SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. THE BAPTIST HISTORY COLLECTION STATE HISTORIES SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D.. Thou hast given a standard to them that fear thee; that it may be displayed because of the truth — Psalm 60:4 The Baptist Standard Bearer, Inc. Version 1.0 © 2005 SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 BY LEAH TOWNSEND, PH.D. TO THE BAPTIST MINISTERS AND CHURCH CLERKS OF SOUTH CAROLINA whose cooperation has made this publication possible. Originally Published Florence, South Carolina 1935 Page 1 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Table of Contents ABBREVIATIONS................................................................5 FOREWORD.....................................................................6 CHAPTER 1. BAPTIST CHURCHES OF THE LOW COUNTRY...............................7 INTRODUCTION..............................................................7 THE CHARLESTON CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES....................................9 EUHAW CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES............................................20 WASSAMASSAW CHURCH.......................................................26 THE GENERAL BAPTISTS OF CHARLESTON AND STONO.............................26 GEORGETOWN CHURCH........................................................27 CHAPTER 2. BAPTIST CHURCHES OF THE PEEDEE SECTION...........................29 WELSH NECK CHURCH........................................................29 CHAPTER 3. CHARLESTON ASSOCIATION OF BAPTIST CHURCHES.......................47 CHAPTER 4. EARLY BAPTIST CHURCHES OF THE BACK COUNTRY.......................52 INTRODUCTION.............................................................52 FAIRFOREST CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES.......................................53 CONGAREE CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES.........................................58 HIGH HILLS OF SANTEE, CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES............................60 OTHER SEPARATE, BAPTIST CHURCHES.........................................62 TUNKERS (OR DUNKERS) AND SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS............................64 CONGAREE ASSOCIATION.....................................................66 CHAPTER 5. POST-REVOLUTIONARY REVIVAL.......................................68 INTRODUCTION.............................................................68 TURKEY CREEK CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES.....................................71 ABBEVILLE COUNTY CHURCHES................................................74 AIKEN COUNTY CHURCHES....................................................76 ANDERSON COUNTY CHURCHES.................................................76 BAMRERG COUNTY CHURCHES..................................................78 BARNWELL COUNTY CHURCHES.................................................78 CHEROKEE COUNTY CHURCHES.................................................79 CHESTER COUNTY CHURCHES..................................................79 EDGEFIELD COUNTY CHURCHES................................................80 FAIRFIELD COUNTY CHURCHES................................................81 GREENVILLE COUNTY CHURCHES...............................................81 GREENWOOD COUNTY CHURCHES................................................84 LAURENS COUNTY CHURCHES..................................................84 MCCORMICK COUNTY CHURCHES................................................86 NEWBERRY COUNTY CHURCHES.................................................86 OCONEE COUNTY CHURCHES...................................................86 PICKENS COUNTY CHURCHES..................................................89 SALUDA COUNTY CHURCHES...................................................89 SPARTANBURG COUNTY CHURCHES..............................................89 UNION COUNTY CHURCHES....................................................92 YORK COUNTY CHURCHES.....................................................94 NEGRO BAPTISTS...........................................................94 CHAPTER 6. BACK COUNTRY ASSOCIATIONS........................................98 CHAPTER 7. SIGNIFICANCE OF SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS.........................102 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................117 FOOTNOTES..................................................................131 Page 2 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Page 3 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. MAP Baptist Churches in South Carolina prior to 1805, with location and date of construction. Compiled by Leah Townsend, drawn by E. Lamar Holman. Page 4 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. ABBREVIATIONS CB — Church Book CC — Clerk of Court JC — Journal of the Council JCHA — Journal of the Commons House of Assembly JHR — Journal of the House of Representatives JS — Journal of the Senate PC — Probate Court RMC — Register of Mesne Conveyance SCHGM — South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine YBC — Year Book of the City of Charleston Page 5 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. FOREWORD The manuscript of South Carolina Baptists 1670-1805 was submitted in 1926 to the Department of History of the University of South Carolina and accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of doctor of philosophy in American history. The undertaking grew out of the writer’s intense interest in religious history and the absence of any general account of the Baptists of this State; the effort throughout has been to treat Baptist history alone, and to give only enough political and religious background to present a clear view of the Baptists themselves. The summaries and deductions are the personal opinions of a layman; the material, largely from church books and minutes of associations, includes a mass of biographical data employing the spelling of names used in the church books without attempt to suggest modern equivalents. Professor R. L. Meriwether, head of the Department of History of the University of South Carolina, supervised the work from its inception and supplied the inspiration of wide knowledge and insight into social problems and of a peculiar power to stimulate historical thought. The charming personality and eager helpfulness of the late Dr. Yates Snowden, in opening up his library of rare Caroliniana and in bringing such unusual offerings as the clipping describing the Henry Holcombe pamphlet, often relieved the drudgery inevitable to the undertaking. The manuscript has had the benefit of historical inspection by Dr. Anne King Gregorie, Mount Pleasant, S.C., and by Mr. A. S. Salley, Secretary of the Historical Commission of South Carolina, whose accurate knowledge of local history and biographical material was of extraordinary value. Thanks are due the late Dr. W. J. McGlothlin, President, and Miss Eva Wrigley, Librarian, Furman University, for their generously permitting the use of the Baptist Historical Collection; to Miss Ellen M. Fitzsimons, of the Charleston Library Society; to Rev. Frank G. Lewis, Librarian, Crozer Theological Seminary, Chester, Pa.; to Mr. Alester G. Furman, Sr., Greenville, S.C.; and many others, including Mrs. Margaret Babcock Meriwether, of Columbia, S.C., for her criticisms of style and arrangement, and Miss Flora B. Surles, of Mount Pleasant, S.C., for her painstaking preparation of the manuscript for the printer. LEAH TOWNSEND Florence, South Carolina February 14, 1935 Page 6 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. CHAPTER 1. BAPTIST CHURCHES OF THE LOW COUNTRY INTRODUCTION As a distinct denomination, the Baptists first appeared during the religious revolt of the sixteenth century. However, according to their own historians, Baptist principles were the essence of the primitive church; continuing, obscured, through the darkest days of church corruption, they again became pronounced in the twelfth century, and were large part of the Protestant Revolt under Zwingli, Calvin, and Luther in his earlier days. Persons professing these peculiar beliefs, not separated from other groups before the second quarter of the sixteenth century, only gradually came to be called by some variation of the term Baptist, as Anabaptists, Catabaptists, Antipedobaptists, and finally simply Baptists, though they at first strenuously objected to all of these names, wishing to be known as Brethren or Christians. f1 The explanation of these designations lies in the interpretation which other sects put upon the action of the Baptists with regard to baptism. The Baptists claim that baptism, as authorized by the Scriptures, must be by immersion only, and if carried out according to Scriptural prescription, the sacrament must be administered to regenerate persons only, that is, to those who have experienced the consciousness of personal salvation through Christ. Since practically all western Europeans had been, at the time of the Protestant Revolt, baptized by sprinkling in infancy, and thus had not been through this regenerating experience before baptism, which, as an added fault, had been incorrectly administered, it naturally followed that they must be rebaptized before they could be members of the true church; hence the names Anabaptists, Catabaptists, or rebaptizers. The Baptists themselves have always objected to having it said that they rebaptized persons who had been sprinkled as infants. Infant baptism they regard not only as having no Scriptural warrant, but as being directly opposed to the commands of the Scriptures. Therefore, in baptizing persons after regeneration who had been sprinkled as infants, their ministers were not rebaptizing these early converts, but administering the ordinance correctly for the first time. From this hostility to infant baptism came the name Antipedobaptists. The Peasants’ Revolt in Germany brought much reproach upon some of the new sects which were too literal in their interpretation of the Scriptures. A group called Anabaptists collecting in Munster in Westphalia about 1525 under the fanatical Jan Matthys, who preached the millenium, fell into such disorder and licentiousness as to bring destruction upon those in the city and universal horror of their name. As the Roman Catholic Church righted itself in some sections of Europe, and one or another of the new sects became the establishment in others, persecution fell upon the Anabaptists in all quarters. Like those of similar beliefs leaving England during the Separatist movement, many of them found refuge in America. Even before the beginning of migration to America, the Baptists were dividing upon questions of doctrine. In England, from which most of the seventeenth century Baptists of America came, they were early described as in two divisions, General and Particular Baptists. f2 The Particular Baptists, in addition to their stand on baptism, were in the main Calvinistic, holding to election and close communion of the elect only and using the congregational type of church organization. The General Baptists, though resembling the Particular Baptists in many respects, were more lax in the matters of baptism and communion, rejected Page 7 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. personal and unconditional election and reprobation, and were Arminian in their beliefs; that is, they admitted the possibility of universal redemption by repentance and baptism in Christ and of relapsing from grace, doctrines like those of the Methodists. f3 Both groups sent immigrants to America where they retained their differences. Roger Williams is claimed to have been the first Baptist in America. f4 Not as a Baptist, however, but as a person dangerous to the Puritan theocracy due to his attacks on the charter and his insistence on freedom of conscience and complete separation of church and state, incidentally two cardinal Baptist principles, he was the first of many driven from Massachusetts Bay to found or to strengthen tolerant colonies. Others were later exiled as Baptists, for the odium resulting from the Munster debacle attached to all of the sect even after their migration to the new world. Regarding them as dangerous to government and religion, Massachusetts Bay in 1644 and Virginia in 1659 and 1662 passed laws against persons refusing to have infants baptized. f5 After 1670 such persons could find peace in Carolina, where, in matters of religion, toleration was the attitude of the provincial government toward all sects (except the Roman Catholic) dissenting from the Anglican Church. Toleration was made possible by the second charter of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina, and was continued under the Fundamental Constitutions though they assumed the establishment of Anglicanism. This situation was a great encouragement to settlement by groups of dissenters of practically every sort. It would appear to have been the part of wisdom to continue this condition undisturbed, but in 1704 a serious effort was made to break down toleration by the passage by the General Assembly of South Carolina, of two acts, one requiring certain oaths and administration of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper according to the rites of the Church of England before admission of any member of the Commons House of Assembly, the other establishing the Church of England in the province with provision for a lay commission to decide ecclesiastical matters. Because of this clause, which ignored the authority of the Bishop of London who was in charge of colonial church polity, and through the efforts of the large dissenting population of the province, the two acts were disallowed by the Lords Proprietors. However, the Anglican Church was established in Carolina in 1706 and the dissenters thus put at a disadvantage, as their taxes went to pay the ministers and support the churches of that denomination and political preferment naturally fell largely to Anglicans. Toleration continued, however, and dissenters, still finding the province desirable from the standpoint of religion, continued to increase within its territory. f6 Another circumstance which encouraged the settlement of dissenters in Carolina was the fact that from 1670 to 1700 the province had several dissenting governors, f7 among them Joseph Blake, who is claimed by Baptist historians to have had Baptist leanings. f8 During this period, Benjamin Blake, Daniel Axtell, and Joseph Morton were instrumental in inducing many dissenters to settle in Carolina, many of whom were pious and respectable immigrants from Somersetshire in England. f9 The records do not indicate whether any of these were Baptists or whether they organized a church in their original settlement. Another group of dissenters from Scotland came to South Carolina during the same period under the leadership of Lord Cardross and Rev. William Dunlop, who landed at Charleston in 1684 on their way to Port Royal, where they expected to establish a settlement independent of the government at Charleston. f10 On August 17, 1686, a superior force of Spaniards dispersed the Scotch settlers without loss of life. After hastening to Charleston with Governor Morton, Lord Page 8 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Cardross soon returned to Scotland, leaving his scattered colonists to find their way to other parts of the province. f11 It is claimed that many of Cardross’s settlers were Baptists, but the claim is traditional or inferential and is apparently based wholly on the fact that some of them and their descendants later appear in that denomination, while the evidence indicates they were all Presbyterians when they came to America. During the administration of Joseph Blake, the first substantial Baptist settlement in South Carolina appears. Any of the sect who had come to the province before that time were soon inextricably mingled in the congregation of the Rev. William Screven, the founder of the first Baptist church in South Carolina, and apparently in the South. THE CHARLESTON CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES After long acceptance of 1682 or 1683 as the year in which Rev. William Screven came to South Carolina, it now appears certain that he was still in Kittery (then under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, now Maine) in January, 1696; and as the first record of his presence in South Carolina is a warrant for one thousand acres of land dated December 7, 1696, he must have arrived in South Carolina sometime in that year. f13 Mr. Screven is claimed to have come to Kittery from Somerton, in Somersetshire, England, where some one of his name (though not himself) subscribed a Baptist confession of faith in 1656. In Maine his activity among his Baptist brethren brought him into disfavor with the authorities. He was summoned for “blasphemous speeches about the holy ordinance of baptism” and imprisoned for refusing to pay the fine imposed; and finally, after having been licensed to preach by the First Baptist Church in Boston on January 11, 1682, he was ordered to leave Maine. He seems, however, to have remained for more than fourteen years before coming to Carolina. During those years he was active in the life of Kittery and in the Baptist cause, having collected a congregation which was organized as a church on September 25, 1682. f14 The three probable reasons for Mr. Screven’s selection of South Carolina for his final settlement were that toleration existed there; that the family of his wife, Bridget Cutt (or Cutts), had lived for sometime in Barbados, and may have received first-hand reports of the advantages of the settlement of 1670 on the Ashley River, f15 and coming himself from Somersetshire, Mr. Screven may have been in communication with the party brought over by Blake. Either through previous acquaintance or by accident, Rev. William Screven appeared in this province about the time that Joseph Blake again became governor. He secured a second warrant, for fifteen hundred acres of land, in December, 1696, indicating that he had brought in a considerable number of people. In the same month “Thomas Bulling had a warrt for five hundred acres of Land Lying at Sumer towne, on the West Side of Stewart’s line,” and Robert Wetherick had one hundred acres at “Sumerton;” he is described in the records of the Court of Ordinary in 1700 as “late of New England, then of Sommerton in ye County aforesaid [Berkeley].” f16 Again by purchase in 1698 and by grant in 1700 William Screven secured eleven hundred four acres on the west side of Pooshee or Biggin Swamp near Wampee, more than forty miles from Charleston. This plantation he may have named Somerton, and it has since 1725 borne the title, but it is more probable that the whole community about him was known to its members by that name; there was never a town in the South Carolina sense. The neighboring grants were held by Permanow Page 9 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. (or Permanus) Screven, a son of Rev. William Screven, and by Elizabeth and Robert Wetherick, Champernoun Elliott, and Humphrey Axtell, all Baptists and all except the last in some way connected with Rev. William Screven. f17 This group was probably the nucleus of the church which emigrated from Maine to South Carolina; that there were probably others of the congregation there appears from letters and reports of Rev. Samuel Thomas, missionary in South Carolina of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In 1702 he found many Anabaptists on the Eastern Branch of the Cooper, and in 1705 he states more definitely that there were about thirty Anabaptist families in those parts. He found many Anabaptists also on the Ashley and on the Stono, probably some of the respectable dissenters who came with Blake, Axtell, and Cardross. f18 It is said that “Mr. Blake … was a favourer of the Baptists, and [his] lady and her mother [Lady Axtell] were of that persuasion … ;” however, Blake seems to have had Calvinistic rather than Baptist sympathies. f19 The traditional date of the founding of the First Baptist Church in Charleston is 1683. This date has been assigned on the assumption usually made that Rev. William Screven came to South Carolina in 1682 or 1683, but as has already been shown, such an assumption is untenable. However, if any of Mr. Screven’s congregation at Kittery preceded him to South Carolina, and there, together with members of the dissenting groups brought over by Blake, Cardross, and others, organized a church, the care of which Mr. Screven assumed immediately upon his coming to the province and which later moved to Charleston, the date 1683 is a possible one, though there is no proof of its correctness. The Charleston Church also claims 1682 because of its alleged identity with the Kittery Church. f20 Whatever the facts about a church brought by Mr. Screven to the neighborhood of his plantation on the Cooper River, by 1693 numbers of Baptists had begun to collect in Charleston where by 1699 there was a Baptist congregation including Atwells, Bullines, Elliotts, Bakers, Ravens, Blakes, Barkers, Butlers, Chapmans, Childs, Caters, Whitakers, Bryants, and others. f21 Their services are said to have been held for a time in a temporary building or in the home of William Chapman. f22 On July 18, 1699, William Elliott executed a deed of gift of lot No. 62 on Church Street in trust, as well for and in consideration of the brotherly love which he hath for, and doth bear unto the people of the Church of Christ, baptized on profession of faith, distinguished from all others by the name of Antipaedobaptists, of which Church he professeth himself a member, as to promote and encourage so good and pious a work as the building a place for the said people to meet and worship, &c. The meeting house, forty-seven by thirty- seven feet, was built by January, 1701, at the latest. f23 Under Mr. Screven’s leadership, the Charleston Church adopted the London or Philadelphia Confession of Faith, omitting the requirements of laying on of hands and ruling elders. f24 The adoption of these decidedly Calvinistic articles proves that the majority of the Charleston group were Particular Baptists. Their action is important, in view of the later doctrinal differences in the church and in view of the fact that the Charleston Church was long the leader of the Baptists of South Carolina. f25 While the new Baptist body in Charleston was gaining in strength, Rev. William Screven was growing old and failing in health. His house and “goods” were burned early in 1700, but the attempt of the Commons to aid him was defeated by the Council. f26 Whether he was pastor for the first few years after 1700 is uncertain; he evidently did not preach regularly, f27 as the church had secured the services of Mr. White from England. Either Mr. White or Rev. William Screven must have been preaching Page 10 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. also near Wampee at the time. f28 The Baptist Church in Boston called Mr. Screven to take charge of its work, but due to failing health and to an urgent call from Charleston. where the Baptist minister had died, he refused the call to Boston and again served Charleston regularly. f29 His work lasted only a short time before his death at the age of eighty-four, October 10, 1713, at or near the site of what is now Georgetown. f30 From the accounts of his perseverance in his chosen faith, his resolute endurance, and the lasting nature of his work, Rev. William Screven was a man of great ardor and energy in spreading and maintaining Baptist principles. Driven by intolerance from England to Maine, and from that colony to Carolina, he finally succeeded in establishing upon a firm foundation the first Baptist church in the South. For about a quarter of a century after its organization, the church in Charleston prospered. Rev. William Screven gave the number of members as ninety in 1708, f31 and proselyting among other denominations went on apace, as a a report on religious affairs in South Carolina about 1713, by the Bishop of London’s commissary in South Carolina to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, notes the sharp contention between Mr. Livingston and Mr. Screven, “a Ship Carpenter, ye Anabaptist Teacher at Charleston … concerning some of the town Presbyterians seduced by him.” f32 After Rev. Mr. White’s short period of service there about 1706, f33 Rev. Mr. Sanford assisted Mr. Screven for a time and then held the pastorate until his death. f34 He is said by the Anglican commissary to have been a tallow chandler, a Baptist teacher “towards the Southward,” both he and Mr. Screven “extremely ignorant, but this more seemingly modest than the other.” f35 “Mr. Sanford taught also among the Edisto Island Baptists at the time. f36 His successor, Mr. William Peart, from England, “a good preacher and a man of real piety,” is said to have served the church about eleven years and to have been active and successful in church extension, though from the evidence it appears that most of the new churches were erected during the pastorate of his successor, Rev. Thomas Simmons, who arrived in Charleston in 1723, shortly after Mr. Peart’s death, and assumed the care of the church March 20, 1725. f37 Mr. Simmons’ pastorate was a season of contrasts. Meeting houses were erected near Ashley River, on Edisto Island, and near the Stono sixteen miles from Charleston. f38 The membership of the Charleston church fell to three, but later rose to about a hundred communicants. f39 The will of Lady Elizabeth Blake dated September 30, 1725, devised “unto the building of an anabaptist Parsonage house in Charles Town fifty pounds,” and “towards the maintenance of the minister of the People commonly called in way of derition Anabaptists twenty pounds per annum;” f40 Mr. Simmons later had the parsonage and outhouses built for his use on the church lot. f41 Samuel Screven, planter, of James Island, in 1731 gave one hundred pounds currency to the “Use and Benefit of the Pedo Baptist Meeting house in Charles-Town.” f42 Later, however, a trying period began. The meeting house, it appears, was blown down sometime in 1731; the Council proposed to aid in repairing it, but as this was not allowed, the repairs must have been carried out by the congregation. f43 They could scarcely have recovered from this misfortune when a worse overtook them. In the early thirties, Mr. Simmons’ congregation was badly depleted by the secession of a group under the leadership of William Elliott, Jr., who professed Arminian, and seemingly also Arian, sentiments. These, forming a separate organization about 1735, “sent to England for one Mr. Ingram a minister holding the same tenets,” f44 and were thereafter called General Baptists to distinguish them in faith and practice from the original church whose members were called Particular Baptists. f45 Page 11 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. The General Baptists transferred their meetings to the building at Stono, and will be discussed under that church. This secession was not the only doctrinal difference overtaking the Charleston Church during the ministry of Rev. Mr. Simmons. Mr. Simmons himself, it appears, was suspended by the majority and his church again split because of his suspension. Some of the members of his congregation ordered him to vacate the pulpit, but a party under Mr. Francis Gracia put him back in his pulpit by force. The majority group strenuously objected to sitting under the instruction of their former minister, f46 and about August, 1744, several of them, in particular … James Fowler, William Brisbane, John Sheppard & Alexander Sheppard, did strike and raze their Names out of the Subscription to the said Church, and said they would not continue of or have anything more to do with the said Church. And the said James Fowler did at the same time raze out the names of John Raven Bedon, Francis Baker, James Mash, Joseph Atwell and others, and then alledged it was by their express order he did so. And … the said Fowler, Brisbane and others … actually sent to Pensilvania for a Pastor or Minister for themselves. f47 This energetic group speedily set about ousting Mr. Simmons entirely, but with rather unexpected results. William Elliott had conveyed, on July 18, 1699, lot No. 62 in trust to William Sadler, John Raven, Thomas Bulline, Thomas Graves, and John Elliott for the “Protestant Dissenting Anti-paedo Baptists vulgarly called Anabaptists.” A deed of August 4, 1712, confirmed this lot to the use of the Antipedobaptists but named John Raven, Sr., Richard Butler, Ephraim Mikell, Lawrence Dennis, John Raven, Jr., and Henry Turner as trustees f48 It appears that the trust lapsed in 1744 due to the death of the appointees without having renewed it, and to make their possession of lot No. 62 legal, “Sundry Members of the Antipaedo-Baptist Church in Charlestown,” or as later appeared, the seceding Particular group, then in their opinion without a minister, presented a petition to the Assembly on January 26, 1745, asking that new trustees be appointed. The group led by Rev. Mr. Simmons, pastor, and Francis Gracia, deacon, and supported by the General Baptists meeting at Stono under Mr. Henry Heywood, immediately presented a counter petition laying claim to the lot in question in the name of the Antipedobaptist church in Charleston and stating That how specious soever the said Petitioners pretences may appear these Petitioners hope they transgress no rule of charity in saying that not so much the establishing the Premises upon a more solid and lasting foundation is their view as the obtaining a power to turn the Petitioner Thomas Simmonds out of possession of the said Lot and Houses and from the pastoral charge is their design. f49 Both groups were allowed to call in counsel; Charles Barker testified that William Elliott the elder had been a Calvinistic Antipedobaptist at the time of the gift of lot No. 62 but had later been suspended from communion, “whereupon he separated from that Congregation intirely, …” Mr. Barker also objected to Elisha and William Butler as trustees under the bill because they adhered to Mr. Heywood’s meeting, “whose Doctrine is diametrically opposite in several Material Points to that of those in Charles Town.” Thomas Bulline also declared that his father, one of the original trustees, was a Calvinistic Baptist, and that Elisha and William Butler were not. Then Mr. Simmons and Mr. Gracia presented another petition May 1, 1745, praising the wisdom of the House in providing trustees from both factions and also an indifferent person, assuring their Honours that William Elliott the elder was an Arminian Antipedobaptist at the time of the gift and that the church long contained members of both persuasions who had lived in peace and harmony together until both began to carry their ideas too far. Page 12 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Counsel for Mr. Simmons and Mr. Gracia called Mr. Simmons and William Elliott, Jr., as witnesses to the fact that William Elliott the elder at the time of the gift was a General Baptist and had always been one. An extract of the minutes of the church was offered in evidence certified by Rev. Henry Heywood and Dr. Thomas Dale, son-in-law of Mr. Simmons. f50 An act of May 25, 1745, with provision for perpetual renewal of the trust vested in William Screven of James Island, John Raven (a minor; his guardian Branfill Evance to act for him until he should come of age), and Paul Grimball (Particular Baptists); Elisha and William Butler (General Baptists); Francis Gracia (of Mr. Simmons’ group, claiming to be a Particular Baptist); and John Ladson of John’s Island, probably the indifferent person mentioned, further declared for the preventing any disputes that may hereafter arise … all the Antipaedo Baptists, as well those distinguished by the name of General Baptists as those distinguished by the name of Particular Baptists, are entitled to and shall have an equal right in the said lot numbered sixty-two, and the appurtenances; and each of the said sects shall and lawfully may make use of the same for divine service; … f51 The result must have been rather startling and wholly unsatisfactory to the ultra-Particular group which had brought in the petition for renewal, for if they continued to use the meeting house on lot No. 62, they had, under the new law, to allow not only the group of members toward whom they were disaffected to share it with them, but the General Baptists as well, a thing so much against their will and conscience that they built a second meeting house fifty-nine by forty-two feet in 1745, which was later enlarged. f52 In this they met at first every other Sunday, and used the old church alternately with the General Baptists, but on October 9, 1758, the two groups agreed that the General Baptists should have the sole use of the old meeting house and the Particular Baptists the sole use of the parsonage. f53 The members purchasing the new lot in trust from Martha Fowler, widow of James Fowler, in 1755, “To and for, the only proper use Benefit & behoof of all and Every the People, Known by the Name of Antipaedobaptists Owning and Acknowledging the Doctrines of Personal Election & Final perservance [sic.], & disowning and denying Arian Arminian and Socinian Principles,” included William Screven, William Brisbane, James Screven, Robert Screven, Thomas Dixon, William Screven, Jr., Nathaniel Bulline, James Brisbane, David Stoll, and Samuel Stiilman.” f54 These same members are said to have observed a day of fasting and prayer on June 24, 1745, and to have signed a covenant reaffirming their Calvinistic principles. f55 At this period (1740-1745) a hot controversy was raging throughout America with regard to the Rev. George Whitefield and his methods. Each appearance of Mr. Whitefield renewed the flood of extravagantly admiring letters from his friends and virulently abusive articles from his enemies published over such signatures as Arminius, Philaretes, Philalethes, Philanthropos, Zealot, Publicola, etc. f56 One of Mr. Whitefield’s earnest followers was Rev. Isaac Chanler, the Ashley River pastor, who preached on July 30, 1740, the first of a series of Wednesday evening lectures which Mr. Whitefield had persuaded various dissenting ministers about Charleston to undertake. f57 During his stay in Charleston in 1740, Mr. Whitefield preached for Mr. Chanler at Ashley River and also almost every day to great crowds in the Independent and Baptist meeting houses. “Charleston was the place of his greatest success and of the greatest opposition.” f58 One of the lukewarm, if not actually hostile, was Rev. Mr. Simmons. An article signed “Philaretes,” October 3, 1741, uses most abusive language with regard to “Zealot II,” whom Philaretes supposes to be Rev. Isaac Chanler, and speaks of “good Mr. Simmonds, whose Humility and Page 13 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Modesty had been a good Pattern for … [Mr. Chanler] to have walked by.” f59 Mr. Chanler speedily denied being Zealot II, f60 but the rift in Baptist harmony due to Mr. Whitefield’s doctrines and methods indicated in Philaretes’ writings is confirmed by the second outbreak of praise and vituperation in 1744-1745. Though Mr. Whitefield is accused of pretending to be, while begging, “A staunch Churchman in Old England! A thorough Independent in New England! An Anabaptist ‘mong Anabaptists! A true-blue Kirkman in Scotland! And a Quaker ‘mong Quakers! becoming all Things to all Men, not that he might gain some, but make some Gain of all!” f61 yet the evidence seems to indicate that he was a sincere and ardent evangelist whose flaming zeal had an immense but shattering effect on strongly Calvinistic congregations, as witness the New Light Stir and the Charleston Baptist Church. Mr. Simmons is reported to have declared to the Commons House That the unhappy Difference now subsisting between him and his People (whom he said he still lov’d in sincerity) was owing to his having given a gentle Reproof to Mr. W-f-d, for recommending very strongly a Book entitled “The Country Parson’s Advice to his Parishioners,” the Author of which seems to be as great a Friend to Popery as Archbishop Tillotson was its Enemy … Mr. W-d excus’d himself by saying he had not read the Book when he recommended it. there are many Things in the Writings and Conduct of dear Mr. W-fi-y [sic], that look very wishfully towards his HOLINESS TOE … f62 The factions seem clearly indicated — the Particular group led by Rev. Isaac Chanler, of Ashley River, warmly advocating Whitefield’s course and doctrines, the Moderate group led by Rev. Thomas Simmons less enthusiastic, and the General, Baptists openly opposed to Whitefield. f63 With the carrying of the question of lot No. 62 into the Assembly, Rev. Thomas Simmons and his supporters found themselves between the two factions, and having no hope of compromise with the Particular group, they compounded with the General Baptists for peaceable possession of the pastorate and premises for the few remaining years of Mr. Simmons’ life. Although he was, as he claims, a Calvinistic Baptist, f64 this seemed to make him of the General Baptist party and has brought the accusations later made that the second disruption of his church was caused by his leaning toward the General Baptists. f65 Thus diminished and shattered by doctrinal differences, by secessions, and by constitution of branches into separate bodies, the Particular group was at one time dangerously near extinction. f66 Yet “Mr. Whitefield’s coming caused a revival, and many soon joined them.” f67 In 1747 after Mr. Simmons’ death, f68 Mr. Gracia and those who had followed him were restored to the communion of the church, and but for their lack of a minister they might have become a strong congregation. A service every other week by Mr. Chanler from Ashley River did not keep up the enthusiasm nor the growth of the church. f69 Upon the death of Mr. Chanler in 1749, Rev. Oliver Hart began his ministry, being called to “the Pastoral Charge of the Baptist Church in Chas: Town Feb. ye 16th, 1749-50.” f70 His arrival presaged peace, but trouble was not yet over. In the violent gale and flood of September 15, 1752, Mr. Hart’s house was washed down and the ends of the new meeting house were broken in by the wind, or by a wind-driven vessel, and the church book destroyed. f71 Mr. Hart’s diary gives every evidence of great spirituality and complete absorption in the work of his ministry. On Sunday he preached morning and afternoon, and then lectured in the evening at Mrs. Baker’s or Mr. Stillman’s to the “Society” (possibly the beginning of the Religious Society), to which he also spoke often on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights, and sometimes on other nights of the week; he also had a weekly Wednesday afternoon meeting Page 14 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. about which he remarks: “there are so few Attends these Wednesday Lectures, and those few so late before they come; that I am much discouraged in keeping them up; the Lord knows what is Best; I hope I desire to be guided by his Will:” In 1754 a revival took place among the young people, who often came to consult him with regard to their spiritual state and to be instructed in doctrine, in which he found them weak. Among these young converts was Samuel Stillman, in after years an able minister in Boston. A later convert, Edmund Botsford, found Mr. Hart’s countenance pleasing and his spirituality satisfying but did not like his dress-Mr. Hart wore gown and bands. f72 Mr. Hart also preached on James Island, where he stayed with William Screven, Sr. Here on October 10, 1754, accompanied by most of his “People,” he baptized ten persons, according to the primitave mode, In the name of the Father or Lord, they have now made a good profession before many Witnesses; Oh may they always Act Consistent thereto. Remember them under their perticular Circumstances; Many of them are very Young, and will be Expos’d to many Temptations; most of them are of the female Sex; and therefore their Case is perhaps more Dangerous; take them O Lord; take them into thy peculiar Care and keep them as ye Apple of thine Eye. f73 The work on James Island resulted in the collection of a congregation there, for which a meeting house thirty feet square was erected in 1759 on a lot purchased of William Brisbane, Sr.; William Screven, Sr., gave generously toward its erection and support. f74 Mr. Hart’s relations with other ministers were most cordial; he went to hear the rector, Rev. Richard Clarke, preach, and also called on him and was pleased with his “Catholick Spirit,” which Mr. Hart thought proved by an occurence of October 27, 1754: In the Evening I buried a Child in the Church Burying Ground, and Spoke Extempore, perhaps the first Instance of this Nature that ever was known in this Province. the Church Minister was sick and could not attend himself; therefore gave me free Liberty to speak in my own way: which Discovered an Catholick Spirit. Ooh that all Bigotry was rooted out of the Earth; then would there subsist a greater Harmony between persons of all persuasions, than what does: it is Indeed a pity that our little outward Differences Should cause Such a Shyness between us. Rev. Messrs. William Hutson and John Joachim Zubly, of the Independent Churches in Charleston and Wappetaw. respectively, often preached for Mr. Hart during this period. and he heartily approved their “testimony” and that of the rector against “Stage Plays … which was the more Seasonable, as there is now a House building for the Stage players to Act in.” In 1757 one William Mason “opened a school in the new Baptist Meeting-house,” intending to teach “reading, writing, and arithmetic, vulgar and decimal, and the extraction of roots,” and also to keep books, draw up “instruments of writing,” etc. This was apparently entirely a private enterprise. f75 The Charleston Church under Mr. Hart’s ministry occupied much the position among the Baptists that the city had in the political, social, and economic life of the province. Through his efforts, several churches united in 1751 in an association, which held practically all of its meetings through 1778 with the Charleston Church, and from this fact received the name Charleston Association. f76 Mr. Hart went about the State and into Georgia to preach, to assist in ordinations, and to aid in the constitution of new churches; and visiting ministers often occupied his pulpit. Rev. John Gano, sent for at Mr. Hart’s suggestion to go as a missionary to North Carolina and the back parts of South Carolina, says of his first sermon in Charleston: “When I arose to speak, the sight of so brilliant an audience, among whom were twelve Page 15 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. ministers, and one of whom was Mr. Whitefield, for a moment brought the fear of man upon me; …” f77 Only one serious break occurred in the peaceful course of Mr. Hart’s long pastorate of nearly thirty years. This was the attempt about 1763 of Mr. Nicholas Bedgegood to supplant him in the ministry of the Charleston Church. “His conscientious opposition was by some attributed to envy; and on the failure of the plan, several of the wealthier members withdrew.” f78 The position paid about thirty-four hundred thirty pounds currency per year, from interest on its funds and the rent of pews and perquisites. f79 Mr. Pilmoor, one of the two first Methodist missionaries sent to America by Wesley, stopped in Charleston in January, 1773. The kindness and cordiality with which he was treated by both groups of Baptists give a pleasant picture of relations among the evangelical denominations in Charleston, and it is interesting to note the willingness and delight with which Mr. Hart and the two Baptist congregations listened to this herald of a new denomination. In the evening I went with two gentlemen to Mr. Tou’s, a gentleman that has the care of the General Baptist meeting-house, to make application for the use of the pulpit, which he readily granted, and we gave it out as much as we could that there would be preaching there the following night … At six in the evening [Friday, January 22d] I preached my first sermon in Charleston. As the notice was but short, our congregation was not large but very serious. Two ministers were present all the time, and behaved very well. The Baptist minister, Mr. Hart, returned me thanks for my sermon, and invited me to preach in his pulpit … Saturday … in the evening the congregation was three times as large as that we had last night. … As the General Baptists have no minister, and thinking it more blessed to give than to receive, I gladly consented to preach for them on Sunday morning we had a very full house at ten o’clock. … At three o’clock I preached for Mr. Hart, to the Particular Baptists,. and in the evening, notwithstanding the rain, the house was as full as it could hold, and … all behaved as well as the people in Philadelphia. This was thought very extraordinary, for when I first proposed evening preaching I was told it would be impracticable on account of the mob, … Tuesday I … went to dine with Mr. Patrick, where I met the Rev. Mr. Hart, the Baptist Minister, who is not only sensible, but truly evangelical, and very devout. At night the house was as full as it could well hold … Charleston bids fair for a revival of religion. … Sunday, 31 … At ten o’clock I preached in the Old Meeting, and was favored with the illuminations of grace, and the divine energy of the Holy Spirit. At two, we had a gracious season at the New Meeting, and in the evening we had the largest congregation I have seen since I left Virginia.f80 As the threatenings of trouble with England grew into the reality of the Revolution, the worth of Mr. Hart and the strength of the Baptists received recognition in his appointment as a member of a committee to journey through the back country for the purpose of winning that section to the American cause. Unfortunately Mr. Hart in his diary only mentions the matter, giving no account of his trip or its effects. f81 The act of incorporation was passed October 9, 1778, of “‘The Baptist Church in Charlestown,’ whereof the Reverend Oliver Hart is now pastor.” f82 “The corporation consists indiscriminately of church members and pew-holders, and manages the secular concerns. Its officers are a President, Treasurer, Secretary, and two Wardens, chosen annually on the 3d Wednesday in Sept. It is governed by a system of Bye-Laws enacted in 1791. The spiritual concerns are managed by those who are strictly members.” f83 The congregation must have been badly scattered during these troublous times: Mr. Hart mentions fleeing Page 16 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. with his family on October 6, 1775, to the Euhaws; and again on February 11, 1780, news of the advance of the British drove him from Charleston, to which he did not return, going on through Virginia and Pennsylvania to New Jersey. f84 The Baptist Church in Charleston remained in correspondence with Mr. Hart, and solicited his return after the war, but he refused, being then old and in a place of “great usefulness.” f85 The Charleston Church was active in petitioning the legislature during the Revolution and after. In 1776 it requested the appointment of trustees to care for its funds. f86 It must have been about this time that Colonel Thomas Screven reported fourteen thousand seven hundred pounds currency in the possession of the church, made up, it appears, of: (1) Four hundred pounds given by Providence Hutchinson, (2) five hundred pounds by James Fowler, (3) six hundred pounds by William Screven (grandson of the first minister), (4) five hundred pounds by Benjamin D’Harriette, Esq., (5) five hundred pounds by Martha D’Harriette, (6) one thousand pounds by Elizabeth Gibbes, (7) eighteen hundred ninety-six pounds by William Tilly (son of a former minister), and later gifts of Justinus Stoll, Thomas Rivers, and Patrick Hinds amounting to six thousand pounds, with possibly the sale of a lot given by Patrick Hinds. f87 An ordinance “for appointing and impowering certain Trustees, therein named, to manage the funds of the congregation of Particular Baptists, in Charleston” was passed February 13, 1777. f88 Depreciation practically wiped out their funds during the Revolution, they claim, except about three hundred pounds sterling which was lent to the government. f89 This may explain their efforts to secure property later on. Apparently there was almost complete cessation of religious activity during the British occupation of Charleston, from May, 1780, to December, 1782, more than two years during which there was no meeting of the association, and church life was at a low ebb among South Carolina dissenters. The British took over both churches of the Charleston Baptists, it is said, storing beef in one and forage in the other. Upon the evacuation, the Particular Baptists put a temporary pulpit and seats in their building and asked Rev. Oliver Hart to return April 14, 1783, and they again called him after Rev. Richard Furman had refused their call of March 8, 1784. f90 At the association meeting of 1785, “The church in Charleston requesting supplies: Agreed, that the following supplies be afforded them: Reverend Richard Furman, in December; Reverend Joshua Palmer, in February; Reverend Edmund Botsford, in March; Reverend Evan Pugh, in May; and Reverend Joseph Cook, in July.” f91 Besides these, Rev. Messrs. Joshua Lewis, James Fowler, and Joseph Redding are said to have been active in the service of the Charleston Church, and Mr. Furman wrote Mr. Hart in January that “there really appears a concern about Religion in the Minds of several, especially the Negroes,” f92 and Mr. Botsford wrote in March: I have been here six Lord’s days, and have to stay two more; have baptized two, and expect to baptize others before I leave town. There is a pretty good work begun. I have preached 41 sermons, go from house to house, and blessed be God, sweet times we have. I have time to write but a few lines; indeed I have hardly enjoyed an hour to myself since I have been in town. Numbers of blacks come to see me, and some whites; and many I must go and see. I doubt not that if there were a minister settled here, there would soon be a flourishing Church. Who would have thought that your poor son Botsford would have been owned as an instrument to bring souls to the Charleston Church? I find the heart is the same in Charleston, as in the country. Crowds attend public meetings, which are held three times on Lord’s days, and on Wednesday evenings; every other evening we have meetings at Page 17 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. private houses, in which I have introduced praying for those poor distressed souls who ask. f93 The next year, Mr. Furman and Mr. Botsford were again in Charleston and Mr. Furman described with enthusiasm “a considerable Effusion of the Holy Spirit” resulting in about thirty baptisms, among them those of Colonel Thomas Screven and Captain John Hart f94 The trustees of the Charleston Church petitioned the legislature in 1785 for power to dispose of certain lands on Edisto Island and Ashley River which formerly belonged to two Baptist churches, “Branches of the said Baptist Church in Charleston, the Trustees and Members thereof being all extinct,” but nothing came of the request. f95 Also in 1785 organized Methodism began its work in Charleston, brought by Rev. Francis Asbury and his assistants; who “obtained the use of an old meeting-house belonging to the General Baptists, in which they had ceased to preach.” f96 The implication in Baptist accounts is that permission to use this old church was given by the Particular Baptists, who, in 1786 and 1787, petitioned the legislature for repeal of the act of 1745 vesting lot No. 62 and its appurtenances in both the Particular and the General Baptists, in order that they might “take the whole of said property into actual possession, according to their original and undoubted right,” f97 as “there is no Society of the General Baptists now existing in Charleston.” f98 In spite of this direct assertion of their disappearance, the General Baptists presented a counter petition asking for continuance of the act of 1745 with regard to lot No. 62. f99 The matter was then taken into court, and settled in favor of the Particular Baptists in 1787. f100 Ten years later they petitioned the legislature for “part of a certain piece of land near the city of Charleston containing upwards of sixteen Acres,” f101 formerly the property of the General Baptists; but this had reverted to the heirs-at-law of William Elliott, the donor, when the General Baptists became extinct in 1791. f102 In the year that gave them full possession of lot No. 62, the Particular Baptists of Charleston secured the services of perhaps their ablest minister, Rev. Richard Furman, formerly of High Hills of Santee, and already a leader in the work of the association. Though the Methodists were soon out of the old meeting house, the Baptists continued to use the newer building, which they enlarged. f103 Dr. Furman lived in the parsonage house among the graves on lot No. 62. f104 There was evidently some idea of moving the church, for Patrick Hinds, who left fifty pounds for its use, also made provision for renting one of the largest single pews “with a View towards assisting in any Scheme which may be formed by said Church for erecting a new and Commodious place of publick Worship in a central or upper situation of the City.” f105 This indicated prosperity and a large membership, in spite of the fact that Bishop Asbury, of the Methodist Church. who, on January 11, 1795, heard Mr. Furman preach an “excellent sermon” on partial and total backsliding, doubted “if he had more than seventy white hearers.” f106 However, at this time the church reported over two hundred and forty members, most of them probably negroes, and showed a gradually rising membership, f107 though no such spectacular effects of revival as the churches of the back country. Under Mr. Furman’s leadership, the Charleston Church was active in support of ministerial education and zealous in its advocacy of missions. Some of the men who seconded Richard Furman loyally in his work for the church and the association were Thomas Rouse, Thomas Screven, David Adams, William Inglesby, and John Hart. f108 Mr. Furman himself, a man of fine presence, whose natural dignity, like that of Mr. Oliver Hart, went well with the gown and bands he wore in his Page 18 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. pulpit, had the friendship of such men as Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, f109 and was frequently requested to preach on public occasions. In the first months of 1795 “most of the notable characters in Charleston” formed a Society “for encouraging Emigration of virtuous citizens from other Countries,” the plan having been proposed by Rev. Richard Furman. Later in the year he preached in Savannah to encourage the building of a Baptist church there, and was active in church extension throughout the low and middle country. f110 He delivered the orphanage anniversary sermon October 18, 1796, before the intendant and wardens of Charleston and the commissioners of the institution. On July 4, 1802, the Society of the Cincinnati and the Revolution Society “attended divine service in the Baptist Church, where an elegant and truly patriotic discourse was delivered by the Rev. Doctor Furman,” and again in 1804 the same societies had him preach for them in his church a sermon on the death of Alexander Hamilton. f111 Hymns and anthems sung by the choir accompanied these and other services. f112 It was thus with music and fine oratory and influential leadership that the First Church of Charleston entered the new century. f113 Of its early branches or “arms,” the history of the Ashley River Church is most intimately connected with that of the Charleston Church. Many of the names found in the city church early appear along the Ashley River. f114 These families, it is claimed, for many years either went to Charleston to services, or had the Charleston minister come out and hold meetings among them. f115 On November 22, 1725, Richard Butler and his wife Sarah conveyed a lot of six acres, a part of Tipseeboo or Clear Spring plantation, about fourteen miles from Charleston on the public road, to the Ashley River Baptists, naming “William Cater, John Bulline, Thomas Inghran, William Elliott Jun, Robert Booth, John Brown, Saml Screven, John Raven, and Richard Bedon, as trustees for the Congregation of Antipedo Baptists.” f116 They built a meeting house on this lot in 1727, and a minister of ability, Rev. Isaac Chanler, coming among them about 1733, the Ashley River congregation withdrew from the Charleston Church and on May 24, 1736, by special covenant became a separate organization with about twenty-seven constituents. f117 During the latter years of the pastorate of Rev. Thomas Simmons and until his own death, Mr. Chanler’s connection with the Charleston Church, at least with the more rigidly Calvinistic group, was that of pastoral leadership. Rev. George Whitefield spoke of him as that “gracious Baptist minister,” and preached at Ashley River for him, while he strongly supported Whitefield’s evangelical labors, conducted weekly evening lectures at his suggestion, and defended his methods and doctrines so spiritedly as to bring forth several articles of abuse and ridicule referring to a certain V. D. M. that has so often loaded the Press with his Productions, … [who] assumes too much when he writes so often in the regal style and tells us what We, or the Publick have a right to demand, when he is known to speak the Sense of not all, even of his own party. f118 Though Mr. Chanler denied with dignity and good sense that he had written any articles for the Gazette, f119 yet the accusations of his enemies were to this extent true, that his attitude had sharpened dissension in the Charleston Church and possibly in his own. An echo of the hostilities of that day appears in the will of Richard Baker, who devised May 20, 1752, to a group which probably comprised the influential members of the Ashley River congregation (Richard Bedon, Peter May, Thomas Bulline, Sr., and his son John, Charles Barker, William Maine, John Norman, Josiah Pendarvis, Elihu Baker, James Baker, and Thomas Cater), two hundred Page 19 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. fifty pounds currency in trust as a Perpetual fund for and towards the support of the Gospel Ministry among that Christian Congregation of People meeting together to Worship God on the Northeast side Ashley River who by Profession are Antepedo Baptists denying Armenyanism and owning the Doctrine of Original Sin Personal Election and final Preserverance … no such Minister shall be entitled to all or any part thereof unless such Minister hold Profess Preach and Defend the aforesaid Doctrines. The trustees were to be disqualified if they changed their views on even one of these doctrines. f120 Mr. Chanler died in 1749 at the height of his activities for the Ashley River, Charleston, and surrounding congregations. f121 Rev. John Stephens succeeded Mr. Chanler on June 22, 1750, as pastor of the Ashley River Church. From the number of bequests to Mr. Stephens and the church, his work must have been highly satisfactory to his people. f122 The meeting house built about 1727 was burned on Tuesday, November 9, 1762; f123 a second meeting house, forty-three by twenty-eight feet, “a neat brick building, accommodated with pews and a vestry, and pleasantly situated,” was built in 1763 on the lot donated by Richard Butler, with an additional acre or more given by William Brisbane. f124 Other gifts are said to have amounted to a considerable sum, with most of which were bought some negroes, a tract of land, and a handsome parsonage about a quarter of a mile from the church. The negroes were later sold and the land rented, so that the living was worth about seven hundred pounds currency in 1772. f125 In spite of Rev. Mr. Hart’s praise of his lectures as having a “good degree of Warmth, and freedom,” and in spite of his general usefulness in the surrounding congregations, Mr. Stephens became too fond of strong drink, it is claimed, and was dismissed from the Ashley River Church in 1769. f126 In 1772 it had not yet obtained a minister. Baptisms “pr Diping,” and otherwise, by the Anglican clergyman in St. Andrew’s Parish of members of former Baptist families may indicate one of the ways in which the membership of the Ashley River Church decreased; at any rate, in 1772 only about forty- six baptized members of twenty-six widely scattered families, black and white, were in communion; f127 they then communed on the first Lord’s day in January, April, July, and October. The last report sent in to Charleston Association gave fortyfour members for the Ashley River Church; this was sometime before 1775, in which year and through 1779 there was no report. f128 It is claimed by Baptist historians that This Church became extinct in the time of the Revolutionary War. Its property, consisting of the Lot on which the House of worship was built, a valuable parsonage, Church plate, several negroes and some hundred pounds in fund, was seized by an individual, and converted to his own use. f129 In 1785 the Charleston Church petitioned for the lands of the Ashley River Church, “the Trustees and Members thereof being all extinct.” f130 The surrounding plantation was at the time in Mrs. Mary Hyrne’s possession; she was the daughter of Richard Butler, and may have regarded the church property as having reverted to the estate. f131 EUHAW CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES Another church which claims to trace its early history from Rev. William Screven and the dissenters of 1683 is that at the Euhaws named from the Euhaw Indians’ land and located at the head of the estuary from Port Royal Sound called Broad River. According to these claims, Rev. William Screven’s Page 20 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. preaching on Edisto Island in 1700 or thereabouts, led to the building of a meeting house by the inhabitants. He baptized William Fry, Thomas and Providence Grimball. Ephraim Mikell, Joseph, Isaac, and Thomas Parmenter, Joseph Sealy, and others. f132 Evidently the majority of the inhabitants of the island, being Presbyterians, were displeased with this, and when Rev. Archibald Stobo, a minister of that denomination, began to preach there about 1722, they took over the meeting house for their own use, f133 leaving the Baptists without a place of worship. They met at private houses for a time, Messrs. Fry and Mikell leading their worship, f134 then built a meeting house of their own in 1726 on two acres given by Ephraim Mikell. f135 Mr. Fry was ordained and preached for them, and the ministers from Charleston visited them occasionally until 1731, when William Tilly came from Charleston as their minister, being soon after ordained by Rev. Thomas Simmons. In 1730 the congregation bought of Matthew Creece (or Crees) a tract of land of one hundred acres adjoining the church lot, which was put into the hands of trustees (Charles Odingsell, Joseph Sealy, Sr., William Elliot, Sr., John Sheppard and Samuel Screven) for the use of “an Antipedobaptist Minister on Edisto Island forever.” f136 Joseph Sealy (died 1732) left two hundred pounds currency, Ephraim Mikell and his father each one hundred pounds currency, and Joseph Sealy (died 1763) one thousand pounds currency for the same purpose. f137 Just before and during Mr. Tilly’s ministry, the members began to scatter, some to Port Royal Island, some to Hilton Head Island where a meeting house was built, others to the Euhaws; and though occasional preaching continued on Edisto Island, f138 the main body thereafter was known as the Euhaw Church. For about sixty-three years, the Edisto Island and Euhaw members were at pains to be considered a branch of the Charleston Church, and although the Charleston Church proposed that the Euhaw congregation be dismissed to form a separate church, they refused dismissal. f139 What was the effect of Rev. George Whitefield’s preaching in this community is not known, but Mr. Tilly accompanied him to Savannah, preached there for him, and took the sacrament with his congregation. Whitefield speaks of Mr. Tilly as a “serious, lively Baptist minister,’ f140 and all Baptist historians refer to him as a pious and useful man. f141 After the death of Mr. Tilly in 1744, the Euhaw Church occasionally received the services of Rev. Isaac Chanler from Ashley River. He attempted to introduce the rite of laying on of hands, which caused such uneasiness that it had to be dropped. The Euhaw Church became a distinct organization on May 5, 1746, when a few of the members “entered into a Constitiution of their own and made Solemn Covenant before God, as Charles Town members had done just before them, by the United Consent of all parties … ,” but no other formal act of separation from the Charleston Church appears to have taken place. f142 Thus, visited occasionally by Messrs. Chanler, Stephens, and Hart, the Euhaw Church continued for some years without a regular minister. Exactly where services were held, aside from those at the island branches or arms, is not clear. Mr. Francis Pelot, a Calvinistic Swiss who came to South Carolina in 1734, was called to the ministry at Euhaw Church, together with Mr. William Elbert, f143 on May 18, 1746. Mr. Elbert quitted the ministry in 1750, but Mr. Pelot continued to serve as a probationer to January 13, 1752, when he was finally ordained by Messrs. Hart and Stephens, together with Benjamin Parmenter, ruling elder, and Archibald Hastings, deacon. Mr. Hart preached the ordination sermon from <401016>Matthew 10:16. “Many attended the Solemnity; and in general, they were much affected.” f144 Mr. Whitefield’s early connection with this congregation is borne out by Page 21 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. his having celebrated the marriage of Joseph Sealy, Jr., on June 17, 1754, to Joanna Staples. f145 About this time they built a meeting house described in 1772 as 36 feet by 30 … on a lot of one acre the gift of Rev. Francis Pelot; f146 on the same lot is a [building … serving both for a vestry and a school house] The situation is pleasant being near the head of a branch of Euhaw creek, and adjoining the high road leading from Georgia to Charleston. It so happened that as soon as the place of worship was finished, Mr. Whitefield came this way, and, as it were, consecrated it by celebrating divine service in it for the first time, Mar. 5, 1751-2. The character of this church is that of Particularbaptist, whole faith and order are agreeable to the confession of faith and treatise of discipline adopted by the association of Philadelphia, except the laying on of hands on baptized believers. Neither did the church allow ruling elders. Communion was quarterly beginning on the first Lord’s day in March. f147 The Euhaw Church was evidently spiritually and materially prosperous under Mr. Pelot. Rev. Oliver Hart’s dairy has numerous references to the activity of Mr. Pelot in the work of his his church, in the ordination of ministers, and in the constitution of new meetings. f148 The Anglican missionary of the Purrysburgh section in 1769 said of the people: “Some have but Little Religion, some none at all, the most part are what is called Anabaptists.” f149 But in 1772 only forty-one baptized members of forty families were connected with the congregation. There was an assistant on Hilton Head, Rev. Edmund Matthews, a convert of Mr. Mulkey’s (the minister of Fairforest Church) and a protege of the Religious Society, who was invited to serve on the island toward the end of 1767. f150 After Mr. Pelot’s death in 1774, f151 the Euhaw Church had no regular pastor for about two years. As Rev. Oliver Hart fled from Charleston to the Euhaws on October 6, 1775, and remained there for sometime, it is probable he preached to the congregation for a part of the time, at least. f152 Joseph Cook had come from England as an evangelistic Anglican student from the Countess of Huntington’s college; he soon turned toward Baptist practices and principles, and after preaching to a mixed congregation at Dorchester, chiefly Independents but including some of Rev. Isaac Chanler’s former Ashley River members, he was baptized by Rev. Richard Furman at the High Hills of Santee in 1776 and shortly after ordained by Messrs. Hart and Furman at the same place. The Euhaw Church had had his occasional services and they now called him as pastor. Soon the low-country between Savannah and Charleston was plundered by the British; Mr. Cook left for the interior, and the history of the Euhaw congregation is a blank during the period of British occupation. Mr. Cook brought severe criticism upon himself by a hasty marriage to his first wife’s sister which he kept secret, but he returned after the end of hostilities, and they “Re’established that Declin’d Church at the Euhaw.” The Charleston Church in 1785 petitioned the legislature for a tract of land formerly belonging to one of its branches on Edisto Island, and in 1786 undertook to rent or sell the Edisto lands; whereupon the Euhaw Church wrote on May 20 to know “with what Propriety the Trustee’s of Charleston Claime’s the Donations of the Church of Edisto,” Joseph Cook, Charles Bealer, John Rose, William Hogg, Joseph Hilb, John Screven, John Parmenter, John Goldwire, William Cheyney, Josiah Hart and Cr’t Sturgis signing the letter. The Charleston Church answered that they would willingly give way to the Euhaw claim if the trustees of that church would agree to relinquish the land in case a Baptist church were ever established on Edisto Island. This agreement, signed by William Hogg, William Wells, Derry Gillison, and Charles Bealer as trustees, was sent to the Charleston Church on Page 22 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. June 11, 1787, and the matter thus temporarily adjusted. f153 The Euhaw Church received incorporation in 1787. f154 In 1797 it petitioned the legislature to authorize the sale of a “certain tract of land on Edisto Island … and to apply the proceeds thereof to the purchase of such other property as the said members shall think most proper.” f155 The lands were disposed of at that time or later. A revival took place under Mr. Cook’s ministry, which continued for several years. Mr. Cook wrote Mr. Furman early in 1789 that his church was greatly persecuted, probably referring to the severe struggle for converts then going on between Baptists and Methodists of that section. f156 He asked for the Greek derivation of “Persecution” to confound Doctor Finley “who is as bitter an Enemy to the baptist as his old Father was,” and with whom he had argued the question at Dr. George Mosse’s, one of his influential members; f157 he also asked for treatises on baptism, as “The whole Country is in a state of alarm, some for, and other against us — which is the means of inflaming the minds of the Members with Zeal in the defence of the sacred ordinance, the weakest of whom is more than a Match for their Neighbours.” f158 Mr. Cook wrote to Mr. Rippon, of London, September, 1790: My sphere of action is great having two congregations to regard at a considerable distance from each other, exclusive of this where I reside, as also friendly visits to pay to sister churches, and societies of other denominations, who are destitute of ministers, frequently riding under a scorching sun, with a fever, twenty miles in a morning, and then preach afterwards. Our brethren in England have scarcely an idea of what hardships we struggle with who travel to propagate the gospel. f159 One of the distant congregations was that on St. Helena Island, the other probably a negro congregation at Savannah. f160 Rev. Mr. Cook died on September 26, 1790. f161 One of the Euhaw members, John Goldwire, was licensed to preach in 1790, but Rev. Henry Holcombe, of Pipe Creek Church, succeeded Mr. Cook as Euhaw pastor in February, 1791. A soldier of the Revolution, and a minister already well known among neighboring churches and in the Charleston Association, he promised well, except that his health, as well as his family’s, had been poor for sometime. f162 The duties of the Euhaw pastorate were arduous, as there were members on St. Helena, Port Royal, and Ladies Islands. One of the members who would have assisted most ably in the work, Deacon Charles Bealer, died March 13, 1792. f163 On January 21, 1795, Mr. Holcombe removed to Beaufort, where a small church was built for the branch of Euhaw existing there. Great success soon attended his ministry in Beaufort, but the difficulties of reaching the central meeting house at Euhaw were so great that they sometimes forced him to disappoint that congregation. f164 The church also felt some dissatisfaction with its associational connection, and in May, 1795, the Charleston Association met at Euhaw to try the unsuccessful experiment of two sessions a year, one of which was to be held with the southern churches to satisfy those petitioning in 1794 for dismissal to form a new association. f165 Mr. Holcombe accepted a call to a church in Savannah, in July, 1799, f166 and Rev. Joseph B. Cook, son of the former minister, came among the Euhaw people in the same year as a licentiate, being called to the pastorate in January, 1800. Mr. Cook also resided in Beaufort, and his frail constitution made almost impossible the task of ministering to the scattered congregations of his charge, especially after the members at Euhaw, tired of repeated disappointments, “thought it most advisable for their pastor to ride round, by, way of Coosawhatchie, a distance of thirty four miles.” A revival begun Page 23 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. under Mr. Holcombe at Beaufort, continuing and spreading throughout the Euhaw congregation under Mr. Cook, so increased the membership that it was at length considered feasible to divide the church. Accordingly a letter of dismissal signed by John Rose, deacon, and Jonathan Witter, January 8, 1804, was given to eighteen white members and the negroes on the islands and about Stony Creek, and all property on Port Royal and St. Helena was renounced in favor of “the church about to be constituted in Beaufort.” f167 As Mr. Cook was among the members dismissed, the Euhaw Church next called as its pastor Rev. Aaron Tison (1804), under whom the revival continued. f168 Beaufort meeting, so long an arm or branch of Euhaw, was constituted January 27, 1804, as “The Baptist Church in Beaufort”. Rev. Dr. Richard Furman, of Charleston, delivered a discourse, made the surrendering prayer, and pronounced the newly constituted body, a regularly formed church of Christ. The Rev. Joseph B. Cook, who, with the rest of his brethren on the islands, had been dismissed from the Euhaw church, was received as their pastor, and Messrs. William Norton and Thomas Witter, were provisionally elected Deacons. Mr. Cook concluded the exercises of the day with prayer and singing. The covenant was signed by Joseph B. Cook, pastor, William Norton and Joseph Bedon, deacons, and David Turner, secretary. f169 The church entered the recently formed Savannah Association; it was incorporated by act of December 21, 1804, as “The Baptist Church of Beaufort,” the corporation to consist only of white members. f170 The number of negro members must have been large from the statistics on dismissals from the Euhaw Church. While Euhaw’s influence was spreading, Baptists from other sources were entering the country north of that church, the two groups coalescing to form the Coosawhatchie Church. Rev. James Smart with others from the Peedee and Lynches Creek came to the neighborhood early in 1759. He found there two Baptists, Richard Bagley and Solomon Wood, and soon gathered a Baptist following. On September 12, nineteen persons, including five from North Carolina and three baptized by Mr. Pelot, were constituted a church by Messrs. Oliver Hart and Francis Pelot, with Rev. Mr. Smart as minister, f171 “holding the Doctrines of Absolute Election, particular Redemption Special Vocation and the final perseverance of the Saints being Baptized on profession of Faith …” f172 The church entered the Charleston Association in the same year. f173 The first building, twenty by sixteen feet, was erected in 1769 at the head of Coosawhatchie River on an acre lot given by Thomas Collins. f174 In the same year (1769), John Clayton, a former Seventh Day Baptist preacher, and others, were expelled as “contentious and profligate persons.” f175 The meeting house was soon too small for the congregation, but the members were not rich, and paid only eighty pounds a year to Mr. Smart. They celebrated communion quarterly beginning with the first Sunday in January, but did not use laying on of hands. f176 Mr. Hart states: “Lords day Oct ye 9th 1774, At Coosawhatchee administered the sacrament to Mr. Smart’s Church; here I met Messrs: Botsford and Lewis; We all preach’d in our turns, and three women were baptized.” f177 The association pronounced an ordination (possibly that of Joshua Lewis) carried out at Coosawhatchie about 1775 irregular, “yet as the Essentials of Ordination were used, it is valid”. f178 A branch of Coosawhatchie sought separate constitution in 1775; the name is not given, but it was probably Edisto or Pipe Creek. f179 In its petition for incorporation in 1785, Coosawhatchie Church asked for fifty acres of land, to which the House replied that there could be no incorporation until fifteen persons signed the articles Page 24 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. and that land could not be granted before incorporation. f180 The matter was then dropped. Mr. Smart ended his pastorate in 1788, f181 Rev. James Sweat took up the work in 1791, and was succeeded by Rev. Aaron Tison in 1795. f182 James Smart, son of the former minister, in 1796 obtained a grant of seventyone acres on Beech Branch waters of Coosawhatchie; of this and possibly other land, he left seven acres for the church and churchyard, and the remainder for the use of the minister. The Two Sisters Ferry road crossed the tract between the meeting house and graveyard. The church has continued to occupy this lot. f183 Coosawhatchie was one of the churches dismissed by Charleston Association in 1802 to the newly formed Savannah Association. f184 As early as 1763, when Evan Pugh was studying under Rev. Francis Pelot at Euhaw, there was preaching at Pipe Creek. f185 The church there, however, was not constituted until March, 1775; it was admitted to the Charleston Association in 1778 with Rev. Joshua Lewis as pastor, under the name Savannah River, S.C., Church. f186 It retained this name until 1786, when, under Rev. Henry Holcombe, it asked to be known as Pipe Creek Church and the act of incorporation passed March 27, 1787, designates it “The Pipe Creek Church of Regular Baptists.” f187 Its first location was on the north side of Pipe Creek not far from Savannah River. f188 During Mr. Holcombe’s pastorate, the Methodists were increasing in the lower Savannah River country, and Mr. Holcombe had bitter theological arguments with their leaders, especially Mr. Hope Hull and Rev. John Crawford. After the matter became a question of veracity and character, Pipe Creek, Ogeechee (Ga.), and Black Swamp Churches sent delegates to hear Mr. Holcombe’s defense, which they unanimously approved and advised him to publish. It was of this period Rev. Joseph Cook said that the whole country around was excited about religious matters. He also felt that Mr. Holcombe’s churches did not appreciate his ability. Although they may not have paid him well, yet they responded to his preaching with a notable revival and were earnest in his defense. f189 Probably one of the churches which suggested a new association in 1794, Pipe Creek secured its dismissal from the Charleston Association in 1802 in order to enter the Savannah Association. f190 There was a steady decline in numbers towards the end of the century, which Rev. Moses Hadley’s short pastorate does not seem to have improved. Rev. Evan Pugh records a meeting at Black Swamp at which Mr. Pelot preached on December 25, 1762. f191 The congregation there remained a branch of Pipe Creek Church until February, 1786, when the Black Swamp Church, consisting of eight members, was constituted with the assistance of Rev. Abraham Marshall and Rev. Henry Holcombe. Their only pastor in the early years was Rev. Alexander Scott, though Rev. John Goldwire, Rev. Moses Hadley, and a licentiate, William Cone, were with them for a time. f192 The meeting house was built about 1781 on a lot of two acres probably given by a member of the Robert family, which was prominent in the church from its beginning, although descended from Rev. Pierre Robert, an early Huguenot minister. The lot is situated about three miles north of Robertville on tributary waters of Black Swamp. f193 In the controversy between Rev. Henry Holcombe and Mr. Hope Hull, Black Swamp took part in Mr. Holcombe’s defense, and some of the great increase in its membership between 1788 and 1790 was probably due to his preaching. f194 This church was the meeting place of a convention of seven churches, five in South Carolina, two in Georgia, held in the summer of 1794 to discuss the formation Page 25 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. of a new association. Mr. James Sweat presented the matter to the Charleston Association, which offered an alternative plan of having an associational meeting every spring among the southern churches. This promise contented them for a time, as it was 1802 before Black Swamp and others were dismissed to enter Savannah Association. f195 In 1800 Mr. Elias Robert was dismissed to the Savannah Church. f196 A remarkable revival occurred in 1802 under the preaching of Rev. Alexander Scott and Rev. Moses Hadley, “upwards of forty” f197 being added in a short time by baptism. WASSAMASSAW CHURCH A church having little connection with other low-country churches was Wassamassaw, said to have originated from Lynches Creek “soon after the peace of 1783.” Upon entering the Charleston Association in 1801, the congregation was reported to have been “constituted about seventeen years, and a great part of the time had the late Rev. Ralph Bowman for their pastor.” The meeting house stood thirty miles northwest of Charleston. Rev. Matthew McCullers came to the church in 1804, when a revival was in progress. f198 THE GENERAL BAPTISTS OF CHARLESTON AND STONO The history of the meeting house at Stono was at first that of a branch of the Particular Baptist church at Charleston. The building, thirty feet square, was erected in 1728 on a lot of four acres donated by Henry Toomer. f199 The minister of the Baptists in Charleston preached to the Baptists of this neighborhood as a part of his congregation for some years. Then, about 1735, occurred the schism which resulted in the organization of a church of General Baptists at Stono. The beginning of the schism was thus described by Charles Barker, of the Particular faction, in his evidence before the Commons House of Assembly when the renewal of the trust of lot No. 62 was debated Mr. William Elliott (the Donor of the Lot mentioned in the Bill) for many years was of the same persuasion with the present Petitioners, to wit, an Antipaedo Baptist of the Calvinistical System, but afterwards becoming of a different Opinion, the Congregation suspended him from Communion with them, whereupon he separated from that Congregation intirely, and sent to England for one Mr Ingram a Minister holding the same Tenets with himself after the separation. f200 However, Rev. Mr. Simmons and William Elliott (son of the donor of lot No. 62) testified before the Commons House that William Elliott the elder had always been a General Baptist, and Mr. Simmons’s petition claims that the two groups had existed together in the same congregation in harmony until too sharp an insistence on doctrinal differences had caused a split. f201 In fact it is claimed that Rev. Robert Ingram was a member of the congregation before the split occurred, and his stirring of the doctrinal waters had brought about the separation. f202 The General Baptists, however begun, became a separate church about November 25, 1736. f203 Little is known of Mr. Ingram’s ministry, as most Baptist historians who discuss South Carolina, being Particular Baptists, give little account of this congregation. During his incumbency, William Elliott the elder, dying in 1738, left ten thousand pounds currency and fifteen and three-fourths acres on Charleston Neck, now bounded by King, Radcliff, Smith, and Morris Streets, to his sons William, Thomas, and Joseph Elliott, upon a secret trust for the Society of General Baptists. It was some Page 26 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. years before the bequest was secured to their use. f204 After Mr. Ingram’s death (in 1738), f205 Rev. Henry Heywood arrived in Charleston and assumed the pastorate of the church, then meeting only at Stono, May 3, 1740. An able and well educated man, he took an active part in the fight for lot No. 62 between the General and Particular Baptists, f206 the determination of which gave the General Baptists the right to use the old meeting house and made two of their congregation, Elisha and William Butler, trustees of lot No. 62 under the new law. f207 As stated under the Charleston Church, the General Baptists entered into an agreement by which they took over the old meeting house on lot No. 62, while the Particular Baptists used the parsonage. A mortgage of November 29, 1746, by Joshua Toomer transfers land on Stono River (in St. Andrew’s Parish) with tanyard and buildings, to Mathurin Guerin, Elisha and William Butler, “Trustees for the Baptist Church at Stono,” “for the Propper use & Behoof of the said Baptist Church for which they are Trustees.” f208 From articles of the period, it would appear that Mr. Heywood was not one of Rev. George Whitefield’s supporters in 1741; Rev. Isaac Chanler is accused of having assumed a victory “before he had won it, over honest Arminius, whom it seems he has turned into Haywood and Stubble …” f209 Mr. Heywood died October 29, 1755. f210 Rev. Daniel Wheeler took over the pastorate on November 25, 1757. He is mentioned as burying Mrs. Catherine Ferguson and Mrs. Elizabeth Williamson in 1760, and Mrs. Martha Booth in 1762, members of his congregation. f211 His death occurred in November, 1767. f212 Rev. Caleb Evans entered upon the care of the church November 4, 1768. In 1772 Mr. Evans had only six families connected with his congregation, “whereof 8 persons are baptized and in communion, which was wont to be celebrated once in two months.” They used psalmody and laying on of hands in their services. In spite of its small membership, the church had a considerable estate, including the gifts of William Elliott in money and land, two thousand pounds currency given by Joseph Elliott, and two hundred pounds currency by Mrs. Elizabeth Williamson, which made the living worth about eight hundred pounds currency to Rev. Caleb Evans; this he held only a short time before his death in April, 1772. f213 As already mentioned, Rev. Mr. Pilmoor preached in the old meeting house during his visit of 1773, and he states that at that time the General Baptists were destitute of a pastor. f214 How soon they obtained one is not known, but in August, 1774, occurred the deaths of Rev. Philip Dobell and Rev. Daniel Dobell, father and son, both General Baptist preachers living at Ashley Ferry. f215 The small congregation of 1772 continued to dwindle, and by 1787 the Particular Baptists were claiming in petitions to the General Assembly that the General Baptists were extinct. However, in that year a counter petition came in from Sundry members and Representatives of deceased Members of the General Baptists Congregation in Charleston praying that the right of the General Baptists Congregation to the Parsonage and Lot No. 62 in Charleston may remain as confirmed by the Act of the General Assembly passed in the year 1745. f216 No record remains of the persons who signed this petition, but a deed of mortgage of September 7, 1790, of Thomas Tew to the Trustees of the Society of General Baptists names them as Joseph Creighton, Mathurin Guerin, Samuel Legare’, and David Cruger. f217 The Society was officially recorded as extinct about January, 1791. f218 GEORGETOWN CHURCH Page 27 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Rev. William Screven’s custom of collecting a church wherever he lived was probably followed in the Winyah region. His son, Elisha Screven, in laying out the site of Georgetown, provided that one acre should be reserved “for a lot [No. 228] or place whereon to build a Meeting House for performance of Divine Worship by those of the Persuasion commonly called Antipedo Baptists and for a place for Christian burial.” f219 Landgrave Thomas Smith also provided for a possible Baptist congregation in his plan of a town six miles below Georgetown, f220 but no account of the early development of Baptist worship in either place has been found. A Baptist congregation gradually developed in Georgetown after the return of William Cuttino, one of Rev. Oliver Hart’s converts baptized in Charleston in 1767. At his request, the ministers of neighboring churches, particularly of Charleston, preached in Georgetown for a number of years before a church was organized. f221 Mr. Hart mentions stopping for a time with Mr. Cuttino on his flight from the state after the fall of Charleston. Rev. Richard Furman wrote Mr. Hart in July, 1788: there seems to be a work of grace begun in Georgetown. I have been twice there this spring; at the last visit I baptized Mrs. Cuttino and her eldest son and administered the Lord’s Supper to twelve communicants. I received six more applicants, etc., before I left. f222 Mr. Furman’s labors were so effective as to lead to the constitution of thirtysix members as the Georgetown Church in June, 1794, and to its admission into the Charleston Association. f223 William Staughton, a licensed preacher but lately arrived, who assisted Mr. Furman in constituting the church, served as pastoral supply for a year, after which the congregation was without a regular pastor. However, John Waldo, who had come to Georgetown from New York in 1793 as a licentiate and as a teacher in an academy, preached for them until the arrival of Rev. Edmund Botsford in 1797. There were few additions to the church during his long pastorate; in fact, for years Mr. Waldo and Mr. Botsford were the only white male members. f224 This situation must have come about gradually after 1801, for in that year, the petition for incorporation of the “Antipaedo Baptist Church of Georgetown,” was presented by twenty men. Incorporation under the act of December 19, 1801, was for only a ten-year term. f225 In what sort of building the church met at first is not known; early in 1804 they built a “handsome and commodious wooden meeting-house” about sixty feet long on lot No. 228, reserved for the purpose so long before but apparently never used. f226 Bishop Asbury remarked rather sadly on his trip through Georgetown in January, 1804: “The Baptists have built an elegant church, planned for a steeple and organ; they take the rich; and the commonality and the slaves fall to us.” f227 Page 28 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. CHAPTER 2. BAPTIST CHURCHES OF THE PEEDEE SECTION WELSH NECK CHURCH As important to the religious life of South Carolina as Rev. William Screven’s group, was the Welsh Neck Church, the second center of Baptist influence in the province. White settlement was slow in South Carolina from 1696 to 1730, and to encourage more rapid expansion the crown adopted a township system and offered land under the most encouraging conditions. The easy terms and other circumstances attracted the Welsh in Pennsylvania (in the Welsh Tract of Delaware), some of whom came to investigate the suitability of the province for their settlement. David Lewis, Samuel Wild, and Daniel James presented their petition and a colony soon followed upon the promise of exclusive possession of a large tract partly in Queensborough Township on the Great Peedee River. A number of the Welsh came in 1736, and many soon settled in the bend of the river opposite the present village of Society Hill, called James’s Neck in 1738. This was desirable land for raising hemp, flax, etc., and practically all of the Welsh Neck, as this section came to be called, was soon granted. f228 In January, 1738, thirty of the Welsh settlers constituted a Baptist Church at first called Peedee, but later named Welsh Neck. The religious group to which these Pennsylvania Welsh belonged had begun its organized religious life in 1701 as they were leaving Wales; they planted their church at the Welsh Tract in Pennsylvania (later Delaware), and of this body Peedee or Welsh Neck Church was in effect an arm, though the members had been dismissed before coming to South Carolina. Entries in the Welsh Tract minutes show their dismissal. Our brothron and sisters whos names are as followeth Abel Morgan teaching Elder (Abel Morgan is returned) James James, Ruling Elder Thomas Evan, Deacon Daniel James Samuel Miles [Wilds] John Harry John Harry Junior Thomas Harry Jeremiah Rowel Richard Barrow Thomas Money Nathaniel Evan Mary James Annie Evan Sarah James Mary Wilds Elizabeth Harry Eleanor Jenkin Sarah Harry Margaret William Mary Rowel Sarah Barrow, are removed to Carolina and was recommended by a letter to ye church of Christ in Charles Town or elsewhere in South Carolina, or they might constitute themselves into a church form [sic] us Nov 1735. Our brother Samuel Evan and his wife Mary Ann Evan was recommended unto our christian friends on pedee in South Carolina April 30, 1737. Our brethren and sisters whose names are here set down, were recommended unto the care of our christian friends on pedee in South Carolina Daniel Devonald Thomas James David Harry Philip James David James Abol James Simon Persons Mary Boulton Catherine Harry Elizabeth James Elizabeth Jones Elinor James Mary Hugh November 4, 1737. Our brother John Jones and his wife Ann Jones who were members of our communion are removed and recommended to our christian friends on Pedee in South Carolina by a letter March 11, 1738. Our sisters Ales Thomas and Jane David and Mary Dovenald are ecommended by letter to our christian friends on Peedee in South Carolina November 3, 1739. Our brothron and sisters whos names are as followeth Abel Morgan, son and Walter Down Elizabeth Jones Lettis Douglas Rachel Alison Rachel Downs was recommended and dismissed by a letter to our sister church on Pee Dee river in South Carolina Nov ye 1st, 1741. f229 A leader among them, James James, Esq., was a man of some wealth, with three sons in the Welsh Neck group. f230 Their meetings in South Carolina were held for a time at the house of John Jones, whose first survey was made Page 29 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. in 1738 on James’s Neck. Mr. Jones brought with him a Welsh concordance of the Bible by Abel Morgan which was probably used in the meetings at his home, showing the congregation’s use of their native language after they came to the Peedee. f231 It was in this period that an Anglican missionary wrote of finding an “ignorant set of Anabaptists” in the Cheraws settlement, who, in 1745, were “so possessed of the spirit of enthusiasm that there are about as many ignorant preachers as there were in Oliver’s Camp.” f232 Several may have preached, but there is evidence of only one ordination during the time, that of Philip James, f233 which was carried out on April 4, 1743, by Messrs. Chanler and Simmons, of Ashley River and Charleston, Mr Chanler preaching the ordination sermon. The first meeting house was built in 1744. f234 Contemporary with part of the pastorate of Rev. Philip James was that of Rev. John Brown, whose ordination occurred May 7, 1750, sometime before the death of Mr. James. Mr. Brown appears to have caused uneasiness in the church in 1747 because of the opinions he disseminated with regard to such matters as the first resurrection, the last judgment, and the degrees of glory in heaven, imaginings which seemed unorthodox to his congregation, and though he was not publicly condemned, this probably had much to do with the shortness of his pastorate. f235 Rev. Joshua Edwards, ordained May, 1752, had the care of the church for about six years. f236 Nothing unusual occurred during his ministry. An interesting case of the administration of discipline by the Baptists of the period came about as a result of differences between the Welsh Neck Church and Rev. Robert Williams, f237 whose ministry was largely contemporary with that of Mr. Edwards August 9th, 1759: The Revd Mr. Williams applied for liberty to absent himself from the Lord’s Table, and Church Meetings, which the Church thought would be irregular to grant, — and being credibly informed that he charges them with such crimes as to prevent his communion, two messengers were sent to desire him to appear the next monthly meeting, that the Church may either be convinced of their faults, or vindicate their innocence, and the order of God’s House. They also sent to recall their Letter of Dismission granted him formerly, upon his declaring his intention to remove. … Octr. 6th, 1759: The Church being informed by two credible witnesses, that the Rev Mr. Williams disowns himself a member, and says that it is not a Church of Christ, and his disorderly actions speaking the same; it was agreed to send him a letter of admonition in the spirit of meekness. … Jany 5th, 1760: The messengers which were sent to Mr. Williams (vide Octr 6th) having informed the Church that he refused to read their letter, and that he cast the greatest contempt upon their message, they still being unwilling to use severity, and desirous to win him by Kindness, concluded to send him another letter of admonition. … Febry 2nd: Mr. Williams refusing to receive the letter sent him by the Church a second time, and professedly disowning the Church’s authority, he was suspended. Both Mr. Williams and his wife were repeatedly admonished during the remainder of 1760, but without effect, for on January 4, 1761, “Mr. Williams and his wife being regardless of the Church’s admonition sent as above the Church ordered them to be ejected and this was done.” f238 However, the church had not waited for Mr. Williams’ settlement of his spiritual differences with them, for early in March, 1759, it was decided As Mr. Williams could not give proper attendance to his office, the Church unanimously presented a call to the Revd. Mr. Nicholas Bedgegood of Charleston to minister to them in the word and ordinances of the Gospel, for the term of one year, which call he accepted. On March 8th of the next year, “The Church Page 30 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. gave Mr Bedgegood a call to the pastoral care of them, which he accepted for the term of time during which divine Providence may render it his duty to remain among them.” A list of members of the Welsh Neck Church taken March 12, 1759, when this temporary call was issued to Mr. Bedgegood included about sixty-six names. f239 During the first year of Mr. Bedgegood’s regular pastorate, on August 2, 1760, these members drew up a covenant which is an excellent example of what the Baptists believe to be their relations to God and to each other. f240 How well they kept to the article of the covenant requiring a jealous watchfulness over each other’s conduct is plain from every page of the church book of this period. June 1, 1760, an inquiry was directed to be made why one of the female members “doth not live with her husband.” John Booth, suspended from the communion of the Church for “quarreling with his neighbour, and using profane language,” on August 2, 1760, made application to be restored to his place, and giving a clear verbal account of his repentance & as nothing could be laid to his charge since his suspension, the Church could not fairly reject him; but as some circumstances gave them occasion to be jealous over him, lest he was deceiving himself, they informed him of it, and left it to his own conscience to judge for himself whether it would be best to take his place, or to remain as he is till he has farther examined his heart. Upon which he concluded to delay for that purpose. It was not until April 4, 1761, that “John Booth, giving the Church farther satisfaction as to his repentance, he is to take his place to-morrow, upon a public acknowledgement of his humiliation for his crimes.” April 5, 1760, “James James was suspended for beating his neighbour.” One of the ladies, suspended in 1761 on “suspicion of her having been guilty of very abusive language,” but restored upon its being found not “so bad as was represented,” was again “privately suspended,” June 4, 1763, “upon an apprehension that she lives in wilful separation from her husband.” Sundry members who had “walked disorderly” gave satisfaction; one accused of plundering promised restitution; Mary Walsh, having entered herself as a scholar in a dancing school, desired to have her name erased from the church book and was excommunicated. Murder, adultery, theft, swearing, and drunkenness constituted grounds for excommunication, according to a decision of 1783, and the church book shows excommunications for adultery, for immorality and apostacy, and for marrying a man whose wife was living. One of the most interesting attempts to control the relations of church members appears in a decision made in 1787 “that agreeably to the world of God it is not right that one member should sue another.” f241 The church records are inadequate for estimating the effect of this rule. Mr. Bedgegood, at his own request, was on March 2, 1765, dismissed to the Charleston Church. Failing to secure the services of Rev. Oliver Hart, the Welsh Neck congregation was without a pastor until January 4, 1766, when Rev. Evan Pugh accepted their call. f242 During his pastorate two members were excommunicated, and the public notice of this action is given as typical of the procedure in such cases. 