USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. I pt 2 > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38
The testimonies to his character by his cotemporaries show the high estimation in which he was held. Mr. Simpson met with him May 14th, 1772, before he, Mr. S., left the province for Scotland, and speaks of him as a " very worthy and ex- cellent minister of Christ, very catholic, a fine scholar, a polite gentleman, a real exercised Christian." On the 31st of May he attended in the forenoon " the White" or "New England meeting-house," where, says he, " I heard Mr. Tennent preach an excellent sermon from Phil. iv. 5, last clause, 'Tlie Lord is at hand.' Was delighted to hear such evangelical preaching, and so great an attachment to our Lord and Saviour."
"Few preachers," says Rev. Hugh Allison of James Island, in a sermon oc- casioned by his death, " had a more majestic and venerable presence, or a more winning and oratorical address. Animated with a sacred regard for the honor of his divine Master, and the salvation of precious, immortal souls, he spake the word with all boldness. A lively imagination, added to a careful study of the Scriptures, enabled him to bring forth out of his treasure things new and old; yet he never entertained his audience with scholastic niceties or subtle questions, which minister strife and endless disputation, rather than godly cdi- fying, which is in faith. Elegance of style, majesty of thought, and clearness of
373
HIS CHARACTER.
1770-1780.]
judgment, appeared in his discourses, and concurred to render them both pleas- ing and instructive. Or shall we view him as a patriot? His honest, disinter- ested, yet flaming zeal for the country's good demands from us a tribute of re- speet. Impressed with a sense of the justice, greatness, and vast importance of the American cause, he engaged in it with an ardor and resolution which would liave done honor to an old Roman. For this, indeed, he was eensured, and perhaps too liberally, even by his friends. In many of his speeches, which he delivered in the Provincial Congress and General Assembly, of which he was successively a member, he displayed great erudition, strength of argu- ment, generosity of sentiment, and an almost boundless eloquence. His nat- ural genius was prodigiously strong and penetrating; and the unavoidable consciousness of his native power made him sanguine, bold, and enterprising. Yet the event proved that liis boldness arose not from a partial, groundless self-conceit, but from a true self-knowledge. Upon fair and candid trial, faith- ful and just to himself, lie judged what he could do; and what he could do, when called to do it, lie attempted, and what he attempted he accomplished. But Mr. Tennent's principal ornament was his unaffected and substantial piety. He was remarkably humane and benevolent in his disposition, and possessed every personal grace and qualification that could attract the esteem and reverence of his fellow creatures. He was a kind, affable, and tender husband; a prudent, cautious, and indulgent parent; a generous and com- passionate master, and a faithful, affectionate, and steady friend. His appear- anee in company was manly and graceful ; lis behavior genteel, not ceremo- nious ; grave, yet pleasant; and solid, but sprightly too. In a word, lie was an open, conversable, and entertaining companion, a polite gentleman and devout Christian at onee."
He left five children : two sons, William and Charles, and three daughters. One of his daughters married Mr. Charles Brown, one Dr. Joseph Hall Ramsay, and one Mr. Samuel Smith. The church erected a monument to his memory in their Archdale-street house of worship, of which he was the father. On it is the following inscription :
"In memory of the Rev. WILLIAM TENNENT, A. M., pastor of this Church, and principally instrumental in tlie erection of this building, dedicated to the worship of Almiglity God, who died at the High Hills of Santee, August 11tlı, 1777, in the thirty-seventh year of his age. He was distinguished for quickness of perception, solidity of judgment, energy and firmness of mind, for inflexible patriotism and ardent public spirit, for the boldness with which he enforced the claims of the Deity, and vindicated the rights of man. As a preacher he was prompt, solemn, instructive, and persuasive- of every social virtue he was a bright example. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."
374
INDEPENDENT CHURCH
[1770-1780.
This monument was transferred to the interior wall of the Independent or "Circular" church when it was refitted in 1858.
Several descendants of Rev. William Tennent yet survive in the city of Charleston and elsewhere, and manuscript copies of his sermons are in existence in the hands of sundry persons.
