USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. I pt 1 > Part 34
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WILTON CHURCH. Papers exist which show that Rev. John Alison preached to this church during the years 1760 and 1761 .- (MS. Notes, by Rev. J. L. Girardeau, D. D.). He seems to have left Wilton, and ministered to the people on
320
JAMES ISLAND.
[1760-1770.
the Altamaha, in Georgia. In January, 1766, Mr. Simpson received payment, without interest, of the arrearages due him for services in 1752, after a lapse of fourteen years ; "Mr. Stobo," who had all this time been hostile to him, "consenting;" "an answer," Mr. Simpson says, " to prayer." Mention is made in the minutes of the Board of Trustees, between May 6th, 1765, and May, 1766, of Rev. Mr. Simpson and Rev. Mr. Alison as having supplied the church during a vacancy in the pastorate, for which they received compensation. On May 29th, 1767, Mr. Simpson says that the congregations of Pon Pon and Wilton request half his time. The minutes of the trustees contain provisions for the erection of a new church edifice to be situated on the parsonage land, about three miles from the original site of the church on Wilton Bluff. A meet- ing of the trustees was held July 31st, 1767, in the minutes of which mention is made of " the church now building," so that the church was rebuilt in that year. In August of this year Mr. Simpson speaks of preaching at Wilton and Pon Pon, mentions Wilton new meeting-house, "about four miles or more from the old one, and about three miles from the public path, so that it is very convenient and centrical ; is a large, handsome, and very well built house-the pulpit and pews the same which used to be in the old brick meeting-house. Mr. Stobo has inoved out of the parish, and all differences are made up. They frequently asked me to accept of their call, and upon my repeated refusal, have lately sent to the north- ward. Was treated with great respect." On the 10th of April, 1768, he again preaches at Wilton, and finds that they have forwarded their call to presbytery. Of this we have before spoken, and of the wishes expressed by Mr. Hewat that he should accept of it; but Mr. Simpson appears to have declined it, for there exists on the records of Wilton church a petition drawn up and sent to the presbytery of South Caro- lina for the pastoral services of Rev. John Maltby. The petition contained a call to him through the presbytery to become pastor of the church. It bears date, " Charles Town, May 17th, 1769."
The CHURCH ON JAMES ISLAND continued to enjoy in. the beginning of this period the pastoral labors of the Rev. Mr. Patrick Kier. Mr. Hutson heard him preach there on the 26th of September, 1760. Mr. Simpson first learns of his death on the 14th of October, 1765, and speaks of him as " an old man, useful and beloved among his people, as having been about seven years in the province, and as leaving a large family
321
JOHN'S ISLAND.
1760-1770.]
behind in distressed circumstances, the common lot of God's ministers in this world." On the 23d of January, 1766, Rev. Mr. Alison lodges with Mr. Simpson on his way to James Isl- and, where he had accepted an invitation for a twelvemonth. "He has left the people of Altamaha." His ministry here was a short one. In the graveyard of the James Island Presby- terian church, an old cypress board, almost worn out by age and the weather, still marks the grave in which sleep the remains of Rev. John Alison. The letters are distinct enough to be read. He died while ministering to that now venerable church. The inscription entire is-" Here lies, in hopes of a joyful Resurrection, the body of Rev. John Allison, who departed this life, Oct. 17th, 1766, aged 36 years."-(MS. Notes of J. L. Girardeau ; Letter of Rev. John Douglas.) He seems to have been succeeded, but in what year we are not informed, by Rev. Hugh Alison, who was a native of Pennsylvania, was graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1762, and who came out to Charleston as a teacher. He was married to a daughter of Paul Smiser, a planter, and shortly after removed to James Island, taking with him a number of young men with a view to superintend their education.
The Rev. Charles Lorimer was pastor of the Presbyterian church on John's Island in 1755. The South Carolina Gazette speaks of him as having embarked for England, July 8th, 1764. We have found it very difficult to trace down the succession of the ministers of this church, or its history as a congregation. There was an act of the legislature passed in 1765, by which it appears that Joseph Stanyarne, James Car- son, John Freer, Henry Livingston, and Hugh Wilson had petitioned for leave to sell the two hundred and twelve acres of land (which they had purchased of Robert Turner) on the 24th of December, 1756, for the use of the pastor or minister of the meeting-house on John's Island, as a glebe or parsonage ; and leave was accordingly granted for " the said trustees, or any three or more of them, to sell and dispose of the said tract of land, and the buildings thereon, to any person or per- sons whatsoever, at the best price that may be had for the same, and to execute conveyances thereof to the said pur- chaser or purchasers in fee simple ; and they are hereby empowered, with the money arising from such sale, to purchase a glebe or parsonage in such place as they shall think proper, and to receive and take a conveyance of the same in trust, to and for the uses of the ministers of the time being of the same meeting-house forever." This looks as if the congregation
21
322
EDISTO .- BEAUFORT .- PON PON.
