USA > North Carolina > Ashe County > A history of the Ashe County, North Carolina, and New River, Virginia, Baptist associations > Part 9
USA > Virginia > A history of the Ashe County, North Carolina, and New River, Virginia, Baptist associations > Part 9
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At the suggestion of Rev. Walter A. Hash, the association voted to undertake the raising of $2,500 for the association's co-operative program during the coming year, the funds raised to be apportioned among the churches by the executive com- mittee.
The digest of church letters showed a net gain in membership amounting to 120. Eighteen churches reported Sunday schools with 1,722 members. All of the churches had paid their pas- tors a total of $5,498.52 and for all home purposes, $7,793.21. The total paid to missions was $2,954.58. There had been a net gain for all purposes of $1,340.67. The association re- ported having twenty-seven ordained ministers, only thirteen of whom were pastors, and four licentiates.
This completes my story of the New River Association. We have followed it from its beginning in the convention of June 10, 1870, held at Baptist Chapel Church in Ashe County, North
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Carolina. We have watched it grow from a small association with thirteen churches and 611 members, scattered over Ashe and Alleghany counties in North Carolina and Grayson County, Vir- ginia, into a powerful association of twenty-seven churches, all in Grayson County, Virginia, with more than 2,000 members in 1926. During this period of fifty-six years, the association has given off enough churches to form the Ashe Association with thirty-eight churches and 2,651 members and the Alleghany As- sociation with ten churches and 542 members. As I have already related, the Ashe and Alleghany Association was formed mainly from the New River, though certain churches were taken into the Ashe and Alleghany from the Brushy Mountain and other associations, and the New River is in reality the "mother association." The Ashe and Alleghany Association, as has been related, later divided into the Ashe Association and the Alle- ghany Association and in the chapter that follows I will tell of the growth of the Ashe Association.
In taking leave of the New River Association I desire to ex- press my sincere regrets that I have not been able to tell its story as it should have been told. There are many things that have been omitted because of the limitations of space. Not everything could be included in the modest volume that I am limited to and many things had to be left out.
I wish that I could tell you in detail the inspiring story of the beginnings and the growth and achievements of the Woman's Missionary Movement in the New River Association from that day back in 1893 when the association was meeting with Liberty Hill Church and the first associational organization was at- tempted, with Mrs. S. M. Greer as superintendent; Miss Sarah J. LaRue, secretary, and Mrs. J. B. Eanes, treasurer. The first Woman's Missionary Society in the association was organized in the fall of 1893 at Young's Chapel Church, with Mrs. I. N. Young as president. Mrs. Young later succeeded Mrs. Greer as associational superintendent. In 1906 Miss Sarah J. LaRue, a daughter of J. H. LaRue, a splendid Baptist layman who served the New River Association effectively and well for many years, became superintendent and she has continued in office since that time, her influence widening and increasing with the years.
I wish that I had space to relate here the achievements of our W. M. U. under the leadership of Miss LaRue. It is typical of the organization that it raised its full quota for the Baptist
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$75,000,000 campaign and $600 more. There is no more vital force in the bounds of the New River Association than the W. M. U. and I regret that I am not capable of paying Miss LaRue and the noble band of women that she leads and has led for so long, the tribute that is their due.
I have tried to tell in detail the story of Oak Hill Baptist Academy from its early beginnings and struggles up to the pres- ent. The reader will find herein the names of the men who established the school and who labored for it through the years. Many of them have long since gone to their reward and the school lives on, growing from year to year, a monument to their faithfulness and their love for humanity.
The school today is under the management of Rev. Walter A. Hash, who has been principal since 1923. During the spring term of 1927 the girls' dormitory, a large frame structure, was burned to the ground, entailing a heavy loss and great incon- venience to faculty and students. Undaunted by the misfortune, the school finished the term and a new and better building was started on the site of the old. It is now nearing completion. There is a bright future ahead of the institution and no one can measure the good that it has done or the good that it will do. The school has always been fortunate in the character of the leaders that have served it but at no time in its history has it had a head who surpassed Walter A. Hash. In many respects, I think that he is the best of them all. He is going forward steadily, serenely, confidently, developing Christian leaders at Oak Hill Baptist Academy who will inspire and uplift hundreds and hundreds of communities in our beloved mountains.
