Spartanburg County, South Carolina - Chapter 8: A General Review of the Progress of Temperance in Spartanburg County from Time to Time, 1900

From the record before us, we notice that the first temperance society organized in South Carolina was on the call of a meeting of sundry citizens of Columbia on the 17th of July, 1829. Several gentlemen of prominence addressed the meeting, pointing out the evils of intemperance and the measures which had been adopted in different parts of the Union to check its alarming ravages.

Two committees were appointed at this meeting, one consisting of three members to draft a constitution for a temperance society, and another consisting of seven members to report as to the influence of intemperance on the health, the morals and prosperity of the country.

We notice that a second meeting of this society was held on the 8th of October of the same year (1829), ^.t which the committees previously appointed made their reports. (See Report Permanent Temperance Documents, Vol. I, page 10.) A third meeting of the same society was held on the 12th of the same month, at which permanent officers were elected, Colonel Thomas Taylor being chosen President.

From the documents before us, we find no further record of the proceedings of this society outside of the published reports of the committees referred to. How long it remained organized for work in the good cause in which it was engaged we are unable to determine, but it may have served a "stepping stone," as it were, to the

From Griffith's "Life of Landrum " we find record of the first movement looking to the formation of a temperance society in Spartanburg district. Says this writer :

" The first public advocates of the temperance cause in Spartanburg were Hon. Simpson Bobo, Major H. J. Dean and Dr. Young, father of General P. M. B. Young of Georgia. The first named of these is still living (1883), full of days and honors ; the other two have long since passed away.

"It was about the year 1830, when these three men, whose souls were stirred by the ravages that intemperance was making upon society, and whose hearts were sickened by the scenes of debauchery to be witnessed, especially on public days, at Spartanburg, came together, determined to do something toward stemming the mighty torrent and abating the awful scourge. After a consultation, they concluded to call a public meeting in the court-house, without making known the object for which such meeting was to be held. Accordingly notices of such meeting were posted on the street corners and on the highways, and when the day arrived a considerable crowd assembled in the court-house, eager to know what was to be done. By a preconcerted arrangement, a certain prominent citizen, known to be a constant dramdrinker, was called to the chair. The object of the meeting was then stated by one of the trio to be the organization of a temperance society, and while the speaker had the floor he made a strong speech against the evils everywhere apparent, and called upon all good citizens to unite in one effort for their abatement. Then, like those who were struck dumb by the announcement, ' he that is without sin should cast the first stone,' the audience began to disperse. They went out one by one, chairman and all, until only four men were left to organize the society, the three already named and one other. But the movers in the cause were not dis- coiiraged. They completed the organization - held the ground already gained, though it seemed hardly worth holding - and vowed they would wage unceasing war against the gigantic evil that was nursing crime and preying upon the vitals of society. They boldly raised the temperance banner in Spartanburg and called upon the people of the county to rally beneath its folds. The first to respond to the call were Major John Stroble, Dr. John W. Lewis and Rev. John G. Landrum. By these additions the little band was doubled in number, and greatly strengthened in intellectual and moral power. The crusade began in earnest.''

Soon after the death of Rev. J. G. Landrum (January, 1882) the writer received a letter from the late Hon. Simpson Bobo, in which, among other things, he stated as follows :

" Very early in life, in 1830, I think, he (John G. Landrum) joined the first temperance society ever formed in the county, and was to his death a noble and consistent worker in the temperance cause, going far and near to advance it and to break up the drinking habits of the people. To show the magnitude of the efforts of him and his colaborers in the temperance cause, in 1843 there were nearly three thousand persons in the county pledged to total abstinence. When Mr. Landrum first came among us dram-drinking was common with members of the church, so much so that it was a matter of constant reproach to the church. Treating with whisky at elections by candidates was almost universal. A candidate refusing to do so could not be elected to office. He and his colaborers never ceased to oppose this degrading practice until it was entirely broken up, at least before the public, and no one could be elected to office who was known to indulge in it." (See copv of original letter of Mr. Bobo, Griffith's "Life of J. G. Laiidrimi,^' p. 72.)

