USA > Georgia > Liberty County > History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia > Part 13
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and Margaret Esther Myddleton, was born in 1816, and baptized at Midway December 15, 1816. His mother was the second wife of his father, and he was therefore only half brother to the other sons, who were ministers, whose moth- er was Mary Jemima Way. He removed to Florida and connected himself with the Methodist church, and became a minister of the same, and died there.
10. REV. MOSES WILLIAM WAY.
Son of Moses Way, a deacon in Midway church. His mother was Elizabeth Bacon, (aunt of the writer.) He was born in Liberty county in October, 1825, and reared up in the bosom of Midway church, until about sixteen years of age, when he entered the ·Methodist church and became a minister in the same; also a teacher till his death, which occurred at Taylor's Creek December 12, 1859. He was buried with his people in Midway cemetery.
11. REV. JOSEPH LAW.
Son of Rev. Samuel Spry Law and brother of Rev. Josiah S. Law, Baptist minister, was born in Liberty county ; grad- uated at the University of Georgia; entered upon the prac- tice of law, and afterwards the ministry of the Methodist church, and died after the war at or near Bainbridge, Ga.
12. REV. JOHN LITTLEBERRY HENDRY.
Son of Littleberry Hendry and grandson of Robert Hendry, who was a member of Midway church, was born at Taylor's Creek, Liberty county, in 1854; connected himself with the Methodist church and entered the ministry of the same about 1882 ; removed to Texas, from whence he went as a missionary to China about 1890, and where he is still la- boring.
13. REV. JOHN SHEPPARD.
Son of David H. Sheppard and brother of Rev. David F.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
Sheppard ; his mother, the daughter of Simon Fraser, and sister of Rev. Dr. Donald Fraser; was born in Liberty coun- ty ; entered the ministry of the Methodist church, and died after a brief ministry.
EPISCOPAL MINISTERS.
In addition to the names already given, I mention the fol- lowing, in connection with the Episcopal church :
1. REV. THOMAS GOULDING POND.
Son of Dr. Asa and Lucy (Goulding) Pond and grandson of Dr. Thomas Goulding, was born at Lexington, Georgia, January 31, 1827 ; removed with his parents to Columbus when quite a boy, where he lived and grew to manhood ; graduated from Franklin college with second honor, in 1845; married Mary Cornelia Jones, daughter of William Jones, of Liberty county, July 14, 1853; taught school till the war, in which he served the whole four years; after the war he applied for orders in the Episcopal church, and was ordained by Bishop R. H. Wilmer in Mobile, Alabama, in 1871. His first Parish was in Marion, Alabama; the next, in Albany, Georgia ; the last five years of his life were spent as a mis- sionary in northeast Georgia, at Gainesville, Clarksville, Tallulah Falls, and Mt. Airy; his home being in Mt. Airy, where he died March 24, 1894. He was buried at Albany,. Georgia.
2. REV. HENRY KOLLOCK REES.
So named after the celebrated minister, Dr. Kollock, pas- tor of the Independent church, of Savannah, and was the son of Ebenezer Rees, grandson of Judge Advocate Rees, and a regular descendant of the Liberty county people on his grandmother's side. I am unable to give her maiden name, but she was twice married ; first, to John Kell, sr., of Sunbury, spoken of in the disqualifying act as "gentleman," and became the grandmother of Captain J. M. Kell and Rev. Dr. A. T. Holmes ; and second, to Judge Advocate Rees, and
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became the grandmother of the above. Rev. H. K. Rees was first a Presbyterian minister, located at Darien, but af- terwards entered the Episcopal church, and was Rector at Macon, Ga., for a number of years. He died at Darien, Ga., March 25, 1893.
And now we pause here to express our own astonishment, as well as what must be that of others, at the above long list of ministers and able men that have gone out from the old church. Was the like ever known? Where else upon the face of the habitable globe, did so small a fountain ever send out so many and large streams? The earth has produced but one Niagara, but one Mt. Blanc, but one lake Como. So it has given us but one Midway church. Surely the mould was broken into which this people were cast. When the remains of the immortal Washington were deposited in the Sarcophagus at Mount Vernon the key to the receiving vault was cast into the bosom of the Potomac, and there locked up in his solitary resting place "The father of his country" sleeps, beside his wife, in solitude undisturbed. So this grand old church, with its wondrous record and sacred memories, lies locked up in solitary grandeur, in the place of its entombment, alike to remain the constant marvel of his- tory, as well as the favorite shrine of the pilgrim, and prop- er theme for future story and song.