1766 Octr. 4th: Whereas Philip Howel & William James have for a long time past been suspended from the Communion of this Church, they still persisting in a course of life contrary to the rules of the Gospel, and of this Church, notwithstanding all necessary and Gospel methods have been made use of to reclaim them; therefore the Church have thought it proper and necessary to cut them off from this Body. Pursuant to this conclusion, we now make it known to all that they are no longer members of this Body. May the Page 31 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Lord grant that, this ordinance may be the means to bring them to a sense of their evilways and to a timely repentance-and to stir-up each of us to watch and be sober lest we enter into temptation. f243 In 1766, the Church having been long in a declining state Brother Abel Wilds desired the opinion of the Church as to what they thought the cause of such declension was. Upon consideration, it was the unanimous opinion, that it was curving to the general dislike of Mr, Pugh. This being the opinion of the Church, it was then moved, that it might be considered whether it would be more for the Glory of God for Mr. Pugh to continue our Minister, or to remove to some other place. After some days given to the careful consideration of this question, the Church unanimously decided that it would be “most conducive to the Honor of God and the Welfare of the Church for Mr. Pugh to remove. He accuiesced in their opinion and received a recommendatory letter.” No indication is given as to the cause of this general dislike of Mr. Pugh. Later events give rise to the speculation whether it had anything to do with the Regulator movement. f244 Mr. Nicholas Bedgegood, then preaching on James Island, a branch of the Charleston Church, received a second call to the Welsh Neck Church on March 7, 1767, and returned to that charge on April 12th of the same year. f245 In 1772 there were eighty families in the neighborhood with some forty members baptized and in the communion of the Welsh Neck Church. f246 Mr. Elhanan Winchester, Mr. Bedgegood’s successor, wrote in the church book February 1, 1774 (the year of Mr. Bedgegood’s death): The Revd Mr. Nicholas Bedgegood died near fifteen years after his first call to this place; and almost seven years after his return, from which time he ministered here till his death … yet … he was never very successful, especially in the latter part of his life; none being baptized after his return. f247 The Welsh Neck Church went cautiously about the choice of a new pastor. Mr. Winchester preached for them a short while in 1775, then received appointment for a year on March 8, 1776, before he was permanently accepted. There was talk of his leaving November 10, 1776, but after discussion of calls to other ministers, the church was still in Mr. Winchester’s charge March 15, 1778, and the call to him was renewed July 3, 1779, with the proviso that he might depart at any time if he desired. Converts were numbered by the hundreds during his ministry, in the last year of which he baptized two hundred and forty persons into the membership of the church. f248 The negroes he constituted into a separate church. He was repaid full measure for his criticism of Mr. Bedgegood by his successor, Mr. Edmund Botsford, who entered a note in the church book to the effect that A great many of those baptized by Mr. Winchester have been excommunicated both white and black; but the greater number of blacks. Many of the latter upon examination appeared to be very ignorant of the nature of true religion. As Mr. Winchester later preached universal salvation in Philadelphia, it has been assumed that his carelessness in inquiring into the religious experiences of his converts was due to his having dropped from his creed the principle of election. f249 Having preached several times there, Rev. Edmund Botsford took on himself the care of the Welsh Neck Church in November, 1779, shortly after the departure of Mr. Winchester. The approach of the British armies caused him to leave the State in June, 1780, and he was not recalled to his church until 1782. During his absence Rev. Joshua Lewis and Rev. John Thomas preached to the congregation. f250 The period 1779-1782 was probably the most trying in the history of the Welsh Neck Church. It is claimed that of the two hundred and twenty white members in 1779, only forty-eight were left in 1793; this depletion was due in part to the constitution of a church at Cheraw Hill and Page 32 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. in part to the fact that no new members were added by baptism in the first four years of the period. f251 As Mr. Botsford wished to be relieved of the care of the separate negro church, the negro members who so desired, were examined in April, 1782, and received among the white congregation. f252 During this period the church covenant, which was read at every monthly meeting, was revised by a committee consisting of Abel Edwards, John David, and Evander McIver, as it appeared to the church “to be deficient in some things.” Saturday, July 2, 1785, was set apart as a day of solemn prayer and for signing the covenant. During the year, Mr. Botsford gave eight weeks of his time to the Charleston Church which wrote to thank Welsh Neck for his services. f253 During that year in Charleston, and in 1790 in Welsh Neck, a revival took place under Mr. Botsford’s ministry. The movement was initiated and promoted by Monday evening monthly meetings in prayer to God for a revival. Of one of these, Mr. Botsford says, It was a day of great things … A blessed work is begun … several are converted-a great number under conviction- children crying out what must we do to be saved? Old grey-headed hardened sinners are bowed down … I have lately been from house to house praying, exhorting and preaching ten times a week … I baptized eleven on Lord’s day the twenty-second [Aug., 1790] … Two other churches, the one above and the other below us on the river have also had additions, indeed the work spreads all around. f254 In the course of this revival thirty were baptized into communion with Welsh Neck. Negro additions must have been large, for a committee, consisting of Edmund Botsford, Abel Edwards, John David, Enoch Evans, Sr., Thos. Evans, Enoch Evans, Jr., and Evander McIver, was appointed to hear the experience of the negroes and settle any matters among them. f255 In May, 1793, Rev. John Gano visited the church; in October occurred the death of Deacon Abel Edwards and a severe illness of the pastor. f256 Mr. Botsford having announced his intention of leaving June 4, 1796, the church wrote for supplies. Rev. David Lilly preached several times, as did Rev. Evan Pugh and Rev. David Cooper. The last agreed to attend Welsh Neck monthly, while on April 21, 1798, Rev. David Lilly consented to take charge of the church for a year. The church book contains no records from November 2, 1798, to July 2, 1803. In that time Brother Lilly left, and the church removed its place of worship to Society Hill, f257 under the care of Rev. Frame Woods. The deacons appointed by Welsh Neck Church were, in 1775 Colonel George Hicks and Abel Wilds; in 1777 Abel Edwards; in 1778 William Terrell, Jr.; in 1781 John David, Magnus Cargill, and Thomas Lide; in 1794 Evander McIver; and in 1804 Samuel Evans. The church chose in 1786 a group of trustees consisting of Edmund Botsford, Abel Edwards. Josiah Evans, John David, Enoch Evans, Evander McIver, Thomas Evans, Enoch Evans, Jr., Jesse Evans, and Abel Goodwin. Upon the death of Josiah Evans, Samuel Evans took his place, and in 1796 Macky McNatt, Martin Dewitt, and Joseph Jones replaced deceased trustees. f258 These officers, together with special appointees, carried out business of many sorts. Abel Wilds and Thomas Evans were sent as delegates to the meeting to discuss religious liberty held at High Hills of Santee in April, 1776, and Rev. Mr. Winchester drew up a statement regarding the subject. f259 The church owned a library, how large it is impossible to judge, since the result of the cataloguing done by Rev. Edmund Botsford and Deacon Abel Edwards in 1782 does not appear in the church book. Rev. Joshua Lewis borrowed some of the books, and it was found difficult to secure their return. f260 After the formation of the General Committee of the Charleston Page 33 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Association, Welsh Neck showed commendable zeal in contributions and in membership. f261 On April 21, 1798, the church “Resolved to continue to subscribe for 18 numbers of the Baptist Register.” f262 Members and officers took keen interest in St. David’s Society and Academy. f263 Welsh Neck in 1772 had no settled income, and paid only four hundred pounds currency to the minister. f264 Mr. Winchester was allowed to preach at Cheraw Hill once in three Sundays on condition that the church at the Hill “do their part toward his support.” f265 John David and Evander McIver, appointed in 1786 to settle bequests made about 1780, reported that Thomas James’s legacy of one hundred pounds currency was worth six shillings nine pence sterling, and ten thousand pounds currency left by Josiah James amounted to twenty-eight pounds sterling. A bond given by Thomas Evans for the latter was made a fund not to be used for a year. f266 Subscriptions were raised for such purposes as printing Rev. Henry Holcombe’s association sermon and for “a few useful pamphlets, to bestow gratuitously to those who have it not in their power to purchase.” An entry giving the following prices: “The two front Seats are £ 3. Mr. McIntosh’s at £ 6,” proves that the church secured part of its revenue from pew rent in 1792. f267 The church book mentions legacies left by Abel Edwards, Dr. James p. Wilson, and Josiah Evans; receipt for bond for one hundred pounds sterling given October 4, 1794, shows the amount of Abel Edwards’ legacy but there is no record of the amount of the others. An agreement made in 1795 to lend Rev. Edmund Botsford one hundred pounds sterling for one year and to give him the interest due on the church’s funds was not carried out so far as the loan was concerned, but the gift of interest was apparently made. Deacon Evander McIver later borrowed one hundred pounds sterling. The church agreed to raise what they conveniently could by subscription for Rev. David Cooper’s attendance on the second Saturday and Sunday of the month, f268 and board was arranged for Brother Lilly and his family. After 1800, much charity appears upon the books. f269 Welsh Neck made several changes in its church building and site. Beside the building of 1744 on the east side of the river, mentioned as still standing in 1772, a new one, forty-five by thirty feet, was erected in 1769 on a two-acre lot given by Daniel Devonald. f270 Mrs. Kolb added two acres to the lot in 1782. There was evidently some delay with regard to the title and boundaries of the church lands, for Thomas Evans was requested in 1787 to have the titles of land given by Mr[s?] Kolb proved and recorded, while on April 1, 1789, Abel Edwards, Abel Goodwin, Enoch Evans, and Evander McIver were appointed “to enquire of Capt. Dewitt the boundary of the Land on which the Meeting House stands, and to report to the next meeting.” f271 In September, 1791, the church leased a tract of land from Benjamin Kolb, administrator of the estate of Colonel Abel Kolb, but for what purpose is not stated. f272 A committee consisting of Abel Edwards, John David, Macky McNatt, Enoch Evans, and Evander McIver, appointed July 31, 1790, to estimate the expense of repairing the meeting house and enclosing the graveyard, reported, September 4, 1790, that it was necessary to have new Sills, and the House raised on pillars of brick; and a new Pulpit. To have the stairs of the Gallery removed, and a shed the length of the House, for the use of the negroes and a good board and post fence around the burying ground. All of this was to cost one hundred twenty pounds sterling. f273 The repaired building was evidently used until removal of the church to Society Hill. For this move subscriptions were solicited in 1798, and it was effected shortly after. f274 The lot of two acres at Society Hill is said to have been given by Page 34 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Captain William Dewitt, titles to the property being recorded in 1798 by Evander McIver.f275 The new meeting house was a plain, substantial, square building without a porch in front, but with a large addition on one side the whole length of the building for the use of the negroes. It was divided from the larger part by a low wall about as high as the banks of the pews with an aisle extending from their side entrance to an open door into the main auditorium. The church was nicely furnished inside, with walls ceiled and neat pews. An aisle in the middle and one on each side led back to the pulpit and lower platform with its reading desk on one side. Several of the pews were square with seats on three sides. … The pulpit was a high one with a flight of steps on each side and doors which closed. The seat could. accommodate two ministers, possibly three. … A “sounding board” was over the pulpit. f276 As a fitting conclusion to the history of Welsh Neck, something should be said of the broad and tolerant spirit which characterized many of its decisions on questions of practice and doctrine. In 1746 Mr. Brown and Mr. Williams opposed laying on of hands; the congregation decided “That if any desired it, it should be practiced;” about the same time ruling elders were neglected but never opposed. f277 A majority of the church voted that “ordination consists in the people’s choice of a member to office, and his acceptance of the same, and needeth not the imposition of hands to make it valid.” f278 The church, April 4, 1761, agreed to admit persons who had merely been sprinkled if they could satisfy the members as to their real conversion, but if at any time they showed any tendency to apostatize from the truth, they were to be debarred from communion. On May 2, Alexander McIntosh and Roderick McIver were admitted upon confession of faith and experience of godliness after signing the covenant. It is claimed, however, that the church soon returned to the strict Baptist position on this point. f279 Close communion, for a time not practiced, was resumed July 4, 1761. There is sympathetic consideration for the shy and sensitive souls among them in their decision to allow persons who found it difficult to give their religious experience before the whole congregation to “relate it to the minister and a few others and have them relate it to the Church.” f280 Equally humane was their conclusion in 1765 no longer to practice public suspension. f281 The church records after 1782 show a tendency to leave the crime unstated and to designate sinners as “incorrigible.” The facts support the tradition still extant in the Peedee that the Welsh Neck Church in its earlier days was more Arminian than Calvinistic in its beliefs and practices. The act of incorporation, passed March 17, 1785, names the “Baptist Church at the Welsh-Neck on Peedee River,” with no hint, of course, of how far its influence ranged beyond the Welsh Neck. f282 Its ministers preached or assisted weak congregations up and down the river; its people left it to aid in forming other Baptist groups; its descendants covered the Peedee section with such churches as Catfish, Mars Bluff, Cashaway, Beauty Spot, Lynches Creek, Cheraw Hill, and many others. f283 These were separated from Welsh Neck to form new organizations which in turn developed branches in different directions; other churches of the Peedee were connected with it only by the slender bonds of tradition or of pastoral aid; while still others were sporadic growths with no apparent relation to any of the Welsh Neck group. OTHER CHURCHES OF THE PEEDEE SECTION Page 35 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. An extinct church called Catfish is the oldest branch of Welsh Neck of which any relatively dependable record exists. According to tradition it was located east of the Great Peedee near the mouth of Catfish Creek where the Welsh settlers first stopped in South Carolina. f284 It remained a branch of Welsh Neck until its separate constitution Saturday, October 3, 1752, with thirty- one members. f285 Three years later it entered the Charleston Association. The meeting house, twenty by twenty-eight feet, was built in 1758 on an acre lot given by William Gainey. f286 No minister appears to have served the congregation regularly in the early years. Rev. Joshua Edwards, dismissed from Cashaway to Catfish in 1761, preached for them until 1768. f287 During that period the church is said to have been troubled by the withdrawal of some of its members under the influence of an Arminian preacher, Rev. Thomas Blount, of North Carolina, who constituted them with others into a church at Dog Bluff, but in about three years they returned to Catfish. f288 In 1772 there were forty members in communion, which was administered every third Sunday in the month. Catfish used ruling elders and laying on of hands. It had no estate and paid only a small amount to the pastor. f289 After occasional services from Rev. Mr. Edwards and Rev. Evan Pugh, Catfish had as minister Rev. Jeremiah Rhame, from 1778 to 1788, according to reports of the Charleston Association, though he did not in that time attend any of its sessions and was probably at Catfish sometime before. f290 Mr. Rhame must have repaired the doctrinal breaches made by Mr. Blount and thus have led in the return to good order and discipline on which the circular letter of 1778 congratulates Catfish. f291 Thomas Grice was the last messenger listed as attending the association. That was in 1779 when he reported thirty-two members. After 1789 the church, as extinct, disappeared from the association records. f292 Beauty Spot Church was a direct outgrowth of Catfish, of which it remained a branch until June 15, 1768, when Rev. Joshua Edwards, assisted by Messrs. Gano and Brown, constituted a church consisting of Charles Pate, Nicholas Green, Rice Henderson, and their wives. Charles Pate was afterward ordained and became the first pastor — “they have chosen a man to be their minister whom nature hath formed a stutterer.” In 1772 communion was celebrated quarterly beginning with the third Sunday of March. The church had neither ruling elders nor laying on of hands. f293 It entered the Charleston Association in 1782. f294 Henry Easterling and later William Bennett were pastors. During the years between their pastorates, Beauty Spot had considerable difficulty due to the conduct of Charles Pigg, a preacher dismissed by the church with a commendatory letter before evidence of his alleged enormities had come to its attention. The Charleston Association advised excommunication and published a warning against him. Apparently Beauty Spot again received him, to the scandal of other churches, after which the association reopened the case and acquitted Mr. Pigg of the sins laid to his charge. f295 The first meeting house, built in 1767 and later burned, and a second erected in 1771, were on land given by John Hawthorne about twenty miles from Welsh Neck, or about two and half miles east of Bennettsville on the Adamsville road. f296 The early years showed a steadily mounting membership. More from proximity or occasional interchange of ministers than from any established connection, Dog Bluff, Terrell’s Bay, Gapway, Buck Swamp, and Little Peedee churches are grouped with Catfish. Dog Bluff, composed of seceding members of Catfish and a few proselytes of Rev. Thomas Blount’s, had a meeting house twenty by twenty-five feet built in 1768 on a high bluff of Page 36 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Little Peedee. The congregation chose Rev. Thomas Blount pastor, and paid him about fifty pounds currency. In 1772 it consisted of twenty-five families with nineteen baptized members, who used neither ruling elders nor laying on of hands. f297 Nothing further is heard of it, and its membership was doubtless absorbed into some of the other churches of the region. Terrell’s Bay, probably the successor of Dog Bluff, was not in existence in 1772; Asplund gives 1775 as the date of its organization. About that time or shortly after, its minister, William Palmer, professed Arminian sentiments for which he was excluded. The minister in 1793 was David Owens. William Palmer was later reinstated, as he was serving as pastor in 1806 when the church was possibly reconstituted as a Regular Baptist church in September, just before its admission into the Charleston Association in November. Rev. Henry Easterling also lived in the neighborhood and possibly preached here. Membership fell from fifty to forty between 1790 and 1793. f298 A deed made January 1, 1787, to David Owens for four acres of land fixes the location as about one and a quarter miles from Centenary. f299 Gapway, at first called Gapway Little Peedee River Church, was constituted in 1776 and admitted to the Charleston Association in 1794, under David Owens as pastor. f300 The old meeting house was located on the northwest side of Little Peedee River on the south side of the road leading to Marion and about three miles south of Mullins. f301 The membership was small and generally declining. Asplund records a Buck Swamp Church in Liberty County, with twenty to twenty- five members, constituted in 1789 but belonging to no association and holding no communion with other churches because of its pecularities. It was probably touched with the Arminianism of Rev. Thomas Blount’s followers. As the present Fork (Buck Swamp) Church does not claim descent from so early a body, Asplund’s Buck Swamp Church, without ministers or connections 1790-1794, must have been dissipated and absorbed into the surrounding churches. f302 When Little Peedee Church, which was organized in 1790, with thirty members, applied in 1791 for admission to the Charleston Association, doubts of their orthodoxy led to the appointment of a committee consisting of Rev. Messrs. Edmund Botsford and Benjamin Moseley to visit them and inquire into their state. The report was favorable, and Little Peedee entered the association, represented by Rev. Jeremiah Rhame and Bradley Rhame in 1792. f303 Rev. David Owens served as pastor in 1790. f304 There was no minister from 1797 to 1804. Membership fell to twenty-six in 1793; in fact, so “languishing and weak” were they in 1803 that Rev. Messrs. Frame Woods and Benjamin Moseley were requested to visit and assist them. f305 The precariousness of Little Peedee’s existence is perhaps best indicated by the statement that the church was “supposed to lie 60 or more miles N. E. from Georgetown, east of Great Peedee.” f306 A branch of Welsh Neck at Mars Bluff, some twenty-eight miles below Cashaway, was broken up in 1758 with about thirteen members. Cashaway received Hannah Murphy by letter of dismission from the Mars Bluff Church in 1761, and Rev. Evan Pugh mentions going there June 18, 1766, probably to preach. f307 Formerly a branch of Welsh Neck, meeting “at the Scholl house,” the “church in Cashaway Neck on great Pee Dee River, was constituted by the Revd Mr John Stephen, The Revd Mr John Brown, The Revd Mr Joshua Edwards on the 28 Day of September Ano: Domn: 1756 consisting of Fourteen Members — Males and Females.”f308 The next year the church joined the Charleston Association. Page 37 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Benjamin James, one of the constituents, gave a half-acre lot on which the meeting house, thirty by twenty feet, was built on 1758, on the east side of the river, in the bend forming Cashaway Neck. f309 Its closeness to the river appears from a decision of August 19, 1769, that “ye Point of Woods between ye Meeting House ye River be cut down on fryday next.” f310 Though Rev. John Brown was a member of the congregation, Rev. Joshua Edwards is said to have been the first minister. f311 The year 1759 finds him in that position, and at a church meeting on Sunday, September 12, “Constitutions” or forms of procedure for church business were drawn up and the following officers elected: Thomas Burton clerk, Henry and Peter Kolb trustees to receive titles to the church lot, Joseph Allison singing clerk. Monthly church business days gave ample opportunity to use the parliamentary procedure of the “Constitutions” of 1759, requiring members to keep their places unless permitted to leave, to speak “one by one Standing up,” and to deem the majority of votes the “Church’s voice.” Other articles set a time limit of three months for securing letters of dismission and forbade members to use or charge for the use of boats on Sunday, or to go “to any horse Race, Shooting match, or any publick place of Carnal mirth or divertion whatsoever” without imperative necessity of which the Church should judge. f312 But in spite of their efforts to legislate their members into holiness, even the best stepped aside now and then. Christmas day, 1759, Rev. Joshua Edwards confessed to “being overtaken and intoxicated with Liquor,” for which he was suspended from his ministerial functions and from communion with the church until such time as other ministers could be consulted upon the disposition of his case. Rev. Nicholas Bedgegood transmitted their letter to the “Reverend Brethern Below,” Messrs. Oliver Hart, John Stephens, and Samuel Stillman, who shrank from a final decision, but advised “that the unhappy Mr. Edwards … Remaine Silent” until the matter could be put before the association. Mr. Edwards as a private member showed such bitter resentment that he was suspended and threatened with excommunication, but acknowledged his fault so far as to be again received and dismissed to Catfish. f313 Rev. John Brown was called upon (February, 1760) “to act in a ministerial way” until settlement of the Edwards matter. During his short period of service, a member brought accusations of false doctrine against him which were not substantiated. Anthony Pouncey was ordained deacon July 31, 1760. f314 Rev. Hezekiah Smith, later of Haverhill, Massachusetts, succeeded Mr. Brown for a short period about 1763. f315 Rev. Evan Pugh preached rather regularly at Cashaway, sometimes as often as twice a month, during the years 17641766, and took full charge of the church from February, 1767, until age and illness ended his work, though he preached also in many churches and private homes of the whole region, among them Lide’s, Mount Pleasant, Stony Hill, Muddy Creek, Webb’s old house, Brown’s, Pearson’s, Roblyn’s Neck, Ayer’s in Wraggtown, Hitchcock Creek, Spivey’s, Keith’s, Black Creek (Teal’s meeting house and Pine Log meeting), Darlington Court House, and Welsh Neck. Mr. Pugh held his congregation together during the disrupting days of the Revolution even after a raiding party broke up his service of July 2, 1780, by taking the horses. On September 16, came news of the British at Black Creek, and on the seventeenth Mr. Pugh was “severely plundered;” by October 10, the Whigs of the region were retreating. In 1782 Mr. Pugh preached as often at Lide’s, or Stony Hill, or Mount Pleasant, as at Cashaway; but in 1784 he again had every Sunday at Cashaway. From the beginning of 1785 there were meetings at the school house at Mount Pleasant, to which Mr. Pugh gave more and more of his time. The scattering of his congregation made him divide his Page 38 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. time in 1786 between Mount Pleasant, where a new meeting house was under discussion, Black Creek (or Teal’s Meeting House), and Pearson’s (or Samuel Brown’s) “over the river,” with still an occasional meeting at Cashaway. Thereafter there are few references to Cashaway and many to Mount Pleasant, where on Sunday, June 12, 1791, Mr. Pugh preached for the first time in the new meeting house. f316 He and Major Robert Lide, delegates from Cashaway to the Charleston Association in 1791, requested that the name of their church be changed to Mount Pleasant. f317 In spite of the new name, new building, and new location, the membership steadily declined. A thriving branch near Moses Pearson and Samuel Brown assumed its independence as Muddy Creek in 1789, another at Teal’s meeting house as Black Creek in 1799. f318 Besides continuing his ministrations to all of these, Mr. Pugh also preached at Darlington Court House (1794-1800). His last regular service at Mount Pleasant was on August 11, 1799 f319 With the decline of his powers, the dissolution of the old Cashaway-Mount Pleasant church was complete. The new Mount Pleasant of 1803 was in some senses a revival of the former, but as an arm of Black Creek Church. f320 The Cashaway covenant was read quarterly; that of June 20, 1767, probably drawn up by Rev. Evan Pugh, is an elaborate one of twenty articles of which No. 12 is unusual: “We believe, that singing of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs vocally is an Ordinance of ye Gospel to be performed by Believers and that every one ought to be left to their Liberty in Using it.” f321 Mr. Pugh mentions attending singing school in 1765, and he made by hand a copy of “The Cashaway Psalmody,” a collection arranged in 1770 by Durham Hitts, teacher of Psalmody, among which was a tune called “Cashaway” composed by Mr. Hitts for the church f322 Cashaway tolerated neither ruling elders nor laying on of hands. f323 A decision of December 22, 1764, called for quarterly communion beginning with the fourth Sunday in February, 1765, with preparation on the preceding Saturday. After 1772 quarterly communion began on the fourth Sunday of January. September, 1770, it was “Concluded by ye Church to have a Communion Table made, and to be paid for out of ye Collections made at Communion,” and in May, 1771, Mr. Pugh was to “speak to a silver smith about a Cup.” f324 Mr. Pugh’s salary was three hundred fifty pounds South Carolina currency; f325 fifty pounds was to come to the church in 1772 upon the sale of Henry Kolb’s land. f326 The surviving records of the early years of Cashaway are scattered and incomplete, but they show commendable efforts to conduct church business “in the Best maner” to use their own words. If a member fell publicly, he was to be censured publicly, but some suspensions were to be private or in the church only; suspended members could not be present during church business, except upon special application; those who should have been present were to be cited for non-attendance. Of thirty-three cases requiring discipline 17591771, sixteen, or practically half, were for excessive drinking. Next to drinking the most frequent offenses were neglecting attendance on church business days and paying no attention to the admonitions of the church. Punishments other than suspension ranged from citing to church meeting or sending “a Messenger of Love & Care” to offenders, to final excommunication, from which the only return to membership was by narrowly observed and publicly declared repentance. The most weighty arraignment condemned a member for the sin of breaking ye Sabbath, keeping bad Company, breaking a solem Resolution & Declaration, entered into & made by him, agt. Drinking Spirituous Liquers — excepting ye Ch. h. advised him to drink — upon his making known these Things Page 39 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. to ye. Ch. h. — all ye Members, strongly advised Him to keep his Vow sacret, & not meddel with liquor — But he broak thro all — neglected his Place in ye House of God — & when he was sent to he refused to come to ye. Church, — after having waited with him for several Months, & ende[avored] to reclaim him, but to no purpose — he still continuing in a bad Way of living — Therefore He is this Day Excluded from being a Member of this Church untill he returns by Repentance. f327 The far-reaching influence of Cashaway congregation and the indefatigable Mr. Pugh first gathered a new group professing Baptist principles in the neighborhood of Rev. John Brown’s, Samuel Brown’s, and Moses Pearson’s land east of the Great Peedee around Muddy Creek, the members adopting the name Muddy Creek Church at their constitution. Rev. Evan Pugh was preaching at Brown’s in 1769, but there are few references until 1786 when he began preaching two Sundays in each month at “Pearson’s over the river,” and again May 20, 1787, he was at Samuel Brown’s “over the river,” and in the latter part of 1787 and in 1788 he gave one Sunday a month to that congregation. f328 Rev. John Brown conveyed one acre of land to Joseph Allison and Moses Pearson in 1788 for ten pounds “Starling” in trust for the “Baptist Church of Christ near Brown’s Mill on Cleveland Hill.” f329 The meeting house was soon built, or had already been provided, for Mr. Pugh records: Saturday [Aug.] 15th [1789] went over the river with Mr. Botsford. We constituted ye church by the name of Muddy Creek Church. Sunday 16th went to the Meeting House Mr. Botsford preached … then had communion. f330 The Cashaway church list of 1767 has an addition showing the later dismissal of Joseph and Sarah Allison, John Brown, and Sarah Ann McTyre to Muddy Creek. f331 Peter Bainbridge, a recently licensed minister from the Charleston Church, was an itinerant at Muddy Creek in 1790 and sometime afterwards, but soon left for New York. f332 Mr. Pugh again preached there on July 31, 1791, and several times in 1796. f333 When Muddy Creek Church entered the Charleston Association in 1805, it still had no minister of its own. f334 On the west side of the river, Cashaway was reaching out in the direction of Black Creek through Mr. Pugh, who preached as early as June, 1769, at Keith’s, and began to hold rather regular meetings over Black Creek at Teal’s after March, 1872. One of the homes in which he lodged there in 1783 was Ben Davis’s. There was a meeting house in 1784, where Christopher Teal and Cornelius Keith were baptized. Mr. Pugh gave one Wednesday a month during most of 1786-1788 to Teal’s or Black Creek, these names apparently designating the same place or same congregation. There Ordery Keith, wife of Cornelius Keith, was baptized August 4, 1788, and Mr. Pugh preached her funeral sermon March 22, 1789. f335 At about the same time Cashaway listed twelve of its members who had “Joind over Black Creek,” f336 and on April 4, 1789, were begun the “Minutes of Church acts in the Branch of Cashway Church residing on Black Creek.” This church insisted as strongly as its progenitor on members attending on church business days. In preparation for celebration of the Lord’s Supper, one was appointed to get wine, each member to pay him. Sept. 5th 1789. The Church met & Concluded to build a meeting house in this place for the worship of God 20 feet Square with hewed Logs & Shingled roof, a Shelter on each side 8 feet wide. Mr. Christopher Teel, & Mr Moses Justice to undertake the work, the other members to assist them, and that a Subscription be Drawn to see what help may be had either in work or produce. Mr. Teal gave an acre of land on Black Creek upon which to build the meeting house. Black Creek requested as many Mount Pleasant members as could to be present at the October business Page 40 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. meeting to consider an important matter, probably a case of discipline. At that meeting Charles Jenkins was appointed to buy communion wine for the first Sunday in December, after which celebration of the Lord’s Supper was to be quarterly. This early church book closes after January, 1790, with a confession of faith and covenant. f337 From May, 1789, to May, 1797, Mr. Pugh generally preached the first Sunday in the month at Black Creek. f338 Rev. James Coleman, licensed preacher and messenger of the Cashaway-Mount Pleasant Church to the Charleston Association in 1795, was meantime working at Black Creek branch which was constituted a separate body on August 11, 1798, with eighteen members, by Rev. Messrs. David Cooper and Samuel Bonds. f339 Black Creek immediately asked Mount Pleasant to give James Coleman a letter of dismissal, and on November 30, 1798, a presbytery consisting of Rev. Messrs. Samuel Bonds and David Cooper ordained him as pastor of the new church. Mr. Coleman, together with Charles Williams, secretary of the church, appeared at the Charleston Association meeting of 1799 and secured admission. Black Creek Church showed strong effects of revival. In February, 1802, the congregation agreed to permit their pastor to spend part of his time at other places, “but that he should Attend his Church the first Sabbath in Every Month and the day before which is their Day of Busyness.” Meetings were opened and closed with singing and prayer, two discourses were often delivered on church business days and on the Sabbath, a door was opened for experience and baptism followed on that day or the next, after which the members returned to the church singing, and closed the service with the Lord’s Supper. Rev. Messrs. Frame Woods and Benjamin Moseley were often with them. Rev. Frame Woods preached “very affectionate” sermons or “very alarming” exhortations and “wonderful” discourses. After setting apart the Saturday before the first Sabbath in June “for fasting and prayer for the Ordination of two Deacons,” the church had Charles Williams and George King inducted into that office by Rev. Messrs. Woods, Coleman, and Moseley on June 4, 1803. Brethren Brown, King, Williams, and Kirven were permitted to “make appointments for prayr and Exortation within the Bounds of the Church,” the bounds including a branch on Swift Creek and the Mount Pleasant congregation, with some connection with Boggy Swamp or Lower Fork of Lynches Creek. Brother Thomas Kirven on August 4, 1804. “inquired for the minds of the Church concerning the Duty of washing feet.” The matter was laid over and probably taken up at a general conference of all the branches meeting at Black Creek in October, but the result is not given. In matters of discipline, drunkenness was the greatest offense, followed closely by dissension among the members. One member’s repentance is unusual: After the church cited him for a crime not stated, a committee sent to him reported him in a “penitential condition a piece of poetry was handed in and Read setting forth his Distress and Deliverence,” and he was restored to fellowship. A query as to whether women should speak even for their own defense in the church was answered in the affirmative but with the proviso “so as not to use authority over the man.” f340 A large part of Black Creek’s growth was due to the constitution of the new Mount Pleasant branch in the neighborhood of the old Cashaway-Mount Pleasant congregation. Though its membership was largely new, its intimate connection with the old body is plain from its use of the same church book. The entry describing the constitution is as follows: At a meeting at Mount Pleasant on Saturday before 2nd. Lords day in August 1803 of several of the members of Black Creek Church — The meeting was opened by singing and Prayer, the Page 41 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Brethren whose names are hereto subscribed, do agree to become a constituted arm or branch of the Black Creek Church. In 1804 Black Creek considered affirmatively the question whether the old Mount Pleasant members were legally members of the new organization. f341 Mount Pleasant continued to open its meetings with singing and prayer; after baptisms at the creek they often returned to the church singing. A door for experience was generally opened, and also the inquiry made as to “whether the Church were in Union.” A striking difference between these and the old Cashaway records is this reticence about misconduct. Persons are complained of and cited, but there is no definite statement of crime. Rev. James Coleman was one of their members, but was of course the pastor of the whole Black Creek connection; only two officers are mentioned: Mr. Brockinton’s Adam appointed deacon in April, and Mr. Thomas Conn chosen deacon in June, 1804. Business opened with four or five male members present, and male members were allowed “the privilege of Praying publicly if they feel disposed.” Collections taken at the quarterly communion services amounted to from five dollars to eight dollars. f342 The First Church on Lynches Creek is claimed to have been begun by former Welsh Neck Church members, who had lived for a time on Black Creek and had moved in about 1754 nearer Lynches Creek. Rev. Joshua Edwards helped them to organize their new church September 1, 1755, and it entered the Charleston Association that year. Rev. Henry Ledbetter was chosen minister, Rev. James Smart assistant minister, and Edward Boykin and his son Henry deacons. The original meeting house, built in 1757 and later burned, was probably on the east side of Lynches Creek but the membership tended to concentrate in the Flat Creek region where Mr. Ledbetter’s land was located. An influx of members, chiefly from Fishing Creek, North Carolina, soon raised their numbers to thirty, but Mr. Ledbetter, formerly a General Baptist and a recent convert to Calvinistic principles, attempted to “purge” the church, which, together with danger from Indians, caused the membership to dwindle. Many removed to Coosawhatchie and Euhaw. f343 Mr. Ledbetter himself returned to North Carolina about 1761. f344 A new meeting house had meantime been built in the Flat Creek fork, besides three branches, one in 1772 ten miles above called Buffalo meeting, another in 1771 on land given by Jacob Weisner ten miles below which later became Flat Creek or Upper Fork of Lynches Creek, and a third on land given by Thomas Rouse in 1770 twenty-five miles below the second near Little Lynches Creek, later Lower Fork of Lynches Creek. f345 The church was without a pastor until 1772, when Rev. Jeptha Vining took charge, with Rev. Nathaniel Walker. f346 Though one hundred and fifty families were in the connection, and probably twice that number attended the four meeting houses, because of their lack of ministers there were then only twenty-four baptized members. They celebrated communion on the first Sunday in April and October, used laying on of hands, and had ruling elders. The congregation owned only a few books given them by Rev. Francis Pelot, but they might easily have paid a salary of two hundred pounds currency. f347 First Church on Lynches Creek was still reported as under Rev. Jeptha Vining in 1775, and though it was not represented at the Charleston Association that year, an old record of twenty-four members was copied for the minutes. The association reported it extinct in 1777. f348 The same report mentions as existing in 1777 a Second Church on Lynches Creek on the east side about fifty miles from Georgetown. This and the churches of Upper and Lower Forks of Lynches Creek and Jeffreys Creek are said to have originated from High Hills of Santee, and influences from North Carolina and the back country seem strong, in view of the many branch meeting houses of Lynches Creek Page 42 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Church. Mr. Pugh journeyed to Lynches Creek in 1777, where, on July 14th, he ordained Mr. John Cowan at Cowan’s meeting. f349 This was apparently Second Church on Lynches Creek, which joined the Charleston Association in 1778. The 1779 report gives Mr. Cowan as pastor, but how long he continued is not clear. The church neglected the association, perhaps due to weakness and decreasing membership. In 1790, the association “particularly recommend to the attention of those adjacent, the church on Lynches Creek, which is greatly reduced, and has requested assistance.” In 1803 it was reported extinct and investigation revealed at least dormancy. f350 The meeting about ten miles below the main meeting house in the fork of Lynches Creek, called variously Fork of Lynches Creek, Upper Fork of Lynches Creek, Upper Church on Lynches Creek, and Flat Creek Church, apparently absorbed its progenitor, for Rev. Jeptha Vining was soon found preaching at this branch, which erected its first building in 1771, and there are indications that it was the principal meeting place of the Lynches Creek congregation by 1772. However, the best evidence gives April 10, 1784, as the date of its separate constitution. It entered the Charleston Association in 1787 under the ministerial care of Rev. Charles Cook. f351 A group of members (probably Lanes Creek branch) opposed him in 1789, and the church appealed to the Charleston Association for assistance. After investigation (Mr. Cook being present at the meeting), the association decided that the body of members who have stood opposed to their pastor have acted disorderly; yet as it appears highly probable a great part of those members are Pious persons and mislead, and as it is not unlikely there may have been some cause of offence on each side, we recommend union, by such mutual concessions as the gospel and the reason of things direct. To further this result, a committee was appointed to write to both parties, and ministers were sent to try to effect an arrangement. f352 Mr. Charles Cook does not again appear as Flat Creek pastor, nor was there a regular minister until Rev. William Denman took the office in 1793. A licensed preacher, Rev. John Cato, may have served the church in the meantime. f353 In 1793-1794 two other licentiates or candidates, Charles Pigg and Thomas Miers, the latter an old man and inactive, were members of the congregation. f354 In spite of the separation of the branch at Lanes Creek, Flat Creek made rapid gains. The old difficulty involving Charles Cook, who had gone to Anson County (N. C.) Church, came up again to vex the association, the Anson congregation and their pastor thinking “his character injured, and his usefulness impeded” by Flat Creek and Lanes Creek members. Again the association recommended “mutual concession and tenderness,” but the difficulty continued through 1802. Letters from Flat Creek and Anson County Churches brought about the reopening in 1801 of the case of Mr. Charles Pigg, who was then a member of Flat Creek. f355 Under Rev. John Cato as minister the church continued its vigorous growth. The location of the branch of Flat Creek Church known as Lanes Creek involves confusing possibilities. The name was evidently taken from Lanes Creek in North Carolina, which comes close to the boundary between the two Carolinas where an early Baptist church was located just within the South Carolina line. f356 Lanes Creek’s connection with Anson County Church seems to have been contentiously intimate. Constituted about 1793 when the difficulty respecting Rev. Charles Cook was at its worst, its entrance into the Charleston Page 43 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Association was delayed from 1797 to 1798 to try to clear up the quarrel with Anson County Church over the same matter, though the original cause of the difficulty seems to have been Lanes Creek’s support of James Morgan. The association concurred with its investigating committee in 1803 in unqualified condemnation of Morgan’s “atrocious conduct.” Rev. John Cato is the only pastor of Lanes Creek mentioned through 1804. The church was never large. f357 Lower Fork of Lynches Creek was probably the branch meeting house built by First Lynches Creek Church in 1770 on Thomas Rouse’s land near Little Lynches Creek. It is said to have been located in Chesterfield District about sixteen or seventeen miles below Upper Fork of Lynches Creek. f358 Messrs. Evan Pugh and Edmund Botsford helped to constitute the church in 1789 and it united with the Charleston Association in the same year under the care of Rev. Joshua Palmer. f359 In 1794 the church asked the concurrence of the association in the ordination of John Cato, their supply, but the result is not recorded. By 1796 the church had a meeting place called Boggy Swamp where it gathered most of the time, with occasional meetings in 1797 at Witherington’s Mill and at Lower Fork of Lynches Creek. Cornelius Keith was church clerk and David Kelly deacon. On Friday, July 14, 1797, the church “appointed Brethern Belk and Kelly, to conclude upon a plan for the building the Meeting House on Gum Branch, whether a Man Shall be hired to build it, or the members build it them Selves. Brought in their report to hire a man.” There is no note of a meeting at Gum Branch until July 13, 1798, but the records are incomplete for the intervening year. At that time, bitter dissension had arisen in the church because Brother Samuel Bonds had brought an accusation of forging an order against the son of one of the members and had had a warrant made out against him after the charge was apparently disproved. This many members thought unchristian of their pastor. Brother William Witherington refused to commune, said he did not consider himself one of the church, and also declared that if the land had been his over which Rev. Mr. Bonds had opened a path to the meeting house he would “check him with the law.” Fellowship was withdrawn from Mr. Witherington and a presbytery consisting of James Coleman, John Sanders, Pigg and Waddill justified Mr. Bond’s conduct, but the church was dangerously near extinction due to this and a later breach. Mr. Bonds soon left. f360 In November, 1802, James Coleman, George King, and Charles Williams were appointed by Black Creek “a Committy to boggy swamp to consider things to the glory of God and the good of the Brethern.” f361 The Charleston Association appointed a committee in 1804 “to assist them in regulating the affairs of the church.” f362 The church is said to have been kept alive during these years only by the devotion of David Kelly and his wife. The usual cases of discipline came up in the entries in the church book. f363 To return from these frontier parts of the Peedee to its Baptist center, Welsh Neck Church on January 5, 1782, answered the application of “those members residing at and near the Cheraw Hill to be constituted into a distinct Church,” by appointing Rev. Edmund Botsford and Abel Edwards to meet Rev. Joshua Lewis and his congregation for a conference. The result was the constitution of the Cheraw Hill Church on January 12, 1782, Messrs. Botsford, Edwards, Mulkey, and Lewis assisting. In the course of the next few months, Welsh Neck dismissed thirteen members to the new church. f364 Cheraw Hill entered the Charleston Association in 1782 with Rev. Joshua Lewis as pastor. Page 44 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f365 The congregation must have begun meeting in old St. David’s Episcopal Church building soon after their constitution; in fact, Rev. Evan Pugh mentions preaching in the parish church as early as December, 1772. f366 In 1785 Colonel Thomas Lide gave a lot for a meeting house at the Hill between St. David’s Church and the river, and Philip Pledger gave two acres of land “In Marlborough County on the northeast Side of Peedee River on Naked Creek at the end of said Philip Pledger’s Saw Mill,” to the “regular Baptist Church at the Cheraws” for the purpose of building a meeting house. Pledger’s Saw Mill Church remained a part of Cheraw Hill Church for many years, and was the place of meeting on the east of the river. f367 The church was incorporated March 17, 1785, as “the Baptist Church on the Cheraw-Hill, in the Parish of St. David’s.” f368 Rev. Joshua Lewis remained their pastor into the new century; in 1793 Brian Connor was a licentiate and Wilson Connor a candidate for the ministry among them. f369 The church made steady gains. Among these gains was the formation of a branch meeting on Three Creek, which was constituted as Three Creek Church on October 12, 1793, and admitted to the Charleston Association in 1800, “Very satisfactory accounts of their faith and good order being obtained.” f370 The pastor at that time, Rev. Robert Thomas, was with them many years. f371 Of the churches of the Peedee whose connection with Welsh Neck was indirect or not apparent, Ebenezer, Jeffreys Creek, was most interesting and vigorous. It appears to have had its beginning in what Rev. Evan Pugh called “Spivey’s meeting,” at which he preached on the third Sunday in the month from July, 1774, to January, 1775. Mr. Spivey came for him on January 11, 1778, and on Tuesday, January 13, he preached at Spivey’s meeting and assisted in constituting a church. Rev. Richard Furman was his assistant on the occasion; in fact, it is claimed that the new church had been a branch of High Hills of Santee Church. f372 Admitted to the Charleston Association in 1778 under the name “Jeffers” Creek Church, it was so called until 1789, when the name on the association minutes became Ebenezer, “Jeffer’s” Creek, and so remained. f373 In 1791 the meeting was incorporated as “The Baptist Church, Ebenezer, Jeffries’s Creek,” in response to the petition of Benjamin Moseley, Archibald McBride, Robert Ellison, Joseph Chandler, and others. f374 Ebenezer asked in 1803 for the ordination of Matthew McCullers, and a committee was appointed by the association to fulfill the request. At the same time the church recommended Ezra Courtney for assistance in securing ministerial education. f375 Of the pastors, Rev. Timothy Dargan came to Ebenezer probably in 1778, though not early enough to be reported to the association as minister; he served until his death in 1783. f376 Soon after Rev. Benjamin Moseley took the office, which he resigned for a time to go to Georgia but returned to in 1802, Rev. David Cooper being pastor during part of the interval. f377 The meeting place, about twenty-five miles south of Welsh Neck, was “spacious, and congregation numerous.” f378 The land on which this meeting house stood was a one acre plat given by Benjamin Moseley to the church by his deed of October 17, 1807, though the house had been built sometime before, the tract having formerly belonged to David Cooper and adjoining land of Timothy Dargan on the waters of Jeffreys Creek. f379 Deep Creek Church, which occasionally exchanged members with Welsh Neck, was located near Chesterfield Court House on the road from Camden to Cheraw. f380 Page 45 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. The church was constituted about 1779 and admitted to the Charleston Association in 1791. Messrs. Jeremiah Lewis and Frame Woods served alternately as ministers. The numbers increased considerably at the beginning of the new century. f381 As Rev. Frame Woods was living in Anson County, North Carolina, in 1807, the membership of the church may have later centered there. A church on Hicks Creek in Marlborough is said to have been constituted in 1780, but to have been non-associated in 17901794, because of its peculiarities. The minister at that time was Rev. James Smith. f382 Rev. Evan Pugh mentions a meeting house in Britton’s Neck in 1762, but there is no record of a constituted church existing there before 1800. f383 Page 46 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. CHAPTER 3. CHARLESTON ASSOCIATION OF BAPTIST CHURCHES In 1751, four of the Baptist churches so far described took an unusual step for the times and the denomination by beginning the second Baptist association in America. The movement resulted from the efforts of Rev. Oliver Hart, of the Charleston Church, whose arrival on the day of the burial of Mr. Chanler “was believed to have been directed by a special providence in their favour,” and in view of his activity and zeal in promoting church cooperation, there seems justification for the opinion. Having seen the effects of union through the work of the Philadelphia Association, Mr. Hart had delegates from Ashley River and Welsh Neck meet with delegates from Charleston on October 21, 1751, to plan a similar organization. “Delegates from Euhaw were prevented from attending” the first year, but they met with the others in 1752 and ratified the proceedings of the first conference, which agreed to hold meetings of ministers and messengers of the constituent churches on the Saturday before the second Sunday in November, to employ the first two days in public worship, and, after a sermon at ten o’clock on the Monday following, to proceed to business. It was understood clearly that the “Baptist Association arrogates no higher title than that of advisory council,” and that the independence of the churches was unimpaired by their entrance, the purposes being the promotion of understanding and fellowship among the members and consultation to promote harmony and peaceful progress. The ministers who forwarded the union and signed the articles were Francis Pelot, John Stephens, John Brown, Joshua Edwards, and Oliver Hart; the laymen James Fowler, William Screven, Richard Bedon, Charles Barker. Benjamin Parmenter, Thomas Harrison, Philip Douglass and John Mikell. f384 The Charleston Association in 1767 adopted the confession of faith published by the London Assembly of 1689, later republished with additions, chiefly singing Psalms and laying hands on baptized believers, by the Philadelphia Association and called the Philadelphia Confession because of its adoption by that body. A system of discipline for the churches drawn up by Rev. Messrs. Oliver Hart and Francis Pelot in 1773, and revised by Rev. Morgan Edwards and Mr. David Williams, was printed, together with the Confession of Faith, in 1773, and reprinted in 1793 and 1804. f385 The association in general met annually, and so uniformly at Charleston in the early years as to take that name. f386 To accommodate certain North Carolina churches, its ministers held a conference at Peedee (Welsh Neck) in the spring for a few years after 1758, decisions being subject to revision by the general meeting at Charleston. f387 Again in 1794, for the benefit of churches in the Savannah River region which proposed to withdraw, it was decided to have two regular sessions each year. A May session in 1795 at Euhaw showing the impracticability of this plan, the association agreed to hold the annual meetings alternately at northern and southern churches. f388 The body convened in October in 1778, 1782-1788, 1790, 1795; in November in 1752, 1767, 1779, 1791-1794, 1796, 1797-1804; in December in 1789; in February in 1769-1776. The place of meeting was Charleston 1752-Feb. 1778, 1779, 1786, 1788; High Hills of Santee 1778 (Oct.), 1783, 1785, 1787, 1790, 1793, 1797, 1802; Welsh Neck 1782, 1791; Black Swamp 1789, 1796; Ebenezer (Jeffreys Creek) 1795, 1803; Coosawhatchie 1792; Upper Fork Lynches Creek 1794; Bethesda (Savannah River) 1798; Congaree 1799; Deep Creek 1800; Amelia Township 1801; Euhaw 1804. f389 The following table gives the officers 1752-1804: Page 47 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. In its relations with member churches, the association at first dealt individually with the queries received from them. It recommended occasional use of the Lord’s Prayer in public worship, suspension previous to excommunication, extreme care in the selection of ministers, and avoidance of either extravagance or neglect in dress; it also advised deacons not to take part with ministers in laying on of hands for ordination. After the printing of the Confession of Faith and Discipline, many questions were answered merely by reference to them. The question of membership of Baptists in Masonic lodges troubled all the churches after 1791, when the order was incorporated in South Carolina; the Charles, ton Association answered in 1798 with care and circumspection that the lodges openly professed good objects and had Christian members, but that the vow of secrecy would deter “serious Christians” from forming the connection; however, persons should be left to their private judgment in the matter. Two other generally troublesome questions received negative answers: Is it consistent with Gospel order (1) for a minister to have the pastoral care of two distinct churches at the same time? and (2) for Baptist churches to commune with Pedobaptists who appear to be truly pious? f390 Year after year the association appointed supplies for vacant churches and committees to aid in settling difficulties within or friction between churches. The worst cases of this nature concerned immoral or disorderly ministers, that of Rev. Charles Pigg taking years (1795-1802) to adjust, and Rev. Gabriel Gerald’s denial of the Christian Sabbath (1799) never reaching settlement. Circular letters written yearly by able ministers encouraged and admonished the churches and frequently dealt with matters of immediate concern, as the 1777 letter which congratulated the churches on the prospect of religious liberty and advised them to comply with the terms of the Assembly with regard to incorporation, and the 1797 letter on the church’s duty to educate its ministers. f391 The standing committee, first appointed in 1779 to transact emergency business between sessions of association, had among its objects “to treat with government on behalf of the churches; … to detect imposters, and recommend travelling Ministers of good character.” f392 From 1773 regular statistics of churches and members were kept as part of the minutes. f393 In 1775 the association asked the churches to contribute “to the relief of their brethren in Massachusetts, suffering from restrictions on their religious liberties.” f394 In 1777 four days of humiliation and prayer were set apart on account of the situation of the country and the churches. November 7, 1782, was observed as “a day of thanksgiving for the interpositions of providence in favor of America.” f395 The circular letter of 1789 mourns: “it is with painful sensations we behold profaneness and infidelity spreading their baneful influence among most classes of people.” In 1792 a day of humiliation, fasting, and prayer was appointed for “our churches in their barren and lifeless state,” and in 1793 the third Wednesday in December was set apart for solemn prayer for reformation of the people and mercy on the churches, as well as for the peace and prosperity of the United States and its government. In 1794 and for several years thereafter, a general concert of prayer by all denominations for a revival of religion, to be held on the first Tuesday in January, April, July, and October, was seriously recommended by the association. In 1799 a new day was set to unite with the Georgia Association in such prayer. f396 The Charleston Association had some Page 48 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. little exchange of views with the Separates of North Carolina and Congaree Association in 1762, 1773, and 1775, but no regular intercourse with any organization was undertaken until the appearance of Rev. Morgan Edwards, of the Philadelphia Association, in 1772 when correspondence with that body began. Rev. John Gano came as messenger from the Philadelphia Association to Charleston in 1774, and he, with Rev. Messrs. Oliver Hart and Francis Pelot, solicited funds from the Baptist associations of America for Rhode Island College. f397 Correspondence was opened with the Warren and Ketockton Associations in 1775; with the Georgia Association in 1785, which sent as representatives Rev. Silas Mercer and Peter Smith; with the Kent and Sussex Associations in England in 1786 through Rev. Joseph Cook, and with Bethel Association in 1789 when Rev. James Fowler appeared as messenger. The correspondents in 1803 were the Philadelphia, Warren, Bethel, Georgia, Hepzibah, Savannah, Neuse, and Sandy Creek Associations. Usually special appointments were made for this correspondence but in 1779 a standing committee was established consisting of Rev. Messrs. Oliver Hart, Evan Pugh, Edmund Botsford, Richard Furman, and John Cowan, including among its duties correspondence with other associations. The committee was revived in 1785 with Messrs. Pugh, Botsford, and Furman as members, and in 1786, Rev. Messrs. Joseph Cook, Joshua Lewis, and Henry Holcombe were added. A committee of correspondence appointed in 1803, consisting of Rev. Messrs. Richard Furman, Edmund Botsford, and John M. Roberts, had the more particular object of aiding the Philadelphia Association to publish general religious information. The reply of the Charleston Association to the 1794 proposal of Bethel Association for the formation of a general committee of Baptist associations of the Southern States was very similar to its reply to the 1800 proposal of the Philadelphia Association for a general conference of Baptist associations throughout the United States, when it was voted: If a well digested plan should be devised for such a coalition, in which the proper objects were clearly pointed out with suitable measures to attain them, and the danger of perversion and abuse well guarded against, and if a general concurrence in the undertaking should be obtained of the churches in the United States, this Association are disposed to give it their support. f398 The Charleston Association carried on work in missions and ministerial education practically from its beginning. In 1755 the churches were asked to contribute to the support of a missionary in the back country of South Carolina and neighboring provinces. Rev. Oliver Hart went to Pennsylvania and New Jersey to find a man for this service, and secured Rev. John Gano, who worked chiefly in North Carolina along the Yadkin to such good effect as to begin the union of Separates and Regulars and to cause several of the North Carolina churches to join the Charleston Association. f399 Little else is said about missions until 1794, when the association urged uniting in the General Concert of Prayer, one of whose objects was the “propagation and success of the Gospel among the Heathen; and the conversion of the Jews to Christianity.” Their petitions of 1801 and 1802, asking the legislature to amend the law forbidding religious meetings of negroes, had some effect. In 1802 the association provided for a missionary “to travel and preach in destitute places,” but no one could be found to undertake the work. Rev. John Rooker in that year agreed to preach to the Catawba Indians and to investigate the possibility of founding a school among them; he began the work in 1803, and his report that year led the association to authorize the opening of a school under his superintendence. It was “concluded that Mr. Booker was entitled to a yearly sallery of 140 Page 49 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. sterling, for his missionary services.” The resolution to send a missionary to destitute churches was renewed. Several of the churches were not enthusiastic in their support of missions. The General Committee administered the fund, the first collections (in 1803) amounting to two hundred ninety-three dollars thirty-three cents, more than half of which went for Mr. Rooker’s salary. f400 Consideration of provision for ministerial education began in 1756, when the delegates to the association engaged for their churches to raise one hundred thirty-three pounds currency for the purpose. The fund thus begun in 1757 had Rev. Messrs. John Stephens, Oliver Hart, and Francis Pelot as trustees. Evan Pugh, the first candidate for assistance, finished his training in 1762. Contributions were small and the work was gradually taken over by the Religious Society. A few serious, and well disposed persons, in April 1755, formed themselves into a Society with a sincere view to promote the interest of vital Religion in their own souls, and, as far as their influence might extend. amongst their fellow creatures in general. f401 This is probably the successor of the “Society” to which Rev. Oliver Hart so frequently refers in 1754 and to which he expounded the doctrines of his church. It drew up its “Constitutional Rules” and secured incorporation in 1768 purposing to collect a library and to discuss theology weekly, but chiefly to further ministerial education. “To it is reckoned the honor of being the first religious partnership among Baptists in America in the interest of ministerial education.” It aided from its beginning Samuel Stillman, Edmund Botsford, Edmund Mathews, and probably Hezekiah Smith. This phase of its work gradually passed to the general committee of the association after 1779. f402 With the coming of Rev. Richard Furman to the Charleston Church and to a recognized position of leadership in the association, the maintenance of a fund for education of ministers received renewed impetus. His first efforts looked toward the incorporation of the association, but this failed. He and others brought the matter up in general session in 1789 and 1790, and the general committee received a definite status as the General Committee for the Charleston Baptist Association Fund, which held its first meeting at Welsh Neck during the annual session of the association in 1791. Under Rev. Richard Furman as chairman and Rev. Henry Holcombe as clerk, the committee considered a system of rules and a proposal for incorporation, received candidates for aid, and chose Mr. William Cuttino treasurer. Incorporation was secured under rules of November 7, 1792, (1) adopting the above name; (2) calling for an annual charity sermon to be preached in each church and the collections then taken, together with any other donations, to be applied to the education of pious young men for the ministry and for other religious and public uses if the churches approved; (3) limiting the committee membership to one delegate chosen by each of the member churches of the Charleston Association to meet at the same time as the association and to be renewed annually; (4) requiring the annual election of a president, secretary, and two assistants to transact business between sessions of the General Committee, the president to arrange for the education of candidates, and an annually elected treasurer to pay the bills on his order; (5) fixing the conditions under which candidates might receive aid; and (6) proposing to take over the property of extinct churches for the benefit of the fund. After an assurance to the churches of non- interference in their concerns, the rules closed with the signatures of Richard Furman, Henry Holcombe, Edmund Botsford, Alexander Scott, Bradley Rhame, Benjamin Moseley, Stephen Nixon, Isham Gardiner, and James Sweat. A special committee in 1793 received authority to carry on the work of examining Page 50 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. the candidates and in 1794 to act between General Committee meetings. A rule of 1802 required setting a limit to the period of giving aid at its beginning. The officers of the General Committee from its inception to 1804 included Richard Furman, president; Thomas Screven, treasurer; Henry Holcombe, John Waldo, John M. Roberts, secretaries; and Thomas Rivers, John Gourlay, John Hart, Henry and William Inglesby, assistants. Matthew McCullers “went on the fund” in 1791, Joseph B. Cook in 1792, and John M. Roberts in 1793; both Cook and Roberts finished at Rhode Island College. The committee assisted Jesse Mercer with money and books in 17923, and in 1800 placed Sydenham Morton and William Jones at Mr. John M. Roberts’s academy at Stateburg. In 1803 Davis Collins retired and Samuel Eccles began work under the fund; a theological and scientific library was placed at Mr. Roberts’s academy; and Ezra Courtney, recommended by the Ebenezer Church, was examined and approved and continued on the fund through the next year. It appears that Mr. Roberts gave instruction free of charge to the young men placed by the committee in his academy. Some of the churches never approved the creation of the committee and fund, and contributed little or nothing to its maintenance. The collections for 1803 are interesting: Of the ninety-eight pounds eight shillings eight pence turned in, Charleston Church gave fifty-six pounds seventeen shillings, Euhaw twenty- six pounds seven shillings four pence, and High Hills seven pounds nine shillings four pence, with a pound or so from Wassamassaw, Welsh Neck, Ebenezer, and Wateree Creek. No other churches gave to this fund. The churches of the Peedee section, aside from Welsh Neck and Ebenezer, contributed only to the missionary fund, and of the twenty-eight churches then in the association only twelve gave to either fund. Private donations and contributions from the Religious Society added to the total, but complaints began in 1804 of indifference and lack of support. f403 Its early attention to missions and education, its sober success over a long series of years, and the steadying effects of unity and orthodoxy, made of the Charleston Association a powerful object lesson for the unstable and diversified Baptist churches of the back country. Page 51 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. CHAPTER 4. EARLY BAPTIST CHURCHES OF THE BACK COUNTRY INTRODUCTION The back country in the middle of the eighteenth century was the home of every new departure in religion. Lieutenant-Governor Bull’s remark of 1770 applies to the whole period from the point of view of the orthodox churchman: Our toleration comprehends every denomination of Christians but the Roman Catholic, and these are subdivided ad infinitum in the back parts, as illiterate enthusiasm or wild imagination can misinterpret the Scripture. Indeed lately the overflowing of the Northern Colleges send apostles to enlighten the dark regions of our Western Settlements, where every circle of Christian knowledge grows fainter as more remov’d from the center. The orderly attention paid to such preachers, sufficiently shows how well disposed the People are to receive better instruction. f404 The population of the back country was steadily augmented after 1750, partly by movement inland from the coast, partly by overland immigration from Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. The new settlers were largely German, Scotch-Irish, and dissenting English, f405 and it was with these groups that new sects were introduced. Narrowing the subject to Baptists reveals (1) German and English Seventh-Day Baptists, who differed in some points, but agreed in believing that the seventh day should be celebrated as the Lord’s Day; (2) German Baptists or Brethren, generally called Dunkers, Tunkers, or Tumblers, who, with other peculiarities, held to trine immersion with a kneeling posture and forward bending of the body in the rite of baptism, requirements which gave them their suggestive nicknames. Other pietistic sects, as the Moravians, had some Baptist principles, but were not important in South Carolina. All these groups based their faith directly on the New Testament and were plain and simple in their manner of life; some of them preached non-resistance. f406 Most of these sects came into South Carolina only in small numbers, and by far the majority of the Baptists entering the back country were at first known as Separates. One of the effects of the Great Awakening in New England under Rev. Jonathan Edwards and Rev. George Whitefield was the division of the Congregational churches into Old Lights and New Lights, the New Lights claiming that the religion of the Old Lights had grown soulless and formal and had no more the light of scriptural inspiration. Because they withdrew from the Congregational churches, the New Lights came to be known as Separates. Partly from their unpleasant situation in New England, partly from their missionary zeal, many of the Separates spread their principles to other colonies. Rev. Shubal Stearns, a peculiarly passionate and moving exhorter, is claimed by all Baptist historians to have led the Separate New Light movement into the Southern colonies. He settled at Sandy Creek, North Carolina, and from this center Separate practice and belief spread in all directions. Mr. Stearns belonged to that group of the Separates which, in its search for the exact meaning of the Scriptures, had come to the Baptist position on the subject of baptism. f407 The Separate Baptists thus arising were characterized by a stern insistence on profession of vital religion before baptism; in this they were even more rigid than the supposedly entirely orthodox Regular or Particular Baptists, and in numerous minor points their divergence from old practices was marked. They claimed to find in the New Testament and they zealously carried out in their religious exercises: Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, love feasts, laying on of hands, washing feet, anointing the sick, right hand of Page 52 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. fellowship, kiss of charity, and devoting children. “Here ruling elders, elderesses, and deaconnesses are allowed.” Some of them are said to have celebrated weekly communion. Their preachers often used the powerful exhorting tones and gestures later so effective in the great revival, and many converts cried out or fell during the services. f408 The official attitude toward their itinerant preachers appears from Lieutenant Governor Bull’s recommendation for an appropriation to have the Augusta minister preach in New Windsor, “hoping, … it will effectually put a stop to the progress of those Baptist vagrants, who continually endeavour to Subvert all order, and make the Minds of the people Giddy, with that which neither they nor their teachers understand.” f409 It was probably on account of a gathering of such itinerants that John Pearson of Broad River wrote his son on May 5, 1764: as we shall have a great meeting on Friday Saturday and Sunday next. I Desire youl come up and I hope Your Grand mother will be permitted to come Also Together with some of your Uncles and Aunts Pray Call on Your Uncle Mosses as you come up and press him and Your Aunt Patience to come itt may be for there Eternal Wellfare for itt is Good to be where Jesus is passing by as poor blind Bartemus found to his Eternal Happiness for as wee Are Blind by Nature and cannot see the things that belong to our Eternal peace so God may make use of some of our Ministers as a little Clay to Open there Eyes that they may Desire Spiritual Things for without the Spirit of God wee are none of his. f410 About May, 1766, Tacitus Gaillard and Moses Thomson (field officers of militia) wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Bull: that a number of illeterate people in or about the Congarees on St. Marks Parish had set up for Preachers and performed other ministerial offices without Licenses and drew together Multitudes of Weak and deluded people to whom they propagated the most erroneous pernicious and dangerous doctrines. f411 Not only the authorities but the Regular Baptist churches regarded the Separates with suspicion. An idea of the original intensity of this feeling of distrust may be gained from the attempt of Rev. Shubal Stearns to secure the aid of a Baptist minister to ordain Mr. Daniel Marshall, another of the zealous Separate missionaries. The minister of the Welsh Neck Church, probably Rev. Nicholas Bedgegood, when called on for the purpose, “sternly refused, declaring that he held no fellowship with Stearns’ party, that he believed them to be a disorderly set, suffering women to pray in public, and permitting every ignorant man to preach that chose, and that they encouraged noise & confusion in their meetings.” f412 Gradually the two parties compromised their differences as their intercourse became more frequent, and it is probable that the Charleston Association had much to do with this result. Some of the churches of the Peedee section, particularly those on Lynches Creek, and some in the lower Savannah River region show the influence of large overland immigration and back country separateness, but they were in close enough touch with lowcountry churches to be held to Regular standards. Not so the earlier back country churches. They were either founded by or soon under the spell of the fiery evangelists of Separatism. One of the most influential of the Separate preachers coming into South Carolina was Rev. Philip Mulkey, who became a Baptist in 1756 and was ordained in October, 1757. His influence runs through the history of many of the early Baptist churches of the back country. f413 FAIRFOREST CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES Page 53 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. About 1759 or 1760 Mr. Mulkey led a group of thirteen from Deep River in North Carolina to Broad River in South Carolina. f414 They were incorporated into a church at this place, their membership soon increasing to over a hundred. However, the original body remained only until December, 1762, when they moved to Fairforest, a tract lying in the fork between Fairforest Creek and Tyger River. The members quite compactly settled on Fairforest, Dining, Shoaly, Sugar, and Buffalo Creeks, and from Mr. Mulkey’s land on Fairforest surveyed December 9, 1762, as a center, their principles spread far and wide. Several licentiates assisted Mr. Mulkey, and he continued to serve the church at least through 1776. By 1772 a new church building, forty by twenty-six feet, with galleries, had been erected beside the old building on two acres of land given by Benjamin Holcombe. If, as is highly probable, Mr. Holcombe gave the church lot from his plat on Dining Creek surveyed in 1770, the new meeting house was in the fork east of Sugar Creek. f415 Three hundred families were connected with the congregation, which had one hundred and sixty-seven baptized members. Though Fairforest was later accounted a Particular Baptist church and was in communication with the Philadelphia and the Charleston Associations after 1772, it still retained such Separate features as love feasts and anointing the sick. f416 It was a member of Sandy Creek Association and one of the constituent members of the short-lived Congaree Association in 1771 and of the Bethel Association in 1789. f417 In 1787 Rev. Isaac Edwards was a minister of Fairforest, in 1791 Alexander McDougal and Mr. Edwards preached there. f418 The latter was excommunicated for immorality in 1793; Mr. McDougal continued to serve the church at least through 1800. f419 In 1794 the Bethel Association gathered “at the old meeting house on Fairforest, near Col. Brandon’s, in Union County.” This indicates that a new meeting house had been built. It is said to have been something over two miles northwest of Union just back of the old McKissick place. f420 Fairforest is of the peculiar interest as the oldest Baptist church in the back country and as a Separate Baptist group from North Carolina. Its influence covered a wide area. Besides its central congregation, it had several branches: One at Lawsons Fork; one at Catawba in North Carolina; one at Thickety; and one at Enoree, at which branches Joseph Burson, Thacker Vivian, Richard Kelly, and William Wood assisted. f421 An attempt is made in the following paragraphs to trace each of these branches through various changes to its modern successor. The Lawsons Fork branch of Fairforest, probably the ancestor of Boiling Spring Church, is described as having a little meeting house in 1772 thirty-five miles northwest of Fairforest, where Rev. Philip Mulkey preached for a time, assisted by Joseph Burson. The congregation was apparently scattered by Revolutionary disorder, since the earliest records of Boiling Spring Church state that reconstitution took place in 1792 with Thomas Burgess and John Hightower, assistant, officiating. f422 The record refers frequently to the “old book;” and probably quotes from it a Covenant, Articles of Faith, “A Concise Decorum of Manners,” and a list of members. It appears that Rev. Joseph Reese preached there sometime during the interval, leaving about 1786. f423 The church entered Bethel Association in 1794 without a minister and so continued until 1797, when Rev. Thomas Burgess took up the work and remained with the congregation at least through 1801, and probably through the spring of 1804. Afterward Joroyal Barnett was supply and Rev. William Cockrell probably preached part of the time from 1795 to 1800 during which he attended meetings of Bethel Association as delegate. f424 Page 54 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Edmund Fowler was elected deacon in May, 1803, and ordained two months after; John Young was made deacon in May, 1804. f425 Boiling Spring Church was dismissed from Bethel Association in 1800 to become a constituent member of Broad River Association. f426 The meeting house was in close proximity to the Boiling Spring about seven and threefourths miles north of Spartanburg. f427 Thickety branch, said to have been twenty-nine miles northeast of Fairforest, coincides with the location of Goshen, later known as Goucher Creek Church. f428 Here in 1772 Richard Kelly preached as Mr. Mulkey’s assistant, and was soon to be ordained. The story is told of how he recovered from fever in the very hour of being anointed. f429 How long Mr. Kelly served the church or when it was constituted is not known; it was probably greatly disturbed by the Revolutionary struggle. Appearing as a member of Bethel Association in 1794, under the name Goshen, the church was so designated in the minutes through 1800, when it became a constituent member of Broad River Association with the title Goucher Creek Church. f430 Rev. Thomas Burgess was pastor in 1794 but remained with the church only a short time; it was probably his service that Cedar Spring congregation desired to share in 1795, but to their request “Gocher Church on Thickety” answered: “we are cramp’d in the same place that you are. Our minister has his appointments laid out so as to fill up every Saturday in each month and cannot alter his monthly meetins at present …” f431 William Pool, probably church clerk at the time, later became an elder who assisted neighboring churches in their work. f432 No minister appears upon the records through 1800, but sometime after, at least by May, 1803, Rev. Joshua Richards was serving Goucher Creek Church as pastor. f433 Enoree branch of Fairforest, which claimed 1768 as the year of its beginning, had a meeting house built in 1771 twenty-five miles to the southeast and in 1772 was about to be constituted under the care of William Wood, Mr. Mulkey’s assistant, who had not yet been ordained. f434 This church retained its original name and probably approximately its original location for many years. f435 It emerged from the obscurity of the Revolution in 1790; in 1791 Jacob King was pastor and continued to serve the church throughout the period under discussion, with the help of Rev. Jesse Owen after 1794. Enoree Church entered Bethel Association in 1792, and its reported membership shows considerable variation. f436 Tyger River Church (Friendship), which is said to have had its first meeting place about sixteen miles southeast of Spartanburg, and which claims 1765 as its date of constitution, was so near to Fairforest as to indicate a connection in their early history. It was probably one of the main meeting places of Fairforest, and Thacker Vivian or one of the other assistants may have preached here. f437 Other records give 1777 as the date of constitution. f438 Doubtful traditional accounts state that the church was constituted by Rev. Jacob Roberts, under whose care it continued until the Revolution, being known as Jacob Roberts’ Church, and that Mr. Roberts reconstituted it after the Revolution ten miles south of Spartanburg Court House near Ott’s Bridge on Tyger River, the new name being Tyger River Baptist Church. f439 With the new name, the history of the church is plainer. Tyger River Church was a constituent member of Bethel Association in 1789, and appears on the minutes under the same name through 1800, when it was dismissed to enter Broad River Association as one of the constituents. f440 Just at this time or somewhat Page 55 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. later it was also known as Flat Rock Church. f441 No pastor is mentioned until 1795, after which John Williams and Augustine Clayton held the position. f442 In June, 1801, Cedar Spring Church after having already warned Rev. John Williams to handle the doctrine of election more carefully sent messengers to Tyger River Church to make inquiries with regard to rumors that he had joined the Freemasons. These reports were found to be true, and Mr. Williams was suspended and tried for the offense. He chose Rev. James Fowler and Rev. Joseph Camp to represent him; Tyger River Church chose Rev. Joshua Palmer and the eldership of Bethlehem Church. The decision at the trial was against Mr. Williams, but the case was tried again with helps from Upper Duncan Creek, Boiling Spring, Bethlehem, and Cedar Spring Churches, after which Mr. Williams was excluded in September, 1801; he was probably the disorderly minister against whom Broad River Association warned its churches in 1802. f443 The church then called on Rev. Joshua Palmer for ministerial help, and in 1802 licensed George Brewton to preach and appoint meetings. Mr. Brewton was ordained minister in June, 1803, together with John Beard and Joel Smith, deacons, and Wiley Williford was appointed church clerk in February, 1804. The church conference of July, 1803, agreed to build a new meeting house “near to Ausburn [Osborne] West,” and on August 6, Mr. West gave two acres from his grant of 1792, “on a small branch waters of the Dutchman’s Creek” to Flat Rock or Tyger River Church, but the building committee was not appointed until April, 1804. The work was soon finished and the keys turned over to George Brewton, who, however, delivered them in July to James Bennett, previously mentioned as holding a meeting of part of the church. f444 Soon after agreeing to build, the conference decided to ask for incorporation as Friendship Church, and the act (1804) names it “The Friendship Baptist Church of Christ, in the District of Spartanburgh.” f445 In its dealings with its members in 18011804, the church called up only eight or ten for discipline, one (as already mentioned) for joining the Masons, another for joining the Methodists, one for fraudulent horse trading, and only one for intemperance. A note of liberality appears in their receiving Mourning Smith by experience, “she having been baptised by the Methodist[s],” and in their decision to have no meeting in July, 1802, on account of the Presbyterian meeting. Camp meetings and steadily mounting membership testify to the effects of revival. f446 Several other churches of the back country were either developed from Fairforest or organized under its aegis. Of these, Little River of Broad Church grew up in the section where Rev. Philip Mulkey and his followers first settled in South Carolina, some of his congregation having remained there and united with others in 1768 to build a meeting house twenty-four by twenty feet on land given by Jacob Gibson, popularly known as Gibson’s Meeting House, and located about two and a quarter miles below Kincaid’s Bridge on the west side of Little River just above the mouth of Neckley’s Creek. f447 On February 26, 1770, twelve members were constituted a church, of which Mr. Gibson became pastor after his ordination in 1771, his connection with the church continuing at least through 1790. f448 After Mr. Gibson’s death in 1793, John Gwin was a candidate for the ministry at Little River and may have served the church for sometime, but no other minister is recorded. f449 This church was a constituent member of Congaree Association; after the break up of that body Mr. Gibson held aloof from associations and although he visited the Georgia Page 56 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Association in 1788, and may have considered union with it, Little River did not again unite with other churches until it entered Bethel Association in 1802. f450 The connection between Fairforest and Little River of Saluda Church is obscure but seems to have existed; it is probable that the five constitutents “baptized in these parts” were Mulkey’s proselytes. Little River of Saluda Church was made up of these five and immigrants from Virginia and New Jersey, eleven of whom were constituted August 10, 1770, by Colonel Samuel Harris and Mr. James Child. f451 Their meeting house was forty by twenty-five feet, built in 1771 on “land given by John Bailey,” who had two surveys in 1767 on “waters of Little River.” f452 Though they had no minister in 1772, their congregation included fifty families, “whereof 35 persons are baptized and in communion which is administered here the third Lords-day,” in January, April, July, and October. f453 The church was a constituent of Congaree Association in 1771, at which time Mr. Aaron Pinson, also connected with Raeburns Creek Church, may have had charge of it. f454 It was in this neighborhood that Rev. Oliver Hart and Rev. William Tennent stopped in September, 1775, on their journey to convert the back country to the American cause. Mr. Tennent thought it “providential that we came here, as some opposers had collected, who would have brow beat Mr. Oliver. Took the Storm to myself and did some good. f455 It is probable that the Revolution broke up this congregation, or that Raeburns Creek Church absorbed it, and that Friendship Church absorbed both, as an Aaron Pinson is listed as an early member of Friendship. No further record and no modern successor have been found. Buffalo Church, only a half mile south of the North Carolina line and about seven miles west of Blacksburg, S.C., was in its early years connected with the Fairforest group of churches. James Fowler, a young licentiate of Fairforest, supplied the church occasionally in 1775- 1776. Rev. Joseph Camp is the only minister recorded before 1800, and as early as September, 1776, he is said to have represented Buffalo Church at a meeting of delegates held at Fairforest (Congaree Association). These statements indicate that the congregation had been constituted a church before 1777, the date usually assigned, and had entered Congaree Association. f456 Like most of the churches of the back country, Buffalo Church disappears from recorded history during the Revolution; it emerged in 1789 as a constituent member of Bethel Association. f457 Rev. Joseph Camp had probably been the pastor during the whole period and continued to serve at least through 1800 and possibly several years longer. f458 Buffalo was one of the churches dismissed by the Bethel Association in 1800 to become a constituent member of the Broad River Association. f459 Sandy River Church originated from a group of Virginia and North Carolina Baptists who settled on Sandy River and invited ministers from Buffalo, Little River, Fairforest, and Congaree Churches to preach to them. They built Flat Rock meeting house somewhere near Turkey Creek and had members living on Pacolet, Turkey Creek, and Sandy River. besides adjacent members of Fairforest and Little River Churches. This group requested the 1776 meeting of Congaree Association (at Fairforest) to constitute them a church. Rev. Messrs. Ralph Jones, Joseph Camp, and Joseph Logan met with them at Flat Rock meeting house, December 23, 1776, assisted in drawing up the covenant, constituted the church, and at its request examined and ordained Rev. James Fowler, Rev. Ralph Jones delivering the sermon and Rev. Joseph Camp the charge. f460 It is not Page 57 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. certain, because of lack of records during the Revolution, though it is probable, that Mr. Fowler became Sandy River’s minister at that time; he held the position in 1790 and continued in it at least through 1800; in 1791-1792 he was assisted by Rev. William Woodward; in 1802-1803 the church was without a pastor; and was supplied in 1803 by Rev. Messrs. William Woodward and Samuel McCreary. f461 In 1791 Sandy River joined Bethel Association and remained a member. The minutes of 1803 refer to it as Upper Sandy River Church and this name was gradually adopted. f462 CONGAREE CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES Rev. Philip Mulkey’s preaching in the Congarees section aroused such enthusiasm and produced such powerful effects that another center of Baptist principles was established in the Congaree Church. Mr. Mulkey made and baptized several converts in 1764; others followed after Mr. Marshall’s preaching and on November 30, 1766, thirty-three persons were constituted a church “by the help of Rev. Joseph Morphy.” f463 In the same year they built a meeting house, thirty-four by twenty-six feet, on an acre lot given by William Howell, probably on land purchased by him in 1767 near William Hay’s mill where the later Bluff road crossed Raifords Creek. f464 The bulk of the members formed a rather compact group between Toms Creek and Hays Mill (Raifords) Creek. John Pitman’s plat of 1772 shows a “path to the meeting house” which proves it had become a landmark for the region. f465 Among the early converts and constituent members of Congaree Church were four men who later became ministers — Joseph Reese, John Newton, Thomas Norris, and Timothy Dargan. Congaree was for a time in Sandy Creek Separate Association, and at its division in 1771 entered Congaree Association under Rev. Joseph Reese as pastor. f466 Mr. Reese seems to have caught the spirit of Mr. Mulkey: “his natural eloquence, and command of the passions of his hearers were extraordinary.” f467 He and his assistants extended their efforts through a wide stretch of territory to such good effect that in 1772 there were branches established at Wateree Creek, Twenty-five Mile Creek, Amelia, and Four Holes, all of which remained with the parent church practically throughout the period under consideration. f468 Rev. John Newton, and Messrs. Timothy Dargan, Richard Bell, Ralph Jones, and John Blake aided Mr. Reese in the work of caring for these five meetings. f469 No records of Congaree Church during the Revolution have been found. This region was the scene of many skirmishes, and religious life must have been completely disorganized. f470 The church reappears in 1790 still under the care of Rev. Joseph Reese and still with many branches. The assistants then and shortly after were Rev. Ralph Jones, Rev. Gabriel Rawls, and Mr. John Price, a candidate for the ministry. f471 Congaree with its branches was apparently turning more and more to the position of the Regular Baptist churches. It had quarterly communion beginning with the first Lord’s Day in March, and had no ruling elders nor laying on of hands. But Mr. Reese was “averse to joining an Association,” and it was 1798 before it entered the Charleston Association, whose minutes refer to it as “a church of many years standing … formerly under the pastoral care of the late eminently pious, excellent and usefull, Rev. Joseph Reese …” f472 Infirm and unable to preach in 1794, Mr. Reese died in 1795, f473 and Congaree was without a regular pastor until 1802, when Rev. Stephen Nixon took up the work. f474 In 1799 the church asked the association for supplies and assistance in regulating their affairs, and Rev. Messrs. John M. Roberts, Lewis Collins, Page 58 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. John Cato, Solomon Thomson, and Edward Pigg were appointed for the purpose. In 1801, Congaree was again asking help because of criticisms of Mr. Price, “who had been licensed to preach, but whose character was considered in so unfavourable a light by the other churches, particularly by those in the Bethel association, that they would not admit him to preach among them.” This peculiarly “serious and distressing” case engaged the attention of able committees until 1804, when, “In consequence of a letter received from Rev. Mr. Putman,” the association advised Congaree Church to exclude Mr. Price “immediately from their union; and to warn the public against him, as a person whose preaching should not be encouraged.” The unusual fluctuation in numbers of Congaree members was due in most cases to inclusion or dismission of branches. f475 The church removed its place of worship, possibly about the beginning of the century, to a situation some “six miles above Thomson’s, or M’Cord’s, Ferry, and 22 below Columbia; its former seat was about 12 miles higher up,” in the neighborhood of Beulah Church, one of its branches organized in 1806. f476 Of the branches of Congaree in 1772, only Wateree Creek was constituted in the period under discussion. John Blake preached here for a time, f477 but this came to be known as Ralph Jones’s Meeting House, because it was in this locality and with this church that Rev. Ralph Jones spent his life. The first meeting house twenty-five by twenty feet, was built in 1770 on a lot given by William Roden. His plats were on Wateree and Beaverdam Creeks, and if the first building was on this land, the church later moved about five and a half miles south of Winnsboro, a little east of the Charleston Road near the headwaters of Wateree and Dutchmans Creeks. f478 In 1799, Mr. Jones wrote the Charleston Association that he and his church near Winnsboro considered themselves members of Congaree Church and approved of its joining the association, though he had formerly held aloof from associations. It was not until 1803 that this branch near Winnsboro was dismissed by Congaree and entered the Charleston Association as Wateree Creek Church under the care of Rev. Ralph Jones. In the same year the church asked assistance in the ordination of another minister, possibly Samuel Smith, but Mr. Jones continued pastor many years. f479 Rev. Joseph Reese preached in the Little Saluda River region “at the Ridge” about 1766, “whereat some that came from Mine-Creek received the word in the love thereof,” were baptized, and joined the Congaree church. After receiving additions from North Carolina and Virginia, the group of Baptists at Mine Creek was organized as a church September, 1770, by the help of Colonel Samuel Harris and Mr. James Child. In 1772 this church had no meeting house, but gathered in the home of Benjamin Bell, who, with the assistance of Mr. John Tanner, kept their organization alive by exhortations and work among them. The congregation consisted of twenty families with eighteen baptized members, to whom the ordinances were administered occasionally by Mr. Reese or Rev. Daniel Marshall, and others who visited them, for they had no minister of their own. Mine Creek Church entered Sandy Creek Separate Association in 1770, but withdrew to become a constituent of Congaree Association in 1771, with seventeen communicants and John Tanner as delegate. f480 Nothing is known of the Mine Creek group during the Revolution, but Red Bank Church, continuing or replacing it to some extent, was, according to tradition,”f481 constituted in 1784 under Rev. John or Josiah Thomas as pastor. The land whereon it stood was granted to the church by Robert Newport from his survey of September 18, 1784, in “96 District below the line on a Page 59 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. branch of Little Saludy River.” f482 Entering Georgia Association in 1790, the church was probably dismissed in 1794 and became a member of the Bethel Association in 1795. At that time Rev. John Rowland was pastor, John or Josiah Thomas, the former preacher, having been excommunicated for immorality in 1792. After two pastorless years, the church had the services of Rev. Henry King in 1798, after which the office was vacant for sometime. f483 The act incorporating “Red Bank Church” in 1802 names Thomas Dozier, probably a deacon, among those presenting the petition. f484 HIGH HILLS OF SANTEE, CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES Like Mr. Philip Mulkey, Mr. Joseph Reese by his peculiarly effective preaching aroused religious enthusiasm in widely separated localities. One of these was the High Hills of Santee, where a church was soon organized, which became a progenitor of many others. About 1769 Mr. Jeremiah Dargan visited the present Stateburg section, “this wicked wicked” neighborhood, this “wild place,” “to no purpose except provoking them to outrage. The same year Mr. Reese preached in the same place to the alarming of many.” Several were baptized, and in 1770 the people of the community erected a meeting house thirty by twenty-four feet about three miles north of Stateburg on a fouracre lot given by Dr. Joseph Howard for the use of all denominations, though it almost immediately became a Baptist church. A revival soon rewarded Mr. Reese’s work. Among his converts were Dr. Joseph Howard and Thomas Neal, a deacon, who kept together the new Baptist flock by their exhortations; Lewis Collins, long pastor of Swift Creek Church; and Richard Furman, later the greatest Baptist minister of South Carolina. The congregation at the High Hills remained a branch of Congaree Church until January 4, 1772, when it was organized as an independent church of about seventy families. f485 Though poor and without a pastor, the membership had so increased with occasional help from Mr. Reese as to necessitate a large building. Young Richard Furman, only sixteen at the time of his conversion, exhorted after the visiting ministers had finished their sermons, and persevering in spite of ridicule, was called to preach regularly in April, 1772. f486 Rev. Oliver Hart attended a great meeting at the High Hills in December, 1773, lasting into 1774, at which the young man was one of the preachers. f487 Rev. Messrs. Evan Pugh and Joseph Reese ordained Richard Furman on May 16. 