Friends of the Restoration
Chronicling the lives of those who have impacted the Restoration Movement
West Tennessee
Essary Spring Sign
December/17/2009 11:57
Last Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 16, 2009, I travelled to Essary Springs, TN and removed the sign which stood in the front of the church building. Plans are to make it a part of the Freed-Hardeman University historical room collection. As always, a building not being used deteriorates rapidly. Sadly, time is running out for this old building that was the beginning place of A. G. Freed's first school in West Tennessee.
Pocahontas Bell
August/05/2009 12:35
In 1964, C. P. Roland wrote: "The church of Christ in Pocahontas, Tennessee had its beginning almost a century ago when T. B. Larimore held the first meeting there in 1872. A tornado destroyed their first building. The second building was started in 1907 and not fully complete when J. D. Tant came for a gospel meeting in 1908. Brother Tant arrived on Friday prior to the meeting and helped place the bell in the belfry. Seeing that the inside of the building was still unpainted, he told them he would "whitewash" it with the gospel. The large bell was donated by Ben Carr, father-in-law of W. H. Owen, recently deceased, of McMinnville, Tenn."
C. P. Roland, Gospel Advocate, Feb. 6, 1964, p. 92
The photo taken 3 Aug 2009 is of the bell at Pocahontas which is 36 inches wide at the bottom. It was made by the C. S. Bell Company in Hillsboro, Ohio. The inside of the bell has the numbers 5 2 08 which indicates it was molded May 2, 1908.
For the Gospel Advocate article by brother Roland in its entirety, go to http://churchofchrist-newhope.com/HardemanCo/Pocahontas/Pocahontas.html
Church Planted by T. B. Larimore
July/28/2009 14:29
This photograph of the Colverport church of Christ building, Colverport, TN, was taken by Gerald and Gail Mills shortly before the building was demolished. A special thanks to them for providing additional history about the church.
While a student at Freed-Hardeman, I preached my fifth sermon at the Cloverport church of Christ in Hardeman County, Tennessee on Sunday, December 25, 1966. I went on to preach for the church at Cloverport for almost a year. The church disbanded around 2000. I recently was given the pulpit pictured above which is in my study in Henderson.
I am researching the history of the Cloverport. John Pigg of Jackson, MS did some of his first preaching at Cloverport. William Woodson held a couple of gospel meeting there. Other than that information, I have known little of the history of the Cloverport church.
Recently I was given the following information about the beginning of the Cloverport church from the book, Larimore and His Boys by F. D. Srygley.
On August 25, 1872, he [T. B. Larimore] went to Cloverport, now called Greenwood, Tennessee. We had but one member there - a brother Pyrtle [Pirtle]. The meeting was held under an immense shelter for want of a house. The "straw" in the "altar" was badly worn by a long "mourners bench" revival that had just closed. The meeting continued ten days and resulted in sixty-one additions. Before he preached the first sermon brother Pyrtle said to him: "you call do nothing here now-you have come too late."
The fourth day of the meeting he preached by request of a prominent Presbyterian gentleman from Revelation 6:17. When he closed the sermon and stepped from the platform the Presbyterian brother, perfectly elated by the power of his preaching, caught him in his arms as if he had been a long lost son just found.
A lady who was a sort of sectarian spit-fire and altogether more religious than courteous said to him: "If you are safe, I am too. I have been as deep under the water as you." To whom he replied in his mildest manner - "My dear sister, I hope you are not depending upon water for your salvation. No one can be saved by water alone."
Mrs. Dr. T. J. Rohinson, now of Mariana, Ark., was outspoken and emphatic in her opposition at the beginning of the meeting. She and her husband had worked very zealously for the revival that had just closed when he [Larimore] began; but she declared she would not do any thing to help him in his meeting. She said her husband might do as he pleased, but as for her, she would furnish neither chicken, shelter, nor pie "for that other preacher." About the fourth day of the meeting she hunted up her husband when the invitation song was started and went with him to make the good confession. They have both made good members.
