I

I

MT~ ZION METHODIST CHURCH

Centennial •

1865~1965

PREFACE

This is a short history of the Mt.

Zion Methodist Church. It has been pre­

pared in conjunction with the Centennial

Celebration of the church which is to be

h~ld Sunday, May 2, 1965. I realize that

perhaps there are minor errors in this work

and I apologize for them. It is difficult

not to have some discrepancies when one

has to rely wholly upon secondary sources.

Information in this history has been

colJected from the following sources: per­

sonal interviews, early editions of The

Methodist Advocate Journal, The Methodist

Episcopal Church In Georgia by E. J.

Hammond, Lest Faith Forget by A.M. Pierce,

nThe Memoirs of Dr. James Mitchell,n and

The Letters of R. H. Robb.

I appreciate the assistance of the

following persons in this endea~or: Mrs.

T.H. Gammon, Mrs. L.G. Cowart, Mrs. M.A.

Gammon and Mrs. J. Myrl Gammon. I am

deeply grateful to Mrs. Thomas Gammon for

typing this material for me.

WILLIAM H. KIRBY

1

For t\'Tenty years - froll 11:"45 "'\:,( 1((5 - the

Niethodist Epi scopal Churc;. tcui PO or:~. ri :.ed

work in Georgia. There ~~s no ~ortion of

this period, however, wren tLis churciiid

" .not have ,'TOrk in tLe S01Jtl~. Lt. Ll.Or.

Methodist Church Has chc:rtered in tic ycc:..r

1865.

lThe GeorGia Conference of tIe .etl o~iist

Episcopal Church was organized October 10,

1867. ~s h~$ been sEated earlier tlis date

does not mark tl' e beginninG of 1,'ork in the

state of Georgia by tL", ~'et;odist E~iisco;;al

Church. The :l.ev. Jobn Caldv!ell, ··to in ";une

of 1865 preacl:ed t1,10 sernons on t l,e SUbj2ct

of slavery at tis ci.urcL in Ne';man, withdrew

2

floor that 11e could no lon;:-er ac cept Lim c.s

a brotiJer beloved 1.e ~')evered 011 relations

wi tl the Conierence. Tl,e Hev. J oLn l'iurpLy

joined t,he hev. Caldwell in an efj.ort to organ­

ize om Annual Conference of tl e Lethodist

E'JisCOD3.1 CLurch in Georviu. In reply to a

reque st fre::,m the Rev. Cald1:Jell, Di SIlO,? Clark

met 1,;i tL seven Liinisters iil Atlanta, Ga. and

o r;'::'"lti zec tLe C20 rria-d.l<.;lll;~i·,l i.i ssion Iii stri ct

(}L(~ connect2d it ',i tl:, tl e ;~entuck·c ;\.j';r.u".l

"':CE~ eren ce .

Tbe seve 1 ."e;, 1,1:,0 met "i t: ~isl",<J '21ark for

tIe or~'dnizc,tion of ti',e ~)istrict v!ere John E.

~'l; '1 T' ,.", . J' . Yc~rbroueb,va ~n,e.L , uO['{' (fllr)l::, OLn

arksr, 1JIillic<1ll Pre,'ler?. r. If'tG-ers, c.

~ [lrl "" cl ~v pre ,. t H ":·r' ,.11 of tIle se, vIi tb theCl_V ,.'-'~:> e./ ...... v.: .. J.'-'"- ....from the 11. E. Church Soutb becduse of tr~e

8Y ceiL-ioe o~ We s12Y prettym<:.m, Vlere e::;'deJ s controversy the se stirred dnd be C0.me tile

~

icc t,[ s t1. c.. O(urcl South·leader of the Georr:ia-il.liJ.t::~m& !.issioL

It, is ii.:),:)ssille to trace tf,e early churchDistrict of tLe I-·:ethodi st Episcopal Crurde •

. ~ , ~. tl.- -'..... d' t " . Ior P&nl Z;~, "JJ)l'. S (~ 1 e he l." 0, l S ..... pl3copaThe Eev. Caldv,,;ell Lad originoll:, intended

CLurcb in Georcia T,"i til &ccuracy except in a to remain in the 1.• .c:. Churcl Soutli but d.en

fe' insta.nce s. ~·'.t. Zio:: ChurcL in Carroll a brother minister stated from tr,e Conference

