USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. I pt 2 > Part 9
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On the 1st of July, 1776, the Cherokees fell upon the frontier settlements, massacreing the inhabitants without distinction. They butchered the family of Aaron Smith, killing him, his wife, five children, and five negro men; Mr. Stringer and one child, and three or four of Gilaspy's family. The inhabitants along the Saluda and Rabun's Creek took refuge in Lindley's Fort, where a part of Col. Williams's regiment were assem- bled. They were attacked by eighty-two Indians and one hundred and two white men, many of whom were painted and dressed as Indians. They were repulsed by the garrison, and in the rout thirteen of the white Indians were made prisoners, nine of whom were painted. They were sent to Ninety-Six for safe keeping. A letter of Rev. James Creswell to Hon. William Henry Drayton, dated July 27th, 1776, details these and other facts connected with the times. "Such of us," says he, " as are in forts have neither suitable guns nor ammuni- tion for the defence of our lives and little ones, as we were obliged to furnish our army with our best arms."
In Mr. Creswell the advocates of a free government found a congenial spirit, and he continued to exert himself against the Tory influence which was so powerful in that region, and had his life been spared, would have been an actor probably in the scenes which shortly ensued. He died, it is believed, in
430
BULLOCK'S CREEK .- DR. ALEXANDER.
[1770-1780.
the fall of 1776, and was removed from those scenes of suffer- ing through which the country was about to pass. But his warm advocacy of Republican doctrines and his public deliv- erances on the liberty of the people subjected his widow and family, through the war, to frequent petty annoyances from the Tories. On one occasion a marauding party came to her house and demanded a well-known horse belonging to her. Her eldest son, a lad of about twelve years of age, overheard the conversation, betook himself quietly to the lot, bridled and mounted the animal, was seen galloping off, was pursued and fired at as he swam across the Saluda. The early death of Mr. Creswell was a great loss to Presbyterianism at that day-as he was a man of ardent character, of good abilities, and thorough education-and irreparable to his widow and four little children, whom he left with scanty means of sup- port. She managed without assistance to give them the best education the times and the country afforded, and could testify that she had never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. She lived to a good old age, a model of piety. The descendants of this worthy pair are all either members or supporters of the Presbyterian church .- (MS. Letter of D. Creswell of Eutaw, Alabama.) His name is variously spelled in our ecclesiastical minutes :- James Crisswell, among the ab- sentees of Hanover presbytery, p. 400 of the minutes of the synod of New York and Philadelphia ; James Criswell, in the order erecting the presbytery of Orange in 1770, p. 409, of which presbytery he was one of the original members. For Mr. Creswell's interest in education, se e p. 340.
CHAPTER V.
BULLOCK'S CREEK Church in York district was favored in obtaining, in the year 1774, the ministerial labors of the Rev. (afterwards Dr.) Joseplı Alexander. He was a native of Penn- sylvania, and graduated at the college of New Jersey in 1760 ; was licensed by the presbytery of Newcastle in 1767, and was appointed by the synod of New York and Philadelphia to visit the vacancies in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, and to remain if possible a half-year, and as much longer as he might think proper. On the 11th of October in the same year, he produced his testimonials to the presbytery of Hanover of his having been licensed and of his having accepted a call from
431
BEERSHEBA.
1770-1780.]
Sugar Creek, North Carolina, with a recommendation from the presbytery of Newcastle for his ordination. He was ordained at Buffalo, Guilford county, North Carolina, by the presbytery met to install Rev. David Caldwell, March 4th, 1768. In May following Mr. Caldwell performed the service of his installa- tion as pastor of Sugar Creek, where he remained till he took charge of Bullock's Creek in York (then Camden) district in 1774. He was a man of fine education and commanding talents, an animated speaker and renowned as a teacher of youth, and his influence extended far beyond the bounds of his own charge. He greatly aided the churches around him in their destitute condition. Among the places which enjoyed his labors was a church on Thicketty Creek in Union district. In Mr. Tennent's journal, August 22d, 1775, there is the fol- lowing passage : "Set out from Capt. Beers' on Fishing Creek and rode thirteen miles (crossing Broad river at Smith's ford) to a meeting-house of Mr. Alexander on Thicketty, where I found him preaching to a crowd of people assembled to meet me." He was an ardent and fearless patriot. Filled with a sense of his country's wrongs, he did not scruple to advocate its cause in public and private. He was obnoxious therefore to those who favored the royal authorities, but at all times possessed the warm affections of his own people. The few men that were at home and the lads that were not absent from home at the time on public service, habitually repaired to church on Sabbath mornings with their rifles in hand, and around what was known in the next generation as the "Old Log meeting-house," guarded the minister and the worshipping congregation while he preached. Besides serving his own people he is said also to have organized the Nazareth church in Spartanburg district.
