History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 88

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 88

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Methodist Episcopal Society. But notwithstanding this drawback the society has steadily advanced in numbers and in moral power. It numbers at present three hundred and seventeen members, with a Sunday-school of about an equal number. The church was recently repaired, and presents at this time quite an attractive appearance. The following pastors have served the society at different times and in the order here given : Rev. John Seys, Rev. Daniel Brown, Rev. W. B. Crichlow, Rev. John Braden, D.D., Rev. W. S. Butler, assisted by Rev. Calvin Pickett, Rev. James Pickett, Rev. J. G. Thompson, Rev. W. S. Butler (second term), Rev. C. S. Smith, Rev. C. W. Woods, Rev. D. W. Hayes.

The following is the list of the officers: Trustees, Peter Rainey, George Dickerson, Summerfield Brown, Randal Brown, Harrison Thompson, George Grubbs, Irwin C. Brown, Eli Featherston, Alfred Brown; Stewards, George Dickerson, R. L. Knowles, A. Gleaver, H. Chears, H. T. Noel, Thomas Moore, A. Eagleton, Isaac Nicholson, Arthur Fite; Sunday-school Superintendent, I. C. Brown ; Assist- ant, Miss Addie Pickett; Secretary, S. Brown ; Treasurer, Lark Oden ; Librarian, William Newson ; Class-Leaders, George Dickerson, I. Carter, Augustus Green, A. Bowman, Thomas Moore, A. Hamilton, W. Thompson, H. Chears, A. Eagleton, A. Fite, G. Grubbs, P. Rainey, A. Hunter, A. Childress.

The following is the list of societies organized in the church to promote Christian work :

Ladies' and Pastor's Christian Union .- President, Mrs. Martha Salter; Secretary, Miss Lillie S. Love; Treasurer, Mrs. Mary Carter.

Ladies' Sewing-Circle .- President, Mrs. Elizabeth Por- ter; Secretary, Miss Addie Pickett ; Treasurer, Mrs. Mary Bowman.

Church Aid and Missionary Society .- President, Mrs. Amelia Rose ; Secretary, R. L. Knowles; Treasurer, Mrs. Sallie Odem.

Haven Lyceum .- President, John Foster; Secretary, Miss Mary Lewis; Treasurer, Miss Ava Brown. Leader of the Choir, I. C. Brown ; Organist, Mrs. Fanny Arm- strong.

NASHVILLE CIRCUIT.

The Nashville Circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church has the following appointments in Davidson County,-St. Mary, Flat-Rock, Briensville, and Thompson Chapel.

St. Mary's Methodist Episcopal Church was organized by Rev. Ed. Moss and others about 1870, with fifteen mem- bers. The lot on the corner of Spring Street and Fairfield Avenue was purchased by Edward Moss and others, trus- tees, of R. Dorman. A small frame building was erected and regular services maintained. The church was entirely destroyed by fire about three years after it was built. The little society, however, immediately rebuilt, and in a few weeks the new house was opened for services. . The Sun- day-school has been maintained regularly. The attendance averages about forty-five. Superintendent, Mrs. Mary Shelly. The membership is about forty.

The church at Flat Rock, about two and one-half miles from Nashville, is a good frame building, well finished,

valued at eight hundred dollars. The lot was a gift of a prominent citizen in the neighborhood. The church was finished about two years ago, although the society was or- ganized by Ed. Moss and G. W. Marsh in 1870. The Sunday-school numbers over seventy-five scholars. L. Floyd is superintendent.

The society at Briensville has been worshiping in the school-house, but are now (1880) erecting a plain frame church ; this is near the National Cemetery. The Sunday- school numbers about sixty five. E. Pettis is superinten- dent. The church has at present eighteen members. This society was organized about eight years ago. A new church is now in process of erection.

Thompson Chapel, built in 1869, is connected with the Central Tennessee College, and has a varied membership of from twenty-five to seventy five. The society is constantly changing, as it is made up principally of students of the college. The Sunday-school was organized in 1868, and the average attendance is about one hundred.

