Traditons and  History of Anderson County by Louise Ayer Vandiver, 1928 Transcribed by Dena Whitesell for Anderson County, South Carolina Genealogy Trails CHAPTER IV THE CHURCHES Presbyterian For a time after reaching the wilderness the settlers had no churches. Like all new communities, those of the same faith met at each other's homes sometimes, to keep alive their own form of worship, and occasionally to hear an itinerant preacher. Often he stood in the door of the dwelling, addressing a congregation scattered about the cleared ground very often armed in preparation for an Indian raid. Sometimes a rude arbor was erected under which the services were held. These traveling preachers came from North Carolina, Virginia, or even Pennsylvania; riding horseback and stopping in whatever homes they could reach at night. Occasionally, both man and beast spent the night under the stars. The first church erected in what is now Anderson county, was of the Presbyterian faith. It was called Hopewell, later Hopewell Keowee, and located in the hamlet of Pendleton. It was built in 1785, a rude log structure without windows or means of heating; as were all of the early churches. Sometimes they had a great open place left at one end to admit light and air. Hopewell congregation worshiped there until 1799, when they built a new house several miles from Pendleton. This structure was of rough native stone, some of it hauled from quite a distance. It soon became better known as “The Stone Church." It was there that General Pickens and General Robert Anderson worshiped, and is now universally called “The Old Stone Church.” They with Major Dickson were its first elders, Mr. Simpson was its pastor, and all of them were Revolutionary soldiers. But with its removal from its first situation it passed out of Anderson county history. In its adjoining graveyard rest many of the leading men of the early days of South Carolina, and several soldiers of the Revolution. In 1792 Rev. Thomas Reece was called to the pastorate of Hopewell and Carmel churches, which call he accepted. Carmel at that time consisted of about six families, and Hopewell of about forty. Dr. Reece wrote of them at the time: The people who compose these two congregations are in general remarkable for the great simplicity of their manners, the plainness of their dress and their frugal manner of living. At the distance of two hundred and fifty shiles from the capital they are strangers to luxury and refinement. Blest with a healthful climate, brought up in habits of labor and industry, and scarce of money, they are for the most part, clothed in homespun, nourished by the produce of their own farms, and happily appear to have neither taste nor inclination for high and expensive living. There is quite a degree of equality among them. By far the greater part are in what might be called the middle station in life. None are very rich, few slaves among them, and those are treated with kindness and humanity. They enjoy all that liberty which, is compatible with their situation, and are exempted from that rigorous bondage to which their unhappy countrymen in the lower part of the state are subjected. These are all circumstances favorable to virtue and religion, and give ground to hope that they will flourish long here when they shall have been banished from those parts of the country where slavery, luxury and wealth have taken possession. As the country is in its infancy we have yet to expect that these congregations soon will become stronger, and in the course of a few years if peace continues, it is possible that each of them will be able to support a minister. Dr. Reece was a man of learning who had ministered so much to the bodies as well as the souls of his congregation, that he attained a fair degree of excellence as a physician. A gentle, kindly man, he was greatly beloved by his parishioners. Dying in 1796 at the age of fifty-four years, he was the first person to be buried in the Old Stone Church, yard. The degree D.D. was conferred on him by Princeton University. In that old grave yard lie Andrew Pickens, "Printer John Miller” and several other distinguished men. The site of the original Hopewell church is marked by a marble shaft. In 1788 both a Presbyterian and a Baptist church were built in what is now Anderson county. The Presbyterian was “Brad-a-way," Broadaway, and finally Broadway, situated near the Abbeville line. Reverend Robert Hall was its first pastor, a man of education, as were all of the Presbyterian clergymen, and most of them were also teachers. The famous Moses Waddell was a Presbyterian minister. He had been taught by the Reverend Francis Cummins, who in his turn was a pupil of the renowned Dr. James Hall, who called his school "Clio's Nursery." Robert Hall, Robert Mechlin and W. C Davis were ordained in the old Bradaway church. The congregation was organized by Rev. Daniel T. Thatcher. In April, 1795 9 the church forwarded a request to Presbytery for the services of James Gilleland. The request was granted, and on the 20 th of July a session of Presbytery was held for his ordination. At this meeting, however, a remonstrance signed by eleven or twelve persons was presented against his ordination on the ground that he had preached against slavery, and would continue to do so. Finally he consented to yield to the voice of Presbytery as to the voice of God, and submit to its council to be silent on that subject unless the consent of Presbytery could be obtained. At a meeting of the Synod of the Carolinas held at Morganton, N. C., November 3, 1796, Mr Gilleland stated his conscientious difficulties in receiving the advice of the Presbytery of South Carolina which had enjoined on him silence on the subject of slavery, which injunction Mr. Gilleland declared to be in his opinion contrary to the counsel of God. After consideration the Synod concurred with the Presbytery, and advised Mr. Gilleland to content himself with using his utmost endeavor in private to open the way for emancipation. That intrepid preacher, however, could not reconcile his mind to a residence where slavery prevailed, and after a time he resigned his charge and went to Ohio. He was a southern man of Scotch-Irish ancestry, born in Lincoln county, N. C., October 28, 1769. Fitted for college by W. C. Davis, of South Carolina, and graduated from Dickenson College in 1792. Mr. Gilleland was a cheerful, social man, and even those who differed from him had a high regard for him, and perfect confidence in his high character. The old Bradaway Church after several removals finally settled in Belton, and is today the Belton Presbyterian Church. In 1789 Roberts Church was built, Rev. John Simpson, Princeton graduate, becoming its first pastor. It was first known as "Simpson's Meeting House” Later it acquired the name of Roberts, just how or why is not definitely known, though there is a tradition that it was so called in honor of a Revolutionary soldier. No one now living knows who he was, or why he was so honored. Mr. Simpson was one of those traveling preachers who rode on horseback from Pennsylvania to South Carolina. He had been a soldier in the Revolution, and could fight: as well as pray. To him the Presbyterian Church in South Carolina owed its first use of hymns as well as psalms in its worship. His innovation met with great opposition, but finally triumphed. The new tunes in Watts Book of Psalms and Hymns met with even greater opposition than the words. The people of that faith had become accustomed to using what was known as "The twelve,” among which were Old Hundredth, Meas, Isle of Wight, London, Bangor, etc. Some of the more conservative of the worshipers would leave the church when, the new hymns were sung. Another great offence to them was the carrying of parts in the music. In their estimation the only pious way to sing was to use only the metrical version of the Psalms to the old tunes, and to have them lined out and sung in unison. Mr. Simpson remained pastor of Roberts and Good Hope Churches until his death in 1808. He is buried in Roberts Church yard, and upon his tombstone is this inscription.  For more than forty years a preacher of the gospel in the Presbyterian Church. Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace, the text from which the Reverend Andrew Brown preached his funeral sermon. A long line of splendid and useful men succeeded Mr. Simpson as pastor of those churches, among whom Reverend David Humphreys looms a giant. Mr. Humphreys took charge of them in 1821 at the munificent salary of three hundred dollars a year, and even that was not paid. Mr. Humphreys also taught school. “Father Humphreys” as he was affectionately called, once sitting through a wearisome session of Presbytery when useless discussion and counter discussion had balled up the order of business until the moderator scarcely knew how to untangle the knot, rose to his feet and exclaimed: "Fiddle-faddle! fiddle-faddle! what's all this long talking about? Those of you who are in favor of the motion say aye! Those opposed no! There now, Mr. Moderator, it is all settled and you can go on with business.” Mr. Humphreys served Roberts and Good Hope Churches in all thirty-nine years, divided into two periods. An interval of nine years was spent as pastor of the Anderson Church. There were a number of county churches of the Presbyterian faith before one was organized in the town. The people of the village worshiped at Roberts, Varennes and Midway. Another early Presbyterian Church was Carmel, organized in 1787. Its first elders were Thomas Hamilton, John Hamilton, James Watson, John Watson, and Robert McCann. It was early associated with Hopewell from which it was distant but a few miles. The church was first known as Richmond, later mentioned as Twenty-Three Mile Church. It has been suggested that there may have been two churches of those names which united to form Carmel. Before Anderson county was made Varennes Church and school were points of interest in Pendleton District. Very