The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-12-23

jAioia ehe cnurchGOf Deep river in
North Carolina and, settled ong ifttle
river of Broad river where they in.
corporated in August, 176O. Here
they tarried two years and increased
to about 100 members. In 1762y De.
cember 18th, they removed to Fairfor.
est and built a.log meeting house. The
character of this church is that OF
particular Baptist, holding the cen.
ttury confession,g laying yof hands
as! s!no bar Of communion. They had
the love-feast-anointed Richard Kel.
ister is Rev. Philip Mulkey."
This clear and detailed account Civ
en- by Edwards settles some things
that have dong puzzled historians.
Benedict says that Mr.. sMulkey and
IL Others came to South Carolina in
1859 and settled on Broad river, where
they formed themselves into church,
and after tarrying there about two
years, and increasing to 104, the same
IL persons left the others behind, and
removed to Fairforest, where they
again formed church in, 1762. The
puzzle has been; where was that 1859
church, and what became of it? AS
no satisfactory trace has ever been
found Mr.. Edwards makes it all plain.
1t was in 1850 (not 1857 that the lit
tie colony Of Baptists headed by Null
key settled on ''little river off Broad
river" and formed church which
soon increased to 1O0.After two years
not the original IS, but the church, as
a body removed to Fairforesty and
"built a';log' meeting house. Not q
word does Edwards say about organ
izing, and the reason was that the
church hadaonly moved its location.
We unhesitatingly accept the Ed
wards account, because he visited
Fairforest while Mulkey was pastor
(1772) and. got his information first
hand. Benedict did not write until
many years later. 1t seems that while
on "littlei river off Broad river" the
church was not named. Benedict
speaking of Separate Baptist
churches being formed in the new set
Elements in South Carolina, refers to
"One of them situated on Broad riv-
er" (no, name. You see) sending a let
ter by their minister, Philip Mulkey,
to the Charleston Association in 1852,
stating several queries which Rev.
Oliver Hart was appointed to answer.
At any rate, when the church removed
to Fairforest, it was given that name,
and it retains it to this day with the
addition Of "Upper," because there is
now annther' 3 Fsirforest schsrehslower
down. ~ g
Fairforest< is, therefore, the first
Baptist church ever planted in Upper
South Carolina, andsthe: date isl Au-
gust, 1760. It.has occupied four diff
ferent locations. The first$ one~was
on "little river OFF Broad river" wi,er-
ever that may be. The second one
was 'on a hill near the east bank Of
Fairforest creek, few miles west Of
Union. The fourth and present, one
is on the public highway and Southern
Railway, about three miles northwest
from Union. The third location was
about three-fourths of mile nearer
Union, just back of the old McKis-
sick place. X record in our possess
sion shows that the meeting house
was there prior to 1894. While at.this
place, it received the 'sobriquet of
"Duck Pond"
The Five Branches of Fairfoeest
Mentioned by Mr.. Edwards
in 1772.
1t will be remembered that he said
at this time, besides the main church,
there were five arms, or chanches, one
near the, meeting house, one on Law
sons fork, ore on Enoree, one on
Thickery and one at Catawba.
1. The One Near the Meeting
House. AS no point is named and no
exact distance or direction given, we
are left to conjecture. We believe
that Friendship church, in the Spar
tan Association comes nearer filling
the bill than any other; for, that
church claims to have been constituted
in 1765 at a point 16 miles southeast
from .Spartanburg. We do. not be-
lieve, however, that there had been
any organization of an independent
church within the Fairforest terri
tory, prior to Edwards visit in 17Y2;
for, If o,:he would, most assuredly
have mentioned the fact. The branch
mould have been planted in 1895 and
the regular organization come later.
End. The One on Lawson's Fork
The distance and direction of this
point from the Fairforest meeting
house was 30 miles to the northwest
This fits Boiling Springs, in Spartan.
burg county exactly. Griffith in his
"Life Of Landrum" says, Boiling
Springs church is sone Of the oldest
churches in the country. The earliest
records state that it was re-constitut-
ed in 1892, from which records ii Il
supposed that its first constitution
was long /, priors to that date. There
is~no account, however, Of the time
when it was first constituted, nor oi