USA > Georgia > Liberty County > History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia > Part 12
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47. REV. ROBERT IVERSON.
The fourth son of Robert Iverson, a member of Midway church, and his third wife, Margaret J. Harris, and a half brother of Senator Alfred Iverson, was born about 1814 or 1815 in Burke county, to which his father had removed; he was licensed by Flint River Presbytery at Decatur, Ga., October, 1843; dismissed to the East Alabama Presbytery, and died towards the close of 1850, as the Presbytery at its meeting at Jacksonville in April, 1851, makes mention of his death and adopted resolutions expressive of their grief at his death and paying a tribute to his character.
48. REV. WILLIAM STEELE BAKER.
Son of Rev. John F. and Phebe (Steele) Baker, was born in · Rockbridge county, Va .; studied at Batesville, Ark., and re- ceived his theological training at Austin, Tex .; was licensed in 1889 by the Presbytery of Arkansas; ordained by the
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same in 1892; minister at Black Rock and Powhatan from 1889 to 1893; pastor at Hico, Tex., three years, and at Nazareth church two years, and at Mineral Wells, in same State, since November 15, 1897.
49. REV. ADOLPHE ELHART BAKER.
Brother of the above, was born at Jerseyville, Illinois, May 13, 1871 ; received the degree of B. A. at John Hopkins' Uni- versity in the spring of 1894; graduated at Union Seminary May, 1897; licensed by Maryland Presbytery at Baltimore, June 14, 1897, and ordained and installed by the same, pas- tor of the old Springfield church at Sykesville, Maryland, October 17, 1897.
50. WILLIAM EDWARD SCREVEN.
To the above list. may be added this name, though only a student. He was the grandson of Gen. James Screven, who was killed at Midway in 1788, and son of Rev. Charles O. Screven, a Baptist minister .1 He was born at Sunbury, Lib- erty county, August 31, 1823 ; joined the Baptist church at Sunbury, but afterwards was received into the Presbyterian church at Columbia, South Carolina ; spent one term in the Seminary there; on account of impaired health, returned home in 1845; a stroke of lightning, in 1849, disqualified him from any further prosecution of his studies; wrote a book on the relations of Christianity to poetry and philos- ophy, dedicated to Dr. Howe. He died February 12, 1860, in the twenty-sixth year of his age.
1. Rev. Charles O. Screven was twice married. First, to Mrs. Lucy Barnard Jones, the mother of Rev. James O. Screven, and second, to Miss Barbara Golphin, the mother of William Edward Screven.
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MINISTERS OF OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
MINISTERS OF OTHER DENOMINATIONS.
Before giving the list of ministers of other denominations that have gone out from the Midway community, it is prop- er to state that those whose names we give were, generally, the regular descendants of one or more of the earlier settlers, and were all more or less identified with the old church, ei- ther from matrimonial alliances or daily associations, many of them being brought up under her influence and tutellage, attending her schools, and conjointly worshipping in her congregations. To understand the situation, we have only to remember that for the space of fifty four years, from 1752 to 1806, when the first Baptist church was organized,1 the Midway church was the only church in the whole county, and that her people during that long time had the exclusive control of a scope of country, though sparsely populated, of some twenty miles in extent. The Baptist and Methodist churches afterwards organized, being upon the outskirts, were comparatively weak and were largely dependent upon their stronger neighbor, who had preoccupied the ground, for materials of membership as well as association and training. Hence we find several of their names on the church registry of marriages, births and deaths. We even find the names of some of them among the list of subscribers to the articles of incorporation, thus taking pews and supporting the church. As the result of all this the greatest neighborly feeling and association existed. As evidence of this I need only quote the record. We find as early as October 31, 1802, that "Mr. Charles O. Screven, minister of the gospel at Snn- bury (of the Baptist church) joined with us in the ordinance of the Lord's supper and also preached in the afternoon ;2 and also mention the additional fact that later on Rev. Josiah S. Law, of the Baptist church, and Rev. Edward Q. Andrews, of the Methodist church, were employed by the executors of the Lambert estate, (said executors being all members of Midway church) the one to preach to the colored people and the other a supply to the whites, and both preaching with
1. The Methodist church was not organized iu the county until about twenty years afterwards. 2. Public Records, P. 55.
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acceptance to both white and colored. I do not remember anything like exhibition of prejudice on the part of the peo- ple toward either. The same appears in the willingness of the Midway people, who were near, to tent at the Metho- dist campmeetings held in the upper part of the county ; and from the additional fact that so many of them, both preach- er and people, from the different denominations lie side by side in the old graveyard. These all show not only the great liberality of this people towards the other denominations, but also the training influence they must have exerted over them. It is impossible to see how these others could have grown up in the midst of this people, a people of such intel- ligence and refinement and such decidedly religious convic- tions and impulses, without imperceptibly imbibing some of their principles and made partakers to a great extent of their spiritual life.