The congregation do not appear to have remitted their efforts during the lifetime of Mr. Tennent to obtain a col- league pastor. On the 9th of March, 1777, five months before the death of Mr. Tennent, they directed a letter to be written to Dr. Rodgers of New York, whom they had called before in the year 1765, inviting him to a temporary settlement, urging that New York was then occupied by British troops, and that a wide field of usefulness was opened before him in Charles- ton. They hastened the work on the church in Archdale- street, that it might be commodious for worship. They con- tinued their correspondence also with Mr. Stewart, who at length wrote, discouraging their efforts to obtain his services. On the 17th of August Mr. Edmonds preached for them, and announced the death of Mr. Tennent. On the 31st a call was made out to Dr. Rodgers to become their pastor as the suc- cessor of Mr. Tennent, and was signed by the congregation. The salary of Mr. Tennent was continued to his family through the year, and the funeral sermons of Mr. Allison and Mr. Hart on Mr. Tennent were requested for publication. During the remainder of this and the following year their supplies were irregular, and there were frequent adjournments of the congregation without preaching .* In January of the follow- ing year, 1778, the constitution of the church, drawn up by Dr. Ramsay, and presented on the 30th of November, 1777, was adopted. The title of the church was declared to be, " The Independent or Congregational Church worshipping in Meeting and Archdale-streets." And it was further declared that " the denomination of this church, the mode of divine service therein, and the government thereof by its own members and supporters, independent of all extrinsick
* The following, from an old account book, mentions some of the supplies :
1778. To paid Mr. Edmonds for six | Between 8th March and 15th Oct. Sabbaths, between 1st January Rev. Mr. Gourlay 2, at £20 £40 and instant April, at £15 £90 Henderson, 3 60 Edmonds, 9 180 Rev. Mr. Harris for 1, 22d 15 Feb. ·
Rev. Mr. Henderson 1, 8 15
Mr. Allison, 8 March 15
Allison, 2 40
Hill, 3 60
375
1770-1780.] IN MEETING AND ARCHDALE STREETS.
authority, as stated in the 9th, 10th, and 11th articles, shall forever remain unalterable, and no part shall be altered but by the concurring voice of two-thirds of the members and supporters thereof." On the 22d of March Mr. Richard Hut- son was commissioned to apply to Rev. Mr. Mc Whorter to become their pastor, and to offer the same terms as were offered to Dr. Rodgers, and in case of his failure, to apply to Rev. Mr. Duffield, or to some other. On Sunday the 3d of May, the congregation ordered the eight doctrinal arti- cles, the consideration of which had been postponed at a previous meeting, to be entered in the church-book as funda- mental articles. On Sunday the 17th, they subscribe the five doctrinal articles of the state, and resolve to secure an act . of incorporation, and add three more articles. On Sun- day, July 5th, they invite the Rev. Messrs. Piercy and Hill to preach for them, and on the 13th make out a call to the Rev. Alexander Mc Whorter, D. D., of Newark, New Jersey, with a salary of £2,100. A letter was addressed to the moderator of the presbytery. of New York, and another to the church at Newark, urging them to accede to their wishes in relation to Dr. Mc Whorter, 1. Because of the melancholy state of religion in the state and city ; 2. On account of the great opportunity of usefulness afforded by this pastorate; 3. They plead the infant state of literature, and the great advantages which must accrue to civil liberty, and the interests of learning and religion over the whole state, from the established reputation of Dr. McWhorter. On the 20th of September they were ministered to by Rev. Mr. Henderson, and received the letter of Dr. Rodgers declining their call. He was requested to hold it still under consideration, as the destruction of New York might induce him to cast in his lot among them. The salary offered was augmented to £4,000 "during these dear times." On the 20th of January, 1779, they received an inter- esting letter from Dr. Rodgers, dated at Sharon, Conn., whither the ravages of war had driven him, declining their call, and the congregation continued dependent on such supplies as could be obtained. Charleston was again threatened by the British general Prevost, who had crossed the Savannah on his march towards Charleston. The inhabitants, under the direction of Lieutenant-Governor Bee and the council, made every effort to fortify the city landward. The suburban houses were burned, and lines of defence and an abbatis were extended from Ashley to Cooper rivers, across Charleston Neck. The en- emy, however, though they approached the city and held parley
wie : +
376
WAPPETAW AND MOSES ALLEN.
[1770-1780.
with the garrison, did not make the expected attack. It was on this occasion that Major Benjamin Huger, who had ventured with a party of men without the lines, was fired on and killed by his own countrymen in mistake. We still find the church laboring to keep up its religious services in the midst of these alarms. On the 18th of July they extended an invitation to Rev. Mr. Edmonds and Dr. Percy of the Episcopal church, to fill their pulpit till the following October.
