USA > Georgia > Liberty County > History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia > Part 4
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DEACONS.
As the first account of an election for deacon was in 1767, the supposition is that there was but one deacon up to that date, viz .: Mr. William Baker, who appears to have been chosen in Carolina. In the Dorchester, Mass., church, there were elders as well as deacons ; so in the Carolina church at first, for we have an account of the election of William Pratt as elder, in addition to the election of two deacons. This, as already hinted, was the custom at first in many of the
34
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
Congregational churches in this country, and still in Eng- land, as in the case of Mr. Spurgeon, who had a board of elders as well as deacons, but the custom has fallen into gen- eral desuetude, especially in America. The officers of the Midway church, in addition to the pastor, were deacons, elected by the church, and five "select men" appointed an- nually by the society. The former were a kind of quasi rul- ers, to assist the pastor in the spiritual oversight of the church, and to distribute the elements on sacramental oc- casions ; and the latter merely an ad interim or executive committee to carry out the plans and work of the society.
On the same day that the articles of incorporation were agreed upon and signed, viz .: August 28, 1754, two ques- tions were considered :
LOCATION OF THE MEETING HOUSE.
The first was the question of location of a new meeting house. It was then decided that the house should be erected on Midway neck, on the same spot where the log house then used, stood. This decision was reconsidered at a subsequent meeting, January 12, 1756, when it was determined that the "hill at the cross-paths on the north side of the north branch of Newport swamp be the place of the meeting house," being about three-quarters of a mile further to the west; at which time it was also decided that the size should be forty-four by thirty-six feet, with eighteen feet in the sto- ry, pitched roof, hipped at one end and a small steeple at the other, and the house placed on the west side of the road. It was also decided that a vestry house, sixteen by twelve feet should also be built, and for convenience, should first be erected. The object of the vestry was not as in olden times, for the keeping of the vestments and sacerdotal robes of the priest, but used as a place of deposit for the communion ta- bles and benches and of the bier, used on funeral occasions. The writer well remembers the vestry house painted red, and standing on the west side of the main road and south of the graveyard ; and still further, with what feelings of awe and alarm he would look upon that bier painted black, usually
35
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE.
kept on the unceiled plates overhead. It was found necessa- ry to modify the above action of location on account of the workmen framing the building with the steeple on the west side ; unwilling that the steeple should be on the opposite side from the road, it was resolved that the location of the house should be changed from the west to the east side, the steeple still in the west with the pulpit in the north, it being more comfortable for the minister in the heat of summer. This house was built in 1756, the land being deeded by Mr. John Stevens and his wife, and the contract for sawing the lumber awarded by the select men to Mr. James Maxwell the year before. There being no water or steam saw mills in those days, the work was done by hand with what was then styled a whipsaw, the log being placed upon a pen and the saw drawn through it by two men, one above and the other below. The reader can easily imagine what an under- taking it was to saw the lumber for such a structure. The fact that the lumber was in a great measure from cy- press trees relieves it somewhat of its difficulty, but after all, quite an undertaking; but these sturdy Christians did not hesitate to do any thing demanded by the claims of religion. The frame was raised September 8, 1756, two years after the contract for sawing. By the beginning of the next year the house, though not finished, was sufficiently advanced for holding services, the first sermon being preached in it January 2, 1757.
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. 1 The other question considered at that first meeting was that of the elective franchise-who should be entitled to a vote? According to the articles of agreement, church men- bers were entitled to a double vote in choice of a minister, but some of the subscribers had not yet commenced settle- ment and become real residents. So it was voted that the privilege should be in proportion to the apparent probabili- ty of their coming to live among them, each case being de- cided upon its own merits. According to this rule, it was decided that Messrs. Joseph Bacon was entitled to a whole
1
36
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
vote, Jonathan Bacon a half, Richard Woodcraft and Isaac Bradwell and Mrs. Rebecca Quarterman, a quarter each. At the same time it was also decided that all minors should be entitled to only one-half vote.
RAISING OF MINISTER'S SALARY.
For the first six years after the establishment of the colo- ny, the method of raising the salary of Mr. Osgood was by subscrition, in which "several persons were rated." At the annual meeting in March, 1761, it was decided that the minister's salary should be raised by assessment of the pews. From that time till the end it became the settled policy of the church to raise the salary by renting of the pews.
