The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-10-07

t"tIh 4A NiS Jo1AA~-
been held nightly, to celebrate the pay
Iment of the enormous debt which has
been over the church ever since the
lerection of the present handsome
Ichurch edifice.
The services have been real jubilee
services and the people have turned
out in great numbers in just celebra-
Ition of a happy occasion. To people
Iwho are familiar with the long strug-
lyle that the congregation has so he
lroicalIy fought, the accomplishment OF
the end seems almost miraculous.
IStarting in a few years ago with an in
Id~ebtedneSs of thirty-five thousand dol
lars, bearing heavy interest, which
amounted to nearly three thousand
dollars a year, the members of that
Ichurch, generously assisted in many
leases, by people Of other churches n
Iplaces, have struggled long, in and out
lof season, for the payment of the
Ionerous debt. And with the accom-
lplishment of their purpose, there is
just cause for rejoicing and whole-soul,
heartfelt rejoicing it is.
From the pastors of the church., on
Iwhom, it is true, the hardest burdens
must needs fall, to every membe of
the congregation, there has been one
hope and one desire and that was to
lsee the church out of debt, and to this
end, there has been unfailing striving,
on their part, to do all, that each one
could do, to aid in the contamination
of this purpose.
The history of Fifth Street church
from it's beginning is one of unusual
Interest.
The church was organized in 1S47.
a. D.. with Rev. A. NJ. C~reTtzberg, of
1.-THE South Carolina conference as pas
tor, and assthis pastor said, the church
had its beginning in a great revival Of
religion. The first building used was a
plain wooden structure.
The congregation was remarkable for
Spirituality and the church lived in a
revival.
The appointments in the minutes of
the conference are as follows: 1S47, A.
M. Chreitzberg; 1S4S, A. NJ. Creitzberg
land William G. Parsons; 1S49, William
Crook and S. H. Browne; 1850, H. A. G.
Walker and J. T. Munds; 1851, the
Ichurch was served from preachers Of
the North Carolina conference, the ter
|ritory having beer transferred. After
the transfer the following ministers
have served this charge: 1851, Rev. T.
IS. Burkhea1, then in order. w. N. Bop-
|bitt, Abram Weaver, 7. Page Ricaud,
j. w. Tucker, J.. E. Mann, T. w. Guth-
RE, Jos. Wheeler, James w. Thomas,
s. d. Peeler, j. w. Robotham, Samuel
Pearce, F.. H. Wood, A. A. Boshamer,
n. n. Connolly, James Wilson, J. T.
Gibbs, j. NJ. Rhodes, B. r. Hall, Will
man, l.. L. Nash, w. l.. Cuninggim,
and John H. Hall, who is now serving
the fourth year of his charge. For a
short time, DR.. Moran had charge or
the church, in connection with Front
Street church. This was in the i'm
mediate unsettled period after the war.
One other man, who proved to be an
impositor. was pastor for a while. He
was Charles Wesley Warren. He was
exposed by DR.. Moran, and fed from
the city, but not until he had nearly
broken the church up. Som of the
earnest members of the time soon after
the organization Of the church., were
Messrs. Sutton, Smaw, Mills and Haw-
and they were great sources of
help and encouragement to the pastor
and to the new ~converts.
To attempt to give a detailed histor;
the different pastorates of the
church ould now be an impossible
task. They all labored earnestly and
struggled always for the u%pbuilding OF
their charges and the precious heri-
tages handed down from them, is a
token that all was well with them.
1t was during the pastorate of Rev.
d. H. Tuttle, that the first steps were
taken to erect a better church build-
ing. Under his charge, the church had
larger, and the f~inancies almost
doubled in contributions.
Rev. R. c. Beaman succeeded Mr..
'Inttlp- If WAS during his ma cfnraA-
of three years that the new church
was erected. He was not to blame for
the unfortunate financial conditions,
that so Unexpectedly engulfed the
church. He was deceived , as was
every one who had anything to do with
c. Davis, and the great harm and
danger that this man Davis caused has
and can never be fully repaired. Many
who believed him, and were glad of
his generosity, when they heard he was
embarrassed, rushed to his aid with
loans OF money and some mortgaged
homes to raise funds to help him.
As one who was a part of ii all has
said: "When they found they had been
deceived. they were hur in their spirits
n it will take a long time to restore
and get the church back to
the high spiritual condition and broth
erly o V hat did reign in the hearts
of the good people. before this unprec-
edented niece Of fraud and deception
was practiced upon them 1t is enough
to say that the fraud was practiced
wheG Davis was really exposed,
the church found itself. it is true. with
a larger and handSomer place of wor-
ship, blu. with a ~heartbroken congrega-
ton and a financial indebtedness Of
|SS5, 900.
When DR.. L. L. Nash came to the
church in 1891, he found this great bun
den hanging V the heads of the peo-
pie. This debt was bearing S per cent.
interest. making a sum of $500 an
nually. y large part of the congrcga-
ton had become involved because of
Davis manipulation, who professed
enough real estate had been do
mated to the congregation to pay tn
interest on the debt and raise a sink
ing fund to pay Off the principle. u.
on investigator it was found that tn,
real estate held by the church. had
been bought with some money that
Davis had borrowed from the church.