[Larimore] He was called away from that meeting when the interest was at its very best, and when he had every prospect of sweeping the whole country, to marry a couple at Jackson, Tennessee. He felt in duty bound to attend to the marriage, as he had before promised to do; but he has never ceased to regret the untimely break in that meeting. Writing about it years afterwards he said: "Little things should not be allowed to interrupt a good meeting. It would have been far better for a common squire to have married that couple rather than break off that meeting just at that time." A good church was established at Cloverport, as the result of that meeting.
It is proper to state that he engaged to preach for the church at Jackson, Tennessee all of his time during vacation of 1872, so that the two meetings at Cloverport and Pocahontas were mainly projected and directed by the Jackson church.
Larimore and His Boys, 186-87.
Writing in the text of Larimore and His Boys, Mrs. Walter Howell wrote: "My grandmother, Mrs. Andrew Jackson Vernon, was one of the sixty baptized. My mother was born in October 1872 following her [grandmother's] baptism." She also wrote: "I'm sure the old brother Pirtle mentioned was my daddy's father, John B. Pirtle. The writer did not spell his name correctly."
Mrs. Howell wrote in the front of the book: "Page 186 concerns my family. Cloverport church has only a few members, but they still support a young preacher who comes from Freed-Hardeman College every Sunday."
Essary Springs Bell
July/23/2009 15:46
Thursday, July 23, 2009, Tom Childers was tour guide to about 17 people who visited important sites in Chester, Hardeman, and McNairy counties in Tennessee. Officals at Freed-Hardeman gave us a key to the Essary Springs church of Christ with a request to take photographs of the bell, if we could.
One of the elders at the New Hope church of Christ, James Kirk, and his grandson met us at Essary Springs. He brought a ladder. The ceiling entrance to the bell tower was nailed shut and we had to pry it loose to gain entrance to the see the bell. Lyndon Crowley, the slimmest of the group crawled inside the bell tower and was able to take some photos.
The bell was made by The C.S. Bell Co., Hillsboro, Ohio. Here is a link to a Web site which gives the history of the company - http://home.swbell.net/csz_stl/towerbells./HillsboroFoundry.htm.
The question at this point is when was the bell installed? Was it in 1889? or 1895 after Freed left and the school was run by I. N. Rowland and David Nelms? or was it after the school was taken over by Hardeman County in 1913? We could find no cast markings that identified the date of the bell. There appears the numbers 1936 on the outside of the bell near the bottom but this is handwritten and not a part of the casting of the bell. Other markings are 26 and No Yoke.
Freed-Hardeman University has been given the property. At the present a few Christians are still meeting at Essary Springs, but they are making plans to relocate to neighboring congregations.
Great Trip to Henderson
February/09/2009 14:46
Written by Scott Harp
Just returned from the 2009 lectureship at Freed-Hardeman University. The FOTR sessions on Monday were outstanding. Many thanks to Terry Gardner, John T. Smithson, Jim Gardner & Richard England for their great contributions. The lectures were very effective and informative. I look forward to Faulkner University's sessions in March. One morning, I ran out to the snap off a few shots of the graves at the Henderson Cemetery again. I had not been aware of Ernest E. Highers, a gospel preacher and the father of Alan Highers, as having been buried there. So while I was there I got the rest of them again.
Here's a tidbit of info. But did you know that in addition to the many talents of N.B. Hardeman as educator and preacher, he also had strong leanings toward engineering. The city of Henderson asked Hardeman to plan the layout for the Henderson City Cemetery. As a token of their appreciation, they give him the choice of plots for which to be buried. The center and highest point is where he is buried.
When "Miss Jo" Hardeman, or "Josie," as he called her, died in 1940, she was first to be laid in the family plot. This is the reason for the brick column at the northwest entrance of the cemetery that has inscribed, "In Memory of Mrs. N.B. Hardeman."
