FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF LIBERTY CEMETERY, Pickens County, SC a.k.a. > Liberty First Baptist Version: 3.0 Effective: 09-Aug-2012 Text File: P214.TXT Image Folder: P214 ******************************************************************************** It's believed that the usage of any original work submittals contained within these webpages such as articles, compiling, photographs or graphics, conform to Fair Use Doctrine & Copyright Guidelines. COPYRIGHT NOTE: (1.) Works published before 1923, are considered to be public- domain. (2.) Works published 1923-1977 without a copyright notice, are considered to be public-domain. (3.) Unpublished non-copyrighted works will have Author permission for public-domain. Facts, names, dates, events, places & data can not be copyrighted. Narration, compilations and creative works can be copyrighted. Copyright law in the U.S. does not protect facts or data, just the presentation of this data. REPRODUCING NOTICE: These electronic pages may only be reproduced for personal or 501(c) Not-For-Profit Society use. Use the following names, if, you would like to give any author compiling credit. AUTHORS: Paul M. Kankula-NN8NN & Gary L. Flynn-KE8FD *********************************************************************** 05-01-15 HISTORY ........ : Karyn Garvin at garvinwarrior@live.com in Aug-2012 CEMETERY LOCATION: ------------------ GPS = N34 46.915 x W82 42.270 West of Stone St. & North of P213 West View Cemetery CEMETERY HISTORY: ------------------------ - Originally founded as Bethlehem Baptist in 1780. Church was located 1 mile NW Liberty. - Membership moved & founded Salubrity Spring Baptist in 1802. Church was located 1 mile SE of Liberty. - Bethlehem & Salubrity Spring Baptist membership moved again & founded First Baptist Church of Liberty in 1813. - Church membership disbanded in 1829. - Property was purchased in ____ by the Farmer's Mutual Aid Society to provide a no-charge burial area for poor Negro farmers. o----------o The First Baptist Church of Liberty had its beginning during the Revolutionary War. Services were first held in a crude log building that had been erected for that purpose. As nearly as can be ascertained from skimpy records and tradition, we note the year 1780 as the founding year of our church. During its early years, it was called simply "Bethlehem Church". Its location was about a mile northwest of the city of Liberty. Only an abandoned cemetery and a pile of rocks give evidence that a church once stood on these grounds. (See note at bottom of page.)\ During 1802, a new house of worship was erected about one mile southeast of the present city of Liberty near a widely known spring. It was then called "Salubrity Spring Baptist Church". Eleven years afterward, the church was deeded the ground upon which it was built. The church became a member of the Saluda Association in 1817 and remained so until 1829, at which time the Twelve Mile River Association was formed. "Liberty Church," the name by which it was now known, along with several other churches of the Saluda Association, became members of the newly organized Association. Tradition tells us that the name "Liberty" was chosen because of rejoicing that liberty had been won by the thirteen colonies during the Revolutionary War. In 1826, the total membership of the church consisted of nine members. However great the hardships that were encountered, the church was kept alive by a few faithful members. One of those we might mention during this period was Mrs. Cynthia Parsons who in 1832 was given the office of Deaconess. Another church building was erected in 1862 on the same site where the old building had stood for sixty years. By the year 1867, the membership had grown to a total of 51 members (45 whites and 6 blacks). The Building erected in 1862 lasted until 1883, at which time it was torn down, and much of the lumber was used to construct a new house of worship on what is now the corner of Front and Church Streets in Liberty, South Carolina. The town itself, in the meantime, had taken the church's name for its own. During 1913, a handsome new brick church building was put up where the old church had been built in 1883. This structure served the church well until 1965 at which time the present church complex was built. The Family Life Center was built in 1978. This church, having respect for its heritage from the past, looks with anticipation toward the future. The sacrifices of those who went before us compel us to do no less. By: Piedmont Baptist Association 2003 o----------o Liberty First Baptist Church The earliest Baptist church in the Liberty area, according to William Clayton's statement recorded in the Piedmont Baptist Association Minutes in 1890, was a crude log house located northwest of the present city limits. Clayton also stated that the congregation later built a new structure one and one-half miles from this location in the area of Liberty Spring near the Westwiew Cemetery. There are no records of the Liberty Baptist Church before the Mount Pisgah Baptist Church minutes record that . . . about l800 or 1802 during this time there was a considerable ingathering till the numbers amounted to sixty. About this time two churches were constituted out of the Bowels of this church, one under the name of Holly Springs in Greenville, and the other under the name of Liberty. When the Liberty Church applied to the Saluda Baptist Association in 1817 for admission through her delegates, Enoch Smith and Champ Taylor, the minutes state that "A Church,(viz.) Liberty, lately constituted from Mount Pisgah, made application by letter and messengers for admission into our union; which was cordially received, and their messengers invited to seat