J 4

County v.-as one of the earliest cLurctes in tuildiny, a lOB structure, ',ras ere cted on tLe

the Conference. It was organized in the oresent cl!urcl si te. The land. for the church

year 1865 by the Rev. J o~· n : .urI11',y. Dr. Li cks and ce;neter:' " as donated by ~,:r. '::illi&m

f.'Iartin narrled the church i.t. Zion ~/.'i t 1 no .. Entre;:in •

particular reason in tdnd. AS tte story was T1:e Rev. John IIurpYy, who organized the

related in other sources, a [roup of ~en was , cl'.urcl ';',~~S :0., n2..1:,i ve of I')ortIi Carolina. I.e

pondering the question: what sLe:tll ','e name joined ttB Georgia Conference of t~e I'. ~.

our new church? One ~ 'ould sU8Gest one name CburcL Soutt: in H~58. ':I-.en the controversy

and another another. Finally Dr. l.artin over slavery D.ro 3e, Le be car,le a membc;r of the

said: It shall be cC}J.. led jlt. ry"Llon. Tte i".eU·'odist ;::-,~iscop:.1l Church. Le remained in

others agreed &nd it 'pas so named. tie new C'-eorfia Conference from 1866 ~mtil

The I-.t. Zion COlll,,,unit,,, is located ei,:"i~t ,:,is deatr-,. Fe vJ-as c' medical doctor as '!re11

miles from Premen, Ga. and eiftt miles from as J /reac~',e~, a :.1an of solid rat;~er L:an

Carrollton, Ga. It is ~est and sli'htly brilliant ~ualities.

south of Atlanta l~titude an' about twelve TLe first ch.:::.:.rter members of the newly

miles distance froTll tLe ,\.labc:.ma st&tE: line. organized cturch were: Dr. and ~rs. ~icks

Nt. Zion \~s located on the Povdon Ju~ction j',Iartin, IT. ;·md ~Irs. Ben~ood, ll.r. and Tu~rs.

Railway, a branch line of t~e Central of •

Torn Lntrekin, 1,'.r. and r'TS. P.ichard LWllsden,

Georgia, connecting at Bowdon Junctio~ three .. r.r. aw' Lrs. SarLue1 Leak, Ivil'. and £·:rs. E. A.

miles away. Entrekin, 1,u. and Lrs. Billy ~alker, I~:r. and

The church was organized first under a I:.rs. Thomas Entrekin, Er. end I:Irs. John

brush arbor. On I',ay ? 4, 1367, tr:e first LcKi ssick, and I:~r. and Ers. Ne1rrton Trimble.

Ther8 ,·,ere twenty nemr)ers ir. all.

5 6

The first trustees of the cllUrcL "Tere:

Hicks ~~rtin, Samuel Leak, J. L. hcKissick,

Thomas Entrekin, N. ~:. ~cBurnett, ~. F.

Moon and Newton Trimble. *

In a book entitled, The I~';. .:::;. C1lUrcL In

Geor.1!ia, written by Edmund J. ,k,nu!:ond. o.nd •

published in 1935 I\j-. ltG.mmond m,~kE',s tLie

following observation about t~. ~i0n Church:

"This c};urcL_ continues to flourisf~ aIle' n:-,s

gi ven to tl":e Church sud n0mes , .. .. ;..~S tl.e ..,:-.r·,-,:""lS,

Asruilores, Entrekins, Garnests, .. ,LOrrl::3SeS ~'n(:

Bishops."

In a period of abo'L;.;" v, ent.,ollL!s tie

work of the L. E. Churc;, iJl. C-c·orlTi:;. had [TO\,-n

to a force of forty-o,-e travelin'r ;')r2&(::,ers,

sixty-one local prec.cters, forty-six ciu:cch

buildings and 6, .526 full memt. ers. ...mon;" t.1-,e .. mini sters ~'as Newton ~rimble, a ni... ti ve of

Carroll County Georgia. After several ~e[rs .. in the traveline ministry, he bec""r,le P. local

preacher and was elected reserve lay dele~ate

to two General Conferences. i.e reare:': c:..

fine family of children vlLo vTere staunch

supporters of Et. ~ion Church.

