New Hope Church pt2
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D. I. CRAIG Reidsville, N. C. January 14, 1891 HISTORY OF NEW HOPE CHURCH Early History About two hundred years ago the middle section of North Carolina was one
wild and extensive wilderness, inhabited by savages and the wild beasts and
birds of the forest. It was about the year 1685 that Spotwood describes the
entire State as being without any form of government. The few settlers, chiefly
in the eastern portion of the State, "did what was right in their own eyes,
paying tribute neither to God nor Caesar." Mr. Bancroft, says: "There
was no fixed minister in the land till 1703; no church erected till 1705; no
separate building for a court house till 1722; no printing press till 1754.
Careless of religious sects, or colleges or lawyers or absolute laws, the early
settlers enjoyed liberty of conscience and personal independence, freedom of the forest and river. the children of nature listened to
the inspirations of nature. . . .
For them the wild bee stored its honey in hollow trees; for them unnumbered
swine fattened on the fruits of the forest or the heaps of peaches; for them in
spite of their careless lives and imperfect husbandry, cattle multiplied on the
pleasant savannahs, and they desired no greater happiness than they enjoyed. . .
They were the freest of free; men to whom the restraints of other colonies were
too sever; they were not so much caged in the woods as scattered in lonely
granges. There was neither city nor township; there was hardly even hamlet or
one house within sight of another; nor were there roads, except as the paths
from house to house were distinguished by notches in the trees. But the settlers
were gentle in their manners, of serene minds, and enemies to violence and
bloodshed. Not all the successive revolutions had kindled vindictive passions;
freedom -- entire freedom -- was enjoyed without anxiety as without guarantees
the charities of live were scattered at their feet like the flowers in their
meadows, and the spirit of humanity maintained its influence in the Arcadia, as
royalist writers will have it 'rogues and rebels' in the paradise of the
Quakers." In my early
days I have heard from the lips of some of the oldest inhabitants, stories told
them by their fathers which well agree with these statements. I have heard of
the wild swine growing fat on fruits and of the roads which were but Indian
paths. I have been told that the road between the New Hope and Hawfields
settlements was distinguished by notches in the trees. But it must be remembered
that when Mr. Bancroft speaks of the first minister and the first church in
North Carolina, he means the established church of England which was imposed by
law. Whether there were not even in 1703, many rude buildings scattered through
the country called "meeting houses," after the Quaker style, where the
people met not only to worship God but for various other purposes, is a
question, for the population increased very rapidly toward the close of the
seventeenth century. But at this very time and long before, Scotland was the
scene of endless commotions, oppressions, tyranny and bloodshed, arising from
continued attempts to suppress conscientious convictions of truth and liberty,
and many of the Scotch, who were almost
exclusively Presbyterians, first fled to Holland and thence to Ireland, where
they remained a number of years, when, by fresh oppressions they were driven to
seek religious liberty in another clime; and, coming directly from Ireland to
this country, they were called "Scotch-Irish." This was the original
stock of the New Hope congregation. They were of the most fearless character and
accustomed to the severest hardships. They were unpretentious in their manners
and customs, and most unlearned, but as unbending as iron pillars in their
religious sentiments. THE HAWFIELDS SETTLEMENT It was late in
the seventeenth century or very early in the eighteenth when the father of
Gilbert Strayhorn -- a Scotchman -- immigrated to America and settled in Dauphin
County, Pennsylvania, about 12 miles east of Harrisburg. We know but little of
this original family, the original name of which was "Streaughan" or
"Streaghan." This was the Scotch spelling, but in the old deeds of
this country, some of which are in my possession, the name was spelled
"Strean." The name was also known and spelled, as will be seen
hereafter, as "Strain." I have learned
through Mr. John A. Freeland, of Illinois, that in this family there was a
brother older than Gilbert, whose name was David, and I will add that it is
probable there was a third son, much younger than Gilbert, whose name was John.
