USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > Shrewsbury > A history of Seventh Day Baptists in West Virginia : including the Woodbridgetown and Salemville churches in Pennsylvania and the Shrewsbury church in New Jersey > Part 17
USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > Salemville > A history of Seventh Day Baptists in West Virginia : including the Woodbridgetown and Salemville churches in Pennsylvania and the Shrewsbury church in New Jersey > Part 17
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174 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
At the time the permanent organisation of the church was effected, Gamble Shannon was called to the office of deacon, and Ephraim Bee was elected clerk.
It was voted that the quarterly meetings should be held on the Sixth Day of the week before the first Sabbath in the months of February, May, August, and November.
At the regular quarterly business meeting of the church in November, following the organisation, there was presented to the church a controversy which had arisen between Ephraim Bee and Nathan Davis. This dispute shook the infant church to its foundations, and planted the seeds of trouble for years to come. So serious was it that at the regular meeting in February next, Ephraim Bee was relieved of his duties as clerk of the church until the unfortunate difference should be adjusted.
Nathan Davis was a justice of the peace, and before him had been tried a suit at law in which Ephraim Bee and one William I. Lowther were the principals. Decision was ren- dered against Ephraim Bee, and a judgment entered for the sum of nine dollars ($9.00). The latter charged partiality on the part of the court in favour of Lowther, and the matter was taken to the church.
The church referred the whole matter to a committee, which after a careful review of the case, acquitted the justice of the peace of any charge of bias, and decided that due acknowledgment should be made him by his accuser. The committee further recommended that the suggestion of the accused justice be followed, to the effect that the case be tried again ab initio, before another justice.
Upon their request, letters of dismissal were granted to a considerable number of the leading members of the church, in February, 1835. The records of the church were com- mitted to safe keeping in the hands of William J. Davis, and the church went into a state of lethargy for a period of more than nine years.
There was a called meeting of the church held August 30, 1844, and the active work of the church resumed. At this time Ezekiel Bee was received into the membership of the church, and invited to become its pastor. Five months after- ward the invitation was accepted, and he became one of its
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THE MIDDLE ISLAND CHURCH
leading spirits for several years, or until he severed his connection to become a member of the newly organised South Fork of Hughes River Church.
On January 31, 1845, the Articles of Faith were aban- doned, and none were adopted in their stead until after the second revival of the organisation of the church nearly twenty years afterward. It was likewise voted on May 2d following, to revise the covenant of the church, and a committee was appointed for that purpose. The committee consisted of Eze- kiel Bee, Josiah Bee, Amaziah Bee, and Joseph Jeffrey. On August 1, 1845, they presented their report which was adopted as follows :-
"We, the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Middle Island, do cove- nant and agree to give ourselves to the Lord and to each other by the will of God; to watch over and pray for each other as the Lord by his grace may enable us; and to be faithful and punctual in attending to Sabbath and church meetings; and to be mutual according to our abili- ties in contributing to defray such expences as may necessarily devolve upon us; and strive, as much as in us lies, to live peaceably with all men : and further agree that, if any one or more of our brethren tres- pass against us, we will strictly adhere to the rule given us by our Saviour in Matthew XVIII, 15-16-17; and to take the Scriptures for the rule of our faith and practise."
At the meeting at which the new covenant was adopted, steps were taken toward obtaining a deed from the New Salem Church for the lot owned by that church at Lewisport. After some delay occasioned by doubt as to the proper course of procedure, the deed was obtained in the name of William J. Davis, Joshua J. Davis, Joseph Jeffrey, Amaziah Bee, and Ezekiel Bee, as trustees. A new fence was built around the graveyard, but the old log church which had already dis- appeared was never replaced. The meetings of the church were held for the most part in the homes of its members, as follows :- Joseph Jeffrey, near Lewisport; William J. Davis, on Rock Run;1 Amaziah Bee, at the mouth of Sugar Camp Run, on Meathouse Fork; Ezekiel Bee (lower farm), some distance below the mouth of Sugar Camp Run; and Stephen T. Davis, still further down Meathouse Fork toward Lewis- port. Meetings were held frequently at the school house at the mouth of Sugar Camp Run, within a few steps of the site
1. Known as "Rock Run Billy" Davis.
176 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
of the present house of worship of the Middle Island Church. This school house was built of hewed logs, and was one of the first school houses built in that part of the country. As early as 1845, the church had voted to hold its quarterly meetings alternately at Middle Island and Meathouse Fork.