The following is a ruote from the "Eemoirs

of Dr. James hi tchell'~ "I attended the

Georgia Conference of the r,~. E. Church held

in Atlanta, Ga., October 25-30, 1276.

joined tI.e Conference and \"JaS aI'pointed

Presidin r Elder of' tbe ,:.tlanta ;)istrict.

h country cLurd' located five miles from

',,'aco, Ga., j·,t. Zion, ~'1a::.: one of tLe smallest

-,ch2rges of ti:e .2J • Crurcl' in the i-ttlanta1 .•

uistrict. t!

Jr. 1 i t cr~ ell ;, ~ ass c !,e d uledt° Dre a cL at

l',t. i:ion Churcl. he ';'us ver:.' DiUC! impressed

·'.'i tL ';VIii:::. t 1.e found. Le sC.id: "There is

[T2t::.t ;~oocl in .-::.11 trese :,'outL. This is a

fine field ~or ser~ice. A c~urch sCIool

'..'ould Jros~)er here. 1:

. 1 ,,, J. f 1 "'79 '. '1'.', t t. e ,dli,ua von .... erence 0 u ','l'l C : VIas

l.eld in .,tl",,-nta, Jr. ;,icks ~.c::.rtin of ~.t. Zion

~'3.S elected a3 <!, L:y delegate to tLe General

Con=erence of t} e L. !Z. Churc!.. Dr. i :artin

I

7 $

was ordained as a local deacon ,_t tl,is con­ pre siding. Thi s vras the first of eleven con­

ference. Dr. kartin was a rerncrkatle ilian ferences to meet here. This stows the

in many respects. he was ever 0. loyal prominent position of Nt. Zion ~ethodist

supporter of the church <...r.d scbool at Church in orgD.nizational structure of the

~~t. Zion. Four of hi s sons te C3.Lle :)hysi cians, L. E. Church. Delegates to the conference

one of them a 10 cal preacher. [-.e lived to see were graciously received by the conm~unity.

grandsons and one great-prandson in tie LDny of them \'ere received into private

Methodist ministry. bomes as c~uests for tl,eir stay. Eo doubt

In 1880 r.:t. Zion Seminary Fas fonnded. there are tlose Lere today \AILo recall this

This scLool was begun as a local enternrise. custom.

Dr. James :'..itchell procured c. ch:.rter and The Conferecce of 1~s6 convered at I·it.

organized it on tLe joint stoc" plan. jeven Zion. Pishop Cho.rles }l. Fmder W&S the presi­

acres of lanc~ were secured D.nd a t. ree rJo.,; dinp officer. [ewton Trimble, a resident of

building was erected. This schoel ~cc~me an kt. Zion, was elected as reserve member to

integral part of r'fit. Zion Ci-:urci ane: tLe the General Conference of the ~~. E. Church

Nt. Zion Community. It had a high acadefilic by tLe !.;.nnuD.l Conference of 1886.

standard and a strong spititual underfirding. The Annual Conference session of If,90

The acLievements of its graduc...tes D.re a convened at ~~. Zion on January 16. BishopIcredit to any sctool and community. Dr. John r. Lurst presided over t~is Conference.

~dtchell remained the fJidinZ mind of the T1.e Conference session of 1891 met at

institution until his death. Derc.orest. Pishop E. G. :,ndrevrs VJaS the Dre­

The Annual Conference of 1894 met at I\'it. sidi ne; offi cer. Three men united vTi tr tl-:e

Zion on October q with Bishop "alden

9

Conference on trial, but none remained long

in the Conference. Among tLese ~"as J. ':':. B.

Pharr who continued for many years as a local

preacher at Nt. Zion. This Conference de­

cided to open a tLeological department at

Mt. Zion SeDinary. This was done in an

effort to hold preachers in GeorGia becLuse

they rarely returned when they ~tterded

schools of the Churct in otLer sec~ions.

Dr. James Mitchell V·fas elect~d as the

ministerial alternate to the Generol Con­

ference of 1892 vrhich '.ias teld at VI"Ci.r.0.,

Nebraska. Newton Trimble ',;;JS (.::1, cted as

reserve lay delegate to tLis Co;'t.c.::'e""'ce.