[1760 -- 1770.
were careful in all that pertained to the affairs of the church, and that they could scarcely be destitute of the preaching of the gospel. On the 23d of October, 1769, Mr. Simpson calls on Mr. Hewat in Charleston, and finds with him Mr. Latta from John's Island. He has a previous entry, June Ist, 1768, in which he finds with Mr. Hewat Mr. Lathrop, a young Pres- byterian minister, lately received a member [of presbytery probably] and settled on John's Island. A Rev. James Latta was married to Sarah, daughter of Hugh Wilson, March 24th, 1775. The name Lathrop is probably a mistake therefore, and Mr. Latta's ministry on John's Island commenced in 1768. There is preserved in the correspondence of President Stiles, of Yale College, a letter of Mr. Ewing, dated Philadelphia, July 1st, 1768, introducing the Rev. James Latta, as a young gentleman of good learning and abilities, an accurate preacher and of unspotted moral character, and says of him, " He is settled in a congregation near Charles Town, in Southi Caro- lina, is now taking a tour for his improvement." This descrip- tion will answer either for John's or James' Island. James Latta was sent out at the same time with Mr. McMordie, in 1765 .- (Minutes of Synod of New York and Philadelphia, p. 346; and in 1768 the second Philadelphia presbytery report that " Mr. James Latta, a licensed candidate, who was sent by the synod to southern parts, informs them by letter that he is joined with the presbytery in South Carolina," p. 378. He was a different person from the former. A James Latta was again sent " to North Carolina and those parts of South Carolina under our care," pp. 389, 399.)
We are not able to give any history of the church on EDISTO ISLAND during this period. The account of Edisto Island appended to Ramsay's History of South Carolina, says Rev. Mr. Henderson succeeded Rev. John McLeod. Mr. Hender- son did not become pastor of this church before 1770. Prob- ably the Mr. McLeod, with whom Whitefield insisted on staying, and " who lived four miles from Mr. Simpson," was the Rev. Mr. McLeod, the pastor of this church.
BEAUFORT continued to be supplied, at least occasionally, by Mr. Simpson, and in 1768 resolved on applying to presby- tery for one-fifth part of his time.
BETHEL, PON PON (now the Walterboro church) had as its pastor through the most of this period the Rev. Charles Gordon. His health gave way in 1766, and on the 26th of June Mr. Simpson declared the church vacant by order of presbytery- the second time he had performed this act. He preached to
1
323
BLACK MINGO.
1760-1770.]
them after this occasionally, and administered the commu- nion. On the 1st of January, 1768, he records the fact that Mr. Latta, a young gentleman from the north, is preaching to them, " a very polite gentleman and preacher," and that he had been called to the pastorate by the voice of the majority, a call which it appears he did not accept.
CHAPTER III.
How the church on BLACK MINGO was supplied after the death of Rev. Samuel Hunter, in 1754, we have no means of knowing. John Baxter's register shows that he preached many times on Black river, sometimes on the Pedee, and sometimes at Winyaw, and frequently on the Santee, "at the Santee meeting-house." His residence was not far from Black Mingo church, which, also, is not very remote from the Black river. It is possible that he may sometimes have ministered to this church, though of this we have no proof. On Wednesday, the 6th of January, 1768, Mr. Simpson meets with " a young man, Mr. [William] Knox, lately from Ireland, with some poor people for Long Canes ; but he thinks of going to Williamsburg, or wherever he may find a settlement." Mr. Knox became the pastor of Black Mingo, and his descendants still live in Sumter district.
Of the church of WILLIAMSBURG we find some notices in the diary of Mr. Simpson. He notices the death of Mr. Rae as having occurred in the spring of 1761. Mr. Wallace, in his History, says, " Having faithfully served his generation, Mr. Ray fell asleep in 1761, in the forty-sixth year of his age, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. He was the first minister buried here."
