History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 86

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013

USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 86

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In 1835 he was made an alderman of the city, and served in that capacity for six terms. Active and public-spirited as he was, he took a leading part in municipal affairs, and the history of the city government, not less than that of the county, shows the impress of his labors. In 1843, after a spirited contest with an old and prominent citizen, he was elected mayor of the city, and re-elected in the following year by an increased majority. Not long after his withdrawal from municipal service he was elected a justice of the peace, and continued a member of the County Court for nearly thirty years. In that comparatively humble yet highly important and honorable sphere of public duty, he was conspicuous for the best qualities composing the character of an official in any station,-rigid integrity, su- perior intelligence, and unquailing firmness.

His vigilance in protection of the public interests was proverbial. No job or semblance of one evaded his penetration or escaped his opposition. In speech he was frank to bluntness, and sometimes warm and vehement, provoking criticism ; but believing himself to be right be cared not, and all knew him to be sincere as he was incorruptible. He was liberal in his views of the public service, but had no toleration for anything attempted indirectly or illegally. It was a misnomer to call his tenacity of purpose obstinacy, for he stood upon his rendered reasons, though like a rock. The minutes of Davidson County Court constitute a worthy portion of the history of his life, and that body never had an abler or truer man in ite councils.

Esquire Maxey held no other public position, with the exception of the United States pension agency at the city of Nashville, to which he was appointed by President Johnson in 1865, and whose duties he performed during the remainder of that executive administration. Sanguine and earnest in temperament, his convictions were decided, and not less in politics than other matters. He was a devoted Whig, and took a strong and leading interest in the success of that party, and for a number of years

P. W. MAXEY.

IHMarey.

was an influential member of its State executive committee. An ardent and unselfish patriot, the event of the civil war gave him deep concern and anguish. His sympathies flowed freely and warmly in one direction, while his conservatism could not con- sent to a severance of the government, and during the storm he quietly but firmly adhered to the cause of its unity. Regard for the sincerity of his character commanded the respect even of those who widely and wholly differed in views. He was a member of the Masonic brotherhood, and had served as Worshipful Master of one of the Nashville lodges, and also of the lodge in Edgefield. He had passed through many of the higher degrees, and was a Knight Templar.

Early in life he connected himself with the Methodist Church, and his way of life was consistent with his profession. He worthily filled the offices of steward and trusteo in the congregations with which he was affiliated, and was a zealous and lib- eral supporter of all the institutions of the Church. In the work of the Sun- day-school he was an earnest and devoted participant. Loading an active career, and having diversified vallings and duties, which often divert attention from religious thought and obligations, his course to the contrary in that regard was one to be commended and imitated. He was in all respects a faithful layman, and his walk and conversation exemplified his faith and exerted a wholesome influence.

He was married to Miss Julia Hobbs, Oct. 18, 1832, and to them were born two sons and a daughter; both of the former attained manhood, and died during the period of the late civil war. He died Ang. 8, 1876, and his estimable wife survived him but a few years, and the only living member of his family is the wife of Rev. J. W. Hill, of the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and at present pastor of West End Church, Nashville. His sister, Miss Ann Maxey, is the sole survivor of the numerous family of sons and daughters of which he was a member.

No man in the community of Davidson County was more generally known than Esquire Maxey, and for the substantial elements of good citizenship, in the broadest sense of that term, none was more highly esteemed. He was conspicuous for his physical appearance, being a person of large and bulky frame, but equally so for strong and forcible qualities of character.

He was independent, candid, and positive, but conscientious, and under a manner sometimes brusque always regardful of the rights and feelings of others. He had confidence in the correctness of his convictions, and was not easily moved in his opinions, but was open to reason always, and yielded his views, when convinced, as heartily as he held them. These characteristics gave him influence in society, and it was wielded for the public good. Ile was liberal and hospitable both in public and private circles. One with traits so marked, and engaging so sotively in the affairs of life, could not pass without collisions; but he cherished no animosities and "to true friends who sought him was sweet as summer."

