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Springhill,
Its History
Its People
Spring Hill in a small vilhig:
in Ilie southwestern purl o
Montgomery eounly. Ga. It is
situated on a high plateau, over
looking the murmuring waters
of 1 lie Little Ocmitlgce. Wile!
the white man lirst came thesr
streams abounded with the lines'
Trout, perch anil bream. The
thick forest of yellow pine form
vd a beaut ill] canopy of green
above and the wild oafs and otii
••r sui’culent grasses formed a ear
p'et of gnen over Ih* undulating
hills and oiit.sl retehed valleys.
TtL seemed Io have been a fa'
*<rite huntlog ground of the In
‘linns. I have found. near this
spot some well-carved arrow
beads which the Imlians mad •
from North Georgia Hint and
brought with them on time hunt
tug expeditions to this favorite
Jmd charming spot. When
I red of the chase, they no doubt
mold rest under these braneh
ig oaks. poplars ami lungnylim
and drink of the cooling Stream
hud springs that here ami there
hurst from the brow,of this low
ly hill. s
When the Imlians retired south
of the Ormulgec river by. I r^^
with the I idled Slates
nletlt. Ilie Whiles erilne^H
South Carolina ami NorttlT^jO
tina ami settled in this
region. They eame most hW RM
Robinson county. N. Gr:
from various parts of the^KOte
Pwlnmlfo Stale. Mrs. DoieVM
McArthur, an aged and samwH
«dia racier, long sll
away informed me .
ehurw built was al'OlMM^^^^B
-m. ~.UdL
.aft' : '
KWW ... •
ington’s Af'H stood^t HH|iK
sw» But later on. tlH^^Kity
, and natural lid vmiH^^^^ol
Spring Hill became so^appmmnt
that all the preachers ami breth
ren decided to build at this place.
Accord ugly, they erected a large
log structure on the brow of Hie
hill, just above the big spring.
Later on these progressive and
noble men built a. temperanee
ball, where the Sous of Temper
ance could meet from time to
lime and advocate and pre^s th"
claims of temperance upon the old
ami doling.
Tim ehureh al Spring Hill was
<me of the appointments of the
Dublin charge. In those days
the pastor had 28 appointments,
and one rest day in the month.
Starting al Dubi n the preacher
wdnld go on to Buckhorn, then a
place near Cochran, then to one
between Empire and Hawkins
Ville then to the laxt mentioned,
then down Ihe River Road at
different points, (hen to Alston’s,
near Rhine, then Io Concord, toj
Bethel. Jacksonville, Shelton's.)
Lumber Cit\. Spring Hill. Shiloh i
to other points n Tellair, then to
Little York, Morrison's Clarke’s
Lowery's ami back to Dublin io
rest one day. In those days tae
preacher, if fond of hunting
would go driving for dear in
company wit’h the brethren on
their way to ehureh. 1 hey would
hang up the carcass, go on io
ehureh. stack their guns: the
preacher would preach a waim (
sermon right Irhin the .heart, and)
nil would go on their way rejoie I
ng Those were happy days.
The people had a parodise io
lice in. and they enjoyed it. One
preacher was very fond of hunt
ing. At the quarterly conference,
a brother arose and said that he
bad nothing specially against the
F< meher . only he hunted too
much. The elders said to the pas
tor. if he had anything to say to
the charge, say it. The preacher
replied that be was kill ng all
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’ X' In
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loned ;ind . . ... st !
He led the brethren bWmwW^s'i
a ramp-tneeting at Spring Hill in
1840. The following are the.
names of the tent-holders from]
time Io time ns I now remember
them: M . N. Mcßae. Dan’l E
Mcßae, Duncan McArthur, reter)
McArthur. Mrs. sarali Brown
ing. Allen McArthur. Simon
Wootun, Henry Wooten. Mr.
Clements. .lames D. Clements
John Clements, Chat-lie St-wart
Jacob W Clements Perry Brown
ing Clayton Clements. Cl nton
Chnnmls, Gabriel Clements, Heo
Browning, G. M C. Burkhalter
Jee Burkhalter. David Creech.
