Chester A.R.P. Church of Chester, S.C.

159 Main Street

City Directories and History: 1908 – Frank C. Kirkpatrick (Boarding House / Shared address with ARP Church),

The Chester A.R.P. church was erected in 1897-98 at a cost of $15,000. Earlier the congregation had occupied a church on Center Street, where St. Mark’s Episcopal Church now stands. This sanctuary is reminiscent of the Bethel United Methodist. It was designed by the same architectural firm, Hayden and Wheeler, and constructed one year later. The congregation was organized in 1869. The Sunday School building was built in the early 1920’s.

Early 20th century postcard image of the ARP church. Courtesy of the AFLLC Collection – 2017

The First ARP Church history tells that in anticipation of the move to a new location, Joseph Wylie and A.W. Love, who had been authorized to find a suitable lot, on Jan. 12, 1897, purchase a lot “fronting on Wylie Street,” site of the present building, from Holmes Hardin for $2,000, which Joseph Wylie paid in cash and present it to the congregation as a gift.

Chester ARP Church. Images courtesy of photographer Bill Segars – 2007

Chester ARP Church

On March 18, 1897, the plan of Hayden and Wheeler, architects, was accepted, the contract let in December 1887, in spite of the fact that the contractors quit because of disagreements among themselves, a local contractor by the name of Latimer and Robinson, completed the work. The entire cost of the new building was $11,671.58. The first service in the new church was held on January 16, 1898. In circa 1924 the interior of the church was altered, when the pulpit’s platforms and choir areas were moved to face Main Street rather than Wylie.

Note the church location was not originally that of #159, that was the residence of Frank P. Kirkpatrick, who in 1908 operated a boarding house next to the church listed as 159 Main Street. See image below.

In 1924, at a cost of $35,000. the educational building was constructed. The Rock Hill Record reported on Oct. 6, 1924, that the Chester Reporter had carried an article on building a new Sunday School building in Chester. A.D. Gilchrist of Rock Hill is the architect and bids are to be opened on Oct. 10th. Plans are for a two story building with a basement – including a social hall. ”

The most influential member of the congregation for many decades was Mr. Joseph Wylie, one of the first elders along with Matthew White, W.J. Henry, and John Simpson. Having no children, the Wylie’s gave generously to this Chester church as well as the Erskine College. Their financial contributions helped build the Wylie Home on Erskine’s campus, a dormitory for girls. Mr. Wylie thus introduced co-education to the college.

This lovely church continues being a vital part of Chester’s architectural and cultural history.

CHESTER ASSOCIATE REFORMED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Written and contributed to Roots and Recall by Mr. Paul M. Gettys – 2016

This sketch is derived largely from the History of Chester Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, developed for the Centennial by a committee chaired by Elizabeth Esther Strong in 1969. Other sources include the Centennial History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, published by the Synod in 1905, pages 442-444 and the Sesquicentennial History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, published by the Synod in 1951, pages 379-382.

R&R HISTORY LINK: IT ALL STARTED HERE – OLD BRICK CHURCH IN FAIRFIELD CO SC

The Chester ARP Church was organized in 1869. However, its heritage dates back much further. Immigrants from Northern Ireland began settling in Chester County in the 1750s, and from the beginning, some of these Scotch-Irish settlers were affiliated with the Associate and Reformed divisions of Presbyterians. Initially, they were members of Old Catholic Presbyterian Church, but gradually, as their numbers increased, they began forming separate congregations. The greatest influx of Reformed Presbyterians (Covenanters) came in 1772, when five ships full of followers of the Rev. William Martin settled along Rocky Creek. The two groups merged in 1782 to form the Associate Reformed Presbyterian denomination. Shortly after, the Hopewell ARP Church was organized in 1787.

The village of Chester began to develop to the northwest of Hopewell as the county seat of the new Chester County, which was created in 1785. As the town grew, families gradually began moving in from the country to take advantage of the economic opportunities provided by a growing and prospering county seat. By the late 1850s, Associate Reformed Presbyterian pastors began preaching occasionally in Chesterville, as it was then known, for the convenience of members of the denomination who had moved there. An attempt to organize a church was reported in 1859, but it was unsuccessful. After the Civil War, Rev. Robert Wilson Brice, then the pastor of Hopewell, began preaching at the old location of Purity Presbyterian Church, about three miles east of Chester. The Purity congregation had recently built a new church building in downtown Chester, and their old building was made available for meetings. This work continued for several years, and in 1869, First Presbytery authorized a commission to organize a congregation in Chester. Rev. Brice held an organizational meeting in July, at which 14 members were received. The sermon that day was preached from Psalm 72:16. Nine of these were from Hopewell and five were from Union ARP Church at Richburg. They were Matthew Elder, Mary Jane Elder, William John Henry, Sarah Torbit Henry, Margaret Hemphill Gaston, George McCormick, Rosannah McCormick, Francis M. Torbit, Matthew White, John Simpson, Sarah Simpson Baird, Joseph Wylie, Martha Millen Wylie, and Mary Ann Wylie. The first elders were Mr. Wylie, Mr. White, Mr. Henry, and Mr. Simpson. Joseph Wylie served as Clerk of Session for a number of years. Mary Ann Wylie was an African American who lived in the Wylie household.

