USA > North Carolina > Rowan County > A history of Rowan County, North Carolina > Part 26
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The first confirmation at St. Andrew's Church was on August 30, 1840, when the Church was consecrated. Eleven persons were confirmed. Communicants re- ported to the convention of 1841: St. Andrew's, 29; Christ Church, 92; St. Luke's, 26; confirmations at the latter, 9. Lexington, Mocksville, and Huntsville had been visited. Rev. C. B. Walker, deacon, had become an assistant minister to Mr. Davis. Bishop Ives, in his address to the con-
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vention of 1842, thus alludes to the field of labor under the charge of Mr. Davis. "The counties of Rowan, Davie, Iredell, Davidson, and Surry come un- der the charge of another faithful Presbyter, with his associate deacon. The missionaries here deserve great attention, and claim, although they have hitherto re- ceived comparatively nothing, a share of your bounty. They have been able to sustain themselves only by lim- ited private means." The delegates elected to the convention of 1844, from St. Luke's, were John W. Ellis, John B. Lord, William Locke, and Archibald H. Caldwell.
Mr. Davis removed to Camden, S. C., the latter part of the year 1846, after a continous residence in Salis- bury of ten years. He was admired, respected, and beloved by all who knew him. The parish records of St. Luke's Church before the rectorship of Mr. Davis are lost, and the records kept by him are incomplete. Mrs. Jane C. Mitchell (now Boyden) is the first name among the list of confirmations, September 9, 1837. The last name is Charles F. Fisher, September, 1846. Among the baptisms is this entry: "July 24, 1844, James Alexander Craige and George Kerr Craige, infants of Burton and Elizabeth Craige, Ca- tawba County." Among the burials are the following names: November, 1841, Mr. George Baker ; August 22, 1843, Mrs. Mary N. Steele; January 24, 1844, W. D. Crawford." Among the marriages are the following : 1843, Dr. George B. Douglas and Miss Mary Ellis; July, Mr. Charles F. Fisher and Eliza- beth Caldwell; November, Mr. N. Boyden to Mrs. Jane
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Mitchell; Dr. R. Hill to Miss M. Fisher. The record of marriages before the year 1843 has not been pre- served.
Thomas Frederick Davis was born near Wilmington, February 8, 1840; was a brother of the Hon. George Davis, once a member of the Confederate Cabinet, as Attorney-General, and was educated at the University of North Carolina. Among his seniors were Bishops Green (of Mississippi), and Otey (of Tennessee) ; while among his classmates were also Bishop Polk of Tennessee, the Rev. Dr. Francis L. Hawks, and Judge William H. Battle. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, and practiced in Wilmington and the neighboring counties for several years. His first wife was Miss Elizabeth Fleming, of Wilmington, who died in the year 1828. He was shortly thereafter confirmed, and admitted to the Holy Communion. He immediately became a candidate for Holy Orders, and was ordained deacon by Bishop Ives, November 27, 1831. In 1832, he was ordained priest. The first years of his ministry were spent in hard missionary work. The towns of Wadesboro and Pittsboro were one hundred miles apart, and in each of these he gave services on the alternate Sunday, driving in a convey- ance from one to the other during the week. He had now married again, his second wife being Ann Ive Moore, also of Wilmington. She was in the habit of accompanying him in his missionary drives; and when the question was once asked where they lived, the answer was truly given in these words: "On the road." He afterwards became rector of St. James'
