The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, November 12, 1970, Image 35
HURRICANE BAPTIST CHURCH
Storm During Construction Credited
With Hurricane Baptist Church Name
BY ROBERT A. NEIGHBORS
Hurricane Baptist Church,
located approximately five
miles east of Clinton, was
founded on August 28, 1832,
by Elders Daniel Mangum,
James Hurland and Eltert
Lindsey.
There is a well founded tra
dition, that during tlie C'instruc
tion of the church a great storm
swept the community, and
leveled the building with the
ground. Upon rebuilding, ttie
name Hurricane was given tfie
church and community This
storm is believed to have c ^me
through at least at early as 1820,
as an old census record >f that
date shows a Hurricane Meeting
H xise.
During the summer of 1832,
the Elders Mangum, Harland,
and Lindsey, from Bush River
Baptist Church conducted a
BY MRS. J. B. WILDER
This is the old Hurricane
schoolhouse, built in the 1880's,
as I have been told, This school
building was located two miles
off Young’s Cross Road on the
Hurricane Road Among the
teachers were Mr. Pink Jones,
Mr. Dave Bobo, Mr. E. Lee
Pitts, Mr. George Pitts, the
Rev. Harrison Fowler, Mrs.
John Little (Lyde Milam), Mrs.
J. L Copeland (Lola Casey),
Mrs. A. O’Daniel (Mary Lou
Young), Mrs. Dave Copeland
(Belle Bramlett), Mrs. Bill
Sumereil (Rosa Tindall), Miss
Emma Dial, andMr.SamStone.
series of revival meetings in
the Hurricane Community, and
as a result ten people made a
profession A faith and wished to
t>e baptized. These ten, together
with ten others (origin unknown
were xi August 28, 1832, offi
cially constitued Hurricane
Baptist Church.
Elder Elbert Lindsey was ttie
first pastor at Hurricane and
served in this capacity for
twenty years. Rev. Lindsey died
)n June 15, 1862, and is the
only former pastor never to
m-.'Ve his membership else
where, and is buried in Hurri
cane cemetery. Rev. Lindsey’s
grave marker bears only his
name and the inscription‘Pre
pare to Meet Thy God*
Through the years to follow,
many pastors came to serve
Hurricane one Sunday each
m nth and made their rounds
to other small churches the re-
I attended the Hurricane
School in 1898 before moving
to Clinton. I can recall one
little caper that took place
there years ago. It was the cus
tom then for the children to
shut their teacher out on April
L On April 1 that year all of
us children were upstairs as
quiet as we could be. We had
locked the door so that our
teacher, Rev. Harrison Fowler
could not get inside. As he
tried to open the door, the boys
poured a bucket of water on
him. Mr. Fowler turned and
went back home, much to our
pleasure, for we knew we had a
holiday. Then we all went down
maining Sundays. Many times
when weather was bad they
were unable to make their
rounds and services had to be
cancelled.
In addition to regular pas
tors, the records show many
visiting pastors, especially
during late July and August
which was revival time. Most
ali new members were added
during these revivals, held at
this time, because it was a
“slack* time or “lay by time*
for the farmers. One of these
revival pastors was Rev. Ellis
A. Fuller, who conducted a six
day revival in 1918, and will be
remembered by many as having
gone on to become a very
famous Evangelist. Some of the
more recent regular pastors
include Rev. Edward Long (de
ceased), Rev. Walter N. Long,
Rev. J. H. Darr, Rev. J. F.
McCarthy (Supply), Rev. C.E.
Russell and Rev. J. C. Conoly,
to the pasture of Mr. Harrison
Copeland and enjoyed the day.
Two boys in the crowd are
still living, Mr. Bob Simpson
and Mr. Tom Leake ofClinton.
* * *
When should a parent turn
over authority to a child? When
the child stops reaching for
authority and reaches for res
ponsibility, and not before.—
Donald Barr inNewYorkTimes
Magazine
The new members of early
years and until about 1920 were
baptized in an outdoor pool on
the adjoining property of Mr.
and Mrs. A. Clyde Young. This
pool had to be cleaned, re
paired, and filled with cool
spring water prior to each
use-usually once each year.