With this explanation I place the following in the list of those who have gone out from the Midway people, though in connection with other denominations :
BAPTIST MINISTERS WHO HAVE GONE OUT FROM THE MIDWAY COMMUNITY.
1. REV. SAMUEL SPRY LAW.
The records of Midway church show that Joseph Law and Elizabeth Spry were married in July, 1774. Their son, Sam- uel Spry, was born to them in Liberty county June 2, 1775, and baptized April 29, 1787. He was the first captain of the Liberty county Independent Troup, and afterwards major of the squadron of the first regiment. He was for a time clerk of the Congregational church at Sunbury, a branch of the Midway church, as appears from a letter ad- dressed in 1811, by the Baptist church of that place to Cap- tain J. S. Law.1 He appears also to have studied the Shor- ter Catechisms. "When under conviction," said he, "the question suggested itself to my mind 'what are considered
1. Campbell's History, P. 113.
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the effectual means of salvation ?' 'God maketh the reading but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of salvation.'"1 Thus using the language of the catechism, and showing his familiarity with it. He connected himself with the Baptist church April 30, 1815, when forty years of age. He was ordained at Sunbury December 27, 1827, and after ten years of faithful labor, chiefly among the colored people, died February 4, 1837, and was buried at Sunbury.
2. REV. THOMAS SUMNER WINN.2
Was the son of Peter and Ann (Sumner) Winn. His par- ents were members of the Midway church. His father was a deacon of the church at the time of his birth, and had been for twenty-six years, from 1798 to 1824; and after this long service became a Baptist. His son, Thomas Sumner, was born at Sunbury July 16, 1792; dedicated unto the Lord by baptism July 22nd of the same year ; was usher to Dr. Mc Whir in Sunbury Academy in his 17th year; was ordained pastor of North Newport church, and died January 27, 1819, in his
twenty-seventh year. The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Murdoch Murphy, pastor of Midway church, and pub- lished by the community. He was a young minister of great promise. The following is the description of his physique given by Mr. Murphy in his discourse :
"His stature was above the middle size, lean and muscular; his complexion sallow rather than florid, black haired, of a large forehead, prominent nose, blue eyes, interstreaked with grey, deep set, quick and penetrating, under large dark eye- brows. His temperament was a mixture of the sanguine, with the melancholic. His voice was harmonious and his ear exquisitely attuned to music. No man, though a stran- ger, could look in his face and hold him in contempt."
3. REV. JOSEPH STEVENS BAKER, M. D.
The son of William Baker, deacon of Midway church, and Ann (Stevens) Baker, and half brother of Dr. Daniel Baker,
1. Campbell's History P. 114. 2. Also a Presbyterian minister by this name.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
the evangelist ; was born in Liberty county August 17, 1798, and dedicated to the Lord in baptism October 14th follow- ing; "joined the Presbyterian church when young,"1 and af- terwards the Baptist church; filled the various positions, first, as physician, then colporteur, editor, minister. Died at Quitman, Ga., July 28, 1877.
4. REV. JOSIAH SPRY LAW.
The son of Rev. Samuel Spry and Rebecca (Hughes) Law, was born in Sunbury, Liberty county, February 5, 1808; taught school with Rev. James Shannon at Augusta, Ga., in 1827, where he connected himself with the Baptist church; was ordained at Sunbury December, 1830; pastor of Sun- bury church; afterwards, of North and South Newport churches, and later on was one of the ministers employed by the executors of the Lambert estate, to the colored people, among whom he faithfully labored. He died October 4, 1853, and was buried at Sunbury. A monument was erect- ed to his memory at Newport church.
5. REV. PATRICK HUGHES MELL, D. D., LL. D.
The son of Benjamin and Cynthia (Sumner) Mell, was born at Walthourville, Liberty county, July 19, 1814. His grandfather, Thomas Sumner, on his mother's side, married first, Sarah Quarterman, the granddaughter of the Rev. John Osgood, but he himself was the descendant of a second wife, viz .: Anna Baker. His mother being a member and his father a supporter of Midway church, he was dedicated to the Lord in baptism soon after his birth in 1814; was re- ceived into the Baptist church and immersed by Rev. Samuel S. Law at Newport church, in 1832; ordained November 19, 1842 ; professor of ancient languages at Mercer University from 1842 to November, 1855, when he was transferred to Athens, and became professor in the State University from 1856 to 1860, when he was made Chancellor, which posi- tion he occupied till his death; was for a number of years
1. Baptist History, Biographical Sketches, P. 18.
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moderator of the Southern Baptist Convention, to which he was annually chosen. In connection with his educational work was pastor of churches at various places; author of several works, among them one on "Baptism," another on "Parliamentary Practice," "Philosophy of Prayer,""Church Discipline," and "Church Polity." He died at Athens Jan. 26, 1888, and among others, leaving a son, P. H. Mell, jr., professor in the State Military Institute, Auburn, Alabama.