1774, and in November he took charge of High Hills Church. f488 His pastorate began in stirring times, and it was probably his zeal and activity as much as the central location of the church which led to its choice as the place of meeting in April, 1776, of the churches of the Province to choose delegates to attend the “Continental Association … in order to obtain our liberties, and freedom from religious tyranny and ecclesiastical oppressions.” f489 Mr. Furman’s activity in the American cause appears from his having enlisted and marched to Charleston and from the address he wrote to the disaffected between Broad and Saluda Rivers who were taking up arms in 1775 against the Continental Congress. The address struck Colonel Richardson as so stirring and patriotic an appeal that he had copies of it spread among the people as his army advanced. This and other efforts and appeals of Richard Furman are said to have brought him into such prominence as to cause Cornwallis to place a price upon his head and to force him to flee the State and remain for sometime in North Carolina and Virginia. f490 Though there was Page 60 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. little fighting in the neighborhood, the High Hills region was in the midst of marches and counter marches and had the honor to be Greene’s summer camp in 1781. f491 The church reappears upon the records with Mr. Furman’s return in 1782, and, under his influence before and after the war, established branches, among them Upper Fork of Lynches Creek (Flat Creek), Ebenezer (Jeffreys Creek), Second Lynches Creek, Bethel (Black River), Swift Creek, Camden, and Calvary. f492 In 1787 Mr. Furman accepted a call to Charleston. f493 High Hills Church was without a regular pastor from 1787 to 1799, though the association appointed supplies during 1787 and 1788, and two ministers, Gabriel Gerald and Stephen Nixon, licensed and ordained from the congregation, must have worked among them. In 1797 Rev. Gabriel Gerald reported High Hills Church to the association for unfair dealing with him, but the committee appointed to investigate reported in 1798 that, though the church’s proceedings had not been entirely regular, yet “they had just cause of dissatisfaction both from the principle and conduct of Mr. Gerald” who had printed a pamphlet disseminating unorthodox ideas with regard to the Sabbath. Rev. Richard Furman wrote him a long and able letter disapproving especially the publicity given the matter. but Mr. Gerald refused to be reasoned out of his opinions or to accept the plan of reconciliation proposed by the committee. His death ended the difficulty. f494 In 1799, Rev. John M. Roberts, recently returned from Rhode Island College to conduct an academy, took over the pastorate as the first regular minister of High Hills since Mr. Furman’s departure. Rev. Amos DuBose assisted him, for not only did High Hills have branches, but there were two or three meeting houses belonging to the main church. f495 Large and centrally located, High Hills was always an active and important congregation. It was incorporated March 26, 1784, as “The Baptist Church on the High-Hills of Santee.” f496 On October 6, 1803, General Thomas Sumter granted to Rev. John M. Roberts and his successors in office “a lot of land … near Statesburg whereon the old Meeting house now stands.” f497 The lot is just east of the Camden road. f498 Though High Hills as a branch of Congaree Church was for a short time in 1772 a member of the Congaree Association, its growing intercourse with the Charleston Church through Rev. Oliver Hart after 1773 led inevitably to its entrance into the Charleston Association in 1778. f499 Of the branches of High Hills Church, Ebenezer (Jeffreys Creek), Second Lynches Creek, and Upper Fork of Lynches Creek (Flat Creek) have already been discussed under the Peedee section. Only two others were constituted before 1804, Bethel (Black River) about sixteen miles southeast of Stateburg, and Swift Creek, about nine miles below Camden. How long Bethel existed as a branch of High Hills is not known. It was organized in 1780 and entered the Charleston Association in 1782. f500 By 1784 the difficulties which marred its existence had already begun. A committee of the association reported in 1786 that it was “happy in bringing about an accommodation of the difference which had subsisted.” Matters were quiet until 1798 when division in the church was so serious as to cause a minority party to send messengers with a letter to the association accusing the majority of measures so “inconsistent with good order … as to affect the honor of religion, and the interests of the union.” Though the association’s committee reported in favor of the majority, new evidence was brought forward controverting the reports. Rev. Gabriel Gerald’s Sabbatarian views probably caused most of the trouble. The association finally Page 61 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. left it to interested persons to try to restore harmony, but in 1800 Bethel was represented as “in a very irregular state, and in a manner disorganized, by transactions entered into, at and about the time of the dismission of their late pastor,” Rev. Solomon Thomson, who had been with them many years. Another petition from the minority, consisting of “sundry respectable persons, who had been excommunicated by said church, who considered themselves injured,” requested assistance from the association in restoring the church to order. The association’s committee did not function but reported Bethel as still in an irregular state, after which the matter was left to “the private labours of visiting ministers.” These were so far successful as to bring about practical reunion in 1802, though Bethel again asked aid and advice of the association, and its numbers continued to dwindle. f501 Swift Creek branch was organized about 1783 and entered the Charleston Association in 1787. f502 Rev. Lewis Collins may have been working in this section before 1783, since he was one of Rev. Joseph Reese’s converts in 1769. f503 In 1803 the church asked the Charleston Association about removing its meeting place, but was advised not to do so lest it cause uneasiness in a neighboring congregation. However, the church soon after changed its location to one eight or ten miles east of Camden nearer Black River. f504 Revival effects are evident in 1803-1804. Rev. James Jenkins, a Methodist revivalist, complained in 1804 that “old father Collins” had taken into his church several awakened by the Methodists at a meeting on Swift Creek. f505 OTHER SEPARATE, BAPTIST CHURCHES Rev. Daniel Marshall, whose difficulties in being ordained have already been discussed, was one of the strongest of the New Light missionaries coming from New England. Being one of the group who looked for the immediate second coming of Christ, he sold all he had and went among the Mohawk Indians to preach regeneration to them. War, it is said, stopped this work, and being soon after converted to Separate Baptist views, Mr. Marshall transferred his missionary efforts to the back country settlers of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. f506 After stopping for a time at Abbotts Creek in North Carolina, where he cooperated with Rev. Shubal Stearns, Mr. Marshall removed with a group of his followers to Beaver Creek near Broad River in South Carolina in 1760, but remained there only to 1762, when he and his family went on to Stevens [Stephens] Creek. A meeting house thirty by twenty- six feet, erected in 1766 about ten miles from Augusta became the center of Mr. Marshall’s activities, which extended to two branch churches in Georgia and the group left behind at Beaver Creek, many of whom, however, followed him to Stephens [Stevens] Creek and to Georgia. The congregation was constituted in 1766 as Stephens [Stevens] Creek Church, under the care of Rev. Daniel Marshall, who in 1772 was assisted by his son Abraham Marshall, and by Benjamin Harry, Saunders Walker, and John Herndon. f507 At that time Stephens [Stevens] Creek Church was a member of Congaree Association, having just been dismissed from the Sandy Creek Separate Association, and it retained its Separate peculiarities of service. f508 Rev. Edmund Botsford visited the section in 1773 and baptized several members. f509 How the church weathered the Revolutionary years is unknown; it reappears in 1785 as a petitioner for admission to the Charleston Association, and though its application was approved, there is no evidence that it ever sent messengers to confirm its Page 62 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. membership. By 1788 it had entered the Georgia Association with Charles Bussey as pastor, f510 who remained in the office at least through 1794. Two candidates, George Delaughter and Elisha Palmer, appeared among its members in 1790-1792. Dismissed from the Georgia Association in 1801 under the name Big Stephens [Stevens] Creek, the church entered the Bethel Association in 1802 with George Delaughter as minister. f511 Horns Creek Church, located about five miles south of the town of Edgefield and said to have been constituted about 1768, was probably a branch of Stephens [Stevens] Creek Church, though the history of its early years is lost. Rev. Messrs. Daniel Marshall, Saunders Walker, and Benjamin Harry covered this region with their missionary labors. Horns Creek Church appears as a member of the Georgia Association in 1788 with Hezekiah Walker as minister. f512 In 1790 criticism of Mr. Walker came before the Bethel Association, which was about to proceed against him when a report was made in 1791 that Horns Creek Church had already acted in such a way as to produce “satisfaction respecting the charges …” f513 “Hezekiah Walker, John Frasier, and Samuel Walker with several others members … did by their petition” ask and obtain incorporation by act of January 20, 1790, naming “The Baptist Church on Hornes Creek in Edgefield County, in the State of South Carolina.”f514 John Bolger, a candidate for the ministry in 1792, soon left them. f515 Horns Creek asked dismissal from Georgia Association in 1801 to enter the Bethel Association in the next year. The important men in the congregation in 1802 were Samuel Marsh and John Landrum, both of whom were ministers in 1803. f516 This was a large and active church. f517 A Second Horns Creek Church appears to have existed in 1790, which may have been a branch of Horns Creek, though more probably of Stephens [Stevens] Creek. Nothing is known of its location or history beyond the fact that Benjamin Harry was minister and the membership varied from twenty to twenty- five between 1790 and 1794. f518 Samuel Newman settled on the spring branches of Bush River in 1766, and soon had meetings held in his house by Rev. Daniel Marshall. Mr. Newman and others were baptized and constituted a church in June, 1771, by Messrs. Marshall and Mulkey. Their main meeting house, thirty by twenty-four feet, was built in 1770 on land given by George Goggans, probably from his survey of June 30, 1770, on Beaverdam Branch of Bush River; another meeting house was built the same year about three miles off. Soon after their constitution in August, 1771, Mr. Newman was ordained by Messrs. Marshall and Mulkey, but died in November, 1771. f519 Thomas Norris, a licentiate of Little Saluda (Mine Creek) Church, came to live among the Bush River congregation as their minister, being ordained by Messrs. Marshall and Mulkey in October, 1771, when he took over the pastorate. Mr. Norris’s “mild, benevolent, and engaging countenance, graceful gestures, and melodious voice … animated and evangelical pulpit communications,” excited general admiration. f520 In 1772, two exhorters, Coleman Brown and John Monk, assisted him. f521 Mr. Norris’s congregation must have been torn asunder by his preaching of nonresistance during the Revolution, and by his death in 1780, but it is claimed they kept up their meetings throughout the period. One of the members, John Cole, Sr., giving “ardent and warm exhortations,” was licensed in 1781 and ordained in 1783 by Rev. Messrs. Joseph Burson and John Webb of Fairforest, at which time he was chosen pastor of Bush River Church. f522 He remained in that office into the new century and from his pastorate the church Page 63 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. came to be known also as Cole’s Meeting House. f523 During that time, Bush River licensed and presented for ordination Jesse Brooks and William Cole; Jesse Brooks left the church shortly after his ordination in 1795, and William Cole died in March, 1802, the same month in which he was presented. Among the officers of the church, Joseph Johnson was ordained deacon in April, 1798, to succeed Robert Leavell, deceased; Michael Landers as church clerk kept the records from May, 1792, to October, 1804. when his death led to the choice of Stephen McCraw as clerk. f524 Bush River had quarterly communion and set aside the day before the second Sunday in each month for church business. It is a striking fact that no member was brought before the meeting for minor offenses; of the sixteen cases of discipline from 1792 to 1804, drunkenness, slander, adultery, and rape constituted the majority; two concerned questions of church doctrine and policy, Susannah Summers being excluded for embracing and refusing to renounce the doctrine of universal redemption from hell, and Aaron Burton for planting tobacco on the Sabbath and justifying his conduct. f525 The church carefully encouraged any gift of exhortation and put forward Levi Pitts, Joseph Johnson, James Teague, Charles Crow, John Pitts, Bordiwine Roberts, and Brother Moses, “a man of colour,” though several of them were later silenced. f526 Like Fairforest, Bush River was under the influence of the Sandy Creek Separates and entered Congaree Association in 1771, in which it probably remained until that body dissolved. In 1791 it became an active and important member of the Bethel Association. f527 A group which owed its organized beginning to Rev. Daniel Marshall and Thomas Norris was that near Raeburns Creek, where a meeting house twentyfour by sixteen feet was erected in 1767 and a church constituted in September, 1771. Aaron Pinson, not yet ordained but expecting soon to receive ordination, preached there in 1772 to a congregation which included about thirty families with fifteen baptized members. f528 No records for the years of the Revolution appear to exist. Rev. Aaron Pinson was still in charge in 17901794, when Benjamin Williams, an itinerant, and John Baugh, a candidate for the ministry, made a part of the ten to fifteen members of his church. In 1794 the church was said to be rapidly disintegrating because of its peculiarities. f529 It probably disappeared in the next few years, its membership being absorbed by such bodies as Bush River, Turkey Creek, Upper Duncans Creek, and Durbin Creek. TUNKERS (OR DUNKERS) AND SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS These two groups seem to have mingled and exchanged ministers to such an extent as to make any sharp division unnecessary, if not impossible. f530 A number of Tunkers, originally from French Creek in Pennsylvania, but immediately from Connecocheague, settled in the neighborhood of Beaver Creek about 1748, and by July, 1759, had associated for religious purposes. They had no minister at first, though by 1754 David Martin had come among them, being ordained on September 28, 1770, by Daniel Leatherman and Nicholas Martin. f531 Though still without a meeting house, the congregation had increased by 1772 to twenty families with fifty baptized members. John Pearson assisted David Martin in the work, the same John Pearson who was a member of the Sabbatarian Broad River Church and a person of consequence in the region. f532 His letters Page 64 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. written in 1764 from Broad River to his son Philip, a deputy surveyor, exemplify the spirit of earnest evangelism then winning the region. As God as Allowed me this Oppertunity by Mr John Green one of Your Companions Acquaintance I am to Inform you that our Redeemer has preserved us in Health and in the unity of the Spirit, and as God through his sparing mercy Allows us the Oppertunity to meat before him morning and Evening to Celebrate his praise, and Offer up prayers and Thanksgivings to his Dreadfull Majesty who Measures out the Heavens with A Span and weighs the Mountains in A Ballance and Contains the Great Waters as in the Hollow of his Hands and who is of purer Eyes than to behold iniquity in any of his Creatures here below he being so pure & Holy yt he Charges his Angles with folly and the very Heavens are not Clean in his Sight, mach more such poor polluted Creatures as wee are who were born in sin find brought forth in Iniquity and by our Actual Transgretions against the mighty God have incured his Displeasure but as JESUS ye Saviour of the World hath delighted himself Amoungst ye sons of men our Hope is in him. … f533 It was in this region that Daniel Marshall, upon first coming into South Carolina, settled and established a church. f534 It is not known whether there was a later amalgamation of the two groups, though it is probable, their differences not being in any wise fundamental. Three present day churches of the section claim an ancient origin: Beaver Creek, Mobley’s Meeting House, and Rock Creek, all within a radius of a few miles. All may have absorbed remnants of the old Beaver Creek congregation, but the only one showing any possibility of recorded continuity is Rock Creek. f535 The scattered membership must have come together again about 1789 as an organized body first known as Rocky Creek, or Rocky Creek of Broad River, now Rock Creek Church located originally between Rock Creek and Beaver Creek, about three miles east of Broad River. f536 Reports made to the Bethel Association, which it entered in 1792, show it without a minister and steadily decreasing in membership up to 1800, after which the revival brought a slight increase. f537 In 1768 Rev. David Martin went into the region about Clouds Creek, where he found some English Dunkers and Seventh Day Baptists, to whom he preached and administered communion. By 1772 there was a congregation of thirty families with forty-two baptized communicants. They had no meeting house and no ordained minister, though James Warren preached for them. f538 No direct connection can be traced between this group and the Regular Baptist church later organized in this section, but possibly the scattered membership of the old body formed the nucleus of the new church at Clouds Creek, which claims to have been constituted in the spring of 1790 by a presbytery consisting of Rev. Messrs. John Thomas, Hezekiah Walker, and Patrick Quartemus, the last of whom took over the pastorate. f539 There is evidence for both 1790 and 1791 as the date of constitution. At that time Rev. John Langford, an old minister, was in the congregation, but no longer preaching. f540 The church entered the Bethel Association under Rev. Patrick Quartemus in 1793. He remained only through 1794, after which Thomas DeLoach worked among them as a licentiate until he was ordained (tradition says on June 4, 1800, by Rev. Messrs. Charles Bussey and Henry King), and assumed the pastorate some time after 1800. He presented the petition resulting in 1802 in the incorporation of the “Baptist Church of Christ” on Clouds Creek. f541 Rev. David Martin’s work extended farther down the Edisto. Here on January 14, 1770, he baptized Elijah Padgett, and others were later added until by 1772 Page 65 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. there were sixteen baptized members of eight families of English Dunkers. Mr. Padgett led their worship but was not ordained. f542 A number of Seventh Day Baptists from Prince William County, Virginia, becoming discouraged in their attempt to worship and settle at Tuckaseeking in Georgia, returned to the Edisto about this time, among them their minister, John Clayton. f543 The whole group probably scattered, but in 1777 a Regular Baptist church called Edisto was constituted in approximately the same region and received into the Charleston Association in 1787, at which time Rev. Nathaniel Walker was pastor. f544 The church had many licentiates in 1790, but with that year it ceased to send representatives to the association, which agreed in 1797 to consider it out of union. Rev. Nathaniel Walker had long been ill and died about November, 1798. The association, considering that this lack of pastoral supervision might have caused Edisto Church to be careless, retained the congregation in the union for that year, but dropped it from the list in 1799. f545 Its history is then obscure; it probably became known as Healing Springs Church. Traditional accounts say that Rev. James Sweat was the second minister; there is nothing else to support the claim, but as he spent most of his life in the neighboring churches, he may well have served this one for a time. f546 “The Baptist Church of Christ, of the Healing Springs, in Barnwell District,” was incorporated on December 21, 1804. f547 A group of Sabbatarians, also coming from Connecocheague and from French Creek in Pennsylvania, settled near Broad River between 1745 and 1757. The leaders were Thomas Owen, who arrived in South Carolina with his wife in 1752 or 1754, and Victor Naley, who came with his wife in 1756 or 1757, both of whom had land on the east side of Broad River, the first on Conaway Creek and Wilkinsons Creek, the second on Little River and Rocky Creek of Broad. John Gregory and his sons John and Richard completed the constituents. The members met alternately on the Seventh Day at the homes of the two leaders and there practiced their peculiar rites. Two John Pearsons were included in the 1772 congregation, one of them probably the exhorter who assisted Rev. David Martin at Beaver Creek. Though the meetings were held on the east side of the river, the membership was widely scattered between Broad and Wateree near the rivers on each side, and a goodly number settled on the southwest side of Broad River along Second and Cannons Creeks, whence John Pearson wrote his letters of exhortation, with a few about Saluda River, besides which they retained some connection with their brethren in Pennsylvania. f548 Israel Seymour was their minister for a time, but he left them to become a Tunker. They had no minister and no meeting house in 1772, at which time there were twenty-four baptized members of eighteen families. f549 It is not improbable that Rock Creek Church was an outgrowth of this group rather than of Beaver Creek. Like other Tunker and Seventh Day churches in South Carolina, it probably broke up during the Revolution, or turned toward the Regular position. CONGAREE ASSOCIATION Attempts at union among the back-country Baptist churches of South Carolina before the Revolution were not productive of permanent results. The first arose from Rev. Shubal Stearn’s invitation to the Separate Baptist churches of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina to send delegates to a general meeting at his church on Sandy Creek, where the Separates formed the Sandy Creek Separate Association in 1758. f550 Rev. Oliver Hart and Rev. Evan Pugh Page 66 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. were delegates from the Charleston Association to one of the associational meetings of the Sandy Creek Separates in North Carolina after 1762, to try to effect a union with them. In that year Rev. Philip Mulkey attended the Charleston Association meeting with queries from his separate church on Broad River, probably with a view to composing differences. f551 The Sandy Creek Separate Association by 1770 had grown inconveniently large and, it is claimed, officious in its dealings with the member churches. The Virginia and South Carolina congregations were dimissed, the latter to form the Congaree Association on December 26, 1771, with the following constituents: Fairforest, Stephens [Stevens] Creek, Congaree, Bush River, Little River of Broad, Little River of Saluda, Mine Creek (or Little Saluda), and later for a time High Hills of Santee, f552 The body took its name from the Congaree Church, the place of its first meeting. Morgan Edwards visited the churches of South Carolina in 1772, and with his help the new association began correspondence with the Philadelphia Association. f553 It also sought to cooperate with the older and more stable body of the Low-Country. At the 1773 meeting of the Charleston Association, Rev. Messrs. Daniel Marshall, Joseph Reese, and Samuel Newman, “commissioners appointed by a general Meeting of the Separates held at the Congaree,” came to discuss union, but “as the Separates were tenacious of their peculiarities nothing was accomplished. … They were suspected of Arminian tendencies, and were regarded as unduly exclusive in refusing communion with those who rejected their peculiarities.” f554 In 1775 Rev. Philip Mulkey again appeared at the Charleston meeting with a letter from a meeting of the Congaree Association at Fairforest containing a proposal to unite “the several Associations in this Province into one.” Nothing came of this new offer. f555 The Congaree Association appears to have met in September, 1776, at Fairforest Church, with delegates present from Fairforest, Lynches Creek, Bush River, Little River of Broad, and Buffalo Churches. f556 Shortly after, it “got into trouble, as Mr. Edwards asserts, by attempting to do more in the affairs of the churches, than properly belonged to an Advisory Council, which threw them into embarrassment, hindered the harmony of their associational interviews, and ended in the dis-solution of the body. …” f557 It is probable that the dissension and general decrease of religious activity due to the Revolution also had much to do with the breaking up of the Congaree Association. Page 67 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. CHAPTER 5. POST-REVOLUTIONARY REVIVAL INTRODUCTION One of the evident facts from the preceding chapters is the paucity of material on the history of the Baptist churches of South Carolina during the Revolution. Only tradition remains to obscure rather than to clarify the religious life of the times. Even among the older bodies of the coast and the Peedee, very few records have survived, and of the promising but unstable little groups described by Morgan Edwards as dotting the back country in 1772 nothing is left but casual references by travelers and soldiers. Some outstanding ministers have left accounts revealing a little of the life of their churches during that troubled period. Rev. Evan Pugh preached at “ye camp at old Newnams” on December 20, 1778, and on November 21, 1779, he delivered “a funeral [sermon] for those youths lost at Savannah 9th October past, from these parts [Peedee].” In 1781 the Cashaway congregation was broken up by raiders taking the horses. After surrendering himself to the British and being paroled, Mr. Pugh tried to give up his parole but was not allowed to do so; he then took the oath of allegiance to the king, as did so many at the time. f558 Rev. Oliver Hart, with Hon. W. H. Drayton and Rev. William Tennent, made a journey through the back country in 1775, at the request of the Council of Safety, to “reconcile a number of the inhabitants, who are disaffected to the Government” and to urge them to support the Association advised by the Second Continental Congress against the British. f559 Probably at Mr. Hart’s suggestion, the Charleston Association in 1777 expressed approbation of the measures taken by the Revolutionary government. f560 Mr. Hart left Charleston when the British besieged it in 1780, and retired to New Jersey. f561 Rev. Edmund Botsford fled from Georgia in 1779, losing his library and his home. On the invitation of General Andrew Williamson, he served with him as chaplain for several months. As the British overran South Carolina, he fled to Virginia where he preached in the Northern Neck while that state was still comparatively peaceful. f562 Rev. Joseph Cook was reduced to poverty by his forced flight from Euhaw before the British advance in 1780. f563 Rev. Joseph Reese is said to have been a staunch supporter of the Revolution, the latter years of which found him fleeing from Congarees to Fairforest. f564 His greatest convert, Rev. Richard Furman, marched with a company to Charleston, but was told to return to the High Hills of Santee and make converts for the American cause. An address of his written in November, 1775, to the inhabitants between the Broad and the Saluda who opposed the measures recommended by the Continental Congress, was distributed by Colonel Richardson among the disaffected as his army advanced. So successful was Richard Furman in his Revolutionary work that he is said to have attracted the attention of Cornwallis, who exclaimed that he feared the prayers of that godly youth more than the armies of Sumter and Marion. Cornwallis having put a price on his head, he fled the State and preached in North Carolina and Virginia. He was an active member of the American Revolution Society throughout the remainder of his life. f565 Among the ministers in the army, Rev. Drury Pace served as captain of militia; Rev. Henry Holcombe saw service as a private after the fall of Charleston; he tells of being converted during the years he was a captain of the militia, and of using his efforts to convert his fellows. f566 John Greer, Benjamin Moseley, William Murphy, Jeremiah Rhame, James Smart, Alexander Scott, Benjamin Neighbours, Benjamin Nix, James Crowder, Samuel Page 68 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Newman, Jonathan Wise, John Webb, Thacker Vivian, and William Woodward received pay for varying periods of militia duty; Joshua Palmer was in Brandon’s Regiment, David Golightly in Roebuck’s Regiment. f567 Of the better known laymen, Abel Kolb, of Marion’s Brigade, killed in a Tory foray into the Welsh Neck in 1781, and George Hicks of the same section, became colonels. f568 Robert Lide and Tristram Thomas of the Peedee and Francis Boykin of Camden rose to the rank of major; John Hart of Charleston was an officer of the Continental line; John Putman was a captain in Brandon’s Regiment; f569 and others might be mentioned chiefly from the Low-Country and the Peedee section. The complete historical blank which these years present for the Baptists of the back country is probably due to the intensity of the civil war waged in that section between loyalists and American Revolutionists. Rev. Oliver Hart unfortunately gives no account of his efforts in the back country in 1775, but Rev. William Tennent indicates the great uneasiness already pervading the section. Captain Woodward’s Rangers of the western part of Fairfield all signed the Association, but in the same section about Jacksons Creek a large number were “obstinately fixed against the proceedings of the colony” though proper arguments brought them to sign. Around Rocky Creek Meeting House the inhabitants signed eagerly, but above them Colonel Thomas Fletchall’s influence was strong and the difficulties increased. Along Kings Creek in Chester District at a muster of Captain Robert McAfee’s company, “were some of the most obstinate opposers of the Congress,” who, aided “by two gainsaying Baptist preachers … all refused to sign the Association but ten.” Farther down toward Bullocks Creek, men signed the “Association almost universally,” as they did after a long harangue at a meeting house on Thickety. At Goudelocks, Mr. Tennent talked with “Muchels,” probably Rev. Philip Mulkey, who is mentioned by Mr. Drayton as one of those with whom he conferred in this region. f570 There was almost a “terrible riot” at the general muster at Enoree, due to bickering between Mr. Drayton and Moses Kirkland. In this section all the leaders appeared to be loyalists. The center of loyalism in Ninty-Six Precinct was Robert Cunningham’s company, who met Mr. Tennent at Little River (of Saluda) Meeting House, and had their opinions shaken by his discourse. “Many of them seemed much shocked, some declared themselves convinced, others went away silent, a few very angry.” As this was a Baptist center, Mr. Hart also preached. Both Mr. Tennent and Mr. Hart were present at Boonsborough at “one of Mr. Harris’s preaching sheds” in the Long Cane section. About Bulltown Meeting House in Abbeville the people were “mostly opposers” of the Congress, but Mr. Tennent hoped the work of the committee had broken the opposition. Some hostility appeared around Silver Bluff and Augusta. There is every indication of high feeling, of mutual suspicion and distrust, and of fear that the Indians might be used by either party against the other. f571 The more aggressive Revolutionists were soon forcing the loyalists to choose flight, or imprisonment, or service in the army. The two groups could sometimes unite against the Indians, as in Williamson’s campaigns of 1776 and 1778, but such warfare only added to the trouble and confusion in the back country. f572 With the reduction of Charleston by the British in 1780, it was the loyalists’ turn, and in the sections where they were strong, as Little Peedee, Ninety-Six, and Orangeburg, they began to embody for the British and to force their former persecutors to do the same. f573 Those were days when Separates preaching non-resistance must have been buffeted mercilessly by both parties. Padgetts Creek Baptist Church was looking back with the sensitive sympathy of recent suffering when it wrote Page 69 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. in its “Principles” in 1784: “As to War we dont hold it right to be forward or active in any such Cases, but if our Members are Drafted and sho’d go and answer their draft with that Spirit of Meekness as becomes a Christian and returns in the Same, is in our fellowship … We do hold to open our doors to any orderly minister or Church of the Separate Order, that doth not tolerate War.” f574 Some of the old Separate Baptist meeting houses were in or near the scene of many skirmishes. Stephens [Stevens] Creek was only a few miles from Augusta, Goucher Creek a mile or so from Anderson’s Fort, where Captain Patrick Moore’s loyalists surrendered to the Revolutionists; Cedar Spring had three engagements in its neighborhood; and in the region above the Enoree, especially around Fairforest, “scarcely a day passed without some fighting.” f575 Restive in their changed conditions under the British, those Americans who had accepted protection began to take up arms, and after King’s Mountain the Revolutionists gradually regained control. The civil war in the back country grew more desperate. The British held in contempt the loyal militia man and did not demand of the American military authorities the same protection for him as for British prisoners. The loyalist’s situation was hopeless when he fell into the hands of the American militia, “who looked upon him … as a man who deserved a halter, & therefore treated him with the greatest cruelty.” The king’s supporters became “dejected & timid” while the Americans “murdered every loyalist they found whether in arms or at home.” “The unfortunate loyalist on the frontiers found the fury of the whole war let loose upon him,” as the British drew their lines toward Charleston. Driven to extremity, they took to the swamps, from which they made incursions into Whig sections to plunder and murder, and from which they were tracked with unrelenting hostility by the Americans. Each party in the regions it controlled visited upon the other abuse, indignity, and destruction, moved as much by private vengeance as by public necessity. f576 With congregations torn asunder by bitterness, the churches must have found it hard to preserve any of the forms of religion when its spirit was thus completely overwhelmed. “The war made sad havoc of friends and property; and as for religion, it was almost forgotten.” f577 Men who did well the war work of 1780 and 1781 had to learn again the ways of gentleness and peace, and only shattered churches were there to teach them and their unregenerate sons. Many of the older Baptist meetings were apparently reconstituted, new ones grew and flourished unrecorded, until with all the suddenness of revival, a teeming religious life is shown covering the back country after 1790, when the Bethel Association began to keep minutes of its meetings. As connections between old and new groups is often impossible to establish, the history of most of the churches is isolated and fragmentary. In addition, settlement was remarkably fluid, and little congregations emerged only to disappear in a few years or to reappear under different names. Separate tendencies still lingered, but regularization was so rapid as associations gathered in the groups that the names Separate and Regular disappeared and only Baptist remained. f578 Though discipline seems as rigid as before, many a cry went up from the churches regarding the wickedness of the times and the coldness of religion. Because of the impossibility of tracing interrelations among them, the churches of this period are in the main treated under the modern county in which they are located. However, one group which stands out in its several ramifications as transcending county lines, is discussed as a typical example of the church government and polity of the Baptist congregations of the day and of the growth and separate constitution of “arms” or branches of the parent body. Page 70 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. TURKEY CREEK CHURCH AND ITS BRANCHES Turkey Creek (of Saluda) Church, constituted on January 29, 1785, by Joseph Redding, and admitted to the Charleston Association the next year, has kept its records intact. f579 The constituents, sixteen in number, and later other members, signed a covenant of fourteen articles in which the Philadelphia Confession was adopted as a standard of faith and practice. Turkey Creek was thus a Regular Baptist church from its constitution. f580 Meetings were generally held on the Friday before the second Lord’s Day in each month until June 10, 1786, when it was concluded to have meetings for church business on Friday before the first Lord’s Day and the Saturday and Sunday following for public worship. On April 6, 1787, the meeting “appointed the Second Lords day in May for Communion, the Friday before we appoint to afflict ourselves by fasting because of the coldness of Religion and calamities of the times.” Somewhat the same occurred in 1788 when the church made the “Saturday before the 4th Lords day in April a day of fasting and prayer on account of the Coldness of religion, that the Lord would revive his work and that truth and Love may abound.” It was decided on April 10, 1789, to change the meetings from Friday to Saturday before the second Sabbath in each month, the Sunday service to begin at ten o’clock “while the days keep a tolerable length.” Left without a minister in 1789, the church “propos’d to keep up our meetings on the Lords day though in our weak and lame condition,” and by January, 1790, altered the meetings to the third Lord’s Day in every month to accommodate the new pastor. Business sessions, it was resolved on October 9, 1801, should have no sermon preached before business was over. The meetings of April, May, and June, 1792, began with singing as well as prayer. Communion seasons, preceded by fasting and prayer, were at first especially appointed, but quarterly communion became the rule after May, 1793. A definite fund was established for the purpose, and a unanimous decision of April 11, 1794, fixed a quarterly communion season. The church proclaimed a special fast on July 8, 1797. The revival brought no increase of services. Rev. Joseph Redding, received by letter on February 12 and called to the pastorate on May 7, 1785, served until August 8, 1789. During his ministry he was the spokesman of the congregation, representing them in association, and receiving instructions on several occasions to “give Reasons to the public” why members were not disowned for drunkenness, or “to make known to the world” why others were disowned. The church required of him with regard to his intention of removing to Kentucky the same publicity a year in advance of the trip. Three promising members had been set forward to exercise their gifts before Mr. Redding left: Chichester Matthews, John Nash, and David Green. f581 Respecting of David Green & Chechister Matthews which they shall be invested with in preaching the gospel of Christ agreed by this Church that they or either of them Shall attend one Lords day in every month at this place besides our state meetings, the remainder of their time to spend as they shall see cause which shall be most for the glory of God. Yet under the Direction of the Church. Chichester Matthews, also clerk at this time and writer of letters to the association, was dismissed on August 8, 1789, to go to Kentucky with several others who received dismissory letters at the same time. David Green did not satisfy the critical taste of Turkey Creek, and on June 12th The Church being come together for to consult matters for Gods Glory and Zion good … Br. Green is thought not to have the qualifications as the word of God Page 71 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. points out & we think it most to the glory of God. to stop him. He later removed to Poplar Spring Church. After these removals, John Nash agreed to meet with the church to enable them to keep up their services on the Lord’s Day, and Brother Sims was asked to preach to the church in order that they might become acquainted with him. This was probably Drury Sims, who was received by letter on May 14, 1790. f582 It does not appear that he was ever formally chosen pastor. John Nash served in many offices besides preaching occasionally until his death in 1794. In July, 1793, Brother George Tillman, then pastor of Little River Church, accepted a call for parttime service at Turkey Creek, “so long as it may appear Convenient.” The two churches decided, after consultation and discussion, to purchase a dwelling place for Brother Tillman convenient to both meetings and to bear an equal part of the expense. Turkey Creek assigned him business from time to time, and raised a subscription for him in January, 1798. Although Brother Tillman accepted a call to Turkey Creek for 1800, the church evidently reported Stephen Gafford as minister that year at the Bethel Association meeting. f583 Nothing appears with regard to his preaching, but the church showed confidence in his ability as moderator, messenger, and committeeman, in spite of his long wrangle with the Bayleys of Shackleford’s Meeting. He was dismissed by Turkey Creek on December 12, 1795. The church considered Benjamin Northcut “ripe for ordination” in 1793, and though he was licensed to preach in 1794, he was not finally ordained until July, 1796, at Mountain Creek Church. He served Turkey Creek as moderator, trustee, committeeman, and agent in various ways through the great revival and after; in 1802 he applied for permission to visit two other churches on Turkey Creek’s meeting day, and on June 9, 1804, Brother Arthur Williams accepted a call to the church. f584 The second Lord’s Day in May, 1787, was set apart for the ordination of elders, but there is no record of the persons ordained and no other reference to such an event. There were several “clerks to do the writing business” who kept a really remarkable record; there were besides clerks to raise singing in public meetings, deacons to attend to the church’s business affairs, trustees of the building and funds, and moderators of the business meetings. f585 Turkey Creek undertook active committee work, gave careful handling to association letters, and watched closely the conduct of its members. Of about sixty cases requiring discipline, some form of drinking to excess made twenty, lying six, passion and swearing five, non-attendance on church meetings four, disrespect to the brethren, gross immorality, and cruelty each three; while others were sporadic, as dancing, riding with saddle wrong end foremost, joining the Methodists, “attending at the courthouse at publick times when her business does not call her there.” The history of the church’s dealing with one sister is interesting because of her name. Nancy Hanks and her husband Luke Hanks were received by letter at Turkey Creek Church February 12, 1785, after which there is nothing regarding them until May 7, 1787, when the meeting “cut of her priveledge from the church for speaking disrespectful of the brethren also for disavowing the truth and for busying herself in matters that she ought not with young people.” On August 8, 1787, Nancy was excluded and disowned for her “disorderly walk,” but Luke must have remained a member, as his death is recorded in June, 1789. Little River Church petitioned Turkey Creek in August, 1794, to send a committee to try to regain fellowship with Nancy, but nothing indicates whether she was restored. Strict financial oversight of members was a part of the covenant of Turkey Creek Church. A dispute about land the meeting settled by requiring the disputants to bear the expense equally. On Page 72 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. August 11, 1786, the brethren “resolv’d unanimously that no member of this Church shall sell corn for more than two shillings per bushel nor wheat for more than Three Shillings per bushel.” Those set forward to exercise their gifts had to pay their share of the expenses of the church. Unjust dealing, killing a mare by too hard riding, failure to pay for horses cared for when lost, not giving bond after promise to do so, were cases which came before the meetings and received righteous settlement. A member was ordered to pay half the year’s rent and consider “lifting” the notes of another to whom he had been hard; the half year’s rent was set at five hundred weight of good tobacco on February 7, 1794. Lapses from moral conduct were punished by admonition and suspension, and if persisted in, by final excommunication. The church took care in earlier years to acquaint the public with the fact of excommunication, but later entries do not indicate the continuance of the practice. Signs of repentance had to be very real to be considered adequate to restoration. Members offering experience as a reason for admission into fellowship were rejected in at least two cases, and in a third baptism was postponed until the reality of the experience had received thorough discussion and observation. Several questions indicating uneasiness about communion and marriage came before the church, and such queries regarding discipline as: Shall our children & servants be obliged to attend on the Lords day answer yes or stay at home & not be runing abroad; … whether it was Right for members with us to Swop horses on any occasion answered it was lawful; … Is it Lawful for a member of society to lend his Gun to his Neighbour to carry to a Shooting match answered in the negative; … Is it commendable for one of our members to attend places of Reveling without business they Judge not. Turkey Creek was unswerving in its determination to give vitality to its discipline and to do its “Church business Regular.” The first meeting house, erected on land given by Dicky Maddox (but the deed lost), was repaired after February, 1797, “Brethren John Shirley & Nimrod Smith to Cut the pulpit lower Mr. Dodson to see to getting a Sill and put it under the meeting house.” The communion assessments and the subscription for Mr. Tillman constitute the only references to church support. Turkey Creek requested dismission from the Charleston Association in 1789 to join the Georgia Association, but met with advice against such action. For two years the church apparently neglected its place in the Charleston body, and in 1792 it was dismissed to join the Bethel Association. f586 A center of religiouss activity, Turkey Creek frequently aided its branches Little River and Poplar Spring, as well as the neighboring churches Reedy River, Mountain Creek, Bulltown, Coronaca, and others. Its recorded membership was never higher than eighty-five, to which figure it rose during a revival season between 1787 and 1790, and from which there was a rapid falling off due to the constitution of the arms as separate churches. The first branch dismissed from Turkey Creek grew up near the present town of Due West on Hogskin Creek, by which name the meeting was known in 1790. f587 A committee from Turkey Creek met with them on July 15, 1791, to “enquire whether that body was Ripe for constiution.” After a favorable report, thirteen members were dismissed, and another committee went from Turkey Creek to help constitute them a church on the Saturday before the fourth Sunday in August, 1791, the ministers present being, according to tradition, Joseph Redding, Moses Holland, and Edmund Bearden. f588 In the same year Turkey Creek sent helps to ordain deacons at Little River Church, the name which Hogskin meeting assumed and kept. f589 The minister from 1793, and probably before, Page 73 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. was Rev. George Tillman, who was ordained at Little River in 1791 and must immediately have taken charge. f590 Little River shared his services with Turkey Creek for some years and bore an equal part of the expense of purchasing a place for him convenient to both churches. f591 According to tradition, he got into difficulties with a party of Little River members about 1802-1803 and resigned. f592 Although the church licensed James Crowther in 1794-1796, he appears not to have become pastor, and 1804 found Little River successfully petitioning Big Creek Church for part of Rev. Moses Holland’s ministry. f593 Little River entered the Bethel Association in 1792. f594 At the meeting of Turkey Creek Church in June, 1794, Arthur Durham and David McGladery asked the privilege “of collecting the number of members about them to see Whether they be Ripe for constitution or not.” f595 This group built a meeting house south of Reedy River near Poplar Springs in Laurens District. f596 David Green’s plat of 1787 “whereon there is a meeting house” may show the first meeting place of this church. At their constitution on July 14, 1794, they were known as Durham Church and entered Bethel Association under that name, but by 1795 they had adopted the title Poplar Spring Church by which they are still designated. f597 The membership was small, only fifteen constituents signing the covenant, and they were without a pastor during their early years, when supplies assigned by the association frequently served them. f598 Jonathan Deweese, of Mountain Creek Church, who probably preached for them as a licentiate in 1799, had his ordination carried out at Poplar Spring in that year. Of two men called upon to exercise their gifts, Benjamin Neighbours and David Green, the first seems to have gone no further in the work, while David Green, once put down from preaching in Turkey Creek Church as lacking the necessary qualifications, became pastor of Poplar Spring in June, 1803, but was dismissed by letter in October, 1804. f599 Arthur Durham, deacon in 1794, and David McGladery, former clerk to raise tunes at Turkey Creek, must at first have conducted the Poplar Spring meetings. f600 After Mr. Durham left, John Williams, Sr., and William Norris were chosen deacons in October, 1797, John Williams (probably Jr.) in 1801, and James Simmons in 1803. The records, though scanty, are intact from the constitution of the church. Michael Henderson as clerk kept them until August, 1797, when Thomas Norris took them over. Poplar Spring, like Turkey Creek, had irregular communion for a time, but made it quarterly in 1800. The church found it hard to secure attendance on church business days. The peace of the congregation was badly torn by a secular dispute between the Gaffords and the Gaineses in 1796, while in 1797 a motion to elect a delegate and write a letter to the association brought the objection that the church was not in fellowship, some of the members being too much attached to the general system. Discipline seems less rigid than with many other churches; one case of “being intoxicated with spirituous liquors” mars the books, which also list John Williams (whether junior or senior is not stated) as under censure in 1804 for holding the “universalian plan.” f601 Poplar Spring was also a member of the Bethel Association, which it entered in 1794. f602 ABBEVILLE COUNTY CHURCHES Aside from Little River, the early churches of present-day Abbeville County had troubled beginnings. The Bethel Association in 1790 appointed a committee to investigate the church at Dirty Creek, which was probably one of its Page 74 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. constituents; the report of the investigation made in 1791 stated “that the said church had dissolved itself in a very disorderly manner, and they had recommended the minority, or orderly members, to become members of some regular church.” No Dirty Creek appears to be located in Abbeville County, but Turkey Creek received in July, 1791, Ahimaas Spencer “from a dissolv’d body at Spur Creek,” a northern branch of Little River, which may have been the body mentioned by the association. f603 Two churches were collected on Rocky River, known as Rocky River (or Upper Rocky River) and Lower Rocky River, which were both members of the Georgia Association in 1788, Lower Rocky River having been organized in 1786, Upper Rocky River probably about the same time, though no date is recorded. f604 Rev. Nathaniel Hall was pastor of both churches, more particularly of Upper Rocky River. Under the influence of an able Baptist minister, Rev. Jeremiah Walker, Mr. Hall embraced Arminian sentiments and persuaded Upper Rocky River to unite in 1790 with three churches in Georgia to form a General Baptist (or Arminian) Association, “holding Universal Provision, and finally falling from grace.” f605 This so disrupted Lower Rocky River, that, though still accounted a member of the Georgia Association, it steadily declined and was dissolved in 1792. f606 The death of Jeremiah Walker led to the rapid dissolution of the General Baptist Association. Probably after reconstitution, Upper Rocky River in 1795 applied by letter for admission to the Georgia Association; it was asked to send a delegation before entry would be considered complete. The delegates attended in 1796, but as the church was more conveniently located for membership in Bethel Association, it was dismissed from the Georgia Association in the same year and applied for admission to the South Carolina body in 1797. f607 Objections were raised because of its former principles, and the Bethel Association appointed a committee to investigate. Neither this nor a new committee of 1798 ever functioned. The association sent a letter to Rocky River in 1799 to inquire into its principles and practices, but its entrance seems never to have been effected. f608 Under the name Wilson Creek, and probably as a reorganized body, with Rev. James Crowther as pastor, this church became a constituent of the Saluda Association in 1803. f609 The membership was never large, ranging from ten in 1788, through forty in 1792, to twenty in 1803. The first site of the church was close to the present, in Abbeville County near the Anderson County line about sixteen miles south of Anderson. f610 Bulltown was the name of a section in the western part of Abbeville County. The Presbyterian Bulltown meeting house, in which Mr. Tennent preached in 1775, was located several miles above the mouth of Rocky River. The members of the dissolved Lower Rocky River Church, evidently desiring to be rid of a name then under suspicion, reconstituted themselves near Wembish’s Mill as Bulltown Church in 1793, shortly after the dissolution of the old body, and in the same year entered the Bethel Association. Without a pastor through 1796, Bulltown had supplies appointed by the association in 1794 and 1795, and petitioned Turkey Creek for help to ordain James Crowther in January, 1797. The name Bulltown then disappeared from the association records, and in its place appeared Ebenezer Church under the ministry of Rev. James Crowther. Bulltown had apparently changed its name or been absorbed by a body named Ebenezer. Ebenezer Church asked dismission from the Bethel Association in 1800 to enter a more convenient union; it became a constituent of Saluda Association in 1803. f611 Page 75 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. The indications are that the connection was close between Wilson Creek and Ebenezer, the successors to the old Upper and Lower Rocky River Churches, that they probably shared the pastorate of James Crowther, and that they united as Rocky River Church in 1810. f612 AIKEN COUNTY CHURCHES A church on Upper Three Runs in Barnwell District asked to be admitted to the Charleston Association in 1792, but unfavorable reports of the pastor being in circulation, admission, was refused until a committee consisting of Messrs. Alexander Scott and James Sweat had investigated. Permission to enter by sending delegates was given after the committee reported in 1793, but the church did not take its place in the association until 1796, when it was known as Bethesda. f613 Rev. James Sweat, minister in 1797, probably took the position in 1794 or 1795 and continued in it after 1803. f614 The date of constitution is variously given, as 1768, 1777, 1788, the last being the most probable, as no evidence of pre-Revolutionary origin has appeared, though it may have been one of Rev. Daniel Marshall’s group of meetings. f615 Bethesda requested dismission from the Charleston Association in 1802 in order to become a member of the Savannah Association. f616 Enon Church, probably not more than ten miles from Bethesda in Barnwell District, entered the Charleston Association in 1793 with sixteen members, John Williams attending as delegate. “This church originated from that at Great Saltcatcher, and was constituted the 7th of May, 1793, Rev. Messrs. Alexander Scott and James Sweat being present and assisting.” Joseph Thomas attended the association with a second report of sixteen members from Enon in 1794; after that date nothing further is heard of it, and in 1807 it was declared extinct. f617 ANDERSON COUNTY CHURCHES A large group of Baptists collected about Shockley Ferry on Savannah River in Pendleton District sometime in the eighties, and at least by 1790 had been constituted a church of that name. f618 Their earliest affiliation was with the Georgia Association, from which they were dismissed in 1792 under Rev. George Tillman as pastor in order to enter Bethel Association, but their entrance into that body was not effected until 1794, when they were pastorless. f619 Shockley Ferry had only one other minister during its existence as a church, Rev. Cooper Bennett, who was a member in 1795 and began his ministry in 1796. f620 The congregation embraced several branches, one of which, Cedar Creek in Georgia, was dismissed in July, 1801; another called Salem Meeting was constituted a separate church in November, 1802; and still another, Mountain Creek, remained an arm of the mother church well into the new century. These branches, at least after 1800, helped toward the support of Mr. Bennett. Any produce for that purpose was turned over to Mr. Van Davis, a deacon of Shockley Ferry ordained in May, 1801, at Mountain Creek. f621 Dismissed by the Bethel Association in 1800 to join a more convenient body, Shockley Ferry became a constituent of the Saluda Association in 1803. f622 Though they were in close proximity, there is no evidence of any organic relation between Shockley Ferry and Genestie Church, which is said to have Page 76 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. been organized about 1786. From its place in the list of churches, Genestie must have been a constituent member of the Bethel Association in 1789. f623 Rev. James Chastain served the church as pastor from 1790 to 1792, and possibly before. f624 During that time Genestie had a difficulty with Shockley Ferry which was settled with the help of a committee from the association. Another committee appointed in 1793 reported Genestie extinct in 1794. f625 In the same region and with some of the same members as Genestie, a new arm of Shockley Ferry called Mountain Creek, was already in existence or then began to develop under the influence of Rev. James Chastain. The place of meeting was about seven miles southwest of Anderson. The first existing record of Mountain Creek is a decision of October, 1798, that “it is Gospel for the church to do all things touching fellowship by a unanimity.” In May, 1799, they considered having John McCutchen exercise his gift, but for some reason decided that he should only sing and pray, if he felt moved to do so. Rev. Cooper Bennett did most of their preaching, and as a branch of Shockley Ferry they appointed James Burriss and Thomas McGregor in 1800 to meet with four others to adopt measures for the support of the Gospel, and again in 1801, when the question came up, they agreed that corn after Christmas and wheat after harvest should be furnished for Mr. Bennett’s support. An interesting appointment of 1801 was that of a committee to settle all temporal matters. Mountain Creek remained a branch of Shockley Ferry until February, 1812. f626 Big Creek Church, said to have been organized by Rev. Moses Holland in 1788, was one of the constituent members of the Bethel Association. f627 Originally near Saluda River in Pendleton District, about one and a half miles southeast of Williamston, the meeting place was later moved a half mile nearer the town. Rev. Moses Holland served as pastor apparently from the constitution of the church, and Big Creek generously shared his ministry with other meetings. One licentiate, George Vandiver, appears on the records of the church. Two members, John Nicholson at his own request “as long as may be to the Glory of God,” and William Stanton believing himself “to have impressions of the spirit,” received permission to exercise their gifts within the bounds of the church, but evidently their efforts did not lead to ordination. A list of members of 1801 gives James Wilborn as elder and deacon. The eldership of both Brush Creek and Brushy Creek Churches assisted in ordaining John Harper and William Harper deacons in April, 1802. As both were dismissed in November of the same year, the church in July, 1803, appointed Chanon Breazeale, Joel Holbert, and Thomas Wilson to act on trial as deacons. f628 The records of the church to September, 1801, are lost or destroyed; those remaining begin with a concise and comprehensive Rules of Decorum for church meeting days, and the first entry deals with the fate of queries put before the church, it being decided that if the body found themselves unable to answer a query which they had “unthoughtedly” taken up, they were to “acknowledge their fault to the brother who flung in the query.” A specific case must have prompted the question brought forward in December, 1803: “Is it worthy of dealling with a member for starting to market with his wagon and team or roling hogshead on the sabeth day …” to which the church answered, “We disapprobate such conduct.” Of fourteen cases of discipline from September, 1801, to December, 1804, six were for drunkenness, three for adultery or sin which “for decency and good order was not publicly charged but was left to a committy of sisters;” the rest were less serious, as not paying a note when due, bringing home a stray hound dog “not being his own property,” going to a shooting Page 77 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. match, and keeping bad company. On May 12, 1804, “The church came together in love & union haveing no dealings on hand.” Revival began in Big Creek in 1799 and brought such an increase in numbers that two branches sought and obtained independent constitution in 1803, Neals Creek and Six-andTwenty (Hopewell), and in that year Big Creek became a constituent of Saluda Association. f629 Although situated on Brushy Creek, a branch of Saluda River, Brush Creek Church soon dropped the “y” from its name, but not before giving rise to confusion in the records of neighboring churches, which sought the help of both Brush Creek and Brushy Creek under the latter name. Little is known of the history of Brush Creek. The church was organized in 1791, when Carter Tarrants itinerated there and John Gladdies was a candidate for the ministry. It entered the Bethel Association in 1794 and left in 1802 to become in 1803 a constituent member of the Saluda Association. During the early years of association, John Howard and Robert Orr served as pastors, and John Bray and James Head, an ordained minister in 1802, were officers of the church. f630 Evidently seeking help on a problem coming up in its church meetings, Brush Creek asked the association in 1795 whether it was disorderly to commune with other denominations. Brush Creek’s membership was diminishing when it entered the Saluda Association in 1803, and shortly after the church disappears from the records, apparently having been absorbed by or having changed its name to Mount Pisgah. f631 BAMRERG COUNTY CHURCHES Practically all of the churches of Barnwell District were dismissed from the Charleston Association to become members of the Savannah Association in 1803 and later. Their history for the first few years after that event is obscure. The oldest of the group appears to have been Little Salkehatchie (always called Saltcatcher), probably located a few miles south of Bamberg, constituted about February, 1787, and admitted to the Charleston Association in the same year. No minister was ever reported as serving the church, and its associational activity was always feeble, no messengers or letters being sent to the meetings after 1791. The association ended the connection by the abrupt and unexplained announcement in 1804. “Resolved, That the little Saltcatcher Church be considered as no longer a member of this body.” f632 BARNWELL COUNTY CHURCHES Great Salkehatchie (Saltcatcher) Church had a somewhat similar history. Constituted in January, 1790, the church applied for admission into the Charleston Association in that year, but no delegates attending, it was not received until 1791. The records show no regular pastor. An arm of the church called Enon received separate constitution in 1793. Great Salkehatchie also neglected its associational duties after 1799, and was dismissed to the Savannah Association in 1806. It was apparently located a few miles south of Barnwell. f633 Lower Three Runs Church, said to have been constituted about 1789, was received into union with the Charleston Association in 1798 upon good reports of its faith and practice. According to tradition, Rev. Messrs. Nathaniel Walker and James Sweat preached for them, but the reports sent to association Page 78 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. list no pastor. The Charleston Association dismissed the church in 1802 to enter the Savannah Association in 1803. f634 It was incorporated in 1804 under the name “Columbian Baptist Church of Christ on the Lower Three Runs, in Barnwell district.” f635 CHEROKEE COUNTY CHURCHES According to tradition, Baptists of the fork between Broad and Pacolet Rivers, then Union District, in 1786 heard Rev. James Fowler preach, first in an arbor. As their interest increased, they erected a building on a lot of two acres given by William Scison, near Skull Shoals on Pacolet River. Mr. Fowler and Rev. Isaac Edwards constituted a church of twenty-one members called Pacolet, on May 20, 1787. John Cole and John Reed were put in charge of discipline, as they had no pastor. f636 Among the constituents was Richard Wood, who, at least by 1790, was an ordained itinerant or help, and later minister, though he apparently discontinued preaching by 1794. f637 To compensate for their lack of a regular pastor Rev. James Fowler entered into an agreement with Pacolet Church in February, 1790, to supply every month on the third Saturday and Sunday, the church agreeing to contribute something to his support. This relation continued through July, 1801. f638 The Bethel Association, which Pacolet must have entered in 1790, appointed supplies for the church in 1802 and 1803, though in the latter year they had a licensed preacher, Ricketson Lipsey, among them. So widely scattered was Pacolet’s membership that a branch was established on Fishing Creek in Chester District which was later dismissed as Hopewell. f639 A group of Baptists in what was then Spartanburgh District organized a meeting about 1796, to which they gave the name State Line Church, as it was only a quarter of a mile from the North Carolina line. f640 The church entered the Bethel Association in 1797 without a pastor, but by 1799 John Turner and Zachariah Blackwell were licensed and preaching among them. Mr. Blackwell had probably been ordained and was serving as minister in 1803, at which time Drury Dobbins was also an officer or licensed preacher. f641 State Line Church was dismissed from the Bethel Association in 1800 to become a constituent of Broad River Association. f642 CHESTER COUNTY CHURCHES One of the ministers in Sandy River congregation in 1791 was Rev. William Woodward, who, because of the distance from the old church, gathered a distinct group on Lower or Little Sandy River in 1789; this body received separate constitution in 1792. Mr. Woodward then became the minister of the new church and remained in that position until his death. He was assisted for a time after 1793 by Mr. Vandiver, a candidate for the ministry. f643 The church tried Amos Layard’s gift but refused to license him: it extended “Brother Gents’ license of exhortation to preach any place where a door may be opened.” Brother Simonton was apparently treasurer, but it was later decided that this function should belong to the deacon’s office, and Brother Redmond replaced Mr. Simonton. Cases for discipline brought up in the early years include two for joining the Masons, and the authority of the church was strong enough to cause the offending brethren to promise either not to meet with the Masons or to leave the order entirely. The church insisted upon strict Page 79 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. observance of the Sabbath, James Hand should have started to market on Monday or Tuesday and thus have avoided traveling and working his horses and slaves on Sunday, as he was forced to do by starting on Friday; other members were reprimanded for walking or riding over their farms on Sunday. A resolution to allow grievances to be laid before the deacons prior to being submitted to the church was soon rescinded. In an interesting trial of a woman accused of knowingly marrying a man already married, the woman’s opinion that the trial committee was prejudiced caused the church to allow her to choose the majority of a new committee which reported in her favor. f644 The membership of Lower Sandy River rose from fifty in 1792 to fifty-five in 1794, but when it entered the Bethel Association in 1803, it numbered thirtytwo. f645 The church is said to have had three buildings, the first on land of Eli Cornwell on Sandy River. About 1800 it was decided to remove the church to a more convenient location. A group of trustees consisting of Elder William Woodward, Richard Evans, James Huey, Daniel Tressels, Henry Carter, Mason Huey, Jacob Dungan, Nobley Coates, and Neguens Whitted bought on October 11, 1802, a lot for three hundred dollars upon which a second wooden building “was erected beyond the cemetery in the direction of Chester” five miles from Chester on the Ashford ferry road. f646 The branch of Pacolet on Fishing Creek, which claims to have been organized in 1792, was so well established in 1793 and 1794 as to have supplies appointed for it by the Bethel Association. Its separate constitution must have taken place in 1795, as in that year Pacolet dismissed nineteen members, and a new church on Fishing Creek called Hopewell entered the Bethel Association. The new church had no minister until 1801 or 1802, when Rev. Samuel Eccles took up the work. He probably remained with the church only through 1803, after which Samuel McCreary, who was at that time a licensed minister, must have preached for them. Hopewell had few members until stirred by the great revival. f647 EDGEFIELD COUNTY CHURCHES The origin of Little Stephens [Stevens] Creek Church is obscure. It claims 1789 as the date of its constitution, and it had probably been in existence for sometime before, for it was a thriving church of fifty members with a pastor, John Thomas, in 1790. He was possibly the same who attended the Charleston Association from Enon Church in 1794. f648 When he left Little Stephens [Stevens] Creek in 1794, Henry King was a candidate for the ministry, but he was not ordained until 1798. Both Henry King and William Eddins were ministers in this congregation in 1802 and 1803. f649 The Bethel Association, which Little Stephens [Stevens] Creek entered in 1794, appointed supplies for the church, and in answer to a private query in 1797 advised the congregation to call in ministerial assistance. Whatever the difficulty, the membership in that year fell off nearly half, but it increased rapidly during the revival. f650 In response to the petition of Rev. Henry King and others, the body was incorporated in 1802 as “The Baptist Church of Christ on Little Stephen’s Creek.” f651 The church lot, said to have been given by Abram Stevens and John Head, is in the northeast corner of the county. f652 Nothing is known of the origin of Antioch Church beyond its entrance into the Bethel Association in 1804 and its incorporation by act of December, 1805. f653 It claims earlier constitution. The church still uses the same building Page 80 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. it erected in 1804, not many miles southeast of the town of Edgefield. This is the oldest Baptist church building in the State. f654 FAIRFIELD COUNTY CHURCHES A short-lived congregation was gathered about 1788 in the extreme northeast corner of Fairfield County, which took the name Rocky Creek Catawba, or Rocky Creek of Catawba River, and entered the Bethel Association in 1791 under the ministry of Rev. Edward Pigg. He, with Charles Pigg, a licensed preacher, and Arthur Shuffield, was messenger to the association in that year. The congregation numbered twenty-four in 1790 and twenty-six in 1791; this was the only report made to the association, which recorded the church extinct in 1797 f655 GREENVILLE COUNTY CHURCHES Two groups of churches, one in the north, the other in the south, with close interrelations, had by 1800 started Greenville County well on its way to its present large Baptist population. Of the northern group, a church said to have been organized in 1773 entered the Bethel Association in 1791, or before, under the name Middle Saluda Church, later variously called Middle Branch of Saluda River, Middle Fork Saluda, or Middle Fork of Saluda River. The association at once appointed a committee to inquire “into some disorders now existing in that church-to use their influence to remove them …” The committee succeeded in this case, but in 1794 Middle Fork Saluda was again in difficulties, this time with Head of Enoree. Associational committees were appointed to make inquiries, but did not report results. In 1793 Middle Fork Saluda brought a private problem before the association by inquiring whether public transgression required private dealing. Rev. John Chastain probably served as pastor from sometime before 1790 through 1796; Rev. Isaac Lemons took up the work in 1799; and Michael Tillingham preached there occasionally in 1790 through 1794. The large number of dismissals from the church in 1799 indicates the independent constitution of a branch church. The Bethel Association dismissed Middle Fork Saluda to assist in forming the Saluda Association in 1803. f656 Probably a constituent of the Bethel Association in 1789, Head of Enoree Church must have been organized about that time, with a large and scattered congregation, served by an unusual number of licensed preachers and candidates. The first church building is said to have been located about three and a half miles from Travelers Rest toward Asheville on the Buncombe Road. f657 Rev. Thomas Musick, the pastor in 1791 and 1792 and probably before, was excommunicated for immorality in 1793, and Rev. Abraham Hargess took his place. He had been ordained in 1792 and remained with the church or its branches at least through 1803. Others ordained or licensed by the church between 1791 and 1804 included David Forester, Joseph Logan, Daniel Flannery, William King, Isaiah Stephens, Joseph Willis and John Bourland; Brother Harries was encouraged to “improve his gift,” and men from other meetings, as James Fisher and Lewis Rector, were petitioned to preach. f658 William King’s work presents unusual features. After choosing him clerk in October, 1800, “the Church present [October, 1803] gave their voice for Page 81 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. William King to go forward in discipline; as leader among them during pleasure … ;” and in October, 1804, furnished him a “letter of Recommendation to travel.” f659 These licentiates and itinerants worked with the various branches of Head of Enoree. The first entry in the first surviving church book records the constitution in 1799 of some of the members about Keowee and Little River as Shoal Church; in May, 1801, they sent help to Tyger branch; in 1802 and 1803 to Rock Spring meeting house; and in August, 1803, a committee from Head of Enoree assisted in organizing Double Spring branch. Head of Enoree business meetings, held the first Saturday or the Saturday before the first Sunday in the month, usually opened with inquiry for fellowship. Drinking to excess made the largest part of their cases of discipline, which in addition included such items as holding the “Universal system,” the subject of a query put before the association in 1799; owing money and failing to pay, and selling liquor without a license. The meeting agreed in 1799 “that the Eldership do not Enter into doubtful disputation in the church.” f660 Upon the petition of Rev. Abraham Hargess, Isaiah Stephens, and Joseph Willis, ministers, and William Thurston, Harden Camp, Benjamin Bridges, Thomas Cantrell, and John Tubb, officers, the congregation was incorporated as “The Head of Enoree Baptist Society” in 1799. f661 During the revival the church held prayer meetings with extraordinary communions and took part in circuit meetings after the regular monthly meetings. Head of Enoree carefully debated joining the new association in 1800, but decided against it; then in 1801 the church sent delegates to the Bethel Association in August to ask dismissal and to the Broad River Association in October to arrange its entry into that body. f662 Main Saluda River Church, organized in 1789 probably in the neighborhood of Head of Enoree, entered Bethel Association in 1793 with thirty-seven members, William Thurston and Abraham Bradley attending as delegates. The meeting had no minister, but John Howard was ordained in 1793 and remained among them for a time. f663 During the next three years, Joseph Willis attended the association with reports showing nineteen dismissals in 1795 and six in 1796, which left only fourteen members. The church was declared extinct in 1797. Two of its important members, William Thurston and Joseph Willis, were soon members of Head of Enoree, and it is probable that that body and others of the neighborhood absorbed the Main Saluda congregation. f664 In the same vicinity a Second Reedy River Horse Neck Church is mentioned as existing in 1790 with forty members under Rev. Edmund Bearden, probably the same as the evanescent little group called Reedy River Church which sent its pastor, Rev. Edmund Bearden, and two delegates to join the Bethel Association in 1791 with a report of forty members; and though they reported increased membership in 1792, they were declared extinct as a church in 1793. f665 Early in that year, a new body consisting of many of the former members of Reedy River was constituted under Rev. Edmund Bearden with the name Head of Tyger River Church, which it retained among the surrounding congregations, though it entered the Bethel Association in August as Concord Church. Besides the pastor, the officials in 1794 were Rev. Robert Smith, Richard Braswell, David Hall, and James Hollins. f666 After Mr. Bearden’s departure, their membership fell off, partly because of separate constitution of branches. They had a strong leader in Baylis Earle, but remained without a pastor until 1803, when in October they asked the help of Head of Enoree to ordain a minister and deacons. f667 Concord was dismissed by the Bethel Association in 1801 to join Page 82 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. the Broad River Association, and it must at that time or shortly after have returned to the designation Head of Tyger Church, as Head of Enoree refers to it under that name in 1803 and it is so listed in the Broad River Association in 1811. It was close to the North Carolina line. f668 The last of the group of north Greenville County churches to be formed before the great revival began as a branch of “Concord meeting house Tyger River,” on June 2, 1794, during a visit of the Concord eldership to the Brushy Creek (Enoree) section. These officials empowered the members received “to proceed to any branch of business when a minister is with them, and to hold their church meetings monthly and to render an account of their proceedings every month to the church.” A presbytery consisting of Rev. Messrs. John Williams, Augustine Clayton, and Robert Smith on March 7, 1795, constituted them a church called Brushy Creek, which entered the Bethel Association the next year under the ministry of Rev. Lewis Rector. f669 The church records are blank until July, 1799, when the meeting “took Abraham Carney under dealing for grinding on the sabbath and for contending that there was no gospelsabath.” This was a difficult case and required “helps” from neighboring churches. While it was being considered, other situations troubled the church such as finding that the constituents had adopted no confession of faith, and offending Head of Enoree by accepting its members at a distance from it. The last they agreed never to do again. As with most of the churches, drunkenness most frequently came before them for dealing. A member accused of drinking and extortion admitted the latter but denied the former, on which the meeting was inclined to exclude him, but “agreed to lay the matter over until next meeting” because one of the committee on the case, Captain Horatio Griffin, “rather inclined to wave his being drunk.” Solomon Hornbuckle was chosen moderator on September 17, 1802, and in December of that year the church decided that it must have two deacons, telling Mr. Hornbuckle and Pleasant Hudson to “take thought on that subject.” Money was collected for the cemetery, and on December 11, 1802, a committee consisting of Joseph Wilbanks, Solomon Hornbuckle, Archibald Fowler, Pleasant Hudson, and Jacob Bridewell was appointed to “fix or pitch upon the most advantage place for a meeting house with good waters, at or near the center of the society as a majority may agree.” Brushy Creek attended carefully to its associational duties, and regularly collected money for printing the minutes. Remarkable revival effects appeared in 1802, among them special days of fasting and prayer, prayer meetings, opening a door for experience at private houses, as Janey Kilgore’s and Benjamin Butler’s, and extra meetings at Milford meeting house and Head of Long Branch, these probably being arms of Brushy Creek Church. f670 The group of churches in the south of Greenville County began with Reedy Fork, which was probably organized sometime previous to 1789 and entered Bethel Association in that year. It had a membership of twelve in 1790, and of thirteen in 1791, when John Ford and William Cotton carried the report to the association. Reedy Fork was extinct as a church in 1792, f671 and part of its congregation scattered. The remainder entered Horse Creek Church, which was organized in 1789, probably a constituent of the Bethel Association. Though without a pastor and with a small membership, Horse Creek appeared well represented on the association lists until 1799, when Fork Shoal Church took its place, under which designation Horse Creek must have been renamed or reconstituted. Fork Shoal likewise had no pastor, though Rev. Jonathan Deweese Page 83 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. was with the church from 1800 to 1802. Severing its connection with the Bethel Association in 1802, Fork Shoal became a constituent of the Saluda Association. f672 Little Horse Creek Church was organized in the same region about 1794. It entered the Bethel Association in that year with Rev. James Chastian as minister. He continued with the church until it was declared extinct in 1798. Doubtless it was considering reorganization when it asked the association in 1795 whether five could constitute a church. f673 GREENWOOD COUNTY CHURCHES Cambridge Church, some miles south of Ninety-Six, had two ministers in the congregation, Rev. John Waller and Rev. David Lilly, when it entered the Bethel Association in 1794. The first soon left, the second served as pastor through the great revival, except for the year 1798, when the church had no pastor. The date of constitution is unknown, but Cambridge’s question put before the Bethel Association in 1794, whether decision in church affairs should be by majority or unanimity, indicates the uncertainty of recent organization. f674 The church was incorporated in 1805. f675 The Baptists living along what is now Wilsons Creek organized a church under the old name of the creek, Coronaca, and entered the Bethel Association in 1794. It is probable that it received some of its early membership from the rapidly disintegrating Raeburns Creek meeting. Not many miles below Turkey Creek (Saluda), Coronaca had intimate relations with that church, and asked its help on serious matters. The meeting had no pastor through 1800, though Arthur Williams was licensed and working among them in 1799. He was ordained and assumed the pastorate in the year 1801, when the name of the church was changed to Providence. f676 Ten or twelve miles southeast of Coronaca (Providence), a presbytery consisting of Rev. David Lilly, Rev. John Waller, William Chiles, and Meshec Overby constituted Siloam Baptist Church on June 29, 1799, “for the better convenience of keeping up the worship and discipline of the church of Christ.” Thirty-two members, among them Rev. John Waller, who was chosen “occasional pastor,” composed the new body, which became one of the Bethel Association churches in the same year. Two lay elders were to be chosen in December, 1800, but the records, scattered and incomplete, do not name them. Siloam had at the time a meeting house or an arm at Mt. Gerizim; church meeting was to be held every other month, the Lord’s Supper to be administered once a quarter, and “The brethren to find the mind at each place, in rotation.” The deacons in 1803 “were impowered to furnish the tables ddequate for the Lord’s supper in a decent manner,” and to demand the reason if any member repeatedly refused to commune. The death of Rev. John Waller in 1802 left the church without pastoral aid until it took Rev. Arthur Williams as supply in 1803. f677 LAURENS COUNTY CHURCHES Rev. Jacob Roberts organized a church with one hundred and twenty-four members, it is said, four or five miles southeast of present Fountain Inn Page 84 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. during 1781, that stormy year of the Revolution, and its history to 1800 fulfilled the auguries of its beginning. So closely were church and pastor identified, that most of the neighboring churches called it Jacob Roberts’s Church, or Roberts’ Church, but the name from the first was Durbin Creek. A conference of Padgetts Creek members met at Durbin Creek on September 1, 1788, and took under consideration the Acting of Jacob Roberts & his Church in their dealing with their Members & Excommunicating them for not hearing the Church concerning the Mother of John Webbs transgression … it was the unanimous voice of the Conference that Roberts & his Church was wrong in their acting with their Members — for which cause we had as a Conference to declare against them and their acting. f678 Under the weight of condemnation, then, Rev. Jacob Roberts appeared at Cedar Springs in 1789 to assist in organizing the Bethel Association, but the new association also condemned him and his church. At his request, the association agreed in 1791 to reconsider his case if he would “resign himself to the counsel and admonition of the association.” This he refused to do. He was declared out of union and the churches were advised not to attend his ministry. Durbin Creek supported him, apparently until his death, and remained out of fellowship until 1800, when it gave satisfaction, but did not enter the association until 1803. Its delegates that year were Samuel Brown, Thomas Goodwin, and John Dean, the first two of whom were later ordained to the ministry. f679 Although Durbin Creek was a large church with one hundred and twenty members in 1794 and seventy-two in 1803, it must have sunk to a low state in the years between, as Friendship Church thought it extinct in 1802. f680 A church called Big Branch Enoree or Big Branch of Enoree River was constituted in 1789 and entered the Bethel Association in 1791, having for its pastor Rev. Drury Sims. His connection with the congregation must have ended in 1798, as the association appointed supplies for them in that year. The membership was small and generally decreasing. In 1799 the church disappeared from the association records, probably combining with Horse Creek Church to form Fork Shoal, or dismissing its few remaining members to that church and to Brushy Creek. f681 Organized about 1788, possibly from Durbin Creek, Upper Duncans Creek Church, or Upper Church on Duncans Creek, was probably a constituent of the Bethel Association, though it may have entered in 1790. The only minister they had during the early years was Rev. Joshua Palmer, who came to them in 1793. In November, 1794, Padgetts Creek Church sent Brother Mordecai Chandler to Upper Duncans Creek to conduct “a piece of Business in regard to Br. Palmer’s affairs in the Year past.” The church occasionally exchanged help with Friendship. The congregation secured incorporation in 1794 under the name Upper Baptist Church on Duncans Creek. John Brown is said to have been a candidate for the ministry in 1790-1792, and Reuben Kelly was a licentiate in 1803, when tremendous revival effects appeared. f682 Bethabara Church entered the Bethel Association shortly after its constitution in 1794, by Richard Shackleford, David Lilly, and John Waller, under the ministry of Rev. John Waller, who remained through 1798. Rev. Henry Hitt, who was ordained at Bethabara on July 25, 1801, by Rev. Messrs. John Waller and David Lilly, took over the pastorate and was delegate to association in 1802. The church was located near Spring Grove on headsprings of Banks Creek of Page 85 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Saluda River probably in the neighborhood of the old Little River of Saluda Church. The first building was erected by subscription as free to all but soon became Baptist. f683 MCCORMICK COUNTY CHURCHES The churches of the Savanah River region tended to associate with Georgia groups. Callahan’s Mill Church, which was constituted in 1785, entered the Georgia Association sometime before 1792. It had as its pastor 1792-1793, and probably after, Rev. Samuel Cartledge. It was dismissed by the Georgia Association in 1804 to enter the Bethel Association the next year. f684 On April 21, 1798, Isaiah Blackwell conveyed one acre on Plum Branch to “the church of Reverent Charles Blackwell,” the deed having as witnesses Enoch Breazeale, Jesse Hill, and Joab Blackwell. f685 This reveals an already existing organization, which may have been called Four-Mile Creek. The church claims 1795 as the date of its constitution, at which time it may have entered the Georgia Association where it is listed in 1803 with thirty-nine members under Rev. Enoch Breazeale. The baptism of eleven members that year indicates a revival. The Georgia Association dismissed Plum Branch in 1804, and in 1805 it entered the Bethel Association. f686 NEWBERRY COUNTY CHURCHES No connection between Upper Duncans Creek and Lower Duncans Creek Churches (or Lower Church on Duncans Creek) has been established, although they we. e only about twenty miles distant from each other, Lower Duncans Creek lying some fourteen miles east of Clinton. The lower church was organized in 1786 and joined the Bethel Association in 1790 when Rev. Micajah Bennett was pastor and Jacob King a licentiate. Mr. Bennett served the church through 1793 and again in 1796-1798. Of two candidates admitted in 1792, Reuben and John Rowland, Reuben was licensed to preach and remained with the church several years. Lower Duncans Creek had to secure help of Bush River to settle a difficulty in July, 1799, and in 1803 asked the association whether a minister could be pastor of more than one church at a time, probably due to difficulty in securing a preacher. f687 OCONEE COUNTY CHURCHES The beginnings of the churches in the Oconee County section of what was formerly Pendleton District were in the main closely connected with Shoal Creek Church, a congregation of Franklin County, Georgia, not far across the Tugaloo from Chauga. The first entry in the earliest extant Shoal Creek Church book is dated January, 1796, and reads: “The Church met according to appointment,” which implies constitution prior to that date, at the latest sometime in 1795. At the time Rev. John Cleveland was pastor and Charles Bond church clerk. f688 As early as April 23, 1796, Coneross, to which Brother Cleveland was to preach quarterly or oftener if called, is mentioned as an arm of Shoal Creek with the same implication of previous existence; while on October 22, 1796, the church told “Brother Cleveland to attend at Shole Creeke Page 86 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. first Chocy Next Chogy third Coney Ross forth,” to lead in keeping the days of humiliation and prayer suggested in the circular letter and minutes of the Charleston Association brought back by Mr. Cleveland from the Sarepta Association meeting. Coneross continued as an arm of Shoal Creek until September, 1798, when it petitioned the parent church for separate constitution, the congregation having been known previously as “Cobbs & Kilpatrick Meeting House.” The committee appointed to attend consisted of Thomas Gilbert, John Doss, and Rev. John Cleveland while Thomas Maxwell and Dozier Thornton were asked to attend at Coneross at any time that congregation appointed. In May of 1800, Shoal Creek sent John Cleveland, Thomas Gilbert, John Doss, Francis Callaway. John Barton, Charles England, and James Gibson as “helps for ordination” at the petition of Coneross. The minister ordained was probably Littleton Meeks, as he is listed as pastor in the minutes of the Sarepta Association, which Coneross joined in 1800. At that time there were seventythree members of the church, one of whom was John Cobb, pastor in 1805, when the membership had increased to one hundred and seventy-eight. f689 In April, 1797, Shoal Creek “Recvd a petition by the hand of Brother Poe in behalf of a scattered peopel that the Church would send thare minestearl help to advise with them,” in answer to which Brethren John Cleveland, William Martin, William Gates, Benjamin Cherry, John Carter, Peter Waters, Benjamin Barton, and Charles Bond were to attend at the place appointed for a meeting house on the fifth Lord’s Day in May, and to receive the congregation as a church if they desired. Nothing seems to have come of this, and another petition “from part of our Bretharn Near Bever dam meting house for Constitution” met the response: “We think that thay are not Ripe as yet by not being found in the worke.” However, in June, 1797, Esas Harbour, John Prestrig, Stephen Poe, William Haley, Mark Haley, John Silman, Aaron Arnal, Elizabeth Prestrig, and Fancy Haley, were dismissed for constitution. Only one other reference to this group occurs, when on Saturday before the second Lord’s Day of November, 1799, Shoal Creek for convenience “Met at Beverdam Meeting hous and Prudance Leget joins by letter.” This was the beginning of Hepzibah Church on Beaverdam Creek, which had an arm called Beaverdam constituted apparently about 1803. f690 In May, 1804, Shoal Creek received a petition from Liberty Meeting House for helps for constitution. A presbytery was appointed which reported in July that the constitution took place on the 28th day of June of sixty members under the pastoral guidance of Rev. Francis Callaway, long an active member, deacon and minister of Shoal Creek. f691 The mother church itself, with its many arms, listed two hundred and nine members in fellowship in September, 1797, most of whom must have been in South Carolina. It was conscientious in its “deeling” with its members. The church book, kept at first by Charles Bond as clerk with Francis Callaway as assistant in 1798, and then by William Callaway in 1804, is a full and engagingly misspelled record of the sins and struggles of the members. Meetings opened always with prayer and exhortation, and often with singing, after which the congregation “set in church order.” In February, 1796, Brother John McNeill informes the Church that he has attatched some of the property of Brother Watson detest it being the only way he had to Come at his Right the Church Commety sent out on the Matter Repoarts that thay find Brother McNeil not out of duty as fare as we heare. Brother Moses denman Comeplains that thare is a matter of tempral deeling betwixt him and Brother John Carter and that he is not sattisfied — the Commete sent out Brings in Page 87 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Report that Brother Denmans Bargain and Brother Carters Bargain to Stand as they made it. Brother Denman saying something disrespectful of the church shortly after, the committee “finding him Ripe for Excummunication we give him up to the mesengir of Satin for the distruction of the flesh that the Sperit may be savd in the day of the Lord.” In considering the case of Brother Josiah Burgess, cited for selling corn at a dollar a bushel and stating that he also sold wheat at a dollar and a quarter a bushel, the church’s committee announced that they could not with consistency fix a price for grain, “owing to the Various Sircumstances which often attend contracts Respecting that article.” The question “What is extortion?” asked in this connection met the response: “To Reeve more for any artickel than its Rail value.” In two other cases serious financial questions arose. Of the sins dealt with, drunkenness with eighteen cases stands high in the list. Where the member confessed with sorrow and promised reform, the church “Bares and Sympethis” with him. Swearing and giving way to passion rank second, followed by fighting, striking, attending or engaging in shooting matches, unlawful pregnancy, adultery, desertion of family, “Gumping with wicked,” dancing, fraud in selling land, taking plank from the meeting house — all met admonition or exclusion with the prayer: “And Lord have mercy on his Sole.” Of the officers of the church, Francis Callaway and William Gates were deacons in 1799, Joseph Chandler and James Jackson in 1803. Besides John Cleveland, the regular pastor, and Thomas Maxwell (or Maxfield) and Dozier Thornton, who frequently preached, the church put forward for ordination Francis Callaway in 1801 and Charles S. Morton in 1803. Elections or appointments of officers were prepared for as on April 27, 1799, when the church “Left on the Minds of the Breatheran to Look to God for a Decon and consider his Deuty.” The members responded promptly to calls for ministerial helps. The church book refers to communion only once, when the ordinance was postponed from the March quarterly meeting in 1797 to the fourth Lord’s Day in June. The meetings not only opened but frequently closed with singing, prayer, and exhortation, and the texts of the sermons are often listed. Shoal Creek entered the Sarepta Association in 1796, sending as delegates from that year through 1804 James Blair, Francis Callaway, John Carter, John Cleveland, John Doss, William Gates, Thomas Gilbert, and Charles S. Morton. The 1800 membership of two hundred and twelve was greatly increased by the revival in the next four years. The center of the congregation had so shifted in the meantime as to necessitate the removal of the constitution and church book to South Carolina and the adoption of the name Chauga Church in January, 1811. f692 Chauga is located about halfway between Westminster and Chauga Creek. f693 At the meeting of Head of Enoree Church the Saturday before the first Sunday in November, 1799, “A Report was made of the Constitution of the Keowe and little River brethren, named Shoal Church,” consisting of thirteen members chiefly of the Taber and Tubb families. This South Carolina Shoal or Shoal Creek Church entered the Bethel Association in 1800 with twenty-nine members, James Courtney and George Tubb being the delegates. In that year, Isaiah Stephens, later pastor, became a member. The Bethel Association dismissed the church in 1802 to become a constituent of Saluda Association in 1803. f694 Page 88 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. PICKENS COUNTY CHURCHES Evidence of early origin of Liberty Church at Liberty in Pickens County is slight. It claims 1780 as its date of constitution, but 1790 is more probable. Its associational history did not begin until 1817. f695 Secona Church claims it was constituted in 1785, but it was probably organized just before its entrance into the Bethel Association in 1790 or 1791. At that time William Murphy was a licensed preacher of the congregation; he was ordained in 1792 and served as pastor from 1793 to 1800. Solomon Smith, an ordained minister, in 1799 represented Secona in association; Elnathan Davis in 1800, Rev. Solomon Smith becoming pastor in 1802. Secona was one of the constituents of Saluda Association in 1803. It is situated not far from the town of Pickens. f696 Keowee or Keowee River Church, organized in 1791, entered the Bethel Association in 1793. Rev. Joseph Logan became pastor sometime between 1791 and 1796 and served the church for several years, but reports to association were so irregular as to make the length of his pastorate uncertain. At the same time James Abbott was a candidate for the ministry. Other messengers to association were Isaac Lynch in 1794 who reported seventeen members, William Floyd in 1796 when there were twelve, and Charles Dodson in 1800 who again reported seventeen communicants. The church was dismissed by the Bethel Association in 1802 to enter the Saluda Association. It stood on a two acre lot of land originally granted to John Gresham in Pendleton District near Fort Prince George and Crow Creek on the Keowee River. f697 Nothing is known of Oolenoy Church but that it entered the Bethel Association in 1799 under John Chastain as minister, with William Eddins as messenger; at that time its membership was sixty. Situated near Caesars Head on the west side of the Pumpkintown-Pickens road near the old Pickens road, it was one of the churches dismissed to form Saluda Association. f698 Cross Road Church emerged in 1798 as a member of Bethel Association, represented by Nathaniel Newman and John McClure. Situated about twelve miles northwest of Table Rock on the head branch of Doddys Creek of Saluda River, it was a near neighbor of Head of Enoree, with which it frequently exchanged aid. Archibald Harris was pastor in 1799. John Bourland and William Davis were considered for the position in 1803, when Head of Enoree petitioned for part of Mr. Bourland’s labors. William Davis became minister in August, 1804, after Mr. Bourland left. The membership fell from seventy-nine in 1798 to fifty-two in 1802. Cross Road Church was also one of the constituents of the Saluda Association. f699 SALUDA COUNTY CHURCHES Mill Creek Church, constituted in 1794, entered the Bethel Association in the same year without a regular pastor but with a licensed preacher, John Bolger, who served as pastor most of the time from 1795 to 1804. Rev. Chesley Davis was also a member of this congregation after 1799. A difficulty of some importance late in 1801 required assistance from Bush River Church for its settlement. f700 SPARTANBURG COUNTY CHURCHES Page 89 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Baptist churches throve mightily in this section. Buck Creek Church claims to have become a constituted body in 1779 and may be one of the Fairforest group, but as nothing is known of its early history, it is included among the churches organized after the Revolution. Situated near Pacolet River about twelve miles northeast of Spartanburg, the church was a constituent of the Bethel Association in 1789, of the Broad River Association in 1800, and had close relations with Cedar Spring Church. Among its messengers to association from 1791 to 1794 two ordained ministers, John Hightower and Thomas Burgess, often appeared, and from 1796 to 1798 Rev. Isaac Cantrell labored among them, but whether any of these was pastor is not evident. f701 Though constituted in 1786, Cedar Spring Church, having preserved none of its church books prior to December, 1794, has no record of its early history except that found in association minutes. It was a constituent member of the Bethel Association and the place of organization of that body. As Cedar Spring apparently had no pastor for sometime after its beginning, the association appointed supplies, chiefly Alexander McDougal and Richard Wood, from 1791 to 1793. f702 Mr. McDougal made his relations with the church more permanent in May, 1795, by accepting their invitation to attend them monthly, and his ministrations continued at least through May, 1800. Early in 1798 Rev. John Williams made the same agreement, but in September, 1800, he had to be admonished “to handle the Doctrine of Election or predestination in a more tender manner,” and his connection with Cedar Spring probably ceased after his suspension by Tyger River Church in July, 1801. Able preachers meantime arose in the congregation, Joroyal Barnett and David Golightly having their gifts “tolerated and approved of” in November, 1794, and being required to “exercise the same in the pales of the Church or occasionally at Sister Churches.” After serving as licentiates, both received ordination, Joroyal Barnett in July, 1802, and David Golightly on May 2, 1803. The church called Mr. Barnett to the pastorate in March, 1803, and he served them many years. He had previously held the offices of clerk, ordained elder, and deacon. William Lancaster succeeded him as clerk in July, 1795, and was in turn succeeded by Christopher Golightly in October, 1804. The deacons ordained between 1794 and 1804 were Jesse Connell, Charles Smith, William Underwood, and Christopher Golightly; those on trial Joroyal Barnett, William Lancaster, and Micajah Barnett. Cedar Spring held its business meetings or church conferences on the Saturday before the fourth Sunday of the month, and of these the clerks kept full and careful minutes, spreading upon the records copies of letters received and sent. Discipline occupied a large part of the time of the meetings, but avoidance of publicity before excommunication characterized their dealings, a ruling to that effect being incorporated in the new constitution and rules of decorum adopted in June, 1802. Adultery among the negroes and drunkenness among the whites occurred more frequently than any other offenses. The case of the mother and stepfather of a woman who came upon the charity of the church long disturbed the congregation. A committee of visiting ministers decided that, as the daughter was of mature age, the mother and stepfather did not owe her support, but so bitter was the feeling against them for their neglect and harshness, that after summoning them several times, the church refused to allow the man to exercise his gifts and at last declared both man and wife out of its fellowship. Brethren sent to John Cook for adopting universal principles reported “that they have labour’d and find him in a traveling circumstance after truth and that he is still in a hopeful case” — so hopeful Page 90 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. that he soon acknowledged his error. Public questions came up for consideration, the church deciding in March, 1797, that it would not be “dutiful to Elect Deists or Atheists to the State Legislature” and after long hesitation referring to the association in 1799 a query as to “wether or not it is agreeable to the gospel to hold Negroes in Slavery.” The association evidently suppressed this question in committee. The church kept careful financial records with lists of those subscribing to various objects. In February, 1797, some of the members contributed salt, iron, or money to pay Rev. Alexander McDougal, and occasional supplies of the kind were collected for the ministers up to January, 1800, when a regular contribution was fixed. The rate of pay is not stated, but in May of that year Rev. Mr. McDougal received $28.50, and Rev. John Williams $15.25. The church supported two persons for a time before turning them over to the commissioners of the poor, and raised funds to help Rev. Augustine Clayton after the burning of his home. The first meeting house was not at Cedar Spring but a mile or two to the south. The congregation debated moving to the spring in January, 1795, but decided to recover the old building, the nails being specially prepared and the shingles paid for in corn. In November the brethren and their neighbors built a shed at the north end and in September, 1796, Charles Smith and David Golightly floored the galleries and made steps. Quarterly communion beginning in March was the rule after May, 1796; the deacons regularly purchased wine for the purpose, and the church concluded in September, 1797, that it was not the duty of the deacons or ministers to break the bread in little bits for communicants. The books record one fast day, December 21, 1798. As revival spread, services increased in number; stated meetings were held at the meeting house on the second Sunday in the month and the regular meetings often opened with preaching. Cedar Spring maintained intimate relations with Fairforest, Friendship, Jameys Creek, Boiling Spring, and Bethlehem churches. It took part in the conferences at Greens Creek in 1797 and 1800 and at Sandy Run in 1799 to consider petitioning the Bethel Association for dismission, but refused to join in the petition until 1800, when it was one of the churches dismissed to form the Broad River Association. Though the figures reported to the association do not appear large, yet Cedar Spring was probably the mother church for Bethlehem, Holly Springs, Philadelphia, and others. f703 The largest and probably the most influential Baptist church of the back country in the quarter century following the Revolution was located on the ridge between Enoree and Tyger Rivers and was known officially as Jameys Creek Church until 1798, when the Bethel Association agreed, upon request, that it “be hereafter called Bethel” Church. Its neighbors of that period know it as Shackleford’s meeting or Richard Shackleford’s church. It may have been the successor of Little River of Saluda, but was probably a branch of Durbins Creek for several years. Bethel Church assumed separate existence about September 16, 1787, the date of the first record in its church books. The organization had several branches after 1790, which, as the new century opened, tended to centralize in the one called Woodruff’s meeting house. Joseph Woodruff and Robert Page were the first deacons. Rev. Richard Shackleford accepted a call to the pastoral care of the church on July 20, 1789, and he remained to make Bethel the storm center of the great revival. Rev. Messrs. James Hill, David Lilly, and John Rowland assisted him at different times. Jameys Creek Church does not appear to have been a constituent of the Bethel Association, but it entered that body in 1790, and Page 91 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. was the association’s meeting place that year and for two-thirds of the time in the next fifteen years. Its close relations with the Bethel Association in the early years may have resulted in Jameys Creek changing its name to Bethel Church. The act of incorporation of 1804 names the “Baptist Bethel Church in the district of Spartanburgh,” and under that name Joseph Woodruff conveyed to it on July 9, 1804, twelve and a half acres on a branch of Enoree River including the “old Former Bethel meeting House.” The first two buildings were of logs; the third, built about 1803 was a long, low-frame building, never ceiled, and with a gallery across each end. The pulpit was situated in the centre of one side. It was a high, squareshaped box, with steps running up at one end, enclosed with a door. The book board was so high that a minister of small stature might find some difficulty in making himself seen over it. The oldest gravestones are those of Anney Alexander who died in 1796 and William Moon who died in 1798. f704 Mountain Creek Church, some ten miles southeast of Bethel, was probably one of its branches constituted and admitted to the Bethel Association in 1794, under Rev. Thomas Whitman as pastor. The pastorate was then vacant until 1799, when Rev. Benjamin Northcut took it over, being assisted by a licentiate, Jonathan Deweese. Its numbers never rose above nineteen, and the church was extinct in 1800. f705 Bethlehem Church, located some five miles south of Spartanburg, and one of the arms of Cedar Spring Church until 1800, was in existence sometime prior to that date, having been the place of meeting of the Bethel Association in 1798 and in 1800. It probably came into being about the time of the gift by Jeremiah Salmon on July 8, 1797, of an acre lot on the North Fork of Tyger to members of the Baptist church and other subscribers of other denominations. The deed was delivered to Rev. Augustine Clayton for the use of all denominations but preferably Baptists. On June 21, 1800, Bethlehem Church petitioned the assistance of Cedar Spring Church in adopting a constitution, and Cedar Spring appointed Brethren Joroyal Barnett, William Lancaster, and Charles Smith to attend on the third Saturday in July. Again in January, 1801, and January, 1804, Bethlehem requested help of Cedar Spring for ordination. The presbytery for the purpose is said to have consisted of Joroyal Barnett, Joseph Camp, George Brewton, and Augustine Clayton. The constituent members were James Crook, Sr., Robert and Thomas Foster, John Gideons, James Ridings, Isaac and Thomas Tinsley, and others. Augustine Clayton served as pastor until 1803, at which time he also supplied Philadelphia Church, and then moved West. John Golightly and Robert Foster as officers of Bethlehem Church attended an ordination at Cedar Spring Church on May 21, 1803, and Isaac Tinsley is mentioned as messenger to the Bethel Association in 1803. f706 An arm of Bethlehem known as Holly Springs received separate constitution in 1803, and Philadelphia Church, also constituted in 1803, drew many of its members from Bethlehem, as well as Cedar Spring and Union Churches. Mt. Zion Church existed as an arm of Bethlehem in 1804. f707 UNION COUNTY CHURCHES The first entry in Padgetts Creek church books, all of which have been preserved, reads: “We the Church of Christ on Tyger River under the Care of Frederick Crowder Minister of the Gospel Was Examined and found fit and Constituted the 22nd. Day of November 1784, by John Webb & John Cole Ministers Page 92 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. of the same faith and order.” By decision of January, 1788, the church expressed the desire still to be called Tyger River, but as it entered the Bethel Association in 1789 at the same time that the older Tyger River (Friendship) became a member, it must have concluded to use thereafter the name of one of its meeting houses on Padgetts Creek. It was probably a branch of Fairforest or Tyger River (Friendship) or drew its membership from both. Mr. Crowder got into financial difficulties in 1788, and supplies appointed by the association served the church until one of the members, John Putman, was ordained and became pastor in 1794. The church also arranged for the ordination of Spencer Bobo and of Thomas Greer, Jr., in 1799, and of Nathan Langston in 1804, besides licensing Lewis Hunt, Jeremiah Burns, Joshua Greer, Hosea Holcombe, and Thomas Ray, and permitting exhortation by Nathaniel Jackson, John Curtis, Jesse Howard, William Wilbanks, Jr., Christopher Robinson, and Caleb Smith. William Call received advice which all speakers would do well to consider: “to set a strict watch over his Conversation in a publick Gift and to stop when his light is out, or in a reasonable time.” The covenant calling for elders as well as ministers and deacons, Moses Hains was chosen to that position in 1787. and William Wilbanks, Junior and Senior, in 1793. At the constitution of the church Barnett Putman and William Wilbanks, Sr., received ordination as deacons; in 1794 Joseph Nix and William Wilbanks, Sr., were “put forward as deacons being ordained of old,” with William Wilbanks, Jr., to assist them and keep accounts. Nathan Langston was added to the list of deacons in 1799, Benjamin Nix put on trial in 1800, William Wilbanks, Sr., in 1802, and David Floyd and William White ordained deacons in 1803, “they having been prov’d.” Ralph Jackson and Joseph Simmons did much of the writing, but no clerks are mentioned. Monthly meetings were altered from the third Sunday to the second in 1793, and again reversed in 1799. Many called meetings and special appointments between stated meetings characterized the revival period. Communion was quarterly beginning in October, 1799. The books show constant and unremitting attention to discipline, in some years scarcely a meeting passing without a rule of conduct being added, and an entirely new set of rules was drawn on August 20, 1803. Almost no drunkenness mars the record, probably because offenses were seldom named unless excommunication had to be pronounced. Oversight of the financial dealings of members received most attention. The church investigated charges of fraud, unlawful collection, or too hasty execution for debt. A member came forward on September 1, 1803, and “laid in a grief against the Church for wronging him out of the Money for which he had an Execution to gain.” Some of the congregation being “somewhat hurt” with a brother for “going away in Peoples Debts,” the church agreed to “Send a Letter after him.” A resolution of 1788 to “maintain the Ministry by a Subscription of writing” followed the curt order to Brother Crowder to “settle his own accompt,” and it was later agreed that those exercising their gifts should pay with the rest. On August 7, 1791, the church “Labour’d with Wm. Pearson about the principle of falling from Grace & he held his principle. … and is Excommunicated for the same & his hard Spirit with the Church.” There was also a case of joining the Methodist society in 1804. f708 Padgetts Creek maintained cordial relations with Fairforest, Tyger River, and Upper Duncans Creek Churches. As the revival advanced, Rev. John Putman formed a branch at the meeting house near him; Rev. Spencer Bobo was privileged, “with as many Members as he thinks fit, to open a Door for Experience & Receive Members about where he lives,” and the church Page 93 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. met frequently at the river, at the bridge, and at Padgetts Creek meeting house. f709 YORK COUNTY CHURCHES Little is known of Catawba Church. It was located between Rock Hill and Catawba, and was also called Ellisons Creek and Catawba River in its early years. Constituted in 1790, it entered the Bethel Association in 1793 without a pastor, but with a licensed preacher, Rev. Davis Collins, who became pastor in 1794 and remained in the office throughout the period under discussion. Rev. John Rooker, of Sugar Creek Church, preached for Catawba occasionally. In May, 1796, he spoke so searchingly on the duty of a church to its minister as to cause Brother Bromfield and other Catawba members to complain to his church, but the matter was amicably adjusted. The relations between the two churches were close. f710 Sugar Creek Church, constituted in 1792 of twelve members “residing in the Catawba Indians’ land & the vicinity,” between Fort Mill and Sugar Creek, entered the Bethel Association in 1793. Its covenant was drawn and its constitution carried out by Rev. Abraham Marshall, of Georgia, on May 1, 1792. On October 29, 1793, Rev. James Fowler and Rev. Joseph Camp came by request of the church from the Bethel Association and “Set apart by Solemn prayer to God & laying on of hands, John Dinkins Senr & John Smith Deacons, & John Rooker minister …” Apparently there were still twelve members at that time, including one slave. Their monthly conferences were held on the Saturday before the second Sabbath in each month and opened with solemn prayer and preaching, or “public worship.” They apparently made only occasional provision for “a communion of the Lords Supper,” for which they collected money at the preceding conference. In 1797 two rules were adopted requiring strict inquiry into the reasons for abstaining from communion. On January 10, 1795, “Consult the necessity of upholding & supporting the worship of God by pecuniary aid & conclude to Subscribe thereto,” but in 1798 this was changed to a general assessment to be placed by the members in the deacons’ hands. In the same year the church arranged for a weekly meeting at three o’clock on Wednesday afternoon at “Bro. Rooker’s.” An interesting feature of the church book is the accurate record of the origin of new members, four coming from Virginia, fifteen from North Carolina, and one from Dutchess County, New York, prior to 1804. Two acres of land for the meeting house and burying ground were laid off in March, 1799, Brother Rooker drawing the bond. William McKinney took the place of John Dinkins as deacon on August 2, 1800. The church seldom recorded the crimes for which members were disciplined, calling them all disobedience to the church except in one case of immorality and published excommunication. William Petties was active in committee work and as delegate to association; Bennett Wood was licensed to preach in February, 1804, and Robert Mursh was permitted to exercise his gift in 1806. Two churches, Catawba and Hopewell, maintained close relations with Sugar Creek, while as early as July, 1802, a branch had developed at Six Mile Creek. In July, 1803, members attended with Brother Rooker for the reception of converts among the Catawba Indians, and the mission thus started was long conducted by Rev. John Rooker with the assistance of the Charleston Association. f711 NEGRO BAPTISTS Page 94 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. All the churches so far discussed had negro members, if the evidence of those whose church books have been found can be taken for the whole. The slave code of South Carolina, though stringent, early provided that slaves should not be made to do any but necessary work on Sunday, and a later law advised instructing them in the principles of Christianity and having them baptized with the distinct understanding that becoming Christians did not make them free. The strict prohibition of their going from plantation to plantation or into town without carefully regulated tickets prevented their assembling upon their own initiative, or at all, except on their master’s plantations or in the company of whites. Such assembling was also directly prohibited; the severe law passed against it in 1800 forbade slaves meeting even in the company of white persons for instruction or religious worship before sunrise or after sunset. It was this law which the Charleston Association petitioned against in 1801 and 1802 and which it was probably instrumental in having modified in 1803 to the extent that religious assemblages with a majority of whites would not be disturbed by officers. f712 The government always repressed too energetic efforts of white men to stir up the negroes “in the name of religion.” f713 The chief recourse, then, of those masters and ministers who truly desired the conversion of the blacks to Christianity and their continuance in its principles lay in having them attend or become members of the meetings of the whites. The churches provided galleries or set aside a certain portion of the buildings for the slaves, and many took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded them. Welsh Neck Church received eighty-seven negroes by baptism under the preaching of Rev. Elhanan Winchester in the months of June, July, and August, 1779. The rapid increase of blacks in the congregation led to their constitution into a “church by themselves,” and they signed the covenant, probably by making their mark, as teaching them to write was forbidden. Many of the recent converts appeared to the succeeding minister, Mr. Botsford, “ignorant of the nature of true religion.” Excommunication rapidly decreased their numbers, and as no pastor was available for the negro church in 1782, Mr. Botsford invited them to join the white congregation. Forty-six were examined and received in April, and several more later; numbers were baptized in 1784, 1790, 1797, and 1798. In 1791, the church appointed a committee of white members to hear the religious experience of the negroes and to settle any matters among them. f714 During the revival under his preaching in 1790, Mr. Botsford wrote: There is in Georgia, a Baptist Church composed wholly of blacks, and a great number of negroes in other churches in that state, in this, and in North Carolina and Virginia. God hath done great things for them. and their owners begin to discover that their slaves are of increasing value to them if they become religious. I am very fond of teaching them; have preached to 300 of them at a time, and not one white present but myself. They sing delightfully; and those who are truly religious, in general far exceed the whites in love to each other, and in most other duties. Many of them can read, and are remarkably fond of hymns. We have several in our church who go to the plantations, and preach to their own colour on Lord’s-day evenings, and at other times when we have no services in the meeting-house. f715 Of one hundred and twenty-seven Welsh Neck members in 1796, sixty-four were blacks, and this proportion of about half the congregation continued for sometime. f716 Black Creek Church received negro members under the style “Chambliss’s Suck,” etc., and in April, 1803, gave Rev. James Coleman “the liberty of giving the right hand of fellowship to the Page 95 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Black brethren baptized at Mount Pleasant in the absence of the church.” f717 Mount Pleasant branch appointed Mr. Brockinton’s Adam deacon in 1804, and in the same year received free Marcus by experience and baptism. An early church list shows one hundred and ninety negro members. f718 Among the low-country churches, Charleston had about sixty-three negro members in 1800. f719 Euhaw must have had over a hundred living on the islands “on and about Stony Creek,” who were dismissed to Beaufort Church in 1804. f720 The members represent only a fraction of the number actually attending the churches. Ministers baptized whites and blacks together. Thomas Fuller, one of the Beaufort converts, who felt it impossible to neglect baptism a moment beyond the time set “without some great disaster happening,” writes Sunday, Nov. 6, 1803, I was baptized in the river with several negroes who had been received the afternoon before. This act has caused some estrangement between my friends and myself. Nevertheless, I shall ever have cause to rejoice that the blessed Lord my God led me in the way and plucked me as a brand from the burning. Let every one act as he has light. We would do well to attend to what our Lord on his baptism said to John: “Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness.” f721 In the back country, where the number of negroes was small and slave insurrection not the ever-present menace it was on the coast, the dealings of the churches with their black members have a more personal touch. Serious thought prompted Buffalo Church’s two queries to the Bethel Association in 1793: May a negro member remarry if forced to leave his wife and brought to a great distance, and may a master beat a negro church member? The association answered both in the affirmative, the first with many qualifications. f722 That increase of slaves troubled the back country churches appears from Cedar Spring’s long consideration of the question “whether or not it is agreeable to the gospel to hold negroes in Slavery,” first taken up in September, 1798, and referred to the association in June, 1799. f723 Bush River Church received Lucy, “a woman of colour,” by letter on September 7, 1793, and the eleven negro members of 1793-1804 are generally referred to in this way, though they are sometimes called servants. The church in October, 1794, “took under consideration brother Moses Gift (a man of colour) and it [was] thought he had no call to the work of preaching or exhortation but that it was best for him to be silent.” Moses was excluded for refusing to submit to this decision. f724 Cedar Spring called its twenty negro members black brethren and referred to them individually as brother or sister. Officers and others of the church in May, 1804, Agreed to attend on the morrow evening at Sister Elizabeth Connell’s to hear Brother Titus exercise his gift, at an hours sun … [In June Titus was] allowed to sing, pray and exhort in public, and appoint meetings in the vicinity of the church … all his acting to be in Subordination to his master, and that his master council him in particular cases as his prudence may dictate. Cited for preaching contrary to the orders of the church, Titus was suspended in November, 1804. f725 Turkey Creek Church book mentions only seven negro members. On October 7, 1797, “Br. Dick an ethiopian offer’d was Receiv’d next day baptised and took a seat with the brethren,” while in November, 1799, the church excluded a white woman for impiously abusing her servant. f726 Padgetts Creek received many of its thirty-two negroes during the revival years. Two had permission to exhort, Birdsong’s Tom in 1799 and Pompey in 1802. f727 Head of Enoree Church generally called its negro members brother, but sometimes by the master’s name, as Bates’s Dinah. Of the eighteen negroes mentioned before 1804, seven were excluded. f728 Though generally referring to its seven black members as Page 96 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. servants or slaves, Sugar Creek Church sometimes used Brother or such names as Osburn’s Cambridge; twice the church heard the experience of a “negroe woman” and pronounced it unsatisfactory. f729 Friendship Church had few negro members; “A Black Bro Bill,” permitted to hold meetings in the bounds of the church, had to be cited for disobeying and giving offense in public talk. f730 In Shoal Creek (Chauga) Church, eleven negroes were received into fellowship or dealt with for such sins as fighting and not reporting runaways, being referred to as Brother Tom servant of John Harris, Joseph Chandler’s Lester, etc. f731 Siloam had nine negro members before 1804 called James Watson’s Delilah, Bro. Waller’s Jim. f732 Big Creek also had nine negro members in the same period called Black Peter or Black Dinah, etc., one of whom was excommunicated for adultery and one for drunkenness. f733 El Bethel listed its sixteen negro members under the masters’ names. f734 The chief sin among the negroes of all the churches was adultery. A Regular Baptist church called Silver Bluff, composed wholly of negroes, with a negro pastor named Jesse Galphin (or Jesse Peter), was constituted in 1781 and had two hundred and ten members in 1792. f735 Jesse Galphin belonged to Mr. Thomas Galphin, whose plantation was about twelve miles below Augusta in Edgefield District. f736 The church took its name from Silver Bluff on the Savannah River. George Liele, who began the first negro church in Savannah, wrote from Jamaica that he had preached during the Revolution at Jesse Galphin’s church when there were about sixty members. f737 Rev. Abraham Marshall said of Jesse in 1793: “His countenance is grave, his voice charming, his delivery good, nor is he a novice in the mysteries of the kingdom.” f738 He preached at three or four places in the country about Augusta and finally became the pastor of a negro church in that city in 1793. f739 Silver Bluff Church must have disappeared or have become a branch of the Augusta Church after Jesse Galphin began to work in Georgia. Page 97 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. CHAPTER 6. BACK COUNTRY ASSOCIATIONS The post-Revolutionary revival is epitomized in the constitution and progress of the Bethel Association. Its constituent churches lay to the northwest of Columbia and in neighboring parts of North Carolina. Exactly what conditions influenced them and which of them proposed an association are not known, but the organization began at a meeting at Cedar Spring Church in 1789. The first minutes found are those of 1791, and if position on the list of churches is an indication, the constituents were White Oak, Bills Creek, Sandy Run, and Mountain Creek in North Carolina, and Buffalo, Tyger River, Reedy Fork, Buck Creek, Head of Enoree, Fairforest, Padgetts Creek, Big Creek, Genestie, Horse Creek (Fork Shoal), Cedar Spring, and Upper Duncans Creek. However, there is some doubt of this, as the church at Dirty Creek, reported in 1791 as dissolving itself in a very disorderly manner, might have been a constituent, and Jacob Roberts’ church at Durbin Creek must have sought admission, but charges laid against Jacob Roberts either prevented his church’s entrance or caused it to be put out of the union. f740 The time of meeting of the new association having been fixed in the month of August, they opened communication in their first year with the Charleston Association, which records: A letter and minutes were received from the Bethel association lately formed in the back parts of this State, by their messenger Rev. James Fowler; requesting correspondence and union with us. This association consists of sixteen churches. Appointed the Rev. Messrs. James Fowler, Henry Holcom, Gabriel Gerrald and Mr. Peter Bainbridge to attend their next meeting, the second Saturday in August 1790, to endeavour an union of the two associations into one. f741 This was evidently an unwelcome proposition to the newly formed and ambitious body in the back country, for in 1790 The messengers from Bethel Association, representing, that obstacles were in the way of forming the two associations into one, which that body considered as of some importance; [Charleston Association] agreed to dismiss this business for the present, until the subject be more fully considered by them; but the friendly correspondence begun, to be continued. f742 The Bethel Association prior to 1804 had not adopted the Philadelphia Confession, but “in general holds to the Calvinistic sentiments.” f743 Procedure in 1791 is typical of the whole period, except for the change in 1795 from two days of public devotion to only one, and included the delivery of the introductory discourse at the beginning of business, receipt of letters and enrollment of messengers or delegates from member churches, choice of moderator and clerk; receipt of letters, messengers, or minutes of other associations; admission of new churches after inquiry into their faith and order through their delegates; dispatch of general committee business; consideration of queries from the member churches; appointment of committees, delegates to corresponding associations, supplies to vacant churches, writer of circular letter. A motion of 1791 to appoint an officer to receive collections and keep account of receipts and disbursements led to the choice of William Ford, who served until 1797 when William Lancaster was told to take charge of the association book and money, and in 1799 David Golightly was appointed treasurer. Rev. James Fowler cared for the printing and distribution of the minutes from 1791 to 1800, a collection being taken for the purpose at each meeting. In 1802 Rev. David Lilly had charge of the work; in that year the number of copies was set at one thousand, any money remaining to be expended for catechisms. Only one church, Cedar Spring in 1795, seems to have questioned the wisdom of printing the minutes annually. Page 98 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f744 Appointment of the writer of the circular letter and of the preacher of the introductory discourse and his alternate was haphazard until 1794, after which they were selected at the meeting preceding that at which they were to serve. In its associational relations, although the Bethel Association refused to consider union with the Charleston Association, yet it rejoiced exceedingly to receive the Charleston letter and messengers of 1791, and went so far as to vote the appointment of a day of thanksgiving … for the blessings of peace, harmony and concord, enjoyed among ourselves, and for the union and good correspondence subsisting between us and the Charleston Association. January 1, 1792, was the day set for “this important purpose.” The correspondence and exchange of messengers continued harmoniously through the period under discussion. Bethel was soon in regular correspondence with associations in Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina, and was exchanging letters and minutes with associations in other states. In 1795 a standing committee on correspondence was appointed, and in 1802 a committee consisting of John Rooker, Richard Shackleford, David Lilly, and Davis Collins was appointed to correspond with foreign associations. In the minutes examined, 1800 was a year of exceptional activity in communication with associations outside of the state. Nothing came of Bethel’s adoption of a resolution in 1794 to address the corresponding associations on the subject of forming a general committee of associations in the Southern States similar to that of Virginia, though the Charleston Association agreed that should such a plan be generally adopted by the associations in the states southward of Virginia, it might be of use; but unless such a scheme should be very general, and directed to definite and important objects, we think it would be ineligible. f745 In its relations with its member churches, Bethel observed great firmness and forbearance. Business suggested in the letters from member churches appears at first to have been taken up in the general meeting. A committee on queries was set up in 1794, and in 1800 a committee on church letters and business was appointed consisting of Richard Shackleford, William Lancaster, John Rooker, Abraham Hargess, and Joseph Camp. A similar body but with wider duties, called Committee on Business, consisting of Richard Shackleford, David Lilly, Davis Collins, John Rooker, and Joshua Palmer, was set up in 1802 and continued its duties in 1803 except for the substitution of Samuel Eccles for Joshua Palmer. The appointment of supplies to vacant churches was carefully attended to from the first. The association met requests for help in settling difficulties within the membership of a church or between two congregations by the appointment of committees, occasionally by letter. Queries from the churches covered the whole field of faith and practice. The duties and conduct of ministers proved disturbing. As early as 1791 the question had come before the association as to whether restoration to the privileges of exhortation should be allowed after exommunication for gross and scandalous crimes, and again in 1793 a church inquiring about the reinstatment of a minister once guilty of atrocious crime was advised by the association to proceed with great caution and to call in help in such cases. Ordination to pastoral charge only and the right of a church or association to impose restrictions on a licensed minister’s going out to preach received attention in 1791. In addition to the particular answers given, the association proposed the appointment of a committee on ordination, but the matter was laid over. The cases of Rev. Jacob Roberts and Rev. Hezekiah Walker had been taken up in 1790. Roberts was declared out of union in 1791 and the brethren of the association advised not to attend his ministry; the case of Walker was dropped. In 1791 the churches Page 99 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. were warned against the preaching of William Bennett, “under sentence of excommunication by an orderly church in North-Carolina,” and in 1792 against Joseph Williams, a disorderly preacher. A report of 1792 on ordination of ministers called for clearest evidences of real piety and gifts and the calling in of three, or at least two, reputable ministers to assist. That all the difficulties had not yet been met appears from a question in 1803 as to a pastor’s serving more than one church at a time. The consistent policy and advice of the association standardized practice in ordination, steadied the conduct of weak ministers, and soon purged its churches of unworthy or hypo- critical pastors. Rev. James Fowler’s circular letter for 1793 calls attention to the blessedness of ministers and those who are employed in the things of God, and closes with a fervent plea for support of the association’s policies. Relations with non-members or members of other denominations gave considerable trouble. When asked if members should be laid under censure on the testimony of non-members, the association replied in the affirmative with qualifications. Fairforest in 1793 asked whether rebaptism should be required of immersed pedobaptists admitted on faith. The association referred the question to a special committee, and after long consideration finally disagreed with the report of the committee advising the churches to admit such members without rebaptism. Brush Creek Church inquired in 1795 whether it is disorderly to commune with other denominations; the answer was emphatically yes. The question in slightly different form recurred in 1797, and was put before the association by two churches in 1802 when the intermingling of various denominations at revival meetings was causing uncertainty on the subject. The position of the association was steadily maintained. Bethel also declared nonfellowship in 1790 with those members holding universal salvation. Clouds Creek Church in 1797 brought up a peculiar point by asking whether a man was eligible to the office of deacon if his wife were a nonprofessor, the association properly replying that a man’s position in the church should depend upon his moral character, not his wife’s beliefs. Miscellaneous questions included two on financial matters, the churches being advised that a member conveying his property out of his hands to defeat his creditors was out of fellowship, and that though five might constitute a church, ability to support such constitution should decide; two on marriage, the association declaring that a man with two wives must not be admitted to the church, and that a man’s marriage to his deceased wife’s sister was by Scripture inadvisable but not forbidden. The association also decided that Reverend is a fitting title but Brother is more Scriptural: that a majority is generally sufficient for decision in church affairs, as unanimity is too difficult to secure, and that all of the books of the Old and the New Testaments are of divine revelation. In 1803 a tentative proposal for the creation of a fund for the education of pious young men for the ministry was put before the churches, but met with little support. Turkey Creek Church negatived it in words indicating an opinion that the time was not ripe for such work. f746 Agitation for the division of the Bethel Association began in 1795, when Mountain Creek Church offered the suggestion. The committee reported adversely, but recommended the Enoree as the dividing line if the break should be made. Again in 1796 a committee reported against division. The next year a motion to divide Bethel into four associations, each sending delegates to a general committee, led to the holding of conferences, but the motion met defeat in 1798. Bethabara Church continued the agitation in 1799, and although the association again negatived division, further conferences among the churches Page 100 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. led to action, and in 1800 fourteen churches secured dismissal to form a new association called Broad River, while two others, Ebenezer and Shockley Ferry, asked and were granted leave to join a more conveient union. Again in 1802 nine churches near the mountains in the northwestern part of South Carolina were dismissed to form the Saluda Association. These reductions left Bethel with only thirty-three churches, but its membership was so augmented by conversions during the great revival that the total for 1803 far exceeded that of 1800, when the association included fifty-two churches. f747 The northern and northwestern churches of the Bethel Association held several conferences to consider forming a new union-at Greens Creek in North Carolina in November, 1797; at Sandy Run, North Carolina, in October, 1799, again at Greens Creek in January, 1800; a final gathering at Sandy Run in November, 1800, completed the organization of the Broad River Association. f748 Sixteen churches constituted the body, two new ones, Silver Creek and Caney River, in North Carolina, and fourteen dismissed from the Bethel Association, Greens Creek, Sandy Run, Green River, French Broad, Mountain Creek, Long Creek, and Bills Creek in North Carolina, and Tyger River (Concord), Boiling Springs, Goucher Creek (Goshen), Cedar Spring, State Line, Buck Creek, and Buffalo in South Carolina. A product of the great revival, Broad River showed some of its most notable effects. Among the prominent ministers of the union were Joseph Camp, Ambrose Carlton, Perminter Morgan, John Blackwell, Joel Blackwell, Thomas Burgess, Isaac Cantrell, Abraham Hargess, Joroyal Barnett, and Drury Dobbins. A decrease in numbers beginning in 1804 was due in part to westward migration, but it is evident in this association as in others that the peak of the great revival was reached in 1802-1803. f749 Relations of Bethel Association with other Associations 1789-1803 Continued. Page 101 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. CHAPTER 7. SIGNIFICANCE OF SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS According to Morgan Edwards: “We come now to the polite and wealthy province of South Carolina; a province whose planters are Nabobs, whose merchants are Princes and whose inhabitants (for the most part) have slaves to wait on them. Among the first settlers in this province were some of the baptist denomination …” f750 but how many Baptists there were in South Carolina before 1700 it is impossible to determine. They had at that time only one organized congregation, that at Charleston. By 1705-1706, Anglican missionaries and others were reporting considerable numbers of Anabaptists, as they were called, in the various parishes. Rev. Samuel Thomas found in Goose Creek two families of Anabaptists, on the west branch of the Cooper River thirty families of dissenters, chiefly Anabaptists, on the east branch of the Cooper two Anabaptist families, on the Ashley River about seventy families of Presbyterians or Anabaptists, and on the Stono about sixty Presbysterian and Anabaptist families; the Dissenters have at present 4 ministers among them besides one Anabaptist Preacher lately gone into Carolina from Biddiford in the West of England and I am informed that 3 or 4 more dissenting ministers are going for Carolina in the Spring. f751 The proportion of Anabaptists to the whole population of whites in 1710 was said to be one to ten; f752 if the proportion continued to hold in 1724, when the population was reported as about 14,000 whites, the Baptists of that period could claim 1400 persons in their connection. An Anglican missionary mentions in that year the large number of Anabaptists who came to hear him preach on Edisto Island. f753 Commissary Johnston wrote the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 1713 that “Next to the Presbyterians. thy Anabaptists are most numerous.” f754 As South Carolina in 1763 had between 30,000 and 40,000 white inhabitants, the Baptists, even with only their 1710 proportion of one to ten, could count those in connection with them at 3,000 to 4,000 persons. f755 That they were rapidly increasing in the back country appears from Lieutenant Governor William Bull’s desire to put a stop to the work of their preachers about New Windsor, and from Rev. Mr. Woodmason’s account of St. Mark’s Parish in 1771: Religion & the Chh. lye bleeding — Wounded ev’ry day-overrun with Sectaries, especially ye New Light Baptists — who have broke up ev’ry Conga I have founded — All the whole Back Cty is now lost to ye Church thro’ want of Ministers & Churches. … the Vestry of this Psh press’d me to … lay aside all thoughts of quitting the Province — to wch I consented, on Acct of ye Number of Baptist Teachers Wch had lately appeared amg them — f756 In his account of South Carolina Baptists in 1772, Morgan Edwards lists twenty-four organized churches with forty-nine meeting houses and about the same number of ministers, licensed preachers, and exhorters, and approximately 1100 communicants of about 1500 families, which suggests congregations much larger than the 1100 communicants. f757 A strong evidence of the increasing numbers of Baptists in 1775 is the appointment of Rev. Oliver Hart as a member of the committee to win the back country to the American cause, and his being thanked by the Second Provincial Congress for the important services rendered the State. f758 With disestablishment the Baptists advanced steadily. In 1790 Asplund found in South Carolina 67 churches, with 91 ministers, ordained preachers, and itinerants, and 3878 white and negro communicants representing a connection of probably 19,000 persons. f759 By 1800 these figures had Page 102 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. changed to 96 organized churches, 63 ministers, and 5583 white and negro communicants in a connection of about 27,000. f760 The total population of South Carolina in 1790 was 249,073, in 1800, 345,591, f761 and although the old proportion of one to ten had not continued, the actual increases are remarkable. Interesting changes in geographic distribution of Baptist membership had occurred since Morgan Edwards’ account in 1772. At that time, about half of the 1100 communicants reported by him were in the Low-Country and the Peedee section, and half in the back country. In 1790, of the 44 associated churches, 27 were in the back country, 12 in the Peedee, and only 5 can be properly classed as low-country churches; and practically all of the nonassociated churches listed by Asplund were in the back country. Of the 2763 members of associated churches, 1505 were members of back country churches, 751 of Peedee churches, and 507 of low-country churches. In 1800 the associated membership of 54 back country churches was 2978, of 14 Peedee churches 714, and of six low-country churches 515. Practically all of the non- associated churches and those in Georgia associations were in the back country. The primacy of the Piedmont in Baptist strength had already become pronounced. The Baptists claim that a relatively large number of their faith had arrived in South Carolina by 1683 and that they were important in colonial affairs. f762 The whole group of dissenters in the province in 1704 was “notoriously known to be above two-thirds of the people, and the richest and soberest among them;” yet they were not the most influential, as the act establishing the Anglican Church, first passed in 1704, was again adopted in 1706. f763 As an inevitable result of establishment, which gave provincial support to the Anglican churches and placed them and their members in a favored position, the Anglicans secured a monopoly of public offices. In 1762, some of the inhabitants of the fork of Broad and Saluda protested against the taxes going to the Anglican Church, as the back parts were full of Lutherans, Presbyterians, Quakers, Anabaptists, and others, who paid as much on one hundred acres of land as the LowCountrymen paid on one slave, whereas the planters of the coast would not exchange one slave for five hundred to one thousand acres of back country land. f764 How the dissenters were expected to conduct themselves appears from an address of the clergy to Governor James Glen on April 4, 1744, giving as a reason for congratulating themselves on his appointment, Your Excellency’s open Patronage and exemplary Practice of GOD’S true Religion (the alone sure Foundation of the Peace and Happiness of Society) and particularly as professed in the Church of England: Which cannot fail of happy and diffusive Influence, for promoting the Interests of true Religion and virtue in general, and deriving the Blessing of GOD on Your Person and Government; & moreover, affording us Grounds to hope for Your favorable Countenance and Encouragement towards the Church of England and her Clergy, in particular: so far as may be consistent with full Liberty of Conscience to Dissenters, in the Enjoyment of which we wish them quite safe, quiet, and contented. f765 Only one accusation of actual persecution has been brought by the Baptists against South Carolina provincial authorities — that of Joseph Cates, a Baptist itinerant, taken up and whipped for preaching near Cheraw Hill sometime before 1772. The community so frowned upon this action that it was justified or the ground of Cate’s immorality. f766 Official impatience and suspicion appear from Lieutenant-Governor William Bull’s attitude and from Rev. Charles Woodmason’s gossipy or monstrous tales about the New Lights, whom he accuses of imposing upon a credulous planter of Little River by pretending to be able to raise the dead, and of killing a “travelling Page 103 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Person” and cutting him “into atoms singing Hymns making processions and Prayers and offering up this inhuman sacrifice to the Deity as an acceptable oblation.” f767 Early complaints went to London against a Practise here of directing Mariage Licenses to Dissenting Teachers, Presbyterians & Anabaptists, who often take upon ym to marry the People here. Now as this is not Warranted by any Law of ye Province, is contrary to ye Usuage in England, a Dishonour to ye Church & an injury to the Clergy, I am persuaded that a line or two from his Lordship to ye Governour here, when we have one legally Settled will put a Stop to ye Practice of it. f768 Complaints of the sort continued, and in 1771 Woodmason wrote to England: The Dissenting influence entirely prevails & lately when I addressed those in Power to put a Stop to Presbyterian Justices of ye Peace, Baptist Teachers — Itinerant Teachers of all Denominations from ye No Wd annually sent out here, & others, from marrying in my parish, & yt ye Lt Govr ordered an information for to be fil’d in ye Ct of K. B. Yet it has not been done. We have but 4 or 5 Gentm at Council Board, 3 of whom are Dissenters — and ye Majority of our House of Assembly are such as well as most of the Acting Magistrates. f769 The dissenters, therefore, had been quietly working their way into power. In spite of the description of the Baptists denominationally as “The most zealous among the Sects, to propagate their notions, & form establishments,” f770 there is no appearance of political activity on their part; in fact, not so much as their numbers would seem to warrant. It is probable that the numerous Baptists along the Ashley in 1702-1705 were instrumental in electing dissenting members to the Commons House of Assembly from St. Andrew’s Parish, but this is difficult if not impossible of proof. In 1744-1745, the controversy over lot No. 62 brought the Charleston Baptists into brief prominence due to its connection with the Whitefield Garden case. f771 Rev. George Whitefield had been cited and suspended from the exercise of his priestly office by Commissary Garden, and the more strongly Anglican members of the Commons House evidently seized the chance to embarrass Mr. Whitefield’s staunch friends, the rigidly Calvinistic Baptists, by throwing their support to the anti-Whitefeld faction of the Charleston Baptist Church in their struggle to retain lot No. 62 for Rev. Mr. Simmons. No other political significance attaches to the Baptists as a group. Gideon Gibson, a Regulator of Mars Bluff, whose followers had a skirmish on August 2, 1768, with a constable’s party, was probably a member of Cashaway Church. Rev. Evan Pugh attended meetings of the Regulators, one at “Murphee’s,” probably a member of his congregation, during the worst of the trouble. f772 After this disturbance, courts were opened and affairs improved in the back country. At the opening of the new circuit court at Long Bluff, on Monday, November 16, 1772, Rev. Nicholas Bedgegood preached the “Sessions Sermon.” Lists of grand juries for Cheraws District show many of them to have had connections in the Baptist churches of the Peedee between 1772 and 1776. Their presentments of 1774 and 1775 are vigorous indictments of British policy. f773 Rev. Elhanan Winchester, of Welsh Neck, and Rev. Oliver Hart, of Charleston, led the Baptists in revolutionary sentiment and in support of the newly established State. Mr. Winchester was invited by the wardens and vestry of St. David’s to preach a sermon on June 28, 1777, the anniversary of the “happy deliverance of the State from our cruel and oppressive enemies.” f774 His and Mr. Hart’s address “To the Honorable Henry Laurens, Esquire, Vice-President of the Province of South Carolina … Signed in behalf of the Baptist Congregations in general,” on March 30, 1776, rejoices Page 104 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. in the “happy form of government established,” and in the beginning of deliverance from tyranny. Mr. Laurens replied that an honor had been done him which he had no reason to expect and emphasized the duty “of those who bear rule, to promote and encourage piety and virtue, and to discountenance every degree of vice and immorality,” perhaps a subtle suggestion that that was all that was to be done for the dissenters. f775 The dissenters, however, had already acted in their own interest. At the Welsh Neck Church meeting of March 8, 1776, Rev. Elhanan Winchester proposed by request, that as the Association did not meet in Charleston this year on account of the troubles there; there might be a meeting of the Churches in this Province, at the High Hills of Santee on the Wednesday before the last Sunday in April next. in order to choose delegates to attend the Continental Association, which he judged very expedient and necessary at this season, in order to obtain our liberties, and freedom from religious tyranny or ecclesiastical oppressions; which the Church unanimously agreed to: and chose two messengers vis brethren Abel Wilds and Thomas Evans to the provincial Association at the time and place mentioned. Mr. Winchester was requested to draw up “some thoughts on the Continental Association to be laid before the Churches at their meeting at the High Hills.” f776 No record remains of the composition or agenda of this provincial association; one result was the choice of Rev. William Tennent, the Independent minister in Charleston, to present the case of the dissenters against the Anglican establishment to the Assembly. f777 Due to his and other able efforts, the constitution of March 19, 1778, provided that all who believe in God should be tole rated; that “The Christian Protestant religion shall be deemed, and is hereby constituted and declared to be the established religion of this State;” that all Christian Protestant denominations should enjoy equal religious and civil rights; that fifteen or more persons not under twenty years of age uniting in a Christian Protestant society for worship might secure incorporation under their chosen name upon petition to the Legislature after subscribing in a book the following articles: 1st. That there is one Eternal God, and a future state of rewards and punishments. 2d. That God is publicly to be worshipped. 3d. That the Christian Religion is the true religion. 4th. That the Holy Scriptures of the old and new Testaments are of divine inspiration, and are the rule of faith and practice. 5th. That it is lawful and the duty of every man being thereunto called by those that govern, to bear witness to the truth. f778 With recognition of their equal rights, the dissenters must have worked with better heart for the new State. Examination of revolutionary records reveals that of some fifteen hundred persons known to be Baptists of military age about six hundred served in the army or furnished supplies to the State during the Revolution. The only complete church list for the period 1759-1800, that of Welsh Neck, included one hundred and fourteen male members, of whom thirty served in arms or furnished supplies, a fair proportion, and about the same as that for the whole State. f779 After the Revolution, the Baptists of the Welsh Neck made their strength felt in politics. Major (later Colonel and General) Tristram Thomas, William Thomas, William Dewitt, Morgan Brown, and Robert Ellison served in the Senate between 1783 and 1800; and a fair proportion of the representatives from Cheraws District and its various counties were connected with Baptist churches. Rev. Evan Pugh, Benjamin Hicks, Robert Ellison, Morgan Brown went as delegates to the constitutional convention of 1790. f780 For the rest of the State, only an occasional Baptist name is to be found among the senators and representatives. Of these, Colonel Arthur Simkins appeared in the House in 1783 and remained Page 105 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. until after 1800; he was also one of the presidential electors of 1789. f781 Colonel Thomas Screven and Rev. Frame Woods also served in the House in 1782- 3; and John Grimball in 1792 and David D. Stoll in 1796. f782 It is impossible to pronounce any of the other House members definitely of the Baptist connection. Rev. Henry Holcombe went as a delegate to the convention to ratify the United States constitution in 1788, at which he showed some Federalist leanings. f783 Rev. Richard Furman’s friendship for General C. C. Pinckney and his preaching a sermon on the death of Alexander Hamilton at the request of the Cincinnati and Revolution Societies indicate a similar trend, as mie-ht the choice of Rev. Evan Pugh to preach a sermon on Washington’s death at Darlington Court House in 1799. f784 Of the coveted appointments as justice of the peace or of the quorum, few appear to have been held by Baptists before the Revolution, but the number mounted after 1783. f785 There was no Baptist faction in local or State politics; and the Baptists had more than their share of the general under representation of their chief stronghold, the back country. f786 The economic status of the Baptists before 1800 can be established more definitely than their political position. There were few Baptists like William Elliott, Sr., owner of a “great wharf” in Charleston, who received grants of thousands of acres of land and who was able to make large bequests to the General Baptists in addition to the large property he left his sons. f787 His son William Elliott, Jr., also receive 1 grants in the thousands of acres. Rev. Francis Pelot, of Euhaw, had over five thousand acres in grants, Elisha Screven over four thousand acres. Thomas Rivers and Joseph Sealy the Elder each over two thousand acres, several of the above grants being of a thousand acres each. f788 These were all members of low-country churches before the Revolution; several other low-country Baptists received grants almost as large, but none is listed with the tremendous acreages granted to the influential men of the colony. Grants to the Baptists of the Peedee seldom rose above eight hundred acres, though many of them received a number of small grants. In the back country single grants to the Baptists were usually fifty to three hundred acres. and few of then received more than one to four grants. These figures prove the Baptists consistently men of small means. Slave ownership in 1790 furnished an economic standard for the period after the Revolution bearing out fairly the findings from grants. Again there were a few men of the low-country churches with a large number of slaves, as Charles Bealer of Euhaw with 179, Charles Pelot of Euhaw with 71, Thomas Fuller of St. Andrew’s with 70, Peter Bainbridge of Cheraws with 55, John Rose of Beaufort District with 49, Malachi Bedgegood of Cheraws with 35. None of these could be called great slave owners except the first. Of the 661 possible Baptists found on the 1790 census, 433, or practically two-thirds, owned no slaves; nearly seven-eighths of these non-slave owners lived in the back country. Of the 228 slave owners, 21 had over twenty slaves, 207 less than twenty, 3 of the first group living in the back country, and 135 of the second, a somewhat disproportionate number of small slave owners for that section. These figures present as much a view of the general conditions of the State as of the Baptists, except for the almost entire absence of great wealth among the latter. Of the 100 preachers or licentiates of 1780-1800 listed in the 1790 census, one had 55 slaves, one 19, one 17, and thirty-seven from one to 11, a total of 40 slave owners, or two-fifths of the whole. The preachers, therefore, belonged to the more prosperous group of Baptists. f789 Reports are Page 106 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. contradictory regarding the attitude of the early Baptists of the State toward education. Lieutenant-Governor William Bull was at one with Rev. James Moir, an Anglican missionary of North Carolina, who reported the people as “being pestered with sermons of Baptist Teachers whom I always found to be as grossly ignorant as those they pretend to teach.” f790 This is exaggerated, but an educated ministry seems never to have been required, and among many scarcely encouraged. Rev. William Screven, in his sermon entitled “An Ornament for Church Members,” gave the chief requirements of his day — that a minister “be orthodox in the faith and of blameless life; and does own the confession of faith put forth by our brethren in London in 1689.” f791 There are examples of well educated ministers in fair number among the Regular and General Baptists of the coast. Articles and sermons showing considerable skill came from the pen of Rev. Thomas Simmons, Rev. Isaac Chanler, and Rev. Oliver Hart. f792 Mr. Hart is said to have had only a “plain English education,” but finding his need of better training, he later acquired privately “a respectable knowledge of the learned languages, and an intimate acquaintance with the best authors of our own.” f793 The General Baptist preacher, Rev. Henry Heywood, was “esteemed one of the greatest Scholars in America,” works that support this opinion including a defense of the apostolical constitutions, translation and defense of Whitby on original sin, and “Two Catechisms by Way of Question and Answer.” f794 The Welsh Neck ministers had the use of a library which that church maintained from early days. f795 Rev. Francis Pelot was well educated; he was employed as a tutor before entering the ministry and later collected a good library in which he spent much of his time. f796 Rev. Evan Pugh studied with Mr. Pelot and other ministers and acquired a fair education. f797 Rev. Nicholas Bedgegood was accounted a “classical scholar, and an accomplished speaker.” f798 Rev. Joseph Cook had been a student in the Countess of Huntingdon’s college in Wales before coming to America. f799 Rev. Richard Furman, who was of a cultured family, became an excellently educated man by his own efforts after entering the ministry, receiving two honorary degrees, A. M. and D. D., from Rhode Island College. f800 Most of the earlier ministers came to South Carolina from other parts of the American continent or from Europe. After the Revolution, the churches more and more encouraged their own members to enter the ministry or called their pastors from neighboring churches. The growth of this practice parallels the work of the Charleston Association for the Education Fund. The eight or ten young men aided by the Religious Society and the Education Fund before 1800 received training, either in the State or at Rhode Island College, which raised the standard of requirements. The creation of both Society and Fund were remarkable steps for the times and the denomination, but the lack of general support from the churches indicated indifference to ministerial training even in the conservative Low-Country. Among the Separate Baptsts of the back country there is nothing to show interest in an educated ministry. In fact, one of the chief faults the Separate New Lights found in the old order in New England was its rigid insistence upon a trained clergy. Passionate exhortations rather than the measured periods of reasoned addresses found favor among the Separates. The Particular Baptists looked upon them with suspicion because they allowed any man, however ignorant, to pray and preach who felt called by the Spirit. The Separates frequently harbored an idea that education and religion were hostile forces. This they carried over into their more Regular organization after the Revolution. f801 The advice given by the Bethel Association with regard to selection of ministers and pastors nowhere Page 107 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. mentions education, and its appeal to the churches to support a fund for the training of young men for the ministry met slight response before 1800. f802 Their actions prove their concurrence in the Baptist historian Benedict’s opinion that learning was useful to ministers, but that they could guide men to salvation without it. Should the period ever arrive in which Baptist churches shall confine the ministry to college men only, then transmigration will be rapid, and other churches will be formed from them, as they have been built up from all others, who have adopted this practice. f803 Interest in general education was much like that in ministerial training. It is claimed that South Carolina Baptists aided with funds in the creation and support of Hopewell Academy, New Jersey, which was begun by the Philadelphia Association “for the promotion of learning amongst us” in 1756. From this the idea of a Baptist college grew until it finally resulted in the establishment of Rhode Island College (sometimes called Providence College, later Brown University). It is asserted that South Carolina narrowly missed being the home of the great Baptist university. f804 Messrs. Gano, Hart, and Pelot addressed the South Carolina churches in favor of the movement and collected contributions. f805 Mr. Pugh’s subscription list of March 18, 1775, shows a total of eighteen pounds from such well known Welsh Neck and other Peedee church members as Arthur Hart, Robert Lide, Emanuel Cox, Martin Kolb, Thomas Coker, Benjamin James, and others. f806 Besides the collection and maintenance of a library, Welsh Neck Church gave other evidences of interest in education. Since there were so many Baptists in the Peedee, the organization of St. David’s Society and the purposes it was to serve indicate the spirit of the denomination in that community. The act of incorporation, passed March 28. 1778, names Alexander McIntosh, George Hext, and Abel Kolb as officers and gives as the purpose the institution and endowment of “a seminary of learning in the district of Cheraw, to instruct and educate youth in the necessary and useful branches of knowledge.” f807 Among the organizers were Rev. Evan Pugh and Rev. Elhanan Winchester, together with many members of the Welsh Neck and Cashaway Churches. Rev. John Cowan, Rev. John Brown, and Rev. Edmund Botsford were later members. The British armies interrupted the plans for the academy, which was not opened until 1785. Among the early masters were Thomas Park and Rev. Frame Woods. Mr. Park later taught in Ebenezer Academy in the neighborhood of Ebenezer (Jeffreys Creek) Church. f808 Rev. Richard Furman helped to organize a library society and a “seminary of learning” called Claremont Academy at Stateburgh, but as Rev. Richard Furman’s connection with it did not continue, it was apparently without influence on Baptist educational institutions. f809 Rev. Henry Holcombe’s writings appeared in poetry and in prose; he was president of Beaufort District Society and a trustee of Beaufort College. Rev. John Waldo, a teacher in Georgetown after 1792, later became a prolific writer of text books. f810 Rev. John M. Roberts conducted a seminary or academy at Stateburgh for some years after 1800, where Latin and Greek were the principal subjects, and where a library was deposited by the Charleston Association; Dr. Jonathan Maxcy’s brother, Virgil Maxcy, assisted for a time at this institution, which may be regarded as the beginning of higher education supported or fostered by the Baptist denomination in South Carolina. f811 How largely the members of the Baptist denomination attended these institutions, all of which were in the low or middle country, it is impossible to determine. No evidence of such efforts appears in the back country. The facts show that where there was trained leadership among the Baptists there were attempts to provide for education, but that such leadership was scarce. Rev. Richard Page 108 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Furman wrote in 1791: But a great part of our ministers as well as members are very illiterate men; which is a great hindrance to the Baptists having that weight in the State they would be entitled to and has in many instances, opened the door to enthusiasm and confusion among them … f812 The best evidence with regard to the intelligence and education of the Baptist congregations comes from the articles, confessions, covenants, and rules of decorum drawn up by them for guidance in faith and practice. Written by outstanding members or committees, they represent the upper level of training and ability among the churches. As the Baptists claimed to have no other basis for their beliefs than the Bible, and as each church was the interpreter of the teachings it found there, the tendency was at first to have many articles or confessions, as many as there were churches, but certain excellent statements of principles by important groups were accepted by other bodies or used as models by churches and associations. This was true, especially in the South, of the London or Century Confession of 1689, which, due to its adoption by the Philadelphia Association in 1742, came to be known as the Philadelphia Confession. f813 Long, theologically abstruse, and strongly Calvinistic, it had more influence in the older churches of the coast than in the back country churches of South Carolina. Its adoption by the Charleston Association made it a standard for the Low-Country and Peedee Baptists. The tendency grew to have a convenant following a short confession or containing a brief statement of beliefs as a preamble or integral part. The Welsh Neck covenant of August 2, 1760, is an excellent example of what Baptists believe and desire to practice. Its eight or nine articles, probably the work of Mr. Bedgegood, called on the signers to walk in brotherly love, to watch each other’s conduct and stir each other up to good works, to pray for one another and for God’s presence with them, to bear with one another and not to expose each other’s faults unnecessarily, to bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to attend Lord’s Day and other church meetings, to keep their faith pure and Scriptural, and to support ministers according to their ability. The style and English are good, the fifth article reading: We do promise for ourselves, that if God gives us children to bring up. whether our own or others, that we will use our utmost endeavours, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; setting good and wholesome examples before them, praying with and for them. That we will keep a strict watch over their conduct and at all convenent seasons, give them such advice, admonition, and correction, as their cases shall appear to require, and that we will take due care to have them taught to read, and to learn the chatechism; and also that we will use our authority to keep them as much as possible from wicked company and vain pleasures, such as playing at cards — dice and other unlawful games, and from going to dances — balls — and sinful assemblies, and horse races &c — and as we will not allow our children, neither will we practice such things ourselves, knowing that a companion of fools will be destroyed, and that lovers of pleasure, are not lovers of God.” f814 Cashaway adopted more elaborate but less skillfully drawn “Articles of Faith and Church Covenant” on June 20, 1767, in the writing of which Mr. Pugh probably had the chief share. There are twelve articles with Scriptural citations quite as Calvinistic as the Philadelphia Confession, and eight agreements much like the Welsh Neck covenant, except that no promise is made to teach children to read. Article Three runs: We believe, That before ye world began, God did elect, a certain Number of Men unto everlasting salvation; whom He did predestinate to ye Adoption of Children by Jesus Christ, of his own free Grace, & according to ye Page 109 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Good Pleasure of his Will; & that in Persuance of this gracious Desire, He did contrive & make a Covenant of Grace & Peace with his son Jesus Christ, on ye behalf of those Persons; wherein a saviour was appointed, & all spiritual Blessings provided for them; and as also that their Persons, with all their Grace & Glory, were put into the Hands of Christ, and made his Care and Charge. f815 Among the back country churches. Sandy River had Rev. James Fowler before his ordination in 1776 “to declare his principles respecting the doctrines of the Gospel, the which he did in several particulars in a verbal relation.” He gave five articles, the first three describing the attributes of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: Fourth, the communion and preservance of the saints, of the judgment of saint and sinner at the second coming of Christ, then the dividing of saint and sinner. Fifth, of the writing of the scriptures as a rule of faith and practice to the churches of Christ, considered in point of doctrine, worship, and discipline. f816 With terse brevity, Padgetts Creek in 1784 packed into ten articles all its faith, practice, and pacifism: We hold God the Father, the Creator and Maker of all things, and Jesus Christ the redeemer & preserver The Holy ghost the comforter & the Sanctifier &c. We hold the old and new testament to be our rule of faith and life &c. We also hold Believers Baptism the laying on of hands and of the Resurrection of the Dead & the Eternal Judgment &c … We also hold free Electing love thro Jesus Christ our Lord &C. f817 The next year, Turkey Creek, one of the few back country churches in the Charleston Association, adopted the Philadelphia Confession and drew up an exhaustive covenant of fourteen articles. Three of these are unusual: We do promise to Relieve the Distresses of the Brethren the members of this Church, that may fall out: in a course of Provedence, by fire or any other unseen Displeasure. Also we Jointly agree that if any person Received a member in this Church directly or indirectly and he or she through indolence let Their family suffer for the Common support of nature he or she for such offences shall be dealt with as a breach of the Command of God. We farther agree that no member of this Church shall undertake any matter or thing that appears to be attended with more than ordinary difficulty without consulting the members of this Church. f818 The last article of Bush River’s “Abstract of Principles” of about 1792 reads: We believe that no Minister has a right to the administration of the ordinances only such as has been called of God, regularly Baptized, approved of by the Church and came under the imposition of hands by the Presbytery. f819 Poplar Spring Church in 1794 gave its articles of faith as a preamble to the covenant of nine articles, the sixth running: we do promise to conduct ourselves in the discharge of civil and religious duties with prudence and caution not to extortion in the sale of any commodity but follow the stated medium in such a manner as to answer the dictates of a well informed judgement, and finally comply with the Golden Rule exhibited in God’s Word; to do to others as we would wish to be done by in change of circumstances. f820 Fragments left of the Lower Sandy River and Clouds Creek church covenants show more skillful handling of material suggesting that they have perhaps been edited. f821 Joroyal Barnett, William Underwood, David Golightly, and William Lancaster, appointed in May, 1802, to revise Cedar Spring’s covenant or constitution, produced a brief and cogent instrument of seven articles ending: Finding it to be our duty to be United by a written Covenant, we therefore subscribe this with each other in love, praying that God may help us with his convenanting love, while in a Church militant state Page 110 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. through Christ our redeemer — Amen. f822 El Bethel adopted in 1803 a covenant of eleven articles of mingled faith and decorum, with an interesting description of the relation of members to the church: We voluntarily and mutually resign our selves to Each other and receive Each other in the Lord meaning hear by to Exist as one body to act by the rules of Gospel tho Each Esteeming him or herself a member of a Spiritual body in subjection to its Authority and in no wise seperable but by Conscent obtained or ungospally refused. f823 In November, 1803, members of Dean Swamp signed a long covenant including a confession and rules of decorum, of which the following is an example: We beleve in oreginal depravity — By mans transagraceing the Command of God third we beleve in Electing Grace And Effectual Calling according to the Determenate Council and foreknoledge of God through Christ forth We beleve in free Justifycation through the merits of Christ and in the Baptism of Belevers by amarcion and in the Progracive work of Sanctifycation by the holy Sperit and final perserverance of the Saints though Grace unto Glory. f824 Many churches made rules of decorum for church meetings as occasion required, or included the most essential in the covenant, but some of them drew up a formal statement for the conduct of church business. Big Creek had elaborate directions in sixteen articles, some of which are: 5. but one person shall speak at a time and he shall rise to his feet and obtaining leave proceed. 6. the Moderator when addressed for leave of speach shall signify by nameing of them or otherwise. 7. no member shall be interrupted when speaking unless he departs from the subgect in hand, or uses words of personal reflection, and every motion made and seconded shall come under the considerration of the Church, except withdrawn by him that made it. f825 The style and English of the church books, quotations from which have been given under the history of the churches, bear out the evidence afforded by the covenants, confessions, articles, and rules of decorum, that even the leaders among the Baptists, though often forceful writers, were men of limited education. Nothing occurs to indicate the position of the Baptists with regard to the education of women before 1800, an important subject, as frequently two-thirds of the membership of the churches was made up of women. The seminary at Stateburgh which Rev. Richard Furman helped to organize had a female department, but nothing is known of its success. Among the Separates a few women attained the distinction of assisting in the meetings, as Mrs. Martha Stearns Marshall. In all the churches authority in female discipline was sometimes delegated to women, but on the whole their share in church business was passive, and their influence indirect. f826 Instruction of children in the principles of religion does not appear to have received general attention as distinct from the adult services. Rev. Evan Pugh mentions catechising the children in 1766 in the Peedee section; the Charleston Association printed a catechism, but the Bethel Association up to 1800 did not refer to the subject. f827 Theologically, though technically Calvinistic, the Baptists, due to their nonrequirement of a highly educated clergy, have simplified and modified the system to the point of appeal to active but untrained minds, and those whether trained or untrained which are characterized by literalness and definiteness. It is a faith without symbols and almost without forms. Baptism is not so much a sign of the death of the old Adam as an actual burial in a watery grave from which the regenerate subject arises a conscious member of Christ. Their position on baptism seems demonstrable from the Scriptures if literal obedience is the desideratum in religion. To those who felt comfortable only in an atmosphere of simple but rigid theological requirements, the Baptist Church was an Page 111 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. excellent spiritual home. The sect tended to modify its peculiarities in the older sections of the State, but where conservatism, custom, and law relaxed their hold, as in the newly settled portions of the back country, the rigorous definiteness and simplicity of its creed made a strong appeal. It furnished an invariable standard where other standards shifted. The dramatic act of immersion publicly proclaimed an intention to proceed as if of the elect; the tonic sting of discipline held waverers in the right way; the close communion emphasized separateness from the world and membership in the aristocracy of heaven. Action, action in which all engaged, caught and kept the attention of the new settlements. The power of public prayer and exhortation might descend upon any man, however untrained, and only his own weakness could prevent its exercise. This was particularly true of the Separates who first won the back country, and it continued after their turn toward the Regular position. Church organization being congregational, the business meetings furnished an outlet for further activity and trained the members to the usages of direct democracy. Other sects which offered any of these advantages made the same appeal, but the Baptists appear to have presented a peculiarly attractive combination of rigid theology and democratic activity. Business meetings or church conferences were almost invariably held monthly, usually on Saturday, followed by public service on the Sabbath, as Sunday was generally called, sometimes on Friday, with public devotion on Saturday and Sunday; occasionally these conferences opened with singing and prayer and preaching. For the conduct of church business, the churches usually selected a moderator or chairman, but the Separates preferred not to use this officer in either conference or association. The group of baptized believers was in effect the church; they dealt with matters of doctrine, discipline, and religious policy. Especially after incorporation, unbaptized persons who attended and supported the church might vote on secular concerns. A few of the churches chose and arranged for the ordination of ruling elders, but this office most of them gradually dropped. The ministering elder or pastor and two deacons carried out the decisions of the business meetings, the minister’s authority covering ordination and administration of baptism and communion; the deacons’ any other matters, as of discipline, finance, and mediation. A clerk kept the minutes of the business meetings, the only officer besides the occasional moderator not receiving ordination. Deacons frequently served on trial for a time before being ordained. The church either called an ordained minister as pastor or put forward one of its own members to exercise his gifts as a preacher; if the church decided that he had the necessary qualifications, he was usually licensed to preach, and after a year, or even less in some cases, his church, or one desiring to use his services, arranged for his ordination. Though Welsh Neck stated plainly that ordination consisted in the church’s choice of a man to office, and needed not the laying on of hands to make it valid, yet a presbytery to examine the qualifications of candidates and to lay hands on them to complete their ordination generally attended. In fact, due to the growing tendency of the associations to pronounce ordinations illegal where this form was not observed, few churches after 1800 neglected to secure the assistance of at least two or three visiting ministers or elders on such occasions. Ministers were most frequently called Brother, often Elder, but sometimes Reverend in later years. The history of the individual churches shows excessive drinking to have been the great sin of the times, with neglect of the church and its commands a close second. Amusement of every kind, but especially shooting matches and dancing. called forth severe condemnation and Page 112 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. excommunication. Harsh or erratic discipline seldom occurred, and the hearing given to minority groups by associations or neighboring churches soon obviated the evil or isolated the erring church. In the main, the disciplinary measures of the churches were only the expression of public indignation against cruelty, injustice, and immorality. In new communities, those little gatherings held in the house of John Jones or Victor Naley or many others became dynamic nuclei of law and order. Public suspension and excommunication were powerful weapons against the truly religious, and even among the irreligious the action of the churches established the local norm of conduct. There were outcroppings of heresy. as John Williams’s adoption of the “universal plan,” and divergences of doctrine, as of the General Baptists with their Arminian beliefs, and the Separates with their peculiarities of service, and the return to Sabbatarian principles, as with Rev. Mr. Gerald, but individual differences in doctrine and policy gave way to the advantages of cooperation, gradually at first, more rapidly and completely after 1789. In spite of reiterated assurances of their complete independence, association standardized the churches through the power to exclude. Nothing is more illuminating than Durbin Creek’s return after ten years to make its peace with the Bethel Association. The disappearance of the names Separate and Regular and the tendency of the churches to use the Philadelphia Confession indicate the extent of the process. In fact, later Baptist historians have felt that the associations of 1800 and just after went beyond their true functions of advice and deliberation and that the churches submitted too tamely to their dictation. f828 It is perhaps chiefly due to the early organization and able yet conservative leadership of the Charleston Association that the Baptist churches of the period do not present a bewildering diversity. Financial policy remained unsettled. The low-country churches made persistent efforts to secure a permanent endowment fund for church support. The “living” in these churches was reported as worth some sum of current money of South Carolina, and some of them owned considerable land. A congregational collection taken after the preaching of the charity sermon for ministerial education appears to have been the only use of that method of raising money. In spite of statements of their covenants with regard to the duty of “supporting the Ministers & setting them at liberty,” the back country churches only casually and occasionally raised supplies for the purpose. “A subscription of writing” was the solution of that problem toward the end of the century. The nearest approach to a collection was the making up at business meetings of a sum to pay communion or incidental expenses. The churches were in the main rough frame or log buildings apparently at first small square or oblong single rooms, and their architecture remained indeterminate throughout the eighteenth century, showing none of the classical tendency so strong after 1800. The nearest approach to an example of the meeting house of the period is that of Antioch built in 1804. If the drawing of the First Baptist Church of Charleston appearing on Crisp’s map of the city was in any degree a representation of the actual appearance of that building, it did not differ materially from the general types. f829 The nature of devotional services is difficult to arrive at from the church books. They consisted chiefly of prayer, exhortation or preaching, and some singing, though the last came into general use in the Baptist meetings only after the beginning of the great revival. Quarterly communion came to be the rule in most churches; these were seasons of religious rejoicing lasting two or three days, usually preceded by a day of fasting and prayer. A “door” was opened for experience after business Page 113 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. and devotional meetings; those giving a satisfactory account of a “work of grace” on their souls were baptized at the neighboring river or creek, from which the congregation often returned singing in the revival years. Laying hands on baptized believers had almost ceased by 1800. Spiritually, several of the waves of religious fervor called revivals swept the Baptist congregations of South Carolina through the efforts of their own and other ministers. The first of which any record remains began under the preaching of Rev. George Whitefield about 1745 and continued through the formation of the Charleston Association, culminating in the revival among the young people of Charleston Church in 1754. f830 By 1765, however, there was a “great declension,” which continued for some years. f831 From the number of churches established in the back country between 1765 and 1772, through the efforts of Rev. Messrs. Philip Mulkey, Joseph Reese, and Daniel Marshall, a strong spiritual upheaval was in progress which reached the coast about 1777. f832 The Congaree Association arose in the back country, the Charleston Association received many members by baptism, and new churches entered the union. The most spectacularly successful minister, Rev. Elhanan Winchester, added two hundred and forty members to Welsh Neck in 1779. f833 After the spiritual depression due to the Revolution, another revival movement began through the rapid formation of churches and addition of members, reaching its climax in 1789. In that year the Charleston Association had twenty-one churches, as compared with twelve in 1779; Rev. Joseph Cook baptized twenty-seven new members into Euhaw Church; Rev. Edmund Botsford conducted successful revival services throughout the Peedee section, during which some crying out and falling to the ground occurred among the converts. At about the same time Rev. Richard Furman baptized thirty-one in Charleston, sixty-five were added to Little Salkehatchie, and seventy-two to Black Swamp. The formation of the Bethel Association marked the peak of the movement in the back county. Both associations made steady progress for a time, but baptisms and additions of churches almost ceased about 1799. Great concern for morals and religion manifested itself in the associations. The circular letter of the Charleston Association for 1799 dealt sorrowfully with the probable causes of the “languishing state of religion in the southern parts of these United States.” Prayers for revival became more frequent and fervent, and at last in 1800 that extraordinary spiritual outburst commonly called the great revival began to sweep the Southeast. f834 The movement began in Kentucky in 1797, “yet,” Rev. James McGready, of the Presbyterian Church, declared, “all that work is only like a few drops before a mighty rain, when compared with the wonders of Almighty grace that took place in the year 1800.” f835 So large were the congregations that they could not be accommodated in the churches, and camp meetings became a feature of the religious efforts of the times. They spread rapidly to the older states, where they were used with ardor by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists. “General meetings” of these three denominations attracted visitors from every part of South Carolina, who camped upon the ground for days to hear the exhortations of the revival preachers. The first of these “general meetings” in the State was called by the Presbyterians at the Waxhaws on May 21, 1802. Rev. Richard Furman attended and estimated the number present as about three or four thousand, but other reports give six, seven or even eight thousand, to whom twenty-one ministers, five Methodist, five Baptist, and eleven Presbyterian, preached from two stands in the center of the encampment. After preaching, the ministers went from tent to tent exhorting and praying, and the people for three days were continually engaged in singing, prayer, exhortation, or religious Page 114 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. conversation. In the joint celebration of communion the Baptists did not participate. f836 On June 30, 1802, Rev. James Jenkins, a Methodist minister, wrote Bishop Asbury: Hell is trembling, and Satan’s kingdom falling. Through Georgia, South and North Carolina, the sacred flame and holy fire of God, amidst all the opposition, are extending far and wide. I may say with safety, that hundreds of sinners have been awakened and converted this year in the above-named states. The general meeting held at the Waxhaws was on the last of May. … Sinners were converted on all sides, and numbers found the Lord. … Not far from Rutherford courthouse there was another general meeting the first of June, 1802. … The Methodists had another general meeting a few days past at the Hanging Rock. There were fifteen ministers, Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian, with about three thousand people. f837 A little later Mr. Jenkins mentions passing a large Baptist gathering in Union County while on his way to a Methodist meeting, which he describes as “a good meeting, but for want of some one to nurse our converts, the Baptists reaped the fruit of our labours.” f838 Another general meeting at Nazareth Church in Spartanburg County called by the Presbyterians for Friday, July 2, 1802, was attended by five or six thousand people and engaged the services of thirteen Presbyterian ministers and “an unknown number of Methodist and Baptists,” one of whom was Rev. Richard Shackleford. Again the Baptists refused to join in communion with the other denominations. After three days of intensive religious exercises, those of Sunday evening, which continued through the night, progressed as usual, until about dark, when there commenced one of the most sublime, awfully interesting, and glorious scenes which could possibly be exhibited on this side of eternity The penetrating sighs and excruciating struggles of those under exercise, the grateful exultations of those brought to a sense of their guilty condition, and to a knowledge of the way to salvation; mingled with the impressions which are naturally excited by the charms of music and the solemnities of prayer on such occasions; and to all this added the nature of the scenery, the darkness of the night, and the countenances of all the spectators, speaking in terms more expressive than language, the sympathy, the hope and the fear of their hearts: were sufficient to bow the stubborn neck of infidelity, silence the tongue of profanity, and melt the heart of cold neglect though hard as adamant … Some are more easily and gently wrought than others, some appear wholly wrapped in solitude while others cannot refrain from pouring out their whole souls in exhortations to those standing round;- different stages from mild swoons to convulsive spasms, may be seen;-The nerves are not unfrequently serverely cramped;-The subjects generally exhibit appearances, as though their very hearts would burst out of their mouths;-The lungs are violently agitated and all accompanied with an elation;-They universally declare, that they feel no bodily pain at the moment of exercise, although some complain of a sore breast and the effects of the cramping after the work is over. f839 The most unusual feature of the great revival was the general prevalence of these bodily exercises. In some instances, persons who were not before known to be at all religious, or under any particular concern about it, would suddenly fall to the ground, and become strangely convulsed with what was called the jerks: the head and neck, and sometimes the body also, moving backwards and forwards with spasmodic violence, and so rapidly that the plaited hair of a woman’s head might be heard to crack. f840 At times the exercise took the form of dancing. Criticism of the general meetings and the bodily exercises began with the revival and increased with its progress. Some called the whole movement a device of the devil or at least of human Page 115 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. contrivance, and