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Church, Wilmington, and remained so for about three years. But he was not long in working himself down. The city missionary work was constantly engaging his attention, and among the poor, the sailors, and the strangers, he was ever ready to do his Lord's service. He then removed to Salisbury, and occupied during his residence there the house previously owned by Judge Martin, the same known now as the "Presbyterian manse," where the Rev. J. Rumple resides. While Mr. Davis remained rector of St. Luke's, a number of young theological students were guided by him in their studies, among others the Rev. Edwin Geer, who mar- ried Margaret Beckwith, a daughter of Dr. John Beck- with and wife, Margaret Stanly, at one time residents of Salisbury, but then of Raleigh. Mrs. Geer was the sister of the present Bishop John W. Beckwith, of Georgia, and both she and her brother were children of Margaret Beckwith, one of the original thirteen members of the first organized Presbyterian congrega- tion of Salisbury. From Salisbury Mr. Davis removed to Camden, S. C., and became rector of Grace Church. He labored there faithfully for nearly six years. In May, 1853, he was elected Bishop of South Carolina. He was consecrated in St. John's Chapel, New York, October 17, 1853. Bishop Atkinson, of North Caro- lina, was consecrated at the same time and place. More than thirty Bishops were present. The Bishop-elect of South Carolina was presented by Bishop William M. Green, of Mississippi, and George W. Freeman, of Arkansas. Bishop Davis gradually became totally blind. In 1858, he visited England and the continent
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of Europe, and consulted the highest medical and surgical authorities. He could not be relieved. He never murmured, but bore his trial meekly, patiently, and cheerfully. He died in Camden, Decem- ber 2, 1871. He was a wise Bishop, a true Christian, a great divine, and a sincere, pure, good man.
The next pastor of the congregations in Rowan County was the
REV. JOHN HAYWOOD PARKER
The statistics of his first report, to the convention of 1847, are: Communicants-St. Luke's Church, 30; St. Andrew's, 49; Christ Church, 89; Mocksville, 9; Lexington, 6; Mills' Settlement, 17; Huntsville, 4.
Mr. Parker endeavored to supply all the stations lately served by Mr. Davis and his assistant, Mr. Charles Bruce Walker. The removal of the Rev. Mr. Davis to South Carolina was a great shock to Bishop Ives. He thus alluded to the subject in his report to the convention: "That such priests as the Rev. Thomas F. Davis should be allowed, with the most heartfelt reluctance, to leave the Diocese, and for no other reason than the want of necessaries of life, is to my mind a problem on all Christian grounds beyond the possibility of solution. No circumstance during the fifteen years of my Episcopate has tended so much as this to fill me with sadness and apprehen- sion." The Diocesan Convention met in St. Luke's Church, Salisbury, May 24, 1849, and again on May 27, 1857. The delegates elected to the last-named were William Murphy, Charles F. Fisher, Benjamin
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Sumner, and Luke Blackmer, from St. Luke's Church ; Thomas Barber, Thomas Barber, Jr., Jacob F. Barber, William Barber, Jonathan Barber, Matthew Barber, R. J. M. Barber, and William F. Barber, from Christ Church; George Mills, John A. Mills, Henry M. Mills, Franklin Mills, Andrew Mills, Israel Mills, George Mills, Jr., and Charles Mills, from St. James' Church, Iredell County. In 1858, Mr. Parker reported the com- municants at St. Luke's to be 74. He departed this life, September 15, 1858, in his forty-sixth year, hav- ing been born January 21, 1813. He was baptized, November 7, 1841, by Rev. Thomas F. Davis, rector of St. Luke's Church; was ordained deacon, May 31, 1846, and priest May 10, 1847, by Bishop Ives.
He was married on the - day of
18 --- to Miss who lived only a few months. On January 25, 1854, he was married to Mrs. Ann Lord, widow of the late John B. Lord, and daughter of the late Dr. Stephen L. Ferrand. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. Joseph Blount Cheshire, of Tarboro, who was a brother-in-law of Mr. Parker. Mr. Theophilus Parker is the only sur- viving child of this union. The Rev. John H. Par- ker was a faithful servant of Christ, and was greatly beloved by his flock. The parish paid him the honor to erect a handsome marble shaft over his remains, which were buried near the church where he officiated so constantly and acceptably for more than eleven years. His walk and conversation in this world was that of a humble, obedient, patient, and God-fearing
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follower of Christ; and "he died the death of the righteous."
