ALEXANDER’S ACADEMY: Rev. Joseph Alexander, first pastor of Bullock’s Creek Presbyterian Church, established a school of higher learning in 1787, the first in the South Carolina upcountry. This school was similar to a preparatory college. The site of the academy is believed to a few yards behind the present church on what was known as Hamilton’s Ford Road. The site is marked by a pile of rocks on the north side of the old roadbed.
REV. JOSEPH ALEXANDER, D. D. By Jerry L. West, Part 2 (A portion of…..)
Shortly after his arrival at Bullock’s Creek, Alexander established another church on the west side of Broad River, called Thickety Creek—this congregation later came to be known as Salem. It is here that Rev. William Tenent II of Charleston met Alexander. Tenent was the son of Gilbert Tenent and the grandson of Rev. William Tenent who fanned revival fires among the the New Jersey Presbyterians during the Great Awakening of the 1770s. William Tenent II was born in New Jersey and was educated at the Log College (Princeton) which had been founded by his grandfather and later became pastor of the Independent Presbyterian Church in Charleston in 1772. He died at the age of thirty-seven. Reverend Tenent was a member of the provincial Congress of South Carolina and was commissioned by the Council of Safety to go into the upcountry and “… explain to the people at large the nature of the disputes between Great Britain and the American Colonies.” He found little sympathy for a war with Great Britain which led to the state taking a drastic step in an attempt to coerce the upcountry into resistance. This all but led to a bloody battle between the people and the government of South Carolina. Tenent’s journal records his visit to Thickety Creek: “… rode thirteen miles, crossed ‘ Broad River at Smith’s Ford to a meeting house of Mr. Alexander’s on Thickety Creek where I found him preaching to a crowd of people assembled to meet me. When he had done, I mounted the pulpit and spoke near two hours”. The lack of roads made traveling difficult and in one of Tenent’s letters he wrote, “I have forsook my chaise and ride on horseback from day to day, meeting with the people.” When he mounted this back-country pulpit, he was well prepared to preach against the tyranny of the British throne. He, like all Presbyterian ministers, was considered by the Crown to be a ring leader in the Revolution. Reverend Russell described the peril of the Pastor, “His unfaltering and spirited hostility to British tyranny and oppression, and to Tory butchery, arson and plunder, procured for him a prominence that frequently periled his property, his person, and the regular exercise of his professional functions. . . so fierce and threatening was the storm that raged around the partisan preacher, and so deep was his hold upon the affections of his people that the few men and lads of Bullock’s Creek not out at the time in the public service, habitually repaired to church on the Sabbath morning with their rifles in their hands, and, stationing themselves around what the next generation called ‘The Old Log Meeting House,’ guarded the minister and the worshipping congregation while he preached the Gospel to them.”
At one point in the war, Alexander had to flee his home and seek refuge in other quarters. It was said that if the British could have caught him they would have roasted him alive! In 1787, Reverend Alexander established his famous academy near his home, a little over a mile southwest of the church. This academy was the first classical school of the South Carolina upcountry. Alexander’s school was not only instrumental in preparing clergymen for the local Presbyterian church, but physicians, jurists and statesmen as well; Governor Johnson of Union District was one of his most distinguished pupils. In 1797, a College of Pinckneyville was chartered and given the noble name, “Alexandria College” in honor of Reverend Alexander. The trustees were: Joseph Alyard, James Templeton, John Simpson, Francis Cummins, Robert McCulloch, James White Simpson, John Brown, Robert Wilson, Abraham Nott, Andrew Love, Alexander Moore, Thomas Brandon, William Bratton and Samuel Dunlap. Regrettably, this institution was never established. By the 1790s Reverend Alexander was curtailing his traveling and giving his charges over to younger ministers. On June 24, 1801, he requested the Presbytery to give him release of his pastorate at Bullock’s Creek. The reasons for his request were because of the reduction in members, a small number of communicants, the people’s diminished interest in public worship and business of the church, the inattention to the collections and the lost of interest in his ministry. Although he placed the blame on the congregation, they, too, had a few complaints against him. By this time, he was an aged man and was extremely feeble in body. His mind had somewhat weakened and his speech was so bad from weakness and loss of teeth that it was difficult for the congregation to understand him. The last mental picture we have of the old Revolutionary is one of a small, toothless and feeble old man who walks with a limp and wears a white, linen skull cap to cover his aged head–no longer the fearless and fiery preacher of the past. In 1807, he received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the College of South Carolina; two years later Dr. Alexander died on July 30, 1809, at the age of seventy-four.
His wife had preceded him in death six years earlier. They are buried in the Bullock’s Creek Cemetery, near to the then existing meeting house. On the 24th of August 1809 the following notice appeared in the Raleigh Register. “On the 29th ult in York District, South Carolina the Reverend Joseph Alexander, DD, minister of the Presbyterian Church, approaching to 80 years of age, died. He was a native of Pennsylvania, graduated at Princeton College in 1760. He came to Carolina soon after the Peace of 1763, and was eminently instrumental in planting Churches both in North and South Carolina, at the early period of the settlement of the back country, when both states were in very destitute condition with respect to fathers of learning in the Western Woods of Carolina.” On October 16, 1890, the congregation erected a monument at the grave; the inscription reads: “Erected October 16, 1890 by a grateful people, who desire to perpetuate the memory of this fearless patriot, distinguished teacher and faithful minister of Christ.” (Information courtesy of and from: YCGHS – The Quarterly Magazine)
Stay Connected
Explore history, houses, and stories across S.C. Your membership provides you with updates on regional topics, information on historic research, preservation, and monthly feature articles. But remember R&R wants to hear from you and assist in preserving your own family genealogy and memorabilia.
Visit the Southern Queries – Forum to receive assistance in answering questions, discuss genealogy, and enjoy exploring preservation topics with other members. Also listed are several history and genealogical researchers for hire.
User comments welcome — post at the bottom of this page.
Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.
Do you have information to share and preserve? Family, school, church, or other older photos and stories are welcome. Send them digitally through the “Share Your Story” link, so they too might be posted on Roots and Recall.
Thanks!
User comments always welcome - please post at the bottom of this page.
Share Your Comments & Feedback: