USA > South Carolina > Orangeburg County > Centennial address reciting the history of Bull Swamp Baptist Church of Orangeburg County : from its organization, July 6, 1816 to July 6, 1916 > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02300 9977
Gc 975.701 OR1G
2262784
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/centennialaddres00gard
Washington Memorial Library Macon. Georgia
Centennial Address;
RECITING
THE HISTORY OF BULL SWAMP BAP- TIST CHURCH, OF ORANGEBURG COUNTY, FROM ITS ORGANI- ZATION, JULY 6, 1816, TO JULY 6, 1916.
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By G. W. GARDNER 11
SHERIDAN PRINTING COMPANY
82 9254 1
Middle Georgia Regional Library Tr Mi 0
Allen County Public Library. Ft. Wayne, Indiana
2262784
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Introduction
In the following pages is published a centennial address that was prepared at the request of members of the Bull. Swamp_church to be delivered on the occasion of its one hundredth anniversary which was to be celebrated during the session of the Orangeburg Association, this body having decided to hold its 1915 session with the church in view of this fact. The Association was in session on Friday and Saturday October the 13th and 14th. On Sunday morn- ing, October 15, 1916, the address was made before a large congre- gation. At its conclusion a unanimous vote of thanks was extended the writer after which the church mised money to have it printed in phamphlet form.
Its preparation has been a labor of love. It enabled the writer to find out for himself many interesting facts in connection with this church which he has known from childhood, that otherwise. he would never have discovered. It also gave him a higher concep- tion of the work done by men who were well known to him, and of the gracious influences that have descended from the fathers who lived long before his day.
In its preparation, he is indebted to Brethren G. Clarence Living- ston and William Bryce for their kindness in securing the records for him; to Rev. J. Furman Moore of Wagener for his very cheerfe! loan of the file of the minutes of the Edisto Association of which he is clerk; to Rev. Hiram L. Baggott's History of Dean Swamp church, and to David Ramsay's History of South Carolina.
GEORGE WILLIAM GARDNER.
Greenwood, S. C., October 1916.
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History of Bull Swamp Baptist Church
SURVEY.
EFORE entering upon the history proper of Bull B Swamp Baptist church let us take a survey of the country where it was to be organized July 6, 1816, and where it has lived and served the Master's cause for the last one hundred years. Orangeburg district, as it was then called, we are told by David Ramsay, in his history of South Carolina, was settled by Germans in 1735 who reached Charleston that year. They were a thrifty people, but were not Baptists. He tells us from the third year of its settlement the people had religious_instruction . from the Reverend John Gissendanner who evidently was not a Baptist; for we are told that the first child that he christened was born in 1739. While Baptists were scarce in this part of the country that was to be the scene of the life and activities of this church they were more plentiful in what is known as the Fork, meaning that part of the dis- trict between the North and South Edisto rivers. Orange- burg at that time included all of Aiken and possibly portions of Lexington and other counties. There were some per- sons, however, living in this part of the country who knew the meaning of the New Testament as to what constituted "a church, and theit hearts and eyes were turned to the re- gions beyond, and they either sought the aid of their breth- ren at Dean Swamp or else the church at that place, like the Baptists in the days of the Apostles, was looking after the regions beyond, and sent brethren hither to plant and to water this vine.
