TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. ORIGIN OF METHODISM
II. ORGANIZATION
III. EARLY MEN OF GOD
IV. CHRISTIAN MOVEMENTS
V. BEFORE THE CHURCH BUILDING
VI. SOCIETY
VII. TEMPLE’S CHAPEL
VIII. PASTORS OF THE FIRST CHURCH
IX. SECOND CHURCH
X. DEDICATION OF PEARCE MEMORIAL
XI. PEARCE MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
XII. AUBURN CIRCUIT
XIII. 1973 ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD AND CHARGE CONFERENCE
XIV. PRESENT CHURCH FAMILIES
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. ORIGIN OF METHODISM
The early history of Methodism is, to a certain extent, obscure and indefinite, arising partly front the want of proper documents and partly from the difficulty of collecting those that are in existence. Due to these factors, it is necessary that we follow the events of the Cumberland Conference, sometimes referred to as the Western Movement, for our information of which at this time included Logan County.
The most authentic and reliable information in regard to the origin and progress of Methodism is to be gathered from the minutes of annual conference. From these conference documents we gather the facts that the first traveling preachers, better known as circuit riders, who were appointed to labor in our section of the state were James Haw and Benjamin Ogden.
These two men were appointed to travel the entire state in the year of 1786, and they were the first regular itinerant ministers who, under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church, commenced the work of spreading “Scriptural holiness over these lands.” At the time of their appointment, it appeared that there were no regular societies in existence in Kentucky. James Haw and Benjamin Ogden were, therefore, the first to collect the scattered Methodist emigrants of the “Dark and Bloody Ground” into classes and organize them into societies. The first Episcopal Church organized was in the cabin of Thomas Stevenson near Washington, Mason County, by Benjamin Ogden, sometime during the year of 1786.
Indifference to religion was a prominent feature of early frontier societies. Preoccupation with the desperate effort to survive afforded many pioneers little time or interest for religious contemplation or affair.
In the 1760’s, John Wesley sent two of the most famous early circuit riders, Francis Asbury, the first bishop in the United States, and Peter Cartwright, a pioneer preacher.
Asbury (1745-1816) organized and ably administered the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States in 1784. In December 1787, he was officially made the first bishop. After the Civil War, the church became the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
Asbury was born near Birmingham, England. After a religious experience at the age of thirteen, he became a local Methodist preacher. He volunteered for missionary work in America in 1771 and became the first circuit rider. During his lifetime, he rode 300,000 miles and the Methodist increased 200,000. Asbury College bears his name and was founded in 1890. (Sketches by Reverend William Burke.)
Asbury died by the side of the road. He never had a real home, no boarding place, or an address save “America.” (An Album of Methodist History by Elmer Clark.)
Bishop Asbury
After the invention of the printing press, the circuit riders were more than itinerant preachers; they were salesmen for the Book Concern. Their wares included such items as Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament, The Arminian Magazine, pocket hymnals, Bibles, and the Discipline. Hard-riding men, they set the pattern for other traveling book salesmen, and share credit for the spread of knowledge to the expanding frontier. (Together, “On the Frontier, the Circuit Riders Preached, Saved Souls – and Sold Books,” November-December 1973.)
In 1729, John Wesley, his brother Charles, George Whitefield, and other students organized the Holy Club at Oxford University. Fellow students derived their methodical schedules or spiritual exercises and charitable duties during a time of religious indifference and called it Methodist.
John Wesley appointed Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as joint superintendents of Methodist societies in America in 1784. But Asbury would not take office until a Methodist Conference in Baltimore elected him that December. This was the beginning of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. The church prior to this time was known as the United Societies. (The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 18, page 7709.)
Methodist churches are evangelical. They emphasize by faith in the forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ as more important than formal doctrine. Methodist stress religious experience and love of God, and the necessity of joining the Christian fellowship with all believers. They accept the Bible as the supreme rule of faith and practice.
Since 1744, annual conferences have become basic units in Methodist organization.
In 1828, Methodist Protestant Church, a group that withdrew from Methodist Episcopal Church, protested the absence of lay representation. Another session occurred in 1843. A group opposing slavery founded the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America. The following year the main body of the Methodist Church split over the same issue of slavery. The seceding group became the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1939, after nearly one hundred years of negotiation, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Protestant Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church South united to form the Methodist Church. The first Methodist Church in America was built in 1764 by Robert Strawbridge. It was a log cabin church in Maryland. (History of Kentucky by Lewis Collins.)
The Founders of Methodism
John Wesley (1703-1791) was born at Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, June 17, 1703, the fifteenth child of Samuel Wesley. In 1725, he was ordained to the ministry but seemed to have no very high spiritual conception of his calling. He was an active “gay and sprightly” youth with a great fondness for outdoor sports. Later in life, he became one of the spiritual promoters of all times.
Charles Wesley (1707-1788), an English divine and brother of John Wesley, was the early song writer of Methodism and one of the founders of the Methodist Church. He was the song writer of the new Methodist movement; he produced over 6,000 hymns. Many of these are of little merit, but some rank very high and will ever be favorites with Protestant Churches. He was less extreme in his views than his brother, John. (The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 18, page 7710.)
The Methodist Episcopal Church began with 18,000 members, 104 itinerants, and some hundreds of local preachers and exhorters.
In 1786, the first Sunday School in America was formed. It was started by Asbury in Virginia. In the church that originated it, the growth of the Sunday School has kept pace with the general growth and is today gigantic.
When the General Conference met in 1792, Methodism had been well planted. The movement had well spread to our frontier. They reported now 66,000 members and 266 preachers. But how much this success had cost! One-third of the preachers died before they were thirty years old, and two-thirds died before they had traveled twelve years.
Our church had an integrate part in the carrying on of world-wide services through programs that deal with education, evangelism, missions, temperance, church extension, lay activities, world peace, hospitals and homes, and social and economic relations. The Methodist Publishing House prints religious literature for the church.
The youth organization of the Methodist Church was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1889. Until 1941, it was called the Epworth League, in honor of John Wesley’s birthplace in England. Since then it has been known as the Methodist Youth Fellowship or “MYF”.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was formed on Christmas Eve in 1784, in Baltimore at the Lovely Lane Chapel, lying in the center of the town.
The Methodist were the fastest growing religious body in a new society.
Methodism is America in microcosm. You find in its story our history – vivid, convenient, and condensed, with all the glories, violence, prejudice, and aspirations that make us a peculiar people. (Organizing to Beat the Devil by Charles W. Ferguson.)
The United Methodist church was formed in 1968 with the union of the Methodist Church with the Evangelical United Brethren Church.
The Louisville Conference’s first session was held at Hopkinsville in October 1846. At this time there were about 25,000 Methodist.
Valentine Cook, eminent Methodist preacher of the early years, was the first Presiding Elder of the Cumberland District, including Logan County, in 1798. He was both preacher, teacher, and organizer of churches. He was admitted to the Methodist ministry on trial in 1788, was ordained deacon in 1790 and elder in 1793. He settled on Muddy River and built a small church called Cook’s Chapel. Cook died in 1822 at the age of 59. It is believed he had a big part in the organizing of the first church at Auburn, Kentucky. (History of Logan County by Edward Coffman.)
