USA > North Carolina > Guilford County > The History of Guilford County, North Carolina > Part 10
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The people of Alamance Church were of the New Light
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OLD FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GREENSBORO.
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faith, or believers of the revival doctrine of George Whitfield. Those of Buffalo were conservative Presbyterians. When these classes were formed into one pastorate by Dr. Caldwell, an anti- Whitfieldian, but a man of great piety and prudence, there was a blending of the better elements of both sides and a quiet resist- ance to extreme tendencies either way and a development of an active, conservative, religious life. In 1791 a great revival, ex- tending through several counties, was felt at Alamance. In 1799 new names appear on the list of Orange Presbytery as ordained in the year 1797 or '98. These were Guilford County men : Wil- liam 'T. Thomas, William Paisley, John Gillespie, Samuel McAdoo and Robert Tate. See Dr. Wiley's Address on Alamance Church.
Among the early members of Alamance Church was John Thom, who lived about two and one-half miles from Alamance Church. He came from Maryland. Other members were David, William and John McAdoo, Abram and Samuel Leckey. A sub- scription list of August 23, 1800, shows that Marshall McLean, Robert Shaw, Andrew McGee, David Wiley and William Wiley were trustees of Alamance Church.
In 1813 the Synod of the Carolinas was divided into the Synods of North Carolina and of South Carolina. In that year the North Carolina Synod held its first meeting at Alamance Church.
In 1825 Sabbath School was established at Alamance Church. Master John Finley was its first superintendent. The school was held all day Sunday, with an intermission for dinner. The "A, B, C Card," the "Blue-backed Speller," the Bible and the Shorter Catechism were the text-books used.
In 1829 a revival meeting came, and for days and nights the tents, the church and all the woods resounded with prayer and religion was the absorbing theme. In 1830 there were added to the church one hundred and twenty members.
Dr. Eli W. Caruthers succeeded David Caldwell as pastor of both Alamance and Buffalo churches. His life of David Caldwell,
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and his histories of the Old North State during the period of the Revolution are foundation stones in North Carolina history.
The Presbyterian Church at Greensboro was organized on the third of October, 1824. Rev. John Witherspoon, of Hillsboro, N. C., presided over the meeting and the church was organized with twelve members-two male members, six female members and four negro slaves. Wm. R. D. Lindsay, Justin Field, Mrs. Frances Paisley, Mrs. Ann Mebane, Polly Paisley, Mary Ann Paisley, Elizabeth Caldwell, Mrs. Mary Carson are the names of the original white members; and the names of the servants were Tony, Milly and Tilly, slaves of Rev. Wm. D. Paisley, and Kezia, slave of Robert Carson.
Wm. R. D. Lindsay was unanimously elected to the office of ruling elder. The following persons were elected trustees to attend to the temporal affairs of the church, none of whom, it appears, were at that time communicants: Thomas Caldwell, Robert A. Carson, Dr. John A. Mebane, Christopher Moring, Abraham Geering. In 1831 twenty-six persons were added to the membership-twenty whites and six colored.
In 1832 the first house of worship was built. Jesse H. Lind- say donated the lot for it. Four additional ruling elders were elected : Silas C. Lindsay, Christopher Moring, Wm. H. Cumming, Green D. Jordan. The whole membership that year was thirty- eight-twenty-eight whites and ten colored. Green D. Jordan became a member in 1832 and soon became a ruling elder, and with him Silas C. Lindsay, Christopher Moring, Wm. H. Cum- ming also became ruling elders. Rev. Wm. D. Paisley was supply, and preached twice a month. In 1833 the Sabbath School was organized, with W. H. Cumming superintendent. In 1839 Wm. D. Rankin became ruling elder. In 1840 Watson W. Wharton, Dr. David C. Mebane, Dr. David C. Weir were ordained ruling elders. On October 23, 1843, a congregational meeting was held, presided over by Rev. John Witherspoon. A unanimous call was extended to the Rev. John A. Gretter, who accepting the call, was
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duly ordained and installed as the first pastor, October 13, 1849. Ralph Gorrell and Jesse H. Lindsay were elected ruling elders. Mr. Gretter died July 21, 1853, and Rev. John M. Sherwood acted as supply for a year. July 26, 1854, Rev. J. Jones Smythe was called to the pastorate. Until his arrival, January 1, 1855, Rev. Martin McQueen acted as supply. On the fifth of February, 1859, a call was made for Rev. J. Henry Smith and he came April 20, 1859.
