USA > West Virginia > Monroe County > A history of Monroe county, West Virginia > Part 20
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John Wallace 1824-1832 J. H. Moffett 1891-1895
James Dickson 1835-1837 E. E. Patterson .1896-1897
J. G. Mclaughlin 1844-1856 W. H. Hunter 1898-1907
J. H. Simpson 1867-1891 T. B. Stuart 1907-
The Rev. T. B. Stuart is a native of South Carolina, where he married his first wife, Anne Latham. In 1909 he wedded Virginia E. Williams, of Monroe.
It is worthy of note that New Labanon is the only church of its own denomination in West Virginia.
XXV
REHOBOTH
Origin of the Rehoboth Society-The Church Building-Its History and Centennial.
T WOULD seem fitting to devote a chapter of this book to an account of the oldest house of worship in all that portion of the Virginias lying west of the Shen- andoah Valley. It occupies an inconspicuous site, is in a decrepit condition, and is anything but imposing in size. But associated with this humble structure is a history of great interest.
By way of further introduction, it may be remarked that Metho- dism was introduced into America only eighteen years previous to the building of Rehoboth church, and into Virginia only fourteen years previous. The Methodists had been an independent church only two years. Until 1784 they constituted a society within the Church of England. The established church of that day had grown cold and formal, and the object of the society was to promote per- sonal religion. At the outbreak of the war for independence the Methodists in all America were so few as to be almost insignificant with respect to number. Many of them, especially their preachers, were of British birth and fell under suspicion because of their con- nection with a church whose ministers were so generally British born and of British sympathy. John Wesley, the founder of Metho- dism, went so far as a loyal son of England to use his great influ- ence toward keeping his followers in America loyal also. But this was a matter beyond his control. The success of the Revolution made it impossible for the American Methodists to remain a society within a foreign church. In 1784 they accordingly organized them- selves into a wholly independent church, although Francis Asbury, their first bishop, was sent from England by Wesley and spent the rest of his laborious life in this country. The simple mode of wor- ship of the Methodists, the flexibility of their itinerant system, and
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
its suitability to pioneer conditons caused the new church to grow with remarkable rapidity, and to have its principal following among the most American of the Americans.
Among the people who were living in the Sinks at the close of the Revolution were several Methodist families. Among these were the Blantons, the Christys, the Johnsons, and the Warrens. They held religious meetings at their homes, and as their member- ship was growing, they organized a regular society late in the sum- mer of 1784. This date, it will be observed, is also that of the in- dependence of the Methodist Church. Their meetings were often at a schoolhouse near where their church was afterward built. Among their local preachers were John Wiseman and James Chris- ty. The numbers who attended, many of them coming on foot from a long distance, made it necessary to have a regular preacher. Early in 1785 Edward Keenan wrote to Bishop Asbury to send them one. In response to this call, a young man named Wil- liam Phoebus was sent. He was a favorite with Asbury and is often mentioned by him.
Although an interested attendant at the meetings, Keenan was not at this time a member of the society. The parents, both of himself and his wife, were Catholics, and his wife was Catholic also. When the preachers came to his house to hold prayers, his wife and her mother would continue their carding and spinning. But while on his return with Phoebus and several other men from attending a meeting on Potts Creek, and while crossing Peters Mountain, a conversation arose which lapsed into singing. Keenan was then and there converted, and he remained a Methodist to the day of his death in 1826. He became a steward and class- leader, for which duties he was highly qualified. His wife and mother-in-law also joined the church.
The log cabins of the frontier were so small, and the school- houses so very few as well as small, that a special house of worship became urgent. Keenan executed the following bond :
Know all men by these presents, that I, Edward Keenan, of the county of Greenbrier and state of Virginia, am held and truly bound unto William Scarborough, James Scarborough, Daniel McMullen, James Chris- ty, and Alexander House, or such trustees as shall be appointed by the
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REHOBOTH
preachers of the Methodist church, in the just sum of fifty pounds of good and lawful money of the state aforesaid, to the which payment well and truly to be made, I bind myself, executors, administrators, and assigns, jointly and severally, and each of them. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this ninth day of February in the year of our Lord 1787. The condition of the above obligation is such that if the above bound Edward Keenan shall make or cause to be made a lawful right and title to a tract of land containing four acres, whereupon the preaching house stands, then this obligation to be void, or else to remain in full force and effect and in virtue of law. Whereunto I have set my hand and seal the day and date above written.
