CHAPTER III. SCOTCH-IRISH In IRELAND And In AMERICA by ANDREW PHELPS McCORMICK, 1897 ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES 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. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb *********************************************************************** _________ STEVENSON. The maiden name of my maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Stevenson. She was the youngest child of William Stevenson. He was born in Ulster, Ireland, about 1725 -- whether in the county of Derry or Antrim, is now in doubt. He was of strict Scotch-Irish lineage in blood and religion. He received a common education and duly served his time as an apprentice in the tailor's trade before he left Ireland. He immigrated to America about the year 1748, and settled in that part of Pennsylvania afterwards embraced in Washington County. He duly established himself there among kindred Scotch-Irish Presbyterian people who had formed in that section a considerable colony. In the last century the tailor's trade presented a wide and attractive avenue to wealth and influence. The prince of poets had taught, "the apparel oft proclaims the man," and given the rule, 'Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, but not express'd in fancy." The custom ready-made, machinery-wrought, cheap clothing, had not then attained that degree of excellence which has now enabled those in that line to usurp on the tailor's office, or dwarf that office to a subordinate place on the clothing merchant's staff. "Home made" was in some degree a rival. There were prudent wives from the Lord, whose husbands were known in the gates where they sat among the elders of the land, but many "homespun" suits were "tailor made," and generally the "Sunday best" and "company clothes" of a man of any social position were purchased from his tailor. The historian of the early Presbyterian settlements in North Carolina mentions John McNitt Alexander, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1733, of Scotch-Irish parentage, and who when a young tailor "just out of his time" -- that is, just out of his apprenticeship -- settled in Hopewell congregation, set up his shop, and so pushed his trade that he grandly grew into wealth and influence, becoming by the time he was forty years of age a noted leader of patriotic thought, a co-worker with Doctor Ephraim Brevard in the Mecklenburg convention, and a member of the Committee that drafted the pioneer declaration of independence. The same writer, a distinguished minister of the Gospel, observes that the sanctity and decorum of the house of God are inseparately associated with a decent exterior, and the spiritual, heavenly exercises of the inner man are incompatible with a defiled, tattered, slovenly or mean vesture. A few years after his settlement in Pennsylvania, William Stevenson married Miss Mary McLelland. In the spring of 1761 certainly, and possibly at an earlier date, he visited the country between the Catawba and South Yadkin rivers, in North Carolina. He received a grant of land from Lord Granville, dated April 4, 1761, but continued to reside in Pennsylvania, carrying on or closing out his business there, until the fall of 1763, when he removed his family to North Carolina and settled on the land granted to him in April, 1761, then embraced in Rowan County, now in Iredell, south of and very near to the city of Statesville. This grant to Mr. Stevenson purports on its face to be for only 339 acres, but its boundaries as set out by field notes in the deed, with controlling calls for fixed natural objects, embrace, and Mr. Stevenson under it held, more than one thousand acres. He built his home at the source of a spring branch that issues from the tableland on the north side of Third Creek, into which the branch flows, and about two miles from the "Fourth Creek Meeting House." Commencing near the confluence of the South Yadkin and the main Yadkin, a number of large creeks, called in their order, First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Creek, enter the South Yadkin from the southwest, and Rocky Creek and Sugar Creek, both large streams, with a number of considerable branches tributary to them, enter the South Yadkin on the opposite side from the Northwest. All of these streams drain the same water-shed of the divide between the Catawba and the Yadkin, and flow in the same general direction, nearly parallel, and near to each other, the course of the creeks trending slightly towards the river, till one by one each flows into it. The other side of the divide is drained in like manner by Elm Shoal Creek, Buffalo Shoal Creek, Reedy Creek, and other large creeks flowing from the northwest into the Catawba, which receives similar tributaries from the southwest, of which Lyle Creek in Catawba and Lincoln Counties has received mention in the last chapter. Third Creek is the longest and largest of those named as flowing into the Yadkin. The old "Fourth Creek Meeting House" was the place of public worship and of all public meetings for all the settlers on all of these creeks between the Catawba and the South Yadkin, and for a few families on the farther side of each of those rivers. It was permanently located about 1756, though the congregation had begun to be united several years earlier and to meet at points near the one finally chosen and retained permanently. The first settlements on the Catawba were made about 1740. By 1745, there were numerous settlements in the territory which in 1762 was erected into Cabarrus and Mecklenburg counties, and by 1750, the settlements had extended and become dense for a frontier section, and began united themselves into church congregations. What is now Iredell County was embraced in Anson, till Rowan was constituted in 1753, of which it remained a part till 1788, when Iredell was established and its county seat located at the Statesville