USA > North Carolina > Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical : illustrative of the principles of a portion of her early settlers > Part 34
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REV. LEWIS FEUILLETEAU WILSON.
" About 12 o'clock he requested those who were present to join in singing, himself naming the hymn that he wished to sing. At an interval of this exercise he broke out into thanksgiving and praise as follows : ' O God, I thank thee for the supports thou hast granted me under my present affliction, and through all the stages of my past life. I praise thee for another Sabbath ; and for the present communication of thy spirit and grace which thou hast granted me this day above all the Sabbaths I have ever enjoyed. O Lord, thou hast supported me ; and thou promised to support me ; and thou wilt support me ; and poor as I am, and sinful as I am, and worthless as I am, I shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of my heavenly Father.'
" He was much engaged in exhortation through the whole of this day. In the evening he desired all to leave the room except his wife and children. This being done, he gave to each of them his dying charge. The same evening he said to the physician who attended him, 'Doctor, you can do me no good ; I am just going into the eternal world ; and were it not for the comforts of religion, I believe I should be completely on the rack. The most painful hours are the most happy hours ; I never read or heard of any- thing that will support a man in a dying hour but the gospel of Christ.'
" On Monday, the 10th, he was very weak, not able to utter more than two or three words at a time ; but still manifested his good will to every person who came in, by reaching out his hand. A very aged man coming to the bedside, he took him by the hand and said, ' You are come to see a dying man.'
" Tuesday, 11th. This day ended the life of Mr. Wilson. Through the former part of it he was very uneasy. About 3 o'clock in the evening he appeared to be dying ; but recovering a little, he cast an affectionate look at his two little sons, who stood by the bedside, and reached out his hand, and took each of them by their hands, but said nothing. Shortly after, Mrs. Wilson sit- ting by the bedside, he took her by the hand, and with a pleasant countenance said, ' You and I will yet rejoice together in this great salvation.' A few minutes after he whispered to her to turn him ; which being done, he lay easy a little while. As he lay, his lips were observed to be constantly moving. Some who stood near him say that he whispered, Holy, holy. He then appeared to compose himself for his last sleep by laying his left hand under his cheek, and bringing his right hand down by his side. This
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being done, he breathed out his last, December 11th, 1804, in the 52d year of his age, without a struggle or a groan."
He was buried near Bethany Church, a few paces from the gate of the grave-yard, in a place chosen by his wife's relations. His friend Hall was, many years after, buried a few paces from his side. On a white marble head-stone is the following inscription :
SACRED To the memory of the late Rev. LEWIS F. WILson, who departed this life Dec'r 11th, 1904, in the 52d year of his age. Through almost the whole of his ministerial course with
ability and faithfulness, he sus- tained the pastoral relation over the united congregations of Fourth Creek and Concord.
Preserve, O venerable pile, Inviolate thy precious trust ; To thy cold arms the Christian Church, Weeping, commits her precious dust.
He left a widow and seven children, three sons, and four daugh- ters. All his children grew up to mature years, and all, by the time they reached their twenty-first year, were united to the church on a credible profession of religion. Two of the sons became ministers of the gospel, one of whom was the pioneer of settled ministers in Texas, and is now laboring there (1845), and the other resides in Virginia. "I doubt not," says one of the children, " that the instruction which we received on Sabbath after returning from church, was the means of bringing us thus early to devote our lives to the service of God."
Hall had the longest race, and produced the greatest immediate effect on his fellow-men ; Wilson had the most triumphant end, and being dead, yet speaks in his descendants. Both undoubtedly fought the good fight, and won the prize, and in the last great day will wear the conqueror's crown.
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"THYATIRA AND HER MINISTERS.
CHAPTER XXVI.
THYATIRA AND HER MINISTERS.
THE settlements which composed the congregation of Thyatira in Rowan county, were made about the time those on the Catawba began to cluster together. But of the various missionaries that visited the Presbyterian families between the Yadkin and Ca- tawba, sent from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the memoranda or journal of but one has yet been found, that of Hugh Mc- Aden.