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Eight years before the organization of Bull Swamp church in 1808 Ramsay tells us there were four Baptist churches and fourteen Methodist churches in the whole dis- trict. It may be imagined that the majority of the Metho- I'dists lived in this section where they are numerous today. While in the Fork, the writer knows from what persons told him years ago, there were scarcely any Methodists, there be- ing only one small church called Piney Grove which stood where the present town of Springfield is located. When a child he attended services at this church with his grand mother Gardner who lived on Dean Swamp and who was a member of the Dean Swamp Baptist church. She was the daughter of Rev. Johnathan Courtney, who was born 1768 and died June I, 1852. He was the writer's great grand father, whose death is referred to in the minutes of the Edis- to Association which met at Willow Swamp church in 1852 at which the following brethren from Bull Swamp were dele- gates : Rev. L. G. Zeigler, D. Gardner. The resolution is as follows: "Whereas it hath pleased God in His provi- dence to remove from us our beloved brother Johnathan Courtney: Resolved, that we bow in humble :submission to this dispensation of his Providence and that we offer his family our sincere condolence in the bereavement they have been called upon to sustain, but we rejoice in the hope that their loss is his gain." His sons and daughters were the pro- genitors of many of the sturdy Baptists of the churches at Dean Swamp, Rocky Springs and other churches in Aiken county. One of the four churches referred to by Ramsay was Dear Swamp church now thirteen years old having been organized in 1803. While the soil was not so congenial for Baptists on this side of the river it was known then as it is today that wherever the principles and practices of the New Testament are taught there is sure to be growth in spite of all the adverse surroundings. It was so in Apostolic times and it will be so until the Lord shall come to reward his saints.
In the whole State according to Ramsay in 1808 there
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were five_associations, LOQ_ Baptist preachers, 130 churches and 10,500 communicants, He states with the establishment of equal religious rights after the Revolution the Baptists grew rapidly. Today, in this year, 1916, there are 1, 123 Baptist churches with 152,618 members and about 700 preachers in South Carolina.
THE BEGINNING.
We read from a history of Dean Swamp Baptist church ยท compiled by Rev. H. L. Baggott and published in 1903, "On November 19, 1814, the church," meaning of course, Dean Swamp Church, "gave power to James Head, Josiah Keadle, and J. Jones to open the door of the church, receive and baptize members on Bull Swamp. On June the 7th, 1815, the church gave to James Head and Josiah Keadle the power to establish an arm of the Dean Swamp church on Bull Swamp. "So we see two years before the organization of the Bull Swamp church brethren were coming from Dean Swamp church bearing the precious message of salvation by grace and teaching that believers only should be bap- tized upon a profession of faith. That was a long ways to come in those days, at least a day's journey, now only an hour or two in this day of rapid transit by our modern methods of travel. At some place near the present spot our fathers must have erected a brush arbor, and there under the canopy of heaven they met to sing the songs of Zion, and to tell the old story of Jesus and his love. God was with them and blessed their efforts; for we learn that in two years from this carly beginning the present church was con- stituted. We are told that the organization took place a mile or more from the present location down the Bull Swamp 'road in the Amaker settlement, and that it was either in the barn or house of a brother bearing this name. But let us turn to the records.
ORGANIZATION.
The records are far from being full, but the best are found in a small book about the size of an old time hymn
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book bound in leather having printed on the back of it re- ceipts. It begins with the organization July 6, 1816, and carries us on to May 24, 1856, covering about two-thirds of this book. In all probability the death of the clerk, Shad- rach E. Ulmer, which occurred about this time accounts for its not being used after this. There are three other books in very bad condition poorly kept and with leaves torn and cut out. These records as meagre as they are, are worth their weight in gold and they should be carefully transcribed in order that they may be preserved. They should be kept in a fire proof vault.' The writer shall do his best to dig from them the history of this church. He must here and now express the hope that the church will at once provide a more substantial record book, and undertake to have fuller and better records so that the person who may be called upon to write the history of the church one hundred years hence will have at hand data that will enable him to get at the facts with far more ease and to produce something that will prove more satisfactory.
- But to the record. The first minute reads: "Agreeable to request these brethren, T. Deloach, J. Thigpen, D. Peo- ples. James Head did attend, and on the sixth day of July, A. D. IS16, did constitute a church on Bull Swamp, com- posed of members John A. Macker, James Mack, John Rickenbacker, Jacob McMikel, David Sturkie, Daniel Miller, Miles Cartin, and a black man named Sambo, Delila Macker, Siloam Rickenbacker, Maram Mack, Rachel Macker, Mary Ann Davis, Lieurany Walker, Cusy Davis, Ann Sholland, Margaret Miller, Lieurany Cartin, Mary McMichael, Ann Sturkie, Sarah Robinson and Mary Pearson .. In number twenty."
