USA > South Carolina > History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina, Vol. II pt 2 > Part 35
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LONG CANE CHURCH, (Abbeville.)-At the close of the last decade, we were speaking of the sources from which the support of its pastors came. It is proper that it should be added that the main support was derived from the Upper Long Cane Society, the constitution and by-laws of which were there given.
The appropriations of this society down to January, 1852, had amounted in all to $11,392.83.
Wm. H. Barr, D. D., died on the 9th of January, 1843, having continued in the office of pastor to this church for one-third of a century. He was eminent as a preacher for his ability, eloquence and faithfulness. In his style he was re- , markable as possessing the happy faculty of being brief without obscurity. His powers of concentration were very great. Of this an instance occurs to my memory which took place when I was quite young. I think it was at a meeting of Synod of South Carolina and Georgia, at upper Long Cane Church about 1825. The meeting was about to be brought to a close when Dr. Barr arose, gave an exhortation, reminding the con- gregation of the privileges they had enjoyed during the meet- ing; in a very few words gave the pith of every sermon de- livered, setting forth the subject, it seemed to me, in a stronger point of view than the speakers themselves had done; yet the whole occupied but a few minutes. Of his strictness in regard to filling appointments, the writer recollects that in a sermon some years before his death, Dr. Barr said that he had been preaching to the congregation twenty-five years, and
733
D. M'NEILL TURNER.
340-1850.]
uring that time he had never failed in any instance to fill an ppointment he had made for them. His bad health for sev- ral years previous to his death, prevented his attendance on he Sessions of the Church Judicatories. He required he comforts of home, to which he was accustomed, a hange of lodgings alone producing sufferings. The last meeting of Presbytery that he attended was held at his own hurch. He was elected Moderator to show their respect for im, but was too ill to serve unless he could be relieved from he pains of rheumatism by which he was tormented.
His hold upon the affections of his people was very great. o this day a knowledge of what was Dr. Barr's opinion on y subject is sufficient to guide the judgement of many who ere his hearers, and anything he did not do is looked upon y them as innovation.
He seemed to have a shrinking from letting anything from is pen appear in print. I think no sermon of his was ever ablished, and I understand that on his deathbed he directed s family to destroy his manuscripts. I would fail to do justice his memory if I were to attempt to delineate his character, ad therefore make no attempt at it, but these facts occuring to y memory, I have jotted them down, thinking they might e interesting to yourself.
For some months after Dr. Barr's death the church was upplied occasionally, mostly by neighboring ministers.
The congregation having, by invitation, enjoyed the servi- s of Rev. D. McNeill Turner for a short time, on Septem- er, 1843, held a meeting and proposed a call to Mr. Turner become their pastor, with a salary of $800 per annum. He cepted the call, and was installed. He remained the pastor the church till January, 1852.
Of one of the Elders of this church who had recently died, e Presbytery of South Carolina expresses itself as follows : The committee appointed to prepare a minute in reference the death of David Lesly. Esqr., late Treasurer of the resbytery, presented the following, which was accepted and lopted, viz :
"The committee appointed to bring in a report on the much mented death of the late Treasurer, Mr. David Lesly, ould make the following: Mr. Lesly had long been a uch esteemed, devoted and cherished member and Elder the Upper Long Cane Church. He filled well the station
734
DAVID LESLY.
[1840-1850.
he occupied in Church and State ; and at no time shunned or shrunk from the path of duty. He joined the people of God under the ministry of that eminent servant of God, Dr. Barr, who so long and faithfully served the cause of his Lord and Master in this house and congregation where we are now as- sembled, and was the last of that branch of Elders which aided that laborious minister in his works of love. He was well known to this reverend body, as one ever ready for any good work, and to put forth a helping hand to roll on the chariot of salvation, and to strengthen the walls of our earthly Zion.
His Lord and Master never called upon him and found him idle. The Boards of our church never called upon him for aid, and called in vain: the needy and suffering never cried for succor and were sent empty away; and the injured never pleaded in vain when it was in his power to redress their injuries, while he was a "terror to evil doers, and a praise to them who do well."
