USA > South Carolina > Spartanburg County > A history of Spartanburg county > Part 8
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The Coming of D. E. Converse
When the Bivingsville plant fell under the direction of John Bomar, he was wise enough, according to Landrum, to set out in search of an experienced manager. He found a genius in Dexter Edgar Converse, a man who came of an able family of cloth manufacturers, and who was himself expertly trained in the various phases of mill management. Bomar employed Converse as manager of the Bivingsville mill, and in so doing set on foot a train of circumstances of the greatest significance in the history of the section. Converse was a partner and soon became the leader of them all. Not only did he organize a paying enterprise at Bivings- ville, but he manifested a civic spirit which made him invaluable in the building of Spartanburg. The part he played in time of war and later of reconstruction was outstanding in the development of city and county. He brought into being in Spartanburg a new stability and perseverance in the textile industry. The example he set in- spired others to surmount obstacles.
CHAPTER EIGHT Doctrines and Dogmas
Winds of While they were fighting wild beasts and Indians, clear- Doctrine ing forests, opening roads, setting up orderly forms of government, building iron works and mills, Spartan pioneers were also erecting log churches and establishing schools, and were blown upon by all sorts of winds of doctrine. They were divided in their views concerning slavery, temperance, nullification, theology, public education, and other social and economic problems.
Slavery Slavery was sanctioned by the law of the land, but in the early days the Spartanburg area had preachers and others who ven- tured to oppose the institution. Such an occurrence took place July 20, 1796, when James Gilliland, Jr., son of the Nazareth pastor, presented himself before the Presbytery of South Carolina for or- dination. A "remonstrance" bearing twelve signatures was presented, accusing the candidate of "preaching against Government." This charge he denied, but he said he felt "called of God to preach against slavery." After heated discussion he was persuaded to "be guided by the counsel of Presbytery as the voice of God," and promised that he would not "as a preacher attack slavery from the pulpit." In 1804 Gilliland's convictions in opposition to slavery forced him to resign his pastorate and join the migration to Ohio. Instances could be multiplied to show how slavery was a contributory factor in draining the population of some of its most desirable elements. New England industrialists, Quakers, and Scotch Presbyterians were among those who joined in the Western migration because of it.
Freemasonry Sentiment among stern religionists was divided on other subjects-for instance, freemasonry. While the churches seem, with some exceptions, to have endorsed the temperance movement, indications are frequent that in the old days they viewed with sus- picion and disfavor the secret fraternal orders. This is illustrated by the case of the Reverend John Williams of the Cedar Spring Church. This church, upon learning that he had joined the free- masons in the Tyger River Church bounds, suspended him and brought him to trial. He defended himself and appealed for a new hearing before Tyger River and Bethlehem churches. These congre- gations voted in favor of sustaining the action of Cedar Spring 82
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Church. The case was argued again, with four churches participating -Upper Duncans Creek, Boiling Spring, Bethlehem, and Cedar Spring. The churches denied the contention of Williams that he was within his rights in being a freemason, and the outcome was that in September 1801, he was excluded from the Baptist ministry for join- ing the masons. Fifty years later ministers and church officers were leaders in freemasonry.
Church Discipline
The experiences of John Williams and James Gilliland illustrate the social control exercised by the churches. Instances could be cited from the church books of former days of astonishing rebukes and disciplinary measures administered for such faults as quarrelsomeness, profanity, slander, drunkenness, operating stills, marital infidelity, habitual absence from public worship. In the forties James Edward Henry, a member of the Methodist Church, declined a challenge to fight a duel because he felt honor bound by his church vows to such a course of action.
Temperance The observations of Bishop Asbury and Columbus Hale would not indicate that the nation-wide agitation for temperance could have met any marked success in Spartanburg District. Yet the case was quite to the contrary. In 1822 and 1826 two men made church-to-church visitations, speaking in behalf of temperance-the Reverend Michael Dickson of the Nazareth congregation, and the Reverend Christopher Johnson of the Philadelphia Baptist Church. In 1831 the Reverend John L. Kennedy spoke from every pulpit opened to him in the District on behalf of temperance societies. Judge J. B. O'Neall's influence had great power in winning men to join temperance societies. There were two types of these societies- those requiring a pledge of total abstinence and those requiring what was called the Washingtonian pledge, which permitted the drinking of wines and beer, but not of distilled liquors.
