The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Nov. 12, 1885 – “Rev. James S. White was installed as pastor of Hopewell Pres. Church.”
City Directories and History: Historic Hopewell ARP – From the earliest times there was an area of Chester County known as Rock Creek. About 1751 Presbyterians from North Ireland, the lowlands of Scotland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia began to settle in this area. They were know as regular Presbyterians (Seceders) and Reformed Presbyterians (Covenanters) and while they had some differences they all had strong convictions, read and taught their children the Bible, and held to the Westminister Confession of Faith and the Catechisms.
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on July 13, 1871 – “A son of Jesse Neil was drown in Sterling’s Mill pond, near Hopewell Church in Chester County. He was bathing in the pond with several other boys.”
Neither group was large or strong enough to support a church so about 1770 they joined together to build a church which they called “Catholic” since it was for all Presbyterians. Later, as the population increased there was a need for more preaching points and in the year 1775, Dr. Thomas Clark while passing through the area preached a sermon under two black oak trees on the grounds of what is now Hopewell.
Hopewell has occupied four houses of worship. In the first 180 years of the church there were seven ministers. It firs five ministers served a total of 133 years. This include Rev. John Boyce 1788-1793, Dr. John Hemphill 1795-1832, Rev. Warren Flenniken 1832-1848, Rev. Robert W. Brice 1850-1878, and Rev. John Alexander White 1879-1911. Prior to the Civil War, there was a great migration from Chester County and adjoining areas to the West and Midwest caused primarily by the issue of slavery. This outward move greatly affected the church. Through the years the church has contributed no less than twenty-seven minsters to the church. To quote Dr. W.A. Kennedy’s words, “Hopewell is old and somewhat enfeebled by the years but she still has life and the bonds that bind us each to each and all to our God – and what it takes to make a church.” [Courtesy of the Chester District Genealogical Society]
Howe’s history of the church states, “A new church has arisen in the former bounds of Catholic, of which we were not aware when our first volume was issued. The separation between Hopewell and Catholic took place in 1788. These two people had existed ass one society for about seventeen years. The two older elders, Thomas McDill and David McQueston, who had been elders in Ireland assisted at the first communion at Catholic. the division between the two church was geographical….” He notes that David McQueston arrived with the Rev. William Martin in Jan. 1773, n the ship Lord Dan Luce and Thomas McDill arrived in Charleston on Jan. 6, 1773, on the ship Pennsylvania Farmer.
Informative link: Mills Map of Chester SC
“Hopewell (1787), Chester County. The name of the church is probably derived from a settlement in Pennsylvania. Such names as Chester and Lancaster both originate immediately from Pennsylvania, a state from which pioneer settlers migrated to South Carolina. There are three Hopewells, all of small population, in Pennsylvania, two of which, interestingly enough, are in the Chester and Lancaster vicinity.”
Information from: Names in South Carolina by C.H. Neuffer, Published by the S.C. Dept. of English, USC
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Hopewell, located in the Rocky Creek area of eastern Chester County, is one of the older churches in the region. Settlers began to arrive in the Rocky Creek area around 1750, and strong settlement continued until the beginning of the American Revolution. Almost all these settlers were Presbyterians and Scottish in origin, some from Northern Ireland (Scots-Irish), some from the Lowlands of Scotland, and others from Pennsylvania and Virginia. From the beginning, these Scots represented three different branches of the Presbyterian Church: the General Assembly, the Associate Presbyterians (Seceders), and the Reformed Presbyterians (Covenanters). In the 1750’s, all three groups joined together to form a congregation known as Catholic Presbyterian Church, so named because it was catholic, or universal, in its appeal to all Presbyterian groups. As the settlement continued, other preaching points were established, and gradually separate Associate and Reformed churches were organized. The Reformed or Covenanter group became especially prominent after the 1772 migration of five ships full of Covenanters led by the Rev. William Martin. Four Reformed Presbyterian congregations were eventually established in the Rocky Creek area. In 1782, the national organizations of the Associate and Reformed denominations merged to form the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), but many of the local churches did not enter into this union.
The first known service at the site of Hopewell Church took place about 1775, when Dr. Thomas Clark preached a sermon under two black oak trees. The congregation is believed to have been organized in 1787 by the Rev. Matthew Lind (Linn). Within a year, the Rev. John Boyse was installed as pastor and in 1789, a log house of worship was built near the present building. Born in Northern Ireland in 1757, Boyse came to America before the Revolution and settled in the Long Canes area of Abbeville District. He took courses at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania. He was licensed to preach and sent to supply churches in the South. Because of the lack of installed pastors in the Carolinas, Rev. Boyse was one of the few ministers of the ARP Church for the whole area from Fairfield County in South Carolina to Iredell County in North Carolina, and he traveled extensively preaching and trying to hold the scattered congregations together. Rev. Boyse was present in 1790 when the first Presbytery of the ARP Church was organized in the South. He died 1793 and is buried at Hopewell Cemetery.
The second pastor, who would have a major influence on the development and growth of the Hopewell Church, was Dr. John Hemphill. Born in Northern Ireland in 1761, he came to America as a tailor at the age of 22. He worked in Philadelphia, then moved south, where he began to seek a classical education in various schools. He graduated from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and studied theology under several ministers. He was ordained and set out for Chester County, where he became pastor of Hopewell in 1795. He is described as “A man of large influence and ability, an instructive preacher, a theologian of attainment, being one of the first two professors in Erskine Theological Seminary…he made Rocky Creek what it is.” Dr. Hemphill served from 1795 to 1832, when he died and was buried in the Hopewell Cemetery. Under Hemphill’s leadership, Hopewell became a large and influential congregation. About 1800, early in his pastorate, a larger brick building was erected. It was 40 by 50 feet in size and had a sounding board over the preacher’s head.
