USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. I pt 2 > Part 19
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COPY :- " We, the presbytery of Bangor-members of the General Synod of Ulster in Ireland-certify that the Rev. Robert Mcclintock was known to some of us before he was licensed to preach the gospel, and that he was at- tentive to improvement in every branch of learning, and supported a fair character. That he went to America in 1772 with ample credentials from the presbytery of Ballymena-that he returned to Ireland in 1775 to settle some affairs in which he was interested-that as he could not get back to America, on account of the unhappy contest between Great Britain and her colonies, he put himself under our care, and, having with great approbation, passed the usual pieces of second trials, was ordained by us-since which time he performed the several duties of a gospel minister, to the entire satisfac- tion of the several congregations in which he was employed; and in every respect behaved suitable to the character he sustained. And now, having a prospect of getting back to his friends and connections in America, we, in the warmest manner, recommend him to the notice and protection of our breth- ren, wherever Providence may cast his lot, as a gentleman of great integrity, strict sobriety, and real worth.
" Given at Belfast, November 6th, 1781."
Mr. McClintock was in this country from 1772, in Williams- burg district, till after May, 1775 ; for on the 9th of May in that year he preached a sermon at Mrs. Nelson's on the Santee. James Davidson of Philadelphia addresses him at Winnsboro in 1784, which leads us to suppose that was his residence at that date. His baptismal and other registers show him to have been a laborious minister. His ecclesias- tical connections, however, were with the Irish ministers. His correspondents were Rev. William Mc Whir (afterwards D.D.), then of Alexandria, District of Columbia, Hugh Morrison, then at Bellevue on the Congaree, afterwards at Little River and in Chester, John Hidelson, David Ker of Fayetteville, Samuel Warnoch, then on the Catawba, John Logue, Robert Tate, then at Charleston, John McCosh, then, March 1792, preach- ing at Cane Creek.
On his return to this country in 1781 he was shipwrecked on the coast of France, and came to these shores in an Ameri- can vessel ; was chased by a Salem privateer, which when she came up they found to be a friendly craft ; fell in with seven
524
GRASSY SPRING .- MAJOR OTTERSON.
[1780-1790.
British line-of-battle ships off the Capes of Delaware, but succeeded in making the entrance ; met the Hyder Ally, a state-ship of fourteen guns, in chase of a "refugee boat," at which she fired frequently but which escaped. These refugee boats were low, long, and uncovered, carried from forty to seventy men armed with muskets and boarding-pikes, manned each with twenty-four oars. They preyed upon the commerce of the country, and three of them had a little before captured a vessel with ten guns and a fighting captain. They carried each a six-pounder in the bow and a four-pounder in the stern.
With Indian Creek the people around GRASSY SPRING near Maybinton, between the Enoree and Tyger in the upper part of Newberry district, were intimately associated. Major Samuel Otterson appears as an elder of the church of this name in the next decade. Where he was born or from what quarter his parents came, we are not informed. He was dis- tinguished for his gallantry in the war of the Revolution. On his way to join General Morgan at the battle of the Cowpens with a few badly mounted volunteers, finding on approaching the spot that the battle had begun, he determined to halt his men near a cross-road, which he knew the enemy would take on their retreat, and wait either to take prisoners if they were defeated, or to rescue our own men who might be prisoners in their hands. It was not long before a considerable body of ยท British horse came down the road which turned off at the cross-road at full speed. They appeared evidently to have been defeated. Major (then captain) Otterson proposed to his men to pursue them with the view of taking some of them prisoners, but found only one man willing to join him. Hav- ing mounted him on the best horse in the company and arm- ing themselves well, they pushed on after them. Captain Otterson kept himself at some distance in the rear until dark. He stopped occasionally at some of the houses on the road, ascertained the situation, numbers, and distance of the enemy, found his suspicions of their defeat verified, and that they were a part of Tarleton's command. Towards dusk they pushed their horses still nearer the enemy ; and when it was dark, dashed in among them with a shout, fired their arms and ordered their surrender. The darkness prevented the enemy from knowing the number of those by whom they were sur- prised, and they surrendered on the spot. They were required to dismount and give up their arms, which they did. Being all secured, and a light struck, nothing could exceed the morti- fication of the British commander when he found that he had
525
DUNCAN'S CREEK.
