"The first school in Cumberland was opened in Craighead's church, six miles from Nashville. It was called Spring Hill Academy, and was taught by a Presbyterian minister. [footnote: This minister was the Rev. Dr. Brooks.] Among its early pupils were Finis Ewing, Samuel King, Samuel McSpeddin, and Robert Bell, of them Cumberland Presbyterian ministers at a later day."

...

"The lives of unconverted preachers, elders, and members make a woful chapter in the history of this period. Of the church members in this country who, after being in the church for years, finally discovered their ruined condition, and made a profession of religion, there are several names whose prominence in our history justifies their introduction here. They are Richard King, Elder Hutchinson, Robert Guthrie, Samuel McSpeddin, Finis Ewing, together with their wives, and very many others."

...

"The Rev. Samuel McSpeddin's testimony about the kind of preaching in the Presbyterian pulpits of that day is given at length in Dr. Cossitt's Life of Ewing. The substance of it is that they never said any thing to rouse the conscience; that they never discussed the new birth, or any conscious experience in grace; that people who by any means became uneasy about their religious state, and went to their pastors for help, were told that if they had been baptized. And believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, they need not trouble themselves about any conscious experience.

McSpeddin and Ewing both are specially severe on Craighead's preaching. Nor are these strictures by Cumberland Presbyterians any more severe than some occasionally found in Davidson's history of his own church. One of Craighead's sayings, handed down by tradition, was, 'I would not give this old handkerchief for all the experimental religion in the world.'"

...

"I often, in my boyhood, saw McSpeddin. He used to preach at my father's house on his circuit in the mountains. 'Uncle Sam,' everybody called him. He was a plain, earnest, honest, good man, and a great favorite with the mountain people. His favorite theme was experimental religion. I once hear Dr. Cossitt beg him to leave his thoughts on that subject in writing for posterity. 'Uncle Sam' lived to great age and retained his memory fresh to the last. It was customary with all our writers on biography or history to go to McSpeddin for facts. Even his dates were always found to be reliable. Several times they were questioned, but investigation proved them to be right. His youngest son, Judge McSpeddin, of Center, Alabama, still lives."

...

"The first camp-meeting which our people held in East Tennessee was at Low's Ferry, in 1823. The second was at a spot long ago endeared to a thousand hearts. This meeting was held in 1824, at Concord, in Knox County, by the missionaries, assisted by two of the old men who came across the mountains for this purpose. These old men were Thomas Calhoun and Samuel McSpeddin, and along with them came Robert Baker. The meeting was a great victory, and laid the foundation for several churches."

[History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, by B. W. McDonnold. Nashville, Tenn.: Board of Publication of Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1899, pp. 5-8, 95, 147]

1811
Cumberland Presbytery Minutes - March 19, 1811
Big Spring, Wilson County, Tennessee
Sam McSpadin, elder representative from Big Spring congregation

March 21, 1811
"A committee was appointed to confer with several young men....that Mr. Samuel McSpadin be recommended to exercise his gift in a way of public exhortation anywhere within our bounds; likewise that he be recommended to study English grammar and divinity; ..."

1812
Cumberland Presbytery Minutes - April 5, 1812
Sugg's Creek Meetinghouse

April 7, 1812
"Ordered, that Samuel McSpadin prepare a discourse to be read at our next Presbytery, from Romans 6:23."
"Ordered, that ... Mr. McSpadin [ride on] the Upper circuit..."

Cumberland Presbytery Minutes - November 3, 1812
Lebanon, Christian County, Kentucky
"Messrs. Samuel McSpadin, an elder from Big Spring, ... have come and took their seats."

November 5, 1812
"Mr. Samuel McSpadin delivered a written discourse from Romans 6:23, as a specimen of his abilities, which was unanimously sustained, and having obtained a good report of his moral character, he is now received as a candidate for the ministry."

November 6, 1812
"Ordered that ... and Samuel McSpadin [prepare a written discourse] from Acts 3:23, against our next Presbytery."
"Ordered, that Messrs. Samuel McSpadin ... spend ... two months on the Nashville circuit."

1813
Cumberland Presbytery Minutes - April 6, 1813
Beech Meeting-house in Sumner County, Tennessee

April 7, 1813
"Messrs. Samuel McSpadin ... being candidates for the ministry, were called upon to read their discourses. Mr. McSpadin's was sustained as a popular discourse."

