SANDY SPRINGS METHODIST CHURCH CEMETERY, Anderson County, SC A.K.A. Version 2.3, 13-Jan-2007, A252.TXT, A252 **************************************************************** REPRODUCING NOTICE: ------------------- These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, or presentation by any other organization, or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Paul M Kankula Seneca, SC, USA Anderson County SC GenWeb Coordinator Anderson County SC GenWeb Homestead http://www.rootsweb.com/~scandrsn/ **************************************************************** DATAFILE INPUT . : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Jan-2004 Debbie Kellogg in Oct-2006 DATAFILE LAYOUT : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Jan-2004 G.P.S. MAPPING . : ____________ at ____________ in _______ HISTORY WRITE-UP : ____________ at ____________ in _______ IMAGES ......... : ____________ at ____________ in _______ LOCATION WRITE-UP: ____________ at ____________ in _______ TRANSCRIPTION .. : ____________ at ____________ in _______ **************************************************************** CEMETERY LOCATION: ------------------ Roadside Marker: Side 1: Sandy Springs Camp Ground. This Methodist camp ground, named for the large spring nearby, dates to 1828, when a fifteen-acre site was purchased from Sampson Pope for $45. Early meetings were under a brush arbor until a central wooden shelter and cabins were built about 1838. Entire families participated in revival meetings held here for two weeks every September until the last camp meeting in 1897. Side 2: Confederate Muster Ground. Col. James L. Orr's 1st Regt, S.C. Rifles (Orr's Rifles) was organized here on July 20, 1861. In a field adjoining the Sandy Springs camp ground. Ten Companies - four from Pickens, three from Abbeville, two from Anderson, and one from Marion District - trained at Camp Pickens before serving first on the S.C. coast and then in VA. Veterans held annual reunions here for many years Latitude N x Longitude W CHURCH/CEMETERY HISTORY: ------------------------ HISTORY OF ANDERSON COUNTY In the early days of the nineteenth century camp meetings were a popular form of revivals and they were held not alone by Methodists, but by Baptists and Presbyterians as well. The Methodist churches of Ruhamah and Providence were famous for their camp meetings. Those at Sandy Springs have made the most lasting impression on the community. In 1828 the Methodist congregation at that place bought from Sampson Pope fifteen acres of land for 45 dollars, the same upon which the Methodist Church now stands. It was at once neatly laid off in small lots contained in three rows surrounding a center square on which an arbor was erected. Fifty cents was paid for the privilege of putting up a tent on one of these lots, and after a time permanent shelters of of wood were erected. In 1838 Edward Jefferson Britt hewed out the timber and built an arbor in which to hold the camp meetings. They continued until 1897. The present church was built in 1868, and a flourishing town has grown up around the old house of worship. It was at Sandy Springs that Orr's Regiment of Rifles was organized July, 1861. And there for many years after the war was over the survivors help their annual reunions. With that regiment during the war was almost every man of the Sandy Springs neighborhood who could shoulder a gun. The great Sandy Springs camp meeting began on the third Sunday in September, and continued abut two weeks. Very many people became converted at these big revivals. There were four preaching hours every day and Mr. Sattergfield, a Christian who felt that if he could neither preach nor pray, he could call the people to service, for many years sounded the trumpet which summoned the people to worship. The first church of any denomination in the town of Anderson was Methodist. It stood about where the negro Presbyterian church is now. The land was bought by Whitfield Anthony, D.H. Calhoun and Isaac Hays, trustees for the church, from John and Mary Thompson. The congregation was small, but enthusiastic. Among the number was Anderson's first carpenter, Hugh Whittaker, who whit this sons built the small log house, a labor of love. For several years it was the only house of worship within the bounds of the village. There were no windows and no way of heating, but the people attended no matter what the weather. If the wind blew from the east they opened the south door for light, while if the wind or rain came from that direction, the east door was opened. The description of that little church was furnished by the late Mr. T.J. Webb, who said that in his boyhood he had often been in the building, and that he knew personally the old carpenter Whittaker who did the work. In 1843 that lot was sold to Mr. Baylis Crayton, and the present location on McDuffie street bought. There a neat frame building with windows on each side was erected and painted white. The Reverend