BEERSHEBA seems to have been associated very closely with the neighboring church of Bullock's Creek. It also was visited by Mr. Tennent on the same tour. "Went five miles to Beersheba meeting-house, found assembled a large body of people indeed ; preached from Rom. v. 5. Afterwards spoke largely on public affairs. The people seemed entirely satisfied and signed the association almost universally. This, I hope, will bring over Col. - 's regiment, let his intentions be what they will." This shows us that the church was flourishing during the early period of the Revolution and the population in general true to the Republican cause. Mr. Alexander, in all probability, officiated at this church through the period of which we speak.
432
BETHESDA .- BETHEL.
[1770-1780.
BETHESDA CHURCH, YORK DISTRICT .- The Rev. Hezekiah Balch, who became pastor of Bethel church in 1770, preached also, at least as an occasional supply, in this church till the time of his removal to East Tennessee. In the year 1774-1775 the church was without the ministry of the Word. At this time the Rev. John Simpson gave up the charge of Lower Fishing Creek and engaged to supply the church of Bethesda half his time in connection with Upper Fishing Creek church, of which he remained the pastor. The eldership of the church remained the same as at its first organization during these ten years.
BETHEL CHURCH, YORK DISTRICT, was ministered to, it is believed, for a short time by Rev. John Cossan, a missionary sent over from Europe by Lady Huntington. But its first regular pastor was the Rev. Hezekiah Balch, who accepted a call from this congregation in 1770 (it being then under the care of Orange presbytery), and remained in charge of it about four years. Mr. Balch was born in Harford county, Maryland, in the year 1741. His father removed to Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, in his early childhood. He was admitted to Princeton college at the recommendation of Dr. Rodgers, and was graduated in 1762. He was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Newcastle in 1768-69, and labored as a mis- sionary in the bounds of the presbytery of Hanover, which extended indefinitely south and west. He was ordained an evangelist on the 8th of March, 1770. In the following May, with six others, he was set off by the synod of New York and Philadelphia as the presbytery of Orange. During his con- nection with this church he was married to Miss Hannah Lewis, a lady of fine intellect and of great personal attrac- tions, but who afterwards exhibited some degree of mental aberration, to the great grief and embarrassment of her hus- band. Before this occurred, however, and soon after the be- ginning of the war, Mr. Balch resigned his charge and removed over the mountains to East Tennessee, and became widely known, for various reasons, in the church.
During his pastorship the following persons were ordained to the eldership : viz., Joseph Bradner, Col. Samuel Watson, John Howe, Samuel Craig, and John Baird. After the de- parture of Mr. Balch, Bethel was for some time vacant, re- ceiving occasional supplies from the presbytery of Orange. The Rev. Mr. Cosson, the Rev. James McRee of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, and Mr. Cummins, a licentiate of the presby- tery above named, were among those who ministered to them.
1770-1780.]
NAZARETH. 433
The congregation sympathized deeply with the patriots of that period. Colonel Thomas Neel, one of the elders, commanded a regiment against the Cherokees in 1776. He died in 1779. One of his sons, a captain, was killed in battle by the Indians, and another, a colonel, by the Tories.
