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My good friend, Dr. Tim Clark who was, for nearly thirty years, pastor of Holly Springs Baptist Church over in Spartanburg County, recently shared an unforgettable story that he had gleaned from the pages of the church history written by Mrs. JoAnn Sloan. 

The year was 1925, and the Reverend W.Y. Henderson was the much-loved pastor of Holly Springs. He was deeply troubled by the liquor trafficking business that was freely taking place in his community in those days of Prohibition. He preached strongly against this practice and made a bold and dire prediction in one of his sermons. He declared, “Holly Springs community has its dreggy sections, and it will possibly cost the life of some good man…in order to wake up this community to the seriousness of lawlessness.” 

Little did he know that his grim prophecy would soon come to pass. 

In just a matter of days, local lawman Dave Williams was murdered while sitting on his front porch. The local revenuer had made many enemies among those in the community who illegally distilled spirits. Though it wasn’t immediately known who the triggerman was, there was a lot of speculation among locals.

Rev. Henderson was called on to conduct the funeral of the ill-fated constable. The church house was packed, and the bold preacher made a startling statement. He told the congregation that at the next Sunday service, he would reveal the identity of the murderer. He seemed unfazed that he might be setting himself up for an assassin’s bullet as well. 

Predictably, the church was full the next Sunday to hear the preacher’s revelation. He launched into a sermon about the root of all murders, which he identified as human sin. Then he concluded with the statement everyone had waited for:

“And last, let me ask you who killed Policeman Snoddy, Constable Williams and Mr. Howard (Holland Howard) a few months ago, up here at the foot of the hills? I can tell who did it. Every man that ever built a fire under a bootlegger’s pot in this community helped to kill Dave Williams. I declare unto you that blood will be required at your hands.”

Then the preacher made an appeal to the gathered congregation. 

“Who will answer this call? Every man and woman in this vast throng who wishes to say that you will not indulge in whiskey in any form, and that you will do whatever you can to aid in the enforcement of the laws of your land against it, stand to your feet.”  

All over the small church building, men and women stood in solidarity with their pastor. Of course, this one sermon and its response hardly spelled the end of moonshine whiskey around Holly Springs or Little Chicago, or the Dark Corner, but it no doubt made an impact and set a lot of folks to thinking about the dangers of the illegal whiskey trade. Best of all, Rev. Henderson escaped with his life and lived to be an old man, eventually retiring in Spartanburg.