He crossed the Yadkin on Tuesday, Sept. 12th, 1755, after having spent some days in the congregation at the Ford, making his home part of the time at the house of a Mr. Henry Sloan ; and passing on about ten miles, tarried with a Mr. James Aleson ; and the next day, passing on three or four miles, he tarried with a Mr. Brandon, a countryman of his. On Sabbath, the 14th, he says he rode to the meeting-house and preached, but does not tell the name of the house or its location. On Monday, he went to John Luckey's, five or six miles. Wednesday was a day appointed for a fast, on account of the great drought, and the Indian War. After visiting and praying with a man, who had been dangerously injured by a fall from his horse, he went home with a Mr. John Andrew, of whose engagedness in religion he speaks warmly. On Thursday, he rode with Mr. Andrew to Justice Carruth's, about eight miles. On the Sabbath (the 21st), he preached in a meeting-house about a mile off, and returned to Mr. Carruth's. The next day, went to David Templeton's, about five miles, and on his way came up with a company of people that had left the Cow Pasture in Virginia on account of the depredations of the Indians, supposed to be a part of Mr. Craighead's congregation, while he preached in that State. He rode home, four miles further, with William Denney, who gave him a pair of shoes made of his own manufactured leather, by William Woodsides. On Tuesday, he rode to Mr. Templeton's again, and remained with him, and preached on Wednesday in the meeting-house. He went to Captain Osborn's, about six miles, with whom he tarried till Sabbath, and then preached in the new meeting-house, about
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three miles off. After preaching again on Wednesday, he rode home with William Reese, about seven miles. On Sabbath, he preached at Captain Lewis's, going from Mr. Reese's ; and on the Wednesday following, preached there again on a fast day, accord- ing to the appointment of the governor. From this neighborhood, he proceeded to Rocky River.
On his return, in November, he called again at Capt. Lewis's, and says, it was in the Welsh settlement; thence he returned to William Reese's, made a visit to Coddle Creek, and passing, called on David Templeton, Justice Carruth, and John Andrew. With the last he tarried some days, and went with him to " Ca- they's meeting-house," the last Sabbath of December. "Here," he says, "a number of the people were exceeding urgent upon me, and very desirous to join with Rocky River in a call for me to come and settle among them."
This matter finally fell through, on account of the division of sentiment in the congregation respecting the kind of minister they should have, whether of what was called the Old Side, or the New Side, in the division of the Synod of Philadelphia.
From these memoranda, from the short journal of Mr. M'Aden, it appears that he went through neighborhoods that were accus- tomed to hear preaching from missionaries, which have since been parts of Thyatira and Centre, and more lately of Prospect, Back Creek, and Unity, and perhaps Franklin. Some of these had meeting-houses, and some were dependent on private dwellings for their worship of Almighty God. Each settlement was, very properly, anxious to have preaching convenient ; and being on different sides in the division of the Synod, there was at the time of M'Aden's visit some difficulty from the numbers and clashing interests of these smaller societies.
The visit of Messrs. Spencer and M'Whorter in 1764 and 1765, was successful in composing these differences in a great measure, and Cathey's meeting-house, under the name of Thya- tira, and a new place called from its position, Centre, superseded all other places in a strip of country extending from the Catawba to the Yadkin, in which are now some ten regular organized churches.
Whether Thyatira had a settled pastor before the Rev. Samuel E. M'Corkle, cannot probably be now ascertained to a certainty, though the probability is he was the first pastor. This eminent man became the minister of that church in early life, and con- tinued with it till his death, a space of more than thirty years.
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Samuel Eusebius McCorkle was born August 23d, 1746, near Harris's Ferry, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. His mother was sister of the Rev. Joseph Montgomery. At the age of four years, Samuel was put to an English school, and continued at it, making rapid progress, till he was ten years of age. At that time, his parents removed to North Carolina, and settled in the western part of Rowan county, in the bounds of the congregation now known as Back Creek, which was set off from Thyatira in the year 1805. His parents were pious people, and constant attendants at Cathey's meeting-house, and Thyatira, when there was preaching. After their son became the minister, a gentleman, now living in Salis- bury, says he often saw the old gentleman, who was a ruling elder in the church, sitting on the pulpit stairs, on account of his deafness, that he might get as near as possible to his son while preaching. The remains of Mr. McCorkle's parents were laid side by side, in Thyatira yard. Having enjoyed the rare pleasure of sitting under the sound of the gospel from the lips of their own son, in whom they had unbounded confidence, these worthy peo- ple closed their earthly career at an advanced age.