NAZARETH CHURCH, SPARTANBURG DISTRICT .- On a previous page we have said that Nazareth congregation obtained sup- plies in 1766, and was organized soon after. This is said on the authority of a brief MS. history prepared for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church under the direction of the second presbytery of South Carolina in 1808-9. The in- vestigations of its pastor, the Rev. Robert H. Reid, have led him to fix, on reliable evidence, the organization of the church in the spring of 1772. That there was Presbyterian preaching earlier than this is to be inferred from the previous existence of a house of worship. It stood near the site of the present building, at the lower side of the graveyard. Its location was thus determined : two of the older men of the congregation stepped the distance between what was then known as the upper and lower settlements, and this spot being equidistant from bothi, was selected as the site. There were a few persons living in 1860 who could remember to have attended worship in that house soon after, and one before, the war of independ- ence. The latter person was fourteen years old at the declara- tion of independence, and in healtli and in possession of her faculties of mind at the time of which we speak. The house of worship was small, built of logs, the pulpit constructed of clapboards, and the seats of the same material, without backs. "It was built without a subscription paper or presence of an architect." The occasional visits of evangelists like Hugh McAden and others, in all probability, led to the building of the first house of worship. At the organization of the church, so great was the reverence of the congregation for the office of ruling elder, they thought there was scarcely one among them fit to discharge its duties, and they had great difficulty in making a selection. The officiating minister who organized the church overruled their scruples : "If yere canna get hewn stones, yere must take donna," i. e., rough ones. A new difficulty then arose. The candidates elect had such exalted views of the character and qualifications requisite for the office, that they refused for some time to be ordained. The first elders elected were Capt. Andrew Barry, Mr. Robert Nesbit, Mr. John Muckelwrath, and Mr. Thomas Peden. The appearance of the congregation when assembled for worship in these early
28
434
NAZARETH.
[1770-1780.
times, as in all our pioneer settlements, was widely different from that of modern assemblies. The ladies were chiefly their own merchants, milliners, and mantua-makers. They wore hats and wrappers of their own manufacture. The men were clad in knee-breeches and long waistcoats, and low-crowned and broad-brimmed hats, and in summer usually appeared in church without coats. They always came either on foot or horseback. No carriages encircled the sanctuary during their hours of worship. It was common for young men and women to walk four and five miles to church.
But they excelled in all the virtues of the Christian and the man. They reverenced the house and worship of God. They honored the Sabbath. Preparation was made on Saturday that this should be a quiet day in all their dwellings. If there was no public worship, the day was spent in private duties of religion. The family altar was set up, God's holy word was read daily, and his name invoked. The praises of God were sung out of Rouse's version of the Psalms to the air of Mear, Dublin, Dundee, or Old Hundred ; family mercies were ac- knowledged, family sins confessed, and family blessings sup- plicated. In nearly all the first dwellings on these rivers the scenes were realized so beautifully described in the "Cotter's Saturday Night" of the Scotch poet Burns, a truthful repre- sentation of the simple piety of a Presbyterian family whether in the old country or in this :-
" The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face, They round the ingle form a circle wide; The sire turns o'er wi' patriarchal grace, The big Ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride : His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside, His lyart haffets wearin' thin and bare; Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glidc, He wales a portion with judicious care, And 'Let us worship God !' he says, with solemn air.
" They chant their artless notes in simple guise ; They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim ; Perhaps Dundee's wild warbling measures rise, Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy o' the name; Or noble Elgin beats the heav'nward flame, The sweetest far of Scotia's holy lays :
" The priest-like father reads the sacred page, Then kneeling down to Heaven's Eternal King, The saint, the father, and the husband prays : Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing,' That thus they all shall meet in future days ; There, cver bask in uncreated rays, No more to sigh, or shed the bitter tear, Together hymning their Creator's praise."
435
INDIAN TROUBLES.
1770-1780.]
The church was organized by the Rev. Joseph (afterwards Dr.) Alexander, who continued to preach to them as stated supply until after the war of the Revolution. The road that leads from the church to Pinckneyville, on Broad river, was first opened by the congregation as a bridle-way for Dr. Alex- ander to travel when he came to preach to them.
But this otherwise peaceful and godly congregation were not free from molestation. They were not long settled in their new house ere they discovered that they were not secure from Indian depredations and violence. While at work in the field they were exposed to the rifles of their deadly foe, and when travelling abroad their wives and children at home were not secure from the tomahawk and scalping-knife. The Enoree river was the line between the Cherokees and the white settlements, and the travel of a few hours would bring the Indian among them. Within a single night the savage enemy might come and perpetrate his deeds of blood and return before the dawn. The frequent murders and robberies of the Indians led to the building of three forts : one near Timmon's Old Field, called Prince's Fort; another in the fork of Middle and North river, on the plantation owned (in 1854) by Mr. David Anderson, called Nichol's Fort, from the name of the resident of the place ; the third on Fairforest, at what was then called Poole's Iron-works, but now Bivingsville. They were block-houses, consisting of a few log cabins, notched down so closely and otherwise secured as to be im- pervious to a rifle-ball save at the port-holes. These forts were built previous to the declaration of independence.