even found in it a political intrigue or a, money-making scheme. f841 Rev. Richard Furman saw at the Waxhaws meeting evidences of affectation in the exercises and some incidental evils which … give pain to one who feels a just regard for religion. Men of an enthusiastic disposition have a favorable opportunity at them of diffusing their spirit, and they do not fail to improve the opportunity for this purpose, and the too free intercourse between the sexes in such an encampment is unfavorable. f842 Two churches, Rocky Creek and Bethel, questioned the Bethel Association in 1802 with regard to communing with other denominations, and the emphatic negative on the practice braced the members to maintain their position. f843 Baptist ministers apparently did not call general meetings but held frequent and successful gatherings in their own congregations. These claim that the violent exercises seldom appeared among their converts, and that with the Baptists the revival proceeded in an orderly and truly spiritual manner. f844 In July or August, 1802, Rev. Richard Shackleford held a meeting at Woodruff church, where many, falling to the ground, cried out: “What shall I do to be saved?” and thirty-six were baptized at one time. “On this occasion it was supposed, there were not less than two thousand persons present, a third of whom at least were in tears at the same moment …” f845 Friday Decmr 3, 1802 The Members of Black Creek Church Met at Sd Church two Sermons was Delivered after which a Door was opened to Receive Members Wright Linch Came forward and was Recd Dismist till Saturday at 11 oclock Met according to appointment Rvd Fraim Woods preachd a very affectionate sermon and Revd James Coleman Contd Worship by Exortation and prayr after which a Door was opened Thomas Coker James Leear Ameley Lewis Came and they ware Recd Dismist till Sunday at 10 oclock met According to appointment at the water side William Briant Came forward and was Recd after which the Before Mentioned brethren was initiated into the Church by Amertion after which we marchd to the Meeting Hous Singing Bro Woods Led the way and put forth the Hymn finitioned at the pulpit Door there he preached a wonderfull Discours after which the Lords supper was Administred by Revd James Coleman and Dismist f846 Rev. Messrs. Moses Holland, of Big Creek Church, Joshua Palmer, of Upper Duncans Creek, Augustine Clayton, of Bethlehem, and Rev. Thomas Greer, of Padgetts Creek, also held successful gatherings which large crowds attended. f847 The Bethel Association meetings became great spiritual and sacramental occasions. At Bethlehem Church in Spartanburgh District in 1800, a crowd of “near 3,500 persons” attended the preaching of six sermons in two divisions, and again at Bush River Church, Newberry District, in 1803, there was a “very numerous congregation.” f848 The 1802 association at Cole’s meeting house, however, brought highest enjoyment to both ministers and people. Rev. David Lilly, clerk on that occasion, wrote Rev. Henry Holcombe: A vast concourse of people assembled on Saturday, and considerable appearance of solemnity soon took place; but no uncommon effect until Sunday late in the evening. Then the Lord was pleased to manifest his power to many hearts. Numbers were powerfully exercised through the whole night, and some were thrown to the ground. On Monday the work increased. The hearts of many were made to melt, and several of the men, noted for their impiety, were stricken and lay among the prostrate. I must acknowledge it was a memorable time for my soul: The like I had not felt for several years before. In general the people were much engaged through the greater part of Monday night: Before sun-rise on Tuesday morning, the sacred flame began to burn afresh; Several who had been before unaffected Page 116 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. came to the earth. The Association rose about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and such a degree of brotherly affection as appeared among the ministers and messengers of the churches, I scarcely ever saw. It was enough to melt the heart of the greatest infidel living So very intent were the people to hear, that they petitioned for preaching, after business was finished; and some of the ministers continued with them in constant exercise, ‘till midnight. … The hearts of sinners melt before the word of truth, like wax before the sun. Infidelity is almost ashamed to show its head. Several deists have been constrained, under a sense of their lost condition, to cry aloud for mercy. A few, even of those who attributed the effects produced … to infernal agency, have been reached and overcome by an invincible influence, which they now acknowledge to be divine. f849 Although the revival spread over the whole State and continued several years, the high point in additions to the churches came in the back country in 18021803. During that period, Padgetts Creek added 420 members by baptism, Bethel 247, Fairforest 216, Bush River 149, and Big Creek 124 (in 1802 alone); several other churches received almost as many, and there were very few “without some promising appearances.” f850 Constitution of new churches and formation of branches or arms followed rapidly upon these increases in numbers, and in the three years, 1802-1804, thirtyfive churches and branches came into existence, with a marked concentration in Greenville, Spartanburg, Laurens, and Union Counties. f851 The Bethel Association, grown unwieldy through inclusion of most of the churches of the back country, in 1800 dismissed a number to form the Broad River Association, which entered so enthusiastically into the work of revival as to double its membership by 1803. f852 In that year, the peak of the revival, the Saluda Association began its career with seventeen member churches in western South Carolina, eleven of them dismissed from the Bethel Association. Reduced to 34 churches and 2690 members by these dismissals, the Bethel Association added 1411 members by baptism in 1803, raising its membership to 3518. f853 In the same year, Broad River had 27 churches and 2084 members, possibly five-ninths in South Carolina, while Saluda had 17 churches and about 1200 members. f854 The Charleston Association likewise felt the effects of the great revival, its membership rising to 2516 through 418 baptisms in 1803. f855 It dismissed five churches to the Savannah Association in 1802; f856 the number of South Carolina churches in that body in 1803 was eight with a membership of about 500. f857 The Baptists of South Carolina had 115 organized churches, approximately 76 ordained ministers and numerous licentiates and exhorters, and about 10,000 whites and blacks in their communion at the close of 1803, a gain of eighty per cent in three years. f858 Though some decline due to excommunications followed, most of this gain was permanent. f859 The Baptists of South Carolina entered the new century with a tremendous stirring of their spiritual life and with an equally astonishing increase in their numbers. The denomination’s forty years in the back country had proved its powerful appeal to the type which made the new West. BIBLIOGRAPHY Material listed below was secured from the following: Baptist Historical Collection. Furman University Library, Greenville, S.C.; Library of Crozer Theological Seminary, Chester, Pa.; Charleston Library Society, Charleston, S.C.; Library of the University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.; Samuel Colgate Baptist Historical Collection. Library of Colgate University, Page 117 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Hamilton, N. Y.; Library of Congress; Georgia Baptist Historical Society, Cordele, Ga.; correspondence with Baptist ministers and church clerks of South Carolina; private collections of Alester G. Furman, Greenville, S.C., of the late Thomas E. Richardson (now at University of South Carolina), and of the Misses Charles, Darlington, S C., also through visits to churches and churchyards. MANUSCRIPT SOURCES Church Books: Bethabara Church Book, 1801-. W. S. Atchison, Cross Hill, S.C. Big Creek Church Book, 1801-. Church clerk, Pelzer, S.C. Black Creek, Minutes of Church acts in the Branch of Cashway Church residing on, 1789-1790 Four sheets folded and sewed; Misses Charles. Black Creek Church Book, 1798-1814. Furman University, Brushy Creek Church Book, 1789-. Church clerk, Taylors, S.C. Bush River Church Book, 1792-. M. B. McKittrick, Kinards, S.C. Cashaway Church Book, 1756-1772. Furman University. Cedar Spring Church Book, 1794-. W. N. Smith, Route 4, Spartanburg, S.C. Charleston, Register for the Incorporated Baptist Church in, 1793-1800. Large sheets folded and sewed with string. Furman University. Chauga Church Book. See Shoal Creek. Clear Spring Church Book, 1803-. Church clerk, Simpsonville, S.C. Clouds Creek. See West Creek Church Book. Columbia, S.C., A concise Account of the Rise and Constitution of the Baptist Church in the Town of, in church book 1809-1840. Furman University. Coosawhatchie Church Book, 1814-1864. Opens with a covenant containing statement regarding original constitution. W. C. Bryan, Barton, S.C. Dean Swamp Church Book, 1803, 1805-. J. Friday Fanning, Springfield, S.C. Edisto Island Church Book, about 1864. The short history of Edisto Island Church in the front of the book was probably written by Rev. Thomas Dawson, who was pastor in 1864; names of slaves are listed under their owners; in the back of the book are several slips written by masters or mistresses giving slaves permission to join the church. Furman University. El Bethel Church Book, May 1803-. A. S. Goudelock, R. 5, Gaffney, S.C. Friendship Church Book. See Tyger River. Gum Branch Church Book, 1796-1807. J. W. Gardner, Kelleytown, S.C. Head of Enoree Church Chronicle, 1799-. Rev. F. K. Pool, Greenville, S.C. Hopewell Church (Chester County), 1811-1833. A collection of papers including rough notes of letters and minutes from which the church book was probably written in final form. Furman University. Lower Church on Lynches Creek. See Gum Branch. Mispah Church Book (Mars Bluff, S.C.), 1835-1862. Furman University. Mount Pleasant (Darlington County) Church Book, 1803-. In Cashaway Church Book. Furman University. Padgetts Creek Church book, 1784-1832. Furman University. Poplar Spring Church Book, 1794-. Rev. H. J. Snider, Ware Shoals, S.C. Red Bank Church Book, 1815-1858. Furman University. Shoal Creek (Chauga) Church Book, 1796-. Furman University. Siloam Church Book, 1799-. Church clerk, Ninety Six, S.C. Sugar Creek (Flint Hill) Church Book, 1792-1836. Small note book excellently expressed and written. Rev. James F. Boyd, Fort Mill, S.C. Tyger River (Friendship) Church Book, 1801. Hobson Harris, Pauline, S.C. Turkey Creek Church Book, 1785. Miss Annie Moore, Donalds, S.C. Welsh Neck Church Book, 1757-1798, 1802-. The history to 1757 is a compilation from various miscellaneous papers, the first church book having been lost. The late Miss Mary Coker, church clerk, and T. S. Lucas, Society Hill, S.C. West Creek (Clouds Creek) Church Book. Centenary papers. Church clerk, Batesburg, S.C. Diaries: Hart, Rev. Oliver, August-September, 1754. Six large sheets, Page 118 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. evidently a fragment from the original manuscript, other portions of which were published in Year Book City of Charleston, 1896. Furman University. Pugh. Rev. Evan, 1762-1802. MSS in small note books, one or two of which have been lost; a history of the Baptists of the Peedee section for forty years. Misses Charles, great-granddaughters of Rev. Evan Pugh. Edwards, Rev. Morgan: Materials towards a History of the Baptists in South Carolina, 1772. Autograph manuscript deposited in Library of Crozer Theological Seminary. Typewritten copy in University of South Carolina. Edwards, a Baptist minister of the Philadelphia Association, traveled through the Colonies, visited churches, met with associations, etc., to collect data for a history of the Baptists. His work is now practically the only material on back country churches of South Carolina before the Revolution. For a further description see Paschal, “N. C. Materials,” N. C. Hist. Rev. VII. Materials towards a History of the Baptists in the Province of South Carolina, 1772. An elaborately paged and hand printed revision of the Materials, evidently made by Rev. Morgan Edwards for Dr. Richard Furman, whose remarks and annotations, made about 1795, appear throughout the manuscript and greatly increase its value. The revisions made by Edwards contain some new material but in the main give the quaintly worded philosophy of the author. The manuscript of seventy-five pages, now brown and brittle and fast falling into fragments, is in possession of Alester G. Furman, Sr., a great-grandson of Dr. Richard Furman. Materials towards a History of the Baptists in Georgia, 1772. Autograph manuscript deposited in Library of Crozer Theological Seminary. Correspondence: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division: Letter, Thomas Brandon to Thomas Sumter, Camp near the Mouth of Packlet, 4th Dec. 1780. Sumter Papers, v. 1, No. 1281. Letters, 1720- 1771, to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Fulham MSS, South Carolina, Nos. 12, 51-60, 253. Alester G. Furman Collection: Letters of Richard Furman to Rev. Oliver Hart, Hopewell, N. J., dated Charleston, January 26, 1785; February 7, 1786. Unaddressed letter from Richard Furman, dated Charleston, December 11, 1797. Probably original draft, written to convince Rev. Gabriel Gerald of his error in holding Sabbatarian views. Fortythree sheets. Letters from Rev. Jonathan Maxcy to Rev. Richard Furman, dated Rhode Island College, October 20, 1797; November 3, 1800. Boyce Pearson Collection, Strother, S.C.: Letters of John Pearson to “My dear Son” [Philip Pearson], dated Broad River, March 27, 1764; May 5, 1764. Letters of Philip Pearson. Four fragments whose contents indicate that they are answers to letters from John Pearson, Broad River, S.C., about 1764. Letters, papers and legal documents, both originals and copies, 1752, 1786, and 1787, with regard to the Baptist church lands on Edisto Island. Furman University. Letter of General Andrew Pickens to Colonel Henry Lee, August 28, 1811, Lyman C. Draper Manuscripts, Sumter Papers, 1 VV107, State Historical Society, Madison, Wis. Used in Anne King Gregorie, Thomas Sumter, Columbia, S.C., 1931. Correspondence with Baptist ministers and church clerks, giving descriptions and locations of churches, 1926-1935. Miscellaneous: Hitts, Durham, Teacher of Psalmody. The Cashaway Psalmody, 1770. Elaborate copy made by Rev. Evan Pugh for his wife, Martha McGee Pugh. Misses Charles. [Furman, Richard]. Address, High Hills of Santee, November, 1775, to those disaffected coward the Provincial Government and the Continental Congress. Signed “A Loyal Subject.” Alester G. Furman. This is apparently a contemporary copy. Kershaw, Joseph. Account Book 1775. MS, State Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin. Rhode Island College. List of Page 119 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Subscribers to, March 18, 1775, Welsh Neck community. MS, Misses Charles. South Carolina Archives: Historical Commission of South Carolina (described to 1906 in 1906 Report of A. S. Salley, Jr., Secretary). Journals of the Commons House of Assembly, 1745-1766. Journals of the Council, 1731, 1745, 1754-1775. Memorial Books. Records of the Province of South Carolina: Sainsbury Transcripts from British Public Record Office, XXXII (1768-1770), XXXIV (1774). Journals of the House of Representatives, 1783-1804. Journals of the Senate, 1784-1804. Revolutionary Accounts Audited. Index of Revolutionary Accounts Audited, made under the direction of A. S. Salley, Jr. Office of the Secretary of State: Grant Books. Index to Plats, 1688-1787, 2 vols. 1785-. Plat Books, vols. 1-XL, Iq-XXXIIq. County Records from the office of the Clerk of Court or Register of Mesne Conveyance and the Probate Court: Aiken County, Aiken, S.C. Charleston County, Charleston. Darlington County, Darlington. Edgefield County, Edgefield. Greenville County, Greenville. Laurens County, Laurens. Marion County, Marion. Marlboro County, Bennettsville. Newberry County, Newberry. Oconee County, Walhalla. Pickens County, Pickens. Richland County, Columbia. Spartanburg County, Spartanburg. Sumter County, Sumter. York County, York. PRINTED MATERIAL Archives: South Carolina: Issued by the Historical Commission. Edited and indexed by A. S. Salley, Jr., Secretary. Journal of the Convention of South Carolina which Ratified the Constitution of the United States, May 23, 1788. Atlanta, 1928. Journal of the House of Representatives of S.C., Jan. 8, 1782. Feb. 26, 1782. Columbia, 1916. Stub Entries to Indents Issued in Payment of Claims againstSouth Carolina Growing out of the Revolution. Books L-N. Columbia, 1910; O-Q, 1915, R-T, 1917; U-W, 1918; X, Pts. I. II, 1925, Y-Z, 1927. Warrants for Land in South Carolina, 1672-1679. Columbia, 1910; 16801692, 1911: 1692-1711, 1915 “Journal of the Provincial Congress of … 1775,” in Peter Force (ed.) American Archives, in six series. Fourth Series, IV. Journal of the Provincial Congress of … 1776. Reprinted for J. Almon, London, 1776. University of South Carolina. Statutes at Large of South Carolina. Edited by Thomas Cooper. vols. I-V; by David J. McCord, vols VI-X, Columbia, 1837-1840. North Carolina: Colonial Records of North Carolina. Edited by William L. Saunders. 10 vols., Raleigh, 1886-1890. State Records of North Carolina. Collected and edited by Walter Clark. 17 vols., Winston, 1895- 1907. Heads of Families at Me First Census of the United States Taken in the year 1790, South Carolina. United States Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of the Census: Washington, Government Printing Office, 1908. Contemporary Baptist Publications: Minutes of Associations: South Carolina: Bethel Baptist Association. 1791-1800, 1802ff. Furman University. Charleston Baptist Association, 1775, 1777-1779. 1785-1789, 1719ff. All years in Furman University Library except 1796 and 1803, which were obtained from Colgate University. Georgia (from Georgia Baptist Historical Society) Georgia Baptist Association. 1788, 1790, 1792, 1793, 1803, 1805. Hepzibah Baptist Association. 1801 Sarepta Baptist Association 1800, 1805. Registers and Periodicals: Crozer Theological Seminary: Asplund, John. The Annual Register of the Baptist Denomination in North America to the first of November, 1790. Containing an Account of the churches and their Constitutions, Ministers, Member Associations, their Plan and Sentiments, Rule and Order. Proceedings and Page 120 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Correspondence. Also Remarks upon Practical Religion. First edition. Preface dated, Richmond, April 1792. Second edition, with Foreign Section, Philadelphia, September, 1792. Third Edition, 1792, Foreign Section omitted, but pagination as in second edition. A projected fourth edition appeared in Richmond, 1794; the only copy known, in the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, contains nothing but the London Confession. The Universal Register of the Baptist Denomination in North America for the Years 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, and part of 1794. Containing: I. The Names of all the Churches — what counties and states they lie in — what association belonging to — what year constituted — their pastors, Ministers, and Preachers’ Names — what number of Members for 1790, 1791, 1792, and part of 1793 and 1794. II. All the Alterations since 1790, in Associations, Churches, and Ministry, either by Addition or Diminution. III. A Schedule of Associations — their Constitutions — Ages — Correspondence — their Time and Duration of Setting, etc. IV. Constitution of Associations in general, and Rules of Decorum. V. A short Extract of the Association minutes partly for five years. VI. A short Account of the Baptists in other parts of the World. VII. A general Description, what constitutes a Baptist, and what makes the different Communions among them. Fifth edition, Boston, 1794. The projected material for 1794 is not included, but appears in the sixth edition. [Register, sixth edition.] No title page; preface signed “Hanover, New Hampshire, April 20, 1796. The Author.” This edition contains statistics for 1794. probably gathered too late to appear in the fifth edition. Crozer Theological Seminary has a complete set of Asplund’s Register (photostatic copy of the fourth edition). Asplund, a naturalized Swede, journeyed over the United States on foot collecting material, visiting ministers, churches and associations; his work is full of errors-he is said to have been too credulous-but it is suggestive and, in many cases, indispensable for early Baptist history. The Baptist Annual Register, for 1790, 1791, 1792, and Part of 1793. (London. preface dated December, 1793). Edited by John Rippon. The Baptist Annual Register, for 1794, 1795, 1796-1797, including Sketches of the State of Religion among Different Denominations of Good Men at Home and Abroad. Edited by John Rippon (London, 1797). Rippon’s Register contains minutes of the American associations and letters from Baptist ministers in America. Georgia Analytical Repository. Edited by the Rev. Henry Holcombe, Savannah, Nos. 1-4 (1802); 5-6 (1803). Bound in one volume. Said to be the earliest religious magazine published in the South. The Repository contains letters, articles. and other materials for the Great Revival. In spite of the “proud list of a thousand subscribers,” the Repository ceased after the issue of No. 6, March-April, 1803. Mr. Holcombe was more than the editor of the Repository; a great part of the material was written by him. Doctrine: Chanler, Rev. Isaac, Minister of the Gospel upon Ashley River in South Carolina The Doctrines of Glorious Grace Unfolded, defended and practically improved. Boston, 1744. University of South Carolina. A Confession of Faith, Put Forth by the Elders and Brethren of Many Congregations of Christians. Baptized upon profession of their Faith in London and the Country. Adopted by the Baptist Association of Philadelphia, September 25, 1742. And by the Charleston, in 1767. Second Charleston Edition. To which is added-an Article on singing Psalms in Public Worship. Charleston, 1813. A reprint of the Church Discipline below, and the Baptist Catechism are included in the same volume; a quarto in Furman University Library. A reprint of the Philadelphia confession appears in W. J. McGlothlin, Baptist Confessions of Faith (Philadelphia, 1911). Page 121 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Holcombe, Rev. Henry. A concise, candid, and well authenticated account of the several interviews between Mr. Hope Hull an elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the author, a Baptist minister; his reply to an injudicious piece on his character, written by Mr. John Crawford, a Methodist preacher; and a remarkable dream of his own, together with the probable interpretation, etc., in blank verse. Published at the request of a number of his friends, September 13, 1790. South Carolina, Pipe Creek. Said to have been at Clemson College, S.C., but now lost. Description of pamphlet in undated clipping from The Baptist Courier, Greenville, S.C. Morgan, Abel. Cyd-gordiad Egwyddorawl o’r Scrythurau … An account of the author (1673-1722) appears in Dictionary of American Biography, XIII, 163; he came to Philadelphia in 1712; his Cyd- gordiad was the second book published in Welsh in America, and the first real concordance to the Bible in Welsh. University of South Carolina. The name “John Jones” appears on the fly leaf of this copy; he was probably the early member of Welsh Neck church in whose house meetings were at first held. See Chapter II, Text. A summary of Church Discipline Shewing the Qualifications and Duties, of the Officers and Members, of a Gospel-Church. By the Baptist Association, in Charlestown, South Carolina. Wilmington, N. C., 1773. This was compiled for the Charleston Association by Rev. Messrs. Oliver Hart and Francis Pelot and Mr. David Williams. A second edition was published in Charleston in 1804. The Constitutional Rules of the Religious Society; Revised and finally Ratified the Third Day of May, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-eight. Charles-Town, South Carolina, 1768. A pamphlet of fifteen pages. Associational and Denominational Histories (largely source material) Allen, W. C. History of the Pee Dee Baptist Association, Dillon, S.C. 1924. Annual of the State Convention of the Baptist Denomination in South Carolina. Spartanburg, 1929. Asbury, Rev. Francis, Journal of … Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from August 7, 1771, to December 7, 1815. 3 vols. New York, 1821. Backus, Rev. Isaac. Church History of New England from 1620 to 1804. Philadelphia, 1844. Baptist Encyclopedia. Edited by William Cathcart. Philadelphia, 1881. Baptist Library: A Republication of Standard Baptist Works. Edited by C. G. Sommers, et al. Stereotype edition. 2 vols. New York, 1852. Baptist Memorial and Monthly Chronicle. Edited by Rev. Rufus Babcock, Jr., and Rev. J. O. Choules. New York, 1842. Barnett, Rev. M. C. History of the Broad River Association. Yorkville, S.C., 1871. From minutes and personal knowledge. Furman University. Benedict, Rev. David. A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and Other Parts of the World. 2 vols. Boston, 1813. This history has contemporary details of South Carolina Baptist churches collected by Benedict just after 1800; it includes a list of Baptist associations and churches in the United States in 18111813. University of South Carolina. A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and Other Parts of the World. New York, 1848. Continuation and abridgement of two volume history issued in 1813. Crozer Theological Seminary. Bernheim, Rev. G. D. History of the German Settlements and of the Lutheran Church in North and South Carolina … to 1850. Philadelphia, 1872. Blake, T. C. The Old Log House: A History and Defense of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Nashville, 1878. Burkett, Lemuel, and Jesse Read. A Concise History of the Kehukee Baptist Association. Halifax, N. C., 1803. Burts, C. E. “Short Sketch of Early History and Traditions of the Edgefield Baptist Association,” in Edgefield Baptist Page 122 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Association Minutes, 1907. Anderson, S.C., 1907. Campbell, Jesse H. Georgia Baptists: Historical and Biographical. Macon, 1874. Classified Digest of the Records of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1701-1892. 4. ed. London, 1894. Cook, Rev. Harvey T. “The Baptist Church,” in “The Century in the Churches,” edited by Rev. John Kershaw in The News and Courier. Charleston, 1900. Cook, Richard B. The Early and Later Delaware Baptists; The Story of the Baptists in all Ages and Countries. Baltimore, 1889. Dalcho, Frederick. An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South Carolina, from the first settlement … to the War of the Revolution … with … some … early civil history of Carolina never before published. Charleston, 1820. Edwards, Morgan. “Materials towards a History of the Baptists in the Province of North Carolina,” edited by G. W. Paschal in The North Carolina Historical Review, VII (1930), No. 3, pp. 368-399. Furman, James C. An Historical Discourse Delivered Before the Charleston Baptist Association at its Hundredth Anniversary, held in Charleston in November, 1851. Charleston, 1852. From church minutes and personal knowledge. Furman University. Furman, Wood. A History of the Charleston Association of Baptist Churches in the State of South-Carolina, with an Appendix containing the Principal Circular Letters to the Churches. Charleston, 1811. A valuable work based on minutes of the Charleston Association, the earliest of which were never printed and are now lost. University of South Carolina. Garrett, T. H. A History of the Saluda Baptist Association, with Historical (and). … Biographical Sketches, also interesting statistical tables. Richmond, 1896. Goode, John Fleming. History of Tugaloo Baptist Association. Toccoa, Ga., 1924. Griffin, Charles M. The Story of South Carolina Baptist 1683-1933. Greenwood, S.C., 1934. A brief bicentenary summary. Hiscox, Edward T. The New Dictionary for Baptist Churches. Philadelphia, 1894. “Historical Sketches,” in Broad River Association Minutes, 1900. History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia; with Biographical Compendium, etc., compiled for the Christian Index. Atlanta, 1881. Howe, George. History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina. 2 vols. Columbia, 1870, 1883. Hufman, J. D. “The Baptists of North Carolina.” In North Carolina Baptist Historical Papers, I (1897), No. 4. Humphreys, David (Secretary to the Honorable Society). An Historical Account of the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Containing their Foundation, Proceedings, and the Success of their missionaries in the British colonies to the year 1728. London, 1730. Library of Congress. Landrum, Rev. J. G. “Historical Sketch of the Tyger River Baptist Association.” Circular letter in Tyger River Association Minutes, 1866. Furman University. Logan, John R. Sketches, historical and biographical, of the Broad River and King’s Mountain Baptist Associations, 1800-1882. Shelby, N. C. This work is based to some extent on early minutes of Broad River Association, apparently no longer in existence. McNemar, Richard. The Kentucky Revival … New York, 1846 Mercer, Jesse. A History of the Georgia Baptist Association; compiled at the Request of that Body. Washington, Ga., 1838. Mood, F. A. Methodism in Charleston. Edited by Thos. O. Sumners, D. D. Charleston, 1856. Newman, Albert Henry. A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States. Philadelphia, 1898. Paschal, G. W. History of North Carolina Baptists. Vol. 1, 1663-1805. Raleigh, 1930. Ramsay, David. The History of the Independent or Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Philadelphia, 1815. Appendix contains Rev. William Tennent’s address to the legislature on disestablishment. Rupp, I. Daniel. He Pasa Ekklesia; An Original History of Page 123 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States. … Philadelphia, 1844. Semple, Robert B. The History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. Richmond, 1810. Shipp, Albert M. The History of Methodism in South Carolina. Nashville, 1883. Spencer, Rev. J. H. A History of Kentucky Baptists. 1769-1885. 2 vols. I. Cincinnati, 1885. Shuck, Rev. Lewis H. The Barnwell Baptist Association of South Carolina. Its Churches and their Deceased Ministers. Charleston, 1867. Individual Church History and Biography: Source: “Abstracts of the Records of the Proceedings in the Court of the Ordinary.” In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, IX (1908), XI (1910), XIV (1913). Capers, Wm., D. D. Autobiography. In Wightman, William M. Life of William Capers, D. D. one of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Nashville, 1858. “Cardross Settlers, Arrival of,” In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. XXX (1929), 69-89. Charleston, 1929. Death Notices in the South Carolina Gazette, 1732-1775. Compiled by A. S. Salley, Jr., Secretary of the Historical Commission of South Carolina. Columbia, 1917. “Death Notices from the South Carolina and American General Gazette, and its Continuation, the Royal Gazette.” Compiled by Mabel L. Webber, in South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, XVI (1915). Hart, Rev. Oliver. “Extracts from the Diary of … from A. D. 1740 to A D. 1780,” in Year Book, City of Charleston, 1896. “Hayne, Colonel Isaac. Records kept by” … In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. X (1909). Holcombe, Henry. The First Fruits, In a Series of Letters. Philadelphia. 1812. Princeton University Library. “Marriage and Death Notices from the Charleston Morning Post and Daily Advertiser.” Compiled by Mabel L. Webber. In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, XX (1919). “Marriage and Death Notices from the City Gazette (Charleston, S.C.).” Compiled by Mabel L. Webber. In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, XIII (1912), XIV (1913). Pilmoor, Joseph. “Journal of … a missionary journey through South Carolina.” In Shipp, Albert M. The History of Methodism in South Carolina. Nashville, 1883. Prince Frederick Winyaw, The Register Book for the Parish, Ann. Dom. 1713. Baltimore, 1916. “St. Andrew’s Parish, Berkeley County, South Carolina, Register of.” Edited by Mabel L. Webber, Secretary, in South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. XIII (1912), XIV (1913). “St. Helena’s Parish Register.” Edited by Mabel L. Webber, Secretary, in South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. XXIII (1922). St. Helena’s Parish, South Carolina, Minutes of the Vestry of, 1726-1812. Edited by A S. Salley, Jr., Columbia, 1919. St. Philip’s Parish, Charles Town, South Carolina. Register of 1720-1758. Edited by A. S. Salley, Jr., Charleston, 1904. Smith, Henry A. 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Samuel, Documents Concerning. … 1702-1707.” In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, V (1904). “Letters of. …” In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine. IV (1903). Webber, Mabel L., editor. “Extracts from the Journal of Mrs. Ann Mantgault.” In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, XX (1919). “Historical Notes.” In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, IX (1908), XVI (1915). Welsh Tract Baptist Meeting, Records of Pencader Hundred, New Castle County, Delaware, 1701 to 1828. Pts I, II. Papers of the Historical Society of Delaware, XLII. Wilmington, 1904. Copy of the original records in the hands of officials. Whitefield, Rev. George. The Works of … 1734-1770. 6 vols, London, 1771. Secondary: Baggott, H. L. A History of the Dean Swamp Baptist Church, 1803- 1903. Saluda, S.C., 1903. A History of Sardis Baptist Church, 1804-1904. Saluda, S.C. 1904. Bailey, Rev. J. D. History of Bethesda Church, Broad River Association. Cowpens, S.C., 1921. Reverends Philip Mulkey and James Fowler: The Story of the First Baptist Church Planted in Upper South Carolina. Cowpens, S.C. 1924. This quotes an account of the constitution of Pacolet Church from Sandy River Church Book. [Beaufort Church]. Christian Fellowship: or, the Solemn Covenant of the Baptist Church of Christ in Beaufort, S.C., With a Summary of Church Discipline, Rules, and A Brief History of the Origin of Said Church. 4. ed. revised and improved from 3: Charleston ed: Charleston, 1834. Bobo. C. B. “History of Padgett’s Creek Church” In Union County Association Minutes, 1885. Greenville, S.C., 1885. “Botsford, Rev. Edmund, Obituary of. … Georgetown, S.C., Dec. 26, 1819.” In The American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, n. s., 2 (1820), No. 8, p. 310. Furman University. Boyd, J. F. “Flint Hill Church.” In The Evening Herald. Rock Hill, S.C., November 30, 1922. Brantley, Rev. William T. The Saint’s Repose in Death: A Sermon Delivered on the Death of the Rev. Richard Furman, D. D. Late Pastor of the Baptist Church, Charleston, S.C. Charleston, 1825. A Sermon, Delivered in the Baptist Church, St. Helena, S.C., on the Death of Mr. William Norton, Who Departed this Life March 7th, 1817, in the 71st Year of his Age. Charleston, 1817. Imperfect copy. Both of above in bound volume of Sermons in Furman University. Brunson, W. A. History of Old Ebenezer Church with Genealogy of the Dargan, Woods, and other families. Bulletin of Pee Dee Historical Society. Weldon, N. C., 1909. Burrage, Rev. Henry. “Some added Facts Concerning Rev. William Screven.” In Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society. Portland, 1894. Burts, R. W. “History of Big Creek Church.” In Saluda Baptist Association Minutes, 1884. Greenville, S.C., 1884. [Charleston]. “Historical Sketch of the First Baptist Church.” In Year Book, City of Charleston, 1881. Cook, Harvey Toliver. A Biography of Richard Furman. Greenville, S.C. 1913. The Life and Legacy of David Rogerson Williams. New York, 1916. Education in South Carolina under Baptist Control. Greenville, S.C., 1921. Rambles in the Pee Dee Basin, South Carolina. Columbia, 1926. Contains copies of letters to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The Life Work of James Clement Furman. Greenville, S.C., 1927. Cornwall, Arthur. “History of Woodward Baptist Church.” In an undated clipping from Chester, S.C., Reporter. Cuthbert, Rev. J. H. Life of Richard Fuller, D. D. New York, 1879. Cuttino, C. L., Jr. “High Hills Baptist Church, Statesburg, Topic of Address by Dr. McGlothlin.” In The State, Columbia, S.C., April 5, 1933. Daniel, J. B. “History of Bethlehem Baptist Church.” In Spartanburg Page 125 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Baptist Association Minutes, 1888. Greenville, S.C., 1888. Dowling, Rev. W. H. “Reports on Church History.” In Savannah River Baptist Association Minutes, 1893, 1913, 1918, 1922. Hampton, S.C. Durham, Marion Mobley. ‘Scraps from the Register of Old Woodward Church.” In The News and Courier, Charleston, S.C., July 17, 1910. Fletcher, Mendel S. “Nature Erects Monument to Founder of Kershaw Church.” In The News and Courier, Charleston, S.C., Sunday, January 17, 1930. Furman, Kate. “Richard Furman, Patriot: Sketch Written for the Sumter Home Chapter of the D. A. R.” In The State, Columbia, S.C., Dec., 1908. Furman, Richard, D. D. The Crown of Life Promised to the Truly Faithful. A sermon, Sacred to the Memory of the Rev. Edmund Botsford, A. M., Late Pastor of the Baptist Church in Georgetown, S.C. Preached March 19, 1820. Charleston, 1822. Furman University. “Gano, Rev. John, Biography of.” In The Southern Light, Edgefield, S.C., I (1856), No. 9, pp. 321-329. University of South Carolina Gillies, John, D. D. Memoirs of Rev. George Whitefield. Revised and corrected … New Haven, 1834. Godfrey, W. R., Senior Warden. An Historical Sketch of Old St. David’s Church, Cheraw, South Carolina, from 1768 to 1916. Cheraw, S.C., 1916. Quotations from parish register, deeds and acts. Goldsmith, William. Clear Spring Baptist Church, August 18, 1925. Typewritten MSS. Furman University. Griffith, H. p. The Life and Times of Rev. John G. Landrum. Philadelphia, 1885. Headley, J. T. The Chaplains and Clergy of the American Revolution. New York, 1864. Hillman, E. H. “The Brisbanes.” In South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, XIV (1913). Hirsch, Arthur Henry. The Huguenots of CoI,onial South Carolina. Durham, N. C., 1928. Appendix with documents and letters of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. Hodges, N. W. “Summary Statement of the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the Churches of the Reedy River Association, September, 1834.” In Reedy River Association Minutes, 1835; and in Triennial Baptist Register, Philadelphia, 2 (1836). Furman University. “Holcombe, Rev. Henry.” In Men of Mark in Georgia. Edited by Wm. J. Northen. Atlanta, 1907. Hood, Rev. C. W. Historical Facts Gathered and Presented at the Home Coming and Memorial Service, Durbin Creek Church, June 19, 1921. Typewritten MSS. Furman University. Howard, Cecil Hampden Cutts. Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America. Albany, 1892. Hutson, Francis M. See Todd, John R. Jameson, J., et al. “History of Mt. Pisgah Church.” In Piedmont Baptist Association Minutes, 1885. Greenville, S.C., 1885. Jones. Dr. W. M. “History of the Barnwell Baptist Church,” In The Barnwell (S.C.) People, May, 1926. Kemp, Mrs. Ida R., and Mrs. W. H. Clegg, “History of Mountain Creek Baptist Church of the Edgefield Association.” In The Baptist Courier, Greenville, S.C., Dec. 29, 1927. Landrum, J. B. O. History of Mt. Zion and her People. Spartanburg, S.C., 1885. “Last Hours of Several Eminently Useful and Pious Individuals of the Baptist Denomination in the United States.” In The Tracts of the Baptist General Tract Society, VI. No. 118. Love, E. K. History of the First African Baptist Church From Its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888. Savannah, 1888. McColl, D. D. See Robert Thomas. McGee, M. “A Historical Sketch of the Baptist Church of Christ at Turkey Creek, Compiled from its Oldest Records.” In Saluda Baptist Association Minutes, 1885. Greenville, S.C., 1885. McGlothlin, W. J. Baptist Beginnings in Education: A History of Furman University Nashville, Page 126 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. 1926. Mallary, Charles D. Memoirs of Elder Edmund Botsford. Charleston, 1832. Autobiographical sections. Library of Congress. Manly, Rev. Basil. Mercy and Judgment: A Discourse containing some fragments of the history of the Baptist Church in Charleston, S.C. Delivered by request of the corporation of said Church, September 23rd and 30th. A. D. 1832. Charleston, 1837. Some contemporary material for the years just after 1800. Furman University. Patriot Preachers of the American Revolution. Edited by Frank Moore. New York, 1862. [Poyas, Mrs.]. “The Octogenarian Lady.” Our Forefathers; Their Homes and their Churches; By the Author of “Carolina in The Olden Time.” Charleston, 1860. The Olden Times of Carolina. Charleston, 1855. Rhees, B. Rush, M. D. Eulogium on the Life and Character of the Rev. Henry Holcombe, D. D. Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia. Delivered at the request of the congregation on the 29th June, 1824. Philadelphia, 1824. Crozer Theological Seminary. Robinson, J. A. “History of Little River Church and Hopewell Church.” In Saluda Baptist Association Minutes, 1885. Greenville, S.C., 1885. Rogers, William, D. D. A Sermon occasioned by the Death of the Rev. Oliver Hart, A. M., Who Departed this Life, Dec. 31, 1795, in the 73rd Year of his Age. Preached at Hopewell, New Jersey, April 24, 1796. Philadelphia, 1796. In bound volume of Sermons, Furman University. Salley, A. S. See Todd, John R. Simms, Rev. James M. The First Colored Baptist Church in North America constituted at Savannah, Georgia, January 20, A. D. 1788. Philadelphia, 1888. Smith, Mendel L. Historical Address at the Centennial Celebration of Camden Baptist Church, Camden, S.C., November 20, 1910. Camden, 1910. Smith, W. R. “A Sketch of the Philadelphia Church.” In Spartanburg Baptist Association Minutes, 1890. Greenville, S.C., 1890. Snowden, Yates. “South Carolina School Books, 1795-1865.” In Southern School News, January, 1910. Columbia. Sprague, William B. Annals of the American Pulpit; or Commemorative Notices of Distinguished American Clergymen of Various Denominations … to 1855. 9 vols. Baptist, Vol. VI. New York, 1860. Furman University. Thomas, Rev. J. A. W. History of Salem Church, 1793-1893. In address delivered Nov. 3, 1893, at Centennial Service of Salem Church. “Thomas, Robert.” In Sketches of Old Marlboro. Edited by D. D. McColl Columbia, S.C., 1916. Two Centuries of the First Baptist Church of South Carolina, 1683-1883. Edited by H. A. Tupper. Baltimore, 1889. The sketch of the history of Charleston Church is based largely on Rev. Basil Manly’s sermon, “Mercy and Judgment.” “Waller, John, Biography of.” In Christian Index, V (1831), No. 5. Philadelphia, 1831. Welsh Neck Baptist Church, Society Hill, S.C., Historical Sketch of. Greenvile, S.C., 1889. This acocunt is largely drawn from the Welsh Neck Church Book. [John Stout]. Whilden, W. G. ‘The Baptists in Charleston.” In The Sunday News, Charleston, S.C., February 22, 1885. Willis, D. W. “History of Boiliing Spring Church.” In Spartanburg Baptist Association Minutes, 1887. Greenville, S.C., 1887 (pp. 1-6 at end renumbered). Wolfe Creek (Landrum) Church, n. d. MS in possession of J. G. Landrum, Landrum, S.C. Woodruff, A. B. “History of Bethel Church.” In Spartanburg Baptist Association Minutes, 1882. Greenville, S.C., 1882. Woodson, Hortense. “Simkins Family Graveyard is Cleared …” In The State, Columbia, S.C., January 6, 1935. MAPS Page 127 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Brown, Rev. C. C. A Baptist Map of the State of South Carolina, Showing the Location of all of the White Baptist Churches in the State, together with the date of their organization, the number of their members &c. Sumter, S.C., 1895. In possession of Mrs. C. C. Brown, Sumter. Suggestive for early churches. Mills, Robert. Atlas of the State of South Carolina, made under the authority of the Legislature; prefaced with a geographical, statistical and historical map of the State. Baltimore, 1825. Indispensable. Mouzon, Henry et al. An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina With Their Indian Frontiers. London, Published as the Act directs May 30, 1775. This map gives many of the early names of creeks, branches, etc., since renamed. U. S. Department of the Interior, U. S. Geological Survey, Map of South Carolina, edition of 1916, reprinted 1920, scale 1-1,000,000. This outline was used in making the map for this volume. MISCELLANEOUS Adams, Brooks. The Emanicpation of Massachusetts; The Dream and the Reality. Rev. and enl. ed. Boston and New York, 1919. “Allaire, Lieut. Anthony, of Ferguson’s Corps, Diary of. Memorandum of occurrences during the campaign of 1780.” In Lyman C. Draper, King’s Mountain and Its Heroes. Cincinnati, 1881. Appendix. 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Meriwether, Colyer. History of Higher Education in South Carolina with a Sketch of the Free School System. Bureau of Education, Circular of Informtaion No. 3 (1888); Contributions to American Educational History, No. 4. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889. Meriwether, R. L. Expansion of South Carolina. MS in preperation. Columbia. (Milligan, George). “A Short Description of the Province of South Carolina … written in the year 1763.” In Historical Collections of South Carolina. Edited by B. R. Carroll. 2 vols. New York, 1836. II. Mills, Robert. Statistics of South Carolina, including a view of its natural. civil, and military History, General and Particular. Charleston, 1825. Moultrie, John, M. D. (1702-1771). “Hurricane of 1752.” Newspaper clipping probably from the News and Courier before 1811. In Scrap Book of Charles Fraser, South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston. O’Bannon, Jennings. Letter. September 13, 1831, to Editor, Christian Index, V, No. 13. 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Year Book, City of Charleston. Page 130 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. FOOTNOTES f1 David Benedict, A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and Other Parts of the World (2 vols., Boston, 1813), 1, 1-188; A. H. Newman, A History of the Baptist Churches in the United States (Philadelphia, 1898), pp. 1-37. f2 Ibid., pp. 38-56. f3 David Benedict, A General History of the Baptist Denomination in America and Other Parts of the World (New York, 1848), p. 330. f4 Newman, U. S. Baptists, pp. 59-62. f5 Brooks Adams, The Emancipation of Massachusetts (rev. and enl. ed., Boston, 1919), p. 274, quoting Mass. Rec. II, p. 85, 13 Nov. 1644; Robert B. Semple, A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia (Richmond, 1810), pp. 1-29. f6 W. J. Rivers, A Sketch of the History of South Carolina to … 1719 … (Charleston, 1856), pp. 77, 86, 214-228, 461-3; Statutes at Large of South Carolina, edited by Thomas Cooper and David J. McCord (10 vols., Columbia. … 1836-1841, II, 232-5, 236-246, 282-294. f7 Rivers, S.C. to 1719, note, p. 216: “Sayle, Morton, Smith, Archdale, Blake and (I think), West, were dissenters;” George Howe, History of the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina (2 vols., Columbia, 1870, 1883), I, 128: “Blake, Smith, and probably Morton were Presbyterians.. f8 Newman, U. S. Baptists, p. 223. f9 John Archdale, “A New Description of that Fertile and Pleasant Province of Carolina,” in Historical Collections of South Carolina, edited by B. R. Carroll (2 vols., New York, 1836), II, 101; John Oldmixon, “The History of Carolina,” in Carroll’s Collections, II, 407. f10 Though Charles Town was the spelling until 1783, Charleston is used throughout. f11 Rivers, S.C. to 1719, pp. 142-4; Henry A. M. Smith, “Beaufort: The Original Plan and the Earliest Settlers,” in South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine (hereinafter cited as SCHGM), IX (1908), 141; Verner W. Crane, The Southern Frontier, 1670-1732 (Durham, N, C., 1928) pp. 28-32; “Arrival of the Cardross Settlers,” in SCHGM, XXX (1929), 69-89; John R. Todd and Francis M. Hutson, Prince William’s Parish and Plantations (Richmond, 1935), Introduction by A. S. Salley. f12 Two Centuries of the First Baptist Church of South Carolina 1683-1883, edited by H. A. Tupper (Baltimore, 1889), pp. 54-5; Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 124; Wm. G. Whilden, “The Baptists in Charleston,” in The Sunday News, Charleston, S.C., Feb. 22, 1885; Morgan Edwards, Materials toward a History of Page 131 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. the Baptists in South Carolina, 1772 (Crozer Manuscript, Chester, Pa.) (hereinafter cited as Crozer MS), p. 26. f13 Warrants for Land in South Carolina, 1692-1711, edited by A. S. Salley, Jr. (Historical Commission, Columbia, 1915), p. 137; various quotations from Mabel L. Webber, “Historical Notes,” in SCHGM, IX (1908), 230-1, and Rev. Henry S. Burrage, “Some added facts concerning Rev. William Screven,” In Collections and Proceedings of the Maine Historical Society, 1894, pp. 275- 284, show William Screven purchasing land, witnessing deeds, settling controversies, serving as foreman of the grand jury, acting as representative, petitioning for remission of Kittery taxes, and lastly, on January 24, 1695-6, witnessing a mortgage of Robert Cutt at Kittery; Rev. Henry S. Burrage, “Memoir of William Screven,” in Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 52, claims “A son of William Screven, also named William, remained at Kittery. There are several references to him in the recently published York Deeds. As Mr. Screven married Bridget Cutts July 23, 1647, I am inclined to think that this son William was by a former wife, as he is said to have represented the town of Kittery in the General Court in 1694;” as no better evidence of the earlier marriage or of the son William has been found than the above, the safest conclusion seems to be that, in spite of the order to leave, Rev. William Screven remained at Kittery until January, 1696; he made several transfers of property in Kittery In 1704 and 1705 by power of attorney to his son Robert Screven, dated Charles Town, Carolina, June 12, 1704; Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 128, gives 1693 as the date of Rev. William Screven’s taking charge of a Baptist church in Carolina founded in 1685; Cecil Hampden Cutts Howard, Genealogy of the Cutts Family in America (Albany, 1892), p. 497, gives 1682 as the date of William Screven’s arrival in Carolina; Henry A. M. Smith, “Georgetown: The Original Plan and the Earliest Settlers,” in SCHGM IX (1908), 87, notes the error in the date usually given of Screven’s coming to Carolina, quoting [Mrs. Poyas] (“The Octogenarian Lady”), The Olden Time of Carolina (Charleston, 1855, p. 112 and “Historical Sketch of the First Baptist Church [Charleston],” in Year Book City of Charleston (hereinafter cited as YBC), 1881, p. 316, both of which give 1682; Newman, U. S. Baptists, p. 221, notes also the incorrectness of the date 1682; David Ramsay, History of South Carolina from its first Settlement in 1670 to the Year 1808 (2 vols., Charleston, 1809), II, 27, 28, gives 1683 as the date of William Screven’s arrival in Carolina, and this has been widely accepted. f14 Burrage, “Memoir of William Screven,” In Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, pp. 39-52 (quoting Early Records of Maine, III, IV), implies that William Screven and his company left Kittery before June, 1684; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 18, states that William Screven came to Carolina in 1664 with his society, an obvious impossibility and probably only an error in the figure. f15 Newman, U, S. Baptists, pp. 221-2; Howard, Cutts Genealogy, p. 16; Burrage, “Added Facts,’ in Coll, Maine Hist. Soc. 1894, p. 277. f16 Warrants, 1692-1711, p. 137; “Abstracts of the Records of the Proceedings in the Court of the Ordinary,” in SCHGM, XII (1911), 148-9, Robert Wetherick’s will witnessed on Sept. 5, 1700. Page 132 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f17 Henry A. M. Smith, “Some Forgotten Towns in Lower South Carolina,” in SCHGM, XIV (1913), 135-6; there is an indication in Henry A. M. Smith, “The Upper Ashley: And the Mutations of Families,” in SCHGM, XX (1919), 162, of a connection between Daniel Axtell the Landgrave and Daniel Axtell of New England; Humphrey Axtell was a near neighbor of Rev. William Screven In Carolina; Howard, Cutts Genealogy, p. 16, and Burrage, “Added Facts,” in Coll. Maine Hist, Soc., 1894, pp. 277-8, differ in the relationships of these neighbors. f18 “Documents Concerning Rev. Samuel Thomas … 1702-1707,” in SCHGM, V (1904), 32-5, 38; Burrage, “Added Facts,” in Coll. Maine Hist. Soc., 1894, pp. 277, 278; Smith, “Georgetown,” in SCHGM, IX (1908), 87-8; Frederick Dalcho, An Historical Account of the Protestant Episcopal Church in South-Carolina, from the first settlement … to the War of the Revolution … with … some … early civil history of Carolina never before published. … (Charleston, 1820), pp. 39-51, gives founding and incorporation of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts under Anglican influence to send out missionaries if the colonists desired them; Rev. Samuel Thomas was the first S. p. G. missionary to South Carolina. f19 “Morgan Edwards, Materials towards a History of the Baptists in the Province of South Carolina, 1772 (MS, in Possession of Alester G. Furman, Greenville, S.C.) (hereinafter cited as Furman MS), p. 3; “First Baptist Church,” in YBC, 1881, p. 316; Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina under the Proprietary Government 1670-1719 (New York, 1897), p. 317, note explaining title “lady.. f20 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, gives 1683 as the traditional date of the beginning of organized Baptist worship in the Province, by implication Rev, William Screven’s church which was collected at Somerton and removed to Charleston; Ramsay, Hist. S.C., II, 27, 57, gives 1684 or about 1685; Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 218, 128, has 1698 as the date of the Charleston Church, but implies that there was a Baptist church founded in S.C., in 1685; John Asplund, The Annual Register of the Baptist Denomination in North America. 1790 first edition, Richmond, 1792; second edition, Philadelphia, 1792; third edition, 1792); and John Asplund, The Universal Register of the Baptist Denomination in North America for the Years 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, and part of 1794 (Boston, 1794 (hereinafter cited as Asplund’s Reg. 5, ed.); (Hanover, N. H., 1796) (hereinafter cited as Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed.) all give 1690 as the date of constitution of the Charleston Church; Edwards, Furman MS, p. 7, has 1693 as the date the first church was removed to Charleston, while Crozer MS, pp. 15, 16, has 1664 as the date of organization of the first church in the Province, which was removed to Charleston in 1680; petition of Thomas Simmons, pastor, and Francis Gracia, deacon, of the Antipaedo Baptist Church in Charles Town, in Journal of the Commons House of Assembly of South Carolina (MS, Historical Commission, Columbia) (hereinafter cited as JCHA) Feb. 14, 1744-5, sets forth that the church was gathered “upwards of thirty years past;” Benedict, Baptist History (1813), I, 272, places the Charleston Church eleventh in order of time of establishment in U. S., the date of organization being 1690, and this statement is followed by Edward T. Hiscox, The New Directory for Baptist Churches (Philadelphia. 1894), pp. 513, 517, who, however, later states in a Page 133 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. list which he says was compiled by Rev. David Spencer, D. D., with “laborious care in ascertaining the facts …” that the first Baptist Church in S.C. was organized in 1682, this evidently going back to the claim that Rev. William Screven came to Carolina in 1682 and brought with him the nucleus of the Kittery Church organized in that year. [Mrs. Poyas], Our Forefathers; Their Homes and their Churches; by the Author of “Carolina in the Olden Time” (Charleston, 1860), p. 90, states: “Yet the Baptists contend that they had a temporary shed, put up in October, 1682, on Cooper River, a few miles from Charles Town, on Oyster Point, for the Rev. William Screven, and the congregation that he brought with him. They called their settlement ‘Somerton,’ from their former home in Somersetshire, England. After two years they removed to town, and built In Church Street, on the site where now stands the so-called First Baptist Church, although in truth, the third built; the old one was taken down in 1808:” a marble slab midway of the south side of the First Church burying ground bears this inscription: “Again was Wm. Inglesby called upon to bear | the afflictive dispensations of Providence in the | loss of his second wife, Martha, who died on| the 26th May 1805, she was for many years| An exemplary member of the Baptist Church | in Charleston which church was founded by her | great Grand father the Rev, Wm Screven about the | year 1696 and over which as its first Pastor he presided | several years, a brisk controversy raged in 1884-1885 in the Sunday News, Charleston, S.C., just after the celebration of the bicentennial of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, with regard to the date of the inception and organization of Baptist worship in Charleston; the results are inconclusive, but the articles sum up the available evidence; “Letters from the People-The Memorial Window- What is Truth?” in Sunday News, Charleston, Oct. 5, 1884, questioning the date May, 1875, on a window in St. Philip’s Church as correct for the bicentennial of the Anglican Church in Charleston; this was followed by “Letters from the People—When Was the Church of England Planted in the Province of Carolina?” in Ibid. Oct. 19, 1884; S, “That Memorial Window—When Was the Episcopal Church Planted in the State?” in Ibid., Oct. 26, 1884; H. T, R. “The First Church in CharlestonSome Historical Facts Showing That the Baptists Established the First Church at This Place,” in Ibid., Dec. 7, 1884, quoting Hewett, Wood Furman, Shecut, Howe, and Ramsay; Robert N. Gourdin, “Our Early Churches—When the First Baptist Church of Charleston was Organized,” in Ibid., Dec. 28, 1884, answering H. T. R, and quoting Wood Furman and Rev. H. S. Burrage, “The First Baptist Church in the South,” in The Independent, August 28, 1884, to prove that organized Baptist worship appeared in Charleston in 1693 and built its first church building in 1699; Robert N. Gourdin, “Our Early Churches-Date of the Organization of the French Protestant Church,” in Sunday News, Jan. 18, 1885, and Ibid., “Our Early Churches—Date of the Organization of the Presbyterian and Congregational Church, and of the Church of England,” in Ibid., Jan, 25, 1885, gives evidence of the date 1686 or 1687 for the French Protestant Church, just before or after 1690 for the Presbyterian and Congregational Church, and between 1682 and 1696 for the Church of England; William G. Whilden, “The Baptists in Charleston—a Way of Fixing the Date of the Organization,” In Ibid., Feb. 22, 1885, quoting William Screven’s experiences in Maine, Morgan Edwards on the Edisto Island church which became the Euhaw Church, and family records of Ephraim Mikell of Edisto Island; Mr. Whilden seems to feel that the fact that William Screven was ordered to leave Maine in 1682, and that he was sent for to appear before the Kittery Court in 1684 and did not appear proves that he came to Carolina between those dates; Page 134 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. the evidence, therefore, for any date of organization prior to 1696 for the First Baptist Church of Charleston is inconclusive, as it is for that church’s being the first established in the colony. f21 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 18; Furman MS, p. 7; all of these names are mentioned as those of early settlers along the Ashley and Cooper Rivers or in Charleston, in various articles by Henry A, M, Smith, particularly in “The Ashley River: its Seats and Settlements,” in SCHGM, XX (1919), and “Charleston and Charleston Neck: The Original Grantees and the Settlements Along the Ashley and Cooper Rivers,” in Ibid., XIX (1918); Warrants, 1672-1679, 1680- 1692, have no warrants issued to an Atwell. Bryant, Child, Elliott, or Whitaker before 1683; John Bulline had warrants for land in 1677 and 1678 and for a town lot at Oyster Point in 1677 (Ibid., 1672-1679, pp. 139, 196, 153); Jonathan Barker, a servant, arriving in the first fleet, had a warrant in 1674 (Ibid., p. 91); Richard Baker on the Ashley River in 1681 (Ibid., 1680-1792, pp. 45, 93); Thomas Cater on the Ashley 1682 (Ibid., p. 56); Benjamin Blake and twenty-one persons in 1683 (Ibid., pp. 84, 85); John Ravens, a servant arriving in 1672, had a warrant in 1684 (Ibid., p. 81); William Chapman was granted lot. No. 78 on Church Street Oct. 5, 1681 (Henry A. M. Smith, ‘Charleston—The Original Plan and the Earliest Settlers,” in SCHGM, IX (1908), 18 and map). f22 Wood Furman, A History of the Charleston Association of Baptist Churches in the State of South Carolina … (Charleston, 1811), p. 58: “The place of worship first occupied by this church was a temporary building in King street;” “First Baptist Church,” in YBC, 1881, p. 316: “After their removal to Charleston, they held their services in the house of Wm. Chapman,” while Furman MS, pp. 7, 8, states: “They held their worship at the house of location of the first Baptist worship in the city; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 16, states: “Charlestown became their principal seat of worship where they also kept a meeting at the house of Wm. Chapman,” while Furman MS, pp. 7, 8, states: They held their worship at the house of one William Chapman in King Street until they built the house before described,” but “in King Street” is struck out entirely, and as pointed out in note 21, supra, William Chapman was granted lot No. 78 on Church Street in 1681, while no record exists of a grant to him of a lot on King Street (Smith, “Charleston—The Original Plan and the Earliest Settlers,” in SCHGM, IX (1908), 18 and map); lot No. 78 was later granted to Benjamin Schenckingh, in 1688; Chapman might in the meantime have allowed the Baptists to use it, or he might have purchased a lot on King Street; lot No. 78 adjoins lot No. 102, on a portion of which the second Baptist church building, later known as Seamen’s or Mariners’ Chapel, was erected (Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 15, 17; Charleston County Records (MSS, Charleston, S.C.), Register of Mesne Conveyance (hereinafter cited as RMC), Deeds R-3, p. 362; the tradition still extant, that the temporary place in which meetings were first held was on the same lot as Seamen’s Chapel, is at least next door to being true if Chapman had a building on lot No. 78 before Schenckingh received it; this is traditional and inferential. f23 23 Henry A. M. Smith “The Baronies of South Carolina: Landgrave Kettelby’s Barony,” in SCHGM XV (1914), 158-60, and map; Dalcho, Episcopal Church, p. 27, note; — ‘And In a deed of sale, dated January 20, 1701, the bounds of a lot Page 135 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. are stated to be ‘to the northward upon the Baptist Meeting House’;” Edwards, Furman MS, p. 6, gives 1700 as the date. f24 Ibid., Crozer MS, pp. 15, 16; for the full text and a discussion of the Philadelphia Confession, see W. J. McGlothlin, Baptist Confessions of Faith (Phiadelphia, 1911), p. 296 if; New-an, U. S. Baptists, pp. 224, 225; A Confession of Faith. … (Charleston, 1813). f25 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 15; JCHA, Feb. 14, 1744-5; Newman, U. S. Baptists, p. 55. f26 JCHA, Feb. 28, 1699-1700. f27 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 56; the implication is that Rev. William Screven went to his “grant” where Georgetown now stands about 1706; this was not a grant to Mr. Screven, as he in 1710 entered into negotiations to secure deeds of conveyance to the lands at Winyah; exactly how he came into possession of the land is not known (Smith “Georgetown,” in SCHGM, IX (1908), 87, 88) nor how long he lived there; he also secured a grant on Charleston Neck in 1700 near the present Navy Yard upon which he may have lived a time (Ibid., Charleston and Charleston Neck” in Ibid., XIX (1918), 62 and map. f28 “Documents. … Samuel Thomas,” Ibid., V (1904), 35; probably the Anabaptist preacher mentioned as lately gone into Carolina from Biddiford, England (1705. f29 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, pp. 55-59. f30 Smith, “Georgetown,” in SCHGM, IX (1908), 87, 88: “Mr. Screven may have died in the locality which subsequently became Georgetown in 1713, but he could not have died in Georgetown, for no town then existed or had that name been bestowed;” M. L. Webber, “Historical Notes: The Burial Place of Reverend William Screven,” in SCHGM, XVI (1915), 93-5 giving a plat together with a codicil of the will of Elisha Screven, of 1756, setting aside “part of Lott in George Town by the Number 66 … for and as a burying ground, my Father &c being there buried;” Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 18, gives as the children of Rev. William Screven, Samuel, Mercy, Sarah, Bridget, Elizabeth, Robert, Permanus, Joshua, William, Joseph, and Elisha; Howard, Cults Genealogy, pp. 16-17, has in place of Permanus, Patience, and omits Joshua—otherwise the two lists are the same; as Edwards had his information in 1772 from descendants of William Screven, it is probable that his list is more nearly correct; Permanus Screven has already been noted as a neighbor of William Screven at Somerton in Carolina. f31 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 58, quoting letter of Screven to Callender of the Boston Church. f32 “Report of Commissary Gideon Johnston to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel about 1713,” in Arthur Henry Hirsch, The Huguenots of Colonial South Carolina (Durham, N. C., 1928), p. 309, Appendix; Howe, Presbyterian Church, 1, 146-7. f33 “First Baptist Church,” In YBC, 1881, p. 316; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 19. Page 136 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f34 The date of Mr. Sanford’s death is given as 1717 in Ibid., p. 19, and Furman MS, p. 11, as “about 1718,” and this is followed in “First Baptist Church,” in YBC, 1881, p. 316. f35 Johnston to SPG, in Hirsch, Huguenots, Appendix, p. 309. f36 Edwards, Crozer MS., p. 2. f37 JCHA, Feb, 14, 1744-5; Mr. Simmons states in his petition to the Assembly that he had been in peaceful possession of the pastorate for “so long a time as near twenty years,” which agrees with the date of arrival given by him and used in the text; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 19, and Furman MS, p. 11, gives Mr. Pearl’s arrival in Charleston as an ordained minister in 1717 and his death as in 1728; his widow, later the widow of Thomas Grimball and of Samuel Screven, last married Dr. George Smith, and died in Philadelphia (A. S. Salley, Jr., (ed.), Register of St. Philip’s Parish 17191756 (Columbia, 1904), p. 152; SCHGM, XXIII (1922), 6-7), leaving a legacy to the Baptist Church there; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 94, claims that Mr. Peart was active in church extension; like the two Edwards accounts above, “First Baptist Church,” in YBC, 1881, p. 316, claims that Mr. Peart was pastor for 11 years after Mr. Sanford, which would put his death in 1728 or 1729, and that Mr. Simmons succeeded Mr. Peart in 1729; Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 218-9, also gives the date of Mr. Simmons’ taking over the care of the church as 1729. f38 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 2, 28, 22 Edisto Island after 1730, Ashley River Church 1727, Stono Church 1728, are the churches said to have been erected under Mr. Peart; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 94. f39 Edwards, Crozer MS. p. 17. f40 Charleston County Records (MSS, Charleston, S.C.), Probate Court (hereinafter cited as PC), Wills 1671-1727, p. 257, will of “Lady” Elizabeth Blake, made Sept. 30, 1725, proved July 23, 1726; Ramsay, History of S.C., II, 164-8; 179: Average value of S, C. currency in sterling was fixed by law as seven to one; It sank to £5248 to £100 good currency after the British captured the state. f41 JCHA, Feb. 14, 1744-5. f42 Charleston County PC, Wills 1731-1733, p. 449, will of Samuel Screven, made Dec. 3, 1731, proved Oct. 5, 1732. f43 Journal of the Council (hereinafter cited as JC) (MSS, Historical Commission of South Carolina, Columbia), June 2, July 20, 1731. f44 JCHA, Apr. 26, 1745; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 17, implies that Mr. Ingram was a member of the Charleston Church before the schism, and that “About the year 1736 an uneasiness arose” because Arminian doctrines were advanced by him, but this does not appear in Furman MS. Page 137 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f45 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 7-8, gives the date of the schism as 1735, and of the separate organization as 1736; Edwards, Furman MS, p. 8, “About 1733,” the rest of Edwards’ account being lined out and annotated by Rev. Richard Furman; Tupper (ed)., Two Centuries, p. 40, gives 1733 as the date of the secession and calls the new group Arlan; Ramsay, History of S.C., II, 27, note, “A subdivision of the baptists known by the name of Arian or General baptists, was formed into a church about the year 1735;” Smith, “Baronies,” in SCHGM, XV (1914), 158-161, mentions these accounts as resting probably on tradition. f46 JCHA, Feb. 14, 1744-5, May 1, 1745; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 59. f47 JCHA, Feb. 14, 1744-5, May 1, 1745. f48 Smith, “Baronies,” in SCHGM, XV (1914), 159; JCHA, Jan. 26, 1744-5; the petition does not mention the deed of 1712 and the new trustees. f49 Ibid., Feb. 14, 1744-5. f50 Ibid., Apr. 26, May 1, 3, 1745. f51 Cooper (ed.), Statutes, III, 661. f52 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 15, gives date of erection as 1745 and the dimensions as 69 by 42 feet, but Furman MS, p. 6, gives the figures used in the text; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 97, gives the date of erection as 1746; S.C. Gazette, Charleston, August 19-26, 1751, has an advertisement mentioning “the new Baptist meeting House near the Bridge at the South end of Church street;” Alice R. Huger Smith and D. E. Huger Smith, The Dwelling Houses of Charleston, South Carolina (Philadelphia and London, 1917), p. 57; E. H. Hillman, “The Brisbanes.” in SCHGM, XIV (1913), 124-5, calls William Brisbane, “surgeon, the progenitor of the Brisbanes of South Carolina, … a corporator of the First Baptist Church of Charleston in 1745.. f53 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 17, states that the decision of the legislature with regard to lot No. 62 included the following clause: “that both might have the use of it [the meeting house] alternately, and that the minister in possession of the parsonage should Pay the other half of the yearly rent;” but this is corrected and stated to be only a congregational agreement In Furman MS, p. 8. f54 Charleston County RMC, Deeds R-3, pp. 362-6, deed dated Sept. 24, 1755, of Martha Fowler, widow of James Fowler, to part of lot No. 102 for £500: the intensity of the doctrinal war raging between these factions is evidenced by the will of James Fowler, Merchant. made Apr. 27, 1753, leaving “unto William Brisbane, William Screven, James Screven, Robert Screven, Thomas Dixon and William Screven Junr. five Hundred Pounds Current money in Trust … and the Interest moneys thereby arising I will be annually applied for the support of the Gospel Ministry in that Christian Congregation whereof I now stand a Member in full communion in Charles Town as Aford. Distinguished by the Name Page 138 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. of Antipedo-baptist denying Arminisem ownin [sic] the Doctrine of Personal Election and Final preserverance;” Ibid., PC Wills 1752-1756, pp. 94.5. f55 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p 96; Newman, U. S. Baptists. pp. 308-9. f56 S.C. Gazette, 1741, 1744, 1745, passim. f57 Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 240, note. f58 John Gillies, Memoirs of Rev. George Whitefield. Revised and Corrected (New Haven, 1834), p. 49. f59 S. C, Gazette, Sept. 26-Oct. 3, 1741. Postscript. f60 Ibid., Oct. 10-17, 1741. Postscript. f61 Ibid., June 18-25, 1741. Postcript. f62 Ibid., May 6, 1745. f63 Ibid., June 18-25, 1741. Postscript. f64 JCHA, May 1, 1745. f65 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 95. f66 Ibid., pp. 95-6; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 1-27. f67 Ibid., p. 17. f68 Ibid., pp. 19-20; JCHA, Feb. 14, 1744-5; Thomas Simmons was born in England, received an academic education, but left England because his father bound him to the carpenter’s trade; was ordained in Philadelphia, came to S.C. from Pa., in 1723, took charge of the Charleston Church on Mar, 20, 1724, died Jan. 31, 1747, and was buried at Charleston; his son Thomas died childless, his daughter Hannah married Dr. Thomas Dale and had three children who were sent to England after the death of their parents in 1751; the eldest, Thomas Simmons Dale, became a famous English physician (Dictionary of National Biography); Thomas Ladson left him £20 currency and Thomas Elliott £50 pounds currency (Charleston County PC, Wills 1731-1733, p. 41, Mar. 31, 1730; ‘736- 1740, p. 237, Oct. 23, 1738). f69 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, pp. 101-4; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 860. f70 Rev. Oliver Hart, “Extracts from the Diary of … from A. D. 1740 to A. D. 1780,” in YBC, 1896, p. 379; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 20. f71 Oldmixon, “History of Carolina,” in Carroll’s Collections, II, 474-5; Smith, Dwelling Houses, p, 57; S.C. Gazette, Sept. 19, 1752; “The most violent and terrible hurricane that ever was felt in this province, happened on Friday the 15th instant in the morning; and has reduced this Town to a very Page 139 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. melancholy situation … The brigt. Two Friends, of and for Falmouth, Robert Johns Master, beat down some houses, and lies on the west side of Church- Street alongside of Mr. John Matthews’s;” the vessel was noted as still ashore in Ibid., Oct. 9, 1752; [Mrs. Poyas], Our Forefathers, p. 45, claiming to give the quotation above, inserts after houses “and the southwest corner of the new Baptist Church, (now the Mariner’s);” Robert Mills, Statistics of South Carolina, (Charleston, 1826), p. 445, gives a similar statement, grounding the vessel on the west side of Meeting Street; an account by Dr. [John] Moultrie [1702-1771] in a newspaper clipping in the scrap book of Charles Fraser in the Manuscript Collection of the South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston, describes the destructive effects of the storm for John Bedon, Mr. Baker, Mr. Stead, Mr. Matthews, George Eveleigh, Burnet the carpenter, and Captain Simmons, Mrs. Screven’s two brick tenements near the new Baptist meeting had “only the stack of chimnies standing,. the new meeting had both its ends beat in, the doors and windows burst and broke to pieces; … a new house of Mellichamp’s was nearly beat down by a loaded brig which now lies in the yard of the house where Dick Hill lives, in Church-street; … “Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 16, is authority for the statement that the church book was destroyed in the inundation, a detail probably given by Rev. Oliver Hart, who passed through the storm; “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 379, by error gives the date as Sept, 14. f72 Rev. Oliver Hart’s Diary, Aug. Oct., 1754 (MS, Furman University); Benedict. Baptist History, II, 369-82; Charles D. Mallary, Memoirs of Elder Edmund Botsford (Charleston 1832), p. 30; “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 380. f73 Hart’s Diary MS, Oct. 10, 1754. f74 The deed has not been found: Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 14, names William Screven as donor of the lot but the annotations of Rev. Richard Furman in Furman MS, p. 6, give the statement in the text. f75 Hart’s Diary MS; Dalcho, Episcopal Church, pp. 166-80; Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 248-9; 264-7; S.C. Gazette, June 23, 1757. f76 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 8-10. f77 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, pp. 380, 386-7; 391-2, Cashaway Church Book (all Church Books hereinafter cited as CB), 1756-1772 (MS, Furman University), 1760; C. G. Sommers, et al. (ed.), Baptist Library: A Republication of Standard Baptist Works (2 vols., New York, 1852), I, 77; “Biography of Rev. John Gano,” in The Southern Light (Edgefield, S, C.), I (1856), 321-9. f78 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 76-7. f79 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 14-16; Furman MS, pp. 6-7, with annotations by Rev. Richard Furman. Page 140 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f80 “Journal of Rev. Joseph Pilmoor … a Missionary Journey through South Carolina.” in Albert M. Shipp, The History of Methodism in South Carolina (Nashville 1883), pp. 128-30. passim. f81 John Drayton, Memoirs of the American Revolution. … to 1776 … as relating to the State of South Carolina. … (2 vols., Charleston, 1821), I, 324; “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC. 1896, p. 391. f82 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 119. f83 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 57. f84 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, pp. 392, 400-1; Harvey Toliver Cook. A Biography of Richard Furman (Greenville, S.C., 1913), p. 18; “First Baptist Church,” in YBC, 1881, p. 317. f85 Ibid., 319; ‘Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, pp. 378-401; “Rev. Oliver Hart, A. M., Hopewell, New Jersey,” in John Rippon (ed.), The Baptist Annual Register, for 1794, 1796-1797 … (London, 1797), pp. 507-14; William B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit; or Commemorative Notices of Distinguished American Clergymen of Various Denominations … to 1855 (9 vols., New York, 1860), VI, 45-50; Sommers (ed.), Baptist Library, 1, 302-51; Frank Moore (ed.), Patriot Preachers of the American Revolution (New York, 1862), pp. 332-5; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 20, Furman MS. pp. 12-13; Rev. Oliver Hart was born on July 5, 1723, in Warminster Township, Bucks County, Pa., the son of John and Eleanor (Crispin) Hart; he was baptized Apr. 3, 1741, licensed to preach Dec. 20, 1746; ordained Oct. 11, 1749. at Southhampton, Pa.; arrived in Charleston Dec. 2, 1749; his pastorship of Charleston Church began Feb. 16, 1750; he obtained most of his education by private study; Rhode Island College conferred the A. M. degree upon him at its first commencement, in 1769 he married as his first wife Sarah Brees, by whom he had living in 1772 Eleanor, Oliver, John, and Mary Baker; Eleanor married Thomas Screven, great grandson of Rev. William Screven; John became an officer in the Continental Line in S. C, after his return from Rhode Island College; in 1774 Rev. Oliver Hart married as his second wife Mrs. Anne Grimball (Massachusetts Baptist Missionary Magazine, IV, March, 1814-December, 1816, pp. 4650, quoting Christian Mirror), widow of Charles Grimball, of Charleston, and daughter of William Seal, of Euhaws by whom a son William Rogers Hart survived; Mr. Hart left S C. in 1780, and on Dec. 16 of that year accepted a call to the Baptist Church at Hopewell, N. J., where he preached until his death on Dec. 31, 1795; for his publications see chapter VII, note 43; two sermons were preached on his death and published, one by Rev. Richard Furman at Charleston on Matthew XXV:41: Well done, thou good and faithful servant; the other by Rev. William Rogers, of Philadelphia, on 2 Samuel III:38: Know ye not that there is a great man fallen in Israel? Three bequests: Martha D’Harriette: “I Give & Bequeath unto the said Mr. Oliver Hart my Negro Boy Slave Named Sampson the two pictures of the Revd. Mr. George Whitefield and of the said Mr. Whitefield’s Wife and the Sum of One Hundred pounds Current money of this Province” (Charleston County PC, Wills 1757-1760, p. 270, will made May 27, 1758, proved Mar, 28, 1760); two hundred pounds currency left him by Ruth Bedon (Ibid., Wills 1774-1779, p. 28, will made Mar, 5, 1765, proved Mar. 15, 1765; two Page 141 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. hundred pounds current money by James Fowler (Ibid., Wills 1752-1756. p. 94, will made Apr. 27, 1753). f86 Journal of the Provincial Congress of. … 1776 (London, 1776). f87 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 14-16; Furman MS, pp. 6-7, with annotations by Rev. Richard Furman; (1) no confirmation of this gift has been found; (2) will of James Fowler dated Apr. 27, 1753 in Charleston County PC, Wills 1752-1756, p. 94; (3) no confirmation; (4) Mabel L. Webber (ed.), “Extracts from the Journal of Mrs. Ann Manigault,” in SCHGM, XX (1919), 61, quotes a notice from the S.C. Gazette, Feb. 19, 1756, of the death of Benjamin D’Harrfette and of his legacies including one to the Baptist Church; (5) the will of Martha D’Harriette, made May 27, 1758, and proved Mar. 28, 1760, leaves five hundred pounds currency to William Brisbane, James Screven, Robert Screven, Thomas Dixon, William Screen, and James Brisbane to trust, the interest for the use of the “Minister or Ministers, for the time being … of the Christian, Protestant Dissenting Church or Society in Charles Town aforesaid of which I am a Member, in full Communion & The Reverend Mr. Oliver Part is Now pastor or Minister, and are distinguished from Others, by the Name or Title of Antipaedobaptists, denying Arminianism and Owning the Doctrine of Personal Election & Final perservereance …” (Charleston County PC, Wills 1757-1760, p. 270; (6) will of Elizabeth Gibbes, made June 20, 1755, proved Jan 13, 1758, leaves to her son John Raven and to William Screven and Francis Gracia one thousand pounds currency in trust, the interest for the support of the “Gospel Minister in that Christian Congregation where of I now Stand a Member in full Communion in Charles Town distinguished by the name of Antepedo Baptist denying Armenianism and Owning the Doctrine of Personal Election and final Perseverance …” (Ibid., Wills 1761-1777, p. 526); (7) and (8) no evidence of these gifts has been found; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, pp. 112-13. f88 Cooper (ed.), Statues, IV, 391; only the title of the ordinance is given. f89 Note by Rev. Richard Furman in Edwards, Furman MS, pp. 6-7; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, pp. 112-13. f90 Ibid., pp. 112-15; Richard Furman to Oliver Hart, Charleston, Jan. 26, 1785 (MS, Alester G. Furman); there was some confusion about these calls. f91 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1785. f92 Furman to Hart, Jan. 26, 1785. f93 Edmund Botsford to Oliver Hart, Mar. 30, 1785, in Mallary, Botsford, pp. 63-4. f94 Furman to Hart, Feb. 1785 (MS, Alester G. Furman). f95 Journal of the House of Representatives of South Carolina (MS, Historical Commission of South Carolina, Columbia) (hereinafter cited as JHR), Feb. 19, 1785. Page 142 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f96 Journal of Rev. Francis Asbury, Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church; from August 7, 1771, to December 7, 1815 (3 vols., New York, 1821), 1, 381; F. A. Mood, Methodism in Charleston (Charleston, 1856): “[the old church] was being used by a Baptist merchant as a store house for salt, bacon, etc., at the time Mr. Willis endeavored to obtain its use. Through his efforts it was cleaned and fitted up with rough benches ready for the Bishop’s arrival.. f97 Journal of the Senate of South Carolina (MS, Historical Commission of South Carolina, Columbia) (hereinafter cited as JS), Feb. 16, Mar. 13, 14, 1786. f98 Ibid., Mar. 13, 1787. f99 JHR, Mar. 15, 1787. f100 Smith, “Baronies,” in SCHGM, XV (1914) 159-60; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 118. f101 JS, Dec. 2, 1797; JHR, Nov. 28, 1797. f102 Smith, “Baronies,” in SCHGM, XV (1914). 158-61. f103 Asbury’s Journal, 11, 11; Shipp, Methodism, p. 164; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, pp. 116-7. f104 Cook, Richard Furman, p. 125. f105 Will of Patrick Hinds, made June 30, 1795, proved May 10, 1798, recorded in Charleston County PC, Wills, C, 1793-1800, p. 470. f106 Asbury’s Journal, II, 212. f107 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775-1804. f108 Ibid., 1787-1804; Register of Incorporated Church Charleston, 1793-1800 (MS, Furman University); Thomas Rivers, Ichabod Atwell, Thomas Screven, Thomas Ross, John Hart, Charles McDonald, Richard Furman, Benjamin Baker, George Yoer, Samuel Rivers, Charles Screven, Joseph Johnson, David Adams, Anne Brown, Margaret McCartey, Susanna North, __________ Rivers, Mary Seymour, __________ Gourlay, Esther Smith, Ann Hart, Mary Anne McIver, Sarah Johnson, Amarinthe Screvin, Mary Screvin, Beatrix Thomson, __________ Poyas, Margaret Theadcraft, Martha Inglesby, __________ Rouse, Elizabeth Gilbert, __________ Langford, Esther Bellamy, __________ Goodwin __________ Lawrence, Mary Adams, __________ Boucheneau __________ Ross, Elizabeth Calvert, Henrietta Roberts, Sarah Henning, __________ Henning, __________ Bonnote, Elizabeth Stuart, Dorothea M. Furman, Eleanor Beaty, Rachel Furman, Grace Cain, Mehitable Blackwell, Grace Hampton. Arabella Evanse, Sarah Clarke, Elizabeth Nichols, Ann Rivers, Katherine Prisgar, Pickton, Hannah McKay (or Ray ), Esther Rivers, Ann Cartwright, Elizabeth McNair, Charlotte Gibbs, Lidia Conyers __________ Yore, __________ Porter, Mary McDonald, Frances Conyers, __________ Tripp, James Page 143 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Lawson, __________ Bell, James Alwright, Percival Nichols, William Rivers, Henry Jones, Henry Inglesby, Jacob Yoer, Joseph B. Cook, William Inglesby, Isaac Gill. f109 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 395; will of Patrick Hinds (supra), Codicil, July 7, 1795; “I give and bequeath to my Friend the Reverend Richard Furman, a Silk Gown, or such as he may approve of …” Cook, Richard Furman, Frontispiece, pp. 44, 47, 48; Patrick Hinds died about April 25, 1798, Mabel L. Webber (ed.) in SCHGM, XXV (1924), 43; Alester G. Furman, Sr., of Greenville, now has Rev. Richard Furman’s gown and bands. f110 Richard Furman to his sister, Apr. 1, Sept. 28, 1795, in Cook, Richard Furman, p. 45. f111 City Gazette and Daily Advertiser, Charleston, July 7, 1802; Aug. 23, 1804. f112 Ibid., Mar. 24, 1802. f113 Cook, Richard Furman; Joseph B. Cook, Sermon on the Death of Rev. Richard Furman, preached at Camden, S.C., December 6, 1825 (Furman University); Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775-1825; “Mrs. Rachel Furman,” in Rippon’s Reg., 1794-1797, pp. 281-3 (probably written by the Rev. Richard Furman); Biography of Rev. Richard Furman, 1755-1825 (taken from a funeral sermon of Dr. William T. Brantley and a letter of William B, Johnson); Kate Furman, “Richard Furman, Patriot … ‘in The State, Columbia, S.C., Dec. 6, 1908; Richard Furman was born at Esopus, N. Y., Oct. 9, 1755, the son of Wood Furman and his wife Rachel Brodhead; brought to S.C. at ten months of age, he lived for a time at the High Hills of Santee, then on Daniells Island In St. Thomas’s Parish returning to the High Hills at twelve years of age; his father, Wood Furman, was a school teacher, justice of the peace, and a man of education and influence (S.C. Gazette, July 30-Aug, 6, 1763; S. C, Gazette Extraordinary, Sept. 2, 1773; Charleston County RMC, Deeds M-4, p. 205; Gazette of the State of S.C., Sept. 15, 1777) who instructed his son In his early years, but Richard Furman obtained most of his education by private study; he was converted to Baptist principles by Rev. Joseph Reese at sixteen, licensed to preach In 1773, ordained to the ministry May 16, 1774, and installed as pastor of High Hills Church; his activity in the American cause is said to have caused Cornwallis to offer a price for his capture; he fled to Va., in 1780; after his return to High Hills Church in 1782, he was exceedingly active in church work and extension; he accepted a call to Charleston Church Oct. 1787, where he remained until his death; he was active in committee work of Charleston Association, of which he was many times moderator; he especially promoted missions and ministerial education, bringing in the plan for and being the president of the General Committee for the Education Fund for many years; he served as president of the General Baptist Convention at Philadelphia in 1814, where he supported a plan for national university; he advocated formation of the Baptist State Convention and presided over Its sessions from 1821 until his death; two honorary degrees were conferred on him, A. M. in 1792 and D, D. In 1800 by Providence (Rhode Island) College, S.C. College also conferring the doctor’s degree upon him; he was a member of the convention on the State Constitution of 1790, a member of the Revolution Society; he married first Page 144 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Elizabeth Haynsworth, second Dorothea Burn; thirteen children are said to have survived him; after his death Aug. 25, 1825, the Charleston Association adopted an Obituary Notice and Resolutions, presented by Rev. J. B, Cook, “sacred to the memory of our late venerable, beloved, and highly respected Moderator,” and Mr. Cook also preached a funeral sermon at the end of the session; Rev. William T. Brantley also preached a sermon on his death, as did the rector of St. Philip’s (LaFayette, to T. W. Bacot, thanking vestry of St. Philip’s Church for book containing sermon on the death of Rev. Dr. Richard Furman, Dec. 30, 1826 in Gospel Messenger, or Protestant Episcopal Register, XXIV (1847), No. 8, p. 231); his publications besides those already mentioned, included Sermon on Ephesians IV, 11-13. preached before the Charleston Association and published at their request (Charleston, 1790); Rewards of Grace Conferred on Christ’s Faithful People, A Sermon occasioned by the Decease of the Rev. Oliver Hart, A, M., preached at the Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Feb. 7, 1796 (Charleston, 1796); An Oration, Delivered at the Charleston Ohphan House. … October the 18th, 1796, Being the Seventh Anniversary (Charleston, 1796); America’s Deliverance and Duty, A Sermon Preached at the Baptist Church In Charleston. South-Carolina, on the Fourth Day of July, 1802, before the State Society of the Cincinnati, The American Revolution Society … (Charleston, 1802) (in the back of this pamphlet are three hymns composed for the occasion); Death’s Dominion over Man Considered. A Sermon occasioned by the Death of the Honorable Major General Alexander Hamilton (Charleston, 1804); these pamphlets are in Furman University; other circular letters and sermons before the Charleston Association have not been located. f114 Smith, “Ashley River,” in SCHGM, XX (1919), 2-51, 75-122, 151-98. f115 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 28. f116 Smith, “Ashley River,” in SCHGM, RR (1919), 21; Mabel L. Webber (ed.), “Register of St. Andrew’s Parish, Berkeley County, S.C., 1719-1774,” in SCHGM, XIII (1912), XIV (1913). f117 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 28; the list of constituents is; “Rev. Isaac Chanler, William Cater, John Bullein, Richard Bedon, Jr., Richard Bedon, Sr., Benjamin Child, John Shepard, Jr., Charles Barker, Charles Filbin, Francis Shepard, Alexander Shepard, Jacob Bradwell, John Angel, Thomas Ramsey, Sarah Baker, Mary Cater, Susanna Bradwell, Christiana Brown, Ann Maine, Elizabeth Chanler, Elizabeth Bullein, Joyce Griffin, Elizabeth Bedon, Elizabeth Salter, Susanna Baker, Elizabeth Merrian, Mary Shepard, Ann Peacock.. f118 Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 235-40; S.C. Gazette, Postscript, June 25, Oct. 3. 1741. f119 Ibid., Oct. 17, 1741. f120 Charleston County PC Wills 1752-1756, pp. 43-4; the names of several of the trustees appear in Smith, “Ashley River,” In SCHGM, XX (1919) and in Webber (ed.), “Saint Andrew’s Parish,” in Ibid., XIII (1912), XIV (1913). Page 145 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f121 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 2, 28, 29; Furman MS. pp, 14-15; “First Baptist Church,” in YBC, 1881, p. 317; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 69: Rev. Isaac Chanler was born at Bristol, Eng., in 1701; he came to Ashley River about 1733, where he was chosen pastor in 1736, in which office he continued until his death on Nov. 30, 1749; he married Elizabeth Hunley, of Uxbridge, Eng.; his will, made May 20, 1749, and proved Jan. 5, 1750, lists two tracts of 300 acres each at Welsh Tract in Craven County and a plantation on Ashley River, with several slaves; his wife Elizabeth, his sons Samuel and Isaac, his daughters Ann and Elizabeth, are named as legatees especially of a fairly large library of classical and religious works (Charleston County PC, Wills 1747-1752, p. 210); Edwards lists his last two children as Mary and Susanna; for Mr. Chanler’s publications see chap. VII, note 43, and the following. New Converts exhorted to cleave to the Lord, A Sermon on Acts XI, 23, preached July 30. 