Essary Springs Church Closes
January/25/2009 14:49
Another chapter in West Tennessee history closes with the recent death of Zora Berryman, one of the last members of the Essary Springs church of Christ. Earlier, the building was used by A. G. Freed when he started a school in 1892 in Essary Springs called Southern Tennessee Normal College. Later, Freed left the school and became president of West Tennessee Christian College in Henderson. The school in Essary Springs continued for several years. I. N. Rowland, father of C. P. Roland, taught in the school for several years before joining the staff at Freed-Hardeman.
The church sign says "The Birthplace of Freed-Hardeman University 1892"
Apparently, the building was later remodeled and used as public school. Leon Isom, a member of the New Hope church of Christ, remembers walking about 1 1/2 miles to the Essary Springs school in the early 1940s. He recalls that there was one, big room with four classes meeting in each corner of the room. Sometime later, the building was bought and used by the Essary Springs church of Christ. Mrs. Berryman is on the front and to the far right in the group picture of members from the Henderson church which toured the building in June 2005.
I have been to Essary Springs building several times. Each time Mrs. Berryman would come and open the building and give a guided tour. The picture at the bottom was taken around 1940.
Etheridge Farm in Weakley County
August/03/2005 15:19
Here is an email reply from Joe Connell who was reared in Weakley County:
I enjoyed the story about brother Etheridge. The road on the West side of one of my Dad's farms and on which my brother lives goes across Etheridge levy. I understand the Etheridge levy road was the way from Greenfield to the Sharon area in the early days before Sharon was a town and before 45 was constructed. That road turns and borders the south side of our farm. The road on the West side didn't exist until some years later. I am not sure this makes any sense. The Mt. Vernon cemetery is about a mile past my Dad's house on the Sharon/Kenton Road. I believe Mt. Vernon Methodist church is the oldest church in Weakley county and possibly the oldest in northwest, TN.
If you notice, when going up main St. in Sharon from old 45 to the RR tracks, there is a slight curve in the street. I understand they followed the old Indian trail when they built the stores. One of the stores just west of the bank was like a slice of pie to compensate for the slight curve.
Joe
I enjoyed the story about brother Etheridge. The road on the West side of one of my Dad's farms and on which my brother lives goes across Etheridge levy. I understand the Etheridge levy road was the way from Greenfield to the Sharon area in the early days before Sharon was a town and before 45 was constructed. That road turns and borders the south side of our farm. The road on the West side didn't exist until some years later. I am not sure this makes any sense. The Mt. Vernon cemetery is about a mile past my Dad's house on the Sharon/Kenton Road. I believe Mt. Vernon Methodist church is the oldest church in Weakley county and possibly the oldest in northwest, TN.
If you notice, when going up main St. in Sharon from old 45 to the RR tracks, there is a slight curve in the street. I understand they followed the old Indian trail when they built the stores. One of the stores just west of the bank was like a slice of pie to compensate for the slight curve.
Joe
Elihu Scott
July/31/2005 22:50
Thomas Elihue Scott, I (1845-1904)
Thomas Elihue Scott, I, who is buried in the McCorkle Cemetery in Dyer County, Tenn. He is the grandfather of Thomas Elihue Scott, II, who was a teacher at Freed-Hardeman and is buried in Memorial Gardens Cemetery, near Henderson.
Thomas Elihue Scott, I, who is buried in the McCorkle Cemetery in Dyer County, Tenn. He is the grandfather of Thomas Elihue Scott, II, who was a teacher at Freed-Hardeman and is buried in Memorial Gardens Cemetery, near Henderson.