The plan adopted was not to put up the pews and rent to the highest bidder, for this might not realize a sufficient sum. But to insure the amount, a tax was put upon the several seats, from three pounds up to thirty pounds, according to position and desirability. An important question growing out of this was to decide upon what principle was the choice to be made? At first the right of choice was determined by the amount paid on pastor's salary. Thus he who had paid most would have first choice, and so on, but afterwards it was decided that the thing to determine the right of choice would be the amount of money paid to the building and re- pairing of the edifice. Hence the necessity of keeping what was known as a "Book of Rights," in which were kept the several amounts paid by different individuals and families.
As this matter of rights was likely to become a thing of barter and sale, and the whole plan open to a variety of abuses, it was soon found necessary to guard against these abuses as well as interpret the scheme by the addition of special rules, such as the following, which were adopted at different times :
"That no person leaving the society shall transfer his right to another, except to such as the church shall approve.
"That no person on his right shall be allowed more room than required by his family, a child under six years of age being entitled to only one-half seat.
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SELECTING SEATS.
"That no person shall be allowed to choose seats on the right of any person not a frequenter of public worship in this place; nor shall any person having a right choose seats in order to dispose of them to other persons."
The following rule, carrying out the old idea of heredity, was adopted for a while at first: "That the eldest son should enjoy the right of the deceased father, unless he shall order otherwise in his will, provided he shall accommodate the widow during her widowhood, she paying annually her part of the cost."
On account of dissatisfaction this rule was afterwards amended, so that a man could dispose of his right by will. In case of no will, the right to be equally divided among the heirs. If they could not agree and any one of them reported it to the church, then the church would proceed to settle the case, all parties being required to submit to its arbitration.
There was still another rule, that if any person should be in arrears on the day of choosing seats, he thereby forfeited his right of choice.
Just here it may be added that it was the custom on the day of renting pews for each man to give his note for the amount, in regular legal form, and in several instances, lat- er on, the order was passed authorizing the select men to proceed and collect those of delinquents, by law.
Some of the above regulations may seem to us a little harsh, but we must remember that this people were as one family, in a state of isolation from the rest of the world, with no strangers in their midst to be driven off by their seeming exclusiveness. It was a matter of importance that the seats be controlled by the church. Without the above or similar restrictions outsiders might come in and control the pews to the great detriment of the church. In after years the rights so accumulated as to become under par, and persons finding it cheaper to buy than contribute to the building fund, would resort to this method of increasing their right. The church therefore found it necessary to scale the rights, which was done in 1849, at which time a reduc- tion of seventy-five per cent was made. Two years there- after the whole scheme of rights was abolished and the seats sold to the highest bidder.
38
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCHI.
With these restrictions, the plan of renting the pews con- tinued in force through the whole history of the church, and was found to work well with these two decided advantages: First, the pastor's salary was more easily and certainly raised, subscribers feeling the obligation, having given their individual notes; and secondly, better order, as families worshipped together, the children being under the individu- al eye of the parents.
CHAPTER IV.
PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH TILL THE DIS- PERSION.
MR. OSGOOD'S MINISTRY.
The church and congregation continued to increase under the ministry of Mr. Osgood, insomuch so that Rev. Archi- bald Simpson, of Carolina, when passing through on his way to the Altamaha settlement, which people he visited in 1761, expressed astonishment "at the great and beautiful improvement in the Midway settlement, the fine planta- tions, the large and well finished meeting house, the good public roads, in what seven years before was looked upon as an almost impenetrable swamp."1
As the result of this steady and continued growth, it was soon found necessary that an addition should be made to the house, "or some method fallen on to make more room therein." The first plan was to "make the gallery commo- dious for the whites and a shed be made for the negroes."
1. Howe's His. Vol. I P. 317.
39
MR. OSGOOD'S MINISTRY.
Whether this shed was added does not appear, but accor- ding to the statement of Mr. John Ashmore to Dr. Jones, for some time the whites had seats in the gallery with the ne- groes.1 In 1770, it was resolved that "an aisle be made to the house of twenty-nine by twenty feet, roof porch fashion and hip end." This, however, seems not to have been done till 1772, when it was resolved that the addition should be to the south side with square pews, "instead of long ones with seats only in the back parts."