Shortly after organization, the new congregation secured Rev. Brice for one-third of his time as the minister. This meant that services were held every third Sunday. He preached at Hopewell on the other Sundays. In 1871, the congregation purchased the old Methodist church building, located on Pinckney Street (now Center Street) for the price of $1,100, paid in cash. The leaders of the church were enterprising and successful men, and the church was self-supporting from the very beginning.

Rev. Robert Wilson Brice was born in Fairfield County in the New Hope community. He graduated from Erskine College in the class of 1844 and studied at Allegheny Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and at Erskine Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1848. As a young seminary graduate, he did supply work for ARP churches in Kentucky, where he met and married Anna Marie Steele. His first and only pastoral call was to Hopewell, where he served from 1850 to his death in 1878. From 1869 until 1876, he also served the new Chester church. The Brices lived on the Great Falls Road, where they had ten children. Following the Civil War, Rev. Brice ministered to the former slave members of Hopewell by preaching at a separate location. He served as Moderator of the Synod twice. During Rev. Brice’s ministry with the Chester church, it grew and added new members from Hopewell, Union, New Hope, and other churches.

The next pastor was Rev. John Preston Marion, a native of Chester County. He was reared in the Union ARP Church, and studied at the University of Virginia and Erskine Theological Seminary. He was ordained about 1870 and served in Arkansas for several years, where he organized several churches. He was called to Chester in 1876. For three years, Rev. Marion also preached at Smyrna Associate Church on Rocky Creek and at White Oak ARP Church in Fairfield County. In 1879, he became the first full-time minister of the Chester church, and services for the first time were held every Sunday. Rev. Marion married Emma Castles, and they had eight children. Their first home was on Saluda Street, where the Chester Post Office is now located. In 1881, the Marions sold this home and purchased the Thomas Torbit home on the southwest corner of York and Pine Streets.

Under the leadership of Rev. Marion, the church grew and soon became involved in programs of the denomination and the community. Services on Sundays included Sabbath School, morning worship, and afternoon worship. Rev. Marion served as first president of the Chester Bible Society. Due to the growth of the congregation, the old church was torn down in the fall of 1878, and a new building erected on the same site. During construction, the congregation worshipped in the Chester County Courthouse. The new church was completed in early 1879 at a cost of approximately $2,600. The building is a beautiful Carpenter Gothic style wood frame church which was described as “one of the neatest, prettiest churches in the upcountry.” During Rev. Marion’s service in Chester, 40 new members were added, and several new officers were elected. After six years, Rev. Marion resigned to unite with the Presbyterian Church, U. S., where he served several churches until his death in 1907.

Rev. Mason Wiley Pressly was installed as the next pastor in 1882. Rev. Pressly grew up at Coddle Creek, North Carolina, where his father, Rev. John E. Pressly, was pastor. He attended Erskine College and Seminary and did some additional work at Princeton Theological Seminary. Shortly after coming to Chester, Rev. Pressly married Anne Clarkson Worth of Asheville. They built a home at 100 York Street in Chester.

In 1883, several men were added to the Session and Board of Deacons, and the church hosted the meeting of the General Synod of the denomination. The congregation at this time had about 100 members, about half of whom lived in Chester and the rest in the surrounding countryside. In 1884, the Benevolent Society, the first women’s organization in the church, was organized with 17 members. They chose Mrs. Sallie Miller Brice as President. Rev. Pressly led the church for nearly four years, during which 45 names were added to the roll. In March 1886, he resigned to become pastor of a United Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

Image from 1884, showing the original location of the ARP Church on Center Street. Courtesy of the Sanborn Map Company

For the next year, the church had a number of supply ministers, including students from the seminary. In April, 1887, Rev. James Strong Moffatt became the minister. At his installation, it was announced that elder Joseph Wylie had presented a gift of a manse to the church for the use of its ministers. Located at 115 York Street, the two-story frame house was used for many years as the manse and has now been converted

1910 – Sanborn Map layout of the current church building.

into a funeral home and a brick exterior has been added. The young minister was the son of Rev. William S. and Martha Jane Wilson Moffatt and was born in Wheeling, Arkansas. His ancestry was in both the Strong and Moffatt families, pioneering families in the Covenanter settlement on Little Rocky Creek in Chester County in 1772. He was educated at Erskine College, Muskingum College in Ohio, Allegheny Seminary and Western University in Pittsburg. His wife was Jennie Grier Moffatt, the daughter of the President of Erskine College, Dr. W. M. Grier. The couple had nine children. The salary for the young minister was $1,000 per year. In his first year, the church had a membership of 106, of whom four were African-Americans.

