CI Bk. 
 
 THE ETHEL CARR PEACOCK 
 MEMORIAL COLLECTION 
 
 Matris amori monumentum 
 
 TRINITY COLLEGE LIBRARY 
 
 DURHAM, N. C. 
 1903 
 
 Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Dred Peacock 
 
Digitized by 
 
 the Internet Archive 
 
 
 
 in 2014 
 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/alamancechurchhi1217wile 
 
ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 A HISTORICAL ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 The Dedication of its Fourth 
 House of Worship, 
 
 On October 18th, 1879. 
 
 By Rev. C. H. WILEY. 
 
 Published by the Congregation and other friends of the Church. 
 
 EALEIGH: 
 Edwards, Broughton & Co., Printers and Binders, 
 July, 1880. 
 
Introduction. 
 
 The occasion of this address occurred on Saturday of the 
 Fall Session of Orange Presbytery, at Alamance Church. 
 The dedication services had been assigned to me by the 
 pastor and congregation, and consisted of a historical ad- 
 dress in the morning, and a sermon in the afternoon, with 
 devotional exercises ; a very large crowd was present, and 
 arrangements were made at once for the publication, in 
 pamphlet form, of both the address and sermon. I spoke 
 from notes, and the pressure of ray heavy and exacting en- 
 gagements prevented, for a considerable time, the prepara- 
 tion of these efforts for the press; and finally, acting on my 
 own discretion, and solely with a view to convenience in 
 the size of the publication, and to the saving of expense to 
 my friends, I have concluded to have only the address 
 printed, tho' I am aware that this will be a disappointment 
 to many. I sincerely regret a delay I could not avoid, and 
 hope that all concerned will concur with me that the pam- 
 phlet, in its present form, is large enough, and w T ill serve 
 the purpose chiefly designed, of being a memorial of Ala- 
 mance. 
 
 C. H. WILEY. 
 
 Winston, N. C, April 21st, 1880. 
 
Address. 
 
 General History and Early Settlement. 
 
 Fidelity to the task assigned to me will not permit me to 
 indulge in the expression of the reflections and emotions 
 excited by the occasion. A mere narrative, in a condensed 
 form, of the facts worthy of mention, will require all the 
 time I should occupy, and yet I am constrained to advert 
 to some of the circumstances of my position here to-day, 
 and with which I am profoundly affected. Your speaker is 
 the fourth in descent from the donor 1 of the land on which 
 Alamance church was founded, a man whose family name 
 has passed from this community, and yet his great grand- 
 son is the orator on this memorable occasion ; and by his 
 side, assisting in these services, is a young man 2 of the name 
 and lineage of one 3 who was among the first, if she was not 
 the first person buried in the consecrated ground near us. 
 This is one of the old churches of the State, and four gen- 
 erations have worshipped here, and nearly if not every one 
 of those who planted it in what was then a wilderness is 
 represented by kindred here to-day. 
 
 But while these first planters here of the church of Christ 
 were, also, the first white occupants of the soil, they were 
 not subjected to the privations and dangers often encoun- 
 tered by those who subdue new countries to the interests 
 and institutions of civilized life. This region was then un- 
 der the protection of local government whose authority was 
 acknowledged and felt, and whose administrative machin- 
 ery, tho > somewhat clumsy, and far less beneficent than 
 what a statesman of this age could desire, afforded security 
 to life and property to all communities within the jxresent 
 limits of the State. The province of North Carolina had 
 
 ^Villiam Cusach. 2 Kev. B. W. Mebane. 3 Mary Mebane. 
 
6 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 been laid off for a considerable time, and was first settled on 
 its eastern border by slow degrees, and in various ways. 
 In the east its government was first formed, and from its 
 surroundings in the place of its origin and of its growth for 
 years there was established a policy which was afterwards 
 considered a source of grievance by the western settlers. 
 The first home of power was jealous of its removal, and 
 partly on this account, and partly for economy and conve- 
 nience, it became the habit to lav off new counties over 
 large areas — and when this section was settled what is now 
 Guilford county was embraced within the limits of Orange 
 and Rowan. The line ran some miles east of this place, 
 and most of this congregation was in Rowan county. 
 
 As most of my hearers are aware, the province of Caro- 
 lina, embracing what is now North and South Carolina, and 
 extending westward to the Pacific Ocean, was granted by 
 King Charles II. to eight Lords Proprietors — that these sur- 
 rendered their right to the crown in 1729, one of them, 
 Lord Carteret, afterwards Earl Granville, retaining his un- 
 divided interest in the soil, and that at this time two dis- 
 tinct provincial governments were established for North and 
 South Carolina — and that in the year 1743 Earl Granville's 
 interest was laid off in severalty, and embraced the northern 
 side of North Carolina, and as far south as the present Mont- 
 gomery line, or near to it, and thus included the lands in 
 this congregation. Tho' this Proprietor retained no politi- 
 cal power, his rights in the soil involved land offices and 
 agencies, forming a sort of government within a govern- 
 ment, and involving complications and burdens which ad- 
 ded to those grievances which helped to prepare the way 
 for Revolution. This was the political situation just before 
 the settlement of this region by the whites. Colonization 
 on the Southern Atlantic border had been largely confined 
 to the coast region — there the governments were seated, and j 
 the power and hostility of the Indian tribes were met and 
 overcome. There were the scenes of privation, adventure, 
 
GENERAL HISTORY AND EARLY SETTLEMENT. 7 
 
 and border license and crime; and finally, political systems 
 crystalized into fixed forms, the authority of law was estab- 
 lished, and in the province of North Carolina, as already 
 stated, was felt and respected over all the territory, as far at 
 least as the present limits of the State extend. But the far 
 greater portion of the country, even within our present 
 boundaries, w T as without white inhabitants, and the beauti- 
 ful middle region was the wide highway of traders from the 
 eastern colonies of Virginia and North Carolina with the 
 Indians west and south of them. A vast and grand country 
 in the Piedmont regions of Virginia and the Carolinas was 
 reserved by Providence for the planting of a race who were 
 to be fixed in the morally stragetic points of the continent, 
 and thence to permeate a great coming nation with the out- 
 growth of their character; and at the appointed time the 
 flow of this new life, a most interesting phenomenon in the 
 history of human migration, began, and filled all its ap- 
 pointed channels. 
 
 I refer to what is called the Scotch Irish movement, too 
 well known to require here more than a bare allusion, with 
 the remark that it was reserved for a time, a set time and 
 occasion, and for no other. This Scotch overflow seemed to 
 have been ordered for the planting of good seed in vital 
 centers of the American Continent, and since the settling of 
 this country the population of Scotland has ceased to seek 
 agricultural outlets, and has become largely a manufactu- 
 ring people. When the overflow through Ireland, and 
 thence to the northern parts of America was occurring, the 
 Providential reservations for it in this region were becoming 
 known on both sides of the Atlantic, and were to those con- 
 templating a removal what the Great West is now. 
 
 And here it is proper to glance at the hill country of our 
 State as it was when our fathers first took possession of it. 
 Old writers describe it in glowing terms, and a Virginian 1 
 
 'Col. Byrd. 
 
8 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 who was on the Commission of 1728-29, to run the bound- 
 ary between his Province and that of North Carolina, en- 
 tered a large tract, in what is now Rockingham county, and 
 called it Eden. There was a charm to the eye as well as 
 an economical value in the undulations of the surface, the 
 air, as now, where it is not poisoned by an unwise system 
 of culture and improvements, was salubrious, the alterna- 
 tions of the seasons delightful, and the resources of timber, 
 of minerals, of water power, and of agricultural production 
 varied and immense. There was no better watered land, 
 and no purer water on the face of the earth ; in spring, sum- 
 mer, and autumn nature was robed in flowers of every hue, 
 and the great forests were vocal with the hum of bees and 
 the songs of birds. There was everywhere rich pasturage 
 for cattle, and a soil whose abounding wealth and capacity 
 still show its power after many years of a careless and wast- 
 ing husbandry. 
 
 The variety of woody growth was exceeded no where else 
 in 1 the world, and much of the country was in forests of 
 oaks of every species, of poplar, walnut, hickory, elm, gum, 
 maple, ash, chestnut, beech, birch, and pine, with many 
 smaller varieties, and with a profusion of flowering and 
 fruit bearing shrubs and vines ; and everywhere, in these 
 primeval woods, with their trees of enormous size, game was 
 abundant, and even in the small streams there was a good 
 
 lr rhe pamphlet called "Woody Plants of North Carolina," by the 
 late Kev. M. L. Curtis, D.D., and published with our State Geological 
 Reports, was prepared at my instance, and for me, on a plan of my sug- 
 gestion, when I was thinking of publishing a Gazetteer of the State. 
 The MS. was long in my possession, and given by me to the State, and 
 in the first Preface, the learned author who was an accomplished and 
 enthusiastic botanist, stated that the variety of indigenous trees and 
 woody plants in North Carolina was twice asgreat as in the whole 
 region from northern Virginia to eastern Main ; and a scientific English- 
 man, who was in the VanBuren exploring expedition around the world, 
 told me that he found more kinds of wild flowers in Guilford and the 
 adjoining region than he had ever seen elsewhere. 
 
