USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. I pt 2 > Part 23
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The CONGREGATION OF CARMEL seems to have associated and been organized earlier. The account by Dr. Reese says, in the year 1787 : In reference to it there is the confusion of names which is so baffling, frequently, to one who tries to understand the records of the past. In the first minutes which refer to it, among the vacancies which petition for supplies is Richmond. At the same time, April 10, 1787, Twenty-three Mile creek ap- plies ".to be taken under the care of presbytery, and to receive supplies." Robert Mecklin is appointed to preach one Sabbath at Richmond. In October, Twenty-three Mile creek petitions again for supplies. In December again-naming W. C. Davis and Robert McCulloch, who were licensed at that meeting of presbytery. March 18, 1788, they call Mr. Davis as their pas- tor, and presbytery appoint him to supply them three Sab- baths. Their call was not accepted. October of the same year Robert Hall and Mr. Davis are appointed to supply them,
* The treaty of Hopewell was concluded by General Pickens, on his place called Hopewell, in 1785, with the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks, who were assembled for that purpose, and formed four different en- campments. General Pickens fought a battle with the Cherokees at Mount Tomassa, where he also settled a place. He had a fondness for being near the Indians. He was a man of few words, rather stern in his manner, but of great integrity, wisdom, and courage, and was greatly respected by his Indian neighbors, as by all others.
561
NEW PREACHING STATIONS.
1780-1790.]
each one Sabbath. Again, April, 1789, W. C. Davis, now an ordained minister ; and again in October, both he and Mr. Hunter were appointed to supply one Sabbath. During this same year they united with Hopewell congregation, and pre- sented a call to Rev. John Simpson, which he refused to ac- cept. The name Carmel does not occur in the minutes of presbytery till 1793. It is called Carmel in Dr. Reese's ac- count of these churches written in 1793. It had been known before as the Richmond church. Minutes, page 60, " A peti- tion from Carmel church, late Richmond, was read." A con- gregation associated before under the name Richmond, and another known as Twenty-three Mile creek, may have now been united and known thenceforward as the Carmel congre- gation. Carmel is about twelve miles distant from Hopewell, with which it became associated, and was evidently increasing in numbers and prosperity. The first elders of Carmel church were Thomas Hamilton, a soldier of the Revolution, John Hamilton, James Watson, John Wilson, and Robert McCann.
We find during this decade, especially during the last half of it, as the country gradually recovered from the war of the Revolution, an increased activity in religious things. The people of George's Creek, Cedar Creek, Reedy Branch, and Cuffey Town ; of Sherril's Creek, Tyger, Hitchcock, Beaver Dam, Golden Grove, South Pacolet, Lower Union, Indian Creek, Laurens, and Milford, ask and receive supplies from presbytery, the germs doubtless of churches and congregations never fully organized, or, if organized, destined to extinction. In respect to the last of these the record reads, under date of October 14, 1788 : " A people in Laurens county and Milford petition to be taken under our care. A call from Mil- ford for a fourth part of Mr. (W. C.) Davis's labors was also brought in and read." On the 17th, a call from Nazareth for Mr. Davis was presented to him through presbytery, together with the call from Milford, both of which, as they were in conjunction, he accepted. In October, 1789, cases of disci- pline from the sessions of these two churches were referred to presbytery for their decision. The only Milford within our knowledge is the place of that name in Greenville district, which is sufficiently near to Laurens and Nazareth to be united with either under one charge.
The presbytery regarded the State of Georgia as being within its bounds. The vacancies supplied by it are Mount Pisgah, or Bethsalem, which, in April, 1787, called Mr. John Newton, then a licentiate, who was ordained and received as
36
562
ACTIVITY OF THE PRESBYTERY.
[1780-1790.
their pastor on the 18th of October, 1788. Other vacancies were Providence, or New Providence, and Richmond, in Georgia. In October, 1787, a people on Cann's Creek peti- tioned to be taken under the care of presbytery, and to be known by the name of Bethel, in Georgia. Another vacancy was Bethesda, Georgia, supplied by John Newton. Others were Upton's Creek and Bethany ; Concord, Wilkes county, 1788, Smyrna, Wilkes county. James Templeton and John Newton afforded these churches occasional supplies.
