  again  vacant.  John 
Blake,  Thomas  Weir,  and  Joim  Caldwell  were  appointed 
Rutinrr  KIders  in  1818. 

Old  Cambridge,  or  Ninety-Six,  is  again  without  mention 
in  the  mmutes  of  Presbytery  during  this  decade.  It  sti-11 
existed  as  ^  community  of  some  importance.  "The  Cam- 
bridge Library  Society"  was  chartered  in  1816.  About  the 
time  of  the  war  of  1812  it  rose  again  to  some  measure  of 
prosperity.  It  was  visited,  too,  by  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
among  whom,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  John  Mc- 
Bryde,  a  resident  of  the  place,  and  a  merchant  then  engaged 
in  business,  were  Rev.  Mr.  Dickson  and  Dr.  Barr.  It  was 
visited,  too,  by  Rev.  Alfred  Wright,  afterwards  missionary  to 
the  Choctaws,  who  was  sent  from  the  Missionary  Society  in 
Charleston  as  e.xplorer,*  who  was  followed  by  Rev.  John 
Wheeler,  afterwards  President  of  Burlington  College,  Ver- 
mont, who  came  as  a  licentiate,  in  1819,  and  preached  both 
here    and   at   "  the  Rocks,"  that  is.    Rocky   Creek,  or  Rock 

*"  More  than  five  years  ago,  Mr-  Alfred  Wright,  while  a  student  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  Mt  Andover,  after  serious  and  prayerful  delib- 
eration, caSie  to  the  resolution  to  devote  himself  to  the  missionary 
work,  should  Providence  open  to  him  the  way  ;  but  a  failure  of  health 
has  hindered  him.  After  a  residence,  however,  in  North  Carolina  for 
two  or  three  years,  he  found  his  health  so  far  restored  as  to  encourage 
him  to  commence  poaching ;  and  for  several  months  past  he  has  been 
employed  in  missiomirv  labors  to  good  acceptance  in  South  Carolina." 
[Report  of  the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  A.  B.  C,  F.  M,,  Sept.,  1819,] 


1810-1  S-iO.]  HOPEWELL — WILLINGTON.  291 

Church,  from  November  to  June.  These  men  were  sent  by 
the  Society  of  Domestic  Missions,  and  the  labors 

of  these  and  their  successors  resulted  in  the  reorganizing  of 
the  church  in  this  place  early  in  the  next  decade. 

Hopewell  (Abbeville).— Dr.  Waddell  continued  to  preach 
to  this  church  in  coimection  with  VVillington,  at  which  place 
he  resided.  In  the  midst  of  his  successful  career  at  the  latter 
place  as  an  instructor  of  youth,  and  both  here  and  there  as  a 
preacher  of  the  gospel,  he  was  called  to  the  Presidency  of 
Franklin  College,  at  Athens,  Georgia.  A  door  of  wider  useful- 
ness seemed  open  before  him,  and  he  requested  a  dismission 
from  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Hopewell,  within  whose  bounds  he  had  removed,  which  was 
granted  him  on  the  17th  of  October,  1819,  and  the  Hopewell 
Church  was  again  vacant.  "  The  organization  of  a  church  at 
VVillington  drew  off  soine  of  the  members  of  the  Hopewell 
Church.  The  stream  of  emigration  which  set  from  this  region 
to  the  new  countries  in  tlie  \Vest  would  have  had  a  still  more 
serious  effect,  had  it  not  been  for  a  counter-current  which 
flowed  in  from  the  lower  part  of  the  State.  About  this  time, 
Messrs.  Stephen  Lee,  Andrew  Norris,  the  Saxons,  Pelots, 
Postells,  Wilsons,  Parkers,  Caters  and  Reids,  moved  in  and 
filled  the  vacant  places. 

WiLLiNGToN. — The  circumstances  under  which  the  church 
hearing  this  name  was  founded  have  been  rehearsed  already. 
It  was  organized  about  the  year  1813,  and  was  composed 
mainly  of  members  from  Hopewell.  Though  useful  here  in 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  "the  reputation  of  Dr.  Waddell 
chiefly  rested  on  his'success  as  an  educator  of  youth.  It  was 
this  which  led  to  his  election  to  the  Presidency  of  Franklin 
College,  a  name  by  which  the  University  of  Georgia  has  been 
known.  His  removal  from  this  portion  of  his  pastoral  charge 
took  place,  as  has  already  been  intimated,  in  1819.  "The 
school  was  left,"  says  the  authority  to  which  we  have  before 
been  indebted,  "  in  the  hands  of  his  nephew,  Mr.  Dobbins, 
who  sustained  it  but  a  short  time.  This  Academy  had  been 
in  operation  at  this  place  nearly  fifteen  years,  and  its  success 
was  without  a  parallel  in  the  country.  How  much  this  was 
owing  to  circumstances,  or  to  that  'tide  in  the  affairs  of  men,' 
which  being  '  taken  at  the  flood  leads  on  to  fortune,'  we  leave 
logicians  to  determine  ;  but  its  influence  for  good  upon  the 
age  is  a  self-evident  proposition;     The  germs  of  lawyers,  phy- 


292  DR.    WADDEL.  [1810-lKl'(l. 

sicians,  statesmen,  ministers,  &c.,  tented  arouni]  that  simpL- 
academic  buildinjj ;  and  wayward  indeed,  even  reprobate, 
must  have  been  the  youth  who  retained  in  after-life  no  im.- 
pression  of  the  genuine  faith,  the  honest  probity,  and  the 
sterhng  energy  of  his  amiable  perceptor.  He  was  amiable 
notwithstanding  the  rigidity  of  his  discipline.  A  vein  of 
pleasantry  ran  through  the  rich,  heavy  quarry  of  his  brain  ; 
and  flashes  of  wit  not  seldom  illuminated  the  thunder  of  his 
brow  ;  yet  though  the  luckless  culprit  might  find  in  this  a 
precedent  for  a  smile,  woefully  deceived  was  he  if  he  deemed 
that  the  rod  of  strict  justice  would  be  thus  averted. 

There  was  a  manliness  and  boldness  in  his  dealings  which 
compelled  the  respect  of  even  the  worst;  and  his  warm  appre- 
ciation of  good  conduct  could  not  fail  to  secure  the  interest 
of  the  wise  and  studious. 

Of  the  ministers  who  came  forth  from  this  school  may  be 
mentioned  Richard  B.  Cater,  D.  D.,  J.  B.  Hillhouse,  D.  Hum- 
phries, James  Gamble,  Henry  Reid,  John  Wilson  (Baptist), 
Rev.  Daniel  Campbell  (Episcopalian),  Rev.  Thomas  D  Baird, 
D.  D.,  of  Cincinnati,  and  others  not  now  remembered."  [Mrs. 
M.  E.  D.J 

There  were  times,  too,  when  the  Spirit  from  heaven  moved 
upon  the  hearts  of  the  students  who  resorted  to  him.  He 
wrote  on  one  occasion  that  nearly  half  of  the  members  of  the 
.seminary,  which  contained  at  that  time  more  than  a  hundred 
students,  had  been  under  serious  impressions,  and  that  up- 
wards ot  twenty  were  hopefully  converted.  [Panoplist  for 
May,  1812.] 

As  a  teacher,  Dr.  Waddel  had  been  eminently  successful. 
Dr.  Smith,  the  learned  President  of  Nassau  Hall,  in  New 
Jer.sey,  has  repeatedly  said,  says  Dr.  Ramsay,  that  he  re- 
ceives no  scholars  from  any  section  of  the  United  States  who 
stand  a  better  examination  than  the  pupils  of  Dr.  Waddel. 
Hist.  II.,  p.  369.  ■"  Posts  of  honor  and  profit  in  this  and  the 
neighboring  States  are  so  common  to  Dr.  Waddel's  pupils," 
.says  Judge  A.  B,  Longstreet,  "  that  they  might  almost  be 
considered  their  legitimate  inheritance."  But  there  were 
new  responsibilities  about  to  be  imposed  upon  him.  In  1818 
he  was  elected  to  the  Presidency  of  the  University  of  Geor- 
gia. In  1 8 19  he  published  the  "  Memoirs  of  Miss  Catharine 
Elizabeth  Smelt,"  a  highly  interesting  and  popular  work, 
which  soon  reached  a  third  edition  in  this  country  and  at  least 


1810-1820.]    '  LOWER   LONG   CANE.  293 

two  in  Great  Britain.  He  remained  at  Willington  until  May, 
1 8 19,  wiien  lie  removed  to  Athen.s  and  entered  upon  the  du- 
ties of  the  Presidency. 

"  Dr,  Waddel's  accesion  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Univer- 
sity," says  Judge  Longstreet,  "  was  magical.  It  rose  instantly 
to  a  rank  it  had  never  held  before,  and  which,  we  are  happy 
to  add  it  has  maintained  ever  since." 

Lower  Long  Cane. — At  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  at  Fairforest,  September  25th,  18 12,  a  peti- 
tion from  Lower  Long  Cane  congregation,  formerly  attached 
to  the  Seceders  or  Associate  Reformed,  praying  to  be  taken 
under  its  care  was  laid  before  that  body.  This  church  had 
preferred  a  request  to  Presbytery  at  a  previous  meeting  held 
at  Duncan's  Creek,'  18 12,  for  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Henry 
Reid,  who,  probably,  had  been  preaching  to  them  as  a  licen- 
tiate. The  Presbytery  regarded  itself  constitutionally  barred 
from  attending  "to  the  spirit  of  the  petition."  perhaps  because 
that  church  was  not  under  its  jurisdiction.  "After  mature 
deliberation  had  thereon,  the  prayer  of  the  supplication  was 
granted  and  their  elder  Robert  McCulloch  was  invited  to  a 
seat  in  Presbytery."  [Minutes  of  second  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  September  26,  18 12.]  The  Presbytery  seems  to 
have  proceeded  with  some  measure  of  caution.  It  "could  not 
view  the  petition  of  Lower  Long  Cane  in  the  light  of  a  call 
from  that  people  for  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Reid  as  their  pastor, 
yet  it  appeared  to  be  their  desire  that  the  ordination  should 
take  place  for  that  purpose.  Upon  the  whole,  taking  into 
consideratioii  the  peculiar  situation  of  that  congregation,  they 
resolved  that  should  a  regular  call  for  Mr.  Reid  be  brought 
from  that  people  to  Presbytery  at  their  next  stated  sessions 
(Mr.  Reid  having  intimated  that  he  would  accept  it)  they 
would  proceed  to  his  examination."  A  call  was  regularly 
presented  at  their  next  meeting  and  Mr.  Reid's  trials  were 
entered  upon.  The  Committee,  Messrs.  Andrew  Brown, 
Hugh  Dickson  and  Vv^m.  H.  Barr,  to  whom  his  lecture  and 
sermon  were  submitted,  reported  unfavorably  upon  them  at  a 
prore  nata  meeting  at  Varennes,  April  30,  1813,  as  advancing 
doctrines  at  variance  with  our  standards,  the  symbols  of  our 
faith,  and  the  word  of  God.  i.  As  maintaining  that  the  active 
obedience  of  Christ  is  no  part  of  the  righteousness  by  which 
a  sinner  is  justified.  3d  That  justification  appears  to  be 
extended  only  to  the  pardon  of  sin.     3d.  That  temporal  death 


294  REV.  HENBY  REID.  [1810-1820. 

constituted  no  part  of  the  penalty  of  the  c  )venant  of  works, 
and  that  eternal  death  is  not  included  in  the  breach  of  the 
covenant.  4th.  An  universal  purchase  of  redemption  appear.s 
to  be  inculcated.  5th.  That  there  is  no  absolute  necessity  of 
heaping  the  gospel  in  order  to  salvation.  6th.  That  the 
penalty  of  the  covenant  of  works  consisted  wholly  in  spiritual 
death.  7th.  That  a  fear  of  punishment  and  hope  of  escape 
will  bring  a  sinner  to  Christ,  though  the  enmity  of  his  heart 
remains  unsubdued.  8th.  Tliat  a  holy  disposition  of  heart  is 
a  consequence  of  being  sealed  to  God  in  the  exercise  of  faith. 
9th.  The  beginning  of  holiness  is  regeneration  and  follow.s 
faith ;  faith  consequently  is  not  holy  in  its  first  exercise. 
From  the  whole  the  Committee  perceived  "the  pieces  to  be 
in  perfect  unison  with  the  "  Gospel  Plan'^  by  W.  C.  Davis, 
which  has  excited  and  still  continues  to  excites  o  much  uneas- 
iness in  our  churches  and  which  we  believe  to  be  fraught 
with  injury  to  precious  and  immortal  souls." 

After  the  presentation  of  this  report  and  its  formidable 
array  of  divergencies  from  our  standards  of  doctrine,  "  Mr. 
Reid  was  called  forward,  and  after  a  lengthy  and  amicable 
conference,  with  some  explanations,  he  disavowed"  (as  he 
had  done  previously  at  his  licensure,")  "  the  sentiments  which 
were  considered  exceptionable."  At  a  pro  re  uata  meeting 
at  Lower  Long  Creek  Church,  May  I2th,  1813,  Mr.  Reid  was 
ordained  and  in.stalled,  Doctor  Waddel,  presiding,  Wm.  H. 
Barr,  preaching  the  ordination  sermon,  from  Ezek.  iii,  17, 
and  a  suitable  charge  being  given  to  the  newly  ordained 
minister  and  the  congregation.  At  the  meeling' the  Rev. 
Alexander  Porter,  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  was 
present  as  a  corresponding  member. 

In  the  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  of  May,  1814, 
Lower  Long  Cane  was  reported  among  the  churches  of 
the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  and  Henry  Reid  as  its  pastor. 

At  the  October-sessions,  Mr.  Reid  obtained  leave  to  spend 
thrpe-fourths  of  his  time,  till  the  next  stated  sessions,  without 
the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery,  it  being  understood  that  it 
was  with  the  concurrence  of  the  congregation  over  which  he 
had  been  installed.  On  November  4th,  1814,  Mr.  Reid  was 
dismissed  from  the  pastoral  charge  of  Lower  Long  Cane,  and 
from  the  Presbytery,  to  join  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  and 
Lower  Long  Cane  became  vacant,  and  was  so  reported  in  the 
Assembly's  minutes  of  18 19. 


1810-1-820.]  SARDIS — ROCKY    RIVER.  295 

At  the  same  time  that  this  church  applied  to  be  received 
under  the  care  of  Presbytery,  a  neighborhood  on  the  waters  of 
Long  Cane  Creek  applied  to  be  received  also  as  a  congregation, 
and  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  Sardis  Church,  and  was  so 
received  and  entered  upon  the  records.  (Minutes  Second 
Presbytery  South  Carolina,  pp.  176,  179.) 

Rocky  River.— The  Rev.  Dr.  Waddell  preached  to  this 
church  one-fourth  of  his  time  until  near  the  close  of  18 14. 
On  the  29th  of  October,  in  this  year,  the  congregation  pre' 
ferred  to  Presbytery  a  call  for  three-fourtlis  of  the  ministerial 
labors  of  Rev.  James  Gamble,  who  was  a  native  of  Virginia, 
but  came  into  tiiat  neighborhood  when  young,  and  had  been 
licensed  and  ordained  due  titiilo  as  we  have  before  described. 
iVIr  Gamble  continued  in  this  relation  through  the  remainder 
of  this  decade.  For  about  five  years,  from  about  18 16  to 
1 82 1,  Mr.  Gamble  had  the  Superintendence  of  a  large  school 
where  several  young  men  were  educated  who  afterwards 
became  ministers  of  the  Gospel  in  connection  with  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  some  who  attached  themselves  to 
churches  of  other  denominations.  About  18 10,  an  addition 
was  made  to  the  session  by  the  removal  into  the  congrega- 
tion of  Josiah  Patterson,  wiio  is  believed  to  have  been  an  elder 
in  Lower  Long  Cane  In  1816,  John  Spear  was  elected  to  fill 
the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of  John  Caldwell.  A.  Giles 
and  Thomas  Cunningham  were  afterwards^dded  to  the  elder- 
ship, but  at  what  particular  date  is  not  known.  During  the 
first  fifteen  or  twenty  years  of  the  present  century,  the  congre- 
gations which  assembled  were  large  and  crowded.  After  this 
period,  from  deaths  and  emigration  to  the  West,  the  member- 
ship was  greatly  diminished.*  The  congregation  has  been 
fruitful  in  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  and  tiiis  has  been  the  case 
in  those  congregations  where  piety  has  the  most  abounded 
and  where  literary  tastes  have  been  formed  or  cultivated  by 
good  schools  and  classical  studies.  Academic;  institutions 
under  religious  influences  have  contributed  largely  to  the 
supply  of  ministers  of  the  gospel.  (Letters  of  John  Speer 
and  A.  Giles,  Esq.,  of  October  and  November,  1852.) 

*  "  Foi'ty-flve  years  ago,  I  have  no  doubt,-'  says  Mr.  Giles,  "  tliere  were 
at  least  two  hundred  members.  From  removals  and  deaths,  small 
farms  have  been  bought  up  by  lar^e  planters — who  generally  are  a  curse 
to  any  community — [we  suppose  this  to  be  said  without  any  bitterness] 
we  have  dwindled  down  to  thirtv-five." 


296  UPPER   LONG   CANK.  [1810-1820. 

Long  Cane  (Upper  Long  Cane),  The  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Barr 
ministered  to  this  people,  serving  them,  to  their  great  satis- 
faction, three-fourths  of  his  time  through  this  period.  The 
old  church  building  having  become  much  dilapidated  and 
decayed,  subscriptions  were  opened  in  December  1813  for 
building  a  new  house  of  worship.  The  subscriptions  were 
made  payable  to  Wm.  Le.sly,  Hugh  Reid,  George  Bowie, 
Matthew  Wilson  and  James  Wardlaw,  trustees  of  tlie  congre- 
gation or  their  successors  m  office.  On  these  subscriptions 
a  considerable  sum  was  raised  wliich  enabled  the  trustees  to 
contract  for  building  the  house,  which  was  finished  to  their 
satisfaction.  ("It  was  not  finished,  I  think,"  says  Robert  H. 
Wardlaw,  who  furnishes  these  facts,  "till  about  1818,  and  is 
the  same  now,  [June,  1852,]  occupied  by  the  congregation.") 

Thus  was  business  conducted  with  great  harmony  and  to 
the  general  satisfaction  of  the  members,  by  trustees  appointed 
from  time  to  time,  without  any  by-laws,  rules  or  regulations 
defining  tiieir  powers  or  limiting  their  privileges  till  Septem- 
ber 20th,  1819,  when  the  before  mentioned  trustees,  after  en- 
during ail  the  fatigues  and  surmounting  all  the  difficulties  and 
bearing  all  the  losses  and  privations  attendant  on  the  erection 
of  the  new  building,  became  desirous  of  retiring,  and  called 
a  meeting  of  the  congregation  on  that  day  to  elect  another 
board  of  trustees  ;  but  previous  to  going  into  the  election  they 
proposed  to  the  congregation  a  set  of  rules  and  regulations 
which  were  unanimously  adopted.  The  secular  affairs  of  the 
congregation  are  still  (1832)  managed  by  a  board  of  trustees, 
a  regular  succession  being  kept~  up  by  election  every  four 
years. 

Between  1818  and  1824  the  congregation  purchased  the 
church  lands,  containing  acres  from    Patrick   Duncan 

of  Charleston,  it  being  a  part  of  what  is  commonly  called  "the 
Jew's  land,"  raising  the  necessary  amount  by  voluntary  sub- 
scription.    (MS.  by  Robert  H.  Wardlaw.) 


It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  one  who  from  early  life  was  an  influential 
member  of  this  ohurch,  that  some  memorial  of  one  who  was  so  distin-. 
guished  in  war  and  honored  in  civil  life  sliould  be  here  preserved.  We 
allude  to  General  Andrew  Pickens,  who  departed  this  life  at  Tomassee, 
his  residence,  August  llth,  1817,  in  his  80th  year. 

The  following  interesting  sketch,  published  many  years  ago  in  the 
Keowee  Courier,  will  be  read  with  especial  interest : 

A  correspondent  of  the  Unionville  Times,  under  the  signature  of ''Up- 
Uountry,"  suggests  that  in  filling  up  the  niches  of  thecapitol  with  busts 


1810-1820.]  GEN'i.  ANDEEW   PICKENS.  297 

of  distinguished  Carolinians,  as  is  proposed,  the  claims  of  Gen  Andrew 
Pickens  should  not  be  disregarded.  He  says  while  "Gen.  Marion  and 
Sumter  should  have  a  place  in  the  capitoj,  so  should  Gen  Pickens,  an 
up-countryman,  have  one  assigned  him  also."  AVe  agree  with  "Up- 
Conntry"  that  the  important  services  which  Gen.  Pickens  rendered 
•  during  the  revolution  fully  entitle  him  to  this  distinction.  We  make 
the  following  extract,  giving  information  in  reference  to  the  life  and 
services  of  Gen.  Pickens,  which  will  prove  interesting  to  our  readers: 

"I  beg  leave  to  bring  to  the  v'.ew  of  the  good  people  of  South  Carolina, 
Gen.  Andrew  Pickens  and  some  of  his  military  services  during  our 
Kevolutionary  struggle.  He  was  of  Irish  descent,  born  in  Pennsylvania 
and  emigrated  to  South  Carolina  with  his  parents  when  a  boy,  and  set- 
tled first  in  the  Waxhaws.  In  1760,  before  he  was  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  he  volunteered  in  Grant's  expedition  against  the  Cherokee  Indians, 
where  he  received  his  first  lessons  in  military  discipline,  with  Laurens 
Marion,  Moultrie  and  Huger.  He,  early  in  the  revolutionary  contest, 
took  sides  with  the  Whigs  and  became  a  leader  of  che  patriots  In  1779 
Col  Pickens,  who  then  commanded  a  regiment  of  about  three  hundred 
and  sixty  men,  pursued  Col.  Boyd,  who  had  under  him  eight  hundred 
Tories.  He  overtook  them  at  Kettle  Creek,  where  a  severe  battle  en- 
sued. Boyd  was  mortally  wounded,  seven  of  his  men  killed,  and  about 
seventy-five  made  prisoners,  the  remainder  scattered  to  the  winds.  This 
was  the  first  great  reverse  of  fortune  which  the  Tories  met  with,  and  of 
course  proved  to  be  of  great  service  in  the  cause  of  the  patriots.  Gen 
Pickens  was  wounded  in  the  breast  by  a  musket  ball,  while  at  the  head 
of  his  men  at  the  battle  of  Entaw,  ^nd  knocked  oS  his  hor.se — a  wound 
he  carried  with  him  in  its  efi'ects,  to  the  grave,  in  1817.  He  captured 
Augusta  from  the  British  after  they  had  held  it  two  years,  as  "Lee's 
Memoirs  of  the  Southern  Campaign"  will  prove.  He  fought  at  the 
siege  of  Ninety-six,  and  lost  two  brothers  there.  He  fought  at  Gran  by. 
He  cut  Pile's  men  all  to  pieces  one  night,  on  Haw  Kiver  N.  C.,  and  was 
elected  in  that  State  a  brigadier-general  to  succeed  Gen.  Davidson,  (who 
was  killed  at  Cowan's  Ford,  on  the  Catawba)  and  was  thus  actually  a 
brigadier-general  in  both  the  Carolinas  at  the  same  time.  Gen.  Pieken.'s 
with  his  men,  stood  the  onset  of  the  British  at  the  great  battle  of  Cow- 
pens.  In  fourteen  days  he  conquered  the  great  Cherokee  nation  with- 
out the  loss  of  a  man,  and  made  the  celebrated  treaty  of  Hopewell,  in 
Pendleton,  by  which  Anderson.  Pickens  and  Greenville  were  obtained. 
He  also  fought  the  great  ring  fight,  which  perfectly  subdued  the  Indians 
ever  afterwards. 

"Gen.  Pickens  is  one  of  the  few  officers  who  never  drew  a  cent  of  pay 
for  his  Revolutionary  services,  as  the  roll  of  the  comptroller's  office  will 
prove.  After  the  war.  Gen.  Pickens  held  the  first  county  court  that  sat 
under  the  new  laws,  near  Abbeville  Courthouse,  at  the  old  Block  House, 
and  his  son,  Grovernor  Pickens,  then  a  boy  of  five  years  old,  drew  the 
first  jury.  He  was  appointed  by  President  Washington,  with  Gen. 
Wayne,  to  conquer  the  great  northwestern  tribes  of  Indians  but  declined 
the  honor.  He  ran  the  line  between  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee, 
by  an  appointment  from  President  Jefferson.  He  was  also  appointed 
to  hold  the  Treaty  of  Milledgeville,  likewise  at  Natchez,  and  indeed 
almost  all  the  treaties  held  with  the  Southern  Indians,  and  was  (»n- 
stantly  in  service  until  1794,  when  he  was  elected  to  Congress,  which 
then  sat  in  Philadelphia  At  that  time  there  were  neither  railroads  nor 
stage-coaches — all  traveling  was  done  on  horseback.  Picture  then,  to 
yourselves,  a  man  who  is  approaching  his  threescore  years,   of  martial 


298  I,1TTLE   MOUNTAIN— BKADAWAY.  [1810-1820. 

fifrure  and  dijinifled  demeanor,  mounted  on  a  spirited  milk-white  steed, 
of  pure  Andalusian  breed,  wliip  in  hand  and  holsters  filled  with  a  brace 
of  pistols,  the  silver  mounting  of  which  glittered  in  the  sunlight.  A 
three-cornered  hat,  from  beneath  which  grows  the  silvery-gray  hair, 
put  smoothly  back  and  tied  in  a  queue,  an  undress  military  coat,  ruffled 
shirt,  and  small  clothes  and  fair  top  boots,  with  massive  silver  spurs. 
Following  at  a  little  distance,  on  a  stout  draft  horse,  is  his  African  atten- 
dant, Pompey,  in  livery  of  blue,  with  scarlet  facings,  carrying  a  ponder- 
ous portmanteau  with  a  consequential  and  dignified  air,  showing  in 
every  movement  the  pride  of  a  body  servant  in  his  revered  master. 
Paint  this  in  your  mind's  eye.  and  you  have  before  you  a  gentleman 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  his  servant,  on  his  way  to  Congress. 
Such  was  Gen.  Andrew  Pickens  as  he  passed  through  our  village  in 
1794. 

"Congress,  on  the  9th  of  February,  1781,  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  t  > 
the  officers  and  men  who  fouirht  in  the  battle  of  the  Cowpens,  and  voi,ed 
Gen.  Andrew  Pickens  a  sword.  The  Legislature  of  South  Carolina,  in 
i816,  unanimously  ofl'ered  him  tlie  gubernatorial  chair,  which  he  re- 
spectfully declined  from  age  and  infirmities." 

Little  Mountain  Congregation.  On  the  2nd  of  Aprii, 
l8i  I,  at  the  23d  .stated  sessions  of  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina,  held  at  Biadaway  Church,  a  neighborhood  on 
the  water  ot  Spur  Creek  in  Abbeville  Di.strict  applied  to  be 
received  under  Presbvterial  supervision  and  to  be  known  un- 
der the  name  and  address  of  Little  Mountain  Con^^regation.* 
Minutes  2nd  Presbytery,  p.  158.  On  the  7th  of  April,  1812, 
they  called  Rev.  William  H.  Barr  for  one-fourth  of  his  time, 
which  call  was  accepted  by  him  at  the  next  stated  meeting  of 
Presb)tery,  and  he  continued  to  minister  to  their  spiritual 
wants  as  a  portion  of  his  pastoral  charge  through  this  period 
of  our  history. 

Bradaway. — We  have  very  kw  traces  of  this  church  and 
congregation  in  anything  before  us  for  the  first  two  or  three 
years  of  this  decade.  The  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  (down 
to  that  date  the  Second  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina)  held  its 
23d  stated  sessions  at  that  church  the  2d  of   April,  1811,  and 

*It  cannot  now  be  ascertained  whether  the  church  had  been  regularly 
organized  or  not  prior  to  1811.  It  may  be  inferred  that  it  was.  Apart 
from  anything  authentic,  the  commonly  accepted  version  states  "that 
Dr  Barr  preached  under  a  post-oak  tree,  bv  the  side  of  the  General's 
Road,"  (which  is  still  standing)  "in  the  year  1806  or  1807."  Notwith- 
standing it  was  an  immoral  neighborhood,  and  a  regular  "race  ground" 
was  kept,beginning  at  this  tree,  great  crowds  gathered  under  its  branches 
to  hear  Dr.  Barr  tell  "the  story  of  the  cross."  It  was  not  long,  however, 
before  a  general  desire  pervaded  the  community  to  have  a  house  of 
worship,  which  was  built  of  logs  and  placed  on  the  top  of  a  very  high 
hill,  from  which  the  church  took  its  name  as  Little  Mountain  Chubch. 
[MSS.  of  Wesley  A.  Black.] 


1810-1820.]  GOOD    HOPE   AND    ROBERTS.  299 

its  33d  -sessions  on  the  Sth  of  April,  1816.  Between  these 
dates,  on  the  25tli  of  Se[>teinber,  1812,  a  call  was  presented 
to  Presbytery,  from  Bradaway,  for  one  half  the  ministerial 
labors  of  Mr.  Thomas  Dickson  Baird,  then  a  licentiate,  which 
was  presented  to  him  and  accepted.  At  Varcnnes  -a  pro  re 
nata  meeting  was  held  for  his  ordination.  Dr.  Waddell 
preached  on  the  occasion.  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  preached 
the  ordination  sermon  from  Mark  xvi.  15:  "Go  ye  into  all 
the  world,  &c."  The  candidate  was  set  apart  to  the  sacred 
office  of  the  ministry,  and  a  suitable  charge  given  to  the 
pastor  and  people.  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Baird  was  dismissed 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Lancaster,  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  at  his 
own  request,  on  the  Sth  of  April,  1815. 

A  call  from  Bradaway  for  one-half  of  the  ministerial  services 
of  Mr.  Richard  B.  Cater,  then  a  licentiate  (the  time  to  be 
equally  divided  between  Varennes  and  Bradaway)  was  laid 
before  the  Presbytery  on  the  1 8th  of  November,  181 5,  and 
by  him  accepted.  He  was  ordained  at  the  regular  meeting 
above  mentioned,  the  services  being  held  on  the  6th  of  April, 
18 16.  The  ordination  sermon  was  preached  by  Rev.  Hugh 
Dickson.  He  was  solemnly  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the 
Gospel  ministry  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands,  and 
the  charge  was  given  to  the  newly  ordained  minister  and  the 
people  by  Rev.  William  H.  Barr,  who  presided  on  the  occa- 
sion. In  October,  18 19,  Mr.  Cater  applied  for  a  dismission 
from  his  pastoral  charge,  but  there  being  no  commissioners 
present  from  the  congregations  composing  it,  Presb)tery  de- 
clined action  at  that  time,  but  directed  Rev'  James  Hillhouse 
to  cite  those  congregations  to  appear  by  their  commissioners 
before  that  body  at  its  next  sessions,  to  show  cause,  if  an\- 
they  have,  why  such  dismission  should  not  be  granted.* 

Good  Hope  and  Roberts.— Rev.  James  McElheney  sup- 
plied these  ciiurches  until  his  death,  on  the  4th  of  October, 
18 1 2.  The  next  supply  was  the  Rev.  Thos.  H.  Price,  of 
James  Island.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Dickson  Baird,  afterwards 
D.  D.,  was  the  next.  Of  his  earlier  history  we  have  already 
written. 

In  1809,  he  entered  the  Willington  Academy,  of  which 
Dr.  Moses  VVaddell  was  tiie  principal.    "  I  heard  this  eminent 

*  A  discourse  of  Mr.  Cater's  before  the  "  Varennes  Eeligious  Tract  So- 
ciety "may  be  found  in  the  Evangelical  Intelligencer  of  January  Ist 
and  15th,  1819,  published  by  requestof  the  Society. 


300  THOMAS   D.    BAIRD,  D.  D.  [1810-1820. 

Preceptor  saj' :  "  says  Rev.  David  Humphreys,  also  his  pupil, 
that  of  all  the  students  who  passed  through  that  Academy, 
but  one,  George  McDuffie,  ever  made  such  rapid  pro- 
gress— especially  in  the  study  of  the  languages.  This  was 
very  complimentary  when  we  recollect  Calhoun,  Craw- 
ford, Longstreet  and  Pettigrew,  with  many  others  from 
that  Institution,  who  have  graced  the  Bar,  the  Bench, 
the  Halls  of  Congress,  and  the  Cabinet  of  the  United  States 
He  was  licensed,  ordained  and  installed  at  Bradaway,  near 
Varennes,  as  we  have  already  recorded,  where,  in  connection 
with  his  pastoral  office,  he  conducted  a  large  and  popular 
classical  school.  In  1815,  he  obtained  a  release  from  his 
pastoral  charge  and  reino\'ed  to  Newark,  in  Oliio.  The  sup- 
ply given  to  Roberts  and  Good  Hope  churches,  was  only  for 
a  short  time.  It  was  about  two  years,  that  he  had  tiie  care 
of  the  Bradaway  church 

While  Mr.  Baird  was  a  member  of  this  Presbytery  heat- 
tended  the  General  Assembly  as  its  delegate  and  became  per- 
suaded that  the  churches  of  New  England  were  exerting  an 
injurious  influence  on  Presbyterianism.  At  Newark,  he  was 
engaged  for  five  years  as  pastor  and  teacher.  In  18 17,  he 
received  overtures  as  to  the  presidency  of  the  University  of 
Ohio,  an  office  wiiiclv  he  declined.  In  1820,  he  became  pas- 
tor of  the  church  in  Lebanon,  Alleghany  Co.  Pa.,  when  he  was 
disabled  from  preaching  by  laryngitis.  He  had  an  impor- 
tant influence  in  establishing  the  Western  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  In  1831  he  took  the  editorial  charge  of  the  Pitts- 
burg Christian  Herald,  He  sat  in  the  Assemblies  of  1837 
and  1888,  and  was  President  of  the  Convention  that  met  in 
connection  with  it.  He  removed  to  Cannonsburg,  Pa.,  in 
1838  during  which  year  on  the  21st  of  November  he  left 
home  on  a  visit  to  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  the  scene  of 
his  former  ministrations  and  trials.  On  his  return,  a  cold  from 
traveling  in  the  stage  coach  at  night,  brought  on  an  inflama- 
tion  of  the  kidneys  of  which  he  died  in  Duplin  County,  North 
Carolina,  at  the  house  of  Rev.  Henry  Brown,  after  a  few  days 
ol  intense  suffering,  but  in  the  triumph  of  faith,  on  the  7th  of 
January,  1839,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age. 

He  was  married  to  Esther,  eldest  daughter  of  Samuel 
Thompson,  a  ruling  elder  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Cliurch 
in  Pittsburg,  in  1 817,  and  was  the  father  of  thirteen  children, 
seven  by  the  first   marriage,  all  of  wliom   died   in    infancy   or 


1810-1820.J  HOPEWELL    (KEOWBE.)        .  301 

early  childhood  ;  six  ijy  tiie  second  tnarriagf,  five  sons  and 
one  daughter.  Tliree  of  his  sons  Samuel  J.  Baird,  D.  D., 
Ebenezer  Thompson  Baiid,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  the  Com- 
mittees of  Education  and  Pubhcation  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  James  Henry  Baird,  are  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 
(Sprague's  Annals,  IV,  p.,  476.)  The  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater, 
D.  D.,  was  the  next  who  laboured  as  supply  or  pastor  in  tliese 
churches.  He  was  born  in  Beaufort  District,  South  Carolina, 
in  179 1.  His  parents  died  while  he  was  young.  When  he 
was  sixteen  years  old  he  was  placed  under  the  instructions  of 
Dr.  Moses  Waddell  at  Willington.  His  literary  and  theolog- 
ical course  were  both  under  the  direction  of  tlie  same  venera- 
ble man.  His  licensure  and  ordination  have  been  recorded 
before.  His  call  to  Good  Hope  for  the  third  and  from  Roberts 
for  the  fifth  of  his  time  had  preceded  his  call  to  Bradaway 
some  six  or  seven  months,  and  he  distributed  his  labors  be- 
tween these  several  congregations.  Ministers  were  too  few 
and  the  Churches,  thought  theftiselves  too  poor  to  provide 
one  for  each.  Mr.  Cater  continued  to  minister  to  them  till 
the  close  of  this  decade,  the  dismission  which  he  asked  from 
the  collegiate  churches  which  he  served  was  not  granted  for 
the  reason  before  mentioned  til!  the  Spring  Sessions  of  1820. 
Of  the  character  and  labors  of  this  excellent  brother  we 
shall  have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter. 

We  have  given  in  our  preceding  pages  an  imperfect  history 
of  these  churches  for  near  thirty  years,  for  more  than  half 
of  which  time  the  Rev.  John  Sijnpson  was  pastor;  and  the 
remainder  of  the  time  they  were  partially  and  sometimes 
irregularly  sup[)lied  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Davis,  McElheiinj' 
Price,  Baird  and  Cater.  (MSS.  of  Rev.  David  Humphreys. 
Minutes  of  Presbytery  and  Annals  of  Dr.  Sprague,  Vol.  IV. 
pp.  476  and  520.) 

Hopewell  (Keowee). — The  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina 
(then  the  Second  Pres.  of  S.  C.)  met  at  this  church  on  the 
3d  of  April,  1810,  on  the  27th  of  August,  181 1,  on  the  6th 
of  April,  1813.'  At  the  first  of  these  meetings  the  Rev.  Jas. 
McElhenny  was  present,  for  he  was  in  the  land  of  the  living 
and  was  pastor  of  the  church.  He  possessed  a  strong  and 
vigorous  mind,  and  his  eloquence  consisted  of  strong  reason- 
ing united  with  persuasive  and  touching  tenderness.  Mr. 
McElhenny  was  assisted  in  his  pastoral  labors  by  John  D. 
Murphy,  who  was  received  as  3  licentiate  from  the  Presbytery 


■302  HOPEWELL  (kEOWEE.)  [1810-1820. 

of  Orange,  on  the  27th  of  August,  i8i  i,  and  for  two-thirds 
of  whose  ministerial  labors  a  call  was  presented  by  the  Hope- 
well Church.  Presb\'tery  granted  therequest,  "  it  being  under- 
stood that  Mr.  McElheniiy,  the  regular  pastor  of  said  church, 
could  not  labor  among  them  more  than  one-third  of  his  time." 
Dr.  E.Smith  and  Mr.  Murphy  are  said  to  have  created  a  mill- 
pond  and  established  rice  fields  for  their  mutual  benefit, 
which  originated  a  malarial  fever  in  the  .summer  and  fall  of 
i<Si2.  Of  this  fever  Mr  Murphy,  who  was  the  son-in-law  of 
Mr.  McEllienny,  died,  and  he  soon  followed  him  to  the  grave. 
Mr.  McElhenny  died  on  the  4th  of  October,  1812.  The  Rev. 
Thos.  H.  Price,  from  James  Island,  preached  a  funeral  ser- 
mon occasioned  by  their  death,  and  it  was  among  the  remi- 
niscences of  Rev.  David  Humphreys,  so  long  the  beloved 
pastor  of  Good  Hope  and  Roberts,  that  Mr.  Price  came  up  to 
Rev.  Andrew  Brown's  while  he,  Humphreys,  Was  there  at 
school,  to  have  him  examine  the  manuscript,  a  copy  having 
been  requested  for  publication,  and  that  while  there  he  as- 
sisted Mr.  Brown  at  a  communion  season  at  the  Bethel 
Church,  greatly  to  the  edification  of  the  people  there  as- 
sembled. The  following  is  the  inscription  in  the  graveyard 
at  "  the  Stone  Church,"  in  memory  of  Mr.  McElhenny  : 

"  Sacred 

To  the  Memory  of 

The  Ebv.  JAMES  McELHENNY 

Senior  pastor  of 

the 

PEESBYTEBIAN  CHURCH  OF 

HoPEWBLii  TN  Pendleton  District, 

Who  died  October  1st,  1812, 

Aged  44  years. 

Greatly  lamented  by  his  friends,  who  knew 
His  generons  worth.    His  flesh  returns  to  dust ! 

His  spirit  ascends  to  prove  religion  true. 
And  wait  the  resurrection  of  the  just !  " 

Hopewell  now  became  dependent  upon  occasional  supplies 
from  Presbytery.  In  the  spring  of  1813,  Rev.  John  B.  Ken- 
nedy and  Hugh  Dickson  were  appointed  to  administer  the 
Lord's  Supper  the  ensuing  summer.  In  the  spring  of  18 16, 
Carmel  and  Hopewell  petition  that  James  Hillhouse  may  be 
permitted  to  officiate  as  a  stated  supply  between  the  two  con- 
gregations till  the  ne.xt  stated  sessions,  and  their  request  is 
granted.  This  results  in  a  call  extended  to  him  through  the 
Presbytery,  in    November,  from    Hopewell   for  two-thirds   of 


]810-1820.]        BETHLEHEM,  CANE  CREEK  AND  BETHKL.  P>0 '< 

his  time,  which  I'e  acce|)ted.  An  intcrmcdifite  session  was 
held  at  Hopewell  (Keowee)  on  the  23  of  Apiil,  at  which  Mr. 
Hillhouse  was  ordained  and  installed,  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater 
preaching  the  sermon  from  2d  Tim.,  ii.  15,  and  Wm.  H.  Barr 
delivering  the  charge  to  the  newly  ordained  pastor  and 
Deople.  During  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Hillhouse,  the  Female 
Religious  tract  Society  of  Pendleton  sent  its  contributions  to 
Presbytery,  and  received  its  thanks  for  their  generous  dona- 
tion. 

Carmel  Church. — The  history  of  this  church  has  run 
parallel  with  that  of  Hopewell  (Keowee)  since  its  organization. 
During  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  this  decade,  Mr.  James 
McElhenny  was  tlieir  pastor,and  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Murphy, 
the  assistant  pastor.  They  were  beloved  and  greatly 
lamented.  The  Rev.  James  Hillhouse  succeeded  them  here, 
as  he  did  in  Hopewell.  A  call  was  presented  to  him  through 
Presbytery  for  one-third  of  his  tin)e,  on  tlie  2d  of  October, 
1817,  and  he  was  in.stalled  on  the  4th  of  April,  1818,  during 
a  meeting  of  Presbytery  held  at  that  church,  the  installation 
sermon  being  delivered  by  William  H.  Barr,  from  Ezek.,  iii. 
17,  and  the  charge  given  to  the  minister  and  people  by  Rev. 
Moses  Waddell,  D.^D.  During  the  pastorship  of  Mr.  Hill- 
house, William  McMurray,  Robert  Lemon,  John  Dickson, 
Alexander  Oliver  were  ordained  elders.  Michael  Dickson 
(father  of  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson)  and  William  Walker  were 
also  elected.  These  all  died  in  the  faith,  having  received  the 
promises. 

Bethlehem,  Cane  Cheek  and  Bethel,  still  constituted  the 
pastoral  charge  of  Rev.  Andrew  Brown.  He  continued 
laboring  for  these  churches  in  all  faithfulness.  The  31st 
stated  sessions  ofNpre.sbytery  were  held  at  Bethel  on  the  6tli 
of  April,  18:5.  Mr.  Brown  obtained  leave  from  Presbytery 
to  travel  without  its  bounds  during  the  summer  of  1816,  and 
requested  that  the  churches  which  he  supplied,  but  were  not 
his  regular  charge,  should  be  supplied  as  vacancies  by  that 
body.  The  spirit  of  missions  was  increasing  in  this  Presby- 
tery through  the  entire  period  of  which  we  write.  It  was  a 
•  standing  rule  that  each  member  should  spend  at  least  four 
weeks  in  missionary  work  in  e.ich  year.  In  the  spring  of 
1819,  the  Rev.  Andrew  Brown  was  sent  to  the  Alabama 
Territory  by  the  committee  of  Presbytery  to  labor  for  three 
months  as  a  missionary.     At  the  tall  meeting  he  reported  his 


304  NAZARETH  (bKAVER  DAM) — AJJGUSTA.        [1810-1820. 

labors  to  that  body.  His  report  was  accompanied  with  an 
address  to  Presbytery  from  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  west 
of  the  Black  Warrior  River,  thanking  them  for  their  atten- 
tions in  sending  Mr.  Brown  among  them,  and  requesting  a 
continuance  of  missionary  labors. 

Nazareth  (Beaver  Dam),  was,  perhaps,  one  of  those  vacant 
churches  of  Rev.  Andrew  Brown's  pastoral-  charge,  which  he 
from  time  to  time  supplied,  James  HilUiouse,  Thos.  Archi- 
bald, and  Joseph  Hillhouse  were  each  appointed  to  visit  it 
for  the  supply  of  its  pulpit. 

Presbyterian  Church,  Augusta,  Georgia.  —  We  have 
seen,  p.  ,  that  the  corner-stone  of  the  house  of  worship  of 
this  Church  was  laid  on  the  4th  of  July,  1809.  The  building 
was  completed  and  solemnly  dedicated  to  the  public  worship 
of  God  on  Sunday,  May  17th,  1812.  The  following  account 
of  the  exercises  of  the  occasion  is  taken  from  one  of  the 
public  journals  of  the  city  : 

"On  Sunday  last,  the  newly  erected  Presbyterian  Church 
in  this  place  was  solemnly  dedicated  to  the  service  of  the 
Most  High.  An  impressive  dedication  sermon  was  prea^ched 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson,  the  pastor,  from  tbe  words  of 
David  in  the  84th  Psalm:  '  How. amiable  are  thy  tabernacles, 
O,  Lord  of  Hosts.'  About  seven  hundred  persons  attended 
this  interesting  solemnity,  and  we  do  not  recollect  ever  to 
have  seen  a  congregation  more  seriously  attentive  to  a  dis- 
course than  they  were  an  this  occasion,  which  was  truly 
calculated  to  affect  every  heart  and  excite  in  every  bosom  the 
most  lively  sensations.  In  the  afternoon  an  excellent  dis- 
course was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Keith,  of  Charleston, 
S.  C,  from  the  words,  '  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and 
are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest.' 

"  And,  as  in  the  morning,  a  prospective  and  affecting  view 
was  taken  of  the  future  situation  of  the  church  thus  dedicated 
to  the  Almighty,  and  of  the  thousands  who,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Holy  Spirit,  should  be  born  to  God  within  its 
consecrated  walls,  and  united  to  the  family  of  the  blessed ;  so 
in  the  afternoon  was  affectionately  and  impressively  pre- 
sented to  view  the  sure  and  certain  rest,  consolation  and 
peace  which  all  such  should  inevitably  obtain,  however  weary 
and  heavy  laden  with  the  burden  of  their  sin  they  had  previ- 
ously been.  The  exerci.ses  of  the  day  will  no  doubt  be  long 
and  profitably  remembered  by  many   who   united  in  them  ; 


1810-1820.]  REV.   J.   E.   THOMPSON,   D.   D.  305 

and  we  trust  and  confidently  believe  that  the  doctrines  which 
will  be  urged  and  enforced  within  the  walls  of  the  newly  dedi- 
cated building  will  be  made  the  means  of  extending  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom  in  this  place,  which  we  hope  will  in- 
crease in  pie(y  and  holiness  as  it  grows  in  consequence  and 
increases  in  population." 

The  church,  at  the  time  of  its  dedication,  was  without  a 
steeple,  and  had  no  pews  in  the  galleries.  In  the  year  1818, 
the  present  beautiful  spire  was  added,  and  the  galleries  fur- 
nished with  convenient  pews. 

In  December,  18 16,  the  congregation  was  deprived  of  its 
esteemed  pastor,  Rev.  John  R.  Thompson,  D.  D.,  whose 
health  had  gradually  declined,  and  who,  after  ten  years  of 
faithful  and  useful  labor  among  this  congregation,  and  while 
absent  for  the  improvement  of  his  health,  was  called  to  enter 
upon  that  "  rest  which  remaineth  to  the  people  of  God."  His 
memory  was  long  precious  in  the  hearts  of  his  bereaved  and 
affectionate  people.  During  his  ministry  seventy-four  per- 
sons were  added  to  the  membership  of  the  church. 

After  the  death  of  Dr.  Thompson.,  the  pulpit  of  the  church 
was  supplied  by  several  different  minLsters,  but  continued 
without  a  regular  pastor  for. about  four  years. 

The  Church  of  Augusta  reported  54  members,  2  adult  bap- 
tisms and  20  infant  baptisms  in  18 10,  and  85  members  and 
15  infant  baptisms  in  18 14. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

* 

We  enter  upon  a  general  review  of  this  decade  that  we 
may  give  the  decisions  of  the  various  judicatories  on  impor- 
tant matters  of  general  interest. 

In  November,  18 17,  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina 
took  up  the  matter  of  raising  funds  for  the  support  of 
indigent  young  men  coming  forward  to  the  ministry,  and 
for  sending  forth  missionaries  to  settlements  destitute  of 
the  Gospel,  and  Doctor  Waddel  and  Rev.  William  H. 
Barr  were  appointed  a  Committee  to  draw  up  a  suitable 
form  of  subscription  for  these  objects,  and  Mr.  Barr  was 
appointed  Treasurer  of  Presbytery  for  these  funds.  Hiland 
Hulbert  and  James  L.  Sloss,  as  soon  as  licensed,  were  sent 
20 


30(i  EDUCWnON    FOR   THE    MINISTRY.  []>Si;j-18-2(i. 

as  missionaries  to  preach  the  gospel  and  congregat"e  so- 
cieties in  the  frontiers  of  Georgia  and  the  Alabama  Territory. 
Their  first  mission  was  for  two  months,  at  a  compensation  of 
forty  dollars  per  month,  and  Doctor  Waddel  was  appointed 
to  obtain  a  commission  for  them  from  the  Board  of  Missions 
of  the  General  Assembly  for  three  months  longer.  They 
were  ordained  as  Missionary  Evangelists,  October  3d,  1818. 
But  before  this  they  had  made  their  first  missionary  journey 
and  brought  back  an  encouraging  report,  extracts  from  which 
were  ordered  for  publication  in  the  Weekly  Recorder  at 
Chilicothe,  for  public  information.  They  were  sent  forth  a 
second  time,  and  in  18 19  the  report  of  the  ministers  of  the 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  m  the  minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly,  locates  James  L.  Sloss  at  Jackson,  Alabama,  and 
Hiland  Hulbert  at  Claiborne,  Alabama.*  Thomas  C.  Stuart 
was  licensed  April  3d,  1819,  and  sent  out  oi)  a  four  months 
mission  in  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery.  At  the  fall  meeting 
he  was  sent  on  a  four  month's  mission  to  the  Alabama  coun- 
try. These  missions  were  not  slow  in  being  fruitful  in  great 
good.  Daniel  Humphreys,  too,  and  John  S.  Wilson,  licensed 
on  the  9th  of  October,  were  appointed  missionaries  for  three 
months  to  labor  within  the  bounds  of  the  Presbytery. 

Another  item  worthy  of  special  notice  is  the  care  used  in 
reference  to-  candidates  for  the  ministry.  It  was  "  ordered 
that  every  candidate  under  our  care  state  to  Presbytery  at 
every  stated  session,  his  patron  for  the  ensuing  term  of  study 

*  At  the  last  meeting  of  our  Presbytery  we  licensed  Mr.  Stuart  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  and  appointed  him  to  o'fiiciate  three  months  within 
our  bounds,  and  also  three  months  in  the  Alabama  Territory.  By  let- 
ters we  have  received.latterly,  from  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Sloss  and  Hul- 
bert, it  appears  that  Mr.  Sloss  is  at  Jackson  and  Mr.  Hulbert  at 
Claiborne,  in  the  Territory,  They  have  organized  Presbyterian  congre- 
gations at  both  these  places,  and  administered  the  sacrament  of  the 
supper.  We  expect  it  will  be  in  our  power  to  send  one  or  two  additional 
missionaries  to  the  Alabama  in  the  ensuing  autumn,  ."it  the  last  meeting 
of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  an  overture  was  submitted 
which  is  to  be  considered  at  their  next  session,  to  devise  some  means 
by  which  the  Indian  tribes  on  our  Southwestern  frontier  may  be  taught 
to  read  the  word  of  God  and  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them. 
The  Abo-iigines  of  America  certainly  have  as  fair  claim  upon  our  be- 
nevolence as  any  people  under  heaven.  They  appearto  be  cast,  by  the 
Providence  of  God,  upon  our  care,  for  who  will  extend  their  regards  to 
these  poor  benighted  tribes  if  we  do  not."  (Letter  of  a  member  of  the 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Evangelical 
Intelligencer,  of  Charleston,  dated  Abbeville,  8th  of  June,  1819.  Probably 
from  Dr.  Barr. 


1810-1820.]  WM.    C.    DAVIS.  307 

and  at  the  next  stated  session  the  patron  be  called  on  to  state 
to  Presbytery  what  has  been  the  candidate's  attention  to  the 
duties  prescribed."  (Minutes,  Vol.  i,  p.  197.)  "Ordered, 
that  those  members  of  Presbytery  who  may  have  candidates 
for  the  ministry  under  their  care,  attend  particularly  to  these 
instructions  ;  should  they  have  more  than  one  under  their 
care  at  the  same  time,  it  is  required  that  at  stated  seasons 
they  exact  written  discourses  from  their  pupils  on  particular 
points  in  divinity,  and  that  on  those  points  the  patrons  deliver 
lectures.  Should  they  have  but  one,  then  frequently  to  re- 
quire written  discourses  from  that  one  and  on  those  dis- 
courses make  remarks.  They  shall  direct  the  reading  of  the 
students  under  their  care  m  theology  and  frequently  examine 
them  on  the  parts  read."  P.  199.  These  directions  were 
carried  out.  The  patrons  were  inquired  of  as  to  the  student 
under  their  care.  "  Those  members  who  patronized  our  can- 
didates in  the  course  of  the  last  summer  were  requested  to 
raport  to  Presbytery  the  manner  in  which  they  discharged 
their  duty  towards  their  pupils  and  the  way  in  which  the 
students  attended  to  their  studies.  The  report  was  made  and 
all  things  approved."  Vol.  11,  p.  33.  One  who  was  a  bene- 
ficiary was  discontinued  on  account  of  defect  of  chai-acter. 
Another,  John  Bull,  was  received  under  the  care  of  Presby- 
tery, but  through  bodily  indisposition  failed  of  going  through 
the  trials  requisite  for  licensure.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Waddel 
bore  an  honorable  testimony  to  his  ability  and  progress  in 
study  in  his  early  youth.  And  since  he  was  debarred  from 
the  ministry  he  had  desired,  by  the  hand  of  Him  who  rules 
the  world,  he  strove  still  to  be  useful  to  the  church  and  king- 
dom of  Christ.  In  view  of  his  departure,  he  bestowed  by  will 
and  testament  a  large  portion  of  his  property  to  the  Theolo- 
gical Seminary  at  Columbia,  and  to  other  benevolent  enter- 
prises of  the  church,  a  portion  only  of  which  through  the 
calamities  and  distresses  of  our  recent  war,  was  realized.  The 
errors  of  Wm.  C.  Davis  continued  to  give  the  Presbytery  the 
greatest  solicitude.  They  passed  an  order  October  3rd,  1810, 
requiring  their  churches  to  deal  with  all  persons  under  their 
jurisdiction  who  should  advocate  tliese  errors,  "'  according  to 
the  discipline  of  our  church  in  such  case  made  and  provided." 
They  also  resolved  that  "  having  used  every  effort  in  their 
power  to  suppress  those  errors  of  which  IVIr.  Davis  has  been 
convicted  aftd  to  bring  him   to   retract  them,  or  to  have  in- 


•">0S  PRESBYTEIiY    OF    HOPEWEIJ.  [1810-].SL'(I. 

flicted  on  liim  the  censure  wliich  his  conduct  seems  to  them 
to  merit,  but  having  been  foiled  in  all  their  attempts  of  this 
kind,  and  entertaining  no  hope  of  better  success  in  future 
but  still  deeming  it  their  duty  to  bear  testimony  against 
error,  they  have,  therefore,  unanimously  resolved  that  they 
cannot  conscientiously  join  in  the  approaching  Synodical 
communion  or  take  any  part  in  the  exercises  relating . 
thereto." 

The  action  of  the  Synod,  however,  was  so  decisive  that  the 
members  of  this  Presbytery  had  no  occasion  to  carry  their 
resolution  as  to  non-commission  into  practice,  for  the  Synod 
of  the  Carolinas  at  their  meeting  at  Fairforest  October  4th, 
1810,  dissolved  the  First  Presbytery  and  remitted  Mr.  Davis, 
with  others,  to  the  Presbyviry  of  Concord,  where  the  required 
acts  of  discipline  were  carried  out,  notvvithstanding  the  decla- 
ration of  independence  on  the  part  "of  Mr.  Davis,  as  we  have 
rehearsed  in  the  preceding  pages. 

The  Presbytery  of  Hopewell  was  shorn  of  a  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory over  which  it  had  held  nominal  jurisdiction  when  the  Presbytery 
of  Harmony  was  created,  and  its  line  was  extended  from  Augusta,  in- 
cluding that  city,  to  the  St.  Mary's  in  Georgia.  Its  roll  of  clerical  mem- 
bers consisted  in  1810  of 

Rev.  William  Montgomery,  Pastor  of  Newhope. 

Rev.  Francis  Cumniings,  Pastor  of  Siloam  and  Bethany. 

Rev.  Thomas  Newton 

Rev.  Edward  Parr,  Pastor  of  Curry's  Creek. 

Rev.  John  Hodge. 

Rev.  John  R.  'Ihompson  had  been  set  off  to  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony, and  Hopewell  consisted  of  the  same  number  that  it  had  origi- 
nally when  it  was  created  in  1797.  At  its  meeting,  April  5th,  Carmel 
Church,  lately  organized  by  Thomas  Newton,  was  received  under  its 
care.  At  its  meeting  at  Bethsaida,  Sept.  13th,  1810,  the  Church  of  Per- 
gamos  in  Morgan  County,  was  received  under  the  care  of  Presbytery. 
At  Siloam,  Sept.  13.  1811,  Rev.  John  Brown,  T>.  D.,  then  President  of 
Athens  College  and  Ezia  Fisk,  then  missionaryofHormony  Presbytery 
were  present  as  corresponding  members  July  31,  1812,  Archibald 
Bowie  was  received  as  a  licentiate  from  Orange  Presbytery.  April  1, 
1813,  Rev.  Dr.  Brown  was  received  as  a  member  by  dismission  from 
Hjjrmony.  On  the  3d  the  Rev.  Nathan  S.  S  Beman  lately  a  pastor  in 
Portland,  Maine,  was  received  from  the  Cumberland  Congregational 
Association  Sept.  14,  Rev.  Francis  Cummins  was  dismissed  at  his  own 
request  from  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Bethany  congregation.  April  1 
1815,  the  Rev.  Henry  Reid  wa,'^  received  by  dismission  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Carolina,  and  at  the  same  session  Eli  Smith,  a  graduate 
of  Dartmouth  College,  was  received  as  a  candidate  and  licensed  to 
preach  the  Wosjiel.  On  the  6th  of  May,  1816,  Benjamin  Gildersleeve, 
a  graduate  of  Middlebury  College,  Vermont,  then  engaged  in  teaching 
in  connection  with  Rev.N.  S.  S.  Beman  was  received  under  the  care  of 
Presbytery  and  was  licensed  at  the  meeting  at  Thyatira,  on  the  9th  of 


1810-1820.]  PEESBYTERY    OF    HOPEWELL.  309 

September,  1815.  At  Washington,  \Vi  l;es  County,  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1816,  Ira  Ingraham,  a  graduate  of  Middlebury  and  rectorof  an  Academy 
at  Powelton  ^vas  reL^eived  as  a  candidate  for  the  ministry,  and  at  this 
meeting  Archibald  Bowie,  or  Buie,  a  licentiate,  was  dismissed  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Fayettevi:Ie.  At  Washington,  November  9th,  David  Root 
a  graduate  of  Middlebury  was  received  as  a  candidate.  Mr.  Buie,  who 
had  been  remitted  from  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  to  that  of  Hope- 
well was  suspended  from  the  ministry,  and  Mr.  Orson  Douglas,  a  grad- 
uate of  Middlebury  College,  was  received  as  a  candidate.  At  theii 
meeting  in  Pi^gah,  Madison  County,  April,  1807,  measures  were  adopted 
for  enrolling  the  members  of  the  several  churches  and  obtaining  from 
them  regular  contributions  for  evangelistic  labors,  and  making  the  duty 
of  the  Moderator  of  Presbytery  for  the  time  being  to  see  that  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Lord's  Supper  should  be  administered  in  every  congrega- 
tion at  least  once  in  the  year.  At  the  meeting  in  September,  1817, 
Alonzo  Church,  a  graduate  of  Middlebury  College  was  received  as  a  can- 
didate. At  the  same  meeting  a  project  was  set  on  foot  for  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Theological  School,  and  Drs.  Cummins,  Brown  and  Finley 
were  appointed  to  draft  a  plan  for  the  same  and  report  it  at  the  next 
meeting  of  Presbytery.  The  Bev  Robert  Finley,  D.  D.,  who  succeeded 
Dr.  Brown  as  President  of  the  college  at  Athens,  united  with  the  Pres- 
bytery at  this  meeting  on  a  dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Kew 
Brunswick,  New  Jersey.  The  father  of  Dr.  Finley  emigrated  from 
Scotland  under  the  advice  of  Dr.  Witherspoon,  his  personal  friend,  and 
settled  in  New  Jersey.  His  son, Robert  began  the  the  study  of  Latin 
at  eight  and  joined  the  Freshman  class  in  Princeton  College  when  he 
vvas  eleven  years  of  age.  He  was  graduated  in  1787.  He  was  a  teach- 
er for  some  years  first  of  the  grammar  school  at  Princeton,  then  at 
Allentown,  then  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  1791  and  1792.  From 
1793 — 17!<o,  he  was  a  tutor  at  Princeton  College.  He  was  settled  as; 
minister  at  Basking  Ridge,  New  Jersey,  in  1795  where  he  was  the  inti- 
mate friend  of  Dr.  Kollock.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  American  Col- 
onization Society  in  December,  1816.  He  was  elected  to  the  Presidency 
of  the  University  early  in  1817,  embarked  with  his  family  from  New 
York  for  Savannah  early  in  May,  presided  at  the  commencement  in 
Athens  in  July,  founded  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  place,  and. 
was  now  received  into  this  Presbytery  as  a  member.  But  his  work  on 
earth  was  done  He  returned  from  Presbytery  to  Athens,  sickened  and 
died  on  the  3rd  of  October,  1817.  His  four  sons  graduated  at  the  Colle^xe 
of  New  jersey  and  all  became  ministers  except  the  youngest,  who  was 
a  student  of  Theology  at  the  time  of  his  death.  Another  committee  was  , 
appointed  consisting  of  Drs.  Cummins,  Brown  and  Beman.  This  com- 
mittee reported  at  length  at  the  meeting  held  at  Siloam  church  in  Sep- 
tember, 1819.  Their  report  was  in  part  considered  but  not  adopted. 
Mount  Zion  and  Athens  were  put  in  nomination  as  to  the  site  of  the 
proposed  Seminary,  and  Athens  was  chosen.  Here  the  project  was 
brtiught  to  its  termination.  "To  Hopewell  belongs  the  honor  of  taking 
the  initiative,"  says  Dr.  John  S.  Wilson,  in  his  work,  "The  Dead  of  the 
Synod  of  Georgia ;"  ''in  establishing  a  Theological  Seminary  in  the. 
South."  Union  went  into  operation  in  1822.  Columbia  made  its  first 
beginning  at  Lexington,  Georgia,  in  1828.  Mr.  David  Root  was  licensed 
as  a  probationer  for  the  holy  ministry  at  Athens  on  the  7th  of  February 
1818.  Notice  of  the  death  of  Rev.  .John  Hodge,  was  given  at  the  meet- 
ing of  Presbytery  at  Mount  Zion  on  the  5th  of  April,  1819.  At  the  same 
meeting  the  licentiate  Eli  Smith,  was  dismissed  to   the  Presbytery  of 


310  OKDINATION    SINE   TITULO.  [1810-1820, 

Louisville,  and  Rev.  Stephen  Saunders  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Castle 
employed  as  the  evangelist,  of  Presbyter}',  gave  in  his  report.  Thus 
were  the  infant  churches  in  our  sister  State  of  Georgia  kept  alive  pre- 
paratory to  a  wider  extension  in  future  years. 

It  is  proper  that  we  now  turn  from  the  individual  churches 
and  the  Presbyteries  to  the  Superior  judicatories  whose  super- 
vision extends  over  them. 

During  the  three  first  years  of  this  decade  the  Synod  of 
the  Carolinas  had  supervision  over  the  Presbyteries  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  The  first  act  of  the  Synod  touching 
the  proceedings  of  Presbyteries  having  jurisdiction  over  cur 
churches  was  to  give  its  advice  in  the  case  of  William  C. 
Davis  to  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  which  had  acted  in  his 
case,  that  "the  way  is  entirely  open  to  proceed  to  the  last 
step  of  discipline."  The  Presbytery  subsequently  reported 
that  they  had  suspended  him  on  the  3rd  day  of  April, 
1811,  from  the  exercise  of  his  functions  as  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  and  on  the  4th  day  of  October,  deposed  him  from 
the  ofifice  of  the  ministry.  In  their  review  of  the  minutes  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  they  take  exception  to  the  action 
of  that  body  in  ordaining  the  Rev.  Ezra  Fisk  sine  titiilo.  Mr. 
Fisk  was  to  be  employed  as  an  evangelist  in  destitute  settle- 
ments, and  the  Presbytery  declared  that  "it  is  altogether 
inexpedient  to  consult  the  Synod  in  this  case  as  has  been  usual 
in  similar  cases,  and  that  the  tight  or  power  in  all  cases  is 
originally  inherent  in  the  Prtsbylery,  and  has  never  been 
formally  surrendered  to  the  higher  judicatories  of  our  church." 
•The  Synod  disclaimed  this  principle  "as  having  never  been 
granted  by  -our  discipline.''  The  Presbytery  of  Harmony 
having  proceeded  in  another  instance  to  ordination  sine  titulo, 
i.  e.,  without  a  call  from  any  or  reference  to  any  particular 
'  church,  the  Synod  appointed  Rev.  James  Walker,  John  M. 
Wilson  and  Joseph  Caldwell  to  bring  in  a  report  on  the  same. 
In  this  report  the  committee  showed  that  these  ordinations 
were  contrary  to  the  usage  of  the  church  of  Scotland  "without 
permission  expressly  granted  by  a  superior  judicatory,"  that 
the  Presbytery  of  Orange  had  declined  to  ordain  without  the 
permission  of  Synod,  that  in  1810  the  Committee  of  Bills  and 
Overtures  in  ihe  General  Assembly  had  expressed  themselves 
to  the  same  effect,  that  in  1795  they  had  granted  liberty  to 
the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  "to  direct  their 
Presbyteries  to  ordain   such   candidates  as  they    may  judge 


1810-1820.]        RIGHT  OF  PRIiSBYTERlES  IN  ORDINATION.  311 

necessary  to  appoint  to  the  wirk  of  missions,"  and  those  alone. 
The  Synod  r-itused  to  r^-'peal  the  minute  the)'-  had  passed 
before,  and  the  censure  on  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  was 
not  removed. 

The  Assembly  in  1813,  desiring  to  bring  these  differences 
to  a  termination  and  to  produce  uniformity  of  action,  resolved 
that  the  following  rule  be  submitted  to  the  Presbyteries  for 
their  opinion  and  approbation,  and  when  sanctioned  by  a 
majority  of  the  Presbyteries  belonging  to  their  church,  sliall 
become  a  Constitutional  Rule,  viz  :  "That  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  Presbyteries  when  they  shall  think  it  necessary  to  ordain 
a  candidate  without  a  call  to  a  particular  pastoral  charge,  to 
take  the  advice  of  a  Synod,  or  of  the  General  Assembly  be- 
fore tiiey  proceed  to  such  ordination."  A  committee  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony  after  the  rule  had  been  discussed 
were  appointed  to  bring  in  a  report  on  the  subject.  The  com- 
mittee were  Dr.  Kollock,  Rev.  Mr.  Fisk  and  Mr.  Stebbins,  an 
Elder.  Their  report  was  as  follows  :  "Since  the  standards  of 
our  church  concur  with  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  teaching  us 
tiiat  the  power  of  ordination  belongs  to  Presbyteries;  since 
these  Presbyteries  are  better  calculated  to  judge  of  the  quali- 
fications and  character  of  persons  applying  to  them  for  ordi- 
nation than  Synods  or  General  Assemblies,  who  are  less  in- 
timately acquainted  with  the  candidates,  can  be ;  since 
the  responsibility  of  Presbyteries  is  greater  and  their  repu- 
tation more  interested  in  the  selection  of  proper  candidates  ; 
since  they  are' the  most  competent  judges  of  the  necessities 
of  the  districts  within  their  bounds,  and  the  importance  of 
administering  the  Sacraments  inthem  ;  since  in  many  instances 
a  delay  to  ordain  candidates  going  on  Missionary  tours  till 
the  meeting  of  Synod  or  General  Assembly  would  be  attended 
with  serious  injury  to  the  cause  of  religion,  and  since  there 
is  no  article  in  our  standards  that  even  hints  at  the  propriety 
of  relinquishing  to  Synods  or  General  Assembly  a  privilege 
that  Christ  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church,  has  conferred  on 
Presbyteries  ;  therefore,  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  do  sol- 
emnly and  unanimously  oppose  the  Constitutional  Rule  pro- 
posed by  the  last  Assembly"  This  repoft  wa.s'  adopted  as 
expressing  the  mind  of  the  Presbytery. 

This  rule  had  been  previously  submitted  to  the  Presby- 
teries in  1811,  at  which  time  the  report  was  adopted  by  the 
Pre.sbytery   of  Harmony.      (See    MS.   Min.,  p.    33.)     It   was 


312  MISSIONS.  []  810-1820. 

now  reaffirmed  by  this  body  (Miii.,  p.  172),  and  again  for- 
warded to  the  Assembly.  Previous  to  tiiiB,  however,  the 
Assembly  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Synod  of  the  Caro- 
linas  and  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  partly  pacificatory 
and  partly  apologetic,  owning  that  there  is  "a  considerable 
diversity  of  opinion  among  the  judicatories  and  ministers 
of  our  communion  as  to  ordinations  sine  titu/o,  hut  sending 
down  the  rule  anew  for  reception  or  rejection  by  the  Presby- 
teries. The  result  of  the  whole  was,  that  from  the  thirty  Pres- 
byteries which  took  action  on  the  subject,  twenty-six  decided 
against  the  rule,  and  four  in  the  affirmative,  among  which 
wa.=  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  The  great  argument 
against  ordinations  sine  titido  is,  that  a  call  from  some  par- 
ticular congregation  or  congregations  for  the  pastoral  services 
of  a  probationer  is  proof  of  his  ability  to  teach,  and  so  a  link 
in  the  evidence  that  he  is  called  of  God  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Word.  Presbyteries  should  be  careful  how,  by  ordinations 
sine  titulo,  they  dispense  with  this  proof,  and  though  the 
necessities  of  evangelistic  and  missionary  services  require 
such  ordinations,  Presbytery  should  be  careful  le^t  they  create 
a  class  of  "  perpetual  candidates,"  whom  no  church  will  have 
as  pastor." 

On  October  the  8th,  18 ri,  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  re- 
signed the  missionary  business,  to  which  they  had  hitherto 
attended,  into  the  hands  of  the  General  Assembly.  Yet,  in 
October,  18 12,  their  commission  reported  that  they  had  em- 
ployed Rev.  James  Hall  D.  D.,  as  a  missionary  in  Georgia. 
His  report,  which  was  read  before  the  Synod,  showed  that 
during  four  months  and  sixteen  days  he  had  traveled  1485 
miles,  and  preached  58  sermons. 

By  request  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  that  body  was 
divided  by  the  General  Assembly,  and  the  Presbyteries  of 
Orange,  Concord  and  Fayetteville  constituted  as  the  Synod 
of  North  Carolina,  which  held  its  first  meeting  at  Allemance 
Church,  on  the  first  Thursday  of  October,  1813,  and  the 
Presbyteries  of  South  Carolina,  Hopewell  and  Harmony,  as 
the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  which  met  at 
Upper  Long  Cane  on  the  first  Thursday,  being  the  4th  day 
of  November,  18 13,  and  was  opened,  in  the  absence  of  Dr. 
Kollock,  who  had  been  named  by  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
and  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly,  by  Rev.  Francis 
Cummins,  by  a  sermon  from  Romans  ii.  15.     One  of  the  first 


1810-1820.]  CASES   DECIDED.  313 

acts  of  this  Synod  was  to  pstition  the  President  of  tiie  United 
States  to  appoint  a  day  of  general  thanksgiving  to  God  for 
his  favor  to  us  as  a  nation,  in  crowning  our  arms  with  success 
by  land  and  water,  on  the  Lakes,  and  to  the  confusion  of  our 
foes.  Dr.  Waddel  and  Messrs.  Hodge  arj^d  Baird  were  the 
committee  on  this  address. 

The  overture  :  "  Is  a  woman,  a  communicant  previous  to 
marriage,  to  be  continued  in  communion  after  marrying  her 
deceased  sister's  husband  ?  "  was  answered  unaniinously  in 
the  negative. 

An  elaborate  report  touching  such  cases,  prepared  by  Dr. 
John  Brown  and  Thomas  J.  Baird,  committee,  was  submitted 
to  the  Synod  on  the  i6th  of  November,  1816,  adopted  by 
this  body,  published,  and  distributed  among  the  churches. 

A  reference  of  a  similar  character  from  Bethel  Church, 
South  Carolina,  had  been  made  in  1810  to  the  General 
Assembly,  who  referred  for  answer  to  their  decision  of  1804, 
which  implies  that  such  parties,  if  otherwise  worthy,  should 
not  be  debarred  from  the  privileges  of  the  church,  but  leaves 
it  to  subordinate  judicatories  to  act  according  to  their  best 
light.  [Minutes,  pp.  456,  306.]  The  principle  which  seems 
to  have  governed  the  Assembly  in  this  and  subsequent  de- 
cisions, is,  that  the  act  of  forming  such  relations  is  criminal, 
yet  when  constituted,  the  marriage  is  valid,  and  the  parties 
are  not  necessarily  to  be  permanently  debarred  fiom  the 
privileges  of  the  church. 

•Another  case  was  thus  decided.  A  man  had  married  a 
woman  not  knowing  that  she  had  been  guilty  of  unchastity. 
She  had  proved  an  adulteress  after  marriage,  and  he  had  left 
her,  and  after  a  lapse  of  years  had  contracted  marriage  with 
another  woman.  He  had  always  been  a  man  of  a  correct  life, 
lias  shown  evidences  of  piety,  and  established  worship  in  his 
own  hou.se.  He  desires  now  to  be  united  to  a  church.  Can 
he  be  regularly  admitted?  "It  was  resolved"  by  Synod, 
"  That  whereas  the  crime  of  adbltery  by  the  decision  of  Jesus 
Christ  dissolves  the  marriage  contract  and  gives  the  innocent 
party  a  right  to  a  bill  of  divorcement,  in  all  cases  where  civil 
redress  cannot  be  obtained,  as  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
a  subsequent  marriage  of  the  said  innocent  party  shall  not  be 
a  bar  to  communion  in  our  church.  The  Synod,  however, 
consider  the  case  contemplated,  solemn  and  critical ;  and 
would  insist  on  admitting,  with  great  caution,  such  a  person 
to  the  privileges  of  the  church."     [Minutes,  p.  17.] 


314  VARIOUS   DECISIONS.  [1810-1820. 

The  overture  "  what  shall  be  done  in  a  case  where  a  man 
places  himself  under  the  care  of  a  Presbytery,  professes  our 
doctrine  and  consents  to  our  discipline,  receives  ordination 
and  thus  becomes  a  member.  Afterwards  he  renounce,s  our 
government,  rejects  our  doctrines,  preaches  heresy  and  de- 
mands a  regular  dismission  or  enters  a  declinature,"  was  an- 
swered by  the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Presbytery  proceed  with  such  persons 
eis  directed  and  authorized  by  the  Book  of  Discipline  of  our 
Church." 

A  proposition  was  made  to  divide  the  Synod  so  that  there 
should  be  two,  one  in  the  up  country  and  one  in  the  low 
country.     (Min.  p.  49.) 

This  was  referred  to  the  Presbyteries  to  decide.  A  com- 
munication was  received  November,  1819,  from  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina,  enquiring  if  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  would  not  unite  with  them  in  endowing  a  Pro- 
fessorship in  the  Seminary  at  Princeton.  To  this  they  re- 
turned answer  bj'  resolutions. 

Resolved,  That  is  consequence  of  the  heavy  pecuniary  calls 
which  are  expected  to  be  made  on  this  Synod  and  the 
churches  under  their  care  in  aid  of  the  contingent  fund  of  the 
Theological  Seminary,  and  in  aid  of  the  funds  of  a  Missionary 
Society  for  the  supplying  the  destitute  parts  within  our 
bounds  with  the  means  of  grace,  and  of  extending  the  means 
of  religious  instruction  to  the  Indians  on  our  frontiers,  which 
this  Synod  contem[)late  establishing  in  the  course  of  the 
present  year,  the  further  consideration  be  postponed  till  our 
next  session." 

The  churches  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  did,  however, 
contribute  handsomely,  especially  within  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  considerable  sums  for  the  Seminary,  and  at  the 
next  session  entered  into  an  agreement  to  raise  ^15,000 
towards  the  endowment  within  the  next  five  years.  The  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
was  duly  organized,  whose  object  was  declared  to  be  "to  send 
the  Gospel  to  the  destitute  parts  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Synod,  and  to  promote  the  civilization  and  religious  instruc- 
tion of  the  Aborigines  on  our  borders."     Of  this  Society  Rev. 


1810-1820.]       MISSIONARY   SOCIETY    OF   THE   SYNOD.  315 

Wm.  H.  Barr  wa.s  President,  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater,  Rt.v. 
Benj.  R.  Montgomery,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  Thoma.s  Alexander, 
Vice-Presidents,  Rev  T.  C.  Henry,  Corre.sjionding  Secretary, 
Rev.  Hugh  Dick.son,  Recording  Secretary,  Rev.  Zebulon 
Rudolph,  Treasurer. 

Directors  for  the  Frontier. — Rev.  John  Brown,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
Jas.  Hillhouse  and  Mr.  John  Harris. 

Directors  for  the  Interior. — Rev.  John  R.  Kennedy,  Rev. 
Anthony  W.  Ross  and  Mr.  Thomas  Means. 

Managers. — Rev.  Andrew  Flinn,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Nathan  S.  S. 
Beman,  Rev.  George  Reid,  Rev.  John  Cousar,  Rev.  Joseph 
Hillhouse,  Rev.  Thomas  Archibald,  Col.  Thomas  Tuylor,  M. 
Oswald,  Esq.,  Andrew  Norris,  Esq.,  Mr.  James  K.  Douglass. 
Mr.  Wm.  Pressley,  and  Mr.  PJugh  Means. 

The  address  of  the  Society  dated  at  Columbia,  November 
27,  1 8 19,  was  published  with  the  Constitution  of  the  same,  in 
the  Evangelical  Intelligencer  of  Charleston. 

The  action  of  the  General  Assembly  in  the  affairs  of  this 
Synod  refers  to  only  a  few  items.  One  is  as  to  the  case  of 
Rev.  W.  C.  Davis.  Another,  Act  of  the  General  Assembly, 
refers  to  a  letter  from  the  [old  Scotch]  Presbytery  of  Charles- 
ton, of  both  which  we  have  written,  and  if  further  satisfaction 
is  needed,  the  case  of  W.  C.  Davis  may  be  found  in  Baird's 
Digest  of  the  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  pp.  634,  637, 
and  in  reference  to  the  Scotch  Presbytery,  or  otherwise  tlie 
Presbytery  of  Charleston,  in  the  minutes  published  in  1847, 
p.  188,  and  onward,  and  Baird's  Digest,  pp.  548,  549. 

A  question  was  submitted  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
18 14,  by  advice  of  the  Presb\'tery  of  Harmony,  in  these  words  : 
"A  person  who  had  been  baptized  in  infancy  by  Dr.  Priestly, 
applied  for  admission  to  the  Lord's  table.  Should  the  baptism 
administered  by  Dr.  Priestly,  then  a  Unitarian,  be  considered 
valid  ?"  The  question  was  determined  in  the  negative.  "  In 
the  present  state  of  our  country,  whilst  Unitarian  errors,  in 
various  forms,  are  making  their  insidious  approaches,  whilst 
the  advocates  of  this  heresy,  in  many  cases,  are  practising  a 
system  of  concealment  and  insinuating  tliemselves  into  the 
confidence  ot  multitudes  who  have  no  suspicion  of  their  defec- 
tion from  the  faith,  the  Assembly  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to 
speak  without  reserve.  It  is  the  deliberate  and  unanimous 
opinion  of  this  Assembly  that  those  who  renounce  the  funda- 
mental doctrine  of  the  Trinity  and   deny  that  Jesus  Christ  is 


3)6  MISSIONS.  [1810-1820 

the  same  in  substance,  equnl  in  power  and  glory  with  the 
Father,  cannot  be  recognized  as  ministers  of  tlie  gospel,  and 
that  their    ministrations   are    wholly  invalid."     Minutes,  pp. 

546,  549- 

While  the  Assembly  continued  to  appoint  its  missionaries 
by  its  own  direct  vote. 

The  Eev.  Colin  Mclver  was  appointed  a  missionary  for  three  months, 
between  Baltimore  and  Charleston,  S.  C,  on  missionary  ground,  in 
1812,  and  John  McLean  was  appointed  missionary  for  four  months  in 
Western  Georgia  and  the  Mississippi  Territory  ;  in  1813,  Mr.  William 
McDowell  for  six  months,  between  Washington  and  St.  Mary's  ;  in  1814, 
Mr.  Francis  H.  Porter,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  for  two  months  ; 
in  1815,  Eev.  Daniel  Gray,  for  three  months,  commencing  his  mission 
in  Union  District,  thence  passing  through  the  Cherokees  to  Duck  River, 
thence  to  Elk,  thence  through  the  western  part  of  Kentucky  to  Indian 
Territory  ;  in  1816,  Mr  John  Covert,  six  months  in  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  to  be  prescribed  by  Rev.  Dr  Flinn  of  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony ;  Mr.  Francis  H.  Porter,  for  two  months  within  the  bounds  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Cone  rd.  Though  Mr.  Porter  was  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Concord,  his  missionary  labors  may  have  been  performed  in  those  con- 
gregations in  South  Carolina  which  were  for  a  season  connected  with 
that  Presbytery. 

The  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  was  diligent -in  mission- 
ary efforts. 

Its  Committee  of  Missions  sent  out  the  Bev.  Andrew  Brown  into  the 
Alabama  territory  on  a  mission  of  three  months,  and  he  reported  his 
fulfillment  of  his  commission  at  the  fall  meeting,  in  October,  1819.  His 
report  was  accompanied  with  an  address  from  a  number  of  inhabitants 
west  of  the  Black  Warrior  River,  thanking  Presbytery  for  their  atten- 
tion in  sending  Mr.  Brown  among  them,  and  requesting  a  continuance 
of  missionary  labors.  Thomas  C.  Stewart,  who  had  itinerated  within 
the  bounds  of  his  Presbytery  for  four  months,  was  appointed  at  that 
meeting  to  itinerate  as  a  missionary  in  the  Alabama  country,  and  was 
furnished  with  one  month's  pay  in  advance  by  the  treasurer  of  Presby- 
tery. An  interesting  account  of  his  tour  may  be  found  in  the  second 
volume  of  the  Christian  Intelligencer,  published  in  Charleston,  p.  54. 
He  set  out  from  Rev.  John  Harrison's,  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  on  the 
Ist  of  November,  1819,  through  a  wilderness  of  about  180  miles  before 
reaching  the  territory.  First  preached  in  the  upper  part  of  Jones' 
Valley,  proceeded  through  Roop's  Valley  to  the  town  of  Tuscaloosa,  a 
flourishing  place  of  about  1,300  inhabitants.  A  band  were  meeting  at 
each  other's  houses  for  religious  services  on  the  Sabbath,  had  a  house 
of  worship  nearly  completed,  and  were  desirous  of  obtaining  the 
service  of  a  Presbyterian  clergyman  for  a  part  of  his  time.  He  next 
visited  McKeon's  Bluff,  and  preached  on  Sabbath,  November  4th,  in  a 
Methodist  Church,  to  a  large  audience.  Thence  to  St.  Stephen's,  Jack- 
son Claiborne,  Blakely  and  Mobile.  At  Biakely  he  found  a  very  good 
church  edifice  occupied  by  Presbyterians,  where  some  one  reads  a  sermon, 
and  performs  the  rest  of  the  service  in  the  Episcopalian  mode.  He 
speaks   of  Mobile  as   having  a  population   of  about  2,500,  having  no 


1810-1820.]  BIBLE    SOCIETIES.  .^17 

Protestant  church  at  that  time,  but  as  desifining  to  build  one.  On  the 
23d  he  preached  atCahawba,  havinj;  about  250  inhabitants,  and  desiring!; 
a  Presbyterian  preacher  Then  to  Pleasant  Valley,  thickly  settled 
with  Presbyterians,  where  Rev.  Mr.  Porter,  eighteen  months  before,  had 
preached  to  the  Valley  Creek  Church,  as  they  had  named  it,  and  ad- 
mitted between  thirty  and  forty  to  the  Lord's  table.  His  congregations 
there  were  crowded  and  attentive.  Thence  to  the  Mulberry  Settlement, 
thence  to  the  Cahawba  Valley,  thence  to  Canon  Creek,  where  he  met 
with  Kev.  Mr.  Newton,  who  was  quite  infirm  and  able  to  do  little  in 
the  way  of  ministerial  duty. 

Rev.  John  S.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Humphreys  were  missionaries  of  the 
Presbytery  during  the  same  period.     (Minutes  of  Presbytery,  p.  69). 

South  Carolina  engaged  early  in  the  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures.  The  fir.st  Bible  Society  in  the  United  States  was 
instituted  in  Philadelphia  in  1808;  the  second,  the  Connecti- 
cut Bible  Society,  in  1809,  and  the  Massachusetts  and  the 
New  Jersey  Bible  Societies  in  the  same  year.  In  1810  the 
New  York  Bible  Society,  and  those  of  Beaufort  and  Charles- 
ton, in  South  Carolina,  and  of  Savannah,  in  Georgia,  were 
organized.  The  Columbia  Bible  Society  followed  in  1816, 
the  same  year  in  which  the  American  Bible  Society  was 
formed  in  New  York,  to  which  the  Columbia  Bible  Society 
became  auxiliary  in  May,  1825.  The  first  effort  to  benefit 
seamen  in  the  Port  of  Charleston  was  made  on  the  14th  of 
April,  1818,  when  a  meeting  was  called  through  tiie  columns 
of  the  Charleston  Courier,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of 
a  Marine  Bible  Society  (of  which  Mr.  John  Haslett  was  Presi- 
dent, and  Rev.  George  Reid,  Secretary),  for  the  circulation  of 
the  Scriptures,  without  note  or  comment,  among  seamen. 
(Charleston  Courier,  14th  April,  1818  ;  Hist.  Sketch  by  Rev. 
Wm  B.  Yates,  Charle.ston,  185 1,  p.  8.)  These  things  we 
have  mentioned  on  preceding  pages. 

There  was  no  small  amount  of  liberality  shown  within  the 
bounds  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  towards 
the  beneficiary  education  of  men  for  the  ministry.  The 
American  Education  Society 'acknowledges  the  receipt  from 
the  bounds  of  this  Synod,  to  1821,  the  sum  of  $18,842,  within 
a  period  of  about  10  years,  for  this  object,  some  small  por- 
tion only  from  other  denominations,  but  the  most  of  this 
amount  from  Congregational  and  Presbyterian  congregations. 


•518  INDEPENDENT  CHURCH,  AECHDAI^E  STKEET.       [1820-1830. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  statistics,  as  nearly  as  they 
can  be  ascertained,  of  the  denominations  in  South  Carolina  in 
1819  (Rel.  Intelligencer,  i,  190): 


Denomination. 


ORDAINKD 

MINISTERS. 


CHUKCHES. 


COMMUNICANTS. 


German  Lutheran 

Congregational 

Kpiscopal 

Presbyterian 

Methodist, 

Baptist, 


600 

1,500 

1,200 

10,500 

15,000 

14,000 


The  Associate  Reformed  and  Roman  Catholics  are  not  in- 
cluded in  the  above  estimate,  the  number  of  whose  ministers 
and  churches  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining.  A  con- 
siderable portion  of  most  of  these  denominations  are  colored 
persons. 


BOOK  THIRD. 

(1820—1830.) 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Independent  Church  in  Charles'I-on  was  served 
during  this  decade  by  its  pastor,  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Morgan 
Palmer,  and  after  the  unhappy  division  which  resulted  in  the 
independent  organization  of  the  Archdale  Street  Church,  it 
prospered  greatly  under  his  ministry.  It  did  not  attempt 
any  more  to  establish  a  collegiate  pastorship.  The  labors, 
therefore,  of  the  one  pastor  were  greatly  increased.  Under 
the  former  arrangement,  the  sermon  that  was  preached  in  the 
Circular  Church  in  Meeting  Street  in  the  morning,  was 
preached  to  the  other  portion-  of  the  congregation  at  the 
Church  in  Archdale  Street  in  the  evening.  Time  was  thus 
saved  for  study  or  pastoral  visitation  to  each  of  the  ministers 
thus  associated.  But  there  were  left  behind  active  and  work- 
ing members,  among  whom  were  a  number  of  devoted  female 
co-workers  whose  names  will  not  soon  be  forgotten. 

The  Congregational  Church  in  Archdale  Street. — 
Henceforth  this  is  to  be  reckoned  a  Unitarian  organization, 
and  will  not  belong  to  this  history. 


1820-1830.]  WAPI^ETAW.  319 

The  part  which  Mr.  Parks  had  taken  in  tlie  ordination  of 
Mr.  Oilman,  drew  forth  from  paities  on  both  .sides  a  number 
of  pamphlets  and  communications,  Mr.  Parks,  writing  also 
in  his  ov/n  defence,  yet  admits  that  he  had  acted  under  wrong 
impressions,  and  without  due  consideration  .and  with  imperfect 
knowledge.  Brought  up  in  early  life  in  comparative  retire- 
ment, he  knew  little  or  nothing  of  the  Unitarianism  which 
had  been  emerging  in  Massachusetts,  and  with  a  degree  of 
self-reliance  which  he  afterwards  regretted,  paid  little  heed 
for  some  time  to  the  remonstrances  of  others.  He  afterwards 
spoke  with  regret  of  the  course  he  had  pursued,  and  admitted 
that  he  ought  not  to  have  laid  "these  (his)  hands  upon  one 
whose  acknowledged  sentiments  give  too  much  reason  to 
fear  that  he  will  become  a  Socinian."  [Letter  of  November 
14,  1820.]  He  also,  April  1821,  in  his  last  communication  to 
the  Association,  says :  "I  regret  the  style  and  manner  in 
which  I  preached  at  the  opening  of  the  Association  last  yeai-. 
I  am  sensible  that  I  was  too  much  under  the  influence  of 
anger  when  I  composed  and  delivered  that  sermon.  I  hope 
and  believe  that  I  will  never  preach  another  sermon  of  the 
same  character."  "  I  acknowledge  that  I  erred  in  the  ordi- 
nation of  Mr.  Gilman,  not  for  the  want  of  zeal,  but  from  the 
imperfection  of  knowledge.  If  I  had  obtained,  before  I  en- 
gaged to  take  part  in  the  ordination,  all  the  information  I  now 
possess,  I  never  would  have  engaged  in  it.  I  would  rather 
lay  my  hands  in  the  fire,  than  lay  them  upon  the  head  of  a 
known  Socinian.  Unitarians  and  Socinians  formerly  appeared 
to  me  more  different  from  each  other  than  I  now  find  them 
to  be."  These  concessions  should  remove  a  portion  of  the 
censure  which  rested  on  Mr.  Parks.  And  although  we  can- 
not recognize  in  Unitarianism  the  religion  of  Paul  ;  nor  in 
their  view  of  Christ,  the  Christ  of  the  Scriptures,  but  regard 
it  as  a  mere  system  of  morahty,  a  religion  without  a  Re- 
deemer, an  atoning  Priest,  a  divine  Intercessor,  and  a  Media- 
torial King,  we  are  willing  to  give  them  credit  for  all  those 
personal  and  social  virtues  they  may  possess. 

Independent  or  Congregational  Church  at  Wappetaw, 
Christ's  Church  Parish. — Mr.  Perrin  disgraced  his  minis- 
try by  irregularities  of  life  which  were  reported  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Harmony  at  its  meeting  in  Charleston  in  April  1820. 
He  was  absent  from  the  State  at  that  time,  but  he  was  faith- 
fully dealt  with  by  letter,  and  cited  to  appear  before  the  Pres- 


•320  DORCHESTER    AND    BEECH    HIIX.  [1820-1830. 

bytery.  He  replied  by  letter  acknowledging  his  fault,  and 
desiring  to  remove  stumbling  blocks  out  of  the  way,  but  he 
being  now  in  a  remote  part  of  the  United  States,  and  not 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  local  Presbytery,  he  was  deposed 
from  this  sacred  office  on  the  19th  of  April,  1821.  Informa- 
tion concerning  this  church  is  exceeding  scanty  during  this 
period.  It  was  probably  dependent  on  such  occasional  sup- 
plies as  they  could  receive  from  missionary  labors  or  the  kind 
offices  of  brethren  in  Charleston.  The  Rev.  Alfred  Wright 
who  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Congregational  and  Presby- 
terian Missionary  Society  of  South  Carolina,  and  was  not  yet 
ready  to  proceed  on  his  mission  to  the  Choctaws,  spent 
several  months  in  faithful  and  acceptable  labors  among  this 
people  in  the  winter  of  1820.  [So.  Evang.  Intelligencer,  Vol. 
II,  p.  61.]  Tiie  church  wa.;  served  from  about  1820  to  1828 
by  a  Mr.  Reid,  probably  Rev.  George  Reid.  On  the  21st  of 
December,  1822,  the  Legislature  incorporated  this  church,  as 
follows  :  "  That  those  persons  who  now  are,  or  hereafter  shall 
be,  members  of  the  Independent  or  Congregational  Church 
at  Wappetaw,  in  the  Parish  of  Christ  Churcii,  be,  and  the 
same  are  hereby,  declared  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  by 
the  style  and  title  of  '  The  congregation  of  Wappetaw,  in  the 
Parish    of  Christ    Church  '  "     [Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  VIII, 

P'  325] 

The  Congregational  Church  of  Dorchester  and  Beech 
Hill.  The  Rev.  Wm.  States  Lee  continued  in  the  service  of 
this  Church  until  the  23d  of  April,  182 1.  They  then  called 
a  Mr.  Luke  Lyons  and  on  the  24th  of  May,  1822,  there  is  an 
order  for  the  payment  of  a  quarter's  salary.  His  service 
must  have  been  a  short  one.  On  the  5th  of  May,  1823,  hav- 
ing no  pa.stor,  they  invited  Mr.  Jones  to  serve  them  in  that 
capacity.  Yet  on  the  8th  of  October,  in  the  same  year,  the 
death  of  their  esteemed  pastor  and  chairman  is  mentioned. 
At  this  same  time  they  call  Mr.  Luke  Lyons  on  a  salary  of 
;^6oo,  but  are  unsuccessful.  On  the  19th  of  November,  1824, 
they  extended  a  call  to  the  Rev.  Edward  Palmer,  who  had 
been  received  by  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  after  for- 
mally adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  the  Form  of 
Government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  installed 
as  pastor  the  3rd  of  February,  1825.  To  assist  in  the  sup- 
port of  his  family  he  is  permitted  to  take  a  few  young  ladies 
as  pupils  during  the  summer  months.     The  church   received 


1820-1830.]  STONY   CREEK — BEAUFOET.  321 

some  aid  also  from  the  Missionary  Society  towards  this  same 
end.  In  April,  1827,  he  received  a  call  from  the  Church  of 
Bethel,  Pon  Pon,  which  the  Presbytery  advised  him  to  accept. 
The  Church  was  now  dependent,  it  is  believed,  for  a  length  of 
time,  on  occasional  supplies. 

Stony  Creek  Independent  Presbyterian  Church.  Mr. 
L.  D.  Parks  continued  to  preach  to  this  Church  as  pastor,  or 
asstatedsupply,  it  is  not  clear  which,  until  the  8th  of  May,  i82[, 
when  any  regular  and  stated  connection  with  the  Church 
•ceased.  There  are  entries  in  the  account  books  to  show  that 
he  preached  as  an  occasional  supply  after  this  date.  Occa- 
sional supplies  were  obtained  also  from  the  North  during  the 
winter  months  from  1821101824.  Among  these  was  Joseph 
Brown,  then  a  licentiate,  who  visited  Stony  Creek  early  in 
December,  1830.  He  reports  about  15  communicants  (white  ?) 
and  a  fund  of  ^8000  belong  to  the  Church.  First  Report  of 
the  Young. Men's  Domestic  Missionary  Society,  1821.  In 
April,  1824,  Richard  H.  Jones,  a  licentiate,  commenced 
preaching  to  this  congregation.  He  was  ordained  and  install- 
ed their  pastor  on  the  13th  of  January,  1825.  He  resigned 
in  November,  1826,  and  the  church  became  again  dependent 
on  occasional  supplies,  among  whom  Mr.  A.  Greenwood  is 
mentioned  in  1829.  [MSofWm.  F.  Hutson.  Minutes  of 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery.] 

Beaufort.  This  church  was  visited  by  Joseph  Brown,  then 
a  licentiate,  in  December,  1820.  He  had  been  recommended 
to  the  Young  Men's  Missionary  Society  and  at  its  request  he 
was  ordained  by  the  Congregational  Association  of  South 
Carolina,  in  the  Circular  Church,  Charleston,  on  the  3rd  of 
January,  1821.  The  occasion  was  one  of  interest,  Messrs. 
Elipha  White,  Epaphras  Goodman,  and  Rev.  Charles  B.  Storrs 
employed  by  the  Congregational  Missionary  Society,  and 
Reynolds  Bascom  were  ordained  at  the  same  time.  In  the 
act  of  consecration  by  prayer  with  the  laying  on  of  hands,  the 
prayers  for  the  candidates  were  offered  in  succession  by  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Floyd,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Reid,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Lee,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Boies.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Leland 
was  present  also  as  a  delegate  from  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony. The  Beaufort  congregation  must  have  been  depen- 
dent on  occasional  supplies  henceforth. 

Waynesboro,  Burke  County,  Georgia.  We  are  not  inform- 
ed how  this  congregation  was  situated  as  to  a  permanent  min- 
21 


3'2"2  WHITE    BLUFF — MIDWAY.  []820-lg:'.0. 

istry  during  this  decade.  The  Savannah  Missionary  Society 
liad  appointed  Mr.  Cephas  Washburn  to  labor  at  this  place  and 
its  vicinity.  But  how  long  he  served  them  we  are  not  in- 
formed. Rev.  Frances  McFarland  labored  in  Burke  County 
in  the  winter  of  1822.  On  his  arrival  in  this  county  he  se- 
lected four  places  where  he  preached  regularly  on  the  Sab- 
bath, dispensing  the  word  the  remainder  of  the  week  wher- 
ever a  door  was  opened  for  that  purpose.  In  the  latter 
part  of  this  period  Lawson  Clinton  was  the  stated  supply  of 
this  church. 

White  Bluff,  near  Savannah.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Gould- 
ing  continued  the  pastor  of  this  church  till  1822,  when  he  re- 
signed his  charge  and  removed  to  Lexington,  Oglethorpe 
County,  Georgia,  Here  he  remained  during  this  decade.  It 
was  while  there  that  he  was  elected  on  the  15th  of  December, 
1828,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Synod  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  He  was  honoured  with  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Divinity  from  the  University  of  North  Car- 
olina in  1829. 

Congregational  Church,  Midway,  Georgia.  The  Rev. 
Robert  Quarterman  officiated  as  pastor  of  this  church  during 
this  decade  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  that  people.  A  church 
of  which  it  was  said  in  1849  that  although  it  was  a  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  its  origin,  and  still  continued  so,  it  had  fur- 
nished more  Presbyterian  Ministers  for  the  State  of  Georgia 
than  all  the  other  ninety -two  counties  united. 

Changes  took  place  in  the  boundaries  of  Presbyteries  during 
this  decade  which  it  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  mention.  In 
the  formation  of  Harmony  Presbytery  by  the  Synod  of  the 
Carol  mas  at  Poplar  Tent  in  1809,  its  western  boundary  was 
defined  to  be  a  line  running  nearly  south  from  Augusta,  Geor- 
gia, including  St.  Mary's,  to  the  sea  coast.  At  a  meeting  of 
the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  held  at  Washing- 
ton, Wilkes  County,  Georgia,  November  7,  1821,  a  petition 
came  up  from  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  proposing  that  the 
Savannah  River  which  divides  the  two  States  should  be  the 
dividing  line  between  the  Presbyteries.  This  was  acceded  to, 
and  the  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  who  resided 
in  Georgia  were  constituted  a  new  Presbytery  to  be  known 
as  The  Presbytery  of  Georgia.  The  line  between  this  Pres- 
bytery of  Georgia  and  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell  was  like- 
wise adjusted.     The  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  therefore,  hence- 


1820-1830.]  CHARLKSTON   UNION   PEESBYTESY.  323 

forth  performed  no  presbyterial  acts  and  had  no  jurisdiction 
beyond  the  Savannah. 

The  Congregational  Association  of  South  Carolina. 
in  November,  1819,  made  a  proposal  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony  "  of  a  corresponding  union  by  delegates."  This 
was  cordially  acceded  to  by  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at 
its  meeting  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston, 
April  14,  1820,  and  Rev.  A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  and  Rev. 
George  Reid  were  elected  as  delegates  to  the  Association. 
Dr.  Palmer  attended  subsequently  the  meeting  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Harmony  as  a  delegate  from  the  Association.  At  a 
meeting  of  this  Presbytery,  held  in  Camden,  April  17,  1822, 
a  committee  composed  of  Messrs.  John  Cousar  and  T.  C. 
Henry  were  appointed  to  confer  with  the  Congregational 
Association  of  South  Carolina  and  others  on  the  subject  of 
their  uniting  with  that  Presbytery,  with  a  view  to  a  division 
of  the  same  if  it  should  appear  expedient. 

The  proposition  was  laid  before  that  body  on  the  loth  of 
November,  1822,  by  Dr.  Henry,  and,  after  due  consideration, 
the  Association  agreed  to  "  dissolve  for  the  purpose  of 
liniting  with  Harmony  Presbytery,  and  with  the  view  of 
having  that  body  divided,  and  a  Presbytery  formed  in  the 
vicinity  of  Charleston."  But,  "  in  case  such  division  does 
not  take  place,  the  resolution  to  be  null  and  void."  In  pur- 
suance of  this,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer,  who  had  been  appointed 
for  this  purpose,  made  application  in  behalf  of  the  Associa- 
tion that  its  members  be  received  into  the  Presbytery.  This 
was  accordingly  done,  and  the  Rev.  Benjamin  M.  Palmer, 
D.  D.,  Joseph  Brown,  Reynolds  Bascom,  Epaphras  Goodman, 
Charles  B.  Storrs,  and  John  Wheeler,  with  the  licentiate.  Dr. 
Lyman  Strong,  and  the  candidates.  Dr.  Jones  and  James 
Campbell,  were  received.  A  committee  was  appointed  to 
confer  with  the  members  of  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina 
resident  in  this  State  to  unite  also  with  the  Presbytery  with 
a  view  to  its  subsequent  division  and  reorganization. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  held  in  Columbia  jn  Novem- 
ber, 1822,  in  pursuance  of  a  petition  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  the  members  of  that  body  living  in  the  lower  parts 
of  the  State,  south  of  the  Congaree  and  Santee  Rivers,  viz: 
Thos.  Read,  George  Reid,  Benj.  M.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  Aaron  W. 
Leland,  D.  D.,  Artemas  Boies,  Arthur  Buist,  P^lipha  White, 
Joseph  Brown,   Reynolds   Bascom,  Epaphras   Goodman,  and 


o24  BBTHBI.    PKESBYTEEV.  [1820-l.S:iO. 

Charles  B.  Storrs,  were  set  off  as  a  new  Presl-ytery,  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  the 
licentiate,  Dr.  Lyman  Strong,  and  the  candidates,  John  Dick- 
son, Dr.  Jones,  and  Mr.  James  Campbell,  to  be  considered 
under  their  care.  Said  Presbytery  was  to  meet  in  Charleston 
on  the  second  Wednesday  of  April,  1823,  Dr.  Palmer  or  the 
senior  member  present  to  preside  and  open  the  Presbytery 
with  a  sermon. 

Bethel  Presbytery  was  organized  during  this  decade  by  the 
following  charter,  granted  by  the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  at 
its  eleve.nth  session,  held  at  Statesville,  Iredell  Co.,  October 
9.  1824. 

"  Resolved,  Thaf  so  much  of  the  Presbytery  heretafore 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  as  lies  in 
York  and  Chester  Districts,  in  South  Carolina,  in  Ruiherford 
County,  North  Carolina,  and  in  that  part  of  Lincoln  County, 
in  the  said  State,  not  included  in  the  boundaries  assigned  to 
the  Presbyteries  of  Concord  and  Mecklenburg,  including  the 
Rev.  Robert  B.  Walker,  James  S.  Adams,  John  B.  Davies, 
Henry  M.  Kerr,  Adam  Williams,  James  B.  Stafford,  and 
Josiah  Harris  be,  and  hereby  are,  constituted  a  Presbytery, 
to  be  known  by  the- name  of  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel;  that 
they  hold  their  first  meeting  at  Beersheba  Church  on  the 
Friday  preceding  the  first  Sabbath  in  November  ensuing ; 
that  the  Rev.  Robert  Walker,  or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  the 
senior  minister  present,  preach  a  sermon  on  the  occasion,  and 
preside  until  a  Moderator  be  chosen." 

These  with  further  specifications  entered  into  the  act  of 
the  Synod  of  North  Carolina  constituting  this  Presbytery. 
By  consent  of  the  Synod  of  North'  Carolina,  that  portion  of 
Bethel  Presbytery  which  was  in  South  'Carolina  was  trans- 
terred  to  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  by  an  act 
of  the  General  Assembly  in  May,  1828.  By  this  transfer, 
Lancaster  District  and — by  a  subsequent  act  of  the  Synod — 
Union  District  and  Catholic  Congregation  were  made  a  part 
of  Bethel  Presbytery.  (Semi-Centennial  Sermon  of  Jan-.es 
H.  Saye,  April  2,  1875.) 

These  changes  having  been  made  in  Presb3'terial  boun- 
daries during  this  decade,  we  proceed  with  the  history  of  the 
particular  churches,  those,  namely,  which  adopt  the  polity  of 
the  Presbyterian  order. 


1820-]830.1  FRENCH    CIUTRCH.  -"325 


CHAPTER  11. 

French 'Protestant  Church,  Charleston. — From  the  brief 
memoranda  furnished  us  by  Mr  Ravenel,  we  judge  that  Rev. 
Mr.  Courlat  continued  to  .serve  this  churcli  as  its  pastor  from 
1819  to  1823.  After  the  failure  of  the  effort  to  revive  the 
former  French  service,  measures  were  adopted  to  reopen  the 
church  with  its  proper  liturgies  rendered  into  Engh'sh.  This 
measure  was  adopted  Jn  1828,  when  a  committee  was  a  ;- 
pointed  to  prepare,  or  cause  to  be  prepared  under  their 
supervision,  a  translation  of  the  Book  of  Liturgies  which  had 
been  used  in  the  church,  and  to  adapt  it  io  public  service  in 
our  country,  with  authority  to  employ  persons  to  make,  or 
aid  in  making  the  translations.     (MSS.  of"  Daniel    Ravenel.)* 

The  services  of  the  Church  had  been  discontinued  from  the 
year  1S26.  They  had  previously  been  interrupted  from  vari- 
ous causes.  "  The  members,  who  were  then  not  numerous, 
united  with  the  other  Christian  Churches  in  the  city — for  the 
most  part  with  the  Episcopalians."  (Southern  Literary 
Gazette,  June  19,  1852.) 

*  The  most  important,  of  these  documents  was  the  "  Confession  of 
Faith  "  made  by  common  consent  of  the  Reformed  Churches  of  the 
Kingdom  of  France  We  are  informed  by  Beza  (Historie  des  Eglises 
Reformee's  au  Royaurne  de  France,  Tome  Premier,  108)  that  G-od,  by 
His  singular  grace,  inspired  all  the  Christian  churches  in  France  to 
assemble  and  to  agree  in  unity  of  doctrine  and  discipline,' in  conformity 
w.ith  the  Word  of  God.  Pursuant  to  this,  on  the  26th  of  May,  1.5.5U, 
deputies  of  all  the  churches  hitherto  establish-ed  in  France  assembled 
at  Paris,  and  there,  by  common  consent,  was  written  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  and  was  drawn  up  a  forpi  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  as  near  to 
the  institutions  of  the  Apostles  as  their  circumstances  would  then  allow. 
Infinite  ditEculties  were  surmounted,  and  it  was  concluded  that  the 
Synod  should  be  held  at  Paris,  not  to  attribute  any  superior  dignity  or 
eminence  to  that  city,  but  because  it  c  ould  better  accommodate  a  large 
number  of  ministers  and  elders,  and  more  secretly  than  any  other 
place.  The  confession  was  there  drawn  up  in  forty  articles  A  brief 
system  of  discipline,  as  founded  upon  the  writings  of  the  Apo.stles,  was 
appended,  under  forty  heads.  Done  at  Paris  on  the  28th  of  May,  1559, 
in  the  t3th  year  of  Henry,  the  King. 

The  first  of  these  documents  was  translated  by  a  committee  of 
the  French  Protestant  Church,  of  Charleston,  and  presented  to  the  cor- 
poration in  print,  tVie  original  French  and  the  English  in  parallel 
columns,  in  October,  1828. 

"It  seemed  to  be  demonstrated,  during  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Courlat,"  says  Rev.  Charles  S.  Vedder,  D.  D.,  writing  in  July,  1873,  "  that 
the  continuance  of  the  services  In  the  French  language,  or  in  alternate 
French'  and  English,  was  not  feasible,  and  in  1828  a  committee  was  ap- 


326  FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  [1820-1830. 

The  translation  having  been  made  with  great  care  and  ap- 
proved, the  church  entered  upon  its  regular  use,  the  Rev, 
Daniel  DuPre,  a  Methodist  minister  of  Huguenot  descent 
having  been  called-  to  the  temporary  charge  of  the  con- 
gregation. 

The  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of 
Charleston. — A  deputation  from  this  church  waited  upon 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at  its  twenty-fourth  sessions  held 
in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston,  on  the  5th  of 
May,  1 82 1,  praying  that  Mr.  Arthur  Buist,  son  of  their 
former  pastor.  Dr.  George  Buist,  be  received  under  the  care 
of  that  Presbytery,  and  for  this  purpose  an  extract  from  the 
minutes  of  the  Dysart  Presbytery  of  the  Relief  Church  of 
Scotland,  stating  that  he  was  regularly  examined  and  duly 
licensed  by  that  body,  was  presented.     It  was 

Resolved,  That  he  be  received  and  that  trials  be  appointed 
preparatory  to  his  ordination  and  installation  in  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston,  which  the  deputation  stated 
would  be  requested  at  the  next  sessions  of  Presbytery  in 
Augusta,  Georgia.  ' 

During  the  meeting  in  Augusta,  in  November,  1821, 
a  call  from  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  was  preferred 
through  the  Presbytery,  to  Mr.  Arthur  Buist,  who  declared 
his  acceptance  of  it.  An  adjourned  meeting  was  appointed  to 
be  held  on  the  4th  day  of  January,  1822,  for  the  examination 
of  Mr.  Buist  in  the  Hebrew  language  and  for  his  ordination 
and  installation,  and  for  the  further  trials  of  John  Dickson,  a 
graduate  of  Yale  College  and  a  member  of  the  Columbia 
Church,  who  had  been  received  under  the  care  of  Presbytery 
as  a  candidate  for  licensure,  at  the  same  time  at  which 
Mr.  Buist  had  been  received.  The  Presbytery  accordingly 
met  on  the  4th  of  January,  1822,  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  for 
the  object  specified.  The  examinations  and  the  trials  both  of 
Mr.  Buist  and  Mr.  Dickson  were  had  and  sustained;  further 
trials  were  appointed  for  the  latter,  and  on  the  5th  of  January 
"the  Presbytery  met  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  for  the 

pointed  to  translate  the  Liturgy  into  English.  This  committee  con- 
sisted of  the  Hon.  Elias  Horry,  Chairman,  and  Messrs  Josepli  Manigault, 
William  Mazyck,  Sr.,  George  W.  Cross,  Daniel  Ravenel,  Thos.S.  Grimke-r 
and  William  M.  Fraser. 


1820-1830.]  SECOND    PRESBYTERIAN    C1IUE(.;H.  327 

purpose  ofattendin<^  to  the  exercises  connected  with  the  or- 
dination and  installation  of  Mr.  Arthur  Buist,  when  a  sermon 
was  preached  on  the  occasion  by  the  Rev.  George  Reid,  from 
Mark  i6,  xv  ;  "  And  he  said  unto  them,  go  ye  into  all  the 
world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature."  After  which 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Buist  having  assented  to  the  questions  appointed 
to  be  put  to  candidates  for  ord'nation,  was  ordained  by  prayer 
and  laying  on  of  tJie  hands  of  Presbytery  to  the  whole  of  the 
gospel  ministry,  and  the  congregation  having  also  assented 
to  the  questions  proposed  to  them,  he  was  installed  as  the 
pastor  thereof  according  to  the  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States.  And  a  suitable  address  was 
delivered  both  to  minister  and  people  by  the  Rev.  T.  Charlton 
Henry.  Mr.  Buist  was  invited  to  his  seat  as  a  member  of 
Presbytery."  Minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  pp. 
352.  353,  357,  366,  377. 

The  Second  Presbyterian  Church  and  Congregation 
IN  THE  City  of  Charleston. — Of  Dr.  Flinn,  the  much  loved 
and  eloquent  pastor  of  this  church,  who  died  on  the  2$th  of 
February,  1820,  we  have  previously  spoken.  Dr.  Henry  was 
devoted  to  the  ministry  by  his  father  from  his  birth.  He  sent 
him  to  Middlebury  College  intliehope  that  in  those  revivals  of 
religion  with  which  this  college  was  so  often  visitea,  he  would 
meet  with  renewing  grace.  In  one  of- these  seasons  he  was 
numbered  among  the  converts  and  forthwith  commenced  his 
preparation  for  the  ministry,  finishing  his  education  at  Prince- 
ton. In  January,  1824,  he  accepted  a  call  to  Charleston, 
where  his  ministrj'  was  eminently  successful. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  his  fifth  year  of  labor  in  Columbia 
that  Dr.  Henry  received  the  unanimous  call  of  this  church  to 
become  their  pastor.  Here  in  the  stated  services  of  the  pul- 
pit, and  the  lecture  room,  in  the  bible  class  and  Sunday 
school^  his  soul  was  poured  forth  in  earnest  instruction  and 
fervent  supplication.  In  the  first  and  second  years  of  his 
ministry  considerable  additions  were  made  to  the  church  ; 
but  in  the  third,  a  blessed  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  en- 
joyed. His  indefatigable  labors  daring  this  season  rendered 
a  period  of  relaxation  indispensable,  and  he  therefore  em- 
barked for  Liverpool  in  April,  1826.  During  the  four  or  five 
months  of  his  stay  in  Europe,  he  travelled  through  the  prin- 
cipal parts  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  visited  the  con- 
tinent.    Several  months  were  spent  both  in  Paris  and  London. 


328  DE.  HENRY.  [1820-1830. 

In  October  he  took  leave  of  his  Engiisli  friends,  and  after  pay- 
ing a  short  visit  to  his  venerable  father  and  numerous  relations 
in  Philadelphia,  he  returned  early  in  December  to  his  congre- 
gation. With  redoubled  vigor  he  entered  upon  his  labors 
among  his  people  and  upon  the  prosecution  of  his  studies. 
The  latter  indeed  had  known  no  interruption. 

On  the  first  of  October,  1827,  when  in  the  enjoyment  of 
perfect  health,  he  was  suddenly  seized  with  the  Stranger's 
Fever,  then  prevalent  in  the  city,  which  in  four  days  termi- 
nated his  valuable  life,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-seven,  leav- 
ing a  bereaved  widow  and  three  children  to  lament  his  loss. 
Amid  the  alarm  and  consternation  occasioned  by  his  fatal 
illness,  he  alone  w^as  calm  and  unappalled.  While  around 
him  stood  his  afflicted  relatives  and  friends,  his  expiring  voice 
was  employed  in  rejoicing  and  praise.  And  while  a  "  horror 
of  great  darkness"  fell  upon  others,  at  his  sudden  and  prema- 
ture departure,  he  viewed  it  with  rapture,  ^s  the  bright  and 
cloudless  dawning  of  immortal  glory. 

Dr.  Henry  has  left  behind  him  several  published  sermons  : 
an  "  Inquiry  into  the  consistency  ot  popular  amusements 
with  a  profession  of  Christianity;"  his  "Etchings,"  and  his 
"  Letters  to  an  anxious  inquirer."  The  two  last  were  posthu- 
mous works.  His  "  Letters  to  an  anxious  inquirer,"  have 
been  twice  published  in  America,  the  second  edition  under 
the  auspices,  and  with  a  recommendatory  preface  of  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Bedell,  and  also  in  London,  with  an  introduction 
by  Dr.  Pye  Smith.  The  account  of  his  death  is  also  pub- 
lished in  a  volume  of  the  London  Tract  Society,  as  an  emi- 
nent exhibition  of  the  triumphs  of  divine  grace. 

After  the  melancholy  death  of  Dr.  Henry,  the  church 
remained  two  years  without  a  pastor,  though  faithfully  sup- 
plied by  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Gildersleeve  and  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Leland. 

In  February,  1829,  the  Rev.  Wiiliam  Ashmead,  being  in 
Charleston,  on  account  of  his  health,  received  a  call.  In 
March  he  accepted  of  his  appointment,  and  was  in  May, 
installed  Pastor.  On  June  /tli,  he  obtained  leave  of' absence 
for  the  summer,  with  the  intention  of  bringing  his  family,  but 
died  on  his  return,  in  Philadelphia,  December  2d,  1829, 
having  been  connected  with  this  church  but  little  more 
than  six  months,  of  which  he  was  absent  more  than  four. 

Mr.  Ashmead  has  left  behind  him  a  few  published  sermons. 


1820-1830.]  THE   THIRD   CHURCH.  329 

I 

Since  his  death  a  volume  of  hi.s  sermons  has  been  i.'-'sued 
Irom  the  press,  to  which  is  prefixed  an  interesting  memoir  by 
the  lamented  Grimke,  who  was  his  warm  friend  and  held  him 
in  the  highest  estimation. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Ashmead,  the  church  sat  in  her 
widowhood  for  several  years,  receiving  her  food  from  occa- 
sional supplies,  especially  from  her  tried  friend  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gildersleeve. 

The  Third  or  Central  Presbyterian  Church  in  thecity 
OF  Charleston.  The  congregation  comprising  the  Third 
Presbyterian  Church  which  was  organized  in  1823,  worshipped 
from  that  time  in  the  building  situated  at  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Archdale  and  West  Streets,  which  was  originally  erect- 
ed in  1814,  by  a  congregation  styled,  "  The  St.  Andrew's 
Presbyterian  Church,  of  the  City  of  Charleston,"  who  were 
seceders  from  "The  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  City  of  Charles- 
ton," better  Icnown  as  "The  Scotch  Church,"  and  whose 
first  pastor  was  tiie  Rev.  John  Buchan.  After  the  lapse 
<if  nine  years  this  congregation  being  without  a  pastor  and 
burdened  by  debt,  resolved  to  dispose  of  their  premises  on 
the  conditions,'  that  the  church  should  be  held  sacred  as  a 
place  of  public  Christian  worship,  and  the  ground  attached 
thereto  be  continued  as  a  cemetery.  They  were  accordingly 
purchased  by  Messrs.  Thomas  Napier  and  Thomas  Fleming 
two  of  the  original  members  and  founders  of  the  Third  Pres- 
byterian Church,*  whose  first  pastor  was  the  Rev.  William 
Anderson  McDowell,  and  who  was  installed  over  tliis  con- 
gregation by  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  on  the  3rd  of 
December,  1823.  He  already  had  experience  in  the  minis- 
try. He  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick 
on  the  28th  of  April,  1813,  and  was  ordamed  and  installed  as 
pastor  of  the  church  at  Bound  Brook,  New  Jersey,  on  the  22d 
of  December  following.  His  connection  with  this  church  was 
a  brief  one.     On  the  15th  of  the  next   December   he   was  in- 

*The  church  was  organized  July  13,  1823,  as  "The  Third  Presbyterian 
Church."  In  the  Sermon  at  the  organization,  the  Eev.  Dr.  Leland 
says :  'The  plan  was  formed  in  faith  and  prayer,  and  all  the  steps 
have  been  manifestly  taken  with  a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  promotion  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom.  The  history  of  the  under- 
taking is  brief  and  pleasing.  Its  origin  has  been  eminently  peaceful  and 
harmonious,  wholly  undebased  by  schism  or  contention.  A  number  of 
professing  Christians,  not  connected  with  any  church  in  the  city,  with 
others  who  were  members  of  several  churches,  were  led  to  consider  it. 
their  duty  to  form  a  new  church." 


330  JAMES  AND  JOHN'S  ISLAND.  [1820-1830. 

stalled  pastor  of  the  church  at  Morristovvn  where  he  spent 
tlie  next  eight  or  niae  years  in  useful  and  acceptable  labor. 
He  had  never  possessed  robust  health  since  the  years  of  child- 
hood. An  attack  of  small-pox  at  the  age  of  twelve  had  im- 
paired the  vigor  of  his  constitution.  While  engaged  in  his 
preparation  for  the  ministry  he  felt  obliged  to  try  the  effects 
of  a  Southern  climate  and  in  the  winter  of  1811  and  12  he 
sailed  for  Savannah  where  his  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Henry  Kol- 
locU  resided,  and  continued  his  study  of  theology  under  thi-^ 
able  and  eloquent  divine.  Being  threatened  now  again  with 
pulmonary  difificulties,  he  traveled  as  far  as  South  Carolina 
and  passed  the  winter  in  Charleston  with  the  most  favorable 
results  to  his  health.  In  the  Spring  he  resumed  his  labors 
at  Morristown  with  his  accu.stomed  energy,  but  soon  sunk 
again  into  the  feeble  state  from  which  he  had  emerged.  A 
call  came  to  him  from  this  church  in  Charleston  just  at  that 
juncture  which  it  seemed  to  be  the  will  of  Providence  that  he 
should  accept.  His  pastoral  relation  to  the  church  at  Mor- 
ristown was  dissolved  on  the  8th  of  October,  1823,  and  the 
new  relation  with  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  in  Charles- 
ton constituted  as  we  have  described.  ThJs  church  com- 
menced its  existence  therefore  with  a  pastor  in  whom  all  had 
confidence,  and  with  elders  and  officers  whose  character  and 
energy  commanded  the  respect  of  the  entire  congregation  and 
the  community  around. 

During  this  decade  we  find  the  names  of  Robert  B.  Edwards 
and  Jasper  Corning  as  elders,  the-date  of  whose  ordination  is 
not  recorded,  and  of  Thomas  Fleming  and  John  Maxton,  or- 
dained in  July,  1824.  The  following  were  Presidents  of  the 
Corporation  :  Thomas  Fleming,  in  1824  and  1825  ;  William 
Bell,  in  1826,  1827  ;  Thomas  Napier,  in  1828,   1829. 

James  Island.  This  ciiurch  enjoyed  the  labors  of  the  Rev. 
A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D..  lately  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Charleston.  There  are  two  eloquent  discourses  of 
his  published  in  'The  Southern  Preacher"  edited  by  the  Rev. 
Colin  Mclver,  the  copyright  of  which  is  dated  in  1823,  and 
the  title  page  dates  in  1824,  in  which  he  is  spoken  of  as  pas- 
tor of  the  church  of  James  Island. 

John's  Islanb  and  Wadmalaw. — 'This  church  was  vacant, 
it  is  believed,  at  the  beginning  of  this  decade.  It  was  soon 
visited  by  Elipha  Wliite,  who  was  a  native  of  East  Randolph, 
Mass.,  a  graduate  of  Brown  University  in  1 8 17,  and  of  Andover 


1820-1830. J  JOHN'S   ISLAND.  331 

Seminary,  in  1820.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  tlie  gospel  by 
the  Union  Association  of  Boston,  and  was  ordained  by  the 
Congregational  Association  of  South  Carolina,  on  tiie  3d  of 
January,  1821.  At  a  meeting  of  the  Association  held  at  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Palmer's,  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  on  the  ist  of 
January,    1 82 1,  a  letter  was  read  bearing  date  December  6th, 

1820,  from  H.  C.  McLeod,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
the  Young  Men's  Missionary  Society  of  South  Carolina,  re- 
questing the  ordination  of  Mr.  Joseph  Brown,  whom  they  had 
employed  as  a  missionary,  "  to  labor  in  the  region  of  Edge- 
field, Newberry,  and  Beech  Island,  which  is  said  to  be  very 
destitute."  At  the  same  time  was  received  a  communication 
from  Joseph  Tyler,  Secretary /ro  /?7«;  embracing  the  following: 
"By  direction  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Congregational 
Missionary  Society  of  South  Carolina,  I  present  you  with  the 
following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Recording  Secretary  be  directed  to 
request  of  the  Congregational  Association  of  South  Car- 
olina the  ordination  of  the  Missionaries  employed  by 
them,  on  the  first  day  of  January  next,  dated  December 
19,  1820.  The  Missionaries  of  this  Society  were  Mr.  Elipha 
White,  Epaphrus  Goodman,  Charles  Backus  Storrs,  the  latter 
a  graduate  of  the  college  of  New  Jersey,  and  of  the  Andover 
Seminary  in  the  class  of  1820.  To  them  was  added  Mr.  Ray- 
nolds  Bascom,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Wil- 
liams College  in  1813,  and  a  tutor  in  the  same  from  1815, 
1817.  These  gentlemen  passed  through  the  usual  trials  and 
were  ordained  in   the   Circular  Church  on  the  3d  of  January, 

182 1,  in  the  way  and  under  the  circumstances  we  have  before 
described. 

Mr.  White  did  not  long  retain  his  connection  with  the 
Congregational  Association.  On  the  20th  of  December,  1821, 
he  obtained  a  dismission  from  that  body  and  became  a  mem- 
ber of  Harmony  Pre.sbytery.  On  the  20th  of  April,  1822,  "  a 
call  from  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  John's  Island  for 
the  ministerial  labours  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  White  was  laid  before 
Presbytery  and  proposed  to  him,  who  accepted  it."  On  the 
8th  of  May  the  Presbytery  met  at  the  John's  Island  Church, 
and  installed  him  as  its  pastor.  His  labours  among  them 
through  the  years  of  which  we  write,  were  faithful  and  highly 
appreciated  by  his  flock. 


332  EDISTO    ISLAND.  [1820-1830. 

In  this  same  yeir  (1822)  the  present  church  building  was 
erected.  "  Tiiis  was  done  by  funds  contributed  for  this  pur- 
pose by  members  of  the  various  denominations,  Episcopal, 
and  Methodists,  and  Baptists,  joining  with  heart  and  purse  to 
assist  these  Presbyterians."  The  ampunc  contributed  from 
these  sources  was  ;^3,645.  The  church  came  also  into  the 
possession  of  about  ;^4,000,  from  the  old  John's  Island  So- 
ciety, a  charitable  as=^ociation,  which  had  been  in  existence 
for  some  time,  and  employed  its  fjnds  for  various  charitable 
purposes,  among  others  for  maintaining  3  seminary  of  learn- 
ing, and  relieving  the  indigent.  It  was  incorporated  Decem- 
ber 9,  1799,  and  becoming  nearly  extinct,  its  funds  were  di- 
vided among  the  churches  by  the  surviving  members,  By  his 
deed  of  gift  of  July  6,  1820,  Thomas  Hunscome,  who  was 
not  a  member  of  any  church,  conveyed  to  James  Legare,  Sen. 
Thomas  Legare,  Sen.,  and  Hugh  Wilson,  Jun.,  Trustees  of  the 
John's  sland  Presbyterian  Church,  fifty-six  acres  of  land  on  the 
Island,  and  by  his  will  gave  and  bequeathed  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church  of  John's  Island,  whatever  may  be  its  corporate 
name  or  title  in  law  the  sum  of  $6,ooo. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  on  Edisto  Island  enjoyed  but 
a  little  longer  the  labors  of  their  able  pastor,  the  Rev.  Donald 
McLeod.  He  died  on  the  30th  of  January,  182 1.  The  mural 
monument  dedicated  to  his  memory  speaks  of  him  as  a  native 
of  North  Britain,  and  states  that  he  had  been  for  twenty-nine 
years  their  pastor.  Dr.  Leland,  in  describing  him,  said  that 
"  he  wrote  elegan-tly,  but  that  his  Scotch  pronunciation  was 
very  broad.  He  was  tall,  elegant,  polished,  and  graceful. 
Dr.  McLeod  was  a  fine  specimen  of  a  Scotchman."  "  In  the 
year  1821,"  says  the  Rev.  Wm,  States  Lee,  from  whose  man- 
uscript we  quote,  "  the  present  pastor,"  meaning  himself, 
■'  took  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Edisto  Island.  The  elders  then  in  ofifice  were  Daniel  Town- 
send,  William  Seabrook,  William  Edings,  and  Ephraim  Mi- 
kell.  Previous  to  the  year  1 821,  the  church  had  been  connected 
with  the  fold)  "  Charleston  Presbyteryr,  but  in  consequence  of 
some  cause  (unknown  to  the  writer)  it  had  not  been  repre- 
•sented  in  the  Presbytery  for  several  years.  Before,  or  about 
182!,  the  Presbytt'ry  hud  become  extinct,  by  the  death  or 
removal  of  its  clerical  members,  and  this  church,  therefore, 
liecame  unconnected  with  any  Presbytery,  in  which  state  (in 
1858,  the  date  of  this  writing)  it  still  continues  to  exist.    The 


1820-1830.]  KDISTO    ISJ.AND.  SSS 

government  in  every  other  respect  has  been  iind  is  Presb)'- 
terian.  At  the  time  the  present  pastor  took  the  charge  of  the 
church  there  were  no  sessional  records  in  existence,  by  which 
it  could  be  determined  who  were  communing  members,  or 
when  those  claiming  to  be  such  were  admitted  to  the  church. 
Aided  by  the  most  reliable  testimony  that  could  be  obtained, 
a  list  of  members  was  made.  The  number  at  that  time  was 
sixteen  whites  and  seven  colored  members.  In  the  spring  of 
1822, the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered.  The  custom  of 
the  church  had  limited  the  administration  of  that  ordinance 
to  two  periods  in  the  year,  viz:  the  commencement  of  the 
spring  and  of  the  winter.  There  are  now  (1858),  and  have 
been  for  many  years  past,  four  seasons  of  communion  annu- 
ally. There  .was  but  one  public  service  on  the  Sabbath  during 
the  winter  and  spring  months  at  that  time,  and  during  the 
summer  and  autumn,  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  Island 
resorted  to  the  sea-shore,  as  a  residence,  for  health,  the  Epis- 
copal and  Presbyterian  congregations  worshipped  together  in 
an  old  building  which  had  been  used  as  an  academy.  The 
pastors  performed  the  services,  sanctioned  by  their  respective 
churches,  alternately.  Much  harmony  and  kind  feeling  pre- 
vailed between  the  two  congregations.  In  the  year  1824,  in 
consequence  of  the  building  (used  by  them)  becoming  incon- 
venient and  even  unsafe,  the  two  congregations  united  in 
erecting  a  building  which  was  to  be  occupied  by  them  jointly, 
as  the  academy  had  been. 

This  new  building  was  erected  and  opened  for  divine 
worship,  but  in  consequence  of  some  difficulty  that  arose 
respecting  the  internal  arrangement  of  the  building,  which 
could  not  be  satisfactorily  adjusted,  the  two  congregations 
separated.  The  Presbyterians  relinquished  the  building  to  the 
Episcopalians,  and  before  the  next  summer  they  had  erected 
a  place  of  worship  for  themselves.  This  building  has  from 
time  to  timS  received  improvements,  rendering  it  a  neater  and 
more  commodious  place  of  worship. 

From  this  period  the  public  services  have  been  observed 
during  the  summer  and  autumn,  in  the  morning,  afternoon 
and  evening  of  each  Sabbath.  About  the  year  1824  an  even- 
ing lecture  was  commenced  during  the  week,  in  a  private 
house,  and  in  a  very  short  time  was  conducted  in  almost  every 
house  in  the  congregation  in  turn,  at  the  request  of  the  fami- 
lies.    The  number  of  persons  who   attended   or  expressed  a 


834  EDISTO    ISLAND.  [1820-1830. 

desire  to  attend,  having  become  too  large  to  be  accommo- 
dated in  this  manner,  this  lecture  and  the  service  on  Sabbath 
evening  (which  had  also  been  conducted  in  private  houses) 
were  removed  into  the  church,  where  the  attendance  became, 
and  continued  to  be,  large  and  interesting,  particularly  on  the 
evenings  of  the  Sabbath.  About  the  year  1823  or  1824,  a 
Sabbath-school  was  organized  and  the  exercises  attended  to, 
during  the  sumitier  months  and  autumn,  when  the  inhabitants 
were  collected  together  in  the  village  on  the  sea-shore.  This 
valuable  institution  has  been  continued.  A  library  of  700  or 
800  volumes,  presented  by  the  members  of  the  congregation 
to  the  Sabbath-school,  has  been  an  unfailing  source  of  interest 
and  instruction  to  the  children.  The  population  of  the  Island 
not  being  large,  the  number  of  children  in  the  Sabbath-school 
has  always  been  comparatively  small,  and  varying  from  time 
to  time. 

About  the  year  1826,  a  bible  class  for  ladies  was  formed. 
The  studies  belonging  to  it  was  attended  to  with  interest,  and 
it  is  hoped  with  profit.  Various  causes  arising  from  changes 
in  families,  Or  change  of  residence  by  the  members,  would  at 
times  interrupt  or  suspend  its  exercises,  but  the  class  was 
kept  up  for  many  years.  A  bible  class  for  males  was  also 
attempted  for  a  few  years,  but  did  not  continue  long. 

From  the  year  1821  regular  attention  had  been  paid  to  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  colored  persons  in  services  ap- 
pointed and  performed  for  them,  apart  from  the  white  portion 
of  the  congregation.  At  the  close  of  the  service  on  the 
morning  of  the  Lord's  day,  throughout  the  year,  they  re- 
mained in  the  church,  and  with  prayerand  praise,  preaching 
was  united  in  an  extempore  form,  supposed  to  be  better 
adapted  to  their  comprehension.  The  attendance  on  this  ser- 
vice has  been  uniformly  good,  sometimes  large,  and  attention 
during  the  services  appeared  to  have  been  given  with  deep  in- 
terest. All  of  the  colored  persons  who  offered  themselves  for 
membership  in  the  church  have  been  regularly  catechised  and 
instructed  on  each  Sabbath,  before  the  morning  service,  and 
this  course  has  been  pursued  with  them  for  twelve  months  or 
longer  (if  the  cases  seemed  to  need  it)  before  they  were  pro- 
posed to  the  se-ssion  for  admission  to  sealing  ordinances." 

Thus  wrote  this  admirable  man  and  model  pastor  in  1858. 
In  the  limited  population  to  which  he  ministered  there  were 
added  in  the  first   ten  years   ten   white  members  and  thirty- 


]  820-1830.]  WILTON.  335 

seven  colored,  a  number  which  in  other  places  less  circum- 
scribed and  of  an  ampler  population  is  often  exceeded. 

Wilton  Presbyterian  Church. — Our  notice  of  tliis  ancient 
church  must  again  be  brief.  Good  men  lived  here  before  us 
and  worshipped  the  God  of  their  fathers  and  mini-sters^of  the 
Gospel  have  preached,  and  the  organizations  which  still  exist 
and  which  they  have  handed  down  show  that  such  men  have 
been,  though  they  may  have  been  careless  in  transmitting 
their  names  and  perpetuating  their  memories.  The  Rev. 
Loammi  Floyd  still  preached  to  this  congregation.  His  in- 
troduction to  our  notice  is  connected  with  the  Congregational 
Association  of  South  Carolina,  a.s  we  have  mentioned  on  pre- 
ceding pages.  On  the  30th  of  April,  1820,  a  meeting  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  was  held  at  the  church  and  the  minutes 
state  that  their  house  of  worship  had  been  newly  erected.  It 
is  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  village  of  Adams'  Run,  and 
at  the  intersection  of  the  Wiltown  (or  Charleston  roads)  and 
was  finished  about  April,  1820.  It  was  dedicated  April  30, 
1820.  Mr.  Floyd  preached  a  dedication  sermon  from  Exod. 
XX.,  24,  and  Dr.  Palmer  followed  with  an  address.  (Ch.  Intel., 
vol.  II,  p.  42.) 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Floyd  continued  to  preach  on  alternate  Sab- 
baths until  1822,  when  it  seems  that  the  congregation,  having 
a  new  house  of  worship,  became  dissatisfied  with  the  existing 
arrangement  and  desired  to  have  the  ministrations  of  the 
Gospel  on  every  Sabbath.  To  this  end  they  took  action,  dis- 
missing Rev.  Mr.  Floyd  from  further  connection  with  the 
church  and  called  Rev.  Henry  T.  Jones,  the  editor  of  "  The 
Southern  Intelligencer,"  a  religious  paper  then  published  in 
Charleston.  They  effected  an  arrangement  with  him  by  which 
he  should,  while  retaining  the  editorial  charge  of  the  paper, 
come  np  and  preach  every  Sabbath.  Mr.  Jones  continued  to 
serve  the  congregation  with  great  acceptance  until  some  time 
in  the  year  1823.  In  a  paper  dated  i6th  March,  1824,  an  al- 
lusion is  made  to  his  death.  Several  members  of  the  congre- 
gation still  remember  him  and  speak  of  him  as  having  been 
a  useful  and  devoted  minister.  It  was  his  habit  to  take  a  p.irt 
of  the  week  to  visit  the  poor  in  the  neighborhood  by  whom 
he  was  greatly  beloved.  It  is  related  of  him  as  an  instance  of 
his  delicate  regard  for  the  poor,  that  on  a  sacramental  occa- 
sion a  woman  in  poor  and  iiumble  circumstances  being 
present,  kept  her  seat  through  diffidence  when  the  commu- 


336  WILTOK.  [1820-1830. 

nicants  had  taken  their  usual  places.  Mr.  Jones  noticing  her 
embarrassment,  left  the  table  and  going  to  her  offered  her  his 
arm  and  handed  her  to  a  seat  among  the  members  of  tiie 
church. 

There  exists  among  the  Records,  a  letter  from  Col.  Wil- 
liam Oswald  to  Mr.  James  D.  Mitchell  an  active  member  of 
the  Wilton  Church,  dated  Sept.  23rd,  1833,  which  commences 
with  these  words :  "Having  heard  of  the  death  of  your  late 
minister,  Rev.  Mr.  Jones,''  There  is  also  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Jones  to  Mr.  Mitchell,  dated  Feb.  loth,  1823.  So  that  Mr. 
Jones  died  between  February  and  September  of  that  year. 
The  letter  of  Col-  Oswald  a  member  of  the  Bethel  Church  in 
St.  Bartholomew's  Parish,  contains  a  proposal  to  unite  the 
Bethel  Church  at  Pon  Pon  over  Jacksoiiborough  and  the 
Wilton  Church  under  the  same  pa.stor,  specifying  that  he 
should  preach  alternately  every  other  Sabbath  at  each  church. 
He  mentioned  the  Rev.  Mr.  Latkrop,  who  was  then  employed 
by  the  Missionary  Society  of  Charleston  as  one  whom  the 
Bethel  congregation  desired  to  call.  It  appears  that  this  pro- 
posal was  declined,  as  Rev.  Mr.  Moses  Chase  was  not  long 
after  this  invited  to  take  charge  of  the  Wilton  Church.  In  a 
paper  dated  May  13th,  1824,  mention  is  made  of  Mr.  Chase 
as  preaching  statedly  to  the  congregation.*  He  did  not  con- 
tinue long  in  connection  with  the  church  as  in  November  of 
the  same  year  Rev.  Zabdiel  Rogers  was  invited  to  preach. 

Mr.  Rogers  was  born  at  Stonington,  Cormecticut,  Oct,  id, 
1793.  He  became  a  subject  of  renewing  grace  and  connected 
himself  with  the  church  in  the  year  1817.  In  the  fall  ensu- 
ing, he  commenced  fitting  for  college  with  a  view  to  entering 
the  ministry,  in  Coventry,  Connecticut,  with  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Woodrufif;  was  admitted  to  Yale  College  in  the  fall  of  1816  ; 
was  graduated  in  1820;  was  engaged  in  teaching  one  year 
and  then  entered  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover. 
Here  he  spent  three  years  d.nd  having  completed  his  theolog- 
ical course,  he  was  ordained  with  one  or  two  other  fellow- 
students.  He  came  to  Charleston,  September  30,  1824,  and  in 
November  of  that  year  was  invited  to  preach  to  the  Wilton 
Church  and  continued  with  it  for  more  than  twenty-three 
years.  He  was  received  into  the  Charleston  Union  Presby- 
tery at  his  own  request  in  November,   1828. 

*He  was  a  licentiate. 


1820-1830.]  BETHEL,  PON    PON. SALTOATCHER.  337 

Bethel,  Pon  Pon,  St.  Bartholomew's  Parish,  Colleton. 
The  Rev.  Loammi  Floyd  continued  the  pastor  of  this  church 
till  his  death,  which  occurred  in  April,  1822.  But  during  the 
years  1821  and  1822  he  preached  on  alternate  Sabbaths  to 
the  church  at  Wilton,  St.  Paul's  Parish.  The  Rev.  Lycan  D. 
Parks,  who  was  resident  in  tlie  Parish,  occupied  the  pulpit  on 
the  other  alternate  days.  In  the  year  1821  the  branch  church 
at  Walterboro  was  erected,  tnost  of  the  congregation  being 
located  there  during  the  summer,  or  sickly  months.  Mr. 
Floyd  was  the  Moderator  and  oldest  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational Association  at  his  death,  and  as  an  affectionate  trib- 
ute to  his  memory,  Dr.  Palmer  was  requested  by  that  body  to 
preach  a  suitable  discourse  in  the  church  their  deceased 
brother  had  occupied.  From  the  death  of  Mr.  Floyd  in  1822 
until  1827,  the  church  was  supplied  by  the  following  minis- 
ters, none  of  whom  were  settled  as  pastors,  viz.:  by  Rev. 
Joseph  Brown,  Rev.  George  P.  King,  Rev.  Eleazer  Lathrop, 
and  Rev.  Henry  B.  Hooker  (afterwards  D.  D.*)  These  gen- 
tlemen were  missionaries,  employed  by  different  Societies 
organized  in  this  State.  In  the  year  1827  the  Rev.  Edward 
Palmer  became  pastor  of  this  church. 

Saltcatcher.  We  find  no  notice  of  this  church  till  1826, 
when  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  appointed  Dr.  Palmer  and 
W.  A.  McDowell  to  inquire  into  its  condition,  and  if  found 
expedient  and  practicable,  to  furnish  it  with  supplies.  They 
reported  that  it  had  been  taken  under  the  care  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Harmony  in  181 1,  and  wished  that  it  might  be  taken 
under  the  care  of  Charleston  Union.  Their  wishes  were  grat- 
ified and  Dr.  Palmer  was  appointed  to  visit  the  Church  and 
administer  to  it  the  Lord's  Supper.  Drs.  Palmer  and  Mc- 
Dowell were  appointed  to  devise  a  scheme  for  furnishing  it 
with  supplies.  This  was  accordingly  done.  Yet  it  was 
found  at  a  subsequent  meeting  that  the  appointments  had  all 
failed. 

The  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of 
Savannah.  After  the  lamented  death  of  Dr.  Kollock  this 
church  was  supplied  by  Rev.  Dr.  Snodgrass,  then  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Samuel  B.  Howe,  and  then  by  the  Rev.  Daniel  Baker. 
He  writes  to  his  friend  Mr.  Handy  in  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
to  the  members  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church   in  that 


*See  Memoir  of  H.  B  Hooker,  p.  3,  4,  5. 
22 


328  SAVANNAH — BKECH    ISLAND.  [1820-1830. 

c\ty,  of  which  he  had  been  tlic  pastor,  under  date  of  May  13th, 
1828,  showinc;  that  his  predecessors  who  immediately  .suc- 
ceeded Dr.  Kollock,  could  not  have  served  the  church  more 
than  eight  years.  No  record'  of  this  church  is  said  to  be  in 
existence  until  March,  1828,  under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Baker. 
He  remained  in  connection  with  it  till  the  year  1 831  during 
which  a  considerable  religious  interest  was  manifested  in  the 
town  in  the  various  denominations,  and  twenty  persons  were 
added  to  the  Independent  Presbyterian  church  at  one  com- 
munion. It  was  about  this  time  that  the  church  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  extended  to  him  a  pressing  call,  to  resume  his 
pastorate  among  them.  John  Quincy  Adams,  who  had  at- 
tended his  ministry  in  Washington  City  wrote  to  Mr.  Handy 
of  Washington,  from  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  October  16,  1836 
as  did  also  the  President,  Andrew  Jackson,  favoring  his  re- 
call. Life  and  Labors  of  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  D.  D.,  Chap. 
VI.,  pp.  125-154. 

The  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  Savannah  had 
already  come  into  existence.  At  the  XVIth  Session  of  the 
Synod  of  .South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  held  in  Charleston  in 
1827  it  was  represented  by  Dr.  Edward  Coppie  as  Ruling 
Elder. 

Beech  Island. — The  first  mention  of  this  locality  which  has 
met  our  eyes  is  in  the  first  report  of  the  Young  Men's  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  South  Carolina,  which  was  formed  the  first 
of  the  year  1820.  In  September  of  that  year  an  attempt  was 
made  to  secure  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nettleson,  which 
was  unsuccessful.  On  the  25th  of  September,  a  letter  was 
received  from  Rev.  Di.  Porter,  of  Andover,  whose  services 
had  been  engaged  to.secure  them  a  missionary,  informing  them 
of  the  choice  he  had  made  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Brown.  On 
the  3d  of  December,  the  Society  authorized  the  call  to  Mr. 
Brown,  which  on  the  8th  he  accepted,  and  measures  were, 
taken  to  procure  his  ordination,  His  engagement  commenced 
on  the  first  of  December,  1820,  and  previous  to  his  ordina- 
tion he  visited,  as  a  licentiate,  Beaufort  and  Stony  Creek,  and 
returning,  was  ordained  on  the  3d  of  January,  1821,  and  com- 
menced preaching  in  Edgefield  District  which  had  been 
assigned  him,  in  connection  with  Newberry,  as  the  field  of 
his  labours.  In  the  course  of  his  ministry,  he  visited  Beech 
Island,  "  which,"  says  he,  "  is  not  an  island,  but  a  part  of 
Edgefield   District,  surrounded   by  a  kind  of  swamp  or  bog. 


1820-1830.]  BEECH    ISLAND.  339 

He  speaks  of  it  as  a  large  and  wealthy  settlement  with  an 
Academy  of  about  fifty  scholars  and  a  promising  field  of  use- 
fulness if  regular  and  constant  preaching  could  be  afforded 
them.* 

Samuel  Mosely  a  native  of  Vermont,  a  graduate  of  Middle- 
bury  College  in  1818,  and  of  the  Andover  Seminary  in  1821, 
preached  amongst  them  as  a  licentiate  for  some  four  months, 
during  which  he  was  an  inmate  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Samuel 
Clark.  He  was  afterwards  an  agent  of  the  A.  B.  C,  F.  M.,  then  a 
missionary  to  the  Choctaws,  and  died  at  Mayhew  on  the  i  ith  of 
September,  1824,  aged  33.  The  Rev.  Henry  Safford,  who 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  College  in  18 17,  and  at  the  Prince- 
town  Seminary  in  1820,  followed  soon  after.  He  remained 
twelve  months  as  a  teacher  and  a  preacher,  receiving  about 
;?i,200  from  the  church  and  school.  Rev.  S.  S.  Davis,  (after- 
wards D.  D.),  who  supplied  the  church  in  Augusta,  in  con- 
nection with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Talmage  for  nearly  a  year,  also 
rendered  essential  service  before  or  subsequently  to  the  de- 
parture of  Mr.  Safford.  By  his  agency  the  Rev.  Nathan 
Hoyt,  (afterwards  D.  D.),  was  introduced  to  their  notice, 
whose  labours  were  exceedingly  blessed,  as  is  recorded  in  a 
tract,  entitled  "  History  of  a  Church  in  the  South"  written  by 
himself  and  full  of  interesting  details  of  his  ministry  here, 
and  well  worthy  of  perusal.  The  result  was  the  organization 
of  a  church,  in  which  organization  Dr.  Davis  assisted.  Dr. 
Thomas  S.  Mills  was  ordained  a  Ruling  Elder  on  tlie  1st  of 
March,  1828.  Dr.  Hoyt  resigned  this  charge  amid  the  re- 
grets of  the  people  and  took  charge  of  the  church  in  Wash- 
ington, Wilkes  Co.  Ga. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  1828,  baptism  and  the  L<^rd's  supper 
were  administered  by  William  Moderwell.  The  church  then 
remained  vacant  until  December,  1829,  when  it  was  served  by 
Rev.  Dennis  M.  Winston,  for  the  term  of  six  months. 

At  the  session  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at  Beaver 
Creek  on  the  5th  of  December,  1828,  Dr.  Thomas  S.  Mills, 
an  elder  of  the  church  of  Beech  Island,  appeared  before  that 
body,  presenting  a  request  fiom  the  church  to  be  taken  under 
its  care.  The  prayer  of  the  petition  was  granted,  and  Dr. 
Mills  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  Presbytery. 

*First  Report  of  the  Young  Men's  Missionary  Society  of  South  Caro- 
lina, May,  1821. 


.140  ST.  AUGusTiuE.  [1 820-1 8:;o. 

St.  Augustine. — "On  the  lOth  day  of  Jul)',  1821,  the 
-Standard  of  Spain,  which  had  been  raised  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years  before  over  St.  Augustine,  wa.s  finally  lowered  for^ 
ever  from  the  wall's  over  which  it  had  so  long  fluttered,  and 
the  stars  and  stripes  of  the  youngest  of  nations  rose  where, 
sooner  or  later,  the  hand  of  destiny  would  assuredly  have 
placed  them.  [Geo.  R.  Fairbank's  History  and  Antiquities 
of  the  City  of  St.  Augustine,  p.  1S4.]  The  first  mention  of 
St.  Augustine  on  our  ecclesiastical  records  is  in  the  Minutes 
of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  pp.  92,  93,  No- 
vember 21,  1823,  where  it  is  recorded  that  Mr.  Lathrop,  "  an 
agent  of  the  St.  Augustine  Presbyterian  Society,  appeared 
before  the  Synod  and  presented  his  credentials.  Whereupon 
it  was  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  the  Synod  view  with  deep  and  affecting  in- 
terest the  moral  and  religious  condition  of  Florida.  They 
feel  the  powerful  claims  of  this  newly-acquired  territory  to 
the  sympathy  and  charities  of  the  Christian  public,  and  that 
present  circumstances  demand  immediate  and  energetic  exer- 
tions in  its  behalf  They  therefore  regard  the  agency  of  Mr. 
Lathrop  as  intimately  connected  with  the  interests  of  Zion 
and  the  dearest  hopes  of  humanity  ;  and  as  such  do  cordially 
and  earnestly  recommend  it  to  the  particular  attention  of  the 
churches  and  their  care  ;  and  to  all  the  charitable,  the  pious 
and  patriotic  throughout  the  United  States. 

They  appointed  also  Drs.  Brown  and  Palmer  a  committee 
to  prepare  a  letter  to  the  religious  community  in  recommen- 
dation of  the  subject.  [Minutes,  pp.  92,  93. j  This  letter 
appears  on  pp.  100,  lOl,  of  the  records  of  Synod,  as  signed, 
by  order  of  Synod,  by  Aaron  W.  Leland,  Moderator;  Rich- 
ard B.  Cater,  C\erk,  pro  tevi.  At  the  same  meeting,  the  Mod- 
erator was  directed  to  furnish  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  McWhir, 
of  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  who  proposed  to  visit  St.  Augustine, 
with  proper  testimonials.  The  doctor  at  that  time  wa.s  in  his 
6ist  year.  He  there  gathered  and  constituted  a  Presbyterian 
Church  and  ordained  elders;  and  was  for  several  years  un- 
tiring in  his  efforts  to  raise  the  funds  requisite  for  the  erection 
of  a  church  edifice.  He  first  founded  a  church  at  Mandarin, 
which  was  the  first  Presbyterian  Church  founded  in  Florida 
since  the  days  when  the  French  Huguenots,  under  Laudo- 
niere  and  Ribault,  were  so  cruelly  cut  off  by  Menende?.    (See 


1820-1830.]  PRESBYTERY   OF   GEORGIA.  341 

Vol.  I  of  thi.s  Hi.story,  p.  25.)  St.  Augustine  was  occupied  in 
1 825-1 826  by  Rev.  Eleazar  Lathrop,  before  mentioned,  who 
had  been  received  as  a  licentiate  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Oneida  by  Charlest<Mi  Union  Presbytery,  and  was  ordained 
by  them  as  an  Evangelist  and  Missionary  for  St.  Augustine, 
on  the  20th  of  March,  1825.*  Ebenezer  H.  Snowden  was 
stated  supply  at  St.  Augustine  in  1828. 

The  Synod's  efforts  in  behalf  of  this  church  are  shown  in 
its  earnest  exhortations  to  the  churches,  its  appointment  of 
agents,  and  its  quasi  assessAient  upon  Presbyteries.  (Min- 
utes, pp.  172,  199,  203,  334,  337;  Minutes  of  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  pp.  464,  468.)  Yet  this  Presbytery  felt  more  and 
more  the  inconvenience  of  its  extensive  territory,  and  peti- 
tioned the  Synod  of  South 'Carolina  and  Georgia,  at  its  meet- 
ing at  Washington,  Ga.,  in  November,  1821,  that  such  of  its 
members  as  reside  in  Georgia  should  be  connected  with  the 
Presbytery  of  Hopewell.  This  led  to  the  forming  of  a  new 
Presbytery  "  The  Presbytery  of  Georgia."  So  that  henceforth 
Harmony  Presbytery  had  no  jurisdiction  beyond  the  Savannah. 

The  Presbytery  of  Georgia  had  at  that  time  nine  ministers 
connected  with  it,  one  of  whom,  S.  S.  Davis,  was  stated 
supply  at  Camden,  S.  C. 

In  the  statistical  tables  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1829 
the  following  information  is  given  respecting  the  Presbytery 
of  Georgia  : 

The  number  of  ministers,  8. 

St.  Maiiy's  has  a  pastor,  Horace  S.  Pratt,  a  membership  of 
96.- 

Darien  has  a  pastor,  Nathaniel  A.  Pratt,  a  total  member- 
ship of  89. 

Congregational  Church,  Waynesboro',  in  1827,  Lawson 
Clinton,  stated  supply ;  membership,  19,  of  whom  five  were 
recent  additions. 

St.  Augustine,  vacant ;  Ebenezar  H.  Snowden  had  been 
stated  supply;  members,  21,  5  of  whom  were  added  during 
the  year  ;  Rev.  Thomas  Alexander  was  residing  at  St.  Augus- 
tine, without  charge,  in  1828. 

*Mr.  Lathrop  was  a  native  of  New  York,  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  Col- 
lege in  1817  ;  had  studied  two  years  at  Andover ;  was,  after  his  residence 
at  St.  Augiistine,  a  stated  supply  at  Elmira,  N.  Y. ;  was  without  pastoral 
charge  at  Painted  Post,  N.  Y.,  afterwards  at  P'/lmira,  then  at  Geneva. 
He  died  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  40. 


342      WILLIAMSBURG BETHEL  AND  INDIAN  TOWN.     [i820-1830. 

Dawfuskie,  Herman  M.  Blodget,  stated  supply. 

Savannah,  John  Boggs,  pastor;  inembeis,  22. 

Wm.  McWhirr,  D.  D.,  Sunbury,  Liberty  Co.,  W.  C. 
Robt.  Quarterman,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
Liberty  Co.,  550  members,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  were 
colored  people. 


CHAPTER  IIL 

The  ancient  church  of  Williamsburg  was  still  enjoying 
the  labors  of  the  Rev.  John  Covert  and  had  done  so  from  the 
time  he  ceased  to  preach  in  the  Bethel  and  Indian  Town 
Church  until  his  death,  which  occurred,  says  Mr.  Wallace,  on 
the  night  of  the  great  Storm  which  swept  over  that  part  of  the 
country,  September  20th,  1822.  "  His  body  was  borne  to  its 
lowly  resting  place  on  the  shoulders  of  men,  the  trees  pros- 
trated by  the  tornado  having  so  blocked  up  the  roads  as  to 
render  the  passage  of  vehicles  impracticable."  "  He  was  cut 
down  in  the  vigor  of  life,.being  in  bis  34th  year,"  Wallace, 
p.  92. 

The  two  churches  of  Bethel  and  Indian  Town  remained 
united  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Robt.  W.  James,  for  a 
period  of  nine  years,  until  1827,  when  he  was  relieved  from 
this  charge  by  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  and  removed  to 
Salem  Church,  in  Sumter  District.  The  licentiate  Josiah  W. 
Powers,  who  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  a  graduate  of 
the  University  of  Vermont,  and  in  1827,  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Andover,  and  who  was  sent  as  a  home  mis- 
sionary into  this  State,  preached  to  these  churches  from  De- 
cember, 1827,  to  May,  1828.  The  faithful  labors  of  Mr, 
Covert  and  Mr,  James  had  tended  to  remove  old  asperities 
and  to  unite  the  old  Presbyterian  Church,  which  claimed  to 
represent  the  Williamsburg  Church  of  former  days  and  Bethel 
into  one.  Meanwhile  there  had  arisen  in  the  Bethel  congre- 
gation a  young  man,  William  J.  Wilson,  (son  of  Mr.  William 
Wilson,)  who  was  graduated  at  the  South  Carolina  College 
in  1822,  and  had  spent  a  year  at  Princeton,  feeling  himself 
called  to  the  ministry,  he  had  first  placed  himself  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick,  then  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  was  licensed  by  the 
same  on  the  1st  of  April,  1825,  at  its  meeting  in  Winnsboro', 


1820-1830'.]  UNION    OF   THE    CHURCHES.  348 

The  life  of  the  young  man  was  a  short  one,  but  by  his  pious 
hibors  and  kind  deportment  while  yet  living  with  his  father, 
and  by  his  faithful  pieachiiig  in  the  old  church,  he  was 
greatly  instrumental  in  drawing  the  divided  congregations 
into  one,  that  which  claimed  to  be  the  old  church  and  Bethel. 
They  united  under  the  old  name  of  ''  The  Williamsburg 
Church." 

But  before  this,  and  immediately  subsequent  to  the  termina- 
tion of  the  engagement  with  Mr.  Powers,  the  churches  of 
Bethel  and  Indiantown  had  united  in  a  call  to  Rev.  John  M. 
Ervin,  of  Mecklenburg  County,  N.  C,  which  they  were  per- 
mitted by  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  to  prosecute  before  the 
Presbytery  of  Concord,  He  commenced  his  ministry  on  the 
4th  of  December,  1828.  "On  the  15th  of  June,  Mr.  Ervin 
performed  divine  service  in  Bethel  Church,  and  a  sermon  was 
preached  in  the  old  church  by  Mr.  Nixon,  a  Baptist  minister. 
On  the  morning  of  that  day,  the  session  of  Bethel  Church 
met  and  resolved  to  propose  terms  of  union  to  the  other 
congregation. 

Mr.  John  McClary,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  patriarch  in 
both  these  branches  of  the  house  of  Israel,  was  judiciously 
selected  to  bear  the  olive  branch  of  peace  to  the  body  wor- 
shipping in  the  old  church.  Both  congregations  were  now 
prepared  to  sheath  the  sword  forever,  and  the  time  was  come 
when  Judah  should  no  more  vex  Ephraim,  nor  Ephraim  envy 
Judah.  The  white  banner  was  as  joyfully  hailed  on  the  one 
side,  as  proffered  on  the  other,  and  the  venerable  bearer  was 
authorized  to  carry  back  a  favorable  response.  Mr.  Ervin 
was  requested  to  preach  in  the  old  church  on  the  Tuesday 
(the  i/thj  following,  and  the  Bethel  congregation  invited  to 
attend  for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  on  the  subject  of  the 
proposed  union.  After  divine  service,  on  that  day,  Mr.  John 
McClary  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  stated  the  object  of  the 
meeting.  The  first  question  propounded  was,  "  Shall  the  two 
churches  be  now  united  in  one  body?"  which  was  responded 
to  by  a  unanimous  vote  in  the  affirmative.  After  some  delib- 
eration regarding  the  location  of  the  house  of  worship,  it  was 
decided  to  erect  a  new  building;  the  same,  says  Mr.  Wal- 
lace, in  which  we  are  now  assembled.  Mr.  Ervin  was 
unanimously  elected  pastor  of  the  united  church,  and  a  com- 
mittee appointed  to  inform  him  of  the  election.  The  call  was 
accepted,  and  Mr.  E.  entered  upon  his  labors  here  in  the  Fall 


344  AIMWBLL HOPEWELL  (p.  D.) — CONCORD.         [1820-1830. 

of  that  year,  which  he  continued  faithfully  to  discharge, 
greatly  beloved  by  his  people,  till  his  return  to  North  Caro- 
lina in  1832.  After  ministering  there  some  years,  he  removed 
to  Arkansas,  vi'here,  after  a  short  term  of  service,  he  fell  asleep 
and  his  mortal  part  there  awaits  the  better  resurrection. 

The  ecclesiastical  connection  of  the  Williamsburg  Church 
was  originally  with  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh.  It  was  after- 
wards transferred  (it  is  believed)  to  the  old  Presbytery  of 
Charleston,  which  was  never  in  connection  with  our  General 
Assembly,  and  which  has  been  for  years  extinct.  As  the 
records  of  that  body  are  lost,  the  date  of  the  transfer  cannot 
now  be  ascertained.  The  Bethel  Church  was  connected  from 
its  organization  with  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  and 
in  its  subsequeht  divisions,  fell  into  that  portion  of  it  now 
embraced  in  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony."  (History,  by  Rev. 
J.  W.  Wallace.) 

Hopewell  (Pee  Dee)  and  Aimwell. — Aimwell  became 
extinct  in  1820.  Some  of  the  heads  of  families  had  died 
and  others  moved  up  more  convenient  to  Hopewell  and  be- 
came members  of  that  Church.  In  1821  Rev.  John  Harring- 
ton, of  Fayetteville  Presbytery,  was  elected  pastor  of  Hopewell 
Church.  This  church  obtained  leave  from  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony  (Minutes,  p.  350)  to  make  their  returns  to  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Fayetteville  as  long  as  they  enjoyed  the  labors  of 
one  of  its  members.  He  remained  in  the  service  of  this 
church  until  1827,  when  he  removed  to  Mt.  Zion  Church, 
Sumter  District.  After  this  the  Rev.  Nicholas  R.  Morgan 
became  their  supply  in  connection  with  the  Church  of  Dar- 
lington. He  was  received  on  the  7th  of  December,  1827,  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  on  his  letter  of  dismission  from 
the  Presbytery  of  Mecklenburg,  N.  C.  In  the  same  year 
Saml.  Bigham,  Alex.  Gregg,  John  Gregg,  David  Bigham  and 
John  Cooper  were  elected  elders. 

Black  River  (Winyah),  in  Georgetown  District,  is  no 
longer  mentioned  on  the  roll  of  existing  churches,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  Black  Mingo. 

Concord  Church,  Sumter  District. — It  is  very  difficult 
for  us  to  trace  the  history  of  this  church,  being  personally 
unacquainted  with  its  surroundings.  The  church  records 
as  contained  in- the  minutes  of  Presbytery,  furnishes  us  with 
little  information,  and  when  none  is  offered  from  the  church 
itself,  its  officers  or    ministers,  little   can  be   said   worthy  of 


1820-1830.]  SUMTERVILLE.  345 

record.  It  appears  after  the  removal  of  it.s  founder,  Rev. 
Geo-rge  G.  McWhorter,  wlio  was  dismissed  at  his  own  re- 
quest to  the  Presbytery  of  Georgia  on  the  19th  of  April,  1822, 
to  have  been  dependent  on  various  supplies,  or  temporary 
pastors,  as  Rev.  Mr.  Harrington,  Mr.  Alexander,  and  some 
others.  It  was  visited,  too,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Barbour,  in  1822, 
who  will  be  more  particularly  mentioned  in  the  history  of  the 
Sumterville  Church,  of  which  he  may  be  said  to  be  the 
founder.  To  the  latter  church,  Concord  bore  a  kind  of  ma- 
ternal relation.  It  contributed  some  of  its  members  to  the 
Sumterville  Church  at  its  formation,  and  the  first  meeting  of 
the  session  of  that  church  was  held  at  Concord.  It  shared 
also  in  the  ministerial  labors  of  the  Rev.  Isaac  Barbour  men- 
tioned in  the  following  pages: 

Sumterville. — The  early  sessional  record  of  this  church 
is  very  imperfect,  giving  few  dates,  and  suffering  years  to 
elapse  between  the  minutes  of  sessional  meetings.  The  gen- 
tlemen whose  names  appear  at  the  organization  of  the  church, 
and  who  for  years  were  its  main  sources  of  support,  removed 
to  this  district  from  Georgetown,  where  they  were  either 
members  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  or  of  families  belonging 
to  that  communion.  For  several  years  after  settling  here, 
they  were  members  of  the  Concord  Church,  in  the  County  of 
Sumter.  In  December  1822,  Rev.  Isaac  R.  Barbour,  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, came  to  Sumterville,  and  commenced  preaching, 
being  partly  employed  by  the  congregation  and  partly  by 
the  Young  Men's  Missionary  Society  of  South  Carolina.  On 
the  29th  of  May,  1823,  Harmony  Presbytery  met  here.  Rev. 
Thomas  Alexan'der,  Moderator,  and  org.mized  the  church, 
with  five  members — Jas.  B.  White,  Henry  Britton,  Mrs.  J.  B. 
Morse  and  Mrs.  I.  R,  Barbour,  on  certificate,  and  John  Knox, 
son  of  Rev.  William  Knox,  of  Williamsburg,  on  profession 
of  his  faith.  J.  B.  White  and  Henry  Britton  were  ordained 
Ruling  Elders.  In  the  following  November  Mr.  Knox  was 
elected  an  elder.  One  of  the  earliest  additions  to  the  mem- 
bership was  Mills,  a  slave.  As  an  incident,  showing  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  present  over  that  generation,  it  is  related  that 
Mr.  Barbour  made  the  trip  from  his  New  England  home  to 
this  place  in  an  old-fashioned  one-horse  gig.*  [MS.  of  A.  W. 
White.] 

*  We  can  record  a  similar  instance-     In  the  fall  of  1812,  the  Rev. 
Francis  Brown,  D.  D.,  the  venerated   President  of  Dartmouth  Collesjfi, 


346  EEV.  ISAAC   R.  BAKBOUR.  [3820-1830. 

Isaac  Richmond  Barbour  was  originally  from  Vermont,  was 
graduated  at  Middlebury  College  in  1819,  spent  two  years  at 
the  Andover  Seminary,  was  licensed  by  the  Suffolk  Associa- 
tion, was  received  as  a  licentiate  by  Harmony  Presbytery  at 
its  meeting  in  Sumterville  on  the  29th  of  May,  1823,  and  on 
a  petition  from  the  Young  Men',s  Missionary  Society,  signed 
by  Rev.  Artemas  Boies,  he  was  ordained  to  the  holy  office  of 
the  gospel  ministry  as  an  Evangelist,  Rev.  Robert  W.  Jame.s 
preaching  the  sermon  from  2  Tim.  3  :  5,  Rev.  John  Cousar 
presiding  and  proposing  the  constitutional  questions  and 
giving  the  charge.  The  Presbytery  then  proceeded  to  consti- 
tute the  church  as  above  mentioned. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  session  was  held  at  Concord  Church 
in  June  1823,  when  the  first  applicant  was  "  recommended  to 
delay  her  connection  with  the  church,  to  give  herself  the 
opportunity  further  to  examine  the  subject  of  infant  baptism." 
She  afterwards  joined  the  Baptist  Church.  The  first  person 
admitted  on  examination  was  Miliy,  a  colored  servant,  in  De- 
cember 1828.     In  the  fall  of  this  year  it  was 

Resolved,  "  That  this  church  use  the  courthouse  as  a  place 
of  worship." 

This  resolution,  with  the  reasons  for  it,  were  communicated 
to  the  Baptist  brethren,  with  an  expression  "  of  the  gratitude 
of  the  church  for  the  use  of  their  house  of  worsliip  and  the 
assurance  of  our  cordial  Christian  affection  " — to  which  the 
Baptists  replied,  "  that  they  would  not  have  any  religious 
meetings  in  the  church  on  the  Sundays  the  Presbyterians 
regularly  preached  at  the  courthouse,  other  than  on  our 
days."  Responding  to  this  feeling  the  Presbyterians  retained 
their  pews  in  the  Baptist  Church,  and  continued  to  worship 
there  and  at  the  courthouse  alternately,  holding  their  com- 
munion meetings  in  the  church,  until  they  built  their  own 
house  of  worship,  about  seven  years  afterwards. 

The  sessional  records  have  no  entries  for  the  years  1824 
and  1825  ;  but  from  other  sources  it  is  gathered  that  Mr. 
Barbour,  having   lost,  his  wife,  returned  to  the   North  in  the 

having  fallen  into  a  state  of  great  exhaustion  from  pulmonary  disease, 
was  driven  in  a  similar  way  from  Hanover,  N.  H.,  the  seat  of  the  college, 
by  his  wife,  a  woman  of  fine  intellectual  culture,  adorning  every  station 
in  which  she  was  placed,  to  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  He  returned 
to  Hanover  in  the  month  of  June,  disposing  of  his  horse,  a  noble  animal, 
to  Dr.  Wells,  of  Columbia. 


1820-1830.]  REV.  JOHN  HAKItlNGTON.  347 

year  1824,  after  which  the  church  was  without  a  she|)herd  for 
two  years,  during  which  time  they  retained  tin-ir  pews  and 
worsliipped  with  the  Baptists,  and,  in  conjunction  with  them, 
opened  the  first  Sabbatli -school  in  the  village,  and  a  prayei- 
meeting  on  the  Saturday  before  the  first  Sabbath  in  each 
month. 

Mr.  Barbour  was  appointed  commissioner  to  the  General 
Assembly  on  the  and  of  April,  1824,  and  made  his  report  by 
letter  to  Presbytery  on  November  13th,  making  application 
at  the  same  time  for  a  dismission  from  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony to  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry.  T'.ii.s  request  was 
granted,  and  he  was  "affectionately  recommended  as  a  brother 
in  good  and  regular  standing  with  this  Presbytery."  Mr.  Bar- 
bour subsequently  occupied  several  positions  at  the  North, 
and  died  at  Galesburg,  HI.,  February,  1869,  aged  75. 

In  1825,  (A.  W,).  In  the  summer  or  fall  ot  1826,  (J.  D.  B.) 
Rev.  John  Harrington  accepted  the  pastorate  for  half  his  time, 
giving  the  other  half  to  Mt.  Zion  Church.  At  the  beginning 
of  his  stewardship  four  members  were  added  to  the  churcli, 
among  them  Capt.  James  Caldwell,  the  father  of  the  late 
James  M.  Caldwell,  so  well  known  as  one  of  the  founders  of 
Mt.  Zion  (Glebe  Street)  Church  of  Charleston,  and  up  to  his 
death  one  of  its  most  active  and  efficient  elders.  Rev.  J. 
Harrington  continued  as  pastor  till  the  summer  of  1829, 
during  which  time  twenty-seven  persons  were  added  to  the 
membership.  He  served  the  people  most  earnestly  and 
acceptably,  and  was  greatly  beloved. 

In  May  1829,  Rev.  John  McEwen  accepted  an  invitation  to 
preach  for  the  Sumterville  Church.  (He  had  been  licensed 
by  the  Presbytery  at  Beaver  Creek,  December  6,  1828.) 

Mount  Zion  Church,  Sumter  District. — Rev.  Thomas 
Alexander  continued  to  minister  to  this  church  in  connection 
with  Salem  (B  R.)  until  1825,  when  his  health  failed,  and  he 
gave  up  both  charges. 

The  first  elders  were  Messrs.  John  Fleming,  Wm.  Carter 
and  Robert  Wilson.  After  a  few  years  Capt.  Willian  Ervin 
was  added  to  these.  In  January  1826  Rev.  John  Harrington 
took  charge  as  stated  supply  for  half  his  time,  and  preached 
with  great  acceptance..  In  August  1827  a  roost  gracious 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  commenced,  and  at  the  communion 
in  September  of  the  same  year  sixty-seven  members  were 
added    to  the   church   on    one   Sabbath        Mr.    Harrington's 


348  MOUNT    ZION,  SUMTER — SALEM,(B.  R.)  [1820-1830, 

preaching  was  more  apostolic  than  many  had  ever  heard 
here.  Probably  no  minister  ever  did  as  much  for  tiie  glory 
of  God,  and  the  good  of  the  churches  in  Harmony  Presby- 
tery in  the  same  space  of  time.  It  is  still  in  the  recollection 
of  some  of  the  now  (1877)  olde.s't  members  how  low  was  the 
condition  of  the  church  in  all  the  region  of  Black  River,  and 
how  loose  and  careless,  sometimes,  were  the  lives  even  of 
many  officers  of  the  Church.  This  good  work  commencing 
here  spread  from  church  to  church  until  all  the  churches  on 
Black  River  were  revived,  and  an  entire  change  took  place, 
and  has  so  continued. 

After  the  additions  in  1827  the  church  building  became  too 
small  for  the  congregation,  and  it  was  decided  by  a  large 
majority  to  build  a  more  commodious  house  of  worship  about 
three  miles  down  the  same  road  so  as  to  be  more  accessible 
to  the  larger  body  of  worshippers.  Unfortunately  this  gave 
offence  to  a  few  families  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  congre- 
gation, who  drew  off  and  were  formed  by  Presbytery  into 
another  church,  called  after  the  old  Newhope  Church.  In  fact 
it  consisted  of  the  original  members  of  that  church.  This  was 
soon,  however,  merged  into  the  Bishopville  Church. 

Salem,  Blac  Rivek. — Their  former  minister,  Rev.  Robert 
Anderson,  obliged  to  travel  for  his  health,  occasionally  visited 
his  former  flock.  In  1820  on  one  of  these  visits  he  preached 
to  them  twice,  although  his  state  of  health  and  bodily  suffer- 
ings, if  consulted,  would  not  have  admitted  it.  Again,  in  his 
continued  travels  for  his  continually  increasing  maladies,  he, 
for  the  last  time,  visited  them,  but  his  lips  as  a  public  ambas- 
sador, were  scaled,  although  on  his,  as  it  were,  dying  couch, 
when  permitted  by  a  most  distressing  cough,  he  ceased  not 
to  speak  in  behalf  of  his  Heavenly  Master,  to  the  few  that 
visited  him.  In  the  Spring  of  1821  he  left  them,  returned 
home  and  was  happily  released  from  all  his  mortal  sufferings. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Alexander  continued  to  minister  to  this 
church,  in  connection  with  Mount  Zion,  until  the  23d  of 
March,  1826.  The  Presbytery  of  Harmony  held  its  sessions 
at  the  church  at  that  time.  Letters  were  received  from  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Alexander  and  the  congregation  of  Salem  and 
Mount  Zion,  expressing  their  mutual  desire  to  have  the  pas- 
toral relation  between  them  dissolved.  The  prayer  of  the 
petition  was  granted  and  the  congregations  were  declared 
vacant.     A  call  from  Salem  for  the  ministerial  labors  of  Wil- 


1820-1830.]  MIDAVAY    AND    BliUTXGTON.  3-J9 

liam  J.  Wilson,  probationer,  was  received,  read,  presented  lo 
him  and  accepted.  On  Sabbath  morning  Mr.  Wilson  was 
ordained  in  connection  with  Wm.  Brearle)',  whose  ordination 
had  been  called  for  by  Zion  Church,  Winnsboro'.  John 
Harrington  preached  from  i  Tim.  4,  6.  "  Take  heed  unto 
thyself  and  unto  the  doctrine,  continue  in  them,  for  in  doing 
this  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself  and  them  that  hear  thee." 
The  Rev.  John  Joice  iiiade  the  ordination  prayer  and  de- 
livered the  charge  from  Ephes.  3,  8.  "Unto  me  also,  who  are 
less  than  the  least  of  all  Saints,  is'this  grace  given,  that  I 
should  preach  among  the  Gentiles  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ."  Mr.  Wilson  was  installed  pastor  of  the  church  of 
Salem  B.  R,  after  which  the  sacrament  of  ths  Lord's  Sup- 
per was  administered.  The  ministry  of  this  worthy  young 
man  of  whom  we  have  spoken  before  was  a  brief  one.  Ho 
died  on  the  23d  of  June,  1826.  Application  was  made  to 
Presbytery  for  a  supply  in  November,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Bascom  of  the  Cayuga  Presbytery,  being  present,  consented 
to  serve  the  church  for  the  following  winter.  The  Rev.  R. 
W.  James  had  been  released  from  the  pastoral  charge  of  the 
ciiurches  of  Bethel  and  Indian  Town,  and  was  installed  in  due 
form  pastor  of  this  church  at  an  extra  meeting  of  Presbytery 
on  the  i6th  of  July,  1828. 

The  names  of  the  Ruling  Elders  in  1825,  were  William 
Mills,  John  McFadden,  George  Cooper,  William  Wilson, 
William  Bradley  and  John  ShaW. 

The  whole  number  of  white  communicants,  44;  of  black, 
45      Total,  89. 

Midway  and  Bruington. — The  Rev.  John  Cousar  who 
commenced  his  pastoral  labors  in  the  Midway  Church  early 
in    1809,    continued    to    serve   the    churches   in    connection 

*In  the  cemeter.v  of  Salem  Church  is  found  the  following  inscription 
which  marks  the  resting  place  of  a  young  minister  who  came  here 
early  in  the  history  of  our  country  fr^m  the  North  of  Ireland.  He  was 
first  buried  near  the  former  church  edifice,  but  about  forty  years  ago  his 
ashes  were  removed  to  their  present  location. 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  the  Rev.  James  McClelland,  a  licentiate  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  who, in  the  providence  of  God  was  called  to 
preach  his  last  sermon  in  this  place." 

A  respect  for  the  Christian  Ministry  and  the  ashes,  of  a  stranger 
induced  Salem  congregation  to  erect  this  monument  to  his  remem- 
brance. 

"  The  dead  shall  be  raised  incorruptible." 
1829. 


350  CHESTERFIELD    COURTHOUSE.  [1820-1830. 

through  this  period.  Midway  Churcli  is  represented  to  have 
been  in  a  flourishing  condition  for  many  years.  About  the 
year  1827  some  twenty  members  of  this  church  went  off  and 
formed  Harmony  Church,  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev. 
John  McEwen. 

Midway  reported  86  communicants  in   1826,   13   of  whom 
were  received  within  the  preceding  year,  and  108  members  in 

1828,  22  of  whom  were  received  within-the  year;  in  1829,  141 
members.  60  of  whom  had  been  received  on  examination. 
Bruington  reported  52  members  in  1826,  and  61  in  1828,  12 
of  whoni  had  been  added  the  last  year  ;  in  1 829, 1 14  members, 
40  of  whom  had  been  added  on  examination. 

Chesterfield  Courthouse.  —  The  following  churches, 
Chesterfield,  Pine  Tree  and  Sandy  Run,  appear  in  the  statis- 
tical tables  in  the  Assembly's  minutes  to  be  connected  some- 
times with  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  and  sometimes  with 
the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville.  This  was  by  a  mutual  agree- 
ment between  the  two  Presbyteries.  The  church  being  an- 
swerable to  the  Presbyter/  of  ics  pastor.  Chesterfield  and 
Pine  Tree,  are  reckoned  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony 
in  1819,  among  its  vacant  churches,  whereas  Chesterville, 
Pine  Tree  and  Sandy  Run  had  been  reckoned  to  Fayetteville 
in  1818,  as  they  also  are  in  1820.  PineTreeand  Sandy  Run 
was  with  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  in  1822,  as  is  also 
Hopewell  in  South  Carolina.  Pine  Tree  and  Sandy  Run  are 
with  Fayetteville  in  1825.  PineTreeis  withFayetteville  in  1828, 
John  McFarland  the  supply.  Soalsoin  1829.  In  i83oJohn  Mc- 
Fariand,  S.  S..  of  Pine  Tree  and  Chesterfield,  are  assigned  to 
Harmony,  and  Chesterfield  Courthouse  is  his  postofifice.  In 
1 83 1  it  is  the  same.  The  probability  is  that  the  churches  in 
Chesterfield  District  and  those  in  corresponding  localities  are 
very  much  one  in  race,  and  that  it  has  often  been  easier  to 
obtain  an  acceptable  supply  from  the  Presbytery  of  Fayette- 
ville than  from  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina. 

The  Rev.  John  McFarland  appeared  before  the  Presbytery 
of  Harmony  at  its  meeting  at  Mount  Zion  Church  in  October, 

1829,  and  was  received  into  this  body  by  a  dismission  and 
recommendation  from  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville.  At 
the  same  meeting  he  sought  the  opinion  and  advice  of  Pres- 
bytery in  a  certain  case  of  difificulty  which  had  presented 
itself  in  his  pastoral  labors.  The- postoffice  address  of  Mr. 
Jno.  McFarland  was  Chesterfield  Courlhome,  anJ  this  pro- 
bably was  the  central  point  of  his  labors. 


1820-1S30.]  PINE  TREE LITTLE  PEE  DEE  351 

Pine  Tkee. — This  church  associated  with  Sandy  Run, 
continued  to  report  to-  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville  from 
1814,  as  is  shown  by  the  preceding  pages.  Their  united 
membership  in  1826,  1827,  is  stated  to  be  100;  in  1829,  125. 
They  were  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Rev.  John  B, 
McFarland  as  the  successor  of  Rev.  CoUn  Mclver.  Tradi- 
tion says  this  took  place  in  18 14,  but  probably  it  m.ay  have 
been  somewhat  later.  His  name  is  not  recorded  as  among 
the  ministers  of  Fayetteville  Presbytery  in  18 14.  In  the 
roll  in  the  minutes  of  18 19,  he  is  set  down  as  the  minister  ot 
Chesterfield,  Pine  Tree  and  Sandy  Run.  Many  of  his  hearers 
could  only  understand  the  Gaelic,  which  was  still  spoken  in 
their  families,  and  he  was  accustomed  to  preach  in  both  lan- 
guages, the  Gaelic  and  the  English,  when  ministering  among 
his  people.  He  continued  to  serve  the  Pine  Tree  Church 
throufih  this  decade. 

Little  Pee  Dee — In  the  year  1821,  Duncan  Mclntire, 
Senr.,  came  from  Scotland  to  this  community  and  having 
obtained  a  partial  education  in  Scotland,  pursued  his  studies 
in  the  country  with  a  view  to  the  sacred  ministry.  He  was 
received  under  the  care  of  the  Fayetteville  Presbytery,  and 
was  licensed  about  the  year  1826.  He  preached  in  the  com- 
munity, at  the  house  of  Mr  Alexander  Campbell,  about  two 
years,  and  organized  the  church,  now  bearing  the  name  of 
Little  Pee  Dee,  consisting  of  forty  or  fifty  members  and  one 
elder,  Malcom  Carmichael,  Sr.  He  preached  for  a  year  or 
more  to  this  church,  then  removed  to  Moore  Co.  N.  C,  to 
take  charge  ot  a  small  church  to  which  he  was  invited.  Mr. 
Mclntire  was  greatly  esteemed,  and  his  preaching  was  charac- 
terized by  great  fervour  and  point.  He  preached  also  in 
Gaelic  for  the  benefit  of -that  part  of  the  fllock  who  used  only 
that  language.  Mr.-  Mclntire  and  the:  late  Archibald 
McQueen  were  associated  in  the  ministry  over  several 
churches  at  that  time,  and  on  Mr.  Mclntire's  departure  he  re- 
quested Mr.  McQueen  to  supply  this  church  as  often  as  pos- 
sible. Mr.  McQueen  then  preached  to  this  church  once  a 
month,  on  a  week  day  for  about  nine  months.  Thus  this  in- 
fant church  was  not  cared  for  during  this  decade. 

Red  Bluff  .and  Shakon  Churches. — We  have  spoken  of 
these  on  preceding  pages.  Rev.  Malcom  McNair.of  Fay- 
etteville Presbytery,  was  officiating  as  pastor  of  Red  Bluff,  in 
connection  with  Center,  Ashpole  and   Laurel  Hill.     He  died 


352  DARLINGTON,  [1820-1830. 

August  4,  1822,  when  tliese  churches  became  vacant  and 
continued  so  until  August  2d,  1828,  when  Duncan  Mclntire 
was  installed  as  their  pastor.  He  preached  for  them  but  a 
short  time — the  relation  was  dissolved  December  25th,  1829; 
[MSS.  of  Rev.  J.  A.  Cousar.] 

Darlington. — The  Presbyterian  Church  of  Darlington  was 
organized  by  a  Committee  of  Harmony  Presbytery  on  the 
17th  of  November,  1827.  The  church,  when  constituted, 
consisted  of  eighteen  members.  Four  Ruling  Elders  were 
elected,  viz:  Mr.  Gavin  Witherspoon,  who  had  served  in  the 
capacity  of  elder  in  Aimwell  Church,  Marion  District ;  Messrs. 
Samuel  Wilson,  Murdock  McLean  and  Daniel  Dubose. 

The  Rev.  John  Harrington  was  the  first  Presbyterian  min- 
ister who  occasionally  preached  in  the  courthouse  at  Dar- 
lington, and  prepared  the  way  tor  the  religious  society  which 
afterwards  was  formed  into  a  church. 

Through  his  instrumentality  a  church  edifice  was  erected 
seven  miles  east  of  the  village  of  Darlington.  This  enterprise 
was  subsequently  abandoned,  and  tlie  Presbyterian  interests 
concentrated  in  the  village  where  the  church  now  stands — 
the  only  church  at  present  (1853)  of  the  Presbyterian  denom- 
ination in  the  district. 

The  present  commodious  building  was  erected  by  the  libe- 
rality of  the  few  Presbj'terians  in  the  place,  aided  by  members 
of  the  Methodist  and  Baptist  churches,  with  sundiy  other 
citizens.  Subsequently,  by  the  agency  of  Rev.  R.  W.  Bailey, 
contributions  were  made  in  some  of  the  churches  of  Black 
River  for  the  full  completion  of  the  church  edifice. 

The  original  members  were  principally  from  Hopewell 
Church,  in  Marion  District,  and  were  regarded  as  a  colony  or 
branch  of  that  church;  and  for  several  years  there  existed 
much  intercommunion  between  its  members,  some  of  whom 
contributed  to  the  support  of  the  ministry  in  Darlington. 
For  many  years  the  two  churches  were  supplied  by  the  same 
ministers. 

The  names  re:)resenting  the  principal  families  which  com- 
posed the  church  are  the  following  :  Gavin  Witherspoon, 
Samuel  Wilson,  Daniel  DuBose,  Murdock  McLean,  Abner 
Wilson,  Robert  Killin,  John  Jackson,  Elizabeth  Ervin,  Jamc-s 
Ervin,  John  DuBose,  Rebecca  DuBose,  Mary  Law,  Jane 
Alexander. 

The  greater  part  of  the  original  members  were  descendants 


1820-1830.]  OIIERAW.  353 

of  Scotch  and  Irish  Presbyterians,  and  of  the  French  Hugue- 
nots, who  loved  the  church  of  their  fathers  in  its  purest  forms 
of  doctrine,  discipline  and  government, 

The  session  held  its  first  meeting  on  the  igth  of  November, 
1827,  w.hen  Dr.  McLean  was  chosen  clerk  of  the  session. 
Rev.  N.  R.  Morgan,  a  member  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  was 
chosen  their  minister,  to  serve  them  as  a  stated  supply,  in 
connection  with  the  Hopewell  Church,  which  relation  con- 
tinued until  the  close  of  the  year  1832,  when  he  removed  to 
the  State  of  Alabama.     [MSS.  of  Rev.  Wm.  Bearley.] 

The  Presbyterian  Church  in  Cheraw. — In  the  year  18 19 
some  enterprising  individuals,  mostly  from  the  Northern 
States,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  were  induced  to  settle  at  the 
head  of  navigation  on  Pee  Dee  River,  with  the  view  of  build- 
ing a  city.  A  company  of  some  eight  persons  purchased  the 
tract  of  land  which  is  now  the  site  of  the  Town  of  Cheraw. 

In  1823  or  1824  the  new  settlers,  mostlj'  young  and  un- 
married men,  made  a  subscription  of  $600  and  employed  the 
Rev.  N.  R.  Morgan,  of  North  Carolina,  a  Pre.sbyterian,  to 
become  the  clergyman  of  the  new  settlement.  It  is  believed 
that  not  one  of  the  persons  who  were  engaged  in  this  move- 
ment was  a  professor  of  religion. 

Mr.  Morgan  officiated  at  first  in  the  old  "  King's  Church" — 
St.  David's — that  trad  been  built  by  royal  bounty  in  Colonial 
times.  Among  the  old  settlers  there  were  a  few  Episcopalians 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  in  Marlborough  District,  and 
perhaps  a  scattered  few  in  Chesterfield. 

As  the  prospects  of  the  town  brightened  the  Episcopalians 
claimed  the  church  building  as  "  heirs  presumptive,"  and  after 
some  ineffectual  struggles  the  Presbyterians  withdrew,  as  did 
also  the  Baptists,  who  had  for  many  years  used  the  church  as 
a  preaching  station. 

Mr.  Morgan's  adherents  were  called  Presbyterians,  a.nd  went 
to  considerable  expense  in  repairing  the  old  church  edifice, 
which  they  found  in  a  very  dilapidated  and  ruinous  condition. 

From  their  citizenship,  and  disbursements  upon  the  church, 
they  considered  their  title  to  the  building  paramount  to  all 
others,  and  were  disposed  t»o  exclude  traveling  preachers, 
especially  the  Baptists,  who  regarded  their  prescriptive  rights 
as  better  than  the  claims  of  the  new  comers. 

The  contention  at  times  resulted  in  scenes  that  were  obnox- 
ious to  the  charge  of  indecorum,  at  least  on  the  Sabbath  day. 


854  REV.  N.  li.  MORGAN— BOILING  SPKINGS.       [182CI-]8;ifl. 

On  one  Sabbath  a,  public  appointmej)t  was  made  for  a  Bap- 
tist preacher,  without  the  consent  or  knowledge  of  Mr.  Mor- 
gan, and  when  his  friends  were  apprised  of  it,  they  determined 
to  have  a  struggle  for  the  pulpit. 

In  the  morning  one  of  Morgan's  men  was  stationed  on  an 
eminence  at  some  distance  from  the  church,  by  the  camton  of 
the  town,  with  a  lighted  match  in  his  hand  ready  to  make  a 
quick  and  loud  report  if  the  Morgan  party  were  victorious. 
The  hour  for  preaching  found  Morgan's  men  in  possession  of 
the  avenues  to  the  pulpit,  and  when  they  opened  their  column 
to  let  him  pass  up,  the  white  handkerchief  was  waived — the 
concerted  signal — and  bang  went  the  gun  1 

After  the  Presbyterians  withdrew  from  Episcopal  founda- 
tions and  Baptist  invasions,  they  had  more  peaceable  times. 

Mr.  Morgan  then  conducted  his  public  religious  service.s 
on  Sabbath  in  the  "upper  room"  of  the  Male  Academy,,  a 
spacious  building  that  had  been  erected  by  the  proprietors 
and  citizens  of  the  place. 

After  Mr.  Morgan's  removal,  say  in  1826,  the  Rev.  Urias 
Powers,  a  missionary  from  a  Presbyterian  Society  in  Charles- 
ton, succeeded  him.  Mr.  Powers  continued  to  officiate  in  the 
''  npper  room  "  till  the  present  church  edifice  of  the  Presby- 
terians was  so  far  finished  as  to  afford  a  shelter  tohis  little  flock. 

Qn  the  iQth  of  March,  1828,  he  organized  a  Presbyterian 
Qiurch,  consisting  of  twenty  members,  most  of  whom  aie 
now  (1853)  dead,  and  the  few  survivors  have  emigrated,  every 
one  to  the  West  and  South,  The  loth  day  of  April,  183,0;  is 
the  earliest  date  of  Qur  regular  church  records.  [MSSi  of  J. 
C.  Coit.] 

BoiUNG  Springs  (Barnwell  District.) — It  is  the  testimony- 
of  Dr.  Hagood,  elder  of  the  church  at  Barnwell  C.  H.„that: 
a  Mr.  Weeks  preached  in  a  church  built  by  a  Mrs.  Stoine  im 
Pr.  Hagood's  youth,  befpre  the  church  at  Boiling  Springs. 
was  built.  This  last  church  was  built  in  1824.  The  other 
church  was  given  by  Mrg.  Stone  to  the  Baptists.  But  the 
religious  condition  of  this  community  will  be  better  under- 
stood from  the  following  extract  from  a  letter  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  H.  Hay  to  the  author  ; 

Camden,  Septpmlier  I7th,  1878. 
Mil  dear  Dr   Howe : 

I  received  your  letter  yesterday  evening,  and  hasten  to  give  you 
whatever  information  I  have  with  reference  to  the  organization  of  the 
Presbyteriap  Chuj-ch  at  Boiling  Springs,  apd  thp  tiuil^iflg  of  3,  JiPB.^e  of 
worship  at  Barpwell  C.  If- 


1820-1830.]  COLUMBIA.  355 

Boilins;  S^.rings  was  a  little  village,  consisting  of  a  few  families,  which 
owed,  whatever  importance  it  had,  to  its  healthfulness,  and  to  its  hav- 
ing been,  for  rjiany  years,  the  seat  of  a  flourishing  academy.  My  father 
began  its  settlement  by  making  it  his  place  of  abode  about  the  year 
1820.  I  remember  that" ministers  from  New  England  visited  the  place, 
from  time  to  time,  when  I  was  a  child,  and  were  my  father's  guests, 
They  preached  in  the  academy.  Ab'out  1827  or  1828,  Mr.  Samuel  V. 
Mar.jhall  a  Kentuckiaii,  a  graduate  of  Princeton,  a  licentiate,  laoourgd 
for  some  time  at  Boiling  Springs.  His  preaching  was  blest  and  several 
were  hopefully  converted.  Dr.  Talmage  ithen  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Augusta,  Ga  ,  visited  the  place,  received  some  into  the  church  upon  pro- 
fesson  of  faith  and  administered  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper, 
A  comfortable  house  of  worship  was  erected  a  short  time  after  this, 
and  was  irregularly  supplied  by  ministers  from  abroad.  Kev.  Edward 
Palmer,  pastor  of  Stony  Creek  Church  for  several  years,  visited  Boil- 
ing Springs  and  preached  and  administered  the  sacrament  there.  He 
received  me  as  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This  was  done 
by  a  kind  of  evangelistic  authority,  as  is  the  case  when  no  organized 
church  as  yet  exists. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Columbia. — The  affairs  of  this  church  moved  on  with  re- 
gularity till  the  beginning  of  this  decade.  The  session  being 
much  reduced  by  the  death  of  its  members,  it  was  r-esolved 
to  nominate  V,  D.  V.  Jamieson,  M.  P.,  and  Mr.  William  Law 
as  candidates  to  fill  the  office  of  Rulin,g  Elder.  This  nomin- 
ation made  by  the  still  existing  s;ession,  being  confirmed  by  a 
vote  of  the  members,  they  were  solemnly  set  apart  by  ordina- 
tion on  the  8th  of  July,  182a  _Dr.  Jamieson  had  been,  elec- 
ted in  1804  to  the  legislature  from  Orange  Parish.  He  was 
returned  again  in  1818,  his  cansent  being  first  obtained,  he 
was  inducted  into  the  eldership.  He  resided  at  one  time  in, 
the  neighborhood  of  Orangeburg,  again  in  St.  Mathews  Parish, 
but  had  been  a  member  of  th,e  Presbyterian  Church  in  Col- 
umbia since  1805.  The  term  far  which  Dr.  Henry  was  elec- 
ted was  to  expire  on  the  1st  of  Niwember,  t82i.  On  the 
:28th  January  it  was,  unanimausly  agreed  to  ren;ew  the  enr 
gagement  for  a  second  term,  to  begin  with,  the  first  of  the  next. 
November. 

About  this  period  the  plan  began  ta  be  formed  0/  builHing 
a  parsonage.  The  lot  immediately  in  front  of  the  church  was. 
secured  at  a  cost  of  ;^;i,ooo>  contracts  were  entered  into  for 
erecting  a  suiita-ble  building  of  brick  upon  it,  the  whole  cost 
of  the  building  and  lot  was  considerably  over  ;^8,OOOi  andi 
after  all  th^tc.ojuldi  he   ra,ised  by  subscription,  an  incuhu.s,  of 


35<)  COLUMBIA.  []  820-1830 

debt  was  left  resting  upon  the  congregation  which  was  a  vex- 
atious trouble  for  a  considerable  time. 

