Sumter's Brick Church turns 250

Photo Provided Salem Black River Presbyterian Church will celebrate its 250th anniversary on Oct. 24 and 25. The establishment of the church predates that of Sumter.

By IVY MOORE
Item Features Editor
ivym@theitem.com

Just north of Dabbs Crossroads in the eastern part of Sumter County stands an imposing red brick building marking the site where Presbyterians have held church services for two and a half centuries. The current building is 163 years old, but early Scotch-Irish settlers built the original Salem Black River Presbyterian Church in 1759. That's 50 years before the establishment of the city of Sumter.

On Saturday and Oct. 25, the congregation and friends will celebrate the church's 250th anniversary with a series of events and a special service.

"The public is cordially invited," lifelong member Louise Dabbs Bevan said, "and we hope they will attend some and, hopefully, all of the celebration events on both the 24th and 25th. Everything is free. We even have some confirmations from friends as far away as North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee and possibly Oregon. These are people whose ancestors are buried here and who have long ties with former families of this community."

On Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. there will be storytelling, period music, an artifacts display and tours of the church and cemetery. Lunch will be available on the grounds from 12:30 to 2 p.m., and music will be provided by bagpipers. The Goodwill Presbyterian Choir will sing at 2:15 p.m. and will be followed by Dr. Joe Stukes' presentation of "I, John Calvin ... ."

Sunday's special service begins at 2:45 p.m. with opening voluntaries by brass and organ, followed by the regular order of service with special guests from other area Presbyterian churches and the recognition of Salem Black River Presbyterian Church's "daughter churches," Concord, Goodwill, Lynchburg, Mayesville, New Harmony and Sardinia Presbyterian churches.

Item File Photo The interior of 250-year-old "Brick Church," is described as Basilican -- an early Christian church layout -- with heart pine floors, walls and ceilings of plaster, a slave gallery along three sides, supported by wooden pillars. Wooden, boxed pews are divided into four sections by side aisles, and the pulpit and altar tables are built on a podium.

Dr. T. Erskine Clarke will speak on the topic, "So Great a Crowd of Witnesses." Clarke is professor emeritus of American Religious History at Columbia Theological Seminary. In great demand as a lecturer at churches and universities around the world, Clarke's primary scholarly interest has focused on religion and slavery in the American South, about which he has published numerous respected articles and books. His "Wrestlin' Jacob" was selected by Choice magazine of the American Library Association as an Academic Book of the Year, and "Our Southern Zion" received the Francis Makemie Award from the Presbyterian Historical Society as "the most outstanding published book-length contribution to the American Presbyterian or Reformed history."

Clarke's most recent work is "Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic," which has been described as an "upstairs-downstairs" history of a white, slave-owning family and of a black slave family over four generations.

The history of Salem Black River Presbyterian Church began long before the construction of the present Greek Revival-style building. Three others preceded it. The first was made of logs, but was too small, so a second, larger church was constructed in 1768. Burned during the Revolutionary War, it was replaced by a brick building, which stood until 1846, when it was easier and less expensive to replace than to repair it.

According to records from the National Register of Historic Places, Salem Black River Presbyterian Church, known to many simply as "Brick Church," "is rectangular in plan, measuring approximately 45 feet wide and 75 feet long. (It) ...is constructed of hand-made brick in common bond and features a low gable roof covered by standing seam terne."

Additionally, the front has four "massive stucco-over-brick columns of a simplified Greek Doric order." The two pairs of single-paneled doors have windows above them and flank a large central window.

Inside, the plan is described as basilican — an early Christian church layout — with heart pine floors, walls and ceilings of plaster, a slave gallery along three sides, supported by wooden pillars. Wooden, boxed pews are divided into four sections by side aisles, and the pulpit and altar tables are built on a podium.

The Session House, constructed at the same time, is about 15 feet by 30 feet and is simple in design, divided into two rooms. The church cemetery is enclosed by an iron fence.

While the buildings and grounds of Brick Church are impressive, it is the church's role in the surrounding area that is the main reason for the anniversary celebration.

"Brick Church, with an annual budget of approximately $18,000, has been noted for its generous annual giving, percentage-wise, to community and other causes," Bevan said, "as well as its annual commitment to the Presbytery. The past list includes $6,000 for Katrina victims, support of United Ministries, Presbyterian medical fund, Presbyterian Homes in South Carolina, Thornwell Home for Children, support of restoring the historic Goodwill School building (our daughter church), Salvation Army and others. The list reflects current concerns of members and the amount is voted on during our annual business meeting. We also offer an endowed scholarship program for students studying organ to help alleviate the shortage of organists."

Membership at Brick Church has varied, with its largest recorded congregation listed at 54 whites and 141 blacks in 1842.

Bevan said the church currently has 39 members on the rolls, "many of them living in distant places, so usually there are 15 to 20 persons present for our Sunday service."

Brick Church holds services twice a month, at 4 p.m. on the second and fourth Sundays. Dr. William Holmes of Manning serves as supply pastor.

Among Brick Church's prominent members were James W. English (1797-1841), an elder in the church who later served in the S.C. House of Representatives and the S.C. Senate; Matthew Peterson Mayes (1794-1878), also a member of the S.C. House and a signer of the Ordinance of Secession; and James McBride Dabbs (1896-1970), one of the South's most distinguished 20th-century writers, teachers, social philosophers and civil rights leaders.

Salem Black River Presbyterian Church is also recognized as the mother church of several nearby Presbyterian churches.

According to church records, both blacks and whites met together in the Salem Black River Presbyterian Church — blacks in the balcony and whites downstairs — until 1867, when blacks asked to be dismissed to form their own church, Goodwill Presbyterian, located nearby.