1780-1790.]
surrendered to two men. These British troopers, thirty in number, were all conducted by Captain Otterson and his brave coadjutor in safety to North Carolina, and delivered at head- quarters as prisoners of war. Several days had to elapse be- fore this could be done, during which these two brave men never closed their eyes in sleep. The wife of Major Otterson was Ruth Gordon, and she partook of her husband's bravery. She received intelligence one night that a party of Tories would come the next morning for a barrel of gunpowder concealed in the woods near her dwelling. Resolved that it should not fall into their hands, she prepared a train immediately and blew up the powder. In the morning they came, and on de- manding it, were told by Mrs. Otterson what she had done. They refused to believe her, but cut off her dress at the waist, and drove her before them to show the place of deposit. The evidence of its fate was conclusive when they reached the spot .- (Mills' Statistics, p. 703; Women of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 261.) Major Otterson was an active patriot during the war, shared largely in the esteem of his fellow-citizens subsequently, and removed to Alabama about 1820.
On the west side of Broad River in the district of Laurens, the church of DUNCAN'S CREEK, as the oldest, first attracts our attention. "Our church," says Mr. Hyde, quoting from a paper bearing the signature of Rev. J. B. Kennedy, "being mostly composed of people from Pennsylvania and Ireland, were very strenuous adherents to what is termed Rouse's Ver- sion of the Psalms, and never heard Watts' version or any other hymns sung among them in a congregational capacity (though a number of the members used Watts' in their fami- lies), till some time in August, 1788. Mr. John Springer, then teacher of an academy at Cambridge (or Ninety-Six), a very worthy Christian gentleman, had the ninety-first hymn of the second book of Watts sung in the congregation. About this time a certain McCarra, pretending to be a Presbyterian minister from Scotland, came among us, and making use of some of Erskine's sermons, seemed to gain great applause for a few weeks, but not living agreeably to the doctrine he pre- tended to teach, immediately lost the esteem he had so obtained. Our church interests were very much injured on account of this ill conduct, which our enemies endeavored to charge upon the Presbyterian sect. Our Baptist brethren likewise magnifying his disorders against us, got a number of our members to join them, and would doubtless have gotten many more, but that God through the means of the Rev. Mr.
526
LITTLE RIVER.
[1780-1790.
Thatcher, who, on his way from Georgia to the presbytery of North Carolina, gave us a timely visit, confirmed the feeble minded, so that the same winter of 1788, we got Rev. James Templeton, who served us for five months. Through all these years the church of Duncan's Creek appeared as a petitioner before the presbytery for supplies of its vacant pulpit. A meeting of presbytery pro re nata was held at the church on the 27th of February, 1787, and a regular meeting on the 14th of October, 1788. At this meeting Rev. Robert Hall tabled charges against Rev. William McCarra, and Joseph Adair, an elder of this church, did the same, and presbytery renewed their interdict against his preaching within their bounds.
Of LITTLE RIVER CHURCH, in Laurens district, we were able to give no account from the death of James Creswell in 1776. It applied as a vacant church to the presbytery for supplies in 1785, '87, 'S8. They called Rev. John Springer as their minister, April 14th, 1789, but he declined their call. He was appointed to supply them one Sabbath, and Humphrey Hun- ter, who was just licensed, also one Sabbath. Mr. Springer had supplied them before. This church suffered exceedingly in various ways in the.last year of the war of the Revolution. Colonel James Williams, of whose death at King's Mountain we have already spoken, was one of the elders. James Burn- side, who was also an elder, was a loyalist. The Cunninghams were of this neighborhood. A large body of Tories were encamped near Musgrove's mill, in the northeast corner of Laurens district, on the south bank of the Enoree, where they commanded a bad rocky ford. They were joined on the 17th of August, 1780, by the British officers Innis and Fraser, and all amounted to about three hundred men. Colonels Wil- liams, Shelby, and Clark, with a force much inferior, posted - themselves on the north side, on a small creek emptying into the Enoree just below the Spartanburg line, about two miles above Musgrove's mill. It was agreed that Williams should have the chief command. He drew up his little army in am- bush, in a semicircle within a wood, and advancing to the ford with a few picked men, fired on the enemy. Innis immedi- ately crossed the ford to dislodge "the rebels." Williams retreated, with Innis in hot pursuit. When they reached the area of the ambuscade a shot from Colonel Shelby gave the signal, when the patriots arose with a shout, and immediately surrounded the Tories. Innis was slightly wounded, but es- caped with the larger part of the regular troops. Major Fraser
527
" HAYS' STATION."