At the beginning of the revolution the Indians became peculiarly troublesome. John Stuart, who was in fort Loudon in the year 1760, when it surrendered to the Cherokees, and who escaped barely with his life when the garrison was mas- sacred, had in commiseration of his sufferings received from the General Assembly of South Carolina a present of £1500 currency, and a recommendation to the king, in consequence of which he had been appointed superintendent of Indian affairs. Though indebted to the colonial legislature for his position, he felt himself drawn to his sovereign by stronger obligations, and exerted all his influence to exasperate the Indians against the friends of congress. Under the repre- sentations of his emissaries the Cherokees began their massa- cres in the back settlements at the very time the British fleet attacked Sullivan's Island.
In the spring and summer of 1776 the Indians annoyed
436
MASSACRE OF THE HAMPTONS.
[1770-1780.
exceedingly the settlements on Tyger river. The inhabitants were able to bestow but small attention upon the crops, they and their families having sought shelter in the forts. Wlien they did work they carried their rifles to the field, and while some were engaged in labor others acted as sentinels to give notice of danger. Notwithstanding these precautions many lives were lost. In some few instances whole families were found murdered and scalped, and were buried in the same grave without shroud or coffin. On the south side of Middle river lived the family of Hampton.
" Anothony Hampton, the father, with his wife and daughter, Mrs. James Harrison, and his sons, Preston, Henry, and Edward, moved to Spartanburg district about the year 1774. At the commencement of the troubles between the colonies and the mother country, it was a matter of deep concern to the inhabitants on the frontiers of South Carolina that the Cheroke eIndians should not engage in the war. In order to secure their peace, Preston and Edward Hampton made them a visit, and formed an acquaintance with their chiefs and head men. But they had already been seduced by the British government, and the time that Henry Clinton and Sir Peter Parker made their attack on Charleston, they commenced their incursions on the frontier of the State.
" The Indians approached Mr. Hampton's house, and some of the head men were recognized by Preston Hampton, who had hastened home to give warning of the intended rising. The elder children of Mrs. Harrison had been dispatched to warn the neighbors, and Mrs. Harrison and her hus- band were also at the moment absent. The Indians were met cordially, and old Mr. Hampton had already taken the hand of one of the chiefs in his friendly grasp when he saw the gun of another fire, and his son Preston fall to the ground. The very hand which he held a moment before now sent a tomahawk through his skull. His wife was dispatched in the same way. The infant son of Mrs. Harrison was dashed against the wall of the house, which was spattered with its blood and brains. John Bynum, a grandson of old Mr. Hampton, from whom these particulars were afterwards gathered, stood petrified with horror, and a warrior had raised his hand to strike him when the blow was arrested by a chief who took the lad under his protec- tion. He remained many years with them, but was restored under the treaty of 1777. Mrs. Harrison on coming up saw her father's house in flames, and would have rushed into the midst of their enemies. Her husband held her back, and they hid in the weeds and thicket on the verge of the river till the savages were gone.
"Immediately after this massacre, Colonel Williamson raised a large body of militia, and marched into the Cherokee nation, and destroyed a large num- ber of their towns and settlements. Henry Hampton killed with his own hand an Indian warrior who had his brother Preston Hampton's coat on in the engagement. Edward Hampton, at the time of the massacre, was at Baylis Earle's, on Pacolet, whose daughter he married. In this way he escaped the massacre. He was a bold cavalier, and one of the best horsemen of his age in South Carolina. In the second fight of Williamson with the Indians they began killing their prisoners. Following hard upon their trail he came to the body of a white woman, recently murdered and shockingly exposed. He dismounted, tore off his shirt, covered the body, drew it under a bush, and resumed the pursuit. He was afterwards killed by the Tories of " the bloody scout" in 1781. Gen. Wade Hampton was then in North Caro-
437
" THE BLOODY SCOUT."
