https://johnsonvilleschistory.org/files/original/47bcd8681e9061c6b2c96c051dc1e70f.pdf b61145c44a702eabf10cb46bf90da320 PDF Text Text •• res • er1 ros • s Note; 'Ibis is the conclusion to )nu1 Serles on the history of the Presbyterian Church. The cancemrated on the beginnings charch and its role in the ean Revolution. part wDI focus on the church's after the Revolution <when it as a ''sedition shop'') and its ued growth, though tempered with 1'1ld prosperity, spanning a of some 218 years. e material for this article is from Historical Sketch of Indiantown terian Churhc'' by James Fowler , .courtesy of the Williamsburg y Historical Society. r. :Y Cl\RL ELLIOTI', JR. ter Indiantown Church was by the British in 1780, all public p at Indiantown came to an end. en of the church were with Marion mere survival was the ation of the day with families at ere was now no minister and assembly was an invitation for attack. t by 1783 Indiantown again had a e pastor, the Rev. Thomas Hill. suggests that a new church had been rebuilt and that by e the Indiantown Presbyterian had been successftilly revived. 1788 the church petitioned the ~lina General Assembly for tlon. The members of the silned a confession of faith as follows: Congregation of subscribe, 8'ereis one God and a e of Rewards of the Christian true Religion. floly Scriptures Testament are of divine Inspiration, and are the Rule of Faith and Practice. Fifth, That it is lawful, and the Duty of every Man, being thereunto called those that govern to bear witness to Truth. Also in 1788, Rev. James White Stephenson came to Indiantown, first as a supply (substitute minister ) and subsequently as full·time minister. His services were shared between Indiantown and the newly for111ed congregation at Bethel in Kingstree. Stephenson served these congregations ' for 18 years. His influence in the church was said to have been great and it was under his ministry that the church began to actively campaign against such traditional practices in the district as drinking, dancing and horse racing for church members. Rev. Stephenson also worked to get more black members into the congregation. ·· He married Elizabeth James , daughter of Maj. John James, who died in 1791 at the age of 59. The marriage proved to be shortlived because in 1793 Elizabeth James Stephenson died and was buried in Indiantown Cemetery near her father . The loss of the indigo trade in Williamsburg was soon replaced by cotton. The cotton gin brought increased prosperity to the South, including Indiantown. After Stephenson's departure from the district in 1808, te Session of elders in the church began to take more stingent measures against church members for what were deemed immoral practices. In 1811 , for example, the Session_ of the Bethel and Indiantown, acting jointly, found a member of Bethel guilty of ''incest'' because he had married his deeeased wife's sister. But the most celebrated case of the church's disciplinary days came in 1831 against Samuel McGill, a devoted member of Indiantown. It should be noted that only - - -··· Indiantown Presbyterian Church Today communicants of the church were disciplined and this was entirely in keeping with a policy la id down by the state General Assembly. McGill's offense was that of having , ''recently taken an active part in a dancing party ." At the time McGill was contracting to build a new church , a project which was said to have been difficult and , without any profit. The Session endeavored to get McGill to confess his guilt and repent his misdoing. He was known to be a lover of dancing and pleasure. But after reviewing him the Session was dissatisfied at his response to their accusations and so ordered him not to commune the next day. He was later charged, and tried before the Session, for obstinacy disrespec t a nd of, '' slandering an individual of this Session." The tr ial caused much excitement in the congregation. McGill was found guilty of the first two charges but aquitted of the slander cha rge. A sentence of rebuke and admonition was administered. Finally on Nov. 4, 1832, McGill came before the Session made his peace, confessed his offense and was restored to the church. His son, Dr . Samuel D. McGill, the author of ''Reminiscences of Williamsburg County," wrote: ''There were no more dancing parties given at his house during the remainder of his life." Nevertheless the controversy over dancing dragged' on until on April 28 , 1834 , the whole Session confronted the congregation with its resignation, saying