early in the history of the county Reverend Thomas Baird established an academy about where Mr. Jule Anderson's home is, and religious services were held in the school, the preacher standing on a platform, and the congregation seated on hewn logs to listen to him. In 1813 Reverend Richard Cater had a log house of worship erected near the school building. Mr. Cater preached at the new church once a month, giving the other Sundays to Broadaway, Good Hope and Roberts. The original elders were Mr. John Hillhouse, Mr. James Dobbins, Colonel Patrick Norris and Captain James Thompson. Among its pastors the church has numbered Rev. David Humphreys, Rev. Joseph Hillhouse, Rev. William Carlisle, and Rev. William Harris. During this gentleman's term of service the church was taken down and removed three miles further south, on the same road to a site given by Mrs. James Thompson, Sr. That building was of hewn logs, and within its walls was a masterpiece of workmanship known as a sounding board, upon which was perched a beautiful wooden dove. The board was bell shaped, and by means of iron rods was suspended from the roof over the pulpit. Rev. William McWhirter succeeded Mr. Harris, and following him came Rev. W. H. Singletary. About this time a Sunday school and Bible class was organized. The Rev. William Carlisle again became pastor of the church, and under his administration the location was again moved; John Wakefield and Theodore Trimmier together giving a site of seven and a half acres for the church and school. It was not far from Storeville. A substantial and creditable building was erected which is still used. Some of the ruling elders of the church have been Joshua Gailliard, Thomas Harris, Matthew Thompson, John Herron, Thomas Pennel, William A. Brownlee, James Thompson, A. E. Jackson, Samuel Webb, Henry L. McGill, W. G. Webb, D. P. McLin, and M. A. Thompson. The edifice was dedicated August, 1857, the sermon preached by Dr. Buist of Greenville. Other ministers present were Smith Gailliard, Robert Reid and William Carlisle. Mr. Carlisle remained pastor of Varennes Church until 1860 when he was succeeded by Rev. W. F. Pearson, who was employed by the Domestic Missionary Society of South Carolina. At the outbreak of the war, Mr. Pearson went with the army as chaplain. He was succeeded in the service of the church by Rev. D. X. LaFar, a refugee from Charleston. In 1866 Mr. Pearson resumed the charge -which he held until 1870. He was followed by R. A. Fair, J. O. Linsey and H. C. Fennel. The first stove for heating the church was bought in 1882. Old time religion was quite a bit warmer than the present variety,and our fathers, our mothers and their children, even to the baby, went to church every Sunday and some week days, sat through services that lasted from two to three hours, listened to their reverend pastor preach for an hour always, and sometimes longer, without any fire on the coldest day. But about the eighth decade of the nineteenth century, old Varennes was becoming very modern and up to date; following the stove came an organ, and in 1878 the building was renovated. Other preachers served the church at various times, but: Mr. Fennel and Mr. Pearson were repeatedly recalled to the charge. The beloved father in God, David Humphreys, preached his last sermon in Varennes church. Seven being in the estimation of many Christians a mystic number, it is interesting to note its repeated occurrence in the history of this church. Built in 1814, removed three miles south in 1837, new building erected in 1857. Again renovated in 1907. Its grounds consist: of serven acres. Faithfully the Presbyterians of the growing village attended services at Varennes and Roberts churches for a number of years. But they found those Sabbath journeys rather wearying, and one afternoon in 1837 a group of Presbyterian ladies were gathered at the home of Judge Whitner, whether as a church society, or merely a social gathering history sayeth not, bur they were there, and the need of a church of their own in the town was the topic of conversation. Judge Whitner became interested in the matter and offered to give them a lot if they would build on it a church. There was conceived the Anderson Presbyterian church. Women are always the most energetic church workers. And that group of ladies went to work with a will. Among them were Mrs. Kitty Benson, Mrs. Elizabeth Mauldin, lovingly known to the whole community as “Aunt Lizzie,” Miss Sallie Cater, Mrs. Charles Prince and Mrs. Creswell. The lot given by Judge Whitner was the same upon which the First Presbyterian church now stands, though at first it extended far beyond its present bounds. The Judge was not stingy in his giving. The first building erected was a small frame structure, which stood back of where the church now stands. It faced Tolly street. The dedication services were held on September 2, 1837. Rev. David Humphreys, Rev. William Carlisle, Rev. James Sewers, Rev. N. H. Harris, and Rev. Edwin Cater taking part. It had a membership of only thirteen persons to start with. Judge J. N. "Whitner and Mr. J. P. Holt were its first elders; Rev. Edwin Cater, its first pastor. Mr. Cater served until 1839. In that year a new and more commodious church was erected, a frame building facing Whitner street:, and further back, than the present structure. The new house of worship was dedicated by Rev. A. W. Ross, of Pendleton, assisted by E. T. Buist, Rev. David Humphreys, and Rev. C. Marshall. About 1878 the present brick building was erected, Rev. David E. Frierson being pastor. This was the first church in the town to have a separate room for the Sunday school; it was in the basement of the church. The adjoining graveyard was practically the town cemetery for many years. There was a graveyard surrounding the Baptist church also, but few except members of that faith, or persons closely connected with some of them, were buried there. The first grave to be made in the Presbyterian cemetery was that of a young lady, Miss Osborne, sister of the late Mr. Andrew Osborne. By the time that the Anderson church was established, Watts' hymns were used entirely, but the music was altogether vocal. Mrs. Lizzie Mauldin was in the habit of raising the tunes. One Sunday the congregation was startled when a hymn was given out to hear in place of “Aunt Lizzie's” familiar voice, the notes of a melodeon issuing from the gallery at the back. Decorum was for once forgotten, and everybody “rubber-necked” around to see the source of the disturbance. It proved to be a young lady of the congregation, Miss Tocoa Glover, playing upon “an instrument,” by many Christians of that day considered an auxiliary of the devil. Consternation prevailed; some liked the innovation, some did not. Fierce controversy was waged against organs by some of the churches and Christians until the nineteenth century was far advanced. Even Dr. W. B. Johnson, president of the Johnson University, and first president of the Southern Baptist convention, was a bitter opponent of organs and choirs. The first Sunday school in Anderson was organized by Miss Sallie Cater, Mrs. Lizzie Mauldin and Mrs. Charles Prince. It was held on Sunday afternoons in the Presbyterian church, and young people of all denominations attended. Its first meeting was on February 1, 1842. Judge Whitner was its superintendent. It soon became so popular that it outgrew the church and moved across the street to the Presbyterian Seminary, where it occupied several rooms of the building. Before a great while the other churches thought it worth while to recall their young people to their own allegiance, and Sunday schools became a part of every congregation. Mr. A. B. Towers was superintendent of the Presbyterian Sunday school longer than any other one person, and it is probable that he held the position longer than any superintendent of any Sunday school in the town ever did. Dr. Frierson. was pastor of the Presbyterian church for a longer time than any other minister ever held any charge in Anderson. He was beloved by the whole town. The salaries paid to the early ministers were meagre to begin with, and often the sum promised was not paid at all, or paid in produce. A watermelon left at the preacher's house was rarely a gift, its price was deducted by the donor from the preacher's salary. If by chance the poor preacher received something over what had been promised, he must either pay it back, or let it go on the next year's account:. And that regardless of whether he had been paid in potatoes, and had raised sufficient potatoes for himself, and had no sugar at all. One minister of those early days who happened to be a Baptist, but the condition was true of all denominations, was paid for preaching once a month for two years at a church thirty miles from his home, by a pair of shoes, a vest, and an apron for his wife. The traveling missionaries were supplied with necessities by the churches which they visited, but rarely given money. An old lady who was living in Anderson a few years ago, used to tell of such a visitor to her father's home. One day when her mother was ill, their old negro cook and laundress had planned a plain family dinner, which she put on early, and told the narrator, then a little girl, to watch while she went to the branch at some distance to wash the clothes. After a while a young man rode up to the house and asked for the child's father, who was called from the field, and soon gave orders that "Aunt Margaret" should be summoned. The old woman came grumbling, and upon seeing the stranger's horse hitched to the rack, said, “taint nothin' but po white folks nohow, he ride such a skinny horse." The visitor proved to be a man distinguished throughout the south as a pulpit orator, Dr. B. M. Palmer, of New Orleans, then a theological student. The Anderson church had the honor of being served by Mr. Palmer on that trip through the country from July to September, 1841. As a part of the same incident the lady remembered her mother taking down some of her