Nor yet can any one glance at the above without seeing the large debt due her from other denominations. It is a singular fact that though the church was Congregational, not a single one of all the scores of ministers going out from her ever entered her folds. The motto on the old colonial seal, "Non sibi sed aliis," not for ourselves, but for others, might well be inscribed upon her tomb. She has been a real nursery for the Presbyterian church, and it is difficult to see how that church could well have gotten along without her aid. Neither is it easy to say how much the Baptist and Methodist churches are likewise indebted for contributions to their working forces. It is simply impossible to tell how much the Baptists are indebted for two such men as Chan- cellor P. H. Mell and Dr. Edward A. Stevens, missionary, both of whom were consecrated to the Lord in infancy, upon
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her Altars. Or the Methodists for one such man, as Bishop James Osgood Andrew, the grandson of her clerk, James An- drew, and so named in honor of her first pastor, Rev. John Osgood.
WOMEN --- MINISTERS' WIVES.
In speaking of the noted characters who have gone out from this grand old church, I would be recreant to my duty, did I fail to make special mention of some, at least, of the noble women, who have gone out from the same. No church has ever furnished such a host of devoted Christian women, and certainly none ever had the honor of furnishing so many ministers' wives. Among the number of those whose names I now recall, I mention the following :
Mrs. Mary Baker, widow of Col. John Baker, who after- wards became the wife of Dr. McWhir. Renchie Norman, first the wife of Thomas Quarterman, and secondly the wife of Senator John Elliott, and lastly, married Rev. Cyrus Gilder- sleeve, the pastor of the church. Ann Winn, the daughter of Peter Winn, for ten years deacon in the church, who became the wife of Prof. J. R. Ripley, D. D., professor at Newton Seminary, Mass., for forty five years. Mrs. Sarah Mc- Connell (Miss Walthour), the second wife of Rev. George Howe, D. D., professor for fifty-two years of Columbia Sem- inary, and whose daughter, Augusta (McConnell), became the wife of Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D., for so many years the pastor of the church at New Orleans. Mary Jones, the grand- daughter of Major John Jones, of Revolutionary fame, who married Rev. C. C. Jones, D. D., professor at Columbia Sem- inary, and who was the mother of Hon. C. C. Jones, jr., LL. D., archaeologist and historian, and of Dr. Joseph Jones, professor at Tulane Medical College, New Orleans, and of Mary Sharpe Jones, who was the wife of Rev. R. Q. Mallard, D. D., editor of the Southwestern Presbyterian, New Orleans. Amanda, the daughter of George Walthour, and wife of Rev. Dr. William Curtis, of the Baptist church. Cornelia, the daughter of Thomas Bacon, and wife of Rev. Rev. Mr. Fos- ter, of the same church. The two daughters of Dr. Thomas
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WOMEN-MINISTERS' WIVES.
Goulding; the one, Margaret, the wife of Rev. William M. Reid, of South Carolina, who died in 1883, and the other, Charlotte, the first wife of Rev. Francis McMurray. Mary Eliza Winn, the daughter of Major John and Eliza Winn, and great granddaughter of Rev. John Osgood, the old pastor, and wife of Rev. Samuel J. Cassels. The two daughters of Rev. Robert Quarterman, the pastor; Susan Caroline, the wife of Rev. Richard Q. Way, who, with her husband, spent sixteen years in Ningpo, China, as missionaries, and Mary, who married Rev. Thomas S. Winn, now of Alabama, and whose daughter, Mary Lelia, has been for sixteen years mis- sionary in Japan. Felix, the daughter of Rev. J. W. Baker, and wife of Prof. James Woodrow, D. D., president of South Carolina college, and whose daughter, Jean, is the wife of Rev. Samuel Woodbridge, missionary to Japan. Louisa Jones, daughter of Samuel Jones, and wife of Rev. Augustus O. Bacon, and mother of Hon. Augustus O. Bacon, United States Senator. Eliza Cassels, the daughter of Rev. Samuel J. Cassels, and widow of the late Rev. J. M. Quarterman. Valeria Cassels, the daughter of Elder Thomas Q. Cassels, and wife of Rev. Donald Fraser, D. D., and mother of Rev. Chalmers Fraser, pastor of Georgia Av- enue church, Atlanta. Mary Winn Stacy, daughter of Ezra Stacy, deacon, and the wife of Rev. N. P. Quarterman, pas- tor of the Quincy church, Florida. Laura Maxwell, daugh- ter of Col. James A. and Susan Maxwell, and wife of Rev. D. L. Buttolph, D. D., for thirteen years pastor of Midway church. Sarah Baker, daughter of John O. Baker, and sec- ond wife of Rev. John Winn. Elizabeth, the daughter of James Wood, and wife of Rev. William W. Stegall, a Meth- odist minister. Eloisa Baker, the daughter of W. Q. Baker, who married Rev. J. H. Alexander. Caroline, the daughter of Rev. R. Q. Andrews, and wife of Rev. D. J. Myrick and mother of Bascom Myrick, editor. The two daughters of Edward Quarterman, deacon, and granddaughters of Rev. Robert Quarterman, the pastor; Aurilla, who married Rev. J. M. Austin, of the Methodist church, and Lizzie, the wife of Rev. A. B. Curry, pastor of the First Church, Birmingham, Alabama. Cornelia, daughter of W. L. Jones, who married
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Rev. Thomas Pond, the Episcopal minister. Mary, the daughter of Baxter Cassels, and wife of Rev. C. C. Carson, pastor of Flemington church.