6. REV. EDWARD ABIEL STEVENS, D. D.
The son of Oliver and Eliza (Winn) Stevens, who were members of Midway church at the time of his birth, but af- terwards became Baptists ; was born in Liberty county Jan. 24, 1814; dedicated to the Lord in baptism March 6th, fol- lowing; immersed in November, 1827; graduated at Brown University in 1833, and Newton Seminary in 1836 ; ordained a missionary to Burmah in 1836, where he remained till his death June 19, 1886, after fifty years of missionary work, and was buried at Rangoon, Burmah. He was the first Baptist foreign missionary from the South.
7. REV. AUGUSTUS OCTAVIUS BACON.
Son of Thomas and Sarah (Holcombe) Bacon and grand- son of Thomas and Catherine Bacon, members of Midway church; was born in Liberty county January 17, 1816; ed- ucated at Walthourville; entered the University at Athens in 1834 and Columbia Seminary in 1836; licensed July,-1838; ordained January 13, 1839, as copastor with Rev. Josiah S. Law, of North Newport church; married Mary Louisa Jones, daughter of Samuel Jones, of Midway church. He died July 3, 1839. He and his wife lie buried side by side in the Midway graveyard. He was the father of Hon. Augus- tus O. Bacon, United States Senator.
8. REV. ADAM TUNNO HOLMES, D. D.
Son of James Holmes, a wealthy planter near Sunbury, and one of the signers of the articles of incorporation; was
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
born in Sunbury about the year 1803. His mother was Mary Kell, the aunt of General J. M. Kell; for more than forty years in the ministry, filling different places, such as Forsyth, Macon, two churches in Houston county; presi- dent of Baptist college at Cuthbert and afterwards of Cen- tral Institute in Alabama. He died in Atlanta September 29, 1870. He had a brother, Isaac, captain in the Mexican war, from Macon, who died in Mexico.
9. JACOB H. DUNHAM.
The grandson of William and Mary Dunham, early set- tlers in St. John's parish and members of Midway church, was born in McIntosh county February 26, 1774; removed to Liberty county and became a faithful minister of the Bap- tist church, and for ten years missionary of the Sunbury Baptist Association. His work was chiefly among the colored people and in the upper and more destitute por- tions of the county. He died September 25, 1832.
10. REV. CHARLES ODINGSELL SCREVEN, D. D.
The son of Gen. James Screven, who was killed near Mid- way church, was born in 1774. His mother was Mary (Es- ther) Odingsell, and sister of Mrs. Elizabeth Lee, the widow of Rev. Moses Allen, one of the pastors of Midway church. He was ordained May 29, 1801, and was the founder and first pastor of the Baptist church at Sunbury in 1806. He died of cancer, in New York, in July, 1830, aged fifty-seven years.
11. JAMES ODINGSELL SCREVEN.
Son of the above, born in Savannah, and reared there till seventeen years old; then taken to Sunbury till prepared for for college ; joined the Baptist church at Sunbury in 1828; entered the ministry of that church; commenced preaching to negroes in Bryan county ; removed to LaGrange in 1850; was made agent of Domestic Missionary Board. He died in May, 1864.
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12. REV. JESSE H. CAMPBELL, D. D.
William and Mary Dunham were early settlers of St. John's parish and members of Midway church; the former received November 30, 1760, and the latter, June 26, 1756. Among their children, who were usually consecrated to the Lord in baptism, as the records show, was a son, John, who removed to McIntosh county, where he married and reared a family. Among his children were Rev. Jacob H. Dunham and a daughter, who married Jesse Campbell, the father of the above. The subject of this sketch was born in McIntosh county Feb. 10, 1807. On his paternal side, his father, of the same name, could trace his lineage in a direct line to the Scottish clan of Campbell.1 He was educated at Sunbury, where he connected himself with the Baptist church, and where he was also ordained in 1830, and became a minister of prominence in his denomination, filling at different times important places in the state. He died at Columbus April 16, 1788, leaving two sons prominent ministers in that de- nomination, Rev. Messrs. Abner B. and Charles D. Campbell.
