USA > Georgia > Liberty County > History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia > Part 21
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The old mother tree, from which the millions now in culti- vation all over this southland have sprung, is still standing, and was in a flourishing condition, when the writer visited it a year ago. It is now fifty years old, and has never shown any symptoms of "blight" until a few years since,
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
when it had a slight attack, from which it seems to have re- covered. The tree is sixty inches in circumference and about twenty - four feet in height. The accom- panying cut from ako- dak picture, taken by the writer at the time of his visit, will give some idea of its present ap- pearance. A tree of such THE OLD LECONTE PEAR TREE. renown is
worthy, not only of honorable mention, but a conspicuous place in such a collection as this.
TEA CULTURE.
A short while before the late civil war, Mr. William Jones directed his attention to the cultivation of the tea plant, and had a small space planted. The war coming on interfered with the development of the scheme. After its close, and up- on the death of Mr. Jones his daughter, Mrs. Rosa Screven, took up the work and was making of it an encouraging suc- cess. In 1879 Mr. John Jackson, of Scotland, who had been general manager of an English company in the raising and manufacturing of tea in India for fifteen years, and who, on account of the health of his wife had returned to Scotland, came over to the United States. On arriving at Washington City, among his investigations he found a record of tea cult- ure, by Mrs. Rosa Screven, of Liberty county, Georgia, he
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TEA CULTURE.
at once went to Liberty county and found that the plants on Mr. Jones' place were well developed and thriving on the rich alluvial soil, which seemed so well adapted to them. He rented a portion of the farm and commenced at once the raising and manufacturing of tea. He had a chest made out of the tea wood, with compartments in it for the different grades, and sent the same to Mr. DeLuc, then commission- er of agriculture at Washington, who at once sent the speci- mens with an agent to New York to be tested by the ex- perts of three large importing houses of that city, who pro- nounced it equal to any of the same grades of India tea and who could hadly be persuaded that it was not imported tea, or that the chest was made of tea wood raised in this coun- try.
Mr. DeLuc at once sought an appropriation of the gov- ernment, by way of testing it, and obtained $30,000 for the purpose, but for some reason, chiefly perhaps on account of health, the farm was not located in Georgia, but near Sum- merville, South Carolina, though put under the direction of Mr. Jackson. Barrels of tea seed were ordered at once from India and thousands of plants started. After one year's experiment, Mr. Jackson being satisfied that the culture would be a success, concluded also to have a farm of his own, and commenced planting out a farm on the Jones planta- tion in Liberty county, and soon had thirty acres of plants of vigorous growth. About this time the government changed hands; another party coming in power, Mr. De Luc was removed and General Loring coming in his place, ordered the enterprise abandoned. Mr. Jackson, having all his capital invested in the Liberty county farm and not be- ing able to carry on the business alone, sought the assist- ance of capitalists in Savannah, New York and Philadelphia, but failed, and was therefore compelled to suspend opera- tions. Thus ended an enterprise which to Mr. Jackson's mind could have been made a thorough success.
In addition to the interest clustering around the matter there is also additional interest excited by the scientific prin- ciple involved in the construction of the house erected by Mr. Jackson, and in which he lived. The principal objection
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
to the location was its unhealthiness, being in a low mala- rial region. Mr. Jackson believed that the malarial stratum,
THE JACKSON HOUSE.
unobstructed, would not rise above twenty feet and therefore sought to overcome the same by elevating his house above that height. He built a two room house upon sills embedded six feet in the ground, with heavy timbers resting upon them, and ex- tending up in an angu- lar direction some for- ty-two feet and an- chored at the corners
with wire cables, as appears from the cut The experiment seerned to be quite a success, and to establish Mr. Jackson's theory, as appears from the fact that himself and wife spent three summers there with entire immunity from sickness, while the colored people who lived below were suffering from chills and fevers and bilious attacks. This high house stood the heavy storm of 1881 with firmness and strength, though it has since fallen through exposure and decay.1
1. I am indebted to Mr. R. Q. Cassels, of Liberty county, at whose honse Mr. Jack- son was for some time a guest, for the facts stated above.
-
249
THE AFTER HISTORY.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE AFTER HISTORY.
