By A. M. Patterson
Long Street Presbyterian Church, inactive since 1923, is located on the
old Yadkin Road in the Fort Bragg Reservation, about twelve miles
west of Fayetteville. Presumable (sic) it was named for the nearby section of
Yadkin Road which is said to have been called the long street. The name
of the church was sometimes spelled as one word, "Longstreet." The
church became inactive when the federal government condemned the
land for use as a military post and forced the members of the
congregation to move out. The church building and the cemetery are
maintained by the Army. Services and homecomings are still held on
occasion.
As was so often the case elsewhere in North Carolina, the Rev. Hugh
McAden was the first Presbyterian minister known to have preached in
that Highland Scot community. He recorded in his journal that on
January 28, 1756, he "rode up to Alexander McKay's on the yadkin (sic)
Road; Thursday, preached to a small congregation who were very
much obliged to me for coming, and highly pleased with my discourse
though alas, I am afraid it was all feigned and hypocritical." Be that as
it may, the little congregation grew in number and in spirit. First known
as McKay's it soon became Long Street.
When McAden returned to Pennsylvania, he persuaded his friend, the
Rev. James Campbell to go to North Carolina and preach to the
Highlanders who so desperately needed his services. Campbell agreed
and moved to Cumberland County in 1757. In October, 1758, the ruling
elders of Long Street, Barbecue (sie (sic)) and Bluff Churches called Mr.
Campbell to preach and the three congregations jointly guaranteed him
a salary of one hundred pounds per annum. At that time the Long Street
elders were Malcolm Smith, Archibald Ray and Archibald McKay. Mr.
Campbell continued to serve the three churches until 1776. As the
Resolution (sic) became more inevitable, he encountered increasing opposi-
tion from some of his parishioners because he championed the colonist
cause and in order to avoid trouble he resigned and moved to Guilford
County. Eventually he returned to his home near Bluff, but apparently
he never preached again.
In 1770 Mr. Campbell was joined by the Rev. John McLeod, a native of
Scotland and unlike Mr. Campbell, and outspoken Loyalist. He became
chaplain of the Highland Regiment which fought and lost at Moore's
Creek Bridge. Captured and imprisoned, he was eventually released to
return to Scotland. He was never heard of again and presumably he was
lost at sea.
Ministers who followed the Rev. James Campbell and John McLeod
included Dougald Crawford, Angus McDiarmid, Colin Lindsay, Colin
McIver, Evander McNair, Neill McKay, great grandson of Alexander,
James McQueen, David Fairly, who served the church for more than
forty years, and R. A. McLeod, last of the eleven ministers of the old
church when existed for 167 years. The first six ministers were born in
Scotland and all the others were of Scottish descent. Mr. McLeod wrote
the fine little history, Long Street Church, 1756-1923. From it came much
of the ifnormation (sic) contained herein.
The first church, built of logs, was erected in 1766 near the present
church. The second church was constructed early in the nineteenth
century and was also near the present site. It was described as a frame
building, commodious but plain and unattractive. The third and present
building was completed in 1847. It is architecturally one of the most
distinctive of the country Presbyterian churches built in the nineteenth
century in southeastern North Carolina. Greek Revival in form, it is a
plain, rectangular, two-story building. It has been entered in the
National Register of Historical Places.
Long Street was the mother church or (Bob's error?) Cypress, Galatia and Sandy
Grove (also in Fort Bragg and inactive) churches. The church also
contributed to the charter membership of at least six other churches in
the area. The federal government paid slightly more than $5,000 for the
church property. Most of the money was used to establish a Davidson
College endowment, known as the "Long Street Ministerial Student
Fund."
In closing, it seems appropriate to quote the final lines of the history
written by the Rev. R. A. McLeod, "There are men and women of honor
and success in the legal profession, the medical profession, in our
educational institutions, in business, in agricultural pursuits, in the
ministry and among missionaries in foreign fields who trace their
ancestral home to Long Street, The real history of this church will never
be fully known until He who keeps a perfect record opens the Book in
which His records are kept."
THE PRESBYTERIAN NEWS
???day, December ??, 197?