The names of members have been copied just as they appeared upon the record, spelling and all. The next min- ute is dated Saturday the 5th of October 1816, and reads: "We met in church conference and found brother John Macker and wife in a transgression, and laid over until next conference, and resolved that they should be at liberty." .
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We find the minutes abounding in references to discipline. Frequently a brother was placed under the censure of the church and deprived of his liberty, what that may have meant we are unable to say. He was summoned to trial and either given back his liberty or excluded from the fellow- ship of the church. There was no distinction on account of sex; for_we find that the sisters came in for their share of discipline as well as the brethren. In one instance we are told of the discipline of a brother for applying the unsavory and unsanitary name of polecat to some one whether a mem- ber or not we are unable to determine. The cases of dis- cipline most frequently mentioned were for the excessive use of strong drink. In one instance a brother and sister were cited to appear before the church for having a frolic at their house. In another instance a sister was excommuni- cated for denying the truth and blaspheming. . We find that the church was disturbed by having its members atterid shooting matches, and so we read in the minutes of July 22, 1820 the following: "Whether or not it is commendable for Baptists to go to shooting matches to shoot for gain? An- swer it is not commendable." In another place we find that the question of members working for travellers on the Lord's day comes before the church and it decides that it is. not right to work for them on Sunday. We are not told whether any were excluded for these offences or not. It is certain that the church had an eye in those days to the teach- ing of the New Testament on the subject of church disci- pline. We may well pause to ask the question, What has be-
- - come of discipline in Baptist churches in this day? We won- der if this church ever disciplines any of its members in these latter days. It seems that in this respect our churches have de- parted, in a large measure, from the teaching of the word of God in this matter. With a purer and a better membership our churches would undoubtedly have more power with God and with men
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PROVISION FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE GOSPEL
We find no reference whatever in the minutes to any pro- vision for the support of the pastors of the church in a fi- nancial way until October 31, 1824, when we read : "Where- as the Reverend George Scott supplies us in preaching the gospel of Christ and as we think it our indispensable duty to contribute to the support of the same, we promise to pay the sum annext to our names at the expiration of twelve months." The names and amounts follow and are Jacob McMichael, $10; Miles Cartin, $3; James D. Jones, $5; / Daniel Miller and Rachiel Jeffcoat, 25 cents; David Sturkie, $3; Martha Walker, $2; Johnathan Cartin, $2; William Harley, $2; David Taylor, $2. At the end of this list we read : "This subscription is of none effect because Father Scott did not attend. June 25, 1825." The next reference to pastoral support bears date of June 25, 1825, and reads : "Whereas the Rev. John Hollman supplies us in preaching the gospel, we promise to contribute to the support thereof the sums annexed to our names at the expiration of twelve: months." The names follow with amounts opposite to them ranging from one to ten dollars. It will be noted that not one word is said about the question of salary nor is there: the slightest intimation as to the amount that was to be paid for the services of a minister for any particular period. Fur- ther what was subscribed was to be paid only at the expira- tion of the year. There was no monthly or weekly pay -. ment of ministers contemplated in those days. We read in other years of amounts collected, but we shall reproduce only the following: "Moneys collected for the support of the gospel at Bull Swamp in behalf of Rev. R. J. Edwards,
. the year 1854." The names are B. Livingston, $20; S. F. Ulmer, $10; J. Williams, $5; D. Hooker, $1; L. Sturkie, 25 cents; F. A. Robinson, 50 cents." We are then given a record of the amounts that were collected. The remarkable thing that we find about these references to the support of the gospel is the fact that they are not recorded in the regu- lar minutes of the church but are found on some leaves in the
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back part of the church book. In some instances the leaves containing these records are either partially or entirely torn out. This makes one only the more anxious to know what they would tell us had they not been destroyed. In the years that follow not a word is said as to what is promised the pas- tor until we reach the years covering the peric from 1869 on into the seventies when the church moves :: figures up to two hundred dollars per year for pastoral suggest which was regarded as good pay for preaching on Saturday and the fol- lowing_Sunday_which seems to have embraced from the earliest history of the church the fourth Lord's day and Sat- urday before in each month.