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
CHAPTER VIII.
THE ASHE AND ALLEGHANY ASSOCIATION.
As has been related, the Baptist churches of Ashe County, with the exception of Buffalo, Bethel and Mt. Pleasant, went into the organization of the New River Association in 1870, thus allying themselves with the Baptists of Virginia. This union continued until 1886 and while fine progress had been made along many lines, the arrangement had not been altogether satis- factory. The Baptist leaders of North Carolina felt that the Baptists of Ashe should be allied with their own state organiza- tion. The same feeling had been growing among the Baptists of Ashe and Alleghany counties and when the late John E. Ray, sec- retary of the Baptist State Mission Board of Raleigh, N. C., made a journey up into Ashe and Alleghany, he found that his Baptist brethren of these two mountain counties were anxious to form connection with the Baptist work in their own State. His conferences with Baptist leaders in this territory resulted in the calling of a convention to consider the formation of the Ashe and Alleghany Association and this convention was held at Buf- falo Church in Ashe County, on September 24 and 25, 1886.
This convention was opened with a sermon by Elder G. W. Greene, and prayer by Rev. I. W. Thomas. Elder T. M. Honey- cutt was elected president and H. A. Eller secretary. Eight churches were represented by delegates. The minutes of the ses- sion, to my great regret, do not carry the names of these dele- gates. Some of the important committees named were as follows :
Committee on Constitution and Rules of Decorum, James Eller, W. M. Hall and G. W. Greene, with the president and secretary as members ex-officio : On Articles of Faith, T. M. Dun- can, I. W. Thomas, C. J. Woodson, J. F. Fletcher, and E. L. Tucker.
The constitution adopted was in the usual form, except the last clause in the 12th article, which reads as follows :
"This association will not receive nor retain in its per- manent fellowship any church that retains in its fellowship any member who is corrupt in doctrine or practice, or who makes, sells, or deals in ardent spirits as a beverage."
This clause was presented as an amendment and was unani- mously adopted.
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Pledges were taken for associational missionary work amount- ing to $80.00 and the following resolution was adopted relative to the change in relations that was taking place :
"We desire to express our heart-felt gratitude to the brethren of the Western Baptist Convention for the efficient aid received from their missionaries in our territory for some years past and while it seems best for us to co-operate with the State Convention, we shall ever remember with gratitude the help received from these brethren."
The secretary, in closing the minutes of this meeting, added the following prayer :
"May God grant that it may bring to the Baptist denomi- nation of this country a brighter day. May it bring salva- tion to many souls and glory and honor to His name."
At this time there were only 478 Baptists in the whole field and only four ordained ministers, these being T. M. Honeycutt, T. M. Duncan, J. F. Fletcher and William Hall. Honeycutt was a missionary at Sparta. He came to this territory from Mars Hill, N. C., as a representative of the Western Baptist Convention. Hall came from Virginia and only lived a short while after this. Duncan was a native of Ashe. Today this association has been expanded into two associations, the Ashe and the Alleghany, and the Ashe Association alone has thirty- seven churches and nineteen ordained preachers. Surely, the prayer of Clerk Eller has been gloriously answered !
I think I should set down here a few things about the men who took part in this epochal convention, for I knew them all inti- mately and well and loved them all.
Elder G. W. Greene was at that time principal of Moravian Falls Academy, a splendid school in Wilkes County. Later he was a missionary in China. C. J. Woodson was a wise Baptist leader, a brother-in-law of Governor T. J. Jarvis. I think that he is still living at Shelby, N. C. W. M. Hall was a good man, conscientious, devoted to the cause and always ready to serve wherever there was need. T. M. Duncan was a man beloved of the people, faithful always in the discharge of his duties. He was a successful pastor and evangelist. H. A. Eller was not a preacher but from his youth he was a devoted Christian. He was a son of James Eller and I can say nothing better of him than that he was worthy of his father. James Eller, who had
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figured largely in the history of the Baptists of Ashe County, came to Ashe from Wilkes County in 1865. It is worthy of note that the Ellers came from the Jersey section in what is now Davidson County, North Carolina, where a colony composed largely of Baptists from Plainfield, New Jersey, settled in 1755. James Eller was a great-grandson of Elder George McNeill, first moderator of the Yadkin Association in 1790. He died March 19, 1926, only a few months after the death of his wife, who was a truly remarkable woman, a real mother in Israel. They had lived together nearly 75 years at the time of her passing.