Of the CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH at WAPPETAW, in Christ's Church parish, the notices continue to be very scanty. The Rev. Jolin Martin was its minister in the beginning of this decennium. Mr. Zubly says, writing to Dr. Stiles of Yale College, January 30th, 1772, "I also send you a dissenter's Address to Dissenters, by the Rev. John Martin, A. M., a member of the presbytery and minister on Wando Neck." -(Stiles' MSS., Yale College.) About this time Mr. Martin removed to the Wiltown ' church. There is in existence a manuscript addressed to the Independent church in Charles- ton, when the Wappetaw church applied to that church to send its pastor and delegates to aid in the ordination and installation of Rev. Mr. Allen .* Mr. Tennent speaks of the obligations of the city church in Charleston to the church at Wappetaw for the large sum of money they had contributed to aid the former in their schemes of building, and speaks of them as of the same sentiments with themselves. The Rev. Moses Allen, to whom reference is made, was born in North- ampton, Mass., September 14th, 1748, was graduated at the college in New Jersey in 1772 ; and was licensed by the pres- bytery of New Brunswick, February 1st, 1774, and recom- mended by them as an ingenious, prudent, and pious man. On his way to the south he spent some days with his friend James Madison of Virginia, where he was solicited to pass the winter. Pursuing his way, however, he arrived in Christ's Church parish, South Carolina, where he was ordained on the 16th of March, 1775, by Mr. Zubly, Mr. Edmonds, and William Tennent, and installed as pastor of the Independent or Congre- gational church at Wappetaw. He preached his farewell sermon to this church on the 8th of June, 1777, and removed to Midway church, Liberty county, Georgia, to which place he had been called. The British army under General Pre-
Mr. Carter, in his pamphlet, "The Claims of Wappetaw," p. 6, says in 1770 or 1771. But Mr. Tennent did not receive his call till November, 1771, nor commence his labors in Charleston till April, 1772 ; nor was Mr. Allen ordained till 1775.
377
DORCHESTER AND BEECH HILL.
1770-1780.]
vost dispersed his congregation in 1778, burned the house of worship, and the dwelling-houses of several of the people, and destroyed the rice then in stacks. In December he was taken prisoner at Savannah, and instead of being sent to Sunbury on parole with the continental officers, he was sent on board the prison-ships. He was chaplain of the Georgia brigade, and his animated exertions in the pulpit and the field had incurred the peculiar resentment of the British; for notwith- standing his clerical profession he was among the foremost in the hour of battle, and the post of danger was to him the post of honor. Wearied of his confinement in his loathsome quarters, he sought to escape by throwing himself into the river and swimming to an adjacent point, but was drowned in the attempt, on the evening of February 8th, 1779, at the age of thirty years. His body was washed on a neighboring island, found by some of his friends, who requested boards of the captain of a British vessel to make a coffin, but could not procure them .- (Allen's Biog. Dictionary, and J. B. Mallard's History of Midway Church.)
Rev. Mr. Atkins succeeded Mr. Allen, but at what interval we are not able to say. His melancholy end belongs to the next decennial period of this history.
CHAPTER II.
THE Congregational church of DORCHESTER and BEECH HILL had probably but a feeble existence at this time. Archibald Simpson spent Lord's-day, the 14th of January, 1770, at Beech Hill, and administered the Lord's Supper and the ordinance of baptism. In his MS. diary he says, "On account of the severity of the weather, concluded to put two sermons into one. There was a large and full congregation, a most serious and attentive auditory." He thanked them for their pressing invitation to preach regularly for them, plead his great dis- tance and other duties, and recommended them to secure the services of Mr. Edmonds, who had left Georgia and come to live fifteen or sixteen miles from them on his wife's estate, and to preach around in vacant places. He recommended Mr. Edmonds to them in the warmest manner. He had recom- mended to them to repair their meeting-house at Beech Hill. This they could not do unless he would collect for them. He promised to read their address to his congregations. Mr.
378
STONEY CREEK .- REV. JOHN CALDWELL.
[1770-1780.
Edmonds had been called by the Midway church, Liberty county, Georgia, on the 18th of June, 1767, to labor as co-pastor with Mr. Osgood, "to preach chiefly in Sunbury, and, if agree- able, to supply the inhabitants of the Altamaha." "August 9th, 1767, Mr. James Edmonds and family arrived in Georgia on a call from the society. Preached at Midway on the 26th and at the Altamaha on the 30th and 31st, and agrees to supply them once a month for the first year."-(Records of Midway Church.) Whether the church of Dorchester and Beech Hill availed them- selves of the labors of Mr. Edmonds, now living in their vicinity, and to what extent, we have not ascertained. The excellent and much loved pastor of the original church which migrated to Liberty county, Georgia, 1753-4, died August 2d, 1773.
