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temperance and secret societies of all kinds, and Sunday schools.

He and the church membership were bitterly opposed to all churches that did not believe in baptism by immersion or that allowed or tolerated Sunday schools. The community was, as before stated, composed chiefly of Baptists, but after a while the Methodists made perceptible inroads into the “settlement." They accepted into the church those baptized by sprinkling and those who believed in temperance societies and Sunday schools. This assault upon the Baptist citadel became so pronounced that notice had to be taken of it. Heated and angry discussions took place between the adherents of the two faiths. Finally Elder Wright made known from the pulpit at one of his monthly meetings that "the Sunday after the first Saturday of next month" he would pay his particular respects to the Methodists. This announcement had the effect of bringing together at Sandrun Church the largest assembly ever known in that community. Not only did the Baptists turn out, but the Methodists as well. The old double log house was not large enough to hold the crowd, and many stood outside but in hearing distance of the preacher. The Methodists had come early and got seats under the very drippings of the sanctuary.

When the hour for the service to begin arrived, Mr. Wright entered the church and, with head erect, marched into the pulpit. He looked every inch a conqueror. I was a mere lad at the time, but I recollect the occurrences of the day as if it were but yesterday. He first lined out from the only hymnal in the church the familiar hymn, the first lines of

which read, "Go read the third of Matthew, go read it through and through." He then asked Thomas Riddle to "raise the tune.” The song was sung with an impressiveness and enthusiasm rarely witnessed in a religious congregation. After the song a short prayer was said, and then he opened the Bible and turned to the third chapter of Matthew (the Baptist platform) and began to read it. He read the whole chapter but laid strong emphasis on the following

verses:

"5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan,

6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

14 But John forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffereth Him.

16 And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him:

17 And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

When he had finished reading the chapter, he repeated with great emphasis the words "And Jesus went up straightway out of the water." He took off

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his glasses and, with the proud air of a victor, pointed his finger at the Methodists and said in a loud voice, Straightway out of the water, and not out of your sprinkling pots—not out of your sprinkling pots!" This was practically the end of the service, for the enthusiasm of the Baptists, their vociferous applause at what they considered the "death blow" to the Methodists, would allow nothing further to be said. In the opinion of the Baptists the battle was won and nothing remained but to give burial to the Methodists.

The Primitive Baptists, popularly called "Hardshells," were a plain, sincere and honest folk. There was a man by the name of Jennings who had come into the neighborhood and married a widow by the name of Cahal. He became very unpopular for some reason, and finally joined the Baptist church and was baptized in Big Creek by Mr. Wright. One of the neighbors who was hostile to Jennings, instructed his servants not to water the horses below the place where Jennings was immersed, for fear the water would make the horses sick.

Another amusing incident that happened in the neighborhood grew out of the fact that Willis Jones attempted to preach. He was a good man, but very ignorant. He had no education and could neither read nor write intelligently. He believed he heard a call to preach from the Master, and responded as best he could. The Baptists believe that all of their preachers are called by God, and so my mother, a firm believer in the tenets of the church, when joked about Jones, said, "Some one was calling hogs and Willis mistook the call and answered.'

Aside from the Baptist and Methodist, there were

no other religious organizations in the neighborhood. Troy was then, as now, the county seat of Lincoln County and situated five miles north of Sandrun Church.

The amusements provided for the younger set consisted of gatherings at neighbors' houses, where games were played and frequently dances indulged in. The music for the dances was furnished by negro fiddlers, and was of a character "not to be sneezed at." There were three of these fiddlers in the neighborhood-Rube and Ming, who belonged to Billy Clark, and Sneb, who belonged to Boyd. I have never heard any sweeter music than that drawn from those old fiddles. I can still hear (or imagine I can) old Ming as he would play, sing, and call the figures, "Ladies in the center, and all hands round!" "All four forward, and do-si-do!" "Swing corners, and all promenade!" The dances would continue all night long, and with old Ming half asleep and the fiddle still going he would sing as an accompaniment, "Hop light, ladies, day is a 'breaking, don't you see the morning star?"

Those were good old days, and everybody happy. The hat was passed around for the benefit of the fiddlers, and everyone was expected to contribute not less than ten cents and not more than twenty-five. This was all the expense attending these parties. These dances were "pulled off" most generally at the homes of Harvey Brown, Jacob Geiger, and Macon Hill. The young men and young ladies went to these homes on horseback-usually two on a horsehorse-the man before, and the lady behind. If the horse objected to

"carrying double" it was good to see with what tenacity the young woman held on to the man to keep from falling off. The man seemed pleased with the situation, and the woman did not object. In the winter when the snows were deep, every young fellow in the neighborhood had a sleigh or, as it was then called, a "jumper." This "jumper" was easily constructed. Two saplings of sufficient length were cut down for runners. Holes were bored in the larger part, standards inserted and braces placed, upon which a box sufficiently large for two persons was fastened, and the forward or smaller parts of the saplings were used as shafts. These were fastened to the hames on the horse with lines made of rope, and, with a large cow bell on the horse, the gayest trips possible were made from house to house in that sparsely settled territory.

In the evenings, after the stock had been fed and supper eaten, the negroes in their cabins, the banjo was taken down from the wall and a regular "walk around" took place.

It is a just tribute to the negro to say that they were faithful, obedient and loving to the whites, and there was no lullaby ever sung to the white child that was sweeter than that which the "old mammy" would sing. Surely, the good Lord will not forget them in the great hereafter.

An incident showing devotion to the wife and child by an old negro was never better exemplified than in that which I am about to relate. Christopher Carter was a neighbor of our family and owned a negro man by the name of John. John had a common-law wife

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