We find further from the documents before us that the first State Temperance Society of South Carolina was organized at a meeting of delegates appointed to attend a convention in Columbia on the third and fourth days of July, 1838, who met on the evening of the third at the Lecture Room of the Baptist church, in that city. Hon. Chan Johnson was called to the chair and G. T. Snowden was appointed secretary. This convention was composed of about thirty members from the districts of Laurens, Newberry, Darlington, Marlborough, Lexington, Abbeville and Richland. The Hon. Job Johnson was elected permanent President, G. T. Snowden Secretary, and Robert Bryce Treasurer - the last named gentleman at that time a resident of Columbia, but in later years a resident of the city of Spartanburg and proprietor of a book -store,, where he died about the year 1876, honored and respected by all as a sincere advocate and worker in the cause of religion and temperance.

At this convention, which organized as stated, The State Temperance Society of South Carolina, a constitution was framed and adopted. The committee which prepared the same, reported the following :

" The promotion of the temperance cause is intimately connected with the permanence of our free institutions, with domestic comfort, with the happiness of the human family and with the interests of the Redeemer's Kingdom. It devolves, therefore, on those who would be the benefactors of mankind, to aid in spreading its benign influences over their own country and the world, by the exertion of kind and moral influence and united public principle."

The first annual meeting of the State Temperance Society met in the Lecture Room of the Baptist church, at Columbia, on Wednesday night, 28th of November, 1838. There were present at this meeting about sixii6 History of Spartanburg County.

teen members, representing societies from the districts of Laurens, Newberry, Darlington, Lexington, Richland, Williamsbnrgh, Kershaw, Charleston and Anderson.

Reports and communications from auxiliary societies and others requesting to become auxiliary, addressed to the Corresponding Secretary, were read, and among the latter were three from temperance societies organized in the district of Spartanburg, named as follows : Young MeiCs Society of Spartanburg^ Nazareth Temperance Society dcndi Jefferson Temperance Society.

The second annual meeting of the South Carolina State Temperance Society met in the Lecture Room of the Presbyterian church, at Columbia, on Thursday, 5th of December, 1839. There were present about nineteen members from several of the districts in the State, among whom was the Hon. Hosea J, Dean, representing the Spartatihnrg Ullage Temperance Society.

The third annual meeting of the South Carolina Temperance Society met at the Lecture Room of the Presbyterian church, in Columbia, on Thursday, December 3d, 1840, only ten members being present, and among them was the Hon. Hosea J. Dean, who again represented the Spartanburg Ullage Temperance Society^ and who was also elected at the same time one of the Vice-Presidents of said society.

The fourth annual meeting of the South Carolina State Temperance Society met at the Baptist Lecture Room in Columbia, on Wednesday, November 24, 1 841, which was presided over by the Hon. John Belton O'Neall. Only fourteen members are reported as being present from the different organizations in the State, of which there was no representation from the District of Spartanburg.

South Carolina was held at Greenville August 8, 1842, which was in pursuance of a call made by the President of the State Temperance Society. The delegates appointed by the different temperance societies throughout the State assembled at the Methodist Church at ID o'clock A. M., and after prayer by the Rev. C. C. Pinckney, the Hon. John Belton O'Neall, President of the State Temperance Society, took the chair and appointed J. M. Roberts and E. J. Arthur secretaries of the convention.

The President, after organizing the convention, delivered an eloquent address highly appropriate to the occasion, in which he congratulated the members of the convention upon the favorable circumstances under which they had been permitted to assemble, and the indications with which they were furnished of the success and the prospects of ultimate triumph in the noble enterprise in which they were engaged.