Circuit riders were physical men, and their preaching in gestures and tone was bound to take on some of the character of the world and the people they knew. It had in it falling trees, flash floods, mountain torrents, thunder and lightning, the call of birds, the darkness of the forest, the cry of lost men, the howl of wolves, the threat of panthers, and the jog of horses. The preachers were men apart by virtues of their convictions, but they were not set apart by priesthood or privilege. They were at one in body and emotion with those on the frontier.
The preachers lived where the people lived; they preached where the people lived as well. They knew the linings and crevices of the hearts of their hearers. Many homes welcomed them and many turned them away in a very scornful manner. The preachers often had to seize disturbers at their meetings, shake them until their teeth rattled, and pitch them out a window or door. But for all their disciplined violence, “their hearts were most genial, and their friendships the most tender and lasting.”
The duties of the preachers were fixed about as they now are. To each preacher was allowed sixty-four dollars yearly, and the same to his wife, with sixteen dollars to each child under six years, and twenty-two dollars to each one under eleven. These provisions were effective in the 1800’s. The Conference refused themselves all fees, presents, and perquisites at weddings, baptisms, and burials.
At the formation of our church, there were in all one hundred and four preachers, of whom twenty-four were ordained. These are soon called elders and deacons, and the words “assistants” and “helpers” disappeared. The bishop was commander, almost dictator.
Very early, the Methodist began sending their ministers to the Cumberland Conference. One of these was Benjamin Ogden, a Revolutionary soldier, who in 1786 was appointed to do missionary work in Eastern Kentucky and 1787 was assigned to the Cumberland Territory. He preached up and down Red River but may not have been located in Logan County.
In 1788, James Haw was presiding elder in Cumberland County, and Peter Massie was circuit rider.
From 1789 through 1797, Francis Porthress was presiding elder, but in 1797, John Cobler was acting elder and Porthress was supernumerary.
During these years, the circuit riders included Thomas Williamson, Joshua Hartley, Wilson Lee, James Haw, Peter Massie, Barnabas McHenry, James O. Cull, John Ball, Jonathon Stephenson, Henry Burchett, Jacob Lurton, Moses Spear, Willie Burke, Peter Guthrie, and Aquilla Snugg.
The Methodist preached a message to the common man and used the common man to do it. (Organizing To Beat The Devil, Chapter VIII, page 79.) Many, if not all, the circuit riders were untutored and virtually all were uncultured. What they lacked commended them to their hearers as much as what they offered. On every level, except the moral, they confronted the migrants as equals. They brought order out of chaos.
One of the most loved of all the early preachers in our history was Peter Cartwright. He was born in Amherst County, Virginia, on September 1, 1785. He lived in Logan County from 1793 to 1802. For nearly seventy years he was a Methodist minister until his death on September 25, 1872. His early ministry was in Kentucky, and in 1824 he moved to Illinois. Peter was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. He was ordained as elder by Bishop McEndree in October 1808. There is some indication that he may have been converted at the big camp meeting at Muddy River Presbyterian Church in May 1801. He, himself, says he joined the Methodist Church at Ebenezer in June 1801.
The life of Peter Cartwright, both in his Kentucky ministry of some twenty years and his early Illinois ministry, was that of a typical pioneer preacher of his date and time. With a limited education, he traveled many thousands of miles on horseback with a Bible, a hymnbook, and the Methodist Discipline. He lived with the people, often in dirty cabins, eating meals of bacon, potatoes, roasting ears, cornbread, and buttermilk. He strongly opposed whiskey, tobacco, and the fashions of the day. He strongly opposed slavery. He was, nevertheless, a Union man. He, himself, relates that in 1862 he refused to baptize a child named Jefferson Davis and withheld the service until the name was changed to George Washington. (History of Logan County, Coffman, Chapter V, page 64.)
His life of eighty-seven years was long, well-filled, and contained an honorable record of many battles fought, many victories won, and some defeats. Methodists are glad to remember the career of one who did so much for Christianity.
Many tales have come down about his eccentric habits, his gifts for story-telling, and his fearlessness in dealing with the unruly members of the community. In some cases, it is said he found the “arm of the flesh” a better weapon than moral suasion. His life was a powerful influence for righteousness, and his memory is still revered. He lies buried in the village of Pleasant Plains, Sangamon County, the scene of some of his labors. (The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 3, page 1223.)
As the nineteenth century opened, an extraordinary religious fervor swept Kentucky spreading across the frontier and then to all the South. The revival movement, born earlier in the seaboard states, came to full bloom here as the Great Revival of 1800.
The leaders in the movement in Kentucky were Reverend James McGready, a Presbyterian, who became pastor of three small Logan County churches in 1796. He was assisted by John Rankin, William Hodge, and John and William McGee. John McGee was a Methodist and the other four were Presbyterians.
This type of service became immensely popular on the frontier, where dispersed population, poor transportation, and great distances kept hardy ministers “living in the saddle” in order to visit their flocks.
On the third Sunday in June 1800, McGready and his associates conducted an evangelistic meeting at his Red River Church with hundreds attending. As other liberal preachers joined, the meeting outgrew denominational limits and control. So enthusiastically did people respond that about 25,000 gathered in August 1801 at the Cane Ridge Church in Bourbon County to be exhorted by eight Presbyterian ministers and as many or more Baptist and Methodist. (Kentucky A Pictorial History by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.)
The results of the great revival of 1800 were not as lasting nor as far reaching as might have been expected. Indeed, the surrounding country was stirred by the moving events of the revival days but the number of actual conversions seems to have been relatively small, and the number of new churches planted was not large.
The 1818-19 revival by Finis Ewing and Valentine Cook may have had an even greater influence on the lives and religious life activities of the people than even the celebrated Red River Revival of 1800.
The camp meeting was a unique feature of church life in America, and church historians and authorities credit the Logan County revival of 1800 as being the birthplace of the camp meeting and the Methodist as being the dominating forces involved. At first there was the temporary shelter of wagons and tents which gave place to a more permanent type of meeting place, usually consisting of wooden buildings which were used for religious gatherings from year to year. Generally, each summer a week or several weeks were set apart for a “protracted meeting” at the campground.
Such a camp meeting was Parsons Campground in Logan County. It continued until some time after 1900. It was under the control of the Methodist Church. Sam Jones, noted Methodist revivalist, was one of the preachers. The Reverend P. O. “Pat” Davis, from Auburn, was another favorite among the preachers.
The springs of the revival might be traced further back than Logan County in 1800, or David Caldwell’s school a few years before. They might even be traced to Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening of 1734. During the intervening seventy years or so the revival fires kept burning. (The Story of Logan County by Edward Coffman.)
