USA > South Carolina > Oconee County > The Old Stone Church, Oconee County, South Carolina; > Part 8
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Beneath a cluster of cedars reposes all that is mortal of John Miller, printer. We lingered long by his grave, for his eventful life afforded us food for meditation. If we could have seen and conversed with his descendants, who live in this vicinity, we could have given a fuller sketch of him. Mr. Miller was the oldest typo in the State. For the publication of Junius' letters-the author of those papers he well knew-he was expelled from England. He came to South Carolina ; probably worked removed to Pendleton, using the press which Gen. Greene had in his campaigns; he did job work, until he commenced the publication of the "Pendleton Messenger," the second paper established in this State.
The world has speculated much as to the authorship of Junius, but John Miller carried the secret to his grave at the "Old Stone Meeting House," and has left no information as to the name of the author.
Passing from the grave of Mr. Miller, we come to that of Dr. F. W. Symmes, his successor in the publication of the "Messenger." Dr. Symmes was born near this town, was a class-mate of Col. B. F. Sloan, at the classical school of the Rev. Dr. Reese; settled first in the fork of the Fork of Seneca and Tugaloo Rivers, thence removed to Elberton,
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Georgia, and finally settled at this place. About the year 1826, he assumed the editorial chair of the "Messenger," which he filled with signal ability until the year 1848, when the weight of years and the burden of an extensive practice induced him to give it up. Dr. Symmes was modest and retiring in his manners, but a most social gentleman when once acquainted with ; he enjoyed largely the confidence of his fellow-citizens, was often elected a member of the Legis- lature, and once or twice to the State Convention. Pos- sessed of a strong intellect, he filled well every position in life, and died at an advanced age, lamented by all.
Entering a brick enclosure, we stand by the graves of Gen. and Gov. Pickens, father and son. Modest inscrip- tions on marble mark the spot, and allude to the worth of each. Gen. Andrew Pickens was a remarkable man, and to him we are deeply indebted for our liberties. A truer pa- triot, nor more intrepid soldier than he, never trod our soil ; and there are few more brilliant Revolutionary characters. Gen. Pickens very early settled in Pendleton District, en- tered a body of fine land on Seneca River, which is seen by the traveller as he crosses at Cherry's Bridge, and resided there until late in life. The white population was at that time sparse in the interior of Carolina, and great diversity of opinion existed as to the propriety of resisting the power of Great Britain. A belief in the perfection of the ancient system was strong; and the spirit of opposition to the new Government regarded, if not unjustifiable, at least, rash and inconsiderate, and leading to consequences the most disas- trous to the peace and happiness of the community. The exertions of the brave Colonel, Col. Pickens, to counteract those fallacious principles, and to adopt opinions similar to those which animated the bosom of every true friend of his country, were indefatigable. He was constantly on the alert. Vigilance, indeed, became indispensable; for, al- though the Tories would oftentimes show a disposition to temporize, yet it was evident from the murmurings and
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secret caballing that they only waited a favorable opportu- nity to declare their sentiments, and to engage in open and decided hostility. No sooner, therefore, did the British ap- pear in force in the South, than their smothered resentment burst into flame. Several hundreds of them embodied, and committing every species of depredation on their route, marched forward to join the royal army in Georgia. Col. Pickens, apprized of their movements and irritated by their rapacity, pursued them with rapid steps, and overtaking them at Kettle Creek, attacked them so vigorously, that in less than an hour forty of their number, and among them their leader, Col. Boyd, were killed, and the rest so com- pletely dispersed as to leave no apprehension of further trouble.
After Pickens had routed the enemy and taken several prisoners, among whom was Col. Boyd, then mortally wounded, he asked the dying man for leave to pray for him, which the latter, being an infidel, scorned, saying, "I want none of a d-d rebel's prayers." Col. Pickens then asked him if he could do anything for him? He replied, "Keep my silver spurs and deliver them to my wife."
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OLD STONE CHURCH .* (Written for the Keowee Courier.)
No more sacred landmark stands in the upper part of South Carolina than the Old Stone Church and its burying ground, near Fort Hill, Oconee County.
The whiteness of the inside walls of the old church tells that the hand of youth has swept the cobwebs of age from the yellowed plaster, that the Gospel in its fresher language may be reflected from newer planes to the ears of later day hearers. But the exterior walls bear the marks of the sea- sons that have come and gone through many decades since the old structure was completed.