treasured "bought goods" brought from Charleston, and making of it garments for that same visiting theological student. In 1900 the Presbyterian church divided and the new congregation formed the Central Church and erected a building on North Alain street. It was completed and opened for services with appropriate dedicatory exercises in 1202; Reverend Hugh Murchison, its first pastor. The first Associate Reform Presbyterian Church in the county was Generostee, on Little Generostee Creek. The date of its organizition is uncertain, but Reverend Robert Irwin, its first pastor, was installed in 1800, and in the beautiful custom of that early day, he remained with that congregation until his death in 1823. He was fifty-eight years old when he entered the ministry. Mr. Irwin had no children, and his farm of 250 acres. located near the churchy by his will became the property of the congregation at the death of his wife; to be used as a home for the pastors of the church, the first parsonage in the county. Mrs. Irwin lived thirty years after her husband's deaths but her hospitable doors were opened so wide to the ministers, that her home almost fulfilled its destiny during her life time. Mr. Irwin was succeeded by the Reverend Mr. Pressley, who had grown up under his preaching. Mr. Pressley also entered the ministry late, being forty years old when he began. Both of these men married late in life, and both lived to be very old. Neither left any children. One of them lived on one side of Generostee Creek, the other on the opposite. They were both pastors of but one church, and held long pastorates. Shiloh was an early church of this faith, but little is known about it. Concord, another A. R. P. Church, has a history dating back as far as 1796, and possibly earlier. Reverend Peter McMullin was its first pastor. The original building was of logs, and it served its people long and -well. But the hand of time finally fell so heavily upon the ancient structure, that its congregation found it necessary for a time to hold services in the Midway Presbyterian church. In 1845 a new building was erected, the members of the congregation contributing the different parts, one sills, another flooring, another weather boarding until everything needful had been supplied. In 1900 the present building was erected. In July, 1904, Dr. Pressley, Messrs. Robert Moorhead and Robert Stevenson were appointed by the superintendent of missions of the Second Presbytery to organise from Concord congregation a church in the city of Anderson. The old Concord church was sold to a Baptist congregation, but Mr. Robert Moorhead gave them the ground on which it stood. In its surrounding grave yard, and also one across the road, sleep some of the pioneers of the A. R. P. faith. In early times the A. R. Ps. were close communicants, and each church member was given a pewter coin which he had to show before he was allowed to take communion. In 1810 the Presbyterian church in council assembled determined that a woman who had married her deceased sister's husband, should be debarred from communion. However, a man who had married a woman who had been unchaste, not knowing her character, and she after marriage having again fallen into the same sin, left her; but not having obtained a divorce, after a time married again, his first wife being still alive, asked to be received into that same church. After some discussion he was admitted, though great care is recommended in such cases." Baptist Churches Almost coeval with the Presbyterians in the county were the Baptists, Their first house of worship whose date is definitely known was Big Creek, about three miles from Williamston, erected in 1789. The Baptists of the Piedmont section have lovingly called that "the Mother of Churches,”as many subsequent congregations sprang from it. Its first pastor was a grand old pioneer preacher from Virginia, Moses Holland. The minutes of this church, which fortunately have been preserved, a thing rare among the early congregations, throws a most interesting light on the ideas and customs of those days. The people believed in, and practiced the scriptural injunction to settle all their affairs in council of the brethren. Negroes were received as members along with their masters families, and in the church their right to be heard was equal to that of any other member. A negro woman belonging to Big Creek brought accusations of cruelty against her owners and the church spent two years trying to adjust the difficulty. The mistress was told that if she continued her mistreatment of her slave, she would be excluded from the fellowship of the congregation. Even the beloved pastor, Mr. Holland, was not exempt from the strict dealings of the church. He had some business transaction with one of his members, which was most unsatisfactory to the minister, who did not hesitate to express his displeasure. The church failing to adjust the matter, declared Mr. Holland out of fellowship. For two years they had no pastor, though they continued to hold regular meetings, which Mr. Holland regularly attended. The quarrel was with Mr. Elijah Burnett over a matter involving five dollars. When the lower Pelzer dam was built there were discovered faint signs of an old chimney near the western end. of the dam. That small pile of stones marked the place where stood Mr. Holland's dwelling. The river there was long known as "Holland's Ford." The road which leads to the power house used to be a public road. There is still a spring under the hill which furnished the family with water. Mr. Holland is buried in the Big Creek grave yard. His strong personality so impressed itself upon his community and the Baptist church of his day that the lapse of a hundred years has failed to obliterate it entirely. The records of Big Creek tell interesting stories. Among cases excluded for drunkenness was sister N. A. A committee was appointed to go to brother H. and find out why he did not attend meetings. Brother W. reported his own case for getting drunk at tax paying, for which the church forgave him. Another brother was excluded for bringing home with him from Abbeville a stray hound, said dog not being his property. Sister E. was excluded for attending a shooting match and associating with bad company. A brother was excluded for attending an unlawful assembly and shooting for a prize. Another brother did not perform work according to promise, and charged too high for it. His "work being examined by a committee and pronounced bad, he was excluded. One sister was excluded because she had been angry and said bad words, with other reports. She confessed her fault, denied reports, and was forgiven. A complaint was made by a brother against a sister for saying that two other women, blood sisters, were liars, and she could prove it. Having failed to substantiate the accusation, the brethren put on record that she had fallen under their censure until such time as she makes her accusation good. One brother applied for letters which he got, then told lies, ran away and left his debts unpaid. Sister E. applied for a letter of dismissal, and at the same time said she 'was not satisfied with the conduct of the church in turning out her husband; letters were refused. A favorite expression used in the minutes is "we disapprobate such conduct.” One of the negro members named Caesar was rather an unusual character. He was a preacher of considerable influence. He had been a slave who saved enough to buy his own freedom, and later bought his brother. The land just above the place where Rush and Vandiver's planing mill once stood, was owned by Caesar. He was buried in a field just in the rear of the old Williamston Female College buildings. In the records it is several times stated that “Brother Caesar made application to go about and exercise his gift.” Sometimes his request was granted, sometimes refused. Caesar was once excluded from fellowship for persisting over the protest of the church in taking an additional wife. Later he was restored to fellowship, what befell1 wife No. 2 is not stated. He was admonished to preach "sound doctrine” on his preaching expeditions. Also he sometimes held services for the Big Creek congregation. Once "Brother Caesar" was up before the church for having knocked down with an axe a fellow servant, A brother was declared out of fellowship for “voluntarily leaving us and joining the Methodist Society”. A sister was excommunicated because she declared that she was a Methodist indeed, and that she received more satisfaction with them than with us." She was excluded "To be numbered with us no more until she altered her principles." One entry reads, "On the night of our next meeting we agree to go into washing each other's feet." Moses Holland was pastor of that church for forty-one years, from 1788 to 1829. He was succeeded by Robert King (Uncle Bobby), 1830-1838. John Vandiver, 1838-1844. William P. Martin, 1848-1873. During Mr. Martin's pastorate, a good brick, church was erected. Big Creek is still an influential church in the county. Until after the war of secession negroes belonged to all of the white churches, and some of the old time darkeys never became quite reconciled to the separation of the races. Many Anderson people remember "Old Uncle Henry Reed," a well known old colored gardener and handy man about town. He always told with pride that he joined the white Baptist church, and that Mr. Murray baptized him. He said to the last that he never liked any other church so well. In 1843 Big Creek church was torn by dissension. An itinerant preacher from Tennessee named Edward Musgrove became a member of the church, and aspired to become its pastor. On one occasion, John Vandiver being already in the pulpit, Mr. Musgrove also entered it, and proceeded to conduct the services. Reverend Vandiver also doing the same. For a time pandemonium reigned. The two men entered into a bitter newspaper controversy, and in those days neither newspapers nor people were so polite as they are now, so the