As  Mr.  Henry's  second  term  of  service  drew  near  its  close, 
a  meeting  of  the  members  and  pewholders  was  called  to  enter 
into  an  election  of  a  pastor.  This  meeting  was  moderated  by 
the  Rev.  Robert  Means.  Mr.  Henry  was  renominated  for  a 
third  triennial  period  and  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  twenty- 
eight  votes.  His  salary  was  reduced  to  ^1,500  with  the  use 
of  the  parsonage.  Mr.  Henry  saw  fit  for  various  reasons  to 
decline  the  call,  and  accordingly  sent  his  letter  of  resigna- 
tion to  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  held  on  the  9th  of  De- 
cember, 1823,  which  resignation  was  accepted  by  the  con- 
gregation, In  connection  with  this  resignation,  Mr.  Law  re- 
signed the  office  which  he  held  as  Ruling  Elder,  and  with- 
drew from  active  duties  until  invited  to  resume  them  in  the 
year  1831.  On  the  i6th  of  December,  1823  the  Rev  Robt. 
Means  was  chosen  as  a  temporary  supply  for  the  pulpit. 

Thus  terminated  the  connection  of  Dr.  Henry  with  this 
church,  which  had  continued  (or  a  period  of  five  years  and 
two  months.  Notwithstanding  some  notes  of  opposition  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  stay  which  resulted  in  his  separation  from 
the  church,  it  cannot  be  questioned  that  his  labours  were 
much  b]essed,  and  the  church  much  enlarged  through  his  in- 
strumentality. Seventy  members  had  been  admitted  during 
the  period  of  his  ministry  for  the  larger  number  of  whom 
were  received  upon  profession  of  their  faith. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  '1824,  Mr.  Means  consented  to 
serve  as  a  temporary  supply,  and  on  the  3d  of  March,  was 
elected  pastor  for  the  term  of  three  years.  The  following 
persons,  Thomas  Wells,  M.  D.,  James  Young,  and  Robert 
Mills,  were  elected  and  ordained  as  elders,  and  took  their 
seats  in  session  for  the  first  time  on  the  I2lh  of  June,  1824. 

The  debt  incurred  in  building  the  parsonage  had  never 
been  liquidated.  It  was  sold  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Means  and  has 
passed  as  private  property  into  other  hands. 

The  division  of  the  burial  ground  into  lots  and  the  sale  of 
them  was  the  occasion  of  animosities  not  soon' allayed,  but  it 
has  prevailed,  except  to  those  unable  to  pay,  till  the  present 
day.  It  gave  rise  to  a  suit  in  law  against  the  church,  which 
by  the  decision  of  C.  J.  Colcock,  judge,  was  decided  in  its 
favor. 

On  the  third  of  June,  1825,  letters  of  dismission  were  given 


18.'M-1830.]  BETHESDA,  CAMDEN.  357 

by  the  Session  to  Zebulon  Rudolph,  one  of  the  Ruling  El- 
ders, to  connect  himself  with  the  Baptist  Church.  The  term 
for  which  Mr.  Means  was  elected  expiring  in  March,  1827,  a 
meeting  was  held  of  the  members  and  pew  holders  on  the 
29th  of  May,  1826,  in  anticipation  of  it.  By  the  nomination 
of  the  Session,  Mr.  Means  was  duly  re-elected  for  a  second 
term.  The  salary  was  fixed  at  ^1,500  with  what  the  pew 
rents  should  yield  beyond,  provided  it  should  not  exceed 
jS2,ooo.  This  call  Mr.  Means  saw  fit  to  decline.  The  Session 
were  instructed  to  obtain  temporary  supplies,  and  the  Rev. 
John  Rennie  was  invited  by  them  and  took  charge  in  this 
capacity  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  June,  1827.  Mr.  Rennie  was 
elected  pastor  on  the  2Sth  of  October  following,  at  a  salary 
of  $1,500. 

On  the  8th  of  November,  1828,  a  deed  of  gift  of  a  lot  of 
land  was  executed  by  Col.  Abraham  Blanding,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  a  Lecture  and  Sabbath  School  Room.  A 
brick  building  forty  feet  by  twenty-three  feet  and  one  story 
in  height  was  erected  thereon  at  a  cost  of  ;^8oo,  which  was 
completed  and  occupied  in  the  early  part  of  1829. 

At  the  annual  meeting  on  May  11,  1829,  the  Sabbath 
school  was  taken  under  the  care  of. the  Corporation  and  a 
committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  direct  it  and  to  report 
annually.* 

Bethesda  Church  (Camden.) — This  church  had  been  for 
some  time  vacant.  At  a  meeting  held  on  the  20th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1820,  it  was  resolved  to  employ  the  Rev.  Austin  Dickin- 
son, who  was  born  in  Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth 
College  in  181 3,  who  was  educated  partly  at  Princeton  in 
1818,  and  at  Andover,  to  supply  the  pulpit  for  the  winter. 
He  labored  with  great  acceptance  to  the  congregation,  and 
his  services  were  followed  by  the  divine  blessing.  He  after- 
wards established  himself  in  New  York  where  he  conducted, 
as  its  editor,  the  National  Preacher.  In  1831  he  visited 
England,  chiefly  for  the  recovery  of  his  health,  and  as  the 
companion  of  Rev.  Mr.  Nettleson,  and  preached  nearly  every 
Sabbath.     His  last    enterprise   was  an  endeavor  to  enlist  the 

secular  press  in  communicating  religious  intelligence  and 
» 

*The  Female's  Auxiliary  Missionary  Society  of  this  church  contribu- 
ted to  the  Synodical  Missionary  Society  in  1829,  $100.  The  whole  con- 
tributions of  the  church  to  that  Society  during  this  year  was  $615.59. 
Third  Annual  Report  of  said  Society,  January,  1823., 


358  BETHES]>A,  CAMDEN.  [1820-1830, 

exerting  its  influence  in  favor  of  truth,  virtue  and  true  happi- 
ness. He  was  not  ordained  until  1826.  He  therefore  was 
but  a  licentiate  when  he  preached  in  Camden.  In  the  midst 
of  his  efforts,  through  the  secular  press,  which  attracted  at- 
tention by  the  direct,  graphic  and  impressive  style  in  which  he 
clothed  his  thoughts,  he  was  smitten  by  death  on  the  14th 
of  August,  1849,  in  the  59th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  ear- 
nestly entreated  to  settle  in  Camden,  but  ill  health  prevented 
any  stated  service  in  the  ministry.  His  "  life  was  one  long 
disease." 

During  the  spring  of  1820,  the  church  \yas  visited  by  Rev. 
John  Joyce,  who  entered  into  a  temporary  engagement  to 
supply  the  pulpit. 

After  some  months  the  congregation  increased  so  rapidly 
that  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  build  a  larger  church  in  a 
more  central  situation.  On  the  20th  of  July,  1820,  Messrs, 
William  Ancrum,  Jas.  K.  Douglas  and  Alex.  Young  were 
elected  a  building  committee.  At  a  meeting  held  on  the 
1 2th  of  February,  1821,  the  Rev.  John  Joyce  was  unanimously 
invited  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of  this  congregation  for 
three  years,  at  a  salary  of  ^I200.  Mr.  Joyce  accepted  the  in- 
vitation on' condition  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  travel  dur- 
ing the  months  of  July,' August  and  September. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  the  15th  of  December,  1822,  Mr. 
Joyce  resigned  his  cliarge,  in  accepting  which  resignation 
the  church  tendered  to  him  their  thanks  for  the  able,  elo- 
quent and  faithful  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties  while  resi- 
dent witli  them. 

About  this  time  the  church  'was  finished  and  a  neat  edifice 
it  was,  costing  |1 14,000.  All  the  arrangements  were  made  to 
meet  the  peculiar  views  of  Mr.  Joyce,  and  great  was  the  dis- 
appointment when  he  changed  his  purposes  and  did  not  re- 
turn to  occupy  the  building  expressly  erected  to  suit  his 
notions.  His  remark  that  a  handsome  church  in  any  town, 
village  or  city,  gives  character  to  its  citizens,  however  true  it 
may  be,  did  not  seem  enough  to  justify  him  in  withdrawing 
his  services  and  leave  the  unoccupied  edifice  to  speak  for 
itself 

In  the  month  of  October,  1822,  thechurchvas  dedicated  ta. 
the  service  and  worship  of  Almighty  God,  by  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam D.  Snodgrass  and  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Davis.     Mr.  Davis  con  - 
tinued  to  preach  for  some  months,  and  on  the  I2th  of  January, 


1820-1830.]  BETHBSDA,  CAMDEN.  SoD 

1823,  he  was  invited  to  take  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  con- 
gregation for  one  year,  and  on  the  23d  of  September,  if^23, 
he  tendered  his  resignation,  to  take  effect  on  the  1st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1824. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  1823,  Wiih'am  Ancrum  was  duly  elect- 
ed a  Ruling  Elder  of  this  church.  After  other  unavailing 
efforts  had  been  made,  the  services  of  the  Rev.  R.  B.  McLeod, 
of  New  York,  were  obtained  for  one  year,  beginning  with  Feb- 
ruary, 1824.  On  the  29th  of  March,  1825,  Rev.  John  Joyce  was 
again  invited.  He  entered  on  his  labors  on  the  24th  of  April  in 
that  year,  and  remained  until  January  1827.  The  Rev.  Sam'l 
S.  Davis  was  again  elected  as  pastor  on  the  4th  of  February 
in  the  same  year,  but,  on  account  of  previous  engagements, 
was  not  able  to  accept  at  that  time.  During  the  interval  the 
pulpit  was  supplied  by  the  Rev.  Reynolds  Bascom,  who  had 
charge  of  the  female  school  in  Camden.  On  the  4th  of  No- 
vember, 1827,  '^hs  Rev.  S.  S.  Davis  was  again  unanimously 
elected,  and  at  the  same  time  Daniel  L.  DeSaussure,  William 
Vernon  and  Dr.  Geo.  Reynolds  were  duly  elected  as  Ruling 
Elders  to  occupy  the  places  of  Mr.  Murray,  removed,  and  Dr» 
Alexander  and  Wm.  Lang,  Esq  ,  deceased. 

The  Rev.  S.  S.  Davis  accepted  the  call  to  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  church,  entered  upon  his  duties  in  the  month 
of  January  1828,  and  continued  in  discharge  of  them  accepta- 
bly to  the  church  and  the  community  at  large. 

In  all  this  history  which  we  have  now  rehearsed  we  do  not 
see  the  usages  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The 
ministers  in  all  these  instances  were  hut  temporary  supplies. 
They  were  invited  by  the  people,  accepted  the  invitation  or 
declined  it,  entered  upon  their  charge  or  resigned  that  charge, 
without  any  intervention  of  Presbytery,  on  the  principle  of 
independency,  as  if  there  were  no  Presbytery  to  which  con- 
gregation, minister,  and  session  were  in  subjection,  and  with- 
out whose  intervention  no  pastoral  relation  can  be  ecclesias- 
tically constituted  or  terminated.  A  principle  vital  to  true 
ecclesiastical  government,  and  contained  in  that  form  of  gov- 
ernment which  the  Westminster  standards,  and  indeed  those 
of  all  true  Presbyterian  Churches  of  other  countries,  set  forth; 

The  largest  membership  in  this  church  according  to  the 
statistical  tables  found  in  the  General  Assembly's  minutes, 
during  this  decade,  was  sixty-one,  in  the  years  1824-1825  ; 
the  smallest  forty^  m  the  year  1828.  The  average  member- 
ship was  a  fraction  under  fifty. 


360  ZION,  WINNSBOEO.  [1820-1830. 

ZiON  Church  (VVinnsboro'.) — In  the  excitement  and  inter- 
ruption occasioned  by  the  psalmody  question,  Mr.  Ross 
thought  it  his  duty  to  relinquish  his  charge  of  the  congre- 
gation. The  relation  was  dissolved  in  the  fall  of  1822.  The 
churcli  was  destitute  of  the  regular  means  of  grace  until  sup- 
plied by  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Synod  of  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia,  which  authorized  \he  Rev.  John  McKinney, 
a  licentiate  of  Carlisle  Presbytery,  Pennsylvania,  to  minister 
to  them.  This  was  in  November  1824.  After  having  served 
them  the  short  term  of  nine  months  he  returned  to  the  North. 
The  congregation  was  again  vacant.  Application  was  then 
made  to  the  Princeton  Seminary  for  a  supply.  In  compliance 
with  this  request,  the  Rev.  William  Brearly  came,  and  began 
to  preach  December  i,  182.5.  At  that  time  the  church  num- 
beied  fifty  members,  with  two  elders.  In  April  1826  Rev. 
William  Brearly  was  unanimously  elected  pastor.  The  two 
eiders  were  Col.  Wm.  McCreight  and  Wm.  Robinson.  On 
the  23d  of  March,  1826,  a  called  meeting  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Harmony  was  held  at  Salem  Church,  Black  River,  which, 
by  request  of  the  Moderator,  Rev.  John  Joyce,  was  opened 
by  Mr.  Brearly  by  a  sermon  from  John  16  :  9  At  this  meet- 
ing he  was  received  from  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J.,  as  a  probationer  under  the  care  of  Presby- 
tery. ''  A  petition  was  presented  in  behalf  of  the  churches 
of  Zion,  Salem,  L.  R.,  and  Aimwell,  praying  Presbytery  to 
ordain  Mr.  William  Brearly  as  a  supply  among  them."  'After 
taking  into  serious  consideration  the  destitute  situation  of  the 
above  churches  for  several  years  past,  and  their  declining 
state  for  want  of  the  regular  administration  of  the  ordinances 
of  the  gospel,  it  was  resolved  that  the  prayer  of  the  petition 
be  granted,  and  that  Presbytery  proceed  to  the  examination 
of  Mr.  Brearly  with  a  view  to  his  ordination.  Ordered  that 
Mr.  Brearly  deliver  a  sermon  from  Matthew  6  •  10,  to-morrow 
afternoon."  [Minutes  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  Vol.  I,  p.  427.] 
A  call  from  the  congregation  of  Salem,  L.  R.,  for  the  rtiinis- 
terial  labors  of  William  J.  Wilson  was  presented  to  Presby- 
tery at  the  same  meeting.  The  candidates  were  examined 
together  and  were  ordained  on  Sabbath  morning,  March  26, 
1826. 

On  the  2nd  of  November,  1828,  James  McCreight  was 
elected  an  elder  of  Zion  Church.  It  is  worthy  of  mention 
also  that  Rev.  John  McKinney,  Missionary  »f  the   Synodical 


1820-1830  ]       SAI.EM  (L.  H.) — LEBANON  AND  MT.  OLIVET.  361 

Missionary  Spciety,  had  filled  appointments  at  Winnsboro', 
Salem,  L.  R.,  and  Aimwell.  Mr.  William  J.  Wilson  had  be- 
stowed all  hfs  appointments,  six  in  number,  upon  Catholic, 
Horeb,  and  Beckhamsville.     [Minutes,  pp.  425,  426.] 

The  statistical  tables  of  the  General  Assembly  indicate  fifty- 
nine  as  the  largest  number  of  communicants  in  Zion  (Winns- 
boro') Church  during  this  decade,  and  fifty- four  as  the  average. 

Salem  (Little  River)  shared  with  Zion  Church  in  the 
labors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Ross  till  1822,  and  afterwards  in  those  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Brearly  till  1829,  when  Robert  Means  became  its 
stated  supply.  It  is  noted  in  the  Assembly's  Minutes  as 
vacant  in  1826,  1827,  and  as  having  thirty  members.  Its 
membership  in  1829  was  thirty-three. 

Aimwell  Church,  on  Cedar  Creek. — About  1822,  Mr. 
Ross  removed  to  Pendleton.  This  Church  remained  desti- 
tute for  some  considerable  time,  after  which  it  was  supplied 
Dy  Rev.  Mr.  McKinney  for  nearly  a  year,  who  was  immedi- 
ately succeded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Brearley,  who  began  preaching 
towards  the  close  of  December,  1825,  or  early  in  1826,  and 
gave  to  the  church  one-fourth  of  his  time.  Its  membership 
was  thirty-three  in  1829. 

Horeb  or  Mt.  HoREB.^On  Crooked  River,  Fairfield. 
From  a  memorandum  found  in  the  hands  of  one  of  the  elders 
we  learn  that  there  was  an  election  of  elders  on  the  20th  of 
September,  1820,  that  John  Elliott  and  John  Brown  were 
ordained,  and  that  John  Hamilton,  who  was  also  elected  had 
been  before  ordained  in  another  branch  of  the  church.  The 
last  record  of  baptism.-;  by  Dr.  Montgomery  was  on  the  13th 
of  August,  1820.  The  Rev.  Wm.  Wilson,  a  Missionary  of 
Harmony  Presbytery,  began  to  preach  as  a  supply  in  the 
summer  of  1825,  and  Rev.  John  McKinney  also.  During 
the  year  1826,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brearley  commenced  preaching 
once  a  month.  On  the  27th  of  September,  1828,  John  Elliott 
was  the  only  elder;  James  Brown  had  removed  to  the  West. 
John  Turnipseed  was  ordained  to  this  office ;  about  this  time 
the  members  in  full  communion  were  about  twenty.  In  the 
statistic  tables  appended  to  the  assembly's  minutes,  the  largest 
membership  is  thirty. 

Lebanon  and  Mt.  Olivet,  continued  under  the  same  pas- 
torate, that,  namely,  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Yongue,  until 
1828.  In  1829,  they  are  represented  in  the  Assembly's 
tables  as  vacant,  and  no  longer    associated    as    one    pastoral 


362  CONCORD   CHUKCH.  [1820-1830. 

charge.  Their  statistics  are  not  given.  On  the  I2th  of 
April,  1829,  tiie  Presbytery  of  Harmonv  met  at  Mt.  Olivet 
church,  and  the  next  day  ordained  Mr.  Charles  LeRoy  Boyd 
(who  had  been  preaching  to  Jthree  churches  since  his  hcen- 
ture  on  the  l6th  of  July,  1828.  by  the  order  of  Presbytery, 
and  at  the  request  of  the  churches),  as  pastor  of  the  united 
churches  of  Lebanon,  (Jacksons  Creek)  and  IVft.  Olivet. 

Rouse's  version  of  the  Psalms  was  used  in  the  worship  of 
God.  Infants  were  baptised  when  offered  by  their  parents, 
whether  their  parents  were  in  full  communion  or  not.  But 
little  is  known  of  the  internal  aifairs  of  the  church  for  the 
first  forty  years  of  its  existence.  The  traditional  account  is 
that  it  had  heretofore  experienced  no  extensive  revivals  of  re- 
ligion, a  few  members  were  occasionally  added  ;  the  plan  of 
instruction  on  the  sabbath  was  the  simple  preaching  of  the 
gospel.  There  was  occasional  examination  of  the  young  at 
private  houses,  with  but  little  pastoral  visitation  ;  there  were 
no  meetings  for  social  prayer,  except  what  was  implied  in  the 
usual  public  worship,  either  at  the  church  or  at  private  houses. 
When  Mr.  Younge  commenced  his  pa.storal  labours  he  or- 
dained Messrs.  John  Turner,  David  Weir,  Joseph  Wiley, 
John  Dickey  and  John  Harvey  as  Ruling  Elders.  The 
number  of  communicants  at  this  time  was  about  seventy-five. 
David  Weir  was  succeded  by  his  son  of  the  same  name. 
Joseph  Wiley  by  Walter  Aiken,  John  Dickey  by  James  Mc- 
Crorey.  After  the  removal  of  John  Harvey  from  the  bounds 
of  the  congregation,  Messrs.  James  Harvey  and  Samuel  Gam- 
ble were  elected  Ruling  Elders.  Mr.  Yongue  ministered  to 
this  congregation  from  1795  to  1829,  a  period  of  some  thirty- 
four  years.     He  died  on  the  8th  of  November,  1830. 

Concord  Church. — (Fairfield.)  This  church  enjoyed  the 
pastoral  labour  of  Rev.  Robert  McCollough  in  connection 
with  the  Horeb  Church  for  one-half  his  time  until  his  death 
which  occured  on  the  7th  of  August,  1824,  in  th  the  sixty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  are  interred  in  the  burial 
ground  of  Catholic  Church,  Chester  District.  During  his 
connection  with  the  church,  there  were  added  to  the  elder- 
ship, Samuel  Penney,  James  Douglas,  Samuel  Banks,  Hugh 
Thompson,  and  Samuel  McCollough.  In  1825,  Concord  in 
connection  tvith  Purity  Church,  preferred  a  call  to  Rev.  Jas.  B. 
Stafford,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery -of  Hanover  in  Virginia, 
but  a  native  of  North  Carolina.     Upon  his  acceptance  of  their 


] 820-1830.]  BEAVER  CREEK.  363 

call,  the  way  for  which  had  been  thus  prepared  he  was 
ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  Concord  and  Purity  Churches. 
In  June  7th,  1825,  soon  after  his  connection  with  the  church, 
a  division  occured  in  consequence  of  his  introducing  and  sub- 
stituting Watt's  Psalms  and  Hymns,  in  the  place  of  Rouse's 
version  of  David's  Psalms.  This  division  diminished  its 
members  and  weakened  its  strength  for  some  time.* 

Beaver  Creek. — The  name  of  the  Rev.  Geo.  McWhorter 
who  was  the  pastor  of  the  churches  of  Beaver  Creek  and  Con- 
cord, appears  no  more  on  the  records  of  Harmony  Presbytery 
after  April  19,  1822.  He  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Georgia.  The  congregation  of  Beaver  Creek  preferred  a  call 
for  the  ministerial  labors  of  Rev.  Horace  Belknap,  which  call 
being  presented  to  him,  he  accepted.  A  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  install  him,  but  the  committee  failed  to  perform 
their  office,  of  which  failure  the  congregation  complained.  A 
letter  of  apology  Wris  addressed  by  the  Presbytery  to  the  con- 
gregation. Mr.  Belknap  seems,  however,  never  to  have  oc- 
cupied their  pulpit  as  pastor,  for  supplies  were  appointed  for 
it  while  he  should  be  absentas  acommissioner  to  the  General 
Assembly,  which,  however,  he  failed  to  attend,  and  offered 
no  reason  therefor  which  satisfied  the  Presbytery.  His  instal- 
ment never  occurred,  but  in  No\^ember,  1823,  he  obtained 
from  Presbytery  letters  Commendatory  with  the  view  of  trav- 
eling beyond  their  bounds.*  Durmg  the  Session  of  the 
Presbytery  at  Columbia  in  November,  1826,  the  Rev.  Robt.  B. 
Campbell  was  received  as  a  licentiate  from  the  Presbytery  of 

*  We  find  this  record  in  the  proceedings  of  Harmony  Presbytery 
March  31,  182-5  :  "  A  letter  from  a  special  commiUee  of  the  con- 
gregation of  Concord  praying  to  be  transferred  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Bethel,  was  received  and  read.  Whereupon,  after  due  consideration, 
it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  be  granted,  and  that  the 
congregation  of  Concord,  be  transferred  to  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,  so 
far  as  to  present  a  call  to  Mr.  Stafford,  a  member  of  that  Presbytery,  for 
a  part  of  his  ministerial  labors,  and  to  make  their  report  to  said  Pres- 
bytery and  to  be  under  their  care,  so  long  as  they  may  continue  to  en- 
joy the  labors  of  Mr.  Stafford  as  their  pastor,  or  he  continue  to  be  a 
member  of  said  Presbytery."    Minutes,  vol.  1,  p.  420. 

*Presbytery  afterwards  became  exceedingly  dissatisfied  with  him  for 
his  neglect  of  ministerial  and  religious  duties,  and  sought  to  reach  him 
with  their  fraternal  counsels  and  reproofs  in  his  distant  wanderings  in 
the  West.  He  is  said  to  have  abandoned  the  clerical  profession  and  to 
have  assumed  that  of  medicine. 


364  CATHOLIC   CHUfiCH.  [1820-1830. 

South  Carolina.  He  was  ordained  at  Winnsboro'  on  the  19th 
of  December,  1826,  was  .sent,  as  others  also  were,  as  a  supply 
to  Beaver  Creek,  and  Mr.  Campbell,  from  December,  1828, 
for  half  his  time.  The  forty-first  regular  session  of  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Harmony  was  held  at  Beaver  Creek,  beginning  the 
5th  of  December,  1828. 

We  have  recorded,  in  the  earlier  portion  of  the  history  of 
this  decade,  the  creation  of  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,  of  the 
restoration  of  the  churches  which,  for  a  season  had  been  con- 
nected with  the  Presbytery  of  Concord  and  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina,  of  subsequently  making  the  line  between 
North  and  South  Carolina  the  Northern  boundary  of  the 
Presbytery,  of  adding  to  it  the  districts  of  Lancaster  and 
Union,  and  the  Catholic  congregation  in  Chester,  and  we  now 
proceed  to  give  some  account  of  the  several  churches  which 
were  included  in  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel  after  these  changes 
were  effected. 

Catholic  Church. — This  church  is  fourteen  or  fifteen 
miles  from  Chester  Courthouse,  in  the  direction  of  Rocky 
Mount,  and  between  Rocky  Creek  and  Little  Rocky  Creek. 
The  Rev.  Robt.  McCulloch  continued  to  preach  to  this  people 
until  his  death,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1824,  in  the  65th  year 
of  his  age.  Of  his  general  character  we  have  spoken  in  the 
first  volume  of  this  history,  pp.  508,  600,  601,  602.  He  was 
for  a  short  time  suspended  from  the  ministry,  viz,  in  the  year 
1800,  but  by  a  petition  from  the  church  he  was  restored  to 
his  office,  and  enjoyed,  in  a  remarkable  degree,  their  confi- 
dence. He  had  nine  children — six  daughters  and  three  sons. 
One  of  these  was  graduated  at  South  Carolina  College  in 
r83i,,bcame  a  lawyer,  and  removed  to  the  Northwest.  After 
Mr.  McCulloch's  death,  the  church  was  for  sometime  without 
a  pastor.  It  was  visited  by  the  Rev.  Reynold  Bascom,  who 
was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  William's  Col- 
'lege  in  i8r  3,  and  afterwards  tutor.  He  received  his  educa- 
tion at  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  and  was  a 
missionary  employed  by  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Synod 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  They  were  next  visited  by 
Rev.  Wm.  J.  Wilson,  a  native  of  Salem,  Black  River,  who,  on 
his  being  licensed  on  the  1st  of  April,  1825,  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Harmony,  was  directed  to  visit  various  destitutions. 
Mr.  Wilson  labored  here  for  a  few  Sabbaths  with  great 
acceptance.     He  was  a  young  man,  of  anient,  humble  piety, 


1820-1830.]  ELIEZER    BRAINAED.  86& 

but  of  a  delicate  constitution.  He  .soon  returned  to  the  place 
of  his  nativity,  was  ordained  and  settled  in  the  ministry,  but 
soon  after  died.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  year  1826  by  the 
Rev.  Eliezer  Brainard,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  a  graduate  of 
Yale  in  i8i8,'and  of  Andover  in  1822.  He  was  sent  as  a 
missionary,  and  for  this  service  he  was  well  qualified.  .  He 
preached  at  this  church  and  Bethlehem  alternately.  He 
taught  the  negroes  by  oral  instruction  in  the  intervals  of 
worship,  and  organized  a  large  Bible  Class  among  the  whites. 
He  held  communion  twice  in  the  year  in  both  churches.  All 
denominations  attended  his  worship,  and  would  gladly  have 
retained  him;  but  he  was  under  the  direction  of  the  Society 
that  sent  him.  He  eventually  removed  to  Ohio,  where  he 
died  in  1854,  aged  61.  This  year,  George  Brown,  Robert 
Dunn,  James  Harbison  (son  of  the  former  elder  of  that  name), 
were  ordained  to  the  eldership.  He  was  succeeded  as  a  mis- 
sionary by  the  Rev.  John  LeRoy  Davies,  a  native  of  Chester 
District,  who  received  ordination  as  an  evangelist  on  the  /tli 
of  June,  1827.  In  due  time  he  received  a  regular  call  as  the 
pastor  of  this  churph,  and  was  installed  as  such  on  the  3d  of 
October,  1827.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of 
North  Carolina,  and,  also,  of  the  Princeton  Tiieological 
Seminary.  The  Entire  bench  of  elders  at  this  time  consisted 
of  James  Harbison,  John  Brown,  John  Bailey,  John  Brown,  Jr., 
James  Ferguson,  George  Brown  and  Robert  Dunn. 

Hopewell  Church,  originally  a  part  of  Catholic,  is  set 
down  in  the  statistical  tables  as  vacant  in  1825  ;  in  1826, 
1827,  1828  as  having  a  stated  supply,  with  ten  members; 
and  in  1829  as  vacant,  with  twelve  members. 

Purity. — This  church  had  been  destitute  of  the  care  and 
labors  of  a  pastor  for  some  two  years,  and  had  received  only 
occasional  supplies.  In  the  fall  of  1821  they  were  visited  by 
James  Biggers  Stafford,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Hanover,  Va.  They  entered  into  arrangements  with  him  to 
supply  them,  which  he  did  for  two  years,  in  connection  with 
a  congregation  near  Beckhamville,  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  district,  some  twenty-four  miles  from  the  Courthouse, 
where,  also,  Wm.  J.  Wilson,  in  his  missionary  tour,  had 
visited  and  preached.  In  the  fall  of  1823  this  church,  in  con- 
nection with  Concord,  united  in  a  call  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Concord,  N.  C,  at  that  time  holding  jurisdiction  over  these 
churches,  for  the  pastoral  services   of  Mr.  Stafford.     Presby- 


366  BECKHAMVILLE — FISHING  CREEK.  [1820-1830. 

tery  met  at  Purity  Church  on  the  7th  of  June,  1824,  when 
Mr.  Stafford  was  ordained  and  installed  the  joint  pastor  of 
these  churches.  He  was  soon  after  united  in  marriage  with 
the  daughter  of  Robert  Hanna,  an  elder  in  Bethesda  Church, 
York  District,  and  became  thus  identified  with  our  people. 
He  was  bom  in  Rocky  River  congregation,  in  North  Caro- 
lina. He  entered  Hampden  Sidney  College,  Va.,  in  i8i2,  was 
converted  there  in  the  revival  of  1814,  studied  theology  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Kilpatrick,  and  was  licensed  as  a  proba- 
tioner, in  1 818  or  1819,  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hanover.  The 
church  enjoyed  great  harmony  and  moved  on  prosperously 
through  the  remainder  of thiaperiod. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1822,  Robert  Walker,  one  of  the  ruling 
elders,  departed  this  life,  at  the  age  of  76.  In  the  year  1828, 
James  McClintock  and  Abraham  White  were  ordained  as 
elders  in  this  church  and  congregation.  (History  of  Purity 
Church,  by  Rev.  John'  Douglas,  1865  ;  J.  B.  Davies'  History 
of  Bethel  Presbytery,  November,  1837.)  In  1825,  Purity 
Church  had  sixty-nine  communicants,  of  whom  ten  were 
received  that  year.  In  1828  the  united  membership  of  Purity 
and  Concord  was  120. 

Beckhamvillk. — This  is  a  postofifice  village  in  the  south- 
eastern portion  of  Chester  District,  a  station  often  visited  by 
our  missionaries  and  neighboring  ministers,  but  we  do  not 
learn  that  it  was  the  seat  of  an  organized  Presbyterian 
Church. 

Fishing  Creek. — This  church  still  enjoyed  the  faithful 
labors  of  the  Rev.  John  B.  Davies.  In  the  even  tenor  of  his 
days  (here  are  naturally  but  a  few  incidents  which  the  pen  of 
history  can  record.  He  was  active  and  diligent  in  his  work. 
He  was  blameless  in  his  life,  and  enjoyed  largely  the  con- 
fidence of  his  people.  The  eldership  of  this  church  embraced 
the  names  of  Hugh  Gaston,  Charles  Boyd,  Samuel  Lewis, 
James  E.  McFadden,  John  Boyd,  Wm.  Bradford,  Edward 
Crawford,  Dr.  Alexander  Rosborough,  and  John  Neely.  Jn 
June,  1827,  the  eldership  were  Charles  Boyd,  Samuel  Lewis, 
John  Boyd,  John  Neely,  Edward  Crawford,  William  String- 
fellow,  Robt.  Miller,  Alexander  Gaston,  John  H.  Gill.  Three 
of  the  former  names  have  disappeared,  and  three  new  names 
occupy  their  places.  Fishing  Creek  and  Richardson  together 
in  1825  had  202  communicants.  The  membership  of  Fishing 
Creek  in  1820  was  162;  in  1822   it  was   170;    in   1830,  135. 


1820-1830.]  RICHARDSON — BULLOCK'S  CREEK.  367 

During  the  ten  year.s  from  1820  to  1830,  67  members  had 
been  added  to  tlie  church  on  examination,  and  12  by  cer- 
tificate. 

RiCHARDSQN,  or  LowER  FiSHiNG  Creek,  embracing  in  the 
circuit  of  its  congregation  the  northeast  corner  of  Chester 
District,  still  remained  a  part  of  Mr.  Davies'  charge.  Its 
elders,  in  1820,  were  Alexander  Crawford,  Isaac  McFadden, 
Jr..  and  Robt.  White.  Its  membership  in  1828  was  thirty-three. 

Bullock's  Creek. — Rev.  Aaron  Williams.-whohad  become 
pastor  of  this  church  in  1819,  continued  to  serve  it  in  this 
capacity  through  the  remainder  of  the  period  of  which  we 
now  write.  He  continued  also  to  minister  to  the  Salem 
Church,  on  the  other  side  of  Broad  River,  in  York  District, 
which  .had  been  so  long  associated  with  Bullock's  Creek. 
These  two  churches  combined  under  one  pastorate,  reported, 
in  1825,  170  communicants,  eleven  of  whom  were  received 
within  the  twelve  months;  in  1826,  173,  seven  of  whom  were 
newly  received;  in  1828,  180,  nineteen  of  whom  had  been 
received  during  the  year  preceding. 

Bethesda  (York). — In  1820  its  present  house  of  worship 
was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $5,000.  This  was  the  third  in  "order 
of  their  places  of  assemblage  (see  Vol.  I,  p.  515).  The 
original  tract  of  land  on  which  the  church  stands  was  donated 
by  John  Fouderon,  who  lived  east  of  the  church  200  yards. 
To  these  seven  acres  have  been  added  five  bought  of  Richard 
Straight,  five  bought  of  John  Swann,  five  donated  by  Dr.  J. 
R.  Bratton,  and  five  donated  by  John  M.  Lindsay;  total, 
twenty-seven  acres.  John  Swann,  Sr.,  father  of  tiie  above- 
named,  was  architect  of  the  first  building  on  the  present  site. 
Abner  Straight  and  Nathan  Moore  were  contractors  for  the 
building  constructed  in  1820,  whilst  Dr.  John  S.  Bratton, 
Robt.  Cooper,  Jno.  Starr,  Samuel  Ramsey  and  Samuel  Moore 
were  Congregational  Committee  on  Building.  The  primeval 
forests  on  every  side,  two  excellent  springs  near  at  hand,  a 
large  cemetery  enclosed  with  iron  railing  and  densely  popu- 
lated with  the  dead  ;  a  dozen  or  mor  tents  for  the  annual 
encampment,  as  practiced  for  sixty  years,  and  a  large,  neat 
and  substantial  arbor,  having  capacities  for  two  thousand 
persons,  all  combined  to  declare  that  Bethesda  Church  was 
happily  locaied  for  its  purposes,  has  many  and  unusual 
facilities  for  accommodating  its  worshippers,  and  that  around 
it  must  hang  precious  and  sacred  memories  and  associations." 


368  BETHESDA  (YOEK).  [1820-1830. 

The  Rev.  Robert.  B.  Walker  was  then  pastor  during  this 
decade.  He  had  passed  the  meridian  of  his  days,  but  he  was 
in  the  full  vigour  of  all  his  faculties,  the  beloved  and  revered 
pastor  of  this  large  and  growing  church. 

"  Of  the  elders  of  this  church  the  following  were  appointed 
during  the  period  of  which  we  write.  John  M.  Lindsay  was 
a  man  of  great  energy  of  character,  and  an  earnest  minded 
Christian,  and  so  a  very  prominent  and  efficient  elder,  to 
which  office  he  was  admitted  in  1824,  the  same  year  in  which 
he  professed  religion.  Having  spent  his  hfe  of  fiftj'-seven  years 
within  a  few  miles  of  his  birth  place,  he  entered  into  his  hea- 
venly rest  December  4th,  1847.  One  of  his  sons  was  a  dea- 
con in  the  church. 

"  Samuel  McNeel  served  only  four  years  in  the  eldership, 
being  elected-in  1824,  and  being  released  by  death,  April  4th 
1828,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two, 

•'  James  S.  Williamson,  son  of  a  former  elder,  was  enrolled 
among  the  eldership  in  1826;  with  much  earnestness  did  he 
discharge  the  duties  of  his  station  until  his  removal  to  Panola 
Co.,  Miss,  in  1846." 

"  William  Wallace  was  appointed  to  this  office  in  1826, 
but  removed  to  Mississippi  about  1830.  He  was  a  firm  and 
zealous  Christian,  and  is  remembered  for  his  official  fidelity." 

This  chureh  and  community  has  throughout  its  history 
shown  gi-eat  steadfastness  in  its  adherence  to  the  gospel. 
Allusion  has  been  made  to  this  on  a  preceding  page.  "  The 
advent  of  John  L.  Davis,  a  disguised  follower  of  Barton  W. 
Stone,  who  came  about  1818  and  remained  until  1825,  made 
no  permanent  impression  ;  although  he  made  many  laborious 
and  insidious  efforts  to  instil  his  tenets,  which  were  only  ex- 
ploded errors  of  Socinianism,  into  tho  minds  of  the  people,  he 
gained  none  to  become  his  followers.  They  had  been  too  ,well 
indoctrinated  and  had  too  much  affection  for  the  pure  gospel 
of  the  son  of  God,  to  be  seduced  to  deny  the  '  Divinity  of 
Christ,' his 'vicarious  atonement,'  the  personality  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  '  original  sin.'  The  impressions  he  made  on  the 
minds  of  the  people  vanished  with  his  own  disgraceful  flight 
from  the  community  from  which  he  was  driven  by  popular 
indignation  against  his  corrupt  character  and  vicious  habits 
which  time  and  circumstances    had    unmasked   and  exposed. 

Of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  who  entered  in  their  office 
during  this  decade  we  may  mention  the  "  Rev.  Lossing  Clin- 


1820-1830.]  EBENEZER — BEEESHEBA.  369 

ton,  son  of  William  Clinton,  who  completed  his  course  at 
South  Carolina  College  in  1821.  In  the  outset  of  liis.  minis- 
try he  went  to  Georgia  where  he  laboured  and  died.  He  has 
two  brothers  who  are  prominent  lawyers,  but  from  them  the 
writer  (Rev,  John  L,  Harris)  could  elicit  no  Information. 
His  ministry  was  short  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  very 
affective.  MS.  history  of  Bethesda  church  by  Rev.  John 
L.  Harris  prepared  by  order  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina. 

Bethesda  had  in  1825,  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  com- 
municants of  whom  12  had  been  received  on  examination  in 
the  last  year.  In  1826  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  commu- 
nicants, nine  of  whom  had  been  received  in  the  last  year.  In 
1829,  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  communicants,  thirteen  of 
of  whom  had  been  received  during  the  year. 

Ebenezer  Church  and  Unity  were  united  under  the 
pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Josiah  Harris,  at  the  organization  of 
Bethel  Presbytery  in  1824.  The  average  membership  of 
these  two  churches  during  this  decade  was  ninety-seven 
communicants,  and  the  average  addition  of  new  members  was 
from  four  to  five.  "In  September,  1827,  the  church  peti- 
tioned Presbytery  for  a  release  from  the  pastoral  charge  of 
their  minister,  he  consenting,  the  relation  was  dissolved.  He 
withdrew  from  the  Presbyterian  Church  probably  with  a  view 
to  a  connection  with  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery. 
"  I  have  no  knowledge  of  his  character  as  a  preacher,  but  as  a 
teacher  I  have  heard  him  spoken  of  in  terms  of  commenda- 
tion. (Rev.  James  H.  Saj^e's  semi-centennial  sermon.)  One 
third  of  the  time  of  Rev.  S.  L,-  Watson  was  devoted  to 
this  church  in  1828.  Rev.  John  Douglas'  history  of  Steel 
Creek. 

Beersheba. — The  Rev.  J.  S.  Adams  was  the  stated  supply 
to  this  church  in  connection  with  Bethel,  until  about  1823, 
duiin<.'  which  year  Rev.  Samuel  Williamson  was  its  supply. 
The  ruling  elders  at  this  time  were  Wm.  Brown,  Sr.,  Jas. 
Dickey,  Jas.  Wallace,  Wm.  Caldwell,  Robt.  Allison  and  John 
S.  Moore.  The  first  session  of  the  Presbyteay  of  Bethel  was 
held  at  this  church  on  the  5th  of  November,  1824.  Cyrus 
Johnston  had  accepted  a  call  from  this  church  and  Yorkville 
while  yet  they  were  under  the  Presbytery  of  Concord.  The 
Presbytery  of  Bethel  adjourned  therefore  to  meet  at  six 
o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day  at  Yorkville,  where 
Mr.  Johnstou  passed  the  usual  trials  for  ordination  and  was 
24 


370  YOEKVILLE BETHEL  (YORK).  [1S20-1830. 

ordained  and  installed  at  Beersheba  Church  as  pastor  of  the 
congregation  of  Beersheba  and  Yorkville  on  the  6th  of 
November,  1824. 

Yorkville. — Cyrus  Johnston,  pastor  of  these  churches, 
now  united  under  One  pastoral  charge,  was  brought  up  in  the 
Poplar  Tent  congregation,  Cabarras  County,  N.  C,  was  edu- 
cated at  Hampden,  Sydney  College,  and  was  licensed  by 
Concord  Presbytery.  This  connection  continued  till  near  the 
close  of  this  period.  The  churches  under  his  charge  in- 
creased in  numbers  from  87  communicants  in  1825,  to  145  in 
1829,  the  largest  increase  being  in  1828,  when  23  were  added 
to  the  church. 

Shiloh. — How  long  the  depressed  condition  of  this  church 
continued  we  cannot  say.  But  in  the  year  1826,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Payson,  a  Missionary,  spent  some  months  in  the  bounds 
of  Shiloh  which  was  not  left  entirely  unblessed  of  the  Lord. 
He  was  instrumental  in  organizing  a  Sabbath  school  which 
has  been  the  means  of  doing  much  good.  In  the  year  1827, 
Rev.  G.  Johnson  labored  in  the  congregation  three  months, 
whose  labors  were  owned  and  blessed.  During  this  year 
they  erected  a  new  house  of  worship,  the  remaining  commu- 
nicants scattered  through  the  bounds  of  the  congregation 
were  gathered  together,  the  Lord's  supper  was  administered 
and  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  members  were  received 
for  the  first  time  into  the  communion  of  the  church.  Elders 
were  elected  and  ordained,  the  church  re-organized  and 'in 
1828  enjoyed  a  stated  supply  from  R-.  C.  Johnston,  which 
continued  to  the  close  of  this  decade.  MS.  of  J.  B.  Davies 
The  statistical  tables  give  in  the  year  1828, 46  communing 
members,  23  of  whom  had  been  received  within  the  years 
1827,   1828. 

Bethel  (York).  This  large  and  influential  church,  which 
has  given  its  name  to  the  Presbytery,  so  called,  enjoyed, 
through  these  ten  years,  the  services  of  the  Rev.  James  S. 
Adams,  the  greatly  beloved  and  eminently  successful  min- 
ister. He  is  spoken  of  as  pa.stor  of  Bethel  and  supply  of  New 
Hope.  The  latter  church,  we  suppose,  was  in  North  Caro- 
lina. The  united  membership  was  represented  in  the  year 
1825  to  be  530  communicants,  twenty  of  whom  were  received 
within  twelve  months;  in  1826.  539;  in  1828,  560. 

"  This  region  of  country  was  first  settled  by  Scotch-Irish, 
who  reached   it   by  way  of  Pennsylvania.     In   religion  they 


1820-1830.]  WAXHAW   CHURCH.  371 

were  rigid  calvinists,  and  Republicans  in  politics.  Two  of  her 
elders  bore  commissions  as  colonels  .during  the  Revolution. 
Colonel  Neil  commanded  under  Williamson  in  the  ex- 
pedition against  the  Cherokee.s  in  1776.  Two  of  his  sons, 
both  officers,  were  slain  in  battle."  (S.  L.  W.,  May.  185  i.) 
But  while  her  people  were  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  patriotism, 
they  have  been  attentive  to  the  duties  of  religion;  and  this 
attention  to  their  spiritual  interests  has  not  been  unfruitful  in 
good  to  others.  The  ministers  who  have  come  from  the 
Bethel  congregation  are  not  few  in  number.  Among  them 
are  the  names  of  Gilliland,  the  brothers  R.  G.  and  S.  B.  Wil- 
son, Thomas  Price,  Jdmes  S^  Adams,  Henry  M.  Kerr  and  his 
brother,  who  was  a  licentiate,  S.  L.  Watson,  J.  M.  H.  Adams, 
A.  M.  Watson  and  J.  F.  Watson.  About  1823  or  '24,  Josiah 
Patrick,  of  this  vicinity,  was  licensed,  and  removed  to  the 
West,  where  he  soon  after  died.  He  commenced  his  educa- 
tion when  over  thirty,  graduated  at  South  Carolina  College, 
making  the  money  needed  as  a  mechanic  before  entering  on 
his  studies  at  the  Bethel  Academy.  At  this  academy  P.  J. 
Sparrow,  D.  D.,  was  educated,  and  was  boarded  by  tiie 
neighborhood  gratuitously.  He  was  born  in  Lincoln  County, 
N.  C.  Lawson  Clinton  lived  for  some  time  in  Bethel,  and 
also  in  other  places,  being  an  orphan.  He  settled  in  Georgia, 
where  he  died.  Whether  a  native  of  Bethel  or  Lancaster,  we 
are  not  informed.  He  had  relatives  in  each  place.  The  Wil- 
sons were  born  in  what  is  now  Lincoln  County.  Their 
parents  were  members  of  Bethel.  But  at  that  time  all  this 
section  and  the  greater  part  of  this  District  was  considered  a 
part  of  North  Carolina,  and  called  Tryon  County.  The 
change  was  made  soon  after  the  Revolution.  Bethel  con- 
gregation then  extended  into  North  Carolina  some  five 
miles  beyond  the  present  line,  and  still  covers  a  small  portion. 
Beersheba,  Olney  and  New  Hope  were  cut  off  from  Bethel, 
to  say  nothing  of  an  independent  church  or  two.  Olney  was 
set  off  to  gratify  the  fridnds  of  W.  C.  Davis,  who  once  essayed 
to  become  pastor  of  Bethel,  but  failed."  (Letter  of  Rev.  S.  L. 
W.,  Oct.  16,  1869. 

Waxhaw  Chukch. — The  last  minister  of  this  church  men- 
tioned by  us  was  John  Williamson.  After  Mr.  Williamson 
came  W.  S.  Pharr,  who  was  with  them  several  years,  and  was 
ordained  November  l8th,  1820.  Mr.  Pharr  married  Jane, 
the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Samuel   Caldwell,  of  Sugar   Creek, 


372  LITTLE  BRITAIN,  DUNCAN'S  CREEK,  ETC.       [lR20-]83(). 

SO  tliat  the  grand-niece  of  Mrs.  Richardson,  wife  of  the  sec- 
ond pastor,  was,  after  the  lapse  of  seventy-five  years,  wife  of 
the  then  present  pastor  of  Waxhaw.  Mr.  Pharr,  being- 
attacked  with  hemorrhage,  ceased  to  preach  for  several  years, 
but  on  his  recovery  resumed  the  labors  of  the  ministry  in 
Mccklenburg.'N.  C.  About  1825,  Robert  B.  Campbell  was 
engaged  to  preach  as  a  licentiate,  and  he  continued  to  do  so 
"mtil  1830,  when  he  was  regularly  installed  as  pastor  of  the 
churches  of  Waxhaw  and  Beaver  Creek. 

The  elders  that  were  ordained  during  this  period  were 
Robert  Stinson  and  John  Foster,  about  in  the  year  1825. 
The  Waxhaw  Church  seems  to  have  been  connected  with  the 
Presbytery  of  Mecklenburg,  North  Carolina,  until  1829.  In 
the  Statistical  tables  of  that  year  it  is  reported  among  the 
churches  of  Bethel  Presbytery,  with  a  membership  of  loi. 

Beth  Shiloh  was  one  of  the  churches  of  Wm.  C.  Davis. 
Its  first  house  of  worship  was  built  in   1829. 

Little  Britain,  Duncan's  Creek  and  Amity  Churches. — 
We  find  that  Rev.  Henry  M.  Kerr  is  noted  as  the  pastor  of 
these  churches  in  1825,  and  that  they  have  a  united  member- 
ship of  143  communicants.  We  suppose  that  some  of  these 
churches  were  in  North  Carolina.  Little  Britain  being  in 
Rutherford  County,  Amity  in  North  Carolina.  We  find 
Williamson,  Johnston,  W.  B.  Davis,  P.  J.  Sparnerand  Adams 
appointed  variously  to  supply  at  Olney,  Long  Creek,  Wash- 
ington, Hebron,  Bethlehem.  We  suppose  that  these  were 
localities  in  North  Carolina  which  disappear  gradually  from 
the  records  of  Bethel,  the  State  line  becoming  its  northern 
boundary  in  182S. 

We  have  now  gone  through  with  the  history  of  the 
churches  of  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel  as  far  as  the  materials 
before  us    have   enabled  us. 


CHAPTER  V. 

I 

Indian  Creek,  the  place  of  Mr.  McClintock's  ministry  in 
the  olden  times.  (See  vol.  i,  pp.  414,  522,  524,  528,  617), 
no  longer  appears  in  our  ecclesiastical  documents.  The  same 
is  the  case  with  Mount  Bethel  Academy,  which  seems  to 
have  been  but  a  temporary  place  of  Presbyterian  preaching. 


1820-1830.]  INDIAN  CKEBK GILDER'S  CHEEK.  373 

Indian  Creek  had  applied  to  the  original  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  which  was  set  off  from  the  Presbytery  of  Orange  in 
1785,  for  supplies  as  early  as  October  ii,  1786,  and  Francis 
Cummins  was  appointed  to  supply  it.  So  in  17^7  was  Rev. 
Thomas  H.  McCauIe.  Francis  Cummins  was  appointed  again 
in  1789.  It  was  reported  among  the  vacancies  unable  to  sup- 
port a  pastor  in  1799  when  this  Presbytery  was  divided  into 
the  first  and  second  Presbyteries.  We  have  no  further  notice 
of  it  in  our  regular  minutes.  As  it  had  been  served  by  Rev. 
Robt.  McClintock,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the  Old  Scotch 
Presbytery  of  Charleston,  it  may  have  been  regarded  as  dis- 
connected with  us  and  so  not  mentioned  longer  on  our  eccle- 
siastical records.  Gilder's  Creek  is  its  probable  successor. 
The  Rev.  John  Renwick,  of  Associated  Reformed  Presbyterian 
Church  once  preached  in  the  church  now  known  as  Gilder's 
Creek.  It  was  convenient  for  him  to  do  so,  as  he  was  teach- 
ing in  its  immediate  viciriity.  But  his  son,  Esquire  Ren- 
wick, who,  in  his  lifetime,  was  regarded  as  an  excellent 
authority  in  matters  of  history,  is  remembered  to  have  said 
that  this  church  was  first  known  by  the  name  of  McClintocks 
Church.  The  original  site  of  Gilder's  Creek  was  quite  near  to 
the  stream  so  called,  and  at  some  distance  from  the  stream 
of  Indian  Creek,  perhaps  half  a  mile  from  the  former  and  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  latter.  But  the  building  has  of  late 
years  been  moved  over  upon  the  stream  of  Indian  Creek. 
But  there  was  a  reason  why  the  church  should  have  in  the 
entire  time  borne  the  name  of  the  larger  stream  than  of  its 
affluent.  And  it  would  natr.rally  follow  the  name  by  which 
the  neighborhood  was  popularly  known. 

Gilder's  Creek  and  Little  River  sent  up  a  contribution  by 
the  hand  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Kennedy,  to  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  of  five  dollars  on  the  6th  of  April,  1822,  and  again  in 
1826,  by  the  same,  in  connection  with  Little  River  and  Rocky 
Spring,  five  dollars.  The  people  at  present  living  in  the 
vicinity  of  Gilder's  Creek  have  no  recollection  of  any  one 
preaching  there  earlier  than  the  second  decade  of  this  cen- 
tury and  the  preacher  then  was  the  same  John  B.  Kennedy 
whom  we  have  mentioned.  There  is  a  tradition  that  a  Mr. 
Zachariah  Wright  assisted  at  the  organization  of  a  Sunday- 
school  at  this  church  in  182 1.  This  was  something  new  and 
was  much  talked  of  in  the  community.  And  that  when  the 
leaders   went  to   Columbia  to  buy  books  for  the  school,  the 


374  gilder's   creek.  [1820-1830. 

people  of  Columbia  did  not  know  what  was  meant  by  a  Sun- 
day-school. 

This  is  doubtless  true  of  some  people  in  Columbia.  Never- 
theless "  The  Columbia  Sunday-school  Union"  embracing  the 
several  denominations  and  a  number  of  schools,  dated  back  to 
A.  D.  1820. 

Gilder's  Creek  appears  in  the  statistical  tables  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1825  with  a  membership  of  sixty-seven. 
Baptisms  sixteen,  fourteen  of  which  were  of  infants.  In  1826 
as  being  under  a  pastoral  charge,  with  seventy  communicants, 
two  of  whom  were  added  in  the  preceding  twelve  month.  No 
report  was  rendered  in  1827.  In  1828  it  was  under  pastoral 
care,  with  a  membership  of  seventy-five,  five  of  whom  were 
added  since  the  last  year,  and  seven  adults  baptized. 

From  the  following  letter  of  Rev.  H.  P.  Sloan,  of  Abbeville, 
S.  C,  addressed  to  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Ligon,  Gilder's  Creek 
would  seem  to  have  had  some  connection  at  one  time  with 
the  Associate  Reformed.     He  writes  : 

"  Since  the  receipt  of  your  last  I  have  been  presented  by 
Mrs.  Wideman  with  two  copies  of  the  minutes  of  The  General 
Associate  Reformed  Synod  {qx  1811  and  1812,  which  settles  the 
question  of  the  ecclesiastical  connection  of  Gilder's  Creek 
Church  at  that  time.  At  that  time  Indian  Creek  {perhaps  the 
same  as  Kin^^'s  Creek),  Cimnon's  Creek  and  Prosperity  be- 
longed to  our  First  Presbytery,  and  for  a  number  of  years 
were  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  James  Rogers.  They 
are  so  marked  in  the  statistical  table  of  said  Presbytery.  But 
Gilder's  Creek,  Newbeirry,  is  put  down  as  belonging  to  the 
Second  Presbytery,  and  Rev.  John  Renwick  as  pastor  or 
preacher,  and  Warrior's  Creek,  Laurens,  was  also  on  our  roll. 
Then  in  the  report  of  Second  Presbytery  to  the  same  General 
Synod,  1812,  the  next  year  this  passage  occurs  (page  14)  a.s 
an  item  of  information  ;  '  That  Warrior  Creek  vacancy  was 
on  the  tenth  of  March  last  united  with  Gilder's  Creek  as  a 
part  of  Mr.  Renwick's  charge,  and,  in  other  respects,  our  set- 
tled congregations  are  nearly  as  they  were.  That  our  vacan- 
cies are  languishing  ;  one  of  them  has  left  us,  and  more  will 
do  so  unless  we  can  obtain  ministerial  aid.'  Preachers  were 
then  very  scarce,  and  our  vacancies  could  only  be  supplied 
by  the  settled  pastors,  and  an  occasional  missionary  from  the 
North.  Coupling  the  above  facts  together  you  will  probably 
find  the   reason   of  the   change   of  both   Gilder's   Creek  and 


1820-1830.]  GRASSY   SPRING DUNCAN'S   CREEK.  375 

Warrior's  Creek  Churches  from  the  Associate  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  to  the  Presbyterian.  I  think  you  will 
find  by  tracing  up  the  history  that  after  Rev.  Mr.  Renwick 
gave  up  said  churches,  and  they  could  not  get  a  supply  of 
preaching  from  us,  that  they  received  it  from  Rev.  JVlr.  Ken- 
nedy (John  B.)  and  other  Presbyterian  ministers.  Hence  the 
change  of  connection. 

"  Another  item  showing  the  strength  of  Gilder's  Creek  in 
1812  ;  it  is  put  down  as  having  seventy-five  families  and  five 
additions  during  the  year.  *  *  *  This  is  all  the  additional 
information  which  I  have  obtained.  By  a  reference  to  our 
minutes  and  reports  of  Second  Presbytery  you  will  probably 
obtain  all  the  information  desired.  Recorded  minutes,  as  a 
.Synod,  are  in  the  hands  of  Rev.  D.  G.  Phillips,  D.  D.,  Louis- 
ville, Ga.     He  can  probably  furnish  you  some  items  " 

Grassy  Spring. —  We  cease  to  find  this  church  in  the  eccle- 
siastical records  any  more.  We  therefore  conclude  that  its 
members  had  moved  away,  or  had  joined  other  organizations 
in  their  neighborhood. 

Little  River — We  have  been  wholly  unable  to  obtain 
any  information  concerning  this  church  during  the  time  of 
which  we  now  write  Tiie  qnly  items  are  the  mention  of  it 
in  the  statistical  tables  connected  with  the  minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly,  In  1826  and  1829  the  statement  is  that 
it  had  forty-eight  communing  members.  Who  ministered  to 
it  we  do  not  know.  Its  records  previous  to  1842  have  been 
all  destroyed.  It  is  situated  near  the  boundary  line  between 
Newberry  and  Laurens  Districts,  more  noted  in  the  period  of 
the  Revolution  than  since.  (Sec  Vol.  I,  pp.  428,  526,  527, 
528,617.)  Its  present  members  and  sessions  have  not  enabled 
us  to  trace  its  history  down  with  any  particularity  of  detail. 
The  Rev.  Jolin  B.  Kennedy,  who  became  its  pastor  in  1793 
or  1794,  continued  in  that  office  until  his  death,  through  this 
decade. 

Duncan's  Creek. — The  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy  continued 
to  preach  in  this  church  regularly  in  connection  with  his 
charge  at  Little  Riv(?r  till  about  the  year  1823.  By  this  time 
dissensions  and  difficulties  had  arisen  ;  the  love  of  many 
had  grown  cold,  and  religion  declined.  We  find  it  petition- 
ing Presbytery  for  supplies  in  1827,  1828,  and  1829.  Among 
these  supplies  the  names  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Aaron  Foster,  John 
L.  Kennedy,  and  others. 


376  ROCKY  SPRING — LIBERTY  SPRING.  [1820-1830. 

The  two  churches  of  Duncan's  Creek  and  Little  River  are 
put  together  in  the  reports  of  1825,  with  an  united  member- 
ship of  seventy-six;  twenty-one  baptisms,  two  of  which  were 
adults.  In  1828  Little  River  is  represented  as  vacant;  Dun- 
can's Creek  as  vacant,  with  a  membership  of  fifty. 

Rocky  Spring. — Rev.  Thos.  Archibald  who  had  been  in- 
stalled pastor  of  this  church  in  November,  1817,  was  released 
from  that  charge  on  the  8th  of  April,  i8iO,  and  dismissed  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Concord.  He,  however,  returned  his  dis- 
mission on  the  5th  of  April,  1821,  and  was  continued  as  a 
member  till  October  9,  1824,  when  he  obtained  a  dismission 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Alabama.  How  this  church  was  next 
supplied  we  are  not  fully  informed.  Mr.  Kennedy  returned 
in  1826.  It  had  45  members  in  May,  1828,  7  of  whom  had 
been  received  during  the  preceding  year.  It  was  under  the 
care  of  John  B.  Kennedy  as  stated  supply  in  May,  1829,  in 
connection  with  Gilder's  Creek.  John  B.  Kennedy's  post- 
office  is  given  as  Laurens  C.  H.,  S.  C. 

Liberty  Spring. — The  Rev.  Alexander  Kirkpatrick  con- 
tinued the  pastor  of  this  church  until  the  29th  o^  November, 
1823,  when,  with  the  consent  of  the  congregation,  their  pas- 
toral relations  with  him  were  dissolved  by  the  act  of  the 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  and  he  was  dismissed  to  join 
the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  in  Georgia.  Rev.  John  Rennie 
was  then  obtained  by  this  people  as  their  regular  preacher 
and  continued  to  serve  them  until  the  Summer  of  1827, 
when  he  went  to  Columbia  and  took  charge  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  there.  Mr.  Rennie  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  a 
graduate  of  the  University  of  Glasgow  in  1817,  of  Andover 
in  1822,  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Londondery  and 
was  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  at  z.  pro  re 
nata  meeting  held  at  Cambridge  Church  on  the  9th  of  Au- 
gust, 1823.  The  Church  at  Liberty  Spring  then  wrote  to 
their  old  pastor,  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  then  in  Georgia,  to  return, 
which  he  did  in  the  latter  part  of  1827  or  1828,  and  continued 
to  preach  to  this  church  till  he  died.  He  was  born  in  Antrim 
County,  Ireland,  and  died  near  Cross  «Hill,  December  30th, 
1832.  He  was  buried  in  the  Cemetery  connected  with  the 
church,  and  his  tombstone  states  that  he  was  pastor  here  for 
ten  years. 

The  church  reports  112  members  in  May,  1825  ;  1 14  in 
1826.     It  was  set  down  as  vacant   in    1828,  with  no  mem- 


J  820-1830.]  WARRIOR  CREEK — FRIENDSHIP.  377 

bers,  as  served  by  a  .stated  .supply,  (referring  t(5  the  facts  pro- 
bably that  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  was  not  regularly  installed]  and 
as  having  119  members.  Mr.  Kirkpatrick  was  by  nature 
possessed  of  an  amiable  disposition,  his  mind  was  well  de- 
veloped, and  was  a  good  and  instructive  preacher.  (MSS.  of 
Dr.  Campbell,  and  of  E.  F.  Hyde.) 

Warkior  Creek's. — We  judge  that  this  church  continued 
for  some  time  under  the  care  of  Alexander  Kirkpatrick,  as  a 
part  of  his  charge.  The  united  contribution  of  Liberty  Spring 
and  Warrior's  Creek  for  some  time  came  through  his  hands. 
His  postofBce  was  Laurens  Courthouse,  and  his  connection 
with  Liberty  Spring  was  but  for  half  his  time.  In  1827,  1828, 
1829,  Warrior's  Creek  petitions  Presbytery  for  supplies.  Its 
membership,  June  1825,  was  51;  10  baptisms,  one  of  which 
was  an  adult.  In  1826  the  membership  was  58  ;  in  1828  it  was 
56,  and  is  represented  as  vacant ;  in  1829  its  membership  is  the 
same,  but  it  has  the  services  of  a  stated  supply. 

Friendship  Church. — We  have  not  found  the  name  of 
Rabourn's  Creek  repeated  during  this  period  as  the  name  of 
a  religious  organization.  We  find,  however,  Friendship  Church 
in  a  locality  not  very  distant  from  the  other.  It  is  in  Laurens 
District,  not  far  from  the  Saluda  River,  between  it  and  Reedy 
River,  on  a  beautiful  and  fertile  ridge,  -and  quite  near  the 
dividing  line  which  separates  Laurens  from  Greenville  District. 
It  was  first  organized  in  the  year  1823,  the  fifth  in  order  of 
establishment  of  the  churches  in  Laurens  County.  The  country 
around  was  first  settled,  probably,  about  1750,  mostl)'  by  Irish 
emigrants  and  their  descendants.  Some  of  them  bore  the  name 
of  Cunningham,  some  of  Dorroh,  or  Boyd,  Nickly,  HoUidy. 
"  A  petition,"  says  the  Presbtyerial  Record,  "  was  pres^ted 
from  a  congregation  in  Laurens  District  desiring  to  be  received 
under  the  care  of  Presbytery,  and  to  be  known  by  the  name  of 
Friendship.  They  having  stated  to  Presbytery  that  they  had 
adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ; 
On  motion, 

'^Resolved,  That  this  church  be  received  under  the  care  of 
Presbytery,  and  that  elder  James  Dorroh  be  invited  to  take  a 
seat  in  Presbytery."     (Minutes,  Vol  I,  p.  115.) 

The  church  building  may  have  been  erected  as  early  as 
1819,  by  the  Presbyterians,  Baptists  and  Methodists  in  com- 
mon, but  the  Presbyterians  alone  held  a  permanent  organiza- 
tion, and  this  church  edifice  remained  in  their  hands. 


,378  UNION — CANE  CREEK — FAIRrOEEST.         [1820-1830. 

This  was  on  the  2d  of  April,  1824,  The  Rev.  Eleazar 
Brainard  supph'ed  the  church  for  two  years  at  first.  Aaron 
Foster,  in  1827,  Archibald  Craig  in  1828.  and  Arthur  Mooney 
in  182^,  and,  occasionally  a  Rev.  Mr.  Quillen.  The  fir.st 
elders  acting  in  the  church  v/erS  Robert  Nickles,  James 
Dorroh  and  John  Cunningham.  (Letter  of  David  R.  Dorroh, 
March  22,  1854.)  Communicants  in  1825,  32;  in  1826,  28; 
in  1828,  35  ;  in  1829,  47.  " 

Union. — This  church  is  represented  in  the  statistical  tables 
of  1825,  1826,  1828  and  1829  as  vacant,  and  as  consisting  of 
twenty  members.  The  condition  of  this  church  and  that  of 
Cane  Creek  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  March  20;  1826,  and,  on  motion,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  address  a 
letter  to  the  churches  of  Unionville  and  Cane  Creek  on  the 
subject  of  their  neglect  in  not  reporting  their  situation  to 
Presbytery  for  years,  either  by  a  written  communication  or  a 
representative,  and  requesting  to  know  their  present  situa- 
tion, their  prospect  of  supplies  of  the  word  of  life  for  time  to 
come,  &c.,  and  that  the  committee  consist  of  the  Rev.  Francis 
H.  Porter  and  Benjamin  D.  Du  Pree,  with  Mr.  Barry,  elder." 
(Minutes  of  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  p.  142.) 

October  4,  1828,  Presbytery  made  arrangements  to  have 
the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  administered  in  some  of 
their  vacant  congregations,  Among  them  was  Cane  Creek 
and  Unionville.  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy,  with  Mr.  Daniel  L. 
Gray,  were  to  attend  at  Cane  Creek  Church  on  the  second 
Sabbath  in  November,  and  Rev.  Aaron  Foster,  with  Mr.  Gray, 
at  Unionville  on  the  second  Sabbath  in  December.  (Minutes, 
p.  178,  179.) 

Cane  Creek — In  1820  the  Rev.  Daniel  Johnson,  a  mis- 
sionary of  a  society  in  Charleston,  served  this  church  a  part 
of  the  time  for  a  term  of  six  months.  After  him,  occasional 
supplies  from  Presbytery  were  their  only  reliance  till' 1825, 
when  the  church  secured  the  services  of  Mr.  James  Chestney, 
a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Albany,  for  one-half  his  time 
for  one  year.  From  1826  till  January,  1830,  there  was  no 
stated  preaching.  (J.  H.  Saye.)  This  James  Chestney  aban- 
doned the  ministry  for  the  legal  profession. 

Fairforest  Church  was  favored  with  the  pastoral  labors 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Hillhouse  until  1823.      The  Rev.  Lsaac  Hadden, 


1820-1830.]  FAISFOREST  CHUECH.  379 

who  was  educated  by  Dr.  Waddell,  and  who  was  from  Abbe- 
ville District,  then  supplied  the  church  for  a  short  time.  He 
was  succeeded  in  1824  by  Rev.  Francis  Porter,  who  was  en- 
gaged in  teaching  at  Cedar  Springs,  a  few  miles  distant,  and 
who  continued  as  stated  supply  for  some  four  years.  He 
preached  his  farewell  sermon  from  2d  Corinthians,  13th  chap- 
ter and  nth  verse  on  the  second  Sabbath  of  February,  1828. 
During  his  ministry,  Samuel  Archibald,  John  McDowell, 
Moses  White  and  Matthew  Mayes  were  added  to  the  session. 
He  was  succeeded  in  the  latter  part  of  1828  by  Rev.  Daniel 
L.  Gray,  a  nephew  of  the  former  pastor,  Daniel  Gray,  a  native 
of  Abbeville  District,  a  graduate  of  Miami  University,  and 
a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  He  was 
ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  this  church  by  Bethel  Pres- 
bytery in  June  1829.  He  supplied  Cane  Creek  and  perhaps 
other  places  in  connection  with  Fairforcst.  He  also  had 
received  his  preparatory  education  under  Dr.  Waddell.  His 
ministry  here  continued  some  four  or  five  years,  when  he 
removed  to  the  Western  District  of  Tennessee.  Some  four- 
teen families  went  with  him  or  followed  him  to  his  new  home. 
His  labors  in  Union  District  were  attended  with  a  consid- 
erable amount  of  success,  and  some  share  of  opposition.  He 
was  probably  one  of  the  first  advocates  of  Temperance  Socie- 
ties in  that  region.  What  he  did  he  did  with  his  might. 
Some  of  his  other  measures  were  regarded  as  innovations  by 
a  part  of  his  congregation,  and  hence  he  was  opposed  on 
several  grounds.  His  intluence,  however,  was  attended  with 
some  desirable  changes  in  tlie  social  customs  of  the  country. 
These  remarks  have  carried  us  into  the  next  decade. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Hillhouse,  before  mentioned,  left  tjie  con- 
gregation in  circumstances  of  great  apparent  prosperity.  After 
leaving  Fairforest  he  returned  to  Anderson,  where  he  died. 
He  was  the  uncle  of  the  late  Rev.  James  Hillhouse,  of  Ala- 
bama, and  of  Rev.  Dr.  J.  S.  Wilson,  of  Georgia,  and  the  father 
of  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Hillhouse.  The  Rev.  Francis  Porter  was 
brought  up  in  the  Bethesda  congregation  in  York  District, 
and  probably  acquired  his  classical  education  in  the  school 
of  Rev.  R.  B.  Walker.  He  was  engaged  in  teaching  in  the 
most  of  his  ministerial  life.  He  taught  at  Asheville,  N.  C.  ; 
at  Cedar  Springs,  S.  C.  Among  his  pupils  were  some  dis- 
tinguished names.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Alabama,  where 
he  died.     [MSS.  of  J.   H.   Saye,  A.   A.  James,   and   letter  of 


380  NAZARETH — FAIKVIEW — SMYRNA.  [1820-1830. 

Jephtliah  Harrison.]  The  statistics  of  Fairfore-st  Ciiurch,  as 
given  in  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly,  are  :  communicants  in 
1825,  99;  in  1828,  vacant;  communicants,  90  ;  communicants 
in  1829.  100. 

Nazareth  Church. — Rev.  Michael  Dickson  was  licensed 
by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  on  the  8th  of  April, 
1820,  and  was  directed  by  the  Presbyterial  Committee  of 
Missions  to  supply  the  congregations  of  Fairview,  Nazareth, 
and  North  Pacolet.  At  the  fall  meeting  a  call  for  his  services 
was  brought  to  Presbytery  by  the  two  congregations  of  Naz- 
areth and  Fairview,  each  for  one-half  of  his  time.  Presbytery 
held  its  regular  sessions  on  the  5th  of  April,  1 821,  at  Nazareth 
Church,  when  Mr.  Dickson,  John  S.  Wilson,  and  Solomon 
Ward  were  ordained,  and  Mr.  Dickson  was  installed  Pastor 
of  the  united  congregations  of  Nazareth  and  Fairview.  The 
Rev.  William  H.  Barr  presided  on  the  occasion,  and  the  Rev. 
Henry  Reid  preached  the  ordination  sermon  from  2(1  Timothy 
3  :  17.  Mr.  Dickson  was  a  faithful  pa:stor,  and  accomplished 
much  in  this  church  and  congregation  for  the  interests  of  true 
religion.  Nazareth  and  Fairview  together  had  191  com- 
muning members  in  1825  ;  Nazareth  had  94  in  1826,  90  in 
1828,  and  121  in  1829. 

Faikview. — The  history  of  this  church  was  parallel  with 
that  of  Nazareth.  They  were  collegiate  churches  under  the 
same  pastor.  Mr.  Dickson,  however,  was  released  from  Fair- 
view  in  1827,  and  Messrs.  Watson  and  Craig  were  appointed 
to  supply  them  at  discretion.  The  church  is  marked  as  vacant 
in  1828.  The  number  of  communicants  belonging  to  F*air- 
view  separately  was  79  in  1826  and  1828.  In  1829  it  was  94. 
James  Alexander  and  David  Morton  were  elected  elders  in 
September  1822. 

North  Pacolet. — The  only  record  we  can  make  of  this 
church  is  that  it  is  twice  mentioned  during  these  ten  years. 
In  1825  as  having  30  members  and  as  vacant,  as  vacant  in 
1828.     In  1822  they  were  served  by  F.  Porter. 

Smyrna  Church  (Abbeville  District)  still  continued  an 
integral  part  of  the  charge  of  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  at  least 
until  1829.  "The  singular  mortality  among  the  candidates  for 
the  eldership  was  noticed  elsewhere.  Robert  Redd  held  the 
office,  as  was  there  said,  through  the  whole  of  this  period, 
but  the  old  members  were  passing  away,  and  the  church 
approaching  apparent   dissolution,  preparatory,  perhaps,  to  a 


1820-1830.]  GREENVILLE ROCKY    CREEK.  3^1 

future  resurrection.  The  membership  was  twenty-tliree  in 
1826,  twenty-two  in  1828.   It  is  represented  as  vacant  in    1829. 

Greenville  Church  (Abbeville),  formerly  Sahida,  was 
still  served  by  the  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  in  connection  with 
the  preceding.  The  eldership  being  reduced  by  the  death  of 
John  Weatherall  and  the  withdrawal  of  Samuel  Agnew,  about 
the  year  1829  or  1830,  John  Donnald,  William  Means,  A.  C. 
Hawthorn,  with  Abraham  Haddbri.were  elected  and  ordained 
elders.  Greenville  Church  had  eighty  communicants  in  1826, 
eighty-nine  in  1828,  eighty-five  in  1829. 

Rocky  Creek. — This  is  the  Church  -which,  since  1845, 
has  been  known  as  "  The  Rock  Church."  The  first  record 
in  the  Sessions  Book  of  the  Rocky  Creek  Church  is  in  the 
handwriting  of  elder  John  Blake,  dated  May  ist,  1823.  For 
many  years  previous  to  this  date  the  church  at  Rocky  Creek 
had  been  altogether  destitute  of  the  stated  ordinances  of  the 
Gospel.  Preaching  was  seldom  enjoyed;  the  number  of 
church  members  had  been  gradually  diminishing  for  some 
time.  There  were  no  ruling  elders  ;  they  were  either  dead  or 
had  removed  to  other  parts  of  the  country  ;  and  a  general 
apathj'  and  indifference  as  to  the  public  means  of  grace  had 
taken  possession  of  the  few  professors  who  remained.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  church  was  visited  in  May,  1823,  by 
the  Rev.  John  Rennie,  who  took  charge  of  it,  or  rather  sup- 
plied it  for  part  of  the  time,  till  May,  1827,  which  was  four 
years. 

In  1827,  after  the  departure  of  Mr.  Rennie,  the  church  was 
supplied  for  a  few  months  by  Rev.  John  McKinnie.  In  1828 
it  was  supplied  by  Rev.  Eli  Adams  for  one-half  the  time.  In 
October,  1829,  the  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  began  to  supply  it 
half  the  time. 

The  following  are  the  names  of  the  ruling  elders  of  this 
church  down  to  the  year  1830,  as  far  as  known  to  the  session 
in  1850: 

In  1801,  John  Irwin. 

In  1804,  John  Sample,  George  Heard. 

In  1818,  Thomas  Weir,  John  Blake,  John  Caldwell. 

In  1825,  Carr  McGehee,  Jesse  Beasley,  Robert  Boyd,  Jas. 
Scott. 

The  statistical  tables  give  the  communing  members  of  this 
church  as  36  in  1825,  the  same  in  1826,* 41  in  1828,  and  40  in 
1829. 


382  CAMBRIDGE.  [1820-1830. 

Cambridge. — Tliis  church  had  been  organized  by  Dr.  Barr 
and  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  in  1821.  The  Rev.  Charles  B. 
Storrs,  afterwards  President  of  the  Western  Reserve  College, 
Ohio,  preached  here  as  a  missionary  through  the  winter,  and 
left  in  June,  1821.  The  next  missionary  was  Mr.  Alfred 
Chester,  from  Connecticut,  a  graduate  of  Yale  in  1818,  who 
had  spent  a  year  at  Andover  in  1820-21,  and  came  as  a 
Hcensed  preacher  to  Cambridge  in  the  fall  or  winter  of  1821. 
Then  Mr.  John  Rennie,  as  missionary,  came  to  this  place, 
sent  out,  it  is  said,  by  the  suggestion  of  Rev.  John  Dickson. 
Presbytery,  too,  had  directed  Joseph  Y.  Alexander,  whom  they 
were  employing  as  an  evangelist,  to  spend  one  month  between 
Cambridge  and  Edgefield  Courthouse,  one  month  in  New- 
berry District,  and  one  in  Pendleton.  Presbytery  held  its 
regular  meeting  in  Cambridge  in  April,  1823,  and  held  a  pro 
re  nata  meeting  at  Cambridge  Church  on  the  8th  of  August, 
1823.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Rennie  was  received  as  a  licen- 
tiate from  the  Presbytery  of  Londonderry,  passed  through 
the  required  trials,  and  was  ordained  to  the  full  work  of  the 
Gospel  ministry,  the  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater  preaching  the 
ordination  sermon,  and  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Barr  presiding  and 
giving  the  charge.  The  church  was  organized  with  sixteen 
members.  It  rose  to  thirty-six,  but  its  existence  as  an  or- 
ganization was  but  brief  Mr.  Rennie's  continuance  there 
was  brief  The  two  elders  were  Robert  Redd  and  John 
McBryde.  The  church  was  dissolved,  Mr.  McBryde  removed 
to  Hamburg,  and  Mr.  Rennie  found  a  home  with  Capt.  John 
Cunningham.  Planters  had  been  extravagant,  and  suffered 
the  consequences.  F"our  of  the  chief  merchants  went  to 
Hamburg  as  a  more  inviting  place  of  business.  The  church 
members  united  with  other  churches,  principally  with  the  Rock 
Church,  and  the  church  edifice  in  the  next  decade,  perhaps 
in  1833-34  belonged  to  the  Baptists.  Such  is  the  account 
we  have  received  from  one  of  the  elders  of  the  church,  Mr. 
McBryde.  The  planters  of  the  neighborhood  had  borrowed 
largely  from  the  Bank  of  the  State,  popularly  regarded  as  the 
planters'  friend.  They  thought  that  so  long  as  they  paid 
their  interest,  all  was  right.  The  bank  was  obliged,  at  length, 
to  sell  them  out.  Many  gathered  up  the  little  residue,  re- 
solved to  seek  their  fortunes  elsewhere,  deserted  their  native 
State,  and  removed  to  Alabama. 


1820-1830.]     HOPEWELL  (ABBEVILLE) ROCKY  RIVER.  3S3 

Hopewell  (Abbeville). — A.s'tbe  meeting  of  the  Presbytery 
of  South  Caiolina  at  the  Varennes  Church,  October  5th,  1820, 
"  Hopewell  ;irid  Willington  congregations  each  presented  a 
call  for  one-half  of  the  n\inisterial  labors  of  the  Rev.  Richard 
B.  Cater.  After  some  consideration,  their  calls  were  handed 
to  Mr.  Cater  for  his  consideration."  (Minutes,  p.  72.)  On 
the  6th  of  October,  Mr.  Cater  accepted  the  call  from  Willing- 
ton,  but  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  accept  that  from  Hopewell 
because  it  was  informal.  Our  friend,  Mrs.  M,  E.  D.,  to  whom 
we  have  been  so  much  indebted,  .speaks  of  Mr.  Cater  as 
having  been  installed  as  pastor  of  the  two  churches.  Not  so 
the  Presbyterial  record.  She  speaks  of  his  being  re-elected 
to  Hopewell  two  years  after  his  resignation  in  1826,  and  of 
his  being  driven  away  by  an  unhappy  division  in  the  session. 
Tliere  is  nothing  in  the  minutes  of  Presbytery  to  assist  us  to 
determine  how  Hopewell  was  supplied.  It  is  not  till  1825 
that  full  statistics  are  appended  to  the  minutes  of  the  Assem- 
bly fi  om  our  Synod.  In  that  year  it  is  represented  as  having 
161  communing  members  ;  adult  baptisms,  25  ;  infant,  29. 
In  1826,  as  having  a  pastor  and  91  communicants.  In  1827 
the  Presbytery  made  no  report.  In  1828  it  had  a  pastor  and 
130  members,  "  28  of  whom  were  added  in  the  preceding 
year,"  perhaps  in  the  preceding  two  years.  In  1829  Henry 
Reid  is  named  as  its  stated  supply,  and  its  membership  130, 
as  in  the  year  before. 

A  statement  somewhat  different  from  this  is,  made  by  another  con- 
tributor, E.  Payson  Davis,  who  says,  "  the  time  between  1813  and  1823 
marks  a  transition  period.  There  was  ns  regular  pastor.  The  pulpit 
was  supplied  for  a  short  time  by  the  Eev.  Mr.  Gamble  ;  then  by  an 
Ohio  preacher  by  the  name  of  Boyle,  and  for  a  short  time  by  Mr.  Cater. 
In  1823,  Mr.  Reid  was  called  to  occupy  the  vacant  pulpit  Upon  enter- 
ing upon  his  duties,  he  found  but  fifty  names  upon  the  roll  of  church 
members.  By  earnest  and  diligent  labor  this  condition  of  the  church 
was  greatly  changed  for  the  better.  He  visited  families,  inquired  into 
the  spiritual  condition  of  every  member.  He  catechised  the  children, 
organized  and  conducted  camp  meetings,  preached  at  school-houses, 
private  houses  and  by  the  road  side.  He  resigned  his  charge  in  1829, 
having  served  the  church  for  six  years.  In  that  time  twenty-seven  had 
died,  forty  had  been  dismissed,  and  the  roll  had  exhibited  177  names, 
a  considerable  number  of  which  were  of  colored  persons. 

Rocky  River  Church. — The  Rev.  James  Gamble  con- 
tinued the  pastor  ot  this  church  till  on  the  9th  of  March  1827, 
he  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  Ga.  In 
October  1828,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cater,  who  was  for  soipe  short  time 


284  WILLINGTON.  [1820-1830. 

their  supply,  was  installed  as  their  pastor,  who  continued  to 
serve  them  in  this  capacity  until  1830.  Rocky  River  reported 
one  hundred  and  six  members  in  1825  and  1826;  the  same 
in  1828  and  1829,  in  which  last  year  Lebanon  is  represented 
also  as  under  the  same  pastoral  care.  Dr.  Waddel  too  was  a 
frequent  preacher.  Mr.  Giles  says,  "a  supply"  to  Rocky 
River,  both  before  his  removel  to  Georgia  and  after  his  return 
till  a  year  or  two  before  his  death. 

WiLLiNGTON — In  1820  the  session  of  "Willington,  in  con- 
nection with  that  of  Hopewell,  made  out  a  call  for  Rev  R.  B. 
Cater,  who  was  then  living  at  "Rock  Mills,"  Anderson,  in 
charge  of  the  Churches  of  Good  Hope  and  Roberts.  This 
was  accepted  and  he  was  installed  at  W.  pastor  of  the  two 
churches. 

"Mr.  Cater  was  a  native  of  Beaufort  District,  South  Carolina. 
The  interesting  circumstances  of  his  death  may  be  found  in 
the  [jroceedings  of  the  Tuscaloosa  Presbytery,  Alabama  for 
1850.  Under  this  lively  and  interesting  minister,these  churches 
received  rather  a  different  impulse  from  that  which  had  been 
hitherto  given  them.  Sabbath  Schools  were  instituted  and 
benevolent  enterprises  begun.  There  is  yet  extant  a  sermon 
delivered  before  a  "Ladies  Association"organized  by  Mr.  Cater 
for  the  education  of  young  men  in  the  ministry  ;  and  another 
preached  as  a  funeral  discourse  on  the  death  of  a  respected  elder 
of  Willington.  Many  interesting  camp-meetings  were  held  at 
both  churches,  adding  in  a  few  years  valuable  members  in 
the  church.  Li  th^se  meetings  Mr.  Cater  was  generally 
assisted  by  his  brother-in-law,  Rev.  Henry  Reid,  and  the 
writer  remembers  as  a  child,  how  the  deep  organ-like  tones 
of  the  latter  seemed  to  vibrate  over  the  solemn  assembly 
gathered  under  the  leafy  arbour,  harmonizing  so  well  with  the 
pathos,  and  argumentative  pleadings  of  the  speaker,  while 
the  rich  musical  voice  of  the  other  fell  on  the  air  like  the 
sound  of  some  silver  trumpet. 

"  So  soft,  so  clear, 

The  listener  held  his  breath  to  hear." 

They  were  both  revival  preachers,  but  especially  Mr,  Reid, 
and  whatever  may  have  been  his  ecclesiastical  errors,  he  has 
without  doubt,  seals  to  his  ministry  in  these  churches.  He 
was  a  man  of  strong  feelings  and  an  original  thinker,  but 
because  of  his  obstinate  prejudices  and  satirical  powers  was  a 
bitter  controversialist.     His  irregular  course   after  his  return 


182()-1830.]  WILLINGTON.  385 

from  Texas  in  1840  is  well  known  to  the  brethren,  but  here 
it  was  more  sensibly  felt ;  as  he  gathered  two  small  indepen- 
dent congregations  within  the  bounds  of  Wiilirigton  and 
Hopewell,  which  since  his  death  have  been  received  as  regu- 
lar churches,  but  which  have  created  such  a  diversion  in 
strength  as  to  weaken  the  whole. 

Mr.  Reid  had  preached  at  Hopewell  in  his  best 
days,  and  had  been  here  a  successful  teacher  of  youth;  and 
now  after  many  wanderiixgs,  and  having  buried  all  his  family 
in  Texas,  he  returned  to  die  in  this  little  obscure  church  of 
his  old  age,  thus  quietly  closing  a  life  of  more  than  sixty 
years,  most  of  which  had  been  spent  in  earnest  labours  for 
the  gospel  of  love. 

Perhaps  at  no  period  of  its  existence  has  Willington  church 
presented^  more  intelligent  audience,  or  given  more  striking 
indications  of  spiritual  growth  than  during  Mr.  Cater's  short 
term  of  service.  At  that  time  were  gathered  in  many  of  both 
sexes  whom  the  Lord  has  been  pleased  to  own,  who  lived  as 
ornaments  to  society,  but  most  of  whom  ere  this  met  their 
aimable  teacher  before  the  throne.  Though  so  useful  in  his 
ministry  and  exceedingly  popular,  several. circumstances  com- 
bined to  make  his  stay  short. 

In  1823,  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  made  an  attempt 
at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Barr,  and  others,  to  establish  a  Theo- 
logical Seminary  after  th-e  plan  of  the  Southern  and  Western 
Theological  Seminary  at  Maryville,  Tennessee,  and  Mr.  Cater 
was  selected  as  a  suitable  person  for  a  traveling  agent.  Fol- 
lowing the  bent  of  his  impulsive  and  ardent  nature,  his  agency 
was  undertaken  and  prosecuted  without  the  advice  of  his 
churches.  The  people  murmured  at  his  protracted  absences, 
especially  as  there  seemed  to  be  no  effort  to  supply  the  defi- 
ciency. At  lensfth  Mr.  Cater  met,  at  an  ecclesiastical  meet- 
ing,  a  young  Northern  minister  whom  he  engaged  to  occupy 
his  piilpits  for  a  time.  This  was  Rev.  Aaron  Foster,  of  New 
England,  who  being  employed  at  this  time  by  the  Ladies 
Benevolent  Association  of  Charleston,  as  an  Evangelist  for 
the  upper  country,  agreed  to  itinerate  for  a  time  between  this 
place  and  Pendleton  village.  Things  remained  thus  for  nearly 
two  years,  and  at  each  return  of  the  pastor  from  his  unsuc- 
cessful embassy  he  was  constrained  fo  see  that  the  hearts  of 
the  people  were  being  won  over  to  the  stranger.  There  were 
already  heavy  arrearages  in  the  salary  for  which  the  two 
25 


386.  SARDIS — LONG    CANE.  [l&SO-lSHO; 

churches  were  bound,  and  his  frequent  absences  had  absolved 
iheir  consciences  from  any  further  obligation  in  this  particular. 
In  1826,  at  the  suggestion  of  one  who  loved  him  too  well  to 
retain  him  in  a  position  so  embarrassing,  he  resigned  his 
pastoial  charge.  Two  years  after  that  he  was  re-elected  at 
Hopewell,  but  was  driven  away  by  an  unhappy  division  in  the 
session.  Heat  one  time  taught  school  in  Greenville ;  and 
his  last  place  of  ministration  in  the  State  was  at  old  Pendleton, 
from  which  he  removed  in  1836.  Judging  from  his  frequent 
removals,  Mr.  Cater  was  less  useful  as  a  pastor  than  as  an 
Evangelist — hence  we  find  his  ardent,  impulsive,  and  loving 
nature,  spending  its  glowing  zeal  upon  building  up  and  form- 
ing new  churches  almost  to  the  end  of  his  life."     Mrs.  M.  E.  D. 

Willington  church  numbered  one  hundred  and  one  mem- 
bers, in  1828,  sixteen  of  whom  were  added  within  the  preced- 
ing twelve  months,  one-hundred  and  fifteen  members  in  1829. 

Sardis,  and  the  Lower  Long  Cane  or  Seceder  Church, 
which  united  with  the  Presbytery  in  1813,  and  over  which 
Rev.  Henry  Reid  was  settled,  no  longer  appear  on  the  roll 
of  Presbytery,  and  may  have  been  absorbed  in  other  organi- 
zations. 

Long  Cane,  formerly  Upper  Long  Cane.  This  church 
enjoyed  the  labors  of  its  able  and  revered  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Barr,  through  this  decade.  From  the  earliest  times  the 
stipends  of  the  clergymen  of  this  congregation  had  been  at 
the  rate  of  ;^iOO  sterling  per  annum.  The  congregation  was 
receiving  three-fourths'  of  Dr.  Barr's  time,  for  which  they  paid 
him  only  seventy-five  pounds,  which  amounted  to  a  fraction 
over  three  hundre.d  and  twenty-one  dollars.  For  talents  such 
as  his,  which  were  of  the  first  order,  such  a  compensation 
would  be  obviously  inadequate  at  any  time,  while  that  inad- 
equacy was  greatly  heightened  by  the  great  changes  which 
had  taken  place  in  the  relative  quantity  and  value  of  money  ; 
to  say  nothing  of  the  increased  ability  of  his  employees  to 
pay.  It  was,  therefore,  proposed  at  a  meeting  of  the  congre- 
gation called  in  reference  to  that  specific  object,  to  raise  his 
annual  stipend  to  five  hundred  dollars.  This  proposition  was 
agreed  to  with  only  two  dissenting  votes,  as  also  was  one  to 
assess  the  additional  sum  on  the  pews  in  proportion  to  their 
previous  assessments.  It  is  due  to  Dr.  Barr,  and  proper  to 
be  here  mentioned,  that  this  movement  was  not  only  without 
his  approbation,  but  in  opposition    to   his   expressed  wishes. 


18:!0-1830.]    lATPLE   MOUNTAIN — SHILOH — LEBANON.  387 

Shortly  after,  it  was  found  that  there  was  considerable  latent 
dissatisfaction  at  this  movement  which  presently  evinced  itself 
in  ill  suppressed  murmurs  and  refusals  to  pay  the  new  assess- 
ment. For  a  short  time  a  few  spirited  and  liberal-minded 
individuals  continued  to  pay  the  new  assessment,  when  find- 
ing that  others  would  not  concur  with  tiiem,  a  gradual  return 
to  the  old  assessment  became  general.  [MS.  of  Robt.  H.  W.] 
And  thus  it  is  and  has  been  that  the  stinted  support  that 
has  been  furnished  by  far  too  many  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
has  discouraged  them  in  their  labors,  and  in  their  struggles 
to  escape  the  judgment  pronounced  by  Paul,  i  Tim.  v  :  8, "  If 
any  provide  not  for  his  own,  and  especially  for  those  of  his 
own  house,  he  hath  denied  the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an 
infidel,"  they  have  betaken  themselves  to  other  employments 
which  have  taken  their  minds  off  from  their  chosen  work,  and 
made  their  ministry  less  efficient  than  it  would  have  been 
otherwise.  It  is  a  happy  thing  that  this  was  not  the  case 
with  this  eminent  servant  of  God.  According  to  the  statistics 
of  1829  this  church  numbered  240  members. 

Little  Mountain.  We  do  not  find  this  church  specifically 
mentioned  in  the  Presbyterial  records  from  1820-1830.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Barr  bestowed  his  labors  upon  it  for  one-fourth  of  bis 
time.     In  1829  it  had  39  members. 

Shiloh  Congregation.  "  A  communication  was  received 
from  a  neighborhood  on  Long  Cane  Creek,  east  of  Abbeville 
village,  statmg  that  they  had  associated  together  and  erected 
a  house  for  public  worship,  and  that  it  was  their  desire  to  be 
received  by  Presbytery  as  a  congregation  under  their  care, 
and  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  'Shiloh  congregation,'  and 
further,  that  Presbytery  would  grant  them  such  supplies  as 
might  be  consistent  with  their  other  arrangements.  The 
prayer  of  the  communication  was  granted.  Ordered  that 
Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  supply  them  as  often  as  may  comport 
with  his  other  arrangements."  [Minutes  of  S.  C.  Presbytery, 
Vol.  I,  pp.  132,  133,  October  6,  1825.] 

Lebanon  Congregation  (Abbeville.)  "  The  people  -of 
Lebanon  congregation,  on  the  5th  of  October,  1822,  petition- 
ed the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to  be  taken  under  their 
care.  On  enquiry  it  appeared  that  this  congregation  was  of 
orderly  standing.  Their  request  was  granted."  [Minutes  of 
S.  C.  Presbytery,  Vol.  I,  p.  lOO.]  They  reported  35  commu- 
nicants in  1825.     T^is  church   is  said  to  have  been  gathered 


yyy  MEMORIES    OF    THE    RBVOLUTIOX.  [1820-1830. 

by  R.  B.  Cater,  who  commenced  preaching  under  a  peach 
tree  at  tlie  house  of  Patrick  McMullen  in  1820.  Mr.  McMul- 
len  and  his  wife  were  members  of  Hopewell  Church,  but  too 
old  and  feeble  to  attend  the  ordinary  place  of  worship.  In 
about  a  year  the  church  was  gathered.  It  was  organized  in 
June,  1821.  James  Pressley  was  ordained  an  elder  on  the 
1 2th  of  June,  1822.  Thomas  Griffin  and  James  Weir  were 
added  to  the  eldership  some  time  after.  They  first  built  a 
small  log  house  and  soon  after  enlarged  it.  In  1827  they 
built  a  large  frame  church,  36  by  60  feet,  which  was  dedicated 
on  the  27th  of  February.  This  house  was  well  filled,  and  the 
number  of  church  members  gradually   increased  to  80  or  90. 

While  enquiring  into  the  history  of  this  church  and  locality, 
my  informer  carried  me  back  from  this  immediate  subject  to 
far  earlier  times. 

"  The  battle  of  Lower  Long  was  fought,"  said  my  informer, 
"  not  far  from  Cedar  Spring  (Seceder)  Church.  The  British 
took  General  Pickens  and  Major  Hamilton  prisoners.  Wiien 
General  Pickens  was  wearied  with  walking,  his  guard  asked 
him  if  he  was  tired.  On  his  answei  ing  '  Yes,'  he  replied, 
'  Run,  then.'  Several  were  killed  in  this  engagement.  Dr. 
Russell,  a.ssistea  by  his  wife,  performed  the  needed  surgical 
operations.  The  next  morning  a  Tory  was  seen  by  the  wife 
of  Major  Hamilton,  riding  the  Major's  horse.  He  told  Mrs. 
H.  that  her  husband  would  be  hung;  but  he  returned  home 
almost  immediately  after,  being  released  on  parole.  The 
captives,  arrangements  being  made  for  their  exchange,  re- 
turned, but  immediately  rejoined  the  army  of  the  patriots. 
Major  Hamilton  was  in  several  battles.  He  was  in  that  of 
Cambridge.  The  British  sent  out 'a  flag  which,  being  red, 
was  fired  upon.  They  afterwards  sent  out  a  white  one. 
Fifteen  wagons  of  the  inhabitants,  who  had  met  together  for 
mutual  protection,  were  crossing  the  Saluda  for  corn  ;  Peggy 
Houston  gave  information  to  the  Tories,  who  came  upon  the 
wagoners,  burnt  the  wagons,  carried  the  men  across  the 
Savannah  and  delivered  them  up  to  the  Creek  Indians,  who 
tortured  them,  sticking  them  with  pine  splinters.  Matthew 
Thompson,  feigning  to  be  sick,  was  frequently  taken  out  by 
the  Indians.  At  length  he  was  permitted  to  go  by  himself 
He  seized  one  of  the  fastest  horses  and  escaped.  He  was 
pursued  for  two  days,  fed  himself  on  the  tendrils  of  the  grape 
and  green  buds,  and  at  length,  in  a  state  of  great  exhaustion, 


1820-1830.]  TRADITIONS.  389 

• 

reached  his  home  near  Rocky  River  Church.  That  .same 
Peggy  Houston  fled  to  North  Carolina  and  remained  till  after 
peace  was  declared,  and  then  returned.  On  her  return,  the 
ladies  whose  husbands  and  sons  had  been  killed,  met  at  her 
house,  took  her  out  of  bed  and  whipped  her  nearly  to  death. 
She  fainted  twice.  Among  them  were  Mary  White,  whose 
son  was  murdered,  Jane  Hamilton  and  Rebecca  Pickens. 
These  last  were  the  wives  of  General  Pickens  and  Major 
Hamilton.  These  ladles  assembled  under  the  protection  of 
certain  gentlemen  who,  to  say  the  least,  did  not  manifest  any 
disapprobation  of  their  deed." 

Thus  spake  to  me,  while  inquiring  into  tlie  origin  of  this 
church  and  the  history  of  the  community,  A.  D.  185 1, 
Mrs.  Rachel  Lanier,  once  Rachel  Hamilton,  and  grand- 
daughter of  the  aforesaid  Major  Hamilton.  For  the  memory 
of  the  aged  goes  back  to  the  past,  and  the  minds  of  all  linger 
upon  the  heroic  age  in  which  our  fathers  fought  and  suffered, 
and  through  much  tribulation  founded  our  institutions  of 
Church  and  State,  and  achieved  our  independence.  And 
amid  these  traditions  the  following  also  were  rehearsed.  One 
was  about  Adam  Files  and  his  sons.  His  sons  were  out  hunt- 
ing horses,  and  met  the  Tories  and  Indians.  One  of  the  sons 
ran  home  and  gave  information.  Mr.  Files  and  his  other 
sons  concealed  themselves  in  Wilson's  Creek,  a  tributary  of 
Rocky  River.  Mr.  Carruthers  waii  shot  as  he  was  ascending 
the  bank  of  the  Creek.  He  was  buried  near  the  spot,  but 
his  bones  were  afterwards  removed. 

The  elder  Adam  Files  was  shot  at  by  the  Tories  and  was 
taken  out  of  the  creek.  He  was  carried  across  the  Savannah, 
tortured  and  killed.  His  bones  were  afterwards  found  and 
known  by  the  peculiar  formation  of  his  teeth.  These  bones 
were  afterwards  gathered  and  buried  by  his  sons.  One  of  his 
sons  (Adam)  was  hidden  in  the  waters  at  the  same  time  with 
his  father,  and  escaped.  Another  escaped  on  foot.  His  house 
was  the  "  lining  house,"  on  the  outside  of  the  settle- 
ment, i.  e.,  we  suppose,  the  house  which  marked  its  ideal 
boundary. 

Messrs.  William  Baskins  and  Hugh  Baskins  were  also  at 
the  same  house,  and  ran.  A  negro  woman,  Rose,  ran  with 
the  infant  child  of  Mr.  William  Baskins,  which  she  had  hid  in 
a  hollow  log  in  the  swamp  until  the  danger  via.'i  over.  This 
sg.me  child,  Betsey  Baskins,  is  now  (1851)  living  in  Mis- 
sissippi. 


390  WESTMINSTER — BRADAWAY.  [1820-1830. 

There  was  little  to  choose  between  the.  raids  of  the  Tories 
and  those  of  the  Indians.  They  would  destroy  everything, 
would  rip  open  feather  beds,  take  the  ticks  for  leggins, 
sprinkle  or  salt  the  feathers  with  tea  or  whatever  could  be 
found,  and  destroy  what  they  could. 

But  in  these  rough  border  scenes,  revenge  of  private 
wrongs  the  blood  revenge  was  sometimes  exacted,  irrespec- 
tive of  consequences.  It  was  stated  that  about  forty  Indians 
who  had  been  invited  in  by  General  Pickens  to  a  conference 
were  enticed  into  a  house  by  Robt.  Maxwell  and  John  Cald- 
well, in  all  six  persons,  and  were  put  to  death.  This  seems 
like  an  exaggerated  story,  if  so,  certainly  it  was  by  failure 
of  memory  or  misinformation.  It  was  added  that  General 
Pickens  was  greatly  offended  at  this  tran.saction. 

These  traditions  carry  one  back  some  seventy  years 
beyond  the  time  at  which  they  were  rehearsed.  They  are 
repeated  now  because  they  came  to  our  knowledge  while  we 
were  enquiring  into  matters  ecclesiastical,  because  tiiey  tend 
to  relieve  otherwise  dry  details,  and  because  the  trials  and 
achievements  of  other  times  are  not  without  a  salutary  influ- 
ence upon  ours. 

Westminster. — Westminster  and  Mount  Zion  presented, 
each,  a  call  October  4,  1823,  for  a  part  of  the  ministerial  ser- 
vice of  Mr.  Benjamin  D.  DuPre  a  licentiate  under  the  care 
of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  These  calls  were 
presented  to  him  by  Presbytery  and  accepted.  Trials  were 
appointed  him  preparatory  to  ordination.  These  were  sus- 
tained by  the  Presbytery  meeting  at  Willington,  April  i, 
1824,  and  at  an  intermediate  Presbytery  meeting  at  Mount 
Zion  Church  May  22,  1824,  Hugh  Dickson,  presiding,  and 
Rev.  Joseph  Hillhouse  preaching  the  sermon,  2  Cor.,  11,23. 
"  In  labors  more  abundant."  He  was  set  apart  in  due  form 
to  the  labors  of  the  gospel  ministry.  The  membership  of 
Westminster  varied  from  twenty  to  forty-four  during  this 
decade,  and  that  of  Mount  Zion  was  about  thirty. 

Bradaway. — The  notices  of  this  church  are  few.  On  the 
7th  of  April,  application  was  made  by  Bradaway  congrega- 
tion, through  their  representative,  to  have  the  sacrament  of 
the  Supper  administered  at  Varennes  in  the  course  of  the 
ensuing  summer.  The  request  was  granted  and  the  Rev. 
James  Hillhouse  and  Joseph  Hillhouse  were  directed  to 
attend    to  that    business."     Minutes,   April    7,    1820,  p.  67. 


1820-1S30.]  KOBEBTS   AND   GOODHOPE.  391 

October  4th,  1824,  "  a  call  was  handed  in  from  BradaWHy  con- 
gregation for  one-half  of  the  ministerial  labors  of  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Hillhouse,  which  call  by  Presbytery  was  presented  to 
Mr.  Hillhouse  and  by  him  accepted."  There  had  been  a 
petition  to  Presbytery  on  the  7th  of  October,  1820,  to  receive 
and  acknowledge  Varennes  as  a  di.'itinct  congregation,  under 
its  care,  having  formerly  been  included  in  Bradaway  congre- 
gation. The  prayer  of  the  petition  was  granted.  (Mtnutes, 
p.  76.) 

Mr.  Hillhouse  appears  to  have  been  pastor  of  both  these 
churche.*.  On  the  20th  of  March,  1826,  a  painful  commu- 
nication from  the  united  congregations  of  Bradaway  and 
Varennes,' inculpated  their  pastor  for  the  crime  of  intemper- 
ance. Mr.  Hillhouse  was  brought  before  the  tribunal  of 
Presbytery  meeting  at  Varennes  on  the  17th  of  May,  humbly 
acknowledged  his  faults,  said  that  he  had  resolved  to  be  more 
circumspect,  and  hoped,  through  divine  grace,  to  be  enabled 
to  lead  a  sober  and  pious  life  in  time  to  come.  Presbytery, 
however,  suspended  him  from  his  ministerial  office  until  they 
should  have  satisfactory  evidence  of  his  sincere  repentance 
and  reformation.  Bradaway  had  52  members  in  1825,  1826, 
1828,  in  which  last  year  it  was  vacant.  Varennes  had  35  in 
1825-6.    It  had  48  in  1828-9. 

Roberts  and  Goodhope. — The  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater, 
afterwards  D.  D.,  was  the  last  of  the  brethren  who  supplied 
the  churches  down  to  this  period,  1820.  From  this  time 
onward  for  a  long  series  of  years  they  were  under  the  pasto- 
ral care  of  the  Rev.  David  Humphries,  whose  personal  history 
is  thus  given  by  Rev.  John  McLees,  "  very  imperfectly 
sketched,"  says  the  writer,  "  from  a  very  imperfect  sessional 
record,  and  from  a  brief  manuscript  which  he  gave  to  the 
writer,"  (Rev,  Mr.  McLees),  "  who  grew  up  under  his  min- 
istry." "  The  Rev.  David  Humphries  was  born  on  the  30th 
of  September,  1793,  in  Pendleton,  S.  C,  his  hterary  studies 
for  a  time  were  directed  by  ihe  Rev,  Andrew  Brown  ;  he  then 
repaired  to  the  Willington  Academy  and  finished  his  literary 
course  and  studied  theology  under  Dr.  Moses  Waddell.  He 
was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  in  October,  1819,  by  tiie 
South  Carolina  Presbytery.  While  he  was  visiting  and 
preaching  in  some  of  the  vacant  churches  in, the  Presbytery 
he  received  an  appointment  with  the  Rev.  Thos.  C.  Stuart, 
from  the   Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  to  visit  the 


392  REV.    DAVID   HUMPHREYS.  [1820-1830. 

Southwestern  tribes  of  Indians,  preparatory  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  missionary  among  some  of  them.  They  set  out  on 
this  mission  in  April,  1820.  They  first  visited  the  tribe  of 
Creek  Indians,  met  them  in  council  and  stated  to  them  the 
object  of  their  visit,  but  found  them  unwilling  to  receive  mis- 
sionaries. They  then  went  to  the  tribe  of  Chickasaws  and 
sought  an  interview  with  their  chiefs  who  cordially  received 
them  .and  expressed  a  desire  to  have  missionaries  come  and 
preach  to  them.  A  site  was  selected  for  a  missionary  station 
and  they  returned  to  South  Carolina  in  July.  The  Rev, 
David  Humphries  visited  Roberts  Church  for  the  first  time 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1820.  A  regular  call  was  given 
him  by  the  churches  of  Roberts  and  Good  Hop^  in  the 
spring  of  i82l,in  which  ^300  was  promised  him  for  three- 
fourths  of  his  time ;  he  signified  his  acceptance  of  the  call, 
and  during  the  meeting  of  Presbytery  one  of  the  ministers 
who  was  receiving  a  better  salary  than  was  promised  to  the 
young  brother,  jocosely  remarked  to  him,  "  Well  David  you 
have  this  day  solemnly  promised  to  starve!'  He  was  ordained 
and  installed  pastor  in  the  same  year,  at  Good  Hope,  by  an 
adjourned  meeting  of  Presbytery.  It  was  considered  a  very 
gr.eat  effort  on  the  part  of  these  feeble  churches,  which  for 
years  had  only  received  preaching  once  a  month  and  for 
which  they  had  paid  a  very  small  amount  to  undertake  to 
support  a  pastor.  The  subscription  list  at  Roberts  for  the 
Rev.  John  Simpson  was  still  preserved  and  it  was  not  likely 
to  be  much  improved  on.  Five  dollars  was  the  highest  sub- 
scription and  from  that  amount  others  came  down  to  fifty 
and  even  twelve-and-a-half  cents,  while  some  subscribed  a 
bushel  of  wheat  or  corn,  or  a  gallon  of  whiskey.  Both  con- 
gregations we  re  much  reduced  by  emigrants  who  had  left  to 
seek  homes  in  some  other  section  of  our  wide  country,  and 
especially  was  this  the  case  with  Good  Hope,  from  the 
bounds  of  which  a  few  years  before  a  number  of  families, 
through  the  influence  of  General  Andrew  Pickens,  had  re- 
moved and  settled  near  the  Oconee  station,  and  united  with 
Bethel  Church,  then  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Andrew  BrOwn, 
and  soon  after  Rev.  David  Humphries  was  installed  as  pas- 
tor. Another  colony  left  for  the  West,  headed  by  three  of  the 
most  influential  elders  and  composed  of  several  of  the  most 
wealthy  families.  When  he  first  took  charge  of  these 
churches  there  were,  perhaps,  in  each  some  twenty  or  thirty 


1820-1830.]  REV.  J)AVID    HUMPHREYS.  393 

families  and  thirty  or  forty  members.  He  had  a  young  family 
and  no  resources.  He  purchased  a  small  farm  with  the  hope 
that  he  could  make  a  support  upon  it,  while  his  small  salary 
would  go  to  pay  for  it,  but  to  his  great  mortification,  the 
salary  was  irregularly  and  but  partially  paid,  and  he  was  re- 
duced to  the  necessity  of  borrowing  rhoney  at  fourteen  per 
cent,  interest  to  pay  for  his  lands,  and  in  order  to  pay  the  bor- 
rowed funds,  he  was  driven  to  the  necessity  of  teaching  school, 
which  he  said  was  a  "  herculean  task  for  him,  as  all  his  ser- 
mons had  to  be  written  out  in  full  and  committed  to  me- 
mory." He  kept  up  this  practice  of  committing  to  memory 
for  nearly  twenty  years,  when  he  gradually  adopted  the  habit 
of  using  short  notes  or  preaching  extempore.  He  taught 
school  with  some  intervals,  for  several  years  and  never  con- 
tracted a  debt  without  some  good  prospect  of  paying  it.  He 
had  but  a  small  library  which  needed  a  few  additional  volumes 
year  by  year,  and  a  rising  family,  which  increased  his  ex- 
penses. It  was  then  a  rare  thing  for  a  present  of  any  kind  to 
be  made  to  the  pastor.  If  any  article  of  food  or  clothing  was 
obtained  from  any  of  the  church  members,  the  amount  was 
deducted  from  the  subscription,  and  if  it  exceeded  the  sub- 
scription, the  balance  was  paid  back  or  credited  to  the  next 
year.  There  were  no  deacons  in  these  ciiurches  and  no  sys- 
tematic plan  adopted  tor  the  collection  of  the  small  amount 
subscribed.  Some  paid  a  part  in  provisions  and  the  balance 
remained  unpaid ;  others  paid  if  they  happened  to  think  of  it, 
while  the  amount  promised  by  those  who  removed  from  the 
bounds  was  never  made  up.  The  consequence  was  in  a  few 
years  that  they  were  in  arrears  to  the  amount  of  about  .^looo. 
Thus  writes  the  Rev.  John  McLees,  himself  reared  in  the 
mid.st  of  these  congregations.  It  is  a  sad  story  of  violated 
vows,  of  broken  promises,  of  the  life  of  the  ministry  crushed 
out  by  a  narrowness  of  spirit  and  a  want  of  commercial  integ- 
rity which  one  could  not  expect  in  that  region  of  country 
whose  people  have  prided  themselves  on  generosity  and  no- 
bleness of  spirit.  The  story  is  written  not  by  an  enemy  but 
by  a  friend,  not  by  a  stranger  to  this  people,  but  by  one  of 
themselves,  and  one  who  wishes  them  well. 

The  ruling  elders  in  Roberts  church  in  1820  were  Capt. 
David  Sadler,  first  a  member  and  a  ruling  elder  in  the 
Church  of  Bethesda,  York.  He  removed  into  the  bounds  of 
Roberts    Church   a   short   time   before    1820.     He  was  soon 


394  ROBEETS    CHURCH.  [t820-1830. 

elected  an  elder  here.  He  was  a  gallant  .soldier  under  Gen. 
Sumter,  He  became  a  convert  in  those  remarkable  revivals 
which  took  place  in  1800  and  thereafter.  He  was  a  man  of 
eminent  piety  and  usefulness.  His  four  sons  and  six  daughters 
became  worthy  members  of  the  church.-  .Two  of  his  sons 
were  elders  in  Good  Hope  and  one  a  deacon.  Two  of  his 
daughters  married  elders,  and  one  a  minister  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  From  these  a  numerous  family  has  descended 
in  the  third  and  fouith  generation.  Six  or  eight  of  his 
grandsons  fell  in  battle  or  died  in  the  army  in  our  recent 
contest. 

James  McCarley  was  a  Ruling  Elder  in  1820.  He  was  of 
Presbyterian  ancestors.  His  brother  was  an  elder  at  Good 
Hope,  where  two  of  his  sisters  and  another  brother  were 
members.  He  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Wilson,  a  very  pious 
lady.  They  had  four  sons  and  two  daughters.  They  all 
united  with  the  church  except  two  of  th'e  sons  who  removed 
to  Mississippi.  His  eldest  son,  a  young  man  of  fine  intellect, 
commenced  a  course  of  study  for  the  ministry,  but  not  being 
fully  persuaded  of  his  call,  abandoned  these  studies.  One 
son  and  one  daughter  are  still  (October  1869)  members  of  tiie 
Church. 

David  Simpson,  the  youngest  son  of  Rev.  John  Simpson, 
was  one  of  the  elders  in  1820.  Of  sterling  worth  and  gen- 
uine piety,  modest  and  unassuming,  he  was  ever  ready  to  aid 
the  Church  by  his  prayers  and  contributions.  He  married 
tlie  second  daughter  of  Capt.  Sadler.  They  have  had  five 
sons  and  three  daughters,  all  of  whom  except  one  son  are,  at 
this  writing,  members  of  the  Church. 

,  Deacons  at  Roberts  Church. — For  many  years  this  church 
had  no  deacons.  When  it  was  felt  to  be  necessary  to  the 
co.'nplete  organization  of  the  church  to  have  deacons,  Dr.  J. 
M.  Lockhart  and  Alexander  McClinton  were  appointed  and 
ordained. 

Church  Buildings. — At  Roberts  the  first  hou.se  of  worship 
was  of  hewn  logs,  about  32  by  24  feet  in  dimensions.  Shortly 
before  the  year  1820  a  neat  frame  building  was  erected,  about 
44  feet  in  length  by  32  in  breadth.  After  some  twenty  years 
it  was  ceiled  and  reseated  and  made  quite  comfortable. 

Ruling  Elders  in  Good  Hope. — In  1820  Mr.  William  Ander- 
son, formerly  of  Roberts  Church,  acted  as  elder  here.  Mr. 
Beaty,  a  relative  of  the   one   before  named,  was  also  long  an 


1820-1830.]  GOOD   HOPE — PROVIDENCE.  395 

official  elder  here.  He  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters;  The 
eldest  .son  and  the  two  daughters  became  members  of  the 
Church.  Most  of  the  children  of  that  son  were  united  with 
the  Church.  Two  of  his  sons  fell  in  the  service  of  their  coun- 
try, the  one  a  lieutenant  and  the  other  a  private. 

Andrew  Young  was  one  of  the  original  set  of  elders,'  a 
man  of  prayer,  exemplary  in  his  habits,  and  of  great  equa- 
nimity of  temper.  He  died  in  a  good  old  ^e  in  1 831,  and 
his  descendants  have  removed  beyond  our  bounds.  [Written 
in  1867.] 

Mr.  Leonard  Simpson,  the  eldest  son  of  Rev.  John  Simp- 
son, was  an  active  elder  in  the  church  when  Mr.  Humpiiries, 
in  1820,  took  charge  of  it.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  our 
doctrines  and  ecclesiastical  order.  He  married  a  daughter  of 
Col.  Moffett.  The  family  removed  to  DeKalb  County,  Geor- 
gia, and  contributed  much  towards  building  up  a  church  in 
that  part  of  the  country.  He  died  in  Marietta,  where  some 
of  his  family  resided  when  driven  away  as  refugees  a  .short 
time  since  by  the  Federal  ;irmy.  Two  of  his  grandchildren 
are  members  of  Roberts  Church. 

Church  Edifice  at  Good  Hope, — The  first  house  of  worship 
was  about  two  miles  west  of  the  present  site.  It  was  agreed 
to  erect  a  new  house  more  in  the  centre  of  the  congregation. - 
A  large  house  of  hewn  logs  was  put  up  at  the  present  loca- 
tion. It  was  perhaps  about  48  by  35  feet  in  dimensions.  It 
was  weather-boarded  and  covered  anew  about  some  five  or 
six  years  after  the  close  of  this  decade.  [MS.  History  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Humphries,  October  1867.]  The  statistical  tables 
give  for  Good  Hope  a  membership  of  56  in  1825,  1826;  of 
91  in  1828.  42  having  been  added  in  the  preceding  twelve 
months,  unless  this  42  represents  the  additions  of  two  years, 
of  80  in  1829.  They  give  for  Roberts  a  membership  of  45 
in  1825,49  in  1826,  60  in  1828,  19  being  added  in  the  pre- 
ceding twelve  months,  of  75  in  1829. 

Providence  Church  is  literally  a  branch  of  Rocky 
River  Church,  and  originated  in  this  wise.  During  the 
time  that  Rev.  James  Gamble  was  pastor  of  RocUy  River, 
Presbytery  ordered  each  minister  to  perform  such  missionary 
labor  between  that 'and  the  next  meeting  of  Presbytery  in  any 
field  that  their  labors  would  promise  to  be  most  useful.  In 
compliance  with  this  order  Mr.  Gamble  commenced  preach- 
ing in  this  distant  part  of  his  congregation  in  private  houses, 


396  NEW   HAKMONY   CHURCH.  [1820-1830. 

and  the  numbers  attending- on  these  occasions  were.such  that 
a  school-house  being  built  in  the  vicinity  was  made  larger  for 
the  purpo.se,  in  which  he  preached  every  fifth  Sabbath  for  a 
time.  When  the  school-house  could  not  contain  the  congre- 
gation an  arbor  was  built,  at  which  place  he  continued  to 
preach  one-fourth  of  his  time  until  his  removal  to  Georgia  in 
1826. 

After  this  a  meeting  house  was  built  and  one-fourth  of  the 
labors  of  Rev.  David  Humphries  was  procured  and  continued 
up  to,  and  for  some  years  after,  the  reception  of  tlie  chuich 
by  Presbytery  at  their  October  session  in  1828.  [See  Min- 
utes, Vol.  2,  p.  179.] 

At  the  time  Providence  Church  was  received  under  the 
care  of  Presbytery  it  had  as  its  elders  Col.  Wm.  H.  Caldwell, 
Robert  Cosby  and  John  Speer,  Esqs.,  and  about  60  white 
members. 

In  1829  James  H.  Baskin  was  elected  an  elder,  and  at  the 
close  of  that  year  there  were  94  white  and  27  colored  mem- 
bers. In  all,  121  members.  Thus  was  commenced  by  mis- 
sionary labors  set  on  foot  by  Presbytery  and  by  the  zeal  and 
faitlifulness  of  the  pastor,  a  church  which  continued  afterwards 
to  bear  fruit  to  the  glory  of  God.  [MS.  of  J.  H.  Baskin,  clerk 
of  session,  November  15,  1853.] 

New  Harmony  Church  may  properly  be  said  to  be  another 
branch  of  old  Rocky  River  Church.  It  was  taken  under  the 
care  of  Presbytery,  March  27,  1830  [Minutes, -Vol.  2,  p.  4], 
and  had  part  of  its  ministerial  labors  of  the  licentiates,  Wm. 
Carlisle  and  Wm.  H.  Harris,  up  to  the  time  of  their  union 
with  Providence  Church  at  Lowndesville,  where  a  good  frame 
church  was  erected,  and  they  chose  that  it  should  bear  the 
name  of  Providence.     [^/did.'\ 

The  following  occurs  on  p.  179  of  the  second  Vol.  of  the 
Minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina: 

"  William  H.  Caldwell,  elder,  petitioned  in  behalf  of  a 
neighborhood  lying"  between  Rocky  River  and  Good  Hope 
Churches,  that  they  should  be  recognized  as  a  church  and 
taken  under  the  care  of  Presbytery,  and  that  they  be  known 
by  the  name  of  Providence  Church.  Whereupon  it  was 
resolved  that  the  prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted,  and  that 
the  elders,  Josiah  Patterson,  Andrew  Giles  and  Hugh  McLinn, 
be  representatives  in  behalf  of  Rocky  River  congregation,  to 
meet  the  elders,  Wm.  Caldvvell,  John  Spear  and  Robt.  Cosby, 


1820-1830.]  HOPEWELL  (kEOVVEE,)  397 

in    belialf  of   Providence    congregation,   to    determine    on   a 
boundary  line  between  the  said  congregations." 

Hopewell  (Keowee),  popularly  known  as  "  The  Stone 
Church."  At  the  close  of  the  preceding  decade,  we  found 
this  church  and  Carmel  under  the  pastoral  charge  of  the  Rev. 
James  Hillhouse.  They  are  united  as  if  one  joint  charge  in 
the  statistical  tables  of  1825.  Yet  the  pastoral  relation  with 
Mr.  Hillhouse  was  terminated  by  act  of  Presbytery,  October 
5th,  1822,  and  the  church  petitions  for  supplies,  and  the  licen- 
tiates are  directed  to  supply  this  and  certain  other  churches, 
.rvbout  that  time,  on  the  6th  of  October,  1825,  the  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina  met  at  this  church.  On  the  8th  of  March, 
1827,  Hopewell  and  Camiel  Churches  both  petition  for  sup- 
|)lies,  and  supplies  were  granted.  The  Rev.  Aaron  Foster,  in 
1828  and  onward,  alternated  between  this  church  and  Willing- 
ton.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  a  graduate  of 
Andover  Dartmouth  College  and  Seminary.  Other  informa- 
tion respecting  this  church  >ve  do  not  have.  Hopewell 
(Keowee)  and  Carmel  are  represented  as  having  a  membership 
as  united  in  1825,  of  115  members;  Hopewell  in  1826  and 
1828  as  having  59  members,  and  in  1829  as  having  the  same. 

Pendleton  Village. — Preaching  seems  to  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  this  village  within  this  period. 

Carmel  Church. — We  have  seen  that  this  church  was 
under  the  pastoral  supervision  of  Rev.  James  Hillhouse  until 
October  1822.  At  that  time  Mr.  Hillhouse  was  dismissed 
from  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Alabama.  The  Rev.  Anthony  W.  Ross,  formerly  of  Harmony 
Presbytery,  was  their  next  minister,  probably,  at  first,  as  a 
stated  supply.  He  did  not  become  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina  till  the  8th  of  October,  1824,  He 
continued  to  supply  this  church,  and,  by  mutual  agreement, 
that  at  Pendleton  Village. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Nail,  in  his  account  of  "The  Dead  of  the  Synod 
of  Alabama,"  says  that  the  Rev.  James  Hillhouse  settled  in 
Greensborough,  Ala.,  and  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Alabama  on  the  nth  of  September,  1823,  and  that,  as  an 
effective  preacher,  he  has  never  been  surpassed  in  that  Synod- 
His  command  of  language  was  remarkable,  and  his  feelings 
easily  excited.  He  was  not  a  student,  but  no  man  was  more 
abundant  in  labors.  It  was  the  joy  of  his  heart  to  spend  and 
be  spent  for  Christ.     His  appeals  to  the  church  and  the  world 


398  BETHLEHEM,  CANE  CREEK  AND  BETHEL.    [1820-1830. 

were  truly  powerful.  To  recount  his  labors,  says  hi.s  Presby- 
tery, wo"tild  require  volumes.  He  died  at  Greensboro',  Ala., 
November  17,  1835. 

Bethlehem,  Cane  Creek  and  Bethel. — We  have  no  means 
of  speaking  definitely  of  these  cliurches.  April  6,  1822,  Mr. 
DuPree  was  directed  to  supply  at  B;;thel  Church  as  frequently 
as  circumstances  would  admit,  and  Mr.  Humphries  to  admin- 
ister at  that  place  the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  course  of  the 
summer.  It  is  on  the  list  of  vacant  churches  in  1825,  1826, 
and  1828.  Cane  Creek  is  represented  as  vacant  in  1825,  with 
twenty  members  ;  as  vacant  in  1826,  with  twenty-five  mem- 
bers; as  having  a  stated  supply  in  1829.  We  do  not  meet 
with  Bethlehem,  but  with  Bethsalem,  vacant  in  1825,  with 
twenty  members  ;  in  1826,  with  a  pastor  and  having  twenty 
members. 

These  were  churches  which  were  founded  by  Rev.  Andrew 
Brown.  The  Presbytery  had  sent  him,  in  1819,  into  the 
territory  of  Alabama  on  a  three  months'  mission,  and  his 
name  disappears  on  the  minutes  of  Presbytery  after  1820.  It 
was  in  that  year  that  he  settled  in  Alabama  and  organized 
the  Bethel  Church  (Tuscaloosa).  He  died  after  an  illness  of 
five  days,  near  Marion,  on  the  8th  of  October,  1823,  only  four 
days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Presbytery  of  Alabama. 
He  died  at  the  house  of  Jonathan  Penroy,  a  worthy  member 
of  the  Baptist  Church,  and  was  buried  in  the  graveyard  at 
Marion,  where  the  Presbytery  ha'd  held  its  sessions.  A  pious 
mother  in  Israel,  a  Mrs.  Munford,  erected  a  monument  over 
his  grave.  Besides  founding  the  church  at  Tuscaloosa,  as- 
sisted by  the  Rev.  Francis  H  Porter,  he  organized  the  New 
Hope  Church,  in  Green  County,  and  in  1822,  the  Lebanon 
Church,  in  Tuscaloosa  County,  in  that  State. 

Westminster  and  Mount  Zion. — On  the  4th  of  October, 
1823,  "  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  two  neighborhoods  in  the 
upper  part  of  Pendleton  District,  the  one  on  Couneros'  and 
the  other  on  Cane  Creek,  having  put  themselves  in  the  form 
of  associations  for  public  worship,  requested  to  be  received 
by  Presbytery  as  congregations  under  their  care,  the  first  to 
be  known  as  Westminster,  the  other  by  the  name  of  Mount 
Zion.  The  request  was  granted."  (Minutes,  p.  109.)  They 
called  for  their  pastor  Mr.  Benjamin  P.  DuPre,  a  licentiate  of 
the  Presbytery.  The  call  was  accepted,  and  at  an  intermediate 
Presbytery  at  Mount  Zion  Church,  on    May  22,  1824,  he  was 


1820-1830.]        NAZARETH  (b.  D.  ) — AUGUSTA  —  MACON.  899 

ordained  and  installed  as  pastor  of  the  two  churches,  Michael 
Dickson  presiding,  and  Joseph  Hillhouse  preachinfj  the  or- 
dination sermon.  These  churches  may  possibly  have  super- 
seded those  founded  by  Andrew  Brown,  which  we  have' 
mentioned  before.  Westminster  and  Mount  Zion  are  repre- 
sented in  the  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1S29  as  the 
charge  of  Rev.  Benjamin  D.  DuPre,  Westminster  as  having 
thirty-two,  and  Mount  Zion  thirty  members. 

Nazareth  (Beaver  Dam). — This  church  is  represented  as 
vacant  through  this  period,  and  there  are  no  materials  out  of 
which  to  construct  its  history.  It  was  still  dependent  on  such 
supplies  as  could  be  obtained.  The  names  of  Andrew  Brown, 
James  Millhouse,  David  Humphries,  and  David  Haslet  are 
recollected  as  being  among  those  who  from  time  to  time  sup- 
plied its  pulpit. 

The  Fikst  Presbyterian  Church  (in  Augusta,  Georgia). 
"  On  the  6th  of  February,  1820,  a  call  was  presented  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Moderwel,  which  he  accepted,  and  entered  imme- 
diately upon  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office.  Mr.  Moderwel 
was  installed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  at  their  regular 
sessions  in  November,  182 1. 

On  the  16th  of  July,  1826,  Rev.  Mr.  Moderwel  resigned  the 
pastoral  charge  of  the  congregation,  which  resignation  was 
accepted  and  his  connection  with  thern  dissolved,  by  Presby- 
tery in  the  following  August. 

During  the  interval  between  the  death  of  Dr.  Thompson 
and  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Moderwel,  nineteen  persons  were 
added  to  the  membership  of  the  church.  During  the  six 
years  of  his  connection  witii  the  church,  ninety-three  were 
added.' 

After  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Moderwel,  the  pulpit  of  the 
church  was  supplied  by  Rev.  S.  K.  Talmage  and  Rev.  S.  S. 
Davis  jointly,  for  one  year. 

In  November,  1828,  a  call  was  presented  to  Rev.  S.  K.  Tal- 
mage to  become  the  pastor  of  the  church,  which  he  accepted, 
and  was  installed  by  Hopewell  Presbytery  on  the  28th  of  that 
month. 

Presbyterian  Church  (Macon,  Georgia). — Near  the  close 
of  1805  the  military  post  called  Fort  Hawkins  was  established 
by  the  United  States  Government  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Ocmulgee.  Around  this  a  village  began  to  gather,  perhaps 
as  early  as  from  1815  to  1817,  forming  the  nucleus  of  what  is 


400  MACON.  [1820-1830. 

now  East  Macon.  In  May,  i82f,  the  Legislature  .set  apart  a 
tract  of  land  on  this  (western)  side  of  the  river,  on  which  to 
establish  a  town,  to  be  the  county  seat  of  Bibb  County,  and 
to  be  called  Macon,  in  honor  of  General  Natlianiel  Macon,  of 
North  Carolina.  Only  a  single  log  cabin  then  marked  its 
site.  In  December,  1822,  commissioners  were  appointed  to 
lay  off  the  town  and  offer  the  lots  at  public  sale.  This  they 
did,  and  the  sale  took  place  March  6th  and  7th,  1823. 

The  town  seems  to  have  commenced  its  corporate  exi.stence 
in  1826,  when  Mr.  Edward  D.  Tracy  was  chosen  its  first  In- 
tendant.  The  second,  Mr.  Washington  Foe,  was  chosen  in 
1827.  Both  these  gentlemen  afterwards  became  members  and 
office  bearers  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  latter  still 
lives  a  venerated,  beloved  ruling  elder,  arid  one  of  our  most 
honored  citizens.  The  town  received  its  charter  as  a  city  in 
1832,  and  in  1833  chose  as  its  first  Mayor,  Mr.  Isaac  G.  Sey- 
mour. Its  population  on  both  sides  of  the  river  in  1826  could 
not  have  been  more  than  1,500  or  2,000,  since  the  census  of 
1840  puts.it  at  only  3,927  at  that  time. 

As  population  gathered  here,  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
churches  from  other  places  were  found  to  compose  a  portion 
of  it,  and  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Sliles,  afterwards  the  widely  cele- 
brated Dr.  Stiles,  then  a  licentiate  and  acting  as  an  evangelist 
through  this  region,  frequently  preached  at  Macon  for  some 
time  previous  to  1826.  The  way  being  at  length  open,  a 
church  was  organized  June  i8th,  1826,  by  Mr.  Benjamin  Gilder- 
sleeve,  under  the  authority  of  Hopewell  Presbytery  of  the  then 
Synod  ot  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Mr.  Stiles,  being  not 
then  ordained,  was  not  competent  to  the  duty  of  organizing  a 
chuich,  but  was  present  on  the  occasion. 

The  organization  took  place  in  the  Courthouse,  a  small 
building  of  wood  standing  on  the  corner  of  Mulberry  and 
Third  Streets,  below  the  present  Lanier  House.  The  Academy 
was  thereafter  used,  however,  as  the  place  for  stated  services 
for  several  years.  It  was  a  small  wooden  structure,  after- 
wards destroyed  by  fire,  standing  on  the  site  of  the  "  Free 
Academy  "  lot,  now  occupied  by  the  brick  building  already 
falling  to  decay. 

Twenty-four  persons  received  by  letter  and  one  by  profes- 
sion of  faith  constituted  the  original  membership  of  twenty- 
five.  The  organization  was  rather  that  of  a  worshipping 
congregation  than  a  church,  the  first  ruling  elders  not  being 


1820-1830.]  MISSIONS.  401 

ordained  until  over  a  3ear,  and  the   first   deacon   over   twelve 
years  afterwards. 

Mr.  Stiles  continued  to  be  the  only  supply  of  the  pulpit 
(making  this  one  of  the  many  points  at  which  he  preached) 
until  the  middle  of  November,  1827,  a  period  of  about 
eighteen  months,  during  which  the  accessions  were  thirty- 
eight,  and  Samuel  B.  Hunter  and  Matthew  Robertson  became 
ruling  elders. 

Rev.  James  C  Patterson  succeeded  Mr.  Stiles,  his  term  of 
service  extending  from  the  beginning  of  1828  to  the  close  of 
1830,  a  period  of  three  years,  but  much  interrupted  by  his 
illness.  The  accessions  under  his  ministry  were  thirty-three, 
and  Washington  Poe  and  Nathaniel  Parker  became  ruling 
elders.  The  former  still  holds  the  office,  having  exercised 
its  functions  for  forty-seven  years,  and  held  his  membership 
in  the  church  for  more  than  forty-eight.  Only  one,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Sims,  is  his  senior  in  membership,  she  having 
joined  the  church  July  8,  1827,  forty-nine  years  ago. 

The  first  church  building  was  erected  during  Mr.  Patter- 
son's ministry  (1829  or  1830),  a  wooden  building  on  Fourth 
street,  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  Messrs.  Adams  &  Baze- 
more's  warehouse.  Removed  and  enlarged,  it  is  now  the 
Second  Baptist  Church. 

The  period  over  which  we  have  now  passed  has  exhibited 
great  activity  in  the  diffusion  of  religious  truth.  EifTorts 
to  this  end  began  early  in  this  century,  were  continued 
through  this  decade,  and  which,  at  the  risk  of  some  repetition, 
we  will  now  proceed  to  detail.  The  Congregational  As- 
sociation of  South  Carolina  set  on  foot  a  Congregational 
Missionary  Society,  "  learning  that  there  are  many  indigent 
and  ignorant  families  in  the  State,  and  some  considerable 
districts  entirely  destitute  of  the  gospel,"  as  early  as  May, 
1801.  To  this  organization  the  members  of  that  church  and 
others  were  invited  to  contribute.  The  Young  Men's  Mis- 
sionary Societ)'  of  South  Carolina  was  organized  January  27, 
1820,  Thomas  Fleming,  of  Charleston,  President,  was  espe- 
cially active  during  the  years  over  which  we  have  now  passed. 
The  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Synod 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  which  had  been  formed  in  the 
preceding  decade  went  into  active  operation  in  this.  Of  the 
organization  ot  this  Society  the  Rev.  William  H.  Barr,  D.  D., 
was  President,  we  have  written  on  preceding  pages. 
26 


402  MISSIONS.  [1820-18  50. 

There  was  also  the  Female  Domestic  Missionary  Society 
of  Charlestoa,  organized  June  28,  18 18,  which  was  actively 
employed  in  citj'  mi.ssions. 

Speaking  of  these  not  exactly  in  the  order  in  which  they 
h  ive  been  mentioned,  we  find  Alfred  Wright  the  first  mis- 
sionary of  the  Society  last  named.  He-was  a  native  of  Con- 
necticut, a  graduate  of  William.s  College  in  1812,  and  of 
Andover  Seminary  in  1816,  had  taught  in  North  Carolina  and 
went  eventually  as  a  missionary  to  the  Choctaws.  Aaron 
Warner,  of  Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of  Willian;s  College  in 
181 5,  and  of  Andover  in  18 19,  was  the  next  missionary.  A 
place  of  preaching  was  provided  for  the  mission;  the  city  was 
divided  into  districts  and  committees  of  invitation  aided  the 
missionary  in  his  labors.  Mr.  Warner  was  afterwards  Profes- 
sor of  Sacred  Rhetoric  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Gilman- 
ton,  N.  H.,  from  1838  to  1843,  then  Professor  of  Rhetoric  at 
Amherst  College  and  honored  with  the  title  of  D.  D.  In  the 
same  year  the  Rev,  Joseph  Brown  was  their  missionary, 
beginning  in  May.  1822,  but  instead  of  devoting  his  labors  to 
general  missionary  efforts  through  the  city,  he  directed  his 
attention  to  the  seamen,  preaching  at  the  Mariner's  Church 
and  laboring  elsewhere  during  the  week.  The  Marine  Bible 
Society  supplied  copies  of  the  Scriptures.  The  Bethel  Union 
lent  its  aid,  and  in  the  month  of  January,  1823,  the  Ciiarleston 
Port  Society.  Preaching  to  the  seamen  had  been  held  in  a 
sail  lofc  from  year  to  year.  In  1852  a  church  which  had 
belonged  to  the  Baptists  was  purchased  and  appropriated  to 
them,  and  Mr.  Brown  passed  from  the  service  of  the  Female 
Missionary  Society  in  that  year  to  that  of  the  Charleston 
Port  Society,  in  which  he  continued.  In  parting  with  the 
ladies  he  recommends  to  them  the  establishment  of  a  Mis- 
sionary Chapel  in  some  central  spot,  and  the  employment  of 
a  permanent  missionary.  He  also  directs  the  attention  of  the 
Society  to  the  adoption  of  a  judicious  measure  for  the  re- 
covery of  those  fallen  individuals  of  their  own  sex  who  had 
been  led  astray  and  to  whom  there  seemed  no  way  of  escape. 
(Report,  1822,  1823.)  But  an  earlier  missionary  of  this 
Society  was  the  Rev.  Jonas  King,  who  had  labored  from 
November,  1819,  to  May,  1820.  He,  too,  had  preached  to  the 
seamen,  had  visited  the  Sabbath-schools,  had  found  his  way 
into  families  of  the  Jews,  had  attended  at  the  Orphan  House, 
Alms  House  and  Marine  Hospital.     "  The  formation  of  this 


1820-1830.]  MISSION  TO  THE  SEAMEN.  403 

Society,"  says  he  in  his  report  of  May,  1820,  "  I  hail  as  tHe 
appearance  of  a  star  over  this  city  like  that  at  Bethlehem." 
Rev.  Jonas  King  had  been  ordained  by  the  Congregational 
Association  on  the  17th  of  December,  18 19,  with  the  special 
view  of  laboring  in  Charleston  among  the  seamen,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  Rev.  Alfred  Wright  was  ordained  with  a  view 
of  joining  the  missionary  establishment  at  Elliott,  under  the 
superintendence  of  Rev.  Cyrus  Kingsbury. 

The  Joseph  Brown,  before  mentioned,  first  served  as  a 
missionary  of  the  Young  Men's  Mi.ssionary  Society,  com- 
mencing in  December,  1820,  visiting  Stoney  Creek  and  Beau- 
fort first,  and  spea'ks  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  as  existing 
there,  and  then,  after  his  ordination,  on  the  3d  of  January, 
182 1,  he  preached  in  Edgefield  District,  at  Beech  Island,  at 
the  Couithouse,  at  Red  Bank  and  elsewhere.  Rev.  Mr. 
Brown  was  graduatedat  Middlebury  College  in  1817,  at  Ando- 
ver  in  1820,  was  preacher  to  the  seamen  in  Charleston  till 
1829,  when  he  removed  to  New  York  and  labored  in  the 
seaman's  cause  till  his  death,  on  tlie  i6th  of  September,  1833. 
at  the  age  of  46.  Alfred  Wright  married  Harriet  Bunce,  is 
sister  of  Mrs.  Palmer,  the  wife  of  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  first  of 
that  name,  of  Charleston,  and  died  at  Wheelock,  Ark.,  March 
31,  1853.  The  Jonas  King,  before  mentioned,  was  the  cele- 
brated Jonas  King,  D.  D.,  Missionary  at  Jerusalem  from 
1819,  1825,  Professor  of  Oriental  Literature  at  Amherst  Col- 
lege from  1822,  1828,  Missionary  at  Athens,  Greece,  where 
he  died  on  the  22d  of  May,  1869,  aged  76. 

The  services  for  seamen  were  first  conducted  by  Rev.  Jonas 
King  in  Mr.  Cleapor's  sail  loft  on  Lothrop's  (now  Accommo- 
dation) wharf,  and  afterwards  in  the  more  spacious  one  of  Mr. 
McNellage,  on  Duncan's  (now  South  Atlantic)  wharf,  but  in 
December,  1820,  at  a  meeting  of  citizens  which  was  called 
by  the  Marine  Bible  Society  to  consult  on  the  propriety  ot 
erecting  a  Marine  Church,  some  ;^3,ooo  were  soon  subscribed 
for  the  object,  but  instead  of  erecting  a  new  edifice,  a  church 
which  had  been  occupied  by  the  Baptists  was  purchased  and 
the  titles  were  vested  in  the  Charleston  Port  Society,  which 
expended  about  ;^3,ooo  more  in  enlarging  and  improving  the 
building.  This  society  was  organized  on  the  23d  of  Decem- 
ber. 1822,  Thos.  Napier  being  the  first  President  and  Jasper 
Corning  the  first  Secretary.  The  opening  sermon  was  preached 
by  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D,  D,,  pastor  of  the  Circular  Church, 


404  MISSIONS.  [1820-1830. 

• 

The  flag  first  hoisted  on  it  bore  the  inscription  "  Mariner's 
Church,"  but  the  word  "  Bethel,"  was  afterwards  its  legend. 
The  pulpit  was  supplied  by  the  different  pastors  of  the  city 
until  February  I2th,  1823,  when  Rev.  Joseph  Brown  was 
settled  in  the  pastorate.  In  1822  the  Bethel  Union  was  formed 
to  hold  prayers  on  board  vessels  in  port,  or  in  the  boarding 
houses  where  seamen  resort  and  to  provide  for  them  such 
orderly  houses  as  they  ought  to  occupy  as  their  homes  while 
on  shore.  This  Society  was  eventually  merged  in  "  The 
Port  Society,"  which  obtained  its  charter  of  incorporation  in 
1823.  In  1826  the  Ladies'  Seaman's  Friend  Society  was 
formed  in  conjunction  with  the  Bethel  Union,  to  provide  a 
temperance  boarding  house  for  seamen. 

The  Young  Men's  Missionary  Society  of  South  Carolina 
appears  to  have  been  a  Union  Society,  in  which,  however,  the 
Presbyterian  element  largely  predominated.  We  have  not 
been  able  to  lay  our  hands  on  its  successive  reports.  It  ap- 
pears to  have  been  organized  January  27,  1820,  Edward 
Palmer,  then  resident  in  Charleston,  being  President  of  the 
same.  In  1821  Thos.  Fleming,  and  in  1822  Thos.  Napier, 
was  President.  An  efficient  missionary  that  year  was  Daniel 
B.  Johnson  a  graduate  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  of 
Princeton  Seminary,  and  who  labored  for  two  years  in  South 
Carolina.  In  1822  he  visited  Chester,  Purity,  YorUville, 
Beersheba,  King's  Creek,  Long  Creek,  Olney,  Beckhamville, 
Beaver  Creek,  Sumterville,  Concord,  Providence  and  Unity, 
in  North  Carolina,  and  Salem  (B.  R.).  Rev.  Joseph  Brown 
was  their  first  missionary.  He  had  been  selected  for  this 
service  by  Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  of  Andover.  He  was  called  to 
the  service  of  this  Society  on  the  3d  of  December,  1820.  He 
performed  a  brief  preliminary  labor  in  Beaufort  and  its 
vicinity,  and  Stony  Creek.  He  received  his  instructions  to 
labor  in  Newberry  and  Edgefield  Districts,  and  at  Beech 
Island,  January  3,  1821.  He  reports  four  churches  at  Beau- 
fort— two  for  Baptists,  one  for  Episcopalians,  and  one  for 
Presbyterians.  At  Stony  Creek,  about  fifteen  communicants 
and  a  fund  of  |i8,ooo.  In  Edgefield  District,  twenty-one  Bap- 
tist churches  and  six  preachers,  twelve  Methodist  houses  of 
worship,  one  local  preacher  and  two  circuit  riders.  He  speaks 
of  Red  Bank  and  the  Blocker  settlement,  and  of  the  academies 
at  those  places.  Mr.  Brown  served  the  Society  six  months 
in  the  following  year,  three  of  which  were  under  the  direction 


J  820-1830.]  MISSIONS.  405 

of  the  Missionary  Society  of  Walterboro'.  He  had  been 
licensed  by  the  Andover  Association,  and  was  ordained  by 
the  Congregational  Association  of  South  Carolina  on  the  3d 
of  January,  1821. 

There  were  various  others  who  came  into  the  bounds  of 
the  Synod  of  South  Carohna  and  Georgia,  and  served  as  mis- 
sionaries temporarily  or  became  permanently  settled  within 
its  bounds.  Some  were  called  by  our  local  societies  or  sent 
by  the  Home  Missionary  Society,  at  New  York,  and  remained 
with  us. 

Where  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  was  constituted,  it 
felt  more  deeply  than  ever  the  responsibility  that  rested  upon 
it  in  reference  to  the  regions  beyond,  and  none  more  deeply 
felt  it  than  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  Rev.  T.  C 
Stuart  was  one  of  the  missionaries  it  sent  out  to  Alabama  in 
iSig.  Others  followed,  of  different  Presbyteries,  who  settled 
down  in  that  State,  and  were  set  off  from  their  several  Pres 
byteries  and  ordered  to  constitute  as  a  Presbytery  at  Cahawba 
on  the  first  Thursday  in  March,  1821,  and  "  The  Presbytery 
of  Alabama"  was  thus  constituted,  in  obedience  to  this  order 
of  the  Synod  of  South  Carohna  and  Georgia.  A  deep  sym- 
pathy, too,  for  the  Indian  tribes  in  what  was  construed  to  be 
the  territorial  limits  of  the  Synod,  and  a  desire  for  their  sal- 
vation was  one  of  the  chief  motives  for  forming  the  Domestic 
and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Synod,  and  in  the 
spring  of  1820  the  Board  of  Managers  appomted  the  Rev. 
Daniel  Humphreys  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Stuart  to  visit 
the  Creek  Nation  and  the  Chickasaws,  to  obtain  the  requisite 
information  and  make  the  necessary  arrangements  for  mis- 
sions among  them. 

They  first  made  their  way  to  the  Creek  Nation  to  lay  the 
object  of  the  Synod  before  them.  They  were  obliged  to  com- 
municate with  their  large  Council  through  an  interpreter. 
The  Council  expressed  a  desire  to  have  schools  aimong  them 
and  to  have,  their  children  taught.  But  they  expressed,  also,-, 
fear  that  there  was  something  behind  which  they  did  not  un- 
derstand. It  might  be  to  obtain  a  foothold  and  thus  make 
efforts  to  get  possession  of  their  lands.  They  rejected  the 
offer,  and  assigned  this  as  the  reason.  These  brethren  then 
pursued  their  way  to  the  Chickasaws,  in  Mississippi,  preach- 
ing in  the  various  settlements  as  they  went  to  large  and 
attentive   congregations,  till    they    reached    the  Chickasaws, 


406  MISSIONS — CHICKASAWS.  [1820-1830. 

whose  country  extended  from  the  Tombigbee  on  the  east  to 
the  Mississippi  on  the  west,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles, 
and  from  Tennessee  on  the  north  to  the  Choctaw  Hne  on  the 
south,  which  is  about  the  same  distance.  They  found  them 
a  friendly  and  hospitable  people,  open  in  their  manners  and 
free  from  timidity  in  the  presence  of  whites.  They  held  a 
council  with  them  on  the  22d  of  June.  They  acceded  at  once 
to  the  proposal  of  the  commission,  and  granted  everything 
they  desired,  yet  required  of  them  an  obligation  in  writing 
that  they  should  not  seize  upon  their  land  and  make  it  private 
property.  This  obligation  was  drawn  up  in  form,  consisting 
of  several  articles,  and  signed  by  the  king  and  representatives 
of  the  Chickasaws,  and  by  our  commissioners,  David  Hum- 
phreys and  Thomas  C.  Stuart,  June  22d,  1820. 

We  find  the  following  statement  in  respect  to  the  subse- 
quent history  of  this  mission. 

"The  mission  among  the  Chickasaw  Indians  was  com- 
menced by  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  in  182 1. 
The  number  of  the  tribe  was  six  or  seven  thousand.  On  the 
17th  of  December,  1827,  the  mission  was  transferred  to  the 
.■\merican  Board.  The  principal  reasons  for  this  measure 
were,  that  the  establishment  among  the  Chickasaws  might  be 
more  closely  united  with  similar  establishments  among  the 
Cherokees  and  Choctaws,  that  the  Board  could  supply  the 
wants  of  the  missionaries  with  certainty  and  regularity,  and 
at  much  less  expense  than  the  Synod,  &c.  The  number  of 
stations  at  the  time  of  the  transfer  was  four  : 

Monroe,  near  the  thirty-fourth  parallel  of  latitude,  about 
forty-five  miles  northwest  of  Mayhew,  and  twenty-five  west  of 
Cotton  Gin  Port,  on  the  Tombigbee.  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Stuart, 
missionary  and  superintendent  of  the  mission  ;  Mrs.  Stuart, 
Mr.  Samuel  C.  Pearson,  farmer,  Mrs.  Pearson.  The  number 
of  schools  were  four,  and  of  scholars,  eighty-one.  The  farm 
consisted  of  nearly  one  hundred  acres,  brought  under  culti- 
vation. The  property  was  valued  at  ^$3,870.  The  church 
was  formed  in  June,  1823,  and  then  consisted  only  of  mem- 
bers of  the  mission  family  and  one  colored  woman.  The 
next  year  four  were  added  ;  in  1825,  five  ;  in  1826,  six  ;  in 
1827,  twenty-six;  in  1828,  about  seventeen — making  fifty- 
nine  in  all.  ■  Of  these,  only  eight  were  native  Chickasaws. 

ToKSiSH. — This  station  is  about  two  miles  from  Monroe, 
and    was   formed    in    1825.     Mr.   James    Holmes,  licensed 


1820-1830.]  INDIAN   MISSIONS.  407 

preacher,  Mrs.  Holmes,  Miss  Etneline  H.  Richland,  teaclicr  ; 
-scholars,  fifteen.  The  religious  concerns  of  this  station  are 
closely  connected  with  that  at  Monroe,  there  being  but  one 
church. 

Martyn,  situated  about  sixty  miles  northwest  of  Monroe, 
and  forty  southeast  of  Memphis,  on  the  Mississippi.  Rev. 
William  C.  Blair  ;  missionary,  Mrs.  Blair.  By  a  treaty  formed 
with  the  Government  of  the  United  States  some  years  since, 
it  was  stipulated  that  ;^4,500  should  be  paid  by  the  United 
States  for  establishing  two  schools,  and  ^2,500  annually  for 
the  support  of  them.  Of  this  latter  sum,  three-sevenths  were 
given  to  the  school  at  Martyn,  and  four-sevenths  to  that  of 
Caney  Creek.  The  school  at  Martyn  consisted  of  four  or 
five  pupils. 

Caney  Creek  is  about  ninety  miles  east  of  Martyn,  three 
miles  south  of  the  Tennessee  River,  and  eight  miles  south- 
west of  Tuscumbia.  Rev.  Hugh  Wilson,  missionary,  Mrs. 
Wilson,  Miss  Prudence  Wilson." — Origin  and  History  of  Mis- 
sions. 

We  learn  from  the  Society's  report  of  January,  1823,  that 
the  station  established  by  Mr.  Stuart  was  called  Munroe,  in 
honor  of  the  then  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  United  ^States  ;  that 
in  the  month  of  April,  1822,  Mr.  Stuart  was  joined  by  Messrs. 
Hamilton  V.  Turner  and  James  Wilson,  the  former  a  me- 
chanic, and  the,  latter  a  farmer  and  teacher,  with  their  wives  ; 
that  in  the  month  of  October,  Rev.  Hugh  Wilson,  with  his 
wife  and  sister,  left  North  Carolina  to  join  them,  and  on  the 
15th  of  December  the  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Blair  left  Columbia  for 
the  same  place.  The  buildings  erected  were  four  dwelling- 
houses,  at  $\7l  each,  $700;  dining-room  and  kitchen,  ;$450  ; 
horse  mill,  ^650;  school-house,  $2^1  ;  five  cabins  for  children, 
;g250;  lumber-house  and  smoke-house,  ;^8o ;  .stable,  smith's 
shop  and  corn  crib,  ^100.     In  all,  ;^2,46l. 

This  Society  also  conducted  Domestic  Missions.  The  Rev. 
Benj.  D.  Dupree  was  employed  by  this  Societ}'  previous  to 
January,  1822,  for  several  months,  chiefly  in  Pendleton  Dis- 
trict ;  Rev.  Horace  Belknap,  at  Beaver  Creek  ;  Rev.  Francis 
McFarland,  in  Mcintosh  County  and  Burke  County,  Ga.,  and 
Rev.  Orson  Douglas,  in  Jackson  County,  Ga. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  .\labama, 
November  9,  1821,  it  was 


408  THE  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.  [1820-1830. 

Resolved  by  that  body,  "  That  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Andrew 
Brown  and  James  L.  Sloss  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  appointed 
a  committee  to  draft  and  transmit  a  letter  to  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  petition- 
ing that  they  would  send  two  or  more  ministers  of  experience 
and  talents  to  congregate  and  min'stcr  unto  churches  within 
our  bounds." 

"  Resolved  further ,  That  said  committee  be,  and  it  is  hereby, 
authorized  to  promise  that  the  meniber.s  of  this  Presbytery 
will  use  all  diligence  to  acquire  contributions  for  the  support 
of  said  missionaries." 

Mr.  Isaac  Hadden,  who  had  been  licensed  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina,  October  5,  1822,  was  induced  to  go 
out  by  these  calls,  and  commenced  the  missionary  work  in 
that  State  in  1823.  He  was  ordained  as  evangelist  at  Mont- 
gomery, March  24,  1825,  and  though  beginning  his  ministry 
under  abundant  discouragements,  labored  in  it  successfully 
for  twenty-five  years;"  was  widely  known  through  the 
churches  ;  was  a  man  of  great  prudence,  of  mature  Christian 
character,  and  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  efficient  and  successful." 
[Minutes  of  Synod  of  Alabama,  October  27,  1849] 

1  he  Society  continued  in  existence  no  longer  than  till  the 
clo.se  of  1827.  On  the  14th  of  December  of  that  year  the 
Synod  expresses  its  approbation  of  the  discontinuance  of  this 
Society,  of  the  transfer  of  its  Indian  Mission  to  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  and  of  its 
Domestic  Missionary  operations  to  the  several  Domestic  Mis- 
sionary Societies  within  its  bounds.  [MS.  Minutes  of  Synod, 
Vol.  I,  p.  180] 

The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  still  had  their 
attention  directed  to  the  extension  of  the  institutions  of  the 
gospel  in  the  South  and  Southwestern  States.  The  Presby- 
terian population  of  the  upper  Carolinas  had  overflowed  inco 
upper  Georgia,  into  Alabama,  and  the  more  distant  South- 
west. The  affections  of  the  mother  churches  followed  their 
daughters,  and  the  ministry,  to  no  small  extent,  followed  the 
migrations  of  the  people.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  at 
Upper  Long  Cane,  in  the  District  of  Abbeville,  in  November, 
1820,  an  overture  was  introduced  on  the  loth  of  that  month 
by  the  Committee  of  Bills  and  Overtures,  as  follows  :  "Over- 
ture 1st.  That  the   Rev.  Andrew  Brown  and  James  L.  Sloss, 


1820-1830.]  THE  SOUTH  AND  SOUTHWEST.  409 

of  the  Pi-esbytery  of  South  Carolina;  the  Rev.  Thomas  New- 
ton, of  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  and  the  Rev.  John  Foster, 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  all  living  in  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama, be  set  off  from  their  respective  Presbyteries,  so  as  to 
form  a  new  Presbytery  ;  that  their  first  meeting  be  held  at  the 
town  of  Cahawba  on  the  first  Thursday  in  March  next;  that 
the  Rev.  Andrew  Brown  preach  the  opening  sermon  and  pre- 
side till  a  Moderator  be  chosen,  or,  in  case  of  his  absence,  the 
senior  member  present,  and  that  they  afterwards  meet  on  their 
own  adjournments. 

Resolved,  That  the  Synod  do  concur  in  granting  this  over- 
ture, and  that  the  members  above  named  be  and  they  are 
hereby  set  off  from  their  present  Presbyteries  and  constitute 
a  Pre.'rbytery  to  be  known  as  "  The  Presbytery  of  Alabama," 
and  that  they  form  a  constitue'nt  part  of  this  Synod. 

Ordered,  that  the  clerk  do  forward  a  copy  of  the  above 
overture  and  resolution  to  the  Rev.  Andrew  Brown.  (Minutes 
of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  Vol.  I.,  p.  63.) 
"  Signed  by  order  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  at  their  Sessions  at  Upper  Long  Cane  Church,  South 
Carolina,  November  10,  1820. 

John  Cousar,  Clevk pro  Um. 

"  In  compliance  with  the  foregoing  resolution  the  Rev.  A. 
Brown  and  J.  L.  Sloss  met  in  Cahawba  on  Thursday,  the  first 
day  of  March,  A.  D.  1821,  and  were  joined  by  the  Rev.  Neil 
McMillan  and  Elders  Daniel  Mcintosh  and  David  Johnson. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Newton  and  John  Foster  were  absent. 
Agreeably  to  the  preceding  resolution  of  the  Synod,  the 
Rev.  A.  Brown  opened  Presbytery  with  a  sermon  from  i 
Cor.  XV.,  3.  .  Jamiis  L.  Sloss,  S.  C." 

There  was  some  informality  in  the  proceeding.  Only  two 
of  the  ministers  authorized  by  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  were  present.  Neil  McMillan  was  of  the  Synod 
of  North  Carolina,  and  thus  the  constitutional  number  was 
secured.  The  minutes  were,  however,  'approved  and  the 
action  regarded  valid  by  the  Synod.  It  is  not  known  in  what 
way  the  name  of  the  Presbytery  was  altered  to  South  Alabama. 
It  first  occurs  in  the  minutes  of  Presbytery,  May  25,  1827. 
(Dr.  Nail's  Discourse,  the  Dead  of  the  Synod  of  Alabama, 
Mobile,  1851.) 


410  THE    PEESBYTERY    OF    ALABAMA.  [1820-1830. 

The  Presbytery  of  Alabama  remained  in  connection  witli 
the  Synod  of  South  Caroh'na  and  Georgia  until  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Synod  of  Mississippi  and  South  Alabama,  which 
occurred  at  Mayhew,  in  the  Choctaw  Nation,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  General  Assembly  on  the  nth  of  November, 
1829.  During  these  eight  years  the  Presbytery  of  Alabama 
was  represented  in  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
only  three  times.  The  Rev.  Isaac  Hadden  was  present  in 
November,  1825,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Alexander,  in  December, 
1827,  and  the  Rev.  John  H.  Gray  in  December,  1828. 

During  this  decade  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  contributed  to  the  ministerial  force  of  Alabama,  the 
Rev.  Andrew  Brown,  who  died  greatly  lamented  on  the  8th 
of  October,  1823  ;  the  Rev.  James  L.  Sloss,  who  removed  to 
East  Tennessee  in  1824;  the-Rev.  John  Foster,  who  died  at 
Claiborne  some  time  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Brown ;  the  Rev. 
Henry  White,  who  died  March  13,  1829,  near  Claiborne  ;  the 
Rev.  George  G.  McWhorter,  a  patriot  and  soldier  in  the 
Revolution,  who  died  in  November,  1829;  the  Rev.  Murdoch 
Murphy,  once  pastor  in  Georgetowa  District,  S.  C,  afterwards 
at  Midway  Church,  Liberty  County,  Georgia,  a  man  of  many 
virtues,  who  organized  the  Government  street  Church  in 
Mobile ;  the  Rev.  James  Hillhouse,  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina,  who  migrated  to  Alabama  in  1822  ;  the  Rev. 
Francis  H.  Porter,  who  preached  a .  a  missionary  in  Alabama 
in  181S  and  1821,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Alabama  in  the  Spring  of  1828,  the  father  of  three 
sons  who  entered  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  of  whom  we  have  before  written ;  the  Rev.  Thomas  New- 
ton, of  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell  ;  the  Rev.  Lsaac  Hadden 
who  entered  on  his  work  in  1823. 

During  this  period  vacant  churches  were  supplied  in  the 
several  Presbyteries  by  the  pastors  of  other  churches  occa- 
sionally, or  by  the  newly  licensed  probationers.  Hopewell 
Presbytery  recommended  to  its  ministers  to  devote  fourteen 
days  in  each  successive  year  to  such  labors  outside  of  their 
own  congregations.  [John  S.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Necrology, ;}. 
26.] 

An  order  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  was  "  that 
the  members  of  the  Presbytery,  with  the  licentiates  under 
their  care,"  should  "each  put  in  four  weeks  of  missionary 
labor  within  our  bounds  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  year." 
November,  1821. 


i820-l«30.]  EDUCATION   FOR   THE   MINISTRY.  411 

Under  the  influence  of  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell,  the 
Georgia  Educational  Society  was  formed  in  1S23,  at  the  An- 
nual Commencenient  at  Athens,  of  which  Society,  Major 
Abraham  Walker  was  President,  and  Rev.  Thomas  Goulding 
Secretary.  In  1828  Hopewell  Presbytery  reported  to  Synod 
that  this  Society  had  under  their  care  twelve  young  men  in  a 
course  of  education  for  the  mini.stry.  Charleston  Union  Pres- 
bytery reported  four  young  men  under  the  care  of  the  South 
Carolina  Education  Society.  One  young  man  was  reported 
under  the  care  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  and  one  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  In  1829  the  Geor- 
gia Society  reported  fourteen  beneficiaries  under  their  care, 
and  funds  to  the  amount  of  ;^  1,850  collected  during  the  year. 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  appointed  a  Committee  in  18  4 
of  four  ministers  and  four  laymen  to  look  out  for  young  men 
of  proper  piety  and  promising  talents,  who  may  have  a  desire 
to  enter  the  ministry,  and  have  not  the  means  of  obtaining  a 
competent  education,  and  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  af- 
fording them  assistance. 

The  minutes  of  Harmony  Presbytery  exhibit  zeal  on  the 
same  subject.  The  efifort  to  found  a  scholarship  in  Princeton 
Seminary  by  the  ladies  of  Camden,  Salem  and  Mt.  Zion, 
seems  to  have  been  partially  successful.  On  tiie  15th  of  No- 
vember, 1823,  the  Presbytery  formed  itself  into  an  Education 
Society,  auxiliary  to  the  Assembly's  Board,  and  adopted  a 
Constitution.     [Minutes,  pp.  402,  403.] 

From  the  acknowledgments  in  connection  with  the  reports  of 
the  American  Education  Societj',  we  found  that  the  contributions  from 

South  Carolina  and  Georgia  amounted  to,  in  1820-21 611,144  00 

In  1822to 1,140  50 

In  1823  to 1,510  00 

In  1824  to 720  00 

In  1825 No  report. 

In  18;;6to 342  38 

In  1827to 196  00 

$15,052  88 

After  this,  acknowledgments  were  not  made  in  the  reports,  but  in  the 
New  York  Observer.  It  is  probably  true,  too,  that  dissatisfiction  with 
the  methods  of  the  Ami-rican  Education  Society  now  arose,  and  that 
contributions  from  our'own  churches  thence  forward  were  directed  to 
the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

In  some  Presbyteries,  the  method  was  adopted  of  placing  the  can- 
didate for  the  ministry  under  the  care  of  some  minister,  who  was 
called  his  patron,  who  superintended  his  education,  provided  for  his 
necessities,  kept  a  careful  watch  over  his  conduct,  and  rendered  a  report 
at  next  meeting  of  the  Presbytery.  This  was  true  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina,  and  perhaps  of  other  Presbyteries. 


412  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARIES.  [1820-1830. 

This  interest  in  the  education  of  young  men  for  the  minis- 
try led  to  the  efifort  to  provide  schools  for  theological  edu- 
cation. Dr.  John  S.  Wilson,  in  his  Necrology,  ("The  Dead 
of  the  Synod  of  Georgia")  says  :  "  To  Hopewell"  Presbytery 
"  belongs  the  honour  of  taking  the  initiative  for  establishing 
a  Theological  Seminary  in  -the  South.  The  Seminary  at 
Princeton  went  into  operation  in  1812,  and  so  did  the  Theo- 
logical School  of  the  Synod  of  Virginia,  in  connection  with 
Hampden  Sidney  College,  of  which  Dr.  Moses  Hoge  was 
President  and  Theological  Professor  at  the  same  time."  This, 
however,  would  not  make  what  is  popularly  known  as  a  The- 
ological Seminary.  Harvard,  Dartmouth,  Yale,  and  other 
Colleges  had  Professorships  of  Theology  long  before  Theo- 
logical Seminaries  proper  were  originated.  It  is  true,  how- 
ever, as  he  says,  that  "  Union  Seminary  proper  did  not  com- 
mence its  exercises  till  1822,  when  Dr.  John  H.  Rice  was 
elected  Professor."  But  he  informs  us  that  the  idea  of  a  The- 
ological Seminary  was  conceived  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hope- 
well in  1817.  That  the  Presbytery  appointed  Dr.  Cummins, 
Dr.  John  Brown  and  Dr.  Finley,  then  President  of  Athens 
College,  a  committee  "to  draft  a  plan  for  a  Theological 
School,  to  be  laid  before  the  Presbytery  at  its  next  session." 
This  committee  did  not  report  until  April,  1819,  when  the 
following  minute  was  entered  :  "  In  consequence  of  the  death 
of  Dr.  Finley,  the  co(ninittee  appointed  in  1817,  to  draft  a  plan 
for  a  Theological  School,  did  not  report.  A  new  committee 
was  then  appointed,  consisting  of  Dr.  Cummins,  Dr.  Brown 
and  Dr.  Beman,  'to  report  on  the  subject  at  the  next  session.' 
At  the  meeting  in  September,  1819,  this  committee  reported 
on  the  'subject  of  a  Theological  School  at  considerable 
length.'  The  report  was  '  in  part  considered,  but  not  adopted.' 
The  Presbytery  proceeded  to  the  choice  of  a  site  for  the  insti- 
tution. Athens  and  Mount  Zion  were  put  in  nomination. 
On  taking  the  vote,  it  was  carried  for  Athens.  Subsequently 
another  report  "  on  the  subject  of  a  Theological  School  was 
brought  in  and  read,  but  not  adopted.'  Thus  ended  the  en- 
terprise." The  conjecture  of  Dr.  John  S.  Wilson  was  that  a 
conflict  about  location  was  the  cause. 

A  proposition  had  been  made  by  the  Synod  of  North  Car- 
olina to  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  in  1819  to 
co-operate  with  them  in  the  establishment  and  endowment  of 
a  Professorship  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton. 


i8aO-1830.]  PEINCKTON.  41.3 

The  Synod,  while  approving  highly  the  object,  deeii>ed  it 
inexpedient  to  pledge  themselves  to  "this  effort,  at  that  time, 
being  then  engaged  in  the  establishment  of  a  Missionary  So- 
ciety, eni'bracing  the  two  fold  object  of  supplying  the  destitute 
parts  within  our  own  bounds  with  the  means  of  grace,  and  of 
extending  the  means  of  religious  instruction  and  civihzation 
to  the  Indian  tribes  on  our  own  frontiers. 

At  their  session  held  at  Upper  Long  Cane,  Abbeville,  in 
November,  1820,  their  judgment  was  more  favorable  to  the 
proposition  made  in  the  preceding  year,  by  the  Synod  of 
North  Carolina,  to  unite  with  them  in  endowing  a  Professor- 
ship at  Princeton,  which  their  own  engagements  had  led  them 
at  that  time  to  decline;  and  they  resolved  to  raise  in  the 
space  of  five  years  ^15,000  tor  this  object,  but  to  suspend  fur- 
tlier  arrangements  till  their  next  session. 

In  1825  it  appeared  that  the  Synod  had  paid  $10,061  for 
the  establishment  of  this  professorship;  $3,480  more  is  sub- 
scribed, and  that  for  $1,359  "o  provisions  as  set  had  been 
made.  In  1828  it  appears  that  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Princeton  Seminary  was  requested  to  allow  the  interest 
accumulating  from  the  sum  already  paid  in  to  be  added  to 
the  principal  until  the  amount  pledged  should  be  made  up. 
This  drew  from  the  Directors  the  earnest  request  that  the 
interest  might  be  used  as  heretofore,  stating  that  the  pressing 
wants  of  the  Seminary  required  it.  Their  request  was  complied 
with,  and  the  agents  to  collect  the  subscriptions  continued. 

Down  to  1 82 1  more  than  $19,000  seems  to  have  been  paid 
into  the  Treasury  of  the  General  Assembly  for  the  permanent 
and  contingent  fund  of  this  Seminary,  and  for  the  support  of 
indigent  students.  Some  of  the  sums  thus  given  were  large. 
The  donation  of  John  Whitehead,  of  Burke  Co.,  Ga.,  amounted 
to  $3,275.  The  Nephew  Scholarship,  founded  by  James 
Nephew,  of  Liberty  Co.,  Ga.,  $2,500;  Mrs.  Hollingshead's 
legacy,  $  1,000  ;  Charleston  P^emale  Scholarship,  $2,500  ;  the 
Augusta  Female  Scholarship, $2,500;  the  Isaac  Keith  Scholai- 
ship,  $2,500.  In  all  there  were  subscribed  and  paid  the  Prince- 
ton Institution,  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  before  it  undertook  the  endowment  of 
its  own  seminary,  considerably  more  than  $40,000 — between 
$42,000  and  $43,000. 

The  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Literary  and  Theological 
Seminary  of  the  South. — The  next  project  which  engaged  the 


414  LITERARY  AND  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY.    [1820-1830. 

;ittention  of  tlie  Synod  was  the  foundation  of  a  Literary  and 
Theological  Seinina'ry  which  should  serve  as  a  place  of  edu- 
cation to  all  classes,  while  it  had  especial  reference  to  the 
preparation  of  young  men  for  the  ministry  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  forty-ninih  session  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina  was  held  at  Willington  Church  on  the 
1st  of  April,  1824.  The  Rev.  Wm.  H.  Barr  and  Richard  B. 
Cater,  with  ruling  elder  Ezekiel  Noble,  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  draught  the  outlines  of  a  constitution,  and  the 
Rev.  Henry  Reid  and  John  Rennie  were  appointed  to  prepare 
an  address  to  the  public.  A  constitution  was  reported  and 
adopted  vyhich  began  as  follows  : 

Article  ist.  This  institution  shall  be  called  "The  Classical, 
Scientific  and  Theological  Seminary  of  the  South,"  and  shall 
be  located  in  the  District  of  Pendleton,  South  Carolina. 

2.  The  members  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  shall, 
ex-officio,  be  a  board  of  trustees,  and  shall  meet  semi-annually, 
or  oftener  if  necessary. 

That  the  Professor  of  Didactic  Theology  shall  be  the  prin- 
cipal of  this  in.stitution,  and,  prior  to  his  inauguration,  shall 
solemnly  pledge  himself  to  the  board  not  to  teacn  any  doc- 
trines contrary  to  those  contained  in  the  Confession  of  Faith 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

That  as  soon  as  the  permanent  funds  shall  amount  to  fifteen 
thousand  dollars,  the  institution  shall  go  into  operation. 

The  address  to  the  public  was  issued  by  the  committee, 
written,  we  suppose,  by  Mr.  Rennie,  setting  forth  in  appro- 
priate and  vigorous  terms  the  views  and  objects  of  the  Pres- 
bytery. This  body,  however,  became  more  aware  of  the 
magnitude  and  importance  of  the  enterprise,  and  were  fully 
satisfied  that  it  would  require  all  the  energy  of  the  State  to 
accomplish  their  purpose,  even  on  the  small  scale  which  was 
at  first  contemplated.  They  appointed  their  agent.  Rev. 
Richard  B.  Cater,  to  visit  Charleston,  confer  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  on  the  subject,  and 
to  solicit  contributions  wherever  he  went.  This  was  ac- 
cordingly done,  and  the  Presbytery,  at  its  meeting  in  April, 
1826,  resolved  to  attempt  the  endowment  of  a  professorship 
in  the  theological  department.  A  meeting  of  gentlemen  of 
the  city  was  called  on  the  loth  of  April,  and  gentlemen  ap- 
pointed to  assist  the  agent.  The  Presbytery  resolved  that,  in 
the  event  of  success  in  the  attempt  to  endow  the   professor- 


]S20-1830.J  THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY.  41") 

ship,  they  would  desire  it  to  be  called  "The  Charleston  Union 
Professor-slii|)  of  Sacred  Literature  and  Biblical  Criticism." 
(Minutes,  Vol.  I,  p.  51,  52.) 

Previous  to  this,  however,  there  had  been  a  conference  with 
members  of  this  Presbytery,  in  which  they  expressed  their 
willingness  "to  co-operate  in  an  institution  on  the  plan  con- 
templated by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  provided  the 
same  were  submitted  to,  and  accepted  by  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia."  This  had  been  communicated  to  the 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  at  its  meeting  in  April,  1825. 
A  committee  was  appointed  by  that  body  to  bring  in  a  minute 
on  that  subject,  and  the  constitution  was  so  altered  during 
their  October  meeting  in  1825,  "  that  the  said  seminary  may 
be  taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  at  their  next  sessions,  provided  such  alterations 
do  not  affect  that  part  of  the  constitution  which  require-S  the 
seminary  to  be  located  in  the  District  of  Pendleton,  South 
Carolina."     (Minutes  of  Presbytery  of  South  Carohna,  Vol.  I, 

P-  13s) 

At  the  thirteenth  session  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  on  the  18th  of  November,  1824,  held  at  Augusta, 
it  was  overtured  ''  that  Synod  at  their  present  sessions  take 
into  consideration  the  expediency  of  founding  a  Literary  and 
Theological  Seminary  for  preparing  young  men  for  the  min- 
istry. 

The  overture  w.is  submitted  to  a  Committee  who  recom- 
mended its  adoption,  recommending  also  that  Synod  take 
under  its  immediate  care  the  Literarj'  and  Theological  Semi- 
nary of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  if  the  Board  of 
Trustees  are  willing  to  submit  it.  A  Committee  of  Confer- 
ence with  the  trustees  was  appointed,  the  trustees  offered  the 
Seminary  to  the  Synod  with  the  single  reservation  that  the 
location  be  not  changed,  and  the  transfer  vvas  thus  made. 
[Minutes  of  Synod,  pp.  108,  105,  114,  115.  A  Committee  of 
seven,  four  clergymen  and  three  laymen,  were  appointed  to 
draft  a  Constitution,  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  Synod.* 
At  that   meeting   iield  in  November,    1825,  at  Upper  Long 

*  The  Bev.  Moses  Waddel,  D.  D.,  Hugh  Dickson,  William  H.  Barr, 
D.  D.  and  Anthony  W.  Eoss,  with  Patrick  Noble,  Alexander  Bowie  and 
James  Wardlaw,  Esqrs.,  were  appointed  this  Conjmittee,  who  were  also 
invested  with  plenary  powers  meanwhile  to  conduct  the  operations  of 
the  institute  according  to  their  discretion. 


416  THEOLOGICAL    SEMINARY.  [1820-1830. 

Cane,  Abbeville,  the  Constitution  was  adopted  and  Richard 
B.  Cater  appointed  agent  for  South  Carolina.  The  Constitution 
was  adopted,  under  which  the  following  were  appointed  the 
first  Board  of  Trustees  : 

NAMES   OF   TRUSTEES. 

Clergymen. — Rev.  F.  Cummins,  D.  D.,  Rev.  W.  H.  Barr,  D  D.,  Rev. 
Henry  Reid,  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  Rev.  A.  W. 
Ross,  Rev.  Thomas  Goulding,  Rev.  E.  W.  .Tames,  Rev.  T.  C.  Henry, 
D  D.,  Rev.  W.  A.  M'Dowell,  Rev.  John  Rennie,  Rev.  H.  S.  Pratt. 

Laymen. — .Tames  Wardlaw,  .Tames  K.  Douglass,  John  Nesbitt,  William 
Seabrook,  Thos.  Cummirig,  Joseph  Bryan,  Ezekiel  Noble,  Thomas  Na- 
pier, David  R.  Evans,  Thomas  Means,  Thomas  Flemming,  Robert 
Anderson. 

By  this  Board  or  any  seven  of  its  members,  which  number 
will  be  sufficient  to  constitute  a  quorum,  the  business  of  the 
Seminary  was  to  be  conducted. 

Ill  presenting  these  facts,  says  a  writer  of  those  times,  we 
feel  at  a  loss  how  to  e.xpress  our  feelings.  We  aie  conscious 
that  ■'  the  ground  on  which  we  tread  is  holy."  That  in  the 
economy  of  Divine  Providence  we  are  called,  as  it  were,  to 
prepare  another  wheel  in  that  grand  moral  machinery  which 
centuries  have  been  constructing,  and  which  is  destined  by 
the  eternal  decrees  to  crush  the  powers  of  darkness  and 
usher  in  the  brightness  of  a  millennial  glory.  That  the  world 
is  about  to  experience  a  wonderful  moral  change,  the  most 
senseless  must  perceive.  The  signs  of  the  times  tell  us  we 
have  entered  upon  a  new  and  brilliant  era  of  the  militant 
church,  and  the  observance  of  a  fev  years  assures  us  theo- 
logical seminaries  constitute  no  small  part  of  that  engihe  by 
which  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  are  to  become  the  king- 
doms  of  the  Lord  and  of  his  Christ. 

How,  then,  should  we  feel  when  we  discover  that  the  Re- 
deemer hath  planted  one  and  another  of  these  engines  upon 
our  continent,  and  that  the  South  at  length  is  about  to  serve 
as  a  fulcrum  of  one  of  these  mightiest  moral  powers.  Ando- 
ver  and  Princeton  have  already  told  us  what  part  theological 
seminaries  are  destined  to  have  in  the  illumination  and  refor- 
mation of  the  present  age,  and  when  we  find  another  about 
to  rise,  almost  in  the  extremity  of  this  continent,  surely  "  the 
ear  of  the  deaf  will  begin  to  hear;  the  tongue  of  the  dumb 
to  sing  ;  and  the  lame  to  leap  as  the  hart"  We  say,  we  feel 
as  though  the  ground  we  occupy  were  consecrated.  We  do 
so  indeed  ;  and  we  only  ask  a  half-awakened  world  to  assume 


1820-1830.]  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY.  417 

some  eminence  of  moral  and  scientific  height ;  and  trace  the 
rays  of  light  these  institutions  are  shooting  into  the  darkest 
corners  of  the  earth  ;  and  gaze  upon  the  wonders  of  reform 
those  rays  are  effecting,  and  then  say  if  the  arm  of  the  Lord 
be  not  visible  ?  Should  not  we  feel  as  though  Almighty  God 
had  called  us,  and  in  calling,  hath  honored  us,  to  light  up 
another  sun  which  shall  throw  still  further  west  the  light  of 
the  gospel,  to  shine  upon  the  pathway  of  the  benighted  and 
those  who  have  long  groped  in  the  dim  twilight  of  unenlight- 
ened reason  ?  The  types  and  shadows*  of  the  Jewish  Church 
have  been  lost  in  the  star  which  hung  over  Bethlehem.  The 
four  hundred  and  odd  years  of  paganish  darkness  which  suc- 
ceeded the  rising  of  that  star  have  rolled  over.  The  pomp 
and  splendor  of  regal  power  which  for  centuries  clothed  the 
church,  have  almost  and,  we  trust,  will  soon  entirely  perish, 
as  must  everything  which  is  not  of  God.  The  years  of 
religious  intolerance  and  ecclesiastical  tyranny  have  expired, 
we  hojje,  forever.  Our  own  happy  country  has  since  been 
discovered,  and  by  "  her  mild  laws,  and  well  regulated  liber- 
ties," hath  not  only  furnished  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed, 
but  a  government  according  with  the  spirit,  and  congenial  to 
the  extension  of  our  Redeemer's  Kingdom.  Hundreds  of 
years  have  counted  their  last  minutes — -thrones  have  crumbled 
and  empires  fallen,  to  bring  these  days  of  the  Prince  of  Peace, 
which  we  see,  and  which  "  the  prophet  desired  to  see,  but 
died  without  the  sight." 

And  now,  standing  where  we  do,  what  must  we  feel ;  or 
rather  what  must  we  not  feel  ?  Those  who  have  lived  before 
us,  who  belonged  "  to  the  household  of  faith,"  have  acted 
their  part  to  extend  the  dominion  of  Christ  amid  the  obscurity 
which  overshadowed  them — -the  difficulties,  the  opposition, 
and  persecutions  which  surrounded  them — and  have,  we 
firmly  believe,  entered  the  mansions  of  eternal  bliss.  We 
have  to  advance  under  auspices  more  favorable,  what  they 
only  began;  and  we  begin  in  this  institution  what  unborn 
generations  will  not  only  behold,  but  feel  and  admire.  And 
when  the  clods  of  the  valley  which  shall  serve  to  point  the 
stranger  to  the  spot  where  these  bodies  niingled  with  their 
kindred  dust,  shall  vegetate  and  even  present  a  forest,  this 
institution  which  we  are  about  to  establish  will  rise  in  the 
fjplendors  of  its  meridian,  and  shine  among  those  other  satel- 
lites which  have  long  been  fed  by  the  light  of  the  sun  of 
righteousness." 
27 


418  t'HEOLOGICAL   SBMINAEY.  [1820-1830. 

Such  were  the  anticipations  of  the  founders  of  this  institu- 
tion, and  such  was  the  language  in  which  they  spake  of  their 
enterprise  in  an  address  to  the  public  which  was  published  in 
1825  or  in  1826. 

The  site  selected  for  the  institution  was  about  two  miles 
and  a  quarter  from  the  village  of  Pendleton,  on  the  road  to 
Orrsville,  and  was  donated  by  Messrs.  Martin  Palmer,  John 
Hunter,  and  Henr)'  Dobson  Reese.  [Minutes  of  Synod,  Vol, 
I,  p.  159.]  A  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Board,  con- 
sisting of  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  Wm.  H.  Barr,  D.  D.,  Col. 
Robert  Anderson,  Charles  Story  and  Horace  Reese,  to  attend 
to  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings.  To  this  committee 
Samuel  Cherry  and  James  C.  Griffin  were  afterwards  added.- 
The  Rev.  R.  B.  Cater  and  Rev.  R.  W.  James  were  employed 
as  agents  to  collect  funds  for  this  institution  in  the  South,  and 
Rev.  Henry  Reid  at  the  North.  In  1826  Col.  Robert  Ander- 
son was  appointed  Treasurer,  and  Rev.  Wm.  A.  McDowell 
Secretary;  Rev.  Dr.  Barr,  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  and  James 
Wardlaw,  Committee  <if  Trust.  In  1827  the  Building  Com- 
mittee reported  a  plan,  the  building  to  be  of  brick  and  to  cost 
;^8,000,  and  the  Committee  of  Trust,  a  plan  to  regulate  invests 
ments.  At  the  same  meeting  of  the  Board,  held  in  Charles- 
ton, it  was  recommended  to  Synod  to  change  the  plan  of  the 
institution  by  separating  the  theological  from  the  literary  part, 
and  erecting,  if  the  Synod  should  think  it  expedient,  a  pre- 
paratory school  in  the  place  where  the  seminary  is  located. 
The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Board  on  this  subject  were 
adopted  by  the  Synod  without  a  dissenting  voice,  and  are  as 
follows  : 

'■  The  committee  appointed  to  take  into  consideration  the 
pre.sent  plan  of  the  seminary,  and  to  inquire  if  any  change 
could  be  made  in  that  plan  for  the  benefit  of  the  institution, 
and,  if  any,  what  change  is  desirable,  report  that  they  find 
serious  objections  made  to  the  seminary  on  its  present  plan  ; 
that  these  objections  are  made  by  many  of  the  warmest  friends 
of  the  institution,  and  who,  if  the  objections  were  removed, 
would  probably  be  found  among  its  most  able  and  efficient 
supporters.  The  principal  objections  arise  out  of  the  present 
complicated  form  of  the  institution,  embracing  both  literary 
and  theological  departments.  The  Board  would,  therefore, 
submit  to  Synod  the  following  resolutions,  viz  : 


1820-1830.]  PROPOSED  CHANGE  IN  THE  PLAN.  419 

Resolved,  ist.  TKat  it  be  recommended  to  the  Synod  so  to 
alter  the  Constitution  of  the  contemplated  Seminary  as  to 
make  it  simply  a  Theological  Seminary.  The  Board  recom- 
mend this,  among  other  reasons,  for  the  following:  1st, 
They  think  that  by  thus  simplifying  the  plan  of  the  institu- 
tion, its  concerns  can  be  managed  with  much  more  ease  and 
to  much  greater  advantage.  2d.  This  change  will  remove 
all  ground  for  the  objections  now  extensively  made  against 
the  institution,  that  it  will  interfere  with  literary  institutions 
now  existing  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synod.  3d.  The  Board 
think  this  change  will  have  a  tendency  to  unite  the  feelings 
and  efforts  of  ail  persons  of  the  church  under  the  care  of  the 
Synod  in  this  important  enterprise. 

Resolved,  2d.  Inasmuch  as  the  impression  has  been  made 
extensively  on  the  public  mind  that  the  literary  part  of  the 
institution  on  its  present  plan,  is  designed  to  be  a  College 
and  inasmuch  as  this  impression  is  obviously  operating  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  Seminary,  therefore 

Resolved,  If  the  Synod  deem  it  expedient  to  make  the  al- 
teration proposed  above,  that  this  change,  with  the  leading 
reasons  of  it  be  made  known  to  the  public. 

Resolution  jd.  Inasmuch  as  a  number  of  persons  have 
already  subscribed  as  donors  to  this  institution,  under  the  im- 
pression and  with  a  desire  that  the  literary  department  should 
be  a  prominent  part  of  the  institution,  if  the  Synod  make  the 
contemplated  change,  > 

Resolved.  That  measures  be  adopted  to  afford  to  all  such 
subscribers  an  opportunity  either  to  continue  or  withdraw 
their  subscription.  The  Board  deem  this  important  to  main- 
tain the  integrity  of  the  Synod. 

[For  the  above  resolutions,  see  first  volume  Minutes  of  the 
Board,  pp.  183,  184.] 

The  change  in  the  plan  of  the  Seminary  gave  equal  dissat- 
isfaction to  many  of  the  early  friends  of  the  institution,  and 
to  the  agent,  Rev.  Mr.  Carter,  who  had  labored  indefatigably 
for  its  endowment.  They  were,  however,  approved  of  by 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery.  [Minutes,  p.  67]  and  were 
adopted  by  the  Synod  without  a  dissenting  voice.  [Minutes 
vol.  I,  p.  184.]  The  whole  amount  of  subscription  pledged 
under  Mr.  Cater's  agency,  including  also  that  of  Mr.  James 
and    Mr.    Reid,    (whose    visit  to  the    North    was    attended 


420  FORFEITURE  OF  SUBSCRIPTIONS.  [1820-1830. 

with  little  success,)  was  $28,937.  Of  this  $4,765  had  been 
collected. 

In  pursuance  of  the  resolutions  of  the  I5oard  and  Synod, 
Mr.  Cater  issued  in  March,  1828,  his  circular  to  the  subscri- 
bers to  the  Literary  and  Theological  Seminary,  informing' 
them  of  the  change  in  the  plan  and  desiring  them  to  notify 
him  of  their  wishes,  whether  they  would  desire  their  subscrip- 
tion to  go  to  the  Theological  Seminary  under  the  care  of  the 
Synod,  or  to  a  Literary  Institution  located  in  Pendleton, 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina. 

The  subscriptions  obtained  by  Mr.  Cater  were  regarded  as 
forfeited  by  the  change  of  plan.  $101 1.40  of  the  amount  paid 
in  was  refunded  to  the  orisrinal  subscribers,  leavinsf  but 
$3,173,790  after  expenses  were  deducted,  to  go  to  the  new 
account  of  the  Theological  Seminary.  This  had  been  loaned 
out  by  the  agent  on  insufficient  security  and  the  adjustment 
of  those  matters  was  troublesome  and  vexatious,  but  by  the 
able  committee  to  whom  it  was  intrusted  the  attempt  to  re- 
cover it  was  at  last  successful.  The  sums  withdrawn  were 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  additional  subscriptions  by 
those  v/ho  favored  the  change. 

The  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Synod  of  South 
Cakolina  and  Georgia. — ^The  commencement  of  the  institu- 
tion in  this,  its  purely  theological  character,  dates,  in  some 
respects,  from  the  resolutions  of  Synod  in  1827,  to  which 
reference  has  before  been  made.  But  it  was  not  till  Decem- 
ber 15th,  1828,  that  the  Synod  resolved  to  put  the  Seminary 
into  immediate  operation,  and  for  this  purpose  elected  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Goulding,  Professor  of  Theology,  with  a  salary 
of  $800,  and  with  liberty  to  remain  in  the  pastorship  of  the 
church  at  Lexington,  Oglethorpe  County,  Georgia,  where  he 
resided  during  the  ye^r.  During  the  following  year,  1829, 
there  were  five  students  under  his  care,  who  seemed  to  have 
pursued  for  the  most  part,  a  merely  literary  course  prepara- 
tory to  their  study  of  Theology  proper,  which  study  was  not 
really  and  fully  commenced  previous  to  the  year  1831,  when 
a  three  years  Theological  course  after  the  model  of  Princeton 
and  Andover  was  introduced. 

At  the  meeting  of  Synod  in  1829,  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  had  been  approached  by  the  Board  of  Directors, 
through  a  committee,  consisting  of  Rev.  Dr.  Barr,  Jas.  K. 
Douglas,   Rev.  S.  S.    Davis,    Rev.   Mr.    Talmage,  and    Mr. 


1820-1830.]  THEOLOGICAL   SKMINAEY.  421 

Hand,  to  know  whether  they  would  be  willing  to  release  tlie 
Synod  from  their  pledge  of  locating  the  Theological  Seminary 
under  their  care  in  the  District  of  Pendleton.  The  release 
was  generously  made,  though  not  without  an  expression  of 
disappointment  at  the  resiilts  which  had  been  reached.  They 
state  that  when  they  reserved  the  location  they  had  an  espe- 
cial reference  to  the  literary  department  of  the  Seminary. 
Much  zeal  was  felt  for  this  in  the  upper  country,  and  there 
were  verbal  pledges  of  co-operation  from  the  upper  parts  of 
North  Carolina  (which  is  the  most  dense  and  respectable  body 
of  Presbyterians  in  the  Southern  country,  that  with  the 
blessing  of  heaven  the  literary  world  have  been  a  nursery  to 
the  theological  department.  It  would  have  been  as  Amherst 
is  to  Massachusetts  and  Danville  to  Kentucky  ;  that  a  Theo-' 
logical  Seminary  without  students  is  a  useless  thing,  and 
such  will  a  Theological  Seminary  be  without  a  Literary  In- 
stitution under  Christian  management.  They  have  never 
concealed  that  they  were  not  pleased  with  the  management 
of  the  College  of  South  Carolina  which  seems  to  be  throwing 
all  the  literature  of  the  State  into  the  scale  of  infidelity.  And 
they  had  thought  that  the  literary  department  of  the  Semi- 
ary,  with  the  patronage  of  the  church  and  such  advantages  in 
point  of  loeation,  would  prove  an  honorable  rival  to  the 
College  of  the  State,  and  finally  be  the  means  of  correcting 
the  evil  complained  of  in  that  institution.  It  was  never  ex- 
pected that  the  State  of  Georgia  or  even  Charleston,  in  our 
own  State,  would  do  anything  for  the  literary  department  of 
the  Seminary,  but  it  was  believed  that  they  would  endow 
Theological  Professorships.  When  the  literary  department 
of  the  Seminary  was  abolished  there  was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment felt  in  the  upper  country.  Public  confidence  not  only 
in  the  Synod  but  also  in  this  Presbytery  has  been  much 
weakened  not  to  say  destroyed.  The  Presbytery  expressed 
themselves  thus  frankly,  but 

"Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery  do  relinquish  all  right  or 
claim  which  they  may  be  supposed  to  have  to  the  location  of 
the  present  Theological  Seminary  of  the  South,  and  without 
any  reserve  whatever,  commit  it  into  the  hands  of  the  Synod 
to  be  located  wherever  they  may  judge  it  most  expedient." 

Much  might  be  said  on  the  two  sides  of  the  question  thus 
set  forth.     The  judgment  of  the  Board  and  Synod  was  right. 


422  THEOLOGICAL   SEMINABY.  [1820-1830. 

No  theological  seminary  in  this  country,  where  there  is  no 
Christian  denomination  established  by  civil  law,  can  be  sup- 
plied with  an  adequate  number  of  students  by  any  one  literary 
institution.  It  must  draw  its  students  from  many.  The 
Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia  has  had  its  influence  more 
or  less  direct  in  restoring  the  reign  of  sound  religious  views 
in  the  college  of  the  State.  On  the  other  hand,  the  felt  wants 
of  our  religious  population  have  shown  themselves  in  the 
establishmint  of  Oglethorpe  University  in  Georgia,  of  the 
Methodist  College  at  Spartanburg,  the  Baptist  at  Greenville, 
the  Associate  Reformed  at  Due  West,  the  Presbyterian  at 
Davidson,  N.  C,  and  others  later  these.  Still  our  American 
experience  is,  that  the  theological  school  for  the  theological 
training  of  ministers  should  be  separate  and  independent  of 
the  literary  and  scientific. 

The  Board  of  Directors  now  felt  at  liberty  to  compare  the 
advantages  afforded  by  different  locations.  The  trustees  of 
the  Mount  Zion  College,  in  Winnsboro',  made  overtures  for 
the  location*of  the  seminary  there.  Athens  was  proposed  by 
others  ;  but  the  Board  eventually  fixed  on  Columbia  as  the 
permanent  site  of  the  institution,  and  the  Synod  concurred 
with  the  recommendations  of  the  Board,  December  5,  1829. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  in  Savannah  in  December, 
1829,  the  constitution  of  the  seminary,  as  revised,  was  cori- 
sidered,  section  by  section,  and  adopted,  and  is  printed  in 
connection  with  the  minutes  of  Synod.  Dr.  Gouldmg  was  re- 
moved, with  his  own  consent,  to  the  chair  of  Ecclesiastical 
History  and  Church  Polity,  and  Dr.  Moses  Waddel  was 
elected  Professor  of  Theology.  This  appointment  he  subse- 
quently declined.  The  salaries  of  the  professors  were  fixed 
for  the  present  at  ^1,250.  Committees  were  appointed  in  the 
several  Presbyteries  to  solicit  books  for  the  commencement 
of  a  library,  and  measures  were  taken  for  the  removal  of  Dr. 
Goulding  and  his  little  band  of  students  to  Columbia.  A 
letter  was  received  at  that  meeting  of  the  Synod  from  the  Rev. 
John  H.  Rice,  of  Virginia,  proposing  a  union  of  the  Synod 
with  the  Synods  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  m  the  sup- 
port of  one  Southern  theological  seminary.  In  reference  to 
this  the  Synod  resolves  "  that  it  is  inexpedient  for  this  Synod, 
according  to  the  Suggestions  of  Dr.  Rice,  to  form  a  union 
with  the  Synods  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  in  support 
of  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  Virginia," 


1820-1830.]  GEOGKAPHICAL  LIMITS  OF  SYNOD.  423 

Of  the  theological  seminaries  in  the  form  in  which  they 
now  exist  in  this  country  within  the  present  century,  the  first 
was  that  under  Dr.  John  M.  Mason,  of  the  Associate  Re- 
formed Church,  opened  in  1805  in  the  city  of  New  York; 
then  that  of  Andover,  in  1808  ;  that  of  New  Brunswick,  in 
1810;  that  of  Princeton,  in  1812;  that  of  Auburn,  in  1821  ; 
that  at  New  Haven,  in  1822;  that  at  Bangor,  in  1823  ;  that 
at  Union,  Va.,  in  1824;  that  of  Columbia,  in  1829  (first 
opened  in  Lexington,  Georgia,  in  that  year).  Some  one  or 
two  began  late  in  the  last  century,  having  but  a  single  pro- 
fessor during  their  early  existince. 

Of  changes  in  PresbyteriaJ  bounds  we  have  already  written. 
We  would  merely  record  the  following  extracts  from  the 
Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  at 
various  times : 

Augusta,  Ga.,  November  22d,  1824.  "Synod  proceeded 
to  the  consideration  of  the  sixth  overture  as  to  the  propriety 
of  altering  the  line  of  division  betwixt  the  Presbyteries  of 
Hopewell  and  Georgia,  when,  on  motion,  it  was  resolved  that 
the  line  of  division  betwixt  these  two  Presbyteries  be  altered 
as  follows,  viz :  Beginning  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Burke 
County,  on  the  Savannah  River,  running  from  thence  a 
westerly  course  to  the  Alabama  line  so  as  to  strike  said  line 
at  the  point  where  it  intersects  the  line  of  the  Florida  terri- 
tory. Whereupon  it  was  resolved  that  all  the  members, 
together  with  the  licentiates  and  candidates,  who  at  present 
belong  to  the  Presbytery  of  Georgia  north  of  said  line,  be 
attached  hereafter  to  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell." 