There, in the vinegrown cemetery, the ashes of many of the brave old patriots and pioneers of upper Carolina, and mothers and grand-mothers of some of the senior intellect- ual giants of our own day, have long since commingled with the earth. There, on the old worn and weather-stained tablets, we find the names of family trees whose branches are spread out far and wide over many States of the Union, such names as Pickens, Whitner, Maxwell, Lewis, Sloan, Calhoun, Benson, Kilpatrick, Adger, Miller, Dickson, and many others. I laid down among the tall weeds which sur- rounded a tomb that had borne the rains and storms and snows of nearly an hundred years. So darkly stained was the once white tablet, that I could only make out the name, Charles Storey, and the date of his death, which was in 1812. I lay there, with closed eyes, and wandered back, in imagination, to the days when the world was not so prone to selfishness.
Near one side of the little yard, and whose head and foot are marked by two large pines, is the grave of Bynum, who fell in the memorable duel whose surviving participant was Hon. B. F. Perry. Nothing stands to mark the spot save the two pines.
* Keowee Courier, Sept. 6, 1894.
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From the column which marks the resting place of E. B. Benson, who died March 4th, 1860, I made a note of the following beautiful quotation :
"The last end of the good man is peace, how calm his exit, His summoned breath went forth as peacefully
As folds the spent rose when the day is done."
Within a stone wall inclosure lie the remains of the elder members of the Pickens family. A simple tablet, planted deeply in the ground, marks the spot where all that was mortal of Gen. Andrew Pickens was laid to rest seventy-seven years ago. In these few simple words is couched the his- tory of a great soul, an indomitable will and untiring body : "Born September 13, 1739 ; died August 11, 1817. He was a Christian, patriot and soldier. His character and actions are incorporated with the history of his country."
Nearby the Pickens plot I found the grave of Joseph Whitner. The tablet still standing was so darkly stained that I could read its lettering only by the touch of the fingers. With some little difficulty, I made a note of the epitaph, which I give in full: "Sacred to the memory of Joseph Whitner, a native of Germany, who died of apoplexy, April 12, 1824, aged 67 years. Left, by the death of his parents, an orphan child in a strange land, wholly destitute of prop- erty and kindred, he was mercifully preserved to bear a part in the struggle of his adopted State for Independence, to live many years in the enjoyment of the blessing of liberty, an example of probity and sincerity in his relations as citizen, friend, father and husband and to die after twenty years in the Presbyterian Church, in the faith of pardon through the blood of the Redeemer. His children have placed this tablet over his grave."
After wandering for two hours among the many tombs in the little yard, I turned away, with the voice of my heart bidding a reverent farewell to the peacefully sleeping pio- neers of the ancient and sacred city .- C. (signed.)
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THE OLD STONE CHURCH. AND ITS HONORED DEAD-THE HISTORIC SPOT REVISITED.
BY W. A. DICKSON.
Twenty-six years ago this month I made my first visit to the Old Stone Church. I wrote a little account of it, which was my second contribution to the newspapers. I went back there again yesterday for the first time in several years. The aspect of to-day presents a striking contrast to that of a quarter of a century ago. Then the plank fence that enclosed the graveyard was fast rotting out of sight; whatever shrubbery there was had long since run wild, and the brier and Cherokee rose vied with each other in the race for pre-emption ; indeed, the air of neglect and forgetfulness which hung the scene as a pall was more than ethereal-one could cut it with his knife.
Only now and then did people, upon whom the spot had claims, slip in and deposit their dead with as little ado as possible and hurry away with a sense of having taken an unfair advantage in leaving loved ones to sleep the long sleep amid surroundings so gruesome, so uncanny, that they were scary even in the daytime.
The Stone Church had so nearly gone out of fashion as a place of sepulture that the lone pilgrim, as he picked his way among tombs and brambles, was apt to recoil with a start of surprise if he stumbled upon a new made grave or flushed the graveyard rabbit. But a reaction came, and to-day it is one of the best kept cemeteries anywhere in the country. The thicket of cedars that had grown up over the first graves made there a hundred years ago has been cut away ; in fact, the entire plot of two acres has been com- pletely denuded of all trees and shrubbery except a pretty spruce poplar in the center of the grounds and some ever- greens in the southeast corner.
The two big pines that grew at the head and foot of the duellist Bynum's grave-who ever wrote anything about the
8-0. S. C.