For upwards of forty years, the only pastor recognised by the records of the church was the one already mentioned, Ezekiel Bee. October 31, 1845, he was called to ordination. At the business meeting of the church held August 7, 1849, he received from the church the following credentials :-
"Doddridge County, Va.
"Know all persons whom it may concern, that we the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Middle Island have legally appointed Brother Ezekiel Bee pastor of our church, and thereby authorising him to administer and officiate in all the ordinances of the Gospel in our church and elsewhere, as circumstances may require.
"May the 4th, 1849.
"J[OSEPH] JEFFREY, Clerk."
At a church meeting held January 5, 1851, the following delegates were appointed to attend the convention called to meet with the New Salem Church for the organisation of the Virginia Association, at the time of the division of the South- Western Association into the Virginia and Ohio associations ; vis., Ezekiel Bee, Joseph Jeffrey, Amaziah Bee, Joshua J. Davis, William J. Davis, Alfred N. Davis, Neely D. Jeffrey, Stephen T. Davis, and Samuel Polan.
At a business meeting of the church held March 9, 1854, the following questions were propounded :-
"Ist. Is it proper and right for a brother when he is grieved with a brother, to absent himself from the church and neglect to take Gospel measures to remove difficulties and restore peace and good feeling, and thereby promote union and prosperity ?
"In answer to the above question, the members present voted that it was not proper nor right that a brother when grieved with a brother should neglect to take Gospel measures to remove difficulties.
"2d. Is it our duty as christians to deal and traffic in intoxicating liquors, thereby promoting vice and immorality ?
"Voted not our duty.
"3rd. Is it the privilege of the christian in carrying out his pro- fession to drink of the intoxicating draught with habitual drinkers, using it as a beverage?
"Voted not the christian's privilege.
"4th. Can we as christians be justified in retaining as members (11)
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those brethren who have gone into the ways of the world, using profane language, and engaging in vain amusements, and combating, without calling for reformation ?
"Voted to the above question that we should call for reformation."
Twelve years afterwards, these questions were ordered expunged from the minutes of the church ; but they are inter- esting in the light of existing conditions implied by them, and also as marking a certain type of activity in the career of their author, Ezekiel Bee,-a type of activity which was very mark :. 1 afterwards in his connection with the South Fork of Hughes River, or the Pine Grove, Church.
The church had already entered upon troublous times, for previous to the meeting of March 9, 1854, no meeting had been held for nearly two years ; and after this meeting none was held for a period of almost four years, and then no business was transacted beyond that of organising for the day, and appointing Stephen T. Davis permanent clerk.
Nearly nine years now elapsed before any further record appears.
On August 10, 1866, an unsuccessful attempt was made to transact business ; and three weeks afterward, August 31, 1866, a meeting was held at the home of William J. Davis, on Rock Run, when "The remaining few resolved to revive the church," and the church entered upon another stage of its existence, which although more or less uneven has continued without intermission up to the present time.
Previous to the revival of the church in 1866, the following had served as officers of the church :-
Name.
Term of Service.
GAMBLE SHANNON,
JOSIAH BEE,
Chosen July 15, 1832. Chosen for one year, May 1, 1846. Chosen for one year, August 6, 1847.
CLERKS.
EPHRAIM BEE, JOSEPH JEFFREY, EZEKIEL BEE,
STEPHEN T. DAVIS,
1832, 1835. 1834, 1844-1852. Temporarily, 1848. 1852, 1858-1866.
MODERATORS, (Appointed for the day only).
