Recollections of the Rev. John Mcelhenney, DD

F ^COLLECTIONS OF THE REV.JOHN AcELHENNEY, D.D. S. £c, ^ Hi 'Ut RECOLLECTIONS OF THE REV. JOHN McELHENNEY, D. D. BY HIS GRANDDAUGHTER. ROSE W. FRY. “ O good gray head which all men knew.” Whittet & Shepperson, Printers, iooi Main Street. 1893. ; V BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIV^RSIT^ PROVO, UTAH ®o mu Sttotliert A Representative Woman of the Century now Drawing to a Close ; A Worthy Daughter, in whose Features may be Traced the Lineaments of her Venerated Father ; whose Mind bears the Impress of his Character ; AND WHO, NOW LIVING AT AN ADVANCED AGE, has Inherited that Perfect Mental and Physical Equipoise which kept his Old Age Hale and his Piety Undimmed, I Dedicate these Recollec- tions WITH LOVE. PREFACE. IHIS volume is not a biography, the materials for which do not exist. But few family records of my grandfather’s early life have come down to us. The first twenty years of his life are a mere outline. I never heard him revert to his early years. When I first remember him, he had “so far left the coast of life” behind, “to travel inland,” that its mur- mur may have grown indistinct. Grandmother was more chatty. My grandfather was ever a man of action; he lived in the present. Only a few of his letters are extant, and these relate to the latter period of his life. The old people wrote but seldom, and were careless in preserving their cor- respondence. During the Civil War many valuable family letters were lost, and those confided to a friend never accounted for. I am indebted to my mother and Mark L. Spotts, Esq., for many of these recollections. To Mr. Marcellus Zimmerman I owe the sketches of the Old Academy. Historical points have been verified by reference to 6 Preface. the valuable pamphlets of Rev. W. S. Price and Rev. R. S. Houston. If I have succeeded in restoring a portrait of my grandfather, as a painter touches up with his brnsh the outlines of a picture grown dim, I shall be content in tracing upon this canvass the likeness of one who wore so long “the white flower of a blameless life.” R. W. F. CONTENTS. Page. CHAPTEE I. Ancestry, 9 CHAPTEE II. 28' Descendants, . CHAPTEE III. The Old Parsonage, . 54 CHAPTEE IV. A Eetrospect, . 71 CHAPTEE V. The Field, . 88 CHAPTEE VI. People of the Greenbrier Section, . 105 CHAPTEE VII. The Old Academy, . 126 CHAPTEE VIII. Pulpit Eecollections, . 142 CHAPTEE IX. Eeminiscences, by John Calvin Barr, D. D., . 158 CHAPTEE X. The War Period, . 168 8 Contents. Page. CHAPTER XI. A Ripe Old Age, 186 CHAPTER XII. “These to his Memory,” ...... 205 PART SECOND. Sermon at the Opening of Greenbrier Presbytery, . 227 Semi-Centenary Sermon, ...... 244 Dr. M. L. Lacy’s Funeral Discourse, . .264 Notes, .......... 274 RECOLLECTIONS OF THE Rev, John McElhenney. CHAPTER I. ANCESTRY. 7 OHN McELHENNEY was born in the Waxhaws •J (Waxliia), Lancaster District, South Carolina, the 22d of March, 1781. In his sketch of my grandfather, Dr. Howe places his birth a year later, but as in all the family records the earlier date is set down, I believe it to be un- doubtedly correct. He was the youngest of six children, and was named for his father, John McElhenney,. who died when this youngest child was a mere infant. His mother’s name was Ann Coil. I have not been able to trace any members of her family, and am inclined to believe that when she emigrated with her husband from Pennsylvania, she left her relations behind her for good and all. She seems to have been a woman of intelligence, energy, and sound piety, if one may judge from the quality of her descendants, who have held honorable positions in the councils of their State and country. His father was a soldier of the Revolution, who, losing his health in the patriot army, returned home to 2 : 10 Key. John McElhenney. die, shortly after the close of the struggle, leaving his widow and six children as his heritage to the new republic. He died when my grandfather was very young, and his elder brother, James McElhenney, who was probably his guardian, took charge of his education. Through his generosity he received a liberal education, and we may suppose that from this generous elder brother he also received the impulse to study for the sacred ministry. From my grandfather’s sketch of his brother’s life, we have the only authentic account of his ancestry. In a letter to the Rev. T. H. Saye, he states briefly “ Among the men of my name who resided in the northwest part of the State, was my brother James. His life was full of incidents well calculated to illus- trate the mysterious dealings of God’s providence, but to