town site, which embraced the "Fourth Creek Meeting House." The settlements preceded the surveys and grants of lands, as they have done on other frontiers. The first authorized surveys in what now constitutes the area of Iredell County were made in 1750. In February, 1751, a tract was surveyed for and granted to Col. Thomas A. Allison, and in July of that year two tracts were surveyed for and granted to William Morrison. One of these surveys was dated July 12, and the other July 13, 1751, and both were embraced in one deed of grant by John, Earl Granville, and signed, "Granville, by Francis Corbin," of the odious memory so notorious in the War of the Regulation, in 1770. This tract was near the site afterwards chosen for the Concord Church, which is a few hundred yards from Iredell Station, on the Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio Railroad. This grant to William Morrison is number nine of the grants made by Lord Granville in Anson County. The tract on which the town of Statesville is built was granted by the Earl to John Olyphant, and was prior to the grant in February, 1751, to Col. Allison, for the field-notes in his deed call for a beginning point or corner in the line of John Olyphant's land. Mr. Olyphant sold and conveyed his grant to Ferguson Sloan, who was the first settler on the small branch of Fourth Creek, thereafter called "Sloan's Branch," at a spring about one-half mile from the spot where the "Fourth Creek Meeting House" -- now Statesville Church -- stands. In this pioneer cabin home the widowed mother of Andrew Jackson and her son, then a mere lad, found welcome shelter and generous hospitality. The original cabin stood there for a century, and was a last destroyed by an accidental fire. The land for the town-site was conveyed by Mr. Sloan to the board of town commissioners in 1778, when the county was established and the county- seat located. This Mr. Fergus Sloan was the father of William Sloan, who married Jane Stevenson and went West in 1807 with Andrew McCormick and Robert Stevenson, as mentioned in the last chapter. He was also the father of a daughter who married Thomas Hall, a brother of Dr. James Hall. Prudence Hall, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hall, married the elder William Stevenson's son, William. This son, William, was born in 1763, and was an infant in arms when this Stevenson family settled on Third Creek. In 1773, one William Sharp, a lawyer and a prominent citizen, who was a skilled practical surveyor and draftsman, and who had in the early times done much work in the district surveyor's office, made a map of the Fourth Creek congregation settlement, embracing the area within a circle, the circumference of which was ten miles distant from the "Old Meeting House." He drew also nine inner circles with their circumference lines one mile apart, and laid down on this area the true course and distance of the streams South Yadkin and its tributary creeks and branches, and the Catawba with its creeks and branches, as they, respectively, cut the lines of the circumference of these circles, and fixed and designated by a distinct round spot the exact location of each settler's home, and plainly wrote the full name, sometimes, but rarely, using initial letters only for the christian name, of the each male head of the family occupying the respective homes at that time. I have in my possession an accurate copy of that map in all of its details and remarks. It shows 196 family settlements within the outer circumference, and of the 196 male heads of the families, 111 bear distinctly different family names. There are Andrew McKenzie, John Stevenson and William Stevenson on the north side of Third Creek, and only a few miles from the "Meeting House" William Stevenson being further west and near the "Meeting House," and John Stevenson next below William as the water runs, and Andrew McKenzie next below John Stevenson. Each of these men was an Elder in the Fourth Creek Church on June 8, 1778, when Rev. James Hall, afterwards doctor of divinity, was ordained and installed pastor of the united congregations of Fourth Creek, Concord and Bethany. The war for independence was then, 1778, flagrant in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and North Carolina had sent out and kept filled her quota of men and supplies. The young men had gone out to the front, but the war had not touched these Fourth Creek Congregation homes. It came nearer to them in 1780 and 1781, and William Stevenson lost his oldest son, Thomas, and Andrew McKenzie lost his son, William, in the conflict, and was wounded himself at the Battle of Camden. As yet (June 8, 1778) the way of life went on, children were born and given to the Lord in baptism, young men and maidens married and were given in marriage, the farm and workshops had their wanted care six days in the week; and always on any day in each week, and sometimes oftener, the whole congregation, by some representatives from each family, met at Fourth Creek, or Concord or Bethany, for holding fellowship as Christians and uniting in their worship of prayer and praise and giving to the Lord. The early missionary preachers had held services at Bethany and Concord, as well as at Fourth Creek, before 1778. The congregation was styled the "United Congregation of Fourth Creek, Concord and Bethany." It appears that an evangelist, Rev. Mr. Spencer, had organized a church at Fourth Creek before 1765, or early in that year. In 1776, Concord appears to have been organized as a church, and Bethany in 1779, that is to say, these respective neighborhoods were authorized to elect and have ordained and installed their own elders and deacons, but all continued under one pastorate, and worshiped and worked together as a united church and congregation until 1790. William Stevenson was become a patriarch. Besides his son, Thomas, who died in the army of the War of Independence, he