.is tory ')f the ~ont ice 110 ~~ethodist Church

1951

nary Dance--Historian

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Christ also loved the church, and ave himself for it; that he mi ht sanctify and cleanse it ••• That he mi ht present it to himself a ~lorious church, not h vlng spot, nor wrinkle, or any such thinrr; but that it should be 5: 25-27.

oly and without blemish. Eph.

'or her my tears shall fall For her my prayers ascend

To her my C8res nd toils be iven Till toils and C3res shall end.

~eyond my hi hest joy I nrize her heavenly ways,

Her sweet co union, solemn vows Her h Trrms of love and praise.

10ntice110 e thod s t Church

The history of the ,lfonticello Methodist Church dates back to the infant days of Methodism. The Virginians and Carolinicns brought ~thodism to GeorQia whe. they began pourinE into the up country after the ft~erican Revolution. In 1788 Bishop Francis Asbury, the Vandering Bishop, held the first conference in Geor ia. About twelve years later the church in ~~nticello was organized. Practicqlly all records for the first thirty years of its existence are missin.,. The actual date of org'mization cannot be ascertained, blt it w s durin~ the first years of I' 00, if not before.

On the 23rd of September, 1812 the lot upon which the church now stands was deeded by the Commissioners of the City of ~onticello

to the following tr stees of the r~thodist Episcopal Church-- ) Peter Vi. Gantier, Richard Holmes, Edward rO\l'm, r~. Andrev/s and :fichae 1 Durr. This trans action \'if s m~de for the cons iderable sum of five d llars. It is probable that about this time the first ethodist Church was built, for in the church cemetery there is a

~rave of a stern hero of the ~Rr of 1812. The slab, ray w th a e,v sho~s this inscription.

Sacred to the memory of General William Lee who departed this life on the 15th of M rch, 1815. Aged 38. Esteemed and honored by his country and univers~lly beloved. His benevolence was unbounded a d his virtues exemplary. He lived as he died, fe rless of deoth and in joyful hope of imMortal felicity.

Written records w'lich have c:>me dovlD to us date back to 1836 . At this time the church w~s a pa t of a circuit of ten churches as follows--Rock Sprin , Hillsboro, New Hope, Elizabeth, Sardis, Liberty, Concord, ~"idway, N!'t. Zion and 'onticello. The circuit continued n this form, with few minor chan~es for over sixty years. F ul' of theae churches, TtTonticello, Hillsboro, Liberty and New Hope are still active. There are no records of Rock Sprjnc;, Elizabeth, ,idway, T1t. Zion or Concord. They, like old sold'ers, seems to have faded away. Sardis church membership was moved to Monticello about 1910, and the buildin~ was sold to Mr • .J. H. ')xf rd, who used the hand-hewn timber'" in his b~rn, and in the found- ti:>n of his ho e.

The pastors ho served these Ghurches and the years of their ministry 8re:

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Plexander cAlphin 1836 Eli ~ennet 1837-33 N. H. Harr s 1339 John C. Carter 1 0 G. 1. Fe rce 18 ~1 J. E. Cook 1842 Hinton Cra ,ford 1 'lL~3-1 'Villiam Fos ter 1845 C. Trussel 1846

J •. Slake ly mi th 18L~9 Isaac Bor inS-::­ 1850

John B. r1cGhe e 1857-5'1

John '. Sente 11 1863-6LI

.T. • Turner 18L~7 E •. '!. Spear 1848

,Tames Harris 1850 Sidney;. Smith 1851-5 ­Richard Lane 1853-S~­, {• • Ti'lor nee 1855-50

Robt. W. Lovett 1859 ~3rshall F. ~1alsby 1860

Danie 1 Ke Isey 1861-62

IV. '7. Oslin 1865-66 Daniel Kelsey 1867 '''1. W. Oslin 1868 "1'1[. ,V. Arnold 1869 ,.,. avies 1870-71 ...... r,. ~ur ah 1872-73 w. TV. \J ds\\'orth 1874 Albert Gray 1875-76-77 J. A. Rosser 1878-79 SaM. • Jones .,/ 1880 J. ~ Bowden 1881-82 T. S. L. Harvie 11 188) J. J. Ilor3an 1884 o. . Thrower 1885-86-27-88 O. C. Simmons 1889-90-91-C)2 S. T)imon 1893-94

-:~Isaac Boring died on Lay 11th 1850 and James Harris was app inted to fill the unexpired term.