Stewards of the Circuit .- J. Brader, T. Mills, E. Pettis, W. Porter, J. Coleman, S. IIartsfield, G. Baker, S. Hogg.

Class-Leaders .- G. Clemmons, G. Finney, L. Floyd, Charles Jackson, W. Porter, G. Patton, D. Hartsfield, I. Hadley.

The following have served as pastors in the order named : C. Pickett, D. W. Hays, William Leewood, B. B. Manson, M. C. Young, J. G. Thompson, J. W. Pickett, W. Lillard.

Brooks Chapel, at Methodist Episcopal church, Brent- wood, is situated nine miles from Nashville, on the Frank- lin pike. It was organized in 1866. The building first erected has been replaced by a larger and better structure. Membership, 1880, eighty ; Sunday-school scholars, one hundred and twenty-five. Superintendent, Edward Couey ; Trustees, Jackson Leek, Edward Coucy, Felix Hadley, Ilarry Wilson, A. Jackson, Thomas Young, William High- tower, Peter Phillips, Thomas W. Johnson.

Mount Pisgah Methodist Episcopal Church is situated thirteen miles nearly south from Nashville. It was organ- ized in 1869, and has had regular services ever since. The present membership is one hundred and twenty-five, and Sunday-school scholars one hundred. Superintendent, Harvey Steger. At both these places good churches have been built. Trustees, Harvey Steger, George Primm, Jerry Waller, and James White. Stewards, Littleton Tellis, Madison Primm, and Ned Williams.

Preachers who have served these churches as pastors : Gilbert Brooks, Calvin Pickett, Benjamin Goodlow, Miles Smith, Henry Primm, Frank Williams, Braxton James, Peter Martin, and Benjamin Anderson.

German Methodist Episcopal Church .- This church was organized in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in 1854, mainly through the influence of Mr. C. Cortes, the oldest and most faithful member of the present congregation. Rev. Philip Barth remained five years with this mission, doing good service. In 1855 a fine brick church was built on North College Street, cast side, between Locust and Whiteside Streets. Sebastian Barth, brother of the first preacher, was his successor from 1859 to 1861. For the next three years this flock was

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SAMUEL POLLARD AMENT.

Samuel Pollard Ament, son of G. Ament, was born May 12, 1803, near Lexington, Ky. When he was five years of age his parents removed to Barren Co., Ky., where they continued to reside till 1818, when they settled in Green County, of the same State.

His father (G. Ament) was born in Germany, on the Rhine, in 1760, and came to America during the Revolutionary war in 1778, and first settled in Phila- delphia, but emigrated from there to Kentucky at the age of twenty-one. He was educated for the Catho- lic priesthood, but changed his faith and became a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife was Hannah Metcalf, daughter of John Metcalf. He died Jan. 8, 1850, and was laid to rest on Brentz Hill, the spot he had selected for his own burial.

Samuel Pollard Ament. remained with his parents in their Kentucky home until he was seventeen years of age, when he went to Glasgow, Ky., where he stayed only six months; thence he removed to Nash- ville, where he settled June 15, 1820.

His educational advantages having been quite lim- ited, he began to work as a carpenter, at ten dollars

per month, and finally became an excellent workman, and as such he continued for twenty years. He bought a farm of one hundred and thirteen acres in District 11, but, failing to obtain a good title, he gave it up in two years, and settled on the place where he now lives about 1848.

From 1832 to 1838 he was engaged in the dry- goods business, and was very successful. In 1848 he went into the foundry and machine business, and con- tinued in it with prosperity for nine years. As a business man he has been a success.

Nov. 3, 1825, he married Mary, daughter of Adam Carper, an old pioneer of Davidson County. She was born Oct. 13, 1800; died July 4, 1879.

Twelve children were born to them ; two died in infancy, the remainder grew to maturity, and seven are now living.

