USA > Georgia > Liberty County > History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia > Part 18
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As might be expected, the magic power of his name drew crowds everywhere to his preaching, and the people gener-
1. The writer.
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REVIVALS,
ally were greatly aroused. Though there did not immedi- ately follow any great accession to the church from the white population, the colored people at once caught the spirit of the earnest preacher, and were most wonderfully moved, and continued so for at least two years, up to the time of my departure from the community in February, 1855. It seemed to be a genuine revival of religion among themselves. During these two years they came all the time, late at nights, from the surrounding plantations to me and to others appointed for the purpose, to receive religious in- struction. I think the records of the church will show that between March, 1853, and March, 1855, there were one hundred and fifty or possibly two hundred accessions to the church from that class of the population.
10. As already stated, in response to a call from Alaba- ma, I resigned my pastoral connection with Midway church and left about the last of February, 1855. About a week after my departure, the church being then under the pastoral care of Rev. D. L. Buttolph, D. D., there was a meeting at Midway of very great power, when there were large acces- sions to the church. Not being present, I know nothing of the interesting events connected therewith. I think Dr. B. M. Palmer, then on a visit to the place, was the leading spirit of the meeting. They told me of strong men tremb- ling under the power of the truth as proclaimed by him.
I have thus given you in compliance with your request, some of the chief items of the "precious revivals in old Mid- way church," as happened during my residence in that county. With the exception of a few occasional visits to the home of my nativity, an absence of forty years forbids any further attempt in that line.
Perhaps it is proper for me in conclusion to add, that the people of the Midway congregation were never strong ad- vocates for protracted meetings. In the main they were rather afraid of them. They preferred a slower and lesser growth. They relied mostly on the ordinary means of grace, backed by judicious home government and instruc- tion. Most of the protracted meetings mentioned in this paper of mine were not appointments of the church, or the
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
pastor, but grew out of circumstances over which the mem- bers and officers had no control. In fact, they were the fol- lowings of the leadings of Providence. Minister or no minis- ter present, they kept the sanctuary open every Sabbath. Bible classes, Sunday-schools, prayer meetings, and cate- chetical instruction, were the order of the day. Her strength and secret of success lay mostly in the orderly and faithful family government of her people. "Train up a child in the way in which he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." - Without this home influence her great meetings would never have been half so successful.
But it is sad to think that the things I have been relating are now things of the past, and that the doors of the old or- ganization as handed down to us by our fathers are now closed. You have well said, "It is a theme for the poet and subject for the pen of the historian." And under present circumstances it now devolves upon you to take the pen of the historian and complete the record.
Yours Fraternally,
T. SUMNER WINN.
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FOREIGN MISSIONS.
CHAPTER XIII.
FOREIGN MISSIONS.
The church, always liberal in her contributions and ever ready for every good work, seemed in her later history to be especially interested in the cause of Foreign Missions. For a number of years the monthly concert of prayer was kept up regularly at the different retreats, at which time, in addition to appropriate exercises collections were taken up in behalf of the cause. As the result of regular systematic training, and in answer to the many prayers offered, God put it in the hearts of several of her people to offer themselves as missionaries to foreign fields. The first of these to go out were the Rev. R. Q. Way and wife, who were accepted by the Presbyterian Board as missionaries to Bankok, Siam. We must not forget that to go as missionary then was not so easy a thing as now. There were no steamships to short- en the time, no Suez canal to lessen the distance, no rail- roads or telegraphs to facilitate or enliven the journey. The slow sailing vessel must be used. The cape of Good Hope must be doubled, and long weary months spent at sea, en- tirely cut off from the outside world. To go as missionary then was virtually to bid a final adieu to home and country and friends. Just before their leaving a farewell meeting was held at Midway on Sunday, August 27, 1843. The writer was present, being then a boy, and well remembers the scene and the deep emotion that moved the entire con- gregation. An account of it was prepared by Dr. C. C. Jones and published over the signature "Subscriber," in the Charleston Observer of that date, which I here copy.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
RICEBORO, LIBERTY COUNTY, GA., August 29, 1843.
REV. B. GILDERSLEEVE.
