Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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m • •V- •• *' St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Is Oldest Church Building In Newberry NEWS-SUN-CmZEN TRICENTENNIAL EDITION *St Luke's Episcopal Church at Newberry, South Carolina, was consecrated to the service of Worship of Almighty God,on Sunday morning, August 26th, 1855.* This sentence, handwritten in an old remarkably-preserved church register, records the of ficial founding of StLuke’s, the oldest church building in the City of Newberry. St. Luke's real beginnings, sionaries of the church began however predate theconsecra- * 0 up country eect’ Mad . a number of years and its roots are entertwlned with the establishment of the Epis copal church in South Caro lina nearly 200 years earlier. In 1810 the Episcopal church established in Charleston ‘The Society for the Advancement of Christianity in South Caro lina* and under the sponsor ship of this organisation, mis- Early Settlers Came To Prosperity In 1802 PROSPERITY- S.C. - In 1873, a citizens’ group banded togeth er and appealek to the South Carolina General Assembly to allow them to change their community’s name. The town’s name- “Frog Lovel*—had been a source of embarrassment to the townspeople and they wanted the name officially and publi cly changed to “Prosperity,* taken fromthe name of the local ARP church. German farmers settled the area around this bustling little town about 1802. The town is not large; the population barely reaches 1,000; but its business es are successful and its people happy. Tradition holds that this com munity was given the name Frog Level long before there was a settlement of any kind there. Near the spot where in later years stood the Clinton, New berry and Laurens Railroad depot, there was a pond around which the ground wjle remark ably level. The pond’s frogpop- ulation was ever increasing. According to legend, an in toxicated old traveler lay down near the pond in a drunken stupor. Suddenly during the night the loud croaking of the frog multitude rudely awakened him. In his drunken condition he thought that the frogs were saving,“Frog Level! Frog Le vel!*. This fancied interpreta tion of the frogs’ croaking gave the community the name that stuck until settlers began to resent constant teasing about their hometown name. In 1973, the town will cele brate the centennial of the of ficial name change. Today, sev eral old columned house's re sembling Low-Country plantat ion homes help the visitor vis ualize a Prosperity of the past. But Prosperity of today is work ing on the future. Churches On Tour •OUTM CANOUNA TMCUTIMMIAL This church is said to be one of the oldest churches in Newberry County. Its organiza tion goes back to about 1750 when a group of settlers, pri marily of German and Swiss origin, came from Pennsylvania to the Dutch Fork section of the county. The first building was a log hut located at the far side of the cemetery. . . a tablet marks the site. The frame building, erected about 1800-1810, was in use until 1950 Aveleigh Presbyterian Church Organized With 32 Members 7?' rri ■ V--- THE PEOPLE As early as 1822 there was a Presbyterian Church in New berry, with an organization and occasional preaching services in the court house. However, with its small and scattered membership and its irregular ministry of the Word, it soon fell to pieces and ceased to Under its present name and as a permanent institution, Av eleigh Church was organized May 30, 1835 by the Rev. Moses Waddell and the Rev. S.B. Lew- ers. The thirty-two per sons who signed the congregational co venant and became the original members represent many prominent names in Aveleigh and Newberry as of recent years- such as Garmany, Hun ter, Clary, Johnstone, Boozer, Caldwell, Glasgow, Gilliam and Sligh. Chancellor Job Johnstone is considered the founder of Ave leigh Presbyterian Church, from the beginning being a lead ing elder and chief supporter. He was born in Fairfield Co unty in 1793 with the heritage of a pious mother and at least two centuries of Presbyterian ancestry. Because of his lead ership in the organization of the church and in the building of the house of worship Chan cellor Johnstone was asked to give it a name. He selected the name of Aveleigh iron: the church to which his parents be longed in Ireland before they came to this country. Claude A. Calcote devoted sir * much of his time duringfifteeen years as Aveleigh’s pastor to the organization of outpost gr oups. The one in Helena was re leased to another denomination after having served that corn- unity for more than a dozen years. The Me Cullough and Queens memorial outposts were organized into churches and