April 9, 1813
"Presbytery proceeded to the examination of Messrs. Samuel McSpadin and Samuel Donnell upon those necessary points of trial previous to licensure, which were unanimously sustained; and having received a good report of their moral characters, and of their being in communion of the Church, they were called upon, this 9th day of April, 1813, and after answering satisfactorily the necessary questions proposed to candidates for the ministry , the Presbytery did, and hereby do, license them, the said Samuel McSpadin and Samuel Donnell, to preach the gospel of Christ, as probationers for the holy ministry within the bounds of this Presbytery or wherever they shall be orderly called."

1817
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 21, 1817
Moriah Meetinghouse in Logan County, Kentucky
Member present from Nashville Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

October 22, 1817
Samuel McSpaden served on the committee to examine the minutes of Logan Presbytery.

1818
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 20, 1818
Big Spring Meetinghouse in Wilson County, Tennessee
Member present from Nashville Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

1819
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 19, 1819
Sugg's Creek Meetinghouse in Wilson County, Tennessee
Member absent from Nashville Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

1820
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 17, 1820
Member present from Nashville Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

October 18, 1820
Served on committee to examine the minutes of Elk Presbytery

1821
1821 Lebanon Presbytery organized
Samuel McSpeddin was a member

[Source: History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, by B.W. McDonnold. Nashville, Tenn.: Board of Publication of Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1899, page 205]

1822
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 15, 1822
Beech Meetinghouse in Sumner County, Tennessee
Member absent from Lebanon Presbytery, thrice in succession
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

1823
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 21, 1823
Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky
Member absent from Lebanon Presbytery, three times in succession
Rev. Samuel McSpaddin

1824
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 1824
Cane Creek Meetinghouse in Lincoln County, Tennessee
Member present from Lebanon Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

October 20, 1824
"The minutes of last Synod were read, and the excuses of the absentees, the Rev. Messrs. ... Samuel McSpaden ... were sustained."
Served on the committee to examine the minutes of Anderson Presbytery.

October 23, 1824
"Members present as on yesterday, except Samuel McSpaden , who got leave to be absent."

1825
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 1825
Princeton, Caldwell County, Kentucky
Member absent from Lebanon Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

1827
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - November 20, 1827
Russellville, Logan County, Kentucky
Member present from Lebanon Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpaden

November 21, 1827
Served on the committee to examine the minutes of Hopewell Presbytery.

1828
Minutes of Cumberland Synod - October 21, 1828
Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee
Member present from Lebanon Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpadden
Served on the committee to examine the minutes of Hopewell Presbytery.
"the Nashville, Lebanon, Knoxville, and Hopewell Presbyteries compose a Synod to be known as the Franklin Synod; to meet the third Tuesday in October, 1829, at the Big Spring Meetinghouse, in Wilson County, State of Tennessee; and that the Rev. Thomas Calhoun be the first Moderator, and in case of his failure, the Rev. Samuel McSpadden."

October 25, 1828
"In order to obtain funds for the benefit of those literary institutions under the care of this Synod, Resolved, That all the below mentioned preachers are appointed, and they are hereby required to make personal application to the members of our Church and others, in the districts to which they are appointed, for about fifty cents each in specie or its equivalent, for the benefit of Cumberland College and Charity Hall; and when more than one preacher is assigned to a district, they made divide said district as they may judge most expedient, but must be sure to make the application. ... Of the Lebanon Presbytery, Rev. Messrs. Robert S. Donnell and Samuel Y. Thomas, in Rutherford County and the upper end of Wilson; Samuel McSpadden, James McDonnell, and Robert L. Mitchell, a licentiate, in Warren, White, and Overton counties; Thomas Calhoun, John L. Dillard, and John Provine, in the counties of Jackson, Smith, Wilson, and a part of Sumner."

1834
Minutes of General Assembly - May 20, 1834
Nashville, Tennessee
Commissioner from Lebanon Presbytery
Rev. Samuel McSpadden
Served on the committee to appoint the committees to examine the minutes of the several Synods.
Chairman of the committee to examine the minutes of Illinois Synod.

May 22, 1834
Excused absence this day.

May 24, 1834
Served on committee to review the memorial from Indiana Presbytery.

May 27, 1834
"Rev. Samuel McSpadden obtained leave of absence during the remainder of this Assembly."

1838
Minutes of General Assembly - May 15, 1838
Lebanon, Tennessee
Commissioner from Lebanon Presbytery
Rev. S. McSpadden
Served on the committee to examine the minutes of Union Synod.