The noise of the camp meetings and the joy of fellowship drew people to a religious service who would never darken the door of a church or chapel. The unregenerate would, out of curiosity if no better reason, attend the meetings in the open air. Once on the grounds, the preacher would confront them with the penalties of godless living. Otherwise, they would not be touched at all. Disorders might accompany the meetings, but the good would be likely to outweigh the bad, and the thing to do, from the Methodist point of view, was to forestall the disorder, not abandon the gatherings simply because they had a few bad features.
In order to gain control of evils that would be detrimental to the meetings, the four-day period was standardized. Meetings ran from Friday afternoon or evening until Monday. People got readily accustomed to the routine. It was said that “the good people go to camp meetings on Friday, backsliders on Saturday, rowdies on Saturday night, and gentlemen and lady sinners on Sunday.” So schemed were the services that the preaching was not only scheduled but graded by the time the speaker was put up.
Those who led the opening services on Friday night were known to be third-rate platform performers. You knew that the preachers who took the 8:00 a.m. service next day would be better, but not the best. It was understood that those who spoke at eleven o’clock would be the “intellectual Samsons” of the encamped gathering. Plans went even further: work schedules were arranged in shifts so that some of the preachers slept while others labored in the pulpit. Leaders took their places at the speaker’s stand, the exhorters were strategically located in the audience, and aids to the penitents stood waiting at the altar.
The attendance at the camp meetings was estimated by observers. They indicated that the average assembly would draw 5,000 to 10,000. At the largest of all, there were said to be 25,000. Depopulated areas round about gave a more reliable clue to how the meetings drew. “Age snatched his crutch, youth forgot his pastime, the laborer quitted his task.” So ran a saying of the period. “The crops were forgotten, the cabins were deserted, and in large settlements, there did not remain one soul.”
Other circumstances helped to create, in the region where the revivals commenced, a fitting and plausible background for the excitement that followed. The inveterate lawlessness of parts of Kentucky invited the wrath of God as surely as did Sodom and Gomorra. Logan County, in particular, had become such a refuge for scoundrels that it was known far and wide as Rogues’ Harbor, offering hospice to murderers, horse thieves, highway robbers, runaway indentured servants, and other assorted fugitives who had come to the place to lose their identity. Rogues’ Harbor called for an avenging room wielded by the servants of the Lord, no less, to clean the place of putridity and filth.
On the edge of a prairie in Logan County, Kentucky, the multitudes came together and continued a number of days and nights encamped on the ground, during which time worship was carried on in some part of the encampment. The scene was new and strange. It baffled description. Many, very many, fell down, as slain in battle, and continued for hours together in an apparently breathless and motionless state – sometimes for a few moments reviving and exhibiting symptoms of life by a deep groan or piercing shriek, or by a prayer most fervently uttered. After lying thus for hours, they obtained deliverance. Their appeals were solemn, heart penetrating, bold, and free. Under such addresses, many others were thrown into the same state which the speakers had just been delivered.
The revivals of religion (so called) in Kentucky were characterized by greatest fanaticism, accompanied by a great variety of bodity affectations and running into many painful excesses. These fanatics were reducible to varous classes, some of which were affected by the “falling exercises”; others were moved by the spirit to purpose the “running exercise”’; and others again the “climbing exercise” – all of which exercises are sufficiently indicated by their names. It was frequent occurrence for a number of people to gather round a tree, some praying, other imitating the barking of dogs, which operation was called infamiliar parlance among them, “treeing the devil”! It was stated also concerning the same people that in their religious assemblies, or other places of worship, religious professors of zeal and standing would get out into the broad aisle, and go down upon their knees together, playing marbles, and other childish games under the notion of obeying the sayings of the Savior – “Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Others would ride up and down the aisle of the church on sticks, while the long braid of the women would crack like a whip. (A History of Kentucky by Thomas O. Clark.)
“The groves were God’s first temples.”
“Federal Grove” was an early name of a community in or near the present site of Auburn. It was so named because of a grove of maple trees near two springs where many pioneers came to make sugar. A good number of the early Methodist came here with this group. Among these were very devout Christians that preached to the sugar makers. They congregated under the trees to worship. The idea that “the groves were God’s first temples” was deeply embedded in the hearts of the people.
To see love, hear love, and feel love was the essence of the sermons under God’s sky umbrella. This was fully illustrated in the gathering of the early worshipers. It seemed that nature wrapped a warm cloak around the whole group that sat on logs, rocks, and the ground, in the midst of trees in the shadow of Rainbow Rock to hear men of God preach God’s truths. These gatherings were not always quiet sermons, as there were heard shrill outbursts of shouting. The sound of the Christians praising God was a hair-raising experience echoing from the surrounding area.
Dr. Beverly Anthony Allen, a minister and doctor who visited Auburn as a circuit rider, was one of the men that had the privilege of helping pave the way for the early churches. Later he lived in this part of the country. This gave him the opportunity of serving in more than one capacity, as the need for a doctor was great. He served in this area prior to the admission of Kentucky as a state in 1792.
Another man that did much good work in this section of the country was Thomas Coke, the first Protestant bishop in America. He was better known as the father of Methodist missions. In his efforts of establishing missions, he crossed the Atlantic eighteen times. His favorite spots for preaching were on a block in front of blacksmith shops.
Sermons during this period of Methodism pictured the torments of hell and the unspeakable joy of the “Glory Land.”
The years from 1830 to 1860 were in some ways a period of decline for Methodism in Logan County. The population of the county, for one thing, fell steadily for the next thirty years. Methodism did not reach the promised goal which was indicated in the earlier years.
Price’s Spring - Auburn, Kentucky
Prices’ Spring is located on the property of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rogers.
Logan County was one of the first seven counties organized after the admission of Kentucky into the Union as a State.
The first white visitors to Logan County, of whom there is any definite account, were the surveyors employed to run the boundary line (“Walker Line”) between Kentucky and Tennessee. These surveyors, of which the Clark brothers were a part, surveyed and laid out the town of Auburn.
Auburn was first called Woodville in honor of Captain Wood, who had a blacksmith shop, a general store, and a large school on the site of the town.
A school was built after the railroad was being built. There were many Irish immigrants who moved to Auburn to work on the railroad and their children needed to be schooled. Corning was the teacher. The school was located beside the Scott Hall home (where his vegetable garden was in 1939) – now Federal Grove Bed and Breakfast.
A teacher in Captain Wood’s school, named Corning, named the new station Auburn, writing from memory: “Auburn Sweet Auburn, the Loveliest Village of the Plains.”
Another theory of the naming of Auburn was that Corning named it for his hometown in New York.
From 1900 to 1930 was known as troubled years in Logan County. Here many refugees from all parts of the Union fled to escape justice or punishment; for although there was a law, it could not be executed, and it was a desperate state of society. Murderers, horse thieves, highway robbers, and counterfeiters fled here until they combined and actually formed a majority. There were no newspapers printed south of the Ohio River, no mill short of forty miles, and no schools worth the name. Sunday was a day set apart for hunting, horse racing, card playing, balls, dancing, and all kinds of jollity and mirth. (History of Logan County, Coffman.)