The Annual Conference of 1[;93 '~,s i.le. ',t

Demorest. Bishop ThomLs rO~~Ci.n 1:~S tie

presiding officer. ~illi&m~. -~rtin, tte

grandson of Dr. hicks Lartin of i::t. 7ion,

(" J'was received on trial by tlis Jon.J..erence.

he was a very able prec.cher. Le later tr"cns­

ferred to the holston Conference w~ere he

continued until his deatt. his son, ,'. C.

Martin, rose in that Conference to be

10

District Superintendent and General Confer­

ence 0,(~lee.:Cl.te.

... T. l,orriss) tl,e fati er of .i',~rs. Lavada

j"~a1one, of Lt. ~~ion Church, 'Ifa ~) G1e cted (j s

deleCCi.te to ti,e General Conference of lS96

v,ri.iel: met in Clevel.:ind, (ii,io. lle ·.. as DrOTIl­

inently identi fied v!i t; ti,e se,.;inc.1.ry d t 1,t.

fulon Dj(.lny

:'; C :.lecond session of t;,8 i,rmual Confer­

e:',C>2 0::' 11\~:7, Lere teL",' t~.·O sesC11ons, :.,et

<.:..~ ~.t. =ion. ;iSIOT) Ch;J.rles C. 'cCare 'das

tL 2 'le'sidin: officer.

""";r. u,-: ..::S ~ :':::dell '.:a5 clected :.'iinisterial

..:e1(" t,? to tie Gelleri.:,l Ccnferer,ce of 1900

';'e:! \ c:5 ;.·;lcl at Chic.~",'O.

r' • .or yei.;rs.

, ...~1-:2 ,r..n u.::t1 ~on:: ere:-:ce 0:' 1 S'O 2 :':: 2 t .:.., t j',"V •

;'iC:'"l. ~i3:"')~'(j3S '.'i... S t:e ~r';sidinr; officer.

r. ~ , J', ' ,.'" .' t ~ , .) .P (" • ,. 1 l'Lcre.:"o .0·.' ,,(.,.:1-,-) :., r"" _v. OoL ,;;2orf,l, .. .10

_,c....., '" '-. -:: r '- '~'. ~ .- ~ '-. rl c......, ,~ ~ 01.£' p1 Q •,ee ....,~D .. ,~r_l...e. "'" <... , ..u!:l ~aslne;

~c~.l.l~'~~t ~1rl e r s .~. rc,oG. pr2i.: cl'.er, 1,::;.S received

Ci.l ·~ri' 1 .,t tl is ccnferepce. ::is w:i.fe, tLe

for, er J" r:ie ~ .c:rtin, ~'T':'·.S d l;rember of tte

.i .r::.r·~~:: f~~ =--L~7 ,:.it 1.t. r·~iorl.

11

The Annual Conference (' f 1 S'( 5 Get ':'.t

~'~t. Zion. EisLop Luther '-i£.lson T"as the

presiding officer. C. (-. l':artin Fas re­

ceivea on tric:.l by tLis Conference bFt did

not remain lonll::' in the tr:::velin,l rc;nks. ;,'e 1".1

was a valuable loc~l preacier in Carroll

County for man': ye&rs.

The li.nnual ConfE:~ence sess::'on oi 1908

rn' ..., rconvened at I',~t. Zion. 1 !.l S <)or'll ereY1Ce (,}as

presided over ty Bisio) ,i.ndersCJl1.

.+The Annual Conference of 1]1? :.:et v' v

Lt. Zion. The Conference \:as '-"ru',ided over

by Bishop Frederick Leete.

The I\nnual Conference sessioL of' 191E1 I;let

at I-lt. Zion. Bishop '. j',. Leon.=trc' '.'.:as the

?residin[ officer.

In 1922 an 2pwortl Lea;-'ve Institute nU.s

held at l·;t. Zion. l'.an21 other iDv,ort; L-:&r;ue

Institutes 'jere held here. T:e excellent

facilities which '..:ere avc.'.ilable at llt. Zion

were perfectly suited for such a ~atherinc.

No doubt there are r:lany 1/;1'10 Lave fond merllOries

of these Institutes.

12

The i\.nnual Confel'E)l1ce of 1925 illet Gt

l'.t. ~:iol1. The ~residir~[ officer l:I1as Bishop

~ilbur Thirkield.

The hnnual Conference of 1930 ~et at

~~t. :~ion wi tL bishop Leete as tLe presiding

officer.

