Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1918-02-20
!. i. !. j. !. y j. !. !. !. !. i. ]. IL
!. THE LUTHERAN CHURCH !.
y. WITH THE COLORS. j.
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Story OF II Camp Pastor.

'oloiS vi u
was "draftcd' into the service
almost Immediately upon my arrival
in SpartanburS. Dr.. S. II. Mailman,
the pastor here. Is an old, stately,
white haired Civil War veteran. He
is, I think, the first Lutheran pastor
! ever met who served in the Confcd-
crate Army. More than hundred
years aHo he trace; his ancestry 10 n
German family who came to the
shores Of South Carolina to find a
home in the new world. And al
though the ilallman family are typi-
cal Southcrncrs in every sense Of the
word, they have always remained
the staunchest Of Luthcrans. And
more loyal Americans could nowhere
be found.
Pastor llallman's father was a Sou
thern gentleman Of the old school.
and slave owner. But though the
family fought against the North,
Bro. EIallman tells me that at heart
he never believed in secession. and
now knows that slavery was the
greatest curse that ever afflicted the
South. That seems to be the opin-
ion now prevailing among all South
crners. They are all glad the Civil
War ended as it did
But to get back to my story. Pas
tor ilallman is now II years Of age
too old to engage very actively i'm
the ministry, and certainly too old to
attempt any work among the boys in
Camp Wadsworth, which is from two
to five miles from Spartanburg. How
ever, he has worked hcroically to
help the boys who have como TO his
church. and his home has been open
to them rs only a Southerner can
open his home. lie has been able.
however. only to conduct one service
on Sunday--a morning service. Yes
tcrday he felt too feeble to oiliciatc
lot. It was Il stormy day. and the
roads from the camp were like rivers
Of mud. but some of the LutheranS
hravcd the elements to come to SER
vice. Afterwards the soldiers and
were invited to dinner at Pastor Hall
mans. And what a dinner, | have
heard much Of Southern hosuitality.
but never enjoyed Il Sunday after
noon and evening in IA strange city
more than did this one.
We have Luther League meeting
in the evening. With Pastor Hall
mans consent. we have decided to
inauguratc evening services. to be
known as "Soldiers' Services" fol-
lowing the Luther League. every
Sunday evening. The soldiers are
able to come into Spartanburg much
more easily Sunday evenings than
mornings. | am to have complete
charge OF the evening services, and
will also help Bro. Ilallman out Sun
day mornings, whenever he wishes
to call on me.
Saturday | presented my creden-
tials to Major Gen. O'Ryan. and had
iloSl IicdSdnt talk Win MIN. he
gave me every consideration. Every
day | am engaged in hunting up our
boys among the 10000 or more SOL
dies here. From my present esti-
mates, there must be between one
and two thousand Lutheran boys
here; but the great task is to find
them. The camp covers an area OF
several square miles. and often it is
necessary to walk three or four miles
from one section to another.
Tonight was seeking some boys
OF the list New York Pioneers Reg
iment 1t was about supper time
"rctreat' had been sounded by the
buGlers. and the bands had lust ccas-
ed playing in front Of the various
regiment headquarters. found
CORPORAL isemann, OF Kingston, N.Y..
Just rs he was about to get in line
for mess lie introduced me to some
other Lutheran boys. At first they
did not know quite what to do. but
finally Isemann spoke up: "Pastor,
40 YOU suppose You could stand our
mess? or course | could! In fact,