The Civil War had an effect on the Presbyterian Church. In 1868 the colored members withdrew and were organized into a Colored Presbyterian Church. They had sat in the gallery, listened to the same sermons, and partook of the Lord's Supper in the same church with their masters, the sheep of one fold. This had much to do with making the old-time negro the beautiful char- acter that'he was. After the War their names were erased from the book of this church. They had their own pastor, officers, Sunday School and about one hundred members. .
When Dr. Smith came to the church its membership was one hundred and eighty. In 1887 it numbered three hundred and eighty-five. The present membership is seven hundred. April 29, 1863, Richard Sterling, C. G. Yates, J. I. Scales, L. Swain and John H. Dillard became ruling elders. In 1879 Robert P. Dick, Samuel C. Smith, John A. Gilmer, became ruling elders. In 1882 Robert M. Sloan, Sr., became ruling elder. In 1887, Dr. Smith's son, Egbert W. Smith, was junior pastor, and in December, 1893, he became pastor with his father, being unanimously elected. In 1879, the session of this church, feeling that the growth of the city was tending toward the depot and south of it, took measures to establish a chapel in that section. In 1882, a lot was bought with a view to building a mission chapel.
The Register of Elders of the First Presbyterian Church from October 3, 1824, to March, 1902:
Wm. R. D. Lindsay Christopher Moring
Silas C. Lindley
Wm. H. Cumming
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Green D. Jordan
John A. Gilmer
Wm. S. Rankin
Robt. M. Sloan, Sr.
Watson W. Wharton
Dr. Robert F. Robertson
Dr. David C. Mebane
William S. Moore
Dr. David P. Weir
Governor Alfred Moore Scales
Ralph Gorrell
Jas. T. Carson
Jesse H. Lindsay
Lunsford Richardson
John C. Wharton
J. William Scott
Prof. Richard Sterling
Judge Thomas J. Shaw
Chas. G. Yates
Alfred M. Scales
Lyndon Swain
Rudolph G. Lea
Junius I. Scales
William C. McLean
Judge John H. Dillard
Dr. Albert R. Wilson
Judge Robt. P. Dick
Lee G. Wharton
Prof. Sam'l C. Smith
The Register of the Deacons of the First Presbyterian Church from November 25, 1849, to March 25, 1900:
James Sloan
Wm. Edmund Bevill
Robt. G. Lindsay
Robt. F. Robertson
Andrew Weatherly
Wm. C. McLean
Milton Rose
Sam'l A. Kerr
Fenner M. Walker
Sample S. Brown
Chas G. Yates
Neil Ellington
Robt. P. Dick
James King Hall
Wm. A. Caldwell
Robert G. Glenn
Wm. S. Moore
Robert R. King
Wm. B. Bogart
William E. Allen
Wm. R. Murray
Jesse T. Abbott
Jas. T. Carson
Edward M. Hendrix
Robt. M. Sloan, Jr.
Lee G. Wharton
Geo. S. Sergeant
J. Walker Fry
Jed H. Lindsay
Robt. G. Vaughn
J. Wm. Scott
JACOB HENRY SMITH.
In the history of the Presbyterian Church of North Carolina one character is set reflecting rays of light like a diamond. To his city and his country, to civilization and humanity, his life has
NOTE: I suppose that from the organization (1824) till Nov. 1849, the elders dis- charged duties of deacons. E. W. SMITH, (Pastor.)
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DR. J. HENRY SMITH, FOR THIRTY-EIGHT YEARS PASTOR OF FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GREENSBORO.
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been a blessing. The best friend on earth is the wise, true pastor. Though dead, yet Dr. Smith lives in the lives of his children and the people of his church.
Rev. Jacob Henry Smith was born in Lexington, Rockbridge County, Virginia, August 13, 1820. He died at his home in Greensboro, N. C., Monday, November 22, 1897. Dr. Smith was the oldest son of Samuel Runckle Smith and Margaret Fuller. His father's parents, Henry Louis Smith and Margaret Runckle, were of German extraction and spoke only the German language.
Jacob Henry Smith at an early age joined the Presbyterian Church of Lexington, Va., then under the pastorate of Dr. George A. Baxter-the church in which Stonewall Jackson was later a deacon. In 1843 he graduated with high distinction from Wash- ington College, now Washington and Lee University. In 1846 he received his certificate from Union Theological Seminary. From 1850 to 1854 he was principal and professor of Latin and Greek in the Samuel Davies Institute, Va. In 1859 he was called to Charlottesville. In June, 1859, he was received by Orange Presbytery and in July installed over the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, North Carolina.
In 1861 Dr. Smith submitted a paper before Orange Presby- tery on the "Reported Action of the General Assembly in Relation to the Political Crisis in the Country." This was one of the first steps, if not the first, taken toward the organization of the South- ern General Assembly.
The Church in Greensboro grew steadily and rapidly and "It became," says Dr. W. W. Moore, "the State's chief nursery of pure and learned lawyers, judges and governors."
Dr. Smith was a man of great natural abilities. He possessed a mind of fine grasp, logical, acute, analytic, broad and just. He had an insatiable love of learning and was indefatigable in acqui- sition. He was a scholar-student. He was not content alone to study, but he mastered any department of knowledge bearing on his life-work, which meant not only the building up of a church in
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regard to numbers and wealth, but the much higher task of making men, developing the highest type of character in its indi- vidual members. Tenderness, wisdom, strength and firmness, with the courage of an Isaiah, sympathy and love so blended in him as to make the ideal pastor and teacher of a lifetime.
In 1870 the General Assembly appointed Dr. Smith chairman of the Committee of Education, and in 1888 chairman of the Committee on Foreign Missions. From 1866 he was director of Union Theological Seminary, Va., and for many years President of that Board and a member of the Board of Directors of David- son College, N. C.
In 1872 Hampden-Sidney College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1877 the University of North Carolina gave him again the same degree. His last public duty in the church was as chairman of the General Assembly's committee to prepare a program for the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Westminster Assembly.
Dr. Smith was twice married: to Miss Catharine Malvina Miller, who died in 1854; in 1857 to Miss Mary Kelly Watson. His children are : Mrs. L. Richardson, Mrs. R. G. Vaughn ; Rev. S. M. Smith, D. D., of the First Presbyterian Church of Colum- bia, S. C .; Dr. Henry Louis Smith, President of Davidson College; Rev. Egbert W. Smith, D. D., pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Greensboro, N. C .; Dr. C. Alphonso Smith, Professor of the English Language in the University of North Carolina ; Rev. Hay Watson Smith, of the Congregational Church, Park- ville, N. Y.
A tablet to the memory of Dr. J. Henry Smith in the Presby- terian Church at Greensboro has inscribed on it the following stanza :
Thirty-eight years Down History's tide In the life of this church Fondly side by side Pastor and people floated Gently on,
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Loving and loved, in days That are gone. The billows of time Have borne him away, From the starlit dawn To the golden day.
A large and handsome building is being erected adjoining the Presbyterian Church for the Sunday School department of church work. It will be a memorial to Dr. J. Henry Smith. The idea and the plan is original with Dr. Egbert W. Smith. The school will be carried on with the best means of education of the present day.
The Presbyterian Church of Guilford County has had three pastors of remarkable power. Dr. David Caldwell and Dr. Eli W. Caruthers in successive ministry labored here for one hundred years, and Dr. J. Henry Smith for thirty-eight years. These men in a large measure contributed to the civilization of North Caro- lina. They each were men of vital strength of doctrine and their lives would indicate that Presbyterianism is conducive to longevity.
(The data for the sketch of the Presbyterian Church in Greensboro were obtained from a sketch of that church by Dr. J. Henry Smith, now in the possession of Dr. Egbert W. Smith. The data for the history of Alamance Church were obtained from a speech delivered at the Centennial of that church by Dr. C. H. Wiley.)
THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
The center of the influence and strength of the Society of Friends in North Carolina has been Guilford County. For a hundred and fifty years their Yearly Meeting has been held in this County, first at New Garden, but of late years at High Point, N. C. Friends had first settled in Pasquotank County, this State, and John Archdale was the good Quaker governor long before. But Friends came among the earliest settlers to this section. There is some record that they chartered or traded with the Catawba
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Indians for lands in the beautiful undulating plains of western Guilford. Guilford College, six miles west of Greensboro, is the seat of learning of Friends in the South. This institution was founded, in 1837, as New Garden Boarding School. Friends have always been great advocates and leaders in regard to education. From the first they seemed to have believed in the equal education of the sexes. Their women have responded in the noblest and most intellectual types of character.
The principles of Friends have been laid down by George Fox, whose works are sometimes read fifty or one hundred times by the most consistent Friends. Like the Israelites of old, they have been a "peculiar people." Their opinions in regard to tem- perance, war and slavery have been very decided. Though not great in regard to number, but, united in fidelity, firm in convic- tion, believing in the "inner light" and the "written word," their influence has been felt most strong. Their position before and during the Civil War is better imagined than described. The chapter on the slavery question in this book will show some of their principles at work. In 1774 the North Carolina Yearly Meeting of Friends freed their slaves.
Some Friends came to this section from Pennsylvania at the same time the Scotch-Irish and Germans came, having crossed over with William Penn. With this company were the Menden- halls, Hunts, Ballingers, etc. About a score of years later Friends from New England came. These were the "Nantucketers." Again another company came from eastern North Carolina. See the chapter on the "Settlement."
Friends came here not as hunters and wanderers, but with civilization and the Christian religion. There is a tradition that the first meeting of Friends in the County was held at "Cobbie," or Concord, an old place near Centre Meeting House. It is said that the first Yearly Meeting in western North Carolina was held here. But from New Garden as a centre the other meetings of Friends have been established. New Garden may be called the
NEW FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
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mother of the society in Guilford County and also of the society in Indiana, where the Friends constitute the prevailing and influential denomination.
From the Register's book at Salisbury, N. C., it is learned that "on the 19th of October, 1757, Henry Ballinger and Thomas Hunt bought of Richard Williams fifty acres of land for five shillings, for the use, benefit, privilege and conveniency of a Meet- ing house which is already erected upon the above and bears the name New Garden for the Christian people called Quakers to meet in for publick worship of Almighty God, as also the ground to bury their dead in." The place was called New Garden from their home in Pennsylvania, and that in turn from New Garden in England.
In 1751 a meeting for worship was granted Friends at New Garden by Cane Creek Monthly Meeting. For three years the Monthly Meeting circulated between Cane Creek of Orange County and New Garden.
(Dr. Weeks' "Southern Quakers and Slavery" is an exhaus- tive treatment of the subject of the early church history of Friends. )
Early members of New Garden from Pennsylvania were: Joseph Ogburn, Peter Cox, Abram Elliot. John and Richard Mendenhall and William Reynolds.
New Garden is one of the most historic places in Piedmont North Carolina. The church was used as a hospital for British and American soldiers wounded at the Battle of Guilford Court- house. Two large mounds in the graveyard show the last resting place of some of the bravest of Cornwallis's army.
In 1757, Friends' Meeting House at Centre was established. The meeting was first held in private homes, then a small house was built which was used for both worship and for school. Dur- ing the Revolutionary War Daniel Worth and James Dix sat at the head of the meeting. Centre is a historic place also for the number of great men who were born there. Three governors of
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three States were born almost in a stone's throw of the church. The Nixons, who edit the Inter-Ocean, were born here. In the old graveyard are buried members of the Worth family for genera- tions.