In addition to the gradual influx of emigrants from Caro- lina and elsewhere, which added more to the population than the natural increase, the record showing nearly as many deaths as births for the first decade; the thing that added strength and influence to the society was the rise and growth of the town of Sunbury upon the coast, and only ten miles distant.
On the 20th day of June, 1858, Captain Mark Carr con- veved to James Maxwell and others three hundred acres of land in trust, to be laid out in lots for a town at Sunbury.
The lots were sold in accordance with the terms of con- veyance, and the town of Sunbury soon became a place of considerable size and importance, and also the abode of many of the members of the Midway church and congrega- tion. As the result, we find the following record: "On Monday, December 19, 1763, some of the inhabitants of Sunbury, with many of the country members, met by ap- pointment at our meeting house in the country in order to make out a call for the Rev. John Alexander to reside and preach amongst us, and it was agreed that he should be called as assistant to Rev. Mr. John Osgood, our present pastor, that in case of Mr. Osgood being rendered at any time incapable of preaching by sickness or otherwise, or in case of his being taken from us, that the Rev. Mr. Alexander shall preach a part of his time at this place in the country, and that his preaching in the town and country shall be proportioned to the salary paid him from the members and inhabitants of each place."2
1. Dr. Jones' 10th Report.
2. Pub. Rec. 1. 4.
40
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
Thus it appears that an assistant was deemed necessary, and not so much on account of the failure of Mr. Osgood's health, as necessitated by the scattered condition of the members and the rising importance of the town of Sunbury, Rev. John Alexander was called to preach at both places, the proportion being determined by the amount of money paid and number of interested people at each place.
We have no further account of Mr. Alexander. It is pre- sumed he did not accept the position. Who Mr. Alexander was, of what church, or what ever became of him, I have not been able to find out. He seemed, however, to have been well known in the community and even a citizen of the so- ciety. as we find the record of his marriage to Hannah God- frey March 27, 1764.
Disappointed in not securing the services of Rev. John Al- exander, the church in 1767, made out a call to the Rev. James Edmonds, of South Carolina, who had been co-pastor with Rev. William Hutson, of the Independent Congrega- tional church of Charleston, to fill the place offered Mr. Al- exander, as assistant or co-pastor with Mr. Osgood. He accepted the place and arrived August 9, 1767, making his home at Sunbury. He preached his first sermon at Midway "on Wednesday, the 26th day of the same month, and at the Altamaha the 30th and 31st, he agreeing to supply them also once a month for the first year."
Mr. Edmonds was a native of London, born about 1720. As described by one who knew him, "he was in person rath- er above the ordinary size of men, weighing probably over two hundred pounds, had a full face and heavy eyebrows, yet he was polite, affable, dignified, and more loquacious than usual for one of his age. His manner of preaching was plain, solemn, and unostentatious. His sermons were short, but practical and altogether extempore."1 He continued as a kind of assistant or missionary minister, living at Sun- bury, for about three years. He returned to Charleston in 1770, where he died April, 1793, aged 73. He lost his eve- sight and was blind the last three years of his life.2
1. Howe's His. P. 665.
2. While at Charleston, he was taken prisoner in 1780 after the fall of the city, and with 129 others as detained paroled prisoners on board prison ship Torbay. See Gibbs' Doc. His. and Ramsay's His. Vol. 1 542.
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FAILURE OF MR OSGOOD'S HEALTH.
It was during Mr. Edmond's stay in Sunbury that Rev. Archibald Simpson made his second visit, passing through to Altamaha and spent a communion season at Midway, August 12, 1769, when the three ministers, Rev. Messrs. Osgood, Edmonds and Simpson officiated on the Lord's day. "The congregation was large and genteel, attentive and tenderly impressed, and the whole occasion reminded him of the many sweet seasons he (Simpson) had enjoyed in Scotland."1
After the return of Mr. Edmonds to Charleston, Mr. Os- good now becoming advanced in age and infirm in health, the church began looking around for an assistant and fu- ture pastor. They agreed June 26, 1771, upon the form of a call to be sent to New Jersey for a minister; they also agreed in the meanwhile, to have public services continued among themselves by reading sermons."2
FAILURE OF MR. OSGOOD'S HEALTH.