Rev. Moffatt was very active in youth ministry on the denominational level, becoming director of the Young Peoples’ and Sabbath School work of the Synod. The local Young Peoples’ Christian Union (YPCU) became very active. He also was involved in local evangelical outreach efforts, preaching to traveling men at the hotel and opening a chapel at the Eureka Mill Village.

As the church grew, the need for a larger sanctuary led to plans for a new building. In February 1897, the congregation voted to proceed with a new church structure. Joseph Wylie and A. W. Love were appointed a committee to find a new site. Mr. Wylie presented as a gift to the congregation the lot at the corner of Wylie and Main Streets, which he had purchased from Holmes Hardin for $2,000. Architects Hayden and Wheeler of Atlanta were selected to prepare plans, and these were approved. Construction started in the spring of 1897 and the building was completed in December. The original contractors withdrew in the middle of the project, and local firm Latimer and Robinson completed the work. The cost of the building was $11,671.58. The attractive new church included stained glass windows, a tall bell tower, and greatly increased seating capacity. The building was dedicated in January 1898. That year also saw the church host the meeting of the General Synod and receive 32 new members.

During Rev. Moffatt’s ministry, he assisted in the organization of two new churches in surrounding communities, Edgemoor in 1889 and Rock Hill in 1895. The Chester church also provided financial aid to numerous new churches across the Synod. Rev. Moffatt was a popular speaker and filled many preaching appointments outside his regular service in Chester.

In January 1900, the former church building at 132 Center Street was sold to the Episcopal Church and became home for St Mark’s Episcopal Church, which is still located there. It is relatively unchanged except for the erection of a Parish House.

In the fall of 1906, Rev. Moffatt was elected as President of Erskine College, and he resigned his position in Chester. In June 1907, the congregation extended a call to Rev. Charles Edgar McDonald, who was then serving as pastor of the Bethel ARP Church in Winnsboro. He was born in Chester County, where his father, Rev. Laughlin McDonald, served as pastor of Union and Neely’s Creek ARP Churches. He graduated from Erskine College and Seminary. Rev. McDonald was also active in the YPCU and was a contributor to the ARP denominational publications and a member of the South Carolina Historical Society. During his ministry, the Chester church began its first efforts at supporting foreign missions. In 1908, a Moehler organ was installed in the sanctuary through the efforts of Sallie Miller Brice and with partial support from Andrew Carnegie. The denomination had only recently allowed musical accompaniment in worship, and this is believed to be one of the first pipe organs in an ARP church.

After he had been in Chester for only two years, Rev. McDonald died after a short illness in April 1909. Rev. David Gardner Phillips was chosen as the next minister. His father served as pastor of the Ebenezer ARP Church in Jefferson County, Georgia for 48 years. Rev. Phillips was educated at Erskine College and at Erskine and Princeton Theological Seminaries. He had served as pastor of several churches in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina prior to coming to Chester. In 1891, he had married Mary Jane Wideman of Due West, and they eventually had seven children.

Just as Rev. Phillips arrived in Chester, during the celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the women’s work in the Chester church, the local group led in the formation of a Presbytery-level women’s organization called First Presbyterial. Later, in 1920, the Chester group also led in the creation of Catawba Presbyterial when that Presbytery was created. In March 1915, the Chester church undertook to support its first foreign missionary, Esther Strong, who sailed for India in the fall. The part of India in which the ARP mission was active is now part of Pakistan. The Chester church gave liberally in support of the construction of a church building in Sahiwal, Pakistan, where an active congregation continues its witness. Between 1913 and 1919, Rev. J. G. Dale and his family lived in Chester. They had served as missionaries to Mexico and had to flee due to the Mexican Revolution. Rev. Phillips led the church in support for denominational fund-raising efforts to support the institutions of the Synod, and he hosted revivals by visiting ministers. During World War I, the church sent 17 young men to serve. In 1915, a Men’s Bible Class was organized which provided not only for Bible study but also served as an organization for service within the church and community. In 1921, the ARP denomination purchased an estate near Flat Rock, North Carolina for use as a summer conference center. A contest to select a name was held, and Sallie Miller Brice of Chester submitted the winning entry, Bonclarken, meaning “good, clear vision.” In September 1922, Rev. Phillips reported that he had accepted a call to be pastor of the First ARP Church in Charlotte. He later served in Spartanburg, and after retirement, the family returned to Chester, where he died in 1935. The Chester Reporter spoke of him, “He was a friend to everyone he met, high and low, rich and poor, white and black, and always had a word of cheer and inspiration. No man ever served a church in Chester who had a larger group of devoted friends.” During Rev. Phillips’s pastorate, the membership of the church grew from 210 to 321.