The records show that in 1920
the new members were bap
tized 'in town”. At this time
Hurricane had the same pastor
as First BaptistChurch inClin-
ton, and services were held on
Sunday afternoon on second and
fourth Sundays. The First Bap
tist Church permitted the use
of their baptistry for Hurricane
members from this time until
1949, when one was installed
in building program.
The first Sunday School pro
gram recorded was in 1895 with
J. B. Whitmire as superinten
dent. Sunday School was held
each Sunday afternoon, even
when worship services were
held only twice each month.
The ladies of Hurricane have
Missionary Union program but
at present no date is known
when it was first started.
In 1949, Hurricane began to
grow. The Auditorium renovat
ed inside, a baptistry was in
stalled, and a porch added on
the front. In 1956, came the
addition of Sunday School
rooms, nursery, kitchen and
rest rooms.
The first Vacation Bible
School came in July 1949, under
the leadership of Mrs. J. H.
Darr. This week of Bible School
showed an enrollment of forty
with average attendance of
thirty seven.
The next big step for Hurri
cane was the building of a
modern brick pastorium and
acquiring the first full time
pastor, the Rev. C. E. Russell.
A full church program was be
gun which included Sunday
evening services, Wednesday
evening prayer meeting, Train
ing Union, Brotherhood, Royal
Ambassadors, and Girls’
Auxiliary.
The present pastor, Rev. J.
C. Conoly came to Hurricane
in 1967, and plans were already
underway for a new auditorium.
On March 17, 1968, the first
service was held in the modern
new brick auditorium. The new
building contains more Sunday
School rooms, baptistry,
dressing rooms, rest rooms
and is fully heated and air
conditioned. Dedication ser
vices were May 19, 1968,
with Rev. J. H. Darr, Rev.
C. E. Russell and Rev. J. C.
Conoly taking part.
During 1969 and 1970 the old
auditorium has been remodel
ed inside, and is now used as
social hall. The outside has
been bricked to blend with the
new building, and old Sunday
School rooms have just been
heated and air conditioned to
complete the present building
program.
The membership of Hurri
cane Baptist Church is now
two-hundred and fourteen
members. The oldest female
member is Mrs. Bessie Adair,
baptized in 1894. Mr. A. Clyde
Young is the oldest male, bap
tized in 1906. Julia Reed and
David Morgan were baptized in
August 1970, and represents
the youngest church members.
Presently, Rev. J. C. Conoly
serves as pastor. Deacons that
are now active are, Allen A.
Young, Robert A. Neighbors,
James C. Young, T. E. Watt£,
W. D. Bishop, Don Arrington
and Carroll S. Young.
HURRICANE CHURCH (1905)—
Shown above in front of Hurricane
Baptist Church in 1905 are George
Addy, Viola Young, Nannie Cope
land. Lillie Young and Daisy Martin.
Old Hurricane School
Was Built In 1880s
Clinton In 1930- Town Of
^Wealthiest Per Capita In
In 1930, the population ofClin
ton was 5,643, an increase of al
most two thousand over the 1920
census. According to a 1930
Chamber of Commerce publica
tion, Clinton covered a trade
area slightly over 600 square
miles. It contained the towns of
Whitmire, Goldville, South
Clinton, Kinards, Cross Hill,
Mountville, Cross Anchor,
Cross Keys, Renno, Garlington,
Vaughville, Chappells, Belfast,
and *a number of other com
munities not so thickly settled.*
Presbyterian College was a
thriving liberal arts college and
had an enrollment of 230 with a
capacity of 300. It is interest
ing to note that the school has
more than doubled its enroll
ment, and increased the size of
its campus from 30 acres to 175
acres. Of course, all ofihiscost
a little money and the tuition is
slightly higher than the $400 re
quired in 1930.
Whitten Village, the creation
of Dr. B. O. Whitten, a pioneer
in the field of treatment for the
mentally retarded, was ten
years old at this time and had
an enrollment of 350 and a staff
of 100 to care for them.