The Ashe and Alleghany Association held its first annual ses- sion with New Hope Church in Alleghany County, beginning on September 22, 1877. Elder S. M. Collis preached the intro- ductory sermon and nine churches were found to be represented. Elder T. M. Honeycutt was elected moderator and H. A. Eller clerk and treasurer. Visitors were welcomed into the body as follows :
Elder S. M. Collis, from the Mitchell County Association; Elders I. W. Thomas, E. F. Jones and Asa Brown, from the Three Forks Association ; Elders D. J. Roberts and W. E. Byrd, from the Elkin Association; Elder I. T. Privette of the Brushy Mountain Association; Elder W. C. Parks, C. J. Woodson and G. M. Burcham of the New River Association, and Elder Solo- mon Blackburn, of no association.
The predicament in which the last-named found himself should be explained, in order that no injustice may be done a good man. He was a member of the Mt. Pleasant Church, which had with- drawn from the New River Association the previous year in order to unite with the Ashe and Alleghany, but which had been debarred from the Ashe and Alleghany by Article 12 of the con- stitution that I have already referred to.
Large plans were laid for the work and eight churches, includ- ing a prospective church to be organized at Jefferson, pledged $110.00 toward the support of two associational missionaries, D. W. Thomason to be stationed at Jefferson and T. M. Honey- cutt at Sparta. The churches reported a total gain of twenty- four and a membership of 500. There had been paid for pas- tors' salaries $157.00, the largest salary being $60 and the lowest $12. All of the churches had contributed $39.55 for all causes, $35.25 of the amount being for State missions. Five churches reported Sunday schools with 287 pupils and teachers.
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THE NEW RIVER (VA. ) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
The second annual session of the association met with Apple Grove Church in Ashe County on September 6, 1888. Elder T. M. Honeycutt preached the introductory sermon and when letters were called for from new churches, delegates from Jeffer- son and Rye Cove churches presented themselves. Pleasant Home Church, from the New River Association, presented a letter and asked for admission. All three were received. Bristol Church later in the session presented a letter and was received, and Heal- ing Springs also came in at this session, both being new churches.
This session evinced much interest in State missions, ten churches and individuals present pledging $150.50 for the cause. The church letters showed that six churches had paid pastors' salaries aggregating $178.75. For association missions $124.27 had been raised and $500 had been raised for church building. There were fourteen churches in the association and seven ordained ministers, as follows:
T. M. Honeycutt, T. M. Duncan, D. W. Thomason, J. F. Fletcher, S. Blackburn, Elihu Tucker and B. C. Swift.
The association convened in its third annual session with Land- mark Church on Silas Creek, in Ashe County, on September 12, 1889. Elder T. M. Duncan preached the introductory sermon, fourteen churches were represented and organization was com- pleted by electing W. C. Fields moderator and H. A. Eller clerk and treasurer.
Reports from all of the churches were hopeful and full of enthusiasm. Elder W. W. White of Wilkes County, had been secured during the year as colporter and had done fine work. Much to everybody's regret it was announced that Elder T. M. Honeycutt was leaving the association for other fields.
The association held its fourth annual session with Jefferson Church, beginning on September 18, 1890, with the opening ser- mon by Elder J. F. Fletcher. Four new churches came in at this session, these being Baptist Home, Brushy Fork, Long Branch and New Cranberry. Eighteen churches in all presented letters and the association got under way by re-electing the officers of the previous year.
There was much of interest in this session but I think that probably the most interesting feature was the report of the execu- tive committee, this committee being composed at this time of James Eller, W. C. Fields and G. H. Phillips. I quote some extracts from this report :
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
"In Alleghany County, Elder D. J. Harris is preaching at three points and doing good work. In Ashe County, of Elder D. W. Thomason the same may be said. The house at Healing Springs has been completed and there are good Sunday schools at Jefferson and at the Springs.
