Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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PAGE 4—The Newberry Sun, Newberry, S. C., Thursday, Sept. 3, 1970 The People As early as 1822 there waj a Presbyterian church in New berry, with an organization and occasional preaching services in the courthouse. However, with its small and scattered mem bership and its irregular min istry of the Word, it soon fell to pieces and ceased to exist. Under its present name and as a permanent institution, the Aveleigh Church was organized May 30, 1835 by the Rev. Moses Waddell and the Rev. S. B. Lewers. The thirty-two persons who signed the congregational covenant and became the ori ginal members represent many prominent names in Aveleigh and Newberry as of tecent years such as Garmany, Hunter,Clary Johnstone, Boozer, Caldwell, Gil liam, Glasgow and Sligh. Chancellor Job Johnstone is considered the founder of Ave leigh Presbyterian Church from the beginning being a leading elder and chief supporter. He was born in Fairfield County in 1793 with the heritage of a pious mother and at least two cen turies of Presbyterian ancestry. Because of his leadership in the organization of the church and in the building of the house of worship Chancellor Johnstone was asked to give it a name. He selected the name of Ave leigh from the church to which his parents belonged in Ire land before they came to this country. Claude A. Calcote devoted much of his time during fifteen years as Aveleigh's pastor to the organization of outpost groups. The one in Helena was released to another denomina tion after having served that community for more than a doz en years. The McCullough and Queens memorial outposts were organized into churches and are making excellent contributions to the spiritual life of Newberry County. Aveleigh feels it has made a valuable contribution to the Presbyterian Church, U. S. through three of its sons who have been ordained as minis ters of the Word. Two of these bear a most honored name in the history of the church, that of Neville. The third, the Rev. Cam Wallace, w'as commission ed as a missionary and served some years in the Congo. Sever al daughters of the congrega tion have taken graduate train ing in religious education at Richmond and at Decatur. The Property Aveleigh began at Hunt’s Cross Roads, "ome one and one- half miles from the center of Newberry, on five acres of land donated by Mr. Robert Boyce. The original building was a plain rectangle with a tower and steeple on the front. The old cemetery lot is all that remains today with vaults, mar kers and a stone wall enclosnig two graves of a Boozer family and those of two children. In 1852 the congregation voted to move to the more central location it now occupies. The old building was sold, although Aveleigh still retains title to about one-eighth of an acre in cluding the old graves. A new Aveleigh was built and dedicat ed in December 1852. This church was enlarged in 1892 at the cost of $3,500. In 1907 the city of Newberry suffered a disastrous fire which destroyed the Aveleigh Church, the manse and outbuildings. The congregation immediately res ponded by authorizing a new building at a cost of $6,500 and a manse which cost $3,027. Some twenty years later, in 1930, the church was remodeled and the educational annex built at a cost of $17,000. The result was a brick-veneered modern building destined to meet the needs of a growing church for many years. This significant move was inspired by and und er the leadership of Dr. Mar shall C. Dendy. Another indication of a con gregation keeping abreast of its needs was the building of a four bedroom manse in 1954. Part of this program included mov ing the old manse to a new location on the church property to be used for Sunday School classes. In 1955 it became evi dent that a larger room for prayer meetings and other group meetings was needed. A fine two-story addition, a gift from Elder E.B. Purcell and his wife, was dedicated March 27. 1955. The need for additional sanc tuary space became evident and the extension of the sanctuary by some twenty-one feet at the front of the building was com pleted in April 1959. A new car pet covering the entire sanc tuary floor was installed, partly through the donation of funds by the Women of the Church. A few years later, in 1963, the sanctuary was air-conditioned, and the heaintg system improv ed. A new organ was installec in 1964; however, portions ol the old organ which dated back to 1907 were left intact. Membership The infant Aveleigh had a rather difficult time growing up, organized with thirty-two mem bers. There were fifty-five on the roll after two years. Then a group of members who livec some distance from the church broke aw-ay to organize the Smyrna Presbyterian Church, located six and one-half miles away. This occurred in 1838, with an original membership of 17. By 1850 Aveleigh was barely existing with only 12 names on the roll. However, when the church moved into town to a new building, there were twenty- seven communicants and the number steadily increased, to one hundred nineteen in 1870. The next recorded figures were 157 in 1926, and 170 in 1932, shortly after the remodelling ol the building. The record shows 249 mem bers in 1935, reflecting the in clusion of significant numbers of outpost members considered a part of Aveleigh. By 1946, these branches had flourished to an increased total member ship of more than 400. Then one outpost became a separate church and through 1952 the figure ranged from 324 to 379. By 1954 Aveleigh was again alone, and membership stood at 275. With only minor varia tions, it has remained in that vicinity until the present 1970 membership of 332. The Mission Throughout its 133 years Ave leigh has lived to serve—its own people, the community, the Presbyterian Church, U. S., and Christ, the Lord and reigning Head of the Church Universal. Aveleigh seeks to afford its communicants an opportunity for meaningful worship on Sun day, and to inspire them to serve their God and their fellow- men at all times. The Church School is well organized to reach and teach all ages. The Women of the Church through he years have made signifi cant contributions to the suc cess of the total function of the church. Currently the officers com prise a Session of twelve, and Diaconate of fifteen members, all dedicated to continuance of the fine heritage Aveleigh Pres byterian Church enjoys. Dreher Island bridge slated The South Carolina State Highway Department has an nounced it would publicly open sealed bids September 15 on road and bridge projects cost ing an estimated $6 million. The bid opening is scheduled for 9 a. m. at the Hotel Wade Hampton in Columbia. Chief Highway Commissioner Silas N. Pearman said of the 14 projects three involve bridge construction, one is for traffic control sign erection and ten projects provide 76.8 miles of road construction. One of the bridge projects is in Newberry County and calls for construction of a 300-foot re inforced concrete and structural steel bridge for access to Dreher Island on Lake Murray south of Little Mountain. VISITS RELATIVES Mrs. Claude Cromer spent two weeks with her aunt, Mrs. R. C. Reynolds in Greenville. While there, they visited in the moun tains at her cabin at River Falls. Upon her return home, her two aunts, Mrs. Minnie Gra ham of Pomaria, and Mrs. Elvi ra Gilliam of Newberry of New berry spent a week with Mrs. Cromer. All of them were din ner guests of Mr. and Mrs. L. P. Miller on Thursday. Mrs. W. C. Suber and son, Kenny of New berry had supper with Mrs. Cro mer and her company. ARGOSHEEN KEEPS IT CLEAN BOY! What A HOUSEKEEPER CAN ACCOMPLISH WITH THE USE OF ARGOSHEEN, THE ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT APPROACH TO CARPET CARE NOW AVAILABLE AT WHITAKER FLOOR COVERING 2625 WINNSBORO RD. 276-2884 RE-ELECT Cecil E. Kinard to NEWBERRY CITY COUNCIL I have served you to the best of my ability and with God’s help I will con tinue to do so. I will appreciate your vote and support on Sept. 8th.