There were present at this convention one hundred and eighty-four delegates from the following districts, viz.: Charleston, Richland, Abbeville, Greenville, Spartanburg, Laurens, Union, Lexington, Chesterfield, Marlborough, Barnwell, Colleton, Edgefield, Pendleton, York, Newberry, Orangeburg, Fairfield, Lancaster, Darlington, Marion and Chester, besides the Henderson County {N. C^ Temperance Society ^ two delegates present, and the Clayton Total Abstinefice Society of Georgia, one delegate present.

Important resolutions were introduced and passed, among which was one endorsing the Temperance Advocate, the official organ of the State Society, another to prepare an address to the people of the State on the subject of temperance, and another endorsing the formation of a temperance society in the South Carolina College, in order to insure its usefulness.

"2d. That we disclaim, utterly, all sectarian or political combinations and all dependence upon or intention to seek legislative aid in the reformation in which we are engaged."

The published reports by the several committees, as well as the address of the President, are able and interesting, and we regret that we have not space to reproduce them in this brief outline of the proceedings of the convention.

Among other facts contained in the statistical report, it was stated there were about ninety temperance societies in the State, of which ffty had adopted the total abstinence pledge, twenty the Washington pledge, .and t7venty the partial pledge. The number of members belonging to different societies of the State were reported to be eleven thousand one hundred and sixtynine^ of whom about three thousand three hundred were ladies.

The fifth annual meeting of the STATE Temperance Society was held in the South Carolina Hall, in Columbia on Wednesday, the 30th November, 1842, the President, Hon. J. B. O'Neall, in the chair. One hundred :and forty-one members were present, representing twentysix districts in the State. The Spartanburg Washing- .tonia n Society was represented by Col. E. C. Leitner, John A. Leland and Wm. K. Barkley. Among the proceedings of this society, it was set forth that the only object -of temperance societies was to improve and direct public opinion, by disseminating such information as will exhibit strongly the great evils flowing from the use of intoxicating drinks, and resolutions were passed earnestly recommending to the district societies that they abstain entirely from all interference with the district police. That such was a subject which the Legislature liad wisely entrusted to competent boards of commis- -sioners, etc. Another resolution was passed to the effect that the subject of the license law was one with which temperance societies had nothing to do, except by so improving public opinion as to make the keeping of a -drinking-house or the patronizing the same disreputable; and further, a resolution was passed declaring that there exists no connection between the church and temperance societies, and that any attempt to connect the cause of religion with the cause of temperance will be injurious to both.

day, the 2d of August, 1843. This was in accordance with a call made by the president of the State Temperance Society. At ten o'clock on the date referred to, the delegates assembled in the Methodist Church, where, after prayer by the Rev. D. McNeill Turner, the Hon. John Belton O'Neall, President of the State Temperance Society, took the chair and appointed John S. James and C. J. Elford secretaries of the convention.

The convention was composed of three hundred and twenty-four delegates from South Carolina, and three from North Carolina, making three hundred and twenty-seven in all. Those from South Carolina represented the Districts of Abbeville, Anderson, Charleston, Chester, Chesterfield, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, Marlborough^ Newberry, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Spartanburg, Union, Williamsburgh, and York ; and from North Carolina, the Henderson County Temperance Society was represented by Gen. B. Edney and James M. Edney and the Davidson College T. A. Society^ by W. T, Caston.

It may be observed here that this was probably the largest representative body from the various Districts in the State that had ever assembled in the present city of Spartanburg.

After the organization, it is stated, the convention moved in procession, headed by its officers to a beautiful grove near the Walker House* where a stand and seats were provided for its accommodation.

It is further stated that "on arriving at the grove, the convention was called to order and addressed by the President, in his peculiarly eloquent and energetic style. He congratulated the friends of temperance on the success of the cause during the past year, and on the increasing interest felt in its behalf throughout the State, manifested in the vast assemblage before him."

Ainong the resolutions introduced and passed was one to the effect that the success of the past year called for increasing gratitude to God who had so signally blessed the cause of the temperance advocates, and that the same demanded renewed and more vigorous action for the present and coming year. It is further stated that the temperance choir of Spartanburg sang a beautiful and appropriate ode ; air "Scots wha hae."

