A Coat of Many Colors: Religion and Society along the Cape Fear River of North Carolina

385 Pages·2006·2.253 MB·English

by  Walter H. Conser Jr.

A Coat of Many Colors
Religion in the South
John B. Boles, Series Editor
All According to God’s Plan: Southern Baptist Missions and
Race, 1945–1970, Alan Scot Willis
Can Somebody Shout Amen! Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of
American Revivalists, Patsy Sims
Episcopalians and Race: Civil War to Civil Rights, Gardiner H.
Shattuck Jr.
A Genealogy of Dissent: Southern Baptist Protest in the
Twentieth Century, David Stricklin
God’s Rascal: J. Frank Norris and the Beginnings of Southern
Fundamentalism, Barry Hankins
The Great Revival: Beginnings of the Bible Belt, John B. Boles
Politics and Religion in the White South, Edited by Glenn
Feldman
Raccoon John Smith: Frontier Kentucky’s Most Famous
Preacher, Elder John Sparks
The Roots of Appalachian Christianity: The Life and Legacy of
Elder Shubal Stearns, Elder John Sparks
Serving Two Masters: Moravian Brethren in Germany and North
Carolina, Elisabeth W. Sommer
When Slavery Was Called Freedom: Evangelicalism, Proslavery,
and the Causes of the Civil War, John Patrick Daly
William Louis Poteat: A Leader in the Progressive-Era South,
Randal L. Hall
A Coat of
Many Colors
Religion and Society
along the Cape Fear River
of North Carolina
WALTER H. CONSER JR.
T U P K
HE NIVERSITY RESS OF ENTUCKY
Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant
from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 2006 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky,
Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown
College, Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State
University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania
University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western
Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
Frontispiece from the author’s collection.
Map by Alex Thor, with Dick Gilbreath, at the University of Kentucky
Cartography Lab.
10 09 08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Conser, Walter H.
A coat of many colors : religion and society along the Cape Fear River of North
Carolina / Walter H. Conser, Jr.
p. cm. — (Religion in the South)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-2405-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-8131-2405-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Cape Fear River Valley
(N.C.)—Church history. 2. Religious pluralism—North Carolina—Cape Fear River
Valley. 3. Race discrimination—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title. II. Series.
BR555.N78C66 2006
200.9756’2--dc22 2006011495
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting the requirements of the
American National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
To Emily

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
1. The Cape Fear and Its Indians 7
2. Tensions in the Colonial Era 35
3. Religious Liberty and Denominational Expansion 75
4. Bonds of Association 111
5. Mystic Chords of Memory 147
6. Religion and the New South 191
7. Pluralism in the Port City and Beyond 227
Conclusion 289
Notes 293
Selected Bibliography 333
Index 361
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Illustrations
North Carolina’s Cape Fear Region xii
Front Street Methodist Church 97
St. James Episcopal Church 100
Black River Presbyterian Church, Sampson County 115
Oakdale Cemetery 151
The Soldiers of the Confederacy Memorial 158
St. Stephen African Methodist Episcopal Church 163
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 166
Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church 167
Temple of Israel 180
Grace Methodist Church 198
Fifth Avenue Methodist Church 200
St. Mary Roman Catholic Church 212
First Church of Christ, Scientist 222
Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church 231
First Presbyterian Church 249
St. Andrew’s On-the-Sound Episcopal Church 253
St. Mark Roman Catholic Church 254
Disciples of Christ Church 256
Soul Saving Station 263
Wat Carolina Buddhajakra Vanaram 272
ix