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■ne 2139 Covington, Ga.
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that which has blazed forth from
the radiant face of a happy con
vert, or from the effulgent
countenance of a zealous and con
secrated servant of God in the
prosecution of his glorious and
beloved work of saving souls.
Upon this spot no water has fal
len for nearly half a century save
that which has broken forth from
the well-springs of contrition in
the breasts of sin-convicted and
. repentant sinners. No sorrow has
been sheltered under this massive
roof, save sorrow for guilt and
sin, and joy and happiness, and
Christian love and fellowship has
reigned supreme for such an age,
that to be here gives one a calm,
peaceful, restful feeling, and in
spires thoughts of the grandeur
of God, and of man’s almost utter
insignificance. Like the apostle"
’ on the mount, we can but say,
1 “Lord, it is good for us to be
here.”
An Old Historic Spot
I said historic old spot. I re
peat it. In the history of Georgia
Methodism there is no landmark
[ fuller or reminiscences than Sa
lem campground. In its precincts
I the fervent eloquence of the
south's under the ample protec
tion of itsgrandest pulpit orators
has reverberated again and a
gain, and ancient tabernacle some
of Ga.’s greatest and best sons
and daughters have served the
God of Israel in soberness and
in truth, and many of the best,
most influential and most pious
men of this section have found
the Christ who gave himself for
them, and have felt the sweet
hope of at last joining the long
roll of their forefathers in the
blest beyond. The most notable
J* 8 ”* 3 ™,! in the Methodist
th k ha ' e ht “ re P rose> cuted
their labor of love, and the best
families of Newton. Rockdale.
Henry, and Walton counties; of
Covington, Conyers. Monroe, Mc-
Donough and other towns, have
from time immemorial made this
the rendezvous for yearly social
reunion and religious enjoyment.
salem campground. Newton
county, Oxford district. North
Georgia conference, is a place of
wonderful beauty. Richly en
dowed bv nature, improved and
beautified by man, softened and
ripened by the mellowing tints
of time, it certaintly is a spot
full of inspirtation. Poets have
here composed some of their
choicest gems, orators have here
given to the world their most
beautiful efforts, and men and
women have here given thought
to the purest and best ideals of
their lives. The influence of this
campmeeting has been and is
being felt, throughout the re
ligious history of Georgia, and
।to Salem, this state, and par
. ticularly this section, is due un
bound gratitude for its bene
ficient influence upon the morals
of Georgia’s sons and daughters.
Its Early Inauguration
Salem campmeeting is one of
the oldest religious observances I
in the state, having been held I
every year for sixty-six years, I
the last two years of the war,
when it was suspended, being
excepted. Before the war it
began on the Friday before the
first Sunday in September. ■ and
continued for two weeks. Since
the war, it has only been con
tinued through one week, and
about four years ago the day of
meeting was changed to Friday
before the fourth Sunday in Aug
ust, to accommodate the neigh
boring farmers by putting it be- I
tween fodder pulling and cotton
picking times.
In 1824 Salem church, Newton
county, was founded, and the
i campmeeting inaugurated that
■ summer. Two years the camp
meeting was held at Salem
church, when it was removed to
Honey creek, in then Newton,
now Rockdale county. It was
held at Honey creek for several
years, and then it was removed
to Covington, where it was held
two or three years. Later it was
removed to Ebenezer, in then
Newton, now Rockdale county,
and in 1835 it was brought back
to Salem, where it has remained
ever since, upon its present site.
When it was brought back to
Salem in 1835 it was built as
■ what was then known in these
parts as a “brush arbor,” the en
’ tire top of the tabernacle being
! covered with brLsh cut from the
' trees of the surrounding forest.
I From this fact that it was cover
ed with brush and resembled a
; large grape arbor, the tabernacle
was called the “arbor” by those
who frequented the meetings,
( and it has held to the name among
■ । the natives to this day. It con
' tinued to be a brush arbor, yearly
covered with newly cut brush,
until 1845, when the present
capacious tabernacle was erected.