The Spartanburg convention remained in session for three successive days, and for a full account of its interesting proceedings, consisting mainly of resolutions, the

The convention, before its adjournment, passed resolutions of thanks to the citizens of Spartanburg Village and its vicinity for the kindness and hospitality which had been extended to its members and to the Spartanburg Village Washington Society for their kindness in preparing a stand and seats for the use of the convention.

The convention also resolved that the thanks of the same be tendered to the President, 'the Hon. J. B. O'Neall, for the able and pleasant manner with which he had presided over their deliberations, and to the Secretaries also for the able and faithful dischargee of the arduous duties which devolved upon them.

An ode was sung to the air of "Auld Lang Syne," and after prayer by Rev. D. Humphries, the convention, on motion of Col. J. L. Orr, adjourned until the Wednesday after the fourth Monday in November following, then to meet in Columbia.

These different organizations of temperance societies served a noble purpose in their day, but like all organizations of a similar character, they had their day and in fact at the outbreak of the war between the States, there were few or none in existence in the State of South Carolina.

Some time after the close of said war there were many organizations of the society known as the Good Templars in Spartanburg county and other localities, but these, too, had comparatively a brief existence, and there are none at present in working order known to the writer.

temperance workers among the Christian women irr said county who are interested in staying or arresting the torrent of intemperance yet prevailing as one of the great evils of our land.

The writer is indebted to the Recording Secretary of "Christian Temperance Workers of Spartanburg, S. C. ," for the following information (December, 1899) :

" In one of Miss Francis Willard's tours of the United States, she stopped in Spartanburg, March, 1881. The women met in the room in Central Methodist churchyard, which room had been previously the home of ' Aunt' Betsy Wright, the first Methodist in the town of Spartanburg.

" Miss Willard organized a society of thirty-three members, making Mrs. W. K. Blake President, and Mrs. Mulligan Secretary. There were many plans of work suggested and committees were appointed to carry out the plans, viz. : Scattering temperance tracts in postoffices, depots and other public places, visiting the jail, securing space in town papers for temperance extracts, asking ministers of the gospel to preach on temperance, visiting the county parish two or three times a year and carrying a treat in the way of dinner and presents. A Sunday-school was soon organized and a committee appointed to write to the members of the Legislature to vote for temperance measures and further the cause, also to pass a law that scientific temperance and hygiene be taught in public schools. The latter law was passed in 1874. A work among the children outside of Sunday-schoolswas begun by forming societies called Bands of Hope,^

" As years passed on this society increased to 100 and about $100 per year was expended in carrying on thework. Dr. Ben WofTord donated to the society a smallplat of land in the upper part of the city. A committee collected a sufficient sum to put up a chapel. A. Sunday-school numbering about sixty scholars has been conducted by Miss Eliza Mulligan and other women every Sunday afternoon since its organization, teaching, temperance truths."

The members of this society worked in harmony and with satisfaction till 1898, when, at the annnal State meeting, for snfficient reasons, delegates proposed organization of a Woman's Christian Temperance Union No. 2. A meeting was appointed to organize and elect State officers. The National W. C. T. U. sent a delegate to inform the society that it conld not have two organizations in the State. The society therefore withdrew and organized a State society, calling themselves the Christian Teniperafice Workers of South Carolina. Under this new name they are continuing the same plans of work. Mrs. Carrie Wofford, widow of Dr. Ben Wofford, organized a W. C. T. U. under the auspices of the national organization. There is a wide field of work for both the two societies in the constantly growing city of Spartanburg. Great good has already been accomplished as shown by the annual report of the Christian Temperance Workers. Let us hope that the good work already under way by these societies, with the cooperation of others, may continue from year to year until by their reflecting influence on the rising generations, the long-prevailing, sin-cursed evil of intemperance may be not only stayed, but forever rooted out as one of the destroyers of the human race.