antagonists villified and scandalized each other in the coarsest and most violent way, until finally the editor or his readers got tired, and they were both shut off. Mr, Musgrove was fiercely anti-missionary and anti-prohibitionist, both of which were virulent subjects of dispute at that time. Finally Musgrove became so offensive that he was forced to leave the state, although he was a very bright man, and must have had a great deal of magnetism, because he had some very warm friends and admirers. Neal's Creek was the first offshoot from Big Creek. It was organized about the close of the eighteenth century. Its first pastor was "Uncle Bobby King” whose familiar soubriquet tells as much of his character and personality as a long description could. Typical of the Baptist ministers of his day, a strong earnest Christian, a gifted speaker, but a man of little or no education, for among primitive Baptists, education was regarded as a snare; he knew his Bible, and preached it as he understood it; reaching the unlettered people of those early times as a scholar could never have done. Neal's Creek has been called "the mother of preachers.” From that fold came William Magee, Sanford Vandiver, John Vandiver, Wiley Smith, Robert King, W. H. King, Mike McGee and J. EL Farm. As well as others. About the time that Big Creek was organized, a church known as Shockley's Ferry was built near what is now Alford's Bridge. Its first pastor was James Chastain. Tradition has preserved of that missionary in the wilderness only his name, and the fact that he organized Shockley's Ferry and Mountain Creek churches. The best remembered of Shockley Ferry pastors is Cooper Bennett. In the old days it was not Presbyterians alone who believed and taught the Calvinistic doctrine of election; that was likewise a tenet of the Baptist church, but one to which Mr. Bennett could not subscribe. A man of big loving heart, he believed and preached that Jesus Christ died for all mankind, and that any and all could and would be saved, if they chose to be. For such heresy he was excluded from the Saluda Association, and his church withdrew with him. He was its pastor for forty years. But as age laid its heavy hand upon him, his congregation scattered, and about 1826 the Shockley Ferry church ceased to exist. Mr. Bennett spent the last years of his life at the home of his son, near Greenville. When too feeble to stand to talk to a congregation, the gentle old pastor, confined to a chair, his silver hair falling upon his shoulders, liked to gather a few about him, and like St. John of old, talk about Christian love. Dipping Branch Church, near the site of the old Shockley Ferry, bears in its name the history of the spot. The church in Anderson is indirectly an offshoot of Shockley Ferry. As the old congregation disintegrated the remains were gathered up by William Magee, and Big Generostee was formed with Mr. Magee its pastor. He served that congregation for over thirty years. About 1860 the church became involved in a serious controversy which divided its members into hostile camps. One Saturday the congregation met and wrangled all day long, dispersing only as night fell, with the agreement to meet early the next day, Sunday though it would be, and renew the argument. When they arrived Sunday morning to their consternation they found that during the night their church building had been literally split in two, the roof and overhead timbers having fallen in. The phenomenon was taken as a warning from God that a house divided against itself shall not stand; so the quarrel was adjusted. However, the shock to the superstitious was too great, and the church in that locality never again flourished. In 1859 it was reorganized at Shockley Ferry, but the name Shiloh "was given to the new place of worship. When the nineteenth century was twenty years old, Pendleton District had become thickly settled, and there were numbers of people of the Baptist faith living between Shockley's Ferry and Big Creek churches to whom attending either meant quite a journey. James Burriss, a Scotch-Irishman, settled land along Generostee Creek; a devout man and a Baptist, he felt the burden of these sheep without a shepherd press upon his heart; and largely from Shockley Ferry members he established a congregation which gathered under a bush arbor near where Orr Mill is now located to hear him expound the scriptures. In 1821, with assistance of the mother church of which Mr. Burriss himself was a member, a log house replaced the bush arbor. Mt. Tabor was the name given to the new church. Reverend Sanford Vandiver became its pastor, and he served it until his death in 1841. On a bright Sunday afternoon in the fall of 1917, Colonel J. N. Brown, a grandson of Mr. Vandiver, accompanied a party of interested people to the spot where that old church stood. He pointed out in the forgotten grave yard which remains hidden away in the woods near the busy mill, the graves of James Burriss and his wife, Susan Cage, marked only by rough stones of the field. At that site, located now by a great flat stone, which must have been the door stone of the old Mt. Tabor building, the venerable old gentleman stood with bared head, and told of the old days and the people of that elder time which hallowed the spot. The little memorial service was the outcome of a thought born in the heart of a woman, a great grand daughter of James Burriss, who wished to see the graves of her ancestors, and do honor to the memory of James Burriss and his wife, as much as the ancestors of her beloved First Baptist Church, as of her self. Knowledge of the gathering some how became bruited about, and quite a number of people of various religious complexions, yet all Andersonians of long standing, were present. It was an impressive occasion, that impromptu meeting in the woods to do honor to people long dead who in their day had done what they could for their church and their community. Those pioneer preachers were heroes, they lived hard and worked hard, and preached from strong conviction, without enough pay to feed the horses that carried them to the meetings. A lady who died a few years ago over ninety years old, said she remembered her mother telling how in her young days she used to see Reverend Jacob Burriss, a son of Mr. James Burriss, making his way from his home near the town to preach at Mountain Creek where he was pastor; walking, leading a horse upon which his wife sat holding a baby in her arms, with two children mounted behind her. Mt. Tabor was the Baptist house of worship for the people of the village until 1834, when it was removed to the site of the First Baptist Church. The land was conveyed by Micajah Webb, a brother of Edmund and Elijah Webb, to Sanford Vandiver in trust for the church, and a frame building erected to the north of the present location, covering a part of what is the grave yard. The street now known as Church ran through where the building now stands. In 1853 a new brick church was to be erected, and Colonel J. P. Reed, who had a keen eye for a good effect and was endowed with artistic taste, procured permission from the town council to close the street, and place the church at its head, and there the Baptist Church stands today commanding the approach, and looking down the whole vista of the street. Reverend J. S. Murray was pastor when the brick building was erected. Although the early Saluda Association was anti-missionary, all of the Baptist ministers were by no means of like opinion. In the 30s or 40s B. F. Mauldin, a lay preacher of that faith; Amaziah Rice, Sanford Vandiver and some others formed a missionary society which did much to change public opinion. Mr. Mauldin was in the habit of preaching wherever preaching was needed almost without salary. In the early 30s he came to Anderson and opened a mercantile establishment. Associated with them was his brother, J. L. Mauldin, and his nephew, B. F. Crayton, was his clerk. Later Mr. Mauldin's health failed and he sold the business to Mr. J. L. Mauldin and Mr. Crayton and moved to Calhoun. After going to the country he preached to four churches, one each Sunday in the month, driving about eighteen miles to reach them. Upon being asked once by his clerk, John C. Whitfield, later "Squire "Whitfield”, how much he got for his services, he replied—“Well, last year I got from the four of them, 98 dollars.” The young man looked at him a moment, then said, “Well, you know your own business, but before I would work for them for such a sum, they might all die and go to hell”. The squire never thought much of either churches or preachers, although he was a descendent of George Whitfield. In his later years through the influence of his lovely wife he joined the Methodist Church. However, if all church members were as honest, true and genuinely kindly as he was, the churches would never be accused of harboring hypocrisy. Governor Brown, of Georgia, joined the Baptist church at Shady Grove under Mr. Mauldin's preaching; and when he left that section of country was given by Mr. Mauldin a letter of introduction to a friend in Georgia, Dr. Lewis, a Baptist minister, but also a business man, who received the young man very kindly, befriending him whenever opportunity offered. Governor Brown never forgot a kindness shown him, and when he was governor, the position of United States senator from Georgia becoming vacant, Governor Brown appointed his old friend, Dr. Lewis, to fill the place. Squire Whitfield had a fund of anecdotes, and loved a joke on his friends. There was one which he used to tell with relish about three of his friends, all members of the Baptist church, men of high standing and influence in the community. Their character and standing, however, did not save them in that puritanical age from being called before the church tribunal on the very grave and serious charge of fiddling and dancing. They were the Honorables J. P. Reed, Elijah "Webb, and Daniel Brown. The charge was that Reed fiddled while the dignified deacons, 'Webb and Brown, tripped the light fantastic toe. When called to account, Mr. Reed answered, “Well, when I was young I was thought a pretty good fiddler, but that night I learned for certain that I was a damned good one, and am yet." Mr. Webb being called, acknowledged his sin with penitence, and asked for forgiveness. Mr. Brown, when called, failed to respond and was found at the back of the church fast asleep. Squire Whitfield said: "Webb begged out of it, Reed swore out of it, and Brown snored out of it." Amaziah Rice was a noted Baptist preacher of early times. He was born June 20, 1798, a son of Hezeklah and Polly Leftwich Rice, settlers in the district from "Virginia. Mr. Rice began life as a clerk for his father and his uncle, Christopher Orr, at Craytonville. In his twenty-second year he married Miss Sallie Thompson. From this union there were nine children, eight of whom lived to be grown; three sons and five daughters. In Mr. Rice's young days the state militia was a thing of great importance, it was especially good as a stepping stone to official position. Air. Rice was elected colonel of the 4th South Carolina Regiment, and served several years. The title of colonel stuck, to him through life, though later he became a minister of the Baptist Church. For six years he served the state in the legislature, from 1826 to 1832. It was at that time that he shared in the honor of granting a charter to the first railroad in America built for steam cars alone, the old South Carolina road. Colonel Rice was a successful farmer and business man, and for over forty years prominent as a preacher, serving churches in Anderson and adjoining counties. It is said that he preached his first sermon in Georgia, and that he felt so ashamed of the effort, that for a long time he kept it a secret. He died July 31, 1878, and is buried in the old Rice family grave yard. Salem Church, an arm of Shockley Ferry, was organized in 1798. Rocky River Church, first called Wilson's Creek, was organized in 1790. Mountain Creek in 1796. It, like Shockley Ferry, was probably organized by James Chastain. It was in that church that the Saluda Association was formed. Barker's Creek church was organized in 1821. Reverend Arthur Williams was its first pastor. He served for nineteen years, and for all of that time nothing was ever said about paying their pastor a salary. Reverend I>. W. Hiott served that congregation at four different times, and under the administration two of the four houses of worship of the congregation were built. The last, a handsome building, was dedicated Sunday, July 2nd, 1922. The first church for negro people was St. Paul Baptist Church in the city. It was organized in 1S6S, Tabor Warren its first pastor. A plain frame building was erected, which, in 1893, gave way to the commodious brick structure that is now the house of worship for that congregation. Those pioneer churches carefully guarded the tenets of their religion; heresy -was not to be tolerated. Early in its annals the Saluda Association warns its churches against Thomas Rhodes, M. Smith, L. Johnson, N. R. Riplay, and a negro called Thomas Paul, otherwise Thomas Cook, all heretical preachers. Again in 1830 the churches are warned against the imposition of Jesse Denson. The Baptist church has been a powerful factor in the history and development of the county. A large majority of the people are of that faith, and they have done much for the uplift of the community. Methodist Churches The Methodist Church in America was formally organized in. Baltimore in 1784. Immediately their circuit riders became familiar figures in every part of the new world. In upper South Carolina an army of these soldiers of the cross, commissioned and encouraged by Bishop Asbury, began a campaign for their church. That form of faith found a wonderfull response among the people, who became Methodists by the hundred thousands. Although the Baptist and Presbyterian communions preceded them in this section of the country, the Methodists soon gained a firm foothold. Their first church in the county was at Ebenezer, on Rocky River near the Abbeville line. The present building is the fourth on that spot. The first  was about 1788 or 1789. Bishop Asbury himself preached to that pioneer congregation, and a tradition lingers of people traveling for miles, merely to see him pass along the road. There is in the present church a table on which Lorenzo Dow stood in order to see and be seen by the great congregation which thronged there to hear him preach. From very early days there was a Sunday School in connection with Ebenezer Church. Not only was the Bible taught, but the pupils were instructed in the elements of the three Rs, and one of the earliest day schools in this part of the state was maintained among the people of that congregation. The first camp meetings in Anderson county were held at “Uncle Jerry's Spring,” close to Ebenezer Church. One of the founders and organizers of this first Methodist Church was Mr. Elijah Brown, and the preachers on that circuit were always entertained at his house. They invariably made it possible to stop at “Brownville" on their trips, though a long, hard ride was necessary to accomplish it. Mr. Elijah Brown was a civil engineer, and assisted in laying off the town of Anderson. Mr. Brown believed in education, and sent his older son to England to college. It was largely through his influence that a good school was maintained in his section; and from that neighborhood have come men who have been successful in the professional and business world. In the early days of the nineteenth century camp meetings were a popular form of revivals, and they were held not alone by Methodists, but by Baptists and Presbyterians as well. The Methodist churches of Ruhamah and Providence were famous for their camp meetings. Those at Sandy Springs have made the most lasting impression on the community. In 1828 the Methodist congregation at that place bought from Sampson Pope fifteen acres of land for 45 dollars, the same upon which the Methodist Church now stands. It was at once neatly laid off in small lots contained in three rows surrounding a center square on which an arbor was erected. Fifty cents was paid for the privilege of putting up a tent on one of these lots, and after a time permanent shelters of wood were erected. In 1838 Edward Jefferson Britt hewed out the timber and built an arbor in which to hold the camp meetings. They continued until 1897. The present church was built in 1868, and a flourishing town has grown up around the old house of worship. It was at Sandy Springs that Orr's Regiment of Rifles was organized July, 1861. And there for many years after the war was over the survivors held their annual reunions. With that regiment during the war was almost every man of the Sandy Springs neighborhood who could shoulder a gun. The great Sandy Springs camp meetings began on the third Sunday in September, and continued about two weeks. Very many people became converted at these big revivals. There were four preaching hours every day and Mr. Satterfield, a Christian who felt that if he could neither preach nor pray, he could call the people to service, for many years sounded the trumpet which summoned the people to worship. The first church of any denomination in the town of Anderson was Methodist. It stood about where the negro Presbyterian church is now. The land was bought by Whitfield Anthony, D. H. Calhoun and Isaac Hays, trustees for the church, from John and Mary Thompson. The congregation was small, but enthusiastic. Among the number was Anderson's first carpenter, Hugh Whittaker, who with his sons built the small log house, a labor of love. For several years it was the only house of worship within the bounds of the village. There were no windows, and no way of heating, but the people attended no matter what the weather. If the wind blew from the east they opened the south door for light, while if die wind or rain came from that direction, the east door was opened. The description of that little church was furnished by the late Mr. T. J. Webb, who said that in his boyhood he had often been in the building, and that he knew personally the old carpenter Whittaker who did the work in 1843 that lot was sold to Mr. Baylis Crayton, and the present location on McDuffie street bought. There a neat frame building with windows on each side was erected, and painted white. The Reverend T. G. Herbert was its pastor during the war between the states. He came about every two weeks, Anderson being on his circuit. It was during his pastorate that the congregation built the first parsonage in the town. It was erected back, of the church, and afterwards sold to the Lesser family, who have several times added to the original house, but the old parsonage is the nucleus of the Lesser home today. In the early days there was a Sunday morning service for the white people, and one held on Sunday afternoons for negroes. Sometimes nurses took their charges with them to church, then, the white children were seated inside the communion railing whence they watched with interest the stately old butler who raised the hymns in a most fascinating way, marching up and down the aisles, and bending his body in time "with the tune.” When a congregation gathered in the building, all of the women sat on one side of the center aisle or division, and all of the men on the other. When a boy became twelve or fourteen years old, he was promoted to the masculine side of the house. That custom was not peculiar to Methodist churches; it was the practice of all except the Episcopal and Roman Catholic. The custom is still observed in some rural sections. In 1885 the frame building was replaced by a neat and commodious brick church, which the congregation hoped and believed would last for many years. But all the land beneath the building and for some distance around it is made earth; a great gulch once ran through there, and extended across Alain street on down towards the C and W. C. Railroad; and