USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. II pt 1 > Part 14
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I am yours, respectfully, " EBENEZER H. CUMMINS."
These statements are very remarkable, yet we abide in the opinions expressed on former pages.
FAIRVIEW CHURCH, Greenville District. The connection of this church with Rev. James Templeton, the halt of whose labors they had enjoyed since 1794, ceased in 1800. They received supplies as a vacant church from John Simpson, James Gilliland, Sen., and Wm. Williamson, until 1802, when they united with the Nazareth Church in a call to Rev. James Gilliland, Jr., with whose labors they were favored through the remainder of this decade. About the year 1809 Alexan- der Peden, William Peden and Anthony Savage were chosen as elders.
NORTH PACOLET was supplied as a vacant church through this decade. In 1800 James Templeton, in 1802 James Ten- pleton and James Gilliland, Sen. ; in 1803, Gilliland; in 1804, Templeton and James Gilliland, Jr. ; in 1805, Templeton; in
138
NEWTON-CUFFEY TOWN.
[1800-1810.
1806, Templeton and Gilliland ; in 1807, Templeton and Daniel Gray ; in 1808, Gray; in 1809, Gilliland and Gray. Under Mr. Templeton in 1800, W. Logan and M. Logan, Jr., R. McDowell and his wife and J. McDowell and his wife became members of the church. Under the labors of J. Gil- liland in 1806, W. Jackson and Mrs. Jackson became mem- bers. Thus the succession of a church, apparently never large, was kept up and transmitted.
MILFORD is often associated with North Pacolet in these supplies. In 1800 James Templeton ; in 1802, Templeton and Gilliland, Sen .; in 1803. Gilliland and Benjamin Mont- gomery ; in 1804, Gilliland, Jr., and Templeton ; in 1806, Gilliland ; in 1807. Templeton was appointed as supply. In Sept. 1801, Milford contributed to the Missionary Fund through their Elder.
NEWTON, "at the head of Tyger River" was supplied in this decade by Mr. Gilliland, Sen. ; in 1805, by Mr. Templeton ; in 1806, by the same, if the Presbyterial appointments were fulfilled, as in this Presbytery they generally were.
CUFFEY TOWN, in Edgefield District, on Cuffey Town Creek for which see Vol. I. p. 642, had frequent supplies during this decade. "Cuffey Town Church petitioned for supplies" (Minutes of Second Presbytery, p. 104.) In 1800 and 1801, Dr. Cummins ; in 1802, Hugh Dickson and Robert G. Wil- son, (afterwards D. D.) ; in 1803, Wilson and Dickson, and in 1807 Williamson were appointed on this service.
The GERMAN CHURCH, on Hard Labor Creek begins to be named among those for which supplies are appointed. "The German Church on Hard Labor petitioned for supplies" Sept. 28. 1804, Minutes, p. 74. Rev. Messrs. Dickson, Wilson and Waddel were appointed for this purpose in 1804, Messrs. Waddel, Dickson and Montgomery in 1805, Messrs. Waddel Dickson and Gray in 1806, Messrs. Waddel and Montgomery in 1807, and Dr. Waddel the most frequently of them all. The German Church is named and Cuffey Town is not in the report of the Second Presbytery to the General Assembly in 1809. Did the one organization supersede the other.
SMYRNA CHURCH, Abbeville. There was a destitute neigh- borhood near Whitehall which had associated together for the purpose of public worship. They had sent up to Presby- tery a request to be taken under their care and to be known by the name of Smyrna Congregation. They were received
139
1800-1810.]
SMYRNA-GREENVILLE CHURCH.
see Vol. I, p. 633. Uniting with Greenville Church they petitioned Presbytery Sept. 22, 1800, each for one-half of the services of Hugh Dickson, who had been licensed at the Spring Sessions, as their stated supply. The petition was referred to the Committee on Supplies. They appointed him to serve these churches each three Sabbaths, Hopewell and Carmel each, one, and the rest of his time to preach at his own discretion. At the Spring Sessions May 9th, 1801, they presented a regular call for him as their pastor, which he accepted, and was ordained as pastor of these congregations at an Intermediate Presbytery, which was held at the house of John Hairston, in the middle ground between the two con- gregations, on the IIth of November, 1801, the Rev. Francis Cummins preaching the sermon, and the Rev. Robert Wilson presiding and putting the questions prescribed in the Disci- pline, making the consecrating prayer and delivering the charge to the pastor and an exhortation to the people, and Mr. Dickson entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office. At the time of the settlement in the congregation there was no regular session. The people elected Andrew and Alexander White, David Logan, John Hairston, and Samuel Weems to the office of ruling elders, into which office they were inducted by ordination. These men, by deaths and removals, soon disappeared from among the people. The efforts made to obtain others, and the singular fatality attend- ing them, probably belong to a later period.