The third pastor was Rev. Warren Flenniken, who was born in Mecklenburg County in 1805. He graduated from Jefferson College in Pennsylvania and studied theology under several ministers. He was installed pastor on Hopewell and Union congregations in Chester County in 1832. He continued to serve at Hopewell until ill health forced him to resign in 1848. During his ministry, several trends affected the growth of Hopewell. Beginning in the 1830s and continuing for some time, families began to move west to take up new lands in the territories being opened up. Many families from Hopewell moved to West Tennessee. At the same time, problems related to slavery led many of the Covenanters and Seceders to leave those churches. Some moved to the northwest, while others joined with Hopewell and other local churches. Flenniken died in 1851 and his buried at Hopewell Cemetery.
Hopewell’s next pastor was Rev. Robert Wilson Brice. Born in Fairfield County and raised in the New Hope community, he attended Erskine College, graduating in 1844. He studied theology at Allegheny, Pennsylvania and at Erskine. After a short missionary term in Kentucky, he was called by the Hopewell church and became its minister in 1850. Rev. Brice served her for his entire career, until ill health forced him to cease preaching in 1877. He was described as having a clear intellect, sound judgement, and rare common sense. He would preach a sermon and then lecture on one of the books of the Bible, providing a solid education to the congregation. In 1854, Hopewell’s third church building was completed. It was larger, measuring 50 by 70 feet, and was located across the road from the present building. Rev. Brice led the congregation during the Civil War, when many sons of the church left to fight. Shortly after the war, he began preaching to a group in Chester, resulting in the organization of the Chester ARP Church in 1869. He continued to preach there for a part of his time until 1875. Rev. Brice died in 1878 and is buried in Hopewell Cemetery.
The fifth minister of Hopewell was Rev. John Alexander White, who was raised within the congregation. He graduated from Erskine College in 1872 and Erskine Theological Seminary in 1878. His only pastorate was the Hopewell Church, which he served from his installation in 1879 until his death in 1911. He was known as a man of culture and learning and was blessed with good business ability. He served the White Oak ARP Church in Fairfield County on a part-time basis. He died suddenly of a stroke in 1911 and is buried in Hopewell Cemetery.
Rev. Rufus Irwin McCown was the next pastor. He was a native of Tennessee and graduated from Erskine College and Seminary. He served Hopewell from 1912 to 1917. At the onset of World War I, he resigned and took up work with the YMCA on army bases. He continued to work with the YMCA in other capacities following the war.
The next pastor of Hopewell was Rev. Walter Armstrong Kennedy, a native of Sharon, South Carolina. He attended Erskine College, graduating in 1904. He finished Erskine Theological Seminary in 1907. He served several pastorates before being called to Hopewell in 1918. His long pastorate there continued until about 1960. On May 4, 1941, the old 1854 church building burned. A modern and smaller brick church building was completed in 1944, containing a sanctuary and five classrooms. During the latter half of the twentieth century, farming was abandoned through much of this area of Chester County, and many residents moved to the cities. The membership of Hopewell has as a result been reduced. During some periods, the church has had supply ministers. Rev. Robert Murdock and Rev. Buzzy Elder have been more recent full-time ministers. In 1980, the James F. Robinson Fellowship Hall was added, and in 2006, the church roof was replaced with a metal roof.
The Hopewell Cemetery is a large burying ground with stones dating back to the early years of the congregation. It is located across the road from the present church and is enclosed by a wall.
Sources:
Rev. Robert Lathan, History of Hopewell Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church together with Biographical Sketches of Its Four Pastors, 1879, Yorkville Enquirer Press.
Records of the Session Meetings of Hopewell Associate reformed Presbyterian Church, 1832-1892, Chester District Genealogical Society.
Centennial History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1803-1903, Published by the General Synod, 1905.
Sesquicentennial History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, Published by the General Synod, 1951.
Information written and contributed to R&R by P.M. Gettys – 2015
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*** Fairey/Fearys/Ferrie/Fairy History – Lands:
In 1773, Rev. James Martin of Ballymena town and parish, County Antrim, Ireland, headed a group of dissenting protestants (non-Anglicans) who had decided to emigrate to America. Five shiploads of settlers from this group poured through the port of Charleston, the first of which ships was the Lord Dunluce, that arrived from Larne, Ireland in January, 1773. Immigrants on board, after the ship’s arrival, signed a testimonial letter praising the Captain for his concern for the safety and comfort of his passengers, and among those listed was one William Farie. This same William applied on 6th January 1773 for a grant of 200 acres of land, which was laid out for him and delivered 2nd Feb. 1773. His name appears as F-A-I-R-Y on the Royal Council Journals, and F-A-I-R-E-Y on the actual grant of the land, which land was located in Colonial Craven County (now a part of Fairfield County). War records spell the name F-E-R-R-Y, the census of 1790 F-A-I-R-R-I-E, and he signed his name to his will dated 5 Sept 1810, F-E-A-R-Y-S.
The second one of the five shiploads of new settlers to arrive that same year and month, was the Pennsylvania Farmer, bearing among others a James Fairy, who also appeared before the Royal Council to apply for a grant of land. This grant was approved for 150 acres on 6th January 1773, and delivered and laid out 2nd Feb 1774, it also being located in Colonial Craven County.
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