EDWARD KEENAN. (Seal)
Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of teste: Jacob Cook, Abra- ham Friend.
The actual deed calls for five acres, but the county book in which it was recorded is now missing.
The church building was completed in June, 1786. Only logs of medium size were used and it could have taken but a very few days to fell 'the trees and put the timbers into place. Samuel Clark, a veteran of the Revolution, was one of the men who placed the wall-logs in their positions. The little building, whose floor space is not quite twenty-one feet by twenty-nine, was set up near the bottom of a circular depression in the limestone tableland. From this circumstance it can scarcely be seen from a distance of more than a hundred yards in any direction. The choice of ground was doubtless because it was not yet felt that the danger of Indian raids was entirely over. The red men could not have come within rifle-shot unseen. It had sometimes been necessary for the settlers around to shelter themselves in Byrnside's fort about two miles away. On one occasion the Keenans ran to the fort in the darkness. Their baby Margaret was wrapped in a white sheet, so that her mother could better see the way.
There is a tradition, unconfirmed by Asbury's journal, that the bishop preached the sermon of dedication while standing in the doorway, a large crowd being gathered outside. If the tradition is correct, and there seems no good reason to doubt it, the ceremony took place in July, 1788, when the bishop speaks of preaching "with some satisfaction to a large congregation at Rehoboth." The entries in his journal are usually very concise, and he may not have
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
deemed it necessary to say that he was dedicating a humble frontier chapel. In one striking respect he had an advantage over the modern preacher. He did not need to importune his listeners to raise a debt of several thousand dollars.
Here at Rehoboth Asbury held sessions of the Greenbrier Con- ference in the month of May, and in the years 1792, 1793, and 1796. He speaks kindly of "friend Scarborough," who lived on Turkey Creek. Just before reaching Rehoboth on his last visit he makes this observation: "If I could have regular food and sleep, I could stand the fatigue I have to go through much better, but this is impossible under some circumstances. To sleep four hours and ride forty miles without food or fire is hard; but we had water enough in the rivers and creeks .- Ah! If I were young again." The difficulties of journeying are "known only to God and our- selves." The "fat of the land" was little in evidence in those days. The bishop did not drive about in a comfortable buggy to be entertained in cozy parlors and then pampered at the dinner table with pie, cake, and fried chicken. Yet we are told that the same girl, who when an infant had been hurried to the fort wrapped in a sheet, once gave the bishop and his attendant a dinner of chicken and dumplings. Keenan himself was away from home and his wife had gone to take a dinner to some men at work. The bishop traveled with two horses. On one he carried his bed- ding and teapot. Like the thoroughbred Englishman, Asbury was fond of his cup of tea and always carried the requisites for it with him.
There was a previous conference in 1785 at the house of Keenan. Asbury was not present. Because of a drouth there was no feed for the numerous horses of his guests, but without hesitation the good Methodist turned the horses into his field of rye, and during the session it was cropped close to the ground. Nevertheless there was a better crop of grain in this field than in those of his neighbors.
Among the other early giants of Methodism whose voices were heard at Rehoboth were Jesse Lee, William McKendree, Freeborn Garretson, John Tunnell, and Francis Poythress. Lee rode in this section on a skittish horse and used a blind bridle. It was Lee who introduced Methodism into New England. His first sermon
West of the Alleghanies First Methodist Church Building to be Erected OLD REHOBOTH CHURCH
سعيد
٠٠ ١٣٠٠
تاليمين بكلبوبة
نهوا حيط
العديد يبه جـ
الص حاب
أجد علي الهيم
عبال
لوك سوب.
بي +٩٤جنيباب :
١- ميـ
دب
منسعرسي جرانه ٠٠٠١٥
فهرسيدي كو
NICKELL'S MILL AND THE ANCESTRAL NICKELL HOME
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REHOBOTH
in Boston was preached under an elm, none of the churches of the city being hospitable enough to make such a proceeding unneces- sary.
In the report of a church committee of 1831, Rehoboth is spoken of as "in such a condition as to reflect no credit upon us as Metho- dism." The floor had settled in some places and pushed up in others. The sills were rotten, one being cut away to permit the door to open. The glass was nearly all gone. There was "the name of a stove, but not the benefit of one." The pulpit was falling from the wall. The paling around the burial ground was in tolerably good repair though somewhat rotten. It was stated that the popu- lation of the vicinity was far from dense and that little interest was shown in the matter.