underground springs so undermined the foundations of the church, that in a little over twenty years it was pronounced unsafe, and the present handsome structure, with deeply laid foundations, is its successor. Although the Methodist was the first church established in the town, it does not seem to have had a regular pastor for a long time. In an issue of The Highland Sentinel in 1844 a list of the Methodist ministers of the state and their appointments is given. No mention is made there of one sent to Anderson. Notice is given on March 9, 1844, that on the second Sabbath in March Reverend G. W. Moore will preach in the Methodist Church. That servant of God died while on his knees at prayer in Providence Church. Mr. Moore was the father of Colonel John V. Moore, one of Anderson's best known citizens of antebellum days, and an honored Confederate soldier. A daughter of Reverend Mr. Moore was Mrs. de Fountain, named for her father, Georgia. She was at one time a well known writer on some of the big New York papers. Another of Mr. Moore's daughters was Mrs. Sallie Chapin, thirty years ago one of the most widely known W. C. T. U. lecturers in the state. One of the oldest Methodist churches in the county is Asbury. Matthew Clark, a Revolutionary soldier, gave the ground on which it was built, and he and Mr. Goodrum were its leading members and largest contributors. The Methodist Church at Starr is the old Bethsaida congregation removed to a new spot. Reverend James Hardy was the original promoter of that church, and he gave the ground on which it stood for many years. Mr. Hardy came to the section early in the nineteenth century, and his son, Richard Baxter Hardy, was born at the family homestead near the church in 1812. The old house is now occupied by the daughter of Rev. R. B. Hardy, Mrs. G. W. Hodges. Around the church there was in early times a great camp meeting ground, said by some people to have been the oldest in the state. The abandoned house of worship, surrounded by its ancient grave yard, stands desolate, a shade of the past. In the southwestern part of the county, two miles from the Savannah River, stands another early Methodist Church, Ruhamah. It was organized in 1822, Mr. William Glenn giving the land upon which it was built. It was dedicated in 1836 by Reverend Levi Garrison, who also named it. The original building stood a little back of, and to the left of the site of the present one, which was erected in 1874. At that time Mr. John F. Glenn, son of the original donor, gave an additional half acre of land so that the cemetery might be enlarged. For some years camp meetings were held at Ruhamah also, but in 1849 conference determined that Providence was a more suitable place for those great gatherings, so the change was made. A Methodist preacher of marked individuality who was once located in this county was Reverend James Dannally, of whom his friends had an inexhaustible fund of amusing stories to relate. He was a wooden-legged man, and familiarly called “Uncle Jimmy” With all his honest soul he hated pretense, and pretense masked in humility was no more acceptable to him than the blatant kind. It is told that in one of his churches there was a tnan very proud of his accumulations, and his well kept surroundings, but who assumed a meek and humble attitude toward his treasured property, when speaking of it to others, basking in the denials of his allegations by his friends. When Mr. Dannally became his pastor he approached him one day and remarked “Mr. Dannally, I am a very poor man, I have but little, and that very plain, but what I have I will gladly share with you; I want you to come and take dinner with me today." To his amazement, Mr. Dannally accepted his statement without protest, but declined his invitation, saying, "No, brother, I make it a rule never to impose on the poorest members of my flock; I will not take away from your family the pittance that they have." And never while he remained pastor of that church could he be induced to take a meal with that man, always treating him as though he believed him to be very poor. On one occasion during a revival meeting in one of his churches he had a young visiting minister assisting, and feeling ill, the old gentleman left the meeting to his helper and went to his nearby home to rest. The young theologue preached a "fetching" sermon, and when, he called for penitents the rail was crowded. Highly pleased, and willing for the old pastor to see what he had done, the young man sent for Kim to come back and help pray with the mourners. Reluctantly Mr. Dannally responded to the summons. When he arrived, he looked over the line stretched around the rail, then turning to the preacher, said: “Bad haul, my young brother! Throw out your net again; I have been converting the same gang regularly at every camp meeting for the last ten years, and they are not worth trying to save. The last one of them will forget before the end of the week all about your prayers and be drinking, gambling and frolicking just the same." With that he turned his back and went home again. He never hesitated to rebuke high or low, rich or poor. Once he was invited to preach in. a fashionable Charleston church. There was in the building the usual gallery at the back for negroes. Upon rising in the pulpit Mr. Dannally cast his eyes over the congregation, then raised them to the gallery. After an impressive interval he said: CCI was told when I was invited to preach in this great city, and to this gaudily arrayed congregation that they were a very refined people, and I must be careful what I said lest I offend their sensitive ears. From the number of mulattoes I see sitting in that gallery, I should judge that they are indeed refined, with the refinement of Sodom and Gomorrah.” Then he proceeded to tell them what he thought they ought to hear. He startled a congregation one Sunday as he stood in the pulpit by exclaiming: “There comes my wife with the bureau on her head.” The poor lady, probably having worn one hat for ten years, had sold a bureau which she thought she could spare, and bought a “bonnet." Once having sharply reproved a party of young people who came to church and engaged in whispered conversation and much giggling, at the close of the service one of the young men accosted him and demanded an apology to the young ladies, or lie said neither Ids clerical garments nor ids wooden leg would prevent him from thrashing the old preacher. Mr. Dannally replied: “In my young days I used to be something of a scrapper. I drank, and committed all manner of sins. In fact I lost my leg running a horse race on Sunday when half drunk. Now if some of the brethren will hold my coat I will give this young puppy such a thrashing as he has not had since his father used to take him out to the woodshed” There was no fight, but naturally the young people never again went to hear Mr. Dannally preach. But Uncle Jimmy met his match. In his old age he married a second wife. The lady was a maiden of uncertain age and temper, and the life of a poor preacher “got on her nerves,” and she did not hesitate to express her opinion of it and of the preacher, too. Once Mr. Dannally is said to have gone to his church to begin a service, when he found his wife in the pulpit telling the congregation what art old hypocrite she had found him to be. The old man, unseen by the people, stood in the door a few minutes listening to her lurid pictures of him; then he turned and stole quietly away, leaving the field to her. While Mr Dannally preached often in Anderson county churches, his home was over the Abbeville line, near Lowndesville. He is buried in the old Smyrna grave yard, near the church to which he preached longest. Near Pearl Spring, almost where the Piedmont Mills now stand, there was built in 1841 a church belonging to the denomination known as "Protestant Methodists” Its first pastor was Hendrix Arnold, a man whose memory was long reverenced. The next was Thomas Hutchins, who had formerly been connected with the conference of the M. E. Church before it added South to its name. The church was in existence until 1846 when it was discontinued, the building passing into the hands of the "Christian” denomination. The Methodist Church, long known as "The Old Pickens Meeting House,” was first a Presbyterian place of worship, lite Pickens family being of that faith. But in the early days when there were practically no hotels, and the circuit rider penetrated into every part of the wilderness, Colonel Robert Pickens entertained in his home many of these peripatetic ministers, and his little daughter, Anne, became interested in their meetings, so much more lively than the dignified services to which she was accustomed. After one of the Methodist revivals she asked permission of her parents to unite with the Methodist body. It was refused, and Miss Anne was taken by her mother before a solemn assembly of Presbyterian divines to be lectured and instructed. The reverend gentlemen questioned the little maid in her mother's presence, and so drastic were their methods, that at the end of the ordeal the indignant mother turned to the child and said: “Now Anne, you may do as you please”.  