had six sons and three daughters, who married and became heads of their own families in his lifetime, and survived him. He had prospered in his basket and in his store, and had added field to field until from west of Concord to east of Statesville he owned more than four thousand acres of the best farming land between the Yadkin and the Catawba rivers. He was what the good old Scotch and Scotch-Irish fathers delighted to call a "Child of the Covenant." In his early boyhood he had been generously fed on the sincere milk of the Word. He was a cherished lamb of the Good Shepherd's flock. When he reached the period of individual responsibility, he began to show a disrelish of the Gospel diet; to rove from the flock and lodge outside of the fold. His life walk was well-ordered and decorous, but in the pride of intellect he kindled his own fire, compassed himself about with sparks, and walked in the light of the fire and in the sparks that he had kindled; remaining ignorant of God's righteousness he went about to establish his own righteousness and did not submit himself to the righteousness of God. How long this continued, we do not know, further that it continued until he fell under the preaching of Whitefield. When that inspired evangelist first visited the section in which Mr. Stevenson lived, and began to stir all classes of men, this child of the Covenant held aloof. The enthusiasm of his friends and neighbors seemed ludicrous to him, and he made amiable sport, as even men of sober piety sometimes do, of such intense spiritual exercises and exhortations as revivalists indulge and inspire. One evening, when his companions and friends had all gone, or were going, to the meeting, and the young free-thinker was lonely or curious, and in a humor to enjoy the sport, he went to the gospel-tent as one might now go to the circus-tent to see "the greatest show on earth." All unconsciously he was led by the Sovereign Spirit. That evening was God's opportunity to purge the conscience of this self-relying moralist from dead works, and he who had been far off was brought very nigh to the gracious throne, and walked and talked with the hallowed Father throughout all the rest of his earthly journey. He was richly endowed with mental and moral qualities. By nature and by education he was well qualified for the office of senior ruling elder in a church of which the patriot, soldier and great preacher, Dr. James Hall, was pastor. The name of Dr. James Hall touches tenderly very many of the traditions in our family. Early in life he consecrated himself to the gospel ministry. His dedication went to the point of denying himself the sweet consolations that spring from the relation of husband and father, that he might the better serve as a Soldier of the Cross. During the period of his preparation for the ministry, the temptation to freight his life with the joys and cares of an earthly home came to him with almost overcoming power. He met her who became "the ocean to the river of his thoughts."* He filled the measure of her fancy. They exchanged vows. He thought for a time that he would have power to lead about "a wife as well as other apostles and as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas." But the nature of the work to which he felt himself called, was to be like Paul's, and with prayer and agony the pious lovers placed their espousals on God's altar and reconsecrated the generous and gifted ambassador to the service of their Sovereign. He did missionary work in large measure at every period of his long ministry, but was at the same time a devoted and honored pastor of the United Churches and Congregation of Fourth Creek, Concord and Bethany, until his growing labors and increasing age required him to surrender a part of his pastorate. In 1780 he was captain of a company and chaplain of the regiment to which it belonged, in the army under General Green. When General Davidson was slain the rank of brigadier-general was tendered Doctor Hall, but he declined it because it would prevent or hinder the exercise of his sacred office, which the captaincy of a company and the chaplaincy of the regiment aided. He possessed all of the attributes for a military commander. His person was fine; his stature was above six feet. He had great muscular strength and action. His whole appearance was that of one born to command. His courage, both moral and physical, was undaunted. He was cool in counsel, intrepid in danger and decided in action. When the War of the Revolution was ended he continued to devote himself wholly to the work of the gospel ministry. He labored abundantly with the people under his pastoral care, and on many and widely extended missionary fields in the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and throughout the Mississippi Valley. He survived until the __th day of July, 1826. It is probable that William Stevenson had been ordained a ruling elder before he left Pennsylvania, and that he was installed elder of Fourth Creek Church at its organization in or prior to 1765. It is certain that he acted and was recognized as leading, if not senior, ruling elder from the beginning of Mr. James Hall's pastorate in June, 1788. He was a man of low stature. He had a quiet, self-centered manner, and a soft, clear far-carrying voice that filled the house of prayer without any apparent elevation of tone or * A daughter of Fergus Sloan, sister to the other daughter who afterwards married Thomas Hall. labor of accent. He was gifted in prayer and was called to much exercise of this gift. In prayer he seemed, like Gabriel, to stand in the presence of God -- so much so that the younger members of the congregation reverently, and with affectionate respect and honor, called him "Little Gabriel," by which title the present generation of his descendants in loving memory fondly distinguish him. Mr. Hall, who, like Paul among the apostles, was in labors more abundant