When the campground was fully
I completed that year, it consisted
of the large arbor, the beautiful
i grove of sturdy oaks, and seventy
-five tents stretched around the
edge of the grove in a perfect
square, in double rows a-nd with
a street between.
The Kind Os Tents
What sort of a tent? you say.
. To the uninitiated we will say, a
tent i« a small frame building,
closely resembling a country
i store in outside appearance, with
I the ground for a floor, and divid
ied up into apartments with
! stationary bunks and tables like
those m the hold of a ship. These
apartments are seperated by
' wooden partitions, with curtains
' for doors.
Contemporaneous with the re
building of the arbor in 1835, was
the organization of the Georgia
Conference Manual school at Ox
i ford (from which Emory college
sprung some ten years later) with
Rev. Alexander Means, D. D., as
president, and it is thought, in
the absence of statistics, that he
I preached the first sermon in the
I present tabernacle. Among the
original tent-holders we find the
names of Green B. Turner, who
eventually became one of the
I wealthiest and most prominent
I citizens of Newton county. Rev.
' James Read, father of Rev. Wm.
I T. Read, of the North Georgia
conference who died some years
! ago at Hampton, Ga., and grand
i father of Rev. Kosciusko Read, of
the South Georgia conference, and
Henry Read, bookkeeper at La
mar’s drug store in Atlanta: David
i Crawford, brother of the wife of
Governor Wm. H. Crawford; Joel
Stansell, father-in-law of Dr. J.
' A Stewart, of Conyers, former
member of the legislature from
Rockdale county; Isaac Christian,
i father of Rev. T. J. Christian,
I formerly of Merritts avenue and
Grace Churches, Atlanta, now of
Tallapoosa, Ga., and grandfather
of Rev. H. C. Christian, pres
j iding elder of the San Francisco
district of California; West Harris,
father of Rev. John Howard
j Harris, of the North Georgia con
ference: Rev. Morgan Bellah, one
j of the most powerful preachers
of the auld lang syne; Rev.
Charles H. Sanders, of Covington,
THE COVINGTON NEWS
a devout and elequent divine, fa
ther ’of Osgood Sanders, so well
and favorably known in Atlanta
and who died there some years
since; Wm, Brown, of Newton,
father of the Rev. Thomas Brown,
of the South Georgia conference;
George Cunningham, father of
George M. Cunningham, who
now lived about a half-mile from
the campground in Newton Coun
ty. George Cunningham, the fa
ther, was one of the men who
bought the land and settled what
is now known as Covington, and
George M. Cunningham, Mrs.
C. D. Ramsey Sr’s Father, is
said to be the first child born
in the new county of Newton
when it was made.
Sherman Missed It
In 1842 the conference bought
64 acres adjoining the camp
ground, and later 44 acres more,
making 108, and this land, skirt
ing the tents as it does, now
forms one of the finest forests
in the south. In 1850 the camp
was one-half burned out, the
north and west sides being com
pletely destroyed, but it was im
mediately rebuilt, and the camp
ground has suffered no other
casualty since. The closest shave'
it ever made was during Sher
man’s march through Georgia.
Sherman’s army came within 3
miles of it, turned to the left, and
passed over the Yellow river by
what is known as the tin bridge,
on to Covington. Had he made
his march by the grounds his
vandals would doubtless have des
troyed this romantic relic.
Some Eloquent Divines
The eloquence of James Os
good Andrew, that good and
grand man, has charmed the
multitudes beneath this arbor.
Os Bishop George F. Pierce, Bish
op Wm. Capers, Dr. Lovick
Pierce, the father of the bishop;
of Rev. Wm. Parkfs, a plain
man, but one of the most power
ful preachers the * Methodist
church has ever known, and
father of Rev. Howell Parks, a
presiding elder of the North
Georgia conference; of Dr. Alex
ander Means, professor of chem
istry in Emory, and state chemist,
who attended the first meeting
and attended every meeting un
til his death a few years since;
of Prof. G. W. W. Stone, of Ox
ford, who never missed a meet
ing until his death; of Rev. G.