During the years 1847-48, or portions thereof, the Rev. Oliver S. Prescott, then a deacon, was the minister in charge of the congregations of Christ Church and St. Andrew's, Rowan County, and of St. Phillip's Church, Mocksville. He reported to the con- vention of 1848 that there were eighty-seven com- municants at Christ Church; forty-seven at St. An- drew's ; seventeen at the Mills' Settlement ; and nine at St. Phillip's Church, Mocksville. In the last-named Church he said "that the Holy Days had been observed, and during Lent daily prayers were said." He was ordained priest by Bishop Ives, and removed to Massachusetts. He is now, and has been for many years, rector of St. Clement's Church, Phil- adelphia, where he has built up a numerous, charitable, and most self-denying congregation. He is thoroughly devoted to his calling, and his parishioners are won- derfully attached to him. He is identified with the so- called "ritualistic party."
During the next few years the same congregations were ministered to by the Rev. James G. Jacocks, who was succeeded in the year 1854 by the
REV. GEORGE BADGER WETMORE
The latter is still ministering with great acceptability to the congregations of Christ Church and St. An- drew's in Rowan County, and of St. James' Church in Iredell County. He now resides in Thomasville, N. C., and is building up an Episcopal congregation in
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that growing and important town. The writer is in- debted to the Rev. Dr. Wetmore for many useful facts mentioned in this sketch relating to the Episcopal churches and families of this county.
The Rev. Thomas G. Haughton succeeded Mr. Par- ker as rector of St. Luke's, in November, 1858. He resigned the sixteenth day of July, 1866; and shortly thereafter abandoned the ministry. He died in the month of October, 1880, in the town of Salisbury. He was married on the twentieth day of February, 1860, to Mrs. Ann Parker, widow of the late Rev. John H. Parker, by the Rev. George B. Wetmore, D. D. Thomas Ferrand Haughton, now in his sixteenth year, is the only child of this union.
The next rector of St. Luke's was the
REV. JOHN HUSKE TILLINGHAST
who assumed charge in the spring of 1867. He min- istered with much zeal and self-denial until June 14, 1872, when he removed to Richland County, S. C., where he is now officiating very acceptably to several country congregations. He is remembered with great regard and affection.
He was succeeded, July 1, 1772, by the
REV. FRANCIS J. MURDOCK
who was born in Buncombe County, N. C., March 17, 1846; ordained deacon in St. Luke's Church, Salis- bury, September, 1868, and priest in St. Paul's Church, Edenton, May, 1870. He is the incumbent of the parish at the present time (January, 1881).
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The following statistics of St. Luke's Parish may prove of interest to the curious. Under Mr. Davis, confirmations, 33; baptisms, 90. Under Mr. Parker, confirmations, 35; baptisms, 105. Under Mr. Haugh- ton, confirmations, 29; baptisms, IIO. Under Mr. Tillinghast, confirmations, 36; baptisms, 53. Under Mr. Murdock, confirmations, 132; baptisms, 123. Dur- ing Mr. Murdock's rectorship of eight years, the com- municants have increased more than one hundred per cent. The number of communicants in the county is 224; of which there are at St. Luke's, 118; at Christ Church, 72; and at St. Andrew's, 34. The whole number of Episcopal Church people is about seven hun- dred. The largest confirmation class under Mr. Davis- May 16, 1940-numbered nine, including John B. Lord, Mrs. Ann Lord, Misses Julia Beard, Christian Howard, and others. Some of the names in the other classes are William Chambers, Charles Wheeler, William Locke, William Murphy, Marcus Beard, Samuel R. Harrison, Eliza Miller, Jane Wheeler, Ellen Woolworth, Ellen Howard, Rose Howard, Mary S. Henderson, and Augusta M. Locke. Mr. Parker's largest class num- bered 12-March 28, 1858-including John Willis Ellis, Louisa M. Shober, Julia Ann Blackmer, Alice Jones, Sarah H. Mitchell, Ann Macay, and Ellen Sum- ner. Some of the names in the other classes are Mary Murphy, Julia Long, Helen B. Bryce, Sophie Pearson, Mary McRorie, Laura Henderson, Jane A. Howard, Luke Blackmer, Nathaniel Boyden, James Murphy. Mr. Haughton's largest class numbered eleven-Jan- uary 29, 1860-including Archibald Henderson, John