Valentine Cook (Methodist minister) once described Logan County as “the devil’s campground.”
Finley said in these years people of Logan County were “hardened in sin, inclined to the world, and many of them outlaws.” (History of Russellville and Logan County, Finley.)
In 1820, a Methodist minister in a saloon in Auburn was run out by ruffians, and Peter Cartwright, the presiding elder, sent a young man named George Richardson, an exhorter and a candidate for the ministry, to take his place. Richardson was about 19 and six feet tall. While reading his Bible in a tavern, he was interrupted by three rowdies. Putting his Bible in his pocket, he took a chair and is said to have floored the three ruffians. It is related that he later converted all three.
It has been told by family talk that in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s that a Negro entered the Kennedy home where the young Kennedy girl was having a party. She and her guests were sleeping on the floor. The intruder shot chloroform through the keyhole to put the girls to sleep. One girl who had respiratory trouble suddenly went into a coughing spasm, thus scaring the Negro and he fled. Soon the bell from the small frame Methodist Church began ringing telling the town that there was trouble. The Negro tried to escape but was overtaken by a mob of raging people. He tried to get to the preacher but was shot down in front of the Methodist parsonage. He died yelling to the preacher for help.
At an early date, but after Kentucky became a state in 1792, four brothers by the name of Clark came from Virginia and took up a military, or Revolutionary survey, beginning at the headwaters of two big springs which are now in the corporate limits of Auburn; one known as Price’s Spring, and the other as the Blue Hole, where the city water works are located.
The survey of the Clark brothers included many hundreds of acres of land on either side of Black Lick Creek.
A kinswoman, Mrs. Eleanor Temple, widow of Benjamin Temple, fell heir to the land south of the highway. She gave to the Methodist what is perhaps the oldest church site in this vicinity.
In the midst of a grove of beautiful oak trees, some of which were blown down and others had to be cut down, “Temple’s Chapel” was erected in the early 1800’s, possibly in 1847.
The chapel was built before there was a town of Auburn. The building was a small weathered-boarded frame building with two doors in the front. Inside there was one aisle with long benches or pews on either side, one side for the men and the other for the women. The face of the pulpit was broad and high with steps up to a very simple platform, with an altar rail where the Christians could kneel and receive communion.
Preaching services were held once a month. Quarterly Meeting was held four times a year. On Friday before Quarterly Meeting, the members were supposed to fast and pray. The business meeting was on Saturday. On Sunday morning of Quarterly Meeting before the eleven o’clock sermon by the presiding elder, they held a love feast and, if the members were not there by the appointed time, they were locked out, for no disturbance was welcomed while the brethren or sisters were giving their experiences.
The love feast was a very solemn service in which a number of Christians would meet at stated times and, after eating the simplest meal together in token of good will, light and love was promoted by conversation on things of God, especially as related to personal experience.
Bands were also used for those who desired close fellowship. Bands required a subdivision into small and select numbers. The band meetings were always voluntary, and never a test of society membership. “Two, three, or four true believers, who had full confidence in each other, form a band. These bands had to be all men or all women, and all married or all single.” (Rules of the Band Societies, drawn up for Methodist Societies, December 25, 1738.)
The Band Rules were continued in the Methodist Discipline in America till the year 1854 when they were eliminated by the General Conference of the Methodist Church South. At band meetings, faults were confessed one to another, and prayers were offered one for another, that they might be healed. (A Story of Methodism by Holland Mctyeire.)
They also had class meetings conducted by some male member of the church. These meetings were held monthly. Robert Hill was a leader of this group for many years.
Four denominations worshipped in the little Methodist Church. Before the Baptists, Cumberland Presbyterians, and Christians had church homes of their own, they were welcomed to worship in Temple’s Chapel which they did, each having a Sunday. About 1861 or 1862, a Sunday School was organized. It was a union Sunday School held each Sunday afternoon, as was the weekly prayer meeting. R. T. Hill was superintendent at this time.
People walked for miles to attend Sunday School. There was a bell on a post in the churchyard. The bell, an import from England, served as the communication system of the area. A slow toll of the bell meant that someone had died, a long, loud ringing meant a crime had been committed, and the ringing on Sunday morning meant it was time to go to church. This bell could well be the one that now hangs in the belfry of Pearce Memorial United Methodist Church.
The church was lighted by tallow candles stuck in wooden or tin candle sticks hung on nails on the wall. The church was heated by two wood-burning stoves.
There was no organ or piano in the church. Some good brother would start singing some familiar hymn, and all the congregation would join in this singing. Just before the preacher delivered his message, he led in song by giving out two lines at a time, and all would sing. The church had no hymn- books. If the members had any, they failed to bring them to church.
The church was usually filled to capacity at the preaching service. Few of the people went in carriages or buggies, most of them went on horseback, some went in farm wagons, and, if no other way was available, they walked. Going to church was a privilege they could forgo.
Mr. Aaron McCarley and Miss Lucy Holland were the last couple to be married in Temple’s Chapel and probably the only couple married there.
In 1882, the little church was no longer large enough to serve its people, so it was sold to Mr. Ed. G. Clark and made into an apple house. (From Orndorff’s History.)
Records show that on February 14, 1885, J. E. Gordon and wife and J. C. Darby and wife deeded to the trustees of parsonage property for Auburn Circuit, Louisville Annual Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church South. The Trustees paid a sum of $800. This property, a house and lot in Auburn located on Middleton Road and corner to A. E. Griffith’s Mill, was for the use and occupancy of the preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. (Taken from court records.)
This was the oldest parsonage in Auburn. The property is now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Thornton. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lewis owned and lived in this house a number of years during their lifetime.
Records also show a lot purchased from J. W. Helm and wife and J. C. Helm by the church trustees for $200 located on West Main Street in Auburn, next to Mrs. J. R. Baker.
E. P. Deaton was the last pastor to serve in Temple’s Chapel. This term extended over to the second church, so he is recorded as the last pastor of Temple’s Chapel and the first of the Second Church.
Rev. Randolf John Stubberfield
Timothy C. Frogge Fletcher Alexander
Robert Fisk (during war) Benjamin Orr
George R. Browder Thomas Lewis
Forster Hayes D. Gillium
J. W. Price J. E. King
William Alexander Shep Campbell
Lewis Campbell James Chandey (supply, 1 yr.)
David Baroles Luther Browder
Rev. Reeding *Jefferson Moore (war)
J. W. Love *Elder Morrison
Reeding Dempsey *Henry Ford
Charles Boggess *George Hayes
Pat Davis
There may have been others, as it is hard to trace their appointments when some of the records are not available.