GNEENVILLE CHURCH (formerly Saluda), Abbeville. This church was left vacant by the dissolution of the union between it and the Long Cane Church in 1797. We mentioned that the congregation was supplied once in the month for one year afterwards by Rev. Robert Wilson. But this period having elapsed it was left vacant, and in this situation, with a few occasional supplies, it continued until the spring of 1800, when it was visited by Mr. Hugh Dickson, a licentiate, under the care of the Second Presbytery of South Carolina. He preach- ed to them occasionally through the summer, and at the fall sessions he received an invitation to spend half of his time among them as a stated supply till the next meeting of the Presbytery. This was through the hands of Presbytery, under whose direction he was. It took the course we have indicated, but for substance it was accepted on his part, and he commenced his labors. There were at that time but two
140
ROCKY CREEK.
[1800-1810.
officiating elders, James Watts and John Bell, and about forty communicants. Many had removed to the new settlements in Pendleton, and a degree of coldness prevailed among the people generally. The old house of worship was very much racked, and a new one was to be built, and the session en- gaged. Both these objects were attended to.' The house was built, and John Weatherall, George Brownlee, and Ed- ward Sharpe were elected to the office of ruling elders, and were ordained. The great religious excitement, which pre- vailed in many parts of the country in 1802, produced little effect on the congregation There were a few additions to the church. [MS. Letter of Rev. Dickson to Rev. J. C. Wil- liams, March 9th, 1853.] In the Minutes of Presbytery there is on record : " A memorial from the Trustees of Greenville congregation stating that a specific contract was made be- tween them and Mr. Dickson, their pastor, seven years since stipulating a certain sum of money in consideration of his labors among them, the performance of which had become almost impracticable to them ; and praying, not for a disso- lution of their relation as pastor and people, but for an exon- eration from the obligation on their part as to the specific sum. To which, with Mr. Dickson's consent, the prayer of the memorial was granted." (Minutes of the meeting at Hopewell Church, April 5th, 1808, p. 120.) We remember that the alleged inability of this congregation to pay the half of Dr Robert G. Wilson's salary was the reason of the dis- solution of the pastoral relation with him. But in this case " things went on smoothly," and the minister did not " count the loss of earthly goods." The church at this time, accord- ing to a brief history sent up to the General Assembly, con- sisted of about fifty communing members.
ROCKY CREEK, now ROCK CHURCH, continued to rely on Presbyterial supplies. Among these we name Robert Wilson, in 1800, 1801, 1803 ; J. B. Kennedy and Hugh Dickson, in 1803 ; Moses Waddel and Hugh Dickson, 1804, in which year, on the third Sabbath in July, Messrs. Waddel, Kennedy, Dickson, and Montgomery were appointed to administer the communion ; Hugh Dickson, Thos. Williamson and Daniel Gray, in 1805 ; Hugh Dickson, in 1806; J. B. Kennedy and Jas. Gilliland, Jr., in ISO8; J. B. Kennedy, Hugh Dickson and Benjamin Montgomery, in 1809. John Sample and George Heard were appointed ruling elders in 1804. The
141
HOPEWELL, ABBEVILLE.
1800-1810.]
existence of this church seems to have been continued under these inadequate means. The congregation is in the south- east part of Abbeville District. Below it and near the Edge- field line lies old CAMBRIDGE, or NINETY-SIX, of Revolutionary renown, said to have eight stores, five of which were quite extensive, if we may credit tradition. The seat of justice for the judicial district of Ninety. Six, and the site of an institution of learning, which would one day, it was believed, grow into a university, where Creswell, Springer, and others preached, is not named in the records of Presbytery during this decade. In 1803 the Cambridge Association was incorporated by the Legislature. The college and lands belonging thereunto, the court house and jail, and the public lots in the village, were vested in this Association, to be sold and disposed of for these objects, the college property being held exclusively for the uses of the institution the Association was to establish. The Cambridge Baptist Church was chartered at the same time. The old college building was of wood. The Association erected an academy building of brick. The Presbyterian interest revived again in this locality at a subsequent period.