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The Presidine Elders on the ~onticello Circuit and their years of service were:

''Jilliam f: nold 18~6-l8u.0 J. HI Talley 18 .0-18 '4' . Is a8 c Bor ing 184~-181~8 J. ; ~ . Glynn 184 --1851 Jos iah Sewis 1851-1852 S. Anthony 1852-1853 . T. 1853-1855Hann J. w. Glynn 1855-1 59 J. E. Ev ns 1859-1862 l'Jal ter R. 'Srannan 1862-1866 J. c. )im'TIons 1866-1'"'67 "'al ter R. Rrnnnan 1867-1863

v. G. Ha ood 1868-1 70 lV. N. Poulton 1871-1874 J. E. ::vans 1874·-1877

1" . N. Cook 1877-1381 R. . o,i ham 1881-1882 J. N. Patillo' 1882-1886"r,.y 1 -18886G. rr Yarbrou h 188 -1890H.

". ,T. i ,ham 1890-1892 v .::_1'1. D. Anderson 1892 -1394

The names Jeremiah Freeman Dnd Georue F. Pierce a~pear in the Church rec rds in 1831 and 1832, whether these men ,''''re visiting preachers or pastors is not k~own. The ~reat Lorenz~ Dow also preqched on the circuit '1d the Daue:hters of the Americ n Revolution hnve marked the spot where his meetin,s were held. The gre'ltest revivnl of reliGion to come in Jasper County as told by the oldest citizens, resulted from a county-wide ~eeting with f Sam. P. Jones dJinrr the preachin~. This meetin~ was not held durin~ his pastor~te but when he ret rned as a visitin~ minister. flore than five-hundred were converted. The most outstandin event of the meeting; was the conversion of 1r. and ~ITS. John Webb and their son Frank. Hr. Webb owned a bbr-room, which WCiS his only source of inco~e. On the d~y after his conversjon, he entered the saloon ~nd, with the help of neighbors, all liquors were emptied into the streets. People of the church took a col1ecti n and ~ave him money to start i~ a new business. Frank was sent t Bmory to school, and thou,h he did not return to Jasper, he bec me a worthy citizen of Georgia.

·:\v. D• .'\nderson died 'G'ebruary 1894 and . A. Candler filled the unexpired term.

Prominent amonp; the l'~ymen of this period are the names of hom8.s ~roadus, J. A. Reid, Alf. Goolsby, Ben Purifoy, 1~ajor Key and Dr. ~add x.

In 1895 the ~~onticello Church appe_rs in the records as a V station, and h~s so continued until the present time. The old church buildinr; w s torn down 'nd the present buildine; was erected at the cost of -3500. Plans for the buildin were dre\ln by '!r. John Davidson. In a pastoral report to the quarterly conference in December 1395 Rev. J. • Allen says, "'Jith a neli';, comfort ble nd commodious church in the cultural portion of town there is no

reAson why r~ethodism should not move rapidly uplJ"itlrd." Officials in the new church were: J. L. Campbell, T. H. Kelly, J. C. Key, v' B •• lr;r. Pourifoy, J. B. Webb, L. Benton.