GENERAL HISTORY AND EARLY SETTLEMENT. 9 
 
 supply of fish. The generation next before me remembered 
 when shad ascended the North Buffalo within the bounds 
 of this congregation, when deer were still lingering within 
 their old haunts, and when bears revisited them in the 
 chestnut season, and the wild turkeys are still here, and 
 will stay if we are wise. This was the place of habitation 
 prepared by the God of Nature for our fathers, and hither 
 they came, not as adventurers or hunters, not as outlaws 
 and wanderers, but intelligent immigrants with a fair 
 knowledge of the country, in solid ranks, with good worldly 
 substance, with needed implements of industry, with the 
 arts of civilization, and with the institutions of Christian 
 society. The first movement was about the years 1750— '53^ 
 from Pennsylvania, through what was called the Notting- 
 ham Company, which purchased a body of land within the- 
 limits of the present counties of Rockingham and Guilford. 
 Others soon followed, flowing southward, and purchasing 
 lands directly from Earl Granville, and settling the region, 
 of this congregation ; and in a short time there was a com-* 
 paratively compact society, fixed in comfortable and peace- 
 ful homes, entirely self-sustaining, and having opened farms, 
 mills, shops and stores. A new country, up to that time, 
 had never been more rapidly, quietly, safely, justly, and 
 completely possessed ; the land was bought at fair purchase, 
 and not a title was stained by fraud or violence to the origi- 
 nal owners; there were no wars w 7 ith savages, no border 
 ruffians, no refugees from justice and the restraints of law. 
 The main body of colonists was Scotch-Irish and Presbyte- 
 rian from Pennsylvania, swelled by accessions from Vir- 
 ginia and Ireland, and this was fringed on the east by Ger- 
 mans, and on the west by the people of the Society of 
 Friends. These settlers were probably neighbors in Penn- 
 sylvania, and at all events they were largely affected by the 
 same motives which brought the Scotch-Irish. The mass 
 of all were intelligent, sturdy, well-to-do farmers, with a 
 keen eye for good land and a fine climate, of fixed religious 
 
10 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 faith, and devoted to self-government and religious freedom. 
 The three classes, each, at base, of sterling metal, were of 
 mutual service, and helped to repress in each other those 
 one-sided views, narrow sympathies, and extreme conserva- 
 tism which spring from isolation. The Alamance commu- 
 nity was then all Scotch-Irish, and, as far as I have been 
 able to ascertain, the first settlers came here in 1753, at least 
 this is the date of the earliest deeds I have examined among 
 ihe records of the Secretary of State in Raleigh. The deed 
 to my mother's grandfather, Wm. Cusach, who gave the 
 land for this church, was from Earl Granville, dated in 
 1759, and for 635 acres ; and within seven or eight years 
 from the first location there was a considerable and thriving 
 community, though some of the farms were large, and neigh- 
 bors were often several miles apart. Wm. Cusach and Thos. 
 Wiley married sisters, and with them came their mother- 
 in-law, Mary Mebane, and thus three of the old names were 
 planted here together, and this Mary Mebane was one of 
 the first, if she was not the first, who was buried in our 
 grave-yard, as I have already stated ; and I refer to those 
 parties only because I am more familiar with the history of 
 my relatives than with that of other families, and not because 
 I deem their history of more importance. The general 
 character of these first settlers may be inferred from what 
 has been already said, but it is due to the occasion to pre- 
 sent a fuller view of its salient points. As their history 
 shows, they came here not merety to live and to gain as men 
 •of the world. They brought to this fair land that without 
 which any place is a desert, and with their first plantings 
 were the seeds of moral truth, with their earliest efforts to 
 provide for material wants were thoughts for religious privi- 
 leges which were with them essentials of life, never lo be 
 dispensed with. There were few, if any, illiterate colonists, 
 no desperate characters, and no paupers. Most of the set- 
 tlers were men of means and of character, and in the whole 
 history of this community, now some century and a quarter 
 
GENERAL HISTORY AND EARLY SETTLEMENT. 11 
 
 old} there have been fewer great crimes than have marked 
 the progress of some colonies in a decade of years. 
 
 There were no great Bible Societies till this century, and 
 it is well known that before the year 1810 there was a com- 
 parative scarcity of the Holy Scriptures, even in the most 
 christian lands, and that Bibles were vastly more expensive 
 than now ; and yet in my more than ten years of experience 
 of active official service in three States, in the now im- 
 mense, omnipresent, and glorious appliances for the univer- 
 sal dissemination of the Word, when Bibles are sold for 25 
 cents and Testaments for 5 cents, and when they are freely 
 given to all unable to buy, I have found no communities 
 w T hich were better supplied than this seems to have been at 
 its first settlement. The Divine Word was a necessary part 
 of the pioneer's outfit, and old Bibles found all over this 
 congregation will testify to what I say. The colony was 
 planted on the Wcrd of God, this was the Law, the school 
 book, the political and social economy of the colonists, and 
 there have descended to me quite a number of well-thumbed 
 copies of different sizes and styles, and I suppose many here 
 have similar inheritances. With the Bible was found a 
 literature rooted in it, a spiritual and intellectual pabulum 
 far superior to that which is now most common even in 
 christian communities. Many of the first families had re- 
 spectable libraries of standard works, chiefly religious, and 
 consisting of such books as The Confession of Faith, Larger 
 and Shorter Catechisms, The Pilgrim's Progress, the works 
 of Boston, of Doddridge, of Baxter and Watts, Fox's Book 
 of Martyrs, The Afflicted Man's Companion, and the Balm 
 of Gilead. I am the inheritor of two old copies of The 
 Confession of Faith, with the Catechisms, and the Sum of 
 Saving Knowledge, and one of them containing also Cove- 
 nants, National and Solemn Leagues, Directories, Form of 
 Church Government, &c. One, in boards was published in 
 Glasgow in 1746, the other in the same city in 1764. At 
 the time of the settlements formed here there was some dis- 
 
12 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 sension among Presbyterians, growing out of the preaching 
 and movements of the celebrated George Whitefield, and those 
 who adhered to the revival doctrines of the great preacher 
 were called Whitfieldians, and New Lights, and the colo- 
 nists in North Carolina embraced both of these classes, and 
 their settlements were formed according to their leanings 
 in this matter. The people of Alamance were of the New 
 Light, the communities north of them of the old habits ; 
 and when both of these classes were formed into one pasto- 
 rate, under the ministry of a man who was an adherent, 
 nominally, of the anti-Whitfieldian ways, but who was of 
 fervent piety and of eminent prudence, there was a blending 
 of the better elements of both sides, a quiet resistance to ex- 
 treme tendencies either way, and the development of a spirit 
 of active and conservative religious life. The fires early 
 kindled here were controlled, not smothered, by their sur- 
 roundings, and their light and heat have ever remained, 
 and this church has always been distinguished for its re- 
 vival spirit and work. 
 
 Area of Alamance Congregation. 
 The community which united in this church reached 
 from the South Buffalo to the Great Alamance, extending 
 over an area of at least sixteen miles across, and embracing 
 the country now occupied by the congregation of Bethel, 
 (Presbyterian,) of Piney Grove, (Meth. Prot.,) of Mt. Pleasant, 
 (Meth. Ep.,) of Mt. Moriah, (Meth. Prot.,) of Pleasant Garden ? 
 (Meth. Ep.,) and of Tabernacle, (Meth. Prot.,) and of part of 
 the Greensboro' and other congregations, and a spirit of law 
 and order, and a community of feeling and purpose per- 
 vaded the settlement. The best lands, and the best sites for 
 habitations and mills 1 were soon occupied, and some of the 
 first mills have successors still occupying the old positions, 
 and many of the old homes are occupied to this day, while 
 
 a The Young Mill, near here y now Hannah's, and originally Cnsack's, 
 is nearly as old as this church, and was seized and operated by the sol- 
 diers of Cornwallis. 
 
ANTIQUITIES. 13 
 
 a great majority of the family names have representatives 
 before me now, and some families whose names are extinct 
 have lineal descendants here. 
 And just now is a good time to glance at our 
 
 Antiquities. 
 
 The origin of the name of Alamance is involved in obscurity, 
 and we are left to conjecture. Col. Byrd, one of the mem- 
 bers of the commission from Virginia appointed to run, in 
 conjunction with a commission from North -Carolina, the 
 boundary line between the two provinces, wrote a diary of 
 his work, travels, and observations. He was on the com- 
 mission till late in 1729, but it is not known when he wrote 
 out his w T ork, probably not till some years afterwards. To- 
 ward its conclusion, in describing the trading path from the 
 white settlements in Virginia and North Carolina to the 
 Indian towns in South Carolina and upper North Carolina, 
 he alludes once to the Aramanchy river, and in a way to 
 make it probable that the reference is to the Great Ala- 
 mance. It is not known that Aramanchy is anywhere else 
 used except in Morse's Gazetteer, published first in 1799, 
 and long after the settlements here, and when no such word 
 was known among this people. There is not a trace of a 
 tradition of any other name of the waters from which the 
 church was called than the present, and tradition among 
 an intelligent people whose descendants occupy the old 
 homes, and where only four generations have lived, is of 
 high authority. I have desired to trace our beautiful name 
 to an Indian origin, but the authority is very slender. Col. 
 Byrd was a decided egotist, and manifested a contemptuous 
 opinion of North Carolina ; and it is possible that if he had 
 heard the traders speak of an Alamance he would have in- 
 ferred that it was a North Carolina vulgarism for Araman- 
 chy, just as Morse calls the Great Alamance Aramanchy, 
 nearly half a century after the name was well established. 
 I have examined quite a number of qriginal grants from 
 
14 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 the offices of Earl Granville for lands on these waters, and 
 all use one word, spelling it with two l's, sometimes Alle- 
 mance, and sometimes Allamance, and I have, also, seen 
 old writings in the congregation, each using the same word, 
 and none showing signs of transition from another. 
 
 The earliest grant I have seen is dated in 1753, but there 
 were, probably, some before this date ; and deeds for land 
 are so called, because they are supposed to be a man's most 
 deliberate and solemn business transaction, and they are 
 high authority for what they name, and certainly in the 
 offices of Earl Granville there must have been some knowl- 
 edge of the natural features of the country ceded by his 
 grants to settlers. As it is known, there are two Alamances, 
 one called Alamance, and one the Great Alamance — on the 
 former, a tributary of the latter, this church is located, and 
 on the lower part of the latter was the center of German 
 colonists. Is it possible that Allemence was an Anglicised 
 form of AUemand or Allemania, the French and Spanish for 
 German ? This supposition will rest somewhat on the date 
 of the first German settlers below us, and on this I am not 
 prepared now to speak — and in my judgment the origin of 
 our name is still a matter of conjecture, but the word itself, 
 aside from all its great and dear associations, is one of the 
 sweetest terms of our language. 
 
 Early Industries. 
 