are making excellent contributions to the spiritual life of New berry County. Aveleigh feels it has made a valuable contribution to the Pr esbyterian Church, U.S. through three of its sons who have been ordained as ministers of the Word. Two of these bear a most honored name in the hist ory of the church, that of Nev ille. The third, the Rev. Cam Wallace, was commissioned as a missionary and served some years in the Congo, several dau ghters of the congregation have taken graduate training in re ligious education at Richmond and at Decatur. THE PROPERTY Aveleigh began at Hunt's Cross Roads, some 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 tower and steeple on the front The old cemetery lot is all that remains today with vaults, markers and a stone wall enclosing two gr aves of a Boozer family and those of two children. In 1852 the congregation vot- ed to move to the more cen tral location it now occupies. The old building was sold, al though Aveleigh still retains tit le to about one-eighth of an acre including the old graves. A new Aveleigh was built and dedi cated in December of 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 remodel ed 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 under the leadership of Dr. Marshall 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 moving 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 cm March 27, 1955. when the brick building across the road was erected. The ex terior features include solid wooden shutters at the windows, arched panels over all windows and doors, and dentil work around the walls. The original altar still stands inside and be hind it, the pulpit with a uni que sounding board above. The steps and platform of the pul pit are missing. The Bible is dated 1885; the organ, 1754. Visitors should note the slave gallery at the rear of the room and the wide board floors and walls. The building nearby is an old schoolhouse. ion of the state. The Rev. Cran- more Wallace came on a mis sionary tour to the up-country in 1839, and firom his efforts there eventually resulted the establishment of a number of Episcopal churches in the Piedmont, including SL Luke's, Newberry. Mr. Wallace reported that he held a service in the New berry County Court House in 1839>nother priest, the Rev. Richard S. Seely reported that he held 35 services in Newberry during 1846. There were four communicants. The year 1846 also marks the first organization of the little group as a congregation with an elected vestry; and on Feb. 18,1848, under the name of St Luke’s, Newberry, the parish 'was admitted into union with the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina. In November 1852, the Rev. E.T.Walker began his service as St Luke's first rector, though he did not reside within the parish. The church had a membership of only six Epis copalians. Others in the congre gation were interested New berry citizens, who made inval uable contributions to the es tablishment and maintenance of St Luke’s. Services continued, some times in the old Female Aca demy. Now the congregation began to work for the erection of a church building. A site was obtained in 1852 at the corner of Main and i Calhoun streets. Donors of the prop erty were Stiles Hurd, E.S. Bai ley, H.H. Caldwell, H.T. Peake William C. Johnson, N.Bronson, C.H. Kingsmore, W.B. D.Oyley, A.C. Garlington, and Simeon Fair. Construction was begun on the building at a cost of $4,000. The church was built by Con tractor Hamilton of Charleston from plans drawn by Archi tect G.M. Walker ef Columbia. SL Loka'c was reported completed in February 1855. The building was of Gothic design , with Self-supporting roof and 19 foot watts, t was stucco over brisk. The interior was simple and hanSsome with enclosed pine pews and stained glass windows. On Sunday, Aug. 26, 1855, the RL Rev. T. F. Davis, fifth Bishop of the Diocese of S. C., conducted the service of consecration. ' Thai afternoon be confirmed seven persons, bringing the total communicant strength to 18. The first vestry of the new church included E.S.Bafley Stiles Hurd, Norman Bronson, W.B.a’Oyley, W.C. Johnson, C.H. Kingsmore and A.C. Garlington. Mr. Walker resiped in 1856. From then ntU 1882, when the Rev. W.F. Dickinson became the first resident rector in SL Luke’s history, the church was served intermittently by mis sionary clergy. During the last days of the Confederate States of America, rebuses from the South Carolina coastal region joined the congregation, tem porarily swelling the member ship. Near the close of the war of 1860-65, the church building had become dilapidated. By 1866 the congregation had shrunk nearly to non-extstence. To prevent further deaeration, the building was bearded ig). Ser