Soon after the war, it being obvious that the church build- ing, if left without proper care and attention, would soon go to ruin, in obedience to a public call a number of the rightholders met and appointed Messrs. J. B. Mallard, Ezra Stacy and L. J. Mallard trustees, in whose hands and care the building and property were left. These trustees met and leased the building to the colored people, the only pay re- quired being the keeping the building in repairs and the cem- etery in order. They also made a division of the commun- ion service and other articles possessed by the old church in- to three parts, one for each of the retreats. The things to be distributed were the Bell, the Marble Font, two Silver Tankards,four Silver Baskets, and four Communion Cups. Upon inquiry I find that Dorchester has at present the mar- ble fount, the gift of Dr. William McWhir; one tankard, the gift of John Lambert; one basket and one goblet, the gift of S. Monroe, Esq. Flemington has the bell, one tankard and two goblets, the gift of John Lambert, and two bas- kets; but Walthourville has received nothing. What has become of the remaining goblet and basket, nobody seems to know. Some think they were destroyed in the house of Mr. John B. Mallard, when burned; but being solid silver the remains would have been found in the debris; others, that they were taken by the Federal soldiers, but no one can tell when or where. At the annual meeting in March, 1889, in the report of the Select Men, it was stated that the portion assigned Walthourville had been placed in the keep- ing of Dorchester; but upon what authority the statement
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
rests, I have been unable to discover. It is just one of those cases of mysterious disappearance which perhaps will never be explained in this life.
At a later meeting of the trustees about July 1, 1875, Mr. T. Q. Cassels being in the place of Mr. J. B. Mallard, re- signed, the church building was again leased to the colored people at the nominal sum of one dollar per annum for reli- gious worship, they also agreeing to keep it in repair, and also to work out the cemetery twice every year; and also, at the same time for school purposes, for the sum of fifty dol- lars a year for fifteen years.
At the call of the trustees, a number of rightholders met at Midway November 7, 1877, to consider the propriety of selling the building, which proposition was carried in the affirmative and the trustees were authorized to sell the same, the proceeds to be put in some safe investment, the interest . of which only, was to be used in keeping up the graveyard. This, however, was never done.
MEETING OF THE SOCIETY.
Ten years after this the society met again March 9, 1887, for the first time in twenty years, the building being in the hands of the colored people, and has been meeting an- nually ever since. On account of the smallness of the mem- bership, ladies were allowed from that meeting and since to sign the articles of incorporation. The object of these meet- ings being more of the nature of a reunion, whilst formally exercising control over the property and keeping in order the resting place of the dead. For this purpose a "memorial association" was organized at the annual meeting in 1892.
At the next meeting, in 1893, it was resolved that hereafter the preaching of a sermon, followed by the administration of the Lord's Supper, shall be a part of the regular order of exercises. Accordingly at the next annual meeting in March, 1894, a sermon was preached by the Rev. James Stacy, D. D., followed by the administration of the Sacra- ment of the Supper, and which has been the custom since.
At the same meeting the Society ratified the contract
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THE AFTER HISTORY.
of the select men, in leasing the house again to the colored people for another term of twenty years, to be used only for religious purposes. But through some misunderstanding or dissatisfaction, the lease was not carried out. For the col- ored people having already had a school house for a number of years, erected the next year(1895) and near by, a house of worship of their own; since which time the old building has stood unoccupied, being used only at the annual reunions.
The following are the names of all those who have sub- scribed to the articles since the reorganization of the Society in 1887 :
RECENT SUBSCRIBERS.
1887.
J. A. M. King,
P. W. P. Waite,
Eva Way, Anna Way,
Jno. L. Harden,
John Axtell,
E. P. Miller,
A. H. Waite,
Lila Way,
K. A. Quarterman,
W. John Way,
Selah B. Trask,
J. E. Martin,
Jno. B. Mallard,
Eula Way,
J. C. Norman,
E. M. Screven,
Ellen Way,
W. Macon Way,
Miss Lizzie Winn,
Florence Way,
W. A. Jones,
W. A. Fleming,
Maggie Fleming,
A. F. Winn,
T. G. Stacy,
Maria Louisa Stacy,
Joseph B. Fraser,
Alex S. Quarterman,
N. J. Norman,
Hattie L. Norman,
E. Rosalie Reppard, Susan W. Norman,
James B. Fraser,
Louisa A. Martin,
Lula A. Norman,
Chas. A. Cay,
Jno. W. Winn,
Edgar B. Way,
Robert Q. Cassels, J. B. Way,
Chas. J. Martin,
Julia V. Stevens,
Susie A. Winn,
Mrs. Sarah W. Mallard, Julia M. Winn,
Alice G. Cassels,
Winnie Mallard,
A. S. Way, Leonora E. Trask.
1889.
