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Langston Baptist Church in Clinton, SC is having a homecoming on Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 11:00 a.m.

Did you know Solomon Langston once owned the land Langston Baptist Church sits on? He married Sarah Bennett and they had four sons and six daughters, all of whom were in his home during the Revolutionary War. One of his daughters, Dicey, the famous Revolutionary War heroine, married Thomas Springfield and they had 22 children. Therefore they have many descendants. George Washington was alive when Langston Baptist was organized in 1773. Washington was born in 1732 and died 1799. 

The folks at Langston Baptist Church are looking forward to telling the history of the church. They would love for Langston descendents to attend.  Bring a well-filled picnic basket because after the history presentaiton they will all eat together. If you have a colonial style outfit or a Civil War style outfit, wear it. You don’t have to dress up but if you’d like to, it would even be more fun.

During the service they will sing a few of the old-time hymns. They will also have someone dressed as Dicey Langston and she will tell about Dicey’s life. They will then have the church history presentation. After the history presentation, they’ll share different memories that people have of things that have happened at Langston. Please bring pictures if you have any, or if you know anyone who has any, ask them to come and share them.

They will have a history room set up in the back of the churc. If you have things you’d like to display, contact Marvin Nelson at 864-682-2393.  If you have any pictures or church memories, call Marlynn Powell at 864-682-7306. 

Langston Baptist Church was mustering grounds for the confederate soldiers during the War Between the States. If only the church walls could talk, it could tell us so much.

Langston Baptist Church
by Michelle Rose Powell

Little white walls,
Church in the oaks
What history could your walls tell?
Little white walls,
Church in the oaks
Time like a veil
Into our soul soaks.
Years, centuries, what could your walls tell?
Time over your little roof swells
Into our soul soaks; What could these walls tell?

Directions from Greenville, SC to Langston Baptist Church, Clinton, SC

Get on I-385 going South
Get off exit at Hwy 49 (the exit right past the rest area)
Take a left towards Cross Anchor and go approximately 3.8 miles. There is a sign showing Langston Baptist Church. Turn right on Langston Church Road and go approximately 1.5 miles. Church is on the right.

Directions from Clinton, SC to Langston Baptist Church, Clinton SC

From North Broad Street in Clinton go approx. 1 mile north to Hwy 308. Take Hwy. 308 north toward Ora, SC. Go approx. 5 miles to and turn right on Bethany Church Road. Go approx. 2.5 miles and take a left on Langston Church Road. Church is approx. 1/2 mile down Langston Church Road.

Directions from Laurens, SC to Langston Baptist Church, Clinton, SC

From Laurens, take Hwy 221 North to Hwy 49 North towards Cross Anchor. You will pass I-385 and Laurens Academy. From Laurens Academy go approx. 2.9 miles. Turn right on Langston  Church Road and go approx. 1.5 miles. Church is on the right.

If you have any questions, call 864-200-0074 (cell) for George Powell. Home Phone: 864-682-7306

Greenville, SC – The South Carolina Society Sons of the American Revolution and the Friends and Family of Dicey Langston will honor the memory of this Revolutionary War Heroine by rededicating the cemetery where she and nearly 50 other family members are buried on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 11:00 AM. The Springfield-Langston Cemetery is located at 213 Bridwell Way, Travelers Rest, SC.

Over the course of the summer, approximately 40 descendants, friends, and members of the Sons of the American Revolution have labored to clear, clean and protect this historic cemetery. Monetary donations toward the project have been received from as far away as Arizona, Oklahoma, and Florida.

This project is not the first time that Dicey Langston’s gravesite has been honored. In October of 1907, members of the Nathaneal Greene DAR chapter placed the original marker on the gravesite which remains to this day.

Laodicia Langston, better known as Daring Dicey, was born in 1766 and was raised in Laurens County. During the Revolution, her family was staunchly patriotic even though the majority of their neighbors were primarily loyalists.

During the Revolution, Dicey was most famously credited with saving the life of her brother James and his company by traveling four miles during the night from her house to the settlement of Little Eden to warn him of an attack by “Bloody Bill” Cunningham and his group of loyalists. During this trek, she had to cross a rain swollen river (either the Enoree or the Tyger) without the aid of riding a horse or a lantern.

The re-dedication ceremony will begin with the presentation of the national and revolutionary colors by a color guard in Revolutionary War uniforms. After the presentation of colors, a biography will be read and special presentations will be made. A litany will be performed and a new flag will be raised. The ceremony will conclude with a presentation of wreaths and a musket volley.

Additional information on the South Carolina Society can be found at the Society’s website www.scssar.org or by contacting State Secretary Mark C Anthony at 864-255-7442 or manthony.psy90@gtalumni.org.

Additional summary information is provided below.

Further questions on this event or requests for interviews should be directed to Mark C Anthony at 864-255-7442 or manthony.psy90@gtalumni.org.
Laodicia “Daring Dicey Langston

Laodicia Langston was born 14 May 1766 and was raised on the farm of her father Solomon Langston which was located eleven miles northeast of present day Laurens, South Carolina. During the Revolution, her family was staunchly patriotic even though the majority of their neighbors were primarily loyalists.

During the Revolution, Dicey earned the nickname “Daring Dicey” due to her serving as a courier of information and a “spy.” Her spying activities were due to the fact that many loyalists did not consider a young girl as a threat and thus she could overhear many conversations.

She is credited with saving the life of her brother James and his company by traveling four miles during the night from her house to the settlement of Little Eden to warn him of an attack by “Bloody Bill” Cunningham and his group of loyalists. During this trek, she had to cross a rain swollen river (either the Enoree or the Tyger) without the aid of riding a horse or a lantern.

Later in the Revolution, she was credited with saving the life of her father by stepping between the leveled barrels of a pistol held by a loyalist. Her bravery shamed the loyalists into leaving the house. Demonstrating their humanity, Dickey’s father later sent her to warn loyalist neighbors who were good friends and fellow church members of the Langston family of an impending attack by a rouge patriot band.

Following the Revolution, she married Thomas Springfield on January 9, 1783. After having given birth to ten children the Springfield family relocated to land awarded to Thomas Springfield in the Travelers Rest area for his service in the Revolution. They settled this land in 1793. Thereafter, she gave birth to another twelve children for a total of twenty-two.

Her passing on 23 May 1837 was eulogized in the Greenville Mountaineer which referenced her children and 140 grandchildren.

*Material for this summary was taken from various sources including The Patriot Wore Petticoats by Marne Pehrson, www.diceylangston.com, and sources available in the Greenville County Library’s South Carolina Room.