Wilmington journal., 1876-06-16
RY REV. II. Il. HUDSON.
NUMBER TX.

III my last article I had traced the
course of MethOdism southward by
way of Onslow county and Wilmington
down into Charleston, S. G.. It SoOl
| turned its course from that quarter
| back towards our Statn, spread along
the fertile valleys Us the Great and
Little Pee Dee rivers, and rs early rs
1897 entered into Bladen county, whe1
| the Bladen circuit vas formed, having
thirty members, Daniel Combs being
its first preacher The Baden circuit
grew rapidly under the faithful labors
of such mon as Jonathan Bird, Johr
Affair, VIM. Bellamy, Joshua Cannon,
Samuel Edney and others; so that ir
five ye rs after it's formation, it had
the statistical strength of four hundred
and Sixty-seven members.
Archibald Robinson was a native OF
Bladen county, born in 1874. He was
OF respectable parents, by whom he
was early trained to be q strict Obser-
yer of morality, wbi ch appears under
| the blessings of kind Providence, to
have been the means of his conversion.
He joined the Virginia conference in
1918, and travelled the Guilford, Sails
bury, and New River circuits. In all
these fields of labor he was quite use
full, much beloved, and did much to
build up the church. He died while
on the New River circuit III 1920, a
very triumphant death.
Through the valley of the Great Pee
Dee river, Methodism passed up from
the South into Asnon county, n. G.
| Ausou circuit appears on the confer
ence roll in the year 1888. David
| Haggard was It's first preacher. The
next year John Ellis and Jonathan
j lckson labQred in this field and had
a very prosperous year, reporting a
membership of 584.
John White, who moved to Tenues-
5 e, and labored and died Ill that Con-
ference, was born in Anson county in
1901 ''He was well received" says
| the minutes, ''in the places where he
| travelled, and his name will long be
dear to many OF the pious." After his
speech failed, one OF his friends re
| quested him ''to raise his hand, if he
| had gained the victory" He did SO,
ard without II groan left the world i'll
triuIupb. He expired ON the 18th Of
August, 1928.
Methodisln, though it is II very
immersional III It's tende cy, neVerthe-
less Las chosen to spread its banners
along river lines. chiefly because, |
suppose, such valleys were morn
denseIy populated than other places.
and the aggressive split Of Method
ism loves to plunge into the thlcke,c
part of the spiritual warfare. Follow
ing this inclination, We nud it going
up Broad River, and entering into
Lincoln and Catawba counties, rs early
sas 1890; and spreading thence through
Cleuvelani aud Rutherford counties
us far mp as the foot of the Biue
Ridge.
Thus far | have traced the geograph-
zeal lines Of MethOdism through North
Carolina. We have seen it star5 from
Halifax and spread westward to the
Tennessee line-oastward to Albemarle
sound-then il struck across the State
sonthward, skipping over the larger
portion of the State until it reached
the Wilmington region, then going
down into Charleston, ;. g.. and gain
ing base OF operations there, starts
back northwnrd, and spreads along
through the border counties of the
south and southwestern portions of
North Carolina. The wave of Metho
dism coming from Virginia meets that
coming from South Carolina, and they
mingle along the course of the Cape
Fear river, and that of the Yadkin
and it's mountain branches. In ten
wears McthOdism had erected a line Of
Gospel batteries all around the State,
though the larger portion of North
Carolina, especially its interior terri
tory, was as yet unOccupied by the
the Meth0distS,