“O” is for Oliver, Robert Campbell (1833-1891)

“O” is for Oliver, Robert Campbell (1833-1891). Clergyman, gospel mission founder. A native of Edgefield District, Oliver was admitted to the South Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1863. In time he would become a recognized leader of the Holiness movement as it spread through South Carolina Methodist circles. Oliver is best known for a rescue mission he founded in Columbia to serve as a refuge for homeless and troubled men. In 1888, he purchased a lot at the former of Taylor and Assembly streets in Columbia for what became Oliver Rescue Mission. The following year a gospel tabernacle was constructed. By then Oliver had come under the influence of the Holiness movement. In 1890 Robert Campbell Oliver announced plans to launch a Holiness periodical, Way of Faith.