Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-13

Little did the originafnrs or Brau1S~
wine sunmit Camp dream that IN q
tribe over so years the place would
have developed into sueh large,
beautiful camprneeting. "a vacation spot
for many Wiimingtonians during the
entire sunitner. One of me campers
there this year, well-kuown VIII
fnlugtou woman. was at the second
meeting Of tic camp, in 1867. and her
"reminiscences OF carp HE In the
oiden tinca are n revelation 70 the
modern camp visitor.
In 1896, when t.ie congregation Of
SLOAN NJ. n. chursh. in Tnardywine
hundred decided to establish a camp
naeeting on t.e present site, they were
Ioined bv Asbury, st P.fs and
Irardyw.rc. all of Wilfaingten. Al
the Method.sts IN The ci,y and vfsi1 y
were interested, bit t.an.9ortns ien
to 4 } ca p was SO l-.-ycp-t t1as OILY
thirty or fo. = tnters we're n at
tendance the first yoer. The next year
the nj ber inoreafed and more teass
were sr5etcd.
i ,e pleasant wooden tents Of today,
wi h f.1eir sire walls, vide porches.
ard attractive eoratIona are far
cry from tie dwellings Of the flrst few
years. 8 hen everyone lived in a can
vas tent, divided ifto rooms" by
means Of sheets. Most Of the tents
ie.-ksd lil.e s.eves whenever II rEiaed
AM all the fan ily pots and pans were
set to cath the drops. The tenters
were expected TO eat at the boardi- Z
table. bcctrse the proprietor had laid
in n sIr-Iy for the entire camp, but
that was no extrayagnnee on the part
of the campers because the board fer
the trn days was only 81. Ashury
Church had the first boarding table,
under the charge Of Barzilla and Ruei
Heisler, st. Paul's opened the second
boarding table. with Lewes Zobley IN
charge, The campers were fed on
corn and fresh vegetables from the
ne:ghboring farms. for Il vas long
bard tourney 70 wilmington over
rocky. hilly roads For many years
those campers who did not possess
ca arriage bumped 10 camp in rattling
old hack. which consumed two or three
hours for a trip that can now be made
in II minutes Later wooden tents
were erected. and as this was the
period of Victorian modesty. the par
t;tioning sheets were usually lined.
The services were held at first in
an immense canvas tent, located
where the Tabernacle now STANDS. ln
other large tents. services were con.
Quoted by Asbury. st. Paulis, Union
SLOAN and Bethel congregations
There were services almost continu-
ouHly from $50 a. m. 70 10 p. m.
Evening services were conducted BY
the blazing light Of four pillars set al
the four corners Of the circle. These
were built of piles Of earth, eight feet
high and four feet in diameter
sprinkled pientifully with rosin and
ignited. In the evening the flames
would leap almost to the top of the
tall trees and would light the whole
camp with an unearthly glow.
Ministers From Far and Near.
The congregation sat on wooden
benches set in the straw and listened
to powerful sermons. Not only min-
isters from Wilmington, but from the
Philadelphia and Baltimore Confer
ences preached in stirring fashion
The first ministers who tented there
in the canvas tents were Rev. John ID
Curtis of Asbury and Rev. Alfred
Goodman of Grace. Until a few years
ago il was the custom of the camp
to have sermons by various visiting
ministers, and the tenters Eeard many
famous men, as well as local favorites
Among the preachers OF ncte al
Brandywine Summit in the early days
were DR.. Bartine OF the New Jersey
Conference. DR.. Stephen Baldwin, q
returned missionary from China
Bishop Mallalieu. Bishop Taylor
Bishop Thoburn, Rev Enoch Stubbs
Rev. w L. S. Murray and Rev. L. Z
Barrett.
Strict Camp Rules.
The rules of the camp were very
strict. At 1890 p. M. bell rang as
signal for all visitors to leave and
for tenters TO be quiet. No promenad-
ing was allowed during meetings
Apparently the younger generation
then were as much iectured for their
wild ways as the young folks of to-
day. for even thirty years ago the
elders of the camp meeting We're re-
proving the young men and girls for
going strolling instead of coming &c