The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1874-05-06
The Camp Meeting at LadSon's An In
lenSely Exciting Scene.

A camp.meetiug Of the colored
Methodist Church Of Charleston Dis
,ric:, which had heon il. progress for
u week, was closed with more than
usually Interesting services yester-
day. The camp ground is situated
near Lads MS, on the South Carolina
R.ilruad. It waa probably tho lar
geSt gathering OF the kiud that has
ever bccn seen in tho State. The
camp ground is very picturesque
place, ina shady pire grove, abouta
mile f'om the depot, and presents
the appearance Of IA fl l,urishing village.
Iu the centre Of the ground is the
church which Is n hugo shed, con-
Struoicd of addressed boards, meas.
urlng ub,nt two huudred feet long
aud Une hundred wide, aud capab:c
Of seating about eli i.;ht Thousand per.
sous. THO hoor is covered with
pino straw, and the seats consist Of
long plapks, supported hy pine blocks
at night the STRUCTURE: is lighted by
two large Inilroad reflector lamps.
Tn the centre Of the building is the
pulpit on raised platform and sur
,ounuou by a.lail Tor the seekers Of
salvation. The services last day
and night, almost WITHOUT in,e'mis-
Sion. The pu pit yestc' day was oc-
capied by, the Rev. A. We ebstcr,
white, ,he presiding older of he DIS
uios Rev. Mr.. Sasportas, the Rev.
Mr. Weston, the Rev. Mr.: Curdoz },
the Rev. Mr.. Phillips, aud about "a
dozen; other ministers, all of them
col"red. by IL o'clock the crowd.
which had been Increased by the ar
,ivai Of tho trains from the City,
numbered about fifteen Thousand per.
svns. In character it was exceeding
~ cosmopolitan. There were men
aud women ali shades of color, from
,he daint,ly dress ed octoroon Of the
colored elite Of, the city, to the coal
;hiark old mauma with the pi2cu
re.que yellow bandaua kcrchief
children III arms and children out OF
arms, mcn of all ages and color. with
a plentiful sprinking of politicians.
Tie f,uen.thouaand of them gather
cd under tho shed or stood around it
when the morning services wot'~a m
n,nncsd Th. ..:.tce itself was Of
cL...~.or peculiar to the colored peo.
pie. 1t began rory cecurously. with
tho singing Of hymn', prayers and
sermon. BY this time the religious
fever began to rise, and wheu the
presiding elder shouted to "clear the
ai>l,s and let the people come to
I hri>t," and invited those who de.
si,,d to be prayed for to come up
aud kLccl around the altar, the scene
bessarcd description. The vast coa.
grtga:icnsang hymn, the refrain
Of which WIS:
"We'rc going hor.c. we're going homo,
We're going home TO die no more"
and while his refrain was being odof
to tune which vus very sweet. and
can only be heard at a 90 lotcd church
meeting, the rep"rtant sinners: huny
themselves bclr,:o the fafl sulrduud.
inr The altar Wien they had ali
u,th.red zero ono Of The preachers
began n earnest prayer, the words
of ni:h wcte uttered in s,entorian
I-oucs, but it was impossible to catch
the teno' Of his suppriuatiohs. "The
"mourhcrs" around the alta- Kept vi
a medley Of shor'a, groan-, yells and
shrieks that could te heard for miles
away, and ouly occasionally. could be
heard above this the exhoTtation Of
some one under tho influence IF tho
spirit, or occasionally. q line of Che
leirai,s, "Wc're g"ing hdmo,' rising
above the din. :. Some uf the women
accompanied their shIieks with the
most dlstrcseing notions. Many Of
,hem flung; themselves violently to
the g'ounn, "here thdy lay until re-
rnvvo I, app ,ron,'y suffering with the
IL oSt terrible cunvulsivns. One man
Was sudnenl stricken with the rcli-
eiuus fever, md ruvel 80 violently
that d 'uth5n Of" the bystandcrs
we're knocked dow All this time
he exhibited every symptom OF hydro-
phuhia. lis eyes stood out from
their sockets, his frame ,,was conyul.
sed, froth fell from his mouth aid he
gr"srcu aud shrieked ~ if his body
was torn aud rncked with tbou:anI
pains. This excitemcnt was kept up
for over three hours, the prea5hels ia
the meantime going down from the
pulpit land circulating amo g the
siIriekiog clowd, ezhorting them to
repentance. 30 intense Was the
excitement that tho women tbrsw
dow ii their hats, sbuwls and clothing
to tho ground, aud the men, iu
many Instances, tore the shirts
from their own bucks. Several of
tho elderly females were kept busy
going arodhd collecting tho scattered
artcIes of clothing which were. care.
fully piIed up on the pulpit until tho
meeting was owe; when the owners
reclaimed them. Outside of the
meeting honse the greatest order aud
dcco'u prevailed. The houses aud
streets, about three hundred in mum.
Der, looked clean and neat. No