The activity of this presbytery-which was set off from the presbytery of Orange in 1784, and was organized as we have seen, April 12, 1785-in the licensing and ordaining of minis- ters, and in its care of the churches during these first five years of its existence, was worthy of all commendation. This action would be a legitimate subject of history here. But as this presbytery terminated its separate existence by a division into two other bodies at the close of this century, we prefer to give one continuous narrative of its most important pro- ceedings at that time.
A change had taken place during this decennium in the general arrangements of the churches in this country. The earliest presbytery in the United States was the presbytery of Philadelphia, which existed in 1705. This was divided, by its own act in 1716, into the four presbyteries of Philadelphia, Newcastle, Snow Hill, and Long Island, which were united in subordination under the jurisdiction of the synod of Phila- delphia, in 1717.
The well-known schism in the synod of Philadelphia took place in 1741, and the church was divided between the synod of Philadelphia and the synod of New York. During this schism, in 1755, the presbytery of Hanover was set off from the presbytery of New Castle by the synod of New York. The schism wa's healed, after a separation of seventeen years, in 1758, when the general synod was called the synod of New York and Philadelphia. By this synod the presbytery of Orange was set off from the presbytery of Hanover in 1770, the min- isters being Hugh McAden, Henry Patillo, James Creswell, Joseph Alexander, Hezekiah James Balch, and Hezekiah Balch. Of these, Messrs. Creswell, Alexander, and Hezekiah Balch were settled in South Carolina. The presbytery of South Carolina was set off from the presbytery of Orange in 1784, embracing those ministers in South Carolina and Georgia who were under the jurisdiction of that presbytery. It was to this synod of New York and Philadelphia that the presbytery
563
SYNOD OF THE CAROLINAS.
1780-1790.]
of Orange was subject, and the newly-formed presbytery of South Carolina. As the synod was not, so far as the minis- ters are concerned, a delegated body, and it was neither con- venient nor possible that they should all be present from such an extended country, the synod of New York and Philadel- phia, in 1781, took incipient measures for a division of itself into four synods. After two years spent in preparing the con- stitution of the church and submitting it to presbyteries for their consideration and adoption, they approved and ratified the same, and divided themselves into four synods, two in the north and two in the south, viz .: The synod of New York and New Jersey, the synod of Philadelphia, the synod of Virginia, and the synod of the Carolinas, the last to consist of the pres- byteries of Abingdon, Orange, and South Carolina. This ac- tion was taken on the 29th of May, 1788, and the General As- sembly to be constituted out of these four synods was directed to hold its meetings at Philadelphia on the third Thursday of May, 1789. The synod of the Carolinas was ordered to hold its first meeting at Centre Church, Rowan county, North Car- olina, on the first Wednesday in November, 1788. One mem- ber of the presbytery of South Carolina, Rev. Robert Finley, was present in the synod of New York and Philadelphia when this action was taken. At the time appointed, November 5th, the synod of the Carolinas was opened with a sermon by the Rev. David (afterward Dr.) Caldwell, who was chosen its mod- erator ; and the Rev. James Templeton, Francis Cummins, and Robert Hall, ministers, and Messrs. Martin and Hamilton, elders, of the presbytery of South Carolina, were present at the first meeting of the synod. It is evident that prejudices pre- vailed against the synod of New York and Philadelphia which had originated this reorganization, and that the synod of the Carolinas were obliged to stamp with falsehood the charge " that the northern synod had cut off the larger catechism and retained the shorter with difficulty."
564
INDEPENDENT CHURCH, CHARLESTON. [1790-1800.
BOOK THIRTEENTH. A. D. 1790-1800.
CHAPTER I.
As our history commenced with the churches on the Atlan- tic coast, which, as we have seen, were the first formed, we return to them again. The INDEPENDENT, familiarly known as the CIRCULAR CHURCH, from the form of the church edifice in which the congregation has worshipped since 1806, continued to be served by their collegiate pastors, Rev. William Hollings- head and Isaac Stockton Keith. Of these, the former was five years the senior in age and in the pastorate of the church. Dr. Hollingshead received the title of D. D. from the College of Princeton in 1793, and Dr. Keith the same honor from the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1791. These two ministers labored together in great amity and friendship in their co-pastorate through the last ten years of this century. Dr. Hollingshead was not above the medium height, but was remarkably digni- fied in his whole deportment. His features were regular and attractive ; his manners combining the apparently opposite qualities of great refinement and Christian simplicity. So . great was his influence among the people of his charge during the first years of his ministry in Charleston, and so marked their attachment to him, that he was tauntingly spoken of by many in other denominations as "the white meetinger's savior." He maintained a distinguished reputation for bib- lical knowledge, piety, and eloquence, to the close of life. His manner in the pulpit was earnest and impressive. His inter- course with his fellow-men was urbane and courteous. His pastoral intercourse was characterized by tenderness and fidelity .- (Rev. William States Lee, in Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, vol. ii., pp. 59, 60.)
