Church featured in society magazine

-Special to The Tribune
Published: June 17, 2008

Pea River, the oldest Presbyterian Church in Barbour County, was featured in the April issue of “Argyll Colony Plus.”
“Argyll Colony Plus” is a journal of the North Carolina Scottish Heritage Society.

The society was started April 1992 as a non-profit organization and established to promote study, research and publication or articles on the ancestry and heritage of North Carolina’s Scottish settlers.
The journal is published three times a year.

It was established to maintain interest in the history and genealogy of the highland Scots who immigrated to North Carolina.

The first organized group of Scots came to North Carolina and settled in the upper Cape Fear River region of the state in 1739.

These immigrants were from the mainland and islands of Argyll and their settlement was called “Argyll Colony.”
Argyll Colony Plus journal derives its name from the 1739 Argyll immigrants plus the highland Scots who came later to North Carolina.

The magazine emphasis is placed on documents related to the highland Scots of the Carolinas, their ancestors and their migration in America.

One of the 10 members of the board of directors of the magazine is Doug Purcell, executive director of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission.

One of the biggest areas of Scots outside Richmond County, N.C., was within a five-mile radius of Pea River Presbyterian Church on Hwy. 51 between Clio and Louisville which was known as “Little Scotland.”

Pea River Presbyterian was started by Scots families that settled lower Barbour County below the Indian Treaty line. The first church members were once members of Harmony and Mt. Carmel Presbyterian Churches in Richmond County, N.C.

There are several head stones in the church cemetery that are engraved “born in Scotland.”

The highland families that settled the area had names like Baxter, Currie, McCall, McDonald, McEachern, McInnis, McKay, McLean, McLendon, McLeod, McNeal and McRae.

The Historic Chattahoochee Commission historical marker was erected and unveiled in 1993 in front of the Pea River Church on the 170th anniversary of the church.

The 18-page article on Pea River Church includes a summary of the church history, excerpts from the early session minutes and summary of the Angus Curry family from Richmond County, N.C.; Walton County, Fla., and Barbour County and session minutes of Harmony Presbyterian Church in Ellerbe, N.C.

To receive a copy of Argyll Colony Plus and become a member of the North Carolina Scottish Heritage Society write North Carolina Scottish Heritage Society, 1690 Plainfield Church Road, Siler City, N.C. 27344.