 Agriculture was the leading pursuit of our fathers here, 
 and with our present staples were cultivated flax, indigo, 
 and probably hemp; and large quantities of butter and 
 honey were made. Within my recollection there was re- 
 maining part of the track of a highway called the old butter 
 road, from the quantities of firkin butler hauled over it to 
 distant markets ; and this was literally a country of milk 
 and honey, and from the latter was made a drink called 
 metheglin, which, with stronger beverages, was much used — 
 this people not being free from the national weakness and 
 
SOCIAL HABITS. 15 
 
 sin of the Scotch. Oar ancestors wore finer linen than we 
 do, and linen sheets, table cloths, and towels, were common, 
 and there remain to this day specimens a hundred years 
 old of the embroidered and neat handiwork in flax of our 
 mothers. Most of the arts needed by the pioneers were 
 early followed, and the original settlers were far less depend- 
 ent than we are on foreign manufactures. There were 
 smiths, hatters, shoe-makers, carpenters, joiners, weavers, 
 mill-wrights, tailors, coopers, tinkers, tanners, and even 
 cloth-printers — indeed, on many of the farms were made 
 most of the things of common use, and on nearly all were 
 tanneries and shoe-maker's tools. Within my recollection 
 hat shops were common, tho' from the first the Sunday 
 head-tire of the men was imported, made of genuine fur, 
 generally esteemed elegant in proportion to the height, and 
 breadth at the top, and expected to last a year for each dollar 
 of cost. Genuine English broad-cloth was worn, but the 
 fine gear for boys, and mostly for men except on State oc- 
 casions, was a fulled woolen cloth, made at home, and very 
 neat and durable. Looms abounded, and there were pro- 
 fessional weavers of much skill, and the music of the spin- 
 ning wheel, and the songs of the spinners, with the mingled 
 sounds of the breakers and scutchers of flax, are associated 
 with my early memories. 
 
 Social Habits. 
 
 Partly from the necessity of the times, and partly from 
 neighborly principles, there was a great deal more of mu- 
 tual help than at present, and the social gatherings of the 
 people were almost always both for work and for pleasure, 
 and were so composed of all ages that they completely rep- 
 resented the family with all its happy influences and re- 
 straints. As a general thing, the younger people travelled 
 on horse-back, singly, double and' treble, according to age 
 and condition — the gift of a saddle to the youth expanding 
 to manhood being what his spurs were to the page in the 
 
16 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 days of knighthood, and a side-saddle was an indispensable 
 part of a gentlewoman's dowry when given in marriage. 
 Illiptical steel springs were not known, and what we now 
 call buggies and Jersey wagons are of modern origin ; and 
 in this region there were very few carriages for families, the 
 ancient type of which may be seen occasionally among cast- 
 away relics of the past. The vehicle chiefly in use with the 
 well-to-do, was the lofty stick gig or double-seated sulky, 
 swung on leather straps, and far from safe with an unskil- 
 ful John ; and this was the turn-out of the newly married, 
 and of fathers and mothers, while families often travelled 
 in wagons, but every aspiring gallant and dashing miss 
 came seated on a horse gaily caparisoned, and trained to 
 spirited action. Ladies of all ages went long distances on 
 horseback, not unfrequently with a lad or girl behind, and 
 a child in front ; and even when I was a boy the gathering 
 in to church, and the dispersion of the crowd presented 
 scenes which would now be considered as picturesque and 
 exciting. There were the roll of wagons well loaded with 
 all ages, and rapidly driven, the dashing and caracoling of 
 steeds gracefully managed by young men and maidens in 
 pairs and troops, the cautious gliding of the gig, ever wind- 
 ing about to keep out of the way, the slow jog of beasts, one 
 with a father and a lad behind, another with the mother 
 and an urchin or two, and others with two and three youths 
 not yet promoted to saddles, mounted on blankets, the 
 younger with heels to the brute's flanks and thoughts only 
 of safety, the older looking anxiously at the saddle-seated 
 and with legs dangling out to preserve the pants, and show 
 preparation for stirrups. The thronged highway was 
 fringed with respectable pedestrians, and in the vicinage of 
 the church w T ere retired resting places where the younger 
 ones stopped, as they came and went, to don and doff their 
 Sunday stockings and shoes. 
 
miscellany — ecclesiastical review. 17 
 Miscellany. 
 
 The bureau of my step-grandmother, some seven feet high, 
 and brought from Pennsylvania, was to me a museum of 
 curiosities, among which were her well remembered round 
 beaver riding hat, and her handsome whip ; and among 
 still preserved papers of my grandfather, I find the prices 
 of various articles, and the names of early settlers on sub- 
 scription and assessment lists, in pounds, shillings and 
 pence. Linen, Irish and home-made, was about as cheap as 
 now, English broadcloths not much dearer, and groceries, 
 especially sugar and molasses, which are bulky and had to 
 be hauled in wagons long distances, cost twice to four times 
 the present prices. Here is a subscription to the pastor's 
 salary, some 100 years old, and many of the family names 
 now represented here are on it, and not a few of the 
 baptismal prefixes are still preserved, and some that have 
 disappeared from our church rolls have lineal descendants 
 on the mother's side among us, others are found and are 
 respected among our Methodist neighbors, and some have 
 made a record in distant regions. 1 
 
 Ecclesiastical Review. 
 
 The first settlers of Alamance were trained to the public 
 as well as to the private worship of God, and among their 
 first movements was the planting of the church and of its 
 institutions; and to understand this part of their history it 
 is necessary to have a general view of the position and pro- 
 gress of the ecclesiastical system with which it was connect- 
 ed. The Synod of Philadelphia was originally the highest 
 court of the Presbyterian church, in what is now the United 
 States ; afterwards there was another Synod, that of New 
 
 1 Among these is the name of McMinn, a branch of the Tennessee Mc- 
 Minn's after whom were named McMinn county in Eastern, and Mc- 
 Minnville town in Middle Tennessee. 
 2 
 
18 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 York, and then a union of these two, and from 1758 to 1788, 
 the United Synods of Philadelphia and New York formed 
 our highest ecclesiastical Court. In 1788 the General As- 
 sembly was constituted, and also the Synod of the Carolinas, 
 and in 1813 this last was divided into the Synods of North 
 and of South Carolina. Till September, 1770, Hanover 
 Presbytery embraced the country south of the Potomac, and 
 therefore, the Presbyterian elements of this section were, at 
 'first, under the care of the Synod of Philadelphia, and of the 
 United Synods of Philadelphia and New York, and of Han- 
 over Presbytery. 
 
 When Dr. David Caldwell was installed pastor of Buffalo 
 and Alamance churches, in March, 17G8, a petition was sent 
 up to the United Synod to have a new Presbytery south of 
 Virginia, or of the waters of the Roanoke in Virginia, to be 
 called the Presbytery of Orange; and this prayer was grant- 
 ed, and at Hawfields, in September, 1770, Orange Presbytery 
 was organized, and included a large scope of country, and 
 churches which are now in several States. Thus it was in 
 ■a charge of which Alamance is a part that this old and his- 
 torical Presbytery was started, and at this church, in October 
 1813, the Synod of North Carolina held its first meeting. 
 When the southern and southwestern settlements of Pres- 
 byterians were formed their religious wants w T ere made 
 known to the Synods of Philadelphia and New York, and 
 the records of these latter show a constant and watchful 
 care for the distant and scattered colonies of their faith. 
 From time to time ministers were sent out to preach, to ad- 
 minister ordinances, and to organize churches, and this and 
 other Presbyterian communities similarly situated never 
 acted or felt like people without an ecclesiastical home. 
 This church was organized by one of the ministers thus 
 •sent out, Rev. Henry Patillo, probably in the year 1762; 
 and its first minister was Rev. David Caldwell, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, and of the region whence came many of the 
 settlers of Alamance and Buffalo, who located within the 
 
CHURCH EDIFICES. 19 
 
 bounds of the Buffalo congregation, and was installed 
 pastor of the two churches in March, 1SG8. 
 
 Church Edifices. 
 
 Public religious services in this settlement were nearly, 
 if not coeval, with its settlement, and as it is proper to recur 
 to these at the beginning of the organic religious life here, 
 it will simplify the order of historical narrative to give, in 
 this place, a sketch of the various church edifices of Ala- 
 mance. I cannot state the exact year of the erection of the 
 first building, but it was very probably before the year 1762, 
 and it was erected on the plateau just north of the grave- 
 yard, and on the site occupied by its immediate successor. 
 This locality was then clothed with its grand and solemn 
 primeval growth, a forest of huge and stately trees, and 
 under the thick canopy of their leafy boughs a company of 
 the settlers conducted the first public worship of the Triune 
 Jehovah on this consecrated ground. The land for a church 
 was given by Wm. Cusach, and his spring was that first 
 used by the congregation ; and on a day appointed, the 
 people, each with an axe, came together and it was proposed 
 by Andrew Finley, a devout man, and a leader in public 
 religious exercises, that before they began their work they 
 should kneel in prayer for the Divine blessing on their pious 
 enterprise. The axes were laid down, every head was 
 bared, and under a great tree, in nature's own Temple, 
 these sturdy pioneers knelt while Mr. Finley voiced their 
 humble and earnest supplications to the Throne of Grace. 
 This was the first assembly of the saints in the old and shady 
 wilds for long and dark centuries the h'&untof savage beasts 
 and of savage men, and to be thenceforth vocal with the 
 sweet sound of prayer and praise; and to these brief and 
 affecting religious exercises succeeded a busy and animating 
 scene, the dense forest was soon opened, and a log house was 
 erected and devoted to the worship of Almighty God. It is 
 not certainly known how long this house was used, but tra- 
 