"Elder W. W. White is on the North River mission and has operated in new and unoccupied territory. He has torn down the strongholds of intemperance and established a church thereupon. He has organized three churches, one at Long Branch with twelve members, one at Roundabout (Baptist Home) with twenty members, and one at Brushy Fork with twenty members. Elder J. F. Fletcher has organized one church."
Many Ashe County Baptists will remember Elder White, mili- tant preacher and a missionary worker whose zeal knew no bounds. He was a man of the highest moral and physical cour- age, always at his best in the face of difficulties. I wish to tell here a part of the story referred to above that is not told in this report. I got it from Elder White himself.
He said that when he went into the community referred to in the report he could find no place to preach except in a whiskey warehouse. Within sight of this warehouse there could be seen the smoke from three blockade distilleries. He began his meet- ing here, in an atmosphere of alcohol, surrounded by friends of the liquor business, some of whom were following it legitimately under government license and others blockading it. Before the meeting was over the distillers were converted and the liquor busi- ness had been killed in this community. One man, who had at- tended the meeting and had not professed conversion, returned to his still house two miles away. While here, whether awake or asleep, this man said he heard Elder White praying for him and he immediately quit the business. A church was built near the place. I have preached in the church and I have seen the whis- key warehouse where the meeting was held.
This community not only went dry but it remained dry. I was told that some time after this reversal of form, a liquor manufacturer from another part of the county, hearing that there was a great shortage of ardent spirits in that community, a real drought, in fact, loaded up several barrels and drove into the community. He was met by a good woman who informed him that if he unloaded any part of it there, the heads of the
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THE NEW RIVER ( VA. ) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
barrels would be smashed in. She advised him to depart imme- diately and he departed.
The fifth annual meeting of the association was held with Sparta Church, in Alleghany County, beginning September 17, 1891. Elder F. B. Cheek preached the introductory sermon. Twenty-one churches presented letters and the association organ- ized by re-electing the officers of the previous year. Two new churches from Ashe County, Beaver Creek and Clifton, and one from Alleghany, Laurel Springs, were received. There had been 102 baptisms during the year and the total membership was 953. Eleven churches reported Sunday schools with 469 members. Contributions to all causes, except to pastors' salaries, had in- creased materially.
The sixth annual session of the association convened with Bethel Church, in Ashe County, on September 15, 1892. Elder D. J. Harris preached the introductory sermon and twenty-five churches were represented by delegates. Four of these were new, these being Mission Home, New River, Peak Valley, and Obids, all in Ashe County. Elder D. W. Thomason and I organ- ized New River Church in 1889, with four members, and it was revived and strengthened by the labors of Elder T. M. Duncan. The remnant of old Grassy Creek Church, which is mentioned in the story of the Mountain Association, was absorbed by this church. Mission Home was formerly Mt. Pleasant Church, of the Three Forks Association, which had been re-organized and re-named.
An interesting feature of this meeting was the reading of a letter to the association from Elder G. W. Greene, who had been prominent in organizing the association. Elder Greene had gone to China as a missionary and his letter made a deep impression. The executive committee reported that two splendid pastors, D. W. Thomason and W. W. White had left for other fields. Elder J. C. Johnson had been engaged to work in the combined fields of both.
Elder T. M. Duncan was credited with organizing a new church at Obids in Ashe County and with bringing the member- ship of New River Church up to twenty-four from four, and into the association. The committee also paid tribute to Elders J. F. Stanly, E. Blevins and D. J. Harris for their good work in the association during the year. There had been eighty-seven bap- tisms during the year and the total membership was 1,016.
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
The seventh annual meeting of the association was held with Apple Grove Church, beginning September 14, 1893. Elder W. H. Glenn preached the opening sermon. On account of high waters a great many delegates had not been able to reach the meeting and organization was deferred until the following day, Elder T. M. Duncan acting as moderator pro tem. He was elected moderator the next day and H. A. Eller was re-elected clerk and treasurer. Twenty of the twenty-seven churches in the association were represented, among them being a new church, Tree Top, which was duly received.
The association met with Healing Springs Church in Ashe County in its eighth annual session on September 13, 1894. Elder Elihu Tucker preached the annual sermon and twenty-six of the twenty-seven churches in the association were found to be present. W. C. Fields was again elected moderator and H. A. Eller clerk and treasurer. One new church, Pleasant Hill, was received at this session.
