Chowan Association

Report on Temperance

            Rev. B. B. Williams submits the following report on temperance:

            “At the session of the Association held at Gatesville [Gates County], 1874, we find adopted the following recommendations:

1.     When drinking houses are kept by church members that they be earnestly and faithfully admonished by the churches to abandon the wicked traffic, and that when the admonition of the church is rejected, the church withdraw its fellowship.

2.     The association earnestly recommends that the churches withdraw fellowship from those members who visit and drink habitually at tipling shops.

            We suppose the Association adopted these recommendations because she believed that the retail of spirituous liquors encouraged intemperance. This leads us to ask what is intemperance? Mr. Newcom defines temperance to be the “moderate use of things useful, and total abstinence of things pernicious.” Is intoxicating liquors pernicious? The assertion [sic] has more than once answered the question. Elder Babb calls it (in his report on temperance adopted 1876), “This more than Lernaean Hydra **** that has blasted the fondest hopes and laid waste the fairest fields of our Zion.”  Elder Overby says (report adopted 1874): “It is the bane of our churches.”—Both these reports the Association adopted; thereby declaring that Intoxicating drinks are pernicious, hence its use as a beverage is intemperance. Your committee instituted such inquiry as they thought would enable them to obtain the information necessary to report how the churches had received and acted upon the recommendations of the Association. They addressed letters of inquiry to nearly all the pastors in the Association’ for some cause unknown to your committee, the information sought has been by a large majority of the pastors withheld, only six responding. We are therefore unable to make a satisfactory report. So far as we have been able to learn, there are eight members now selling this “more than Lernaean Hydra” in quantities less than a gallon and it is frequently drank in their stores.

            Two have been expelled during the past year for refusing to abandon the sale of spirituous liquors. One has reformed. About seven-tenths of the entire male membership use intoxicating drinks as an occasional beverage, and a majority of these drink at tipling shops.

            It is a great pleasure to your committee to be able to report one church that all her members abstain from its use as a beverage. We believe that reform is greatly needed, and would recommend all lovers of Christ and sobriety to use every tenable means in their power to use every laudable means in their power to crush this many headed monster.”

[Biblical Recorder (Raleigh, NC) 19 May 1875]