Etheridge and Scott
July/31/2005 15:10
William F. Etheridge and Thomas Elihue Scott
Long Range Results of One Decision
My mother learned the story of how her family became Christians. Her uncle, William “Will†Etheridge, left home as a teenager and went to work in a small town. Seeking social excitement, he bought season tickets to the local dance hall. As he was walking to the first dance, he came by a brush arbor where a gospel meeting was in progress. It was too early for the dance and the preacher sounded interesting, so he decided to take a seat and listen awhile. He had never heard preaching like this before. He was very impressed with the Bible truths presented and decided to become a Christian that night. He tore up his tickets to the dance and made his life-long commitment to Christ. He went back to his home near Paris, Tennessee, and converted his father, step-mother, brother, sisters, half brothers and sisters. This occurred around the year 1890. Through his influence, over 100 of his family’s descendants have become Christians. But this is not the end of his story. Will Etheridge then went to (Johnson Bible) College and became a gospel preacher. He preached for about 55 years in several states and held gospel meetings in many places including Springfield, Missouri. We never know how the future of our world can change because of our deciding today, either to serve God or to fulfill our worldly desire. --- David Guthery, The World Evangelist, Feb. 1992.
William Fletcher Etheridge
By Frances Ann Johnson, granddaughter and FHU graduate
William Fletcher Etheridge, called "Will" or more of often known as W. F. Etheridge, was born near Paris, Tenn., May 20, 1872 and died in Jackson, Tenn. March 11, 1951. It was said that he preached 55 years, but those last few years he did not do much preaching on account of health. He attended Johnson Bible College near Knoxville, Tenn. where he met and later married Ida French Frazier around 1896. She was from a farm on Kingston Pike near Knoxville. The moved to McConnell, Tenn. where he preached several years and the to Hazel, Ky., on to Murray, Ky. Where it is said he helped start the church. They went from there to Sharon, Tenn., on to Latham, Tenn., and then to Martin, Tenn. staying only a few years at each place. In 1920, he moved to Middleton, Tenn. and then to Bolivar where he had to hold services in the court house as there was no church there at the time. He moved back to Middleton and built a home where he raised chickens and had a strawberry patch to help with his living. It was said that he was $5 a Sunday at Middleton, but he also preached on Sunday afternoons at Lacy, Bethany, or other country churches, and since Ida was in poor health, he would take Peggy and me with him. He also preached for the church at Tiplersville, Miss. during this time and enjoyed the hospitality of the Tip Thornton family whose son, J. A. Thornton later became a gospel preacher. His next move was to Chattanooga, Tenn., then Huntsville, Ala. Later, he preached one year in Avon Park, Fla., where he went for his health leaving Ida in Middleton. That was before we had canned juices and be brought back quarts of grapefruit juice that the ladies canned for him. Ida died in 1932 from a stroke at the age of 60. This left him very lonely so he moved to Milan, Tenn. to preach where he met and married Edna Ruth Sockard, lady of about 40 years of age who lived with and cared for her mother. This was in 1933, so he had not only a wife but a mother-in-law also to bring back to Middleton. Edna was a wonderful wife to him and after a few years they moved to Memphis where he spent about two years preaching for the church at North Parkway. Then back to Middleton which was his headquarters. In 1946, they sold the home in Middleton and moved to Jackson, Tenn., but I don't know what church he worked with there. He died in 1951 at the age of 78 and was buried by Ida in Middleton City Cemetery where a picture is on his tombstone. The story is told that while living in Sharon, Tenn., their son, Mark, who was 14 years old and other boys where playing ball in the yard one Sunday afternoon. Papa Etheridge was off preaching. A train whistle blew and the boys all knew that a Boy Scout’s body was being brought in on the train, so they took off running to the depot. Mark stopped to ask Mamma Etheridge if he could go too and said, “Well Son …†and he took off. He had not finished as she had meant to say, “I had rather you not go.†He and his little dog were running along beside the engine when the engineer began pouring hot water on the dog. Mark tried to grab the dog and somehow fell und the engine, and his body had to be picked up in a basket. When Papa Etheridge returned from his engagement that was the news he received. Both parents were devastated. Mama had high blood pressure after that and the doctor told Papa to get a job during the week to keep him busy so he put in a saw-mill for a few years. After that, they moved to Middleton in southern West Tenn. Papa was well-liked by everyone. Many from the Methodist church would come to hear him preach. He hand-sorted his strawberries so he had no problem selling them. Many people would give him produce when he came back to visit. I especially remember one Christmas when I went with him out to Mr. Alex Pulse's home to pick up a special Christmas turkey and he was just a friend who thought a lot of Papa. He was always very neat and well-dressed and carried himself with dignity. When they moved to Jackson, Tenn., they bought a large house and rented one side for an apartment. Edna baby-sat for the couple who rented, and they treated the child as if he were their own. He is the one spoken of as the “stranger†taken in an article in the World Evangelist in Feb. 1992. Papa had four daughters to live to adulthood and nine grandchildren.
