THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
William
Sullivan Family, Camp Meetings near Confidence Church
To get crops "laid by" (that is,
finish cultivation—plowing and hoeing) and attend the grand old "Camp
Meetings" were highlights of summer days in the late nineteenth and
into
the early twentieth centuries in north Georgia.
Good old William Sullivan, who
was a
citizen of
An account of one such Camp
Meeting in
August of 1885 has been preserved in an article written by George A.
Smith in
1901. In the paper Smith tells about the William Sullivan family and
how a
family reunion was incorporated into proceedings of the Camp Meeting in
the
summer of 1885.
Rebecca Mashburn Sullivan
(1811-1895) was
present at the Camp Meeting. Her beloved husband, William Sullivan
(1805-1881),
had died four years previously. No doubt, she remembered many times
they had
attended camp meeting together. Elisha Sullivan, a son of the late
William and
Rebecca Mashburn Sullivan, had a large tent set up at the meeting
grounds. It
was Elisha's desire to honor his dear mother and to incorporate the
family
reunion into that Sunday of the grand camp meeting. After morning
services, a
solemn and meaningful gathering took place in Elisha's tent.
Mr. George Smith described the
occasion
thus in his article published in The
Wesleyan Advocate:
"Elisha
who tented gave a special dinner for his mother and the children
present—a sort
of family reunion. The surrounding circumstances and the occasion
itself were
calculated to solemnize the scene, and this solemnity was deepened as
they were
being seated at the table. The 'Old Mother of Israel' (Rebecca Mashburn
Sullivan) was seated first.
And then next to her the oldest
child, and
then the next oldest and so on until all seven of the nine present were
seated."
All of her children but two
daughters were
present at the meeting, and many of her host of grandchildren. Nine of
the
Sullivan-Mashburn descendants had tents set up.
Four of Mrs. Sulllivan's sons
were
preachers, Elisha, in whose tent the reunion occurred, was a prominent
minister
in the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Three other sons, William,
Asbury and
James, were ordained practicing ministers in the Methodist Episcopal
Church
(North). All were participating in the camp meeting, and the presiding
elder,
the Rev. A. C. Thomas, "showed equal respect to those who belonged to
the
M. E. Church and those who belonged to the M. E. Church South. They all
preached,
prayed and exhorted in that commendable spirit which…characterizes all
true and
earnest worshipers."
The gathered Sullivan family
then turned
their thoughts to their father, William Sullivan, and honored his
memory by
quoting the comforting scripture, "He that believeth in me, though he
were
dead, yet shall he live." (John 11:25). They anticipated the time in
the
future when all believers will be reunited on high "around the table of
the Lord." And, they were assured, "unlike at this camp meeting, in
glory there will be no vacant seats."
The eldest son of William and
Rebecca
Mashburn Sullivan was James Sullivan, licensed to preach in the year
1856. He
was ordained by the beloved Rev. D. D. Cox. It took Rev. Sullivan four
weeks on
horseback to get around to his small churches in his charge before the
Civil
War curtailed much of his travel. After the war, his assignment was in
the
Ellijay Circuit which extended as far as Jasper, Waleska and Spring
Place. He
also had pastored churches in
The paper by Adam Smith did not
give
details on the other ministers of beloved Mrs. Rebecca Mashburn, but
present
and celebrating with her on that August Sunday in 1885 were Rev. Elisha
Leander
Sullivan (1830-1897), who was hosting the dinner in his tent, Rev.
James
Sullivan, the eldest of the boys mentioned in the above paragraph, Rev.
Asbury
Sullivan (what a strong Methodist name he had been given by his
parents) and
Rev. William (named for his father).
Accounts of reunions such as
that of the
Sullivan family held in 1885 give insight into the contributions of
hardworking, salt-of-the earth people such as William and Rebecca
Mashburn
Sullivan.
The 1850 Union census, the first
to list
names of those in the family, records William and his wife Rebecca and
children
as follows: James, 21; Mary, 17; William, 15; Sarah 13; Daniel
(Asbury), 11;
Elizabeth, 8; Miriam, 6: Sofrona, 4; and John 11 months. Elisha
Sullivan (age
19) and his wife Mary (age 18) were already set up in their own
household at
the time of the 1850 Union census. About 1888, the Rev. William Harvey
Sullivan
(1835-1902) and his wife, Mary Angeline Early Sullivan went as
appointed
missionaries to
[Reference:
Sketches of Union County History, Volume 2 (1978), pages 72-77.]
c2009 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published
Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator, freelance wirter,
poet, and historian. She may be reached
at email edj0513@windstream.net; phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708
Cedarwood
Road, Milledgeville, GA 31061-2411
Updated June 11, 2018
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