Rev. and Dear Sir :- It was my privilege to attend upon the last Sabbath (27th) one of those meetings with which Almighty God is favoring his churches in different parts of our country, as well for their own as for the wel- fare of the perishing heathen. It was the meeting of the Midway church and congregation on the departure of two of their members as missionaries. I cannot forego the sat- isfaction of forwarding to you an account of that meeting, although I am sure I cannot convey to your mind an ade- quate conception of it.
The day was aptly chosen. It was the regular commun- ion Sabbath. At an early hour the roads leading to the old church, so hallowed in the religious association of the peo- ple of the country, were filled with carriages and gigs and crowds of negroes on foot and on horseback, all converging with haste to the sanctuary of God. At 10 A. M., the bell struck and we were engaged in a prayer-meeting, conducted by the members of the church, until eleven, when the bell struck again and the congregation assembled again for pub- lic worship. The dense mass of negro communicants occu- pied the galleries while the lower floor was occupied by the whites, collected from different parts of the country and from different denominations of Christians. The Rev. C. C. Jones preached on the assurance of faith from II. Timothy I:10-11. At the close of the sermon the junior co-pastor of the church, Rev. I. S. K. Axson, admitted and baptized four negroes. The communion service was then administered by Mr. Jones and himself, both making brief addresses to the communicants. The morning exercises were concluded by a prayer for the baptized children of the church and with a doxology.
· After a brief intermission, the bell rung and we again as- sembled in the house of God. This was the farewell meet- ing. Mr. Richard Way was in the pulpit and took his text
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FAREWELL MEETING.
from Acts XX:21. Silence pervaded the house, and from these noble, decided words of Paul, he delivered an address characterized by simplicity, earnestness and piety, which conveyed to his brethren and friends the conviction of his own mind and the impressions of his own heart, in respect to that great work to which he believed himself called of God. His closing remarks and his request for the sympathy of the church, and his final farewell were followed by in- tense feeling which found vent in tears from the whole con- gregation. The choir sang an appropriate hymn. Mr. Way came down and took his seat in the left pew from the face of the pulpit. Mr. Axson rose and delivered an address in which he took a brief sketch of the Apostle Paul, the noble- ness of the missionary work, the honor which God had put upon the church in chosing two of its members to go far hence to the Gentiles, and the great duty of the church to cherish more and more the missionary spirit; and then in behalf of the church and congregation, he expressed their sympathy, confidence and affection towards Mr. and Mrs. Way, and their desire ever to remember them at the throne of grace; their hope that God had called them to this work, would be with and sustain them even unto death, and crown their lives with usefulness. "The last act was now to be performed," said he, "my brethren, in the name of this church and congregation, and by their request and direction I now extend to you my hand, and say farewell."
The negroes in the gallery, who had risen up as the inter- est of the services increased, leaned forward with the tears run- ning down their cheeks, the congregation all below bowed with emotion; the weeping became audible. We remained in this state for about a minute, when Mr. Jones concluded by prayer in which the missionaries were solemnly and ear- nestly commended to God. On being dismissed I observed the ministers and members go up and shake hands with them in tears. No words were spoken, and we separated in silence. It was a day long to be remembered in this church. Although God has raised up many ministers from its own bosom, yet these are the first missionaries to the heathen.
The wife of Mr. Way is a daughter of the senior minister
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
of the church, Rev. Robert Quarterman, who, from the state of his feelings, was unable to take any part in the services of the day. Mrs. and Mr. Way were both baptized in in- fancy at the very foot of that pulpit, where afterwards they entered into covenant with God for themselves; where they often sat at the table of the Lord; and where now they stood and gave themselves to God's service in a far distant land, and stood trusting in the promise of the Savior, "Lo, I will be with you always, even unto the end of the world." Farewell to home and kindred forever. They were known to everybody, by many from infancy. Is there nothing in these associations ? What chord was struck in the meeting ? Only a natural sympathy ? No; it was thechord of Christian sympathy, that we felt a love for our young brother and sister. We felt a love for Christ whom they served; we felt a love for the perishing heathen, for the cause they had, by the grace of God, taken in hand. We wept to say farewell. We sorrowed that we could see their faces no more. But we bade them God-speed. We rejoiced over them. We gave them up to God as his chosen messengers to carry that gospel, from which we cherished all the comfort and all our joy, to those of our fellowmen, who are sitting in the region and shadow of death. With me unite in the prayer and say, O, that God would grant such meetings often to this church and to every church in our southern land. Why sleeps the spirit of missions among us? Why are we not consecrating our sons and our daughters to this holy work of God? Have we nothing to do in encouraging the world? Let it be proclaimed with the voice of a trumpet, that churches which live only for themselves shall die to themselves. No, let the word be altered, they shall die within themselves. It is the spirit of missions, the very spirit of the Lord Jesus, which will breathe into them life, liberality and energy. It is not to be questioned that this meeting will be blest to the Midway church and congregation, indeed to the whole country.