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M. Coffin, Fanny Miller, H. C. Jones, Jr., Frances C. Fisher. Some of the names in the other classes are Mary Locke, J. M. Jones, Elizabeth Vanderford, Henrietta Hall, Annie McB. Fisher, Alice L. Pearson. Mr. Tillinghast's largest class-November 21, 1869- numbered eight, including Laura C. Murphy, John R. Ide, Julia Ide. Some of the names in the other classes are Robert Murphy, Jr., Charlotte C. Mock, Anna May Shober, Lewis Hanes, Mary E. Murphy, Leonora Beard, Mary F. Henderson. Mr. Murdock's largest class-October 6, 1873-numbered thirty-four, includ- ing Francis E. Shober, Jr., William C. Blackmer, Wil- liam Howard, A. J. Mock, and Fanny Kelly. Some of the names in the other classes are Walter H. Holt, Charles F. Baker, Peter A. Frercks, Belle Boyden, Joseph O. White, Annie Rowzee, Caroline McNeely, Penelope Bailey, Clarence W. Murphy, Annie Cuth- rell, George A. Kluttz, and Lillian Warner.
Some of the most influential and distinguished names which have adorned the annals of Rowan County have been communicants or adherents of the Episcopal Church. I have already spoken of the ante-Revolutionary period. Between that period and the year 1823, when Bishop Ravenscroft made his first visitation to Salisbury, the following may be confi- dently claimed as friendly to Episcopacy, to wit: Maxwell Chambers, Matthew Troy, Anthony and John Newnan, Thomas Frohock, Lewis Beard, Spruce Macay, Alfred Macay, Matthew and Francis Locke, Joseph and Jesse A. Pearson, John L. and Archibald
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Henderson, John Steele, William C. Love, and many others.
Since the year 1823, many of the most distinguished citizens of the State have either been communicants of St. Luke's Church or members of its congregation. John W. Ellis was a member of the General Assembly, a Judge of the Superior Court, and Governor of the State. Richmond M. Pearson became Chief Justice of the State; and Nathaniel Boyden became a member of Congress and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. James Martin, Jr., Romulus M. Saunders, and David F. Caldwell were Judges of the Superior Courts. Mr. Saunders was also Attorney-General of the State, and Minister Plenipotentiary to Spain. John Beard, Jr., Thomas G. Polk, Charles F. Fisher, John A. Lil- lington, John B. Lord, A. H. Caldwell, Stephen L. Ferrand, John L. Henderson, Richard H. Alexander, William Chambers, H. C. Jones, have been members of the General Assembly, in one House or the other ; and many of them have occupied other important public stations. Archibald Henderson was a member of the Council of State under Governors Reid and Ellis. I have not included in the above list any per- sons now living. A large majority of the persons named were communicants.
St. Luke's congregation has nearly always em- braced persons in every walk and station in life- mechanics, merchants, lawyers, doctors, farmers, and working men of various kinds. Although now greatly
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reduced in worldly means and prosperity, it is stronger than at any previous period of its history, and its numbers are on the increase. In prosperity as well as adversity, its greatest strength and reliance-from human point of view-has ever been a constantly in- creasing band of intelligent, devoted, faithful, and no- ble-minded Christian women.