20 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 dition fixes the time till the close of the century, and this 
 is confirmed by a paper before me, being a subscription to 
 Marshall McLean, Robert Shaw, Andrew Magee, (McGhee,) 
 David Wiley, and William Wiley, Sr., Trustees, for expenses 
 incurred for church repairs, and dated August 23d, 1800. 
 It is probable that what was begun as repairs ended in the 
 Second Building, which stood on or near the site of the 
 first, and marks of the foundation of which are still visible. 
 This was a historic edifice, a fine structure for its day, and 
 was an interesting specimen of the church architecture of the 
 age. It was a frame building, painted dark yellow, with four 
 doors, one at each end, and two on the south side, over each 
 of which was an ornamental shed or portico roof supported 
 by brackets from the wall. There were many large win- 
 dows and a gallery around three sides, reached by two 
 stairways, and in the centre of the north side, and the cen- 
 ter lengthways of the building, was the pulpit. The aisles 
 and pulpit divided the building below into five compart- 
 ments, and there were three above, and one of those below, 
 in the eastern corner, and as comfortable and well-finished 
 as any other, was allotted to the colored people, and was 
 generally filled with cleanly dressed and orderly hearers of 
 all ages. The eminent John Matthews, D. D., who was 
 from this congregation, and educated by Dr. Caldwell, was 
 a joiner by trade, with a genius for mechanics, and I have 
 a letter from one of his sons, himself a D. D., who tells me 
 that he has heard his father speak of a fine pulpit which he 
 made and gave to his pastor and teacher for Alamance 
 church. Doubtless this w T as that elaborate and huge but 
 elegant work of art vtfhich was the pride of the congregation 
 when I was a boy, and which was to me an object of sacred 
 interest. It was of black walnut, with a profuse carving, 
 according to the fashion of the times, and the younger part 
 of my hearers will hardly realize w T hat I mean when I say 
 it was three stories high. The minister certainly had a 
 lofty position, reached by a regular stairway with a balus- 
 
i 
 
 CHURCH EDIFICES. 21 
 
 trade, and just above his head, when standing, and a part 
 of the pulpit and ornamented like it, with an oval front of 
 carved wood, was the sounding-board, which w T as hollow, 
 and but a little way from the high ceiling. Some idea of 
 the altitude of this desk may be formed when I say that in 
 front of it was that of the clerk who led the singing, whose 
 seat was some five or more feet high, and whose head, when 
 standing, was below the place of the pulpit Bible. When I 
 was a boy there were two of these clerks 1 who led alternate- 
 ly, one, on each Sabbath, standing and lining out the hymns, 
 and who, to older persons than myself, were men of weight 
 and unction, and associated with the solemnities of the pul- 
 pit. It is not too much to say th-it they seemed to feel the 
 dignity of their position, and I know that in my mind there 
 was a sacred atmosphere enveloping the whole of this part 
 of the house, from the first step upwards, and even the large 
 closet under the stand was a solemn place, and for no con- 
 sideration would I have peeped in at the door. The house 
 when packed would hold, perhaps, 900 or 1,000 souls, and 
 it was generally pretty well filled, and the ingathering to 
 the morning service, thro' the four doors and up the stairway, 
 was a lively scene. My mind still retains the picture of the 
 thronging multitudes deploying to their places, at various 
 gaits according to age, earnestness and vanity, of the clatter 
 of feet over the sounding, uncarpeted aisles, and after the 
 subsidence of the first confused noise the showy entrance of 
 parties who, in that day as in this come to church to be 
 seen, and to be heard too. It was then an essential of the 
 highest mode. to have creaking shoes, and to know how to 
 manufacture creaks was a requisite in a fashionable shoe- 
 maker ; and it was the habit of dandies, who belong to all 
 ages and races, to enter last, and on the opposite side from 
 their seats, and to attempt a sensation by a deliberate march 
 
 lr rhe person who led the singing in Presbyterian churches was called a 
 dcrk, pronounced clcirk^ and when hymn books were comparatively 
 scarce it was important to line out the hymns. 
 
22 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 across the house and over the galleries, with a sounding 
 creak at every step. The high backed pews, decorously de- 
 signed to hide all but the heads of 'heir accupants, enabled 
 many a drowsy soul to indulge in easy slumbers, but were 
 much in the way of the criticism of dresses during the ser- 
 vices; and at my first recollection, the pastor, Dr. Caruthers, 
 preached in summer in a short black Geneva gown with 
 which he was robed when he entered church. Generally, 
 the attention was good, and the singing was inspiring, its 
 volume and pathos greatly aided from the colored quarter ; 
 and all my memories of the worship in that grand old house, 
 and of its surroundings, are reverential. Everything wore 
 to me a solemn, tender and antique air, inducing to revery ; 
 and it was my delight to arrive early on the ground and to 
 sit under the venerable trees, and with the church, ancient 
 looking and to my juvenile mind immense and eloquent 
 with silence, on one side, and the gray stone walls of the 
 grave yard on the other, listen musingly to the mingled 
 songs of birds which thronged the leafy coverts around me. 
 The boys and hunters had then game more worthy of their 
 guns than these gay creatures which gathered here in nu- 
 merous and varied congregations, partly attracted by the 
 remains of basket dinners and of grain fed to horses ; and 
 the sweet melodies of the deep and ancient woods, and the 
 blue skies of the still Sabbath mornings of June will ever 
 be associated with my recollections of Alamance. But in- 
 novations came, and the typical Alamance house of worship 
 had to go to the ideal past, tho* every piece of timber in it 
 w r as ready to assert its soundness ; and in # 1843-'44 was 
 erected, on the side of the hill, just east of the present edifice, 
 
 The third house of worship, of brick, the pulpit at 
 the north end, and a gallery at the south. The materials 
 of this building were inferior, and it became unsafe, and in 
 1874-'7o it was taken down, and 
 
 The fourth edifice, the house we are now in, was 
 erected and occupied, but was not entirely finished and 
 
CHURCH EDIFICES. 23 
 
 furnished within, in its present state, until this year. It 
 speaks for itself, and it and its surroundings and this audi- 
 ience proclaim the growing vigor of Alamance after the 
 flight of a century and a quarter of years. When we con- 
 sider the state of the country for the last 20 years, and the 
 fact that there is no debt on this handsome edifice of brick, 
 so neatly and conveniently furnished, we can estimate the 
 zeal and vitality of the congregation which worships in it; 
 the facts need no comment, and we can and do all rejoice 
 to see this old historical church exhibiting outward and 
 substantial signs of still growing vigor. 
 
 While on the subject of church erections, it is proper to 
 advert to the land dedicated to congregational uses, and to 
 the graveyard. As before stated, Wm Cusach gave the land 
 for the church, and the deed was afterwards made by his 
 son, Jedediah Cusach, and the form and extent of the area, 
 which was originally large enough, was afterwards changed 
 by exchange and purchase, and the property is now ample 
 for all congregational uses. 
 
 The graveyard was laid off at an early date, but I cannot 
 say when it was first enclosed with stone. The wall looked 
 old from my earliest recollection, but rock walls of the kind 
 have generally an ancient appearance; and a tablet at the 
 gate to the memory of Adam 1 Lecky, who was probably the 
 
 x He was one of the original body of elders, and an old tablet of slate 
 at the graveyard gate, to his memory, has this inscription, author un- 
 known : 
 
 In Hac Area Jacit Sepultum 
 Corpus Adami Lecci, Huic 
 Ecclesio Amici, & Per Ejus 
 Pecuniam Hic Murus Enceptus Erat. 
 
 Tho' Adam Lecky Quits the Frame 
 
 That To Coruption Falls, 
 Yet Alamans Will Mind This Man 
 A Friend To All Her Walls. 
 Feb'ry 9th, A. D. 1S03. 
 
24 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 first builder, and also, an elder, and tradition are our only 
 guides in the premises. The first headstones were of slate 
 and soapstone, and some of them are very old, with quaint 
 inscriptions and devices, and from boyhood I have loved to 
 study these ancient and sacred chronicles. There was no 
 general plan for the graves, and shortly before the recent 
 war between the States it was found important to enlarge 
 the grounds to their present extent, and the new part was 
 laid off on a general plan, furnished by myself, with walks, 
 and family lots which were drawn for and marked, and the 
 arrangement will be convenient and furnish opportunities 
 for becoming adornments. 
 
 Spiritual History. 
 
 It is known that the early records of Orange Presbytery 
 w r ere lost by fire, but probably they contained but meagre 
 statistics from the churches. In a manuscript book called 
 " Records of Orange Presbytery," which seems to have been 
 officially prepared to replace the lost records, but largely 
 from memory and tradition, it is said that this church was 
 organized with 22 members, and according to this the 
 average membership was about 70 to 80 till the year 1830. 
 This is in part a guess, and evidently includes only com- 
 muning members, and not baptized children, and probably 
 the number was larger; and in 1829 there was a great 
 revival which profoundly impressed my boyish heart, and 
 in 1830 the communicants were reported at 120. I am in- 
 clined to the opinion that it was about at this era when 
 children, or young persons, began to flock into the fold ; 
 and before this, while the minors of the congregation were 
 carefully raised and catechised, and were religiously im- 
 pressed, there was a timidity and caution about their open 
 profession of faith. It is not necessary to give the member- 
 ship at different dates, but only to say, in general terms ? 
 that amid all the mutations of the times, and while the area 
 of the congregation has been much contracted, and many 
 
REVIVALS. 25 
 
 other churches have been formed on its original territory, 
 the total, not relative, number of communicants has been on 
 the increase, and is now 185. These statements contain 
 food for thought, and show a considerable relative increase 
 of professors of religion; in other words, they prove that a 
 far greater number of the members of the congregation are 
 now members of the church than in former times, and that 
 the proportion of outside hearers has been regularly dimin- 
 ishing. Our observation confirms this teaching of figures, 
 and we know that as the country grows older the ratio of 
 church communicants increases, whatever may be said as 
 to the progress or deterioration of morals. 
 
 The original type of Alamance Christianity was fervent, 
 and it has so remained, and the history of the church has 
 been marked by 
 
 Revivals. 
 
 These have occurred at frequent intervals, but I shall 
 mention only those which have acquired a historical impor- 
 tance. In 1791, there was one which extended througb 
 several counties, and its influence was felt here; and in 
 1801 there was a revival over a large part of the United 
 States, and reaching with power this congregation. In 1829 
 there was a gracious out pouring of the Spirit here, and the 
 results were wide- spread and lasting, and may be visibly 
 traced down to the present time. I could mention some of 
 these, if time permitted, and show the infusion of new in- 
 fluences into the church, and the beginnings of new family 
 and individual histories, some of which have exerted a be- 
 neficent power in other States. The entire community was 
 moved, and for days and nights the church, the tents, and 
 all the surrounding w 7 oods resounded with prayer and 
 praise, and religion was the absorbing theme ; and about 
 forty persons were added to the membership of this church, 
 and former professors seemed to begin their Christian life 
 anew. 
 