When Spartanburg, August 2, 1843, entertained the State Tem- perance Convention, the District was represented by 84 delegates, the organizations and number of delegates sent by each being as follows: Spartanburg District Temperance Association, 3; Spar- tanburg Village Washington Society, 7; Lawson's Fork Washington Society, 1 ; Shiloh Washington Society, 2; New Prospect Washington Society, 3; Mount Zion Total Abstinence Society, 6; Boiling Springs Total Abstinence Society, 3; Trinity Washington Society, 1; Chapel Washington Society, 1; Foster's Meeting House Total Abstinence
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Society, 2; New Hope Washington Society, 2; Young Men's Tem- perance Society of Spartanburg District, 7; Washington Bethlehem Society, 3; Republican Washington Society, 8; Bivingsville Total Abstinence Society, 6; Washington Society of Maberryville, 3; Naza- reth Temperance Society, 7; Tuck's School House Temperance So- ciety, 3; Ridgefield Washington Society, 5; Holly Springs Tem- perance Society, 3; South Pacolet Total Abstinence, 4 ; Mount Pleas- ant Temperance Society, 1. There were at the Convention about 300 delegates. The State membership at the time was 19,211; Spartan- burg's societies had 1,811 members-second in the State to Charles- ton, which had 4,042 members.
Typical of the temperance celebrations held annually by the various organizations was one at Rich Hill, May 15, 1858. The exercises be- gan at 10 a.m. with a procession formed at the church. Leading the procession was an organization called the Neighbors' Band. Then followed, in order, the citizens, the ladies, Calhoun Lodge 84 A. F. M., and the Fairforest No. 1 Free and Independent Brothers of Tem- perance. The line of march was under command of Colonel Joe Ballenger, Captain T. W. Wyatt, and General B. B. Foster. The exercises began with prayer by the Reverend C. S. Baird, and in- cluded an anniversary address by the chaplain and the main address on Temperance by Professor J. H. Carlisle. An "Ode" concluded the program, and a "handsome repast" followed. The attendance was reported as between a thousand and fifteen hundred.
Religious Denominations When settlements were new and preachers were scarce, doctrinal divisions were of little consequence. The separation of church and State caused heated controversy in the low country, but was a question never agitated in Spartanburg, where the idea of an established church was generally repugnant. The Pres- byterians and Baptists had churches in operation when the Revolution broke, but the Methodists first appeared after 1785. Robert Mills' Statistics, in 1825, reported the District as having a population of 16,000 with fewer than 2,000 church members. The Baptists were listed as having six churches with 1,425 communicant members. Evi- dently Mills did not list the many "arms" which the Baptists had established before this time. The records of the Baptist denomination include the following churches in Spartanburg County as founded be- fore 1825: Friendship (1765), Buck Creek (1779), Cedar Spring (1787), Boiling Springs (1792), Bethlehem (1800), Philadelphia
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(1803), Wolf's Creek (1803), Mt. Zion (1804), Holly Springs (1804), Green Pond (1810), Abner's Creek (1818), Bethesda (1820), New Prospect (1820). According to the Statistics there were two Presbyterian churches, with 128 communicants. These were Nazareth (1765) and North Pacolet (1780). There were Methodists in Spartanburg in 1785; but as late as 1825 they had no organized churches; although Mills stated that 361 were enrolled in societies. What Mills described as "another sect not organized" was no doubt the Episcopalians, of whom a strong group existed at this period near Glenn Springs.
Camp The camp meeting was an institution which all denomina-
Meetings tions found of use, but in the hands of the Methodists it was especially successful. Popular camp meeting grounds in this area were those at Shiloh, Bird Mountain, Lebanon Church, Pacolet, Fingerville, and, most famous of all, Cannon's Camp Ground. Lorenzo Dow, known in England as the "Father of the Camp-Meet- ing," once lived for a year or so in Spartanburg District. He founded Sharon Church; and John Chapman, Sr., named a son after him.
The first great camp meeting in Spartanburg District was held, July 2-5, 1802, at Poplar Springs in the Nazareth community. It was an outgrowth of the meeting of the Second Presbytery of South Caro- lina, and 13 Presbyterian preachers were present, besides several visit- ing ministers of other denominations. The attendance was estimated at from 3,000 to 7,000. More than 200 carriages and wagons were counted ; and the saddle horses were numerous. The number of tents was remarkably large. Camp meetings continued to be popular until comparatively recent years, and, in days of poor transportation and few preachers, they greatly promoted religious activity.