He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church when a youth ; his wife joined at eleven years of age, and she lived a consistent member till the day of her death.

Mr. Ament has always taken a deep interest in the Sunday-schools of his adopted city, and it is said he organized the first Sunday-school in Nashville.

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

without a shepherd. In 1864 they were supplied for six months by Rev. M. C. Cramer, then chaplain of a regiment of United States troops stationed about the city. Rev. Mr. Cramer, a brother-in-law of Gen. Grant, is now (1880) a representative of the United States government as consul at Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1864, Rev. John Barth, a brother of the two former ministers, and a member of the Central German Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was sent to take charge of this mission. In March, 1867, this meeting-house was burned, and the present house of worship soon after erected on Cherry . Street, between Jefferson and Monroe Streets. This house, which is a small but neat brick structure, was dedicated Aug. 4, 1867. Rev. Mr. Barth was succeeded in 1868 by Rev. J. Tanner, who remained two years, after whom came George Guth, three years, Henry E. Wulzen, the present pastor, and J. Chris. Wurster, three years, after which Mr. Wulzen returned, and has been stationed here for the past year. Many of the early members have moved away. There are now sixty five members in the church, and ninety-two officers and scholars in the Sunday-school. A neat parsonage was built beside the church during the first pastorate of Rev. Mr. Wulzen. The present officers are Jacob Junger- man, Peter Jeck, Stewards and Trustees ; George Zickler, J. Decker, P. Buechli, Stewards; P. Brunold, W. Cortes, and J. Fluekiger, Trustees.

AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHI.

The first session of the Tennessee Conference of this body was held in the old wooden chapel of St. Paul's Church, now used as a private school, on Cherry Street, south of the present church.

Previously the colored people were organized in a general body under the auspices of the Missouri General Confer- ence, whose efforts among the many colored people gathered about the city during the war were productive of much good.

The secretaries of the Conference since its organization have all been Davidson County men, except Rev. Mr. As- bury, and have served as follows : B. L. Brooks, 1868 -. 69; Morris Hamilton, 1870-72; B. L. Brooks, 1873; D. E. Asbury, 1874-75; Moses R. Johnson, 1876; C. O. H. Thomas, 1877; George II. Shaffer, 1878; C. O. H. Thomas, 1879. Rev. J. W. Early, of Nashville, has been book steward since its organization. There are twenty- seven regular preachers and fourteen exhorters located within the county, which includes seven stations and five missions and circuits.

Above twenty-five thousand dollars were realized by col- lection in 1879. Rt .. Rev. Alexander W. Wyman, of Balti- more, Md., is presiding bishop of the Conference and missionary society.

St. John's .- This was at first a part of the organization effected in Caper's chapel, Dec. 28, 1863, by Bishop Daniel A. Payne. By a legal decision concerning church property they were deprived of their house of worship in 1865, and compelled to reorganize separate from the Church South.

Meetings were held in the opera-house until 1866 by Elder B. L. Brooks, who increased their numbers and caused a house of worship to be built during his three

years' pastorate. Rev. H. Tyler became pastor in 1868, Henry A. Jackson in 1871, and Elder Jordan W. Early, now steward of the Conference, in 1872. He was succeeded in 1875 by Moses R. Johnson, who remained until his death, in 1877, when Elder G. H. Shaffer, from Chillicothe, Ohio, the present incumbent, became pastor. The first chapel was erected on Spruce Street, west of the State Capitol, in 1866-67. A large brick church is now being built at the corner of Cedar and Spruce Streets. The entire church property, including parsonage, is valued at fifteen thousand dollars. There are five preachers, six hun- dred and seventy-five members, and a Sunday-school num- bering three hundred and fifty scholars, with a library of eight hundred and thirty-one volumes.