26 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 In the Fall of 1858, there was another great work of 
 grace, and I was then a licentiate, and was here and labor- 
 ing from the commencement to the close of the protracted 
 and glorious meeting, except for a lew days when I was 
 called away by public duties. A marked characteristic of 
 the services was the absence of ambitious pulpit displays, a 
 feeling demonstration occurring after the first sermon, and 
 a sustained interest being kept up for a long season with 
 few ministers present. This revival, like that of 1829 
 brought new families into the fold, and an increased vital- 
 ity that has been manifested ever since; and the Divine 
 beneficence was the more conspicuous in the time of this 
 blessed visitation for it was just before that era of desola- 
 lions — the war between the States. Of the many young 
 men who then made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, a 
 number now sleep in that grave yard, slain in battle, — and 
 two of these were thinking of the ministry, were personally 
 very dear to me, one of them my nephew, and still another 
 had been in my employment. Three others, dating their 
 conversion from that time, are now in the ministry, and a 
 fourth, now middle-aged, is a candidate for the sacred office. 
 There have been many other and great manifestations here 
 of the Spirit's power, occurring at comparatively brief in- 
 tervals, and Alamance has been so characterized by such 
 gracious manifestations that natives of the congregation and 
 others have come here from distant places expressly to ob- 
 tain good from the moved waters. For many years the 
 protracted meetings drew large crowds, and the services had 
 to be conducted in the open air: and I can say, from per- 
 sonal experience, that there was a flocking to these Feasts 
 of Tabernacles from a feeling of devotion, that multitudes 
 often realized that it was good to be here, and that order 
 and sobriety characterized these great assemblies. 
 
 Institutions. 
 
 1. Sabbath School. The Sabbath School, as a fixed in- 
 
INSTITUTIONS. 27 
 
 stitution of the church, was established here in a vigorous 
 form about the year 1825, and John Finley, son of Andrew, 
 and generally called Master Finley, was its first Superin- 
 tendent, and long devoted himself to it with great zeal and 
 piety. It was his pet, and he seemed to love all the chil- 
 dren as his own, and apparently his supreme wish, as he 
 often, often said, was to meet them in heaven. There was 
 preaching on alternate Sabbaths, and on the others Master 
 Finley held his School, having a session morning and after- 
 noon, with an intermission for a basket dinner. There was 
 a large attendance, and much of the afternoon session was 
 passed in devotional exercises, during which Master Finley 
 nearly always became excitedly happy ; and I can well re- 
 member his white hairs and his tender tones as he passed 
 from pew to pew singing of the better land, and grasping 
 the hands of the children and patting them on the head. 
 On preaching days there was a Bible class before service, 
 generally of adults and heads of families, taught by the pas- 
 tor : and the Sabbath School has continued, with short in- 
 termissions, to the present time. 
 
 2. Female Benevolent Society. This was organized 
 about the year 1823, with Mrs. Wm. Woodburn for Presi- 
 dent, Mrs. Anne Wiley, (my mother,) Secretary, and Mrs. 
 Joseph Rankin, Treasurer, and was a source of no little 
 good. At first and for some time it convened monthly, 
 with concert of prayer, and then once a year, some of the 
 members having to come long distances and a number of 
 them having families of young children. The circum- 
 stances of this devoted band of Christian workers were far 
 different from those of such societies now, even in the coun- 
 try, not to speak of those in cities and towns ; the congre- 
 gation extended over a wide area, there were not such easy 
 modes of travel, and mothers had to bring their children, 
 sometimes on horseback, and the church was not heated, 
 tho' there was a session house with chimney and fire place. 
 My mother would sometimes bring me, and leave me to 
 
28 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 while the time as I could, my boyish imagination impressed 
 with the solemnities of my surroundings; and at a very 
 early age my curiosity was excited about the character and 
 state of the nations of the earth by the old Missionary Herald 
 which was read at the meetings. This society, under its first 
 organization, raised over §500, money made by the labor of 
 the ladies themselves, and not pressed out of their husbands 
 and fathers, nor collected thro' the agency of fairs, suppers, 
 and other such appliances of modern times; and by its 
 funds it aided the Elliot Mission, (Indian,) educated an In- 
 dian, named after Dr. Caldwell, made Dr. Caruthers a life 
 member of the American Tract Society, replenished the 
 Sunday School Library, and assisted in the education of 
 young men preparing for the ministry. After a faithful 
 and useful career it was suspended, but was revived again 
 into vigorous life in 1873, and some of its useful fruits are 
 now before us. By the industry of its members it has raised 
 considerable sums of money, has made liberal contributions 
 towards the finishing and furnishing of this neat edifice, 
 and it follows in the old paths, and earns its resources by 
 legitimate means. 
 
 Early in this century, Samuel Porter, son of Elder James 
 Porter, who never married, and who was drowned, brother 
 of my step-grandmother, left $300 for the purchase of a 
 
 (3) Church Library, a liberal sum for that day, and 
 with which, and possibly with other means, a well selected 
 stock of books was bought, a great, and at the time, unusual 
 advantage. In this library were many standard religious 
 books, and some of the best of the English classics, and I 
 can testify to the importance and usefulness of these literary 
 treasures. They appeared to me as an invaluable store, and 
 I must confess, excited my cupidity. Often did I feast my 
 eyes on their titles, and they were worth to me more than 
 an inheritance, though in my day they were going the way 
 of all such libraries, and, till I left for boarding schools, I 
 
INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 29 
 
 was too young to fill the office of my first and great ambi- 
 tion, that of Congregational Librarian. 
 
 (4.) Protracted and Camp Meetings may be said to 
 have been, for a long time, institutions of this church. They 
 were a necessity of the age of their origin, when settlements 
 were comparatively sparse, and when entire families, living 
 at a distance from the church, could not attend its services 
 together. When there was a desire to carry the gospel to 
 all the people, and to each member of every household, and 
 churches could not be erected for small areas of territory, 
 annual encampments were established, first and for a con- 
 siderable period, of tents only, and afterwards of board houses, 
 with many of the conveniences of home. There were camp 
 meetings both at Alamance and Buffalo, and within my 
 recollection all the Presbyterian churches of the county, 
 including that of Greensboro, had a union camp ground, 
 with pulpit, arbor, and seats, in the woods south of the 
 present Poor House, and where the meetings were attended 
 by many ministers. The first out-of-doors stand at this 
 place was on the declivity west of the old framed church 
 under a great poplar, with seats running back to the church. 
 When the first brick edifice was erected, the arbor was 
 moved to the woods just east of it, and the pulpit or stand 
 still remains. Camp-meetings were still held at Alamance 
 long after they were discontinued at other churches in our 
 connection, in this region, generally on alternate years, and 
 down to the late war between the States. There was a pro- 
 tracted meeting every year late in the summer or early in 
 the fall, and I speak of my own knowledge when I say that 
 these were productive of happy influences. They were 
 never marred by more disorder or levity than are incident 
 to any large gatherings of the people, and generally a more 
 than usual solemnity seemed to pervade all this consecrated 
 ground. Families from long distances, and all ages were 
 enabled to attend every service, and for a series of days, a 
 great privilege in the country where there cannot be weekly 
 
30 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 congregational prayer-meetings, and where many have to 
 stay at home on the Sabbath ; fraternity and social ameni- 
 ties were promoted, and barriers and prejudices caused by 
 isolation were broken down and sympathies were widened, 
 and neighborly kindnesses developed and fostered. Old 
 sores were healed, pastor and all his people were made to 
 feel as one family, the hold of the world was broken, and 
 the entire community, severed for a time from worldly cares, 
 and worldly scenes, pulled out of its eld and frozen ruts, 
 became a band of pilgrims, with their faces towards the 
 Heavenly Jerusalem, their hearts fed with its manna, and 
 their mouths filled with the sweet songs of Zion. The en- 
 tire time was given to spiritual things, prayer and praise 
 were heard on all sides, day and night, a cheerful air per- 
 vaded all the solemnities, many pious souls were refreshed 
 and built up, and many were the subjects of converting 
 grace. The last great revival here was at a camp-meeting, 
 and I remember one case of nearly a whole family of camp- 
 ers, including the parents, who left here rejoicing in hopes 
 to which they were strangers when they came. The last 
 day w r as always a sad one, and people who came with little 
 interest in each other parted with tears and affectionate em- 
 braces. These protracted meetings long held the hearts of 
 distant Alamancers to the old spiritual home, and of the 
 great crowds who annually gathered here some came from 
 other counties to visit the scenes of old and dear associa- 
 tions, and some to bring new generations to the ancestral 
 church, and to ancestral graves. 
 
 5. Annual Congregational Meetings were once a char- 
 acteristic of this church, a habit which I had established 
 and kept up as a fixed one when I was an Elder, in which 
 all the affairs of the church were discussed, and which were 
 undoubtedly productive of important benefits. 
 
 6. Good Secular Schools sprung naturally and flour- 
 ished vigorously in this soil, being the outgrowth of the re- 
 ligious character of the people. The classical school of Dr. 
 
INSTITUTIONS. 31 
 
 Caldwell, the first pastor of this church, and located within 
 the bounds of the Buffalo congregation, is known to his- 
 tory, and was one of the foundations, under God, of the 
 moral power and greatness of the country. From this foun- 
 tain flowed fertilizing streams over a very wide area; here 
 were trained and equipped leaders of thought who went out 
 to impress the genius of this nursery of religion and learn- 
 ing over the vast expanse of the South and West, and to 
 crystalize their chaotic elements into conservative society. 
 Laborious and useful ministers of [he Gospel, leading states 
 men, lawyers, and physicians, and good citizens weie pour- 
 ed from this reservoir into many States, and it would re- 
 quire volumes to detail the results, still manifest and mul- 
 tiplying, of this famous institution, the humble seat of which 
 was distinguished by no architectural embellishments. 
 