W. Lane, professor at Emory; of
Luther M. Smith and Osborn
Smith, both able and distinguish
ed presidents of Emory col
lege; of Dr. Ignatius Few, the
first president of Emory, who
never failed to attend Salem
camp meeting; of Rev. W. B.
Smith, of Atlanta, of Rev. Wm.
Arnold, commonly known in
those days as “Uncle Billy,” a
plain powerful man, who was a
natural poet with a wonderful
gift in that direction, and who
presented all his petitions to a
throne of grace in verse, and
who exhorted and preached in
verse; he was the father of Rev.
Miles Arnold, at present an evan
gelist in the North Georgia con
ference; of Rev. George H.
Round. D. D., professor in Geor
gia Conference Manual Labor
School, now Emory college; of
Rev. John W. Talley and Samuel
Anthony, of the North Georgia
conference, and a host of others.
A Powerful Preacher
Os all these old time preach
ers who attended Salem camp
meeting. there was no more
powerful or eloquent orator than
this same Samuel Anthony. One
who has often heard him tell
us he was a holy terror to sin
ners, and his passionate and vehe
ment eloquence and vivid life
pictures of torment resulted in
untold conversions, and his con
verts stuck. It was his pride and
boast that there were no back
sliders among them and that
none of them ever fell from
grace. But a hoary headed gentle
man of Newton county tells us
the following anecdote, which
proves that at least one of his
converts slid back, and that at
a rapid rate:
For years there was a young
man in these parts noted for his
wickedness and godlessness. His
name is withheld on account of
the present prominence of his
relatives. The preachers had
labored with him in vain, and
preached at him until they ex
hausted their stock of terrifying
metaphors, and all without ef
fect. He always went to the serv
ices in the arbor, but seemed
impervious to the strong pic
tures of divine love, or of God s
wrath in the day of judgment.
One by one they gave him up
in despair, but at last Brother
Anthony had a chance at him.
The young man evidently evinc
ed more interest in Bro
ther Anthony’s sermons than in
those of all who had gone before,
and at the end of two days he
was found on the mourner s
bench. The third day found him
a convert, and just after Brother
Anthony had told the congrega
tion of his convert, and there
was a general congratulation a
mong the brethren, a diversion
occurred, which was the talk of
the section for months. A cook
at one of the tents, in preparing
dinner, allowed the chicken
which he was catching to fry j
for a preacher who was to dine >
with his master, to escape from j
his clutches, and he immediately I
gave chase across the grove be
tween the tents and the arbor.
As the chicken, a regular Rock-,
dale county yellow leg, neared
the stand, it rose in the air, and
flew directly into the arbor, with
in a foot of the new convert’s
head. To the pew convert, it
seemed that the crowd of boys
that had joined the cook in the
chase, were coming right down
into the arbor, and altogether,
the circumstance was too much
for the amount of grace he had
obtained. He jumped to his feet
and joined in the chase, yelling
at the top of his voice:
“Blankety-blank him, catch
him. Blank him, catch him. Why
the blankety-blank don't some
body head him?”
After the excitement. Brother
Anthony meekly arose, and an
nounced that the meeting would
close with the long meter doxo
logy and he was never again
heard to brag of the immaculate
ness of his converts. Or to avow
that they all stuck to their pro
fession of conversion and con- 1
session of Christ.
Some Latter Day Orators ,
In addition to these old-time
eloquent divines, these woods
have reverberated with the elo
quence of the leading Methodist
divines of our day — notably
Rev. Atticus G- Havgood, D. D.,
Rev. Sam Jones, Dr. I. S. Hod
kins and Rev. Warren Candler
and — but what is the need of
enumerating them, for nearly
every Methodist minister in the
North Georgia conference has
held forth at Salem, and these
meetings are attended by people
from all over the state, and a
mong the best people of the
state at that. While the eamp
groqnd is Methodist and the
camp meeting conducted by
the campmeeting conducted by
Methodist preachers, still all de
nominations attend the services,
and many Baptists and Presby
terians own tents on the ground
and yearly “tent” at Salem.
The Most Eloquent and Powerful
Various are the opinions of
the habitues of these meetings as
to who is the best preacher they
ever heard preach in the arbor.