Augusta,  Ga.,  December  6th,  1830.  "  The  committee  on 
overture  No.  3,  presented  their  report,  which  was  accepted, 
whereupon,  resolved,  that  the  dividing  line  between  the  Pres- 
byteries of  Hopewell  and  Georgia  be  so  altered  as  to  in- 
clude the  County  of  Burke  within  the  Presbytery  of  Hope- 
well." 

There  seems  to  have  been  some  uneasiness  or  difference  as 
to  the  right  ot  jurisdiction  over  the  churches  of  the  Southwest. 
In  the  mmutes  of  the  Assembly  of  1822  we  find,  p.  10,  that 
"  Messrs.  Henry  Reid  of  South  Carolina,  Edgar  and  Camp- 
bell, of  Tennessee,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  define  the 
boundaries  of  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,"  and  on  p.  13,  they 
reported  that  they  were  unable  to  ascertain'  the  geographical 
limits  of  said  Synod."     They  "  therefore  recommend  that  the 


424  GEOGRAPHICAL   LIMITS.  [1820-1830. 

General  Assembly  order  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,  and  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  each  to  ascertain  the 
geographical  limit  of  demarkation  between  said  Synods  and 
report  the  same  to  the  General  Assembly  next  year."  In 
obedience  to  the  order,  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  appointed  on  the  22d  of  November  Messrs.  Barr, 
Reid  and  Davis  "to  asceitain  and  fix  the  limits  of  this  Synod, 
and  to  report  before  the  close  of  the  present  sessions."  Their 
report  was  considered  and  approved,  and  is  as  follows : 

To  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  : 

Revkeend  and  Much  Respkcted  Brethren  :  We  perceive  from  the 
minutes  of  your  sessions,  May  last,  that  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  have 
applied  to  you  to  define  their  bounds,  and  from  the  proceedings  in  the 
case  it  appears  that  they  consider  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  as  claiming  territory  which  properly  belongs  to  them.  We 
presume  that  the  State  of  Alabama  is  the  section  in  dispute  The  origin 
of  the  late  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  is  well  known,  and  that  it  was  as  old 
as  any  Synod  in  the  United  States,  except  that  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia The  Synod  of  tlie  Carolinas  included  North  and  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia.  The  State  of  Georgia,  at  that  time,  included  within 
its  chartered  limits  what  is  now  the  State  of  Alabama. 

When  the  Synod  of .  the  Carolinas  was  divided,  the  southwestern 
part  of  that  Synod  was  constituted  '•  The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia,"  and,  consequently,  the  limits  of  this  Synod  in  a  southwestern 
direction  were  the  same  with  those  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  The 
Synod  of  the  Carolinas  included  the  whole  of  the  ancient  chartered 
limits  of  the  State  of  Georgia ;  and  as  (.ieorgia  originally  included  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Alabama,  therefore,  Alabama  must  be  included 
within  the  limits  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  unless  it 
has  been  separated  by  a  special  act  of  the  General  Assembly.  But  no 
such  act  has  ever  come  to  our  knowledge,  nor  do  we  believe  that  your 
much  respected  body  would  thus,  without  our  knowledge,  and  contrary 
to  our  wishes,  deprive  us  of  so  large  a  portion  of  our  territory.  But  if 
we  were  to  grant  (which  we  do  not)  that  when  the  Indian  claim  was 
extinguished,  Alabama  became  vacant  territory,  still,  on  the  ground  of 
preoccupancy,  it  belongs  to  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

Immediately  after  the  territory  began  to  be  settled,  the  Rev.  Messrs. 
Sloss  and  Hulbard,  and  afterwards,  Stuart,  all  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina,  were  sent  thither  as  missionaries.  Mr.  Sloss  became 
stationary  in  that  region.  The  Rev.  Andrew  Brown,  of  the  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Newton,  of  Hopewell  Presbytery, 
and  the  Rev.  John  Foster,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  emigrated  to 
that' country:  These  were  all  members  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  and  it  is  believed  that  they  were  the  only  ordained  Pres- 
byterian clergymen  in  the  State  of  Alabama. 

The  interests  of  religion,  and  especially  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
appeared  to  require  that  there  should  be  a  Presbytery  organized  in 
Alabama.  No  Synod  but  that  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  had  any 
claim  or  control  over  the  members  then  residing  in  that  region;  there- 
fore, in  the  year  1820,  with  their  own   consent  and  by  their  special 


1820-1830.]  QEOGEAPHICAI.   LIMITS.  425. 

request,  were,  by  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  set  off  from 
their  respective  Presbyteries  and  organized  as  a  new  Presbytery,  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  ■'  The  Presbytery  of  Alabama.  A  moderator 
and  the  time  and  place  were  appointed,  and  they  were  afterwards  to 
meet  on  their  own  adjournments. 

From  this  statement  it  must  appear  unequivocally  thnt  the  State  of 
Alabama,  upon  the  ground  both  of  preoccupancy  and  territorial  limits, 
belongs  to  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  It  is  also  hoped 
that  the  General  Assembly,  in  prescribing  the  limits  of  the  Synod  of 
Tennessee,  will  not  only  confirm  to  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  the  State  of  Alabama,  but  also  restore  the  State  of  Mississippi, 
which  has  been  wrested  from  us. 

The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas  included  the  States  of  North'  and  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  :  and  at  that  time  the  State  of  Georgia  included 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Mississippi.  The  Synod  of  the  Carolinas, 
believing  the  Mississippi  to  be  a  part  of  their  dominions,  and  having 
liberty  from  the  General  Assembly  to  conduct  the  missionary  business 
within  their  bounds,  did,  in  the  year  1800,  send  the  Rev.  James  H. 
Bowman,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  and  the  Rev.  William  Mont- 
gomery,'of  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell  (Georgia),  as  missionaries  to  the 
Natchez.  These  brethren  were  accompanied  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hall,  the 
Assembly's  missionary.  In  1801  or  1802,  the  Rev.  John  Mathews,  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Orange,  was  sent  as  a  missionary  to  that  country  ; 
apd  in  1803,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Brown  and  James  Smithe.  And  thus,  by 
the  exertions  of  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  churches  were  first  planted 
in  that  part  now  the  State  of  Mississippi.  Let  it  be  also  remembered 
that  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  grew  out  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  in  the 
year  1817,  and  the  Synod  of  Kentucky  sprang  from  the  Synod  of  Vir- 
ginia in  the  year  1802,  which  Synod  never  pretended  to  claim  any 
part  of  the  State  of  Georgia. 

It  is  true  that  some  Presbyteries,  including  what  was  originally  the 
western  part  of  North  Carolina  and  also  part  of  the  State  of  Virginia, 
were  aided  by  or  severed  from  the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  and  attached 
to  the  Synods  of  Virginia  and  Kentucky  ;  but  these  Presbyteries  did 
not  extend  further  south  than  the  boundary  line  of  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  (now  Tennessee).  None  of  them  included  any  part  of  the 
ancient  chartered  limits  of  the  State  of  Georgia.  It  was,  therefore, 
usurpation  in  the  Synod  of  Tennessee — or,  rather,  of  Kentucky — to  ex- 
tend their  dominion  to  the  State  of  Mississippi.  We,  the  Synod  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  have,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  suffered  this 
territory  to  be  wrested  from  us.  But  when  an  attempt  is  made  to  take 
away  Alabama  also,  we  are  constrained  to  contend  for  our  rights.  It  may 
be  convenient  foi>the  Synod  of  Tennessee  to  extend  their  dominions,  as 
it  will  give  them  facility  in  collecting  funds,  and  enable  them  to  build 
up  their  Western  Theological  Seminary  ;  but  we,  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia,  are  attached  to  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Princeton — a  seminary  founded  on  better  principles  than  any  other;  a 
seminary  that  cannot  be  corrupt  until  the  majority  of  the  General  As- 
sembly '■  depart  from  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  We  are 
now  pledged  for  the  endowment  of  a  professorship  in  this  seninary  ; 
and  as  soon  as  this  is  effected  our  Presbjjteries  wish  also  to  endow 
scholarships.  And  if  our  bounds  be  thus  circumscribed,  our  hands  will 
be  weakened,  and  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton  eventually 
injured 

We  have  now  before  us  a  communication  from  the  Presbytery  of 


426  GEOGRAPHICAL    LIMITS.  [1820-1830. 

Alabama,  in  which  they  remonstrate  against  being  separated  from  us 
and  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Tennessee ;  and  also  express  their  attach- 
ment to  the  Seminary  at  Princeton,  and  their  inclination  to  support  it 
in  preference  to  the  Western  Theological  Seminary.  Should  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  deem  it  inexpedient  at  this  time  to  restore  to  the  Synod 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the  State  of  Mississippi,  we  hope  that 
Alabama  will  not  be  torn  from  ug  — contrary  to  our  wishes,  contrary  to 
the  wishes  of  the  Presbytery  in  that  region,  contrary  to  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  the  churches,  and  contrary  to  the  interests  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Princeton. 

That  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  may  preside  over  you  in  all  your 
deliberations,  and  direct  you  into  such  measures  as  shall  promote  His 
glory  and  the  good  of  the  Church,  is  the  prayer  of 

Your  brethren  io  the  Gospel, 

HUGH  DICKSON,  Moderator. 
RICHARD  B.  CATER,  Cleric  pro  tern. 

It  is  ordered  that  the  Clerk  juroiewpore  transcribe  the  above  report, 
and  forward  a  copy  of  it,  with  the  Moderator's  and  Clerk's  signatures, 
to  the  Moderator  of  the  General  Assembly  at  their  next  regular  meet- 
ing. 

The  records  touching  this  subject  in  the  Minutes  of  the 
Assembly  of  1823  areas  follows:  "  A  petition  from  the  Synod 
of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  requesting  that  the  Presby- 
tery of  Alabama  should  be  put  under  their  care,  instead  of 
being  attached  to  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  was  overturned,  and 
being  read,  was  committed  to  Drs.  Richards  and  Cathcart, 
Messrs.  Reuben  Smith,  Keep  and  Hodge."  [Minutes,  Vol.  V, 
p.  115.] 

This  committee  reported,  and  thpir  report  being  read,  was 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows,  viz  :  That  the  request  of  said 
Synod,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  Presbytery  of  Alabama,  viz  : 
that  said  Presbytery  be  considered  as  being  within  their 
bounds,  is  reasonable,  and  they  recommend  that  it  De  granted 
accordingly.  With  respect  to  another  suggestion  contained 
in  said  application,  to  wit,  that  the  Presbytery  of  Mississippi, 
now  in  connection  with  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  should  be 
transferred  to  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the 
committee  have  not  felt  themselves  possessed  of  sufficient 
information  at  present  to  form  a  decision.  They  feei  it  a  duty, 
nevertheless,  to  say  that,  from  the  representations  made  to 
the  committee  from  a  member  of  each  of  these  Synods,  they 
anticipate  that  the  time  is  not  distant,  when  a  new  Synod  will 
be  regularly  formed  in  this  region,  including  both  the  Presby- 
teries in  question."     [Minutes,  Vol.  V,  p.  1 19.] 

The  Synod   doubtless  felt  almost  a  maternal  affection  for 


1820-1830.]  INTEREST   IN   THE   SOUTHWEST.  427 

those  Churches  and  Preisbyteries  for  which  she  had  labored, 
and  in  the  midst  of  which  so  many  who  had  gone  forth  from 
her  midst  then  resided.  But  in  a  growing  country  and  an 
extending  church,  the  general  and  local  prosperity  requires 
these  repeated  divisions. 

In  December,  1828,  the  Presbytery  of  South  Alabama  was 
divided  at  its  own  request.  A  new  Presbytery  was  formed, 
to  be  called  the  Pre.sbyteiy  of  Tombeckbee,  including  all  that 
territory  jiorth  of  the  Sipsey  River  and  embracing  also  the 
Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  Nations.  The  Presbytery  was 
directed  to  hold  its  first  meeting  at  Mayhew,  in  Choctaw 
Nation,  on  the  Friday  before  the  first  Sabbath  in  June,  1829, 
and  the  Rev.  Alfred  Wright  was  to  open  the  meeting  with  a 
sermon. 

The  Synod  seemed  to  keep  an  ear  open  to  the  necessities 
of  distant  churches  that  looked  to  it  for  counsel  or  aid.  No- 
vember 8,  182 1,  "  A  communication  from  the  agent  and  trus- 
tees of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  Orleans  was  read, 
and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Beman  and  Davies  were  appointed  a 
committee  to  address  a  letter  to  that  church  expressive  of  the 
views  and  feelings  of  this  Synod  on  the  subject  to  which  their 
communication  relates."     [Minutes,  p.  74.] 

Revivals  are  noted  as  having  existed  in  various  churches 
in  Athens  and  vicinity  in  1826  in  which  the  College  shared, 
at  Washington,  Ga. ;  in  1829,  in  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  the  churches  in  Laurens,  Anderson  and  Spartan- 
burg Districts,  and  one  in  Abbeville ;  in  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony  the  churches  of  Indian  Town,  Midway,  Brewing- 
ton,  Williamsburg,  Hopewell,  Concord  and  Salem,  were  re- 
niarkably  blessed,  between  six  and  seven  hundred  souls  were 
judged  to  have  been  born  into  the  kingdom  ;  in  the  Presby- 
tery of  Hopewell,  the  Counties  of  Green,  Jackson,  Hall, 
Gwinnett,  Franklin  and  DeKalb  received  precious  tokens  of 
the  divine  favor.  In  Bethel  Presbytery  the  churches  of  Be- 
thesda.  Bethel,  Beersheba,  Bullock's  Creek,  Salem  and  Shiloh, 
and  many  other  churches  in  the  bounds  of  Synod  enjoyed  in 
no  common  degree  the  presence  of  tlje  Divine  Spirit.  [Nar- 
rative of  1829  in  Minutes  of  Synod.] 

The  Southern  Christian  Intelligencer  issued  in  Charleston 
from  March  19th,  1819,  to  December  2gth,  1821,  issued 
under  the  Superintendence  of  ministers  of  different  denomi- 
nations ceased  as  an  organ  of  communication  with  the' church. 


428 


PRESBYTERY    OF    HARMOKY. 


[1820-1830. 


There  was  a  publication  issued  at  Monnt  Zion,  Georgia,  by 
the  Rev.  Benjamin  Giidersleeve  as  early  as  1820.  [See 
Chnstian  Intelligencer,  Yo\.  11,  p.  SO.]  The  Charleston  Ob- 
server, by  tile  same  indefatigable  and  able  editor  was  first 
issued  in  January,  1827,  and  has  been  of  great  service  to  the 
Church. 

The  wide  territorial  extent  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmon)- 
for  thirteen  years  previous  to  the  creation  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Georgia  may  be  illustrated  by  the  places  of  its  meetings. 

First  Session  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston, 
March  7th,  iSlO. 

Second  Session  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Augusta,  September 
27tl),  1810,  which  failed  for  want  of  a  quorum.  Another 
meeting  was  called  by  the  Moderator  in  conformity  with  a 
resolution  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1796,  which  was 
opened  in  St.  Paul's  Church,  Augusta,  by  the  Moderator,  Dr. 
Flinn,  on  January  nth,  181 1. 

Third  Sessions,  Charleston,  April  4th,  181 1,  Second  Pres-. 
byterian  Church. 

Fourth  Sessions,  December  20th,  30th,  181 1,  met  in  the 
city  of  Savannah. 

Fifth  Sessions,  Columbia,  April  9th  and  13th,  i8i2. 

Sixth  Sessions,  Presbyterian  Church,  Augu.sta,  November 
12,  16. 

Seventh  Sessions,  Church  of  Bethesda,  Camden,  April  8th, 
loth,  1813. 

Eighth  Sessions,  Augusta,  October  28th,  18 13. 

Ninth  Sessions,  Charleston,  April  14th,  1814,  met  in  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  by  invitation  of  the  Session. 

Tenth  Sessions,  Columbia,  October  27th,  1814. 

Eleventh  Sessions,  Church  of  Bethel,  Williamsburg. 

The  foUowinsj;  statistical  tables  are  the  best  which  our  means 
enable  us  to  furnish  for  this  decade  : 

SUMMARY  FOE  1820. 


MiniBurs. 

Licen'tes,   Churches. 

Communi- 
cants 

Presbytery  of  South  Carolina 
Harmonv  

13 
15 

7 

6               29 
5               22 
1               16 

797 
446 

Hopewell 

340 

85 

12 

67 

1,582 

1820-1880.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE. 

SUMMARY  FOR  1829. 


429 


Ministers. 

Licen'tes. 

Churches. 

Communi- 
cants. 

South  Carolina 

11 

7 

15 
20 
12 

8 

3 
1 
2 
4 
1 

32 
17 
21 
46 

•5 

7 

2,208 
1,731 
1,185 
2,020 
669* 

Bethel 

Harmony 

Hopewell  

Chaston  Union 

Georgia 

747 

73 

11 

128 

8,560 1 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Appendix  to  the  Third  Decade. 

1820-1830. 

The  following  History  of  the  Indian  Missions  of  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  originally  publi.sh- 
ed  at  a  later  date  in  the  Southern  Presbyteiian,"  is  appended 
to  thi.s  decade  to  which  it  really  belongs  : 

Pontotoc,  Mississippi,  June  17, 1861. 
Dear  Brother:  It  is  with  some  reluctance' I  undertake  to  comply 
with  your  request,  and  thus  redeem  a  promise  made  you  some  time 
since.  Having  no  records  to  guide  me,  I  must  rely  entirely  upon 
memory,  which,  at  this  distance  of  time,  may  sometimes  be  at  fault, 
especially  in  reference  to  dates.  As  to  the  general  facts,  I  shall  aim  at 
accuracy  and  fidelity.  Could  I  see  you  at  ^our  own  home  or  at  mine, 
it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  sit  down  and  tallc  over  the  incidents 
of  our  long  journey,  as  exploring  agents  for  the  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Synod  of  South  (  arolina  and  Georgia.  Furnished  with  documents 
from  the  War  Department,  among  which  was  a  letter  of  introdui:tion 
from  Mr.  Calhoun, 'then  Secretary  of  War,  to  the  agents  of  the  different 
tribes  we  might  visit,  we  set  out  early  in  May,  1820.  The  Rev.  John, 
Brown,  D.  D.,  of  Monticello,  Georgia,  being  secretary  for  foreign  cor- 
respondence, we  we^e  directed  to  him  for  instructions  as  to  our  future 
progress.  From  him  we  learned  that  Gen.  Mitchell,  agent  for  the 
Creeks,  was  then  at  his  farm,  six  miles  below  Milledgeville.  It  was,  of 
course,  our  duty  to  visit  him,  and  in  the  interview  he  informed  us  that 
a  general  council  of  chiefs  and  head  men  would  convene  at  the  Coweta 

*  In  three  Churches. 

t  If  the  membership  of  the  Congregationalist  and  Independent 
Churches  that  have  acted  with  us  during  this  decade  be  enumerated, 
this  total  would  have  been  increased  to  over  10,000. 


430  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIED  DECAnE.  |"1820-1830. 

Town-house  in  eight  or  ten  days,  and  advised  us  to  attend  it.  At  the 
proper  time  we  set  out,  and  crossing  the  Oakmulgee,  I  think  at  Scott's 
Ferry,  Flint  river,  at  Marshall's  shoals,  and  the  Chattahoochee,  just 
below  the  falls,  where  the  city  of  Columbus  now  stands,  we  arrived  at 
Gen-  Mcintosh's  late  in  the  evening,  where  we  found  a  considerable 
company  of  Indians  assembled.  Next  morning  early  we  reached  the 
council  ground,  where,  for  the  first  time  in  our  lives,  we  saw  a  large 
Indian  encampment  All  things  being  in  readiness,  the  ceremonj'  of 
opening  the  council  was  commenced.  And,  brother  H.,  da  you  recol- 
lect the  disgusting  scene  we  then  witnessed?  An  Indian  was  seen 
slipping  in,  as  if  by  stealth,  with  a  large  hand-gourd  filled  with  tea, 
made  of  Yopon  leaves,  to  which  they  attached  a  superstitious  efficacy, 
believing  that  it  enlightened  their  minds  and  led  them  to  correct 
decisions  on  anv  subject  that  might  come  before  them.  As  the  sequel 
shows,  it  failed  for  once  This  was  handed  first  to  the  Little  Prince 
and  Big  Warrior,  principal  chiefe,  and  then,  in  quick  succession,  to  all 
composing  the  council.  No  sooner  was  the  potion  swallowed  than  it 
became  necessary  to  prepare  for  its  ejection.  The  scene  that  followed 
can  better  be  imagined  than  described.  I  have  never  yet  known 
whether  the  dose  actually  produced  nausea,  or  whether  the  whole  thing 
was  mechanical.  I  suspect  the  latter.  The  ceremony  over,  we  were 
ushered  into  the  presence  of  their  majesties,  and,  seated  on  a  low 
wooden  bench  at  their  feet,  we  delievered  our  message,  read  to  them 
Dr.  Brown's  kind  and  fatherly  address,  and  in  behalf  of  those  who  sent 
us  proposed  to  send  men  into  their  country,  who,  in  addition  to  preaching 
the  Gospel  to  them,  would  establish  schools  for  the  education  of  their 
children  without  cost  to  them.  To  all  this  they  listened  attentively, 
but  after  a  short  consultation  they  rejected  our  proposition.  It  was  a 
part  of  our  plan  to  teach  their  children  agriculture  and  the  various  arts 
of  domestic  life,  believing  that  they  never  could  be  civilized  without 
this.  It  was,  moreover,  required  by  the  War  Department,  before  we 
could  receive  any  part  of  the  fund  appropriated  by  (-ongress  for  the 
civilization  of  the  Indians,  in  1819.  'To  this  they  objected,  saying  if 
they  wanted  their  children  to  work  they  could  teach  them  themselves. 

Our  instructions  did  not  allow  us  to  "establish  schools  on  any  other 
terms.  We  therefor©  set  our  faces  for  the  distant  West,  and  passing 
through  the  new  settlements  of  Alabama,  by  way  of  Fort  Jackson,  Falls 
of  Cahawba,  Tuscaloosa,  and  the  little  villages  of  Columbus,  Missis- 
sippi, and  Cotton-Gin  Port,  we  crossed  the  Tombecbee  Biver,  and 
entered  the  Chicasaw  Nation,  forty-one  years  ago  this  day,  and  soon 
found  ourselves  at  the  hospitable  mansion  of  old  Levi  Colbert,  the 
great  man  of  his  tribe.  This  was  Friday  evening  We  soon  learned 
that  a  great  ball  play  was  to  come  off  on  the  following  Monday,  at 
George  Colbert's,  some  twenty-five  miles  distant,  and  that  a  large  com- 
pany was  going  up  the  next  fiay.  Thus  Providence  seemed  to  prosper 
our  way. 

There  being  a  very  large  collection  of  Indians  from  all  parts  of  the 
nation,  we  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  attendance  of  the  chiefs  in 
council  at  an  early  day.  Alccoydingly,  we  met  them  at  the  house  of 
Major  -lames  Colbert",  the  following  Wednesday,  being  the  22d  day  of 
the  month.  You  remember  their  young  king' was  conducted  to  the 
chair  of  State  that  day,  for  the  first  time,  as  king  of  the  Chickasaw 
nation.  He  was  an  ordinary  Indian,  and  never  opened  his  mouth 
during  the  council.  They  very  readily  acceded  to  the  terms  upon  which 
we  proposed  to  establish  schools  among  them  ;  and,  that  there  might 


J8a0-1830.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  431 

be  no  misunderstanding  in  future,  we  drew  up  a  number  of  articles, 
which  were  signed  by  ttie  contracting  parties,  and  deposited  with  the 
United  States  agent,  and  for  aught  I  know  they  may  now  be  in  the 
archives  of  that  old,  dilapidated  Government.  Having  secured  the 
first  great  object  of  our  mission,  our  next  business  was  to  explore  the 
country,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  suitable  location  for  a  missionary 
establishment.  And  that  we  might  profit  by  the  experience  of  others, 
we  visited  Elliott,  in  tlie  Choctaw  nation,  where  a  school  was  in  suc- 
cessful operation,  under  the  superintendence  of  the  veteran  and  apos- 
tolic missionary,  the  Rev.  Cyrus  Kingsbury,  D.  D.  Leaving  this  place 
we  desired  to  visit  Mayhew,  where  a  large  station  was  afterwards  built 
up,  but  missed  our  way,  traveled  until  a  late  hour  at  night  and  finding 
no  house,  lay  down  on  tlie  bank  of  a  creek  without  our  scupper  and  slept 
till  morning.  In  a  few  miles  we  came  to  the  house  of  a  white  man 
with  a  Choctaw  family,  where  we  breakfasted,  with  a  pretty  good  relish, 
on  barbecued  beef  without  salt.  We  were  still  in  the  Choctaw  nation, 
but  soon  crossed  the  line  into  Chickasaw  territory,  and  made  our  way 
back  to  Levi  Colbert's.  It  was  not  long  before  we  found  there  was  a 
frolic  on  hand.  Parties  began  to  assemble,  dressed  out  in  their  best, 
and  instead  of  an  Indian  dance,  such  as  I  have  witnessed  many  a  time 
since,  it  turned  out  a  regular  ball,  conducted  with  great  propriety,  and 
attended  by  the  elite  of  the  nation.  Our  host  was  a  little  embarrassed 
by  our  presence,  apologized  as  best  he  could,  and  expressed  the  hope 
that  we  would  riot  be  displeased.  Having  relieved  his  mind  on  this 
subject,  we  spread  our  blankets  in  the  piazza,  and  slept  while  they 
danced.  Next  day  we  returned  to  Tockshish,the  name  of  Major  James 
Colbert's  place,  where  we  met  the  Indians  in  council  and  in  a  few  days 
selected  a  site  for  a  missionary  station,  six  miles  southeast  of  this. 

I  may  as  well  say  here,  that  when  I  returned  the  next  winter  I  was 
,  advised  by  Major  Colbert  and  others  to  a  different  location,  and  accord- 
ingly I  settled  two  miles  southwest  of  Tockshish,  and  built  up  Monroe. 
We  were  now  read}'  to  set  out  on  our  return  home,  and  passing  by  Tus- 
cumbia  and  Huntsville,  Alabama,  Brainerd,  Spring  Place  and  Saloney, 
missionary  stations  in  the  Cherokee  nation,  we  reached  our  friends  in 
South  Carolina  early  in  August. 

And  now,  upon  a  review  of  the  whole,  I  feel  like  erecting  an  Ebenezer 
of  praise,  saying,  "Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  me"  "Having 
obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  until  this  day."  "  What  shall  I  render 
unto  the  Lord  for  all  His  benefits  to  me  ?  " 

Yours,  truly,  T.  C.  STUART. 


(For  the  Southern  Presbyterian  ) 
INDIAN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  AND 

GEORGIA. 

Letter  II. 

Pontotoc,  (Mtss.)  June  24,  1861. 

Dear  Brother : — The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  met  at 

Upper  Long  Cane  Church  in  the  fall  of  1820.    Rev.  Francis  Cummins 

D.  D.,  Moderator.     Having  been  accepted  by  the  Synod  as  their  first 

»iiissionary  to  the  Chickasaws,  all  the  necessary  arrangements  were 


432  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  [1820-1830. 

made  for  sending  me  out  immediately.  Two  families  were  employed  as 
assistants  and  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  appointed  a  meeting  at 
old  Pendleton  Courthouse  for  my  ordination  on  the  19th  of  December. 
We  were  detained  a  few  days  by  heavy  rains  and  high  waters,  but 
finally  set  out  and  after  a  .tedious  journey  of  five  weeks  and  .five' days, 
arrived  at  Monroe  the  31st  day  of  January,  1821.  On  this  day  the  flrst 
tree  was  felled  and  a  commencement  made  in  the  work  of  the  Chicka- 
saw Mission.  The  first  two  years  were  principally  spent  in  clearing  out 
a  farm  and  putting  up  the  nei^essary  buildings  for  a  large  boarding 
school.  In  the  meantime  I  was  joined  by  Hamilton  V.  Turner,  carpen- 
ter, and  James  Wilson,  farmer,  with  their  families,  from  Abbeville,  and 
Bev.  Hugh  Wilson  and  wife,  from  North  Carolina,  and  Rev.  William 
C.  Blair,  from  Ohio.  In  the  spring  of  1822.  I  opened  a  school  for  the 
benefit  of  those-  living  in  the  neighborhood  being  not  yet  prepared  to 
take  in  boarders.  Before  opening  the  school  I  visited  a  widow  woman 
living  within  a  mile  of  the  station,  who  had  a  son  and  daughter  of 
suitable  age  to  attend,  and  asked  her  to  send  them.  She  replied  she 
was  poor  and  had  no  suitable  clothes  to  give  them.  Having  brought  a 
small  supply  with  me  I  told  her  I  would  furnish  them.  Her  next  diffi- 
culty was  she  had  nothing  they  could  take  with  them  for  dinner.  This 
I  removed  by  proposing  to  give  them  their  dinner.  They  accordingly 
came  and  it  was  not  long  before  they  made  it  convenient  to  be  over  for 
breakfast  too.  I  may  as  well  say  in  this  connection  these  children 
were  afterwards  called  Wm.  H.  Barr  and  Mary  Leslie.  The  former 
named  and  supported  by  a  society  of  ladies  in  Columbia ;  the  latter  on 
account  of  personal  attachments  by  some  one  of  the  mission  family. 
They,  together  with  their  mother,  became  decidedly  pious,  united  with 
the  church,  lived  consistent  lives  andhaveall,  long  since,  gone  to  their 
reward.  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  another  member  of  this 
family  before  I  close  these  sketches. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1823  the  school  was  opened  with  fifty  scholars, 
most  of  whom  were  boarded  in  the  family.  The  chief  of  our  district, 
Captain  Samuel  Sealey,  attended  and  made  a  speech  oii  the  occasion. 
He  brought  a  son  who  was  afterwards  named  T.  Charleton  Henry. 
From  this  time  until  the  Chickasaws  ceded  away  their  country  in  1834, 
and  agreed  to  remove  to  their  distant  home  in  the  West,  the  school  was 
kept  up,  with  some  interruptions,  under  the  trials  and  difficulties  that 
always  attend  a  similar  enterprise  amongst  an  unenlightened  and  un- 
civilized people.  In  this  same  year  Brother  Wilson  established  a 
school  two  miles  north  of  Monroe  and  near  to  Tockshish,  which  was 
continued  until  the  Indians  left  for  their  Western  home  in  1837  and 
1838.  In  1821:  the  Chiefs  in  council  appropriated  $5000  to  establish  two 
more  schools,  and  52,.500  per  annum  for  their  support 

One  of  these  was  erected  on  Pigeon  Roost  Creek  near  to  Holly  Springs 
and  called  Martyn  ;  the  other  on  Tennessee  River  in  the  limits  of 
Alabama,  and  called  Caney  Creek  Br  ther  Blair  was  sent  to  the  for- 
mer and  Brother  Wilson  to  the  latter.  Brother  James  Holmes,  of 
Carlisle,  Pa.,  having  joined  us  this  year,  was  sent  to  Tockshish.  We 
have  now  four  schools  in  successful  operation,  containing  one  hundred 
and  twenty  pupils  of  both  sexes  The  school  at  Monroe  was  conducted 
on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  which  succeeded  well.  It  is  not  possible  at 
this  late  period  to  say  how  many  were  educated  throughout  the  nation. 
The  number  who  obtained  anything  like  a  good  English  education  was 
comparatively  small.  Having  learned  to  read  and  write,  many  of  thera 
left  school,  supposing  they  had  finished  their  education.    Moreover,  the 


1820-1830.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DEpADE.  433 

regulations  of  the  school  and  the  requirements  of  the  station  imposed 
such  a  restraint  on  their  former  royiug  habits  that  many  of  them  ran  off 
and  never  returned.  This  was  often  a  matter  of  deep  regret  and  a  cause 
of  great  annoyance  to  us  ;  but  it  was  one  of  those  disoouragenients  with 
which  missionaries  amongst  an  ignorant  and  heathen  people  have 
always  had  to  contend.  In  1826  these  schools  and  stationfe  were  all 
transferred  to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. To  this  we  did  not  object  because  it  brought  us  into  more  imme- 
diate contact  with  the  missionaries  among  the  Choctaws,  to  whom  we 
were  much  attached  and  with  Whom  we  had  much  intercourse  tor  years 
past. 

By  reference  to  the  session  book  of  Monroe  Church,  I  find  the  follow- 
ing entry  on  the  first  page  :  "  The  Kev.  Hugh  Dickson,  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina,  having  been  commis.sioned  by,  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.,  to  visit  Monroe 
for  the  purpose  of  examining  into  the  state  and  prospects  of  the  mis- 
sion, arrived  on  the  29th  of  May,  1823.  The  mission  family,  having  a 
desire  to  be  united  in  a  church  capacity  that  they  may  regularly  enjoy 
the  privilege  of  the  sealing  ordinance  of  the  gospel,  expressed  the  same 
to  Mr  Dickson.  Accordingly,  on  the  7th  of  June,  a  church  was  organ- 
ized, consisting  of  seven  members  At  this  time  a  black  woman,  the 
first  fruit  of  the  Chickasaw  Mission,  was  received  on  a  profession  of  her 
faith.  Being  a  native  of  the  country,  she  spoke  the  Chickasaw  language 
fluently  ;  and  having  the  confidence  of  the  Indians,  I  employed  her  as 
my  interpreter,  for  several  years,  in  preaching  the  gospel  to  them.  On 
the  4th  of  December,  1824,  the  first  Indian  woman  was  admitted  to  the 
communion  of  the  Church.  At  every  subsequent  communion  meeting 
for  several  years,  one  or  more  was  added  to  our  number."  September 
29th,  1827,  T  find  the  following  record  :  "  The  Lord  having  visited  our 
Church  the  past  summer  with  a  time  of  refreshing,  having,  as  we  hope, 
savingkj'  renewed  a  number  within  our  bounds,  it  was  thought  expe- 
dient'to  have  a  meeting  of  the  Church  session  before  the  time  to  which 
it  stood  adjourned.  Session  therefore  met,  and  having  implored  the 
presence  and  blessing  of  God,  proceeded  to  examine  the  following  per- 
sons." Here  follows  the  names  of  five  persons,  the  first  of  whom  was 
a  native  young  man,  who  had  been  a  scholar  in  the  school,  and  who, 
on  the  5th  of  April,  1834,  was  elected  and  ordained  a  ruling  elder  in 
the  Church.  Comparatively  few  of  our  sc^holars  embraced  religion  and 
united  with  our  Church.  In  after  yeai's  a  good  many  joined  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  In  the  faH  of  1830  the  Monroe  Church  numbered  one 
hundred  members,  including  ten  at  Martyn's.  Of  these  about  one-half 
were  natives,  a  few  whites,  and  the  balance  blacks,  of  whom  there  was 
a  considerable  number  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  station.  These 
generally  spoke  the  Indian  language ;  and  being  on  an  equality  with 
their  owners,  and  having-  more  intercourse  with  them  than  is  usual 
among  white  people,  through  their  instrumentality  a  knowledge  of  the 
gospel  was  extended  among  the  Indians.  The  change,  too,  in  their 
deportment  had  a  tendency  to  convince  them  of  the  reality  and  excel- 
lence of  religion,  and  to  eradicate  their  prejudices  against  it.  In  the 
"  Missionary  Herald  "  for  March,  1831,  I  find  the  following  editorial 
remarks  :  "  At  page  45  of  the  last  number,  it  was  mentioned  that  Mr. 
Blair  had  requested  to  be  disc:harged  from  missionary'  labors,  and  was 
about  to  leave  Martyn.  Mr.  Holmes,  who  has  heretofore  resided  at 
Stockshish,  has  been  directed  to  take  the  place  of  Mr.  Blair.  On  leav- 
ing the  place  of  his  former  labors,  he  makes  the  following  remarks 
28 


434  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  [1820-1830. 

respecting  the  reasons  for  his  removing  to  Martyn,  rather  than  Mr. 
Stuart:  "Hereabout  ninety  commune  on  sacramental  occasions,  and 
at  Martyn  only  ten — here  near  two  hundred  compose  the  congregation 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  frequently  the  assembly  is  so  large  that  we  have 
to  preach  in  the  open  air,  whilst  at  Martyn  tifty  is  the  largest  number 
of  hearers.  This  now  has  assumed  the  aspect  of  a  Christian  settlement, 
and  the  Lord  appears  to  prosper  everything  undertaken  for  His  glory. 
In  our  humble  house  of  worship  we  are  often  cheered  with  the  reflec- 
tion that  this  and  that  man  were  born  here.'  "  I  shall  resume  this 
subject  in  my  next.    For  the  present,  adieu  ! 

T.  C.  STUART. 


{For  the  Southern  Presbyterian.) 

INDIAN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 
AND  GEORGIA. 

Letter  III. 

Pontotoc,  Miss.,  July  1,  1861. 

Dear  Brother  :  In  my  last,  I  referred  to  a  revival  of  religion  in  our 
Church  and  congregation,  which  commenced  in  the  sprinsr  of  1827  It 
is  proper  I  should  say,  the  Rev  Cyrus  Byington,  of  the  Choctaw  Mis- 
sion, was  the  honored  instrument  in  the  hand  of  God  of  this  good  work. 
At  that  time  a  revival  was  in  progress  at  Mayhew,  Bro.  Byington,  being 
much  revived  himself,  and  his  heart  warm  in  the  cause,  visited  our 
station,  and  labored  sometime  among  our  people.  I  have  a  distinct 
recollection  of  the  time  and  the  circumstances,  of  the  iirst  favorable 
indications.  He  preached  at  Monroe  in  the  forenoon  to  a  large  congre- 
gation, when  it  was  evident  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  thS  hearts 
of  the  people.  In  the  afternoon  he  preached  at  the  house  of  a  widow 
woman,  six  miles  north,  where  deep  and  lasting  impressions  were 
made;  and  it  became  manifest  God  was  in  our  midst.  Under  the  ordi- 
nary means  of  grace,  the  good  work  continued  between  two  and  three 
years.  So  far  from  adopting  any  measures  calculated  to  produce  excite- 
ment, we  were  careful  to  keep  it  down.  Our  people  needed  instruction 
in  the  first  principles  of  religion,  and  for  this  purpose  we  appointed 
inquiry  meetings  every  Saturday  night,  which  were  well  attended. 
Frequently  between  twenty  and  thirty  were  present,  and  some  from 
a  distance  of  ten  and  twelve  miles.  In  these  services  Brother  Holmes 
rendered  very  essential  aid.  As  the  fruit  of  this  gracious  visitation,  a 
goodly  number  of  precio'^s  souls  were  brought  into  the  kingdom  of 
Christ,  some  of  whom  are  yet  living  and  walking  in  the  good  way ; 
some  have  died  in  faith  and  gone  to  their  reward  ;  and  some,  we  fear, 
have  drawn  back  unto  perdition.  There  were  some  distressing  cases 
of  apostac;y. 

I  have  in  my  mind  one  case  of  a  more  singular  and  unaccountable 
character  than  any  I  have  ever  known.  This  was  the  first  subject  of 
the  revival,  a  white  man,  with  an  Indian  family,  living  about  half-way 
between  Tockshish  and  Monroe,  who  had  been  notorious  for  intemper- 
ance and  profanity.  By  referring  to  the  session  book,  I  find  he  was 
admitted  to  the  Church  on  the  ^Sd  of  June,  1827.  His  evidences  of  a 
change  of  heart  were  better  than  usual,  and  his  piety  was  of  no  ordi- 
nary character.     He  became  a  praying  man,  worshipped  God  regu'arly 


1820-1830.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  435 

in  his  familj^  and  in  secret,  was  always  present  at  our  public  services, 
unless  providentially  hindered,  and  led  in  prayer  in  a  devout  and 
edifj^ing  manner,  whenever  called  on  in  our  prayer-meetings.  He  was 
considered  a  miracle  of  grace  and  a  model  of  piety.  No  one  doubted 
his  religion.  But  alas  !  for  poor  human  nature!  this  man  fell.  It  has 
been  said  that  the  great  adversary  has  a  lien  on  old  drunkards?.  This 
seemed  to  be  true  in  his  case,  for  during  the  whole  of  his  subsequent 
life  he  frequently  fell  into  his  easily  besetting  sin.  As  early  as  October 
10,  1827,  he  was  cited  to  appear  before  the  session  for  the  crime  of 
intemperance.  He  manifested  so  much  sorrow  of  heart  and  such  deep 
contrition  that  we  felt  constrained  to  make  the  following  entry: 
"  Hoping  that  he  has  been  enabled  to  repent  of  his  fall  with  deep  con- 
trition of  soul,  and  that  he  has  obtained  forgiveness  from  God,  we  feel 
it  our  duty  and  our  privilege  to  recognize  him  as  a  disciple  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  therefore  ought  not  to  be  excluded  from  the  privileges  of 
this  Church."  For  a  long  series  of  years  he  live.d  a  consistent  life,  and 
our  hopes  of  him  were  greatly  strengthened,  but  after  the  treaty  of 
1834,  when  the  whites  began  to  come  in  in  great  numbers  and  the 
country  was  flooded  with  whiskey,  he  could  not  resist  the  temptation, 
and  again  fell  into  his  old  habits  of  intemperance  and  profanity.  In 
this  he  continued  until  he  removed  to  the  West  in  1837,  but  again 
reformed  and  joined  the  Methodist  Church.  Finally,  in  the  summer 
of  1837,  while  I  resided  at  Fort  Smith,  Arkansas,  he  died  alone,  after  a 
long  spell  of  hard  drinking,  and  what  may  now  be  his  destiny  is  known 
only  to  God.  This  instance  of  apostacy  has  puzzled  and  distressed  me 
more  than  any  that  ever  came  under  my  observation  Our  Methodist 
brethren,  I  know,  could  dispose  of  the  case  without  difficulty — he  fell 
trom  grace  and  was  lost.  That  he  is  lost  I  very  nmch  fear,  but  that  he 
fell  from  grace  I  never  shall  believe.  In  the  language  of  Doctor  Alex- 
ander, "  there  are  few  truths  of  which  I  have  a  more  unwavering  con- 
viction, than  that  the  sheep  of  Christ,  for  whom  He  laid  down  His  life, 
shall  never  perish."  "  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest 
he  fall." 

The  introduction  of  ardent  spirits  in  great  quantities  proved  very 
disastrous  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  many  of  our  Church  members, 
especially  the  natives,  whose  fondness  for  the  article  is  proverbial  all 
over  the  world.  During  a  residence  of  seventeen  years  among  them,  I 
knew  but  one  man  who  would  neither  drink  whiskey  nor  smoke  the 
pipe.  It  is  cause  of  thankfulness  that  so  many  did  stand  firm  in  the 
midst  of  temptation  and  in  the  face  of  much  opposition.  On. the  Itith 
of  September,  1837,  twenty-five  received  letters  of  dismission  as  mem- 
bers in  good  standing.  Many  went  away  without  letters  who  were 
entitled  to  them. 

As  to  what  the  Chickasaw  Mission  accomplished,  this  cannot  be 
known  until  the  judgment  day.  I  often  feel  ashamed  and  deeply 
humbled  that  so  little  was  accomplished.  Had  I  been  faithful,  and 
active,  and  zealous,  doubtless  much  more  might  have  been  done;  yet 
it  would  be  wrong  not  to  render  thanks  to  God  that  he  was  pleased  to 
give  any  degree  of  success  to  the  means  employed.  A  large  number 
of  youth  of  both  sexes  were  educated;  much  useful  instruction  was 
communicated  ;  and  a  foundation  laid  for  a  degree  of  civilization  and 
refinement  which  never  could  have  been  attained  without  it.  In  my 
next  I  shall  speak  of  their  present  condition  in  the  West,  which  will 
exhibit  the  improvements  they  have  made  in  the  various  arts  of  civil- 
ized life.    But  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  what  has  been  efiected,  we 


436  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.        '  [1820-1830. 

must  solve  the  matheinatu'al  problem,  "what  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he 
shall  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  or  what  shall  a  man 
give  in  e.xchange  for  his  .soul  ?  "  We  must  calculate  the  value  of  one 
immortal  soul,  "the  redemption  of  which  is  precious,  and  it  ceaseth 
forever  "  It  would  be  great  arrogance  and  presumption  in  me  to 
attempt  to  state  the  number  who  may  have  been  redeemed  from  heath- 
enism, and  savingly  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God;  but  that  a  goodly 
number  have  been  saved  through  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and  are 
now  among  the  redeemed  in  heaven,  I  never  shall  doubt.  Add  to  this, 
the  amount  of  good  effected  through  their  instrumentality.  The  Gospel, 
the  Saviour  tells  us,  "  is  like  leaven  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in 
three  measures  of  meal,  till  the  whole  was  leavened."  This  leaven  is 
still  at  work.  Some  years  since,  I  visited  the  Uhickasaws  in  their  new- 
home,  and  found  a  few  of  my  old  church  members  still  living,  and 
walking  by  faith.  Who  can  estimate  the  benefits  resulting  from  their 
consistent  lives  during  a  period  of  more  than  twenty  years?  Their 
influence  will  extend  to  the  end  of  time.  The  Chickasaw  Mission  cost, 
in  round  numbers,  twenty  thousand  dollars,  besides  a  number  of  years 
of  hard,  gratuitous  labor  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in  it-  1  will 
venture  to  say  that  neither  we,  who  bore  the  burden  and  heat  of  the 
day,  nor  the  Christian  community  who  kindly  supported  us,  now  regret 
the  expenditure.  If  I  may  be  allowed  to  express  my  own  feelings,  I 
would  render  thanks  to  God.  that  He  counted-  me  worthy  to  be  em- 
ployed in  such  a  blessed  work.  And  I  am  confident  no  friend  of  the 
Kedeemer  will  ever  regret,  either  in  time  or  in  eternity,  any  sacrifices 
made  for  the  promotion  of  His  glory.  Every  Christian,  both  in  South 
Carolina  and  in  Georgia,  who  contributed  to  the  support  of  this  mission, 
was  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  results,  whatever  they  may  be. 
And  how  transporting  the  thought  of  meeting  those  in  the  bright  world 
above,  who  were  brought  there  through  our  instrumentality.  Let  Chris- 
tians, then,  of  every  name,  be  stimulated  and  encouraged  to  go  forward 
in  this  good  work.  Let  them  contribute  of  their  means  according  as 
God  hath  prospered  them,  and  they  "wid  not  fail  to  receive  their  reward. 
Fraternally,  yours,  T.  C.  STUAKT. 


{For  The  Southern  Presbytenan.) 

INDIAN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF   SOUTH  CAROLINA 
AND  GEORGIA. 

Letter  IV. 

Pontotoc,  Miss.,  July  8,  1861. 
Dear  Brother:  In  my  last  I  incidentally  referred  to  a  visit  to  the 
Chickasaws.  That  visit  was  made  in  the  summer  of  1856,  my  daughter 
accompanying  me.  I  shall  always  regret  I  did  not  go  a  few  years  sooner. 
I  should  then  have  found  many  of  my  old  neighbors,  and  friends,  and 
church-members  who  had  been  called  away.  In' the  journey  through 
the  Choctaw  Nation,  we  passed  the  lonely  grave  of  V\  illiam'H.  Barr's 
mother.  She  was  baptized  by  the  name  of  Catharine,  and  ever  after- 
wards was  called  aunt  Kitty  Her  Indian  name  signified  "  Tliere  is 
none  such,"  and  this  seemed  to  be  prophetic  of  her  real  character  after 
she  became  a  Christian.  She  spent  much  of  her  time  in  my  family, 
and.  I  will  say  I  never  knew  a  more  devoted  Christian.    She  spoke  no 


1820-1830.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  437 

English,  and  understood  but  little.  Having  a  few  elementary  books  in 
the  Indian  language,  prepared  by  the  Choctaw  missionaries,  I  taught 
her  to  read  She  took  great  delight  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  although 
she  could  have  access  to  only  a  small  portion  of  them  which  had  been 
translated  into  her  own  language.  Her  only  daughter  died  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Fort  Smith,  leaving  a  family  of  small  children.  Con- 
trary to  the  remonstrances  of  her  friends,  she  set  out  to  visit  these 
children,  that  she  might  take  them  to  her  own  home;  accompanied  by 
a  little  grandson.  On  the  |Way  she  took  sick  at  a  Chocktaw  cabin,  lay 
about  two  weeks,  and  yielded  up  her  spirit,  I  doubt  not  into  the  hands 
of  her  Redeemer,  and  I  love  to  think  of  her  now  as  a  happy  soul  in  the 
kingdom  of  eternal  glory.  Her  daughter  was  hopefully  pious.  But  the 
member  of  her  family  to  whom  I  referred  in  my  first  letter,  is  a  son 
who  is  yet  living,  His  name  is  James  Gamble — named  and  supported 
I  think,  by  a  society  of  ladies  in  Rocky-River  congregation  He  was 
educated  in  part  at  Monroe,  and  finished  his  education  at  Mesopotamia, 
Alabama.  He  is  now  decidedly  the  great  man  of  his  nation — is  a 
senator  in  their  legislature — is  national  interpreter  and  translator,  and 
is  their  commissioner  to  Washington  city  to  transact  their  business  with 
the  Federal  Government.  He  writes  a  fair  hand,  a  sensible,  busine.ss-- 
like  letter.  The  only  ornaments  I  have  on  ray  parlor  mantel  are  his 
likeness  and  one  of  John  C.  Calhoun.  In  short,  he  is  to-day  a  standing 
refutation  of  the  oft-repeated  slander  that  an  Indian  cannot  be  civilized. 
He  lacks  but  the  one  thing  needful  to'make  him  everything  I  could 
wish.  And  I  believe  it  is  not  saying  too  much  to  affirm  that  if  the 
Chickasaw  Mission  had  accomplished  nothing  more  than  the  salvation 
of  aunt  Kitty's  family,  it  was  labor,  and  time,  and  money  well  spent. 
Her  oldest  son  never  heard  the  Gospel.  Soon  after  my  arrival  at  Mon- 
roe, I  had  occasion  one  morning  early  to  go  to  the  agency  on  business. 
On  the  way  I  was  startled  by  a  sudden  outcry  and  bitter  lamentation 
near  my  path.  I  turned  aside  and  on  going  to  the  spot  found  a  group 
of  mourners  standing  around  his  lifeless  corpse.  He  had  been  thrown 
from  his  horse  the  night  before,  probably  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  and 
suddenly  killed.  She  never  mentioned  his  name  or  referred  to 
him  in  any  way,  it  being  contrary  to  their  custom  ever  to  speak  of  the 
dead. 

Although  it  is  a  subject  of  regret  that  I'  did  not  visit  them  sooner,  yet 
I  shall  always  be  thankful  that  it  was  so  ordered  in  the  good  providence 
of  God  that  I  could  visit  them  at  the  time  I  did.  It  was,  on  many 
accounts,  an  exceedingly  pleasant  visit,  yet  not  unmingled  with  some 
sad  redections.  Many  with  whom  I  had  "taken  sweet  counsel  in  years 
long  since  passed  away,  and  with  whom  I  had  gone  to  the  house  of  God, 
were  no  more  among  the  living.  Some  to  whom  I  had  often  preached 
the  Gospel,  whom  I  have  warned  to  fiee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and 
exhorted  to  make  their  peace  with  God,  were  still  living  in  sin,  and 
some  of  this  class  had  gone  to  their  last  account  without  giving  any 
evidence  of  repentance.  A  few  only  of  my  old  church  members  were  still 
lingering  about  these  mortal  shores,  and,  to  my  great  comfort,  were 
maintaining  a  godly  walk  and  conversation,  giving  good  evidence  of 
being  decided  followers  of  the  Saviour.         ., 

I  spent  just  one  month  in  the  country,  and  travelled  extensively 
among  the  people.  I  found  them  contented  and  happy.  For  several 
years  after  they  emigrated  they  were  very  much  dissatisfied.  Sickness 
prevailed  among  them  and  many  of  their  old  people  died.  Although 
the  latitude  is  about  the  same  as  this  country,  yet  they  think  the  cli- 


438  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  BECADE.  [1820-1830. 

mate  is  a  good  deal  colder,  and  they  are  sometimes  visited  with  those 
"northers"  which  are  such  a  terror  to  the  Texans.  Perhaps  the 
openness  of  their  country,  the  proximity  of  the.  mountains,  and 
the  superabundance  of  rocks,  may  have  some  influence  on  the 
climate. 

I  was  delighted  at  the  advances  made  in  civilization  which  were 
everyway  apparent.  There  being  v^ry  little  game  in  the  country,  they 
have  abandoned  the  chase,  and  now  rely  on  the  cultivation  of  the  soil 
and  the  raising  of  stock  for  a  subsistence.  They  build  good  houses  of 
hewed  logs,  and  having  a  great  abundance  of  the  very  best  stone  for 
building  purposes,  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  see  a  dwelling  without  a  good 
stone  chimney.  There  is  an  appearan(!e  of  comfort  and  thrift  not  com- 
mon among  Indians.  They  have  abolished  the  office  of  chiefs  and 
councils  for  the  government  of  thepeop'e,  and  have  organized  a'regular 
State  Government,  with  a  written  constitution,  after  the  model  of 
our  sovereign  States.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  present  at  the 
meeting  of  their  first  legislature,  and  the  election  and  inauguration  of 
their  first  governor.  There  being  three  candidates  before  the  people, 
and  no  one  receiving  a  constitutional  majority,  the  election  devolved 
upon  the  legislature.  In  all  their  elections  they  vote  viva  voce,  each  one 
calling  out  his  favorite  candidate.  There  were  but  thirty  votes  cast, 
the  legislature  consisting  of  twelve  senators  and  eighteen  representa- 
tives. Of  these  Harris,  the  successful  candidate,  received-  seventeen 
votes.  He  and  six  of  the  Senators  were  educated  at  Monroe,  the 
speaker  of  the  house  was  educated  at  Martyn,  and  one  who  beare 
the  revered  name  of  Archibald  Alexander,  was  educated  at  Caney 
Creek.  The  business  of  both  houses  and  all  the  speeches  were  in  the 
native  language.  But  little  was  done  during  the  few  first  days  of  the 
session  ;  the  various  committees  being  out  preparing  business  for  future 
action.  In  taking  the  vote  of  any  bill  brought  before  them,  the  mem- 
bers are  required  to  hold  up  their  right  hands.  Their  pay  is  three  dol- 
lars a  day ;  governor's  salary  $750  per  annum  ;  attorney -general,  $600  ; 
Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  SriOO  ;  Circuit  Courts,  $400.  Their  govern- 
ment is  supported  by  the  interest  of  their  money  in  the  hands  of  the 
Federal  Government.  But  the  Government  at  Washington  refused 
to  pay  the  instalment  that  fell  due  last  winter,  alleging  as  a  reason,  that 
they  might  employ  it  against  them.  His  fears  were  not  unfounded,  as 
appears  by  the  proclamation  of  Gov.  Harris,  which  I  send  you 

For  many  years  the  Chickasaws  formed  an  intesral  part  of  the  Choc- 
taw nation.  With  this  arrangement  they  were  always  dissatisfied,  and 
in  1855  they  effected  a  separation.  I  have  now  before  me  a  treaty, 
■'  made  and  concluded  in  the  city  of  Wasliington,  on  the  22d  day  of 
June,  1855,  by  comms.ssioners  of  the  high  contracting  parties,  by  which 
a  district  for  the  Chickasaws  is  established,  bounded  as  follows."  By 
the  eighth  article  of  this  treaty  the  Chickasaws  agreed  to  pay  the  Choi;- 
taws  for  the  privilege  of  governing  themselves  in  their  own  way,  "in 
such  manner  as  their  national  council  shall  direct,  out  of  the  national 
funds  of  the  Chickasaws,  held  in  trust  bv  the  United  States,  the"sum  of 
1150,000." 

At  the  same  time  the  United  States  leased  for  an  indefinite  term  of 
years  "  all  that  portion  of  their  common  territory  west  of  the  98th  degree 
of  west  longitude  for  which  they  agreed  to  pay  the  Choctaws  $900,000 
and  the  Chickasaws  §200,000  "  In  the  end  the  Ohickasaws  were  gainers 
to  the  amount  of  $50,000  by  the  arrangement. 

I  may  mention  as  another  evidence  of  their  improvement,  the  change 


1820-1830.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  439 

in  their  dress.  They  have  almost  universally  laid  aside  the  Indian 
costume,  and  assumed,  at  least  in  part,  the  white  man's  dress  Among 
the  largest  number  collected  on  the  occasion,  I  saw  but  two  clad  in  the 
old  Indian  style.  These  are  called  subbees,  in  a  way  of  deiiaion,  just  as 
a  certain  class  amongst  us  are  called  ''  old  fogies." 

Being  about  to  take  my  leave,  the  Senate  suspended  business  and 
asked  me  "  to  make  them  a  talk."  With  James  Gamble  for  interpreter, 
I  gave  them  a  few  words  of  parting  advice  and  left  them,  probably  to 
see  them  no  more  upon  earth. 

Yours,  &c.  T.  C.  STUART. 


For  the  Southern  Presbyterian. 

INDIAN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  AND 

GEORGIA. 

LETTER   V. 

Pontotoc,  Mississu-pi,  July  15, 1861. 

Dear  Brother : — I  have  felt  for  awhile  past  that  I  have  a  little  too  much 
to  do.  I  am  one  of  several  agents  appointed  for  the  county  to  solicit  sub- 
scriptions to  the  Confederate  loan. 

Could  I  recall  twenty  years  of  my  life,  I  would  certainly  be  in  camp, 
prepared  to  defend  my  country's  rights  with  my  blood.  But  this  is  im- 
possible, and  the  only  m.ethod  by  which  I  can  serve  her  is  by  personal 
exertions  and  contributions  to  support  the  war  in  which  she  is  engaged 
and  in  which  I  have  an  abiding  confidence  she  will  be  victorious.  I 
find  the  labor  of  preparing  these  sketches  a  little  more  than  I  antici- 
pated. I  have  a  great  reluctance  both  to  the  physical  and  mental  ope- 
ration they  require.  I  may  find  it  necessary  to  avail  myself  of  the 
privilege  you  allow  me  in  your  last  letter  :  "  Rest  awhile  and  try  it 
again  " 

Although  in  my  last  I  took  leave  of  the  Chickasaw  legislature,  I  wish 
now  to  return  to  Tishomingo  city,  the  seat  of  government.  This  was 
the  name  of  a  venerable  old  chief  who  was  present  at  our  council  in 
1820,  and  signed  our  articles  of  agreement  His  office  was  that  of  chief 
speaker,  and  his  name  signifies  "  king's  servant  "  It  was  well  for  the  . 
Chickasaws  to  cherish  and  perpetuate  his  memory  by  giving  his  name 
to  the  capital  of  their  new  government. 

The  Chickasaws  now  number  about  six  thousand  souls,  showing  a 
great  increase  since  I  came  amongst  them.    The  annuity  that  was  paid 
them  in  the  early  part  of  1821  had  been  due  since  1819    In  the  enumer- 
ation none  were  counted  but  those  who  were  then  living,  and  the  num- 
ber was  3,447.    The  amount  paid  them  was  $3.5,000  annually.    This  was 
in  consideration  of  lands  ceded  to  the  United  States  in  1816  and  1818, 
amounting  to  $32,000  per  annum,  for  twenty  years,  to  which  was  added 
an  annuity  in  perpetuity  (or  in  ihe  Indian  dialect  "as  long  as  grass  \ 
grows  and  water  runs  ")  of  $3,000  fixed  upon  them  by  General  Wash-  ■ 
ington.    I  have  a  copy  of  all  the  treaties  ever  made  with  the  Chicka-  ' 
saws  except  the  last     The  first  was  "  concluded  at  Hopewell,  Keowee, 
on  the  10th   January,  1786,  between  Benj.  Hawkins^  Andrew  Pickens 
and  Jos.  Martin,  Commissioners  Plenipotentiary  of  tlie  United  States, 
on  the  one  part,  and  Piomingo,  head  warrior  and  first  minister  of  the 
Chickasaws  ;  Mingotashka  and  Lotopoia,  first  beloved  men,  Commis- 


440  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  [1820-1830. 

fiioners  Plenipotentiary  of  all  the  Chickasaws,  of  the  other  part."  This 
was  simply  a  treaty  of  peace,  amity  and  protection  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  and'of  allegiance  on  their  part.  The  third  article  defines 
the  boundaries  of  their  territory,  as  follows,  viz:  "Beginning  on  the 
ridge  that  divides  the  waters  running  into  the  Cumberland  from  those 
running  into  the  Tennessee  river  ;  thence  running  westerly  along  the 
said  ridge  till  it  shall  strike  the  Ohio  ;  thence  down  the  Southern  banks 
thereof  to  the  Mississippi ;  and  thence  down  the  same  to  the  Choctaw 
line."  They  then  owned  a  country  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  square. 
And  in  addition  to  this  they  had  ten  miles  square,  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  Savannah  river  oppositeAugusta,  which  was  given  them  by  General 
Oglethorpe  in  consideration  of  services  rendered  the  British  Govern- 
ment.* A  few  families  removed  and  settled  on  it,  and  some  of  their 
men  were  with  the  Americans  at  the  siege  of  Savannah  When  I 
first  came  to  this  country  I  knew  an  old  woman  who  was  born  there. 
Augusta  was  then  their  trading  post.  I  have  seen  men  who  made  the 
trip,  which  required  three  and  four  months.  Being  at  war  with  the 
Creeks  they  were  obliged  to  go  a  great  distance  round,  and  cross  the 
Tennessee  river  twice.  Notwithstanding  the  great  distance  and  the 
difficulty  of  access,  they  exchanged  their  furs  and  skins  for  New  Eng- 
land rum,  packed  it  on  their  ponies  and  sold  it  here  for  five  dollars  a 
bottle.  Having  no  currency,  they  traded  altogether  in  furs,  skins  and 
buffalo  robes,  in  which  their  country  abounded,  and  for  which  they 
received  two  shillings  (English  currency)  per  p"und. 

The  next  treaty  was  made  in  October,  1801,  by  General  Pickens  and 
others,  at  Chickasaw  Bluff,  now  Memphis,  Tennessee,  at  which  time 
the  privilege  of  opening  the  Natchez  trace  was  granted,  for  which  the 
United  States  paid  them  seven  hundred  dollars  in  goods.  This  road 
was  for  many  years  a  source  of  great  benefit  to  them,  from  the  number 
of  travelers  who  thronged  it  every  vear. 

Yours,  as  ever,  '  T.  C.  STUART. 


(For  The  Southern  Presbyterian.) 

INDIAN  MISSIONS  OF  THE   SYNOD  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 
AND  GEORGIA. 

Letter  VI. 

Pontotoc,  Miss.,  August  31,  1861. 
Dear  Brother  :  I  have  yet  said  nothing  about  the  arrangements  of 
the  Chickasaws  for  the  education  of  the  rising  generation.  The  most 
intelligent  among  them  have  long  since  been  convinced  they  must 
become  a  civilized  and  enlightened  people,  and  take  their  place  among 
the  family  of  nations,  or  become  extinct,  and  hence  for  years  past  they 
have  been  making  laudable  exertions  to  educate  their  people.  On  this 
subject,  however,  I  am  not  as  well  informed  as  Brother  Wilson,  who 
has  but  lately  returned  from  that  country,  after  laboring  several  years 
among  them,  and  who,  I  hope,  will  relieve  me  of  this  task.  I  can  only 
say,  I  fear  all  their  educational  arrangements  will  be  broken  up  and 
their  eflforts  paralyzed  by  the  Lincoln  Government,  in  withholding  the 
funds  justly  due  them  for  the  fine  lands  they  ceded  in  North  Mississippi. 

*  This  accounts  for  the  Indian  names  which  I  understand  some  of  the  creel^s 
still  bear. 


1820-]830.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIED  DECADE.  441 

Having  accomplished  the  particular  object  of  my  visit  to  the  Ohicka- 
saws,  we  took  leave  of  our  friends  at  Boggy  depot,  and  set  out  on  our 
return  home  on  the  12th  day  of  October.  You  remember  a  little  child, 
about  fonr  months  old,  whom  we  saw  wallowing  on  a  bear-skin  at  the 
house  of  Malcolm  McGee,  in  1820.  That  child  was  the  mother  of  the 
family  where  we  stayed,  and,  if  now  living,  would  be  a  grand-mother. 
We  were  pained  to  learn  that  she  died  in  one  week  after  we  left  her 
house.  On  our  way  we  passed  Bennington,  Goodland,  Pineridge, 
Wheelock,  Stockbridge,  or  Mountain  Fork,  missionary  stations  among 
the  Choctaws,  spending  a  night  at  each  place,  except  Wheelock.  Here 
we  had  intended  spending  the  Sabbath,  but  arriving  there  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon,  and  learning  that  the  brethren  Byington  and  Edwards 
were  holding  a '•  big  meeting,"  on  Mountain  Fork,  fourteen  miles  dis- 
tant, we  pushed  on  and  reached  the  neighborhood  a  little  alter  dark. 
An  account  of  this  meeting  will  no  doubt  be  interesting  to  you.  It  was 
a  sort  of  camp-meeting,  held  for  the  benefit  of  those  members  who  live 
too  inconvenient  to  attend  services  regularly  at  the  station.  We  arrived 
early  in  the  morning  and  found  them  at  breakfast.  Soon  after  a  horn 
was  sounded,  and  a  congregation,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
or  two  hundred  persons,  assembled  for  prayer-meeting,  in  which  several 
members  of  the  Church  led  in  prayer  in  their  own  language.  An  hour 
and  a  half  was  spent  in  these  services,  which  all  seemed  to  enjoy, 
when  they  were  dismissed,  and  after  a  short  interval  again  assembled, 
for  public  worship.  By  this  time  the  congregation  was  considerably 
enlarged  by  arrivals  from  the  surrounding  country.  The  whole  scene 
bore  the  aspect  of  a  Christian  community.  Brother  Byington  preached 
in  the  native  language,  which  he  speaks  fluently.  I  followed,  with  the 
aid  of  an  interpreter,  and  Brother  Edwards  closed  with  a  written  dis- 
course, both  in  Ehglish.and  Choctaw.  The  communion  was  adminis- 
tered immediately  after  dinner,  followed  by  another  discourse  from 
Brother  Edwards.  I  may  mention  here,  a  moveable  seat  from  Brother 
Byington's  little  missionary  wagon,  with  a  buffalo  skin  spread  over  it. 
served  both  for  pulpit  and  communion  table.  The  services  were  closed 
by  the  baptism  of  a  number  of  the  children  of  believers.  To  me  it 
was  an  exceedingly  interesting  and,  I  trust,  profitable  day.  I  was 
struck  with  the  order  and  decorum  of  the  worshippers,  as  well  as  their 
patient  and  respectful  attention  to  the  word  preached.  Although 
nearly  the  whole  day  was  spent  in  religious  services,  there  was  no 
abatement  in  the  interest  manifested,  nor  any  languor  or  weariness 
observed.  Even  the  little  boys  and  girls  set  an  example  worthy  of 
imitation  by  their  white  brothers  and  sisters.  By  reference  to  the 
minutes  of  the  Assembly  for  1860,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Mountain 
Fork  Church  contains  150  members ;  and  all  the  Churches  in  Indian 
Presbytery,  including  Wapanucka,  contain  1,768.  In  view  of  all  this, 
may  we  not  exclaim,. "  What  hath  God  wrought !  He  has  blessed,  in  a 
remarkable  manner,  the  labors  of  His  faithful  servants  among  that 
people,  and  given  them  many  souls  as  seals  to  their  ministry,  who  shall 
doubtless  be  stars  in  their  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Yours,  T.  C.  STUAKT. 


442  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIED  DECADE.  [1820-1830. 

{For  The  Southern  Presbyterian.) 

INDIAN  MISSIONS  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF  SOUTH    CAROLINA 
AND  GEOEGIA. 

Letter  VII. 

Pontotoc,  Miss  ,  Sept.  7,  1861. 
Dear  Brother  :  In  my  last  I  mentioned  the  name  of  Malcolm  McGee, 
whom  you  doubtless  recollect  a-i  the  interpreter  in  our  council  with  the 
Indians  He  favored  our  cause  on  that  day,  and  was  ever  afterward 
the  fast  friend  of  the  Mission.  His  history  being  a  little  remarkable,  I 
shall  devote  this  letter  to  him.  Having  no  education,  and  no  record 
of  his  age,  he  did  not  know  how  old  he  was.  He  was  born  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  his  father  having  been  killed  some  months  before  in  the 
battle  of  Ticoudrroga.  While  he  was  quite  small,  his  mother  joined  a 
colony  formed  in  New  York  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  settlement  in 
the  territory  of  Illinois.  The  party  came  round  by  water  to  New  Or- 
leans, and  ascending  the  Mississippi,  and  some  distance  up  the  Ohio, 
made  their  first  landing  on  the  north  bank,  at  the  mouth  of  a  small 
stream,  where  they  builta  fort,  called  Fort  Massac.  Not  long  afterwards 
an  agent  of  the  British  Government,  by  the  name  of  Mclr.tosh,  residing 
.  in  this  country,  visited  the  fort  on  business,  and  while  there  prevailed 
with  his  mother  to  bind  Malcolm  with  him  until  he  was  21  years  of  age^ 
promising  on  his  part  to  have  him  taught  1 1  read  and  write,  and  cipher 
as  far  as  "  the  rule  of  three."  In  due  time  he  was  sent  t.J  Mobile,  then 
a  small  Spanish  town,  to  obtain  his  education.  Being  placed  in  a 
French  family,  who  made  a  servant  of  him  instead  of  sending  him  to 
school,  he  embraced  the  first  opportunity  of  q^  company  of  Chickasaw 
traders,  and  returned  to  the  nation.  From  this  time  he  broke  ofi'  all 
connection  with  Mcintosh,  and  set  up  for  himself.  He  assumed  the 
Indian  costume  and  conformed  to  all  their  customs  except  their 
polygamy.  By  the  time  he  arrived  at  manhood  he  had-  acquired  such 
a  correct  knowledge  of  the  Indian  language  that  he  was  made  Govern- 
ment Interpreter,  which  office  he  held  more  than  forty  years.  In  this 
capacity  he  once  went  with  a  deputation  of  Indians  to  Philadelphia,  in 
General  Washington's  time,  and  while  the  American  Congress  held  its 
sessions  in  that  city.  After  the  establishment  of  Washington  as  the 
seat  of  government,  he  was  frequently  there ;  was  present  when  General 
Washington  delivered  his  Farewell  Address,  and  often  referred  to  it  in 
after  life.  When  he  first  came  into  the  country,  the  whole  tribe  lived 
in  one  town  for  mutual  defence  and  security.  This  is  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  George  Colbert's,  where  we  spent  our  first  Sabbath  in 
the  Chickasaw  nation.  I  have  frequently  passed  through  it.  For  many 
years  it  was  called  the  "  Chickasaw  old  fields."  It  was  several  miles  in 
extent.  They  subsisted  almost  entirely  by  the  chase  Having  no  im- 
plements of  husbandry,  they  could  not  cultivate  the  soil  The  first 
mattock  ever  brought  into  the  country  was  given  by  General  Washing- 
ton to  George  Colbert,  who  packed  it  on  his  pony  a  distance  of  1,200 
miles.  There  was  not  a  cow  belonging  to  the  tribe,  and  very  few  hogs 
or  horses.  To  induce  them  to  scatter  out  into  the  surrounding  country 
and  turn  their  attention  to  agriculture  Mcintosh  removed  and  settled 
at  Tockshish,  where  our  council  was  held.  About  this  time  he  married 
the  mother  of  Maj.  Jas.  Colbert,  who  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  died  in 
the  summer  of  1822.    After  the   revolution,  the  management  of  the 


1830-1830.]  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  443 

• 

Indians  having  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  United  States,  McGee 
married  an  Indian  woman  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Agency,  where  we  first  saw  him  in  1820.  In  a  few  years  he  acquired 
considerable  property.  The  first  slave  he  owned  was  purchased  from 
General  Jackson  in  1792,  forfo.ur  hundred  hard  dollars.  In  1820  he  had 
over  tliirty,  and  a  large  stock  of  cattle.  The  first  summer  after  I  com- 
menced operations  at  Monroe,  he  made  the  first  movement  in  getting 
up  a  subscription  of  milk  cattle  for  the  use  of  the  station ;  the  result  of 
which  was  eighteen, cows  and  calves,  four  of  which  came  from  his  own 
pen.  This  gave  me  such  a  start  that  I  was  never  afterwards  under  the 
necessity  of  purchasing  any  cattle  excepting  a  few  for  beef.  He  also 
gave  us  a  commencement  of  a  stock  of  sheep.  The  woman  with  whoiki 
he  was  livin;.'  in  1820,  and  who  was  mother  of  the  child  before  referred 
to,  was  his  second  wife.  On  my  return  to  the  nation,  in  the  early  part 
of  18J1,  she  had  separated  from  him,  taking  the  child  with  her.  But 
after  a  few  years  she  gave  it  up,  that  it  might  be  placed  in  my  family 
to  be  educated.  Having  no  family  at  home,  and  being  much  attached 
to  his  little  daughter,  he  spent  much  of  his  time  at  the  Station.  He 
took  a  deep  interest  in  the  school,  and  was  much  pleased  with  the  pro- 
gress of  the  children.  He  was  confiding  to  a  fault  Did  propriety 
adniit,  I  could  give  quite  a  history  of  the  proce.ss  by  which  he  was 
swindled  out  of  all  his  property  by  persons  professing  to  be  his  friends. 
Soon  after  my  return  from  Carolina  with  my  family,  in  the  fall  of  1830, 
having  been  absent  a  year  and  a  half,  recruiting  my  health,  he  came  to 
'  make  us  a  visit,  and  the  pony  he  rode  was  the  only  propei-ty  he  had  in 
the  world.  He  had  been  induced  to  remove  to  Tennessee  Valley 
within  the  limits  of  Alabama,  and  in  less  than  two  years  came  back 
penniless.  I  could  not  do  otherwise  than  ofter  him  a  home,  which  he 
readily  accepted.  In  a  few  years  his  daughter  married,  very  young, 
after  which  he  lived  with  his  son  in-law  until  the  Indians  emi 
grated  west,  in  1837.  Not  being  inclined  to  go  with  them,  he  came 
back  to  my  house.  By  the  treaty  of  24th  of  May,  1834,  he  was  allowed 
a  section  of  land  f640  acres)  as  a  reserve,  including  the  place  on  wliich 
he  had  formerly  lived.  This  I  sold  for  $5,000,  the  interest  of  which 
supported  him  comfortably  while  he  lived.  In  the  winter  of  1848  his 
daughter  and  son-in-law  being  her  second  husband,  made  him  a  visit. 
and  on  their  return  he  concluded  to  accompany  them  to  their  distant 
home  in  the  West,  where  he  died  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  following 
November,  being,  as  I  suppose,  in  the  89th  year  of  his  age  While  over 
there  in  1856, 1  visited  his  lonely  grave,  not  without  some  melancholy 
feelings  and  sad  refiections  ;  and  but  little  realizing  how  soon 'his 
daughter  was  to  be  laid  by  his  side.  He  never  made  a  profession  of 
religion.  His  mind  was  often  deeply  exercised  on  the  subject,  and  he 
made  many  efforts  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  in  his  own  strength.  I 
have  often  found  him  at  prayerih  his  room,  but  he  was  always  deficient 
in  a  correct  sense  of  the  evil  of  sin.  and  never  would  admit  the  justice 
of  God  in  his  eternal  condemnation.  He  built  too  much  upon  his  own 
righteousne.ss,  I  hold  him  in  grateful  remembrance  for  his  interest  in 
the  mi.ssion,  and  his  unwavering  attachmentto  me  individually.  Peace 
be  to  his  memory.  Some  years  after  his  death,  a  gentleman  in  New 
York  city  wrote  to  me  for  his  likeness  and  a  short  account  of  his  life, 
for  publication  in  his  "American  Bioj;raphy."  How  he  ever  heard  of 
him  I  know  not  I  furnished  him  the  history,  but  have  never  known 
what  use  he  made  of  it.  The  likeness  I  could  not  send,  not  having  any, 
a  circumstance  which  I  have  always  very  much  regretted.     I  may  add, 


444  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  [1820-1830. 

as  an  interesting  fact,  a  grandson  of  liis  is  now  in  the  Confederate  army 
in  Virginia.  He  was  sent  by  his  guardians,  Governor  Harris  and  James 
Gamble,  into  Tennessee  to  school  There,  with'  about  forty  of  his 
fellow-students,  he  volunteered,  and  may  have  been  in  the  great  battle 
of  iManassas  Plains.  I  have  written  to  the  principal  of  the  School,  in 
quiring  for  him,  but  have  not  yet  received  an  answer. 

Yours,  as  ever, 

T.  C  STUAET. 


(For  The  Southern  Presbyterian.) 

INDIAN  MISSI0:N\S  OF  THE  SYNOD  OF    SOUTH  CAROLINA 
AND  GEORGIA. 

Letter  VIII. 

Pontotoc,  Miss.,  Sept.  16,  1861. 
Dear  Brother  :  You  wished  to  know  something  of  the  trials  and 
privations  of  missionary  life.  These  are  always  greatest  in  the  com- 
mencement of  the  enterprise  To  form  a  settlement  in  the  midst  of  a 
heathen  people,  far  removed  from  civilized  and  Christian  Society,  is  a 
work  of  no  small  magnitude.  In  my  case  there  were  circumstances 
which  were  calculated  to  increase  the  difficulties.  I  was  alone,  I  had 
no  associate  with  whom  I  could  take  counsel,  or  who  could  sympg,thize 
with  me  in  my  trials.  I  well  remember  how  much  I  was  tried,  not 
only  by  the  indifference,  but  suspicion  of  the  Indians.  They  had  no 
confidence  in  the  success  of  the  undertaking,  and  were  not  without 
doubts  as  to  the  honesty  of  my  intentions.  This  feeling  was  doubtless 
increased  by  the  failure  of  a  similar  enterprise  some  twenty-five  years 
before.  A  mission  was  sent  out  by  a  Congregational  Association  in 
New  York.  The  superintendent  of  this  mission,  the  Rev.  Mr.  BuUen, 
was  esteemed  a  pious,  good  man,  but  the  Association  was  unfortunate 
in  their  selection  of  men  to  accompany  him.  Through  the  misconduct 
of  these  the  mission  was  broken  up  in  a  few  years  Mr.  Bullen  removed 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Natchez,  where  he  joined  our  body,  and  lived 
and  died  a  useful  man.  The  only  visible  eflfect  of  his  labors  I  ever 
disi-overed,  was  some  sort  of  observance  of  the  Sabbath  day.  Previous 
to  this,  no  such  day  was  known.  The  Indians  required  their  servants 
to  labor  every  day.  Through  liis  exertions  a  change  was  effected,  but 
wUen  I  came  into  the  country,  the  negroes  employed  the  day  in  work- 
ing for  themselves.  I  ought  to  say  Brother  Bullen  had  no  interpreter, 
and  hence  his  labors  were  confined  principally  to  the  colored  popula- 
tion and  the  few  white  men  among  the  Indians.  It  is  not  irrelevant  to 
notice,  that  soon  after  my  arrival  I  learned  that  there  was  a  hogsliead 
of  Bibles  and  Testaments  lying  in  an  old  warehouse  at  Chickasaw 
Blufi's,  the  history  of  which  was  lost,  but  supposed  to  be  designed  for 
Mr.  BuUen's  mission.  Before  opening  my  school  I  sent  for  them,  but 
found  they  were  not  worth  the  transportation.  The  paper,  binding 
and  print,  were  very  indiflferent,  and  the  books  nearly  destroyed  by 
worms  and  moths.  There  was  no  document  or  record  by  which  I  could 
ascertain  the  point  from  whicli  they  came,  or  the  place  of  their  desti- 
nation. They  were  published  by  "The  Philadelphia  Bible  Society," 
but  I  have  no  recollection  of  their  date,  if  they  had  any.  But  to  return 
from  this  digression. 


[1820-1830.  APPENDIX  TO  THE  THIRD  DECADE.  445 

In  a  few  years  we  suooeeded  in  paining  the  confidence  of  the  Indians 
and  removing  their  suspicions,  but  then  anotlier  source  of  trial  was 
their  ingratitude.  With  a  very  few  exceptions,  they  were  universally 
an  ungrateful  people.  Let  me  give  you  one  instance.  Very  soon  after 
I  came  to  Monroe,  while  I  was  yet  Uving  in  a  camp,  an  Indian  arrived 
one  morning  early,  bringing  an  interpreter  with  him.  He  was  very 
much  alarmed,  and  declared  unless  I  could  do  something  for  him,  he 
must  die,  at  the  same  time  showing  me  several  severe  wounds  on  his 
breast  and  arms,  inflicted  by  his  own  dog  at  camp  a  few  nights  before. 
After  shooting  the  dog,  he  saddled  his  pony  and  rode  day  and  night 
until  he  reached  my  camp.  Taking  it  as  certain  that  the  dog  was  mad, 
and  considering  his  caise  hopeless,  I  frankly  told  him  I  thought  he 
would  die  and  declined  doing  anything  for  him,  assigning  as  a  reason 
the  Buperstitiim  of  the  Indians  that  "  the  white  man's  physic  killed 
him,"  and  under  the  operation  of  the  law  of  retaliation  my  own  life 
would  be  endangered.  He  very  earne.stly  assured  me  I  was  in  no 
danger;  that  the  Indians  all  knew  the  effect  of  hydrophobia,  and  his 
friends,  as  well  as  himself,  believed  his  case  a  bad  one.  I  then  supplied 
him  with  a  solution  of  corrosive  sublimate  and  mercurial  ointment, 
giving  him  instructions  how  to  use  them  and  when  to  stop.  The  result 
was  he  got  well,  and  I  had  the  credit  of  curing  him  ;  but  I  never  saw 
him  from^that  day  to  this.  Although  we  boarded,  clothed  and  edu- 
cated their  children  gratuitously,  we  paid  them  full  value  for  every 
article  of  provisions  obtained  from  them,  and  when  travelling  among 
them,  we  were  always  charged  for  our  accommodations. 

The  want  of  mail  accommodations  was  a  great  privation.  For  many 
years  there  had  been  a  regular  mail  from  Nashville  to  Natchez,  passing 
through  the  Indian  country,  but  soon  after  I  came  it  was  removed  to 
the  Military  road,  and  then  our  nearest  postoffice  was  Columbus,  sixty- 
five  miles  distant.  The  Government  agent  was  authorized  to  hire  an 
express  once  a  month,  and  through  him  we  received  our  mails  regu- 
larly. In  a  few  years  a  postoffice  was  established  at  Cotton  Gin  Port, 
within  a  day's  ride,  which  was  quite  an  advance  in  the  right  direction, 
It  was  not  long  until  we  had  a  weekly  mail  to  the  agency,  when  our 
mail  arrangements  were  considered  complete.  In  this  connection  let 
me  say  the  only  time  during  all  my  missionary  life,  when  my  life  was 
in  jeopardy,  was  in  a  trip  to  Columbus,  after  the  mail.  I  reached  a 
creek  of  some  size  in  the  midst  of  a  terrible  storm,  and  found  it  swim- 
ming. Being  already  thoroughly  drenched,  I  determined  to  attempt 
to  swim  through.  There  being  a  raft  of  timber  just  below  the  ford,  I 
went  up  a  few  paces  and  plunged  in,  aiming  to  swim  diagonally  across 
and  would  have  succeeded  but  for  a  pole  which  was  concealed  under 
the  water.  Striking  this  about  the  middle  of  the  stream,  the  horse 
turned  across  and  reached  the  shore  at  a  place  where  the  bank  was  so 
high  and  steep  that  it  was  impossible  to  ascend  it.  Now  was  my 
dilemma,  and  now  for  a  few  moments  I  seriously  believed  there  was 
but  a  step  between  me  and  a  watery  grave.  Committing  myself  into 
the  hands  of  the  Lord,  I  threw  myself  into  the  water  and  swam  back 
In  a  moment  after  the  horse  sank,  and  rising  below  the  log,  came  out 
on  the  same  side,  and  to  my  great  mortification  ran  off  and  left  me.  It 
was  eight  miles  to  the  first  house,  which  I  finally  reached,  very  much 
exhausted,  but  thankful  that  my  life  was  spared.' 

Our  fare  for  many  years  was  of  the  plainest  and  coarsest  kind.  We 
had  plenty  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  but  few  of  its  comforts.  Once  for 
a  whole  year  we  had  no  flour  about  the  place.  Coffee  could  be  had  only 


446  CONGHEGATIONAL  CHURCH,  CHARLESTON.     [1830-1840. 

at  the  most  exorbitant  prices.  The  first  I  obtained  from  Mobile  co.st 
thirty-five  cents  a  pound  by  the  .sank,  and  the  freight  to  Columbus,  by 
keel  boat,  was  $5.00.  I  have  paid  as  high  as  fifty  cents  a  pound  in  Cot- 
ton Gin  Port.  Consequently  we  used  but  little,  taking  it  but  once  a  day 
and  always  mixed  with  rye.  We  once  had  a  barrel  of  parched  rye 
sent  to  us  from  Boston,  which  was  considered  a  great  treat  By  the 
way,  after  a  lapse  of  between  thirty-five  and  forty  years  I  am  reduced  to 
the  same  regimen  as  a  matter  of  necessity  and  economy.  I  console  myself 
that  I  am  better  prepared  than  most  others  for  this  self-denial,  having 
had  a  thorough  trailing  for  a  long  course  of  years  during  my  missionary 
life.  Our  table  furniture  was  in  good  keeping  witff  our  fare.  Before 
opening  the  boarding  school,  Dr.  Henry  sent  us  an  ample  supply  of 
pewter  plates,  iron  spoons,  knives  and  forks,  and  various  other  articles. 
We  sent  to  Florence,  Alabama,  a  distance  of  125  miles,  for  ten  dishes, 
cups  and  small  pans,  from  which,  with  an  iron  spoon,  we  took  our 
coffee,  milk,  soup  and  tam-ful-lah.*  After  all,  I  doubt  whether  our 
trials  and  privations  were  much  greater  than  those  of  many  who  per- 
form long  journeys  to  newly  settled  countries,  that  they  may  improve 
their  worldly  circumstances. 

In  my  next  I  shall  speak  of  the  manners,  customs,  wars,  traditions, 
etc.,  of  the  Chickasaws. 

Yours,  as  ever,  T.  C.  STUART, 


BOOK  FOURTH. 

1830-1840. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Independent  or  Congregational  (Circular)  Church 
IN  Charleston, continued  to  be  served  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer, 
as  its  sole  pastor  until  his  feeble  health  compelled  him  to  resign 
his  pastoral  charge  and  place  himself  on  the  foundation  for  dis- 
abled clergjjmen.  The  preparation  of  two  public  discourses 
for  the  pulpit,  instead  of  one,  as  formerly,  devolved  upan  him, 
in  addition  to  which,  he  voluntarily  assumed  the  labor  of 
preaching  or  lecturing  a  third  time  on  the  Sabbath,  as  well  as 
every  Wednesday  evening.  These  additional  services,  though 
not  performed  in  the  large  place  of  worship,  but  in  a  building 
of  moderate  dimensions,  contributed,  together  with  othsr  bur- 
dens,  spontaneously  sustained  by  the  pastor,  in  forming, 
promoting,  patronizing,  and  attending  the  various  institutions 
for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  which  have  multiplied  during  the 
last  twenty  years,  to  exhaust  his  energies  so  materially  as  to 

•This  Is  an  Indian  rtiel  made  or  small  hominy,  well  boiled,  with  Ihe  addlton  of 
a  Utile  lye.  While  new  it  is  sweet,  but  after  fei'meniation  become.s  sour,  in 
which  state  the  Indians  like  it  best. 


,  1830-1840.]  DR.  POST.  447 

render  his  absence  from  his  charge  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
cruiting his  health,  during  the  latter  eight  or  nine  years  of 
his  incumbency,  of  such  frequent  occurrence  as  to  occasion  a 
dech'ne  in  the  prosperity  which  marked  tiie  affairs  of  the 
church  as  long  as  his  health  was  comparatively  vigorous. 
After  two  attempts  at  resigning  his  office,  which  he  was 
induced  to  recall  from  the  strong  reluctance  expressed  by  the 
congregation  at  the  proposed  dissolution  of  his  pastoral  con- 
nection, he  finally  believed  it  a  duty  he  owed  to  himself  and 
his  church  to  dissolve  a  union  of  more  than  twenty  years' 
standing,  and  accordingly  took  an  affectionate  leave  of  an 
affectionate  people,  in  July,  1835,  and  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  Reuben  Post,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  who.  having  accepted 
the  charge  of  the  church,  commenced  his  labors  in  February, 
1836. 

[The  Rev.  Reuben  Post  was  born  in  the  town  of  Cornwall, 
near  MiddJebury,  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  on  the  17th  day  of 
January,  A.  D.  1792.  He  graduated  at  Middlebury  College, 
Vermont,  in  18 14,  of  which  the  Rev.  Henry  Davis,  D,  D., 
was  then  President.  He  studied  divinity  at  the  Theological 
Seminary,  at  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  under  the  Rev.  Archi- 
bald Alexander,  D.  D.,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D. 
He  was  ordained  in  Washington  City,  in  June  or  July,  1819, 
and  immediately  installed  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  that 
city,  where  he  continued  to  officiate  in  the  midst  of  an 
attached  congregation  until  in  Februa.ry,  1836,  he  was  installed 
in  the  Circular  Church  at  Charleston.] 

This  church  and  congregation  has  always  been  active  and 
energetic  in  efforts  to  promote  the  general  good  of  society 
and  the  Church  at  large.  The  ladies  of  the  church  have  been 
zealously  engaged  from  early  times  in  every  good  work. 
Their  prayers  and  their  alms  have  gone  up  as  a  memorial 
before  God.  Their  Thursday  morning  prayer  meetings  which 
were  originated  in  June,  1835,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Stevens,  and 
been  in  existence  for  almost  half  a  century  if  still  kept  up, 
has  been  attended  with  blessed  results.  And  who  can  tell  the 
blessed  results  of  the  Tuesday  afternoon  meeting  originated 
in  1 8 17  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Palmer,  and  in  the 
school  room  of  Mrs.  Palmer.  Of  their  efforts  made  in  ad- 
vancing the  cause  of  ministerial  education  by  sustaining 
worthy  young   men  in  their  studies  while  preparing  for  the 


448  EFFORTS  OF  THE  CHURCH. WAPPETAW.        [1830-1 840. 

work,  a  more  fitting  and  ample  statement  may  be  made  in 
the  next  decade,  if  we  shall  be  permitted  to  pass  their  labors 
under  review. 

The  Sabbath-school  received  a  due  share  of  their  attention. 
•'  Three  years  before  the  American  Sunday-school  Union  saw 
the  light,  but  not  before  Mission-schools  had  sprung  up  in 
Philadelphia,"  says  the  Southern  Presbyterian,  "  the  South 
Carolina  Sunday-school  Union  was  formed.  It  was  born  of 
the  first  Sunday-school  which  sprang  up  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Circular  Church,  began  its  career  in  the  pastor's  study 
on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  city,  and  was  promoted  to  a  car- 
riage house  near  the  First  Presbyterian  Church." 

"The  Congregation  of  Wappetaw,  in  the  Parish  of 
Christ  Church." — This  church  was  served  probably  by  Rev. 
Geo.  Reid.  He  was  dismissed  from  Charleston  Union  Presby- 
tery November  8,  1831,  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  but 
did  not  send  his  letter  and  was  not  received  as  a  member  till 
the  9th  of  November,  1832.  Rev.  James  Lewers,  a  native  of 
Ireland,  succeeded  him.  He  was  received  by  the  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery  as  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Nor- 
thumberland, Pa.,  on  the  4th  of  April,  1832.  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery  met  at  Wappetaw  Church  on  the  20th  of 
April,  1834,  when  Mr.  Lewers  was  ordained  and  installed  as 
pastor  of  that  church,  Dr.  Palmer  preaching  the  ordination 
sermon  from  Prov.  xi.,  30.  Mr.  Gildersleeve  presided,  pro- 
posed the  constitutional  questions,  offered  the  ordaining 
prayer  and  gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor,  and  was  followed  by 
Dr.  Leland,  with  a  charge  to  the  people.  Mr.  Lewers  was 
regarded  as  an  able  preacher.  On  the  21st  of  August,  1837, 
Mr.  Lewers  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  a 
call  having  been  received  from  the  Williarn.sburg  Church  for 
his  pastoral  labors.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Dupre,  who  is  said  to  be  a  minister  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
and  still  living  in  1876,  at  McLellandville,  "  a  pure  man  of 
whom  the  world  is  not  worthy,  and  now,  in  very  old  age, 
loved  as  a  father  through  that  whole  country."  [Letter  of 
Rev.  J,  F.  Leeper,  August  6,  1876.] 

Mr.  DuPre  could  only  have  served  the  church  and  congre- 
gation as  a  supply,  for  bemg  of  another  denomination,  neither 
Presbyterian  nor  Congregational,  the  pastoral  relation  could 
not  have  been  regularly  constituted.  Nor  does  it  appear  that 
he  was  the  constant  supply  of  the  pulpit,  since  others,  as  Dr. 


1830-1840.]  REV.  JAMES  LBWBRS.  449 

Palmer,  frequently  ministered  to  it.  But  he  was  responsible 
that  the  church  should  not  be  closed,  nor  its  regular  services 
be  interrupted.  Mr.  DuPre's  ministry,  according  to  the  in- 
formation we  have  received,  continued  till  1841  or  1842.  It 
further  anpears  that  Mr.  James  Lewers  did  not  accept  the  call 
to  the  Williamsburg  -Church,  nor  present  his  letter  of  dis- 
mission to  Harmony  Presbytery,  but  on  the  20th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1839,  sought  instead,  a  letter  of  dismission  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  South  Carolina  where  he  then  was.  He  was  received 
by  this  Presbytery  from  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  Union, 
and  continued  a  member  of  the  same  until  October  the  8th, 
V1841,  when  he  was  dismi-ssed  from  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  to  the  Presbytery  of  Newton,  New  Jersey. 

"  The  Rev.  James  Lewers  was  born,  says  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Schenck,  "'at  Castle  Blayney,  County  Monaghan,  Ireland, 
Aug.  30,  1806;  was  son  of  William  and  Susannah  (Dixon) 
Lewers.  Received  his  classical  education  first  in  the  Academy 
of  Mr.  Ryan  at  Monaghan,  and  subsequently  with  a  Mr. 
Rodgers  at  a  classical  school  in  the  town  of  Castle  Blayney. 
Was  graduated  from  Belfast  College  (then  called  "  Belfast 
Academical  Institution")  A.  D.  1826.  First  united  on  pro- 
fession with  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Frankford,  near 
Castle  Blayney  when  about  eighteen  years  of  age.  Was 
licensed  by  Monaghan  Presbytery,  Ireland,  March,  1827. 
Came  to  the  United  States  in  his  twenty-first  year.  Married 
June — ,  1849,  Miss  Jane  Runkle  Ingham,  daughter  of  Jonathan 
Ingham,  a  farmer  of  Musconetcong  Valley,  near  Asbury,  War- 
ren County,  N.  J.  She  died  at  Asbury,  N.  J.,  May  20,  1852. 
His  mother  also  died  at  Asbury,  N.  J.,  and  is  buried  there.  He 
died  of  inflammation  of  the  bowels;  date  and  place  already  given. 
His  end  was  very  peaceful  and  full  of  expressions  of  faith  and 
hope  in  Christ.  He  wrote  much  poetry.  Several  fine  speci- 
mens are  printed  in  The  Presbyterian,  of  Philadelphia.  He 
was  an  eloquent  speaker.     He  left  one  child,  a  daughter. 

The  Congregational  Church  of  Dorchester  and  Beech 
Hill. — This  church  called  a  Rev.  Alexander  Forster  as  their 
pastor,  August  28th,  1830.  The  call  was  not  accepted  by 
him.  He  had,  however,  served  them  for  a  season,  and  received 
as  a  compensation  for  these  services  ^250.  They  next  en- 
deavored to  secure  the  services  of  Rev.  John  B.  Vandyke, 
who  had  been  received  as  a  member  of  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery  from  the  Second  Presbytery  of  New  York,  as  their 
29 


450  I.   S.    K.    AXSON — STONEY    CREEK.  [1830-1840. 

pastor,  but  without  snceess.  On  the  20th  of  April  they 
resolved  to  call  Mr.  Thomas  Davis,  but  having  received  no 
reply  from  hirr>,  they  rescinded  their  call  December  5th,  1831. 
On  the  25th  of  October,  1831,  they  requested  of  Mr.  Palmer 
that  he  would  allow  the  dedication  sermon  preached  by  him 
at  Summerville  to  be  printed.  The  Rev.  Arthur  Buist  served 
them  for  six  months  or  more  in  1832,  retaining,  meanwhile, 
his  residence  in  the  city  of  Charleston.  They  then  sought 
the  services  of  Rev.  Mr.  Rogers  for  the  summer.  On  the 
1 2th  of  May,  1834,  they  called  I.  S.  K.  Axson,  who  had  been 
recently  licensed.by  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  without 
any  stipulation  as  to  salary.  Mr.  Axson  signified  his  willing- 
ness to  accept  the  call  on  the  13th  of  September,  and  they 
voted  him  a  salary  of  ;g6oo,  a  house  at  Summerville,  the  other 
parsonage,  with  the  use  of  forty  acres  of  land.  On  the  i6th 
of  July,  1835,  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  met  at  Summer- 
ville, was  opened  with  a  sermon  by  Rev.  Mr.  Gildersleeve, 
from  Eph.  3  :  19.  Mr.  Axson  passed  the  usual  trials,  and 
was  ordained  and  set  apajt  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  by 
the  imposition  of  hands,  Rev.  B.  Gildersleeve  preaching  the 
sermon.  Rev.  J.  A.  Mitchell,  the  Moderator,  presiding  and 
offering  the  prayer.  A  suitable  charge  was  then  given  to  the 
pastor  by  Rav.  J.  F.  Lanneau,  and  by  Rev.  Edward  Palmer 
to  the  people.  Mr.  Axson  remained  in  this  pastorate  till  the 
spring  of  1836,  when  he  removed  to  Liberty  County,  Ga.  He 
was  dismissed  from  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  Union  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Georgia,  April  4,  1837.  June  12,  1836, 
they  invited  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rogers  for  the  summer.  November 
7th  of  the  -same  year  they  extended  an  invitation  to  the  Rev. 
John  A.  Mitchell  to  supply  them,  and  on  the  8th  of  July  1838, 
they  again  made  arrangements  to  pay  Mr.  Rogers  for  his 
services  for  the  summer.  It  seems,  therefore,  that  they  had 
the  services  only  of  temporary  supplies,  after  the  departure  of 
Dr.  Axson  till  the  close  of  this  decade. 

Stoney  Creek  Independent  Presbyterian  Church. — In 
February,  1830,  the  Rev.  Edward  Palmer  began  to  preach  to 
this  Church  once  a  fortnight,  alternating  with  Walterboro'. 
In  February,  1831,  he  removed  to  this  Parish  (Prince  Wil- 
liam's), but  continued  to  preach  at  Walterboro'  as  before.  On 
the  first  of  November,  1832,  he  became  the  regular  pastor, 
giving  his  whole  tihie  to  Sioney  Creek.  From  September  to 
December,  1839,  he  again  preached  at  Walterboro' on  altera 


lSSp-1840.]     BEAUFORT — MIDWAY  CHURCH,  GEORGIA.  451 

nate  Sundays.  He  continued  to  serve  this  Church  through 
the  period  of  which  we  now  write. 

Beaufort. — We  find  no  references  any  longer  to  any 
organized  church,  either  Presbyterian  or  Congregational,  at 
this  point.  Beaufort  was  the  Postoffice  of  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Wallace,  who  received  his  education  in  the  theological  school 
established  by  the  Rev.  J.  M.  Mason  in  New  York  City.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Phil- 
adelphia, which  had  been  extinct  for  several  years.  In  April, 
1836,  he  was  received  as  a  member  of  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery,  on  subscribing  the  confession  of-faith.  His  name 
is  entered  in  the  Assembly's  minutes  as  of  one  without  a 
pastoral  charge.  What  labors  he  performed  were  devoted  to 
the  colored  people  among  whom  he  resided. 

Waynf,sboro',  Burke  County,  Ga. — Rev.  Lawson  Clinton 
continued  to  serve  this  Church  as  its  stated  supply  till  1834. 
In  1836  the  Rev.  Theodore  M.  D wight  was  the  stated  supply 
of  this  Church,  and  continued  so  through  this  decade.  It  was 
beginning  more  and  more  to  assume  the  Presbyterian  order, 
and  is  called  the  Burke  County  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
statistical  tables  appended  to  the  minutes  of  1836,  1838  and 
1839.  It  was  a  church  small  in  its  numbers,  not  reporting 
more  than  22  members  in  the  only  two  instances  in  wiiich  its 
membership  is  alluded  to  in  the  statistical  column,  but  the 
scholarships  founded  by  John  Whitehead  in  the  'Princeton 
Seminary,  and  his  donation  to  the  permanent  fund  of  the  Amer- 
ican Educational  Society,  and  its  donations  to  public  charities, 
attest  the  generosity  and  public  spirit  of  at  least  some  families 
in  the  congregation.  Its  subscriptions  to  the  Theological 
Seminary  alone,  from  1834  to  1838,  amounted  to  ^1,380. 

White  Bluff  does  not  appear  to  be  mentioned  by  name, 
in  any  documents  accessible  to  us,  as  an  organized  church. 
It  probably  was  supplied  from  time  to  time  with  preaching 
by  ministers  resident  in  Savannah. 

Congregational  Church,  Midway,  Georgia. — The  Rev. 
Robert  Quarterman  continued  the  pastor  of  this  Church 
through  this  decade.  In  March,  1836,  the  Rev.  I.  S.  K. 
Axson,  a  native  of  Charleston,  was  settled  as  colleague  pastor, 
and  preached  his  first  sermon  at  Midway,  on  the  29th  of 
April  in  1836.  He  hnd  previously  been  for  two  years  pastor 
of  the  Dorchester  Church.  The  Midway  congregation  was 
dispersed  so  widely   over   Liberty  County  that  it  required  no 


452  HUGUENOT  CHURCH,  CHARLESTON.  [1830-1840. 

small  amount  of  pastoral  labor;  and  the  various  rural  villages 
of  Walthourville,  Jonesville,  Gravel  Hill,  or  Flemington, 
resorted  to  especially  in  the  summer  and  fall  months,  fur- 
nished many  points  at  which  the  ministration  of  the  word  was 
required.  This  Church  co-operated  in  all  its  benevolent 
efforts  with  its  nearest  neighbors,  the  Presbyterian  Churches. 
Its  subscriptions  to  the  Theological  Seminary  from  the 
reports  of  B.  E  Hand  and  Dr.  S.  S.  Davis,  in  the  earlier  part 
of  this  decade,  amounted  to  $i,2g2,  and  the  legacy  of  Major 
Maybank  to  the  same  institution,  received  in  January,  1837, 
amounted  to  ^5,396.70. 


CHAPTER  II. 

French  Protestant  Church,  Charleston. — About  the 
year  1830,3  few  of  the  descendants  of  the  Huguenot  refugees 
were  incited,  by  a  laudable  desire,  to  renew  the  wor.ship  of 
God  in  their  own  sanctuary,  accordinfj  to  the  forms  sanc- 
tioned by  the  wisdom  and  piety  of  their  ancestors.  A  con- 
gregation was  accordingly  organized,  and  a  committee,  viz  : 
Elias  Horry,  Thos.  S.  Grimke,  Joseph  Manigault,  William 
Mazyck,  Daniel  Ravenel,  and  George  W.  Cross,  were  ap- 
pointed to.  compile  a  liturgy  for  divine  worsliip.  This  was 
submitted  to  the  congregation  in  October,  1836,  and  adopted. 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston. — During  this 
decade  the  name  of  the  Rev.  Arthur  Bui.st,  the  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  commonly  called  the  Scotch 
Church,  occurs  in  the  statistical  tables  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly as  a  member  of  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  without 
charge.  The  congregation  resorted  to  the  method  which 
their  predecessors  had  often  adopted  in  former  times  and 
sought  to  obtain  a  minister  from  Scotland.  Their  wishes 
were  met  in  the  per.son  of  the  Rev.  John  Forrest,  afterwards 
D.  D.,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  who  came 
in  1832,  with  high  recommendations,  and  who  has  proved  to 
them  an  earnest,  able  and  foithful  minister.  Dr.  Forrest  was 
born  in  the  city  of  Edinburgh  on  the  19th  of  September,  1799, 
and  was  graduated  with  the  degree  of  A.  M.  in  the  University 
of  that  city.  He  was  called  by  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Charleston  in   February,  1832,  and  was  ordained 


1880-1840.]  SECONW  PKESBYTERIAN  CHUfiCH.  463 

by  the  Presbj'tery  of  Edinburgh  on  the  27th  of  June  follow- 
ing. He  assumed  the  charge  of  this  church  in  October  of  the 
same  year. 

The  Rev.  Arthur  Buist,  before  mentioned,  was  born  on  the 
22d  of  December,  1799,  and  was  graduated  from  South 
Carohna  College  in  1814,  and  studied  theology  in  Edinburgh, 
as  has  been  already  stated.  He  resigned  the  pastorship  of 
the  First  Presbyterian  (or  Scotch)  Church  in  1832,  in  conse- 
quence of  ill  health.  He  was  thenceforward  engaged  in 
teaching  and  preparing  pupils  for  college  until  his  death, 
which  occured  on  the  4th  of  January,  1843,  at  the  age  of 
forty-three  years  and  thirteen  days.  He  was  married  at 
Grey  Friars  Church,  at  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  to  Susan 
Stewart  Ballantine,  on  July  31,  1819.  By  her  he  had  nine 
children,  seven  sons  and  two  daughters,  four  of  whom  were 
surviving,  all  sons,  in  1881.  Of  these,  two,  Arthur  and  James, 
are  preachers  of  the  gospel  in  the  Baptist  Church,  and  one, 
Edward  H.  Buist,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Mrs.  Buist 
died  in  1847.  The  only  published  production  of  Mr.  Buist 
we  have  seen  is  a  sermon  in  The  Southern  Preacher,'^,  107, 
edited  by  Rev.  Colin  M  elver. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Forrest  continued  the  pastor  of  this  church 
for  many  years. 

The  Second  Presbyterian  Church  and  congregation  in 
THE  CITY  OF  CHARLESTON. — Dr.  Smyth  Still  Continuing  the 
history  of  this  church,  says:  "In  August,  1830,  the  Rev. 
Alexander  Aikman,  received  an  unsuccessful  call.  In  April, 
1 83 1,  a  similar  call  was  presented  to  the  Rev.  J.  B. 
Waterbury 

"  It  was  in  April,  1832,  we  were  first  acquainted  as  minis- 
ter and  people.  Very  wonderful  were  the  leadings  of  provi- 
dence, by  which  I  was  brought  to  this  country  and  to  this 
part  of  it,  and  by  which  you  were  led  to  extend  to  me  an 
invitation  to  supply  the  pulpit  for  a  year.  In  August,  1832, 
you  presented  to  me  a  permanent  call  to  the  pastoral  charge  of 
this  church.  This,  in  pursuance  of  a  long  established  convic- 
tion that  to  the  happiness  of  such  a  connexion  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  each  other  was  required,  I  long  retained,  and 
left  open  to  any  change  in  your  views.  Having  rendered  this 
building  everything  I  could  desire  and  proportioned  it  to  my 
feebleness  of  body,  I  cordially  accepted  your  unanimous  call, 
and  was  installed  by  the   Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  on 


454  THIED  PKESBYTEEIAN  CHURCH.  [1830-1840. 

Sabbath  evening,  December. 29th,  1834.  I  have  thus  been 
connected  with  you  five  years,  a  period  longer  than  any  other 
pastor  has  been,  except  Dr.  Flinn. 

There  have  been  fifteen  Elders  connected  with  tliJs  church, 
six  ordained  by  Dr.  Flinn;  three  by  Mr.  Boies;  three  by  Dr. 
Henry  and  three  by  my.self.  The  statistical  tables  for  1839 
give  the  whole  number  of  communicants  in  this  church  to  be 
304,  seven  of  whom  iiad  been  received  on  examinfftion,  and 
eleven  by  certificate,  during  the  year. 

Third  Presbytekian  Church,  Charleston, — The  financial 
condition  of  this  church  became  less  prosperous,  and  in  1830 
was  burdened  with  a  debt  of  ^4,200.  By  special  effort  this 
burden  was  removed.  It  was  destined  to  meet  with  s  severe 
trouble.  In  1833  Dr.  Wni.  A.  McDowell,  its  beloved  ijastor, 
being  elected  to  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Assembly's  Board 
of  Domestic  Missions,  resigned  his  charge  of  this  church, 
and  about  the  same  time  or  shortly  after,  four  of  its  most 
efficient  elders  removed  from  the  city.  The  pulpit  was  then 
filled  by  casual  supplies  until  the  fall  of  1835,  when  a  call  was 
extended  to  Wm.  C.  Dana,  afterwards  D.  D.,  who  preached 
his  first  sermon  in  this  church  on  the  6th  of  December,  1835. 
At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  congregation  in  January,  1836, 
this  call  was  renewed  with  great  unanimity  and  his  ordination 
and  installation  by  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  took 
place  on  the  second  Sabbath  of  February,  in  that  year.  Dr. 
Dana  was  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  of  which  his 
father  was  at  one  time  President.  His  theological  studies 
were  pursued  partly  at  Andover,  partly  at  Columbia  and  at 
Princeton.  His  father  was  (he  well  known  and  honored  Dr. 
Daniel  Dana,  pastor  for  many  years  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Newberryport,  and  his  grandfather  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Dana,  D.  D.,  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  Ipswich,  Mass.,  for 
the  space  of  sixty-three  years.  Dr.  Daniel.  Dana's  ministe- 
rial life  extended  over  a  period  of  sixty-five  years,  during 
which  time  he  was  a  firm  and  fearless  advocate  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Westminister  confession.  The  present  Dr.  Dana, 
pastor  of  the  Third  Church  in  Charleston,  has  always  claimed 
to  be  old  school  and  conservative  in  doctrine,  but  was  always 
opposed  to  those  measures  of  excision  which  divided  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  1837  and  1838,  and  opposed  to  them 
"  irrespective  of  doctrine."  The  church  and  its  pastor  re- 
mained in  a  state  of  isolation  from  the  Synod  for  the  space  of 


1830-1840.J  JAMES  ISLAND.  455 

fourteen  years.  Its  eldership  was  reinforced  by  the  election 
of  Charles  Clark  and  Robert  L.  Stewart,  who  were  ordained  . 
on  fhe  22d  of  February,  1835,  by  William  Birnie  and  George 
Cotchett,  who  were  ordained  on  the  1st  of  April,  1838. 
William  A.  Caldwell,  William  Birnie,  James  Dick,  Samuel  P. 
Ripley,  James  J.  McCarter,  were  successively  Presidents  of 
the  corporation  from  1830  to  1840.  Robert  Eager  and  Cope- 
land  Stiles  succeeded  each  other  as  Treasurer,  and  Charles 
Clark,  William  Miller,  James  Taylor,  Nathaniel  Hyatt,  and 
William  Caldwell  held  the  office  of  Secretary  in  succession 
during  the  same  period. 

The  location  of  their  house  of  worship  in  Archdale  street, 
as  Dr.  Dana  says  in  his  fortieth  anniversary  sermon,  preached 
in  1876,  "  was  an  incubus  on  the  church  "  The  ladies  society 
in  1838  "determined  on  the  erection  of  a  costly  lecture  room. 
An  eligible  site  was  purchased  for  ^3,100  by  general  sub- 
scription, all  else  was  the  work  of  the  ladies,  who,  availing 
themselves  of  the  fire  loan,  from  year  to  year  steadily  dimin- 
ished the  debt  till,  through  their  persevering  zeal,  the  whole 
was  paid." 

James'  Island. — The  Rev.  Dr.  Leland  was  probably  the 
stated  srpply  of  this  church  at  the  commencement  of  this 
decade.  It  appears  from  the  minutes  of  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery  that  Edward  Tonge  Buist,  a  licentiate  under  their 
care,  and  a  son  of  Dr.  George  Buist,  former  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church  of  ihe  city  of  Charleston,  popularly 
known  as  the  Scotch  Church,  made  application  to  be  ordained 
to  the  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry,  stating  as  the  grounds  of 
the  application  that  he  had  received  a  call  for  .settlement  from 
a  Congregational  Church  in- the  neighborhood  of  the  city. 
He  was  accordingly  examined  as  a  candidate  for  ordination, 
and  was  approved.  Tiie  Presbytery  adjourned  to  meet  at 
the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  on  James'  Island  to 
proceed  to  his  ordination.  On  the  loth  of  January,  1833,  the 
Presbytery  met.  Present — Rev.  B.  Giidersleeve,  moderator; 
B.  M.' Palmer,  D.D.,  A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  W.  A.  McDowell, 
D.D.,  E.  White,  A.  Buist,  E.  Palmer,  T.  Smith,  J.  A.  Mitchell. 
Rev.  Arthur  Buist,  brother  of  the  candidate,  preached  the 
sermon  from  Is.  lii.  7.  Dr.  McDowell  presided  and 
gave  the  charge,  Mr.  White  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and 
Mr.  Edward  Palmer,  the  address  to  the  people.  On  the  2d 
of  November,    1837,    Mr.    Buist    was    dismissed    from   the 


456  John's  island  and  wadmalaw.         [1830-1840. 

Charleston  Union  Presbytery  to  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  where  he  first  became  pastor  of  the  Nazareth 
Church,  and  within  the  bounds  of  which  Presbytery  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life. 

John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw. — The  Rev.  Elipha  White 
continued  the  pastor  of  this  ciiurch  and  congregation.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  the  establishment  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  in  Columbia,  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Directors,  was  on  the  committee  which  was  appointed  to  re- 
vise the  constitution  which  was  adopted  in  1833.  He  was 
agent  for  the  seminary  within  the  bounds  of  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery,  and,  between  1831  and  1837,  collected  and 
paid  into  the  treasury  ^5,072.  His  church,  too,  contributed 
generously  to  the  work  of  foreign  missions. 

"On  the  20th  day  of  December,  1836,  the  following  pre- 
amble and  resolutions  were  introduced,  and  were  adopted  on 
the  2d  of  January,  1837  : 

"  Sensible  of  our  obligations  to  Christ  and  His  religion  for 
tnost  of  our  present  enjoyments,  and  all  our  future  hopes,  and 
whereas,  many  of  our  fellow  creatures  in  heathen  lands  and 
other  climes  are  destitute  of  these  blessings  ;  and 

"  Whereas,  Christ  has  commanded  his  disciples  to  send  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature  ;  therefore 

"  Resolved.  That  we,  the  members  and  supporters  of  the 
John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw  Church  and  Sociely  will  fur- 
nish the  sum  of  six  hundred  dollars  annually  for  the  next 
five  years,  or  while  Providence  shall  favor  us  with  the  means, 
to  support  a  missionary  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  among  the 
heathen. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  sum  of  six  hundred  dollars,  now 
raised  in  accordance  with  the  above  resolution,  be,  and  is 
hereby,  appropriated  to  the  support  of  the  Rev.  J.  Leighton 
Wilson,  missionary  at  Cape  Palmas,  Africa."* 

Several  letters  from  Rev.  Leighton  Wilson,  then  in  Africa, 
to  Rev.  Mr.  White,  appeared  in  the  Charleston  Observer  in 
the  years  1837-1838.  This  church,  incorporated  in  1785,  in 
consequence,  it  is  said,  of  that  act  having  fallen  into  oblivion, 
was  again  incorporated  in  the  year  1835  under  the  name  of 
the  "  Presbyterian  Church  of  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw." 

*Minutes  of  Corporation,  p.  16. 


1830-1840.]      DISSENT  FROM  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  457 

A  church  had  been  built  on  Wadmalaw  Island  as  early  as 
1793  or  1794,  which  was  either  a  distinct  Presbyterian  Church, 
or  a  chapel  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  that  people  with  those 
of  John's  Island  in  support  of  the  Gospel.  With  this  church 
was  connected  a  small  tract  of  land,  afterwards  sold  to  Henry 
Fickling  in  1812.  The  name  of  this  church  or  chapel  is  pre- 
served as  the  present  name  of  the  incoiporatiofi. 

In  1838  Mr.  White  was  appointed  to  the  General  Assem- 
bly by  Charleston  Presbytery.  In  April,  the  corporation 
passed  the  following  resolution  : 

Resolved,  That  Mr.  White  be  permitted  to  go  on  to  the 
General  Assembly  agreeably  to  the  appointment  of  the  Pres- 
bytery.f 

The  following  persons  composed  the  session  in  1838  :  Rev. 
E.White;  ruling  elders,  Thos.  Legare,  Hugh  Wilson,  and 
Kinsey  Burden,  Sr. 

In  1838  the  great  division  between  the  old  and  new  school 
parties  took  place,  and  all  the  churches  were  called  upon  to 
declare  for  one  or  the  other  of  these  assemblies. 

At  a  semi-annual  meeting  of  the  church  held  the  24th 
of  December,  1838,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions 
were  introduced  by  Kinsey  Burden,  Jr.,  and  seconded  by 
Solomon  Legare. 

Whereas  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  did  at  its  annual  session  in  the  year 
1818,  adopt  a  resolution,  declaring  every  slaveholder  to  live 
in  open  violation  of  the  law  of  God,  and  requiring  every 
Presbyterian  under  its  jurisdiction  to  promote  the  emancipa- 
tion of  his  own  slaves,  and  the  abolition  of  slavery  through- 
out the  world  ;  and  whereas  the  dissentions  which  have  ex- 
isted in  said  church  for  years  past,  have  finally  resulted  in  a 
separation  of  said  General  Assembly  into  two  bodies,  each 
claiming  to  be  the  true  Assembly;  and  whereas  both  of  the 
said  bodies  have  refused  to  repeal  the  said  resolution,  and 
especially  whereas,  at  the  suggestion  of  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  this  church,  and  it  is  believed  with  the  concurrence 
of  most,  the  pastor  of  this  church  did,  as  the  delegate  from 
the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  and  the  representative  of 
this  church,  move  the   body  styled  the   Reformed  As.sembly, 


fMinutes  of  Corporation,  p.  19. 


458  DECLARES   ITS  INDEPENDENCE.  [1830-1840. 

at  its  meeting  held  in  Philadelphia  in  May  last,  to  repeal  the 
said  resolution  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  which  motion  was 
almost  unanimously  rejected,  thus  manifesting  a  continued 
enmity  to  Southern  Institutions  ;  and  further,  whereas,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  held 
in  Columbia  in  this  State,  in  November  last,  and  composed 
entirely  of  ministers  and  laymen  belonging  to  churches  in 
these  two  States,  a  motion  was  made  that  in  view  of  this 
expressed  enmity  to  our  domestic  institutions,  on  the  part  of 
the  General  Assemblies,  it  was  no  longer  expedient  that  the 
Southern  Presbyterian  Church  should  be  in  connection  with 
that  of  the  North ;  and  a  resolution  was  introduced  to  dis- 
solve the  said  connection,  which  resolution  was  rejected  with 
but  nine  dissenting  voices ;  and  whereas,  in  the  opinion  of 
this  church  these  facts  show  conclusively  that  while  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  the  North  is  radically  unsound  upon 
this  vital  subject,  tliat  of  the  South,  From  party  views  and 
feelings  is  dead  to  a  sense  of  its  own  dignity,  and  to  what  is 
due  the  community  in  which  we  live;  and  whereas  further, 
in  consequence  of  the  dissentions  and  divisions  before, 
alluded  to  in  the  General  Assembly,  a  secession  has  taken 
place  in  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  to  which  this 
church  has  been  for  some  years  past  attached,  and  this 
church  is  now  called  upon  to  say  to  which  of  these  divisions 
it  will  adhere ;  and  whereas  this  church  considers  the  dis- 
sentions which  have  led  to  this  result  as  disgraceful  in  the 
extreme,  injurious  to  the  denomination  to  which  we  belong, 
deeply  wounding  to  the  cause  of  religion,  and  desires  to 
have  no  part  or  lot  in  the  matter ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  this  church  has  no  longer  any  attachment 
to  ecclesiastical  bodies  so  inimical  to  Southern  institutions, 
or  so  indifferent  to  their  defence,  and  as  it  has  not  contributed 
to  create  the  dissentions  and  divisions  existing  in  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  at  large,  in  the  United  States,  so  it  will  not 
consent  to  be  involved  in  them  in  any  way. 

Resolved,  That  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  John's  Island 
and  Wadmalaw  feeling  its  dependence  upon  the  Great  Head 
of  the  Church,  acknowledging  its  obligations  to  Him  for  past 
mercies,  and  trusting  him  for  the  future,  and  desiring  to  cul- 
tivate and  maintain  a  spirit  of  harmony  and  unity  within 
itself,   and  without   which   its  unity  must  be  destroyed,  does 


1830-1840.]  LAWSUIT  AND  ITS  ISSUE.  459 

hereby  declare  itself  an  Independent  Presbyterian  Church, 
absolved  from  all  connection  with  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery,  and  every  other  ecclesiastical  body,  and  placed 
upon  the  same  ground  occupied  by  other  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  our  neighborhood. 

Resolved,  That  with  unabated  attachment  to  the  doctrines, 
discipline  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  we  will  sus- 
tain her  standards  as  based  upon  God's  word,  inviolate. 

Resolved,  That  we  will  unite  as  heretofore,  with  sister 
churches  in  every  good  and  benevolent  object,  to  promote 
the  welfare  of  our  fellow-men  and  the  cause  of  our  Redeemer. 

The  pastor  of  the  church,  the  Rev.  E.  White,  while  sup- 
porting these  resolutions,  was  at  his  own  request  excused 
from  voling. 

The  vote  was  as  follows  : 

Yeas — Thos.  Legare,  Kinsey  Burden,  Sr.,  Jno.  A.  Fripp, 
Wm.  Beckett,  Ciias.  E.  Fripp,  Sol.  Legare,  Jas.  L.  Walpole, 
Kinsey  Burden,  Jr.,  Horace  Walpole,  J.  C.  W.  Legare,  D. 
Selyer,  Mr.  Laussey. — Yeas,  12. 

Nays. — Hugh  Wilson,  Sr.,  Jno.  F.  Townsend,  Hugh  Wil- 
son, Jr. — Nays,  3. 

This  action  caused  Hugh  Wilson,  Wm.  McCants,  Edward 
Beckett  and  Hugh  Wilson,  Jr.,  to  withdraw  from  the  corpo- 
ration and  organize  themselves  into  a  separate  body.  They 
organized  under  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1838. 
(Baird's  Digest,  p.  775.)  and  claimed  to  be  the  true  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  John's  Island  and'  Wadmalaw,  and  therefore 
the  corporate  body  of  that  name,  and  entitled  to  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  said  corporation.  They  therefore  demanded 
of  the  majority  who  they  claimed  had  destroyed  all  their 
claims  to  the  said  corporation  by  their  act  of  secession,  that 
they  put  them  in  po.Ssession  of  all  books,  papers,  accounts, 
funds  or  other  property  belonging  to  said  Church.  This 
demand  the  majority  refused  to  comply  with.  Hugh  Wilson, 
Wm.  McCants,  Edward  Beckett,  and  Hugh  Wilson,  Jr.,  then 
brought  suit  against  the  majority  for  the  possession  of  said 
property.  The  original  bill  of  complaint  I  have  been  unable 
to  find,  and  gather  the  grounds  of  complaint  only  from  the 
answers.     These  seemed  to  have  been  three : 

I.  That  union  with  a  Presbytery  was  essential  to  the  existr 
ence  of  a  Presbyterian   Church.     That   the   majority  by  their 


460  BDI8TO    ISLAND.  [1830-1840. 

act  of  secession  had  destroyed  their  right  to  be  called  a 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  therefore  their  right  to  claim  the 
privileges  conferred  by  the  act  of  incorporation,  which  was 
the  incorporation  of  a  Presbyterian  Church. 

II.  That  all  funds  or  property  in  their  possession  was  in  trust 
to  be  used  for  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  John's  Island  and 
Wadmalaw.  That  by  their  act  of  secession  the  majority  had 
dissolved  their  connection  with  said  church.  That  therefore 
they,  the  minority,  were  the  true  Presbyterian  Church  of 
J'ohn's  Island  and  Wadmalaw,  and  so  entitled  to  the  property. 

III.  That  the  will  of  Robert  Ure,  expressly  provided  that 
the  funds  given  by  him  should  be  used  for  the  support  of  a 
Presbyterian  minister,  who  should  "acknowledge  and  sub- 
scribe the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  as  the  confession 
of  his  faith,  and  that  he  should  firmly  believe  and  preach  the 
same  to  the  people  there  committed,  or  which  shall  hereafter 
be  committed  to  his  care  and  pastoral  inspection."  That  the 
Rev.  E.  White,  pastor  of  said  church  denied  the  doctrine  of 
"  Total  Depravity,"  and  was  therefore  not  entitled  to  the 
benefits  of  said  property. 

This  suit  was  be<jun  in  1839,  and  reached  its  final  settle- 
ment in  1846.     [MS.  Hist,  of  Rev.  F.  H.  Leeper.] 

Presbytekian  Church  of  Edisto  Island. — This  Church 
continued  under  the  care  of  its  beloved  pastor,  the  Rev.  Wm. 
States  Lee.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1831  an  increasing 
desire  for  a  protracted  meeting  on  the  part  of  several  of  the 
Church  members,  induced  him  to  make  arrangements  for 
such  services.  These  were  well  attended,  atjd  the  interest  in 
them  was  increasirig,  when  the  duties  of  the  brethren  from 
Charleston  who  were  aiding  the  pastor  required  them  to  leave 
the  island.  In  the  month  of  January,  1832,  about  four  weeks 
after  the  protracted  meeting  closed,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Baker 
accepted  an  invitation,  given  him  by  one  of  the  elders,  to  visit 
the  island.  In  conjunction  with  the  pastor  the  religious  ser- 
vices were  recommenced,  and  continued  for  eight  or  ten  days. 
There  were  usually  two  services  each  day  at  the  Church,  and 
an  evening  service  at  a  private  house.  The  attendance  was 
very  large,  when  the  population  of  the  island  is  considered, 
and  much  good  was  done.  During  1832  and  1833  a  larger 
number  of  whites  were  added  to  the  Church  than  at  any  other 
equal  period  during  the  ministry  of  the  pastor.  The  mem- 
bers in   communion  in  1821  (as  far  as  information  could  be 


1830-1840.]  WILTON   PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  461 

obtained)  were  i6  to  20  whites,  and  from  7  to  10  colored. 
The  number  of  both,  especially  of  the  last,  was  considerably 
increased. 

An  attempt  was  made  about  the  year  1832  to  have  two 
services  pn  the  Sabbath  during  the  winter  and  spring,  and 
prayer  meetings  during  the  week,  but  the  inconvenience  con- 
nected with  the  distance  to  be  traveled  in  short  days,  and  the 
difficulty  of  making  suitable  arrangements  by  families  having 
small  children,  caused  them  to  be  relinquished  in  a  few  years. 

In  1836  and  1837  three  of  the  elders  died,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  the  age  and  infirmity  of  the  remaining  elder,  four 
of  the  members  were  chosen  to  this  office,  and  were  ordained 
in  March,  1837,  viz  :  Wm.  G.  Baynard,  Wm.  Seabrook,  J.  J. 
Murray  and  Wm.  M.  Murray.  [MS.  of  Rev.  Wm.  States 
Lee.] 

A  new  church  edifice  was  erected  in  183 1,  and  was  repaired 
and  further  improved  in  1836.  The  Church  continued  for 
sometime  jealous  of  Presbyterial  intervention,  one  of  its  by- 
laws being,  "  Presbytery  shall,  upon  no  pretence  or  occasion, 
intermeddle  with  the  secular  affairs  of  the  Church,  nor  shall 
they  have  any  cognizance  of  the  ecclesiastical,  except  incases 
of  reference  and  appeal,  and  the  ordaining  or  installing  of  the 
minister."     [Extract  from  the  2nd  By-Law.] 

Wilton  Presbyterian  Church. — The  Rev.  Zabdiel  Rogers 
continued  to  be  the  pastor  of  this  Church  through  this  decade. 
On  the  3rd  of  November,  1837,  amid  the  debates  of  that 
eventful  year;  the  following  record  appears  in  the  minutes  of 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  p.  245  :  "  It  appearing  from 
the  records  of  Presbytery  in  the  case,  that  the  Rev.  Zabdiel 
Rogers  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of  1828  without  hav- 
ing formally  adopted  the  Confession  of  faith  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  not  because  he  declined  adopting  it,  but 
through  the  neglect  of  Presbytery  to  require  its  adoption 
by  him,  he,  therefore,  having  ever  since  he -was  received  into 
this  body  regarded  the  constitution  of  the  Church  as  his  rule 
of  faith  and  action,  and  supposing  that  all  was  regularly  done 
in  his  reception,  now  requested  leave  to  adopt  it.  His  request 
was  granted.  The  Moderator  then  proposed  to  him  the  ques- 
tions required  to  be  put  in  such  cases,  which  he  answered  in 
the  affirmative,  adopting  ex  aninio  the  Confession  of  faith  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church."  [Minutes  of  the  C.  U.  Presbytery, 
p.  245.] 


462  '  BETHEL,  PON  PON.  [1830-1840. 

Bethel,  Pon  Pon. — The  Rev.  Edward  Palmer  who  was 
settled  as  pnstor  of  this  Church  continued  in  that  office  until 
January  in  1832,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Adam 
Gilclirist  till  December  1840.  "It  was  while  I  was  there," 
says  this  venerable  brother  (Rev.  E.  Palmer),  writing  under 
date  of  September  12th,  1878,  "  and  during  the  earlier  years 
of  my  ministry,  that  at  two  protracted  meetings,  at  one  of 
which  we  enjoyed  the  labors  of  that  devoted  man  of  God, 
Rev.  .Dr.  Baker,  the  Lord  was  graciously  pre.sent,  and  mer- 
cifully blessed  our  convocation.  At  the  first- of  the.se,  at 
which  I  had  the  aid  of  only  two  brethren,  both  younger  in 
the  ministry  than  myself,  there  was  an  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit,  which  resulted  in  the  addition  of  twenty-fivo  members 
to  our  Church,  six  to  the  Episcopal,  and  several  others  to  the 
Methodist  Churches.  It  was  during  the  progress  of  tliis 
meeting  the  uncommon,  but  most  interesting,  sight  of  five 
gentlemen  who,  three  weeks  before,  went  forth  to  the  so-called 
'field  of  honor,'  as  principals,  seconds,  and  physician,  was 
presented,  kneeling  at  the  same  seat,  at  a  prayer  meeting, 
pleading  with  others  around  them,  for  mercy  and  salvation, 
the  duelhaving  been  suppressed  by  the  wise  interposition  of 
the  seconds,  just  as  the  fatal  purposes  were  about  to  be  ex- 
ecuted. Of  these  five  seekers  after  salvation,  two  became 
preachers  of  the  gospel,  two  officers  of  the  church,  the  other 
soon  left  for  the  far  West,  and  his  destiny  is  unknown.  All 
but  the  last  have  passed  ofif  into  eternity,  and  very  probably 
that  one  likewise.  The  circumstance  was  so  strangely  novel, 
that  it  was  at  the  time  recorded  in  the  public  prints. 

''At  the  same  meeting  thece  was  a  married  lady  who  be- 
came deeply  impressecl,  but  refused  to  attend  the  inquiry 
meetings  which  had  been  appointed,  giving  as  a  reason  the 
solemn  interdict  of  her  husband  (an  honorable,  upright,  but 
unconverted  man).  Very  shortly  the  Spirit  gave  him  an 
insight  into  his  own  heart,  which  conducted  him,  with  his  wife, 
into  the  inquiry  meeting,  and  the  Church  of  Jesus." 

Mr.  Gilchrist  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  a  graduate  of 
Dickinson  College,  Pa.,  a  student  of  Princeton  Seminary,  and 
wa.s  received  by  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  January  3rd, 
1832,  as  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  New  Brunswick. 
He  was  ordained  on  the  nth  of  January,  1832,  Dr.  William 
A.  McDowell,  presiding,  Mr.  Gildersleeve  preaching  the 
sermon  from  Ephes.  iv  :  8.     He  was   ordained  by  the  laying 


1830-1840.]  SALTKETCHER.  463 

on  of  hands,  and  installed  pastor  of  the  Church  and  congre- 
gation. Dr.  IVIcDowell  gave  the  charsje  to  the  pastor,  and 
Rev.  Joseph  Brown  to  the  people.  The  services  tooi^  place 
in  the  Church  at  Walterboro',  originally  the  summer  church 
of  the  congregation,  but  which  had  becom;  its  chief  place  of 
worship.  The  statistics  of  the  Walterboro'  Church  are  very 
imperfectly  given  in  the  Assembly's  minutes.  In  1834  the 
total  number  of  communicants  is  set  down  as  40;  in  1837,  as 
60  ;  in  1839,  as  60.  These  probably  are  whites,  with  a  large 
number  of  colored  members  at  the  original  Church  of  Bethel, 
Pon  Pon. 

Saltketcher. — This  church,  which  is  situated  near  Salt- 
ketcher  Bridge,  was  served,  according  to  the  statistical 
reports  of  the  General  Assembly,  through  most  of  these 
years  by  Rev.  John  Brevoort  Van  Dyck,  whose  residence  was 
at  Walterboro'.  Mr.  Van  Dyck  was  graduated  at  Amherst 
College  in  1826,  in  which  year  he  entered  Princeton  Seminary, 
and  pursued  the  full  course  of  study  at  that  institution.  He 
was  received  as  a  member  of  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  by 
dismission  from  the  Second  Presbytery  of  New  York  on  the 
9th  of  November,  1830.  On  the  6th  of  April,  1831,  he  re- 
ceived a  call  from  the  Saltketcher  Church  through  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  to  become  its  pastor,  which 
being  accepted  by  him,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  install 
him  on  the  27th  of  that  month,  as  pastor  of  that  church. 
Mr.  Gildersleeve  was  to  preach  the  sermon.  Dr.  McDowell  to 
preside  and  dsliver  the  charge  to  the  minister,  and  Edward 
Palmer  to  give  the  charge  to  the  people.  Thsse  services 
were  held  according  to  the  appointment,  and  were  solemn 
and  interesting.  Mr.  Van  Dyck  continued  to  serve  this  people 
till  his  death,  which  occurred  early  in  1840.  His  death  was 
announced  to  Presbytery  at  its  meeting  in  Charleston  on  the 
2d  of  April  of  that  year,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Gilchrist  was  ap- 
pointed to  bring  in  a  suitable  minute  in  relation  to  it,  which 
was  as  follows  : 

"  This  Presbytery  has  heard  with  extreme  regret  of  the 
death  of  their  fellow-member.  Rev.  J.  B.  Van  Dyck.  In  this 
event,  not  only  has  the  Church  sustained  the  loss  of  a  minis- 
ter, but  the  world  that  of  a  useful  man.  Our  departed  brother 
was  gifted  with  those  qualities  of  energy  and  per.severance 
which  enabled  him  to  overcome  difficulties  which  few,  when 
similarly  situated,  would  have  encountered.     It  was  during  a 


464  REV.  J.  B.  VAN  DYCK.  [1830-1S40. 

winter  sojourn  in  this  city  for  health,  when  about  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  that  he  attracted  the  favorable  notice  of  the  Rev. 
Jonas  King,  now  missionary  in  Greece,  and  by  him  was  in- 
duced to  study  for  the  ministry.  His  education  previous  to 
this  had  been  of  such  a  character  as  fitted  him  in  every  sense 
to  be  a  practical  business  man;  and  it  is  to  be  observed  that 
the  effect  of  his  early  training  was  seen  in  the  various  walks 
of  life  which  he  afterwards  filled.  His  education,  preparatory 
to  college,  was  conducted  in  the  academy  under  the  care  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Williamson,  in  York  District,  now  Professor  in 
Davidson  College,  where  he  maintained  a  character  for  con- 
sistent piety  and  devotion  to  study.  His  College  course  was 
conducted  at  Amherst,  Mass.,  where,  it  is  believed,  he 
attained  to  more  than  ordinary  proficiency,  and  held  a  rank 
among  his  fellow-students  more  than  respectable.  It  is  to  be 
observed  here  that  during  the  whole  period  of  his  college  life 
his  health  was  very  infirm  ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding,  he 
maniiged  to  accompany  his  class,  rarely  absenting  himself  or 
being  unprepared  for  recitation  ;  and  what  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark, supported  himself  in  part,  if  not  wholly,  by  the  articles 
of  a  manual  occupation  which  he  had  been  taught  in  early 
life,  and  which  now  gave  him  exercise  during  leisure  hours. 
His  seminary  course  at  Princeton,  though  divested  of  the 
necessity  of  self-support,  was  characterized  by  the  same 
diligent  attendance  to  the  business  before  liim  which  marked 
the  previous  periods  of  his  life. 

After  furnishing  himself  with  the  requisite  theological 
learning,  he  was  licensed  by  the  Third  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  and,  actuated  by  motives  of  gratitude  to  those  who 
had  been  his  patrons  in  the  different  stages  of  education,  he 
removed  to  this  State,  with  a  view  of  assuming  pastoral 
charge  of  the  church  at  Saltketcher,  which  he  continued  to 
oversee  till  the  period  of  his  death. 

The  diminished  state  of  our  brother's  congregation,  owing 
to  the  depopulation  of  the  neighborhood,  made  it  necessary 
that  he  should  unite  the  calling  of  instructor  of  youth  with 
that  of  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  He  accordingly  removed  to 
Walterboro  about  five  years  since,  and  on  his  individual 
responsibility  commenced  a  school  which,  mainly  through 
his  exertions,  has  since  grown  into  an  incorporated  academy. 

Of  his  superior  qualities  as  a  teacher,  the  very  best  proof 
is    in  presenting   living    testimonials.      A   professor   in  that 


18S0-1840.]         INDEPENDENT  CHURCH,  SAVANNAH.  465 

liictlier  Literary  institution,  wliither  most  of  the  pupils  from 
Walteiboro'  Academy  have  gone,  has  declared,  to  the  praise 
of  our  brother,  that  none  have  entered  college  who  did  not 
enter  well  prepired,  and  who  did  not  afterwards  attain  an 
honorable  standing. 

As  a  preacher,  Brother  Van  Dyck  was  characterized  by 
clearness  of  style  and  edifying  matter  rather  than  by  ornate- 
ness  in  his  composition  or  grace  in  his  delivery.  Those  who 
went  to  be  instructed,  always  might  be,  when  he  prepared  his 
discourse  vvitli  cire.  Had  he  devoted  himself  solely  to  the 
ministry,  and  placed  in  a  suitable  field  fir  his  exertions,  he 
would  have  been  a  most  instructive  preacher. 

As  his  life  was  diligent  and  useful,  so,  we  have  been  told, 
his  death  was  edifying.  He  met  his  latter  end  prcpired,  and 
decliring  his  sole  hope  was  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ, 
his  Saviour,  he  peaceably  breathed  aw.iy  his  spirit. 

He  has  gone.  Who  next  is  to  follow,  to  render  in  the 
account  of  his  steA-anJsliip,  is  only  known  to  Him  in  whose 
hand<  are  the  issues  of  life.  Let  this  Presbytery  hear,  in  that 
mournful  event  which  lias  deprived  us  of  a  fellow-member, 
the  voice  of  the  Master,  saying,  "  Be  ye  also  ready." 

Thk  Independent  Presevterian  Church  in  Savannah. — 
The  Rev.  Daniel  B.iker  still  occupied  tiie  puluit  of  this  church 
at  the  beginning  of  this  decade  and  through  some  portion  of 
the  year  1831.  The  Rev.  Daniel  Baker  was  of  Puritan  des- 
cent, was  born  in  Liberty  County,  Ga..  August  17,  1791,  and 
his  eaily  boyhood  was  spent  in  the  Midway  Church  and  con- 
gregation. Liberty  Count\',  of  which  we  have  written,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  269,  312,463,  566,  568.  He  received  his  literary  educa- 
tion at  Hamden,  Sydney  and  at  Princeton  College,  where  he 
graduated  in  1815.  He  was  licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of 
VVinche-iter,  Va.,  in  October,  1816,  was  ordained  and  installed 
in  Harrisonburg,  Va.,  March  5,  1818.  Here  he  remaint-dtill 
1820  or  '21.  Soon  afterwards  he  became  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Cliurch  in  Wasiiington  City,  which  he  con- 
tinued to  serve  something  over  six  years.  His  ministry  in 
Savannah  was  a  brief  one,  terminating  in  the  year  1831.  In 
the  latter  part  of  his  ministry  here,  perhaps  in  the  year  1830, 
and  beginning  of  1831,  he  had  a  season  of  revival  in  his 
church,  so.iie  reference  to  which  we  have  made  in  our  prece- 
ding pages.  This  revival  co::imcnced  in  a  protracted  meet- 
ing and  it  being  noised  abroad,  others  were  held  in  various 
30 


460  ^.  DR.    BAKER.  [1830-1840. 

places,  to  which  Dr.  Baker  was  invited.  At  GiUisonville,  in 
South  Carolina,  some  sixty  persons  were  hopefully  converted, 
two  or  three  of  whom  subsequently  became  preachers  of  the 
gospel.  He  attended  also  a  protracted  meeting  at  Graham- 
ville  and  on  May  River,  at  which  places  a  blessing  followed. 
But  at  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  through  the  influence  of 
William  Barnwell,  who  was  converted  at  Grahamville,  and 
was  afterwards  pastor  of  a  flourishing  Episcopal  Church  in 
Charleston,  and  who  then  was  a  resident  of  Beaufort,  he  re- 
ceived a  pressing  invitation  to  that  place.  There  was  at  that 
time  no  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  town  and  divine  service 
was  held  in  the  Episcopal  and  Baptist  Churches,  alternately. 
The  whole  number  of  persons  hopefully  converted  were  about 
t^'ghty,  of  almost  every  age,  from  fourteen  to  eighty-six. 
Among  these  were  men  of  eminence  in  society.  Richard 
Fuller,  an  eminent  lawyer,  afterwards  the  Rev.  Richard 
Fuller,  D.  D.,  of  the  Baptist  Church,  Stephen  Elliott,  after- 
wards the  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Georgia,  Robert  Barnwell, 
afterwards  President  of  South  Carolina  College,  Hon.  Mr. 
Grayson,  since  a  distinguished  member  of  Congress,  Rev.  C. 
C.  Pinckney,  Rev.  B.  C.  Webb,  Rev.  Richard  Johnson  and 
Rev.  W.  Johnson.  Six  of  these  exchanged  the  profession  of 
the  law  for  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 

These  things  increased  the  "  hankering,"  to  use  his  own 
word,  for  the  missionary  life.  He  celebrated  his  last  commu- 
nion in  Savannah  and  forthwith  entered  upon  his  work  as  an 
Evangelist,  holding  protracted  meetings  the  two  first  years 
in  South  Eastern  Georgia  and  in  Florida,  then  in  the  princi- 
pal places  in  South  Carolina  and  upper  North  Carolina,  after- 
wards in  other  States  tending  ever  Westward  and  South- 
Westward,  until  he  reached  Texas,  when  in  his  efforts  to 
build  up  Austin  College,  of  which  he  was  the  agent,  travers- 
ing the  country  far  and  near  as  its  agent,  not  neglecting  his 
Evangelistic  labors  meanwhile,  until  on  the  lOth  of  Decem- 
ber, 1857,  he  expired  at  Austin,  Texas,  in  the  arms  of  Wil- 
liam, his  son,  the  pastor- of  the  church  in  that  place. 

But  in  the  fall  of  1831,  their  attention  was  directed  to  the 
Rev.  William  Preston,  D.  D.  He  was  a  native  of  Massa- 
chusetts, a  graduate  of  Brown  University,  and  after  first  com- 
mencing the  -study  of  the  law,  felt  himself  called  to  the  higher 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry.  He  occupied  several  posts  of 
honor  at  the  North,  being  for  a  short  time  President  of  Bur- 


1830-1840.]  REV.  WILLIAM  PHESTON,  D.  D.  467 

lington  Collejje,  Vermont.  Impaired  health  brought  him  to 
the  South.  He  arrived  in  Savannah  on  the  2d  of  April,  1829, 
made  the  acquaintance  of  several  Christian  gentlemen  and  the 
then  pastor,  'and  several  of  the  elders  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  He  left  for  the  upper  portion  of  the  State,  spent  the 
first  summer  at  Powelton,  taking  charge  of  an  academy  and 
preaching  as  opportunity  offered.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year 
he  was  invited  to  Milledgeville  to  supply  the  pulpit  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  and  to  the  superintendence  of  a  large 
academy  for  both  sexes,  where  his  family  joined  him.  In  the 
fall  of  1 83 1  he  was  invited  to  Savannah  by  the  eldership  of 
the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  to  preach  with  a  view 
to  a  permanent  settlement.  He  preached  his  first  sermon 
before  that  people  December  25th,  183 1,  and  on  the  14th  of 
the  following  January,  received  a  unanimous  call  from  the 
Session  and  Trustees  to^become  their  pastor. 

This  he  accepted,  beginning  his  pastoral  labors  in  January, 
1832.  For  this  field  he  seemed  to  be  peculiarly  fitted,  by  his 
education,  manners,  piety,  experience,  temperament  and  habits 
of  industry.  His  charge  was  laborious  and  responsible,  and 
his  history  strikingly  illustrated  the  value  of  the  faithful 
minister  to  the  church  and  community,  and  the  burden  of 
cares  and  anxieties  devolving  upon  him.  His  congregation 
was  among  the  largest,  most  refined  and  intellectual  in  the 
Southern  States. 

His  ordinary  public  labors  consisted  of  three  public  services 
on  the  Sabbath,  a  weekly  lecture,  and  an  almost  invariable 
attendance  on  a  weekly  Congregational  prayer  meeting.  He 
rarely  accepted  of  the  summer  vacation  given  by  city  churches 
to  their  pastors,  and  for  seven  consecutive  years  he  never  left 
the  city  except  for  some  occasional  ministerial  call  abroad. 
Much  more  might  be  said  of  his  parochial  duties,  of  his  kind- 
ness to  those  afflicted  strangers  whose  sick-beds  he  found  out 
at  their  hotels  and  boarding.'houses,  acting  the  good  Samar- 
itan, as  well  as  directing  them  to  the  Great  Physician  of  souls. 
His  manners  were  winning  and  affectionate,  and  his  presence 
was  always  hailed  with  delight  by  the  old  and  young,  the 
exalted  and  humble.  He  never  seemed  to  forget  his  high 
profession — ^never  to  forget  that  his  work  was  to  serve  God 
and  humanity.  [From  the  biographical  sketch  prefixed  to 
Dr.  Preston's  Sermons,  edited  by  Samuel  K.  Talmage,  D.  D., 
President  of  Oglethorpe  University.] 


468  BOILING  SPHINGS — BEECH   ISLAND.  [1830-1810. 

Roiling  Springs. — On  a  former  pa^je  it  wa.s  said  that  "  tlie 
Rev.  Edward  Palmer,  of  Stoney  Creek  Church,  for  several 
years  visited  the  Boiling  Sprinj^s,  and  preached  and  adminis- 
tered the  sacraments  there."  When  this  began  is  not  indicated, 
but  he  continued  to  do  so  in  this  decade.  "  He  received 
me,"  .says  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Hay,"  into  the  church  at  that  place 
in  1837.  There  had  been  no  organization  at  this  time."  We 
are  left  to  understand  tliat  this  state  of  things  continued 
during  this  psriod.  On  page  363  of  our  first  volume,  from 
the  report  of  Elam  Potter,  a  missionary  sent  out  by  the 
Synod  of  New  Yerk  in  1767,  we  learn  that  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  Presbyterian  families  amiing  the  first  settlers  of  this 
region.  Though  seventy  years  had  passed  from  tiiat  time 
they  had  not  forgotten  the  religion  of  their  fithers,  and  en- 
couraged the  visits  of  ministers  of  the  gospel.  It  was  also 
visited  by  missionaries  sent  out  by  the  Missionary  Society  of 
South  Carolina,  but  no  churcli  was  yet  organized. 

Beech  Island. — This  church  succeeded  in  procuring  the 
services  of  Rev.  Henry  Reid,  then  residing  in  Augusta^  for 
half  his  time  for  a  year,  beginning  with  January,  1831.  On 
the  22d  of  July  was  commenced  a  three  days'  meeting,  during 
which  religion  was  greatly  revived,  and  twenty  persons  pro- 
fessed their  faith  in  Jesus  Christ.  In  August  another  three 
days'  meeting  was  held  in  continuance.  On  the  19th  of 
February,  1832,  Mr.  Reid  still  continuing  their  stated  supply, 
Samuel  Clark*  and  James  Briggs  were  ordained  tlders.  On 
the  25tli  of  March  there  were  three  more  additions  to  the 
church. 

On  the  1st  of  October,  1832,  the  elder  so  greatly  beloved, 
Dr.  Thos.  S.  Mills,  departed  this  life,  and  on  the  8th  of  No- 
vember, his  death  was  followed  by  that  of  James  Briggs.  On 
the  25th  of  January,  1833,  David  Ardis  was  elected  to  the 
eldership  and  set  apart  to  that  office  by  ordin  ition.  On  the 
3d  of  February  following,  the  pulpit  was  vacated  by  the  with- 
drawal of  Rev.  Henry  Reid   as   their  stated   supply.     For  a 

*Richard  Clark,  the  p:randfather  of  Mr.  Samuel  Clark,  of  Beech  Island, 
about  tlie  time  of  Braddook's  defeat  in  1775,  was  killed  with  probably 
three  of  his  children.  They  had  come  from  Pennsylvania  and  settled 
in  the  Calhoun  settlement  in  Abbeville  District.  There  was  a  general 
massacre.  The  bodies  of  the  slain  were  all  buried  in  one  srrave.  and 
rough  rocks  heaped  over  it.  The  spot  was  on  the  plantation  now 
owned  by  Mr.  John  Bull.  Mrs.  Clark  fled  to  Charleston  with  three 
children. 


1830-1840.]  BEECH   ISLAND.  469 

a  short  sea.son,  beginning  with  May,  1833,  they  were  supplied 
by  Rev.  Francis  R.  Gouldinj;,  who  had  been  recently  licensed. 
On  the  I  ith  of  September,  Theodore  M.  Dwight  was  engaged 
by  them  as  a  Stated  supply,  who  served  them  in  this  capacity 
till  November  15th,  1834.  Eleven  persons  were  added  to 
the  church  by  profession  of  their  faith  during  his  ministry. 

Tile  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  met  by  adjournment  at 
the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Beech  Island  on  the  2d  of  April, 
1835,  at  12  o'clock.  Mr.  Erastus  Hopkins,^  licentiate  of 
Montpelier  Association,  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  had  been 
taken  under  the  care  ef  tiie  Presbytery  on  the  12th  of  No- 
vember, 1834,  and  was  examined  at  the  time  on  the  subjects 
required  for  licensure,  and  had  answered  affirmatively  the 
questions  required  by  our  form  of  government  to  be  put  to 
c.mdidates  for  licensure,  and  was  received  as  a  licentiate  under 
the  care  of  Presbytery.  Against  this  action  the  Rev.  Elipha 
White  protested,  as  against  tlie  general  usage  of  the  Church 
and  the  articles  of  correspondence  between  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  General  Conven- 
tion of  Vermont.  Against  this  protest  an  elaborate  answer 
was  presented,  drawn  up  by  Rev.  Dr.  W.  A.  McDowell  and 
Messrs.  Smythe  and  Gildersleeve. 

A  call  from  the  Beech  Island  Church  to  Mr.  Erastus  Hop- 
kins to  become  their  pastor  was  presented  through  the  Pres- 
bytery to  Mr.  Hopkins,  and  was  accepted  by  him.  Having 
passed  successfully  the  usual  trials,  he  was  ordained  by  Pres- 
bytery and  installed,  and  was  solemnly  set  apart  by  prayer 
and  the  imposicion  of  hands.  Dr.  Palmer  gave  an  appropri- 
ate charge  to  the  pastor,  and  Mr.  Buist  to  the  people,  and 
Mr.  Hopkins  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  Presbytery. 

This  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved  on  the  8th  of  April, 
1837,  with  the  consent  of  Presbytery,  and  the  church  de- 
clared vacant. 

On  the  4lh  of  April,  1838,  a  letter  was  received  by  Pres- 
bytery from  Messrs.  Samuel  Clark  and  David  Ardis,  elders 
of  the  Church  of  Beech  Island,  requesting  that  Mr.  Thos. 
Hunscome  Legare,  just  received  as  a  licentiate  from  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony,  be  ordained,  with  the  view  of  labor- 
ing alternately  in  the  Church  of  Beech  Island  and  at  Aiken. 
To  this  measure  Presbytery  gave  its  assent,  and  Mr.  Legare 
was.  ordained  on  the  4th  of  April,  1^38,  the  ordination  taking 
place  in  the  lecture-room  of  the  Circular  Church.     His  labors 


470  HAMBtTEG.  [1830-1840. 

as  evangelist  or  stated  supply  terminated  the  i8th  of  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year.  Four  persons  had  been  added  to  the 
church  during  his  brief  ministry.  He  was  succeeded  as  stated 
supply  by  Donald  J.  Auld,  who  had  been  licensed  on  the  2d 
of  November,  1837,  and  was  solemnly  set  apart  to  the  work 
of  the  ministry  on  the  6th  of  January,  1830.  On  the  20th  of 
November  the  same  year,  he  was  dismissed  at  his  own  re- 
quest to  join  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  within  whose 
bounds  he  expected  to  reside.  Four  had  been  added  by  ex- 
amination during'  the  year,  and  the  total  membership  was 
torty-two 

Hamburg.— The  earliest  intimation  we  have  of  the  organi- 
zation of  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  this  place  is  found  in  the 
following  subscription  paper  which  has  fallen  into  our  hands, 
bearing  date  December  15th,  1831  : 

Hamburg,  15th  December,  1831. 

Those  citizens  of  Hamburg  that  belong  to  the  Presbyterian  order  of 
Christian  faith,  have  been  lately  organized  into  a  regular  church  under 
the  care  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Reid.  Tiie  inducements  to  this  measure 
appeared  to  us  to  be  conclusive  although  few  in  numbers  and  weak 
both  in  pecuniary  resources  and  in  worldly  influence.  Our  town  was 
without  any  supplies  of  a  preached  Gospel,  except  from  the  occasional 
labors  of  domestic  missionaries.  Professors  of  relisiiou  among  us  were 
obliged  to  attach  themselves  to  the  churches  in  Augusta,  under  very 
serious  disadvantages.  We  could  enjoy  very  little  of  that  social  inter- 
course that  Christians  should  cultivate  with  each  other,  and  especially 
with  members  of  the  same  church.  Indeed,  many  of  the  Augusta 
brethren  were  scarce  known  to  us  even  by  name,  while  the  incon- 
venient distance  of  the  church  in  Augusta  caused  our  attendance  (par- 
ticularly of  females  and  children)  on  public  worship,  even  on  the  Sab- 
bath day,  to  be  very  irregular ;  and  at  night  and  through  the  week,  utterly 
impracticable.  Besides  that  we  were  not  likely  to  feel  a  proper  zeal 
for  the  welfare  of  a  church  of  which  we  formed  a  very  small  minority, 
.  and  were  in  danger  of  growing  cold  and  neglectful  of  all  our  religious 
duties.  We  trust,  therefore,' that  our  efforts  will  be  crowned  with  a 
divine  blessing,  and  that  they  will  be  approved  of  and  aided  by  our 
(Christian  brethren 

The  only  building  in  our  little  town  now  used  as  a  place  for  public 
worship  is  very  uncomfortable,  not  designed  originally  or  at  all  adapted 
to  the  purpose  It  is,  in  fact,  an  old  storehouse,  for  the  use  of  which 
we,  in  common  with  every  other  denomination  of  Christians,  are  in- 
debted to  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Schultz.  The  Legislature  has  just  granted 
ground  for  the  erection  of  churches,  but  we  are  able  among  ourselves 
to  contribute  very  little  towards  a  suitable  building.  Without  designing 
to  be  at  all  extr.ivagant  in  the  size  or  style  of  our  church,  it  is  never- 
theless desirable  to  have  some  reference  to  the  probable  wants  of  our 
town  a  few  years  hence.  It  is  but  a  short  time  since  the  firxt  Presby- 
terian Church  was  organized  in  the  large  and  populous  District  of 
Edgefield.    Oars  is  the  second.    We  cannot,  therefore,  reasonably  ex- 


,1830-1840.]  HAMBURG.  ,  471 

pect  to  receive  much  assistance  in  a  community  where  Presbyterianism 
is  so  little  known,  especially  as  our  Baptist  brethren,  who  constitute 
the  prevailing  order  in  the  district,  are  also  endeavoring;  to  raise  means 
for  a  like  object.  Our  brethren  at  a  distance,  as  well  as  all  who  are 
friendly  to  the  cause  of  religion,  will  see  the  neijessity  we  are  under  of 
circulating  our  subscription  papers  beyond  the  limits  usual  for  such  an 
object ;  and  whatever  aid  is  accorded  us,  we  pray  that  a  gracious  God 
will  abundantly  bless  it,  both  in  the  giving  and  in  the  receiving. 

A  communication  wa.s  received  by  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery  on  the  6th  of  November,  1832,  from  the  town  of 
Hamburg,  stating  that  a  Presbyterian  Church  had  been  or- 
ganized in  that  place  on  the  6th  day  of  November,  1831,  and 
preferring  a  request  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of  this  Pres- 
bytery. (Minutes,  p.  132.)  This  request  was  granted.  B. 
.F.  Whitman,  Esq.,  represented  this  church  as  an  elder  at  the 
meeting  of  Presbytery  on  the  nth  of  November,  1834.  At 
this  meeting  he  appealed  to  that  body  for  their  counsel  and 
aid  in  the  erecting  of  a  house  of  worship,  and  in  supplying 
them  with  the  stated  ministry. 

Joseph  Milligan  and  George  Thew  were  elders  of  this 
church  in  1836.  The  church  edifice  vi^as  erected  of  brick,  bear- 
ing a  very  respectable  appearance  as  seen  from  the  exterior. 

The  church  however,  did  not  prosper,  and  on  the  2d  of 
December,  1838,  the  elder,  Joseph  Milligan,  made  the  follow- 
ing communication  to  the  Presbytery,  dated  at  Augusta  : 

"  Dear  Brethren:  The  destitution  of  the  church  at  Ham- 
burg, and  its  utter  inability  to  sustain  the  public  worship  of 
God,  together  with  the  fact  that  I  am  now,  and  have  been  for 
three  years  past  a  resident  of  this  place,  induce  me  to  make 
application  to  you  for  a  letter  of  dismission  to  unite  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  this  city.  I  am  now  the  only  remain- 
ing member- of  the  session,  and  consequently  cannot  be  re- 
lieved from  my  connection  with  the  Hamburg  Church,  but  by 
your  authority.  All  of  our  members  were  formally  notified 
last  summer  of  my  intention  to  make  application  to  you  for 
my  dismission,  and  several  of  them  availed  themselves  of  this 
notification,  applied  to  me  and  were  dismissed  for  the  purpose 
of  connecting  themselves  with  other  churches  of  our  denomi- 
nation. Four  now  remain  in  their  old  connection,  and  have 
not  expressed  to  me  any  intention  of  withdrawing  their 
names.  Yours  very  truly  and  affectionately, 

JOSEPH  MILLIGAN. 
To  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery." 


472  ORANGEBURG — ^I,  S.  K.  LEGAEB.  [1830-1840. 

Whereupon  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Church  of  Hamburg  be,  and  hereby  is 
dissolved  ;  and  that  the  remaining  members  in  good  standing 
be  directed  to  join  the  Presbyterian  Churches  that  are  most 
convenient  to  them." 

Tile  bouse  of  worship  had  perhaps  not  passed  out  of  the 
contractor's  hands.  It  was  .sold  at  a  public  sale  for  a  few 
hundred  dollars,  and  was  perverted  from  the  purpose  for 
which  it  was  designed.  [Minutes  of  C.  U.  Presbytery,  265, 
266.J 

Okan'geburg. — The  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  met  at 
Orangeburg  on  the  1st  of  May,  1835,  at  the  call  of  the  Mode- 
rator, Rev.  J.  A.  Mitchell,  to  take  measures  for  the  ordination- 
of  I.  S.  K.  I.egare,  and  also,  if  deemed  expedient,  to  instal 
him  over  a  church  to  be  formed  in  that  place. 

The  Presbytery  was  opened  by  a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  Benj. 
Gildersleeve  from  Isaiah,  Ivii  :  14:  "  Cast  \-e  up,  cast  ye  up, 
prepare  the  way,  take  up  the  stumbling  block  out  of  the 
way  of  my  people." 

On  the  2d  of  May  the  Presbytery  re-assen)bled  and  was 
opened  with  prayer.  "  It  being  understood  that  a  congrega- 
tion had  been  gathered  in  this  place  who  were  desirous  of 
enjoying  the  labours  of  Mr.  Legare,  and  that  they  were  in  the 
act  of  preparing  for  hini  a  formal  call,  to  be  presented 
through  the  Presbytery,  it  was  theiefore  thought  proper  mean- 
while, to  proceed  to  the  examination  of  Mr.  Logare,  with  the 
view  to  his  ordination,  should  the  call  be  presented,  and 
found  in  order,  and  be  accepted  by  him. 

Mr.  Legare  was,  accordingly,  examined  as  to  his  acquaint- 
ance with  experimental  religion,  as  to  his  knowledge  of  Phi- 
losophy, Theology,  Ecclesiastical  History,  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  Languages,  and  as  to  his  knowledge  of  the  Consti- 
tution, the  Rules  and  Principles  of  Government  and  Disci- 
pline of  the  Church.  In  these  parts  of  trial  the  e.xamination 
of  Mr.  Legare  was  sustained."  In  the  afternoon  a  sermon 
was  delivered  by  him  from  Rev.  iii. :  20,  which  had  been 
assigned  him,  which  w&s  sustained  as  the  concluding  part  of 
trial  preparatory- to  ordination." 

A  call  from  the  congregation  at  Orangeburg  was  now  laid 
before  Presbytery,  and  being  found  in  order,  it  was  presented 
to  Mr.  Legare,  who  signified  his  willingness  to  accept  it. 


1830-1840.]  ST.   AUGUSTINE.  473 

It  was  made  known  to  Presbytery  that  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
individuals,  males  and  females,  residents  of  Orangeburg  and 
vicinity,  were  desirous  of  being  constituted  into  a  church,  to 
be  called  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Orangeburg,  and  to  be 
taken  under  the  care  of  this  Presbytery." 

"  Whereupon  Presbytery  proceeded  to  examine  the  creden- 
tials of  such  as  were  members  of  other  churches,  and  to 
personal  e.xamination  of  such  applicants  as  had  not  been 
niembers  of  any  church;  and  bein;ij  satisfied  that  the  request 
of  the  petitioners  should  be  granted  for  their  own  good  and 
the  glory  of  God,  they  were  solemnly  received  into  the  Church 
of  Clirist  by  a  public  profession  of  their  faith,  and  set  apart 
as  a  distinct  church  by  prayer. 

The  church  thus  formed  proceeded  at  once  to  the  choice  of 
elders,  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  its  entire  organiza- 
tion, when  it  was  announced  that  Dr.  Thos.  A.  Elliott  and 
Dr.  Taylor  were  unanimously  chosen." 

On  Sabbath  morning  May  3d,  1835,  Mr.  Gildersleeve 
preached  from  2  Con,  v.  20.  Several  additional  members  were 
received  into  the  church  on  certificate  and  the  public  profes- 
sion of  their  faith ;  the  elders  elect  were  solemnly  set  apart 
to  theif  offices  as  rulers  in  the  church  of  Christ.  The  usual 
questions  were  then  put  by  the  Moderator  to  the  candidate 
for  ordination,  and  to  the  church,  which  being  satisfactorily 
answered,  I.  S.  K.  Legare  was  solemnly  ordained  to  the 
gospel  ministry  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of 
Presbytery,  when  Mr.  Mitchell  gave  a  charge  to  the  minister 
and  Mr.  Lanneau  to  the  people.  The  services  were  closed  by 
the  administration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  when  Presbytery 
adjourned." 

J.  A.  MITCHFXL,  Moderator. 
B.  GILDERSLEEVE,  Ckrk. 

St.  Augustine. — This  church  is  set  aown  in  the  statistical 
tables  as  vacant  in  1830,  with  a  membership  of  twenty -six, 
s]x  of  whom  had  been  added  during  the  year  1829-30.  -In 
1831  and  1833  as  having  a  stated  supply  and  thirty  members. 
In  1834  as  having  forty  members,  eight*  of  whom,  had  been 
added  during  the  j'ear. 

Their  slated  supply  was  Ebenezer  Hazard  Snowden,  a 
native  of  New  Jersey,  a  graduate  of  Hamilton  College.  N.  Y., 
a  student  at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary.     In  1836  it  is 


474  WILLIAMSBTTEG.  [1830-1840. 

represented  as  vacant,  with  a  membership  of  twenty.  In 
1837-38  as  having  a  stated  supply.  In  this  last  year  the 
stated  supply  was  Robt.  W.  Dunlap,  whose  name  occurs  in 
the  Princeton  catalogue  as  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  a 
graduate  of  that  institution.  This  arrangement  seems  to  have 
continued  in  1839. 

The  church  at  Mandarine  spoken  of  before  as  founded 
by  Dr.  McWhirr,  is  represented  as  vacant  in  the  year 
1836-37-38,  and  with  but  seven  members. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Williamsburg  Church. — On  a  former  page  we  have 
spoken  of  the  union  of  the  two  Churches  of  Bethel  and  Wil- 
liamsburg. It  was  an  occasion  of  great  interest.  The  two 
Churches  had  been  at  variance,  as  we  have  seen,  for  forty 
years.  Amid  much  weeping  the  hatchet  was  buried,  and  the 
old  quarrel  brought  to  a  happy  termination.  The- next  ques- 
tion was,  where  should  the  house  of  worship  for  the  united 
congregation  be  located  ?  After  some  discussion  it  was 
resolved  that  the  Bethel  Church  should  be  pulled  down  and 
the  new  church  built  near  the  site  of  the  old  one.  It  was 
wisely  suggested  that  the  location  should  be  at  the  village  of 
Kingstree,  but  the  suggestion  was  unfortunately  overruled. 
The  next  business  was  the  election  of  a  pastor  for  the  now 
united  congregation.  Mr.  Erwin  was  unanimously  elected, 
and  a  call  in  due  form  made  out  for  him.  He  commenced 
his  labors  the  same  fall,  and  continued  them  till  late  in  1832, 
when  he  returned  to  North  Carolina.  A  full  account  of  his 
life  and  its  termination  may  be  learned  from  the  following 
note,  copied  from  the  "  Philadelphia  Presbyterian,"  and  from 
the  minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Arkansas,  within  whose 
bounds  he  died  : 

The  Rev.  John  M.  Erwin  was  born  in  Mecklenburg  County,  North 
Carolina,  in  the  year  1780.  His  parems  were  exemplary  members  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  his  father,  Thomas  Erwin,  was  for 
many  years  a  ruling  elder. 

Nothing  special  is  known  |0f  his  first  years,  though  it  is  believed  that 
he  became  pious  in  early  life.  He  commenced  a  course  of  classical 
studies  with  si  view  to  the  Christian  ministry  about  the  year  1810, 
which  he  prosecuted  for  sometime  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  James 


1830-1840.]  REV.  JOHN  M.  EEWIN.  475 

Wallace,  pastor  of  Providence  Church,  and  afterwards  under  the  care 
of  the  Kev.  John  M.  Wilson,  pastor  of  Rocky  River  Church.  He  then 
entered  Athens  College,  Georgia,  where  he  graduated  about  the  year 
1816. 

Desirous  of  becoming  a  workman  not  needing  to  be  ashamed  and  of 
being  able  rightly  to  divide  the  word  of  truth,  he  entered  Hampden 
Sydney  College,  where  he  pursued  the  study  of  theology  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  profound  and  venerable  Dr  Hoge. 

In  1818  he  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Hanover;  and  the  next  year  he  became  pastor  of  the  Churches  of 
Bethany  and  Concord,  in  Iredell  County,  North  Carolina.  Here  he 
remained  till  the  year  1829,  when  he  removed  to  Williamsburg  District, 
South  Carolina,  where  he  ministered  to  the  Church  at  Indiantown  and 
Bethel. 

In  1834  iie  returned  to  North  Carolina,  and  preached  to  the  Churches 

of  Concord,  Prospect,  and  Centre,  till  1839,  when  he  set  out  with  his 

,  family  for  Arkansas,  which  he  well  knew  offered  no  inducemients  to 

any  who  were  not  willing  to  endure  hardships  and  self-denial  in  the 

service  of  their  Master. 

Though  the  period  of  his  abode  in  the  new  field  of  his  labors  was 
short,  it  was  sufficiently  long  to  impress  all  who  formed  his  acquaint- 
ance with  a  deep  sense  of  his  worth.  He  spent  the  first  few  months 
after  his  arrival  in  Arkansas  Township,  in  the  northern  part  of  Pulaski 
County.  Thence  he  removed  to  Taylor's  Bay,  .Jackson  County,  on 
White  River.  There,  by  his  persevering  exertions,  during  the  few 
months  he  lived,  he  had  collected  a  sufficient  number  of  persons  to 
form  a  church,  and  had  appointed  a  time  for  its  organization.  But  He, 
whose  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts,  and  whose  ways  are  not  our 
ways,  saw  proper  to  call  him  to  a  higher  sphere  of  action  before  the 
object  of  his  desires  was  accomplished.  He  died  on  the  4th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1840, -aged  fifty-one  years. 

While  it  is  far  from  our  intention  to  eulogize  the  dead,  truth  impels 
us  to  say  that  our  departed  brother  possessed  many  rare  and  inesti- 
mable traits  of  character,  over  all  of  which  kindness  and  courteousness 
evidently  predominated. 

His  intellectual  capacities  were  of  that  class  which,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  correct  training  and  sanctifying  grace,  generally  accomplishes 
most  for  the  honor  of  human  nature  and  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer. 
His  mind  was  clear,  judicious,  and  well  balanced,  neither  fettered  by 
apathy,  nor  carried  away  by  excitement.  His  education,  as  has  been 
perceived  from  the  foregoing  remarks,  was  not  hurried  nor  superficial, 
but  sound  and  correct. 

In  the  pulpit  his  object  was  not  to  win  the  admiration  of  his  dying 
fellow  mortals  by  an  exhibition  of  himself ;  but  to  impress  their  minds 
with  deep  reflections  of  their  own  condition  as  lost  sinners,  requiring 
above  all  things  mercy  and  forgiveness  through  the  atoning  blood  and 
perfect  righteousness  of  a  crucified  Saviour.  Consequently  his  dis- 
cburses were  plain  and  practical,  yet  on  some  occasions  very  forcible 
and  eloquent  > 

A  short  time  before  his  death  he  preached  in  the  town  of  B ,  in 

the  north  of  ArKansas,  where  there  had  rarely  been  any  Presbyterian 
preaching.  The  next  day,  an  elderly  lady,  who  had  not  been  present, 
addressed  an  intelligent  lady  who  had  heard  him,  in  these  words, 
"  Well,  I  suppose  Mr.  Erwin  preached  you  John  Calvin  and  predesti- 
nation, yesterday."     "  No,  madam,"  replied  the  other,  '"  he  preached  us 


476  KEV.  JOHN  M.  EKWIN.  [1830-1840. 

Jesns  Clirist  and  him  crucified."    This  was  a  correct  description  of  his 
prearhinjt. 

Durins  his  conneftion  with  ITampden  Sydney  College,  he  spent  a 
part  of  h's  time  giving  instructiou  in  one  of  the  wealthy  and  distin- 
guished families  in  the  vicinity.  Here,  as  he  has  told  the  writer  of  this 
sketch,  lie  often  met  with  John  Kandolpli,  William  Wirt,  and  otliers 
of  that  class,  and  was  greatly  edified  by  their  intellectual  conversation, 
although  the  sentiments  were  sometimes  directly  at  variance  with  his 
own. 

On  one  occasion  he  remembered  that  their  remarks  turned  upon  Pres- 
byterianism  and  Presbyterian  ministers  The  latter  were  denoun  ed 
by  the  majority  as  morose  and  illiberal  bigots,  and  the  evidence  was 
summed  up  by  asserting  that  John  Calvin  had  burned  Servetus.  Wil- 
liam Wirt  had  little  to  .say  until  they  concluded.  He  then  began  in 
one  of  his  pec\iliarly  happy  strdns,  attracting  every  eye,  and  capti- 
vating every  heart  In  speaking  of  Presbyterian  ministers  he  used  the 
names  of  Drs.  Rice  and  Alexander,  and  concluded  by  saying,  "Gentle- , 
men,  you  are  mistaken  ;  Presbyterian  ministers  are  not  bigots.  I  hey 
are  intelligent,  liberal,  and  high-minded  gentlemen,  the  ornamentsof 
our  land — and  as  for  CVlvin,  I  have  studied  his  history,  and  if  there 
was  any  blame  to  be  attached  to  hiin  in  the  case  of  Servetus,  it  was  the 
fault  of  the  age  in  V)Uicli  he  lived,  and  not  of  the  man." 

It  was  doubtless,  in  part,  owing  to  his  intercourse  with  society  of  the 
above  description  that  he  had  acquired,  unconsciously  to  himself,  that 
ease  and  affability  of  manners  for  which  he  was  so  remarkable  The 
first  time  the  writer  saw  him,  he  was  occupying  temporarily,  with  Jiis 
family,  a  dwelling  of  the  most  humble  description.  Never  before  was 
he  so  struck  with  the  aspect  of  real  dignity  in  a  log  cabin,  in  a  forest. 
His  manners  would  have  done  honor  to  a  palace. 

As  might  be  expected  from  his  holy  and  exemplary  life,  his  last  end 
was  peace.  When  he  found  death  approaching,  he  had  his  family 
called  around  his  bed  He  requested  a  portion  of  Scripture  to  be  read, 
on  which  he  made  appropriate  remarks — addressing  each  one  particu- 
larly, telling  them  that  the  doctrines  he  had  long  believed  and  preached 
to  others  were  now  his  consolation  and  support  as  he  was  passing 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  He  then  commended  them 
all  to  God  in  prayer.  A  short  time  after  this  his  emancipated  spirit 
as-ended,  as  we  doubt  not,  to  join  the  general  assembly  and  Church  of 
the  first  born  in  the  presence  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 

J.  W.  MOORE. 

The  next  minister  was  Alexander  Mitchell,  a  native  of 
Argyleshire,  Scotland.  Dr.  IVIcLean,  of  Cheraw,  informed  me, 
says  Rev.  James  A.  Wallace,  from  whom  wc  quote,  that  he 
had  examined  his  credentials  and  that  he  was  only  a  licen- 
tiate. And,  as  appears  very  unfavorable,  he  passed  himself 
for  an  ordained  minister.  Rev.  D.  McQueen,  now  Dr. 
McQueen,  "informed  me,"  says  Mr.  Wallace,  "that  Mr. 
Mitchell  was  a  classmate  of  Robt.  Pollock.  He  was  here 
only  a  few  weeks  when  he  died.  Coming  during  the  sickly 
season  he  imprudently  went  out  to  witnes.s  a  deer  chase  and 
took  the  fever,  which  terminated    his  life.     His  friends  were 


1830-1840.]         INDIANTOWN — HOPEWELL,  PEE  DEE.  477 

written  to  in  Scotland,  but  no  answer  was  received  from  tliem. 
He  lies  iiit.irred  nsar  Mr.  Covert,  having  died  Njvemaer 
4tli.  1832. 

Their  next  minister  was  the  Rev.  John  McEwen,  during 
whose  brief  ministry  there  was  a  considerable  revival  of  re- 
ligion.     He  died  on  the  31st  of  May,  1833. 

Geo.  H.  W.  Ptlrie,  (now  D.  D.,  and  of  Montgomery,  Ala.,) 
came  next  in  succession.  He  was  a  native'  of  Ciiarlestqn,  a 
graduate  of  the  College  of  that  city  and  of  the  class  of  1834 
at  tlie  Theological  Seminary  in  Columbia.  He  was  licensed 
by  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  on  the  loth  of  April, 
1834,  dismissed  to  Harmony  Presbytery  in  April,  1835,  and 
ordained  and  installed  on  the  19th  of  April,  183;,  having 
begun  preaching  as  a  candid  ite  in  December,  1834.  Rev. 
]^J■.  Cousar  presided  at  his  ordination.  Rev.  R.  VV.  B.iiley 
preached  the  sermon  and  Rev.  R.  W.  James  d-livered  the 
charges  to  the  pastor  and  people.  He  was  released  from  this 
pastoral  charge  on  the  23d  of  April,  1836.  Tiie  congrega- 
tion then  addressed  a  call,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1837,  to  Rev. 
James  Lewers,  pastor  of  the  Wappetaw  Church,  who  was 
dismissed  in  due  form  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harfnony  by 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  but  it  appears  from  the  subse- 
quent action  of  Presbytery  that  he  did  not  become  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body.  On  the  20th  of  November,  1839,  he  was 
dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  having  never 
presented  his  former  paper  to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony. 
[Minutes  Presbytery  of  Ciiarleston  Union,  p.  288] 

The  ahove  ficts  Iiave  been  chiefly  taken  from  the  corres- 
pondence of  the  present  writer  with  James  A.  Wallace,  sub- 
sequently pastor  and    historian  of  the  Williamsburg  Church. 

Indiaxtown  Church. — The  Rev.  Andrew  G.  Peden,  who 
had  been  a  student  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia 
was  ordained  on  the  21st  of  April,  1835,  and  took  charge  ot 
this  church,  which  he  retained  until  the  4th  of  April,  1839, 
when  the  pastoral  rehition  was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent 
by  act  of  Presbytery,  and  Mr.  Peden  became  pastor  of  the 
neighboring  church  of  Williamsburg. 

Hopewell  (Pee  Dek.) — At  the  end  of  the  last  decade  the 
Rev.  N.  R.  Morgan  was  serving  this  church  in  connection 
with  that  (if  D<irlington.  This  ari-angement  continued  till 
,1832  when  he  removed  to  Alabama.  During  his  pastorate 
several  camp  meetings  were  held,  churches  were  revived  and 


478  HOPEWBI.L,   PEE  DEE.  [1830-1840. 

some  eighteen  or  twenty  members  were  added  to  each. 
Early  in  the  year  1834,  the  Rev.  Thos.  R.  Engh'sh  was  chosen 
pastor  of  Hopewell  Church.  He  was  ordained  and  installed 
on  the  2d  of  June,  1833,  and  held  this  office  for  two  years. 
After  Mr.  English,  Rev.  Kufus  Bailey  and  Rev.  Uriah  Pow- 
ers were  occasional  and  alternate  supplies  till  the  year  1836, 
when  Rev.  Julius  Dubose  was  elected  pastor  and  held  this 
ofifice  for  two  years,  when  the  failure  of  his  health  compelled 
him  lo  relinquish  the  charge.  In  January,  1838,  the  church 
gave  a  call  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Brown,  of  Robeson  County,  N. 
C,  who  remained  the  faithful  and  beloved  pastor  of  tliis 
church  and  congregation  for  more  than  twenty  years. 

We  have  spoken  before  of  the  early  elders  of  this  church. 
In  September,  1832,  elder  Alexander  Gregg  died,  having 
served  five  years,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1833 
Samuel  E.  Wilson,  James  McCown  and  William  T.  Wilson, 
were  elected  Rulmg  Elders.  Elder  William  T.  Wilson  died 
in  1 856,  having  served  thirty-three  years,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
two,  universally  loved  and  respected,  a  prince  among  his 
brethren,  a  pure,  good,  wise  and  holy  man ;  as  an  elder,  ten- 
der, parental ;  modest,  yet  elevated ;  cautious  to  reticence, 
yet  bold,  strong,  firm  and  profoundly  sympathetic  ;  tall,  come- 
ly, commanding.  Elder  Samuel  E.  Wilson  removed  in  1836 
to  the  Church  of  Mount  Zion,  in  Sumter  District,  where, 
with  an  exemplary  piety  and  patriachal  dignity  he  long  served 
his  generation.  It  was  during  the  office  of  these  men  and  the 
pastorate  of  Rev.  T.  R.  English  that  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
was  almost  rent  in  twain  by  the  party  strife  well  known  as 
the  days  of  Nullification,  when  the  quiet  of  the  church  itself 
was  greatly  disturbed.  From  the  close  of  1834,  when  the 
Rev.  T.  R.  English  closed  his  labors  at  tjopewcll,  to  the 
beginning  of  1836,  during  the  ministry  of  Urias  Powers,  no 
change  took  place  in  the  eldership.  During  the  pastorate  of 
Rev.  Julius  J.  Dubose,  commencing  July,  1836,  Col.  Saml. 
Bigham,  one  of  the  ruling  elders  of  this  church,  emigrated  to 
Alabama,  and  about  this  time  his  brother,  Daniel  Bigham, 
died,  thus  making  a  vacancy  in  the  eldership  which  was  filled 
in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  by  the  election  of  William  Gregg, 
William  Britt,  John  McClenaghan,  and  James  McPherson. 
William  Britt  and  William  Gregg  both  died  in  1837.*    It  was 

*  Mr.  Gregg  was  father  of  Rev.  Geo.  Cooper  Gregg,  and  grandfather 
.  of  Rev.  W.  A.  Gregg.     Mr.  Britt  was  grandfather  of  Rev.;  MarionBritt, 
now  (1878)  of  Atlanta,  Geo. 


1830-184(>.]  DARLINGTON.  479 

dnr'ng  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Julius  J.  Dubose  that  Hopewell 
held  her  last  camp  meeting,  in  the  year  1836.  In  1839 
•Elder  Capt.  John  Gregg  died,  and  towards  the  close  of  that 
year  Hector  Cameron,  Elijah  Gregg  and  Levi  Gregg  were 
elected  elders.     [MS.  of  D.  E.  Frierson.] 

Darlington. — We  have  .seen,  in  our  history  of  the  last  de- 
cade, that  the  Rev.  R.  N.  Morgan,  a  member  of  Harmony 
Presbytery,  was  chosen  their  minister  to  serve  tliis  church  as 
.stated  supply,  in  connection  with  Hopewell  Church,  which 
relation  continued  until  the  close  of  the  year  1832,  when  he 
removed  to  the  State  of  Alabama. 

In  1832,  when  the  reviving  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
were  diffused  generally  throughout  the  State,  the  village  of 
Darlington  and  vicinity  shared  largely  in  the  gracious  visita- 
tion. Large  accessions,  for  the  population,  were  made  to  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  which  laid  the  foundation  for  its  present 
prosperity.  Whilst  the  fathers  and  mothers  have  fallen 
asleep  and  are  removed  to  "the  General  Assembly  and  church 
of  the  firstborn  which  are  written  in  heaven,"  their  sons  and 
daughters  have  taken  their  places,  occupy  their  seats,  and 
are  preparing,  it  is  hoped,  to  meet  their  pious  kindred  in  the 
church  above. 

In  1833,  the  Rev.  R.  W.  Bailey  was  elected  stated  supply. 
In  this  connection  he  served  the  church  two  years,  to  th,e 
edification  of  its  members  and  the  general  advancement  of  its 
interests.  Messrs.  John  DuBose  and  Robert  Killin  were 
added  to  the  eldership.  Subsequently,  September  14,  1835, 
the  session  was  enlarged  by  the  ordination,  as  ruling  elders, 
of  Messrs.  John  E.  McKaskiil  and  S.  Wilds  DuBose. 

In  1835,  the  Rev.  Urias  Powers,  a  member  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Harmony,  was  chosen  stated  supply,  in  connection 
with  Hopewell  church.  About  this  time  the  church  received 
an  accession  of  strength  and  numbers  from  the  Williamsburg 
Chiirch,  in  the  persons  of  W.  E.  James,  Samuel  James,  and 
Ezra  Green,  with  their  families  and  servants.  W.  E.  James 
was  set  apart  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder  April  3d,  1836. 
Mr.  Powers  continued  his  connection  with'  the  church  for 
two  years  with  acceptance  and  profit  to  the  congregation,  and 
with  equal  fidelity  in  co-operating  with  the  session  in  main- 
taining the  discipline  and  purity  of  the  church. 

In  January,  1838,  the  Rev.  George  W.  Petrie   was   chosen 
.  stated  supply.     He  served  the  church  one  year,  during  which 


480  CONCOKD — SUMTERVILLB.  [1830-1840. 

time  he  preached  every  alternate  Sabbritli  to  the  colored 
popul.itidn — hiving  two  stations,  the  on:i  at  Law's  place,  the 
other  at  Green's. 

During  the  following  two  years  the  church  enjoyed  tem- 
porarily the  ministerial  services  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Brown, 
and  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Auld. 

A  pastoral  cill  was  made  out  for  the- services  of  Mr.  Auld, 
who  declined  thi  acceptance  of  it  in  f.ivor  of  a  sim  lir  call 
tendered  to  him  by  the  Harmony  Cliurch,  in  the  forks  of 
Black  River.  (MS.  of  Rev.  VVm.  Brearley.) 

Concord  Church  (Sumter  District). — We  iiave  not  at 
present  the  means  of  ascertaining  tlie  condition  of  this  church 
in  the  earlier  years  of  chi.s  decadj.  The  last  notici  Wi  have 
seen  of  it  gave  it  a  membership  of  eighteen.  Tliis  wis  in 
1828,  when  it  was  represented  as  vacant.  In  1837  '*  was 
vacant,  with  a  inembc-rsliip  of  forty-six.  Under  the  mmistry 
of  D(5nald  McQueen,  D.  D.,  its  membership  had  increased  to 
sixty-seven,  more  than  twic*  tlie  membership  of  Sumterville 
Ciuirch  at  that  time.  In  1839  it  numbered  sjventy-two  mem- 
bers in  communion. 

SuMTERViLLE  Presbvteri.an  Church. — In  the  year  1830 
the  first  Presbyterian  Church  was  erected  upon  a  lot  then 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  but  now  in  the  heart  of  the 
tpwn.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  formal  dedication 
tht-reof,  but  the  first  usi  made  of  it  appe.irs  to  hive  been  the. 
holding  of  a  tiiree  days' meeting,  and  communion,  and  the 
admission  of  twelve  persons  as  mem'iers  of  the  church, 
among  them,  tiie  late  \A^m.  M.  DjLorms,  who  was  soon  after 
promoted  to  the  eldership  and  served  for  nearly  forty  years, 
revered  and  beloved  Dy  all  who  knew  him.  This  building 
continued  to  be  used  until  185  ,  when  tiie  present  edifice  on 
tiie  adjoining  lot  vvas  erected  and  the  old  building  sold  to  the 
Sons  of  Temp'er.ince.  Shortly  after  the  war  the  congregation 
obtained  a  reconveyance,  and  converted  it  at  considerable 
expense  into  the  present  commodious  parsonajje. 

The  first  regular  session  of  Harmony  Presbytery  in  Sum- 
terville  was  held  in  this  church  in  the  latter  part  (including 
4th  Sabbath)  of  November,  1831.  The  following  entry  is 
found  in  the  sessional  records;  "183:! — 1st  S.ibbath  in 
May,  James  H.  Thornwell  w.is  adui'ted  unon  his  fiith  'and 
experience  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Concord, 
but  attached  himself  as  a  member  oi  this  church." 


1830-1840.]  SUMTERVILLB.  481 

In  June,  Capt.  James  Caldwell  and  Wm.  M.  Delorme  were 
nominated  by  the  session  to  the  congregation  as  additional 
elders.  The  former,  consenting,  was  unanimously  elected 
and  ordained  ;  the  latter,  however,  requested  further  time  for 
consideration. 

In  November,  Mr.  Samuel  Weir  was  examined  and  received 
as  a  member,  and  at  the  communion  season  following  in  De- 
cember, "  he  took  the  covenant  of  thechurch  and  was  pub- 
licly received  by  the  right  hand  of  fellowship."  As  nothing 
is  said  of  his  baptism,  it  is  presumed  that  he  had  been  pre- 
viously baptized.  This  entry  would,  therefore,  indicate  that 
the  custom  of  this  church  was  then  different  from  what  it 
now  is  with  us  and  in  the  churches  generally,  as  to  the  mode 
of  receiving  new  members. 

In  January,  1833,  Rev.  John  McEwen  resigned  his  charge  of 
the  church,  and  died  on  31st  of  May  thereafter,  the  Rev.  R.  W. 
Bailey  commenced  his  labors  as  a  supply  in  the  church, 
preaching  every  other  Sabbath  for  about  one  year,  as  it  would 
appear  from  the  records.  Mr.  Bailey  was  a  Northern  man, 
who  came  to  South  Carolina  about  the  year  1827,  and  was 
the  principal  of  the  Rice  Creek  Springs  Military  school  in 
Richland  District,  which  was  broken  up  principally  because 
public  sentiment,  engendered  by  the  nullification  embroglio, 
was  averse  to  Northern  men  being  in  charge  of  a  military 
school  in  South  Carolina. 

In  the  winter  of  1833-34,  Messrs.  John  Knox  and  James 
Caldwell,  elders,  with  their  own  and  other  families  of  the  con- 
gregation, removed  to  Alabama.  This  diminution  of  mem- 
bers, together  with  asperity  ol  feeling  between  members, 
caused  by  difference  of  political  opinion,  seem  to  have  thrown 
a  burden  on  the  church  which  nearly  extinguished  its  vitality. 
There  is  no  record  of  any  baptism,  session  meeting,  or  com- 
munion during  the  year  1835,  the  last  entry  being  of  a  bap- 
tism in  1834  by  Rev.  Leighton  Wilson.  There  was  no 
communion  held  during  1834,  1835  and  1837,  and  only  one  in 
1836,  and  not  a  single  person  admitted  to  membership  during 
1834,  183s,  and  1836,  and  not  till  September,  1837,  when 
Mrs.  Clarissa  McQueen  was  admitted  on  certificate  from 
Cheraw.  The  records  were  not  even  sent  up  to  Presbytery 
for  approval  between  November,  1834,  and  April,  1837. 
■The  only  light  during  this  dark  period  appears  to  have  been 
that  Rev.  Julius  J.  DuBose  supplies  the  church  at  intervals 
31 


482  HARMONY  CHTTECH.  [1830-1840. 

for  some  montlis,  anrl  that  Wm.  M.  DeLorme  and  Anthony- 
White  were  elected  and  ord;iinecl  elders  in  1835.  Rev. 
Donald  McQueen  became  pastor  and  look  charge  of  the 
church  in  January,  1S38,  giving  to  il  half  of  his  time,  and  the 
other  half  to  C<mcord  Cliurch,  J  B.  White,  W.  M.  DeLorme, 
and  A.  White  being  tiie  elders,  the  latter  clerk  of  session. 
At  this  time  tiie  roil  shows  twenty-eight  white  members  and 
and  one  colored  ;  the  latter  (Carolina)  is  the  oldest  living 
member  and  the  only  colored  member  now  (1876)  in  com- 
munion with  the  church. 

History  OF  Harmony  Church,  now  a  part  of  Manning 
Church. — TIk'  church  of  Harmony  was  organized  in  the 
montli  of  April,  A.  D.  1830,  with  twenty-two  members,  and 
two  ruling  elders,  all  white  persons. 

The  causes  which  led  to  its  organization  werethe?e:  The 
labors  of  the  Rev.  John  RlcEwen,  who  preached  at  that  time 
in  the  Fork  of  Black  River. as  a  missionary,  proving  very 
acceptable  to  the  people,  and  there  not  being  any  Presbyterian 
Church  convenient  to  them,  and  they  beinj;  anxious  to  secure 
to  themselves  and  their  children  the  privileges  of  the  regular 
ministrations  of  the  woril,  it  was  determined  b\'  thfc  blessing 
of  Almighty  God,  to  form  themselves  into  a  church,  which 
was  accordingly  done,  under  the  instrumentality  of  Rev. 
John  McEvven,  and  the  church  vvas  taken  under  the  care  of 
the  Pre.'-bytery  of  Harmony  at  its  next  stated  meeting  there- 
after. Mr.  McKwen  continued  to  preach  regularl\'  to  them, 
in  conjunction  with  the  Church  of  Sumterville  until  his  re- 
moval to  the  church  above,  in  the  month  of  June,  A.  D.  1833' 

The  labors  of  this  devoted  servant  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
were  greatly  ble.ssed,  and  a  number  of  white  and  colored 
persons  were  added  to  the  church  under  hi;;  ministry. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  McKwen  the  church  was  unsupplied, 
except  by  occasional  visits  of  neighboring  pastors,  until  tiie 
spring  of  A.  D.  1834,  at  which  time,  in  connection  with  the 
church  of  Concord,  they  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  services 
of  t!'e  Rev.  Francis  R.  Goulding.  Mr.  Gouldiug  left  them  at 
the  end  of  the  \'ear,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Philip 
Pierson  in  the  following  spring,  viz..  A.  D.  1835.  Mr.  Pierson 
preached  for  them  until  June,  1837,  at  which  time  he  left 
tiiem. 

They  were  then  unsupplied  except  by  occasional  visitors, 
until  the  fall  of  the  ensuing  year,  1838,  at  which  time  they 


1830-1840.]      ,  BRTTINGTON.  483 

employed    tlie    Rev.  Julius    L.    Rartlett,  who  remained  with 
them  until  the  f.ill  of  the  next  year,  1839. 

Bruington. — Thi.s  church  in  connection  with  Midway,  con- 
tinued to  he  the  pastoral  charge  of  Rev.  John  Cousar.  The 
total  membership  of  Midway  being,  in  1830,  185,  and  of 
Bruington,  186,  184  and  147,  in  [831  ;  204  and  146  in 
1832;  200  and  142  in  1833;  160  and  no  in  1834.  In 
1837  the  pastoral  relation  between  father  Cousar  and  these 
churches  was  dissolved  at  his  own  request,  on  account  of 
the  infirmity  of  age,  by  tlie  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at  its 
meeting  in  Indiantown  Churcii,  and  he  died  the  following 
autumn,  iiaving  been  pa.stor  of  these  churches  for  26  or  27 
years.  F.ither  Cousar  had  long  been  an  active  and  zealous 
minister  of  Christ.  He  had  been  the  stated  clerk  of  the 
Presbytery  of  Hirmony  from  its  organization  in  March,  1810 
until  October,  1836,  when  he  resigned  the  office  which  he 
had  filled  so  well.  He  was  gratly  disturbed  by  the  division 
of  the  church  which  was  about  to  be  effected,  and  resisted  it 
to  the  last.  He  communicated  his  views  at  length,  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  Presbytery  from  Midway,  Sumter  District, 
South  Carolina,  April  5th,  1837,  arguing  strongly  against  the 
attempted  division.  The  Presbytery  meeting  at  Sumtervilie, 
in  November  of  the  same  year,  adopted  the  following  minute: 
"  The  Presbytery  being  duly  informed  of  the  death  of  Rev. 
John  Cousar,  would  express  their  sense  of  the  respect  due 
to  the  memory  of  the  deceased.  He  had  become  the  last 
survivor  of  his  brethren,  who  originally  composed  this  body, 
and  for  several  )ears  was  regarded  the  father  of  this  Presby- 
tery. Having  almost  fulfilled  the  measure  of  three  score 
years  and  ten,  he  had  been  indefatigable  in  his  attendance 
upon  the  meetings  of  this  judicatory,  served  it  with  great 
fidelity,  preserved  an  unblemished  moral  character,  and  was 
revered  for  piety  and  usefulness."  [MS.  Minutes,  Vol.  H, 
193.]  Mr.  Cousar  was  a  man  of  marked  character,  not  with- 
out many  innocent  singularities,  but  with  all  this  greatly 
beloved. 

Bruington  church  remained  without  a  pastor  and  the  stated 
administrations  of  the  gospel,  until  the  autumn  of  1838,  when 
it  made  out  a  call  for  the  Rev.  Julius  L.  Bartlett,  a  minister 
of  Harmony  Presbytery.  Presbvtery  placed  this  call  in  his 
hands,  and  at  his  request  allowed  him  to  retain  it  for  conside- 
ration  until  its  next  regular  meeting.     Soon  after  this  Mr. 


484  MIDWAY — SALEM  (b.  E.)  [1830-1840. 

Bartlett  comrnenced  preaching  regularly  in  this  church,  giving 
half  his  time  to  it,  but  he  did  not  remain  long  for  he  soon 
after  left  the  church,  and  also  this  Presbytery.  At  that  time 
the  church  of  Bruington  was  composed  of  about  twenty 
members  and  two  ruling  elders. 

The  Rev.  Philip  Pierson  was  called  to  the  Midway  Church 
as  its  pastor,  in  October,  1837,  and  installed  May  10,  1838. 
Mr.  Pierson  was  really  the  first  pastor,  ecclesiastically  speak- 
ing, Midway  ever  had.  Mr.  Cousar  was  never  regularly  in- 
stalled, though  indicated  as  pastor  in  the  statistical  tables. 

Salem  (B.  R.) — The  Rev.  Robert  Wilson  James  continued 
the  pastor  of  this  church  through  this  decade,  a  man  greatly 
beloved  by  his  flock  and  by  all  who  knew  him,  a  man  wise 
in  counsel,  judicious  in  action,  revered  by  his  people,  whose 
labors  were  blessed,  not  only  to  the  white  portion  of  his  flock, 
but  to  the  numerous  band  of  colored  people  who  waited  on 
his  ministry.  I'o  his,  efforts  is  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Columbia  greatly  indebted  for  those  funds  raised  by  his  grat- 
uitous labors,  which  so  largely  contributed  to  its  support  at 
this  period  of  its  history,  while  as  yet  it  had  little  or  no 
endowment. 

Mount  Zion  (Sumter.) — As  has  been  intimated,  the  Rev. 
John  Harrington  ministered  to  this  Church  with  great  accept- 
ance till  the  failure  of  his  health  in  1834.  In  that  year  the 
Rev.  William  Moultrie  Reid,  a  member  of  the  first  graduating 
class  in  our  Columbia  Seminary,  was  invited  to  preach,  and 
took  charge  as  the  first  minister  ever  installed  over  the 
Church.  His  ministry  was  one  of  great  faithfulness,  and  he 
endeared  himself  greatly  to  his  people  by  his  labors,  both 
public  and  private.  His  labors  were  greatly  appreciated  by 
the  colored  people  of  his  charge.  The  membership  of  this 
Church  arose  to  the  number  of  200  during  this  decade,  but 
the  larger  portion  of  these  must  have  been  blacks. 

Chesterfield  District. — We  find  the  Rev.  John  McFar- 
land  ministering  in  1832  to  the  Churches  of  Pine  Tree,  Rocky 
Ford,  Pisgah  and  Lebanon.  The  Postoffice  address  of  Rev. 
John  McFarland  continues  still  to  be  Chesterfield  C.  H., 
South  Carolina,  but  there  are  no  statistics  of  the  churches 
above  mentioned  in  the  minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  or 
Synod.  These  people  continued  to  worship  the  God  of  their 
fathers,  to  read  their  Gaelic  Bibles,  to  chant  their  Gaelic 
Psalms,  and  some  of  the   elder  of  them  to  retain  in  memory 


1830-1840.]         NEWHOPE— BISHOPVILI.E — CHEEAW.  485 

the  old  traditions  of  the  brooks   and  braes  of  their   native 
Scotland,  or  the  Isle  of  Skye,  from  which  some  of  them  came. 

Newhope. — Difficulties  arose  in  Mount  Zion  Church  grow- 
ing out  of  the  location  of  their  new  house  of  worship.  This 
led  to  the  organization  of  New  Hope  Church,  which  took 
place  on  the  6th  of  January,  1831.  At  Old  Mount  Zion 
Church  Newhope  was  organized,  with  22  members.  Wm. 
McCutchen  and  Wm.  Shaw,  elders.  [Minutes  of  Harmony 
Presbytery  at  Hopewell,  April  7,  1831.]  This  organization 
did  not  continue  long.     It  was  merged  into  that  of 

BiSHOPViLLE,  which  was  organized  by  a  committee  of  Pres- 
bytery in  the  fall  of  1838,  with  twenty-two  members  and  four 
elders,  whose  names  were  J.  W.  English,  Robt.  Commander, 
James  McCallum  and  Wm.  McCutchen.  The  members  that 
constituted  the  Church  at  its  organization  were  partly  the 
members  of  the  New  Hope  Church  [alias  Old  Mount  Zion), 
which  became  extinct  when  this  was  organized — and  partly 
they  were  from  Salem  (Black  River),  who  had  purchased 
lands  in  this  vicinity  and  moved  up  from  that  congregation. 
The  Chuich  obtained  the  services  of  Rev.  Thomas  R.  Eng- 
lish as  soon  as  it  was  organized.  [MS.  of  Rev.  W.  W.  Wil- 
son. Records  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  April  4,  1849.] 

Cheraw. — The  loth  day  of  April,  1830,  is  the  earliest  date 
of  our  regular  Church  Records. 

In  April,  1832,  the  Church  consisted  of  thirty-one  mem- 
bers. During  that  year  there  was  considerable  religious 
interest  in  the  Church  and  community,  and  ministers  were 
invited  to  visit  the  people  and  instruct  them.  The  Rev. 
Daniel  Baker,  Rev.  S.  S.  Davis,  and  several  ministers  from 
Fayetteville  Presbytery  labored  among  the  people,  and  there 
were  added  to  the  Church  in  about  twelve  months  thirty- 
eight  members. 

In  April,  1834,  Mr.  Powers,  who  had  not  been  installed 
pastor,  left  the  congregatien,  the  Church  at  that  time  num- 
bering some  sixty-seven  communing  members. 

In  November,  1834,  Rev.  Rufus  W.  Bailey  was  employed 
as  a  stated  supply,  and  during  the  period  of  his  ministry,  say 
two  years,  some  twenty-five  members  were  received  on  exam- 
ination into  the  communion  of  the  Church. 

In  the  second  volume  of  the  sessional  records,  pp.  10,  12, 
is  the  following : 


486  CHEEAW.  [1830-1840. 

"Tuesday,  October  30,  1835. 

"  Session  met  at  Mr.  Coit's.  Present — ail  the  elders,  viz  : 
L.  Prince,  J.  C.  Coit  and  M.  McLean. 

"  Opened  with  ijrayer.' 

"  Tlie  stated  minister  of  the  Cluirch  beinfj  absent  from  town, 
and  not  expected  to  return  before  the  approaching  meeting 
of  Piesbytery  and  Synod,  the  session  determined  to  proceed 
to  business  without  a  presiding  minister,  M.  McLean  was  ap- 
pointed the  deligate  to  the  next  meeting  of  Harmony.  Pres- 
bytery, and  also  to  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South 
Carohna  and  Georgia,  and  J.  C.  Coit  liis  alternate. 

"  On  motion,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted  : 

"  Whereas,  the  future  cl'.a'acter  of  the  Southern  portion  of 
our  Church  will  most  probably  depend  very  much  upon  ihe 
character  of  the  Theological  Seminary  under  the  care  of  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia-;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  as  the  opinion  of  this  session,  That  the  Semi- 
nary ought,  in  tile  present  state  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
to  be  distinguished,  not  only  for  its  decided  orthodoxy,  but 
also  for  the  zeal  of  its  professors  in  opposing  and  striving  to 
root  out  the  destructive  heresies  which  have  unwarily  been 
permitted  to  creep  into  the  Church. 

"  Resolved fiirtlur,  as  tlie  opinion  of  this  session,  That  it 
ought  to  be  diligently  inculcated  upon  the  young  men  edu- 
cated at  the  Seminary,  that  it  will  be  their  duty  when  they 
enter  the  Christian  ministry  not  only  to  preach  the  truth,  bnt 
also,  in  the  spirit  of  their  Divine  Master,  and  of  His  holy 
apostles,  earnestly  to  contend  for  the  faitli  which  was  once 
delivered  unto  tlie  saints,  and  combat  the  heresies  which  are 
now  corrupting  the  Church. 

"  And  resolved  also,  as  the  opinion  of  this  session,  That  the 
professorship  now  vacant  in  the  Seminary  ought  not  to  be 
filled  by  any  one  wlio  is  not  only  a  man  of  decided  orthodo.ty, 
but  one  who  is  also  known  to  have  evinced  his  attachment  to 
the  standards  of  our  Church  by  his  decided  stand  on  the  side 
of  truth  and  liis  past  efforts  to  arrest  and  expunge  the  errors 
now  held  and  published  within  the  pale  of  the  Ciiurch. 

"  Resolved,  That  if  neither  the  delegate  of  this  session  to 
the  Synod  nor  his  alternate  c:m  attend  the  approaching  meet- 
ing of  that  body,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  clerk  of  the 


1830-1840.]  CHEEAW.  487 

session  to  forward  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  the  Mode- 
rator of  the  Synod,  with  a  request  that  they  be  presented  to 
the  body  over  which  he  presides. 

"  Adjourned  by  prayer. 

"(Signed)  M.  McLEAN,  Clerkr 

In  the  same  volume  of  records,  page  20,  is  the  following: 

"  Tuesday,  February  29,  n  836. 

"  Session  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Coit. 

"  Present — all  the  elders,  viz :  L.  Prince,  J.  C.  Coit  and 
M.  McLean. 

'■  Opened  with  prayer. 

"The  Church  being  at  this  time  destitute  of  a  stated  min- 
istry, and  there  being  no  Presbyterian  minister  in  town,  or 
within  convenient  distance,  Mr.  Prince  was  appointed  Mod- 
erator. 

''  It  was  resolved  that  till  (he  session  or  church  shall  other- 
wise determine,  the  collections  taken  up  at  the  monthly  con- 
cert prayer  meetings  of  this  church  shall  in  future  be  remitted 
to  the  treasurer  or  other  authorized  agent  of  The  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  as  often  as  the  amount  thereof 
shall  equal  one  hundred  dollars,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  to 
support  the  missionaries  of  said  Society." 

On  the  27th  to  the  37th  pages  of  the  same  volume  of  ses- 
sional records  is  the  following  : 

"  September  29,  1836. 

"  Session  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Prince. 

"  Present — all  the  members  as  above  " — [Rev.  M.  D.  Fra- 
ser,  L.  Prince,  J.  C.  Coit  and  M.   McLean.] 

"  Opened  with  prayer. 

"  Resolved  unanimously.  That  the  Church  be  convened  by 
public  notice  from  the  pulpit,  and  that  the  following  be  recom- 
mended for  its  con.sideraiion  and  adoption,  viz  : 

"  Whereas,  a  circular  dated  "  New  York,  13th  July,  1836," 
has  appeared  in  thi  new.ipapar  called  "The  Presbyterian," 
dated  17th  September,  1836,  signed  by  W.  W.  Phillips 
and  others,  a  committee,  appointed  by  the  meeting  publicly 
called  in  Pittsburg  through  the  moderator  of  the  last  General 
Assembly,  of  those  who  voted  for  the  resolutions  of  Dr. 
Miller,  condemning  certain  doctrinal  errors,  &c. ;   and  whereas 


488  ACTION  ON  THE  CODE  SCHOOL.  [1830-1840. 

several  questions  are  proposed  in  said  cireular  touching  topics 
of  vital  and  fundamental  import  to  the  Gospel  and  Church  of 
Christ,  and  are  addressed  to  the  deepest  feelings  and  sym- 
pathies of  Christians  ;  therefore,  it  is  becoming,  at  such  a 
crisis,  for  the  Churches  to  bear  their  testimony  to  the  truth, 
and  to  express  their  convictions  as  to  what  should  be  done 
by  those  who  are  of  one  mind  and  one  faith  ;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  following  answers  to  the  questions  in 
said  circular  do  express  the  feelings,  conviction  and  testimony 
of  this  church  in  the  premises  : 

"  Question  ist — With  so  great  a  difference  of  sentiment  in 
regard  to  doctrine  and  order  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
can  we  continue  united  in  one  body,  and  maintain  the  integ- 
rity of  our  standards,  and  promote  the  cause  of  truth  and 
righteousness  in  the  earth  ? 

"  Answer — We  think  not. 

"  Q.  2— ^Ifyou  think  it  can,  please  to  say  how  the  causes 
that  at  present  distract  us  can  be  removed  ? 

"  A. — It  is  answered  in  the  first. 

'■  Q.  3 — Do  you  believe  that  there  are  ministers  in  our 
connection  who  hold  errors  on  account  of  which  they  ought 
to  be  separated  from  us  ? 

••  A.— Yes. 

"  Q.  4 — If  you  think  such  errors  are  held,  please  to  name 
them  particularly? 

"  A. — They  are  set  forth  with  precision  and  truth  in  the 
document  called  '  The  Act  and  Testimony,'  well  known 
among  the  churches. 

"  Q.  5 — If  you  believe  that  persons  holding  the  errors  you 
name  ought  to  be  separated  from  the  communion,  what,,  in 
your  judgment  is  the  best  way  of  accomplishing  it. 

"  A. — We  are  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  fidelity  of  the 
Church  as  a  witness  for  Christ  and  for  His  truth,  demand  that 
such  mmisters  be  cut  off  from  our  denomination.  The  best 
way  to  effect  the  object  is  to  proceed  according  to  the  con- 
stitution, if  it  be  possible  to  accomplish  the  necessary  result 
in  that  way.  If  not,  then,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case, 
by  some  revolutionary  movement. 

"  Q.  6 — It  was  repeatedly  avowed  by  ministers  in  the 
last  General  Assembly  that  they  received  the  Confession  of 


1830-1840.]  STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  489 

Faith  of  our  Church  only  for  '  substance  of  doctrine,  as  a  sys- 
tem, or  as  containing  the  Calvinistic  system  in  opposition  to 
the  Arminian,'  &c.  Hence,  we  l<now  not  how  much  of  our 
Standards  they  adopt  and  how  much  they  reject.  Is  this,  in 
your  opinion,  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  '  receiving  and 
adopting  the  Confession  of  Faith  '  ? 

"  A.— No. 

"  Q.  7 — It  is  believed  by  many  that  much  of  the  evil  of 
which  we  now  complain  has  come  upon  us  in  consequence  of 
our  connection  with  the  Congregational  Churches  within  our 
bounds,  and  represented  in  our  judicatories.  We  would  ask 
whether,  in  your  judgment,  it  would  not  be  better,  as  a 
Church,  to  have  no  other  connection  with  Congregationalists 
than  the  friendly  one  which  we  now  have  with  them  as 
corresponding  bodies  ? 

"  A.  —Yes. 

"  And  whereas  the  above  named  committee  cannot  dis- 
charge the  duties  of  their  appointment  without  incurring  ex- 
penses, therefore. 

"Resolved,  That  the  sum  of  $  be  forwarded  as  our 

contribution  for  that  object. 

^  "Resolved,  also.  That  the  above  proceedings  be  published  in 
the  Southern  Christian  Herald,  signed  by  the  Moderator  of 
Session. 

"  The  above  proceedings  having  been  read  from  the  pulpit 
after  sermon  the  gth  October,  and  a  meeting  of  the  church 
having  been  at  the  same  time  announced  to  be  held  on  the 
13th  October,  the  meeting  was  accordingly  held  on  that  day, 
and  the  above  preamble  and  resolutions  (after  filling  the  blank 
in  the  second  last  resolution  with  25)  were  adopted. 

(Signed)  "  M.  McLEAN,  Clerkr 

In  October,  1836,  Ruling  Elder  J.  C.  Coit  was  licensed  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  to  preach  the  Gospel,  and  at  the 
spring  session  of  the  same  Presbytery,  April, /I837,  a  call 
signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  Cheraw  Church  was  sent 
to  Presbytery  for  him  to  become  their  pastor.  In  July,  1838, 
Mr.  Coit  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  the  Cheraw 
Church  in  accordance  with  said  call. 


i90  THE  SABBATH- SCHOOL.  [1830-1S40. 

During  the  summer  of  1838,  George  H.  Dunlap  and  John 
Writjht  were  elected  by  the  church  and  ordained  ruling  elders 
by  the  session. 

In  the  second  volume  of  Records  of  session,  page  47,  is  the 
following  entry  : 

'"  September  23,  1838.    , 

"  The  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  adopted, 
viz : 

"  Whereas  our  Lord  has  established  his  Church,  and  ap- 
pointed therein  officers  to  govern  and  to  teach,  and  has  also 
instituted  families  in  which  he  has  established  also  persons  to 
govern  and  to  teach,  and  has  enjoined  upon  this  people 
duties  connected  witii  their  relations  to  the  family  and  the 
Church;  and  whereas  heretofore  in  the  religious  discipline 
and  instructions  of  tne  servants  and  children  of  tliis  congre- 
gation no  proper  regard  has  been  paid  to  those  divine  institu- 
tions and  the  obligations  connected  therewith  in  the  premises, 
but  it  has  been  customary  with  us  to  have  the  children  taught 
statedly  on  the  Sabbath,  and  sometimes  also  the  servants,  by 
such  persons,  whosoever  they  might  be,  as  might  volunteer 
to  dischartje  that  duty  ;  and  whereas,  where  there  is  no  law 
there  is  no  tran.sgression,  so  where  there  is  no  law  there  is 
no  obedience,  and  wishing  as  a  Church  and  as  a  people  to  be 
found  walking  in  all  the  ordinances  and  commandments  of 
the  Lord  ;  be  it  therefore 

"Resolved,  i,  That  the  Sabbath-school,  as  heretofore  con- 
ducted, be  abolished. 

"  2.  That  it  is  a  duty  devolving  upon  the  heads  of  families 
faithfully  and  daily  to  teach  their  children  and  servants  the 
principles  of  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  and  their  duties  to  God 
and  man,  which  duty  this  session  feels  called  upon  not  only 
to  declare,  but  to  enforce  by  all  the  authority  committed  to 
them  in  the  Church  ;  and  they  therefore  enjoin  the  daily 
attention  to  these  obligations  upon  the  parents  in  this  con- 
gregation, and,  furthermore,  they  reco.Timend,  as  a  most  use- 
ful manual  of  instruction,  the  Confession  of  Faith  and  larger 
and  shorter  Catechisms  of  tlie  Church,  to  be  read  in  the 
family  as  part  of  the  exercises  of  religious  worship. 

''  3.  That  tiie  parents  of  this  congiegatioii  be,  and  they  are 
hereby,  enjoined  to  secure  the  attendance  of  their  children 
and  servants  on  the  Sabbath  day  at  such    time  and  place   as 


.      1830-1840  ]  GEEAT  PEE  DEE.  491 

the  pastor  of  tliis  churcli  may  indicate, to  be  by  him  instructed 
ill  the  reh'tjioii  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"4.  That  these  proceedin<:!;s  of  session  be  communicated 
on  the  next  Sabbatii,  by  the  pastor,  to  the  congregation." 

Great  Pee  Dee. — Tlie  origin  of  this  church  cannot  be 
better  told  than  in  the  language  of  the  record  found  in  its  first 
book  of  Minutes  or  Sessional  Records,  which  is  believed  to 
be  drawn  in  the  handwriting  of  Rev.  Colin  Mclver,  and  which 
is  as  follows : 

'■  A  few  per-ons  residing  in  the  district  of  Marlborough, 
in  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  some  ot  wliom  had  previously 
been  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  others,  though 
not  yet  communicants,  having  been  brought  up  among  Pres- 
"  byterians  and  feeling  a  strong  attachment  to  the  form  of  wor- 
ship and  general  usages  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  finding, 
on  account  of  the  distance  of  tiieir  several  places  of  residence 
from  the  Red  Bluff  Church,  which  was  the  nearest  Presby- 
terian place  of  worship  to  which  they  could  have  access, 
that  their  attendance  at  that  place  as  frequently  as  they 
desired  would  be  productive  of  some  inconvenience,  prevailed 
upon  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen,  the  pastor  of  that  cjiurch,  to 
come  a  few  times  to  preach  to  them  in  as  central  a  situation 
as  they  could  select  for  tiie  purpose.  Mr.  McQueen  com- 
plied with  their  request  as  much  as  it  was  practicable  for  him 
to  do;  but  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  visit  them  on  the  Sab- 
bath. Perceiving  their  strong  desire  to  enjoy  the  preaching 
of  the  Gospel  more  frequently,  and  that,  too,  if  practicable, 
on  the  Sabbath,  he  prevailed  upon  Mr.  Hector  McLean,  a 
licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  to  visit  them, 
which  he  accordingly  did,  lor  the  first  time  on  the  last  Sab- 
bath in  December,  1832.  The  result  of  this  visit  was  a 
desire  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  be  more  regularly  supplied 
with  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  and  Mr.  McLean  continued 
to  labor  among  them  once  a  fortnight.  This  produced  an 
increasing  desire  on  the  part  of  the  people  to  be  placed  in 
such  circumstances  as  might  secure  to  them  the  future  regu- 
lar and  stated  ministrations  of  the  Gospel ;  and  they  were, 
on  the  2Sth  day  of  May,  1833,  regularly  organized  as  a 
church  and  congregation.  On  this  occasion,  Rev.  Colin 
Mclver,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  by 
special  request,  presided,  and  the  following  act  of  organiza- 
tion was  unanimously  adopted." 


492  LITTLE  PEEDEE.  [1830-1840. 

The  act  of  organization  is  here  omitted,  for  the  sake  of 
brevity,  which  provided  that  they  should  report  themselves 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  and  make  application  to  be 
taken  under  their  care.  This  was  subscribed  by  twenty-six 
persons.  Immediately  thereupon  the  following  persons  were 
chosen  to  exercise  the  office  ofjuling  elders,  and  ordained 
the  Rev.  Colin  Mclver,  viz:  Lewis  E.  Stubbs  and  James 
McRae.  The  first  named  seems  to  have  been  an  unfortunate 
selection,  for  after  having  given  the  Church  a  good  deal  of 
trouble,  he  was,  in  about  four  years  thereafter,  excluded  by 
the  session.  December  7th,  of  the  same  year,  David  G.  Coit 
was  elected  and  ordained  elder.  In  May,  1835,  Jonathan 
Hart  was  elected  and  ordained  elder.  From  about  this  time 
Malcolm  Nicholson  seemed  to  have  exercised  the  office  of 
ruling  elder  until  the  time  of  his  death,  in  July,  1837.  It  is 
probable  that  he  had  been  an  ordained  elder  previous  to  his 
connection  with  this  church,  as  the  records  make  no  mention 
of  his  ordination.  In  the  year  1837  occurred,  also,  the  death 
of  David  G.  Coit,  a  man  remarkable  for  his  general  intelli- 
gence, and  still  more  for  that  energy  of  character  and  high 
enthusiasm  which  he  cai-ried  with  him  into  everything  in 
which  he  engaged. 

December  loth,  1837,  Benjamin  N.  Rogers  was  ordained 
elder.  Rev.  Archibald  McQueen  supplied  the  pulpit  this 
year,  alternately  with  Rev.  H.  McLean,  it  is  said  at  the 
instance  of  some  of  the  congregation.  May  13th,  1838,  Jas. 
H.  McQueen  was  ordained  elder. 

In  1S38  or  1839,  the  connection  of  this  church  with  Fayette- 
ville  Presbytery  ceased,  and  it  was  taken  under  the  care  of 
Harmony  Presbytery.  Rev.  Hector  McLean  served  us 
regularly  as  stated  supply  from  his  earliest  visits  until  about 
this  time,  preaching  at  first  in  private  houses  and  in  a  school- 
house  until  our  present  church  edifice  was  built.  His 
memory  here,  associated  as  it  is  with  our  being  first  gathered 
into  a  household  of  faith,  is  still  cherished  with  great  respect 
and  affection  by  the  few  who  survive  his  labors  in  this 
vicinity.     [MS.  of  D.  Matheson.] 

Little  Peedee. — In  the  year  1830,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Brown,  then  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  was 
called  by  this  church  as  a  supply.  This  was  the  first  regular 
preaching  on  the  Sabbath  this  church  had  yet  enjoyed.  He 
continued  to  supply  them  on  every  third  Sabbath  until  Janu- 


1830-1840.J  PINE  TEEE — RED  BLUFF.  493 

ary,  1838,  when  he  assumed  the  pastorate  of  the  Hopewell 
Church.  During  his  ministry  three  ruh'ng  elders  were  or- 
dained, viz:  Messrs.  Daniel  Charmichael,  Archibald  Mcln- 
tyre  and  Michael  Carmichael.  In  1839  Rev.  Archibald 
huie,  of  Fayetteville  Presbytery,  then  an  aged  man,  became 
the  supply  of  this  church. 

Pine  Tree.— The  Rev.  John  B.  McFarland  continued  to 
supply  this  church  (in  connection  at  least  some  portion  of  the 
time)  with  Chesterfield,  through  this  decade. 

"  The  Red  Bluff  Church  continued  connected  with  the 
Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  April  8th,  1833,  Rev.  Archibald 
McQueen  was  installed  pastor  of  Centre,  Laurel  Hill,  and  Red 
Bluff  Churches.  Two  years  afterwards  (1835)  the 'Red  Bluff 
people  removed  their  place  of  worship  over  into  North 
Carolina,  about  five  miles  east  of  the  old  site,  built  a  new 
house  of  worship  and  changed  the  name  of  the  church  to 
Smyrna',  hence  on  the  minutes  of  Fayetteville  Presbytery 
(1839),  Rev.  A.  McQueen  is  marked  pa.stor  of  Laurel  Hill 
and  Smyrna  and  the  name  of  Red  Bluff  is  not  on  the  roll  of 
churches,  so  that  what  is  now  the  Smyrna  Church  (says  J. 
A.  Cousar,  writing  in  1878)  is  the  legitimate  successor  of  the 
old  Red  Bluff.  It  is,  says  he,  a  flourishing  church,  contain- 
ing about  one  hundred  and  fifty  members.  They  are  now 
erecting  a  new  house  of  worship.  The  cause  of  the  removal 
we  have  not  been  able  fully  to  ascertain.  Some  of  the  pro- 
bable causes  are  the  want  of  good  titles  to  their  church  prop- 
erty, the  greater  convenience  to  the  pastor  and  the  fact  that 
the  membership  had  increased  much  faster  on  the  eastern 
than  the  western  side  of  Little  Peedee,  causing  the  old  site  to 
be  inconvenient  to  the  larger  portion  of  the  membership. 
But  whatever  be  the  cause  in  the  light  of  the  years  that  have 
since  elapsed,  it  clearly  appears  that  it  was  a  mistake.  Better 
that  a  new  colony  had  been  pushed  out  in  that  direction  and 
the  old  organization  remained  intact.  By  the  breaking  up, 
Presbyterianism  has  lost  ground  in  Marlboro',  and  the  upper 
portion  of  Marion  Counties  in  this  State.  It  is  the  impression 
of  persons  in  that  vicinity  that  if  the  old  organization  had 
remained,  the  Red  Bluff  Church  might  have  been  as  large  and 
flourishing  as  either  of  its  cotemporary  sisters.  Laurel  Hill 
or  Ashpole,  out  of  the  old  material  two  churches  have  since 
been  organized,  viz  :  Carolina  and  the  present  Red  Bluff.  Bnt 
before  these   new  organi?ations  sprang  up  a  goodly  number 


494  MOUNT  MOEIAH — BETHESDA,  CAMDEN.      [1830-1840. 

of  Scotch  Presbyterians  beinjr  without  a  cluircli  of  their  own 
choice  fell  in  vvitli  the  Melhodist  and  Baptist  denoniinjiti.^ri'^. 
Slime  of  these  with  the  restitution  of  tlie  Church  of  their  fath- 
ers, have  returned  to  their  former  fiill),  others  doubtless  will, 
but  the  gieater  nutnber  are  lost  to  the  Presbyterian  fold." 
[J.  A.  Cousar  in  1878.] 

Mount  Moriah. — Sundry  members  of  Pine  Tree  Church 
petitioned  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  at  its  Sessions  in 
Camden,  November  4th,  1835,  for  a  distinct  organization  as  a 
church  by  the  name  of  Mount  Moriah.  Its  orjjanization  was 
duly  reported  to  Presbytery  at  the  S.^ssions  at  Cheraw.  April 
7th,  1836.  It  was  located  some  seventeen  miles  from  Cam- 
den and  was  supplied  for  a  season  by  Rev.  M.  D.  Fraser, 
wliose  relations  were  residents  of  that  neigliboihood.  A. 
considerable  number  of  its  members  removed  to  the 
west.  After  dra<j^ing  out  a  feeble  existence  for  a  few  yeais 
it  was  di.ssolved  by  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  the  larj^er 
share  of  its  members  uniting  with  Pine  Tree  and  a  few, 
perhaps,  with  Bishof)ville.  Its  first  and  only  elders  were 
Samuel  McLeod,  Daniel  McCaskill,  D.  Bethume,  and  Daniel 
McCaskill,  of  the  same  name  with  the  former. 

Bethesda,  Camden. — The  Rev.  S.  S.  Davis,  gave  notice  to 
the  church  that  he  would  resign  his  charge  at  the  close  of  tiie 
year  1830,  three  months  notice  being  required  At  a  special 
meeting  of  the  congregation  held  on  the  14th  October,  1830, 
in  answer  to  inquiry,  a  letter  was  read  by  KIder  J.  S.  Murray, 
from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Goulding,  stating  that  he  would  accept 
the  pastoral  charge  of  Bethesda  Church  provided  the  Synod 
would  release  him  from  his  professorship  in  the  Theological 
Seminaiy  at  Columbia. 

An  election  for  a  pastor  was  then  entered  into,  when  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Goulding  was  unanimously  elected,  with  a  salary 
guaranteed  of  ^1,500  per  annum. 

A  meeting  was  held  on  the  19th  December,  1830,  when 
Daniel  L  DeSaussure,  elder,  stated  that  lie  had  attended  the 
meeting  of  Synod  to  advocate  the  call  for  Dr.  Goulding,  when 
the  Synod  resolved  that  the  services  of  Dr.  Goulding  could 
not  be  dispensed  with  at  the  Theological  Seminary.  The  pulpit 
was  declared  vacaiit. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  on  the  26th  December, 
1830,  an  election  for  pastor  was  held,  when  the  Rev.  S.  S. 
Davis  was  unanimously,  elected. 


1830-1840.]  EETHESDA,  CAMDEN.  495 

At  a  meeting  Iield  September  i6tli,  1831,  it  was  resolved 
to  elect  tliiee  iidditioiial  ruling  elders,  when  Ciiarles  J.  Shan- 
non, John  Workman  and  Thos.  McMillan  were  diih'  elecied. 
At  the  same  time  a  letter  was  received  fiom  the  Rev.  S.  S. 
Davis,  .stating  that  it  v»'as  his  intention  to  resign  his  charge  at 
the  expiration  of  the  present  year. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  25th  December,  1832,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  an  election  for  a  pastor  to  fill  the  vacancy 
occasioned  by  the  Rev.  S.  Davis,  be  entered  into  on  this  day 
two  weeks. 

Bethesda  Church.  7th  Januaiy,  T833. 

Agreeable  to  adjournment,  this  meeting  wa.s  held  for  the 
special  purpose  of  electing  a  successor  to  Mr.  Davis,  when  the 
Rev.  Jt)hn  VVitherspoon,  of  Hillsboro',  N.  C,  was  put  in 
nomination,  and  was  unanimously  elected.  A  salary  of^i,'2oo 
a  year  and  the  surplus  from  pew  rents,  was  guaranteed  to  the 
pastor  elected.  Asa  merited  tribute  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davis,  a 
committee,  consisting  of  Lewis  Ciples  and  J.  K.  Douglas,  was 
appointed  to  convey  to  him  the  following  note: 

"  Tiie  Church  of  Bethesda  beg  leave  to  tender  to  the  Rev.  S. 
S.  Davis,  their  gniteful  acknowledgments  for  his  faithful  ser- 
vices during  his  pastoral  care  of  tliis  congregation,  and  they 
beg  that  he  will  bear  this  people  in  mind  in  his  petitions  to  a 
throne  of  grace,  and  carry  with  him  the  assurances  of  their 
cordial  esteem  and  Christian  friendship." 

A  letter  was  received  from  the  Rev.  J.  Witherspoon  stating 
that  he  would  accept  the  call  to  this  church,  provided  he  was 
allowed  one  year  to  close  his  arrangements  in  North  Carolina 
and  to  enter  upon  the  duties  of  his  office  on  1st  February, 

1834. 

Mr.  Witherspoon's  proposal  was  acceded  to  and  in  addi- 
tiofi  to  his  salary  a  subscription  was  raised  to  rent  a  furnished 
house  for  him  during  the  current  year. 

At  the  appointed  time  Mr.  Witherspoon  arrived  and  la- 
bored with  acceptance  and  success,  until  the  year  1837,  when 
a  call  was  presented  from  the  church  at  Columbia,  which 
finally  resulted  in  a  separation.  After  great  efforts  on  the 
part  of  our  congregation  to  retain  the  services  of  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon, he  removed  to  Columbia  in  July,  1837,  and  again  our 
pulpit  was  closed. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  church  in  March,  1836,  under  Dr. 


496  COLUMBIA.  [1830-1840. 

Witherspoon's  ministry,  John  Rosserwas  duly  elected  a  ruling 
elder. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  held  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1837,  it  was  resolved  that  the  church  do  meet  on 
this  day  two  weeks,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  pastor. 
The  congregation  met  agreeable  to  adjournment,  when  an 
election  was  entered  into.  Two  candidates  were  before  the 
congregation,  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Thornwell,  and  the  Rev.  R.  B. 
Campbell:  An  arrangement  w-as  entered  into  that  the  candi- 
date had  the  highest  vote  on  the  first  ballot  should  be  declared 
unanimously  elected.  The  highest  vote  was  for  R.  B.  Camp- 
bell, whereupon  he  was  declared  elected  for  an  indefinite 
time,  either  party  giving  a  six  months  notice.  Mr.  Campbell 
continued  to  serve  this  church  for  seven  years.  [MS.  Jas.  K. 
Douglas.] 


CHAPTER  IV. 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  Columbia.  —  Section  i. — 
"  During  the  year  1830,  in  the  summer,  Mr.  Rennie  obtained 
permission  of  the  congregation  to  visit  his  friends  in  Europe  ; 
his  pulpit  being  supplied  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Goulding,  the 
first  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary.  During  his 
absence  a  serious  difference  arose  between  the  session  and 
the  corporation,  respecting  the  future  supply  of  the  pulpit. 

At  a  meeting  held  May  24,  1830,  in  anticipation  of  Mr. 
Rennie's  term  of  service ;  the  congregation  by  a  public  vote 
requested  the  session  to  make  the  usual  nomination  for 
pastor,  evidently  with  a  view  to  Mr.  Rennie's  re-election. 
This  request  the  session  declined  complying  with  for.  the 
present;  they  being  as  evidently  unwilling  to  make  the  nomi- 
nation which  the  congregation  desired.  At  a  subsequent 
meeting  June  7,  1830,  the  congregation  overleaping  the  usual 
nomination  by  the  session,  proceeded  to  elect  Mr.  Rennie  by 
a  large  majority  of  votes,  for  a  second  term,  commencing 
January,  1831.  A  resolution  was  also  passed  designed  to 
soothe  the  session,  strongly  regretting  the  difference  between 
them  upon  the  construction  of  the  by-laws.  Matters  re- 
mained in  this  state  until  Mr.  Rennie's  return  from  his  trans- 
Atlantic  visit.  On  the  27th  of  January,  1 831,  he  addressed  a 
letter  of  resignation  to  the  church  session,  grounded  upon  the 


1830-1840.]  COLUMBIA.  .  497 

fact  that  they,  the  spiritual  officers  of  the  church,  regarded 
his  election  on  the  7th  day  of  June  preceding,  as  Uiiconstitu- 
tional.  This  resignation  when  brought  before  the  corpora- 
tion at  a  meeting  held  February  lOth,  1831,  was  not  accepted, 
and  a  vote  was  passed  directing  the  session  forthwith  to  "  lay 
before  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at  its  next  meeting  all 
matters  as  to  the  regularity  of  the  Rev.  John  Rennie's  cori- 
tinuance  as  pastor  of  the  church  since  the  first  day  of  January 
last,  under  the  vote  of  the  congregation  on  the  7th  of  June, 
preceding.  Until  this  matter  should  be  adjudicated,  Mr. 
Rennie  was  requested  to  continue  his  ministrations.  It  was 
finally  settled  by  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  in  the  spring  of 
that  year,  which  vested  in  favor  of  the  session,  that  as  Mr. 
Rennie  had  never  been  installed  as  pastor  of  the  church,  he 
jcould  only  be  regarded  as  a  stated  supply,  and  that  according 
to  the  by-laws  of  the  church,  he  could  not  be  re-elected  by 
the  congregation  without  a  nomination  by  the  session." 
[This  action  of  the  Presbytery  was  taken  at  a  meeting  held  in 
Columbia  on  the  8th  of  June,  1831.  Its  action  is  herewith 
approved,  etc.     See  p.         ] 

Mr.  Rennie's  connection  with  the  church  was  terminated 
thus  in  July,  1831. 

In  the  month  of  June  preceding,  the  following  persons  were 
elected  to  the  office  of  ruling  elder  :  Col.  John  Taylor,  Mr. 
James  Ewart  and  Mr.  G.  T.  Snowden.  A  request  was  also 
made  to  Mr.  Law,  who  had  withdrawn  from  the  session  about 
the  time  of  Dr.  Henry's  resignation,  to  resume  the  duties  of 
this  ofifice.  These  persons  appear  in  session  on  the  25th  of 
June  ;  at  the  same  time  Mr.  Young  and  Dr.  Wells  gave  notice 
that  '  from  prudential  reasons  they  would  cease  to  act  for  the 
present  as  members  of  the  session.'" 

"  In  consequence  of  these  differences  between  the  session 
and  congregation  growing  out  of  Mr.  Rennie's  case,  the 
church  remained  for  sometime  in  a  most  disjointed  condition. 
The  pulpit  was  supplied  by  the  Rev.  Professors  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Drs.  Goulding  and  Howe;  meanwhile 
efforts  were  made  to  fill  the  Pastorate,  A  meeting  of  the 
congregation  was  called  on  the  24th  of  October,  the  Rev. 
Horace  Pratt  being  the  nominee  of  the  session.  The  election 
was,  however,  postponed  for  want  of  sufficient  agreement  in 
the  congregation,  imtil  the  13th  of  December;  at  this  time 
32 


498  REV.    DANIEL    BAKEB.  [1830-1840. 

Mr.  Pratt  was  duly  elected  for  an  indefinite  period,  at  a  salary 
of  ^1,200.     This  call  Mr.  Piatt  saw  fit  to  decline."* 

"  On  the  30th  of  April,  1832,  tlie  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth  was 
elected  by  the  congregation,  under  the  nomination  of  the 
session,  as  a  supply  till  the  first  of  January,  1833.  This  invi- 
tation was,  however,  declined." 

"At  the  annual  meeting  held  May  15th,  of  this  year,  Col. 
Blanding,  G.  T.  Snowden,  William  Law,  David  Ewart,  and 
J.  A  Crawford,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  revise  the  by- 
laws, with  a  view  to  harmonize  them  with  the  constitution 
and  discipline  ■  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This  measure 
was  suggested  by  the  past  difficulties  of  the  cluirch,  and  re- 
sulted in  the  code  of  laws  which  now  exists.  At  this  meeting 
session  was  instructed  to  provide  such  occasional  supplies  for 
the  pulpit  as  they  might  be  able.  Rev.  Daniel  Baker  was 
accordingly  invited  for  several  months.  During  his  brief 
stay,  the  church  was  refreshed  by  a  gracious  outpouring  of 
God's  spirit,  and  a  large  addition  was  made  to  the  communion 
of  the  Church.  But  Mr.  Baker  having  a  great  reputation!  as 
an  itinerating  evangelist,  was  soon  withdrawn. 

In  1 83  T,  seventeen  joined  the  church  on  profession  of  their 
faith,  a  greater  number  than  since  the  year  1820.  In  1832, 
forty-nine  joined  on  protession  of  their  faith,  and  four  by 
certificate. 

"  The  session  s.eem  at  this  period  to  have  great  difficulty  in 
nominating  candidates  for  the  pastorship.  In  the  month  of 
August,  they  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Rev.  Nathan  Hoyt,  of 
Athens,  Ga.,  requesting  leave  to  propose  him  to  the  congre- 
gation, which  he  refused.  The  ne.Nt  application,  to  the  Rev. 
William  McDowell,  D.  D.,  then  pastor  of  the  Third  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Charleston,  was  equally  unsuccessful. 

•Previous  to  this  the  election  had  been  for  a  term  of  tliree  years. 

fit  was  on  Tuesday  evening,  May  8th,  1832,  that  a  series  of  religious 
meetinfis  was  commenced,  in  which  Presbyterians,  Methodists  and 
Baptists  joined.  On  the  15th  of  May  from  fifty  to  sixty  were  at  1  he 
inquiry  meeting,  including  eight  or  ten  who  were  reckoned  converts. 
The  18th  was  observed  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,  and 
a  regular  three  days  meeting  was  held,  closing  May  27th,  when  about 
twenty-five  were  found  rejoicing  in  new  hopes  of  eternal  life,  with 
more  than  fifty  still  enquiring  The  meeting  was  carried  on  by  the 
Baptist  and  Methodist  brethren  till  about  one  hundred  were  reckoned 
as  converts,  some  forty  of  whom  united  with  the  Presbyterian  Church 
on  the  first  of  July.  [Journal  of  a  Theological  student  in  "  Life  and 
Labours  of  Eev.  Daniel  Baker,  D.  D."    pp  167,168.] 


1830-1840.]  ELECTION  OF  PASTORS.  499 

During  this  period  the  pulpit  was  principally  .supplied  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Goulding,  who  also  moderated  the  meetings  of 
ses.sion  until  Januaiy,  1833,  when  an  invitation  was  extended 
to  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Jack^on,  (since  D.  D.,^  a  clergyman  from 
New  England,  'vhom  ill-health  had  driven  to  a  warmer 
climate,  to  supply  the  pulpit  during  his  stay  at  the  South. 
Mr.  Jackson  remained  in  this  charge  till  the  first  of  May, 
when  lie  returned  northward.  After  his  departure,  the  Rev. 
J.  F.  Lanneau  was  invited  as  a  temporary  supply,  who  served 
in  (his  capacity  during  the  summer."  , 

"  On  the  9th  of  September,  Mr.  Jackson  was  duly  elected 
pastor,  with  a  salary  of  ,$[,500,  upon  the  condition  that  he 
should  connect  himself  with  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony 
prior  to  his  settlement.  Again.st  this  measure  a  strong  pro- 
test was  entered,  signed  by  thirteen  persons,  upon  two 
grounds : 

1st.  That  Mr.  Jackson  was  a  member  of  the  Congrega- 
tional Church.  2d.  Because  the  election  was  deemed  inexpe- 
pedient  in  the  present  excited  state  of  the  church.  Mr.  Jack- 
son, under  the  circumstances,  declined  the  call,  though  other- 
wise di.sposed  to  accept  of  it." 

On  November  12th,  session  agreed  to  nominate  Rev.  Thos. 
Smyth  as  pastor,  the  former  nomination  having  been  for  a 
temporary  supply.  Rut  in  consequence  of  the  reported  ill- 
ness of  Mr.  (afterwards  Dr.)  Smyth,  this  nomination  was 
withdrawn.  The  next  nomination  made  by  session  was  of 
the  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Cassels  on  the  17th  of  December,  who 
was  unanimously  elected  on  the  6th  of  January,  1834.  This 
calj  also  was  declined." 

"  The  next  attempt  was  more  successful.  From  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1834,  the  pulpit  had  been  supplied  by  the 
Rev.  A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  recently  elected  Professor  of 
Theology  in  the  Seminary,  in  the  place  of  Dr,  Goulding  who 
had  removed  to  Columbus,  Georgia. 

"  In  the  month  of  March,  Dr.  Leland  was  nominated  as 
pastor  of  the  church  in  conjunction  with  the  duties  of  his 
Professorship.  On  the  7th  of  April  he  was  unanimously 
chosen,  at  a  .salary  of  ^§1,500,  from  the  1st  of  January,  1855, 
continuing  up  to  this  date  as  temporary  supply." 

"  The  session  having  been  reduced  by  the  death  of  some 
of  its  members,  J.  M.  Becket,  M.  D.,  formerly  ruling  elder  in 
Lebanon    Church,    was,   by   vote    of  the  church,  on  the  first 


500  DR.  LELAND — REV.  DR.  WITHERSPOON.      [] 830-1840. 

Sabbath  of  November,  1835,  invited  to  serve  in  the  same 
capacity  here.  Dr.  Wells  was  also  invited  to  resume  his 
official  duties  but  declined.  Messrs.  Sydney  Crane  and  Jas. 
Martin  were  elected,  who  were  ordained  on  the  following 
Sabbath,  the  7tli  of  November," 

"  The  duties  of  the  Pastoral  office  continued  to  be  per- 
formed by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Leland,  through  the  year  1836,  noth- 
ing of  importance  occurring,  except  that  some  offense  was 
created  by  an  attempt  to  introduce  instrumental  music  in  the 
choir.  Upon  its  being  excluded  by  a  vote  of  the  session,  and 
afterwards  by  a  vote  of  the  congregation,  the  excitement 
subsided." 

In  the  month  of  November  of  this  year  Dr.  Leland  sent 
in  his  resignation  of  the  Pastoral  office,  to  take  effect  at  the 
close  of  the  year.  Accordingly,  at  a  meeting  of  the  congre- 
gation held  December  19, 1836,  Rev.  John  Witherspoon,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  of  Camden,  was  chosen  pastor,  at  a  salary  of  ;^2,ooo, 
and  the  session  was  instructed  to  make  out  and  subscribe  the 
call.  The  decision  of  this  matter  was  referred  by  Dr.  With- 
erspoon to  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  who  decided  that  he 
should  accept  the  call.  Against  this  decision  the  session  of 
the  Camden  Church  protested,  and  appealed  to  tiie  Synod  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  This  appeal  necessarily  de- 
layed Dr.  Witherspoon's  removal,  but  being  finally  withdrawn 
he  was  installed  July  2d,  1837." 

"  Early  in  the  year  1838,  Rev,  C.  C.  Jones  having  come  to 
reside  in  Columbia  as  Professor  of  Church  History  and  Polity 
in  the  Theological  Seminary,  through  his  influence  a  Sabbath 
school  was  established  for  the  oral  instruction  of  the  colored 
people.  This  school  was  put  under  the  care  of  the  session, 
who  appointed  Mr.  James  Martin  to  superintend  it,  Mr.  (after- 
wards Dr.)  Jones  consenting  to  serve  as  a  teacher.  It  may 
be  well  to  continue  the  history  of  this  school  until  the  present 
time  (1845).  Rev.  Mr.  (Dr.)  Jones  continued  to  teach  it 
during  the  year  1838.  After  his  removal  from  Columbia 
(1838)  its  exercises  were  conducted  by  Mr.  John  Jones,  stur 
dent  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  till  the  spring  of  1839.  It 
was  then  continued  by  Mr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  Jr.,  .student  of  the 
Seminary,  until  the  month  of  July,  1841,  at  which  time  Mr. 
Palmer  leaving  the  Seminary,  and  the  Church  being  unhap- 
pily in  a  divided  state,  the  school  was  discontinued  till  the 
year   1843.     At  this  time,   Mr.  Palmer  having  become  the 


1830-1840.]     SABBATH-SCHOOL  FOE  COLORED  PEOPLE.  501 

pastor  of  the  Church,  the  school  was  reopened  and  placed 
under  the  instructions  of  Mr.  Thomas  E.  Peck  (afterwards 
D.  D.  and  Professor  in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  Virginia.) 
Its  exercises  were  again  suspended  in  the  spring  of  1845,  Mr. 
Peck  being  then  licensed  to  preach.  The  school  remained 
suspended  till  the  8th  of  March,  1846,  when  a  comfortable 
place  being  obtained  in  the  basement  of  the  Lecture  Room, 
it  was  reopened  and  placed  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr. 
Martin,  and  the  instruction  of  Edward  P.  Palmer,  student  of 
the  Seminary." 

"  But  to  resume  the  thread  of  the  narrative.  Dr.  Wither- 
.spoon  continued  the  pastor  of  the  Church  a  short  time.  Being 
in  infirm  health,  he  resigned  his  charge  April  29th,  1839.* 
Messrs.  Martin  and  Snowden  were  appointed  a  committee  to 
attend  z.  pro  re  iiata  meeting  of  Presbytery,  called  to  consider 
this  resignation,  with  instructions  to  accede  to  it,  and  to  ask 
leave  to  prosecute  a  call  for  the  pastoral  services  of  the  Rev. 
J.  H.  Thornwell,  then  Professor  in  the  South  Carolina  College. 

"  At  the  annual  meeting  held  on  the  12th  of  May  this  com- 
mittee reported  the  pulpit  vacant,  and  Professor  Thornwell 
was  mvited  to  serve  as  a  temporary  supply  for  a  short  time." 

"At  a  meeting  held  June  10,  1839,  under  a  nomination 
from  the  session,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thornwell  was  unanimously 
elected  pastor  of  the  Church,  at  a  salary  of  ;g2,coo,  to  be  paid 
semi-annually.  This  call  was  accepted  by  Mr.  Thornwell, 
who  was  accordingly  in.stalled."  [MS.  History  of  the  Colum- 
bia Church,  written  by  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M,  Palmer  while  pastor 
of  said  Church.]* 

*Dr.  Witherspoon,  in  a  card  to  the  "Watchman  and  Observer,"  of 
May  iJ8, 1839,  acknowledges  the  services  of  Professors  Leland  and  Howe, 
of  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  Professor  Thornwell,  of  the  College, 
in  supplying  the  pulpit  during  his  protracted  ill  health,  and  to  the 
Church  of  his  charge  for  their  generous  contribution  of  ^2,290,  over  and 
above  his  salary,  for  the  purpose  of  liquidating  the  pecuniary  claims 
against  him. 

*Toward8  the  close  of  this  decade,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1839,  Hon. 
H.  W.  DeSaussure,  who  had  long  resided  in  Columbia,  who  had  twice 
been  President  of  this  congregation,  from  1823  to  May  12, 1828,  and 
from  May  9,  18.31,  to  Maj'  12,  1833,  died  at  the  house  of  his  eldest  son  in 
Charleston,  in  the  76th  year  of  his  age  Of  his  ancestry  we  have  writ- 
ten in  our  first  volume,  pp.  400,  401.  He  had  been  a  soldier  of  the 
Eevolution,  had  been  Director  of  the  Mint  under  Wa,shington,  and  car- 
ried to  the  President  the  first  hsCndful  of  gold  eagles  ever  coined  by  our 
Government.  He  was  elected  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Equity  in  1808  and 
Chancellor  in  1824,  and  became,  says  Judge  O'Neall,  to  South  Carolina 


602  EICE  CKEEK  SPRINGS — HOREB.  [1830-1840, 

Rice  Creek  Springs. — There  was  the  organization  of  a 
Presbyterian  Church  at  this  place,  wliich  was  once  a  summer 
retreat  for  families  from  Columbia  and  Camden.  November 
26,  1832,  this  Church  was  a  petitioner  to  Presbytery. 

This  locality  was  the  seat  of  a  classical  academy,  or  insti- 
tute, under  the  care  of  Rev.  Rufus  Bailey  and  his  coadjutors," 
and  intended  to  be  under  the  most  salutary,  moral  and  relig- 
ious influences.  It  was  numerously  attended  at  one  time,  but 
failing  of  ultimate  success,  the  institution  had  but  a  temporary 
existence,  and  the  ecclesiastical  organization,  if  it  was  per- 
fected, was  alike  transitory. 

HoREB,  Mt.  Horeb,  or  Crooked  Run. — We  have  found 
all  these  names  appended  to  this  church.  The  Rev.  Wm. 
Brearley  preached  to  this  church  once  a  month  at  least  during 
this  period.  On  the  third  Sabbath  in  September,  1832,  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Blake  preached,  with  that  energy  and  e'motion 
with  which  his  pulpit  labors  were  now  accompanied,  and  a 
revival  commenced,  in  which  seventeen  were  added  to  the 
church,  among  whom  were  Mr.  Mann  and  Mr.  Bookman. 
On  August  30,  1833,  Abram  Turnipseed,  Thos.  C.  Wade  and 
James  McDill  were  elected  elders,  and  were  ordained  on  the 
following  Sabbath.  In  October,  1836,  Jacob  Bookman, 
Nathaniel  Marvin  and  Wm.  Perry  were  elected  and  set  apart 
to  this  office  by  prayer. 

AiMWELL  Church  (Fairfield). — The  Rev.    Wm.   Brearley 

what  Kent  was  to  New  York.  He  became  in  1836  President  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals.  In  December,  1837,  resigned,  and  as  Gov.  Butler  said 
in  his  message  aunouncing  his  resignation,  "  He  has  worn  the  sword  of 
a  soldier  amidst  the  perils  of  the  Revolution,  ami  the  ermine  of  a 
virtuous  magistrate,  in  peace.  Tlie  one  was  never  used  but  against  the 
enemies  of  his  country,  and  the  other  will  descend  from  hira  without 
spot  or  biemish."  From  1812  until  iiis  resignation  he  was  a  permanent 
inhabitant  of  Columbia  ;  his  hospitable  house  open  to  every  stranger 
and  to  every  youth  who  was  disposed  to  be  good  and  great.  He  was 
one  of  the  Trustees  and  founders  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  and 
believed  it  to  have  been  a  main  instrument  of  harmonizing  the  up-coun- 
try and  the  low,  by  dissolving  prejudice,  by  their  young  men  being 
brought  together  in  the  same  place  and  process  of  education,  so  that 
the  South  Carolina  College  became  the  pride  of  the  State,  and  the  inti- 
macies formed  in  it  were  never  forgotten.  His  diligence  and  capacity 
in  his  official  labors  is  vividly  shown  by  Judge  O'Neail,  by  his  tabular 
statement  in  which  he  shows  that  of  the  552  decisions  pronounced  in 
the  Charleston  and  Columbia  Courts  of  Appeal,  390  were  delivered  by 
Chancellor  DeSaussure,  to  say  nothing  of  those  pronounced  in  the 
Courts  elsewhere.  There  come  evidences  of  his  friendship,  too,  to' the 
Theological  Seminary  established  here. 


1830-1840.]  BEAVER   CEEEK — HOPEWELL — SIGN.  603 

contributed  to  supply  this  church  till  1837.  In  this  ^ear 
John  Robinson  was  ordained  an  elder.  In  1838,  Mitchell 
Peden,  then  a  probationer,  and  holding  a  commission  from 
the  Board  of  Missions,  supplied  this  church  and  its  vicinity 
for  one  year,  in  November  of  which  he  engaged  to  supply 
Mt.  Olivet  also.  He  was  ordained  and  insialled  pastor  in  Mt. 
Olivet  Church  in  December,  1839.  He  supplied  Aimwell  by 
special  engagement  for  two  years. 

Beaver  Ckeek. — The  Rev.  Robert  B.  Campbell  ministered 
to  this  church  at  the  commencement  of  this  period.  Having 
received  a  call  from  the  old  Waxhaw  Church,  that  he  might 
serve  it  conjointly  with  Beaver  Creek,  he  was  dismissed  from 
Harmony  Presbytery  in  April,  1830,  to  Bethel  Presbytery, 
within  whose  bounds  the  Waxhaw  Church  is  situated. 
When  released  from  Waxhaw,  he  and  the  church  of  Beaver 
Creek  Were  returned  to  Harmony.  In  the  year  1838  his 
connection  with  Beaver  Creek  was  dissolved  by  the  latter 
Presbytery,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  p  1267,  be  became  stated 
supply  of  the  church  at  Camden.  In  October  of  the  same 
year,  a  call  was  extended  to  Samuel  S.  Donnely,  who  was 
ordained  and  installed  pastor  on  the  3d  of  November,  1838. 
[Minutes  of  Harmony  Presbytery  p.  215,  et  seg.'] 

Hopewell  Church  (Chester  District)  is  marked  as  vacant 
in  1830,  witii  nineteen  members;  in  1831,  vacant,  with 
thirteen  members;  in  1833,  vacant,  with  six  members;  in 
1834,  Pierpont  E.  Bishop,  stated  supply,  membership  six  ; 
vacant  again  in  1836;  so  in  1837;  in  1838,  still  vacant,  but 
with  a  membership  of  seventeen  ;  in  1839  enjoying  ^^^  P^^' 
toral  services  of  Rev.  S.  B.  O.  Wilson,  in  connection  with 
.Six-Mile  Creek,  whose  membership  was  fifty-three. 

Sign  Church  (Winnsboro')  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  various  times.  ThS  sessional 
records  show  that  on  the  last  Sabbath  in  October,  1831,  six 
persons  were  admitted  to  the  church.  The  season  was  one 
of  great  interest.  Professors  of  religion  were  aroused  to  more 
diligence  and  prayer  than  usual.  A  general  seriousness  per- 
vaded the  congregation.  Some  professed  conversion,  and 
some  to  be  anxious  about  their  eternal  welfare.  Public  ex- 
ercises were  continued,  with  greater  or  less  frequency,  for 
twelve  days  successively.  The  means  employed  \)vere  prayer, 
preaching,  exhortation,  visiting,  &c.  This  record  is  made  to 
magnify  the    goodness    and    mercy    of  God.     On    the  2d  of 


604  LEBANON — SALEM  (l.   K.)  [1880-1840. 

March,  1832,  fourteen,  on  the  23d  of  September  twenty-five 
were  admitted,  and  the  following  is  the  record  appended: 
"  The  session  of  the  church  would  here  record  the  goodness 
of  God  in  bringing  so  many  into  the  fold  of  Christ.  There 
had  been  a  gradual  improvement  for  the  past  year.  Chris- 
tians have  been  more  engaged  than  before.  More  attention 
has  been  paid  to  the  preachmg  of  the  Word,  and,  occasionally, 
some  feeling  would  be  exhibited.  It  was  not  till  a  protracted 
meeting  was  held  by  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  evangelist,  that  we 
experienced  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  the  space  of 
five  days  fifty-five  were  rejoicing  in  hope,  twenty-five  of 
whom  for  the  first  time  on  this  Sabbath  united  with  us  in 
celebrating  the  love  and  death  of  our  common  Lord.  July 
6,  1834,  we  take  a  stand  against  popular  amusements.  On 
the  19th  of  May,  1837,  David  R.  Means,  formerly  an  elder 
in  Jackson's  Creek,  was  elected  an  elder  in  this  church." 

Lebanon  (Jackson's  Creek). — Tiie  Rev.  C.  L.  R.  Boyd  con- 
tinued pastor  of  this  church  and  Mt.  Olivet  until  the  meeting 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at  Salem,  Black  River,  October 
24,  1838,  when  this  relation  was  dissolved  and  Mr.  Boyd  was 
dismissed  to  join  the  Presbytery  of  South  Alabama.  The 
death  of  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Yongue,  who  for  more  than  thirty- 
four  years  had  been  pastor  of  this  church,  occurred  at  an 
advanced  age,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1830.  At  the  meet- 
ing of  Presbytery  above  mentioned,  the  church  obtained 
leave  to  present  a  C&.11  to  Rev.  Malcom  D.  Frai-er,  then  pastor 
of  the  church  at  Wetumka,  in  the  Presbytery  of  South  Ala- 
bama. This  call  appears  not  at  that  time  to  have  been 
successful.  The  church  still  petitioned  Presbytery  for  sup- 
plies, as  if  vacant,  in  1839.  I"  ^^^^  Y^^^  '^  called,  on  the  23d 
of  October,  G.  W.  Boggs,  and  there  is  evidence  that  he  did 
ofificiate  for  them  on  several  occasions,  but  that  the  call  was 
returned.  There  had  been  serious  difficulties  existing  in  this 
church,  but  there  is  notice,  December  12,  1839,  that  these 
were  at  last  adjusted.  [Minutes  of  Presbytery  of  Harmony, 
pp.  213,  214,  239,  246,  254,  256.] 

Salem  Church,  (Little  River.) — The  Rev.Robert  Means, 
at  the  beginning  of  this  decade  served  this  church  as  stated 
supply  and  afterwards  as  pastor  for  about  five  years.  The 
Rev.  R.  S.  GJadney  ministered  to  it  for  about  a  year.  The  Rev. 
R.  C.  Ketchum  began  preaching  as  a  stated  supply  on  alter- 
nate Sabbaths  in  January,  1837.  He  was  elected  pastor  Sep- 
tember I,  1839. 


1830-1840.1  EBV.  EGBERT  MEANS,  D.  D.  505 

t 

This  congrerjatipn  was  the  home  and  probably  the  birth- 
place of  the  Rev.  Robert  Means.  From  cliildhood  he  was 
fond  of  study  and  was  graduated  at  South  Carolina  College 
in  1813.  at  seventeen  years  of  age.  His  &.ttention  w.is  first 
turned  to  the  study  of  law,  which  he  pursued  with  Mr.  John 
Hooker,  of  Columbia,  during  the  year  i8l4and  part  of  1815. 
Because  of  his  minority  he  could  not  be  admitted  to  the 
practice  of  the  bar.  Early  in  18 16  the  little  narratives  of 
''The  Dairyman's  Daughter"  and  "The  Young  Cottager," 
heightened  at  least  the  slumbering  sense  of  obligation  to  God 
which  lies  dormant  in  the  unsanctified  heart.  But  as  yet  he 
made  no  profession  of  religion.  In  May  of  that  year  God 
took  from  him  his  beloved  mother.  It  was  then,  as  he  lifted 
his  eye  to  heaven  he  heard  a  voice  saying,  "  Whom  shall  I 
send,  and  who  will  go  for  us  ?"  and  with  iiun^ility  and  abase- 
ment he  replied,  "  Here  am  I,  Lord,  send  me."  He  was 
licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  in  1818.  In  January, 
1822,  he  received  a  call  from  Camden  and  from  Columbia, 
nearly  at  the  same  time,  and  accepted  the  latter.  At  the  ex- 
piration of  the  three  years,  the  call  was  renewed  but  declined. 
He  then  returned  to  the  bosom  of  his  family  and  became,  as 
we  have  above  related,  the  pastor  of  his  own  neighbors  and 
friends,  among  whom  he  was  born.  In  1826  he  was  violently 
attacked  by  an  epidemic  which  laid  the  foundation  for  his 
subsequent  ill  health.  Still  he  hoped  yet  to  be  of  service  to 
the  church  and  the  world.  He  had  written  a  treatise  on  the 
Pentateuch,  in  answer  to  the  skeptical  teachings  of  Dr. 
Cooper,  former  President  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  and 
was  now  offering  hims.elf  as  a  candidate  for  the  professorship 
of  sacred  literature  in  that  institution.  But  the  stroke  wiiich 
now  descended  upon  him  was  aimed  at  the  centre  of  his  joys, 
his  hopes,  his  ardent  aspirations.  The  disease  which  termi- 
nate(;J  his  life  showed  itself  to  be  ophthalmia,  which  extin- 
guished the  sight  of  one  eye  and  then  of  both.  His  death 
was  that  of  a  believer.  He  spoke  sweetly  and  affectionately 
to  his  children  anrl  brothers,  gave  his  parting  benediction  to 
his  elde.st  child.  On  his  last  sad  day  his  wife  read  to  him  the 
22d  Psalm :  "  My  God  my  portion  and  my  love,"  the 
the  words  of  which  he  felt  very  deeply.  He  often  ex- 
claimed "  poor  man !  he  is  crushed  before  the  moth  "  and 
"out  of  the  depths  have  I  cried  unto  thee,"  Sometimes  in 
Latin,     "  De   profundis  clamavi    ad  te  Bomine. "      Psalms, 


506  CONCORD — S^OUNT  OLIVET.  [1830-1840. 

c.  xxix.  Nearly  his  last  words  were  "  Come  Lord  Jesus, 
Come."  Thus  he  died  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-nine  A 
volume  ot"  his  sermons  has  been  published,  embracing 
also  his  answer  to  Dr.  Cooper,  "  on  the  genuineness  of  the 
Pentateuch." 

Concord  Church,  (Fairfield.) — The  Rev.  Jas.  B.  Stafford 
continued  with  this  churcli  until  1834,  when,  owing  to  some 
political  difficulties  which  had  been  brewing  and  increasing 
against  him  for  some  years  in  Purity  Church,  which  was  also 
under  his  pastoral  care,  lie  was  constrained  for  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  Zion  to  resign  his  charge.  He  removed  now  to 
the  State  of  Mississippi.  During  his  stay  the  Session  con- 
sisted of  Saml.  Banks,  John  Boyd,  R.  H.  Caldwell,  John 
Banks,  Hugh  Thompson. 

After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stafford,  the  church  remained 
vacant  two  years,  when  they  united  in  a  call  for  the  services 
of  the  Rev.  John  Douglas,  then  a  licentiate  of  Bethel  Presby- 
tery, and  an  alurhnus  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  at  Columbia,  and  also 
a  native  of  South  Carolina.  He  having  accepted  this  call 
was  accordingly  ordained  and  installed  their  pastor  on  the 
30th  of  April,  1836.  The  same  elders  as  held  that  office 
when  Mr.  Stafford  left,  were  in  office,  except  Hugh  Thomson 
who  had  removed  from  the  bounds  of  the  congregation.  In 
1836  there  were  added  to  the  bench  of  elders  by  election  and 
ordination  the  following  members:  John  McCoUough,  Aie.x- 
ander  Henderson  and  Henry  Moore.  [Geo.  H.  Miller,  Clerk 
of  Session.] 

Mount  Olivet  (sometimes  called  Wateree)  Church.— 
The  Rev.  C.  L.  R.  Boyd  continued  the  pastor  of  this  church 
through  most  of  the  period. 

In  the  year  1831  eleven  members  were  added  to  this 
church.  One  year  after  (1832)  twenty-three  others  were  re- 
ceived, and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  nineteen  others. 
Thus  during  the  term  of  one  year  forty-two  members  were 
received.  In  1834  five  others  were  added,  making  in  all, 
during  the  five  years  of  Mr.  Boyd's  ministration  to  this  people 
fifty-eight,  nearly  double  the  number  in  1829.  Thus  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  was.  manifested  in  the  outpouring  of  his 
spirit  upon  this  church.  But  the  prosperity  of  this  people 
was  not  permitted  long  to  continue.  Difficulties  arose  from 
a  difference  of  opinion  on  certain  religious  subjects,  especially 


1830-1840.]  C.  L.  K.  BOYD^M.  PEDEK.  507 

on  the  subject  of  baptism.  One  member  of  the  eldership 
beh'eved  the  custom  whicli  had  formerly  prevailed  in  this 
church  to  be  correct,  viz:  the  baptizing  of  infants  of  all  the 
parents  of  the  congregation  who  applied  for  the  privilege, 
whether  members  of  the  church  or  not.  Th.is  didficulty, 
together,  v/ith  some  others,  caused  a  large  number  to  with- 
draw and  a  new  church  to  be  formed  in  the  neighborhood, 
called  the  Zion  Church.  The  congregation  in  conseiquence 
of  this  were  greatly  thinned.  And  in  addition  to  internal 
troubles,  their  house  of  worship,  a  frame  building  erected  at 
considerable  expense  only  a  few  years  before,  was  on  Scibbath 
afternoon  the         of  in  the    year    1833,    consumed   by 

fire.  But  neither  the  internal  difficulties  nor  the  external 
mi.sfortunes  of  the  little  few  that  were  left  could  induce  them 
to  desert  their  place  of  worship.  A  noble  feeling  of  public 
spirit  and  zeal  for  the  cause  of  Christ  prompted  them  to  call  a 
meeting  of  the  congregation  the  same  week  in  which  the 
house  was  burnt,  by  which  meeting  it  was  resolved  that 
public  worship  should  be  continued  in  the  adjoining  grove 
until  another  house  could  be  erected.  It  was  also  resolved 
by  this  meeting  that  a  subscription  for  the  erecting  a  brick 
church  be  circulated,  and  before  the  meeting  adjourned  six 
hundred  dollars  were  subscribed  by  the  zealous  efforts  of  a 
few  individuals.  An  amount  sufficient  to  commence  the  build- 
ing was  soon  obtained.  The  work  was  commenced  on  the 
day  of  and  the   liouse  was  dedicated  to  the  wor- 

ship of  God  on  the  Sabbath  of  .     Mr.  Boyd  continued 

to  preach  to  this  people  until  the  last  of  October,  1838, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mitchell  Peden.  who 
continued  as  stated  supply  until  the  third  Sabbath  of  Decem- 
ber, 1839,  when  he  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  this 
church.  The  number  of  communing  members  when  Mr. 
Peden  commenced  to  preach  to  this  people  was  thirtj--nine 
whites  and  five  colored  persons.  On  the  fourth  Sabbath  in 
May,  1839,  one  white  person  and  six  colored  persons  were 
received  into  communion  with  the  church,  and  on  the  third 
Sabbath  in  December,  1839,  one  other  colored  person  was 
received,  making  in  all  who  are  now  regular  members. of  this 
church,  forty  white  and  twelve  colored  persons.  Total,  52. 
The  ruling  elders  of  this  church  are  :  Archibald  Beaty,  Rob- 
ert B.  Caldwell,   who   were   elected    and    ordained,  together 


508  CATHOLIC — PUBITY.  [1830-1840. 

with  Adam  Beaumgard,  on  Saturday  before  the  second  Sab- 
bath in  May,  1834.* 

Scion  Church. — This  church  arose  from  a  difference  between 
Mr.  J.  S.  John.ston  and  the  Session  of  Mount  Olivet,  in  which  an 
appeal  and  complaint  came  before  Presbytery  in  November, 
1834.  The  difficulties  being  irreconcilable,  Rev.  Messrs* 
Brearly  and  Campbell  and  Elder  McCreight,  were  appointed 
November,  1835,  to  organize  the  dissenters  into  a  church, 
under  the  above  name.  This  was  done,  but  the  organization 
did  not  long  continue. 

Catholic  Church  (Chester  District). — Section  2. — The  Rev. 
John  LeRoy  Davies  continued  the  pastor  of  this  church  u:itil 
theendof  1839.  In  1835  the  namesof  theelders,as  represented 
to  Presbytery,  were  John  Brown,  James  Harbison,  Sr.,  Wil- 
liam Hemphill,  James  Ferguson,  John  Bonner,  John  A.  Finle}', 
James  Harbison,  Jr.,  Abram  White,  Hugh  White,  James 
McClintock,  Peter  Johnson,  and  William  Wallace.  In  1838 
appear  the  names  of  John  Gunthorpe,  James  King,  and  Wil- 
liam Wylie.  Others  may  have  since  been  added  to  those 
who  have  shared  the  responsibilities  of  this  office  since  the 
organization  of  this  church. 

The  membership  of  this  church  WdS  300  in  1839,  the 
largest  church  in  the  Presbytery,  Bethel  excepted.  Some  of 
these  may  have  been  colored  members,  for  not  yet  were  they 
distinguished  as  a  class. 

Purity  Church  (Chester  District). — At  the  beginning  of 
this  decade  everything  seemed  encouraging  and  prosperous 
under  its  pastor,  Rev.  James  B.  Stafford.  In  the  year  1830, 
between  two  and  three  thousand  dollars  was  raised  for  the 
erection  of  a  new  church.  The  work  was  advancing  towards 
its  completion  when  the  tornado  of  "  Nullification  "  arose, 
and  both  pastor  and  people  were  deeply  affected  by  it.  A 
schism  in  the  church  was  the  result.  About  thirty  members 
of  the  church  seceded,  including  three  ruling  elders.  One  of 
these,  Mathew  McClintock,  joined  the  Independent  Presby- 
terians. The  others,  James  McClintock  and  Abram  White, 
with  their  adherents,  formed  the  Pleasant  Grove  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  church  edifice,  a  plain,  substantial  building,  34 
by  36  feet,  was  completed  in  the  year  1832,  retaining  within 
it  the  old  pulpit,  made  in  the  year  179S,  as  a  memorial  of  the 
past.     The  divisions  which  had   occurred   were   a    great  dis- 

*The  missing  dates  were  wanting  in  the  MS.  sent  us. 


1830-1840.]     REV.  JOHN  DOUGI.A8 — PLEASANT  GROVE.  509 

couragement  to  Mr.  Stafford,  and  in  November,  1834,  he 
.sought  a  dissolution  of  his  pa^toral  relation  wiih  the  Concord 
Church,  his  connection  with  Purity  having  been  terminated 
on  the  5lh  of  November,  1833.  He  was  dismissed  to  Tom- 
beckbee  Presbytery,  in  Mississippi.  He  reared  a  family  of 
eight  children,  most  of  whom  died  as  they  reached  maturity. 
His  eldest  son  was  a  ruling  elder  in  Mississippi,  and  was 
cruelly  murdered  by  a  raiding, party  of  the  enemy  near  his 
own  house  during  the  late  civil  war.  Mr.  Stafford  died  May 
8,  1862,  aged  70  years,  and  in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his 
ministry.  The  Rev.  Robt.  Walker  became  the  stated  supply 
of  this  church  for  a  short  season,  and  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
John  Douglas,  who  was  born  and  reared  in  the  congregation, 
was  a  graduate  of  South  Carolina  College,  and  had  completed 
his  course  in  theology  at  the  Seminary  at  Columbia.  The 
Churches  of  Purity  and  Concord  united  in  calling  him  as 
their  pastor,  and  on  the  30th  of  April,  1836,  his  ordination 
and  installation  took  place,  the  Rev.  James  H.  Thornwell 
preaching  the  sermon,  and  Rev.  Cyrus  Johnston  and  Rev. 
John  B.  Davies  assisting. 

In  May,  1837,  Mr.  Douglas  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Frances  C.  Marchant,  daughter  of  P.  T.  Marchant,  of  Charles- 
ton. Purity  was  at  that  time  a  small  congregation,  and  its 
house  of  worshfp  two  and  a  half  miles  from  the  village  of 
Chester.  Mr.  Douglas  soon  perceived  that  there  must  be  a 
house  of  worship  at  the  village,  and  proceeded  to  purchase  a 
lot  and  build  a  lecture-room  at  a  co't  of  ;?i,500,  ;^i,iOO  of 
which  was  raised  by  subscription.  The  building  of  a  lecture- 
room  made  way  for  a  new  church  edifice  in  due  time,  and  to 
the  existence  of  a  Purity  Church  in  the  town  of  Chester, 
leaving  another  at  the  former  site,  two  miles  from  the  Court- 
house. 

Pleasant  Grove  or  Mt.  Ple.^sant. — This  church  was 
organized  by  Rev.  Cyrus  Johnston  in  1838,  and  took  the 
place  of  Edmonds'  Church,  which,  after  the  death  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Neely,  withdrew  from  the  Presbytery  and  connected 
themselves  with  the  Independents,  the  followers  of  W.  C. 
Davis. 

Fishing  Creek. — The  Rev.  J.  B.  Davies  continued  pastor 
of  this  church  through  this  period.  Only  one  elder  is 
known  to  have  been  added  to  the  session  meanwhile,  viz  : 
Wrti  Cowan,  in  1835   or  earlier.     The  membership  had  not 


610  CEDAR  SHOALS.  [1830-1840. 

increased.  In  1840  ihey  stood  in  the  statistical  tables  at  126, 
as  against  135  in  1830.  This  cliurcli  has  another  house  of 
worship,  midway  between  the  old  church  and  the  Courthouse, 
and  six  miles  fiom  each,  called  Uriel. 

Cedar  Shoals. — This  took  the  place  of  Richardson,,  the 
pastoral  charge  of  which  was  resigned  by  Mr.  Davies  in  183 1, 
afler  he  had  served  it,  in  connection  with  Fishing  Creek,  (or 
thirty-three  years.  Of  this  church  Joseph  Gaston  and  Robt. 
White  were  ruling  elders.  The  church  of  Cedar  Shoals  is 
sixteen  miles  from  the  Courthouse,  and  nearly  on  the  road 
from  the  latter  to  Lancasterville.  It  is  nearly  midway 
between  "Old  Richardson,"  or  Lower  Fishing  Creek,  and 
what  was  a  branch  of  Catholic,  called  Bethlehem,  near  Beck- 
hamville.  "After  Mr.  Davies  left  Richardson,"  says  Rev.  Mr. 
Saye,  "  I  am  not  aware  of  its  having  regular  preaching.  I 
think,  however,  that  the  Rev.  S.  B.  O.  Wilson  bestowed  some 
labor  there.  Cedar  Shoals  was  organized  by  Rev.  C.  Johnston 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  congregation,  and  drew  off  some  of 
the  members.  Other  families  moved  into  the  bounds  of 
Fishing  Creek  congregation.  The  families  now  (September, 
1869)  around  the  old  site  are  mostly  connected  with  other 
denominations  —  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Associate  and 
Reformed  Presbyterians.  Governor  Davies  and  his  family 
supported  Richardson  Church  while  it  remained,  or  any  of 
them  remained  in  the  community.  That  family  is  now 
extinct  in  that  region  except  one  of  his  grandsons,  v/ho  lives 
higher  up,  and  is  connected  with  Waxhaw." 

"Cedar  Shoals  rather  stands  in  the  place  of  two  former  places  of 
worship,  to  wit:  Lower  Fishing  <  reek  and  Bethlehem.  Bethlehem 
was  a  branch  of  Catholic,  wa«  supplied  by  the  minister  of  Catholic  for  I 
know  not  how  long.  Under  Mr.  Brainard's  ministry  it  flourished,  and 
was  supplied  afterwards  for  a  time  by  Rev.  J.  L.  R.  Davies,  but  he  gave 
it  up  for  what  he  considered  a  more  important  enterprise  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  congregation  The  tiaston  connection  resided  intermediate 
between  lower  Fishing  Creek  and  Hethlehem.  Joseph  Uaston.  Esq., 
had  been  long  a  member  of  the  former.  In  1834  the  community  had 
the  chance  of  the  services  of  the  Rev.  C.  Johnston  for  one-half  of  his 
time.  He  was  engaged,  and  preached  at  a  stand  in  the  grove  where 
the  Church  now  is.  Reorganized  the  church,  by  the  autiiority  of  Bethel 
Presbytery,  on  the  22d  of  June,  18!i4.  which  was  afterwards  supplied  by 
the  Kev.  J.  B.  Davies  and  others,  but  was  often  vacant.  The  congrega- 
tion is^on  ground  once  occujiied  by  a  reformed  Presbyterian  congrega- 
tion, called  lieaver  Dam.  The  covenanters  sold  out  their  plantations  to 
Baptists,  Methodists,  &c.,  so  that  the  community  is  now  divided  between 
four  denominations. 

The   persons  who  constituted  the  church  at  its   organization  were 


1830-1840.]  bullock's  CREEK — BETHE8DA.  511 

Joseph  Gaston,  Esq.  Jane  Gaston,  Daniel  G.  Stinsnn,  Esther  Stinson, 
Lemuel  Davison,  Anne  Davison,  IsabeUa  Walker,  William  A.  White, 
Robert  White  and  Mary  White,  forniorly  members  of  Richardson 
Church,  to<:ether  with  the  following,  dismissed  from  Catholic  Church 
with  a  view  of  entering  into  this  organization,  viz  ;  Dr.  J.  B.  Gaston, 
Polly  B.  Gaston,  Jane  G.  Barclay,  Mr.  S.  Stinson  and  Margaret  Tolford, 
and  the  following,  received  by  e.xamination  on  protession  of  faith,  viz: 
Mrs.  Paisly,  Elizabeth  B.  Davison,  Jane  Davison,  Mrs.  Woods  and  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  McFadden.  Joseph  (Jaston  and  Robert  White,  having  pre- 
viously been  ruling  elders  in  Richardson  Church,  were  duly  installed 
elders  in  this  church.  The  ministerial  services  of  Rev.  Cyrus  Johnston 
terminated  in  this  congregation  early  in  1835.  In  April  of  this  year  the 
session  reported  eighteen  communicants. 

Bullock's  Creek. — The  Rev.  Aaron  Williams  continued 
in  the  pastorate  of  thi.s  church  until  November,  1833,  wiien 
his  connection  with  this  church  was  dissolved,  The  church 
after  this  was  served  once  a  month  by  Rev.  W.  B.  Davies, 
but  in  1835  secured  his  labor.s  for  one-half  his  time.  This 
church  was  greatly  reduced  in  its  membership,  and  its  har- 
mony disturbed  by  the  trouble  avising  from  the  affairs  of  VV. 
C.  Davis.  Who  constituted  its  first  bencli  of  elders  is  not 
certainly  known,  but  as  far  as  remembered,  they  were  John 
Dickey,  Joseph  Feemster,  Stewart  Brown,  John  Smith, 
Henry  Plexico,  Alexander  Dowdle,  Charles  Gilmore,  John 
Feemster,  David  Leech,  John  King,  Henry  Dowdle. 

Salem  Church. — In  1835,  Robert  Lusk,  James  Plexico, 
and  John  Pilcher  are  enumerated  as  ruling  elders  in  this 
church.  On  the  2d  of  November,  1838,  the  church  was  dis- 
solved and  its  members  annexed  to  Bullock's  Creek. 

Bethesda  (York). — The  Rev.  Robert  B.  Walker  was  pas- 
tor of  this  Church  until  183  |,  when  this  relation  was  dissolved 
at  his  own  request  by  Bethel  Presbytery  on  the  sole  plea  that 
age  and  attendant  infirmity  unfitted  him  for  the  discharge  of 
his  pastoral  duties.  He  was  now  sixty-eight  years  of  age, 
and  had  been  forty  years  in  the  ministry.  But  previous  to 
this,  in  1832,  this  Church  experienced  a  season  of  revival,  in 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  was  abundantly  poured  forth.  This 
occurred  under  the  evangelistic  labors  of  Rev.  Daniel  Baker, 
and  was  the  third  season  of  special  revival  the  Church  had 
enjoyed.  It  came  on  the  heels  of  a  calamitous  excitement, 
yet  it  was  one  long  to  be  remembered.  The  number  of  per- 
sons admitted  to  the  Church,  as  the  result  of  this,  cannot  well 
be  estimated,  for  many  applying  for  membership  years  after 
pointed  back  to  this  as  the  time  of  their  conviction,  if  not  of 
their  conversion. 


512  EEV.  EOBEET  B.  WALKER.  [18SO-1840. 

The  field  occupied  by  this  venerable  man,  Father  Walker, 
was  far  more  extended  than  that  which  tlie  Bethesda  congre- 
gation now  occupies  (A.  D.  1878),  though  still  covering  a 
circle  wiiose  diameter  extends  through  twelve  miles.  He 
supplied  Ebenezer  Cliurch  and  congregatinns,  ten  miles  dis- 
tant, for  the  space  of  twenty-five  years,  embracing  a  large 
scope  of  densely  populated  country.  His  labors  were  also 
extended  to  other  vacant  Churches  at  different  times.  He  is 
represented  as  being  an  able  preacher,  elegant  and  eloquent 
in  diction,  and  as  possessing  social  qualities  of  the  highest 
order.  Through  a  considerable  portion  of  his  ministry  he 
taught  from  necessity  a  classical  school,  in  which  were  a 
number  who  afterward  became  useful  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
or  occu[)ied  other  positions  of  influence,  in  society.  He 
received  from  the  University  of  North  Carolina  at  this  period 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  which  he  respectfully  and 
humbly  declined. 

After  his  release  from  his  pastoral  charge,  he  remained  in 
the  State  about  ten  years.  The  Rev.  Pierpont  E.  Bishop,  in  a 
sermon  preached  on  the  occasion  ot  his  death,  speaks  forcibly 
of  the  power  of  his  example,  held  as  he  was  in  universal 
esteem,  wielded  as  it  was  against  all  vice,  immorality  and  sin  ; 
of  his  hallowed  influence  in  the  families  he  visited  in  his 
early  life  as  a  brother,  m  his  later  as  a  father;  especially  in 
the  chamber  of  sickness  by  the  side  of  the  dying  sinner, 
telling  of  the  cross  and  Hjm  that  hung  upon  it  bearing  his 
sin  ;  or  giving  comfort  to  the  believer,  and  to  the  bereaved 
and  afflicted;  of  his  power  in  the  pulpit  as  an  able  expounder 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  as  a  faithful  reprover  of  all  sin; 
as  a  preacher,  when  feeling  the  force  of  the  truths  he  uttered, 
he  rose  with  gigantic  strength,  and  preached  with  a  pathos, 
a  majesty,  and  a  power  of  fervid  eloquence,  which  many 
living  witJnesses  could  well  attest,  and  which,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  his  intimate  friends,  was  surpassed  by  no 
cotemporary  in  that  portion  of  the  land. 

After  this  venerable  man  retired  from  his  pastoral  charge, 
he  took  up  his  abode  with  his  children  in  York  District, 
South  Carolina,  till  the  fall  of  1847.  He  then  removed  with 
one  of  his  sons  to  the  State  of  Mississippi,  where  he  died  on 
the  loth  of  April,  1852. 

Mr.  Walker  was  succeeded  in  the  pastorate  of  Bethesda  by 
Rev.  Cyrus  Johnson,  whose  labors  began  here  in  1834,  and 


1830-1840.]  REV.  CYEUS  JOHNSON,  B.  D.  513 

extended  to  the  fall  of  1839.  His  labors  here  seem  to  have 
yielded  the  fruits  of  strong  manly  piety  in  the  membership, 
and  a  thorough  indoctrination  of  all  the  congregation  in  the 
great  truths  of  the  gospel,  and  those  doctrines  as  interpreted 
in  the  confession  of  faith,  he  being  characterized  as  an  able, 
persevering  and  efficient  expounder  of  Calvinism,  not  simply 
in  its  distinctive,  but  all  its  vital  features.  The  records  of  the 
Church  under  him  show  that,  in  the  absence  of  any  extensive 
outpouring  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  there  were  still  additions  at 
every  communion.  There  was  also  a  thorough  systematic 
instruction  of  the  young  in  the  catechism,  by  dividing  the 
congregation  into  wards,  which  were  regularly  visited  by  their 
pastor  and  elders,  and  all,  old  and  young,  were  subjected  to 
a  process  of  close  questioning  by  the  pastor,  who  had  a  pecu- 
liar tact  at  imparting  instruction  in  this  way.  The  weekly 
prayer  meetings,  with  the  elders  particularly,  and  air  the 
benevolent  schemes  and  charities,  were  kept  alive  and  vigor- 
ously maintained  by  him.  Thus  the  period  of  his  pastorate 
here  may  be  denominated  one  of  substantial  benefit  to  the 
Church,  deepening  the  foundations  of  religion  in  the  pious, 
and  preparing  the  minds  of  the  5mung  and  the  middle-aged 
for  a  future  go.spel  harvest,  and  at  the  same  time  making 
gradual  additions  to  the  membership. 

Mr.  Johnson  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  prepared  for 
college  under  Dr.  McKemie  Wilson,  of  RocUy  River,  and 
was  graduated  with  the  first  distinction  at  Hampden  Sydney 
College,  in  182 1,  under  President  Cushing.  He  studied 
theology  under  Dr,  J.  Robinson,  of  Poplar  Tent  Church,  at 
the  same  time  teaching  in  the  family  and  using  the  library  of 
the  Rev,  John  Williamson,  of  Hopewell  Church.  He  was 
licensed  to  preach  in  1823,  and  ordained  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Concord  in  1824.  He  was  pastor  of  Beersheba  Church,  in 
Bethel  Presbytery,  for  several  years.  He  thence  removed  to 
the  lower  part  of  York  District,  where  he  taught  a  large 
academy;  organized  and  preached  to  a  church  called  Mount 
Pleasant,  near  where  Zion,  in  Bethel  Presbytery,  now  stands, 
and  also  supplied  the  Church  of  Cedar  Shoals.  In  1834  he 
entered  upon  his  labors  as  pastor  of  Bethesda — not,  however, 
remitting  his  connection  with  his  school.  In  1839  the  rela- 
tion was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Johnson  removed  to  Mecklenberg 
County,  N.  C,  and  in  the  spring  following  was  installed  pastor 
of  the  Churches  of  Providence  and  Sharon,  in  the  bounds  of 
33 


514  REV.  CYRUS  JOHNSON,  D.  J>.  [1830-1840, 

the  first  of  wliicli  he  lived  and  conducted  a  very  large  clas- 
sical school.  In  this  new  relation  his  usefulness  was  very 
great — his  services  as  pastor  and  teacher  both  being  highly 
appreciated.  After  six  ye.irs  he  was  induced  to  leave  this 
field  and  repair  to  Charlotte,  in  1845,  "here  he  became  prin- 
cipal of  the  flourishing  female  acadern)',  and  in  the  fo'lowing 
yenrbecame  pastor  of  the  Charlotte  Church.  A  few  years  '■ub- 
sequently  to  this,  he  abandoned  the  academy  and  sold  out  Iiis 
farm,  and  having  iit  this  period  been  greatly  chastened  by  the 
hand  of  death  removing  lialf  his  children,  he  devoted  himself 
exclusively  to  his  pastoral  work.  From  this  time  to  his 
death  every  impulse  of  his  heart  and  energy  of  his  life  were 
consecrated  to  the  high  purpose  of  winning  souls  to  Jesus 
and  building  up  His  Church  in  faith  and  holiness  and  good 
works.  The  results  were  soon  happily  visible  in  his  charge. 
Jn  the  years  1848  and  1852  his  peo[)le  were  vis  ted  with  the 
outpourin'j:;s  of  Divine  Grace,  in  the  first  of  which  several 
dozen  v/'cra  added  to  the  communion  of  the  Church,  and  in 
the  second  year  mentioned  nearly  a  hundred  suuls  |)rofe.ssed 
conversion.  His  labors  in  Charlotte  were  greatly  contribu- 
tary  to  the  growlh  of  the  Churcii.  He  found  a  feeble  Church, 
with  twenty-eight  members  and  two  ruling  elders,  but  through 
his  instrumentality  it  arose  to  have  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
four  members  and  seven  elders,  and  a  fu'l  bench  nf  deacons, 
and  became  one  of  the  most  active  and  elificient  Ciiurches  in 
tiie  Synod  of  North  Carolina.  On  the  morning  of  the  25lh  of 
Januar\',  1855,  he  was  sudefen'y  stricken  down  by  apoplexy  and 
died  in  a  few  moments,  in  the  fifty-eighth  j'e.ir  of  his  age,  and 
thirty-second  of  his  ministry.  Of  him  one  who  kn^-w  him 
well  and  long  says  :  "  Dr.  Johnson  possessed  a  strong  and 
active  mind,  somewhat  slow  in  its  oi)eraiions,  bin  always  true 
to  its  purpose,  taking  a  firm  grasp  of  whatever  subject  he  had 
in  hand  and  pursuing  its  investigation  with  untiring  patience 
and  perseverance.  He  was  an  indefatig.ible  student.  His  per- 
ceptions, whether  as  a  writer  or  speaker,  were  remarkably 
clear,  and  his  arguments  connected  and  conclusive.  His  siyle 
was  somewhat  diffuse,  but  direct  and  impressive.  In  mamrer 
he  was  earnest  and  energetic.  Having  been  a  classical  teacher 
neaily  all  his  life,  he  became  distinguished  for  his  classical 
and  m  itheinatical  attainments.  Few  pasti-rs  were  his  equals 
in  tiiese  branches  of  literature.  He  was  also  a  sound  and 
discriminating  theologian  of  the  strictest  old  school  Calvin- 


1830-1840.]  EBENEZER.  515 

istic  order.  He  received  tlie  Doctorate  in  Divinity  about 
four  years  before  he  died.  Whilst  iiis  piety  was  deep,  evan- 
gelical, growing  and  vvori<ing,  his  preaching  was  character- 
istically devotional  and  didactical.  As  a  strictly  conscientious 
Christian,  a  faithful  friend,  a  devoted  husband,  a  wise  father, 
a  humane  masler,  a  laborious  pastor,  a  punctual  presbyter,  a 
zealous  advocate  of  every  good  work,  and  a  benevolent,  liberal- 
minded  citizen,  he  set  in  his  lifi  a  practical  e.xample  which  is 
worthy  tiie  imitation  of  all."  [Obituary  notice  by  Rev,  D.  A. 
Penick,  Sr.] 

He  married  early  in  his  ministry  a  cousin  of  his  by  whom 
he  had  nine  children,  four  sons  and  five  daughters.  Only  one 
son  and  three  daughters  survived  him.  His  wife  and  one 
daughter  soon  followed  to  his, heavenly  home.  [MS.  His. 
of  Htthesda  Church,  York  District,  by  Rev.  Jno.  S.  Harris, 
sermon  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Rev.  Robt.  B.  Walker, 
by  Rev.  Pierpont  Bi-hop,  1S53.  Semi-Centennial  Sermon, 
April  2d,  1875,  by  Rev.  James  \\.  Save.] 

Of  the  ruling  elders  who  entered  upon  tlieir  office  from 
1830  to  1840,  the  following  are  mentioned  in  Mr.  Harris' 
history,  Robt,  Ash,  the  2Sth  since  the  organization  of  the 
church  was  inducted  into  office  about  1830,  was  an  humble 
and  earnest  Christian,  but  of  reth-ing  manners.  He  married 
Margaret  Campton,  the  children  of  whom  were  living  in  the 
congregation  in  1863.  He  died  January  nth,  1840,  at  the 
age  of  50. 

The  29th  in  the  order  of  time,  who  held  this  office  was 
Samuel  Moore.  He  was  set  apart  to  this  office  in  1838.  He 
was  modest  and  dif/ident  in  spirit,  but  a  sincere  and  de- 
voted Christian,  h;iving  the  interest  of  tlie  church  at  heart. 
He  died  In  18^2  at  sixty  years  of  age,  leaving  a  considerable 
family,  all  of  whom  followed  iiim  in  the  ways  of  righteousness. 
The  30th  was  Samuel  Moore.  He  was  born  and  nurtured  in 
this  congregation,  assumed  the  duties  of  the  eldershipin  1838, 
discharged  them  with  great  fidelity  and  acceptance  until  his 
sudden  death,  February  17,  1853.  His  children  were  all 
co'umunicants  in  the  church  of  their  godly  ancestry.  ' 

Ebenezek. — Of  ihis  church  we  have  little  or  no  knowledge. 
We  have  seen  that  tlie  Rev.  Robt.  B.  Walker  supplied  this 
church  and  congregation  for  twenty-five  years.  This  supply 
continued  till  1834  when  they  obtained  the  services  of  Rev. 
P.  E.  Bishop,  who  afterwards  was  installed   as  their  pastor. 


516  TNITY— YORKVILLE — SHILOH.  [1830-1840. 

In  October,  1835  its  elders  were  William  Shaw,  William  An- 
derson, Josiah  Garrison,  Joseph  McCorckle,  Stephen  Mc- 
Corckle,  Robeit  Miller,  John  H.  Barry  and  Francis  H.Simril, 
eight  in  number. 

Unity  was  also  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bishop. 
"  Attended  a  sacramental  meeting  of  Bro.  Bishop's  at  Unity. 
That  is  a  precious  and  godly  man."  [Dr.  Thornwell's  life 
by  Dr.  Palmer.]  The  ruling  elders  at  this  time  were  Robt. 
Harris,  Jas.  McRee  and  William  White.  [Saye's  Semi-Cen- 
tennial  Sermon.] 

Beeksheba. — The  Rev.  Cyrus  Johnson  continued  pastor  of 
this  church  until  1833,  when  he  resigned  this  charge  and  the 
church  remamed  vacant  until  the  commencement  of  1835, 
when  they  obtained  the  labors  of  Wm.  B.  Davies  as  a  stated 
supply.  He  ministered  also  in  the  same  capacity  at  Bullock's 
Creek  and  Salem.  But  he  soon  after  gave  up  Salem,  but 
continued  to  supply  the  other  congregations  as  long  as  he 
had  strength.  In  1835  the  ruling  elders  of  this  congregation 
were  William  Caldwell,  William  Brown,  William  Irwin,  Eli 
Meek,  John  S.  Moore  and  James  Caldwell. 

YoRKViLi.E  Church. — Of  the  organization  of  this  church 
we  have  given  an  a,ccount  in  the  preceding  decade.  It  is 
reported  in  connection  with  Beersheba  ns  under  the  care  of 
Rev.  Cyrus  Johnson  in  1830,  as  having  in  connection  with 
Beersheba  141  members  in  the  two  churches.  It  is  not  re- 
ported again  till  1836,  when  it  is  represented  as  vacant.  It  is 
not  again  reported  in  this  decade. 

Sandy  Spring,  a  church  organized  in  Anderson  District, 
about  six  miles  from  Pendleton  Old  Courthouse,  was  received 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  on  the 
5th  of  October,  1832.  Anthony  W.  Ross  became  its  stated 
supply.  In  1834  it  had  forty  members  in  fJU  communion. 
Mr.  Ross  continued  in  this  relation  in  connection  with  Car- 
mel  or  Hopewell  (Keowee)  until  1839. 

Shiloh. — This  church  was  supplied  by  R.  C.  Johnston  till 
1831,  when  it  was  left  vacant.  In  1832  it  was  again  supplied 
by  Rev.  W.  B.  Davis  once  a  month  till  1833,  when  it  was 
again  vacant  until  January,  1836,  when  it  was  supplied  by  A. 
R.  Banks,  a  Missionary  of  Bethel  Presbytery,  for  three 
months,  who  established  a  Sabbath-school  and  a  Bible  class, 
and  the  prospect  was  that  with  preaching  it  might  flourish. 
[J.  B,  Davies  in    1835.]     In   that  year  there   were  as  ruling 


1830-1840.]  BETHEL  (YOEK) WAXHAAV.  517 

elders,  Ezekiel  Price,  John  Stewart,  Robert  Patterson  and 
Henry  Aters.  It  was  vacant  in  1836,  1837,  1838,  1839,  with 
a  membership  of  fifty-six  or  fifty-eight. 

Beihkl  (York.) — The  Rev.  James  S.  Adams  continued 
the  much  loved  and  venerated  pastor  of  this  ancient  church 
through  this  decade.  ''  In  1832  his  congregation  was  bles.'i.ed 
with  a  mighty  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  followed  by  large 
accessions  to  the  communion  of  the  church,  amounting  (if 
my  information  be  correct)  to  near  three  hundred,  the  fruit 
of  one  revival.  But  it  was  not  merely  in  times  of  great  ex- 
citement that  additions  were  made  to  the  church  of  his  charge, 
these  were  frequent.  The  gospel  of  Christ  in  this  widely  and 
extended  and  densely  populated  congregation,  appeared  to 
exert  a  regular  and  powerfully  transforming  influence;  infi- 
delity and  vice  disappearing  and  the  happy  fruits  of  the 
Spirit  adorning  the  face  of  society.  It  is  confidently  believed 
that  hundreds  are  now  living  in  the  fear  of  God  who  were 
brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  through  his  instrumen- 
tality, and  many  such  hav9  gone  to  their  rest.  But  this 
mighty  influence  he  exerted  in  society  and  the  amount  of  good 
accomplished  instrumentally  by  him,  cannot  now  be  esti- 
mated. The  effect  of  his  holy  example  for  near  half  a 
century,  the  impressions  made  by  his  powerful  preaching  on 
the  thousand.*-:  whom,  in  the  course  of  his  ministry  he  ad- 
dressed, and  the  bearing  these  impressions  have  had  and  will 
yet  have  on  the  eternal  destinies  of  men,  none  but  the  infinite 
mind  can  estimate  and  eternity  reveal."  [Sermon  by  Rev. 
Pierpont  E.  Bishop  on  the  death  of  Rev.  James  S.  Adams, 
published  by  order  of  the  Presbytery,  Columbia,  1844.] 

The  following  elders  were  chosen  at  different  periods  dur- 
ing those  years  of  Mr.  Adams'  administration  :  David  Wat- 
son, James  Moore,  Joseph  Adams,  John  Campbell,  David 
Turner,  Samuel  Gingles,  Edward  Moore,  John  Barry,  J. 
Gadby,  McCord  Pressley,  William  Adams,  Laban  Suggs,  Wil- 
liam Watson,  William  Latta,  Robert  Johnson  and  Adam  Beam- 
guard.  Except  Joseph  and  William  Adams,  these  have  all 
removed  from  Bethel,  retired  from  the  duties  of  the  office,  or 
entered  upon  their  rest  above.     [Anno  Dom.  1855.] 

Those  marked  \n  italics  and  Andrew  Floyd  appear  on  the 
minutes  of  Presbytery  as  having  this  office  in  1835. 

Waxhaw  Church. — The  Rev.  Robert  B.  Campbell  con- 
tinued in  the   pastorship    of  this    church    until  April,    1832. 


518  WAXHAW — SIX  MILE  CEEEK.  [1830-1840. 

Under  such  frequent  changes  the  chnrch  decreased  in  num- 
bers until  from  ranking;  among  the  most  numerous  and  flour- 
ishing churches  in  the  State,  it  became  reduced  to  between 
sixty  and  seventy  members.  Tlie  decrease,  however,  was  not 
attributable  entirely  to  the  unsettled  dispensation  of  the 
means  of  grace,  but  in  a  considerable  degree  to  the  accumu- 
lation of  wealth,  which  consisted  greatly  in  tlie  increase  of 
the  slave  population  supplanting  that  of  the  free  white  in- 
habitants. 

In  the  year  1832  Mr.  Campbell  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
John  B.  Davies,  the  pastor  of  Fishing  Creek  Church,  Chester 
District,  as  a  stated  supply  for  half  his  labors.  These  were 
not  altogether  in  vain  among  that- people.  During  the  two 
years  and  a  half  which  he  devoted  to  the  interests  of  this 
church,  evidence  of  an  improvement  was  manifest  in  the 
harmony  of  its  action  and  the  increase  of  its  members. 

Early  in  the  year  1S35  James  H.  Thornwell,  a  licentiate  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  and  destined  to  obtain  in  after 
years  that  great  eminence  and  influence  which  attaches  itself 
to  his  person,  was  employed  to  labor  in  equal  proportion  in 
the  Waxhaw  and  LanCasterville  congregations.  A  church 
had  been  organized  in  the  latter  place,  composed  of  members 
separated  for  this  purpose  fjom  the  Waxiiaw  Church  and 
fiom  Si.K  Mile  Creek,  a  church  adjoining  and  situate  in 
Lancaster  District. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  1835,  Mr.  Thornwell  was  ordained 
and  installed  as  the  pastor  of  the  Laucastcrville  Church,  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,*  yet  by  speciiil  agreement  Mr. 
Thornwell  was  to  supply  Waxhaw  and  Six  Mile  Creek,  each 
one-third  of  his  time.  But  after  the  first  year  an  arrange- 
ment was  made  by  which  Mr.  Tliornwell  was  installed  over 
the  three  churches.  In  January  1838  this  relation  was  dis- 
solved and  Mr.  Thornwell  became  connected,  as  an  instruc- 
tor, with  South  Carolina  College  as  the  successor  of  the 
lamented  Nott,  first  as  Professor  of  Logic  and  Belles  Lettres, 
and  then  in  various  offices,  culminating  at  last  in  the  Presi- 
dency, he  earned  a  wide  renown  as  an  educator,  an  eloquent 

*Mr.  Thornwell,  during  his  pastorate,  resided  in  the  Village  of  Lan- 
caster, where  a  neat  church  buildint;  was  soon  erei'ted  under  Bis  aus- 
pices. The  Waxhaw  Church  was  distant  about  eight  miles,  and  the 
Six  Mile  charge  about  eighteen  miles."  (Palmer's  Life  of  Thornwell, 
p.  134.) 


1830-1840.]  LANCASTERVILLE.  519 

divine   and   independent  thinker,  where,  as  a  student,  he  had 
won  iiis  first  l;iurcls. 

The  eldership  of  tlie  Wiixkmv  Church  at  this  time  were 
John  Foster,  Robert  Stinson,  Robert  Wallaip,  H.  S.  Ma^sey, 
G.  Washington  Dunlap,  Samuel  F.  Dunlap,  Eli  Hood,  Wil- 
liam Dunlap  and  George  Dunlap.- 

Those  of  iMiicastervilU  were  Dr.  George  Dunlap  and  Dr. 
Thomas  L.  Dunlap. 

The  elders  oi  Six  Mile  Creek  in  1835  were  Robert  Walker, 
John  M.  Doby,  Henry  Anderson,  Wilson  Alien  and  Hugh 
Moore. 

LANCASTERVILLE. — The  Rev.  J.  B.  Davies  was  appomted  by 
the  Presbylery  of  Betliel  in  April,  iS^j.to  organize  a  church 
at  LancasterviUe.  This  was  done,  and  was  reported  at  a 
special  meeting  of  Presbytery,  which  assembled  on  the  nth 
of  June,  1835.  The  Church,  as  organized,  consisted  of  nine- 
teen members  and  two  elders.  A  call  was  presented  from 
this  Church,  through  the  Presbytery,  to  Rev.  James  H.  Thorn- 
well,  who  had  been  received  as  a  licentiate  from  the  Presby- 
tery of  Harmony,  for  his  ministerial  labors.  The  usual 
e.'caminations  were  held  and  a  sermon  was  preached  by  him, 
as  a  part  of  his  trials,  from  John  iii :  17.  He  was  ordained 
and  set  apait  by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands  to  the 
gospel  ministry,  and  installed  as  pastor  over  the  Church  of 
Lancasterville,  the  Rev.  John  B.  Davies,  presiding,  the  Rev. 
,  Pierpont  E.  Bishop  preaching  the  sermon  from  2  Cor.  ii :  16, 
and  the  other  parts  of  the  services  of  ordination  and  installa- 
tion being  had. 

The  following  is  from  Dr.  Palmer's  Life  of  Dr.  Thornwell, 
page  127  : 

Mr.  Thnrnwell  was  licensed  to  preafiJi  the  Gospel  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Harmony,  met  at  Tolerant  Church,  in  the  bounds  of  Beaver  Creek 
congregation  on  the  28tli  of  November,  1814,  exactly  one  year  from  the 
time  he  was  talcen  under  tlie  Presbytery's  care.  His  examination  was 
eminently  satisfactory,  and  very  unusual  encomiums  were  pronounced 
upon  hisabiiity  and  proficiency  by  the  me;i:bersof  the  court,  in  render- 
ing their  desision  upon  the  parts  of  trial.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Goulding, 
then  Professor  in  the  Tlieological  Seminary  at  Columbia,  is  reported  as 
saying,  "  Brethren,  I  foel  lilie  sitting  at  tlie  young  man's  feet,  as  a 
learner  ;  "  a  very  sweet  expre.ssion  of  humility  on  the  part  of  one  whom 
the  Church  was  hoao  ing  With  an  office  of  the  highest  responsibility 
and  trust ;  but  also  a  wonderful  testimony  to  the  attainments  of  the 
young  theologian  who  drew  it  forth. 

His  lir.^t  settlement  was,  however,  within  the  bounds  of  a  different 
Pre^ibytery.     Certain  gentlemen   from  the  village  of  Lancaster  w'ere 


520  REV.  J.  H.  THORNWELL.  [1830-1840. 

present  at  the  examination,  and  bore  away  with  them  suoh  impressions 
as  determined  eventually  his  location.  On.  the  8th  of  April,  1825,  a 
church  was  organized  in  this  village  by  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,  which 
immediately  made  overtures  to  Mr.  Thornwell  to  become  its  pastor. 
Accordingly,  on  the  11th  of  -lune,  he  was  transferred  as  a  licentiate 
from,  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  to  that  of  Bethel,  and  on  the  following 
day  he  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  over  the  infant  church.  His 
labors,  however,  were  not  restricted  within  this  narrow  sphere  The 
old  mother  Church  of  Waxhaw,  and  the  Church  of  Six  Mile  Creek,  in 
the  same  District  of  Lancaster,  enjoyed  his  occasional,  if  not  his  con- 
stant, ministrations  ;  and  in  April,  1836,  having  made  out  separate  calls, 
they  were  united  with  the  Church  at  Lancasterville  in  a  joint  pastoral 
chartre,  and  the  installation  services  were  performed  by  Rev.  Messrs. 
J.  B.  Davies  and  Pierpont  E  Bishop,  as  a  committee  of  the  Presbytery. 
The  reader  has  observed  the  spiritual  conflict  through  which  our 
friend  passed  in  his  earlier  years,  and  the  gradual  ascendancy  whicli 
the  gospel  gained  over  his  character  and  life.  He  will  not,  therefore,  be 
surprised  to  find  these  culminating  in  one  last  struggle,  which  would 
seem  to  terminate  the  discipline  of  this  preparatory  period.  The  let- 
ters, too,  which  have  been  given,  reveal  his  towering  ambition,  which 
had  been  fed  by  constant  and  brilliant  success  in  academic  competitions. 
What  more  likely  than  this  tremendous  passion  should  gather  up  all 
its'force  to  deter  him  from  a  calling  in  which  it  may  not  lawfully  be 
indulged  ?  What  more  probable  than  that  conscience  should  itself 
shrink  back,  in  alarm,  from  the  responsibility  of  the  sacred  office,  not 
measured  in  its  awful  magnitude  until  it  is  about  to  be  assumed?  What 
more  in  keeping  with  the  artifice  and  malignity  of  Satan,  than  that,  at 
such  a  crisis,  he  should  seize  upon  all  that  is  good,  as  well  as  that  is 
evil,  within  us,  and  array  them  against  a  decision  by  which  he  is  dis- 
comfited forever?  It  is  a  fearful  struggle,  when  once,  for  all,  a  noble 
spirit  brings  its  longing  after  fame  and  iays  it  down  a  perpetual  sacrifice 
to  conscience  and  to  God.  For  though  the  pulpit  has  its  honors  and 
rewards,  woe  !  woe  !  to  the  man  who  enters  it  under  this  temptation — 

"To  gazeiit  hiK  own  splendor,  and  e.^alt. 
Absurdly,  not  his  ofBce,  but  himself." 

The  shadow  of  a  fearful  curse  falls  upon  him  who  "  does  this  work  of 
the  Lord  deceitfully ;  "  upon  him  who  cannot  with  a  purged  eye  look 
beyond  the  meed  of  human  applause,  to  the  benediction  of  the  great 
Master  as  his  final  crown. 

Dr.  Thornwell  relates  that  such  was  the  apprehension  of  his  soul  in 
what  he  was  about  to  do,  that  he  appeared,  before  Presbytery  with  a 
half-cherished  hope  they  would  reject  him,  and  thus  the  Church  would 
assume  the  responsibility  of  releasing  him  from  the  pressure  of  the 
apostle's  woe.  In  this  apprehension  he  has,  however,  only  entered 
within  the  shadow  of  the  cloud  which  was  yet  to  darken  upon  him. 
The  authority  of  the  Church  has  sent  him  forth  to  preach  the  Word, 
and  a  hungry  charge  beckons  from  the  distance  to  come  and  fjive  it  the 
bread  of  life.  In  his  solitary  way  as  he  journeys  along  in  the  beautiful 
spring,  terrible  thoughts  settle  upon  his  mind,  which  cannot  be  con- 
jured away.  What  if,  after  all,  he  should  not  be  a  converted  man  I 
What,  if  it  should  be  a  profane  touch  that  he  was  to  give  to  the  ark  of 
God  !  What,  if  he  was  going  up  to  the  place  and  people  of  the  Lord, 
and  His  presence  was  not  with  him!  What  if  the  ministry  should 
prove  to  him  an  iron  bondage,  and  having  preached  to  others,  be  him- 


1830-1840.]  CANE  CREEK.  521 

self  a  cast  away !  And  so  he  .journeyed  on,  like  Saul  to  Damuscus,  with 
the  deep  raidnifrht  upon  his  soul.  At  the  end  of  a  day's  travel  he  rested 
under  the  hospitable  roof  of  a  pious  elder,  to  whom  he  opened  all  the 
sorrow.  But  no  comfort  came  from  all  the  comfort  which  was  spoken. 
The  good  elder  could  succeed  only  in  exacting  a  promise,  at  parting, 
that  he  would  go  on  to  his  appointment,  and  if  the  Lord,  in  answer  to 
prayer,  did  not  make  his  duty  plain,  why,  then  he  need  not  preach. 
The  place  is  reached  ;  he  enters  the  pulpit,  with  the  great  "  horror  of 
darkness  "  resting  on  him  still.  It  is  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  to  this 
young  but  chosen  servant  of  the  Lord,  who  must  here  learn  to  drink 
the  Saviour's  cup,  and  be  baptized  with  His  baptism.  He  rises  to 
preach,  and  now  the  time  has  come  for  the  revelation  of  the  Saviour's 
love  Through  a  rift  in  the  gloom  there  rushes  down  upon  him  such  a 
sense  of  his  acceptance  with  God  as  was  overpowering.  The  assurance 
and  the  joy  overflowed  into  the  discourse  which  poured  the  sacred  oil 
over  the  assembly,  until  some  gathered  unconsciously  near  the  pulpit, 
in  breathless  suspense  upon  the'  young  prophet's  lips.  He  was  from 
that  moment  anointed  to  a  life-work  which  is  precious  in  its  record  here 
and— above.* 

Cane  Creek,  Union  District. — From  January  to  Septem- 
ber, 1831,  the  Rev.  Daniel  L.  Gray  supplied  tlii.s  pulpit. 
During  his  ministry  seventeen  persons  were  added  to  the 
communion  of  the  Church  on  examination.  In  January,  1832, 
Rev.  Jeptha  Harrison  commenced  preaching  at  this  Church, 
and  continued  till.  July,  1834.  "On  the  i8th  of  October, 
1832,  a  protracted  meeting  wa^  held,  continuing  till  the 
Wednesday  following.  On  this  occasion  it  pleased  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church  to  revive  His  work  amongst  us,  and  not 
less  than  one  hundred  were  deeply  iiripressed  with  a  sen.se  of 
their  lost  and  ruined  condition.  Before  the  meetins:  closed 
not  less  than  sixty  enjoyed  the  hope  that  they  had  bowed  to 
the  sceptre  of  mercy,  and  found  peace  and  joy  in  believing. 
Our  Church  would  record  with  grateful  emotions  the  inter- 
position of  God  in  behalf  of  sinners  who  had  long  mi.simproved 
the  precious  means  of  grace,  but  were  now  constrained  by 
the  love  of  Christ  to  become  His,  professed  followers."  *  *  * 
Here  follow  the  names  of  fifteen  persons  admitted  to  the 
communion  of  the  Church  on  the  occasion.  The  record  con- 
tinues: The  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  whose  name  will  be  long 
cherished  in  the  memories  of  the  members  of  this  Church, 
and  by  many  who  were  savingly  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  was  the  instrument.     But  we  would 

*The  incident  is  given  precisely  as  it  was  first  re'lated  to  us.  Another 
authority  places  it  a  little  later  in  his  early  ministry,  and  substitutes  a 
minister  for  the  elder,  as  his  adviser  and  friend  This  slight  discrep- 
ancy rather  confirms  than  weakens  the  occurrence  of  the  fact. 


522  FAIEFOEEST.  [1830-1840. 

ascribe  all  the  praise  and  glory  of  this  refreshinp;  season  to 
the  free,  ricii  and  sovereign  grace  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord." 

From  the  regular  records  of  the  session  which  here  begin, 
it  appears  that  from  this  time  till  Mr.  Harrison  left,  there 
were  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  churcli,  upon  ex- 
amination, fifteen  persons,  making  thirty  additions  at  least 
during  the  time  of  his  ministry  here. 

Sometime  in  1834,  the  Rev.  Aaron  Williams  began  to 
supply  this  church,  and  his  labors  continued  here  till  the  end 
of  1838.  In  the  course  of  his  ministry  th'ire  were  added,  on 
examination,  twenty-one  per.-ions.  Tlie  church  was  vacant  in 
1839,  receiving  occasional  supplies  from  Presbytery.  Two 
were  added  on  examination. 

On  the  last  Sabbath  in  1839,  ^'^^  ministerial  labors  of  Rev. 
James  H.  Saye  commenced  at  this  church.  He  was  in- 
stalled its  pastor  on  the  first  of  April  following  by  Bethel 
Presbytery.     [iMS.  of  Rev.  J.  H.  Saye.] 

Fairfokest  (Union.  District). — The  Rev.  Daniel  L.  Gray 
continued  th«  pastor  of  this  chuich  until  the  fall  of  1S31, 
when  he  and  a  number  of  families  of  this  , church  and  congre- 
gation removed  to  Fayette  Co.,  Western  District,  Tennessee. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Jeptha  Harrison,  a  n.itive  of 
Orange,  Essex  Co.  N.  J.,  in  December,  1831,  as  a  stated  sup- 
ply. Mr.  Harrison  came  to  South  Carolina  as  a  licentiate  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Jersey  in  the  fall  of  1828,  was  a  graduate 
of  Nassau  Hall,  ordained  as  an  evangelist  by  the  Pre.sbytery 
of  Harmony  in  the  spring  of  1831  at  Hopewell  Church,  and 
continued  stated  supply  to  Fairforest  and  Cane  Creek  till  July, 
1884.  [Letter  to  Dr.  Leland,  June  22d,  1857.]  After  his 
removal,  Fairforest  was  supplied  by  the  Rev.  John  Hoggs, 
in  1837,  and  by  others  as  occasion  offered.  He  was  followed 
by  the  Rev.  James  H.  Saye,  but  not  till  the  next  decade. 

The  first  ruling  elders  at  the  organization  of  Fairforest 
Church  were  James  Mcllvain,  James  Mays  and  Joseph  Kelso. 
James  Means,  Wm.  Davitt  and  Henry  Story  were  added  to 
the  session  before  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Williamson  in  1794, 
and  perhaps  Samuel  Archibald.  A  short  time  after  Mr.  Wil- 
liamson's settlement,  he  ordained  Samuel  Morrow  and  Rich- 
ard Thompson  to  this  office.  Sometime  subsequent,  Mr. 
Edward  Maj-es  became  a  member  of  the  session.  Besides 
these,  Mr.  Harrison  mentions  Robert  Harris,   Samuel  Kelso, 


1830-1840.]  FAIEFOKEST.  523 

Richard  Thompson,  John  McDowell,  Matthew  Mayes,  Moses 
White  and  VVilliain  Patten. 

Tiie  Rev.  James  H.  Saye  gives  the  following  history  of  the 
ministers  above  named  : 

Rev.  Daniel  Lewis  Gray  was  brouc;ht  up  in  Abbeville  Dis- 
trict, finished  his  education  at  O.xford  College,  Ohio,  was 
licensed  and  ordained  by  tiic  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina, 
began  his  work  at  P'airforest  near  the  end  of  1828,  labored 
there  and  at  several  otiicr  places  with  great  zeal  for  a  number 
of  years.  Soon  after  lie  commenced  preaching,  the  Rev. 
Michael  Dickson  convinced  him  that  the  formation  of  societies 
on  tile  basis  of  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence  from  ardent 
spirits  was  a  very  important  duty,  binding  on  men  as  citizens 
and  Ciiristians.  Mr.  Gray  wa.^  soon  in  the  field  to  persuade 
men  to  quit  ail  complicity  with  dram  drinking.  Now  it  hap- 
pened that  his  section  of  country  had  long  been  infested  by 
some  very  red  noses,  and  practices  prevailed  all  over  the 
country  which  were  tiiousht  to  tend  to  that  result  and  to 
results  mucii  more  deplorable.  Distilleries  and  grog-shops 
were  abundant,  and  almost  everybody  drank  ardent  spirits  as 
•  a  common  beverage.  There  was,  doubtless,  in  the  .circum- 
stances of  the  church  and  country,  a  loud  call  for  reformation 
in  some  social  customs  as  well  as  private  habits.  Coming  on 
the  field  about  seven  years  after  Mr.  Gray  left  it,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  his  labors  in  this  respect  were  of  great  advantage 
to  the  community.  His  ministry  was  blessed  inconsiderable 
accessions  to  his  churches.  He  removed  to  the  Western 
District  of  Tennessee,  thence  to  White  River,  Ark.  In  all 
these  p'aces,  and  wherever  he  has  gone,  he  has  labored  with 
great  zeal  and  efficiency.  In  city,  in  hamlet,  in  country, 
wherever  he  can  get  hearers,  lie  proclaims  the  blessed  Gospel 
of  Christ.  He  has  often  preached  to  bands  of  hunters  in  the  wil- 
derness,'who  had  rarely  before  listened  to  the  messages  of  life. 
He  is  the  nephew  of  Daniel  Gray,  deceased,  the  brother  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Gray,  and  the  cousin  of  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Gray. 
We  here  insert  the  following  letter  of  D.  L.  Gray,  addressed 
to  our  ej<cellent  brother  aud  friend  J.  H.  Saye,  to  whom  the 
author  of  this  volume  has  been  so  much  and  -so  often  in- 
debted : 

Hendeeson,  February  28  1850. 

Eev.  and  Dear  Sib:  Your  letter  of  the  19th  of  November  was  in  due 
time  received,  and  I  can  only  say  that,  while  I  approve  of  the  course 
taken  by  the  Synod,  I  am  sorry  that  I  have  been  called  on  to  take  any 


524  LETTER  OF  REV.  D.  L.  GEAY.  [1830-1840. 

part  in  preparing  these  sketches.  But'  without  any  apology  I  shall 
comply. 

I  was  born  in  Abbeville  District,  8.  C,  on  the  24th  of  April,  1803.  I 
am  the  fourth  child  and  second  son  of  John  and  Hannah  Gray,  who 
were  blessed  with  a  numerous  offspring—  eight  sons  and  three  daughters. 
My  parents  were  devotedly  pious,  and  early  dedicated  me  to  (iod  in 
biiptism.  From  my  earliest  infancy  they  labored  to  imbue  my  mind 
with  the  great  principles  of  truth  as  taught  in  the  Word  of  God  anu  our 
catechism  I  might  say  that  I  grew  up  under  a  system  of  religious 
training.  Being  blessed  with  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Moses  Waddei,  I).  P., 
I  was  required,  every  Sabbath  evening,  to  tell  where  the  text  was,  and 
what  the  leading  facts  were  which  were  contained  in  the  sermon.  After 
this,  my  venerable  father  made  a  tender  and  personal  application  of  the 
whole  sermon  to  his  children.  Well  do  I  remember  these  Sabbath 
evening  exercises,  and  even  now  look  back  to  them  with  fond  recollec- 
tion. After  this  we  recited  the  shorter  or  Mother's  Catechism,  and  the 
day  was  closed  by  reading  the  Word  of  God,  singing  and  prayer.  But 
every  day  was  opened  and  closed  with  the  family  worship. 

With  such  training  my  parents  liad  a  right  to  expect  the  blessings  of 
God  upon  their  offspring,  and  the  results  show  that  they  were  not  dis- 
appointed. All  their  children,  as  they  arrived  toward  maturity,  at- 
tached themselves,  by  profession  of  their  faith,  to  the  Church  of  Chri.st. 
Of  the  sons  who  arrived  at  manhood,  three  of  them  were,  and  two  are 
now,  ruling  elders.  My  brother  James,  before  he  was  of  age,  was 
elected  a  ruling  elder  by  the  church  of  Hopewell  to  take  the  place  of 
his  father,  made  vacant  by  death.  But  he,  too,  was  soon  called  to  join 
the  General  As.semb'y  and  Church  of  the  first  born  in  glory  Two 
others  are  ministers — Rev.  John  H.  Gray,  D.  D..  pastor  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Memphis,  Tenn. ;  the  other,  the  subject  of  this 
memoir. 

At  a  very  early  age  iny  mind  was  powerfully  impressed  with  my  sin- 
ful and  lost  condition,  and  many  a  tear  I  shed  in  secret  in  view  of  my 
sins.  But  I  was  soon  taught  by  the  Spirit  to  feel  that  I  could  not  be 
justified  by  works  of  Law.  Then  I  was  guided  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  en- 
abled, as  I-hope,  to  give  my  heart  to  Him.  Even  now,  after  the  lapse 
of  nearly  forty  years,  do  I  remember  many  a  precious  season  of  prayer, 
when  with  childlike  simplicity  I  committed  my  way  to  God,  and  pleaded 
with  Him  to  make  me  a  faithful  minister  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  not 
till  years  after  that  I  made  a  public  profession  of  my  faith.  But  during 
this  period  I  think  I  loved  the  people  of  God,  and  never  did  I  witness 
a  communion  season  that  my  heart  did  not  reproach  me  for  not  doing 
this  "  in  remembrance  of  me."  And  often  with  an  aching  heart  and 
streaming  eyes  did  I  promise  that  if  I  was  spared  to  see  another  com- 
munion season,  I  would  be  found  with  the  friends  of  Christ. 

I  was  brought  up  on  my  father's  farm  and  taught  thg  science  of  ag- 
riculture, which  I  have  found  to  be  of  great  advantage  iri  after  life. 
My  English  education  I  received  from  my  father.  My  classic  education 
I  commenced  with  Dr.  John  S.  Read,  but  I  was  soon  removed  to  Union 
Academy,  Abbeville  District,  which  was  then  taught  by  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Pressley,  who  was  afterwards  Professor  of  Belles  Lettres  in 
Franklin  College,  Athens,  Ga.  In  the  fall  of  1824  I  went  to  the  Miami 
University,  Oxford,  Ohio,  where  I  graduated  in  the  fall  of  1826. 

As  soon  as  I  graduated  I  joined  the  Presbytery  of  Cincinnati,  from 
which  I  was  soon  transferred  to  the  South  Carolina  Presbytery,  by  which 
I  was  licensed  in  the  fall  of  1828.     I  was  immediately  invitedby  the 


1830-1840.]  LETTER  OF  REV.  D.  L.  GRAY.  525 

elders  of  the  Fairforest  congregation  to  visit  them.  Very  soon  in  the 
spring  of  1829  they  save  me  acall,  which  I  accepted,  and  in  June  I  was 
ordained  and  settled  as  pastor.  Half  of  m  v  time  I  devoted  to  Fairforest 
Church  until  I  left  in  the  fall  of  1831  for  the  West.  The  church  was 
greatly  blessed  during  my  ministrations,  and  at  every  communion 
season  some  were  added  to  the  fold.  One-fourth  of  my  time  I  preached 
at  Cane  Creek,  Union  District.  Here,  too,  God  was  pleased  to  own  my 
labors  in  building  up  this  feeble  church.  When  I  commenced  my  labors 
here,  I  could  find  but  six  or  seven-  members,  but  during  my  stay  the 
church  increased  to  about  thirty-flve  members.  The  other  fourth  of 
my  time  I  spent  niissionating.  At  a  very  early  period  in  my  ministry 
I  thought  that  my  appropriate  work  was  that  of  an  evangelist,  and  I 
soort  determined  to  remove  to  the  West,  which,  to  some  extent,  was  in 
a  forpative  state. 

My  first  settlement  was  in  the  Western  District  of  Tennessee.  Here  I 
spent  the  most  of  one  year  in  exploring  the  country,  and  preaching  as 
God  gave  me  opportunity.  During  the  year  I  organized  one  church, 
and  was  permitted  in  the  good  providence  of  God  to  witness  the  out- 
pourings of  His  Spirit  at  a  camp-meeting,  when  many  were  added  to 
the  Lord.  In  this  settlement  I  suffered  much,  being"  exposed  in  the 
woods  under  a  cloth  tent  for  three  weeks,  when  everything  was  frozen 
up.  In  the  fall  of  1832,  with  a  small  colony,  I  removed  to  White  River, 
Jackson  Co.,  Arkansas  Here,  too,  I  was  exposed  to  all  the  difficulties 
and  privations  incident  to  a  new  country.  Without  liouses,  or  food,  or 
roads,  ormills,  exposed  to  freezing  weather,  I  made  mysettlementamong 
"  Christianized  paganism  " — hunters,  and  stock-growers  and  refugees 
from  justice,  many  of  whom  had  never  heard  the  voice  of  a  minister. 
Here  I  organized  a  church,  and  had  full  proof  before  my  eyes  that  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  is  the  wisdom  and  power  of  God  in  the  conver- 
sion of  men ;  for  here,  too,  we  enjoyed  a  precious  revival  of  religion. 

I  traveled  extensively  and  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season. 
No  one  who  has  not  been  a  pioneer,  who  has  not  rode  all  day  through 
cane,  and  mud,  and  water,  and  lain  down  on  the  ground,  with  his 
saddle  for  a  pillow,  and  preached  to  a  company  of  native  population 
under  some  shady  tree,  with  their  guns  in  their  hands  and  hats  on 
their  heads,  can  realize  for  a  moment  the  labors  to  be  done  and  the 
sufferings  to  be  endured  by  the  first  ministers  in  a  new  country. 

After  remaining  here  for  three  years,  I  was  forced  to  leave  on  account 
of  sickness.  About  this  time  the  Chickasaw  Indians  were  removing 
from  the  north  of  Mississippi,  and  the  country  was  rapidly  filling  up. 
Thither  I  removed  my  family  in  1836,  and  was  amongst  the  first 
Presbyterian  ministers  to  enter  this  goodly  land.  Here  I  labored  much 
and  spent  most  of  seven  years  as  a  missionary  in  hunting  up  the  scat- 
tered sheep  and  organizing  churches.  During  this  time  I  was  engaged 
in  many  glorious  revivals,  and  my  own  church  near  Hudsonvilie,  Miss., 
was  blessed  with  three  gracious  outpourings  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

In  the  midst  of  this  work  I  was  called  to  this  field,  where  I  have  been 
laboring  for  five  years,  and  it  has  pleased  the  great  Head  of  the  Church 
to  visit  us  in  mercy  and  grant  us  a  precious  reviving.  Within  the  last 
six  weeks,  about  one  hundred  have  professed  to  have  found  the  Saviour. 

In  all  my  wanderings  I  have  been  mercifully  preserved.  I  have  been 
placed  in  very  trying  and  difficult  situations,  and  to  many  of  them  my 
mind  nowturns  with  the  freshness  of  a  yesterday's  trial.  I  can  truly  say 
withtheApostle,  thati  have  been  in  perilsoft :  in  perils  by  land,  in  perils 
by  water,  in  perils  by  robbers,  in  perils  by  murderers  ;  yet  out  of  them  all 


526  LETTEE  OF  REV.  D.  L.  GRAY.  [1830-1840. 

the  Lord  has  delivered  me.  and  every  new  peril  left  me  more  fully  con- 
vini^ed  that  man  is  immortal  till  his  work  is  done. 

As  to  my  unit  e,  Daniel  Gray,  I  know  b;it  little  I  be'ieve  lie  was 
edu'-ated  by  Dr.  Doal,  of  East  Tunne.s.see.  The  only  minute  I  can  find 
of  his  early  ministry  isin  Dr.  Foote'sSkeL-lie.s  of  North  Carolina.  There 
you  find  this  minute :  "  Rocky  River,  Ov-tober  Ist,  1807. — Added  to  the 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina.  Daniel  Gray." 

I  have  furnished  a  short  sketch  of  my  life  at  your  request  and  trans- 
mit it  to  you,  and  when  the  work  is  published  I  want  a  copy. 

Yours,  fraternally, 

D.L.GRAY. 

Appended  to  this  letter,  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Saye, 
are  the  following  remarks  : 

I  saw  Mr  Gray  in  the  summer  of  1824  at  a  camp-meeting  at  Hebron 
Church,  Franklin  County,  Ga.  He  was  then  just  grown,  as  I  suppose. 
He  was  considerably  over  the  size  of  his  relative,  Wm.  A.Gray.  His 
reputation  in  these  parts  corresponds  very  well  with  thea'.:count  he  arives 
of  his  labors  here,  lie  became  a  temperance  man  while  at  Fairforest. 
Hiseyes  were  opened  on  the  subje.-t  by  Ilev  M.Dickson  thefir^tsrenuine 
temperance  man  in  South  Canlina.  Mr.  Gray  immediately  broke  loose 
upon  "the  {rood  creature"  with  his  characteristi;' zeal,  and  either  brought 
over  men  to  his  views  or  drove  them  off.  Union  District  is  largely  in- 
debted to  him  for  puttins;  distilleries  to  death. 

Mr.  Gray  was  married  to  JlissBoyd  W'hile  at  Fairforest  When  he  left, 
some  fifteen  families  went  with  him,  or  after  him,  from  the  Fairforest 
confrregation.  Most  of  them  went  to  Arkansas  and  returned  to  Missis- 
sippi with  him,  amonfrthem,  Mrs  Boyd,  his  mother-in  law,  and  several 
families  of  the  nameof  Means,  her  near  relatives  Air  Gray  met  with 
strong  opposition  in  his  temperance  measures,  and  not  a  few  who  loved 
'•the  good  creature  "  were  glad  when  he  1  -ft  the  country. 

This  letter  explains  itself  Mr.  (rray  was  one  of  my  predecessors  at 
Fairforest  and  Cane  Creek  I  wrote  to  all  of  them  who  were  alive  as  soon 
as  I  reached  home  from  the  Synod  at  Camden,  requesting  them  to  do  as 
you  see  i\Ir.  (iray  has  done,  but  he  is  the  only  one  from  wh>m  I  have  re- 
ceived any  reply.  J.  H.  SAYE. 

The  Rev.  Jeptha  F^arrison,  D.  D.,  (vvliose  mtivity,  whose 
early  histoiy  we  have  allowed  himself  to  tell,)  came  South 
believing  himself  far  gone  in  pulmonary  consumption.  He 
took  charge  of  a  small  school  among  the  pines  in  Sumter 
District,  where  after  a  few  months  his  he.ilth  was  restored. 
He  went  to  Union  District,  and  a  vear  or  two  supplied  Fair- 
first  and  Cane  Creek  churclies.  His  ministry  in  th.*  fi..'ld  was 
greatly  blessed  He  went  to  Virginia,  thence  to  Memphis, 
Tenn,  thence  to  Kentucky,  thence  to  Alabama,  thence  to 
Iowa.  In  each  field  his  labors  have  been  crowned  with  a 
large  measure  of  success. 

The  Rev.  John  Boggs  was  a  native  of  Savannah,  Ga.,  but 
brought  up  and  educated  at  the  north,  where  he  entered  the 


1830-1840.]  EEV.  JOHN  BOGGS.  527 

ministry.  Wlien  somewhat  advanced  in  life,  he  returned  to 
Savannah  and  for  a  time  .su])plied  the  Fir.st  Piesb\'terian 
Cluircli  in  that  city.  Thence  lie  removed  to  VVashint^lon, 
Ga.,  where  he  was  enga<^ed  in  teaching  and  .preaching  for  a 
season.  Thence  to  Cherokee  Corner  where  he  exercised  the 
same  offices  for  a  year  or  two.  Thence  to  Greenville  District, 
S.  C.  Thence  lo  Spartanburg,  C.  H.  Here  lie  was  enj^aged 
in  leachiii<4  and  preached  statedly  to  a  number  of  churches, 
and  whenever  he  found  opportunity.  While  here  he  wrote 
and  published  a  work  called  "The  Southern  Christian." 
About  the  end  of  1838  he  removed  to  Louisiana,  where  for 
some  years  he  exercised  the  office  of  teacher  and  minister. 
Thencc  to  Virginia  where  he  laboured  for  a  time.  Thence  to 
Abbeville  District  to  engage  in  another  new  field.  But  here 
the  messenger  of  rele;!Se  met  him  and  he  entered  upon  his 
reward.  Mr.  Boggs  was  certainly  a  remarkable  man  and 
minister.  In  person,  small  and  emaciated,  iiis  fice  cadave- 
rous, his  e)'es  black  and  piercing.  One  would  have  thought 
he  could  perform  little  or  no  labor,  and  endure  no  hardship. 
Yet  he  jierformed  an  nmoniit  of  work  o(  which  few  men  in 
the  vigour  of  manhood  would  be  thought  capable.  He  not 
only  preached  often  but  with  great  effect.  He  preached  a 
sermon  at  a  camp  meeting  in  Georgia,  which  was  attended 
by  results  the  equal  of  which  1  liave  not  heard  of  on  any 
occasion  in  the  present  century.  He  was  at  home  at  a  camp 
meeting.  His  voice  was  distinctly  audible  through  a  very 
large  crowd.  His  solemnity,  earnestness  and  readiness  in 
word  and  doctrine,  fitted  him-  for  such  a  field.  The  solidity 
of  his  instructions  made  him  useful  as  a  stated  preached.  He 
was  alive  to  the  importance  of  education  and  stirred  up  the 
people  on  this  subject  wherever  lie  went.  Whether  he  loved 
to  ramble  or  not,  I  cannot  say,  but  he  lived  a  roving  life,  per- 
haps because  the  Master  had  use  for  him  in  many  places. 
He  ceitaiiily  had  a  mind  to  work.  [Rev.  Ja^.  H.  Saye's  MS. 
Hist,  of  Fairforert  Church.] 

Of  the  elders  oftliis  church  belonging  to  this  period  whose 
names  and  history  are  perpetuated  by  the  same  writer,  is  John 
McDowell. 

"'  He  was  a  native  of  Ireland  ;  he  came  to  Fairforest  alter 
lie  had  a  family  and  seived  many  years  as  a  ruling  elder.  At 
the  lime  of  the  writer's  [Rev.  Mr.  Saye.s.]  .settlement  at 
Fairforest,  he  was  so  prostrated  by  the  infirmities  of  age,  that 


528  OTHER  CHURCHES.  [1830-1840. 

he  was  unable  even  to  be  at  church.  His  intellect  was  still 
vigoious,  and  he  delighted  in  religious  conversation.  He 
seemed  to  have  relished  religious  ordinances  greatly  in  past 
years,  and  to  have  studied  the  doctrines  of  religion  closely, 
and  was  ready  in  the  application  of  them  to  the  practical 
duties  of  life.  They  were  to  him  a  perpetual  feast  in  his  last 
years.  His  death  occurred  probably  in  1841.  His  worthy 
companion  survived  him  a  number  of  years.  He  had  been 
clerk  of  the  session  for  years,  and  had  put  down  in  the 
records  many  memoranda  of  the  sermons  preached  from  time 
to  time,  no  doubt  under  the  conviction  that  the  public  minis- 
trations of  the  sanctuary  were  the  most  important  and  inter- 
esting of  ministerial  functions,"     [MS.  of  Mr.  Saye.] 

There  are  some  other  churches  in  Bethel  Presbytery  which 
were  Independent,  and  followers  of  W.  C.  Davis,  which,  after 
the  Union,  came  back  to  the  Presbytery,  viz: 

Carmel  Hill,  thirteen  miles  from  Chester  C.  H.,  in  the 
direction  of  Unionville.     Vacant  in  1877. 

There  is  z\.s,o  Zion  Church  on  one  of  the  roads  from  Chester 
C.  H.,  to  near  the  county  line.     Vacant  in  1877. 

There  is  also  a  Hopewell  Church,  of  which  Isaac  McFadden 
was  ruling  elder  in  1835,  and  which  was  vacant  in  1877. 

There  is  also  a  Beth  Shiloh,  of  the  Dairsites  in  York,  hav- 
ing 122  members  in  1835,  of  which  S.J.  Feemster  was  pastor. 

The  following  Statement  appended  to  the  Minutes  of  the 
General  Convention  of  the  Independent  Presbyterian  Church, 
(the  adherents  of  W.  C.  Davis,)  held  at  Bullock's  Creek 
Church,  York  District,  South.  Carolina,  August,  1835,  will 
exhibit  the  strength  of  this  body  at  the  middle  of  this 
decade : 


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34 


5C0  AVELEIGH   CHURCH.  [J  830-1840. 


CHAPTER  V. 

AvELEiGH  Church' (Newberry). — The  following  correspon- 
dence will  enable  us  to  understand  more  clearly  the  circum- 
stances in  which  the  organization  of  this  churcli  occurred: 

EXTRACTS  FROM  A  LETTER  OF  CHANCELLOR  JOB  JOHNSTON. 

The  following  farts,  with  reference  to  the  first  movements  toward  the 
organization  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  at  Newberry,  I  have  obtained 
from  Chancellor  Job  Johnston.  I  simply  make  a  quotation  from  a 
letter  which  I  received  from  him  on  this  subject :  "  My  former  wife  in- 
formed me  that  there  was  formerly,  as  far  back,  perhaps,  as  1822,  a  Pres- 
byterian Chun  h  organized  in  this  village.  I  remember  there  was  a 
meetingof  Presbj'tery  held  about  that  time  in  the  old  Male  Academy 
then  taught  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Y.  Alexander,  and  that  he  received  or- 
dination at  its  hands  And  Ilindby  a  memorial  in  my  family  Bible  that 
he  baptized  my  son  Silas;  at  my  wife's  request,  on  the  18th  of  January, 
1822,  at  my  house  being  the  first  baptism  by  that  minister.  Yetsostupid 
was  I  that  I  never  for  a  moment  suspected,  until  years  afterwards,  that 
there  had  ever  been  any  Presbyterian  organization  at  Newberry.  Mrs. 
Johnstc  n,  when  she  gave  me  the  information,  stated  that  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Harrington,  and  her  sister  in  law,  Mrs.  Dr.  Johnston,  had  all  been  mem- 
bers, and  that  Mr  Thomas  Hoyd,  of  Bush  River,  had  been  an  elder.  All 
that  I  had  noticed  was,  that  there  was  very  regular  preaching  in  the  Court- 
house while  Mr.  Aiexandertaught  ourschiiol,  and  that  there  was  lefsof 
shooting  i.nd  kite  flying  in  the  street  son  Sabbath  than  forn  erly.  Cn  the 
removal  of  that  excellent  man,  Mr.  Alexander,  to  Georgia,  I  suppose  the 
church  fell  through,  for  on  the  15th  ol  July,  1832, 1  find  that  my  wile 
had  three  of  our  children  baptized  at  Headsi  ring  (Seceder)  Church  by 
the  late  Samuel  P.  Pressley,  subsequently  a  Professor  in  Athens  Collejie, 
Georgia,  but  at  that  time  pastor  of  Cannon  Creek,  Prosperity,  Indian 
Creek  and  Head  Spring  Churches  By  the  three  children  being  bap- 
tized at  the  same  i.iine,  I  suppose  that  was  the  day  she  herseli  joined 
Mr.  Pressley's  church.  In  1833  or'34  Mr.  Pressley  went  to  Georgia,  by 
which  his  churches  were  for  a  time  left  vacant.  He  was  a  very  liberal 
man,  and  under  his  administration  his  churches  relaxed  the  rigor  of 
close  communion.  All  the  Presbyterians  in  the  neighborhood  united 
as  members  with  him,  and  in  the  course  of  the  few  years  he  was  min- 
ister here,  his  churches  had  more  than  doubled  the  number  of  their 
communicants.  On  the  14th  of  September  1834,  I  united  with  the 
church  atCannon  Creek,  at  a  communion  administered  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Boy<e,  of  Fairfield,  acting  as  a  temporary  supply.  I  stated  at  the 
time  that  on  the  first  convenient  opportunity  I  should  unite  with  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  that  I  should  exercise  the  privilege  of  open 
communion.  I  united  oil  this  condition,  expressed  at  the  time,  for 
alter  Mr.  Pressley's  removal,  neither  I  nor  the  other  Presbyterians  in 
his  late  churches  were  pleased  with  the  rigor  we  anticipated  in  them. 

On  the  30th  of  November  1834,  Mr.  Pressley,  on  a  farewell  visit  to 
his  churches,  administered  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  at  Head 
Spring.  I  remember  that  there  was  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  during  the 
communion.    Mr.  P.  spent  a  night  at   my   house   during  the  meeting. 


1830-1840.].  AVELEIGH  CHURCH.  531 

He  was  then  about  to  transfer  his  oonneotion  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  we  had  a  conversation  about  the  prospects  of  a  Presby- 
terian Church  here.  On  Monday, after  the  communion  at  Head  .-pring, 
being  December  1st,  1834  and  sale-day,  I  drew  a  subscription  paper  for 
the  building  of  the  church,  subsequently  called  "Aveleii;h."  The  neces- 
sary amount  was  soon  subscribed.  Mr  Robert  Boyce  conveyed  five 
acres  of  land  as  !i  lot  for  the  church  to  be  built  on,  at  Hunt's  Cross- 
Eoads,  one  mile  and  a  half  from  the  village  of  Newberry.  On  the  ad- 
vice of  those  interested,  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Moses  Waddell,  Rev.  S.  B. 
Lewersand  Rev.  John  Kennedy,  of  the  South  Carolina  Presbytery,  and 
to  Rev.  Robert  B.  Campbell,  of  Harmony  Pr(jsbytery,  to  preach  for  us 
as  they  could,  and,  also,  to  Mr.  Gladney,  then  of  Columbia,  a  licentiate. 
They  all  generously  aided  us." 

AvELEiGH  Church. — From  the  Session  Book  of  the 
Aveleigh  Church  I  take  the  following  extract,  relating  to  the 
organization  of  that  church  :  "  A  number  of  citizens  of  New- 
berry District,  S.  C,  living  at  a  considerable  distance  from 
any  Presbyterian  Church,  feeling  it  our  duty  to  associate  our- 
selves together  as  a  religious  society,  that  we  might  thereby 
be  the  better  able  to  procure  instruction  for  the  purpose  of 
improving  ourselves  in  tiie  knowledge  and  practice  of  our 
duty  to  God  and  man,  and  under  these  circumstances  consid- 
ering it  our  duty  to  call  on  some  ministers  of  the  gospel  to 
assist  us  in  forming  and  organizing  a  congregation,  we,  for 
that  purpose  extended  an  invitation  to  the  Rev.  Moses  Wad- 
dell and  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers,  who  attended  on  the  30th 
of  May,  1835,  when  a  congregation  was  organized  and  en- 
tered into  this  congregational  covenant,  viz  :  Believing  that 
the  true  God  is  justly  entitled  to  the  reverential  and  social 
worship  of  all  his  intelligent  creatures  and  that  their  social 
homage  is  conducive  in  the  highest  degree  both  to  the 
present  comfort  and  future  happiness  of  mankind,  we  the  un- 
dersigned inhabitants  of  Newberry  District,  S.  C.,  residing 
near  the  Courthouse,  have  felt  a  strong  desire  to  associate 
and  unite  ourselves  together  in  the  capacity  and  relation  of  a 
religious  society  for  the  purpose  of  improving  ourselves  in 
the  knowledge  and  practice  of  our  duty  to  God  and  man  and 
of  exciting  ourselves  to  love  and  to  good  works,  and  believ- 
ing that  the  doctrine  and  discipline  approved  and  adopted  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  as  set  forth  in  their  confession  of 
faith,  conforms  most  nearly  to  the  system  of  faith  and  order 
tau,ght  in  the  gospel,  we  profess  our  desire  and  design. to  unite 
with  and  place  ourselves  under  the  pastoral  care  and  direction 


532  AVELEIGH    CHURCH.  [1830-1840. 

of  that  ecclesiastical  body  so  long  as  they  adhere  to  that 
confession. 

In  testimony  of  which  we  have  voluntarily  attached  our 
namfs  to  the  above,  this  30th  day  of  May,  1835. 

Then  follows  a  list  of  the  names  of  those  who  signed  the 
congregational  covenant,  thirty-two  in  number,  and  on  the 
day  following  four  others  were  added  on  examination.  Those 
who  signed  the  covenant  on  May  30th,  (Saturday)  proceeded 
to  give  their  votes  for  the  election  of  ruling-  elders,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  choice  of  Isaac  Keller  and  Alexander  Chambers, 
who  were  ordained  to  this  office  on  the  day  following. 

The  church  was  occasionally  supplied  with  preaching  by 
Rev.  Moses  Waddell,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Isaac  Waddell  and  Rev. 
S.  B.  Lewers,  until  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  in  March  183.6,  when  application  was  made  by  the 
church  for  supplies  from  Presbytery.  This  application  was 
repeated  at  each  meeting  and  supplies'ordered  by  Presbytery 
till  the  spring  of  1837.  Presbytery  generally  appointed  two 
or  three  ministers  to  attend  the  church  at  the  same  time  and 
hold  a  meeting  of  three  or  four  days. 

As  these  appointments  did  not  take  place  more  than  two  or 
three  times  in  a  year,  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 
was  administered  at  every  meeting,  and  few  such  meetings 
passed  without  additions  of  more  or  less  communicants  to  the 
church. 

(A  record  made  in  the  Session  Book  of  a  meeting  held  by 
order  of  Presbytery  in  November,  1836,  mentions  the  name 
of  Mr.  R.  C.  Ketchum,  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  as  being 
present.     And   the   next  record  is   of  a  meeting  in  August, 

1837,  where  Mr.  Ketchum  is  spoken  of  as  pastor  of  the 
church,  (this  must  be  incorrect.) 

At  a   meeting,   including  the  seventh  Sabbath  in  January, 

1838,  Rev.  R.  Colden  Ketchum  was  ordained  and  installed 
pastor  of  the  Aveleigh  Church.  Rev.  Isaac  Waddell 
preached  the  sermon  and  Rev,  S.  B.  Lewers  delivered  the 
charges  to  the  pastor  and  people.  At  that  time  the  commu- 
nicants of  the  Church  numbered  44. 

On  the  second  Sabbath  of  March,  1839,  two  more  ruling 
elders  (John  Johnson  and  G.  W.  Glenn)  were  ordained.  In 
the  fall  of  1837  t'ls  pastoral  relation  between  this  church  and 
Mr.  Ketchum  was  dissolved.  The  church  seems  to  have 
prospered    during  his   charge   of  it.     It  numbered  fifty-five 


1830-1840.]  SMYRNA — GILDER'S  CREEK.  533 

members  when  he  left,  and  had  he  continued,  the  common 
impression  is  that  the  church  would  have  continued  to  flour- 
ish. But  his  departure  marks  the  commencement  of  a  de- 
ch'ne.  As  in  some  of  our  churches,  we  see  that  great  blessings 
have  resulted  from  a  permanent  ministry,  so  in  this  we 
see  the  disastrous  consequences  resulting  from  the  want 
of  it 

When  the  blessing  of  God  attends  the  labors  of  a  minister 
iH  any  place  and  the  people  are  anxious  for  him  to  continue 
with  them  (as  was  the  case  here)  he  certainly  should  weigh 
the  matter  well  before  he  suffers  private  interest  or  personal 
feelings  to  remove  him  to  another  place.  Another  cause, 
however,  which  contributed  to  weaken  this  church  at  this 
time  was  the  organization  of  the  Smyrna  Church,  about  six 
and  a  half  miles  distant,  which  was  at  first  composed  mostly 
of  members  from  the  Aveleigh  Church,  who  found  it  more 
convenient  to  attend  at  that  place  and  so  transferred  their 
membership.  Though  the  Aveleigh  Church  was  weakened, 
yet,  upon  the  whole,  the  cause  of  Presbyterianism  was  ad- 
vanced by  the  transfer  and  organization  of  the  new  church. 

Smyrna  Church  (Newberry  District)  is  located  six  and 
a  half  miles  west  of  Newberry  C.  H.,  in  the  District  of  New- 
berry, directly  on  the  high  road  leading  from  Newberry  C.  H. 
to  Old  Cambridge,  or  Ninety-Six.  It  was  organized  Septem- 
ber the  25th,  1838,  by  the  Revs.  R.  C.  Ketchum  and  M.  D. 
Fraser,  with  seventeen  members,  viz  :  Geo.  Boozer,  Esq.,  and 
wife,  Mrs.  Harriet  Cappock  (widow),  Mr.  and  Mrs.  David 
Clary,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Senn,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  David  Boozer, 
Mrs.  Rebecca  Hendrix  (widow),  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Boozer 
(widow),  Mrs.  Chri-stiana  Senn  (widow),  Mrs.  Mary  Boozer 
(widow),  Mrs.  Pamela  Benton,  Miss  Caroline  Boozer,  Miss 
Mary  Boozer  and  Miss  Sarah  D.  Boozer.  From  this  number 
George  Boozer,  Esq.,  and  David  Clary  were  elected  and 
ordained  to  the  eldership.  The  Church  was  supplied  in  part 
by  the  Rev.  R.  C.  Ketchum,  Geo.  Boggs  and  P.  H.  Folker, 
with  perhaps  a  few  sermons  from  others,  till  the  year  1840. 

Gilder's  Creek  enjoyed  the  services  of  Rev.  John  B.  Ken- 
nedy till  1839.  He  resided  at  Laurens  C.  H.  and  ministered 
both  to  Gilder's  Creek,  in  Ntwberry  District,  and  Rocky 
Spring,  in  Laurens.  The  membership  of  Gilder's  Creek  in 
1830  was  sixty-nine,  and  of  Rocky  Spring  eighty  seven.  In 
1 839  Gilder's  Creek  was  vacant,  and  Rocky  Spring  had  sixty- 
seven  communing  members. 


534  LITTLE  EIVER — LIBERTY  SPEING.  [1830-1840, 

Little  River,  Laurens. — The  records  of  this  Church  were 
destroyed  somewhere  about  the  year  1842,  as  we  have  before 
mentioned.  The  Rev,  John  B.  Kennedy  continued  to  preach 
to  this  Church  till  his  death.  The  pulpit  was  subsequently 
filled  at  different  periods  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  William  Mc- 
Whorter,  P.  H.  Folker,  Mr.  Johnson,  D,  Wills,  Z.  L.  Holmes, 
and  C.  B.  Stewart. 

Since  the  death  of  Mr.  Kennedy,  William  H.  Horan,  John 
H.    Boyd   and   James   G.   Williams  have  been  elders  in  this. 
Church. 

Duncan's  Creek.— The  names  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Arthur 
Mooney,  A.  J.  Pearson,  Wm.  Quillan,  J.  B.  Kennedy  and  John 
McKittrick  have  been  named  to  us  as  successively  stated 
supplies  to  this  Church  till  about  1838.  By  this  time,  we  are 
told,  the  Church  had  almost  ceased  to  exist.  '  There  had 
been  no  additions  for  several  years.  Many  of  the  old  mem- 
bers had  removed  to  other  parts.  Some  had  attached  them- 
selves to  other  denominations,  several  had  died,  and  those 
who  remained  were  careless  as  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Church, 
The  elders  were  dead  or  had  moved  away  with  the  exception 
of  Elder  George  McCreery,  who  had  become  old  and  frail, 
and  unable  from  physical  infirmity  to  give  attention  to  the 
affairs  of  the  Church.  The  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy  from  this 
time  met  occasionally  a  few  of  the  members  who  yet  remained. 

Rocky  Spring  (Laurens)  appears  to  have  been  ministered 
to  as  a  stated  supply  by  John  B.  Kennedy,  and  to  have  had 
a  membership  of  eighty-seven  communicants  at  the  beginning 
of  this  decade,  and  sixty-seven  through  the  remainder. 

Liberty  Spring. — Rev,  Thos.  Archibald,  who  was  preach- 
ing to  this  congregation  at  the  beginning  of  this  period,  died 
on  the  31st  of  December,  1832.  Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  a  gentle- 
man probably  from  Massachusetts,  preached  at  this  Ciuirch 
in  1833.  He  remained  one  or  two  years  in  this  part  of  South 
Carolina,  and  returned  to  the  North.  The  Rev.  John  B.  Ken- 
nedy, before  mentioned,  preached  at  Liberty  Spring  again  in 
1834;  the  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Lewers  in  1835;  the  Rev.  Mr, 
Martin,  from  Abbeville,  in  1836.  The  Rev.  IMr.  Lewers  again 
in  1837,  1838,  1839.  The  Church  at  Laurens  gave  up  a  part 
of  his  time  to  this  Church  on  account  of  its  peculiar  circum- 
stances. In  July  of  1837,  Capt.  Robert  Cunningham  and 
William  Thompson  resigned  their  eldership.  William  Green, 
Mathevv  Bryson,  Jonathan  Reid,  and  Dr.  R.  E.  Campbell  were 


i830-1840.]  warrior's  CREEK NAZARETH.  535 

elected  elders  ;  only  the  first  two  consented  to  serve,  and  were 
ordained  by  Rev.  Mr,  Lewers. 

Warriok's  Creek,  in  Laurens  District,  is  reported  vacant, 
with  fifty-four  communicants,  in  1830 ;  vacant,  with  sixteen 
communicants,  in  1836  and  1837. 

Friendship  Church,  (Laurens.) — We  are  able  to  give  but 
a  meagre  account  of  this  church.  The  succession  of  its  min- 
isters was  partially  given  on  a  former  page.  After  Eleazer 
Brainard,  Aaron  Foster,  Anthony  Mooney  and  Archibald 
Craig  then  mentioned,  5.  B.  Lewers,  formerly  an  elder  in  the 
church,  is  said  to  have  preached  several  years,  beginning 
with  1832.  This  will  probably  more  than  cover  the  period 
of  which  we  now  write.  After  the  elders  before  mentioned, 
follow  the  names  of  S.  B.  Lewers,  Thomas  Cunningham,  Thos. 
C.  Simpson,  and  Isaac  P.  Boyd.  The  terms  of  their  office  not 
indicated.  Friendship  Church  is  set  down  in  the  statistical 
tables  as  having  eighty  members  in  1830,  thirty  of  whom 
were  received  in  that  year.  In  1831  it  was  supplied  in  con- 
nection with  Fairview,  by  Arthur  Mooney,  and  had  ninety- 
one  members,  sixteen  of  whom  had  been  received  in  that 
ecclesiastic  year.  In  1832  vacant  with  ninety-three  members. 
In  1833  it  was  supplied  by  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Lewers,  who  also 
supplied  Laurens  Courthouse,  then,  for  the  first  time,  men- 
tioned. In  1838  the  members  were  fifty-four  in  number  and 
the  same  in  1839.  ^'^-  Lewers  continued  their  Stated  supply 
till  the  close  of  this  decade. 

Nazareth  (Spartanburg).^ — Rev.  Michael  Dixon  resigned 
the  pastorate  of  this  church  in  1833  and  removed  from  tiie 
bounds  of  the  congregation.  The  church  was  afterwards 
supplied  for  four  years  by  the  Rev.  John  Boggs.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Rev.  Edward  Tonge  Buist  who  uas  dismissed 
from  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  November  2d,  1837, 
to  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  by  which  body  he  was 
installed  as  pastor  of  this  church. 

The  frame  building  which  had  superseded,  between  1785 
and  1790,  the  original  log  house  in  which  worship  was  first 
conducted,  gave  way  in  1832  to  the  present  brick  buildmg, 
in  which  religious  service  has  been  held  ever  since.  To  the 
original  elders  of  this  church  have  been  added  from  time  to 
time,  as  circumstances  have  required,  Messrs.  Richard  Barry, 
James  Hadden,  Thomas  Gaston,  David  White,  Andrew 
Cowan,  James  Jordan,  Thomas  Brice,  John   Smith,  Richard 


536  FAIRVIEW — SMYRNA  CHUBCH.  [1830-1840. 

Daniel,  Thomas  B.  Collins,  Jonathan  N.  Hadden  and  Richard 
Barry,  Jr. 

Fairvtew  (Greenville.) — On  the  fourth  Sabbath  in  1832 
the  Rev.  John  Boggs,  then  of  Virginia,  became  stated  supply 
of  this  church,  and  at  the  fall  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina  he  was  duly  called  and  became  pastor  for 
half  his  time  at  a  salary  of  $2on.  On  the  4th  of  July,  1835, 
Rev.  David  fiumphrey,  of  Anderson  District,  took  charge 
for  half  his  time  on  the  same  compensation.  On  the  1st  of 
July,  1838,  the  Rev.  William  Carlisle  succeeded  him,  salary 
the  same,  and  remained  in  this  relation  for  six  years. 

Alexander  Thompson  was  elected  to  the  eldership  in  this 
church  May  7th,  1837,  and  James  Dunbar  and  Adam  Stevens 
January  ist,  1838. 

North  Pacolet. — Rev.  F.  Porter  was  supplying  this 
church  till  1832,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J.  L.  Ken- 
nedy. Under  his  care  Mr.  J.  L.  Clarke  and  Mrs.  D.  Clark, 
his  wife,  B.  Clark,  J.  F.  Clark,  M.  B.  Clark,  J.  M.  Clark,  W. 
Dickson,  and  his  wife ;  M.  Jackson,  J.Jackson,  M.  Caruth, 
C.  Jackson,  M.  Jackson,  H.  Kelso,  J.  McClure  and  M.  McClure 
became  united  with  the  church.  In  1838,  Rev.  J.  L.  Kennedy 
and  Rev.  A.  J.  Pearson  labored  with  us  in  the  ministry  of 
the'  go.spel,  under  whose  care  S.  Jackson,  D.  Jackson,  M. 
Jackson,  J.  Jackson,  E.  Jackson,  -P.  Jackson,  M.  Jackson,  J. 
Jackson,  M.  Jackson,  a  whole  family  circle  apparently,  also 
became  members.  [Letter  of  A.  F.  Jackson,  B.  VV.  Clark, 
Wm.  Jackson,  Elders,  February   10,  1853.] 

The  number  of  communicants  in  this  church  Was  thirty  in 
1832,  so  also  in  1836,  1837. 

Smyrna  Church. — Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  discontinued  his 
labors  at  this  place  in  1830,  at  which  time  Robt.  Redd  was 
the  only  elder,  his  predecessors  having  either  died  or  removed 
away.  At  this  time,  "  not  a  face  of  the  first  members,"  says 
Father  Dickson,  "was  to  be  seen  in  it."  "Some  of  the  old 
adherents,  with  others,  have  associated  together.  They  have 
erected  a  comfortable  house  of  worship,  had  elders  ordained, 
and  at  one  time  it  appeared  as  though  something  might  have 
been  done,  but  later  one  of  the  elder.s,  with  five  or  six  of  the 
members,  have  moved  away  ;  few  are  left  behind.  They  are 
visited  by  a  Mr.  Donnelly,  What  will  be  the  result  heaven 
only  knows.  Under  the  new  organization  the  church  is 
known  as  Bethesda."     [Letter  of  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  to  his 


183(^-1840.]  GEEEKVILLE — BOCKY  CREEK.  537 

son-in-law,  Rev.  John  C.  Williams,  containing  his  reminiscen- 
ces of  the  olden  times  of  the  church,  dated  March  9,  1853. 
Transcribed  and  remitted  to  the  author  by  Rev.  John  C.  Wil- 
liams, March  14,  1853] 

Greenville  (Abbeville.) — The  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  con- 
tinued in  the  pastorship  of  tliis  church  and  congregation. 
The  ruling  eldership  had  been  reduced  by  the  death  and  re- 
moval of  two  elders.  The  one,  John  Weatherall,  had  died, 
the  other.  Samuel  Agnew,  had  removed.  About  the  year 
1829  or  1830,  John  Donald,  Williams  Means,  A.  C.  Haw- 
thorn, with  Abraham  Hadden,  were  ordained  elders.  About 
1833,  a  difference  in  politics  occurred  which  occasioned  a 
considerable  withdrawal  from  the  church.  The  .seats  of  tWo 
elders  were  vacated.  Tranquility  restored,  the  loss  was  soon 
repaired.  In  1836,  Lydall  Williams  and  John  Weatherall 
were  elected  and  ordained  ruling  elders,  and  John  McKittrick 
was  added  to  the  Session. 

Rocky  Creek  (New  Rock  Church),  Abbeville. — The 
Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  continued  to  supply  this  church  until 
January,  1836,  having  labored  six  years  and  three  months. 
From  January,  1836.  to  October,  1837,  it  was  supplied  by 
the  Rev.  Charles  Martin.  He  served  the  church  one  year 
and  nine  months.  In  January,  1838,  Rev.  Edwin  Cater  com- 
menced supplying  for  half-his  time.  In. the  spring  of  1839, 
he  gave  all  his  time  to  it.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery 
in  the  fall  of  the  same  year,  he  received  a  call  to  become  the 
pastor,  which  call  he  accepted,  but  was  not  installed  till 
April,  1840.  This  was  in  consequence  of  the  failure  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  instal  him.  He  resigned  his  charge 
October  3d,  1846,  having  labored  eight  years  and  nine  months. 
In  1823,  when  the  Rev.  J.  Rennie  began  to  supply  the  church, 
there  were  twenty  members.  From  this  time  to  1838,  when 
Rev.  E.  Cater  began  his  labors,  thirty-seven  members  were 
added,  the  entire  number  being  sixty  ;  but  fourteen  members 
are  reported  to  have  died  or  been  dismissed.  And  twenty- 
four  others  are  so  reported,  but  of  these  the  date  of  deaths  or 
removal  is  not  given  in  the  minutes  of  the  Session  ;  and 
whether  it  was  before  or  after  the  year  1838, 1  am  not  able  to 
determine. 

In  February,  1838,  William  Calhoun,  Robert  Crawford 
and  James  Caldwell  were  ordained  as  ruling  elders  by  Rev. 
Mr.. Dickson.     In  February,   1839,  Dr.  E.  R.  Calhoun,  Genl, 


638  OLD   CAMBRIDGE — HOPEWEI^L.  [1830-1840; 

James  Gillam  and  John  McClelland  were  ordained  by  Rev. 
Edwin  Cater.  [From  the  sermon  of  Rev.  John  McLees, 
pastor  of  this  church,  preached  April  3,  1867,  beinsr  the  20th 
year  of  his  pastorate.  Southern  Presbyterian,  October  22, 
'1878?^ 

Old  Cambridge. — This  church,  on  its  original  site,  had 
now  become  extinct.  The  church  building  was  sold  to  the 
Baptists  in  1833  or  1834,  and  removed  to  another  site,  where 
a  few  years  since  it  was  still  standing. 

PIoPEWELL  (Abbeville),  fornierly  Lower  Long  Cane. — 
In  1830  the  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater  became  the  pastor  of  the 
church.  He  was  an  earnest  minister,  his  sermons  were  pre- 
pared with  great  care  and  delivered  in  a  manner  and  with  a 
grace  rarely  surpassed.  He  entered  upon  his  duties  under 
favorable  auspices  and  had  the  prospect  of  a  long  and  useful 
pastorate  ;  but  an  unfortunate  difference  occurred  between 
himself  and  some  of  the  members  of  the  Session,  which  led  to 
their  withdrawal  from  the  church,  and  although  Mr.  Cater 
was  sustained  by  the  congregation,  he  felt  that  it  was  his  duty 
to  resign,  which  he  did  in  1832,  and  soon  after  removed  to 
Alabama.  Rev.  Isaac  Waddell  succeeded  Mr.  Cater  in  1833. 
Called  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  congregation  to  the 
pastoral  office,  he  brought  to  the  discharge  of  his  responsible 
duties  that  rare  combination  of  moral,  mental  and  social 
qualifications  which  endeared  him  to  the  people  and  won  for 
him  the  appellation  of  the  "  beloved  pastor."  His  sermons 
were  plain,  practical  discourses,  in  which  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion  was  the  central  idea,  and  in  strong,  vigor- 
ous language  he  urged  its  acceptance  as  a  rule  of  life.  In 
public  his  tiianner  was  sedate,  not  severe  ;  in  private,  a  sincere 
and  true  friend,  at  all  times  an  upright  Christian  gentleman. 
He  was  known  to  be  thrown  off  his  balance  but  once  in  the 
pulpit.  There  was  in  the  congregation  an  old  Irishman,  by 
the  name  of  Johnny  Glasgow,  who  occupied  one  of  the  short 
scats  on  the  left  of  the  pulpit.  One  long  hot  day  in  June  the 
old  man  was  wholly  overcome  by  sleep,  and  leaning  his  elbow 
against  the  end  of  the  seat  and  resting  his  head  in  his  hand, 
he  was  soon  in  the  land  of  Nod,  the  observed  of  all  observers. 
Mr.  Waddell  had  been  addressing  himself  to  thi<  bulk  of  the 
congregation  before  him  and  had.  not  noticed  Mr.  Glasgow 
asleep,  but  on  some  point  of  general  application  he  exclaimed 
in  a  louder  tone  :     "  Awake,  thou  that  sleepest,  arise  !"     This 


1830-1840.]  HOPEWELL — BOCKY  EIVEE.  539 

disturbed  the  old  man's  dreaming  and  brought  him  instantly 
to  his  feet,  when,  raising  his  eyes  and  hands  to  the  preacher, 
he  said,  in  his  drawling  Vvay,  "  Aye,  profess,  Maister  Waddeli, 
I'm  not  asleep."  Mr.  Waddel  looked  down  on  the  little  old 
man  in  great  astonishment  and  quietly  said,  "Take  your  seat, 
Mr.  Glasgow,"  then  turned  to  the  front  to  continue  his 
sermon;  but  the  face  of  the  congregation  was  like  a  calm  lake 
when  the  South  wind  blows.  He  turned  to  the  right,  then  again 
to  the  front,  some  of  the  youngsters  snickering  audibly,  and,, 
as  "laughing  is  catching,"  it  extended  to  the  old  folks.  The 
minister  looked  grave,  his  shoulders  would  rise  and  fall,  his 
breast  heaved  and  he  sat  down.  The  pulpit  was  one  of  those 
circular  boxes,  about  eigiit  feet  high  by  three  in  diameter, 
stuck  upon  the  side  of  the  house.  We  do  not  know  what  he 
did  when  hidden  from  view,  but  after  a  few  moments  he  rose 
and  concluded  the  service.  There  was  one  trait  in  these  old 
Long  Cane  Irish  and  their  descendants  worthy  of  mention, 
and  perhaps  of  imitation,  that  is  when  charged  with  a  "short 
coming,"  although  somet  imes  "  schanny"  in  avoiding  the 
point,  they  would  squarely  own  up  to  the  truth,  ifguilty. 
Captain  J.  C.  Mathews,  one  of  the  good  old  men  of  the  Church, 
was  an  elder.  He  also  acted  as  precentor  and  parcelled  out 
the  lines  of  the  hymn  and  led  the  singing.  He  had  a  seat 
railed  in  to  himself  under  the  pulpit  and  immediately  in  front 
of  the  congregation. 

When  tht  minister  would  take  his  text,  the  old  Captain 
would  settle  himself  in  his  nest  and  listen  attentively  to  every 
sound  which  fell  from  his  lips,  but  should  the  sermon  be  too 
long  or  too  high,  or  not  altogether  to  his  taste,  he  would 
growl  out  a  peculiar  yawn,  something  between  a  groan  and  a 
sigh,  as  an  admonition  to  the  speaker  to  hurry  up,  which,  if 
unheeded,  he  would  turn  to  front,  fold  his  arms  and  quietly 
goto  sleep.  On  beifig  rallied  about  it  he  would  say,  "I  was 
full  and  could  hold  no  more,"  then  quote  a  saying  of  Dr.  Barr, 
"When  weariness  begins,  edification  ceases,"  and  add  in  his 
own  quaint  way,  "  the  best  thing  one  can  do  under  such  cir- 
cum.stances  is  to  go  to  sleep."     [E.  P.  D.] 

Rocky  River  (Abbeville) — In  1830,  this  church  was  again 
under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Dr.  Waddeli,  and  so  continued 
until  183s,  says  one  authority.  Another  says,  until  a  year 
or  two  of  his  death.  In  1837,  Rev.  Wm.  Davis  took  charge 
of  this  church,  and  continued  to  serve  it  about  two  years,  and 


^■iO  EOCKY   RIVER.  [1830-1840. 

was  succeeded  by  Rev.  James  Lewers*     A  worthy  gentleman 
of  the  old  school   and  member  of  this  church,  thus  writes, 
mingling  the   ancient  and  the   modern   in  his  recollections  : 
"  There  being  no  session-book  kept  until  quite  recently,  I  am 
unable  to  furnish  you  with  a  roll  of  the  members  that  formerly 
belonged  to  the   Rocky  River   Church.     They  now  number 
thirty-five;  but  forty-five  years   ago,  I  have  no   doubt,  there 
were    at   least  two   hundred,      From   removals    and   deaths, 
small  farms  have  been  bought  up,   and  large  planters   (who, 
generally,  are  a  curse  to  a  community)  have  occupied  the  soil, 
so  that  we  have  dwindled  down  to   the  above  number.     The 
first  settlers  in  the  bounds  of  Rocky  River  were  mostly  from 
Ireland  and  Scotland.     During  the  Revolution  they  suffered 
great  privations  ;  they  lost  all,  or  nearly  all,  their  property; 
many  were  butchered  by  savages;    they  were  often   alarmed 
amid  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  fled  to  the  forest  or  any 
place    where    they  might   think    themselves    secure.     These 
accounts  I  have  often  heard  related  by  my  mother  and  others. 
One  case  I  have  often   heard   her  relate  :     The  Indians   had 
murdered  several  of  her  neighbors  (my  father  being   out   in 
the  service)  ;  she  got  the  news  about  sunset ;  she  immediately 
set  off  with,  I  think,  four  children  and  one  at  the  breast,  and 
as  she  passed  one  of  her  beds,  caught  up  a  quilt  or  blanket  and 
fled  to  some  retreat,  and  spread  the  cover  over  her  children, 
but  sat  up  the  whole  night  herself.     There  were  many  other 
cases  similar  to  this.     In   the  year    1802,  I   think,  there   was 
what  was  then,  and  by  some  is  now,  considered   a   great   re- 
vival of  religion.     I  attended  two  of  those  meetings.     I  was 
then  17  years  of  age.     There  was   no   noise,  no   excitement; 
many  would  fall  down  and  appear  for  hours   insensible.     A 
number  of  my  acquaintances  were  affected   in  this  way  ;  but 
so  far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  I  could  perceive  no  reforma- 
tion in  after  life.     I  only  speak  as  to   my  own   observation. 
In  two  or  three  years-  the   Presbyterians   generally  gave    up 
these  camp-meetings;  I  think  it  was  well  to  do  so.     Irt    1836, 
Rev.  Daniel  Baker  held  a  protracted  meeting  at  our  church, 
and  some  twelve  or  fifteen  joined    the   church.     Several   of 
these   turned    again    to    the    world.     My  opinion  (although 

*  William  H.  Davis  was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina, 
from  Union  Presbytery,  in  the  Synod  of  Tennessee,  on  the  22d  of  March, 
1839,  and  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  Hopewell  and  Willington 
Churches  on  the  22d  of  May,  1839.  (Minutes  of  South  Carolina  Pres- 
bytery, pp.  131-137.) 


1830-1840.]  WILIJNGTOK.  541 

worth  but  little)  is,  and  long  has  been,  that  Presbyterians 
should  stand  aloof  from  all  the  new  measures  that  have  been, 
or  may  be,  adopted  by  others.  No  need  of  camp-meetings, 
no  need  of  organs,  fiddles,  gowns,  bags,  altars,  &c.,  &c. 

"A.  Giles. 
"Montery,  S;  C,  October  i6,  1853." 

WiLLiNGTON. — The  Rev.  Dr.  Waddell,  the  former  pastor  of 
tliis  Church,  and  who  had  left  it  for  the  presideney  of  the 
University  of  Georgia,  at  Athens,  having  resigned  that  office 
in  August,  1820,  in  February,  1830,  returned  to  Willington 
and  resumed  his  former  pastoral  duties  here.  He  continued 
to  minister  to  this  church  till  September,  1836,  when  he  was 
disabled  by  a  stroke  of  pal.sy.  We  are  again  indebted  to  his 
devoted  and  intelligent  friend,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Davis,  for  the 
descri^ion  and  estimate  of  his  character  : 

''Dr.  Waddell's  time  was  divided  between  Willington  and  Eocky 
Eiver.  The  arrangement  was  permanent  and  voluntary — there  was  no 
cause  for  effort  or  self-denial  on  their  part,  Though  some  now  began 
to  complain  of  the  tediousness  of  a  discourse  protracted  to  an  hour,  or 
an  hour  and  thirty  minutes,  yet  the  respect  and  veneration  which  his 
character  inspired  no  blemish  could  weaken,  no  infirmities  destroy. 
It  has  been  said  that  Dr.  Waddell's/orte  lay  in  teaching;  and,  perhaps, 
one  who  affected  criticism  on  pulpit  oratory  would  not  have  pronounced 
him  a  great  preacher  ;  but  that  he  possessed  the  instinctive  power  of 
true  eloquence  is  evinced  by  the  fact  that  a  person  not  particularly  in- 
terested in  his  doctrines  could  listen  to  him  for  an  hour  without  weari- 
ness ;  and  when  his  massive  fist  came  down  upon  the  pulpit,  with  a 
force  corresponding  to  the  strength  and  energy  of  the  thought  which 
governed  it,  the  conviction  that  went  to  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  was 
irresistible.  His  manner  of  life  from  his  youth  liad  given  his  sermons 
a  didactic  form,  and,  no  doubt,  from  the  habit  of  controlling  and  in- 
structing youth,  they  had  acquired  the  dogmatic  style  which  characterized 
them.  In  his  old  age  he  had  lost  all  regard  for  brevity  ;  his  voice  and 
gestures  had  become  somewhat  stern,  his  style  blunt  and  unadorned. 
It  is  evident  that  from  the  first  his  only  model  was  nature,  his  only 
teacher  the  Bible.  He  soared  into  no  untrodden  heights  of  fancy,  sel- 
dom attempted  tropes  or  figures  of  rhetoric,  aspired  to  no  superior  graces 
of  elocution;  but  the  deductions  drawn  from,  nature  and  experience 
were  to  him  like  those  of  ihe  Apostle  when  he  says:  '  I  speak  that  I 
do  know,  and  testify  to  that  which  I  have  seen,"  &c.  Perhaps  there  was 
neVer  a  speaker  more  in  earnest,  or  one  who  more  emphatically  expressed 
sincerity.  It  was  his  habit  to  dwell  very  strongl)'  on  a  few  fundamental 
points  of  Christian  doctrine.  One  of  these  was  the  duty  of  secret 
prayer,  and  very  seldom  did  he  finish  a  discourse  without  enforcing  in 
the  conclusion  this  favorite  and  well-grounded  tenet,  frequently,  also, 
using  in  public  worship  the  hymns  belonging  to  this  department. 

''  When,  on  a  certain  time,  dancing  assemblies  were  set  up  almost  at 
his  very  door,  by  one  high  in  authority,  and  many  of  his  church  mem- 
bers, with  their  children,  were  drawn  under  their  seductive  influences. 


542  DR.  WADDELL.  [1830-1840. 

his  grief  and  indignation  were  unbounded.  But,  not  content  with  an- 
nouncing publicly,  on  the  next  Sabbath,  his  ministerial  and  personal 
disapprobation  of  such  '  revellings,'  and  so  forth,  he  soon  had  the  satis- 
faction of  proclaiming  triumphantly  that,  with  the  assistance  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Barr  and  others,  he  had  succeeded  in  passing  a  resolution  to  the 
effect  that  all  church  members  who  attended  or  suffered  their  children 
to  attend  dan<'ings,  should  be  subjects  of  discipline,  &c.  Always  a 
strict  censor  on  the  morals  of  the  young,  his  zeal  for  their  interests  had 
now  become  part  of  his  nature,  and  though  he  seldom  -pressed  upon 
them  the  personal  claims  of  salvation,  there  are  some  now  living  who 
remember  with  increasing  gratitude  his  faithful,  though,  at  that  time, 
unwelcome  chidings  and  rebukes. 

"  After  his  return  from  Athens,  though  he  engaged  no  more  in  its 
active  duties,  he  exerted  a  beneficial  supervision  and  influence  over  the 
large  school  sustained  at  W.,  first  by  his  youngest  son,  and  afterwards 
by  the  eldest,  James  P.  Waddell.  Such  was  the  respect  which  his 
character  and  virtues,  combined  with  dreamy  traditions  of  the  rid,  in- 
spired, that  there  was  generally  nothing  more  needed  to  bring  up  a 
delinquent  pupil  than  to  be  obliged  to  report  his  conduct  or  his  lesson 
to  the  venerable  president.  No  doubt  some  yet  remember  the  old 
chestnut  before  the  door  of  the  little  study,  where  they  have  been  held 
in  tedious  durance,  perhaps  for  hours,  listening  to  a  lecture  on  good 
behavior  or  on  Latin  verbs  and  particles  Sometimes  a  pleasant  thought 
or  a  ludicrous  association  would,  in  spite  of  his  assumed  austerity,  force 
away  the  frown  from  the  grave  old  brow,  and  he  would  shake  with 
laughter,  to  the  no  small  wonder  of  the  culprit.  This  was  always  the 
precursor  to  an  amusing  anecdote  or  some  pleasant  reminiscence,  and 
the  fortunate  youth  went  away  much  enlightened  on  the  subject  of  his 
old  preceptor's  past  achievements. 

"  In  his  declining  years  he  was  garrulous,  and,  like  all  men  much  held 
up  to  public  gaze,  a  little  vain-glorious.  But  in  this  respect  he  was  more 
sinned  against  than  sinning  ;  for  the  flatteries  he  had  received  were 
enough  to  turn  the  head  of  any  one  not  more  than  mortal.  We  have 
often  heard  hiui  allude,  in  a  way  which  showed  that  he  did  not  over- 
rate his  abilities,  to  the  little  book  \yritten  by  himself,  containing  the 
beautiful  life  of  Caroline  Elizabeth  Smelt,  of  Augusta,  Ga  At  that 
period  of  our  country's  existence,  authorship  was  rather  rare,  and 
might  well  be  considered  an  enviable  distinction.  He  received  for  this 
more  attention,  I  presume,  than  for  any  other  work  of  his  life  ;  but  he 
declared  that  it  was  undertaken  not  for  any  fitness,  but  simply  because 
there  was  no  one  else  to  do  it.  As  long  as  he  lived  his  name,  connected 
with  authorship,  presented  a  ludicrous  association  to  hitnself.  But  if 
this  little  work,  so  simple,  terse  and  pure,  may  be  taken  as  a  sample  of 
the  author's  powers,  we  may  be  excused  for  regretting  that  he  never 
published  anything  more.  It  is  said  that  his  sermons  were  never 
written  out,  though  he  was  accustomed  to  preserve  the  heads  of  his 
discourses,  preaching  always  without  notes. 

"  From  the  simplicity  of  his  early  manner  of  living  he  never  departed, 
being  plain  and  rather  careless  in  his  dress,  and  frugal  in  his  diet.  He 
was  from  principle  and  habit  a  strict  economist,  and  as  his  wants  were 
so  simple,  the  easy  manner  in  which  he  managed  his  estate  did  not 
materially  affect  bis  comfort  or  his  purse.  As  an  evidence  of  his  con- 
sideration for  the  poor,  he  protected  and  cared  for  the  widow  of  an 
Irish  emigrant,  a  distant  relative,  for  a  number  of  years,  and  placed  her 
little  son  in  his  school  until  this  pious  and  amiable  lady  was  married  to 
Mr.  John  B   Bull. 


1830-1840.]  DR.  waddei:l.  543 

"  In  his  domestic  discipline,  Dr.  Waddel  followed  the  instructions 
given  to  Timothy,  believing  that  every  man  should  be  '  bishop  of  his 
house,'  and  there  his  authority  was  undisputed.  It  was  his  uniform 
custom  to  catechise  all  the  children,  both  white  and  colored,  every 
Sabbath  evening,  concluding  with  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

"By  his  last  marriajre  he  had  six  children— four  sons  and  two 
daughters— all  of  wiiom  lived  to  till  respectable  stations  in  society,  and 
to  enjoy  the  covenanted  blessings  of  their  father's  God.  The  elde.st,  J. 
P.  Waddell,  a  professor  in  Franklin  College,  attained  in  his  early  life  a 
celebrity,  as  teacher  of  classics,  not  inferior  to  £'.ny.  Two  sons  entered 
the  sacred  desk— Isaac  VV.  Waddell,  who  died  at  Marietta,  Ga..  and  J. 
N.  Waddell.  of  Tennessee.  The  second  son,  William,  died  some  years 
since  in  Tallahassee,  Florida,  a  beloved  physician,  and  elder  of  the 
church  at  that  place 

'iln  1837,  the  friends  and  admirers  of  Dr.  Waddell  noticed  with  deep 
pain  the  approach  of  that  disease  which  was  bringing  on  a  premature  de- 
cline* of  his  mental  fai'ulties.  His  physical  .strength  was  much  impaired, 
and  although  very  reluctant  to  acknowledge  it,  he  was,  at  length,  con- 
strained to  call  in  the  assisfanceof  hisson,  J.  W.  AVaddell,  then  preach- 
ing at  Hopewell  and  Lebanon. 

"  On  the  14th  July,  1837,  hearing  that  Dr  Waddell  had  a  second  and 
severer  attack  of  ])aralyeis,  we  called  to  see  him.  He  was  lying  in  bed, 
and  one  arm  lay  heavily  by  his  side.  'This  right  hand,'  he  said, 
raising  it  with  his  left,  then  letting  it  fall  listlessly,  'how  much  it  has 
done!  but  it  will  never  do  any  more'  The  next  morning,  feeling 
somewhat  better,  he  sent  for  a  particular  friend  to  read  for  him  a  new 
work  which  one  of  his  sons  had  just  sent  him.  Whilst  tlius  engaged,  a 
gentleman  called,  and  brought  to  his  bedside  a  young  son  of  J.  t;.  Cal- 
houn. The  sight  of  this  son  of  his  beloved  pupil  enlivened  his  brow 
for  a  moment,  and  he  strove  to  recall  some  of  the  pleasant  memories 
of  the  past,  but  in  vain.  The  gentleman,  thinking  to  interest  him, 
began  a  criticism  upon  the  writings  of  the  Apostles,  but  the  aged  and 
stricken  disciple  could  only  raise  one  hand  to  his  head,  and  complain 
that  he  was  sadly  failing  there.  When  he  had  become  partially  re- 
stored, he  summoned  his  children,  to -divide  his  estate  among  them 
while  his  mind  was  yet  sufficiently  clear,  and  thus  dissolved  his  con- 
nection with  earthly  things.  And  n'lw  the  sturdy,  industrious  spirit  of 
the  good  old  man,  which  had  so  loved  its  work,  the  iron  nerve  and  un- 
bending resolution,  that  no  obstacle  could  intimidate,  yielded  to  the 
darkness  and  dreariness  of  days  without  toil  and  nights  without  com- 
fort; and  like  his  amiable  and  belnved  teacher.  Dr.  Hall, a  hopeless  and 
irrevocable  gloom  settled  on  his  mind.  He  never  preached  again,  and 
his  prophecy  concerning  that  hand  was  true — '  it  could  never  do  any 
more.'  He  made  some  weary  pilgrimages  between  this  place  and 
Athens  on  each  return  here,  hoping,  that  he  had  come  to  die,  that  he 
might  be  placed  beside  his  wife  in  the  graveyard  at  Willington.  This 
once  noble  intellect  was  in  ruins,  and  the  only  evidence  he  gave  of  the 
once  buoyant  spirit  was  the  restlessness  with  which  he  turned  from 
scene  to  set  ne  to  find  some  ray  of  comfort.  What  an  affecting  sight  to 
behold  him— an  alien,  a  stranger,  a  weary  pilgrim,  in  this  home  of  his 
heart,  this  church  of  his  peculiar  love. 

*The  causes,  as  given  by  his  family  physician,  for  his  sudden  and 
premature  decay  are,  the  excessive  use  of  tobacco  and  want  of  that  ex- 
citement to  which  he  was  habituated. 


■544  L,02SrG  CANE.  [1830-1840. 

"On  his  last  visit  he  sat  down  to  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  with  him 
sat,  for  the  first  time,  one  in  whose  salvation  he  had  always  shown  the 
deepest  interest,  but  he  knew  it  not.  That  revelation  was  reserved  for 
the  time  when  that  fettered  soul  should  burst  its  shackles,  and  rejoice 
in  the  light  of  never-ending  day 

"  Finally,  July  26,1840,  hediedat  Athens,  and  the  literati  of  that  State 
designing  him  a  monument,  his  remains  were  interred  at  that  place, 
contrary  to  the  express  provisions  of  his  will.  It  is  scarcely  necessary 
to  add  that  this  design  has  never  gone  into  effect." 

So  writes  his  life  long  friend  and  neighbor,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Davis.  Other 
tributes  might  be  drawn  from  the  eulogy  of  Judge  Longstreet,  delivered 
at  the  college,  in  August,  1841 ;  from  his  memoir  in  Sprague's  Annals, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  63, prepared  by  the  same;  from  John  C.  Calhoun,  LL.  D., 
Vice-President  of  the  U.  S.  (both  of  whom  were  his  pupils) ;  from  Rev. 
Aloiizo  Church,  D.  D.,  President  of  Franklin  College,  and  for  ten  years 
his  associate  in  the  Faculty — but  we  forbear. 

Long  Cane. — The  Rev.  Dr.  Barr  continued  the  .same  be- 
loved and  revered  pastor  of  this  congregation.  Various 
events  from  time  to  time  occurred  of  minor  importance,  yet 
necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the  church  and  congregation. 

The  first  thing  to  which  they  seem  to  have  given  their  at- 
tention was  their  place  of  burial.  It  was  surrounded  by  an 
inadequate  enclosure,  the  fence  often  thrown  down  and  the 
grounds  trampled  by  cattle.  The  trustees  took  the  matter  in 
hand,  protected  it  by  a  suitable  enclosure,  defraying  the  ex- 
pense by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  parties  interested. 

All  opposing  claims  to  the  territory  now  included  in  the 
States  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi  had  been  adjusted,  and  a 
vast  emigration  was  setting  in  that  direction,  as  well  from  this 
congregation  as  elsewhere.-  So  that  it  became  mucn  reduced 
in  numbers  and  strength,  having  also  lost  by  death  several  of 
its  most  useful  and  zealous  members,  it  became  difficult 
amongst  the  comparative  few  remaining  to  make  up  the  salary 
of  Dr.  l^arr,  small  and  inconsiderable  as  it  was,  and  the  period 
seemed  rapidly  approaching — foreseen  by  the  founders  of 
the  Upper  Long  Cane  Society — when  from  some  of  the  iden- 
tical causes  above  stated,  the  congregation  would  be  unable  to 
support  a  clergyman  from  individual  contributions  ;  accord- 
ingly, at  a  meeting  of  the  Society  in  January,  1833,  although 
the  funds  of  the  Society  had  not  by  several  hundred  dollars 
reached  the  amount  when  in  conformity  with  the  constitution 
any  part  of  the  accruing  interest  could  be  appropriated  for 
that  purpose,  yet,  from  the  necessity  of  the  case,  the  Society 
did  appropriate  ;$200.00  in  aid  of  Dr.  Barr's  salary  for  that 
year  and  the  same  the  next  year.     In  1832,  all  constitutional 


183U-1840.J  UPPEK    LONG    CANE    SOCIETY.  545 

difficulties  Iiaving  ceased  by  alteration  of  tlic  constitution,  a 
like  sum  of  gaoo.oo  was  appropriated.  In  January.  1835,  a 
meeting  of  the  congregation  was  called  and  at  the  same  time 
one  of  the  Society,  in  which  it  was  determined  to  reduce  the 
assessment  on  the  seats  in  the  church,  with  the  expectation 
that  they  vyould  all  be  taken  up,  and  at  least  as  large,  if  not 
larger  amount  be  raised  from  them  than  under  the  old  assess- 
ment— the  Society  now  agreeing  to  make  up  the  balance  of 
Dr.  Barr's  salary.  The  appropriations  by  the  Society  were 
gradually  increased. 

Since  the  Upper  Long  Cane  Society  made  the  first  appro- 
priation those  who  are  not  members  of  it  are  more  averse  than 
formerly  to  pay,  supposing  the  Society  should  pay  the  whole 
amount  of  the  clergyman's  salary,  although  it  and  the  con- 
gregation are  two  entirely  separate  and  distinct  bodies. 

The  causes  which  have  hitherto  operated  to  reduce  the 
number  of  the  congregation  still  continue,  though  not  in  so 
great  a  degree,  and  the  additions  to  the  church  have  not  been 
sufficient  to  repair  its  loss  by  death  and  removals,  and  the 
principal  support  of  the  clergyman  has  been  derived  from  the- 
appropriations  of  "  The  Upper  Long  Cane  Society,"  those 
appropriations  having  amounted,  down  to  1852,  (which  is  an- 
ticipating by  12  years  the  appointed  progress  of  our  history) 
to  gl  1,392.83. 

This  Society  was  formed  in  1793,  incorporated  in  1799. 
The  original  subscription  of  1^65,  from  the  payment  of  one  dol- 
lar per  annum  by  each  member,  or  fifteen  dollars  for  a  life 
membership,  and  a  few  other  small  donations  by  accumula- 
tion by  compound  interest,  had  amounted,  on  the  2d  of  March, 
1832,  to  ^8,909,82,  bearing  interest  from  that  day,  over  and 
above  ^600,  which  aided  in  the  support  of  a  clergyman  and 
other  expenses.  Most  of  the  members  of  the  congregation 
have  neglected  to  join  the  Society.  Most  of  the  members  of 
the  Society  are  also  members  of  the  congregation,  although 
a  minority  in  it. 

Each  member  pays  one  dollar  per  annum,  or  fifteen  dollars 
for  ^ life  niembership.  The  bounds  of  the  Society  extend  for 
ten  miles  from  the  Uppfer  Long  Cane  Church.  Application 
for  admission  to  be  made  by  letter  at  an  annual  meeting,  and 
election  to  the  Society  requires  a  two-third  vote  of  the  merh- 
bers  ptesent.  The  person  admitted  must  sign  the  constitu- 
tion and  by-laws. 
35 


546  LITTLE  MOUNTAIN — BRAD  AWAY.  [1830-1840/ 

For  grossly  immoral  conduct  a  member  may  be  expelled 
by  a  two-third  vote  of  the  members  present.  All  contribu- 
tions, monies  and  properties  accruing  to  the  Society,  to  be 
kept  at  interest  until  they  amount  to  a  capital  of  ^10,000, 
which  sum  at  least  is  always  to  be  preserved  as  capital.  After 
this  amount  is  attained  the  whole  or  part  of  the  interest  m:iy 
be  applied  towards  the  minister's  sala'y,  the  education  of 
poor  children,  the  relief  of  distressed  members,  or  the  dis- 
tressed families  of  deceased  members.  No  member  may 
borrow  from  the  fund,  or  be  securities  of  those  who  do  bor- 
row, or  procure  any  other  person  to  borrow  for  him,  on  the 
pain  of  forfeiting  to  the  Society  fifty  per  cent,  on  every  sum 
so  borrowed.  The  Society  seems  thus  far  to  have  been  most 
successfully  managed. 

Little  Mountain  — This  church  remains  under  the  pas- 
toral care  of  its  founder,  the  Rev.  William  H.  Barr.  D'.  D. 
The  numbers  44,  47,  54,  56,  54,  50,  exhibit  its  membership  in 
different  years. 

Lebanon. — The  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater  continued  to  supply 
•this  church  until  December,  183 1.  The  Rev.  Isaac  Waddell 
took  charge  as  a  supply  in  the  year  1832,  and  continued  to 
serve  in  this  capacity  until  1837.  During  Mr.  Waddell's  min- 
istry, Capt  Thos.  Parker  and  Dr.  Y.  S.  Reid  were  added  to 
the  Session  from  the  Hopewell  Church,  and  Mr.  Weir  re- 
moved from  the  bounds  of  the  conjiregation.  During  Mr. 
Waddell's  coimection  with  the  church,  the  Rev.  Daniel  Baker 
was  present  at  a  protracted  meeting  of  five  or  six  days,  dur- 
ing which  some  fifteen  members  were  added  to  the  church, 
most  of  them  heads  of  fan>ilies  and  past  middle  age. 

The  Rev.  Charles  Martin  was  in  the  service  of  this  church 
as  a  supply,  from  the  twenty-second  of  January,  1837,  until 
the  following  September.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev. 
J.Tmes  P.  Gibert,  who  received  a  call  from  the  church  and 
congregation  to  become  their  pastor,  who  was  ordained  and 
in.stalled  at  an  adjourned  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  November,  1838,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Barr,  Hugh 
Dixon,  A.  W.  Ross  and  Dr.  J.  H.  Reid, being  present  and  as- 
sisting in  the  service.  The  membership  of  the  church  has 
varied  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  down  to  this  time. 

Bradaway  (spelled  Broadway  in  1838  and  Broadawaj?^  in 
1839)  is  represented  as  vacant,  with  a  membership  of  fifty- 
nine  at  the  beginning  of  this  decade.     Rev.   William  Carlisle 


1S30-1840.]         MIDWAY— GOOD  HOPE  AND  ROBERTS.  547 

became  its  pastor  in  1831-1838,  and  its  membership  was  six- 
ty-five. William  H.  Harris  appears  to  have  served  this 
church  in  1839. 

Midway,  in  Anderson  District,  was  received  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  on  the  third  of  Oc- 
tober, 1833.  with  twenty-one  members.  (MS.  Minutes,  vol, 
II,  p.  47.)  Presbytery  met  at  this  church  March  21,  1834. 
It  was  part  of  the  charge  of  WilUam  Carlisle,  as  supply,  in 
1836.  '37,  '38,  '39.     Membership  in  1838,  thirty-one." 

Varennes,  was  vacant  in  1830,  sixteen,  however,  had  been 
added,  and  the  membership  was  sixty-two.  William  Carlisle 
was  its  pastor,  with  a  membership  of  sixty-eight  in  1831.  He 
continued  its  pastor  until  October  3d,  1835,  when  the  relation 
was  dissolved  by  Presbytery.  In  1837,  it  is  reported  as  va- 
cant with  a  membership  of  seventy-five^.  William  Harris  ap- 
pears from  the  statistical  tables,  to  have  been  its  minister  in 
1839.     ■ 

Good  Hope  and  Roberts. — We  have  seen  on  a  former  page 
in  our  preceding  history  to  what  e.xtent  the  indebtedness  of 
these  churcnes  to  their  pastor  had  reached.  Both  congregations 
became  uneasy  and  feared  that  in  case  their  pastor  should  die 
they  would  be  compelled  to  pa,y  what  they  admitted  to  be 
their  just  debts.  No  effort  was  made  to  pay  the  arrears, 
though  it  was  frequently  spoken  of  The  impression  began 
to  prevail  that  a  pastor  was  rather  a  cumbersome  customer. 
At  length  the  pastor  concluded  that  while  he  was  straitened 
to  meet  his  pecuniary  obligations,  it  might  be  to  the  interests 
of  the  churches  to  give  them  a  certificate  relinquishing  all 
claims  to  whatever  sum  they  were. in  arrears,  and  especially 
as  they  were  much  weakened  by  emigrations  and  death,  and 
could  not  raise  the  amount  promised  in  the  call;  consequent- 
ly, in  1835,  he  gave  to  Good  Hope  and  Roberts  a  clear  re- 
ceipt up  to  that  time.  They  still  expressed  a  desire  for  him 
to  remain  with  them,  which  he  did,  for  whatever  sum  they 
might  give  him.  By  mutual  consent,  after  a  short  time,  the 
pastoral  relation  was  dissolved;  yet  he  still  supplied  his 
old  charge  part  of  the  time.  Here  we  may  mention  that  the 
one-fourth  of  his  time  was  not  called  for  at  first  by  these 
churclie-;,  was  usually  spent  on  the  Georgia  side  of  the  Sa- 
vannah River;  several  small  churches  would  assemble  at 
New  Lebanon,  where  he,  assisted  frequently  by  some  other 
ministers,  held  some  interesting  and  profitable  meetings.     It 


548  REV.    DAVID   HUMPHREYS,  [1830-1840. 

appeared  that  every  service  seemed  to  increase  the  interest, 
until  a  protracted  meeting  of  a  few  days  would  show  more 
signs  of  good  fruit  than  an  entire  year  in  other  fields.  It  is 
believed  by  some  qualified  to  judge,  that  these  meetings 
•were  instrumental  in  strengthening  those  feeble  churches  in 
the  upper  part  of  Georgia,  and  that  they  became  the,  germ  of 
the  Cherokee  Presbytery.  His  labors  in  this  region  were 
gratuitous.  The  churches  were  feeble  and  never  seemed  to 
think  of  taking  up  a  collection  to  defray  the  expenses  of  go- 
ing to  and  returning  from  these  meetings.  On  one  occasion 
he  spent  a  night  in  a  strange  family,  and  in  the  morning  he 
offered  to  leave  his  watch  (as  he  had  no  money)  as  a  pledge 
that  he  w^ould  pay  for  the  night's  lodging  on  his  return.  The 
man  refused  to  keep  the  watch,  but  said  the  money  could  be 
paid  on  the  next  visit,  which  was  accordingly  done.  On 
another  occasion  he  had  an  appointment  in  that  region  at  a 
more  di.stant  point ;  the  services  to  commence  at  night.  He 
rode  fifty  miles  and  the  night  was  closing  in  upon  him  ;  he 
despaired  of  finding  the  place  and  turned  from  the  main  road 
to  hunt  a  shelter  for  the  night,  when  he  came  suddenly  upon 
a  large  assembly  of  people  awaiting  his  arrival.  Though 
hungry  and  fatigued,  he  preached  to  a  very  attentive  audi- 
ence, and  then  rode  several  miles  to  lodge  with  another 
family.  On  the  way  he  conversed  with  one  of  the  members, 
a  son,  on  personal  piety.  Many  years  afterwards  he  met  with 
a  middle-aged  man  who  approached  him  with  manifest  plea- 
sure, made  himself  known,  and  said,  "  the  sermon  preached 
that  night,  and  the  conversation  had  with  him  on  the  way, 
were  instrumental  in  bringing  him  to  Christ."  He  labored 
for  several  years  in  the  Providence  Church,  now  at  Lowndes- 
ville,  but  then  located  several  miles  to  the  northeast  of  that 
place.  One  hundred  or  more  members  were  added  to  the 
Church  there  through  his  instrumentality.  But  we  turn  back  to 
the  churches  whose  history  is  especially  called  for.  Camp 
meetings  were  occasionally  held  at  Roberts,  and  then  at  Good 
Hope.  About  the  year  1835,  a  framed  arbor  was  erected  at 
the  latter  place,  and  an  annual  camp  meeting  was  held  there, 
including  the  second  Sabbath  in  August.  Large  additions 
were  often  made  to  both  churches  on  these  occasions.  But 
Good  Hope  was  again  reduced  in  1837,  by  the  dismission  of 
sixteen  members  at  one  time,  who  removed  to  Chambers 
County,  Ala.     One   of  these   was  a    prominent   elder  of  the 


1830-1840.]  ROBERTS    CHURCH.  549 

church,  who  had  felt  much  for  her  ,in  the  struggles  through 
which  she  had  passed  ;  he,  on  seeing  her  again  so  much  re- 
duced, pronounced  her  "dead  beyond  hope  of  recovery." 
"  By  whom  shall  Jacob  now  arise?  for  Jacob's  friends  ars 
few."  But  the  Saviour  speaUs  and  says,  "  fear  not  little 
flock."  While  the  annual  meeting  is  still  kept  up  on  the 
second  Sabbath  in  August,  the  congregation  has  not  tented 
on  the  ground  for  ten  or  twelve  years. 