In 1927, durin, the pastorate of J. L. Hall, Sunday School rooms lJJere cinstructed at the estimated cost of ,"S50J. Hhile .~. J. O. rand was pastor, 1925-1931, the Rens Bible Class room was constructed in the b8sement and a piano instelled. Several ye~rs later th sanct 'ry was m~de more beautiful by the addition of memorial windows. The front window is the only one that was placed when the church w s built. This was done by the labors,

nd ~ifts of Mr. and ~~s. J. L. canpbell, who being childless, dedic8ted it to "Our Children" of the church.

n renort to the l?st qu rterly, the value of the church today was quoted as ~25,000.

In V e thad ism, next in import~lnce to the church, is n home for the pastor. The people of the new ~onticello station lost no time in providinG one. In July 1895 arbitrators, "to whom. was referI'ed the division of the personage prr)nerty of thA late :onticello Circuit," made the followin('!' report: rile direct that the division be de in the proporti n of 4~ tenths to ilillsboro Circuit nd 5~ tenths to '~nt cello station, as just, fair ~nd equitable division of same. ~his report was si ned by R. T. Ross, L. D. Ezell and ,J. • Webb.

On AU8ust 18th 1896, in quarterly conference, the l! r'0itrators of parsonage property were re jected ll ;nd J. H. Kelly and J. B. Webb were apoointed to confer ",i th two arbitrators from Hillsboro char e and they lI se l ec ted an umpire for final adjustment."

In October 1896, th~ arbitrators reported a settlement of the parsonage property. It was decided that t e fonticello station pay the Hillsboro Circuit "one hundred and fifty dollars with interest from the f rst TuesdJ"':T in Septe r,lber 1895, at seven per cent until paid for their interest in the parsonage .11

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The division of the property havin~ been settled, a committee WDS appointed to take char e of parsonaqe property and ~uil ~

new parsona,e. n February the 14th 1 97, this committee hed comnleted its task and reported to the quarterly conference: There has com into 0 l' hAnd from 311 sources t~e followinp, ~m unts:

For sale of land to the County ~~ 125.00 ~or sale of old parsonage k tchen 10.00 For sale of old parsone e and one acre 450 .00 From the ladies 7~.00 Pron subscriptions 680.00 Total 1340.00

ich aMount has been expended s follows: Cost of new p2rsona~e 1000.00 PElid to Circuit for their settlement in , ars:ma e 88 aw rded by arbitrators 125.00 T ov n~ Id ars n8.ge 85.00 Fencin? and other ..fOrk 90.00

The report W~ si~ned by J. Kelly, J. L. Canpbell, Lucien Benton, ;J. R. Powe 11 and '~J. • Pour ifoy. 'rho firs t p~. s tor to live in the new parsonage w s H. L. Embry, and he said of his new h me, "The people 0 '1~onticello ~ave uo a royal reception--hot supper, wqrm fires 'nd one oP the ver~ best AS well s the prettiest pars'Jnage in Geron;ia." ~J!r. Embry found on his pantry shelves lard, sU~'r, coffee, lon sausac;e, short sa1lsa'f'e, bock bones nd side h nes.

The s~me pars naGe, with repairs and SOMe additi'Jns to keep it comfort~ le and modern, is used now. It was remodeled in 1950, when it bec"tiile the home of Reverend James r,~. ~oore and his faMily. Its present value, as ,iven to the last quarterl;l Conference, is ~7500.

'~e have no records of the Sunday school in t e ~nticello

Churc while it was a pa t of the Circuit, b t the first stati n preacher, J. B.All n says, "Our Slmday School 's well or~ nized. '~e have faithful and efficient teo chers, and the children see~

anxio s to learn the story of the cross." Fo report w S P.lade of enrollment or fine.nces. The first Superintendent m-;ntion~d was J. H. K~lly, and these servin~ in that official capacity since: R. • '~alone, J. S ... lone, J. r.r·~d Benton, J. Ben ~arren, G. G. Ezell, v. E. 'rhornton and tllen Britain. The present enroL.ment of the church school is 169 a d the financial rep lrt for the ye l'

lC).eJo-51 showed J"'llnies expended for ell purposed as ",198.00.