*Presiding Elders
The second building was erected in 1882 and dedicated by Rev. G. R. Browder, then presiding elder. Bro. D. Gillium was sent to the Auburn Circuit in the Fall of 1882. It is believed that E. G. Clark and John Monroe sawed the rough lumber for this building. It was erected at the intersection of Main Street and Wilson Avenue. This building was a large and attractive frame building with one door in the front and a window on either side. The building was capable of seating large crowds for preaching services but had limited facilities for other activities of the church program. A steeple on the front roof housed the bell from the yard post of Temple’s Chapel. The inside of this church was simple, but beautiful, with large pews and a stove on each side. The church was heated by the burning of wood in its early age and coal in the later years. The front faced Main Street. It was built in front of the first church. Just how far from the first church is not known exactly. We do know that the first church lot joined to Griffith’s Mill. The mill today is the Auburn Mills.
The first funeral in the church was Mr. David Bolivers.
Sunday School Superintendents during these years were R. T. Hill, E. G. Clark, W. S. Monroe, and E. G. Clark, Jr.
The pastors during this period were Randolph, Timothy Frogge, L. B. Davidson, Robert Fisk, James Lewis, G. B. Browder, James Chandler, Foster Hayes, J. W. Price, William Alexander, Lewis Campbell, David Bowles, Reeding, Dempsey, Boggess, Pat Davis, John Stubblefield, F. Alexander, Benjamin Orr, Thomas Lewis, D. Gillium, D. S. Campbell, and Luther Browder. There may also be others. (Miss Nell Childress’ History.)
The first organ was purchased in the 1870’s. A concert was given by the following to make payment on the organ: Mollie Clark, Maggie Jones, Sue Perkins, Mollie Perkins, Bettie Fisk, Fannie Courts, Henry Hurt, Cap Morton, Scott Hall, Bob McClean, Anne McCarley, and Lucy Holland.
A piano was moved to the church for the concert.
The first organist was Lucy Holland. Some of the stewards were
E. G. Clark, Sam Clark, William Monroe, John Monroe, and E. G. Clark, Jr. Pastors of more recent years included J. G. Akins, B. W. Napier, C. P. Walton,
E. P. Deacon, B. W. Hardin, W. S. Hill, E. S. Moore, H. S. Gillette, and W. D.
Milliken, under whose ministry the new church was built.
Presiding elders of recent years included J. W. Lewis, J. B. Adams, G. W. Hummel (three terms), J. W. Weldon, and B. W. Napier. The new church was built during Dr. Napier’s term.
There are three great revival meetings which stand out in the memory of some of the members, one during the pastorate of Rev. J. W. Love, with Rev. W. E. Godby as evangelist; another under the pastorate of J. E. King, with Rev. J. R. Lowry as evangelist; and a third during Rev. C. P. Walton’s pastorate, with
Dr. J. W. Weldon as evangelist.
The second church had an active Epworth League which met every Sunday evening before the church services. At one time, there was a union youth meeting made up of Cumberland Presbyterian, Christian, and Methodist Churches. (Taken from histories prepared by Mrs. Orndorff and Miss Nell McCarley.)
The second church building was erected in 1882 on a site in front
of the site of the first church at the corner of Main, Highway 68,
and Wilson Avenue.
On Sunday, March 26, 1939, the dedication service was held. Bishop Urban V. W. Darlington, president of the Louisville Conference, in which area the church is located, preached the sermon and conducted the dedication service at the eleven o’clock hour of worship. This was the second time Bishop Darlington had preached from the pulpit of the new church, the other occasion having been a meeting in interest of the colleges held in the Spring of 1938. Other bishops and prominent preachers have preached in the former buildings which occupied the same site as the present church, among them were Bishop Cranberry, Bishop Denny, Dr. Ivan Lee Holt (now Bishop Holt), Dr. David Morton, Dr. Gross Alexander, and Bishops Bascom, Piece, and Marvin. Dr. Cram, Secretary of the Board of Mission, has spoken from this pulpit, as have a number of the leading preachers of our own conference. Bishop Darlington was the first to use the new pulpit desk.
XI. PEARCE MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH TOP
Mr. John Pearce, who passed away early in 1936, provided in his will, among other notable bequests, for the erection of a new Methodist Church, leaving $20,000 for this purpose. The love for the church, which resulted in this splendid act, was no new thing in the Pearce family. Leland Pearce, father of John, was a steward and a loyal supporter of the Methodist Church for almost fifty years. Acquaintances have revealed that he also contemplated doing some large thing for the church at Auburn, and it was evidently with his full approval that the son made the bequest nineteen years after the death of his father. John, an only child, was never married. His interest in the church continued throughout life and came to splendid fruition in the lovely new building.
In addition to the $20,000 for building the new church, the farm of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lewis located about two miles out on the Middleton Road was left to the Orphan’s Home. It was operated as such, under the management of the Madison family for a period of several years. Then it was sold at auction and the proceeds went to the Orphan’s Home. This is in Simpson County and is now a
Widow’s Home.
Other provisions of the Pearce will were for the removal of the small frame parsonage next to the church. This request was carried out in the selling of said house to Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Pugh in 1937. The church trustees then purchased a house on Wilson Avenue to be used as the parsonage. This house served as parsonage from 1937 to 1951 when the new present-day parsonage was built. The lot where the first parsonage was located was then sold to Mr. C. B. Peart, who constructed a large, very beautiful colonial home on it.
About $2,000 more was spent to bring the church to its present condition, including the finishing of the basement and various items of equipment. Many persons had a part in the total achievement. The work of the architect, Mr. A. B. Gardner of Nashville is recorded in the remarkable stateliness and beauty of the building. The Building Committee, consisting of J. T. Andrews, W. B. Young,
M. F. Ward, Mrs. S. O. Moody, and Mary F. Finney, did faithful and devoted work, as did many others. Also, the building contractor deserves special mention for his faithful and unselfish work.
During the construction period, the Methodist congregation met at the Cumberland Presbyterian Church for preaching services and at the Auburn School for Sunday School services. This splendid hospitality was paralleled by the other churches, all of which were offered for use by their respective congregations and pastors.
The pastor, Rev. W. D. Milliken, preached at the first service held in the new church to a capacity crowd on August 29, 1937. The first funeral in the new church was that of Rev. Merritt Appling, a long preacher. The first infant baptized was Harold Tate Hanks, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hanks.
The new church was built during Bro. Milliken’s fourth year. He remained for a fifth year, witnessing and helping to bring about considerable growth during the first year of the new church’s existence.
In 1950 and 1951, the new beautiful, spacious parsonage was erected of stone to match the stone used in building the church. The contractor and builder of the parsonage was Mr. Aaron Rogers, now a member of the present church. Many sacrifices and hard work made it possible for the house to be built and furnished.
This large parsonage consists of five rooms and bath on the ground floor, a large spacious upstairs, and a basement. In completing the new parsonage, there was a brief time between the sale of the old parsonage and the time the new parsonage was completed. During this time, the pastor, Rev. Crenshaw, lived in the basement of the church.
The ladies of the church served the Rotary Club dinners and had bake sales and bazaars for purchasing the needed utilities, furniture, and carpets for the new parsonage.
The men gave of their money and service by working after regular work hours and at night painting, landscaping, and contributing in every way possible.
Finally it was furnished and ready for comfortable living for any size family a preacher might have.
