.U. 1:1
^^999 Ju. „.trX JLi
BLUE RIDGE BAPTIST.
Wm. M. Lee, Editor.
VOL. 3 NO. 31
HAT»TI,ST CHURCH :
I’reacliiiig every second and fourtlii
^Sunday, morniiifj and evening.
Sunday School lO A. M.
Prayer meeting every Thursday eve.
Rev. W. R. Bradshaw, Pastor.
METHODIST CHURCH :
I’reacliing every lirst and third Sun
'day morning and evening
Sunday School 9:30 A. .M.
Prayer meeting every Tuesday evening.^
Rev. J. H. Tabor, Pastor.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH:
Preaching every third and fourth Sun
day, morning and evening.
Sunday Scliool 9:30 A.. M.
Prayer meeting every Wednesday eve.^
Rev. C. W. Robin.son, Pastor.
All are cordially invited to attend^
these services.
DEVOTED TO RELIGION, EDUC.’.TION AND TEMPERANCE.
NORTH WILKESBOKO, N. C.. MAY 14, 1903.
The Lewis’ Pork Baptist
Association-lNo. 1.
The reader will desire to have some out
line, prior to the organi/.atioii of this body,
foiicerning the precedent evangelization, for
mation of churches, their union into delib
erative bodies, their ministry, their fellow
ship and the authority to which they were
■.|"ithpred and orgauivod.
It is beyond a question tha.t as early as the
;iiitnmn of 1834 thi> chnrclu-s that two years
afterward met at the Lewis’ Fork church he-
gaii to agitate the question of its formation
for this is matter of record. The Associa
tion however was not organized until the 30
day of September 1836, and, when organized
was named for the church where it first niefc.
P’or .more than si.xty-four years prior to
1836, however, the gospel had been preached
among the settlers at the head waters of the
Yadkin river. Its confluents, including
both prongs of the Lewis’ Fork, with Eed-
die.s Eiver,Rra ingEi\er, and the New Elver
country beyond the Blue Ridge; and, even
the Holston river country, must be includ
ed in this early work. This would oblige ns
to refer to the years 1771, 1772 and 1773
an era of planting and suffering without a
parallel in the settlement of the American
Colonies, an era that was training the men
who in September 1781 armed themselves
into one concerted determined and patriotic
campaign and turned the fortunes of the
American revolution by the destruction of
the Enemy at Kings Mountain on the 7 day
of the October following. Men who for days
lived on a morsel of stale bread and through
rain hail and,.the .snow of theYellqw Moun
tain, some on foot and some mounted, final
ly sett.ca the question of Religions Liberty
in America and probal)ly the world for it is
working that way. Two generations pass
from view from the“'settlement of the Monn-
ti^pountry and its first promise for Christ
bel^e this organization was affected. Why
was it delayed? And after so many years
what brought the churches into this union ’
How long did the union continue? What
kept it alive while it continued? W’hy should
it ever have had an end? What purpose did
it accomplish? W'hen it cea.-ed did its prin
ciples and the hopes of its fonnde-s cease
with it?
Some of these questions are easier to ask
than thev are to answer, but finst of all, we
must make the attempt to account for the
delays in this organization. In order to do
this it will be necessary to gather a few frag
ments as specimens to get at the beginning.
Brethren who have other and kindred tradi
tions either oral or written will speak for
themselves concerning the troublous period
prior to the Regulators war, and the follow
ing ordeal of fire mentioned by its partici ■
pants with borrow and handed down to our
generation with shrugs of the shoulder and
tears of the face It was a war against ihe
ancestry of the present happy people of the
upper Yadkin and Mountain districts.
When Bishop Spangenbiirg was selecting
the Wachovia Lands from the Quaker Mead
ows 'o the White 'I’op in Ashe county upon
the return of his force he’ow the mouth of
Lewis’ Fork at the Mulberry Fields he hap
pily found a few white people. This was in
December 1752. 'I'he name of the family
wag Owen a Welchman by country. He had
fettled there the spring before. Morg-an
Bryan had taken njiland at the Mulberry
Fields Out as yet had not settled it. Here
the Bishop and his party rested, cared for
their sick, thanked God and took courage.