1740, at a Wednesday evening weekly lecture in Charlestown, set up at the motion and at the desire of Mr. Whitefield (Boston, 1740) The State of the Church of Christ, both Militant and Triumphant, Consider’d and Improv’d, For the Consolation Saints and for the Awakening of secure Sinners;; For the Promoting of a Catholick Love among the godly of every Denomination, and of Universal Holiness, Being the Substance of two Sermons now drawn up in one Discourse, from Acts XIV.22, Occasioned by the Death of the Rev, Mr. William Tilly (advertisement in S.C. Gazette, July 22, 1745); The will of Elizabeth Chanler was made Oct. 4, 1774 (Charleston County PC. Wills 1775-1779, p. 374, p. John Filbin in 1742 bequeathed to M:. Chanler fifty pounds currency (Ibid., Wills 1740-1747, p. 376). f122 Will of James Fowler, dated Apr. 27, 1753: “to John Stevens Minister, … of the Gospel at Ashley River two hundred pounds Current money;” in Ibid., Wills 1753-1756, p. 94; will of Martha D’Harriette, dated May 27, 1758, proved 1760, one hundred pounds currency to Rev. John Stephens and one hundred pounds to his mother Mrs. Martha Stephens in Ibid., Wills 1757-1760, p. 270; Will of Anne Child, Aug. 15, 1764, proved Nov. 11, 1768, fifty pounds currency to her “worthy friend the Reverend Mr. John Stevens,” in Ibid., Wills 17611771, p. 267; will of Richard Bedon, dated Dec. 19, 1765, proved 1766, one hundred pounds to be paid “yearly into the hands of the Minister for Ten Years” of the Antipedo Baptist Meeting in St. Andrew’s Parish (Ibid., Wills 1761-1777, p. 135); the burial of Richard Bedon, at which Mr. Stephens officiated, Is noted in “St, Andrew’s Parish Register,” in SCHGM, XV (1914), 44. f123 S.C. Gozette, Nov. 6-13, 1762. f124 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 26; Charleston County PC, Wills 1771-1774, p. 53, records the will of William Brisbane made May 11, 1771, proved Nov. 1, 1771, which leaves nothing to the Ashley River Church; however, as Mr. Brisbane had the plantation including the church lot in his possession in 1767-1769, the gift may have been made between those dates and the deed not recorded (Smith, “Ashley River,” in SCHGM, XX (1919), p. 22). f125 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 26: One hundred pounds given by Charles Filbein, one thousand pounds and twenty acres of land given by Benjamin Child, two hundred pounds by Susanna Baker, two hundred fifty pounds the gift of Richard Baker, fifty pounds given by Elizabeth Gibbes; no confirmation of these gifts has been found, and they do not appear in Furman MS, p. 13; Edwards states Page 146 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. that the slaves were sold for seven hundred eighty-one pounds which was in the hands of the church in 1772. f126 Hart’s Diary (MS), 1754; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 29; Furman MS, pp. 1516; Furman Charleston Assoc., p. 75; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 126-7; “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 379: Rev. John Stephens was born on Staten Island, ordained in 1747, he settled at Horseneck, Conn., where he gathered a small church, but removed to Ashley River May 12, 1750; he married Martha Creaguer, their children being Ann, Eunice, Martha, and John; he was obliged in 1769 to quit both church and ministry “by an unhappy fondness for strong drink. … From this dreadful fall he never fully recovered, but professed and was believed to be penitent, and was improperly admitted again to preach. He died suddenly at Black River in 1785,” Edwards remarks: “But has not a dumb spirit, a deaf spirit, an unclean spirit &c been cast out and who knows but Jamaica spirit will one day be exorcised out of this country where it makes such dreadful havock? … Surely if any creature of God were not good, rum would be it.. f127 Webber (ed.), “St. Andrew’s Parish Register,” in SCRGM, XIV (1913), 26, XV (1914), 42, 46; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 26. f128 The report of forty-four members in 1775 was copied from the last report sent in several years before; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775-1779. f129 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 61; Benedict, Baptist History, 11, 127. f130 JHR, Feb. 19, 1785. f131 Smith, “Ashley River,” in SCHGM, XX (1919), 22-25; as Mrs. Mary Butler Hyrne died about 1795, the church lands were reabsorbed into the estate before her death; “Hyrne Family,” compiled by Mabel L. Webber, in SCHGM, XXII (1921), 113. f132 Warrants, 1680-1692, pp. 174, 155, 53, 187: “William ffry” arrived Oct. 23, 1684, with Thomas “Cleeverall” (Sacheverell); Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 3, claims he was ordained; “Warrant unto Philemon Parmetor 230 A. due for Arriveall of himself, wife Judith & three Children Sarah Joseph and Thomas” recorded June 1, 1683, warrant Apr. 10, 1684; Ephraim Mikell and Joseph Sealy also received warrants (Ibid., 1692-1711); “Records of the Court of Ordinary,” in SCHGM, XI, (1910), 54-55: Will of Paul Grimball, Esq., of Edisto Island, names son Thomas and daughter Providence; the will was proved Feb. 20, 1696 (Charleston County PC, Wills 1671-1727, p. 61). f133 Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 145-6; a conveyance of land “for the benefit and behove of a Presbyterian or Independent minister upon Edisto Island,” was made on May 9, 1717, adjoining lands of William Fry, Joseph Palmerter, etc. (Charleston County RMC, Deeds G, p. 86). f134 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 2-3; many names of members of Euhaw Church are found in “St. Helena’s Parish Register,” In SCHGM, XXIII (1922), 102-151. f135 “History of Edisto Island Church,” in Charleston Assoc. Min., 1829; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 1-2; the deed has not been found. Page 147 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f136 Ibid., the deed to this land has not been found; the trustees are listed in a sketch of Edisto Island Church, In Edisto Island CB; Edwards claims there was about a hundred acres in the tract, let in 1772 for twenty pounds per year. f137 Will of Joseph Sealy made Jan. 18, 1732, recorded March 21, 1732, in Charleston County PC, Wills 1731-1733, p. 173; will of Ephraim Mikell made Sept. 2, recorded Oct, 15, 1743, in Ibid., 1740-1747, p. 119; will of Rev. Francis Pelot mentions one thousand pounds currency in his hands as executor of the will of Joseph Sealy made about Aug. 29, 1760, the interest of which was to be paid yearly to the minister of Euhaw Church, in Ibid., 1774-1779. p. 206. f138 Ramsay, (History of S.C., II, 560), writing about 1808, states: “The site of their church in which divine service was for the last time performed in 1774, is now in a state of forest. The glebe, consisting of about 70 acres, partly in a state of nature and partly cultivated, yields a revenue of about 70 dollars yearly. This rent is regularly transmitted to certain persons at the Euhaws of the baptist persuasion.” An act of 1808 (Cooper, (ed.). Statutes, V, 573) vested two tracts of land, once belonging to a Baptist church on Edisto Island and given by Rev. Mr. Tilly, altogether about 80 acres, in the Episcopal Church of Edisto Island, the Baptists apparently having become extinct by death or removal and the land having escheated; an act of Dec. 18, 1817 (Ibid., VI, 73), repeals the above act, as it had been discovered that the land on Edisto Island had not escheated but was owned by the Euhaw Baptist Church, which had received the rents and profits from it until the passage of the above act. After 1807 Mrs. Hepzibah Jenkins Townsend began the building up of a Baptist congregation on Edisto Island, and in 1818 a new church was built on the original lot given by Ephraim Mikell; the new Edisto Island church continued as a branch of Charleston Church until 1829 (Charleston Assoc., Min., 1829); it has since become entirely a negro church; there are no graves of original members; Mrs. Townsend is buried in the churchyard; the glebe lands were disposed of by Euhaw Church, and a long suit to recover them for Edisto Island Church failed (original correspondence and copies of legal papers, in Furman University). f139 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 3-4, Furman MS, p. 26. f140 Works of Rev. George Whitefield, … 1734-1770 (6 vols., London, 1771), I, 203. f141 Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, p. 95; Benedict, Baptist History (1848), p. 703; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 4: Rev. William Tilly came from Salisbury, Eng., to America in 1721; he was called to the ministry at Charleston and ordained soon after 1731 at Edisto Island (later Euhaw) Church; by his first wife he had one son, William, later a member of Charleston Church; Rev. William Tilly died Apr. 14, 1744, aged forty-six years, and was buried on Edisto Island, Rev. Isaac Chanler preaching his funeral sermon; his will, made Apr. 1 and recorded Apr. 21, 1744 (Charleston County PC, Wills 1740-1747, p. 172) mentions son William and brother Joseph of Warminster, Eng.; his executors, Paul, Isaac, and Joshua Grimball, and John Jenkins, advertised his estate for Page 148 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. sale on Apr. 30, 1744 (S, C. Gazette); Jane Palmerter (Parmenter?), of Port Royal, Elizabeth Slack of Edisto Island, and Mrs. Hutchinson, of James Island, devisees, were probably members of his scattered congregation; Matthew Greece, the grantor of the glebe, was one of the witnesses. f142 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 55; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 3; Furman MS, pp. 26, 37, give May 5, 1746, but Asplund’s Reg. (all editions) gives 1745, the date claimed by the Euhaw Church; Records Kept by Rev. Richard Furman (MS, Furman University), the constitution of the Church of Christ at Euhaw. f143 Edwards Crozer MS, p. 6; Joseph Johnson, Traditions and Reminiscences Chiefly of the American Revolution in the South … (Charleston, 1851), p. 473; Charleston County PC, Wills 1747-1752, p. 31, will of William Sealy names Francis Pelot and William Elbert among executors; the death from consumption and burial at the Euhaws on Nov. 16, 1754, of William Elbert from England is noted in “St. Helena’s Parish Register,” in SCHGM, XXIII (1922), p. 61. f144 “Hart’s Diary,” In YBC, 1896, p. 389; the dabs of Rev, Francis Pelot’s ordination is given as Feb. 13, 1751-2, in the account of the constitution of the Church of Christ at Euhaw In Records Kept by Rev. Richard Furman (MS). f145 “St, Helena’s Parish Register,” in SCHGM, XXIII (1922), 184. f146 The will of Rev. Francis Pelot, made June 13, 1773, proved 1774, provides: “I give unto the Church of Christ, Baptized on personal Profession of faith by Immersion holding the Doctrine of Election, effectual Calling, Perserverance of the Saints in Grace &c. One Acre of Land for a place of Publick Worship, where the Euhaw Baptist Meeting house now stands the Eastern line to run along the high Road, and the Northern line to run three feet below the spot where the Vestry house now stands, and so to Close one square Acre; which with the buildings now thereon, or any that may be raised thereon for Publick Worship, School keeping, or Sheds to put Horses under during the time of Worship, or buildings for a Minister and his successors of the Baptist denomination, holding the doctrines aforesaid, and no other purposes shall belong to said Church forever; with this Proviso, nevertheless that if any Part of the said Acre of Land be with the knowledge or allowance of the said Church made use of for a burying place, which would spoil the useful spring of Water below — It, the said acre of Land shall be forfeited to him or her of My Heirs, who shall own or have sold the Land adjoining it; but even then the said Church shall have liberty, within Twelve month time to take away all the buildings that may be thereon at the time of the said forfeiture.” (Charleston County PC, Wills 1774-1779, pp. 205-6). f147 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 1, Furman MS, pp. 24-5. f148 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, pp. 280, 386, 387. f149 J. Adam de Martel, Purrysburgh, S.C., July 13, 1769, to SPG, (Fulham MSS, Library of Congress, S.C., No. 12.. f150 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 1, 2, 5., Furman MS. pp. 30, 31: Rev. Edmund Matthews, of Bristol, Eng., grandson of Hobbes, author of Leviathan; was Page 149 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. called to the Baptist ministry at Charleston, Nov. 8, 1767, and invited to Hilton Head after ordination at Charleston. Feb. 8, 1770; his first wife was Martha Hinds, daughter of Patrick Hinds, who died in August, 1783 (Gazette of the State of S.C., Aug. 27, 1783); his second wife, Eliza died Sept. 10, 1302 (City Gazette and Daily Advertiser. Sept. 29,): as Mr. Matthews (also Mathews) L given as a messenger to the association from Charleston Church in 1775. he must have returned to the city on the approach of war; no further account of him has been found except as at work in St. Andrew’s Parish In 1806 (Marriage Notices in the Charleston Courier 1803-1808, p. 34).; Patrick Hinds presented his daughter, “Martha Matthews,” a lot on King and Hinds (or Beaufain) Street on Aug. 18, 1778 (Charleston County RMC, Deeds H-5, p. 309); this was the Patrick Hinds presenting a petition to the Assembly in 1784 asking to be relieved of the pains and penalties of the Confiscation Act, he having signed the address to Cornwallis only on threat of John Wells (JHR, Mar. 14, 1784). f151 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, pp. 387-91 (autobiographical material); Edwards, Crozer MS. pp. 5, 6, Furman MS, pp. 29,30: Francis Pelot was born In Neueville, Switzerland, Mar. 11, 1720, where his ancestors had the privilege of burghership; there he received a fair education; with his father mother, sister, and brother, he came to America on Oct. 28, 1734, and settled at Purrysburgh, S.C. (Smith, “Purrysburgh,’ in SCHGM, X (1909), 214, shows a lot No. 241 granted to Jonas Pelow on Sept. 16, 1738, about four years after the date of arrival given by Francis Pelot to Mr. Hart); engaged as tutor by the Sealys, he became a convert to Baptist principles, being baptized by Rev. Isaac Chanler on Aug. 1, 1744: diffidence prevented his ordination until Mr. Hart persuaded him to it on Jan. 13, 1732: he then took charge of Euhaw Church, and remained with it until his death Nov. 12, 1774; “A greater loss the Baptist Interest could not have sustained by the death of any one in the Province.” Mr. Pelot had considerable property, having received warrants for 250 acres In Purrysburgh Township in 1759, 700 acres in 1761, and 500 acres adjoining other land of his In 1773 (Memorial Books (MSS, Historical Commission of South Carolina, Columbia), VII, 266; XIV, 136; XXII, 264); and conveyances from Edmund Bellinger in 1750 of 600 acres on a branch of Euhaw Creek; from Mikell Scaly In 1757, 300 acres on Euhaw Creek; from William Blake, Esq., in 1772, 400 acres of Jasper’s Barony (Charleston County RMC, Deeds GO, p. 160; RR, p. 480: B-4, p. 199; his will made June 13, 1773, proved Oct. 30, 1774, lists specifically 1400 acres of land and covers much more, including it is said by Edwards, Steer, Horse, and Pea Islands; his personal property included several slaves and a large library; he married first Martha Sealy, May 12, 1741, by whom three children, John, James, and Samuel, survived him: his second wife was Mrs. Catharine Screven, widow of William Screven and daughter of Justinus Stoll of Charleston (died Oct. 1778, Gazette of the State of S.C., Oct. 23, 1778), by whom also three sons survived him, Charles, Benjamin, and(Ibid., PC, Wills 1774-1779, p. 205: “St. Helena’s Parish Register,” in SCHGM, XXIII (1922), 147-8; Howard, Cutts Genealogy, p, 27); one hundred pounds current money of S.C. came to him by will of Martha D’Harriette in 1760 (Charleston County PC. Wills 1757-1760, p. 270. Mr. Frank Cooper, of Charleston, has the Pelot family Bible showing 1734 as the date of their arrival in South Carolina. f152 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 392. Page 150 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f153 Euhaw Church to Charleston Church, May 21, (1786), June 11, 1787; Charleston Church to Euhaw Church, June 11, 1786; Nov. 14, 1787, originals and copies in Edisto Island CB. f154 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 139-40. f155 JHR. Dec. 2, 1797; JS, Dec. 2, 1797. f156 Henry Holcombe, A concise, candid and well authenticated account of the several interviews Between Mr. Hope Hull, an elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Author, a Baptist Minister … (Pipe Creek, S.C., 1790); described in “A Rare Old Document,” unsigned editorial clipping from Baptist Courier. f157 Robert W. Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution, 1781- 1782 (Columbia, 1853), p. 76: List of prisoners on board schooner Pack Horse, May 18, 1781, included George Mosse; he died on Feb. 17, 1808, leaving a widow and seven daughters; a eulogy appeared in the Charleston Times, Apr. 4, 1808, quoted in A. S. Salley, Jr., “Historical Notes,” in SCHGM, VII (1006), 99; Charleston Courier, Apr. 5, 1808. f158 Cook to Furman, Feb. 21, 1789 (MS, Furman University); Salley, “Historical Notes,” in SCHGM, VII (1907), 99. f159 Rev. Joseph Cook,” in Rippon’s Reg. 1790-1793, pp. 506-7. f160 Ibid; Baptist Library, p. 300. f161 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1790; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 79; “Rev. Joseph Cook,” in Rippon’s Reg. 1790-1793, pp. 501-9; Baptist Library, pp. 297- 301: Rev. Joseph Cook was born at Bath, Eng., in 1750; converted by Rev. George Whitefield, he occasionally preached while a student in Lady Huntington’s College in Wales, and afterwards came over with several other candidates for the ministry to the Georgia Orphan House; he first married Elizabeth Bulline, by whom he had one son, Joseph B., then married her sister before 1780 (Furman to Hart, Jan, 26, 1785 (MS, Furman University); he died on Sept. 26, 1790, “a little more than forty years of age.. f162 Cook to Furman, Feb. 21, 1789 (MS, Furman University). f163 Rev. Henry Holcombe, “A Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Mr. Charles Bealer,” advertisement in Rippon’s Rep. 1794-1797, p. 83. f164 [Beaufort Church], Christian Fellowship: or the Solemn Covenant of the Baptist Church of Christ in Beaufort, S.C. (Charleston, 1834), pp. 1-3. f165 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794-1795; Furman, Charleston Assoc. f166 Cook to Furman, Feb. 21, 1789 (MS, Furman University), B. Rush Rhees, Eulogium on the Life and Character of the Rev. Henry Holcombe … (Philadelphia, 1824); “Rev. Henry Holcombe,” in Wm. J. Northin (ed.), Men of Mark in Georgia (Atlanta, 1907) pp. 163-6; J. Maxcy to Furman, Nov. 3, 1800 (MS, Alester G. Page 151 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Furman.); Henry Holcombe, The First Fruits, in a Series of Letters (Philadelphia 1812); “Rev, Henry Holcombe,” In William Cathcart (ed.), The Baptist Encyclopedia (Philadelphia, 1881), pp. 531, 532; Jena H. Campbell, Georgia Baptists: Historical and Biographical (Macon, 1874), p. 38; Rev. J. H. Cuthbert, Life of Richard Fuller, D. D., (New York, 1879), pp. 12-13; “A Sketch of the Baptist Church in Savannah,” in Rev. Henry Holcombe (ed.), Georgia Analytical Repository, 1802, pp. 177-80: Rev. Henry Holcombe (also Holcum) was born in Prince Edward County, Va., on Sept. 22, 1762, son of Grimes Holcombe and Elizabeth (Buzbee) Holcombe; while Kill a child, he removed with his parents to Little River of Saluda in S.C.; what instruction he had was received before he was eleven years of age; both Henry Holcombe and his father fought in the S. C militia during the Revolution (Stub Entries to Indents Issued in Payment of Claims against South Carolina Growing out of the Revolution, ed. by A. S. Salley, Jr., (Historical Commission, Columbia, 1917), Books R-T, p. 221; U-W, p 272); he mentions having held a captain’s commission, but no record of it was found; converted by Rev. Abraham Marshall at twenty-one, he was soon licensed to preach and went to Pipe Creek Church, being ordained as pastor Sept. 11, 1785, by Rev. Messrs. James Smart and Thomas Burton; Euhaw called him as pastor on Feb. 1, 1791, in which connection he lived at the Beaufort branch until 1799 when he was called to Savannah; he was elected to the convention ratifying the Constitution of the United States (Journal of the Convention Which Ratified the Constitution of the United States, May 23, 1788, ed, by A. S. Salley, Jr. (Atlanta, 1928); was trustee of Beaufort College and was instrumental in its establishment, being a member and president of Beaufort District Society for the encouragement of literature, and he was an active minister of Charleston Association; while in Georgia he urged a penitentiary law, established a female orphan asylum and Mt. Enon Academy, and edited and largely wrote the Georgia Analytical Repository, 1802- 3, the first religious magazine in the South; he was called as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Jan. 1, 1812; he was a man of commanding physique and intelligence; he married Frances Tanner on Apr. 13, 1786, died May 22, 1824; Rhode Island College conferred the degrees of A. M. and D. D. upon him, the first in 1800; besides the publications already listed, he published several sermons, one being a sermon from Isaiah LIII:1 before the Charleston Association Nov. 7, 1791 (advertisement, Rippon’s Reg. 1794-1797, p. 83). f167 Christian Fellowship, pp. 3-5; letter of Holcombe in Cuthbert, Life of Fuller, pp. 12-13. f168 Plats, XXXV, 101; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6 ed.; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1795-1804; “Marriage and Death Notices from the City Gazette,” complied and edited by Mabel L. Webber, in SCHGM, XXVIII (1927), 240; Heads of Families. … First census of the United States … South Carolina (hereinafter cited as Census) (Washington, 1908), p. 11; State Records of North Carolina, edited by Walter Clark, (17 vols., Winston, 1895-6; Goldsboro, 1898-1907), Index: Rev. Aaron Tison is first mentioned in S.C. in 1790 at Great Salkehatchie, where he owned one slave; he preached at Buckhead Church, Burke County, Ga., in 1793, at Coosawhatchie Church 1795-1804, and at Euhaw Page 152 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. 1804-1805; a survey of 448 acres in Prince William’s Parish on Cedar Branch of Coosawhatchie was made for him in 1797 (Plats, XXXV, 101); he died on Mar. 18, 1805, having “scarcely passed the meridian of life,” leaving a widow and five children. f169 The members dismissed from Euhaw Church to form Beaufort Church were: J, B. Cook, Eleanor Ferguson, Thomas Fuller, Sarah Givens, Ann Jackson, Joseph Johnson, Sarah Lawrence, Mary McKee, Margaret McKensie, Sarah B. Norton, William Norton, Ann Perry, Mary Reynolds, Margaret Scanlan, Elizabeth Screven, Margaret Stone, Elizabeth Witter, and Thomas Witter; it appears from the table of statistics that Euhaw Church dismissed 154 members at the time; Christian Fellowship, pp. 5-7.; Holcombe, First Fruits, p. 76, states that Beaufort Church was constituted Jan, 1800; this was apparently, however, the induction of Rev. Joseph B, Cook into the pastoral charge; Beaufort Branch of Euhaw may have been constituted at this time. f170 Savannah Assoc. Min., 1804; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 222. f171 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 7-8; the constituents were: Rev. James Smart and wife Elizabeth, who had a survey on the south prong of Lynches Creek of 200 acres in 1756, and of 200 acres on Beech Branch waters of Coosawhatchie in 1763; Thomas Walker and wife Ann, and Mary Laracy, Ill from N. C.; Philip Hoggatt and wife Mary, who petitioned in 1758 for 450 acres on Salkehatchie or the waters thereof (William Hoggatt also Petitioned in 1737 for 550 acres In Queensborough Township); Henry Smart, who had a survey of 150 acres on waters of Coosawhatchie touching James Smart’s land In 1770, the last three having been baptized by Rev. Francis Pelot; Richard Bagley and wife Martha, who petitioned for 100 acres in 1756; Thomas Collins and wife Elizabeth; John Townsend Dade and wife Mary, as “a settler in the Welsh Tract on Pedee,” petitioned for 200 acres on Peedee for himself, wife and two children in 1748, and in 1756 petitioned for 150 acres on Savannah Creek and for 150 acres on Coosawhatachie; Henry Davis, said to have settled on Black Creek in 1750, who had a survey of 100 acres on Lynches Creek at Little Creek in 1756; Joseph Johnstone and wife Rachel, who had a survey in the fork of Crooked Creek in what was later Cheraws District in 1732 of 500 acres, and one of 150 acres on the east side of Bulkhead on Salkehatchie in 1759; Solomon Wood and wife Catherine, who in 1775 had a survey of 350 acres on the road from the ridge to Augusta touching William Pines’ land (Plats VI, 169, VIII, 249; CJ, Nov. 6, 1755, Aug. 1, 1758, Oct. 7, 1737; Plats, XVII, 511; CJ, Feb. 2, 1756, Mar. 8, 1758, Sept. 1, 1752, Aug. 3, 1756; Sept. 3. 1754, Mar. 7, 1765; Plats XI, 411; VI, 299; XIV, 326; IX, 357; CJ. Dec. 5, 1755; Plats, I, 224; VII, 08; XVII, 280; XX, 498; XIX, 188); the foregoing citations furnish ample evidence of the migration of a group from Lynches Creek to Coosawhatchie; in addition to the above, surveys for James Smart, Jr., John Knight, and Thomas Knight, later members, show concentration of the group about Beech Branch (Ibid., 519; XVII, 510-12). f172 Covenant and opening statement in Coosawhatchie CB, 1814-1864. f173 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1759. Page 153 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f174 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 7, Furman MS, p. 39; Edwards states in the Crozer manuscript that Thomas Collins gave no deed to the church and that William Thomas, the owner of the land in 1772, promised to transfer the lot to the church, but this statement is not repeated in the Furman manuscript. f175 Ibid., Crozer MS, p. 8, Furman MS, p. 39; Edwards states in the Crozer manuscript that John Clayton and his group went to Tuckaseeking, Ga., but soon returned to S C. to the Edisto region; see also Morgan Edwards, Materials towards a History of the Baptists in Georgia (MS, Crozer Theological Seminary), p. 3. f176 Ibid., Crozer MS, p. 7, Furman MS, p. 39. f177 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 387. f178 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775. f179 Ibid,; the branch was probably Savannah River, S.C., Church, later Pipe Creek, which entered the Charleston Association under Rev. Joshua Lewis in 1778, in which year Coosawhatchie dismissed 24 members. f180 JHR, Sept., 30, Oct. 5, 6, 1785; McCord (ad.), Statutes, VIII, 248; JHR Dec. 17, 1808: Dec. 20, 1832; the names Coosawhatchie Baptist Church Society and Beech Branch Baptist Church Society were used interchangeably in the incorporation petitions, indicating the identity of the groups. f181 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1777-1788; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 56; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 8, 10, Furman MS, p. 40; Ibid., “Materials towards a History of the Baptists in the Province of North Carolina (1772)’ edited by G. W. Paschal, in North Carolina Historical Review, VII (1930), No. 3, note, p. 375; Plats, VI, 169; VIII, 249; CJ, Nov. 6, 1755: Rev. James Smart was born on Oct. 13, 1714, in Prince George County, Va.; he became a General Baptist and was ordained at Fishing Creek General Baptist Church, Bute County, N. C., on June 28 1750; after his conversion to Particular Baptist principles, he removed to Lynches Creek in 1755 as assistant minister, where he secured land and settled until his removal to Coosawhatchie in 1759 and final settlement; he married Elizabeth Ledbetter, by whom he had by 1772 Reuben, Henry, Rebecca, Sylvania, James, Mason, Nathan, and Chloe; he served various churches of the surrounding region; as he is not mentioned in the records after 1788, it is probable that his death occurred about that year. f182 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1791, 1795. f183 The original grant to James Smart, son of Rev. James Smart, of 71 acres formerly surveyed for Zachariah Knight, dated Mar. 7, 1796, and recorded in Grants (MSS, Secretary of State, Columbia), E-V, 339, and plats of the churchyard and of the 71 acre grant from which it was taken, are in the Coosawhatchie CB, 1814-1864; a note upon one of these plats states that James Smart devised the tract to the church: there are no gravestones of original members in the churchyard; the gravestones of this James Smart, who died Mar. 31, 1818, and of his wife Piety, are still standing on what was his plantation Page 154 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. near the church; he received grants during his life of over 1600 acres (Grants, XIII, 57, D-V, 23, E-V. 339; K-VI, 395). f184 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1802. f185 Diary of the Rev. Evan Pugh, 1762-1802 (MS, Misses Charles), May 19, 1763. f186 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1778; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 56. f187 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1786; McCord (ed), Statutes, VIII, 139. f188 W. H. Dowling, “Report of Committee on History,” in Savannah River Baptist Assoc. Min., 1893, pp, 19-20. f189 Holcombe, “Concise Account,” as described in Baptist Courier; Pipe Creek was represented by Robert Tanner, William Causey, Allen Williams, and James Sweat at the conference to hear Mr. Holcombe’s defense; Cook to Furman, Feb. 21, 1789. f190 Charleston Asso. Min., 1794, 1802; the church has been moved twice; it is now at Estill, and is known as the Lawtonville Baptist Church; Its records prior to 1865 were burned. f191 Pugh’s Diary, Dec. 25, 1762. f192 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1786-1802; Wm. Cone had a survey of 100 acres in 1770 on the southeast side of Peedee on Buck Swamp (Plats, XI, 298). f193 W. H. Dowling, “The Black Swamp Baptist Church,” in Savannah River Assoc. Min., 1913; copy of resurvey of the church lot May 31, 1855, by Wm. J. Stafford, made by John H. Robert Mar. 5,1928; the original lot is still owned by the Black Swamp Church, which, however, is now in Robertville; the second building, said to have been a very handsome one, was destroyed by Sherman in 1865, according to the present church clerk, Mr. J. H. Robert. f194 Holcombe, “Concise Account,” as described in Baptist Courier; Joseph Lawton, John Robert. f195 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794, 1795, 1802. f196 Ga. An. Rep. 1802, pp. 177-80. f197 Ibid., pp. 132-3. f198 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., gives 1785 as date of constitution; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 66-7; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1801, 1804; Rev. Ralph Bowman was living in St. John’s Berkeley without slaves in 1790; a survey was made for him of 100 acres in St. James Goose Creek in 1798 touching land of Joshua Nettles and Thomas Rhodes and his own land (Census, p. 31; Plats, XXXV, 263). Page 155 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f199 Edwards, Crozer MS, p, 22; no deed to the church lot has been found, but a tract of 961 acres touching Stono River in St. Andrew’s Parish was left by Henry Toomer to his sons Joshua and John by will recorded Feb. 13, 1739; of this Joshua Toomer mortgaged a tract of 152 acres bounding south on Stono River, northeast on marsh land of Joseph Elliott, and west on Mathurin Guerin, to the trustees of the General Baptists Nov. 29, 1746; this tract probably included the lot given to the General Baptists by Henry Toomer, as it was in the midst of the land of the General Baptist group; see Charleston County RMC, Deeds DD, pp. 10-11; OO, pp. 586-90. f200 JCHA, Apr. 26, 1745. f201 Ibid., May 3, 1745. f202 Ibid. f203 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 21-3; the constituent members were: Rev. Robert Ingram, William Elliott, Sr., William Elliott, Jr., Thomas Elliott, Henry Toomer, Richard Butler, Joseph Elliott, Joshua Toomer, George Timmons, Barnard Elliott, John Clifford, Thomas Tew, Thomas Davis, Dorothy Jones, Ann Bonneau, Amerinthia Parr, Mary Toomer, Mary Toomer, Jr., Ann Chidesy, Francis Elliott, Elizabeth Elliott. f204 Charleston County PC, Wills 1736-1740 pp. 246-7: William Elliott in his will dated June 15, 1733, left to his three sons, William, Thomas, and Joseph, £10,000 current money of S.C., and a tract of 15 3/4 acres of land on Charleston Neck. “The legacy and devise to his [William Elliott’s] sons was absolute, but as afterward appeared upon a secret trust” (Smith, “Baronies,” in SCHGM, XV (1914), pp. 158-61); Thomas Elliott by his will dated Oct. 23, 1738 (Charleston County PC, Wills 1736-1740, p. 327) bequeathed to his brother Barnard Elliott, £3333.6.8, “which was left to me by my father’s Will,” charging him “to make that good Use of it for which he knows it was given me;” by will dated Feb. 11, 1739, (Ibid., pp. 659-60) Joseph Elliott left to “ye Society of Christians yt Mr. Henry Heywood is now minister of & I my Self and two Brothers Woe. Elliott & Barnard Elliott and my only Sister Ammirentia Far are now members cf: I Say to tnis Society or to Such persons whom they Shall appoint to Receive itt, I give the Sum of Fire Thousand Pounds and three hundred thirty three pounds six Shillings & Eight pence & my Share of y e land on ye town Neck for ever;” “A few years later an information was filed by James Wright attorney General of the Province on the relation of ‘Henry Haywood Minister of the Society of Christians Called General Baptists and others’ against William Elliott and the executors of his brothers Thomas and Joseph charging that the elder William Elliott had left this donation of £10,000 and 15 3/4 acres to his three sons upon a secret trust for the use of ‘the said Society of Christians Called General Baptists meeting and Communing in the worship of God at the Meeting houses of Stono and Charleston.’ By agreement the questions in contention under this charge were referred to William Cattell Junr. John Savage and John Basnett as arbitrators who made an award in favour of the Society. The £10,000, was promptly paid and the land seems to have been conveyed to the Society” (Smith, “Baronies,” in SCHGM, XV (1914), 160). Page 156 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f205 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 23, Furman MS, p. 65; Rev. Robert Ingram, a native of Lincolnshire, came to S.C. from Farnham, Eng., about 1733 and died there about 1738; he had one daughter who died childless; “His character is that of a good and wise man;” Thomas Elliott left him a bequest of three hundred pounds currency (Charleston County PC, Wills 1736-1740, p. 236). f206 JCHA, May 3, 1745. f207 McCord (ed.), Statutes, III, 660. f208 Charleston County RMC, Deeds DD, pp. 10-11; 00, pp. 586-90. f209 S.C. Gazette, Postscript, June 25, 1741. f210 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 25, Furman MS, pp. 65-6; Rev. Henry Heywood came from Farnham. Eng., in 1739 and took over the care of the General Baptist Church on May 5, 1740; “His character is that of a scholar, but an oddity in person and conduct. Mr. Whitton speaks handsomely of him, but the late Dr. Gill very indifferently;” “October 30, 1755. Yesterday died the Rev. Mr. Henry Heywood, a Baptist Preacher in this Town; who was esteemed one of the greatest Scholars in America.” Death Notices in the South Carolina Gazette. 1732-1775, compiled by A. S. Salley, Jr., (Historical Commission, Columbia, 1917), p. 38. Certain of his publications are listed in Chapter VII. Edwards gives the date of his death as Oct. 25. f211 “St. Andrew’s Parish Register,” in SCHGM, XIV (1913), 210-11; XV (1914), 42. f212 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 24, Furman MS, p. 66; “Records Kept by Colonel Isaac Hayne,” ed. by Mabel L. Webber, In SCHGM, X (1909), 164-227; “Death Notices from the South Carolina and American General Gazette, and its Continuation the Royal Gazette,” ed. by Mabel L. Webber, in SCHGM, XVI (1915), 38; Rev. Daniel Wheeler was born in 1706 at Calne in Wiltshire, and was ordained at Lindherst in Hampshire, Eng.; he came to Charleston Nov. 25, 1757, and immediately took charge of the General Baptist Church there; he married Mary Kimpton, of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, who died Oct. 31, 1778, by whom he had Daniel, John, Benjamin, and Thomas-Lucas, all of whom were unmarried in 1772; Mr. Wheeler was known as a good and honest man. f213 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 22-4, Furman MS, pp. 68-7; “Hayne Records,” in SCHGM, X (1909), 168; S.C. Gazette, Apr. 23, 1772; “Marriage and Death Notices from the City Gazette,” compiled by Mabel L. Webber, in SCHGM, XXVI (1925), 86: Rev, Caleb Evans, A. M., was born on Mar. 30, 1743, in the Parish of Llanafon-faur, Brechnock, South Wales, brought up at Aberdeen, ordained at Farnham in 1768, and took charge of the Charleston General Baptist Church immediately upon his arrival in the same year; he died Apr. 22, 1772. f214 “Pilmoor’s Journal,” in Shipp, Methodism, pp. 128-30; S. C, Gazette, Feb. 8, 1773. Page 157 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f215 Ibid., Sept. 19, 1774; “Hayne Records,” in SCHGM, X (1909), 221, the names are given as Philip Dobell, Jr., and Sr., and the dates of death Aug. 20 and 25. f216 JHR, Feb. 20, Mar. 13, Feb. 23, 1787; no record of an amendment of the act of 1745 has been found; in fact, the act was so worded as to require no amendment. f217 Charleston County RMC, Deeds D-6, pp. 478-82; in the margin of page 480 is a statement that the mortgage escheated to the city and was satisfied Aug. 24, 1802. f218 Ramsay, History of S.C., II, 27; Tupper (ed.), Two Centuries, pp. 94-5; Smith, “Baronies,” In SCHGM, XV (1914) 156-61; the land on Charleston Neck then reverted to the heirs at law of the original donor, William Elliott. f219 Ibid., “Georgetown,” in SCHGM, IX (1908),89-90: McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 213. f220 Advertisement, S, C. Gazette, July 16, 1737. f221 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 151. f222 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 400; letter, in Cook, Richard Furman, p. 41. f223 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794. f224 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 151-2; Mr. Staughton shortly removed to Philadelphia; Asplund’s Reg. 6 ed.; obituary of John Waldo, in Charleston Assoc. Min., 1826; Webber, “Historical Notes,” in SCHGM, XXV (1924), 100; John Waldo came from Paulings, N. Y.; he was long in charge of an academy, publishing several text books, and was a member of the Georgetown Library Society; he died Sept. 19, 1826, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. f225 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIIII, 213, 353; The petitioners were Edmund Botsford, John Bossard, William Cuttino, Sr., Savage Smith, Cornelius Dupre, William Grant, William Cuttino Jr., John Waldo, John Pavis. John Evans, Jeremiah Cuttino, James Mackray, William H. Lide, William Murray, Samuel Blackwell, James Lane, Michael Blackwell, John p. Dunnan, and William B. Johnson; the act was revived and continued for 14 years, after which final Incorporation was secured. f226 Benedict, Baptist History, 11, 152. f227 Asbury’s Journal, 111, 128. f228 Alexander Gregg, History of the Old Cheraws … (New York, 1867), pp. 42- 52; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 50, 53; Furman MS, pp. 16-18; both Gregg and Edwards state that the Welsh settled first at Catfish, and then moved up the river to the Welsh Neck; R. L. Meriwether, Expansion of South Carolina (MS in preparation, Columbia), shows there was no general removal; Plats, IV. Page 158 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f229 Records of the Welsh Tract Baptist Meeting … 1716 to 1828, Pts. I and II (Wilmington, 1904), 1, 83-86; Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 52, 59; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 50; Welsh Neck Church Book (MS, church clerk, Society Hill), 1738-1798; Morgan Edwards, “Materials towards a History of the Baptists in Pennsylvania,” in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, IX, (1885), 45; the list of constituents as given by Edwards is; James James, Esq., his wife and sons Abel, Daniel, Phillip, and their wives; David James and wife; Daniel Devonald and wife, two named Thomas Evans and their wives; Samuel Evans and wife; John Jones and wife; Thomas and David Harry, John Harry and wife; Samuel Wilds and wife; the list in Welsh Neck CB adds Griffith Jones and wife, the wives of Thomas and David Harry, and in place of David James has David Jones; Edwards gives 1741 as the year the Welsh moved up the river, the church being constituted after the removal; Philip James, Daniel Devonald, David Harry, Thomas Evans (2), Griffith John, David James, and John Jones were among Welsh inhabitants who in 1743 presented a petition pleading their poverty and asking that their lands be granted free of all charges for surveying, etc.; Abel, Daniel, Philip, and David James, Daniel Devonald, Thomas Evans (2), John Jones, Griffith Jones, David Harry had surveys before 1743 which they did not take up; the elder James James was a justice of the peace in Pa.; he is said to have died one year after arrival; a plat surveyed for Philip Douglas in 1742 mentions lands “Pitched on by Mr, James,” and plats of 1738 show that the Welch Neck was called James’s Neck at that time, but no plats for James James appear on the plat books; David James had a survey of 400 acres in 1738 in the Welsh Tract in James’s Neck west on the Peedee and north on Daniel Dovenal’s (Devonald or Dovenald) land; Abel James 300 acres on the northeast side of Peedee in the Welsh Tract in Prince George Winyah In 1738; Daniel James in 1742 350 acres west on Peedee, north on David Harry’s land in the Welsh Tract, Prince George Winyah, and 100 acres west on Peedee and north on his own land in Prince George Winyah, Thomas Evans 490 acres in the Welch Tract in James’s Neck west 1741 and later surveys; David Harry 400 acres in Queensborough Township in 1738, 125 acres west on Peedee and north on D. Harry’s land in 1742, another 125 acres in 1742 west on Peedee in the Welsh Tract in Prince George Winyah, and 150 acres in 1745 west on Peedee in the Welsh Tract; the first plat found for John Harry was of 475 acres in 1762 in Prince George Winyah; Thomas Harry 150 acres in 1738 In Prince George Winyah southwest on Peedee; Griffith Jones 300 acres in 1738 in Queensborough Township touching lands of Thomas James; John Jones 250 acres in 1738 on James’s Nrck west on Peedee in the Welsh Tract or “New Camberarer” 100 acres west on Peedee north on his own land in the Welsh Tract, Prince George Winyah, in 1741, and 500 acres in the Welsh Tract Prince George Winyah in 1742, and several later surveys (Plats, IV, 188, 190, 198, 204, 191, 200, 206, 207, 145, 199, 201, 435; VII, 262; IV, 145, 471, 112, 202, 197); no plats before 1770 were found for Daniel Devonald, Samuel Evans or Samuel Wilds. f230 Gregg, Cheraws, p. 52; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 52; “Pennsylvania Materials,” in Pa, Mag. Hist, and Biog., IX (1885), 45. f231 Ibid., Crozer MS, pp. 49, 52, Furman MS, pp. 17, 19, 20; Harvey Toliver Cook, Life and Legacy of David Rogerson Williams (New York, 1916), p. 31; Abel Morgan, Cyd-gordiad Egwyddorawl o’r Scrythurau … (Philadelphia, 1730). Page 159 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f232 Fordyce to the SPG, Dec. 2, 1742, Oct. 23, 1743, Nov. 4, 1745, quoted in Harvey Toliver Cook, Rambles in the Pee Dee Basin, South Carolina (Columbia, 1926), p. 157. f233 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 52, Furman MS, pp. 19, 20; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 70: Historical Sketch of the Welsh Neck Baptist Church … (Greenville, S.C., 1889), p. 7, note: Rev. Philip James was born in 1701 near Pennepec, Pa.; he was licensed to preach at the Welsh Tract Church, but was ordained on Apr. 4, 1743, in S.C., to which he came in 1737, being made pastor of Peedee or Welsh Neck Church at the time of his ordination; he was a man of great spirituality, given to heavenly visions after the death of a beloved child; he married Elizabeth Thomas, and had three sons, Daniel, James, and Philip, living in 1772; a conveyance of Mar. 1762, of Daniel James describes him as “son & heir of ye Reverend Philip James deceased of the Welch Tract in ye County of Craven” (Charleston County, RMC, Deeds 1-4, p. 49); Rev. Philip James had two surveys in 1740, the first southwest on Peedee in the Welsh Tract, Prince George Winyah of 250 acres, the second of 100 acres west on Peedee touching Mr. Thomas Evans of Spring Garden on the north (Plats IV, 195- 259); he also purchased land in 1751, being designated as Philip James, Minister of the Gospel; he died on Jan. 31, 1754, and is buried in the old Welsh Neck graveyard on the east of the river; the following sermon was preached at his ordination; “The Qualifications of a Gospel Minister for and Duty in studying rightly to divide the Word of Truth. And the Duty of those who do partake of the Benefit of his Labours towards him, fully, plainly and impartially represented in Two Sermons on <550215>2 Timothy 2:15. Preached at the ordination of the Reverend Philip James, at the Welsh Tract, on Pee Dee River in South Carolina, April 4, 1743. With some illustrations and enlargements. By Isaac Chanter, Minister of ye Gospel. Published at the Unanimous and Earnest Request of Both Minister and People.” Now at Crozer Theological Seminary. f234 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 53; this date is not given in Furman MS, p. 17. f235 Ibid., Crozer MS, pp. 53, 56; Furman MS, p. 21; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p 70; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, p. 7; Gregg, Cheraws, p. 64; W. C. Allen, History of the Pee Dee Baptist Association (Dillon, S.C., 1924), pp. 88-93; Rev, John Brown was born Aug. 20, 1714, near Burlington, N. J., was brought up at Frankfort near Philadelphia; he came to the Welsh Neck in 1737, where he was baptized and called to the ministry, being ordained May 7, 1750; he married Sarah Newberry, and left children Mercy, Sarah, Martha Elizabeth, Samuel, Mary, and Jesse; he preached throughout the region for many years without a pastorate; Brownsville is said to have been named in his honor; it was probably he who had a survey of 600 acres on Peedee in 1734; 251 acres in Prince Frederick north of “Odochone” In 1736; 300 acres bounded southwest on Peedee in the Welsh Tract in Prince George Winyah in 1742, 450 acres of similar location in 1749; and others on Muddy Creek and in the Welsh Tract (Plats, II, pp. 7, 8, 80; IV, 314, 320; V, 49, 382; VII, 209; XI, 28; XIII, 501); he was living in Cheraws District with eight slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 48). f236 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 52; Furman MS, pp. 21, 22: Benedict, Baptist History, II, 132; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 70, 71; Gregg, Cheraws, p. Page 160 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. 82; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, p. 7; Cashaway CB, 1758-1761, passim: Rev. Joshua Edwards was born Feb. 11, 1704, in Pembrokeshire, South Wales; came to the Welsh Tract, Pa., in 1709; was baptized in 1721; removed to S.C., in 1749; was ordained at Welsh Neck in May, 1752, where he served as pastor until 1758; he then served as pastor of Cashaway Church for about three years, after which he was dismissed to Catfish Church on Sept, 27, 1761, where he remained until 1768; he then had no regular pastorate, but preached until his death on Aug. 22, 1784; he married first Catherine Stephens by whom he had Thomas, Mary, Joshua, Phoebe, Sarah, Rachel, and Abel; second Tamas Parr by whom he had Henry, John, Elisha, Sarah and Pheobe; he had a survey of 150 acres in 1757 and another in the same amount in 1763 on Catfish Creek, with possibly 89 acres in the same region in 1752 (Plats, VII, 372; XIV, 532; V, 314; Memorials, VI, 224; XI, 320). f237 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 3-10, passim; Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 64, 65; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 51; Furman MS, p. 22; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, p. 7; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 132; Cook, Williams, p. 44; Memorials VI, 360; Rev. Robert Williams was torn Dec. 20, 1717, at Northhampton, N. C.; he came to Peedee in 1745, where he was ordained on Sept. 30, 1752, by Rev. Messrs. Philip James and John Brown; he married Anne Boykin, by whom he had David, Celta, Jehu, Mary, and Anne; he was strongly Calvinistic and influential in the bringing of many N. C. Baptists to the regular position; he died Apr. 8, 1768, a funeral sermon being preached by Rev. Evan Pugh from John XI: 11, 12; his will was probated In Charleston in Dec., 1768 (Wills 1765-1769. p. 440); Gov. David Rogerson Williams was his grandson; Charleston Assoc. later adjusted his differences with Welsh Neck. f238 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 3-20, passim. f239 Ibid., pp. 2, 3, 4. f240 Ibid., pp. 5, 6. f241 Ibid., pp. 5-37, passim. f242 Ibid., p. 12. f243 Ibid., p. 13. f244 Ibid., p. 14; Pugh’s Diary indicates some activity at Regulator meetings a year or two later; Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 151, note; 102, 45-66, note; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 56; Furman MS, p. 38; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 79, 80: Rev. Evan Pugh was born at Matachin, Pa., April. 2, 1729 (Edwards gives 1732), but removed to Winchester, Va., as a boy where he learned practical surveying under George Washington; though bred a Quaker, he was converted to Baptist principles while teaching in N. C., in 1754; removing to S.C. in 1762, he first studied at Welsh Neck, then was taken under the patronage of the Charleston Association and the Religious Society, after which he studied with Mr. Hart, Mr. Pelot, and others he was licensed to preach at Euhaw on June 5, 1763, ordained by Messrs. Hart, Stephens and Pelot on Nov. 22, 1764; his first call was to Welsh Neck on Jan. 4, 1766, then on Dec. 26, 1766, he accepted a call to Cashaway Church, where he served until his death, at the same time Page 161 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. preaching throughout the Peedee section; he had a survey of 300 acres touching Jacob Kolb, Samuel Burton and Mr. Blake in 1770, and he was living in Cheraws District with 17 slaves in 1790 (Plats, XI, 436; Census, p 49); he was an active member of the Charleston Association, a member of the S.C. constitutional convention of 1790; Rhode Island College conferred on him the A. M. degree; his sermon “Ministers, Fellow-Workers with Christ,” preached before the Charleston Association, Nov. 2, 1767, was published; he also preached a sermon at Darlington C. H. on the death of Washington from <550307>2 Timothy 3:7, 8; he married Martha McGee, by whom he had James, Ezra, and Elizabeth; he was buried in “Pugh Field,” apparently the old Black Creek churchyard, close to the creek and a few miles above Darlington; his son Ezra is buried by him; his epitaph is as follows: “Sacred! to the Memory of| Evan Pugh| Born Apr. 2d, 1729,| Died Dec. 26, 1802.| For forty years an approved,| acceptable Preacher of the| Gospel of peace.| Of the Baptist denomination,| the first beneficiary of the Char-|-leston association.| Intelligence, benignity, charity,| benevolence, hospitality, candor, piety,| all were his.|” (verse). The following is a copy of the certificate of ordination of Rev. Evan Pugh, the original being in possession of Rev, R. W. Lide, of Greenville, S.C., and a Photostatic copy at the University of S. C,: These are to Certify, That the Reverend Mr. Evan Pugh after having given sufficient Proof of his gifts and acquirements was regularly called by the Church at Euhaw in South Carolina and ordained to the work of the Ministry by us the Subscribers on Thursday the Twenty second of November one thousand seven hundred and sixty four. Francis Pelot V. D. M., O, Hart V. D. M., John Stephens V. D. M. f245 Welsh Neck CB, p. 14. f246 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 50. f247 Ibid., p. 51; Furman MS, p. 23; Welsh Neck CB, p. 16; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 75, 76; “Hart’s Diary”, in YBC, 1896, p. 380: Rev. Nicholas Bedgegood was born on Jan. 30, 1731, at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, Eng., “bred a churchman,” he came to the Georgia Orphan House, where he is said to have been converted to Baptist principles by reading Dr. Watts’ treatise on Infant baptism; he was baptized July 19, 1757, called to the ministry at Charleston Church, Mar. 19, 1758, and ordained Feb. 26 (Feb. 1?), 1759, by Messrs Oliver Hart, Francis Pelot, and John Stephens, being soon after called as pastor of Welsh Neck Church; he preached on James Island 1765-67, after which he returned to Welsh Neck, where he remained until his death in January, 1774. “Mr. Bedgegood had attended grammar school at Tethrington, studied law at Bristol, and was a classical scholar and an accomplished speaker. He married in England Mary Weston, who, he claimed, would not accompany him to America. Upon hearing a report of her death, ‘he married Mary Murphey. … It appears that the report of his first wife’s death was false; he was summoned before the Association to answer the charge, but did not appear and was dismissed from the Association. However, the Welsh Neck Church was satisfied as to the rectitude of his conduct and retained his services until his death.” His will, made Jan. 19, 1774, names children Hannah, Malachi, and Ann, and wife Mary; the legacies and bequests consisted of books, household goods, sixteen slaves, and a plantation called Cheraw Bluff, of 300 acres on the Page 162 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. northeast side of Peedee; a legacy of 100 pounds currency came to him by the will of Martha D’Harriette made May 27, 1758, and proved March 27, 1760 (Charleston County PC, Wills 1750-1760, p. 211; 1774-1779, pp. 111-2; RMC, Deeds R-3, pp. 53-61). f248 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 19, 23; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, p. 9. f249 Ibid.; Benedict, Baptist History, I, 275; Rev. Elhanan Winchester’s connection with the churches of S.C., was short; he was a man of prodigious memory and great talent, who later in Philadelphia preached universal redemption through a disciplinary purgatory. f250 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 28, 29; Mallary, Botsford; Sprague, Annals, VI, 13845; obituaries in Charleston Assoc. Min, and American Baptist Magazine and Missionary Intelligencer, New Series, 2 (1920), No. 8; letter of Edmund Botsford, Peedee River, S.C., Apr. 25, Aug. 24, 1790, in Rippon’s Reg., 1790- 1793, pp. 104-103; Edwards, Ga. Materials (MS); Benedict, Baptist History, II, p. 151; Newman U, S. Baptists, pp. 311, 316-18; “Hart’s Diary” in YBC, 1896, pp. 385-6; Gregg, Cheraws, p. 88, note; Furman to Hart, Jan. 26, 1785, Feb. 7, 1786 (MS, Alester O. Furman); “Marriage and Death Notices” in SCHGM XVIII (1917), 154: Rev, Edmund Botsford was born at Woburn, Bedfordshire, Eng., in Nov. 1745, and at twenty came to America, where he was converted under Rev. Oliver Hart and baptized at Charleston, Mar. 13, 1767; he then studied with Mr. Hart, with assistance from Charleston Association and from private donations, and was licensed to preach Feb. 24, 1771, his first charge being Tuckaseeking in Georgia; after ordination by Messrs. Hart and Pelot, Mar. 14, 1773, he became pastor of a church at New Savannah, Ga., which was constituted Nov, 28, 1773, his swift movements from church to church throughout the surrounding parts of Ga., and S.C. gaining him the name of the “flying preacher;” with the advance of the British he fled into S.C. in March, 1779, and lived for a time with Colonel Arthur Simkins, during a part of which he is said to have served as chaplain with General Andrew Williamson’s troops; after a short time at Welsh Neck, he fled into Va., where he preached in the Northern Neck with great effect, returning to Welsh Neck in 1782, where he remained until his removal to Georgetown in 1796; in 1790 he owned four slaves (Census, p. 48); he married three times, his wife Catherine dying Feb. 7, 1796, at Greenville, Cheraws District; he suffered many years with tic douloureux, Rhode Island College conferred on him the A. M. degree; his publications include: Familiar Letters. (1789); Sambo and Toney in Dialogue for Instruction of Slaves, (1808); Reasons for Renouncing Infant Baptism, in a letter to a friend, (1810); Spiritual Voyage, an entertaining Allegory, (1314); two letters called “The Wandering Jew” and “The Second Sight,” to a female correspondent, published in Religious Remembrancer, (1815), and afterwards as a tract; extracts from unpublished Kingdom of God, a poem on a lady in distress; Rev. John Thomas was probably the minister from Toisneot Church, N. C. (Edwards, “N. C. Materials,” in N. C. Hist. Rev., VII (1930), 379; G. W. Paschal, History of North Carolina Baptists (Raleigh, 1930), 1 (1663-1805), 175, 181, 439, 441). f251 Welsh Neck CB, p. 40. f252 Ibid., p. 30. Page 163 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f253 Ibid., p. 34. f254 Botsford to the editor, in Rippon’s Reg., 1790-93; pp. 104-8. f255 Welsh Neck CB, p. 39. f256 Ibid., p. 40; “Mr. Abel Edwards, a Deacon of the Baptist Church at the Welsh Neck, Pedee, South Carolina,” in Rippon’s Reg., 1794-7, pp. 500-2. f257 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 42-5. f258 Partial list of Welsh Neck Church members compiled from Ibid., 17591804: Elizabeth Akins, (?), Elizabeth Ayer, Peggy Ayer (or Peggy Ann). Thomas Ayer, Mary Ann Baker, Hall Baldy and wife Anne, William Beasley and wife, John Bennett, Susannah Bingham, Rhoda Booth, Sarah Booth, Caty Botsford, Sarah Bowdy, John Bridges and wife, Mrs. Anne Brown, Esther Brown, Grace Brown, Jeremiah Brown, Nancy Brown, Bibby Bruce, Jemimah Bruce, Eli Burdo and wife Eve, Magnus Cargill, John Chambliss, Sarah Cherry, William Cherry, Mary Cleary, Mary Cochran, James Coker, Arnold Colvin Joseph Cook, Mary Cooper, Mary Cox, Agnes Creek, Owen Darby, Honor Darby, Peggy Darby, Isabel David, Jenkyn David, John David, Rachel David, Jacob D’Surrency, Martin DeWitt, Philip Douglas, John Downes, Rachel Downes, Sarah Downes, Walter Downes, John Edmundson, Abel Edwards, Charity Edwards, Joshua Edwards, Mary Edwards, Sarah Edwards, Thomas Edwards, Abel Evans, Anne Evans, David Evans, Eleanor Evans, Enoch Evans, Jr., Elizabeth Evans, Enoch Evans, Sr., Hannah Evans, Jesse Evans, John Evans, Josiah Evans, Lydia Evans, Margaret Evans, Mary Evans, Philip Evans, Rachel Evans Sarah Evans, Samuel Evans, Thomas Evans, Thomas Evans Jr., William Ferrel and Anne his wife, Mary Ann Fitzgerald, Michael Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Flanagan, Sarah Foster, Shadrach Fuller, Abel Goodwin, Deborah Greer, Mary Griffiths, Matthew Griffiths, Rachel Groves, Mary Harper, Eleanor Harry, James Harry, Naoomi Harry, Sarah Harry, Elizabeth Hewson (Hughson?), William Hewson, Eleanor Hewstess, James Hewstess, John Hewstess and Agnes his wife, Matthew Hewstess, Sarah Hewstess. William Hewstess, Betsey Hicks, Elizabeth Hicks (?), George Hicks, Comfort Hinley, John Hodges, Elizabeth Hodges, Rebecca Hodges, Robert Hodges, Welcome Hodges, Eleanor Hollingsworth, Mary Hollingsworth, Volentine Hollingsworth, William Hollingsworth, Hannah Howell, Lydia Howell, Eleanor Hudson Mary Hudson, Paul Hudson, Burril Huggins and wife, Mary Huggins, Charity Hurd, Mahetabel Irby, Mary Ivy, Celia James, Elizabeth James, Howell James, James James, Josiah James, Sarah James (four of them), Thomas James, William James, Elizabeth Jarrell, Griffith John, Margaret John, Anna Jones, Edward Jones, Joseph Jones, Mary Jones, William Jones, Barbara Judith, John Killingsworth and wife, Hannah Kimbrough, Sarah Kolb, Abel Kolb, Peter Kolb, Benjamin Kolb, Sarah Lack, Anne Lampley, Martha Lampley, Sussannah Lampley, Feribe Lang (two), Charles Lide, Elizabeth Lide, Mary Lide, Col. Thomas Lide, Joseph Lister, and wife, Anne Lowther, Charles Lowther, Alice Lucas, Celete Luke, Elizabeth Luke (two), William Luke, Daniel McDaniel, Sarah McDaniel, Joel McNatt, Macky McNatt, Martha McNatt (two), Charles Mason, Elizabeth Mason, Joseph Mason, Thomas Mason Elizabeth Medford, Barbary Monochon, Daniel Monochon, Celete Morgan, Sarah Mumford, John McIntosh, Catherine McIver, Evander McIver, Gideon Parish, Robert Parsley. Josiah Pearce and Mary His wife, Martha Pearce, Aaron Pearson: Page 164 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. and wife, Moses Pearson and wife, Sarah Pearson, John Perkins, Elizabeth Pledger, Joseph Pledger, Phoebe Pledger, Ann Poland, Jane Poland, Elizabeth Powers, Mary Prothro, Elizabeth Raburn, Sarah Raburn, Samuel Reredon, Anne Roach, Martha Roach, Anne Roblyn, Martha Rogers, James Rogers, Catherine Ross, Rebecca Scott, Daniel Sparks, Henry Sparks, Anne Stevens, John Stevens, Sarah Steward, Eddy Stinson, Sarah Stubbs, John Sutton and Elizabeth his wife, William Terrell, Jr., Elizabeth Thomas, Samson Thomas, Tristram Thomas and wife, George Trawicks, Lydia Trawicks, Penr. Trawicks, Sedona Upthegroove, Mary Vann, Thomas Vlning, Alexander Walden and wife (Sarah?), Elizabeth Walsh, Mary Walsh, Zilpah Walsh, Robert White, Abel Wilds, Elizabeth Wilds, John Wilds, Mary Wilds, Samuel Wilds, John Williams, Nancy Williamson, Tabitha Williamson, James p. Wilson, Mary Wilson, Martha Wilson. f259 Ibid., p. 20. f260 Ibid., p. 30. f261 Ibid., p. 39; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1790-1804; Botsford supported the movement to incorporate the General Committee, Mallary, Botsford, p. 63. f262 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 29. 37, 41; probably Rippon’s Beg. f263 Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 282-4, 436-8. Records of St. David’s Society, Society Hill, S.C.; Welsh Neck CB, 1778-1804; Mrs. Furman E. Wilson (Jane Lide Coker), Memories of Society Hill (Darlington, S.C., 1810), p. 2. f264 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 50. f265 Welsh Neck CB, p. 20. f266 Ibid., pp. 37-8. f267 Ibid., pp. 40, 45. f268 Ibid., pp. 41-3. f269 Ibid., pp. 45-6. f270 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 50, gives the dimensions as 46 by 30 feet, Furman MS, p. 16 as 45 by 20 feet; Pugh’s Diary, Mar. 22, 1766, states that the Welsh Neck Church meeting decided to build in 1766; no deed to this lot has been found. f271 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 30, 37, 38; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, p. 7. f272 Welsh Neck CB, p. 40. f273 Ibid., p. 39. f274 Ibid., pp. 43-5. f275 Ibid., p. 44. Page 165 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f276 Mrs. Wilson, Society Hill, p. 8. f277 Welsh Neck CB, p. 2; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 53. f278 Welsh Neck CB, p. 22. f279 Ibid., p. 8; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, p. 14. f280 Welsh Neck CB, pp. 8, 31. f281 Ibid., p. 8. f282 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 127. f283 Pugh’s Diary, 1766; Cashaway CB, 1756-72; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 504; Furman MS, pp. 31-2; Charleston Assoc. Min., pp. 61-8; Botsford to the editor, Rippon’s Reg., 1790-93, pp. 104-8. f284 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 54; Gregg, Cheraws p. 43; Cook, Rambles, pp. 156- 7. f285 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 54; Furman MS, pp. 31-2, 1752; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 55, 1752; Catfish constituents: William Collins and wife (500 acres in Craven County, 1760, Plats, XIV, 154); Abraham Buckholts and sons, Abraham and Jacob (Abraham, 300 acres on Willow Creek, 1759; Jacob, 300 acres in Queensborough Township, 1735, northeast on Peedee; 250 acres in Queensborough, 1735, touching his own land; 250 acres in Prince Frederick’s Parish, 1740, southwest side Peedee, Ibid., VII, 48; II, 114, 153; IV, 304); William Foxworth and wife (100 acres on Smith’s Swamp, northeast side Great Peedee, 1769, on John Smith’s and Giles Powers’ land; 100 acres in the Welsh Tract, 1770, Ibid., XI, 146, 273); William Gainey and wife (no surveys in Catfish region); John Gasque (400 acres southwest side Peedee on Thomas Howard’s land, 1756; 400 acres on Catfish Creek, on Nathan Evans, John Godbold and Humphrey Prior, 1756; Ibid., VI, 233); Gideon Gibson (several surveys, northeast, south, etc., on Peedee, 1746-73, Ibid., IV, 397, 320, 510; V, 464; VI, 45 etc.); Mary Jackson (no surveys found); Thomas James and wife (650 acres in Queensborough Township on Griffith Johns’ land, 1738 Ibid. IV, 188); John Jones and wife (note 4, supra); William Jones (400 acres in Prince Frederick, northeast on Peedee, 1742; 141 acres at Pine Bluff in the Welsh Tract, southwest side Peedee, 1747, Ibid., IV, 215, 369); Tillman Kolb and wife (150 acres, Prince George Winyah in the Welsh Tract, south on Peedee, 1742; 200 acres southeast side Peedee, 1769, Ibid., IV, 242; XI, 142); Lansford Owen (100 acres on Catfish Creek and John Smith, 1757; 100 acres in Craven, 1765, Ibid., VI, 367; XIX, 16); John Rogers and wife (no land surveyed in Craven until 1771, Ibid., XX, 188, 191, etc.); Jacob Rowell and wife (no surveys found); David Williams and wife (300 acres resurveyed at Catfish on William Williams’s land on southwest, 1754, with later plats, Ibid., V, 450; VIII, 411, 319; XI, 210, etc.); Jacob Williams (100 acres in Craven, 1770, Ibid., XXI, 476); William Williams and wife (50 and 150 acres on Jeffreys Creek In 1756, Ibid., VI, 173, 176); general location of these shows most of members on southwest side of Peedee. Page 166 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f286 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 55; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 54; Furman MS, p. 31; no survey has been found which might include the church lot. f287 Cashaway CB, 1761; “Deacon Abel Edwards,” in Rippon’s Reg., 1794-97, p. 500; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 55, gives Joshua Edwards as first minister, but Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 55, does not mention him in connection with Catfish. f288 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 55, 57; Rev. Thomas Blount is given a bad name by Edwards; he had a survey of 300 acres in 1772 in Kingston Township, on the northeast side of Little Peedee (Plats XIII, 253). f289 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 54 gives sixty pounds; Furman MS, p. 31, eighty pounds. f290 Ibid.; Crozer MS, p. 55; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775-79, 1785-89, 179295, 1805; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 55; Edwards, “N. C. Materials,” in N. C. Hist. Rev., VII (1930), 381; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 147; Census, p. 56: Rev. Jeremiah Rhame, although “Bred a Churchman,” became a General Baptist in 1755, but later as a Regular Baptist he helped to form a church of that persuasion at Redbanks in Pitt County, N. C., in 1758; he must have come to Catfish late in, or shortly after 1772; he was afterwards pastor of Little Peedee and also served Casbaway; he married Elizabeth Bradley, by whom he had Abigail, Jeremiah, Ebenezer, Bradley, and Benoni; he had a survey of 50 acres on Black Swamp northeast side Great Peedee, on Francis Davis, Anthony Sweet, and Charles Rice, 1787 (Plats, XIVq, 206); he was living in Prince George Winyah without slaves in 1790; he died in 1805. f291 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1778. f292 Ibid., 1775-79, these minutes record the admission in 1806 of a new Catfish Church, said by Furman (Charleston Assoc., p. 67) to have been constituted shortly before, which claims 1802 as its date of constitution; a lot of one acre, “on which said church is situate,” conveyed by Eli Meekins to Catfish Baptist Church in 1852 (Marion County CC, Deeds W, p. 110), is described as touching the Bennettsville Road by John C. Bethea’s land; this 1802 Catfish was thus much farther up the creek than the original church. f293 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 48; Furman MS. pp. 54-5; “N. C. Materials,” in N. C. Hist. Rev., VII (1930), 382: Rev. Charles Pate was born May, 1, 1729, in Bertie County, N. C., “bred a churchman,” but baptized into the Baptist denomination in 1760 by Rev. John Brown and called to the ministry at Catfish; he was ordained Aug. 7, 1769, at Bear Creek, Dobbs County, N. C., by Rev. Messrs. George Graham and Joshua Herring; by his wife Sarah Henderson he had Sarah, Charles, Mary, Rebecca, Ann, Shadrach, and Joel; two plats were surveyed for him of 200 acres each, one in 1771 at the fork of Beaverdam “and at a Place called the Paster Neck,” the other on Three Creek In 1772 on northeast side of Peedee touching lands of William Pledger and John Ward (Plats, XIX, 67, 73); he was living in Prince George Winyah with five in family and without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 55); no date of death has been found; of the two other male constituents of the church, Nicholas Green Page 167 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. petitioned for 250 acres on waters of Peedee in 1763 (JC, Oct. 4, 1763); no survey for Rice Henderson has been found, but he was living in Prince George Winyah In 1790 with five in family and without slaves (Census, p. 54). f294 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 56. f295 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1795, 1801, 1802; Rev. William Bennett was living In Cheraws District with two slaves in 1790; he had a survey of 300 acres in 1804 on the northeast side Great Peedee on Crooked Creek, and died in 1814 (Census, p. 47; Plats XL, 325; Charleston Assoc. Min., 18001814); Peter Bainbridge was living in Cheraws District with 55 slaves in 1790, whence he had come from Charleston where he was licensed to preach in 1787; he is said to have removed about 1791 to Genesee County, N, Y. (Census, p. 41; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1786-1790; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.); Rev. Henry Easterling was born May 24, 1733, at Neuse River, N. C.; “bred a churchman,” baptized 1760, ordained Mar, 29, 1772, as minister of Hitchcock Creek Church, N. C.; married Elizabeth Bennett and had children James, Elizabeth, William, Mary, Martha, Shadrach, Henry, Bennett, John, Joel in 1772; he had several surveys on the northeast side of Great Peedee, 640 acres In 1785, 393 acres 1790 and 572 acres 1791; and he was living in Cheraws with two slaves in 1790; his church connections seem to cease in 1792, although a person of the same name was surveyed land in the Four-Hole region In 1801 and 1802 (Edwards, “N. C. Materials,” in N. C, Hist. Rev., VII (1930), p. 372; Census, p. 46; Plats, VIq, 398; XXVIIIq, 114, 86; XXXVI, 196. 356; Asplund’s Reg., 3, and 5. ed.; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1786-92);. f296 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 48; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 64; J. A. W. Thomas, History of Marlboro County (Atlanta, 1897), p. 233; Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., pp. 144-6; a statement of J. W. Parker, church clerk, in 1926; surveys of Nathaniel Knott in 1752 and John Stubbs in 1770 mention the Beauty Spot; of various surveys for John Hawthorne, one of 1771 describes land at the head of Three Creeks on the northwest (should be northeast) side of Great Peedee, from which the church lot may have been taken (Plats V, 343; XXI, 198; XV, 362, 363); the church moved first to Piney Grove, then to Beaverdam in 1837, being known as Beaver Dam Church, then to McColl in 1915, being now known as McColl First Church; see Welsh Neck Assoc. Min., 1837. f297 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 55, 57; Furman MS, p. 62. f298 Asplund’s Reg., 5 ed.; Plats, VIIq, 90, XXXVI, 80; Census, p. 55; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1806, 1822: Rev. Wm. Palmer had surveys of 100 acres in 1784 on the northeast side Great Peedee and of 92 acres in 1801 on the southwest side Little Peedee near Cypress Creek landing; he was living in Prince George Winyah in 1790 without slaves, dying in 1822. f299 Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., p. 181; the deed has not been found on the Marlboro County records; the church has moved its place of worship to Centenary and is often called by that name. Page 168 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f300 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 56, 66; Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., p. 120; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 250: the act of incorporation of Dec. 19, 1809, names “The Gapway Antipaedo Baptist Church on Little Pee Dee,” and mentions as petitioners William Allen, Robert Hodges, Thomas Collins, Dempsey Collins, and William Rogers. Rev. David Owens (Owen) probably came from N. C.; he preached for Little Peedee River, Terrell’s Bay, and Gapway churches; he was living in Cheraws District without slaves in 1790, having had a survey of 100 acres on Cypress Creek south side of Little Peedee in 1770; he probably was preaching in 1811 at Brushy Creek Church, Hepzibah Association, Ga. (Col. Rec. N. C., XVII, 237; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6, ed.; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1790-1804; Census, p. 46; Plats, XI, 198; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 533). f301 Marion County CC, Deeds L, p. 163: Deed of Hugh Hodges and others, Feb. 17, ‘825, to land opposite the Old Gapway Meeting House. f302 Asplund’s Reg., 5 and 6 ed.; Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., p. 114. f303 Asplund’s Reg., 5 ed.; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1791, 1792. f304 Asplund’s Reg., 3 ed. f305 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1792-95, 1797-1804. f306 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p, 65; no modern church claims descent from Little Peedee. f307 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 50; the account is confused, and it is not clear that 1758 is the date of dissolution; Cashaway CB, July, 1761. Pugh’s Diary, June 18, 1766; Mispah Baptist Church, constituted June 1, 1834, at Mars Bluff, does not claim descent from the early Mars Bluff branch; Mispah CB. f308 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 55-6; Furman MS, pp. 36-8; Cashaway CB, Dec. 1756; constituent members of Cashaway were: Rev. John Brown and wife, who had land about Muddy Creek and Flat Creek (see note 8, supra); John Goodwin and wife who had at least two tracts surveyed on northeast side of Peedee, one of 300 acres in 1736, the other of 100 acres in 1762 (Plats, IV, 12; VIII, 428); Abel James and wife; Benjamin James, a survey of 200 acres in Craven in 1770 (Ibid., XI, 256); Henry Kolb and wife, two surveys of 150 acres each in 1756 on northeast side of Peedee, the second on Hilson’s Bay (Ibid. VI, 140-1); John Kolb and wife, a survey of 650 acres in 1742 occupying “Causeway” Neck on east side of Peedee in Prince George Winyah (Ibid., IV, 240); Martin Kolb, survey of 100 acres in 1756, bounded southeast by Peedee and touching John Kolb’s land, and another of 100 acres in 1756 on southwest side of Peedee on Hurricane Creek (Ibid., VI, 140, 247); Peter Kolb and wife, 250 acres in Prince Frederick, 100 acres in 1757 and 100 acres in 1763 on northwest side Peedee on Hurricane and Hosker’s Branch (Ibid., VI, 49; XVII, 523; VII, 440); Jeremiah Rowell and wife, 150 acres in Prince Frederick northeast on Peedee in 1741 and 200 acres on Peedee in 1748 (Ibid., IV, 197; V, 313; John Brown is listed by Edwards as one of the constituents, making fifteen instead of Page 169 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. fourteen; he and his wife Sarah were not dismissed by Welsh Neck Church until Apr. 5, 1759, but they had probably already been at Cashaway for sometime. f309 Robert Mills. Atlas of the State of South Carolina … (Baltimore, 1826), plat of Marlborough District, gives the spelling Cashua, as does Edwards, Furman MS, p. 36; Crozer MS, p. 55, Cashaway CB, generally, and Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 66, give Cashaway; Cashaway CB at times, and Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., pp. 88-90, give Cashway; there is a tradition that it was called Cashway from toll collected at the ferry; John Kolb’s plat of Jan. 11, 1742 (note 81, supra), mentions Causeway Neck; the old road from the ferry is still called Cashua Ferry road: Mouzon’s Map, made from his survey for the the provincial government In 1771, has Cashway. f310 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 52; Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., p. 88; Cashaway CB, Aug. 19, 1769. f311 Ibid., Apr., 1759; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 56; Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., pp. 88, 93. f312 Cashaway CB, Sept. 12, 1759. f313 Ibid., Sept., Dec., 1759; Feb., Mar., May, Dec., 1760. f314 Ibid., Feb., Sept., July, 1760; Anthony Pouncey had surveys on southwest side of Peedee in 1756 and 1757 (Plats, VI, 161, 126). f315 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 56; Benedict, Baptist History, I, 416, II 129; Mr. Smith was ordained at Cashaway and later became an eminent Baptist minister of Massachusetts. f316 Pugh’s Diary, 1764-91, passim, shows the close connection or practical identity of the congregation attending Keith’s, Black Creek, Teal’s meeting house, and Pine Log; of Stony Hilt, Mount Pleasant, and Lide’s; of Brown’s, Pearson’s, Muddy Creek, Webb’s old house. Ayer’s in Wraggtown; Cornelius Keith is mentioned as on Black Creek, west side Peedee, bring later a member of Lower Fork of Lynches Creek; John and Samuel Brown had land on both sides of the River; they came to be associated with the Muddy Creek region; Aaron Pearson had a survey in 1765 “in Rag Town,” on northeast side of Peedee River touching Cherry, Roger Pouncey, John Ascue, and Captain Davis (Memorials IX, 99); Major Robert Lide had several surveys on the Peedee (Plats, XI, 436; XVI, 347, XIX, 245); James Webb had 350 acres of land surveyed in 1767 in Boonsboro (Ibid., XXI, 1767); Christopher Teal, at whose house Rev. Evan Pugh always lodged when preaching at Black Creek, had a survey of 100 acres in 1767 on High Hill Creek, waters of Great Peedee touching John Cooper (Ibid., X, 19); Mount Pleasant was about where the present Mechanicsville is. f317 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1791. f318 Ibid., 1799; Pugh’s Diary, Aug. 15, 1789. Page 170 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f319 Ibid., 1794-1800. f320 Mount Pleasant CB, 1803; the following list of members is compiled from the Cashaway Church Book, 1759-1772, including the signers of the 1767 covenant: Joseph Allison, Sarah Allison, John Asskue (Ascue), John Barden (Borden?), Rosanna Barnet, John Bowin, Ann Brown, John Brown, Rev. John Brown, Rachel Brown, Samuel Brown, Sarah Brown, Ann Bruce, Jacob Bruce, Major Buckholts, David Burk, John Burk, Mrs. Mary Burton, Thomas Burton, John Chambliss, Luse Chambliss, Sarah Cherry, William Cherry, Persilla Coker, Thomas Coker, Mrs. Charity Cothen, Nathaniel Cothen, Emanuel Cox, Massey Cox, Ruth Davis, Ann Edwards, Phemy Edwards, Sarah Edwards, Thomas Edwards, Elizabeth Flowers, Agnes Gibson, Jacob Ham, Precilla Harrod, James Harry, Mary Harry, Arthur Hart, Anna Heartsfteld, Meomy Heritage, Mary Hodge, Robert Hodge (Hodges), Abel James, Benjamin James, Jr., Big Benjamin James (Sr.), Jean James, Sarah James, John Jameson, Sarah Jameson (wife of John), Charles Jenkins, Zeniah Jenkins, Cornelius Keith, Fanny Keith, John Keith, John Keith, Sr., Mrs. Keith, Ordery Keith, Hannah Kimbrough, Mary King, Patience King, Mary Knotts, Benjamin Kolb, Martin Kolb, Peter Kolb, Sarah Kolb, Mary Lewis, Sarah Lewis, Robert Lide, Sarah Lide, Ann Lowther, Charles Lowther, Mary Lowther, Barnet McCall, Celetse (Cleta ) McCall, James McCall, Ann Peggy McGee, James McGee, Martha McGee, Mary McGee, Alexr McKensie, Elizabeth McKensie, Sarah Ann McTyre, Phebe Malone, Lewis Malone, Eleanor Murphy, Morris Murphy, Mrs Hannah Murphy, Hannah Neel, Jane Owens, Wm. Owens, John Padgett, Moses Pearson, Rachel Pearson, Richard Ponder, Anthony Pounoey, Anthony Pouncey, Jr., Reuben Pring, Frances Pyere (Ayers?), Jeremiah Rowell, Jonathan Rowell, Mrs. Mary Rowell, Martha Russell, Samuel Russell, Deborah Saunders, Margaret Sexton, Mrs. Short, William Stephens, Wm. Sweat, Christopher Teal (Teele?), Dorothy Teal (Teele), Mr. Thomas and wife, John Ware, Elizabeth Watkins, William Watkins, Ann Webb, James Webb, Rachel Webb, Elizabeth White, James White, Elizabeth Whitfield, Elizabeth Whittington, Ephraim Whittington, Fra, Whittington, Jr., John Whittington, Mary Whittington, Mrs. Whittington, Richard Whittington, Sarah Whittington, Thomas Wiggins, George Wilds, Rev. Joshua Edwards, Rev. Evan Pugh, Mr. Pugh’s Jack; one hundred thirty-eight whites, and one negro. f321 Ibid., Sept., 1759, June, 1767. f322 Pugh’s Diary, July 20, Mar. 15, 1766; Durham Hitts, Cashaway Psalmody (MS, Misses Charles). f323 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 55. f324 Cashaway CB, Dec., 1764; Sept., 1770; May, 1771. f325 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 55, gives 300 pounds salary in 1772; the following in the Cashaway CB, 330 pounds in 1767; “To the Revd. Mr. Evan Pugh. We the Subscribers members of the church of Christ in Cashway neck Being met together this fourteenth Day of February 1767 and having considered the necessity we have of a faithful minister to break unto us the bread of Life, HAVE with one Page 171 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. heart and one voice agreed to present you with this our Call hoping it may be agreeable to you; and for your Support we will pay unto you the Sum of three hundred & fifty pounds current money of South Carolina for one year and do all in our power as Becomes a people to a minister.” The letter was signed by Martin Kolb, Joseph Alison, John Keith, Thos. Coker, William Owens, Wm. Watkins. Robt. Lide, James Webb, Thorns. Burton, Benjn, James, and endorsed on the outside “A Call Psl 107; 43.. f326 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 55. f327 Cashaway CB, 1759-71, passim, including Dec., Sept., 1759; June, 1767; Jan., 1761; June, Oct., 1770; Apr. 1771. f328 Pugh’s Diary, 1769, 1786-8, passim. f329 Marlboro County, RMC, Deed Book AA, p. 285. f330 Pugh’s Diary, Aug. 15, 16, 1789; J. A. W. Thomas claims there were eighteen constituents (Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., p. 90). f331 Cashaway CB, Junt, 1767. f332 Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787, 1789. f333 Pugh’s Diary. f334 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1805, 1829 (note to table of churches states Brownsville Church was formerly Muddy Creek); Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 57; Allen, Pee Dee Assoc. pp. 91-2. f335 Pugh’s Diary, June-Nov., 1796; Mar. 3, 17,32; 1783-84; Aug. 4, 1788; Mar. 22, 1789. f336 Cashaway CB, 1789: “Joind over Black Creek:” John Carter and Rebecca his wife, James Coleman, Rachel Coleman, Moses Justice, George King, Henry King, Mary McInzey, Martha Norwood, Mary Proctor, William Proctor, John Sanders, Abel Waddle and wife; later additions were: Disha Waddle (wife of John Waddle), May 3, 1794; Jesse Purcey, May 16, 1796; Stephen Williams and Joseph Wood, July 16, 1796; the spelling is given as in the church book, but the order is changed. f337 Minutes of Church acts in the Branch of Cashway Church residing on Black Creek. 1789-90 (MS, Misses Charles), Apr. 1789-Jan. 1790. f338 Pugh’s Diary, May, 1789-May, 1797. f339 Cashaway CB, list, 1789; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1795, 1799; Black Creek CB, Aug. 11, 1798; Mills’ Atlas, Map of Darlington District; Black Creek’s old meeting house of logs was called Pine Log Church; Rev. James Coleman must have been an elderly man at the time, as Charleston Assoc. Min., 1814, records his Page 172 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. death as that of an “aged, pious, and faithful” minister; two men of the name are listed in Cheraws District with seven in family and three slaves, probably a duplication (Census, pp. 45, 49); the James Coleman for whom a survey of 742 acres on Alligator Creek in Darlington District was made in 1815 was probably his son (Plats, XLIV. 86). f340 Black Creek CB, 1789-1804, passim; Oct. 6, 1804. f341 Mount Pleasant Church Records in Cashaway CB; there is only one entry in 1803; Mount Pleasant was constituted a separate body in 1813, changing its name to Mechanicsville between 1815 and 1816 (Charleston Assoc. Min., 1813, 1815, 1816); the Mechanicsville covenant is in the same book; the earliest list of members was probably largely added to after 1804; those mentioned as Black Creek members during the period are: Seth Williams and Susannah his wife, James Coleman, Martha Adams, Charles Williams (from Va.), John p. Clark, John Chambliss, Lucy Chambliss, John McGuirt, Jesse Pearce, John Carter and wife, George King, John Sanders, Elias Norwood, Elisabeth Norwood, Richard Williford, Elliner Murphy, May Rowell, Peter Lee, Rachel Coleman, Jonathan Rowell, William Harrell, Charlotte Watson, Elisabeth Watson, Jemima Hill, Charles Jenkins, Mary Harrell Lunia Leear, Elias Watson, Mary Atkisson, Edward Teal, Mary Coker, Elizabeth Teal, Dolly Jenkins, Christopher Teal, Jr., Abigail Thomson, Ellinor Coker, John Pagett, Thomas Coker, Fanny Keith, Cade Kirven, Thomas Kirven, Henry Fountain, Isaac Redditt, Sarah Runnels, Sarah Goodson, Sarah King, Elender Dorathy, George Brown, Gillis Jinkins, David Mason, Jane Wood, John Boothe, Benjamin Lewis, Elizabeth Lewis, Murdock McLeod, Milly Lizenby, Rachel McGuirt. Thomas Goodson, Martha Gandy, Sarah Smith, Elijah Wells, Jane Hill, Elisabeth King, Elizabeth Morgan, Edy King, Batson Morgan, William Young, Jehu Koib, Shadrach Johnson, Thomas Coker Sr., Jesse Jordan, Precllla Coker, Sarah Cook, Rebekah Carter, Ann Taylor, Josiah Taylor, Chambliss Hill, James Young, James McGuirt, Mary Taylor, Edy Oliver, Mute Martin, Ann Goodwin, Buckner Shelton, Batson Morgan, Wright Linch, Thomas Coker, James Leear, Ameley Lewis, Wm. Briant, Elisabeth Lee. Joseph Woods. f342 Mount Pleasant Church Records in Cashaway CB. f343 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 9-13, Furman MS pp. 32-6; the account in the Crozer MS is confused and incomplete; that given In the text is largely from the Furman MS; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 55; the following Is a list of the constituents: Edward Boykin and wife Sarah, who had surveys of 100 acres in the Welsh Tract and 250 acres bounding southwest on Peedee River and northwest on lands of Jacob Buckholts in 1746, 200 acres at the junction of Black and High Hill Creeks in 1749, and 100 acres on Jeffreys Creek in 1756 (Plats, IV, 372, 378; V, 59; VI. 121); in his petitions he asks for the above lands in 1746 on seven persons and in 1749 on two children and two slaves (CJ, Feb. 8, 1745-6; Nov. 24, 1749); Henry Boykin and wife More, 100 acres In 1756 on South Fork of Lynches Creek (Plats, VI, 121); George Cole and wife Martha, 50 acres in 1750, head of Jenkins Branch, touching John Gibson on northeast (Ibid., V, 185); William DeLoach and wife Judith, 200 acres on southwest side Page 173 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. of Peedee in the Welsh Tract in 1746, bounding east on Peedee, 150 acres northeast side of Peedee in the Welsh Tract in 1746, touching David James, Thomas Evans, Sr., and John Jones, Jr.; 50 acres touching Peedee on its south side and also lands of Edward Boykin in 1748; and 150 acres on south Prong Lynches Creek in 1756 (Ibid., IV, 338, 339; V, 169; VII, 162, 188); Thomas Knight and wife Mary, who petitioned for 200 acres in 1755 for himself, wife, and two children, near Lynches Creek, but later obtained surveys In the Coosawhatchie region (CJ. Nov. 6, 1755; see Chapter I, note 171); Henry Ledbetter and wife Edy (see below, note 117); John Ledbetter and wife Joice a survey of 100 acres in 1756 on Middle Branch of Lynches Creek, waters of Peedee (Plats, VI. 146); Daniel Richardson, none of whose surveys appear to be in this region (Ibid., VI, 391; VII, 416); James Smart and wife Elizabeth, a survey in 1756 on South Prong of Lynches Creek touching George Cole’s land (Ibid., VI, 169); Thomas Walker and wife Ann, a survey of 250 acres in 1750 on Thomsons Creek and 200 acres in 1757 in the fork of Indian and Thomsons Creeks (Ibid., V, 58; VI, 226); Edwards’ Furman MS omits Henry Boykin and Thomas Knight and their wives from the list of constituents; there appears proof from the above plats of a removal of part of the group from Welsh Neck to the region about the middle and south prongs of Lynches Creek. f344 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 13; Furman MS, pp. 35-6; “N.C. Materials,” in N, C. Hist. Rev., VII, (1930), 380; Col. Rec. N.C., V, 1168; IX, 89, 90: Rev, Henry Ledbetter was born Feb. 25, 1721, in Prince George County, Va.; “bred an Anglican,” he became a General Baptist in 1748, was baptized by Rev. Josiah Hart at Scotland Neck, N.C., ordained June 28, 1750, by Messrs. William Walker and William Washington; converted to Calvinistic principles in less than a year, he came to S. C, and settled on Black Creek, but removed to Lynches Creek, where he had surveys in 1756 on Middle Branch of Lynches Creek (Plats, VI, 146); he was a constituent member of the reconstituted Tar River Church in N.C., where he is said to have remained the rest of his life; he married Edy Clark. f345 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 9-13; Furman MS, pp. 32-6; Jacob Weisner had a survey on north side of Flat Creek on the Camden road in 1772 (Plats, XXI, 572); Thomas Rouse (or Rous) a survey on a small creek, northeast side Lynches Creek in 1768 (Ibid., X, 180). f346 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775; Ga. Assoc. Min., 1788; Asplund’s Reg., 6 ed.; Jesse Mercer, A History of the Georgia Baptist Association … (Washington, Ga., 1838), pp. 385-6: Rev. Jeptha Vining is described as “a zealous, faithful, and very successful minister of the Gospel” and a great builder of churches; he was born Feb. 15, 1738, at Sutton, Boston Government, bred a Presbyterian, became a Baptist at Little Catantony, baptized by Rev. Joseph Parker, 1761; he is said to have been twice married, first to Amy Miller, by whom he had Mary, Thomas, Ann, Joshua, Abigail, Uriah, and Matthew; he is several times listed as a customer at Joseph Kershaw’s store, Pinetree Hill, now Camden, S. C, (Joseph Kershaw, Account Book (MS, State Historical Society, Madison, Wis.), 1775, pp. 167, 172, 190, 268); after serving as pastor of Lynches Creek and Upper Fork of Lynches Creek churches, he removed to Georgia Page 174 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. during or soon after the Revolution, where he founded a church called Providence on Rocky Comfort Creek and another called Long Creek Church of Ogeechee; he was a firm Calvinist; he is said to have died in 1787, but he was at Georgia Association in 1788 and he appears as pastor of Long Creek Church of Ogeechee in 1792. f347 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 9-13; Furman MS, pp. 32-6. f348 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775, 1777; Furman, Charleston Assoc. p. 63. f349 Pugh’s Diary, July 12-14, 1777; a John Cowan had a survey of 150 acres in Granville County on Savannah River in 1765 (Plats, VI, 128); he was paid for ferriage of S.C. and Ga. militia in the Revolution (Stub Entries, Books R-T, p. 141); how and when he came to Lynches Creek is not known; he preached at High Hills of Santee May 15, 1774 (Pugh’s Diary); he was a member of St. David’s Society in 1778 (Gregg, Cheraws, p. 283), and died sometime before 1785 (Furman to Hart, Jan. 26. 1785 (MS, Alester G. Furman). f350 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 56; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1778, 1779, 1790, 1803, 1808, 1815, 1816, 1829; Rippon’s Reg., 1790-93, p. 114; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 367; In 1808 the Third Church on Lynches Creek entered Charleston Association, located on west side of the creek in Darlington District; between 1815 and 1816 the name was changed to Elim Lynches Creek; it must have moved across the creek about 1828, when Benjamin Lawrence granted one acre to Elim Church at the crossing of the Creek Road and the old Charleston Road (original deed in possession of Elim Church clerk, Effingham, S.C.); it was incorporated as Elim Church in 1829. f351 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 9-10; Furman MS, pp. 32-3; Asplund’s Red’., 6. ed.; Annual of the State Convention of the Baptist Denomination in South Carolina (Spartanburg, S.C., 1929), p. 229; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 56, 64; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787; Flat Creek claims July 4, 1776, as the date of its organization, Furman gives 1774, but it is listed in Charleston Assoc. Min. and in Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., as constituted in 1784; it existed as a branch of Lynches Creek Church from 1771. Rev. Charles Cook remained many years with Anson County Church, Charleston Assoc. Min. f352 Ibid., 1739. f353 Ibid., 1790-93. Rev. William Denman was living in Lancaster County without slaves and with nine in family in 1790 (Census, p. 24); John Cato was living in Lancaster County with one slave and two in family in 1790 (Ibid., p. 26); he had three surveys in 1803 of 1000 acres each, touching Little Buffalo Creek of Lynches Creek and the Camden road, one of them Page 175 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. being in the angle formed by the Camden road, the Battalion road, and the Meeting House road on North Buffalo Creek (Plats, XL., 125, 149). f354 Asplund’s Reg. 5. and 6. ed. f355 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1797, 1798, 1801, 1802, 1817; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 9-10: Furman MS, pp. 32-3; M. L. Fletcher, “Nature Erects Monument to Founder of Kershaw Church,” in News and Courier, Charleston, Jan. 19, 1930: Tradition says that Rev. George Pope from N.C. came in 1776 In response to a dream to found Flat Creek Church; from the records he was pastor later, dying in 1817; this church is still on the same lot and is still known as Flat Creek; it is 35 miles northeast of Camden; Rev. Charles Pigg was living in Fairfield County without family or slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 20). f356 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 9-10; Furman MS, pp. 32-3; Mills Atlas, Map of Chesterfield District: There are two Buffalo Creeks running into Lynches Creek, one about a mile below the N.C. line in Chesterfield County, the other about eight miles below Flat Creek on the Kershaw side; but the location given in the Furman MS of Buffalo Creek meeting house as ten miles above the main meeting house shows that this was near the N.C. line and that this might be an early designation of Lanes Creek; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed., mentions a Fork Lynches Creek in Chesterfield, constituted in 1781, with 30 to 35 members in 1790-94, but without a minister and nonassociated because of peculiarities; this too, might be Lanes Creek; among the business papers of General Thomas Sumter (MS, deposited with the late Judge of Probate Thomas E. Richardson, Sumter), Plat No. 108 (812 A, District of Cheraw, resurvey of land for Thomas Sumter, Jr., certified Mar. 25, 1795), shows a Baptist meeting house near the head of Hills Creek almost on the N.C. line — this again might be Lanes Creek; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 66, located Lanes Creek as about 18 or 20 miles north of Upper Fork of Lynches Creek, which tallies with Edwards’ description; Lanes Creek Church was dismissed to Moriah Association in 1815; it is listed in Moriah Assoc. Min., 1834, as then in N.C. f357 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1797, 1798, 1801-4; nothing further is known of James Morgan; he may have been a resident of St. Bartholomew’s Parish in 1790 (Census, p. 35). f358 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 9; Furman MS, p. 33; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 64; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Edwards locates the church 25 miles below Upper Fork of Lynches Creek. f359 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1789; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 56, gives 1784 as date of constitution; the church now claims 1794 (Baptist Convention, 1929, p. 247). f360 Gum Branch CB, 1796-1800, 1806; Rev. Samuel Bonds probably came to S.C. from N.C.; he had a survey in the fork of Sammy Swamp on Pretty Branch in 1784, but is not listed in S.C. in 1790; nothing is known of him after he left Lower Fork of Lynches Creek Church (Col. Rec. N.C., IV, 518; Plats, VIIq, 468). Page 176 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f361 Black Creek CB, Nov., 1802. f362 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1804. f363 “Historical Sketch of Gum Branch Church,” in Gum Branch CB; deed of John Seegars, Sr., to David Kelly and John Hix, deacons of Fork Lynches Creek Baptist Church, dated 1830 and recorded Jan. 20, 1830, of four acres on the run of Gum Branch “whereon the meeting house now stands,” apparently on the east side of the branch (Darlington County CC, Deeds K, p. 435). f364 Welsh Neck CB, Jan. 5, 1782; the members dismissed were: James Coker, Elizabeth Flanagan, Sarah Hewstess, Elizabeth Hicks, George Hicks, Eleanor Hudson, Hall Hudson, Mahetabel Irby, Thomas Lide, Elizabeth Medford, Gideon Parrish, Elizabeth Pledger, Joseph Pledger. f365 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1782; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 56. f366 Gregg, Cheraws, p. 175, note. f367 Ibid., p. 78 note; Marlboro County RMC, Deeds A, p. 3; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1815, 1816; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 63-4: “Cheraw Hill, seat of worship about 10 miles from Cheraw Court-House, but on the east side of the river [Pledger’s Saw Mill]. It has another place of worship at the Cheraw Hill, on the west side of the river, and five or six miles higher up. This was built for the Episcopalians, but the Baptists have had uninterrupted possession of it for about thirty years.” It was natural that the Baptists should take possession of what seems to have been an unused church building, as Baptist influence was strong in the region; the practical abandonment of the church by the Episcopalians is indicated by the fact that the vestry records end on July 9, 1785, and do not begin again until 1819; a tradition of a controversy between the Presbyterians and Baptists for the building appears in W. R. Godfrey, An Historical Sketch of Old St. David’s Church, Cheraw, South Carolina, From 1768 to 1916 (Cheraw, 1916), p. 14; Pledger’s Saw Mill branch was later constituted as Saw Mill Church; the members gradually removed to Bennettsville and formed Thomas Memorial Church (Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., pp. 185-7); Cheraw Hill had no church building at Cheraw until after 1825 (Charleston Assoc. Min., 1825). f368 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VII, 127. f369 Asplund’s Peg., 5. and 6. ed.; Gregg, Cheraws, p. 440; J. A. W. Thomas, “History of Salem Church,” in Salem CB, Nov. 3, 1793; Welsh Neck CB, 1780-94, passim; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775-1304, 1312; Census, p. 45; Plats XXXVI, 480, 627-8: Rev. Joshua Lewis is said to have been born in England; he was probably called to the ministry at Coosaw-hatchie Church about 1775, was associated with Pipe Creek Church through 1779, and by 1780 was found among the Cheraw Hill members of Welsh Neck Church, probably living in the neighborhood of Pledger’s Saw Mill branch and having two slaves in 1790; he is described as a “man of portly mean, pleasant countenance, fine voice, and Page 177 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. marked ability,” through whose work “much people were added unto the Lord;” he died about 1812, leaving a widow; Wilson Connor Is said to have been born In what is now Marlboro County, S.C. July 7, 1768; he was living In Cheraws District, without slaves, three in family, In 1790 at which time he was a candidate for the ministry at Cheraw Hill Church; he later removed to Ga. (Campbell, Georgia Baptists, p. 275; Census, p. 45; Asplund’s Reg., 2., 5., and 6. ed.); the Bryan Connor living in Charleston in 1790 may have been the licentiate of 1793 at Cheraw Hill Church (Census, p. 38). f370 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1800, 1822; Furman, Charleston Assoc. D. 166; Marlboro County RMC, Deeds G, p. 151, N, p. 95: Deed of William Beesely (Burley?) to Robert Thomas, minister, and James Bolton and John David, deacons, of the Baptist Church of Christ called the Three Creek Church, to one acre including the meeting house called Daniel’s meeting house, made Apr. 18, 1807, and recorded in 1808, may describe the main location or possibly a branch; the name was changed to Salem Church in 1822; a deed of William Jones to five acres on north side of Causeway Branch to the “Baptist Church of Christ called Salem” mentions a “red oak corner that stands a little above the meeting House Spring Side of the aforesaid Cosway branch.” Furman locates it 8 or 10 miles from Welch Neck, on the East side of the river, and lower down;” “Ayr’s in Wrag Town” at which Rev. Evan Pugh preached on June 29, 1769, was in this region. f371 Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 93-4; Allen, Pee Dee Assoc., p. 174; Thomas, “Salem Church;” J. A. W. Thomas, “Robert Thomas,” in D. C. McColl (ed.), Sketches of Old Marlboro (Columbia, 1916); Charleston Assoc. Min., 1800-1816; Asplund’s Reg., 2. and 5. ed.; Census, p. 56; Plats, XVIq, 227, XIIIq, 162; XXXVIII, 27: Rev. Robert Thomas was born in Md., about 1732, came to N.C. about 1750 and married Mary Sands in 1756; he obtained surveys of 214 and 247 acres in 1786 on Reedy Creek and Back Swamp, northwest side of Little Peedee, and another in 1800 on northeast side of Great Peedee; in 1790 he was living in Prince George Winyah, with two slaves; he was a Baptist minister of this region for fifty years, first at Beauty Spot, but chiefly at Three Creek (later Salem) Church; he traveled extensively on preaching tours, on one of which to Britton’s Neck he died in 1816. f372 Pugh’s Diary, July, 1774-Jan. 1775; Jan. 11-13, 1778; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 62: That Spivey’s meeting was the beginning of Ebenezer Church is assumed from the close approximation of the date of constitution given in Charleston Assoc. Min., 1778, that is, Jan. 19, 1778, for Ebenezer, and that given by Pugh, Jan. 13, 1778, for Spivey’s meeting, and from the fact that the first delegate of Ebenezer Church to the Charleston Association was John Spivey; no further record of Spivey has been found. f373 Ibid., 1778-1804. f374 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 164. Page 178 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f375 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1803, 1791, 1804, 1817; Asplund’s Reg., 2. ed.; “Marriage and Death Notices from the Charleston Courier for 1806,” in SCHGM, XXIX 1928), 258: Rev. Matthew McCullers was probably from N.C.; he served as a licensed preacher at Pipe Creek 1791-94, and at Ebenezer 1802; recommended by Rev. Henry Holcombe in 1791, he was granted assistance to secure ministerial education; he married Jane Reddall on Jan. 2, 1806; he served Wassamassaw Church in 1804, and was later pastor of Goose Creek Church, dying in 1817; his son John William McCullers was later prominent in the parish. Rev. Ezra Courtney served at Bethel Black River Church in 1790. was a licensed preacher at Ebenezer Church in 1803, when he received asisstance to secure ministerial training; Mississippi Association records him as pastor of Ebenezer Church in Miss, in 1813 (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 548). f376 Welsh Neck CB, Dec. 6, 1777; Plats, VI, 132; VII, 276; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 78; Asplund’s Reg., 6, ed., Georgia list; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800; W. A. Brunson, History of Old Ebenezer Church, … Bulletin of the Pee Dee Historical Society (Weldon, N.C., 1909); Charleston County RMC, Deeds P-4, p. 546: Rev. Timothy Dargan is said to have been born in Va.; he came to S.C. while young, after having served in the French and Indian War; he secured a survey of 100 acres in 1754, being described as “a Liver in Amelia Township,” where he had two slaves; Congaree Church licensed him to preach about 1769, after he had another survey of 200 acres in 1761 on Shanks Creek, High Hills of Santee, on Williams Old Field; a deed of 1773 calls him a planter of Craven County; he preached at the High Hills for a time, being ordained there probably in 1777, and removed thence about Dec. to answer a call to Ebenezer Church, where he remained until his death in Sept., 1783; he apparently had a wife in 1754 named Catherine but is said to have married Ann Beasley, by whom he had Mary, Ann, Timothy, Susanna, Hepzibah, and Phoebe. f377 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1786, 1793, 1802-4; Plats LXV, 208; Asplund’s Reg., 6 ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793, 1797, 1800: Rev. Benjamin Moseley probably came from N.C.; he secured no survey apparently until 1810, when he had 68 acres laid off In Darlington County; he served as minister and messenger of Ebenezer Church from 1786 to 1793, after which he served Hebron Church, Elbert County, Ga., returning in 1802; he is listed in 1790 with four in family and without slaves (Census, p. 48).; David Cooper was probably not the person of that name living in Spartanburg County in 1790 with four in family and one slave (Census, p. 87); when he came to the Peedee region or what became of him is not known. f378 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 62. f379 Darlington County CC, Deeds B, p. 55; Plats, LXIII, 462-3: The plats of Timothy Dargan’s land made in 1813 show the road from the meeting house to Darlington C. H., the meeting house being on the southwest side of the first run of Jeffreys Creek. f380 Welsh Neck CB, May 3, 1794: Robert Parsley received from Deep Creek; Thomas Vining, probably the son of the former Lynches Creek minister, left Welsh Neck and went to Deep Creek between 1792 and 1793 (from lists of Page 179 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. delegates in Charleston Assoc. Min., 1792-3); “The place of worship stands near the road leading from Camden to the Cheraw Hill; about 50 miles from the former and 20 from the latter, near Chesterfield Court-House [1810]” (Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 65). f381 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1791-1804, 1817; Furman, Charleston Assoc, p. 56, gives 1790 as date of constitution, but at its entrance into the Association it gave its date of constitution as twelve years prior to 1791; Asplund’s Reg., 3, ed., gives 1780 as date of constitution, but this is corrected to 1779 in the fifth edition; it was dismissed to Moriah Association in 1817, and was listed as in N.C. In 1834 (Moriah Assoc. Min.); it must have moved its seat of worship in the interim, or the S.C. Deep Creek Church must have become extinct; Rev. Jeremiah Lewis: Someone of this name obtained a survey of 250 acres on a very small branch of Bush Creek of Saluda in 1767 (Plats, XI, 474) and was living in Union County in 1790 with 10 slaves (Census, p. 92), but this is probably not Rev. Jeremiah Lewis who was a candidate at Deep Creek in 1790 and who remained with that church during the whole of the period here considered (Asplund’s Reg., 2. ed.; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1791-1804); Rev. Frame Woods while at Welsh Neck Church was a teacher in St. David’s Academy and served in the House of Representatives in 1782-3; he conveyed 44 acres of land on Cedar Creek to the trustees of Welsh Neck Church on Dec. 12, 1807, and in this deed he is referred to as of Anson County, N.C.; he died in 1816 (Gregg, Cheraws, p. 438; JHR, 1782; Asplund’s Reg., 2. ed.; Darlington County CC, Deeds A, p. 455; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1816). f382 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 372. f383 Pugh’s Diary, Nov. 3, 1762. f384 Practically all material for Chapter III is from Wood Furman, History of the Charleston Association of Baptist Churches and from Charleston Association Minutes after 1775; the MS book of minutes prior to 1775, used by Wood Furman, has since been lost or destroyed. Furman. Charleston Assoc. pp. 8, 9; A Summary of Church Discipline Shewing the Qualifications and Ditties of the Officers and Members, of a Gospel-Church … (Wilmington, N.C., 1773). f385 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 12, 13, 25; Charleston Assoc, Min., 1793; Church Discipline. … 2. ed. (Charleston, 1804) — no copy of 1793 is known. f386 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 9. f387 Ibid., pp. 13, 55; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 25; Furman MS, pp. 72-3; N. C, churches in Charleston Association, with dates of entrance; Granville 1756; Stony Creek, Bladen County, Kehukee, and Three Creeks 1758; Yadkin 1759; Great Cohara, Fishing Creek, Tar River, Redbanks, and Toisneot 1761; all of these withdrew from the association about 1762, while Anson County and Rocky River churches, both entering in 1790, remained after 1800. Page 180 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f388 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 25; one Ga. church, New Savannah or Savannah River Georgia, entered Charleston Association in 1774 and disappeared from the minutes in 1790. f389 Ibid., pp. 52-4. f390 Ibid., pp. 35-44; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 171. f391 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775-1802; 1777, 1797. f392 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 16. f393 Ibid., p. 14. f394 Ibid., p. 15. f395 Ibid., p. 18. f396 Ibid., p. 25; Charelston Assoc. Min., 1792-1799. f397 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 13-5. f398 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775, 1785, 1786, 1789, 1803, 1794, 1800. f399 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 10, 11, 13, 55; Rev. John Gano is said to have been only a slightly less effective and brilliant evangelist than whitefield; he traveled throughout the eastern colonies and states, dying about 1798 (BenedIct, Baptist History, II, 306). f400 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794, 1801, 1802, 1803; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 146-7. f401 The Constitutional Rules of the Religious Society … (Charlestown, 1768), Preface. f402 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 10-12; the preface of Constitutional Rules of the Religious Society gives Apr., 1755, as date of organization, but Hart’s Diary (MS), 1754, frequently mentions “The Society;” “History of the General Committee,” in Charleston Assoc. Min., 1834; “Further Particulars Relating to the General Committee,” in Ibid., 1835; “Rev. Oliver Hart, A. M., Hopewell, New Jersey,” in Rippon’s Reg., 1794-97, p. 511; the Religious Society discontinued its meetings after the formation of the General Committee and agreed to dissolve about 1914, when its funds passed to Charleston Church. f403 Minutes of the General Committee, in Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787-1804. f404 Records of the Province of South Carolina; Sainsbury Transcripts from the British Public Record Office (MSS, Hist. Com. S.C.), XXXII, 370-1. Page 181 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f405 Meriwether, Expansion of S. C,; McCrady, Royal Government, map op. p. 120; John H_ Logan, History of the Upper Country of South Carolina (Charleston, 1859), pp_ 439 ff. f406 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 412-22, 430-6; I. Daniel Rupp, An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States (Philadelphia, 1844). pp. 93-7, 111, 73. f407 Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 383; Lemuel Burkitt and Jesse Reed, A Concise History of the Kehukee Baptist Association (Halifax, 1803), p. 37; Rev. Isaac Backus, Church History of New England … 1620 to 1804 (Philadelphia, 1881), p. 37; W. C. Bronson, The History of Brown University 1764-1914, (Providence, 1914), p 5; Semple, Va. Baptists, pp. 3-4; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 37-52; Newman, U. S. Baptists, pp. 292-4. f408 Edwards, “N.C. Materials.” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 383-4; Semple, La. Baptists, p. 4: Benedict, Baptist History, II, 106-7. f409 JCHA, Mar. 6. 1766. f410 John Pearson to “My dear son,” (MS, Boyce Pearson.). f411 JC, May 1, 1766. f412 Newman, U. S. Baptists, pp. 292-3; Semple, Va. Baptists, p. 5. f413 Col. Rec. N.C., IV, 764; JC, June 17, 1763; Nov. 9, 1764; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1790; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 39-41; Ibid., Furman MS, pp. 42-9; Ibid., “N. C, Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 389; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 155-6, 535; Ibid., (1848), p. 706; J. D. Bailey, Reverends Philip Mulkey and James Fowler (Cowpens S.C., 1924), pp. 316: Rev. Philip Mulkey was born May 14, 1732, near Halifax or Roanoke, N.C. (someone of the name was granted 330 acres in Edgecombe County, N.C., in 1745); he was “bred an Anglican” but was baptized by Rev. Shubal Stearns about Dec. 25, 1756, after a remarkable conversion, called to the ministry in Stearns’s church in February and ordained in October, 1757; he served as pastor of Deep River Church, N.C., until 1759 or 1760, when he came to Broad River, S.C., then removed to Fairforest in 1762 and preached throughout the surrounding parts of North and South Carolina; nothing is known of him during the Revolution except that he was probably a loyalist or carried non-resistance far; by his wife Ann Ellis he had David, Jonathan, Sarah, Philip, Martha (or Parry?); the last known ministerial service performed by him was as one of the presbytery constituting Cheraw Hill Church in 1732; excommunicated in 1790 and the churches warned against him for adultery, perfidy and falsehood long continued in, he was in 1795 still engaged in the “Practice of Crimes and Enormities at which humanity Shudders;” nothing further is known of him, but as Jonathan Mulkey appears in 1809 as a minister of Buffalo Ridge Church of Holston Association, Tenn., the family may have removed to that State. Page 182 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f414 Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev. VII, 384; Crozer MS, pp. 38-41, Furman MS, pp. 42-3; the Furman manuscript gives 1759, the Crozer manuscript 1760, as the date of migration and organization of Broad River Church; of the thirteen members of the group going on to Fairforest none seemingly obtained a survey or grant on Broad River; Philip Mulkey had a survey of 400 acres made Dec. 9, 1762, In the fork between Broad and Saluda Rivers on Fairforest Creek, a branch of Tyger River (Plats, VII, 364) confirmed to him by grant of June 7, 1763; he later bought land in the section which came to S.C. by exchange with N.C. in 1772, on the south side of Tyger River which was resurveyed by South Carolina in 1773 (Memorials, VI, 144; XIII, 456; CJ, Nov. 9, 1764); Joseph Breed had surveyed July 15, 1765, 100 acres on a branch of Fairforest Creek on the road to Wofford’s ford (Plats, VIII, 57); Benjamin Gist 500 acres on Fairforest Creek at the mouth of a branch called Sugar Creek Mar. 5, 1768 (Ibid., IX, 215); Charles Thompson 200 acres on the north side of Tyger River Oct. 12, 1765 (Ibid., X, 166); Thomas Thompson 150 acres on the north side of Tyger River touching Charles Thompson’s land Oct. 21, 1772 (Ibid., XX, 337); Obediah Howard 450 acres on branches of Fairforest and Sugar Creek on Feb. 17, 1773 (Ibid., XVII, 113); no plats were found for Stephen Howard or Rachel Collins, who, together with those above and the wives of Philip Mulkey, Joseph Breed, Benjamin Gist, Stephen Howard, and Obediah Howard, made up the thirteen constituents. f415 Ibid., XI, 377; land of Benjamin Holcombe touched that of Benjamin Gist and Nehemiah Howard, the latter a member of Mulkey’s church at Deep River, N, C., who did not come with him to South Carolina but evidently followed later (Ibid., XVII, 113; Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev. VII, 390); Joseph Breed, said to have accompanied Daniel Marshall on his mission to the Mohawks, had been Shubal Stearns’s assistant at Sandy Creek, N.C., (Ibid., 384, 386-7; Ibid., Crozer MS, p. 46). f416 Ibid., pp. 31, 39. f417 Ibid.; the date given as that of Fairforest’s entrance into Bethel Association is assmued to be correct from the fact that there were sixteen churches in that association at its constitution and that Fairforest is eighth on the 1791 list of churches; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1789; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791; Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., lists it in Bethel Association in 1790. f418 Isaac Edwards had a survey of 50 acres touching Enoree River on the south below the Indian boundary (Plats, VIIIq, 92) Oct. 2, 1784; he was living in Union County in 1790 without slaves and with one female and four male members of his family (Census, p. 91; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-92; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 23; Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.). f419 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1800; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 542; Census, p. 91; Cathcart (ed.), Baptist Encyclopedia, p. 770; Indents, X, Pt. I, 172: Rev. Alexander McDougal was born in Dublin about 1738, came to America at twenty-one, settled at Wilmington, N.C., then removed to what is now Union Page 183 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. County, S.C., where he is said to have been active in the Revolution and where he owned one slave in 1790 and had eight female and three male members of his family; he was bred a Presbyterian but was licensed to preach by the Baptist Church in 1790, being ordained in 1791 and made pastor of Fairforest Church: the last time he attended Bethel Association was 1800, when he removed to Hardin County, Ky., where he was pastor of Noun and Severns Valley Churches; he resigned at ninetyfive and died Mar. 3, 1841. f420 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-4; Rippon’s Rep., 1794-7; p. 193; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, 9. 7: The present church, called Upper Fairforest, is three miles northwest of Union on the highway and Southern Railway; the records to 1815 were burned; the claim that Fairforest was at one time called the Duck Pond Church is borne out by a gift of land by Hezekiah Palmer on August 18, 1814, to Fairforest Church near the Duck Pond (Union County CC, Deeds T, p. 101). f421 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 38, Furman MS, p. 41. f422 Ibid.; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, pp. 7, 8; D, W. Willis, “History of Boiling spring Church,” in Spartanburg Assoc. Min., 1887, Sup., pp. 1-6; Bailey gives 1792, Willis 1794, as date of reconstitution; the former seems more probable; Asplund’s Rep., 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794; H, p. Griffith, The Life and Times of Rev. John G. Landrum (Philadelphia, 1885), p. 46. f423 Cook, Richard Furman, p. 43; Furman to Hart, Apr. 14, 1792, states Mr. Reese returned to the Congarees from Lawsons “Fort” about six years before. f424 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794; John R. Logan, Sketches, Historical and Biographical, of the Broad River and King’s Mountain Baptist Associations, 1800-1882 (Shelby, N.C., 1887), p. 11; Cedar Spring CB, July, 1802: Joseph Burson had a survey of 150 acres in 1767 in the fork between Broad and Saluda on Buffalo Creek branch of Falrforest (Plats, X, 189); Rev. Thomas Burgess probably came from N.C.; he had a survey of 486 acres certified Aug. 23, 1799, in Spartanburg County on Pacolet River; an active minister and member of association, he was dismissed with a letter of recommendation from Boiling Spring Church in 1806 (Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev. VII, 377; Plats, XXXVII, 352; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1800; Asplund’s Reg., 5, ed.; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 11; Willis, “Boiling Spring Church,” in Spartanburg Assoc. Min., 1887, pp. 1-2); William Cockreli was living in Chester County without slaves in 1790: he had surveys of 190 acres of land on Sandy River in 1791 and 1792 (Census, p. 14; Plats, XXVIIIq, 236, 271). f425 Willis, “Boiling Spring Church,” in Spartanburg Assoc. Min., 1887, pp. 12. f426 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 567. f427 Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds X, p. 175: Deed Sept. 4, 1809, of Vincent Bennett to Edmund Fowler, George Lewis, and Samuel Gilbert for Boiling Spring Page 184 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Church of one acre on the south side of the Boiling Spring, Joroyal Barnett being one of the witnesses. f428 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 38, 39; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, pp. 9-10; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 566; the location is described as eight miles southwest of Gaffney on the Seaboard Air Line and 16 miles east of Spartanburg; Logan suggests 1770, Edwards gives 1772 or just after, as the date of constitution. f429 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 38, 39; Furman MS, p. 41; Richard Kelly had two surveys, one of 150 acres on Enoree (Collins) River in 1756, the other of 350 acres on Padgetts Creek in 1769 (Plats, IX, 68, XVII, 410); he probably lived on the latter. f430 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1800; Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 566-7; Cedar Spring CB, June, 1795, names it “Gocher” Church, but in May, 1803, refers to it as “Goucher” Creek Church; Bethel Association lists always give “Goshen.. f431 Ibid., 1794; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed.; Cedar Spring CB, May, 1803. f432 Ibid., June, 1795, July, 1802. f433 Ibid., May, 1803; Tyger River CB, June, 1803, Feb., 1804; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1800, 1846; Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 18, 273, 504; Rev. Joshua Richards came to Goucher Creek in 1800 from North Carolina and was pastor there about 20 years; he had a survey of 365 acres, 1803 on Quins Fork of Thickety Creek (Plats, XLI, 374); he is said to have made a considerable fortune dealing in slaves; his style of preaching and singing was peculiar; he died sometime in 1846. f434 William Wood (this may be Richard Wood) had a survey of 250 acres in 1772 in the fork between Broad and Saluda on the northeast side of Enoree River (Ibid., XX, 499); Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 38-9. f435 Ibid.; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, pp. 8-9; Bailey makes the suggestion that Enoree branch of Fairforest was the precursor of Bethel Church on Jameys Creek, but the location given for Enoree by Edwards does not coincide with that of Bethel, while it does with that of the later Enoree Church which existed contemporaneously with Bethel; Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., confirms 1768 as the date of organization or beginning of Enoree and calls it Enoree River Church, as does Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793; Enoree Church, or its branch Seekwell organized July 19, 1806, which later largely took its place, was probably the church said to have been located at Littleton’s Ferry on the Enoree River on Major Jesse Maybin’s plantation during the Revolution and called Littleton’s Meeting House (John Belton O’Neall and John A. Chapman, Tree Annals of Newberry (Newberry, S.C., 1892), p. 141; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1806-47. Page 185 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f436 Ibid., 1792-1803; Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.; O’Neall and Chapman, Newberry, p. 690: Jacob King had a survey of 145 acres in 1785 on a small branch of Gliders Creek and one of 115 acres in 1792 on Patersons Creek of Enoree River (Plats IIIq, 354, XXXIq, 30); he was living in 1790 in Newberry County with three male and four female members of his family and with six slaves (Census, p. 79); licensed to preach at Lower Duncans Creek Church in 1790, he was ordained in 1791 and thereafter served as pastor of Enoree Church; Asplund’s Reg., 2., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794, 1796-1802; Jesse Owen was excommunicated for adultery by Enoree Church in 1805 (Ibid., 1805). f437 “History of Friendship Baptist Church,” in Tyger River CB, 1801-1804; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 38, Furman MS, p. 41; Thacker Vivian had a survey Feb., 1772, of 200 acres on a small branch of Tyger River, and another of Oct., 1772, of 200 acres on north side of Tyger River, touching the river and William Cowden’s land (Plats, XX, 479; see also Memorials, XIII, 312, 353). f438 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed. f439 “History of Friendship Church,” in Tyger River CB, 1801-1804; there is grave doubt, without further evidence, of Tyger River Church’s having been known as Jacob Roberts’ Baptist Church, at least after the Revolution, as Durbin Creek Church is called by that name in the records of neighboring churches, Tyger River among them, and in Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791, 1800; it is possible that Rev. Jacob Roberts served both churches in earlier days, as they were not far apart and had intimate relations. f440 Charleston Assos. Min., 1789; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1800; Tyger River second on the list of churches; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 565. f441 “History of Friendship Church,” in Tyger River CB, 1801-1804; Cedar Spring CB, April, 1803; Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.; Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds U. p. 432. f442 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1800; this is probably the John Williams living in Spartanburg County in 1790 with five male and five female members of his family and without slaves (Census, p. 90); several persons named John Williams were active in the Baptist churches of this region, and it is difficult to distinguish them. Augustine Clayton (frequently referred to as Austin Clayton) had a survey of 200 acres on Cedar shoal Branch of Enoree and 300 acres on south side of Tyger in 1784, 872 acres on Beaverdam Creeks of Middle Tyger in 1793, 247 acres on north side of the South Fork of Tyger in 1799, and 104 acres on branches of waters of South Pacolet in 1830 (Plats, IVq, 223, 240; XXXI, 327; XXXVII, 399; XLIX, 289); his family consisted of two male and six female members and no slaves (Census, p. 86); he was an active minister of Bethel Association and in supply and revival work among the neighboring churches; he later transferred his activities to Bethlehem Church; he was preaching at Concord Church, Green River Association, Ky., in 1812 (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 544). Page 186 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f443 Cedar Spring CB, June, 1801; Tyger River CB, June, July, Sept., 1801; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 18. f444 Tyger River CB, Jan.-Oct., 1802, June, 1803, Feb., 1804. July, 1803, Apr., 1804, June, July, Mar., 1804; Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds U, p. 432; George Brewton (or Bruton) had a survey of 250 acres in 1784 on Fergusons Creek of Tyger River and others totaling 625 acres in the same region, the last in 1804 (Plats, Iq, 9; VIIIa, 353, IXq, 393; XVIq, 303; XL, 342); he probably came from North Carolina (Col. Rec. N.C., IV, 894); he was living in Spartanburg County in 1790 with four male and five female members of his family and six slaves; he was moderator of Broad River Association in 1812, and died in 1815, the obituary notice describing him as “an humble christian, a pious minister, a nursing father in Zion, a good citizen, a loving husband, a tender parent, and a friend to the needy” (Census, p. 86; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 273); James Bennett (or Barnett) was probably living in Spartanburg County in 1790; and it was probably he who was dismissed from Padgetts Creek Church in 1798, where his gift had been considered; at Friendship Church he was an active worker; the church meeting was held at his place on Mar. 18, 1804 (Census, p. 86; Padgetts Creek CB, June 9, 1798; Tyger River CB). f445 Ibid., Nov., 1803; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 224. f446 Tyger River CB, June, July, Sept., 1801; Sept., 1804; May, 1801; Nov., 1803; June, 1802; Sept., 1803. Members mentioned in the church book from 1801 to 1804; Esther ___________ William Allen, Gustavus Basel, Abigail Beard, John Beard, Mary Beard, Nancy Beard, __________ Bearden, Benjamin Bearden, Delilah Bearden, Elizabeth Bearden, Isaac Bearden, John Bearden, Jr. and Sr., Lettice Bearden, Mary Bearden, Rachel Bearden, Richard Bearden, Sentuis Bearden, James Bennett, Mary Bennett, Sarah Bennett, Rev. George Brewton, Albert Bright, Francis Bright, Goodwin Bright, James Bright, John Bright, Mary Bright, robias Bright, Milley Burrel, Culburt Burton, Drury Burton, Elizabeth Burton, Mary Burton, Nancy Burton, Nathan Burton, Patsey Burton, Samuel Burton, Elizabeth Calvert, Riley Calvert, Samuel Cathcart, __________ Clark, __________ Crow, Isaac Crow, Jonathan Crow, Nancy Crow, Sarah Crow, Samuel Floyd, Mary Fowler, Mordecai Fowler, William Fowler, Francis Gentry. Mary Gentry, Henry Golightly, Mary Golightly, Averilla Harmon. James Harmon, William Hays, David Hembree, Hannah Hembree, Irah Hembree, Isaiah Hembree, James Hembree, Mary Hembree, Matilda Hembree, Nancy Hembree, William Hembree, John Hindman, Margaret Hindman, James Huatte, John Huatte, Richard Huatte, William Huatte and wife Mary Sister __________ Kelley, Aaron Lancaster, Absalom Lancaster, Agnes Lancaster, Nancy Lancaster, Nazareth Lancaster, Peter Lancaster, John Langston, Moses Langston, Tames Lee, Martha Martindale, Elizabeth Meadows. James Meadows, John Meadows. Joseph Meadows, Nancy Meadows, Thomas Meadows, Ida Moore, Zachariah Moore, Ann Nicholls, Benjamin Nicholls, David Oshields, Elizabeth Oshields, Jethro Oshields, Aaron Pinson, Elizabeth Pinson, Mary Pinson, Ruth Pinson, Page 187 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Zephaniah Pinson, Joseph Prince, John Read (also Red), Mary Robuck, Elizabeth Rogers, Mary Rogers, Susannah Rogers, Mary Shirley. Nancy Shirley, Christina Smith, Jim Smith, Joel Smith and wife Mary, John Smicn, Joseph Smith, Milly Smith, Mourning Smith, Nancy Smith, Sarah Smith (two). William Smith, Esq., Sarah Thompson, Alley Thornton, Luke Thornton, Martha Thornton. Sarah Thornton, Benjamin Turley, Sealy Turley, William Turley (the last three names may be Shirley), Dorcas Vice, Francis Vice, John Vice, Rhoda Vice, John Ward, Elisha West, Joseph West, William Whitlock, John Williams, Lydia Williams, Sealy Williams, Britten Williford, Elizabeth Williford, Wiley Williford, Elizabeth Willis, John Willis, Martha Willis, Richard Willis, Jr., Richard Willis, Sr., William Willis, Catherine Wilson, Judith Wright, John Young, Nancy Young (158 whites, 2 negroes). f447 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 43_4; Furman MS, p. 56; Asplund’s Reg., 1. and 3. ed.; Mills’s Atlas, map of Fairfield District, shows that the name Gibson’s Meeting House was stili used in 1825; the church moved its meeting place to Long Run in 1855, and to Monticello in 1915, which name it now uses; its building still stands one-fourth mile west of Strother highway, near Old Brick Meeting House. f448 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 43-4; Furman MS, p. 56; the constituent members of Little River of Broad were: Ann Brunt (James Brunt’s plat touched Daniel Ellis’s on Broad River in 1764, Plats, IX, 144); Henry Crumpton (bought, May 14, 1771, Alexander Rabb’s 1762 plat between Broad and Little Rivers, Memorials, X, 437); Mary Curry, John Kennedy and wife (John Kennedy had several surveys between 1761 and 1773; on June 10, 1773, one bounded southeast by Little River and on all other sides by Jacob Gibson’s land, Plats, XVII, 429); Elizabeth McGraw; Solomon McGraw (survey 1745 on Raifords Creek, in 1752 on the west side of a branch of Broad River called Little River, Ibid., IV, 299, VI, 56); Alexander Rabb (survey of 1756 on Little River, of 1762 between Broad and Little Rivers, Ibid., VII, 207, 233); Gabriel Rawls (also Rollis and Rolls — tract on Crane Creek surveyed 1775, Memorials, II, 468); Peter Stearns (a plat on Morris Creek and another on Mili Creek in 1771, Plats, XXI, 88-9; he apparently came from Boston and is listed as a member of Sandy Creek (N.C.) Church in 1755, Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 384); William Trapp (surveys in 1765 of 100 acres and in 1772 of 200 acres both on Cedar Creek northeast side Broad River, Plats, VIII, 9; XX, 390): John Young (survey of 100 acres 1767 on Bees Creek waters of Broad, and others on Simmonds Creek of Little River, Ibid., XVI, 221; XI, 210; XX, 511, etc.); Rev. Jacob Gibson was a native of Virginia, where he grew up an Anglican; he was baptized at Lynches Creek by Rev. Henry Ledbetter and ordained at Little River Nov. 7, 1771, by Rev. Messrs. Marshall and Mulkey; he married Judith Napper by whom he had children Thomas, Jacob, Joseph, David, Stephen, Benjamin, Judith; he had surveys of 250 acres in 1765 on Little Creek touching Solomon McGraw’s land, 300 acres in 1767 on Wateree Creek, and 350 acres in 1773 on waters of Little River (Ibid., VIII, 452; XI, 40; XVI, 67); either he or his.son Jacob in 1790 owned two slaves in Fairfield District, where he died in 1793 (Census, pp. 19, 20; Asplund’s Reg., 5, and 6. ed.. Page 188 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f449 Ibid.; John Gwin (Gwyn) probably came from North Carolina (Cot, Rec. N.C., IX. 25-7); he obtained a survey of 100 acres on µ branch of Broad River called Little River on Dec. 11, 1766, one of 640 acres in 1784 and one of 416 acres in 1787 on Little River, the latter having been originally surveyed for John Moberly in 1785 (Plats, IX, 97: IVq, 3; XIXq, 144); his family included three males and four females and no slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 21). f450 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 31-2; Mercer, Ga. Assoc., p. 22; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1802. f451 Edwards, Grazer MS, p. 43; Furman MS, pp. 56-7; Newman, U. S. Baptists, p. 295; Benedict, Baptist History, 11, 330-9; Col. Samuel Harris was one of the great Baptist evangelists of Virginia, as was Mr. James Child; nothing is usually said of their coming to South Carolina, but as several of the constituents were from Virginia, it is probable that they did; a section crossed out in the Crozer MS, p. 43, states that the church was a branch of Fairforest; the constituents named are: John Cargill (a survey in the fork between Saluda and Reedy Rivers of 200 acres in 1705; Flats, VIII, 550); James Finley and wife (James Finley secured a survey of 100 acres on Dining Creek of Fairforest Sept. 23, 1765, and of 300 acres on Bush River June 16, 1770; Ibid., XI, 376; XV, 132); James Harvey (a survey of 200 acres on a branch of Little River called Todds Creek Oct. 15, 1765, Ibid., XIX, 190), these four having come from Virginia; and John Robbins and wife of New Jersey (several surveys on Mudlick Creek, Ibid., X, 157; XI, 475; XVI, 453). f452 John Bayley had a survey of 200 acres laid out on waters of Little River in June and another in Oct., 1767 (Ibid., X, 33; XV, 57). f453 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 43; Furman MS, pp. 56-7. f454 Ibid., Crozer MS, pp. 42-3; in the list of members of Congaree Association, Little River of Saluda is listed as under the care of Rev. Aaron Pinson (Pincent), but in the account of that church a statement to that effect is deleted; Aaron Pinson had a survey in 1767 of 250 acres on the northeast side of Saluda River on Spring Branch and on Joshua Moore’s land (Plats, X, 186; Memorials, VIII, 504); either he or his son Aaron, both of whom lived in Laurens County in 1790, had at that time one slave (Census, p. 72); nothing further than his connection with Raeburns Creek Church in 17901794 is known of him (Asplund’s Reg., 2. ed.). f455 Tennent’s Journal,” in YBC, 1894, p. 304. f456 The account of the early years of Buffalo Church is taken from Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, pp. 14-19, which claims to quote from an old manuscript history of Pacolet (Skull Shoals) Church written in 1787 in its first record book; as this was eleven years after the events described, it is probably inaccurate in many details; Logan (Broad River Assoc., pp. 5323) explains how Page 189 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. both 1772 and 1777 are possible dates of organization of Buffalo Church, quoting old minutes and Benedict. f457 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1800; Buffalo is first on the 1791 list. f458 Ibid.; Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 277-8, 282-3; Asplund’s Reg., 2. ed.; Bailey, Mulkey and Fouler, pp. 14, 19; Plats, LXI, 27; XXXVII, 451; Rev. Joseph Camp (Kemp) was according to tradition from Maryland; he settled in N.C. near the S.C. line in the neighborhood of Buffalo Church, which he is said to have organized; he was arrested by Cornwallis to obtain information of Morgan’s movements but was released; his knowledge of medicine was of great service to his community; an honored and active member of Bethel Association from its beginning, he served as moderator in 1791, as member of various committees, and as writer of circular letters, though his education was limited; he was equally active in Broad River Association, and as supply and assistant to neighboring churches; he probably secured land in S. C, in 1779 and 1805, but emigrated to Kentucky in 1808. f459 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800; Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 277-8; the church is so close to the N.C. line that all of Asplund’s Registers list it as in North Carolina, and part of its congregation must have been drawn from that state; it has had five different buildings on the same grounds; there are no records extant for the period under discussion; “Buffaloe Baptist Church of York District” was incorporated in 1823 (McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 329). f460 Asplund’s Reg., 3. ed.; Bailey, Mulkey and Former, pp. 18-22, quoting the 1787 account of Pacolet (Skull Shoals) CB; it is not clear whether the following is a list of constituents or. a later list: James Fowler, Samuel and William McBrayer; John, Garret, and Thomas Morris; Russel Rutledge and wife Elizabeth; John Cole and wife Mary; Samuel Lamb and wife Hannah; Moses Collins and wife Susannah; Edward Henderson and wife Annie; Catherine Jenkins, William Roden, Sarah Kennedy, Samarian Taylor, Mary Allen; of these, William McBrayer had a survey of 150 acres on Turkey Creek In 1772 (Plats, XVIII, 114), John Morris on Rocky Creek Catawba in 1772 (Ibid., 347), Thomas Morris on Turkey Creek 200 acres in 1763, and on Rocky Creek 350 acres in 1771 (Ibid., 549; X, 153); Samuel Lamb 100 acres on Lower Camp Creek in 1765 (Ibid., IX, 236); John Cole on Camp Creek Catawba 100 acres in 1772 (Ibid., XIV, 137); Edward Henderson 200 acres on Hunters Branch of Rocky Creek in 1765 (Ibid., XV, 391); William Roden surveys on Wateree Creek, Fishing Creek, and Turkey Creek in 1763 (Ibid., VIII, 287; VII, 342, 394). See N.C. and Va. records. f461 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1803; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, pp. 17-26; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1789, 1794, 1797; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 158; Furman to Hart, Apr. 14. 1792, in Cook, Richard Furman, p. 43; York County PC, Wills A, p. 90; Rev. James Fowler was born about 1742 in one of the northern states, it is claimed, though the name occurs in both Virginia and North Carolina (Col, Rec. N.C., XXIV, 629; Chalkey, Augusta Records, III, 501); he came to S.C. just before the Revolution (a James Fowler bought 475 acres on Page 190 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Black River in July, 1770; Memorials, X. 420); although bred a Presbyterian, he and two Rogers brothers formed a creed of their own directly from the Bible; this they later found to agree with Baptist principles; they were baptized and began to hold meetings, in which James Fowler led, as a branch of Fairforest; he was licensed in 1774 or 1775, ordained and chosen pastor of Sandy River Dec. 23, 1776, and served Pacolet Church occasionally 1787-1790, and regularly 1790-1801; he lived in York County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 30); said to have been the first moderator of Bethel Association, he was one of its honored and active members until his death; his relations with Charleston Association. to which he went as a delegate several times fit the first years of Bethel Association, were most cordial, and it is thought his influence had much to do with obviating the difference., between Separates and Regulars; his literary ability must have been high, as he was so often chosen to write circular and associational letters and to superintend the printing of the minutes; his death occurred in February, 1802; his will dated Dec. 18, 1801, mentions sons Robert, William, and Stephenson, and grandson James Hinds Fowler, son of Robert; it lists some personal property including books. f462 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1803, 1811; the name Upper Sandy River had been adopted by 1811 at least. f463 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 31; Furman MS, p. 51; Furman, Charleston Assoc. p. 56, gives “about 1765” as date of constitution, Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., “1767”; Rev. Joseph Murphy (Morphy) was a Separate Baptist minister of Little River of Pee Dee, N.C., Edwards “N.C. Materials” in N, C. Hist, Rev., VII, 388. f464 Edwards, Crozer MS. p. 30; Furman MS, 59; William Howell had three surveys north of Congaree River, only one, however, by 1766; this one touched the river and could not have been the site of the church; he made purchases of land in the same region in 1767; his 1770 survey of 700 acres between Hays Mill Creek and Little Creek at the Congarees touched land of Robert Goodwyn, David Rumph, John Thomas, Benjamin Farrar. William Howell, and Joseph Curry; his 1772 survey of 300 acres was on Toms Creek touching lands of Nicholas Curry, William Strother, John Everitt and the heirs of Captain “John Persons of Virginia” (Plats, VIII, 202; XI, 332; XVIII, 119); the church lot was probably from purchased land. John Pitman’s plat of 1772 between Back Swamp and Cabin Branch shows ‘a path to the meeting house;’ the location of this plat and the dates and locations of William Howell’s grants and purchases point to the Raifords Creek Mill as the site of the meeting house (Meriwether, Expansion of S.C., map of the Congarees; and Plats, XIX, 192; XVI. 68; IX, 271; XI, 332; XX, 398; Charleston County RMC, Deeds Q-3, p. 346; S-3, p. 70), E. L. Greene, History of Richland County (Columbia, 1931), p. 28; there “was until recently an old graveyard in which Howells were buried” near Adams pond. f465 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 30-32; Furman MS, pp. 50-52; List of Constituents: Benjamin Bell, Mary Bell, Jean Curry, Timothy Dargan, William Dargan, Nathan Ellis, Joseph Ferrill, Hannah Garrison, John Gill, Martha Page 191 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Goodwin (or Goodwyn), Elizabeth Hamilton, Mary Harvey, Grace Hirons, Simon Hirons, Patience Kirkland, Agnes Martin, Elizabeth Norris, Thomas Norris, John Pearson, John Pitman, Mary Pitman, George Powell, Lewis Powell, Sarah Powell, Isaac Raiford, Joseph Reese, Benjamin Rion, George Rolloson (Rolleson, probably Rawlinson), Andrew Salisbury, Catherine Smith, William Tucker, Ebenezer Westcoat; Edwards gives the number as thirty-three, but the name of John Newton is crossed out, leaving only thirty-two constituents; of those apparently composing the main church John Gill had no survey, but Gills Creek testifies to the presence of persons of that name In the community where it appears as early as 1749 (Plats, IV, 499); John Pearson was the justice of the peace, deputy surveyor, and captain of militia In the fork of Broad and Saluda about 1756 who became bankrupt and returned to the Congarees, after having preached at Broad River (Ibid., p. 267, 440, surveys in Congarees section 1742, 1746; took over William Raiford’s tract in the fork of Broad and Saluda before 1754, Ibid. p. 410; JC, April 2, 1754; advertisements of property show bankruptcy, S. C, Gazette, June 9, 1766; a survey of 1772 mentions the heirs of Captain John “Persons” of Virginia, note 61, supra); Isaac Raiford had surveys north of the Congaree and on Cabin Creek in 1756 and 1759 (Ibid., VI 210; VII, 41); Joseph Reese between Mill Creek and Pincushion Swamp in 1767 and on Cedar Creek in 1771 (Ibid., XI, 93; XX, 63); Benjamin Bell on Gills Creek in 1764 (Ibid., VII, 415); Martha. Goodwyn between Wateree and Congaree and on Raifords Creek in 1771 (Ibid., XVI, 140-1); Simon Hirons in the fork of Congaree and Wateree in 1750, below Cedar Creek in 1770, and on Back Swamp waters of Congaree in 1771 (Ibid., V, 43; XVII, 17); William Tucker on Cabin Branch waters of Congaree in 1768 (Ibid., X, 238); William Dargan north of Congaree 1759 and 1767 (Ibid., VII, 115; IX, 5, 132); Andrew Salisbury on Toms Creek in 1765 (Ibid., VIII, 72); John Pitman on a branch of Bade Swamp on the main road from Charleston to the Congarees in 1772 (Ibid., XIX, 192); the name Rollison appears in the fork of Congaree and Wateree in 1770 (Ibid., VIII, 62; XX, 180, 193); and the names Hamilton and Kirkland are of frequent occurrence in this section at the time of the constitution of the church (Ibid., Index); the remaining members are listed under the branches; that there were Baptists in the neighborhood before the organization of the church appears from an entry in the Welsh Neck CB to the effect that on July 5, 1760, a letter was “to be sent to Mr. Rowel and his wife living at the Congarees” directing them to apply for a letter of dismission. f466 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 31. f467 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 72. f468 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 30; Furman MS, pp. 50, 75; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1803, 1804, 1807, 1808, 1817, 1818, 1841, 1843; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1820 ff.: Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 57, 66-8: of these branches Wateree Creek is discussed below; the constituents settling about Twentyfive Mile Creek were possibly Jean Curry who had a survey of 250 acres on Wateree in 1773 (Plats, XIV, 291); Andrew Salisbury had a survey on Twenty-five Mile Creek, in 1768; Nathan Ellis on High Hills of Santee 200 acres in 1773 (Ibid., XV, 35); Bryan McLendon is claimed by Edwards (Crozer MS, p. 30) to have given the land for Page 192 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. this branch-this was probably from his survey of 100 acres, head of Twenty- five Mile Creek in 1767, adjoining which he obtained a second survey of 200 acres in 1772 (Plats, XVII, 142); on this a meeting house was erected in 1768, “about twenty miles below Wynnsborough, and 25 from Camden” (Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 57); though long, a branch of Congaree, Twenty-five Mile Creek Church was dismissed from Wateree Creek Church at the time of its constitution and admission to Charleston Association in 1807; it removed its seat of worship in 1841, and by 1843 was known as Sandy Level Church, which still exists; Amelia Township branch in 1772 had a meeting house built in 1769, 33 miles southeast of Congaree “on a piece of land given by John Joyner, but no conveyance being made they are in fear of losing it;” John Joyner had several surveys in Amelia Township or St. Matthew’s Parish, one in 1757, from which the church lot may have been given, on True Loves Branch (Plats, VII, 263; XVII, 315-9) and touching the Santee River; of the constituents of Congaree Church, Agnes Martin may have been connected with “one Martin” whose plat touched John Joyner’s 1771 survey (Ibid., 317); John Pitman first had a survey in 1757 in Amelia Township (Ibid., VI, 343); Joseph Ferrill 100 acres in the upper end of Amelia in 1771 (Ibid., XV, 81); Ebenezer Westcoat 200 acres in Amelia northeast on Santee River in 1764 (Ibid., VIII, 418); Timothy Dargan, who described himself as a “Liver in Amelia” in 1754 QC, Aug. 7, 1754) and who had a survey of 100 acres in October of that year (Plats, VI, 132), must have preached to this branch for a time, and probably also to Four Hole branch; when Amelia Township Church entered Charleston Association in 1808, it was described as “6 or 8 miles west from Belleville” (Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 66); Four Hole meeting was held in 1772 in a private house “60 miles off SSE” from Congaree; John Newton’s plat of 200 acres in Halfway Swamp in 1770 (Plats, XVI, 474) suggests that he might have preached at Four Hole and Amelia; Four Hole Church, formed in 1813 and entering Charleston Association that year, was dismissed from Amelia Township Church (Charleston Assoc. Min., 1813). f469 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 150; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 32-3; Furman MS, pp. 62-3; Furman to Hart, Apr. 14, 1792, in Cook, Richard Furman, p. 45: Rev. John Newton was born Aug. 7, 1732, at Kent, Pa.; he was converted to Baptist principles in 1752 and baptized by Rev. Joshua Potts of Southampton; called to the ministry in N.C. on Mar. 7, 1757, he came to S.C. in 1765, having two surveys, the first on Halfway Swamp at Horsekin Creek of 200 acres in 1770, the second on waters of Little River of 150 acres in 1772 (Plats, XVI, 474, 476); he married Kesiah Dorset by whom he had John, Jemima, Philip, James, Moses, and Phoebe by 1772; ordained at Congaree in February, 1768. by Oliver Hart and Evan Pugh, he was silenced by Congaree Church under the direction of Sandy Creek Separate Association for allowing Regular Baptist ministers to ordain him, and would never enter fully into ministerial work again; he removed to Georgia and died there early in 1791; of Richard Bell nothing further is known than that he obtained surveys of 200 acres in the fork of Wateree and Congaree in 1767 and of 300 acres on the north side of Congaree in 1770 (Ibid., IX, 53; XI, 291); John Blake had a survey in 1770 on Reedy Fork of Wateree Creek touching William Roden’s land (Ibid., XIII, 247); he lived in Fairfield County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 22). Page 193 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f470 Anne King Gregorie, Thomas Sumter (Columbia, S.C., 1931), pp. 98, 136, 156-7, 164, 169, 170 ff. f471 Rev. Gabriel Rawls, mentioned as an itinerant among the branches of Congaree Church 1790-1794 (Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.), had surveys of 244, 472, and 375 acres in 1784, 1786, and 1785, on Cedar Creek, on Harmons Creek touching John and Philip Pearson, and on Crane Creek waters of Broad River (Plats, VIIIq, 491; XIIIq, 143; XVIIIq, 207); he lived in Richland County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 27); John Price had a survey on the road from Charleston to Minicks Bridge near the Congaree (Plats, XIX, 272); he lived in Richland County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 27), at which time he was a candidate for the ministry at Congaree Church (Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.); he died about 1815 (Richland County PC, Box 25, No. 602). f472 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 32; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1798. f473 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 72-4; Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 32; Furman MS, pp. 52-3; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 364-6; Cathcart(ed.), Baptist Library, pp. 314-5: Rev. Joseph Reese (Rees in early records, but signature to his will Reese) was born on Duck Creek, Kent County, Pa. (now Delaware); he came to Congaree in 1745 (an Evan Reese had a survey of 250 acres on Raifords Creek in 1747, Plats, IV, 382); a memorial of Joseph Rees signed by Martha Goodwyn June 2, 1767 (Memorials, IX, 242; XI, 215; XII, 149), asks 100 acres on the east side of Pee Dee originally granted to Daniel Rees in 1750, and conveyed to Joseph Rees in 1759; as he was brought up in the Anglican Church, his conversion by Mr. Mulkey “drew much attention;” he had little education; he was ordained by Messrs. Oliver Hart and Evan Pugh February, 1768; except for some few years at Lawsons Fork during the Revolution, he was pastor of Congaree Church until his death, Mar. 5, 1795 (Richland County PC, Box 26, pkg. 627; Wills C, 107-9); his will mentions children Catherine Wells, Mary Arthur, Joseph Reese, Timothy Reese, Jesse Reese, John Altum Reese, Ann Tucker, and wife Sarah; he had been previously married to Ann Reynolds; his property included tracts of land in Congaree, Lawsons Fork pinelands, and Pincushion Swamp; plantation and house in low grounds of Congaree, books, slaves, etc.; he mentions particularly Mr. Bunyan’s writing. f474 Charlesten Assoc. Min., 1790-1816: Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Richland County PC, Wills G, p. 1; Plats, XXIq, 262: Rev. Stephen Nixon received in 1788 a tract of 310 acres surveyed in 1787 for Richard Singleton on Sammys Swamp of Black River; his will proved Apr. 27, 1816, mentions his wife Martha, and children Isham, Jesse, Stephen, Washington Furman, Anne Hays, and Mary Nettles; he left a plantation, small library, and five slaves; his piety and humility were said to be extraordinary. Page 194 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f475 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1798-1804; in 1801 a branch was included in the report to the Charleston Association, and in 1803 Wateree Creek Church was dismissed. f476 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 56, 66, 67; Mills’s Atlas, map of Richland District; Beulah CB, 1806. f477 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 30, 32; Furman MS, p. 75. f478 Ibid.; Mills’s Atlas, map of Fairfield District; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 67: William Roden received a survey of 200 cares on Dec. 6, 1763, on Wateree Creek at its Junction with Beaverdam Creek, from which the church lot must have been given (Plats, VIII, 287); but the map of Fairfield District shows Ralph Jones’s Meeting House as given in the text. f479 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1799, 1803: Rev. Ralph Jones was probably not among the constituents of Congaree, and it is not known how early he became a member, though probably before 1768, when the Twenty-five Mile branch was formed; he is listed by Edwards (Furman MS, p. 75) as in charge of that branch in 1772, and his survey of 1769 was on this creek, but he later took over the work of the Wateree Creek branch; two earlier surveys were for 300 acres on the north side of Waxhaws on both sides of Crane Creek, and 100 acres on the east side Wateree River on Poke Branch which discharges Into Sanders Creek (Plats, XI, 88; V, 290; VII, 150); in 1790 he was an itinerant of Congaree Church (Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.); he lived in Fairfield County and owned ten slaves (Census, p. 21); he died 1817 (Charleston Assoc. Min.). f480 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 34-5; Furman MS, 57-8; the constituents of Mine Creek Church were: Bailey Cheney, William Cheney and wife (survey of 100 acres in 1772 on Big Creek Branch of Little Saluda River touching William Marsh’s land (Plats, XIV, 57); Mrs. Coats (there were Coats in the Bush River region, Ibid., XIV, 127, 128; XVIII, 551): Drurell (Drury) Fort and wife (survey of 100 acres in 1783 on Mine Creek of Little Saluda River, 100 acres in 1769 on waters of Saluda River, 200 acres in 1773 on Mine Creek of Little Saluda River, Ibid., VIII, 43; XI, 272; XV, 189); Charles Harris and wife (survey of 250 acres on Wilkinsons Creek of Broad River in 1752, Ibid., VI, 65); Guttridge (Goodrich) Hughs (Hughes) survey of 150 acres in 1769 on West Creek waters of Little Saluda River, Ibid., XI, 226); Mrs. Jefcut (Jeffcoat), John Johnson and wife (survey of 250 acres in 1769 on Clouds Creek, Ibid., XVII, 290), Samuel Marsh (or Mash) (survey of 250 acres in 1769 on waters of Little Saluda River, 200 acres in 1773 on Chaneys Creek and Big Creek waters of Little Saluda River Ibid., XI, 281; XVIII, 19), Jethro Norris, Priscilla Sayers (the name John Sawers occurs as one of the owners of lands bounding Goodrich Hughes and others in 1775 (Ibid., XXI, 400), John Tanner (500 acres in 1770 on Little Saluda touching his own land, Ibid., XX, 269); Benjamin Beli was not a constituent of the church; he had a survey of 300 acres on Little Mine Creek of Little Saluda River in 1768, 200 acres on Rocky Creek of Savannah River in Page 195 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. 1770, 300 acres on Pen Creek of Little Saluda River (Memorials, VIII, 504; X, 169). f481 Red Bank CB, 1815, makes a statement on the constitution of the church; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed;John A. Chapman, History of Edgefield County … to 1897 (Newberry, S.C., 1897). p. 306. f482 Original papers in Red Bank CB, 1815. f483 Georgia Assoc. Min., 1790; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1795-1803: Rev. John Rowland (or Roland) was living in Edgefield County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 62); he received a survey of 150 acres in 1773 on two branches of Broad River on its north side (Plats, XX, 210) and another in 1805 on Mahargs Branch of Raeburns Creek (Ibid., XXXVIII, 490); he was a candidate at Lower Duncans Creek Church 1790-1794 (Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.), was at Red Bank 1795, Upper Duncans Creek 1796, Bethel 1797-1801, 1803, and at Cross Roads 1802; he was active in committee work of Bethel Association, and often served as supply to neighboring churches (Bethel Assoc. Min., 1795-1803); Rev. John Thomas; Current records Indicate confusion in the names John Thomas, Josiah Thomas, and Joseph Thomas; Asplund’s Reg., 2., 5., 6., ed., uses both Josiah and Joseph as the name of the Thomas connected with Red Bank Church 1790-1792; while the traditional account in the church book claims that the first minister was named John Thomas; as a Josiah Thomas but no John or Joseph appears in the 1790 Census (p. 64; as in Edgefield with two slaves, it is probable that this was the name of the Red Bank minister; Rev. Henry King: This name does not appear in this section on the 1790 Census (Ibid.), but he is listed by Asplund (Register, 2., 5., and 6. ed) as at “Saluda River,” “Turkey-Creek Edgefield” churches, 1790-1794, these probably being attempts to name Little Saluda or Mine Creek; he obtained a survey of 100 acres in 1784 on waters of Little Saluda (Plats, VIIIq, 140); his will of Jan. 28, 1820 (proved Feb. 21, 1820), is signed by a mark; it mentions his wife Mary and daughter Eleanor Raney; the Mary Lee therein mentioned was probably also his daughter; he left five slaves, 100 acres of land, household furniture, stock, etc. (Edgefield County PC, Wills C, p. 37). f484 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 215. f485 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 33-4; Furman MS, 60-62; Rev. Richard Furman’s annotations of the Furman Manuscript are particularly valuable; Cook, Richard Furman; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 56, 62; the deed of gift from Dr. Joseph Howard reads: — ‘For and in consideration of the great Want of an House and Place of Public worship and seeing that sundry of the Inhabitants have subscribed Sums of Money toward building a Meeting House for any Protestant religious Preacher to Preach in and for the great Desire I have and do bear toward so laudable an Undertaking’s being Carried on and finished, I do by these Presents give unto John Wheeler, Thomas Woodward, John Perry, and William Rees, Including myself as being one of the Managers chosen before by the Subscribers. Your Acres of Land, at the Place nominated, and on which the House Is Raised. … The said House to be free for any Protestant religious Page 196 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Denomination to Preach In. …” Furman (Charleston Assoc., p. 56) gives Jan. 23, Edwards (Crozer MS, p. 34) Jan. 4, 1772, as the date of constitution; the list of constituents follows: Thomas Avett (Abbott) and Sarah Avett (Thomas Abbott land on Dry Swamp and Beech Creek near or touching land of Elias Ward and Wood Furman in 1762 and 1774, Plats, VII, 256; XXI., 298), Dr. Joseph Howard (200 acres on Cadoes Lake between Santee and Black Rivers 1759, 250 acres northeast of the South Fork of Black River 1771, 100 acres on Rocky Creek of Broad River 1772, Ibid., VII, 35; XVII, 111, 112), George Brown (250 acres south side Wateree below Pinetree, Ibid., V, 51), Jesse Nettles (100 acres on High Hills of Santee 1770, Ibid., XVI, 480), Peter Matthews (200 acres on the northeast side of Wateree in the High Hills of Santee 1770, Ibid., XI, 410), Frederick Jones (250 acres on the southwest side of Wateree on waters of Santee 1765, Ibid., p. 264), Ann Freeman (given as Mary in the Crozer MS, but Ann in the Furman MS; Mary Freeman (?) occurs with 200 acres on Bear Branch of Wateree in 1768, while there was a James Freeman mentioned as on the High Hills of Santee touching Isaac Knighton’s plat in 1771 — Ibid., IX, 326; XVII, 512), Edward Matthews (an Edmond Mathews had 150 acres on Rocky Creek of Wateree 1762, Ibid., VIII, 184), Thomas Neal (100 acres on Jumping Run 1757, 150 acres on Stevens [Stephens] Creek 1763, 150 acres near the High Hills of Santee on both sides of Long Branch of Black River 1767, and 150 acres in 1772, Ibid., VII, 178, 483; X, 28, XVI, 467), Mason Greening and wife (150 acres on the north side of Wateree 1710, 200 acres on High Hills of Santee 1773, Ibid. XVI, 213), Zachariah Harrell (350 acres on east side Wateree both sides Gum Swamp, Ibid., XV, 309), Nathaniel Dodd and wife (150 acres on the north side of Wateree touching Thomas Knighton, Ibid., VIII, 483), Sherwood James (Sherwood James, Jr., on High Hills of Santee touching Thomas Knighton’s land is mentioned in 1757 in Ibid., VII, 18), Mary Pitts (Henry Pitts is mentioned in plat of Isaac Knight on High Hills of Santee touching Joseph Howard in 1771, Ibid., XVII, 512), Thomas Lenoir and wife (100 acres on northeast side of Wateree 1761, 100 acres on Cedar Creek northeast side Broad 1761, Ibid., VIII, 562, 470), Lewis Collins and wife (150 acres on Wateree Creek of Wateree River 1763, 200 acres on High Hills of Santee 1770, Ibid., VIII, 313; XIV, 152), James McCormick and wife (50 acres on High Hills of Santee 1762, 100 acres on Stevens [Stephens] Creek 1763, 150 acres north side of Wateree on Joseph Howard 1768, 100 acres on Long Branch waters of Black River 1770, 150 acres on Pole Bridge branch of Black River on Frederick Jones, 1772, Ibid. IX, 110; VII, 481; IX, 344; XI, 334; VIII, 161), Peter Robertson (100 acres at head of Gills Creek 1769, Ibid., XI, 60), Tabitha Bates (persons named Bates had land on Rafting Creek in 1761 and on the southeast side Wateree in 1763, Ibid., VII, 233, 299), James Mills (William Mills in Crozer MS; James Mills had a warrant fore 700 acres on Santee or Savannah, JC, Dec. 5, 1758), Martha Scott (Mary Scott in Crozer MS; Scotts occur in this section between 1769 and 1773, Ibid., IX, 326; XIX, 366, 369, 370, 398-400), Milly Hart and widowed mother (a William Hart appears on Ratfords Creek 1750, Ibid., V, 110), Joseph Paine (150 acres in Fredericksburg Township between Town Creek and Swift Creek in 1755, Ibid., VI, 70), Elizabeth Paine, Richard Furman, Rachel Furman, Elizabeth Westberry (a John Westbury appears with 200 acres in Wateree River Swamp in 1765 and 100 acres on Bush Branch of Black River on Josiah Furman in 1774, Ibid., VIII, 410; XXI, 396, 399), John Knighton (Isaac, Moses, and Thomas Page 197 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Knighton appear on High Hills of Santee in 1771, 1762, and 1757, but no John, Ibid., VII, 18, 244; XVII, 512, 513), Anthony Lee and wife (William Lee in Crozer MS; Anthony Lee had a survey of 100 acres on waters of Santee adjoining Benjamin Stone, Ibid., VIII, 495), Hope Ridgeway and wife (500 acres in 1773 on Beaverdam Branch of Horne Swamp waters of Scape Whore, Ibid., XX, 107), Mary Smith, Milly Spann, John Roberts (150 acres in 1756 on Halfway Swamp waters of Santee River, Ibid., VI, 261), Elias Ward and wife and daughters Mary and Sarah (100 acres in 1774 on Beech Creek on Wood Furman, Thomas Abbott, etc., Ibid., xxr, 298; Richard Furman notes in the Furman MS that Elias Ward and wife were members of the church of Rev. David Thomas in Virginia before coming to S.C., Mrs. Ward being an eminently pious woman), Amy Fletcher, Frederick Briggs, Winifred Rogers, and Ann Rive (Rice in Crozer MS). f486 Cook, Richard Furman, p. 8. f487 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 386. f488 Cook, Richard Furman, p. 8, gives May 10, Pugh’s Diary (MS), May 16, 1774. f489 Welsh Neck CB, Apr., 1776. f490 Cook, Richard Furman, p. 51; Richard Furman, “Address” signed “A Loyal Subject.” Nov. 1775, High Hills of Santee (MS, Alester G. Furman). f491 William Johnson, Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathaniel Greene,. (2 vols., Charleston, 1822), II, 178: Gregorie, Thomas Sumter, p. 171. f492 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 62-3; Cook, Richard Furman, p. 14; there is a tradition that Richard Furman preached at Camden in 1775; James Kershaw’s Diary (in Thomas J. Kirkland and R. M. Kennedy, Historic Camden. … (2 vols., Columbia, S.C., 1905-1926), II, 277-8) notes his preaching there on Nov. 9, 1794; High Hills Church bought lot No. 638 in Camden on Nov. 30, 1784, from Col. Joseph Kershaw, on which to build a meeting house; the adjoining lot No. 637 was bought in 1785, but apprently no building was erected on this property at the time; Camden Baptist Church was constituted in 1810 (Ibid.); Mendel L, Smith, Historical Address at the Centennial Celebration of Camden Baptist Church, Camden, S.C., November 20, 1910 (Camden, 1910); Calvary Baptist Church claims 1768 as its date of beginning; nothing is known of its early history except that it was a branch of High Hills Church until 1810 when it was constituted and admitted to Charleston Association, in which It was for many years represented by Bradley and Jeremiah Rhame (Charleston Assoc. Min., 1810, ff. f493 Ibid., 1787; Cook, Richard Furman, p, 19; that the Charleston Church had tried to secure his services earlier than 1787 appears from Furman to Hart, Jan. 26, 1785 (MS, Alester G. Furman). Page 198 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f494 Rev. Gabriel Gerald (or Gerrald) was probably the son of James Gerald who had surveys in 1756 and 1757 In the low ground of Congaree and Santee Swamp opposite Amelia Township; nothing is known of him beyond his church connections; he died in 1798 (Plats VI, 416; VII, 9; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787-1798; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6, ed.; unaddressed letter from Richard Furman (MS, Alester G. Furman), Dec. 11, 1797, the contents of which identify the addressee; no copy of Mr. Gerald’s pamphlet has been found. f495 Rev. John Mitchell Roberts was born June 30, 1775; a son of John Roberts constituent member of High Hills Church in 1770; he applied to the General Committee of the Charleston Association for aid to be educated as a minister in 1792; recommended and receiving aid in 1793, he attended Rhode Island College 1794-1797, having been licensed to preach in the latter year and having preached several times at the college; Dr. Jonathan Maxcy said of him that his mind was capable of great improvement but that his diffidence was excessive; he became pastor of High Hills Church and remained in that position until his death; he opened his academy near Stateburg in 1800; William Capers, who attended Mr. Roberts’ academy in 1801- 5, says of him that he was “a most estimable man and a good scholar, but an imperfect teacher. … In recitation, our too easy instructor seemed to be more apprehensive of detecting the deficiency of his pupils, than we were of being exposed.” Mr. Roberts married Martha Ann Glover Miller, Oct. 31, 1802 (Charleston City Gazette and Daily Advertiser, Nov. 4, 1802), and had several children, among them John Roberts, Jr., who became a minister. His mind became deranged about 1820 or 1821, and under the delusion that he was to be executed for crime, he committed suicide Mar. 25, 1822 (epitaph on monument erected in memory of Rev. John M. Roberts in High Hills churchyard about 1850; Richland County PC, Box 26, pkg. 641; Edwards, Furman MS, p. 61; Charleston Assoc, Min., 1792-1821; Maxcy to Furman, Oct. 20, 1797 (MS, Alester G. Furman); Autobiography, in William M. Wightman, Life of William Capers … (Nashville, 1858), pp. 39-47; W. J. McGlothlin, Baptist Beginnings in Education … (Nashville, 1926), pp. 35-8; marriage settlement made by Rev. John Mitchell Roberts and his intended wife Martha Ann Glover Miller, Oct. 29, recorded Nov. 6, 1802, in Sumter County CC, Deeds AA, p. 76; for purchase of land by John M. Roberts, see Ibid., A, 92; C, 340); Rev. Amos DuBose owned land in Sumter District on the north side of Green Swamp at least by 1801 (Sumter County CC, Deeds AA, 50); Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787-1804; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 62; Sumter County CC, Deeds AA, 295, 296: Deed of Gen. Thomas Sumter, made Dec. 21, 1803, recorded Feb. 11, 1804, to the “incorporated Baptist Church on the High Hills of Santee” two acres for $100.00, and the ‘free and unmolested privilege of using the spring contiguous to the above mentioned land known by the name of meeting house spring;” a plat with meeting house accompanies the deed; Ibid., G, 66, 67; sale to Henry Vaughan of Moriah Church and land by High Hills Church decided on in church meeting Nov. 20, 1819, recorded Nov. 22, 1824. f496 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 126-27. f497 Sumter County CC, Deeds AA, 297. Page 199 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f498 There are no gravestones dated before 1816 in High Hills churchyard; the church, a wooden building in the classical style with outside stairs leading to the gallery, appears to date from about 1830 to 1850; the church books prior to 1875 were burned in that year in the house of Deacon C.C. Jackson, those of 1875-1905 in the store of Mr. Lavalle Jackson in 1905. f499 Edwards, Crozer MS, p, 32; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1778. f500 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 56, 63, 64; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1782. f501 Ibid., 1785-1810; Bethel sent in only occasional reports after 1800; reduced to twenty members in 1806, it was dissolved, reconstituted, and readmitted to association In 1810; Sumter County CC, Deeds GO, 240-41: High Hills Church conveyed to Bethel Baptist Church in Claremont County on Jan. 5, 1828, for $1.00, 11 3/4 acres conveyed to High Hills by Jesse Nettles Oct. 3, 1823, and 21 1/2 acres conveyed to High Hills by Hezekiah Nettles on Oct. 4, 1823. Rev. Solomon Thomson had surveys of 200 acres on Privateers Branch of Black River, 150 acres on a fork of Sammys Swamp of Black River in 1784, and. 300 acres on Putty and White Oak Branches of Black River in 1785; he is recorded as in Claremont County in 1790 owning two slaves; in 1796 he released 100 acres on White Oak Branch and in 1800 sold slave Jack for thirty pounds sterling; his wife Elizabeth Thomson signed the release by mark; he is mentioned as supply to Congaree Church in 1799, the last year he was at Bethel; he may have been the same Solomon Thompson noted as preaching to a congregation at Briar Creek, Ga., in 1772 (Plats, VIIIq, 56; VIIq, 54; Inq, 171; Census, p. 17; Sumter County CC, Deeds F, 213-14; A, 66-7; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1799; Edwards, Ga. Materials, p. 2). f502 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787. f503 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 34. f504 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1803-4, 1812-38; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 64; Swift Creek changed its name to Mount Pisgah in 1812, then to Pisgah in 1838; the Swift Creek Church organized in 1827 is not the same: nor is that organized in Darlington District as High Hill Creek Church in 1814. f505 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1803-4; Rev. James Jenkins. Experience, Labours and Sufferings (n. p., 1842), p. 142; Rev. Lewis Collins (had surveys of 150 acres on Wateree Creek south side of Wateree River 1763, and 200 acres on High Hills of Santee on Jesse Nettles 17701 is listed in Lancaster County with seven slaves in 1790 (Plats VIII, 313; XIV, 152; Census, p. 63); he was probably a justice of the peace in 1800; he was active to the work of Charleston Association, which noted his death in 1806 (JHR, Dec. 19, 1800; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1799. 1801, 1803). Page 200 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f506 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 46; Furman MS, p. 49; Ibid., “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 386; Rev. Abraham Marshall, “Biography of the late Rev. Daniel Marshall,” in Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 23-31; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 350-5; Rev. Daniel Marshall was born in 1706 in Windsor, Conn.; he was converted at the age of twenty and joined the Presbyterian church in which he was for twenty years a deacon; he was aroused under Whitefield’s preaching and became a missionary to the Indians; he came to N.C. in 1755, to S.C., in 1760- 1762, and went later to Ga.; by a first wife he had one son Daniel; after her death he married Martha Stearns, sister of Shubal Stearns, who “was noted for her zeal and eloquence and … added greatly to the interest of meetings conducted by her husband;” by her he had Abraham, John, Zaccheus, Levi, Unis, and Samuel; he and his son Abraham spent most of their efforts in Georgia during the Revolution and after, with Kioka (Little?) Church as the center; he died Nov. 2, 1784. f507 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 45, 46; Furman MS, p. 49; Marshall, “Daniel Marshall,” in Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 23-31; Benjamin Harry is not listed in the Plat Index, though Benjamin Harris who had a survey of 200 acres on the Long Reaches of Savannah River in 1765 was probably the same (Plats, VIII, 35); in 1790-95 he is mentioned as minister of Second Horns Creek Church, probably one of the branches of Big Stephens [Stevens] Creek Church (Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.); he was living in Edgefield County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 63); his will made and signed with mark on Sept. 8, and proved Sept. 28, 1810, names wife Hannah, sons Benjamin and Samuel and daughters Elizabeth, Nancy, and Sarah (Edgefield County PC, Wills A, p. 296); Saunders (or Samuel) Walker had land on Stevens [Stephens] Creek (the name of the church was always spelled Stephens, although the name of the creek was and is spelled Stevens) touching Rev. Daniel Marshall’s in 1768 (Plats, XVIII, 16); like Mr. Marshall, he spend most of his efforts in Georgia (Edwards, Ga, Materials, p. 2); John Herndon had a survey of 150 acres on Chavis Creek of Savannah River in 1768, and 50 acres on waters of Little Saluda 1771 (Plats, IX, 245; XV, 415). f508 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 31, 46. f509 Mallary, Botsford, p. 45; History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia (Atlanta, 1881), p. 20. f510 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1785; Mercer, Ga, Assoc., p. 22; Ga. Assoc. Min., 1788, 1790-93; Asplund’s Reg., 2. and 5. ed.; Plats, XIII, 454; XLIII, 3456; XLVI, 45; Census, p. 62; Charles Bussey received a survey of 100 acres on Savannah River In 1773; he is listed In Edgefield District as having 9 in family and 11 slaves in 1790; he or his son Charles had surveys in the same region in 1813 and 1821. f511 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.; Ga. Assoc. Min., 1790-93; Mercer, Ga. Assoc., p. 40; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1802-03; George Delaughter (whose name is given also variously as Gabriel Delater or Delotter) had surveys of 125 acres and 150 acres in 1784, 45 acres and 6 acres in 1787, 316 acres and 7 acres in 1792, Page 201 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. all between Savannah River and Stevens [Stephens] Creek (Plats, IVq, 383; VIq, 7; XXVq, 339; XXVIIq, 41; XXXIq, 165, 164); he is listed in Edgefield County in 1790 with 5 in family and 3 slaves (Census, p. 62); Elisha Palmer (also spelled Palmore) appears to have had a survey of 217 acres on waters of Stevens [Stephens] Creek in 1784 (Plats, XVIq, 218); he is listed without slaves in Edgefield County in 1790 (Census, p. 62). f512 Asplund’s Req., 5, ed., gives 1768 as date of constitution, and this date is used by later historians; Horns Creek may have been in Georgia Association from its beginning in 1784 (Mercer, Ga. Assoc., p. 22); the church is about four hundred yards from the creek at a crossroad of the Augusta old stage road; Rev. Hezekiah Walker must have resigned from the pastorate or have left the church, as he is no further spoken of in connection with it: he had surveys of several hundred acres in Edgefield and Ninety Six Districts in 1784, 1796, and 1801; he is listed in Edgefield County without slaves in 1790 (Flats VIIIq, 43; XXVIIIq, 200; XXXVIII, 399; Census, p. 66). f513 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791. f514 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 156-7. f515 John Bolger (sometimes Bulger) does not appear upon the surveys nor in the 1790 census; he later continued his work at Mill Creek from which he was an active delegate to the Bethel Association, having been a writer of letters, etc. (Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1803); Asplund’s Reg. (2., 3., and 5. ed.) lists him as admitted as candidate, spelling the name Bolger; administration of his estate was granted Oct. 19, 1835 (Edgefield County PC, pkg. 6-17). f516 Will of John Landrum, dated Jan. 13, 1843, proved Dec. 19, 1846, mentions daughters Rebecca S. Mims, Elizabeth C. Swearingen, Harriet B, Miles, Lucinda W. Lanton, Mary S. Miles, and sons John I. and B. Franklin Landrum (Ibid., Wills D, p. 303); Samuel Marsh was probably the son of Samuel Marsh whose will, made Dec. 2, 1787, and proved Oct. 1769. is recorded in Ibid., A. p. 11. f517 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed: Mercer, Ga. Assoc., p. 40; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1802-03: Horns Creek is now inactive or extinct. f518 The only record mentioning a Second Horns., Creek Church is Asplund’s Req. 5. and 6. ed., which may be one of Asplund’s mistakes; it might have been a predecessor of one of the present churches of what was Edgefield County in 1790, but no connection has been established. f519 Edwards, Crozer ITS, p. 42; Furman Ms., pp. 58-60; the two accounts by Edwards differ slightly and both differ in some particulars from the account given in Bush River CB, 1792; the Edwards account is largely used because Edwards was on the ground in 1772, while the church book account, probably written by the church clerk, Michael Landers, in 1792, is taken “from the best information” twenty years after; Asplund’s Reg. 5. ed., gives 1769 as the date of constitution; the constituents were: Samuel Newman and wife, William Crow Page 202 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. and wife, and Uriah Gary; Samuel Newman is reported by Edwards as coming with his wife from Mr. Alderson’s church in Va., and as having been called and baptized in N.C.; he Is called an excellent man; his children as named by Edwards were Samuel (m. Castleberry), Uriah (m. Gary), Martha (m. Phegan), Mary (m. Crow), Jane (m. Johnstone), and John; Samuel Newman had a survey of 450 acres made Sept. 11, 1765, in the fork of Broad and Saluda Rivers on spring branches of Bush River and another of 150 acres in 1766 adjoining the first (Plats, VIII, 324; X, 2); no surveys for William Crow or Uriah Gary have been found, but John Gary petitioned for land already improved on Bush River in 1753-he came from Va., with a wife and two children and mentions his father (JC, Sept. 3, 1753); he had a survey on waters of Bush River in 1768 (Plats, X, 199); the neighboring survey of Robert Levil of the same date has as boundaries the plats of Charles Crow and John Cole (Ibid., XVI, 334); George Goggans, donor of the church lot, received a survey of 250 acres on June 13, 1770, on waters of Bush River “on a draft of a small Branch of it called Beaverdam Branch, to westward of James Williams” (Ibid., p. 127). f520 Rev. Thomas Norris was born about 1743 in N.C. (a Thomas Norris is listed in 1740 as a juryman of Chowan County, Col. Rec. N, C., IV, 517), became a Baptist at twentyone and moved to the Mine Creek region of S.C., where he was a constituent member of Congaree Church; removed to Bush River section where he became minister at twentyfive, married at twenty-eight; he is said to have refused to fight due to conscientious objections to war and to have been imprisoned at Ninety-Six during the Revolution; he died at thirty-eight, leaving a widow and four small children, and is buried at Bush River Church (Edwards, Furman MS, p. 59; Rev. Henry Holcombe, “A Sketch of the Late Reverend Thomas Norris,” in Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 131-2; O’Neall, Newberry, pp. 141-2; early account in Bush River CB, 1792). f521 Coleman Brown had a survey of 400 acres on Little River near Saluda Old Town in 1768 (Plats, IX, 249; XV, 16); John Monk 150 acres on Cabin Branch of Little River in 1771, and 300 acres west on Raeburns Creek, John Cunningham, Ebenezer Stearns, James Williams, Lewis Banton, Joseph Pinson and Richard Shirley in 1774 (Ibid., XVIII, 476, 481); Mr. Monk is said to have served a branch church on Chinquapin Creek in 1792 and to have been excommunicated that year for disorder, possibly some doctrinal difference with the members of the church (Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.). f522 Introductory account in Bush River CB, 1792. f523 Ibid., 1792-1804; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1802. f524 Bush River CB, June, 1793; Sept., 1795; Aug., 1801; Mar., 1802; Apr. 1798, May, 1792; Oct. 1804. f525 Ibid., Introductory account in Bush River CB, 1792; 1792-1804; Nov.-Sept. 1803. Page 203 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f526 Ibid., Apr. 1797; June, 1797; May, 1803; June, 1804; July, 1792; Oct., 1795. f527 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 31, 42; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791; Bush River CE, 1792; List of Bush River members in 1792-1804 (spelling as in church book): Rhoda Babb, Thomas Barlow, Catherine Bayley, City Beaver, Jenny Beaver, Rebekah Beaver, Catherine Beeks, Samuel Beeks, Sarah Beeks, Anne Belton, Elizabeth Belton, Jesse Belton, Susanna Belton, William Belton, Oliver Black, William Bladen and wife Mary, Dudley Bonds, Francis Bonds, Jesse Brooks, Aaron Burton, Ann Burton, Gibeon (Gideon?) Burton, William Burton, Benjamin Butler, Elizaebth Butler, Henry Butler, Rachel Butler, Eleanor Cannon, Isaac Cannon, John Cannon, Sarah Cannon, Hannah Case, Issac Case, Job Castles, Polly Castles, Ann Childen, George Clark, Henry Coat, James Coat, Mary Coat (two), Rebekah Coat, William Coat, James Cole, John Cole, Tenor Cole, Wm. Cole, Jacob Croswhite, Charles Crow and wife Sarah, Mary Davenport, Clement Davis and wife Sarah, Eleanor Davis, Jesse Davis, Thomas Davis, Van Davis and wife Susanna, John Demoney, Nancy Demoney, Elizabeth Eastland, Hezekish Eastland, Thomas Eastland, Thomas Evans, Mary Fells, John Fletcher, Thomas Gafford and wife, Jeremiah Garner, John Garner, Mary Garner, Robert Garner and wife Jemina, Sarah Garner, John Garret, Caty Gary (Catharine?), David Gary, Elizabeth Gary, Jesse Gary, Mary Gary, Rachel Gary, Thomas Gary, John Gladdis, Daniel Goggans, Elizabeth Goggans, James Goggans, Jeremiah Goggans (mistake for Jemima?), Naomi Goggans, Rachel Goggans, William Goggans, Foster Golden, Ruth Goodwin, Garret Gray, Lydia Gray, William Gray, Charles Griffin, James Griffin, John Griffin, Joseph Griffin, Mary Griffin, Rebekah Hall, Phoebe Hardin, William Hardin, John Hill, Susanna Holsonback, Charles Horton, David Johnson, James Johnson, Jane Johnson, Jehu Johnson Jesse Johnson, John Johnson, Joseph Johnson, Martha Johnson, Mary Johnson, Rebekah Johnson, Samuel Johnson, Benjamin Johnston, William Johnston, Joseph Jones, Laban Jones, Michael Landers, Ezekiel Lansdwe, Elizabeth Leavell, James Leavell, John Leavell, Peggy Leavell, Robert Leavell, Sr., Robert Leavell, Jr., and wife Sarah, Alsey Leopard, John Leopard, Hannah Lewis, Susanna Listenberry, Margaret Loftin, William Loftin, Mary McAdams, Thomas McAdams, Samuel McGraw, Stephen McGraw, John Mangum, Lewis Mangum, Ann Mason, David Mason, Sarah Mattocks, David Motes, Rachel Motes, Ruth Motes, William Motes, Elizabeth Neal, Milliner Neal, Thomas Neal, Benjamin Neel, Elizabeth Neel, Mullikin Norward, Mary Padget, Rebekah Pearson, Samuel Pearson, Sarah Pemberton, Ephraim Perry, Sarah Perry, David Peterson, William Peterson, Aaron Pitts, Charles Pitts, Eleanor Pitts, Elizabeth Pitts, Francis Pitts, Isaac Pitts, James Pitts, John Pitts, and wife Hannah, Levi Pitts, Mary Pitts (three), Nancy Pitts, Ruth Pitts, Thomas Pitts, James Read, Joshua Reeder Mary Richardson, Bordiwine Roberts, Obed Roberts, John Ryon, Joseph Ryon, Martha Ryon, Mary Ryan, Peter Ryon, Charles Scott, Elizabeth Scott, Larken Shepherd, Thomas Smith and wife Kesiah and daughters Polly and Kesiah, Stephen Sparks, Rebekah Sterling, Susanna Summers, Abner Teague, Abraham Teague, Isaac Teague, James Teague, Joshua Teague, Mary Teague, Nancy Teague, Sarah Teague, Susanna Teague, John Baptist Teer and wife Chloe, Page 204 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Stephen Teer, Joseph W. Tinsley, Mary Tinsley, Peggy Tinsley, William Tinsley, Abraham Waldrop, Elizabeth Waldrop, Ezekiel Waldrop, Isaac Waldrop, Mary Waldrop, Richard Waldrop, Ritter Waldrop, Rebekah Walls, Edward Weever, Henry Weever (and wife Millinor), Sarah Weever, Abigail Williams, Catharine Williams, Daniel Williams, Francis Williams, John Williams and wife Sarah, John Williams, Providence Williams, Sarah Williams, Stephen Williams, John Wood, Elizabeth Wormelsduff. f528 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 45; the constituents of Raeburns Creek Church were: Rev. Aaron Pinson (spelled “Pincent” by Edwards, but “Pinson” in Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., and in Mills’s Atlas, map of Laurens District) who in 1767 had a survey of 250 acres on the northeast side of Saluda River and had probably one slave in Laurens County in 1790; his will dated Feb. 21, 1794 (no date of proof, but papers in the file are dated 1803) mentions his wife Elizabeth and children Moses, John, Isaac, Jemimah Hennery, and Mary Cole deceased (Plats, X, 186; Census, p. 72; Laurens County PC, Wills A-1, p. 159); Joseph Pinson whose land bounded that of John Monk on Raeburns Creek in 1774 and who is listed with 7 in family and 1 slave in Laurens County in 1790 (Plats, XVIII, 481; Census, p. 72), Ebenezer Stearns who had a survey on Long Lick Creek waters of Saluda in 1771 (Plats, XXI, 87); Enos Stinson (or Stimson or Stimpson) who had a survey on Aaron Pinson’s land and waters of Reedy River in 1771 and is listed In Laurens County without slaves in 1790, (Census, p. 71; Plats, XXI, p. 128); both Ebenezer Stearns and Enos Stinson are listed as constituent members of Sandy Creek Church in N.C. In 1755 (N.C. Hist, Rev., VII, 384); Philip Sherrill who had a survey on Big Branch and School House Branch, Helms Creek of Raeburns Creek in 1768 (Plats, XIX, 422); Nicholas Hill whose surveys were on waters of Reedy River, south side Raeburns Creek in 1767 and 1772 and who is listed without slaves In Newberry County in 1790 (Ibid., X, 48; XV, 443; Census, p. 80); and others not named; the wives of all of the above except Philip Sherrill were also constituent members of Raeburns Creek. f529 Asplund’s Reg., 5, and 6, ed; John Baugh in 1769 had a survey on waters of Reedy River and is listed in Laurens County in 1790 without slaves; Benjamin Williams in 1765 had a survey on Flat Rock Creek and is listed in Laurens County without slaves in 1790; his estate was administered in 1860, naming a wife and two sons, Moses and Henry (Plats, XIII, 150; IX, 141; IV, 57; Census, pp. 72, 73; Laurens County PC, Box 137, pkg. 4. f530 Edwards, Furman MS, pp. 68-70. f531 Ibid., p. 69; Crozer MS, p. 36; the constituents of Beaver Creek were Jacob Canamore (Gannamer) and Lawrence Free who had surveys respectively of 350 and 400 acres on Wilkingses Branch and Wilkinsons Creek in 1752; Hans Wagoner and wife 150 acres on a branch of Little Creek in the fork of Broad and Saluda Rivers in 1757; Michael Miller 200 acres on the north side of Broad River on Beaverdam Creek in 1755 and 100 acres on small branches of Sandy Run in 1766; George Martin and wife for whom no surveys in this region were found (Plats, IX, 449; VI, 305, 257, 117; VIII, 429); Rev. David Martin was born at Conestoga, Oct. 8, 1737, came to S.C. in 1754, married Ann Lessley and had Page 205 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. children Esther, Catherine, and David by 1772; h’s had surveys of 100 acres on the road from Ross’s Mill to Gaunt’s Ferry on Wrighty Branch south side Wateree River in 1770, and 100 acres on a branch of Beaver Creek waters of Broad River touching land of John Godfrey, Thomas Medows, and the estate of William Mobley in 1773 (this was probably the center of religious activity of the group (Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 36; Furman MS, pp. 69, 70; Plats, XVIII, 25- 6). f532 See note 62, supra. f533 Letter, John Pearson to “My Dear Son,” dated Broad River the 5th May, 1764 (MS Boyce Pearson). f534 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 46. f535 Bethel Assoc. Min. 1790-1803. f536 Information regarding the location of these churches was obtained by a trip of inspection; Rock Creek Church is now south of Rock Creek but still about three miles east of Broad River. f537 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1792-1803; the lot on which the church is located is said to have been given by one Tyler, but no record of the gift has been found. f538 Edwards, Croer MS, p. 37; Furman MS, p. 70; the constituents of Clouds Creek Church were Snowden Kirkland and wife and some others not named; Snowden Kirkland had a survey of 350 acres on Pipe Creek of Savannah River touching Joshua Kirkland and John Clayton in 1763; the preacher James Warren had a survey of 200 acres on Clouds Creek touching John Williams and Capt. Benjamin Tutt in 1770 and in 1773 of 150 acres in St. Paul’s Parish (Plats, VIII, 280; XXI, 331-2); he is listed in Greenville County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 69). f539 West Creek CB, Contenary Papers, giving traditional account; Clouds Creek Church is now known as West Creek Church; Patrick Quartemus is listed In Newberry County with 3 in family and 2 slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 77; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-4; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed,). f540 Ibid., 3., 5., and 6, ed.; the name is also spelled Lankford; others of the surname appear in 1790 in Greenville and Abbeville Counties (Census, pp. 69, 84, 88), and a person of the same name obtained a survey of 100 acres in 1801 on Whippy Swamp In Beaufort District (Plats, XXXVI, 479). f541 West Creek CB, Centenary Papers; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-1803; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6, ed; Thomas DeLoach in 1773 obtained a survey on Red Bank and Penn Creek waters of Little Saluda inclosing land of Sanders Walker, bounding on Sam Everidge, Jacob Smith, James Davis, Joseph Hogan, and Russell in 1773; and in 1825 a survey was made for one of the same name in Edgefield District on Shaws Creek of Edisto River on Mrs. Eddins, Thomas DeLoach, John S. Jeter, Page 206 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Wm. D. Martin Isaac Bush, and Smay (Plats, XIV, 366; XLVIII, 195; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 215). f542 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 37; Furman MS, p. 71; the persons baptized by David Martin at Edisto were Elijah Padgett and wife and mother and two negroes; Thomas Taylor, Mrs. Taylor, and son; Elijah Padgett had surveys of 200 acres in 1767 on waters of Edisto and 200 acres in 1773 on Clouds Creek of Little Saluda on Michael Watson and Thomas Green (Plats, X, 140; XIX, 29); Thomas Taylor in 1769 had a survey of 200 acres on northeast side of Edisto near Cattle Creek on David Rumph, John Milhouse, and Thomas Pinckney; and in 1772 on a branch of northwest fork of Long Cane (Ibid., XX, 278-80; XI, 250); he is listed in. Edgefield County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 64). f543 Edwards, Ga. Materials, p. 1. f544 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 56, 65. f545 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1797, 1798, 1799. f546 Rev. Lewis H. Shuck, The Barnwell Baptist Association of South Carolina, Its Churches and their Deceased Ministers (Charleston, 1867), p. 25; the identity of Edisto and Healing Springs is an inference from location and from Rev. Nathaniel Walker’s connection with both; Rev. Nathaniel Walker was for a time at Lynches Creek; tradition says he came from Ireland or England by way of Pa. to S.C.; he removed from Lynches Creek to the Edisto region where he received numerous grants in 1786, 1787, and as late as 1795, and where he preached for the remainder of his life, probably having led Edisto to Join the Charleston Association in 1787; he was sent by the Charleston Association as messenger to the Georgia Association in 1791, but seems thereafter to have taken no active part (n associational meetings or work, probably due to illness; he is listed in 1790 with 10 in family and 6 slaves (Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 9; Plats, VII, 207; XIIq, 168, 316, 317; XVIq, 131; XTXq, 260; XXXII, 355, 607; Shuck, Barnwell Assoc., p. 53; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787, 1797, 1798; Census, p. 100). f547 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 222. f548 The 1772 membership of Broad River Church, as given in Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 47; Furman MS, pp. 67, 68, is roughly divided into three groups according to the location of their surveys: (1) On the northeast side of Broad River, including Victor Naley. (Edwards spells the name Nelly, other records Naily) 150 acres on a branch of Rocky Creek. Dec. 4, 1756, and 100 acres on Little River of Broad June 25, 1759; he is listed in Fairfield County without slaves in 1790 (Plats, VII, 45, 262; Census, p. 20); Thomas Owen petitioned on Sept. 2, 1755, for 250 acres surveyed for Charles Harris and wife, self, and 9 children (JC, Sept. 2, 1755), for which he had a survey Nov. 24, 1755, on northeast side of Broad River on Conaway Creek; someone of the same name had a survey of 200 acres on Wilkinsons Creek Aug. 25, 1752 (Plats, VI, 64; V, 448); John Gregory, an old man, came from East Jersey May, 1748, and petitioned in Page 207 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. 1749 that his 50 acres be included with his son Benjamin’s land, Benjamin Gregory’s land being laid out in 1750 on Crims Creek; Richard Gregory of East Jersey asked in Feb., 1749, for 300 acres on Wateree Creek for himself, wife and 4 small children, 278 acres being laid out for him at the junction of Wateree Creek and Wateree River (JC, Feb. 2, Oct. 3, 1749; Plats, IV, 519; V, 79, 184); these with John Gregory’s sons, Richard and John, were the leaders and constituents; others were John Dunckley on Burkhalters Creek on Broad River 1764 and 1771 (Ibid., IX, 133, 144. 230; XIV, 496); Joseph Smith 300 acres north side Broad on Cedar Creek 1763 (Ibid., X, 133); (2) on Wateree: Isaac Aldridge, Jr. and Sr., 200 acres 1765 and 200 acres 1768 on Crooked Creek of Wateree (Ibid., VIII, 180; X, 228); James Dunn 100 acres on west side of Catawba 1768 (Ibid., XIV, 506); William Harriss 200 acres on north side Wateree near Sparrow Spring (Ibid., IV, 453); Matthias (Messias) Fellows 100 acres 1765 on Twenty-five Mile Creek (Ibid., IV, 93); 100 acres 1771 on Taylors Creek (Ibid., XV, 106); Richard Kirkland 350 acres on Wateree Creek on path from the Congarees to the Catawba Nation 1753 at which time Richard Gregory’s land bounded his (Ibid., V, 353), 150 acres on southwest side of Wateree on Richard Gregory in 1762 (Ibid., VII, 252); a Richard Kirkland was also on Chavises Creek of Stevens [Stephens] Creek in 1771 (Ibid., XVII, 495; XXI, 448); (3) South of Broad River: Paul Williams on Second Creek petitioned for 150 acres of land for his daughter’s husband, John Pearson, who came from Philadelphia and is later called a Quaker (Charleston County Records, Bills of Sale 1765-9, p. 408; JC, Nov. 29, 1750); the land was surveyed on Reedy Branch near Second Creek between Broad and Saluda and certified to John Pearson May 7, 1751 (Plats, V, 126); there was also another John Pearson of Broad River Church, probably John Pearson of Congaree, who exhorted here; Sam Cannon, Esq., 100 acres on Broad River in 1754 (Bundle referred to in Plat Index, plat lost); he had later surveys of 200 acres on Cedar Shoal Creek of Enoree 1765 and 200 acres 1771 and 150 acres 1772 on Cannons Creek (Plats, VIII, 371; XIII, 520-1); Ephraim Cannon 200 acres on Cannons Creek 1769 (Ibid., XI, 15); Benjamin Gregory (supra); Jeremiah Pearson 100 acres 1772 on Second Creek in fork of Broad and Saluda (Ibid., XIX, 106); George Smith 100 acres on Cannons Creek 1756 (Ibid., VI, 208); the only survey found for Lewis Williams, another member, was 200 acres on Coosawhatchie 1767 (Ibid., XXI, 483); and the only surveys of Joshua Edwards, another member, were in Welsh Tract; and of William James on Peedee (see Plat Index). f549 Israel Seymour (or Zeymore) was a native of Newcastle, Pa., ordained at Ephrata; he was successively master of a vessel, in the army, and a school master at Peedee; “He is a man of wit and some learning, but unstable as water;” Edwards, Furman MS, p. 68. f550 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 49; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 31, 32; Furman MS, p. 73; the account of the Congaree Association in the Furman manuscript is broken off and destroyed; Edwards, N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 399. f551 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 13, 14. Page 208 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f552 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 31, 32; Furman MS, p. 73. f553 Ibid.; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 156. f554 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 15-18; Newman, U. S. Baptists, p. 314. f555 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1775. f556 Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 19, quoting a record of Pacolet (Skull Shoals) Church written in 1787, eleven years after the events described, and probably erroneous In some particulars. f557 Benedict, Baptist History (1848), p. 712. f558 Pugh’s Diary, Dec. 20, 1778, Nov. 21, 1779; Gregg, Cheraws, p. 304, quoting Pugh’s Diary June-July, 1780, passim; see note 51, Chapter VII. f559 “Hart’s Diary,” In YBC, 1896, p. 391. f560 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 15. f561 “Hart’s Diary,” In YBC, 1896, p. 399. f562 Botsford to Rippon, Rippon’s Reg. 1790-93, p. 104; Mallary, Botsford, pp. 51-60. f563 Sommers (ed.), Baptist Library, I, 300. f564 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 356. f565 Furman, “A Loyal Subject”; Cook, Richard Furman, pp. 71-3; Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1775-1780 (New York, 1901), p. 456; Colyer Meriwether, History of Higher Education in South Carolina (Washington, 1888, p. 94; see note 133, Chapter I. f566 Stub Entries, R-T, p. 221; Holcombe, First Fruits, 21, 39; Cathcart (ed.), Baptist Encyclopedia, p. 513. f567 Stub Entries, R-T, pp. 183, 276, 279; O-Q, pp. 189, 190, 235; X, Pt. II, pp. 91, 149, 96, 141, 206; 14, 149; X, pt. I, p. 44; Y-Z, p. 27, L-N, p. 199. f568 Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 355, 359-63, 400, 401, 405-14. f569 Ibid.; Francis Boykin belonged to Myddleton’s Regiment. Sumter’s Brigade, Stub Entries, L-N, p. 168; X, Pt. II, p. 10; “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 392. f570 Drayton, Memoirs, I, 400. f571 “Tennent’s Journal,” in YBC, 1894, pp. 296-312. Page 209 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f572 “The Journal of Alexander Chesney, a South Carolina Loyalist in the Revolution and after,” ed. by E. Alfred Jones, in Ohio State University Bulletin, XXVI (1921), No. 4, pp. 56, 63, 7. f573 Col. Robert Gray, “Observations on the War in Carolina,” In SCHGM, XI (1910), 140, 148-9. f574 Padgetts Creek CB, Nov., 1784. f575 Chesney’s Journal, p. 11; “Narrative of David Fanning,” in State Rec. N.C., XXII, 180-90; Drayton, Memoirs, I, 383-430; Rev. J. H. Saye, “Memoirs of Major Joseph McJunkin,” in The Greenwood (S.C.) Index-Journal, 1925, reprint, p. 14; “Diary of Lieutenant Anthony Allaire,” in Lyman C. Draper, King’s Mountain and its Heroes (Cincinnati, 1881), pp. 484-515. f576 “Gray’s Observations,” in SCHGM, XI (1910), 145, 154. f577 Mallary, Botsford, pp. 60-3. f578 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 157. f579 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1786; the account is written from the minutes of church meetings in Turkey Creek CB, 1785-1804. f580 Constituents of Turkey Creek: Sarah Foster (sister of Ambrose Foster), Thomas Foster, Elizabeth Hall, Benjamin Northcut, Archibald Shirley, Margaret Shirley, Mary Shirley, Richard Shirley, Thomas Shirley, James Smith, Joseph Smith, Leannah Smith, Mary Smith, Sarah Smith, Martha Ware, Nicholas Ware; other members mentioned in the minutes, seventytwo of whom signed the covenant, were: James Addams, Polly Addams, Sarah Adams, Jane Aldridge, Nathaniel Aldridge, Rosey Aldridge, __________ Anderson, Margaret Armstrong (wife of William) William Armstrong, Mary Baremore, John Baugh, Edmund Bearden, Joseph Birchfield, Dicy Birchfield (wife of Joseph), Abraham Bradley, William Brown, Richard Camp, Andrew Carson, John Cheatham, Susannah Clure, Samuel Cobb, Cornelius Cook, Nancy Cornelius, Sally Cross, James Crowder, Aaron Crump, Charles Cullins, Clary Cullins, Dorcas Cullins, Joseph Culp, Mary Culp (wife of Joseph), Phebe Culp, __________ Danibey, Anna Delph, Lewis Deweese, Elizabeth Dodson, Enoch Dodson, Arthur Durham, Elizabeth Durham (wife of Arthur), Daniel Drummond, Nancy Drummond, Alexander Elgin, Catherine Elgin, Robert Elgin, Charles England, Ambrose Foster, Fanny Gafford (wife of Stephen), Stephen Gafford, Caty Gaines (daughter of Henry), Henry Gaines, Molly Gaines (daughter of Henry), Susannah Gaines, Elizabeth Gant, John Garner, Letha Garner (wife of John), widow Gipson, Margaret Goltney, Elizabeth Green, David Green, George Green, Elizabeth Grubs, John Hall, Luke Hanks, Nancy Hanks (wife of Luke), Alex Harper, Sarah Harper (wife of Alex), Mary Henderson (wife of Michael), Michael Henderson, George Higs, Sarah Holsclaw, Rebecca Hughes, Elizabeth Kinman (wife of James), James Kinman, Charlotte Leech, Barbara Long, Elizabeth Long, Nicholas Long, Hannah Looney, John Lord Page 210 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Margaret Lord, Mary Lord, Molly Lord, William Lord, David McGladery, Aggathis Matthews (wife of Chichester), Chichester Matthews Anna Magee, Michael Magee, __________ Morrow, Ezekiel Nash, John Nash, Mary M. Nash, Polly Nash, Jacob Neal, Nancy Neal (wife of Jacob). Rebecca Neal, Benjamin Neighbours, __________ Niswangez, __________ Norris, and wife, Thomas Norris, __________ Osten, James Osten, Frances Owen, Sally Owen, Polly Owens Polly Petty, Sally Petty (?), Esse Piles, Mrs. M. Posey, Nancy Posey, Sarah Pratt, Daniel Putman. James Putman, John Putman, Mary Putman, Milly Putman, Sally Putman, Sarah Putman (wife of Daniel), William Putman, Mary Quine, Bethiah Rainy, Anna Redding (wife of Joseph), Rev. Joseph Redding, Nutty (Nellie?) Reeve, James Rice, Elizabeth Rice, Zephaniah Roberts, Fanny Saylor, Dorcas Shirley, Elizabeth Shirley (two—one the wife of John), James Shirley, John Shirley, Lydia Shirley, Polly Shirley, Thomas Shirley’s wife and son Elijah, Drury Sims, Thomas Sims, Nimrod Smith, Sarah Spruill, Simeon Spruill, John Swain, Mary Swain, Hannah Swindle, Rev. George Tillman, Charles Watkins, James Watkins, Nancy Watkins, Army Weathers, Isaac Welden, Rev. Arthur Williams, Ireda Wilbanks (wife of Joseph), Joseph Wilbanks, Elizabeth Yarber (wife of William), William Yarber (Yarborough?). f581 Joseph Redding was minister at Dry Run Church, Licking Association, Chichester Matthews a licentiate at Bullittsburg Church, North Bend Association, Ky., in 1812 (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 540); John Nash had a survey of 100 acres in 1788 on branches of Turkey Creek waters of Saluda touching lands of Jeremiah McWhirter and Benjamin Ball; he was living in Abbeville County with four, slaves in 1790 (Plats, XXIIIq, 332; Census, p. 59); David Green had a survey of 150 acres in 1785 on north side of Saluda River and of 340 acres in 1787 on Reedy River whereon a meeting house was located; he was living in Laurens County with 5 slaves In 1790 (Ibid., p. 72; Plats, 10, 177; XXIIq, 36). f582 Drury Sims was probably connected with, If he was not himself the assistant minister at Rocky River branch of Haw River, N.C., Church In 1772; he was living In Lauren County without slaves in 1790 and in 1794 had a survey of 50 acres on north side of north fork of Raeburns Creek waters of Saluda River; his will dated Jan. 31, 1832, and proved Nov. 27, 1839, bequeaths most of his property to daughter Poly and mentions son Drury and deceased daughter who married Abner Hitt (Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 389; Census, p. 72; Plats, XXX II, 351; Laurens County PC, Box 98, Pkg. 15). f583 George Tillman preached widely in Ga. and S.C.; in 1812 he was pastor of Arringtons Creek Church in Concord Association, Tenn. (Ga. Assoc. Min., 1788, 1792; Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-1803; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 538). f584 Probably connected with Stephen N. Northcut who had surveys in 1785 on Hogskin Branch and Chickasaw Creek of Savannah, Benjamin Northcut (Northcutt), was living in Abbeville County without slaves in 1790 (Plats, XVq, 282-4; Asplund’s Req., 2. and 5. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1795-1803; Turkey Creek CB, 1785-1804; Arthur Williams is said to have been born in Guilford County, N.C., Page 211 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. in 1773, whence his parents removed to Abbeville County, S.C., soon after the Revolution; ordained at Providence Church in 1801, he was an advocate of missions and an educated ministry; his death occurred May 13, 1860 (T. H. Garrett, A History of the Saluda Baptist Association … (Richmond, 1896), pp. 264-7). f585 Turkey Creek CB, 1785-1004, passim. f586 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1789, 1792; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1792; the information on Nancy Hanks has no genealogical implications. f587 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 124; the minutes for the first 18 years have been lost; the church was called Hogskin Meeting House in Turkey Creek CE to Aug., 1791; Asplund’s Rep. 3 ed.; Mills’s Atlas, Map of Abbeville District. f588 Turkey Creek CB, July, Aug., 1791: List of members dismissed from Turkey Creek; Katharine Blades, Joseph Culp, Obediah Fields, Wm. Grant, John Gresham, Jacob Hackleman, Thomas Jones, Thomas Lacey, Jos. Parker, Elizabeth Saylor, John Saylor, Philip Saylor, Ahimaas Spencer; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 124. f589 Turkey Creek CB, Oct., 1791. f590 Asplund’s Rep., 5, ed., gives George Tillman as a candidate at Little River Church ordained in 1791: Bethel Assoc. Min., 1792, gives John Tilghman as Little River minister, probably a mistake for George Tillman; Ibid., 1793- 1804. f591 Turkey Creek CB, Aug., Sept., 1793. f592 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 124; Little River petitioned Turkey Creek and Big Creek for heaps to settle a difficulty of importance in Feb., 1803, Turkey Creek CB, Dec., 1802: Big Creek CB, Jan., 1803. f593 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 256-7; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1803; Asplund’s Reg., 3. ed: James Crowther (Crowder) is said to have been born in Yorkshire, Eng., June 25, 1762, professed religion 1789, ordained 1792; living without family or slaves in Abbeville County In 1790, he later married a Stuckey; he died Nov. 4, 1829, and is buried at Little River Church (Census, p. 58; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 105-13; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1803); Moses Holland came from Va. to S.C., where he was ordained at Big Creek in 1788; he is said to have served in the Revolution, entering the army at sixteen; settling in Anderson County near Holland’s Ford, his church connections were with Big Creek, Hopewell, Neals Creek and Friendship; he was one of the most powerful and influential preachers of his day; dying Sept. 8, 1829, he was buried at Big Creek where a handsome monument marks his grave; his will made Sept. 4, and proved Nov. 9, 1829, signed by a mark, mentions his wife Gracy and children Moses, Aaron, Caleb, Joshua, Tabitha, Eleb, Ellender, James, Chesley, John, Fanny, Thomas (Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 248-9; Census, p. 82; Anderson County PC, Wills A, p. 397). Page 212 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f594 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1792. f595 Turkey Creek CB, June, 1794. f596 Plats, XXIIq, 36: this plat shows 340 acres at junction of Reedy River and Dunlaps Branch touching lands of Daniel Dunlap, David McGlathnay (McGladery), David Green, and Major Pierce Butler; Laurens County RMC, Deeds M, p. 221: Deed of Elias Teague conveying land in 1831 to Poplar Spring Church on waters of Reedy River on south side of Poplar Spring road, around and whereon Poplar Spring meeting house “now is;” Poplar Spring CB, Nov., 1799, mentions that the land was to be seen to. f597 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-5; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed. f598 Poplar Spring CB, July, 1794: Members of Poplar Spring Church, 17941804, as found in the church book with constituents italicized: Rosannah Baugh, Jonathan Deweese, Arthur Durham and Elizabeth his wife, Elizabeth Gafford, Thomas Gafford, Henry Gaines, Mary (Molly?) Gaines (daughter of Henry), Sister Green, David Green, Michael Henderson, Lewis Hunt, David McGladery, Benjamin Neighbours, Thomas Norris, William Norris and wife Martha, Sally Pugh, Sister Savealls, James Simmons and wife and daughter, William Simmons, Elizabeth Thompson, Sister Thompson, Amos Williams, John Williams, Jr., John Williams, Sr., Rachel WiLliams, William Williams, Samuel Yager; no negro members; Bethel Aasoc. Min., 1794-1803. f599 Poplar Spring CB, Jan., Apr., June, 1803, Oct., 1804; Apr., Sept., 1799; Dec., 1798; Turkey Creek CB, Apr., Sept., 1799; Dec., 1798; nothing regarding Jonathan Deweese except his connection with Poplar Spring, Mountain Creek, and Fork Shoal Churches has teen found; Benjamin Neighbours was living in Newberry County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 76). f600 Turkey Creek CB, 1787; Poplar Spring CB, 1796; Census, p. 72; Plats, IIIq, 80; VIq, 84; XXIIq, 36: Arthur Durham was living in Laurens County without slaves in 1790; surveys were made for him on Reedy River below the Indian boundary line, 137 acres in 1784 and 300 acres in 1785; he was received into Turkey Creek June 8, 1787, and was dismissed from Poplar Spring by letter in November, 1796; David McGlodrie (also McGladry, MeGiadery, McGlathany) was living in Laurens County without slaves in 1790, in which year he had land touching David Green’s; nothing is recorded regarding him after April, 1795—it is probable that he and Arthur Durham went west. f601 Poplar Spring CB, June, Oct., 1797, Apr., 1801, Sept., 1803. July, 1794, Aug., 1797, Oct., 1799, Jan., Mar., Aug., 1795, July, Aug., Oct., 1796, Aug., 1804. f602 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794. f603 Ibid., 1791; Turkey Creek CB, July, 1791; the identity of Dirty Creek and Spur Creek is a guess; neither Henry Mouzon, et al., An Accurate Map of North Page 213 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. and South Carolina with their Indian Frontiers (London, 1775), nor Mills’s Atlas shows Dirty Creek; Spur Creek appears on the map of Abbeville District in the latter. f604 Ga. Assoc. Min., 1788; Asplund’s Reg., 3. ed. f605 Ibid.; Mercer, Ga. Assoc., pp. 25-7; Nathaniel Hall was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790 ( Census, p. 85); Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 131, states the name was formerly Lenthall, and that Nathan Hall, as he designates Nathaniel Hall of the Georgia Association records, was a grandson of Robert Lenthall, a friend of Roger williams; the name Lent as a Christian name is still used by the Halls of the Rocky River section but it has not been found on the records (Plats, L, 276; LII, 166). f606 Asplund’s Reg., 3. and 5. ed.; Ga. Assoc. Min., 1788, 1792; Lower Rocky River Church statistics: 1788, James Wembish messenger, 6 baptized, no total; 1791, Edmund Sync messenger; 1792, no report. f607 Mercer, Ga. Assoc., pp. 27, 34-5; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1797; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 388-92; Jeremiah Walker was born in N.C. in 1747, preached chiefly in Va., and later in Ga.; he died Sept. 20, 1792. f608 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1797-9. f609 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 131-2; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 160, lists Wilson Creek Church as a constituent o: the Saluda Association never before associated; from this and from its location, it is inferred that it must have been the reconstituted Upper Rocky River Church; the account in Garrett is said to have been taken from early records now lost; the statement is made that Wilson Creek was an arm of Little River from 1794 and was supplied by George Tillman and Philip Phagans, receiving separate constitution in 1803; no other evidence on these points has been found; it was later again named Rocky River Church. f610 Ga. Assoc. Min., 1788; Aspund’s Reg., 6. ed.; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 131-2. f611 “Tennent’s Journal,” in YBC, 1794, p. 305; Howe, Presbyterian Church, I, 551; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-1800; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 160; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 24, 265; Garret puts Ebenezer Church near Marietta in Greenville County, evidently another Ebenezer entering Saluda Association later; the Rowden Church mentioned by him as near Johns Creek Church In Abbeville County, which was in existence in 1793, might have been Ebenezer, but the statement in the text is more probable; for its location see Mills’s Atlas, map of Abbeville. f612 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 132; Saluda Assoc. Min., 1810. Page 214 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f613 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1792-3; the name of the minister unfavorably reported is not known; no minister is named for 1790-4 in Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6, ed. f614 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794; Rev. James Sweat left Coosawhatchie Church in 1794 and probably went at once to Bethesda. f615 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., 1768; the church now claims in the State Convention lists 1777; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 57, 1788. f616 Charieston Assoc. Min., 1802; Bethesda is now known as Treadway Church, Elijah Treadway on Jan. 20, 1810, having conveyed four acres to Upper Three Runs Church on west side of Runs as a lot for a meeting house (Aiken County CC, Deeds E, p. 409); the church is located near Hawthorne, northwest of Upper Three Runs and about ten miles from Savannah River. f617 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 57, 65; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1793-4, 1807; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Enon was described as located 100 miles on Savannah River in What was called Winton County, and was probably near Ellenton, whose church may have originated from it; a Joseph Thomas was living in Orangeburg County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 102). f618 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 114, gives the traditional date of constitution as 15 or 20 years before 1800; Asplund’s Reg., 1. and 3, ed., lists a church called Savannah River, Love’s or Lover’s Ferry, in Abbeville District, which was organized in 1790 and which had In that year 30 members, served by Lewis Skelton, an itinerant from a church at Pittsylvania, Va.; and from entries in Ibid., 5, and 6. ed., it appears that the above was meant for Shockley Ferry; the figures there given for 1790-4 are obviously erroneous; according to statements in Mercer, Ga. Assoc., p. 28, Shockley Ferry Church must have entered that association sometime between 1788 and 1792; no Lewis Skelton has been found, but a Lewis Shelton was living in 1790 (Census, p. 82) in Pendleton District with 4 slaves, and there are references to a Lewis Shelton in Padgetts Creek CB (1804) and in Cedar Spring CB (1802). f619 Ga. Assoc. Min., 1792; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-6, 1800. f620 Ibid., 1795-1800; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 262-4; Census, p. 81: Rev, Cooper Bennett was born in Caroline County, Va. in 1759; his family removed to S.C. just after the Revolution and settled In the western part of Anderson County, then Pendleton District; he was pastor of Shockley Ferry Church for forty years, but due to his Arminian views, Mountain Creek branch rejected his ministry and Shockley Ferry Church was dropped from the association; he married Miss Stiles; his death occurred in Greenville County June 14, 1848. f621 Garrett, Saldua Assoc., p. 137, gives material from Mountain Creek records on the history of Shockley Ferry Church; Big Creek CB, Nov., 1802. Page 215 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f622 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 160, states that Shockley Ferry at its entrance into Saluda Association had never before been associated, but this is an error. f623 Asplund’s Reg., 3. and 5. ed.; the church was located on or near Generostee Creek; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-4; Genestie or Genestie Creek was thirteenth on the list. f624 Ibid., 1791-7; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 26; Census, p. 81; Plats, VIIq, 478, XXIq, 184, XVIII, 114: Rev. James Chastain was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790, he having obtained three surveys, 125 acres in 1785 on Warrens Branch of South Fork of Tyger, 547 acres on Reedy Fork of Tyger and 154 acres on Reedy Fork Creek of South Tyger in 1786; he probably preached at Mountain Creek branch until his death fn 1820. f625 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1790-4. f626 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 136-7, quoting records of Mountain Creek Church: John McCutchen (McKutchen) was in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 81). f627 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 105; Asplund’s Reg., 3. ed.; Bethel Assoc, Min., 1791, shows Big Creek Church twelfth on the list of churches. f628 Ibid., 1796-8; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Sarepta Assoc. Min., 1805; Plats, XLII, 137; Tugaloo Assoc. Min., 1833; Rev. George Vandiver probably began preaching at Lower Church on Sandy River about 1793; a survey was made for him in 1809 of 200 acres on Farrars Creek waters of Tugaloo River; later connected with Big Creek, Mountain Creek, and Hepzibah, he died in 1833 at the age of silty-nine, having preached 44 years; James Wilborn (Welborn or Welbourn) was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 92). f629 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1802; Garrett. Saluda Assoc., pp. 105-6; Big Creek CB, Sept., 1801-Dec., 1804; names of members 1801-1804 omitted by error are listed in Index: Benedict, Baptist History, II, 160. f630 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., gives Brushy Creek, 6. ed., Brush Creek; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1802, in general gives Brush Creek, but in the 1802 list of dismissals to Saluda Association Brushy Creek is given, though the 1803 list shows that Brush Creek was intended, and that Brushy Creek remained in the Bethel Association; Big Creek CB, Apr., 1801, and Head of Enoree Church Chronicle (Rev. F. K. Pool, Furman University), Sept., 1804, confuse the two churches; no reference to Carter Tarrants other than Asplund has been found, though he is possibly Terrence Carrell who had land in fork of Broad and Saluda on Beaverdam Creek of Tyger River in 1772 touching land of Robert Orr; John Gladdis (Gladdies) is mentioned Page 216 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. by Asplund, and in Bush River CB, 1794; John Howard had surveys of several hundred acres in 1775 near waters of Saluda River (Plats, XVII, 107-8) and was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 70), he was ordained at Main Saluda River Church in 1793; Robert Orr had a survey in 1772 of 100 acres in fork of Broad and Saluda on Beaverdam Creek of Tyger touching Terrence Carrell (Plats, XIX, 7); he appears to have come from N.C. (N.C. State Rec., XXII, 4, 37, 709); James Head was dismissed from Padgetts Creek Church in 1789; he was living in Spartanburg County with two slaves in 1790 (Padgetts Creek CE, 1787, 1789; Census, p. 86). f631 Saluda Assoc. Min., 1811, shows Mount Pisgah occupying the position formerly occupied by Brush Creek Church; however, identity of the two is not positive, though the above fact and the location of the two are indicative; Mount Pisgah was later called Pisgah. f632 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1787, 1791-1803; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 64, locates Little Salkehatchie as 80 miles north and west of Charleston; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 532. gives 32 members in 1812; many old records spell the name Saltcatcher. f633 Rippon’s Reg., 1790-1793, pp, 112-3; Charleston Assoc, Min., 1790-1806; Shuck, Barnwell Assoc., p. 30, gives brethren Halford and Creech as first deacons; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 64, locates Great Salkehatchie as 80 miles north and west of Charleston; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 532, lists 22 members in 1812. f634 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 56, gives date of constitution as “about 1789,” but does not locate the church; Charleston Assoc, Min., 1798-1802; Shuck, Barnwell Assoc., p. 27, locates Lower Three Runs Church at Patterson’s Mill and gives James Geddings and John Cave as first deacons; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 532, gives 78 members in 1812; the records were burned in 1823; it is claimed Sherman used the timber of the old building to bridge Lower Three Runs in 1865. f635 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 222. f636 Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, pp. 23-4, quoting Pacolet records; the list of constituents there given is Susannah Bailey, John Cole (there were several John Coles in the early records; the member of Pacolet was probably also the constituent of Sandy River in 1776 who had a survey of 200 acres in 1784 on waters of Pacolet and who was living in Union District with two slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 92; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 20; Plats, Vq, 176), Mary Cole, Hannah Lamb, Samuel Lamb (survey of 100 acres in 1765 on Lower Camp Creek, Ibid., IX, 236); John Morehead (in Union County without slaves and with 7 in family in 1790, Census, p. 94); John Palmer (in Union County with one slave In 1790, Ibid., p. 92); John Pauphum, James Pettie (in Union County without slaves 12 in family in 1790 (Ibid., p. 94); Martha Pettie, John Reed (in Union County with 17 slaves in 1790, Ibid., p. 92); Judith Reed, William Spears (in Spartanburg County Page 217 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. without slaves and with 6 in family in 1790, Ibid., p. 86); Ezekiel Stone (in Union County without slaves in 1790, Ibid., p. 92); Jane Stone, Joseph Walker (Ibid.); Mary Walker, Jane Wood, Mary Wood, Richard Wood, Jr., and Sr. (both lived in Union County without slaves in 1790; the one who became a minister is probably the pastor listed for Forks of Little Pigeon Church and moderator of Tennessee Association, Tenn., 1809; Ibid.; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 536); the church is first given its unofficial designation Skull Shoals in Bethel Assoc. Min., 1803; William Scison (Sisson or Sizum) said to have given the church lot, was living in Union County with 2 slaves in 1790 (Census, p 93). f637 Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-4. f638 Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 25. f639 Bethel Assoc, Min., 1791, 1793-4, 1802-3; Pacolet was seventeenth on the 1791 list of churches; the name Lipsey appears on the records in Barnwell County during this period, but not of Ricketson Lipsey (Plats, XXXVIII, 91); scattered minutes of Hopewell Church, 1811-34 (Furman University). f640 Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 574; the original building stood a quarter of a mile west of where State Highway No. 10 crosses the State line; Broad River Assoc. Min. 1900, p. 53, the centennial number, contains an account of the church, giving the date of organization as traditionally 1794. f641 Bethet Assoc. Min., 1797-1800; Cedar Spring CB, May, 1803; John Turner was living,n Spartanburg County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 88); he was later deacon of Buck Creek Church and a leader in the Broad River Association (Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 527, 559); Zechariah Blackwell lived in Spartanburg County without’ slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 88); Drury Dobbins later removed to Sandy Run Church in N.C., his death occurring in 1847 (Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 19). f642 Ibid., p. 574; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 158. f643 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-2; M. M. Durham, “Scraps from the Register of Old Woodward Church,” in News and Courier, Charleston, S.C., July 17, 1910; Asplund’s Reg. 5, and 6. td.; Arthur Cornwall, “History of Woodward Baptist Church,” undated clipping from The Chester Reporter, Chester, S.C.; this was probably George Vandiver. f644 Durham, “Woodward Church,” in News and Courier, July 17, 1910; the records of the church were burned a few years ago; as the quotations In the article are unfortunately undated. ft is probable that many of them belong to the period after 1805, but from the fact that church controversies Page 218 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. regarding membership in the Masonic Lodges raged about 1791 and just after, it is assmued that some of the entries are prior to 1804; a marble tablet on the church wall bears this inscription; “Sacred| to| the Memory off Elder William Woodward| Who departed this life in the year of ours Lord 1820, on the 23d day of July: Aged| 57 years, 9 months and 16 days.| This Tablet| Is erected to his memory by this church,| which was planted by his| Instrumentality,| Through the indulgence| of a kind Providence| A. D 1789| He was also the means of planting some| And building up many of| The neighboring Baptist churches.| In consideration of his manly virtues| This church has unanimously consented| To be known for the future, by the name| Of the Woodward Baptist Church of[ Christ.” William Woodward had seven slaves in Fairfield County in 1790; he is said to have been the son of Thomas Woodward and Jemima Collins his wife; he married Nancy Barrett in 1781; a physician and a member of Congress, he was always a leader in the work of Bethel Association (Census, p. 21; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1820. f645 Ibid., 1803; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; William Woodward and Claiborne Wright were messengers. f646 Cornwall, “Woodward Church,” undated clipping in Chester Reporter, quoting deed from Chester County CC, Deed; I, p. 111. f647 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-1803; the early records of Hopewell Church are lost; the rough minutes 1811-34 (Furman University), include a letter of Aug. 12, 1815, from Robert Harper, clerk, Rocky Spring Church, Ga., stating that Isaac Brakefield came among them in 1806 from Hopewell Church without a letter of dismission and one was desired for him; Samuel Eccles was born in Roscommon, Ireland, which he left because of reverses in business; was active in the French Revolution, whence he came to S.C. and studied for the Baptist ministry with the aid of the Education Fund of the Charleston Association for four years with Rev. J. M. Roberts at Stateburg; he married Anne Dargan, daughter of Rev. Timothy Dargan; his death occurred Aug. 12, 1808, at about forty years of age (Brunson, Ebenezer Church, p. 3; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 293; Charleston Assoc, Min., 1803, 1808; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1802-3; 1809). f648 Asplund’s Reg., 3, and 5. ed., gives Little Stephens [Stevens] Creek and Turkey Creek (Edgefield) Church organized in 1774; the two are obviously the same, or branches of the same congregation, and the date 1774 is probably an error due to an interchange of the dates of constitution of Little Stephens [Stevens] Creek and Big Stephens [Stevens] Creek; the date of constitution of the latter Asplund gives as 1783, also obviously an error, as shown by its history; the name is spelled Stephens [Stevens] Creek in most of the early records. f649 Ibid., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1804, lists the church as Stephens [Stevens] Creek until Big Stephens [Stevens] Creek also entered the association; what is thought to be Rev. Henry King’s will dated Jan. 28 probated Feb. 21, 1820, mentions wife Mary and daughter Eleanor Raney, five slaves, 100 acres of land, and a library of books (Edgefield County PC, Wills Page 219 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. C, p. 37); however, it is claimed he went to Alabama (Chapman, Edgefield County, p. 309); William Eddins (or Eddings) lived in Abbeville County with one slave in 1790 (Census, p. 61); he was later connnected with Oolenoy Church. f650 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1805. f651 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 215; the name of the minister is spelled Klx in the act. f652 Edgefield County CC, Deeds D, pp. 20, 22. f653 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1804-5; JHR, Dec. 19, 1805. f654 Letter of Rev. G. C. Seidenspinner, Nov. 10, 1927; a deed of Charles Jones May 25, 1813, gives to Antioch Church two or more acres on the old line of the meeting house “as the new road runs down to the Hollow” (Edgefield County CC. Deeds HH, p. 327). f655 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-7; Rev. Edward Pigg had a survey of 280 acres in Camden District on a branch of Rafting Creek in 1784, during which time, or shortly after, he was connected with Swift Creek Church; he was living in Fairfield County without slaves in 1790 (Plats Vq, 369; Census, p. 20); Arthur Shuffield was living in Chester County without slaves in 1790 (Ibid., p. 16). f656 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed., Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1802; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 35; Asplund is the only authority for 1773 as the date of constitution; no modern successor has been found, unless Middle River Church near Cleveland, S.C., could claim the honor; Rev. John Chastain was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 84); he was later connected with Oolenoy Church; Rev. Isaac Lemmons lived in N.C.; he was later connected with Double Spring, Holly Spring, and Washington Churches; his life and character were said to be marked by extraordinary purity; he died about 1843 (N.C. State Rec., XXI, 962; J. G. Landrum, “Historical Sketch of the Tiger River Baptist Association,” circular letter in Tyger River Assoc. Min., 1866 (Furman University); Head of Enoree Church Chron., 1799, Aug., 1804. f657 Head of Enoree Church is seventh on the list of churches in Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791; there is no deed to the original site; the church claims 1795 as its date of constitution, but an earlier date is indicated by the records; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6, ed., gives no date of constitution. f658 Thomas Musick (Music) is said to have been born Oct. 17, 1756, in N.C.; he was living without slaves in Greenville County in 1790; converted at seventeen, he preached for a time in S.C., then removed to Missouri, where he founded Fee Fee Church at which he was buried in 1842 (Cathcart (ed.), Baptist Encyclopedia, p. 827; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-2; Census, p. 68); Rev. Abraham Hargess (Hargress) received pay for service in the army in N. C,; he was living in Greenville County without Page 220 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. slaves in 1790; he preached in N.C., after being dismissed by letter from Head of Enoree in 1803 (N.C. State Rec., XVII, 221; Census, p. 68; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 17901800; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 11); David Forester (Forrest) was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 69); Joseph Logan was probably from N.C.; he is said to have been at the constitution of Pacolet Church in 1776; in 1790 he was living In Pendleton District without slaves (Col. Rec. N.C., IX, 89-90; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 19; Census, p. 85; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.); Daniel Flannery was connected with Head of Enoree Church from about 1793 to 1797; he had a survey of 101 acres on Brush Creek of Reedy River in 1792 (Ibid.; Plats, XXXII, 464); William King was living in Spartanburg County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 88); nothing further Is known of Isaiah Stephens o; Joseph Willis than their connection with Head of Enoree and other churches; John Bourland was living in Laurens County without slaves in 1790 and was at Flat Creek Church, Red River Association, Tenn., in 1812 (Census, p. 74; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 537). f659 Head of Enoree Church Chron., Oct., 1800, 1803-4. f660 Ibid., 1799; May, 1791, 1802; Aug., 1803; 1799-1804; the possibility of universal salvation as opposed to the doctrine of election. f661 (McCord led.), Statutes, VIII, 204; William Thurston was living in Greenville County with 4 slaves, Harden Camp (Kemp), Benjamin Bridges, Thomas Cantrell, and John Tubb without slaves, in 1790 (Census, p. 68); John Tubb had surveys of 385 acres on both sides of Enoree near its head and of 323 acres on a head branch of Enoree touching the first in 1785 and of 206 acres on both sides of Reedy River of Enoree in 1793 (Plats, XXq, 139, XIIq, 354, XXXIII, 372). f662 Head of Enoree Church Chron., 1800-01; Bethel Assoc, Min., 1799-1801; the church has been known as Reedy River since 1841; members mentioned 1799-1804 were: Elizabeth Bates, lames Bates, Agatha Barnett, Elizabeth Barrett (or Barrot), John Barrett, Nancy Barton Lucy Batson, Mr. Beavers Elisabeth Beavers, Enoch Benson, Jemimah Benson Margaret Benson, Nancy Benson, Robert Benson, James Blackwell, Judith Blackwell, Rev. John Bourland, Mary Bourland, Sarah Bradley, Benjamin Bridges, Mary Bridges, Charles Bruce, Rebeccah Burkett, William Callihan (also McCallihan), Harden Camp, Sarah Camp, Elizabeth Cantrell, Thomas Cantrell (also Cantril), Hubert Carns, James Conner, Pheby Cooksey, Sally Cooksey, Sarah Cooksey, Sier Cooksey, John Crawford, William Cully, James Delong, Barny Demsy, Charles Demsy, Hannah Duncan, James Duncan, John Duncan, Robert Duncan, Elisabeth Fisher, James Fisher, Sally Fisher (also Sarah Fisher), Overton Goodman, Rebeccah Goodman, Elijah Gorman, Leah Gray, Catherine Grisam (Gresham?), John Hansell, Abraham Hargess, Annie Hargess, John Harrison, Mary Harrison, Mary Harrison, Catherine Hawkins, Elan Hawkins, Sarah Hawkins, Susannah Hooper, Jennett Hooper, Frances King, William King (probably became a minister), Eleanor Land, Lewis Land, Solomon Langston, Mally (Molly?)Lynch, William Lynch, Mary Lovel, Martha McDaniel, Patsey Macvay (McVeigh?), Margaret Page 221 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Neely, Rachel Peyton, Elisabeth Pilgrim, Sally Portman, Benjamin Raglin, Mally (Molly?) Raglin John Reasonover, Catherine Rennall, Mary Rogers, Elisabeth Salmon, William Salmon, Frances Shadwick, Anne Shelton, Billy Shelton, John Sparks (probably became a minister), Mary Staten, Moses Steed, Rebeccah Steed, Isaiah Stephens, Rebeccah Thurston, William Thurston, Zilpa Trammel. Elisabeth Tubb, Heron Tubb, James Tubb, John Tubb, William Tubb, Sr., Eve Upchurch, Dolly Walker, Susannah West, Nancy Wood, Mally (Molly?) Woody. f663 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-7; Abraham Bradley was living in Greenville County with one slave in 1790; he was probably a member of Turkey Creek Church In 1789 (Census, p. 68; Turkey Creek CB, June, 1789); John Howard was probably dismissed by Padgetts Creek Church in 1787 and was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 70; Padgetts Creek CB, 1717; Asplund’s Rep., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1799). f664 Ibid., 1794-7; Head of Enoree Church Chron., 1799-1804. f665 Asplund’s Reg., 2., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-3; Edmund Bearden had a survey of 350 acres in 1773 on the south side of Tyger River; probably a member of Turkey Creek in 1789, he was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790 (Plats, XIII, 164; Census, p. 68; Turkey Creek CB, June. 1789). f666 Brushy Creek CB, 1789-June 2, 1794; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Robert Smith was an itinerant of Concord at the time, having been ordained in 1791; he was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790, and was probably the man serving as pastor of Tancipiho Church, Mississippi Association, in 1813 (Census, p. 70; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 548); Richard Braswell was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790, as was David Hall (Census, p. 69). f667 Baylis Earle had many surveys in Ninety-Six District, some of his land lying on north Pacolet; he was living in Greenville County with 4 slaves in 1790, from which time he was an active member of Reedy River, Concord, and Head of Enoree Churches and of the Bethel Association (Plat Index; Plats, XVIII, 560; Census p. 67; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1800; Head of Enoree Church Chron., Oct., 1803). f668 Concord was not dismissed by Bethel Association in 1800 with the churches that formed Broad River Association, but as it does not appear on Bethel Association Minutes for 1802, it must have been dismissed in 1801, as it later appears in Broad River Association; the nearest postoffice in early times was Merrittsville. Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800, 1802; Broad River Assoc. Min., 1833. f669 Brushy Creek CB, June, 1794, March, 1795; Bethel Assoc. Min., 17961805; Lewis Rector had a survey of 201 acres on Brushy Creek of Enoree and on his own land in 1792; he preached for Brushy Creek Church to 1803, then at Clear Springs to 1827; a progressive farmer and a man of commanding personality, he Page 222 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. worked extensively through Bethal and Saluda Associations, dying about 1833 (Plats, XXXII, 78; Brushy Creek CB, 1796-1803; Clear Spring CB, 1803-1805; Landrum, “Tyger River Assoc.,” in Tyger River Assoc. Min., 1866, Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 257, gives an account of Lewis Rector said to be taken from Professor Griffith’s MS history of South Carolina Baptists, by O. W. Whilden); List of members Brushy Creek Church 1800-1804: Sister Anthony, Joshua Barton, Rocky Bayne, Jacob Bridewell, well, Jacob Bright, Benjamin Butler, Elizabeth Butler, Willis Butler and Sally his wife Abraham Carney, Hubbard Carney, Nancy Davis, Dewey Dupre, Peter Foster (?), Archibald Fowler, Polly Georgan, Tyrle Glenn, Grace Greene, Capt. Horatio Griffin, John Holland, Solomon Hornbuckle, Pleasant Hudson and wife Sarah, William Johnson and wife Jane, Elizabeth Kemp, John Kemp, Richard Kemp, Janey Kilgore, Richard Ralph (?), Lewis Rector, Henry Reynes (?), George Russell, Aggy Sams, George Sanders, Joshua Stephens, Nancy Waddle, Daniel Wilbanks, Joseph Wilbanks. f670 Brushy Creek CB, 1799-1804, passim. f671 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791, 1792; Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed. f672 Ibid.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1802; Asplund names the church Horse Creek on Reedy River and gives date of constitution as 1789; Fork Shoal Church now claims 1785 as its date of constitution; its place on the list of churches indicates its being a constituent of Bethel Association; its records prior to 1805 have been lost or destroyed; thirteen acres of land including Fork Shoal meeting house was conveyed in 1850 by John C. Fowler to the church, being located on Fork Shoal road running from Reedy River to Saluda River (Codey’s Bridge), and on waters of Reedy Fork of Reedy River, with free access to spring (Greenville County RMC, Deeds W, p. 141). f673 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-98; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed.; the location is a guess based on the name. f674 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1803; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed.; Fellowship Church of Greenwood County is in approximately the location of Cambridge Church; Rev. John Waller was born Dec. 23, 1751, in Spottsylvania County, Va.; his early wickedness and conversion were remarkable; he was baptized in 1767 and ordained June 20, 1770; he became Arminian and conducted great camp meetings, later returning to the Regular position and conducting revivals; he removed to Abbeville County in 1793 to be near his daughter, Mrs. Abraham Marshall; he was connected with Cambridge, Bethabara, Cross Road and Siloam Churches, and was an active member of association; he died July 4, 1802 (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 393-99; Semple, Virginia Baptists, pp. 403-11; Siloam CB, 1794- 1804; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1800); Rev. David Lilly probably came from N.C.; he was an active writer and preacher of Bethel Association; his pastorates were with Jameys Creek, Cambridge and Welsh Neck Churches; he died about 1809 (Edwards, “N, C, Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 387; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1790-1803; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed; Benedict, Baptist History (1848), pp. 712-3. Page 223 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f675 McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 234. f676 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1803; the 1801 minutes have not been found; it is assumed change in name was made that year, as it was an accomplished fact and was not mentioned in 1802; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed., is in error in locating the church in Pendleton District; Turkey Creek CB, Nov., Dec., 1800, Jan., 1801. f677 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1799-1803; Siloam CB, 1799-1804, June 29, 1799: List of constituents: John Waller, Charles Foushee, John Ball, Nancy Ball, Benjamin Waller, Joanah Waller, John N, Waller, Martha Nichols, Phoebe Turret, Claben Wright, Elizabeth Wright, Mary Gains, Tabitha Kemp, David Gains, Peggy Gains, old Sister Drummond, Peter Ball, Delilah Ball, Daniel Trussel, Elizabeth M. Waller, Patterson Pulliam, Benjamin Drummond, Ann Conner, Doratha Waller, and 5 negroes (only 29). f678 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed.; C. W. Hood, Historical Facts Gathered and Presented at the Home Coming and Memorial Service, Durbin Creek Church, June 19th, 1921 (MS, Furman University); Padgetts Creek CE, Sept., 1788; Tyger River CB, Sept., 1802; June, 1804; William Chiles was living in Edgefield County with 20 slaves in 1790; it is not known of what church he was a member (Census, p. 64); no record of Meshec Overby has been found but persons of the same name were living in Abbeville in about 1800 (Plats, XL. 105). f679 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1891, 1800, 1803; Hood, Historical Facts (MS, Furman University); Rev. Jacob Roberts was living in Laurens County with 3 slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 75); his will made Jan. 3, 1804, signed by mark, proved April 15, 1806, mentions wife Mary, daughters Allemon Brown, Elesabeth Meadows, Sarah Gilbert, Morah (Mary?) Roberts, and sons John Roberts, Isaac Roberts, Jacob Roberts, Thomas Roberts (Laurens County PC, Wills C-1, p. 217); Thomas Goodwin, ordained at Durbin Creek in 1805, was living in Laurens County without slaves in 1790, his estate being administered there in 1831 (Ibid., Box 27, pkg. 10; Census, p. 75); Samuel Brown, also ordained at Durbin Creek in 1805, was probably living either in Greenville or Newberry County in 1790 without slaves; his death is announced as occurring on Sept. 15, 1832 (Hood, Historical Facts (MS, Furman University); Census, pp. 70, 79; Reedy River Assoc. Min., 1832). f680 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1803; Tyger River CB, Sept., 1802; Asplund states that Durbin Creek was in a declining situation on account of peculiarities in 1794. f681 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-98. f682 Asplund’s Reg., 3. and 5. ed.: Asplund gives in 1790 a second Durbin Creek Church, which, from position and figures, might have been Upper Duncans Creek, but this might also be merely one of Asplund’s numerous errors; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1803; Padgetts Creek CB, Nov., 1794; Tyger River CB, Sept., Page 224 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. 1801; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, p. 186; Laurens County CC, Deeds N, p. 152: a deed by Henry Langston and James G. Robinson, to 50 acres “whereon the house of said church now stands” was made to Upper Duncans Creek in 1836; the church is now known as Langston; Joshua Palmer emigrated from England, settling first in the Lower Fork of Lynches Creek region, appearing in the Charleston Association by 1785; he obtained surveys of 150, 100, and 133 acres in 1785 and 1786 on or near Lynches Creek; he was living in Cheraws District without slaves in 1790; after serving as minister of Lower Fork of Lynches Creek and an active delegate to the Charleston Association 178992, he appeared in Bethel Association as minister of Upper Duncans Creek Church 1793-1808, when he left for Indiana with a large number of his congregation and was pastor of Dry Fork Church, Whitewater Association, in 1812, dying before 1835; he was an eloquent but uneducated preacher, of singular manner and no pride, zealous in performing all associational functions and in helping such neighboring churches as Padgetts Creek, Durbin Creek, Friendship, Poplar Springs, and Lower Duncans Creek (from all available evidence and dates of service, the Joshua Palmer who served Charleston Association was the same as the Joshua Palmer who served Bethel Association, although there was a Joshua Palmer in Union County in 1790; Reedy River Assoc, Min., 1835; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1785; 1789-92; Plats, VIIq, 91; XXIIIq, 202; XXVq, 228; Census, pp. 45, 91; Bethel Assoc, Min., 1793-1808; Padgetts Creek CB, 1794, 1799; Poplar Spring CB, June, 1803, June, Dec., 1804); June, 1796; Apr., 1797; Tyger River CB, July, 1801; June, 1802, John Brown had a survey on Millers Branch of Duncans Creek in 1767, and another of 80 acres in 1784 on Duncans Creek below the Indian boundary; he was living in Laurens County without slaves in 1790 (Plats, XIII, 374; IXq, 373; Census, pp. 73, 75); Reuben Kelly is probably the man listed as Reuben Kellogg in Laurens County in 1790 (Ibid., p. 75); he was at New Hope Church, Elks River Association, Tenn., in 1812 (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 538). f683 Bethabara CB, 1801-1805; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1795-1803; Laurens County CC, Deeds Q, p. 218: A deed of John D. Williams of 1858 conveys 514 acres to Bethabara Church, which is said to have been moved to the location in 1805: Henry Hitt was still pastor of Bethabara at the time of his death; his will made March 3, 1828, proved Sept. 27, 1830, mentions wife Elizabeth Stevens Hitt, sons Henry, Benjamin, Martin, Jesse, William, and daughter Elizabeth Hollingsworth deceased; his estate consisted of stock, negroes and several hundred acres of land (Laurens County PC, Wills F, p 282; Reedy River Assoc. Min., 1830, 1835). f684 Asplund’s Reg., 5, and 6. ed.; Ga. Assoc. Min., 1792, 1793, 1803; Mercer, Ga. Assoc., p. 28; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1805; the church was seventh on Georgia Association list 1803; it was located near Parksville; it disappeared from association minutes in 1883; see Edgefield Assoc. Min., 1829, 1867, 1883; Samuel Cartledge has only his church and associational record. f685 Edgefield County CC, Deeds 1798, p. 94; Isaiah Blackwell had a survey in 1801 on Hickory Creek and Plum Branch waters of Stevens [Stephens] Creek at Page 225 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. the fork to Augusta; his grant to the church antedates this survey, but the land must have been in the same general location (Plats, XXXVIII, 526). f686 Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; only Asplund mentions Four Mile Creek Church for which he gives 1787 as date of constitution and Edgefield County as location; he does not list Plum Branch Church, which claims 1785 as its date of constitution; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1805; Charles Blackwell is mentioned by Asplund in his earliest editions as an itinerant preacher at Callahan’s Mill Church in 1790, but he is not again referred to by Asplund in his accounts of Callahan’s Mill, and for this reason it appears that Charles Blackwell was with Plum Branch and not with Callahan’s Mill Church in 1798; he was living in Edgefield County with three slaves in 1790, having obtained a survey of 100 acres on waters of Savannah River in 1772 (Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Census, p. 67; Plats, XIII, 235; Enoch Breazeale is known only through his church and associational connections; he died in 1826 (Bethel Assoc. Min., 1826). f687 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1803; this may have been Micajah Barnett found in Spartanburg County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 87), whose land touched Joroyal Barnett in 1793 (Plats, XXI, 511); Reuben Rowland was with Lower Duncans Creek through 1795 and is recorded as living in Laurens County with four slaves in 1790 (Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-95; Census, p. 74). f688 Shoal Creek (Chauga) CB, 1796-1804, Jan., 1796. f689 Ibid., 1796-1804. f690 Ibid. f691 Ibid. f692 Ibid.; John Cleveland preached in 1789 at the Georgia Association meeting, but In 1790 he was living in Pendleton District with two slaves; in 1792 he was pastor of Tugaloo River Church of Franklin County, Ga.; in 1794 a survey was made for him on north side of Tugaloo River in S.C., his ministry covered a large part of Pendleton District and neighboring parts of Ga_, he being particularly active as the pastor of Shoal Creek (Ga.) Church and all Its S.C. branches, besides assisting presbyteries throughout the surrounding territory and being an active member of the association; about 1818 he fell into error and it is not known when he died (History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia, p. 31, quoting from diary of Rev. John Newton; Census, p. 83; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed.; Shoal Creek (Chauga) CB, 1796-1818; Tugaloo Assoc. Min., 1818); Thomas Maxwell (sometimes written Maxfield) was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 69). having obtained a survey of 205 acres (Plats, XXII, 185); Thomas Gilbert had a survey of 100 acres on Tugaloo River in 1787 (Grants, XL, 71, 72); James Jackson was in Abbeville County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 61); James Blair was in Pendleton District without slaves, Thomas Gilbert in Spartanburg County Page 226 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. without slaves in 1790 (Ibid., pp. 88, 89); the other leaders must have lived in Ga. Following is list of members of Shoal Creek (Chauga) Church, 1796-1804, spelled as in the church book; Diana Adams, Sasham Allen and wife, Lee Allen, Thomas Arenton, Anne Area, Nathaniel Ares, Sally Ares, Aaron Arnal, Wm. Baker, Mary Balding, Wm. Balding, Benjamin Barton, John Barton, Thomas Barton, James Blare, Edward Bolden, Seleigh Bolden, Charles Bond, Lucy Bonds, Susannah Bond, Thomas Bryant, Josiah Burgess (Burjis), Francis Calloway (Calaway), Wm. Calloway, Joseph Camp, John Carter, Joseph Chandler, Benjamin Chery, James Clark, Mary Clark, John Cleveland, Larkin Cleveland. Wm. Cleveland, Nancy Corthron, Wm. Crane, Nicklis Darnal, Isaiah David, Susannah David, Moses Denman, Sister Denman, Lody Doobs, John Doss (Doobs or Cobbs), Ledey Dunken, Charles England, Peter Gates, Wm, Gates, Bro. __________ Gear, Thomas Gilbert, James Gipsin, Petsy Graham, Nimrod Graham, Bro. and Sister Graire, Mary Grant, Polly Guest, Fancy Haley, Mark Halley, Wm. Halley, Isaac Hancock, George Hanney, Esas Harbour, Nancy Hardin, John and Sister __________ Hollon, Nancy Hooper, Polly Hooper, Rebecca Humphris, Robert Isbell, Sally Isbell, Betty Jackson, Hannah Jackson, James Jackson, Joshua Jacobs (Gacobs), Jane Jordin, Milley Leech, Prudence Leget, Polly Lockredy, Wm. Marian, Pashantes Mason, Hannah Mathis, James Mathis, Nancy Mathis, Thomas Maxwell (Maxfield), James Maxfield, Mary Merritt, Nancy Merritt, Hallry Mills, Morres Moor, Charles S. Moorton, Benjamin McGee, John McNeill, Nancy Newberry, John Parker and wife, Charles Payne and wife, Philemon Payne, Philip Payne, Polley Payne, Samuel Payne, Lucy Pinson, Stephen Poe, Elizabeth Prestrigg, John Prestrigg, Mary Pruitt, Elizabeth Reed, Joseph Reed, Morning Reed, John Rees (Kees?), Elige Rees, Edward Rice, Leonard Rice, Benjamin Robart, Salley Robarson, David Roberson, Jane Roberson, Nattey Roberson, Zachariah Roberts, Nanthaniel Russell, Lias Sanders, Elleck Sexton, John Silman, Salley Smith, Elijah Sparks, Thomas Sparks, Thomas Stovall, Wm. Swift, Doser Thornton, Benjamin Thrasher, Elizabeth Thrasher, Jeremiah Walker, Mary Walker, Walker Walton, Mary Waiters, Peter Watters (Walters), Robert Waiters (Walters), Gean Welmon, Daniel White, Peter White, Fanney Wilkerson, Penny Wilkerson. f693 John S. Dickson on May 17, 1882, conveyed to Chauga Church one acre adjoining his own lands and the old Change Church lot in Oconee County (Oconee County CC, Deeds H, p. 208); Benjamin McGee, a former Shoal Creek member, on Dec. 18, 1818, conveyed six acres on Beaverdam Creek waters of Tugaloo River, being part of the land originally granted to James Duncan, to Hepzibah Church (Ibid., Deeds B, p, 416); three deeds of 1918 and two of 1923 record conveyances to Liberty Baptist Church in Wegener Township, but do not mention the old church (Ibid., Deeds B-3, pp. 107, 108, 109; S-3, pp. 315, 286). f694 Head of Enoree Church Chron., Nov. 1799, July, 1800; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800, 1802: List of members dismissed: Anne __________, Anne Reed, Lyda Shepperd, Mary Taber, Solomon Taber, Susannah Taber, William Taber, Jr., William Taber, Sr., Elizabeth Tubb, George Tubb, Mary Tubb, Sarah Tubb, Jacob Watson; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 25; the name was Page 227 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. changed to New Hope in 1818; Isaiah Stephens was connected with Head of Enoree Church until 1800 when he was dismissed in July to Shoal Church (Head of Enoree Church Chron.). f695 Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 25. f696 Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1802; a deed of 1832 conveys one acre where the old Secona Meeting House now stands, and another of 1857 locates a new lot on the Cedar Rock Road near the old church road (Pickens County CC, Deeds B-1, p. 186; H-1, p. 410); William Murphy (sometimes spelled Murphree) was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 83); Elnathan Davis was born in Md. In 1735 (or 1739) of parents of the Seventh Day Baptist persuasion; removing to N. C, from Va, in 1757, he was converted and baptized by Shubal Stearns; ordained by Samuel Harris In 1764, he served as pastor of Haw River Church, N.C., in 1772, removed to S.C. in 1798, where he was connected with Secona and Cross Road Churches in Pickens County, and was an active member of Bethel Association and member and moderator for two years of Saluda Association, probably dying about 1820 (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 376, 160; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp, 249-250, quoting Cathcart (ed.), Baptist Encyclopedia; Edwards, “N.C. Materials,” in N.C. Hist. Rev., VII, 389. 390; Head of Enoree Church Chron., Aug., 1804). f697 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-1802; Keowee claims 1793 as its date of constitution, but Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., has it listed in 1791; Pickens County CC, Deeds C-1, p. 279, undated deed of Daniel Alexander probated in 1815; Joseph Logan is said to have been present at the constitution of Pacolet Church in 1776, but this is doubtful, it being probable that he came from N. C, after that time; he was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790, remaining with Keowee until 1798 (Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 19; Col. Rec. N.C., IX, 89; Census, p. 85); James Abbott was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790 (Ibid.). f698 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1799-1802; Oolenoy claims 1795 as its date of constitution, but no evidence for this has been found; Pickens County CC, Deeds C-2, p. 14; William Eddins was connected with Oolenoy and Little Stephens [Stevens] Creek Churches. f699 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1798-1802; the names and statistics of Cross Road Church are so confused as not to be worth reproducing as a table; Pickens County CC, Deeds C-1, p, 363; Head of Enoree Church Chron., Apr., 1803, May, June, Aug., 1804; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 19; John Bourland was living in Laurens County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 74); William Davis was living in Pendleton District without slaves in 1790 (Ibid., p. 85). f700 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1803; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed.; Bush River CB, Oct., 1801. f701 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1800; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 559; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Cedar Spring CB, 1794-1804, Jan., 1795, Page 228 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Aug., 1796; John Hightower received a survey of 150 acres in 1784 on both sides of Buck Creek (Plats, VIIq, 138). but by 1812 he was at Kentucky Union Church, Green River Association, Ky. (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 544); Thomas Burgess was connected with Buck Creek, Goshen, and Boiling Spring churches, being an active member of association, and having a survey in Spartanburg County on Pacolet in 1799 (Plats, XXXVII, 352); Isaac Cantrell had surveys in 1798 and 1801 of 128 acres on a ridge near Pacolet River in Spartanburg County and of 174 acres on Muddy Branch of Caseys Creek of Pacolet; his will dated Aug. 23, 1805, names wife Mary and several children, the inventory of Feb. 10, 1806, showing five slaves (Ibid., 182; XXXVIII, 360; Spartanhurg County PC, Wills, 1806). f702 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1794; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed. f703 Cedar Spring CB, Dec., 1794-Dec., 1804; Micajah Barnett is probably the same as Micajah Bennett of Lower Duncans Creek; Joroyal Barnett was living in Spartanburg County with one slave in 1790; he had a survey of 156 acres in 1793 on a branch of Fairforest and another in 1806 on Town Branch waters of Lawsons Fork; he was a very active minister, dying sometime after 1841, in which year he conveyed an acre lot to Unity Church (Census, p. 87; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 255; Plats, XXXI, 151; XXXIX, 430; Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds Y, p. 161); David Golightly was living in Spartanburg County with eleven slaves In 1790, he being probably the David Golightly, Sr., whose will, recorded in July, 1842, showed considerable property and names wife Frances and daughters Elizabeth Harris and Polly Martion (Ibid., PC, Wills D, p. 48; Census, p. 89); Catharine Smith conveyed a lot of one acre to James Cooper, William Underwood, William Lancaster, and the remaining members of Cedar Springs Church on the south side of the road west of the present old meeting house touching the branch in 1802 (Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds R., p. 190); the members of Cedar Spring Church mentioned in the church book 1794-1804 were: Alexander Autry, Elizabeth Autry, Martha Autry, James Bagwell, Elijah Barnett, Jean Barnett (2), John Barnett, Jr. John Barnett, Sr., Joroyal Barnett, Joseph Barnett, Martha Barnett, Micajah Barnett, Nancy Barnett, Nancy Barnett. Sr., Patsey Barnett. Richard Barnett, Richard Barnett, Jr., Sarah Barnett, Susannah Barnett, Thomas Barnett, Sally Blackwell, Allen Bobbitt, William Burton (Bruton?) and wife, Elizabeth Connell (2), Frances Connell, Giles Connell, Jesse Connell, John Connell, Nancy Connell, John Cook, Charles Crocker, Fanny Daniel, Richard Daniel, Stephen Foster, Amy Golightly, Amy Golightly Sr., Christopher Golightly, David Golightly, David Golightly, Sr., Elizabeth Golightly, Jean Gollghtly, John Gollghtly, Joseph Golightly, Mary Golightly. Ransom Golightly, Shands Golightly, Tabitha Golightly, Wm. M, Golightly, Elizabeth Griffith, John Gritman, John Hacker, Mary Hacker, Anne Hammett, William Hammett (2), Thomas Hayes and wife Sarah, James Hickey, Benjamin Howard and wife Clary, Elizabeth Howard, Charles James, Elizabeth James, Frances James, Nancy James, Thomas James, Christi Johnson, Anne Jones, Hannah Jones, Martha Keen, Absalom Lancaster, Agnes Lancaster, William Lancaster, Elizabeth Land, Edith Ligon, William Noblett, Marian Oates, Martha Roberts, Patty Roberts, William Roberts, Charles Rogers, Lewis Shelton, Agnes Simmons, John Simmons, Abigail Smith, Page 229 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Agatha Smith, Agnes Smith, Catherine Smith, Charles Smith, Cloe Smith, Cynthia Smith, Diana Smith, Elijah Smith, Elizabeth Smith, Fleming Smith and wife Prudence, John Smith, Margaret Smith, Peggy Smith, Susannah __________ Toney, Jean Underwood, Nancy Underwood, Peggy Underwood, Polly Underwood, Priscilla Underwood, William Underwood, Thomas Vaughan, Priscilla Wheeler, William Wheeler, Daniel White, Allen Wigley, Richard Willis, Patty Wood. f704 A, B. Woodruff, “History of Bethel Church,” in Spartanburg Assoc. Min., 1882; Asplund’s Reg., 1., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 9; Bethel Assoc. Min., 17911803; Poplar Spring CB, Mar., Apr., 1795; Turkey Creek CB, Jan., Dec., 1795; these church books mention James and William Bayley as members of Shackleford’s meeting house: McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 222; letter from David Lilly, in Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 106-113; Griffith, Landrum, pp. 163-170, quoting Woodruff; Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds K, p. 50; Dr. C. p. Woodruff added to the lot in 1836 and 1846 (Ibid., Z, pp. 293- 4); the church is now known as Woodruff; Rev. Richard Shackleford was living in Laurens County with 9 slaves in 1790, from which date through the period under discussion he was an extraordinarily active minister; in 1799 he had a survey of 14 acres on his own land in Laurens County on Beaverdam Creek waters; he remained with Bethel until May 4, 1816 (Census, p. 73; Plats, XXXVII, 415); James Hill was living in Newberry County with 6 slaves in 1790; he had a survey of 141/2 acres in 1819 in Union County touching his own land on Cane Creek waters of Tyger River (Ibid., XLV, 402; Census, p. 80). f705 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1794-1800; in the associational list of churches for 1800, in the place occupied in 1799 by Mountain Creek is Mill Creek, S.C., marked extinct; this is obviously an error for Mountain Creek Church, as Mill Creek (S.C.) Church occupies its usual position on the same list and was not extinct; Asplund’s Reg., 6. ed.; this was possibly the Mountain Creek Church which requested Turkey Creek to hold the ordination of Benjamin Northcut with them in July, 1796 (Turkey Creek CB); Thomas Whitman was living in Greenville County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 70). f706 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1798-1803; Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds G, p. 53; Cedar Spring CB, June, 1800, Jan., 1801; J. B. Daniel, “History of Bethlehem Baptist Church,” in Spartanburg Assoc. Min., 1888, pp. 22-25; Griffith, Landrum, p. 288; Rev. Augustine (also Austin) Clayton had surveys of 200 and 300 acres in 1784 on Cedar Shoal Creek of Enoree and on the south side of Tyger river, 872 acres in 1793 on Beaverdam Creek of Middle Tyger, 247 acres in 1799 on the north side of the South Fork of Tyger, and was living in Spartanburg County in 1790 without slaves; he left after serving Bethlehem Church five years and in 1812 was pastor of Concord Church, Green River Association, Ky., (Plats, IVq, 223, 240; XXXIq, 327; XXXVII, 399; Census, p. 86; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 544). f707 Cedar Spring CB, May 21, July, 1803; Daniel, “Bethlehem Church,” in Spartanburg Assoc. Min., 1338, pp. 22-25; Griffith, Landrum, p. 287; Bethel Assoc, Min., 1803. Page 230 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f708 Padgetts Creek CB, 1794-1804; the bridge so often referred to was probably Murphy’s bridge on Tyger River; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1803; Asplund’s Reg., 3., 5., and 6. ed.; list of members of Padgetts Creek Church made up from the church book 1784-1804: Sally Addenton, Angus Alexander, Anne Alexander, Charity Alexander, Eunity Alexander, John Alexander, Lewis Alexander, William Alexander, Isaac Barnet, Mary Barnet, Patty Barnet, Sarah Barnet, James Bennett, Fanny Blossengame, Thomas Blossengame, Barram Bobo, Spencer Bobo, William Bogain, Lydda Boman, Thomas Boman, John Bond, John Bond, Sr., Martha Bond, Betsy Boteman, Jessie Boteman, John Boteman, Rebekah Brandon, Hannah Briant, Philip Briant, William Briant, Mrs. William Briant, Charles Browning, Daniel Browning, Robert Browning, Jr., Thompson Browning Betty Bruton, John Bullington. Benjamin Bums, Jeremiah Burns, Levina Burns, Marget Burns, Rachel Burns, Robert Burns, Rhoda Busclark, Nelly Call, William Call, Mary Canada. Mordecai Chandler, Polly Clayton, Nancy Cocksey, Polly Coleman. Daniel Comer, Elijah Cooper, James W. Cooper, Richard Cooper, John Couch, Rev, Frederick Crowder, Milly Crowder, Charity Curtis, Fielding Curtis, John Curtis, Patty Curtis, Amey Darnal, Morgan Darnal, Anne Dillard, George Divine, Jesse Dodd, Mary Dodd, William Dodd, Betty Duncan, James Duncan, Judith Edmonson, Hannah Fincher, Mary Fincher, Peggy Finny, David Floyd, Elizabeth Floyd, Jean Floyd, Susanna Gamblen, William Gamblen, Edward Garret, Elizabeth Garret, Joab Garret, Ailey Garrot, Henry Garrot, Joseph Garret, Priscilla Garrot, Robert Gilla, Amey Goodwin, Delilah Goodwin, Nancy Goodwin, Nathan Granger, Betty Greer, Caleb Greer, Carleton Greer, James Greer, Joshua Greer, Rachel Greer, Robert Greer, Sally (Sarah) Greer, Thomas Greer, Jr., and Sr., William Greer, Mary Gregory, Robert Gregory, Betsey Haddock, James Haddock, Rebekah Hall (Hale), Moses Hains, Sarah Harling, Jemima Harras, Hizziah Hart, Joseph Hart, Phoebe Hays, Samuel Hays, James Head, Thomas Read, Anne Hendrix, Ruth High, Hosea Holcombe, Jesse Holcombe, Philip Holcombe, Sarah Holcombe, Joseph Hollingsworth, James Hollis, Sarah Hopkins, Avery Howard, Betsey Howard, Hannah Howard, Harmon Howard, James Howard, Jesse Howard, John Howard, Lettice Howard, Mary Howard, Elisha Hunt, Lewis Hunt, John Ingrum, Betsey Jackson, Cassy Jackson, Delilah Jackson, Delilah Jackson, Jr., Frederick Jackson, Jr., and Sr., John Jackson, Mark Jackson, Mary Jackson, Nancy Jackson, Nathaniel Jackson, Patty Jackson, Ralph Jackson, Sarah Jackson, William Jackson, Eleanor Johnson, Thomas Johnson, Delilah Jones, Sarah Jones, John Kelly, Joseph Kelly, Susanna Kelly (wife of Joseph), Betsey Lamb, Catharine Lamb, Robert Lamb, William Lamb, Absalom Lancaster, Katharine Langston, Nathan Langston, Peter Laurence, Jr., and Sr., Seitha Lawson, Susanna Lawson, Anne Little, Joseph Little, Patty Little, Samuel Little, Rebecca Littlefields, William Littlefields, John Lucas. George McClain, Daniel Malone, Elizabeth Malone, Mary (Polly?) Martindale, Richard Mayfield, Hamer Mitchell and wife, Archer Muckle, Sarah Muckle, Bird Murphy, Charlotte Murphy, Mark Murphy, Sion Murphy, Susanna Murphy, Betsey Murrell, Nancy Murrell, Franky Newman, William Newman, George Night., Sarah Night, Aaron Nix, Benjamin Nix, Joseph Nix, Milly Nix, Moses Nix, Rebecca Nix, Solomon Nix, Betsey Norman, David Norman, Jesse Norman, John Norman, Jonathan Norman, Judith Norman, Patty Norman, Polly Norman, Thomas Norman, William Norris, William Palmer, Enoch Pearson, Tabitha Pearson, William Pearson, Martha Peek, James Penny, John Penny, Anne Polk, Page 231 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Betsey Polk, Rachel Polk, Humphrey Posey and wife, John Powel, James Powers, Nathaniel Powers, Mary Prewit, Oney Prewit, Amey Prince, Betty Prince, Edith Prince wife of Richard, Edward Prince, James Prince, Joseph Prince, Josiah Prince, Mary Prince, Richard Prince, Sarah Prince, Sisley Prince, William Prince, Amey Putman, Barnet Putman, Betty Putman, Edith Putman, Eleanor Putman, Heiram Putman, James Putman, John Putman, Joice Putman, Joseph Putman, Sarah Putman, Thomas Putman and wife, Ambrose Ray, Elizabeth Ray, Hosea Ray, Polly Ray, Sarah Ray, Thomas Ray, William Ray, Sr., Joseph Reeder, Mary Reeder, Rev. Jacob Roberts, Ailey Robinson, Christopher Robinson, Sealy Rogers, Woodson Rountree, Thomas Scales, Lewis Shelton, Betsey Sibley, Anne Simmons, Carpenter Simmons. PoIly Simmons, Sarah Simmons, Susanna Simmons wife of Paton, Samuel Simpson, Sarah Simpson, Caleb Smith, Dicy Smith, James Smith, John Smith, Jr., Polly Smith, William Smith, Elizabeth Sparks, John Sparks, Amey Spillers, James Snillers, Joseph Springer and wife, Benjamin Stone, Anne White. Milley White, Moses White and wife, Polly White, Robert White, William White, Sarah Whitlock, Susanna Whitlock, Anne Wilbanks, Avey Wilbanks, Gillam Wilbanks, Hosea Wilbanks, Isaac Wilbanks, Joseph Wilbanks, Shadrack Wilbanks, Susanna Wilbanks, William Wilbanks, Jr. and Sr., James Willard and wife Winny, John Williams, Rachel Williams, David Wimpy, Polly Wise (or Win), Wiot Wood and wife, Anne Woodson, Betty Woodson, Mary Woodson, Phoebe Woodson, Polly Woodson. Robert Woodson, Thomas Woodson, Elizabeth Yarbrough, Lewis Yarbrough, Betty Young, Rebecca Young. f709 Frederick Crowder (Crowther) had a survey of 150 acres on the north side of Tyger River in 1784 in Union County where he was living without slaves in 1790; he was out of fellowship with Padgetts Creek Church for more than six years, during which time he was in Ga., but returned, made confession, and was restored to fellowship in 1796; he served Vans Creek Church, Elbert County, in 1800, and Mt. Gilead Church, Okmulgee Association, Ga., in 1810 (Plats, Iq, 206; Census, p. 93; Padgetts Creek CB, 1788-1796; Sarepta Assoc. Min., 1800; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 535); Rev. John Putman had two surveys, one of 386 acres in 1784 on Sugar Creek, the other of 84 acres in 1807 on Mitchells Creek waters of Fairforest; he was living in Union County without slaves in 1790; a very active minister, he organized a church called Union Brick Meeting House in the deed by which he conveyed it two acres on the Charleston Road and Fairforest Creek in 1819; his will dated June 5, 1818, and proved Dec. 20, 1820, mentions wife Salley and implies several children (Plats, XVIIq, 290; XLV, 72; Census, p. 91; Union County CC, Deeds P, p. 319; PC, Wills B, p. 62); Rev. Spencer Bobo was living in Spartanburg County Without slaves in 1790 but he owned several at the time of his death; his will dated and probated in 1816, names wife Jane as chief legatee, but the remainder of a considerable estate he left to “the Baptist Churches of Jesus Crist known by the name of New Hope Church and head of Seeder Shole Church of Sd District, and there Successers for ever which I wish tham to apply discretinally to the following use to feed the hungry to supply the wants of poor Ministers of Jesus Crist to teach poore children, or any other use that they deeme Charitable or for the furtherance of the Gospel, excepting teaching men to preach which I think God knows best who to Page 232 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. call and will provide for there instruction — I allso include the Baptist Church near me by the name of Beathel Church;” he had been active in the service of all the churches named, and organized the first two (Census, p. 86; Spartanburg County PC, Wills A, p. 89); Rev. Thomas Greer or his father had a grant of 250 acres on north side of Tyger River confirmed to him in 1772; he was living in Union County with 5 slaves in 1790 (Memorials, X, 375; Census, p. 93); Nathan Langston was living in Union County without slaves in 1790; his will dated 1832 and proved 1834 mentions a number of religious books, land and slaves (Ibid.; Spartanburg County PC, Box 17, pkg. 18); Lewis Hunt was living in Union County without slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 91); Thomas Ray was In Abbeville County with one slave in 1790-there was a Baptist preacher of the same name at Cumberland Church, Stocktons Valley Association, Ky., in 1811, but it is claimed that the Thomas Ray of Padgetts Creek Church died in Union County where his will was proved in 1862 (Ibid., p. 59; Union County PC, Wills C, p. 281); Jeremiah Burns in 1819 had a survey of 22 acres on South Fork waters of Duncans Creek and Enoree River (Plats, X, 431; XLVI, 17); Hosea Holcombe remained with Padgetts Creek until his removal to N.C. In 1812 (Sprague (ed.), American Pulpit, VI, 442). f710 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-1803; Sugar Creek (Flint Hill) CB, 1792-1836, May, 1796, June, 1799: Davis (Davies) Collins, an active minister, was ordained in 1793 and was for a time a beneficiary of the General Committee of Charleston Association, from which he retired in 1803 to study in private owing to domestic concerns; he probably lived in N.C. (Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794, 1803). f711 Sugar Creek (Flint Hill) CB, 1792-1804; Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed.; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793-1803; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1802-4; the modern name of Sugar Creek is Flint Hill Church; the names of the members with constituents italicized as found in the church book 17921804 were: Charity Barnes, Nancy Cheek, Edith Coltharp, Mary Cooper (wife of John), Mary Cooper (wife of William), Samuel Councell, Sarah Dean, Charity Dickers, Theophilus Dickers, Margaret Dinkins, John Dinkins, Sr., Joshua Edwards, Celia Fincher, James Fincher, Mildred Fincher, Mary Forbus, Polly Glover, Nathan Green, John Harris, Mary Harris, Obedience Harris, Mary Hockaday, Samuel Hockaday, John Jackson, James Knox, Mary Ann Knox, Richard Lawrence, Sarah Lewis, William Lewis, Banks Meacham, Charles Morton, Robert Mursh, Sr., and wife Elizabeth, Robert Mursh, Jr., Jane McCorkle, William McGregor, William McKinney, Timothy Orr, Cambridge Osburn, Mary Petties, William Petties (Pettus), Dempsey Reed, Chaplis Riggan, John Rooker, V. D. M. James Sensing, John Smith, Mary Smith, Thomas B. Smith, Alley Spears, James Spears, Alice Weathers, Celia Weathers, Edith Weathers, Polly Williamson, Bennett Wood, and 6 slaves, one of Mr. Harris’s being a constituent; John Rooker, said to have come from Virginia, was with Sugar Creek Church 44 years, dying in 1840 at the age of 84 and being buried in Flint Hill churchyard; he was an active mission worker among the Indians and an outstanding member of association; surveys were made for him of 10. 130, Page 233 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. and 165 acres on Mill Creek, Crows Creek, and Crowders Creek of Catawba River in 1806, the last on the road to the “Works” (J. F. Boyd, “Flint Hill Church,” in The Evening Herald, Rock Hill, S.C., Nov. 30, 1922; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1793 ff; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1802 if; Plats, XLV, 116. 70). f712 Cooper and McCord (ed.), Statutes. II, 69; VIII, 343, 354, 364, 385, 399. 410, 413, 440, 448. f713 S.C. Gazette, Mar. 27, 1742. f714 Welsh Neck CB, June-Sept., 1779; Apr. 6, 1782; June, Aug., Sept., 1784; Aug., 1797; Feb., Mar., 1798; Mar. 6, 1791; Dec. 31, 1796. f715 Botsford to the editor, Apr. 25-Aug., 1790, in Rippon’s Reg., 1790-1793, p. 105. f716 Welsh Neck CB, 1796. f717 Black Creek CB, Aug., Apr., 1802. f718 Cashaway CB (Mount Pleasant section), Apr., Sept., 1804. f719 Register Charleston Church (MS, Furman University). f720 Christian Fellowship, pp. 5, 6, shows 18 white members dismissed from Euhaw to form Beaufort Church, while Charleston Assoc. Min., 1804, shows 154 members dismissed. f721 Cuthbert, Fuller, p. 20, quoting Thomas Fuller’s diary. f722 Bethel Assoc, Min., 1793, 1795. f723 Cedar Spring CB, Sept., 1798-June, 1799. f724 Bush River CB, Sept., 1793, Oct., 1794, Oct., 1795, 1802-5. f725 Cedar Spring CB, Nov., 1795, 1803; July, 1796, Sept. 1798, Oct., 1799, Aug., Dec., 1802, Jan., Feb., May, July, Aug., 1803; Feb., Mar., May, June, Aug., Oct., Nov., 1804. f726 Turkey Creek CB, Oct., 1797, Nov., 1799., Nov., 1800, Sept.-Nov., 1801, Nov., Dec., 1804. f727 Padgetts Creek CB, 1799-1804. f728 Head of Enoree Church Chron., Dec., 1799, May, Aug., Oct., 1801, Sept., 1803, May, June, Sept., Dec., 1804. f729 Sugar Creek (Flint Hill) CB, 1792-1804. Page 234 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f730 Tyger River CB, Mar., May, June, 1802; Oct., 1804. f731 Shoal Creek (Chauga) CB, 1796-1804. f732 Siloam CB, June, July, Aug., 1799, Apr., 1800, May, 1803. f733 Big Creek CB, 1801-4. f734 El Bethel CB, 1803-4. f735 Asplund’s Reg., 5. and 6. ed. f736 Letter from Rev. Abraham Marshall, Kioka, Ga., May 1, 1793, in Rippon’s Reg., 17901793, p. 544; letter from George Liele, Jamaica, Dec. 18, 1791, in Ibid., pp. 332, 337; Holcombe, First Fruits, p. 64; Thomas Golphin (Galphin) is listed in Edgefield County with 25 slaves in 1790 (Census, p. 67). f737 Letter from George Liele, in Rippon’s Reg., 1790-1793, p. 336. f738 Letter from Rev. Abraham Marshall, in Ibid., p. 545. f739 Ibid., p. 541; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 193; “Tennent’s Journal,” in YBC, 1894, p. 308, mentions Mrs. “Gophin’s” settlement below Augusta near Beach Island. f740 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791; the account is from minutes 1791-1803, with the exception of 1801, which year has not been found. f741 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1789. f742 Ibid., 1790. f743 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed. f744 Cedar Spring CB, July, 1795; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1795. f745 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1794. f746 Turkey Creek CB, June, 1804. f747 The following tables give full information on the conduct and relations of Bethel Association: f748 Cedar Spring CB. f749 10 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800; Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 9-20; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 158; Rev. M. C. Barnett, History of the Broad River Association (Yorkville, S.C., 1871): Page 235 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f750 Edwards. Furman MS. p. 3. f751 “Documents Concerning Rev. Samuel Thomas,” in SCHGM, V (1904), 325, 38. f752 “Description of South Carolina 1761,” in Carroll’s Coll., II, 260. f753 “An Account of Missionaries Sent to South Carolina,” in Ibid., II 555. f754 Johnston to SPG, in Hirsch, Huguenots, Appendix, p. 297. f755 [George Milligan], “A Short Description of the Province of South Carolina.,. written In the year 1763,” in Carroll’s Coll., II, 478. f756 JCHA. Mar. 6, 1766; Woodmason to SPG, Mar. 26, 1771 (Fulham MSS, Library of Congress), S.C., Nos. 51-62. f757 Edwards, Furman MS, p. 75. f758 Drayton, Memoirs, I, 324: “Hart’s Diary”, in YBC. 1896, p. 391; Journal of the [Second] provincial Congress, Nov. 29. 1775, in Peter Force, American Archives, Fourth Series, IV, 74. f759 Asplund’s Reg., 5. ed., 6. ed.; South Carolina Year No. Churches No. Ministers No. Members 1791— 70 — 93 — 4112 1792 — 74 — 96 — 4389 1793 — 76 — 98 — 455. f760 These figures are arrived at by a count of the organized churches in existence in 1800, so far as found in S.C.; of this number (96), 74 were in Charleston (29) and Bethel (45) Associations, with 4307 members, or an average of 58 members each: assuming that the remaining 22 churches in the State had about the same average membership, there were 5583 members; Asplund claims that one communicant usually represented three adherents, but if the families attending the churches were more numerous than the communicants, and the 1790 census figure of six members per family is used, the number in connection with the churches would be about that given in the text. f761 Census, p. 8. f762 Newman, U. S. Baptists. pp. 223-4. f763 Oldmixon, in Carroll’s Coll., II, 437; Rivers, South Carolina to 1719, p, 230. Page 236 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f764 Inhabitants of the Forks of Broad River and Saludy to their friend in Charles-Town, in S.C. Gazette., mar. 27-Apr. 3, 1762. f765 Ibid., Apr. 16, 1744. f766 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 49; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 171-2; This was probably Joseph Coats of Swift Creek Church (Charleston Assoc. Min., 1791); Richard Furman is said to have been forbidden to preach in Camden C. H. (Cook, Richard Furman, p. 9). f767 Rev. Charles Woodmason, “Account of South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, 1766,” Letter Book SPG, in Col. Rec. N.C., VII, 286; these are probably versions of the Weber or Weaver heresy (G. D. Bernhelm, History of the Lutheran Church in North and South Carolina, … to [18501 (Philadelphia, 1872), p. 195. f768 Rev. W. Tredwell Bull to Rev. Thomas Mangey, Parish of St. Paul, S.C., May 12, 1720 (Fulham MSS, Library of Congress), S.C., No. 253. f769 Rev. Charles Woodmason to SPG, Parish of St. Mark, S.C., Mar. 26, 1771, Ibid., S.C., Nos. 51-60. f770 Woodmason, “Account,” in Col. Rec. N.C., VII, 287; this was said of the Baptists of N.C., particularly, but it applies equally to the Baptists of S.C., many of whom came from N.C. f771 Dalcho. Episcopal Church, pp. 128-46. f772 JC, Nov. 24, 1767, July 29, Aug. 2, 26, 1768; Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 127-57, note, p. 151, quoting Pugh’s Diary, Aug. 16, Sept. 12, 1768. f773 Ibid., pp. 196-7, 199, 202. 218, 231, 266. 277. f774 Ibid., pp. 179. f775 Ibid., pp. 260-63, quotes these in full from S.C. Gazette (no date); the same address to W. H. Drayton, Chief Justice of the Province, appeared in the S.C. and American General Gazette, Apr. 10, 1776. f776 Welsh Neck CB, Mar. 8, 1776. f777 David Ramsay, History of the Independent or Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina (Philadelphia, 1815), Appendix, Rev. William Tennent’s Address to the Assembly. f778 Cooper (ed.), Statutes. I, 144, constitution of 1778; ibid-, 191, constitution of 1790 provided freedom of belief and worship as follows: “Article VIII: sec. I. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination and preference, shall forever hereafter, be allowed within this state to all mankind; provided, that the liberty of Page 237 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. conscience thereby declared, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state. Sec. 2. The rights, privileges, immunities, and estates, of both civil and religious societies and of corporate bodies, shall remain as if the constitution of this state had not been altered or amended.. f779 Names of 1500 male members of Baptist churches taken from church lists of 1772-1804 were examined in connection with the Index to Revolutionary Accounts Audited (MSS); the total number of white male members in the churches during that period was probably 3800, which would give an average of about two-fifths furnishing service or supplies to the Revolution. f780 Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 415, 432, 445, 451, 460, quoting Senate and House Journals. f781 JHR, 1783. 1789, 1800; Jan. 7, 1789, Jan, 7, 1800. f782 Ibid., Jan. 24, 1783; the latter name is written Wood Frames; A. S. Salley, Jr. (ed.), Journal of the House of Representatives of S.C., Jan. 8, 1782. Feb. 26, 1782 (Columbia, 1916), p. 133. f783 Journal of Convention of S.C. which ratified Constitution of U. S., pp. 18, 31, 45. f784 Gregg, Cherubs, p. 466; Rev, Richard Furman about 1808 wrote to the Charleston Courier warmly supporting the candidacy of C. C. Pinckney for the presidency; he especially mentioned Pinckney’s advocacy of religious equality in 1778 (Cook, Richard Furman, pp. 59-61, quoting letter of Furman to the Courier). f785 JC, lists of justices, Mar. 23, 1757; May 30, Aug. 26, 1764; Mar, 23, Aug. 14, Oct. 10, 19, 1770; Aug. 6, Sept. 3, 1771; Dec. 31, 1773; S.C. Gazette, Mar. 28,1761; Oct. 31, 1765; Oct. 1219, 1767. f786 JHR, Mar. 12, 13, 1789; no complete study of membership in the two homes of the legislature has been attempted due to the fact that the number of Baptist members certainly found is only about two-fifths of the whole; however, the difficulty of locating any of the two-fifths on the lists of senators, representatives, and Justices, is an indication of political weakness. f787 Smith, “Charleston.” in SCHGM. IX (1909), 26; S.C. Gazette. May 16, 1743; Charleston County PC, Wills 1736-1740, pp. 239-44. f788 Names of 500 church members before 1776 were compared with Index to Plats (2 vols., MSS. Sec. State S.C.). Page 238 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f789 Names of 1100 church members of 1730-1804 were compared with district and county lists in census of 1000; only 881 appear whose identity with Baptist church members is sure; Ibid. pp. 12. 34, 47, 10. 48. f790 James Moir, Letter Book SPG. In Col. Rec. N.C., IV, 878. f791 Edwards, Crozer MS, p. 18; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 123. f792 “Hart’s Diary,” in YBC, 1896, p. 393: Mr. Hart’s publications are: Dancing Exploded. preached in Charleston, Mar. 22, 1778; A Funeral Discourse, occasioned by the death of Rev. William Tennent; The Christian Temple; A Circular Letter on Christ’s Mediatorial Character; America’s Remembrancer; A Gospel Church Pourtrayed; he left many sermons in manuscript; his letter to Bethel Association in 1792 was partly used as the circular letter for that year (Bethel Assoc, Min.); Mr. Simmons: Some Queries Concerning the Operation of the Holy Spirit, Answered (not located); Mr. Chanler: Doctrines of Glorious Grace (see bibliography), Treatise on Original Sin (see Chap. II, note 6), New Converts, and The State of the Church of Christ (see Chap. I, note 121); Rev. Richard Furman: See Chap, I, note 113; Rev. Henry Holcombe: See Chap. I, note 166; other ministers wrote vigorous circular and associational letters; Benedict, Baptist History. II, 123; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 4, 20, 28-9; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, note, p. 7; Rev. Edmund Botsford: see Chap. II, note 23. f793 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 76-8. f794 Death Notices S.C. Gazette, D. 26, Oct, 30, 1755; Edwards, Crozer MS. p. 23; S.C. Gazette, Oct. 23-30, 1749, contains: “Just published, Price 10 sh. And to be sold by the Author next to the Baptist Meeting-house Two Catechisms by Way of Question and Answer: each divided into Two Parts. Designod for the Instruction of the Child-on of the Christian Brethren owning one God, one Lord Jesus Christ, and one Holy Spirit; who are commonly known by the Name of General Baptists. Together with References to the Texts of Scripture and Testimonies of other Writers, which may be alleged in Proof or Confirmation of the several Answers.. f795 Welsh Neck CB, Jan., May. 1782; three books now in possession of the church belonged to this library: The Dutch Annotations upon the Whole Bible, translated by Theodore Haak, Esq., 2d vol., (London. 1657); An Exposition of the Book of Solomon’s Song Commonly called Canticles, by John Gill, D. D., 2. ed. with Additions (London, 1751); Bible of 1765, printed at Oxford with table of the Thirty-nine Articles. f796 “Hart’s Diary”, in YBC, 1896, p. 388; Benedict, Baptist History (1848), p. 704; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 74. f797 Pugh’s Diary, 1762-3; Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 79, 80. f798 Ibid., pp. 75-6. Page 239 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f799 Rippon’s Reg., p. 501. f800 Cook, Richard Furman, pp. 26, 42-3, quoting Furman to his mother. f801 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 10, 11; Burkitt and Read, Kehukee Baptist Assoc., p. 37; Semple, Virginia Baptists, pp. 4, 5; Cook, Richard Furman, p. 15. f802 Turkey Creek CB, June, 1804. f803 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 463. f804 Bronson, Brown University, pp. 7-9: Richard B. Conk. The Early and Later Delaware Baptists … (Baltimore, 1889). p. 372; John A. Broadus, Memoir of James Petigru Boyce (New York, 1893), p. 33. f805 Furman, Charleston Assoc., pp. 14, 15; Charleston Assoc. Min. 1774. f806 MS subscription list (Misses Charles). f807 Minutes of St. David’s Society; list of members, Welsh Neck CB, 1778; Gregg, Cheraws, pp. 281-3, 432-9. f808 Brunson, Ebenezer Church. f809 Cook, Richard Furman, p. 15; advertisement, State Gazette of S.C., Apr. 24, 1786; “In compliance with the request of several gentlemen who have engaged in the design of erecting a SEMINARY OF LEARNING at the High Hills of Santee, the subscribers take the liberty to inform the public, that a scheme of education has been formed, and is now opened at Stateborough under different instructors, where besides the common branches of learning taught in the English schools, the learned Languages, French, the Mathematics In all its branches, and (should the design meet with proper encouragement) the other usual parts of polite and useful Literature, will be taught, with the utmost care and attention, together with a due regard to the morals of the youth. The price of education is THREE GUINEAS per year for an English scholar, and FIVE GUINEAS for one in the Languages. A Boarding House is provided at the place, where, it is designed, all suitable accommodations shall be furnished at Eleven Guineas. The Gentleman who will preside in this Seminary, has produced authentic vouchers of an uncommon progress in Classical Learning, together with recommendations from persons of note in the learned world, both in Europe and America: This circumstance, added to the healthy, pleasant, and beautiful situation of the Seat of Learning, (in which, perhaps, it is inferior to none on the Continent) must undoubtedly weigh, with persons who have the care of youth, in favor of this institution. April 14, 1786 Thomas Sumter, Richard Furman;” Southern Patriot and Commercial Advertiser, Charleston, Jan. 18. 1819. Page 240 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f810 Holcombe, First Fruits. p. 52; Cuthbert. Life of Fuller, p. 33, quoting Holcombe; record (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 189; Yates Snowden, “South Carolina School Books, 1795-1865,” to Southern School News (Columbia, S.C.), Jan., 1910. f811 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1800-1806; “Autobiography,” in Wightman, Capers, p. 39. f812 Furman to Rev. Mr. Pierce, Birmingham, Eng., Charleston, Feb. 12, 1791, in Cook, Richard Furman, p. 42. f813 Confession of Faith, 2. Charleston ed.; McGlothlin, Baptist Confessions; Edward T. Hiscox, New Directory, p. 535; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 199. f814 Welsh Neck CB, Aug. 2, 1760. f815 Cashaway CB, June 20. 1767. f816 Bailey, Mulkey and Fowler, p. 21. quoting Skull Shoals CB, 1787. f817 Padgetts Creek CE, Nov. 22, 1784. f818 Turkey Creek CB, Jan. 22, 1785. f819 Bush River CB, 1792. f820 Poplar Spring CB, July 14, 1794. f821 Durham, “Woodward Church,” in News & Courier, July 17, 1910; covenant said to be that of 1790 in West Creek (Clouds Creek) CB, 1890. f822 Cedar Spring CB, May-June, 1802. f823 El Bethel CB, May 1803. f824 Dean Swamp CB, Nov. 5, 1803. f825 Big Creek CB, Aug. 23, 1801. f826 Mercer Ga. Assoc., p. 368; Ga. An. Rep. f827 Bound with Confession of Faith, 2. Charleston ed., is “The Baptist Catechism, or A Brief Instruction in the Principles of the Christian Religion; Pugh’s Diary, Feb. 2, 1766; Cook, Richard Furman, p. 15. f828 Confession of Faith, 2. Charleston ed.; Chanler, Doctrines of Glorious Grace; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 22. Page 241 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f829 [Edward Crisp], A Plan of the Town & Harbour of Charles-Town 1704 (MS, Library of Congress); A Plan of Charles Town from a Survey of Edward Crisp, Esq. in 1704 (MS, Library of Congress); see cover. f830 Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 1, 17; Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 16; Hart’s Vary, 1754; Gillies, Whitefield, pp. 102-7. f831 Furman, Charleston Assoc., p. 16. f832 Ibid.; Edwards, Crozer MS, pp. 30-47. f833 Ibid., pp. 31-2; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1777-9; Welsh Neck CB, June, July, Aug., 1779; Hist. Sketch Welsh Neck, p. 38. f834 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1791-1804; Charleston Assoc. Min., 1789-1804. f835 McGready, in T. C. Blake, The Old Log House: A History and Defense of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Nashville, 1878), pp. 20-29; Richard McNemar, The Kentucky Revival (New York, 1846), pp. 11-26; Asbury’s Journal, III, 1- 154, passim. f836 Jenkins, Experience, pp. 115-6; Furman to Rippon, in Howe, Presbyterian Church, II, 109-13; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 167-71; Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 106-13, quoting correspondence regarding the rivival; The Recorder, or Lady’s and Gentleman’s Miscellany (Richmond), Wednesday, July 5, 1802. f837 Jenkins, Experience, pp. 115-6. f838 Ibid., 118. f839 Ebenezer H. Cummins to a friend in Augusta, July 7, 1802, quoted in Catherine Cleveland, The Great Revival in the West, 1797-1805 (Chicago, 1916), Appendix III, pp. 165-72; Ga. An, Rep., 1802, pp. 94-5. f840 “Autobiography,” in Wightman, Capers, pp. 53-4. f841 “Revivals No. II” in Charleston City Gazette, Sept. 27, 1802; J. B. Cook, “How may enthusiasm be distinguished from the influence of the spirit and grace of God on the heart?,” circular letter in Charleston Assoc. Min., 1803; Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 19, 20, mentions the circular letter of 1803 written by Perminter Morgan on “Doctrines of Grace,” as breathing strong anti- Arminian sentiments, and the circular letter of 1804 by Joseph Camp on “Church Discipline,” called forth by the confusion in the churches; Burkett and Read, Kehukee Assoc. f842 Furman to Rippon, in Howe, Presbyterian Church, II, 112-3. f843 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1802. Page 242 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. f844 Benedict, Baptist History, II, 164; J. H, Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists from 1769 to 1885 (2 vols., Cincinnati, 1885), I, 535; Burkett and Read, Kehukee Assoc. f845 Lilly to the editor, Aug. 23, 1802, in Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 109-13; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 165-7. f846 Black Creek CB. f847 Lilly to the editor, Aug. 23, 1802, in Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 109-13. f848 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800, 1802, 1803. f849 Lilly to the editor, Aug. 23, 1802, in Ga. An. Rep., 1802, pp. 109-13; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1802, 1803. f850 Ibid. f851 These 35 churches with the evidence of their constitution, 1802-4, are by counties: Abbeville: (1) Johns Creek Church constituted from members of providence Church, Oct. 27, 1804 (Ibid., 1805). Anderson: (2) Salem Church, organized as a branch of Shockley Ferry Church, Mar. 17. 1798, constituted Nov., 1802, by Moses Holland, George Vandiver, Cooper Bennett, 5 ½ miles northwest of Anderson (Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 149; Big Creek CB, Nov. 13, 1802); (3) Double Springs (A) Church claims 1803 as its date of constitution, but no evidence for this has been found except that its position in the 1809 list of churches of Saluda Association evidences early constitution (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 531); (4) Neals Creek, a branch of Big Creek, constituted with 84 members, Mar. 19, 1803, a constituent member of Saluda Association in 1803, located 6 miles east of Anderson (Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 142; Big Creek CB, Mar. 19, June 4, 1803; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 160, 531); (5) Hopewell, also called Six- and-Twenty, or Twenty-Six Mile, Church, an arm of Big Creek constituted a separate church, Apr. 23, 1803, with 13 members, a constituent of Saluda Association, 7 miles north of Anderson (Big Creek CB, Mar., Apr., June, 1803; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 151-6; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 161, 531); Bamberg: (6) Springton claims 1803 as its date of constitution, but there is no direct evidence of this except that it was incorporated by act of Dec. 21, 1804; a secondary account states that it was constituted in 1303 by a presbytery consisting of Rev, James Sweat and Rev. Nathaniel Walker, the latter being elected pastor, and Elijah Ford and John Sutton being chosen deacons (McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 222; Shuck, Barnwell Assoc., p. 31; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 532); Barnwell: (7) Barnwell Church, said to have been organized as a branch of Columbian Church in 1802, from which it was dismissed in 1803, was incorporated in 1804; the church bell, which is claimed to have been in the first building, gives 1802 as the date of organization; the first church book entry is of Apr. 4, 1812, but the covenant is apparently older (Shuck, Barnwell Assoc., p. 27; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 222; Dr. W, M. Jones, “History of the Barnwell Baptist Church,” in The Barnwell (S.C.) Page 243 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. People, May, 1926; list of churches in Georgia Association in 1812, Benedict, Baptist History, II, 532); (8) Rosemary Church claims 1804 as date of constitution, and its place on the 1812 list of Edgefield Association indicates early origin (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 529); Cherokee: (9) El Bethel minutes begin May, 1803, but they indicate earlier existence (EI Bethel CB; T. M. Littlejohn, “El Bethel,” in Broad River Assoc. Min., 1900, p. 53; Logan, Broad River Assoc., p. 564; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 531); (10) Providence, about 112 miles north of Gaffney, was constituted and entered Broad River Association 1803, a deed of John “Copper” to John Champion, William Hester, Nathan Byars, and Vardry Camp, deacons, conveys 4 acres to the church in 1803 (Ibid., p. 572; Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds K, p. 37); Chester: (11) Starnes (Sterns) Creek Church, Nov. 18, 1804, from Sandy River Church (Bethel Assoc, Min., 1805; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 530); Edgefield; (12) Antioch (see Chapter V, notes 96, 97); (13) Bethany at the Republican Church may have been organized prior to 1805, in which year it was said to have been constituted “the 3 of May last” (Bethel Assoc, Min., 1805); Greenville: (14) Bethuel Church, 7 miles south of Greenville, was a constituent of Saluda Association (Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 26; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 160, 531); (15) Clear Spring Church, a branch of Brushy Creek, Sept. 1802, under Lewis Rector, was organized by Mar., 1803 (Clear Spring CB, 1804; William Goldsmith, Clear Spring Baptist Church: History Prepared for Homecoming Day … 1925 (MS, Furman University), p. 3, quoting deed of 1849; Greenville County RMC, Deeds P, p. 261); (16) Double Spring, a branch of Head of Enoree from 1799, was separately constituted prior to 1811 (Head of Enoree Church Chron., Nov., 1799, Feb., Dec., 1800, Mar., 1802, May, July, Aug., 1803: Benedict, Baptist History, 11, 531); (17) Milford meeting house, through Col. John Thomas, Jr., petitioned Brushy Creek to allow Rev. Lewis Rector to preach to them in 1802, and Padgetts Creek for Joshua Greer to preach in 1804there is a possibility that this may have been the beginning of Double Spring Church, or it may have become Milford Church, which was incorporated in 1832 (Brushy Creek CB, June, Oct., 1802; Padgetts Creek CB, Aug. 1804; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 376; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 36); (18) Warriors Creek Church is said to have been an organized branch of Upper Duncans Creek Church by 1790 or 1791, but the evidence is not clear; it was admitted to Bethel Association in 1810; Warriors Creek, Bethany, and Landrum are not counted among the churches in existence before 1805 (Reedy River Assoc. Min., 1835; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1810) Greenwood: (19) Mountain Creek, a branch of Little Stephens [Stevens] Creek in 1798, was constituted Nov. 30, 1804, and admitted to Bethel Association in 1805 (Bethel Assoc. Min., 1805); Mrs. Ida R. Kemp and Mrs. W. H. Clegg, “History of Mountain Creek Baptist Church of the Edgefield Association,” in The Baptist Courier, Greenville, S.C., Dec. 29, 1927; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 529); Laurens: (20) Beaverdam Church claims 1803 as its date; it was admitted to Bethel Association between 1805 and 1808 and incorporated in 1813; a deed of Zachariah Bailey to 3 acres in 1814 mentions a new brick meeting house belonging to the church (Ibid., 530; McCord (ed.), Statutes, VIII, 266; Reedy River Assoc. Min., 1835); (21) Sion, a branch of Bethel, dismissed the winter of 1804-5, entered Bethel Association in 1805; It appears on the 1808 list as Union Church (Bethel Assoc. Min., 1805; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 530); Page 244 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. Oconee: The early origin of (22) Hepsibah, (23) Liberty, and (24) Beaverdam Churches is discussed under Chauga (or Shoal Creek) Church; Hepsibah was a member of Sarepta Association in 1805 with George Vandiver as pastor (Sarepta Assoc. Min., 1805; “Beaverdam Baptist Church at Fair Play, S.C.,” in Baptist Historical Record, Westminster, S.C., Sept., 1927, quoting Beaverdam records; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 24; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 534); Orangeburg: (25) Dean Swamp Church, Aug., 1803, applied to Bethel Association for admission, but its constitution and the ordination of its minister being pronounced illegal, a committee from the Association reconstituted it, Nov. 5, 1803, with 31 members; at that time or by 1805, Rev. Isaac Debosque was pastor and Josias Keadle clerk (Dean Swamp CB, 1803, 1805; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1803; H. L, Baggott, A History of the Dean Swamp Baptist Church (Saluda, S.C., 1903); Saluda: (26) Dry Creek Church, 21 miles northeast of Johnston, and (27) Good Hope Church, were admitted to Bethel Association in 1804 (Bethel Assoc, Min., 1805); (28) Sardis Church was admitted to Bethel Association in 1806, having been constituted from Clouds Creek Church “on the 14th of June last;” it claims 1804 as the year (Ibid., 1806; H. L. Baggott, A History of Sardis Baptist Church, 1804-1904 (Saluda, S.C., 1904); Spartanburg: (29) Holly Spring branch of Bethlehem Church asked help of Cedar Spring to ordain officers in May, 1803; it was admitted to Bethel Association in 1804 (Cedar Spring CB, May, July, 1803; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1805; Benedict, Baptist History II, 530); (30) Philadelphia Church, constituted July 31, 1803, of members of Bethlehem, Cedar Spring, and possibly Friendship and Union brick meeting (Putman), by Christopher, Thomas, and Elizabeth Johnson, Roland, John and Diana Gennings, Sarah Giddeon, Lydia Moore, Thomas Reese, Lithy Autry, James Hickey, Abigail, Catherine, Charles, Diana, Elijah, Elizabeth, and Mary Smith, William and Priscilla Wheeler, William M. Golightly, was at first situated on Gibbs Mount, 31/2 miles northwest of Glen Springs and 81/2 miles nearly southeast of Spartanburg; Augustine Clayton was first pastor and remained until July, 1805, when Christopher Johnson assumed the office; he gave a lot of 134 acres in 1808 in the forks of the road leading from Christopher Johnson’s to Major William Smith’s and John Wofford’s, 11/4 miles nearer Glen Springs, to which was added 2.2 acres by William H. Lancaster in 1831; the church was admitted to Bethel Association in 1803, with 21 members (Cedar Spring CB, May, 1803; Bethai Assoc. Min., 1803; W. p. Smith, “A Sketch of the Philadelphia Church,” in Spartanburg Assoc. Min., 1890, quoting church book; Spartanburg County RMC, Deeds M, p. 141; V, p. 94; Griffith, Landrum, p. 208; (31) Landrum Church claims 1803 as its date, being known then as Wolfs Creek Church; there is no contemporary evidence of this; (32) Head Cedar Shoal Church, (33) Green Pond Church and (34) New Hope Church, composed of members of Padgetts Creek living about Spencer Bobo in Dec., 1802, were admitted to Bethel Association in 1804 (Ibid.; Bethel Assoc. Min.; Padgetts Creek CB); Union: (35) Gilead Church was constituted Sept. 27, 1804, from Fairforest Church and admitted to Bethel Association in 1805 (Bethel Assoc. Min., 1805; Cedar Spring CE, Sept. 21, 1804); (36) Putman Church, orginally Fairforest or Union Brick Meeting House, on the Charleston Road and Fairforest Creek, was a branch of Padgetts Creek in Oct., 1802 (Padgetts Creek CB, Oct., Dec., 1802, Apr., July 1803; Union County CC, Deeds P, p. 319); (37) Tinker Creek Church, later Hebron, may have been Page 245 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. the body at first called Fairforest or Union Brick Meeting House; it was an arm of Padgetts Creek, which had an independent existence by July, 1804, when it received Avery Howard and wife, Martha Peck, Anne and Rachel Polk, Humphrey Posey and wife, Lewis Shelton, Jo Springer and wife and three negroes (Padgetts Creek CB, July, 1804; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 530; C. B. Bobo, “History of Padgetts Creek Church,” in Union County Assoc. Min., 1883; (33) Elias Mitchell’s meeting, later Unity Church, in existence Oct. 1804, sued for admission to Bethel Association, but having been Seventh Day Baptists, they had to give up their peculiarities before admission 1806 (Cedar Spring CB, Oct., 1804; Bethel Assoc. Min., 1805, 1806). f852 Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 18-19. f853 In 1800 Bethel Association dismissed Ebenezer and Shockley Ferry to join a more convenient association; in 1802, Big Creek, Fork Shoal, Brushy Creek, Cross Road, Secona, Keowee, Oolenoy, Middle Fork Saluda, and Shoal Creek, were dismissed for the same purpose; these combined with Bethuel, Cathies Creek (N.C.), Neals Creek, Salem. Hopewell, and Wilsons Creek, churches claimed never to have been before associated, to form the Saluda Association; the delegates organizing the new union met Nov. 5, 1803, at Salem Church in what is now Anderson County, chose Rev. Moses Holland, of Big Creek Church, moderator, and James Crowther, of Wilsons Creek, clerk, and adopted a “Constitution, Abstract of Principles, and Rules of Decorum, by which, with a few slight amendments, made from time to time, the Association is still governed;” there are no records for the next two years; in 1806 the Saluda Association met the Saturday before the second Sunday in August at Big Creek Church with 18 churches having 11 ordained ministers and 1143 members; the church known as Cathies Creek was excluded from the union in 1809 as being “badly in disorder” (Bethel Assoc. Min., 1800, 1802; Benedict, Baptist History, IX, 160; Garrett, Saluda Assoc., pp. 17, 18, 20). f854 Bethel Assoc. Min., 1803. f855 Logan, Broad River Assoc., pp. 19-20; the fraction for S.C. is a calculation based on the 1800 and 1811 lists of churches; in 1800 one-half of the churches were in S.C.; in 1811 sixteen of twenty-six, or about two-thirds were in S.C.; the fraction five-ninths represents the approximate number of S.C. churches in 1803; the proportion of members is about the same, though probably higher than this in 1803 (Benedict, Baptist History, II, 158, 530-1); membership in Saluda Association in 1806 was 1143-as all other associations show decreases from 1800 to 1806, it is assmued that Saluda had at least 1,200 members in 1803 (Garrett, Saluda Assoc., p. 18). f856 Charleston Assoc. Min., 1803. f857 The Savannah Association was formed in Savannah, Ga., April, 1802, of three Georgia churches, two in Savannah and one in Newington. In November, 1802, the Charleston Association dismissed Coosawhatchie, Black Swamp, Pipe Creek, Bethesda, and Lower Three Runs (Columbian) Churches with 275 members. Page 246 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK ** SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTISTS 1670-1805 by Leah Townsend, Ph.D. These and probably Healing Springs, Springton, and Barnwell, entered Savannah Association in 1803, or January, 1804; the two negro churches in Savannah and Great Ogechee Church had by far the largest proportion of members; the number given for the S.C. churches is based on their 1802 and 1812 membership; the name of the association was changed to Savannah River Association in 1806 (Charleston Assoc, Min., 1802; Benedict, Baptist History, II, 187, 532; account of Savannah River Association by W. H. Brisbane, clerk, in Triennial Baptist Register, II (1836). f858 None of the churches whose date of constitution is uncertain is included in the 115 here counted; there are ten or twelve of these doubtful ones; the number of churches listed in the associations was 100 with a total membership of 8761 or an average of 87 members each; using this average for the remaining 15 churches gives an additional 1305 members, making the total membership for the State 10,066 whites and negroes; the ministers listed in the Charleston and Bethel Associations were 43 serving 60 churches; using the same proportion for 115 churches gives approximately 76 ministers, no licentiates or exhorters included; Dr. Richard Furman stated that in 1806 there were 130 churches, about 100 ministers, and 10,500 communicants (Charleston Assoc. Min., 1803: Benedict, Baptist History, 11, 119). f859 Ibid., 159. Page 247 of 247 ** PAGE BREAK **