St. Paul's .- This church was first gathered by Bishop Payne, of Xenia, Ohio, in 1863. Elder Austin Woodfork was pastor until 1865, and J. W. Early one year, during which the chapel on the corner of Cherry Street, near the corner of Franklin, was dedicated by Rt. Rev. Bishop Campbell. This was a wooden building, forty by eighty feet large. The first Annual Conference was held here in August, 1866, before the organization of the present Con- ference. A large brick church of beautiful architecture was commenced in 1872, and dedicated in September, 1878, by Rt. Rev. Bishop Alexander W. Wyman. The old meeting-house, on an adjoining lot, was then sold, and con- verted into a private colored school. The new house was partially blown down in a gale on the night of Feb. 12, 1880. It is now being rebuilt under the supervision of its pastor, Rev. J. W. Early. This church has two preachers, seven hundred and twenty-two members, and a Sunday- school of two hundred and fifty-one members, with a library of nine hundred volumes. Before the destruction of the church it was valued at forty thousand dollars.

Bethel (formerly Liberty) Chapel is in the Tenth Dis- triet, just outside the city corporation, on Division Street. It was organized on Broad Street, near the Centennial Building, by Elder J. W. Early, in a house to which they gave the name of Liberty Chapel. Worship was moved, with the house, a quarter of a mile out on the Granny White pike, and the name changed to Bethel, in 1868.

It was again moved in 1870-71, and rebuilt where the new church now stands. The present brick church was built in 1877, and first occupied for worship Feb. 8, 1880. The pastors have been J. W. Early, Nelson McGavock, M. Howard, Louis N. Merry, William H. Ogleton, C. O. H. Thomas, and J. W. Early, present pastor. The church has five preachers, seventy-five members, two houses of worship, valued at five thousand dollars, and a Sunday- school of seventy-five scholars, with a library of two hun- dred volumes.

Payne Chapel, on Bass Street, Edgefield, was organized by Elder J. W. Early in a " dirt cellar" in 1866. He was succeeded by Elders A. Shelby, Rev. Mr. Lemore, and Nelson MeGavock until 1875, when he returned and re- mained until relieved by L. N. Merry, in October, 1879. The chapel was built during the pastorate of Elder Lemore on a lot purchased for fifteen hundred dollars, and the school-house, which the purchase included, was enlarged and made the basis of the building. The property is

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

now valued at two thousand five hundred dollars. The church includes six preachers, two hundred and forty-seven members, and a Sunday-school numbering three hundred and twenty-five. They have a library of eight hundred volumes, and a large regular attendance.

Ebenezer Chapel .- This church is in the Fifteenth Dis- trict. It was organized in 1867 by Elder J. W. Early in a private dwelling. A house of worship was built by the pastor, Elder Charles Russell, who performed most of the labor himself during the next year. This church was con- nected with St. Paul, and afterwards with Bethel until 1875, when it became a station. Elders William H. Ogle- ton, M. J. Brooks, and Joseph McClean have been its pastors. They have a house of worship worth one thousand dollars, sixty members, and a Sunday-school of fifty scholars. Their library numbers one hundred volumes.

St. Peter's is at White's Bend, four miles below the city of Nashville, on the right bank of the Cumberland. It was organized in 1867 as a part of the Goodlettsville Cir- cuit, and was changed to the charge of St. James in 1869. A congregation at Goodlettsville was also included.

St. James was organized in 1866, by Elder B. L. Brooks, four miles from the city, on the Gallatin pike, and a house of worship built in 1869. Elder N. McGavock is present pastor.

Goodlettsville Church was organized in 1867, and with the two others composing the circuit now has one hundred and eighty-five members. A plain church was soon after built.

The three churches have four preachers, nine hundred and fifty dollars' worth of property, and three Sunday- schools, aggregating two hundred and thirty-three scholars and two hundred and thirty-four books in their libraries.

Antioch was organized in 1867 as a part of Goodletts- ville Circuit. It numbers seventy-six members, under the pastoral charge of Elder W. HI. Derrick, a Sunday-school of fifteen, one hundred and thirty-two books, and two church buildings worth eighteen hundred dollars.