1. May Etheridge Crawford lived in Bolivar and died at 98.
2. Ruth Etheridge Cornelius of Middleton died at age 74.
3. Winnie Etheridge Scott of Middleton died at 95.
4. Myrtle Etheridge Grimmitt of New Orleans died at 65.
There are seven grandchildren still living. Peggy Crawford Shearin had two strokes and is 81 and in Pine Meadows in Bolivar.
1. Frances Cornelius Johnson is 81 and lives in Manchester, Tenn.
2. Bill Crawford is 78 and lives in Bolivar, Tenn.
3. Bob Scott is 77 and lives in Middleton, Tenn.
4. David Crawford is 74 and lives in O’Fallon, Missouri.
5. Joe Cornelius is 74 and lives in Middleton, Tenn.
6. Patsy Crawford Smith is 71 and lives in Lakeland, Tenn.
All are Christians and there are numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.I have no idea of all the places where Papa Etheridge held meetings. Edna lived on and married three more times, two of which were short lived. The last marriage was to Paul Tucker. She told him that she could not marry him because she had buried three husbands and she could not stand to bury another. He told her that he was a little younger than she was and that he would care for and bury her. They had several happy years together and he did just that. He cared for her and according to her wishes buried her next to her mother in Greenfield, Tenn. at the age of 90. P.S. I now realize that the move to Chattanooga and Huntsville should follow the first move to Middleton, then back to Middleton and later to Bolivar, etc.
Emerson Etheridge
W. F. Etheridge, a gospel preacher for 55 years, is buried in the Middleton City Cemetery in Middleton, Hardeman County, Tenn., but he has roots in Weakley County, Tenn. His father, Emerson Etheridge, was a Representative from Tennessee; born in Currituck, N.C., September 28, 1819; moved with his parents to Tennessee in 1831; completed preparatory studies; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1840 and commenced practice in Dresden, Tenn.; member of the State house of representatives 1845-1847; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress; elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Thirty-sixth Congress); Clerk of the House of Representatives 1861-1863; unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1867; member of the State senate in 1869 and 1870; surveyor of customs in Memphis 1891-1894; died in Dresden, Tenn., October 21, 1902; interment in Mount Vernon Cemetery, near Sharon, Tenn. (Belz, Herman. Etheridge Conspiracy of 1863: A Projected Conservative Coup.†Journal of Southern History 36 (November 1970): 549-67). When Emerson Etheridge was sent to the fields to plow, he would carry a book with him and spend time reading. His father hit upon a plan to put an end to this "waste" of working time. He attached a cow bell to the plow horse so he could tell when the boy was not plowing. Young Emerson solved the problem by typing the bell to a bush at the end of rows and moving the bush with his feet while he lay on the ground to read his book. When Will Etheridge was a young man, Emerson tried to persuade him to become a lawyer. Will decided to preach instead. Emerson's parting advice was the following quotation:
Heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Journey Unto Yesterday, Dresden, Tennessee Sesquicentennial 1825-1975, p. 16.