Beneath his rugged strength there beat a big and tender heart, and none knew this so well as his neighbors and those who had close relations with him. In the history of the past century of the community in which he lived his service as a leading citizen justly claims a place of honorable mention. We close with the following lines, written, on the occasion of his death, by Mr. Irby Morgan, and which strike the points of his character better than a biography :

Rough, grand old man ! Match him who can ? Torn from the cliffs where men are made! Daring and bold, gentle and good. Where can you match him, if you would ? An "ashler from the mountain side," Upright and pure he lived and died.

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

Bethel Academy, Ky., May 1, 1799. Rev. John Page was appointed to the Cumberland Circuit. He was very successful in his ministry, and one of the most active workers in the "great revival" of 1800. William Lam- beth was appointed to this circuit in 1801, and William- afterwards Bishop-McKendree succeeded Mr. Poythress as presiding elder. He traveled from Nashville through Kentucky and into Missouri, a district of over fifteen hun- dred miles, thus gaining valuable experience which fitted him in an especial manner for the high position he was destined to occupy. John Page and Lewis Garrett suc- ceeded as presiding elders during the next three years, when Mr. McKendree returned.

In 1806 the name of the Nashville Circuit first appears upon the record. Some writers have placed its organiza- tion as early as 1802, which is correct, as in that year the Red River and Barren Circuits were formed of the re- mainder of the old Cumberland Circuit. At the Confer- ence which met at Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. 1, 1811, a new presiding elder's district was formed under the name of the Nashville District, confined almost exclusively to what is now Middle Tennessee. The past year had been a marked period of increase in the church. The membership had increased from ninety in 1787, of whom sixty-three were reported by Benjamin Ogden, to thirty thousand seven hundred and forty-one, included in the membership of the Western Conference. Of these, three thousand six hun- dred were the last year's increase. This necessitated a re- organization, and the Tennessee Conference was formed at Fountain Head, Sumner Co., Nov. 1, 1812. In 1818 the town of Nashville, which had previously been the head of a circuit, became a separate charge.

At the General Conference of 1840 the Memphis Con- ference was organized, and the three Conferences, Tennes- see, Holston, and Memphis, covered the whole State.

In the division which began in May, 1844, and resulted in the formation of the Northern and Southern General Conferences, the churches in Davidson County adhered almost unanimously to the Southern branch of the con- nection.

Aug. 10, 1795, Absalom Hooper, Esq., deeded to " Bishop Asbury, his elders, deacons, and helpers," a lot of land on White's Creek for the location of a meeting-house, which was built soon after, and became known as the Hooper Chapel. Claiborne Y. Hooper and his noble wife, Mary Ann Kecling, were long members of the church in this neighborhood.

In 1802, Matthew Talbott decded to Aquila Sugg, Thomas James, Thomas Hickman, George Ury, and Jere- miah Ellis, trustees, a lot on Lower White's Creek, two miles north of Hyde's Ferry, where a house, known as Zion Church, was erected, and was for many years a pop- ular meeting-house. It has long since disappeared, and another church erected on the adjoining lot supplies its place.

From these churches went forth an influence which re- sulted in building others. Methodism took strong hold on the public mind. Woodward's Camp-ground was estab- lished and annual meetings held there, resulting in the conversion of hundreds of souls.

Sept. 5, 1809, Newton Edney conveyed to Levin Ed- ney, Aquila Sugg, and William Roach a lot, upon which a church was erected. This was west of Harpeth River, near the Williamson county-line, and was known as Ed- ney's meeting-house. It was consumed by fire and a more elegant structure built in its place.

The first Methodist meeting-house in Nashville was built of stone, as early as 1789 or 1790, and stood upon the public square, between where the court-house now stands and the old City Hotel. This was removed to make way for public improvements, and meetings were transferred to the jail, of which Edward D. Hobbs, a zealous member of the church, was keeper, and also to the residence of Mr. Garrett, on the Franklin road, two miles from the court- house.

The act of Legislature securing to them the house of worship upon the square was passed in October, 1796, and recites that " Whereas, the religious society called the Methodist have erected a meeting-house on the public square in Nashville, and ought to have the use thereof se- cured to them ; Be it enacted, that the trustees of the town shall execute a deed to five persons, such as the society shall appoint, for the land whereon the house stands," " to include twenty fect on each side and end of said house," and which was subject to the following limitations : "Said meeting.house shall be and remain to the use of the said society so far only as to give a right to their ministers to preach therein ; but shall not extend to authorize them to debar or deny to any other denomination of Christians the liberty of preaching therein, unless when immediately oc- cupied by the said society ; nor shall the said appointees have power to alien their title to the same."