When we consider the little thought that was given to the question of ministerial support in those days, we need not think it at all remarkable that what the church proposed to do along this line found no place in the regular minutes, but was relegated to an out of the way place in the minute book. It is an illustration of the way our fathers felt about this matter. It was in the back ground and had no: come to the front. They had not grasped the teaching of God's word which declares that they who preach the gospel are worthy of their hire. They are to live of the gospel. The writer well remembers seeing a subscription passed around on the grounds of this church at the close of the year for the man of God who in season and out of season had come at his own charges to minister to this church, and he was impressed with the seeming indifference as to tlfe amount that was raised for him. It seemed as cold and chilly as the winter winds that blew through the leafless trees. It had never taken hold of the church as it should that this was a matter of vital importance and one that could not be neglected or passed by with indifference or unconcern.
Careful research has been made to see what the church did for missions. In the early records only two references are found. In one which we reproduce the date of the min- ute is June 23. 1842 which must have been Saturday as we
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read :"Text preached from both of Romans 1, day following collection taken up to the amount of 1,37 1-2 "foran" mis- sions." The word is spelled just as it appears in the record.
THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH.
We note that the church was organized with only twenty members. For a long period it seems that its numbers did not go beyond this. Had the church been more interested in the support of the gospel at home and abroad its growth would no doubt have been greater. However we find in its early history that a church went out from the Bull Swamp church and was organized on Limestone. We read: "At a protracted meeting at Limestone M'ay 4th, 1835, received in tehalf of the church John Hainsworth, and on the 10th Joseph Robinson, Rebecca Robinson, Mary. M. Robinson, Belinda A. Robinson, Sarah W. Robinson, Susan F. De- wittee, Mary' Hainsworth, Elizabeth Sturkie, and blacks, Abram, Mary, Margarette, Adam, Nancy and Peter.
Then we have the following minute to tell of the dismis- . sion of members to constitute this church. "September 13, 1835 church met in conference appointed Rev. Jacob Wheel- er moderator. The following members applied for letters to join the church to be constituted at Limestone on the third Sunday in this month which was freely granted them." The La names are given five of whom were colored persons and nine white. Whatever became of this church is something we should like to know but we have not any means of finding out. Nor do we know where it was located. All the in- formation that we can get from these records is that it was located on Limestone, and that it had the good will of the mother church in its organization. ' The writer remembers when a child hearing that Lewis Robinson whose name is not mentioned, but who lived on Limestone was a Baptist at least in principle. He was a very large man and died years ago leaving a large family, descendants of whom live in that part of the country today. The Hainsworths whose names are spelled Haynesworth are prominent people who live in
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Sumter and some of them live in Greenville. They are in- telligent people of the highest character and are Baptists. In all probability they are descendants of the family that united in the organization of the now extinct Limestone church.
We are told that the Rev. J. Wheeler, whose name ap- pears again and again in the minutes of the Edisto Associa- tion and in the records of this church, was the father of Gen. Jog Wheeler. the distinguished cavalry leader, whose record in the War Between the States is an enviable one as a Con- federate General, and who later distinguished himself in the. Spanish- American war in Cuba. He was born in Augusta, Georgia in 1836. In all probability his father Rev. Jacob Wheeler who certainly was a member of this church at one time, must have been living in Augusta at the time of Gen. Joe Wheeler's birth. We are told that Rev. Jacob Wheeler married a Miss Robinson of Limestone, and that Joe Wheeler has cousins living in that community today. In 1863. following the raid of Sherman. Wheeler's cavalry was camped on the ground between this church and the creek and all around the church. The writer went through the camp which covered both sides of the road leading on down to the swamp from the church. In all probability General Wheeler was himself in the camp at this time.
We know that the Bull Swamp church grew a great deal after the war, and that other churches went out from it of which no mention is made in the minutes. The large and flourishing colored church located only a few miles from this place was constituted from members of this church. The church took especial interest in her colored members and we are sure that they went out from the mother church to or- gonize a church for themselves carrying not only the good will of the mother church, but that it followed them with its pravers and earnest desire for God's blessing to rest upon them, and to-day this church rejoices in the good work that Ebenezer is doing.