among other things : '' ... we believe it hopeless to proceed farther against such determined opposition, and as we cannot conscientously serve the church as ruling elders, seeing the practice of dancing, excessive drinking and their accompanying evils cannot be suppressed by us , and judging from the efforts already made that our influence is insufficent for this or to promote the purity and edification of this church ... " Their statement was signed by S. James Wilson, George Barr, George Mccutchen and David D. Wilson. The Rev . J . M, minister at the time, also severed his connections from the church and returned to his home state of North Carolina. From that point, it appears that a more positive approach of encouraging goodness was taken toward the members of the church . In 1830 Samuel McGill and D. D. Wilson contracted to build a new church building for $1,700. The job proved to be tedious and unprofitable because all the lumber had to be gotten from Lawren's water mill on Lynche's Creek, 10 miles above the present town of Scranton. In 1832 Indiantown Academy was built at the head of Samuel McGill's avenue not far from the church. In 1848 it became a parochial school under the leadership of Dr. Samuel McGill. The pastor at Indiantown was requested to visit it often to catechize and instruct the students. With cotton prosperity Indiantown had achieved a high level of prosperity by this time and had gained a respect for knowledge and refinement. Pioneer . houses of ·logs had given way to the weatherboarded two-story house, which 'was tall and spare. Generous porches and shutters made summers cool and huge brick chimneys kept out the winter cold. Deacons were elected for the first time in 1849. In its centennial year <1857) Indiantown reported 379 members, 282 of which were black. Though the Civil War did tkW! actually touch Indiantown as did the Revolution, the sparceness of church' records indicate the disruption caused'. by four years of civil strife. Six members of the congregation,,.; were killed in the Civil War. After the war's end, prompted by the Fre~an's Bureau, almost all black members left to fonn their own. churches or to join those already organized. Total membership suddenly · dropped to 82. In the darkest days of Reconstruction, Indiantown was again without a pastor. A. R. Kennedy became pastor of both Indiantown and Whiteoak churches in 1872. Mrs. Kennedy was the sister ol Woodrow Wilson. One of the couples young daughters is buried in .•<1 Indiantown. In 1910 the front porch of the churcti was added. The boom days of WWI broi1gJ>t-i.'.. increased prosperity to the district. 'l'be demand for cotton and foodstuffs gave Williamsburg . a Jong-delayed ".'·' opportunity. Soon automobiles became commonplace, demanding an improvement of the public road gystem. The church was in bad need of Sunday School rooms, so the church building was raised and a basement containing classrooms was placed beneath. · In 1918, 2.5 acres of cemetery wer.e added and in 1920 a new manse built. ..,. But prosperity vanished with tli'f! coming of the boll-weevil in the 1920 • Long before the country experienced great depression of the 80 Williamsburg had become a to belt-tightening. Tobacco replaced cotton money crop. The church's fellowship was erected in 1948. lJi l~ retired 46 non-residen VoatlDued to pa - -~ ------------~~... ~ .. Indiantown Presbyterian Church Continued from page 1 , members but the role still showed 326 communicants. In 1957 the chruch celebrated its .~bicenten~~l: . As~~· bicenten11la l project, Y he Session ~ Indian town vo ted 0 unanimously to support the founding of a new church in Hemingway. Today St. Paul Presbyterian Church, a fine brick structure between Hemingway· and Johnsonville' prospers " as .a strong healthy offspring of the '-' Fnd1antown Presbyterian Ghurch". -•· · • ~ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Weekly Observer Description An account of the resource The Weekly Observer was published out of Hemingway, SC from 1973 until printing ceased in 2012. The paper continues as an e newpaper on scnow.com Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1973-2012 Subject The topic of the resource Local Newspaper covering the Johnsonville and Hemingway communities. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Weekly Observer Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Indiantown Church Grows WO 9-25-75 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Weekly Observer News Newspaper Weekly Observer