Dr. Keith lost his first wife, the daughter of Rev. Dr. Sproat, of Philadelphia, on the 30th of September, 1796, and was mar- ried to Catharine, daughter of Thomas Legare, of Charleston, on the 3d of April, 1798. In personal appearance Dr. Keith was imposing,-large in stature, dignified in manner, grave in aspect and in speech, and yet so courteous and affable as to invite the confidence of the most timid child. The children of his flock looked up to him, therefore, as a father, and he
565
WAPPETAW .- REV. DR. M'CALLA.
1790-1800.]
seemed to regard them as his children. Generous in a high degree, his heart was open to the calls of distress, his house to the stranger, his purse to the needy. He wept with those that wept, and rejoiced with those that rejoiced. His discourses were well elaborated, and his applications were direct and pungent. In his prayers there was an uncommon degree of fervor and unction. His views of Christian doctrine, fully in accordance with the Westminster Assembly's Catechism, were exhibited by him with clearness and power ; Jesus Christ and Him crucified always being held up with clearness and power as the life and substance of the gospel .- (Rev. Edward Palmer, in Sprague's Annals, vol. ii., pp. 168-9.)
These pastors continued to alternate every morning and afternoon in the two churches, "The White Meeting House" and the Archdale Street Church, through the re- mainder of this century ; and with two such ministers and a warmly attached people, and the blessing of God ordinarily vouchsafed to faithful labors, the congregation could not do otherwise than flourish. The labors of these men extend- ed into the next century. Dr. Keith died in 1813, and Dr. Hollingshead in 1815.
THE INDEPENDENT OR CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT WAPPE- TAW, Christ's Church Parish, continued under the care of Rev. Daniel McCalla, D.D., of whose earlier life we have spoken on page 462 et seq. " He was happy in the affections of his congregation, avoided rather than courted public notice, and never sought, nor willingly consented that his friends should seek for him, a more conspicuous situation than he occupied. In this quiet retirement he devoted himself to his pastoral duties and to studious pursuits. Much of his atten- tion was devoted to the study of the Scriptures in the original tongues, and his pen was diligently employed in contribu- tions to the public journals, which were published over dif- ferent signatures, on topics of religion, public morals, and sometimes, though rarely, on political subjects ; many of which were written, as their dates will show, during the years of which we now speak. The life and labors of Dr. McCalla also extended down into the next century. He died in 1809.
The following " extract from the "Reminiscences of St. Stephen's Parish, and Notices of her Old Homesteads, by Samuel Dubose, Esq., Charleston, 1858," describes the sad state of affairs in all this region, after the war of the Revolu- tion :
566
DORCHESTER .- RESTORATION OF THEIR CHURCH. [1790-1800.
" When the war broke out, the churches in these parishes were closed, and ncarly all the clergy resigned and left the State. They were generally royal- ists and Englishmen, and a portion of their salaries were paid by the 'Society in London for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.' During the war many of the beautiful houses which had been crected for the worship of God were used by the British as store-houses, sometimes even as stables, and several, when they were forced to abandon the country, were ruthlessly sct fire to and burned down. On the return of peace, the religious sentiment of the people was found to have suffered sadly in consequence of the long dc- privation of habitual public religious worship. A rigid morality took the place of the religion of the Gospel, and many believed that morality was rc- ligion. The churches which had not been destroyed were subsequently re- opened, and their pulpits supplied by ministers from England. But thesc persons were too often utterly unfit for their sacred office, some of them positively wanting cven the habit of a decent morality. The people were disgusted with them, and the churches were again closed.
" It is difficult to estimate the injury donc to the cause of religion by thesc unworthy ministers. It may give you some idea of the state of destitution of this prosperous district, when I tell you that in 1786 I was baptized by a min- ister who lived more than fifty miles off, and whosc presence among us was accidental, and that I never again saw a minister until I was twelve years of age, and of course had never entered a house of worship. The church was not permanently reopened in St. Stephen's Parish until 1812.