One old hoary-headed patriarch,
who has attended over fifty
meetings at Salem, tells us that
a preacher by the name of Smith,
from Atlanta (he thinks his in
itials were W. B.) preached,
years ago, the three finest and
strongest sermons he ever heard
on the campgrounds, and that
Bishop George F. Pierce preach
ed by far the most eloquent ser
mons he ever heard. Another
patriarch of Methodism thinks
Dr. Atticus- G. Haygood, who has
always attended Salem camp
meeting since he was a boy, is
the peer of all the pulpit orators
he has ever listened to. Another
lifts up his voice in favor of
Dr. Lovick Pierce, saying he
was the best preacher that ever
walked the earth, and adds that
Dr. Pierce, was the first Metho
dist preacher he ever heard
preach the doctrine that the God
head knew Adam would fall, had
and prepared the plan of redemp
tion beforehand. Dr. Pierce
preached more frequently at
Salem than probably any other
minister in the Georgia confer
ence, and he has many admirers
among the old people around
here, who believed there never
was a man on earth equal to
him. Others are loud in their
praises of the gifted eloquence
of Dr. I. S. Hopkins, president
of the Georgia Technological in
stitute, and many are equally as
strong believers in and admirers
of Warren A Candler. But we
would fill the Journal to over
flowing, if we repeated every
eulogy that is delivered upon the
different preachers.
(To Be Continued)
New underground bituminous
coal mines placed in develop
ment or opened in the U. S.
last year have a total planned
daily capacity of 18,850 tons.
Consumption of coal by U.
S. electric utilities in the first
six months of this year showed
a rise over the same period in
1953.
WILL
SblMi EXCHANGE
YOUR CORN FOR THAT SOUTHERN
GROUND CORN MEAL
Butler Feed Co.
"YOUR LARRO DEALER"
Phone 2740 — Madison Highway — Covington, Georgia
' (Largest Coverage Any Weekly In The State)
Construction To
Begin on $2,000,000
Education Center
ATHENS, GA., Plans for im
mediate construction of the Uni
versity of Georgia's giant Con
tinuing Education Center have
been approved by the Board of
Regents, Pres. O. C. Aderhold 1
has announced.
The modern structure of brick
and glass will stand high on
South Campus, as the Univer
sity’s old trailer camp area and
poultry building make way for
the facility which will affect
Georgians in every walk of life.
The building will cost over $2,-
000,000.
Dr. Hugh Masters, Center di
rector, and his staff have been
working since January 1 on plans
for the building and for the far
flung program which will make
extensive use of the mass media
of television, radio, motion pic
tures and printing.
The building, which will be
air-conditioned, will contain a
500-capacity auditorium, sleeping
facilities for 300, a cafeteria, con- ■
ference rooms, television and
radio studios, and stage and lab
oratory facilities for producing
educational movies.
Funds for erection were made
available by the Kellogg Foun
dation of Battle Creek, Mich.,
and Gov. Herman Talmadge. The
Kellogg grant made late in 1953
amounted to $2,144,000, and this
sum was matched by the state.
The total program for the Cen
ter will include — not only the
building — but the erection of
a 1000-foot television tower near
Athens and the completion of the
Rock Eagle 4-H Center near
Eatonton.
When the building is com
pleted, thousands more Georgians
than now attend University con- |
ferences and short courses are
expected to visit the campus
annually for study beyond the
classroom. The building, design
ed by Stevens and Wilkinson
with Lewis Sarvis as consulting
architect, will be surrounded by
extensive outdoor meeting and
display space. Thomas Church of
California, one of the nation's
most outstanding architects, will j
draw plans for landscaping.
The program is expected to I
be a model for a region and will
involve the coordinated use of I
the University’s total facilities
in the- fields of teaching, re- I
search, and extension.
Citizens Council
Seeks Pretty Girl;
Courteous Driver
The Georgia Citizens Council,
under the inspired leadership of
its new director — John W. Ma- j
loof — has come up with some i
unique ideas which conceivably !
could save lives on Georgia s
highways and streets. They are: :
1. Recognition of the “Most,
Couretous Driver, each month, i
2. Selection of Miss Georgia
Highway Safety of 1954.