Cannon's Camp Ground, established about 1834 in connection with McKendree's Chapel, continued for more than seventy-five years to be the scene of annual gatherings. It was typical of the best of them. There was a large "Arbor"-a development of the brush arbor of primitive days-of rough lumber, open on all sides. It had a pulpit, around which was built the "mourners' bench"- where penitents bowed to ask for prayer or give testimony. A space on one side of the pulpit was reserved for the slaves, who always attended in large numbers. The worshipers sat on "peg-leg" benches without backs. The ground was covered with straw-saved from the threshings for this use. "Light-horses"-wooden scaffolds about four feet high,
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covered with rocks and soil, were placed on all four sides and heaped with rich "light-wood"-resinous pine wood. Their characteristic odor and flaring light were among the unforgettable associations in the memories of all who ever attended the old-fashioned camp meeting. Candles, and in later days kerosene lanterns, supplemented the out- side lights. Over the pulpit hung a horn, the blasts from which gave signals for each day's activities. The singing, so hearty that it could be heard more than a mile away, was another memorable feature. There was preaching three times each day. The day began at seven o'clock with a sunrise service announced by the blaring horn.
Most families owned tents, as the wooden shacks grouped about the arbor were called; and these were made as comfortable as the standards of a family demanded. Sometimes two or more wagons were required to convey the necessary equipment to and from camp. Some householders took feather beds to soften the straw in the built- in bunks. Food was prepared in advance, at home, so far as possible- baked hams, turkeys, chickens, cakes, pies, and loaf bread. Jars and jars of pickles and preserves were carefully packed. Sharing meals and exchanging recipes for admired dishes was a pleasure indeed to housewives who, in the strenuous older days, too seldom had the chance to enjoy each other's hospitality. Patterns, new stitches in crocheting and knitting-these also were by-products the ladies carried from the camp meeting.
In August 1831, the Saluda Baptist Association held
The Brushy Creek Revival a revival at the Brushy Creek Church eight miles north of Greenville. This meeting rivalled the camp meetings in the interest it aroused. Men and women rode amazingly long distances to attend the services. New preaching centers were established, brush arbors were put up, and so great was the interest that shops were closed, looms and spinning wheels were stopped, and only necessary household duties were attended to. According to a highly intelligent narrator :
It is difficult now to state the precise results of this revival. Within an area of twenty-five miles square, thirteen new churches were formed, while the old ones were filled to overflowing. It is safe to estimate that during the whole period there were added to these churches between two and three thousand souls. Nor was the great work confined to the ignorant and excitable ; the best material in the country was gathered into the folds of the church ; and a new era dawned in the history of the Baptists of Upper Carolina.
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Denominational The years following the Brushy Creek revival were Growth
years of growth in all denominations. The list of churches was greatly expanded, especially in the Methodist and Bap- tist denominations. The Presbyterians added only one new organiza- tion-the Spartanburg church. The Episcopalians organized the Church of the Advent in Spartanburg (1848), Calvary in Glenn Springs (1850), and a chapel in Wellford. The Methodists had many preaching places, and organized churches when the number of converts justified. They were, according to the Reverend A. M. Chreitzberg, included in the Broad River Circuit, 1785-1802; in the Saluda Circuit, 1802-1805; and in the Enoree Circuit, 1805-1833. Five counties - Spartanburg, Union, Chester, York, and Fair- field - made up this circuit. During that period circuit preach- ers visited the stations as they could, and camp meetings and district conferences were held. Benjamin Wofford's activities began in 1805, when he was received as a preacher. In 1816 he was ap- pointed a "traveling preacher." In 1817 the fourth quarterly con- ference of the Enoree Circuit was held at Wofford's Chapel, and Ben- jamin Wofford, as secretary, kept the records. The only year in which the records included a tabulation of the churches was 1836. Twenty-two churches were listed-the following in the Spartanburg area : Tabernacle, Chapel, Shiloh, Foster's Meeting House, and Mc- Kendree's Chapel. The great revival of 1831, the building of a church in Spartanburg, and especially the building of Wofford College, were influential in the strengthening and multiplying of chapels and churches of the Methodist denomination.
The Baptists especially owed much to the revival of 1831. Some "arms," almost ready to wither, took on renewed life. Several re- markable Baptist preachers-Thomas Ray, Richard Shackleford, Thomas Woodruff, John G. Landrum, outstanding among them- were influential factors in this growth. "Uncle Tommy" Ray and "Dick" Shackleford were especially identified with Bethel, which was for many years the leading Baptist church of the district.