1780-1790.]
and eighty-five others were killed. Most of the Tories were made prisoners ; the Americans lost four killed and eighteen wounded. Of Williams' death at King's Mountain we have spoken, p. 521. He was near Major Ferguson, and both offi- cers received their death wound at the same moment. He died the morning after the battle and was buried two miles from the place where he fell. On reviving a little after he was shot, his first words were : "For God's sake, boys, don't give up the hill." The spirit of the loyalists was crushed after this battle, and Cornwallis retreated towards Winnsboro, where he fixed his camp. Williams was a native of Granville coun- ty, North Carolina ; settled upon Little River in 1772; became a colonel of militia in April, 1778 ; was probably at the siege of Savannah ; was with Sumter in 1780, and hovered around Ferguson continually after he crossed the Wateree. "A braver and a better man," says Major Thomas Young, who was with him in the fight, "never died on the field of battle." He was about five feet nine inches in height, inclined to be stout, of dark complexion, eyes and hair black, nose large with nostrils distended, especially under excitement. He was withal a man of true piety, which is shown in the letters ad- dressed from time to time to his wife and son during his absence from them. "Colonel Williams," says Dr. Joseph Johnson in his traditions of the Revolution, "was a Presbyte- rian, and, like all of that faith, his religion placed him on the side of freedom. He and they thought, with John Knox, that if they suffered the twins, liberty and religion, either to be in- fringed or taken from them, they had nothing left them where- by they might be called men."
The neighborhood of this church was also the scene of one of the most murderous acts of the " bloody Bill Cunningham," commander of " the bloody scout." "Bloody Bill" was origin- ally a Whig, and was under the command of Major John Caldwell, but he was so rude and ungovernable that he was put under arrest by Caldwell. Reuben Golding, when Cun- ningham was tied or otherwise confined, carried him over a branch when Caldwell moved his camp to a neighboring emi- nence. Cunningham from that moment was bent on revenge. He shot Caldwell, who was uncle of J. C. Calhoun, in his own yard, in presence of Mrs. Caldwell his wife, who fainted at the sight. (The sister of Dr. Campbell, from whose lips many of these statements were taken, was present when Major Cald- well was shot.) "Hays' Station," in the vicinity of Little River church, originally called EDGEHILL, was a mere block-
528
ROCKY SPRING.
[1780-1790.
house, and was under the command of Colonel Hays with about twenty men. Cunningham came secretly with his party from Charleston into the back settlement, and was advancing upon Hays. William Caldwell, brother of John, endeavored to reach the station to apprise Hays of his approach ; but being obliged to take a circuitous route, Cunningham arrived first. The house was fired by heating iron in an adjoining black- smith's shop and throwing it upon the roof. Cunningham demanded their surrender, promising the treatment of prison- ers of war. They hung out a handkerchief on a ramrod in token of their submission. Cunningham told certain of his men to go into the block-house and select such of the prison- ers as they desired should be spared ; the women and children were separated, and the Tinsleys, Saxons, and Dunlaps, be- cause of their extreme youth. Reuben Golding was spared because of the service he had done Cunningham when under arrest ; young Burnsides was rescued by a lad named Drake. Cunningham ordered the others to be seated in a circle; Colo- nel Joseph Hays and Captain Daniel Williams were hung at once to the pole of a fodder stack; Joseph Williams (a boy of fourteen) cried to his elder brother, as they were putting him to death, "Oh, brother Daniel ! what shall I tell mother !" Cunningham turned to him with-" You shall tell her noth- ing, you d-d rebel suckling," and hewed him down. These were brothers of Colonel James Williams, who fell at the head of his column at King's Mountain. Cunningham hewed Colo- nel Hays and Captain Williams in pieces with his own sword, the pole on which they were hung having broken. Besides these, Lieutenants Christopher Hardy and John Neal, Clement Hancock, Joseph Irby, senior, and Joseph Irby, junior, John Milven, James Feris, John Cook, Greaf Irby, Benjamin Goodman, and Yancy Saxon were deliberately cut to pieces.