JOSEPH JEFFREY, AMAZIAH BEE, EZEKIEL BEE,
DEACONS.
1835, 1844. 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1852, 1858. 1845, 1850, 1852.
178 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
JOSIAH BEE, JOHN D. BEE, STEPHEN T. DAVIS, WILLIAM J. DAVIS,
AZOR ESTEE,
ALFRED N. DAVIS,
1846, 1848, 1851. 1846.
1847, 1849, 1851. 1819. 1851.
1854.
PASTOR.
EZEKIEL BEE. Called to ordination, October 31, 1845. Appointed pastor, May 4, 1849.
TREASURER.
There is no record of a treasurer, nor of the need of any money, except as follows :-
"Fee for recording deed to lot at Lewisport. [Amount not given.] "Cost of fencing graveyard at Lewisport. Thirty Dollars."
MEETING HOUSE.
During the first thirty-four years of its existence, the church made no palpable effort to provide itself with a house of worship. Presumably the desire to possess the lot and grave- yard at Lewisport formerly owned by the New Salem Church, was inspired by such a hope. But apparently no attempt was ever made to realise that hope.
February 4. 1848, Nathan Davis submitted a proposition to the church offering to give the church a site for a house of worship just across the creek in the newly organised village of West Union, which had been laid out on the lands of Nathan Davis, and made the county seat of Doddridge County. Doddridge County was formed from parts of Har- rison, Lewis, Ritchie, and Tyler counties by an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed on the 4th day of February, 1845. The interests of the new village and county were promoted largely by members of the Middle Island and New Salem churches, and it was but natural that there should be a desire on their part for the Middle Island Church to locate in West Union. But for some cause, the offer was rejected. Nathan Davis, together with his brothers William and Joseph, had purchased twenty thousand (20,000) acres of land here in 1807 at the rate of twenty-three cents an acre, and at the time of the organisation of the Middle Island Church and for many years after, their holdings continued large. It was Joseph Davis who conveyed the lot for a meeting house and graveyard to the New Salem Church at Lewisport.
O
GRAVEYARD AT WEST UNION.
WHITE CIRCLE SHOWS SITE OF OLD MEETING HOUSE.
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THE MIDDLE ISLAND CHURCH .
MEMBERS.
At a meeting of the New Salem Church held August 19, 1831, there was presented the following list of members of the New Salem Church who had joined the Middle Island Church :-
EPHRAIM BEE,
LEWIS BOND,
CALVIN DAVIS,
ELIAS L. DAVIS,
ELISABETH DAVIS, (I),
ELISABETH DAVIS (2) .
EXPERIENCE DAVIS,
JAMES DAVIS,
JAMES M. DAVIS,
KEZIAH DAVIS,
LYDIA DAVIS,
PHIATHATA DAVIS,
WILLIAM G. DAVIS,
WILLIAM J. DAVIS,
WILLIAM S. DAVIS,
ELISABETH HOWELL,
GEORGE W. HOWELL,
JONATHAN HOWELL,
MARIAH A. HOWELL,
MARY HOWELL,
JOHN KNIGHT,
MARY KNIGHT,
JACOB MAXSON,
JAMES MAXSON,
SIMEON MAXSON,
SOLOMON SAYRES,
CONTENT SHANNON,
GAMBLE SHANNON, JAMES SHANNON.
On the day that the foregoing list of names was presented to the New Salem Church, that church granted letters of dis- missal to the following, presumably to join the Middle Island Church :-
ROBERT ALEXANDER, LUTHER DAVIS, SYLVESTER DAVIS.
On the twelfth of February next, the New Salem Church granted letters to the following also, presumably to join the Middle Island Church :-
ASENETH BABCOCK, WILLIAM BABCOCK,
180 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
CATHARINE DAVIS,
EDITH DAVIS,
JAMES DAVIS,
JOSHUA DAVIS,
LEWIS DAVIS,
MARY DAVIS,
NATHAN DAVIS,
SAPPHIRA DAVIS, wife of William S. Davis,
MARY HUGHES,
MARY MAXSON.
