by Louise Pettus

Old Waxhaw Presbyterian Church in Lancaster County, which dates back to 1755, is the oldest church in the upcountry of South Carolina.

There is another Presbyterian Church, not too many miles distant in Lancaster County, that is old, and in the period before the Civil War, often shared the same pastor with Waxhaw. Old Waxhaw's history is well-documented. Six Mile Presbyterian Church's history is shrouded in mystery--a series of question marks.

The first reference to the church is in a request for a pastor made by Six Mile Spring and New Providence in 1765. New Providence was in present-day Mecklenburg County. Six Mile Spring was in that area on the North Carolina-South Carolina border in the Indian Land community that had no definitive boundary until 1813.

An old cemetery, having less than 20 graves now but once said to cover two acres, is on the west side of the old road above Six Mile Creek. The west side of the road would have been in South Carolina. One can only guess whether the early church was situated on the east side or the west side of the old road.

There is no evidence that Six Mile got a pastor as a result of its 1765 request.

The oldest known grave in the old cemetery is that of William Hagins, who died in 1790. Hagins had come to this country from Ireland in 1745 and had a "factory" (probably a number of looms for the weaving of cotton and/or linen) on Tar Kiln Branch, which was close to the site of the old cemetery.

According to testimony taken by a WPA worker in the 1930s, the original church building burned in a woods fire in 1802-1804. Exactly when and where the second building was constructed is one of the mysteries. Some time between 1804 and 1835, a new site was chosen about one and a half miles to the southwest on a hill overlooking Highway 521.

A dirt road that runs to the south of the church building was once an Indian path, and later called the Steel Creek Road. The church site is believed to have originally been the location of one of the Catawba Indian villages.

In 1835 Allen Morrow, a member who owned a sawmill, cut the timbers to frame the present building. Flanking the small sanctuary were two "sheds," areas that were reserved for the seating of the black members of the congregation on one side and for the Catawba Indian members on the other side.

Dr. George Howe, in his history of the Presbyterian Church, says that for its size, Six Mile was the wealthiest Presbyterian church in South Carolina before the Civil War. The wealth can be traced to the size of the plantations--between 500 and 2,000 acres. Among the plantation owners were the names of Cureton, Hagins, Heath, Ivy, Massey, Miller, Moore, Morrow, Nisbet, Patton, Porter, Sims and Stewart.

The Civil War destroyed the plantation system on which Six Mile's prosperity was based. After the war, many of the families moved away. Some went "west" to Arkansas and Texas. Others went to the nearby towns of Rock Hill, Lancaster, and Charlotte.

In the 1930s, Six Mile became a mission church of the Mecklenburg Presbytery. Fifth Sunday was the day of preaching by either Charlotte's First Presbyterian or Myers Park Presbyterian pastor. During World War II, the pastor was W.H. Frazier, president of Queens College.

In 1963, the Six Mile membership was transferred to Banks Presbyterian Church in Marvin, NC, where it remains. The grounds and the building are so well maintained that it is hard to believe that today, Six Mile is a building without a congregation.