The  Hon.  J.  N.  Whitner  united  with  the  Roberts  Church 
on  the  fourth  Sabbath  in  April,  1832.  He  was  soon  after- 
wards elected  and  ordained  a  Ruling  Elder.  His  history  is 
too  well  known  to  need  a  repetition  here.  Suffice  it  to  .iay, 
that  he  was  a  very  active  and  influential  officer,  while  he 
remained  connected  with  the  church  in  this  place.  But  living 
as  he  did,  at  Anderson  C.  H  ,  with  a  young  family,  he  felt  it 
altogether  important  that  a  Presbyterian  Church  should  be 
organized  at  that  place.  Mainly  through  liis  efforts  and  lib- 
erality a  house  of  worship  was  erected  on  a  lot  which  he 
donated  for  that  purpose.  He,  with  his  wife,  who  was  also  a 
member  here,  were  dismissed,  while  others  came  from  adja- 
cent churches  and  organized  at  Anderson  C.  H.,  about  the 
year  1837.  From  that  time  until  his  death,  his  history  be- 
longs to  that  church,  which  had  his  prayers  and  benefactions 
while  he  lived.  He  had 'five  sons  and  three  daughters,  all, 
with  one  exception,  united  with  the  church. 

About  the  year  1837,  Thomas  Cunningham,  James  McLees 
and  J.  J.  McLees,  were  elected  and  ordained  Ruling  Elders. 
The  first  of  these,  Mr.  Cunningham,  was  first  a  member  of 
the  Friendship  Church,  in  Laurens  District,  and  became 
united  with  this,  and  labored  much  to  advance  its  interests. 
This  was  evinced  by  his  contributions  and  persevering  efforts 
in  the  erection  of  the  new  church  edifice  at  Roberts.  After 
contributing  as  much  in  money  and  labor  as  any  other  per- 
son, when  it  was  ascertained  that  the  original  subscription 
would  fall  short  of  completing  the  building  by  several  hun- 
dred dollars,  and  the  counsel  of  the  majority  was  to  discon- 
tinue the  work  for  a  year  or  two,  he  and  E.  S.  Nevins,  Esq., 
who  is  also  an  elder,  resolved  to  go  on  and  complete  the  work 
and  pay  for  it  themselves,  if  the  congregation  offered  them  no 
further  assistance.  The  house  was  completed,  and  the  addi- 
tional expenses  were  shared  by  the  gratified  congregation. 
He  was  a  candidate  for  the   Legislature,  and  elected  by  the 


550  PROVIDENCE   CHURCH.  [-1830-1840 

highest  vote  in  the  district.  He  was  thrice  married,  first  to  a 
daughter  of  Dr.  Robert  Campbell,  of  Laurens  District,  who 
died  in  a  few  months;  next,  to  a  daughter  of  Mr.  James  An- 
derson, of  Spartanburg,  who  also  died  in  a  short  time,  leaving 
an  only  son;  then  to  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Gibert,  of  Abbeville 
District,  who,  with  several  children,  were  left  to  mourn  their 
irreparable  loss.     He  died  in  1856. 

During  this  decade,  Daniel  McCurl)',  Samuel  McMahone 
and  Andrew  Reid,  Esqs.,  were  elected  Ruling  F21ders  in 
Roberts  Church.  Mr  McCurly  was  a  man  of  prayer  and 
exemplary  deportment.  His  chiidi'en  were  brought  up  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  and  hnve  all  united  with 
the  church.  He,  with  others,  removed  many  years  ago  to 
Chan)bers  County,  Ala'.  Sixteen  members  being  dismissed 
at  that  time,  they  formed  a  large  part  of  a  new  church  in  this 
part  of  the  county.     He  died  several  years  since. 

Mr.  McMahone  came  from  Antrim  County,  Ireland,  and 
settled  in  Chester  District,  S.  C.  Afterwards  he  removed 
within  the  bounds  of  this  church,  and  after  his  connection 
with  it  became  an  elder.  He  was  an  efficient  and  useful  man, 
and  much  concerned  for  the  church.  His  two  sons  and  two 
daughters  united  with  the  church.  He  died  from  a  cancer, 
after  protracted  and  patient  suffering.-  His  aged  widow 
contributed  still  to  the  church,  though  nearly  ninetv  years 
old. 

Hugh  Mecklin  was  received  here  by  letter,  March  12th, 
1836.  He  had  been  elected  and  ordained  an  elder  at  Rocky 
River,  before  he  united  here.  He  was  shortly  chosen  to  the 
same  office  in  this  church.  .  He  was  a  brother  of  Rev.  Roberc 
Mecklin,  who  labored  and  died  at  Rocky  River.  He  was 
eminently  pious,  and  exerted  a  hallowed  influence  on  "all 
around  him.     He  died  in  1842. 

On  the  10th  of"  April,  1836,  Messrs.  Lindsay  A.  Baker, 
"Wm.  B.  Sadler,  Pennal  Price  and  Samuel  H.  B.iiker,  were 
elected  elders.  [From  the  History  of  Roberts  and  Good 
Hope  Churches,  by  thair  former  pastor,  Rev.  David  Hum- 
phreys, October,  1867.] 

.  Providence  Church  (Lowndesville.) — This  is  a  branch  of 
the  Rocky  River  Church.  The  Rev.  David  Humphreys 
preached  for  several  years  in  this  church,  which  stood  about 
■wo  miles  northeast  of  the  village  of  Lowndesville.  Through 
i.is   labors   over  one   hundred   members   were  added  to  the 


1830-1840.]  ANDERSON MIDWAY— RICHLAND.  551 

church.  A  camp-meeting  was  held  at  the  place  for  .several 
.successive  year.s.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  in  1832,  the 
Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  so  famed  as  a  revivalist,  preached  for 
several  days  together,  with  great  success.  •  [Memorial  by 
Rev.  David  Humpiirey.s,  p.  7.]  It  had  one  hundred  and  thir- 
teen menobers  in  1834.  During  the  years  1835  and  1836  tiie 
church  was  vacant,  except  as  it  received  occasional  supplies. 
Major  John  G.  Caldwell  was  elected  an  elder  in  the  last  of 
these. years.  In  1837  and  1838  the  churches  of  Rocky  River 
and  Providence  united  in  obtaining  the  ministerial  services  of 
Wm.  H.  Davis,  then  a  licentiate.  At  the  commencement  of 
1839,  the  same  churches  procured  tlie  services  of  the  Rev. 
James  Levvers,  from  Charleston  Union  Pr.^sbytery,  who  re- 
mained with  tliem  about  two  years,  and  went  to  the  North. 
In  1839  this,  church  numbered,  whites,  119;  blacks,  29; 
total,  148. 

Anderson  Church  wa.s  organized  on  the  23d  of  .September, 
1837,  by  Rev.  D.  Humphreys,  William  Carlisle,  James  Lew- 
ers,  W.  H.  Harris  and  Edwin  Cater,  with  a  membership  of 
thirteen  communicants.  J.  N.  Whitner  and  J.  P.  Holt,  cer- 
tified elders,  the  one  of  Roberts  Churcii,  the  other  of  Varennes, 
were  elected  as  elders  of  this  new  organization.  They  were 
supplied  with  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  by  the  Rev.  Edwin 
Cater  until  March  5th,'  1839,  when  Mr.  Cater  retired,  and  the 
church  was  vacant.  A  new  church  edifice  meanwhile  was 
erected  on  the  spot  on  which  it  now  stands,  and  dedicated  by 
A.  W.  Ross,  assisted  by  Rev.  E.  T.  Buist,  D.  Humphreys 
and  C.  Martin. 

Midway  (in  Anderson),  constituted  with  twentj'-one  mem- 
bers, was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  on  the 
3d  of  October,  1833.  The  Presbytery  held  its  LXXII.  Ses- 
sion at  this  church,  March  20th,  1834.  In  that  year  it  was 
vacant,  with  twenty-three  members.  In  1836,  1837,  it  was  a 
part  of  the  charge  of  Wm.  Carlisle,  with  thirty-four  members, 
and  so  continued  through  this  decade. 

Richland  Church,  m  Pickens  District,  was  received  by 
the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  at  its  session  at  Midway 
Church, on  the  20th  March  in  1834.  It  is  reported  as  vacant 
in  the  minutes  of  the  Assembly  of  that  year,  with  forty  mem- 
bers, twenty-eight  of  whom  had  been  received  on  examina- 
tion and  twelve  on  certificate.  It  was  served  as  a  supply  by 
Benjamin  DuPree,  in  1836,  1837,   1838,  1839. 


552  LAtTEEKSVILLE — HOPEWELL   (K.).  [1830-1840. 

Laurensville  Church  was  organized  through  the  labors  of 
Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers,  who  liad  been  licensed  by  the  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina,  on  the  i8th  of  October,  1831.  The  Rev. 
Messrs.  Waddell,  D.  D ,  J.  B.  Kennedy,  David  Humphreys, 
with  Mr.  Lewers,  with  two  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  met  at  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  at  Laurens 
,C.  H.,  and  organized  the  Laurensville  Church,  where  seven 
persons  were  admitted  to  full  membership  on  the  profession 
of  their  faith  in  Christ.  This  vine  thus  planted  was  watered 
by  the  dew  and  rain  from  heaven  under  his  acceptable  min- 
istry until  its  termination.  It  had  fourteen  members,  when, 
on  the  1 2th  of  July,  1832,  it  was  taken  under  the  care  of 
Pre.sbytery.  On  the  14th  of  July,  the  same  year,  the  Rev. 
S.  B.  Lewers  was  ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry  by  prayer 
and  the  imposition  of  hands.  Dr.  Robert  Campbell,  John 
Cunningham  and  John  McClintock,  were  the  elders  officia- 
ting at  the  organization  in  1832.  In  1834,'  Dr.  J.  W.  Simpson, 
who  was  an  elder  in  Little  River  Church,  removed  his  mem- 
bership to  the  church  at  Laurens  C.  H.,  and  was  called  to 
serve  as  an  elder  in  this.  In  1836,  Dr.  Samuel  Farrow  and 
S.  N.  Todd,  Sr.,  were  elected  and  ordained  Ruling  Elders. 
[Dr.  J.  W.Simpson,  in  "  Our  Monthly,"  edited  by  Rev.  W.  P. 
Jacobs,  August,  1872  ;  also,  Minutes  of  Presbj'tery,  July  12, 
1832,  Vol.  II.,  p.  29.] 

Hopewell  (Keoweh)  and  Pendleton. — The  Rev.  Aaron 
Foster  is  believed  to  have  served  this  church  a  portion  of  his 
time,  till  1832,  when  he  returned  to  the  North.  He  is  set 
down  in  the  statistical  tables  as  its  pastor  from  182910  1831, 
during  which  time  the  membership  rose  from  fifty-nine  to 
sixty-eight.  In  1832  the  church  is  reported  as  vacant,  but  as 
having  received  fifty  on  examination,  and  three  by  certificate, 
and  as  having  a  membership  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen.  It 
had  shared,  doubtless,  in  the  revivals  of  that  period.  The 
next  year  Rev.  Richard  B.  Cater  was  stated  supply  ;  the  addi- 
tions, on  examination,  were  ninety,  and  the  whole  number  of 
communicants  two  hundred  and  nine.  In  1834,  twenty-seven 
were  added  on  examination,  and  the  whole  number  was  one 
hundred  and  ninety-one.  The  next  year  the  whole  number  of 
communicants  was  two  hundred  and  nine,  which  was  retained 
in  1836.  Mr.  Cater  was  succeeded,  in  1837,  by  Rev.  An- 
thony Ross.  The  communicants  continued  the  same  till  1840, 
when  they  were  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  in  number. 


1830-1840.]         SANDY  SPRING — CARMEL — NAZARETH.  553 

Sandy  Spki.ng, — ."A  comniunication  was  received  from  a 
neighborhood  in  Anderson  District,  about  six  miles  from 
Pendleton  Ohl  Court  House,  requesting  to  be  taken  under  the 
care  of  Presbyteiy,  and  to  be  furnished  with  supplies  ;  said 
place  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  Sandy  Spring.  The  request 
was  granted  and  Brother  Anthony  W.  Ross  was  directed  to 
supply  them  accordingly."  [Minutes  of  October  5,  1832. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Ross  continued  as  their  supply  till  1840,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Benjamin  D.  DuPree. 

Carmel  (Pickens). — The  Rev.  A.  W.  Ross,  who  came  to 
this  church  about  1823,  continued  to  be  its  stated  supply  till 
1836.  At  this  time,  by  mutual  agreement,  he  took  charge  of 
the  church  at  Pendleton,  and  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Kennedy  took 
charge,  as  stated  supply  of  tlie  Carmel  Church,  preaching  at 
this  place  half  his  time,  or  more.  Under  his  ministry  the 
membership  continued  much  the  same,  varying  between 
eighty-five  and  sixty-five. 

Nazareth  (Beaver  Dam). — Through  the  whole  of  this 
decade  this  church  is  set  down  in  the  statistical  tables  of  the 
General  Assembly  as  vacant,  and  no  statement  is  made  of  its 
membership.  In  addition  to  sorhe  names  before  mentioned, 
William  Carlisle,  David  Humphrey,  William  H.  Harris,  are 
remembered  to  have  supplied  its  pulpit.  Occasional  contri- 
butions to  the  cause  of  missions  are  acknowledged  in  the 
Assembly's  statistics,  which  show  its  continued  interest  in  tiiat 
sacred  cause. 

New  Harmony. — "  An  application  was  made  by  a  newly 
organized  congregation  in  Abbeville  District,  to  be  known  by 
the  name  of  New  Harmony,  and  as  such  to  be  taken  under  the 
care  ofPresbytery.  The  congregation  was  accordingly  re- 
ceived." [Minutes,  March  27th,  1830.]  In  183 1  it  was  supplied 
by  Wm.  Carlisle,  and  had  a  membership  of  thirty-five.  He  con- 
tinued his  Inbors  as  stated  supply  through  this  decade.  Its 
total  membership  was  thirty-five.  Its  membership  was  forty 
in   1836,  then  thirty-seven,  then  forty-two  in  1840. 

Bethany  Church,  Laurens  District  or  County,  was 
organized  in  October,  1833,  and  was  taken  under  the  care  of 
the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  October  3d,  at  its  meeting 
at  Rocky  Creek  Church,  Abbeville  District,  in  that  year. 
It  reported  seventy-two  members  at  that  time,  and  was 
represented  in  Presbytery  by  the  ruling  elder,  James  Temple- 
ton,  Jr. 


554  EEHOBOTH — BETHEL.  [1830-1840 

The  church  was  organized  by  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers,  who 
began  preaching  in  February,  1833,  in  a  school  house  near 
the  spot  where  the  church  now  stands.  During'  the  last  of 
tliis  month  be  preached  two  sermons  a  day  for  five  successive 
days.  He  held  also  special  meetings,  sometimes  for  profess- 
ing Christians,  urging  on  them  the  obligation  to  labor  in 
Christ's  kingdom.  Sometimes  he  addressed  the  unconverted 
on  the  advantage  and  obligation  of  seeking,  first,  the  kingdom 
of  God.  Inquiry  meetings  were  also  held  and  well  attended. 
As  many  as  fifty  were  present  as  enquirers.  Two  weeks  after 
he  returned  and  preached  four  days,  and  again  in  Ajiril,  when 
twenly-six  were  admitted  as  members  of  the  churcii.  .\ftcr 
this  he  preached  regularly  once  or  twice  a  month,  sometime.-i 
in  the  school  house,  at  one  time  in  the  open  air.  In  June,  the 
sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  administered,  Rev.  Messrs. 
Humphreys  and  Boggs  assisting.  During  the  meeting,  which 
lasted  four  days,  thirty-one  persons  were  admitted  as  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  It  was  determined  to  proceed  immediately 
to  the  erection  of  a  house  of  worship.  This  was  accomplished 
by  the  October  following.  Dr.  Samuel  Farrow  and  James  Tem- 
pleton,  Jr.,  were  elected  ruling  elders.  Of  the  original  members 
five  were  on, the  roll  as  active  members  in  1878,  and  one,  Rev. 
Clarke  B.Stewart,  had  long  been  in  the  ministry,  in  1878. 
Between  1830  and  1840,  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers  served  the  church 
as  stated  supply.  The  elders  were  Samuel  Farrow,  Jas.  Tem- 
pleton,  Jr.,  Wm.  Mills,  and  George  Byrd.  The  last  two  were 
elected  in  1835.  In  1836,  a  temperance  society  was  organized 
in  connection  with  the  church.     [MS.  of  T.  Craig. 

Rehoboth. — "A  few  individuals  in  the  lower  part  of  Abbe- 
\ille  District,  having  put  tliemselves  into  the  form  of  a  church, 
requested,  as  such,  that  they  might  be  taken  under  the  care 
of  Presbytery,  and  be  known  by  the  r;ame  of  Rehoboth 
Churcli."  The  request  was  granted.  [Minutes  South  Caro- 
lina Presbytery,  pp.  31,  32,  October  4,  1832.]  It  is  repre- 
sented as  vacant,  with  fifteen  communicants,  in  1833,  1834, 
1835,^1836,  1837,  with  sixteen  communicants,  vacant  in  1838, 
1840.  In  1841,  as  contributing  to  the  commissioner  fund.  In 
1843  it  does  not  appear,  nor  in  1845. 

Bethel  Church,  in  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  was 
served  by  Rev.  Benjamin  D.  DuPree  in  1834,  and  had  thirty- 
one  members.  It  was  vacant  in  1836,  and  onward  through 
this  decade. 


1830-1840.]        FIEST  PRESBYTERIAN  CH.,  AUGUSTA.  555 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  Augusta,  Ga. — On  the  twelfth 
of  December,  1835,  Rev.  Mr.  Talmage  lesigned  the  pastoral 
charge  of  the  cluirch,  in  order  to  become  connected  with  the 
"  Oglethorpe  University,"  to  the  Presidency  of  which  he  was 
afterwards  elected. 

During  the  interval  between  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Mod- 
erwell  and  the  election  of  Mr.  Talmage  as  pastor,  ninety-four 
persons  were  added  to  the  membership  of  the  church,  and 
one  hundred  and  thirteen  during  the  connection  of  the  latter 
witii  the  church  in  the  pastoral   office. 

In  May,  1837,  Rev.  Alexander  N.  Cunningham  was  invited 
by  the  Session,  to  supply  the  pulpit  for  one  year.  On  the 
twenty-fifth  of  February,  1838,  he  received  a  call  to  become 
the  pastor  of  the  church,  which  he  accepted,  and  was  in- 
stalled by  Hopewell  Presbytery,  on  the  eighteenth  of  Novem- 
ber, in  the  same  year. 

Presbyterian  Church.  Macon,  Ga. — Rev.  Edwin  Holt  now 
became  the  first  pastor  of  the  church,  serving  it  from  the  be- 
ginning of  1831  to  the  close  of  1834,  a  period  of  four  years. 
The  accessions  during  this  time -were  seventy-eight,  and  Da- 
vid B.  Butler  and  Hugh  Craft  were  added  to  the  eldership. 
Rev.  James  R.  Stratton  then  became  the  supply  of  tlie  pulpit, 
serving  fiom  the  beginning  of  1835  to  the  close  of  1836, 
nearly  two  years,  during  which  the  accessions  were  forty-two, 
and  Thomas  King  was  added  to  the  eldership. 

The  second  house  of  worship  was  begun  under  Mr.  Strat- 
ton's  ministiy,  but  was  not  finished  and  occupied  until  Mr. 
Cassels  succeeded  him.  It  is  the  brick  building  on  Fourth 
street,  now  occupied  by  the  Papi.sts. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  J.  Cassels  became  the  second  pastor  of 
the  chmxh.  He  was  called  to  the  pastorate  on  the  fifteenth 
of  November,  1836,  and  installed  November  fifth,  1837.  E. 
A.  Nisbet,  R.  H.  Randolph,  D.  C.  Campbell,  Curtis  Lewis 
and  E.  B.  West  were  made  elders. 


556  REVIVALS.  [1830-1840. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

There  are  several  characteristics  which  have  marked  these 
last  ten  years  of  our  history. 

I.  The  earlier  portion  of  it  was  largely  signalized  by  revi- 
vals of  religion.  In  these  the  Rev.  Daniel  Baker  (afterwards 
D.  D.)  was.  a  favored  instrument.  After  his  own  church  in 
Savannah,  where  he  had  labored  for  some  three  years,  had 
enjoyed  one  of  these  seasons,  in  which  about  one  hundred 
persons  were  added  to  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  still 
a  larger  nnmber  to  the  various  churches  of  other  denomina- 
tions, his  services  were  in  great  demand,  elsewhere,  and  he 
visited  various  places,  no  special  regard  being  had  to 
his  own  denomination.  At  Gillisonville,  to  which  he  had 
been  invited,  some  sixty  persons  were  hopefully  con- 
verted. He  preached  at  GrahamviUe  with  marked  re- 
sults. At  Beaufort  there  was  a  wonderful  effect  pro- 
duced on  the  large  audiences  by  his  thrilling  appeals 
through  the  agency  ol  the  Holy  Spirit  which  accomlpanied 
them.  Religious  services  were  lield  twice  or  thrice  a  day  in 
the  Episcopal  and  Baptist  Churches,  the  only  two  places  of 
worship  then  existing  in  the  town.  The  number  of  conver- 
sions was,  perhaps,  somewhat  vaguely  stated  at  two  or  three 
hundred.  The  Episcopal  and  Baptist  Churches  reaped  the 
fruits  of  these  labors.  Not  one  became  a  Presbyterian. 
Among  the  conVerts  were  several  who  became  ministers  of 
the  gospel.  Among  these  were  Bishop  Boone,  missionary 
Bishop  to  China,  Rev.  W.  H.  Barnwell,  Rev.  C.  C.  Pinckney, 
Rev.  B.  C.  Webb,  Rev.  Stephen  Elliott,  afterwards  .D.  D.,  and 
Bishop  of  Georgia,  the  Rev.  W.  Johnson  and  the  Rev,  R. 
Johnson,  of  Georgia,  all  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  Rev. 
Richard  Fuller,  D.  D.,  afterwards  of  Baltimore,  the  sixth  of 
this  list,  and  who  exchanged  the  profession  of  the  law  for  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel  in  the  Baptist  Church.  This  was  in 
the  year  1831.  He  now  took  his  farewell  of  his  church  in 
Savannah.  Under  these  circumstances  he  became  missionary 
evangeli.st  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Dur- 
ing the  first  two  years  he  held  protracted  meetings  at  Mid- 
way,   Darien,    St.    Mary's,   Augusta,    Athens   and    Macon  in 


1830-1840]  FOEEIGN    JIISSIONS.  557 

Georgia  ;  in  St.  Augustine,  Tallahassee,   Monticcllo,  Quincy, 
and  Mariana,  in  Florida. 

He  held  a  few  protracted  meetings  in  North  Carolina,  but 
South  Carolina  was  the  principal  scene  of  his  labors  as  an 
•'evangelist."  It  was  his  custom  to  locate  his  family  in  some 
convenient  place,  and  go  out  on  a  missionary  tour  of  two  or 
three  months,  and  return  to  them  and  rest  for  a  while.  The 
most  remarkable  tour  embraced  twelve  protracted  meetings 
in  twelve  consecutive  weeks.  Some  of  the  most  important 
places  visited  were  Walterboro',  Columbia,  Camden,  Cheraw, 
Winnsboro',  Laurens  C.  H.,  Newberry,  Pendleton,  and  sev- 
eral churches  in  Abbeville  and  Union  Districts.  [Life  and 
labors  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  D.  D.,  by  his  son  William 
M.  Baker,  chap,  vii.] 

The  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at  its  LIII  Session,  which 
was  held,  at  Columbia,  Nov.  9,  1832,  reported  over  four  hun- 
dred additions  to  the  church  that  year.  Fifty-two,  they  say, 
were  added  to  the  Columbia  Church,  fifty-five  to  Zion  (Winns- 
boro') and  Horeb,  forty-nine  to  Jackson's  Creek  (Lebanon) 
and  Wateree  (Mt.  Olivet),  thirty  were  added  to  the  church  at 
Cheraw;  at  Hopewell  and  Indiantown  three  and  four  days' 
meetings  had  been  held,  and  there  were  many  additions,  two- 
thirds  of  whom  were  males. 

FoKEiGN  Missions. — We  have  described  in  previous  pages 
the  efforts  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  to  es- 
tablish a  mission  among  the  aborigines  on  our  own  borders, 
and  of  its  final  surrender  to  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions. 

Its  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Missions  had  not  in  the  least  abat- 
ed. In  the  year  1833,  at  its  sessions  in  Columbia,  the  Synod 
wasvisiied  by  Rev.  W.  S.  Plumer,  D.  D.,  then  of  Petersburg, 
Va.,  in  the  interest  of  Foreign  Missions,  expressing  the  high- 
est confidence  in  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  tor 
Foreign  Missions  and  the  wisdom,  ability  and  success  with 
which  they  had  hitherto  conducted  this  branch  of  Christian 
effort.  He  brought  before  the  Synod  the  scheme  of  a  South- 
ern Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to  be  in  connection  with  the 
American  Boardjof  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions,  to  con- 
sist of  1st,  delegated  members,  six  clergymen,  and  six  laymen, 
who  should  have  a  right  to  vote,  2d,  honorary  members,  viz : 
clergymen,  who  should  pay  fifty  dollars,  or  laymen,  who 
should  pay  one  hundred  dollars,   who  might   be  present  and 


558  FOREIGN   MISSIONS.  [1830-1840. 

assist  in  the  deliberations  of  the  Board,  and,  3d,  corresponding 
meniber.s,  if  the  Board  deemed  .it  advisable  to  elect  such. 
The  officers,  with  an  executive  committee  of  five,  the  Pres- 
ident, Vice-President,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  were  provided 
for,  and  their  duties  prescribed.  Drs.  Leland,  Thomas 
Smyth,  (afterwards  Dr.),  Mr.,  (afterwards  Dr.),  Benjamin 
Gildersleeve  were  appointed  to  draft  a'  pastoral  letter  to 
the  churches,  setting  fortii  the  claims  offoreign  mis.sions  on 
them;  and  the  first  Monday  of  January,  1834,  appointed  by 
the  General  Assembly,  was  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting,  hu- 
miliation and  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  These 
measures  were  adopted  with  the  deepest  emotions  on  the  part 
of  the  Synod.  "At  this  moment  of  trembling  suspense." 
says  the  pastoral  letter,  "  an  influence  from  above  evidently 
descended  upon  the  whole  assembly.  Instantly  there  was 
such  a  gush  of  devout  feeling,  such  a  meeting  of  hearts,  such 
an  evident  overpowering  sense  of  the  immediate  presence  of 
God,  as  we  never  before  witnessed.  Before  this  influence  ob- 
jections vanished,  the  mountains  flowed  down.  Then  it  was 
that  all  the  members  of  the  Synod  knelt  down  in  prayer,  then 
rising  upon  their  feet,  as  by  one  common  impulse,  and  by  one 
united  voice,  they  adopted  the  constitution,  and  while  stand- 
ing, thus,  sang  with  pathos  the  '  Missionary  Hymn,'  while 
almost  every  face  was  bathed  in  tears,  and  almost  every  fiame 
trembled  with  intense  emotion  :  and  thus  closed  a  scene  in  an 
ecclesiastical  assembly,  the  like  of  which  our  eyes  never  saw, 
our  liearts  never  conceived."  The  Synod  of  Tennessee  was 
a  component  part  of  this  Southern  Board  of  Missions.  Some 
more  effective  organization  had  been  a  subject  of  desire  and 
of  correspondence  with  the  officers  of  the  Au.erican  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions.  Dr.  Plumer,  too, 
had  corresponded  with  brethren  in  Charleston  on  the  subject, 
and  conferred  with  them  on  his  way  to  the  Synod. 

Already  had  the  Spirit  wrought  upon  the  mind  of  several 
young  brethren,  calling  them  to  the  work  offoreign  missionn. 
George  W.  Boggs,  who  was  born  in  the  Bethesda  congrega- 
tion in  York  County,  had  become  a  member  of  Carmel  Church 
(then  under  the  care  of  Rev.  James  Hillhouse),  in  his  nine- 
teenth year  ;  had  been  educated  partly  at  Hampden  Sydney 
College,  and  partly  at  Amherst,  Mas.sachusetts,  where  he  was 
graduated  ;  then  at  Princeton,  was  the  first  in  this  decade  from 
this-  Synod    who    devoted     himself  as  a   missionary   to    the 


1830-1840.]  SOUTHERN  BOARD  OF  MISSIONS.  559 

heathen.  He  was  accepted  by  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions,  as  a  missionary  for  Bombay, 
and  received  license  from  the  Middlesex  Association  in  Mas- 
sachusetta.  From  August,  1831,10  May,  1832,  he  was  em- 
ployed as  an  agent  for  the  Board,  chiefly  in  South  Carolina. 
The  Synod,  meeting  at  Columbia,  December,  1831,  cordially 
commended  him  and  his  cause  to  their  churches,  and  pledged 
him  support.  He  was  ordained  by  Charleston  Union  Pres- 
bytery, in  the  Circular  Church,  Charleston,  on  the  14th  of 
March,  1832,  Dr.  Leland  preaching  the  sermon,  and  Dr.  B.  M. 
Palmer  (the  first  of  that  name)  delivering  the  charge.  He  was 
■united  in  marriage  to  Mrs.  Isabella  W.  Adger,  relict  of  Wil- 
liam Adger,  and  daughter  of  William  Ellison,  of  Fairfield 
Di.strict,  and  on  the  28th  of  May,  1832,  embarked  at  Salem, 
Mass.,  on  board  the  ''  Black  Warrior,"  John  Endicott,  captain, 
for  Bombay.  They  were  stationed  at  Ahmednuggar,  one 
hundred  and  seventy  miles  in  the  interior,  among  the  Mahrat- 
tas.  where  they  arrived  December  19,  1832. 

In  the  first  annual  report  of  the  Southern  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions;  which  met  during  the  sessions  of  the  Synod  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  from  December  6th  to  Decem- 
ber 10th,  1834,  the  Society  had  raised  the  sum  of  ^5,215.36^  ; 
had  appropriated  ;^6oo  to  the  use  of  the  mission  at  Ahmed- 
nuggar, India,  the'station  of  Rev.  Mr.  Boggs;  $600  to  that  of 
Cape  Palmas,  the  station  of  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson  ;  $500  to  the 
mission  in  China;  $500  to  the  mission  in  Ceylon;  $500  to 
the  mission  to  Persia,  the  station  of  Rev.  J.  L.  Merrick ;  ^500 
to  the  mission  to  Asia  Minor,  the  station  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Adger. 
They  had  published  also  two  thousand  copies  of  Missionary 
Paper,  No.  I  ;  "The  Farewdl  Letter  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Adger;" 
also,  ''The  Missionary  Spirit,"  by  Rev.  J.  L.  Merrick;  also, 
fur  a  premium  tract,  entitled  "  Prospect  of  the  Heathen  for 
P>.ernity,"  ^loo.  J.  B.  Adger  had  acted  as  agent  for  the 
Board,  and  raised  ;$2,404.94,  J.  L.  Wilson,  for  a  short  time, 
receiving  a  smaller  sum.  Of  the  missionaries  who  went  abroad 
from  this  Synod,  John  Fleetwood  Lanneau,  a  native  of  Charles- 
ton, was  ordained  by  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  as  a 
foreign  missionary,  in  May,  1833.  John  Leighton  Wilson 
was  ordained  by  Harmony  Presbytery  on  the  6th  of  Septem- 
ber, in  the  same  year,  at  Mount  Zion  Church,  Sumter  Dis- 
trict. John  B.  Adger,  a  native  of  Charleston,  and  James  L. 
Merrick,  a  native  of  Amherst,  Mass.,  were  ordained  as  foreign 


560  MISSIONS.  [1830-1840. 

missionaries  .in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Ciiurch,  Charleston, 
on  the  i6th  of  April,  1834,  by  Charleston  Union  Presbytery, 
T.  L.  McBryde  was  also  ordained  as  a  foreign  missionary  in 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston,  on  the  8th  of 
December,    1839. 

Of  these  brethren,  J.  F.  Lanneau  was  a  graduate  of  Yale 
College,  and  a  student  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  ;  J. 
L.  Wilson  was  a  graduate  of  Union  College,  and  of  the  Semi- 
nary of  Columbia  ;  J.  L.  Merrick,  a  graduate  of  Amherst  Col- 
lege, and  of  the  Seminary  at  Columbia ;  J.  B.  Adger,  a  graduate 
of  Union  College,  and  of  the  Seminary  at  Prmceton  ;  T.  L. 
McBryde,  a  graduate  of  Franklin  College,  and  of  the  Semi-' 
nary  at  Columbia. 

Besides  these,  the  Rev.  Dyer  Ball,  who  was  an  ordained 
minister  of  an  Association  in  Massachusetts,  and  who  was 
received  as  a  member  of  tlic  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  on 
examination  and  adoption  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  De- 
cember 9th,  1834,  entered  upon,  the  same  service.  Mr.  Bali 
and  Mrs.  L.  H.  Ball  received  Iheir  instructions  as  Missiona- 
ries to  Singapore  in  the  Circular  Church,  Charleston,  Sabbath 
evening,  April  9,  1837.  Rev.  Rufus  Anderson,  D.  D.,  one  of 
tlie  Secretaries  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  presided  at  the  meeting.  Rev.  Mr.  (after- 
wards Dr.)  Smythe,  of  the  3d.  Presbyterian'  Church,  Rev.  Mr. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  Post,  the  Pastor  of  the  Circular  Church,  Rev. 
Mr.  Dana,  (afterwards  D.  D.)  of  the  3rd  Presbyterian  Church, 
took  part  in  the  service.  The  account  of  these  interesting 
services  may  be  found  in  the  Charleston  Observer  of  April  15, 
1837.  The  instructions  to  the  Missionaries  may  be  found  in 
in  the  same  paper,  signed  by  Rufus  Anderson,  D.  Green  and 
W.  J.  Armstrong,  Secretaries  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  Rev.  John  A.  Mitchell  was  also  set  apart  as  a  Mission- 
ary to  China,  under  the  Presbyterian  Foreign  Missionary  So- 
ciety. A  public  meeting  was  held  in  the  Third  Presbyterian 
Church  onSabbatii  evening,  the  24ih  of  June,  1837,  at  which 
he  delivered  a  sermon  from  Rev.  xxii,  17.  In  these  services, 
Rev.  Mr.  (afterward  Dr.)  Post,  Rev.  W.  C.  Dana,  and  Rev. 
Thos.  Smythe  took  part.  Mr.  Mitchell  had  resided  several 
years  in  Charleston,  and  officiated  as  City  Missionary,  as  Pas- 
tor of  the  Mariner's  Church,  and  as  an  Agent  of  the  South- 
ern Board  of  MisRions. 


1830-1840.]  MISSIONS.  5G1 

The  correspondence  of  these  Missionaries,  as  it  appeared 
from  time  to  time  in  the  religious  journals  and  more  espe- 
cially in  the  Cliarlcston  Observer,  had  a  great  effect  in  further 
awakening  tiie  zeal  of  the  Chuich  in  tliis  holy  cause.  The 
Rev.  John  F.  Lanneau  entered  upon  his  mission  to  Palestine, 
and  he  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Julia  H.  Lanneau,  to  the  mission  to 
Syria  in  Februaiy  1844.  John  B.  Adger  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
K.Adger,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1834,  as  missionaries  to  the 
Armenians,  Rev.  James  Lyman  Merrick  as  missionary  to  the 
Mohammedans,  October  25,  1835,  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Emma 
Merrick,  March  11,  1839.  '^f.  Merrick  arrived  at  Trebizond, 
on  the  Black  Sea,  on  the  30th  of  August,  1835.  Rewrites 
from  Tabreez,  Persia,  to  the  Society  of  Missionary  Inquiry 
in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Columbia,  S.  C,  December  10, 
1835,  and  his  letter  was  published  in  the  Sharleston  Observer, 
July  9  1836.  [The  journal  and  letter  of  Mr.  Lanneau  are  found 
in  the  Charleston  Obseiver,  October  i,  1836.  Notice  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wilson's  station  at  Fair  Hope,  Cape  Palmas,  Obser- 
ver, October  5,  1836.  Letter  from  him  to  the  Society  of  In- 
quiry, Theolo;^ical  Seminary,  Charleston  Observer.  August  5. 
1837,  and  to  lilipha  White,  Ibid,  October  21,  1837.  Also  of 
Alfred  Wright,  from  the  Choctaw  Mission.  Extracts  from 
the  Journal  of  J.  B.  Adger,  Charleston  Observer,  ]\i\y  20,  Sep- 
tember 21,  1839,  describing  his  tour  to  .some  of  the  Seven 
Ciiurches  of  Asia;  I.  L.  Wilson's  analysis  of  the  Crebo- lan- 
guage and  account  of  that  people,  August  31,  September  7, 
14,  21,  28,  November  8,  1879] 

The  various  Societies  we  have  found  to  be  in  operation  in 
preceding  j-ears  continued  active  in  this  decade.  The  Female 
Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Education  Society,  founded 
March  8th,  1816,  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer, 
Sr.,in  its  annual  report  for  1839,  speaks  of  at  least  fifteen  that 
had  been  aided  by  that  Society  who  were  actively  engaged  in 
preaching  the  gospel,  some  of  whom  were  unfurling  the  ban- 
ner of  the  cross  in  lieathen  lands.  We  had  not  intended  to 
make  a  statement  of  the  contributions  of  this  Society  till  the 
next  decade,  but  we  have  just  met  with  a  report  of  their 
contributions  from  1827  to  1839,  inclusive,  which- exhibits  a 
total  of  ^8,742,  contributed  durin,.;  these  years,  in  part  for  the 
found.ition  of  a  scholnrshp  in  the  Seminary  at  Columbia,  for 
the  support  of  various  beneficiaries  in  college  or  the  semi- 
nary, to  aid  the  Assembly's  Board  of  Education,  occasiondlly 
36 


562  CONGKKGATIONAL  AND  PRESBYTKRIAN         [1830-1840. 

to  the  Seminary  Library  and  otlier  objects  falling  within  the 
general  purpose  of  the  Society. 

Their  last  printed  report  is  dated  March,  1827,  more  than  twelve 
years  ago. 

At  each  successive  semi-annual  meeting,  however,  an  accurate  state- 
ment of  the  receipts  and  disbiirsomcnts  has  been  presented  by  tlio 
Treasurer.  From  those  they  select  the  principal  items  ol  expenditure, 
that  it  may  he  seen  in  what  manner  the  funds,  with  which  they  have 
been  entrusted,  have  been  employed 

In  1827,  havin'^  no  beneficiary,  they  invested  $5G6  on  account  of  the 
scholarship  which  they  had  agreed  to  endow  in  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  Columbia. 

In  1828,  they  inve.sted  SoPJ  for  the  same  object 

In  1829,  they  also  invested  for  the  same  object  $-180,  and  paid  in 
addition  $225  towards  the  support  of  two  young  gentlemen  at  said 
i"-eminary. 

In  1830,  they  paid  $275  towards  the  support  of  two  young  gentlemen 
in  the  Seminary  in  Columbia,  and  invested  $507  for  endowing  their 
scholarship  in  the  same  institution. 

In  1831,  they  paid  §275  tnwards  supporting  two  young  gentlemen  in 
the  Seminary,  and  $250  to  the  contingent  fund  of  said  freminary. 

In  1832,  they  paid  $300  towards  the  support  of  two  young  gentlemen 
in  the  Seminary  at  Columbia,  and  |i250  to  the  contingent  fund  of  said 
in.stitution. 

In  1833,  they  paid  towards  supporting  two  young  gentlemen  at  the 
Seminary  $225,  towards  the  contingent  fund  of  the  Seminary  $350,  and 
to  tlie  Rev.  S  S.  Davis  for  educational  purposes,  $300 

In  1834,  they  invested  $410  on  account  of  tlieir  scholarship.  They  also 
made  a  donation  of  $  1 50  to  the  Seminary,  and  paid  the  Ilev.  S.  S.  Davii 
$150  for  education  purposes. 

In  1835.  they  paid  to  the  Theological  Seminary,  at  Columbia,  $2,.500to 
endow  a  scholarship  in  the  same.  They  also  paid  the  Eev.  S.  S.  Pavis, 
for  education  purposes,  $225,  invested  $198  and  paid  $225  towards  sup- 
porting two  young  gentlemen  while  preparing  for  college,  with  a  view  to 
the  Gospel  Ministry. 

In  183(5,  they  paid  towards  supporting  the  same  two  young  gentlemen 
$.'')00,  and  made  a  donation  to  the  Library  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Columbia  of  $200. 

In  1837,  they  paid  for  supporting  the  same  two  young  gentlemen  $400, 
and  invested  $519. 

In  1838,  they  paid  for  the  support  of  one  of  the  same  young  gentlemen 
in  College  $200,  and  of  the  other  in  part  $100,  and  invested  $100. 

In  1839,  they  paid  towards  the  support  of  a  young  gentleman  in  Col- 
lege $100,  and  invested  $100. 

They  liave  now  invested  in  profitable  stock  the  sum  of  $1,170. 

They  are  also  engaged  in  supporting  a  young  irentleman  in  College  at 
an  expense  of  $200  per  annum,  and  have  in  their  treasury  the  sum  of 
$256  31  cents. 

From  the  preceding  statement  it  will  he  seen  that  the  Association 
have  carried  into  etiect  the  resolution  which  tliey  passed  in  IHL'O,  and 
have  fully  endowed  a  scholarship  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Co-- 
lumbia,  under  the  care  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  All 
the  disbursements,  indeed,  since  their  last  printed  report,  Lave  been 


1830-1840.]  EDUCATION   SOCIETY.  563 

either  directly  or  indirectly  to  that  institution,  or  for  the  support  of 
yoiin;i  fxentlemen  at  tlie  vSoutli,  while  pursuing  their  classical  studios, 
preparatory  to  a  Tlieological course  in  ii. 

Before  tlie  establiwlinient  of  said  Seminary  their  funds  were,  for  the 
most  part,  appropriated  to  the  Theolofrical  Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J., 
in  wliicli  they  have  also  endowed  a  scholarship.  But  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  similar  institution  in  their  own  State,  they  have  felt  it  in- 
cumbent on  them  to  devote  tlieir  funds  mainly  to  its  support. 

The  sources  from  which  the  Association  have  derived  their  funds, 
have  been,  with  the  exception  of  dividends  on  stock,  till  their  last 
scholarship  was  endowed,  the  annual  subscription  of  its  members,  and 
a  few  donations.  Both  of  these  sources,  however,  they  regret  to  say, 
have  for  some  years  been  constantlx-  dirainishin};.  That  of  donations, 
indeed,  now  appears  to  be  wholly  dried  up.  nuring  the  first  year  of 
their  existence  as  a  Society,  their  income  from  this  source  was  $735. 
During  the  next  four  years  it  was  onlv  $93.2.5  cents.  For  the  last  twelve 
years,  it  has  been  SoO.oU  cents  ;  IfG  only  of  which  have  been  received 
within  the  last  four  years, 

Formerly  they  had  the  pleasure  of  frequently  receivinp;  life-member- 
ship subscriptions  of  $30  each.  Latterly,  however,  this  pleasure  has 
been  denied  them. 

The  number  of  their  annual  subscribers  has  also  been  greatly  dimin- 
ished by  dei\th  and  removals  Their  list  now  exhibits  but  few  of  the 
names  that  adorned  it  at  the  orjranization  of  the  Society.  Some  others, 
it  is  true,  have  taken  their  places,  though  by  no  means  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  till  up  the  chasm.  During  the  first  four  yeais  of  their  exis- 
tence as  a  Society,  the  annual  amount  of  their  subscriptions  was  ahways 
more  than  $600.  During  the  last  four  years  the  amount  from  the  same 
source  has  averaged  not  quite  $330  annually.  And  for  the  present  year 
it  has  amounted  only  to  $239  25  cents. 

But  in  this  decade,  so  signalized  in  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  by  the  spirit  of  missions,  a  controversy 
arose  which  agitated  the  entire  Presbyterian  Church  North 
and  South,  and,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  peiiod  before  us,  rent 
it  asunder.  We  cannot  so  graphically  and  so  succinctly  de- 
scribe the  series  of  e  vents  as  by  inserting  here  the  history  of 
the  "  Old  and  New  School  controversy,"  which  constitutes 
the  xivth  chapter  of  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer's  "  Life  and  Letters  of 
Dr.  James  H.  Thoinwell."  It  may  not  be  proper  for  us  to 
speak  of  the  ability  and  felicity  of  this  admirable  piece  of  bi- 
ography, but  of  its  independence  of  all  early  biases  we  may 
speak-.  For  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  the  younger,  was  born  and 
baptized  in  the  Congregational  Church,  in  Charleston,  com- 
monly known,  since  i8o6,  as  "  the  Circular  Church,"  from  the 
form  of  the  building  in  which  it  worshipped.  Of  this  church, 
his  uncle.  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  the  elder,  after  whom  he  was 
named,  was  for  long  years  the  much  loved  pastor. 

Speaking  of  Dr.  Thornwell,   Dr.    Palmer  his   biographer, 


564  OLD    AND    NEW   SCHOOL.  [1830-1840. 

say.s,  "  He  was  introduced  into  the  ministry  just  as  the  great 
controversy  was  culminating  into  the  scliism,  which  rent  the 
Presbyterian  Church  into  two  large  rival  communions. 

We  had  expected  to  quote  the  entire  chapter  on  this  sub- 
ject, but  find  ourselves  reluctantly  compelled,  for  want  of 
space,  to  present  most  of  it  in  outline.  "  The  cardinal  issue," 
he  says,  "  was  that  of  a  strict  or  lax  construction  of  the  ac- 
knowledged standards  of  the  church,  and  this  he  proceeds  to 
show,  1st,  from  the  language  of  the  Adopting  Act  passed  in 
172S-29;  2d,  from  the  fact  that  the  clauses  in  the  20th  and 
23d  chapters  of  the  Westminster  Confession,  respecting  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  civil  magistrate  in  ecclesiastical  matters 
alone,  were  excepted.  Excliisio  itimis  est  exprcssio  alterhis. 
There  was  not  one  article  in  the  formula  to  which  tliese  men 
did  not  assent;"  3d.  Ihat  in  tiie  year  1730,  "all  intrants  into 
the  ministry  were  required  to  adept  the  conf  ssiori  and  cate- 
chism as  fully  as  the  mcTTibers  of  the  S\'nod  themselves  had 
done,"  and  that  enquiries  were  made  of  Presbyteries  if  this 
were  done.  In  1729,  and  1756,  the  same  strictness  is  ob- 
served, with  this  difference,  that  they  did  not  unchurch  others 
who  may  differ  from  them  in  minutiae  ol goverinnent  and  dis- 
cipline. The  Westminster  Assembly  itself  embraced  Episco- 
palians and  Independents,  but  liarmonized  perfectly  in  tlieir 
strictly  doctrinal  creed.  5th.  In  the  division  at  the  memo- 
rable schism,  in  1741,  the  difference  was  not  in  doctrine,  but 
on  measures.  When  they  came  together,  in  1758,  it  was  on 
the  basis  of  the  same  doctrinal  creed.  6th.  Froui  1758--1810 
the  Confession  is  strictly  adhered  to  in  the  repression  of 
ei^ror. 

In  an  evil  day,  says  Dr.  Palmer,  the  Presbyterian  Church 
paused,  and  formed  an  alliance  with  New  England  Congrega- 
tionalism. And  yet  the  first  settlers  in  New  England  were 
largely  Presbyterian.  But  tlie  two  systems,  identical  in  doc- 
trinal belief,  are  never  found  to  pro.sper  equally  on  the  same 
soil.  The  early  Congregationalism  of  New  England  was 
largely  molded  in  form  by  Presbyterian  influence.  The  Cam- 
bridge platform  acknowledged  in  doctrine  the  Westminster 
Confessions  and  Catechisms,  recognized  the  eldership  and  the 
difference  between  the  ruhng  and  teaching  elder,  and  defines 
exactly  the  ofiflce  of  the  Deacon.  The  consociationism  of 
Connecticut  is  a  nearer  approach  to  the  Presbyterian  form  of 
government.     The  Old  Hartford  North  Association,  in  1799, 


1830-1840.]  PLAN  OF  UNION.  565 

gives  notice  to  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that  the  conHtitu- 
tion  of  the  churches  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  is  not  Con- 
gregational, but  contains  the  essentials  of  the  Church  of  Scot- 
land, or  the  Presb\'terian  Church  in  America,  particularly  in 
giving  decisive  power  to  ecclesiastical  councils.  The  church- 
es, therefore,  in  Connecticut,  are  not  now,  and  never  were, 
Congregational  Churches,  according  to  the  forms  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Platform.  Without  pursuing  these  statements  further, 
we  add  that  the  way  wa?  thus  gradually  opened  for  what  is 
known  as  the  "Plan  of  Union,"  formed  in  1801,  which 
brought,  says  Dr.  Palmer,  upon  the  Presbyterian  Church  an 
"  Iliad  of  woes."  . 

The  tiae  of  emigration  setting  in  to  the  State  ot  New  York, 
especially  in  the  western  portion  of  it,  from  the  Atlantic 
coast  and  el.sewhere,  brought  in  a  mixed  population,  Congre- 
g.itionalist  and  Presbyterian,  each  too  weak  to  enforce  the 
church  organization  which  each  preferred,  and  a  "  Plan  of 
Union  "  was  adopted,  in  which  congregations  might  select 
their  pastors,  each  from  the  communion  of  the  other.  If  dif- 
ficulties should  arise  between  the  pastor  and  his  charge,  these 
difficulties  should  be  referred  to  the  Presbytery,  or  to  the  As- 
sociation to  which  this  minister  belonged.  And  as  to  private 
members,  there  should  be  a  Standing  Committee  chosen  by 
said  church  from  its  communicants,  who  should  call  to  ac- 
count offending  members,  from  whose  decision  one  who  was 
a  Presbyterian  might  appeal  to  the  Presbytery,  and  if  a  Con- 
gregationalist,  to  the  body  of  the  male  communicants,  and 
the  members  of  this  .standing  committee  might  be  deputed  to 
sit  in  Presbytery,  in  case  of  an  appeal,  the  same  as  a  Ruling 
Elder  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  This  plan  of  union  went 
into  effect  in  the  Synod  of  Albany,  the  Synod  of  Geneva, 
the  Synod  of  Genessee,  the  Synod  of  Utica,  in  west- 
ern New  York,  and  the  Synod  of  the  Westein  Re- 
serve, in  Ohio,  being  of  this  mixed  character  in  vfhich 
both  the  principles  of  Congregationalism  and  of  Pres- 
byterianism  were  commingled.  These  synods  were  dis- 
owned by  the  .General  Assembly  of  1837.  The  Congre- 
gationalists  of  New  England  had  also  tiieir  owji  troubles. 
The  semipelagianism  of  the  Theological  Sem.inary  of  New 
Haven,  called  forth  the  active  opposition  of  Drs.  Leonard 
Woods  and  Bennet  Tyler,  the  latter,  if  not  the  founder, 
the   active  Professor    of  the    Theological    Seminary  at  East 


S66  ACT   AND  TESTIMONY  [1830-1840. 

Windsor,  since    removed    to    Hartford,  wliere    it  still  exists, 
in  1882. 

In  reference  to  "  The  Act  and  Testimony,"  a  paper  which 
attracted  great  attention,  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  took  the  following  action; 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  Overture  No,  3,  touching  the 
Act  and  Testimony,  presented  their  report,  which  was  considered  and 
adopted,  and  is  as  follows  : 

A  paper  was  introduced  to  the  notice  of  the  Synod,  styled  "  ihe  Act 
and  Testimony,"  drawn  up  at  PliiUidelphia,  during  the  n>eeting  of  the 
last  General  Assembly,  with  the  signatures  of  a  number  of  the  uiinisters 
and  elders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  addressed  to  the  ministers, 
elders  and  private  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States. 

This  document  brings  to  the  view  of  the  churches  a  number  of  radi- 
cal criors  in  doctrine,  and  errors  in  discipline — which  this  Synod 
believes  every  friend  to  the  truth  and  order  of  our  Church  is  bound,  not 
only  to  condemn,  but,  also,  to  use  his  inHuence  to  remove  from  the 
Church.  And  this  Synod  does  now,  as  expressive  of  their  views  and 
feelings  in  regard  to  this  matter,  most  cordially  adopt  as  their  own,  this 
Act  and  Testimony,  viz : 

AS  REGARDS  DOCTRINE. 

1.  We  do  bear  our  solemn  testimony  against  the  right  claimed  by 
some,  of  interpreting  the  doctrines  of  our  standards  in  a  sense  different 
from  the  general  sense  of  the  Chur(;h  for  j'ears  past,  while  they  still 
continue  in  our  communion ;  on  the  contrary,  we  aver  that  they  who 
adopt  our  standards  are  bound,  by  candour  and  the  simplest  integrity, 
to  hold  them  in  their  obvious  accepted  sense. 

2.  We  testify  against  the  uni.'hristian  subterfuge  to  whi(th  some  have 
recourse,  when  they  avow  a  general  adherence  to  our  standards  as  a 
g!/stem,  while  bliey  deny  doctrines  essential  to  the  system,  or  hold  doc- 
trines  at  complete  variance  with  the  system.  » 

3.  We  testify  against  the  reprehensible  conduct  of  those  in  our  com- 
munion  who  hold,  and  preach,  and  publish  Arminian  ami  Pelagian 
heresies,  professing,  at  the  same  time,  to  embrace  our  creed,  and  pre- 
tending that  these  errors  do  consist  therewith. 

4.  We  testily  again.st  the  conduct  of  those  who,  while  they  profess  to 
approve  and  adopt  our  doctrine  and  order,  do,  nevertheless,  speak  and 
publish  in  terms,  or  by  necessary  irajilication,  that  which  is  derogatory 
to  both,  and  which  tends  to  bring  both  into  disrepute. 

5.  We  testify  against  the  following  as  a  part  of  the  errors  which  are' 
held  and  taught  by  some  persons  in  our  Church  : 

EEE0K8. 

1.  Our  Relation  to  Adxm. — ^That  we  have  no  m  ire  to  do  with  the 
firat  sin  of  Adam,  than  with  the  sins  of  any  o  her  parent. 

2.  Native  Depravity, — That  there  is  no  such  thing  as  original  sin  ; 
that  infants  come  into  the  world  as  perfectly  free  from  corruption  of 
nature  as  Adam  was  when  he  was  created ;  that  by  original  sin  nothing 


1830-1840.]  OPINIONS    VARIOUS.  567 

more  is  meant  than  the  fart  that  all  the  posterity  of  Adam,  tiiougrh  born 
entirely  free  from  moral  defilement,  will  always  bejjin  to  sin  when  they 
begin  to  exercise  moral  agency,  and  that  this  fact  is  somehow  connected 
with  the  fall  of  Adam. 

;i  Imi'utatiox.— That  the  doctrine  of  imputed  sin  and  imputed 
righteoiisnoss  is  a  novelty  and  is  nonsense. 

4.  Ability  —That  the  impenitent  sinner  is  by  nature,  and  inde- 
pendently of  the  aid  of  the  Moly  Spirit,  in  full  possession  of  all  tlie 
powers  necessary  to  a  compliance  with  the  commands  of  God  ;  and  that, 
if  he  labored  under  any  kind  of  inability,  natural  or  moral,  which  he 
could  not  remove  himself,  he  would  be  excusable  for  not  complying 
■with  God's  will 

5.  Regeneration. — That  man's  regeneration  is  his  own  act;  that  it 
consists  merely  in  the  change  of  our  ggverning  purpose,  which  change 
we  must  ourselves  produce- 

6.  Divine  Inkluemoe. — Thrt  God  cannot  exert  sucn  an  influence  on 
the  minds  of  men  as  shall  make  it  certain  that  they  will  choose  an  act 
in  a  particular  manner  without  destroying  their  moral  agency ;  and 
that,  in  a  moral  system,  God  could  not  prevent  the  existence  of  sin,  or 
the  present  amount  of  sin,  however  much  He  might  desire  it. 

7.  Atonement. — That  Christ's  sufferings  were  not  truly  and  properly 
vicarious. 

As  regards  Discipline  and  Church  Order,  this  Synod  do  most  cordially 
unite  with  their  brethren  in  other  portions  of  our  Zion,  in  condemning 
all  departure  from  the  excellent  order  of  our  Church.  They  believe 
that  the  form  of  government  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  is,  in  all  essential  features,  in  full  accordance  with  the  revealed 
will  of  God;  Hence,  therefore,  whatever  impairs  its  purity  or  changes 
its  essential  character,  is  repugnant  to  the  will  of  our  Master.  They 
believe  that  every  minister  and  oHicer  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  is 
bound,  by  his  own  voluntary  subscription  to  our  standards,  to  sustain 
the  order  of  the  Church  as  well  as  to  maintain  her  doctrines.  They 
do,  therefore,  utterly  condemn  all  acts  which  have  a  tendency  to 
weaken  or  destroy  this  excellent  order,  and  testify  againstall  departures 
from  the  true  principle  of  our  constitution. 

And  they  unite  in  their  testimony  against  the  formation  of  new  Synods 
or  Presbyteries,  otherwise  than  upon  the  established  rules  of  our  Church, 
or  for  other  purposes  than  for  the  edification  and  enlargement  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  As,  also,  against  the  exercise  by  the  General  Assembly, 
or  any  other  ecclesiastical  body  in  our  Church,  of  powers  not  given  to 
the  body  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Church. 

The  Synod  have  heard,  too — not  without  alarm — o^  certain  measures 
which  have  recently  been  adopted  in  some  portions  of  our  much  be- 
loved Zion — measures  calculated  to  fill  our  Churches  with  professors  of 
doubtful  character,  and,  in  our  view,  eminently  calculated  to  mar  tho 
purity  and  subvertthe  order  of  God's  house.  Againstall  such  measures 
we  do  bear  our  most  unequivocal  testimony,  and  w-e  hereby  do  give  our 
pledge  to  e<ach  other,  and  to  the  Church,  that  we  will  use  our  best  efforts 
to  maintain  the  purity  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  according  to  our 
excellent  and  much  valued  standards. 

Various  were  the  opinions  entertiiined  of  the  divisive  acts 
which  were  inaugurated  by  theauthors  of  The  Act  and  Testimo- 
ny.     Tlie  Biblical  Repertory,  the  organ   of  Princeton,  spoke 


568  JDE.   ALEXANDER.  [1830-1840. 

of  the  Act  and  Testimony  as  a  new  League  and  Covenant,  and 
as  an  act  of  ^reat  injustice  to  nuiltituiles  of  our  soundest  and 
best  fnen.  Although  themselves  condemning  the  errors  al- 
leged, the  editors  declare  their  incredulity  iis  to  the  oxtont  of 
tlieir  prevalence  in  the  hounds  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
"After  making  diligent  inquiries  for  several  years  past,"  say 
they,  "nine-tenths  of  our  ministry  are  in  a  great  measure 
free  from  the  unsound  opinions  in  c]uestion."  Repertory,  i8j^, 
p.  264..  "  We  do  not  believe  that  the  errors  quoted  above 
from  this  document  are  held  or  approved  by  one-tenlh  o'"the 
Presbyterian  Church."  "  We  can  hardly  [)er.suade  ourselves 
that  reflecting  men  can  consider  this  matter,  viewed  as  an  ah- 
stract  constitutional  point,  as  of  sufficient  importance  to  jus- 
tify schism."  ■' We  must  declare  our  utter  incro<iulity  as  to 
any  prospect  of  relief  to  our  divided,  strup;gling  Church  by 
the  measures  prospectively  propo.sed  by  our  respected  breth- 
ren of  the  Act  and  Testimony."  And  yet,  feelin,!^  the  pres- 
sure that  was  bearin"-  asjainst  those  who  doubted  the  wisdom 
of  these  measures,  they  say,  ''  There  is  ofien  much  more  cour- 
age in  not  acting,  than  in  acting,  and  still  more  frequently,  in 
moderation  than  in  violence."  Biblical  Rcpcrlury,  iSj^,  iSjj. 
It  was  only  gradually  tliat  the  opinions  and  feelings  of  Prince- 
ton, in  reference  to  the  division  of  the  Church,  underwent  a 
change.  Dr.  Alexander  '"took  no  loading  part  in  the  imme- 
diate causes  of  the  division,  which  eventually  took  place  in 
1838.  It  is  well  known  that  he  never  gave  his  assent  to  the 
Act  and  Testimony.  As  a  member  of  the  Assembly  of  1837, 
he  advocated  the  abrogation  of  "the  Pla'n  of  Union;"  lie 
voted  for  the  act  disowning  the  Western  Reserve  Synod;  but 
did  not  vote  for  the  act  dissolving  the  connection  of  the 
Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva  and  Genes-iee.  He  was,  moreover, 
with  Drs.  Baxter  and  Leland,  in  prepaiing  the  Pastoral  letter 
,  addressed  to  the  Churches  by  the  General  Assembly."  Life 
of  Archibald  Alexander,  D.  D.,  by  James  W.  Alexander,  D.  D., 
p.  478.  As  Dr.  Leland's  name  is  here  mentioned,  wc  notice  that 
his  name  occurs  as  voting  with  the  majority  on  the  abrogation  of 
the  Plan  of  Union,  on  the  declaring  the  Synod  of  the  Western 
Reerve  "  not  to  be  a  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,"  'and 
that  the  Synods  of  Ucica,  Geneva  and  Genessee,  are  declared  to 
be  out  of  the  ecclesiastical  connection  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  that  they  are  not 
in  form  or  fact  an  integral  portion  of  said  Church." 


1830-1840.]  SYNOD   OF   S.  C.  AND   GA.  569 

* 

These  acts  of  the  General  Assembly,  pf  1837,  were  cor- 
dially concurred  in  by  the  Presbyteries  of  South  Carolina, 
Harmony  and  Bethel.  It  was  otherwise  witli  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery,  [which]  had  been  formed  in  November,  1822,  i)y 
the  Synod  of  Soutli  Carolina  and  Georgia,  out  of  a  portion  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  and  tiie  former  members  of  the 
Congregational  Association  of  South  Carolina.  It  was  far 
more  likely  that  opposition  to  the  action  of  the  Assembly 
of  1837  should  arise  here  than  elsewhere.  Accordingly  when 
the  Pre'ibytery  met  in  November  of  that  year,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
White  who  had  been  a  recusant  member  of  ihe  Assembly, 
voting  against  the  action  of  that  body  in  relation  to  the  ex- 
scinded Synods,  introduced  a  paper  declaring  the  action  to  be 
unconstitutional,  unjust,  and  oppressive,  and  affirming  that, 
unless  a  change  could  be  effected,  they  would,  as  a  last  resort,' 
unite  in  forming  an  Independent  Southern  Presbyterian  Synod 
or  Assembly.  The  paper  was  adopted  by  Presbytery.  Mr. 
Gildersleeve  gave  notice  that  he  would,  in  behalf  of  himself 
and  others,  offer  a  protest  against  these  lesolutions.  This 
protest  was  presented  the  next  day,  and  signed  by  B.  Gilder- 
sleeve. Thos.  Smyth.  A.  Gilchrist,  and  S.  Clark,  with  this  ad- 
dition, "  We  who  thus  protest,  would,  in  conclusion,  say,  that 
we  do  not  wish  to  pledge  ourselves  to  the  entire  expediency 
of  the  wiiole  acts  of  the  Assembly,  but  merely  to  their  con- 
stitutionality." Messrs.  Dana,  White  and  Glover  were  ap- 
pointed to  answer  the  protest.  But  our  space  allows  us  to 
give  an  outline  only  of  this  history. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia, in  Columbia,  S.  C,  Novomber  8,  1838,  the  following  pa- 
per, offered  by  Dr.  Thornwell,  intended  to  be  a  testimony 
against  doctrinal  errors,  and  at  the  same  time,  a  test  of  the 
orthodoxy  cf  the  members  of  that  body,  was  adopted  by  yeas 
atid  nays. 

Whereas,  disputes  and  contentions  wliich  have  existed  anions  the 
members  of  tlie  Presbyterian  Church,  have  resulted  in  a  division  of 
our  communion  into  two  denominations,  differing  from  each  other,  as 
we  suppose,  on  topics  of  faith,  involving  essential  elements  of  the  gos- 
pel plan.  And  whereas,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  the  courts  of  the  Church 
to  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  we,  as  a 
Synod,  ieel  called  upon,  in  the  present  crisis  of  our  ecclesia.9tical  affairs, 
to  bear  this  our  solemn  testimony  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  in  op- 
position to  the  errors  and  heresies  which  are  now  abroad  in  the  land. 

1.  It  is  a. fundamental  article  of  the  Christian  faith,  that  the  guilt  of 
Adam's  first  sin,  is  imputed  to  all  his  posterity,  descended  from  him  by 


570  DISSENT  OF  W.  C.  DANA  AND  OTHERS.         [1830-1840. 

* 

ordinary  generation,  so  that  they  are  birn  in  a  state  of  condemnation 
and  depravity  ;  that  tliis  imputation  is  immediate  and  dire;:t.  ha\'in2  no 
reference  to  their  subsequent  contnirrence  in  hi.s  sin  by  voluntary  trans- 
g!-es.sion,  but  founded  solely  upon  the  fact  that  he  was  constituted  by 
the  sovereign  appointment  of  God,  their  federal  head  and  represen- 
tative. 

2  It  is  a  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
actuady  the  substitute  of  a  chosen  seed;  that  he  assumed  their  legal 
responsibiliiies  and  rendered  a  true  and  proper  satisfaction  to  Divine 
justice  on  their  behalf,  by  en<luring  the  penalty  of  the  law  in  their 
name  and  stead  ;  that  the  obedience  and  death  of  Christ,  constitute  the 
alone  ground  of  a  sinner's  acceptance  before  God,  and  that  '"  to  all  tho.se 
for  whom  Christ  purchased  redemption,  he  doth  certainly  and  effect- 
ually apply  and  communicate  the  same." 

3.  The  inability  of  the  sinner  to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the 
Divine  law,  to  believe  the  Gospel,  or  to  exercise  any  holy  affection,  is 
absolute  and  en  ire ;  so  that  regeneration  is  effected  alone  by  the  direct 
and  immediate  agency  and  power  of  God  the  Spirit;  the  subject  of  this 
'work  of  grace  being  passive,  in  respect  to  the  vital  operation  of  renew- 
ing the  heart.  We  believe,  moreover,  that  the  saving  grace  of  God  is 
always  efficacious  and  invincible,  and  its  final  triumph  sure. 

4.  We  believe  that  the  form  of  doctrine,  usually  called  Hopkinsian- 
ism,  though  a  milder  form  of  error  than  JTaylorism,  or  Pelagianism,  is 
inconsistent  with  the  Presbyterian  standards,  and  if  fully  carried 
out  in  its  consequences  and  results  ia  utterly  destructive  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  tiie  Gospel.  , 

5.  This  is  onr  solemn  testimony  of  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  And  for 
the  satisfaction  of  those  brethren  who  have  been  perplexed  with  anx- 
iety and  doubt  in  regard  to  the  Theological  instruction  which  is  given 
in  our  Seminary,  we,  the  members  of  this  Synod,  including  the  Profess- 
ors of  the  Theological  Seminary,  do  pledge  ourselves  thitt  no  contrary 
doctrines  shall  be  taught  in  that  seminary,  or  in  our  pulpits,  and  that, 
as  Professors  and  ministers,  we  will  endeavor  to  guard  our  pupils  and 
hearers  against  all  the  heresies  condemned  in  this  testimony. 

Ayes — Dickson,  S  B.  Lewers,  Ketchum,  Cater,  Chambers,  Cassels,  Da- 
vis, Tenney,  English,  Howe,  Witherspoon,  \i.  W.  James,  Petrie,  Keid, 
McQueen,  Donnelly  Coit, Campbell, Dubose,  Aiken,  Snowden,  W.  James, 
A.  White  Prince,  Perry,  Leland,  McDowell.  Gildersleeve,  Smyth,  J. 
Lewers,  Ardis,  J.  B  Davies,  Johnston,  J.  L.  R.  Davies,  W.  B.  Davies, 
Thornwell,  Douglass,  S.  B.  O  Wil-on,  Bishop  Miller,  McJunkin,  Givins, 
Simril,  Stringfellow,  Dunlap,  Chamberlain,  J.  S.  Wilson,  Montgomery, 
Saye— 49. 

Nays — Dwight,  Bartlett,  E.  White,  I.  S.  K.  Legare,  Yates,  Dana,  Ma- 
gruder,  T.  H.  Legare— 8. 

The  following  protest  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Mr.  Thorn- 
well's  and  Coit's  papers,  wliich  Synod  has  adopted,  was  then  offered 
and  ordered  to  be  put  on  tlie  Minutes. 

"  We,  the  undersigned,,  respectfully  enter  our  Protest  against  the 
adoption  by  Synod  of  the  paper  presented  by  Mr  Thornwell,  on  the 
ground  that  said  pajjer  seems  intended  to  be  not  an  ordinary  expression 
of  the  views  of  those  who  vote  for  it,  but  as  a  test  of  orthodoxy  to  tlie 
individual  members  of  the  Synod.     Having  reason  to  regard  it  as  so 


[1830-1840.  EXPLANATIVE.  ,  571 

desijrned,  we  feel  ourselves  bound  to  oppose  its  adoption,  becauafe  we 
cannot  sani'tion  the  introduction  of  any  creed  other  than  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  of  our  Church,  which  we  sincerely  receive  and  adopt — or 
the  imposition  of  any  new  test  of  ortliodoxy  unknown  to  our  standards. 
We  wisli  it  distin.-tly  understood  that  in  voting  against  the  adoption 
of  said  paper,  we  reler  not  at  all  to  the  exhibition  of  doctrine  which  it 
contains,  but  solely  io  the  fact  that,  in  the  present  position  of  this  Synod, 
said  paper  seems,  as  already  stated,  to  be  designed  by  tiie  mover  as  a 
test  of  orthodoxy,  if  not  of  adhesion  to  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

WILLIAM  C.  DANA, 
T.  M.  D WIGHT, 
J.  L.  BARTLETT, 
WM   B.YATES, 
T.  MAGRUDEK." 

Mr.  [now  Dr.  Dana],  states,  in  the  Southern  Christian  Sen^ 
tinel,  Charleston,  March  29,  1839  (which  was  the  organ  of  the 
dissentin|T  brethren),  that  it  was  not  because  of  doctrinal  dis- 
sent that  the  protest  was  offered.  He  thus  explains  liis  views 
on  the  three  doctrinal  articles  of  Dr.  Thoniweil's  paper, 
against  which  he  uttered  his  protest  because  that  paper  was 
imposed  as  a  test. 

He  accords  with  the  first,  "  it  being  understood tliat  this  does 
not  imply  the  dogma  of  infant  damnation,  or  imply  that  God 
considers  Adam's  posterity  to  have  committed  his  sin  in  eating 
the  forbidden  fruit. ' ' 

He  agrees  with  the  second,  with  the  addition,  it  being  also 
true  that  Ch/ist  "  gave  himself  a  ransom  for  all,  and  that  he  is 
the  propitiation  for  the  sin  of  the  whole  ivorld.  I  Tim.  ii.  6.  I. 
John,  li.  2,  and  that  by  "  the  penalty  of  the  lazv"  is  not  meant 
everlasting  punishment,  ivhich  Christ  surely  did  not  endure. 

He  agrees  with  the  third  with  the  addition,  "  It  being  un- 
derstood that  the  sinner's  inability  arises  from  the  fact  that  his 
heart  tvns  not  right  in  the  sight  of  God. 

The  Synod  also  appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  Dr. 
Witherspoon  and  Messrs.  Thornwell  and  Coit,  to  draft  a  let- 
ter to  the  Cnurches  under  its  care,  expressive  of  their  un- 
abated confidence  in,  and  affection  for  those  men  of  God,  the 
professors  in  their  theological  seminary,  who  are  sedulously 
engaged  in  training  up  our  pious  young  men'for  the  office  of 
the  sacred  ministry,  in  our  Southern  church  and  the  world  at 
large.     This  office  the  committee  faithfully  performed. 

The  Synod,  too,  expressed  it.s  approbation  of  the  organiza- 
tion by  the  general  assembly  of  the  various  benevolent  enter- 
prises  of  the  day,    upon   the  ecclesiastical  principles    of  our 


572  COMMITTEE  OF   CONFERENCE.  [1830-1840. 

church,  and  recommended  to  all  its  Presbyteries  and  churches 
to  unite  with  that  body  in  aiding  and  sustaining  their  various 
Boards  of  Education,  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Mission 
of  the  Tract  Causes  and  of  Sunday  Scluols,  now  placed  upon 
the  approved  basis  of  Presbyterianism. 

The  Soutliern  Board  of  Missions  was  also  directed  to  enjoin 
upon  all  its  Missionaries  now  in  foreign  lands,  boih  in  the  or- 
ganization of  churches  and  in  the  formation  of  ecclesiastical 
relations,  to  conform,  as  much  as  possible  to  the  Presbyterian 
standards. 

In  pursuance  of  the  Acts  of  the  Assemb'y,  both  The  Cen- 
tral Board  of  Foreign  Missions  and  the  Southern  Board  be- 
came auxilliary  to  the  Assembly's  Board,  e-xpressing  at  the 
same  time  the  highest  regard  for  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  with 
which  they  formerly  acted. 

At  the  meeting  of  Synod  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  in  November, 
1839,  it  was  resolved  in  reference  to  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery,  "  that  the  body  which  was  represented  in  the  last 
General  Assembly  be  considered  the  true  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery — that  the  remaining  members  of  the  C.  U.  Pres- 
bytery, as  constituted  at  the  last  meeting  of  Synod,  are  not 
considered  as  the  Presbytery — not  because  they  have  not 
fully  approved  the  Acts  of  the  Assemblies  of  1837  and  1838, 
but,  because  they  have  not,  in  Presbytery,  expressed  tiieir  ad- 
herence to  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  upon  the  basis  of  these  Acts." 

'^Resolved,  Tiiat  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  as  ac- 
knowledged in  the  above  resolution,  be  directed  to  receive 
any  of  ihe  members  of  C.  U.  Presbytery,  as  constituted  at  the 
last  meeting  of  the  Synod,  as  members  of  their  body,  provid- 
ed they  were  willing  at  its  next  meeting  to  express  their  ad- 
herence on  the  basis  of  1837  and  1838." 

Professor  Howe,  Dr.  Lcland  and  Mr.Cassels  were  appoint- 
ed a  committee  to  confer  with  those  who  were  particularly 
affected  by  the  dec'sion  just  made,  and  see  how  far  a  recon- 
ciliation can  be  effected." 

The  conference  was  held,  and  at  the  commencement  of  the 
interview,  the  following  paper  was  put  into  the  committee's 
hands  as  their  ultimatum  : 

"  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  Charleston  Union  Pres- 
bytery, in  relation  to  whom  a  committee  of  reference  has 
been  appointed  by  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 


1680-1840,]  PEOPOSBD   UNION   OF   SEMINARIES.  573 

desire  distinctly  to  inform  the  Synod,  tiiat  the  recognition  of 
the  Presbytery  of  which  they  are  members,  as  the  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery,  is  the  only  basis  on  which  they  can  re- 
ceive any  overtures  from  the  Synod. 

WILLIAM  C.  DANA. 
WILLIAM  B.  YATP:S, 
THOMAS  MAGRUDER. 
Augusta,  Dec.  3,  1839." 

Thus  the  parties  separated,  not  without  tearful  eyes  and 
feelings  of  sadness. 

The  District  or  County  of  Riciiland  was  set  off  by  Synod 
from  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  added  to  the  Cliarles- 
ton  Union  Pre.^bytery,  and  the  name  of  llie  last  mentioned 
Presbytery  was  changed  to  that  of  The  PRESByxERY  of 
Charleston. 

At  this  Synod,  Rev.  M.  Atkinson,  of  the  Synod  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  Rev.  D.  McNeill  Turner,  of  the  Synod  of  North 
Carolina,  were  present  as  delegates  from  tliose  Synods,  with 
propositions  respecting  the  union  of  the  Theological  Semina- 
ry at  Columbia  with  the  Theological  Seminary  in  Virginia. 
A  letter  was  received  and  read,  also,  from  the  Synod  of  Ala- 
bama, in  answer  to  one  which  had  been  addressed  to  them  on 
the  subject  of  our  Theological  Seminary.  The  delegates 
from  Virginia  were  heard  at  length.  There  was  a  general 
argument  that  there  should  be  a  union  of  the  seminaries,  if 
practicable.  The  question  was  as  to  its  location.  The  pro- 
position was,  that  the  Seminary  at  Columbia  should  be  merged 
into  that  in  Virginia,  at  its  e.xisting  location.  The  impression 
of  the  Board  and  Synod  was,  that  if  the  current  of  travel  fronl 
the  Southwest  to  the  North  were  considered,  students  would 
pass  by  Prince  Kdward  and  resort  to  Princeton,  tiie  great 
centre  of  attraction,  situated  between  the  two  cities  of  New 
York  and  Philadelphia,  the  great  centres  of  trade  for  the 
Wc-st  and  South.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  correspond 
still  further  witli  the  Synod  of  Alabama,  and  the  Synods  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  were  invited  to  consider  wheth- 
er it  would  not  be  expedient  to  remove  the  condition  which 
their  beloved  delegates  had  regarded  indispensable. 

Doubtless  there  had  been  great  changes  as  to  the  policy  of 
the  Church,  if  not  as  to  its  doctrine,  during  this  decade.  In 
1832,  Dr.  Alexander   had  proposed  in   the  Biblical  Repertory , 


574  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  [1830-1840. 

of  Princeton,  in  an  article  on  the  present  condition  and  pro.s- 
pect.s  oftlie  Presbyterian  Church,  a  plan,  on  which  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  might  be  remodelled.  That  this  ought  to  be 
done,  he  aigueJ,  (l.)  from  its  unwieldly  size;  (2.)  the  tax  on 
Philadelphia,  where  it  met,  wliich  he  estimated  at  not  less 
than  g20C0  per  annum  ;  (3.)  the  liundreds  of  jiulpits  left  va- 
cant by  the  absence  of  pastors  in  attendance.  To  these  were 
added  the  difference  of  views  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and 
between  the  New  and  Old  Schools  of  Theo'ogy.  He  pro- 
posed, as  a  possible  remedy,  the  dissolution  of  the  Synods,  as 
then  existing,  and  the  formation  of  six  new  ones,  each  to  have 
the  superintending  and  judicial  power  of  the  Assembly,  all 
appeals  to  them  to  be  final.  The  Assembly  to  be  a  bond  of 
union,  and  an  advisory  council,  and  to  liave  the  control  of 
the  invented  funds.  The  Jirst  Synod  might  embrace  all  the 
Synods  then  existm;:?  in  New  York,  and  such  in  New  Jersey 
•  as  tnight  choose  to  join  it.  The  scrofu/,  the  principal  part  of 
the  Synod  of  New  Jersey,  those  of  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburg, 
except  the  Pi  eshyteiy  of  Lewes,  Baltimore,  and  the  District 
of  Columbia.  77«;'d^,  those  of  Ohio,  Illinois,  and  the  Terri- 
tories north  of  Ohio.  Fourth,  those  of  Kentucky,  Missouri, 
Tennessee,  and  Arkansas.  Fifth,  those  of  Mississippi,  Lou-, 
isiana,  Alabama,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  and  Florida 
Sixth,  Nortii  Carolina,  Virginia,  District  of  Columbia,  Mary- 
land, and  the  Presbytery  of  Lewes,  in  Delaware.  Some  por- 
tion of  this  plan  seems  to  have  occurred  to  some  of  our  dis- 
senting brethren  of  the  C.  U.  Presbytery,  as  appears  by  arti- 
cles in  the  Christian  Sentinel,  published  in  Charleston,  of 
which  T.  Magi  uder  was  editor,  and  which  was  the  organ  of 
these  brethren.  This  idea  of  Dr.  Alexander  seemed  not  to 
have  attracted  attention  elsewhere,  or  to  have  been  specially 
adhered  to  by  himself.  Events  moved  on,  and  brought  about 
the  results  we  have  described. 

A  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  formed  in  Charleston, 
by  our  brethien,  auxiliar)'  to  liie  Am.  I5d.  of  Commissioners 
for  For.  Missions,  of  which  Thomas  Legare  was  President, 
R.  Post,  D.  D.,  Corresponding  Secretary,  and  Robt.  L.  Slew- 
art,  Treasurer, 

The  commotions  in  the  Church  had  given  rise  to  two  new 
religious  papers.  In  addition  to  the  Charleston  Observer,  ed- 
ited by  Rev.  B.  Gildersleeve,  which  had  been  of  long  con- 
tinuance, there    was   the   Christian    Sentinel,  already    men- 


1830-1840.]  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  575 

tioned,  edited  by  Rev.  T.  Magiuder,  there  was  the  Southern 
Clinstian  Herald,  printeci  in  Columbia,  from  November,  1834, 
and  edited  by  Richard  Glachies',  but  removed  to  Cheravv  in 
1836,  and  edited  by  M.  Maclean,  M.  D. 

The  tnissionarit's  of  the  Society,  while  i:nited  with  the 
American  Board  of  Commi.'^.sioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
were  Geo.  VV.  Bog£Ts  and  Mi.s.  Isabella  W.  B'j'gs,  who  be- 
came connected  with  ihe  Board  September  14,  1832,  and  were 
stationed  at  Ahmednuggur,  in  Hindostan,  and  remained  till 
December  29.  1838.  John  Leighton  Wilson,  D.  D  ,  and  Mrs. 
Jane  Wilson,  first  at  Cape  Pal  mas,  and  afterwards  at  the 
Gaboon,  in  Africa. 

.  Rev.  James  Lyman  Merrick,  missionary  to  the  Mohamme- 
dans, in  Persia,  October  25,  1835,  to  December,  1842.  Mrs. 
Em.ma  Merrick,  March  II,  1839,10  December,  1841.  Mr. 
Merrick  and  Mrs.  Merrick,  to  the  Nestovlans,  in  Persia,  from 
December,  1842,  to  the  summer  of  1845.  John  B.  Adger, 
D.  D.,  and  Mrs.  Klizabeth  Adger,  missionaries  to  the  Arme- 
nians, at  Smyrna,  October  25,  1834- 1846.  Rev.  John  Fleet- 
wood Lanneau,  missionary  to  Palestine;  May,  1836— June  II, 
1846.  To  Syria,  February  7,  1 844-February  17,1846.  Mrs. 
Julia  H.  Lanneau,  February  i,  1844-February  17,  1846. 
Rev.  James  R.  F.ckhard,  Mrs.  Margaret  E.  Eckhard,  Ceylon, 
February  9,  1835,  to  summer  1837. 

Rev.  Dyer  Ball,  missionary  to  China,  received  his  instruc- 
tions from  Rev  Rufus  Anderson,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  one  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  in  the  Circular  Churcli,  on  the  first  Sab- 
.  batli  in  April,  1837.  The  Rev,  Mr.  Mitchell  had  been  recom- 
mended by  the  Executive  Committee,  and  with  his  own 
consent,  as  the  companion  of  Mr.  Ball  on  this  mission,  but  in 
the  end  preferred  to  wait  the  decision  of  the  next  Assembly 
on  the  subject  of  missions,  and  went  to  China  under  the  Pres- 
byterian Board  of  P'oreign  Missions. 

The  appropriations  of  the   Executive   Committee  for  the  first 
5'ear  to  the  missions  in  China,  Ceylon,  Persia,  Asia 
Minor,  and  Armenia,  were  to  each  ^500    .    .  .  $2,000 

The  appropriations  for  the  second  year  to  November, 
1835,  were  for  Ahmednuggur,  the  station  of  Mr. 
Boggs  ;  for  the  station  of  Rev.  Mr.  Wright,  the 
Clioctaw  Missions,  beyond  the  Mississippi;  for 
Cape   Palmas,  the  station  of  J.  L,  Wilson,  D.  D. ; 


576  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.  [1830-1840, 

for  the  Armenians,  the  station  of  Rev.  J.  B.  Adtjer, 
D.  D.,  at  Smyrna  ;  for  Ceylon,  the  station  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Eckhard  and  lady  ;  ior  the  Palestine  Mission 
of  Rev.  J.  Lanneau  ;  for  the  Sandwich  Island  Mis- 
sion ...        .  .    ■        2,000 

For  the  Nestorians  in   Persia,  J.  L.  Merrick ;  for  the 

mission  in  China,  each  $500 4,500 

In  the  third  year,  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bnggs  ;  for  J.  L. 
Wilson  and  Mrs  Wilson  ;  for  Mr.  Merrick,  of  Per- 
sia ;  for  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Adger,  of  Smyrna;  for  Mr.- 
and  Mrs.  Wright,  of  the  Choctaw  Mission  ;  for  the 
Sandwich  Island  Mission;  for  China;  for  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Eckhard,  of  the  Tarmul  Mission,  Ceylon — 
$500  each 4,000 

To  the  Palestine   Mission,  and  the   two   oiher   most 

needy  missions  connected  with  tiie  Board  .        .    .        1,500 


g  12,000 


In  the  fourth  year.  For  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bog-gs,  Dr. 
and  Mrs.  Adger,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson,  'Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Eckhard,  of  the  Tarmul  Mission,  Ceylon  ; 
Rev.  Mr.  Merrick,  of  the  Rev.  J.  Lanneau — ^500 
each  ^3,000  00 

^55  to  aid  in  the  support  of  three  Greek  youths,  now 
in  this  country,  given  for  that  purpose;  for  the 
support  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W^ighl^,  of  the  Choctaw 
Missions,  $500,  and  ^500  for  the  China  Mission, 
to  aid  in  the  outfit  of  Rev.  Mr.  B.-ill  and  Mrs.  Bill,  1,055  00 

For  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson,  contributed  by  the  John's 
Island,  ;g6oo  ;  from  the  colored  people,  for  edu- 
cating a  scholar  in  liis  school,  ;^20;  to  the  West- 
ern Board,  ^23.50,  contributed  for  it;  to  the  Sand- 
wich Island  Mission,  to  the  Nestorian  Mission,  to 
the  Seminary  in  Ceylon,  to  the  support  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boggs,  ^500;  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Adger,  ,^500;  of  Mr  and  Mrs.  Lanneau,  ^500  ; 
balance  of  $840  for  the  support  of  missionaries 
und^r  the  care  of  the  Board,  as  may  be  needed  .    4,483  50 


1830-1840.]  APPROPRIATIONS.  577 

The  Rev.  John  Winn  had  been  appointed  as  a  missionary 
during  this  year,  but  on  account  of  the  health  of  Mrs.  Winn 
did  not  go  on  his  mission. 

In  the  fifth  year  there  was  appropriated  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Bofjgs,  to  Dr.  and  M'rs.  Adger,  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Eckhard,  each  ^500 ;^  1,500  00 

By  another  action  of  the  committee,  ;^500  to  each  of  their 
missionaries. 

The  language  of  the  resolution  is  vague,  and  would  involve 
an  amount  not  less  than  $4,500.  The  minutes  'of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  on  which  we  have  relied  for  our  information, 
are  exceedingly  defective,  it  being  the  year  of  the  fever  in 
Charleston,  and  the  meetings'  of  the  committee  interrupted. 
The  fifth  anniversary  of  the  Southern  Board  was  held  in  Co- 
lumbia, November  8th,  1S38.  From  this  report  we  learn  that 
;^8, 391.45  had  been  received  that  year,  which,  with  what  at 
that  time  was  handed  over,  would  make  $10,156,  being  con- 
siderably more  than  the  amount  last  year,  which  included  a 
considerable  balance  and  was  considered  large.  The  first 
year's  receipts  are  there  stated  to  have  been  $5,815.36  ;  the 
second  year's,  $5,496;  the  third  year's,  $7,765;  the  fourth 
year's,  $9,315,  and  the  fifth  year,  with  what  was  then,  at  that 
anniversary  handed  over,  the  sum  of  $10,156.  At  this  meet- 
ing the  Constitution  of  the  Southern  Board  was  revised,  and 
it  became  connected  with  the  Assembly's  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  while  holding  friendly  relations  with  the  American 
Board,  with  which  it- was  formerly  connected. 

In  the  sixth  year  the  annual  meeting  was  held  at 
Augusta,  November  29,  1839.  The  Executive 
Committee  had  appropriated  to  the  support  of 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Adger,  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boggs,  to 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  to  Rev,  Mr.  Lanneau, 
at  Jerusalem,  each  $600,  amounting  to  $2,400. 
The  brief  statement  contained  in  the  report  for 
this  year  represents  the  receipts,  with  the  bal- 
ance on  hand  of  $460.39,  to  amount  in  the  ag- 
gregate to  '.    •    •  $10,805  93 

The  appropriations  and  expenditures  for  the  year,    10,552  30 

Leaving  a  balance  on  hand  of ^237  62 

37 


578  APPROPRIATIONS.  [1830-1840. 

The  Treasurer's  account  appended  shows  the  sum  of  $3,000 
paid  to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  for  our  missionaries,  and  a  like  sum  of  $3,000  to  the 
Board  of  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  besides  other 
sums  of  smaller  amount. 

Our  brethren  in  Charleston,  who  were  disappointed  with 
the  action  of  Synod,  organized  a  new  society,  "  The  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  Charleston  and  Vicinity,"  of  which 
Thomas  Legare  was  President;  Rev.  Reuben  Post,  D.  D., 
Corresponding  Secretary  ;'  Robert  L.  Stewart,  Treasurer.  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  :  Rev.  Eliplia  White,  William  C.  Dana, 
Reuben  Po  .t,  D.  D.,  Wm.  P.  Finley,  R.  L.  Stewart,  Bazile 
Lanncau,  and  Mr.  James  Belts.  This  Society  was  auxiliary 
to  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions. The  organization  of  this  Society  is  recorded  in  the 
"  Southern  Christian  Sentinel  "  of  March  2d,  1839,  edited  by 
Rev.  Thomas  Magruder.  The  first  appropriations  were  to  the 
mission  in  Syria  and  the  Holy  Land,  for  the  support  of  the 
Rev.  J.  F.  Lanneau,  $500. 

To  the  mission  among  the  Choctaws,  for  the  sup- 
port of  Rev.  A.  Wright $500  00 

To  the  mission  in  Persia,  for  the  support  of  the  Rev. 

J.  L.  Merrick 500  00 

To  the  mission  at  Cape  Palmas,  for  the  support  of 

the  Rev.  J.  L.  Wilson 500  OO 

To  the  mission  in  Turkey,  for  the  support   of  the 

Rev.  J.  B.  Adger 500  00 

$2,000  00 


1840-1850.]  CIRCULAR  CHURCH.  579 

BOOK    FIFTH. 
1840 — 1850 


CHAPTER  I. 

The   Independent  or    Congregational  {Circular')    Church  of 
Charleston 

The  Rev.  Reuben  Post,  D.  D.,  served  this  church  as  its 
much  revered  pastor,  through  this  decade.  The  Rev.  Benja- 
min [Morgan]  Pahner,  his  predecessor,  died  at  Orangeburg, 
on  the  9th  of  October,  1847,  in  the  67th  year  of  his  age.  Of 
his  previous  history  and  settlement  as  pastor  of  this  Church 
we  hflve  spoken  before  on  p.  410,  of  this  hi.story.  Of  his 
resignation  of  this  pastorate  mention  has  also  been  made  [on 
p.  446.]  The  great  reverence  and  esteem  of  his  people  was 
shown  by  the  provisions  made  for  his  support.  The  society 
for  the  relief  of  disabled  clergymen  attached  to  this  church, 
conferred  on  him  a  pension  of  ^1,000  per  annum,  which  was 
punctually  paid  to  the  close  of  his  life.  His  interest  in  the  cause 
of  religion  induced  him  still  to  exercise  the  functions  of  the 
ministry  as  he  was  able.  Sometimes  as  a  missionary,  some- 
times advocating  the  cau.se  of  the  seamen,  or  of  temperance, 
or  supplying  vacant  pulpits.  Many  of  his  summers  were 
spent  at  the  North,  where  his  friends  were  numerous  and 
kind.  For  two  years  previous  to  his  death  he  resided  in  the 
village  of  Orangeburg,  S.  C,  ministering  in  the  winter  season 
to  the  Wappetaw  Church,  Christ's  Church  Parish,  leaving  his 
residence  in  Orangeburg,  Saturday,  by  railroad,  and  returning 
on  Monday.  He  often  occupied  the  pulpit  of , the  Presbyter- 
ian church  in  Orangeburg,  where  his  services  were  highly 
appreciated,  for  he  had  endeared  himself  to  the  whole  commu- 
nity. His  last  sermon  was  preached  in  the  Methodist  Church 
a  short  time  before  his  death.  His  death  took  his  friends  by 
surprise.  He  had  been  laboring  with  a  severe  attack  of  in- 
fluenza, but  was  regarded  as  fairly  convalescent  till  the  day  of 


580  EEV.  B.  M.  PALMER,  D.  D.  [] 840-1850. 

his  death.  He  had  taken  a  strong  anodyne,  after  which,  by 
an  imprudent  use  of  cold  water,  he  became  suddenly  extreme- 
ly ill,  and  fell  into  a  lethargic  slumber  from  which  he  never 
awoke  in  this  world.  At  6  o'clock  P.  M.,  Saturday,  Oct.  9, 
1847,  life  ceased  its  functions,  and  death  ensued  in  the  67th 
year  of  his  age.  Mrs.  Palmer,  his  wife,  was  suffering  intense- 
ly with  neuralgia  of  the  head,  and  was  not  able  to"  realize  fuliy 
his  death  until  the  day  after.  She  seemed  tranquil  and  com- 
posed, but  on  Saturday  following,  the  i6th  of  October,  she, 
too,  fell  into  a  profound  sleep  from  which  she  never  awoke. 
"  They  were  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives ;  and  in  their 
death  they  were  not  divided."  She  died  one  week  after  her 
husband,  and  on  the  same  day  of  the  week.  His  funeral  took 
place  at  his  residence  in  the  presence  of  a  numerous  and 
sympathizing  assemblage.  His  son-in-law,  his  brother,  the 
Rev.  Edward  Palmer,  and  several  of  his  grand-children  and 
other  relatives  were  present.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Huns- 
come  Legare,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Orangeburg,  and  one  of 
his  spiritual  children,  preached  the  funeral  sermon,  from  Rev. 
xiv :  13.  His  remains  were  removed  to  Charleston,  funeral 
services  were  held  in  the  Circular  Church,  conducted  by  its 
pastor.  Rev.  Dr.  Post,  who  had  succeeded  liim  in  the  pastor- 
ate in  1835. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  on  his  monument : 

Sacred  to  the  memory 

of  the 

Eev.  Benjamin  M.  Palmek.  D.  D., 

Who,  Oct.  9th,  1847,  exchanged  the 

Sorrows  of  earth  for  the  joys  of  lieaven. 

He  was  called  to  the  ministry  of  this  Church, 

August  22d,  1814, 

And,  for  upwards  of  twenty  years. 

Proclaimed  from  tliis  Pulpit  the  glad  tidings 

Of  Salvation. 

Constrained  by  declining  health  and  growing  infirmities, 

He  resigned  his  Pastoral  charge 

July  1st,  1835 ; 

But  retained  his  connection  with  the 

Society  of  this  Church,  as  a  disabled  Clergyman, 

Up  to  the  day  of  his  death. 

Gifted  by  nature  with  talents  of  a  high  order. 

His  mind  enlarged  with  literature  and  polished  by  taste. 

Profoundly  versed  in  Theology,  and  deeply  imbued 

With  the  devotional  spirit  of  the  Bible, 

He  was  eminently  qualified  for  the 

Holy  office,  to  which,  for  more  than  forty  years, 


1840-1850.]  BEV.  B.  M.  PALMER,  D.  D.  081 

He  consecrated  his  efforts. 

As  a  Minister  of  the  Gospel, 

He  was  orthodox  in  creed,  luminous  in  exposition, 

Graceful  and  elegant  in  diction. 

In  exhortation,  impressive  and  affecting, 

In  prayer,  fervent  evangelical  and  sublime, 

As  a  man, 

He  was  conscientious  and  exemplary  in  the 

Discharge  of  every  relative  and  social  duty, 

And,  by  his  humble  walk  and  godly  conversation, 

Conciliated  the  affection  and  esteem  of  all 

with  whom  he  was  associated. 

He  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Sept.  25th,  1781,. 

During  the  temporary  exile  of  his  parents  from  Charleston. 

And  died  at  Orangeburg,  8.  C,  October  9th, 

In  the  67th  year  of  his  age. 

His  mortal  remains  rest  in  the  Cemetery 

Of  this  Church  ;  and  this  tablet  is  erected 

By  the  unanimous  resolve  of  the  Congregation, 

To  attest  their  veneration  for  his  memory. 

Dr.  Palmer  filled  a  large  place  in  the  affections  and  esteem 
of  his  coteroporaries.  Those  most  intimately  acquainted 
with  him  loved  and  revered  him  the  most.  "  The  great  charm 
of  his  character,"  says  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  C.  Dana,  "  was 
transparent  simplicity.  '  Behold  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom 
is  no  guile.'  It  was  refreshing  to  meet  with  one  whose  vigo- 
rous and  affluent  intellect  commanded  the  respect  of  the 
most  intellectual,  who  was  yet  in  character  and  manners  un- 
sophisticated as  a  child."  "  He  was  thoroughly  a  minister 
of  the  gospel,  and  could  have  been  nothing  else."  "  Out  of 
hi.s  singleness  of  purpose  grew  his  moral  courage.  To  the 
same  source  might  be  traced  another  distinguished  and  at- 
tractive feature  of  his  character,  namely,  his  singular  exemp- 
tion from  all  feeling  of  jealousy  in  respect  to  those  whose 
popularity  might  come  into  competition  with  his  own.  He 
rejoiced  in  every  good  blow  that  was  struck  for  truth,  no 
matter  by  whom,  with  as  cordial  and  jubilant  delight  as  if  the 
whole  reputation  of  it  inured  to  himself"  "  Another  very 
attractive  feature  of  his  character  was  the  absence  of  all  ten- 
dency to  dictate  to  others.  Free  and  independent  in  his  own 
judgments,  he  wished  others  to  be  equally  so.  Although  in 
the  maintenance  of  great  principles  he  had  the  courage  and 
the  tenacity  which  in  other  days  might  have  led  to  martyr- 
dom, he  was,  nevertheless,  in  all  lighter  matters  of  opinion, 
singularly  facile."     "  At  the  same   time  it  was  quite  useless 


582  REV.  B.  Sf.  PALMER,  D.  D.  [1840-1850. 

f6r  party  leaders  or  majorities  to  undertake  to  dictate  to  him." 
"  His  mind  was  saturated  with  the  meaning,  spirit,  and  lan- 
guage of  the  Bible.  This  gave  distinctive  character  to  his 
preaching  and  his  prayers.  In  tlie  pulpit  he  was  always  in- 
structing and  edifying.  There  was  fresh  thought  in  all  his 
sermons."  "His  prayers  were  most  remarkable."  "It  is 
the  testimony  of  one  of  his  habitual  hearers,  surpassed  by 
none  in  acuteness  of  discrimination,  that  it  was  at  the  sacra- 
mental table  and  in  the  chamber  of  sickness  that  he  shone 
pre-eminent. 

Among  the  lighter  traits  of  his  character,  one  is  pleasantly 
associated  with  his  memory  by  those  who  knew  him  in- 
timately. He  was  remarkable  for  absence  of  mind.  In  com- 
pany he  was  often  abstracted,  evidently  carrying  on  a  process 
of  thought,  quite  remote  from  things  present  and  visible.  At 
home  he  would  sometimes  seem  to  be  restlessly  searching 
for  something  in  the  room.  It  turned  out  that  he  was  seek- 
ing an  idea.  I  have  heard  it  said  that  he  once  rode  horse- 
back many  miles  in  the  rain,  quite  oblivious  of  the  cloak  and 
umbrella  attached  to  his  saddle.  It  is  pleasant  to  me  to  re- 
call his  personal  appearance,  as  I  have  often  seen  him  in  the 
streets  of  Charleston,  erect  in  figure,  with  buoyant  step,  his 
eye,  like  his  mind,  directed  rather  to  heaven  than  earth,  and 
too  much  absorbed  in  his  own  thoughts  to  notice  the  saluta- 
tion of  some  passing  friend." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans,  his  nephew 
and  namesake,  after  expressing  his  iirtention  of  enlisting  the 
aid  of  a  distinguished  co-presbyter  of  his  uncle  to  furnish  a 
sketch  of  his  character,  in  whieh,  however,  he  had  been  dis- 
appointed, of  one,  namely,  whose  reminiscences  would  cover 
the  whole  area  of  his  life,  instead  of  the  small  section  em- 
braced in  his  own,  whose  testimony  would  be  received  with 
less  suspicion  than  that  of  a  kinsman,  in  which  expectation 
he  had  been  disappointed,  at  last  gives  bis  own  reminis- 
cences and  impressions  from  which  the  following  e.xcerpts  are 
taken. 

"  In  few  men  did  the  outward  presence  so  perfectly  har- 
monize with  the  intellectual  and  moral  character  as  in  Dr. 
Palmer.  He  was  of  medium  stature,  though  a  spare  habit 
and  an  erect  figure  added  to  his  apparent  height.  Pre- 
eminently composed  in  manner,  dignified,  if  not  graceful  in 
carriage,  with  a  deep  sonorous  voice,  and  a  countenance  sin- 


1840-1850.]  REV.  B.  M.  PALMER,  D.  D.  683 

gularly  placid,  yet  strongly  furrowed  by  thought,  an  air  of 
repose  rested  upon  his  whole  person,  indicating  habitual 
self-communion  and  meditations  which  were  noL  of  earth.  In 
the  midst  of  society  he  was  often  sunk  in  reverie,  wrapt  up 
in  the  seclusion  of  his  own  thoughts,  and  this  abstracted  air, 
supported  by  the  acknowledged  sanctity  of  his  life,  secured 
to  him  the  homage  of  universal  reverence. 

"This  characteristic  trait,  indeed,  very  naturally  gave  rise  to 
many  amusing  contretemps,  richly  enjoyed  by  his  intimate 
friends  around  the  fireside,  and  the  recital  of  which  he  would 
himself,  with  a  genial  humour,  often  relish."  "  Dr.  Palmer's 
mind  was  distinctly  formed  upon  the  stern  and  classic  models 
of  antiquity.  I  cannot  say  whether  his  acquaintance  ranged 
over  the  entire' circle  of  ancient  literature;  but  I  well  remem- 
ber the  frequent  surprise  of  his  juvenile  kindred  at  the  ease 
and  evident  emotion  with  which  he.  would  recite,  not  the  usual 
excerpted  phrases,  but  fresh  and  unfamiliar  passages  from 
Roman  authors ;  showing  the  depth  of  his  sympathy  with 
those  old  writers  who  had  formed  his  taste.  Hence  was  de- 
rived the  Doric  simplicity  of  his  style,  which  continually  ex- 
torted the  praise  even  of  critics.  As  a  speaker  he  was  prover- 
bially calm  and  self  contained;  never  vehement  and  never 
swept  away  by  currents  of  pas.sion."  ''  I  would  not  myself 
assign  to  my  honored  kinsman  the  highest  rank  as  a  scientific 
theologian;  perhaps  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  his  life  led 
him  to  undervalue  the  black  lettered  lore  of  his  profession. 
His  pulpit  instructions  were,  however,  always  rich  in  evan- 
gelical truth,  full  of  unction,  and  getting  at  the  doctrines  of 
grace  in  their  correct  form,  as  imbedded  in  the  hidden  expe- 
rience'of  God's  children,  rather  than  as  abstract  dogmas,  richly 
articulated  in  a  stereotyped  creed."  "  But  if  inferior  to  some 
of  his  compeers  in  the  dialectics  of  theology,  he  surpassed 
them  all  in  his  minute  knowledge  of  the  Bible  itself  He  was, 
beyond  dispute,  the  greatest  textuary  of  his  age — a  living  con- 
cordance of  the  Scriptures.  His  Bible,  and  other  most  famil- 
iar books,  with  every  blank  leaf,  and  the  margin  of  nearly 
every  page  filled  with  parallel  texts,  written  like  hieroglyphics, 
in  a  microscopic  hand,  are  treasured  by  his  descendants  as 
among  the  most  precious  of  his  relics."  "  Had  not  grace  fitted 
him  to  receive  the  higher  and  purer  honours  of  a  preacher 
and  a  pastor,  Dr.  Palmer  had  many  attributes  which  would 
have  caused  him   to  shine  as  a  polemic."     "  The  trait  which 


584  REV.  B.  M.  PALMEE,  D.  D.  [1840-1850. 

conspicuously  adorned  him  as  a  man,  was  sterling  honesty, 
both  of  mind  and  heart." 

"  Dr.  I'almer  deserves  to  he  reported  to  posterity  as  one  of 
the  great  men  of  his  times.  Great,  not  in  the  reach  and  grasp 
of  his  intellect,  in  the  depth  or  variety  of  his  learning,  in 
power  of  invention  or  of  philosophical  analysis,  but  great  first 
of  all,  in  preeminent  goodness ;  and  great,  next,  in  the  rare 
combination  of  his  intellectual  and  moral  qualities.  Great  in 
the  intense  individuality  of  his  character,  by  which  he  im- 
pressed himself  upon  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  and 
which  made  him,  like  a  tall  cliff,  or  jutting  promontory,  ob- 
served and  known  of  all  men." 

The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  conferred  upon  him 
by  the  College  of  Scuth  Carolina,  in  1815. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Dr.  Palmer's  publications: 

Believer's  Baptism  no  Argument  against  Infant  Baptism  ;  a  sermon 
preached  in  Beaufort,  1809.  Gratitude  and  Penitence  recommended 
from  the  consideration  of  national  judgmgnts .  A  sermon  delivered  on  a 
day  appointed  for  humiliation,  thanksgiving  and  prayer,  in  Charleston, 
1814.  The  signs  of  the  times  discerned  and  improved :  two  sermons 
delivered  in  the  Independent  Church,  Charleston,  1816.  A  charge  at 
the  ordination  of  Rev.  Jonas  King  and  Rev.  Alfred  Wright,  the  former 
of  whom,  was  ordained  as  city  missionary  in  Charleston,  among  the 
seamen  and  others ;  the  latter  as  a  Missionary  to  the  Choctaw  Indians, 
1819.  A  sermon  an  the  Anniversary  of  the  Sahbath  School  Associa- 
tion in  Charleston,  1819.  Importance  of  the  Ministerial  office:  A  ser- 
mon preached  in  the  Independent  or  Congregational  Church  in  Charles, 
ton,  at  the  ordination  of  five  young  men  as  Evangelists,  1821.  Religion 
profitable :  a  sermon  preaclied  with  a  special  reference  to  the  case  of 
servants,  in  the  Circular  Church,  1822.  The  three  following  were  pub- 
lished in  the  Southern  Preacher,  1824.  The  reasons  which  Christians 
have  for  mourning  the  sudden  removal  of  men  who  have  been  distin- 
guished for  the  excellence  of  their  characters,  and  the  usefulness  of 
their  lives:  A  sermon  delivered  on  the  death  of  Dr.  David  Ramsay.  A 
sermon  on  the  consequence  of  unbelief.  A  sermon  on  the  admonition 
administered  to  Dlijah.  Good  men  the  protection  and  ornament  of  a 
community :  a  sermon  delivered  in  the  Circular  Church,  Charleston,  on 
the  death  of  Josiah  Smith,  Esq.,  elde.st  deacon  of  the  Church,  1820.  The 
children  of  professing  believers,  God's  children;  or  the  right  of  the 
children  of  God's  people  to  the  initiating  seal  of  the  covenant  asserted 
and  maintained :  a  sermon  delivered  in  the  Circular  Church,  1835.  A 
sermon  published  in  the  National  Preacher,  entitled,  "The  sinner  ar- 
raigned and  convicted,"  1836  The  Family  Companion,  with  an  Appen- 
dix, containing  a  sermon  delivered  on  the  sacramental  occasion  that 
terminated  his  pastoral  relatipn  to  his  people,  in  July,  18:>5,  and  the  last 
sermon  he  ever  delivered  to  them — only  a  few  weeks  before  his  death. 
This  volume  was  posthumous. 

Mrs.  Mary  Stanley  Bunce  Palmer,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Palmer, 


1840-1850.]  CIRCULAR  CHUECH.  585 

was  the  daughter  of  the  late  Jared  Bunce,  of  Philadelphia, 
well  known  as  a  fiivorite  sea  captain,  in  the  merchant  service, 
navigating  passenger  vessels  between  Charleston  and  Phila- 
delphia. Dr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer  had  buried  seven  children. 
They  left  behind  them  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Lanneau  and  Mrs. 
Schindler,  formerly  Mrs.  Dana. 

The  father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer  was  the  venerable  Job 
Palmer,  who  migrated  to  Charleston  from  Falmouth,  Mass., 
prior  to  the  Revolutionary  War.  Job  Palmeij  himself  was  a 
son  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Palmer,  a  native  of  Barnstable,  Mass., 
who  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1727,  ordained  at 
Falmouth,  Mass.,  in  1730,  and  died  April  13th,  1775.  aged 
68.  During  the  residence  of  Job  Palmer  and  family  in  Phila- 
delphia, as  refugees,  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  the  sub- 
ject of  the  preceding  memoirwas  born.  Job  Palmer  was  longan 
influential  member  and  deacon  in  the  church,  and  on  his  death, 
in  1845,  by  the  unanimous  concurrence  of  the  congregation, 
this  tablet  was  erected  to  his  memory  : 

• 

In  Memory  of 

JOB  PALMER, 

A  native  of  Falmouth.  Mass., 

For  73  years  a  resident  of  this  city, 

And,  during  39  years,  Cleric  of  tliis 

Church,  in  which  he  afterwards 

Discharged  the  office  of  a  Deacon,  for 

Thirty  years,  till  he  closed  his  office. 

And  his  life,  on  the  30th  Jan.,  1845  ; 

Having  reached  the  unusual  age 

Of  97  years  and  five  months. 

Favored  with  an  uncommon  share 

Of  health,  during  nearly  the  whole 

Of  his  protracted  life,  he  exhibited 

An  unblamable  and  exemplary 
Christian  ch'aracter,  and,  till  within 
Two  or  three  months  of  his  decease, 
Enjoyed,  in  a  rare  degree,  both  his 
Physical  and  mental  powers.  Himself 
The  son  of  an  exemplary  and  useful 
Minister  of  Christ,  the  Pastor  of  his 

Native  town,  he  had  the  ad- 
ditional satisfaction  of  witnessing  the 
Accession  of  two  of  his  own  sons. 
To  the  ministry  of  reconciliation, 
One  of  them  having  been  for  upwards 
Of  21  years,  Pastor  of  this  Church. 
"And  now  behold  my  witness  is  in 
Heaven,  and  my  record  is  on  high." 
Job  xvi,  19. 


586  CIRCnLAR  CHURCH.  [1840-1850. 

He  was  the  ancestor  of  no  less  than  seven  clergymen,  viz  : 
his  sons,  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.D.,  Rev.  Edward  Palmer, 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Walterboro' ;  his  grand- 
sons. Rev  I.  S.  K.  Palmer,  deceased;  the  Rev.  Benjamin 
Morgan  Palmer,  D.D.,  of  'New  Orleans  ;  the  Rev.  Edward 
Porter  Palmer,  D.D.,  of  Mobile  ;  the  Rev.  Isaac  Stockton 
Keith  Axson,  D.D.,  of  .Savannah  ;  his  great-grandson.  Rev. 
Bazile  Lanneau,  tutor  in  Hebrew  in  the  Theological  Seminary, 
Columbia,  and*ifterwards  professor  in  Oakland  College,  Mis- 
sissippi, also  deceased. 

The  Circular  Church  has  been  a  nursery  whence  has  pro- 
ceeded a  goodly  number  of  ministers  who  have  labored  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church.  Besides  these  just  named  may  be 
enumerated,  the  Rev.  Wm.  States  Lee,  of  Edisto  Island; 
Rev.  John  F.  Lanneau,  missionary  to  Syria;  Rev.  Adam 
Gilchrist,*  Presbyterian  Church,  Fayetteville;  Rev.  S.  Beech 
Jones,  D.D.,  Presbyterian  Church,  Bridgetown,  N.  J. ;  Rev. 
Geo.  H.  W.  Petrie,  D.D.,  Presbyterian  Church,  Montgomery, 
Ala.  .  Rev.  Wm.  Moultrie  Reid,  Mt.  Zion  Church,  Sumter 
County,  S.  C. ;  Rev.  I.  S.  K.  Legare,  Orangeburg,  S.  C. ;  Rev. 
T.  HunscomeLegare, Orangeburg;  Rev. Donald  Auld,  Florida; 
Rev.  John  B.  Van  Dyke,  Presbyterian  Church,  Walterboro' ; 
Rev.  J.  Lawrence  King,  Presbyterian  Ciiurch,  Lawrenceville, 
Ga. ;  Rev.  Wm.  Gready,  Toccoa,  Ga. ;  in  ancient  times.  Josiah 
Smith,  1781 — some  nineteen  or  twenty  in  number.*  [Man- 
ual of  the  Independent  or  Congregational  Church,  Charleston, 
by  Rev.  W.  H.  Adams,  April,  1870.] 

*In  three  years  after  the  end  of  this  decade,  the  church  edifice  (tlie 
Circular  Church)  having  undergone  extensive  repairs,  was  reopened, 
and,  at  the  reopening,  an  appropriate  sermon  was  delivered  by  the 
pastor,  the  Rev.  Reuben  Post,  T)D.,  from,  Ha^gai  ii,  9  :  "The  glory  of 
this  latter  house  shall  be  greater  than  of  tlie  former,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts;  iind  in  this  place  will  I  give  peace,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts." 
The  following  historic  note  accompanies  the  printed  discourse  : 

The  very  large  and  commodious  house  of  worship  belonging  to  the 
Independent  or  Congregational  Church  in  Charleston  —  commonly 
called,  from  its  circular  form,  " The  Circular  Church "  —  was  ereited  in 
1805  It  has  undergone  no  alteration,  and  but  slight  repairs,  since  it 
was  built,  except  the  erection  of  a  lofty  and  graceful  spire  in  18:i8. 

The  pews  being  old-fashioned  and  uncomfortable,  the  pulpit  being 
vety  high,  and  the  plastering  of  the  dome  much  cracked,  the  congrega-. 
tion  resolved,  in  1852,  to  renovate  and  improve  it  extensively.  For  this 
purpose,  the  Clergy's  Society,  in  the  congregation,  very  ueiierously  placed 
$18,000  at  their  disposal — leaving  about  $40,000  still  as  the  funds  of  the 
Society. 

The  building  having  been   entirely   renewed   except  the  walls  and 


1840-1850.]  WAPPETAW.  587 

This  noble  structure,  fell  a  prey  to  the  devouring  flames 
which  swept  over  so  large  a  portion  of  the  city  of  Charleston 
during  tlie  siege  of  tiiat  beleagured  city  in  our  late  civil  war. 
Its  walls  still  stand,  amid  tlie  sepulciiers  of  former  worship- 
pers, a  melancholy  monument  of  its  past  glory. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer  resided  in  Orangeburg  the  last  two 
years  of  his 'life,  from  the  latter  part  of  October,  1845,  to  his 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  9th  of  October,  1847.  During 
this  period  he  supplied  the  Wappetaw  CliurCh,  going  down 
on  Saturday,  and  returning  to  Orangeburg  on  Monday. 

The  Coxgkegational  Church  of  Wappetaw — in  the  Par- 
ish of  Christ's  Church,  seems  to  have  been  variously  supplied 
during  this  decade. 

A  |)ortion  of  the  time  it  enjoyed  the  services  of  Dr.  B.  M. 
Palmer,  the  first  of  that  name.  A  Mr.  Ferral,  of  the  Metho- 
dist Church,  who  afterwards  went  to  California,  also  preached 
to  them  for  a  short  time.  For  a  longer  period  the  Rev.  Mr. 
DuPro,  a  local  preacher  of  the  samechurch,  also  served  them 
in  the  same  capacity  of  a  temporary  supply.  Dr.  Girardeau, 
after  his  licensure,  Nov.  9th,  1848,  preached  for  them  about 
six  months.  He  seems  to  have  been  followed  by  Rev.,  Julius 
L.  Bartlctt,  in  1849,  who  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Ed- 
win Cater,  in  1852. 

Mr;  Bartlett  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  a  graduate  of 
Williams  College,  and  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Co- 
lumbia, in  1-837.  O'^  'he  6th  of  April,  in  the  same  year,  he 
was  licen.sed  by  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  and  on  the 
8th  of  April,  in  1838,  was  ordained  as  an  evangelist  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony,  to  which  he  had  been  dismissed  as  a 
licentiate.  In  1849  he  sup|)lied  this  church  for  a  season.  It 
wasduring  Mr.  Cater's  ministry  that  the  celebrated  case  in 
Chancery,  entitled  the  Independent  or  Congregational  Church 
at;  VVa])petaw  vs.  the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Widows  and 
Orphans  of  Independent  or  Congregational  Ministers,  was 
tried.  Mr.  Cater  amtinned  in  the  pastorate  from  1853  to  1859. 
After  him  came  Dr.  H.   B.   Cunningham   until  i860  or   1861. 

steeple,  the  frame  of  the  roof,  and  the  timhera  and  floors  of  the  galleries 
— and  having  been  made,  with  its  modernized  pews  and  pulpit,  &nd 
its  grand  and  beautiful  dome,  from  the  top  of  which  it  is  lighted  by  up- 
■wards  of  seventy  gas  burners — one  of  the  most  imposing  chiiroh  edifices 
of  the  country — it  was  opened  for  public  worship  on  the  7th  day  of 
August,  1853,  on  which  occasion  the  discourse  was  delivered. 


588  DORCHESTER  AND   BEECH   HILL.  [1840-1850. 

After  the  close  of"  the  war  the  surviving  members  of'  Wappe- 
tavv  Church  organized  the  Mount  Pleasant  Church,  which 
united  with  the  Presbytery  about  tlie  year  1867.  Another 
cliureh  was  organized  in  1872,  by  Peter  Gowan,  evangelist,  as- 
sisted by  Rev.  G.  W.  Brackett,  at  McCleilanville,  with  twenty 
members,  and  J.  H.  Leland  wa^  ordained  as  ruling  Eider. 
McCleilanville  is  a  pleasant  village  on  the  sea  coast,  west  of 
Cape  Remain,  founded  in  1850,  as  the  resort  of  planters  in 
that  vicinity,  36  miles  from  Mount  Pleasant,  on  the  George- 
town Road.  Some  three  years  after  the  establishment  of  this 
church,  tiie  Presbytery  of  Charleston  met  there  and  enjoyed 
tile  occasion  greatly,  if  we  may  believe  the  puljlic  prints.  In 
returning,  the  ministers  visited  the  venerable  Wappetaw  Church, 
sixteen  miles  from  Mount  Pleasant.  In  this  long  disused 
building  of  precious  associations,  the  Presbytery  gathered  iu  a 
circle  under  the  lofty  pulpit,  with  its  sounding  board,  when  the 
Rev.  James  B.  Dunwody  offered  an  impressive  prayer,  and 
all  with  profound  solemnity  sang  the  doxology  ''  Praise  God 
from  whom  all  blessings  flow."  The  Mount  Pleasant  and  the 
McCleilanville  churches  may  each  be  called  the  successor  of 
the  Wappetaw  Church,  though  most  of  the  church  property  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  church  at  McCleilanville,  which  often 
bears  the  name  of  New  Wappetaw.  [MS.  of  Rev.  F.  L.  Lee- 
per,  Charleston  Neius  and  Courier,  and  minutes  of  Charleston 
Presbytery.] 

The  Congregational  Church  of  Dorchester. and  Beech 
Hill. — The  next  minister  whose  name  we  meet  with  in  con- 
nection with  this  church  is  George  Sheldon,  afterwards  hon- 
ored with  the  title  of  D.  D.  He  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts, 
a  graduate  of  Williams' College,  and  was  educated  partly  at 
Andover,  and  partly  at  Princeton  Seminary.  Me  is  located, 
according  to  the  triennial  catalogue  of  the  Andover  Seminary, 
at  Orangeburg,  S.  C,  from  the  years  1837-40.  His  ordina- 
tion is  dated  the  13th  June,  1841,  by  tlie  same  authority,  and 
he  is  stated  to  have  been  pastor  of  the.  Presbyterian  Church  at 
Summerville,  S.  C,  from  1841  to  1848.  His  residence  proba- 
bly was  at  Summerville.  The  church  at  Summerville  was  not 
reported  to  Synod  until  1859.  During  his  connection  with 
this  church  he  preached  a  discourse,  which  was  published,  en- 
titled "The  Hand  of  God  Recognized,"  which  was  "deliv- 
ered on  Sunday,  22A  of  February,  1846,  in  the  Independent  or 
Congregational  Church  at  Dorchester,  St.  George's  Parish,  S. 


1840-1850.]  STONY  CREEK — SAVANNAH.  589 

C,  ill  observance  o(  the  150th  anniversary  of  the  building  of 
the  church.  Charleston;  Burgess  &  Jiimes,  printers,  1846. 
pp.  22."  The  house  is  built  of  brick,  on  the  model  of  tiie  old 
churches  of  New  and  Old  England  Puritans  was  then,  and 
pi-obably  still  is  standing.  From  1848  and  onward,  the  au- 
thority before  quoted  makes  him  District  Superintendent  of 
the  American  Bible  Society,  his  address  Princeton,  N.  J.  This 
was  his  P.  O.  in  i860,  Plainfield,  N.  J.,  in  1853.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Elizabetiitown.  He  seems  .to 
have  been  called  to  this  church  in  the  summer  of  1840,  and 
to  have  resigned  on  the  xst  of  July,   1848. 

Stoney  Creek  Independent  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  Rev.  Edward  Palmer  continued  in  the  pastorship  of  this 
church  until  December,  1843.  The  church  was  vacant  until 
the  1st  of  June,  1844,  at  which  time  Mr.  James  B.  Dun- 
wody  began  to  preach  as  a  supply.  He  was  a  native  of 
Liberty  County,  Ga.,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  and  finished 
his  studies  at  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia,  in  1841. 
He  was  received  as  a  licentiate  by  the  Presbytery  of  Charles- 
ton, from  the  Presbytery  of  Cherokee,  on  the  iith  of  Decem- 
ber, 1844,  and  was  ordained  sine  titiilo  on  Sabbath,  April 
I2th,  1845,  and  continued  to  serve  this  church  through  this 
decade  and  beyond,  as  its  stated  supply. 

■The  Independent  Presbyterian  Church  in  Savannah. — 
When  we  were  appointed  by  the  Synod  ofSouth  Carolina  and 
Georgia  as  their  historiographer,  the  Presbyterian  Churches 
of  both  States  were  under  one  Synodical  Government.  When 
they  were  divided  into  two  .Synods,  in  the  year  1845,  the 
churches  of  Georgia  were  under  the  special  jurisdiction  of 
their  own  Synod,  and  the  sources  of  information  in  respect  to 
them  were  removed  in  a  greater  measure  than  before  from 
the  present  writer.  Moreover,  the  several  Presbyteries  of 
Georgia  have  provided  for  the  preparation  of  their  own  his- 
tories, so  that  a  few  only  of  those  of  which  we  had  previously 
written,  are  mentioned  in  our  pages. 

The  Church  in  Savannah  has  been  already  mentioned  in 
its  beginning.  Dr.  Willard  Preston  continued  their  wise, 
laborious  and  efficient  pastor  during  this  decade,  greatly 
beloved  by  his  flock,  both  old  and  young.  His  ministry  was 
a  successful  one.  When  he  took  charge  of  the  church  in 
1832,  the  number  of  enrolled  members  was  two  hundred  and 
sixty-eight,  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven  of  whom  were  resi- 


590  DR.  PEESTON — FRENCH  HUGUENOT  CH.       [1840-1850. 

dent  in  the  city.  Two  hundred  and  forty-.six  were  added  in 
the  first  fourteen  years  of  his  ministry.  Iii  the  close  of  1842, 
during  a  season  of  revival,  fifty-seven  were  admitted  to  the 
church.  In  the  year  1846,  six  young  men  liad  been  sup- 
ported while  studying  for  the  ministry,  three  in  their  whale 
and  three  in  their  theological  courses,  all  of  whom  entered 
the  ministry  ;  one  other  died  in  the  course  of  his  studies. 
Domestic  Missions,  Foreign  Missions  and  Education,  all  called 
forth  the  contributions  of  ladies  societies  and  other  organiza- 
tions for  these  purposes,  till  their  contributions  had  amounted 
to  ;^2 5, 000  by  the  year  1846.  He  continued  to  labor  faith- 
fully and  successfull}',  not  only  through  this  decade.  He 
remained  at  his  post  during  the  prevalence  of  yellow  lever 
in  the  city  in  1854,  though  entreated  to  leave.  He  was  un- 
wearied in  ills  attentions  to  the  sick  and  dying.  "  I  have 
struggled,"  he  writes,  "  with  those  who  were  .struggling  with 
death,  and  when  the  fearful  contest  was  past,  have  closed  the 
eyes  and  composed  the  limbs  of  the  poor  victims,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  a  servant,  dressed  the  body  for  the  grave, 
and  liave  been  one  of  the  two  or  three  that  have  borne  and 
committed  it  to  its  narrow  house."  He  himself  was  a  vic- 
tim of  this  terrible  disease,  and  after  his  recovery  was  left  in 
a  state  of  great  languor.  Gradually  his  system  rallied  and  he 
seemed  to  have  gamed  his  usualJiealth. 

On  Sabbath,  the  20lh  of  April,  1856,  he  preached  a  solemn 
discourse  from  Isa.  38  :  "  Set  thy  house  in  order,  for  thou 
shalt  die  and  not  live."  It  was  his  last.  On  Saturday  night, 
April  26,  1856,  about  7  P.  M.,  he  was  seized  with  paralysis  of 
the  heart,  was  carried  to  his  bed,  and  after  a  short  and  painful 
struggle,  expired,  in  the  71st  year  of  his  age. 


CHAPTER  II. 

French  Huguenot  Church,  Charleston. — So  far  as  we 
are  informed  the  religious  services  of  this  church  were  con- 
tinued by  the  Rev.  Daniel  DuPre,  an  eminently  worthy 
minister  of  Huguenot  descent,  but  connected  with  the  Meth- 
odist Church.  In  1844  it  resolved  to  take  down  the  old 
church  edifice.  This  plan  was  carried  out,  and  in  May,  1845, 
the  new  and  beautiful  house   of  worship   now  occupied   by 


1840-1850.]  FIRST   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH.  591 

the  congregation,  was  dedicated,  the  Rev.  Wallace  Howard, 
of  Georgia,  having  accepted  and  entered  upon  the  pa.storate. 
Mr.  Howard  continued  to  serve  the  church  until  1852, 
when  his  failing  health  compelled  his  withdrawal  from  the 
active  duties  of  the  ministry.  During  the  sickness  of  Mr. 
Howard  the  church  was  temporarily  supplied  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Bartlett,  of  Sumter.  The  Rev.  G.  H.W.  Petrie  succeeded 
Mr.  Howard  as  pastor,  continuing  to  hold  that  relation  till 
February,  1S51,  when  he  accepted  a  call  to  Marietta,  Geo. 
He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  R.  G.  Peck,  of  the 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church,  who  resigned  in  1865, 
The  Rev.  (now  Dr.)  Charles  S.  Vedder,  the  present  pastor, 
entered  upon  tlie  duties  ot  his  charge  November  18,  1866. 
[MS.  furnished  by  Rev.  Charles  S.  Vedder,  D.  D.] 

First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of  Charleston. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  Forrest  continued  to  be  the  revered  pastor 
of  this  ancient  Church  through  this  decade.  As  the  Church 
was  not  ecclesiastically  connected  witli  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  IJnited  States  of  America, 
we  have  found  it  difficult  to  give  any  minute  details  of  its  his- 
tory. He  died  in  the  service  of  this  church,  retaining  to  the 
last  the  respect  and  affection  of  his  people.  A  commemora- 
tive discourse  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Dana  on 
the  occasion  of  his  death,  froan  2  Timothy,  11,2. 

After  speaking  of  the  qualifications  of  the  faithful  minister, 
he  says  : 

"  My  friends,  have  I  not  brought  before  you  the  time-hon- 
ored pastor  whom  you  can  never  forget? 

Let  us  glance  at  the  record  of  his  life. 

He  was  born  in  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  on  the  19th  day  of 
September,  1799.  He  was  edu(?ated  at  the  University  of  Ed- 
inburgh. In  February,  1832,  he  was  called  to  the  pastoral 
charge  of  this  church.  Having  been  ordained,  June  27th,  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  he  sailed  for  this  city,  and  ar- 
rived here  on  the  19th  day  of  October,  1832;  forty-seven 
years  ago  this  day.  He  preached  his  first  sermon  here  on  the 
following  Sunday,  October  21st.  Then  began  tiiat  faithful 
devotion  to  the  welfare  of  this  church,  and  that  warm  friend- 
ship between  the  pastor  and  people,  which  continued  un- 
changed through  the  long  period  of  nearly  forty-seven  years. 
He  died  near  the  completion  of  his  eightieth  year. 

Seldom  does  death,  at  the  end  of  so  prolonged  a  life,  create 


592  REV.  DR.  FORREST.  [1840-1850. 

SO  deep  a  chasm.  To  me  it  could  not  but  bring  the  sense  of 
personal  bereavement.  Pastors  side  by  side  for  nearly  forty- 
four  years,  we  had  often  taken  sweet  counsel  togrther,  enjoy- 
ing the  interchange  of  congenial  sentiments,  no  cloud  ever 
resting  for  a  moment  on  our  friendship. 

My  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  him,  commenced 
more  than  thirty  years  ago,  when,  at  his  invitation  I  took  part 
in  a  series  of  Sunday  night  services,  began  in  this  church. 
Six  pastors,  of  whose  churches  no  two  were  in  ecclesiastical 
connection,  joined  in  these  services  with  perfect  unity  of  spirit. 
We  preached  that  great  essential  gospel  truth,  which  we  all 
held  in  common.  That  this  union  was  not  still  more  com- 
prehensive, was  not  from  any  want  of  Christian  regard  and 
respect  for  other  ministers  and  churches,  but  partly  from  the 
feeling  that  greater  extent  might  involve  less  unity,  and  part- 
ly from  the  fact  that  no  church  could  well  contain  a  greater 
multitude  than  was  already  in  attendance. 

Thus  did  your  pastor  originate  here  the  most  unexception- 
able and  successful  Christian  union  within  our  memory. 

Having  formed  in  this  city  the  most  endearing  relation  in 
life,  and  liaving  no  kindred  elsewhere  in  this  land,  the  pastor 
of  this  church  was  always  at  his  post.  It  gave  him  a  strong 
hold  on  the  popular  regard,  that,  with  slight  providential  ex- 
ception, he  continued  here  during  all  the  epidemics  of  former 
years.  In  that  melancholy  autumn  of  1858  when,  less  familiar 
tiian  he  with  such  scenes,  I  was  called  to  officiate  at  the  fu- 
neral of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Post,  and,  but  four  days  afterward,  at- 
tended that  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dennison — your  pastor  was  ab- 
sent, having  sailed  for  Scotland  some  months  before.  I  well 
remember  his  early  return,  when  it  was  judged  yet  unsafe  for 
him  to  resume  pastoral  duty,  or  even  to  leave  his  house. 

During  that  pleasant  visit  to,  his  native  land,  many  kind 
and  honoring  attentions  were  paid  to  him,  and  to  the  devoted 
partner  of  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  his  life.  Four  years  be- 
fore, the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity,  less  common 
and  facile  of  attainment  there  than  with  us,  was  conferred 
upon  him  by  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  And  if  solid  at- 
tainments in  theology,  and  that  conversance  with  general  lit- 
erature which  makes  such  attamments  effective,  constitute  a 
claim  to  honorable  recognition,  that  claim  was    certainly  his. 

A  minister  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  Dr.  Forrest  for  more 
than  twenty  years  had  no  connection  with  any  Presbytery  in 


1810-1850.]  REV.  DR.  FORREST.  593 

this  country.  But  after  that  meeting  in  this  city  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  1852,  at  whicli  grievances  of  long  standing 
were  redressed,  he  was  uigently  invited  to  join  the  re-united 

Presbytery.     He  accepted  the  invitation." 

*  *  *  *  *  *  **' 

"  How  pleasant  was  that  United  Communion  in  this  church, 
which  we  can  never  dissociate  from  the  memory  of  him  who 
has  gone  to  hi.s  rest!  Almost  beyond  expectation,  he  was 
with  us  once  more  on  a  like  occasion,  at  the  beginning  of  tliis 
year,  1879.  Then,  month  after  month,  with  increasing  phy- 
sical weakness  and  pain,  but  with  no  infirmity  of  purpose,  he 
resolutely  strove  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office.  It 
will  always  be  to  me  a  most  pleasant  recollection  that  I  was 
with  him  here  at  his  last  Communion,  and  that  the  last  visit 
that  he  ever  paid  was  to  me. 

On  Sunday,  the  6th  of  July,  he  preached  his  last  sermon. 
On  the  following  Thursday,  returning  from  a  walk  of  some 
length,  he  was  much  prostrated  by  ti)e  extreme  heat.  From 
this  jirostration  he  never  recovered  ;  but  it  was  not  till  the 
next  following  evening  that  serious  apprehension  was  felt. 
Then  he  was  evidently  sinking.  For  two  or  three  hours  he 
was_  unconscious.  At  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Satur- 
day, July  1 2th,  "  the  silver  cord  was  loosed;"  he  passed  away 
gently,  as  in  sleep 

When,  near  the  close  of  the  sacred  day  next  following,  we 
came  together,  under  that  sombre  sky,  to  pay  the  last  tribute 
that  nature  claims  in  this  church,  so  associated  with  his  name, 
so  lately  echoing  liis  voice,  sorrow  that  we  should  see  his  face 
no  more  was  mingled  with  gratitude  to  God  for  the  manycim- 
solaticms  that  softened  that  grief.  ''  Surely  goodness  and  mer- 
cy had  followed  hitn  all  the  day.s  of  his  life."  Active  in  the 
holy  work  of  the  ministry  for  nearly  half  a  century,  happy  in 
his  church,  happy  in  his  home,  happy  in  the  power,  un- 
changed to  the  last,  of  adding  to  the  happiness  of  others,  with 
eye  undimmed  and  mental  brightness  unobscured,  in  the  full- 
ness of  his  years  he  pa'^sed  from  mortal  sight.  And  as  it  is 
the  ordination  of  Heaven  that  the  true-hearted  shall  have  true- 
hearted  friends,  so  was  he  blest  with  that  faithful  friendship 
that  revered  and  laved  him  living,  that  mourned  his  death 
with  unaffected  sorrow,  and  that  has  paid  enduring  honors  to 
his  memory." 

\_Sermon  coinmetnorative  of  Rev.  John  Forred,  D.  D.,  deliv- 
38 


694  SECOND  PKESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  [  1840-1. HiO. 

ered  in  the  First  Presbytenan  Church,  Charleston,  Oct.  i6,  iSyg, 
by  Riv.  W.  D.  Dana,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  tlie  Central  Presbyterian 
Church^ 

Second  Presbyterian  Church  (Charleston).  This  church 
enjoyed  the  labors  of  its  cffident  and  able  pastor,  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Smyth.  Tile  Church  manual  published  by  him  in 
1838,  presents  faitlifully  to  the  church,  and  its  members  and 
officers,  their  several  duties  as  it  respects  the  various  causes 
of  benevolent  effort,  their  personal  duties  towards  themselves, 
each  other,  the  Church  collectively,  its  officers,  their  families, 
public  worship,  study  of  the  scriptures;  the  duties,  also,  of 
elders.  In  1848,  the  rules  for  the  temporal  government  of 
the  Church  were  revised.  There  had  been,  previous  to  this 
time,  a  two-fold  code  of  laws  for  its  government  in  things 
temporal.  The  corporation,  in  1823,  fiund  tiiemselves  en- 
cumbered by  a  debt  they  were  unable  to  pay.  A  number  of 
gentlemen  formed  themselves  into  an  associiition  for  the  pur- 
pose of  extinguishing  tliis  debt.  To  them  was  given  exclusive 
control  of  all  matters  relating  to  the  temporal  affairs,  such  a,s 
fixing  salaries,  pew  rents,  &c.  In  all  elections  of  proprietors, 
they  voted  according  to  the  amount  subscribed  by  each — 
from  one  to  eight  votes.  In  all  such  matters,  the  pewholders, 
unlrss  members  of  tiie  association,  were  not  entitled  to  vote. 
In  all  elections  for  pastor  or  clerk,  the  pewholders  were  en- 
titled to  one  vote  each.  Two  bodies  existed  cotemporaneously, 
meeting  apart,  each  governed  by  its  own  rules.  This  two- 
fold jurisdiction  bred  confusion.  In  May,  1843,  tlie  associa- 
tion relinquished  their  rights,  reserving  the  exclusive  right, 
as  stockholders,  to  their  original  privileges  in  all  matters  as 
to  the  sale  and  distribution  of  church  property.  The  rules 
were  revised,  and  were  finally  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Association  of  Pewholders,  May  4,  1852.  The  Bench  of 
Ruling  Elders,  in  1845,  consisted  of  T.  R.  Vardell,  John 
Dcwees,  William  Dearing,  William  Yeadon,  William  C. 
Dukes,  James  M.  Caldwell,  D.  W.  Harrison,  William  Adger, 
William  Harrall — nine  in  number. 

The  membership  of  the  church  varied  from  302  communi- 
cants, during  tliis  decade,  to  472,  the  average  being  369.  Of 
these,  a  portion  were  colored  communicants,  sometimes  more 
numerous,  but  averaging  113.  It  was  an  interesting  sight  on 
communion  occasions,  here  as  elsewhere,  after  the  tables  had 
been  successively   filled   by  the  whites,  when  their  servants 


1840-1850.]  DK.    ADGER.  595 

came  and  occupied  the  same  seats,  and  partook,  in  their  turn, 
of  the.  sacred  emblems  of  iheir  Saviour's  death.  "There  is 
neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither  bond  nor  free,  there 
is  neither  male  nor  female;  for  ye  are  all  one  in  Christ  Jesus." 
Gal.  iii,  28. 

This  church  also  excelled  in  its  benevolent  contributions. 
The  statistical  tables  appended  to  the  minutes  of  the  General 
Assembly  shows  that  this  church  gave  to  foreign  mis- 
sions, during  these  ten  years,  ;g4,49i.ii;  to  domestic 
missions,  gi, 936.60;  to  education,  ;g6,i6o;  to  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  ,$6,826,  besides  miscellaneous  collections, 
;$59i.  The  contributions  of  the  year  1842  are  not  reported, 
but  are  supplied  from  the  general  average  of  other  years. 
Contributions  in  ten  years,  apart  from  pastor's  salary, 
,$20,004.71. 

The  session  of  this  church  took  measures,  also,  which 
terminated,  under  the  sanction  and  fostering  care  of  Presby- 
tery, in  the  organization  of  Glebe  Street  Church,  for  which 
she  spared  some  of  her  choicest  members.  Another  project 
of  the  session  was  to  collect  a  congregation  and  ultimately  to 
form  a  church  consisting  exclusively  of  colored  persons, 
under  the  managetnent  and  pastoral  labors  of  Rev.  John  B. 
Adger,  D.D.  This  brother  had  entered  into  the  service  of 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions, 
had  been  stationed  at  Smyrna,  connected  with  the  mission  to 
the  Armenians,  where  the  Board  had  two  presses  and  seven 
fonts  of  native  type  in  use.  Dr.  Adger  then  edited  an  Ar- 
menian magazine,  and  brought  out  Zohrah's  popular  transla- 
tion of  the  New  Testament,  at  the  expense  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society.  "  After  a  laborious  and  useful  service 
in  the  literary  department  of  the  Mission,  he  was  constrained 
by  his  health,  in  1847,  to  retire  from  the  field,"  having  been 
twelve  years  in  the  service  of  the  Board.  The  Presbytery 
entered  into  this  project — not  yet  of  separate  churches  for 
colored  people,  but  of  separate  congregations — gave  its 
opinion  that,  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  Dr.  Adger 
was  called  upon  to  abandon  his  mission  in  the  East,  and  de- 
vote himself,  for  the  present,  to  this  much  needed  work. 
From  this  time  his  name  appears  as  domestic  missionary  to 
the  colored  people,  they  remaining,  as  yet,  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  session  of  the  Second  Church.  [MS.  Minutes 
of  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  426-429,  432.     Dr.   Anderson's 


596  THIED  OR  Cf:NTRAL  CHURCH.  [1840-1850. 

Missions  of  the  American  Board,  Oriental  Churches,  Vol.  I, 
I02,  126  ;  Vol.  II,  n.] 

The  Second  Church  reported  1 16  added  on  examination, 
and  9  on  certificate,  in  1847.  White  cominLinicants,  310; 
colored,  162  ;  total,  472.  in  1848.  White  communicants,  254; 
colored,  154;  total,  408,  in  1849 — a  total  of  414. 

Thikd  or  Central  Presbyterian  Church  (Charleston). 
The  location  and  general  unsightlines^  of  the  house  of 
worship  in  Archdale  street,  still  marred  tiie  prosperity  of  this 
church.  Though  isolated  still  from  the  majority  of  the  Synod, 
and  though  the  congregation  did  not  number  so  many  as 
sixty  families,  with  a  brave  heart  they  selected  a  central  and 
desirable  location  for  a  new  church  edifice,  of  beautiful  archi- 
tecture, the  corner-stone  of  which"  was  laid  on  the  loth  of 
August,  1848,  the  following  document,  inscribed  on  parch- 
ment, being  placed  in  the  corner-stone : 

COPY  OF  THE  DOCUMENT 

{Inscribed  on  parchment),  placed  in  the  Corner  Stone  of  the  new  edifice,  in 
the  course  of  erection,  for  the  use  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev. 
William  C.  Dana,  Pastor,  1848.  ^ 

TQI  OEniAOHA. 

The  Corner  Stone  of  this  edifice, 

Erected  by  the  Congregation  of 

The  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the  city  of  Charleston, 

For  the  worship  of 

Almighty  God,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 

■  Was  laid  on  the  10th  of  August,  Anno  Domini,  1848, 

The  following  at  the  time  being 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 
Rbv'd  Wm.  C.  Dana,  Pastor. 

ELDERS  : 

William  Birnie,  J.  L.  Beach, 

R.  L.  Stewart,  H.  M.  Bruns, 

George  Cotchett,  J.  B.  Betts, 

James  Dick,  F.  M.  Robertson,  M.  D. 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  CORPOEATIOX. 

L.  Bowie,  President.  W.  S.  Caldwell,  Secretary. 

L.  M.  Hatch,  Treasurer. 


1840-1850.]  THJRD*  PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,  597 

STANDING     COMMITTEE. 

J.  H.  Taylor,  J.  W.  Caldwell, 

James  Harral,  J.  B.  Betts, 

PINAXCE   COMMITTEE. 

J.  S.  Bowie,  L.  M.  Hatch. 

J.  W.  Caldwell, 

BUILDING    COMMITTEE. 

Edward  Sebring,  J.  H.  Taylor, 

J.  L.  Bowie,  H .  M.  Briins. 

W.  H.  Gilliland, 

E.  C.  Jones,  Architect,  G.  W.  Buzby,  Masons, 

J.  V.  Griner,  J.  F.  Bussell,  Carpenter. 

CITY   GOVERNMENT. 
T.  Leger  Hutchinson,  Mayor. 

ALDERMEN. 

Otis  Mills,  G.  H.  Ingraham, 

J.  Bonnell,  Jr.,  W.  M.  Martin, 

H.  J.  White,  J.  L.  Strohecker, 

C.  D.  Carr,  *         W.  M.  Lawton, 
W.  Lloyd,  Dr.  E.  W.  North, 
G.  Kinloch,                                           W.  McBurney. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT. 

D.  Johnson,  Governor  and  Commander  in  Chief, 
William  Cain,  Lieutenant  Governor. 

B.  J.  Hennegan,  Secretary  of  State. 

UNITED   STATES   GOVERNMENT. 

James  K.  Polk,  of  Tenne.ssee,  President,  etc. 
George  M.  Dallas,  of  Pennsylvania,  Vice  President. 

LIST  OF  THE  PASTORS  AND  ELDERS  OF  THE  CHURCH  FROM 
ITS  FIRST  INSTITUTION  IN  1823  TO  1848. 

Rev'd  William  A.  McDowell,  installed  Pastor 1824. 

Rev'd  William  C  Dana  "  Feb.  11,  1836. 

Robert  B.  Edwards,  Jasper  Corning,  Ordained  Elders  (no 
record.)   

Thomas   Fleming,  John  Maxton  "  July  1,  1824. 

Thomas  Napier,  James  Mitchell,  Charles  Mclntyre,  ordain- 
ed Elder Feb.  11,1827. 

Charles  Clark,  Robert  S.  Stewart,  ordained  Elders Feb.  22,  1835. 

William  Birnie,  George  Cotchet,  "  April  1,  1838. 

James  Dick,  Joseph  L.  Beach,  Henry  M.  Bnins,  James  B. 

Betts,  Francis  M.  Robertson,  M.  D.,  ordained  Elders. ..Dec.  27, 1846. 


598 


THIRD    PKESBYTERIAN   CHURpH. 


[1840-1850. 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  CORPORATION  FROM   1824  TO  1848. 


TREASURER. 

Andrew  P.  Gready, 
Robert  Eager, 


PRESIDENT. 

1824,    Thomas  Fleming, 

1825, 

1826,  William  Bell, 

1827, 

1823,  Thomas  Napier, 
1829, 

1830-1,  William  A.  Caldwell, 
1832-3,  William  Birnie,  ■ 
1834-5,  James  Dick, 
1836,    Samuel  P.  Ripley, 
1837, 

1838.    James  J.  McCarter, 
1839         *'  " 

1841-1,  William  H.  Gilliland, 
1842-3,  Edward  Sebring, 
1844  5,  James  S.  Bowie, 
1846,    Joseph  F.  O'Hear, 
1847, 
1848,    Langdon  Bowie. 

1824,  Hector  C.  McLeod, 
1825, 
1826, 
1827, 
1828, 

1829,      Robert  L.  Stewart, 
1830-1, 

1832-3,  Charles  Clark, 
1834-5  William  Miller, 
1836,   James  H.  Taylor, 

HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 
The  congregation  composing  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church,  w^as  or- 
ganized in  the  year  1823,  and  worshipped  from  that  time  to  the  present 
(1848),  in  the  building  situated  at  the  N.  W.  corner  of  Archdale  and 
West  streets,  which  was  originally,  erected  in  1814,  by  a  congregation, 
styled  "The  St.  Andrew's  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  City  oi  Charles- 
ton," who  were  were  seceders  from  "  The  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
City  of  Charleston,"  better  known  as  "  Hie  Scotch  Church"  and  whose 
first  pastor  was  the  Rev'd  Dr.  John  Buchan.  After  the  lapse  of  nine 
years,  this  congregation  being  without  a  pastor,  and  burdened  by  debt, 
resolved  to  dispose  of  their  premises  on  the  conditions,  that  the  Church 
should  be  held  sacred  as  a  place  of  public  Christian  worship,  and  the 
ground  attached  thereto  be  continued  as  a  cemetery.  They  were  ac- 
cordingly purchased  by  Messrs.  Thomas  Napier  and  "Thomas  Fleming, 
two  of  the  original  members  and  founders  of  the  Third  Presbyterian 
Church,  whose  first  iiastor  was  the  Rev.  William  A.  McDowell,  who 
ministered  to  them  till  1833,  when  he  dissolved  the  connection  in  or- 
der to  assume  the  office  of  Secretary  and  General  .\gent  of  the  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Missions.  From  that  time  the  pulpit  was  supplied  by 
various  ministers  till  the  year  1836,  when  the  Rev.  William  C.  Daua,  its 
present  pastor,  was  installed  over  the  congregation. 


Copeland  Stiles, 


Lewis  M  Hatch, 

(I  li 

SECRETARY. 

1837,  James  H.  Taylor, 

1838,  Nathaniel  Hyatt, 

1839,  'William  S.  Caldwell, 
1840-1, 

1H423, 

1844-5, 

1846, 

1847, 

1848, 


1840-1850]  THIRD  PRESBYTERIAN  CHUnCH.  y!  9 

In  1847,  the  building  boinc;  in  such  a  condition  as  to  render  it  likely  in 
a  few  years  to  require  extensive  ami  costly  repairs,  hnd,  together  with 
other  disadvantages,  being  sitiiaied  in  a  notoriously  disreputable  neii-'li- 
borhood,  the  expediency  of  erecting  a  new  edifice  in  a  more  eligible 
site,  began  to  be  agitate.l ;  ami  nt  a  meeting  of  the  corporation,  heul 
July  13tn,  1847,  a  committee  was  appointed  lo  lake  the  whole  matier  in- 
to consideration  and  report  thereon.  Th«-y  accordingly  presented  a  full 
and  able  report,  wliich  beinj<  accepted,  ami  at  several  subsequent  nieo  - 
ing«  ihe  whole  sulyeut  having  been  fully  considered  and  discussed,  tlie 
resolution  was  finally  adopted  to  erect  a  new  church  edifice.  On  the 
2Ist,  February,  1848,  the  lot  on  which  this  building  stands,  was  pur- 
chased. On  the  18th  July  of  the  same  year,  the  Building  Committee 
was  authoriz  d  to  enter  into  contract  lor  erecting  the  propo-ed  edifice. 
On  the  28th  of  the  same  month,  the  first  earth  wa-i  dug,  and  on  the  3d 
of  the  following;  month  (Angust)  the  first  brick  of  the  fonndation  laid. 
And  the  good  hand  of  our  God  being  upon  us,  and  relying  on  Hia  aid, 
we  lny  this  ccner  i-tone  hs  an  earnest  of  our  pnrpose  to  prosecute  the 
work  to  its  comp'etion. 

The  following  is  the  account  of  these  transactions,  given  by 
Dr.  Dana  in  1857,  in  his  seventh  anniversary  sermon  of  the 
dedication  of  the  Central  Presbyterian  Church: 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Corporation,  July  13th,  1847,  the 
question  of  building  a  new  church  edifice  was  for  the  fir.st 
time  agitated.  The  organization  of  this  great  work  and  its 
progress  to  completion,  have  left  an  enduring  and  most  pleas- 
ant record  in  the  annals  of  this  Church,  as  well  as  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  its  benefactors.  An  undertaking  so  extensive 
could  not  be  entered  on  hastily  by  gentlemen  who  felt  them- 
selves responsible  for  the  fulfilment  of  all  engagements.  Gia- 
dually,  however,  the  determination  to  huAdhcc^me uiia^tiiftons ; 
and  a  preliminary  subscription  was  made  of  between  ten  and 
eleven  thou.=and  dollars.  The  ground  on  which  this  building 
stands  was  purchased  February  21st,  1848.  On  the  first  Sab- 
bath in  February,  1850,  we  met  in  this  place  to  worship  God 
f(jr  the  first  time.  With  gladness  and  rejoicing  we  assembled; 
the  Church,  emerging  from  her  long  depression,  seemed,  in 
her  translation  to  this  beautiful  architecture,  and  most  eligible 
site,  "  as  the  wings  of  a  dove  covered  with  silver,,  and  her 
feathers  with  yellow  gold." 

The  position  of  this  edifice,  on  a  main  thoroughfare  of  the 
city,  and  equi-disfant  from  the  Battery  and  Line  street,  sug- 
gested the  designation  "  Central ;"  and  by  the  new  charter, 
obtained  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature,  "  Central 
Presbyterian  Church  "  is  now  the  corporate  name. 

The  cost  of  this  edifice,  though   materially  lessened  by  the 


600  THIRD    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  [1840-185(1. 

zeal  and  devotion  of  the  Building  Committee,  who  them.selves 
made  the  contracts  directly  With  the  parties  employed,  was 
nevertheless  ;^io,00O  more  than  the  higiiest  amount  origin- 
ally contemplated.  After  the  payment  of  the  original  sub- 
scription, and  of  the  first  instalment  on  pews  sold  after  the 
dedication,  there  was  reported  at  the  annual  meeting,  January, 
185  I,  a  debt  of  more  than  j^i8,OQO,  of  which  it  was  proposed 
to  pay  the  interest  and  ,^1,000  of  tiie  principal  annually  from 
the  income  of  the  Church,  or  by  such  additional  special  effort 
as  miglit  be  needful. 

In  1854,  more  than  ,^2,000  was  raised  by  subscription  to- 
wards the  liquidation  of  the  debt.  About  the  same  sum 
was  contributed  in  1855.  A  year  ago,  the  debt,  in- 
cluding interest,  was  between  thirteen  and  fourteen  thousand 
dollars. 

On  Monday  evening.  May  19th,  1856,  the  office  having  be- 
come vacant,  the  Corporation  met  to  elect  a  President.  From 
that  election  we  date  a  new  era  in  our  history.  The  idea  of 
relieving  tlie  Church  at  once  from  all  debt,  originating  with  one, 
responded  to  with  equal  warmth  by  another,  and  yet  another, 
spread  so  rapidly,  and  was  received  with  so  general  and  gen 
erous  enthusiasm,  that  in  a  short  time  the  entire  amount  was 
subscribed.  At  ti>e  late  meeting  of  the  Corporation,  the 
President  reported  nearly  ^14,000  of  debt  paid,  no  outstand- 
ing accounts,  and  one  thousand  dollars  in  the  treasury;  a 
new  feature  in  the  history  of  this  Church. 

Thus  have  the  "  foundations  "  all  been  laid  anew,  and  as  we 
trust,  "for  many  generations."  Anew  church  and  lecture 
room  have  been  built,  at  a  cost  (including  interest  and  im- 
provements of  the  cemetery)  of  between  fifty  and  sixty  thou- 
sand dollars.  If  from  this  be  deducted  such  aid  as  has  been 
tendered  by  friends  not  connected  with  us,  there  remains 
more  than  fifty  thousand  dollars  from  the  contributions  of  this 
congregation.  This  large  amount  has  a  still  enhanced  value; 
as  representing  the  generous  impulses  of  hearts  ready  to 
make  sacrifices  in  a  good  cause,  and  as  proving  how  strong  is 
this  Church  in  the  unanimity  and  warm  attachment  of  its 
members. 

But  "  not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  u.-!,  but  unto  thy  name 
give  glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  for  thy  truth's  sake." 

In  1844,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and    Georgia,  at  Pendleton,  S.  C,  the   relation    between  the 


1840-1850.J  CHARLESTON    UNION    PRESBYTERY.  601 

Synod  and  the   so  called    Charleston  Union   Presbytery  was 
taken  up,  and  the  following  resolution  was  adopted  : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Synod,  understanding  that  some  or 
all  the  members  of  the  body  known  as  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery,  are  willing  again  to  be  united  to  this  body,  do 
hereby  appoint  the  following  brethren,  viz  :  G.  Howe,  D.  D., 
Rev.  M.  D.  Fraser,  Rev.  J.  Douglas,  Chancellor  J.  Johnston, 
and  Mr.  J.  R.  Douglas,  as  a  committee  of  conference  with 
these  brethren,  and  to  communicate  the  desire  of  the  Synod, 
to  remove,  as  far  as  the  order  and  doctrines  of  the  church 
will  permit,  any  difficulties  which  may  be  in  the  way  of  such 
a  union." 

This  proposal  of  a  conference  was  cordially  acceded  to  on 
the  part  of  the  Presbytery,  who  appointed  a  committee  on 
their  part,  consisting  of  thq  Rev.  Mr.  Lee,  Rev.  Dr.  Post,  Rev. 
Mr.  Dana,  Rev.  I.  S.  K.  Legare,  and  Dr.  Elliott.  At  the 
meeting  of  Synod  in  Charleston,  in  November,  1846,  these 
.committees  had  repeated  interviews,  and  much  discussion  of 
the  differences  which  had  e.xisted  between  the  Presbytery  and 
Synod,  and  of  the  possible  plans  of  union  which  might  be 
devised.  After  a  preamble,  in  which  the  committee  on  the 
part  of  the  Synod  explained  what  its  requirement  was,  that 
it  intended  to  require  adherence  to  the  Assembly,  as  then 
constituted,  rather  than  approval,  the  following  resolutions 
were  offered  by  the  Synod's  Committee  to  that  body  : 

1.  Resolved,  That  Synod  will,  and  hereby  does,  resume  its 
jurisdiction  over  Charleston  Union  Presbytery. 

2.  That  the  roll  of  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  be  now 
added  to  the  roll  of  Synod,  and  that  the  stated  clerk  of 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  is  hereby  directed  to  furnish  to 
Synod  the  statistical  report  of  said  Presbytery. 

3.  That  as  both  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  and  the 
Presbytery  of  Charleston  occupy  for  the  most  part  the  same 
geographical  territory,  they  be  and  hereby  are  united  into  one 

body,  to  be  called ,  and  that  Rev.  Dr.  Leland,  or  in 

his  absence  the  oldest   minister  present,  be  the  Moderator  of 
this  Presbytery  at  its  first  meeting. 

4.  That  the  records  of  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  and 
the  records  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  be  the  common 
property  of  the  united  body. 


602  CHARLESTON  UNION  PEESBYTBHY.  [1840-1S50. 

5.  That  the  preceding  preamble  and  resolutions  shall  not 
be  binding  on  the  Synod  and  the  Charleston  Union  Presby- 
tery, nor  on  either  of  them,  until  they  are  adopted  by  each 
body  respectively. 

The  following  substitute  had  been  adopted  by  the  Charles- 
ton Union  Presbytery,  and  was  alone  considered  by  Synod 
in  its  discussion  of  this  paper,  viz:  for  resolution  4, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  and  the 
Charleston  Presbytery  shall  retain  their  present  separate  or- 
ganization, and  that,  if  necessary,  a  geographical  line  of  divi- 
sion be  drawn  or  described  between  them." 

This  was  viewed  as  their  ultimatum,  and  in  the  vote,  which 
was  not  taUen  till  the  second  day  after,  there  was  but  one  vote 
in  the  affirmative,  fifty-five  in  the  negative,  and  three  excused 
from  voting. 

If  we  should  pursue  this  history  thus  far,  it  will  be  seen 
that  when  this«question  was  finally  adjudicated  at  Yorkville 
in  1852,  by  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  it  was  substantially 
in  accordance  with  the  recommendations  ofthe  Synod's  Com- 
mittee at  this  time. 

This  state  of  things  and  the  personal  differences  between 
brethren  of  the  two  parties  gave  great  uneasiness  to  brethren 
elsewhere,  and  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  at  their 
spring  session  at  Gilder's  Creek  Church,  April  2Sth,  1845, 
addressed  both  the  Presbyteries  of  Charleston  and  Charleston 
Union,  suggesting  that  each  Presbytery  should  consent  to  its 
own  dissolution  with  the  view  of  forming  a  new  Presbytery, 
offering  to  receive  them  for  a  season  into  their  own  Presby- 
tery, if  deemed  expedient,  to  be  set  off  again  as  a  distinct 
Presbytery,  or  Presbyteries,  covering  the  same  general  terri- 
tory. Reference  of  personal  differences  to  the  arbitration  of 
mutual  friends  had  thus  far  failed.  When  the  General  Assem- 
bly met  in  Charleston,  May  20th,  1852,  it  received  a  commu- 
nication from  the  "  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,"  represent- 
ing their  case,  which  was  referred  to  a  special  committee,  and 
came  up  for  action  on  the  8th  day  of  their  session,  when  the 
report  of  the  committee  was  adopted,  as  follows  : 

"  1st.  Resolved,  That  this  Assembly  express  its  high  grati- 
fication to  learn  that  the  brethren  submitting  this  communi- 
cation do  still  entertain  so  much    regard  for  the  doctrine  and 


1840-1850.]       DECISION  OF  THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY.  003 

polity  of  our  Church,  as  to  cherish  the  desire  of  adherence  to 
this  body,  ratlier  tlian  any  other  branch  of  the  visible  church. 

"  2nd.  Resolved,  That  on  account  of  the  failure  of  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  to  apply  for  redress  of  alleged 
grievances  to  the  General  Assembly,  by  appeal  or.complaint, 
at  the  proper  time  (some  twelve  years  ago),  this  Assembly 
does  not  consider  it  expedient  (o  enter  upon  the  investigation 
of  the  case  now,  in  the  way  proposed  by  the  Presbytery. 

"3rd.  Resolved,  That  mutual  forbearance  and  the  exercise 
of  kindly  feeling  be  recommended  to  all  the  parties  concerned. 

"4th.  Resolved,  That  if  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery 
shall  make  known  to  the  stated  clerk  of  the  G.eneral  Assem- 
bly their  adhesion  to  this  Assembly  and  its  doctrinal  stand- 
ards, prior  to  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  stated  clerk  to  commu- 
nicate the  same  without  delay  to  said  Synod,  and  the  Synid 
shall  thereupon  enroll  them  as  a  regular  Presbytery  in  con- 
nection with  this  body.'' 

This  case  came  up  before  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  for 
action  on  the  fourth  day  of  its  sessions  at  Yorkvillc,  being 
the  23d  of  October,  1852,  when  the  following  paper,  presented 
by  Dr.  Smyth,  as  a  substitute  for  one  offered  by  Dr.  Palmer, 
but  written  by  Dr.  Thornwell,  was  adopted : 

"  Whereas,  the  General  Assembly  has  made  it  the  duty  of 
this  Synod,  upon  certain  conditions,  to  enroll  the  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery  as  a  regular  Presbytery  in  connection  with 
this  body  : 

And  whereas,  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  has  com- 
plied with  these  conditions  by  declaring  its  adherence  to  the 
General  Assembly,  and  its  doctrinal  standards,  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  this  public  and  voluntary,  and,  as 
we  must  believe,  conscientious  expression  of  adherence  to  the 
General  Assembly  as  noW  constituted,  and  their  consequent 
subjection  to  it,  and  to  the  judicatories  of  the  Church,  and 
also  to  the  doctrinal  standards  of  our  Church,  the  difficulties 
which  have  hitherto  existed  in  the  way  of  the  reception 
of  said  Presbytery  by  this  Synod,  are  removed. 

Resolved,  Secondly,  That  this  Synod  do  now  enroll  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  in  connection  with  this  body,  in 
accordance  with   the  requirements  of  our  Gsneral  Assembly 


604  ACTION  OF  THE  SYNOD.  [1840-1850. 

and  in  the  spirit  of  forbearance  and  cljarity  recommended  by 
said  Assembly. 

Resolved,  Thirdly,  That  inasmuch  as  there  caimot  be  two 
Presbyteries. covering  the  same  ground,  without  recognizing 
the  principle  of  elective  affinity,  this  Synod  do  now  unite  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  and  the  Presbytery  of  Charles- 
ton into  one  Presbytery,  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  The 
Charleston  Presbytery. 

The  vote  was  taken  on  the  substitute  offered  by  Dr.  Smyth, 
which,  on  motion,  was  divided,  the  yeas  and  nays  being  taken 
upon  the  Preamble  and  the  first  two  resolutions,  the  vote  was 
as  follows:  Yeas,  56;   Nays,  17. 

The  third  resolution  of  the  substitute,  by  which  the  two 
Presbyteries  were  merged  into  one,  was  carried  unanimously. 
To  complete  the  action  of  the  Synod  in  regard  to  tiie  recep- 
tion of  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  Charleston  Presbytery  as  now  consti- 
tuted, meet  in  the  Glebe  Street  Church,  Charleston,  on  the 
Wednesday  before  the  second  Sabbath  in  April  next,  at  7 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  that  Rev.  A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D..  as  the 
oldest  minister,  preside,  and  open  the  meeting  with  a  sermon, 
and  that  Rev.  W.  States  Lee  be  his  alternate.  Printed  Min- 
utes of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  pp.  12,  13,  14,  16, 
17-23. 

As  we  write  these  lines  we  are  reminded  that  the  active  op- 
ponent of  the  measures,  which  separated  from  us  those 
cliurches  which  became  connected  with  us  under  the  plan  of 
Union  of  1801,  has  passed  away  from  earth  and  gone  to  his 
eternal  reward.  We  have  been  acquainted  with  him  since  he 
was  a  student  in  College,  and  although  it  would  have  been 
more  satisfactory  if  he  had  not,  when  assenting  to  thi  doc- 
trines of  the  Confession,  added  the  explanatory  statement 
before  recorded,  we  do  not  suppose  that  his  course  was 
prompted  by  sympathy  with  fatal  error.  Had  this  been  the 
case  he  would  have  been  the  unworthy  son  of  the  Rev.  Dan- 
iel Dana,  D.  D.,  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  New- 
berry Port,  one  of  the  original  Trustees  of  the  Seminary  at 
Andover,  author  of  the  "  Letters  to  Prof  Stuart,"  the  "  Re- 
monstrance addressed  to  the  Trustees  of  Phillips'  Academy, 
on  the  state  of  the  Theological   Seminary   under  their  care," 


1840-1850.]  GLEBE  STREET,  CHA  RLESTON.  605 

and  who  resigned  his  trusteeship  in  1856,  having  served  in 
that  office  for  52  years;  an  unworthy  descendant  too,  of  his 
grandsire,  Joseph  Dana,  D.  D.,  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Ipswich,  Mass.,  "  a  firm  believer  in  tiie  doctrines 
of  Calvinism,  a  faithful  preacher  and  a  man  of  prayer"- — "the 
celebrated  minister  of  Ipswich,  who  died  in  1827,  aged  83." 
Our  brother,  Dana,  had  passed  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
church  militant  on  earth,  for  he  entered  into  the  church  trium- 
phant above  in  December,  1880. 

Glebe  Stkeet,  Charleston. — This  church  arose  in  part 
from  the  desire  to  advance  the  interests  of  Presbylerianism  in 
Charleston,  It  was  organized  in  1847,  and  consisted  at  the 
meeting  of  Synod  in  that  year,  of  42  members.  The  Rev. 
A.  A.  Porter  served  it  at  first,  as  stated  supply.  The  project 
of  organizing  the  new  rhurch  originated  with  the  session  of 
the  2d  Church,  and  wa.^favored  by  the  Presbytery  with  all  its 
influence.  "The  position  of  our  body,"  it  says,  "  is  isolated 
and  peculiar.  We  have  been  exposed  to  much  reproach  and 
misrepresentation,  and  violent  hostility  has  been  excited 
against  our  doctrines  and  order,  and  our  principles.  We  are 
persuaded,  however,  that  a  wider  diffusion  of  our  system  can- 
not but  contribute  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  man  ; 
and  while  we  would  do  nothing  to  injure  or  retard  the  pros- 
perity of  other  denominations,  we  feel  bound  to  put  forth 
whatever  ability  God  has  given,  to  extend  our  borders.  The 
Presbytery  would  express,  therefore,  its  joy  that  the, 2d  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Charleston  is  doing  so  well,  and  would 
exhort  it  to  make  still  greater  sacrifices,  rather  than  permit 
this  enterprise  to  fail."  "  The  Presbytery  would  also  appoint 
any  two  of  the  brethren  in  Columbia,  whose  convenience 
will  allow,  to  go  to  Charleston,  and  in  cooperation  with  the 
brethren  there,  hold  a  series  of  meetings  at  such  time  as  Mr. 
Porter  may  fix,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  new  church 
and  giving  whatever  additional  impulse  God  may  enable  them 
to  give  to  the  whole  enterprise." 

This  Church  was  constituted  in  May,  1847,  with  34  mem- 
bers, under  tiie  government  of  three  Elders,  with  three  Dea- 
cons. Eight  other  members  had  been  added  previous  to  the 
meeting  of  Presbytery  in  October.  A  Sabbatii  school  of  184 
scholars,  one-third  of  whom  had  never  attended  any  other 
Sabbath  school  before,  was  at  once  organized.  This  school 
was  under  the  instruction  of  30  teachers.     The  statistics  of 


606  GLEBE    STREET.  [1840-1850. 

thi.s  church  show  a  membership  of  58  in  1848,  and  of  79  in 
1849.  The  congregation  had  commenced  the  erection  of  a 
suitable  house  of  worship  in  October,  1847.  The  Rev.  Ab- 
ner  A,  Porter  was  installed  as  Pastor  on  Sabbath  evening, 
November  26,  1848,  Rev.  Thos.  Smyth,  D.  D.,  preaching  the 
sermon,  Rev.  J.  B.  Adger  delivering  the  charge  to  the  Pastor, 
and  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer  the  charge  to  the  people. 

The  inception  of  a  special  enterprise,  contemplating  the 
evangelization  of  tlie  colored  people  of  Charleston,  took  place 
near  the  close  of  that  period  which  is  covered  by  this  history. 
In  1847,  the  Rev.  John  B.  Adger  (having,  in  consequence  of 
the  failure  of  his  eyes,  returned  from  his  mission  among  the 
Armenians)  conceived  the  plan  of  devoting  himself  to  the 
religious  instruction  of  the  colored  people  of  Charleston.  He 
was  warmly  seconded  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth,  and  the 
church  of  which  he  was  pastor.  At  a  meeting  of  the  session 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  March  15th,  1847,  Mr. 
Adger  sought  their  advice  "  with  respect  to  the  propriety  and 
feasibility  of  establishing  a  separate  church  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  colored  population."  The  session  "unanimously" 
agreed  that  "  they  ought  to,  and  would  encourage  the  Rev.  J. 
B.  Adger  in  the  prosecution  of  the  work."  [Sessional  Records 
of  Second  Presbyterian  Church.] 

At  a  Meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  in  April,  1847, 
at  Barnwell  C.  H.,  this  matter  was  referred  to  a  committee 
consisting  of  the  Rev.  James  H.  Thornwell,  D.  D.,  and  the 
Rev.  George  Howe,  D.  D.,  who  submitted  the  following  re- 
port, which  was  adopted  : 

"  The  special  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  pro- 
priety of  establishing  a  church  for  the  colored  population  in 
the  city  of  Charleston,  would  report:  That,  in  their  opinion, 
public  sentiment  has  undergone  a  very  great  change,  in  the 
State  of  South  Carolina,  in  reference  to  tlie  religious  instruc- 
tion of  our  colored  population.  Providence  has  opened  a 
wide  and  effectual  door  to  missionary  effort  among  them, 
which  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  enter  ;  and  though  some 
difficulties  still  exist,  these,  it  is  hoped,  will  gradually  be  re- 
moved by  Christian  zeal,  patience,  prudence  and  perseverance. 
This  department  of  labor  belongs  exclusively  to  the  Southern 
Church.  Our  brethren  in  other  lands,  and  other  portions  of 
our  own  country,  are  exposed — and,  for  the  most  part,  justly 
exposed — to  so  much  suspicion  and  distrust,  that  they  cannot 


1840-1850.]  GLEBi)    STKJiET.  607 

have  free  access  to  the  slaves  of  the  South.  Unacquainted 
with  the  nature  of  our  institutions,  strangers  to  the  prejudices, 
habits  and  pecuUarities  ot  the  negro,  incapable  of  appreci- 
ating ills  peculiar  sympathies  and  associations,  ministers  from 
abroad,  even  if  they  were  permitted  to  enter  tlie  field,  could 
not  be  expected  to  cultivate  it  with  the  same  success  which 
is  likely  to  reward  the  labors  of  our  own  men.  The  com- 
mittee, therefore,  believe  that  God  has  imposed  upon  the 
churches  and  Christian  people  of  the  South,  in  a  pre-eminent 
degree,  the  duty  of  spreading  the  Gospel  among  the  colored 
population,  whether  slave  or  free.  This  class  of  the  com- 
munity is  committed  to  ?is,  and  leanness  and  barrenness  must 
be — will  be — entailed  as  a  curse  upon  our  churches  if  they 
suffer  the  multitudes  of  these  poor,  whoin  God  has  settled 
among  them,  to  perish  for  the  bread  of  life.  From  the  very 
na_ture  of  their  .position,  they  are  dependent  upon  iis.  They 
cannot  form  churches  among  themselves,  call  pastors  and  sup- 
port tile  Gospel,  without  property,  without  concert,  witliout 
the  means  of  co-operation  and  united  effort.  They  must  be 
supplied  witii  God's  word  as  they  are  supplied  with  their 
daily  bread — by  the  hands  of  their  masters.  They  seem  to 
be  a  sacred  trust  which  is  to  prove  the  faith,  the  charity, 
the  self-denial  and  spiritual  zeal  of  the  Southern  Church  ; 
and  the  most  effectual  answer  which  can  be  given  to  the 
calumnies  of  abolitionists,  and  misguided  philanthropists, 
will  be  persevering  diligence  in  training,  this  people  for  glory, 
honor  and  immortality.  The  tendency  of  tiie. Gospel  is  to 
soften  all  that  is  harsh  in  the  relations  of  master  and  slave  ; 
to  prevent  the  one  from  being  a  tyrant,  and  the  other  a  rebel ; 
it  will  sweeten  their  intercourse,  authority  will  cease  to  be 
severe,  and  obedience  cease  to  be  a  task. 

"  Your  committee  are  delighted  to  learn  that  the  attention 
of  Brother  Adger,  of  Charleston,  has  been  turned  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  that  he  seems  to  be  disposed  to  embark  in  an  enter- 
prise to  give  more  efficient  religious  instruction  to  this  class 
of  the  community.  So  numerous  are  the  blacks  in  this  city, 
that  whatever  efforts  are  made,  must,  to  be  successful,  con- 
template congregations  separate  and  distinct  from  those  of 
the  whites.  The  colored  people  need  teachers  exclusively 
devoted  to  themselves — men  who  know  their  character,  habits 
and  associations,  and,  at  the  same  time,  of  large  and  liberal 
views;  who  can  adapt  the  instructions  of  the  pulpit  to  the  in-' 


608  GLEBE   STREET.  [1840-1850. 

tellectual  condition  of  this  benighted  race,  i  The  tendency  of 
the  colored  people  to  mistake  fervor  for  piety,  passion  for  de- 
votion, and  zeal  for  faith,  is  so  strong  that  too  much  care  can 
hardly  be  exercised  by  the  Church  in  selecting  ministers  to 
labor  among  them.  Your  committee  rejoice  to  believe  that 
this  brother  is,  in  many  respects,  admirably  fitted  to  enter 
upon  this  sphere  of  labor.  *  *  *  Should  Brother  Adger 
be  induced  to  enter  upon  this  field,  your  committee  are  clear 
that  he  should  endeavor  to  collect  a  separate  congregation  of 
the  blacks  ;  but  they  are  not  prepared  to  recommend  any  plan 
in  reference  to  the  organization  of  a  church  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  discipline.  Three  schemes  are  conceivable,  though 
all  do  not  seem  to  be  equally  compatible  with  our  distinctive 
principles  as  Presbyterians. 

"  One  is  to  place  the  church  entirely  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  Brother  Adger,  as  an  evangelist,  until  it  should  have  at- 
tained sufficient  maturity  to  elect  its  own  officers,  aud  dis- 
charge the  functions  of  a  particular  Church  of  Christ.  From 
the  state  of  society  among  us,  it  would  probably  require  a 
length  of  time  to  reach  the  maturity  supposed;  and  your 
committee  cannot  see  but  that  it  is  perfectly  consistent  with 
our  principles  that  an  evangelist  should  sustain  to  an  infant 
and  feeble  missionary  church  the  relations,  and  discharge  the 
duties,  of  a  parochial  Presbytery.  He  would  be  at  liberty  to 
consult  discreet  and  judicious  men,  but  the  responsibility  of 
all  measures  of  government  and  discipline  must  fall  finally 
upon  himself 

"  Another  plan  is  to  appoint  a  session,  consisting  of  white 
elders,  who  should  have  the  oversight  of  this  flock  ;  and  then 
the  difficulty  occurs  :  who  is  to  choose  these  elders  ?  Ac- 
cording to  our  system,  every  church  has  a  right  to  elect  its 
own  officers  ;  and  these  colored  Presbyterians,  if  organized 
into  a  separate  church,  could  not  constitutionally  be  deprived 
of  this  right. 

"  A  third  plan  might  be  to  regard  it  as  a  branch  of  some 
existing  church,  and  to  have  all  its  .discipline  administered  by 
the  session  of  that  church.  This,  and  the  first  proposed,  seem 
to  be  the  only  schemes  fully  compatible  with  our  circum- 
stances in  the  Southern  States.  In  conclusion,  your  com- 
mittee would  recommend  to  Presbytery  the  adoption  of  the 
following  resolutions  : 

"  I.  That  the  Presbytery  heartily  approve  of  the  efforts  which 


1840-1850.]  GLEBE    STREET.  609 

the  Rev.  J.  B.  Adgei-,.of  Charleston,  proposes  to  make  for  the 
purpose  of  imparting  more  effectual  religious  in.struction  to 
the  colored  population  of  that  city. 

"  2.  That,  while  the  Presbytery  recommends  the  formation 
of  separate  colored  congregations,  it  is  not  prepared  to  advise 
that  they  be  organized  into  separate  churches.  But,  rather, 
that  they  be  placed  under  the  discipline  and  spiritual  jurisdic- 
tion of  existing  sessions,  or  treated  as  missionary  churches 
under  the  care  of  an  evangrelist.* 

"  3.  That  this  Presbytery  is  persuaded,  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  that  there  is  a  call  of  Providence  to 
Brother  Adger  to  abandon  his  mission  in  the  East,  and  enter 
upon  the  field  which  is  whitening  to  the  harvest  at  his  very 
doors. 

"  4.  That,  in  giving  this  opinion,  the  Presbytery  would  not 
be  understood  to  disparage  the  foreign  missionary  work,  but 
simply  to  inculcate  the  imperative  obligation  of  the  Southern 
Church  to  give  the  Gospel  to  the  negro  and  the  slave." 
[Records  of  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  1847.] 

On  the  9th  of  May,  1847,  a  large  and  respectable  meeting 
was  held  at  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Charleston,  after 
a  sermon  by  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Adger,  and  an  address  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  Colcock  Jones,  D.  D.  The  Hon.  R.  B.  Gilchrist  pre- 
sided, and  resolutions,  introduced  in  an  able  speech  by  the 
Hon.  Franklin  H.  Elmore,  were  adopted,  contemplating  the 
inauguration  of  the  enterprise  and  the  raising  of  subscriptions 
to  erect  a  suitable  church  building. 

A  controversy  then  took  place  in  the  Charleston  daily 
papers,  conducted,  mainly,  on  one  side  by  a  writer  who  signed 
himself"  Many  Citizens,"  known  to  have  been  A.  G.  Magrath, 
Esq.,  in  opposition  to  the  scheme,  and  on  the   other  side  by 

*Under  the  first  of  these  forms  the  colored  congregation  existed  from 
its  beginning  until 'May,  1855,  at  which  date  it  was,  by  Presbytery,  con- 
stituted a  missionary  church,  under  the  care  of  an  evangelist — the  sec- 
ond of  these  forms.  So  it  contipued  until  1858,  when,  upon  the  per- 
sistent application  of  white  persons  to  become  members.  Presbytery 
organized  it  into  a  regular  church,  with  its  white  elders  and  deacons. 
In  consequence  of  the  war  between  the  States,  a  practical  separation 
was  effected  between  the  white  and  the  colored  membership ;  and  in 
1874,  in  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  General  Assembly,  it  was  set 
off  into  a  separate  colored  church,  with  a  view  to  its  becoming  an 
element  in  an  African  Pr<^sbyterian  Church. 
39 


610  JAMEs'  ISLAND.  1840-1850.] 

the  Rev.  J.  B.  Adger  and  Richard  Yeaj:3on,  Esq.  The  result 
of  this  discussion  was  the  postponement,  for  a  time,  of  the 
effort  to  build.  Subsequently,  a  public  meeting  was  held  in 
reference  to  the  subject.  Able  speecliL-s  were  made,  in  favor 
of  the  religious  instruction  of  the  colored  people,  by  James  L. 
Petigru,  Esq.,  and  Franklin  H  Elmore,  Esq.,  and  a  committee 
of  fifty  was  ajjpointed  to  collect  information  in  regard  to  the 
subject.  This  committee  made  a  full  and  thorough-going 
report,  which  allayed  agitation  and  prepared  the  way  for  the 
prosecution  of  this  enterprise  and  others  of  similar  nature. 

On  the  30th  of  April,  1848,  separate  services  for  the  colored 
people  were  begun  by  Mr.  Adger  in  tlie  basement  of  the  lec- 
ture-room of  the  Second  Presl))'terian  church,  a  building 
situated  in  Society  street,  near  Meeting  street.  In  this  house 
the  services  continued  to  be  conducted  until  the  completion 
of  a  church  building  for  the  purpose,  in  Anson  street,  between 
George  and  Calhoun  streets.  This  house,  a  neat  and  com- 
modious one  of  brick,  was  dedicated  May  26,  1850,  the  ser- 
mon on  the  occasion  having  been  preached  by  the  Rev.  J.  H. 
Thornwell,  D.  D.  Subsequently,  the  number  of  the  congre- 
gation became  so  great  as  to  necessitate  the  erection  of 
another  edifice.  That  building,  situated  in  Calhoun  street, 
So  by  100  feet  in  dimensions,  was,  until  Ihe  breaking  out  of 
the  war,  filled  by  an  immense  cong.regation,  both  of  blacks 
and  whites  ;  and  the  colored  membership  of  the  church  was 
rapidly  increasing  until  that  critical  event  arrested  further 
progress. 

James  Island. — The  Rev.  Edward  Tonge  Buist  (afterwards 
D.  D.)  had  served  in  this  church  from  January  lO,  1833, 
when  he  was  ordained  and  installed  by  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery  as  pastor  of  this  church.  Rev.  Dr.  Buist  preaching 
the  sermon.  Dr.  McDowell  givmg  the  charge  to  the  minis- 
ter, Mr.  White,  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  and  Mr.  E. 
Palmer  the  address  to  the  people.  On  the  2d  of  Nov.,  1837, 
he  had  already  been  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina.  Rev,  T.  H.  Legare  was  pastor  in  1839.  The  Rev. 
Julius  I.  Fleming  in  1844  for  a  season.  Other  names  are 
recollected,  as  Rev.  Mr.  Osborne,  and  a  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor, 
from  the  North,  who  supplied  the  pulpit  as  occasion  required. 
Ill  the  absence  of  records,  tradition  is  our  only  reliance.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Osborne  is  remembered  for  his  eminent  piety,  and 
his  success  in  interesting  children  and  youth. 


le4C-1850.]  JOHN'S  ISLAND  AND  WADMALAW.  611 

On  the  13th  of  Nov.,  1846,  the  Rev.  John  Dougla.s  was  re- 
ceived by  the  Presbyteiy  of  Charleston  from  the  Presbytery 
of  Bethel,  and  became  tiie  accepted  pastor  of  this  church, 
which,  at  this  time,  and  for  many  years  after,  held  itself,  by  a 
great  mistake,  independent  of  Presbytery.  Here  he  spent  fif- 
teen years  more  of  his  life,  "quietly  pursuing  the  duties  of 
his  high  calling,  when  this  cruel  war  commenced  ;  during  all 
this  time  dividing  his  labors  equally  between  the  whites  and 
blacks — the  latter  forming  much  the  larger  part  of  his  charge. 

The  first  gun  fired  in  this  war  was  within  one  hundred  and 
fifty  yards  of  his  door.  He  claims  the  credit  of  preaching  to 
soldiers  the  first  sermon  of  the  war.  In  1861  nearly  all  the 
families  of  his  island  home  and  charge  were,  under  military 
mandate,  broken  up,  dispossessed,  and  driven  away  as  refu- 
gees into  strange  lands.  Mr.  Douglas,  however,  continued  to 
preach  on  the  island  to  the  remnint  of  his  flock  that  was  per- 
mitted to  remain,  and  to  the  different  military  forces  sta- 
tioned on  the  island.  For  the  last  year  and  a  half  of  the  war 
he  was  appointed  Commissioner  by  the  General  Assembly's 
committee,  to  labor  in  the  army  from  Charleston  to  Savannah. 
He  was  permitted  to  remain  at  his  post  on  the  island  till  he 
had  performed  the  sad  duty  of  committing  to  the  dust  the  re- 
mains of  his  la'^t  ruling  elder,  and  had  brought  home  to  him 
from  different  battlefields  the  lifeless  bodies  of  nearly  all  the 
young  men  of  his  congregation,  to  be  buried  with  their 
fathers  ;  he  saw^  his  own  house  dismantled,  and  its  founda- 
tions dug  into  rifiepits,  the  church  in  which  he  had  so  long 
ministered,  burned  to  ashes,  and  the  very  sepulchres  of  the 
sainted  dead  broken  up  and  scattered  to  the  winds  ;  and  the 
few  surviving  members  of  his  flock  scattered  as  refugees,  as 
strangers  and  pilgrims  over  the  land.  And  now  (1865),  after 
the  hardships  and  ravages  0^2.  four  years  war,  he  finds  him- 
self solitary  and  almost  alone,  like  the  last  tree  of  a  wasted 
forest,  stripped  of  every  thing,  a  pastor  without  a  flock,  driven 
to  seek  a  new  home  and  to  commence  life  afresh. 

John's  Island  AND  Wadmalaw.— We  have  in  our  former 
piges  given  an  account  of  the  unhappy  litigation  entailed 
upon  this  church  by  the  ecclesiastical  differences  arising  out 
of  the  divisions  of  1837,  '3S  and  '39,  and  hive  alluded  to  the 
fact  of  its  reaching  a  legal  settlement  in  1846  through  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  The  record  of  this  case  we  will  now  give 
inoutline,  leaving  out,  however,  nothing  important  to  the  iss.ue: 


612  JAMEs'  ISLAND  AND  WADMALAW.  [1840-18;5<). 

HUGH  WILSON,  et.  al.,  vs.  THOMAS  LEGARE,  et.  al. 

GO  URT  OF  APPEALS. 

JcHNSON,  Ch.  February,  1846. 

For  the  facts  ofthe  case,  I  refer  to  tlie  decree  of  the  Cir- 
cuit Court,  and  shall  proceed  directly  tp  the  consideration  of 
the  questions  raised  by  the  grounds  of  appeal,  under  certain 
propositions,  which  I  propose  to  state  in  my  own  way.  I  pro- 
pose, in  the  first  place,  to  consider  them  in  reference  to  the 
bequest  of  Robeit  Ure  alone. 

The  bequest  of  Robert  Ure  is  "  to  the  sole  use  and  behoof, 
and  for  the  maintenance  of  a  iniiiister  of  the  gospel,  according 
to  the  Presbyterian  profession,  who  is  or  shall  be  thereafter, 
from  time  to  time  regularly  called,  and  subscribe  the  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith  as  the  confession  of  his  faith,  and 
shall  ^frw/y  believe  and preacli  the  same  to  the  people  there  com- 
mitted, orzvhich  shall  be  here  after  committed  to  his  care  and  pas-, 
toral  inspection^ 

It  has  not  been  questioned  that  Mr.  White  was  regularly 
called  and  ordained  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw,  and  that  the  church  was  a 
component  part  of  Presbytery  up  to  the  24th  December,  1838, 
when,  by  a  resolution,  which  was  carried  by  a  majority  of 
twelve  to  three,  it  declared  itself  an  "  Independent  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  absolved  from  all  connection  with  the  Charles- 
ton Union  Presbytery,  and  every   other  ecclesiastical   body." 

The  defendants,  being  in  the  majority,  are  in  possession  of 
the  property  and  funds  ofthe  church,  and  have  retained  Mr. 
White  as  their  pastor.  The  complainants,  being  a  minority, 
have  also  organized  themselves  as  a  church,  by  the  election 
of  officers,  and  have  been  recognized  by  the  Presbytery,  by 
the  Synod  and  General  Assembly  of  the  United  States,  as  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw.  The 
causes  which  led  to  these  proceedings  are  found  in  the  me- 
morable schism  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States,  which  took  place  at  the  meeting  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, held  at  Philadelphia,  in  1838.  The  defendants  were 
disinclined  to  enter  into  that  controversy,  and  set  up  for 
themselves.  The  complainants,  on  the  contrary,  adhered  to 
what  is  familiarly  called  the  Old  School  Presbyterian  Party, 
and  insist  that  they  constitute  the  true  church,  and  as  sucli 
are  entitled  to  the  funds  and  property  of  the  church. 


1840-1850,]  John's  island  and  wadjialaw.  61."' 

There  is  no  controversy  between  these  jiarties  as  to  inat- 
tcrs  of  faith.  The  faith  of  both  is  professedly  based  on  the 
Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.  They  differ  only  in  the 
form  of  government,  and  it  is  that  alone  which  characterizes 
and  distinguishes  tliem  from  each  other,  and  that  is  the  only 
distinction.  They  cannot  both  have  the  fund,  and  therefore 
it  becomes  necessary  to  look  into  their  forms  of  government, 
to  ascertain  whicli  the  testator  intended  should  have  it,  and 
the  leading  question  is,  whether  he  intended  this  charity  for 
the  support  of  a  minister  of  an  Indcpendeat  Church,  profess- 
ing to  beUeve  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith,  or  the 
minister  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  organized  according  to  the 
form  of  government  adopted  by  tliat  church. 

The  terms  used  by  the  testator  to  designate  the  person  for 
whose  benefit  this  charity  was  intended,  require  ist.  That 
he  shall  be  a  •'  minister  of  the  gospel,  according  to  the  Pres- 
byterian profession."  2d.  That  he  shall  "  subscribe  the  West- 
minster Confession  of  Faith,  as  the  confession  of  his  own 
faith."  3d.  That  he  shall  "  preach  the  same  to  the  people 
committed  to  his  care  and  pastoral  inspection." 

A  church  is  defined  in  the  form  of  government  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  to  be  a  "number  of  professing  Chris- 
tians, with  their  offspring  voluntarily  associated  together  for 
divine  worship,"  &c.,  "  and  submitting  to  a  certain  form  of 
government."  These  have  the  power  of  appointing  deacons, 
to  whom  the  secular.affairs  of  the  church,  and  the  care  of  the 
poor  are  committed,  and  ruling  elders,  who,  with  the  pastor, 
constitute  a  judicatory;  called  the  "Church  Session."  If  the 
church  is  satisfied  with  the  ministration  of  any  licentiate,  they 
present  him  with  a  call.  This  is  presented  to  the  Presbytery 
to  which  he  belongs.  And  it  is  expressly  declared  that  no 
candidate  or  minister  shall  receive  a  call  but  through  the 
hands  of  the  Presbytery.  His  installation  follows  upon  his 
professing  his  approbation  of  the  form  of  government  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  promising  to  subject 
himself  to  his  brethren  in  the  Lord,  and  the  organization  of 
the  church  is  complete.  They  have,  in  the  language  of  the 
Will,  a  minister  of  the  gospel  according  to  the  Presbyterian  pro- 
fession, regularly  called,  and  a  people  committed  to  his  care  and 
pastoral  inspection. 

A  Presbyterian  congregation,  with  its  officers,  pastor,  elders 
and  deacons,  is  said  to   be  a  complete   organization  in  itself, 


614  John's  island  and  wadmalaw.         [iS40-i85o, 

but  the  Church  authorities  all  ngree  that  it  is  not  independent. 
"  It  is  a  part  of  an  extended  whole,  living  under  tlie  same  ec- 
clesiastical constitution,  and  therefore  subject  to  the  inspec- 
tion and  control  of  the  Presbytery,  whose  business  it  is  to  see 
that  the  standards  of  doctrines  and  rules  of  discipline  are  ad- 
hered to  by  all  the  separate  churciies  under  its  care."  To 
the  Presbytery  is  superadded  the  litgher  judicatories  of  Sy- 
nods and  General  Assemblies,  as  the  means  of  preserving  the 
standards  of  doctrine  and  discipline  on  a  more  extended  ter- 
ritorial scale. 

Such  has  been  the  organization  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Scotland,  from  the  time  of  John  Knox  to  this  day,  and  has 
been  substantially  followed  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
England  and  the  United  States. 

Synods  and  General  Assemblies  are  necessary  when  the 
number  and  territorial  extent  of  the  churches  are  too  great  to 
be  under  the  control  of  the  Presbyteries,  and  are  calculated  to 
preserve  greater  uniformity  in  doctrine  and  discipline  than  a 
wider  extent  of  territory.  According  to  the  form  of  govern- 
ment, no  congregation  can  1  cgularly  call  s.  minister,  nor  can  a 
minister  he  ordained  to  a  particular  church,  but  through  the 
Presbytery. 

The  defendants  have  assumed  the  name  and  character  of  an 
Independent  Church,  by  which  tJiey  are  distinguished  from 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  clearly  as  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  is  from  the  Protestant  Epi6C0[)al  Church — and  it  would 
be  a  perversion  to  suppose  that  by  the  terms  "  Minister  of  the 
Gospel,  according  to  the  Presbyterian  profession,"  the  testa- 
tor meant  a  minister  of  an  Independent  Church. 

Upon  referring  to  the  clause  of  the  will  before  cited,  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  donation  was  for  the  support  of  a  minister 
"  hereinafter  "  to  becalled,  and  if  it  was  an  independent  church, 
I  should  conclude  that  the  donation  was  intended  as  an  in- 
ducement to  the  church,  to  submit  to  the  authority  of  Pres- 
bytery, and  thus  to  preserve  the  great  landmarks  of  fiiilh  and 
discipline. 

I  do  not  apprehend  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  individuals, 
having  the  management  of  that  institution,  at  any  time,  to 
alter  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  founded,  or  say  to  the  re- 
maining members,  "we  have  changed  our  opinions,  and  you 
who  assemble  in  this  place  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  the  doc- 
trines prescribed  by  the  founder,  shall   no  longer  enjoy    the 


1840-1850.]  JOHN'S   ISLAND   AND   WADMALAW.  615 

benefits  he  intended  for  you,  unless  you  conform  to  the  alter- 
ations in  our  opinions."  Tlie  Court  have  nothing  lo  do  with 
the  merits  of  the  ori<;inal  system,  as  it  is  the  right  of  those 
who  founded  the  institution,  and  who  gave  their  money  for  its 
estabhshmeiit,  to  have  the  trust  continued  as  it  was  intended." 
3  Meriv.  400,  18. 

The  donation  in  Ure's  will  is  not  to  the  John's  Island 
Church,  but  for  the  use  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  according 
to  the  Presbyterian  profession,  who  musf  have  a  congrega- 
tion regularly  committed  to  his  care  ;  and  Turner's  deed  ex- 
pressly superadds,  a  Presbyterian  form  of  government,  as  a 
part  of  the  description. 

Tlie  facts  that  Mr.  White  was  regularly  ordained  minister 
of  this  church,  and  is  himself  a  member  of  the  Pre.sbytery,  is 
relied  on  as  establishing  his  claim  to  be  supported  out  of 
this  charity,  although  the  congregation  has  repudiated  its  au- 
thority.. But  a  minister  alone  is  not  enough  ;  there  must  be 
a  people  under  his  care  and  pastoral  inspection,  to  whom  he 
must  preach  the  doctrines  of  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith.  In  the  act  of  ordination,  as  before  shown,  the  con- 
gregation promises  obedience  to  the  pastor,  and  the  pastor  to 
the  Presbytery;  and  the  defendants  having  violated  this  un- 
dertaking in  the  act  of  seceding  from  the  Presbytery,  they 
can  no  longer  be  regarded  under  his  care  and  inspection.  He 
derived  his  authority,  and  they  the  right  to  a  minister,  from 
the  Presbytery  upon  the  pledge  of  subordination  to  it;  and 
having  thrown  off  that  authority,  and  assumed  the  right  of 
self-government,  they  no  longer  remain  the  same  people — no 
longer  the  flock  committed  to  his  care.  The  people  descrilied 
in  the  will  are  wanting,  and  there  is  no  necessity  for  a  min- 
ister. 

The  question  arising  under  the  deed  of  Robert  Turner  is 
free  from  all  difficulty.  The  trust  there  is  for  the  "  minister 
or  pastor  of  the  Protestant  Presbyterian  Church  or  congrega- 
tion of  Christians,  who  do,  or  shall  usually  meet  or  assemble 
together  for  divine  worship,  at  or  in  their  public  meeting- 
house on  John's  Island,  during  the  time  he  should  be  minister 
or  pastor  of  the  said  congregation,  according  to  the  rules  and 
discipline  of  Presbyterian  Church  government." 