enter fully into his history would now be impracti- cable. I shall, therefore, only set down a few of the prominent facts connected with his life. His ancestors were of Scotch descent, who emigrated from Pennsyl- vania to South Carolina at an early date, and settled in the W axliaws, in Lancaster District. * His father, John McElhenney, was the son of S. McElhenney, and his mother’s maiden name was Coil. They had six children—four sons and two daughters. James was the eldest of the family, and was born in the Waxhaws about the year 1766 or 1767. At the close of the Revolutionary War his father died. Soon after this * The name Waxhaws is derived from a tribe of Indians of that name who once lived there. It is a hilly country, and the land is very fertile. There is a creek in the Waxhaws called Waxhaw Creek. Ancestry. 11 the family moved into Chester District, where he was partly raised.” The period of this “emigration” must have been prior to the Revolution. A deed for “ one plantation or tract of land, containing three hundred acres,” con- sideration, “ forty-five pounds South currency,” is on record at the courthouse in Lancaster. It bears date August 2, 1775, and fifteenth year of his Majesty’s reign, and conveys to “John McElhenney, of St. Mark’s parish, Craven county and province aforesaid, the above-mentioned tract of land; which has such shape, form, and mark as appears by a plot thereof to the grant (original) to the said Samuel Dunlap and Elizabeth his wife by his Majesty’s letters patent, bearing date the 1st day of February, 1768.” Be- fore the Revolution, Lancaster was a part of Craven county. A second deed from “James McElhenney, of the county of Chester,” dated June 21st, 1799, conveys what is evidently the same tract of land to “Eliezar Alexander, of Lancaster.” The dower is released by Agnes McElhenney.* Mr. Howe in his record says : “Among the large contributions which Bethesda Church has made to the several walks of life, was James McElhenney, who, al- though born in the Waxhaw Church, was brought to Bethesda when ten years of age.” (He was nearer fifteen.) Bethesda Church is noAv situated in York county. “Rev. John McElhenney, D. D., his brother, born in the Waxhaws, March 22, 1782, was the youngest of six children, and was brought to Bethesda when 1 James McElhenney s wife. 12 Rev. John McElhenney. only a few months old. After prosecuting his academ- ical studies under his pastor, Rev. R. B. Walker, he began the study of languages with Dr. James Hall, of North Carolina. After a few months, he repaired, in 1800, to the large academy taught by Rev. James Gille- laud, in Spartansburg District, and joined the church, probably Nazareth, in that neighborhood. In 1802 he entered Washington College, Virginia, having left home for Yale, but the prevalence of yellow fever had occasioned the suspension of the exercises.” In an educational work of that early period, we learn that “ formerly it was the custom of many wealthy parents to send their sons to England for their education; at present, many are sent to Yale College, in Connecticut, and to Cambridge University, in Massa- chusetts.” James McElhenney had been educated at Yale. He was now the head of his house, and it was his intention that my grandfather should repair thither. H is son was afterwards sent to New Haven, and became a graduate of Yale College. Of the six children born to John and Ann McElhen- ney, only five are knowT n to the writer. The eldest daughter must have died in infancy, as I never heard any mention of her by my mother or grandfather. The eldest son, James, became a Presbyterian minister, and was the first minister of that denomination who ever preached in or near Charleston, South Carolina, as I have been told. He married a Mrs. Wilkerson, a women of intellect and extensive means. She was the grandmother of the late Governor Pickens by her first marriage. The maiden name of this lady was Susan- nah Calhoun. ; Ancestry. 13 Two other brothers, Robert and William, never married. They died within a few hours of each other, of what was known as the “Tyler grip,” in 1841. My grandfather’s twin sister, Jane, died unmarried. James was the only member besides him, who carried on the family name. One letter, a single one which , shows the relationship between the two younger brothers, has been preserved and I shall give it in full, as ; disclosing the worldly advantages and philosophical turn of mind of the elder man ! The seal still adheres to this old letter, discolored by time, and mouldy with age: “Pendleton, May 13, 1811.

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