than the others, sometimes went even beyond Paul in deeming himself unworthy to be an ambassador for Christ. During his licentiate, this fear fell upon him with such power that for the space of a year he could not enter the sacred desk or officiate as a preacher. And once, when he was past middle life and had been pastor of Fourth Creek, Concord and Bethany for many years and his labors greatly blessed, he fell into darkness again, and for more than a year he durst not enter the pulpit he had so long and so well filled or act as teaching elder to the flocks that had so greatly enjoyed and profited by his teaching. He visited the families of the flock, especially of the elders. He met regularly and punctually at all the appointments for public service conducted by the elders. He would, when requested, lead in prayer, and occasionally, but rarely, give a word of exhortation from the place where the elders sat below the pulpit. He thought it would be sacrilege for him to enter that holy place; and when the eldership would ask him. "Won't you preach for us today?" Mr. Hall would answer, "No, No, No; it is impossible." Mr. Hall lived near to "Bethany Meeting House," but visited in the Concord congregation, which was twelve miles away. After his period of darkness had continued a long time, and gave no sign of coming to its end, Mr. Hall's visiting took him to Elder William Watts' -- called "Fuller" Watts, because he was a fuller by trade. Elder Watts lived west of Concord twelve or more miles from "Bethany Meeting House," and Mr. Hall arrived Friday evening when the meeting for the following Sunday was to be at Bethany. After passing the night and continuing his visit till after the noon meal Saturday, he proposed that Elder Watts and his wife should accompany him to Elder William Stevenson's Saturday evening, and all pass the night there and go from there to Bethany Sunday morning. For the double purpose of visiting the brother-elder and his family, and getting that much near the house of prayer. Elder Fuller Watts and his wife consented, and they all went as proposed. The next morning, after the usual family devotions and an early breakfast, the guests were engaged in conversation, and time passed unconsciously till Mr. Hall's attention was drawn to it, and he remarked, "It is time we were starting." It was then observed that the host was not about the house, and Mr. Hall began to be disturbed and to inquire of the members of his family for him, but got no intelligence until a maid-servant came in, who said she had seen her master going off toward his bottom field. After waiting awhile, Mr. Hall, by nature and habit formed to lead and command, ordered that the horses be made ready and brought out, and those who were going be prepared to mount as soon as Mr. Stevenson should return. This was quickly done as directed, and still Elder Stevenson was absent, and Mr. Hall grew impatient and strode back and forth in front of the gate, where the harnessed horses, and their riders ready to mount, were gathered. In a few minutes really, but which his impatience made to appear much longer, the waiting company saw Mr. Stevenson coming from the direction of his bottom field, walking quite slowly and apparently absorbed in thought. As soon as he came into view, Mr. Hall went with a rapid stride to meet him, and on meeting him, said, "We are all waiting on you, and will be late getting to the meeting house," to which Mr. Stevenson made no reply that the company could hear, but maintained his absorbed manner and slow, measured pace, approaching the gate where the others stood. Then Mr. Hall said, "It is a profanation God's holy day to be looking after your fields when you should be going with your household to God's house to worship, and an elder should be an example to others." Still the elder was silent and changed not his manner or his movement, which by this time had brought them to where Mrs. Rachel Watts, the Elder Fuller Watts' wife, stood, when Mr. Hall began to chide and reprove more sharply, and closed his torrent with the question, "What were you doing, anyhow?" when Mr. Stevenson said, "I was asking the Lord to cast the deaf and dumb devil out of our pastor that he may hear the promises of the Word and preach the gospel to this dying people." Mr. Hall's countenance fell. He spoke not another word, but turned to his horse, mounted, and rode off ahead of the whole company alone all the way to Bethany, hitched his horse there at the accustomed place, passed silently through the groups of earlier arrivals who had not yet entered the house, went straight in himself, and directly to the pulpit, and opened and conducted the services and preached as he had aforetime done. Before 1803 Mr. Stevenson's nine surviving children had married, and he had divided his large landed estate into nine parts, equal in acreage, and value as nearly as practicable, and given to each of eight of them their share, reserving the remaining ninth, 535 acres, to the use of himself and wife, but to go by testamentary devise to their youngest son, Moses, who remained, and was to continue to remain on the parental homestead. Where it was not practicable to make the allotments of land substantially equal in acreage and value, the distributee who received less got contribution from the one who received more than the equal share. Thus, James Stevenson, who received less, got from Andrew McKenzie, who on account of his wife, Elizabeth, received more, a negro slave, the bill of sale expressing that the consideration was to make their allotments even. In 1803 Mr. Stevenson made, and put in writing with his own hand, his last will and testament disposing of the portion of his estate which he had retained after his distribution of eight-ninths of his estate to his children. This will I here insert, because it may interest some readers as it has interested me: In the name of God. Amen. I, William Stevenson, Senior, of the State of North Carolina and County of Iredell, being at present in my ordinary state of health, of mind and of memory--thanks be to God for it--calling to mind the mortality of my body, that it is appointed for all men once to die, for that all have sinned - do make this and ordain it and no other heretofore by me made - to be my last will and testament. And first of all, I commit my soul to God, who gave it to me, and my body to the dust, to be buried in a decent manner, at the discretion of my Executors hereinafter mentioned, nothing doubting but I shall receive the same again at the Last Day by the power of Almighty God; and for such earthly things as it hath pleased God to endow me with, I dispose of them in the following manner; 1. And, first of all I allow my lawful debts fully to be discharged. 