A definitive history of the Columbia-Camden District has not been completed and is still a work in progress. At the time of this writing attempts are being made to research and give a more decisive history of this District that has been in existence for approximately 134 years. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church denomination has existed since 1776. It is not known at the time of this writing the precise date of the district’s organization, however, according to The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church The Reality of the Black Church by William Walls, it was in 1888.
Further research states, Horace Clinton and Titus Hogans walked through the country from Lancaster County, S. C., to New Berne, N. C., to meet the North Carolina Conference in 1866. They were received and ordained deacons and sent back as missionaries. It was then agreed to set off the South Carolina Conference. The South Carolina Conference was organized by Bishop J. J. Clinton (accompanied by Elders D.I. Walker and Barney Burton; Revs. W. J. Moore, F. B. Moore, and Thomas Henderson, from the North Carolina Conference), March 24, 1867.
The Presiding Prelate for the South Carolina Conference was Bishop Singleton Jones. After his passing in 1891, Bishop Charles Calvin Petty was assigned as Prelate of the South Carolina Conference. He set the Palmetto Conference apart from the South Carolina Conference in Spartanburg because the conference was too large and had expanded into seven large Presiding Elder Districts. The Palmetto Conference expands from Greenville-Spartanburg to Charleston, SC.
In May 1892, Bishop Isom C. Clinton was then assigned to these two Conferences, South Carolina and Palmetto. The Palmetto Conference is comprised of two districts: Spartanburg and Columbia-Camden. Roll of members:
- Bishop, Right Rev. I. C. Clinton, D.D.
- Conference Officers, Rev. F. Killingsworth, Conference Steward; Rev. T. P. R. Moore, Secretary and Compiler; Rev. D. C. Baum, Assistant and Recording Secretary; Rev. W. M. Robinson, Statistical Secretary; Rev. Y. J. P. Cohen, Corresponding Editor to Star of Zion; Professor W. A. Walker, A. B., Editor South Carolina Herald; Rev. G. W. McDowell, Reporter to Rock Hill Herald; Rev. M. Ingram, Reporter to Chester Reporter; Rev. R. I. Apostle, Reporter to the State; Professor W. R. Douglas, A.B., Reporter to the Ledger; Rev. J. H. Jackson, Timist; Rev. William Clark, Post Office Messenger; Revs. N. A. Rice and A. C. Cureton, Marshals; Mrs. Bishop I. C. Clinton, Vice President of Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Society.
- Presiding Elders, Revs. D. I. Walker, N. A. Crockett, T. P. R. Moore.
- Elders, Revs. A. M. Moore, M. Ingram, J. H. Jackson, T. J. Benson, S. L. Jones, C. C. Alexander, W. M. Robinson, I. J. Jackson, P. R. Nichols, F. R. McKoy, S. W. Burton, R. W. Wilson, S. J. Sterling, A. R. Russel, F. Killingsworth, J. A. Jackson, Y. J. P. Cohen, S. P. Gibson, N. A. Rice, R. A. McCreary, R. T. Terry, L. G. Gregory, J. M. Erwin, A. McLeese. Deacons, Revs. F. Adams, C. Dunlap, R. W. Miller, J. B. Ellis, Z. Belton, T. Miller, T. P. Dunlap, William Clark, J. R. Blake, T. Cowsar, A. C. Cureton, Joseph Stephens, B. Stroud, R. Nelson, William Hagans, A. W. Wilson, York Harris, J. J. Stradford, H. K. Edwards, J. C. Choen, G. W. McDowell, R. I. Apostle.
- Superannuated Ministers, Revs. M. Jones, William Hagans, R. Stroud.
- Traveling Preachers, Revs. J. L. Rainey, W. M. Boulware, A. J. Jackson.
- Preachers on Trial: Third year, York Harris, J. R., Blake, C. C. Crawford, J. C. Choen. Second year, Revs. William Jackson, A. W. Wilson, J. E. Robinson, D. C. Baum, L. G: Gregory, M. J. Edwards, C. H. Hood, J. J. Stradford, H. K. Edwards. First year, William Thompson, J. J. Johnson, J. A. Beckham, R. B. Smith, J. J. Parks.
In 1949, The Columbia-Camden District simultaneously held its Christian Education Department and the third Missionary Mass Meeting at Edwards Chapel AME Zion Church in Camden, SC, under the pastoral charge of Reverend Mattie E. Housman. The Presiding Prelate was Bishop W.W. Slade, the 50th Bishop in the rank of succession. The Presiding Elder of the Columbia-Camden District in 1949 was Dr. James William Shaw and the Associate Presiding Elder was Reverend J.C. Carothers. At that time, there were 32 churches organized within the Columbia-Camden District and they were listed in this order: Jones Chapel, Paradise, Ebenezer ,Mt. Bethel No. 2, Good Hope, Zion Hill, Edwards Chapel, Pleasant Grove No. 1, Fairview, Goldmine, White Chapel, Brooklyn, Old Zion, Bethel No. 2, Gethsemane, Round Top, Ferguson Chapel, Gladden Grove, Camp Welfare, Mt. Nebo, Rossville, Zion Hopewell, New Zion, Beaver Creek, Pleasant Grove No. 2, Antioch, Clinton Chapel, Baum Temple, Millers Chapel, Small Chapel, Clarkson, Rock Hill. Several of these churches are no longer in existence within the Columbia-Camden District.
The current churches that comprise the Columbia-Camden District are Jones Memorial, Antioch, Baum Temple, Ebenezer, Good Hope, Edwards Chapel, Rossville, Mt. Nebo, Paradise, Temple of God, Pleasant Grove #1, Old Mt. Zion, Fairview, New Vision, Beaver Creek, Good News, Clinton Chapel, Pleasant Grove #2, and Camp Welfare.
An organized denomination it has been determined that Jones Memorial AME Zion Church originally (Jones Chapel) Columbia, SC was founded in 1889 and Antioch AME Zion Church was founded in 1824 is approaching 200 years of existence in Eastover, SC. There may be other churches that have passed the century mark which are now a part of the Columbia-Camden District.
As previously stated, there is still more research needed to complete and fill in some of the gaps in the history of the Columbia-Camden District. It is fitting to acknowledge the current Presiding Elder of the Columbia-Camden District, Reverend Dr. Alvin McLamb and Leading Lady Vanessa McLamb, who has encouraged the gathering and writing of the history of this great district. We thank God for sending this Holy-Ghost led team to take this district to a new level of excellence.
We also give thanks to Mrs. Priscilla Murrell, Mrs. Nadine Anderson, Mrs. Linda W. Stevenson for their priceless contributions to this writing.
Mrs. Linda P. Jones
August 1, 2023
References: One hundred years of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; or, the Centennial Of African Methodism. By bishop j. W. Hood, D.D., LL.D., author of The Two Characters And Two Destinies. A. M. E. Zion book concern, 353 Bleecker Street, New York City. 1895.
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church The Reality Of The Black Church
By William Walls.
Clinton Junior College, The Campus History Series. Piper Peters Aheron, Elaine Johnson Copeland, Cheryl Mccullough, And Cynthis P Roddey.
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, A Bicentennial Commemorative History By Bishop J. Clinton Hoggard.