The following additional names appear in the records prior to the revival of the organisation in 1866 :-
AMAZIAH BEE,
EZEKIEL BEE,
ISAIAH BEE,
INGABY BEE,
JOHN D. BEE,
JOSIAH BEE,
PRISCILLA BEE,
ALFRED N. DAVIS,
LEMUEL DAVIS,
ELISABETH DAVIS, wife of Stephen T. Davis,
KATHARINE DAVIS,
RHODA DAVIS,
SARAH ANN DAVIS,
STEPHEN T. DAVIS,
DELIA ANN JEFFREY,
JOSEPH JEFFREY, NEELY D. JEFFREY,
TACY JEFFREY,
JEMIMA KELLEY,
KEZIAH POLAN,
SAMUEL POLAN.
RE-ORGANISATION AND SUBSEQUENT HISTORY.
On the last day of August, 1866, there was a business meeting called at the home of William J. Davis on Rock Run, when "the remaining few resolved to revive the church." Joseph Jeffrey acted as moderator for the day. Prayer was offered by Amaziah Bee. Stephen T. Davis served as clerk. Amaziah Bee was given licence "to preach the Gospel for the term of six months."
Other business meetings were held at the home of Wil- liam J. Davis on September 19, 1866, and October 19, 1866, respectively. On the Sixth Day of the week before the first
LOG SCHOOL HOUSE AT THE MOUTH OF SUGAR CAMP RUN. (A Restoration).
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THE MIDDLE ISLAND CHURCH
Sabbath in December, 1866 (November 30), a business meet- ing was held at the home of Joseph Jeffrey, near West Union. At this meeting James B. Davis was received as a member and given licence to preach, for one year. This was the last busi- ness meeting of the church held in the neighbourhood of its original location.
Several members of the church still lived at or near West Union, and retained their membership in the Middle Island Church, until the organisation of the West Union Church, in ISSS, when such of them as were still living, became constituent members of that church.
The majority of the members of the Middle Island Church, however, lived at New Milton, on the Meat House Fork of Middle Island Creek, some seven miles above West Union. There also lived at New Milton several families which still retained their membership with the mother church at New Salem. These together with the members of the Middle Island Church, and other Sabbath keepers residing in that vicinity, had maintained worship on the Sabbath for several years, meeting sometimes in private houses, sometimes in school houses, and sometimes in the Township Hall. Many of these families were several miles apart, and lived on Red Lick Run, Wolf Pen Run, Sugar Camp Run, and Lick Run, besides the main stream of Meat House Fork, into which the others flowed.
These people all united in building a house of worship for their common use, near the banks of the Meat House Fork of Middle Island Creek, at the mouth of Sugar Camp Run, on the line dividing the farms of Jepthah F. Randolph and Amaziah Bee, both of whom contributed land for the site of the new meeting house.
The Middle Island Church held its first business meeting in the new building, on the Sixth Day of the week, September 5. 1867. At this meeting, James B. Davis, who had previously been appointed a committee for that purpose, presented an exposé of faith, which was adopted. This meeting was also marked by the report of a council which met that day to pass upon the qualifications of James B. Davis, who had been called to ordination by the church. The council recommended his ordination.
182 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
The church was now fairly launched upon its new period of existence, which dates from the very middle of its period of seventy years of history embraced in this book. The for- tunes of the church during the second period have ebbed and flowed, but the church has maintained a continual active life.
MEETING HOUSES.
The Middle Island Church existed for thirty-five years without a house of worship. The second one of the log cabins erected at Lewisport, by the New Salem Church, on the lot given it by Joseph Davis, was already crumbling into ruin when the Middle Island Church was originally organized. The church met, for worship and business meetings alike, in the homes of its members at Lewisport ; on Rock Run ; and on Meat House Fork in the Township Hall at New Milton, and the school house at the mouth of Sugar Camp Run.
