The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-07-01
pRUMTocHTY OF AMERICA.


 lege Is situated. is called the Drum tochty" of America. Perhaps becaus there was but one hamlet and one peo ple such as that preserved to history b, Ian MacLaren. Sure, there is but on Due West. This place is at the end 0 the Due West and DonnaId's road, no railroad, but good country road. lead ing from the latter town. which is or the Columbia and Greenville road neal the corner of Abbeville. Anderson, Lau rens and Greenville counties.
 The Columbia and Greenville railroad skirts and has built up the eastern par of AbbeVille county, while the rich val. not invaded by the monster of progres: ley of the Savannah on the west wa, until late years.
 The quietude which the people of Due West wished to preserve when they ,ob, 5ected to a railroad coming here is vouchsafed to them for time to come It is so quiet here! But some of the worldly-minded are talking of trolley line to Donnalds. There have beer other accomplishments quite as harvel- ous in the last half-century.
 The people of Due West are, nearly all of them, Seceders, or members ot the Associate Reformed Presbyterian church. They seeded" from the northern church because they believed in a stricter observance of the laws and stricter adherence to the tenets and sacraments of the church.
 Not in creed, not in doctrine, but in observance do they differ. But even the good old Seceders are becoming less strict in observance. In some of the churches they have instrumental music, in some they administer the sacrament to members of other denominations on communion days. But in one thing are they unchanged. They allow no hymns to be sung in their churches. In 1797 they adopted a guide for public wor- ship which says: Tt is the duty of Christians to praise God publicly by singing psalms together with the con- gregation. :. Nor shall any com posture merely human be sung in any of the Associate Reformed churches
 It was not natural for people so strict in their observance of stringent beliefs to grow in numbers, and for that reason this church has now become as strong numerically as some others. For that reason the statement that the Seceders were pioneers may be received with some surprise. But they were pio- neers to this land of the Cherokees and Erskine was pioneer college, the first denominational institution to be estab- lished in the state.
 As was the case with such institu- tions, this college was established pri- marily for the education of young men desiring to fit themselves for the minis, try. The Clark and Erskine Theologi- cal seminary was established first; then a manual labor school which later be- came the school at Due West corner. This was soon developed into what is now Erskine college and Erskine semi nary.
 The institution was located at this point because of the large and loyal membership of the A. R. P. church in this neighborhood. Many reasons are assigned for the enigmatical name which the community bears, but it is said on good authority that the place was first settled by a man named De- Witt, and this was his "corner." Due West is a corruption of Dewitt, it is al- leged. Many of the older people of the church are familiar with the prhase, How are all the folks at the corner ?" But that sobriquet has almost been for gotten and Due West is better known now as the home of Erskine college.
 This institution was named for Ebe- nezer Erskine, the Scotchman of the eighteenth century, who is to the A. R. F. church what John Knox is to the general assembly of Presbyterianism. The college was established in 1889. In lS42 there were seven members of the graduating class, six of them becoming ministers. There are now over seven hundred names on the roll of graduates, and three thousand have hatriculated here. Later years find the graduates with q tendency to enter callings other than the ministry, and in congress to- day, as in professional and commercial life, Erskine has honored alumni.
 The fire which ravaged the main building and destroyed splendid libra " nine years ago left part of the wall of the building erected in 1889, and it is to-day Incorporated into the handsome new structure which is used as class rooms and as an auditorium. There are four other buildings on the campus l the halls of the two literary societies. the dorn1itory for young wornen. It is a fine equipment for denomination so 1 small in numbers, but limitless in loy- atty. Due West is lovely village. Hehe l the white oak groves in stately mag nit1cence. and the surrounding wood- lands are captivating in their virgin | beauty. The quiet and restfulness of | this place is conducive to habits of | study and to moral living. If people | ever die here it is because their lives are blameless in a progressive ratio to such an extent that they are too good l to live longer. Some fellow with more | wit than kindness has said that if a Charlestonian has pew in St. Mi 1 chaePs church and is member of the St., Cecilia, he does not care whether or