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| Dr. William Plumer Jacobs |
"The spirit of the christian
religion teaches that men should be to each other forgiving and merciful. But
such I think is not the spirit of the present day," wrote Thomas Workman
on September 16, 1875. He was quite concerned about religion and how it fit
into life. "I hope though that things will take a turn for the better
before long, at least that is to be expected."[1]
Dr. William Plumer Jacobs of Clinton desired to do great things for God. What
Dr. Jacobs found when he arrived in Clinton back in 1864 was not what he had
expected.
In Charleston where Jacobs grew up, the
Presbyterians, Methodists, and Baptists were all against the Episcopalians and
Catholics. But in Clinton, he wrote, "the various churches interpreted
literally the saying of St. Paul, 'Fight the good fight of the faith.'" These
people majored on
minors. They held strong convictions about the methods of worship, but they had little interest in "Theology of the Church.”[2] People attended their churches, Jacobs wrote, not so much because
minors. They held strong convictions about the methods of worship, but they had little interest in "Theology of the Church.”[2] People attended their churches, Jacobs wrote, not so much because
they understood its
doctrine, as because their kith and kin were in it. They regarded any attack
upon the special ties of their religion as a personal affair. They would argue
the case up and down, not at all seeing the force of their arguments or the
force of their scriptural quotations, but nevertheless most earnestly and
vehemently. The bitterness between the various denominations was more than
considerable, it was great. The practice of religion was a much more difficult
affair. There was great opposition in all the churches to certain kinds of sin,
such as horse‑racing, betting, gambling, and drunkenness. But as to the
weightier matters of the law, they gave less attention to them.[3]
They
believed money belonged to the Lord, but that it was not important to them to
give a portion back to Him. Church services were held usually once a month, and
therefore, for many, the Sabbath was once a month. On other Sundays people
visited and entertained. They would rather attend a church service for a length
of time once a month than attend every week. "Social interest had more to
do with church going than religious zeal."[4]
Thomas
M. Workman had heard some call church involvement and Biblical doctrine a
humbug, and he gives evidence that the fundamentalist / modernist doctrinal
controversies had reached all the way to little Clinton.
Some have said that
the Lord Templars is humbug. Some say that Political Enterprise is humbug. Others
go so far as to say that some of the fundamental doctrines of the church are
humbug, even strong members say this. When I [hear?] of these facts I am [?] to
mark seriously[,] What is the world striving to? Where are we drifting? But
such has always been the case since the church was established. And justly
[should?] be. Some are of the opinion that the Bible use Hyperbolean
expressions. But I think the matter may be seriously doubted [e.g., of
Abraham's descendants being as numerous as the stars and sand]. The New
Testament says that the true christian is a child of Abraham. I cannot see why
a thing like this could not be so, for on the earth there are now living many
millions of human beings and every year there are millions more born."[5]
The young men in the Rocky Springs and
Leesville communities formed a Sunday night prayer meeting which rotated each
week between the churches. Robert O. Hairston spoke to the meeting on September
27, 1875, about misbehavior in church: “such as cutting benches, going in and
out at unseasonable hours, sitting on back seats when the front seats are not
full, refusing to sing or to help sing without being asked. When he asked to
stand all who would be able to sit on the front seats and help sing, nearly all
stood up.”[6]
Apart
from the practices and attitudes of the people, Thomas Workman had a great
struggle with religion.
Last night a prayer
meeting was held at Leesville by appointment. [Josiah Leak presiding asked Thomas
M. Workman to speak.] Some remarks by T.M.W. somewhat as follows. I would have
preferred not to be called on tonight. Don't feel so full of the Christian as
perhaps I should. My mind is busy studying the evidences of christianity. I
know that the Christian religion has a foundation of truth, but I am not always
able to find it. Up to the present I don't believe that science, Philosophy or
anything of the kind has ever laid its hand upon life. It has examined the
structures of living matter and handled the steam that rolls the mighty trains
and the electricity that flows with lightning speed over the telegraph wires.
It has done all these things but up to the present has not done anything with
life itself. There is only one thing that we do know of life and that is what
we get from the bible. Yet there are many persons willing to dispute the bible
because of science. Yet take this bible away from us and before long you would
see men bowing and worshiping the sun, moon, birds, or some other object, or
an image made by their own hands. Science would vanish and superstition would
take its place, Men will have something to worship. Again there is no other
religion that is superior to the religion I've professed. None that promise
life eternal on such reasonable terms. None that so much elevates the human
race. Should we not then be ashamed of our conduct‑-our unwillingness to do our
whole duty.[7]
The
broad‑ minded citizens of Laurens had established the Riverside Cemetery, now
the Laurens City Cemetery, "the burial ground of the white population,
regardless of religious denomination." The cemetery was located on the
corner of Harper and Hunter Streets "and extends backwards almost to the
banks of Little River. . . . It was originally the family burial ground of Mr.
Thos. Porter. The first person buried there‑in was his little daughter, who
died from the bite of a mad‑dog." Laura Adelaide Porter, two years old, was
buried on the south side of the cemetery in 1817.[8]
Harmony Church, established in 1844,
got its name from the Baptists and Presbyterians ecumenically sharing the
church building. Another example of cooperation was the Union choir of all
Clinton's churches. It was called the Methobapterian choir. The Harmony deed
named the trustees as "Elders of the Presbyterian and Deacons of the
Baptist Church, Share and Share A‑Like."[9]
[1] Workman, Sayings and Doings,
89, September 16, 1875.
[2] Jacobs, Literary, 64.
[3] Jacobs, Literary, 28‑29.
[4] Jacobs, Literary, 29.
[5] Workman, Sayings and Doings,
75, 83.
[6] Workman, Sayings and Doings,
97.
[7] Workman, Sayings and Doings,
92, September 20, 1875.
[8] Garlington, 51‑52.
[9] Foy, 44. Jacobs, Literary, 52.
Then came the holiness movement in the late 1800s which upset everyone. Rev.
Nichols J. Holmes, son of Zelotes Lee Holmes held a tent meeting for ten to
twelve days on Musgrove Street in Clinton. Everyone went to see what it was,
and everyone talked about it. Jacobs, Literary , 42.
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