The trustees were further empowered to lay off other places upon the square for any other religious sect for like purpose.

In the year 1812 a lot was secured in the outskirts of the city, now Broad Street, nearly opposite the new cus- tom-house, and a brick edifice was erected. This, a small square-looking building, was changed to a residence after having been abandoned as a place of worship, and was the home of the late Judge John White. The Legislature of the State at one time met in this building. The Garretts, Mannings, and Gen. James Robertson and family were members of the society. In 1817 the house of worship was found to be too remote from the centre of population, and another was erected on Spring Street, between Cherry and College Streets, covering one entire lot. It was built high, with galleries on three sides. This was the principal Methodist church in Nashville until 1832, and was the scene of many memorable revivals.

With the occupation of the new house, Nashville, which had previously been the head of a circuit, became a station, and Rev. John Johnson was assigned to it, with an allow- ance of his table expense, one hundred dollars cach to himself and wife annually, and sixteen dollars for each child under seven years of age. "This," his wife says, in writing of her husband, " was an ample allowance." His salary was afterwards fixed at six hundred dollars a year.

Ilere the first Methodist Sunday-school in Middle Ten- nessee was organized, and from this church went out the

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

influence resulting in a church in South Nashville, or " Col- lege Side," as it was then called, at New Hope across the river, at the camp-ground in Robertson's Bend, and among the colored people in the northern part of the city. From this Old Spring Street Church swarmed also, as bees from a hive, Elm Street Church, North High Street, West End, Carroll Street, Tulip, Hobson Chapel, North Edgefield, Ar- lington, Trinity, Woodbine, and Caper's Chapel (colored).

As the result of a great revival in 1831-32 a spacious edifice was erected under the pastoral efforts of Revs. L. D. Overall and J. B. McFerrin, and completed during the pastorate of Revs. A. L. P. Green and P. B. Robinson in 1833. The first sermon in this church was delivered by Rev. Bishop McKendree, who was followed by Rev. John Newland Maffitt in a revival of some weeks' duration. Much of the best talent of the church has been employed here, from the days of Learner Blackman and John Johnson to the present time.

This church takes its name from the late venerable Bishop William McKendree,* and exercises a wide-spread influence as being at the head of the Methodist Church South. It is here the bishops hold their annual meetings. Among its principal laymen have been Joseph T. Elliston, John Price, Richard Garrett, Joseph Litton, Joel M. Smith, W. H. Moore, Robert Weakley, H. R. W. Hill, Thomas J. Read, and, more recently, S. P. Ament, Isaac Paul, Washington Cooper, P. W. Maxey, Sterling Brewer. Mat- thew H. Quinn and Simpson Shepherd were local preach- ers.

When a new church was decided on, November, 1876, a building committee was appointed, consisting of George W. Smith, chairman, Dr. W. H. Morgan, James Whit- worth, James Hawkins, and Newton McClure, who still constitute the committee. Hugh C. Thompson, of Edge- field, was chosen architect. In April, 1877, the Sunday- school room was ready for use. One unusual feature in the work was the construction of the lecture-room so as to be finished and occupied while the main building was being completed, so that the old house was not pulled down until the basement room was ready. This was successfully ac- complished, and the worship in the building was only in- terrupted during one Sunday, April 8, 1877, when the congregation worshiped at the First Cumberland Presby- terian church.

On Easter Sunday, the 1st day of April, 1877, the main room of the old church was used for the last time for church services. Though the rain was pouring down, the church was crowded with those to whom the old building was endeared by many past associations.