1770-1780.]
lina. He fought in the battles of the Revolution, exhibited extraordinary galantry in the battle of Eutaw, and commanded at Plattsburg in 1813. His son Wade received the plaudits of Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, where he fought as a volunteer. The services of his grandson in our recent conflicts and his private virtues need no rehearsal."
Nearly at the same time James Reid, of North Carolina, who was come on business connected with the safety of the settlement, was attacked at the old ford on North river, a short distance below Snoddy's bridge. He was shot through his breast and thigh. He snatched the tomakawk out of the Indian's hand that came up to scalp him. The Indian being disarmed now fled. Reid escaped to Prince's fort, where he remained till his wounds were healed.
" At this time Mr. John Miller, one of the first settlers, was killed. He had taken his family to the fort at Pool's Ironworks, but apprehending but little danger had returned home. While crossing the Middle river at Buffalo bridge, a short distance above the confluence, he was shot down upon the bridge and expired immediately. He had been to a neighbor's house and was returning in company with two other persons by the name of Orr and Leach. They attempted to escape by running up on the south side of the river. The Indians, who had been concealed under the bridge or near it, continued to fire at them. The fugitives came to a small lagoon or marsh which impeded their progress. Orr, being a strong active man, cleared it with a bound, but Leach fell in, and as he lay quiet the Indians supposed he had been shot. They therefore followed in pursuit of Orr, and Leach eseaped down the river where they had passed. They killed Orr and took his scalp. Orr was buried by the neighbors in the bottom where he was killed, and Miller about a quarter of a mile from the river, in the fork of the two rivers on the plantation now (1854) owned by Mr. David Anderson. He was buried without coffin or shroud, in the dress he had on. A brick wall encircling his grave marks his last resting-place. He was a tall, preposes- sing, amiable man. He carried a copy of the Scriptures always in his pocket, and his death was regarded as a serious loss to the infant settlement. It occurred just before the declaration of Independence. The excitement on the subject of the war was great, and it was believed at the time that white men as well as Indians were concerned in these murders. The Indians con . tinued to annoy the settlement at times till the close of the Revolution."- (Rev. Robt. H. Reid, in the Spartanburg Express.)
The next trouble which came upon the congregation was from the Tories. First came " the plundering Scout." They visited and plundered various families. Mr. Timmons, an old man, they hung up by the neck, but the rope either broke or was cut, so that his life was preserved. They abused old Mr. Collins, hacking him with their swords. Next came "the bloody Scout." They killed a Capt. Steadman, who was lying sick at Mr. Charles Moore's. They wore the Whig badge of distinction, and came upon Mr. William Caldwell near the church and shot at him several times, wounding his horse. Yet by an ingenious stratagem of uttering the word of com- mand to imaginary comrades, he escaped. His young brother
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LONG CANE.
[1770-1780.
had been sent to the house of Frank Howel to apprise them of their danger. Mr. Howel and two by the name of Tim- mons escaped, one man was killed, and the lad John Caldwell was so cut to pieces with their swords that he died the next day. They killed John Wood in his own house. At James Wood's, his wife begged on her knees for the life of her hus- band, but they denied her request. She begged that she might not see him die. They took him out of her sight and shot him. They went on to Poole's Ironworks and killed John Snoddy. This party was led by the ." Bloody Bill Cunningham."
LONG CANE CHURCH, Abbeville district .- This congregation had been unsuccessful hitherto in their efforts to obtain a pas- tor. But in 1770 they again presented a supplication, by their messenger, Mr. Jolin Lusk, to the synod of New York and Philadelphia, requesting that Mr. Josiah Lewis, who had already labored among them as a missionary of the synod, or some other minister, be appointed to supply them for twelve months, with a view to settlement. Mr. Lewis was appointed for six months, but it does not appear that he fulfilled this appointment. The people were still as sheep without a shep- herd, until early in the year 1771, to their great satisfaction, they were visited by the Rev. Azel Roe and John Close of New Jersey, who were sent forth by the synod with plenary evangelistic powers "to preach the gospel, ordain elders, and administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's-supper." -(Minutes, pp. 403, 404, 412.) These brethren accepted the appointment, and made arrangements with Messrs. Russel and McAlpin, the bearers of the petition, to prepare for their re- ception. These gentlemen made their report to those who had sent them, who heartily set on foot appropriate measures for the reception of the missionaries.
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