Anne did as she pleased, and the whole family followed her. Then the church which Colonel Pickens had built on his place for Presbyterians, was turned over to the Methodists. Changing their ministers every four years, if not oftener, no Methodist preacher has had the opportunity to impress himself on the community, as have the preachers of some other denominations who have remained for years a vital part of the life of the place. But among their laymen who have been an influence in the town have been such men as Mr. Nardin of blessed memory, Mr. "Charley" Jones, Mr. R. S. Hill, Mr. O. M. Heard and others, and such women as Mrs. Margaret Van Wyck, Mrs. Lucy Nardin, Mrs. Jones, and Anderson's loved librarian, Mrs. Sue Whitfield Geiger. All of these have passed on to other things, but there remain among us today, Mr. “Dick" Ligon, Mr. John Hubbard, another Dr. Nardin, Mr. John E. Wigginton, and others who are doing a great work for their church and their community. Where the Elks' Club now stands there was twenty or more years ago a little church building erected by the Wesleyan Methodists. They worshiped there for several years, then sold the building to the A. R. P. congregation which was at that time moving from Concord into the city. They used the building for a year or two before they erected their present edifice across the street. The Wesleyan congregation has a church near Orr Mill. The Episcopal Church and Other Small Congregations Early in the nineteenth century Pendleton District, lying at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, safe from Indians and protected by a growing population, appealed to the people of Charleston as an ideal place for a summer retreat from heat, sand flies and mosquitoes; and persons bearing such well known name as Ravenell, Pinckney, Huger, etc., built summer homes in Pendleton. Finding their great airy country homes very comfortable, and their surroundings agreeable, many of them remained permanently. While the great wave of population coming in from the north was Presbyterian and Baptist, there were among it some members of the great English Church, and these meeting with fellow church men from Charleston, united to form a congregation of Episcopalians in Pendleton. Among the churchmen from the north were those bearing the names Talliferro, Lewis, Shanklin, Harrison and others. True to their English traditions, no sooner had these people built homes than they turned their attention to establishing their church. About 1815 they organized a congregation; they elected church officers, and worshiped in what was then the Farmers Hall, a building now owned by Mr. J. N. Bostic on the west side of the square. A young missionary named Delareaux, of Charleston, was sent by the Society for the Advancement of Christianity in South Carolina to serve the up-country congregation. He had charge of the mission from 1816-1818. Then steps were taken to erect a building. The material was hauled in ox carts from Augusta, and the building progressed slowly. The architect of that little chapel in the "wilderness bore the auspicious name of Morningstar. In 1822 the house was presented to council, and dedicated by Bishop Boone. Its first rector was Reverend Rodolphus Dickinson, then a missionary in Greenville. Mr. Dickinson was born in Massachusetts, a Harvard graduate, who set out to build tabernacles in the wilds. In eighteen months he traveled on horseback a thousand miles. Mr. Dickinson established not only the church in Pendleton, but also the one in Greenville. He was greatly opposed to slavery, and in 1826 preached an anti-slavery sermon which made for him some enemies; but his honesty and gentleness, his attainments and high Christian character, held many friends to him whose ideas were at variance with his own. Like most people who are born in Massachusetts, Mr. Dickinson was a writer, and attained some note in his day, having published a number of books on a variety of subjects. He was a son of Thomas Wells Dickinson and Thankful Field. His father was a Revolutionary soldier of some note in his section of the country. His mother belonged to the family which has produced Cyrus Field, Samuel Field, the famous preacher; Eugene Field, the poet; Marshall Field, the merchant, and Thomas Jefferson. Rodolphus Dickinson was born in 1786, graduated from Harvard in 1805, studied law and was admitted to the bar of old Hampshire in 1808. He was clerk of the court from 1811-1819. Being then ordained an Episcopal minister he came immediately to South Carolina. He was a Jeffersonian democrat, and once his party's candidate for congress. His published works show him to have been familiar with law, theology, history and general literature. His only son died in infancy, but two daughters lived to womanhood, He died, in 1862 having returned to Massachusetts about 1835. Mr. Dickinson was succeeded as rector in Pendleton by Reverend William S. Potter, who went to Greenville about 1848 and died there. After him came an interim when the church had no rector. Then the services of Andrew Cornish were secured. He served long and faithfully. Although the Episcopal churches never condemned the use of organs, for a long time the church in Pendleton had none, probably because they could not buy one. The tunes were raised by Dr. Dart, clerk, pronounced clark a la England, He sat in a short pew just under the high pulpit. Dr. Dart was better satisfied with his own performance than were his hearers. Mrs. John E. Galhoun, a very outspoken person, was vehement in her expressions of annoyance at the way he hissed with his tongue against his teeth, and failed to carry the tune as Airs. Calhoun thought it ought to be carried. Finally an organ was purchased, and Mrs. Cornish was the first organist. An old lady who was a little Methodist girl living in Pendleton ninety years ago used to tell of the profound impression made upon her when she went with her Episcopal grandmother to St. Paid Church. The beautiful red curtain surrounding the high pulpit, the reredos at the back, and above all the arch of gold letters around the chancel—"The Lord is in His Holy Temple! Let all the Earth keep silence before Him!” seemed to her childish imagination to open a glowing vista into another world. In the church yard of St. Paul's lie some distinguished dead, among whom are General Barnard E. Bee, Reverend Jasper Adams, F. R. S.; Colonel Thomas Pinckney, Colonel Thomas Clemson, William Henry Trescott, "Reverend Andrew Cornish, General Clement Stephens, Colonel J. B. E. Sloan, Dr. F. J. Pickens, and many others whose names adorn the annals of the state. The first vestry of the church consisted of Colonel J. E. Calhoun, Dr. Hall, Warren R. Davis, Thomas Pinckney; wardens, Mr. Talliaferro and Mr. William Clarkson. The only other Episcopal Church in the county is Grace Church, Anderson, which was organized some time in the 40s. A lot was bought, the same on which Grace Church now stands, and in 1860 a small, but pretty and "churchly” wooden building was erected. The congregation was at first composed almost entirely of women. Some of them were Mrs. Edward Morris, Mrs. Daniel Brown, Mrs. Elijah Webb, Misses Mary and Carrie Waller. The last four were sisters; their father, Mr. Waller, having come to Anderson in 1837. While he lived they had his assistance in holding their little band together, but he died Friday, June 7th, 1844, having met with the little congregation the previous Sunday, He was buried in the Presbyterian grave yard. Then women alone held the church together. They met at each other's homes, except when they could secure the services of some visiting clergyman, when Benson's Long Room was used. After they succeeded in getting a church built they were at a loss for a man to attend to the financial affairs, and Mr Daniel Brown, the Baptist husband of one of the number, filled the office of vestryman for Grace Church, and attended council meetings as its representative. For a time just before the war, General, later Bishop Ellison Capers, who had come to Anderson to live, served tie congregation as lay reader. Years later his son, the present Bishop W. T. Capers, of Texas, had as his first charge the same little church in which his distinguished father had served. Both of these men were greatly beloved, not only by Episcopalians, but by the whole community. Another much beloved and honored rector of the church was Reverend Thomas F. Gadsden, who served it for twenty-five years. Reverend R. C. Jeter, Chaplain of the First South Carolina Regiment, who died on the border in 1916, was rector of Grace Church for eight years. Mrs. Webb, one of the founders, had two sons who loyally served the church as vestrymen and wardens all their lives. They were Charles W. Webb and Robert C. Webb. Besides Bishop Capers the church has had the good fortune to have two most excellent lay readers whose services when there has been no rector were inestimable. They were Mr. Ernest A. Bell, for forty years a devoted member, and for many years senior warden. Besides the services and his loyalty, Mr. Bell made most generous contributions towards the finances. The other was Air. Robert C. Jenkins, son of General Micah Jenkins, who for ten or twelve years made Anderson his home. Early in the present century a handsome brick building replaced the original frame church. The late Fred G. Brown was one of the building committee, and came to love the church so that at his death he left to it a generous bequest. In 1860 Mr. John Baker, of Charleston, placed in the new chapel a cabinet organ, the first ever brought to Anderson. Some twenty years later a small pipe organ was placed in the church, again the first in the city. Miss E- P. Morris was for years the organist. Miss Elizabeth Cornish, daughter of Rev. A. Cornish, also served Grace Church as organist for some time. The "Christian" Church made its appearance in the county in 1829. A log building was erected on Dooley's Ferry Road, and the name Antioch was given to the congregation. Mr. S. G. Earle was the leader. Having a minister very irregularly, he assembled the people and read a sermon to them, and often administered the communion. He also organized a Bible class which met every Sunday for study. They had no commentaries or other helps, and in place of attempting to construe scripture, their method was simply to memorize long extracts from the Bible and numbers of hymns. The star pupil of the school was a girl who had to work very hard, but as she sat at her loom she kept an open Bible beside her and memorized more of its contents than any one else in the congregation. An early minister of this denomination was Mr. Moore, another was Mr. R. S. Sheshane, who lived at Mr. Carle's home, Evergreen, and in 183 8 published there a church paper called The Morning Watch, which appeared monthly. It