"He is represented," says Dr. Witherspoon (MS. Hist. of Williamsburg church), " to have been a man of heavenly spirit, and to have labored with much success, with unwearied dili- gence and fidelity reproving the negligent, encouraging the doubtful and desponding, visiting the sick, comforting mourn- ers, and relieving the distressed. At once prudent and faith- ful, he retained the confidence of the whole community, exert- ing an influence for good upon the aged and the young. The most perfect harmony prevailed among the people, who walked together not merely in peace and unity, but in Chris- tian charity and fraternal affection. The piety and graces of
0
324
WILLIAMSBURG.
[1760-1770
the parents seemed to have descended upon their offspring, and the young, as they grew to manhood, became, with few exceptions, members and ornaments of the church of their fathers. New additions were made from abroad to the settle- ment, and prosperity in worldly and spiritual matters marked the place where the pilgrimns from Ireland had set up their altars to the Lord, so that the church was filled from Sabbath to Sabbath with pious worshippers whose deportment attested their reverence for everything holy. At length, after serving most faithfully his congregation for eighteen years, Mr. Ray died in 1761, at about forty-six years of age, in the full tide of usefulness, with the blessing of God upon his labors, and surrounded by the tears and unavailing regrets of his pious and much beloved people. His body was interred in the yard of the original church, to which it was conveyed from the neighborhood of Salem, where he died."
The attention of the congregation was then turned towards Mr. Simpson, and he received from them a most unanimous call through the presbytery, on Saturday, June 6th, 1761. He says, it is " from a very numerous people, among whom there is above two hundred communicants." He had just before (in the month of May) received the call from the people on the Altamaha. One thing that rendered that field the more promising, in his view, was the expected removal of a consid- erable number of the Williamsburg people thither. He finds that they conclude to settle at a nearer locality on the Pedee. June the 17th, he finds his way more clear for Williamsburg, he sees in it " a remarkable hand of providence." The support is indeed less, but the opportunity of usefulness greater. He therefore informs his own people, Lord's-day, 28th, that he had returned the Georgia call, but that it would be his duty to go to Williamsburg. One of the reasons he gives to his people why he has thought of removing is the existence of two parties among them, "an Independent and a Presbyterian." Yet he feels " much troubled about the poor, destitute flocks, the Altamaha, Indian Land, and Williamsburg." On Monday, July 13th, he sets out on his visit. He describes with his usual minuteness the particulars of his journey. He finds the congregation larger than at Indian Land, the parsonage very commodious, all things considered, the temporals better ; but he speaks less well of the spiritual condition of the people at the time of his visit. He declined this call, and remained with his own church.
In the old tattered sheets of the carly register of Williams-
325
WILLIAMSBURG.
1760-1770.]
burg church there is no entry from 1759 to 1769. At this latter date there is a record of the settlement of Rev. David McKey (or McKee), who " was ordained minister of the gospel by the presbytery of Bangor in Ireland, to take charge of the congregation of Williamsburg in the province of South Caro- lina, in consequence of a blank call sent by the representatives of said congregation, and transmitted with a recommendatory letter from the presbytery of South Carolina to ye Revd Messrs. Laird and Walker, members of said presbytery of Bangor, to be filled up by one whom they should choose. Mr. McKey arrived in this province about the latter end of Decem- ber last, and applied to Mr. Huet [Hewat], upon which he and others of the presbytery met pro re nata, when, after receiving his credentials, and other letters of recommendation, they appointed his instalment the third Wednesday of February, 1769, which accordingly was observed by Mr. Knox, a mem- ber of said presbytery in this province."
"The successor of Mr. Ray," says Rev. Mr. Wallace, " was Rev. Mr. McKee, of whom not much is known, except that he was a godly man, walking with God like Enoch of old. After laboring here two or three years, he was called to the Salem church. His successor was the Rev. Hector Alison, who was examined by the committee of the synod of Philadelphia in languages and philosophy, May 28th, 1745, and approved. He was ordained by the presbytery of Newcastle in 1746. In 1750 he was sent to the western parts of Virginia for eight Sabbaths-an appointment he faithfully fulfilled. In 1753 he asked for a dismission from his pastoral relation ; his request was referred to synod, and by them sent to their commission, who determined the case, and he was settled at Drawyers till 1758. In 1753, when he had been but six years in the ministry, he was made moderator of the synod of Philadelphia. In 1758 he was appointed chairman of the committee to draw a plan of union between the synods of Philadelphia and New York. In 1760 he was directed by synod to supply the English Presbyterian gentlemen at Albany," and during the same year was sent as chaplain to the Pennsylvania forces on their march towards Canada. He was one of the commission of synod. He joined the presbytery of Newcastle in 1761, after the union. His name appears as a member of Newcastle presbytery for the last time in 1762. About this time he was called to the Williamsburg church. One [traditionary ] account (Dr. Witherspoon's), says Mr. Wallace, avers that he was minister here from 1765 to 1770, when he left. Another, and
326
SALT KETCHER.