The  donation  of  Thomas  Hunscome,  of  the  land,  was  to  the 
Trustees  for  the  use  of  the  church  ;  and  of  the  money 
($6000),  directly  to  the  corporation.      Nor   is  there   any   evi- 


616  THE  John's  island  case.  [1840-185o. 

dence  that  there  was  any  direct  trust  declared  a^to  the  dona- 
tion from  the  John's  Island  Society,  or  the  contributions  for 
rebuilding^  the  church ;  but  the  necessary  inference  is,  that 
they  were  intended  for  the  use  of  the  corporation,  and  the  de- 
fendants insist,  that  being  the  majority,  they  have  the  right 
to  control  the  application  of  thsm.  I  agree  that  the  majority 
of  a  corporation  have  the  right  to  direct  the  application  of  its 
funds,  and  that  the  Court  cannot  control  them  in  the  legiti- 
mate exercise  of  that  power;  but  the  question  is,  whether  the 
complainants  or  the  defendants  now  constitute  the  corpora- 
tion. 'By  the  Act  of  1785,8  Stat,  at  Large,  128,  it  was,  the 
members  of  the  church,  and  their  successors,  members  of  the 
church,  who  were  incorporated,  and  the  defendants  having  se- 
ceded from  it,  are  no  longer  corporators,  and  the  disposition 
of  these  funds  belongs  to  the  complainants,  who  remain  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  These,  as  well  as  all  the  other  funds  are 
•said  to  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  corporation, 
and  are  rightly  so,  as  regards  tiiose  arising  from  the  bequest 
of  Ure,  the  grant  of  Turner,  and  the  lands  devised  by  Huns- 
come,  (all  of  which  are  vested  in  the  Trustee.s  by  name)  if  the 
Treasurer  has  been  regularly  substituted  Trustee,  and  for  the 
purposes  of  this  case  it  may  be  assumed  that  he  was,  nor  is  it 
material  in  whose  hands  the  funds  are — neither  the  corpora- 
tien,  the  church,  or  any  other  bpdy  of  men,  or  an  individual, 
has  the  right  to  apply  them  to  any  other  objects  than  those 
prescribed  by  the  donors. 

It  will  be  found  necessary  to  obtain  orders  for  carrying  this 
judgment  into  effect,  and  the  case  is  ordered  back  to  the  Cir- 
cuit Court  for  that  purpose. 

(Signed),  DAVID  JOHNSON. 

We  concur. 

J.  Johnston, 

B.  F.    DUNKIN. 

The  expenses  of  this  suit  on  the  part  of  the  defendants 
were  defrayed  out  of  the  very  funds  in  controversy,  as  will 
appear  from  a  resolution  found  on  page  25.  [Minutes  of 
Corporation.] 

"Resolved,  That  the  Treasurer  of  this  Church  be  author- 
ized to  pay  the  legal  gentlemen  employed  to  defend  the 
rights  of  this  Church   in  the  case  of  Hugh  Wilson  et  al.  vs. 


1840-1850.]      THE  CHUECH  RESCINDS  ITS  RESOLUTION.  617 

John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw  Church,  et  al.,  whenever  any 
demands  be  made  on  him,  and  any  time  he  may  think  proper 
to  do  so,  out  of  the  funds  of  the  Church." 

On  the  other  hand  the  long  and  expensive  suit  was  borne 
by  the  complainants  out  of  their  own  funds,  for  which  there 
is  no  evidence  of  their  ever  having  been  reimbursed. 

The  final  decision  of  the  above  case  was  reached  February, 
1846;  on  the  20th  of  May,  1846,  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution  was  adopted  : 

"  Whereas  we,  the  members  of  the  corporate  body  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  of  James  Island,  have  always  held  and 
faithfully,  adhered  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian 
denomination,  and  never  questioned  the  rules  of  discipline  or 
government  maintained  by  the  authorities  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  as  being  good  in  themselves  and  plainly  prov- 
able out  of  Holy  Scripture.  But  m  view  of  the  dissensions 
by  which  the  members  of  that  church  were  torn  and  divided- 
in  1838,  a  majority  of  the  members  of  this  corporate  body 
unwilling  to  side  with  either  of  the  two  judicatories,  equally 
claiming  their  obedience,  on  the  24th  of  December,  1838, 
declared  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  John's  Island  and 
Wadmalaw  to  be  an  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  ab- 
solved from  all  connection  with  the  Charleston  Union  Pres- 
bytery or  any  other  ecclasiastical  authority ;  and  whereas 
advantage  may  be  taken  of  the  said  resolution  to  impugn  the 
character  of  the  members  of  said  corporate  body  as  departing 
from  the  rules  and  discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  faith. 
Therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  said  resolution  of  the  24th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1838,  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  rescinded,  and  that  the 
authority  of  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  over  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw  is  acknowl- 
edged and  obeyed." 

The  amount  of  pi  operty  owned  by  the  church  at  the  time 
of  this  suit  was 

Money  in  bonds,  about ^12,000 

Money  in  stocks 2,000 

One  Plantation,  twenty  Negroes. 

A  summer  and  winter  Parsonage'. 

Two  summer  Churches,  one  at  Legareville  and  one  at  Rockville. 

One  winter  Church  in  the  middle  of  the  Island. 


(il8  EDISTO  ISLANJ).  [1840-1850, 

On  the  20th  of  November,  1849,  Mr.  White  died.  His 
death  was  cau.sed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse.  He  was  born 
in  East  Randolph,  Mass.,  October  8th,  1794.  He  was,  there- 
fore, in  the  55th  year  of  his  age.  The  Church  of  James 
Island  was  his  first  and  only  charge.  For  thirty  years  he 
labored  among  this  people  and  sustained  to  them  the  relation 
of  pastor  for  twenty-nine  years. 

Edisto  Island. — In  consequence  of  the  independence  of 
external  relations  maintained  by  this  church,  its  statistics  are 
not  exhibited  in  the  tables  ap  jended  to  the  minutes  of  the 
General  Assembly.  The  Rev.  William  States  Lee  continued 
to  be  its  pastor.  Writing  in  the  year  1858,  near  the  end  of 
the  next  decade,  he  says  : 

"There  are  thirty  white  members  on  the  li.st"  (of  the 
church).  "  It  is  difficult  to  state  coirectly  the  number  of 
colored  members,  in  consequence  of  the  number  who  have 
been  removed  from  the  island  at  different  times,  but  it  is 
probable  there  are  over  one  hundred  and  sixty  now  in  com- 
munion with  the  church.''  ''  The  constant  emigration  from 
the  island  and  other  causes  have  had  an  injurious  influence 
on  the  religious  condition  of  the  church  and  community,  and 
have  kept  the  congregation  in  a  low  sta'te.  Dividing  the 
period  of  time  between  1821  and  1858  into  periods  of  ten 
years,  the  additions  to  the  membership  of  the  church  have 
been  as  follows,  viz  : 

Between  183 1  and  1841,  white  members,  46;  colored  mem- 
bers, 108. 

Between  1841  and  1851,  white  members,  19;  colored  mem- 
bers, 121. 

Between  185 1  and  1858,  ending  with  March,  white  mem- 
bers, 14;  colored  members,  72. 

Total  added  between  1821  and  1858,  white  riienibcrs,  89, 
and  8  by  certificate  ;  colored  members,  338,  and  14  by  cer- 
tificate— making  in  all  449. 

Tiie  baptisms  administered  have  been— whites,  235  ;  col- 
ored, 338;  total,   573. 

During  thirty-seven  years,  the  members  of  the  congrega- 
tion have  built  two  parsonages  on  the  seashore  and  rehioved 
one,  also  built  one  parsonage  on  the  island.  They  have  built 
one  church  edifice  on  the  seashore  and  one  on  the  island. 
The  contributions  for  benevolent  objects,  which  have  been 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  session,  have  averaged  nearly  ^600 


1840-1850,]  THE  EEV.  WM.  STATES  LEE.  619 

per  annum,  for  several  j-ears  past ;  and  when  particular  ob- 
jects have  called  for  specific  contributions,  the  sum  raised  has 
been  upwards  of  ;$2  OOO,  and  in  one  ye^ir  paiticularly,  upwards 
of  ^5,000,  independent  of  their  own  expenses  as  a  congrega- 
tion. In  drawing  this  sketch  to  a  close,  it  gives  the  writer 
pleasure  to  record,  that  the  attention  of  the  congregation  to 
the  support  and  comfort  .of  the  pastor  has  been  constant, 
cheerful,  and  unwavering." 

Tills  was  written  by  the  beloved  and  venerable  pastor 
towards  the  close  of  the  next  decade,  and  so  anticipates  the 
course  of  the  history  which  accords  with  our  plan.  On  the 
second  day  of  March,  A.  D.  1870,  the  church  altered  its  con- 
stitution, and  came  into  full  communion  with  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church.  This  was  some  five  3'ears  before  his 
lamented  death,  which  occurred  on  the  28th  of  July,  1875. 

MEMORIAL  OF  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  STATES  LEE. 
Adopted  by  Charleston  Presbytery, at  Yorkville,  S.  C,  November 

15,  1S75. 

Yorkville,  S.  C,  November  5,  1875. 
The  Rev.  William  States  Lee  was  born  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  S.  C,  on  July  22d,  1793.  His  father  was  Mr. 
Stephen  Lee,  and  his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Dorothea 
Smiser.  Her  name  when  she  married  was  Mrs.  Allison,  her 
first  husband  having  been  the  Rev.  Hugh  Allison,  nunister 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  on  James  Island,  S.  C.  She  is 
represented  as  having  been  a  very  intelligent  and  pious  lady, 
and  to  her  happy  influence  and  faithful  training  iier  son  often 
alluded  with  deep  gratitude,  and  viewed  them  as  the  means 
under  God  of  first  attracting  his  thoughts  to  the  things  of 
eternity.  His  early  education  was  received  in  his  native  city, 
and  chiefly  in  the  institution  under  the  care  of  the  distin- 
guished Dr.  George  Buist,  and  which  afterwards  became  the 
College  of  Charleston.  When  he  was  about  sixteen  years  of 
age  he  entered  Princeton  College,  New  Jersey,  and  was 
graduated  there  with  gi;eat  credit  to  himself,  in  the  class  of 
181 2.  He  had  for  several  years  entertained  serious  impres- 
sions on  the  subject  of  religion,  but  it  was  not  until  after  his 
return  from  college  that  he  gave  himself  unreservedly  to  the 
Lord,  and  resolved  to  devote  his  life  to  the  ministry  of  God's 
dear  Son.     He  now  made  a  public  profession  of  his  faith   in 


620  MEMORIAL.  [1840-1850. 

Christ  by  uniting  with  the  Independent  or  Congregational 
Church  in  Archdale  Street,  Charleston,  which  was  then  under 
the  joint  care  of  Drs.  Keith  and  HoUinshead.  Both  of  these 
gentlemen  had  for  years  taken  a  very  deep  interest  in  him, 
and  they  continued  to  do  so  while  they  lived.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  1 813,  he  began  his  regular  theological  studies  under 
Dr.  HoUinshead,  for  whom  he  ever  entertained  the  deepest 
veneration  and  love.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel 
by  the  Congregational  A.ssociation  of  South  Carolina,  in  1814, 
and  preached  his  first  sermon  in  Bethel  Church,  St.  Barthol- 
omew's Parish,  on  December  25th  of  that  year.  He  soon 
after  this  time  received  a  call  to  become  pa.stor  of  the  Dor- 
chester and  Beach  Hill  Churches.  He  accepted  it  and  was 
ordained  by  the  same  Association  that  had  licensed  him  to 
preach,  and  in  this  field  he  labored  for  six  years.  In  1821 
he  was  invited  to  become  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian,  Church 
of  Edisto  Island,  and  after  much  deliberation  and  prayer  he 
felt  it  his  duty  to  accept  the  invitation,  and  he  preached  his 
opening  sermon  in  his  new  pastorate  in  May  of  that  year.  It 
pleased  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  to  continue  his  labors 
among  this  people  for  fifty-two  years,  and  to  crown  his  long 
ministry  with  great  acceptance  and  usefulness.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  late  war,  he  and  his  fiock  were  driven  from  their 
beloved  sanctuary,  and  were  for  nearly  five  years  scattered  in 
various  parts  of  our  land.  He  found  a  quiet  retreat  jiear 
Langiey,  in  this  .State,  and  there  he  spent  the  trying  period 
when  our  coast  was  desolated  and  all  our  pleasant  things 
were  laid  waste.  Here  he  spent  much  of  his  time  writing 
letters  of  sympathy  and  comfort  to  his  suffering  and  dispersed 
people,  not  forgetting  the  young  of  his  loved  charge.  He 
was  also  ever  ready  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  perishing 
souls  around  him,  and  to  alleviate  the  distresses  of  his  fellow- 
men.  For  a  short  time  he  supplied  the  pulpits  of  the  Aiken 
and  Beech  Island  Churches,  much  to  the  pleasure  aud  profit 
of  the  congregations. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to  Edisto  to  resume 
his  pastoral  labors  among  the  people  he  had  served  so  long, 
and  who  continued  devotedly  attached  to  him.  For  several 
years  he  di-charged  the  duties  of  his  ofiice  to  the  full  measure 
of  his  strength  ;  but  the  infirmities  of  age  growing  rapidly 
upon  him,  he  was  compelled  to  resign  his  charge,  and  he 
then  leturned  to  his  residence  near  Langiey,  and  there  waited 


1840-1850.]  JfEMORIAL.  621 

until  his  change  came.  For  sometime  before  his  end,  his 
eyesight  failed,  and  towards  the  last  he  became  totally  blind. 
About  two  }'eai-s  ago  while  walking  in  his  garden,  he  made  a 
misstep  and  fell,  and,  after  that  time,  he  was  for  the  most 
part  confined  to  his  chair  or  his  bed.  During  this  season  of 
■weakness  and  pain,  he  was  ever  patient  and  cheerful,  even 
rejoicing  to  suffer  the  will  of  his  Father  in  heaven.  Three 
months  ago  his  family  assembled  under  his  roof  to  celebrate 
his  eighty-second  birth-day,  and  it  was  to  him  and  them  a 
season  of  deep  interest.  At  his  request,  his  son-in-law,  Rev. 
Dr.  Jacobs,  preached  on  a  Sabbath  at  his  dwelling  to  his 
family  and  their  numerous  descendants  assembled  there,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  services  administered  the  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  In  describing  the  scene.  Dr.  J.  says,"  The 
heart  of  the  patriarch  had  longed  for  this  privilege.  The  ut- 
terance of  the  Saviour  expressed  his  eniotion  :  'With  desire 
I  have  desired  to  eat  this  passover  with  you  before  I  depart; 
fof  I  say  unto  you  that  I  may  not  any  more  eat  thereof  until 
it  be  fulfilled  in  the  kingdom  of  God.'  And  it  was  a  precious 
season.  He  felt,  we  all  felt,  that  the  Saviour  was  with  us. 
It  was  a  means  of  great  comfort  and  strengthening  to  him." 
On  the  night  of  July  23d,  he  was  taken  seriously  sick  and  for 
several  days  he  spoke  but  little.  Everything  that  love  could 
dictate  was  done  for  him,  but  it  availed  not.  God's  will  was 
to  remove  him  from  the  vale  of  conflict  and  suffering  to  the 
"building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens."  Early  on  the  morning  of  July  28th,  1875,  his 
spirit  passed  tranquilly  away  from  earth,  and  is  doubtless 
now  in  the  abode  of  the  blessed  for  ever  with  the  Lord. 

On  July  29th, his  funeral  services  were  held  in  Zion  Church, 
Glebe  street,  Charleston,  and  were  performed  by  Dr.  Dana, 
Rev.  W.  B.  Yates,  and  Dr.  Girardeau  ;  and  on  the  following 
day  his  remains  were  carried  to  Edisto  Island,  and  now  re- 
pose on  the  spot  of  earth  long  since  selected  by  himself  as 
his  last  resting  place,  near  the  precious  dust  of  his  kindred 
and  people,  and  close  to  the  pulpit  where  he  so  long  pro- 
claimed God's  truth  with  humility,  faithfulness,  and  love — 
there  his  mortal  part  will  sleep  until  "  the  Lord  himself  shall 
descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice  of  the 
archangel  and  with  the  trump  of  God,"  and  the  dead  in  Christ 
shall  arise  arrayed  in  immortal  glory. 

Thus  we   have  noticed  a  few  particulars  of  the  life  of  this 


622  WILTON  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH.  [1840-1850. 

venerable  servant  of  God.  Let  us  glance  at  some  of  the 
prominent  traits  of  his  chiracter. 

He  was  a  man  oi  true  piety. 

He  was  a  man  o^ prayer. 

He  was  a  man  of  earnestness. 

He  was  a  man  a{ great  Christian  charity.  It  is  true  that  he 
loved  his  own  Church,  and  w.is  faithful  in  preachin;^  her 
doctrines,  believing  them  to  be  the  doctrines  of  the  word  of 
God.  But  yet  he  was  no  sectarian;  bigotry  had  noplace  in 
his  heart.  He  cherished  a  strong  fraternal  affection  for  all 
who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  and  was  ever 
ready  to  unite  with  them  in  every  good  word  and  work. 
This  gave  him  the  love  and  confidence  of  all  di-noniinations 
in  Charleston,  and  made  him  a  kind  ai"  paslor  at  large."  In 
seasons  of  distress  and  bereavement  on  Edisto,  all  sougb.t  his 
l)resence  in  their  homes,  that  he  might,  as  a  son  of  consola- 
tion, "bind  up  the  broken-hearted  and  comfort  all  that 
mourn."  In  short,  he  was  a  ''lover  of  liospitality,  a  lover'of 
good  men,  sober,  just,  holy,  temperate,  holding  forth  tiie 
faithful  word."  His  departure  reminds  us  that  our  time  and 
work  must  soon  end,  and  presses  upon  us  the  duty  of  being 
"  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season." 

Brother  Lee  was  twice  married;  first  to  Miss  Mary  Canty 
Villepontoux,  in  1816,  and  afterwards  to  Mrs.  Henrietta 
Gaillard,  in  1847.  He  has  left  seven  children — three  sons 
and  four  daughters^— to  whom  this  Presbytery  now  extends 
its  heartfelt  sympathy,  and  we  pray  tliat  the  Holy  Comforter 
may  abide  with  them,  teaching  them  not  only  how  to  mourn, 
but  how  to  trust  in  the  Fatiier  of  the  fatherless,  and  glory  in 
tribulation. 

Wilton  Presbyterian  Chuhch. — The  Rev.  Zabdiel  Ro- 
gers continued  the  pastor  of  this  Church  until  tlie  year  1847, 
a  period  of  a  little  more  than  twirnty-three  years.  On  a  cer- 
tain Sabbath  in  December  of  that  year,  he  repaired  to  the 
Church  in  apparently  vigorous  health,  and  while  delivering 
an  impressive  sermon  to  his  people,  was  suddenly  seized 
with  paralysis  and  sunk  down  in  the  pulpit.  Medical  attend- 
ance was  immediately  afforded  him  and  he  gradually  re- 
covered from  the  stroke  ;  but  never  sufficiently  regained  his 
health  as,  in  the  judgment  of  his  medical  advisers,  to  resume 
the  active  duties  of  the  ministry.  He  continued  thus  for 
nearly  five  years,  patient  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God  and 


1840-1850.]  REV.    ZABDIEIj   ROGERS.  623 

evidently  preparing  for  his  departure,  when  he  was  attacked 
afresh  by  his  di.sease,  and  after  having  furnished  abund.mt 
evidence  of  his  ineetne.ss  for  tiie  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light,  he  quietly  fell  asleep  in  Jesus    at   the    residence  of  his 

wife's  nioiherand  his,  in  Charleston,  on  the  November, 

1852.  His  remains  are  buried  in  the  p;rave  yard  of  the 
Circular  Church.  A  neat  monument  marks  his  resting-place. 
Soon  after  the  intelligence  of  his  death  reached  his  former 
charge,  a  meeting  of  the  congregation  was  held  at  the  church, 
and  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  were  unanimously 
adopted  :    • 

Whereas,  it  has  pleased  the  Great  Head  of  the  Chnrfh  to  remove  by 
death  the  Rev.Zubdiel  Rojiers,  it  is  proper  that  this  con.grejiatioii  should 
acknow  edge  the  liund  of  God  in  ihis  dispensation,  and  express  their 
sense  of  the  loss  they  have  susiained.  For  more  than  twenty  years  Mr. 
Kojiers  was  the  pastor  of  this  church,  which  indeed  was  his  tirst  char^re, 
and  diirinir  that  extended  term  of  connection,  had  endeared  himself  to 
his  people  by  tlie  amiability  uf  his  manners,  the  loveiiness  of  his  tem- 
per, and  the  alTection  for  their  sonls,  manifested  in  the  discharjie  of  his 
duties.  It  pleased  God  in  the  exercise  of  His  Sovereignty  to  afflict  liim 
with  a  disease  which  disabled  him  from  active  service  in  the  office  of 
■the  mihistry. 

Jt  was,  however,  a  matter  of  gratitude  that  he  was  stricken  with  his 
harness  on,  and  under  the  affliction  seemed  evidently  to  ripen  for  his 
everhistinsr  rest.  Since  that  time  he  has  mainly  resided  in  this  com- 
munity, and  though  unable  to  preach,  uiven  evidence  of  an  unfailing 
attachment  to  the  members  of  this  congregation  and  a  tender  interest 
intheir  spiritual  welfare. 

He  is  gone !  and  though  he  made  not  his  grave  among  us,  yet  we 
cherish  his  memory  and  humbly  pray  God,  that  the  lessons  which  we 
have  so  often  reieived  from  his  lips  may  abide  in  our  hearts  and,  by  the 
blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  bring  forth  fruit  unto  eternal  life,  and  in 
the  great  day  of  aciounts  may  it  be  our  happy  lot  to  stand  with  him  at 
the  right  haiid  of  the  final  Judge. 

In  view  of  this  mournful  dispensation,  be  it  therefore 

Ri'solced,  'I  hat  in  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Rogers;  this  congregation  has 
lost  a  broiher  and  a  friend,  wlio  for  many  years  ministered  to  them  in 
love,  and  endeared  himse  f  to  them  in  the  social  relations  of  life. 

Resoived,  That  they  deeply  feel  his  loss,  and  regard  themselves  as 
solemnly  addressed  by  the  Head  of  the  Church  through  this  afilictive 
dispensation. 

Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  this  Church  be,  and  they  are  hereby, 
requested  to  cause  to  be  erected  against  the  interior  wall  of  the  Church, 
immediately  on  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  a  tablet  of  marble,  with  a  suit- 
able inscription,  to  the  memory  of  our  late  beloved  Pastor. 

Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  be  further  requested  to  circulate  a  sub- 
scription paper  throughout  the  congregation  that  al  may  have  the  op- 
portunity of  contributing  to  an  object  so  grateful  to  the  general  feeling. 

Resoloed,  That  the  Rev.  Edward  Pahner,  of  Walterboro',  be  requested 
to  preach  a  discourse  in  this  Church  on  occasion  of  his  death. 

Mesoloed,  That  this  congregation   deeply  and  sincerely  sympathize 


B24  ITS  UNION  WITH  PRESBYTERY.  [1840-1850. 

with  his  family,  so  sorely  bereaved  by  this  painful  visitation,  and  com- 
mend them  to  the  compassion  of  a  "  nierL;iful  and  faithful  I-li.y;h  Priest." 

Rpxoloed,  That  a  copy  of  the  fore'j;oinT  preamble  and   re-iolutions  be 
furnished  by  the  Secretary  to  the  family  of  our  de  •eiwed  friend. 

J.  BERKLKY  CiRIMBALL,  Chairman. 

D.  J.  Wilkinson,  Secretary. 

These  resolutions  were  published,  and  the  mural  tablet 
provided  for  in  one  of  thein,  now  stands  on  the  right  of  the 
pulpit,  an  affecting  and  abiding  memento  of  his  past  connec- 
tion with  the  church. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Mr.  Rogers  was  disabled  by  disease 
from  preaching  in  December,  1847.  From  that- time,  for  a 
little  more  than  a  year,  the  church  was  without  a  minister, 
but  was  occasionally  supplied  with  preaching  by  the  ministers 
of  neigboring  churches,  among  whom  were  Rev.  Dr.  Post. 
Rev.  W.  C.  Dana,  Rev.  John  Forrest,  Rev.  W.  B.  Yates,  of 
Charleston;  Rev.  John  Douglas,  of  James  Island;  Rev.  Wil- 
liam States  Lee,  of  Edisto  Island,  and  Rev.  Edward  Palmer, 
of  Walterboro'. 

In  the  spring  of  1849,  the  church  extended  an  invitation 
to  Mr.  John  L.  Girardeau,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbyt'ery  of 
Charleston,  then  preaching  to  the  Wappetaw  congregation  in 
Christ  Church  Parish.  Having  accepted  their  invitation,  he 
commenced  iiis  labors  among  them  on  Sabbath,  the  lOth  of 
June,  and  continued  to  preach  until  the  spring  of  the  next 
year,  when  they  gave  him  a  call  to  the  pastorate  of  the 
church.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  in 
the  following  April,  at  Barnwell  C.  H.,  the  question  came  up 
before  them  as  to  his  ordination  to  the  ministry  and  instal- 
lation as  pastor  of  the  Wilton  Church.  Owing  to  the- exist-, 
ence  of  some  irregularity  in  the  presentation  of  the  call,  and 
also  to  the  fact  that  the  Wilton  Church  was  at  that  time  not 
connected  with  Presbyterj',  the  Presbytery  declined  at  that 
meeting  to  provide  for  Mr.  Girardeau's  ordination  and  instal- 
lation, and  recommended  to  the  congregation  a  consideration 
of  ihe  expediency  of  connecting  themselves  with  the  Presby- 
tery, as  a  preparatory  step  to  the  installation  of  the  licentiate 
as  their -pastor.  Upon  his  return,  he  submitted  the  action  of 
tlie  Presbytery  "to  the  congregation,  and  it  having,  upon  in- 
vestigation, been  discovered  that  the  church  is,  by  its  charter, 
strictly  a  Presbyterian  Church,  and  as  such  was  regarded  by 
the  donors  of  its  funds  ;  and  it  appearing,  moreover,  from  the 
records,  which   still   exist,  that  the  church,  from  its  original 


I«40-18o0.]     REV.  J.  L.  GIRAKDEAU  ORDAIKED.  625 

organization  until  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  was  in  regular 
connection  with  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  ;  and  that 
through  neglect  alone  it  happened  that  a  connection  with 
BrtJSbytery  was   never  subsequently   resumed  ;  it  was  unani- 

•  mously  resolved  at  a  meeting  of  tiie  congregation  that  the 
church  apply  to  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston  to  be  received 
under  its  care.  This  action  having  been  made  known  to  Rev. 
Ferdinand  Jacobs,  Moderator  of  the  Presbytery,  heproceeded, 
in  accordance  with  a  provision  of  that  body  at  its  meeting  in 
Barnwell,  to  call  a  pro  re  nata  meeting  at  VVdton  Church,  on 
Thursday,  June  9th,  1850.  The  Presbytery  having  convened, 
and  the  application  of  the  church  to  be  taken  under  its  care 
having  been  duly  presented,  it  was  re.solved  that  the  church 
be  received  into  regular  connection  with  the  Presbytery.  Mr 
Girardeau  was  then  examined  with  reference  to  ordination, 
a.nd  the  examination  having  been  sustained,  thx3  call  of  the 
church  was  handed  him,  when  he  signified  his  acceptance  of 
it,  and  the  Presbytery  made  arrangements   for  his  ordination 

•and  installation  on  the  following  Sabbath.  It  appearing  that 
the  gentlemen  who  had  hitherto  acted  as  elders  had  never 
been  regularly  set  apart  to  the  office,  the  Presbytery,  after  a 
.sermon  by  Rev.  John  Douglas,  "  on  the  Nature  and  Func- 
tions of  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder,"  by  prayer  and  imposition 
of  hands,  ordained  to  the  eldership.  Major  Hawkins  S.  King, 
Mr.  James  King,  and  Mr.  Alfred  P.  Walter.  The  charge  to 
the  elders  was  delivered  by  Rev.  A.  A.  Porter,  and  that  to  the 
people  by  Rev.  John  Douglas.  On  the.  next  day.  Sabbath, 
June  9th,  1850,  the  Presbytery,  in  the  presence  of  a  largi  con- 
gregation, proceeded  to  ordain  and  install  Mr.  Girardeau.  The 
sermon  was  preached  by'  Rev.  A.  A.  Portet",  from  Acts  ix  :  20, 
"  And  straightway  he  preached  Christ."  The  Moderator, 
Rev.  Ferdinand  Jacobs,  offered  the  prayer;  Rev.  John  B. 
Adger  delivered  the  chai'ge  to  the  pastor,  and  Rev.  John 
Douglas,  the  charge  to  the  people.  After  divine  service  in 
the  evening,  the  Presbytery,  after  a  pleasant  and  useful  meet- 
ing, adjourned.. 

Mr.  Girardeau  continued  to  serve  the  church  as  pastor  until 
November,  1S53,  when  he  accepted  a  call  from  the  session 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Charleston-,  to  take 
charge  of  the  Anson  street  colored  congregation  connected 
with  that  church.  He  preached  his  farewell  discourse  at 
Wilton  Church  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  December,  1853. 
40 


626  BETHEL   POX   POX.  [1840-1S5O. 

The  congregation  then  invited  William  B.  Corbett,  M.  D,, 
a  licentiate  of  Charleston  Pre.'-bvtery,  to  preach  for  them.  He 
accepted  the  invitation,  and  conlinued  to  serve  the  church 
with  acceptance. 

Bethel  Pon  Pon. — The  original  corporate  name  of  ihi.s 
church  was  "'  Bethel  Presbyterian  Church  and  Congregation, 
of  Pon  Pon,  St.  Bartholomew's  Parish,  Colleton  District, 
South  Carolina."  It  was  in  the  year  182 1  the  branch  church 
at  Waltcrboro'  was  erected,  most  of  the  congregation  being 
situated  there  during  the  summer  or  sickly  months.  The 
church  at  Walterboro  had  now  become  the  principal  church. 
It  had  been  served  by  the  Rev.  Adam  Gilchrist,  but  he  liad 
been  appointed  secretary  and  general  agent  of  the  Southern 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  his  relation  tnthe  Walterboro' 
church  had  been  dissolved  by  Presbytery,  in  December,  1839. 
The  church  was  dependent  on  occasional  supph'es  until,  in 
April,  1841.  a  call  was  laid  before  Presbyteiy  for  the  pastoral 
services  of  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Boggs,  late  missionary  to  Hindostan. 
Plis  instalment  took  place  on  the  13th  of  November,  1841,. 
Rev.  J.  F.  Lanneau  preaching  the  sermon,  from  Rom.  i,  15, 
Rev.  Mr.  Gildersleeve  presiding  and  giving  the  charge  to  the 
pastor,  and  Dr.  Leiand  the  charge  to  the  people.  The  Rev. 
Mr,  Gilchrist  had  been  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayette- 
ville.  Mr.  Boggs  remained  in  this  pastorate  until  the  8th  of 
April,  1843,  when  this  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved,  and 
the  church  declared  vacant.  It  remained  destitute  until  they 
recalled  the  Rev.  Edward  Palmer,  in  December,  1843.  ^I'-'' 
installation  took  place  on  the  23  of  June,  1844,  Dr.  Thornwell 
presiding,  preaching  the  installation  sermon,  and  giving  the 
charge  to  the  pastor,  while  the  son  of  the  pastor.  Rev.  B.  M. 
Palmer,  Jr.,  gave  the  ciiarge  to  tlie  people.  He  remained 
their  pastor  through  this  decade,  and  until  1873-4  (with  the 
exception  of  four  years,  when  Mr.  Wood  was  in  charge, 
1856,  'S7,  '58,  '59).  During  this  time  the  eldership,  to  1850, 
consisted  of  Messrs  Archibald  Campbell,  Richard  Bedon,  D. 
S.  Henderson  and  Alfred  Lemache.  At  a  later  period,  death 
having  removed  all  of  them  during  the  war,  the  church  re- 
mained without  such  an  officer  down  to  1858,  when  Mr. 
Stiles  Rivers  was  ordained  to  the  office,  and,  in  1871,  Mr.  G. 
W.  Oswald  and  Mr.  C.  G.  Henderson  were  added,  and  still 
remain."  [Letter  of  Rev.  iLdward  Palmer,  dated  Barnwell, 
September  12,  1878.) 


1840-1850.]  SALTCATCHER    CHURCH.  627 

Look  back  for  ,1  century:  In  1846,  Alexander  Campbell, 
who  has  preserved  many  extracts  from  the  ancient  records  of 
this  congregation,  makes  the  following  statement  from  pages 
26,  27,  28,  29,  30,  under  head  of  "  The  Rights  of  the  Pews 
and  First  Year's  Choice  on  the  15th  day  of  January,  1746-7, 
with  the  Rents  of  that  Year,  &c.  "  "  The  several  payments  of 
each  individual  for  purchasing  negroes,  building  the  parson- 
age, the  meeting-house,  &c.,  are  summed  up  in  a  column 
opposite  his  name,  with  the  number  of  the  pew  chosen  by 
him,  and  the  yearly  rent  of  it.  Total  of  payments  (including 
John  Kermicle's  Legacy,  reC*.  p'.  ye  Cong",  in  1743,  ;^50o) 
is  ^6,305,  liiade  by  one  hundred  persons,  all  of  whom  with 
but  two  exceptions,  were  males."  At  this  day,  1846,  the 
only  descendants  of  either  of  them,  bearing  the  same  surnames 
and  residing  in  the  parish,  are  the  Oswalds  and  Miss  Eliza  R. 
Buen. 

In  ,    the   meeting-house  was  reshingled,  and   in    1846 

it  was  undersilled,  the  floor  repaired  and  raised  about  a  foot, 
and  the  form  and  position  of  the  pews  changed.  There,  in  a 
pencil  note,  it  is  written,  if  we  rightly  decipher  the  somewhat 
obliterated  writing;  ''Each,  of  the  old  pews  were  4x6 
feet,  and  could  seat  nine  or  ten  grown  persons."  A 
memorandum  at  the  foot  of  the  last  statement,  that  "the 
other  four  pews  are  not  chose  upon  any  rights,  and  were  Lett 
to  persons  having  no  rights  for  that  year." 

So,  it  appears,  the  church  was  then  filled.  At  present, 
there  are  not  over  four  pews  taken  in  that  or  the  church  in 
Walterboro'  by  persons  who  reside  within  ten  miles  of  the 
old  church.  Mr.  W.  McCants  (?),  who  died  in  1836  (?),  aged 
about  72  years,  told  the  writer  that  the  sound  of  the  chnrch 
bell,  which  is  a  small  one,  with  a  cross  upon  it,  and  is  the 
same  now  in  the  church  at  Walterboro',  could  be  heard  by 
upwards  of  si.xty  families.  At  this  time,  there  is  not  a  dozen 
families  within  three  miles  of  the  church,  including  the  once 
populou-s  town  of  Jacksonborough.  A.  Campbell, 

a;  D,  1846. 

Saltcatcher  Church  remained  vacant,  having  only  occa- 
sional supplies  after  the  death  of  Rev.  J.  B.  VanDyck.  A 
committee  of  the  Presbytery  appointed  to  enquire  into  rhe 
condition  of  this  church,  reported  that  there  are  funds  in  the 
hands  of  the  Commissioner  of  Equity  for  Beaufort  District, 
the  interest  of  which  has  heretofore  been  paid  to  the  minister 


628  SALTCATCr-IER  CHUKCII.  [1840-1850. 

officiating  there,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  this  committee,  it  was 

Rcsolvtd,  That  the  Presbytery  do  now  convert  Saltcateher 
Church  into  a  missionary  station  for  the  cohired  people,  and 
appoint  the  Rev.  Edward  Pahner  as  their  Missionary. 

By  another  resolution  the  thanks  of  the  Presbytery  were 
returned  to  the  committee  for  their  diligence  in  the  task  as- 
signed them.      ]t  was  also 

Resolved,  That  W.  Ferguson  Hutson  was  entitled  to  the 
thanks  of  the  Presbytery  for  tne  gratuitous  services  which  he 
had  rendered  the  committee,  in  investigating  the  state  of  the 
funds  of  said  church  ;  and  he,  the  said  W.  F.  Hutson,  be,  and 
is  hereby  requested  to  file  a  petition  for  tlie  Presbytery  before 
the  proper  court,  praying  that  the  interest  be  appropriated  to 
the  said  Mr.  Palmer,  or  to  any  other  person  whom  the  Pres- 
bytery may  appoint  as  his  successor. 

It  was  further 

Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  E.  Palmer  return  the  thanks  of  the 
Presbytery  to  Mr.  Daniel  Blake,  who,  at  considerable  labor 
and  e.xpense,  has  recently  fitted  up  the  Church,  which  had 
become  greatly  dilapidated,  and  made  it  comfortable.' 

The  committee  above  referred  to,  were  Alexander  Camp- 
bell, D.  S.  Henderson,  Esq.,  and  Charles  Love.  W.  F  Hut- 
son obtained  from  Scotland  an  attested  copy  of  the  bequest 
of  the  founder  of  this  Church,  the  Rev.  Archibald  Simpson, 
who' died  in  Scotland,  Jiear  the  closfe  of  the  last  century,  and 
was  of  great  service  to  the  Church  in  securing  the  restoration 
of  this  fund. 

Minutes,  December  lo,    1844,  p.    368,  369.     The  member- 
ship of  this  church  in  1842  and  '3  was    24.     It  was  but  15  in^ 
i848-'9.     The  attendance  of  colored  people  was  considerable, 
and  it  was  for  their  religious  instruction  that  this  fund  was  to 
be  used.     See  our  volume  i,  p.  578. 

This  proof  of  the  changed  condition  of  the  population  of 
that  region  we  have  referred  to  in  our  first  volume,  pp.  256, 
257.  It  is  doubtless  far  v/orse  now,  after  the  changes  of  the 
war  of  lS6o,  1865. 

During  Mr.  Palmer's  ministry,  the  Old  Bethel  Church  was 
served  three  Sabbaths  in  the  month,  by  the  assistance  of  an 
Elder,  when  the  Pastor  could  not  be  present.  In  the  year 
1845,  there  was  an  addition  of  20  or  30  colored  members  to 
the  church  at  that  point. 


1840-1850.]  BOILING  SPRINGS — BAKNWELL  C.  H.  629 

There  is  a  total  of  60  members  set  down  to  the  Walterboro' 
Church  in  1840,  in  the  statistical  tables;  in  1849,  a  total  of 
144,  viz  :  28  whites,  1 16  blacks. 

Boiling  Springs,  Barnwell  District. — The  Presbytery  of 
Charleston,  at  its  meeting  in  April,  1840,  appointed  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Gilchrist  to  visit  the  congregation  at  Boiling  Springs,  in 
Barnwell  District,  and  there  organize  a  church,  if  they  should 
be  prepared,  and  they  should  so  desire.  Mm.,  p.  304.  Mr. 
Gilchrist  having  failed  to  fulfil  this  appointment,  Rev.  Mr. 
Gildersleeve  was  appointed,  at  the  fall  meeting,  to  perform 
this  duty.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Presbytery,  in  Columbia,  in 
April,  1 842,  the  duty  not  having  been  performed.  Dr.  Thornwell 
was  added  to  the  committee,  and  either  of  the  members  was 
authorized  to  perform  it.  This  organization  was  effected  1n 
June.  1832,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Thornwell,  and  F.  J.  Hay  and  Mr. 
W.  A.  Hay  were  elected  Elders,  and  set  apart  to  this  office  by 
ordination.  A  letter  was  received  from  the  Elders  of  this 
church,  and  that  at  Beach  Island,  requesting  of  Presbytery 
that  Mr.  Samuel  Hay,  then  a  licentiate,  might  be  ordained 
sine  titiih,  for  the  purpose  of  laboring  among  them  and  ad- 
ministering the  ordinances.  They  were  informed  that 
the  request  could  not  be  granted  in  conformity  to  our 
standards. 

Barnwell  Court  House. — Two  or  three  years  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  church  at  Boiling  Springs,  there  seemed  to 
be  an  opening  for  Presbyterianism  at  Barnwell  Court  House. 
The  Presbytery  made  regular  appointoT-nts  for  that  place,  and 
preaching  was  done  in  the  Masonic  Hall.  "  In  1846,"  writes 
tiie  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Hay,  to  whom  mainly  I  am  indebted  for 
the  facts  I  now  record,  "I  returned  to  Boiling  Springs  from 
Winnsboro',  and  preached  alternate"  Sabbaths  at  Barnwell, 
C.  H.,  and  Boiling  Springs.  During  the  years  that  I  preached 
there  I  ordained  Dr.  Hagood  an  Elder,  and  the  house  of 
worship  which  now  stands  was  erected.  There  was  no  sep- 
arate organization  at  Barnwell  C.  H.  The  organization  ef- 
fected by  Dr.  Thornwell,  at  Boiling  Springs,  was  the  only 
one.  Barnwell  C.  H.  was  regarded  as  being  the  most  im- 
portant place,  and  therefore  the  meetings  of  session  were 
held  there  and  the  sacraments  administered.  I  have  given 
you  a  sketch  of .  things  connected  with  the  Pre.sbyterian 
Church  at  Boiling  Springs  and  Barnwell  C.  H.,  until  185  i.  I 
know  not  whether  Presbytery  after  that  ever  gave  a  separate 


6-SO  BEECH  ISLAND HAMBURG.  [1840-1850. 

organization  to  a  church  at  B;irnwell  C.  H."  The  probability- 
is  tliat  there  was  but  one  organization.  The  spring  meeting 
of  Presbytery  in  1847,  was  held  at  Barnwell  Court  House,  in 
the  Masonic  Hall,  yet  in  the  statistical  tables  of  that  year, 
the  church  that  appears  is  that  of  Boiling  Springs.  So  also 
in  the  tables  of  1849  and  1850. 

Bkech  Island. — This  church  was  numbered  among  the  va- 
cant churches  in  the  years  1841,  1842,  1843,1844.  It  was,  how- 
ever, supplied  by  various  ministers  about  half  of  the  time. 
When  no  minister  was  present  to  serve  them  with  the  ordin- 
ances of  the  gospel,  Sabbath  services  were  kept  up  by  the 
elders,  and  there  was  an  encouraging  attendance  ot  the  peo- 
ple. There  was  also  a  weekly  meeting  on  Wednesdays  in 
which  a  sermon  of  some  approved  divine  was  read,  and  the 
usual  acts  of  worship  maintained.  In  the  year  1845,  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Gildersl^eve  was  their  stated  supply.  In  April, 
1846,  a  call  was  extended  to  William  L.  Hughes,  a  graduate 
of  the  seminary  ^at  Columbia,  and  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Charleston,  who  was  ordained  and  installed  over  this 
churcii  on  Sabbath,  the  12th  of  April,  1846,  Dr.  Thornwell 
preaching  the  ordination  sermon,  Dr.  Lehind  delivering  the 
charge  to  the  people  ;  Dr.  Smyth  the  charge  to  the  newly  or- 
dained pastor,  and  Dr.  Howe  making  the  ordaining  prayer. 
The  membership  of  this  church  numbered  from  42  to  37 
members,  during  this  decade  of  years.  They  faithfully  at- 
tended upon  the  ordinance  of  religion,  maintained  an  interest- 
ing Sabbath  school,  and  their  elders  were  faithful  to  their  trust. 
Their  Elldersin  1845,  were  Samuel  Clark  and  David  Ardis. 

Hamburg. — This  church,  notwithstanding  the  previous 
action  of  Presbytery,  declaring  its  dissolution,  is  retained 
still  on  the  roll  of  churches.  Rev.  R.  Colden  Ketchum,  as 
stated  supply,  in  1846,  1847,  1848;  in  1849,  1850,  1851,  as  a 
vacant  church. 

Graniteville. — At  the  spring  session  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Charleston,  application  was  made  by  sundry  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  residing  at  the  manufacturing  village  of 
Graniteville,  for  occasional  preaching.  The  request  was  com- 
plied with,  and  a  church  was  organized  there  with  10  mem- 
bers; a  ruling  elder  of  which,  Mr.  Joseph  Clark,  sat  in  Presb)'- 
tery  at  its  meeting  in  Columbia,  October  1848.  Supplies  for 
Graniteville  church,  embracing  the  various  ministers  of  Pres-' 
bytery,  were  ordered  from  time  to  time. 


1840-1850,]  f)RANGEBURG.  631 

Orangeburg. — The  Rev.  I.  S.  Keith  Legare  continued  to 
serve  this  church  as  its  pastor  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  de- 
cade. The  church  had  been  assisted  at  first  by  the  Asseaibly'.s 
Board  of  Domestic  Missions,  but  ceased  to  apply  to  it  for  aid 
from  June,  1837.  The  ladies'  Society,  of  which  Mrs.  T.  H. 
Legare  was  president,  had 'purchased  tlie  lot  on  which 
the"  church  stands,  and  a  comfortable  house  of  worship  had 
been  erected  in  part,  by  the  aid  of  friends  oq  Edisto  Island, 
and  in  Charleston.  The  ladies  had  succeeded  in  building  a 
manse  for  the  pastor,  for  they  were  aware  that  he  was  depend- 
ent, in  a  large  degree,  upon  his  own  resources  for  his  support. 
On  the  22d  of  March,  1845,  on  account  of  failing  health,  he 
tendered  iiis  resignation  as  pastor,  to  the  regret  of  his  people 
He  had  served  them  for  ten  years  at  great  personal  sacrifice, 
and  they  could  but  express  in  strong  terms  their  deep  sorrow 
that  this  endearing  relation  must  now  terminate.  '  Mr.  Legare 
continued  to  reside  in  Oran^reburg,  and  to  take  an  interest  in 
tiie  little  church  of  which  he  was  the  first  pujtor.  He  built 
uj)  here  a  flourishing  Female  College,  which  was  widely  pat- 
ronized, and  was  a  great  blessing  to  all  the  lower  part  of  the 
State.  His  brother,  Thos.  Hunscome  Legare,  became  the 
supply  of  the  church  for  the  next  six  years,  after  which  it  was 
supplied  by  Rev.  D,  X.  LaFar,  from  July,  1851,  to  January, 
1856,  (41^  years.) 

During  the  following  year  the  church  was  supplied  from 
Columbia  h_v  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer,  then  Professor  in  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  previous  to  his  removal  to  New  Orleans, 
and  from  Januaiy,  1S57,  to  August  of  the  same  year,  l»y  Rev. 
Dr.  Howe. 

The  original  Elders  of  the  church  were  Dr.  Thomas  A. 
Elliott  and  Dr.  James  W.  Taylor,  Mr.  Sander.s  Glover  was 
elected  to  this  office  in  March,  1837,  and  died  iu  April,  1853, 
having  served  the  church  faithfully  for  16  years.  Dr.  James 
W.  Taylor,  one  of  the  original  Elders,  withdrew  from  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  he  became  a  member  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church  in  1853,  and  eventually  took  orders  in  that 
Church. 

Mr.  V.  D.  V.  Jamison  was  elected  and  installed  in  the  of- 
fice of  Euiing  Bolder  in  1853,  in  the  place  made  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Elder  Sanders   Glover. 

■     T.  A.  Elliott,  M.D.,  and  V    D.   V.   Jamison  are    the    only 
Elders  named  in  the  Minutes   of    Synod    for    the   year    1855. 


632  \viijMA>tsBt"i;n.  1S40-1850.] 

V.  D.  V.  Jamison  removed  from  the  State  and  died  in  Virgin- 
ia on  the  29th  of  July,  1876.  Oflhe  interesting  men  whom  we 
found  in  Orangeburg  in  1857,  was  Judjie  Thos,  Wortli  Glover, 
born  Dec.  24,  1796,  in  St.  James  Goose  Creek.  His  father  was 
Sanders  Glover,  who  served  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
and  whom  we  can  trace  back  through  two  more  generations 
to  Charles  Worth  Glover,  of  Virginia,  born  April  23,  1688. 
Judge  Glover  wa.s  prepared  for  college  at  Mt.  Bethel  Acad- 
emy in  Newberry  County,  was  graduated  with  distinction  at 
S.  C.  College,  1817;  studied  law  with  Chancellor  Harper  in 
Columbia,  was  admitted  to  practice  in  April,  1818;  at  the  age 
of  26  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Legislature,  was  elected 
clerk  of  the  House  in  1838,  and  onward  to  1852,  when  he 
was  elected  Judge  of  the  Circuit  Court.  It  W!is  a  source  of 
satisfaction  to  his  religious  friends  when  he  came  forward  on 
the  6tii  of  November,  1869,  and  professed  his  faith  in  Christ. 


CHAPTER  HI. 

Williamsburg  Church. — TheRev.  Andrew  G.  Peden  con- 
tinued [)astor  of  this  Church  until  near  the  close  of  1847, 
The  Rev.  J.  A.  Wallace  succeeded  him,  who  was  installed  as 
pastor  in  December  of  that  year.  Rev.  Joseph  Brown  presid- 
ing and  preaching  the  sermon,  Rev.  G.  C.  Gregg  delivering 
the  charge  to  the  pastor,  and  Rev.  D.  McQueen  the  charge 
ro  the  people.  In  1848  a  work  of  grace  commenced  in  the 
church  and  congregation,  which  continued  through  the  fol- 
lowing year.  This  resulted  in  more  than  forty  additions  to 
the  cliureh,  mostly  of  white  persons,  among  whom  were  some 
of  the  more  valuable  members,  four  of  whom  became  Ruling 
Elders,  one  in  the  WiUiamsbuig  Church,  one  in  White  Oak, 
and  two  at  Indian  Town.  Some  of  the  old  members  of  the 
church  professed  to  have  experienced  a  change  of  heart  at 
this  time.  A  mother  in  Israel,  who  died  in  March,  1855,  said 
she  had  been  in  the  church  24  years  without  religion;  the 
remaining  seven  she  had  enjo>cd  an  unclouded  hope,  and 
died  in  the  triumphs  of  faith.  "  Not  one  white  person  who 
professed  religion  at  that' time,"  says  Rev.  Mr  Wallace,  writ- 
ing under  date  of  December  26,  1855,  "has  proved  unworthy 
of  his  or  her  vocation."     We  received  some  in  the  vears    that 


1840-1850,]  WILLrAMSBUIiG.  633 

followed,  who  soon  showed  that  they  were  not  of  us,  as  well 
as  others  of  undoubted  piety  and  great  worth.  In  thesuinmer 
of  1852,  we  experienced  ap;ain  the  breathings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  "At  this  juncture  I  succeeded,"  says  Mr.  Wallace, 
"with  much  effort,  in  getting  Dr.  Baker  here,  whose  labors 
were  croWned  with  remarkable  success."  The  meetins  com- 
menced  on  the  2nd  Sabbath,  the  8th  of  .August,  and  contin- 
ued 9  days;  the  fruits  of  which  were  59  additions,  nnd  the 
conversion  of  some  of  the  old  members,  one  of  whom  is  now 
a  Ruling  Elder.  A  few  of  these  persons  have  apostatized;  but 
injustice  to  the  character  of  the  work,  not  a  greater  propor- 
tion than  of  those  who  have  been  received  from  time  to  time. 
The  character  of  our  congregation  is  somewhat  peculiar — 
p.irtaking  more  than  is  usual  of  the  feelings  and  habits  of  the 
old  country.  And  those  who  have  proved  unworthy  were 
mostly  such  as  had  been  but  little  impressed,  if  at  all,  by  Dr. 
B's  preaching.  They  came  to  the  meeting  near  the  close, 
and  united,  I  fear,  only  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  baptism 
for  their  children,  and  other  church  privileges:  But  not  the 
le.ist  of  the  benefits  arising  from  Dr.  B's  visit  was  the  heal- 
ing of  the  old  schism  in  the  Indian  Town  Church.  Though 
a  few  families  left,  never  to  return,  in  consequence  of  Mr. 
McPherson's  departure,  those  who  had  been  worshipping  with 
us  returned,  and  the  church  is  now  prospering.  We  have 
still  received  some  valuable  members  from  time  to  time." 
[Letter  of  Rev.  James  A.  Wallace,  of  Dec.  26,  1855.] 

Mr.  Wallace  also  gives  the  following  information  as  to  the 
Eldership  in  the  churches  :  "The  only  Elders  of  the  old 
church  whose  names  are  remembered,  are  John  McCleary, 
and  Thomas  and  James  McConnell.  Thomas  lies  buried  in  our 
church  yard,  covered  by  a  slab,  near  the  north  wall  of  tlie  old 
church.  He  died  in  1801.  Dr.  Witherspoon  (of  Brookland, 
near  Greensboro,  Alabama,  who  left  behind  him  reniiniscen- 
ces  of  these  churches),  though  hostile  to  that  churgh,  speaks 
in  the  highest  terms  of  the  piety  of  the  four  McConnell 
brothers,  George,  James,  Thomas  and  Robert.  The  Elders 
ordained  after  the  Union  were,  first,  Isaac  Nelson,  H.  D.  Shaw, 
'James  E.  Fulton,  William  Salters.  At  a  later  period  these 
were  added  to  the  session  ;  John  A.  Gordon,  Wm.  Carmlin, 
and  Joseph  Chandler."  "  During  my  ministry  here,"  adds 
Mr.  Wallace,  "I  have  ordained  Samuel  J.  Bradley,  D.  D. 
Barr  and  John  A.  Salters.     Our  pre.sent  Elders,  [in    Decem- 


631  INDIAN-    TOWN.  [1840-1850. 

ber,  1856],  are  J.  E.  Fulton,  H.  D.  Shaw,  J.  A.  Gordon.  S,  J., 
Bradley,  J.  A.  Salters.  D.  D.  Burr  is  now  one  of  the  Elders 
of  Indian  Town  Church. 

The  ministers  buried  here  are  Ray,  Allison  (supposed), 
Covert,  Mitchell,  and  Wm.  J.  Wilson,  who  was  pastor  of 
Salem  Church. 

The  churches  regarded  as  colonies  of  this  one  are,  in  this 
State :  Indian  Town,  Salem,  and  Midway ;  in  Tennessee, 
Zion  Church.  Fou-r  Churches  in  Green  and  Tuscaloosa  coun- 
ties in  Alabama,  were  largely  composed  of  emigrants  from 
this. and  Indian  Town,  viz  :  Greensboro,  Mount  Zion,  Con- 
cord and  Carthage,  besides  others  in  other  States. 

There  are  two  churches  formed  out  of  this  church.  Union 
Cliurch,  built  on  the  south  side  of  Black  River,  in  1857,  and 
Eton  Church,  organized  in  1856. 

The  membership  in  the  Williamsburg  Church,  known  also 
in  the  statistical  tables  as  Kingstree,  ranged  for  these  ten 
years  from  270  to  348,  i.  e.,  from  1840  to  1849  inclusive.  The 
membership  in  1840  was  270.  in  1849  it  was  348.  This  last 
number  consisted  of.  133  white,  and  215  colored  members. 
It  was  only  in  1849  '^^'^'^  '^'^^  number  of  the  colored  members 
was  specially-  mentioned. 

Indian  Town  Presbyterian  Church,  Williamsburg  Coun- 
ty.— The  Rev.  H.  B.  Cunningham  continued  the  pastor 
of  this  church  for  some  time  after  the  commencement  of  this 
period.  At  the  session  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  at 
Kingstree,  or  Williamsburg  Church,  in  April,  1843,  he  sought 
by  letter,  a  dissolution  of  the  pastoral  relation.  The  con- 
gregation of  Indian  Town  was  cited  to  appear  at  the  next 
metting  of  Presbytery,  by  their  commissioners,  agreeable  to 
the  Form  of  Government,  chap.  XVII,  to  show  cause,  if  any 
they  have,  why  this  request  should  not  be  granted.  The  dis- 
solution of  the  pastoral  relation  was  agreed  to  by  Presbytery, 
June  21,  1^43,  and  he  was  dismissed  at  his  own  request  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  N,  Carolina.  .Supplies  were  ap- 
pointed for  Indian  Town  at  the  request  of  that  Church.  In 
October,  [845  a  call  was  presented  from  the  church  and  con-  . 
gregation  for  the  pastoral  labors  of  Rev.  J.  P.  McPherson, 
but  the  call  being  irregular,  was  returned,  and  there  being  an 
apparent  want  of  harmony  in  the  congregation,,  a  committee 
was  appointed  to  address  a  letter  to  them,  exhorting  them  to 
greater  unanimity.     This  call  was  renewed  in  April,  1846,  and 


1840-1850.]  HOPEWET.l,,  PEE  DEE,  635 

the  installation  took  place  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  May  fol- 
lowing. He  continued  in  charge  of  this  church  till  1852, 
when  the  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  and  he  was  dismissed  to  join  the  Presbytery  of 
Fayetteville  in  North  Carolina.  The  chuich  was  vacant  for 
a  few  months,  when  it  obtained  the  services  of  Rev.  A.  L. 
Crawford,  a  graduate  of  Davidson  College  of  N.  C,  as  their 
pa.stor.  The  Indian  Town  Church  consisted  of  270  com- 
muning members  in  1841  ;  in  1849  ^f  348  communicants,  215 
of  whom  were  colored. 

Hopewell,  Pee   Dee.— We    have    .seen   that   Rev.  Joseph 
Brown,  from  Robeson  Co.,  N.  C.  was  called   to    this   church 
in  January,  1838.      He  continued  its  revered  pastor    through 
this  decade,  and  beyond.     "The  long  pastorate    of  this    esti- 
mable man  was  characterized  by  years  of  peace  and  prosper- 
ity.    On  his  accession  to  the  pastorate,  the  church  was  com- 
posed of  200  members.     There  were  two  revivals  during  this 
period.      One  in    1850,  number  added,  44 ;  another  in   1852, 
number  added,  27.     At  his  death  there  were    on    the    roll    of 
names,  120  white,  and  100  colored  members.     Tfirough  a  pe- 
riod of  20  years  many  are  the  changes  which  must    occur  in 
every  community,  and  many  must  be  the  changes  in  the  roll 
of  the  Church,  induced  by  deaths,  dismissions,  removals  and 
other  causes.     Yet  Hopewell  Church  -continued    to    enlarge 
its  boundaries  and  its    numbers.     Their   pastor    went  in    and 
out  before  his  people  with    a    softened    gravity   and  amenity 
which  became  the  man  of  God.     Like  a  tender  shepherd  he 
led  his  flock  to  green  pastures.      His  preaching  was  affection- 
ate, mellow,  ripe,  often  enforced  with  tears,    as    he   entreated 
his  children  to  come  to  God.      He  always  presented  the  man- 
uscript discourse  like  beaten  oil,  the  fruits  of  study,  full,  chaste, 
harmonious,  sustained,  and  often  eloquent,  yet   always    redo- 
lent of  scripture  and  mellowed  with  the  kindness  and  love  of 
a  full  heart.     Becoming  more  and  more  enfeel)led  by    a    ma- 
lignant tumor  (cancer)  on  his  left  eye,    towards    the    close    of 
his  career,  he  resigned    his   pastoral    charge,    and    in    a    few 
months  passed  away  to  his  rest,  in  the  62nd  year  of  his  age. 
In  testimony  of  their  affectionate  regard  for  his  memory,  the 
people  of  his  charge  erected  a  neat  obelisk  upon  his  grave,  in 
the  Hopewell  grave  yard." 

"In  January,  1859,  an  invitation  was  given    to    Rev.    D.    E. 
Frierson,  of  Marion  Church,  to  supply    the  church  of  Hope 


636  HOPEWELL,  PEE  DEE.  [1840-1850. 

well.  The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  on  tiie  first  Sabbath, 
the  4th  of  October  of  the  same  yeur,  a  call  in  due  form  was 
given  to  him  to  become  the  pastor  of  the  church.  The  call 
was  accepted." 

For  the  preceding  history  of  Hopewell  Church  the  writer 
is  indebted  to  the  Rev.  D.  E.  Frierson,  as  he  is  also  for  that 
which  belongs  to  an  earlier  date.  He  gave  also  some  bio- 
graphical account  of  the  Elders  of  the  church,  so  far  as  he 
was  able.  Of  those'  he  had  mentioned,  he  says,  "of  Capt. 
John  Gregg  the  writer  had  no  personal  knowledge.  Of  J. 
Levi  Gregg,  who  died  on  the  3d  of  April,  1859,  he  had.  His 
gentleness  was  wonderful,  his  deep  toned  piety  no  less  so. 
Sickness  bruised  a  tender  nature,  only  to  bring  forth  the  rich 
fragrance  of  Christian  meekness.  Placid  and  peaceful  in  the 
storm.  Sadness  hid  from  his  smile,  and  hope,  on  soft  pinions, 
mounted  above  sorrow.  Before  such  a  character  calumny 
was  dumb,  and  in  him  fierce  eyed  heroism  did  obeisance  to 
goodness.  His  coadjutor.  Hector  Cainer(m,  was  his  strong 
counterpart.  Brisk  promptitude,  impassioned  energy,  forceful 
determinatioti  moved  him.  His  blood  rushed  in  him,  he 
seized  your  hand  with  a  strong  Sc(;tch  grasp.  He  loved  ar- 
dently :  he  resented  quickly  ;  he  spoke  boldly  ;  yet  he  had 
no  vindictiveness.  Short,  brawny,  manly,  with  gray  hairs, 
but  green  energies,  hc.died  in  i860.  The  surviving  coadjutor 
of  the  three,  Elijah  Gregg,  is  with  us,  setting  before  his  gen- 
eration the  example  of  a  pure,  unwavering  and  honorable 
integrity." 

The  Rev.  D.  E.  Frierson.to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  this  his- 
tory of  the  church  of  Hopewell  [Pee  Dee],  and  this  eulogium 
upon  its  Eldership,  continued  its  pastor  until  1871,  when  he 
was  dismissed  from  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  to  that  of 
South  Carolina,  and  was  installed  pastor  of  Anderson  C.  H., 
and  Midway  Churches. 

From  another  source  we  learn  that  there  was  a  revival  in 
1866  in  Hopewell  Church,  during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Frier- 
son,  in  which  27  were  added  to  the  membership.  In  1855, 
according  to  the  minutes  of  Synod  for  that  year,  the  Elders 
of  Hopewell  were  J.  McPherson,  J.  McCown,  H.  Cameron,  J. 
L.  Gregg,  S.  E.  Gregg,  W.  T.  Wilson. 

In  1844,  John  McClanahan  died,  having  served  8 years.  In 
1859,  J-  Levi  Gregg  died  after  a  service  of  20  years.  In  1856, 
Evander    A.   Gregg   and    Dr.    D.    Reese    Gregg    were  made 


1840-1850.]  DAllLINGTOX.  637 

Elders.  In  1859,  James  McPherson  died,  having  served  23 
years.  In  i860,  Hector  Cameron  died,  after  a  service  of  21 
years.  In  1866,  W.  T.  VVil-ion  died,  after  servini!;  33  years. 
Evander  A.  Gregg  removed  to  Sumter  ;  James  McCovvn,  after 
serving  28  yi:ars,  removed  to  Florence  Church  with  si.xteen 
other  members,  and  constituted  the  nucleus  of  Florence 
Cliurch.  In  1867,  Ezra  M.  Davis,  Jas,  McKnight,  and  A.  W. 
Ross  were  elected  Elders.  In  1878,  the  Elders  were  Samuel 
Elijah  Gregg,   Wm.   T.  Gregg,  and  Dr.  Daniel  "Reese  Gregg. 

The  membership  of  Hopewell  Cliurch  in  1841  was,  white 
115, colored  139;  in  1849  it  was  126  white,  and  46  colored; 
in  1859  't  was  96  whites. 

Hopewell  Church  has  given  four  ministers  to  the  churcl)  ; 
Rev.  Geo.  Cooper  Gregg,  pastor  of  Salem  B.  R.  Church,  until 
his  death,  Rev.  Charlton  H.  Wilson,  (son  of  Elder  Wm.  T. 
Wilson),  once  missionary  to  the  Indians,  and  pastor  of  Ben- 
nettsville  Church  at  the  time  of  his  death,  Rev.  W.  A.  Greg? 
(son  of  Elder  Saml.  Elijah  Gregg),  licensed  in  i860,  now  [in 
1S79]  pastor  of  Bishopville  and  Hephzibah  Churches,  and 
Rev.  J.  Douglass  Brown  (son  of  Rev.  Joseph  Brown),  now 
pastor  of  Orangeburg  Church. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1872,  the  Rev.  William  T.  Thompson 
was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  this  church.  The  Rev. 
John  R.  Dow  presiding,  preached  the  sermon,  and  proposed 
the  constitutional  questions.  Rev.  William  Alexander  Gregg 
delivered  the  charge  to  the  pastor,  and  Rev.  William  Brcar- 
ly  delivered  the  charge  to  the  people. 

Darlington  Church. — In  January,  1840,  an  invitation  was 
given  to  Rev.  J.  P.  McPherson,  of  Fayetteville  Presbytery,  to 
serve  the  church  as  stated  supply.  He  preached  and  admin- 
istered the  ordinances  for  one  year.  Dr.  Ezra  Green,  who 
had  removed  from  Williamsburg  Church,  where  he  acted  as 
Elder,  was  chosen  by  the  church  to  this  office,  and  entered 
upon  his  duties  in  September,  1840. 

The  church  had  now,  in  consequence  of  the  frequent 
changes  of  their  ministerial  relations,  become  very  anxious  to 
have  a  pastor  settled  among  them,.  In  November,  i84i,a 
unanimous  call  was  given  to  the  Rev.  William  Brearley  as 
their  pastor,  which  by  him,  after  a  visit  in  January,  wa.s  ac- 
cepted. He  entered  upon  his  duties  in  February,  1842,  and 
was  regularly  installed  pastor  over  the  church  the  loUowing 
May,  by  a  committee   of  Presbytery,   consisting  of  Messrs. 


638  DARLINGTON.  [1840t1800. 

Coit,  English  and  Brown.  In  consequence  of  supplies  which 
were  only  temporary,  the  regjlar  discipHne  of  the  ciiurch 
had  been  neglected.  Several  cases  of  discipline  and  litiga- 
tion had  been  defirred  for  adjudication  and  .settlement.  After 
tliese  cases  were  finally  disposed  of,  peace  and  harmony  were 
restored  to  the  meinbeiS  of  the  church  which  has  continued 
unbroken. 

The  sessioti  was  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  two  members, 
Messrs.  William  Law  and  Absalom  Wilson,  who  were  or- 
dained to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elders  in  October,  1844.  -Sub- 
sequently, in  1853,  Mr.  John  James,  was  added  to  the 
session. 

In  1848,  the  church  enjoyed  a  season  of  refreshing  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord.  The  religious  interest  was  mani- 
fested at  the  fall  communion.  Religious  meetings  were  pro- 
tracted for  several  days,  and  marked  by  great  solemnity  and 
interest.  Brethren  English  and  Reid  aided  the  pa.stor.  In 
1850,  the  church  was  again  blessed  in  the  gracious  presence 
of  its  great  Head,  in  the  conversion  of  sinners. 

A  special  interest  was  awakened  in  the  Baptist  Church 
when  the  Presbyterian  and  Methodist  Churches  united  in  the 
public  service.  Pastors  preaching  alternately.  At  the  fall 
communion,  some  weeks  after,  a  series  of  religious  services 
were  had  in  the  Pre.sbyterian  Church.  Brethren  Wallace  and 
Brown  aided  the  pastor.  These  exercises  were  continued  for 
ten  days  with  unabated  interest.  Twelve  persons  were  added 
to  the  church  on  that  occasion. 

In  the  autumn  of  1852,  there  was  an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
under  the  mmi.>itry  of  Rev.  Dr.  Baker,  of  Texas,  who  under 
God,  was  blessed  in  bi^inging  to  light,  the  seed  that  had  been 
sown  in  sinners'  hearts.  All  denominations,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  shared  in  the  gracious  influences  which  were  en- 
joyed. On  the  following  communion  seventeen  persons  were 
added  to  the  church. 

The  church  has  had  severe  trials  and  afflictions  in  the  re- 
moval and  death  of  many  of  its  members.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  years  past,  three  families,  including  twelve 
members,  and  one  Elder,  removed  to  the  upper  part  of  Geor- 
gia, where  they  have  formed  a  flourishing  church. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  ministry  of  the  present  pastor,  sev- 
eral amiable,  pious  females  were  called  to  exchange  the 
church    militant    for    the    church    triumphant.-    Our    loss  is 


1840-1850.]  GREAT    PEE    DEE.  639 

doubtless  their  gain.  They  :ill  gave  pleasing-,  sati.sfactorv 
evidence  that  they  were  prepared  for  the  issue,  and  were  hap- 
py in  the  expectation  of  meeting  and  enjoying  the  presence 
of. their  glorified  Lord  and  Saviour. 

The  following  endeared  names  may  be  mentioned:  Miss 
Lavinia  Ervin,  Mrs  J,  B.  E.  Brearley,  Mrs.  Mary  DuBose, 
Mrs.  Mary  Wilds,  Mrs.  Mary  James,  and  some  others.  These 
ail  died  in  the  faith,  looking  for  the  fulfillment  of  (he  promises. 

The  Lord  has  been  gracious  to  his  heritage,  and  raised  up 
other  witnesses,  fulfilling  his  promise,  that  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail  against  the  church. 

The  present  session  consists  of  the  fallowing  members: 

William  Brearley,  pastor  John  DuBose,  W.  H.James,  Wil- 
liam Law,  Absalom  Wilson,  John  James,  Elders. 

The  church  now  numbers  ninet3'-four  members.  Sixty- 
three  whites,  and  thirty-one  colored  members. 

History  of  the  Dailington  Church  communicated,  by  Rev. 
William  Brearley,  October  i8,  1853. 

Great  Pee  Dee. — D.  Matheson,  Elder  of  this  Church, 
continuing  its  history,  says  that  in  April  11,  1841,  John  C. 
Steward  was  ordained  as  deacon.  Rev.  James  P.  McPiiersou 
was  now  the  stated  supply,  and  continued  so  until  the  fall  of 
1843,  when  he  renioved  to  Indian  Town. 

In  1844,  Rev.  David  E.  Frierson,  hy  invitation  of  the  three 
churches,  preached  for  this  church.  Reedy  Creek  and  Little 
Pee  Dee,  and  -was  installed  pastor  the  following  year.  It  is 
believed  by  the  writer  that  he  was  the  first  settled  pastor  this 
church  has  had.  In  1848,  Rev.  Mr.  Frierson  closed  his  min- 
istry among  us.  After  this  time.  Rev.  A.  D.  Campbell  was 
invited  to  to  supply  our  pulpit,  which  lie  did  for  one  year. 
About  this  time  L.  Benton  Prince  was  ordained  Elder.  In 
1850,  Rev.  Archd.  McQueen  was  the  supply  for  one  year. 
June  16th  of  this  year,  John  C.  Stewart  and  Wm.  D.  Johnson, 
having  been  previoU!>ly  chosen,  were  ordained  Elders. 

In  185 1,  Rev.  A.  D.  Campbell  returned  as  stated  supply, 
and  continued  until  about  the  close  of  1855,  when  he  declined 
to  preach  trom  ill  health.  In  1855,  I  suppose,  several  mem- 
bers, including  Elder  W.  D.  Johnson,  were  dismissed  to  Ben- 
nettsville  Church  ;  although  I  find  no  record  of  such  an  act. 

Early  in  1856,  Rev.  Pierpont  E.  Bishop  was  settled  as  pas- 
tor of  this  church  and  Bennettsville.  Here  this  eminently 
saintly  man  and   useful    minister    labored    until    he    died,    in 


640  GREAT    PEE    DEE.  [1840-1850. 

March,  1859,  sincerely  lamented  by  people  of  every  clas.s 
and  condition. 

Muy  lotli,  1856,  George  Dudley  and  Donald  Matlieson, 
having  been  previously  elected  to  that  office,  were  ordained 
Elders. 

In  i860,  Rev.  Charlton  H.  Wilson  was  settled  as  Pastor 
of  this  church  and  Bc:nnettsville  ;  and  so  continued  until  the 
summer  of  1864,  when  he  died  at  Richmond,  Va.,  from  dis- 
ease contiacted  while  chaplain  in  the  army. 

In  1866,  Rev.  W.  B.  Corbett,  of  Cheraw,  was  our  stated 
supply  for  a  year. 

In  1867  and  1868,  Rev.  Edward  H.  Buist  was  the  stated 
supply.  In  1870  and  1871,  Rev.  H.  Martyn  Brearley  was 
the  stated  su[)ply,  ln^8j2.  Rev.  Joseph  Evans  was  tiie  stated 
supply. 

In  the  summer  of  1 874,  Rev.  David  S.  McAllister  commenced 
serving  us,  and  was  ordained  and  ipstalled  pastor  of  this 
ciiurch  and  Kennettsville,  on  November  2lst  of  the  same 
year;  since  which  time  no  change  of  pastor  or  Elders  has 
.taken  place  among  us.  This  church  numbers  scarcely  thirty- 
five  members  who  are  in  reach  of  us,  and  has  always  been 
feeble  in  point  of  numbers. 

One  element  of  our  strength  consisted  in  our  pious  young 
ladies,  of  whom  a  goodly  number  of  the  brightest  and  best 
have  within  recent  years  removed  from  us.  One  sheds  the 
gentle  radiance  of  her  character  in  another  charge  as  pastor's 
wife.  Another,  beyond  the  Edisto,. is  training  her  little  group 
for  the  skies,  and  refuses  to  become  merged  in  such  denom- 
inations as  meet  her  there,  preferring  to  retain  a  connection 
still  with  us.  A  third,  who  led  our  church  music  for  a  s;ood 
many  years,  now  upon  the  far  distant  Sacramento,  tunes  her 
harp,  and  swells  the  note  of  praise.  And  so  another,  and 
another  might  be  referred  to.  We  greatly  miss  their  pres- 
ence and  influence,  not  so  much  in  the  large  congregation  as 
in  the  more  retired  enterprises  of  religious  activity. 

Nor  can  we  conclude  our  hasty  sketch  without  pointing 
with  emotion  to  the  mothers  of  our  c-hurcii  who  have  gone 
to  their  rest.  Their  memory  is  still  fragrant  with  us:  and  we 
feel  assured,  that  whenever  that  shall  have  faded  away  from 
the  scene  of  their  earthly  pilgrimage,  they  will  elsewhere  i>e 
had  ill  evcrlastina-  rcincmbrancc. 

Near  G.  Pee  Dee  Church,  May,  1878, 


1840-1850.]  LITTLE   PEE   DEE — PINE   TREE.  641 

Little  Pee  Dee. — The  Rev.  Archibald  Bui  commenced 
to  supply  this  church  in  1839,  but  being  infirm  through  age, 
after  about  two  years  he  ceased  from  the  active  duties  of  the 
ministry.  Rev.  Archibald  Smith,. of  Fayetteville  Presbytery, 
visited  the  church  frequently  until  1840.  Rev.  Archibald 
Baker,  of  the  same  Presbytery,  was  invited  to  supply  the 
church  on  week  days.  In  the  fall  of  1841  he  was  ordained 
pastor  of  Ashpole  and  this  church  agam  left  vacant.  The 
Little  Pee  Dee  Church  having  been  transferred  about  "this 
time  to  Harmony  Presbytery,  South  Carolina,  in  October, 
1841,  Rev.  David  E.  Frierson,  a  licentiate  of  Harmony  Pres- 
bytery, was  sent  as  supply.  ,  In  1845  he  was  ordained  pastor, 
and  has  continued  in  this  relation,  preaching  for  the  most 
part  on  alternate  Sabbaths.  This  churcli  ha.s  been  often  re- 
duced by  emigration.  Particularly  during  Mr.  Brown's  ministry, 
three  Ruling  Elders  and  other  Uicmbers,  amounting  to  nearly 
half  the  communicants,  moved  to  tiie  west.  For  many  years 
past  this  church  has  been  steadily  prospering.  It  numbered 
40  members  in  1848,  and72  members  185  i.  In  1855  ithad  four 
Elders,  M.  Carmicliael,  D.  A.  Carmichael,  A.  Carmichael  and 
Neill  McDufiSe,  and  one  deacon. 

PiSGAH  Church,  in  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  appears 
in  the  Statistic  Tables  of  the  Geni.  Assembly,  in  1850,  for 
the  first  time.  It  appears  from  the  minutes  of  Harmony  for 
October,  1849,  that  it  was  restored  to  the  roll  of  churches 
under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery,  and  was  referred  to  its 
committee  of  supplies  as  a  vacant  church.  In  the  minutes  of 
April,  1850,  it  speaks  of  this  church  as  having  been  very  much 
revived.  In  April,H8si,  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Sutton,  of  Concord 
Presbytery,  preached  by  agreement  to  this  church  once  a 
month,  but  really  much  oftener.  The  church  at  this  time 
had  29  members.  It  received  pecuniary  aid  from  Presbytery 
to  a  limited  extent. 

Pine  Tree  Church. — The  Rev.  John  B.  McFarland  con- 
tinued to  preach  to  this  church  until  about  the  year  1844, 
when  through  the  infirmities  of  old  age  he  was  compelled  to 
cease  his  public  labours.  ,  He  had  been  wont  to  preach  both 
in  English  and  Gaelic,  on  each  visit,  to  suit  the  taste  and 
preferences  of  the  congregation  he  addressed.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  John  L.  Mclver,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of 
Harmony,  whose  ministry  was  brief,  his  license  being  revoked 
by  Presbytery  that  same  year.  In  January,  1845,  the  Rev. 
41 


642  CHERAM'.  [1840-1860. 

T.  R.  English  became  the  stated  supply  until  1848,  when  the 
pastoral  relation  was  fully  established,  but  was  dissolved  that 
same  year,  in  order  to  put  Mr.  English  into  the  field  as  the 
Evangelist  of  Presbytery.  This  was  with  the  consent  of 
both  parties.  The  church  is  in  a  sparsely  settled  country, 
but  by  the  help  of  two  men,  Mr.  Benjamin  Perkins,  and  John 
Knox,  each  of  whom  bequeathed  a  small  legacy  which  amounts 
to  some  ^3.000,  it  can  pay  its  pastor  well  for  half  his  time. 
In  1848,  camp  meetings  began  to  beheld,  and  continued  to  be 
for  four  or  five  years  These  meetings  were,  some  of  them  at 
least,  delightful  seasons  of  grace.  The  Rev.  John  McFar- 
land  departed  this  life  in  May,  1850.  The  church  has  been 
served  since  by  Rev.  D.  Harrison,  D.  E.  Mclntyre,  Duncan 
McDuffie,  L.  S.  Handley  and  Robert  Bradley.  Its  Elders, 
at  the  last  inforrrtation  we  have  received,  are,  U.  Bethune, 
Allan  McCaskill,  N.  A.  Bethune  and  Richard  Pate.  Its 
members,  in  1845,  were  36:  in  1847,42;  in  1852,  50.  Mr. 
English  being  then  the  pastor. 

Cheraw. — The  preceding  history  of  this  church  is  from 
the  pen  of  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Coit,  who  was  at  this  time  pastor 
of  this  church.  The  first  statement  he  makes  respecting  its 
affairs  of  this  period  begins  at  December  5th,  1844,  when 
John  A.  I.iglis  and  John  F.  Matheson  were  unanimously 
nominated  and  recommended  to  the  church  as  additional 
Ruling  Elders,  and  were  elected  and  ordained. 

On  the  loth  day  of  September,  1845,  on  p.  107  of  the  Ses- 
sional Record,  is  the  following  minute: 

"The  following  preamble  and  resolution  were,  on  motion, 
unanimously  adopted,  viz. : 

Whereas,  several  members  of  this  Church  have  at  different 
times  removed  to  a  distance  without  applying  to  the  Session 
for  a  dismission,  and  whereas,  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina' 
and  Georgia,  in  reference  to  such  cases,  adopted  a  preamble 
and  resolutions,  which  are  published  in  the  Appendi.K  to  their 
minutes  for  1841,  which  is  in  the   following   words,    namely: 

Resolved,  That  it  be  from  this  time  recom  mended  as  a  rule 
of  action  in  this  case,  to  the  churche's  under  our  care,  that 
the  name  of  any  individual  who  has  absented  him  or  herself 
from  the  services  of  the  church  for  the  period  of  one  year, 
or  has  removed  from  within  its  bounds,  without  taking  a  dis- 
mission, and  been  absent  for  that  length   of  time,   shall  be 


1840-1850.]  .  CHERAW.  643 

stricken  from  the  roll  of  members;  nor  shall  such  individual 
be  readmitted  to  the  privileges  of  membership  without  giving 
satisfaction  to  the  Session  of  said  church,  nor  shall  a  certifi- 
cate of  dismission  to  any  other  church  be  granted  to  such 
individual  after  their  names  are  thus  stricken  from  the  roll — 
Provided,  nevertheless,  that  nothing  in  this  rule  shall  be 
considered  as  applicable  to  those  w^ho  may  be  absent  from 
the  bounds  of- said  church,  on  necessary  and  temporary 
business,  or  prevented  from  attendance  upon  the  ministrations 
by  sickness  or  infirmity." 

According  to  the  above  resolution,  39  names  of  members 
were  stricken  from- the  roll  of  our  communion. 

Murdock  Maclean  removed  from  Fayetteville,  N.  C.  to 
Cheraw,  in  1830,  and  having  exercised  the  office  of  Ruling 
Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Fayetteville,  was  soon 
after  his  connection  with  this  church,  elected  an  Elder.  Law- 
rence Prince  was  ordained  Elder,  February  10,  1833.  ^'^ 
January,  1845,  John  A.  Inglis  and  John  F.  Matheson  were 
ordained.  In  the  summer  of  1838,  George  H.  Dunlap  and 
John  Wright  were  ordained.  John  C.  Colt  was  ordained  to 
the  Eldership  January  19,  1834. 

During  several  years  previous  to  1853,  the  town  has  been 
declining  in  population,  and  the  church  has  lost  many  mem- 
bers by  emigration.  During  the  year  1852,  it  sustained  a 
heavy  bereavement  in  the  death  of  Lawrence  Prince,  one  of 
its  Elders,  and  a  beloved  and  faithful  brother,  who  died  at 
about  70  years  of  age,  an  efficient  officer  of  the  church,  re- 
markable for  his  love,  avowal,  and  firm  defence  of  the  distin- 
guishing doctrines,  government  and  order  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church. 

The  contributions  of  the  church  in  1852  and  1853  were 
as  follows:  1852. — Foreign  Missions,  ^243.25;  Domestic 
Missions,  ^351.25;  Superannuated  Ministers,  $101.00;  Amer- 
ican Bible  Society,  ;^42.oo ;  Board  Publication,  ,^17.00;  Col- 
portage,  ^28.50.-^783.00.  1853. — Foreign  Missions,  $224.- 
25;  Domestic  Missions,  ;^3io./5  ;  Board  Education,  ^^9.00; 
Superannuated  Ministers,  ,$93.50;  American  Bible  Society, 
;$30.oo:  Colportage,  $25.00;  Board  Education,  $197.50; 
Oglethorpe,  $105.00;  To  aid  in  building  a  church  in  Marlboro 
district,  $205.00.-^1,120.40. 

It  is  due  to  the  memory  of  Hon.  John  A.  Inghs,  an  hon- 
oured Elder  in  this  Church,  and  at  one  time  a  Director  in  the 


644  HON.  JOHN  A.   INGLIS.  [1840-1850. 

Theological   Seminary   at  Columbia,   that   something   of  his 
history  and  worth  should  be  a  matter  of  record. 

The  following  .sketch  of  his  life  and  history  is  taken  from 
one  of  our  public  prints. 

DEATH  OF  HON.  JOHN  A.  INGLIS. 

The  community  (generally  will  'earn  with  no  less  surprise  than  deep 
regret  the  death  of  John  A  Inglis,  LL.  D.,  Chief  Judge  of  the  Or- 
phans'Court  of  Baltimore  city,  and  formerly  a  Chancellor  and  Judge 
of  the  Supreine  Court  of  South  Carolina  He  died  at  half  past  10 
o'clock  yesterday  morning  at  his  residence  in  this  city,  No.  124  Cathe- 
dral street.  Though  it  was  known  that  he  was  confined  to  his  house 
by  a  carbuncle,  a  fatal  result  had  not  been  appreh.ended.  He  had  heen 
to  one  of  the  summer  resorts.  Swift  Water,  Pa.,  but  returned  home 
about  two  weeks  ago,  looking  badly  and  suflering  from  the  carbuncle 
on  the  back  of  his  neck.  He  never  got  out  again-  A  few  days  ago  he 
was  attacked  with  a  diphtherial  affection,  and  his  combined  ailments 
proceeded  rapidly  to  a  fatal  termination.  He  was  attended  by  Dr. 
Christopher  Johnson,  and  Dr.  Gambrill  was  also  called  in  during  the 
progress  of  the  disease. 

His  death,  unexpected  by  nearly  every  one,  caused  a  general  shock 
in  the  professional  and  church  circles  where  he  was  best  known.  In 
the  Orphans' Court,  where  Judge  Carroll  presided  alone,  J.  Harmon 
Brown,  the  Register  of  Wills,  announced  the  sad  event,  asking  that  the 
Court  adjourn  and  a  minute  of  the  proceedings  be  placed  on  the  record, 
which  Judge  Carroll  ordered  to  be  done.  The  court  room,  the  Judges' 
desks,  &c.,  were  di'aped  in  mourning.  A  telegram  announcing  the 
death  of  the  Chief  Judge  was  sent  by  the  Register  to  Associate  Judge 
Lindsay,  who  is  in  Indianapolis,  a  representative  to  the  Knights  of 
Pythias  Grand  Lodge. 

Judge  Inglis  was  65  years  and  1  day  old,  having  been  born  August 
25,  1813,  in  Baltimore.  His  father  was  Rev  James  Inglis,  D.  D.,  pastor 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  then  situated  at  North  and  Fayette, 
streets,  and  now  at  Park  and  Madison  streets  His  mother  was  a, 
daughter  of  Christopher  Johnson,  a  merchant,  tlie  grandfather  of  Dr. 
Christopher  Johnson.  He  attended  in  early  youth  the  school  of  Rev. 
James'Magraw,  at  West  Nottingham,  Cecil  County,  with  his  two  elder 
brothers,  and  Prot.  N.  C.  Brooks,  and  afterwards  went  to  Dickinson 
College,  at  Carlisle,  Pa.,  then  under  the  charge  of  the  Presbyterians. 
He  graduated  at  the  age  of  18,  and  soon  after  went  to  South  Carolina. 
He  married  there  early  in  life.  Miss  Prince,  of  a  well  known  family  in 
South  Carolina,  who  survives  him.  For  some  years  he  taught  school 
in  the  i^tate,  but  was  soon  admitted  to  th';  bar,  forming  a  partnership 
with  Alexander  Mclver,  and  afterwards  with  Gen.  Prince. 

He  rajjidly  rose  to  a  hig:h  rank,  attaining  some  of  the  most  coveted 
prizes  of  the  profession  in  that  State.  He  became  Judge  of  the  Court 
of  Common  Pleas  and  General  Sessions,  later  one  of  the  four  Chan- 
cellors who  administered  equity  law  in  the  four  judicial  circuits  into 
which  the  State  was  divided,  and  after  the  war  as  Associate  Judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  the  highest  appellate  tribunal  in  the  State.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  convention  which,  in  December,  1860,  passed  the 
first  ordinance  of  secession  passed  by  a  Southern  State,  and  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee  which  drafted  the  ordinance  of  secession,    of 


1840-1850  ]  CAEOLINA    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH.  645 

which  he  was  the  author,  and  which  passed  with  very  few  alterations 
in  its  original  form.  Facsimiles  of  the  document  have  been  framed, 
and  one  of  them  has  been  preserved  by  the  Registrar  of  Wills  as  a 
memento  of  those  memorable  times.  It  i.s  said  that  one  of  these  Fac- 
similes being  seen  by  a  Federal  officer  hung  up  in  the  library  of  Judge 
Inglis'  house,  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the  town  of  Cheraw,  led  to  the 
destruction  of  the  house  and  library  by  fire  during  ''Slierman's  march 
to  the  sea,"  thougli  they  were  at  first  inclined  to.  spare  the  well-kept 
house  and  grounds. 

The  reconstruction  measures  and  military  government  which  followed 
the  war  threw  Judge  Inglis  out  of  office,  and  the  cheerless  aspect  of 
affairs  in  the  South  for  several  years  caused  him  to  turn  his  eyes  to  his 
native  State  and  city  He  returned  to  Baltimore  in  1868,  though  held 
in  higli  honor  and  esteem  by  the  people  of  his  adopted  State  and 
strongly  urged  to  remain  in  hopes  of  brighter  days.  In  this  city  he 
entered  on  the  practice  of  his  profession,  winning  applause  for  elo- 
quence in  some  of  his  speeclies  at  the  bar.  One  of  the  most  memorable 
occasions  of  this  sort  was  his  defense  of  Uppercue,  tried  for  the  murder 
of  his  aunt.  Judge  Inglis'  speech  for^the  defense  drew  tears  from  the 
eyes  of  the  spectators,  and  was  followed  by  the  acquittal  of  his  client. 

In  1870,  Judge  Inglis  was  chosen  one  of  the  faculty  and  professer  of 
commercial  law,  equity,  jurisprudence,  &c.,  in  the  law  school  of  the 
University  of  Maryland  He  delivered  daily  lectures  to  the  students 
during  each  session.  In  March,  1874,  he  was  appointed  Judge  of  the 
Orphans'  Court,  on  the  death  of  Judge  Bolivar  D  Daniels,  it  being  the 
last  appointment  of  Governor  Whyte,  when  on  the  eve  of  leaving  the 
executive  chair  for  the  United  States  Senate-  He  was  marie  Chief 
Judge.  Judge  Inglis  was  elected  to  the  same  place  by  the  people  (all 
parties  supporting  him  on  account  of  his  qualifications  and  high  char- 
acter) at  the  next  general  election  in  1875,  for  four  years.  His  successor 
will  also  be  appointed  by  the  present  Governor,  to  hold  the  office  until 
the  next  general  election,  which  is  in  1879,  when  members  of  the  Leg- 
islature and  many  other  officials  are  elected. 

Judge  Inglis  was  elected  by  the  Board  of  Trade  last  June  Judge  of  the 
Arbitration  Court,  about  to  be  organized  under  an  act  of  the  Legislature, 
drawn  by  him  at  the  request  of  the  board.  He  was  a  ruling  elder  in 
the  Franklin  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  W.  U.  Murkland,  pastor. 
His  funeral  will  take  place  Wednesday  afternoon.  He  leaves  a  wife, 
two  sons  and  a  daughter,  all  grown.  'The  Alumni  of  the  law  school  will 
meet  to-day  to  take  due  action  on  the  occasion  Being  a  lawyer  and 
long  on  the  bench,  nearly  all  the  labor  of  preparing  the  o{jinions  of 
the  court  fell  on  him.  When  he  went  away  for  recreation  this  summer 
he  took  papers  to  prepare  the  court's  opinion  in  an  important  will 
case,  Mrs.  Porter's.  It  is  the  general  sentiment  of  the  bar  that  the 
place  should  be  filled  by  a  careful  and  conscientious  \a.-wyer.— Baltimore 
Sun,  27th. 

Carolina  Presbyterian  Church. — Several  persons  residing 
in  Marion  Di.strict,  South  Carolina,  and  Robeson  County,  North 
Carolina,  some  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  others,  though  not  communicants,  but  feeling  a 
stong  attachment  to  the  form  of  worship  and  general  usages 
of  that  church,  invited,  during  the  winter  of  1848,    the   Rev. 


646  M1DV7AY    PRESBYTKEIAN  CHUECH.  [1840  1850. 

Archibald  McQueen  to  preach  for  them  as  often  as  his  con- 
venience would  admit.  He  accordingly  did  so  at  intervals  of 
two  and  three  weeks,  at  what  wa.s  called  Dog  Wood  Scliool 
House,  where  the  Rev.  D.  Frierson  had  occasionally  minis- 
tered during  the  preceding  year.  Daring  the  fall  of  1849  a 
church  was  organized  and  taken  under  the  charge  of  Har- 
mony Presbytery,  S.  C. ,  as  a  regular  and  constituent  part  of 
their  pastoral  charge. 

The  following  act  of  organization  was  afterwards  unani- 
mously adopted,  viz:  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  an- 
nexed, residents  of  N.  C.  and  S.  C,  finding  ourselves  in  the 
providence  of  God  severally  located  so  far  from  any  settled 
place  of  public  worship  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination,  as 
to  find  it  inconvenient  to  enjoy  the  privileges  which  we  desire, 
do  hereby  agree  to  unite  as  a  congregation  for  the  regular 
and  stated  worship  of  God,  and  the  enjoyment  of  Gospel  or- 
dinances, do  hereby  adopt  the  following  resolutions : 

1st.  Resolved,  That  this  congregation  shall  henceforth  be 
known  and  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  Jlie  Presby- 
terian Church  of  Carolina,  in  the  District  of  Marion,  S. 
Carolina. 

2d.  Resolved,  That  »in  our  Eclesiastical  connexion  and 
capacity,  we  do  hereby  adopt  the  constitution  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  as  our  con- 
stitution; and  that  we  hereby  agree,  in  our  deliberations  and. 
proceedings,  to  be  regulated  and  governed  entirely  by  its 
principles. 

In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  caused  our  names  respectively 
to  be  annexed  hereunto,  March  30th,  1850. 

The  -Statistical  tables  show  a  membership  of  61  in  1853, 
and  of  99  in  i860. 

Midway  Presbyterian  Church. — Rev.  Philip  Pierson  was 
the  first /fl.f/<7r  this  church  ever  had.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Cousar, 
who  continued  so  long  with  it,  was  never  installed. 

Mr.  Pierson  preached  as  the  pastor  of  Midway  about  35 
years,  and  died  in  the  midst  of  public  service  in  the  pulpit  of 
Bethel  Church,  then  a  preaching  station  attached  to  Midway 
Church.  Mr.  Pierson  had  been  for  the  long  period  of  35 
years  a  faithful  pastor,  and  though  in  feeble  healtii  his  labors 
were  abundant  and  unremitting,  and  he  died  under  circum- 
stances wliich  he  had  frequently  expressed  himself  as  pre- 
ferring   to  die,   if  it  comported    with    the  will   of  God.     He 


1840-1850.]  BllUINGTON- — CONCORD.  647 

brought  up  a  family  of  sons  and  daughters  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  the  eldest  son  now  serving  the  church  of  his  father  as 
a  ruhng  elder. 

Bruington  Church.— On  the  iSthof  May,  1840,  the  Rev. 
Donald  J.  Auld  was  installed  pastor,  he  having  received  and 
accepted  its  call.  The  church  continued  to  flourish  under  his 
care  until  the  year  1848,  when  he  accepted  a  call  from  the 
church  at  Chesterville  Court  House,  S.  C.,  and  removed  there, 
leaving  Bruington  Church  again  without  a  pastor  till  1850, 
when  A.  E.  Chandler  was  ordained  and  installed. 

Concord  Church. — Of  this  church  no  account  has  been 
furnished  us.  We  only  know  that  from  1837  to  1850  it  was 
under  the  pastoral  supei  vision  of  Rev.  Donald  McQueen,  D. 
.D.,in  connection  with  the  church  of  Sumterville.  From  the 
statistical  tables  we  learn  that  its  membership  increased  from 
94  in  184:, to  124  in  1848.  We  learn  from  tht;,  minutes  of 
Synod  that  R.  R.  Durant,  Henry  Spann,  Elisha  McCoy  and 
J.  J.  Chandler  were  the  Ruling  Elders  in  1845,  and  that  the 
same,  with  the  exception  of  E.  M.  McCoy,  in  whose  place  we 
find  W.   T.  Brogden,  M.  D.,  were  elders  in  1859  and  1871. 

Sumterville  Church. — The  Rev.  Donald  McQueen,  D. 
D.,  continued  the  much  loved  pastor  of  this  church  and  con- 
gregation. In  1850  he  ceased  his  connection  with  Concord 
Church,  and  confined  his  pa.storal  labors  to  the  church  in 
Sumterville,  which  he  continued  to  serve  till  near  the  period 
of  his  lamented  death,  in  1880 

The  number  of  communicants  in  this  church  was  23  in 
1841,  64  in  1851.  The  elders  in  1845  were  Joseph  B.  White, 
D.  D.  McLaurin,  W.  M.  De  Lorme.  Anthony  White. 

Many  were  the  tributes  paid  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Mc- 
Queen. The  following  is  thfe  notice  of  his  death  by  the 
Faculty  of  the  Seminary  at  Columbia,  when  it  occurred. 

The  Faculty  of  this  Seminary  hereby  express  their  deep  sorrow  and 
regret  at  the  death  of  Rev  Donald  McQueen,  D.  D.,  for  many  years  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  and  an  early  and  constant 
friend  of  this  institution. 

We  miss  his  genial  and  pleasant  society  at  our  annual  gatherings,  as 
his  co-presbyters  will,  at  these  convocations  at  which  they  are  often 
assepibled  to  consult  for  the  well  being  of  the  church,  and  in  which  he 
took  so  active  a  part  Like  other  of  his  brethren  he  had  been  a,  suf- 
ferer in  the  war,  losing  a  noble  and  favorite  son,  on  the  army's  approach 
to  Sumter,  from  which  loss  he  was  believed  neverto  have  fully  recovered. 

Though  his  death  has  been  expected  daily  for  some  months,  it  did 
not  oc(tur  until  Friday,  the  23d  of  January,   1880,   at  about  12  o,clock. 


648  DONALD  M'QDEEN,  D.  D. SALEM,  B.  R.      [1840-1850. 

but  when  it  came,  it  produced  a  profound  sensation  in  the  community 
in  which  he  liad  so  long  resided.  His  funeral  took  place  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sabbath,  in  the  church  of  which  he  was  the  pastor  for  so  many 
years.  The  whole  town,  and  many  from  the  surrounding  country, 
without  distinction  of  race  or  creed,  gathered  to  pay  their  last  respects' 
to  one  who  had  taken  a  more  than  ordinary  hold  upon  the  hearts  of 
the  people  The  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Howe, 
of  this  Seminary,  five  other  ministers  taking  part  in  the  services,  the 
pastors  of  the  Methodist  and  Baptist  churches  being  of  the  number, 
the  church  being  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity.  The  estimation  in  which 
he  was  held  was  shown  by  the  large  attendance  at  his  funeral,  the  pro- 
cession being  larger  than  was  ever  before  seen  in  the  town  of  Sumter. 
"A  few  days  before  his  death,  he  told  one  of  his  children  to  write  at 
his  dictation  the  following  statement  of  facts :  "Graduated  at  the  South 
Carolina  College,  in  the  class  of  1832.  Graduated  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  1836.  Licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony, 1837.  Called  to  the  churches  of  Concord  and  Sumterville,  or- 
dained pastor  oi'  the  same,  afterward  of  Sumterville  alone,  Resigned 
his  pastoral  office  on  account  of  ill  health,  at  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony, met  at  Midway,  October  lllh,  1879,  and  now  awaits  the  call  of 
the  Master  to  his  heavenly  home." 

Salem  (Black  River.) — This  church,  and  in  fact  our  whole 
community,  su.stained  a  great  loss  in  the   death    of  the    Rev. 
Robt.  Wilson  James,  its  beloved  pastor,  who  died  on  the  13th 
of  April,  in  the  year    1841.     He  was   a  faithful   minister  of 
Christ,  a  noble,  generous  and  influential  man,  who  served  the 
Master  assiduously,  and  whose  memory  will  not  soon  be  for- 
gotten.    The  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia   had   abun- 
dant reason  to  know  him.     "Associated,"  say  they,  "  as  many 
of  us  have  been,  in  days  past,  with  the  late  R.  W.  James,  it  is 
but  proper  that  some  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory  should 
have  a  place  upon  our  records.     From  the  origin   of  this    in- 
stitution to  the  close  of  his  valuable  life,  Brother  James   was 
its  faithful  friend  and  able  advocate — and  much  of  its   past 
success  and  present  prosperity   depends,  under  God,  upon  the 
wisdom  of  his  counsels,  the  ardor    of  his    attachment  to  its 
best  interests,  and  his  self-denying  zeal  and  gratuitous  services 
in  its  behalf.     When  others  were  despondent  his  faith  seemed 
stronger  than  ever.     When  others    relaxed   their  efforts,   he 
exhibited  the  energy  of  his  character.     Every  one  of  his  as- 
sociates in  the  Direction   felt  that   he   acted    upon   principles 
deliberately  formed,  and  sought  only  the  glory  of  God,   and 
the  good  of  the  Church  ;  and  hence  his  great  influence  in  the 
Board,  in  the  Synod  and  in  the  church.     A  thorough  student 
himself,  upon  an  excellent  foundation,  he  saw  clearly  the  im- 
portance of  fufnishing  for  the  churches  a  thoroughly  edu- 


1840-1850.]  REV.  EOBEET  WILSON  JAMES.  649 

cated  ministry,  educated  in  the  principles  of  our  faith  and 
order,  which  the  more  they  are  examined  the  better  they  are 
loved;  and  hence  his  labors  in  the  cause.  In  this  respect, 
and  in  all  others  that  adorn  the  ministerial  character,  Brother 
James  was  a  pattern  that  might  be  safely  imitated,  and  the 
savor  of  his  name  will  descend  to  generations  yet  unborn." 
Minutes  of  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  for  1841. 
Appendix,  page  36. 

The  following  is  a  biographical  sketch  of  Rev.  Mr.  James, 
gathered  from  a  sermon  of  Rev.  Thomas  R.  English,  preached 
in  his  commemoration  on  the  6th  of  February,  in  1842. 

Robert  Wilson  James  was  born  in  Williamsburg  District, 
S.  C,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1793.  His  father,  .Capt.  John,  and 
grandfather.  Major  John  James,  were  distinguished  for  their 
patriotism.in  the  war  of  the.  Revolution,  and  were  consistent, 
worthy  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

Young  James  was  early  sent  to  sehool  in  his  native  District. 
He  entered  the  South  Carolina  College  under  President 
Maxcy,  and  was  graduated  in  1813.  Having  finished  his 
literary  studies,  he  commenced,  during  the  year  1814,  a 
course  of  Theology  under  Dr.  James  W.  Stephenson,  of 
Maury  County,  Tennessee.  He  read  Theology  also,  for  a  few 
months,  under  Rev.  Dr.  M.  Wilson,  of  the  Concord  Presby- 
tery, N.  C,  and  placed  himself  under  its  care.  At  Princeton, 
N.  J.,  he  completed,  in  the  spring  of  1817,  tlie  prescribed 
course  of  studies  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  that  place. 
On  the  3d  of  June  of  the  same  year  he  was  licensed  by  his 
Presbytery  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  labored  for  several 
months  as  a  missionary,  within  its  bounds,  in  company  with 
the  venerable  Dr.  Hall. 

The  churches  of  Indian  Town  and  Bethel,  in  Wil- 
liamsburg District,  united,  in  1818,  in  calling  him  as  their 
pastor;  which  call  was  accepted,  ami  the  Presbytery  of  Har- 
mony, in  May  i8ig,  proceeded  to  install  him  over  them.  For 
nine  years  he  labored  to  promote  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his 
people,^ and  not  in  vain,  particularly  among  the  colored  peo- 
ple, many  of  whom  became  hopeful  subjects  of  grace.  While 
pastor  of  these  churches  he  was  united  in  marriage  (on  the 
20th  of  January,  1820),  to  Miss  Margaret  Adaline  McFadden, 
(daughter  of  Col.  Thos.  McFadden,  of  Salem,  Sumter  District.) 
In  this  new  relation  Mr.  James  was  blessed,  not  only  with  a 
pious  and  suitable  companion,  but  with  the  ability  to  execute 


650  REV.  MR.  JAMES.  [1840-1850. 

liberal  things  for  the  promotion  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom. 
He  had  been  induced  to  believe  that  the  destitutions  of  the 
west  opened  a  wider  field  of  ministerial  usefulness,  and  that 
the  inaications  of  Divine  Providence  were  in  that  direction. 
But  Mr.  James  had  here  many  friends,  who  in  common  with 
the  whole  church,  importuned  him  to  become  their  pastor. 
He  yielded  to  their  solicitations,  and  was  inducted  into  the 
pastoral  office,  in  and  over  Salem  Church.  Here  he  was 
called  to  bury  the  partner  of  his  bosom,  and  an  interesting 
and  only  son.  Here,  for  over  thirteen  years,  he  entreated 
siimers  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  and  urged  his  fellow  christians 
to  fight  the  good  fight  of  faith. 

In  this  divine  employment  he  was  arrested  by  the  hand  of 
disease,  and  caused  to  lie  on  a  bed  of  suffering  (a  part  of  the 
time  extreme)  for  several  months.  At  length,  having  j//^^r<'rt', 
as  well  as  done  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father,  his  friends 
were  called  together,  on  the  13th  of  April,  1841,  to  witness 
liis  departure,  which  occurred  about  5  o'clock,  A.  M.  For 
days  before  his  dissolution,  nothing  would  brighten  his  dying 
eyes  so  much  as  to  be  told  that  it  was  nearly  over.  He  would 
answer,  "all  is  well" — or  "thank  God."  An  hour  before  the 
struggle  commenced,  he  asked  to  be  laid  straight  in  his- bed 
and  to  have  his  feet  drawn  down  :  which  being  done,  said, 
"that  will  do."  He  never  spake,  he  never  moved  more.  While 
dying  he  closed  his  own  eyes — drew  one  breath  more,  and 
(so  far  our  correspondent)  his  disembodied 'spirit  ascended, 
we  believe,  to  the  general  assembly  and  church  of  the  first 
born,  which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God,  th°  Judge  of 
all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus, 
the  Mediator  of  the  new  covenant."  As  a  niinister,  his 
preaching  was  both  doctrinal  and  practical.  He  was  found 
"warning  every  man,  and  teaching  every  man"  "that  he  might 
present  every  man  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus."  This  was  literally 
true  with  regard  to  the  colored  portion  of  the  flock.  Not 
one  of  them  was  ever  overlooked.  They  all  received  their 
portion  in  due  season.  In  this  department  of  Ministerial  la- 
bor he  had  few  superiors. 

His  manner  of  presenting  and  enforcing  Divine  truth  was 
highly  original.  He  was,  in  this  respect,  like  only  himself 
He  tiiought  only  his  own  thoughts,  and  spoke  his  own  words. 
As  a  Theologian  he  was  much  respected  by  his  brethren.  In 
ecclesiasticnl  historv  he  was  also  well  versed. 


1840-1850.]  SALEM,  ULACK  EIVKK.  651 

As  a  member  of  the  judicatories  of  the  church,  his  opinions 
were  highly  vahied,  and  often  determined  the  most  important 
questions. 

He  had  much  of  the  milk  of  human  kindness.  His  de- 
portment towards  others  was  marked  by  gentleness  and 
urbanity. 

His  conversatiojial  powers  were  considerable.  He  could 
be  pleasant,  serious  or  instructive,  at  pleasure.  He  was  very 
hospitable.  He  enjoyed  the  comforts  of  that  religion  which 
he  preached, to  others,  in  his  own  soul.* 

This  church  did  not  remain  long  without  a  pastor.  On  the 
6l:hofNov.,  1841,  the  Rev,  George  Cooper  Gregg  was  or- 
dained, and  installed  as  pastor  of  Salem  Church,  B.  R.,  by  the 
Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  served  this  church  for  19  years. 
He  died,  greatly  lamented,  on  the  28th  of  May,  1861.  Al- 
though the  longer  portion  of  his  ministerial  life  continued  over 
the  next  decade,  we  find  it  more  convenient  not  to  separate 
bdtween  the  two,  what  we  have '  to  say  concerns  him, 
or  the  church  itself  For  a  long  period  of  years  the  commu- 
nity in  which  the  church  is  located  has  had  the  reputation  of 
being  one  of  the  most  intelligent,  virtuous,  and  wealthy  per- 
haps in  the  State.  Family  religion  is  prized  and  practiced  by 
most  of  its  households,  and  as  the  fathers  fall,  virtuous  sons 
arise  to  fill  their  places.  The  white  membership  of  the 
church  has  never  been  large,  not  exceeding  100  at  any   one 

*Copy  of  the  inscription  on  the  tombstone  of  Rev.  Robert  W.  James, 
in  the  cemetery  of  Salem  Chnrcli,  Black  River,  S.  C. 

"In  memory  of  Rev.  Robert  Wilscln  .Tames,  who  died  April  IStii,  A. 
D.,  1841.  aged  48  years.  He  was  born  at  Indian  Town,  Williamsburg 
District,  graduated  at  So.  Ca.  College,  A.  D.,  1813,  and  at  Princeton  The- 
ological Seminary,  A.  D.  1817.  Was  ordained  pastor  of  the  churches 
of  Indian  Town  and  Bethel,  A.  D.  1819,  and  of  this  churcli,  A.  D.  1828. 
During  a  ministry  of  24  years  ho  endeared  himself,  by  his  virtues  and 
faithful  labours  to  the  people  of  his  charge,  and  by  his  kindness,  affa- 
bility, benevolence,  and  wisdom,  acquired  influence  wherever  he  was 
known.  As  a  divine,  he  was  enlightened  and  sound';  ks  a  preacher, 
solid  and  instructive ;  as  a  pastor,  affectionate  and  faithful  ;  as  astudent 
ardent  and  laborious;  as  a  counsellor,  judicious  and  wise;  as  a  master, 
anxious  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare  of  his  servants ;  as  a 
father,  brother  and  friend,  kind,  prudent,  and  true  ;  in  benefactions  to 
the  church  of  Christ,  bountiful;  in  effort  to  promote  its  interest,  dis- 
interested and  prompt.  In  him  the  Synod  has  lofst  one  of  its  most  in- 
'fluential  members.  His  co-Presbyters,  a  brother  most  belovel.  The 
churches  around,  a  counsellor  faithful  and  valued.  His  State  and  coun- 
try, a  patriotic  son. 
His  life  was  goodness,  and  his  end  was  peace." 


652  REV.  GEO.  COOPER  GREGG.  [1840-1850. 

time.  Prior  to  1827  the  records  show  but  one  colored  mem- 
ber: At  the  close  of  our  late  civil  war  the  church  roll  exhib- 
ited the  names  of  about  610  colored  members.  This  was  due 
to  the  pa.stor,  Robt.  Wilson  James,  and  his  successor,  George 
Cooper  Gregg.  A  large  number  of  these  took  their  dismis- 
sions after  the  war,  and  became  connected  with  the  Northern 
Presbyterian  Church.  Others  removed  to  other  parts  of  the 
country,  until  none  of  this  class  were  left.  The  following  ex- 
cerpts are  taken  from  a  funeral  disco'jrse  on  the  last  of  these 
pastors,  preached  from  the  words  in  John,  XL,  35,  26. 

Jesus  saith  unto  her,  I  am  the  Resurrection,  and  the  Life. 
He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  ; 
and  whomsoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall  never  die. — 
(John  XL,  25,  26.) 

After  rehearsing  the  circumstances,  and  quoting  the  words 
of  Mary,  to  which  the  text  was  a  reply,  the  preacher  added  : 

"  We  come  now,  to  speak  of  another  household,  which, 
though  exhibiting  other  relationships,  was,  we  hope,  like  that 
of  Bethany,  honored  with  the  Master's  presence,  and  held  one, 
at  least,  whom  Jesus  loved. 

We  come  to  speak  of  him*  who  was  a  friend  to  you  all,  and 
to  Jesus,  our  and  his  Master  and  Lord.  He  lived  among  you 
not  as  a  private  man  only,  nor  as  one  who  was  the  liglit  and 
joy,  and  stay  and  defender  of  one  family  alone,  but  the  cheer- 
ful and  wise  companion  of  many,  and  a  lamp  bright  and  shin- 
ing, which  God  had  placed  in  the  candlestick  of  his  church 
to  give  light  to  all  that  are  in  His  house.  It  was  near  forty- 
eight  years  ago.  in  Marion  District,  on  the  19th  of  February, 
1814,  that  he  first  saw  the  light  of  the  sun.  It  was  on  the 
28th  of  May,  in  1 861,  that  he,  too,  fell  asleep  in  Jesus,  having 
lived  on  the  earth  forty-seven  years  and  three  months,  closing 
in  the  midst  of  an  admiring  people  and  weeping  friends,  an 
honorable  and  useful  hfe.  At  seventeen  years  of  age  his 
school  education,  at  a  distance  from  home,  appears  to  have 
commenced.  The  Holy  Spirit  pressed,  meanwhile  the  lessons 
of  parental  instruction,  and  the  truths  of  God's  word,  upon 
his  heart;  and  after  a  youth  of  thoughtfulness  and  sobriety, 
as  he  was  approaciiing  manhood,  the  decisive  moment  in  his 
religious  hi.story  came,  in  which  he  passed  from  death  unto 
life.      In  his  twentieth  year  he  became  a  member  by  public 

*Rev.  George  Cooper  Gregg, 


1840-1850.]  SAI.EM,  BI.ACK  RIVER.  653 

profession  of  the  Church  of  Hopewell,  then  under  the  care  of 
the  Rev.  Thos.  R.  English.  Soon  after  this,  he  heard  the 
voice  of  the  enthroned  Master,  who,  when  lie  ascended,  re- 
ceived gifts  for  men,  saying,  "  Whom  .shall  I  send,  and  who 
will  go  for  us?"  His  grateful  and  believing  heart  replied, 
"Here  am  I,  send  me  ;"  and  he  began,  under  his  pastor,  those 
classical  studies  which  he  subsequently  pursued  elsewhere, 
till  at  the  age  oi  twenty-two,  when  his  mind  was  mature,  he 
entered  the  College  of  South  Carolina,  where,  after  a  course 
of  successful  study,  continued  through  a  period  of  three  years, 
he  was  graduated  in  1838.  The  next  three  years  were  spent 
in  the  Theological  Seminary,  under  the  instiuction  of  my  ven- 
erable colleague  and  myself  and  in  a  class  of  choice  young 
men,  some  of  whom  are  gone  to  their  reward.  Amid  plea- 
sant studies  in  God's  holy  word,  in  the  society  of  congenial 
friends,  who  each  contributed  their  part  to  the  happiness  and 
improvement  of  the  rest,  in  the  contemplation  and  discussion 
of  Divine  truth,  the  years  glided  swiftly  away.  The  amicable 
conflict  of  mind  with  mind,  the  ennobling  doctrines  of  revealed 
religion  daily  meditated,  the  cheerful  intercourse  with  loved 
associates,  left  their  traces  on  his  whole  after  life,  and  estab- 
lished friendships  still  fresh  and  green  now  that  he  has  de- 
parted. With  the  slight  change  of  a  word,  he  could  have 
said  with  the  Apostle,  who,  on  one  occasion,  reverted  to  his 
own  student's  life  :  "  I  profited  in  the  Jews'  religion  above 
many  my  equals  in  mine  own. nation."  On  the  4th  of  July, 
1841,  he  and  his  classmates  left  the  walls  of  that  sacred  re- 
treat, and  went  forth  to  labor  in  the  Master's  vineyard.  He 
had  been  licensed  in  April  before,  with  his  classmate,  John  D. 
Wilson,'  over  whose  early  grave  we  might  well  bestow  a  tear, 
whose  ministry,  so  full  of  promise,  was  so  .soon  terminated, 
and,  after  a  short  trial  as  a  candidate,  was  ordained  and  in- 
stalled your  pastor  on  the  6th  of  November  of  the  same  year. 
His  uninterrupted  pastorship  of  more  than  nineteen  years,  in 
this  age  of  ministerial  change,  the  perfect  harmony  which 
prevailed  ever  between  him  and  his  people,  and  the  increas- 
ing endearment  ofthi.s  relation  between  you  and  him,  are  evi- 
dences how  well  he  filled  the  office,  and  how  great  was  that 
worth  which,  like  a  magnet,  drew  you  to  him.  As  he  stood 
up  to  address  you,  his  manly  form,  his  kind  expression  of 
countenance,  and  his  warm  and  honest  heart,  contrjbuted  to 
impress  you  with  respect  for  him,   and  win  your  attention  to 


654  REV.  G.  C.  GREGG.  [1840-18C0. 

the  truths  he  uttered.  His  preaching  was  solid  and  instruc- 
tive, sound  in  doctrine,  clear  in  statement,  strong  in  argu- 
ment, and  close  and  unambiguous  in  application.  At  such 
times  he  encliained  the  attention  of  his  hearers  by  his  in.struct- 
ive  discourses,  unwritten;  as  we  are  told,  towards  the  close 
of  his  ministry,  yet  faithfully  prepared,  and  delivered  witli  in- 
creasing tenderness  and  force.  ^ 

A  friend  and  classmate,*  who  knew  him  well,  testifies  that 
he  was  the  most  deservedly  popular  man  among  his  fellow 
students,  which  was  due  to  the  confidence  reposed  in  his 
judgment,  making  his  opinions  valuable  to  all  who  stood  in 
need  of  counsel;  due  also  to  the  equanimity  of  his  disposi- 
tion, for  he  was  singularly  free  from  those  varying  moods 
which  disturb  the  equanimity  of  other  men,  and  to*  the  fact 
that  thougli  not  seeking  others,  he  was  accessible  to  all,  and 
never  disappointed  any  ;  due,  still  further,  to  that  kind  and 
gentle  humor  which  was  always  bubbling  up  and  pervaded 
his  conversation,  lending  it  a  charm  which  made  hiin  an 
agreeable  companion — a  humor  controlled  by  a  rare  prudence, 
never  taking  an  edge  that  would  irritate  and  pain,  hut  always 
kind  and  genial.  The  loss  of  such  a  man  must  be  deeply  felt 
in  the  community  in  which  he  moved. 

By  none,  we  are  told,  were  his  labors  more  appreciated 
than  by  the  colored  members  of  his  floek.  Though  he  was. 
fond  of  philosophic  studies,  and  kept  well  abreast  of 
the  current  literature  in  Philosophy  and  Theology  while  he 
lived,  he  adapted  himself  with  wonderful  ease  to  their  modes 
of  thought,  conveyed  the  rich  treasures  of  truth,  of  which  he 
had  so  great  a  wealth,  into  their  untutored  minds,  and,  know- 
ing their  temptations  and  frailties,  and  yet  having  confidence 
in  them  and  respect  fur  their  character,  he  had  the  firmness  to 
deal  faithfully  with  them,  and  the  wisdom  with  all 
this  faithfulness  to  win  and  not  discourage  those  who  were 
prone  to  wander.  His  intercourse  .with  his  brethren  in  the 
ministry  was  to  them  peculiarly  valuable  and  grateful. 

We  remember  well  the  dignity  with  which  he  presided  over 
Synod,  on  one  occasion,  as  its  Moderator ;  the  quickness 
with  which  he  solved  each  intricate  question  of  order  as  it 
arose;  his  dispatch  of  business,  and  his  quick  rejection  of 
everything,  however  plausibly  presented,  which  would  end  in 

*Rev.  Dr.  Palmer,  of  New  Orleans. 


1S40-1850.]  REV.  G.  C.  GREGG.  655 

confusion  and  evil  at  last.  His  services  were  invaluable  as 
the  Stated  Clerk  of  Presbytery,  and  long  and  gratefully  will 
lie  be  remembered  for  the  important  services  be  rendered  as 
Agent,  Director,  and  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  the  Theological 
Seminary,  the  laborious  and  responsible  duties  of  which  last 
office  he  performed  to  the  satisfaction  of  all.  He  was  ready 
for  every  good  work,  and  resorted  to  for  counsel  in  all  our 
schemes  of  public  benevolence.  In  the  Domestic  Missionary 
enterprise  of  his  own  Presbytery,  his  wisdom,  energy  and 
firmness  were  of  great  price. 

Of  his  domestic  relations  who  shall  speak?  Who  shall  tell 
what  he  was  as  a  husband  and  a  father?"* 

In  1845,  this  church  numbered  41  v\'hites  and  160  colored. 
The  Elders  were  Wm.  H.  Bradley,  Samuel  McBride,  and 
Matthew  E.  Muldrow.  In  1855,  the  Elders  were  M.  E.  Mul- 
drow,  W.  Harris,  S.  Cooper,  M.  P.  Mayes,  and  R.  B.  Mul- 
drow.    The  communicants,  60  Whites,  igS  colored 

Mt.  Zion  Church. — The  Rev.  William  M.  Reid  continued 
in  this  pastoral  charge,  a  successful  pastor,  and  greatly 
beloved. 

From  1841  to  1849,  the  average  membership  of  this  church 
was  160.     It  was  highest  in   the  year    1847,   of  this    decade. 

In  1849,  when  the  distinction  of  race  was   first  noted  in    the 

_  ^ 

The  following  is  on  the  tombstone  of  George  Cooper  Gregg,  a  pastor  of 
Saluin  Church,  B.  R. : 

"  In  memory  of  Rev.  George  Cooper  Gregg,  who  died  on  the  28th  of 
Mav,  1861.  in  the481h  year  of  his  age. 

He  was  bom  in  Marion  District,  S.  C,  Feb  19,  1814.  Graduated  in 
South  Carolina  College  in  1838,  and  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Co- 
lumbia, S.  C,  1841.  He  was  ordained  and  installed  Pastor  of  Salem 
Church  in  November,  1841.  Here  he  continued  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  ministry  until  a  fatal  malady  terminated  his  useful  labors.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  completeness  of  character  An  unusyally  vigorous 
intellect,  enriched  by  high  literary  culture,  made  him  a  most  efficient 
man  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  Soundness  of  judgment  and  devotion 
to  Christian  principle  niarkedihis  whole  career.  Asa  preacher  he  stood, 
in  the  highest  rank  of  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  _  As  a 
Pa.stor  his  urbanity  and  kindness  secured  him  ihe  warmest  affections  of 
his  people.  As  a  Presbyter  he  held  a  pla,ce  among  the  first  in  the  coun- 
cils of  his  own  Church.  As  a  companion  his  social  qualities  were 
marked.  With  him  to  be  known  was  to  be  loved.  In  the  tender  rela- 
tions of  domestic  life  the  undying  affection  with  which  his  memory  is 
cherished  in  the  bosom  of  his  sorroviring  family,  is  the  noblest  testimo- 
ny as  to  the  place  he  filled  there.  In  his  death  the  Church  has  lost  one 
of  its  most  able,  faithful  and  successful  ministers,  and  society  has  been 
robbed  of  one  of  its  brightest  ornaments.  Of  him  it  may  truly  be  said 
that  "  A  grreatman  in  Israelhas  fallen.'' 


656  BISHOPVILLE — HARMONY.  [1840-1850. 

statistical  table,  there  were  150  members,  lOO  of  whom  were 
coloied.  [In  i860,  the  members  were  197,  of  whom  120  were 
colored.]  The  Elders,  in  1845,  v/ere  William  Wilson,- Samuel 
E.  Wilson,  and  Hugh  Wilson. 

The  Rev.  I.  Leighton  Wilson,  D.  D.,  Missionary  to  Africa", 
was  ordained  at  this  church.  Sabbath,  Sept.  7,  1833. 

BiSHOPViLLE. — Our  knowledge  of  this  church  is  derived 
chiefly  from  a  letter  of  its  former  pastor,  W.  W.  Wilson,  dat- 
ed March  2,  1853.  "About  the  close  of  the  year  184 1," 
says  Mr.  Wilson,  "Mr.  James  W.  English,  the  oldest  elder 
of  the  church,  departed  this  life  in  the  triumphs  of  faith. 
This  was  a  very  sore  bereavement  to  the  church.  He  was  a 
very  zealous  and  efficient  officer,  and  it  was  mainly  through 
his  exertions  that  the  church  in  this  place  was  established. 
Not  long  afterwards,  his  coadjutor,  Robt.  L.  Commander, 
another  elder,  and  a  most  excellent  and  efficient  office  bear- 
er, succeeded  him  to  the  grave,  and  as  we  believe,  to  the 
Church  above.  Soon  after  this  Mr.  John  S.  Bradley  and  Mr. 
James  A.  Carnes  were  ordained  as  members  of  the  Session. 
Rev.  Mr.  English  continued  to  preach  to  this  church  till  the 
year  1866. 

Harmony. — We  have  mentioned  the  beginning  of  this 
church  on  a  preceding  page,  and  have  mentioned  the  fact  that 
the  Rev.  Julius  L.  Bartlett  left  them  in  the  fall  of  1839.  SootT 
after  Mr.  Bartlett  left,  a  call  was  extended  to  the  Rev.  Donald 
J.  Auld,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston.  Mr. 
Auld  accepted  the  call,  and  was  installed  their  pastor  in  May, 
1840.  This  church  was  quite  blessed  under  the  ministry  of 
Mr.  Auld,  and  a  number  of  white  and  colored  members  were 
added  to  it.  He  continued  its  pastor  until  1848,  when  he  re- 
signed. ^ 

The  church  remair.ed  vacant  for  a  time,  and  then  called 
Rev.  A.  E.  Chandler,  who  accepted  the  call,  and  was  or- 
dained and  installed  pastor,  June,  1850.  He  remained  pastor 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  then  removed  to  another  field"  of 
labor.  This  church  remained  without  a  pastor  until  the  year 
1857.  When,  at  its  own  request,  it  was,  by  the  action  of 
Presbytery,  united  with  the  Clarendon  Church,  which  had 
been  organized  a  few  years  before  this  time,  and  then  had  as 
its  pastor  Rev.  James  McDowell.  The  united  church  took 
the  name  of"  Manning  Presbyterian  Church." 

The  elders   of  Harmony    were,  in    184S,  M.    H.  Plowden, . 


1840-1850.]  MANNING PINE  TREE — BETHESDA.  667 

Thomas  E.  Dickey,  Gabriel  Plowden.     Its  membership  varied 
from  dj  to  40  persons 

Manning  Presbyterian  Church. — In  the  year  1847,  the 
Rev.  Donald  J.  Auld,  then  pastor  of  Bruington  Church,  was 
invited  by  Messrs.  J.  McFaddin,  and  J.  C.  Burgess,  who  were 
Presbyterians,  but  living  out  of  the  bounds  of  their  churches, 
to  preach  for  them  in  Fellowship  Baptist  Church,  at  that  time 
vacant,  and  which  also  desired  this  arrangement.  Dr.  Auld  ' 
complied  with  this  request,  and  preached  there  very  accept- 
ably for  several  months,  until  he  lefc  this  Presbytery.  In  1854 
a  house  of  worship  was  erected,  and  on  the  19th  of  May,  1855, 
the  Rev.  Donald  McQueen  preached  in  it  from  I  Kings,  viii, 
27,  together  with  John  iv,  24,  and  solemnly  dedicated  it  to  the 
worship  of  Almighty  God.  The  May  following  the  Rev 
William  M.  Reed  came,  by  appointment  of  Presbytery,  and 
preached  and  organized  a  church  here,  which  was  called 
Clarendon  Presbyterian  Church,  with  J.  Sidney  McFaddin  and 
Joseph  C.  Burgess  as  ruling  elders,  and  four  private  members. 
The  church  building  was  three  and  a  half  miles  from  the  spot 
where  the  village  of  Manning  was  soon  after  located  and  com- 
menced. 

Pine  Tree. — The  Rev.  John  B.  McFarland  continued  to 
supply  the  church  until  he  was,  on  account  of  the  infirmities 
of  old  age,  compelled  to  stop,  which  was  about  the  year  1844. 
John  L.  Mclver,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony, 
then  preached  for  this  church,  until  his  license  was  revoked 
in  1844.*  In  January,  1845,  Rev.  T.  R.  English  took  charge 
and  continued  stated  supply  until  1848,  when,  unasked  by  either 
pastor  or  people,  but  in  which  both  acquiesced,  it  was  dis- 
solved by  Presbytery,  in  order  to  put  Mr.  English  in  the  field 
as  its  evangelist.  Pine  Tree  Church  had  51  members  in 
1849,  48  in  i860.  Its  Elders  in  1859  were  D.  Bethune,  B. 
McCoy,  K.-  McKaskill,  C.  Perkins.  In  1871  the  same,  ex- 
cept we  find  Allen  McCaskill  in  place  of  B.  McCoy 

Bethesda  Church,  Camden. — The  Rev.  R.  B  Campbell 
continued  in  the  pastorship  of  this  church  until  1845,  a  pe- 
riod of  7  years.  At  a  meeting  of  the  congregation,  on  the 
27th  of  January,  1845,  a  letter  was  received  from  him  tender- 
ing his  resignation,  which  was  accepted.     On  the  4th  of  May, 

*  Mr.  McFarland  preadhed  both  in  Gaelic  and  EnglisK  on  every  occar 
sion  when  he  preached  at  Pine  Tree.    Many  of  his  hearers  could  only 
understand  the  Gaelic,  which  was  spoken  in  their  famihes. 
42 


658  COLUMBIA.  [1840-1850. 

a  meeting  of  the  congregation  was-  called  to  elect  a  successor, 
when  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Davis  was  cordially  invited  to  assume 
the  pastorate.  Two  other  candidates  were  before  the  congre- 
gation, but  Mr.  Davis  received  a  large  majority  of  the  votes, 
and  was  declared  duly  elected,  and  he  immediately  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  his  office,  which  he  discharged  with  great 
fidelity  until  the  month  of  May,  1851,  when  he  was  compelled 
•to  resJgn  his  pastoral  charge,  on  the  ground  of  failing  health, 
and  a  painful  separation  took  place  between  a  pastor  and  peo- 
ple mutaally  attached  to  each  other.  A  copy  of  his  letter  of 
resignation,  couched  in  tender  and  touching  language,  was 
sent  us  for  publication,  a  request  we  would  gladly  comply 
with  did  our  limits  allow. 

The  total  number  of  communicants  in  this  church  in  1849, 
was  79.  The  elders  from  1845  to  1855  were,  James  K. 
Douglas.  C.  J.  Shannon,  John  Workman,  John  Rosser,  and  D. 
L.  DeSaussure. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Columbia. — The  District  of  Richland  had  been  separated 
from  the  territory  of  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  added 
to  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  as  we  have  before  related.  At 
a  meeting  of  the  church  and  congregation  the  Rev.  James  H. 
Thornwell  had  been  elected  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Columbia,  had  accepted  the  call  and  been  installed.  '"  He 
remained,  however,  but  a  short  time  in  this  relation.  Having 
been  again  elected  Chaplain  and  Professor  in  the  South  Caro- 
lina College,  he  resigned  his  charge  January  4,  1841.  At  a 
special  meeting  of  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  the  pastoral 
•  relation  was  dissolved,  and  the  pulpit  declared  vacant.  The 
removal  of  Dr.  Thornwell  subjected  the  church  once  more  to 
all  the  evils  of  a  shifting  Bishopric.  Application  was  made 
to  Mr.  John  D.  Wilson,  licentiate  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  to 
preach  for  the  summer,  which  he  declined,  on  account  of  his 
feeble  health.  A  similar  application  made  to  B.  M.  Palmer, 
Jr.,  licentiate  of  Charleston  Presbytery,  was  declined  on  the 
ground  of  a  previous  engagement.  A  correspondence  also 
entered  into  with  the  Rev.  John  Breckenridge,  D.  D.,  Rev. 
Mr.  Auld.  and  Rev.  Mr.  McQueen,  of  Laurel  Hill,  N.  C,  but 
without  effect. 


1840-1850.]  COLUMBIA.  659 

At  a  meetingf  held  November  i,  1841,  under  nomination  of 
the  Session,  Mr.  John  D.  Wilson  was  elected  pastor,  by  a  vote 
of  9  to  5.  The  minority  yielding,  the  call  was  prosecuted,  but 
finally  declined. 

The  church  being  thus  dependent  upon  the  most  occasional 
supplies,  the  session,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1842,  invited  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Gildersleeve  to  supply  them  permanently,  till  such 
time  as  they  could  nominate  a  pastor.  Their  attention  was 
now  directed  to  the  Rev.  C.  C.  Jones,  who  was  addressed  on 
the  subject.  But  he  declining,  the  Session  resolved,  Oct.  26, 
to  nominate  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  Jr.,  of  Savannah,  Ga.;  accord- 
ingly, at  a  meetin-g  of  the  members  and  pewholders,  held 
November  7,  1842,  Mr.  Palmer  was  chosen  without  opposi- 
tion, at  a  salary  of  ;^  1,500  per  annum,  and  the  Session  was 
directed  to  make  out  the  call  and  present  it  before  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Georgia. 

Mr.  Palmer,  having  accepted  the  call,  took  charge  of  the 
church  on  the  last  Sabbath  in  January,,  1843,  and  was  in- 
stalled pastor  by  the  Presbytery  of  Charleston,  May  7th  of 
the  same  year. 

The  lecture  room  being  found  too  small  and  inconvenient, 
it  was  resolved  at  the  annual  meeting,  in  May,  1845,  to  en- 
large it,  and  subscriptions  were  immediately  taken  for  this 
purpose.  A  contract  was  made  by  the  temporal  conynittee 
with  Mr.  Killian,  builder,  to  erect  a  building  with  a  basement 
and  upper  room,  upon  the  old  site  given  by  Col.  Blanding. 
Its  dimensions  were  to  be  55  feet  in  length,  (with  a  portico  of 
3  feet),  30  feet  in  width,  '18  feet  in  height,  in  the  upper  story, 
9  feet  in  the  lower.  The  building  was  finished  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year  1846,  and  opened  for  public  worship.  Its 
cost  to  the  church  was  ^2,200,  exclusive  of  the  old  '  building, 
the  materials  of  which  were  used  in  the  new. 

Gn  Sabbath,  the  15th  of  June,  1845,  Mr.  Andrew  Crawford 
and  Mr.  Josiah  Smith  were  unanimously  elected  Ruling  El- 
ders, but  they  both  declined.  At  the  same  time,  and  by  a 
like  vote,  Mr.  Martin  was  requested  to  resume  the  duties  of 
an  elder,  to  which  request  he  acceded. 

We  have  been  assisted  thus  far  by  a  MSS.  History,  of  the 
Columbia  Church,  from  the  pen. of  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer,  now  of 
New  Orleans,  down  to  the  year  1845,  the  last  date  mentioned. 

We  add  the  tables  of  the  officers  of  the  Church  and  con- 
gregation as  he  has  given  them  from  the  date  of  the   organ:- 


660  COLUMBIA.  [1840-1850. 

zation  of  the  church,  which  he  dates  in  the  year  1810.  We 
have  shown  that  there  was  an  earlier  organization,  more  or 
less  perfect,  in  June,  1795.  See  our  history  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  in  South  Carolina,  Vol.  I,  pages  595,  596,  639. 
Dr.  Palmer  seems  to  have  regarded  this  organization  rather 
of  a  missionary  character,  than  as  of  a  full  and  regularly  or- 
ganized church.  Efforts  were  made  to  obtain  the  services  of 
Daniel  E.  Dunlap.  As  early  as  1794,  a  subscription  of  ;£■!  11 
had  been  made  towards  his  support,  and  more  was  pro- 
bable, and  he  was  ordained  and  installed  by  the  Presbytery 
of  South  Carolina,  on  the  4th  of  Junrt,  1795,  the  Presbytery 
meeting  for  this  purpose,  in  the  State  House.  He  died  on 
the  30th  of  Sept,  1804,  nine  years  and  three  months,  nearly, 
after  his  installation.  A  call  for  the  pastoral  services  of  Dr. 
Palmer  from  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  New  Orleans, 
was  brought  before  the  Charleston  Presbytery  at  its  meeting 
at  Beech  Island,  in  October,  1855,  and  was  strongly  urged  by 
the  able  commissioners  irom  New  Orleans,  but  unsuccessful- 
ly, Dr.  Palmer's  services  beini'  not  only  important  to  the  Co- 
lumbia Church,  but  to  the  Theological  Seminary,  in  which 
he  was  a  Professor.  The  commissioners  gave  notice  of  an 
appeal  to  Synod.  The  next  year  it  was  brought  before  the 
Pre.sbytery,  meeting  at  Orangeburg,  in  October,  1856,  with 
no  othf r  result.  The  appeal  was  then  taken  up  to  Synod, 
meeting  in  November  of  that  year  at  Chesterville,  when  the 
decision,  after  long  debate,  resulted  in  his  release  from  his 
relations  to  this  church  as  its  pastor.  His  resignation  as  Pro- 
fes.sor  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Polity  in  the  The- 
ological Seminary  was  tendered  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of 
that  Institution,  and  his  removal  to  New  Orleans^took  place 
in  January,   1857. 

We  quote  the  tabular  view  of  the  officers  of  the  church 
and  congregation  given  by  Dr.  Palmer,  which  begins  some 
six  years  after  the  death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Dunlap. 

Table  Showing  the  Supplies  of  the  Pulpit. 

Names. 

Rev.  John  Brown,  D.  D 1810  to  Dec.  1811,  about  2  yrs. 

Rev.  Benjamin  R.  Montgomery,  D.  D.,  Jan.  1812  to  July  1818.,  6  yrs.6  mos. 

Rev.  T.  Charlton  Henry,  D.  D Nov.  1818— Jan.  1824,  5  yrs.  2  mos. 

Rev.  Robert  Means Jan.  1824— March,  1827,  3  yrs.  2  mos. 

Rev,  John  Rennie Jan.  1827— July,  1831,  4  yrs.  1  mo. 

Rev.  Thomas  Golding,  D.  D.,  and   ">      t  1     iqoi     t       iooo  1        a 
Dr.  George  Howe,  i  - Ji'^'  1831-Jan.  1833, 1  yr.  6  mos. 


1840-1850.]  COLUMBIA.  661 

Rev.  S.  C.  Jackson,  D.  D Jan.  1833— May,  1833,  4  mos. 

Rev.  A.  W.  LeLand,  D.  D Jan.  1834- Jim.  1837,  3  Vrs. 

Rev.  John  Witlierspoon,  D.  D.,  LLD. . .  Jul v,  1837— May,  1839, 1  yr.  10  mos. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Thornwell,  D  D ....May,  1839— Jan  1841,  1  yr.  8  mos 

Rev.  B.  Gildersleeve July,  1842— Jan.  1843,  7  mos. 

Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  Jr Jan.  1843— Dec.  1855, 12  yrs  11  mos. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Thornwell,. ...Feb.  20,  1856— Sept.  1861, 5  yrs.  7  mos.  19  days. 

Table  of  Ruling  Eldbes. 

Names.  When  Elected.        Removed.  TekmofServ. 

Col.  Thomas  Taylor Mav,  1810...  Died  Nov.  13, 1833, 23 yrs.  6  mos. 

Mr.  Murphy May,  1810... 

Mr.  Zebulon  Rudolph Mav,  1810... 

Mr  Thomas  Lindsay May,  1810...  March  25,  1816  to  6  yrs. 

Edward  D.  Smith,  M.  D Died  1819,  St.  Charles  Mo, 

V.  D.  V.  Jamieson,  M.D .Tulv,  1820...  Died  Dec.  15, 1836.  16  yrs 

Mr.  William  Law July,  1820...  Feb.  2\  18.52..  30  vrs. 

Thomas  Wells,  M.  D June,  1824.:.  In  1847,  toN.  Y....  23  yrs. 

Mr.  James  Young June,  1824...  Died  June  20, 1834.  10  yrs. 

Mr  Robert  Mills June,  1824... 

Col.  John  Taylor June,  1831...  April  16,1832 10  mos. 

Mr.  James  Ewart June,  1831  ..  Died  Oct  5, 1835.:.  4  yrs. 

Mr.  G.  T.  Snowden .Tune,  1831...  Died  April  25,  1853.  22  yrs. 

J.  M.  Becket,  M.  D Nov.    1835...  Removed 

Mr.  Sidney  Crane Nov.    1835...  Died  12  Mar.  1850.  15  yrs. 

Mr.  James  Martin Nov.    1835...  Removed.-. 

Mr.  Andrew  Crawford Nov.    18«6...  Died  Mav,  1880....  34  yrs. 

Prof.  R.  T.  Brumby March  1852,  Removed  1856.......  4  yrs. 

installed 
Mav  16th. 

John  S.  Scott Feb.  20, 1853  Died  Apr.  5,  1863..  10  yrs 

Levi  Hawley I. Feb.  20, 1853  Removed 

A.  L.  Kline Feb.  20,  1863  Removed  in  1856..  3  yrs. 

List  op  Peesibents  of  the  Cohpokation   of  the  Fiest  Peesbyteeian 

Church  in  Columbia,  S.   C,  incoeporated  as  a  Congeegation 

December,  1813. 

Hon.  H.  W.  DeSaussure Elected  in  1823 

Hon.  Judge  Nott Elected  May  12, 1828 

Col.  John  Taylor Elected  May  11, 1829 

Hon.  H.  W.  DeSaussure Elected  May    9, 1831 

Col.  Abram  Blanding Elected  May  13,  1833 

David  Ewart Elected  May    9,1836 

John  A.Crawford  Elected  May,    ,  1845 

List  of  Sboeetaries  of  the  Cohpokation, 

David  Ewart 1821 

Samuel  Guirey 1824 

John  Ferguson ., May,  1825 

G.T.Snowden July  5,  1827 

James  Ewart - May  10,  1830 

John  A.  Crawford Dec.  12,  1831 

G.  T.  Snowden May  12,  1834 


662  COLUMBIA.  [lSlO-1850. 

In  185  I,  the  communicants  were,  whites,  167  ;  colored,  32; 
tofal,  199. 

Of  the  elders  of  this  church,  with  whom  the  writer  has 
been  personally  acquainted,  the  first  was  the  patriarch  of  Co- 
lumbia, Col.  Thomas  Taylor,  who,  with  James  Taylor,  owned 
the  lands  on  which  Columbia  was  built.  The  residence  of 
the  former  being  in  the  northern  part  of  the  city.  He  was 
born  in  Virginia,  Sept.  10,  1743,  ^■'"^  ^^i^"^  '"  Columbia,  Nov. 
16,  1833,  a^ged  90  years,  2  months  and  6  days.  He  was  a 
Colonel  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  distinguished 
for  his  personal  bravery  and  wise  conduct,  was  a  member  of 
the  Convention  wliich  framed  the  Constitution  of  the  State. 
He,  with  Benjamin  Waring,  were  the  signers  of  the  letter  to 
Rev.  David  B.  Dunlap,  March  20,  1794,  which  led  to  his  or- 
dination and  installation,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1795,  as  pastor 
of  the  Columbia  Church.  He  was  a  man  of  venerable  ap- 
pearance when  the  writer  first  knew  him,  of  spotless  charac- 
ter and  irreproachable  life,  having  the  good  of  the  church 
greatly  at  heart.  Few  men  had  greater  influence,  or  were 
more  beloved.  Of  Dr.  Smith  we  have  already  written.  Of 
Dr.  Van  De  Vastine  Jamison  we  might  know,  from  his  very 
name,  that  the  blood  of  the^  Church  of  Switzerland  and  of 
Scotland  ran  in  the  veins  of  his  ancestors.  We  can  trace  it 
from  the  Helvetic  Church  to  that  of  Scotland.  His  remoter 
ancestor  removed  from  Switzerland  to  Scotland,  thence  to 
N.  Ireland,  thence  to  Pennsylvania,  and  through  Virginia 
here.  He  practiced  as  a  physician  in  Orangeburg,  and  was 
several  times  a  member  of  the  Legislature.  About  the  year 
1805,  he  became  a  member  of  the  church  in  Columbia,  and  in 
July,  1820,  was  elected  an  elder  of  that  church.  He  was  a 
man  of  prayer.  It  was  never  neglected,  either  in  his  closet 
or  his  family.  The  Sabbath  was  to  him  a  day  most  strict- 
ly observed,  and  he  required  its  strict  observance  in  his  own 
household.  His  remains  repose  in  the  family  burying  ground 
at  White  Hill. 

Wiliiam  Law  was  born  in  Antrim  Co.,  Ireland,  April  16, 
1779.  United  with  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Fairfield  Dis- 
trict,Jin  the  spring  of  1813.  Settled  in  Columbia  in  Novem- 
ber, 1818,  was  ordained  a  Ruling  Elder  July  9,  1820,  and  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus,  Feb.  25th,  1852,  aged.  72  years,  10  months 
and  12  days.  He  was,  for  21  years,  Treasurer  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  to  whose  interest  he  was  devoted,  having 


1840-1850.]  COIAJMBIA.  663 

devised  liberal  things  for  its  future,  had  not  his  means  been 
lost  by  the  fortunes  of  the  war.  He  was  faithful  to  all  public 
trusts.  A  sound  judgment,  a  firm  purpose,  patient  labor,  and 
prudent  counsels  crowned  his  life  with  honor,  and  made  the 
world  a  loser  in  his  death..  He  was  kind  to  the  poor,  gene- 
rous in  his  charities  to  the  church,  lived  without  guile,  and 
died  without  fear. 

James  Young  was  born  at  Castorphine,  near  Edinburgh, 
Scotland,  and  died  on  the  20th  of  June,  1834,  in  the  65th 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  a  man  of  genial  disposition,  kind 
and  hospitable,  and  sincerely  devoted  to  the  best  interests  of 
the  church.  He  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  first  mem- 
bers of  this  church,  and  of  his  estimable  wife,  so  well  known 
among  us,  Mary  Bryce  Young,  who  died  January  5,  1855,  it 
is  said  she  was  one  of  the  original  12  who  constituted  ths  in- 
fant Church  of  Columbia.  This  could  only  be  true  of  the  re- 
organization of  the  church  under  Dr.  Brown,  in  1810. 

Col.  John  Taylor  became  a  member  of"  the  church  on  the 
4th  of  September,  1830,  and  was  elected  an  elder  in  June, 
1831.  He  was  born  on  the  4th  of  May,  1770.  He  was  a  man 
greatly  beloved  in  all  the  relations  of  life.  He  had  been  a 
Represen.tative  and  Senator  in  the  Legislature  of  his  State, 
and  had  held  the  same  offices  in  Congress  ;  had  been  a  Trus- 
tee of  the  College,  and  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  and  in 
all  these  relations  been  faithful.  His  connection  with  the 
Session  was  a  brief  one.  He  was  deputed  as  an  elder  to  at- 
tend the« Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  was  enrolled  as  a  mem- 
ber at  its  meeting  in  Camden,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1832.  It 
was  the  only  Session  of  that  body  which  he  attended.  He 
was  taken  sick  immediately  after  the  first  day's  session,  and 
died  on  the  i6th  of  April,  1832.  He  was  taking  a  deep  in- 
terest in  matters  of  religion,  was  a  Director,  at  the  time,  of  the 
Theological  Seminary.  In  public  and  private  life  he  lived 
honored,  and  died  lamented. 

James  Ewart  and  G.  T.  Snowden  were  elected  to  the  el- 
dership at  the  same  time  with  Governor  Taylor.  James  Ewart 
died  on  the  5th  of  October,  1835. 

Gilbert  T.  Snowden  was  born  in  Cranberry,  N.  J.,  October 
I,  1794.  In  his  third  year  he  was  deprived  by  death  of  his 
fither.  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent  Snowden.  His  mother  after- 
wards was  married  to  Rev.  Andrew  King,  by  whom  he  was 
kindly  treated.     He  had  commenced  the  study  of  the   Ian- 


664  COLUMBIA.  f  1840-3  850. 

guages,  when,  reflecting  upon  his  dependent  condition,  he 
laid  aside  his  boo'ks  and  entered  upon  mercantile  pursuits, 
and  after  being  occupied  for  several  years  in  different  large 
houses  in  various  places,  he  finally  settled,  in  182 1,  in  Colum- 
bia, was  successful  in  business,  and  acquired  a  happy  compe- 
tency. In  the  year  18 19,  while  residing  in  New  York,  he 
became  the  subject  of  renewing  grace,  and  became  a  member 
of  the  Cedar  Street  Church,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Romeyn. 
He  had  sat  under  the  preachings,  too,  of  Dr.  Greer  and  Dr. 
Rice.  On  his  removal  to  Columbia  he  became  the  centre  of 
a  small  praying  circle,  and  was  especially  interested  in  the 
organization  and  conducting  of  Sabbath  Schools,  of  which  he 
was  an  efficient  promoter.  He  often  sat,  too,  as  a  member,  in 
the  higher  judicatories  of  the  church,  and  became  deeply  in- 
terested in  its  progress.  From  the  first  planting  here  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  he  was  a  prominent  and  valuable  Director,  and  for 
some  years  before  his  death,  the  President  of  its  Board.  He 
died  of  a  lingering  illness,  extending  through  a  period  of 
three  years,  often  tortured  with  severe  pains.  Yet  his  mind 
was  clear,  his  judgment  sound,  his  memory  strong,  his  hope 
unshaken.  He  not  only  met  death  with  composure,  but  even 
with  triumphant  faith,  on  the  25th  of  April,   1853. 

Sidney  Crane  was  born  at  Newark,  N.  J.,  Aug.  22,  179!, 
removed  to  Columbia,  December,  1 820,  united  with  the  church 
Oct.  6,  1831,  was  ordained  a  Ruling  Elder  Nov.  7,  1835.  He 
was  an  example  of  true  piety,  ordering  his  household  in  the 
fear  of  God.  He  died  in  the  faith  of  the  gospel,  March  12th, 
1850.  "  Mark  the  perfect  man  and  behold  the  upright,  for  the 
end  of  that  man  is  peace."  Ps.  xxxvii,  37. 

Mr.  James  Martin  was  also  ordained  an  elder^Nov,  7,  1835. 
While  he  remained  with  us  he  was  noted  for  his  advocacy  of 
the  truth  as  contained  in  the  Westminster  Confession,  in  those 
trying  times  which  ended  in  the  division  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States.  He  removed  from  this  to 
Charleston,  the  date  not  remembered,  an  earnest  and  devoted 
servant  of  the  Lord. 

Mr.  Andrew  Crawford  became  a  member  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian Church  of  Columbia  on  the  6th  of  October,  1831,  and 
was  oidained  an  elder  in  1846.  On  the  resignation  of  Mr, 
Law,  in  1851,  on  account  of  his  increasing  infi.rmities,  Mr. 
Crawford  was  appointed  Treasurer  of  the  Theological  Semi- 


1840-1860.]  HORBB.  6G5 

nary,  and  served  it  with  great  faithfulness,  until  the  year 
1867,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Muller.  His  interest  in 
the  Seminary  continued  unabated.  When  the  Seminary  was 
transferred  to  the  Southern  General  Assembly,  in  1863,  its 
endowments  were  .stated  to  amount  to  ^277,940.  On  the  ap- 
proach of  Gen.  Sherman  to  Columbia,  Mr.  Crawford  bore 
away  its  securities  to  a  place  of  safety,  but  returned  to  find  his 
own  dwelling  consumed,  and  to  realize  that  his  own  fortune 
had  mostly  disappeared,  and  that,  according  to  his  valu- 
ation, the  endowments  of  the  Seminary  could  not  be  rated 
at  more  than  ;^8l,932,  less  than  the  third  part  of  the  original 
investment.  From  this  point  of  financial  depression,  the 
church,  as  it  was  able,  gradually  restored  it. 

John  S.  Scott,  who  was  ordained  an  elder  in  1853,  ^^'^^  * 
native  of  Ireland,  and  died  April  5,  1863,  aged  53  years.  He 
was  a  man  of  a  strong  mind,  and  died,  as  he  had  lived,  in  the 
faith  of  the  gospel. 

Dr.  Palmer  had  continued  to  serve  the  church  for  .some 
time  alter  his  entrance  upon  his  duties  as  a  Professor  in  the 
Theological  Seminary,  but 'in  January,  1856,  withdrew  wholly 
from  his  connection  with  the  church  in  any  pastoral  relation, 
and  became  the  temporary  supply  of  the  church  at  Orange- 
burg until  his  removal  to  New  Orleans. 

Note. — In  the  preceding  it  will  be  perceived  that  we  have 
advanced  considerably  beyond  the  decade  1840 — 1850. 

HoREB  Church  has  been  dependent  for  the  public  or- 
dinances of  worship  very  much  upon  sharing  the  ministerial 
services  with  other  and  neighboring  churches.  Thus,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Brearley,  when  settled  at  Winnsboro,  bestowed  a  portion 
of  his  labors  upon  this  church,  and  this  for  16  or  17  years. 
There  were  other  ministers  who  served  the  church  for  a  shorter 
time,  as  Rev.  Mr.  Boggs,  then  Mr.  Logan  for  a  few  months, 
then  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Hay  was  called  as  pastor  of  the  church, 
and  was  regularly  installed  as  such  on  the  4th  Sabbath  of 
December,  in  1844.  This  relation  terminated  early  in  1846. 
The  Church  then  called  G.  C.  Logan,  and  he  was  regularly 
installed  as  their  pastor.  He  dwelt  in  this  congregation, 
ministered  to  them,  greatly  beloved,  for  about  two  years,  was 
buried  at  their  church,  and  his.  sepulchre  is  among  them  to 
this  day.  As  his  health  failed  before  the  close  of  his  second 
years'  ministry  was  ended,  the  licensed  students  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  filled  out  his  term  of  service.     After  a 


666  AIMWELL — SCION,  WINNSBOEO'.  [] 840-1850. 

lingering  illness  of  eleven  weeks,  he  departed  from,  this  life 
on  the  lOth  of  June,  1848.  An  appropriate  minute  was 
adopted  by  his  Presbytery,  an  obituary  descriptive  of  his 
character  and  worth  were  published  by  his  associates  in  the 
Theological  Seminary.  MSS.  Minutes  of  the  Harmony  Pres- 
bytery, pages  500,  501.  After  this  the  Rev.  Julius  J.  Dubose 
was  stated  supply  at  Horeb  for  two  years.  His  health  con- 
tinued infirm  until  his  death  in  April,  1853.  Its  elders  were 
James  McDill,  Nathaniel  Mavin,  Jacob  Bookman,  William 
Gilbert,  Charles  B.  Douglass,  in  1845. 

AiMWELL  and  Horeb  have  sometimes  been  united  under 
the  same  pastoral  charge.  The  Rev.  Mitchell  Peden  was  or- 
dained pastor  of  Mt.  Olivet  Church  in  1839.  He  supplied 
Aimwell  by  private  engagement  for  two  years,  and  afterwards, 
from  October,  1842,  from  year  to  year.  The  supply  was  but 
once  a  month.  It  became  afterwards  still  more  infrequent 
and  irregular.  In  1840,  Horeb  had  37  members;  in  1846, 
43  members.  The  Presbytery  of  Harmony  inet  at  this  church 
in  October,  1842.  In  1841,  1842,  the  church  lost  four  of  its 
members,  two  of  whom  were  elders.  John  Rosborough,  Sr., 
had  held  tliis  office  for  35  years.  He  was  venerated  in  the 
church.  The  members  looked  up  to  him  as  children  to  their 
father.  He  died  October  8,  1842  (?).  His  wife,  Anne  Ros- 
borough, preceded  him,  haWng  died  on  the  5th  of  Dec,  1841. 
His  death  was  universally  lamented.  William  Rosborough 
died  Oct.  28th,  1841,  and  Dr.  James  J.  Rosborough,  August 
15,  1842,  both  sons  of  John    Rosborough,  Sr. 

The  Rev.  George  C.  Logan  was  ordained  and  installed  over 
this  church  in  October,  1845,  and  died,  as  we  have  seen,  on 
the  loth  of  June,  1848.  Both  this  church  and  Horeb  were 
united  under  his  pastoral  care.  The  Rev.  J.  J.  Dubose,  as 
appears  from  the  records  of  the  Session,  presided  over  that 
body  as  Moderator,  on  March  1 1,  1849.  He  was  at  that  time 
probably  within  the  bounds  of  the  congregation,  and  ofiiioiat- 
ing,  as  his  health  would  allow,  in  religious  service.  In  1845, 
John  E.  Robinson,  John  M.  Goza,  and  Geo.  R.  Hunter  were 
elders  of  this  church.  A.  R.  Craig  was  ordained  April  24, 
1847,  J.,  M.  Goza,  R.  R.  Rosborough  ordained  April  7,  1850. 
The  deacons  were  J.  A.  Kennedy  and  R.  A.  Rosborough. 
Communicants  in  1841,  37;  in  1846,  43  ;  in  1850,  40. 

Scion,  (Winnsboro'). — The  last  record  of  Rev.  William 
Brearley,  in  the  Session  book  of  this  church,  is  dated  Oct.  21, 


1840-1850.]  I^EBANON.  667 

1841.  He  was   called  to  the  Darlington   Church  in   April, 

1842,  and  installed  in  that  pastorate  on  the  first  Sabbath  in 
May  of  that  year.  Mr.  Brearley's  name  first  appears  in  the 
.minutes  of  the    Presbytery  of  Hiirmony,   March   23d,    1836. 

He  was  ordained  as  evangelist,  at  the  request  of  the  Winns- 
boro'  Church,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  he  was  installed  as 
their  pastor.  Mr.  Brearley,  therefore,  had  been  the  stated 
supply  at  Winnsboro'  for  16  years. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  H.  Hay  was  ordained  and  installed  pas- 
tor of  the  Winnsboro'  Church  on  the  28th  of  October,  1844. 
He  was  released  from  this  charge  on  the  4th  of  April,  1846, 
and  at  the  same  meeting  of  Presbytery  was  dismissed  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Charleston.  The  church  next  called  the  Rev. 
Malcolm  D.  Fraser,  lately  pastor  of  Lebanon  Church,  Jack- 
son's Creek,  who  was  installed  on  the  4th  Sabbath  in  April  of 
the  same  year,  1846.  His  health  becoming  infirm,  he  re- 
signed the  pastoral  charge  on  the  6th  of  November,  1853. 

The  elders  ruling  in  this  church,  in  1845,  were  Mr.  James 
McCreight,  and  Col.  Wm.  M.  McCreight,  and  Jas.  R.  Aiken. 
The  deacons  were  O.  R.  Thompson,  and  David  Campbell. 
In  1850,  24  members  had  been  admitted  to  the  church  on  ex- 
amination, and  3  on  certificate.  The  congregation  under  pas- 
toral charge  consisted  of  44  families.  There  were  68  white 
communicants,  and  28  black,  making  a  total  of  96  members 
in  full  communion. 

Lebanon — (Jackson's  Creek). — On  the  ist  of  April,  1841, 
the  Rev.  Malcom  D.  Fraser  was  received  from  the  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Alabama,  where  he  had  been  pastor  of  the 
church  at  Wetumka.  He  was  called  by  Lebanon  Church, 
and  was  installed  as  its  pastor  on  the  first.  Sabbath  in  May  of 
that  year.  On  the  4th  of  April,  1846,  this  pastoral  relation 
was  dissolved,  the  church  declared  vacant,  and  Presbyterial 
supplies  appointed.  On  the  8th  of  October  a  call  was  laid 
before  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony  for  the  pastoral  services  of 
the  Rev.  Edwin  Cater,  then  of  the  South  Carolina  Presby- 
tery. Having  been  dismissed  from  that  Presbytery,  and  re- 
ceived by  Harmony,  a  joint  call  was  presented  from  the  Leb- 
anon Church  and  that  of  Salem  (Little  River),  which  was 
placed  in  his  hands,  and  by  him  accepted.  The  Presbytery  of 
Harmony  at  this,  its  adjourned  meeting  in  Charleston,  pro- 
vided for  his  installation  over  the  two  churches,  at  Lebanon 
Church,  both  churches  having  their  representatives  present. 


668  SALEM,  (l.  E.)  [1840-1850. 

the  installation  to  take  place  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  January, 
1847.  The  pastoral  relation  of  Rev.  Edward  Cater  to  these 
two  churches  was  dissolved  in  1849.  Dec.  14,  1849,  the  Rev. 
T.  A.  Hoyt  became  pastor  and  served  to  April  3,   185 1. 

The  membership  of  this  church  in  1841,  was  173.  The  el- 
ders in  this  church,  in  1847,  were  David  Milling  and  John 
Thompson,  in  1848,  the  same,  with  the  addition  of  Thomas 
Stitt. 

Salem — (Little  River). — A  call  from  Salem  (L.  R.),  for  the 
services  of  Rev.  R.  C.  Ketchum,  was  laid  before  Presbytery 
in  April,  1840,  and  by  him  accepted.  A  committee,  the  pre- 
siding officer  of  which  was  Rev.  Wm.  Brearley,  was  appoint- 
ed to  meet  on  Saturday  before  the  first  Sabbath  in  May,  for 
his  installation.  The  election  by  the  church  may  have  been, 
as  we  are  informed  it  was,  on  the  first  of  September,  1839. 
This  pastoral  relation  was  dissolved,  and  the  church  declared 
vacant  in  November,  1844.  Supplies  were  ordered  for  it  in 
1845.  This  church  joined  with  Lebanon  in  the  call  to  Rev. 
Edwin  Cater,  as  has  before  been  mentioned,  in  January,  1847. 
The  call  of  the  church  was  dated  April  14,  1846.  He  is 
spoken  of  as  of  the  class  of  revivalist  preachers,  and  this  may 
account  for  the  fact  that  this  church,  which  is  reported  as  hav- 
ing 45  members  in  1841,  30  and  31  in  1845  and  1846.  reports 
85  and  92  in  1848  and  1849.  He  resigned  this  charge  June 
24th,  1849.  The  elders,  in  1845,  were  William  H.  Bradley, 
Samuel  McBride,  and  Matthew  E.  Muldrow. 

Mount  Olivet. — The  Rev.  Mitchel  Peden  still  retained 
the  pastorship  of  this  church,  and  continued  to  do  so  till  near 
the  close  of  the  year  1844,  On  the  24th  of  October,  1840, 
.seven  persons  were  admitted  to  the  church  from  Scion  Church, 
which  had  been  dissolved  by  Presbytery  on  account  of  the 
paucity  of  its  members.  Those  who  remained  being  directed 
to  attach  themselves  to  Mt.  Olivet  Church.  Ten  others  were 
admitted  on  examination,  and  in  1842,  seven  more.  In  1842, 
Capt.  James  Johnston,  ruling  elder  in  -Scion  Church,  was 
elected  to  the  same  office  in  this,  and  in  October,  of  the 
same  year,  A.  M.  Caruthers  was  elected  as  ruling  elder,  and 
ordained  as  such.  Five  were  admitted  on  examination  in 
1842,  nine  by  certificate,  and  one  on  examination,  making  a 
total  of  communicants  79.  Many  colored  persons  were  ad- 
mitted. The  Bible  class  was  well  attended  in  the  spring  and 
summer  and  fall.     Rev.  Malcom  D.  Eraser  became  the  stated 


1840-1850.]  CONCORD,  (faikfield.)  669 

supply  early  in  1845,  S.  R.  Frierson  in  1847-48,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  J.  R.  Gilliland  in  1849.  In  May  of  that  year, 
Capt.  Daniel  McColiough  and  James  Caldwell,  Esq.  were 
elected  and  ordained  as  Ruling  Elders.  The  white  commu- 
nicants in  that  year  were  47,  the  colored  26,  total  73.  The 
Ruling  Elders  in  this  church,  in  1845,  were  James  Johnston, 
A.  M.  Caruthers,  M.  D.,  A.  Beatty,  R.  B.  Caldwell. 

Concord  Church,  (Fairfield  District). — The  Rev.  John 
Douglas  was  pastor  of  this  church  in  connection  with  Purity 
Church,  in  Chester  District,  in  1839,  ^^'^  this  arrangement 
continued  till  his  removal  to  James  Island,  near  the  close  of 
1846.  The  bench  of  elders  (seven  in  number)  were  the  ven- 
erable Samuel  Banks,  Esq.,  Robert  Caldwell,  William  Wilson, 
John  Banks,  Henry  Moore,  John  McColiough,  and  Alexan- 
der N.  Hindman. 

Of  these  worthy  men,  Samuel  Banks,  Esq.,  was  especially 
venerable,  as  a  Christian,  a  Ruling  Elder,  a  useful  citizen,  a 
neighbor,  and  a  parent.  He  raised  up  a  family  of  ten  chil- 
dren, five  sons  and  five  daughters,  all  of  whom  he  had  the 
happiness  of  seeing  members  of  this  church.  By  his  last 
will  he  directed  that  a  large  copy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
should  be  given  to  each  of  his  grand-children,  forty-seven  in 
number.  Two  of  his  son.=,  Alexander  R.  Banks. and  William 
Banks,  the  one  now  residing  at  Rocky  Mount,  La.,  and  the 
other,  the  well  known  pastor  of  Catholic  Church,  for  so  many 
years,  were  ministers  of  the  gospel.  Although  this  vener- 
able man  was  quite  infirm,  with  age,  and  his  body  tottering, 
and  shaking  with  palsy,  he  was  constant  at  church  through 
summer's  heat  and  winter's  cold,  until  about  a  year  before  hi.s 
death,  which  occurred  on  the  i6th  of  January,  1851,  at  the 
age  of  87  years.  A  few  years  before  the  death  of  Mrs.  Banks, 
the  Rev.  A.  R.  Banks  came  from  the  West  on  a  visit  to  his 
aged  parents.  They  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  them  both 
preach  at  Catholic  Church,  the  one  in  the  morning,  the  other 
in  the  afternoon.  It  was  from  the  same  pulpit  from  which  he 
heard  his  first  sermon  preached  in  America.  His  cup  of  joy 
was  filled  to  overflowing.  Two  of  his  sons  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  two  others  elders  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  'and 
one  a  deacon  in  the  Baptist  Church. 

On  the  14th  of  October,  1848,  the  question  of  separating  the 
District  of  Fairfield  from  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and 
annexing  it  to  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,  was   brought   before 


670  BEAVER   CREEK.  [1840  1850. 

Synod.  After  discussion,  the  decision  of  the  question  was 
deferred  until  the  next  annual  meeting.  After  a  full  exchange 
of  views,  it  was  then  resolved,  that  so  much  of  Fairfield  Dis- 
trict as  is  included  in  a  line  running  from  the  mouth  of  Big 
Wateree  Creek  to  the  junction  of  the  north  and  south  forks 
of  Little  River,  and  thence  up  the  north  fork  to  the  Chester 
line,  including  the  churches  of  Concord  and  Mt.  Olivet,  be 
set  off  from  the  Presbytery  of  Harmony,  and  attached  to  the 
Presbytery  of  Bethel,  and  placed  under  the  care  of  the  same. 
[Printed  minutes  of  .Synod  for  1848,  pp.  13,  14,  1849,  pp.  10, 
12,]  The  membership  of  Concord  Church  in  1 841,  was  94, 
In  1849,  James  R.  Giililand,  being  stated  supply,  it  was  135, 
32  of  whom  were  colored. 

Beaver  Creek. — This  church,  which  is  in  the  upper  part 
of  Kershaw  District,  still  had  for  its  pastor  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Donnelly.  Its  total  membership  in  1 841  was  119;  in  1845, 
165,  of  which  48  were  colored.  In  1849,  170,  of  which  61 
were  colored  members.  Its  elders,  in  1845,  were  Dr.  T.  L. 
Dunlap,  Joseph  Cunningham,  J.  B.  Cureton,  James  Summer- 
ville,  John  Barnes,  Zadock  Parry,  Isaac  S.  Thompson,  Samuel 
Spencer. 

N.  B. — The  following  description  of  the  relative  geograph- 
ical position  of  the  churches  in  Chester  District,  or  County, 
is  so  clear  that  we  insert  it  here,  although  it  has  not  influ- 
enced us  particularly  as  to  the  order  in  which  we  have  written 
of  these  churches.  Mr.  Saye  writes  us,  September  6,  1869, 
thus  : 

"The  churches  in  Chester  County,  as  now  constituted,  are, 
1st.  Catholic — fourteen  or  fifteen  miles  from  the  C.  H.,  in  the 
direction  of  Rocky  Mount,  and  between  Rocky  Creek  and 
Little  Rocky  Creek.  2nd.  Pleasant  Grove — 6  miles  from  the 
C.  H.,  in  the  direction  of  Catholic.  3d.  Purity — 2  miles  from 
the  C.  H.,  on  the  same  road,  near  which  the  two  preceding 
are  situated.  4th.  Purity — in  town.  5  th.  Carrnelhill — 13  miles 
from  the  C.  H.,  in  the  direction  of  Unionville,  was  an  in- 
dependent c\\\yrz\\.  6th.  Fishing  Creek — situated  near  the  Creek, 
and  about  two  miles  below  where  the  York  and  Chester  Line 
crosses  the  stream.  This  church  has  another  house  of  wor- 
ship midway  between  the  old  church  and  the  C.  H.,  6  miles 
fiom  each.  It  is  called  Uriel.  7th.  Cedar  Shoal — 16  miles  from 
the  C.  H.,  nearly  on  the  road  from  the  latter  to  Lancaster 
C.  H.  It  is  nearly  midway  between  "Old  Richardson,"  or  Low- 


1840-1850.]  CATHOLIC.  671 

er  Fishing  Creek,  and  what  was  a  branch  of  Cathoh'c,  called 
Bethlehem,  near  Beck  ham  vi  lie.  8th.  Zion,  situated  on  one  of 
the  roads  from  Chester  C.  H.  to  York  C.  H.,  and  near  the 
county  line. 

In  addition  to  these  churches  in  our  connection,  there  are 
two  old  congregations  in  the  Associate  Reformed  body,  to 
wit:  Z/b/^zwf//,  situated  six  miles  west  of  Catholic,  and  in 
the  neighborhood  both  of  Pleasant  Grove  and  Purity.  It  was 
constituted  at  the  outset  of  families  that  had  worshipped  at 
Catholic,  and  drew  largely  from  it  and  Purity  about  the  time 
of  McCullough's  defection.  2nd.  Union — situated  between 
Fishing  Creek  Church  and  Catholic,  twelve  miles  from  the 
C.  H.,  six  from  Fishing  Creek  Church,  five  from  Cedar  Shoal 
Church.  Some  disaffected  members  frorh  Fishing  Creek 
Church  originated  it  about  the  commencement  of  this  century. 
Both  these  are  large  congregations.  There  were  around 
Catholic,  fifty  years  ago,  four  churches  of  reformed  Presby- 
terians, founded  by  Martin  and  others.  All  these  havepassed 
away  by  emigration  to  the  free  States.  I  understand  also  that 
there  was  an  Associate  congregation  or  two  in  the  same  ter- 
ritory. You  notice  that  we  have  but  one  church  in  the  west- 
ern half  of  the  county.  That  territory  has  belonged  to 
Methodists,  Baptists,  Universalists,  &c.  I  understand  that  the 
Associate  Reformed  people  iiave  organized  a  church  at  the 
C.  H,  or  intend  doing  it  soon.  We  were  engaged  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war  in  collecting  a  church  about  six 
miles  from  Fishdam,  near  the  line  of  this  county  and  Fairfield, 
but  in  the  trouble  and  excitement  of  the  time,  let  it  drop." 

Catholic  Church. — This  church,  in  1840,  reported  its 
membership  as  amounting  to  300.  During  the  first  8  years 
of  this  decade  the  largest  membership  was  308,  the  average 
was  288.  The  members  in  1847  were  308,  in  which  were  in- 
cluded 30  colored.  The  Rev.  Wm.  Banks  who  was  licensed 
on  the  4th  of  April,  1840,  was  ordained  and  installed  as  pas- 
tor of  this  church  on  the  25th  of  February,  1841,  by  Bethel 
Presbytery.  He  continued  in  this  pastorate  till  1869,  when 
he  resigned,  owing  to  feeble  health  and  the  wide  extent  of 
his  pastoral  charge.  In  1848,  we  find  him  pastor  also  of 
Pleasant  Grove,  in  connection  with  Catholic.  In  1848  and 
onward,  the  average  membership  of  Catholic  Church  was  195, 
of  whom  an  average  of  19  were  colored.  The  average  mem- 
bership of  Pleasant  Grove  was  202,  of  whom   some   39   were 


^72  CATHOLIC.  [1840-1850. 

colored.  In  the  first  eight  years  97  had  been  received  on  ex- 
amination into  Catholic  Church,  and  60  by  certificate,  that  is, 
157  had  been  received  during  that  time.  A  similar  record 
could  be  made  of  Pleasant  Grove,  which  eventually  became 
the  larger  of  the  two.  And  that  the  total  under  the  charge 
of  this  pastor  did  not  swell  to  a  still  larger  amount  is  to  be 
accounted  for  by  losses  by  death,  but  chiefly  by  emigration  to 
the  Southwest.  Many  of  our  families  began  to  migrate  to 
the  West.  In  1830  and  1831  great  numbers  migrated  to 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  about  the  time  of  the  exodus  of  the  Cov- 
enanters. About  19  years  ago  {i.  e.,  about  the  year  1857),  a 
large  colony  from  both  Catholic  and  Pleasant  Grove  removed 
to  Tipton  Co.,  Tenn.,  and  settled  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Portersville,  and  has  become  a  large  working  church  of  near 
200  members  Another  colony  went  out,  chiefly  from  Pleas- 
ant Grove,  some  time  after,  and  settled  in  Jackson  Co.,  Ga., 
and  uniting  with  some  other  Presbyterians,  they  organized  a 
new  Presbyterian  Church,  and  called  it  Pleasant  Grove. 
Another  soon  after  left  us,  and  settled  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  Alabama,  organized  another  Presbyterian  Church. 
Again  another  colony  from  Pleasant  Grove  emigrated  to  Dal- 
las Co.,  Arkansas.  As  the  country  was  new,  they  organized 
a  township,  and  called  it  Chester  ;  and  about  the  centre  of 
this  township  they  built  a  large  academy,  and  organized  a 
church,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Pleasant  Grove.  And  still 
another  colony,  with  three  of  our  Ruling  Elders,  emigrated 
to  Mississippi  ;  most  of  them  settled  in  Itawanibe  County, 
and  uniting  with  small  Presbyterian  communities  there,  they 
aided  greatly  in  building  them  up.  "  Thus,"  says  Mr.  Banks, 
"  during  the  ministry  ofyour  last  pastor,  these  five  colonies 
have  migrated  from  this  pastoral  charge,  cherishing  their  re- 
ligious principles,  and  transplanting  in  those  new  and  fertile 
regions  the  scions  of  Presbyterianism,  to  grow  and  flourish, 
and  produce,  in  coming  years,  the  rich  fruits  of  order,  intelli- 
gence and  piety.  And  still  the  waves  of  emigration  from 
these  churches  rise  and  flow  westward  every  few  years.  Is 
it,  therefore,  strange  that  old  Catholic,  this  fruitful  mother  of 
churches,  now  in  her  old  age,  after  the  loss  of  such  multi- 
tudes of  her  children,  should  become  weak  and  despondent, 
like  Zion  in  the  days  of  the  prophets,  when  he  uttered  the 
words  of  our  text,  Isaiah,  xlix,  15,  16,  for  her  encouragement. 
[Sermon  of  Rev.  William   Banks,   for  twenty-nine  years  pas- 


1840-1850.]  SIX   MILE   CREEK.  673 

tor  of  this  church,  preached  from  Isaiah,  xlix,  15,  16,  on  the 
lOist  anniversary  of  the  organization  of  Catholic  Church,  Co- 
lumbia, S.  C.  Printed  at  the  Presbyterian  Publishing  House, 
1876.]  Some  of  the  facts  mentioned  in  this  discourse  may 
refer  to  dates  later  than  that  of  the  decade  ending  at  1850. 
We  leave  it  to  others  to  locate  them  as  to  time. 

Hopewell  CnuRCti,  Chester  District. — The  Rev.  S.  B.  O. 
Wilson  was  pastor  of  this  church  in  1 840.  It  had  a  mem- 
bership at  that  time  of  eighteen.  It  was  vacant  in  1842, 
1843,  and  1844.  Its  membership  in  these  years  was  seven- 
teen. The  Rev.  Lupton  W.  Curtis  was  its  stated  supply  in 
1845,  1846  and  1847,  in  which  year  its  membership  rose  to 
twenty-nine.  The  Rev.  J.  R.  Beard,  in  1848,  became  its  min- 
ister. The  membership  in  this  and  the  following  year  was 
tliirty-seven  and  thirty -nine.  It  is  reported  as  vacant  in  1850, 
having  a  membership  of  forty-one.  The  Elders  in  1845  were, 
Isaac  McFadden,  Wm.  P.  McFadden,  Wm.  B.  Dunlap.  A. 
Shillinglaw. 

Six  Mile  Creek — This  church  was  united  with  the  pre- 
ceding under  the  pastoral  charge  of  Rev.  S.  B.  O.  Wilson, 
in  1840.  Its  membership  in  1840,  of  fifty-four,  and  in  1841 
of  58.  It  was  vacant  in  1842.  It  enjoyed  the  services-  of  a 
stated  supply  in  1843,  its  membership  forty -two.  It  was  va- 
cant in  1844.  It  had  the  services  of  Rev.  James  R.  Baird, 
in  1845,  as  stated  supply,  who  became  the  pastor  in  con- 
nection with  Hopewell  Church,  in  1846."  It  was  vacant  in 
1847  and  1848.  It  had  a  stated  supply  in  1849,  and  was  un- 
der the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  E,  P.  Palmer,  in  connection  with 
the  churches  of  Waxhaw  and  Lancasterville,  in  1850.  Its 
membership  at  this  time  was  forty-one.  The  Elders  in  1845 
were  John  M.  Doby,  Robt.  Walkup,  Henry  Anderson. 

Purity  Church,  Chester  District. — The  Rev.  John  Doug- 
las continued  to  serve  this  church  as  its  pastor,  in  connection 
with  Concord  Church,  until  the  fall  of  1846.  In  1847,  the 
Rev.  Samuel  C.  Pharr,  of  N.  C,  was  their  supply  for  a  few 
months.  In  January,  1848,  they  were  visited  by  Rev.  Donald 
I.  Auld,  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  who  was  installed  as  their 
pastor,  in  April,  1848.  His  father  was  a  practicing  physician 
on  Edisto  Island.  His  early  attraction  was  toward  the  pro- 
fession of  medicine,  and  graduating  at  Charleston  College,  he 
studied  medicine,  and  took  the  degree  of  M.  D.  at  the  Med- 
ical College  of  that  city;  attended  thf  lectures  of  the  Medical 
43 


674  PURITY.  1840-1850-] 

College  of  Philadelphia,  and  practiced  his  profession  for  a 
season  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  and  at  that  time  seemed  far  from 
the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  But  afterwards,  on  his  return  to 
Charleston,  he  became  a  subject  of  Divine  Grace,  and  a 
member  of  the  2nd  Church,  under  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Smyth. 
He  now  also  became  a  member  of  the  Theological  Seminary, 
at  Columbia,  with  the  view  of  preparing  for  the  ministry  of 
that  gospel  he  had  embraced.  This  was  in  1835,  but  his  suf- 
fering from  impaired  health  did  not  permit  him  to  remain 
through  the  entire  course.  He  returned  to  Charleston  after 
the  first  year,  and  resumed  his  studies  privately  under  the  di- 
rection of  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth,  was  licensed  by  the  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery,  November  3d,  1837,  preached  at  theWap- 
petaw  Church  for  a  few  months,  was  ordained  as  evangelist 
January  6,  1839.  We  have  found  him  preaching  as  a  supply 
at  Darlington  C.  H.,  then  as  pastor  at  Bruington  Church. 
He  now  removed  to  Purity  Church,  in  Bethel  Presbytery, 
was  installed  as  its  pastor  in  April,  1848,  and  remained  with 
this  church  a  little  over  four  years,  when  he  removed  to 
Florida,  where  he  died  October  29,  1857,  in  the  20th  year  of 
his  ministry,  at  the  age  of  48.  He  spoke  with  a  voice  clear 
and  distinct,  with  an  utterance  fluent  and  impressive,  and  was 
a  popular  and  interesting  preacher  of  the  gospel.  The  Elders 
in  Purity  Church,  in  1845,  were,  Maj.  John  Walker,  John 
Reedy,  and  Adam  Walker. 

Fishing  Creek. — -The  pastoral  relation  between  this  church 
and  its  revered  pastor,  the  Rev.  John  B.  Davies,  was  at  length 
terminated,  at  his  own  request,  in  December,  1841.  He  then 
removed  to  Davidson  College,  the  residence  of  his  son-in-law, 
Rev.  S.  B.  O.  Wilson,  professor  of  languages  in  that  insti- 
tution, but  continued  to  preach  as  stated  supply  to  Bethel 
Church,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  college,  until  his  death  on  the 
9th  of  February,  1845,  after  a  ministry  of  49  years.  In 
April,  1840,  the  church  numbered  126  members,  19  had  been 
received  during  the  year  preceding  on  profession  of  their  faith, 
and  two  by  certificate. 

The  Church  was  vacant  in  1842,  its  total  membership  re- 
ported as  106. 

James  R.  Gilland  became  its  stated  supply  in  1843,  its  total 
membership  that  year,  117.  The  next  year  hig  name  occurs 
as  pastor,  in  which  relation  he  continued  until  the  1st  of  No- 
vember,   1848.     Seventy-nine   members   were  added    during 


1840-1850.]  FISHING  CREEK.  675 

his  ministry,  30  whites  on  examination,  and  12  by  certificate, 
and  57  blacks.  Membership  in  1849,  98  whites,  51  colored, 
total  149.  He  was  succeeded  by  Arnold  W.  Miller,  in  1849, 
in  which  year  he  was  ordained  and  installed. 

The  Rev.  John  B.   Davies  was  for  long  years  the  revered 
pastor  of  this  church. 

For  the  following  account  of  his  birth,  education,  entrance  and  con- 
tinuance in  tlie  ministry,  I  am  indebted  to  his  son-in-law.  Rev.  S.  B.  0. 
AVilson,  professor  of  languages  at  Davidson  College,  for  his  sketch  pub- 
lished in  the  Ch-irleston  Observer.  "  This  aged  father  in  the  ministry 
of  the  Presbyterin  Church  was  born  in  the  Waxhaw  settlement,  Lan- 
caster District,  S.  C,  Nov.  15th,  1772.  In  78  he  was  bereaved  of  his 
mother.  In  May,  '80,  his  father  was  barbarously  murdered  by  a  party 
of  the  British  and  tories,  to  whom,  as  a  patriot,  lie  had  rendered  himself 
peculiarly  hateful.  He  and  his  co-patriots  while  taking  some  refresh- 
ments, were  surprised,  and  surrendered  as  prisoners  of  war;  after  which 
one  of  the  party  recognized  him  and  shot  him  through  the  head  with 
his  own  gun.  Thus  early  in  life  he  was  bereaved  of  both  his  parents. 
The  Lord  however  provided  for  him  a  friend  in  his  maternal  grand- 
father. Major  J.  Barkley.  By  him  he  was  taken,  and  his  education 
superintended. 

The  opportunities  for  obtaining  an  education  then  were  not  favorable. 
Few  were  the  literary  institutions  in  the  South,  and  what  few  there 
were,  were  lot  furnished  with  important  helps  in  the  acquisition  of 
knowledge,  as  libraries,  apparatus,  &c.  The  academic  course  of  our 
friend  was  limited  in  its  extent;  but  wiser  than  many  youth,  he  im- 
proved his  opportunities,  and  acquired  an  education,  with  all  his  dis- 
advantages, which  made  him  respectable  and  useful.  In  view  of  the 
benefit  of  a  seat  of  learning  well  furnished  with  all  the  means  neces- 
sary to  a  thorough  education,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  and  prayed  for 
and  gave  to  all  those  when  opportunity  offered,  that  he  had  good  hope 
would  be  a  blessing  to  the  State  and  Church 

His  friendship  to  Davidson  College  was  manifestly  strong  and  ardent. 
His  frequent  and  liberal  contributions — labor  in  distant  rides  to  meet 
in  bodies  with  the  friends  of  the  institution  to  consult  and  adopt  meas- 
ures for  its  welfare,  and  his  accepting  the  otTice  of  President  of  the 
Boartl  of  Trustees,  and  diligent  attention  to  all  the  duties  of  that  sta- 
tion, even  when  considerably  indisposed,  evinced  attachment  to  the 
end.    He  was  the  president  of  the  Board  till  death. 

His  own  education  did  not  close  with  the  advantages  of  an  Academy. 
He  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  at  Mount  Zion  College, 
Winnsboro',  S.  C,  in  1791.  After  he  graduated  a  year  or  two,  in  '93  he 
connected  himself  with  the  Church  at  Providence,  and  the  same  year, 
commenced  the  study  of  Divinity  with  Dr.  Alexander,  of  Bullock's 
Creek.  In  1796,  he  was  licensed,  ^nd  commenced  his  labors  at  Fishing 
Creek,  Chester  District,  South  Carolina.  Of  said  Church  he  was  or- 
dained and  installed  pastor  in  1799.  After  ministering  to  the  saints  for 
forty-two  years,  his  connection  with  them  was  dissolved  at  his  own  re- 
quest. Thence,  in  1841,  he  removed  to  Davidson  College,  and  became 
stated  supply  at  Bethel,  three  miles  southwest  of  that  Institution. 
His  age  and  infirmities  were  the  reasons  which  he  gave  for  not  be- 
coming pastor  of  Bethel.    He  was  as  diligent  in  all  duties,  as  if  the  ob- 


676  bullock's  CEEEK.  [1840-1850. 

ligations  of  pastor  had  been  assumed.  During  the  short  time  of  his 
ministry  in  this  Churc-h,  he  won  the  affections  of  the  people— with 
them  he  was  familiar,  friendly  and  easy  of  access.  .  Long  will  his 
memory  be  dear  to  those  who  waited  on  his  labor  of  love.  Nor  will 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  atHiction,  forget  his  attention,  sympathy  and 
kindness.  To  all  who  desired  his  services,  of  whatever  name  or  con- 
dition, he  was  ready  to  render  them.  It  was  his  habit  and  practice  to  do 
good  to  all  men  as  he  had  opportunity  ;  but  especially  to  them  who  are 
of  the  household  of  faith." 

Additional  testimony  as  to  his  worth  may  be  found  in  the 
minutes  of  the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  and  in  the  semi-cen- 
tenial  discourse  of  the  Rev.  James  H.  Saye,  delivered  by  ap- 
pointment of  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel.  He  was  long  the 
stated  clerk  of  the  Pre.sbytery  of  Bethel,  as  he  had  been  of 
the  Synod  of  the  Carolinas.  His  records  and  the  transcripts 
he  made  of  the  records  of  the  eclesiastical  bodies  with  which 
he  was  connected  are  models  in  their  kind,  and  should  be' 
carefully  preserved. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Saye  sums  up  those  results  of  his  pastorship 
from  1799,  as  follows :  Added  by  examination,  373 ;  by 
certificate,  85  ;  making  a  total  of  478.  Baptisms,  infants  672, 
adults,  31,  total,  723.  Dismissions,  311,  removed  by  death, 
78.  Marriages  celebrated  by  Mr.  Davies  during  his  pastor- 
ate, 195.  And  of  fees  received,  ;^848.  Communicants  in  the 
church  when  he  left  in  1841,  ill.  The  Elders,  in  1845  were, 
Alexander  Crawford,  J.  Harvey  Crawford,  John  S.  Chambers, 
Robert  Miller,  John  Poag,  Robt.  StringfelJow. 

Cedar  Shoal  Presbyterian  Church  was  a  portion  of  the 
charge  of  the  ministers  above  named.  It  has  always  been 
small.  It  was  made  up  mostly  of  the  Gaston  and  Davidson 
family  connection.  It  has  gathered  strength  and  lost  it  from 
time  to  time.  It  is  now  recuperating,  and  has  as  fine  a  jJros- 
pect  as  at  any  preceding  time.  It  is  closely  hemmed  in  by 
Other  denominations,  and  has  lived  in  this  condition.  The 
Elders  of  Cedar  Shoal  have  been,  Joseph  Gaston,  Esq.,  Mr. 
White,  P.  B.  Gaston  and  Lionel  Davidson.  The  Pllders,  at 
the  time  of  this  v/riting,  are,  D.  G.  Stinson,  Esq.,  John  F. 
Davidson,  J.  N.  Jamison,  and  V\^m.  L.  McCorkle,  [Mss  of  J. 
H.  Save].  The  membership  of  this  church  has  varied  from 
20  to  34. 

Bullock's  Ckeek. — The  Rev.  William  B.  Davies  contin- 
ued to  act  as  stated  supply  to  this  church  and  Beersheba,  as 
we  have  said  already.     The  membership  was  121  in  1840,    in 


18i0-1850.]  WM.    B    DA  VIES MT.    PLEASANT  677 

which  year  four  were  received  on  examination.  It  was  8i  in 
the  following  year;  80  from  1842  to  1845  ;  52  from  1846  to 
1849,  inclusive  ;  51  in  the  next  two  years. 

The  Church  of  Beersheba  was  also  connected  under  the 
charge  of  Rev.  Wm.  B.  Davies  as  stated  supply.  This  church 
had  170  members  in  1840.  From  1841  to  1849  it  reported 
120  members. 

The  new  house  of  worship,  the  erection  of  which  was  pro- 
vided for  in  1839,  was  built  by  Mr.  Joshua  Hudson,  and  a 
final  settlement  for  the  same  was  made  on  the  6th  day  of 
December,  A.  D.  1842.  The  Elders  of  Beersheha  Church, 
in  1845,  were,  William  Brown,  Sr.,  Hugh  Allison,  Hugh 
Dickey,  Hilleriah  McCawl,  Eli  Meek,  James  Caldwell. 

"The  Rev.  William  B.  Davies,  the  first  Licentiate  of  Bethel, 
.was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  John  B.  Davies,  and  a  native  of  Ches- 
ter County,  South  Carolina,  was  educated  by  his  father,  at- 
tended for  a  short  time  the  school  of  the  Rev.  Jonn  McKemie 
Wilson,  and  graduated  at  the  University  of  North  Carolina; 
licensed  to  preach  by  Bethel  Presbytery,  May  13th,  1826;  or- 
dained as  an  evangelist  by  the  same  body,  November  loth, 
1832.  From  the  time  of  his  licensure  to  that  of  his  ordina- 
tion, his  health  was  so  infirm  that  he  was  able  to  do  but  little 
legular  work  in  preaching,  but  gave  his  attention  mainly  to 
teaching  as  Rector  of  the  Bethel  Academy.  He,  however, 
supplied  as  he  was  able  the  congregations  of  Shiloh,  Long 
Creek,  and  perhaps  other  feeble  churches  in  that  region. 
Shortly  after  Mr.  Johnson's  removal  from  Beersheba,  Mr. 
Davies  took  charge  of  that  congregation  in  connection  with 
Bullock's  Cre^k  and  Salem.  In  a  short  time  he  gave  up  Sa- 
lem,'but  continued  to  supply  the  other  congregations  as  long 
as  he  had  strength.  His  health  was  always  infirm,  but  by 
close  attention  to  diet  and  exercise,  he  was  able  to  attend  to 
a  considerable  amount  of  business,  and  to  do  as  much  preach- 
ing as  any  of  his  brethren.  His  social  qualities  were  of  a 
high  order,  and  his  preaching  talents  good.  He  was  greatly 
beloved  by  the  people  of  his  congregation,  and  his  brethren  of 
the  Presbytery, 

Mt.  Pleasant  Church. — In  1828,  a  petition  was  received 
from  a  number  of  persons  in  the  vicinity  of  Mt.  Pleasant 
Academy,  praying  to  be  recognized  as  a  vacancy  under  the 
care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,  and  to  receive  supplies. 
This  request  was  granted  [Minutes,    p.    50].     It    thenceforth 


678  BBTHESDA.  [1840-1850. 

appeared  as  such.  In  1831,  Cyrus  Johnson  was  its  stated 
supply;  in  1832-33,  in  connection  with  Beersheba,  and  from 
1835-1839,  in  connection  with  Bethesda,  of  which  he  was 
pastor.  It  is  probable  that  a  more  perfect  organization  of  the 
same  community  was  in  the  mind  of  Rev.  Cyrus  Johnson 
when  he  reported  [Minutes,  p.  124]  that  a  new  church  had 
been  organized  at  Mt.  Pleasant  Academy,  designated  as  Mt. 
Pleasant  Church,  consisting  of  thirty-five  members,  an  Elder  of 
which  being  present  took  his  seat  as  a  member. 

In  1842,  they  reported  to  Presbytery  through  its  Moderator 
that  they  had  been  for  three  years  without  the  stated  means 
of  grace,  that  their  numbers  were  becoming  smaller  through 
emigration,  that  they  knew  no  encouraging  prospect  of  se- 
curing the  services  of  a  minister,  that  it  would  be  far  better 
for  them  to  become  connected  with  neighboring  churches, 
and  that  they  may  do  this  orderly  they  request  the  dissolution 
of  their  church  organization :  whereupon  it  was  resolved  that 
the  request  of  the  session  of  Mount  Pleasant  Church  be 
granted,  and  that  Rev.  D.  McN.  Turner  be  appointed  to  act 
as  Moderator  on  that  occasion,  and  that  the  name  of  said 
church  be  stricken  from  the  roll.     [Minutes,  pp.  358,  9.] 

Bethesda  Church  (York). — In  Jan.,  1840,  Andrew  Harper 
Caldwell,  a  licentiate  of  Concord  Presbytery,  was.  invited  to 
preach  at  Bethesda  for  one  year.  In  October  of  the  same 
year  he  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor. 

The  time  covered  by  his  pastoral  services  may  be  pro- 
nounced the  period  of  Bethesda's  affliction.  During  almost 
the  entire  period  the  chastening  hand  of  God  was  upon  the 
congregation.  The  four  years  of  continuous  sickness 
throughout  the  church  causing  the  death  of  such  a  multitude. 
The  severe  drought  of  1845,  and  subsequent  immigration  to 
the  West  are  facts  pamfuUy  familiar  to  the  old  by  experience, 
and  to  the  young  by  report.  Under  these  adversities  the 
youthful  pastor's  labors  were  greatly  multiplied,  and  embar- 
rassed. Having  endured  these  toils  amid  discouragement  for 
seven  years,  he,  in  1847,  having  caught  the  spirit  which 
transferred  so  many  of  his  flock  to  the  West,  removed  to 
Marshall  Co  ,  Miss.,  and  took  charge  of  two  churches,  where, 
laboring  with  his  wonted  fidelity,  he  remamed  for  nearly  a 
dozen  years.  He  then  removed  to  Lamar,  Miss.,  and  became 
pastor  of  a  neighboring  church,  and  was  shortly  afterwards 
appointed  agent  for  the  Synodical  College  at  LaGrange,  Tenn., 


1840-1850  ]  REV.  P.  E.  BISHOP.  679 

in  both  of  which  capacities  he  was  eminently  successful. 
About  a  year  since  he  changed  his  location  to  Panola  Co., 
Miss.,  and  has  charge  of  Sardis  Churcli,  and  is  to-day  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  most  practical  and  active  and  useful  min- 
ister of  the  West. 

In  January,  1847,  Rev.  Pierpont  Edwards  Bishop,  who 
had  just  removed  from  Ebenezer  to  Yorkville,  began  his  la- 
bors as  stated  supply  at  Bethesda.  Thus  alternating  Sabbaths 
with  Yorkville,  he  preached  on  here  until  1851,  when  he  was 
installed  pastor  of  Bethesda.  He  removed  from  this  church 
to  the  churches  of  Bennetts ville,  and  Great  Pee  Dee,  where  he 
died  in  1856,  greatly  lamented  as  a  faithful  and  devoted  min- 
ister of  the  New  Testament.  Each  member  of'  the  Synod 
has  the  knowledge  in  his  own  mind,  and  the  image  of  the 
departefl  father.  All  the  features  of  his  excellent  character, 
and  habits  of  his  useful  life  are  graven  upon  the  tablets  of  all 
our  memories.*  The  church,  now  deprived  of  her  fourth  pas- 
tor, seemed  crushed  by  his  departure  from  her,  and  was  va- 
cant for  several  months.  [Ms.  of  Rev.  John  S.  Harris,  read 
before  Synod  of  S.  C,  November  4,  1863.] 

On  preceding  pages  different  occasions  have  been  men- 
tioned where  the  church  has  enjoyed  rich  effusion  of 
the  Holy  -  Spirit.  Rev.  Daniel  Baker  visited  it  a  second 
time  in  1852.  About  thirty  at  that  time  were  admit- 
ted to  the  church,  and  numerous  others,  who  dated 
their  religious  impressions  to  this  occasion,  took  their  stand 
on  the  Lord's  side.  There  have  thus  been  four  occasions  in 
each  of  which  the  church  has  reaped  a  harvest  of  spiritual 
blessings.  During  the  earlier  pastorate  of  Mr.  Harris,  never 
less  than  twency,  and  never  more  than  thirty-five.  The  ag- 
gregate of  additions,  in  six  years  of  pastoral  labors,  is  one 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  members,  and  by  these  additions  the 
niembershi;i  has  been  lifted  over  and  above  losses  by  death 
and  removals,  from  one  hundred  and  eighty  to  three  hundred 
and  five  members.  These  additions  were  all  subsequent  ot 
the  year  1850.     Those  which  occurred  under  Rev.  Mr.  Harris, 

Note.— He  married  Miss  Adaline  McKnight,  of  Siatesville,  N.  C,  in 
1834,  by  whom  he  had  five  or  six  children,  of  whom  one  son  and  two 
daughters  survive  him.  He  had  two  brothers  who  entered  the  Epis- 
copal ministry.  Another  died  in  preparing  for  the  Presbyterian  min- 
istry. Another  as  a  ruling  Elder  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  Of  his  sisters,  two 
married  Presbyterian  preachers. 


680  BETHESDA.  [1840-1850. 

the  Sth  pastor  of  this  church,  must  have  been  between  the 
year  1857,  which  was  the  year  of  his  settlement  as  pastor, 
and  the  year  1863. 

Mr.  Harris  gives,  in  his  history,  the  succession  of  the  El- 
ders in  this  church  from  the  beginning. 

"The  30th,  perhaps  the  31st  [see  preceding  history  of  this 
church]  of  the  Elders,  and  of  the  3d  generation  of  them,  was 
R.  Mitchell  Love.  He  entered  the  office  in  1838,  and  wore 
its  robes  with  acceptance  and  usefulness  until  his  sudden 
death,  February  17th,  1853.  His  family  of  five  children 
are  all  communicants  in  the  family  of  their  godly  ancestors. 

The  31st,  Dr.  Geo.  Campbell,  a  devoted  Christian,  a  suc- 
cessful physician,  and  noble  officer  in  the  church. 

The  32d,  John  Starr.  The  33d  F.  A.  Ervin,  both  elected 
in  1838.  Others  are  also  enumerated,  elected  in  1852  and 
onward." 

He  next  speaks  of  the  Deacons  of  the  church. 

"The  office  of  the  Deacon^  he  says,  "was  not  filled  until 
1844;  whence  the  neglect  we  cannot  tell,  but  suppose  it  to 
have  been  the  fault  of  the  ministers  in  not  unfolding  the 
Scriptural  warrant  for  this  officer." 