There is an item worthy of note in the report of the Com- mittee on Religious Activities in the account of the first day's proceedings, in that it throws light upon a good old custom that is now a thing of the past. The committee reported that "there will be preaching tomorrow at 11:00 A. M. by Elders D. J. Har- ris and D. P. Bridges; at 2:00 P. M., by Elders C. Blevins and J. F. Fletcher." The custom was to have preaching "at the stand" while the business sessions of the association were going on in the house. Great throngs attended the association, so that there were always enough people to furnish two or more congregations.
Fifteen churches reported seventy-nine baptisms and the total membership of the association was 1,069. Nine churches re- ported Sunday schools with 393 teachers and pupils.
The ninth annual session was held with Liberty Church in Alleghany County, beginning on October 3, 1895. Elder T. M. Duncan preached the introductory sermon. Twenty-six churches were represented and Liberty Church, in Ashe County, applied for admission and was received. J. H. Doughton was elected moderator and R. I. Shoaf clerk and treasurer. Before the ses- sion closed, another new church, Zion Hill, in Ashe County, was admitted. A feature of the meeting was a fine address by O. L. Stringfield, of the Raleigh Association, on the work of the "Bap- tist Female University," now Meredith College.
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THE NEW RIVER (VA. ) BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS
The association met in its tenth annual session with Brushy Fork Church in Ashe County on Thursday before the first Sun- day in October, 1896. Elder E. Blevins preached the opening sermon and twenty-six of the thirty-one churches in the associa- tion were found to be represented. J. H. Doughton was elected moderator and H. A. Eller clerk and treasurer. Two new churches, Meadow View and Calloway's Chapel, were admitted.
Pleasant Hill Church sent up the query, "Can we as Baptists receive members from Pedo-Baptists on their baptism?" and was answered in the negative. A total of 144 baptisms were reported during the year and the total membership was 1,342.
The eleventh annual session of the association met with Forest Home Church on September 28, 1897. Elder E. F. Tatum, a returned missionary from China, preached the annual sermon. Thirty of the thirty-three churches in the association were repre- sented, the three absent ones being Obids, Meadow View and Tree Top. J. H. Doughton was elected moderator and H. A. Eller clerk and treasurer.
The executive committee, which was composed of James Eller, G. L. Porter, L. J. Sturgill, J. J. Garvey and E. E. Phillips, re- ported that Elder T. M. Duncan had been employed during the year as associational missionary, with the following remarkable results :
Elder Duncan had travelled 1,500 miles, preached 190 ser- mons, and had witnessed eighty conversions. He had made 105 religious visits, organized ten Sunday schools, and had preached at six regular appointments every month. Two new church build- ings had been completed and two others were in course of con- struction. Elder Duncan had visited all of the churches in the association but three and had received from the field for his sup- port $53.32.
The question of dividing the association was brought up. It had been discussed in many quarters for several years, the prin- cipal reason being that the area covered by the association was too large for the proper handling of it. After a great deal of discussion, during which the division was warmly opposed by sev- eral delegates, it was decided to divide the association into two associations, the county line between Ashe and Alleghany to be the dividing line between the two associations.
Reports from the churches showed that there had been eighty baptisms during the year and the total membership of the associa- tion was 1,412.
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HISTORY OF THE ASHE (N. C.) AND
With the close of this session the Ashe and Alleghany Associa- tion passed into history and hereafter I will follow only the his- tory of the Ashe Association. I was privileged later to serve in the Alleghany Association, though at the time of division I was in the New River Association, and I wish that I could follow the history of the Alleghany Association down to the present day, but time and space forbid.
The churches that went away to form the Alleghany and Gray- son Association were the following :
New Hope, Sparta, Chestnut Grove, Liberty and Calloway's Chapel, the latter being in Grayson County, Va.
Three churches from the New River Association, situated in Grayson County, near the North Carolina-Virginia line, joined with the Alleghany churches in forming the new association, these being Pleasant Grove, Galena and Brush Creek. As stated, the new association was known as the Alleghany and Grayson, but in a few years the churches in Virginia went back to the New River Association and the association is known now as the Alleghany.
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