Deep River has been one of the strongest Monthly Meetings. In 1758 it was established as a Preparative Meeting. In 1778 it became a Monthly Meeting. In 1818 it was made a Quarterly Meeting. The records of Deep River Monthly Meeting show that migration westward began about 1811 and continued to 1860. Many of its members, Mendenhalls, Hills and others, left their home meeting to live in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and elsewhere. Beeson, Clark, Cook, Elliot, Beard, Gardner, Harris, Horney, Ham, Henley, Howell, Hubbard, Hiat, Pike, Pegg, Starbuck and others went to Ohio. Deep River Meeting House is situated on a beautiful high plain sloping in all directions toward the horizon. Mighty oaks are back of the large, almost square, brick building. A large graveyard lies in front, the low stones in the centre of which mark a time in the history of Friends when gravestones were not allowed higher than eighteen inches. Around these are more imposing monuments. However quaint the place may be within this hallowed mould, though gray and sere, romance and beauty and nobility are laid away with some of earth's grim secrets. Diversity and individuality may be safely studied in the congregation of the dead. Deep River is a typical Friends' Meet- ing.
WEST MARKET STREET METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The first record of Methodism in Piedmont Carolina is that of 1770, when Andrew Yeargan was appointed to Yadkin Circuit, which embraced Guilford County and was a part of Virginia Con- ference. Three years later Guilford Circuit was formed and Samuel Dudley and James Gibbons were put in charge of it. In 1800 this Circuit reported five hundred and fifty-one white mem- bers and thirty-nine colored. A year later the minutes show that the Circuit was a part of the Salisbury District, and James Douthit
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was presiding elder. A list of the pastors of the church from 1800 to the present time is given :
1800, Wm. Atwood; 1801, Josiah Phillips; 1802, John Moose; 1803, Thomas L. Douglas, J. C. Ballew; 1804, Wm. Hubbard, George Dillard; 1805, John Cox, Nathan Weldon; 1806, John Gibbon, Richard Owen; 1807, William Barnes, Chas. Roundtree: 1808, Edmund Henley, J. T. Brockwell; 1809, Chas. Roundtree, John Humphries; 1810, Joel Arrington; 1811, Ed- ward Cannon, Erasmus Stinson ; 1812, Ethelbert Drake; 1813, Joel Arring- ton, John Doyle: 1814, Joel Arrington, Cyrus Christian; 1815, Henry Robertson, Chas. Mosley ; 1816, James Hammer, Abraham Frail; 1817, Sam- uel Garrard, James Smith; 1818, John F. Wright, Archibald Robinson; 1819, Samuel Hunter, Benj. Stephens; 1820, Thomas Howard; 1821, James Reid; 1823, Thacker Muis ; 1824, Jesse Lee; 1825, Rufus Wiley; 1826, Thos. Mann, Jacob Hill; 1827, Rufus Wiley, Thomas Mann; 1828, W. N. Abing- ton ; 1829, Richard D. Merriweather, Joshua Jaliff ; 1830, Peter Doub; 1831, John H. Watson, W. W. Albea, helper; 1832-3, Joshua Bethel. In 1834 the record reads: "Greensboro-Samuel Bryant." In 1835, Robert O. Burton; 1836, B. B. Miles. In 1837 the North Carolina Conference was established by the General Conference. Its first session the following year was held, at which time James Purvis was sent to Greensboro. In 1838 Thomas S. Campbell was pastor; 1839, William Class; 1840, Addison Lea ; 1841, Ira T. Wyche; 1843, Benj. M. Williams ; 1844-5, S. S. Bryant; 1846, Joel W. Tucker; 1847, Peter Doub, Joseph B. Martin; 1848, Samuel M. Frost ; 1849, A. S. Andrews; 1850, James P. Simpson; 1851, James Jami- son, S. D. Bumpass ; 1852-3, N. H. D. Wilson; 1854-5, W. H. Bobbitt; 1856, Numa F. Reid, Joshua Bethel; 1857-8, L. S. Burkhead ; 1859-60, L. L. Hendren; 1861-2, H. T. Hudson; 1863-4, Joel W. Tucker; 1865-8, William Barringer ; 1869, A. W. Mangum; 1870-3, J. A. Cunningham; 1874, W. H. Bobbitt ; 1875-7, S. D. Adams; 1878-80, D. R. Burton, J. C. Thomas, Supt. in '79; 1881-4, L. W. Crawford; 1885-8, J. E. Mann ; 1889, L. W. Crawford; 1800-94, S. H. Hilliard; 1894, J. H. Weaver; 1897, Dr. Roe; 1900, S. B. Turrentine.