Young McCorkle's proficiency was such, that for some time after his removal to Carolina, he was the instructor of the younger children of the family ; and in a few years was employed in a public English school. His tastes and desires being for literature and science about his 20th year he commenced a classical course, which was completed by his receiving his degree, Sept. 20th, 1772. A part, if not all, of his previous preparation, was under the tuition of the Rev. David Caldwell, in Guilford county.
From a fragment of a diary, commenced in Princeton, the spring before his taking the degree of A.B., it appears that the revival of religion in that College, in the year 1772, was blessed to his soul in some measure, as it was to Lewis Feuilleteau Wil- son, and also to James Hall, the means of conversion to one, and of growth in grace to the other, both of whom were afterwards his brethren in the ministry and co-presbyters in adjoining congrega- tions.
The diary commences thus :-
" Saturday, April 11th, '72, Nassau.
" 1st. Resolved, This day to begin a religious diary, having been a long time convinced of its necessity and importance, and having oftentimes made faint resolutions to begin it.
" Resolved, To begin with a short record of my whole life,
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offering up a prayer to Almighty God for his assistance and direc- tion, intending to devote the whole day to religious purposes.
" Very early in life I was impressed with a sense of divine things, and lived convinced of the necessity of religion, and con- vinced that I was without it, sometimes careless, sometimes awak- ened, till about the age of 20, when, at the approach of a sacra- ment, I was more than usually concerned, and resolved to defer it no longer. Here I fell into a self-righteous scheme, and mistook a certain flow of natural affection for real delight in religion, while I never saw the enmity of my own heart, the odiousness of sin in its own nature, nor the glory and excellence of God in his own nature ; only hated sin because it exposed me to misery, and loved God because I hoped he would make me happy. Upon this I fear thousands are apt to rest, as in all probability I should have done, had it not pleased God to send me to college, where, the last year of my residence, was a considerable revival, in which it pleased God to open my eyes to see my awful deception."
"In the beginning of this work, I found my heart not properly engaged, but indifferent and unaffected. I read the following re- mark in Borton's Fourfold State :- ' When winter has stripped the trees of their verdure, it is hard to distinguish those that have life from those that have not ; but when the spring approaches, then they are easily known by their spreading leaves, while those that are dead still continue the same ; thus when religion is in decay, the saint can scarcely be distinguished from the sinner ; but when a time of refreshing comes, then will they blossom and bring forth fruit abundantly ;' partly condemned by this remark, I cast back my thoughts upon past life, and began to examine my religion and the motives of my actions. I found they were all selfish, and that since the time when I thought I had got religion, I had fallen away even to the neglect of secret prayer, which is quite incon- sistent with the Christian character."
" Here I was further condemned, but still appeared very unwil- ling to give up all my religion, till I came to read Hopkins's State of the Unregenerate, which presented such a picture of wicked- ness and enmity of the human heart, and of the misery they are in by nature, as fully convinced me that I had never seen my own heart, never had had any proper views of God ; and, in short, that I had never known anything about religion. Here I felt my- self in great distress, and had very violent exercises, till my pas- sions subsided, and seemed to end in a calm rational conviction. Here my views were all confirmed on searching the enmity of my own
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heart, which seemed to increase and almost amaze me, that I had never seen it before, having read Mr. Edwards's sermons on that subject. Also in viewing the dreadfulness and misery of man's estate, and the horrid nature of sin, which Mr. Hopkins's sermon on the law seemed to present in an aggravated light, I could never raise my thoughts to contemplate the feelings and glory of God in Christ, though I sometimes attempted it ; my sins seemed to be so aggravated, that they made me sometimes almost despond of God's mercy ; and what seemed most of all terrible to me, was, that I had in that state been admitted to the table of the Lord."