The following list of pastors have lived in the new parsonage:
Ira P. Crenshaw
James Lyle
Russell K. Taylor
A. C. Johnson
R. Kenneth Lile
Curtis J. Leigh
D. R. Gant
Carl McCubbin
J. P. Roberts
Lee Ward
S. Ray Gilliam
The front of the church faces Main Street. Located about thirty feet from the street, which is Highway 68 and 80, at a glimpse one sees a beautiful building constructed of Bedford stone with stain glass windows. The stone was taken from Hall’s Knob quarry near Auburn. The edifice consists of two floors with four rooms on each floor, including a tower room.
As one enters the church, he sees a spacious sanctuary with a row of pews on each side with a middle aisle and one aisle on each side next to the wall where the beautiful stain glass windows reflect the beauty of the sunlight on them on clear days. The view of the pulpit is enchanting. Around the pulpit is a rail with a kneeling pad where the Lord’s Supper is served. The elements are served from a beautiful table with the inscription, “In Remembrance of Me,” on it. The table was donated and made by John Graham.
The pulpit desk was given by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lewis. On this is a large Bible given by Mr. Mack Bean. Behind the pulpit is the choir loft. The center of attraction of the loft is a round stain glass window with a cross hanging under-neath it. This window style is known as a “Rose Medallion” and is very rare. The electric organ in the loft was presented by Dr. Tracy McCarley.
Almost every day the people of the town have the opportunity of hearing the chimes that were presented by Mr. and Mrs. L. S. Howlett.
Other contributions that add to the beauty of the pulpit are the candelabras on each side of the pulpit stand, the cross and candle holders on the communion table, the baptismal fountain beside the steps leading up to the pulpit, and a podium in the vestibule. These items were all given in memory of loved ones who have passed on to the eternal home.
People marvel at the beauty of this church location on the corner of Main and Wilson Avenue. This entrance leads to the basement and to the sanctuary. The basement is a spacious room that will accommodate up to two hundred people with a complete kitchen and cooking facilities.
The choir has served for a number of years by rendering a special each Sunday morning for the eleven o’clock service. Mrs. Harold Tate Hanks is Mrs. Barrow’s assistant at the organ. The church has been wonderfully blessed by having good musicians to render this service.
The Christine Kunkle Memorial Library
The Christine Kunkle Memorial Library is a gift to the Pearce Memorial Methodist Church and Auburn, Kentucky in the memory of the late Mrs. James Kunkle. At the time of her death, the memorial was set up by her father, the late Mr. J. T. Andrew, Sr., and Mrs. Eula Brauch, her sister. Some of the books are from the personal library of Christine Kunkle, while others are from gifts of friends who wished to place a memorial for her.
It was the desire of those who made the library possible that it be open to the public since there was no public library in the town of Auburn at this date.
Apart from those who contributed to the collection of books, special thanks are due to the Commission on Education who were:
Mrs. Ray M. Neely, Chairman
Mrs. Arthur Pugh
Miss Helen Schanzenbacher
Mrs. Coy Wright
Mrs. Currie Milliken
This library is a great asset to the church and to the community of Auburn. It was given as a memorial and is intended to be “a friend” to all of Auburn just as Christine was while she was with us.
This church has sent two very capable men into the ministry, Sam Miller and George Milburn. Sam C. Miller was ordained as minister in 1956. He had served as Sunday School Superintendent and teacher of the Faith, Hope, and Charity Sunday School Class for a number of years. After he entered the ministry, he and Mrs. Miller moved away from Auburn to serve in other churches. Bro. Miller served several years in the ministry. After serving in both Kentucky and Tennessee, he retired and now lives in Auburn. He is again a full-pledged member of the church serving in a number of capacities.
Bro. Miller is one of two people in the church who have their names recorded in the Library of Congress in “Who’s Who” in the Methodist Church of the Nation.
In 1948, a young man who was greatly influenced by Bro. Miller entered into the Louisville Conference, Bowling Green District. This man was George Milburn. He served as minister for eleven years before he was striken with cancer and died later while still in the prime of life. The church is very proud of this man. While he was a member of this church, he served in several fields, one being Sunday School Superintendent.
According to the best information we have, there have been five persons in its adult membership who were “life-long” members of the congregation: Mrs. S. O. Moody, Mrs. Frank Lewis, Mrs. L. S. Howlett, and Misses Nell and Ashley McCarley.
In November 1958, the church undertook to install an adequate heating system from a central source. Mr. Ivan Spears of Franklin, Kentucky was given the contract. The plant was also constructed where a cooling system could be inserted in the furnace for summer air-conditioning.
In 1972, a cooling system was installed and is now in full operation.
Methodist Youth Fellowship
The church has not had an all time active MYF. At one time in its history, the church did not have enough youth for a MYF. At the present, there is an active youth group under the leadership of Mrs. Harold T. Hanks, Mrs. Ray Neely, Mrs. Melvin Hargan, and Mrs. Ann Wheeler. They meet once a month at 6:00 p.m. Much good has been accomplished from these meetings. These youth are being trained to perform the duties of Christian leadership both in the church and in the community.
The Ladies Aid was an important part of the church from an early date until July 21, 1958. At the July meeting of the Ladies Aid Society, it was voted to unite this organization with the present Woman’s Society of Christian Service. The work formerly accomplished by the Ladies Aid Society continued under the Home Department of the WSCS. This is one step forward in the growth and witness of the women of the church. In March 1973, the WSCS and the Guild merged to form the United Methodist Women.
The UMW meets in two sessions, one at 2:00 p.m. and the other at 7:30 p.m. Mrs. Earl Elliott is president of the two o’clock meeting and Mrs. Harold Tate Hanks is president of the 7:30 p.m. session. The Woman’s Missionary Society was organized at an early date and has been an integral part of the church since. In 1940, the original WMS name was changed to WSCS, and in 1973 it was again changed to UMW.
Services are held in Pearce Memorial Church every Sunday morning with church school at 10:00 a.m., followed by an 11:00 a.m. service and concluded with an evening service at 7:30 p.m.
Reverend Ward served the church for two years, from June 1971 to June 1973. In June 1973, conference sent him to Hanson, Kentucky. The Rev. S. Ray Gilliam was sent to serve the church.
Rev. S. Ray Gilliam
The Reverend S. Ray Gilliam, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Roy Gilliam, was born in Allen County, Kentucky, November 24, 1908. He was married to the former Lorene Blankenship on December 24, 1928. They celebrated their forty-fifth wedding anniversary on December 24, 1973.
They have a daughter, Mrs. Annis Combs, who resides with her son and daughter, Gregory and Jennifer, at 1705 Sharon Drive, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
He was licensed to preach May 10, 1937 at a District Conference meeting at Lewisburg, Kentucky. The following year he attended a District Conference meeting at Pearce Memorial.
His first full-time appointment was Franklin Circuit with eight churches June 7, 1941. Other churches served by him included Munfordville, Leitchfield, and West Side in the Bowling Green District; Aldersgate, Preston Highway, and Saint Luke in Louisville; and Cadiz, Columbia, and Woodlawn in Owensboro. He and Mrs. Gilliam came to Pearce Memorial June 1, 1973.