The INDEPENDENT CHURCH of Indian Land, now STONEY CREEK, enjoyed the labors of Rev. Archibald Simpson until June, 1772, when he sailed for Scotland. His journal alludes to many things not connected with the history of this church, but of general interest. On Monday, the 15th of January, 1770, he was informed that Rev. James Caldwell of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, was at the house of Rev. Mr. Maltby of Wiltown, on his way to Georgia, collecting funds for the college of New Jersey at Princeton, and that he had preached for Mr. Maltby on Sabbath. He speaks of the college as " that most excellent and flourishing seminary of learning, which has hitherto been and promises to be the most useful of any ever erected in America." He determines immediately to wait on him, " being informed of his great and excellent character." His interview with Mr. Caldwell seems to have impressed him most favorably. He speaks of him as "a valuable person, much of a Christian and gentleman, a fine scholar, and in every way an accomplished minister." He advises, him to visit this week among his (Mr. Simpson's) friends, to whom he would recommend his business ; arranges for him to preach at Pon Pon the following Sabbath, and stops at Jacksonboro to give notice of the appointment and to speak a kind word for Mr. Caldwell and his cause. He consults with Mr. Cald- well as to the advisableness of his renewing his attendance upon presbytery, which it appears he had for some time omitted, and states in this connection that most of " the old bigotted Arminian party were now dead." He hoped also to gain a majority to join the synod of New York and Philadel- phia, and "to comprehend the Independent congregations in this State and Georgia, with a view to promote a catholic, evangelical, and useful ministry, and strengthen the dissenting
379
SCHEME OF COMPREHENSION.
1770-1780.]
interest over all British America. Something of this kind had been thought of and proposed by Messrs. Zubly, Osgood, Martin, and myself, before Mr. Caldwell arrived, and I hope his coming will greatly forward it." Mr. Caldwell returned from Georgia with a son of Rev. Mr. Zubly, lately graduated at Princeton, toward the close of January ; and January 14th the following year, 1771, Mr. Ogden from the North came to collect Mr. Caldwell's subscriptions. The Caldwell family tradition makes them to have been of Huguenot origin, and to have been driven from France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They took refuge in Scotland, and lived upon an estate called Cold-well (Scottice Cauld-well), whence their name. He was pastor of the Presbyterian church, in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. On the commencement of hostilities between the colonies and Great Britian he became chaplain of the New Jer- sey brigade, and had unbounded influence with the army and people. The church in which he preached was yielded as a hospital for sick, disabled, and wounded soldiers. It was its bell that sounded the alarm on the approach of the foe, its floor the bed of the weary soldier, and its seats the table from which he ate his frugal meal. High rewards were offered for his capture. His church was burned by a refugee in 1780, and a few months after his wife was shot through the window of a room to which she had retired with her children for safety. On the 24th of November, 1781, while conveying to the town a lady who had arrived from New York under a flag of truce, he was shot by James Morgan, an Irishman by birth, either in a fit of drunkenness or of irritation at not receiving his wages (Mr. Caldwell acting at that time as assistant com- missary), or being bribed so to do by the British or Tories. For this murder Morgan was afterwards hung. He left nine orphan children ; and at the funeral service, before the coffin was closed, Dr. Boudinot came forward, leading these nine orphans, and placing them around their father's bier, made an address of surpassing pathos in their behalf .- (Sprague's Annals of the American Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 222; and Allen's Biographical Dictionary.)
The measures concerted in this consultation with Mr. Cald- well were partially carried into effect. In the synod of New York and Philadelphia, on the 24th of May, 1770, at which Rev. James Caldwell was present, " a letter from the presby- tery of South Carolina, signifying their desire to unite with the synod, and requesting to be informed of the terms on which such union could be obtained, was brought in and read.
ـبي
380
ANSWER OF SYNOD.
[1770-1780.