Belle View, which includes also Woodfork Chapel, at Vaughn's Gap, was organized in 1869. It has twenty-five members and two Sunday schools, with ninety-two scholars and thirty-five volumes in the library. The church prop- erty is slight, and worth about three hundred dollars. Woodfork Chapel was joined to the charge in 1867, and a house built soon after. Elder Henry Baugh is pastor.

Vaughn's Gap Circuit, organized in 1873 as a mission, includes a cottage chapel in this county formerly named " Hillsboro'."

City Row, three miles beyond the city cemetery, was organized in the (white) Presbyterian church in 1866. A joint congregation of the Methodist Episcopal and Afri- can Methodist Church worship in a Union building near the government cemetery, six miles north of the city. A society was organized near Edgfield Junction, on Dry Creek, in 1867. Worship is held by circuit preachers in Union Hall. Other small churches have been organized in various parts of the county by circuit preachers, and gone out after a short existence.

Beech Grove Circuit includes three preachers, two churches valued at two hundred dollars, one hundred and

eighteen members, one hundred Sunday-school scholars, and a library of one hundred volumes.

Salem Church numbers sixty members, eighty scholars, and has a library of one hundred and forty volumes, and a parsonage and church worth together fourteen hundred dollars. Rev. Evans Tyree is pastor.

Statistics of churches connected with circuits have never been returned separately, but the aggregate is doubtless correct. This gives a total of 2243 members; 15 Sunday- schools, with 1571 scholars and 3422 books; 2 parsonages and 16 church buildings, representing a value of $68,170, besides the weaker organizations not reported. All this is the results of labor performed since the emancipation of colored slaves and abolition of slavery in the United States.

THE COLORED METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF AMERICA.

Although the colored mission was not fairly organized until 1832, the colored people were cared for many years previous, and there were among them many excellent preach- ers. Among these one of the most noted was " Pompey," a slave of Rev. N. Moore, who often preached with his old master at the same meetings. Mr. Moore was an officer in the Revolutionary war and lived in North Carolina. He became an itinerant preacher at its close, and was followed by his faithful body-servant, who was converted at a camp- meeting, learned to read in the Bible, gave close attention to his master's sermons, and finally ventured to tell him where some improvement might be made in his own ser- mons.

" Pomp, do you think you could preach ?" he was asked. " Yes, master."

" Do you think you ought to preach ?"

" Yes, master. I have thought a great deal about it."

"Then, Pompey, you shall preach to-morrow."

This he did with so good an effect that his master gave him his freedom. He was well known and popular among the white people, to whom he often preached with great success.

The colored societies which existed as missions previous to the war organized themselves into a separate Conference in 1867, and received titles to the properties they held from the parent church. Caper's chapel was thus deeded to " The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America."

Previous to the organization of this Conference, the col- ored churches were organized under the auspices of the Missouri Conference in December, 1864.

Five colored churches within the county are members of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church of America. This organization says of itself: "From the introduction of Methodism on this continent we have constituted a part of the great Methodist Episcopal Church in America, first as members of the first Methodist Episcopal Church in America and the United States. When the division oc- curred in 1844, we formed a part of the Methodist Epis- copal Church South, which we sustained until the organi- zation of our church at the General Conference held at Jackson, Tenn., commencing Dec. 15, 1870, with Bishop Robert Paine, of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in the chair.

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CITY OF NASHVILLE.

" When the General Conference met in New Orleans, in April, 1866, they found that by revolution and the for- tunes of war a change had taken place in our social and political relations, which made it necessary that a change should be made in our ecclesiastical relations."

At the General Conference held in Memphis, Tenn., in May, 1870, it was found that five Annual Conferences had been formed among the colored people, and a desire had been expressed by them for a separate organization. This was readily granted by the bishops of the church. Revs. A. L. P. Green, Samuel Watson, E. W. Schon, Thomas Whitehead, R. J. Morgan, and Thomas Taylor were ap- pointed by the Conference to aid in their organization. It was further determined that all the property intended for use of the colored people should be transferred to trustees appointed by them for their sole use and benefit.