Some high points of his ministry are a large number of revivals held with many conversions. He received 218 members within a two consecutive year period and led the congregation in erecting a beautiful sanctuary at the same time. He also led in building another church building, planned two others, as well as paid off several debts. He was District Secretary of Evangelism for eight years.
He is a member of the Woodmen of the World and a member of Civitan International. He was honored by being commissioned a Kentucky Colonel December 18, 1973 by Governor Wendell Ford.
He states that he and Mrs. Gilliam are comfortable and happy in their lovely, beautiful, and spacious parsonage on Wilson Avenue. It is a pleasant thought to perhaps come to the end of more than one-third of a century of active ministry in the United Methodist Church among a friendly group of people in Logan County near where we began our active ministry and only sixteen miles from where we plan to live in retirement – Bowling Green.
The present total membership of Pearce Memorial is 128, and the total enrollment of the Church School is 82. The Church School is composed of nine classes.
Key 73 was a movement sponsored by the different denominations in Auburn and community. The object was to bring the gospel to more people. To do this, all the churches in Auburn and the surrounding community held a revival in a tent in McCutchen’s Park. The cooperation of the faiths was wonderful. The services were made up of special music from members of the different choirs, solos, and quartets. The sermons were conducted by a different preacher each night. These included Rev. Lee Ward, Hanson Methodist Circuit; Rev. S. Ray Gilliam, Pearce Memorial United Methodist; Rev. Eugene Reynolds, Auburn Baptist; Rev. William McKinney, Macedonia Baptist; Rev. William Lynch, Liberty Baptist; and Rev. A. J. Terry, Auburn Cumberland Presbyterian.
Even though Key 73 ended December 31, 1973, some believe that it will live long after its structural pulse ceases.
Church historians agree that nothing life Key 73 ever happened before on the North American Continent. Never had so many churches and denominations “done” evangelism cooperatively. That was one of its strong points – participants were free to evangelize separately, simultaneously, cooperatively, or any combination of the three. (Today, January 1974.)
The last union of the Methodist Church in 1968 grew out of a sermon by Eugene Carson Blake in 1960. Principles of union were agreed upon in 1966 and a formal plan offered to the churches in March 1970.
At this time nine different churches were presented the plan. Those churches uniting were:
African Methodist Episcopal Church 1.1 million
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church 500,000
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 1.4 million
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church 300,000
Episcopal Church 3.4 million
Presbyterian Church, U.S. (Southern) 900,000
United Church of Christ 2.0 million
United Methodist Church 10.7 million
United Presbyterian Church 3.2 million
These churches united because they felt that Christ made the people of God one, as indicated in Ephesians 4, and He wills that they make this unity evident, as seen in His prayer in John 17. Oneness is “required for the creditability and effectiveness of Christ’s mission in the world.” The world is unimpressed by Christians’ claim to love, seeing the fractures within the church and churchmen’s allegiance to lesser loyalties. The world is alienated by what appears to be affluent, self-perpetuating church enterprises competing with one another.
Name of Church, Church of Christ Uniting. The “Uniting” indicates the task is not complete, that oneness of the whole church is the goal rather than the union of nine denominations. The principles on which the plan is based were developed in consultation with members of many churches, and the plan is seen as one open to all Christians. Since this time the church has been Pearce Memorial United Methodist Church.
Baptism in the various forms practiced in the uniting churches, including immersion, will be continued in the new church. The convictions of the baptismal candidate, the sponsors, and the congregation will be honored as to the form.
Six churches and possible seven have been on Auburn Circuit.
Bibb’s Chapel. Richard Bibb was a member of the Bibb family who came to Virginia from England in 1695. He was wealthy and cultured and owned many slaves. He was educated for the Episcopal ministry but became a Methodist after coming to Kentucky. He moved to Logan County in 1799, settling about six miles east of Russellville, where he built a chapel known as Bibb’s Chapel. The church, a small frame building, served the community for about a hundred years, being destroyed by fire in the early 1900’s. Services were held one Sunday out of every month. Sunday School was held in the afternoon except on preaching days, then it was held prior to the services. (History of Logan County by Edward Coffman.)
Bibb’s Chapel was on Auburn Circuit from 1923 until it burned. It was located just behind the property now owned by Joe Taylor about a quarter mile off Highway 68, about four miles west of Auburn. Today some markers can be found bearing the name of Bibb on the land now owned by Justice Coles, south of Highway 68.
Duncan’s Shed. Duncan’s Shed, later known as Duncan’s Chapel, is one of the earliest Methodist churches erected in Logan County. It was erected in about 1848. The church got its name from Daniel Duncan, who gave the land on which the church is built. It remained on Auburn Circuit from 1923 to 1938. It is believed that the first camp meeting in the county was held here.
Milliken’s Chapel. Milliken’s Chapel located in Simpson County is the only church remaining on the Auburn Circuit. Services are held on second and fourth Sundays at 10:00 a.m. There is a small group of people, but a very strong Christian congregation. This church was named for a beloved Christian family of Milliken’s who gave the land and supported the growth and development of a live church.
Rockfield. Rockfield, located in Warren County, was a part of the Auburn Circuit from 1937 to 1952. Services were held one Sunday a month. Sunday School was held in the afternoon on Sundays when there were no eleven o’clock services and at ten o’clock just before the eleven o’clock services.
New Harmony. New Harmony is located in the Cave Spring neighbor-hood. It is now a Missionary Baptist Church. It was sold in 1952. It had been on the Auburn Circuit since 1929. Services were held on one Sunday afternoon a month.
Cane Ridge. Cane Ridge was on the Auburn Circuit for a very short time in 1943, but the church left a fond memory in the hearts of the people of the early age of Methodism. This church was one of the products of the great revival of 1800. It is now on the Morgantown Circuit. It is not known how services were conducted during the time it was a part of the Auburn Circuit.
Mount Harmon. In the conference minutes, it gave an account of Mount Harmon being on this circuit for one year, 1934, but that is believed to be a mistake as nothing else can be found to substantiate the proof.
Auburn has always been the home of substantial and progressive citizens. So has our church. The community is quite independent and desires to accomplish its aims in its own way, which is usually a good way. Auburn citizens have achieved success in various fields at different times. A large number of noted citizens and their families have contributed to the church in many ways.
Bishop Frank Robertson
District Superintendent H. T. Chandler
Pastor S. Ray Gilliam
Chairman of Trustees Currie Barrow
Chairman of the Committee on Finance John Carr
Chairman of the Committee on Pastor-Parish Relations Leon Woodward
Church Treasurer Leon Woodward
Secretary of the Committee on Nominations and Personnel Mrs. J. E. Elliott
Directors of Music Mrs. Harold Hanks
Mrs. Currie Barrow
Membership Secretary Mrs. Coy Wright
Representative of Health and Welfare Ministries Mrs. A. T. Pugh
District Steward and Church Extension Harold Rogers
Lay Member to the Annual Conference John Carr
Alternate to the Annual Conference Earl McReynolds
Sunday School Superintendent Melvin Hargan
Sunday School Superintendent Assistant John Carr
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So we have now standing at a prominent corner facing a main artery of traffic, this beautiful little stone chapel pointing its graceful spire heavenward and daily reminds the people of God and the eternal verities of life. Brought to completion about 36 years ago, the church has proved itself a notable contribution to the community, its physical appearance and also its spiritual life.