Mr. Osgood's health failed in 1771, two years before his death, but he continued to preach as he was able. During these two years we find that his pulpit was frequently supplied by visiting ministers. On Sabbath, June 16th, he was so ill as not to preach at all. On Monday after he rode in a chaise to Sunbury, where he went on board a vessel to be carried out upon the salts, to which he had been advised by his physician. On Friday of the same week, he returned home very ill, with very little hope either by himself or oth- ers of his ever preaching again. His strength, however, ral- lied and we find him preaching a few times afterwards. The last service he rendered was on May 5, 1773, a day appoint- ed for fasting and prayer to have the gospel continued among them, when, after the reading a sermon by one of the members, Mr. Osgood delivered a short, pathetic exhorta- tion which, said he, would be his last, as it proved. He was present, however, at the communion June 20, 1773, conduct- ed by Rev. Wm. Zubly, and partook of the sacrament,
1. Howe's His. P. 318.
2. Pub. Rec. P. 52.
1
42
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
though able to be up but a part of the service, which was his last attendance on public worship. He died the 2d of August, following.
No minister perhaps was ever more generally honored and universally loved by his people than this faithful servant of God; or as Dr. Zubly expressed it in his funeral discourse, "no congregation happier in a minister, and no minister happier in a congregation." Born and reared in their midst, coming with them from Carolina, sharing their troubles and hardships, and sympathizing with them and serving them so faithfully and long, he only the more endeared himself to them. He was a man that had the interest of the church at heart, and who felt for all classes, even his servants, as ap- pears from his last letter.1 Dr. Holmes, who became pastor of the church some twelve years after his death, and know- ing full well the influence and fragrance of his pious and holy life left behind, says of him in his Annals, that "he was the father and friend as well as the shepherd of his flock."2 Bartram, the English traveler, who visited the community and attended services at the church, speaks of him as "their pious and venerable pastor."" So the Rev. Archibald Simp- son, of Carolina, in his second visit to Midway in 1769, terms him "a Nathanael, an Israelite indeed, much of a gen- tleman and yet with the most primitive and plain simplici- ty in his behavior, by nature and grace of a most mild, frank and pleasant disposition, and withal a most editving, de- lightful and instructive preacher." On the church record we find this simple yet earnest tribute: "August 2, 1773, our dear and much honored pastor, the Rev. John Osgood, who was born and received a part of his education among us under the Rev. Mr. Fisher, our former pastor in Caroli- na, and finished his studies in Cambridge College in New England, where he graduated (in 1733), departed this life. He was ordained to the pastoral charge over us November 24th anno 1735, and continued so thirty-eight years and about four months, wanting but a few days." Dr. Zubly preached his funeral sermon. His remains were borne by
1. Mallard's account. 2. Annals Vol. II P. 407. 3. Travels, P. 9. 4. Howe's His. Vol. I P. 318.
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TEMPORARY SUPPLIES.
.
loving hands of his people and deposited in the graveyard near by, where they still rest. A monument was erected by the same loving hands, to mark the spot. When the church was burned in 1778 by the British, nothing, not even the sacredness of the tomb, escaped their fury. This monument, among others, was entirely defaced. But the church and congregation showed their affection for their old pastor and friend by erecting another in 1794, which still stands to mark the resting place of this devoted servant of God. They also ordered the publication of twenty of his sermons.
The church at the death of Mr. Osgood numbered about one hundred and twenty-five.
TEMPORARY SUPPLIES.