Dr. Lafferty, writing in 1877, thus speaks of Rehoboth :
"It is of hewn logs, with a gallery around the interior, save over the pulpit. It is broad enough to seat nearly as many as the room below, and strong enough to bear the weight of twenty times the people that could be squeezed into it. It may be that the builders were more concerned to keep out Indian bullets than to let in air. The pulpit still remains. The old book-board is gone; a rousing preacher-a Dutch- man-split it with his fist. A new church stands in the same inclosure. No service is held in the old edifice. The communion table is used in the new church. That piece of furniture shows the joiner's art in a rude way; it looks odd indeed, in the tasteful chancel, but carved mahogany could not replace this clumsy, battered poplar stand. The men of stature of the ancient times had knelt by it. The sacred elements consecrated by Asbury had been served from it."
In 1886 the gallery posts, 41 inches in circumference, and in perfect preservation, were still in place, but they have since been removed. The pulpit, of poplar and walnut, was two and one- half feet above the floor and roomy. The sounding-board, a fea- ture of early churches, is also gone.
The centennial of the old church was observed July 20, 1884. Morning and afternoon sermons were preached by Collins Denny and David Bush, P. E., to a gathering of 1500 people, and a his- torical sketch, written by the Rev. J. L. Kibler, was published. There was a centennial offering of $425, Senator Hereford lead- ing with $100.
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
The roof of the historic church at length fell in and the floor decayed, but through the exertions of W. L. Lynch and others, a re- storation was effected several years ago. A shingled roof was put on, the floor was replaced, and the building made level by insert- ing sawed sills under each side. In its renovated form the building may perhaps witness a second centennial. There are indications of hasty work in the original construction. Not one of the logs is a foot in diameter. The larger ones are placed nearest the ground. There was no hewing of the logs except on the inner side of the wall. They are diamonded at the ends, for a distance of eighteen inches, and then cut into to receive the log above. Thus the logs project at the corners of the building. The door, which is near the center of the south side, is broad but only five and a half feet high. In the east end, above the pulpit, is a window two by two and one- half feet. High up in the north side is one more window, which is just three feet square. A man of six feet could scarcely have stood erect under the gallery, and the preacher could have viewed his au- ditors above quite as well as those below. There was no provision for warming the room. About 80 yards away is a small, white, four-windowed chapel, in which services are occasionally held. The interments in the churchyard are numerous, and few of the older graves are marked. Among them are those of Edward Keenan and his wife. The road from Union to Gap Mills passes within a few moments' walk, but neither building is in sight.
Among the many revivals at Rehoboth perhaps the most me- morable was that of 1842, when there were more than 100 con- versions. It has been well said that "through this entire country and in distant parts may be found many who can trace back their spiritual pedigree to a revival at Rehoboth." Some of them would doubtless indorse these lines by an aged Methodist :
I know the world's a-moving on, As Galileo said; For now I rent a cushioned pew To hear an essay read, But when through stained-glass windows The sun throws blue and gold,
I cannot help a-thinkin' how The glory shone of old.
XXVI
METHODISM IN MONROE
RANCIS ASBURY, a native of England, was converted to the Christian faith through the influence of a de- voted mother. At the age of seventeen he began hold- ing meetings, and four years later he became an itiner- ant minister of the Methodist society. In the pulpit he was solemn and dignified. His voice was sonorous and commanding, and his eye was one that looked deep into the hearts of men. It is to his inflexible purpose, untiring zeal, and capacity for leadership that American Methodism is indebted for its itinerant system and its marvelous growth. In 1778 he was left sole leader of the society in America, and in 1784 he became its first bishop.
His first visit west of the Alleghanies was in 1781, and Meth- odism in the Greenbrier dates from about this time. Jacob and Valentine Cook, sons of Valentine Cook of Indian Creek, were the first Methodist preachers belonging in Monroe. Jacob was a local preacher and traveled a great deal. Valentine, Jr., born in Penn- sylvania, had few advantages in early life and yet managed to ac- quire the rudiments of an English and German education at Cokes- bury College, the first Methodist school in America. "He was an instance of the triumph of intellect and goodness over singular phys- ical defects. But when he began to preach these peculiearties were forgotten as attention was arrested by the tones of his voice and his words." He moved to Kentucky, where he became principal of Bethel Academy, the second Methodist school.