The  first  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  the  following  : 
Col.  H.  Williamson,  who  removed  to  Panola,  Miss.,  two 
years  after.  F.  A.  Ervin,  who  was  promoted  to  the  Eldership 
eight  years  afterwards.  James  M. McDowell,  afterwards  ad- 
vanced to  the  Eldership ;  James  Williamson,  who  was  re- 
moved by  death  a  few  months  after.  To  these  others  were 
subsequently  added. 

Oi  the  ministers  of  tj7e  g'ospel  vi'ho  originated  in  the  con- 
gregation, the  seventh  in  the  order  mentioned  by  Mr.  Harris 
is  Rev.  A.  P.  Silliman,a  son  of  John  SiUiman,  whose  father 
was  an  elder  in  the  neighboring  church,  Tirzah,  connected  with 
the  Associate  Reformed.  Having  removed  to  Georgia  the 
father  and  his  family  connected  themselves  with  i:he  Presby- 
terian Church,  of  which  the  son  is  a  highly  useful  minister, 
being  pastor  of  Ebenezer  Church,  Clinton,  Ala. 

The  eighth  in  the  order  of  Mr.  Harris's  enumeration  is  the 
Rev.  C.  J.  Silliman,  who  was  born  five  miles  east  from 
Bethesda.  His  early  life  was  passed  under  the  superintend- 
ence of  his  uncle,  John,  his  father,  James,  having  died  when 
C.  J.  S.  was  very  young.  He  was  graduated  at  Oglethorpe 
University,  in  1852,  and  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Co- 


1840-1850.]  BETHESDA.  681 

lumbia,  in  1855,  and  went,  immediately  upon  his  licensure,  as 
a  missionary  to  the  Indians  west  of  Arkansas.  Alter  being 
there  a  short  time,  the  symtoms  of  a  fatal  lung  disease  were 
developed,  and  he  died  in  the  winter  of  1856,  among  strangers 
in  Texas,  while  on  his  way  to  his  friends  in  Alabama. 

Mr.  Harris  next  gives  a  list  of  the  physicians  -who  had  gone 
forth  from  Bethesda,  thirty  in  number,  stating  the  year  when 
they  began  their  practice,  where  they  resided,  and,  if  they 
had  departed  this  life,  when  they  died.  This  was  to  show 
"that  the  old  church  had  done  well  in  the  cause  of  Humanity," 
as  well  as  in  advancing  the  interests  of  true  doctrine,  and  the 
soul's  salvation.  The  facts  recorded  could  only  be  ascer- 
tained by  personal  correspondence.  We  give  the  whole, 
though  it  carries  us  far  below  the  present  decade  of  1840 — 
1850. 

The  Physicians  who  have  gone  forth  from  Bethesda  are  as  follows  : 
1-  Dr.  Josiah  Moore.  2.  Dr.  Wm.Bratton.    3.  Dr.  HaslettClendennin. 

4.  Dr.  Wm.  Gibson.    5.  Dr.  Jas  Davidson.    6.  Dr.  John  S.  Bratton.    7. 

Dr.  Chas    Hanna.    8.  Dr.  Wm.  Moore.    9.  Dr.  Alex  Clendennin.     10. 

Dr.  Nathan  Marion.    11.  Dr.  L.  Q.  Williamson.    12.  Dr.M.  A.  Moore.  13. 

Dr  John  Hall.    14.  Dr.  Sam'l  Dale.      15.   Dr.  Wm.  McNeil.      16.    Dr. 

Ktewart  Starr.    17.  Dr.  Wm.  Hemingway.    18.  Dr.  C,  P.  Sandifer. 

1.  Began  to  practice  in  1798,  in  Danville,  Ky.    ]n  1803,  removed  to  Yorkvllle. 

2.  Began  to  practice  at  Pinoltneyville,  S.  C,  about  18S0.     Afterwards  went  to 
Winnsboro. 

3.  Began  to  practice  In  1805,  and  subsequently  went  to  Baltimore,  Md. 

4.  Began  to  practice  in  1810,  and  soon  removed  to  Ga, 

5.  Began  to  practice  in  1812,. and  removed  to  Ga.    Was  a  son  of  Elder  Elias. 

6.  Began  to  practice  in  1812,  and  lived  and  died  In  York  District. 

7.  Began  to  practice  in  1809,  and  removed  W  est  to  Ala. 

8.  Betian  to  piactice  in  1814,  and  located  in  Yoikville 

y.  Began  practice  in  1815,  and  settled  in  Baltimore,  Md. 

10.  Began  practice  in  1816,  and  located  near  Cbarleston,  S.  O. 

11.  Began  practice  in  1826,  in  Lancaster  Di.<t.,  wbere  he  still  lives 

12.  Began  practice  in  1819,  m  Yorkvllle,  but  afterwards  moved  to,  and  lives  at 
Glen's  Spring. 

13.  Besan  practice  in  1820,  in  York  Dist.,  where  he  still  lives. 

14.  Began  practice  in  1823,  and  located  in  Lincoln  Co..  N.  C. 

15.  Began  practice  in  1825,  and  located  and  still  lives  in  York  Dist. 

16.  Began  practice  in  1830,  and  locaied  in  York  Dist.,  and  died  iu  1812 

17.  Began  practice  in  1835,  and  removed  to  Ynrkville. 

18.  Began  practice  iu  1837,  in  York  Dist.,  where  he  still  lives. 

19.  Dr.  Thos.  T.  Sandifer.  20.  Dr.  J.  Stanhope  Mone.  21.  Dr.  B.  H.  Hope.  22. 
Dr.  S.  B  Bratton,  23.  Dr..  Washington  McNeil.  21.  Dr.  J.  B.  Bratton.  25.  Dr.. 
J.  F.  Lindsay.  26.  Dr.  W.  S.  Moore.  27.  Dr.  E.  L.  Love.  28.  Dr.  Eatchford.  29 
Dr.  E.  H.  Hanna.    30.   Dr.  John  McNeil. 

To  this  enumeration  of  medical  gentlemen  we  were  also 
authorized  to  report  the  following  as  having  entered  the  le- 
gal profession  from  our  town  : 

Ex.  Gov.  Adair,   of   Kentucky,  Robt.   Clendennin,!   Daniel   McNeil, f 


682  BETHESDA.  [1840-1850. 

Erwin  Clinton  *  Minor  Clinton  *  Black  Davidson,!  Jos.  G.  Martin,!  J. 
M.  Martin,!  W.  A.  Moore,*  Edward  Moore,!  Sam'I.  Givens.J  and  M.  A. 
Moore!  (Junior.)     Being  twelve  in  all, 

!Settledin  Yorkville.  *Located  in  Lancaster.  JLocated  in  Arkansas. 

19.  Began  practice  ill  1833,  and  removed  to,  and  still  lives  in  Meclilenburg  Co. 
N.C. 

20.  Began  practice  in  ]839.  and  afterwards  removed  West,  to  Ga. 

21.  Jie^^an  practice  in  18i0,  audstill  lives  in  Yorlc  Dist. 

22.  Began  practice  in  18i2,  in  York  IJist.,  but  went  to  Mempliis,  Tenn.,  In  1859. 
2.'i.  Began  practice  in  lS4i,  in  Ciiester  Dist. 

21.  Began  practice  in  1845,  in  Yorkville,  where  lie  still  lives. 
25.  Began  practice  in  in  Yorkville,  where  he  still  lives. 

20.  Began  practice  in  York  Dist— moved  to  Ga.,  and  is  now  in  York  Dist. 

27.  Began  practice  in  1846,  In  York  Dist.,  where  he  still  lives. 

28.  Began  practice  in  1842,  In  York  Dist. 

2».  Began  practice  in  1856,  in  York  Dist.,  where  he  died  in  1862. 
30.  Studied  medicine  in  I8IU,  but  is  now  (in  1S63)  in  army. 

As  another  illustration' of  the  influence  that  has  emanated 
from  Bethesda,  we  may  allude  to  the  tide  of  emigration  that  has 
almost  constantly  been  flowing  from  her  borders.  And  here 
we  strike  a  sea  without  a  shore.  It  is  beyond  possibility  for 
this  generation  to  compute  the  flowing  numbers  of  those 
who,  from  different  motives,  have  forsaken  their  homes  in 
Bethesda,  and  sought  fields  of  labor  and  habitation  elsewhere. 
She  has  sent  forth  lier  sons  and  daughters  to  organize,  re- 
build and  sustain  churches  and  mould  society,  and  aid  the 
commonwealth,  into  every  State  and  into  every  portion  of 
every  State  in  the  Confederacy  west  of  So.  Ca. 

Could  we  indeed  trace  these  offshoots  of  the  parent  stem, 
we  would  find  vigorous  plants,  whose  foliage  and  fruits  have 
been  long  fructifying  hundreds  of  communities. 

But  we  close  our  sketch  by  the  final  remark  that  Bethesda 
has  been  greatly  blessed  of  God. 

•   Blessed  in  our  soil,  which,  although  so  long  under  culture, 
.still  yields  copiously  to  the  husbandman. 

Blessed  in  having  had  men  of  sterling  worth  for  her  orig- 
inal population,  and  the  same  as  descendants. 

Blessed  in  having  had  the  means  of  Grace  so  uninterrupt- 
edly. During  seventy  years  she  has  not  been  vacant  for  six 
months  at  any  time. 

Blessed  in  having  had  so  iew  pastors,  only  five  having  been 
connected  with  her  since  1794. 

Blessed  in  the  family  succession  in  many  of  her  officers. 
In  one  instance  the  office  of  Elder  descended  to  the  third 
generation.  In  seven  others,  two  generations  have  sat  on  the 
bench.     Blessed  in  having  a  people  attached  to  the  old  place 


1840-1850.]  KBENBZEE — UNITY — SALEM.  683 

of  worship,  and  disposed  to  maintain  t"he  old  metes  and  bounds 
of  the  congregation.  Blessed'in  the  respectable  position  ever 
maintained  among  her  neighboring  churches.  Blessed  in 
what  .she  has  achieved  for  the  souls  of  all  within  her  embrace, 
and  in  having  sent  forth  her  thousand  additions  to  other 
churches,  and  occupants  of  other  po.sts  of  honor  and  influ- 
ence. Blessed  to-day  in  having  so  large  a  body  of  commu- 
nicants. May  she  ever  be  blessed  of  God,  and  may  He  make 
her  in  the  future  more  than  ever  a  Bethesda — a  house  of 
mercy  and  kindness  to  her  people  and  the  world  I 

Ebenezer — This  church  was  favored  by  enjoying  still  the 
labors  of  Rev.  Pierpont  Edwards  Bishop,  of  whom  some 
account  has  been  given  in  preceding  pages.  He  closed  his 
labors  with  this  church  in  1846.  Lupton  W.  Curtis  was  its 
stated  supply  in  1847,  and  Rev.  J.  M.  Anderson  in  1848.  Its 
membership  varied  during  these  years  from  no  to  144. 
When  a  distinction  began  to  be  made,  in  184/,  between  col- 
ored and  white  members  in  the  statistical  tables,  the  black 
members  are  reported  as  29,  the  white  as  108.  The  total  as 
137.  Its  Elders,  in  1845,  were,  Joel  Barnett,  James  Caruth- 
ers,  Austin  Choat,  Joseph  Douglas,  James  Simril,  Jr.,  Jona- 
than Steele,  Peter  Garrison,  Madison  Neely. 

Unity. — This  church  was  served  by  Rev.  P.  E.  Bishop  as 
a  stated  supply  from  1840.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  J. 
M.  Anderson,  as  pastor,  in  1849. 

The  church  reported  thirty-five  members  in  1840,  in  1845, 
31  members,  four  of  whom  were  colored.  Elders,  in  1845, 
2,  viz,  James  McKee  and  William  White. 

Salem. — The  Salem  which  had  heretofore  existed  was  dis- 
solved in  1838,  and  was  united  to  Bullock's  Church,  to  which 
congregation  it  probably  originally  belonged.*  Another 
church  of  the  same  name  reappeared  in  1841,  of  which  the 
Rev.  H.  A.  Munroe  was  the  supply,  as  he  was  also  in  1842, 
its  membership  being  set  down  at  forty.  The  church  had 
permission  to  employ  I.  Hillhouse  in  1847. 

The  Elders  of  Salem,  in  1845,  were,  Robt.  Lusk,  Col.  R. 
G.  Davidson,  and  William  Plexico. 

*The  writer  became  confused  with  the  apparently  contradictory  state- 
ments concerning  this  church,  and  wrote  to  Rev.  J.  H.  Saye,  who  is  our 
oracle  in  local  church  history,  and  received  the  following  solution : 

"I  will  now  try  to  resolve  your  enigma  in  regard  to  Bethel  Presby- 
tery.    You  know  the  Independents  began  at  Bullock's  Creek  Church. 


684  YORKVILLE.  [1840-1850. 

YoRKViLLE. — This  village  may  have  been  a  preaching  sta- 
tion for  certain  of  our  neighboring  ministers  previous  to  this, 
but  no  regularly  organized  church  connected  with  us  existed 
until  the  year  1842,  when  the  Bethel  Presbytery  reported  to 
Synod  the  organization  of  a  church  in  this  place  in  our  con- 
nection. (See  minutes  of  Synod  for  1842,  p.  9.)  Of  this 
church  the  Rev.  Ferdinand  Jacobs,  who  taught  a  female  school 
of  some  celebrity,  was  stated  supply,  its  membership  being 
forty  in  number.  He  was  succeeded,  in  1 846,  by  Re  v. P. E.  Bishop. 
From  1846  to  1850.  its  membership  increasing  to  forty-nine. 

Rev.  j.  H.  M.  Adams  was  its  pastor  in  1853,  to  i860, 
when  its  membership  had  risen  to  eighty-two.  Its  Elders,  in 
1845  were,  John  S.  Moore,  Ephraim  A.  Crenshaw. 

A  more  full  and  satisfactory  account  of  this  church  and 
its  organization  has  been  obtained  by  us  since  the  above  was 
written,  which  is  as  follows: 

On  the  1st  day  of  April  A.  D.,  1842,  application  was  made  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,  then  in  session  at  Yorkville,  South 
Carolina,  by  certain  citizens  of  Yorkville,  praying  Presbytery 
to  constitute  them  into  a  church,  to  be  under  the  watch  and 
care  of  Bethel  Presbytery. 

Salem  was  united  with  it  under  tiie  ministry  of  the  Eev.  W.  C.  Davis. 
Wlien  he  withdraw  from  the  Presbytery,  a  part  of  each  con<rregaiion 
withdrew  witli  him,  and  a  part  adhered  to  the  Presbytery.  When  the 
union  was  effected  at  the  time  mentioned,  Salem,  (Independent)  came 
in  with  their  other  congregations. 

Mt.  Tabor  was  originally  independent,  having  been  organized  by  that 
body  during  their  separate  existence. 

The  churches  called  Salem  were  using  different  houses  in  1840,  but 
united  subsequently  in  building  a  new  and  better  house,  which  thev 
liad  u-ed  in  common  for  several  years,  before  the  union  of  the  denom- 
inations, each  church  keeping  up  its  separate  organization  till  the  union. 

About  1835,  a  large  number  of  families,  which  adhered  to  Salem 
Presbyterian,  moved  West,  leaving  the  church  with  onlj'-  one  ruling  El- 
der. The  church  elected  several  persons  to  this  office,  but  they  all  de- 
clned  to  serve.  Robert  Lusk,  Esq.,  the  remaining  Elder,  though 
his  situation  anomalous  and  reported  it  to  Presbytery,  and 
asked  advice.  The  result  was  the  church  was  dissolved,  and 
the  members  annexed  td  Bullock's  Creek  Church.  In  a  short  time  the 
families  realized  the  inconvenience  of  this  condition,  so  that  in  April, 1840, 
Mr.  Lusk  brought  np  a  petition  to  Presbytery  for  reorganization.  The 
men  who  had  previously  been  elected  having  consented  to  serve  if  again 
chosen  to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder. 

At  the  same  time  a  petition  came  from  Unionville  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  a  church  at  that  place.  Committees  were  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  and  the  organization  took  place,  and  of  course  reported. 
The  first  of  these  cases,  in  the  first  part  of  it,  I  had  from  information. 


1840-1850.]  SHILOH — BETHEL  (YOEK).  685 

This  application  having  been  duly  considered,  the  Presby- 
tery, in  compliance  with  the  desire  of  the  petitioners,  ap- 
pointed Rev.  Messrs  Samuel  L.  Watson  and  Ferdinand  Jacobs, 
a  committee  to  form  them  into  a  church. 

The  committee  thus  appointed  met  at  Yorkville,  on  Thurs- 
day, June  9th,  1844,  <*n<^  ^  congregation,  according  to  pre- 
vious notice,  having  assembled;  after  a  sermon  by  Rev.  S.  L. 
Watson,  those  who  were  desirous  of  being  formed  into  a 
church  in  this  place,  to  be  under  the  watch  and  care  of  Bethel 
Presbytery,  were  called  upon  to  present  themselves,  when  the 
following  persons  appeared  and  handed  in  certificates  from 
the  churches  with  which  they  were  connected,  viz.  : 

Mr.  William  P.  McFadden  •    "  .  from  Hopewell  Church. 

'Mrs.  Aurelia  H.  McFadden  .    .  Hopewell  Church. 

Mr.  Francis  H.  Simril  .        ...  Ebenezer  Chureh. 

Mrs.  Eliza  Simril Ebenezer  Church. 

Mrs.  Rachel  Cooper Ebenezer  Church. 

Mr.  John  L.  Moore       Beersheba  Church. 

Col.  J.  D.  Witlierspoon  ....  Beersheba  Church. 

Mr.  John  H-  Adams Bethel  Church. 

Mr.  Rufus  Moore Beersheba  Church. 

Mrs.  Mary  E.  Jacobs,  Monokin  Church.Princess  Anne,Md. 
Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Trott     " 

Mr.  Ephraim  A.  Crenshaw  .    .  .  from  Beersheba  Church. 

Mrs.  Margaret  Crenshaw  .    .    .  Bethel  Church. 

Mrs.  Eliza  Thomason Beersheba  Church. 

Miss  Caroline  Boggs '       Beersheba  Church. 

Shiloh — Was  still  vacant  in  the  years  1841-1842,  and 
generally  through  this  decade,  its  membership  varying  from 
thirty  to  fifty-six. 

Its  Elders  in  1845  were,  Ezekiel  Price,  Martin  MuUinax,  P. 
Harnright,  J.  Etters.  In  1855,  James  Harnright,  Henry  fit- 
ters, E.  Price,  In  1859,  *^hey  were  Ezekial  Price,  James 
Hanbright,  L.  A.  Hill,  M.  D.,  Robert  C.  Caverney.  In  1871, 
they  were  R.  B.  Price,  M.  D.,  L.  A.  Hill,  M.  D.,  James  Hand- 
bright,  A.  M.  Henry,  Wm.  Wisonant. 

Bethel  (York). — The  Rev.  James  S.  Adams  continued  the 
beloved  pastor  of  this  church  until  the  year  1840. 

In  181 1,  the  Rev.  James  S.  Adams,  who  had  been  preach- 
ing in  Dorchester  for  six  years,  removed  to  Bethel,  his  native 
place,  and  was  employed  by  the  congregation  as  a  stated  supr 


686  BETHEL    (YORK).  [1840-1850. 

ply.  He  continued  his  labors  among  them  for  thirty  years 
without  interruption.  It  was  a  good  Providence  which  sent 
him  to  this  people,  and  which  secured  to  them  his  services 
for  so  long  a  period.  He  was  a  man  like  David,  after  the 
Master's  own  heart — endeavoring  to  do  the  will  of  him  that 
sent  him — "a  good  man  and  full  of  the'  Holy  Ghost."  But 
why  speak  of  him  ?  He  Was  known  in  all  the  churches,  and 
his  name  will  long  be  embalmed  in  the  memory  and  affections 
of  the  pious.  In  his  ministrations  he  was  instructive,  elo- 
quent, and  most  effective.  In  consequence  of  growing  bod- 
ily infirmity  he  resigned  the  charge  of  Bethel  in  184D.  But, 
as  opportunity  offered,  he  continued  to  preach  with  great  ac- 
ceptance to  the  last.  He  departed  this  life  August  i8th, 
1843,  in  the  71st  year  of  his  age,  and  the  48th  of  his  min- 
istry. His  death  was  sudden.  In  the  midst  of  his  house- 
hold, and  seated  in  his  chair,  without  a  struggle,  he  ceased  to 
breathe.     The  end  of  the  righteous  is  peace. 

A  call  was  presented  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  L.  Watson,  of 
the  Presbytery  of  Concord,  North  Carolina,  who  had  been 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  Steel  Creek  for  thirteen  years.  He 
commenced  his  labors  in  Bethel,  the  place  of  his  nativity,  on 
the  1st  Sabbath  m  April,  1840 ;  and  on  the  25th  of  the  same 
month  was  installed  pastor  by  a  Committee  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Bethel. 

It  does  not  become  the  writer  to  speak  of  the  condition 
and  prospects  of  this  church  since  1840.  Et  quorum  pars 
magna  fui,  though  a  good  reason  for  Virgil's  hero  to  speak, 
will  be. a  good  one  for  him  to  be  silent.  The  observations 
which  follow  principally  refer  to  Bethel  as  she  existed  ante- 
rior to  this  time. 

During  Mr.  Adams'  ministrations  in  Bethel,  the  following 
persons  were  chosen  as  Elders  at  different  periods,  viz  :  David 
Watson,  James  Moore,  Joseph  Adams,  John  Campbell,  David 
Turner,  Sam'l  Gingies,  Edward  Moore,  John  Barry,  J.  Gabby, 
McCord  Pursley,  William  Adams,  Laban  Suggs,  Wm.  Wat- 
son, Win.  Latta,  Robert  Johnson  and  Adam  Beamgard.  Ex- 
cept Joseph  and  Wm.  Adams,  these  have  all  removed  from 
Bethel,  retired  from  the  duties  of  the  office,  or  entered  upon 
their  rest  above.  Since  1840,  five  additional  Elders  have 
been  chosen,  viz  :  Zenas  Ksrr  and  Robt.  Barber,  who  have 
removed  to  the  West,  and  Major  A.  A.  McKenzie,  Capt.  J.  J. 
Wilson  and  Mr.  J.  D.  P.  Currence,  who,  with  Messrs.  Jos.  and 


,1840-1850.]  BETHEL  (yOBK).  687 

Wm.  Adams,  constitute  the  Session  of  Bethel  at  the  present 
time.  Mr.  Joseph  Adams  has  been  an  efficient  Elder  in  this 
church  for  forty  years. 

The  religious  instruction  in  Bethel  has  been  strictly  Scriptu- 
ral as  set  forth  in  onr  standards.  While  the  great  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel  have  been  exhibited  and  maintained  as  truths 
to  be  believed,  they  have  at  the  same  time  been  presented  at 
practical  in  their  nature,  and  leading  to  good  works.  A 
prominent  place  has  ever  been  given  to  the  observance  of  the 
Sabbath,  and  to  the  religious  training  of  children  and  servants. 
And  yet  the  main  reliance  for  success  has  been  on  the  aid 
and  presence  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  At  different  times  during 
the  labors  of  Mr.  Adams,  the  special  presence  of  the  spirit 
was  enjoyed,  when  the  church  was  refreshed,  and  many  were 
added  to  her  members.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1832,  after 
one  of  the  gracious  visitations,  one  hundred  persons  were 
added  to  her  communion,  as  we  learn  from  her  records.  Some 
of  these  are  now  her  most  efficient  members.  It  may  throw 
some  light  on  the  state  of  piety  in  this  church  during  the 
past  to  say,  of  all  the  Presbyterian  Ministers  reared  up 
and  sent  from  the  churches  in  York  District,  as  far  as  can 
now  be  ascertained,  one  half  or  more  were  the  sons  of 
Bethel. 

The  means  and  opportunities  enjoyed  were  not  wTthout 
effect  upon  the  people.  Their  reading  was  mostly  confined 
to  the  Scriptures  and  pious  books.  Of  course,  in  a  knowl- 
edge of  fashionable  literature  and  worldly  wisdom,  they  were 
behind  many  other  places.  But  they  were  well  versed  in 
Scriptural  knowledge,  and  in  the  elements  of  a  wholesome 
morality.  No  doubt  some,  at  all  periods  of  the  church's  his- 
tory, gave  great  sorrow  to  the  pious,  by  their  walk  and  con- 
versation ;  yet  as  a  community  they  gave  creditable  evidence 
of  their  parentage  and  training.  Strangers  who  attended  at 
their  solemn  assemblies  eould  not  but  observe  the  good  or- 
der and  solemn  attention  which  were  given  during  the  sanct- 
uary services. 

This  congregation  has  always  been  an  unfruitful  field  to 
the  Demagogue  in  Politics  or  the  visionary  and  enthusiast  in 
Religion.  Neither  noise  nor  novelty  could  be  received  for 
sense  or  argument  by  the  staid  and  sober  minded  descendants 
of  the  Scotch-Irish.     "  Given  to  change"  has  never  been  ap- 


'688  BETHEL  (YORK).  [1840-1850. 

plicable  to  Bethel,  She  has  been  satisfied  with  the  old  path, 
which  is  the  good  way  in  religious  things.  Her  own  sons, 
reared  in  her  midst,  have  ministered  at  her  alters,  for  almost 
fifty  years.  During  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing,  as 
little  change  was  perceptible  in  domestic  arrangements — in 
personal  dress  and  manners — in  social  hospitality  and  such 
like,  as  could  be  seen  in  any  other  place.  For  this,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  disposition  of  the  people,  there  were  other  reasons. 
The  soilj  being  naturally  thin,  did  not  furnish  the  means  for 
luxurious  indulgence.  Wealth  from  it,  to  many  was  out  of 
the  question,  and  they  were  content  with  a  plentiful  subsist- 
ence; while  a  spirit  of  independence  kept  them  from  debt. 
The  leading  members  in  society,  for  tlie  most  part,  were  im- 
bued with  a  spirit  of  piety,  and  they  denied  themselves.  Oth- 
ers followed  their  example. 

In  these  days  only  two  or  three  families  enjoyed,  the  luxu- 
ry of  a  carriage.  They  went  up  to  the  sanctuary  on  foot,  or 
on  beasts  of  burden.  By  this  last  mentioned  conveyance  the 
writer  was  carried  in  childhood  the  distance  of  seven  miles, 
weekly,  to  the  house  of  God,  while  others  came  from  the  "re- 
gions beyond."  Many  can  remember  the  aged  father  who 
was  brought  to  the  Church  door,  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath, 
in  a  four-horse  wagon  and  was  carried  into  the  aisle  by  his 
sons ;"and  a  mother  in  Israel  who  walked  ten  miles,  when 
past  her  three  score  and  ten  years,  to  meet  with  the  great 
congregation,  on  Sacramental  occasions.  But  little  com- 
plaint w^s  then  heard  of  distance  and  roads.  Ordinances  were 
prized  ;  and  their  conduct  said,  "a  day  in  thy  courts  is  better 
than  a  thousand."  Church  dinners  and  servants  in  attend- 
ance were  unknown.  A  measure  of  fasting  was  thought 
to  be  favorable  to  piety,  and  to  keeping  the  Sabbath  day 
holy. 

Bethel,  though  now  abridged  on  every  side  by  the  erection 
of  new  churciies,  still  covers  an  extensive  territory.  Though 
she  has  sent  to  the  far  West  hundreds  of  members,  to  plant 
and  strengthen  new  churches,  yet  her  numbers  are  little  di- 
minished. "  Giving  does  not  impoverish  her."  She  has  been 
often  assailed  by  professed  friends  and  by  open  enemies. 
Her  ruin  has  been  repeatedly  predicted.  Thus  far  they  have 
prophesied  falsely.  She  yet  stands.  Her  noon  is  yet  to 
come.     Bethel  is  strong — not  in  the  wealth  or  number  of  her 


1840-1850.]  BETHEL   (yOKK).  689 

sons  and  daughters — but  in  the  purity  of  their  lives — in  their 
self-consecration — in  the  ardor  of  their  love — fervency  of 
their  zeal,  and  strength  of  their  faith.'  Her  "servants  take 
pleasure  in  her  stones,  and  favor  the  dust  thereof" 

"My  tongue  repeats  her  vows, 

Peace  to  this  sacred  house  ! 
For  here  my  friends  and  kindred  dwell ; 

And  since  my  glorious  God 
Makes  thee  his  blest  abode, 

My  soul  shall  ever  love  thee  well." 

She  is  strong  in  the  possession  of  the  truth,  in  the  love 
and  favor  of  her  God,  her  covenant  keeping  God,  who  has 
said,  "I  have  graven  thee  on  the  palms  of  my  hands,  thy  walls 
are  continually  before  me  ;"  and  in  her  union  with  her  exalt- 
ed and  glorified  Head,  Zion's  King,  by  whose  blood  she  was 
ransomed,  and  who  had  declared  that  "  the  gates  of  Hell  shall 
not  prevail  against  her." 

"This  church,"  says  the  Rev.  S.  L.  Watson,  "  has  sent  out 
more  Presbyterian  ministers  than  any  in  the  District,  and 
until  lately,  as  many  as  all  the  others  together.  Since  1811, 
her  own  sons  have  ministered  at  her  altar.  Many  of  her 
members,  tho'  poor  in  the  honor,  wisdom  and  riches  of  this 
world,  have  been  rich  in  faith.  If  she  has  differed  from  oth- 
ers, the  praise  is  all  due  to  the  grace  of  God.  And  to  him 
be  all  the  glory."     Rev.  S.  L.  Watson.     May,  1851. 

The  Elders  of  this  church  in  1845,  were,  William  Watson, 
Joseph  Adams,*  William  Adams,  Robert  Barber,  Zenas  Kerr, 
Adam  Beamguard,  Josiah  S.  Wilson,  Arthur  A.  McKenzie, 
Jas.  D.  P.  Currence. 

The  membership  of  the  church  is  set  down,  in  1840,  at 
499,  24  having  been  received  in  that  year,  on  examination, 
and  five  on  certificate. 

From  a  more  rec^t  history,  prepared  by  Rev.  Mr.  Watson, 
by  order  of  Bethel  Presbytery,  and  dated  January,  1879,  we 
quote  the  following  : 

"In  the  beginning  of  1840,  a  call  was  made  to  Rev.  S.  L. 
Watson,  of  Concord  Presbytery,  N.  C,  and  accepted.  On 
the  1st  Sabbath  of  April,  he  commenced  services  in  Bethel, 
and  on  the  25 th  of  the  same  month  was  iiastalled  by  a  com- 

*NoTE. — Joseph  Adams  died  April,  1860,    He  had  been  an   efficient 
Elder  for  48  or  43  years. 
U     ' 


690  BETHEL — REV.  S.  L.  WATSON.  [1840-1850. 

mittee  of  Bethel  Presbytery,  consisting  of  Rev.  J.  S.  Adams, 
Rev.  P.  E.  Bishop,  who  preached  the  sermon.  Rev.  J.  S. 
Adams  gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor,  and  Rev.  Wm.  Davis 
gave  the  charge  to  the  congregation.  Rev.  S.  L.  Watson 
was  a  native  of  Bethel,  and  a  nephew  of  his  predecessor.  He 
was  a  son  of  David  and  Margaret  Adams  Watson,  who  re- 
sided in  the.  southern  part  of  the  congregation.  He  was 
born  Feb.  5th,  1798.  His  academic  education  was  principally 
under  Rev.  John  McKemie  Wilson,  of  Rocky  River  congre- 
gation, Cabarras  Co.,  N.  C.  He  was  graduated  at  the  S.  C. 
College,  December,  1820.  Was  taken  under  the  care  of  S.  C. 
Presbytery,  April,  1822.  Entered  the  Seminary  at  Princeton, 
>J.  J.,  October,  1823.  Completed  the  course  there,  Septem- 
ber, 1826.  Was  licensed  as  a. Probationer  by  South  Carolina 
Presbytery,  November  17,  1826,  at  an  adjourned  meeting  at 
Long  Cane  Church,  Abbeville  County,  and  by  the  casting 
vote  of  the  Moderator,  was  allowed  to  labor  outside  of  their 
bounds  for  a  year.  Received  a  commission  to  labor  in  Al- 
abama, from  a  Society  composed  of  the  Synod  of  S.  C.  and 
Ga.,  with  the  understanding  that  they  were  not  responsible 
for  the  expense.  After  visiting  many  destitute  places  in  Al- 
abama, he  began  to  preach  in  the  city  of  Montgomery  (the 
first  regular  service  they  had  ever  enjoyed).  He  preached 
there,  and  in  a  country  church  for  six  months.  The  services 
terminated  with  the  arrival  of  the  sickly  .season,  with  the 
hope  that  they  would  be  resumed  in  the  Fall.  But  in  view 
of  the  destitution  in  S.  C,  the  Fathers  in  Presbytery  were 
opposed  to  his  return.  After  visiting  vacant  churches,  he 
was  employed  by  Steel  Creek  Church,  of  Concord  Presby- 
tery (now  Mecklenberg),  N.  C,  and  on  November  ist,  1827, 
began  to  labor  among  them.  Returning  to  the  Presbytery 
of  S.  C,  he  was  ordained  as  an  Evangelist  in  1828,  and 
was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Bethel,  continuing  his 
labors  in  Steel  Creek.  He  was  dismissed  from  Bethel  to 
Concord,  called  and  was  installed  pastor  at  Steel  Creek 
Church,  May,  22d,  1829,  and  labored  there  until  called  to 
Bethel,  March,  13th,  1840. 

At  the  commencement  of  his  labors  in  Bethel,  as  far  as 
could  be  known,  the  number  of  communicants  was  between 
four  and  five  hundred,  of  this  number  a  fourth  or  fifth  w.ere 
persons  of  color. 

The  church  had  been  without  Deacons,  and  in    1845,  the 


1840-1850.J  .  BETHEL   (YOEK).  691 

following  persons  were  elected  to  that  office,  ordained  and 
installed:  Messrs.  Hugh  Currence,  Jas.  Wallace,  Wm.  Cur- 
rence,  Milton  H.  Currence,  Jno.  Kerr,  Allen  Lawrence,  S.  L. 
Adams,  Rufiis  J.  Adams,  Newton  Craig,  Jno.  Neely,  J.  L. 
Wright  and  Lawson  Wilson,  and  others  at  different  periods 
since  that  time. 

The  instruction  of  our  yoiith,  so  diligently  carried  on  du- 
ring the  labors  of  the  previous  pastor,  has  been  continued. 
The  Sabbath  School,  monthly  concert,  family  visitations,  the 
Ladies'  Aid  Society,  these  tend  to  good  and  greatly  aid  in 
keeping  up  practical  godliness.  But  the  main  reliance  is  in 
the  ministration  of  the  word,  and  the  administration  of  the 
sacrament  of  the  church,  made  effectual  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  God's  people. 

During  the  present  pastorate  the  sacrament  of  the  supper 
has  been  administered  one  hundred  and  eighteen  times,  and 
in  the  good  providence  of  God,  the  pastor,  with  one  exception, 
has  been  present  on  all  these  occasions  ;  and  has  never  been 
absent  from  the  pulpit  more  than  one  Sabbath  at  a  time,  until 
last  summer,  from  personal  sickness,  or  any  other  cause. 

No  year  has  passed  during  the  present  pastorate  without 
additions  to  the  church,  ranging  from  twelve  to  twenty.  Du- 
ring the  last  five  years  the  attendance  has  been  larger,  the 
attention  better,  and  the  additions  greater  than  at  any  former 
time.  On  our  sacramental  occasions  we  have  the  assistance  of 
our  neighboring  brethren,  and  on  two  or  more  occasions  the 
services  have  been  continued  by  them  through  the  week,  es- 
pecially at  night.  Crowds  would  be  present.  But  it  was 
the  old  Gospel,  "Christ,  and  Him  crucified."  The  labors  of 
these  brethren  were  blessed,  and  they  will  not  lose  their  reward. 

The  number  of  additions  for  a  few  years  past  will  speak 
for  itself  In  1872,  there  were  added,  on  examination,  38 — in 
1875,  18 — in  1876,  41 — in  1877,  11 — in  1878,  64,  and  in  the 
same  year,  nineteen  adults  were  baptized.  During  the  present 
pastorate  there  has  been  an  average  of  twenty  additions  to 
the  church,  per  annum — total  number,  803.  Infants  baptized, 
915 — adults,  130 — total  number  of  baptisms,  1,045.  We 
now  number  on  our  books,  396.  Sixty  or  seventy  persons 
of  color  left  the  church  after  the  war.  Only  a  few  of  them 
now  remain  in  our  communion.  Bethel  has  been  circum- 
scribed in  her  boundary.  Six  churches  surround  her — four 
of  our  own  denomination,  and  two  of  the  Independents.     I 


692  MINISTERS    EAISED    IN' BETHEL?  [1840-1850. 

say  nothing  of  other  denominations,  all  strictly  in  her  original 
bounds,  except  Beersheba,  and  all  drawing  from  Bethel.  But 
with  God's  blessing,  while  she  has  sent  hundreds  to 
strengthen  and  create  churches,  she  is  still  strong  in  numbers.. 

The  following  ministers  were  brought  up,  and  sent  forth 
from  Bethel  :  Robt.  G.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  who  was  afterwards 
president  of  the  University  of  Ohio;  Samuel  B.  Wilson,  D. 
D.,  a  professor  now  in  Union  Theological  Seminary  ;  James 
Gilliland,  removed  to  Ohio  in  1805  ;  Jno.  Howe,  born  and 
raised  here,  and  prepared  for  college;  his  father  removed  in 
1788.  [For  the  last  two,  see  history  of  Dr.  Howe,  page  607.] 
Rev.  Wm.  Price,  Rev.  Jas.  S.  Adams,  and  son  of  J.  S. 
Adams,  Harry  Kerr  and  brother  James;  Josiah  Patrick.  L.  L. 
Watson,  and  son  of  J.  F  Watson,  Andrew  M.  Watson,  and 
Andrew  W.  Wilson  ;  fifteen  in  all.  Also,  Samuel  S.  Wilson, 
now  in  the  Seminary  at  Columbia,  and  James  Adams  Wilson, 
now  in  Davidson  College,  and  both  under  the  care  of  Presby- 
tery. These  are  brothers  of  Andrew  Wilson,  mentioned  above, 
and  sons   of  our  esteemed  Elder,  J.  J.  Wilson. 

In  addition  to  supplying  her  own  pulpit  for  half  of  her  ex- 
istence, she  has  sent  one  from  her  borders  every  eleven  years 
to  carry,  tq  others  the  pure  gospel,  which  is  so  precious  to 
herself  Look  at  the  sons  and  daughters  sh«  has  sent,  and 
these  messengers  of  the  Gospel !  Who  can  estimate  the 
effect !  No  man  liveth  to  himself,  we  are  the  Lord's,  and  we 
must  live  for  him.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  church.  It 
is  the  Lord's,  and  must  live  for  him.  Not  consult  merely  its 
individual,  or  home  interests,  but  look  abroad  and  see  what 
can  be  done  for  the  Lord,  and  do  it.  May  do  much  by  giving 
our  substance,  backed  by  our  prayers.  But  above  all,  by  con- 
secrating our  sons,  and  training  them  for  carr)'ing  the  Gospel 
to  others.  Who  can  estimate  the  influence  for  good  !  Beth- 
el, by  her  home  influence,  may  do  much,  but  it  is  restricted; 
but  that  of  her  ministers  goes  on  from  generation  to  gener- 
ation, while  the  world  stands.  Not  unto  us,  O  Lord,  but 
unto  thy  name  be  the  praise.  [From  the  Mss.  history  of 
Bethel  Church  by  its  pastor,  Rev.  S.  L.  Watson,  by  order  of 
Bethel  Presbytery.] 

Old  Waxhaw  Church.  On  May  22nd,  1840,  Mr.  J.  R. 
Gilland  wa.=  ordained  and  installed  the  pastor  of  Lancaster- 
ville  and  Waxhaw  Churches,  and  continued  in  this  office  rather 
more  than  two  years,  the  relation  being  dissolved  the   6th   of 


1840-1850.]  OLD  WAXHAW.  693 

October,  1842.  He  was  succeeded  by  W.  Patillo  Harrison, 
who  was  ordained  and  installed  in  the  same  pastoral  charge 
on  the  15th  of  May,  1844.  This  relation  terminated  on  the- 
7th  of  October,  1847.  He  was  succeeded  by  Edward  Porter 
Palmer,  who  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  Waxhaw, 
Lancasterville,  and  Six  Mile  Creek  in  October,  1849,  and  was 
released  from  the  charge  in  October,  185 1.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded *by  James  Douglass,  who  was  ordained  at  Lancaster- 
ville, as  pastor  of  that  church  and  Waxhaw,  on  the  X2th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1853. 

The  succession  in  the  eldership,  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained, 
during  the  period  we  have  just  gone  over,  is  as  follows : 

After  Dr.  Brown's  departure:  Nathan  Barr,  George  Dun- 
lap,  and  Robt,  Davis,  were  ordained, 

From  181 1  to  1813:  William  Dunlap,  John  Scott,  Thos. 
D.  Barr,  Edward  Crawford,  Isaac  Donnom,  Charles  Miller, 
Robt.  Walkup. 

Ordained  during  Mr.  Williamson's  time:  Robt.  Stinson, 
and  John  Foster. 

About  the  time  of  Dr.  Thornwell's  pastorate  ;  S.  B.  Mas- 
sey,  G.  Washington  Dunlap,  Samuel  F.  Dunlap,  Eli  Hood. 

Subsequently,   Robert    H.   Crocket,    R.   D.   M.    Dunlap* 

The  Waxhaw  congregation  and  church  were  larger  and 
relatively  more  influential  in  the  earlier  than  in  the  later  pe- 
riod of  their  history.  Where  no  statistics  were  given,  it  is  not 
practicable  to  compare  its  numbers  with  those  which  the  late 
statistical  tables  present.  There  was  a  large  secession  from 
the  eastern  portion,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  davs  of  Dr. 
Brown.  As  the  lands  were  denuded  of  forest,  the  settle- 
ments on  the  river,  and  Cain  and  Waxhaw  Creeks  became 
sickly,  the  white  population  sold  out  and  left  for  other  re- 
gions, and  that  portion  was  occupied  by  negro  quarters. 
Preaching  was  had  at  the  village   of   Lancasterville  in    181 3. 

*There  have  been  no  less  than  eleven  elders  of  the  name  of  Dunlap. 
The  first  Samuel  Dunlap  was  called  "South  Samuel  Dunlap."  because 
he  lived  south  of  the  church,  and  to  distinguish  him  from  others  of- 
the  same  name.  His  son,  Dr.  Samuel  Dunlap,  was  an  elder,  and  so 
was  his  son,  Samuel  F.  Dunlap,  who  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Pelham,  of 
Columbia.  The  old  elder,  Sam'l  Dunlap,  had  five  sons,  one  of  whom 
was  the  Rev.  E.  Dunlap,  the  fir.st  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
•of  Columbia.  The  other  four  have  all  been  elders.  William  was  the 
father  of  Kev-  Eobert  Dunlap.  of  Pennsylvania,  and  nf  Dr.  Thomas 
Dunlap,  now  of  Mississippi.  The  Eev.  James  E  Dunlap,  of  Marion, 
S.  C.,  is  also  of  the  Dunlaps  of  Waxhaw 


694  BIRTHPLACE   OF   ANDREW   JACKSON.        [1840-1850. 

the  church  edifice  was  built  in  1834,  and  the  church  organ- 
ized in  1835.  This  took  off  another  portion  of  its  members. 
'The  organization  of  the  church  of  Six  Mile  Creek  drew  the 
northern  part  of  the  congregation,  and  still  further  reduced  the 
old  church,  though  the  population  remains.  Presbyterian. 
Beginning  with  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Craighead  at  Sugar 
Creek,  Presbyterianism  spread  through  the  Catawba  .region, 
and  over  the  upper  districts  of  the  State.  To  the  high  doc- 
trine of  individual  responsibility  and  the  right  of  private 
judgment,  and  to  its  republican  form  of  government,  with  its 
testimony  and  covenants,  is  due  to  a  large  extent  the  Meck- 
lenburg Declaration  and  other  papers  of  that  period.  Dr. 
David  Caldwell,  of  Guilford,  and  his  heroic  wife,  Rachel ; 
George  Dunlap,  of  Waxhaw,  and  Mrs.  Dunlap,  both  ladies 
daughters  of  Mr.  Craighead,  were  specimens  of  the  heroic 
women,  and  highminded  men  reared  in  this  faith.  Waxhaw, 
in  that  olden  time,  was  the  centre  around  which  good  men, 
such  as  Andrew  Pickens  and  Patrick  Calhoun,  loved  to 
gather.  And  in  time  of  revolution,  "the  time  that  tried 
men's  souls,"  the  men  of  this  congregation,  among  whom 
Major  Robert  Crawford,  Major  John  Barkley,  and  Major  W. 
R.  Davie,  were  conspicuous,  and  even  the  boys,  as  Henry 
Massey  and  Andrew  Jackson,*  were  found  in  martial  array 
in  defence  of  their  homes  and  country. 

Nor  were  they  inattentive  to  the  interest  of  education. 
Schools  were  maintained  for  the  instruction  of  their  youth, 
and  gave  their  first  training  to  men  who  have  obtained  dis- 
tinction in  various  professions.  Besides  W.  R.  Davie,  dis- 
tinguished as  a  soldier,  lawyer  and  politician,  who  was  made 
Governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  went  as  Minister  to  France, 

*A  controversy  has  arisen  as  to  Andrew  Jackson's  birth  place.  In 
relation  to  this  there  can  be  no  doubt.  In  a  biography  commenced  by 
his  friend  Amos  Kendall,  under  his.  own  eye,  in  1843,  which  was  never 
finished,  is  a  small  map  exhibiting  the  dividing  line  between  North 
and  South  Carolina,  opposite  the  birth  place  of  Jackson,  which  is  set 
down  on  the  South  Carolina  side.  He  states,  on  the  authority  of  Jack- 
son himself,  that  he  was  born  in  the  house  of  James  Crawford,  of  Lan- 
caster District,  which  is  about  one  mile  west  of  the  North  Carolina 
line,  which  there  runs  nearly  north  and  south.  In  his  letter  to  Col. 
James  H.  Witherspoon,  he  speaks  of  himself  as  ''  a  former  citizen  of 
Lancaster,"  as  interested  in  "  the  prosperity  of  old  Waxhaw,"  as  de- 
sirous of  visiting  ''  the  sacred  spot  which  holds  the  remains  of  father 
and  brothers."  He  even  wished  to  visit  South  Carolina,  and  under  the 
guidance  of  Mrs.  Barton,  to  find  the  place  where  his  mother  was  buried. 
These  letters  were  written  in  May,  1828,  May,  1829,  December,  1835. 


1840-1850.  J  PLEASANT   GROVE.  695 

Gov.  Stephen  Miller,  Gen.  James  Blair,  and  others,  received 
their  early  training  here.  In  the  clerical  profession,  Rev. 
Robert  Findley,  Dr.  Samuel  Findley,  Robert  B.  Walker 
James  W.  Stephenson,  John  Brown,  D.  P.,  David  E.  DunUip, 
John  B.  Davis,  John  Cousar,  James  Mcllhenny,  Dr.  Mcll- 
henny,  of  Virginia,  W.  G.  Rosborough,  of  Lower  Fishing 
Creek,  Robt.  Dunlap,  grandson  of  the  old  elder  Samuel  Dun- 
lap,  Samuel  Dunlap,  now  residing  in  Pennsylvania,  Andrew 
Jackson  Witherspoon,  and  James  E.  Dunlap,  either  were  born 
or  received  their  early  training  in  the  bounds  of  this  con- 
gregation. 

Noble  old  Church,  fortunate  in  the  talents,  and  worth  of 
her  ministers,  though  unfortunate  in  losing  them,  vet  not, 
we  are  told,  by  her  own  niggardliness  or  fault — fortunate  in 
the  virtues  of  her  elders  and  early  members,  whose  descend- 
ants are  now  scattered  far  and  wide  over  the  land — fortunate 
in  the  memories  that  cling  to  her;  we  do  her  honor  for  the 
testimony  she  has  borne  to  the  truth,  for  the  virtue  of  her 
duughters,  and  the  hardihood  and  bravery  of  her  sons. 
Though  diminished  by  the  colonies  that  have  gone  forth  from 
her,  and  the  drain  of  constant  emigration,  we  hope  that  those 
who  yet  remain  of  the  third,  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  generations 
will  not  suffer  her  name  to  perish.  The  church-yard  itself, 
where  rest  the  remains  of  Richardson,  of  the  family  of  Da- 
vies,  in  its  four  generations,  of  the  Crawford-!,  Witherspoons, 
Donnoms,  Fosters,  Montgomeries,  Blairs,  Harpers,  the  He- 
rons, and  Barnetts,  is  in  itself  historic,  and  while.it  connects 
our  times  with  the  past,  testifies  that  we  live  in  a  world  of 
change.  One  generation  cometh  and  another  goeth.  but  the 
eartli  abideth  forever,  and  Christ,  our  head,  reigneth  over  all. 

In  1845,  the  Elders  of  this  Church  were,  Capt.  B.  S.  Mas- 
sey,  John  Foster. 

Deacons  :  D.  N.  Crockett,  S.  J.  Cureton. 

Membership  in  1840,  40.  In  1850,  under  the  pastorate  of 
Rev.  Edward  P.  Palmer,  the  membership  was,  27  colored, 
32  whites.     Total,  59. 

Pleasant  Grove  was  received  under  the  care  of  Bethel 
Presbytery  in  1847,  with  a  membership  of  sixteen.  In  1848, 
the  Rev.  Wm.  A.  Banks  was  its  pastor,  under  whose  minis- 
try it  greatly  prospered. 

The  origin  of  the  church  of  Pleasant  Grove  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  Rev.  Wm.  Banks,  for  twenty-nine  years  the  pastor 


696  PLEASANT  GEOVE.  [1840-1850. 

of  Catholic  Church.  When  the  Rev.  J.  LeRoy  Davies  was 
pastor  of  Catholic  Church,  that  portion  of  the  congregation 
lying  up  Rocky  Creek,  leased  for  ten  years  "the  Brick  Church," 
-in  which  Mr.  McMillan  had  ministered,  and  which  the  Cov- 
enanters had  abandoned  when  they  emigrated  to  the  North- 
west. Here  a  large  congregation  was  soon  collected.  Af- 
ter the  ten  years  lease  of  "the  Brick  Church"  from  the  Cov- 
enanters had  expired,  they  leased  it  to  the  Associate  Reform 
Congregation  of  Hopewell.  The  upper  portion  of  Catholic 
were  then  without  a  place  of  worship  nearer  than  the  old 
Church,  which  was  too  remote  for  regular  attendance.  They 
went  to  work  in  large  numbers,  and  erected  in  a  short  time  a 
large  house  of  worship  about  eight  miles  from  Catholic,  on 
the  road  to  Chester.  This  continued  to  be  a  branch  of  Cath- 
olic about  ten  years.  Committees  were  appointed  to  obtain 
the  consent  of  Purity  and  Catholic  Churches  that  this  con- 
gregation should  be  organized  as  a  distinct  church.  Their 
consent  gained,  that  of  Presbytery  followed,  and  the 
organization  took  place.  One  hundred  and  thirty-five 
members  from  Catholic,  and  others,  with  certificates  from 
other  churches,  and  a  number  who  made  a  profession  of  re- 
ligion at  the  time,  were  organized  into  the  church  o^  Pleasant 
Grove.  Some  were  members  of  the  old  Associate  Seceders 
who  had  not  joined  with  the  Associate  Reformed.  A  few 
came  from  the  Associate  Reformed  Church  of  Hopewell,  and 
some  from  old  Covenanters'  families.  The  blessing  of  God 
has  been  remarkably  bestowed  on  this  church  ever  since  its 
organization.  The  Rev,  Wm.  Banks,  who  had  ministered 
here  ever  since  his  connection  with  Catholic,  became  its  first 
pastor. 

The  first  ruling  Elders  were,  James  M.  Chntock,  William 
Wallace,  Hugh  White,  Abraham  White,  Moses  H.  Robinson, 
John  H.  Torbit,  John  Banks,  and  John  Agnew. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  our  late  war.  Pleasant  Grove 
numbered  317  communing  members.  [Rev.  Wm.  Bank's 
Historical  Discourse  on  Catholic  Church,  delivered  by  re- 
quest, on  the  lOist  anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  that 
Church.] 

Not  only  the  parent  Church,  Catholic,  suffered  by  emigra- 
tion, but  Pleasant  Grove  also. 

"Again,"  he  says,  "another  colony  from  Pleasant  Grove 
emigrated  to  Dallas  County,  Arkansas.     As  the  country  was 


1840-1850.]  CANE   CREEK — XJNIONVILLE.  697 

new,  they  organized  a  township,  calh'ng  it  Chester,  and  about 
the  centre  of  the  township  they  built  a  large  Academy,  and 
organized  a  church,  and  gave  it  the  name  of  Pleasant  Grove. 
And  still  another  colony,  with  three  of  our  ruling  Elders,  em- 
igrated to  Mississippi.  Most  of  them  settled  in  Itawambe 
County,  and  united  with  small  Presbyterian  Churches  there, 
they  aided  greatly  in  building  them  up." 

Cane  Creek. — We  have  seen  that  Rev.  James  H.  Saye 
became  pastor  of  this  church  the  first  of  April,  1840.  This 
pastoral  relation  was  formally  dissolved  in  April,  185 1.  His 
labours,  however,  were  continued  as  stated  supply  till  1853. 
During  his  ministry  there  were  added,  on  examination,  43 
members,  and  only  four  by  certificate.  There  was  no  death 
among  the  members  from  January  ist,  1840,  till  June  1845, 
From  the  latter  date  till  November,  1853,  eighteen  communi- 
cants have  died,  of  whom  five  have  been  Ruling  Elders.  Thir- 
ty-one have  removed  from  the  bounds  of  the  congregation 
since  January  ist,  1840.  Emigration  has  been  active  during 
the  whole  time  of  the  church's  existence.  The  Presbyterian 
population  ofthe  surrounding  region  was  always  small.  There 
was  no  Presbyterian  Church  nearer  than  twenty  miles,  till  the 
organization  of  the  church  at  Unionville;  that  is,  after  the 
Erown's  Creek  Church  closed.  The  following  persons  have 
held  the  office  of  Ruling  Elder  in  the  Church,  viz :  Samuel 
Otterson,  Joseph  Mcjunkin,  Abram  Mcjunkin,  William  Gor- 
don, Stephen  Johnson,  John  Steene,  Richard  G.  Hobson,  Dr.  J. 
C.  Jeter,  L.  B.  Jeter,  S.  G.  Steene,  Benjamin  Gregory,  Jere- 
miah W.  Hamilton,  Dr.  C.  Young,  James  Mcjunkin,  Francis 
Hobson,  R.  G.  Otts,  George  Spencer,  and  A.  S-  Mcjunkin. 
Of  these,  J.  G.  Jeter  and  L.  B.  Jeter,  with  their  wives,  joined 
the  Baptist  Church.  No  colored  person  had  ever  joined 
this  church  till  1 842.  In  all,  about  five  have  joined,  all  of  them 
worthy  members. 

Unionville. — This  church  was  organized  by  the  Presbytery 
of  Bethel,  in  1840,  when  it  first  appears  with  a  membership  of 
fifteen.  In  i84i,theRev.  Hugh  Monroe,  who  was  a  licenciate 
of  Harmony  Presbytery,  and  as  such  had  served  them  for 
some  months,  was  ordained  and  installed  their  pastor,  but  is 
.dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of  Fayetteville,  in  1843.  Its 
membership  was  seventeen  in  full  communion.  In  1845,  L. 
W.  Curtis  was  its  stated  supply,  and  continued  such  through 
1849,  its  membership  in  these  years  being  from  27  to  29.     Its 


698  FAIRFORESI.  [1840-1850. 

Elders  were  Col.  W.  K.  Clowney,  William  Perry,  and  C. 
Brandon. 

Faikforest. — The  Rev.  John  Boggs  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  James  H.  Saye,  in  January,  1840,  and  his  connection 
with  this  church  was  continued  to  the  first  of  April,  185 1. 
The  membership  in  1840  was  87;  in  1841,  91  ;  in  1842,  79; 
in  1843,  75;  in  1844,71;  in  1845,  7°;  in  1846,  80;  in  1847, 
78,  and  five  black;  in  1848,  83,  five  black;  in  1849,  total  of 
communicants,  82,  five  of  whom  were  colored. 

Among  the  worthy  men,  whose  names  have  already 
occurred  in  this  history,  but  who  is  worthy  of  special  mention 
in  connection  with  the  church  of  Fairforest,  is  the  Hon  Wil- 
liam K.  Clowney. 

The  Hon.  William  Kennedy  Clowney  was  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Elizabeth  Clowney.  He  was  born  and  brought  up  in  the 
Fairforest  congregation,  of  which  his  mother  was  a  member, 
but  his  father  was  connected  with  the  Associate  Reformed 
Church.  He  commenced  classical  study  with  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Gray,  and  afterwards  finished  preparation  for  College  in  an 
Academy  kept  by  Messrs.  Canipbell  and  Camak.  After  taking 
the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  the  South  Carolina  College,  he  taught  a 
classical  school  in  the  vicinity  of  Unionville  for  a  time.  He 
was  subsequently  Tutor  of  Mathematics  in  his  Alma  Mater. 
While  here  he  made  battle  with  "The  Goats,"  of  Columbia 
(see  his  pamphlet  addressed  to  them).  He  studied  law,  and 
settled  at  Unionville  for  practice.  He  served  his  native  Dis- 
trict for  a  time  in  the  State  Legislature.  Was  twice  elected 
to  Congress  by  the  Pinckney  District.  On  his  return  from 
Washington,  after  a  long  session  of  Congress,  he  had  a  stroke 
of  paralysis,  from  which  he  never  entirely  recovered.  He 
was,  however,  elected  in  1840  to  the  Senate  of  the  State, 
served  out  the  term,  and  was  two  years  Lieutenant  Governor 
of  the  State.  He  made  a  profession  of  religion  in  early  life, 
but  owing  to  the  state  of  the  church  in  Unionville  his  mem- 
bership was  for  a  time  lost.  He  and  his  wife  joined  the  Fair- 
forest  church  in  1837,  and  in  1839  he  was  ordained  an  Elder 
of  that  congregation.  At  his  request  a  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  organize  the  church  in  the  village,  which  he  served 
as  long  as  he  was  able  to  do  anything.  He  was  an  active 
friend  of  the  temperance  reform  from  its  beginning,  and  re- 
mained one  of  its  most  eloquent  advocates  as  long  as  his 
tongue  could  perform  its  office.     Several  of  the  last  years    of 


1840-1850.]  BETH  SHILOH.  699 

his  life  he  was  exceedingly  feeble,  and  he  died  March  I2th, 
185 1,  in  the  54th  year  ot  his  age.  He  was  a  good  man.  He 
married  Miss  Jane  C.  Beattie,  of  Yorkville,  an  accomplished 
and  excellent  lady,  who  survives  him,     They  had  no  children, 

A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Rise,  Progress  and  Present  State 
OF  Beth  Shiloh  Church,  in  the  Bounds  of  Bethel  Pres- 
bytery. 

Beth  Shiloh  Church  is  located  about  five  miles  northeast  of 
Yorkville,  on  or  near  the  great  road  leading  from  that  place 
to  Charlotte,  N.  C.  The  first  church  edifice  that  was  erected 
was  a  log  house.  It  was  built  in  the  year  1829,  by  the  people 
of  that  vicinity,  who  employed  the  ministerial  services  of  the 
Rev.  William  C.  Davis.  He  organized  a  church  at  that  place 
during  that  year,  and  continued  to  preach  to  the  congregation, 
a  part  of  his  time,  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  27th  of 
September,  183 1,  being  the  71st  year  of  his  age. 

After  Mr.  Davis'  death,  Rev.  Silas  J.  Feemster,  son-in-law 
of  Mr.  Davis,  was  employed  to  preach  for  the  church  and  con- 
gregation, lo  the  year  1832-33  a  considerable  revival  took 
place  in  the  church,  and  a  great  many  attached  themselves  to  it, 
It  was  found  necessary  to  procure  more  room  for  the  congre- 
gation that  then  met  there  for  divine  worship,  and  consequent- 
ly a  frame  building  of  larger  dimensions  was  erected,  and 
that  one  has  still  been  enlarged  and  improved  so  latterly  that 
it  now  compares  favorably  with  most  of  the  church  edifices 
in  the  country.  Mr.  Feemster  continued  to  preach  to  the 
congregation  until  1837.  The  next  minister  who  preached  to 
the  congregation  was  Rev.  George  W.  Davis.  He  continued 
his  ministerial  labors  ,  one-half  of  his  time,  for  twelve  years, 
or  until  1849.  Mr.  Davis  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  R.  Y.  Rus- 
sel,  who  supplied  the  congregation  once  a  month  during  the 
years  1849-50. 

Note.— This  church,  during  the  years  1840-1850,  was  connected  with 
the  followers  of  W.  C  Davis;  but  now,  since  1863-64,  the  Independent 
Presbyterian  Church  has  been  united  with  11s.  Minutes  of  the  Soutb- 
ern  General  Assembly  of  1863,  pp  123,  140, 142;  1864,  p  282. 

The  following  sketch  of  the  Covenanters  on  Rocky  Creek, 
S.  C,  was  written  by  the  venerable  D.  G.  Stinson,  Esq., 
of  Cedar  Shoals,  Chester  District,  to  whom  we  have  often 
been  indebted,  as  Mrs.  Ellett  also  was  in  her  "Women  of  the 
Revolution."  From  the  Chester  Reporter,  of  March,  23d, 
1876. 


700  THE  COVENANTERS.  [1840-1850. 

A  Sketch  of  the  Covenanters  on  Rocky  Creek. 

The  earliest  settlement  of  this  part  of  Chester  County  took 
place  in  1750  and  1751,  by  a  few  emigrants  from  Pennsylvania 
and  Virgmia.  Amonp  these  were  Hugh  and  John  McDonald, 
with  their  families.  Hugh  settled  where  Mrs.  Moore  now 
lives  on  Little  Rocky  Creek,  five  miles  from  Catholic  Church. 
John  settled  a  plantation  known  as  David  Wilson's,  at  the 
mouth  of  Bull  Run.  on  Big  Rocky  Creek.  He  and  his  wife 
were  both  killed  in  1761  by  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  their 
seven  children  carried  off  [See  Mrs.  Ellet's  "Women  of  the 
Revolution,"  3d  vol.,  article  "Catherine  Steele."]  In  1755, 
there  was  a  considerable  increase  in  the  settlement;  and  also 
by  correspondence  to  Ireland  there  commenced  an  immigra- 
tion by  the  way  of  Charleston.  The  settlers  were  a  mixed 
mass  as  to  religion;  they  were  Reformed  and  Presbyterian  and 
Seceders. 

Rev.  William  Richardson,  of  Waxhaw,  was  the  only  minister 
within  a  hundred  miles.  They  applied  to  him  to  supply  them 
with  preaching.  He  consented,  and  directed  them  to  build  a 
church,  as  he  would  preach  for  them  on  week  days.  The  first 
preaching  day  was  on  Monday.  He  named  the  church 
(which  they  had  built  according  to  his  directions)  Catholic. 
It  is  situated  fifteen  miles  southeast  from  Chester  Court  House, 
near  the  Rocky  Mount  road.  [See  Dr.  Howe's  History  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  South  Carolina.] 

Rev.  William  Martin  emigrated  from  Ireland  at  least  as 
early  as  1772.  He  was  the  first  convenanting  preacher  in  the 
settlement.  I  have  in  my  possession,  from  Henry  and  Mar- 
garet Malcolm,  a  letter  written  to  their  son-in-law,  John  Lin, 
in  which  they  refer  to  Mr.  Martin  as  being  over  here  in  this 
Rocky  Creek  settlement.  This  letter  is  dated  May  30th,  1773, 
County  Antrim,  Ireland,  in  answer  to  one  from  his  son-in-law, 
John  Lin.  The  reference  to  Mr.  Martin  is  in  these  words:  "We 
hear  it  reported  here  that  Mr.  Martin  and  his  Covenant- 
ers had  ill  getting  their  land,  and  John  Cochrane  had  been 
the  occasion  of  all  their  trouble."  I  suppose  that  this  trouble 
about  land  was  that  they  expected  to  settle  all  down  close 
together  in  a  colony;  but  such  was  then  the  situation  of  the 
country  that  they  had  to  scatter,  and  select  lands  at  a  consid- 
erable distance  from  each  other.  They  were  entitled  to  boun- 
ty lands,  a  hundred  acres  to  each  head  of  a  family  and  fifty  to 
bach  member.     Those  who  had  means   bought    from  the   old 


1840-1850.]  REV.  WILLIAM  MARTIN.  701 

settlers.  Rev.  William  Martin  bought  from  William  Stroud 
a  plantation  one  mile  square,  six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  on 
north  side  of  Big  Rocky  Creek,  on  which  he  built  a  rock  house 
ana  a  rock  spring-house.  The  place  selected  for  a  church 
was  two  miles  east  of  Catholic,  on  the  Rocky  Mount  road, 
near  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  James  Barber  Ferguson. 
It  is  described  as  having  been  a  log  building ;  was  burnt  down 
by  the  British  in  1780.  [See  "Women  of  the  Revolution," 
3d  vol.,  article  "Nancy  Green,"  also  Dr.  Howe's  "History  of 
Presbyterian  Church,"  article  "Mary  Barkley."]  After  Martin 
was  released  by  Cornwallis,  at  Winnsboro,  owing  to  the  dis- 
turbed state  of  the  country,  he  went  to  Mecklenburg,  N.  C. 
There  Jie  met  a  Mr.  Grier,  also  a  refugee  from  Georgia,  whose 
child,  Isaac,  he  baptized.  Isaac  was  said  to  have  been 
the  first  Presbyterian  minister  born  in  Georgia.  He  was  af- 
terwards minister  at  Sharon,  Mecklenburg  County.  He  was 
the  father  of  Robert  Calvin  Grier,  who  was  President  for  many 
years  of  Erskine  College,  Due  West,  and  his  son,  William 
Moffat  Grier,  is  now  President  of  that  college. 

After  the  war,  when  Mr.  Martin  returned  to  Rocky  Creek, 
he  was  employed  as  supply  at  Catholic  for  three  years.  He 
was  dismissed  by  the  people  of  Catholic  on  account  of  becom- 
ing intemperate.  He,  however,  did  not  quit  preaching.  He 
preached  at  a  schoolhouse  at  Edward  McDaniel's,  about  a 
mile  or  two  west  of  the  place  where  a  brick  church  was  after- 
wards built.  He  also  went  down  to  Jackson's  Creek,  in  Fair- 
field, and  preached  there.  I  recollect  that  Richard  Gladuey 
was  a  Covenanter  in  the  neighborhood,  and  doubtless  there 
were  otiiers.  He  was  also  in  the  habit  of  crossing  the  Catawba 
River  and  preaching  at  the  house  of  William  Hicklin,  who 
had  moved  from  Rocky  Creek  to  Lancaster,  He  frequent- 
ly preached  at  other  places,  often  at  private  houses.  A  con- 
gregation afterwards  built  him  a  ciiurch  two  miles  east  from 
the  site  of  the  one  formerly  burnt  down,  near  the  Rncky 
Mount  road,  on  a  beautiful  hill,  in  rear  of  what  was  called 
Earle's  house,  in  a  fine  grove  of  trees.  The  lands  are  now  all 
cleared  up,  and  there  is  a  negro  house  now  on  top  of  that  hill, 
where  the  church  once  stood.  In  that  hill  and  dale  country  it 
can  be  seen  for  miles.  ,He  must  have  continued  to  preach 
there  until  near  his  death.  I  have  frequently  heard  him 
preach  at  that  place,  as  well  as  at  my  father's.  Some  two  years 
before  his  death  his  rock  house  was  burnt  down.       It    was  in 


702  COVENANTEES.  [1840-1850. 

the  early  part  of  the  night ;  I  .suppose  most  of  his  property 
was  saved.  He  after  that  lived  in  a  log  cabin.  He  sold  his 
plantation  for  six  hundred  dollars,  one  hundred  to  be  paid 
yearly.  After  his  death  his  widow  received  the  paymq,nts. 
He  had  been  three  times  married,  but  left  no  children  living. 
His  only  daughter,  married  to  John  McCaw,  had  died  before 
him.  Shortly  after  his  coming  to  this  country  he  took  up 
about  four  hundred  acres  of  vacant  land,  which  he  made  a 
present  to  his  nephews,  David  and  William  Martin.  The 
land  now  belongs  to  Mrs.  Gaston.  Mr.  Martin  often  staid  at 
my  father's  for  days  or  a  week  at  a  time.  I  do  not  remember 
ever  seeing  him  under  the  influence  of  liquor  but  once.  That 
was  on  a  day  in^  which  he  came  in  company  of  some  wag- 
ons. It  was  a  wet  day.  My  mother,  with  the  as- 
sistance of  two  negro  women,  got  him  to  the  back 
door,  and  bringing  him  in,  put  him  to  bed.  She 
came  out,  I  remember, .  with  a  very  long  face.  The  last 
visit  he  ever  made  to  my  father's,  after  crossing  the  creek, 
at  Stroud's  mill,  in  some  way  he  got  his  horse's  head  turned 
up  the  creek  by  a  path.  He  fell  off  in  a  branch  ;  being  old 
and  feeble,  he  was  unable  to  rise.  He  was  found  by  Mr. 
Thralekill ;  was  said  to  be  in  the  act  of  praying  when  found. 
Mr.  Thralekill  understood  from  him  where  he  wanted  to  go. 
My  father  sent  for  him  and  had  him  brought  to  the  house. 
He  had  fever,  and  lay  there  for  more  than  a  month.  In  the 
delirium  of  fever  he  constantly  quoted  Scripture,  and  spoke  of 
the  crossing  of  Jordan.  My  mother  became  alarmed  and  sent 
for  my  father,  thinking  Mr.  Martin  was  near  his  death.  But 
he  recovered  and  became  able  to  walk.  My  father  mounted 
him  on  a  horse  and  sent  him  home.  He  soon  became  again 
confined  to  his  bed, -and  died  in  about  six  months,  in  the  year 
1806.  He  was  buried  in  a  graveyard  near  his  own  house. 
Whether  there  is  a  stone  to  mark  it,  I  do  not  recollect,  though 
I  have  seen  the  grave.  He  was  a  large,  heavy  man.  By 
those  who  knew  him  he  was  said  to  have  been  an  able  divine. 
He  came  from  County  Antrim,  Ireland.  In  the  same  party 
with  him  came  my  father  and  his  brother,  James  Stinson,  then 
called  Stevenson ;  William  Anderson  and  his  wife,  Nancy; 
Alex  Brady  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth ;  I  think  the  Linns,  and 
possibly  the  Kells.  Mr.  Martin  owned  two  negroes,  I  recol- 
lect— Savannah  and  Bob  by  name.  So  did  some  others  of 
the  congregation.     Some  wlio  owned  slaves  refused  in    1800 


1840-1850.]  EEV.  THOMAS   DONNELLY.  703 

to  submit  to  the  regulations  made  by  McKinney  and  Wylie, 
believing  that  the  Scriptures  justified  the  possession  of  the 
heathen,  whom  they,  as  teachers,  were  civilizing  and  Chris- 
tianizing. It  would  be,  they  thought,  as  cruel  to  free  them  as 
to  turn  a  child  out  to  buffet  with  the  world. 

The  next  minister  of  the  Covenanters  was  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam McGarrah.  In  179 [,  he  settled  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Beaver  Dam,  a  branch  of  Big  Rocky  Creek.  His  first  wife 
died  shortly  after  his  coming,  leaving  one  daughter,  who'was 
married  to  Henry  Linn.  Mr.  McGarrah  marrying  badly  the 
second  time  was  the  cause  of  his  being  for  a  short  time  sus- 
pended. By  the  second  marriage  he  had  sons — James,  Wil- 
liam, Joseph  and  David — all  long  since  removed  to  the  north- 
west. Mr.  McGarrah  died  about  1816,  and  was  buried  in 
what  was  called  Paul's  graveyard.  His  wife  died  soon  after, 
and  was  buried  at  the  same  place.  That  graveyard  is  on  the 
road  above  Mount  Prospect,  a  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South.  More  Covenanters  are  buried  here  than  at  any  other 
place  in  the  South. 

Rev.  Mr.  King  arrived  here  in  1792.  He  settled  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Beaver  Dam,  near  Mount  Prospect  Church, 
on  the  plantation  now  owned  by  Mrs.  Backstrom.  He  diecj 
in  1798,  and  is  buried  at  the  Brick  Church. 

Rev.  James  McKinney  was  the  next  in  order.  Where  his 
residence  was  I  do  not  know.  He  was  pastor  of  the  congre- 
gation at  the  Brick  Church,  and  preached  at  most  of  the 
other  churches.  He  died  in  August,  1803,  and  was  buried  at 
the  Brick  Church. 

Rev.  Thomas  Donnelly  was  licensed  to  preach  at  Colding- 
ham,  June,  1799.  He  settled  first  somewhere  near  Little 
Rocky  Creek.  He  afterwards  bought  Stephen  Harmon's 
place,  on  the  north  side  of  Big  Rocky  Creek,  a  plantation 
now  owned  by  Mr.  George  Heath.  I  recollect  hearing  him 
preach  at  a  stand  near  his  own  house,  sometime  in  the  year 
1804.  From  this  date  he  was  the  only  minister  until  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  Riley,  in  1813,  and  preached  at  most  of  the 
churches  that  will  be  hereafter  mentioned.  After  the  Cove- 
nanters had  generally  removed  from  the  country,  Mr.  Don- 
nelly preached  at  Old  Richardson,  a  Presbyterian  Church;  a 
portion  of  the  time  at  his  own  house,  there  still  being  some  of 
his  people  scattered  in  this  country.  His  eldest  son,  Samuel, 
became  a  Presbyterian  minister,  now  residing  in  Florida.    His 


704  REV.  JOHN  EILEY.  [1840-1850. 

father  frequently  visited  him  when  he  lived  at  Liberty  Hill, 
and  preached  in  his  son's  church.  Mr.  Donnelly  died  in 
1847.  His  family,  after  his  death,  removed  to  Illinois.  It 
consisted  of  John,  (Thomas  married  to  John  Cathcart's  daughter) 
and  his  daughter  Nancy.  She  married  in  Illinois,  Riley  .Linn,, 
the  son  of  Henry  Linn.  Mr.  Donnelly  was  buried  at  the 
Brick  Church,  by  the  side  of  McKinney  and  King.  His  wife  . 
was  also  buried  in  the  same  place. 

The  next  minister,  Rev.  John  Riley,  came  into  South  Car- 
olina in  18 1 3,  settled  on  the  south  side  of  Big  Rocky  Creek, 
about  a  half  mile  from  Martin's  first  church,  the  one  burnt. 
He  was  a  popular  preacher;  his  places  of  preaching  were 
the  Beaver  Dam,  the  Brick  Church  and  Richmond.  He  died 
in  1820,  is  buried  at  the  Brick  Church,  some  distance  from 
the  other  ministers.     All   have  appropriate  tombstones. 

The  Brick  Church,  situated  three  miles  from  Pleasant 
Grove,  on  the  plantation  now  owned  by  John  Hood,  has  all 
been  removed,  nothing  but  the  graveyard  left.  There  was 
considerable  immigration  to  this  country  after  1785,  but 
whether  this  church  was  built  before  Mr.  King  came  or  not,  I 
do  not  know.  It  was  first  a  log  building.  The  brick  build- 
jng  was  put  up  about  the  year  18 10.  Hugh  M.  McMillan 
came  to  this  section  of  country  after  1785.  His  brother  Danie.l 
came  at  the  same  time.  Daniel  and  his  family  went  into  the 
Associate  Reformed  Church,  Hopewell.  Hugh  had  sons, 
Daniel,  a  merchant,  John,  David,  James,  Gavin  and  Hugh. 
The  last  two  were  ministers  of  the  gospel — all  Covenanters. 
There  was  a  family  of  Coopers,  McKelveys,  Robert  Hemphill 
— brother  to  the  Rev.  John  Hemphill — Darrance  Woodburne, 
Montfords  and  Nebitts,  were  some  of  the  names  composing 
tliis  large  and  flourishing  congregation  of  Covenanters. 

The  Beaver  Dam  Church  was  on  a  branch  on  the  north  side 
of  Big  Rocky  Creek,  on  a  plantation  now  owned  by  Stephen 
R  Ferguson.  The  church  was  not  more  than  a  mile  distant 
from  Mr.  King's  and  Mr.  McGarrah's  residence,  When  or- 
ganized I  don't  know,  but  most  probably  about  the  time  that 
McGarrah  arrived  in  1791-  In  the  bounds  of  this  congregation 
were  the  Evvins,  the  McHenrys,  the  Ervins,  the  Kells,  John 
Rock,  the  Linns,  the  Littles,  the  Bells,  Paul  Guthrie,  the 
Gellespies,  the  Steeles,  the  Martins,  the  McFaddens,  the 
Simpsons,  and  many  others.  In  Mr.  Riley's  time  that  con- 
gregation was  very  large.  The  church  and  people  have  all 
Jong  since  disappeared. 


1840-1866.J  THEIR  CHtTECHES.  70^ 

The  Richmond  Church  was  situated  near  the  dividing  line 
between  Chester  and  Fairfield.  This  was  Mr.  Martin's  church, 
and  was  removed  three  miles  south  to  a  more  convenient  ' 
situation  for  the  neighborhood.  Members  of  this  church 
were  the  Dunns,  Daniel  Wright,  the  Hoods,  Sprouls,  Hugh 
Henry,  James  Stormont,  the  Cathcarts,  John  and  William 
McMillan,  and  the  Richmonds. 

The  McNinch  Church  was  situated  three  miles  east  of 
Chesterville;  built  after  1813  by  John  McNinch  himself.  Of 
the  congregation,  which  I  think  was  numerous,  I  now  cart 
remember  but  one  name,  Andrew  Crawford. 

The  Smith  Church  was  on  Little  Rocky  Creek,  on  the 
south  side,  about  five  miles  southwest  fef  Catholic  Church.  In 
that  congregation  were  several  families  of  the  name  of  Smith, 
who  were  relatives  of  Rev.  Thomas  Donnelly. 

A  church  called  Turkey  Creek  Church,  in  York  County, 
was  situated  about  two  miles  west  from  McConnellsville,  on 
the  Chester  and  Lenoir  Railroad.  In  the  bounds  of  the  con- 
gregation of  this  church  were  some  families  of  Wrights  and 
Wilsons. 

We  will  now  go  back  to  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Martin's  church  being  burned  down,  he  preached  as  a 
supply  to  the  congregation  of  Catholic  through  the  years  1782, 
1783  and  1784,  at  the  same  time  visiting^nd  preaching  to  differ- 
ent societies  of  his  own  people,  as  heretofore  stated.  In  the 
year  1787  Matthew  Linn,  of  the  A.  R.  Church,  came  out  as  a 
missionary.  The  "next  year  Rev.  James  Boyce,  of  the  A.  R. 
Church,  likewise  came,  and  commenced  preaching  at  the 
schoolhouse  near  E.  McDaniel's  ;  afterwards  the  stand  where 
Hopewell  church  now  is.  A  large  majority  of  the  Covenant- 
ers at  this  time  went  into  the  A.  R.  Church,  leaving  a  few  still 
scattered  over  the  bounds  of  the  different  congregations.  From 
the  year  1785  until  1812  there  was  a  considerable  immigra- 
tion coming  every  year  from  Ireland,  filling  up  the  congrega- 
tions. At  the  time  Mr.  Riley  came„in  1813,  they  were  pretty' 
numerous.  The  restrictions  on  the  subject  of  slavery  took 
some  Covenanters  out  of  the  church.  Mr.  Riley,  however, 
received  into  the  church  Mrs.  Isabella  Hemphill  and  her 
sister,  Mrs.  Jane  Cloud,  together  with  her  daughter,  Mrs. 
Sarah  Hicklin.  These  ladies  had  been  members  of  Mr.  Mar- 
tin's church.  He  had  baptized  their  children  and  each  of 
them  had  a  son  called  for  him.  They  were  received  into  the 
15 


706  THE  COVENANTERS  [1840-1850. 

Richmond  Church,  notwithstanding  their  families  were  large 
slave-holders.  Mr.  McGarrah,  after  he  was  restored,  preached 
■  for  a  few  years  at  Beaver  Dam  Church,  but  not  after  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  Riley,  in  1813. 

Mr.  King  preached  at  the  Brick  Church,  and  probably  at 
other  small  societies  scattered  over  the  country.  After  the 
arrival  of  Mr.  Rileyat  the  Brick  Church,  Mr.  John  McNinch  was 
tried  in  the  session,  and  the  congregation  became  dissatisfied 
with  Mr.  Donnelly,  which  was  intrinsically  the  cause  of  the 
churches  Smith  and  McNinch  being  built. 

John  Orr  immigrated  to  the  United  States  after  1790.  He 
was  a  classical  scholar,  and  had  taught  in  Ireland  before 
coming  out  here.  It  v  said  that  Rev.  Samuel  B.  Wylie  and 
Rev.  John  Black,  of  Pittsburg,  commenced  their  literary 
course  with  him  in  Ireland.  After  coming  here  he  continued 
to  teach.  A  good  many  young  men  started  the  classics  with 
him,  among  them  James  A.  Hemphill  and  Alex.  Curry,  both 
afterwards  physicians.  Rev.  John  Kell,  after  being  prepared 
by  John  Orr,  went  to  Scotland  and  graduated  there.  Judge 
Hemphill,  of  Texas,  was  also  among  his  scholars.  Mr.  Orr 
had  a  numerous  family  of  sons  and  daughters.  He  removed 
from  the  State  to  Ohio  in  the  j-ear  1832.  It  was  said  that, 
although  eighty  years  of  age,  he  walked  every  step  to  Ohio, 
refusing  to  ride. 

Rev.  Hugh  McMillan  and  Robert  Mondford  were  gradu- 
ates of  the  South  Carqlina  College.  McMillan  commenced 
preaching  in  1832  at  the  Brick  Church,  where  he  had  for  a 
number  of  years  a  large  classical  school.  He  preached  one- 
third  of  his  time  at  the  Turkey  Creek  Church,  in  York  Coun- 
ty. About  the  same  date  Rev.  Campbell  Madden  commenced 
preaching  at  the  Richmond  Church,  and  at  the  stand  at  John 
Orr's.  He  also  taught  a  school  near  Gladdon's  Grove.  He 
had  studied  medicine  before  he  came  out  here.  He  spent  a 
winter  at  Lexington,  Ky.,  where  he  received  a  diploma — he 
commenced  the  practice  of  medicine,  but  did  not  live  long. 
He  married  a  Miss.Cathcart,  and  left  children,  a  son  and  two 
daughters,  now  living  in  Winnsboro. 

Rev,  Hugh  McMillan  must  have  left  the  country  as  earlj' as 
1 83 1,  removing  to  the  northwest.  The  Covenanters  com- 
menced emigrating  soon  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Riley,  and 
continued  to  do  so  from  year  to  year,  until  the  congregations 
became  weak.     Revs.  Fisher  and  Scott  supplied  the  churches 


1S40-1850.]  THEIR  CHURCHES  AND  MINISTERS.  707 

in  South  Carolina  in  1832,  that  is,  dnring  the  winter  of  that 
year.  Revs.  Black  and  McMaster,  in  the  winter  of  1833;  these 
were  Licentiates.  Rev.  Gavin  McMillan  was  here  in  the- 
spring  of  1832,  and  held  cotnmunion,  assisted  by  Fisher  and 
Scott.  John  Kell,  in  the  spring  of  1833,  held  communions, 
assisted  by  Black  and  McMaster. 

The  few  Covenanters  that  remained  at  the  time  went  into 
the  A.  R.  Church.  There  are  some  who  never  entered  any 
other  church.  Hugh  Henry  is  the  only  one  I  now  recollect 
who  remained  a  Covenanter  until  his  death,  which  took  place 
in  1867.  His  family  are  now  in  the  A.  R.  Church.  He  has 
now  a  grandson  in  his  second  year  in  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  Due  West.  Mrs.  Madden,  her  son  and  two  daugh- 
ters, have  within  a  few  years  connected  themselves  with  '  the 
A.  R.  Church. 

Remarks. 

In  1801  Mr.  McKenney  and  Mr.  Wylie,  with  other  minis- 
ters and  elders  of  the  church,  held  a  Presbytery  at  the  house 
of  John  Kell.  One  of  the  Kells  owned  a  negro  ;  at  that  time 
he  freed  her.  He,  probably,  was  the  only  Covenanter  that 
owned  a  negro  except  those  heretofore  mentioned.  Mr. 
Martin  was  asked  what  he  thought  of  slavery.  His  answer 
was  that  he  had  owned  a  boy,  Bob,  who  was  unmanageable, 
and  for  that  reason   he  had  sold  him. 

Rev.  Samuel  W.  Crawford  was  raised  within  three  miles 
of  Beaver  Dam  Ciiurch,  until  he  was  nine  or  ten  years  of  age. 
In  a  letter  directed  to  me,  he  states  that  while  living  at  John 
Wylie's  he  went  to  the  spring  to  bring  up  a  pail  of  water. 
While  there  he  heard  a  cow  bell,  and  looking  up  he  saw  a 
negro  driving  a  cow.  In  great  terror,  he  ran  to  the  house  as 
fast  as  his  feet  could  carry  him.  He  says:  you  may  imagine 
what  I  thought  it  was.  I  got  no  sympathy  ;  they  merely  said 
it  was  a  negro,  belonging  to  some  one  lately  moved  into  the 
neighborhood.  As  I  had  never  before  seen  an  African';  you 
know  they  were  not  numerous  in  that  section.  At  that  period 
but  few  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Ham  had  cast  their  dark 
shadows  over  that  country;  instead  thereof  it  was  thickly 
settled  by  an  industrious  and  energetic  white  population. 

In  the  bounds  of  twenty  square  miles  there  were  four 
Presbyterian  Churches,  two  Associate  and  three  Covenanter, 
one   Baptist  and  Smyrna,   an  Associate  Church.      In    every 


708  LIBERTY  SPRING.  [1840-1856. 

neighborhood  there  was  a  good  school.  The  school-master 
was  abroad  then.  The  Bible  and  Testament  were  the  princi- 
pal school  books.     The  catechisms  were  also  taught. 

The  Covenanters  had  no  difficulties  about  the  jury  laws. 
Mr.  Rosborough,  the  clerk  of  the  court,  would  state  to  the 
Judge  that  they  had  conscientious  scruples  in  taking  the  oath 
to  serve  as  jurors.  The  Judge  would  then  order  them  to  be 
excused.  In  the  Revolutionary  War  there  were  no  tories 
among  them  ;  all  fought  on  the  side  of  the  country. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Henkle  moved  into  the  country  about  the 
year  1807.  He  states  that  on  Sunday  he  thought  a  cow-bell 
t:ould  be  heard  twice  the  distance  that  it  was  heard  any  other 
day,  such  was  the  stillness  of  holy  day.  John  Rock,  a  Revo- 
lutionary soldier,  was  his  near  neighbor.  Mr.  Henkle  was 
with  him  when  he  died.  When  he  was  evidently  dying,  he 
revived  a  little  and  commenced,  in  a  low  voice,  to  sing  one  of 
the  Psalms  of  David.  When  he  ceased  singing  he  breathed 
his  last.  Mr.  Henkle's  remark  was  that  "it  appeared  to  him  to 
be  a  foretaste  of  the  joys  of  Heaven."  So  died  the  old  Cove- 
nanter. D.  G.  S. 

Liberty  Spring  has  had  a  growing  membership  ranging 
from  60  to  115. 

There  was,  perhaps,  a  vancancy  from  the  time  Mr.  Lewers 
left,  until  Mr.  McWhorter  came.  His  record,  as  clerk  of  Ses- 
sion, begins  with  May,  1841.  He  is  succeeded  as  clerk  of 
Session,  by  R.  C.  Austin,  whose  first  entry  bears  date  Au- 
gust, 1842.  Rev.  McWhorter's  pulpit  labors  must  have  ceased 
in  1843,  perhaps  at  the  end  of  this  year.  In  August,  1843, 
A.  H.  Campbell,  R.  C.  Austin  and  Johnathan  Reed  were 
elected  eiders ;  but  only  one,  A.  G.  Campbell,  accepted  the 
office,  and  he  was  ordained  by  Rev.  P.  H.  Folker,  in  April, 
1844.  Mr.  Campbell  acted  as  clerk  of  Session  from  August, 
1843.  In  February,  1844,  Rev.  Mr.  Folker  was  asked  to  supply 
this  church  one-half  of  his  time.  It  is  likely,  his  labors  ex- 
tended to  the  close  of  1844.  He  was  first  a  minister  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  is  spoken  of  as  a  very  good  man,  but, 
sometimes  very  absent  minded.  He  could  rarely  find  his 
way  to  any  of  the  neighboring  houses.  On  one  occasion  he 
was  invited  to  take  dinner  with  a  friend.  He  followed  the 
public  road  very  well.  When  he  came  to  the  point  to  take  a 
right-hand  road,  he  turned  to  the  left.     On  he  went,  nothing 


1840-1850.]  Duncan's  creek.  TOp 

doubting  until  he  came  to  a  little  stream.  Here  his  road 
ended — the  place  had  a  gloomy  aopearance,  not  far  off  clouds 
of  smoke  were  issuing  out  of  a  dingy  looking  hut,  and  the 
air  was  redolent  with  a  perfume  not  stolen  from  the  flowers. 
What  could  it  be  I  He  described  the  place  as  if  he  had  set  foot 
on  "Plutos's  dark  domain."  He  had  come  upon  a  "  stillhouse  !" 
After  he  left,  the  church  was  vacant  awhile.  April  7th,  1845, 
Rev.  J.  C.  Williams,  then  a  licentiate,  was  elected  as  stated 
supply.  In  February,  1846,  Dr.  A.  C.  Golding,  an  Elder  in 
the  Little  River  Church,  having  moved  his  membership  to 
this  church,  was  called  to  the  same  office  here.  Rev.  Henry 
Reed  must  have  been  the  supply  for  1846. 

The  labors  of  Rev.  John  McLees,  one-fourth  of  his  time, 
began  in  this  church,  with  the  first  Sabbath  in  IVIay,  1847.  In 
this  year,  elder  A.  G.  Campbell  removes  his  membership  to 
the  Spartanburg  Church,  and  Dr.  Golding  is  made  clerk  of 
Session  in  his  place.  In  October  of  this  year,  application  is 
made  for  one-half  of  Rev.  Mr.  McLees'  time,  as  pa.slor.  This 
effort  was  unsuccessful  ;  but  arrangement  was  made  with  the 
Rock  Church,  by  which  Rev.  Mr.  McLees  still  gave  one  fourth 
of  his  time  to  this  people.  The  Presbytery  of  S.  C.  met  here 
in  1848.  Rev.  Mr.  McLees  must  have  closed  his  labors  in  the 
spring  of  1849.  Rev.  E.  F.  Hyde  succeeded  Mr.  McLees, 
the  first  Sabbath  in  June  ;  preaching  one-half  of  his  time. 
In  September,  1849,  Dr.  William  Philips  and  JJstinian 
Henderson  were  elected,  and  ordained  elders,  Rev.  E.  F. 
Hyde  officiating.  He  was  again  engaged  as  a  supply  from 
April,  1840  to  April,  1851.  Elder  A.  F.  Golding,  in  1850, 
having  taken  his  membership  to  the  Spartanburg  Church, 
Dr.  William  Philips  was  elected  clerk  of  .Session. in  his  place. 

Duncan's  Ckeek. — To  this  church,  greatly  enfeebled 
though  it  was,  Rev.  John  B.  Kennedy  ministered  occasionally, 
until  the  year  1844.  At  that  time  Rev.  Edwin  Cater  began 
to  preach  one-fourth  of  his  time,  and  continued  to  serve  the 
church  once  a  month  for  two  years.  During  his  continuance 
as  stated  supply  the  church  was  revived,  and  many  were  ad- 
ded to  its  previous  membership.  Rev.  Mr.  Cater  ordained 
Mr.  Robert  Clintock  and  Dr.  Thomas  Wier  as  elders.  Rev. 
S.  B.  Lewers  succeeded  Mr.  Cater,*  and  continued  to  preach 
monthly  until  the  Fall  meeting  of  Presbytery,  in  1849.  The 
church  then  sought  the  services  of  Rev.  E.  F.  Hyde  for  one- 
half  his  time.     He  continued  to  serve  them,  and  in  December, 


710  FRIENDSHIP — ROCKY  SPRING.  [1840-1850. 

1850,  was  bestowing  one-fourth  of  his  ministerial  labors  upon 
this  congregation.  The  membership  in  this  period  has  va- 
ried from  twentj'-seven  to   forty -three. 

Friendship  Church,  Laurens  County. — We  have  before 
.seen  that  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers  preached  to  this  church 
from  his  ordination  till  the  close  of  that  period.  The  Rev. 
Wm.  P.  Jacobs,  in  the  periodical,  "  Our  Monthly,"  pub- 
lished by  himself,  and  printed  by  the  orphans  of  his  Asylum, 
"The  Thornwall  Orphanage,"  thus  resumes: 

"In  1832,  Samuel  B.  Lewers,  previouly  an  elder  in  Friend- 
ship, was  ordained  to  the  ministry,  and  took  charge  of  the 
church.  He  did  yeoman  service  for  Presbyterianism  in  Lau- 
rens County.  He  organized  Laurens  and  Bethany  churches, 
and  greatly  revived  Rocky  Spring.  At  first  he  refused  to 
take  pay  for  his  services,  but  was  comf>eiled  before  his  death, 
which  took  place  in  Mississippi,  to  acknowledge  that  he  had 
acted  wrongly  in  so  doing.  Mr.  A.  R.  Simpson  relates  of  him, 
that  probably  the  first  pay  he  ever  received  was  made  up  pri- 
vately by  members  of  Friendship  Church.  This  was  put  in 
Mr.  Simpson's  hands,  who  going  to  Mr.  L's  dwelling,  during 
his  absence,  handed  it  to  Mrs.  Lewers,  saying,  "Here's  some- 
thing for  you."  She,  thinking  it  a  sample  of  cloth  she  was 
looking  for,  stuck  it  away  in  her  cupboard,  and  was  much 
surprised  on  opening  it,  sometime  afterward,  to  find  that  it 
was  money.  Immediately  she  carried  it  to  Mr.  Simpson,  and 
told  him  that  Mr.  Lewers  refused  to  receive  it  for  preaching. 
"I  can't  help  it,"  replied  Mr.  Simpson,  "You'll  have  to  keep  it, 
for  I  didn't  make  it  up,  and  I  don't  know  who  did."  And  so 
they  out-generaled  him. 

Mr.  Lewers  .supplied  the  church  until  about  1844.  From 
1844-1850,  Rev.  McWhorter  was  in  charge. 

Rocky  Spring — The  Rev.  J.  L.  Kennedy  continued  to 
preach  to  this  church  until  the  year  1844,  receiving  for  his 
services,  as  is  too  often  the  case,  a  very  meagre  support.  In 
the  year  1845,  and  though  a  portion  of  1847,  '^'i^  Rev.  S.  B. 
Lewers  supplied  the  church,  and  after  him  the  Rev.  C.  B. 
Stewart. 

The  Elders  in  this  church,  in  1845,  were,  Charles  Blakely, 
Wm.  Blakely  and  Wm.  Spear. 

The  Clinton  Presbyterian  Church. — ^This  was  not  or- 
ganized until  the  next  decade.  Yet  there  were  Missionary 
efforts  which  preceded  it.     In  the  year  1817,  'or  thereabouts. 


1840-1850.]  AVELEIGH    CHURCH.  711 

Dr.  Daniel  Baker,  then  a  young  man,  preached  .several  sbrmons 
at  the  residence  of  a  Mrs.  Holland,  and  a  year  or  two  after 
at  a  stand  erected  near  Mr.  Holland's  spring,  Col.  Lewers, 
a.s  he  was  still  called  after  he  had  become  a  clergj-man,  was 
an  occasional  preacher  at  the  same  plac^.  The  Rev.  Edwin 
Cater  also  preached  occasionally  at  the  Huntsville  Chui-ch, 
originally  erected  as  a  Union  Church,  free  to  all  denom- 
inations. 


CHAPTER  V. 

AvELEiGH  Church,  (Newberry.) — In  the  fall  of  1840,  a 
call  was  presented  from  the  united  churches  of  Aveleigh  and 
Smyrna,  for  the  pastoral  services  of  Mr.  John  McKittrick,  a 
licenciate  under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina. 
He  was  installed  as  pastor  August  29th,  and  continued  atjout 
three  years  in  this  charge.  For  some  time  after  he  left,  the 
church  was  vacant. 

In  the  fall  of  1845,  Aveleigh,  Smyrna  and  Gilder's  Creek 
procured  the  pastoral  services  of  Rev.  E.  F.  Hyde,  who 
had  for  some  time  been  their  supply,  one-half  of  the  time 
being  given  to  Aveleigh.  Mr.  Hyde  continued  to  fill  the 
charge  till  the  summer  of  1848,  when  the  three  churches 
were  again  left  vacant,  and  secured  only  occasional  supplies 
from  Presbytery  till  October,'  1849,  when  W.  B.  Telford,  a 
licentiate  of  South  Carolina  Presbytery,  was  invited  to  the 
three  churches.  A  call  having  been  presented  to  Mr.  Tel- 
ford at  the  next  meeting  of'  Presbytery,  from  the  three 
churches  united  as  formerly,  he  was,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1850, 
ordained  and  installed  as  pastor.  The  church  had  dwindled 
away  till,  at  that  time,  it  had  only  about  twelve  members  ;  and 
very  few  besides  the  members  were  in  the  habit  of  attending 
preaching  at  that  place. 

It  at  length  became  apparent,  says  Chancellor  Johnston,  that 
one  grand  obstacle  which  stood  in  the  way  of  the  prosperity 
of  this  church,  was  its  location.  Being  situated  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  town,  it  was  but  seldom  that  any  of  the  town 
people  found  it  convenient  to  attend  ;  and  yet,  inasmuch  as  it 
was  located  there  with  a  view  to  secure  their  attendance,  the 
country  people  regarded  it  as  a  town  churcli,  and  therefore 
they  did  not  care  to  attend  it.     This  is  not  the  only  instance 


712  AVBLEIGH  CHURCH.  [1840-1850. 

in  which  a  church  has  been  located  with  the  hope  of  securing' 
the  attendance  both  of  the  town  and  country  people,  and  the 
result  has  been  that  it  failed  to  secure  the  attendance  of 
either.  It  was  determined,  therefore,  that  an  effort  should  be 
made  to  secure,  by  subscription,  an  amount  sufficient  to  erect 
a  new  church  edifice  in  the  town  of  Newberry. 
.  That  object  was  at  length  attained.  The  old  house  and  the 
lot  were  sold  ;  and  a  new  house,  small,  but  neat  and  commo- 
dious, was  erected  on  a  lot  generously  given  for  that  purpose, 
by  Mr.  E.  Y.  McMorris,  in  the  town  of  Newberry.  The 
new  church  edifice  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  on 
the  17th  day  of  December,  in  the  year  1852.  The  church 
still  retained  the  name  of  Aveleigh.  After  this  removal,  some 
of  the  country  members  found  it  more  convenient  to  attend 
worship  at  Gilder's  Creek,  and  Mt.  Bethel  churches,  and  so 
transferred  their  membership  to  those  churches.  The  church 
then  numbered  only  about  twenty  members. 

Signs  of  greater  prosperity  were  soon  apparent.  Persons  in 
town,  who  had  little  or  no  personal  acquaintance  with  Pres- 
byterianism,  and  who  had  formed  their  notions  of  it  from  the 
representations  of  those  who  too  often  think  it  to  their  in- 
terest to  present  a  caricature  instead  of  a  true  picture  of  its 
systems  of  faith  and  order,  found  that  it  was  not  in  fact  what 
they  had  been  taught  to  believe  it  to  be.  It  very  soon  recom- 
mended itself  to  a  considerable  portion  of  the  thinking  and 
observant  members  of  the  community.  At  almost  every 
communion  meeting  there  were  additions,  more  or  less,  to  the 
church. 

There  were  but  three  Ruling  Elders  in  the  church.  Chancel- 
lor Job  Johnston,  in  the  town  of  Newberry,  and  Dr.  Geo.  W. 
Glenn,  and  Mr.  Isaac  Keller,  in  the  country. 

As  the  late  Chancellor  Job  Johnston  was  from  the  begin- 
ning a  leading  elder  in  this  church,  so  much  so  as  to  be  re- 
garded as  its  chief  supporter,  if  not  in  some  sense  its  founder, 
we  have  deemed  it  proper  to  insert  here,  from  another  pen, 
and  one  more  competent,  some  account  of  his  professional 
standing  and  private  character.  We,  however,  state  that  he 
was  born  January  7th,  1793,  in  Fairfield  County;  was  gradu- 
ated at  the  South  Carolina  College,  Dec,  18 12,  third  in  honor  in 
a  class  of  forty-five ;  commenced  the  study  of  law  with  Mr.  John 
Hooker,  in  1811.  Began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr. 
Davis,  in  the  close  of  1814;  attended  the  lectures  in  medicine 


1840-1850.]  CHANCELLOR  JOB  JOHNSTON.  713 

under  Drs.  Hoosack  and  Motte,  of  New  York.  Resumed  the 
study  of  law  in  the  winter  of  1817,  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1S18,  and  soon  obtained  a  fine  practice.  In  Nov.,  1826  he 
was  elected  Clerk  of  the  Senate.  Dec.  3d,  1830,  was  elected 
Chancellor,  as  colleague  with  Chancellor  DeSaussure.  It 
will  be  seen  by  the  following  that  his  decrees  reflected  credit 
upon  his  integrity  and  ability.  His  lamented  death  occurred 
on  the  8th  of  April,  1862. 

Descending  from  a  long  line  of  Presbyterian  ancestry,  run- 
ning back  at  least  for  two  centuries,  brought  up  in  that 
church  by  a  mother  whose  extraordinary  mental  powers  were 
adorned  by  her  earnest,  true  piety,  herself  learned  in  the  doc- 
trines peculiar  to  that  denomination,  he  was  entirely  Presby- 
terian. Yet,  he  was  no  bigot  or  sectarian.  His  catholicity 
is  shown  in  the  decree  pronounced  by  him  in  the  case  of  Har- 
mon vs.  Dreher  (  i  Speers,  Eq.  87),  which  originated  in  the 
unhappy  dissension  that  had  sprung  up,  in,  1835,  in  the  Lu- 
theran congregation  of  St.  Peter,  Lexington,  and  eventually 
made  a  breach  in  the  whole  church  in  South  Carolina.  The 
Chancellor  begins  the  decree  in  the  following  words  : 

"  I  have  witheld  the  decision  of  this  cause  for  a  length  of 
time,  very  unusual  with  me  ;  not  so  much  from  the  intrinsic 
difficulties  of  the  case,  though  these  are  very  considerable,  as 
from  a  hope  that  an  amicable  adjustment  might  be  effected. 
For  I  would  not  allow  myself  to  believe  that  parties  professing 
that  religion  which,  above  all  others,  inculcates  peace,  humil- 
ity and  forgiveness  of  injuries,  would  reject  the  suggestions  of 
Christian  friends,  proposing  terms  of  reconciliation,  or  fail  to 
seize  with  avidity  the  opportunities  so  frequently  afforded  since 
the  hearing.,  to  accommodate  a  dispute  so  dishonoring  to  the 
Saviour  whom  they  follow,  so  disreputable  to  themselves,  and 
so  destructive  to  the  church.  Being,  now,  painfully  convinced 
that  there  is  an  unhallowed  bitterness  in  this  lamentable 
controversy  (arising,  possibly,  from  circumstances  which  have 
not  transpired),  which  forbids  the  hope  of  reconciliation 
among  the  litigants,  I  am  reduced  to  the  deplorable  necessity 
of  delivering  the  judgment  of  a  civil  tribunal  in  a  case  of  a 
spiritual  nature.  I  unfeignedly  profess  that  no  duty  I  have 
ever  been  called  upon  to  perform  has  inflicted  such  pain  upon 
me  ;  and  there  is  no  sacrifice  that  could  have  been  reasonably 
demanded,  which  I  would  not  have  made,  or  that  I  would  not 
now  make,  (if  there  were  left  any  hope   of  its  succeeding,)  to 


714  ECCLESIASTICAL  AND  CIVIL  COURTS.  [1840-1850. 

compose  the  differences  I  am  called  upon  to  adjudicate." 
Then  follows  a  decree  wonderfully  clear  and  orderly  in  the 
statement  of  facts,  and  evincing  remarkable  pains-taking  in 
its  preparation.  Of  the  powers  and  authority  of  a  Spiritual 
,  Court  in  America,  the  Chancellor  observes  : 

"  It  belongs  not  to  the  civil  power  to  enter  into  or  review 
the  proceedings  of  a  Spiritual  Court.  The  structure  of  our 
government  has,  for  the  preservation  of  Civil  Liberty,  rescued 
the  Temporal  In.stitutions  from  religious  interference.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  has  secured  Religious  Liberty  from  the  inva- 
sion of  Civil  Authority.  The  judgments,  therefore,  of  relig- 
ious associations,  bearing  upon  their  own  members,  are  not 
examinable  here.  ******  j  have 
stated  the  facts,  and  have  stated  the  judgment  rendered  (by 
the  Church  Court)  on  the  facts,  and  that  jndgment  must  be 
conclusive  here.  *  *  *  *  jfj  jihis  country,  no 
ecclesiastical  body  has  any  power  to  enforce  its  decisions  by 
temporal  sanctions.  Such  decisions  are  in  this  sense  advisory 
— that  they  are  addressed  to  the  conscience  of  those  who  have 
voluntarily  subjected  themselves  to  their  spiritual  sway;  and, 
except  where  civil  rights  are  dependent  upon  them,  can  have 
no  influence  beyond  the  tribunal  from  which  they  emanate. 
Where  a  civil  right  depends  upon  an  ecclesiastical  matter,  it 
is  the  civil  court,  and  not  the  ecclesiastical,  which  is  to  decide. 
The  civil  tribunal  tries  the  civil  right,  and  no  more;  taking 
the  ecclesiastical  decisions,  out  of  which  the  right  arises,  as 
it  finds  them,  just  as  the  ecclesiastical  forums  would  be 
bound  to  regard  the  decisions  of  a  temporal  court,  where  a 
religious  controversy  springs  out  of  it  and  is  to  be  decided 
by  them.  How  idle  the  fears,  therefore,  of  those  who 
apprehend  tyranny  and  oppression  from  ecclesiastical  associ- 
ations. They  have,  and  can  have,  no  power  whatever  to  en- 
force their  decisions,  which  are,  moreover,  of  no  effect  tipon 
those  who  enter  into  them.  Their  power  is  only»  to  cut  off 
and  disown  intruders  who  come  among  them,  but  will  not 
obey  them.  But  that  the  Synod  here  was  armed  with  judi- 
cial authority  for  trying  and  determining  cases  against  delin- 
quent ministers  and  churches,  appears  from  the  Constitution 
(Synod's)  itself,  which  is  the  rule  for  all  who  have  acceded  to 
it,  and  which  expressly  provides  for  such  procedure.  Neither 
can  this  Court  look  into  the  regularity  of  the  process  by 
which  the  S)-nod  proceeded  to    its  judgment.     Every  compe- 


1S40-1850,]  *      HUMOR  AND   REPARTEE.  715 

tent  tribunal  must,  of  necessity,  regulate  its  own  formulas." 
Having  a  keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous  and  a  high  appreci- 
ative of  wit,  with  a  gift  of  language  most  remarkable,  it  is  sin- 
gular that  he  exhibited  no  powers  of  mimicry.  It  may  be, 
he  possessed  the  faculty,  but  never  indulged  in  it.  One  of 
his  sons,  in  childhood,  had  this  gift  to  a  very  extraordinary 
degree  ;  but,  at  the  request  ofhis  father,  he  abandoned  the  prac- 
tice of  it,  being  shown  that  it  was  a  faculty,  which,  if  persisted 
in,  would  cause  the  loss,  rather  than  the  gaining  of  friends. 
The  Chancellor,  however,'  appreciated  humor  in  others, 
sometimes  even  at  his  own  expense,  though  he  was  very  sensi- 
tive. The  following  is  believed  to  be  authentic:  The  Court 
of  Equity  was  held  formerly  for  Chesterfield  Distn'ct  at  Che- 
raw.  Presiding  at  one  of  the  terms  of  that  court,  which,  it 
seems,  was  held  in  a  public  hall,  above  the  butchers'  market, 
the  Chancellor  took  occasion  to  berate  the  Commissioners  of 
Public  Buildings  for  not  providing  a  more  suitable  place  for  a 
Court  of  Justice,  saying  that  it  was  an  outrage  upon  public 
decency,  that  while  justice  was  being  administered  up  stairs, 
meat  should  be  butchered  on  the  ground-floor.  Mr.  John 
Inglis  (afterwards  Chancellor)  playfully  remarked  :  "Your 
Honor,  with  permission,  I  would  suggest  the  Commissioners 
might  reply,  that  the  incongruity  is  not  so  great  as  might  be 
fancied  ;  surely,  meats  may  be  butchered  down-stairs,  while 
justice  is  being  butchered  up-stairs." 

His  first  circuit  in  Charleston  happened  to  include  Good 
Friday.  Before  adjournment,  Thursday,  Mr.  Pettigrew 
moved  a  recess  to  Saturday,  lO  A.  M.,  as  to-morrow  would 
be  Good  Friday.  The  Chancellor  replied  that  Courts  were 
appointed  and  terms  held  by  Acts  of  the  Legislature,  and 
that  he  wis  not  aware  of  any  Statute  that  had  declared  Good 
Fridays  dies  non,  and  refused  the  motion,  Mr.  Pettigrew 
retorted  that  he  had  never  heard  of  a  Court  being  held  that 
day,  except  once,  whereat  the  greatest  injustice  wa.s  done  that 
was  ever  perpetra,ted — when  Pilate  condemned  our  Lord. 
[Humor  and  wit  have  never  been  clearly  defined.] 
His  power  to  state  the  law  with  clearness,  precision  and 
completeness,  was  very  extraordinary.  His  skill,  too,  in  ar- 
ranging a  mass  of  testimony  in  such  a  way  as  to  arrive  at  the 
converging  establishment  of  the  central  fact,  from  various 
approaches,  was  unsurpassed.  Of  both  these  qualities,  the 
CdiSQ  oi  Freyer  vs.  Freyer  (Rich.    Eq.  Cases,  87,)  which   deals 


716  THE  LAW  OF  MAERIAGE.      •  [1840-1850. 

with  the  matter  germane,  to  ecclesiastical  law,  furnishe-i  most 
remarkable  evidence.  Of  this  particular  case,  which,  in  its 
subject  matter  itself  is  of  interest  to  the  church,  space  forbids 
to  quote  more  than  the  opening  paragraphs  : 

"  Marriage  with  us,  so  far  as  the  law  is  concerned,  has  ever 
been  regarded  as  a  mere  civil  contract.  Our  law  prescribes 
no  ceremony.  It  requires  nothing  but  the  agreement  of  tlie 
parties,  with  an  intention  that  that  agreement  s^i^XX  per  se  con- 
stitute the  marriage.  They  may  express  the  agreement  by 
parol — they  may  signify  it  by  whatever  ceremony  their  whim, 
or  their  taste,  or  their  religious  belief,  may  select.  It  is  the 
agreement  itself,  and  not  the  form  in  which  it  is  couched, 
which  constitutes  the  contract.  The  words  used,  or 
the  ceremony  performed,  are  mere  evidence  of  a  present  in- 
tention and  agreement  of  the  parties.  Marriage  is  always  an 
executed,  never  an  executory  contract.  It  is  not  what  the 
parties  intend  to  do  hereafter,  but  what  they  intentionally  do 
now,  that  constitutes  the  tie,  and  renders  it  indissoluble. 
Therefore,  an  engagement  that  the  parties  will  marry  is  not 
marriage  ;  but  an  engagement,  whereby  they  do  take  each 
other  in  praeseiiti  for  man  and  wife,  is  marriage.  The  con- 
tract of  marriage,  when  completely  entered  into,  is  a  fact. 
Like  every  other  fact,  it  is  susceptible  of  an  infinite  variety  of 
proof  It  may  be  proved  by  those  who  witnessed  it  when  it 
took  place.  It  may  be  proved  by  subsequent  declarations  or 
acknowledgments  of  the  parties.  It  may  be  evidenced  by 
their  conduct  and  the  attitude  they  maintain  toward  each 
other  and  the  world.  But  there  is  a  clear  distinction  between 
the  fact  itself,  and  the  evidence  of  the  fact.  As  a  witness, 
who  swears  that  he  saw  the  marriage  take  place,  may  or  may 
not  be  believed,  so  the  acknowledgment  of  parties  that  they 
have  been  married,  like  the  acknowledgments,  of  any  other 
past  transactions  or  facts,  may  be  true  or  false,  and  should  be 
believed  or  disbelieved  acoordingly.  The  acknowledgment 
of  a  marriage  does  not  constitute  the  mairriage,  any  more  than 
the  acknowledgment  of  any  other  fact  coiistitutes  that  fact. 
It  is  evidence  only.  Nor  is  it  conclusive  evidence,  even  on 
the  parties  themselves.  It  puts  the  burden  on  them  of  show- 
ing the  contrary  ;  but  if  they  can  show  the  contrary — if  they 
can  show  that  what  they  have  acknowledged  did  not,  or  could 
not  exist,  they  are  at  liberty  to  do  so.  They  have  not  this 
[)rivilege  where  thefahe    declaration  has  deceived,    and    the 


18*40-1850.]  CONTEIBUTldNS.  Hi 

retraction  would  defraud  some  third  person  ;  as,  where  a 
man,  by  holding  out  a  woman  as  his  wife,  has  ensnared  a 
creditor.  But'where  the  question  is  confined  to  the  parties, 
as  between  themselves,  or  concerns  third  persons  who  have 
not  been  defrauded,  there  is  full  scope  for  every  kind  of  proof 
which  tends  to  disclose  the  real  truth  of  the  matter." 

Possessed  of  one  of  the  handsomest  estates  in  upper  South 
Carolina,  he  contributed  largely  to  the  support  of  the  church. 
He  gave  generally  almost  one-half,  or  more,  of  all  the  contri- 
butions made  to  defray  the  expenses  of  Aveleigh  Church,  of 
which  he  was  a'  member;  and  there  was  hardly  any  enterprise 
of  the  church  at  large  in  which  he  did  not  assist  very  lib- 
erally. At  one  time  he  made  arrangements  with  keepers  of  the 
livery  stables  in  Columbia  to  enable  the  licentiates  in  the 
Seminary  to  go  and  preach  in  the  country  around  that  city. 
He  originated  a  method  of  weekly  contributions  in  Aveleigh, 
insisting  that  each  member  of  the  congregation,  every  Sab- 
bath, should  give  five  cents,  no  more  and  no  less,  and  show- 
ing that,  /if  every  Presbyterian  in  the  United  States  would 
contribute  that  small  amount  weekly,  a  sum  would  be  raised 
ample  for  all  the  enterprises  of  the  church;  besides,  being 
promptly  made,  the  church  could  reckon  on  it  with  certainty, 
and  need  not  be  cramped  in  its  enterprises. 

He  was  a  priest  in  his  own  household.  He  insisted  upon 
every  member  of  his  family,  including  the  domestic  servants, 
being  present  at  the  exercises  of  family  worship.  He  trained 
his  slaves  as  if  they  were  children.  He  required  tliem  to  at- 
tend the  church  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  their  absence 
had  strictly  to  be  accounted  for.  Every  Sabbath  afternoon 
they  were  assembled  for  instruction  in  the  Catechism,  etc. 
His  government  of  his  slaves  was  so  excellent  that,  though 
the  larger  part  of  them  were  quartered  within  the  limits  ofthe 
town,  where  they  were  more  subject  to  temptations  to  wrong 
doing,  none  of  them,  during  his  lifetime,  was  ever  prosecuted 
for  any  offense  against  the  public  laws.  In  social  life  he  was 
charming.     Dr.   Mayer's   letter,  which    follows,    is   proof  of 

this : 

Nbwbekry,  May  24th,  1881. 

Dear  Silas  :  The  first  time  I  ever  had  any  conversation  with  your 
father,  was  in  the  year  1838  or  1830,  in  Columbia,  while  I  was  a  student 
of  medicine,  under  Drs.  Wells  and  Toland.  I  met  him  accidentally,  in 
the  public  room  ofthe  Hotel  then  kept  by  Mr.  Maybin.  Although  I 
had  no  reason  to  suppo.se  that  he  knew  me  (I,  however,  knowing  who 


718  TESTIMONY   OF   O.  E.  MAYER.  [1840-1850. 

he  was),  he  placed  me  at  once  in  such  an  easy  position,  in  our  conver- 
sation, as  to  impress  upon  my  mind  then,  what  was  estab'ished  with 
me,  by  my  long  subsequent  intimacy  with  him,  as  his  most  remarkable 
social  trait,  namely  :  his  gift  of  making  any  man,  from  a  Chancellor  to 
an  artisan,  feel  entire  freedom  from  restraint  in  his  presence,  before  the 
exchange  of  a  dozen  sentences.  I  never  felt  embarrassed  in  his  com- 
pany, although  timidity  is  my  ruling  fault ;  and  very  many  times  have 
I  admiringly  seen  the  humblest  farmer  in  familiar  discussion  with  him, 
and  unconsciously  yielding  up,  to  encouraging  questions,  the  result  of 
his  simp'e  observations.  No  man  ever  left  your  father's  house  without 
being  a  wiser  man  than  when  he  entered  it ;  and  had  to  confess  that 
there  had  been  drawn  outof  himself  more  knowledge  than  he  could  have 
believed  was  lying  dormant  in  him.  I  have  often  meditated  upon  this 
pleasing  characteristic,  which  I  know  came  under  the  notice  of  others 
besides  myself,  and  I  wondered  why  it  was,  that  a  man  possessed  of 
such  a  quality, — so  able  by  it  to  encourage  suppressed  energies,  as  well 
as  to  direct  them  after  development,^-should  stand  so  far  aloof  from 
the  public  as  Chancellor  Johnston  did, — should,  when  his  term  of 
professional  work  was  over,  for  the  time,  permit  the  endearments  of 
home  to  withdraw  him  from  wide  associations  with  his  neighbors.  I 
have  ventured  to  think  that  perhaps,  while  he  was  a  barrister,  he  stud- 
ied human  nature  too  closely,  saw  too  much  of  the  hollowness  of  the 
human  heart,  and,  as  it  was  painful  to  him  to  be  present  wherever  there 
was  physical  sufl'ering,  so  much  so  as  to  force  his  retreat  from  any  sick 
chamber,  so  he  was  disposed  to  avoid  occasions  of  meeting  the  glare  of 
general  wickedness,  so  torturing  to  the  spiritual  eye,  and  take  refuge  in 
his  veranda,  with  books  and  a  few  trusted  friends. 

I  may  say,  that  the  moat  delightful  of  my  recollections  are  those  which 
recall  the  evening  rides  I  sometimes  took  with  Chancellor  Johnston, 
in  company  with  Rev.  Edward  Buist,  his  pastor  (a  good  reader),  to  visit 
some  favorite  well  or  spring,  hard  by  the  town  We  did  not  dash  along 
in  the  manner  of  those  who  drive  out  to  "take  the  dust,"  as  I  believe  it 
is  facetiously  called  ;  but  our  speed  was  restrained  so  as  not  to  mar  the 
fluency  of  Mr  Buist's  reading  of  Macaulay,  t'o  which  we  listened  with 
much  satisfaction — the  Chancellor  often  raising  his  hand,  as  a  signal  for 
a  pause,  whenever  he  desired  to  make  a  comment ;  or  the  reader,  him- 
self, now  and  tlien  desisting,  to  question  the  truth  of  some  statement, 
for  they  were  both  staunch  Presbyterians,  and  the  pages  read  referred 
to  the  religious  troubles  of  Scotland  But  when  we  arrived  at  the  well 
— oftener  than  any  other,  Mr.  Eikard's,  under  the  superb  whiteoak, 
overshadowing  the  spot  whereon  was  the  old-time  Black  Jack  Tavern, 
— the  volumewaslaid  aside,  and  the  tankard  was  borne  toandfro.to  the 
dripping  fountain,  that  we  might  quaff  the  cool  water  while  listening  to 
anecdotes  of  the  Covenanter  settlers  of  Newberry,  who,  with  others, 
sometimes  stood  upon  the  pebbly  knoll  there  before  us,  to  pound  into 
nonentity  a  knotty  punctilio  with  "blows  and  knocks"  againsi  one  an- 
other's faces. 

Your  father's  reading  must  have  been'  immense  and  varied.  "When 
I  was  a  young  man,"  he  said  once  to  me,  "1  read  voraciously."  This  last 
word  so  impressed  me,  that  I  have  never  forgotten  it  Nor  did  he  despise 
light  literature.  One  morniuif,  when  I  breakfasted  with  him  the  tea 
did  not  suit  him.  He  turned  his  mild,  blue  eyes  upon  AVilliam,  his 
servant,  and  asked,  "  Do  you  call  this  tea?  "  "Yes,  sir,"  replied  William, 
nervously.  "I  call  it  water  bewitched,"  insisted  his  master.  Imagine 
what  was  my  pleas.xut  surprise,   sometime  afterwards,   to  come  across 


1840-1850.]  0VEETURE8.  719 

this  phrase,  "water  betwitched,"  in  Pt.  Ronan's  "Well.  I  could  mention 
other  instances  to  show  how  his  memory  retained  whatever  was  strik- 
ing:, even  in  his  reading  for  amusement. 

'  But  what  I  remember  with  deeper  heart  pleasure,  Silas,  than  any- 
thing else,  is  the  simple  account  he  gave  me  fl  hope  there  are  others  to 
whom  he  told  it)  of  the  sudden  change  that  came  over  his  religious  be- 
lief He  was  speaking  to  me  of  Dr.  Chalmers  Said  he  :  Chalmers 
held  the  Christian  Religion  in  something  like  derision,  until  he  under- 
took to  ])repare  the  work  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity,  which  is,  per- 
haps, the  best  of  the  Bridge  water  Treatises.  The  researches  he  was 
compelled  to  make  forthat  purpose,  opened  his  eyes  to  the  truth  of 
what  he  at  first  derided  as  false.  "  Would  you  believe  it,  that  I,  myself, 
was  once  a  scoffer?"  I  replied  that  I  thought  his  religious  life  had 
been  the  result  of  careful  parental  training.  "No,"  he  continued  ''it 
has  been  comparatively  but  a  short  time  since  I  had  any  regard  for  re- 
ligion. The  change  in  my  views  took  place  in  the  course  of  one  night. 
It  was  while  I  and  my  family  were  residing  very  near  the  Methodist 
Church.  One  evening,  [I  think  he  said  it  was  not  a  Sabbath  evening] 
attracted  by  the  singing  in  the  chnrch,  I  agreed  to  a  proposition  of  my 
wife  to  attend  the  services.  It  was  not  long  after  we  took  our  seats  be- 
fore the  preacher  began  his  permon.  He  was  one  of  those  uneducated 
men,  so  common  at  that  time  in  that  denomination,  and  certainly  one 
who  was  little  calculated  to  make  an  impression  upon  me.  But  strange 
to  say  !  while  I  considered  his  discourse  as  an  unmeaning  rant,  I  be- 
came possessed  by  a  feeling  which  I  cannot  describe.  It  was  an  emo- 
tion that  held  possession  of  me  with  increasing  tenacity,  until,  in  the 
depth  of  the  night  my  sighs  awoke  my  wife.  'What  is  the  matter?' 
she  asked  me.  I  tried  to  explain  to  her  my  state  of  mind,  but  could 
not  do  so  fully.  'Oh,  my  dear  husband  !'  she  exclaimed,  'I  know  what 
it  is.     It  is  the  Holy  Spirit !  thank  God  !  thank  God  I'  " 

He  could  proceed  no  further,  at  that  time,  though  he  afterwards  often 
alluded  to  his  subsequent  religious  experience,  his  difficulties,  to  illus- 
trate which,  he  gave  me  to  read  Bunyan's  "Grace  Abounding."  You 
njay  rely  upon  it,  that  tlie  words  I  have  recorded  are  very  nearly  &&  they 
fell  from  his  lips. 

I  feel  weak  from  my  recent  attack  of  illness  ;  otherwise,  I  might  have 
written  more.  You  know  I  am  at  your  service  to  do  anything  in  my 
power  to  recall  incidents  relating  to  your  father,  who  was  certainly  the 
most  viduable  friend  I  ever  had;  and  I  therefore  hope  that  you  will 
make  free  with  me  in  any  way  by  which  you  may  start  me  in  reviewing 
recollections  upon  this  or  that  point. 

As  ever  yours, 

0.  R.  MAYER. 

The  writer  of  this  history  may  also  addthat  Chancellor  John- 
ston was  on  the  committee  of  conference  with  the  brethren  of  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  and  fiiat  we  agreed  upon  that 
plan  which  was  finally  adopted  by  the  Synod  as  to  the  restora- 
tion of  those  brethren  ;  with  him,  also,  in  those  overtures  which 
were  made  to  the  Associate  Reformed  Synod  in  our  own  State, 
for  our  mutual  union,  which  were  unsuccessful  here,  although 
in  i866,  The  Associate  Reformed  Presbytery  of  Alabama  were 


1'20  SMYKNA — LEBANON.  [1840-1850. 

received  as  a  component  part  of  our  branch   of   the  Presby- 
terian Church. 

The  introduction,  too,  into  our  Psalmody,  of  a  selection  from 
Rouse's  version,  has  rendered  ministerial  intercourse  between 
the  two  branches  of  the  church  in  the  South,  theirs  and  ours, 
more  practicable  than  before. 

The  number  of  communicants  in  Aveleigh  in  1850,  was  49; 
i860,  80;   1870,  119;   1880,  128. 

Smyrna  Church,  (Newberry  District.) — In  the  year  1840, 
at  the  Fail  Sessions  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  the 
Rev.  John  McKlttrick  received  a  call  from  the  churches  of 
Aveleigh  and  Smyrna.  An  adjourned  meeting  of  Presbytery 
was  held  at  the  Smyrna  Church,  November  11,  1840,  at  which 
his  ordination  and  installation  took  place.  Rev.  Edwin  Cater. 
Moderator,  preached  from  Isaiah  52  :  7th.  The  Rev.  Hugh 
Dickson  gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor  and  congregation,  and 
Mr.  McKittrick  took  his  seat  as  a  member  of  Presbytery.  In 
1845,  Rev.  E.'  F.  Hyde  was  stated  supply  of  Smyrna,  in  con- 
nection with  Aveleigh  and  Guilder's  Creek.  In  1856,  the 
Rev.  Robt.  McLees  became  its  pastor  for  half  his  time,  and 
continued  so  till  his  death.  During  the  war,  and  after,  until 
1872,  it  was  supplied  by  different  ministers. 

The  first  Elders  elected  at  its  organization,  were,  George 
Boozer,  Esq.,  and  David  Clary.  Afterwards  John  and  James 
Senn  and  David  Boozer  became  Elders.  George  Boozer, 
Esq.,  was  always  regarded  as  the  leading  man,  as  well  as  Rul- 
ing Elder  in  the  church.  His  influence,  was  great,  both  in 
the  church,  and  out  of  it.  He  was  the  father  of  Rev.  J.  I. 
Boozer,  who  died  in  Arkansas  before  the  war,  and  four  of 
his  sons  were  elders  in  four  different  churches.  One  of  his 
daughters  married  the  first  pastor  the  church  ever-  had. 
[T.  C.  Ligon.] 

Lebanon  Church,  Abbeville  County. — The  Rev.  James  T. 
Gibert  continues  as  the  pastor  of  this  church.  In  1842,  on 
the  27th  of  February,  Messrs.  Vernon,  Johnson  and  Moore, 
were  ordained  and  installed  as  Deacons. 

There  has  been  a  Bible  Society  auxiliary  to  the  Abbeville 
Bible  Society  in  this  Church  and  congregation,  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  a  Sabbath  School  always  in  the  Summer  months. 
The  Elders,  in  1845,  were,  Dr.  J.  F.  Livingston,  Thoma.s 
Griffin,  James  Paisley,  N.  M.  Strickland,  Dr.  John  S.  Reid. 
The  membership  during  these  years  varied  from  eighty  to. 
ninety-two. 


1840-1850.]  BETHIA — MT.  BETHEL.  721 

Bethia  Church  was  organized  by  Rev.  Robert  H.  Reid,  on 
the  4th  day  of  November,  1849,  with  thirteen  members,  nine 
white,  and  four  colored  persons  con.stituting  the  original 
membership.  At  the  first  administration  of  tile  Lord's  Sup- 
per there  were  sixteen  members  io  regular  standing."  On 
the  23d  of  February  following,  Joseph  Bridges  and  Andrew 
McLane,  of  Bethel,  were  elected  Elders.  The  Rev,  Mr. 
Reid  left  in  May,  185  i,  and  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Gibert  became  the 
stated  supply  of  this  church,  in  connection'  with  Lebanon 
which  he  has  served  as  its  pastor.  The  members,  in  1853, 
were  forty-one  in  full  communion. 

Mt.  Bethel  Church. — The  circumstances  which  led  to 
the  organization  of  Mt.  Bethel  Church,  in  Newberry  County, 
S.  C,  as  set  forth  in  the  preface  to  its  first  Session  Book,  are 
as  follows:  i,  a  desire  on  the  part  of  "a  few  benevolent  nien 
to  procure  religious  instruction  for  their  slaves,"  and  2,  as 
there  was  no  Presbyterian  Church  convenient,  to  have  a  place 
of  worship  of  their  own  faith  and  order  for  theriiselves,  their 
families  and  their  slaves. 

"The  object,  at  first,  was  to  secure  the  services  of  a  Mission- 
ary, and  that  he  should  visit  the  plantations  of  those  favor- 
able to  the  enterprise,  at  proper  times,  and  impart  such  in- 
struction by  preaching,  and  the  use  of  Jones'  Catechism  as 
might  be  thought  to  be  beneficial  to  the  instructed." 

Rev.  S.  S.  GaiUard,  then  a  licentiate  of  South  Carolina 
Presbytery,  was  the  first  Missionary  employed  in  accordance 
with  the  above  plan,  and  he  began   his  labors   in  the   year 

1846.  The  present  house  of  worship  was   built   in  the   year 

1847,  and  an  attempt  was  made  that  year  to  organize  the 
church,  but  it  did  not  succeed.  About  this  time  Mr.  Gail- 
lard  left  to  go  to  Greenville,  S.  C,  he  having  received  and 
accepted  an  invitation  to  supply  Washington  Street  Church 
at  that  place.  In  the  year  1848,  Mr.  R.  W.  Hadden,  a  licen- 
tiate of  Tuscaloosa  Presbytery,  Alabama,  Was  employed  for 
the.Mt.  Bethel  Mission.  He  remained  only  one  year.  The 
Mission  was  vacant  during  the  next  two  years.     In  185 1,  Mr. 

A.  Enloe,  a  licentiate  of  Bethel  Presbytery,  S.  C,  was  engaged 
•  to  take  charge  of  it,  but  remained  only  one  year. 

On  the  27th  day  of  November,  1852,  the  church  was  or- 
ganized with  eleven  members.  Revs.  John   McLees,  and   W. 

B.  Telford,  and  the  Sessions  of  Aveleigh  and  Gilder's  Creek 
Churches  officiating  in  the   organization   services.      Messrs. 

46 


722  BETHANY,  [1840-1850. 

George  Turnipseed  and  George  Burder  Boozer,  were  elected 
and  ordained  its  Ruling  Elders.  [It  is  proper  here  to  state 
that  Mr.  Richard  Sondley,  of  Columbia,  the  father  of  Col. 
John  Sondley,  of  this  county,  who  owned  a  large  plantation 
in  the  vicinity,  and  spent  a  portion  of  his  time  every  year  on 
his  plantation,  and  who  took  an  active  part  in  inistituting  the 
plan  above  referred  to,  as  well  as  in  building  the  house  of 
worship,  and  in  securing  the  services  of  young  ministers 
from  the  Columbia  Seminary,  was  also  elected  to  the  Eldership, 
he  having  communicated  to  the  meeting,  by  letter,  his  will- 
ingness to  transfer  his  membership  from  the  church  in  Co- 
lumbia to  this  place,  but  being  unable  to  attend  the  meeting 
personally  at  this  time.  His  membership,  however,  was  never 
changed,  and,  of  course,  he  never  became  an  elder;  still  for 
the  deep  interest  he  took  in  the  Mission  from  the  outset,  and 
for  the  valuable  services  he  rendered  to  it,  it  is  but  an  act  of 
justice  that  his  name  should  not  be  lost  from  the  records  of 
the  church.] 

Bethany  Church,  Laurens  County. — From  1840  to  1850, 
the  church  was  under  the  pastoral  supervision  of  Rev.  J.  B. 
Lewers.  The  Elders  were,  James  Templeton,  Jr.,  George 
Byrd,  Capt.  James  Templeton,  Samuel  Farrow,  ^ym.  Mills. 
The  Deacons  were  C.  A.  Smith  and  John  Steward,  elected 
in  1841.  In  1848,  twenty  were  added  to  the  church,  and 
twenty-eight  in  1849.  During  this  period  Mr.  Lewers  was 
assisted  by  Rev.  John  McKittrick,  Edwin  Cater,  John  McLees, 
E.  T.  Hyde,  and  George  W.  Boggs.  Elder  Mills  removed, 
and  Elder  James  Templeton  was  received  from  Rock  Spring 
Church.  The  nunierical  strength  of  its  membership,  in  1850, 
was  134.  In  1849,  Joshua  Saxon  and  Alexander  Glen  were 
elected  Elders ;  and  Simeon  Lyles  and  David  Templeton, 
Deacons. 

The  colored  people  were  admitted  as  members  of  the 
church.     In  1849,  there  were  fourteen  colored  communicants. 

The  church  never  had  a  regular  pastor.  The  Rev.  S.  B. 
Lewers  supplied  them  longer  than  any  other  minister,  in  all, 
about  seventeen  years.  He  was  a  faithful  and  active  preacher. 
He  was  also  a  good  disciplinarian,  as  the  Session  book  shows. 
He  was  dismissed  from  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to 
the  Presbytery  of  Chickasaw,  in  April,  1851,  but  visited  this 
church  in  November  of  that  year.  The  church  was  in  its  most 
flourishing  condition  when  he  left.     This  seems  to  have  been 


1840-1850.]        WAEEIOE's  CEEEK — NEW  HAEMONY.  723 

a  time  for  moving  West.  Within  a  brief  period  the  Session 
had  given  letters  of  dismission  to  nearly  half  of  her  mem- 
bership. Since  then  the  church  has  never  at  any  time  re- 
gained her  numerical  strength. 

Warrior's  Creek  was  cared  for  by  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers, 
who  is  mentioned  as  stated  supply  in  1842.  The  statistical 
tables  show  eleven  admitted  on  examination  in  that  year, 
making  the  whole  number  of  communicants,  twenty-four.  The 
94th  Session  of  South  Carolina  Presbytery  was  held  at  this 
church,  March  24th,  1842. 

In  1847  the  whole  number  was  twenty-three. 

New  Harmony  Church  is  situated  in  the  northeastern  cor- 
ner of  Laurens  District,  about  fifteen  miles  above  the  village 
to  the  right  and  near  the  stage  road,  leading  to  Greenville 
Court  House. 

Until  1844  its  vicinity  was  almost  destitute  of  the  regular 
ministrations  of  the  gospel  by  any  Christian  denomination, 
and  the  major  part  of  the  people  were  ignorant  of  the  benign 
and  saving  truths  of  God's  word.  The  indigent  circumstances 
of  the  citizens,  the  sterility  of  the  country,  the  sparseness  of 
the  inhabitants,  their  deficiency  of  early  moral  culture,  had 
hitherto  baffled  every  attempt  to  rear  a  respectable  building 
for  public  worship  Early  in  the  summer  of  1844,  the  subject 
of  building  a  house  for  religious  purposes  began  to  be  seri- 
ously considered  by  a  few,  who  met  with  correspondent  feel- 
ings in  those  around  them.  A  portion  of  the  old  Fairview 
Church,  of  Greenville  District,  being  remote  from  their  stated 
place  of  worship,  and  a  few  of  the  Baptists  of  the  same 
neighborhood  being  similarly  circumstanced,  agreed  to  build 
a  house,  to  be  used  alternately  by  each  denomination,  as  a 
Harmony  church. 

On  the  I  ith  of  July,  the  neighbors  held  their  first  meeting, 
•  and  appointed  a  committee  to  solicit  subscriptions  of  labor  or 
money,  who  made  a  favorable  report.  Confidently  gather- 
ing, from  their  success,  that  God  was  with  them,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  elect  a  building  committee,  who  reported  a  plan, 
which  was  adopted  by  a  full  meeting  of  both  denominations 
concerned.  The  house,  fifty  feet  by  thirty,  and  sixteen  feet 
high,  was,  in  a  few  months,  by  the  joint  labors  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, so  far  advanced  as  to  be  capable  of  accommodating 
the  very  respectable  congregations  that  attended  it.  Upon 
the  first  sure  indications  of  their  success,  the  Presbyterian  por- 


724  NEW  HAKMONY.  [1840-1850. 

tion  of  the  neighborhood  took  measures  for  organizing  their 
church.  Early  as  the  15th  of  August,  1844,  a  stand  was 
erected  on  the*  ground,  and  Rev.  John  McKittrick  was  re- 
quested to  preach.  In  the  course  of  the  proceedings  that  day, 
(13)  thirteen  members  of  other  churches,  perhaps,  all  from 
Old  Fairview,  presented  their  letters  of  dismission,  and  en- 
rolled their  names  as  members  of  New  Harmony  Church.  An 
election  for  Ruling  Elders  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Robert 
Gilliland  and  David  Stoddard,  Jr.,  who  were,  at  the  same  time 
and  place,  regularly  ordained  to  their  office.  Application 
being  made,  the  church  was  received  under  the  care  of  South 
Carolina  Presbytery,  by  the  name  of  New  Harmony,  and  Rev. 
John  McKittrick  obtained  as  monthly  supply.  Such  has 
been  its  steady  and  gradual  increase  as  to  give  good  hope  of 
■  its  future. 

While  this  church  has  been  restricted  to  public  worship 
once  a  month  only,  the  destitution  has  been  partially  reme- 
died by  Sunday-schools,  and  the  monthly  ministrations  of 
our  Baptist  friends,  who  have  likewise  succeeded  in  estab- 
lishing a  very  respectable  society  of  their  order,  who  with 
us,  and  with  whom  we,  twice  a  month,  unite  in  the  wor.ship  of 
our  God,  in  New  Harmony  Church.  By  a  constitution, 
adopted  by  the  two  denominations,  the  Presbyterians  have 
the  second  and  fourth  Sabbaths,  including  days  preceding 
and  following  ;  their  Baptist  friends,  the  first  and  third  Sab- 
baths. The  fifth  Sabbath  may  be  used  indiscriminately,  by 
either,  or  in  an  associated  capacjty,  observing  Christian  cour- 
tesy and  kindness  for  each  other. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1844,  a  sacramental  meeting  was 
holden — the  first, — the  Rev.  Messrs.  McKittrick  and  Lew- 
ers  ministering,  which  continued  three  successive  days,  to 
large  and  attentive  congregations,  for  whose  accommodation 
a  comfortable  arbor  had  been  erected  in  the  grove  (the  house 
not  yet  being  in  a  state  to  occupy).  At  this  meeting,  two 
other  members  were  added,  thus  evincing,  that  to  Jacob,  al- 
though small,  "the  Lord  will  perform  His  truth." 

From  that  time,  the  growth  of  this  church  has  been  steady, 
and  by  the  close  of  the  year  (1846)  amounted  to  some  35  or 
36  members.  Although  the  usual  appliance  of  means,  and  a 
regular  attendance  of  preachers  and  people  were  observed, 
rather  a  cold  and  inactive  state  of  religion  prevailed  in  1847. 
Nevertheless,  even  in  this  period,  God  did  not  leave    himself 


1S40-1850.]  LAUEENSVILLE.  725 

without  a  few  additional  witnesses  of  His    goodness    and  His 
truth,  within  bur  bounds. 

The  year  1849  was  one  of  marked  and  exhilarating  interest 
to  those  who  had  owned  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
among  us.  Besides  the  usual  accessions  by  letter,  &c.,  on  the 
27th  day  of  October,  at  a  sacramental  meeting,  in  progress 
at  that  time,  nine  Christ-loving  young  people,  and  one  color- 
ed person,  were  received,  by  examination,  into  the  church. 
At  the  same  meeting,  agreeably  to  a  notice  previously  given, 
an  election  was  held  for  two  additional  Ruling  Elders,  which 
resulted  in  the  choice  of  M.  P.  Evins  and  Roger  Brown,  who 
were  regularly  ordained,  according  to  the  directions  of  our 
confession  of  faith,  to  their  office.  In  common  with  our 
fellow-men,  we  have  enjoyed  the  blessed  privilege  of  worship- 
ping our  God,  in  His  earthly  sanctuary,  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  conscience,  guided  by  His  word.  We  have  had  Rev. 
John  McKittrick  all  the  time  since  our  organization,  as  our 
minister.  From  the  time  that  he  was  obtained  as  a  Presbyterial 
supply,  he  has  continued  his  labors  diligently,  faithfully  and, 
we  believe,  profitably,  among  us.  The  sacrament  has  been 
semi-annually  dispensed  to  his  congregation  of  communicants, 
and  family  visitation  and  prayer  have  not  been  omitted. 

Very  recently  our  church  and  neighborhood  have  purchased 
a  decent  social  religious  library,  which  the  ybung  people  of 
the  churches  have  begun  to  read  with  interest  and  advantage. 

An  extraordinary  and  delightful  fact  pertaining  to  our  his- 
tory, and  to  the  credit  of  our  Christian  Church,  is  that,  since 
her  existence,  there  has  not  been  a  single  instance  of  disci- 
pline, requiring  the  action  of  the  session. 

Laukensville  Church. — The  existence  of  this  church,  as 
has  been  before  mentioned,  is  due  to  the  self-denying  labors 
of  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers.  Until  he  was  called  away  to  break 
the  bread  of  life  in  another  field,  he  continued  to  supply  this 
branch  of  the  vine,  which,  though  so  small  at  its  planting, 
being  watered  by  the  dews  from  Heaven,  under  his  faithful 
and  acceptable  ministration,  grew  continually,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  leaving,  in  1851,  there  had  been  added  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  members  during  his  ministry. 

At  this  period  of  his  personal  history,  believing  himself 
called,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  to  seek  a  home,  and  another 
field  of  labor,  in  the  southwest,  he  sought  a  dismission  from 
the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  to  the    Chickasaw    Presby- 


7'Z6  LAUEENSVILLE.  [1840-1850. 

tery,  in  Mississippi.     This    drew  forth  the  following  commu- 
nication from  his  Presbytery  here  : 

The  committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the  letter  ofS.  B. 
Lewers,  reported,  recommending  that  his  request  for  dismis- 
sion, to  join  Chickasaw  Presbytery,  be  granted,  and  that  it  be 
accompanied  by  the  following  letter,  viz 

Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers: 

Dear  Brother:  In  consideration  of  the  long  and  much 
endeared  connection  which  has  existed  between  us,  the  Pres- 
bytery of  South  Carolina  has  directed  us  to  respond  to  your 
warm  and  affectionate  valedictory  letter,  and  to  communicate 
to  you  our  reciprocal  feelings  of  fraternal  esteem  and  undi- 
minished affection.  It  is  only  from  the  conviction  of  our 
obligations  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  yours,  that  we  thus  readily  consent  to  a  separation  which, 
to  us  all,  as  well  as  to  you,  is  painful  and  afflictive. 

We  shall  not  cease  to  pray  for  your  continued  usefulness, 
and  confidently  believe  that  your  earnest  prayers  will  not 
cease  to  ascend  to  the  throne  of  Jehovah  for  the  numerous 
churches  which  you  have  so  eminently  assisted  in  planting 
and  watering.  Dear  Brother,  we  shall  ever  hold  in  grateful 
rememberance  the  happy  seasons  of  Divine  goodness,  in 
which  we  participated,  while  it  was  our  privilege  to  sit  to- 
gether in  heavenly  places,  to  take  sweet  council  together, 
and  to  walk  in  company  to  the  house  of  God.  May  the 
blessing  of  Zion's  King  attend  you  ;  may  His  presence  go  be- 
fore you,  and  his  grace  sustain  you,  and  make  you,  for  many 
years,  useful  in  the  Church  of  our  dear  Redeemer. 

So  pray  your  brethren  in  the  Lord, 

A.  W.  ROSS. 
(Signed)  E.  T.  BUIST. 

D.  HUMPHREY. 

The  above  minute  was  unanimously  adopted.  [Minutes  of 
South  Carolina  Presbytery,  p.  418,  April  26th,  185  i.] 

Mr.  Lewers  did  not  long  survive  his  removal  to  Mississippi, 
The  news  of  his  death  was  received  with  unfeigned  sorrow,  by 
his  co-laborers  in  the  Master's  vineyard.  His  old  Presby- 
tery, of  South  Carolina,  gave  expression  to  their  grief  as 
follows : 

The  committe  appointed  to  bring  in  a  minute  in  relation  to 
the  death  of  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers,  reported  as  follows,  viz ; 


1840-1850.]  REV.  S.  B.  LEWERS.       ,  727 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute  in  regard  to 
the  death  our  much  lamented  brother  Lewers,  beg  leave  to 
report : 

Though  we  have  but  recently  put  upon  our  records  ex- 
pressions of  the  high  regard,  cherished  in  all  our  hearts  for 
our  beloved  brother,  yet  we  deem  it  due  to  his  memory  to 
record  facts  well  known  in  all  our  churches.  He  was  identi- 
fied with  us  by  birth  and  education,  and  his  name  is  endeared 
to  us  by  every  tie,  civil  and  sacred,  that  can  bind  kindred 
souls  for  time  and  eternity.  Whatever  is  worthy  of  esteem 
was  in  his  character.  When  he  espoused  the  cause  of  Christ, 
his  soul  clung  to  it.  In  the  Cross  he  gloried.  With  an  en- 
lightened understanding,  made  free  by  the  power  of  Divine 
truth,  he  yielded  to  the  claims,  the  sovereign,  rightful  claims, 
and  call  of  Heaven.  He  turned  his  soul,  with  all  his  ener- 
gies, to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  prompted  by  that  heaven- 
born  benevolence  that  seeketh  not  its  own.  He  let  go  the 
world,  and  for  nearly  twenty  years,  in  our  midst,  directed  all 
his  energies  to  advance  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  men. 
Nor  did  he  labor  in  vain.  He  reflected  that  bright,  life-giv- 
ing light  from  the  Sun  ef  Righteousness  wherever  he  moved. 
Adding  to  faith  that  moral  courage,  which  imparts  the  only 
true  greatness  to  man,  he  commanded  the  hearts  of  multi- 
tudes, and  was  blessed  in  winning  many  to  Christ,  in  enlarg- 
ing and  strengthening  the  Church  of  our  Redeemer.  His 
thoughts,  and  time  and  talents,  were  so  engrossed  with  every 
labor  of  love,  in  every  means  of  benevolence,  in  warring 
against  vice  of  every  name,  but  especially  intemperance — that 
most  contagious  blighting  and  withering  curse  of  man — that 
he  necessarily,  and  of  course,  made  immense  sacrifices,  not 
only  of  domestic  quiet  and  enjoyment,  but  of  property. 

Therefore, 

Resolved,  That  this  Presbytery  regard  it  as  j  ust  to  transfer  to 
the  widow  of  our  deceased  brother  the  amount  due  by  her  late 
husband,  to  be  enjoyed  by  her  in  her  own  right;  and  for  this 
purpose,  that  the  treasurer  of  Presbytery  be  directed  to  transfer 
the  evidence  of  that  demand  in  such  manner  as  may  secure 
the  purposes  of  the  Presbytery. 

J.  L.  KENNEDY,  Chairman. 

[Minutes,  p.  462,  Sept  24th,  1852.J 


728  ROCK  CHURCH.  [1840-1850. 

The  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  23d  of  October,  1852, 
expressed  itself  in  language  of  deep  regret  at  his  loss.  "  He 
abandoned  the  practice  of  law,  gave  up  his  merchandise,  left 
the  management  of  his  farm  to  other  hands  ;  in  short  he  left 
the  dead  to  bury  their  dead.  He  preached  the  Gospel  dili- 
gently throughout  his  native  District  and  Presbytery,  in  vacant 
churches,  and  even  vi^here  no  churches  existed,  and  from 
house  to  house,  and  for  years  refused  to  receive  any  compen- 
sation for  his  labors.  He  fell  in  the  harness  by  over-exertion 
in  the  service  of  his  Master,    in  a  distant  State.  " 

Mr.  Lewers  was  a  graduate  of  South  Carolina  College,  in 
181 1,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  as  an  attorney  in  1815. 
His  old  honorary  title,  Col.  Lewers,  clave  to  him  among  his  old 
neighbors  and  associates,  through  life,  strange  as  the  military 
title  may  have  sounded  to  unaccustomed  ears. 

In  1840,  William  Franks  and  Maj.  Edward  Anderson  were 
elected  Deacons,  and  in  1848  Col.  Pattillo  Farrow,  Capt. 
James  Davis  and  Thomas  Blakely  were  called  by  the  church 
to  the  office  of  Ruling  Elders.  The  membership,  in  1849 
and  1850,  is  reported  as  75. 

,  Rock  Church,  (formerly  Rocky  Creek.) — There  are  two 
sources  from  which  the  history  of  this  church  may  be  drawn. 
The  twentieth  anniversary  .sermon  of  Rev.  John  McLees, 
which  was  preached  on  the  first  Sabbath  in  April,  1867,  and 
published  in  the  Southern  Presbyterian  of  October  22,  1868, 
and  is  replete  with  facts,  and  a  history  of  the  same  church, 
by  Genl.  James  Gillam,  a  venerable  elder,  published  in  May 
1873,  in  the  periodical  edited  by  Rev.  W.  P.  Jacobs,  called 
"Our  Monthly,"  who  has  made  free  use  of  the  sermon  of  his 
pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  McLees.  Genl.  Gillam's  memory,  too,  was 
well  stored  with  reminiscences  of  the  past. 

The  Rev.  Edwin  Cater  was  installed  as  pastor  of  this 
church  in  1840.  He  entered  on  the  duties  of  the  office  of 
pastor  with  zeal  and  energy,  which  increased  the  congrega- 
tion ;  and  by  the  blessing  of  God  upon  his  faithful  labors,  the 
church  had  increased  in  the  number  of  members  beyond  any 
thing  which  it  had  enjbyed  in  former  days.  According  to 
his  own  statement,  when  he  commenced  the  supply  of  the 
church,  it  consisted  of  twenty  members, — five  males,  and 
fifteen  females.  It  was  so  depressed  in  spirits  that  it  refused 
to  guarantee  tc  him  the  sum  of  ^50  per  annum,  the  amount 
paid  to  their  former  supply.     He  received,  however,  the  sum 


1840-1850.]  BEV.  EDWIN  CATER.  729 

of  ^350  for  one-half  of  his  time,  and  a  salary  of  ^600  when 
he  become  pastor,  which  was  paid  regularly  so  long  as  he 
remained.  The  church,  also,  by  a  contribution  of  thirty  dol- 
lars at  one  time,  constituted  him  a  life  member  of  the  As- 
sembly's Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  It  also  supported  a 
Theological  Student  through  his  entire  course  in  the  Sem- 
inary, and  after  his  graduation  it  gave  him  an  outfit  in  a  suit 
of  clothes  and  a  substantial  horse. 

One  thing  which  in  the  providence  of  God  exerted  a  pow- 
erful influence  on  the  respective  members  of  this  little  church, 
and  especially  with  some  who  united  with  it  in  the  early  part 
of  Mr.  Cater's  ministry,  was  the  liberal  support  of  ^150  which 
Capt.  R.  Cunningham  gave  to  the  pastor,  while  he  also  con- 
tributed  liberally  to  the  benevolent  causes  of  the  church. 

Although  the  church  had  been  organized  nearly  seventy 
years,  it  had  never  had  a  pastor  ;  and  it  had  done  compar- 
atively nothing  for  the  support  of  the  ministry  ;  or  of  the 
benevolent  objects  of  the  church  at  large.  This  church  was, 
we  believe,  among  the  first  iu  the  Presbytery  of  S.  C.  who 
gave  a  salary  of  ^600  for  the  support  of  a  pastor.  It  was  the 
first  to  send  a  written  narrative  to  Presbytery  of  the  state  of 
religion  in  its  midst.  It  was  perhaps  the  first  in  which  Dea- 
cons were  elected  and  ordained,  and  the  first  in  which  col- 
lections were  regularly  taken  up  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
•  according  to  the  injunction  in  i  Cor.  XVI,  I,  2. 

In  its  history  may  be  seen  the  marked  advantages  to  a 
church  of  having  a  pastor,  rather  than  a  stated  supply. 

In  1845,  John  Logan  and  Wm.  Campbell  were  also  elected 
and  ordained  as  Elders. 

The  first  Deacons  in  this  church  were  elected  Novem- 
ber ist,'i840,  agreeable  to  an  injunction  sent  down  to  Presby- 
tery by  the  General  Assembly — when  Charles  R.  Mosley, 
Wm.  N.  Blake  and  Wm.  Campbell,  were  chosen  and  ordained 
to  this  ofifice. 

In  December,  1844,  the  Church,  by  the  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, was  incorporated,  and  the  name  of  "Rocky  Creek  was 
exchanged  for  that  of  Rock  Church,"  which  was  approved 
by  the  Presbytery  in  April,  1845,  and  in  the  minutes  of  which 
it  has  since  been  known  by  its  corporate  name.  The  labors 
of  Edwin  Cater  were  greatly  blessed  while  he  was  pastor  of 
this  church.  He  baptized  jy  adults  and  73  children,  and 
the  number  of  members  was  increased  to  112.     The  pastoral 


730  REV.  JOHN  m'lEES.  [1840-1850. 

relation  was  dissolved  in  October,  1846.  He  labored  here 
nearly  eight  years. 

In  January,  1847,  an  invitation  was  extended  by  the  Ses- 
sion to  Rev.  John  McLees  to  visit  Rock  Church,  which  he 
accepted;  he  came  in  January,  and  preached  a  few  times  in 
the  church.  He  then  received  the  invitation  to  become  their 
stated  supply,  which  he  consented  to  do  after  the  ist  of  April, 
when  his  engagement  with  Presbytery  as  missionary  to  the 
colored  people  on  the  west  of  Abbeville  DIst.,  would  termi- 
nate. According  to  promise  he  commenced  his  labors  in 
April,  1847.  In  October  of  the  sarne  year  he  received  and 
accepted  a  call  to  become  pastor.  He  was  installed  on  the 
loth  of  December  following. 

The  Greenwood  Association  of  Abbeville  Dist.,  S.  C,  whose 
object  was  the  promotion  of  education,  founded  two  High 
Schools  in  Greenwood,  one  for  male.s,  and  the  other  for 
females.  These  institutions  were  taken  under  the  care  of 
Presbytery,  in  October,  1847.  The  Chapel  was  owned  by  the 
Greenwood  Association,  and  in  large  wings  appended  to  it, 
flourishing  schools  were  kept  for  several  years.  The  Chapel 
became  a  regular  place  of  preaching  in  connction  with  Rock 
Church. 

The  service  on  Sabbath  alternated  between  Rock  Church 
and  the  Chapel  in  Greenwood,  for  a  number  of  years;  and 
a  communion  meeting  was  held  once  in  every  three  months, 
first  at  one  place,  then  at  the  other.  But  as  the  large  body 
of  the  congregation  is  now  more  convenient  to  the  chapel, 
the  services  are  held  in  it  on  every  Sabbath,  except  the  fourth 
in  each  month,  when  it  is  still  held  in  Rock  Church.  The 
children  have  been  taught  the  shorter  Catechigm,  and  regu- 
larly catechised  previous  to  every  quarterly  communion.. 

There  is  a  Sabbath  school  library  of  two  or  three  hundred 
volumes  which  came  with  the  property  of  the  Association. 

There  is  also  a  Bible  Society,  auxiliary  to  the  Abbeville 
Bible  Society.  A  supply  of  Bibles  and  Testaments  is  kept 
on  hand  for  gratuitous  distribution,  or  for  sale  to  those  who 
are  able  to  buy. 

It  was  formerly  the  custom  of  the  churches  to  use  what 
were  called' "  Tokens,"  which  were  distributed  to  the  mem- 
bers just  before  a  communion,  as  no  person  was  allowed  to 
approach  the  table  without  a  "  Token ;"  which  was  with  us  a 
small  piece  of  lead  with  the  letters  R  C  on  it  for  Rock  Church. 


1840-1850.]  EOCK  CHURCH.  731 

When  the  members  were  fairly  seated  at  the  table,  it  was  the 
duty  of  one  of  the  elders  to  pass  round  and  collect  the  To- 
kens, which  were  kept  for  future  use.  This  usage  was  some- 
times called  "fencing  the  table,"  and  was  designed  to  keep 
back  from  it  any  who  might  presumptuously  come,  or  any 
who  were  under  censure  in  the  church.  But  it  was  a  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  open  communion,  which  we  believe  to  be  in 
accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel.  This  church  has 
not  used  Tokens  since  May  the  19th,  1839.  Their  use  is  now 
laid  aside,  we  believe,  in  all  our  churches. 

THE  COLORED  PEOPLE. 

It  is  proper  for  us  to  state  that  the  Rock  Church  has  beea 
mindful  of  its  duty  to  the  colored  people.  In  April,  1847, 
18  colored  members  were  reported  to  Presbytery.  Tliey 
were  instructed  with  great  care  by  the  pastor,  and  Elders  and 
private  members  of  the  church.  A  Sabbath  school  was 
opened  for  them,  and  they  were  taught  from  Jones'  Catechism 
and  also  from  the  Child's  Catechism. 

REVIVALS. 

We  have  no  record  of  any  revivals  in  the  early  history  of 
this  church.  In  September,  1845,  a  protracted  meeting  of 
five  days'  continuance  was  held  by  the  pastor,  assisted  by 
Rev.  Henry  Reid,  which  resulted  in  the  most  gracious  revival 
ever  known  in  the  former  iiistory  of  the  church.  Thirty- 
eight  members  were  received  into  the  communion. 

But  few  additional  members  were  added  till  September, 
1848,  when  a  meeting  of  a  few  days  was  held  by  the  pastor, 
Rev.  John  McLees,  assisted  by  Rev.  Henry  Reid  and  Rev. 
Z.  L.  Holmes.  There  was  an  addition  of  fourteen  members  to 
the  Church. 

On  September  the  nth,  1849,  ten  more  were  added. 

On  September  the  2d,  1850,  eleven  more  were  added. 

On  September  i6th,  1852,  twelve  more  were  added. 

RULING  ELDERS. 

The  Ruling  Elders  in  this  Church,  in  1845,  were,  Thomas 
Weir,  Sen.,  John  Blake,  Dr.  E.  R.  Calhoun,  John  McClelian, 
James  Gillam,  Dr.  John  Logan,  Wm.  Campbell,  Capt.  R. 
Cunningham. 

In  April,  1849,  Wm.  N.  Blake,  and  Joel  Smith  were  ordained. 


732  SANDY   SPRING — LONG   CANE.  [1840-1850. 

The  membership  of  this  Church,  in  the  Statistical  Tables 
of  1849  and  1850,  is  set  down  as  105.  It  had  been  increas- 
ing in  its  generous  contributions  to  the  great  enterprises  of 
the  Church. 

Sandy  Spring. — This  church,  which  had  been  served  hith- 
erto by  A.  W.  Ross  as  stated  supply,  fell  under  the  care  of 
Benjamin  D.  DuPree,  in  connection  with  Richland.  Its 
Elders,  in  1842,  were,  Peter  E.  Belotte,  Jacob  S.  Belotte  and 
Angus  J.  Liddell.  On  the  30th  of  September,  1842,  the 
Presbytery  changed  the  name  of  this  churchto  "Mo7j7itZton." 

Under  this  name  it  was  supplied  by  Benjamin  D.  DuPree, 
in  1843.     By  Thos.  L.  McBryde,  in  1845. 

Through  the  rest  of  this  decade  it  is  represented  as  vacant, 
with  a  membership  of  thirty-sevea  communicants.  It  was 
afterwards  supplied  by  Rev.  J.  Hillhouse. 

Long  Cane  Church,  (Abbeville.) — At  the  close  of  the 
last  decade,  we  were  speaking  of  the  sources  from  which  the 
support  of  its  pastors  came.  It  is  proper  tliat  it  should  be 
added  that  the  main  support  was  derived  from  the  Upper 
Long  Cane  Society,  the  constitution  and  by-laws  of  which 
were  there  given. 

The  appropriations  of  this  society  down  to  January,  1852, 
had  amounted  in  all  to  ^11, 392. 83. 

Wm.  H.  Barr,  D.  D.,  died  on  the  9th  of  January,  1843, 
having  continued  in  the  office  of  pastor  to  this  church  for 
one-third  of  a  century.  He  was  eminent  as  a  preacher  for 
his  ability,  eloquence  and  faithfulness.  In  his  style  he  was  re- 
markable as  possessing  the  happy  faculty  of  being  brief  without 
obscurity.  His  powers  of  concentration  were  very  great.  Of  this 
an  instance  occurs  to  my  memory  which  took  place  when  I 
was  quite  young.  I  think  it  was  at  a  meeting  of  Synod  of 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  at  upper  Long  Cane  Church 
abput  1825.  The  meeting  was  about  to  be  brought  to  aclose 
when  Dr.  Barr  arose,  gave  an  exhortation,  reminding  the  con- 
gregation of  the  privileges  they  had  enjoyed  during  the  meet- 
ing; in  a  very  few  words  gave  the  pith  of  every  sermon  de- 
livered, setting  forth  the  subject,  it  seemed  to  me,  in  a  stronger 
point  of  view  than  the  speakers  themselves  had  done;  yet 
the  whole  occupied  but  a  few  minutes.  Of  his  strictness  in 
regard  to  filling  appointments,  the  writer  recollects  that  in  a 
sermon  some  years  before  his  death,  Dr.  Barr  said  that  he 
had  been  preaching  to  the  congregatipn  twenty-five  years,  and 


1840-1850.]  D.  m'neill  turner.  733 

during  that  time  he  had  never  failed  in  any  instance  to  fill  an 
appointment  he  had  made  for  them.  His  bad  health  for  sev- 
eral years  previous  to  his  death,  prevented  his  attendaijce  on 
the  Sessions  of  the  Church  Judicatories.  He  required 
the  comforts  of  home,  to  which  he  was  accustomed,  a 
change  of  lodgings  alone  producing  sufferings.  The  last 
meeting  of  Presbytery  that  he  attended  was  held  at  his  own 
church.  He  was  elected  Moderator  to  show  their  respect  for 
him,  but  was  too  ill  to  serve  unless  he  could  be  relieved  from 
the  pains  of  rheumatism  by  which  .he  was  tormented. 

His  hold  upon  the  affections  of  his  people  was  very  great. 
To  this  day  a  krtowledge  of  what  was  Dr.  Barr's  opinion  on 
any  subject  is  sufficient  to  guide  the  judgement  of  many  who 
wer^  liis  hearers,  and  anything  he  did  not  do  is  looked  upon 
by  them  as  innovation. 

He  seemed  to  have  a  shrinking  from  letting  anything  from 
his  pen  appear  in  print.  I  think  no  sermon  of  his  was  ever 
published,  and  I  understand  that  on  his  deathbed  he  directed 
his  family  to  destroy  his  manuscripts.  I  would  fail  to  do  justice 
to  his  memory  if  I  were  to  attempt  to  delineate  his  character, 
and  therefore  make  no  attempt  at  it,  but  these  facts  occuring  to 
my  memory,  I  have  jotted  them  down,  thinking  they  might 
be  interesting  to  yourself. 

For  some  months  after  Dr.  Barr's  death  the  church  was 
supplied  occasionally,  mostly  by  neighboring  ministers. 

The  congregation  having,  by  invitation,  enjoyed  the  servi- 
ces of  Rev.  D.  McNeill  Turner  for  a  short  time,  on  Septem- 
ber, 1843,  held  a  meeting  and  proposed  a  call  to  Mr.  Turner 
to  become  their  pastor,  with  a  salary  of  ^800  per  annum.  He 
accepted  the  call,  and  was  installed.  He  remained  the  pastor 
of  the  church  till  January,  1852. 

Of  one  of  the  Elders  of  this  church  who  had  recently  died, 
the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  expresses  itself  as  loUows : 

The  committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute  in  reference 
to  the  death  of  David  Lesly.  Esqr.,  late  Treasurer  of  the 
Presbytery,  presented  the  following,  which  was  accepted  and 
adopted,  viz : 

"The  committee  appointed  to  bring  in  a  report  on  the  much 
lamented  death  of  the  late  Treasurer,  Mr.  David  Lesly, 
would  make  the  following:  Mr.  Lesly  had  long  been  a 
much  esteemed,  devoted  and  cherished  member  and  Elder 
in  the  Upper  Long  Cane  Church.     He  filled  well  the  station 


734  DAVID  LESLY.  [1840-1850. 

he  occupied  in  Church  and  State  ;  and  at  no  time  shunned  or 
shrunk  from  the  path  of  duty.  Hejoined  the  people  of  God 
under  the  ministry  of  that  eminent  servant  of  God,  Dr.  Barr, 
who  so  long  and  faithfully  served  the  cause  of  his  Lord  and 
Master  in  this  house  and  congregation  where  we  are  now  as- 
sembled, and  was  the  last  of  that  branch  of  Elders  which 
aided  that  laborious  minister  in  his  works  of  love.  He  was 
well-known  to  this  reverend  body,  as  one  ever  ready  for  any 
good  work,  and  to  put  forth  a  helping  hand  to  roll  on  the 
chariot  of  salvation,  and  to  strengthen  the  walls  of  our  earthly 
Zion. 

His  Lord  and  Master  never  called  upon  him  and  found 
him  idle.  The  Boards  of  our  church  never  called  upon  him 
for  aid,  and  called  in  vain :  the  needy  and  suffering  tjever 
cried  for  succor  and  were  sent  empty  away;  and  the  injured 
never  pleaded  in  vain  when  it  was  in  his  power  to  redress 
their  injuries,  while  he  was  a  "terror  to  evil  doers,  and  a  praise 
to  them  who  do  well." 

To  this  Presbytery,  he  was  for  some  three  years  their  faith- 
ful Treasurer,  and  all  can  bear  him  witness  how  cheerfully 
and  diligently  he  served  in  this  capacity.  But  God  has  taken 
him — called  his  servant  home  from  the  church  militant  on 
eaith,  to  the  church  triumphant — from  earth's  sorrows,  con- 
flicts and  trials,  to  the  rest,  peace  and  bliss  of  heaven.  May 
his  mantle  fall  on  some  favored  son  of  the  church  who  may 
fill  his  place,  and  supply  his  vacant  seat  in  his  long  loved 
house  of  God,  and  among  the  Elders  of  this  church.  Let 
his  sudden  call  from  the  earthly-scenes  of  his  labors  remind 
the  officers  of  the  church  to  double  their  diligence  in  the 
Master's  service,  set  their  house  in  order,  and  to  do  speedily 
what  they  have  to  do  for  Zion,  for  the  Lord  cometh  to  reckon 
with  them." 

(Signed)     A.  D.  MONTGOMERY,  Chairman. 

Little  Mountain  Church. — The  Rev.  Dr.  Barr  continued 
to  preach  to  this  church  until  his  death,  on  the  9th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1843.  Many  things  are  told  of  the  old  men,  who  would 
meet  soon  after  breakfast,  in  their  shirt  sleeves,  and  not  a  few 
bare-footed,  and  spend  their  time  in  merry  joke  and 
repartee,  or  in  comparing  crops.  This  meagre  history  must 
be  dropped  and  some  notice  taken  of  the  different  branches 
of  Elders,  and  those  wlio  served  the  church  as  preachers  of 
the  Gospel. 


1840-1850.]  EEV.  WM.  H.  BAER,  D.  D.  735 

1st.  William  Russell,  John  Neely,  William  Cunningham 
Stevenson. 

2d.  John  Burnett,  Wm.  McCallister,  John  Black,  Wm. 
Walker. 

3d.  John  Burnett,  Hon.  Joseph  Black,  Wm.  McCallister. 

4th.  Albert  Johnson,  Samuel  Walker,  Robert  C.  Harkness, 
A,  W.  Hadden,  Abraham  Hadden. 

After  Dr.  Barr,  they  were  served  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  Mc- 
Whorter.  Down  to  the  year  1850,  the  total  of  Communi- 
cants being  thirty-three. 

Rev.  Wm.  H.  Barr,  D.  D. 

The  following  memorial  of  Dr.  Wm.  H,  Barr,  D.  D.,  is  from 
the  pen  of  the  Hon.  Alexander  Bowie,  Chancellor  of  the 
Northern  Division  in  the  State  of  Alabama,  and  seems  to  have 
passed  through  the  hands  of  David  Lesly,  Esq.,  at  whose 
suggestion  it  was  probably  written. 

'•  In  presenting,"  saj's  the  Chancellor,  "a  sketch  of  the  life 
and  character  of  the  distinguished  and  eloquent  Christian 
minister,  whose  name  stands  at  the  head  of  this  article,  the 
writer  will  endeavor  to  furnish  a  truthful  portrait.  Very  little 
is  known  of  the  early  life  of  this  eminent  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel. Yet  we  may  well  di.spense  with  all  note  of  his  early  life, 
when  we  reflect  that  the  Christian  only  begins  truly  to  live 
when  he  becomes  the  subject  of  regenerating  grace. 

William  Hampden  Barr  was  born  in  Rowan  County,  North 
Carolina,  either  on  the  sixth  or  eighth  of  August,  1778.  In 
his  baptism,  as  he  himself  stated,  he  received  only  the  name 
of  William ;  but  he  afterwards  assumed  the  addition  of 
Hampden,  either  out  of  respect  to  his  Alma  Mater,  or  admi- 
ration of  the  great  English  patriot  of  that  name.  He  was  the 
son  of  Mr.  James  Barr,  of  Rowan  County,  and  his  mother 
was  a  sister  of  the  late  distinguished  Dr.  McCorkle.  His 
near  relations  were  remarkable  for  their  piety.  His  family 
removed  to  Iredell  County  when  he  was  quite  young.  After 
acquiring  the  rudiments  of  an  English  education,  he  was  en- 
tered as  a  pupil  of  the  scientific  school,  taught  by  Rev.  Dr. 
James  Hall  ;  entered  Hampden  Sydney  College,  in  Virginia, 
achieved  his  first  degree  in  one  year.  His  diploma  bears 
date,  April,  1801.  With  such  parents  as  his,  and  surrounded 
as  he  was  in  early  life,  by  so  many  religious  influences,  it 
might  well  be  expected  that  he  would  not  long  delay  devot- 
ing himself  to  the  love  and  service  of  his  Saviour. 


736  CH.  Bowie's  memorial  op  dr.  barr.    [1840-i85o. 

From  his  own  account,  he  was  a  wild  and  mischievous  boy. 
He  made  a  profession  of  religion  but  a  short  time  before  he 
entered  college.  He  did  not  commence  his  classical  educa- 
tion with  a  view  to  the  ministry. 

Soon  after  his  graduation,  he  devoted  himself  to  theolog- 
ical studies,  and  was  taken  under  the  care  of  Concord  Presby- 
tery ;  but  his  health  being  infirm,  he  did  not  receive  licen- 
sure until  about  five  or  six  years  afterwards..  He  was  licensed 
by  the  Presbytery  in  the  year  1806,  and  was  employed  in 
missionary  service,  in  various  parts  of  North  and  South  Caro- 
lina. In  1809,  he  located  himself  in  Upper  Long  Cane  con- 
gregation, Abbeville,  South  Carolina,  and  was  ordained  as  its 
pastor,  in  December,  1809.  On  the  i8th  August,  18 12,  he 
married  Miss  Rebecca  Reid,  youngest  daughter  of  Mr.  Hugh 
Reid,  a  ruling  elder  in  that  church. 

At  a  very  early  period  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  the 
Presbyterians  seem  to  have  entertained  the  idea  that  the  pres- 
ent District  of  Abbeville  was  to  be  Presbyterian  territory. 
A  general  meeting  of  delegates  from  the  different  "settle- 
ments "  was  held,  at  which  a  large  extent  of  country,  with  very 
precise  boundaries,  was  divided  between  some  three  or  four 
Presbyterian  Chuiches.  This  indicates  the  fact  that  the  first 
inhabitants  of  that  District  were  almost  universally  Presbyte- 
rian. The  annual  stipend,  or  salary,  of  the  minister  of  Long 
Cane  (and  it  is  probable  in  the  other  churches  too)  was  for- 
mally, and  with  an  air  of  perpetuity,  established  at  one  hun- 
dred pomids,stet  ling.  Under  this  law,  just  enough,  perhaps, 
when  it  was  enacted.  Dr.  Barr  took  charge  of  one  of  the  larg- 
est and  most  intelligent  congregations  in  the  State — occupied 
their  pulpit  every  Sabbath  but  one  in  each  month — for  the 
first  thirty  years  of  his  pastorate,  never  disappointed  his  peo- 
ple in  the  performance  of  divine  s&r\/\ct  but  twice — and  all  this 
for  years  he  performed  for  the  pitiful  compensation  oi  seventy - 
five  pounds,  equal  to  about  three  hundred  and  twenty-two  dol- 
lars perannum!  To  the  business  of  teaching  a  school,  the  com- 
mon resource  of  many  pastors,  he  had  an  insuperable  aver^ 
sion  ;  and  having  a  small  patrimony  of  his  own,  he  was  able 
to  purchase  a  farm  of  moderate  extent  and  value.  On  this 
farm  he  settled  himself,  and  here  terminated  his  life.  Much 
of  his  own  time  and  labor  Were  necessarily  bestowed  upon 
his  farm.  But  he  was  a  good  economist,  and  being  blessed 
v/ith  a  wife  who  was  a  better  still,  he  was  enabled  to  rear  and 
educate  a  family  of  six  children — four  sons  and  two  daughters. 


1840-1850.]  EEf .   WM.  H;   BARE,   B.   D.  737 

Dr.  Barr  was  a  thorough  and  accurate  scholar,  and  most 
deservedly  received  from  the  authorities  of  Franklin  College 
the  degree  of  "  Doctor  in  Divinity."  The  people  of  his 
charge  were  profoundly  attached  to  him,  and  a  few  years  be- 
fore his  death,  raised  his  salary  to  six  hundred  dollars — at 
that  time  a  tolerably  respectable  stipend.  For  a  number  of 
years  before  his  death,  his  constitution,  at  all  times  delicate, 
began  sensibly  to  decline.  At  length,  on  the  gtk  day  of 
January,  1843,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  he  died,  at 
peace  with  God  and  all  mankind. 

Person  and  Character. 

In  person.  Dr.  Barr  was  tall  and  exceedingly  lean  ;  his 
complexion  dark,  rather  sallow — almost  cadaverous.  His 
gait  and  manners  were  awkward ;  and  with  all  the  training 
in  the  world,  he  could  never  have  become  a  Chesterfield.  His 
^^oice  was  harsh  and  gratin'g  ;  and  notwithstanding  his  excel- 
lent education  and  powerful  intellect,  he  retained  10  the  last, 
many  of  the  improprieties  of  speech  and  pronunciation  of  his 
earlier  years.  Yet,  whert  he  preached,  the  heater  never 
thought  of  noticing  all  this. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  impression  made  upon  me  by  the 
first  sermon  I  heard  him  preach.  His  general  appearance, 
the  tones  of  his  voice,  and  his  antiquated  pronunciation  were 
little  calculated  to  inspire  lofty  expectations  of  his  rhetorical 
powers.  In  person,  and  voice,  and  manner,  he  was  altogether 
peculiar.  Although  I  had  heard  him  spoken  of  as  an  elo- 
quent preacher,  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  it  was  a  vulgar 
mistake.  When  he  began  the  services,  my  attention  was 
powerfully  arrested.  In  his  prayer  before  the  sermon  there 
was  a  comprehensiveness,  a  fervor,  a  deep-toned  piety,  a  lofty 
eloquence,  a  something  in  the  voice  and  manner  that  almost 
seemed  unearthly.  He  began  his  sermon.  There  was  no 
halting  or  stumbling,  no  straining  for  words  or  ideas,  but  an 
uninterrupted  and  unhesitating  flow  of  pure  classical  language. 
His  personal  appearance,  and  the  sepulchral  tones  of  his  voice, 
doubtless,  added  something  to  the  effect  of  his  fervid  elo- 
quence ;  but  when  he  superadded  to  the  force  of  his  own  pow- 
erful language  quotations  from  some  of  the  most  thrilling 
passages  of  Milton  and  Young,  my  hair  almost  stood  on  end  ; 
and  when  he  closed  his  discourse;  I  no  longer  doubted  of  his 
eloquence  as  a  preacher. 
47 


738  EEV.   WM.  H.  BAKE,  ».  D.  [1840-1850. 

Dr.  Barr  had  gone  over  into  Lincoln  County,  Ga.,  to  assist 
one  of  his  brethren.  The  communion'  .service  had  been  pro- 
tracted, and  it  was  getting  late  in  the  evening,  when  Dr.  Barr 
arose  to  preach  the  usual  closing  sermon.  A  gentleman,  who 
resided  a  good  many  miles  from  the  church,  was  rendered 
very  uneasy  by  the  unexpected  claim  upon  him.  But  the 
preacher  arrested  his  attention ;  everything  but  the  preacher 
and  his  sarmon  was  forgotton,  and,  to  use  liis  own  words,  "he 
might  have  preached  on  until  pitch  dark,  and  I  should  never 
have  thought  of  moving. " 

As  a  preacher,  I  am  not  sure  that  I  have  ever  heard  his 
equal.  But  his  style  of  preaching  was  so  unique — so  unlike 
that  of  the  best  educated  divines  of  the  present  day,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  compare  him  with  them.  His  sermons  occupied 
from  thirty  to  thirty-five  minutes  in  the  delivery.  They  were 
well  studied,  but  not  written  out ;  and  he  was,  without  ex- 
ception, the  most  perfectly  correct"  extemporaneous  speaker 
I  have  ever  heard.  I  do  not  think  I  ever  heard  him  utter  an 
ungrammatical  sentence,  or  hesitate  an  instant.  His  sen- 
tences were  short — never  complexr  and  involved.  But  his 
pronunciation  was  sometimes  awful.  As  an  instance,  he  fre- 
quently used  the  word  "  satiety,  "  and  invariably  pronounced 
it  "  sash-ity."  But  he  always  used  the  most  appropriate  and 
expressive  language. 

His  power  of  condensation  was  very  great.  He  never 
wasted  the  powers  of  his  body  or  the  energies  of  his  mind  on 
unimportant  topics.  Hi's  definitions  were  peculiarly  precise 
and  satisfactory  ;  his  illustrations  from  the  practices  of  the 
ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  were  always  pertinent  and  inter- 
esting. He  stood,  with  the  hundred  eyes  of  Argus,  at  the 
portals  of  orthodoxy,  and  his  arm  never  wearied  in  belabor- 
ing error.  Yet  his  weapons  were  aimed,  not  at  his 
foes,  but  their  principles,  He  taught  the  doctrines  of  Calvin, 
\yithout  assailing  Arminians.  He  was  not  a  Calvinist  in  the- 
ory, and  an  Arminian  in  practice;  but,  out-and-out,  a  whole- 
souled,  old-school  Calvinistic  Presbyterian. 

He  was  furiously  and  irreconcilably  opposed  to  dancing. 
Indeed,  his  hostility  to  this  species  of  amusement  almost 
amounted  to  a  monomania.  He  found  a  positive  denunci- 
ation in  the  New  Testament  against  this  amusement,  in  the 
word  translated  "  revellings. "  The  original  word,  he  said, 
was  "  koinoi,      and  was  taken  from  the  feast  of  Comus.     On 


1840-1850.]  CH.  C.  H.  BOWIE  ON   DR.    BARR.  739 

a  certain  occasion  there  had  been  a  ball  in  the  village,  and  a 
lady  from  the  country,  who  had  been  present,  reported,  as 
she  believed,  but  falsely,  as  the  fact  was,  that  another  lady,  a 
member  of  the  Doctor's  church,  and  one  whom  he  greatly 
esteemed,  had  been  at  the  ball.  The  Doctor,  with  his  heart 
full  of  sorrow,  instantly  mounted  his  horse,  and  rode  to  her 
residence.  He  was  invited  to  take  a  seat  in  the  parlor,  and 
the  lady  sat  before  him.  It  was  a  strict  confessional,  for  none 
else  was  present.  The  Doctor's  face,  never  short,  seemed  to 
be  longer  than  usual.  He  groaned  audibly,  and  began : 
"  Well,  S.,  I  have  heard  something  about  you  that  has  pained 
me  to  the  heart,  and  I  have  come  down  to  talk  to  you  about 
it.  "  Here  the  lady  found  herself  trembling  all  over.  "  Please 
■inform  me  what  it  is, ".  said  she.  "I  have  been  told  that  you 
were  at  the  ball  the  other  night.  "  "  Then  you  have  been 
told  what  is  not  true,"  she  replied,  "What!"  said  he,  his 
countenance  lighting  up,  and  his  face  recovering  its  usual 
longitude,  "  is  it  indeed  true  that  you  were  not  there  ?  "  "  It  ' 
is  true, ''  said  she  "  tha.t  I  was  not  there,  and  never  had  a 
thought  of  being  there. "  "Well,  I  am  truly  rejoiced;  you 
have  lifted  a  load  off  my  heart, "  replied  he,  "  and  I  shall 
go  home  satisfied.  "  The  lady  then  requested  to  know  the 
name  of  the  informer,  but  he  steadily  refused  to  give  it,  say- 
ing it  would  do  her  no  good  to  know  it,  and  that  she  had 
better  remain  in  ignorance  on  that  point.  He  was  a  man 
of  peace. 

Some  have  expressed  .surprise  and  regret  that  no  Sabbath- 
school  was  ever  organized  in  his  church,  and  he  has  been 
supposed  to  have  been  unfriendly  to  that  beneficent  institu- 
tion ;  but  it  IS  not  true  that  he  was  ever  opposed  to  the  prin- 
ciple and  substance  of  the  institution.  His  was  a  very  large 
country  congregation,  covering  more  than  ten  miles  square  of 
territory.  The  population  within  his  bounds  was  almost 
wholly  Presbyterian,  and  the  children  received  faithful  parental 
instruction  at  home.  Although  there  was  no  Sabbath-school, 
eo  nomine,  in  his  church,  the  religious  instruction  of  the  young 
was  by  no  means  neglected.  In  the  spring  and  summer 
months,  from  May  till  October,  the  Doctor  instructed  a  class 
in  McDowe  I's  Bible  questions,  and  a  more  advanced  Bible 
class,  every  Sabbath  before  the  morning  service.  These  exer- 
cises were  very  instructive,  so  much  so  that  the  attention  of 
the  whole  congregation,  old  and  young,  was  attracted  to 
them. 


740  EEV.  WM.   H.   BARB,   D.   D.  [1840-1850. 

By  some  he  has  been  blartied  for  his  supposed  opposition 
to  what  are  commonly  called  revivals,  and  revival  preaching. 
If  it  were  so,  the  evils  of  what  has  been  called  "  the  gteat 
revival"  of  the  first  few  years  of  the  present  century,  might  be 
cited  as  a  cause  well  calculated  to  produce  such  views.  By 
this  wonderful  convulsion  of  the  moral  and  religious  elements 
of  society,  unparalleled  in  modern  times,  he,  as  well  as  all 
other  prudent  and  thinking  men,  was  painfully  convinced  of 
the  dreadful  extremes  to  which  the  human  mind  may  be  car- 
ried under  the  influence  of  fanaticism,  inflamed  by  mere  ani- 
mal excitement.  That  the  extraordinary  work  alluded  to  was, 
in  some  sort,  connected  with  religious  feeling  ;  and  that  there 
were  some,  possibly  many,  genuine  conversions  during  the 
progress,  no  one  ever  doubted.  Dr.  Barr  himself  once  told 
the  writer,  that  to  such  excesses  had  this  maniac  excitement 
led  some  very  susceptible,  but  unthinking  men,  that  a  whole 
church  in  North  Carolina  abandoned  the  use  of  wine  in  the 
communion  service,  and  substituted  in  itsplaceateamadefrom 
wljat  is  familliarly  known  by  the  name  of  cross-vine\ — influ- 
enced, doubtless,  by  a  fancied  likeness  to  the  cross  of  our 
Saviour. 

He  believed  that  so  far  as  the  services  of  the  pulpit  are 
concerned,  and  not  discarding  the  other  Scriptural  means  of 
grace,  the  faithful  preaching  of  che  sublime  truths  of  the  Gos- 
pel, with  the  fervent  presentation  of  the  motives  and  sanctions 
of  our  holy  religion,  was  all  that  was  either  necessary  or 
proper  for  the  conversion  of  sinners.  That  urging  upon  the 
impenitent  any  considerations  or  motives  not  expressly  set 
forth  in,  or  fairly  deducible  from  the  word  of  God,  was,  (to 
use  a  legal  phrase)  "  travelling  out  of  the  record,"  and  im- 
proper. He  w.as,  therefore,  decidedly  opposed  to  what  he 
was. in  the  habit  of  calling  "  mechanical  means"  to  get  up  an 
excitement  at  religious  meetings — and  he  seriously  distrusted 
the  genuineness  of  conversions  where  such  means  were  used, 
and  followed  by  what  he  deemed  their  natural  result,  inei-e 
physical  excitement.  He  was,  therefore,  not  favorable  to  camp 
meetings,  where  he  believed  such  objectionable  means  were 
but  too  apt  to  be  resorted  to.  But  it  is  not  true  that  he  was 
opposed  to  revivals. 

We  were  riding  together  one  day,  when  our  conversation 
turned  upon  this  subject.  After  giving  his  views  very  fully 
and  freely  on  the  subject  of  revivals  (so   called),  I   remarked 


1840-1850.]  BEADAWAY — BETHESDA.  741 

to  him  that  although  he  had  never  had  any  great  external 
exhibition  of  religious  excitement  in  his  church,  I  did  not 
think  he  had  any  cause  for  discouragement  ;  that  I  had  been 
a  close  and  somewhat  interested  observer,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
that  he  had  hac^a  steady  and  not  discouraging  increase  of  his 
church  membership  ever  since  he  had  been  the  pastor  of  that 
people.  "Yes,"  cried  he,  with  much  warmth  and  animation, 
"  since  I  have  preached  to  this  congregation,  novv  about  twen- 
ty-five years,  there  have  been  added  to  the  church  an  average, 
of  about  fourteen  new  members  every  year;  we  have  had  a 
continued  revival."  And  I  will  add,  that  I  do  not  recollect  a, 
single  instance  in  which  any  of  those  who  joined  his  church 
during  that  time  were  ever  subjected  to  church  discipline,  or 
in  the  eyes  of  the  church  or  the  world  disgraced  their  profes- 
sion by  an  ungodly  walk. 

.  Bradaway. — This  is  the  ancient  orthography  of  the  name 
of  this  church  from  its  first  appearance  on  the  records  of 
Presbytery,  March  i8,  1758,  (History,  Vol.  i,  p  558)  down  to 
the  year  1833,  when  it  first  appears  in  the  Statistical  Tables 
as  Rroadaway .  In  1840,  Wm.  H.  Harris  was  its  stated  sup- 
ply. In  1 84 1,  it  was  vacant,  with  forty  members.  In  1842, 
Wm.  Carlisle  was  its  stated  supply,  in  connection  with  Fair- 
view  and  Midway.  In  1846,  he  was  pastor  of  Bradaway, 
with  a  membership  of  thirty-seven,  and  stated  supply  of 
Midway. 

In  1848,  1849,  1850,  he  was  pastor  of  Bradaway,  and  stated 
supply  of  Midway  and  Roberts,  and  the  same  in  1850.  The 
Elders  of  the  church,  in  1842,  were,  James  Telford,  George 
B.  Telford,  J.  Warnock,  Sen.  In  1845,  the  Elders  were,  Q. 
B.  Telford,  Thomas  Erskine,  J.  H.  Telford,  James  Todd. 

Bejhesda  (Abbeville),  which  was  the  successor  of  the 
Smyrna  Church,  a  portion  of  the  charge  of  Father  Dickson,  men- 
tioned on  a  former  page,  was  perpetuated  for  some  years.  It 
was  first  served  by  Rev.  S.  Donnelly,  as  stated  supply,  and  at 
intervals  by  others.  It  has  often  been  written  down  as  vacant 
in  the  Statistical  Tables,  until  it  disappeared  from  the  records. 
It  had  eleven  members  in  1845,  1846  and  1847, and  twelve  in 
1863. 

Bethesda  was  reported  by  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  on  the  27th 
of  April,  1843,  as  consisting  of  ten  members  and  two  Elders. 
It  was  taken  at  that  time  under  the  care  of  Presbytery.  [Ms. 
Minutes,  p  208.]  Rev.  J.  C.  Williams  was  its  stated  supply  in 
1847,  1848  and  1849. 


742  VARENNES — NORTH  PACOLET.  [1840-1850. 

Nazareth  (Spartanburg.) — The  Rev.  Edward  Tonge  Buist 
was  received  by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  from 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1839. 
On  the  3d  of  October,  Nazareth  Church  obtained  leave  to 
employ  him  as  stated  supply  for  half  his  time»  until  the  next 
meeting  of  Presbytery.  On  the  26th  of  April,  1844,  the  pas- 
toral relation  was  dissolved  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Buist  on 
account  of  his  failing  health.  At  the  same  meeting  of  Pres- 
bytery, Mr.  Z.  L.  Holmes,  who  had  just  been  received  as  a 
licentiate  from  Charleston  Presbytery,  was  called  for  one-half 
of  his  pastoral  labors,  and  measures  were  taken  by  Presby- 
tery for  his  ordination  and  installation.  Presbytery  met  at 
Nazareth  on  the  29th  of  June.  Rev.  Edwin  Cater  preached 
the  sermon,  Rev.  Sam'l  B.  Lewers  presided  and  proposed  the 
usual  questions,  and  gave  the  charge  to  the  pastor,  the  Rev. 
G.  W.  Boggs  to  the  people,  and  Rev.  Z.  L.  Holmes  took  his 
seat  in  Presbytery  as  a  member  of  the  same.  He  had  sup- 
plied the  church  for  one  year  previous  to  his  ordination,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  R.  W.  Reid.  His  health  failing, 
he  was  released  from  his  charge.  The  Rev.  E.  T.  Buist,  who 
had  removed  his  residence  to  Greenville,  resumed  the  supply 
cf  the  Nazareth  Church  as  before,  and  continued  it  for  five 
years.  He  supplied,  also,  during  this  period,  Mount  Tabor 
and  Fairview  churches  some  portion  of  his  time.  The  Rev, 
Robert  H.  Reid  was  not  installed  pastor  of  Nazareth-  Church 
till  on  the  24th  of  September,  1853. 

The  Elders  of  Nazareth  Church,  in  1842,  were  J.  B.  Col- 
lins, James  N.  Gaston,  J.  N.  Hadden,  Andrew  Barry,  Samuel 
N.  Evans. 

Communicants,  in  1850,  146. 

Varennes. — From  the  Statistical  Tables  we  learn  thafc  this 
church  was  vacant  in  1842,  and  dependent,  therefore,  upon 
temporary  and  occasional  supplies  ;  that  in  1843,  '^  was  sup^' 
plied  by  Rev.  Dr.  Lindsay.  In  1845,  and  onward  to  185 1,  it 
was  supplied  by  Rev.  Wm.  McWhorter,  its  membership  va- 
rying from  thirty  to  thirty -six.  Its  Elders,  in  1845,  were  J. 
D.  Gaillard,  Dr.  Math,  Thompiion  and  Thomas  Pennel. 

The  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  met  at  this  church  on' 
the  1st  of  October,  1846. 

North  Pacolet. — This  church  was  reported  as  vacant  du- 
ring this  period.  In  1840,  its  membership  is  set  down  as 
thirty;  in  1845,  as  thirty-five. 


1840-1850.]  CAEMEL — PICKENS.  743 

In  1840,  they  were  supplied  with  the  ordinance.s  of  worship 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Curtis,  under  whose  ministry  J.  Finder  and  his 
wife,  and  R.  W.  Clark  united  with  the  church.  J.  Finger  and 
R.  W.  Clark  were  also  elected  Elders.  In  1846,  they  were 
supplied  by  Rev.  C.  B.  Stewart,  and  P.  H.  Folker.  In  1847. 
by  Rev.  Z.  L.  Holmes,  for  six  months.  In  1849,  ^Y  I^^v. 
A.  A.  Morse,  during  whose  ministry  C.Jackson  and  J.  McFar- 
land,  became  members  of  the  church.  In  1845,  their  Elders 
were,  William  Jackson,  Anthony  F.  Jackson,  Robt.  W.  Clark, 
and  Joseph  Finger. 

Carmel  Church  (Pickens  Dist.) — The  Rev.  J.  L.  Kennedy, 
who  had  succeeded  Rev.  A.  W.  Ross,  in  1836,  as  the  stated 
supply  of  this  church,  continued  in  this  relation.  In  1850, 
its  communicants  are  set  down  as  sixty-six,  in  the  Statistical 
Tables.  The  Elders  were,  Wm.  McMurray,  Thos.  G.  Boggs, 
James  Smith  and  D.  K.  Hamilton,  in  1843.  The  names  of 
Thomas  Hamilton  and  Capt.  W.  Mullikin  appear  in  1845. 

Deacons  :  W.  H.  Ford,  T.  M.  Glenn,  I.  M.  Smith. 

Pickens  Church  (old)  was  the  only  church  of  any  denom- 
ination organized  at  the  town  of  Pickens  C.  H.,  the  county 
site  of  Pickens  District,  during  the  forty  years  of  its  exist- 
ence, viz,  from  1828  to  1868,  and  during  that  period  no  Clerk, 
Sheriff,  Ordinary,  or  Commissioner  in  Equity  was  a  member 
of  any  church,  except  the  first  Ordinary,  who  resided  thirteen 
miles  from  the  C.  H.,  and  was  required  to  attend  his  office 
only  on  Mondays  and  Fridays. 

Samuel  R.  McFall  and  James  George,  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Anderson  County,  removed  thence  to 
Pickens  C.  H.,  and  soon  thereafter,  "agreeable  to  previous 
notice,"  Rev.  Messrs.  Joseph  Hillhouse,  David  Humphreys, 
and  Joseph  B.  Hillhouse  met  and  organized  fourteen  persons 
into  the  "Pickens  Church,"  of  whom  only  two,  Messrs.  Sam- 
uel R.  McFall,  and  James  George  were  males,  and  were 
elected  Ruling  Elders:  the  latter,  from  his  modesty,  declined 
to  be  ordained  until  31st  March,  1850. 

The  females,  outside  of  the  two  families  mentioned,  bore 
the  historic  names  of  Reid,  Steele,  Craig,  Alexander  and 
Price. 

Good  Hope  and  Roberts. — Rev.  David  Humphreys  con- 
tinues the  history  of  these  churches,  which  we  would  gladly 
quote  in  full  did  our  limits  allow.  From  it  and  the  memorial 
sermon  of  the   Rev.  John  McLees  we  gather  the  following 


744  GOOD  HOPE  AHD  ROBERTS.  [1840-1850, 

particulars,  viz:  That  in  1842  Mr.  Humphreys  left  Roberts 
Church  vacant,  and  became  the  stated  supply  at  Andersort 
C.  H.  for  half  his  time,  until  1850.  He  never  ceased  to  supply 
Good  Hope  Church.  He  was  called  to  it  again  and  installed 
pastor  in  November,  1846,  for  half  his  time,  with  a  salary  of 
;g200.  The  Rev.  W.  H.  Harris  supplied  Roberts  Church  frorri 
April,  1842,  to  October,  1844,  which  was  two  years  and  six 
months.  It  was  supplied  from  that  time  to  March,  1845, 
about  six  months,  by  Rev.  J.  C.  Williams.  It  was  next  sup- 
plied for  about  the  same  length  of  time  by  Rev.  Joseph 
Gibert.  In  1846,  Rev.  W.  Carlisle  became  the  stated  supply, 
and  continued  so  till  about  1850,  the  space  of  four  years.  The 
membership  of  this  church  varied  during  these  years  from 
fifty-six  to  sixty-two.  The  elders  in  1842  were  Thomas  Hen- 
der.son,  David  Simpson,  J.  J.  McLees,  J.  McLees,  and  J. 
McCay. 

The  average  membership  in  Good  Hope  was  somewhat 
over  one  hundred  and  twelve  in  full  communion,  the  total  of 
communicants  varying  from  one  hundred  and  seven  to  one 
hundred  and  seventeen  in  dififerent  years. 

Camp  meetings  were  kept  np,  especially  at  Good  Hope^ 
where  a  large  framed  arbor  was  erected,  and  families  from 
contiguous  churches  erected  comfortable  shelters.  They  were 
seasons  usually  of  peculiar  privilege.  Measures  were  taken 
also  in  both  the  churches  to  instruct  the  young  in  Bible  classes 
and  Sabbath  schools,  and  by  the  aid  of  libraries  suited  to 
instruct  and  interest  those  passing  through  the  forming  period 
of  their  lives. 

