Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-01-03
Ghnrfh Aisturg*
HISTORY
RETHEL CHURCH.
BY REV. ROBERT LATHAM.

stands Bethel Church. Here, in the year
1864, the Rev. William Richardson, pastor
of Old Waxhaw Church, in Lancaster coun
ty, organized the first church in the territory
now included within the limits of York
county.
The name of the church was given to an
extensive region of country. Its bounds were
not definitely fixed but we may safely say
that it included an area of territory equal tc
more than one-fourth of the county of York
On the west it extended as far, or even far
ther, than the Kings Mountain road; on the
east it was bounded by the tawba; south
ward it extended below the present site Of
Yorkville; and on the north its limit was
many miles beyond the present line which
divides the two Carolinas.
The precise date when this region of coun
try began to be first settled by white men
cannot, at this late day, be ascertained with
absolute accuracy. 1t is certain that as early
as 174O there we're a number of white mer
settled on the western bank of the Catawba
from the mouth of South Fork, as far down
as Cureton's ferry. The first white individu
ais who visited York county, were Indian
traders. This was as early as 1887. These
however, constituted no part, so far as We
know, of the individuals who originally
formed Bethel congregation.
As early as 1852, extensive settlements
we're made on Crowder's creek, north of Beth
ell Church and on Allison's creek and Toole's
Fork, south of it. Nearly all these settlers
came from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsyl
vania. These settlers were mainly Scotch
Irish, and nearly all Presbyterians. There
were few Scotch, and strange as it may ap
pear, there were q few Roman Catholics
among them. The Roman Catholics came
from Maryland. We do not mean, however
that all the immigrants who came from Ma
ryland, were Roman Catholics.
The Scotch-Irish element was greatly in the
ascendancy. The history of this people be
gins in the days of the Stuarts. 1t is one o.
thrilling interest. This, however, is not the
place to narrate it. Suffice it to say, that tt
escape persecution for righteousness sake, ano
that they might worship God in peace ant
quiet, numbers of the Scotch left their ma
tive land and went to Ireland. They settled
in Ulster province. They were Presbyterians
and hence they are often called Ulster Presby
terians. In Ireland, these Scotch Immigrant
come in contact with the English settlers anc
native Irish. The Scotch element was tht
strongest and prevailed. Still, Scotch
Irishman is marked by different traits of char
acter from those which characterize either q
Scotchman or an Englishman, or a native
Irishman. He has the traits of character o.
them ALL He is not so shrewd as Scotch
man, so polished as an Englisbman, nor 81
rash as a native Irishman. He has some
shrewdness, some polish and some times 6
vast amount of recklessness. Both the Scotch
man and the Scotch -Irishman, are lovers O.
liberty; but they are not agreed as to what
liberty is. The Scotchman says he is fret
when he is governed by law. He is not very
particular who rules or who enacts laws, pro
vided the laws are faithfully enforced. The
Scotch. .Irishman claims the right to make the
laws by which he is to be governed, and also
the right to choose his own rulers This i:
what he calls liberty. A Scotchman loves hi'
country so ardently that he will suffer it tc
oppress him for long time, before he will
complain A Scotch-Irishman hates oppress
ion so intensely, that he is ready, at mo-
ment's warning, to resist the least encroach
ment upon his rights, no matter by whom the
encroachment is made. National freedom is
the pride ola Scotchman personal liberty is
the beau.ideal of Scotch.1rishman. A
Scotchman loves to make money and become
rich a Scotch. Irshman breads poverty be-
cause it reduces him to the condition of q
croucher but he loves riches no farther than
they secure to him degree Of personal indie
pendence.
Like the Scotcbman, the Scotch-Irishmau
loves the Bible, and is strict observer OF
the Sabbath day. His notions of religious
freedom have ever been in advance of John
Knox himself. Under his molding influence
he has changed even the features of Presby'
terianism. "Give to Caesar the things that
are Caesars and to God the things that are
Gods" is an article in his creed. 1t is an
article of his faith that Church and State must
be kept separate and distinct. This rough
picture would be defective were We not to add
that whilst Scotch. .Irshmen rarely become
millionaires, they seldom are miserably poor
Frugal, honest, industrious and vehement
lovers of personal independence, they are sell
dom seen clad in the rags of squalid poverty
The Scotch-Irish, like the Huguenots, never
had, in America, a colony under their control
They were scattered among all the Atlantic
colonies. The principal settlement of the
Huguenots was, perhaps, in the lower section
of South Carolina. Certainly the main point
to which the Scotch-Irish were attracted, was
the Cumberland valley in Pennsylvania
Their principal settlement was the territory
included in the counties of Bucks, Chester
Lancaster and York. These names the early
settlers brought with them from beyond the
Atlantic, and again gave them to sections o.
country in South Carolina which these sec
tions still retain.
As early as 1870, the Cumberland valley
was almost exclusively occupied by Scotch
Irish. The condition of things in Great Brit
ain had direct influence in driving many
annually, to America. The unsettled state
of things in the northern colonies, and the
inducements offered to those who would settle
in North and South Carolina, had a tendency
to induce many to leave Cumberland valley
and, by degrees, work their way to the South
The stream of emigration when once it haC
cut its way through the wilderness, swelled il
volume. The tide of emigration was from
Cumberland valley westward and southwark
The old Presbyterian churches in Virgins
and North Carolina, indicate the track which
these pilgrims followed, and the points a
which some of them stopped. 1t is traceablt
by them through Virginia and North Caro-
lima, across the Catawba and Broad rivers il
South Carolina, as far as the Long Canes il
Abbevile county. One of these stopping
points was in the region of country in which
Bethel Church was afterward built.
Why Church was not organized sooner, w
cannot say with absolute certainty. Severa
reasons. no douht. conspired to cause the de