The first Methodist society in Monroe was formed in a school- house near Greenville. This was two years before the building of Rehoboth church in 1786. From the journal of Stith Mead we quote this extract :
Monday, May 21, 1792. We rode over Peters Mountain by the Sweet
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Springs to Brother Edward Keenan at Rehoboth Chapel, where I was glad to meet with the bishop, Rev. Francis Asbury. Hope Hull, Philip Cox, Jeremiah Abel, elders; Salathiel Weeks, John Lindsey, Bennett Maxey, and John Metcalf, deacons. John Kobler, remaining on trial, was received into connection and ordained deacon. Jeremiah Abel located. James Ward and Stith Mead admitted on trial as probationers. Rev. Samuel Mitchell, local preacher, ordained deacon. The above named preachers were all that composed and had business with the present annual conference. God manifested Himself in His Spirit's power, the doors were opened, sinners came in, and there was a great shaking among the dry bones. Such a time, I presume, was never seen and experienced at this place before. Ten souls were converted and many sinners were cut to the heart. The lively exercises continued until nearly sundown."
Alleghany Circuit of the Rockingham District covered this ter- ritory, and was formed in 1783. It was served in that year by Francis Poythress and Benjamin Roberts, Philip Bruce being their presiding elder. John Tunnell after thirteen years in ministerial work died at Sweet Springs in 1790. At this time the yearly allow- ance to a preacher was $64, in addition to such traveling expenses as ferriage, horseshoeing, and provisions for preacher and horse when riding a long distance. This allowance was increased to $84, and in 1816 to $100.
Lorenzo Dow, whose eccentricities prevented his admission into full connection, labored in Maryland and Virginia as an independ- ent evangelist and preached in this region. One of his favorite and emphatic expressions in preaching was, "a double L spells all." Dow was here about 1800, and so was Peter Cartwright, who made use of muscular Christianity when ruffians attempted to break up his meetings.
Solomon Harris and Edward Wayman were on Alleghany Cir- cuit in 1802. Next year Greenbrier District was formed, with James Ward as its presiding elder, and Monroe was added to it in 1805. However, this county was again a part of Rockingham Dis- trict until the formation of Lewisburg District about 1849. During this period the presiding elders were Samuel Bryson (1838-1842), N. J. B. Morgan (1842-46), B. N. Brown (1846-49). Rehoboth was set apart from Greenbrier Circuit in 1804, at which time it had 290 white and 15 colored members.
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METHODISM IN MONROE
This county was at length divided into the four charges of Un- ion, Greenville, Peterstown, and Alderson. Union Circuit was formed in 1853.
Notable campmeetings were held at and near Greenville in the closing years of the eighteenth and the early years of the nineteenth century; as also in the latter years of the last century at Marvin Grove, near Greenville, and at Salt Sulphur Springs. At Marvin Grove as many as 4000 people have been in attendance in a single day.
On the last day of 1831 a committee's report was presented at a quarterly conference held at Peniel meeting house. It stated that of the six churches in Monroe Circuit, five were in Monroe county, and that all were out of repair, there being "great apathy among our friends respecting them." One of the buildings was of brick, all the others being of log. The brick church at Union was not plas- tered, much of the glass was gone from the windows, the gallery floor was not laid, and there was no stove. At Dropping Lick there was "a poor, old, small house, if indeed it be proper to call it house," but there was the probability of a new one within a year. Mount Peniel in Wolf Creek valley was unfinished and out of repair. Bethel on Indian Creek was ill constructed, dark, and unfinished. The report says, "the people in this neighborhood are very careless about furnishing themselves with a comfortable house in which to worship the Lord." The unfinished meeting house at Big Farms was on land for which no title had been given and none could be obtained. But except in one instance there was no church debt. The contrast between conditions then and now is worthy of more than a passing thought.
Services are now held weekly at Union and bi-monthly at the out- lying appointments of Marvin, Pickaway, Gap Mills, and Central. At Rehoboth there are services on special occasions only. The mem- bership of 1915 was 413, and the four Sunday schools had an en- rollment of 248. The church property is valued at $16,100 and the Sunday school collections were $486. There was paid for min- isterial support $985 and for benevolences and incidentals $1900.