GERMAN REFORMED CHURCH
For the origin of the German Reformed Church we must look to the mountains of Switzerland, where Ulric Zwingle began to preach the gospel in its purity, about the same time that Luther raised his voice for Christ in Germany. As there were differences of opinion between Zwingle and Luther upon the subject of the "real presence" in the Lord's Sup- per, as well as upon some of the other doctrines of grace, the adherents of the two reformers did not unite in the same body. After the death of Zwingle, his followers fell naturally in with the churches that were founded and nurtured by Calvin. In Germany, as well as in Switzerland, the Reformed Church is Calvinistic in faith and Presbyterian in church govern- ment. The Heidelberg Catechism is their symbol, and they practice the rite of confirmation, though by many this rite is regarded as little else than the cere- mony of admitting candidates who give evidences of conversion to full communion.
The German Reformed Church in the United States dates its origin to about 1740, and was formed by im- migrants from Germany and Switzerland, who settled in the eastern portion of Pennsylvania. About this time the tide of German immigration flowed south- ward, and along with the Lutherans who came to Rowan from 1745 and onward were many of German Reformed Church affinities.
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HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
LOWER STONE, OR GRACE CHURCH
lying in the center of the German population of East- ern Rowan is the parent of all the German Reformed Churches in Rowan County. The fathers and mothers of these inhabitants came into this region along with the Lutheran settlers about 1750, and their descendants may still be found on or near the old homesteads. The names of the Reformed families were Lingle, Berger, Fisher, Lippard, Peeler, Holhouser, Barnhardt, Kluttz, Roseman, Yost, Foil, Boger, Shupping, and others still familiar in that region.
According to the custom of these early days, the set- tlers united in building a joint or union church. The first church erected by the Lutherans and Reformed jointly was a log church situated about six miles northeast of the present Lower Stone Church, which was called St. Peter's Church. From a want of har- mony or other unknown cause a separation took place, and the Lutherans built the Organ Church, and the Reformed built the Lower Stone Church. Both these churches were of stone work, and were named, one from its organ, and the other from the material of its building. The land for the Lower Stone Church was purchased from Lorentz Lingle for two pounds (£2), proclamation money. The deed bears the date of 1774, and conveys the land to Andrew Holhouser and John Lippard for the use of the "Calvin congrega- tion." The Reformed Church was distinguished from other denominations in these early days by the fact that they were followers of the great reformer of
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Geneva, John Calvin, who perfected the reformation that was begun in Switzerland by Ulric Zwingle. The site of this church is about four miles west of Gold Hill, on the Beattie's Ford Road. The first structure was of logs, but they were not long content with so humble a building, judging rightly that a house erected for the worship of God ought to be superior to their own dwellings. The Lutherans had just completed their house of stone, and in the year 1795 the Re- formed Church set about the erection of their church of the same material. The cornerstone was laid in 1795, under the pastorate of the Rev. Andrew Loretz. Col. George Henry Berger, who was a prominent member of the Rowan Committee of Safety before the Revolution, and Jacob Fisher, were the elders of the Church at this time, and were most active in the erection of the new church. But many trials and dis- couragements obstructed the good work, and it was not until November, 1811, sixteen years after the con- nerstone was laid, that the building was completed and dedicated to the worship of God. In the services of that occasion Pastor Loretz was assisted by the Rev. Dr. Robinson, then and for many years the beloved pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Poplar Tent.
Previous to the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Loretz there were different pastors, whose names are un- known. The Rev. Mr. Beuthahn resided in Guilford County, organized churches, and preached among them, but supported himself chiefly by teaching a German school in the southeast corner of Guilford County.