I might mention others, but these will suffice. Who can estimate the influence of these wives and mothers upon the rising generations of the world? Their influence will be felt for ages yet to come.
CHAPTER X.
SUMMING UP.
From the foregoing recital, it is perfectly obvious that the writer is freed from every charge of exaggeration in the com- mendatory notice previously given of this wonderful old church. Where is another to be found like unto it upon the habitable globe? It stands sui generis in its iso- lated grandeur, like some mountain peak that lifts its head far above all the rest. Look at the record! Four govern- ors. Two signers of the Declaration of Independence. Six Congressmen, two of whom were Senators. Six counties named after her, five after her illustrious men, and the sixth after her own self, and achieved by her own prowess. Eighty- two ministers of the gospel. Six college professors. - Three professors in Theological Seminaries. Two University chancellors. Six Foreign missionaries. Two judges of su- perior courts. Three solicitors. Three presidents of Female Colleges. Two mayors of cities. One United States Minis- ter to a Foreign country. Four authors and one authoress. One historian. One professor in a Medical college. Three clerks of Presbyteries. One clerk of Synod. One president of Board of Directors of a Theological Seminary. One sec-
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retary of a Board of Home Missions of one of the leading de- nominations of the country. Six editors, one of a leading agricultural journal. One State superintendent of public schools, and one of city schools. One president of a State Normal School. Besides, a host of teachers, attorneys, doc- tors, and professional men, together with prominent busi- ness men, all of whom are found scattered everywhere and usually filling important, prominent positions.
Instead of being a laggard in the race, the Midway people have ever been in the lead. The parish of St. Johns was the first to assert her independence, and in advance of the rest of the colony to send her representative (Lyman Hall) to the Continental Congress. So also the last to surrender, the town of Sunbury being the last of Georgia soil to surrender to the British; the last flag to surrender being that which floated from the ramparts of Fort Morris. They were the first to establish a school of any prominence in the State; the first to lead off in the Temperance Reform; the first na- tive born Presbyterian minister in Georgia; the first Meth- odist traveling minister in the State; the first Methodist Bishop in the Southern church,1 were all from this people. The first Baptist Foreign missionary from the South, Dr. Edward Abiel Stevens, was baptized in that church in in- fancy. So the first Presbyterian Foreign missionaries from the whole country south and west of Carolina, Rev. R. Q. Way and wife, were members of that church. The first Southern Foreign missionary to lay down his life and buried under heathen soil, Rev. John Winn Quarterman, was from that church. The first minister extraordinary and pleni- potentiary from any nationality to the Imperial Court of China, Hon. John E. Ward, was a native of that parish and a member of that church. The first inventor of a sewing machine, the Rev. F. R. Goulding, was a native of that place and son of the church. The first masonic lodge formed in the State, King Solomon, now Solomon's lodge, of Savannah, was, according to tradition, organized by Gen. Oglethorpe, under a large oak at Sunbury, and parts of which were con-
1. Bishop Soule, the other Southerner, did not adhere to the church until the con- ference at Petersburg, Virginia, in 1845.
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verted into a gavel and chair, the former presented by Mrs. Perla Sheftall to that lodge, and still used by them.
In 1851 the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church met (before the division) in St. Louis, and it was a noticea- ble fact that of the commissioners gathered from different parts of the country, four should be the sons of Midway church, viz .: Dr. Daniel Baker from West Texas Presbytery, Dr. C. C. Jones from Georgia Presbytery, Rev. John Jones from Cherokee Presbytery, and Rev. R. M. Baker from Hope- well Presbytery, a thing unprecedented in the history of the church.