" Here I ran into frequent cavils against the dispositions of Providence in the creation of man, and His justice in condemning him. I found a secret disposition to clear myself by the doctrine of man's inability, till I read Mr. Smalley's Sermons on that sub- ject, which seemed to give me considerable light in vindicating the justice of God. Another cavil seemed to be against the mercy of God. I thought I desired salvation, and found fault that it was not given me ; upon this neglect I received considerable light by Mr. Green's Sermon, which showed me that sinners only desire a partial Saviour-a Saviour from misery, but not a Saviour from sin. Here I thought I gave up all my cavils, thought I discovered the justice of God, the mercy of a Saviour, and the expediency of the Gospel ; and thought I was willing to renounce all other Saviours, and accept Him in all His offices and relations. Here- upon I felt considerable comfort."
Afterwards, in speaking about that comfortable feeling, the origin of which he could not determine, he says : " Being sen- sible that I did not then, nor have I yet, undergone that change which is from death unto life." When he did experience that change is not on any record that can be obtained. The short diary that is extant goes over but a short space of time. That he did come to experience a change which he thought was unto life, is evident from his commencing the course of theological reading for the ministry soon after he was graduated.
In his later life he drew up for his children a memoir of his life ; this manuscript was mislaid or lost by a gentleman, a hearer of Mr. McCorkle in his younger days, and a friend of the family, who was conveying it from Tennessee to North Carolina, for the purpose of affording materials for a printed memoir. Probably in this MS. there is a fuller account of his religious exercises in ac- cepting the Lord Christ as his portion.
A part, at least, of his theological reading was under the direc-
23
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tion of his maternal uncle, the Rev. Joseph Montgomery, of New Castle Presbytery. His license to preach was received from the Presbytery of New York, in the spring of 1774, as appears by report of Presbytery to Synod.
After his licensure he was employed about two years in Virgi- nia ; then spending some time in the congregation of Thyatira, and accepting their call to become their pastor, he was ordained by Hanover Presbytery, August 2d, 1777 ; and never left his charge till he was removed by death.
Some time previous to his ordination, July 2d, 1776, he was united in marriage to Miss Steele, of Salisbury, sister of the Hon. John Steele, conspicuous in the councils of the State and nation. She bore him ten children, six of whom survived him ; and fifteen years after his death, closed her pious and useful life.
Of the mother of his wife Dr. McCorkle entertained the high- est estimation ; and in this he was joined by the public at large. A very pretty anecdote is told of her, the event occurring in the Revolutionary War. She was then landlady of the principal hotel in Salisbury, and lived between the post-office and the corner now occupied by Shaffer's tavern, a few steps north of the court-house.
While the American army, under General Greene, was retreating before Cornwallis, in the memorable and successful effort to con- vey to Virginia the prisoners taken by Morgan in the battle of the Cowpens, the line of march embraced Salisbury. While Corn- wallis was crossing the Catawba, Greene was approaching this vil- lage. Dr. Reed, who had charge of the sick and wounded pri- soners, was sitting in an apartment of Mrs. Steele's tavern, over- looking the main street, writing paroles for such British officers as were unable from sickness and debility to proceed farther, when he saw the general, unaccompanied by his aides or a single individual, ride up to the door. "How do you find yourself, my good general?" eagerly inquired the doctor. "Wretched beyond measure," replied Greene, as, exhausted, he slowly dismounted from his jaded horse- " without a friend-without money-and destitute even of a com- panion,"-his aides having been dispatched to different parts of the retreating army. "That I deny," said Mrs. Steele, stepping for- ward with great alacrity-" that I most particularly deny. In me, general, you have a devoted friend. Money you shall have ; and this young gentleman will not, I am certain, suffer you to be with- out a companion, as soon as the humane business about which he is employed, is finished." When she had prepared refreshments for the exhausted general, she proceeded to fulfil her promise about
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the money ; taking him to an adjoining apartment, she laid before him her store of gold and silver pieces, and generously filled his pockets, giving him at the same time many kind and encouraging words.
Greene's stay was short; but before leaving the house he took from the walls of one of the apartments a picture of George III., which had come from England as a present from one of the mem- bers of the court to a member of an embassy, a connexion of Mrs. Steele,-and with a piece of chalk wrote upon the back-"O George, hide thy face and mourn," and replaced it with the face to the wall. The picture, with the writing, both unharmed, is still preserved by a grand-daughter of Mrs. Steele, a daughter of Dr. McCorkle, and may be found in the town of Charlotte, at the post- office.