Trle Lt. Zion Semin<ir~r ',d'licb Lad been esta­

blished in 18(:0 continued 1..ntil 1937 at wl.ieh

time it vas retired as a cburch school.

j\s tj.me continued the elurcL facilities

vJere expanded. ~ vestibule was added to tte

front of tr:e d,urcr.. Durin;." tbe tiLle ~,!Li ch

Rev. Alton Srrli th served ~s pCi stor, 1S4L-1946,

four Sunday School roo~s were added to the

churcL bui Iding. I\'~ei.~lOrial FindoT/Js 1:, ere

purchased for tLe siJ,n:.tui.:..r: r in 1954 anJ were

installed in 1956.

A new pursona~e w~s comnleted in 1953.

TLis ~X3.rsona~~e wc:.s located on d si te just

",'est of tte cturcl which ho.d formerly been

tLe location of a [irIs' dormit07 E..t

Lt. Zion Seminar;'. The J. C. Gammon family

13

resides in the former parsonage. The new

parsonage, situated in a lovely grove of

pine trees has 2 bedrooms, a den, kitcten,

living-dinin~ room combination, 1 bath and

a screened side norch. It is tastefully and

adequately furnished.

In 19:)5 Ramah Hethodist ClmrcL, which was

then on the I\:it. Zion Churge was discontinued

by the Annual Conference. The present pews

in ~It. Zion Churcr, are tr ose wI i ch viere for­

merly at Ramdh. They were given to the

trustees of r~t. Zion Chur ch by the ,nernbersri D

of Ramah in order to satisfy Ram2h's oblira­

tion on tte new parsonage. ~he me,'(('ers1'.i1) at

Ramah 1,.!as transferred to Lt. Zion.

'l'he new brick Sunday School :,nnex 1~as

built in 1960. This addition ···bi Cf: include s

a large class room, a kitchen and 2 rest

rooms has proven an asset to the cLurcL.

In 1964 carpet '.' as donated to tLe cLurch

by ~rrs. ~~ry Ruth Norman in rneoory of ~stella

Crumpton Tant and George L. Tant. New pulpit

14

f·u.rniture of Goti.ic design Vias also purchased

in 1964. Tl is 'as [;,;:.:de nossihle tlrougr~ a

rnemorio.l [' ift by l<r. LH~d Lrs. C. C. rerkins

mode in n:eilwr'T of ti,eir deceasec. j,nfant son

and Co don&tic!l frol;, tf".e ~.esleyan Jervice Guild

of tl e cburcl,. r.J'~J. J. S. "indom and family

placed a new picture in the sanctuary in

r:1e!j10r~ of 1.1'. J. S ... indoo.

Py uction of tlle i\.nnuG.l Conference

Lt. ::',ion ChurcL \.'i:lS trc.nsferred fr0i"11 tLe

RODie 'Jistrict to tLe La r;ranp'2 Jistrict in

1';162. ~.t. Zi011 Chu.rcli l-ecame Q st:J.tion church

in JUDe, 1964. It is "?rosperinr: o.n(~ has a

~:re.~ t future.

/

LIST O~i PAS'fORS

Before 1900 (no actual d~tes available for SOffie of these pastors)

1865 J ohn I',~urphy

1876 James l'·.itchell Lorenzo Dm\! hamil H. E. Sumner

From 1900 to 1965: 1900 R. C. Bramlett 1902 D. 0. Cook 1904 B. F. Allen 1905 B. F. nl1en, C. LartinI

1907 llsbury F. £llinpton 1915 J. 1,. Ying 1916 J. L. I:cC'rill 1917-1919 G.~. Elliot 1920 Raymond uurr 1921 .,.:. F. Co cr,ro,n 1922-1924 H. H. PO~Gn 1925-1930 'iL ',i. i.amilton 1931-1937,'i. C. LcGarrlty 1938 T. F. Cook 1939 P. h. Stokes 1940-1941 ~. J. Atha 1942-1943 Dan Brewster 1944-1946 Alton Snitr 1947-1948 Duma ..'ebb 1949 T. ~. Taylor 1950 h. I. DO'~on

1951 C~cil Dudlev 1952-1954 howard Odom" 1955-1956 ~. O. Dinkins 1957-1959 Tommy Gilbert 1960-1961 Kennett Deitle 1962 David ElankensLip 1963 ~i11iam H. Kirby