Pag* BA KINGS MOUNTAIN HERALD-Tuaaday. Octobw 7. 1980
Long Creek Oldest Church In Gaston County
Story By Lib Stewart
Photos By Gary Stewart
BESSEMER CITY-Early
Presbyterian, Puritan and Early
American traditions have
preserved the historic Long
Creek Presbyterian Church and
on its 200th birthday this month
worshippers still worship in a
sanctuary little changed over the
past 100 years. The simple in
terior, without a cross and few
vestments, is reminiscent of
churches in New England.
The Long Creek Church was
organized about the year 1780
on land given by Benjamin Or-
mand whose grandfather got his
grant from King George II of
England.
Original handmade pews,
which date back to 1870, have
been covered with red cushions
but the handmade doors, win
dows and Bible stand in the sanc
tuary and the vestibule are un
changed, as is the cemetery
which adjoins, a burying ground
for four Revolutionary War
soldiers and perhaps more.
Tradition says that Joseph
Blackwood was wounded in the
Battle of Kings Mountain Oct. 7,
1780. He died a few days later
and was interred Oct. 22, 1780.
The Blackwood tombstone is the
oldest marker in the ancient
cemetery. Other Revolutionary
War soldiers buried here were
Lt. James White, Captain
Samuel Espy, and Pvt. James
Henry. The first wall around the
old graveyard was built of rocks
without mortar. In 1922 the
cemetery was enlarged and the
rock wall replaced by the present
rock wall of masonry. Just out
side on the south side of the
cemetery is a slave graveyard.
Prior to the organization of
the Long Creek Church,
preaching services were held in
the home of a Mr. Blackwood,
who lived near the present
church building. The first
church building was made of
logs and located below where the
present structure stands and not
far from the creek. The William
Oates family, the James White
family and the Benjamin Or-
mand family were charter
members.
According to church
historians, Mrs. Estelle Ar-
rowood, a senior member of the
present congregation, Mrs. Der-
riel Smith, Women of the
Church historian, and Pastor
Allen E. Morrison, Long Creek
Church was a member of Orange
Presbytery, the first Presbytery
organized in the Carolinas, and
many churches branched from
Long Branch during the “Psalms
controversy" when some groups
formed other congregations to
sing psalms, rather than tradi
tional hymns.
Church histories reveal that
from 1836-39 the Long Creek
Church was grouped with the
Emmanuel Church and the
membership numbered 50. Dur
ing the years 1839-1871 the
church was grouped with the
Lincolnton Church. In
1872-1882 it was grouped with
the New Hope church, from
1883-1888 it was grouped with
the Kings Mountain
Presbyterian Church and in
1899 the Bessemer City
Presbyterian Church was form
ed from Long Creek congrega
tion. Until 1919, when the First
Presbyterian Church in Kings
Mountain became self-
supporting, Long Creek was
grouped in a three church field.
In 1919 the Long Creek and
Bessemer City Presbyterian
Churches began working
together as a two church field
and have been together since.
Rev. Mr. Morrison became the
pastor of the two churches in
1968.
Little is known of the ac
tivities of the church the first
100 years as the sessional records
were burned when L.R. Or-
mand’s house was destroyed by
fire in 1915 where the records
were kept. One has to refer to
Presbytery, Synod, General
Assembly minutes and other
records to find out about the
data on the first 100 years. The
sessional records are in existence
from the early 1890’s to the pre
sent. The earliest sessional
record book is in the Historical
Foundation in Montreat.
The second church building
was built between 1840-45 and
during the pastorate of Rev.
Lemuel Murray. The building
was a frame structure with a
long aisle going across the
church were log communion
tables were placed. For a
number of years all com
municants gathered around the
table to partake of the Lord’s
Supper. At the back of the
church was an outside stairway
that led to a gallery or balcony
where the black sslaves sat.
The first Sunday School was
organized during the ministry of
Rev. R.N. Davis in 1851. There
were no lesson books but the
Child’s and Shorter Catechism.
The membership grew to 200
by 1873 and some of the family
names of members at that time
were White, Hovis, Roberts,
Tiddy, Brown, Beatty, Oats, Or-
mand, Forney,Torrence,
Ramseur, Dameron, Beam,
Deck, Phifer, Rhome, Huff-
stetler, Whiteside, Ware,
Bridges, Arrowood, Ferguson
and Mauney.
By 1875 a building fund was
underway and soon a new
building was constructed at cost
of $1500. Crow and Beam were
Rev. Allen Morrison displays old deed
and Sunday School records...
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Long Creek Presbyterian dates back to 1780..
contractors and Albert Torrence
and Lee Ramseur were
carpenters. J. L. Phifer and his
father painted the church and
finished the interior. In the sum
mer of 1876 the third church
building (the present sanctuary)
was dedicated.
The first Sunday School
rooms and kitchen were added in
1942. The brick was donated by
W. H. Belk and the lumber was
cut off the church property. The
men of the church provided all
the labor with exception of
bricklaying and in 1958 more
Sunday School rooms and a
fellowship hall w.ere added. Con
struction on a new and larger
fellowship hall began in 1976
and was completed at a cost of
$45,000 due to the volunteer
.
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labor for the beautiful addition
by the congregation. The plant
has also been centrally heated
and air-conditioned, a new organ
has been purchased at cost of
$5,000, and extensive repairs
have been done .to the manse.v'
During the past 10^ years the cbii-
gregation has spent more than
$90,000 for additions and repairs
while annutd contributions have
totaled more than $42,000 and
the church has reached member
ship of 148. Seventy new
members have been added in the
past 10 years.
The church is the oldest
Presbyterian Church in Gaston
County in the Presbyterian
Church U.S. and is located on
seven acres of property on Long
Creek church road. The oldest
deed, which dates to 1838, is
displayed on a table in the
vestibule, an early Sunday
School record book and a DAR
plaque to Revolutionary War
soldiers is on display in the
Fellowship Hall.
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Oldest grave is that of Joseph Blackwood
Sunday School records from
the turn of the century reveal
that early offerings were as little
as ten cents and as large as 98
cents. The church’s giving to
benevolences is evidenced by its
mission minded congregation
from which three of its sons
entered the ministry, William
Butler Arrowood, Robert
Silvanus Arrowood, and William
Chalmers Arrowood, and of its
present membership. Miss Amy
Robinson served a team as a mis-
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(.emetery, also, dates back over 200years...
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sionary in Japan for five years in
the late 1930s.
Long Creek has an active
men, women’s, and youth
organizations, a Sunday School,
Bo^ Scout troop. Men’s softball
aided through a clothing closet,
which is set up in the church,
where staple food items are also
stocked in the Fellowship
Building for needy.
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From rural churches like
Long Creek have branched
numerous city churches during
the past 200 years and direct
descendants of the evly families
remain as members of the Long
Creek churches including
descendants of the families of
Arrowood, Long Creek churches
plus the families of Absher, Bid-
dix. Burton, Dellinger, En^and,
Fredell, Greene, Guffy, Hager,
Homesley, Humphries, Jenkins,
King, Lingarfeldt, Lovelace,
Moore, Myers, Morrison,
Neal,Penner, Ramsey, Ran
dolph, Rayfield, Robinson,
Smith, Sneed, Styers, Walker,
Whitehurst, Wilson and Wright.
Dr. Ben Ormand, native of the
community, will return to Long
Creek to deliver the 200th an
niversary sermon at a service the
last Sunday in November. Rev.
Allen Morrison said that a new
history will be read and that
catalouging of the cemetery will
be completed by a committee
busy for sometime on compiling
data on ancestry