nit X001 240394UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVIL i & LIBRARYA Brief History of the First Methodist Church Athens, GeorgiaFOREWORD Believing that on the occasion of the cele- bration of our centennial the members of the church would be interested in knowing something of its past history, I requested Professor R. P. Brooks, of the University Faculty, to prepare a brief sketch. He readily fell in with the suggestion and has written for us the account presented to the congregation today. Unfortunately, the idea of having such a historical sketch ready for distribution at this hour did not occur to us until some three weeks ago, and in the limited time it has not been possible for the author to undertake as detailed a study as would have been desirable. The essential facts, however, are given, more particularly with reference to the control of the church property, a matter about which, as members of the church are aware, there has been some misunderstanding in recent years. S. EK. WASSON, Pastor. Athens, Ga., October 15, 1924.A BRIEF HISTORY ©OF THE Fiksm METHODIST CHURCH, ATHENS, GA. The beginnings of Methodism in Athens are related in Mr. A. L. Hull’s ‘‘ Annals of Athens.’” ‘The first six chapters of the book are the work of Dr. Henry Hull, father of the author. Dr. Henry Hull was the son of Reverend Hope Hull, who became a eit- izen of Athens in 1802, when Henry was four years of age. Graduating from the University in 1815, Dr. Hull spent prac- tically his whole hfe in Athens, dying in 1881.. He was, therefore, intimately ac- quainted with the early history of Athens and of the Methodist Church, of which he was a devoted member. PRESENT SITE OF CHURCH DONATED BY THCMAS HANCOCK We are told in the sketch in Hull’s ** An- nals’*” that the first Methodist meeting house in the town was a crude log cabin about 22x24 feet in size, presenting .exter- nally the appearance of a negro cabin with- out a chimney. This little place of worship was superseded in 1810 by a somewhat more commodious building in ‘another location and known as ‘‘Hull’s ‘Meeting House.’’ 1A. L. Hull, Annals of Athens, Georgia. With an introductory sketch by Dr. Henry Hull. Banne Job Office, 1006, 2 Quarterly Conference Record Book LS7S-1S881, The minutes of the *hird Quarterly Conference of 1SS1 contain an obituary of I Dr. Hull, signed by R. W. Bigham, presiding elder, and Y, L. G Harris, secretary 3 Annals, pp. 47, 48. PIReverend Hope Hull was the preacher. This structure served until about 1825, when the First Church, predecessor of the ‘Brick Church’? (the present building), was erected. The lot on which the church was built was presented, it has always been believed, by Mr. Thomas Hancock, who oe- cupied a home at the corner of Lumpkin Street and Hancock Av enue on the present site of the Von Canon-Wall building. SITE ORIGINALLY THE PRCPERTY OF THE UNIVERSITY The land now occupied by the business section and many of the homes of Athens was originally owned by the University of Georgia. The University was chartered in 1785, but had only a paper existence until 1801, when the Trustees agreed on a location and made a beginning. The tract of land selected, containing 633 acres, was bought by John Milledge, a member of the Commit- tee appointed to select a site, and was by him presented to the University. WAS A DEED EVER MADE TO THE CHURCH? A considerable number of families early gathered about the young institution to edu- eate their sons and from time to time the Trustees of the University sold build- ing lots laid off from their ample hold- ings. Among these purchasers of land was Mr. Thomas Sriancocls to whom some time ibefore 1824 was sold Lot No. 36, according to a plan of Athens made by Maj. Thomas Mitchell in 18238 or earlier. This is the lot on which our chureh now stands. An exam- ation of the minutes of the Board of Trus- } 1} { 2 Y ‘ tees of the Um | i = 5 niversity has failed to bring to eht any record of the conveying of this lot =~ to Mr. Hancock, nor has there ever been : a Ae : } > Vi. os 1] oa recorded in the Deed Book in the Clerk’s Office any deed from the Trustees to him. The way in which these sales were usually handled 1s indicated bv a minute al the June, 1821, meeting of the Board. Lots Nos. 28, 29, 30 and 31 having been sold to certain named persons, the President of the University, Rev. Moses Waddell, was au- thorized to execute a deed to the purchasers when the purchase price in full had been paid. Since no reference occurs to any such proceeding in connection with a sale of Lot No. 36 to Mr. Hancock, it may be that he never completed the purchase. This view is substantiated by a resolution adopted by the Board in November, 1824,’ stating that ‘‘the Board are willing to convey Lot No. 26 1n the town of Athens to the Methodist Society for the purpose of building a church thereon, if Mr. Thomas Hancock, the pur- * Minutes Board rus s, University of G gia, August 4 1828 Ch linut ference to lots laid it y Maj James Meriwether plan Athens Ma Thomas Mitche This plat n now found Ch ( st plan val le j i ed Mr; W. J Mi LS52 It is th hi f ( y Engine November if Georgia,chaser of same, will relinquish it back to the Trustees, provided such church is built on said lot in the space of two years from this time.’’ The inference is that Mr. Han- cock had made a payment on the lot and had a bond for title, but that he was unable to deed the lot to the church as he desired to do. A CENTURY-OLD TRADITION No record has been found of any such re- linquishment by Mr. Hancock or of a deed from the Board of Trustees of the Univer- sity to the Methodist Church. The books of the Clerk’s Office of both Clarke and Oconee Counties have been unavailingly searched by three or four competent per- sons acting independently and it seems to be definitely established that no deed was recorded conveying Lot No. 36. The fail- ure of the minutes of the Board of Trustees of the University to make further mention of any conveyance of this lot either to Mr. Hancock or to the church and the absence of any record of such deed or deeds do not, however, constitute positive evidence that Mr. Hancock did not actually convey the lot to the church; and the tradition is strong, not only that such a deed was made, but that it contained a reservation by the terms of which the land was to be used for church purposes only and if it ever ceased so to be used, was to revert to the donor’s 6heirs. That such a deed existed, or was beheved to exist, is indicated by a resolution adopted by the Third Quarterly Conference on June 18, 1870," in which the property in the newly installed pipe organ was vested in the Trustees of the church building ‘‘to be held by them on the terms of the deed to the latter property,’’ and again in 1898 in a report to the Conference* made by the Chairman of the Trustees the statement is made that ‘‘title papers are kept in the hands of and are recorded in the Clerk’s Office of the Superior Court of Clarke Coun- ty.” Still another reference to the original deed of gift from Mr. Hancock occurs in the Minute Book of the Board of Trustees of the church.’ THE “BRICK CHURCH” BUILT There seems no way of determining just when the First Church was built on the Hancock lot—clearly not in 1824, as Dr. Henry Hull states, because the lot had not been turned over to the church as late as November 8 of that year, but probably the next year. The new church was a iframe building forty feet square with a gallery on three sides.” After a few years the church was enlarged by the addition of 20 feet at the west end. The present church build- 7 Quarter y Conference Record Book, 1866-1877, p. 53. 8 Quarterly Conference Record Book, 1895-1899 - a. 8 Record Book of the Board f Trustees of the Methodist v2 pa . ‘=ing was formerly known as the “Brick Church.’’? It was erected in 1851,” was re- modeled and enlarged in 18384, and again in 1910. LEGISLATURE CREATES BOARD OF TRUSTEES On December 20, 1828, the Governor of Georgia, John Forsyth, assented to ‘An Act incorporating the Trustees of the Presby- terian and Methodist Churches of Athens in Clarke County.’’” This Act named James Meriwether, William Lumpkin, Cicero Holt, Asbury Hull and Right Rogers as Trustees for the Methodist Church, ‘and empowered them to hold in trust for the proper use of the church all property, real and personal, which the church owned or might thereaiter acquire. Furthermore, these ‘Trustees, or a majority of them, were given full power to fill any vacancy which might occur on the Board. It it is interesting to note that this Act created for the control only of the physical property of the First Church a Board whose constitution does not conform to the present rules and usual practice of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Discipline” recites that ‘‘except where the laws of the state or territory provide differently, the preacher in charge, or, in his absence, the presiding elder, shall have the right to nominate [the trustees], sub- 11 Brief historical account in an old church register. 12 Dawson’s Compilation of Georgia Laws, pp. 110-11. 13 Diselpline of 1922, Sec, 18.ject to the confirmation or rejection of the Quarterly Conference.’’ In this case the law of Georgia provides otherwise.