The first avail~ble rep;rt of .oman's oreani~ation in church Vi s made t tht; Iluarterly Conference July 14, 1894.. Rev. S. H. Dimon was Destor of the church And Dr. • A. Candler was presidina

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elder. The or.J· .niza tion was called the 'ont ice 110 Auxi llarY of Joman's Hssionery Society. There were 11+ r.1embers. !1rs. G: K.

Cle-1ents WDS President, '~l s. Dave Glover, Vice-President. Kiss Eml1a Powell, Recordin Secretary and ~lrs. s. . Swans0D, Corres­pondinp' Secretary and Treasnrer. Durin .... the first yeer t\'lenty­seven dollars and 15 cents w~s sent to the ~onference Treasurer "as dues and for Special purposes." In 1395 the women were reporting under the name ",10 ans F'orei("'n Hissionary Society." At the time there were 20 members and :.irs. S. ". Swanson was President. Durin~ the p stor~te of Rev. V. P. Irvine the na~e was 8 in chan ed, "nd the r!ontic.:.llo WOlTIen became a p rt of t 1e ',Iomen's So iety of Christian Service. At present there are 56 members flnd t;152b.54 paid for all caus s durin~ tie year 1950-51. This organization has been reported b every pastor as active and doin3 eood ~or~.

The Epworth Lea ue of t~e ~ethod'st Church South of ~onticello,

Georgia was first or~Lnized in Februf-ry, 1393. It was reor anized t\pril 18, 1894, "with a roll of officers and a few members. Three standin,..> c nmittees were anp inted. TV/O meetin.~s have been held, the last ne bein.> "jell attended, and some new merlbers were added. T'J.e re?,ul"lr weeldy prayer moetin_> of the leaeue is held on Sund y 'orn ~ nO' . 11

Since t~is first report n t~o or~oniz tion, records show manv D stors re Ol'tin~ n Lea·ue and stressin7 the need for one. On the other hqn0 , many p stors report ood work.

The Lea ue ws chRnged to the 'ethodist Youth Fellowship in 19 This -::han"'e came dur n~ the nastor3te of ~Kr. "i. T. -r:rvino, 'end reports of ,,;ood work have beJn continuous since that time. At present the r. Y. F. has abo t 2S members.

'Ihe Hrmticello Methodist Churc' h s sent out no preacher, missionary nor deaconess. However, n rt;lcord of its contrPmtion or f Ill-time workers would be comple t@ 'vi thout the r.13ntion of ':r. J J. T. Sent6n, known to all 'iho loved hi'11 as "Fncl:::: Jin.Jlie. 11 3' his conse cra ted life and s acr ificial Ii vinp;, Tncle Jim.-r:1ie made it possible for mAD, youth to ~et tr inin' for lives of service. He did this, first, by ~kinp' lar e contributions t schools where these youth VTer-t=> educRted. Emory University, t.sb:Jry, Reinhardt /'

nd Youne Harris 0011e~es were recipients of enerous donations. Then, "'la y individual b Y8 and ,ir18 were helped--perhaps more than ~my ')f us know abo t. orne bec";:'le min sters in our homeland, and ,/ others served in forei n fields. Thus, a mnn who spent most of the 101 years of his life with'n th bounds of Jasper County, yeilded an i:1fluence felt around the world. The church celebrat8d Tncle Jimmie's 100th birthdqy the first Stnd y in July, 1950. Pe pIe, throlJrrh,).lt the st te, came to pay tribut to hjm.

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41th uc;>h this church cannot claim to have sent r~iss Vir ini HAyes int ~issionAry and reli~ious educati n service, it is her ch rc h me when she is n ~ nticello durin vacations. Jasper C8unt 's her home, and we are proud of the service she has rendered as a missi~nRry in South Pmer;ca and the Philippines. ~iss Hayes is now a teacher in Asbury College.