HOPEWELL CHURCH, ABBEVILLE (Lower Long Cane), re- ceived supplies as a vacant church in 1800. Rev. Messrs. Simpson, Dickson and Gilleland, Sr., preached to them by order of Presbytery that year. In 1801 Rev. Dr. Waddell left Columbia County, in Georgia, and opened a school in Vienna, Abbeville District, South Carolina, where he also labored in preaching the gospel. This place was laid out as a town on the Savannah River in expectation of its becoming a place of commerce. Three other places were laid out at the same time. Vienna, opposite the mouth of Broad River, in Georgia, at its confluence with the Savannah ; South Hamp- ton on the hill above Vienna, two others on the Georgia side. Petersburg in the fork, and Lisbon on the south side of Broad River, of high sounding names, all rivals for the trade of the two rivers, and all destined to an ephemeral existence. Hopewell Church, on the 24th of September, 1801, petitioned Presbytery for liberty to call Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Waddell, a minister of Hopewell Presbytery in Georgia, as their pastor, another neighboring congregation uniting with them in this call, and desiring to be known on the records by the name of MORIAH. This church was the one called Liberty, Vol. I, p. 631, and was still so called, notwithstanding this effort to
142
HOPEWELL, ABBEVILLE.
[1800-1810.
change its name., The prayer was granted, and on the 7th of April, 1802, Mr. Waddel was received as a member, and was accompanied by Mr. William Hutton, a delegate from the session of Hopewell Church. In 1804 Mr. Waddel removed from Vienna to Willington, a country seat which he had estab- lished. Mr. Waddel requested leave of Presbytery September 28th to resign his pastoral charge of Vienna. To this Pres- bytery replied that as Vienna is not now, nor has been at any former period known as a church under the care of Presby- tery, and never presented any call to Mr. Waddel through that body, he cannot be considered bound otherwise than by private contract, which may be dissolved at the pleasure of the parties. Willington was about six miles below Vienna, and a little more than six from Hopewell Church, the chief scene of his pastoral labors. The degree of Doctor of Di- vinity was conferred upon him by the College of South Caro- lina in 1807. As an illustration of Dr. Waddel's character, and a revelation of his personal history beyond those bounds which limit our own knowledge, we again quote from the contribution of Mrs. M. E. D., from the point at which we left it on p. 654 of our first volume : " When Dr. Waddel was disconnected with South Carolina Presbytery his interest in it did not cease-he followed in the footsteps of Mr. Springer at Liberty, and while a resident of Georgia often preached at Hopewell in this State, whether as a missionary or as a supply I cannot determine.
"In these excursions, after crossing the Savannah, he usually remained a night with Capt. P. Roger, or with Pierre Gibert, Esq., French settlers on opposite sides of Little River, and by the assistance of these friendly families he was ferried across in a small canoe, while his horse either forded or swam according to the condition of the river. And here we may notice an indication of that punctual habit which thus early acquired, followed him through life, and which aided by his remarkable perseverance triumphed over every trifling obstacle, and suffered neither wind nor weather to detain him behind the time, or in any way to disappoint a congregation. For several years previous to his entire removal Dr. Cummings had resigned the care of Hopewell, but continued at Rocky River, and the proximity of these churches prepared the way for an intimacy between the ministers which lasted for years many letters having passed on both sides after the removal of Dr. C. to Greensborough.
" In pursueing this course several years had elapsed in the life of the young widower, when, being appointed Commissioner to the Assembly at Philadelphia. he passed the place of his nativity, and met again the object of his earliest love, Miss Elizabeth Pleasance, his first cousin. A juvenile attachment had subsisted between them; but the engagement
143
DR. WADDEL.
1800-1810.]
was broken off by the parents, who refused to let their daughter encounter what was then considered the wilds of Georgia. The devo- tion of the lady, however, triumphed over this difficulty ; and a few days or weeks before his marriage with Miss Calhoun, he received inti- mation that his former friend was willing to meet the inconveniences of frontier life. God was pleased by the death of the first wife to develop the amiable qualities of this excellent woman, who by patience, perseverance and meekness was so well fitted to her station, and her constancy rewarded by the privilege of ministering for more than thirty years to the comfort of an eminent servant of Christ.
Immediately after this marriage Mr. Waddel settled in South Caro- lina, resuming his classic vocation in a decent Academy built by a Board of Trustees in the village of Vienna.