A few years previous to 1830, the Bee family, consisting of the widow of Asa Bee, with several of her children, set- tled on the Meat House Fork of Middle Island Creek, secur- ing the proprietary right practically to all the land from about half a mile above the mouth of Red Lick Run, to the mouth of Georges Camp, embracing a strip of land some four miles in length, and half a mile, more or less, in width. This family included Asa (2d), Ezekiel, and Amaziah, all Seventh Day Baptist clergymen ; besides Ephraim, Josiah, and John Davis, all active members of the Middle Island and New Salem churches.
The Bee family was soon followed by the family of John Kelley, which, like the Bee family, came from near Salem, New Jersey, and emigrated thence to western Virginia after the Shrewsbury Church had taken up its home at New Salem. Two of the sons of Jolin Kelley, Nathan and Asa, married and settled, the former on Lick Run, and the latter on Sugar Camp Run. A sister of Nathan and Asa married Samuel Polan, who embraced the Sabbath and settled on Meat House Fork.
Here also came Jepthah Fitz Randolph, who had left New Salem in the spring of 1845 and gone to Milton, Wisconsin ; but after a single summer spent there, became dissatisfied and returned to Virginia, where he determined to settle on Meat House Fork, and called the post office which he established
-
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THE MIDDLE ISLAND CHURCH.
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THE MIDDLE ISLAND CHURCH
and kept in his house, New Milton, after Milton, where he had spent the summer in Wisconsin.
Two or three other families also settled here, including that of James Ball Davis, who had lived for some time previously in Ohio.
Some of these families were about equally distant from the Middle Island Church at West Union ( formerly Lewis- port), and the New Salem Church, and consequently did not remove their membership from the New Salem Church. The latter church maintained a preaching station at Meat House Fork, and when the question of building a new house of wor- ship was agitated by the Middle Island Church, the members of both churches living on Meat House Fork evinced a keen interest in the matter, with the result that the Middle Island Church was removed bodily to New Milton. The members of the New Salem Church for the most part continued their membership with the mother church, many of them until death. A good sized group of these members of the New Salem Church transferred their membership to the Middle Island Church, March 5, 1887. At the present time, there are but two or three members of the New Salem Church living on Meat House Fork.
Previous to October 17, 1865, subscription papers had been circulated for funds for the erection of a house of worship near the old school house at the mouth of Sugar Camp Run, where the people living in the neighbourhood had so often met for worship. On that date a meeting was called at the old school house, of all parties interested. At this meeting a build- ing committee was appointed, consisting of Stephen T. Davis, Samuel Polan, Jepthah F. Randolph, James B. Davis, and William Jeffrey. This committee was really an executive committee with plenary powers. William Jeffrey soon moved away to Kansas, and at a meeting held January 28. 1866, Amaziah Bee and Franklin F. Randolph were added to the committee ; and Stephen T. Davis and Franklin F. Ran ulph were elected chairman and secretary, respectively, of the com- mittee. Both had acted in these respective capacities at the first meeting. Amaziah Bee, Jepthah F. Randolph, and James B. Davis were appointed trustees.
Samuel Polan was elected treasurer of the committee ;
184 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
Amaziah Bee, collector ; Jepthah F. Randolph, general agent ; and Stephen T. Davis, assistant general agent.
The committee agreed to let a contract for the new build- ing, and make themselves responsible personally for its cost. To this end, they drew up and executed a bond, making them- selves responsible, each to all the others, to bear equally the expence involved in the undertaking.
On September 20, 1866, the contract for the building was awarded to Dennis Carder, for the sum of two hundred and five dollars ($205.00) and the work proceeded. By the terms of the contract, the building was to be completed by January I, 1867. The time was afterward extended to February I, 1867.
The original plan for the building contemplated a rude sort of structure called. in local parlance, a "Yankee frame," with the walls made of boards one and a half inches in thickness placed perpendicular, and nailed at the top to a trans- verse plank running lengthwise of the building, on which to lay the joists. At the lower end, the boards were nailed to the sill. The joints in the walls were to be covered by strips half an inch in thickness and two or three inches wide, extending from the eaves to the sill. This was a style of building much in vogue in that country at that time.