There are hundreds of others, wh have gone out to take the r places in field of business, educatio and various professinns. They h ve als taken their places in the churches where the~ 1 ve, and are an active part of the vast multitude who seek Him to ether.

The financ al report made to the quarterly Conference in October, 1895 was the first made by the church after it became a station charge. It reads as follows:

"Presidin Elder assessed ~ 77 paid 72 Preacher in charge 633 582" " Bishops 15 10" " Conference Claimants 50" 86 " 1i'ore ign ~Hs s ions 60" " D rnest c .1 ssions " ~8 40" Church ~xtension 29 10" " Education " 22 " 15 Jl.mer can ible Soc ety 1,.50 Womans F. . Society 50.55 Tot.l raised from all s urces 1051.95

Subsea lent reports throu h the year usually read "paid in fulL" The total amount raised dur in the year endine; June, 1951 was >8527--will reach 9,000.

Pastors who have served the Monticell church since 1895 are:

J. B. Allen 1895 J. N. Snow 1896 H. L. Embry 1897 T. C. etterton 1,908 TlJ. D. Dillard 1°99-1900 A. S. Harris 1901-1902 J. TN. Stipe 1903-1904-1905 John P. Erwin 1906-1907-1908 R. • Dixon 19°9-1910 J. C. Atkinson 1911-1912 R. . O. F.n land 191~-1914-1915 Willa m R. Mackay lq16-1917

- elt0n Williams 1918 Agustus Ernest 1919-1924

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f. R. Cooper 192h-1926 J. L. Hall 1926-1928 J. 0. rand 1928-1932 J. T. Eakes 1932-1935 F. :C. Crutcher 193.5-1938 1~J. T. Irvine 1938-1942 R. B. ayes 1942-19}~6 Wrank oorhead 1946-19 9 Harry itcham 19 ~9-1950

~~oore .J8';l1es 19.50-1951

Presidin~ Elders serv ns during this eriar are:

J. 8. ryan 1898-1900 l,r R. Foote 1900-1905 J. V. Heidt 1906-1908 C. E. Dowman 1908-1910 J. Quil1inn 1910-19141

1"1. :? Fraser 1911}-1918 H. ayes 191(3-1923.'1. T. Cr awley 1923-1926 E. F. Dempsey 1926-1929 Nath Th l"J.ps~m 1929-1932 B. Z. Tyler 1932-1933 'allace "Ro ,ers 1933-1Q,37J. ~~. 8 11ivan 19,37-1941 !.. H. Jones 1941-19!i5 C. L. Middlebrooks 191~.5-1950 E. G. ackay 19.50­

Sesides the ~ospel messages broupht to the con regation by these men, our people have had the opportunity of hearin~ out­standin, men of the church who, from, time to time, have been invited t'J fill the pulpit. Among these have been: Bisho "Jarl en . Candler, Bishop W. 1'. Ainsworth, Gyps ie 8mi th Jr., Horace S ra8ue and Bishop Arthur J. ioore.

Hl>ndreds, through the ye ers, have found a !'!lore abund nt 1 fe in Chris t throl..ush the channe Is of this church. Eany have given time, talent and money to the kin dom's cause .• e are thankful to all the people who throu-:J;h the year's have been loyal; W 10 loved the church and ave the selves for it. If we c tch the torc they have thrown to us, and go forw3rd singinQ from our h, rts,

·Ve love thy church, ° God, The H use of Thine abode The Church our Blessed Redeemer Saved

y His own precious blood,

we can leave to those who come after us a glorious history.

iblio~r aphy

1. Church Re~ister. ~~onticell0 r~ethodist Church.

2. C0ulter 1<.:. ~erton. Short History of Georl3ia. Chapter XIV. p. 139-190.

3. 0u rterl Conference Records. '1onticell0 .1ethodist Church. 1 9!L-1951.

)~. Pe cord of deeds. Of:" ice of the Clerk of Court, r~ontice110, Ga.