The cause of the migration to this lovely
land was incidental, and formed part of a
plan,—man’s plan fii’st, God’s plan in the
end. To salve the mystery would require ns
to go into the details that would explain
this part of our current history. Morgan
Edwards in 177.5 writes of the dispersion
that occurred from the Cape Fear river west
ward, including the Sandy Creek, Deep riv
er, Uwharie, .Jersey settlement and adjacenf
communities, which emptied a Baptist pop-
nlation of many hundreds to the westward
as far asthe Ilclston river. The re.»nlt 'f
the attempt to put the Flnglish Establi-sin^
mentand its compulsory footing on .\meri
can soil.
T1 e narhes of the.rigners of this Res-ula-'
tion moved from Oha’tbam, Mooie, Ron ' h,
Guilford, Alamance,Davidson and even Row
an and Davie and a. e distributed in the
Mountain districts In some instances not
a ve.stige of the old stock was left behind
and congregations that here the Sandy
ilreek field then numbered nearly a thousand
in aggregate membership were reduced to
—16. It was estimated that 150u families
were driven from their homes n the *| e:
country to the regions beyon 1 I I ^
Mountains in 1771. I hey
safer retreats than were,:: g
Messer and Merrill i 1 i I
There is reason to believe,
matter received fTom tr It
ization went hand in ha vDu IViDll UJlilO
tion. Elder Andrew Baker in 1772 or 1773
with the assistance of Elder Eli Cleveland a
surveyor of Ashe county sat as a Presbytery
and organized the O d Senter and Old Fields
churches doubtless torn in the revolution
which followed. In the Old Fields church
was the Scotch family of Faws, and the sen
ior Eligah Calloway, shot and badly crippled
in his efforts to shield and aid Benjamin
Cleveland a fevv years afterward. Rev. G. W.
Greene in his excellent article printed a few
years back entitled “The Baptist of the Ip-
per Yadkin Valley,’’comes close the subjects
of my sketch. He refers to the age of the
Kings Creek church, of Beaver Creek, Lew
is’ Fork and “the church at Brother Mc
Neil’s” (New Hope), as branches of the older
bodies further dnv n the Yadkin. The or
ganization of the Kings Creek church must
have occurred as ea’dy as 1779. Beaver
Creek, Lewis’ Pork and New Hope commu
nities had preachi-rs preaching and “The
church at Brother McNeil’s” renders it cer
tain that the McNeils, McGlamerys, Cleve-
Isitid.s, Yates’. Lewis’, Fletchers, Judds and
many others vqel! known by name to this day
in (har. (^jnntrj'', liad a hody-of baptized be
lievers in thflrRiklst. The relationship of
ali.these names^renders it beyond a question.
Delicacy here bids n.'; close an interesting
subject.
" ? V-W. II. E.
Greensboro, N. C. c.
wore •
\ t.
: alrbongh it is
111 that evangel-
ith this migra-
An EXperlance Told.
Dear friends attend while I relate,
The story of a sinner great,
What chains what fetters bound my soul.
When blindness from my mind did roll.
A sinner yea how great I was.
'I’o great to see with mortal eyes.
But light broke in upon my soul.
.And did my inward eyes nnfchl.
A t early age I saw I’d sinned,
Against a kind ard heavenly friend.
Then Oh what grief what anguish too,
What could I say what could I do.
f tried to pray but all in viiin.
But still I’d try and try again,
My sin.s like, Tiionntains ’round me stood.
Tears from my eyes fell like a flood.
Wiiat more to do I could not tell,
1 ‘bought my soul was bound for hell.
I then resolved I’d try to pray.
What time on earth I had to stay.
Sometimes niy heart was humbled down.
Anil I would fall upon the ground,
And there implore the God of love,
My grief and burden to remove.
Thus all my mourning turned to praise.
My si'u! burst forth in joyful lays
So filled with happiness and love,
I longed to reach that home above.
I ' bungl I ne’er would sin again,
i'j aded neither death nor pain,
.iminsb'n: SR and ft’- .
‘*“(i , f Ll ■
' i fyr r>»- ... ere* f V. -j- ^ - c
An^ .' tiatK.e tben fill'xl mj .
”J was grace the Savior did impart,),
’Twas grace ’twas grace yes wonderful grace,
That caused me seek His wonderful face.
Now sinner dear I do entreat
To seek the Savior at his feet,
He will be found of those who seek.
He’ll ope the door and yon he’ll greet.
Come sinners to the gospel feast,
The. table’s spread for every guest.
The spirit and the bride say come.
And whosoever will may come.