ROCKY SPRING is one of the places in Laurens district at which Robert McClintock was accustomed to preach. There are three churches named in Mr. McClintock's register at which he preached in succession, from November, 1787-In- dian Creek, Rocky Spring, and Concord. Soon after his set- tlement in Laurens he organized a church at the foot of Little River mountain, about one mile south of Milton. After his return from Ireland, subsequently to the war, he may have labored a short time in Williamsburg, and then removed to Winnsboro. There are a number of letters in existence ad- dressed to him there. He soon removed to Laurens district, where he married Martha Mcclintock, a distant relation, and
529
LIBERTY SPRING.
1780-1790.]
spent the remainder of his life. He is said to have been a man of fine personal appearance, of great ability, and an elo- quent delivery.
Notwithstanding these high eulogies, we find that his min- istry, and that of his friend McCosh, were not recognized by the presbytery of South Carolina. On page 34 of their minutes the following record occurs : 'With regard to Thomas Peden, an elder of Nazareth, who communicated at a sacrament ad- ministered by Messrs. McCosh and McClintock, the presby- tery do judge the said Peden is censurable for his conduct, and that he has departed from the apostolic injunction, 'Let all things be done decently and in order.'" The letters of his correspondents show that they did not sympathize with our American theology. Even Dr. McWhir, at that day, May 10th, 1785, somewhat playfully hopes that he " will become a light to those Gentile nations around him, who now may be said to be sitting in the shadow of darkness and wandering in the mazes of Calvinistic error." Dr. McWhir then looked upon the American clergy as " Methodistical." He acknowl- edged afterwards that he was at that time a Socinian at heart, and not till 1812 did he emerge into the full radiance of gospel truth.
The church of LIBERTY SPRING is situated in the district of Laurens, on the waters of the Saluda. It takes its name from the fact that an American officer, during the Revolution, en- camped at the spring near which the church stands, and which became the meeting-place of the sons of liberty in those times of trial. Shortly after the Revolution Mr. John McCosh, a friend of Robert McClintock and of a Rev. Mr. Brown, who settled in Newberry district and shortly after the death of Mr. McCosh returned to Ireland, had formed a small society, which did not long survive. Another attempt was made. The neighborhood erected a small log building about half a mile from the present church, at which a religious society was or- ganized under Mr. McCosh as their minister, and Matthew Hunter and Thomas Cosson as elders. About two years afterwards a house of worship was erected on the present site. The population were chiefly emigrants from Ireland, and poor, and their minister resorted to teaching for his living.
UNION CHURCH (formerly Brown's Creek), during the war suffered from a great destitution of gospel ordinances. After the peace, in 1783, Rev. Joseph Alexander again visited them .. Two former meeting-houses having been burnt, a third was. now erected, and the preaching of the gospel was more regu-
530
UNION (OR BROWN'S CREEK).
[1780-1790.
larly enjoyed, the church sharing in part Mr. Alexander's labors .- (Report of Committee of Presbytery of South Caro- lina to General Assembly, 1809, said committee being Rev. J. B. Kennedy, Hugh Dickson, and Dr. Waddell.) " A house of worship was erected previous to the Revolution on Brown's Creek, about four miles from the present site of Unionville, near the road now leading from the latter place to Pinckney- ville. It was intended to be used in common by Presbyterians and Episcopalians, and was in consequence called 'The Union Church.' It seems to have been a noted place, as its name was transferred, when county courts were first introduced into the State, to the county in which it was situated. Subsequent to the war a Presbyterian church was erected about two miles from Unionville, and known as 'The Brown's Creek Church.' Families were connected with this church, either as communi- cants or adherents, of the names already mentioned, and also of the names of Young, Cunningham, Savage, Hughes, Vance, and Wilson. These families were dispersed over the surround- ing country. This was rather a place for occasional preach- ing than a church where the ordinances of the gospel were regularly dispensed. If they had a stated preacher before 1810, I am not aware of the fact. They were occasionally visited by neighboring pastors and missionaries, who preached, catechised, and administered baptism. There was, however, a bench of elders for many years." Of some of these elders the following account is given by Rev. James H. Saye, from whose manuscript the preceding extract is taken :-
" William Kennedy, Esq., was probably a native of Pennsyl- vania. At the commencement of the revolutionary war he was residing on Brown's Creek, three miles from the present site of Unionville. When he came to this place I am not informed. He had children grown in 1780. He was active in the war as a soldier, and subsequently held various offices of honor and trust. He was a member of the legislature as long as he would consent to serve.
