HISTORY

Of

STILESBORO CHARGE '-.

Bethlehem ·Church

H&~9ny Gr~ve _Church

" HQpewe 11 Church

Stilesboro Church

TayIorsville Church

.,.

3TILESBO 0 IIET IODI l' C=WHCH HIST PY

1836-1950

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~~ritten by: l,aSS Callie Jackson

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offieit.-] .c ,.)81' tll ... 0:1 ;ho t tLe 115 ye . .rs.

Tl e Gear Jia Coni'el.'enee et for t e fi ... st ti.l.e just five T.' rs before

t:.:"s e.. 11re11 _d:.iS uunde CJ.~c:roke~ Jistriet \ ..... .:.: for.. )..... bout \

t·,o ye 1'8 1 tel'. istriet 3 su:,) ivi-'-:e, into eir"uits a1.

835. ..ev. I~El8.C ...;orin3 resiuiJ.1 sluer in tho ~e8r 1'36 1.ev, :i" • ..J. Le is \ uS tll':j eire J.it ri' Jr of CEssville .. assioll, so ne

\JbS the first. ,tor of rLol (Jon ·'oeiety.

'.211e note Biaho? J. O . .h.ndre1; resid.ea over the 1£.36 eonfe ..'ellee, '. c'irlngy

tLe J'Jtor to t'.e Caz8ville i' SiOl, "l1i~h illcludeC. :31' 11don :Jocj. 'ty.L

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_he 1.:..1' ~e cireui t s cov-sre: by tLe . a s tors ~ rOlli u it eel tl.eir a earin)

CIt 31.yolle church .ore tlor t·,.O or th.l."'ee ti. .i.es a ye'J.r; ...,0 the .l..le.Llber­

s ...li '"s diviJo, into cl ""es '.,itL Q1 a oirlted lesuer ill ch3rg8 of

e ell. 4'12e duty of the le:.trler '::"S to notify 1 is class ',.lwn ti18re "ould

be serv:i.ces. _he" preachine (1 y" as "Jhicll ever dey OJ.. tile" eek tInt

the astor reache,l :1is c:. pointloJellt.

1.'11e first \lritteri recor0 'e h;;lve of 13ranJon .:::lociety is the roll boo:~

of j7ho.-!as .wrandon' s class in 1840. In it a note is lLB( e of certain

ays set t..si0e for " fastine::, ahd 1'0 er".

Under the date 1847 ana later are enrolled the r a .es of the slaves of #

a nw.ber of the le..bers.

SOL e thLe in' the late forties or early fifties the church r,urchased atl

five acre plot of grounG on \ hich ,',as erected a substantial fr .18

builain~ of siIl~.le design which .... ·as nULed JrsIldon Chapel.

This church nOH 00'1 S ted a large I'enbership COIJ.PO sed of pioneer fanilies,

1ho 1:1 d co.:e to this county froL other sections of Georgia, the

Ca~olinas, and Virginia. Brandon Chapel \BS fortunate in having as its

pastors S01l6 of the ablest circuit rilfters of that day. Ar:ong thei'

"Jas Rev. Joshua l:nowles, vJho was i~astor in 1848.

CHAFG~lJ TO

rrhe Cassville ..issioH was char.ged fron the Cherokee to the !larietta

Distri t in 1846. In 1857 it was changed to the Rone istrict.

eVe J. D. I~rick . as pastor during the ~ar Between the States, and I General C. A. Zvans, a lQinister and a soldier, was pastor for two

years follmJing the war.

Page ••.• 3

In 1870 the church was changed baCK to the Marietta District and for

some time the pastor of the Cartersville church served this church.

That ';ias four years after the division of the Georgia Condrerence.

The year 1874 marked the passing away of the church's founder, ~homas

Brandon. Eleven years later his wife, Louisa Greene~passed on. They

left ten childrcl •

long in the eighties the church purchased an organ, which was used

only by the Sunday School- that being composed mostly of young people.

About this ti~e kerosene la~ps replaced candles for lighting.

The church was in a splendid state of-spiritual growth during those years.

Sixty-four new meI1bers were added to the roll during Rev. J. E. England

and Rev. J. H. White's pastorates in the oiddle 80's.

Cassville ltission had been divided into smaller circuits and Brandon Chapel

was in the Kingston Circuit, with Cassville, Oak Grove making the four

cnur~uv_. ~hey paid the pastor ~1200.00 per year.

ANO' HER ~m\.,r CHURCH BUILT

After approxiLately 50 years the" ittle Church in the Wild l~od",

showed the strain of the years, so in 1891, while ev. E.c.gland was

pastor for the second ti!ue" the old chapel was raIsed and a nodern building

was erected on a new site, which is in the ~ all town of Stilesboro.

The church flourised in the new location. ne hundred nembers were

added in the next five year period.

There h d been a Ladies id Society for SOde time and in the 90's a

lloillan's Hissiollary Soci8ty vms organized.