was probably the first religious publication in Anderson county. Mr. Alexander Campbell and his father, Mr. Thomas Campbell, both preached once certainly, and perhaps of tener at Antioch. For years the church flourished, but after a time most of its members went to seek homes in the opening west, and the church dwindled away. In 1846 the Christian denomination gained possession of the old Pearl Springs Methodist Church building, and organized a church with William Roberts its pastor. He served until his death in 1852. Tradition hands down many interesting accounts of services held by him. After Mr. Roberts' death Mr. Lenderman served the congregation for several years. Before 1859, however, the church died entirely, and the building became a store house for wagons and farm tools. A few persons of this faith lived in the town of Anderson and held occasional services until sometime early in the present century they erected a small frame church on Greenville street. But that, too, fell into disuse, and has been converted into an apartment house. In 1861 two Roman Catholic families came to Anderson; they were those of Captain John McGrath, later one of Anderson's Confederate soldiers, and Mr. Mike Kennedy. These two families had services occasionally in one home or the other; at first it was not of tener than once, or at most twice a year, when a visiting priest came to look after the little flock. There were three brothers, all priests, to whom this mission was dear. Their name was O'Connell, and they were affectionately known to their parishioners as “Father Joseph," "Father Lawrence" and "Doctor." As a few more families were added to the congregation, the services were held of tener. Father Felchia and Father Smith were the supplies. The great hope and dream of the little band was realized when in 1881, a small plain church was erected, Captain McGrath and Mr. Kennedy attending to all the business, and the ladies working in every possible way to raise the money. The lot on McDuffie street was bought, and Reverend Father Woolahan was the first priest of the new church. The first couple to be married in it were Miss Annie McGrath, eldest daughter of Captain McGrath, and Mr. James O'Donnell. The first person buried in the church yard was the wife of Mr. Kennedy. At the dedication of that church Bishop Lynch officiated, assisted by Reverend Harry Northrup, afterwards himself bishop; Reverend Claudian Northrup, Father Monahan, later Bishop of North Carolina, and Father Quigley. In 1822 practically a new church replaced the old one. In the dedication of that church were two men who had assisted on the former occasion, Bishop Northrup and Bishop Monahan. Among the many priests who have been in charge of the church in Anderson there have been two who especially impressed themselves upon the people of the town; one, Father Joseph Budds, whose kindly hands were often raised in blessings on Protestants as well as Catholics. The other, the genial Father Duff, whose pleasant manners and cordial fellowship made friends of all his acquaintances. He afterwards became one of the army chaplains in the world war, and his popularity followed him into the ranks. For a few years there was a Congregational Church in the city, a split from the Central Presbyterian, under the Reverend Witherspoon Dodge, who was pastor of the Central Church. In consequence of some point of church doctrine, he left the church and a number of his flock went with him. A building was erected on the corner of McDuffie and Greenville streets. It lasted, however, but a few years; after Mr. Dodge took another pastorate the people mostly returned to one of the Presbyterian churches. There was once a Quaker Church in the county. It was near the old Ebenezer Meeting House, but the congregation scattered long ago, and only an old grave yard remains to remind the people that once the gentle “Friends" formed a part of the population. There has been one Lutheran Church in the county. It was in Fork Township, organized in 1876, Reverend Dr. Smeltzer its pastor. At that time the Lutheran College was located at Walhalla, and Dr. Smeltzer was its president. The membership of the Church was never large, and after the removal of the college to Newberry the congregation, dwindled away to such an extent that the building was finally sold to the Methodists who established a church there under the leadership of Reverend "Charley" Ligon. In its surrounding grave yard, however, sleep some of the Lutherans who once worshiped there. Among the leaders of the church were the Cromer family. In 1869 there was organized in the county a Singing Convention, composed of members of churches of all denominations. It held its sessions with the Belton Churches. Reverend Willis Walker rode on horseback from his home in Virginia to assist in its organization. He preached on the first day of the meeting. Officers elected were: J. G. Douthit, president; L. W. Kay, vice-president; J. W. Eskew, secretary. Lessons in music were conducted by W. F. Anderson, of Providence; J. G. Sears, of Smith's Chapel; J. W. Winters, Shiloh; James Drennan, Concord; W. G. Smith, Slabtown; W. V. Vickery, Hart county, Georgia; musical lectures, Rev. Mr. Walker. Delegates were sent to this convention from most of the churches of the county, and those who attended felt so greatly benefited that interest grew, and singing conventions have been popular ever since. They doubtless have been of great benefit to the music of the country churches. Anderson has proved itself to have developed a missionary spirit since the early days when Saluda Association would scarcely admit to membership a believer in missions. Many years ago the Presbyterians sent J. L. McBride to China. About 1889 Miss Delia Wright, an Anderson girl, was sent by the Methodist church to China. In 1894 the Anderson Baptist Church sent Miss Mary Sullivan to the same country. The evening before her departure there were impressive ceremonies held in the church as a farewell demonstration to her. Ministers of other denominations took part in the exercises, and various Baptist churches of the county contributed to a purse for the young missionary. For a time the church had frequent letters from Miss Sullivan. The Baptists of the state had also in the field a young missionary, Mr. Royall, and the home people learned that Cupid is to be found in China as well as in America. The two young people were married, and after a time both left the Baptist Church and became Zionists. One of the most interesting missionaries who went from Anderson was a negro woman, Georgia Ann Anderson. She was born before the war between the states, daughter of Washington Reeves, who was the property of Mr. Noah Reeves. After the war Washington with his family moved to the Lick Skillet section of the county. Not a great distance from his home a white man with a wooden leg, named Spoon, taught a school for negroes, and Georgia Ann was one of his pupils. She was a very bright girl, always a great Sunday School worker, and a noted singer. She married Jim Anderson, and the two of them worked on Mr. William McFall's plantation for a time. In the year 1895 about 233 negroes sailed from Savannah, Ga., for Monrovia, in Africa, to establish a negro colony, and act as missionaries to their own people. Georgia and Jim were among them. Arrived in Africa, Georgia established an industrial school for girls at Freetown, Sierra Leone. Jim died in Africa, and after eighteen years of work at her school, Georgia returned to America on a visit. One object of her trip was to induce other colored people to go to Africa and make homes. On her visit to Anderson she was asked to talk to the ladies of the First Baptist Church about her work. Her address was listened to by a large audience of interested women, and a contribution made by them to her school. In New York on her return trip to Africa she married another missionary. In 1920 Dr. and Mrs. Sam Orr Pruitt went from the First Baptist Church as missionaries to China. They sailed on “The Princess of Japan,” a vessel chartered to take missionaries to the Far East. For them, too, there were interesting farewell exercises held in the church. The Methodist denomination has to its credit besides Miss Delia Wright, Reverend and Mrs. Wolling, who left the Anderson Church to go to Brazil, where they labored for some years. There Mrs. Wolling died. On a visit home some few years later Mr. Wolling married again, and his second wife also became a missionary. Mr. John Mattison, of Honea Path, went to Brazil as a Methodist missionary. Mr. Claude Smith, of Belton, went from the same denomination to Brazil, as did Dr. and Mrs. John Lander, of Williamston. Mr. Newton was also a Methodist missionary from Anderson county, also Miss Smith. From the A. R. P. Church Mr. and Mrs. John Edwards went to Mexico, where they spent a number of years. Mrs. Edwards was an Anderson girl, Miss Amelia Brown, daughter of Mr. Elijah Brown, and before her marriage a favorite in society. In 1898, John Davis, L.L.D., an Episcopal minister of Hannibal, Mo., but who was born and grew up in Anderson, went to Tokyo as professor of Ecclesiastical History in Trinity College, a missionary enterprise of the American Episcopal Church. Mr. Davis was a very scholarly man, an acknowledged authority not only on Church History and Theology, but a botanist of rare attainments and wide reputation. He made a. complete tour of the world and remained some time in the Holy Land. Some two or three years ago this gentle priest and scholar died in Anderson while spending the summer with his sisters. From the Episcopal Church also has gone to foreign fields Miss Minnie Gadsden, daughter of Reverend Thomas Gadsden, so long rector of Grace Church. Miss Gadsden spent all of her girlhood in Anderson. The Episcopal Church has in training for the missionary field Newton Heckle, who spent some years of his boyhood in Anderson, and even as a youth was an officer in the Church School, and a devoted church worker.