 In the woods, some half a mile from this place, long stood 
 a log tenement, with not one material sign to denote its em- 
 inence, a building associated with many dear memories, and 
 with historic names, and known as 
 
 The Old Red School House, from the color of the clay 
 with which it was daubed. For many years the Alamance 
 people kept up here a flourishing English School, and sev- 
 eral generations were trained within these humble walls for 
 lives of usefulness, and in not a few instances of high dis- 
 tinction — members of Congress and of State Legislatures, 
 professors in colleges, high State officials, and ministers of 
 the gospel, were taught at that ancient seat, and if those 
 venerable oaks could speak, what a story they could tell of 
 names now known far hence, and once familiarly called un- 
 der their deep shadows in life's young and happy dawn ! 
 It is proper here to refer to the instruction and religious 
 training of the colored people. This race was well-cared 
 for in the ministrations of the sanctuary, and it was the 
 habit in old Presbyterian families to teach the slaves to read, 
 and to furnish them with Bibles I can speak knowingly 
 for one, and of my first mission as a teacher ; and perhaps 
 
32 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 it is not generally known that Orange Presbytery had for 
 years, in the old days of slavery, a 
 
 A Colored Licentiate. His name was John CJiavis, and 
 I find it on the roll from 1806 to 1815, when it disappears, 
 and probably from the death of the licentiate. 
 
 Ecclesiastical Meetings Here. 
 
 This was a favorite resort for our venerable Presbytery in 
 early times, and when it covered a vastly larger territory 
 than at present. It met here September 26th, 1798, with 
 Rev. Wm. Thompson as Moderator; Sept, 24th, 1800, Rev. 
 Jas. H. Bowman, Moderator ; Sept. 28th, 1802, same Mod- 
 erator ; Oct. 3d, 1803, Rev. Leonard Prather, Moderator; 
 Sept. 26th, 1804, Rev. J. H. Bowman, Moderator ; Sept. 24th, 
 1800, same Moderator; Sept. 28th, 1808, Rev. Danl Browne, 
 Moderator ; Sept. 26th, 1811, Rev. Murdoch McMillan, Mod- 
 erator ; and not again, as far as I know, until now. 1 The 
 first meeting of the Synod of North Carolina was held here, 
 beginning Oct. 7th, 1813, opened by appointment of the 
 General Assembly, by Rev. Jas. Hall, D. D., and Moderated 
 b}' Rev. R. H. Chapman, father of Rev. R. H. Chapman, D. 
 D., now living. On this occasion, the members of what is 
 now Fayetteville Presbytery, came for the last time as dele- 
 gates from Orange, and about this time that new ecclesias- 
 tical body w T as formed. 2 The leading ministers of the Scotch 
 region embraced in Fayetteville were well known here, and 
 our people parted with the genial and fervent generation of 
 Mc's with sincere regret. Their name here was long like 
 the savor of ointment poured forth ; and my early recollec- 
 tions are associated with anecdotes and incidents the old 
 people were w'ont to tell with glowing interest of the good 
 Scotch preachers of broad accent, and broader sympathies, of 
 quaint humor and fiery zeal. There was a natural affinity 
 
 •Rev- C. H. Wiley, Moderator, elected by acclamation. 
 2 Concord Presbytery was laid off from Orange in 1795. 
 
PASTORS AND SUPPLIES. 
 
 33 
 
 between these ministers and our people, and the advent of 
 ajScotch Mc. marked the beginning of those earnest services 
 and that social heartiness in which Alamance delighted. 
 
 Pastors and Supplies. 
 
 The first pastor of this church was Rev. David Caldwell, 
 D. D., installed at Buffalo in March, 1768. His eventful 
 history is recorded in the biography which was a work of 
 love of his successor and has been widely read. He was 
 born, educated, licensed and ordained in Pennsylvania, was 
 married in North Carolina, and lived a long life of useful 
 activity, leaving a family of ministers and distinguished cit- 
 izens, an honored name, and a moral monument which is 
 ever growing. He was an able divine, a faithful and suc- 
 cessful pastor, a leader of thought and action in the forma- 
 tive era of the Revolution and of republican constitutions,, 
 one of the best and most laborious teachers of his day, and 
 as a physician and neighbor added to the benefactions of 
 his multiform labors. His pastorate lasted over half a cen- 
 tury, and he died in his 100th year, and was buried at Buf- 
 falo, and a tablet was erected at this church to his memory. 
 
 He was succeeded by Rev. Eli W. Caruthers, D. D., a 
 native of Rowan county, N. C, who received his theological 
 Education at Princeton, New Jersey, and who had conferred 
 on him the title of D.D. at the University of North Carolina 
 in the time of President Swain, but whose modesty and 
 solid worth would hardly now win a degree when literary 
 institutions seem to regard the privilege of bestowing hon- 
 orary distinctions as a means of advancing their interests. 
 His charge in Guilford was his only one ; he was, for a short 
 time, associated as an assistant of Dr. Caldwell, and was in- 
 stalled pastor of Alamance and Buffalo in 1821 1 ; and in 
 the year 1846, the union between the two congregations was- 
 
 ^robably at Buffalo in November, 1821. Dr. Caldwell ceased to 
 preach about 1820, and died in 1824. 
 
34 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 dissolved, and Dr. Caruthers remained pastor of Alamance. 
 In July, 1861, he asked_Lhe _congre^atio n to unite wit h him 
 frTaT^^ relation, 
 ajij^J^ej^j^ g 
 which lunamm^u^^u^^ to - his 
 
 SdeTityTand the appHcation waTp^secTbyTres^ 
 next session. Dr. Caruthers was now in infirm health, and 
 did not again engage in any active and regular ministerial 
 •work, and finally, in November, 1865, after a lingering de- 
 cline, he passed in peace from the labors and cares of earth, 
 and was buried here, and has here a fitting tablet commem- 
 orating his long and useful pastorate. He was never mar- 
 ried, and without a family of his own, he freely devoted his 
 time and of his means to the education of the offspring of 
 others. He was a steady and life-long friend of general 
 education, and like his predecessor, kept abreast of the pro- 
 gress of general events, and was a warm advocate of public 
 improvements. He w T as a solid divine, whose opinions on 
 theological questions had weight with his cotemporaries, 
 and was an authority on the distinctive tenets of his church, 
 and yet he took comparatively little part in things merely 
 •-ecclesiastical, and had no sympathy with ecclesiastical mar- 
 tinets; and in his religious work he fraternized with the 
 Methodist and other churches around him, especially in his 
 latter years. As a preacher he was earnest and instructive, 
 he was a diligent student all his life, and engaged in every 
 subject of intellectual enquiry ; his opinions were his own, 
 his convictions decided and courageousl} r maintained, and he 
 w 7 as in all senses a strictly honest man, honest in opinion, and 
 honest in dealing. His specialty, outside of his ministerial 
 work, was the Revolutionary history of his native and beloved 
 State, and his patient and careful researches resulted in sev- 
 eral valuable works which have enriched our local literature. 
 This was a labor of love which he prosecuted with untiring 
 zeal, and whatever the urgency of a present engagement, if 
 
PASTORS AND SUPPLIES. 
 
 35 
 
 revolutionary game crossed his path he was off on instant 
 chase till he ran it down. 
 
 Like many others, when he saw war through the haze of 
 time and distance, he failed to realize the horrors with which 
 it is ever associated, even in its mildest forms; but when 
 he was in its midst, in his latter years, its desolations deeply 
 grieved him, and he was more impressed by these than by 
 the heroism, self-sacrifice, and devotion which threw a halo 
 over its bloody and repulsive features. His pastorate and 
 that of his predecessor lasted some 93 years, and this fact 
 reflects the chaiacter of ministers and people in the strong- 
 est light, and is in broad contrast to the present spirit of 
 change manifested in nearly all our churches. It indicates 
 good and able service on one side, and appreciation and for- 
 bearance on the other; it speaks of character standing the 
 test of long and varied trial, and of a people who, conscious 
 of their own faults, did not expect perfection on the part of 
 their ministers, who felt that something depended on them- 
 selves as well as on their pastors, and who were not intent 
 on youth, novelty, and sensation in their pulpit ministra- 
 tions. It ought to be the rule and not the exception that 
 a head grown gray in public service is most honored where 
 its cares have been borne, and is a crown of glory in the 
 eyes of those over whom it has watched till thus whitened 
 by time and trial; .but as hoar hairs are now generally a 
 crown of thorns where they tell of long labor and endurance, 
 and are a paramount reason for uprooting because all the 
 man's hopes, memories and interests are there rooted, the 
 long pastorates here ®m shining examples, and illustrious 
 because most rare. 
 
 The church was vacant for a time after the conclusion of 
 the pastorate of Dr. Caruthers, and was served by Rev. P. 
 H. Dalton as stated supply, your speaker often preaching 
 here as his public engagements permitted, from the time of 
 his licensure in 1855, till after the installation of the present 
 pastor. On the 3d Sabbath in November, 1863, Rev. Wil- 
 
36 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 lis L. Miller was installed pastor, and it is not improper 
 to refer to Mrs. Miller, though she is still living, as a writer 
 of deserved celebrity, and to say that some of her sweetest 
 poems, under the well known signature of Luola, are asso- 
 ciated with her Alamance life and experience. In 1865, 
 this pastorate was dissolved by the mutual consent of min- 
 ister and people, Mr. Miller desiring to connect himself 
 with the northern branch of the Presbyterian church, and 
 in December of the same year, Rev. Wm. B. Tidball was 
 employed as stated supply. On March 3d, 1867, he was 
 elected pastor, and on the 4th Sabbath of October of the 
 same year, was installed. After 1846, Dr. Caruthers gave 
 all- his time to this church, Rev. Mr. Dalton preached here 
 twice a month, Rev. Mr. Miller was elected for all his time, 
 and so was Rev. Mr. Tidball, but by subsequent arrange- 
 ment, still existing, services have been and are held here on 
 alternate Sabbaths. 
 
 It is impossible, perhaps, to furnish a perfect list of 
 The Elders of this Church, from the want of early rec- 
 ords. I give the following names, and think it possible that 
 there are others of whom I have not heard : Samuel Nelson, 
 David Kerr, Adam Lecky, William Casach, Thos. Wiley, 1 An- 
 drew Finley, Wm. Mebane, John Forbis, 2 Hugh Forbis, John 
 Thorn, Robert Paisley, John Paisley, Samuel Allison, (generally 
 spelled Ellison) James Porter, — McCann, Joseph McLean, and 
 Wm. Smith, down to 1820. (In old records Paisley is spell- 
 ed Peaseley, McLean, McLane and McClaine,Cusach, Cusick.) 
 