John Steele, Cant. Day. John Mc-
Kay. Duncan Graham and many .
ethers whose names just nowj
have escaped mv memoay. Some
who could not tent always car
ried well filled-baskets and help
ed to feed the multitude, coming
every morning and returning
home every night. Camp meetings
are the most saving institufons
of the world. The people leave
the'r seeula affairs for a season.
lay aside all business I'rom their;
minds, and with wives and child-!
ren and neighbors go up to their
tents do worship Hod alone w th
, undivided hearts. Tin- crowd that
assembled from miles around, the
earnest sermons, at ft 11. J ami
at njgliX, the camp fii'-s burning
| with brilliant light giving a
I wierd appearance ■
and the great song
pthat swelled lil tide
fro in !
C
s;‘i ' remain dM|«nind iane™j
I - Ibeir sinsf'tjMMMh >«dvatimi
1 ere they t^M^^^'hen Hod’s
myriads Hod. or
run away mMiii their de.n
ami pun; iet ions. So it;
was at F lfill and other
camp-mewßiw Hence a com
; munity where they hold these
meetings is moral, pure, tern
perate, full of brotherly kindness;
•■nd charity so it was there.
There the best talent of the min
ist v is focused on the great
throng, for one week or .more,
people are converted, the church
I is built up and edified and near-
I|y all are sanctified and saved.
Sueb was the mfluenev at Spring
Hill for many years.
The beaut fill springs giv v the
name to't he village. The largest
one. like the many others, gush
ing from the side of hill, gave a
stream of pure, clear, freestone
water. In the old camp meeting
; times, how the boys enjoyed it .
H nder pretense of watering the
horses, they would quickly bridle
them. mount bareback, seemingly
turn toward the spring, but
dash away on another road, te
try the.speed of their respective
an ma Is. They freely offered to
Water evory horse on the hili
,hey loved the sport. They always
promised to be back soon. The
spring was a great attraction.
Here all could satiate their thirst
■ -yAh I y'at^^^The Watii
1 - s ~ Rv '' 1
eampAiyctings. I mention Wiley
H. Barks, graceful and magnetic,
he won all hearts wherever he
Went. The people cons dered him
the most gifted pulpit orator they
i had over heard. Janies Dickey,
strong, robust, full of wit and hu
mor; he preaclp-d to white and
colored everywhere. Many stars
will adorn his crown forever, for
ihe brought many to Christ. D.
J. Myrick was great in proclaim
ing and defending the doctrines
of the Bible. Walter Knox was a
great presiding elder, wise in
counsel. learned in church law.
firm but kind in discipline. His
sermons were clothed in beautiful
English. Lewis B. Payne was el
-a long time and travelled the
district in h’s buggy for four
years from Cochran to Darien.
Whether he preached Thursday.
Friday or Sunday souls were con
verted or heliaimed at almost ev
ery service. He had a great big
We will always save you
money on : r : :
Watches,
Diamonds
— AMI —
Jewelry.
/ i
Leading
Jeweler
wSwiS:
W. E. WALKER. Jr.
Vidalia, Ga.
F . L , HUI E 4
Dentist f
- --—-—;—
M Z V
S Vidalia : : GeJ
। - 11
a WW
I will Save You Money on
I all work done iu my ottice.
I Material and WorKmanship
guaranteed. \
Good Bailread Connections to and from here. -
1 .
soul to help the poor and needy.
I have seen him.sell his watch to,
help a' young preacher go to ;
school. If a preacher had rm;
horse he would mount him andj
send him to his work. He was a!
man of invneible courage and|
energy, and at times he would j
equal Bascom in eloquence. Johnj
E Sentell could preach with more,
unction than most men. When
enthused with his subject, as he
often was. a halo of glory seemed
to rest upon bis face and head
He was one of rhe most faithfulj
and painstaking pas.tors I. have)
ever known. Bishop Pierce sonu -
limes vfent c, Spring HU. The
people expected simethmg ex-
-
PERFECT(
Fiting,
Glnssd
Result from
our Thorough ■
Eye ExamFnatj^
X
Li. ini.'n. in-roui rui^H
I ceedingly grand in ap^earalnee.
Wheil they saw how simple land
! plain he was. when
! this man of national’ ».$
j plainly attired, enter the <
■ select his hymn in a hioumtC
• preach with so much simplffl^"
i and yet with so much pathos and
। wisdom, they felt they hhd seen
a man of the ages, and gav him
■ precedence in their hearts ev.r
all except Christ. Time would
fail me to tell of many
who liave done their work ibß|
long ago and have passed
■their home in the skiek, J t
Another historeal eh^H
once in our midst was the Wig
(Continued on opposite pa 4