It was agreed to send them the following letter in answer to their proposal :-
" REV. AND DEAR BRETHREN :- We received your letter by the Rev. Mr. Caldwell, proposing an union of your presbytery with this synod, and asking the conditions on which it may be obtained. The synod took your proposal into consideration, and are unanimously of opinion that the union would be for the interest of religion and the comfort of the whole body, and therefore agreed that it should take place for all ecclesiastical purposes, and expect that your presbytery will attend the meeting of the synod with all the regu- larity that your situation will admit. The conditions which we require are only what we suppose you are already agreed in, viz., that all your ministers acknowledge and adopt, as the standard of doctrine, the Westminster Confes- sion of Faith and Catechisms, and the Directory as the plan of your worship and discipline. The Church of Scotland is considered by this synod as their pattern in general; but we have not as yet expressly adopted by resolution of synod, or bound ourselves by any other of the standing laws or forms of the Church of Scotland than those above mentioned, intending to lay down such rules for ourselves, upon Presbyterian principles in general, as circum- stances should from time to time show to be expedient.
" The only difficulty that has been made in this matter is, that we are not certain whether the corporation of the Widows' Fund will think it safe to admit the members of your presbytery, from their distance and other circum- stances. It is, however, the opinion of the members of this synod that you either do not intend to ask admission to this fund, which is not mentioned in your letter, or that you are both able and willing to come in upon such terms as will not in the least injure the stock or embarrass the management of that corporation.
" After receiving this letter, we expect you will send your answer by such of your members as may attend the next meeting of our synod, which is to be at Philadelphia the third Wednesday of May, 1771."
The moderator was ordered to make out a copy of this, properly attested, and deliver it into the hands of Dr. Rodgers and Mr. Caldwell, to be transmitted to the moderator of the presbytery of South Carolina by the first safe opportunity .- (Records, p. 409.)
No reply appears ever to have been made to these overtures, nor did this ancient presbytery of South Carolina ever become connected by ecclesiastical bonds with any other ecclesiastical organization.
Mr. Simpson seems to have been further stimulated to at- tempt a reformation as to his irregularity in attending presby- tery. He had been reading Guthrie's "Great Interest." One thing he observed in which there was no similitude between Guthrie and himself, and this was his great influence in church judicatories, and he resolves that, if he does again attend presbytery, he will not be so silent as he used to be. He carries his purpose into execution, reaches Charleston on the 15th of May, 1770, calls on Dr. Hewat, minister of Charles- ton, where he finds " Rev. Mr. T-t of North Carolina, who is to preach before presbytery on a given text, to clear himself
ーーーーーーー ーーーーー
381
1770-1780.]
MEETING OF PRESBYTERY, MAY, 1770.
of some suspicions of being an Arian and Socinian, which," says Mr. Simpson, " he most certainly is, although he has re- peatedly signed the formula of the Westminster Confession of Faith."" Mr. Simpson was impatient, as many men have been since, at the want of punctuality, on the part especially of neighboring brethren, who could have reached the place in from one to four hours, while he had rode between sixty and seventy, and Mr. Richardson two hundred miles, to be present. Presbytery at last met on Thursday, the 17th of May, being delayed one day by the want of punctuality of neighboring brethren, or for some other reason, as Mr. Simpson suspected. The ministers in attendance were the Rev. Alexander Hewat of the Presbyterian church, Charleston; the Rev. Hugh Alison of James Island; the Rev. James Latta of John's Island ; Rev John Martin of Cainhoy ; Rev. William Richardson of Wax- haw; Rev. Archibald Simpson of Indian Land (Stoney Creek) ; and Rev. John Maltby of Wiltown, whom the presbytery of New York, May 17th, 1770, reported as dismissed to join the presbytery of South Carolina. The sermon of Mr. T-t appears to have been the first and opening exercise, and was on the text, Eph. ii. 5, " Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved.)" Mr. Simpson characterizes this sermon as " very artful, ex- pressed mostly in Scripture phrases, though it was plain enough in what sense he took them. The whole of it was a piece of rank Arminianism, to say no worse, but expressed with so much art and caution as to be capable of different explanations, and could not be rejected." After sermon lie retired, and the presbytery was constituted with prayer by Rev. Mr. Richardson, "he being moderator the last time he was present, and Mr. Knox, the moderator at that time, being detained at home by sickness. The minutes of the last pres- bytery were read, and Mr. Maltby chosen moderator, which, although it was his turn as a stranger, yet was a disadvantage to what I shall call the orthodox and moderate side, as it put him aside from either speaking or voting, except of giving a casting vote. The first business was to approve or disap- prove Mr. T-t's sermon. Messrs. Hewat and Latta gave it great encomiums. Mr. Richardson made several objections, but Mr. Hewat was ready to explain all in an orthodox sense. Mr. Alison, who seems to be a most worthy brother, expressed great dissatisfaction. His observations were most just. Mr. Martin said, if Mr T-t was not orthodox, he was at least very artful, for though the sermon with such explanations
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.