To this Presbytery, he was for some three years their faith- ful Treasurer, and all can bear him witness how cheerfully and diligently he served in this capacity. But God has taken him-called his servant home from the church militant on earth, to the church triumphant-from earth's sorrows, con- flicts and trials, to the rest, peace and bliss of heaven. May his mantle fall on some favored son of the church who may fill his place, and supply his vacant seat in his long loved house of God, and among the Elders of this church. Let his sudden call from the earthly scenes of his labors remind the officers of the church to double their diligence in the Master's service, set their house in order, and to do speedily what they have to do for Zion, for the Lord cometh to reckon with them."
(Signed) A. D. MONTGOMERY, Chairman.
LITTLE MOUNTAIN CHURCH .- The Rev. Dr. Barr continued to preach to this church until his death, on the 9th of Janu- ary, 1843. Many things are told of the old men, who would meet soon after breakfast, in their shirt sleeves, and not a few bare-footed, and spend their time in merry joke and repartee, or in comparing crops. This meagre history must be dropped and some notice taken of the different branches of Elders, and those who served the church as preachers of the Gospel.
735
840-1850.] REV. WM. H. BARR, D. D.
Ist. William Russell, John Neely, William Cunningham Stevenson.
2d. John Burnett, Wm. McCallister, John Black, Wm. Walker.
3d. John Burnett, Hon. Joseph Black, Wm. McCallister.
4th. Albert Johnson, Samuel Walker, Robert C. Harkness, A. W. Hadden, Abraham Hadden.
After Dr. Barr, they were served by the Rev. Wm. Mc- Whorter. Down to the year 1850, the total of Communi- ants being thirty-three.
REV. WM. H. BARR, D. D.
The following memorial of Dr. Wm. H. Barr, D. D., is from the pen of the Hon. Alexander Bowie, Chancellor of the Northern Division in the State of Alabama, and seems to have passed through the hands of David Lesly, Esq., at whose suggestion it was probably written.
"In presenting, " says the Chancellor, " a sketch of the life and character of the distinguished and eloquent Christian minister, whose name stands at the head of this article, the vriter will endeavor to furnish a truthful portrait. Very little s known of the early life of this eminent minister of the gos- pel. Yet we may well dispense with all note of his early life, when we reflect that the Christian only begins truly to live when he becomes the subject of regenerating grace.
William Hampden Barr was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, either on the sixth or eighth of August, 1778. In his baptism, as he himself stated, he received only the name of William; but he afterwards assumed the addition of Hampden, either out of respect to his Alma Mater, or admi- ration of the great English patriot of that name. He was the son of Mr. James Barr, of Rowan County, and his mother was a sister of the late distinguished Dr. McCorkle. His near relations were remarkable for their piety. His family removed to Iredell County when he was quite young. After acquiring the rudiments of an English education, he was en- tered as a pupil of the scientific school, taught by Rev. Dr. James Hall ; entered Hampden Sydney College, in Virginia, achieved his first degree in one year. His diploma bears date, April, 1801. With such parents as his, and surrounded as he was in early life, by so many religious influences, it might well be expected that he would not long delay devot- ing himself to the love and service of his Saviour.
736
CH. BOWIE'S MEMORIAL OF DR. BARR.
[1840-1850.
From his own account, he was a wild and mischievous boy. He made a profession of religion but a short time before he entered college. He did not commence his classical educa- tion with a view to the ministry.
Soon after his graduation, he devoted himself to theolog- ical studies, and was taken under the care of Concord Presby- tery ; but his health being infirm, he did not receive licen- sure until about five or six years afterwards. He was licensed by the Presbytery in the year 1806, and was employed in missionary service, in various parts of North and South Caro- lina. In 1809, he located himself in Upper Long Cane con- gregation, Abbeville, South Carolina, and was ordained as its pastor, in December, 1809. On the 18th August, 1812, he married Miss Rebecca Reid, youngest daughter of Mr. Hugh Reid, a ruling elder in that church.