W. J. Way, A. L. Norman,
H. H. Jones,
James Stacy,
W. H. Quarterman, Charles C. Jones, Jr., R. Q. Way,
Susan C. Way, N. P. Quarterman,
B. L. Baker, H. C. Norman,
L. Quarterman,
S. Dowse Bradwell,
May Belle Bradwell, Cora Cassels,
Georgia A. Cassels, Mary J. Martin,
Ann C. Quarterman, A. B. Way.
Gussie J. Reppard,
E. C. Miller, Helen L. Quarterman,
L. B. Rahn,
Lizzie M. Fraser,
Toulou W. Bacon, Sallie Lou Way,
L. Isabel Norman, Ann P. Barnard, Caroline A. Fleming, Mary S. Mell, Annie E. Winn,
Lizzie O. Winn,
Louisa V. Winn,
Anna S. Fleming,
W. Julian Way, L. S. Norman, Gilbert A. Bailey, M. A. Montgomery,
Sallie P. Norman,
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
1890.
Claude Quarterm'n Perry, A. G. Cassels,
Leila Q. Mathews, Ellen B. Fleming,
Mary Eliza Quarterman, Susie Cassels,
Rosalie C. Beckett,
John Jones,
R. Frank Cassels,
Mary A. N. Beckett,
Ora M. Bradwell,
James T. H. Waite,
Sallie L. Varnedoe,
Annie Agnes Waite,
C. J. Stacy, T. S. Mallard, W. M. Stevens, Matilda L. Fleming, H. G. Waite, Rebecca E. Waite, Alfred I. Hendry.
1891.
Jas. N. Quarterman, Mary C. Hopkins, Mrs. L. E. Buttolph, Sallie L. Mallard,
D. L. Buttolph, Mrs. S. L. Fleming, Mamie C. Martin,
Laura M. Fraser, Sam. J. Cassels, Nellie Alexander.
1892.
Sallie Mallard,
E. W. Way.
1893.
M. C. Reppard,
Susie L. Reppard, R. H. Walthour.
M. E. Middleton,
1894. Daisy Walker,
E. M. Martin.
1898.
P. F. Martin,
R. M. Martin.
RELAYING THE CORNER STONE THIRTY-SEVEN YEARS AFTERWARDS.
It has already been stated that the corner stone of the proposed monument to the early settlers, which had been laid in December, 1852, had been ruthlessly torn up and ri- fled of its contents by the Federal soldiers during their en- campment in the county. The stone itself, however, was not destroyed, but thrown aside and afterwards recovered. At the annual meeting in March, 1888, it was resolved that at the next meeting the same stone should be relaid, and that the select men be directed to secure an orator and make all the necessary arrangements for the occasion. Accor- dingly they arranged with Col. C. C. Jones, Jr., to deliver the address. When the day arrived the weather was so in- clement, it raining all the time, there were hardly more than a score of persons present, the writer being one of them. Under the circumstances it was thought advisable to post-
253 .
RELAYING THE CORNER STONE.
pone the exercises until the 8th of the next month, and the Independent Troop be requested to take charge of the cere- mony and conduct the same. Col. C. C. Jones, however, delivered his address, which was listened to with profound interest by those who were present, and who showed their appreciation by having the same published.
In accordance with the above action, on the morning of May 8, 1889, the people reassembled, the Liberty Troop be- ing present and also the Liberty Guards, another volunteer company of the county, who had been invited to be present and take part in the exercises. The former was commanded by Captain E. P. Miller and the latter by Captain J. M. Darsey.
The column formed in the Sunbury road in the following order :
Liberty Independent Troop.
Liberty Guards.
Select Men with Badges.
Citizens.
The column marched west until nearly opposite the door of the church, turned to the right and then to the left, be- tween the place the corner stone was to be laid, the military passing around to the south and east of the place the cor- ner stone was to rest, facing north and west, and the mem- bers of the Society facing south. The corner stone was then laid by Captain W. A. Fleming.
Upon the sealing of the stone private A. S. Way, of the Liberty Independer t Troop, read two odes composed by the late Rev. Samuel J. Cassels, and in addition delivered an el- oquent and appropriate address, which was listened to with profound attention, and the same ordered to be pub- lished in the Hinesville Gazette and Brunswick Advertiser and Appeal.1
1. See Records.
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HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
CHAPTER XX.
