The
Trivettes of
This website is copyrighted 2004
||||| Introduction |||||
The Earliest
Trivettes ||||| North
Carolina Political Boundaries ||||| Whose Child Is Whose?
|||||
||||| How Do You Spell
Trivette? ||||| Sorting Out
the William Trivettes ||||| Trivettes in the Civil War |||||
||||| Descendants of John and Richard Trivette ||||| What Was It Like
As An Early Trivette? |||||
|||| What
Happened To Nathaniel C. Tribet?
|||| Works Cited
||||
On the second Saturday of each month an administrative meeting was held. From reviewing the minutes of those meetings over the first 30 years it seems the most common topics addressed were assisting the sister churches of Bear Creek, Oldfields, and Meat Camp, receiving new members, and attempting to settle disputes between members. These minutes show that the church was a quasi-government for its members, not only providing the expected spiritual guidance but also serving as a court of sorts for settling disputes. Its most common sentence was to exclude the offending member from the fellowship of the church, but that exclusion never appeared to be permanent.
There were different recorders of the minutes over the years and some were more detailed in what they wrote down; some barely recorded any detail at all. In the quotes contained in the following passages, I record them verbatim. I sometimes intentionally omit a person’s name out of respect for his descendants.
When I quote a passage, any undecipherable words are shown as underscore.
The minutes contained the “Rules of Decorum” for these administrative meetings:
1st All our meetings to be opened and close by prayer.
2nd A moderator is to be chosen by the church when she is destitute of a Pastor or regular minister.
3rd Only one person shal speak at a time and he shal arise from his seat and address the members.
4th The person who is speaking shal not be interrupted in his speech.
5th The moderator shal strictly adhere to the subject an in no wise reflect on the person who is speaking before so as to make remarks on his failing or infractions but shall fairly state the matter as near as he can so as to _____ his _____ or ideas to the church.
6th No person shal abruptly brake or abstance themselves from the church without leave _____ from the church.
7th No person shall speak more than three times on one subject without liberty obtained from the church.
8th No member of the church shal have liberty of laughing during the stating of the subject or whispering in times of public speech.
9th The minister shal not interrupt any person until he is done speaking except he break this rule.
10th Also if any male member of this church neglect attending church meeting for three meetings in succession he is requested to state his reason for not attending and if neglected four meeting the church to send two members to know the reason and bring it to the church and invite him to attend. And the general members are desired to attend as often as they can.
11th Also agree that the scriptures is our only rule for our life and familie in all our dealings.
12th Resolved that if any member transgresses so as to amount to excommunication ____________________________________ .
13th Also we agree if any member go counter to the rules they shall be dealt with.
An interesting example of a grievance between members, one of whom was a Trivette, was recorded in the May, 1841 meeting:
“A grievance formed or found against brother David Trivett and sister Rachel Trivett for knowing and being accessory as is believed to their children seting up a parseal of bones or skillatons in their lane to obstruct the passing of persons riding and which was thought to be done on purpose as an offense particular to elder Isaiah Wilcoxen’s children as they knew some of them was to pass that way, which matter the whole church thought worthy of dealing and agreed to send for them to attend our next meeting and agreed to brethren Solomon Younce and Eli Brown to site them to attend. Agreed to send to our sister church old field for brother James Lourance to attend our meeting to give evidence in the case.”
Then at the June, 1841 meeting……
“[The church] took up the reference from last meeting against brother David Trivett and sister Rachel Trivett. Inquirey being made if they had made satisfaction to brother Isaiah Willcoxen for there transgression which he answer that they had not, and the church excluded them for their transgression and for being obstinate.”
David became a deacon of South Fork in April, 1852.
A different kind of grievance was heard at the July, 1847 meeting. I have purposely omitted the names those involved. Neither was a Trivett.
“ Brother X laid in a grievance against brother Y for reporting that he was drunk at the constabile election which report brother X denies. Then the case was laid over until our next meeting for the following evidence to wit [list of witnesses including David Trivett].”
Then at the August, 1847 meeting…..
“Heard all the evidence and brother X was found guilty of being drunk. Brother X then said if he was drunk he was sorry for it.”
Another grievance involving two Trivettes began in 1853 and was carried over several months. The specific nature of the problem unfortunately was not mentioned. It involved Owen Trivett and William Trivett, who I assume was Owen’s brother and not William Jr. For this particular grievance the church went so far as to recruit two members from each of three sister churches to form a committee to decide the issue. The final report was given at the December, 1853 meeting:
“The committee attended and was received. And the church gave up the grievance into the hands of the committee to settle the grievance between bro. Wm. Trivett and bro. Oen Trivett. And the committee reported as follows. We your comite from the different churches being met on the 2nd Saturday Dec. 1853 with the South Fork Church for the purpose of settling a grievance in the church. And after hearing the case investigated between them we find a hard spirit existing which we cannot settle and we say that both the brothers is in error and is excluded from the fellowship of the church.”
At the June, 1853 meeting, this problem was resolved:
“The church gave up the case of bro. Z and bro. Thos. Trivett into the hands of the committee to settle and the committee unanimously reported to exclude them both from our Christian fellowship for drinking two much spirits and dansing.”
At the February, 1859 meeting, the following resolution was enacted. No explanation was given:
“We the Baptist Church of Christ at South Fork believing that the use of ardent spirits as a beverage is forbidden in the word of god. Therefore we adopt the following resolution that no member of our body shall neither make nor traffic in spirituous liquors for the sake of gain nor use it as beverage in any way. Resolved further that we give our members until our next meeting to put it from amongst them.”