After the death of Mr. Osgood, and for about four years, the church was without any regular pastor. During this long time they were supplied by visiting ministers and tem- porary supplies, or else, by some one of the deacons or mem- bers reading sermons, as had been done during Mr. Osgood's poor health. Among those supplying the pulpit at different times, during these four years of vacancy, we find the names of Dr. J. J. Zubly, from Savannah, who often visited them; also that of Messrs. Gillis, William Tennent, Piercy, Eccles, Joseph Cook, Daniel Robarts, and Thomas Hill. Most of them preached alternately, and part of the time with seem- ing regularity, the church in the meantime not relaxing its effort to obtain a minister. As early as 1771, in view of Mr. Osgood's declining health, "a call was made out to be sent to the northward to the college in New Jersey, called Nassau Hall," and a letter forwarded to Rev. Dr. Wither- spoon, the president, asking his assistance in getting a min- ister. Early in 1773, Messrs. Parmenas Way and Benja- min Baker were appointed to write frequently to the college in New Jersey in behalf of the church respecting the call then sent for another minister, and measures proposed for hav- ing the gospel preached to them in the meantime. Novem-
1 Mr. Hill was one of the ministers sent out by Lady Huntingdon into the Province of South Carolina.
2. Pub. Rec. P. 53.
4.4.
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCHI.
ber 22, 1773, the church agreed to give Mr. Daniel Robarts a call for one year. Mr. Robarts seemed to have been only a student, perhaps a licentiate, for on the 16th of March following it was determined that Mr. Daniel Robarts be de- tained and that he officiate by praying, and reading either printed, or the Rev. Mr. Osgood's manuscript, sermons among us." So at the annual meeting March 1, 1775, it was agreed "that Mr. Robarts be continued upon trial for six months longer, and to allow him five pounds per month, he to pray and read to and among us as heretofore, and fol- low his studies." At the same meeting Rev. Mr. Zubly was invited to supply them once in six weeks, they agreeing to furnish him with horses in coming and going, and at thirty pounds per year." In May of the same year, it was agreed to send a call to Mr. William Schenck, the form of which is given upon the records, of which, however, we find nothing more said.
The next effort to obtain a minister was made September 30, 1776, when it was agreed to send to a gentleman, who is now a preacher in Carolina, to visit and preach here with the design to give him a call," and upon his declinature, "to write to Dr. Lyman Hall, now at the northward, to en- deavor to get a minister for this place from some of the northern provinces."1
Later on in October they "agreed to give a call to some minister for one year's trial, and Messrs. Thomas Quarter- man, Robert Quarterman and Thomas Baker were appoint- ed to carry the call and to offer it to any such preacher, as two of them shall agree upon." Said messengers carried said call and offered it to Rev. Thomas Henderson, who agreed to visit them, which he did and preached for them the 8th of December, 1776.
At a called meeting at the beginning of the next year, (January 8, 1777,) the select inen were instructed to write to Mr. Henderson and urge him to settle among them. The letter was written and sent to Savannah, but for some rea- son, was by some recalled without consulting the church.
1. Pub. Rec. P. 13.
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MR. ALLEN IMPRISONED.
After repeated unsuccessful efforts to obtain a preacher, and nearly four years of this sort of desultory work, a call was made out at the annual meeting in March, 1777, and sent to Rev. Moses Allen, a Presbyterian minister then sup- plying the Wappetaw church, Carolina, who accepted the same, removed to Midway and preached his first sermon June 22, 1777.
CHURCH BURNED.
The pastorate of Mr. Allen was very short and unsatis- factory, lasting only one year, and terminating in the midst of disaster and ruin; this being the period of the revolu- tionary war, and everything in a more or less disordered state. So many of her sons being in the army, the church barely existed till the year 1778, when the invasion from Florida under Col. J. M. Prevost, resulted in the entire breaking up of the church, the burning of the meeting house, the destruction of the farms, the dispersion of the people, and complete breaking up of the community, which state of things continued for four long years.
MR. ALLEN IMPRISONED.
Mr. Allen being very active in the cause of the revolution made himself very obnoxious to the British. At the fall of Savannah December, 1778, he was taken prisoner, and in- stead of being sent to Sunbury on parole with the other con- tinental officers, he being a commissioned chaplain of the Georgia brigade, he was kept on board the prison ship. Tired of confinement in his loathsome quarters, on the even- ing of February 8, 1779, he sought to escape by throwing himself into the river and swimming to an adjacent point, but was drowned in the attempt. His body was washed on a neighboring island and found by some of his friends, who requested a few boards of the captain of a British vessel to make a coffin, but was unable to procure them.
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