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HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY REV. SAMUEL SUTHER
was one of the early German Reformed ministers in Guilford, Rowan, and Cabarrus. Governor Tryon, in his Journal for 1768, relates that while he was at Major Phifer's in Mecklenburg (now Cabarrus), on Sunday, the twenty-first of July, he "heard Mr. Luther, a Dutch minister, preach." No doubt this is a misprint for Mr. Suther, since there is no evidence that such a minister as Luther was here, and there is evidence of the presence of a Rev. Mr. Suther. He was sent out from the old country to preach to the German Reformed people in the Carolinas, and was pastor of the Guilford charge during the Revo- lutionary War. Mr. Suther was a man of learning, and an uncompromising patriot during the struggle for American freedom. His residence was a mile from the battleground of the Regulators in Alamance, May 16, 1771. During the Revolution he was an out- spoken patriot, and so obnoxious to the Tories that he was often compelled to hide himself from their vengeance. It is said that there was but one single Tory in his entire charge. Captain Weitzell, a mem- of Mr. Suther's Church, commanded a Company in the battle of Guilford Courthouse, that was made up of members of the Reformed Church. The records of Lower Stone Church mention Samuel Suther as its pastor in 1782, and that he had removed thither from Guilford County. This was in the days of Tory ravages, when Col. David Fanning and his troop of marauders struck terror into the region that ex-
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tends from Guilford to Cumberland County. As he had many enemies around him, he found it expedient to remove to a more peaceful region. The date of his death and the place of his burial are unknown to the writer. There are a number of families by the name of Suther residing in and near Concord.
The records of Lower Stone Church show that after Pastor Loretz's time for many years the church was served by the loving, gentle, and patient servant of God, the Rev. George Boger. Mr. Boger was suc- ceeded in 1831 by Dr. B. Lerch, who came among this people in the early days of his ministry, finished his course here, and his dust now rests in the adjoining graveyard.
Mr. Lerch was succeeded by the Rev. John Lantz, who, after a few years, removed to Catawba County, and from thence to Hagerstown, Md., where he finished his earthly labors in 1852.
Mr. Lantz was succeeded by the Rev. Thornton But- ler, who had associated with him for a short time the Rev. Gilbert Lane. Mr. Lane removed to New York, and in 1868 the Rev. Mr. Butler removed to Illinois and there died. The next pastor of the Lower Stone Church was the Rev. J. C. Denny, of Guilford. Mr. Denny was educated for a Presbyterian minister, and was licensed by Orange Presbytery. Seceding from the Presbyterians, he was received and ordained by the German Reformed Classis, and served some of their churches in Rowan County for a number of years. Finding at length the German Reformed Church not congenial to his tastes, he again seceded,
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. HISTORY OF ROWAN COUNTY
and was received into the Baptist Church, and is still a Baptist. The Lower Stone Church, after Mr. Den- ny's secession, was served for awhile by Professors Clapp and Foil, of the Catawba College, and for the last few years by the Rev. R. F. Crooks, who is now pastor.
MOUNT HOPE
formerly called St. Paul's, is an offshoot of Lower Stone or Grace Church. The church was organized about 1835 or 1840, from members of the Reformed and Lutheran Churches living in the neighborhood of Holshouser's Mill, now known as Heilig's Mill. The land for the church was given by Andrew Holshouser, a member of the Reformed Church. In 1866 the church was removed about three miles further south, to a point on the New Concord Road, seven miles south of Salisbury. Here a new brick church sixty by forty feet has been erected. The congregation was served first by the Rev. John Lantz. The Rev. Thornton Butler became pastor in 1852, and served them until 1857. He had associated with him for awhile the Rev. Gilbert Lane. Mr. Butler was succeeded by the Rev. J. C. Denny, and he by the Rev. P. M. Trexler, and he, in 1878, by the Rev. John Ingle, who is the present pastor.
SHILOH CHURCH
of the Reformed Classis was organized March 19, 1871, by Rev. J. C. Denny, with seventeen members, and has now thirty-four members. The pastors of
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this church have been Rev. J. C. Denny, from March. 1871, to March, 1873; Rev. P. M. Trexler, from March, 1873, to March, 1876; Rev. J. C. Denny, from March, 1876, to January, 1878; Rev. John Ingle, from January, 1878.
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