Both these projects are in con
nection with the “Slow Down
and Live” safety campaign, in
which Georgia and 23 other,
I Southern and Northeastern states !
are participating. The special
1 safety drive continues through
Labor Day, Sept. 6.
I Regarding the first phase of
the Council’s two-fold appeal to
' save human lives (it could be
; your own), the Georgia State
Patrol will pick the driver whose
| motor manners are considered
conductive to maintaining safe
ty in the traffic lanes.
Entrants in the Miss Highway
I Safety contest will be judged
on the amount of promotional
। literature they distribute for the
I “Slow Down and Live” cam
paign, in addition to looks and
beauty. (The Council is distri
buting some 300.000 safety leaf-
I lets in connection with the pro
! gram).
But the main objective of this
' over-all campaign is to reduce
accidents and save lives. That’s
whj' they’re calling on beauty
I and manners.
BUY SAVINGS BONDS
New Fire Rates
Save $1,500,000.00
Cravey Announces
Additional downward adjust
ments in fire insurance rates ef
fective September 1, 1954, which
are expected to save Georgia
policyholders approximately an
additional $1,500,000 in fire pre
miums annually were announced
recently by Insurance Commis
sioner Zack D. Cravey.
The new rates, worked out by
Commissioner Cravey in co-op
eration with the Georgia Inspec
tion and Rating Bureau^ bring to
approximately $10,000,000 the
amount policy-holders are now
saving annually since 1947.
Classes involved under the
new rating scale are: apartment
houses, boarding houses, dwell
ings (nor farm or country), fra
ternity houses, Large Area Hous
ing Projects (not U. S. Housing
Authority Projects), motels, nur
ses homes, rooming houses, sis
ters homes, sorority houses, and
trailer (auto) homes.
The adjustments will not apply
to property of fire resistive con
struction (except dwellings and
trailer homes), nor those equip
ped witlx automatic sprinklers.
In making public the new
rates, Commissioner Cravey, who
also is Georgia Safety Fire Com
missioner, declared that they re
flect the continued diligence of
the public is assisting the state’s
safety fire program.
“More and more,” he said,
“Our people arg becoming fire
safety conscious, realizing that
they themselves set their insur-
HOME COOKING
Just Like Mother Used to Serve
BREAKFAST — DINNER — SUPPER
OPEN DAILY 7 A.M. 'TILL 6 P.M.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 7 A.M. 'TILL 8 P.M.
CHAPMAN'S CAFE
DOWN STAIRS EAST OF COURTHOUSE
American Youth Singers Presents
The Original
WALLY FOWLER GOSPEL & SPIRITUAL
All Nite Singing Concert
SATURDAY JULY 24
8:30 P.M. z til 2A M.
CITY AUDITORIUM
Atlanta, Georgia
ll hat
FRANK
ADAMSON
BELIEVES...
.... TAXES—Our tax system needs a complete overhaul. Our I
taxes are as high as our economy will stand and should
not be raised under any condition. Tax cuts should be
granted immediately as our economy will stand,
.... SCHOOLS—He will fight for the preservation of our Pub
lic Segregated Schools and our Southern way of life.
.... ECONOMY—He does not believe that this is the time for
an 85% Salary increase for Congressmen as his op
ponent proposes. His record shows that he has held the
line on his own salary and asked that no increase be
given.
.... FARM PROGRAM—He will back the Democratic spon
sored farm program 100%. Having been reared on a
farm he better understands the problems of farmers.
.... R. E. A.— HE WILL work for expansion and further de
velopment of our great rural electrification program.
.... VETERANS—He will fight for restoration of Veterans Bene
fits that have been cut off and will work for better
service to Veterans, their widows and children.
. ... The people will speak on Sept. Bth and
will overwhelmingly elect . . .
Frank Adamson
CONGRESSMAN
llh DISTRICT
PAGE NINETEEN
ance rates. By observing th*
Georgia Safety Fire Law, they
not only, are saving lives and
property but also are putting
more money into their own poc
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