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The
Old Stone Church
NEAR CLEMSON
COLLEGE
The Old Stone Presbyterian Church, midway
between Pendleton and Clemson College, is a perfect example of
our pioneer houses of worship. Erected in 1797 by an
organization which dated from 1789, the first structure was of
logs, and stood about one mile southwest of the present
building.
This church organization was first known as
Hopewell on Keowee. After the wooden building was replaced by
the one of stone, it became
popularly known as "The Stone Church".
The building is
constructed of native field stone put together with clay
mortar. The interior is crudely built, its walls being of
plaster made of mud and
painted white. The old pews, put together with handmade nails,
are badly worm-eaten.
John Miller, better known as
"Printer John Miller", gave the land for the structure and its
cemetery—about seventeen acres. He was an English printer who dared to defy the
officers of George III by publishing in London papers articles
held to be libelous by the English courts. His grave is
in Old Stone Church cemetery.
General Andrew Pickens,
one of the founders and first elders of Hopewell Church, lies
in a brick enclosure in the graveyard near his son, Andrew, Governor of South
Carolina 1816-1818. Colonel Robert Anderson, another
Revolutionary leader, was also a founder of this congregation.
BY
HAZEL CROWSON SELLERS
South Carolina Churches
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