Nor is this yet all. For the past thirty-eight years of the Southern Presbyterian church's existence, from the time of its organization in the city of Augusta, December, 1861, down to the present day, with the exception of the years 1864, 1875, 1880, and 1883, there has not been a single General Assembly but that the old church has had one or more representatives, lay or clerical, sitting in her councils, assisting in her legislation and taking part in the develop- ment of her life and character.
To show still further the ramification and intertwining of this people with the rest of the country, the writer hopes to be pardoned for giving a little of his own personal experience.
After leaving home he taught school for six months in Screven county, named after Gen. Screven, a Liberty county man; then he went to Oglethorpe College, where he found Rev. J. W. Baker, a Liberty county man, as one of the pro- fessors, with Prof. J. B. Mallard in charge of the Midway Female Academy near by. After graduating, he entered the Theological Seminary at Columbia, South Carolina, and found Dr. C. C. Jones, another Liberty county man, in one of the chairs as professor. After licensure he went to preach in Lumpkin and Cuthbert. In the former place he found himself in Stewart county, named after a Liberty county man ; also found Col. S. B. Spencer in charge of the Male Academy, Mr. Oliver Stevens president of the Female College, and himself in charge of the Presbyterian church, with Cols. Bennett and Gaulden leading attorneys in the place and all from Liberty county. In Cuthbert he found Rev. Dr. A. T.
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Holmes president of the Baptist Female College. His next field was in Troup county, and every week would pass the Baptist Female College at LaGrange, under the manage- ment of a Liberty county man, Mr. Milton Bacon. After removing to Newnan he found Rev. R. Q. Mallard pastor of the Central church, Atlanta, Rev. John Jones pastor at Grif- fin, and himself pastor at Newnan, and all three from Mid- way church.
And how is it today ? Though nearly forty years have passed, we find the old church still asserting its supremacy in church and state. A survey of the country still show Lib- erty county people every where and still in positions of hon- or and trust. We find one of our leading Senators, Hon. A. O. Bacon, a Liberty county man, in the halls of the nation. We find the Adjutant General of the State, Captain J. M. Kell, the grandson of a Liberty county man. We find the president of the State Normal School, Captain S. D. Brad- well, a Liberty county man, and two of the teachers and the matron from the same place. We find the superintendent of the Public Schools-in Savannah, W. H. Baker, and two of the principal teachers in that school from Liberty county. We find John Baker, president of the "Young Female College" at Thomasville, a Liberty county man. We find the de- scendants of Milton Bacon, another Liberty county man, the managers of the Southern Baptist Female College, at College Park. We find the clerkship of the Synod of Georgia, and three out of the six Presbyteries, in the hand of Liberty county men. The moderator of the last General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian church, Dr. R. Q. Mallard, was a Liberty county man. So the solicitor of the Eastern cir- cuit, Wallace Winn Fraser, the matron of the Augusta Or- Annaphan's Home, Mrs. Julia McKinne,1 one of the leading archi- tects of the State, Grant Wilkins, are all from Liberty county. In the recent political campaign the chairman of the Atlanta Young Men's Democratic club was W. J. Mallard, a Liberty connty man. And even in the department of athletics, we see a Walthour published as the champion bicyclist in the South. What a record !
1. Since died.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
When we remember that this was a church of plain coun- try people, located in a sickly and sparsely populated sec- tion ; the church edifice forty by sixty feet, with a member- ship not reaching one hundred and fifty white members, un- til the latter half of its existence, when it scarcely at any time doubled that, the whole number of white members, as gathered from the records, during its entire existence of one hundred and thirteen years, being only seven hundred and fifty-two; when we remember what that church has accom- plished and is still doing for the world, we are lost in won- der! The impress and influence of such a church upon the world must simply be beyond all human calculation. Eter- nity alone will be able to reveal the good done by that one church and community.
As a fitting close to this sketch, and that too in full ac- cord with one of Solomon's sayings: "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth, a stranger and not thine own lips." (Prov. xxvi:2), I quote the following from the historian Stevens :
"The accession of such a people was an honor to Georgia, and has ever proved one of its richest blessings. The sons of that colony have shown themselves worthy of its sires. Their sires were the moral and intellectual nobility of the Province."1
REASONS FOR SUCCESS.
And now the question comes up, How account for all this? Where were the hidings of this church's power? Why the rich, abundant harvest here, and the extreme sterility, pov- erty, and absolute emptiness in so many other fields ?