The corner-stone was laid with appropriate ceremonies, May 8, 1877, Bishops Paine, Pierce, Wightman, Kava- naugh, Keener, Doggett, and McTyeire being present. Suitable addresses were made by Bishops Kavanaugh and Doggett ; Bishop Pierce offered the prayer, and Bishop Whitman read. The stone was then laid by Bishop Paine. In this stone among other things were placed portraits of Rev. Dr. Baldwin and his wife and a list of the surviving

members of the first year's existence of the church. Twelve of these members were then living and holding their membership in the church. Of these, nine still sur- vive,-Mortimer Hamilton, Mrs. Mortimer Hamilton, Mrs. Sallie W. Hill, Mrs. W. B. Cooper, Mrs. Jesse Thomas, Mrs. A. L. P. Green, Mrs. Sarah Mitchell, William Cam- eron, and James A. McAlister.

This building was eighty by one hundred feet, exclusive of an alcove in the rear. The front trimmings were of stone and the roof of slate. There were three towers on the front, the centre one two hundred and thirty-two feet high, and one on each side one hundred and thirty feet in height. The centre tower cost two thousand eight hun- dred dollars.

In the tower was hung the bell of the old Mckendree church. This bell, a fine one, was donated to the church in 1833 by Harry Hill, then a well-known cotton merchant, and still well remembered here. The entire cost was about thirty thousand dollars.

This beautiful building was destroyed by fire in Novem- ber, 1879, soon after its completion. A still finer building is now being erected upon the same ground.

The first Sunday-school in Middle Tennessee was organ- ized by Mrs. Grundy, wife of Hon. Felix Grundy, on the first Sunday of July, 1820, in a small frame house standing in a grove near the site of the late McKendree church. There were present Mrs. Grundy, Nathan Ewing, Mildred Moore, Samuel P. Ament, and about fifteen children. The school was opened with prayer by Mr. Ewing, followed by singing and instruction in Webster's Spelling-Book and the New Testament.

In the year 1823, Isaac Paul, an apprentice-boy, opened a Sunday-school in the " Old Barracks." This finally be- came the Andrew Church Sunday-school.

In 1832 the presiding elders were instructed by the Conference to use their best exertions in the establishment of Sunday-schools, and each assistant preacher was instructed to organize schools at every meeting-place possible, under the auspices of the Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

In 1828 preaching was held and a church organized in a small log cabin on Front Street. New Hope, a small frame house two and a half miles out of the city, on the Gallatin road, was also a preaching-place. Here, among others, the Weakleys, Vaughns, and Maxeys held member- ship. William Maxey's house was a favorite stopping-place for Bishops Asbury and Mckendrec. At Robertson's Bend was the Nashville camp-ground, a regular station.

Near the Sulphur Spring a commodious brick house, erected for the colored people in 1826, was thronged with .hearers every Sabbath. To supply all these stations was the work of two men, assisted by local preachers. The returns at the next Conference were, whites, three hundred and ninety-two; colored, two hundred and eighty-three.

In 1834, James Gwin was appointed to the African mission in Nashville and vicinity. He had an almost un- limited influence with the colored people, and accomplished much good among them, returning eight hundred and ten members at the next Conference. The white membership was increased to seven hundred and eighty. The Front

* The last sermon preached by Bishop MeKendree was delivered in this church, Nov. 23, 1834.

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

Street church having become dilapidated, a lot was selected on the corner of Market and Franklin Streets in 1837, and a comfortable house built. Here the College Hill congre- gation worshiped until 1847, when seventy-two feet front- ing on Franklin Street were procured, and the Andrew church-named in honor of Bishop James O. Andrew- erected thereon. In course of time Mulberry Street church was built, and occupied as a second station on College Hill. This resulted from preaching in the "Elysian Grove," on the premises of Isaac Paul, a leading spirit in the enterprise. Within a few years both the Andrew and Mulberry Street (Elysian Grove) houses have been sold, and their congre- gations united in a new house of worship on Elm Street.

Spruce Street Church, a neat little brick house west of the State Capitol, numbered one hundred and fifty members in 1854. This building was destroyed by fire during the late war. There were at that date, South Nashville, num- bering ninety members, and at Edgefield one hundred and six, making, with the old churches, an aggregate of one thousand and thirteen white-besides the six hundred and sixty-eight colored members and a school-house charge on the Gallatin Pike-in Nashville alone. The reports for 1860 included also Hobson Chapel, Trinity, Russell Street, German, and City Missions, with four hundred and seventy- one new members.

