Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1855-11-29
Douot- 4)i5torp,
REV. DIR. .ALEEANDGR.
Bi REV. Il. i. ri SSELL.

usefulness in his day We have made frequent
allusion in the columns Of the Enquirer j
Nazareth Church in Spartanbur@ District
WAS organized I'y DR.. Alexander. lie cohtin-
uc,i t. preach as their stated supply untii af-
ter the Revolutionary War. l!c WAS succeeded
b. Rev. VIM. &. Dqvs. The road that leads
fro.n this place to Pinkncyyilic, on Broad Riv-
er was fist opened by this congregation, as {
bride way for DR.. Alexander to travel when
he came to preach to them. For the following
excellent biographical sketch Of Er Alexan-
der; which | know will be read with interest,
| am indebted to the kindncs$ Of Robert y.
Russell Of York District.
OF the nativity and early training Of DR..
AcxaAdcr, We are not, at this late day, pre-
Jared u speak with certainty "a far as Il
general Impression remains upon the mind OF
the writer, he cntcrtlinS the opinion, that DR..
\leXander was native Of Pennsylvania and
graduate Of Princeton College. New jersey.
When young in the ministry, he located in
Mecklenburg County, y. c., where he for Sc
ycral years performed the duties of his Office,
in thcmidst ola population, descrvcdly ranked
amongst the most intelligent, virtuous, and pa
t.ioic Of the early settlers Of the American
colonies. In so fair field his highly cult
waited mind, professional zeal, and ardent Pc
triotism, all found ample scope for successful
development. Under the mighty causes then
at work to stamp upon the American mind its
permanent character young Alexander felt the
viyifyingin influence and soon become prominent,
rs powerful preacher, and IN earnest rcmon-
strant against the oppressive measures, 1t that
day, sought to be enforced upon the colonies
in America. However painful! the task to re-
linouish station of service in which he found
50 much that accorded alike with his tastes
and with what he had proposed himself as the
great aim of his life, nevertheless, so urgent
were the calls, that with distressing frequency
fell upon the Minister'S ear, from hundreds of
destitute churches and congregations, all over
the Southern country, that our Young Minister
felt it impossible longer to resist the Mace
donion Crv." and in obedience to the suggcS-
tions OF duty, yielded the pleasant and flourish
inc field of his labCrs to other hands and re-
moved with his family to South Carolina. "
bout the year 1116 he settled in Bullock's
Creek Congregation, York (then Camden Dis
trict of which lie assumed the pastoral charge,
and entered promptly upon the duties of his
mission. He found himself surrounded with 4
moral waste, strctchingin al directions overan
immense area, with here, and there, the cabin
Of a pious Pennsylvania, or Scoteh-lrSh
PRESBYTERIAN From these Bethels in the will
derness, the morning and the evening prayer
had come up in remembrance before God; God
and in answer, the dawn Of 4 gospel day was
now rising upon the darkness, which had SO
loug enshrouded the Broad River Valley.
Like Paul at Athens, the newly arrived
Minister felt his spirit stirred within him, as
he surveyed the wild and rugged field he had
undertaken to cultivate
All his resources were taxed to their utmost
to meet the exigencies Of his people, but lm-
plicitly conidng in the pledges OF the Master
whom he served, and encouraged, and sustain
ed by the hearty cooperation Of the few pious
families, whose urgent appeals had brought
him amongst them, he diligently pcrsevcred
in his work. and saw it advance with slow but
steady progress. Iu the tract of country nc oc-
cupied, the forests aboundcd with game, and
the streams with the finest Of fish. Luxurlant
grasses clothed the hills, and almost impene-
trable canc-breaks darkencd the creek and rlv-
er low-lauds. Hence with the exception Of
the labor required to cultivate few acres
planted in corn and wheat, to bread the faml
ly and patch planted in tobacco, and anoth-
er in indigo (the commercial staple of upper
Carolina at that day. to procure few dollars
to meet unavoidable expenses, the settlers a
long the Broad River and its tributaries, COM
posing what was then called Bullock Greek
Congregation, passed their time, in what the
Mantuau Bard would have termed inglorious
ease" The amusements of fishing and hunt
ing furnished not only delightful entertain
ment to the pleasure loving lords of the forest
and their wild growing lads, but at the same
time contributed largely to the stock of mate
rials necessary to family subsistence, and were
therefore lookedupo as commcudable feature
in their system of provisional economy Mean
while the cultivation of the mind, and the I'M
portance of subjecting the moral and religious
elements of our nature to the renovatlng pow
er of the gospel, seemed to be matters that le"
had bettowed practical thought upon. This
state of things rendered it necessary for Mr.
Alexander to undergo immense labor, in bring
ing the scattered materials on which ne had to
operate, within the sphere of his ministerial in
Auence. No one who properly estimates the
uuyielding nature of inveterate habits, fortified
by the native hostility of the human heart to
the Offices of religion, but will at once admit,
that nothing short of Divine wisdom and pow
er could have directed and crowned his efforts
with success. To win this numerous class OF
the population to virtue and religion, ne must
first conciliate their attachment to himself,
which he accomplished after time, by means
of regular family visitations. The familiar
and friendly intercourse established in this
ssy between himself and his thoughtless par
rs, coon won upon their regards, and
ed patient ear to such suggestions as he
to offer on the subject of religion, as he
at by their fire sides, encirc]ed with listen
ing household.
Erelong, our judicious and Jealous pastor
had the satisfaction to look down from his pull
pit on Sabbath morning, and mark now one,