The following obituary notice of this excellent woman appeared in the Fayetteville Gazette of January 3d, 1791: "Died, on Monday, the 22d of November, in Salisbury, of a lingering and painful illness, Mrs. ELIZABETH STEELE, relict of Mr. William Steele, and mother of Margaret McCorkle, wife of Rev. Samuel McCorkle.
" Her name and character are well known, but best by her most intimate friends. She was a devout worshipper of God ; she was distinguished during the war as a friend to her country ; she twice supported with dignity the characters of wife and widow ; she was a most tender and affectionate parent ; kind, obliging neighbor ; frugal, industrious, and charitable to the poor.
" Her character will be better understood by the following letter, found among her choice papers, since her death, than by anything that can be said of her. The letter is believed to be, and appears to be, her own diction ; and is published exactly as it was found. It may be a useful lesson to all parents, and to all children as well as her own. It bears date February 5th, 1783, when her other son Robert Gillespie was living, and begins thus :
" ' My dear children-If I die before any of you, I wish that this letter may fall into your hands after I am dead and gone, that you may see how much affection I have for you, and that what I have often said while alive may be remembered by you when I am in eternity.
" 'If the Almighty would suffer me to return to talk with you, I think now I should take a pleasure to do it every day : if this can- not be allowed me, I think it would be some satisfaction to see you, especially when you are reading this letter, which I leave you
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as a legacy, to see what effect it will have on you, and whether it will make you think of what I have often told you.
"'I have many a time told you to remember your Maker, and ask him to guide you; it is a good old saying-they are well guarded whom He guides, and he leaves them that don't ask him, in their own ways. I want you to keep out of bad company,-it has ruined many young people. I want you to keep company with sober, good people, and learn their ways,-to keep the Sab- bath, to be charitable to the poor, to be industrious and frugal, just to all men, and above all, to love one another.
"' Believe me, my children, if anything could disturb me in the grave, it would be to know that you did not live as brother and sister ought to live : nothing could be worse, except to know that you would not follow me to heaven. Oh, my dear children, I have had a great deal of trouble and sorrow in raising you ! If I should feel as I do now, I could never endure to see any of you without an interest in Jesus, at the great day, and forced away, never to meet again. Parting here with your parents you know had almost taken my life, when I had hope to see them again ; but I am now sure I could not live to see any of you cursed by your Maker, and driven away to dwell with the Devil and his angels."
"' While I lived, you know that it was my great desire to have you all around me and near me here; but my great desire has been to have you with me in the world to come. Believe me, nothing could make me so happy as to have my three poor dear children there; yes, and your children, and all your connexions. I would wish to take you all to heaven. Then, think of the vanity of this world,-think of Jesus the Saviour,-death,-judgment, and eternity ; and don't forget the living and dying desire of your most affectionate mother till death, and after death.
""' ELIZABETH STEELE.'
"Folded in the foregoing letter was also found, in her own handwriting, the following prayer, which must please every pious mind :
" ' Oh Lord, my God, thou great Three-One ! I give myself to thee this day, to be thine, to be guided by thee, and not by an- other : and I desire to take God for my God,-Jesus Christ to be my Saviour,-the Holy Ghost to be my sanctifier and leader. Lord, thou hast promised that all that will come unto thee thou wilt in nowise cast out. All I beg, is in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, my Lord.
" ' To this I set my hand,
" ' ELIZABETH STEELE.'
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" The date of the above was either not affixed, or was torn from the paper. It cannot be disagreeable to the serious mind to add, that she was remarkably fond of the following hymn, and left it in her Bible, where it was found since her death, in the hand- writing of her grand-daughter, who had transcribed it for her .
""" The hour of my departure's come, I hear a voice that calls me home ; At last, O Lord, let trouble cease, And let thy servant die in peace, The race appointed I have run, The combat o'er, the prize is won, And now my witness is on high, And now my record 's in the sky. Not in mine innocence I trust, I bow before thee in the dust, And through my Saviour's blood alone I hope for mercy at thy throne. I come ! I come ! at thy command, I yield my spirit to thy hand ; Stretch forth thy everlasting arms, And shield me in these last alarms.'
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