Long Range Results of One Decision
My mother learned the story of how her family became Christians. Her uncle, William “Will†Etheridge, left home as a teenager and went to work in a small town. Seeking social excitement, he bought season tickets to the local dance hall. As he was walking to the first dance, he came by a brush arbor where a gospel meeting was in progress. It was too early for the dance and the preacher sounded interesting, so he decided to take a seat and listen awhile. He had never heard preaching like this before. He was very impressed with the Bible truths presented and decided to become a Christian that night. He tore up his tickets to the dance and made his life-long commitment to Christ. He went back to his home near Paris, Tennessee, and converted his father, step-mother, brother, sisters, half brothers and sisters. This occurred around the year 1890. Through his influence, over 100 of his family’s descendants have become Christians. But this is not the end of his story. Will Etheridge then went to (Johnson Bible) College and became a gospel preacher. He preached for about 55 years in several states and held gospel meetings in many places including Springfield, Missouri. We never know how the future of our world can change because of our deciding today, either to serve God or to fulfill our worldly desire. --- David Guthery, The World Evangelist, Feb. 1992.
William Fletcher Etheridge
By Frances Ann Johnson, granddaughter and FHU graduate
William Fletcher Etheridge, called "Will" or more of often known as W. F. Etheridge, was born near Paris, Tenn., May 20, 1872 and died in Jackson, Tenn. March 11, 1951. It was said that he preached 55 years, but those last few years he did not do much preaching on account of health. He attended Johnson Bible College near Knoxville, Tenn. where he met and later married Ida French Frazier around 1896. She was from a farm on Kingston Pike near Knoxville. The moved to McConnell, Tenn. where he preached several years and the to Hazel, Ky., on to Murray, Ky. Where it is said he helped start the church. They went from there to Sharon, Tenn., on to Latham, Tenn., and then to Martin, Tenn. staying only a few years at each place. In 1920, he moved to Middleton, Tenn. and then to Bolivar where he had to hold services in the court house as there was no church there at the time. He moved back to Middleton and built a home where he raised chickens and had a strawberry patch to help with his living. It was said that he was $5 a Sunday at Middleton, but he also preached on Sunday afternoons at Lacy, Bethany, or other country churches, and since Ida was in poor health, he would take Peggy and me with him. He also preached for the church at Tiplersville, Miss. during this time and enjoyed the hospitality of the Tip Thornton family whose son, J. A. Thornton later became a gospel preacher. His next move was to Chattanooga, Tenn., then Huntsville, Ala. Later, he preached one year in Avon Park, Fla., where he went for his health leaving Ida in Middleton. That was before we had canned juices and be brought back quarts of grapefruit juice that the ladies canned for him. Ida died in 1932 from a stroke at the age of 60. This left him very lonely so he moved to Milan, Tenn. to preach where he met and married Edna Ruth Sockard, lady of about 40 years of age who lived with and cared for her mother. This was in 1933, so he had not only a wife but a mother-in-law also to bring back to Middleton. Edna was a wonderful wife to him and after a few years they moved to Memphis where he spent about two years preaching for the church at North Parkway. Then back to Middleton which was his headquarters. In 1946, they sold the home in Middleton and moved to Jackson, Tenn., but I don't know what church he worked with there. He died in 1951 at the age of 78 and was buried by Ida in Middleton City Cemetery where a picture is on his tombstone. The story is told that while living in Sharon, Tenn., their son, Mark, who was 14 years old and other boys where playing ball in the yard one Sunday afternoon. Papa Etheridge was off preaching. A train whistle blew and the boys all knew that a Boy Scout’s body was being brought in on the train, so they took off running to the depot. Mark stopped to ask Mamma Etheridge if he could go too and said, “Well Son …†and he took off. He had not finished as she had meant to say, “I had rather you not go.†He and his little dog were running along beside the engine when the engineer began pouring hot water on the dog. Mark tried to grab the dog and somehow fell und the engine, and his body had to be picked up in a basket. When Papa Etheridge returned from his engagement that was the news he received. Both parents were devastated. Mama had high blood pressure after that and the doctor told Papa to get a job during the week to keep him busy so he put in a saw-mill for a few years. After that, they moved to Middleton in southern West Tenn. Papa was well-liked by everyone. Many from the Methodist church would come to hear him preach. He hand-sorted his strawberries so he had no problem selling them. Many people would give him produce when he came back to visit. I especially remember one Christmas when I went with him out to Mr. Alex Pulse's home to pick up a special Christmas turkey and he was just a friend who thought a lot of Papa. He was always very neat and well-dressed and carried himself with dignity. When they moved to Jackson, Tenn., they bought a large house and rented one side for an apartment. Edna baby-sat for the couple who rented, and they treated the child as if he were their own. He is the one spoken of as the “stranger†taken in an article in the World Evangelist in Feb. 1992. Papa had four daughters to live to adulthood and nine grandchildren.