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Stone Church without speaking of Bynum's grave-have been cut down. It looks like a pity that the only markers at the grave of the brilliant young lawyer and journalist who, a crack shot and squaring everything by the code- duello, was himself caught in the trap he set for Perry, should be obliterated.
It has not been many years since the revival of interest in the Old Stone Church graveyard came, and I suspect that but for the establishment of Clemson College at Fort Hill. a mile or so away, itself a place of rich historic interest and association, which was fast passing into the realm of forget- fulness, the Old Stone Church graveyard, a veritable West- minster Abbey for upper South Carolina, would by to-day have settled down into a state of complete innocuous desue- tude. Some months ago the graveyard was enclosed with a granite fence, and although it is fashionable again to bury the dead there, not much room is left, and it will not be long, if indeed that time has not already come, when Dick, Tom, and Harry will be crowded out.
Many important personages lie there. Gen. Andrew Pickens, the terror of the British and Tories in the time of the Revolution, and of the Cherokee Indians ; his son, who was at the head of a regiment of South Carolina troops in the war of 1812, and who in the year 1816 was elected Gover- nor of South Carolina, a distinguished honor in that day of chivalric men and chivalric times; Thomas Reese, the first pastor of the church, a man of high scholarship, and the first preacher in South Carolina to receive the degree of doctor of divinity ; Col. Robert Anderson, a Revolutionary patriot of celebrity and one of the founders and pillars of the Stone Church, "Hopewell on the Keowee," and whose name An- derson County bears; two Confederate Colonels, the gallant Whit Kilpatrick, who fell at the head of the First South Carolina in the night fight at Lookout Mountain, October 28, 1863, and James W. Livingston, who going into the war as Captain of Company I, Orr's Rifle Regiment, rose
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by promotion to the Colonelcy of his regiment, and who, subsequent to the war, represented Oconee County in the State Senate with credit; Oliver M. Doyle, who, going into the Civil War as Captain of a company in the Second South Carolina Rifles, was transferred to the medical department and was made regimental Surgeon, and who, when he died, was President of the Stone Church and Cemetery Associa- tion; Jas. M. McElroy, an ornament in the medical profes- sion and for some time a Representative of Pickens District in the General Assembly ; William Davis Steele, for several years Ordinary of Pickens District, and at the time of his death a member of the General Assembly of the State; George R. Cherry, a successful planter, and for one or more terms a Representative of Oconee in the State Legislature; Andrew F. Lewis, who in the old regime and his prime, was immensely popular and represented his people in the General Assembly repeatedly. These all, and many others of no less note lie here, and it is a credit to their descendants and others who have a pride in the past as well as the pres- ent that the old graveyard is being cared for and that befit- ting monuments are being piled over the ashes of its dead - W. A. Dickson, in Anderson Mail.
Colonel Robert Anderson's remains were not buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery, but in a private burying ground on his plantation on Seneca River .- (Note by the Editor.)
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OLD STONE CHURCH AND CEMETERY .*
ADDRESS OF REV. D. E. FRIERSON, OF ANDERSON, S. C., DELIVERED BEFORE THE OLD STONE CHURCH AND CEMETERY ASSOCIATION, ON OCTOBER 11, 1894.
(Published by authority of the Old Stone Church and Ceme- tery Association in the Keowee Courier.)
My Brethren : We are standing to-day on a spot made venerable by yonder cemetery, by this building, and by the memory of ancestors whose worth and deeds we would not willingly let die. Let us endeavor to record, from the frag- ments of history yet remaining to us, another epitaph over this depository of the departed.
On October 13th, 1789, one hundred and five years ago, the Old Presbytery of South Carolina, then embracing the whole State, was appealed to by "a people on Seneca" to be taken under the care of the Presbytery and obtain sup- plies of preaching. This request was granted and the Rev. John Simpson, a native of New Jersey, and graduate of Princeton College, was appointed to preach to them one Sabbath, to Roberts one, and to Good Hope, then called Little Generostee, one Sabbath. This "People on Seneca" became an organization, according to a brief manuscript of Rev. Thos. Reese, D. D., the same year, and received the name of Hopewell-Keowee. The name of Hopewell was taken from the Treaty of Hopewell, made with the Indians some years before, at the residence of Gen. Andrew Pickens, which was called by the same name. It received the dis- tinctive title "Keowee" from the stream making a branch of the Seneca.