The late Dr. J. Sharp, of Young arris College, was principal of the V Stilesboro High School in 1893 and 1894 and delivered his fir:,t sernon

in this church.

age ..•• 4

STROYED

Seven years after the new church was erected a cyclone cOffipletely

denolished it--and no insurance on it. The Bible, The pulpit stand ~

and the church bell were all that was left of it that could be used.

eVe W. • Harris was the pastor at that time and it was largely due

to the wonderful leadershi~ of this brilliant and dee)ly spiritual

man that the church could go forward, as it did. For in 1899 one

year after the destruction of the church, the present building was

completee.

An Epworth League was organized in 1900 following a revival conducted

by eVe W. i. Harris and eVe C. I:. Dunaway. Twenty-three joined the

, church and a nu.m.ber of other uni ted vd th other churches.

The Rev. S. A. arris was the next pastor and he returned later as

presidine elder of the alton District, to which this church had

been transferred.

Twenty-four nembers were added to the church in 1907, during Rev. J. D.

:Ulton's one year pastorate. eVe L. P. Hucaby lived n Stilesboro then,

while he vms pastor of New Sale!J. and Aragon churches.

In 1910 Stilesboro church was made head of a new ciruuit or charge.

Rev. W. A. Harris was pastor again-- ~aylorsville, Kew Salem and

Bethlehem. Later .. armony Grove and Hopewell were added to it.

In 1918 a hone in Stilesboro was bought for parsonage.

TI1\GDIST

The Stilesboro r~thodist church entertained the Dalton istrict meeting J

in July 1920-­ eVe C. E. Lundy as pastor and ishop W. . Candler

presided.

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larc;e Epworth League come into being in 1930, while _eve H. M.

Stro~ip.~ was pastor.

ONE

On the 29th of May, 1938 stilesboro :lethodist Church, fornerly Brandon

Chapel, celebrated its one hundred second anniversary . One of the wa..s

largest crowds ever to assemble at this church" )resent. Some came

fron as far away as Valdosta, ",eorgia and Birn.ingham., .hJ.abaJ.,la. These

1ere among the former eLbers and their famil~es, who returned for

the celebration.

Descendants of the church's founder, Thomas Brandon, occupied reserv­

ed seats in tIe congregation.

The above history of the church was read by the writer in tho early

part of the program of the day" at which Rev. T. I. :!heelis, pastor,

was master of ceremor.ies. local choir augmented by a quartet from

Berry School, rto.ne, -..reor.~ia, rendered appropria te hyIans. The uartet

also sang several numbers durine the day's proeram.

The Rev. Charles Jarrell, then of Atlanta delivered an able discoupse

at the eleven o'clock hour. Following this, a bountiful basket

dinner wes spread on a long table on the church grounds.

~he high light of the afternoon program was an address by the then ~

Governor of Gecrgia, Honorable E. D. ivers. This concluded the

one hundred second celebration of Stilesboro J.:ethodist church. A day to be reIleMbered by everyone "resent.

Comine close U..)Oll the heels of the 102nd celebration of this church

was the momentous Unifi ca t ion r:ovc::lent in 1939.

Fo lovlill'~ this change the Stilesboro Ch'3.rge was served by several

astors of the forf'ler orthern Division of the Hethoc.list. The first of these was llev. J. F. Rollins. Others were eVe J. S.

Stric}:land and the late Hev. :So A. Chastain.

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age .••• 6

In 1940 durin€!) Rev.~JI,dtM6 1.,astorate the ;{olIlan's Society of Uhristinn

ervice ViaS organized wi th twelve charter Jl1eJl1qers. This replaced the

',follan's :Iissionary Society • /

•TeW Salem, 6ne of the churches on the StilGsboro Charge, v S discontinuedr

~n 1943 and seyeral of the members brouGht their church letters to the

Sti esboro church.

Jeath has removed t:w ne~18S of some valued. and beloved members vvith in

the past few years: • L. Juckson, ~s. Clio Colbert, J. G. Brandon, Sri

:irs. J. H. r'lcCorL1ick, Hessie 3aker (I~rs. S. G.) Beazley, all official

members. Octavia Sproull (1. rs. J. Y.) Baker a life lone member. . 11 these have passed m,ay since the celebration in 1938.

The no.nes of Jose~;h Brandon, Jr-; and lIrs. Joseph Brandon, Jr; are added to

the list of Sunday School Superintendnts.

ieht pastors have served the chur h since 1938, including the present

pastor, Rev. T. L. utland, a superanuate who lives in 0 superanuate's

home in Cartersville,

The parsonage is uaintained and has been rented part of the tine, but it

is unoccup~ed at the present.

Iso since 1938 five District Superi .tendents have presided over this

ch8~ge. The present one is eVe elna L. Hagood.

The Stilesboro CharBe ',Jas Rev. Frank Pim's first assigment by the !Torth

Geor~ia Conference. This was in 1915-16. It ~as in the years 1944-1947 hat he served here as District Superintend nt. It ies after Rev. Pi· caue

to the .tone. istrict that the ... tilesboro CharGe was che.nged froLl the

Dalton District to the O;:1e District, in which it now is.