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Tread softly stranger -
this is sacred earth
Truth, Virtue, Magnanimity
and Worth
Sleep in silence here.
(Epitaph in Old Bluff Cemetery)
Long before America's
proclamation of independence was heard around the world, European
settlers -- mainly Scot Highlanders -- took up residence in the Cape
Fear River valley. This bluff of land soon became a hallowed place
where our ancestors would congregate to worship God, bury their dead,
and converse with neighbors and sojourners.
The Old Bluff Presbyterian
Church, founded in 1758, is one of the oldest churches in the Upper Cape
Fear River Valley. For almost a century the religious services
were conducted tin the Gaelic (pronounced "gal-lick," not "gaylick")
language.
Down through the years
three flags flew over Old Bluff. There was the Union Jack of Great
Britain, the American flag, and the Confederate flag. Yet, while
political loyalties changed, the devotion of the people remained tried
and true.
To you who say "Ceud Mile
Failte." While here we invite you to take a walking tour into history.
#1
-- The old Church, simple in design yet spacious. It is
constructed of hand-hewn timbers and put together with hand-made nails
and wooden pegs. Inside you see the pot-bellied stoves and the
unique gas light fixtures. Unlike most churches of that period,
the balcony extends on three sides inside of just along the back and
accessible only from outside entrances.
The sanctuary, completed
in 1853, is the third structure to house this congregation. In
August, 1974, Old Bluff was entered on the National Register of Historic
Places. The National Register is a list of properties "significant
in American history, architecture, archeology, and culture -- a
comprehensive index of the significant physical evidence of our national
patrimony."
# 2
-- Monument to the memory of the Reverend James Campbell, the pioneer
Pastor of the upper Cape Fear River valley. Born in Campbelton,
Kintyre, Scotland, about 1700, he came to America as a young man and to
North Carolina in 1757. He was the earliest Presbyterian minister
to settle permanently in this region and lead the churches he
established. Because of his support of the Revolutionary cause, he
was forced from the pulpit by the predominantly Loyalist congregation.
After Independence was secured, he returned and died at this home across
the river from this Church in 1780.
# 3
-- Anne Graham's Epitaph. The memorial on this tombstone reads:
"She was born in Scotland and died trusting in the merits of Jesus
Christ." This is a simple and yet fitting reminder to us to whom
they bequeathed that which they valued most highly, their Christian
faith, that they did worship their God and did claim His promise that He
would be present.
# 4
-- Lovday's Marker. Lovday, the wife of Duncan McNeill (of the
Bluff), was the daughter of the Reverend James Campbell. She came
to North Carolina when a young girl of nine or ten years and died in
1780, the same year of her father's death.
# 5
-- Monument to the memory of Colonel Alexander McAllister, Patriot and
revolutionary hero. Colonel in the Cumberland County
Militia. He served several terms in the North Carolina Legislature
and was a member of a Commission given the task to meet with and
persuade to the Revolutionary cause the goodly number of Highlanders who
elected to remain Loyalists to the Crown of England. History seems
to indicate that neither he nor anyone else succeeded too well at that.
# 6
-- The Slave Graves. The custom was to bury slaves on land lower
than their masters. Several stones, and a few wooden stakes were
all that once marked these graves. Down through the years a few
descendants of those early salves were buried there, but this was many
years ago. This burial site, not maintained, is not a part of the
Bluff Church property.
# 7
-- Cairn of Remembrance. Cairn is a Gaelic word meaning "a heap or
pile of stones, loosely thrown together." The Highland Scots, most
too poor to afford expensive memorials, borrowed an idea from the Old
Testament and erected cairns instead. This cairn was raised by
members and other friends of Old Bluff in 1966. The stone to the
left of the plaque as you face it is from the Isle of Skye, the last
home of Flora Macdonald. The stone to the right of the plaque was
once part of the Parish Kirk on the Isle of Jura. (The majority of
the first members of the Old Bluff came from Jura or Skye.)
# 8
-- The Old Spring. A visit to Old Bluff is not complete unless you
visit the old spring and the river a few hundred yards beyond.
This spring quenched the thirst of the Highlanders, both Patriot and
Loyalist. It still flows, but very slowly now, partly due to the
work of vandals. Hopefully this will soon be corrected and the old
spring will once again quench the thirst of all who pass this way.
We hope that you will
visit the Old Bluff and take a walking tour into history. We would
invite you to visit, and visit often!
On the Fourth Sunday of
each September we have a special Homecoming Service at 11 a.m. followed
by a covered-dish picnic on the lawn.
The Old Bluff Trust Fund
was established in 1963. All money contributed is used to maintain
Old Bluff and to continually seek new steps in restoration. A
major restoration project was undertaken in 2002. You may wish to
share with us in this work. If so, you are invited to send a
contribution to:
OLD BLUFF TRUST FUND
Post Office Box 96
Wade, N.C.
28395-0096
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A Walking Tour of the Old
Bluff Presbyterian Church