2. I leave to my loving wife, Mary, one negro wench named Betty, to be at her own disposal during life, and at her death also, if alive until then; also the negro wench named Dina, to be at her disposal during the life of my wife; and after that, if the said Dina be alive to go as I direct. I also leave to her own choose of all the beds we own, with full furniture thereunto belonging; also her own clothes, coarse and fine, also her own choose of all the horse creatures we then shall be possessed of; her own saddle and bridle; also a choose of the cattle as far as two cows and two calves; I also leave her in full possession of the house I now live in while she remains my widow; also the use of the barn, kitchen and other necessary houses thereunto belonging with the third part of this plantation I now live on, clear and unclear, with the use of all my stock, horses, cows, sheep and hogs, with all laboring instruments necessary for laboring on the plantation, except the reserves hereafter to be made; also the negro man named Henry during her widowhood, to be under her direction to labor for the family support; and if my dear wife does not choose to live in her present habitation, but would choose rather to go to live with some other of her children, she may take with her the wenches named, and Henry, and what stock she pleases, to labor for her and themselves. 3. I leave to my son, Moses the whole of the plantation I now live on, which contains 535 acres, after my wife is served of it, and two parts of it clear and unclear, till then. I also allow to him, after my wife is done with them, all of the instruments of laboring tools belonging to the plantation, the present wagon excepted; the remaining at that time of cattle, sheep and hogs I allow for his use; also all household furniture of all kinds, except beds and books, I bequeath to him. I also allow him my big house Bible and Hymn and Psalm Book with my lot in Union Library. 4. I leave and bequeath to my daughter, Elizabeth McKenzie, the forementioned wench, Dina, when my wife is done with her, to whom she is now left, her, with all her breed, till then, if any there be, be the said McKenzie's; and till that time comes she is now possessed of a negro boy named Jack that is to fill her room until delivered to her, and if death should prevent, Jack is to continue in her stead as their own property; but if Dina is delivered, aforesaid Jack returned and disposed of as hereafter directed. 5. I leave and bequeath to William Stevenson, son of John Stevenson, one hundred acres of land laying on the waters of Third and Fourth Creek near Statesville, being part of tract given by me to my son, Robert Stevenson, and by him exchanged to his brother James, the said 100 acres being on George Robinson's northeast corner of a piece of the same tract he bought of said James Stevenson; from thence east to a post oak sapling, being the original east corner of said tract; but not cut down, unknowingly by the cutter, is now supplied by a large standing stone set up by and before many witnesses for that purpose; from thence south to a Spanish oak joining William Simentown, Esqu.; thence west with said Simentown's till a post oak sapling on said line George Robinson's southeast corner; thence north with said Robinson's line to the beginning. And if the said William should not live to possess it, it is to pass to the next male in the family till possessed. 6. I leave to Mary Stevenson, John Stevenson's oldest daughter, one mare known by the name of the sorrel mare's colt. 7. I leave to my son, John Stevenson, the wagon I am now the possessor of, but no gears. 8. I also leave to my son, William Stevenson, all my clothes that I am possessed of, both coarse and fine. 9. I do leave and bequeath unto William Stevenson Sloan one hundred dollars, to be paid to him out of my estate, together with my full margin Bible to be given to him also. 10. My books not already mentioned I allow to be divided amongst my children at the discretion of my Executors. 11. The remaining of my estate not yet bequeathed I allow to be put to public sale, to-wit: The two negroes Henry and Jack if Dina lives to release Jack; if not, Henry is only to be sold; also what horses may remain, together with whatever bed ding may then remain as the property of the Estate, all to be sold, and the whole Estate, or the amount of it after all demands are cleared off, to be equally divided amongst all my children, male and female. Last of all I appoint my sons, John, William, and Robert Stevenson to be the Executors of this, my last will and testament, and in witness of my satisfaction with what is herein contained, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Eighth day of March, 1803. Signed with my hand and sealed with my seal in presence of us. William Stevenson Sr. Test: Fergus Sloane O.H. Matthews, Jurat [RED WAFER] Jno. Matthews. Mr. Stevenson died in the spring of 1809. His son Robert had moved to the great West in 1807, and settled at Bellevue, in Missouri, in 1808. The sons John and William qualified as Executors and filed