One indication of a town’s
progress is its efforts to edu
cate their young people in public
schools. According to the
Chamber of Commerce, Clinton
iiad an excellent system ofpub-
lic instruction. The Clinton
Public School System had si v
schools in all, four white an 1
two ‘colored.* The number of
students enrolled in the Clinton
schools doubled between 1920
and 1930 and the value of school
property wasahealthy$185,000.
Clinton was in excellent
financial position, the wealth
iest town per capita in the state,
according to the Chamber of
Commerce. The city had two
“strong banks* and three active
building and loan associations.
These financial institutions had
combined resources of $2,727,
994.55.
The town also had some in
dustry, Including four cotton
mills, three cotton gins, one
silk mill, one hosiery mill, two
large hatcheries, an oil and
fertilizer mill, and plants of
printing, designing, photo
engraving, and electrotyping.
The cotton and silk mills had a
total of 165,168 spindles and
4,034 looms. The mills pro
duced over a hundred million
yards of goods each year, and
sales exceeded $2 million in
1930.
Printers and photo-en
gravers were the highest paid
employees in the town, aver
aging about $35 a week. Cotton
weavers and card room hands
brought home about $17. Tele
phone operators were the lowest
paid workers listed, clearing
$9 a week.
lege and Thornwell Orphanage)
being located in Clinton. The
Methodist and Baptist had the
largest memberships, and they
were followed closely by the
Presbyterians. Seventy-six
per cent of the people living in
Clinton were affiliated with
some church, and 50 per cent
were members of a Sunday
School. The Chamber of Com
merce publication states, “With
such a large percentage of its
population members of a
church, Clinton can correctly
be called an active, church go
ing town. The church influences
most local activity.*
The city government was run
by a mayor and sixcouncilmen,
as it is today. The Fire Depart
ment was very modern for the
time. It had two paid employees
“with a large La France, three
steam, 750 gallon per minute,
triple combination fire engine
and 5,000 feet of hose. A new
city hall was also forecast by
the chamber of Commerce, but
it took some 40 years to ful
fill this promise. The estimated
wealth of the city was $18 mil
lion and the- assessed value of
the city’s property $1.4 mil
lion.
At the time this booklet was
published, Clinton as was the
rest of the nation was in a ter
rible depression. However, the
optimism of the little city and
its leaders was very high. The
last paragraph of the booklet
shows this optimism. It says,
•Space prohibits a presentation
of all details concerning this
wide awake little city The
best way to know Clinton, how-
5,643
State’
ever, is to visit it; the best
way to appreciate Clinton is to
live here. You are earnestly in
vited to do both. A heartly wel
come awaits you.*
THE HIVE PRESS
Post Office Box 1841, Columbia, S. C. 29202, Of
fers Two Publications of Mrs. Irene Dillard El
liott, a I^urens native. These are:
CHART BOOK FOR
GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH
Includes nine chart sheets, adequate for fifteen
entries per page, loose leaf binding. Excellent
for recording your personal family records. $2.50
postpaid.
THE SECOND FEDERAL CENSUS.
1800, LAURENS COUNTY. SOUTH
CAROLINA. Indexed.
$3.95 Postpaid
THE
MEDICAL
PHARMACY
"On The Square'’
SALUTES
SOUTH
CAROLINA
Prompt, Accurate Prescription Service
And The Clinton Area On
This 300th Birthday
Celebration
In order to promote the ad
vancement of the city, the
Chamber of Commerce repeat
edly pointed out the abundance
of industrial sites in Clinton.
According to the publication of
the Chamber, these sites “em
brace property possessing ex
cellent soil and avilable in 1931
at ridiculously low prices,
ranging from $10 to $60 an
acre.*
the city was also very stror
is evidenced by two relij
institutions (Presbyterian
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Covering
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Clinton
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1900
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We At Community Cash
Have Enjoyed Serving
The People Of This Area
And Hope To Continue
Providing Them With
Good, Nourishing Foods
For The Home.