Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-11-16
SECEDERS in COUNCIL
DecennIaI Gathering at Old Home.
stead.
where Fellowship IS The PASSWORD.
Story Of Duo West and Glimpse into
the Life Of the PeopIe-PeopIe With
Serious Mission, but Nevertheless,
Abundantly Human-Sidelishts and
InsinhKa "A "a IIninua Eakharina

| SoTlooo Uioo'oH, put N0voTtnoiooo
AbundantIy Human-sidelishts and
Insishts as to Unique Gathering.
! have just returned from Due West
where I have been in attendance on
the annual meeting of the Associate
Reformed synod, and I am going to
give some facts, impressions and de-
scriptions that will be of peculiar in
terest to those who are familiar with
the things Of which write and per-
haps Of general interest to many 9TH
ers.
Due West, as perhaps most Of my
readers are aware, Is situated in Alb
beville county forty miles south of
Greenville and about half way between
Anderson and Greenwood. Up to a
few years ago it was entirely cut off
from railroad communication with the
outside world; but now has an inde-
pendent line that taps the Greenville
and Columbia division Of the South
ern at Donald's, four miles away.
The history Of this famous old town
goes back to a period previous to the
American Revolution when 1t became
a Convenanter preaching place. The
first church, however, was not erected
until about 1894. A small hamlet
grew up around the church, and -four
ished along slowly until the establish
ment Of Erskine college in 1888. The
college had its origin In the desire Of
the Seceders to educate their own
preachers, and was followed in due
course by the establishment Of theo-
logical seminary and a college for
women. These institutions brought
in teachers with their families, and
naturally and steadily the place has
grown into the educational center II
Is today. The population, including
the two colleges, Is about 1900. The
principal buildings Of course, are
Erskine college and the women's col
lege, a big Associate Reformed church,
a small Baptist church, and numerous
handsome residences The town has
several stores, including a drug store,
family and fancy grocery store, dry
goods and millinery stores, stores
carrying plantation supplies and heavy
groceries, bank, postoffice and tele-
phone exchange; but no telegraph Of
fee. The printing establishment of
the Associate Reformed Presbyterian
is located here, and the only other en-
terprise requiring the use Of machin-
cry Is q cotton oil mill There is also
q small well kept hotel, at which
guests are treated as members Of the
family.
with very few exceptions all the
preachers in the synod have been
educated at Due West, and having
each spent from three to six years
in the town, are familiar with every
adult citizen, evc.y home, every flower
yard, and every mud puddle. Each and
every one Of them feels kind Of a
proprietorship over everything in the
community, and although some Of the
ministers have passed their three score
years and ten, and others are still in
their early twenties, there Is among
them all kind Of sympathetic and ap-
preciative fellowship that Is hardly
conceivable anywhere else other than
in an ideal family Of brothers.
I had never been in Due West be-
fore; but as long as I expected to have
the company Of Rev. ]. L. Oates. who
belongs to the family, l felt no con-
Germ on that account. When 1t develop
kept back on account Of an unexpected
engagement, / began to feel little
nervous. This was especially so be-
cause we had been instructed to secure
the next meeting Of the synod to be
held with the Yorkville church and /
was counting on Mr.. Oates to turn the
trick. But the nervousness did not
last long, for at Sharon I struck up
with Rev. and Mrs. E. B. Hunter,
both to the manner born and acquaint-
ed with all the signs and passwords
Of the order, Mr. Hunter having serv-
ed his time in the college and semi
nary, and Mrs. Hunter having gradu-
ated from the woman's college and
presided thereat for some years as
teacher of mathematics. Mr.. Hunter
informed me that he had already made
up his mind to vote for Yorkville. and
Mrs. Hunter promised to win all the
votes she could. From thence onward
felt more encouragement.
1t had been arranged that a big
party Of delegates was to assemble In
Greenville and go from there in a
special train to leave at o'clock. Our
little party from Sharon, including Rev.
]. Meek White and Elder w. s. Love,
was alone for about three hours; but
q late train from toward Charlotte
brought party Of about sixty preach
ers and elders, with number Of ladies.
There were almost enough to fill two
coaches Of the special, and within a
Hunter reported that Rev. w. w. Orr
and Elder ]. H. Ross were after synod
for the East Avenue church (Taber-
nacle) at Charlotte. or course we got
busy. We found that Drs. R. G..
White and R. G. Miller and others
were pledged to DR.. Orr and Ross,
but DR.. ]. c. Galloway, promised his
vote and that Of his elder without
hesitation, and Revs. G. l. Kerr OF
Kings Mountain, and R. r. Caldwell Of
Bessemer City, came out fiatfooted in
our favor. Also Mrs. Hunter landed
several other votes and 1t was not but
a little while until the opponents be-
gan to squeal that II we do not reach
some kind of a compromise, the west
ern delegates will take advantage OF
the split and carry US away off, you
do not know where" But 1t was no
time to compromise yet. There was
too much work to be done and 1t was
still anybody's fight.
After reaching Due West, ran up
on Rev. B. G. Pressly Of Hickory
Grove and Smyrna, Rev. w. H. Steven
son Of Neely's Creek, Rev. w. P. Grier
of Bethany, Glover and Crowders
Creek. Rev. A. s. Rogers Of Rock Hill
All of them were with us, and made
no hesitation in saying so. Mr.. Ste
venson took it quietly, said what he
would do and left it at that. Mr..
Rogers was emphatic in the view that
Yorkville ought to have synod, and so
was Mr.. Grier. Mr.. Pressly went to
work as If for favorite candidate in
a primary, and the next day he re-
ported to me that the next meeting
Of synod would meet in Yorkville. l
have not yet learned just how he
went about it: but from the way he
made his report he seemed to have no
further doubt, and afterward he
gave his attention to other matters
Mr.. Oates had turned up about that
time, and he also had learned In re-
markably short time that 1t was all
over but the voting. 1t was my first
experience with that kind Of politics;
but whether they like 1t or not l am
going to hand it to them that some
Of these preachers certainly understood
the game.
Synod did not convene until We'd
nesday morning at II o'clock. The
college boys had a vacation for the
week, and nothing to do with the va
cation except to go to church which
was optional The most public
place in the town is on the corner op-
posite the drug store and in front Of
the postoffice adjoining. A crowd Of
twenty or thirty boys gathered on this
corner about 9 o'clock. Presently one
of them rolled an empty barrel that
he found standing nearby up against
a tree on the edge Of the sidewalk.
Then he picked up copal stick about
five or six feet long and commenced
L. Ii he