Rev. Paul Adam Pressly was called as pastor in February 1923. A native of Due West, his father and grandfather were leaders in the denomination and both had served as pastor of the Due West church. Rev. Pressly graduated from Erskine College and Seminary, finishing his course on 1904. He married Martha Lois Moffatt of Troy, Tennessee, and the couple had seven children. Rev. Pressly had served churches in Lancaster and Louisville, Georgia. The congregation hosted the meeting of the General Synod for the third time in 1923. Soon the church was working to improve the facilities for Christian education activities and to enhance the existing sanctuary. A building plan for $35,000 was approved, and the new educational building behind the sanctuary on Wylie Street was completed in May 1925. The building included classrooms and offices, a room for the YPCU, a kitchen, and an assembly room. The interior of the sanctuary was changed, with the pulpit being moved from the northeast to the southeast side, the organ relocated, and new memorial windows installed. During construction, the congregation met in the Dreamland Theater and shared some spaces in Purity Presbyterian Church. The church school was reorganized and expanded, and new recreational and music programs were added for young people. As he had done in his previous pastorate in Georgia, Rev. Pressly served on the Chester County Board of Education. Rev. Pressly developed pneumonia in April 1936 and died within a week at the age of 56.

Rev. Joseph Lee Grier became the next pastor of the Chester church in September 1936. He was a son and grandson of ARP ministers. His grandfather was Dr. R. C. Grier, president of Erskine College. Joseph Grier graduated from Erskine in 1912 and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1919. He had served pastorates in Missouri, Virginia, and Louisville, Kentucky. He wife was Ruth Morrison Grier from Statesville, N. C., and the couple had four children. Grier’s ministry was characterized by evangelistic efforts, often in cooperation with other churches in Chester County. A number of outstanding national religious leaders were invited to come to Chester for special services. The church also participated actively in denominational campaigns to raise funds for Erskine College, foreign missions, and other causes. In 1937, during the depths of the Great Depression, the debt on the building expansion program completed in 1925 was retired. The church celebrated its 70^th anniversary in 1939 with special programs. During World War II, the church sent 69 men and women into service, and between 1943 and 1945, produced a newsletter which was sent to all young people in the service. Early in the war, maneuvers were held in the Piedmont section of South Carolina, with thousands of soldiers training in field training. The church opened its doors to troops, and during this period, 6,125 men passed through the doors. Rev. Grier led adult Bible conferences at the denominational conference center, Bonclarken, for several years. A Boy Scout program was begun at the church, and Rev. Grier was recognized for many years of service to the program. During 1947, Rev. Grier’s health began to fail, and he resigned the pastorate in October 1949.

Dr. Arthur Small Rogers, retired minister of the Rock Hill ARP Church, served as Interim Minister for a period of a year. During the interim before the next minister was called, it was decided to sell the old manse at 115 York Street and a lot was purchased at the corner of York and Pine Streets, where a new manse was built. The old manse had served since 1887.

In 1950, the congregation called Rev. Arthur Murray Rogers as the next pastor. Like so many of his predecessors, Rogers was a son of the manse, having grown up under the ministry of his father in Rock Hill. After graduation from Erskine College and Union Theological Seminary, he helped to organize a church in Memphis, Tennessee, and served as pastor in Bartow, Florida. He had married Katherine Lathrop Whitesides in 1941, and the couple had one daughter.

Rev. Rogers led the church in a number of denominational initiatives to raise funds for church-wide institutions and initiatives. He also served as director of the Adult Bible Conference and for many years was Stated Clerk of Synod. Various evangelical services were held with visiting ministers from a wide spectrum. The men’s organization was organized more thoroughly, and it began strong support for foreign missions work. The church celebrated its 90^th anniversary in 1959. Rev. Rogers resigned in early 1965 to become pastor of Young Memorial ARP Church in Anderson.

Rev. Dwight Lafayette Pearson became the next pastor in May 1965. A native of Gastonia, N. C., Pearson had graduated from Erskine College and Seminary. He was married to the former Lou Finley of Seneca, they have two children. He had served the Smyrna ARP Church in York County for two years before coming to Chester. Pearson led the church for 38 years. The present pastor is Rev. Clint H. Davis.

Additional information: Hayden and Wheeler, Church Turns Seventy-Five, and Surrounding the Church

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R&R HISTORY LINK: AN IMPORTANT LINK – THE CHESTER CO CONNECTION TO ROCK HILL’S FIRST ARP CHURCH

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IMAGE GALLERY – Courtesy of the photographer Bill Segars, 2016