13. REV. CARLOS STEVENS.
Son of Oliver and Eliza (Winn) Stevens and brother of Dr. Edward A. and Rev. Henry J. Stevens, was born at Sunbury, Liberty county, September 30, 1823. After two years at Athens college, taught school for several years, the writer being a pupil for awhile; graduated at Mercer in the de- partment of Theology in 1848; was pastor at Sparta, Ga., where he died October 31, 1866. He was a man of amiable disposition, and was greatly beloved. The writer takes pleasure in adding his testimony to that of others in certify- ing to his worth and excellency.
14. HENRY J. STEVENS.
Son of Oliver and Eliza (Winn) Stevens, a brother of Dr.
1. Cathcart's Baptist Encyclopedia.
t
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
Edward A. and Rev. Carlos Stevens, was born in Liberty county ; entered the ministry of the Baptist church, having received his education at Newton Seminary, Massachusetts ; preached first at Robertville, South Carolina. He died at Walthourville October 10, 1854, at the time being pastor of Sunbury and Newport churches, and was buried at Midway.
15. REV. WILLIAM B. BENNETT.
Son of Mathew and Sarah (Spencer) Bennett, his mother a member of Midway church and his father a signer of the articles of incorporation of the church; was born in Liberty county October 19, 1827; dedicated in infancy unto the Lord ; practiced law for a number of years at Lumpkin, Ga .; was ordained at Quitman, Ga., in 1874, where he still lives, filling the position of Judge of the County Court and sup- plying the destitute and feebler churches within reach.
16. REV. JOHN LAKE.
Rev. John Lake was born in Edgefield county, South Car- .olina, June 11, 1870. His father, Captain George B. Lake, was a native of the same county. His mother, Rosa Flor- ence Jones, the daughter of Moses L. and Saccharissa (Ax- son) Jones ; her parents and grandparents all members of Midway church. The subject of this notice was educated at Military Academy in Charleston; entered the work of the Young Men's Christian Association ; became a special stu- dent in Columbia Theological Seminary (Presbyterian) while acting as secretary of the Association in that place; in 1890 organized the Edgefield County Young Men's Chris- tian Association work, the first permanent county work in the world; in 1893 organized a "County Training School" for secretaries ; as a further adjunct, in 1894, started a news- paper called "This Way," which has since become the official organ of the Young Men's Christian Association work for several states ; in the mean while becoming ordained to the Baptist ministry, and is now serving several town and country churches, making a specialty, however, in endeav-
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oring to develop in Christian work the young men of these small places, to which he feels especially set apart.
17. REV. CHARLES. S. GAULDÊN.
Son of Rev. Jonathan Gaulden and grandson, I presume, of Jack Gaulden, one of the signers of the articles of incorpo- ration, was born in Liberty county May 5, 1812, and or- dained in Lumpkin, Georgia, to which place he had removed and where he had been practicing law.
18. REV. WILLIAM BUTLER.
The son of Jesse and Margaret (Cassels) Butler, the sister of Rev. Samuel J. Cassels, was born at Flemington, Liberty county, and for a number of years has been a minister in the Baptist church, and is now living near Jesup.
19. REV. JERE BAKER.
To the above list this name might also be added. Con- cerning Mr. Baker, familiarly known as "Uncle Jere," the writer knows very little. I only remember seeing him once at Midway church. He preached in the lower part of the county, about Sunbury and Dorchester, somewhere during the years between 1840 and 1845.
METHODIST MINISTERS WHO HAVE GONE OUT FROM MIDWAY CHURCH.
1. REV. JOHN ANDREW.
Son of James and Esther Andrew, original settlers, and members of the Midway church, was born in Liberty county September 14, 1758, and baptized October 14th following. His father, James Andrew, was clerk of the Midway church for five years, from 1766 to 1771. His father died December 5, 1770, and his mother July 6, 1773, and he being left, a lad of fifteen years old. The war of the Revolution coming on, he entered the army till its close. The coast being all deso-
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
lated at the close of the war, he removed to what is now known as Columbia, and where he joined the Methodist church and also entered the ministry of that church. For awhile he located and taught school. He died in 1830, and was buried in Oconee county, about one mile north of Farm- ington. He was the first native born Methodist minister, of the traveling connection, in the state.