Although the ultimate answer is in the good pleasure of God, who, in the exercise of His sovereign prerogative, put- teth down one and setteth up another,2 yet as he works by means, we are fully warranted in looking for the secondary agencies, through which he executes his purposes. As in na- ture, so here, men do not gather grapes of thorns nor figs of thistles. Nothing can be expected from the rocky soil, the
1. His. Vol. I P. 381. 2. PS. lxxv, 7.
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stony ground, or fallow fields. It is the good ground only that yields thirty, sixty, or an hundred fold, as the Savior so pointedly puts it. Good work can only follow good ma- terial. Brass will never take the polish of fine gold. The early settlers of St. John's parish were the right kind of ma- terial, the worthy sons of noble sires, the descendants of men who had been tried, who had left their homes and all for conscience sake, and come to this country that they might enjoy freedom in the worship of God. They were men of the deepest religious convictions, courage and resolution, and not afraid of hardships and sufferings; but rather the better prepared by those very hardships for the destiny awaiting them. The words of Longfellow fitly apply here :1
"God had sifted three Kingdoms
To find the wheat for this planting, Then had sifted the wheat as the Living seed of the Nation."
Gathered from different places, bruised, sifted, and win- nowed, they were just the sort of seed for that planting.
In studying the history as well as the religious life and character of this people, there are several things worthy of remark, and which may serve to throw light upon this question.
1. The first thing we mention is their intense scrupulous- ness to meet all their pecuniary obligations, especially what they owed their minister. It was the regular custom, at the annual meeting in March, when pews were chosen, to give notes for the same and made collectable by law. So we find again and again the order issued by the Session to have all the unpaid notes put into the hand of the civil officer for col- lection. I mention another fact still more significant. In the form of the call adopted June 26, 1771, after promising all due candor, respect and brotherly love, and stating the amount of salary pledged, then follows these remarkable words, (the italics ours.):
"In the which payments, well and truly to be made, wc, the Select men and Trustees of said church and society, be- ing thereto by them empowered and required, do bind ou .-
1. Miles Standish:
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selves, our heirs, executors and administrators, to you, said
your certain attorney, heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, in the penal sum of two hundred pounds sterling. In witness whereof, etc."1
The idea of binding themselves and their heirs, by a penal sum of double the amount, to secure the payment of the promised salary! What a flood of light do these simple words throw upon the character of these earnest, simple hearted people! Can the annals of any other church pro- duce a parallel ?
And indeed the idea after all is not such a bad one. When we remember that the charge against Ananias and Sapphira, and for which they were smitten to the earth, was not lying in general, but a particular type of lying, consisting in promising to the Lord and taking back, we cannot with- hold our commendation from this people, in their earnest endeavor to see that this particular debt be paid. I hesitate not to affirm that it is this particular species of lying, this utter disregard of pecuniary vows and obligations, solemnly entered unto the Lord, that is the worm at the root eating up the life and sapping the very foundation of so many of the churches of the land.
2. A second thing equally remarkable and significant, is the practice already alluded to of reading sermons by the deacons and others, in the absence of the pastor. This prac- tice, as already stated, commenced at a very early day,2 and in order to insure the service, the deacon, in some instances, was paid. As there were five preaching places, and only two ministers, with preaching every Sunday at Midway du- ring the winter months, the "reading days" were very fre- quent, and even more numerous than those for preaching. Where else has the like ever been known? A congregation patiently listening to two sermons read by laymen on Sun- day before returning home, and in some instances actually paying the deacon for the service? Is it any marvel that God rewarded such zeal, and also wonderfully blessed that peo- ple ?
1. Pub. Rec. P. 68. 2. The practice still obtains to a certain extent in some of the offspring churches.
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REASONS FOR SUCCESS.
3. A third equally remarkable and unusual thing was the common and well nigh universal practice of family worship. Very few families were destitute of the family altar of prayer, in many instances even widowed mothers officiating with her fatherless children, and bowing together with them around that altar morning and evening. I have it from the lips of Rev. Thomas S. Winn, one of the pastors, that soon after his acceptance of the co-pastorate of the church, when journeying to the Presbytery at St. Marys, in company with Dr. Axson, then senior pastor, that he (Axson) told him that so far as he knew, family worship was generally kept up in all the families of the church. What a startling and wonderful statement, coming from the lips of a pastor. No wonder the church accomplished such wonderful feats, for the power of Jehovah was its own.
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