the Inventory of the Estate May 15, 1809. Among the probate records in Iredell I found and read the record of the will of Ninian Steele, made and declared in June, 1813, in which, following other bequests, this appear: "Then I also give to my two sons, James and Samuel Steele, one large plow and a small one, one pair of gears and double trees, one hoe and spading hoe to each of them, with an ax and mattox to Samuel F. Steele (Fulthy), also my house Bible. I then give my case of Bottles to James Archibald, because I think him the most worthy of it." In this connection I found in a record made by one who had been authority as pastor of the church, this mention: "There has been, too, a great change in customs connected with funerals. Formerly, when the friends of the deceased arrived at the house, they were treated to spirits and water. When the religious services were over, a dish of cakes and cheese was carried around; then a stew made of spirits and sugar and spice and water, boiled in a coffee-pot and poured out into cups and saucers, and served up very much as coffee is now. This custom was continued in some families as late as 1820. In one case it is said that the pall-bearers became so much intoxicated as not to be able to carry the corpse to the grave. The abundance and abuse of ardent spirits, and the more frequent use of coffee, put an end to it." In the same record it appears that until 1847, "tokens" were in use in connection with the holy supper, which, on inquiry, I learned meant that little seals or balls were distributed by the officers to those in the congregation who were to be admitted to the Lord's table, and that each, on taking a seat at the communion, placed his token of admission on the table before receiving the emblems. the use of tables in the administration of this sacrament was continued until the Civil War, or perhaps till its close, but they are not now used. On Sunday, June 28, 1896, Judge William Gillespie Ewing, of Chicago, and I, with my family, attended morning service at Fourth Creek Church, which -- shame on it! -- in disobedience to the "commandment with promise," has disowned its hallowed name. In the afternoon of that day Judge Ewing and I went to Concord Church. As we drew near to it we saw persons entering, and we followed. We found about twenty-five young men, one middle-aged man, and one older, seated in the northeast amen-corner of the audience room, and a young man standing in front of the pulpit reading the opening hymn. On the right- hand side of the aisle on which we entered, and near the group of worshipers, there was a vacant space where on of the stoves had stood in winter, and running along the wall here was a bench of the length and fashion of the longer benches in the amen-corner, and, like them, facing across the room. In front of this bench were two plain chairs -- rawhide- bottomed -- used probably by the teachers of infant classes in the Sunday school. We advanced to this vacant space, and seated ourselves on the bench along the wall, but soon I took one of the chairs. The young leader of the meeting raised the tune and carried the air while all sang the hymn. He then offered prayer, after which another hymn was sung and another young man led in a second prayer. After it the leader read the scripture for the day, and after making a few well considered remarks himself, declared the meeting open for remarks by others. The general subject was "Saving Faith." A few of the young men submitted brief appropriate suggestions and questions. When it became apparent that no others of the young men wished to speak, the middle-aged man, whose hair and beard were sprinkled with gray, rose and made an interesting five-minutes talk, at the close of which he said: "We have with us to-day two strangers, aged men, neither of whom I ever saw before, and who are doubtless stranger to all of us, and we would like to hear a word of fellowship and exhortation from them, if they will so favor us." The aged strangers remained passive. And then the older member of the meeting rose and in a few simple words gave the clearest statement of saving faith, following his remarks with a word of prayer, uttered as friend talketh to his friend. After which the meeting was closed in due form. Thereupon, the more aged of the strangers went forward and introduced himself and his companion to the gray- bearded brother whose invitation we had not accepted, and both were introduced to the whole company, with whom we exchanged salutations. We found it to be as we had surmised that the oldest member was a greatgrandson of the first Elder Stevenson, and named Sidney Stevenson, who resided on his plantation, about two miles distant from Concord, and who, then in his 79th year, had walked over to help the "boys" in their young men's Sunday afternoon prayer meeting. We took Mr. Stevenson into our wagon, went with him to his home, met his family, told them as fully as taste permitted, who we were and what we were after, to-wit; gathering up our family traditions and the local traditions of their early home in America. We lost no time, but there was not time enough in the remnant of that afternoon, and we accepted their invitation to return and spend the day during the week, which we did, accompanied by my daughter, Sarah. On that all-day visit we thrashed the traditions thoroughly. On two different days that week we visited the spot where the first Elder Stevenson forty-four years had his home. The buildings have all disappeared. A lot of small stones that had helped to form the foundations, to small to impede the plow, or be of service elsewhere, still remain to mark the spot where the dwelling stood. From the farther side of the little field that once was in the rear of his house, and through the ground once covered by the house, to the branch in front of it, the corn-rows run, and when we saw it the growth the corn then in tassel marked the