The Pearce Memorial Methodist Church, as the church has been known since the dedication, made its auspicious beginning as a unit of service in God’s great kingdom in 1936. May its ministry continue to grow, preaching and teaching a work-a-day world a “city that hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God!” (Quoted from a newspaper article in The Auburn Times.)
Peter Cartwright, The Autiobiography of Peter Cartwright, with an introduction,
bibliography, and index by Charles L. Wallis (Nashville, 1956).
“Cartwright, Peter.” The World Book Encyclopedia, 1946, Volume III, p. 1223.
Elmer T. Clark, An Album of Methodist History, (Nashville, 1952).
Thomas O. Clark, A History of Kentucky. An article by Colonel William Stone,
“Memoirs of the Cane Ridge Meeting.”
Edward Coffman, The Story of Logan County, (Nashville, 1962), pp. 41-42, 63,
104, 266.
J. Winston Coleman, Jr., Editor, Kentucky A Pictorial History, (Lexington, 1971),
pp. 52-53.
Lewis Collins, History of Kentucky, John P. Morton & Company, (Louisville, 1924).
Charles W. Ferguson, Organizing to Beat the Devil, (Garden City, 1971),
pp. 79, 84-85, 141, 143.
Alex C. Finley, History of Russellville and Logan County, Kentucky, Book II, p. 5.
A. B. Hyde, The Story of Methodism Throughout the World, (New York, 1898).
John A. Lovelace, Editor, “Key 73: Did Anything Happen?” United Methodists
Today, (The United Methodist Publishing House, 1973), p. 17.
Holland Mctyeire, A History of Methodism.
“On the Frontier, the Circuit Riders Preached, Saved Souls – and Sold Books,”
Together, (The United Methodist Publishing House, 1973), p. 51.
“Wesley.” The World Book Encyclopedia, 1946, Volume XVIII, pp. 7709-7710.
Miscellaneous Sources
“Sketches” by William Burke
Court Records
Miss Nell Childress History
Miss Nell McCarley History
Newspaper article from The Auburn Times
Orndorff History
Minutes of Annual Conference
PEARCE MEMORIAL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
AUBURN, KENTUCKY
The present church is the third to be erected on the corner of Main and Wilson Streets. The area extended to the rear and side of the present site.
The first building was a medium-sized weather boarded frame building known as Temple’s Chapel. The land was given by Mrs. Eleanor Temple. It is very likely that it was erected on the lot next to the present parsonage, as this property was deeded to Mrs. Temple on March 5, 1847 (Deed Book #28, page 358). The church was possibly built in 1847.
Both Methodist and Episcopalian services were held in the building. Later, congregations of Baptists, Cumberland Presbyterians, and Disciples of Christ groups met for church in this building. A Union Sunday School operated there for several years.
The church was lighted by tallow candles in tin candleholders hung on the walls. There was no organ or piano. There were no hymnbooks. It was customary for people to own their own hymnbook and bring it to church each Sunday.
A bell was imported from England and placed on a post in the churchyard. It served as the communication system for the area. A slow bell peal meant someone had died. A loud, long ringing meant a crime had been committed, and the toll ringing on Sunday meant it was time for church. The building became too small and was sold for an apple house to a Mr. Clark in 1882. Eleanor Temple was a Clark before she married, perhaps a relative.
The second building was erected in 1882, and it was dedicated by Rev. G. R. Browder, then presiding elder of the Russellville District. It was a large and attractive frame building known as The Methodist Episcopal Church. It was built during Dr. B. W. Napier’s term with a membership of 155. A steeple held the bell from the Temple ‘s Chapel churchyard. The pulpit from this second church is now used in the fellowship hall of Pearce Memorial.
Rev. Pat Davis was also a pastor. He was the grandfather of Rev. Phillip A. McAfee, a longtime member of the present church. The first organist was Miss Lucy Holland who had married Mr. Aaron McCarley in Temple’s Chapel.
In 1885, a parsonage was purchased next the Scott’s Auburn Mills for $800.00. It eventually was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lewis and later by Mrs. and Mrs. Roy Thornton who were members of Pearce Memorial. In 1937, a parsonage was purchased on Wilson Avenue next to Rogers Drive.
The present day church was built in 1937 during Rev. W. Dewitt Milliken’s fourth year. This was made possible when Mr. John Pearce bequeathed $20,000.00 to build a Bedford stone church. The stone came from the Scott Hall Knob Quarry near Auburn. The bell from England is said to be the one in the bell tower. Mr. C. B. Peart, contractor, built the church.
Rev. W. D. Milliken delivered the first sermon to a capacity crowd. Miss Nell McCarley was the organist. The first funeral in the new church was that of Rev. Merritt Appling, a local preacher. The first infant to be baptized was Harold Tate Hanks; the second was Currie Milliken. Joe Chaney was the first new member.
The church dedication was not held until Mach 25, 1939. Bishop U. V. W. Darlington held the service from the new pulpit. Miss Helen Schanzenbacher was the organist. A beautiful “Rose Medallion” stained glass window above the choir loft is considered rare. On that day in 1939, the new church was christened “Pearce Memorial Methodist Church” in memory of Mr. John Pearce.
In 1951 during the pastorate of Rev. Ira Crenshaw, a beautiful Bedford stone parsonage was erected on Wilson Avenue at the rear of the church. Mr. Aaron Rogers was the contractor.
Today, 2001, and since 1970, the church is known as Pearce Memorial United Methodist Church of Auburn, Kentucky. There have been twenty-nine ministers since the 1939 dedication. Mrs. Sandra Barrow is the church organist. Mrs. Virginia Ellen Hanks and Mrs. Melna Wilson are the pianists.
As a last note, there is a record stating Rev. Harry S. Allen held a revival at Pearce Memorial soon after the 1939 dedication and twenty-two new members were received, fifteen on profession of faith, and thirty-two names of those who came forward were turned over to other local churches.
This alone proves that the church family on the corner of Main and Wilson Streets has meant much and continues to mean much to the Kingdom of God. Throughout the years, Pearce Memorial United Methodist Church has been devoted to the specialties of the changing times.
Sally Neely, Historian 2001
Bibliography
Andrews, J. T. Address, Dedication of Pearce Memorial, 1939
Cox, Richard History of Auburn, Kentucky
McCarley, H. B. History of Auburn, Kentucky
Wright, Nancye Our Heritage, History of Pearce Memorial United
Methodist Church, 1973
The Auburn Times Article, 1939