At a very early period after the Revolutionary war, the Presbyterians seem to have entertained the idea that the pres- ent District of Abbeville was to be Presbyterian territory. A general meeting of delegates from the different "settle- ments" was held, at which a large extent of country, with very precise boundaries, was divided between some three or four Presbyterian Churches. This indicates the fact that the first inhabitants of that District were almost universally Presbyte- rian. The annual stipend, or salary, of the minister of Long Cane (and it is probable in the other churches too) was for- mally, and with an air of perpetuity, established at one hun- dred pounds, sterling. Under this law, just enough, perhaps, when it was enacted, Dr. Barr took charge of one of the larg- est and most intelligent congregations in the State-occupied their pulpit every Sabbath but one in each month-for the first thirty years of his pastorate, never disappointed his peo- ple in the performance of divine service but twice-and all this for years he performed for the pitiful compensation of seventy- five pounds, equal to about three hundred and twenty-two dol- lars per annum! To the business of teaching a school, the com- mon resource of many pastors, he had an insuperable aver- sion ; and having a small patrimony of his own, he was able to purchase a farm of moderate extent and value. On this farm he settled himself, and here terminated his life. Much of his own time and labor were necessarily bestowed upon his farm. But he was a good economist, and being blessed with a wife who was a better still, he was enabled to rear and educate a family of six children-four sons and two daughters.
737
1840-1850.]
REV. WM. H. BARR, D. D.
Dr. Barr was a thorough and accurate scholar, and most deservedly received from the authorities of Franklin College the degree of "Doctor in Divinity." The people of his charge were profoundly attached to him, and a few years be- fore his death, raised his salary to six hundred dollars-at that time a tolerably respectable stipend. For a number of years before his death, his constitution, at all times delicate, began sensibly to decline. At length, on the 9th day of January, 1843, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, he died, at peace with God and all mankind.
PERSON AND CHARACTER.
In person, Dr. Barr was tall and exceedingly lean ; his complexion dark, rather sallow-almost cadaverous. His gait and manners were awkward; and with all the training n the world, he could never have become a Chesterfield. His joice was harsh and grating ; and notwithstanding his excel- ent education and powerful intellect, he retained to the last, nany of the improprieties of speech and pronunciation of his arlier years. Yet, when he preached, the hearer never hought of noticing all this.
I shall never forget the impression made upon me by the rst sermon I heard him preach. His general appearance, he tones of his voice, and his antiquated pronunciation were ttle calculated to inspire lofty expectations of his rhetorical owers. In person, and voice, and manner, he was altogether eculiar. Although I had heard him spoken of as an elo- uent preacher, I had made up my mind that it was a vulgar histake. When he began the services, my attention was owerfully arrested. In his prayer before the sermon there as a comprehensiveness, a fervor, a deep-toned piety, a lofty loquence, a something in the voice and manner that almost eemed unearthly. He began . his sermon. There was no alting or stumbling, no straining for words or ideas, but an ninterrupted and unhesitating flow of pure classical language. lis personal appearance, and the sepulchral tones of his voice, oubtless, added something to the effect of his fervid elo- uence ; but when he superadded to the force of his own pow- ful language quotations from some of the most thrilling assages of Milton and Young, my hair almost stood on end ; d when he closed his discourse, I no longer doubted of his oquence as a preacher.
47
738
REV. WM. H. BARR, D. D.
[1840-1850.
Dr. Barr had gone over into Lincoln County, Ga., to assist one of his brethren. The communion service had been pro- tracted, and it was getting late in the evening, when Dr. Barr arose to preach the usual closing sermon. A gentleman, who resided a good many miles from the church, was rendered very uneasy by the unexpected claim upon him. But the preacher arrested his attention; everything but the preacher and his sermon was forgotton, and, to use his own words, "he might have preached on until pitch dark, and I should never have thought of moving."
As a preacher, I am not sure that I have ever heard his equal. But his style of preaching was so unique-so unlike that of the best educated divines of the present day, that it is impossible to compare him with them. His sermons occupied from thirty to thirty-five minutes in the delivery. They were well studied, but not written out; and he was, without ex- ception, the most perfectly correct extemporaneous speaker I have ever heard. I do not think I ever heard him utter an ungrammatical sentence, or hesitate an instant. His sen- tences were short-never complex and involved. But his pronunciation was sometimes awful. As an instance, he fre- quently used the word " satiety, " and invariably pronounced it "sash-ity." But he always used the most appropriate and expressive language.
His power of condensation was very great. He never wasted the powers of his body or the energies of his mind on unimportant topics. His definitions were peculiarly precise and satisfactory ; his illustrations from the practices of the ancient Greeks and Romans were always pertinent and inter- esting. He stood, with the hundred eyes of Argus, at the portals of orthodoxy, and his arm never wearied in belabor- ing error. Yet his weapons were aimed, not at his foes, but their principles. He taught the doctrines of Calvin, without assailing Arminians. He was not a Calvinist in the- ory, and an Arminian in practice; but, out-and-out, a whole- souled, old-school Calvinistic Presbyterian.
