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Salvation Army has up-and-down history in Statesville
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Published: June 21, 2009
If I were to say the words "Salvation Army" to you, what would be the first thing you think of?
Probably those people who ring hand bells beside the red kettles outside malls and shopping centers during holidays. You might also think of the relief work the organization does at disaster scenes or the excellent Salvation Army Band marching in a parade. Perhaps you have glanced through the organization's magazine, War Cry.
The Salvation Army was begun in England in 1865 by William Booth, a Methodist clergyman, and his wife, Catherine.
Booth felt that Christianity, as it was being practiced, was not reaching "the poor, the homeless, the hungry and the destitute" and gave up a cushy pulpit job and took to the dirty streets of London.
Booth decided to found a church for those that "respectable people" found offensive.
Booth called it the East London Christian Mission. Booth's son, Bramwell, pointed out to him that a statement proclaiming "The Christian Mission is a volunteer army," was incorrect, as the son felt he was not a volunteer at all, but that he was "compelled to do God's work" and so his father crossed out the word "Volunteer" and wrote in the word "Salvation."
The name by which this denomination is now known was born. Booth reorganized the church along military lines and became known as "The General," while Catherine became known as "The Mother of the Salvation Army."
The Salvation Army spread quickly, reaching the United States in 1880. It was looked upon with some suspicion here until Americans saw the relief that the Salvationists brought to Galveston, Texas, in 1900 following a hurricane, and to San Francisco in the wake of the 1906 earthquake.
By the early 1900s, the Salvation Army was doing its work in 36 countries.
Current research indicates that Salvation Army work was being done Iredell County for more than a century. As early as April 1887, when Lt. A.P. Chaffin, of Charlotte, visited with a promise to hold a meeting in a local church. Early the next year, The Landmark reported that a group from the organization were to visit Statesville soon.
In 1905, a Capt. Smith and a group from Charlotte held a service on the square in Statesville, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Fesperman, "of the local corps," indicating that between 1888 and 1905, a local branch of the Salvation Army had been organized locally.
"The Statesville corps was declared independent," said The Landmark, "with Mr. and Mrs. Fesperman in charge and no longer attached to the Charlotte corps."
The newspaper, in the same article, praised the Salvation Army for its work with the residents of the county home near Troutman. Stated The Landmark: "The poor people there live cheerless lives at best and many of them crave constantly to hear the gospel."
In spite of this good work and promising beginnings, by about 1907 the Army had closed operations in Statesville.
The year 1927 saw a return of the Army with a number of announcements referring to the organization in the local newspaper in January. The organization set about finding a suitable meeting place and began fundraising efforts. The group was quickly endorsed by Statesville's mayor, L.B. Bristol, and a budget of $3,500 was set.
The Salvation Army was also supported by the local Lions Club and the Civic League, as well as by a number of local churches, with the organization being "officially installed" in an afternoon meeting at the Crescent Theater on Jan. 23.
Throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Army did good work in Statesville and the county, sponsoring an annual picnic at Barium Springs, and collecting food for the needy.
In 1933 a brush arbor was erected at the corner of Caldwell and Winston streets and services there sometimes had as many as 1,000 attendees.
In 1934, the Army reported that during the preceding year they had provided 2,000 beds and 4,000 meals to men, women and children who had been stranded in Statesville.
In 1934, the iconic "Christmas Kettles" were set up locally for the first time, and in December, a "Santa Claus toy hospital" was set up at the Army headquarters, then on Court Street. By 1939, the local headquarters was moving to Meeting Street and nearing completion by March 1940.
Even though a Red Shield Club for boys and girls was established by March 1944, and reportedly was in "full swing," the Statesville Corps of the Salvation Army was closed by the end of 1944.
In 1947, it reopened as an outpost of Winston-Salem and in May 1951, again reopened, this time as a Corps under the Winston-Salem City Command.
By 1953, a local Salvationist reported that the Statesville Corps had held senior public meetings attended by over 3,000 people; young people's meetings with an attendance of almost 4,000; had provided beds for the night for 112 transients, served 252 meals, helped 81 families with groceries, supplied 92 pairs of shoes, etc.
By 1960, approval was given to purchase property on Caldwell Street for a new headquarters and in May 1962, the P.M. Barger Citadel was dedicated. The William L. Allison Jr. Chapel at the Citadel was dedicated in 1990.
Today, locally, there is the Salvation Army Family Store on West Front Street, The P. M. Barger Citadel on Caldwell Street, the Administrative and Social Services Offices on Monroe Street and the Financial Assistance Office on North Broad Street in Mooresville, which was begun in December of 2006.
Between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2008, locally, the Salvation Army served 4,669 cases in Statesville and Mooresville, and served a total of 9,310 individuals.
Aid was given these people in clothing, dental assistance, food, lodging, school supplies, help with rent or mortgages, transportation and utilities. The Salvation Army's Angel Trees put something under the Christmas tree for more than 1,500 children in Iredell County.
And so the work of Gen. William Booth goes on. The Salvation Army today works in more than 100 nations. Its international headquarters are still located where the Army began, in London.
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"And when Booth halted by the curb for prayer
He saw his Master thro' the flag-filled air.
Christ came gently with a robe and crown
For Booth the soldier, while the throng knelt down.
He saw King Jesus. They were face to face,
And he knelt a-weeping in that holy place.
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"
— "General William Booth Enters into Heaven" by Vachel Lindsay
O.C. Stonestreet is a retired Iredell County history teacher and works in the newsroom at the R&L. He can be reached at ostonestreet@statesville.com.
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