On November 1, 1833, twelve churches sent representatives to Mount Zion Church to organize the Tyger River Association. J. G. Landrum was made moderator. Of these churches, one-Mountain Page-was in North Carolina; one-Cedar Grove-was in Laurens District ; six-Clear Spring, Brushy Creek, Head of Tyger, Washing- ton, Bethuel, and Pleasant Grove-were in Greenville; and four-
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Bethlehem, Mount Zion, Green Pond, and Holly Springs-were in Spartanburg. In 1876, when this association was broken up and the Spartanburg Association formed, Landrum was again moderator. His ability and tireless energy are illustrated by the fact that during the year 1848 he actually served eight churches regularly, preaching each month sixteen sermons and riding at least 250 miles horseback to keep his appointments. Some of these churches had to hold services on weekdays to secure Landrum's ministry. During his long life Landrum served as pastor of New Prospect 50 years ; of Bethlehem 36 years ; and of Wolf Creek as long, and preached regularly for con- siderable periods at other churches. It was estimated that he baptized between 5,000 and 6,000 men and women.
Bethel The most remarkable of the Baptist churches was Bethel.
Church So ancient that its beginnings are clouded in obscurity, it emerged into prominence by 1803. In that year a third meeting- house was built :
a long low-framed building, never ceiled, and with a gallery across each end. The pulpit was situated in the centre of one side. It was a high, square-shaped box with steps running up at one end, and closed with a door. The book board was so high that a minister of small stature might find some difficulty in making himself seen over it. One can imagine how, upon a warm summer day, about three or four preachers could enjoy themselves, sitting upon a bench nailed to the wall, with the door buttoned tight, which was rarely neglected, cooped up in this box, and with no ventilation except a small window in their rear, about as high as their heads .... the house for its time a goodly one, was beauti- fully situated in a grove of large spreading oaks, and near to the corner of the same old graveyard.
This house stood until 1849. In Bethel Church, in 1789, was organized the Bethel Association, which held thirty-three meetings in it. In 1839 Bethel entertained the State Baptist Convention, and after entering the Tyger River Association entertained that body.
A touching story of this church tells how the revival of 1802 ex- tended to it. Thomas Woodruff was then the neighborhood school- master, and one day he became uneasy at the long absence from the schoolroom of little Rhoda Bragg. He went in search of her, and found her on her knees praying aloud for him. He was deeply affected, and remained listening until other pupils came to the scene. The master sent for a preacher, and so began a meeting which led to
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one hundred eighty-eight baptisms and a great renewal of religious zeal in Bethel Church.
Another affecting story of this church has to do with the political bitterness of Nullification days. The Reverend Thomas Ray of Union County had for many years ministered to the Bethel flock acceptably. But when he aligned himself with the Nullifiers and even accepted election to the Nullification Convention, some of his Unionist members so resented his course that he was dismissed from the pastorate. Things went from bad to worse until the church was divided into two factions who refused to have dealings with each other. The as- sociation sent a committee to investigate the situation and ordered a day of fasting and prayer. On the appointed day, November 28, 1834, a large and serious throng gathered. Some of the leaders of the denomination spoke and prayed and urged steps toward reconciliation. The people, deeply moved, formed two lines in the churchyard and marched past each other, singing the songs of Zion and shaking hands, every Nullifier with every Unionist. Ray was soon invited to return-and he did so with great joy.
Political James H. Carlisle, in an address to Spartanburg college
Differences girls, described how bitterly men felt on the question of Nullification :
There are not many now living who remember to have seen a cockade on a Nullifier's hat. Think of a rosette made up of blue ribbons, the rosette as large nearly as a silver dollar ; now on the middle of that, fasten a gilt palmetto button. That was the Nulli- fier's cockade, that was his flag, that was his creed. The men of that day wore beaver hats. That cockade put on the left side of the hat was the Nullifier's flag flying. The absence of that usually meant a Union man.
The very cockade was almost an invitation to a fight, it was like a chip which a young fellow puts on his shoulder and goes about with, challenging the opposition, the State of South Caro- lina, and the universe to knock it off. The cockade was about like that, and not many salesdays or court weeks passed without a fight. It drove the dividing line through the State. A father would be on one side, a Union man, and his son a Nullifier. Of two boys, one would put on a cockade, the other would not. The subject came up at the dinner table, and everywhere. Some of the best citizens left the State in disgust and despair, trying to find in other States the harmony and peace which South Carolina did not give them.