The churches included within this Conference are Jeffer- son and Lavergne, two churches, eighty-three members, Rev. George Birney, pastor; value of property, six thousand dollars.

Nashville Station .- Caper's Chapel, Rev. Elias Cottrell, pastor, one hundred and twenty-two members, two preachers; value of property, seventeen thousand dollars.

Trinity Circuit .- Rev. C. H. Phillips, pastor; ninety- one members, two preachers, and two churches, Goodletts- ville and Trinity. Sunday-schools are sustained by each church.

At the Jackson Conference, Rev. A. H. Miles and others were ordained bishops.

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.

Christ Church .- The first meeting recorded was held Monday, June 29, 1829, at " the hall." Rev. John Davis was called to the chair, and E. Talbot, Esq., was made sec- retary. There were present, besides, George Wilber, Thomas Claiborne, James Stewart, John Shelly, Henry Baldwin, Jr., James Deggins, Francis B. Fogg, William J. Hunt, and John R. Wilson. Messrs. Claiborne, Fogg, Shelly, Stewart, and Baldwin were made vestrymen, and delegates elected for the Episcopal Convention to be held in Nashville in July.

Soon after, sixty feet of ground, fronting Church Street, were purchased of James Stewart, and a church commenced by Messrs. Claiborne, Stewart, and Shelly, committee. An organ was purchased in Philadelphia, and Rev. George Weller was elected rector. Services were held in a hall until the sale of pews, July 9, 1831, soon after which the church was occupied. Rev. J. Thomas Wheat, of New Orleans, La., became rector in August, 1837. In 1839 he began the first special " weekly services" for the benefit of servants and colored people, after obtaining consent of the families of the church. In 1840 there were sixty-nine families or three hundred and forty-eight persons in the church, of whom eighty-four persons were confirmed in the year ending with June, and there were ninety-seven members in the Sunday-school.

Rev. Mr. Wheat resigned in October, 1848, and was succeeded by Rev. Charles Tomes, on the 14th of the same month. He was a man of many original ideas and an ardent worker. He introduced the weekly offertory

and daily morning and evening prayers, and so horrified the quaint old church that they said of him "he was making a bridge of the Episcopal Church to go straight to Rome." He refused to preach funeral sermons or eulogize the dead.

Rev. Mr. Tomes was born in Warwickshire, England, in 1814, and came to America in 1827, where he was superintendent of the St. Thomas Sunday-school, and one of the originators of the first floating chapel for seamen. He was admitted to the priesthood in 1844, and was rector at Sing Sing, N. Y., and St. Louis, Mo., before stationed at Nashville. During the height of the cholera season in Nashville, he was the only clergyman left to administer to the plague-stricken people. He was assisted by two Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity. Towards the close of his rectorship he was furnished an assistant rector. He resigned May 1, 1857, and died July 10th following. Rev. Leonidas L. Smith, of Warrenton, N. C., became rector in June, 1857. He resigned Nov. 4, 1861, his res- ignation to take effect from and after Jan. 1, 1862, on condition of supplying the pulpit at his own expense until that time. This was accepted, and permission given him to go to Norfolk, Va., with his family immediately. His departure was made amidst many marks of respect and regard from his congregation. Revs. A. Crawford, Mr. IIarlow, and Mr. Hunt kept the church open until the in- terval of war, after June, 1862. May 24, 1864, the first record after the long rest, an increase of salary to Rev. Mr. Harlow, acting rector, is made. Rev. W. J. Ellis was elected rector Feb. 13, 1866, and resigned Nov. 28, 1870. The church was raised and repaired at the end of the war, and two Sunday-schools opened,-one white and one col- ored. Rev. William Graham, the present rector, accepted the position Dec. 30, 1870, and has since filled it in a manner successful to the prosperity of the church.

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 88

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