PRESENT CONDITION AND OUTLOOK.
It is impossible for those not conversant with the case, to form any idea of the permanent injury brought upon this people by the disasters of the late civil war. To this day desolation reigns supreme. All the large rich plantations of the lower portion of the county have been abandoned either in part or whole, many of them being overgrown with trees and bushes. Where once stood fine residences, the abode of wealth and refinement, now may be seen little huts, the homes of squalor and wretched poverty. All of the old cit- izens who could well get away have gone. I seriously doubt whether a half dozen white families could now be found within four or five miles of the old church. The country is to-day very much in the condition of the once prosperous land of Judea, entirely stripped of her former prestige and glory. And the stranger visiting the community can not but be painfully impressed with the ever recurring inquiry : Is this the place and these the people we have heard so much about ?
The question has been asked, and very properly, why may not this section recuperate, as other places and other com- munities have done, that were overrun and devasted during the war? And why may not the people return to their farms as their forefathers did, after the first invasion and destruc- tion by the British? And why may not the same lands be utilized and made to produce as formerly? The expla- nation is soon given : On account of the sickliness of that portion of the county, whilst colored people could live there with safety, white people could not, during the summer
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PRESENT CONDITION AND OUTLOOK.
months, with any assurance of health. For this reason white overseers were never employed. The plan was to se- lect some intelligent trusty colored man and make him fore- man, entrusting the keys and leaving directions with him. As the country is level and the roads straight and smooth, the land owners could live with their families five or six miles away, or even more, from their farms, visit them in the day time and return at night to their homes. The foreman or "driver," as usually termed, would oversee the work and see that the directions of the owner were carried out during his absence. But the case is entirely different now. The colored man will have no colored boss or foreman over him, and the land owner must either live upon the farm through the sickly season and jeopardize his own life and that of his family, or else turn the whole thing over to the negroes. And any one at all familiar with the general character and habits of that people, will require no vigorous imagination to forecast the result. We then can readily see why the land in the lower half of the county around the old church should so depreciate in value as to become almost worthless. Whether the future will bring any relief, we can not say. Of this, however, we feel sure, that the present offers none. Under such environments and with such a gloomy outlook before them, the owners of land have been selling their farms in small parcels to the colored people at mere nominal val- ues, and the prospect at present is that, sooner or later, that whole section will be owned by the people of that race; and whether, when thus completely under their domination and control, they will be equal to the task of reclaiming, improv- ing and developing the same is a problem the future alone can solve.
As already stated, the Northern Congregationalists have established a large and seemingly flourishing institution in a few miles of the old church, and are laboring to elevate that people to a higher intellectual, social and religious plane. In these special lines they may have achieved much, but to the outsider and mere looker-on there seems thus far to be very little, if any improvement in the department of agriculture, or any signs of an outward, visible progress.
256
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
That part of the country presents the same neglected, forlorn condition to-day that it has for the past thirty years and more, since the time of emancipation. Indeed the trend, if anything, seems rather in the direction of further degeneracy and ruin.
. WHY DEALT WITH THEM THUS?
The question then may here very properly be raised, why has the Lord dealt thus with His people? If so faithful to their trust and so zealous in His service, why visit them with such misfortunes and cause them to drink the cup of sorrow to its bitter dregs? I know of no better an- swer to this inquiry than by here copying.an extract from a sermon preached by the writer at the annual celebration of the Society of the old church in May, 1889:
"You have no doubt already made an application of this subject to our present surroundings. This people have for years been confronted with a sad and mysterious providence. A picture has been presented for their contemplation, with lines deeply drawn, with alternate lights and shadows, and calling alike for thanksgiving and sadness; thanksgiving for the past, sadness for the present, and over the whole, for a coronal of hope, the dim bow of promise. When we look around and see the desolation, where once all was bright and fair; when fond memory brings to light the brighter scenes of other days; when we remember the unwonted piety and zeal of our ancestors who worshipped here at these sa- cred shrines, and recall the great blessings vouchsafed unto them in the past, and the wonderful prosperity with which this church was for generations so richly crowned ; when we consider the noble work she has so nobly done, the many precious souls saved through her instrumentality, and the multitude of whom it shall be said at the final count, when God shall write up his people, 'This and that man was born in her.'; the many ministers she has sent out, among them missionaries to foreign fields; the many prominent, influen- tial useful men she has given the state and world, among them Governors, Congressmen, Signers of the Declaration
257
PRESENT CONDITION AND OUTLOOK.