If this be true, there is ground for believing that the name of the Scotchman
himself, the father of the boys, was Gilbert. Gilbert his
son, the patriarch, and the pioneer and father of the name
"Strayhorn," was born at the aforesaid place in Pennsylvania in the
year 1715 and was the father of all the Strayhorns in N. C. and many more who
bear the same name in the western States. This man was one of the original
founders of New Hope church, and it is not at all improbable that he was one of
the original founders of Hawfields church at an earlier date. It was about
twenty or twenty-five years after his birth in Pennsylvania that a number of
families, all of the Scotch-Irish stock, and bound together by the ties of
relationship and one common heartfelt desire for religious freedom, left the old
world in search of a new home. Among these families were the Craigs, the
Blackwoods, the Kirklands, the Freelands and perhaps the Mebanes, the Tates, the
Harts, the Nelsons, the Mitchells, the Johnstons, etc. I am almost certain the
Craigs, Blackwoods and Kirklands and perhaps the Freelands, came across the
Atlantic in the same vessel, for they seem to have been connected by
relationship in the old country, and did not separate after landing in America
until they were settled. Where they landed, I have no means of knowing but it is
certain they located for a time in Pennsylvania. And precisely when they landed
is a question over which I have labored hard and long, but have failed to find
an answer which is perfectly satisfactory. But by comparing the dates of old
deeds in my possession, together with certain family traditions and relics, I do
not think I am far wrong -- indeed, I think I am correct -- when I say it was in
the year 1741. From certain facts and dates in my possession, I am confident
that it was not later than 1741 and not earlier than 1736 when these families
landed on American soil. How long they remained in Pennsylvania I do not know,
but it was not a great while, perhaps only a few months, or not more than two
years. Pennsylvania at this time was sorely tried by the French and Indian wars,
and it was chiefly on account of hostile Indians that they fled to North
Carolina. It was in mid winter and as they passed through Virginia some of the
rivers were so completely frozen up that they drove their teams over them on the
solid ice. They refused to stop in Virginia, chiefly because the established
church was there in full force. They finally reached North Carolina where they
settled in the Hawfields and remained several years -- until about 1750 or a
little later. Whether Gilbert Strayhorn came to the Hawfields settlement from
Pennsylvania in company with William Craige, William Blackwood, Mr. Kirkland and
others, I do not know; but if he did not come with them it was not far from the
same time -- perhaps a little earlier. I have been informed by an uncle of mine,
W. F. Strayhorn, who was a great-grandson of Gilbert, that he came to the
Hawfields in the year 1740, and if this be true he was then twenty-five years
old. He was a tailor by trade and after having lived in the settlement a short
time, he returned to Pennsylvania and was united in marriage with Miss Margaret
Roan whose mother was the widow Hunter. He immediately returned to the Hawfields
and settled on the place where Calvin Tate now lives, about one mile south of
Mebaneville. He lived at this place two years, during which time his eldest son,
John, was born, (1742) and then he removed into the bounds of New Hope. It was
not until the year 1754-5, however, that he got the deeds for his lands. It was
about this time that he changed his name from "Strean" or
"Streaughn" to "Strayhorn" and when asked the reason for the
change he replied "I have simply put a 'horn' to it to make it sound."
I heard of one or two other explanations of the change, but I am sure the above
was his explanation and always told in a jocular way. It may be well to state
just here an explanation of what has long been a mystery to me. I have always
been told that the Strayhorns and strains were one family but I could never
understand the connection. Mr. John A. Freeland of Illinois who is a grandson,
on his mother's side, of Alexander Strain and who has a remarkable memory and
states facts very concisely as told him by his ancestors, has made the matter
very plain to me. It seems that Gilbert Strayhorn's elder brother in Pennsylvania, whose
name was David, had three sons. These sons came to N. C. in search of their
uncle Gilbert, and after finding him in the neighborhood of New Hope, and they
were no other than Alexander, John and James Strain. They found that their uncle
had changed his name and not willing to adopt it, they retained their name of
"Strain," or at any rate they were known by that name. It is now
evident that Alexander and John Strain, whose names are recorded as elders of
New Hope church before the year 1820, were nephews of Gilbert Strayhorn. John
was also his son-in-law, having married his daughter Miriam. Mr. Freeland says
the wife of Alexander, his grandmother, was a daughter of James Hunter, whose
house was burned and himself outlawed by Gov. Lyons of revolutionary (sic) fame. The Hunter family fled and took refuge in the house of
Gilbert Strayhorn, and it was there that Alexander Strain met and married his
daughter. It is probable that James Hunter was a half brother of Gilbert
Strayhorn's wife. Wm. Craige settled on what is known as "the old Strudwick