At the outbreak of the war there were Mckendree, Andrew, and Mulberry churches, Claiborne chapel, in the eastern part of the city, Spruce Street, Caper's chapel, a large brick edifice erected near the Chattanooga depot, for colored people, Andrew chapel for colored members, Tulip Street, partly built, and those above mentioned, of which Trinity, a fine brick building, was two miles from the city.

On the Federal occupation the churches which were not destroyed were turned into hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers, or occupied by Northern preachers who accom- panied the army, and were sent by Northern bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, under orders from the Secre- tary of War, to take possession of church property. When the Confederate troops and citizen refugees returned, at the close of the war, the Mckendree church and parsonage were occupied by Rev. Mr. Gee, an appointee of a Northern bishop; Andrew, by colored people, protected by United States troops; Claiborne and Spruce Street, destroyed; Hobson chapel, a government mcat-house; North Edgefield church, torn down for the materials, and the African churches occupied by colored refugees; Trinity and the German church had no congregations; Mulberry was a forage depot.

At the Conference which met in October, 1865, at the Tulip Street church, there were reported, McKendree and Caper's chapel, colored; Andrew and Andrew chapel, Mul- berry, Claiborne, Hobson, City Mission, Tulip, Edgefield, and Trinity, with a membership of only six hundred and seventy-nine, all told.

The churches were returned by order of the President, and the pastors and people went to work to build up the cause of religion anew. From that time the church has prospered. MeKendree had attained to eight hundred and ninety-one membership by 1873. A new and elegant church, on Elm Street, replaced Mulberry and Andrew,

Sawrie, a brick church at North Nashville, was built, Tulip completed, and Caper's chapel restored. Trinity was repaired and a new house erected at North Edgefield. These repre- sented a white membership of one thousand two hundred and sixty in 1872.

The Claiborne church was replaced by a new house on Carroll Street, and another erected at West End.

Hobson chapel was built in Edgfield in 1850, and used as a house of worship until 1867, when a fine building was erected a mile farther east, and it was sold. The old chapel has since been occupied as an academy. A fine parsonage joins the new church.

A church was built in Lower Edgefield in 1854, and was for many years known as " the Railroad Church." Mr. D. B. Hicks donated liberally for its erection, and Dr. Shelby gave the land it occupied. It was dedicated by Rev. Bishop Andrew in 1855, and continued to be used for wor- ship until the opening of the war. It was moved a short distance in 1857, to make way for the railroad, and was destroyed in 1862.

The Andrew Church, which stood near the medical col- lege, was sold for the use of the colored people, and became known after the war as the Clark Chapel.

The Tulip Street Church was built in 1859-60, on lands fronting on Russel and Tulip Streets, Edgefield. This is now one of the most flourishing churches in the city, and has a well-supported Sabbath-school.

The table on the following page shows the strength of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in Davidson County in 1880.

Arlington includes also Merril's chapel.

Greenland, or Alexander Green, is a part of Nashville District.

Hermitage Circuit includes Mc Whortersville, in District No. 2; Dodson's chapel, in No. 4, near the Hermitage ; Pleasant Grove, in No. 14, on the Richland pike; Penning- ton chapel ; and Gower's chapel, south of Bell's Bend and near the centre of District No. 12.

Midway Circuit, which is a part of the Gallatin District, includes Midway, Goodlettsville, in District No. 20, near the Sumner county-line, and Beech Grove and Cool Springs churches in District No. 22, on White's Creek, in the north part of the county.

Forest Grove mission includes Luton, Slater's, and Simp- son's chapels, in District No. 3, and north of White's Bend.

In Murfreesboro' District, Woodbine is included with Thompson's Chapel in District No. 8, on the Nolinsville road.

Hamilton's Chapel, in District No. 5, on the Murfrees- boro' pike, is the only church of the Hollandale Circuit within the bounds of this county.

The various dates at which these were organized can only be fixed in a few cases, and that chiefly by tradition, owing to the few locul records kept and the changes brought about by the war. Circuits have been made and preachers appointed who traveled them, changing the place of worship as convenience demanded. Houses of worship disappeared before the invading armies, that their materials might be used in supplying the pressing needs of the day for building field-quarters and for fuel, until, at the return of peace, an almost entirely new beginning was made, as in the city.

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 86

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1013

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013