There is one missionary already in the east from this country, the Rev. Edward Stevens, of the Baptist church. He went out several years since, a young man of piety and
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FAREWELL MEETING.
great promise, as a missionary. He was a member of the Sunbury Baptist church. It is said Mr. Way and himself will be about one hundred miles apart.
On Monday morning at six o'clock a prayer-meeting was held with Mr. and Mrs. Way by their relatives and friends at Jonesville, one of the summer retreats of the county, which was their last interview with them. At eleven or twelve o'clock they took the stage and left the county first, for Columbia, S. C., where Mr. Way will be ordained, and then north, to embark for Siam.
Very respectfully, yours,
SUBSCRIBER.
As stated above, Mr. and Mrs. Way started on their jour- ney on the Monday following. Not long after their arrival at Columbia, Mr. Way, who was a licentiate of Charleston Presbytery, licensed April 8th, was ordained by them in September, and went directly on to New York, from whence expecting to sail; but no vessel offering for Siam, they went to Boston, from whence they embarked November 18th in a sailing vessel for the island of Java. After waiting there in vain two months for a vessel for Siam and none appearing, they left in a Dutch vessel for Singapore, where they re- mained two months. There learning through Mr. and Mrs. Buell, the only missionaries of Siam, who were leaving on account of Mrs. Buell's health, that the mission there was broken up, they changed their course for China, and reached Macoa; where meeting Rev. W. M. Lowrie and other mis- sionaries, they determined to settle at Ningpo, which place they reached November, 1844, just twelve months after sailing from Boston. While at Singapore their eldest child was born unto them.
About two years after the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Way, Rev. John Winn Quarterman. son of Rev. Robert Quarter- man ,and brother of Mrs. Way, joined them in the mission, where he faithfully labored till his death October 14, 1857.
The following have also gone as missionaries :
; Rev. William LeConte, son of Louis LeConte, Jr., who went
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
as missionary to Brazil in the winter of 1872, and after four years' service died at Washington, D. C., November, 1876.
Rev. Thos. Clay Winn and his sister, Miss Harriet Louisa Winn, the son and daughter of Rev. John Winn, and both missionaries to Japan. The former was born at Fleming- ton June 29, 1851, ordained in 1874, and went out the same fall to Japan, under the Presbyterian Board, and has been there ever since. His station is Kanazawa, on the north- west coast five miles from the sea. The latter, also born at Flemington May 14, 1853, went to China in 1873, and af- ter twelve years' service as a missionary of the Dutch Re- formed Board in Yokohoma, married a prosperous silk mer- chant of that city, and now resides there.
In addition to these, I mention the name of Mis. Jennie Woodbridge, the daughter of Dr. James Woodrow, grand- daughter of Rev. J. W. Baker, one of the Liberty county ministers, and wife of Rev. Samuel I. Woodbridge, mission- ary to Japan.
Also, that of Miss Mary Leila Winn, daughter of Rev. Thomas Sumner and Mary (Quarterman) Winn, who was born in Hale county, Alabama, August 12, 1861, and went as missionary to Japan in 1882, under the Dutch Reformed Church, where she has now been laboring for sixteen years.
Thus, including Dr. Abiel Stevens, Baptist missionary to Burmah, whose parents were members at Midway at the time of his birth, and had him dedicated to the Lord in baptism, the old church has the honor of sending out directly and through her descendants, nine missionaries to foreign fields, five men and four ladies, viz .: Rev. Dr. Stevens, Rev. R. Q. Way, Rev. John Winn Quarterman, Rev. Wiliam LeConte, Rev. Thomas Clay Winn, and Mrs. Way, Miss Harriet Louisa Winn, Mrs. Woodbridge, and Miss Mary Leila Winn, the list being wholly exclusive of Rev. John Winn and wife, who offered themselves and were accepted as foreign mis- sionaries by the Presbyterian Board, but were prevented from going on account of the ill health of Mrs. Winn, as elsewhere stated.