As  the  result,  besides  other  valuable  men  in  the  church, 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  Mr.  Humphreys,  God  had  raised  up, 
before  he  was  called  away  from  earth,  from  the  churches  of 
Good  Hope  and  Roberts,  nine  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and 
three  candidates  for  the  ministry.  From  Roberts  Church, 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Wm.  C.  McElroy,  Wm.  H.  Harris,  John 
McLees,  Robert  McLees,  J.  S.  Willbanks,  D.  W.  Humphreys 
and  Hugh,  McLees,  with  the  candidates,  J.  A.  McLees,  L.  A. 
Simpson  and  T.  H.  Cunningham.  "  Of  these  ministers,"  says 
Rev.  John  McLees,  from  whom  we  quote  these  words,  "  the 
Rev.  Messrs.  McE^lroy,  Harris,  and  R.  McLees,  have  cea.sed 
from  their  labors,  and  gone,  before  their  venerable  pastor,  to 
receive  their  reward."  "  From  Good  Hope  Church  the  Rev. 
Messrs.  Robt.  H.  Reid,  and  Isaac  J.  Long,  who  are  both  active. 


1840-1850.]  EEV.  MR.  HUMPHREYS.  745 

and  efficient  ministers  of  the  gospel ;  the  former  pastor  of 
Nazareth  Church,  in  Spartanburg,  South  Carolina,  and  the 
latter  at  Batesville,  Arkansas."  And  now,  as  we  copy  these 
words,  the  hand  that  first  penned  them  is  returning  to  dust, 
and  the  voice  that  plead  so  earnestly  with  dying  smners  is 
silent  in  death.  The  Rev.  John  McLees,  "  whose  name  in  the 
South  Carolina  Presbytery  will  ever  be  the  synonym  of  all 
that  is  pure,  lovely  and  Christ-like,"  died  at  his  home  in 
Greenwood,  on  the  6th  of  June,  1882.  Yet  a  son  of  his  is  in 
the  Seminary  now,  in  1883, and  there  may  be  others  elsewhere 
preparing  for  the  ministry  from  these  same  churches. 

But  to  return  to  the  Rev,  Mr.  Humphreys,  of  whom  he 
wrote : 

"  In  his  own  Presbytery,  owing  to  the  earnestness,  honesty, 
frankness,  and  truthfulness  of  his  character,  his  influence  was 
well  nigh  unbounded.  Some  of  his  friends  were  accustomed 
to  say  to  him,  half  seriously,  and  half  in  jest :  '  South  Caro- 
lina Presbytery  always  does  whatever  you  say.'  To  one  such 
who  teased  him  for  the  reason  why  his  own  motions  were 
often  lost,  while  Father  H.'s  were  so  generally  sustained,  he 
answered  with  a  smile  :  '  Well,  I  never  propose  anything  but 
what  is  backed  by  common  sense,'  He  was  sure  to  be  dis- 
quieted whenever  a  Presbytery's  time  was  consumed  in  what 
he  regarded  as  useless  discussion.  On  such  occasions  he 
would  be  apt  to  cry  :  '  You  are  burning  daylight ;  '  or,  '  The 
thing  is  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  nly  face.'  The  following 
characteristic  anecdote  of  Mr.  Humphreys  was  often  told  by 
the  eminent  Chancellor  Job  Johnstone,  who  knew  and  loved 
him  well.  On  a  certain  occasion,  when  the  Presbytery  had 
been  wearied  by  a  long  and  unimportant  debate,  and  was  all 
in  confusion,  and  the  moderator  quite  at  a  loss  what  eour.se  to 
pursue,  this  venerated  and  earnest  leader  jumped  to  his  feet, 
crying  aloud:  'Fiddle-faddle!  fiddle-faddle!!  What  is  all 
this  long  talking  about  ?  Those  of  you  who  are  in  favor  of 
this  motion,  say  aye  ! '  And  many  obediently  answered  aye  ! 
'  Now,  those  of  you  who  are  opposed  to  this  motion,  say  no  ! ' 
And  some  answered  no !  '  There  now,'  said  he,  '  it  is  all 
settled.     Moderator,  you  can  go  on  to  the  next  business.'  " 

"  He  claimed  no  eminent  abilities  as  a  scholar  or  as  an  elo- 
quent speaker.  His  manner  was  plain  and  unaffected  ;  his 
style  was  simple,  yet  earnest ;  his  heart  was  sincere  .  and  his 
life  consistent ;  his  disposition  was   cheerful,  and   his   labors 


746  gilder's  creek.  [1840-1850. 

were  abundant.  Two  weak  churches  have  grown  up  under 
his  fosteriijg  care  to  rank  with  the  largest  in  the  Presbytery. 

He  fell  with  his  armor  on.  He  assisted  the  Rev.  W.  F. 
Pearson  in  a  communion  meeting  at  Varennes,  on  the  second 
Sabbath  in  September.  The  Spirit  of  God  was  present;  a 
number  of  persons  were  inquiring  what  they  must  do  to  be 
saved.  On  Monday,  Father  Humphreys  preached  from  i  Tim, 
i.  15  :  "  This  is  a  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation, 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I 
am  chief."  His  illustrations  were  so  clear,  and  his  appeals  so 
tender  and  earnest,  that  some  present  regarded  the  sermon  as 
one  of  the  best  they  ever  heard  him  preach.  It  was  his  last 
sermon.  He  was  taken  ill  that  night  and  suffered  extreme 
pain.  In  a  few  days  he  had  reached  home,  but  it  was  only  to 
die.  He  grew  worse  every  day.  In  one  of  his  paroxysms  of 
pain,  he  said  :  '  There  is  a  storm  without,  but  all  is  calm  and 
peaceful  within.  The  waves  are  rising  high ;  but  I  am  rest- 
ing secure  on  the  Rock  of  Ages.  I  have  never  regretted  tak- 
ing the  step  which  I  took  in  early  life.  I  have  ever  found  the 
Saviour  faithful  to  his  promises.  He  hks  never  deceived  rtie. 
He  is  my  wisdom  and  righteousness,  and  sanctification  and  re- 
demption.' These  words  were  distinctly  heard  ;  then  his 
voice  grew  faint  and  indistinct.  A  short  time  before  he  died, 
he  again  spoke  audibly,  and  said  :  '  All  is  well;  I  shall  soon 
enter  the  green  pastures,  and  walk  by  still  waters  which  the 
Saviour  has  prepared  for  me."  He  spoke  no  more,  though  he 
retained  his  reason  to  the  last." 

Gilder's  Creek. — In  the  fall  of  1845  a  call  was  presented, 
as  we  have  seen,  to  the.  Rev.  E.  F.  Hyde  from  the  three 
churches  of  Aveleigh,  Smyrna  and  Gilder's  Creek,  to  become 
their  pastor,  one-half  his  time  being  given  to  Aveleigh,  and 
the  rest  to  the  other  two.  This  arrangement  continued  till 
the  summer  of  1848.  The  three  churdhes  were  again  left  va- 
cant, receiving  only  occasional  supplies,  until  October,  1849, 
when  Wm.  B.  Telford,  a  licentiate  of  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  was  called  to  become  their  pastor,  and  was  ordained 
and  in!3talled  on  the  8th  of  June,  1850,  as  is  elsewhere  men- 
tioned. The  elders  of  Gilder's  Creek,  in  1845,  were  William 
Mars,  William  Beard  and  Hiram  Glasgow.  The  membership 
in  1840,  was  18  ;  in  1845,  was  17  ;  in  1878,  18. 

The  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  met  in  this  church  on  the 
23d  of  April,  1845,  and  during  their  session,  the   Rev.   E.  F. 


1840-1850.]  SPAETANBURG^MT.  TABOR.  747 

Hyde  was  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Measures 
were  taken  for  the  ordination  of  C.  B.  Stuart ;  and  George  W. 
Boggs,  J.  B.  Hillhouse,  John  McLees  and  S.  S.  Gaillard  were 
licensed  to  preach  the  gospel.  All  these  young  brethren  were 
graduates  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia 

The  elders  in  this  church,  in  1845,  were  William  Mars, 
William  Beard  and  Hiram  Glasgow. 

The  Spartanburg  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized 
on  the  fifth  Sabbath  in  August,  1843,  by  the  Rev.  S.  B.  Lew- 
ers.  The  members  at  first  were  but  eight  in  number.  When 
reported  to  Prqsbytery  at  its  meeting  at  Rocky  River,  on  the 
25th  of  April,  1844,  they  were  twelve.  T.  B.  Collins  and  A. 
C.  Jackson  were  their  elders.  Z.  L.  Holmes,  then  a  licentiate 
of  Charleston  Presbytery,  had  been  preaching  during  the  win- 
ter before  the  church  was  organized.  Mr.  Holmes  was  re- 
ceived under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  on 
the  26th  of  April,  and  at  the  same  time  received  a  call  through 
the  Presbytery  from  Nazareth  Church,  for  half  his  time.  This 
being  accepted,  he  was  ordained  and  installed  at  Nazareth, 
Rev.  Edwin  Cater  preaching  the  sermon.  Rev.  S.  B.  Lewers 
presiding  and  giving  the  charge  to  the  pastor,  and  Rev.  G. 
W.  Boggs  to  the  people.  The  ordination  took  place  at  the 
Nazareth  Church,  but  Mr.  Holmes  sdrved  this  infant  church 
also  a  part  of  his  charge.  T.  B.  Collins  and  A.  C.  Jackson 
were  its  original  elders,  Samuel  Farrow  was  re-elected  as  an 
elder  in  this  church,  having  already  served  in  this  office  else- 
where. The  church  edifice  was  completed  in  1845.  On  the 
17th  of  July,  1847,  A.  G.  Campbell,  elder  at  Liberty  Spring, 
removed  to  Spartanburg,  and  was  elected  an  elder  here.  Dr. 
Samuel  Farrow  removed  in  1848.  In  1847,  Rev.  Z,  L.  Holmes 
resigned  his  pastorship,  in  consequence  of  ill  health,  and  was 
succeeded  by  A.  A.  Morse,  then  a  licentiate,  who 'remained 
but  a  short  time. .  Application  was  then  made  to  Mr.  Gail- 
lard, of  Greenville,  who  kindly  supplied  the  church  once  in 
two  weeks  until  a  call  could  be  made  out  for  the  services  of  A. 
A.  James,  then  a  licentiate  of  Bethel  Presbytery,  who  served 
this  church,  as  a  supply,  for  half  his  time.  [Letter  of  Elder 
T.  B.  Collins,  Feb.  15,1853.] 

Mount  Tabor  (Greenville  Dist.)  was  taken  under  the 
care  of  Presbytery,  October  7,  1841.  It  had  been  organized 
by  Rev.  E.  T.  Buist,  and  consisted  of  three  elders  and  twenty- 
five  communicants.     It  was  "  ordered  that  Brother   Buist  be 


748  ANTIOCH.  [1840-1850. 

continued  with  them  (at  their  request^)  as  a  Supply."  Min- 
utes of  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  vol.  2,  p.  172.  The 
elders  were  John  Smith,  J.  H.  Dickson  and  Nathaniel  Smith, 
October  4th,  1845.     Total  membership,  in  1845,  was  35. 

Antioch  Church  is  a  branch  of  Nazareth  Church,  and 
was  organized  on  the  17th  day  of  Aug.ust,  1843,  in  Spartan- 
burg District,  South  Carolina,  near  Cashville  P.  O.,  by  the 
Rev.  Wm.  Carlisle,  in  connection  with  the  general  assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  one  ruling  Elder,  viz :  Robert 
Blakely,  and  twenty-three  members,  all  of  whom  were  dis- 
missed from  Nazareth  Church  for  that  purpose,  except  two, 
who  were  from  Fair  View  Church.  Soon  after  the  organiza- 
tion, Wm.  Leonard  and  John  Anderson  were  elected  and  or- 
dained Ruling  Elders  in  this  Church.  In  the  fall  of  1844 
James  Anderson  and  Ashbel  Peden  were  elected  and  ordained 
deacons  of  the  Church.  In  May,  1850,  A.  C.  Jackson,  a  Rul- 
ing Elder  from  Nazareth  Church,  was  received,  by  certificate, 
into  thi^  Church  and  elected  a  Ruling  Elder  at  the  sessions  of 
fall  Presbytery,  1844,  the  Church  secured  the  services  of  Rev. 
John  McKittrick,  as  stated  supply,  who  continued  to  labor  in 
that  capacity  with  general  acceptance  to  the  Church  and  con^r 
gregation,  until  the  fall  of  1853,  at  which  time  he  removed  to 
the  State  of  Georgia,  within  the  bounds  of  Flint  River  Presby- 
tery. Mr.  McKittrick  was  born  in  Newberry  District,  after 
which  his  parents  removed  to  Laurens  District,  where  he  grew 
up,  and  was  taken  under  the  patronage  of  Rev.  Hugh  Dick- 
son, who  educated  him  for  the  ministry  under  the  care  of 
the  South  Carolina  Presbytery,  where  he  was  licensed  and 
afterwards  ordained  to  the  gospel  ministry.  During  Mr.  Mc- 
Kittrick's  term  of  labor  in  Antioch  Church,  the  whole  number 
of  members  increased  to  56,  which  number  has  been  reduced 
to  44,  by  dismissions,  deaths,  etc.  The  Church  at  present  is 
su  jplied  with  preaching  by  Rev.  J.  Watt,.  Montgomery,  a 
licentiate  from  Orange  Presbytery,  North  Carolina,  who  is 
laboring  in  Spartanburg  District,  as  domestic  missionary,  by 
the  direction  of  tlie  South  Caro  ina  Presbytery. 

The  following  is  a  roll  of  members  who  organized  the 
Church: 

Robert  Blakely  and  wife,  Catherine  Blakely,  Samuel  Pear- 
son and  wife,  Elizabeth  Pearson,  Elizabeth  Anderson,  Eliza- 
beth Leonard,  Denney  Anderson  and  wife,  Elizabeth  Ander- 
son, James  Anderson,  Jr.  and  wife,  Margaret  Anderson,  Wm. 


1840-1850.]  ANDERSON — MIDMtAY — ■tlOPEWELL.  749 

Leonard  and  wife,  Mary  Leonard,  Alex.  Wakefield  and  wife, 
Sarah  Wakefield,  Margaret  Peden,  Martha  Westmoreland,  John 
Anderson  and  wife,  Nancy  Anderson,  John  Coan  and  wife, 
Margaret  L.  Coan,  Ashbel  Peden,  Mary  Peden,  Rebecca  Ben- 
nett.    31  members. 

Anderson  Church. — The  Rev.  C.  W.  Martin  supplied  this 
church  till  July,  1841,  when  he  retired  on  account  of  ill 
health,  and  soon  afterwards  died.  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer  occupied 
the  pulpit  till  September,  1841,  when  he  was  called  to  Savan- 
nah. On  December  20th,  Rev.  David  Humphrey  was  invited 
to  supply,  and  did  so  until  1850. 

The  Elders  in  1845  were  J.  N.  Whitner,  A.  O.  Norris,  Wm. 
Harrison,  Samuel  R.  McFall.    The  membership  in  1850  was  71. 

Midway  (in  Anderson). — Remained  under  the  care  of  Rev. 
Wm.  Carlisle,  as  far  as  we  have  traced  the  Church  down,  i.  e. 
to  1852.  The  Elders  in  1842  were,  J.  Erskine,  J,  Duncan, 
Wm.  Bailey,  L  Todd.  In  1845  they  were  :  J.  W.  Duncan,  W. 
C.  Bailey,  Jas  Erskine.  The  number  of  communicants  in  1850 
was  35. 

Hopewell,  (Keowee)  Pendleton. — The  Rev.  Anthony  W. 
Ross  continued  the  pastor  of  this  Church  until  185  i.  The 
membership  of  the  church,  which  was  209  in  1837-38,  was 
182  in  1840,  88  in  1845  ^^^  7^  through  the  remainder  of  the 
decade.  Early  in  the  next  decade,  T.  L.  McBryde,  D.  D.,  be- 
came their  minister,  who  died  April  the  15th,  1863.^  The 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  thus  notices  his  death. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Livingston  McBryde  was  born  of  Scotch- 
Iri.sh  parents,  Feb.  25th,  1817,  in  Abbeville  District,  S.  C, 
professed  religion  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  Hamburg,  S.  C. 

Having  duly  entered  Franklin  College,  Athens,  Ga.,  he 
graduated  in  his  twentieth  year.  He  studied  Theology  in 
Columbia,  and  was  licensed  by  Harmony  Presbytery,  in  April, 
1839.  He  was  ordained  a  missionary  to  China,  December, 
1839,  by  Charleston  Presbytery,  and  sailed  for  Singapore, 
March,  1840.  His  health  failing,  he  returned  in  1843.  In 
.1846  he  was  installed  pastor  of  Providence  and  Rocky  River 
Churches,  Abbeville  District.  His  health  again  seriously 
failing  and  having  received  a  call  from  Hopewell  Church, 
Pendleton,  he  accepted  this  call  to  a  field  in  a  pure  and  bra- 
cing climate,  in  which  he  labored  untilhis  decease,  April  15th, 
1863,  having  received  from  Erskine  College  the  degree  of 
Doctor  of  Divinity. 


750  GREENVILLE — REV.  HUGH  DICKSON.  [1840-1S50., 

A  living  faith  in  Jesus  -  was  the  principle  in  the  character  of 
our  brother.  To  an  eminent  degree  he  walked  by  faith  and 
not  by  sight.  For  many  years  he  possessed  an  habitual  cer- 
tainty as  to  the  existence  of  that  city  with  foundations  whose 
builder  and  maker  is  God.  He  had  an  assurance  of  his  title 
through  Christ,  to  an  eternal  abode  in  heaven.  He  could  say: 
"  We  know  that  if  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were 
dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens."  He  believed  that  God,  who 
by  a  covenant  had  secured  his  eternal  happiness,  would  secure 
temporal  provisions.  Hence,  he  took  little  thought  for  the 
present  life,  pursuing  a  course,  which  to  the  view  of  unbelief 
appeared  quite  reckless.  But  his  reliance  on  providence  was 
not  disappointed,  and  God,  through  his  people,  took  care  of 
his  widow  and  orphans.  Receiving  an  adequate  support  from 
the  church,  he  unreservedly  devoted  himself  to  ministerial  du- 
ties as  a  ruler  in  God's  house — as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel, 
as  a  shepherd  watching  over,  guiding  and  comforting  his  peo- 
ple. To  perpetuate  his  blessed  memory  we  place  this  brief 
memorial  on  the  records  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina." 

Greenville  Church,  (Abbeville.)  The  venerable  Father 
"  in  the  ministry,  the  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson  applied  to  the  con- 
gregation on  the  nth  of  September,  1846,  for  leave  to  resign 
his  pastoral  office,  on  account  of  his  age  and  increasing  infir- 
mities, having  served  his  people  for  46  years.  The  consent 
of  the  congregation  was  obtained  upon  Mr.  Dickson's  agree- 
ing to  serve  them  until  the  first  of  January,  1847.  The  pas- 
toral relation  was  dissolved  at  the  next  meeting  of  Presbytery. 
Mr.  John  C.  Williams,  a  licentiate,  was  invited  to  officiate  as 
stated  supply  for  one-half  his  time  until  the  meeting  of  Presr 
bytery  in  the  spring.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  state,  that  pre- 
viously, in  April,  1841,  James  Cowan  and  Robert  Brownlee 
were  elected  to  fill  the  ofifice  of  Ruling  Elder  and  Deacon,  in 
place  of  William  Means  and  John  Weatherall,  who  had  re- 
moved from  the  bounds  of  the  congregation,  and  on  the  17th 
of  tlie  same  month  they  were  ordained.  On  March  the  8th, 
1846  James  Brownlee,  was  also  ordained  to  the  office  of  Rul- 
ing Elder.  Mr.  Dickson  continued  to  preach  until  the  1st  of 
January,  1847,  when  his  pastoral  labors  with  the  Greenville 
congregation  closed. 

During  the  last  year  of  his  ministry,  18  members  were 
added  to  the   church   on   examination,   and   5  on  certificate. 


1840-1850.]  EEV.   HUGH    DICKSON.  751 

Notwithstanding  all  the  deaths  and  removals,  which  were 
many,  (only  two  of  the  original  communicants  were  then 
alive),  40  communicants  being  the  original  number;  at  the 
close  there  were  140  and  the  resources  of  the  congregation 
for  its  support  considerably  increased. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  Presbytery,  a  unanimous  call  for 
one-half  of  Mr.  William's  labbrs  was  presented  and  accepted. 
A  meeting  of  Presbytery  was  appointed  for  his  ordination  and 
installation.  Mr.  Dickson  presided,  put  the  usual  questions 
to  candidate  and  people,  made  the  consecrating  prayer,  gave 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship  to  the  newly  ordained  minister, 
and  then  delivered  the  charge."  Those  parts  of  the  ordination 
services  are  usually  distributed  among  several  members  of 
Presbytery. 

"  I  now  close  my  sketch,"  says  this  venerable  man.  "Owing 
to  my  feeble  state,  it  has  been  with  great  difficulty  that  I  have 
gone  through  the  work."  (It  embraced  a  number  of  churches 
of  his  Presbytery).  "  I  believe  it  to  be  substantially  correct, 
but  it  stands  in  great  need  of  polishing.  I  am  unable  to  do 
it.  Dear  Sir,  make  such  use  of  it  as  you  may  think  proper. 
If  it  is  of  any  service  to  the  Zion  of  God,  I  am  amply  com- 
pensated for  niy  labors. 

Yours  in  the  bonds  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 

March  9th,  1853."  HUGH  DICKSON. 

The  preceding  is  a  portion  of  a  letter  of  the  venerable  Hugh 
Dickson,  addressed  to  his  son-in-law  and  successor  in  the 
pastorship.  Rev.  J.C.  Williams,  to  whom  the  author  and  com- 
piler of  this  volume,  had  sent  a  circular,  asking  for  informa- 
tion. He  appealed  to  Father  Dickson,  whose  ministerial  life 
extended  over  so  many  years,  whose  acquaintance  with  the 
churches  of  Northwestern  South  Carolina  had  been  so  exten- 
sive. It  embraces  many  historical  facts,  and  I  have  been 
greatly  indebted  to  it  for  much  that  has  been  written  concern- 
ing the  churches  of  Rocky  Creek,  Long  Cane,  Saluda  (the 
old  name  of  Greenville  Church),  Rocky  River,  Duncan's 
Creek,  Little  River,  Bullock's  Creek,  Hopewell,  Bradaway, 
Hopewell  (Keowee),  Carmel,  Nazareth,  Smyrna.  True  the 
statements  were  brief,  as  they  necessarily  must  be  where 
so  many  points  are  touched  upon  in  a  letter  of  thirty-two 
pages. 


752  REV.   HUGH  DICKSON.  [1840-1850. 

M n  Williams  lexplains  that  there  were  two  places  of  wor- 
ship within  the  bounds  of  the  congregation,  Greenville  Church 
and  Shiloh.  This  had  been  the  case  for  two  or  three  years 
before  the  letter  was  written,  the  services  of  the  pastor  being 
distributed  so  that  Greenville,  the  largest  church,  should  be 
Supplied  three  Sabbaths  in  the  month,  and  Shiloh  should 
have  the  fourth,  and,  if  there  were  five,  the  fifth  Sabbath. 

"  The  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  a  minute  with  re- 
gard to  the  decease  of  our  venerated  brother,  the  Rev.  Hugh 
Dickson,  would  report  the  following  : 

That  in  this  dispensation  of  Providence,  this  Presbytery 
would  recognize  with  profound  reverence  the  operation  of 
God's  hand,  and  bow  with  meek  submission  to  the  Divine 
will  in  the  removal  of  one  of  our  most  aged  and  revered 
members,  and  most  faithful  servants  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  his 
labors  on  earth  to  the  rest  and  blessedness  of  God's  people  in 
mansions  of  glory.  That  while  it  is  sad,  solemn  and  impres- 
sive to  contemplate  the  dissolution  of  one  to  whom  we  have 
been  so  long  bound  by  many  endearing  ties,  with  one  with 
whom  we  have  so  often  taken  sweet  counsel  together  in  the 
Presbytery  and  in  the  house  of  God,  and  from  whose  lips  we 
have  so  often  heard  the  plain,  clear  and  forcible  truths  of  the 
Gospel,  instructing  the  mind,  carrying  conviction  to  the  heart,, 
establishing  and  building  up  believers  and  edifying  the  body 
of  Christ,  yet  would  this  body  desire,  with  gratitude,  to  re- 
cord the  goodness  of  God,  the  father  of  all  mercies,  for  giving 
to  the  world  a  man  so  true-hearted,  a  philanthropist  and 
patriot,  possessed  of  the  true,  genuine  spirit  of  liberty.  But 
especially  is  our  devout  thankfulness  due  to  the  Great  Head 
of  the  Church  for  sparing  so  long  the  usefulness  of  a  minister 
who  was  always  firm  in  the  defence  of  the  truth,  always  earn- 
est in  contending  for  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  Saints, 
rigid  in  his  adherence  to  the  form  of  sound  doctrine,  prover- 
bially punctual  in  his  attention  on  ecclesiastical  judicatories, 
and  remarkably  punctual  in  meeting  all  his  engagements  and 
appointments  for  preaching.  He  labored  for  more  than  fifty- 
two  years  in  the  ministry  of  reconciliation,  to  bring  Others  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  the  obedience  of  the  faith  of 
Jesus  Christ,  thus  leaving  us  a  worthy  example  that  we 
should  not  only  give  ourselves  to  the  Lord,  but  also  to  the 
work  of  the  ministry,  "by  the  will  of  God,"  to  be  instant  in, 


1840-1850.]  NEW    HAEMONY — FAIRVIEAV.  753 

season  and  out  of  season,  till  we  are  called  likewise  to  lay 
aside  our  armor  and  render  our  account  to  our  Great  Leader 
and  Captain,  under  whom  we  serve 

And  in  token  of  our  respect  for  his  character,  this  Presby- 
tery leave  a  blank  page  in  the  book  of  its  records,  on  which 
his  name,  date  of  birth,  age  and  length  of  pastoral  and  minis- 
terial life  shall  be  written. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  blank  page : 

In  memory  of  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  who  was  born  October 
15th,  1772,  was  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel  A.  D.  1800. 
Ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  Greenville  Church,  Abbe- 
ville District,  S.  C,  November  nth,  1801.  Resigned  said 
charge  A.  D.  1846. 

Departed  this  life  July  9th,  1853. 

WM.  McWHORTER,  Chairman. 

New  Harmony  (Abbeville),  was  served  by  Rev,  Wm.  Car- 
lisle in  1840,  in  connection  with  Midway  Church.  In  1841, 
in  connection  with  Midway  and  Fairview,  its  membership  was 
forty-two.  In  1842,  Win.  H.  Harris  was  its  stated  supply. 
In  1846,  Rev.  John  M.  McKittrick  ministered  to  it.  Its  mem- 
bership was  thirty.  Of  these  ten  had  been  received  on  exami- 
nation during  the  year.  In  1847  it  numbered  thirty-four.  In 
1849  it  had  forty  members.  Its  elders  in  1 845  were  David 
Stoddard  and  Robert  Gilleland. 

Fairview  (Greenville  Co). — The  Rev.  William  Carlisle  min- 
istered to  this  church  until  some  tune  in  1844.  His  salary,  for 
half  his  time,  was  ^200.  At  the  Spring  Presbytery,  in  1845, 
Rev  John  McKittrick  became  stated  supply  of  this  church 
for  half  his  time,  at  the  same  salary.  The  membership  of  the 
church  was  149,  in  1843-45.  It  was  141,  in  1846;  135,  in 
1847;  128,  in  1848-50;  in  1862  it  was  148,  of  whom.  19  were 
colored  persons.  The  elders,  in  1845,  were  Adam  Stenhouse, 
Alexander  Thompson  and  James  Dunbar.  Austin  Williams, 
James  E.  Savage,  John  M.  Harrison  and  Alexander  W.  Peden 
were  elected  to  the  eldership  on  the  i8th  of  August  in  1849. 
The  Rev.  Andrew  G.  Peden,  of  Griffin,  Ga.,  originated  in  this 
church  and  cor,gregation. 

From  a  report  of  committee  of  the  church,  James  Dunbar, 
Chairman. 
48 


754  PfiOVlDENCE.  [1840-1850. 

N.  B.  The  committee  wish  it  may  be  noticed  that  Rev. 
James  Templeton,  of  North  Carolina,  preached  next  after  Mc- 
Cosh,  1796.  A  reference,  we  suppose,  to  the  statements  of 
vol.  I,  pp.  546,  547,626.  Then  the  Rev.  Wm.  Williamson, 
of  Virginia.  Then  James  Gilleland,  of  North  Carolina,  1813. 
Then  the  Rev.  Thos.  D.  Baird,  from  Ireland. 

Providence  Chuhch — •(Lowndesville). — This  was  formed, 
as  we  have  seen,  p.  550,  from  the  Rocky  River  Church,  and 
absorbed  another  organization  formed  from  the  same,  and 
known,  while  it  existed,  as  New  Harmony  Church,  of  the 
same  name  with  one  of  the  churches  in  Laurens  District.  As 
the  church  now  exists  it  was  made  up  of  three  elders  and  for- 
ty-one whites,  and  eleven  colored  members  from  Providence, 
as  it  was,  and  one  elder,  sixteen  white,  and  three  colored 
members  from  the  New  Harmony,  we  have  mentioned,  making 
in  all,  four  elders,  fifty-seven  white,  and  fourteen  colored  mem- 
bers, and  was  organized  as  an  individual  church,  proposing  to 
worship  in  the  future  in  a  building  then  being  erected  in 
Lowndesville,  and  to  be  known  in  Presbytery  by  the  name  of 
"  Providence."     Minutes,  p.  188. 

The  people  of  Providence  Church  had  before  this,  and  from 
its  first  organization,  given  of  their  substance,  not  only  for  the 
support  of  the  ordinances  of  the  gospel  in  their  midst,  but  for 
other  benevolent  objects  of  the  day.  They  had  maintained, 
also,  for  twelve  or  fourteen  years,  a  large  and  flourishing 
school,  which  numbered  at  times  some  seventy  scholars,  at 
which  the  usual  branches  were  taught  required  of  young  men 
for  admission  to  college.  Occasionally  the  school  was  mixed, 
having  both  male  and  female  pupils.  At  other  times  sepa- 
rate schools  for  each  sex  were  maintained  at  the  same  time, 
and  both  near  the  same  place. 

On  the  7th  of  October,  1844,  the  churches  of  Rocky  Hill 
and  Providence  obtained  leave  of  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina,  then  in  session  at  Providence  Church,  to  invite  the 
licentiate,  John  D.  Wilson,  of  Harmony  Presbytery,  as  a  stated 
supply,  until  the  next  meeting  of  the  aforesaid  Presbytery  of 
South  Carolina.  Mr.  Wilson  was  accordingly  invited,  and 
this  resulted  in  his  ordination  and  installation  on  the  20th  of 
May,  1843,  as  pastor  of  the  united  churches  of  Rocky  River 
and  Providence.  His  pastorate  was  but  a  brief  one.  In  con- 
sequence of  his  failing  health,  to  the  great  regret  of  the  • 
churches  he    served,    he  was    dismissed    from    his    pastoral 


1840-1850.]  ROCKY  EIVKR  75"5 

charge  at  the  Spring  meeting  of  Presbytery,  in  1843,  The 
ministry  of  this  faithful  student  and  promising  young  servant 
of  theMaster  was  a  brief  one.  He  returned  to  Columbia,  to 
the  home  of  his  mother-in-law,  where  he  lingered  for  a  little 
while.  The  writer  of  these  lines  was  sitting  at  his  bedside. 
"  What  time  is  it  ?"  said  he.  "  It  is  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,"  said  I.  "  It  is  very  dark,"  said  he.  It  was  the 
darkness  of  death.  Thus  passed  away  a  promising  servant  of 
the  Lord,  who  never  postponed  any  duty,  but  was  restless 
till  it  was  done. 

In  July,  of  this  year,  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Boggs  began  to  serve 
them  until,  in  1846,  his  engagement  terminated.  In  the  spring 
of  that  year  the  Rev.  T.  L.  McByrde  preached  to  them  in  the 
same  capacity  until  the  meeting  of  Presbytery,  when  he  be- 
came the  regular  pastor  of  Providence  and  Rocky  River  and 
so  continued  till  the  summer  of  185 1. 

The  statistics  of  the  church  are  as  follows  :  Members  in  1842, 
57  whites,  14  colored;  additions  to  1853,43  whites,  5  col- 
ored ;  total  119.  Dismissions,  31  ;  deaths,  15  ;  of  colored,  6, 
which  being  duly  deducted  leaves  the  membership,  with  the 
four  Elders  and  Deacon,  72. 

The  church  has  contributed  to  the  usual  benevolent  efYbrts 
of  the  church  at  large,  annually,  and  has  kept  up  a  church 
library  for  the  use  of  its  members. 

Its  engagement  with  its  pastor  was  for  half  his  time,  iur 
which  they  have  paid  ^200  to  ^280. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  Carlisle,  Wm.  H.  Harris  and  James  C. 
Cozby,  were  from  the  bounds  of  this  congregation.  (The 
above  furnished  by  F.  H.  Baskin,  clerk  of  session),  November 

IS,  i8S3- 

The  Elders  of  this  Church  in  1842  were:  Robert  Cozby, 
J.  G.  Caldwell,  and  James  Baskins.  The  name  of  A.  Walker 
also  appears  in  1845. 

Rocky  River. — It  will  be  seen  from  the  preceding,  that 
though  the  Rocky  River  Church  is  far  older  than  the  preced- 
ing Church  of  Providence,  and,  indeed,  it  is  its  parent,  its  his- 
tory during  the  period  of  which  we  now  write,  has  been  con- 
current with  that.  Rev.  William  H.  Davis,  Rev.  John  D.  Wil- 
son, whom  the  venerable  Elder  A.  Giles  speaks  of  as  "  one  of 
the  best  young  men,  and  one  of  the  best  young  preachers  he 
ever  knew,"  Rev.  G.  W.  Boggs,  the  Rev.  T.  L.  McBryde,  and 
the    Rev.   Joseph    Gibert    ministered    successively    to    both 


756  WASHINGTON  STREET  (GEEENVILLE).         [1840-1850. 

churches  alike.  The  Rev.  Janie.s  Lewers  ministered  to  it  in 
1840  and  41* 

During  the  first  fifteen  or  twenty  years  of  this  century  large 
and  crowded  congregations  frequented  this  Church;  after 
that  period  deaths  and  the  great  emigration  to  the  West, 
greatly  reduced  this  once  flourishing  church,  leaving  in  1853 
not  more  than  25  or»30  members.  From  this  congregation 
eight  young  men  have  hecome  ministers  of  the  gospel.  Their 
names  are  Benjamin  Montgomery,  Robert  Campbell,  James 
Patterson,  Wm.  Gray,  Charles  Martin,  Jas.  Gibert,  and  the  two 
Messrs.  McMullens,  besides  some  others  who  attached  them- 
selves to  other  branches  of  the  church.  [Mss.  of  A.  Giles 
and  John  Spear,  Esqs.,  October  and  November.  1853.] 

Washington  Street  Church  (Greenville  C.  H.) — The  Rev. 
S.  S.  Gaillard  was  the  first  pastor  of  this  church.  It  was  or- 
ganized by  a  committee  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina, 
and  was  reported  to  that  body  April  20,  1848,  and  in  the  sta- 
tistics of  the  General  Assembly  in  1849,  is  represented  as  hav- 
ing 18  members.  Mr.  Gaillard  continued  to  serve  this 
churcli  till  1859.  The  city  of  Greenville,  meanwhile,  was 
prosperous,  and  the  church  increased. 

Mr.  Calvary. — Spartanburg  District  was  received  under 
the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  on  the  2d  of  Oc- 
tober, 1846,  and  Mr,  Robert  McCarley  took  his  seat  in  Pres- 
bytery at  that  time,  as  a  member  of  the  same.  Minutes,  p. 
280.  The  Rev.  C,  B.  Stewart  was  its  stated  supply  and  in 
1846-1850,  M.  O.  Miller  and  R.  McCarley  were  its  Elders. 

Hopewell  (Abbeville),  formerly  Lower  Long  Cane.^^ 
The  Elders  of  Hopewell  Church,  from  1800,  were,  Joseph 
Calhoun  (died  in  1817),  William  Calhoun  (1826),  Joseph  Hut- 
ton  (moved  to  the  West),  John  Grey  (1825),  Andrew  Weed 
(1847),  Alexander  Houston  (1847),  J.  C.  Matthews  (1849), 
William  Carson  (moved  away)  and  Peter  Gibert.  There  were  no 
Deacons  in  those  days.  During  Rev.  Henry  Reid's  time,  the 
Elders  were,  Thos.  Parker,  James  A.  Gray,  John  McKelvey, 

*For  further  particulars  ooncernin>;  James  Lewers,  see  pp.  448,  449  of 
this  history.  The  call  he  received  from  the  Church  of  Williamsburg 
was  not  accepted  by  him.  He  returned  his  dismission  to  the  Presby- 
tery of  Harmony,  and  obtained  one  to  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina. 
From  this  he  was  dismissed  October  8,  1841,  to  the  Presbytery  of  New- 
ton, N.  Jersey,  then  pastor  of  Milford.  Conn.,  in  connection  with  Hol- 
land Church,  then  in  April,  1865  of  Cattasauga,  Pa.,  till  his  death,  on 
the  24th  of  August,  1868, 


1840-1850.]  HOPEWELL  (ABBEVILLE).  757 

John  S.  Ried,  John  P.  Hall,  in  connection  with  those  who  were 
living  when  Rev.  Mr.  Waddel  left. 

Attention  was  given  to  the  colored  race.  Their  religious 
instruction  was  attended  to,  especially  by  Col.  M.  O.  Talman. 
The  most  notable  revivals  of  religion  were  during  Rev.  Henry 
Reid's  time,  in  the  camp  meetings. 

The  first  school  taught  in  the  Calhoun  Settlement,  of  which 
we  have  any  account,  was  by  Rev.  John  Harris.  After  the  Rev- 
olution, Mr.  James  Wardlaw  taught  at  the  old  Artillery  Muster 
Ground.  Mr.  Moses  Taggart  had  a  school  at  Hopewell 
Church,  about  the  year  1790.  Capt.  Wm.  Robertson,  of 
Charleston,  had  charge  of  a  neighborhood  school  for  some 
time.  After  him,  the  Rev.  Henry  Reid,  tiien  Rev.  R.  B. 
Cater.  About  1840,  the  neighborhood  united  upon  Clear 
Spring  as  the  site  for  a  school  house,  where  a  school  has  been 
kept  up,  with  the  exception  of  short  intervals,  to  the  present 
time.  The  teachers  of  Clear  Spring  Academy  were,  John 
Taggart,  Mr.  Rainey,  Mathew  McDonald,  Joseph  F.  Lee,  Dr. 
James  Mabry,  J.  R.  Blake  and  J.  S.  Leslie.  Our  forefathers, 
when  they  builded  to  protect  their  little  ones  against  the  tom- 
ahawk and  scalping  knife  of  savage  Indians,  also  took  care  to 
guard  them  against  those  more  unrelenting  foes,  irreligion 
and  ignorance. 

Mr.  Robert  McCaslan  was  one  of  the  mo.st  prominent  men 
in  the  church.  He  was  a  native  of  County  Antrim,  and  came 
to  this  country  a  poor  Irish  boy.  Shortly  after  the  close  of 
the  Revolution,  he  spent  a  short  time  with  his  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Moses  Taggart,  who  was  then  teaching  at  Hopewell 
Church.  The  country  at  that  time  was  new,  and  the  cultivated 
fields  few  and  far-between.  The  rivers  and  creeks  wereasclear 
as  mountain  streams,  and  filled  with  fish.  There  were  few  pub- 
lic roads,  the  travelling  being  done  mostly  on  horseback  and 
on  foot.  The  country  was  intersected  by  innumerable  bridle 
ways  and  by-paths,  nigh  cuts  for  the  initiated,  but  a  be- 
wildering maze  to  all  others.  Mr.  McCaslan  was  manager  of 
J.  C.  Calhoun's  plantation.  He  finally  settled  on  Bold  Branch, 
where  he  died,  in  1849,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two, 
and  is  buried  in  Long  Cane  Cemetery.  For  fifty  years  he 
was  a  member  of  Hopewell  Church.  A  sincere,  humble 
Christian,  and  a  highly  chivalric  man,  his  honesty  and  fair 
dealing  were  proverbial.     He  was   a  tall,  square-made  man, 


758  WII>LINGTON  [1840-1850. 

about  six  feet  high.     On  his  old  age  he  was   very  much  pal- 
sied, and  wall<ed  with  a  staff  nearly  as  high  as  his  head. 

Rev.  Isaac  Waddel  preached  his  farewell  sermon,  Decem- 
ber 9th,  1838,  and  parted  with  the  congregation  in  peace  and 
love.  A  congregational  meeting  was  held,  and  a  committee 
of  three,  viz:  Robert  McCasIan,  John  McKelvey  and  J.  C- 
Matthews,  was  appointed  to  confer  with  Rev.  Wm.  Davis, 
who  was  then  preaching  at  Willington,  to  obtain  him  as 
supply.  He,  accepting,  commenced  his  labors  24th  February, 
1839.  He  was  afterwards  called  as  pastor,  and  Presbytery 
met  at  Hopewell,  May,  22d,  1839,  ^o  ordain  and  install  him. 
The  Elders,  during  Mr.  Davis'  ministration,  were,  M.  O.  Mc- 
CasIan, Wm.  McCaslan,  John  McKelvey,  J.  C.  Matthews  and- 
Wm.  Drennan.  The  numerical  strength  of  Hopewell,  in 
1846,  was  171,  in  1847,  151,  in  1850,  153.  Rev.  Wm.  Davis 
resigned  in  1846,  and  Rev.  James  P.  Gibert  was  called  to 
take  his  place.  He  preached  until  185 1.*  [Mss.  of  Rev.  E, 
Payson  Davis.] 

Willington  Church  (Abbeville),  from  1840.  The  Rev, 
William  H.  Davis  was  received  by  South  Carolina  Presby- 
tery as  a  licentiate  from  Union  Presbytery,  on  the  22d  of 
March,  1839,  and  was  ordained  and  installed  as  pastor  of 
Hopewell  and  Willington  Churches,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1839, 
On  the  1st  of  May,  in  1846,  this  double  pastorate  was  dis- 
.s-olved.      He  served  the  Willington  Church  until  i860. 

"  The  strength  of  the  church,"  says  Mrs.  M.  E.  D.,  "  in  its 
palmiest  days,  lay  in  it.=  noble  women,  who  gave  their  sym- 
pathies and  encouragement  when  they  could  give  nothing  else. 
More  precious  than   gold — yea,,  than   fine   gold  I  " 

The  first  elders  were  Moses  Dobbins,  Peter  Gibert,  Esq., 
Major  E.  Noble,  Peter  B.  Rogers.  About  1828,  in  connection 
with  the  preceding,  Andrew  Weed,  Peter  Guillebeau,  J.  C- 
Matthews,  N.  Harris,  M.  D.,  Jacob  Bellott,  }ohn  B,  Ball, 
Oscar  Bouchillon  and  Alexander  Houston.  [Stephen  Gibert 
was  an  elder  before  1822,  when  he  died,]  (In  1842  the  elders 
were  Andrew  Weed,  Alexander' Houston,  Peter  Guillebeau, 
Dr.  William  Harris,  John  B.  Bull,  according  to  the  list  in  the 
minutes  of  Presbytery,  March  26,  1842.)     About  1849,  S.  H, 

*The  dates  are  as  accurate  as  can  be  obtained. 

These  facts  I  colle<;t  from  Col.  M.  0,  Talman,  who  is  a  very  in- 
telligent member  of  Hopewell  Church.  What  others  are- sent  I  gleaned 
from  Sessional  Records. 


1840-1850.]  WESTMENSTKR — BETHEL.  759 

Gibert,  Paul  Rogers  and  Wm.  T.  Drennan  were  elected.  The 
elders,  according  to  the  minutes  of  Synod  in  1855,  were  Robt. 
Brady,  N.  Harris,  Paul  Rodgers,  Wm.  T.  Drennan.  The  first 
set  of  deacons  was  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  W.  H.  Davis. 
Their  names  were  Peter  B.  Moragne,  A.  H.  McAlister,  Ed- 
ward Calhoun,  John  LeRoy  and  Peter  Guillebeau.  Total  in 
communion  in  1822,  64;  in  1823,69;  in  1824,90;  in  1825, 
85;  in  1830,  108;  in  1834,  123;  in  1839,90;  in  1843,  100; 
in  1845,  114;  in  1850,  112;  in  1853,  90.  Dr.  Baker  twice 
visited  Willington  Church,  and  there  was  a  considerable 
revival  of  religion.  At  one  time  there  were  about  thirty 
accessions.  The  cause  of  temperance  flourished  at  one  time, 
a  society  being  organized  in  1830.  Rev.  Dr.  Waddell,  the 
president ;  Alexander  Houston,  vice-president ;  W.  W.  Wad, 
dell,  secretary ;  N.  Harris,  M.  D.,  E.  P.  Gibert,  P.  B.  Rogers. 
S.  C.  Matthews  and  R.  G.  Quarles,  directors.  This  society 
was  energetic  and  active  for  a  length  of  time,  and  useful.  The 
religious  instruction  of  the  negroes  was  not  neglected,  and 
the  galleries  of  the  church  indicated,  by  their  large  attendance, 
the  interest  they  took  in  religious  worship.  [Materials  fur- 
nished  by  Rev.  E.  Payson  Davis.] 

Westminster  Church  remained  on  the  roll  of  South  Caro- 
lina Presbytery  till  October  8th,  1841,  when  it  was  stricken 
off,  "  it  being  ascertained  that  'Richland  Church  occupies  the 
same  field."  (Minutes,  October  8th,  1841,  p.  175.)  Previous 
to  this,  in  1831,  it  had  forty-four  members,  and  was  associated 
with  Bethel,  having  thirty  members,  both  under  the  charge 
of  Rev.  Benjamin  D.  Dupree. 

Richland  Church.  In  1840,  1841,  Benj.  D.  Dupree  was 
the  stated  supply  of  this  church.  It  had  at  this  time  thirty- 
nine  members.  In  1842,  Joseph  Hillhouse  succeeded  him  ; 
the  membership,  twenty.  In  1852,  Wm.  McWhorter  became 
the  stated  supply,  at  which  time  the  members  were  eighteen 
in  number. 

The  elders  in  1842  and  1845  were  James  H.  Dendy,  Francis 
Jenkins  and  Simpson  Dickson. 

Bethel  Church,  in  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina, 
remained  vacant  through  the  major  part  of  this  period.  Its 
membership  is  stated  to  be  thirty-one  in  the  tables.  Rev.  John 
L.Kennedy  was  its  stated  supply  in  1849.  At  that, time  it 
had  eighteen  members.  In  1850  it  was  served  by  Rev.  Wm. 
McWhorter^  its  membership  being  nineteen.  The  elders  in 
184s  were  Col.  J.  Burnet  and  John  Todd 


760  NEW  HARMONY — ^NAZARETH.  [1840-1850. 

New  Harmony.  Rev.  Mr.  McKittrick  informed  Presby- 
tery, in  1844,  that  a  Presbyterian  Church  had  been  organized 
in  Laurens  District,  consisting  of  seventeen  members  and  two 
ruling  elders,  known  by  the  name  of"  New  Harmoriy^^  which 
desired  to  be  taken  under  the  care  of  Presbytery  ;  which  ap- 
plication was  granted.  "  Application  was  at  the  same  time 
made,  from  Fairview,  Antioch  and  New  Harmony,  for  the 
labors  of  Rev.  John  McKittrick."  (Minutes  of  the  loist  ses- 
sion of  the  Presbytery  of  S.  C,  2d  October,  1844,  p.  234.)  The 
elders  of  New  Harmony,  in  1845,  were  David  Stoddard  and 
Robert  Gillilnnd.  The  membership  in  1850  was  forty,  in  full 
communion. 

Nazareth  (Beaver  Dam)  was  among  the  vacant  churches 
in  1840,  1 84 1.  In  1842  it  was  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Hillhouse,  as  stated  supply  in  connection  with  Richland.  Its 
membership  is  set  down  as  being  twenty.  In  1847,  the  same, 
except  that  Mr.  Hillhouse  bears  the  title  of  domestic  mission- 
ary, the  membership  then  being  nineteen.  It  remained  under 
the  same  arrangement,  depending  on  missionary  service, 
through  the  remainder  of  this  decade.  Its  elders  in  1842  were 
James  Young,  John  Morris  and  Matthew  Martin  ;  in  1855, 
Matthew  Martin,  Alexander  W.  Glenn,  B.  B.  Harris,  James 
Young,  J.  Moore,  M.  Ussory.  Its  membership  in  1853  was 
twenty-two. 

The  author  is  now  reaching  the  end  of  the  fifth  decade  of 
the  present  century.  These  last  ten  years  of  the  history  of 
the  Synod  have  exhibited  an  encouraging  progress  and  ex- 
tension of  the  church  within  its  own  bounds,  although  it  has 
sent  forth  such  numbers  to  people  the  more  southern  and 
southwestern  States,  to  establish  in  them  churches  of  our  own 
faith,  and  that  Scriptural  order  of  church  government,  so  clear- 
ly set  forth  in  our  standards 

In  the  midst  of  this  decade,  in  1845,  o"""  brethren  south  of 
the  Savannah  river  were  separated  from  those  of  South  Caro- 
lina, at  their  own  suggestion,  by  the  action  of  the  General 
Assembly  ;  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  to  meet  in  Pendle- 
ton, on  the  6th  of  November,  1845,  ^""^  the  Synod  of  Georgia 
to  meet  in  Macon,  on  the  third  Thursday  in  November,  of  the 
same  year,  its  geographical  limits  to  include  the  State  of 
Georgia,  and  the  Territory  of  Florida,  so  far  as  this  may  not 
interfere  with  the  limits  of  the  Synod  of  Alabama.  Georgia 
still   yielded     its    support    freely    and     cheerfully     to    the 


1840-1850.]  MISSIONS — KEV.  DR.  SMYTH.  761 

Theological  Seminary,  at  Columbia,  and  South  Carolina  to  the 
Oglethorpe  University,  in  Georgia,  until  the  South  Carolina 
professorship  amounted  at  length  to  the  full  endowment  of  a 
professorship.  Nor  did  the  interest  of  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  abate  at  all  in  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  know  the  rate  of  progress  in  this 
work  since  our  separate  organization  as  a  Synod.  The  an- 
nual contributions  have  been  as  follows  : 

In  the  year  of  the  organization  of  the  Synod,  the  amount 
reported  was  ^1,222.12. 

In  1 846  was  ^ 1 ,966  52,  showingan  increase  of  .    .    .  ;$744  40 

"  1847     "      1,965    17,  no  increase 

"  1848     "     3,525    10,  an  increase  of 558  58 

"  1849     "      1,869  64,  a  material  decline  of      ,    .    .    455  46 
"  1850     "     2,931    28,  an  increase  over  the  greatest 

preceding    amount  of       .    .    406   18 

Total,        ^12,479  83 

This  is  the  statement  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

And  we  cannot  resist  the  impulse  which  prompts  us  to  be- 
stow the  praise,  well  deserved,  upon  him,  who,  remaining  at 
home,  kept  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  constantly  before 
the  minds  of  our  people.  Those  who  went  abroad  to  heathen 
lands  hiade  thus  greater  personal  sacrifices.  But  the  mission- 
ary spirit  dwelt  alike  in  his  heart.  He  trained  the  children 
of  his  church  to  contribute  statedly  to  the  cause,  nor  were 
the  sums  thus  collected,  in  their  aggregate,  by  any  means 
contemptible.  He  has  but  recently  gone  to  his  reward.  Those 
who  were  his  contemporaries  will  not  soon  forget  the  Rtv. 
Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D.,  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Charleston,  as  their  minutes  show. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Howe,  chairman  of  the  Committee  to  bring 
in  a  minute  on  the  death  of  our  venerable  and  beloved 
brother,  Dr.  Smyth,  reported  the  following,  which  was  unan- 
imously adopted  : 

The  Charleston  Presbytery  has  been  called  to  mourn,  since 
its  last  stated  session,  the  removal  of  our  beloved  brother,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D.,  from  this  scene  of  barthly  labors 
to  his  heavenly  rest.  He  died  in  the  city  of  Charleston  on- 
the  20th  of  August,  1873,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age. 

Born  in  Belfast  on  the  14th  of  June,    1808,  of  Scotch  and 


762  REV.  DH.  SMYTH.  [1840-1850. 

English  ancestry,  and  devoted  to  the  ministry  by  his  pious 
mother  from  his  birth,  he  entered  the  college  in  his  native 
city  in  1827  and  received  its  highest  honors.  During  the 
last  year  of  his  studies  there,  he  became  united  with  Christ  as 
a  Saviour;  and  called  as  he  believed,  to  the  work  of  the  min- 
istry, he  removed  to  Highbury  College,  London,  where  he 
pursued  the  studies  preparatory  to  that  sacred  office  with  his 
accustomed  ardor.  In  the  fall  of  1830  his  parents  removed 
to  this  country,  and  he  entered  the  Senior  Class  at  Princeton, 
where  these  studies  were  completed.  He  was  ordained  the 
following  year  by  the  Presbytery  of  Newark,  as  an  Evange- 
list, with  a  view  to  missionary  work  in  Florida,  and  soon  af- 
ter came  to  Charleston,  under  the  recommendations  of  Drs. 
Alexander  and  Miller,  as  a  supply  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
church. 

In  November,  1832,  he  became  a  member  of  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery,  but  although  he  was  called  to  the  pastor- 
ate of  the  second  church  in  April  of  that  year,  he  held  this 
call  under  consideration,  doubtful  of  his  health,  which  was 
never  firm,  until  December,  1834,  on  the  17th  of  which  month 
his  installation  took  place. 

Since  this  time,  during  the  various  fortunes  of  our  church 
and  country,  through  the  stormy  scenes  of  ecclesiastical  and 
theological  debate,  &nd  the  still  severer  trials  of  civil  strife, 
his  large  and  Christian  heart  has  been  true  alike  to  his  ances- 
tral Church  and  to  the  land  of  his  adoption 

We  do  not  claim  for  our  departed  brother  absolute  per- 
fection. This  belongs  to  no  child  of  God  in  this  his  militant 
state.  But  now  all  the  asperities  of  discussion  and  debate  are 
forever  over.  And  with  a  mind  of  intense  activity  and  an 
unconquered  will,  which  bore  up  his  enfeebled  frame  beyond 
the  expectation  of  all  his  friends,  all  will  accord  to  him  a  large 
and  forgiving  heart,  full  of  schemes  of  Christian  benevolence 
and  activity,  pursued  with  almost  unequalled  endurance  and 
energy  till  the  end  of  life. 

An  ardent  student  himself,  he  was  a  friend  of  education,  of 
colleges  and  schools,  especially  of  seminaries  of  sacred  learn- 
ing, whose  libraries  'Und  endowments  he  sought  to  enlarge. 

He  was  a  friend  of  the  young  student  also,  and  especially 
if  he  sought  the  gospel  ministry  under  a  manifest  call  from 
God. 

Had  Providence  so  willed,  and  he  had  not  suffered,  in  com- 


1840-1850..]  REV.  DR.  SMYTH.  763 

mon  with  others,  the  impoverishments  of  a  cruel  war,  he  would 
have  left  behind  him  more  than  he  has  been  able  to  do,  en- 
during monuments  of  his  S;eal  in  this  sacred  cause. 

Hf  would  have  offered  himself  as  a  missionary  in  his  early- 
days,  had  not  enfeebled  health  prevented  his  personal  labors 
on  foreign  shores.  But  the  spirit  of  missions  did  not  forsake 
him.  He  was  their  prominent  representative  for  years  by  his 
voice  and  pen,  both  in  our  Presbytery  and  Synod. 

Of  the  productions  of  his  pen  we  will  not  speak,  but  his 
earlier  contemporaries  will  remember  the  inspiring  tones  in 
which  he  was  wont,  in  the  excitement  of  debate,  with  a  won- 
derful affluence  of  diction,  to  give  utterance  to  the  thoiights 
and  emotions  of  his  soul,  the  whole  man  transformed,  his  eye 
full  of  expression,  his  form  taller  seemingly  than  ever  before. . 
But  those  attractive  powers  were  at  length  impaired  by  sud- 
den disease,  which  rendered  utterance  imperfect,  which  at  one 
time  made  him  even  forget  the  language  his  mother  taught 
him,  till  by  practice  he  regained  it,  and  his  palsied  tongue  was 
]oo.sed,  and  became  eloquent  again. 

His  spirit  has  left  the  earthly  tabernacle  which  confined  it. 
It  has  been  unclothed  that  it  might  enter  the  house  not  made 
with  hands,  and  await  the  resurrection  morning,  when,  with 
a  body  strong  in  power,  glorious  and  spirituaf,  it  shall  be  still 
serving  and  praising  our  ascended  Lord. 

For  more  than  forty  years  has  he  gone  in  and  out  before 
us,  for  the  first  half  of  this  time  in  the  possession  of  his  cor- 
poreal powers,  for  the  last  half  crippled  with  disease,  but  still 
unconquered,  till  he  yielded  to  the  power  of  death. 

Let  us  remember  that  our  own  removal  wU!  not  be  long 
delayed.  The  evening  shades  with  some  are  drawing  on.  Let 
us  redeem  the  time  in  these  days  of  evil,  and,  like  our  de- 
parted brother,  perform  our  work  with  conscientious  vigor 
while  the  daylight  lasts.  So  shall  our  lives  be  filled  with  deeds 
of  usefulness,  and  our  end  be  peace. 

[This  paper  was  also  adopted  by  the  Synod  of  South  Caro- 
lina.] 

That  he  accomjjlished  so  much  with  health  so  imperfect, 
is  wonderful  indeed.  In  Belfast  ami  Princeton  his  health 
failed  him.  In  Charleston,  in  1848,  he  was  attacked  with 
partial  paralysis  of  his  left  arm  and  fingers,  from  which  he 
never  recovered.  A  second  attack  in  1853  left  him  on 
crutches,  almost  a  helpless  cripple,  "  About  four  years  before 


7C4  KEV.  DR.  SMYTH.  [1840-1850. 

his  tireless  energies  were  released  from  the  fetters  of  the  flesh 
his  organs  of  speech  vifere  suddenly  paralyzed  in  the  midst  of 
his  midnight  studies."  Believing  that  he  was  near  his  end 
he  wrote  on  a  slip  of  paper  to  his  wife  :  "  Perfect  peace."  But 
finding  that  his  general  health  was  not  seriously  affected,  he 
addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  regaining  his  great  loss,  with 
a  resolute  will,  and  never  did  he  appear  greater  in  all  his 
grand  career  than  when  reciting  hour  after  hour,  and  week 
after  week,  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  advancing  from  vowels 
and  consonants  to  syllables,  and  from  monosyllables  to  words 
and  sentences,  until,  upon  the  anvil  of  his  iron  will,  he  broke, 
link  by  link,  the  chains  which,  bound  his  eloquent  tongue, 
and  at  length  shouting,  like  David  of  old,  "  awake  up  my 
glory,"  his  voice  rang  again  with  the  praises  of  the  Sanctuary 
and  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation. 

Dr.  Smyth  published  in  all  about  thirty  volumes.  The 
most  popular,  though  less  in  size,  are  "  The  Well  in  the 
Valley,"  "  Why  do  I  live,"  and  "  The  volumes  on  Missions." 
His  larger  volumes  on  Church  Polity  have  been  much  valued 
by  those  of  our  own  faith  most  competent  to  judge.  "  But  by 
most  men  of  my  acquaintanae  was  he  endowed  richly  by 
nature  with  ail  the  qualifications  of  the  most  consummate  ora- 
tors. He  was  not  so  great  in  the  pulpit  where  he  generally 
(during  most  of  his  life)  read  his  sermons,  as  in  the  lecture 
room,  nor  was  he  so  great  in  the  lecture  room  as  he  was  on 
the  platform,  nor  was  he  so  great  on  the  floor  of  the  deliber- 
ative assembly,  when  he  was  on  the  strong  side  as  when  he 
was  on  the  weak  one.  But  in  reply  and  for  a  lost  cause,  as  it 
seemed,  and  when  there  was  no  hope  left  for  his  side  appa- 
rently, then  was  Dr.  Smyth  strong,  and  then  was  he  danger- 
ous to  his  opponents." 

When  the  author  of  this  history  was  appointed  the  histori- 
ographer of  the  Synod,  he  was  directed  to  write  down  to  the 
year  1850.  It  was  with  great  reluctance  that  the  office  was 
accepted,  and  it  was  more  out  of  deference  to  the  authority 
of  Synod  than  from  any  inclination  for  such  labors  that  he 
gained  his  own  consent  to  undertake  it.  Tt  has  occupied 
much  of  the  time  which  perhaps  should  have  been  devoted  to 
other  pursuits.  It  has,  however,  been  the  time  of  his  vaca- 
tions, and  there  has  been  this  infelicity  that  it  has  not  been 
written  as  one  continuous  narrative,  but  at  these  distinct  in- 


1840-1850.]  I-IST  OF  CHURCHES.  765 

tervals.  The  long  delay  in  bringing  the  work  to  the  press 
induced  the  author  to  invite  communications  relative  to  the 
later  history  of  the  churches,  and  of  these  he  received  a  con- 
siderable number,  intending  to  bring  the  history  down  to  a 
later  period  than  the  appointment  of  the  Synod  required.  But 
the  advice  of  brethren,  whose  judgment  he  respected,  united 
with  the  condition  of  his  own  health,  which  had  become  very 
precarious  during  the  summer,  decided  him  when  he  had 
reached  a  certain  portion  of  the  last  decade,  to  abandon  his 
purpose  of  bringing  the  history  down  to  the  present  times. 

It  was  further  urged  by  most  judicious  brethren  that  the 
period  between  the  year  of,  1850 'and  the  present,  including 
that  of  the  late  civil  war,  required  a  more  elaborate  treatment 
than  I  could  now  give  it.  The  year  1850  by  all  means,  they 
said,  was  the  place  where  this  volume  should  close.  I  began 
therefore  to  withhold  what  I  had  received  or  written  of  a 
later  date,  and  give  forth  the  work  with  all  its  imperfections 
as  it  now  is.  And  yet  I  take  the  liberty  of  adding  the  follow- 
ing as  an  Appendix  to  the  preceding  history. 


APPENDIX. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  churches  organized  in  Har- 
mony Presbytery  since  the  last  decade  : 

1849-50 — Pisgah  on  Sandy  Run,  belonged  once  to  Fay- 
ettevilJe  Presbytery;  1851 — Marion;  1851 — Liberty  Hill; 
1853 — Lynchburg;  1855— Manning,  Bennettsville;  1856— Elon; 
185S — Red  Blufif,  Kingston;  1859— Turkey  Creek  ;  1861 — 
Florence;  1863 — Union;  1867 — Beulah,  Centre  Point;  1871 — 
Kentyre  ;  1874 — Bethel,  Fairhope;  1876 — Tirzah  ;  1881  — 
Mayesville  and  Wedgefield.  In  1875  Herman  Church, 
formerly  known  as  Pine  Hill,  was  dissolved.  In  1873 
White  Oak  was  dissolved  and  merged  into  Indian  Town.  In 
1855  Harmony  Church  was  merged  into  Manning.  Bethel 
Church  is  the  offspring  of  the  old  Midway  Church  and  for 
many  years  was  called  Bethel  Chapel. 

The  following  churches  in  Bethel  Presbytery  have  been 
organized  since  1850:" 

Allison  Creek,  nine  miles  east  of  Yorkville,  in  1853. 
ZioN,  eight  and  three-quarter  miles  north   of  Cliester,  organized  ill 
1855,  T(vith  eleven  m3mbers  and  three  elders. 


(DO  I^TST  OF  CHURCHES.  [1840-1850. 

Douglas,  four  and  a  half  miles  southwest  from  Lancasterville,  organ- 
ized May  23d,  1858 — ten  members  and  one  elder. 

Gbindal  Shoals,  on  Pacolet,  in  Union  County,  organized  August  27, 
18.59 — thirteen  members  and  one  elder. 

Olivet,  nine  or  ten  miles  south  of  Yorkville,  reported  October  8, 
1868 — twenty-seven  members,  four  elders,  three  deacons. 

Rock  Hill,  in  York  County,  organized  in  1870. 

Enoebe,  in  Union  County,  nine  or  ten  miles  southwest  of  Unionville, 
reported  April  4, 1872. 

MizpEH,  about  twelve  miles  southwest  of  Chesterville  C.  H.,  reported 
to  Presbytery,  organized  November  29,  1873. 

Mt.  Vernon,  in  Union  County,  six  or  seven  milei  south  of  Court 
House,  reported  October,  1878. 

Eamah,  in  York  County,  ten  or  eleven  miles  north  of  Court  House, 
and  south  of  King's  Mountain, -reported  April  1,  1880. 

Clover,  in  York  County,  six  miles  north  of  Yorkville,  organized  July 
29, 1881 — eighty-four  members,  chiefly  from  Bethel  congregation. 

Smyrna,  in  Chester  County,  five  miles  east  of  Court  House,  organized 
November  18, 1881 ;  ten  members,  two  elders,  two  deacons. 

Mt.  Pleasant,  in  Chester  County,  twelve  or  fourteen  miles  northwest 
of  Court  House,  on  waters  of  Turkey  Creek,  reported  organized  Decem- 
ber 14,  1881. 

Long  Town,  in  Fairfield  County,  about  nine  miles  east  of  Ridgeway, 
organized  in  1882. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina,  in  1878 
the  churches  and  ministers  of  the  Presbyteries  of  Bethel  and 
South  Carolina,  in  the  counties  of  Spartanburg,  Greenville, 
Laurens  and  Union,  were  set  off  as  a  new  Presbytery  to  be 
called  the  Presbytery  of  Enokee.  The  following  is  a  list  of 
the  ministers  who  entered  at  the  organization  : 

NAMES.  POST    OFFICE.  WHEN    ORDAINED, 

F.  Jacobs,  D.  D.  Laurens  C.  H.,  S.  C.  1837 

Z.  L.  Holmes,                          "         "  "  1843 

Clark  B.  Stewart,  Fairview,  "  1846 

Robt.  H.  Reid,  Reidville,  "  1850 

A.A.James,  Jonesville,  "  1851 

J.  S.  Bailey,  Union  C.  H.,  "  1853 

H.  T.  Morton,  Greenville,  "  1859 

Thos.  H.  Law,  Spartanburg,  •   ''  1862 

Wm.  P.  Jacobs,  Clinton,  "  1 864 

A.P.Nicholson,  Laurens  C.H.,  "  1869 

Robt.  H.  Nail,  Greenville,  "  1869 

Alfred  L.  Miller,  Spartanburg,  ''  1875 

B.  G.  Clifford,  Union  C.  H.,  "  1876 

Received  in  1879 

.  James  Y.  Fair,  Laurens  C.  H.,  S.  C.  1876 


1840-1850.1  PEESBYTERy   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


7G7 


The  historical  notices  of  these  churches  will  be  found  in  the 
preceding  pag^es. 
The  following  have  been  organized    since  the  year  1S50: 


CLINTON,  1855. 

Rev.  Wm.  P.  Jacobs,  Pastor. 
Elders 


E.  T.  Copeland,  Clinton, 
R.  S.  Phinney, 
W.  B.  Bell, 
J.J.  Boozer, 


The  following  e-xhibits  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina  as 
it  now  is  : 


MINISTERS. 

NAMES. 

P.O. 

ORDAINED 

ENROLLED 

W.  Carlisle.  (Dec'd.), 

1831, 

J.  B.  Adger,  D.  D.,  - 

Pendleton,  S.  C, 

Spring,    1834, 

Spring,     1857 

Wra.  McWhorter, 

Baclielor'.s  Etrt, 

1838, 

1842 

J.  F   Gibert, 

Abbeville,  S.  C, 

Nov.  24,  1838. 

Nov.   24,  18,S8 

John  McLees,  (dec'd.), 

Apr.   18,  1846, 

Apr.    18,  1846 

E.  F.  Hyde, 

Townville, 

Spring,     1845, 

Spring,      1845 

J.  0.  Lindsay,  D.  D, 

Due  West, 

About       1846, 

Apr.,     .    1847 

W.  F.  Fearson, 

Due  West, 

June    9,  1860, 

June     9,  1860 

J.  E.  Riley,  D.  D., 

Walhalla, 

H.  McLees, 

Libertv, 

Oct.,         1863, 

Oct.,          1863 

H.  Strong, 

Wallialla, 

Dec.     9,  1870, 

Dec.      9,  1870 

J.  L.  Martin, 

Abbeville, 

Sept.    2,  1870, 

Sept.     2,  1870 

D.  E   Frier.son,  D.  D.. 

Anderson, 

Apr.,         1871 

E.  A.  Fair, 

Newberry, 

June  18,  1871, 

June   18,  1871 

T.  C.  Ligon, 

Anderson, 

June  29,  1882, 

June  29,  1872 

E,  C.  Ligon, 

Stony  Point, 

Nov.  18,  1876, 

Nov.  18,  1876 

S  L.  Morris, 

Trenton, 

Apr.  21,  1877, 

Apr.   21,  1877 

T.  E.  Davis, 

Seneca, 

1845, 

Fall          1877 

E.  P.  Davis, 

Bold  Branch, 

Nov.    3,  1877, 

N6v.     3,  1877 

A.  E.  Norris, 

Cokesburv, 

Apr.  10,  1880, 

Apr.    10,  1880 

Deposed  at  Ninety-Six 

Apr          1882 

768  LIST   OF   DECEASKD   MINISTEUS. 

TBANSPBRRED    LAST     SPRING. 


NAMES. 

P.O. 

ORDAINED. 

ENROLLED. 

J.  L.  Browhiee, 
H.  C.  Fennel, 
W.  G.  Neville, 
F.  P.  Miillally,  D. 
A.  P.  Nicholson, 

D., 

Brandon,  Miss  , 
Monterey, 
Ninety-Six, 
Walhalla, 
New  Pickens, 

Oct.    28,1880, 
Oct.,         1879, 
Apr.     9,  1882, 

1869, 

Oct.     28,  1880 
Apr.      7,  1881 
Apr.      9,  1882 
Sept.    14,  1882 
Sept.   14,  1882 

CHURCHES    ORGANIZED  SINCE   I85O. 

Bethia . Nov.    4,  1849 

Retreat Apr.     5,  185 1 

Zion  Church •   .    .    .  1855 

Mt.  Bethel • •   .  Nov.  27,  1852 

Ninety- Six July   14,  i860 

Abbeville Apr.  22,  1866 

Walhalla Dec.    3,  1868 

George's  Creek,  (now  Mt.  Pleasant) Nov.         1873 

Cokesbury Feb.  21,  1874 

Seneca i876(?)  or  75 

Edgefield May  26,  1877 

New  Pickens July  27,  1878 

Ebenezer ; Nov.  16,  1879 

Westminster 1882 


LIST  OF  DECEASED  MINISTERS. 

It  has  been  a  source  of  regret  to  the  writer  that  he  should  be  pre- 
cluded from  introducing  memorial  notices  of  those  brethren  who  were 
active  in  the  church  down  to  the  period  of  1850  but  who  have  died 
since.  Some  have  been  noticed  on  our  preceding  pages,  but  however 
appropriate  the  custom  of  formal  memorials  of  departed  brethren,  this 
did  not  prevail  in  the  Synod,  till  1851,  when  a  memorial  was  adopted  at 
the  news  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander,  who  died  on  the  22d 
of  Octbber,  and  of  that' of  W'm.  Anderson  McDowell,  D.  D.,  who  died  on 
the  17th  of  September  in  that  year.  The  obituary  record  of  Eev.  S.  B. 
Lewers,  whose  devoted  and  erninently  useful  life  closed  in  1852,  may  be 
found  in  the  Synodical  Minutes  of  that  year,  p.  17 ;  of  Eev.  J.  J.  Dubose, 
'on  p  2U  ;  of  Rev  R.  B.  Walker,  who. died  on  the  10th  of  April  of  that 
year,  in  the  86th  year  of  his  age,  having  spent  forty  year,s  of  his  active 
life  in  the  duties  of  the  ministry,  p.  21. .  In  the  printed  minutes  of  1853, 
the  death  of  four  ministers— Hugh  Dickson,  Joseph  Wallace,  Zabdiel 
Rogers,  and  Wm.  L.  Hughes — are  .mentioned  ;  of  Rev.  W.  L.  Hughes, 
cut  off  inthe  prime  of  life  ;  of  Rev.  Hugh  Dickson,  who  died  July  9th, 
]8')3,  at  the  age  of  81,  having  preached  the  gospel  for  more  than  half  a 
century,  full  notices  are  given.  (Printed  Minute-s,  pp.  24,  24.)  Of  Rev. 
Wm.  B,  Davies,  who  had  served  in  the  ministry  some  thirty  years,  and 
whose  ministry,  especially  of  late,  had  been  exceedingly  blessed,  a  me- 


LIST   OF    DECEASED    MINISTERS.  769 

morial  is  found,  printed  minutes  of  1865,  p.  31.  The  Rev.  A.  Bui  de- 
parted this  life  at  tlie  advanced  age  of  83  vears,  minutes  of  1857,  p.  12. 
The  Rev.  Reuben  Post,  D.  D.,  who  departed  this  life  September  24th, 

1858,  minutes,  p.  28.  Memorial  of  Rev.  W.  H.  Johnston,  who  died  June 
19, 1859,  in  his  40th  year,  minutes,  1859,  p.  22.  Of  the  Rev.  Pierpont  Ed- 
wards Bishop,  p  28.    Of~  the  Rev.  Joseph  Brown,  who  died  May  17, 

1859,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age,  p.  2oth.    Of  Prof.  Bazile  E,  Lanneau, 

1860,  p.  18.  Of  Rev.  John  Harrington,  who  died  December,  1859,  in  his 
69th  year.  Of  Rev.  John  LeRoy  Davies,  who  died  June  16,  1860,  in  his 
6l8t  year,  minutes  of  1860,  p.  25.   Of  Geo.  Cooper  Gregg,  who  died  May  28, 

1861,  minutes,  p.  16.  Of  A.  W.  Ross,  who  died  October  2d,  1861.  Of 
Elder  James  K.  Douglas,  of  Camden,  p,  64,  1861.  Of  Malcom  Douglas 
Eraser,  who  died  in  the  spring  of  1862,  in  the  49th  year  of  his  age  Of 
Rev.  James  McEwen  Hall  Adams,  pastor  at  Yorkville,  and  Professor  in 
the  Female  Academy,  who  died,  deeply  lamented,  March  31st,  1862. 
Memorial  of  Rev.  James  Henlv  Thornwell,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  from  the  pen 
of  Dr.  Adger,  minutes  of  1862,  p.  19.  Of  Rev.  Thos.  Livingston  Mc- 
Bryde,  D.  D.,  who  died  April  15,  1863.  Of  Rev.  W.  C.  Sutton,  who  died 
February  13,  1869.  Of  Rev.  Thos.  Reese  English,  who  died  in  April, 
1869,  in  his  63d  year,  having  been  a  successful  preacher  of  the  gospeltor 
some  thirty-seven  years.  For  the  memoir  of  Rev.  David  Humphreys, 
who  died  September  29, 1-869,  see  p.  391  of  this  history.  The  Rev.  Samuel 
J.  Price  departed  this  life  at  Lancaster  C.  H  ,  S.  C,  November  1st,  1871, 
minutes  of  1871,  p.  11.  A  memorial  of  Rev.  A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  born 
October  1,1787,  died  November  2d,  1871,  Professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary,  may  be  found  in  the  minutes  of  1871,  p.  11,  and  of  Rev.  Geo. 
W.  Boggs,  missionary  to  Hindostan,  on  p  13.  Of  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth, 
D.  D.,  who  died  August  20th,  1873,  in  his  66th  year,  minutes  of  1873, 
p.  14,  also  p.  761  of  this  history. 

The  death  of  Rev.  Wm.  Banks,  who  served  the  Master  so  ably  for  a 
period  of  thirty-five  years,  from  1840  to  1875,  and  was  for  years  the 
stated  clerk  of  his  Presbytery,  and  of  the  Synod,  died  on  the  17th  of 
March,  1875.  Of  him  a  record  is  made  in  the  minutes  of  Synod  for  that 
year,  p.  13  So  also  of  Rev-  Wm.  States  Lee,  pastor  at  Dorchester,  and 
at  Edisto,  who  died  July  28,  1875,  minutes,  pp.  15,  16.  Of  Rev.  Gilbert 
Morgan,  D.  D.,  who  died  May  27th,  1875,  at  the  age  of  84,  p.  16.  Of  John 
Leland  Kennedy,  who  preached  the  gospel  for  nearly  fifty  years,  min- 
utes of  1877,  p.  12.  Of  Edward  Tonge  Buist,  D.  D.,  who  died  November 
10,  1877,  at  the  age  of  68 ;  see  also  the  Necrology  of  the  graduates  of 
Princeton  Seminary.  A  memorial  of  Rev.  Donald  McQueen,  D.  D.,  is 
found  at  p.  22  of  the  Synod's  records  for  1880. 

The  death  of  Rev.  Thomas  Hood  Cunningham,  pastor  of  the  mission- 
ary church  (Ebenezer)  in  Charleston,  died  on  the  9th  of  March.  1880, 
greatly  beloved  and  deeply  lamented,  minutes,  p.  23.  The  same  minutes 
record  the  death  of  Rev.  William  Hooper  Adams,  formerly  pastor  of 
the  Circular  Church  in  Charleston,  who  died  on  the  14th  of  May,  1880, 
at  the  age  of  42,  p.  25. 

The  same  minutes,  p.  26,  record  the  death  of  Rev.  William  Swan 
Plumer,  D.  D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  for  fifty- 
three  years  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  during  which  he  labored  as  an 
evangelist,  then  as  pastor  in  various  important  churches,  as  of  Peters- 
burg, Richmond,  Baliimore,  then  as  professor  and  pastor  for  eight  years 
at  Allegheny,  and  professor  for  thirteen  years  at  Columbia,  and  who 
died  October  22, 1880.  Of  William  Carlisle,  who  died  March  23d,  1881, 
in  his  84th  year,  having  accomplished  a  large  amount  of  missionary 
49 


770  LIST   OP   DECEASED   MINISTERS. 

labor  in  his  early  years,  minutes,  1881,  p  14.  Of  Rev.  Edward  Palmer, 
brother  of  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  the  first  of  that  name,  and  father  of  the 
present  B.  M  Palmer,  D.  D.,  and  of  E.  P.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  of  whom  an 
interesting  memoir  has  been  written  by  his  son,  and  who  was  the  oldest 
minister  of  his  Presbytery  and  the  Synod  at  the  time  of  his  death,  Sep- 
tember 30th,  1882,  minutes  of  Synod,  pp.  17,  20.  In  the  same  minutes, 
pp  21.  22,  is  recorded  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Brearly,  who  preach- 
ed the  gospel  seventeen  years  in  Winnsboro'  and  thirty-seven  years  in 
Darlington,  and  died  January  8,  1882.  Of  John  McLees,  we  have 
spoken,  p.  393,  for  thirtv-seven  years  a  successful  minister  of  Christ, 
minutes  of  1882,  pp.  22,  24. 

In  the  same  minutes,  p.  25,  is  a  memorial  of  Rev.  James  Gousar,  son  of 
Bev.  Jas.  A.  Cousar  (so  long  stated  clerk  of  the  Presbytery  of  flarmony), 
who  pursued  his  studies  at  Oglethorpe  and  the  Seminary  of  Columbia, 
and  lived  to  preach  the  gospel  for  twenty-seven  years,  until  his  ministry 
was  closed  by  his  decease,  on  the  7th  of  January,  1882.  On  p.  26,  the  death 
of  Rev.  E.  H.  Buist,  of  Cheraw,  m  recorded,  son  of  Rev.  Arthur  Buist, 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Charleston;  brought  up  by  his 
uncle.  Rev.  E.  T.  Buist,  D.  D  ,  graduated  at  South  Carolina  College  with 
high  distinction,  finished  his  studies  at  the  Theological  Seminary  in 
Columbia,  and  was  pastor  at  Newberry,  and  afterwards,  in  1868,  at 
Cheraw,  where  he  died  on  the  11th  of  September,  1882. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Robertson  Dickson,  while  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Yorkville,  in  1867,  was  ('ailed  to  the  pastorate  of  the  First 
Reformed  Dutch  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. ;  was  taken  sick  March  3d,  in  Brook- 
lyn, and  died  on  March  8th,  in  the  early  part  of  the  second  year  of  liis 
minisiry  in  that  city.  He  was  the  son  of  Dr.  John  Dickson,  of  Charles- 
ton ;  his  mother,  Mary  Augusta  (daughter  of  Andrew  Flynn,  D.  D.),died 
while  he  was  quite  young.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Charleston  College, 
and  a  student  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia..  His  flr.^t  pas- 
toral charge  was  at  VVilltown,  Colleton  County,  S.  C.  He  had  been 
deeply  afflicted.  First,  a  beloved  niece  had  been  taken  from  him,  then 
his  only  daughter,  then  he  himself,  was  taken  with  acute  pneumonia, 
which  in  a  few  diys  terminated  his  life. 

Rev.  P.  M.  McKaj'  was  born  in  Embro,  in  the  province  of  Ontario, 
Canada,  January  10,  1847  ;  died  in  Madison,  Florida,  March  8,  1875.  He 
entered  Knox  College  Toronto,  Canada,  and  removing  to  Florida  be- 
came a  member  of  the  church  in  Lake  City  ;  and  in  April,  1871,  was  ta- 
ken under  the  care  of  the  Presbytery  of  Florida,  and  ordered  to  pursue 
his  course  m  Theology  at  Columbia,  in  which  institution  he  remained 
till  near  the  (dose  of  the  second  year.  He  was  licensed  in  April,  1873, 
ordained  and  installed  over  the  churches  of  Madison  and  Oakland  on 
the  2yth  day  of  November.  As  a  pastor,  fidl  of  affeittion  and  sympathy; 
as  a  preacher,  earnest  and  effective.    Minutes  of  1875,  p.  10 

Rev.  Charles  Malone  Richards,  born  in  Madison  County,  Alabama,  a 
graduate  of  Davidson  College,  who  finished  his  course  in  the  Seminary 
with  the  class  of  1869 ;  died  at  Cincinnati,  Arkansas,  on  the  5th  of  July, 
1872.  He  had  entered  the  Seminary  in  1861,  and  remained  till  the 
Spring  of  1862,  when  on  returning  home  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the 
Confe(3erate  army,  and  was  soon  after  made  a  Lieutenant  in  the  cavalry. 
In  an  engagement  which  afterwards  occurred  he  was  shot  in  both 
knees,  an(i  from  this  wound  he  never  recovered.  He  returned  to  the 
Seminary  in  the  Autumn  of  1867,  and  finished  his  course  with  the  class 
of  1869  He  was  ordained  to  the  full  work  of  the  ministry  at  Jacksons- 
port,  Arkansas,  April  11th,,  1870.    He  died  at  Cincinnati,  Ark.,  whither 


LIST   OF    DECEASED   MFNISTERS.  771 

he  had  gone  to  fill  an  appointment,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  wound 
he  had  received  was  the  main  cause  of  his  death. 

Our  sister  Synod,  of  Georgia,  since  her  sep^aration  from  us  has  met 
with  similar  losses,  and  paid  corresponding  tri|butes  to  the  memory  of 
her  dead.  The  first  she  had  occasion  to  mention  was  the  Eev.  Thomas 
Goulding,  D.  D.,  the  first  Professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  whose 
removal  she  mourns,  and  to  whom  she  pays  a  fitting  tribute  Minutes 
of  her  4th  session,  held  at  Columbus,  in  1H4S,  p.  25.  She  expresses 
(printed  minutes  of  1851),  her  sincere  regret  at  the  death  of  Rev.  Dr. 
William  McWhir,  the  oldest  member  of  the  Synod;  a  native  of  Ireland, 
licensed  by  the  Presbytery  of  Killeabah  ;  caine  to  this  country  soon 
after  the  Bevolution ;  was  Principal  of  the  High  School  at-  Alexandria, 
Va.,  under  the  patronage  of  General  Washington.  Thence  he  removed 
to  Sunbury,  in  Georgia,  the  head  of  .a  famous  school  to  which  many, 
both  male  and  female,  were  attracted.  He  had  no  pastoral  charge,  but 
preached  where  his  services  were  needed.  He  founded  a  church  at 
Mandarin,  in  Florida,  and  was  active  in  organizing  the  church  at  St. 
Augustine. 

The  Rev.  J.  C.  Humphrey  was  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York,  who 
came  in  early  manhood  to  the  State  of  Georgia  in  search  of  health, 
and  at  that  time  an  avowed  unbeliever.  A  good  Elder  with  whom  he 
resided  put  into  his  hands  Xelson  on  Infidelity,  which  convinced  him 
of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and  was  blest  to  his  conversion.  He  then 
became  anxious  to  preach  the  gospel  which  was  now  his  solace  and 
peace-  As  a  candidat-e  of  Flint  Biver  Presbytery  he  entered  the  Semi- 
nary at  Columbia,  became  temporarily  the  supply  of  ihe  church  in  Au- 
gusta, where  his  health  failed.  He  served  afterwards  as  an  Evangelist 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Hopewell.  He  was  a  man  of  talents,  but  most 
eminently  a  man  of  prayer.  Death  came  early  but  it  had  no  sting. 
His  ministry  on  earth  was  short,  but  not  unfruitful.  '  Mijiutes  of  Synod 
of  Georgia,  1859,  p.  22. 

The  Eev.  S.  J.  Cassels  was  born  in  Liberty  County,  Georgia,  in  1806; 
became  a  subject  of  renewing  grace  in  early  life,  and  felt  himself  called 
to  the  ministry.  He  was  graduated  at  Frankiin  College,  in  1828,  and 
pursued  his  Tbelogical  studies  under  Dr.  Waddel.  He  was  called  to  the 
pastoral  care  of  the  church  at  Washington,  Wilkes  County ;  then  to  the 
church  in  Macon  ;  then  to  Norfolk,  in  Virginia.  He  was  much  gifted 
as  a  preacher,  and  blest  in  winning  souls  to  Christ.  His  health  gave 
way  under  his  abundant  labors.  He  settled  then  in  Savannah,  became 
Principal  of  Chatham  Academy,  and  in  that  position  died  in  an  unshak- 
en and  triumphant  hope  of  blessed  immortality.  Minutes  of  1853,  p.  17. 
The  minutes  of  the  Georgia  Synod  for  1854,  p.  11,  record  the  death  of 
Kev.  Benjamin  Burroughs,  a  native  of  Savannah,  a  graduate  of  Union 
College,  who  pursued  his  Theological  studies  at  Princeton.  He  was 
minister,  at  diflTerent  times,  at  Milledgeville,  Tallahassee  and  White 
Bluff,  and  was  blest  with  at  least  one  extensive  revival  of  religion.  He 
labored  also  as  city  missionary  in  Savannah,  and  fell  a  victim  to  the 
fever  prevailing  in  that  city  during  the  Summer  and  fall  of  that  year, 
.dying  in  full  expectation  of  a  blessed  immortality. 

The  .same  minutes,  p.  16,  record  the  death  of  Rev  Jesse  W.  Hume,  a 
native  of  Tennessee,  a  graduate  of, the  College  of  Nashville,  and  of  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton.  Obliged  to  seek  a  milder  climate 
he  came  to  Florida  in  1850,  and  was  soon  after  installed  over  the  church 
at  Tallahassee,  where  he  labored  for  over  two  years  with  signal  ability. 
He  was  a  man  of  no  ordinary  niiad,  op.  ordinary  attainments,  and  of  no 


77-2  1AST   OF    DECEASED    MINISTEES. 

ordinary  piety  In  the  Fall  of  '54,  at  the  age  of  31,  and  in  the  full  tri- 
umph of  a  living  faith,  he  went  up  from  the  church  militant  to  the 
church  triumphant,  after  a  ministry  of  something  better  than  ten  years. 
"  Thus  fell  a  man  who  gave  promise  of  standing  a^  a  Theologian, 
a  preacher,  and  a  man  of  piety  among  the  first  Doctors  of  the  land." 
Minutes  of  1854,  p.  16. 

The  Eev.  A.  Milner,  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  removed  with  his 
father's  family  to  Cass  County,  Georgia.  He  became  in  early  life  a  fol- 
lower of  Christ.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Franklin  College,  and  having 
studied  law  he  practiced  at  tfie  bar  for  a  short  time,  but  soon  turned  his 
attention  to  the  gospel  ministry.  He  was  licensed  by  Etawa  Presbytery, 
soon  after  united  with  that  of  Cherokee  by  which  he  was  ordained  as 
Evangelist,  in  1844.  He  had  received  a  call  from  the  united  churches  of 
Friendship  and  Euharlee,  and  was  installed  as  their  pastor  in  October, 
and  was  to  supply  the  church  at  Cassville.  Though  in  feeble  health  he 
was  carried  to  the  church  at  Cartersville,  where  the  services  were  per- 
formed, returned  to  his  sick  bed  which  in  two  weeks  was  to  him  the 
bed  of  death.  He  died  November  13,  1855,  and  was  buried  on  the  14th, 
the  same  day  on  which  the  Synod  was  assembled.  During  the  eleven 
years  of  his  ministerial  life  he  had  done  much  to  build  up  the  church 
of  Christ  in  the  region  in  which  lie  labored.  Minutes  of  the  Synod  of 
Georgia,  1855,  p.  18. 

The  memory  of  Rev.  Joseph  B  Stevens,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  a 
graduate  of  Bowdoin  College,  and  a  student  in  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary in  Maine,  who  labored  in  various  counties  in  Georgia,  and  died  on 
the  9th  of  May,  1860,  in  the  59th  year  of  his  age,  is  perpetuated  in  the 
minutes  of  that  year. 

The  memorial  of  Rev.  Alonzo  Church,  D.  D.,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and 
graduate  of  Midlebury  College,  was  first  a  teacher  in  Eatonton  Acade- 
my, then  Professof  of  Mathematics  and  A.stronomy  in  Franklin  Col- 
lege, then  successor  of  Dr.  Waddel  as  President  of  the  same-  It  was  his 
delight  and  glory  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  nor  did  he  cease  to 
do  this  to  the  dav  of  his  decease.  Minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Georgia  for 
1862,  p.  14. 

Rev.  Rufus  Kilpatrick  Porter,  born  in  Spartanburg  District,  South 
Carolina,  second  son  of  Rev.  Francis  H.  Porter,  a  graduate  of  South  Caro- 
lina College,  a  student  of  Theology  at  Columbia,  licensed  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Charleston  in  1852,  chaplain  in  the  army,  was  with  General 
T.  R.  R.Cobb  when  he  received  his  mortal  wound,  pastor  of  the  Central 
Presbyterian  Church  in  Atlanta,  from  1867  to  the  13th  of  July,  1869, 
when  he  received  another  call  to  the  church  triumphant  Minutes  of 
1870,  p.  6. 

Dr.  Wm.  M.  Cunningham,  born  in  East  Tennessee,  graduated  at 
Washington  College,  in  his  native  State,  studied  at  Princeton  under 
Drs.  Alexander  and  Miller.  Pastor  at  Lexington,  Va,,  six  years,  then 
at  Chattanooga,  then  from  January,  1841,  at  LaGrange.  One  year  he 
labored  with  Dr.  Styles  as  Synodical  Evangelist,  was  elected  as  Presi- 
dent of  Oglethorpe  College,  and  would  have  accepted,  had  he  not  re- 
ceived the  message  just  then,  "  (jome  thou  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  Kingdom  prepared  for  thee  "     Minutes  of  1870,  p    9. 

Rev.  T'elemachus  F.  Montgomery,  born  in  Jackson  Co.,  Ga.,  united  in 
1827,  under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Joseph  C.  Stiles,  D.  D.,  with  the 
PresbyteriaJi  Church  at  Lawrenceville.  Graduated  at  Athens  in  the 
class  of  Alexander  H  Stephens  and  o.hers  known  to  fame,  pursued  his 
studies  at  Columbia  in  the  class  of  1835,  was  licensed  and  ordained  in 


LIST   OF    DECEASED    MINISTERS.  773 

the  same  year.  Preached  and  taught  at  Ephesus,  Talbot  County,  Ga., 
for  seven  years,  and  in  various  places  in  Georgia,  South  Carolina.  Ala- 
bama and  Florida.  In  March,  1874,  he  was  struck  with  paialy.-is,  from 
which  he  pariially  recovered,  but  it  returned  again,  and  on  the  4th  of 
December,  1875,  he  was  called  to  his  reward,  having  nearly  completed 
his  sixty-eighth  year.  His  ministry  was  by  no  means  an  unprofitable 
one.    His  end  was  calm,  peaceful  and  happy.     Minutes  of  1870,  p.  10. 

Of  the  Rev.  Nathan  Hoyt,  D.  D.,  and  his  "labors  at  Beech  Island,  we 
have  made  mention,  p.  339.  He  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  his 
parents  Baptists.  He  became  pious  in  early  life,  and  his  own  researches 
led  him  to  embra(-e  Pedo  Baptist  views.  He  was  first  settled  in  Troy, 
failing  health  brouglit  him  to  the  South,  and  the  first  place  on  which  he 
bestowed  his  labors  w^as  Beech  Island,  where  his  eftbrts  were  much 
blest  in  the  organization  of  the  church  of  which  he  wrote  an  interest- 
ing account;  see  p.  339.  Thence  he  removed  to  Washington,  Georgia, 
and  thence  to  Athens,  where  under  the  very  eaves  of  the  University  he 
preached  the  gospel  with  great  success  for  thirty-seven  years. 

In  their  narrative  to  the  General  Assembly  for  1876,  the  Synod  of 
Georgia  sadly  say,  "  Four  beloved  brethren  in  the  ministry,  beloiiging 
to  this  Synod,  have  been  called  from  their  labors  on  earth  to  their  re- 
ward in  Heaven,  Eev.  A.  G.  Loughridge,  Eev.  C.  P.  Beman,  D.  D., 
Rev.  T.  F.  Montgomery,  and  Rev.  R:  C.  Ketchum,  our  late  lamented 
clerk,  and  we  shall  behold  no  more  their  faces  in  the  flesh." 

Honorable  testimony' is  borne  in  their  minutes  of  the  Rev.  Wm. 
Matthews,  educated  at  tl.e  Gwinnett .  Institute,  and  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Columbia,  who  departed  this  life  at  Macon,  Dec.  20,  1862. 

Benjamin  D.  Dupree,  or  Dupre,  was  born  in  Charleston,  but  in  early 
childhood  his  father  removed  to  Pendleton.  We  have  seen  him  em- 
ployed, in  preceding  pages,  as  stated  supply  of  various  churches  in  the 
Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  by  which  he  was  licensed.  He  removed 
to  Georgia,  in  1845,  and  became  a  member  of  Cherokee  Presbytery, 
found  the  harvest  plenteous  and  the  laborers  few;  resumed  there  his 
missionary  work  until  at  length  his  health  failed  him,  and  his  labors 
were  more  restricted.  He  was  supplying  the  churches  of  Midway  and 
Carthage  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  ou  the  10th  of  xVpril, 
1863,  in  the  64th  year  of  his  age,  and  the  42d  of  his  ministry. 

Rev.  Charles  Colcock  Jones,  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Liberty  Co..  Ga.,  on 
the  20th  of  Dec,  1804,  was  deprived  of  both  his  parents  before  he  Was 
five  years  old.  His  mother,  of  Huguenot  descent,  a  woman  of  great 
piety,  had  prayed  that  this  son  might  serve  God  in  the  ministry  He 
received  his  early  education  under  Dr.  McWhir,  at  Simbury.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen .  he  entered  a  counting-house  in  Savannah,  where  he 
continued  six  years,  during  which  time  he  became  a  member  of  the 
church  of  his  fathers  in  Liberty  Co.,  and  an  active  laborer  in  the  Sab- 
bath School. 

Oflfers  of  a  business  character  were  made  to  him.  But,  no  !  His 
mother's  prayer  had  been  heard  in  Heaven.  He  must  be  a  minister  of 
the  gospel.  He  resorted  to  Andover  ;  in  Philip's  Academy  he  ac- 
quired a  knowledge  of  the  languages,  entered  the  Seminary  at  Ando- 
ver, Mass.;  continued  his  theological  course  under  Drs.  Miller  and  Alex- 
ander. When  we  were' associated  with  him,  his  daily  devotional  read- 
ing included  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  in  which  he  took  great  Interest. 
Air  who  knew  him  can  testify  to  his  interest  in  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  colored  people  and  the  efforts  he  made  in  their  behalf  The  pub- 
lications he  put  forth  awakened  attention  to  his  cause.    The  catechism 


774  LIST   OF   DECEASED    MINISTERS. 

he  prepared  for  their  use  has  been  rrjuch  vah]6d,  was  translated  by  Rev, 
John  B,  Adger,  D.  D„  while  at  Smyrna,  into  the  Armenian  and  the 
Armeno-Turkish,  and  by  Rev.  John  Quarterman,  at  Ningpo,  into  the 
Chinese.  Through  tliese  intiuences  a  general  meeting  was. held  in 
Charleston,  in  1845,  attended  largely  by  various  denominations",  and 
gathering  informaiion  from  various  quarters  on  the  religious  inatruc 
tion  of  the  negroes.  Dr.  Jones,  at  different  periods,  was  pastor  of  the 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  in  Savannah,  twice  Professor  of  Ecclesiastic 
cal  History  and  ("Ihurch  Government  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Columbia,  and  finally  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Domes- 
tic Missions  at  Philadelphia.  He  died  in  peace  and  triumph  on  the 
17th  of  May,  18©5.  The  last  work  of  his  life,  of  any  extent,  was  his 
"  liistory  of  the  Church  of  God."  On  the  night  of  the  18th  of  April, 
1850,  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  in  Columbia,  with  all  its  contents, 
was  consumed  by  fire,  the  family  narrowly  escaping,  with  their  lives. 
The  most  valuable  portion  of  his  library,  his  missionary  journals,  ser- 
mons, and  otherMSS.,  and  his  lectures  on  Church  History  were  de- 
stroyed. With  characteristic  patience  these  last  he  undertook  to  re- 
cover and  restore,  from  the  memoranda  of  students  and  his  own  recol- 
lection, and  thus  was  produced  the  volume  he  published  before  his 
death,  entitled  "  The  History  of  the  Church  of  God." 

The  minutes  of  1871  record  the'  death  of  Rev.  Henry  SaflTord,  born  in 
Royalton,  Vt.,  Qictober  8th,  1793,  died  at  Greensboro,  Ga.,  October  8th, 
1870,  the  day  of  his  entrance  into  the  life  above,  the  77th  anniversary 
of  his  entrance  into  his  life  on  earth.  A  graduate  of  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege, a  student  of  theology  at  Princeton.  He  was  city  missionary  of 
Augusta,  missionary  at  Beech  Island,  in  Jackson,  Jefferson,  Ogle- 
thorpe ("ountiea,  Lumkln  and  Madison,  Ga. 

Rev.  Robert  A.  Houston,  born  in  Tennessee,  in  1828,  departed  to  Ids- 
rest  in  Oxford,  Alabama,  March  21st,  18G9,  in  the  43d  year  of  his  age. 
A  graduate  of  Oglethore,  in  1849,  a  licentiate  of  Hopewell  Presbytery, 
April,  1854,  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Alabama,  installed  as- 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  Greervsboro,  Ga.,'  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hope- 
■Well,  and  President  also  of  the  Synodical  Female  College  there  Estab- 
lished. "  A  successful  teacher,  a  sound  theologian,  and  an  earnest  andl 
faithful  minister  of  the  word."    Minutes  of  1871,  p.  11. 

Plamden  C.  Carter  was  born  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  March  6th  1805, 
and  died  on  the  night  of  the  30th  of  December,  1869,  at  the  ho-use  of  a 
friend,  near  Calhoun,  Ga.,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age.  Was  fitted  for 
college  at  Phillip's  Academy,  Aiidover.  In  1823.  be  came  to  Athens, 
Ga.,  and  was  graduated  at  Franklin  College,  in  1826  He  studied  The- 
ology under  Dr.  Gouldiiig,  was  licensed  by  Hopewell  Presbytery,  in  1829^ 
He  preached  in  many  portions  of  Georgia,  and  often  with  great  success^ 
"  In  his  presentations  of  truth  he  was  wonderfully  clear  and  convinc- 
ing. He  combined  depth  and  clearuessof  thought  with  great  simplicity.. 
And  he  may  be  said  to  have  preached  the  gospel  at  his  own  e.Ypense. 
He  gave  not  only  himself,  but  bis  property,  of  which  he  had  a  consid'- 
erable  amount,   to  the  cause  cyf  Christ."    Minutes  of  1871,  p.  12 

We  would  be  glad  to  transcribe  the  memorial  of  the  Rev.  l  r:  Talmadge, 
who  departed  thislife  on  the  20th  of  September,  in  the  6"th  year  of  his: 
age;  of  Rev.  G.  W.  Ladson,a  member  of  the  Presbytery  erf  Georgia,  but 
the  devoted  pastor  of  the  colored  portion  of  the  Cohimbia  Church,  in 
whose  service  he  died  on  the  4th'  of  July,  1864,  and  where  "  Ladsoii 
Chapel,"  built  for  the  congregation  to  which  he  ministered,  perpetuates 
bis  iwme.    Of  the'  Rev.  James  Cowan  Pa/tterson.,  D.  D.,  who  died.  July 


LIST   OF   DECEASED   MINISTERS.  775 

lu  ^TO^^' '"  *^^'®  ^^''  y®'^'"  °^  '"*  ^f^®  (Minutes  of  Synod  of  1867,  p.  9.)  Of 
the  Key.  E.  T.  Williams,  the  Missionary  to  Africa,  who  was  compelled 
by  his  impaired  health  to  return  to  his  native  clime,  where  he  labored 
with  marked  success.  Minutes  of  18H7,  p.  9.  Of  Rev  James  Gamble, 
hrst  setUed  at  Rockey  River.  S.  C,  but  afterwards  removed  to  Georgia, 
where  "  he-  was  a  model  teacher  of  youth  and  an  able  preacher  of  the 
Gospel."  Minutes  of  18G7,  p.  10.  Of  John  F.  Lanneau,  whom  we  have 
before  named  as  Missionary  to  Palestine,  but  spent  the  latter  portion  of 
his  life  at  Marietta,  in  useful  services  to  the  church.  When  asked  on 
his  death  bed  if  he  never  had  any  shadow  of  a  doubt,  his  touching  and 
beautiful  answer  was : 

'■  And  lesl  the  shadow  of  a  spot 

Should  on  my  soul  be  fouud, 
He  look  his  robe  of  ritcbleousness 

And  oast  it  all  around." 

Minutes,  1867,  p.  22. 

A'athaniel  Alpheus  Pratt,  D.  D.,  born  January  29,  1796,  in  Saybrook 
Co.,  Conn.,  graduated  at  Yale  in  1820,  studied  at  Princeton  Seminary 
under  Drs.  Alexander  Miller  and  Hodge,  licensed  by  Presbytery  of  New 
Brunswick,  April.  1823,  was  a  Missionary  in  Southern  Georgia  and 
Florida,  pastor  at  Darieii  in  1826,  removed  to  Roswell,  Geo.,  in  1840, 
where  he  spent  a  long  and  useful  life  as  a  ministar  of.Christ,  greatly, 
beloved,  for  thirty-nine  years.  He  preached  his  last  sermon  on  the 
16th  of  March,  1879,  when,  by  paralysis,  he  lost  the  power  of  speech, 
and  died  on  the  30th  of  August,  in  the  same  year,  liaving  served  the 
Master  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  fifty-six  years. 

The  Rev.  Samuel  S.  Davis,  I).  D.,  born  12th"  of  July,  1793,  in  Balleston, 
N.  Y..  was  graduated  at  Middlebury  College,  Vt.,  of  which,  at  the  lime 
his  uncle,  Henry  Davis,  D.  D.,  was  President.  He  came  to  the  South 
first  as  an  agent  for  the  endowment  of  a  Professorship  in  Princeton 
Seminary,  by  the  two  Synods  of  North  Carolina,  and  that  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia.  As  an  agent  he  was  unusually  succsssful,  both 
when  laboring  for  the  Assembly  Board  of  Edtication  ibr  the  Princeton 
Professorship  and  subsequently  as  agent  for  the  Assembly's  Board  of 
Education  and  for  the  Seminary  at  Columbia.  In  his  pastorates  at 
Darien,  at  Carrolton.his'colleague  pastorship  in  Augusta,  although  they 
were  for  limited  periods,  lie  had  in  an  eminent  degree  the  affections  of 
those  to  whom  he  ministered.  He  was  a  Professor  in  the  Oglethorpe 
University  in  the  days  of  its  gi'eatest  prosperity.  He  survived  but  a 
short  time  the  death  of  the  excellent  woman,  daughter  of  Thomas  Gum- 
ming, of  Augusta,  his  companion  for  more  than  half  a  century.  He 
died  on  the  21st  of  June,  1877,  at  the  age  of  84. 

The  Rev.  William  Dimmock,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  a  devoted 
teacher  in  his  native  land  and  here  in  the  Sabbath  School,  was  licensed 
by  the  Presbytery  of  Atlanta  in  1870,  ordained  in  1872,  died  in  Carrol- 
ton,  Ga.,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1880,  leaving  "  his  epitaph"  written  ''  on 
our  hearts."    Minutes  of  October  15,  1881 . 

Rev.  J.  R.  Mcintosh,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Macon,  born  in  North  Caro- 
lina, a  graduate  of  Hampden-Sidney,  receiving  his  Theological  education 
.at  Union  Seminary.  Though  an  earnest  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  his  lile 
was  chiefly  spent  in  the  school  room,  being  President  at  one  time  of 
Floral  College,  then  of  the  Female  College  at  Eufaula,  Ala.,  then  assisting 
at  Columbus,  Geo.,  and  yet  preaching  the  word  whenever  opportunity 
offered.  He  died  on  the  26th  of  November,  1880,  in  the  75th  year  of  his 
age.    Minutes  of  1881,  p,  16. 


776  LIST   OF   DECEASED  MINISTERS. 

The  Rev.  Bavid  H.  Porter,  D.  D.,  was  bornin  Selma,  Ala.,  on  the  13th 
of  May,  18.30.  His  father  was  the  Rev.  Francis  H.  Porter,  of  whom  we 
have  made  mention  on  preceding  pages.  He  was  graduated  at  the  South 
Carolina  College,  in  the  class  of  1852,  and  finished  his  studies  in  the 
Theological  tieminar)'  at  Columbia,  in  1855,  and  soon  after  received  an 
unanimous  call  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  city  of  Savan- 
nah, which  he'  first  accepted  conditionally,  after  fulfilling  certain  other 
previous  engagements-  The  church  was  small  in  numbers  and  pecu- 
niarily feeble.  Still  he  was  favorably  received,  not  only  by  that  church 
but  by  the  community  at  large.  In  the  autumn  of  1861  he  was  attacked 
with  hemorrhage  and  was  urged  by  his  people  to  take  a  season  of  rest. 
On  resuming  his  duties  he  was  again  attacked  and  forbidden  by  his 
physician  to  preach.  Ater  this  he  became  Chaplain  to  the  Fifth  Regi- 
ment of  Georgia  Cavalry,  continued  his  labors  with  great  profit  to  the 
soldiers  and  material  benefit  to  his  own  health.  After  ihe  war  his 
ministrations  were  greatly  blest  to  his  own  people,  and  bj'  their  united 
exertions  a  suitable  te.mple  was  erected  for  the  worship  of  Almighty 
God.  After  this  his  health  began  again  perceptibly  to  fail,  and  he  again 
tendered  his  resignation,  which  his  people  declined  to  receive-  His 
disease  still  continued  its  destructive  progress,  and  on  Sabbath,  the 
21st  of  December,  1873,  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  No  pastor  in  our  Con- 
nection has  ever  been  followed  to  the  grave  by  a  more  sincerely  mourn- 
ing church  and  congregation. 

The  Rev.  R.  C.  Ketchum,  who  had  removed  from  the  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  to  that  of  Georgia,  and  was  first  settled  at  Clarksville,  and 
since  resided  at  Kock  Springs,  near  Atlanta,  and  who  became  stated 
clerk  of  the  Synod  of  Georgia,  on  the  death  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Wil- 
son, died  sustained  by  the  blessed  hopes  of  the  gospel,  on  Friday,  the 
23d  of  June,  1875,  having  been  some  forty  years  a  minister  of  Christ., 

The  Rev.  John  S.  Wilson,  D.  D.,  whom  he  sncceeded,  demands  more 
than  a  passing  notice.  He  was  born  in  Anderson  District,  (or  County), 
then  Pendleton,  S.  C,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1796.  Besides  an  English 
schooling,  he  spent  several  years  under  the  classical  and  theological 
training  of  Dr.  Waddell.  He  closed  his  theological  preparations  under 
Dr.  Thomas  Charlton  Henry,  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  and  was  licensed  to 
preach  by  the  Presbytery  of  South  Carolina,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1849. 
He  taught  and  preached  for  four  years  at  Ruckersville,  Elbert  Co.,  then 
in  Gwinnett  Co.,  where  he  resided  twenty  years,  preaching  at  Fairview 
Church,  and  founding  that  at  Lawrenceville,  engaged  there  in  preach* 
ing  and  teaching.  For  fifteen  yf  ara  in  the  old  academy,  at  Lawrence- 
ville, he  had  large  classes  of  young  men,  some  of  whom  entered  the 
ministry.  Again,  at  Decatur,  where  he  had  organized  a  church,  he 
preached  and  taught,  and  -^as  never  released  from  this  last  vocation  till 
he  removed  to  Atlanta,  in  18.59,  to  take  charge  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  which  was  organized  by  himself,  and  where  he  closed  a  minis- 
try of  over  fifty-three  years,  on  the  27th  of  March,  IS'K.  His  soundness 
in  doctrine,  his  laborious  and  self-denying  life,  his  success  as  teacher, 
preacher  and  writer,  his  services  as  a  stated  Clerk  of  Synod,  his  services 
as  historiographer,  exhibited  in  part  by  his  necrology,  his  services  in 
the  General  Assembly,  of  whicli  he  was  eleven  times  a  member,  and 
once  the  Moderator,  show  at  once  his  own  capacity  for  the  work  re- 
quired by  the  church,  and  the  confidence  of  his  brethren.  Minutes  of 
1873,  p-  13. 

The  Rev.  Benjamin  C  Robertson  was  born  in  Dickinson  Co.,  Tennes- 
see,  June  5th,  1846.    Entered  Amherst  C&llege  in  1866,  and   was  gradu- 


LIST   OF   DECEASED   MINISTERS.  777 

ated  in  1868.  He  entered  the  Union  Theological  Seminary  in  the  City 
of  New  York  His  health  failing,  under  the  advice  of  physicians,  he 
removed  to  Florida,  and  resumed  his  theological  studies,  and  was  li- 
censed by  the  Presbytery  of  Florida,  January'5th,  1871,  and  on  the  20th 
of  April  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  the  Palatka.  Church,  with 
good  prospect  of  success.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before,  his  health 
began  to  fail,  and  notwithstanding  all  his  hopes  and  the  promise  he 
gave  of  great  usefulness,  he  was  called  early  to  his  rest.  Minutes  of 
Synod  of  Georgia  for  1873,  p.  11. 

Rev.  David  Comfort,  born  in  Charlotte  Co.,  Va.,  July  29,  1837,  died  in 
Thomas  Co.,  Georgia,  January  22d,  1873,  in  the  36th-  year  of  his  age. 
Graduated  at  Hampden-Sydney,  with  first  honors  Entered  the  Semi- 
nary at  Princeton,  but  joined  the  Confederate  Army  in  Virginia,  and 
was  captured,  but  afterwards  exchanged.  He  became  connected  with 
the  Presbytery  of  Florida,  and  served  as  pastor  at  Bethany  and  Val- 
dosta.  During  the  whole  of  his  ministry  he  never  enjoyed  a  single  hour 
of  health,  yet  was  he  "  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,"  never  spar- 
ing himself  till  he  was  called  away  from  his  earthly  labors."  Minutes 
of  1873,  p.  as. 

,  Rev.  Joseph  Clay  Stiles,  D.  D.,  was  graduated  at  Yale,  in  1814.  Feel- 
ing himself  called  to  the  ministry,  he  was  licensed  and  ordained  and 
served  S.  S.  at  Milledgeville  and  Concord,  Ga  ,  from  1823,  at  Ver- 
sailles, Harmony,  and  Midway,  Ky.,  successively  from  1836,  Shocco 
Hill,  Richmond,  from  1846,  Mercer  St.,  JST.  Y.,  from  1850,  Secretary  of 
American  Bible  Society  for  the  South,  1850-52.  S.  S.  South  Ch.,  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  1852-57.  Secretary  Southern  Aid  Society.  Chap.  C.  S, 
A.,  (1862),  W.  C.  Richmond,  Va.  Dr.  Stiles  was,  as  all  know,  an  earnest 
worker  in  the  church,  an  eloquent  and  successful  preacher  of  the 
gospel. 

But  we  are  obliged  greatly  to  abbreviate  these  notices.  Prof.  R.  C 
Smith,  Alabama,  Professor  of  Mental  and  Moral  Philosophy,  a  position 
which  he  filled  with  ability  till  the  war  closed  the  institution  in  1862, 
departed  this  life  in  Macon,  on  khe  23d  of  May,  1873,  in  the  64th  year  of 
his  age-  Minutes  of  1874,  p.  10-  Tn  the  same  minutes,  p.  13,  is  recorded 
the  death,  in  Griffin,  Ga.,  long  the  place  of  his  residence,  of  Wm.  J. 
Keith,  once  Professor  of  Ancient  Languages  of  the  College,  now  Uni- 
versity, of  Bast  Tennessee,  located  at  Knoxville.  Associated  with  the 
history  of  colleges,  but  in  a  very  different  relation,  was  our  brother, 
Remembrance  Chamberlain.  He  was  born  in  Vermont,  December  2, 
1789,  was  graduated  at  Middlebury  College,  studied  theology  at  Prince- 
ton, was  first  settled  in  Burke  County,  Ga.,  was  employed  as  pastor  in 
various  places,  and,  as  evangelist,  organized  a  number  of  churches.  He 
was  long  the  financial  agent  of  Oglethorpe  University,  and  is  said  to. 
have  secured  for  it  a  sum  but  a  little  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  He  died  early  in  March,  1856,  in  the  68th  year  of  his  age,  and 
about  the  thirty-sixth  of  his  ministry.  The  minutes  of  1867,  p.  6,  record 
the  death  of  Rev.  Eli  Graves,  born  in  Rupert,  Vermont,  February  10, 
1803,  became  connected  with  the  Presbytery  of  Florida  in  the  spring 
of  1842,  died  August  22d,  1857.  His  name  and  memory  are  interwoven 
in  the  history  of  many  of  our  churches 

Rev.  A.  H  Mathes,  born  in  Greenville  District,  S.  C. ,  graduated  at 
W^ashington  College,  Tennessee,  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  practice  ; 
felt  himself  called  to  preach  the  gospel,  put  himself  under  the  care  of 
Holston  Presbytery ;  for  want  of  means,  walked  all  the  way  to  Prince- 
ton, and  when  asked  how  he  came,  replied,  "  by  private  conveyance." 


778  LIST   OF   DECEASKD   MINISTERS; 

Was  installed  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Ray  Town.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  was  president  of  the  college  in  Tennessee.  After  sev- 
eral removals,  died  in  Florida,  Sep' ember  4th,  1878,  aged  50  years,  3 
months,  27  di^ys     Minutes  ot  1878,  p.  15. 

Rev.  J.  M.  Quarterman,  son  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Quarterman,  the 
venerated  pastor  of  Midway  Church,  Liberty  County,  Ga.,  graduate  of 
Oglethorpe,  and  student  at  Columbia  in  the  class  of  1850,  after  a  life  of 
laborious  and  useful  service  in  the  ministry,  departed  this  life  at  Pa- 
latka,  East  Florida,  in  March.  1858.    Minutes  of  1858,  p.  14. 

In  the  same  minutes,  p.  27,  is  recorded  the  death  of  Rev.  Daniel 
Ingles,  of  the  Presbytery  of  Cherokee.  He  was  born  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  left  a  dependent  orphan.  When  he  attained  the  years 
of  manhood  he  felt  called  to  the  ministry,  and  began  his  preparation 
for  it.  In  1830,  he  came  to  Georgia,  was  graduated  at  Athens,  and  in 
the  year  1834  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Presbytery  of  Hope- 
well. As  a  preacher,  he  was  a  Boanerges.  6n  the  27th  of  December, 
1857,  while  in  apparent  health,  sitting  in  his  room  reading  the  Sacred 
Scriptures,  and  meditating  upon  its  truths,  his  spirit  returned  to  God 
who  gave  it,  leaving  his  body  cold  in  death.  Thus  suddenly,  in  the  55th 
year  of  his  age,  and  the  23d  of  his  ministry,  he  passed  away. 

We  have  spoken  of  Rev.  D.  .J.  Auld  la  the  earlier  pages  of  our  his- 
tory. The  minutes  of  the  Synod  of  Georgia  for  18'>7.  p.  25,  record  his 
death,  and  sympathize  with  the  Church  of  Tallahassee,  over  which  he 
had  so  recently  settled. 

They  also  record,  on  p.  28,  the  death  of  Rev.  Joseph  Y.  Alexander,  a 
native  of  North  Carolina,  who  pursued  his  preparatory  studies  under 
Dr.  Waddell,  received  license  to  preach  from  the  Presbytery  of  South 
Carolina  in  1820;  was  first  settled  at  Newberry,  S.  C-,  then  finally  at 
Newnan,  Ga.,  where  he  spent  more  than  two-thirds  of  his  ministerial 
life,  where  he  died  Marih,  1857,  having  labored  nearly  thirty-seven 
years  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 

For  further  notices  of  deceased  ministers,  consult  Dr.  J.  S.  Wilson's 
Necrology,  afid  volumes  three  and  4  of  Sprague's  Annals. 


INDEX 


Vol.  II, 


Abbot,  ftev,  Mr.,  231, 

Act  and  Testimony,  566;  Val'iotis  Opln' 
ions,  667, 

Action  of  General  Assembly  In  affairs 
of  S^nod  of  South  C^>rolina  and 
Georgia,  315;  Questions  submitted 
by  advice  of  Harmony  Presbytery, 
315. 

Adams.  Re.v.  James  S.,  38,  43,  30, 105.'  378. 
517,  685. 

Adams,  BeV.  R.  M,,  41, 44,  213,  214, 233. 

Adams  Kev.  Mr.,  534,  769. 

Adams.  Hev,  J.  M,  H.,  371, 684,  769. 

Adams,  Rev.  Kli,  381. 

Adger,  Rev,  Dr.  J.  B.,  559,  561,595,  604)606, 

Aikman,  Kev,  Alex.,  453. 

AiMWEiiL  Chukch  (Cedar  Creek),  87. 266, 
361.  502,  660;  Rev.  Geo.  Reid,87;  Kev, 
A.  W.  Ross,  266 ;  Kev.  Mr.  McKin- 
ney,  Rev.  Mr.  Brearloy,  361;  Hev.  M. 
Peden,  50'i ;  Kev.  Geo,  (J.  Legare,  666 ; 
Elders,  666. 

Alexander,  Rev,  Dr.  A.,  568,  768. 

Alexauder,  Dr.  Joseph  Y.,  93.  96,  382.  778, 

Alexander,  Rev,  Thos.,  250,  347,  348,  410, 

Anderson,  Kev,  J.  M.,683. 

Anderson,  Rev.  Robt.,  250.  348. 

ANDERSON  C;b0kch.  551,  749. 

Antioch  Church,  748. 

Archibald,  Rev.  Thos..  282,  376,  534. 

Ashmead,  Ftev.  Wm,  328, 

Atkinson,  Rev.  Mr., 573. 

AtJOTjsTA  Ga.,  First  PkesbyteriaK 
Ohukch,  151-57,267,  304.399.  55.5;  Rev. 
W.  McKnight,  Rev,  J.R.Thompson, 
154;  Dedication,  304;  Subscribers, 
155;  Incorporation,  156;  Corner- 
stone. 157;  Rev.  J.  Joyce,  268;  Rev. 
Mr  Moderwell  Rev.  s.  K.  Talmage, 
Rev.  S,  S.  Davis,  399;  EeV.  A.  N. 
Cunningham,  .555. 

Auld,  Rev.  D,  J,,  480,  586,  647,  657,  673,  778. 

AvELKiGH  CH0RCH  (Newberry),  530-33, 
711:  Extract  from  Chancellor  John- 
stone's Letter,  530;  ReV.  M.  Waddell, 
Rev.  «.  B.  Lewers,  531 ;  Rev.  J.  Wad- 
dell, Rev.  R.  C.  Ketchum,  532. 

AXson,  Rev.  I,  d,  K.,  4.50,  431. 


B 

Bailey,  ftev.  R,  W. ,  3.52,  502, 

Bailey,  LteV.  Rufus  W,.  478,  479,  4.SI,  483, 

Baird,  Rev.  Thos,  D.,  68,  69,  209-301,  754. 

Baker,  Rev.  A.,  641, 

Baker.  Kev,  Daniel,  .337,  460,  465-66,  483, 
498.  .503,  511-12,  521.  540,  551,  556,  711, 

Ball,  Rev.  Dyer,  560. 

Banks,  Rev.  Wm..  671,  769, 

Banks,  Kev,  A,  R.,  516,  669, 

Banks,  Samuel,  Esq,,  669. 

Barbour,  Rev.  Mr..  343,  346. 

Barnwell  C.  H.,  629, 

Barr,  Rev.  Wm.  H.,  D.  D.,  147,  185,  305, 
382,  386,  401,  544.  516.  722,  735,  741. 

Bartlett,  Rev.  Julius  L.,  483.  587,  656. 

Bascom  Rev.  Reynolds,  323,  331,  359,  364. 

Bascom,  Rev.  John,  319, 

Be.aufout,  Independent  Church  of. 
50;  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer. 50;  "Plan  of 
Union,"  51;  Incorporation.  51, 

Beaufort  ChukcH,  321,  451 ;  Kev. 
Joseph  Brown. 

Bbaveu  Creek  Church,  88.  266, 363, 503, 
670;  Rev.  R.  McCulloch.  R^V.  G.  G. 
McWhorter,  88;  Rev.  H.  Belknap, 
363;  Rev.  R,  B.  Campbell.  Rev.  S.  S. 
Donnely,  503. 

Beard,  Rev.  J.  R.,  673, 

Beckamville,  306. 

Beech  Island,  338,  468-70,  6'0, 

BbersheS-s  ChuroS,  105,  277,  369  316, 
677;  Kev,  G,  G.  MoWhoner,  Rev, 
H.  Hunter.  Rev,  J.  S.  Adams,  105; 
Rev.  Cyrus  Johnston,  369;  Rev.  W. 
B.  Davies,  516. 

Belknap,  Rev.  Horace,  363. 407, 

Bell,  Rev.  Raphael,  *i26.  227. 

Beman,  Rev.  N.  S.  S,.  308,  412. 

Bemau  Rev.  C.  P,.77,3, 

Bethany  Church  (in  Lancaster  DiS' 
trict),  121. 

Bethany  Church  (Laurens  District), 
.55i-51.  722;  Rev.  S,  B,  Lewers,  554. 

BetHbi.  (York),  106,  278.  370,  517,  685-92; 
Rev.  H.  Hunter,  Rev  G,  G.  Mc- 
Whorter, 106  ;  Rev.  T.  II.  Price,  106 ; 
Rev.  J,  S.  Adams,  £78;  Ministers 
from  Bethel  Congregation,  371,  692, 


780 


INDEX. 


Bethel  AcADEMr,  279. 

Eethbi,  Chukch,  .554,759. 

Bethel  Ohuboh  (.Pou  Pi.n),  63.  231,  337, 

4B2.  626;    Rev.    A.    Steele,  Rev.    L. 

Floyd,  63;  Rev.  K  Palmer,  »I37;  itev. 

A.  Gilchrist,  i62;  Rev.  G.  W.  Bogas, 

Rev,  L.  D.  Parks,  337  ;   Protracied 

meetings,  462;    Walterboro  (Jburch, 

626. 
Bethel  (Williamsburg),  64,  66.  247.  342; 

Dr.  Stephenson,  Rev.   Mr.  Maloom- 

son,    64;    Rev.    A.   Fllnn.    Rev.    1). 

Brown,  Camp-meeting,  B5;  Rev.  J. 

Covert,  Rev.    R.     W.    James,   247; 

Union  of  Cliurches,  343. 
Bethel  Presbytery.  S24 ;  List  of  Churches 

since  1S50, 70.5-77. 
Beehesda  Church  (Yorlt),  102,  274-76, 

367,   511,    678:    NuraerioU  strength, 

102;  First  religious  awakening,  103; 

Rev.  R.  B.  Walker,  102;  Rev.  Ur.  J. 

Mcllhenny,  Rev.  James  ilollbenny, 

105;  Erection  of  Presentchiirch,  367; 

Revi  C.  Johnston,  512,  Elders  and 

Deacons,  680 ;  Ministers  who  origin- 
ated in  the  congregation,  680;    List 

of  physicians,  681 ;  lawyers,  682. 
Bbthesda    (Abbeville)  — see    Smyrna 

Church. 
Bethesda  Church— see  Camden. 
Bbthia  Chcrch,  721. 
Bethlehem,  Cane  Creek andBETH el 

Churches,   151,  303,  398;    Rev.   A. 

Brown,  151. 
Beth  Shiloh,  372, 528, 699. 
Bible  Societies,  317. 
Birch, Rev.  Mr.  T.  L.,  64.  246. 
Bishop,  Kev.  P.  E.,  512.  515,  639,  679,  7ti9. 
BiSHOPViLLE,  3<8,  485,  656;    Kev.  T.  K. 

English. 
Black  Mingo  PrfsbytekianChukch, 

72.  249;  Rev.  W  Knox,  72. 
Black    River    Chuhch    (Winyaw— 

Georgeiown    District),   74,  249,    344; 

Rev.  M.  Mnrphy,  74. 
Blair,  Rev.  Wm.  C,  407. 
Blake,  Rev.  Daniel,  502. 
Blodgett.  Rev.  H.  M.,  342. 
Bogas.tlev.G.W.,  504,533,  558,  626,  747, 

769. 
Bogss  Rev.  John,  216  ,522.  .526-27,  535,  536. 
Boies.  Rev.  Artemns.  82-3,  316 
Boiling  Springs  (Barnwell  District), 

.■•54.  468,  629. 
Bowie,  Rev  Archibald,  308. 
Bowman.  Rev.  J.  H..  ns,  425. 
Boyce.  Rev.  Mr.,  530. 
Boyd,  Rev.  C  Leroy.  362, 504,  506-7, 
Boyle.  Rev.  Mr..  383. 
Eraokett,  Rev.  G.  W..  588. 
Bradaway  Church,  147.  298,  390,  546, 

741:  Rev.  J.  Gilliland,  Sr. 
Bradley.  Rev.  Robt..  642. 
Brainard.  Rev.  Kliezer.  36-5,  378,  510. 
Brearly,  Rev.  H.  .M  .640. 
Brearly,  Bev.Wm.  349. 360, 502, 6.37. 666, 770. 
Breckenridge.  Rev.  Dr.  Joiin,  658. 
Brown,  Kev.  Duncan,  65.  71. 
Brown,  Rev.  Daniel,  65  182,  247,  425. 
Brown,  Kev.  John,  65,  106,  120,  187,  256, 

412,  429. 
Brown,  Rev.  Andrew,  61,  303,  310,  398, 

409,  410. 


Brown,  Rev.  Joseph.  321.  323,  331,  338,  402, 

403,  404.  478,  492,  635,  769. 
Brown,  Rev.  J.  Douglass  637. 
Bruington  Church,  252,  350,  483,  647; 

Rev.  J.  Cousar,  252;  Rev.  J.  L.  Bart- 

lett,  483 ;  Rev.  D.  J.  Auld.  647. 
Buchan,  Kev.  Dr.  John,  58, 78,  220. 
Bule,  Rev.  Archibald,  49.3, 641, 769. 
Bulst,  Kev.  E.  T.,  455,  535.  742,  769 
Bulst,  Rev.  Edward  H..453  640.770. 
Bulst,    Kev.    Arthur,  32.3,  326,  450,452-53. 
Buist,  Rev.  Dr.  George,  53,  58,  221. 
Bull,  John,  .307. 
Bullen,  Rev.  Mr.,  444. 
Bullock's  Creek  Church,  96, 271, 367, 

511,  676;  Burroughs,  Kev.  B.,  771 ;  J. 

Alexander.  96;  Kev.  W.  C.  Davis,  97 ; 

Rev.  A.  Williams,  273 ;  abduration 

of  W.  C.  Davis,  272. 
Butler,  Rev.  Joseph,  175. 
Byiugton,  Rev.  Cyrus,  434. 


Caldwell,  Rev.  Andrew  Harper,  678. 

Caldwell,  Kev.  Samuel.  371. 

Caldwell.  Rev,  K,  B.,  218,  217. 

Caldwell,  Kev.  H.  G.,  47. 

Caldwell,  Rey.  Joseph,  78, 

Camden,  Bethesda  Church,  79,  261, 
3-57-59,  494,  657;  Rev.  A.  Flinn,  80; 
Rev.  W.  Brantly,  Rev.  B.  K.  Mont- 
gomery. 81 ;  Rev.  G.  Keid.  262  ;.Kev. 
A.  Dickinson,  357;  NewBuilding,35S; 
Rev.  S.  S.  Davis,  Kev.  R.  B.  McLeod, 
3)9;  Kev.  K.  B.  Campbell,  Rev.  J. 
Wiiherspoon,  495. 

Campbell,  Kev.  R.  B.,  303,  372,498,503, 
517,  531,  657. 

Campbell,  Rev.  James,  323. 

Campbell.  Rev.  A.  D.,  639. 

Camp-Meetings.  First,  64. 

Cane  Creek  i  hurch,  284, 378.  ,521,  697 ; 
Rev.  D.  Gray.  Rev.  D.  Baker,  284 ; 
Rev.  Wm.  Means,285;  Rev.  J.  Cliest- 
nay  378 ;  Rev.  J.  Harrison,  521;  Rev. 
A.  Williams,  Kev.  J.  H.Saye,522. 

Carlisle,  Rev  w  m  ,  396,  536,  546,  551, 553, 
748, 753.  7.55. 769. 

Carmel,  149,303,  308,  397,  528,  553,  743; 
Rev.  B.  R.  Montgomery,  Rev.  J. 
Mellheney,  Rev.  T.  Hamilion,  Kev. 
Mr.  Gilliland, sr..  Rev.  Messrs.  Dlcfe- 
Ron,  Cummings,  Templeton  and 
Brown.  1.50;  Rev.  Messrs,  Murphy 
and  Hilltaouse,  303;  Rev.  A.  Ross, 
397 ;  Rev.  J:  L.  Kennedy,  555. 

Carter,  Rev.  H.C.,  774. 

Carolina  PREsBYTERrANCHURCH,845. 

Cassels.  Rev.  S.  J.,  499,  555,  771. 

later.  Rev.  R.  B.,  282,  299,  301,383,384, 
388,  414,  5.'i8.  546,  552. 

Cater  Rev.  Edwin,  537,  551,  587,  667,  709' 
728. 

Catholic  (Chester  District),  88,  267, 
364,508.671;  Rev.  B.  McCuUoch,  88; 
Kev.  J.  L.  Davies,  Rev.  E.  Brainard, 
.365;  Rev.  W.  J.  WINon,  364;  Rev. 
Wm.  Banks,  671:  Her  Colonies,  672, 

Cedar  Saoals  510,076;  Rev.  Mr. Davies. 
Rev.  S.  B.  O.  Wilson,  Rev.  C.  John- 
ston. 510. 

Chandler,  Kev.  A.  E.,  647,  656. 


INDEX. 


781 


Changes  in  the  boundaries  of  Presby- 
teries, 322. 
Charlfston   Ikdkpesdent   CriUKCH, 

21,  191,  818,  44H-48.  579;  its  creed,  22, 
23;  Constitution  of  1S04,  24  ,  repairs 
of  Church,  24;  form  of  new  edlflce, 
25;  sale  of  pews,  27;  charitable  ef- 
forts, 28  ;  benelactors,  29,  30;  female 
benefactors.  SI ;  Rev.  Dr.  Holllngs- 
head,  Rev.  Dr.  I.  S  Keith,  25;  numer- 
ical strength.  33;  Rev.  B.  M.  Palmer. 
194;  Rev.  A.  Foster,  199;  history  of 
separation,  201-9;  Rev.  Dr.  R.  Post, 
447;  ministers  proceeding  from 
Circular  Church,  5S6. 

Aechdalb  Street  Church,  199,  209, 

318. 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  53,  219, 

22,  326,  452,591;  Rev.  Dr.  Hulst,  53; 
Kev.  Ur.  J.  Buehan,  58 ;  Rev.  Dr.  A. 
W.  Leiand,  219;  Kev.  H.  Stewart, 
'{ev.    Dr.  llewat.  Rev.   J.  Wilson, 

221 .  Rev.  Dr.  J.  Forrest,  452. 
Fkk>'CH  Protestant  Church,  53,218. 

325,452,590;  Rev.  M.  DeTargny,  53; 
Rev.  R.  Henry,  218  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Cour- 
lat,  219  ;  Rev.  D.  DuPre,  590 ;  Rev. 
W.  Howard,  Rev.  G.  H.  W.  Petrie, 
Rev.  T.  R.  G.  Peck,  Rev.  Dr.  C.  S. 
Vedder,  591. 

St.  Andrew's  Presbyterian  Church, 

220. 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  58.  59, 

222,  327,  453,  594.95;  Rev.  Mr.  Mal- 
comson.  Rev.  A.  Flinn,59  ;    dedica- 

:  ,  tion,  223;  presidents  of  congrega- 
tion, 225;  ecclesiastical  Jurispru- 
dence, 226  ;  Dr  Henry.  327-28  ;  Kev. 
W.  Ashmead,  328;  Rev.  Dr.  Smythe, 
453. 

Religious  Societies  and  efforts,  Charles- 
ton Bible  Society,  Ladies'  Benevo- 
lent Society,  227;  Religious  Tract 
Society.  Congregational  and  Presby- 
•  terian  Union  Feraiile  Association, 
228;  Female  Bilile  Society  and  Sun- 
day Scho  )1  Association,  Marine  Bi- 
ble Society,  Fem;\le  Domestic  Mis- 
sionary Sf)ciet5'. Congregational  and 
Presbyterian  Missionary  Society  ol 
South  Carolina,  228;  Sunday  Scliool 
Union  Sociely;  The  Elliott  Society; 
Associate  Reading  Sociely.  229;  Rev. 
J.  King,  Rev.  A.  Wright,  228. 

Third,  or  Centkai,  Presbytkrian 
Church.  329.  454,  596;  Rev.  W.  A. 
McDowell,  329;  Rev.  Dr.  Wm  C. 
Dana,  554  ;  laying  of  corner-stone 
of  new  building.  596  ;  first  meeting 
in  new  building,  599. 

Glebe  Street  Church,  605-10;  Rev. 
A.  A.  Porter,  605  :  special  enterprize 
for  colored  people,  report  of  com- 
mittee, 606-9  ;  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B.  Adger, 
Rev.  Dr.  Smythe. 

Charleston  Presbytery.  167-72. 

Charleston  Bible  Society,  227. 

Charleston  Union  Presbytery, 323;  601-2. 

Charleston  Observer.  428. 

Chase,  Rev.  Moses,  336. 


Cheraw,  Presbyterian  Church  ijt. 
353-54,  485-91,  642;  Rev.  N.  R.  Mor- 
gan, ,353  ;' troubles  about  house  iif 
worship,  53,  54;  Lawrence  Prince, 
642;  J.  A.  Jnglis,  644. 

Chester,  Mr.  Alfred,  882. 

Chesterfield  C.  K.,  congregation  of,  252, 
350,  484;  Rev.  C.  Mclver,  Rev.  Ji. 
Smith,  252  ;  Rev.  J.  McFarland,  2.53. 
Cheslney.  Rev.  James.  378. 

Church  of  Pergamos,  308. 

Church,  Rev.  Alonzo,  309.  772. 

Ci.,ABENDON  Church.  CW. 

Clarkson,  Rev.  Dr.,  62, 153,  230. 

Clinton  Hkesbytjsbian  Church,  710. 

Clinton,  Rev.  L.,  322,  369.  371. 

Clowney,  Hon.  W.  K.,  698. 

Colt.  Rev.  J.  C.  642. 

Columbia,  First  Presbyteri-n  Ch  , 
77,  253-fll.  355-57,  406-501.  658  ;  Rev.  Dr. 
E.  Dunlap,  77  ;  Rev.  J.  Brown,  or- 
ganization, 253 ;  elders,  255;  meet- 
ing of  Synod,  Dr.  R  B.  Montgomery, 
256  ;  meeting  of  presbytery,  comple- 
tion of  building,  258 ;  call  to  Dr.  K. 
Porter,  Dr.  T.  C.  Henry.  259;  Lr.  I  . 
D.  smith,  260;  Rev.  R.  Means,  350; 
Rev.  Mr.  Rennie,  357 ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Guulding,  Rev.  Dr.  Howe,  caP  to 
H.  Pratt,  Rev.  Dr.  Smythe,  497 ; 
Rev.  D.  Baker,  498;  Dr.  S.  C.  Jack- 
son, J.  F.  Lanneau,  Dr.  A.  W.  Le- 
land,  499  ;  call  to  S.  J.  Cassels,  499  ; 
Dr.  J.  Wilherspoon,  i)r.  Jones,  Sun- 
day School  for  colored  people.  500  ; 
Dr.  Palmer,  500,  659,660;  Drs.  Peck 
and  Thornwell,  501 ;  tabular  view 
of  its  offlcers.  660 ;  elders.  Col.  Thos. 
Taylor,  Dr.  Van  deVastine  Jami- 
son, Wm.  Law,  .fames  Young.  Col. 
Jobn  Taylor,  James  Ewart,  G.  T. 
Snowden.  663;  Sidney  Crane,  James 
Martlj,  Andrew  Crawford,  John  .-. 
Scott.  664-5. 

Comfort,  Rev.  D.,  777. 

Concord  Church,  Fairfield,  87.  286. 
362.606,669;  W.  G.  Rosborough,  87  ; 
Rev.  R.  MoCuUoch,  Rev.  F.  H.  Por- 
ter, 266  ;  Rev.  J.  Douglass,  506  ;  Rev. 
J.  B.  Stafford,  362. 

Concord  (Sumter  District).  76,  25],  .344, 
480,  647  ;  Rev.  G.  W.  McWhorter,  76  ; 
Rev.  Dr.  McQueen.  480. 

Conlession  of  Faith,  .S25. 

Congregational  and  Presbyterian  Edu- 
cation Society,  582-68 

Congregational  Association,  45-50,  323. 

Contribution  towards  endowment  of 
professorship  at  Princeton  Sem.,  in 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Geor- 
gia, 314. 

Corbett,  Rev.  W.  xi.,  640. 

Covenanters,  sketch  of.  700;  their 
churches  and  ministers,  705-708. 

Cozby,  Rev.  James  C,  755. 

Courlat,  Rev.  Mr.  325. 

Ciiusar,  Rev.  John.  76-77,  323,  319,  488. 

Cousar,  Rev.  James.  770. 

Covert.  Rev.  John,  246,  247,  316,  342. 

Craig.  Rpv.  Archibald,  378,  535. 

Crawford,  Rev.  A.  L..  635. 

Cruickshanks.  Rev.  John,  212,  216,  231. 

Cuffey  Town,  138. 


782 


INDEX. 


Cummins,  Rev.  Francis,  145,  373,  412. 
Cunningham,  Dr.  H.  B..o87,  634. 
Cunningham,  Rev.  T.  H.,769. 
Cunninfiliam,  Rev.  A.  N.,  oSo. 
Cunningham,  Rev.  W.  M.,  772, 
Currle.Rev.  E.  B.,  185. 
Curtis,  Rev.  L.  W.,  673. 


D 


Dana,  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  C,  4.54,  .593. 

Dana,  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel,  454,  604. 

D  ma,  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph,  4.54,  605! 

Darlington,  352,  479,  637  ;  Rev.  .T.  Har- 
rington, 352;  Rev,  M  R.  Morgan, 
353;  Rev.  K.  W.  Bailey,  479;  Rev.  W. 
Powers, 479;  Rev.  tt.  Petrie,479;  call 
to  Rev.  D.  J.  Auld,  480. 

Davies,  Rev.  J.  Leroy,  .365,  508,  510,  709. 

Davies,  Rev.  W.  B.,  511,  518,  677,  768. 

Davies,  Rev.  John  K.,  87,  93,  95, 187,  271, 
.366,  509.  510,  518,  519,  674-75. 

Davis,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  t*.,  339,  .359,  48.5,  494, 
658,  775. 

Davis,  Rev.  Wm.  C,  86,  93,  97,  184,  I5S, 
164,  272,  307,  699. 

Davis,  Rev.  Samuel,  148. 

Davis,  Rev.  Wm.  H.,  539,  551,  758. 

Davis,  Rev.  Thos.,  45  ', 

Davis,  Rev.  George  W.,  699. 

DeTargny,  Rev.  M:irvin,,53. 

Dickinson,  Rev.  Austin,  357. 

Diclison,  Rev.  H.  K„  770. 

Dickson,  Rev.  Hugh,  139,  166,  381,  382, 
538,  ,537.  750-S3,  768. 

Dickson,  Rev,  John,  324,  326. 

Dickson,  Rev.  Mitchell,  380,  .535. 

Dimmook.  Rev.  W.,  775. 

D.ibtains,  Rev.  Robert.  166. 

Donnt'ly,  Rev.  S.  s..  503. 

Donnelly,  Rev.  Thomas,  703. 

Dorchester  a^d  Hkech  HitjI,  Cox- 
gkegationalChuiich  oi,3S,213,  320, 
419.588;  Kev.  J.  ij.  Adams,  Rev.  .Mr. 
Mcllhenny,  39;  Ri'v.  L.  !).  Park.*, 
Rev.  W.  ,s.  r..ee,  213;  call  to  Dr.  Pal- 
mnr,  39;  Rev.  l-I.  White;  liev.  Luke 
Lyons,  Rev.  E.  Palmer, 320;  eall  to 
Rev.  A.  Forster,  call  to  Rev.  J.  K. 
Vandyke,  419;  Rev.  I.  S.  K.  A.tsoii, 
4  0;  Rev.  G.Wlioldon,oSS. 

Douglas  Jas.  K.,  71)9. 

Douglas,  Rev.  .lohn,  .509.  611,  669, 673. 

Douglass.  Rev,  James.  693. 

Douglas,  Rev.  Orson,  309,  407. 

Dow,  Rev,  J.  R.,  637. 

Dubard,  Rev.  A.  H'.,  82. 

Dubose,  Rev.  Julius,  478,  481,  666,  76S. 

Duncan's  Crekk,  123-27,  281,  372,  .375.  534 
709;  Rev.  J.  B.  Kennedv,  12!;  Elders. 
124;  David  Glenn,  rJ4  ;  .Mrs.  GUham, 
125;  John  Boyce,  126;  stated  sup- 
plies, 534. 

Dnnlap,  Rev.  D.  K..  77.  255. 

Dnnlap,  Rev.  R.  W.,  474. 

Dunwody,  Rev.  J.  B.,  5S8,  589. 

DuPre,  Rev.  Mr.,  4i8,  500. 

DuPree  Rev,  B.  D.,  378,;,390,  398,  407,  551, 
551,  773. 

Dwight,  Rev.  T,  M„  45J,  469. 


K. 

Ebenkzer  Church,  105.  277,  369, 515,683.! 
Rev.  Mr.  Walker.  105;  Rev.  J.  Har- 
ris. 369;  Rev.  d.  1.,.  Watson,  Rev.  P. 
Bishop,  515. 

Edisto  Island  Presbyterian  C'h.  62, 
281,332-34,460.618;  Rev.  D  McLeod. 
62;  new  building,  338;  organization 
of  8.  School,  3,34 ;  Rev.  W.  S.  Lee, 
3.32. 

Edmonds  Church,  95,  270;  Rev.  G. 
Reld,  Rev.  R.  Walker,  Rev.  T.  Neely, 
95. 

Education  for  Ministry,  305,  .307,  411. 

Edwards.  Rev.  Mr.,  441. 

EI.0N  Church,  634. 

Elmancipation,  172,  173. 

English,  Rev.  Thos.  R.,  478,  485,  642,  657, 
769. 

Enoree  Presbytery,  ministers  768; 
churches  since  1850,  767. 

Ephesus  Church  ok  Co.vqkegation, 
77;  Rev.  S.  W.  Young,  77. 

Ervin.  Rev.  John  M.,343.  47i-78. 

Establishmeni  of  church  in  ('harleston 
.for  colored  people,  606-9;  dedica- 
tion of  building,  610. 

Evans,  Rev.  Joseph,  640, 

K. 

Fairforest  Churph,  129,  285-87,  378, 
522,  698;  Rev  S.  B.  Wilson  129;  Rev, 
D.  Gray,  Rev.  T.  Williamson,  130; 
W.  C.  Dtvis,  285;  Rev.  J.  Hillhouse, 
286;  Rev.  J.  Hadden,  378;  Rev,  K. 
Porter,  Rev.  D.  L.  Gray,  379 ;  Rev.  J. 
Harrison,  522;  letter  of  Rev..D.  L, 
Gray,  .524. 

Fairview  CHUhCH.  Greenville  Dis- 
trict, 1.37,,  288,  380,  536.  753;  Rev.  J. 
GiUiland,  Jr.,  Rev,  J.  Icmpleton, 
137  ;  Supplies,  137-288  288  ;  Rev.  H. 
Dickson,  288;  Rev.  J.  Boggs,  536  ; 
Rev.  W.   Carl  isle,  .536. 

Feerastei-,  Rev.  S.  J.,  528,  699. 

Finley,  Rev.  Dr.  Robert,  300,  412. 

B'isHiNG  Creek  (Upper)  and  Ricit- 
ARDSON's,95  271,306,509,674;  Elders, 
95  ;  Jlev.  John  B,  Davies,  95. 

FiSHn  \M  church,  121. 

Fibk.  Rev.  Ezra.  216. 

Fleming.  Rev.  Julius  1,.  610. 

Flinn,  Rev.  Andrew.  .59,  65, 68.  79  «,  22J, 

Floyd.  Mr.  Loami,  45-48.03,  2.31,  335,  ,337. 

Folker,  Rev.  P.  H.,  533  531.  708. 

Foreign  Missions,  5.)7-61.  574-78. 

Forrest,  Dr.  John,  4"i2,  591-93. 

Forster   Hev.  Alex  ,  440. 

Foster,  Rev.  John,  74,  84,  410, 

Foster,  Rev.  Aaron,  375,  378,  ,3.85,  397,  .552. 

Foster,  Rev.  Anthony.  199,  210,  211,  212, 

Fraser,  Rev.  Ale.x.  (5.,  208. 

Fraser,  Rev.  M.  U.,  494,  504,  533,  607.  769, 

FRiENnsnrp  Chu-ch  CLaurens.  Co.), 
377,  5:'.o,  710,  Rev.  E.  Bralnard,  Kev. 
A.  Foster,  Rev.  A,  ^raig.  Rev.  A, 
Mooney,  Rev.  Mr.  Quillen,  378 ; 
Rev.  S.  B.  LeM'ers  .53.5. 

Frierson,  Rev.  D.  K..  635,  8.39,  641. 

Frierson  Congregation,  70-71 ;  Rev.  J 
W.  Stephenson.  71. 

Fuller,  Rev.  Dr.  Richard,  466. 


INDEX. 


783 


Gamble,    Rev.  James,  283,  295,  383,  395. 

775. 
Galllard.  Kev.  S,  S.,  721,  747, 756. 
Geographica!  Limits  of  Syno.,  of  South 

Carolina    and  Georgia,  42,3-20;    in- 
terest in  Ihe  Southwest,  J27, 
German   Church,    on     Hard    Labor 

Creek,  138,  289. 
Gekman    Refobmeb    Presbytekian 

tJHUKCH,  on  Cedar  Creek,  82 ;  Rev. 

A.  F.  Dubard,  82. 
Gibert,  Rev.  James  P„  546,  721. 
Gilchrist,  Rev.  Adam,4B2,  586. 
Gildersleeve,   Rev.  Bent.,  3U8,  400,   428, 

630. 
Gildersleeve,  Rev.  Cyrus,  40,  218. 
GiLDEK's  Ckeek,  ,S73-74,  533,746;  organ- 

IzaLion.  of  S.  School.  374;  Rev  J.  B. 

Kenned^•',37a;  Rev.  J.  Renwlek  .373. 
Gilland,  Bev.  James  R.,  674,  692. 
Gilliland,  Rev.  James  Jr.,  102, 130, 137, 

166,  287.  754. 
Gilliland.  Rev.  James,  Sr.,  137,146,119. 
Gilman,  Rev.  Dr.. 319. 
Girardeau.  Rev.  Dr.  J.  T;.,  587,  624-25. 
Gladney,  Rev.  R.  S.,  504. 
Goodman,  Rev.  E.,  323,  331. 
GouMing,  Rev.  Thomas,  217,  322,  420,  494, 

496.  771. 
Goukling.  Rev.  Francis  R.,  469,  482. 
Gourlay,  Rev.  James,  40. 
Go-wan,  Rev.  Peter.  588. 
Graham  Rev.  James,  221. 
Grammar  Schools,  1R8. 
Granby,  121. 
Graniteville,  630. 
Grassy  Spring  Church,  123,  281,  375; 

Rev  Wm.  Williamson,  123;  Rev.  D. 

Gray,  123;  supplies,  123. 
Graves.  Rev.  E.,  777. 
Gray  Rev.  Danl  1,  123,  129,  130, 166,  281, 

285,  316. 
Gray,  Rev.  Daniel  L.,  379,  521,  522,  523-26. 
Gray,  Rev.  .loliii  il.,  410. 
Gray,  Kev.  W.  A.,  ,523. 
Gready,  Bev.  Wm..  h«6. 
Great  Pee  Dee  491,639. 
GRKK.NVII.I.E  CuuKOH,  139,  2S9  381  537, 

7.51);  ill'.  H.    Dickson,  Greenville  C. 

H.,  Washinsrton  Street  Chuicli,756. 
Greenwood,  Rev.  A..  S21. 
Gregg,  Rev.  G.  C.  637.  6.31-55,  769. 
Grega,  Rev.  W.  A„  637. 


H. 


Hadden,  Rev.  Isaac,  378,  408,  410. 
fladden.  Rev.  R.  W..  721. 
Hall,  Rev.  Dr.  James.  17:^,  174, 185. 
Hall,  Rev.  Thomas,  184, 18.5. 
Hamburg,  470-71,  6.30;  Kev.  H.  Reid,470; 

subscription     paper,     470 ;    sale   of 

house  of  worship.  472 
Hamilton,  Rev.  Thomas,  150, 151. 
Hand  ley.  Rev.  L,  s..  M2. 
Hangi.vg  Rock  Church,  88;  Rev.  Mr, 

McCuUncli.SS. 
Harmony  Presbytery,  164,  428,  765  ;  list 

of  churches  since  1850,  765. 


Harmony  Church,  350,  482,  fiiG;  Rev, 

J,  MoEwen,4S2;  R  v.   l<\  R.  Gould- 

iiig.  Rev,  P,  Peirson,  482;  Rev.  J.  L. 

Bartlett.  488. 
Harrington  Rev,  John,  ,344,  347,484,769, 
Harrison,  Rev,  W.  P„  693. 
Harrison,  Rev.  Jap'  lia,- 521,  522,  526. 
Harrison,  Rev.  D..  642. 
Harrison,  Bev.  John,  282-83.  , 
Harris,  Rev  John  L.,  .369,  679. 
Harris,  Rev.  Josiah,  324,  869. 
Harris,  Rev.  Wm.  H.,  396,  547,551,553, 

755. 
Haslet,  Rev.  David,  399, 
Hay,  R-v.  Samuel  H.,  354,  627,  667. 
Henry,  Rev.  Robert,  219. 
Henry,  Rev.  T.  C,  259,  323,  327-28,  355-56. 
Hewat,  Rev.  Dr.,  221. 
Hillhouse,    Rev,  James,   232,    302,   397, 

410. 
Hillhouse,  Rev.  Joseph,  286,  .391. 
Hillhouse,  Rev.  Mr.,  379. 
Hillhouse,  Rev.  J.  B..  370,747. 
History  of  the  Churches,  187. 
Hodge.  Rev.  John,  309. 
Hoge,  Rev.  Dr.  Moses.  412. 
Hollinshead,  Kev.  Wm.,    24,14.5-50,196, 

199. 
Holmes.  Rev.  Abiel,  ,39. 
Holmes,  Rev.  Z.  L..  5-34.  742,  747. 
Holmes.  Rev.  James,  406. 
Holt,  Rev.  Edwin,  5.55. 
Hooker,  Rev.  Dr.  H.  B.,  337. 
Hopewell  and   .Vimwei.l  Churches 

(Pee  Dee),  71,  248,  344,  477,  635;    Rev. 

b.  Brown,  71;  Statistical  reports,  72; 

Rev.  D.  Smitn,  248;  Rev.  J.  Brown 

478.  Rev.  J.  Harrington.  Rev.  N.  K. 

Morgan,  344;    Rev.  T.  R,  English, 

478. 
HopEWEr.i,  (Chester  District),  90, 267,  31'5. 

503, 673.  I 

HoPKWEr.i.   Church   CAbbeville),   141. 

291,  383,  538,  756;    Rev.  Dr.  Waddtl. 

Rev.  Messrs,  Simpson,  Dickson  ami 

Gilliland,  141;    Call  to  Rev.  R.    B. 
•    Cater.    Rev.   H.  Road,  383;   Rev,   1. 

Warlriell,  .538;  Johnny  Glasgow,  538; 

M-r.  R.  Mct'aslan,  7.57. 
HoPKWF-.f.T.  (Keowee),   149,  301,  397.  5.52, 

749;  Rev.  B.  R.   Montccmiery,  Rev. 

J     Mollhenny,   149;    Rev.  J.   Gilli- 
land.  Sr.,  149;    Rev.  J.  D.  JInrphy, 

301;  Rev.  J.  Hillhouse,  302;  Rev.  A. 

Forster,  397;  Rev.  A.  Ross,  5.52. 
HoPEWKLi,,  528. 
Hopewell  Presbytery,  308-10. 
Hopkins.  Rev.  Mr.  K..  469. 
HoREB  Church.  86,  265,  .361.  S02.  865  ; 

Rev.  W.  G.  RoFborough,  87;  Rev.  B, 

M.    Montgomery,    266:    Rev.    Wm. 

Brenrley,  Rev.  W.   Wilson.  Rev.  J. 

MoKlnney,  361;    Rev.  IJ.  Blake,  5U2  ; 

Rev.  Geo.  C.  Logan,  665. 
Houclt.  Rev.  Wm.   268. 
Houston,  Rev.  R.  A.,  774. 
Howard.  Rev.  W... 591. 
Howe,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  B..  337. 
Hoyt,  Rev.  T,  A.,  668. 
Hoyt  Rev.  .Nathan,  339.  498.  773. 
Hughes,  Rev.  Wm.  L.,  639,  768. 
jiulhard,  Rev.  Mr.,  424. 
Hulbert,  Bev,  Hiland,305; 


784 


INDEX. 


Hume,  J.  W.J  771. 
Humphrey,  Kev,  J.  O.,  771. 
Humphreys,  Rev.  David,  302,  391-94,  536, 

548,  551),  553,  745,  769. 
Humphreys,  Rev.  Daniel,  306,  405. 
Hunter.  Rev.  H..  1IJ5. 
Hyde,  Rev.  E.  F.,  709,  71i;  746. 


Indian  Cbeek,  122,  372:  Rev.  K  Cum- 
mins, Rev.  T.  H.  MoCaule,  373;  Rev. 
R.  McCliutock,  122. 

Indian  Missions  of  Synod  of  .S.  C.  and 
Qa.,  429-46. 

Indian  Tribes,  189. 

Indian  Town  P  kesbytebian  ChOkch, 
68,  248,  342,  477,  634 ;  Dr.  Stepiieuson, 
Rev.  T.  D.  Baird,  Rev.  A.  Flinn. 
Rev.  3.  A.  Wallace,  68;  Frierson 
(Jongregatlon,  70;  Rev.  D.  Brown, 
Rev.  J.  Covert,  Rev.  R.  W.  James, 
248;  Rev.  W.  WllRon,342;  Rev.J.  M. 
Erwin,  '343 :  Union  of  Churches,  343 ; 
Rev.  A.S.  Peden,477. 

Independent  Chukch  (nelsrhborhood 
Waynesboro,  Burtee  Co..  Ga. ).  45,  216, 
321,451:  Rev.  B.B  Caldwell,  216;  Mr. 
Floyd  45;  Mr.  C.  Washburn,  Rev.  F. 
McFarlJiind,  822;  Rev.  .1.  Bostgs,  216; 
Rev.  ti.  Clinton,  Rev.  T.  M.  Dwight, 
451. 

Ingles,  Rev.  D.,  778. 

In-graibam,  Rev.  Ira,  309. 

irregularities  in  connection  with  re- 
vival meetings,  186. 


Jackson,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  C,  499. 

Jacobs,  Rev.  H\.  684. 

James,  Rev.  R.  W.,  247,248,  342,  349,  484, 

648-52. 
James'  Island.  PkesbytebianCh.  of, 

60,  229,  330,' 455,  610 ;  Rev.  T.  H.  Price, 

60;  Dr.  A.  W.  Leland,  230;    Rev.   K. 

T.  Buist.  Meeting  of  Presbytery,  4.55; 

Rev.  T.  H.  Legare,  Rev.  J.  I.  Flem- 

mig,  610;    Rev.  Mr.  Osborne,.  Rev. 

Mr.  Taylor,  610. 
John's  Island  and  Wadmalaw,  Pbes- 

BYTEHIAN  CHURCH  Of,  61.  230    330-32, 

456-60,  611-18:  Rev.  J.  Mcllhenuy. 
61;  Rev.  Dr.  Clirkson,  62;  Rev.  J. 
Ci'^lkshanks,  Rev.  Mr.  Abbot,  231; 
Rev.  E.  White,  330;  Dissent  from 
General  Assembly,  457:  Declares 
independence.  458;  Withdrawal  of 
minority,  Lawsuit  and  issue,  459, 
Church  rescinds  its  resolution,  617; 
John's  Island  Society,  332. 

Johnston,  Rev.  Cyrus,  369-70,  509,  510, 
613-15,  516,  678. 

.Johnston,  Rev.  W.  H.,  769. 

Johnston,  Rev.  R.  C.  3?0.  Sl6. 

Johnston,  Chancellor  Job,  712,720. 

Johnson,  Rev.  (.4.,  370. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Daniel,  378,  404. 

Johnson,  Rev.  Richard.,  466. 

Johnson,  Rev,  W..  466. 

Jones,  Rev.  John,  500. 

Jones,  Dr.  C.  C.  .500.773. 

Jones,  Bev.  H.  T.,  335-36. 


Jones.  Rev.  Dr.  S.  B..  586. 
Jones;  Rev.  R.  H.,  321,  323. 
Joyce,  Rev.  John,  216,  268.  358. 

K 

Keith  Rev.  I.  S.,  25.  45,  50, 191, 194. 
Kennedy,  Rev.  J.  B.,  123, 128,282,373,  375, 

531,  533,  534. 
Kennedy,  Rev.  J.  L  ,  375,  586,  553, 769. 
Kerr,  Rev.  H.  M.,  277. 
Kerr,  Rev.  Robt.,  2)3. 
Ketchum,  Rev.'R.  C,  504,  532,533  030, 

668.  773,  776. 
King,  Rev.  Mr.,  703. 
King,  Rev.  Geo.  P.,  3.37. 
King,  Rev.  Jonas,  "228,  402.  403.  686, 
Kingsbury,  Rev.  C.  403,  431. 
Kirkpatrick,  Rev.  A.,  28,3.376. 
Knox.  Rev.  Wm.,  64, 72. 
Kollook,  Rev.  Dr.  Henry,  64, 153,  2.33,  23i, 

243. 


Ladsow.'Rev.  G.  W  ,  774. 

LaKar,  Rev.  D.  X..  631. 

Lancasterville,  519;  Rev.    J.  B.  Da  vies. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Thorriwell,  extract  from 

Dr.  Palmer's  "  Life' of  Thornwell," 

519. 
Lanneau,  Rev.  J.  F.,  450.  499, 559, 561,  536, 

775. 
Lanneau,  Rev.  B.,  586,  769. 
I,athrop,  Rev.  Mr  ,  338,  341. 
LAtmENSVii/LK  CaUKCH,.  552,725;  Bev. 

S.  B.   Lewers,  organization,  elders, 

552. 
Lebanon  Church   (Jackson's  Preek\ 

Fairfield,  84,  265,  Sgl,  601,  667;  Rev.  s. 

Young,  resolutions  of  Presbytery, 

85;  decision  of  Assembly,  86;  Rev. 

C.  L.  Boyd,  36!2;  call   to  Rev.  M.  D. 

Fraser,  504;.  Bev.  Edwin  Cater,  Rev. 

T.  A.  Hoyt,  667-8. 
Lebanon  Congregation  (Abbeville).  387, 

516,  720 ;  Rev.  U.  B.  Cater,  Battle  of 

Lower  Long,  traditions, 388-89;  Rev. 

J.  Waddell,  Rev.  C.  Martin,  Rev.  P. 

Gibert,  ,546. 
Lee.  Rev.  Wm.  S.,  213,  332,  460,  586.  618, 

22,  769. 
Legare,  Rev.  T.  H.,  469,  586.  610. 
Legare,  Rev.  I.  8.  K.,  472.  586,  631. 
Leiand,  Dr.  A.  W.,  219,  323,  a30.  499,  500, 

568,  769.    , 
Lesley,  Mr.  David,  733. 
Letter  describing  camp-meeting.  131. 
Lewers,  Rev.  S.  B..  531.  534,  536,  532,  554, 

710,  722,  725-28,  747,  768. 
Lewers,  Bev.  James,  448,  4)9,  477,540,  551. 

756. 
Liberty  Spring  Chtiroh,  127, 282  376, 

534,708;    Bev.  :i$Ir.  Kennedy.  Dr.  B. 

Montgomery,  127;   Bev.    A.   Kirk- 
patrick, Bev.  J.  Harrison,  233;  Bev. 

J.  Reniiie,  376;    Rev.  T.  Archibald, 

Rev.  Mr.  Adams,  Rev.  B.  B.  Lewers, 

Rev.  Mr.  Martin.  534. 
Lindsay,  Rev.  Colin,  73. 
Little  Bethel CHukch,  121 ;  Rev.  Mr. 

Neely. 
Little  Bbittain,  Duncan's  Creek 

and  AMI'TY,  372;  Rev.  H.  M,  Kerr. 


INDEX. 


785 


Little  Mountain  Congregation,  29S,  387, 
546,  734 ;  Rev.  W.  Barr,  298. 

Little  Pee  Ukk  CHUJ4CH,  253,  351.  4!)2, 
6il,  Rev.  U.  Molntire.  351;  Rev.  J. 
Brown,  492;  Rev.  Mr.  Lindsay,  Rev. 
Mr.  MoUiarmid,  Rev.  Mr.  Caldwell, 
2.50;  Rev.  A.  McQueen,  351. 

LiTTtE  River  Church,  123,  281,  3?q 
iiHl;  Rev.  J.  B.  Kennedy,  123;  Rev. 
W.McWhorlcr,  Rev.  Messrs.  Folker, 
Joliusou,  Wills,  Holmes  and  Stew- 
art, 534. 

Logaa,Jlev.  Geo.  C  ,  665. 

LON<*  Canb  Church,  146,  298,386,544, 
732;  Dr.  R.  ■Wilson";  146;  Rev.  W.  H. 
Barr,  147;  Dr.  Montgomery,  Rev.  T. 
■Williamson,  117;  Snbsoi'iption  for 
building  new  liouBe,^296;  Upper 
Long  Cane  Society.  544-45. 

Loughbridge,  Rev.  A.  G..  773. 

Lo-wer  Long  Cane,  293,  386;  Rev.  H. 
Reid.  293. 

Lyons,  Rev.  Luke.  320. 


M 

Macon,  Ga..  Presbyteuian  Chitrch, 
399,401  555;  Settlement  of  town  of 
Macon,  Rev,  J,  C.  Styles,  organiza- 
tion, 400 ;  Rev.  J.  C.  Patterson,  401 ; 
First  Ctiurcii  building,  401;  Rev.  li. 
Holt, Rev.  S.  J.  (.;asSels,555. 

Magruder,  Rev.  Thos  ,  571, 578. 

THaloomson,  Rev.  Mr.,  59,  61, 68. 

Maltby,  Rev.  John,63. 

Mandarin,  318,  474;  Rev.  Dr.  MoWhir. 

Manning  Presbyterian  Church,  657, 

Marshall,  Rev.  S.  "V.,  355. 

Martin,  Rev.  "Wm.,  700. 

Martin,  Rev.  Mr,,  531,  537,  546. 

Mason,  Rev.  J.,  451. 

Mathes,  Rev.  A.  H.,  777. 

Matliews,  Rev.  John.  182,  425 

Mathews,  Bev.  ■Wm.,.773. 

Idaxy,  Rev.  Jonathan.  78. 

MoXlisver,  Rev.  D.  S.,  640, 

McBryde,  Rev.  *r  L.,  560.  749.  769. 

MoCaIla.Rev..Dr.  Daniel,  31,  38,45,  46. 

MeCaule,  Rev.  T.  n .,  1S3, 373. 

McClelland.  Rev.  Jame,s.  349. 

McClintock.  Rev.  TBobert  122, 363. 

MoCorcLe  Dr.  S.  E.  107. 

MoCosh,  Rev.  Jolin   127. 

MoCulloch.  Rev.  Robert,  82,  88-90,  91, 
266  362.  364. 

McDiarmid  Rev.  Mr.,  253. 

McDowell,  Rev.  James  656. 

McDowell,  Rev.  Ur.  Wm.  A.  316,  329 
454  498,768. 

MoDuffle  Rev.  D.  642 

McEwen.  Rev.  John,  317, 350,  477  481,482. 

MoFarland,  Rev.  John,  E5l,  359,  351484, 
493,  641-42,  857. 

MoFarland  Rev.  Francis  322  407. 

MoGarrah.  Rev.  Wm.,  703. 

McGready,  Bev.  Mr..  64. 

Mollhenny.  Rev.  John  39,61,105. 

Mcllhenny  Rev.  James  105.149,166, 
299  301-2. 

Mcintosh.  Rev.  J.  R.  775.  , 

Molntire  Bev.  D,  351.  642. 

McIVer,  Bev.  J.  L.,  641. 
51) 


McIver,  Rev.  Colin.  23,3,253,263  31S  351, 

401. 
McKay  Rev.  P.  M.,  770. 
McKinuey,  Rev.  John,  360  381. 
McKinnev.  Rev.  Jumes,  703. 
MoKittriok,  Rev.  John.  534  711  724.748, 

753. 
McKnlght  Rev.  W.  154. 
McLean,  Rev.  John,  316. 
McLean.  Kev.  H..  491. 
MoLees,  Rev.  John,  709.  730.  747,  770. 
McLeod,  Rev.  Donald.  62  332. 
McLeod.  Rev.  R.  B.,  .359. 
McMillan    Rev.  Neil  409. 
McNalr,  Rev.  M.,  351. 
McNeil.  Kev.  M.,1S2. 
McPherson   Kev.  J.  P.  634,  637  639. 
McQueen  Rev.  A.  351,  491    493,639,646. 
McQueen.  Rev.  Dr.  D.,  476   480  647,  769. 
Mc'Whir:  Rev,  Wm,,  2J6  342  771. 
McWhorter,  Rev.  G.  G..  65.  72   75  77  S8, 

251  266,345  363  410 
McWhorter,  Kev.  Wm..  534  735. 
iVieans,  Rev.  Robert  356,504,505, 
Means.  Rev.  Wm„  2S5, 
Meclilin.  Rev.  Robert,  .550. 
Memories  of  the  Revolution,  388. 
Merrick,  Bev,  J.  L.,  559, 561 
Midway  CHURdsii,   Anaerson,  76    252, 
349,  484,  517,  646  749;  Be'v.  Mr.  Cousar. 
76;  Rev.  G.  G.  McWhorter,  77;  B<-v, 
P.Peirson,  484, 646;  Kev.  W.  CJarlisle. 
517. 
Midway,  Liberty  County  G a.,  Congre- 
gational (Jliurch  of,  39,  218  322,  451 ; 
Bev,  A.  Holmes  39;  Mr    J.  Moore, 
Bev.  C.  Gildersleeve.  40;    Kev.  Mr. 
Murphy,  218;  Bev.  R   Quarterman, 
322;  Rev.  I.  S.  K.  Axson,  4.51. 
Midway  (Anderson),  551 ,  Rev.  W.  Carl- 
isle, 
MiLFORb  Church  13S,  298. 
Miller's  Church.  88. 
Miller,  Rev.  Arnold  W..  675 
Mills.  Dr.  Thomas  s.,  339. 
Milner.  Rev.  A.   772, 
Mission  to  Mississippi,  175-176. 
Mission  to  Natchez.  177-179. 
Missions,  173  186.312  316,  *l-8,  761 ;  In- 
dian   missions  of  Synod  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  429,46. 
Missionary  Society  of  Synod  of  soutli 

Carolina  and  Georgia,  315. 
Mitchell,  Rev.  J.  A..  450,560. 
Mitchell,  Rev.  Alex.  476. 
Moderwell,  Rev.  Wm..  339,  399. 
Monroe,  Rev.  Hugh.  697. 
Monteith,  Rev,  W,,  153. 
Montgomery,  Rev.  Wm.,  173.  )80  182,426, 
Montgomery,  Kev.  T.  F..  772,  773. 
Montgomery,  Kev.  Benj.  R.,  81, 128, 147, 

149,  166,  256,  262. 
Mooney,  Rev.  Arthur,  378,  5-34,  535, 
Morgan,  Kev.  Dr.  Gilbert,  769. 
Morgan.  Rev.  N.  R.,  344,  353.  354,  477,  479, 
Morse,  Rev.  B.  C,  231, 
Morse,  Rev.  A.  A.,  747. 
Morse,  Rev.  Dr.  J..  39. 
Moseley.  Bev.  Samuel,  339, 
Mount  Bethel  Church,  721. 
Mount  Bethel  Academy,  122,  372. 
Mount  Calvary,  Spartanburg   District, 
756. 


786' 


INDEX. 


Mount  Moi'iah,  4!)4  ;  Rev.  M.  D.  Frasrr. 

Mount  Olivet.  »6  265,  .361,  506,  668;  Rev. 
S.  W.  Young.  8d ;  Rev.  (..  L.  R.  Boyd, 
506;  diffloulfles  on  subject  of  bap- 
tiNm.  507 ;  subscriptions-  toward.s 
building  of  brick  house  of  worship, 
507;  Rev.  jr.  Peden,  607. 

Mount  Hope  Ch-ukcii  2.il. 

Mount  Pi.EA.sANT  Church  (see  Pleas- 
ant Grove.) 

Moi\nt  Tabor  (Greenville  District),  747. 

Mount  Zion  Chitroh,  Sumter  District, 
250  347  484,  655 ;  Rev.  G.  G.  McWhor- 
ter.  251;  Rev.  Thomas  Alexander 
251;  Rev.  J.  Harrington,  347;  Kev. 
W.M.  Reid,  484. 

Murphy,  Rev,  John,  302. 

Murphy.  Rev.  M.  73,75,184,218  410. 

Murray,  Rev.  James  S,,  247,  231. 

I« 

Nail,  Rev.  Dr,  397. 

JVazareth  Ghuech,  Spartanburg  Dis- 
trict, 97, 180, 287,  .180.  535,  742 ;  Dr.  Al- 
exander. 97;  Rev.  J.  Templeton,130; 
Rev.  J.  Gilliland,  Jr.,  102;  Rev.  M. 
Uiclcson,330;  Rev.  W.  C.  Davis  97; 
camp-meetings.  132-33;  e fleets,  134-37; 
Rev.  W.  Means,  288;  Rev.  J.Boggs, 
.335;  Rev.  E.  T.  Buist,  535. 

Nazareth  (Beaver  Dam),  151  .304,  399,  553 
760;  Rev.  A.  Brown  Kev.  J.  Hill- 
house,  304 ;  Rev.  D.  Humphreys, 
Rev.  D.  Haslet,  399;  Rev,  W.  Carl- 
isle. Rev.  W.  H.  Harris,  Kev.  David 
Humphreys,  553. 

Neely.  Rev.  Thomas,  93.  95,  269,  509. 

Nettleson,  Rev.  Mr.,-338,  3S7. 

New  Hakmony  Church,  396,  &j3, 7.53; 
Rev.  W.  Carlisle.  Rev.  W.  H.  Harris, 
396  ;  Rev.  J.  McKittrick,  724. 

New  Harmony  (Laurens  District),  728- 
25,  760. 

New  Hope  Chuiich,  76,  251,485;  Rev. 
J.  Cousar,  76. 

Newton  Church,  1.38;  Rev.  Mr.  Gilli- 
land, Rev.  Mr.  Templeton,  LSS. 

Newton,  Rev.  Thomas,  409,  410. 

Nisbct,  James,  15, 16. 

North  Pacolkt  Church,  137,  289. 380, 
5SB,  742;  Rev.  F.  Porter,  880;  Rev. 
Mr.  Brainard,  Rev.  J.  Hillhouse, 
289;  Rev.  J.  Kennedy,  536. 

O 

Old  and  New  School,  861. 

Old  Cambridge,  or  Ninety-SIJi,  141,  290, 
382,  .538;  Rev.-  H.  Dickson,  ,382;  Dr. 
Barr,  382;  Cambridge  Library  So- 
ciety, Rev  A.  Wright,  290;  Rev.  C. 
B  Storrs.  Rev.  A.  Chester,  Rev.  3. 
Rennle,  382. 

OLD  Waxhaw  Chuhoh.  106,  270,  371, 
517,692;  Rev.  J.  Brown,  106;  ■•  The 
old  revival,"  106-9;  Dr.  h'urman's 
letter.  100-13 ;  bodily  aeitations,  li;3- 
15;efl'eots  ol  strong  emotion,  116; 
opinion  of  Ur.  Alexander.  117;  Rev. 
F.  Porter,  rjl;  elders,  121;  Rev.  J. 
Williamson,  279;  Rev.  Mf.x.  Pharr, 
371;  Rev.  B.  B.  Campbell,  517;  Rev. 


J,  xi.  Davis,  Rev.  J.   H,  Thornwell  , 

518;  elders,  693;  birth-place  of  An- 

i.rew  Jackson,  694. 
OrangeburK,  472;  631;  Rev.  I.  S.K.  Le- 

gare,  472. 
Ordination  sine  titulo,  310. 
Osborne,  Rev.  Mr.,  610. 


Palmer,  Rev.  Edward,  320,  337,  355.  450, 

462,  468,  501,  589.  626,  770. 
falmer,  Rev.  E,  P.,  693,  770. 
Palmer,  Rev.  B  M  ,  Jr.,  500,  563,  631.  IK9'. 
Palmer.Rev.  B.  M..  5U,~ai,  Mi,  196,  199, 

.  216,  323,  579-86,  770. 
Parks,  Rev.  L.  D.,  213,  215,319. 
i'atrick.  Rev.  Josiah,  371. 
Patterson,  Rev.  J.  C.  401,  774, 
Payson,  Rev,  Mr.,  370. 
Pearson.  Rev.  A.  J.,  534,  5.36. 
Heck,  Rev.  Dr.  Thos.  E.,  501. 
Peck,  Rev.  T.  R.  G.,  B91. 
Peden,  Rev.  A.  G.,  477,  632. 
Peden,  Rev.  .Vlitchell,  -503,  507,  668. 
Pendleton  Village,  397. 
Perrin,  Rev.  Wm.,  212, 319. 
Petrie,  Rev.  Dr.  G.  H.  W.,  477,  479,  SSS,- 

59t ' 
Pharr.'Rev.  W.  S.,  371. 
Pharr,  Kev.  Bamuel-  C,  673. 
Phillips,  Rev.  Dr^  v.  ».,  375. 
Pickens  Church  (old),  743. 
Pickens,  General  Andrew,  296-98. 
Piei son.  Rev.  P,,  482,  484.  646 
Plnckney,  Rev.  C. C,  466. 
Pine  Tree  Church,   263,  35),  493,  64f, 

657;  Rev.  ('.  Mclver,  263;    Kev.  J.  B. 

McFarland,  351.    First  Elders,  263, 

6.57. 
Pisgah  Church,  641, 
Plan  of  Union ,  51,  52.  565. 
PiiEASAN-r  Ghove  or  Mt,  Pleasant, 

509,  677;  Rev.  C.  Johnston,  509. 
Pleasant    Grove,    695;     Rev.    Wm. 

Banks.  695. 
Plumer,  Rev.  Dr.Wm.  S.  ,'557,769. 
Porter,  Rev.  F.  H.,  266,  270,  274,  316.  378, 

379,  410, 536,  772. 
Porter,  Rev.  R.  K.,  772. 
Porter,  Rev.  A.  A.,  605, 
Porter,  Kev.  D.  H.,776. 
Post,  Rev.  K.,  447.  560,  574,  579,  586,  769, 
Powers,  Rev.  J.  W.,  342. 
Powers,  Rev.  U..  351,  478,  479.  485. 
Pratt,  Kev.  H.  S.,  341,  497 
Pratt.  Rev.  N,  A.,  341,  775. 
Presbyterial  changes,  380. 
Presbytery   of  South  Carolina  rAinis- 

ters,  767;  Churches  since  1850,  768. 
Presbytery  of   South  Carolina^First, 

1(14;  Ministers  and  churches,  165. 
Presbytery  of  Sfouth  Carolina— second, 

165,707;  Minfisters  and  churches  of, 

185. 
Presbytery  of  Charleston,  167;   Petitioir 

to  Assembly,  108, 
Prfsbytery  of  Alabama.  409-10. 
Presbyter.V  of  Enoree,  766. 
Presbytery  of  Georgia,  341. 
Pressley,  Rev.  S.  P,  630.    ' 
Preston,  Rev.  Dr.  Willard,  466-67,  589',^ 

590. 


INDEX. 


787 


Price,  Rev.  T.  FT.,  45-50, 106,  229,  302, 

Price,  Rev.  Samuel  J„  709, 

Providence  Church  (Lowndesville), 
550,  75i;  Rev  Oavid  Humphreys, 
550 ;  Kev.  W.  H,  Davis,  Rev.  J.  Lew- 
ers,  551. 

Providence  Ohdroh,  395;  Rev.  D, 
Humphreys,  395, 

Psalms  aud  Hymus,  Introduction  <5t 
Dr.  Watt's,  119. 

PUKiTY  Church  (Chester  District),  91, 
2ri9,  365,  508,  673 ;  Kev.  R.  McOulloch. 
Petition  to  Presbytery  from  pan  of 
Purity  congregation,  91-93  ;  Rev.  T. 
Neely,  91;  Rev.  F.  H.  Porter,  Rev. 
A.  WHlian»s,-270  ;  Rev.  J.  B,  Staf- 
ford, 365;  Tornado  of  Nullification, 
508;  Rev,  H.Walker,  Rev.  J.  Thorn- 
well,  509 

» 

Quarterman,  Rev.  Robt.,  218,  322. 

Quarterman,  Rev.  J.  M.,  778. 

Quillen,  Rev  Wra.  878,  53^. 
IC 

Rabourn's  Creelf,  152,  283. 

Rearrangement  of  Presbyteries,  189, 190. 

Red  Blufi:  Church,  72,  255,  351,  493; 
Rev.  C.  Lindsay,  Kev.  Al.  Murphy, 
Sharon  Chui'oh,73;  Rev.  M.  McNair, 
71;  Rev.  D.  Mclntire,  3.52;  Rev.  A. 
McQueen.  493. 

Rehoboth.  654. 

Reid,  Kev.  Henry,  ^9,  290,  293-94,  388, 
384,  468, 470. 

Reid,  Rev.  Robt.  H.,  721, 

Reid,  Rev,  Geo.,  83,  84.  87.323,  4  8. 

Reid,  Kev.  Wra.  M.,  484,  586,  655, 657. 

Religious  Societies  and  eftbrts,  228,  229. 

Rennle,  Rev.  John,  357,  376,  381,  S82,-496, 
537. 

Renwicli,  Rev.  John  373,374, 

Revival  meetings  in  1802, 106-119. 

Revivals,  556. 

Rice,  Dr.  J.  H.,  412. 

Rice  Creek  Springs,  502. 

Richards,  Rev,  C.  M.,  7.70. 

Richardson,  Rpv.  Wra.,  700. 

RiCHi.AKD  Church  (in  Pickens  Dis- 
trict), .551.759 ;    Rev.  B.  DuPre. 

Right  of  Presbyteries  iu  Ordination, 
311. 

Riley,  Rev,  John,  701. 

Robertson,  Rev.  B.  C,  776. 

Roberts  and  Good  Hope  148,,2fl3  391-95, 
547-50,  743  ;  Rev.  J.  SimtfSon,  Rev.  S 
Davis,  Rev.  J.  Mcllb«nny,  14S ;'  Rev. 
T.  H.  trice.  Rev.  T.  1).  BHird,299  ; 
Rev.  R.  B.  Ca^-,  Rev.  D.  Humph- 
reys, 891  ;  elders  m  Roberts  i  liurch. 
393-94,519-50;  deacons, church  build- 
ings,  elders  in  Goiid  Hope,  394; 
Church  edifice  at  Good  Hope,  395 ; 
camp-meetings,  548. 

.ROCK  Chttkch,  (See  Rocky  Creek.) 

i^ocky  Creek,  140,  290,  381,  537,  728-31; 
Presbyterial  supplies,  140;  Rev.  H. 
Reid,  290;  Rev.  ff.  Rennie,  Rev.  J. 
MoKinnle,  Rev.  K,  Adnms.  Rev.  H, 
Dickson,  381 ;  elders,  381 ;  Rev.  C. 
Martin.  Rev.  E.  Cater,  537;  "To- 
kens," 730 ;  colored  people,  revivals, 
ruling  elders,  731, 


Rocky  River  Church,  145.  295.  383, 639- 
40,755;  Rev.  F,  Cumralns,  Rev.  ,). 
Simpson,  Dr.  Waddell,  145;  camp- 
meetings,  146 ;  Rev.  J.  Gamble,  205; 
Rev,  Mr.  Cater,  383 ;  Rev.  W.  Davis, 
539  ;  Rev.  .T.  Lewers,  540  ;  privations 
during  Revolution,  510;  ministers, 
755. 

Rocky  Spring,  127,  282,  376,  534,  710  ;  Rev. 
T:  Archibald.  282;  Rev.  J.  McCosh, 
Rev.  K.  McCiintock, Rev.  J.  D.Ken- 
nedy, 127. 

Rogers,  Rev.  J.,  336.  461,  622-24,  768, 

Rogers,  Rev.  Jumes,  374. 

Root,  Rev.  David,  309. 

Rosborough.  Kev.  Wm.  Q.,  85.  266. 

Ross,  Rev,  A.  W.,264,397,516,552,  553,  769. 


Safford,  Rev.  H..  ,139,  774, 

Salem  Church,  273.  511,  684;  Rev.W.  C, 
Davis.  373;  Rev.  R.  M.  Uavis,  Rev. 
A.  Williams,  273;  revival,  274. 

Salem  Church  (Black  River).  74,  249, 
348,484,648;  Rev.  J.  I'OKler,  74;  Rev. 
G.  G.  McWhorter,  75:  ReV.  R.  An- 
derson. Rev.  Mr.  Ilillhouse.  Rev.  J. 
.Tovee,  Rev.  T.  Alexander,  250;  Rev. 
R.  W.  James.  Rev.  W.  J.  Wilson, 
349;  elders,  319. 

Salem  Chuuch  (Little  River),  504-5;  R, 

C.  Ketchnm.  668. 

Sal  tcatcher,  63,  232,  337  463,  627-28 ;  Rev. 
Mr,  Adams,  63  Memoranda  amonij 
Mr.  Adams'  papers,  232;  Rev.  C. 
Mclver.  233;  Rev,  J,  B,  Van  Dyke, 
463;  Rev,  A.  Simpson,  028. 

Sandy  Spring  516.  55<,  732;  Rev.  A.  W. 
Ross,  510 ;  Rev.  B.  D.  DuPree.  553. 

Sardis,  386. 

Saunders,  Rev.  Stephen,  310, 

Savannah  — INDKPENDENT  Chuich 
OF— 152,  233,  .337,  465,  589;  Rev.  J.  J. 
Zubly,  153;  Rev.  T.  H.  McCaule,  Rev. 
W.  Montelth,  Rev.  R.  Smith.  Dr, 
Olarkson,  Rev.  H.  liollook,  153; 
Rev.  Mr.  Phillips.  Rev,  Mr.  John- 
son, 153;  Rev.  R.  Kerr,  2-33;  Rev.  D. 
Snodgrass.  Dr.  S.  B.  Howe,  Rev.  D, 
Baker,  337 ;   Rev.  Willard  I'reston, 

D.  :'.,466;  death  of.  590. 
Second  Presbyterian  Church.  .138. 
Saye.  Rev.  J.  H..  522,  098. 

Scion  Church  (Winnsboro'),  508,  666, 

Sharon  Church,  73. 

SheUloi),  Rev.  Dr.  Geo.,  588, 

Shiloh  Church  (formerly  Calvary), 
106, 277. 370, 516,665 ;  Re v,  J,  S.  Adam s, 
106;  Rev.  H.  M.  Kerr,  2/7;  Rev.W. 
0.  Davis. 278;  Rev.  Mr.  Payson.Rev, 
G.  Johnsou,  Rev.R.  C.  Johnson,  370; 
Rev.  W.  B.  Davis,  516. 

Shiloh  Congregation,  387 ;  Rev.  H.  Dick- 
son. 

Simpson,  Rev.  John.  148, 149.  301,  392, 

Simpson,  Rev.  Archibald, ■628. 

Six  Mile  Creek.  67.3, 

Sloan,  Rev.  H.  P..  .374, 

Sloss,  Rev.  James  L.,305,  409,  410. 

Smilh,  Rev.  A,.  641. 

smiMi,  Rev.  Josiah,  26 

Smith,  Rev.  Daniel,  248-49. 


r§8 


INDEX. 


Smith,  Bev.  Robert.  153. 

Smith,  Rev.  R.  0.777. 

Srai.th,  Rev..Eli.  308. 

Smithe,  Rev.  James,  125. 

Smyrna  Church  (Aboeville),  I.SS.  289, 

380,  536,  741;  Rev.  H,  Dickson,  139. 
Smyrna  Church  (Newberry  District), 

533.  720 :  Rev.  R.  C.  Ketchum,  Rev. 

M.   U.  Fraser,  Rev.  G.  Boggs,  Rev. 

P.  H.  Folker.SOS. 
SmyMe.Rev.  James,  182, 184. 
Smytli,  Rev.  Dr.  Thos.,  453,498,594,806, 

761-65, 7691. 
Snodgiass, Rev.  Dr.,  337. 
Snowden,  Rev.  B.  H.,  341,  473. 
Southern  Christian  Intelllcencer,  427. 

.SPARTANBURG  PRESBYTEIIIAN  CH.,747. 

Springer,  Rev.  John.  157.  '  > 

St.  Au}:ustine,340,473;  Rev.  E.  Dathrop. 
Rev  E.  H.  Snowden,  341;  Rev.  R. 
W.  Dunlap,  474. 

St.  Paul's.  157. 

Statement  of  different  Churches  as  re- 
ported to  General  Convention  of 
1835,  .529. 

Statistics  of  denominations  in  s.  C,  in 
1819.  318. 

Stafford,  Rev.  J.  B.,  324,  362, 865-66, 506, 
608. 

Steele,  Rev..  Andrew.  62,  63. 

Stephenson,  Dr.  J.  W.,  64,  6.5,  68,  72. 

Stevens,  Rev.  J.  B.,  772 

Stewart,  Rev.  C.  B.,  514,  710. 

Sto  N  EY  Okeek,  Independent  Church 
OF,  411.  213,  321,  4.50,  oSO;  Rev.  .1.  Gour- 
lny.  10;  Rev.  R.  M.  Adwrns,  41 ;  pro-  , 
Ject  of  Association  for  promotion  of  i 
religion,  40;  supporters  of  Church, 
44;  incorporation,  214;  Kev.  L.  I>. 
Parks.  215;  Rev.  J.  Brown.  Kev.  R. 
H.  Jone-*.  Rev.  \.  Greenwood.  321; 
Rev.  E.  Palmer.  4.50;  Hev.  J.  B.  Dun- 
wody,  .589. 

Storr.i.  Rev.  C.  B.,  323,  381,  .382. 

Straiton.  Rev.  J.  R.,  6.55. 

Strong,  Rev.  Lyman,  32;i. 

Stuart,  Rev.  c.  B.,  747. 

Stuart,  Rev.  T.  C,  3lHi.  316,  391,  40.5. 

styles,  Kev.  J.  C.  400.  777. 

SUMTERVILI,K    CHURCH,    345-47,    480-81, 

647;  Kev.  J.  K.  Biirbour,  oraaniza- 
tion,S45;  Rev.  .1.  McKwen,  347;  Rev. 
,].  Harrin'-'ton,347;  Bev,  K.  W.  Bai- 
ley, 481  ;  Rev.  II.  McQueen,  4fi2. 

.Sutton,  Hev,  W.  C,  641.769 

Swazey,  Rev.  Samuel,  176. 

Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia, 
569-78:  paper  offered  by  Dr.  Thorn - 
well,  aissentof  Dr.  Dana  and  others, 
committee  of  conference,  proposed 
union  of  Seminaries,  573;  Foreign 
Missions,  574;  appropriation,  577, 


Talmage,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  K.,  355,  399,  5.55,  774. 

Tavlov  Rev.  "Mr.,  610. 

Telfoid,  Rev.  W.  B.,  711, 

Temnleton.  Rev.  James,  754. 

The  Rise  and  Progress  of  Literary  and 

Theological  Seminary  of  the  South, 

413. 
Theological  Seminaries  412-22. 


Thompson, Hev.  Mr.,  64. 
ThoThpson,  Rev.  Wra.  T.,  637. 
Thompson,  Rev.  John  B.,  154, 216,  267-68, 

305. 
Thor.iwell,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.,  496,. 501,  518, 

510-21.  629,  658,  769. 
Third,  ok  Central    Pkesbyterian 

Church  in  city  of  Charleston,  329; 

4.i4,59S;  Rev.W.McDowell.329;  Bev. 

Dr.  W.  0.  Dana,  454;  Elders,  455. 
Turner,  Rev.  D.  Mc.  N.,  573,  733. 

U 

UnlonvlUe,  697. 

Union  Missionary  Society,  244.  245. 

Union  Presbyterian  Church,  129, 
283,  378 ;  Rev.  Wm.  Williamson,  129 ; 
Kev.  Dr.  Gray,  129;  Presbyterian 
supplies.  Elders,  129;  Rev.  Jos.  Hill- 
house,  283;  Resolution  of  Presby- 
tery, 378. 

Union  Church,  634. 

Unity  Church,  106.  277,  .369,  516,  683; 
Rev.  J.  Brown,  106 ;  Rev.  H.  Hunter, 
Rev.  Mr.  Foster,  Bev.  G.  Keid.  Rev. 
Mr.  Walker,  106  ;  Kev.  Mr.  Bishop, 
516. 

Upper  Long  Cane  Society,  54-5. 


Van  Dyke,  Rev.  John  B.,  449,  463-65,  .586, 
627. 

Varennfs.  547,  742  ;  Rev.  Wm.  Car- 
lisle, Rev  W.  Harris.  517. 

Various  cases  decided  in  Synod  of  the 
Carolinas,  .313.314. 

Vedder,  Ltev.  C.  S.,  591. 

■w 

Waddell.  Rev.  Dr.,  141, 145;  291-92, 884.  .531 , 
539,  541-44. 

Waddell,  Rev.  Isaac,  .582,  538,  546. 

Walker.  Rev.  R.  B.,  87,  9.5,  105,  338.  509, 
511.515.768. 

Wallace,  Kev.  J.  W.,  ?'34. 

Wallace,  Kev.  J.  A.,  68,  632. 

Wallace,  Kev.  Joseph,  431,  768. 

Wallis,  Rev.  James  184,  277. 

Wappetaw,  Independent  Church 
OF,  33,  212,  319, 448. 5S7 ;  Its  Confession 
or  Faith,  33  ;  Rev.  Dr.  McCalla,  34  ; 
Rev.  A.  Forster,  Rev.  W.  Perrin.  212; 
Hev.  A.  Wright,  320;  Rev.  G.  Beld, 
Bev.  J.  Lewers.  448 ;  Bev.  Mr.  DuPre, 
448 ;  Bev.  B.  M.  Palmer,  Sr.,  rtev. 
Dr.  Girardeau,  Kev.  J.  L.  Bartlett, 
Kev.  K.  Cater,  Dr.  H.  B.  Cunning- 
ham, 587. 

Ward.  Kev.  Solomon,  .380. 

Warner,  Rev.  Aaron,  402, 

Warrior's  CRSEk,  283,  877,  535,  723; 
Bev.  A.  Kirkpatrick. 

Washburn,  Rev.  Cephas.  .322. 

Waterbury,  Rev.  J.  B.,  453. 

Watson,  Rev.  S.  L,,  369.  686,  690. 

Watson,  Kev.  A.M..  371. 

Watson,  Rev.  J.  F..  371. 

Webb  Kev.  B.  C,  460. 

Weel?s,  Rev,  Mr.,  31.3. 


INDEX. 


789 


Westminster.  390, 398,  759;   Rev.  B.  D. 

DuPre.  390. 
Wheeler.  Rev.  John,  290,  323. 
White,  Rev.  Elipha,  323,  330.  a31,  4S6. 
White,  Rev.  Henry,  213,  228,410 
White  Bluff,  Co.'^gregitionai,  Ch. 
OF.  217.  322  451 ;  Rev.  L.  U.  Parks,  217 ; 

Rev.  T.  Gouliling,  M2J. 
Williams,  Rev.  J.  C,  700,7.51. 
Williams,  Rev.  Aaron    270,273,367,511; 

522. 
Williams,  Rev.  B.  T.,  775. 

WlMilAMSBURQ    CHUKCH,    04,    21(i,    342, 

47-4,632;  Dr.  Malcomson,  64  ;  Rev.  J. 
Covert,  246;  Rev.  J.  M.  Brwin,  bury- 
ing, of  tlie  Ijatchet,  474;  Rev.  A. 
Mitchell,  476;  Rev.  J.  McEweu,477; 
Rev.  A.  G.  Peden,  Rev.  J.  A.  Wal- 
lace, 632. 

Williamson.  Rev.  Vyni.,  61,  123,129.146, 
7.54.  ' 

Williamson,  Rev.  Thos.,  147,  166. 

Williamson,  Kev.  John,  27-5.  279. 

Williamson,  Dr.  Samuel.  275,  369. 

Wlllington.  2  1,  384-86.  511.  758  ;  Rev.  Dr. 
Waddeli,  292;  mlnisterEi  who  came 
forth  from  Franklin  i;oliege,  292; 
He V.  R,  B.  Cater  Kev.  H,  Reid,  384; 
Rev.  A.  Foster,  385. 

Wills,  Rev.  D.,  534, 

Wilson,  Rev.  Robert. 78,  146. 

Wilson.  Rev.  John  L>.,  659.  7-54. 

Wilson,  Rev.  S.  B.  O  ,  503,  673. 

Wilson,  Rev.  Samuel  B.,  129. 

Wil.son,  Hev.  Jiush,  407. 

Wilson,  Rev.  James,  22l. 

Wilson,  Kev.  John  S.,;108,  380.  412.  776. 

Wil.son,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  L.,  456,  459,  656. 


Wilson,  Hev.  W.  J.,  342, 349, 360,  364. 

Wilson   Rev.  C.  H.,  637,  640. 

Wilson  Church.  6?,  231,  3.35,  461,  622-; 
Rev.  A.  Steele,  62;  Rev.  T.  Stuai-t, 
Rev.  .T.  Maltby,  Rev.  L.  Floyd,  231; 
Rev.  H.  T.  Jones,  335;  Rev.  Z.  Ro- 
gers. Rev.  M.Chase,  336;  Rev.  J.  L. 
Girardeau,  624. 

WiNNSBORO' (see  Zion  Ohuroh)  Spiox 
Church. 

Winston.  Rev.  0.  M.,  339. 

Wltherspoon,  Rev.  John,  495,  500,  .501. 

Wright.  Rev.  A..  231,  290,  320,  402,  561. 

Wright,  Rev.  Zacharlab,  373. 


YonKviLLE  Church.  279, 370,    516,  684  ; 

Rev.  a.  Johnston,  370. 
Young,  Rev.  Samuel,  77,  84,  85,86,265, 

361-62.  604. 
Young  Men's  Missionary  Society  of  S. 

C,  404. 


ZtON  Church  fWinnsboro),  81,  263.360, 
503,528,666;  Rev.  R.  McCulloch,  82; 
Rev.  J.  Foster.  82;  Kev.  <i.  Reid,  83; 
Rev.  A.  Ross,  264  ;  Rev  Wm.  Brear- 
ley.  360;  Laying  of  corner-stone  of 
new  building.  263;  Division  of 
Church,  264;  MUssionar.v  Society. 
265;  Bible  Society,  265;  Rev.  J.  Mc- 
Kiniiey.360;  Revival,  594. 

Zubley,  Rev.  J.  J,,  152,  15!. 


ERRATA 

Page  123,  2d  line  from  bottom,  for  Dook  read  Doake. 
Page  368,  last  line,  for  Lossing  read  Lawson. 
Page  372,  23d  line  from  top,  for  Sparner  read  Sparrow. 
Page  516,  10th  line  from  top,  for  Johnson  read  Johnston. 
page  466,  5th  line  from  bottom,  and  page  467,  running  title  at  top, 
for  William  read  Willard  Preston. 

[Author.