As the work progressed, the plans were changed, however, resulting in a substantial building, weatherboarded (clap- boarded) without, and ceiled within, at a cost, when completed, of about six hundred and fifty dollars ($650.00).
The work had reached a stage sufficiently near completion, for the Middle Island Church to hold its regular Quarterly Meeting, September 5-7, 1867, in the new house of worship. But the building was not entirely completed until sometime during the summer of 1870.
The meeting house was used as it was originally contem- plated, not only by the Middle Island Church, but by the Salem Church also, for the use of its members living in that vicinity. The Salem Church maintained a regular monthly service here until March, 1885, when nearly all the members of the Salem Church in the neighbourhood, joined the Middle Island Church.
This monthly service of the New Salem Church, when not
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THE MIDDLE ISLAND CHURCH
conducted by the pastor, was led by Jepthah F. Randolph, a dieacon of the New Salem Church, until his death in 1879.
The above mentioned building is the one still used by the Middle Island Church for a house of worship. The old log school house which originally stood near the site of this meet- ing house, and which was used as a house of worship for many years, was sold at public auction to the highest bidder, after the erection of the meeting house. It was purchased by Jep- thah F. Randolph for the sum of four dollars ($4.00), and removed to his farm, where it has been in use ever since as a farm building.
At a business meeting of the Middle Island Church held March 1, 1878, a committee was appointed to stake off a site upon which to build a house of worship on the lot at West Union (formerly Lewisport), given to the New Salem Church, probably about 1810, by Joseph Davis for a churchyard and graveyard; but at the request of the New Salem Church, which never held a legal title to this property, Joseph Davis conveyed it to the Middle Island Church by a deed dated March 31, 1848. The above mentioned committee reported to the church on April 7, 1878, that a location for a meeting house had been staked off, according to the instruc- tions of the church. Here the matter dropped and the project was not revived again until in 1889, when the newly organised West Union Church desired to build a house of worship. It was decided, however, that a more suitable location could be found elsewhere.1
The deed for the lot at West Union runs as follows :-
"THIS INDENTURE made the 31st day of March, in the year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty-eight, between Joseph Davis and Hannah, his wife, of the county of Doddridge, and State of Vir- ginia, of the one part, and we, Joshua J. Davis, William J. Davis, Ezekiel Bee, and Amaziah Bee, trustees, in behalf of the Seventh Day Baptist Church on Middle Island, all of the county and state aforesaid, of the other part,
"Witnesseth, That the said Joseph Davis and Hannah, his wife, for and in the consideration of the sum of Fifty Dollars, to them in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, has granted, bargained, sold, assigned, enfeoffed, released, and confirmed, and by these presents grant, bargain, sell, alien, enfeoff, release, and confirm unto the above named trustees, their heirs, and assigns forever, for the
I. See chapter on the West Union Church.
186 SEVENTH DAY BAPTISTS IN WEST VIRGINIA
use of the Seventh Day Baptist Church on Middle Island all that piece or parcel of ground that the Seventh Day Baptist Meeting House formerly stood on, near the Middle Island Bridge, adjoining lands deeded by the above named Joseph Davis to Samuel Chana; and the lines of said lot or parcel of land run as follows : Beginning at a Stone, No. One; thence sixteen poles to a Stone, No. Two; thence ten poles to a Stone, No. Three; thence sixteen poles to a Stone, No. Four; thence to the beginning containing one acre, to have and to hold the above described tract or parcel of land unto the above named trustees, their heirs, and assigns for use of the above named church forever, with all appurtenances, and they the said Joseph Davis and Hannah, his wife, themselves, their heirs, do covenant that they will forever warrant and defend the above described tract or parcel of land from themselves, their heirs, and assigns, and not otherwise, unto the above named trustees, their heirs and assigns forever.
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