with us." Men who attended Saluda Association Sessions were Robert Orr, Phillip May, Enoch Smith, William Hubbard, and Champ Taylor. In 1826, the membership of the church consisted of only nine persons. One faithful member during this period of hardship for the small church was Cynthia Parsons, who was elected to the office of deaconess in 1832. The church joined with other Baptist churches in 1829 to form the Twelve Mile River Association. Men who attended Twelve Mile Association sessions were William Clayton, Samuel Parsons, John McWhorter, J.B. Clayton, James Parsons, and Henry Sergeant. The church building stood for approximately forty years, before being replaced in 1862 with a new structure on the same site at Liberty Spring. By that year the membership had grown to fifty-one persons: forty-five whites and six blacks. Thomas R. Gary was called as pastor, and he served the church for six years. The Liberty church remained a member of the Twelve Mile River Association until 1876, when, at Mount Pisgah Church, the Liberty Church was among twelve churches of that Association calling for letters of dismissal with the view of forming the Piedmont Baptist Association. The Liberty church was also incorporated in 1876. The building at Liberty Spring was torn down in 1882 or 1883,and much of the lumber was used to construct a new building on the corner of Front and Church streets (now the site of the parking lot adjacent to the Liberty Fire Department). The wood structure was replaced in 1913by a brick building located on the same lot. This structure served the church until 1965,when the membership decided to relocate. A new physical plant was constructed on Edgemont Street. The following list, though in complete, records some of the pastors of the Liberty First Baptist Church: W. "Buck" Singleton(1880),D. W. Hiott (1884), L.T. Weldon (1891), D. W. Hiott (1903), P.G. Crawford(1906), A.E. Howard (1910), J.E. Crim (1910), T.M. Galphin (1915), J.H. Machen (1917), George E. Smith (1918), Charles F. Sims (1921), A. Howard Wilson (1927), George T. Pennell (1929), H.M. Alley (1937), C.M. Johnson(1941), C.E. Scarborough (1943), R.T. Jones(1949), A. B. Couch (1953), Harry Lee Thomas (1957), Lonnie H. Shull(1964), Thomas S. Turner(1968), and Dr. Hugh A. Cooper(1973). Contributed by: Anne Sheriff o----------o Years ago a rumor (and many believed including me and Julia Woodson) was started that there was a Salubrity Springs in Liberty out near the Cemetery. This has been proven wrong by historians (Julia Woodson and myself) that there never was a Salubrity Springs at that site. There was a community called Salubrity out near the Animal Shelter. Still, the rumor persists and now it is written in the history of the area. It has been in newspapers and in columns by John McCravy. It is still wrong. There never was a Salubrity Baptist Church or a Salubrity Springs. There was a Salubrity post office but it was not located at this site. There was a Liberty Springs where they say there was Salubrity Springs. The church was built near the Springs where the old section of the Liberty cemetery is now located. It is all rumors that was started many years ago when Julia Woodson and I were conducting research on community called Salubrity and Liberty Springs and has been reported ever since. Everyone calls Salubrity, Saliberty but the word Salubrity comes from the world salubrious. Contributed by: Anne Sheriff, Thursday, August 28, 2008 10:53 AM o----------o Origins: How exactly Liberty got its name has been a source of debate over the years. There are no real historical accounts of why Liberty was given the name it was. The most popular-though probably mythical-story regarding the reason the area was named Liberty was put forth by Mrs. Annie Craig in 1936: "At the close of the Revolutionary war a religious meeting was being held at a church close to a spring near the present town of Liberty when the word came that Cornwallis had surrendered and the colonies had gained their independence. This church was named Liberty and it and the spring were located just beyond where the cemetery is now located, hence the name Liberty."[3] Some have claimed that Liberty was once named Salubrity Springs, but was renamed Liberty in the late 19th century. References to early land records, however, suggests that such is not the case. While there are many records that refer to the area as Liberty Spring, there are no private or legal documents that contain a reference to Salubrity Spring.[4] The first reference to Salubrity comes from the name of a farm purchased by Mr. Allen Fuller in 1837. In 1839, Mr. Fuller set up a post office in his home, naming it Salubrity Post Office. This post office remained in operation until February, 1876, three years after the first Liberty post office was established by in 1873.[5] Once the town of Liberty was chartered little more than a month after the Salubrity post office closed, the name Salubrity became little more than a memory. History: Early History (to 1860) Liberty today sits on land that was once part of the Cherokee Indians' hunting ground. The Otarre, or Lower Hill Cherokees, had several thriving villages along the riverbanks in the area; perhaps the most notable example being the village of Keowee, located near the modern day Oconee and Pickens County line. Cherokee tribesmen, who often survived by growing crops, and tended to live in small villages, were in many ways more domesticated than other Native American tribes. The Cherokee also hunted game, believing that the foothills were a sacred hunting ground for deer, buffalo, and other large animals.[6] Tradition holds that Hernando DeSoto and his group of Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to travel through the area around year 1540.