He was furiously and irreconcilably opposed to dancing. Indeed, his hostility to this species of amusement almost amounted to a monomania. He found a positive denunci- ation in the New Testament against this amusement, in the word translated " revellings. " The original word, he said, was " komoi, " and was taken from the feast of Comus. On
739
1840-1850.] . CH. C. H. BOWIE ON DR. BARR.
a certain occasion there had been a ball in the village, and a lady from the country, who had been present, reported, as she believed, but falsely, as the fact was, that another lady, a member of the Doctor's church, and one whom he greatly esteemed, had been at the ball. . The Doctor, with his heart full of sorrow, instantly mounted his horse, and rode to her residence. He was invited to take a seat in the parlor, and the lady sat before him. It was a strict confessional, for none else was present. The Doctor's face, never short, seemed to
be longer than usual. He groaned audibly, and began : " Well, S., I have heard something about you that has pained me to the heart, and I have come down to talk to you about it." Here the lady found herself trembling all over. "Please inform me what it is, " said she. "I have been told that you were at the ball the other night." "Then you have been told what is not true," she replied. "What!" said he, his countenance lighting up, and his face recovering its usual longitude, " is it indeed true that you were not there ?" "It is true, " said she "that I was not there, and never had a thought of being there." "Well, I am truly rejoiced ; you have lifted a load off my heart, " replied he, "and I shall go home satisfied.". The lady then requested to know the name of the informer, but he steadily refused to give it, say- ing it would do her no good to know it, and that she had better remain in ignorance on that point. He was a man of peace. .
Some have expressed surprise and regret that no Sabbath- school was ever organized in his church, and he has been supposed to have been unfriendly to that beneficent institu- tion ; but it is not true that he was ever opposed to the prin- ciple and substance of the institution. His was a very large country congregation, covering more than ten miles square of territory. The population within his bounds was almost wholly Presbyterian, and the children received faithful parental instruction at home. Although there was no Sabbath-school, co nomine, in his church, the religious instruction of the young was by no means neglected. In the spring and summer months, from May till October, the Doctor instructed a class in McDowe I's Bible questions, and a more advanced Bible class, every Sabbath before the morning service. These exer- cises were very instructive, so much so that the attention of the whole congregation, old and young, was attracted to them.
.
740
REV. WM. H. BARR, D. D.
[1840-1850.
By some he has been blamed for his supposed opposition to what are commonly called revivals, and revival preaching. If it were so, the evils of what has been called " the great revival" of the first few years of the present century, might be cited as a cause well calculated to produce such views. By this wonderful convulsion of the moral and religious elements of society, unparalleled in modern times, he, as well as all other prudent and thinking men, was painfully convinced of the dreadful extremes to which the human mind may be car- ried under the influence of fanaticism, inflamed by mere ani- mal excitement. That the extraordinary work alluded to was, in some sort, connected with religious feeling; and that there were some, possibly many, genuine conversions during the progress, no one ever doubted. Dr. Barr himself once told the writer, that to such excesses had this maniac excitement led some very susceptible, but unthinking men, that a whole church in North Carolina abandoned the use of wine in the communion service, and substituted in its place a tea made from what is familliarly known by the name of cross-vine !- influ- enced, doubtless, by a fancied likeness to the cross of our Saviour. ·
He believed that so far as the services of the pulpit are concerned, and not discarding the other Scriptural means of grace, the faithful preaching of che sublime truths of the Gos- pel, with the fervent presentation of the motives and sanctions of our holy religion, was all that was either necessary or proper for the conversion of sinners. That urging upon the impenitent any considerations or motives not expressly set forth in, or fairly deducible from the word of God, was, (to use a legal phrase) "travelling out of the record," and im- proper. He was, therefore, decidedly opposed to what he was in the habit of calling " mechanical means" to get up an excitement at religious meetings-and he seriously distrusted the genuineness of conversions where such means were used, and followed by what he deemed their natural result, mere physical excitement. He was, therefore, not favorable to camp meetings, where he believed such objectionable means were but too apt to be resorted to. But it is not true that he was opposed to revivals.