T.G.Herbert was its pastor during the war between the states. He came about every two weeks, Anderson being on his circuit. It was during his pastorate that he congregation built the first parsonage in the town. It was erected back of the church and afterwards sold to the Lesser family, who have several times added to the original house, but the old parsonage is the nucleus of the lesser home today. When a congregation gathered in the building, all of th women sat on one side of the center aisle or division, and all of the men on the other. When a boy became twelve or fourteen years old, he was promoted to the masculine side of the house. That custom was not peculiar to Methodist churches; it was the practice of all except the Episcopal and Roman Catholic. The custom is still observed in some rural sections. In 1885 the frame building was replaced by a neat and commodious brick church, which the congregation hoped and believe would last for many years, But all the land beneath the building and for some distance around it is made earth; a great gulch once ran through there, and extended across Main street on down towards the C. and W.C. railroad; and underground springs so undermined the foundations of the church, that in a little over twenty years it was pronounced unsafe, and the present handsome structure, with deeply laid foundations, is its successor. Although the Methodist was the first church established in the town, it does not seem to have had a regular pastor for a long time. In an issue of The Highland Sentinel in 1844 a list of the Methodist ministers of the state and their appointments is given. No mention is made there of one sent to Anderson. Notice is given on March 9, 1844, that on the second Sabbath in March Reverend G.W. Moore will preach in the Methodist Church. That servant of God died while on his knees at prayer in Providence Church. Mr. Moore was the father of Colonel John V. Moore, one of Anderson's best known citizens of ante-bellum days, and an honored Confederate soldier. A daughter of Reverend Mr. Moore was Mrs. deFountain, named for her father, Georgia. She was at one time a well known writer on some of the big New York papers. Another of Mr. Moore's daughters was Mrs. Sallie Chapin, thirty years ago one of the most widely known W.C.T.U. lecturers in the state. Gleaned From: Traditions & History of Anderson County by Louise Ayer Vandiver o----------o From: Tom Donaldson [mailto:tom.donaldson@businessdecision.com] Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 6:46 AM Subject: John W. Donaldson - Sandy Springs Methodist Church Cemetery I am writing you because you seem to have a great deal of info on the cemetery, at Sandy Springs Methodist. I located my gggrandfather's (John W. Donaldson) grave stone there, several years ago. But, I have been unable to gain any information about him. I visited with the Sandy Springs minister, but he informed me that the cemetery books were "missing." So, I have not been able to determine certain information about my great-great-grandfather. All that I know is that he was born in Fairfax, VA, in 1824 and died in April, 1906. He married Licenia Howard (possibly, a Civil War widow-she had children), in October, 1870, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. I think that he was widowed, at the time of this marriage, as his wife's name (Margaret Mills) disappears, about 1868, from the DC rolls. After his wife's death, he must have moved his remaining family south, because his son, Walter Benjamin Donaldson, was married to Licenia's younger sister, Bethriar Francis Howard, in 1868, in Pendleton (Anderson County). If you do have access to the cemetery book(s), any information that you can glean on John W. (Especially, what the "W" stood for) would be greatly appreciated. I have a good deal of info on the family at my family genealogy site: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/d/o/n/WALTER-T-DONALDSON- JR/index.html Tom Donaldson, Matthews, NC o----------o From: Tom Donaldson Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 8:17 AM Subject: RE: John W. Donaldson - Sandy Springs Methodist Church Cemetery I went to the site you mentioned below, and found the list in the cemetery archives for Sandy Springs Methodist Church...John W. Donaldson was not mentioned in the list. I checked the images, and found that the area of the cemetery that contains his grave-stone is not pictured. I have attached several photos of the grave site, so that this omission can be checked and corrected, if possible. One photo has my uncle, William N. Donaldson, leaning on the stone. The other photo has his son, Walter N. Donaldson (both of Houston, TX), squatting next to the stone. This photo shows the approximate location of the stone. TOMBSTONE TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: ------------------------------ a. = age at death b. = date-of-birth d. = date-of-death h. = husband m. = married p. = parents w. = wife >