[1760-1770.
more probable one, is that he died here, and that his sepulchre, though unknown, is with us. A venerable lady [Mrs. Nancy Mouzon] assures us that the tradition was, that both Alison and his successor are entombed in this sacred repository of the dead. There is evidently a confusion between the state- ment of Mr. Wallace and the record still extant as to the ministry of Mr. McKee, and we must give the preference to the ancient record before the uncertain tradition. Mr. McKee was evidently the successor of Mr. Alison, if the date of Mr. Alison's connection with the church is rightly given by Mr. Wallace. Yet both he and Dr. Witherspoon make Mr. McKee successor to Mr. Rae, and Dr. Witherspoon speaks of his remaining with the church only about two or three years, as then removing to Salem, where he died about the year 1770.
We are not able to say anything further respecting the church of WACCAMAU (probably Conwaysboro), where Rev. Wil- liam Donaldson was settled in 1756; nor are we able to say anything as to the church at CAINHOY, save that it appears to have been seryed during this period by Rev. John Martin as supply.
The FRENCH PROTESTANT CHURCH in CHARLESTON was under the pastorate of the Rev. Barthelemi Henri Hiemeli, as his register of baptisms, commencing January 10th, 1759, and extending through the whole of this period, shows. From this we gather that Jacques Poyas, Jean Ernest Poyas, Daniel Bouget, and Theodore Trezvant were anciens, or elders, of this church during this period-their names being casually mentioned. From this register we learn that negro children were sometimes presented for baptism by their masters, which is also in accordance with the decisions of our own church. -- (Minutes, 1787, 1816; Baird's Digest, p. 82.)
But a new church was organized on the north side of SALT KETCHER, in Colleton district, by the labors of Mr. Simpson. The people of the neighborhood, he tells us, were originally of the church of England, and had no desire for the preaching of the gospel till two families of the name of Dunham, from the Bethel church, Pon Pon, and another from the same, by the name of Hamilton, moved among them. They then resolved on establishing gospel worship among them, and commenced the erection of a house of worship about ten miles from Mr. Simpson's, with the design of building still another about ten miles beyond, where the larger portion of the congregation lived. April 3d, 1766, they presented a call to Mr. Simpson for half his time, offering him £400 currency. The other
327
SALEM, B. R.
1760-1770.]
church wished him to accept of it, and though much reduced in numbers, proposed to pay the same sum, " which," says Mr. Simpson, "with their negroes they can easily do." Mr. Simp- son's labors were much blessed in this congregation, and his efforts to build it up were crowned with success.
Beyond the Santee also, on the Black river, " church exten- sion" seemed to be the order of procedure in one neighbor- hood at least. About the time of the Cherokee war, in 1759, there was donated by Captain David Anderson for the use of the Presbyterian church of SALEM, a spot of ground on what was then called Taylor's Swamp, but now Meeting-House Branch, and at or about the same time there was erected a log meeting-house ; this is believed to have been first occupied by the Rev. Mr. Rae of Williamsburg, also by Mr. Ellison (Hugh Alison?) and perhaps others. In this state of occa- sional supplies it remained until the year 1763, and in 1768 the log meeting-house was removed, and on the same site was raised a frame-house, which was occupied occasionally by the Rev. Mr. Knox, and at one time for six months by the Rev. Elam Potter. After this time it was occupied occasionally by the Rev. James Edmonds, and the Rev. Mr. Richardson of the Waxhaws .* The Suffolk presbytery report to thie synod of New York and Philadelphia, May 20th, 1767, that they had licensed Mr. Elam Potter. Supplications for supplies were made to that synod from Orange and Culpepper, and the southern branch of Potomac in Virginia; and from Long Canes, Cathy's Settlement, Indian Creek, and Duncan's Creek in North [and South] Carolina ; and motions for supplies were made in behalf of Williamsburg and places adjacent, Hanover and Cub Creek in Virginia, Newbern, Edenton, Fourth Creek, Upper Hico, Haw River, Goshen in the forks of Catawba, the south fork of Catawba, the forks of Yadkin, and Salisbury, North Carolina, Little River in South Carolina, and Briar Creek in Georgia. The synod accordingly appointed "Messrs. Bay, Potter, McCrery, Alexander, and Latta, Jun., to take a journey, as soon as the circumstances of their affairs
* Records of Salem Church collected from imperfect sources in 1825, during the lifetime of Roger Wilson and William Mills, who were members of the church in its early existence, furnished by the clerk of session, M. P. Mayes, and forwarded by Rev. Geo. C. Gregg. " A number of removals had taken place prior to 1760 from the Williamsburg congregation, which formed the germs of several others. Samuel and James Bradley settled in Salem, and planted the church there. . The David Anderson who is here mentioned is probably the same whose name appears on the records of Williamsburg in 1754."-Wallace.