" In the meantime the rich and beautiful situations on the Savannah River, for some miles below, had been taken up by several worthy descendants of the Scotch-Irish colony, and some few had been drawn from a distance by the already famous character of the school at Vienna. Among the latter was the widow of a Mr Bull, a relative of Govr. Bull of Charleston. with her two youthful and talented sons She was a dignified and superior lady, and lived an ornament to the church, but the younger of her sons, the late beloved Elder of Willing- ton was a man of whom the world was not worthy. They all lie side by side in the church yard, and the mother's stone once so lonely is now crowded with companions.
"These, in connection with the warm-hearted French, were the patrons of Mr Waddel, and as he was now a regular supply at Hopewell, and was preaching at Liberty, ten or twelve miles below, it appeared to them both convenient and desirable that he should make a more per- manent settlement among them. On the high healthy ridge which succeeds to the lowlands, and about five miles from his former position, a tract of land was obtained for him, which had been included in the grant of a French settler-and in 1804 he set up on his own responsi- bility in the little secluded valley destined to become so well known, and to which he gave the name of Willington.
For educational purposes he had at first but a log house, ventilated by a wide open passage ; and as the place seemed so strait, and the number of pupils continually increased, soon a great number of little wooden tents or domicils surrounded the log cabin, peeping out here and there from among the Chinquapin bushes-some with little pipes of wooden chimneys plastered with mud-others more pretentiously built of brick looking derrepid and ricketty ; yet supplying all that the erratic wishes of a student might require. Here, in this classic camp, the teacher, by his own vigilance, and by means of monitors main- tained the strictest subordination. Some men seem born to rule, and such was Moses Waddel. Though rather below the medium height, as his frame matured, he became stout and athletic, and his large head and heavy eyebrows gave promise of that unconquerable will, which was never found swevering from the path of duty.
" This is said to be a " fast age," but if by a precocious manhood. and a false indulgence, the purposes of education are now defeated ; it is no less true, that in the primitive state of our society, the teacher must have met a much greater hardihood and boldness of nerve. Boys trained to out-of-door sports, and nurtured in warfare could not be easily frowned into submission, and the young Dictator in the intro- duction of his new system had many and severe contests, the memory
144
DR. WADDEL.
[1800-1810.
of which affected his risibles for the remainder of his life He honestly believed that the wise suggestion of Solomon was the only safety-valve for the folies of youth, and he acted upon that belief with boldness and decision No man could administer reproof with more point, and few better understood its application-should reproof fail, the rod was the dernier but sure resort.
I suppose that a volume might be filled with anecdotes, illustrative of his belief in the superior efficacy of coercive measures. I will give only one: A young man who refused to meet the Monitor's bill on Monday, played truant, and in order to return home borrowed a horse from some of the unsuspecting peasantry-for in these days the sound of the stage-horn had never frightened the peaceful echoes of Willing- ton. Before leaving, however, he ventured, booted and spurred, into the precincts of the camp. The master, appearently with no hostile in- tention, but with a rod concealed under his arm, came out, and approach- ing the stirrup-iron of the delinquent, by a skillful manœuvre unhorsed him, and giving him a severe flagellation, ordered him to proceed on his journey -but no! the horse was dismissed, and the truant chose now to remain, and, said the old man in relating it. " I never had a better or more obedient pupil than he was from that day."
Though Mr. Waddel had much confidence in the birch, he had more hope in God, and his heart was overflowing with love to his pupils and with zeal for their spiritual improvement. They had always been con- vened for morning and evening prayers, and had heard many lectures on spiritual as well as on moral themes ; he had given them all his vacant Sabbaths; but not satisfied with this, he commenced in 1806 a regular course of preaching on Friday afternoons
The people followed up these lectures, and to accommodate the audience they were mostly given out of doors. His engagements had now become so numerous that some must suffer. The charge of Rocky River was now added to Hopewell, Dr. Cummings having in 1803 or 4 removed to Georgia, and it was his custom to convene his family for worship by candle light on Sabbath morning, ride on horseback to these places-the one ten, the other fifteen miles, preach and return the same day
"The fragment of the Huguenots at Liberty received but one Sab- bath, and sometimes that was necessarily a failure. Advantage was taken of this opening by some ministers of the Baptist denomination, who, without regard to ministerial etiquette took possession of the place for a time. This order had been gradually increasing in the neighborhood, while the elder French were being swept away by the ruthless hand of time, and while these were immersing at Liberty, the second generation of the French people found themselves carried away by those influences which were radiating round a new organization.