 In 1820, when the records begin, Wm. Smith, Wm. Mebane, 
 John Paisley, and Joseph McLean, appear as Elders, and on 
 Nov. 21 of that year John Finley was ordained. Feb. 25, 
 1826, Jas. Ihom, Nathaniel Kerr and Thos. Rankin were add- 
 ed, and Levi Houston was ordained about this time, date un- 
 known. May 16th, 1830, Wm. Doak, Wm. Rankin, Joseph Ran- 
 kin, and Jas. Wharton, came in, Finley Shaiv, Rankin Donnell, 
 
 Called the peacemaker. 
 
 2 Xot certain. 
 
MINISTERS FROM ALAMANCE. 
 
 37 
 
 and Roddy Hannah, (often spelled Planner,) May 28, 1842, 
 and Joel McLean, Aug. 21, same year. Aug. 21, 1851, Jas. 
 Paisley and Joseph W. Gilmer were added. Sept., 1§54, John 
 W. McMurry was received from Bethel, and Oct. 22d of that 
 year Calvin H Wiley, 1 was ordained.* May 27th, 1866, John 
 A. Pritchett and Samuel Rankin were added, and on April 
 30th, 1871, Allen H.Scott, William F. Thorn, and Wm. Ander- 
 son, who, with Messrs. Jos. W. Gilmer, John W. McMurray, and 
 John A. Pritchett, constitute the present bench of ruling elders. 
 
 I have not been able to find the names of any 
 
 Deacons, before the year 1844. Trustees probably acted 
 in their place, for in 1800 there was a Trustee's book on 
 which there were subscriptions, as I find from my grand- 
 father's papers, and Marshall McLean, Andrew McGehee, 
 (spelled, Magee), John Thorn, David Wiley, and Wm. Wiley, 
 senW, were Trustees. 
 
 In 1844, David C. Stewart and David Whitt were elected 
 Deacons — the first named long continuing active and faith- 
 ful in the service. To these, still living, were added in 
 1859, Allen II. Scott and John Donnell, in 1866, Jas. Gannon 
 and Jas. Thorn (the latter is now in Tennessee,) and in 1871, 
 Oliver L. Boon, Robt. -S. PJiipps, and Geo. M. Glass, and every 
 Deacon elected is still here, except Jas. Thorn. 
 
 As might be expected from so old a communion, of such 
 religious vitality, there is a long roll of 
 
 MINISTERS FROM ALAMANCE. 
 
 Quite a number of different denominations and in various 
 States haye sprung from Alamance stock, who were not 
 born here, and I mention as an instance, Rev. Jas. H. Mc- 
 Neil ly, pastor of the Moore Memorial Church, Nashville, 
 Tenn., who exhibited to me in the handwriting of Dr. Cald- 
 well, when tremulous from age, the certificate of his grand- 
 
 ^is office was vacated, as was supposed, by his ordination tQ the full 
 work of the gospel ministry in April, 1866. 
 
38 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 mother's dismissal; and I shall have occasion to allude to 
 others. My purpose is, however, to confine myself mainly 
 to ministers born here, and I will add, that my list of those 
 not Presbyterian is not full, but not for want of effort on 
 my part to make it so. 
 
 1. Rev. John Mathews, D.D., was born here in 1770, 1 was 
 educated by Dr. Caldwell, and died in New Albany, Ind., 
 in 1SI8. He was originally a joiner by trade, possessed a 
 fine mechanical genius, and during all his life amused him- 
 self with the study and construction of delicate and intri- 
 cate machinery. Some of his work in wood still exists In 
 this congregation. His first charge was in North Carolina, 
 and afterwards he preached for years in Shepherdstown, Va., 
 married his first wife in Virginia, and in later years moved 
 to Indiana, and founded and was Professor of Polemic The- 
 ology in the Theological Seminary at New Albany, after- 
 wards merged in the North-western Theological Seminary, 
 now located and ably conducted in Chicago, Illinois. Thus 
 the light that now so brightly illumes the far north-western 
 skies may be said to have been kindled from a coal taken 
 from Alamance fires. Dr. Mathews was the author of " The 
 Divine Purposes," which has been long a Presbyterian 
 standard, and was an able and voluminous contributor to 
 Presbyterian reviews and newspapers, and a friend and cor- 
 respondent of Dr. Hoge, the elder, Dr. Rice, and other repre- 
 sentative men of the time. He was as able and eminent in 
 the pulpit as with his pen, and his preaching power is well 
 remembered ; and one of his sons, himself a Doctor of Di- 
 vinity, his oldest son, in one of his letters to me, says with 
 filial but honest enthusiasm, " I am now entering on my 
 75th year, and have been preaching 50 years, but I have 
 f Ailed to see just such a man as my venerable father. His 
 memory is embalmed with the sweetest fragrance." His 
 
 lr rhe facts concerning Dr. M. are taken mostly from recent letters to 
 me from his sons, Rev. Win, Caldwell Mathews, D.D., of Louisville, Ky., 
 and Rev. John D. Mathews, D.D., of Wade's Mills, Ky. 
 
PASTORS AND SUPPLIES. 
 
 39 
 
 oldest daughter is the wife of a minister, Rev. John M. 
 Harris, near Romney, West Virginia, and he has three sur- 
 viving sons, ministers, Rev. W, C. Mathews, D.D., of Louis-, 
 ville, Ky., of the Northern Presbyterian Church, Rev. J. D- 
 Mathews, D.D. , of Wade's Mills, Ky., of the Southern Pres, 
 byterian, and Rev. R C. Mathews, D.D., of Monmouth, 111. 
 of the Northern Presbyterian Church. 
 
 2. Rev. Wm. Paisley, 1 born and raised in this congrega- 
 tion, has left a memory that will be long and widely cher- 
 ished and honored. He was, under God, the founder and 
 first minister of the Greensboro Church, did much evange- 
 listic work, largely of his own volition, and was a very 
 earnest, laborious, fervent preacher, full of fire in the pulpit, 
 courageous for the truth, meek and tender in his disposition, 
 and long spared to serve the Master with single-hearted 
 devotion. He was useful, esteemed, beloved, and prominent 
 as a minister and citizen, and his walk in all his long life 
 ever appeared to be with God. 
 
 3. Rev. Samuel Paisley was also of Alamance, was an 
 impressive and solemn preacher, who labored in various 
 places in North Carolina, and who died not long ago in 
 Moore county in a good old age. 
 
 4. Rev. J as. Kerr was a son of elder Nath. Kerr, but I 
 am not familiar with his ministerial life, knowing only that 
 he had the name of a good preacher, and of a faithful min- 
 ister. 
 
 5. Rev. Samuel McAdoo, 2 who, after his licensure, moved 
 to Kentucky and joined, in its infancy, the Cumberland 
 Presbyterian Church, which now has a Presbytery named 
 for him. 
 
 Ordained in 1798. 
 
 2 For facts in the lives of Rev. Samuel McAdoo, and of Rev. Robert 
 Donnell, and Rev. Geo. Donnell, I am under obligations to Rev. Rich- 
 ard Beard, D.D., Theological Professor in Cumberland University, at 
 Lebanon, Tenn. He is well posted in the history of his church, and has 
 taken much interest in that of ours, and his interesting communication 
 to me indicates his love for the memory of men of Alamance lineage. 
 
40 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 6. Rev. John McLean, of whose labors I have no facts, 
 son of elder Joseph McLean, moved to the southwest, and 
 died there. 
 
 7. Rev. John Paisley, son of elder John Paisley, preached 
 at the Red House Church, North Carolina, and died young. 
 
 8. Rev. Addi Thom went to Virginia and thence to Ten- 
 nessee, and finally to Texas, where he was a Professor in 
 the first Presbyterian College there, and where he died, a 
 man of mark. 
 
 9. Rev. Daniel G. Doak, son of elder Wm. Doak, preached 
 first in Virginia, then and for a long time at Zion Church, 1 
 near Columbia, Tennessee, where his name is held in high 
 regard, and went thence to Sardis, Mississippi, where he 
 recently died. He taught and preached, and was earnest 
 tender, and laborious. 
 
 10. Rev. David K. Thom was once a Missionary to the 
 Indians, afterwards joined the Cumberland Presbyterian 
 Church, and finally became somewhat erratic in mind. 
 
 11. Rev. John H. Coble, now of Fayetteville Presbytery, 
 stated supply of Laurinburg and Montpelier Churches. 
 
 12. Rev. John Woodburn, located at Hendersonville, N. 
 C, preacher and teacher. 
 
 13. Rev. L. A. T. Jobe, of Clarendon, Arkansas, preacher 
 and teacher. 
 
 14. Rev. Elias F. Pbitchett, now of Lawson, Missouri, 
 preacher and teacher. 
 
 15. Rev. David C. Rankin, now Principal of the General 
 Assembly's Institute for the training of colored ministers, at 
 Tuskaloosa, Alabama. 
 
 16. Rev. Calvin H. Wiley, 2 your speaker. 
 
 x The colored membership of this church was large and well trained, 
 and 16ng remained in it after the late Avar, as I know from observation, 
 and finally, after a union of counsel of both races, and with good feeling 
 in both, formed a separate church of their own. 
 
 2 Licensed at the Fall Session of Orange Presbytery, T855, while State 
 Superintendent of Common Schools. Continuing in public office till the 
 close of the war between the States, he was not ordained until the Spring 
 Session of Presbytery, 1866. 
 
PASTORS AND SUPPLIES. 
 
 41 
 
 17. Rev. Calvin Denny, who joined this church from 
 Bethel shortly before his licensure, and who connected him- 
 self with the German Reformed church while still a licen- 
 tiate. 
 
 18. Rev. Calvin Gannon, of the N. C. Conference of the 
 Meth. Ep. ch. South. 
 
 19. Rev. Hugh A. Wiley, of the N. C. Conference of the 
 Meth. Ep. ch. South. 
 
 All these, except Calvin Denny, were born, raised and 
 trained here, and to them should be added of ministers born 
 here : 
 
 20. Rev. Thos. H. Nelson, 1 the founder and first minister 
 of the First Presbyterian church of Knoxville, Term., where 
 he died. 
 