1. May Etheridge Crawford lived in Bolivar and died at 98.
2. Ruth Etheridge Cornelius of Middleton died at age 74.
3. Winnie Etheridge Scott of Middleton died at 95.
4. Myrtle Etheridge Grimmitt of New Orleans died at 65.
There are seven grandchildren still living. Peggy Crawford Shearin had two strokes and is 81 and in Pine Meadows in Bolivar.
1. Frances Cornelius Johnson is 81 and lives in Manchester, Tenn.
2. Bill Crawford is 78 and lives in Bolivar, Tenn.
3. Bob Scott is 77 and lives in Middleton, Tenn.
4. David Crawford is 74 and lives in O’Fallon, Missouri.
5. Joe Cornelius is 74 and lives in Middleton, Tenn.
6. Patsy Crawford Smith is 71 and lives in Lakeland, Tenn.
All are Christians and there are numerous great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.I have no idea of all the places where Papa Etheridge held meetings. Edna lived on and married three more times, two of which were short lived. The last marriage was to Paul Tucker. She told him that she could not marry him because she had buried three husbands and she could not stand to bury another. He told her that he was a little younger than she was and that he would care for and bury her. They had several happy years together and he did just that. He cared for her and according to her wishes buried her next to her mother in Greenfield, Tenn. at the age of 90. P.S. I now realize that the move to Chattanooga and Huntsville should follow the first move to Middleton, then back to Middleton and later to Bolivar, etc.
Emerson Etheridge
W. F. Etheridge, a gospel preacher for 55 years, is buried in the Middleton City Cemetery in Middleton, Hardeman County, Tenn., but he has roots in Weakley County, Tenn. His father, Emerson Etheridge, was a Representative from Tennessee; born in Currituck, N.C., September 28, 1819; moved with his parents to Tennessee in 1831; completed preparatory studies; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1840 and commenced practice in Dresden, Tenn.; member of the State house of representatives 1845-1847; elected as a Whig to the Thirty-third Congress and reelected as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress (March 4, 1853-March 3, 1857); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1856 to the Thirty-fifth Congress; elected as an Opposition Party candidate to the Thirty-sixth Congress (March 4, 1859-March 3, 1861); chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Thirty-sixth Congress); Clerk of the House of Representatives 1861-1863; unsuccessful candidate for Governor in 1867; member of the State senate in 1869 and 1870; surveyor of customs in Memphis 1891-1894; died in Dresden, Tenn., October 21, 1902; interment in Mount Vernon Cemetery, near Sharon, Tenn. (Belz, Herman. Etheridge Conspiracy of 1863: A Projected Conservative Coup.†Journal of Southern History 36 (November 1970): 549-67). When Emerson Etheridge was sent to the fields to plow, he would carry a book with him and spend time reading. His father hit upon a plan to put an end to this "waste" of working time. He attached a cow bell to the plow horse so he could tell when the boy was not plowing. Young Emerson solved the problem by typing the bell to a bush at the end of rows and moving the bush with his feet while he lay on the ground to read his book. When Will Etheridge was a young man, Emerson tried to persuade him to become a lawyer. Will decided to preach instead. Emerson's parting advice was the following quotation:
Heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Journey Unto Yesterday, Dresden, Tennessee Sesquicentennial 1825-1975, p. 16.
