Kings Mountain families sought ARP connection when 'human composition' introduced in worship

Context

This passage from the Centennial History describes the origins of the Pisgah congregation near Kings Mountain, connecting it to the broader movement of families leaving Presbyterian churches over psalmody. The account provides specific names of the families involved and frames their decision in explicitly theological terms—they sought to keep “God’s word sung in God’s house.” The passage describes how a log church at Crowder’s Creek became the “mother” of both Bethany and Pisgah congregations.

Extract

Prior to 1793, all the Presbyterians in that section worshipped either at Beersheba, York Co., S. C., or at Long Creek, Lincoln Co., N. C. The introduction of human composition in the worship of God was such a marked innovation that a respectable minority sought as their only hope connection with the Associate Reformed Presbytery. Andrew Furgeson and John Miller are therefore commissioned to a meeting of this body on Black River, S. C. In response, Rev. James Rogers first visited the Psalm-singing members at Beersheba.

The following were active in attempting to keep God’s word sung in God’s house: Francis Henry, William McElwee, Sr., his sons, John and William, William Henry, Alexander Henry, James Henry, James Crawford, Wm. Crawford, Francis Rea, James Dunn and Joseph Carroll. These worshipped for some two years at the head of Crowder’s Creek, on the south base of the pinnacle of King’s Mountain in N. C., on the Furgeson place. A small log house was erected. This church united with Sharon and Carmel, York Co., S. C., and called Rev. William Dixon, who was ordained and installed June 5th, 1797. This log church about that time became the mother of two daughters, named Bethany and Pisgah, the mother giving up her life at their birth.

Significance

This extract is particularly valuable for its explicit theological framing of the psalmody controversy. The phrase “human composition in the worship of God was such a marked innovation” captures the exclusive psalmody position precisely—Watts’s hymns were objectionable because they were human compositions rather than inspired Scripture. The list of twelve named individuals provides concrete evidence of the families involved, making this more than an anonymous institutional history. The phrase “as their only hope” suggests the depth of conviction: these families saw no path forward in the Presbyterian church once hymns were introduced. This evidence supports the book’s argument that psalmody was not a minor worship preference but a matter of principle significant enough to drive permanent denominational realignment.