Greenville Circuit has the outlying appointments of Lillydale,
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A HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA
Mount Alexander, Bethel, Riverview, Trinity, and Johnson's Cross- roads. The present membership is 507, the church property is val- ued at $9900, and there was paid $684 for ministerial support and $646 for benevolences and incidentals. The six Sunday schools have 311 members enrolled and the money raised in 1915 was $363.
Peterstown Circuit has these nine appointments: Peterstown, Coalter's Chapel, Red Sulphur Springs, Cashmere, Chestnut Hill, Thompson's Chapel, Green Valley, Pine Grove, and Rich Creek. The membership is 267 and the Sunday school enrollment is 165. The parsonage and three churches are valued at $5500. There was paid for ministerial support $542, for benevolences and incidentals $188, and the collections of the three Sunday schools were $40.
Alderson class was organized in 1874 and its present house of worship was built in 1880. Alderson became a station in 1908. Connected with it are two small mission fields, Griffith's Creek and Flat Mountain. The membership is 338 and the Sunday school enrollment is 327. The parsonage and two charges are valued at $8000 and other church property at $2750. There was spent for ministerial support $1091; for benevolences and incidentals $1419. Sunday school collections were $483.
There has thus been a growth to a membership of 1525, in ad- dition to the 14 Sunday schools with an enrollment of 1061 and collections of $1362. The 18 churches, four parsonages, and other church property are valued at $42,250. The cost of ministerial sup- port in 1914 was $3302, and the benevolences and incidentals were $3983.
Among those who have been faithful in local and itinerant work, and have lived in Monroe, or have been natives of the county, the following names may be noted : Ballengee, Goodall, Hank, McNeer, Miller, Neel, Parker, Shanklin, Shires, Talbert, and Weikel.
Not nearly so old as Rehoboth, and yet dating from the first third of the last century is the Pack church, yet standing. The principal factor in its erection was Loammi Pack, a zealous Meth- odist.
The trustees in 1842 of the old log meeting house at Johnson's
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METHODISM IN MONROE
Crossroads were William, Caleb, Barnabas, and Jacob Johnson, John Ross, and Charles Hines.
As an instance of customs in "ye olden time," Mrs. Elizabeth Mann has related that in attending the old Centerville Methodist church, she would wear her old shoes while going through the woods and over the rough ground, but when she came to a certain hollow log near the church she would put on her new ones and wear them until the return home. Such care was enforced by considerations of economy.
The old church building at Union, now used by a colored con- gregation, was built about 1857. There is another colored church at Ballard.
When in 1844 the Methodist Episcopal Church South was or- ganized, the Baltimore Conference, whose territory included Mon- roe, voted to remain with the old church. In 1861 a majority of the conference voted to withdraw on account of a law passed by the General Conference of 1860. It remained independent until February 8, 1866, yet without formally abandoning its connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Baltimore Conference then invited Bishop Early of the Church South to preside over its session, and since that time it has constituted a part of that denom- ination. In 1869 the Virginia Conference of the Methodist Epis- copal Church was organized, and since that year it has had a circuit in this county known as the Monroe Circuit. More particular in- formation respecting the same has not been furnished us.
XXVII OTHER CHURCHES AND THE FRATERNITIES
The Church of England-Sundry Denominations in Monroe-A List of Ministers-The Fraternities.
T may come as a surprise to the person who is not well read in American history to learn that there was an established church in every one of the Thirteen Colo- nies excepting Rhode Island and Pennsylvania. In Virginia it was the Church of England, and the disabilities imposed on other denominations were not entirely removed until 1784.
Colonial Virginia was divided into parishes,-one to three in each county,-and every parish was supposed to have one clergyman. The state, through the instrumentality of the vestry and the church- wardens, built the chapel in which he officiated and paid his salary. It also furnished him a glebe, which was the name given to the farm of 250 acres on which he lived, and it built him a rectory. Persons of other sects or of no sect at all were nevertheless compelled to pay taxes in support of the state church. According to the laws then in force, they were expected to attend its services a certain number of times each year. Until a late day marriages were not legal in the eye of the law unless solemnized by a clergyman of the state church. One effect of the Revolution was to disestablish the state church and put all denominations upon an equality. Another effect was to rid the established church of the things that had been its re- proach. Under Bishop Mead it entered upon a new and vigorous life and has since enjoyed a career of great usefulness. Since the period of the Revolution it has been known to us as the Episcopalian Church.
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