328
SALEM, B. R.
[1760-1770-
will admit, through Virginia, the Carolinas (and Georgia, if they can), and that each tarry half a year, and as much longer as he shall think proper."-(Minutes, ut supra, pp. 374, 375.) Mr. Archibald Simpson at Indian Land (Stoney Creek, Poco- taligo), by a letter from Mr. James Dunham, is informed, Lord's-day, October 4th, 1767, that a young man from New Jersey synod preaches at Wiltown with a view to settlement, and that Mr. Potter and he will come to his (Simpson's) house to-morrow on his (Dunham's) way to Georgia. Mr. Simpson remarks that this man is from New England, is preaching by appointment of the synod of New York [and Philadelphia] ; that he is about twenty-seven years of age, has much of a college air, which may wear off in time, and that there are thoughts of calling him to Wiltown and Pon Pon. On Mr. Simpson's return from Savannah, he finds Mr. Potter " has given some disgust to the people of Wiltown, by his stiff and obstinate behavior." He seems to have very mistaken notions of the country. Still he thought of getting him to Pon Pon for the winter. Mr. Potter was taken very sick at Mr. Simp- son's. On the 21st he thinks him dangerously ill. He " finds him melancholy and unwilling to die." He endeavors to com- fort him, but finds that "his confused metaphysical notions and distinctions yield him very little comfort in view of death." He asked him for the ground of his hopes of salvation. "His answers were not clear and distinct. At last he said his hope was founded on his having fulfilled the conditions of the cove- nant of grace. I asked him what conditions he meant. He said repentance and faith. I told him I did not like his manner of expressing himself. He endeavored to explain his meaning, which seemed well enough on the whole, but confused ; found him to be much in the dark as to his own state. I believe he is truly a gracious person, but seems to have a better heart than head,-full of confused metaphysical distinctions, with Arminian expressions, yet fixing a Calvinistic meaning to them. He appears to me to have been but a short time at his studies, to have been advanced in life before he went to study, and to have crowded his study too much, so that, although he seems to have made proficiency, yet all is crowded, huddled, confused. And he seems to have no order, method, nor regu- larity in his opinions. He appears to have taken up notions from some leading men he regards, without, understanding their sentiments or being convinced of them, so that his unor- thodox expressions seem to be contradicted by the feelings of his own heart. From conversing with him, I have seen it to
329
REV. ELAM POTTER.
(1760-1770.]
be a great blessing for a minister to have real grace, and to be well acquainted with holiness and the workings of the Divine Spirit experimentally, before studying divinity as a science. I took the opportunity to show him that many of his notions were very untenable, and those metaphysical distinctions were very foolish, idle, and useless ; and however they might please speculative men, and serve to exercise their wit and talents upon them, yet they would not do to die in, and were very uncomfortable. I then instructed and directed him in a way of speaking and thinking which I thought much more scrip- tural, evangelical, and comfortable. He received it well ; was myself in a humble frame of soul, helped to prayer, &c. His fever increased. He became out of his head, sprang from his bed and ran into the hall ; could get no white assistance-the sickness was so general." Mr. Potter recovered from this severe illness, and seems to have remained with Mr. Simpson till the following February. He could not have been very popular or acceptable in southern society. Under date of January 19th, 1768, Mr. Simpson says, " Mr. Potter returned from Port Royal : his unhappy temper and unlucky address make him disagreeable to most people." Yet he afterwards speaks well of him, and thinks his going away a great loss to the country. On February 1st, he "went some distance with Mr. Potter, who sets out for Long Canes, and intends to be in Philadelphia at synod in May next, the Lord willing, and so
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