"He appears to have been a very amiable, intelligent, and pious man. His wife was a Brandon. He was the father of the late Rev. John B. Kennedy of Laurens district, and, of course, grandfather of Rev. J. L. Kennedy, also of Hon. William K. Clowny. His descendants are numerous and respectable, but widely scattered. He was the father of at least eight children, who grew to maturity. Some of them married and lived to a considerable age. The descendants of two are living at the time of this writing, in this district; the rest are removed elsewhere.
531
ITS ELDERS.
1780-1790.]
" Samuel McJunkin, Esq., was a native of Tyrone, Ireland, but came from Pennsylvania to this State in 1755, and settled the same year on Tinker Creek, four miles from Unionville. His wife was a Bogan. They were Presbyterians, and thought to have been devoutly pious persons when they came here. I do not know that he was ever a ruling elder : my impression is that he was. He was a soldier in the Indian war in 1761, and was a magistrate under the royal government. He took a leading part in the debates preceding the Revolutionary war ; was hated greatly by the Tories, and was a prisoner with Earl Cornwallis at the time of the battle of the Cowpens. He was a member of the legislature that met at Jacksonboro in 1782. Samuel McJunkin had a large family of children, all of whom married. The descendants of one of them are all now in the district, and some of the descendants of two others.
"Major Joseph McJunkin, son of the above, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, June, 1755, and brought by his parents the same year to this State. He entered the service of his country as private soldier, at the commencement of the Revolutionary war. He became a captain before Charles- ton fell, and received a major's commission a few days preced- ing the battle at Blackstock's ford. He was active in the war, and active in the church. He died in May, 1846. A state- ment of the events of his life, with some notice of his contem- poraries, may be found in 'The Watchman and Observer,' Nos. 118, 119, 120, 121, 161, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167. The same is found in the ' Magnolia' for 1843. He was the father of twelve children, nearly all of whom lived to become heads of families. The descendants of two, and half of the descend- ants of another, live in the district ; the rest are gone.
"General Thomas Brandon was an adherent to the Presby- terian church at Brown's Creek, if not a communicant. His principal distinction arose from his services in the war of the Revolution. He commenced service as a captain in the Spartan regiment. Upon the division of this regiment he was appointed Colonel of the second Spartan regiment. He retained the command of this to the close of the war. His services, under the circumstances of the country, were highly important to the cause. His regiment was probably never very well disciplined, but he knew very well the game that suited himself and his command ; and it is probable that they did as much hard fighting and swift running as any of their contemporaries. Before the war and in time of it he resided a few miles east of Unionville, on Brown's Creek. Subsequent to the war he lived on Fair-
532
FAIRFOREST.
[1780-1790.
forest, west of the village. He served his country in various offices till the time of his death, about 1804: was frequently a member of the legislature, &c. General T. Brandon was twice married, and had a large family of children, all of whom have been removed from the district.
" Captain John Savage, an elder of Brown's Creek church, was a soldier of the Revolution. His distinction arose from his uniformly correct conduct and his deadly aim with a rifle. He fired the first gun at the battle of the Cowpens, and brought down a British officer at the head of an advancing column. After the war ended, he spent his life on his farm, a quiet, industrious, and devoutly pious man.
"John Savage had five children, one of whom, with his entire family, remains here, and a part of the family of another. The rest are gone. The descendants of Major Otterson and Colonel Hughes are also removed from the district.
" Colonel Joseph Hughes was also in the war, and won dis- tinction on the battle-field. He was a large and powerful man ; was greatly loved by his associates for liis generosity and noble daring.
" Christopher Brandon was also in the war, though but a boy, and took part in the danger, privation, and toil of the times. He died but a few years ago at an advanced age."
CHAPTER VI.
FAIRFOREST CHURCH .- A number of families moved into this congregation from distant parts before the end of the war of the Revolution or soon after its close. Among them probably were William Dewitt, -- Mayes, Samuel Morrow, and Sam- uel Archibald. During the Revolutionary struggle the mem- bers of this society were zealously attached to the cause of civil as well as religious liberty, which sentiments were cher- ished in their minds by the animated exhortations on the sub- ject which they received from the ministers who occasionally visited them, as well as by men of popular talents among themselves.
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