Henry Sanders Wood
July/15/2005 15:11
Bio From Taylor Book
Henry Sanders Woods baptized Jesse and Cynthia Austin and Benjamin F. Austin and his wife, Lucidna Scott Austin, in 1872 in the Beech River about two and one-half miles northwest of Lexington, Tenn.
The four had ridden mules (four mules) from Scotts Hill approximately eighteen miles each way to hear the word in a meeting at Beech River schoolshouse in August of 1872. They were baptized that night after making the "good confession." After services, they spent the night with newly made friends and Christians to return the next day to their homes near Scotts Hill.
H. S. Wood was likely converted by John W. Johnson, who had studied under Alexander Campbell at Bethany College. Brother Wood lived and preached mostly around Juno and Wildersville. He was born in the 1820's and died Dec. 29, 1903. His wife, Jane, was born in 1818 and died in 1892. They are buried in Beech River Cemetery, north of Lexington, Tenn.
Cf. Austin's Chapel -- The Tribe of Benjamin by Jeanne Crews Taylor, p. 9.
Letter From Claude Roberts
On August 29, 1861, Henry Sanders Wood and his wife, Jane (Altom) Wood were received into the church by the right hand of fellowship. On the second Sunday in August 1870, he was set apart to the work of an evangelist by the church, giving him a letter signed by the elders, recommending him as a preacher of the gospel to the brethren and friends everywhere. He was born February 13, 1824, and died December 29, 1903. He was the father of my grandmother, Eliza Ann (Wood) Roberts, who married William R. Roberts. My father's name was John A. Roberts. Henry Sanders Wood was a powerful preacher of that day and time. He was married the second time to Mary Frances Nichols, a widow, after the death of his first wife in 1893. Three daughters by his second wife still survive and live in or near Lexington. My grandmother Roberts was immersed by W. A. Johnson on the second Sunday in June 1867. My grandfather Roberts was received into the church on confession from the Baptist church by letter on the same date. Cf. Letter from Claude Roberts, http://www.tnyesterday.com/yesterday_henderson/c-chapel.htm.
Directions to the Beech River Cemetery
Go north of Lexington, Tenn. on Highway 22 for about 4.6 miles. Turn left on Oak Street and go 4/10 of a mile and turn right on the Old Huntingdon Road. Go about 6/10 of a mile and the cemetery is on the right. When you enter the cemetery, the graves are at the far end of the cemetery and on the back rows.
David Richard Shelton
April/27/2005 15:05
The father of David Richard Shelton gave all of children a mule and $100 when they turned 18 years old. Richard sold his mule and took his money to come to Henderson to attend Georgia Robertson Christian School. Richard Shelton graduate from G.R.C. and spoke on the subject "The Flag of Truce" at the commencment service on June 11, 1903. He taught school for many years in Booneville, Miss. He died in 1936 and is buried in the Antioch cemetery in Tippah County, Miss. When I was a preacher student at Freed-Hardeman in the 60s, I would often preach in Tippah County, Miss. I always wondered why folks were so proud of me and would roll out the red carpet every time I preached. I knew it was not my speaking ability or the quality of the sermons. Little did I realize that in the audience were relatives of a 1903 graduate of G.R.C., the forerunner of Freed-Hardeman.
Georgie Robertson Christian College will always be special to me. I attended classes in the building in 1966-68 and my wife worked in the mailroom which was also in the building. No, I have another reason. Richard Shelton was my wife's great uncle. --- Tom L. Childers
Georgie Robertson Christian College will always be special to me. I attended classes in the building in 1966-68 and my wife worked in the mailroom which was also in the building. No, I have another reason. Richard Shelton was my wife's great uncle. --- Tom L. Childers