Dear Editors:-
Please publish this article in your
little, but powerful, paper if you consider it
worthy of note.—L. C. B.
D. W. Lee, Associate Editor oiid Monog;
WEEKLY, 50c. A YEAR.
Teacher primary class; C. Tucker Teacher
card class; James Phillips Singing Master.
With Respects,
R. M. I'.
Prom Riverside.
To the Baptist,-
Haviug notice! an article in 'a late
issue of the Baptist, from Benfield, relating
to something 1 had wr^ten to the' Baptist,
March 26, regardifrg the reports made a-
gainst CarollJohnson, I wish to say to the
author of said article that he has entirely
misconstrued my meaning rela^tive to Mr.
Johnson’s healing power.
I did nob mean to infer that I believed said
reports, hut if they were true how should
we judge him? I do believe that if the
Christian people could exercise the proper
faith they could heal the sick by prayers and
the laying on of hands. For this is promis
ed them in the New Testament; and I will
say in conclusion that I have never found
in the. Scriptures yet where miracles were to
cease with the apostles.
'Ve are having prospects for the best Sun-
dav school we have ever had at N^w River
chniTh. I am glad to say the interest is the
greatest so far that I have ever seen, with
both old anl young. We are having a flue
attendance and a large roll of scholars. Oijr
officers are as follows: B. F. Wilcox Super
intendent; C. Tucker Asst. Supt,; R. M.
Phillips Secretary and Treasure; J. 8. Brown
Teacher first bible class; B. F. Wilcox Teach
er second bible class; Sarah Ann Phillips
Gontentment.
Contei tnient enters largely into the, mak
ing of a truly gentle character, and the sen
timent should, therefore, be cultivated.
'Peach your boy and girl to consider the sur
roundings of those person.s less favored by
fortune than themselves, and not those of
people situated above them if yon wish them
to be eontented. If a youth wishes to at
tain to such a peaceful plane of existence let
him think how much more he posesses than
he really needs, and how much more nnhap-
py he might be. Notbing eonld be truer
than these words of Addi.'^on: “For this reas
on, as there are none that can be prcperly
called rich, who have not more than they
want; there are few rich men in any of the
politer nations, but among the middle sort of
people who keep their wishes within their
fortunes, and have more wealth than they
know how to enjoy. People of a higher rank
live in a kind of splendid poverty and are
perpetually wanting, because, instead of ae-
quescingin the solid pleasures of life, they
endeavor to out vie one another in shadows
and appearances.”
The young should he taught that to hfe con
tented with their belongings is to possess the
greatest riches. It is related that a wealthy
and eccentric man once built a beautiful pal
ace, iind h^id an inscription cnlover its sn-
' pAid itivu me ciu. ij) nih -4
WO”’'! ■ .’iveri to ,M‘V One who would sav
he was jien,;e(?tly contented. Years passed anef
no one applied for the palace; but finally a
man lifted the great knocker and said he
claimed the edifice, as he was perfectly con
tented. The owner, however, replied: “If
you were perfectly contented yon would not
want my house,” thus effectually disposing
of the claim.
A young man must leain to take what good
comes to him, and not strain after other
things which are diflicnltof attainment, and
the loss of which would make him unhappy.
Contentment, whether with much or little,
will smooth many rough places in life and
bring happiness out of misery.—Recorder.
Trom Banner’s LIk.
Dear Editor,-
On Monday, the third day of this
month, little Claud, the three year old son of
brother Lee and sister Emma Blair, of Ban
ner’s Elk, pa,“sed away after a week’s serious
illness. We extend our heart-felt sympathy
to the bereaved parents and brothers and sis
ters of the little one, and would comfort
them with the thought that he is gone to
that beautiful home beyond the skyes.
He died with a song on his lips, but in
heaven he will sing a new song, go dear pa
rents do not weep, for he has only gone be
fore and heaven is nearer now than ever be
fore. He was laid to rest in the Mt. Calva
ry Cemetery to await the coming of Him who
said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
Wishing yonr paper much succfss,
I am yours f«'r good works,
Mrs. R, F. Marshall.
Too true!
Professor W. A. Wright, Dean of the De
partment of Liberal Arts of Grant Universi
ty, in a chapel talk before the students the
other day, said, “I am going to say some
thing which I have-been wanting to say for
a longtime. It is a little hard, but it must
come—I haven’t much hope for the future
of the young man who persists in the habit
of smokmgeigaretts.” Brother, do you hear?