vices were held rhenand where possible elsewhere hi the town. It was during these dark days that a decision was made to sell the organ before it was completetly ruined. R was of fered to a Spartanburg church for $200 , but the sale was nev er completed and the organ is still in use in SL Lnhe’s today. The year 1889 marked a re birth for SL Luhe'n, A year of repair and reskvatfeu was un dertaken. The Beverend Mr. Walker, then at Trinity Church, Edgefield, returned to conduct the first service In the res tored church on SepL 6, 1969. Since the reopening of tbs church that year, SL Luka’s has not cloned Its doors, al though there have been many periods whan the congregat ion was without a rector. Without its devoted laity, SL Luke's perhaps would not have survived. When there was no minister, lay readers conducted services. Improvements to the church building were continaed and despite many difficulties, SL Luke’s remained resolute. The list of benefactors to SL Luke’s would take many pages to record. Some of these, now deceased but atm remem bered for their contributions to SL Luke’s , were O.Mc R. Holmes, J.F. J. Caldwell, C.a Weeks, F.Di McLean, A. P. Salley, T.E. Davis, and W. H. Gaver. Memorial gifts to the church — crosses, candelabra, foot, altar, the stained glass window depicting SL Luke — have hon ored these men and other faith ful members of SL Luke’s. The year 1955 marked SL Luke’s 100th anniversary. A three day celebration was held October 16-18. Since then the church has acquired the parish house next door and a rectory located on Boundary Street Now, in the year 1970, SL Luke’s celebrates with other churches in Newberry, the 300 th birthday of South Caro lina. hi this tricentennial year, the communicants number 84, baptized persons total 105. The Rev. Frederick C. Byrd will complete in October 1970 his first year as vicar of SL Luke’s. Serving from the con gregation are:Thomas H. Pope, senior warden; Price J. Pad gett, junior warden; Dr. J.E. Wiseman Jr., Dr. Gordon Able, Le Roy Anderson, D.B. Brit tain, W.S. Innis and R.T. Al brecht, vestryman; and R.B. Brown, treasurer. The need for additonal 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 carpet covering the entire sanc tuary floor through the donation of fundsby file Women of the Church. A few years later, in 1963, the sanct uary was air-conditioned and the heating system improved. A new organ was installed in 1964, however, portions of the old organ which dated back to 1907 were left intact. MEMBERSHIP The infant Aveleigh had a ra ther difficult time growing up, organized with thirty-two mem bers. There were fifty-five oii the roll after two years. Then a group of members who lived some distance from the church broke away to organize the Smy rna Presbyterian Church locat ed six and one-half miles away. This occurred in 1838 with an original membership of 17. By 1850 Aveleigh was barely exist ing with only 12 names on the roll. However, when the church moved intotown to a new building, there were tw enty-seven communicants and the number steadily increased- to one hundred nineteen in 1870. The next recorded figures were one hundred fifty-seveninl926, and one hundred seventy in 1932, shortly after the remodelling of the building. The record shows 249 mem bers in 1935, reflecting the inclusion 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 seperate church and through 1952 the figure ranged from 324 to 379. By 1954 Aveleigh was again al one, and membership stood at 275. With only minor variations it has remained in that vicinity until the present 1970 member ship of 332. THE MISSION Throughout its 133 years Aveleigh 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 fel- lowmen at all times. The Church School is well organized to reach and teach all ages. The Women of the Church through the years have made significant contributions to the success 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 pr- esbyterlan Church enjoys. More at a 99 n£ ■ - • ,V ✓ r ^9n ^Appreciation TO THE PEOPLE OF THE PIEDMONT Winn-Dixie Stores ore sincerely proud to be a part of the progressive and WetOfic Piedmont area of South Carolina, it is to the wonderful people of this area that we owe our success. We, along with you, have seen the good and herd times. We have weathered the depressions and the recessions and hove emerged the Mecca for budget-minded families. On this very special occasion, we renew our pledge to you . . . "YOU AL WAYS GET MORE AT A WINN-DIXIE STORE" ... FOR LESS! mmi mm 14701970 L PrtoM,th« lowest! 1 2. Quality, the highest! 3. Btampsjths best! TWO LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU Main Street Whitmire* S. C. 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