In the neighborhood of what is now Providence church there lived a man who was a strong Baptist in principle, but
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who had never joined a church. His convictions were deep and abiding and he could never have been anything but a Baptist. Through his interest in the work and as a nucleous a brush arbor was erected, and a meeting of days held which resulted in a number of persons professing faith in Christ who were baptized into the fellowship of this church, who af- terward, with others, took their letters and organized the Providence church. We read from the minutes of April 24, 1869: "The following brethren and sisters were granted let- ters to unite themselves together, and constitute a church named Providence, "Malachi, Milledge, Fletcher, and Eliza- beth Herlong, E. H. Graves, and Caroline Graves, William Gaffney, William and Harriett Brown, Dempsey Gardner." So we see another church going out from this old mother. William Gaffney told the writer that he lived for years in the Providence community where he never saw a Baptist. On one occasion a man riding horseback with his saddle bags passed through on his journey. and stopped with him for dinner, and to have his horse fed. He proved to be a Baptist preacher and Mr. Gaffney detained him as long as he could while his soul feasted upon the words that he spoke. When this preacher left he went out in the road and stood where he could see the preacher as he rode away and he held his eyes upon his receding form just as long as it could be seen. It was a struggle for Mr. Gaffney to get his consent to offer himself for baptism, fearing that he might not have that experience of grace that every one should have. before baptism.
Malachi Herlong had been a preacher of another denomi- nation, but from conviction he had joined this church a short time previous to the organization of Providence and after baptism was ordained to the gospel ministry. It took courage to carry out his convictions, especially when his wife said she could not and would not go with him, but un- daunted he did what he believed God would have him do and he lived to convince those who criticised him most se- verely that he was all that he professed to be. Eventually
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his whole family went with him, and living near Providence they became constituent members of that church. He lived to convince all who criticised him for his change that there was nothing in his action save loyalty to his Lord and Mas- ter. He was followed by the awakening of another man who had long been a preacher in another denomination and Uncle Peter Buyck became a Baptist with his family several of whom are living today and are exemplifying in their . lives the grace of God. All these gracious influences went out from Bull Swamp church and they extended to the town of Saint Matthews where Baptist principles were unknown, but where we have today a strong and flourishing church. And as a result of this influence a church was established near the Buyck home named Congaree to which community the Herlongs moved having sold their home in the Provi- dence neighborhood.
Just a short time before the civil war a church was organ- ized in Orangeburg, and the Williamsons, and possibly oth- ers who lived in this community were members, as was Bar- nett Livingston a man of wealth and influence, who while he may not have been a member of Bull Swamp, we find from the records that he contributed to its support and he was put on important committees. We are informed that he was baptized into the fellowship of the church at Salen.
The writer has been told that Barnett Livingstou who was a man of considerable wealth made a large contribu- tion for the erection of a house of worship of the Orange- burg church, and that he was also a liberal contributor to the building fund of the First Baptist church of Columbia at that time under the pastorate of Dr. James P. Boyce then a young man. He also made a contribution to the on- dowment of_Furman University. His remains rest in the yard of the Orangeburg church of which he must have been a member at the time of his death.
Bull Swamp church may have the hearts of her members swell today with gratitude and thanksgiving for what God has wrought at Orangeburg. Long the church struggled, but
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it has become one of our strongest and best churches in the denomination at present under the pastorate of Rev. George E. Davis.
Hot Bull Swan
Here near at hand is the splendid church at North filled with brethren who by their increasing zeal and interest in the cause is soon to follow in the advances made in the church at Orangeburg The minutes do not tell us what part this church had in the organization of the North church but we know it made its contributions to that interest. Indeed the writer knows two Baptist women who were so loyal to the cause and who could not be anything but Bap- tists who contributed their part to the beginning of this blessed work at North. Some here today will remember the little preaching place just beyond Jones' bridge and the be- ginning that was made there. But we can not pursue these reflections further. We can only pause to raise our hearts in gratitude and to . exclaim, "Behold what God hath wrought !"
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