place" in the Hawfields where Addison Wilson now lives. I do not know where
William Blackwood or Joseph Kirkland and others located before coming to New
Hope. It was about this time -- not far from 1750 -- when it was rumored in the
Hawfields settlement that the title grants which they had obtained for their
lands through the agents of Earl Granville were not genuine. And as this
impression grew upon the minds of the people, family after family left their
premises and moved to other localities. This was the case with William Craige,
Gilbert Strayhorn and others, who came to the waters of New Hope. It appears
that while the Hawfields settlement was being filled up, the Earl Granville
became deeply involved in debt -- by gambling, as the traditional story goes --
to one Lord Barrington, of London, and that he transferred to him for the debt a
large scope of land on the Cape Fear river, and also the Hawfields settlements
in North Carolina. And a short time afterwards, Lord Barrington being involved
with Mr. Samuel Strudwick, of London, in like manner transferred the property to
him. In after years one of the descendants of Mr. Strudwick came to North
Carolina and settled where William Craige first lived. Many of the settlers did
not and would not leave their premises, and this whole affair was a matter of
litigation in the courts for many years afterwards. Perhaps William Craige and
some others came to New Hope some two or three years before Gilbert Strayhorn,
but all these families were undoubtedly connected with the first church built in
the Hawfields. It is well known that the Rev. Hugh McAden was the first
permanent Presbyterian minister in this section, though missionary supplies had
been sent to North Carolina before him, and it is highly probable that some of
these had visited the Hawfields. In Mr. McAden's journal appears the following
note: "On Friday evening I rode to the Hawfields, where I preached the
fourth Sabbath in august -- August 24, 1755, -- to a considerable population,
chiefly Presbyterian, who seemed highly pleased and very desirous to hear the
Word preached again on Tuesday; the people came out to hear quite beyond
expectation." From this it appears evident to me that there was a house for
public worship and perhaps had been for several years. Besides, he had come to
the Hawfields from Eno, where he had preached August 10, 1755, and there seems
to have been a house of worship there also. But my understanding as gathered
from my ancestors has always been that Hawfields church was several years older
than Eno. Therefore the first settlers of Hew Hope evidently left a church in
the Hawfields when they removed, and it is well known that for a number of years
afterwards they regularly attended service there -- a distance of at least
twenty miles -- while Eno would have been much nearer. They clung to the old
mother church, and long after a house of worship had been built at New Hope they
still adhered to the Hawfields; and this accounts for the fact that New Hope
church does not appear as a regular organized church until a number of years
after its existence. Thus it will be seen that New Hope church not only sprang
from the original church of the Hawfields but was a part of it, and the history
of the one involves the history of the other. The early settlers of New Hope,
consisting of the Craigs, lackwoods, Kirklands, Freelands, Strayhorns, Harts, etc., were not only closely connected
among themselves, but had intermarried with the Nelsons, the Tates, the Tannins, the Mitchells, the Johnstons, etc., of the Hawfields, thus rendering
the bond of union and sympathy between the two settlements the more close and
lasting. (1)THE NAME
"NEW HOPE" As has been
stated, sometime not far from the year 1750 William Craige and others, together
with their sons, some of whom were now married, determined to leave the
Hawfields. They came into the neighborhood of New Hope, where they saw rich
bottoms, numerous creeks and springs, spacious meadow lands and fine forest
trees. They had an eye for the best lands, and here -- after weary wanderings,
untold hardships, and anxieties of body and mind -- they were inspired with
"new hopes," and at once determined upon their permanent home. They
looked upon the prospect and called it a "New Hope." This is the
explanation that has been handed down to me through generations, of the origin
of the name of the stream which is called "New Hope" unto this day.
But whether this or some similar circumstance lower down and at an earlier date,
or whether it originated with the Indians, I do not certainly know. But it is of
some importance to know the origin of the name of the stream, for whatever it
may have been was likewise the origin of the name of the church. But this is the
only explanation I have ever heard given, and it is perhaps the correct one. The church is
situated on the north side and about one mile from this stream, which takes its
rise several miles west of the church. It flows in a south-easterly direction
into the Cape Fear, and thence into the Atlantic ocean. For more than a century
it was famous for its abundant production of fish, and at the present time few
streams of like size yield a better supply or quality. (1) Dr. Joseph
Caldwell, in a speech delivered in Hillsboro in 1883 (?33), says that an early
Company of Colonists from the Roanoke went out to make discoveries and found
this stream and out to the joy and thankfulness of their hearts, exclaimed
"New Hope." But this is traditional as well as the above. |