ground that had been so long covered by a human habitation, almost as well as the stones of the foundation. Across the branch, only a few hundred yards away, on a more elevated spot and in a grove of majestic trees, his youngest son, Moses, had built a dwelling for his family a short time before the father's death. That house is standing and in good habitable condition, still surrounded and sheltered by the stately trees whose rich beauty, untouched by time or vandal ax or fire, completes the setting of a home that exemplifies the taste of one who in the love of nature held communion with her visible forms. Moses Stevenson sold his 535 acres in 1814. On October 23, 1851, Dr. J.M. Moore acquired it, and he, while he lived, and his children since his death, have held it continuously. His son-in-law, Hon. Henry Clay Cowles, through his wife, now owns 390 acres of it, and Mrs. Cowan, a sister of Mr. Cowles, owns the balance. The present value of the whole tract is twenty dollars an acre. On Sunday, July 5, 1896, I and my daughter, Sarah, went with Hon. Thomas Johnston Allison to "Bethany Meeting House," always a strictly country church, where we met a congregation of several hundred, with the men and women, and boys and girls in due proportion, representative of the local community; saw the social salutations and courtesies exchanged before and after the service; saw and heard the separate classes of men and of women reciting and being instructed in the Bible lessons, and many classes of children of different ages reciting and being taught in easier Scripture lessons. And then the preacher -- a great-grandson, I believe, of the first Elder Stevenson -- began his service, and the senior elder of three score years and more, with snowy locks, but the ruddy, healthful complexion of a man yet in the prime of manhood, raised the tunes, and, with the help of his daughter seated by him, led the congregation in singing the songs of zion much as all this had doubtless been doing and done through all the one hundred and eighteen years since that June 8, 1778, when James Hall was installed pastor. The senior elder is named Hall, doctor, of medicine and surgery, a descendant of the Rev. Dr. James Hall's father. After the interesting services in the church and an hour or more passed under the shade of the trees in making the strangers acquainted, we passed on beyond the South Yadkin to the manor- house of the late Thomas Allison, the tanner, so long an active ruling-elder in this church. He had come to Iredell, then Rowan, in 1773, an infant in arms. His parents, starting from Philadelphia, crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry, bringing themselves, their infant son, and all else they had, on two horses, settled on the South Yadkin in that year. Thomas received a corn-field, schoolhouse education, and at 18 years of age was bound to one Hovalter, a tanner, to learn his trade. He was to receive from his master one suit of summer and one suit of winter homespun and a change of linen and of underclothes each year, and to get, when free, a suite of good clothes and fifty dollars in money, or a saddle-horse and outfit worth fifty dollars. When his time of service was out he had become so proficient in his trade, that he easily arranged with his master, who wished to retire, to take the business. He died in 1844. He left an estate, wholly unencumbered with debt, consisting of 1200 acres of land around the manor-house we visited, 50 negro slaves, 30 horses, 100 head of cattle, 100 sheep, a large stock of hogs and full plantation outfit, and his business of tanner and hardness-maker and vender, in full and healthy operation, to be continued by his son and by the grandson whose we were. The growth of the interstate commerce since the Civil War has dispensed with the general local use of the manufactured trades, as it theretofore obtained, and the grandson of the apprentice of Hovalter has closed his tanner's business on the South Yadkin. He has been the high-sheriff of his native county and is now the United States Marshall for the United States Judicial District that embraces his native county, and is the holder and owner of a large block of bonds, with the proceeds of the sale of which Mr. Cleveland and his Secretary, Mr. Carlisle, recruited the gold reserve and maintained the standard value of our silver money. These details are given to illustrate the spirit of the times and place in which our forebears grew up and acted their part in Life's drama, and to indicate the fruits of these doctrines of grace and of liberty which inspired the kindred congregations of Fourth Creek, Concord and Bethany. And their lines have gone out into all the land. Verily, from the beginning of the days of the Prince of Uz till now, no one has served God for naught. As already mentioned, William Stevenson and his wife Mary (McLelland) Stevenson, had born to them, and reared to maturity, a family of seven sons and three daughters. There were also born to them two daughters, their fourth and sixth children, each of whom died in infancy. These two were named Mary, for their mother, the first named Mary having died before the other was born. I never saw any of these ten children who lived to maturity, except my grandmother McKenzie, who was the youngest of them. I arrived in the Blue Water neighborhood, in Christian County, Kentucky, a few days after the death of James, the last survivor of them, who died at his home near Blue Water, on the 20th day of June, 1850. One son, Thomas, died unmarried during the Revolutionary War; Robert married Mariah Rebecca Steele, a sister of my father's mother, and moved to Missouri, as mentioned in Chapter II. The oldest daughter, Jane, married William Sloan, and moved to Missouri, of whom I know only what is mentioned in Chapter II. The other daughter, Nancy, married John Watt, of whom my mother often spoke to her children. I have no recollection