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MINUTES OF THE SYNOD.

CHAPTER XXII.
MINUTES OF THE SYNOD OF THE CAROLINAS, FROM 1788 TO 1801 INCLUSIVE.

WHEN it was finally determined, in May, 1788, by the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, to constitute a General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in the United States of America, as a preliminary step some new Synods were first set off, of which the Synod of the Carolinas was one; by the following resolutions the way was open for its meeting:—"Resolved, that the Synod of the Carolinas meet on the first Wednesday of November next, at eleven o'clock, A.M., at Centre church, in Rowan county, and that Mr. Pattillo, or, in his absence, the senior minister present, open the Synod with a sermon, and preside till a moderator be chosen." The Presbyteries that, united, formed the Synod, were Orange, in North Carolina, South Carolina, in the State of the same name, and Abingdon, principally in Tennessee.

The members of Orange Presbytery were Rev. Messrs. Henry Pattillo, David Caldwell, Samuel E. McCorkle, James Hall, Robert Archibald, James McRee, Jacob Lake, Daniel Thatcher, David Barr, John Beck, in all ten. Those of South Carolina, James Edmonds, John Harris, Joseph Alexander, John Simpson, Thomas Reese, Thomas H. McCaule, James Templeton, Francis Cummins, Robert Finley, Robert Hall, Robert Mecklin; in all eleven. Of Abingdon Presbytery, Charles Cummins, Hezekiah Balch, John Cossan, Samuel Houston, Samuel Carrick, James Balch, in all seven. Total in the Synod, twenty-eight.

From the records of the twenty-five sessions which this Synod held, previously to its division in 1813, such extracts will be made as are of abiding interest, or necessary to give a succinct account of the doings of a pious and active body of men, whose names and doings should not be forgotten. In some cases a brief statement will be made, embracing the spirit of the records for the sake of brevity; in others the very words will be given, which will be indicated by the common quotation marks. The exact words will be given whenever they appear to be of importance.