In the same year this church united with Carmel, then called Richmond, in a call to Rev. John Simpson, who de- clined the invitation. Among the members of this church were some wealthy names, among whom were Gen. Andrew
* Keowee Courier, Walhalla, S. C., October 25, 1894.
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Pickens, a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Col. Robert Anderson, both of whom removed from Abbeville District, and were men of great influence in the State. The present Counties of Anderson, Pickens and Oconee were then called Pendleton, a section of country ceded some years before by the Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees and Creeks, assembled in four different camps at the residence of Gen. Pickens. This section of the State, on account of its fer- tility and varied resources, drew settlers from different quarters. After the Treaty of Hopewell, which was con- cluded in 1785, two years after the peace of 1783, concluded between the belligerent powers of the Old Revolution, it was found, by government census, to contain 9,500 persons.
Gen. Pickens, when a young man, was driven (1761) with a number of families from Abbeville County by an in- cursion and midnight massacre, perpetrated by the Cherokee Indians at Upper Long Cane Bridge, near the Calhoun set- tlement. Among the fugitive families was that of Mr. Eze- kiel Calhoun. They retired to Waxhaw, Lancaster, and Fisher's Creek communities, in the northern borders of the State. It was there that Mr. Pickens was affianced to Re- becca Calhoun, the daughter of Ezekiel, whom he after- wards married. Mr. Patrick Calhoun, her brother, mar- ried Miss Jane Craighead, the daughter of Rev. Alexander Craighead, of Rock River, N. C. After Mrs. Patrick Cal- houn's death, he married the daughter of Mr. Caldwell, of Abbeville, who became the mother of John C. Calhoun, of distinguished and honored memory. Messrs. Calhoun and DeSaussure, two eminent lawyers in Charleston, contributed liberally toward the support of this church, showing not only connection and sympathy with the Keowee people, but their deep interest in the promotion of religious truth.
The church was built at first of logs, in 1791. In 1802, eleven years afterwards, it was built of stone and called for a long time the "Stone Meeting House." "Meeting House" is the precise meaning of the word Synagogue, the time-
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honored name of the house in which Jesus Christ preached. This church and Carmel remained associated, receiving occa- sional supplies from Revs. Simpson, Hunter, Mecklin and others, until in December, 1792, Rev. Thomas Reese, D. D., on invitation from them, and being dismissed from his charge at Salem Black River, Sumter County, removed into the bounds of this people, and became pastor of the two churches. He preached for them from three to four years, and died. His remains lie in the cemetery of this church with the well known epitaph upon his tomb.
Very touching, indeed, is the petition of these two churches to the Presbytery, giving an account of the death of their pastor and their request to have their destitution supplied. It is this :
"To the Rev. Presbytery of South Carolina to sit at Naza- reth on the third Wednesday, of October next; the remon- strance and petition of the united congregations of Hope- well on Keowee River, and Carmel on Twenty-Three Mile Creek, both of the County of Pendleton and State of South Carolina, humbly showeth : That we are left destitute of the Ordinances of the Gospel in both our congregations by the death of the Rev. Thos. Reese, of whose labor we had shared in each congregation as pastor. We, therefore, make known our destitute condition to your Reverend Body that you may take our situation under consideration and grant us supplies in such a way and manner as to your wisdom may seem convenient. And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will pray." Signed. Robert Anderson, John Wilson, Robert McCann, Robert Henderson and Andrew Pickens.
These men were probably the Elders in those churches. We understand this petition to be not only an appeal for the Gospel, but a very affectionate memorial of their loss in the death of their pastor. The petition was responded to by sending Reverends Simpson, Gilliland and Brown at different times.