of having met any of the descendants of the three just named of the children of William and Mary Stevenson. On my visits to Christian County, Kentucky, in 1850 and in 1853, I met very many of the descendants of their others sons, and have met different ones of them from time to time in other states. They are now widely scattered, and in many places may be found some one of them who has become prominent in business or in professional or public life. After my grandmother, Elizabeth Stevenson McKenzie, was left a widow with the care of a family of eight minor children, her brother James most kindly and efficiently assumed the charge of caring for that family -- a care which he continued when needed, and to the extent needed -- from 1817 to 1832, when all of his sister's children having in due course of life grown up, and all of her daughters married, she joined her children who were in Texas. My mother often spoke to her children of her protracted visits at this uncle's house, of his kindness to her and to all of the members of his mother's family and of his abundant hospitality. It was while visiting at his house that my mother's oldest sister, Mary Eveline, first met Mr. Josiah Hughes Bell, whom she married. James Stevenson married Nancy Brevard, a niece of Ephriam Brevard, on the 20th day of December, 1783, in Iredell County, North Carolina. He continued to live in North Carolina until about 1814, when he and several of his brothers and other kindred moved with their families to Christian County, Kentucky. He had nine children, eight of whom reached maturity. One daughter, the seventh child, named Nancy Young, died in early infancy. The oldest daughter, Zillah, born February 16, 1796, married Andrew Northington. She died early without issue. I knew Mr. Northington well. He was a man of large and varied information, and of overflowing wit and humor. Further mention of him will be made in another chapter. The second child, named Jane Brevard, born August, 1797, married her cousin, Jacob Stevenson. They lived in Christian County, Kentucky, and reared a family of five children, but none of them remained in Christian County, and I have no present knowledge of them. The third child, Hugh Brevard, born April 11, 1800; died unmarried, at the age of nineteen years. The fourth child, Maria McLelland, born November 4, 1802, married John Wallis Ewing in Christian County, Kentucky. His father's christian name was Adlai, and his mother's maiden name Sophia Goodrich Wallis. They were both persons of superior intelligence and were liberally educated. The tradition is that they were a remarkably handsome couple. I have known three of their daughters, Aunt Isabella Caroline McKenzie, Mrs. Eliza Ann Stevenson and Mrs. Catherine A. Worrell, but never saw either of their sons. My mother so often spoke of two of their sons -- the above named, John Wallis Ewing and his brother, Rev. Fielding N. Ewing -- that it is difficult for me to realize that I did not know them. My mother was five years younger than her cousin, Maria Stevenson; but they were very much together, especially during all the time of the preparations for Miss Stevenson's wedding, and the account of it that I received in my boyhood from this eye-witness greatly impressed my mind. Before I first visited Kentucky (1850), Mr. and Mrs. John Wallis Ewing had moved to Illinois, and before I visited Illinois (1876) he had died. I remember with much pleasure meeting her, then in her seventy-fourth year, and hearing her rehearse the story of her early experiences with my mother, with which I had become familiar through my mother's version. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing were the parents of six children, one daughter and five sons, with whom, and with whose families, my children were well acquainted. The brothers, John Wallis Ewing, William Gillespie Ewing (Whig) and Adlai Thomas Ewing, live in Chicago. One brother, Henry Ewing, lives in Kansas, and the remaining brother, James Stevenson Ewing, resides in Bloomington, Illinois. He is at this writing United States Minister to Belgium, and resident at Brussels. The fifth child of James and Nancy Stevenson, named William Lameck, married a daughter of his uncle, Moses Stevenson, by his first wife, Annie Ewing, who was a sister of Adlai Ewing, the father of John Wallis Ewing. This daughter that William Lameck married was named Jane. They had a family of five children. One of their sons, the late James Ewing Stevenson, who resided in Christian County, Kentucky was a prominent man of influence and reputation. He was a prosperous farmer. He married Margaret Crews and reared a family of fourteen children. I believe the members of this family are the only of our connection bearing the Stevenson name, who still reside in Christian County, Kentucky. The sixth child, John Turner Stevenson, married Miss Eliza Ann Ewing, a daughter of Adlai Ewing, and a first cousin of Mary Caroline McKenzie. They married in Kentucky about the time or shortly before my parents removed to Texas, and they remained in the Blue Water neighborhood until after the death of his father, in 1850. I was at their house in 1850, and then became well acquainted with their older children. Before my second visit to Blue Water (1853) they had moved to Illinois and I did not see any of them again until 1876. He had died before 1876, and all of his children -- one daughter and six sons -- were then grown and living in Bloomington, Illinois. The sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Sophia McCaughey (McCoy) and five of the brothers, are still living; the other brother, James Bell Stevenson, died a few years ago in California. The names of the living brothers are Adlai Ewing Stevenson, William W. Stevenson, Fielding A. Stevenson, John Calvin Stevenson and Thomas W. Stevenson. They and their mother reside in Bloomington, Illinois. Mrs. McCaughey resides in Sioux City, Iowa.