'This county was largely Union, but there were some Nullifiers
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in old Spartanburg. Years ago, in looking over old papers, I found a handbill, signed by a committee of Nullifiers in Spartan- burg, warning their friends not to go into the courthouse on the Fourth of July, that the Union men were to meet there. The two parties could not meet together in an old-fashioned Fourth of July celebration, to rejoice over English tryanny being abolished. No, they were Nullifiers and Unionists.
About that time some early risers in the little village of Spar- tanburg were surprised to find an effigy of Calhoun hanging from the limb of a tree very near where the Morgan monument now stands. John C. Calhoun was then understood to mean John Cataline Calhoun, when the opposing party desired to translate his middle initial . . .
Very dramatic scenes were enacted in Spartanburg in connection with the Nullification dispute. William Hoy was of the opinion that a five-hour speech delivered by Judge Smith, in the fall of 1831, crystallized sentiment against the Nullification doctrine. Hoy gave a striking account of the great Fourth of July celebration of 1832, when the Unionists organized a spectacular political demonstration. From all over the district the people thronged to hear the speeches and share the excitement. At dawn a cannon salute ushered in the day, and at 11 o'clock a line of parade was formed, led by Revo- lutionary soldiers and distinguished citizens. The customary orations, songs, and toasts were included in the celebration, and a special point was made of reading Washington's Farewell Address instead of the Declaration of Independence.
In the fall elections Spartanburg's vote was overwhelmingly Unionist as against States' Rights. A custom of that day made pos- sible the election of non-resident representatives to the proposed State Convention, and Spartanburg elected Judge J. B. O'Neall of New- berry, J. S. Richardson of Clarendon, and Alfred Huger of Charles- ton, to represent the county, with three native sons-John S. Row- land, James Crook, and S. N. Evins.
Despite the fact that the Unionist sentiment prevailed in 1832, public opinion steadly veered around to the side of States' Rights. What tariff injustices would not do, abolitionist agitation did. Even- tually, in 1849, the Southern delegates in Congress issued an address to their constituents analyzing the situation and recommending that meetings be held in every Congressional District of the South to con- sider existing conditions and insure the Southern people opportunity to express their sentiments as to their constitutional rights.
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Spartans were among the first to respond to this call, holding a meeting at the courthouse, March 6, 1849. Dr. John Winsmith pre- sided over this meeting, and James E. Henry had a large part in its deliberations. This native of New England, who represented Spartan- burg District in the legislature for twelve years, was the mover in the adoption of resolutions expressing resentment at the grievances, in- justice, and degradation to which the South was being subjected, and pledging the citizens of Spartanburg District to unite with others in arresting further progress of such conditions. The chair was author- ized to appoint a vigilance committee, and named on it : Colonel H. H. Thomson, Major H. J. Dean, Simpson Bobo, Esq., Dr. W. C. Bennett, Hon. Gabriel Cannon, Captain Robert Jackson, General J. W. Miller, Colonel S. N. Evins, Jonas Brewton, Esq., Dr. C. P. Wofford, James Nesbitt, Z. D. Bragg, Esq., J. Davis, C. P. Smith, J. C. Zimmerman, Thomas Littlejohn, Dr. Samuel Otterson, Captain A. Bonner, and Henry Dodd, Esq.
As the years passed, interest in railroads, agricultural societies, schools, and general business and social life was crowded into the background by a growing concern about the turmoil in the nation. Political sentiment on the question of secession divided Spartans, along with all Southerners, into three distinct factions: Unionists, Secessionists, and Cooperationists. Each faction had able and patri- otic adherents, not only in the District but in the entire South. The unwise policies of the national leaders and of the Abolitionists, and the course of the national agitation concerning slavery and protection of it as an institution, gradually, by 1860, brought about in Spartan- burg a united support of secession. John Brown's Raid increased popular indignation against the North. Local papers were filled with accounts of it and comments on its significance and its expected effects. Musters, drills, tournaments, flag presentations, and liberty- pole raisings multiplied. Men and women even at the time felt dimly that they were living through the end of an era. The years behind them had followed a pattern of life which another year was to break up and destroy forever. These years were to take on in memory a glamour and a glory which they had never possessed in reality-"the good old days befo' the War."
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