2. BISHOP JAMES OSGOOD ANDREW.
Son of the above, and grandson of James Andrew, one of the original settlers, and for a number of years clerk of the church, was born near Washington, in Wilkes county, May 3, 1794. His father named him James Osgood after Rev. John Osgood, his father's pastor, while he lived in Liberty county. He was licensed to preach in 1812 and received in- to the itineracy by the conference held in Charleston, South Carolina, the winter of that year, being then only nineteen years of age. At the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church held at Philadelphia in 1832, was elected and ordained Bishop; was requested by the General Confer- ence at New York in 1843, by a vote of one hundred and eleven to sixty-nine, to desist from performing the official functions of his office because his wife was the owner of a few slaves. At the meeting of the Southern Delegates at Louisville, Kentucky, May 1, 1845, Bishop Andrew presided; and at the organization of the Southern church at Peters- burg, Virginia, in 1846, he was reinstated and continued Bishop until his death, which occurred at Mobile, Alabama, March 1, 1871.
He always felt an interest in the home of his ancestor. In passing through Liberty county once, he went to the grave- yard and knelt near the graves of his grandparents and their pastor, and lifted up his soul in prayer to God.
He was the first Georgian who had ever been elevated to the position of Bishop, as his father had been the first Geor- gian who became a traveling preacher in that church. Rev. George J. Smith, in his history of Methodism, says of him :
"His son, bearing his name, grandson, W. P. Lovett,
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Foster son, Alex. M. Wynn, all followed him in the work of the ministry."1 "All Methodism," says the writer just quo- ted, "owes a debt to James O. Andrew, all Southern Meth- odism an especial one."2
3. REV. WILLIAM HENRY CASSELS.
The son of Elias and Sarah (Jones) Cassels, and brother of Rev. Samuel J. and Rev. John B. Cassels, was born in Lib- erty county September 22, 1797; baptized October 8, 1797; afterwards became a Methodist minister and labored in the vicinity of Bainbridge, Georgia, and also in Gadsden, Leon, Jefferson, Madison, and Sewannee counties, Florida. He died September, 1857, and was buried in the Chester church graveyard in Decatur county, Georgia.
4. REV. DANIEL MCLACHLAN STEWART.
Son of General Daniel Stewart, was born in Liberty coun- ty October 21, 1791, and was baptized December 4th fol- lowing; removed to Florida, and in after life became a local minister in the Methodist church. The writer remembers hearing him preach at the Methodist campmeeting at Tay- lor's Creek, Liberty county, in 1843. He died at his home in Alachua county, Florida, in 1847, and was buried at "Potosi," the country home of the family, ten miles south of Newnansville.
5. REV. JOSEPH ANDREWS.
Son of Micajah and Ann (Quarterman) Andrews and grandson of Isham Andrews, one of the original settlers, was born in Liberty county June 12, 1798, and was reared in the bosom of the church, being dedicated to the Lord in baptism July 22, 1798, and afterwards became a member and minister in the Methodist church. In after years he re- moved to Florida, where he died and was buried.
1. Smith's History of Methodism, P. 281. 2. Idem, P. 284.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
6. REV. EDWARD QUARTERMAN ANDREWS.
Son of Micajah and Ann (Quarterman) Andrews and brother of the above, and grandson of Isham Andrews; his mother, Ann Quarterman, being a granddaughter of John Quarterman, sr., one of the original settlers, and all mem- bers of Midway church, was born in Liberty county March 31, 1800, and was baptized October 26th following. In af- ter years he connected himself with the Methodist church, and became a local and useful minister, supplying destitute fields around ; for several years was employed by the ex- ecutors of the Lambert estate, as missionary to the colored people in Liberty county, and for awhile supplying at the same time the white people. He died May 19, 1880, leaving among other children, one son, Christopher Columbus, a li- censed exhorter, and one daughter, Caroline, who became - the wife of Rev. D. J. Myrick and the mother of Mr. Bascom Myrick, for so many years editor of the Americus Times- Recorder.
7. REV. ROBERT QUARTERMAN ANDREWS.
Brother of the above, was born in Liberty county March 23, 1805; baptized May 19th of the same year; received into Midway church August 28, 1825; afterwards, like his broth- er, connected himself with the Methodist church, and be- came a minister in the same. He died in Savannah and was buried at Olivet church, Liberty county. He left a son, Hartwell, likewise a minister in the same church.
8. REV. HANSFORD ANDREWS.
Son of Rev. Joseph and Dorcas (Shave) Andrews, was born in Liberty county October 12, 1821. He joined the Methodist church and became a minister until his death, May 6, 1893.
9. REV. WILLIAM MYDDLETON QUARTERMAN.
Son of Rev. Robert Quarterman, pastor of Midway church,
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