[7] The first Englishmen to venture into the area were traders who often travelled up from Charles Town and Savannah to exchange their guns, horses, cloth, and liquor with the Cherokee for animal skin and fur.[8] In 1753, British colonists built Fort Prince George, the first white settlement in Pickens County.[9] During the American Revolution the Cherokee chose to support the loyalists. South Carolinian patriots, angered at the Cherokee for supporting the Redcoats, forced them to cede much of their territory with the Treaty of DeWitt's Corner in 1777.[10] American settlers did not start moving into the area in large numbers until the mid 1780s. Much of the history of the Liberty area in the late 18th century is unknown. By 1800, Liberty-then called Liberty Spring-was included in the newly formed Pendleton District, which included most of modern-day Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties. During the Antebellum period, most people living in Liberty Spring were subsistence farmers: farmers who grew only what they needed to survive. Few in the area could afford to own slaves like the wealthier planters in the Lowcountry, and almost every farmer was forced to work the land himself. Even for those who wished to trade with other towns, the poor roads made the effort to transport goods cost more than those goods were often worth. Outside of church, local residents had few opportunities to socialize with each other. By 1826, the Pendleton District had split up into Pickens and Anderson Districts, with Liberty becoming part of the new Pickens District, which included both Pickens and Oconee Counties. The Civil War and Reconstruction Era (1860-1877) In 1860, a group of Pickens County delegates went to Columbia, where they-along with every other South Carolina delegate-voted unanimously in favor of South Carolina's secession from the Union.[11] Though it is generally accepted that the first shot of the Civil War occurred when the Union ship Star of the West was fired upon from state troops at Morris Island on January 9, 1861, an old legend claims that a local resident named William Mauldin fired upon the Union ship from Fort Moultrie a few hours earlier, making his the first shot of the War.[12] Either way, what is known is that men from almost every family in the area enlisted to fight for the Confederate cause. Many families lost two, three, or more sons to the war effort. Several companies of infantry and cavalry were formed in Pickens District before being dispatched to serve under one of the state regiments. The men who either refused to enlist or deserted in battle were often thought upon with scorn by their neighbors for the rest of their lives, and even their descendents were often ostracized for years afterwards. The women who stayed behind willingly suffered through the whole war by doing without foods and supplies that were needed in the war effort.[13] After the war, Pickens District, like the rest of the South, was placed under martial law by Union troops.[14] With little choice in the matter, South Carolina was readmitted to the Union in 1868. Not long afterwards, Pickens District was separated into the modern day Pickens and Oconee Counties. Between 1865 and 1877, southerners had little control over their government. Gangs of Union troops sacked and looted many farms in Pickens County during this period, known as Reconstruction, and the county and state governments were largely controlled by Northerners who moved South after the war.[15] Reconstruction officially ended in South Carolina around year 1877, not long after former Confederate General Wade Hampton III was elected governor under the Democratic ticket.[16] The Founders' Era (1876-1900) Liberty's official recognition as a town came soon after the Charlotte-Atlanta Airline Railway was completed in the early 1870s.[17] Former Confederate General William Easley, a lawyer working for the railroad company, negotiated to have the tracks laid through the southern part of Pickens County. It is along these tracks that the towns of Liberty, Easley, and Central all grew. By 1873, Liberty Station was built north of Liberty Spring after Mrs. Catherine Templeton deeded her land to the railroad company. John T. Boggs set up the new Liberty Post Office that same year, and was named the town's first postmaster.[18] Liberty was formally chartered on March 2, 1876, with the future town center being located on the former lands of Mrs. Templeton. In 1777, James Avenger was appointed the town's first marshall. The marshall, a forerunner to today's chief of police, was satired in a Pickens Sentinel article that claimed, "there was nothing for him to do, except to look after the cows that go astray."[19] The town's first mayor W.E. Holcombe, a lawyer and former state senator, was elected in 1876.[20] He, like every succeeding mayor until the early 20th century, conducted most municipal business in his own home. Several schools were already in operation by this time, with most being privately funded, and sponsored either by the community or by the local churches. The Liberty First Baptist Church had existed prior to the city's founding, being located at the old Liberty Spring site.[21] Reports indicate the Church had a congregation as early as year 1802, when they met at an old log house north of the present-day town. The Liberty Presbyterian Church was built in 1883 at its present site; formerly the church's members had worshipped at Mt. Carmel Church in the country.[22] Per: Wikipedia o----------o TOMBSTONE TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: ------------------------------ a. = age at death b. = date-of-birth d. = date-of-death h. = husband m. = married p. = parents w. = wife