"During this barren and mournful period, therc lived in the midst of us a man of God; he was poor in the wealth of the world, but in love, in faith in his Redeemer, and in the works which characterize a true disciple, he stood in the front rank of all the men it has ever been my fortune to know. He was a remembrancer, to those about him, of the reality of God's existence, as the proper object of our affection and our worship. Often when a boy have I scen him on a little pony riding through our plantation on his way to church in Christ Church Parish, forty miles distant, and when I heard him reply to my father, who asked him the object of his journey, that there was to be sacrament in Mr. McCaulcy's church, I could scarcely take my eyes from him; not because I admired liis zcal or his fidelity, but because I thought he must be a fool. Mr. McCauley was a Presbyterian, and a man of some note in his day."
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF DORCHESTER AND BEECH HILL .- The house of worship at Dorchester had been used as a barrack by the British during the war of the Revolution, and measures were taken by "devout persons to rebuild those parts of the sanctuary that were broken down, and once more set up the gates of the Lord's house. Actuated by a gener- ous spirit, they repaired and finished the edifice, and left it in the form in which we have it now. It is grateful to peruse the list of contributions, and see what a general and sincere interest the repairs of the church, subsequent to the war of our independence, awakened-much as the Jews were moved to rebuild their temple after the desolation of the captivity."- (Discourse delivered on Sunday, 22d February, 1846, in the Independent or Congregational church at Dorchester, St. George's Parish, South Carolina, in observance of the one
567
PETITIONS PRESBYTERY.
1790-1800.]
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the building of the church, by Rev. George Sheldon, pastor. Charleston: Burgess & James, printers, 1846.) The walls of this church are the same which. were erected in 1700, so that it is one of the oldest church edi- fices, if not the very oldest, in the State. And it resembles very much in its form and arrangements the old Puritan structures of the seventeenth century. In September, 1793, Messrs. Robert Wilson, Samuel W. Yongue, David E. Dunlap, and Moses Waddell, licentiates, under the care of the presbytery of South Carolina, then assembled at Fishing Creek, were ap- pointed to preach, two of them one Sabbath, and two of them two Sabbaths at the Dorchester church. In April, 1794, this church petitioned presbytery to be taken under its care and to receive supplies, and S. W. Yongue, D. E. Dunlap, and W. Montgomery were appointed to supply them, each one Sab- bath ; and again in September, Mr. Dunlap and James Gil- leland were appointed to perform the same services. The members and supporters of the church communed for the first time since the war, the house of worship being now finished, on the 19th of July, 1794. A constitution was adopted for regulating the affairs of the congregation, Matthias Hutchin- son was made treasurer, Richard Waring, secretary, and Isaac Walter and John Carr, wardens. The signers to this constitution were Thomas Smith, senior, M. Hutchinson, Richard Waring, J. Rose, Henry M. Evans, John Carr, H. Drose, junior, J. S. Walter, Isaac Perry, George Parker, John Chandless, Wm. Cragmiles, T. D. Stall, F. Blumenberg, Ed. L. Hutchinson, Jas. H. Waring, Isaac Wm. Walter, G. M. Smith, Thomas E. Baas, Thomas Lee, Jos. J. Waring, mem- bers of the church and congregation. Thanks were voted to Dr. Hollingshead for his assistance in raising funds, and for his sermon at the opening of the church ; to Dr. Keith also for his friendly visits and pastoral favors ; and to Isaac Holmes for his exertions in obtaining funds. In April, 1795, they request of the presbytery of South Carolina, Mr. Gil- leland as a supply, and presbytery appoint Andrew Brown. In July, 1796, a letter was received by presbytery from Dr. Hollingshead, enclosing a call from the Dorchester church, for the translation of Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Cummins, from Bethel church, York, to become their pastor. The call was put in- to Mr. Cummins' hands, and his congregation summoned to appear before presbytery to show reasons why he should not be translated. "At their October meeting presbytery decidea " that the voice of God, as far as known to us, by his provi-
568
DR. CUMMINS .- JAMES ADAMS.
