The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-06-22
SQUAN CREEK FOLK.
Jep Jones Tells How Church Choir
Upset the Town.

except that some folks didn't pay
their pew rent until the last dog was
hung. We didn't sing nuthin but old
fashioned hymns, but Deacon Spoon
er allus give us the key with his tun-
in-fork and everybody sung fur all he
wuz worth. With the doors and win
dows open on a summer day, our sing
in of Rock of Ages could be heard
clear across to Porpoise Island. No
body was finding the least bit of fault,
when a widder woman named Scott
arrived at Squan Greek to pass the
summer with her cousin. She was sor-
ter tony and stuck up, and after she
had attended church once she got at
the preacher to have quire. At fust
his hair stood up at the thought OF it,
and he says to her:
1T would never, never do. The
people wouldn't stand it, and the Lord
would be agin' it,
But the widder was a persistent
woman, and she hung right to him,
and talked and argued till he seen
| things differently. He finally give
his consent for her to organize quire,
and then the ruction begun. Every
body had been. singing as loud as he
could, and either long meter or short
meter, and nobody was goin to give up
without kick. When Deacon Spoon
er heard of the idea he banged his
tunin fork agin the gate post till the
sing of it was heard all over town, and
said:
'+I've bin leadin the singin in this
town fur fifteen long years, and never
pitched tune too high nur too low.
IF the Lord hadn't bin pleased with
my singin' I should hev heard of it
long ago. Them church quires is an
invention of Satan. It's the fust
step towards Dustin up church, and
hevin the pastor hung for murder and
the deacons sent to State prison for
highway robbery. If thar's anything
Of the sort set a-goin' in Squan Greek
I shall sell out and move away inside
Of week, fur ye may look fur the
fate Of Sodom and Gomorrah right
here"
One Of our best singers was Nose
Perkins. He had a mouth on him
like hole in a highway bridge, and a
voice which would carry FIVE miles
agin gale. When he stood up to
sing he drew long breath, spit on his
hands and let 'er go, and if he hap
pened to be feeling purity good he
kept on singin till somebody give him
a kick as hint to shut off steam.
He kinder felt that jealousy would
keep him out Of that quire, and he
went around sayin:
'I amt braggin to anybody that my
singin has been the means of keepin
up our church and savin ten or fifteen
souls year, but kin lav my hand on
my heart and say that when you don t
hear my voice any more you'll find
Holsters and crabs gittin powerful
skeerce.
When the widder took hold to or
ganize the quire she called fur all the
singers to meet and sing, and then the
ruction grew into a row. She asked
Abijah Andrews to sing a verse of
The Sweet By and By" and he rose
up and tied four different tunes in a
hard knot. He was after more tunes
to mix in when she sweetly says to
him:
;'Mr. Andrews, l will sing with
you, and you may try the bass, if you
will
In singin four lines Abijah hit the
bass, tenor, alto and all other sorts.
and finished with rumble that almost
cracked the plaster. He was told to
stand aside. and he went down to Dan
Parker's grocery and said to the as
sembled multitude:
"A free born son of Liberty and an
American patriot has bin turned down
and jumped ou, and if sunthin ain t
done about it you Ii never see another
wreck come ashore on this beach. I
call upon ye to rise and throw off the
yoke Of despotism. y
1t was the same with Joe Saunders.
Friday Bebee. Good Intent Jones and
three or four other men. They had
bin singin away fur Is years, and
thought every note of it went straight
up to heaven as sort of advertise
ment for Squan Greek. but it didn t
take the widder five minutes to turn
'em down. She said it had bin all
whoopin' and bellering instead of
singing, and that they didn't know a
note from a dog shark. Each of 'em