1839
Minutes of General Assembly - May 21, 1839
Nashville, Tennessee
Commissioner from Lebanon Presbytery
Rev. S. McSpadden
[Source: Minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, 1839, pages. 5, 8, 11]

1843
Minutes of Lebanon Presbytery - October 17-18, 1843
Bethesda Meeting House, Wilson County, Tennessee
Rev. Samuel McSpedden - Moderator

1849
Rev. Samuel McSpadden became the minister of Liberty Cumberland Presbyterian Church on the edge of McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee.
[Source: McMinnville at a Milestone 1810-1960, by Walter Womack. McMinnville, Tennessee: Standard Publishing Co., Inc., and Womack Printing Co., 1960, page 209]

1850
Sam. McSpadden
Commissioner to General Assembly
Lebanon Presbytery, Middle Tennessee Synod
May 21, 1850 - Clarksville, Tennessee
Chairman of The Committee on the Minutes of Texas Synod

1854
General Assembly Minutes [p. 89]
1854 Ministerial Directory
Samuel McSpadden, Short Mountain, Tenn.
Lebanon Presbytery, Middle Tennessee Synod

1856
General Assembly Minutes [p. 61]
1856 Ministerial Directory
S. McSpadden, Mechanicsville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery, Middle Tennessee Synod

1857
General Assembly Minutes [page 71]
1857 Ministerial Directory
S. McSpadden, Mechanicsville, Tenn.
McMinnville Presbytery, Middle Tennessee Synod

Thomas C. McSpadden
[son of Thomas McSpadden, Sr. and Dorothy Edmiston]
born: 12 March 1747/48 - Augusta County, Virginia
died:
married: c1771 - Virginia
wife: Mary Amanda Scott
born: c1746
died: 20 March 1836 - Wilson County, Tennessee

Children:

1. Samuel McSpadden
Cumberland Presbyterian Minister
born: 10 June 1779 - Washington County, Virginia
died: 5 October 1860 - Wilson County, Tennessee
buried: Old McSpadden Cemetery - Wilson County, Tennessee
1st marriage: c1800 - probably in Tennessee
1st wife: Rebecca Donelson
[daughter of Humphreys Donelson and Mary Riley]
born: before 1787 - Caswell County, North Carolina
died: before 1841 - Tennessee

Children of Rev. Samuel McSpadden and Rebecca Donelson McSpadden:

1.1. Betsey Emaline McSpedden
born: 9 Nov 1819 - Warren Co., Tennessee
died: 2 Aug 1849 [from Cholera]
obituary from The Banner of Peace and Cumberland Presbyterian Advocate, October 13, 1849, page 3]
married: 1844
husband: James Ferrill
born:
died: after 1849

Children of Betsey Emaline McSpedden and James Ferrill:

1.1.1. ? Ferrill
born: before 1849

1.1.2. ? Ferrill
born: before 1849

 

1.2. Samuel King McSpadden
born: 12 November 1823 - Warren County, Tennessee
Migrated to Alabama in the 1840s
died: 3 May 1896 - Centre, Cherokee County, Alabama
[great-great grandfather of Robert Moon, 1784 Noble Dr., NE, Atlanta, GA 30306, aurora-l@webtv.net, as of March 1998]

1.3. son McSpadden
[in 1899 was a judge in Center, Alabama]

 

2nd wife of Rev. Samuel McSpadden: Sarah Scott
[daughter of Samuel Scott]
born: 2 June 1788 in Washington County, Virginia
died: 9 August 1849 - Warren County, Tennessee [from Cholera]
married: January 1841
[her 1st husband was John McReynolds, died c 1825, married c1805]
[her 2nd husband was Andrew Smith, married Dec. 1828, died April 1840]
obituary from The Banner of Peace and Cumberland Presbyterian Advocate, October 13, 1849, page 3]

 

2. John Newberry McSpadden
born: c1787 - Nashville, Tennessee
died: 26 Feb 1851 - Dyer County, Tennessee
[Banner of Peace and Cumberland Presbyterian Advocate, June 20, 1851]
1st marriage:
1st wife: Cynthia Starrett
[daughter of Benjamin Starrett and Margaret Brown]
born: 19 January 1793 - Pendleton County, Washington District, South Carolina
died: 21 September 1845

Children of John Newberry McSpadden and Cynthia Starrett McSpadden:

2.1. Martha E. McSpadden
husband: William H. Harris