.
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THE GRAVE YARD.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE GRAVE YARD.
The day after the arrival of Messrs. Bacon and Baker, the pioneers of the colony, Mrs. Susannah Baker, the wife of Mr. Benjamin Baker, died. The place of her sepulture is un- known. Perhaps she is sleeping alone in one of the fields, or perchance by some roadside. The present cemetery was doubtless not laid off until after the permanent location of the meeting house in 1756. The cemetery lies west of the church and immediately across the public road. It is en- closed with a solid substantial brick wall, six feet high, eighteen inches thick, and with outstanding pilasters every twenty-four feet, with an iron gate. As early as March, 1800, the question of enclosing the yard was agitated, and the Society authorized the select men to secure an addition to the ground and arrange for a brick enclosure. At the annual meeting in 1807 a committee, consisting of Messrs. James Powell, Daniel Stewart and Peter Winn, was ap- pointed to open a subscription and arrange for its con- struction. Not, however, until about 1813 was the work completed. The estimated cost was $2,600.00, to which was added $165.00 to have the same covered with a coat of plastering to preserve the brick. The iron gate was pre- sented by the Independent Troop, the money with which it was bought being won in a tilt at Savannah at one of the Squadron parades.
The plat of ground, though added to when the wall was built, is considerably less than two acres, and yet how many graves ! and what precious dust lie commingled there! The
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY .CHURCH.
Records show that at least twelve hundred persons have died during the one hundred and thirteen years of the church's existence, nearly all of whom are buried in that small place. Here lie entombed the remains of one governor, Nathan Brownson; one senator, John Elliott; one commodore, John McIntosh ; two generals, James Screven, and Daniel Stewart ; one Lieutenant United States Army, but Confederate cap- tain at the time of his death, L. R. McConnell;1 eleven min- isters of the gospel, besides a host of the most pious and consecrated men and women that have ever lived. I
seriously doubt, if considering the size of the cemetery, the time of burial, and number of interments, a greater amount of precious consecrated dust can be found in any other acre upon the surface of the globe.
The following are the ministers buried there:
1. Rev. John Osgood, Congregational, died Aug. 2, 1773.
2. Rev. Stephen Hoyt, Congregational, died Sept. 10, 1803
3. Rev. Thomas S. Winn, Baptist, died Jan. 27, 1819.
4. Rev. James C. Cosby, Presbyterian, died Nov. 27, 1837.
5. Rev. Augustus O. Bacon, Baptist, died July 3, 1839. 6. Rev. Peter Winn, Presbyterian, died Jan. 18, 1847.
7. Rev. Robert Quarterman, Pres., died April 19, 1849.
8. Rev. Sam'l J. Cassels, Presbyterian, died June 15, 1853.
9. Rev. Henry J. Stevens, Baptist, died Oct. 10, 1854.
10. Rev. Moses Way, Methodist, died Dec. 12, 1859.
11. Rev. Chas. C. Jones, D. D., Pres., died March 16, 1863.
The yard contains quite a number of substantial and even elegant monuments. Here may be seen the family vaults of Hon. John Elliott and James Powell. Here the tomb of John Lambert, the philanthropist, who, though dead, is still living in his benefactions. Here is buried Mr. Louis Le- Conte, the father of the celebrated professors, John and Jo- seph LeConte, a man characterized as much for his scien- tific research as his modest unassuming character, and who, with the least encouragement on his part, could have been elected Professor of Natural Science in the State University. Here is buried that remarkable man, John Quarterman, one
1. Buried outside the south wall. A movement was on foot to enlarge the yard at the commencement of the war, and several families had commenced burying without.
MIDWAY CEMETERY.
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THE GRAVE YARD.
of the original settlers, from whom have descended twenty- two ministers, four of whom, with two ladies, were missionaries to foreign fields. Here rest the remains of that "mother in Israel," Mrs. Eliza Winn, the mother and grand- mother of four ministers and two foreign missionaries. Here rest, sleeping side by side, the father and mother of United States Senator Augustus O. Bacon. Here lies buried Mrs. Aramintha Gildersleeve, the wife of the Rev. Cyrus Gilder- sleeve, whose many virtues her husband has embalmed in the following lines upon her tombstone:
"She, who in Jesus sleeps beneath this tomb, Had Rachel's face, and Leah's fruitful womb, Abagail's wisdom, Lydia's faithful heart, And Martha's care, with Mary's better part."