In 1830 the first regular Methodist Church of Greensboro was built, when Rev. Peter Doub was pastor. In 1850-I a new site was chosen on West Market Street. Again in 1892 the congregation had grown so large as to demand a more commodious building. Another lot was bought on West Market Street, more elevated and nearer the centre of the city. On April 17, 1893, the Quarterly Conference appointed as a building committee, Messrs. S. L. Alderman, W. G. Balsley, C. H. Dorsett, W. H. Hill, Chas. H. Ireland, B. H. Merrimon, T. M. Pickard, S. L. Trogdon, G. W. Whitsett,
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G. W. Alley, S. Brown, H. W. Cobb, C. M. Hackett, H. M. Alford, J. A. Odell, H. L. Scott, J. M. Winstead. July 5, 1893, the first brick was laid for the edifice; the new West Market Church is one of the handsomest churches of any denomination in the State .*
PASTOR .- Rev. S. B. Turrentine, D. D.
BOARD OF STEWARDS .- J. A. Odell, President; C. H. Ireland, Vice- President ; Prof. W. F. Alderman, Treasurer; Dr. J. E. Wyche, Secretary : J. N. Richardson, E. J. Stafford, C. H. Dorsett, C. A. Bray, J. N. Leak, J. W. Landreth, W. W. Wood, Dr. Dred Peacock, A. W. Vickory, Dr. Jno. H. Wheeler, F. C. Boyles, M. S. Sherwood, T. M. Pickard, E. L. Sides, Prof. J. M. Bandy, R. R. Alley, W. P. Hutton, W. T. Smith, O. F. Pearce.
LOOKOUT COMMITTEE .- C. H. Ireland, Chairman; Dr. J. H. Wheeler, F. C. Boyles, W. W. Wood. W. T. Smith.
FINANCE COMMITTEE .- E. L. Sides, Chairman; Dr. Dred Peacock, M. S. Sherwood, J. N. Richardson, T. M. Pickard.
COMMITTEE ON CARE OF SICK .- C. H. Dorsett, Chairman ; E. J. Staf- ford, J. W. Landreth, O. F. Pearce, W. P. Hutton.
COMMITTEE ON CHURCH PROPERTY .- C. A. Bray, Chairman; J. N. Leak, A. W. Vickory, R. R. Alley, Prof. J. M. Bandy.
TRUSTEES .- G. W. Alley, Chairman ; G. Will Armfield, M. Lamb, J. A. . Odell. S. I. Trogdon, W. E. Coffin, J. N. Richardson, W. H. Turner, S. C. Dodson.
USHERS .- C. H. Dorsett, Chairman ; W. T. Smith, Jos. J. Stone, J. N. Leak, E. J. Stafford, E. A. Brown, R. E. Reeves, G. W. Patterson, M. R. Reeves, O. S. Ball, H. G. Reinicker, A. E. B. Alford, Sidney N. Peters, A. J. Sykes, R. G. Stockton.
METHODIST PROTESTANT CHURCH.
Early in the nineteenth century there was a division in the Methodist Church in regard to church government, and the Metho- dist Protestant Church was created, believing that obedience to bishops was inconsistent with a republican people. The first Methodist Protestant church in central and western North Caro- lina was Moriah, in Guilford County, four miles south of Greens- boro. Moriah had once been a Methodist Episcopal church, but under the leadership of Rev. John Coe, Joseph Gilbreath, James Hendricks and William Gilbreath it became Methodist Protestant.
* I am indebted for this data to Miss Ruth York, who has an excellent sketch of the Church in Vol. 8, College Message.
ROBERT M. SLOAN, ELDER IN THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, AGED OVER NINETY.
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This little band of thirty-four men and women planted the Metho- dist Protestant Church in Guilford County. It is said that there are more churches of this denomination in Guilford County than any other, though it is surpassed by others in regard to numbers. About 1840, Tabernacle Church was established. Jonathan Causey donated the first plot of ground. In 1841 they built a commodious house, and a preacher, Rev. Joseph Causey, painted it. The trustees were : John Forbis, Samuel Hunter, Levi Causey, Joseph Alexander and John Hardin. This church has now a membership of three hundred.
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