[1790-1800.
dence, calls Mr. Cummins to Dorchester, and it is advised that Mr. Cummins make up his mind on this subject as soon as possi- ble." This call was eventually declined by Mr. Cummins, and in October, 1798, the presbytery of Concord applied to the presbytery of South Carolina for liberty to present calls from Dorchester and James Island to two of their candidates, which leave was granted. The call from Dorchester which is referred to was for the pastoral services of James Adams, who was a licentiate of Orange presbytery, and not of Concord. Dr. Hol- lingshead assisted in drawing up the call. Mr. Smith, Matthias Hutchinson, Isaac Walter, and Richard Waring, were ap- pointed to sign it, and the salary promised was one hundred and fifty pounds and a parsonage. On Mr. Adams objecting to spending the summers in the low country, his objection was yielded to. Drs. McCalla, Hollingshead, and Keith, were in- vited to assist in the ordination, which took place on the 8th of May, 1799 ; Dr. McCalla preached the sermon, and Dr. Keith gave the charge to the pastor and people. "From a state of long-continued and almost hopeless desolation," says he in this charge, "this house of your holy solemnities has been rebuilt and prepared for your comfortable accommoda- tion in attending upon the public worship of God. From a very low and destitute condition in which you were-few in number, and scattered as sheep without a shepherd-you have risen and grown into a respectable and organized reli- gious society, with an encouraging prospect of receiving further additions to your community, and to your means of maintain- ing and perpetuating the blessings of the gospel ministry among you. After persevering for many years in your laudable en- deavors, notwithstanding some discouraging disappointments, to secure to yourselves these inestimable blessings, you are now happily united in the choice of a pastor, who has been this day solemnly ordained to the ministry of the gospel, with a view of exercising it among you."-(McCalla's Sermon, Works, vol. i. ; Keith's Sermons, Addresses, and Letters, p. 119.) Mr. Adams was born September 12th, 1772, studied in his earlier days under the Rev. James Hall, D.D., of North Carolina, read theology under the Rev. James McRee, D.D., of the same State, and was licensed to preach by Orange presbytery in 1795. His ministry was a successful one while he remained here. He died at Bethel, York district, on the 18th of August, 1843, having been the much-loved and revered pastor of that church for thirty-nine years.
This revival of the Dorchester church led them to review
.
569
STONEY CREEK.
1790-1800.]
their past history, and to rearrange their outward affairs, now fallen into disorder. They first obtained a charter, which bears date December 21st, 1793. They were incorporated by the name of "The United Independent Congregational Church of Dorchester and Beech Hill." Though they seemed to come temporarily under the care of presbytery, the ordination of their minister was not ordered by the presbytery, whose care they had sought, though it was by its permission. Madam Sarah Fenwicke seems to have established a fund for building, repairing, and upholding churches of the dissenting persua- sion and the ministers thereof, the copy deed of which is spoken of as being in the hands of their treasurer. Lot No. 13, on which is a fort and magazine, is held by John Carr and Isaac Walter as a tile-yard, and is further rented to them for five years, at fifteen pounds per annum. The church lands on Beech Hill were leased the 2d of September, 1799. James Fisher gives a deed of the same date for two lots in Dorches- ter. Dr. William Smith Stevens transfers, June 3d, 1800, two tracts of land and lots, in Dorchester, being lands given by his ancestors and others for the uses of the church. Miss Ann Waring gives three pounds for the printing of Dr. McCalla's sermon and Dr. Keith's charge. And thus the hearts of others are open to help on this ancient church.
THE INDEPENDENT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF STONEY CREEK was ministered to during this period by Rev. James Gourlay, who succeeded Rev. Archibald Simpson in 1775. We have met with but one memorial of him, namely, a certi- ficate that he had taken the oath of allegiance and fidelity to the United States of America, in open court, which is dated 11th of November, 1794, which bears an endorsement in his own handwriting and with his signature, that " this was deemed unnecessary, because he was accounted a citizen of America by the articles of peace with Britain, and had come to live in Carolina before the declaration of Independence in the end of the year seventy-four. He preached in Prince Wil- liam's the first Sabbath of seventy-five, and had continued to preach there ever since." Mr. Gourlay continued the pastor of this church till his death, on the 24th of January, 1803. This church was chartered March 17th, 1785, as " The Inde- pendent Presbyterian Church of Prince William's Parish." -(Statutes at Large, vol. viii., p. 127.)*
* 'T'he following extract from Bishop Asbury's diary indicates, probably, the residence of another minister in the bounds of this congregation. "February 1th, 1793. Preached at Purysburg, to a full house. Came to Saltketcher
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