Among the many young people who lie sleeping in this camping house of the dead is the tomb of a young man who died in early manhood, of heart disease, after several years of declining health, around whose life clustered much inter- est and in whose tomb many fond hopes were buried. The young man was Macon Baker, the son of Mr. W. Q. Baker, born May 11, 1829, and brother of several ministers of that name. The deepest interest was felt for him by the entire community. The ground of the interest was the fact that though clearly marked as an early victim of the tomb, he was not a professor of religion which stirred many a pious heart with earnest desire for his salvation. Just before his death, which occurred Nov. 21, 1852, he composed the fol- lowing lines, which not only showed the struggle going on in his own mind, but furnished ground for the hope that he obtained the victory before he died :
"Why, oh why, is this oppression ? Why this load upon my breast ? Nothing makes a right impression, Nothing sets my heart at rest.
"My bosom seems in strange commotion, Contending passions mar my peace : My spirit's like the restless ocean, Oh, who can bid this storm to cease ?
"'Tis too late. No one may ever Set at ease my troubled heart.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
Bid me not to hope it ; never Will my anxious fears depart.
"No; those fears are too well grounded, This you'll find when 'tis too late ; . Question not a heart that's wounded, "
'Twill only hasten its sad fate.
"Why, oh why, O God of nature ! An immortal spirit give To so weak, so vile a creature, Lest it be with Thee to live ?
"May I not yet hope to see Thee, Heavenly Father, God of love ? Wilt Thou not, oh, Father, free me From my guilt, my sin remove ?
"Yes, Thou wilt, for Thou hast said it, .. 'Tis recorded in thy word ; There full often have I read it, To Thy will I bow, O, Lord."
March 6, 1851.
The yard is draped with a grove,. of moss-COV - ered trees. Upon the northern side, and just within the wall stands a majestic Live Oak, which meas- ures nineteen feet in cir- cumference, with the dra- OLD OAK'IN MIDWAY GRAVE YARD. Fery of long moss hanging in sad funereal folds, fit emblem of the place. Under its outspreading foliage and covering at least a quar- ter of an acre, several families have enclosures for their dead.
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THE GRAVE YARD.
Beneath and close to the trunk of this oak may be seen the tomb of Dr. Abner Porter, a native of Virginia, and practi- cing physician, with his office at Riceboro, who committed suicide February 6, 1808, in the thirty. fourth year of his age, by severing the femoral artery. The occasion for this rash and sad deed, it is said, was the fact of his being repulsed in his attentions and offer of his hand in matrimony, by one of the fair dames of the neighborhood. The tomb is very much lifted by the increasing size of the growing roots.
There is something else concerning this resting place of the dead worthy of note. Among the monuments, there are some head and foot pieces of pine and cypress wood that have been, and are still standing in the ground, over one hundred years. I have a piece of one of them now before me, that stood in· the ground from 1776 to 1889, one hundred and thirteen years, the in- terior por- tion being still hard andfirm. For the past 50 years the preservation of these pie- ces have ex- cited the wonder and astonish - HEAD AND FOOT PIECE ERECTED IN 1770, STILL STADING, 1899. ment of every one who visits the ground.
But time has commenced doing its work. It fills the heart with intense sadness to visit the old spot and see the decay that is going on. For twenty years the old church building was given the colored people, the only compensation re- quired being that they should care for the cemetery. During
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
that time the yard became very much neglected. Many of the monuments were allowed to fall; others were upturned by trees growing up beside them. In the burning of limbs and rubbish and grass, many of the monuments were smoked and greatly marred, insomuch that at the end of that time the contract was rescinded and the church used only by the whites at the annual reunions in March. The cemetery now presents much of a neglected appearance; many of the in- scriptions being wholly illegible on account of a covering of moss, which has been accumulating upon them. No one, however, can visit the place and look upon the old church, standing solitary and alone at the junction of two roads, without a single home in view ; her worshipers all gone; her doors closed; her careening steeple still pointing heaven- ward, with the tops of her faded monuments silently lifting up their heads from underneath an arch of pendant moss, and peering over the massive brick wall, which encircles the resting place of her dead, without feeling that he is standing upon consecrated ground.
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