We were riding together one day, when our conversation turned upon this subject. After giving his views very fully and freely on the subject of revivals (so called), I remarked
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741
1840-1850.] BRADAWAY-BETHESDA.
to him that although he had never had any great external exhibition of religious excitement in his church, I did not think he had any cause for discouragement ; that I had been a close and somewhat interested observer, and it seemed to me that he had had a steady and not discouraging increase of his church membership ever since he had been the pastor of that people. " Yes," cried he, with much warmth and animation, " since I have preached to this congregation, now about twen- ty-five years, there have been added to the church an average of about fourteen new members every year; we have had a continued revival." And I will add, that I do not recollect a single instance in which any of those who joined his church during that time were ever subjected to church discipline, or in the eyes of the church or the world disgraced their profes- sion by an ungodly walk.
BRADAWAY .- This is the ancient orthography of the name of this church from its first appearance on the records of Presbytery, March 18, 1758, (History, Vol. I, p 558) down to the year 1833, when it first appears in the Statistical Tables as Broadaway. In 1840, Wm. H. Harris was its stated sup- ply. In 1841, it was vacant, with forty members. In 1842, Wm. Carlisle was its stated supply, in connection with Fair- view and Midway. In 1846, he was pastor of Bradaway, with a membership of thirty-seven, and stated supply of Midway.
In 1848, 1849, 1850, he was pastor of Bradaway, and stated supply of Midway and Roberts, and the same in 1850. The Elders of the church, in 1842, were, James Telford, George B. Telford, J. Warnock, Sen. In 1845, the Elders were, G. B. Telford, Thomas Erskine, J. H. Telford, James Todd.
BETHESDA (Abbeville), which was the successor of the Smyrna Church, a portion of the charge of Father Dickson, men- ioned on a former page, was perpetuated for some years. It was first served by Rev. S. Donnelly, as stated supply, and at ntervals by others. It has often been written down as vacant n the Statistical Tables, until it disappeared from the records. [t had eleven members in 1845, 1846 and 1847, and twelve in 1863.
Bethesda was reported by Rev. Hugh Dickson, on the 27th of April, 1843, as consisting of ten members and two Elders. It was taken at that time under the care of Presbytery. [Ms. Minutes, p 208.] Rev. J. C. Williams was its stated supply in 1847, 1848 and 1849.
742
VARENNES-NORTH PACOLET.
[1840-1850.
NAZARETH (Spartanburg.)-The Rev. Edward Tonge Buist was received by the Presbytery of South Carolina from Charleston Union Presbytery, on the 23d of March, 1839. On the 3d of October, Nazareth Church obtained leave to employ him as stated supply for half his time, until the next meeting of Presbytery. On the 26th of April, 1844, the pas- toral relation was dissolved at the request of Dr. Buist on account of his failing health. At the same meeting of Pres- bytery, Mr. Z. L. Holmes, who had just been received as a licentiate from Charleston Presbytery, was called for one-half of his pastoral labors, and measures were taken by Presby- tery for his ordination and installation. Presbytery met at
Nazareth on the 29th of June. Rev. Edwin Cater preached the sermon, Rev. Sam'l B. Lewers presided and proposed the usual questions, and gave the charge to the pastor, the Rev. G. W. Boggs to the people, and Rev. Z. L. Holmes took his seat in Presbytery as a member of the same. He had sup- plied the church for one year previous to his ordination, ac- cording to the testimony of R. W. Reid. His health failing, he was released from his charge. The Rev. E. T. Buist, who had removed his residence to Greenville, resumed the supply of the Nazareth Church as before, and continued it for five years. He supplied, also, during this period, Mount Tabor and Fairview churches some portion of his time. The Rev. Robert H. Reid was not installed pastor of Nazareth Church till on the 24th of September, 1853.
The Elders of Nazareth Church, in 1842, were J. B. Col- lins, James N. Gaston, J. N. Hadden, Andrew Barry, Samuel N. Evans.
Communicants, in 1850, 146.
VARENNES .- From the Statistical Tables we learn that this church was vacant in 1842, and dependent, therefore, upon temporary and occasional supplies ; that in 1843, it was sup- plied by Rev. Dr. Lindsay. In 1845, and onward to 1851, it was supplied by Rev. Wm. McWhorter, its membership va- rying from thirty to thirty six. Its Elders, in 1845, were J. D. Gaillard, Dr. Math, Thompson and Thomas Pennel.
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