of Independence, Professors, Teachers, Presidents of Insti- tutions of learning, to say nothing of the numerous hosts of pious men and women she has reared to adorn the private walks of life; when we call to mind her great zeal and inter- est in the religious training of the colored people,1 her strict observance of the Sabbath day, her numerous charities, her liberal contributions to the various causes of benevolence and religion, and her unswerving opposition to the liquor traffic, that powerful foe of the church and unmitigated curse of the world; when we consider all these things, and then contrast them with her present condition; her altars deserted, her sacrificial fires gone out, her house of worship fast going to decay, her once happy homes abandoned and her people scattered abroad, we naturally raise the question, why is it thus? Why these reverses, this revolution, this decay ?
"For an answer, we repeat the aphorism already given: 'All sunshine makes the desert.' The discipline of earth is but the admixture of victories and defeats, of alternate marches and retreats. It is necessary that clouds and dark- ness, be interspersed with light, disappointments and draw- backs be mixed with success. The frosts of winter, the ge- nial months of spring, the withered leaves around the ri- pened grain, all are needed in their several places. Such is the weakness of human nature, that uninterrupted, out- ward prosperity would soon cause any people to be puffed up with the idea of their own greatness and goodness, their superior sagacity and wisdom. Like the Jews of old, they would soon begin to arrogate to themselves the high pre- rogative of being in an especial sense the people of God, and therefore to look down with haughty disdain upon their less fortunate neighbors. It might be that this people were drifting into a sentiment of that kind which the Lord saw necessary to rebuke.
1. I here mention two facts omitted in their proper place. (1). The first is that the church at one time, 1833, contracted with, and paid Mr. Eugene Bacon, for the hire of his servant, sam, a colored minister and watchman furnishing him with food and clothing, and also a horse, that he might give himself wholly to ministerial work among the people of his own color. (2). The second is, that later on, in 1838, as they need- ed the presence of Tony Stevens, another colored minister and watchman, at the meeting of the Church Session, they agreed to pay his owner for all the time lost from the farmn, whilst attending such meetings in the week days. A thing wholly unheard of elsewhere.
258
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
"Or it might be that the object of these visitations was to prevent further degeneracy in another direction. As long as this people were shut out from the rest of the world they maintained their primitive simplicity of religious belief and practice, which was the foundation of their past achieve- ments. But with building of the railroad, and the intro- duction of foreign influence's, began also the gradual but cer- tain departure from the puritan strictness and piety of their faithful ancestry. Like the ship loosed from its moorings, they were beginning to drift out upon the tide of an in- creasing worldliness, and some such disaster or reverse seemed necessary to arrest further spiritual degeneracy and decline. Even as God in mercy sends death to remove the aged and infirm before they present the revolting picture of utter imbecility and wasted manhood, so it might be that this church was cut off in its prime, and its record sealed up before the world should witness the sad spectacle of spirit- ual decay, and her past history in any way marred by the acts of her degenerate sons.
"Another and better reason is, that her work was done and the time for her removal come. 'First the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear; and afterwards he put- teth in the sickle, for the harvest is come.' The sickle is as important an implement of agriculture as the harrow or plow. Communities and nations, like individuals, have an allotted time for fruitage and when that time is past the sickle is put in to prepare for another sowing. No two blades of grass, no two rivers, no two sunsets, no two ex- periences, no two lives, no two deaths, are the same, nor yet have any two generations the same work to perform. When one finishes its mission it is removed and another ยท raised up to take its place. And should this old church be an exception to the rule ?
"And though our hearts are saddened to-day by the evi- dences of decay surrounding us, may we not find comfort in the precious truth that life comes out of death? The decay- ing tree perpetuates itself from the scions springing up from its roots. Man dies but lives in his works which follow, and his children who come after him. Joshua succeedes Moses
259
WHY THUS?
in the leadership of Israel. Elisha receives the mantle of the ascending Elijah. The patriarchal dispensation gives place to the Jewish, the Jewish to the Christian, and the Christian is yet to yield to the Heavenly. Old Midway is not really dead, but only changed its form, only metamorphosed in her outer life. She still lives in her children. In her three fair daughters, Dorchester, Walthourville and Flemington, and her four equally vigorous and active children of Afric hue, Medway, Midway Congregational, Riceboro and Eb- enezer, seven living organizations instead of one, seven cen- tres of influence in the place of one single centre of radiation.
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