Dr. Reese was born in Pennsylvania in 1742. Removed
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in childhood to Mecklenburg, N. C .; studied under Dr. Joseph Alexander, who then taught a classical school; en- tered Princeton College, then under the Presidency of Dr. John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independ- ence; was licensed to preach the Gospel in 1773; was in- stalled over Salem Black River Church that year ; removed to Pendleton County in 1792 and died in 1796. He amassed a large fund of knowledge in those branches auxiliary to a complete theologian. He pursued his studies with a dili- gence and ardor rarely exceeded. He began and completed his admirable essay on the "Influence of Religion in Civil Society," in which he demonstrated from reason and his- tory that all human institutions are in their own nature, and have ever been found in practice, insufficient to preserve peace and good order without the sanctions of religion, a lesson for to-day. It is an able disquisition and procured for the author the well-merited degree of D. D. from Prince- ton College. His farewell sermon at Salem Black River Church was published and is still in the possession of his friends. For his powers of mind, his benevolence and his piety, he justly held a conspicuous place among eminent and good men. The Presbytery of South Carolina honored his talents by selecting him to repel the charges made by Rev. W. C. Davis, in a discourse preached before that body, in which Davis denounced all his fellow-Christians who owned slaves. The reply of Dr. Reese met the entire ap- probation of the Presbytery. It is an able argument and greatly mortified Davis, the early advocate of abolition in South Carolina. The appearance of Dr. Reese in the pulpit was graceful and dignified. His style flowing and eloquent. Anxious only for the salvation of souls and the glory of God, his flowing tears often told the feelings of his heart. His success in his ministerial labors evinced the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Chancellor James, of South Carolina, speaking of Dr. Reese, says: "In contemplating the meek and unobtrusive manners of this eminent servant
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of the Most High, we do not hesitate to say he was a pattern of Christian charity, as nearly resembling his Divine Master as has been exhibited by any of his contemporary laborers in the Gospel."
This church continued to receive supplies after the death of Dr. Reese, and the minutes of the Presbytery show that the Rev. Mr. Simpson was appointed to preach to them twice and the Rev. Mr. Dixon once during the year 1800; the Revs. Mr. Gilliland, Sr., Mr. James McElhenny and Mr. Montgomery during the year 1802. In September, 1803, a call was presented from this church for the services of Rev. James McElhenny, who had resigned his charge of the churches of John's Island, Wadmalaw, and removed with his family and settled in Pendleton County, near to his church, where he had purchased property and had spent several summers. The call was held by Mr. McElhenny for a year or more under consideration. In the meantime Carmel presented a call for half and Hopewell for one-half the time of Rev. Benjamin R. Montgomery. Somewhat embarrassed, the Presbytery placed the call in Mr. Mont- gomery's hands. He was installed pastor at a meeting of the Presbytery at his church, April, 1805. Rev. John Simpson was Moderator and Rev. Moses Wadell preached the ordination sermon. Mr. McElhenny was then living in the bounds of this congregation. Mr. Montgomery held the pastoral charge for two years and in September, 1807, resigned. Mr. McElhenny, who was still living in this neighborhood, accepted the pastorate for one-third of his time, being employed in preaching elsewhere. He was as- sisted by his son-in-law, the Rev. John D. Murphy, a licen- tiate from the Presbytery of Orange. The young man was employed by this church for two-thirds of his time, it being understood that Mr. McElhenny, the regular pastor, could not labor among them more than one-third.
Dr. E. Smith and Mr. Murphy are said to have made a mill-pond and planted rice fields for their benefit, which, in
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the summer of 1812, generated a malarial fever. Of this fever Mr. Murphy died and Mr. McElhenny, his father-in- law, died soon after. Their funeral was preached by Rev. Thomas H. Price, from James Island, a copy of which was requested for publication.
Rev. B. R. Montgomery, whose pastorate of this church was closed in 1807, was called to the church of Bethesda, in Camden. Prior to this call, however, we find him, from the very brief records of that time, teaching a male academy at Cambridge, Abbeville, after his retirement from Hopewell (Keowee). From this point we recognize him as Rev. Benjamin Montgomery, D. D., preaching for one-fourth of his time at Liberty Springs, Laurens District. Again he is frequently invited with others to preach at Upper Long Cane during this interim. From Bethesda, in Camden, after a short pastorate of three years, Dr. Montgomery is elected to the chair of Moral Philosophy and Logic in the State Institution in Columbia, in November, 1811. As Chaplain of that institution, he became the quasi pastor of a large congregation of outside people who attended. The students became anxious to form a more regular connection with Dr. Montgomery as pastor, held a meeting in the Court House on the 19th of July, 1812, of which Colonel Taylor was Chairman of the meeting. At that meeting an association was formed for religious worship, under the pastoral care of Dr. Montgomery, the services to be per- formed according to the Presbyterian or Independent forms of worship. No Presbyterian Church has as yet been erected. At that meeting Colonel Taylor, Judge Nott and Major Ward were appointed a committee to purchase a lot and build a church. The congregation had hitherto wor- shipped in the Chapel. In October, 1814, the Presbytery of Harmony met at the new church, not yet completed, and it is probable that a decidedly Presbyterian service was then determined. Dr. Montgomery continued Chaplain of the College, but officiated also for the church at a stipend of
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