 21. Rev. Robt. Donnell, 2 who was raised in Tennessee, 
 where he became an able and very influential minister of 
 the Cumberland Presbyterian church. 
 
 22. Rev. Geo. Donnell, raised in Tennessee, a Cumber- 
 land Presbyterian Minister, held in high esteem, the founder 
 and first minister of the Cumberland Presbyterian church 
 at Lebanon, the seat of Cumberland University. He died 
 in the meridian of life, much lamented by his people. 
 
 The late Rev. Wm. Nelson Mebane, whose precious memory 
 we all cherish, was of Alamance stock ; and so was the late 
 Paisley Wharton, who died young and promising, and so 
 were quite a number of worthy brethren whom I could 
 name, of the Meth. Ep. and Meth. Protestant churches. 
 
 Finally, this church has now two candidates for the gos- 
 pel ministry, John A. Gilmer, Jr., and Wm. F. Thom, and 
 may soon have a third, and many of its old family names 
 are represented on the ministerial roll. 
 
 It has given a man to the gospel of Jesus Christ for every 
 
 J I am indebted for facts of his life to Rev. Thos. W. Humes, LL.D., of 
 the Ep. ch., President of Knoxville University, who was born in the 
 congregation of Mr. Nelson, and when young attended his church. 
 
 2 See note on notice of Rev. Samuel McAdoo. 
 
42 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 six years of its existence, and her sons and descendants have 
 proclaimed the glad tidings of Salvation in many places in 
 North and South Carolina, and in both Virginias, in Geor- 
 gia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Arkan- 
 sas, Missouri, Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas. 
 
 Secular History. 
 
 As already stated, this congregation was originally in 
 Orange and Rowan counties, and then in Guilford. It was 
 in two parishes of the Episcopal church, established by law, 
 but with no Episcopalians within its territory, and it has 
 been under two local and three national governments. It 
 was originally in the Province of North Carolina, under the 
 authority of the British Crown, then it was in the United 
 States of America, then in the Confederate States, and is 
 now again in the United States. It has passed through 
 three domestic wars, that is, wars waged in whole once, and 
 in part on tw T o occasions in this State, and decisive events in 
 each occurred near to it. 
 
 The Regulators' War was an uprising of the people of 
 Middle North Carolina against the exactions and lawless 
 oppressions of local authorities under the British Crown, and 
 was based on the principles which caused the great revolu- 
 tion of 1776, and was in fact the beginning of that grand 
 struggle. 
 
 The agitation of the Regulators or "Sons of Liberty," 
 which were the dawn of American freedom, were manifest- 
 ed openly in 1766, and had their center in what was then 
 Orange county, and extended some distance west and south 
 of the county limits. On the 16th of May, 1771, they cul- 
 minated for the time in the battle of Alamance, near the 
 waters of the Great Alamance Creek, in the present county 
 of Alamance, about thirteen miles south of east of this place; 
 on one side was an equipped army, on the other a tumultu- 
 ous assembly of people without military leaders, and largely 
 without arms, and the military result was a disaster to the 
 
SECULAR HISTORY. 
 
 43 
 
 latter, the moral and political a final triumph to the cause for 
 which the blood of patriots was there first shed. The people 
 of this congregation were in deep sympathy with the move- 
 ment of "The Sons of Liberty," and a number of young 
 men 1 from here were in the crowd that confronted Tryon's 
 forces, having gone to the scene of conflict as outsiders, so 
 to speak, but with a fervor that could not rest at home at 
 such a crisis ; and they beheld and were then ever fixed in 
 their convictions when the cause of equal rights first con- 
 fronted the storm of battle. 
 
 Of those who fell here, and of the field, the poet 2 has said, 
 
 "Immortal youth shall crown their deathless fame, 
 And as their country's glories still advance, 
 Shall brighter blaze, o'er all the earth, thy name . 
 Thou first fought field of freedom, Alamance !" 
 
 This county was the scene of closing and memorable 
 events in the succeeding .Revolution. The pastor and peo- 
 ple of Buffalo and Alamance early espoused the patriot 
 cause, and adhered firmly and unitedly to it to the end. 
 Each congregation contributed able officers and brave sol- 
 diers to the cause, and the women and children were deeply 
 embued with its spirit, and heroically ministered to it, and 
 suffered for it. No tories were produced by these commu- 
 nities, but each of them was hated, and watched, and as- 
 saulted by the marauding bands of these domestic pests ; 
 and many authentic traditions come down to us of priva- 
 tion, suffering, loss, and courageous endurance and adven- 
 ture among our people. 
 
 The armies of Greene and Cornwallis were twice in the 
 county, and the latter was once encamped in this congrega- 
 tion, on the premises of Ralph Gorrell, one of its members. 
 The battle of Guilford Court House, the decisive engagement 
 of the war, was eleven miles from here, within the bounds 
 
 J My grandfather Wiley, then quite a youth, was present as a spectator. 
 2 The late S. W. Whiting, of Raleigh, X. C, who wrote the lines on 
 the battle of Alamance at my request. 
 
44 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 of Buffalo ; and thither were gathered many of our male 
 members, refugees from home when Cornwallis and the 
 emboldened tories dominated the county, and there they 
 fought as volunteers, while the pious women at home, in 
 hearing of the guns of that great day, were engaged in 
 prayer for them and their cause, to the God of battles. The 
 captain of this willing force, John Forbis, 1 was mortally 
 wounded, and over bi£ remains in that graveyard stands a 
 monument to his memory by public subscription. At its 
 erection, July 4th, 1860, there was present a company of 
 volunteers whose soldierly bearing was the subject of general 
 remark. This was the Guilford Greys, composed mostly 
 of young men, and this was one of the three companies first 
 first called out by the Governor in the late war between the 
 States. Its ranks were swelled by Alamancers, and sons of 
 Alamancers, and they were thinned on many a dreadful field 
 of carnage, and the bodies of a number of them, who were 
 members in good standing in this church, slain in battle, 
 repose in the consecrated ground near us. This congrega- 
 tion contributed to the war at least 25 men, and of these 
 some 10 or 12 were killed and died in service. 
 
 In the mercy of God our people were united in each of 
 the three conflicts that were in the nature of civil wars, and 
 when the last was brewing, were all conservative, and anx- 
 ious to see peace preserved ; and they passed through the 
 fiery ordeals without any of those lasting sores which often 
 afflict the scenes of such extreme trials. The Divine Head of 
 the church has preserved it from wounds and rents and from 
 
 1 " Capt. John Forbis, who lived on the Alamance, was there with a 
 company of volunteers, the Allisons, the Kerrs, the Finlays. the Wileys, 
 and others, most of whom were his neighbors, and a braver band of mi- 
 litia was not on the ground. Pie (Forbis) was mortally wounded, and 
 several of his men were also wounded, of whom YVm. Paisley, father of 
 Rev. Samuel T., was one. A number of individals of Buffalo congre- 
 gation volunteered that morning, and put themselves under officers of 
 known valor. Dr. C druthers' Life of Caldwell, page 133. 
 
SECULAR HISTORY. 
 
 45 
 
 political dissensions, and that, too, while the congregation 
 has ever exercised an important influence in public affairs. 
 
 In the Convention at Halifax, April. 1776, which placed 
 the State in military organization, one of the three delegates 
 from Guilford was Ralph Gorrell,a member of Alamance 
 church, and John Paisley, another member was made Lieut. 
 Colonel ; and in the Convention at the same place, of Novem- 
 ber, 1776, which formed our first State Constitution, and one 
 under which we long lived, Mr. Gorrell was a delegate, and 
 so was Dr. Caldwell, the pastor of the church. The congre- 
 gation has given four State Senators who served the county 
 in some fifteen or sixteen terms of the Legislature, and some 
 twelve members of the House of Commons who served 
 in some thirty-two sessions. It has furnished in the ser- 
 vice of the State one Superior Court Judge 1 whose son 2 is 
 now a U. S. District Judge for North Carolina, and a State 
 Judge 3 now serving is the son of an Alamancer, bearing 
 one of the old names here : one member of Congress, 4 and 
 two members of the Confederate Congress, 5 a State Geologist 6 
 who has held his position over fourteen years, and the first 
 Superintendent of Common Schools 7 who was seven times 
 elected to terms of two years each. To those should be ad- 
 ded the head of the Engineering Department 8 of the Con- 
 federate States, my intimate companion at the Old Red 
 School House, and many others of note and influence in 
 secular affairs in other States. 
 
 ^on. John M. Dick. 2 Hon. Robt. P. Dick. 
 
 3 Hon. John A. Gilmer, the second, son of Hon. John A. Gilmer, de- 
 ceased. 
 
 4 Hon. John A. Gilmer the First, who was also once the nominee of the 
 old Whig party for Governor of North Carolina. 
 
 5 Hon. John A. Gilmer the first of that name, and Hon. Jas. R. Mc- 
 Lean, born in Alamance congregation. 
 
 6 Prof. W. C. Kerr. 7 Rev. C. H. Wiley. 
 
 8 Gen. J. F. Gilmer, now of Savannah, Ga. 
 
46 
 
 ALAMANCE CHURCH. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 But all the good which has sprung from here, and all the 
 privileges and happiness which have been enjoyed here, 
 have grown from one root- -the Gospel of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. How devout and grateful ought this people to 
 be ! A century and a quarter have wrought their changes 
 in the world since our ancestors were Divinely led to this 
 goodly region, and nearly all their names are represented 
 here to-day. Political and financial convulsions, wars, and 
 revolutions have failed to break, scatter, or divide you ; at 
 old homes and on old plantations the same names are still 
 known, and you live, and work, and worship near the 
 graves of your ancestors, and in the midst of dear and sa- 
 cred associations and memories. From generation to gene- 
 ration the church has flourished, and been open, and the 
 gospel has been preached, and its ordinances administered ; 
 and to day we dedicate to this blessed service a fourth edi- 
 fice, the handsomest of all, and by the buried dust of ages 
 a strong congregation seems springing into new life and 
 energy. God has done great things for you, and may you 
 and } 7 our children, and your children's children — may all 
 of us and our posterity, through all time, be found in His 
 service, and abide under his shadow ! 
 
97b. bl N673 P v. 12 27024