" In 1809 the fruits of Mr Waddel's assiduous labors began to be manifested in his school-a most interesting revival took place there, which extended to the people of the surrounding country, and they began seriously to feel the inconvenience attending the want of a house of worship. Some of the more influential citizens-among the most prominent of whom was P. Gibert, Esq., made application to the Trustees at Vienna for the Academic building at that place, which was most generously granted them ; and shortly it arose beneath the already consecrated groves of Willington. Besides four convenient recitation rooms it contained a small Chapel, and here in 1813 the church was regularly organized, William Noble, Pierre Gibert and Moses Dobbins constituting the session.
145
DR. WADDEL.
1800-1810.]
"At this time the church at Rocky River was resigned to Mr. Gamble and Mr. Waddel alternated between Willington and Hopewell.
It is said that he refused to enter into the pastoral relation, which was attributable in part to the fact, that his vocation as a teacher inter- fered with the proper discharge of the duties of that sacred office, and partly, to the missionary spirit he had imbibed in early youth, which inclined him to labor as an Evangelist whenever it should be practica- ble. He was fond of going to the help of his ministerial brethren, and this habit became so confirmed that in his advanced age he was much from home.
We have the best anthority for stating that Mr. Waddel adopted carly in life the declaration of St. Paul as his motto: " I am chargeble to no man, &c.," but however noble and self-sacrificing this might have been in his own person, it was not calculated to produce the fruits of a righteous stewardship in others. The wants of the age, in the begin- ning of his ministry, and his independent mode of living, made-it easy and perhaps proper for him to render gratuitous service ; but it is be- lieved by some that absolution from pecuniary obligation to the church for so many years, has induced a torpidity on this subject in these con- gregations which has ever since been manifesting its nnsanctifying efforts ; unless carly trained in liberal things it is very hard for men to realize that they who "preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel," and that those "who sow sparingly shall reap also sparing y," there are not wanting here, men, who are willing to believe that a secular calling is perfectly compatible with the Gospel ministry, and who quote Dr Waddel as a precedent for generous self-devotion.
" It is true that in all benevolent enterprises brought before the church his own example of great liberality had some effect upon his contemporaries ; for there were many noble and large minded Chris- tians in that day, but these consequences were developed in the future. By the exercise of great industry and economy, combined with the fewness of his wants in his simple and patriarchal mode of living, Mr. Waddel soon found himself acquiring a competent estate, so that he was enabled to become a cheerful giver ; but his disbursements were all made in the faith of one who lends to the Lord, and this sentiment he saw no reason to change to the end of his days. Giving on one occasion the last twenty-five dollars from his pocket to a traveling agent, he returned that night from a marriage, and displaying the same amount of money to a friend, remarked with a smile, "I knew the Lord would return it ; but I did not know that he would send it to-day." (MISS of Mrs. M. E. D., sce Vol. 1, p. 442.)
ROCKY RIVER CHURCH. When Rev. Francis Cummins re- signed the pastoral charge of Hopewell Church in 1796, he still retained that of Rocky River in the north western part of Abbeville District. In the spring of 1803 the pastoral con- nection of Mr. Cummins with this church was dissolved. and he removed to the State of Georgia. In 1804 the Rev. John Simpson was directed to preach at this church as a supply. In 1805 at the solicitation of the people, Dr. Waddel con- sented to preach to them a part of his time and took upon himself the charge of the church, in which he continued.
10
146
ROCKY RIVER.
[1800-1810.
In the early days of this church there was used what was called a shade or shelter in place of a house of worship. About the time of its regular organization a house was built of hewn logs, which was used till A. D. 1800, when a large frame building was put up. The early settlers in this con- gregation were foreigners, but the largest portion at this time and even earlier were from Virginia and Pennsylvania, to all of whom tradition gave the honor of having taken an active part in the Revolutionary struggle. (MS. by John Spear.)
The eldership had been increased since 1790 by the addi- tion of John Caldwell, and, at a late period, of Ezekiel Cal- houn, Wm. H. Caldwell and Robt. Crosby. Mr. Calhoun to fill the vacancy made by the death of Mr. Allen ; Mr. Cald- well to fill that of his father, and Mr. Crosby that occasioned by the death of Mr. Baskin. This addition was made to the session about the year 1805.
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