This is Quip is from "From Trial to Promised Triumph: A Short History of Springwood Presbyterian Church from the Painful, Often Deadly, Ideological Wars of Reconstruction to the Verge of the Twenty-First Century" by Dr. Rollin M. Steel, Jr. Minister at Springwood Presbyerian Church 1983-1995 Pg. 1 The Civil War split Brick German Reformed Church in 1860. All the current issues of slavery, agricultural policy, states rights, the Fugitive SLave Law and the 1860 presidential election were highly charged emotional issues throughout the nation but partticularly in the South, Abraham Lincoln defeated the split Deomocratic Party, Kentucky canidate John C. Breckinridge, not only split the party, but seemed in the minds of some to advocate secession. Violence broke out in many remote areas. For ten years prior to the war there had been an uneasy peace over the issue of slavery and where it would legally be allowed to continue. Fugitive Slave Laws were unpopular in the north where many chose to vote on slavery by completely ignoring the property rights of the southern farmer n favor of what they felt was a higher law. The larger non-Society of Friends farms were found in the eastern section of Guilford County and the western part of Alamance County. If the census information accurately reflects any trend, the greatest numnber of slaves were employed by the German farmers in the Brick Church section in 1840. A year later the Reverend George William Welker became the pastor of Brick church. Originally from central Pennsylvania, George William Welder was convictionally against slavery and the secession of the states. At the same time, his records show brilliance both as a speaker andd writer. The German Reformed Church in 1860 supported the convictional stand of antislavery ministers. ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange GENDEX at http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ has over 1400 databases on line