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Winnsboro History | The Brick Church
Ebenezer Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
This house of worship was erected by the people of the Little River
section of Fairfield County in 1788. Members of the congregation molded
the bricks with their own hands and cut the timber to provide the
woodwork. The church is small and rectangular in plan as were most all
the Up-Country churches of its day, reflecting the sturdy, proud spirit
of the Scotch Irish whose love for their religion was always uppermost.
The interior of the church is classic in simplicity with long
straight-back wooden pews, a slave gallery, and a stately old fashioned
pulpit, which in reality, is merely a Bible stand built into the front
railings of the church.
The small church began making history when its first pastor,
Reverend James Rogers, acting as first moderator organized the Associate
Reformed Synod of the Carolinas in 1803 from his humble pulpit. Today it
is known as the Associate Reformed Synod of the South. His church grew
in numbers and prosperity and soon became a potent force in the
religious life of South Carolina. Rev. Mr. Rogers' death in 1830 came as
a blow but the church continued to go forward until the outbreak of the
War Between the States when its young manhood of the congregation joined
the Confederate Army almost en masse. The casualty lists form the
battlefront were large, bringing much sorrow to the folks of Old
Ebenezer.
In 1864, the drums of war began to draw near this little community.
Late in February 1865 this historic little church, located not far from
the banks of the swift flowing Little River, became the locale of some
swift moving action. Units of Kilpatrick's Union Cavalry arriving at the
river and finding the Confederates had destroyed the bridge and were
occupying the high ground beyond, tore out part of the flooring and
woodwork of the church to construct a bridge to allow the heavy guns and
equipment to cross. A written apology was inscribed on the woodwork
which reads "To the citizens of this county--Please excuse us for
defacing your house of worship. It was absolutely necessary to effect a
crossing over the creek. Signed, A Yankee." It is furnished with a
number of rare and interesting antiques and heirlooms. |
