On
the 7th day of May, 1831, aft: the house of Eli Bozarth,
four miles south of Paris, the organization of this church
(then called Bethlehem) was effected through the"
efforts of Revs. Archibald Patterson and Edward Turner. The
constituent members were:
At
a subsequent meeting, in April, 1832, the name was again
changed, this time to Middle Fork, afterwards receiving the
present title. The first pastor of the church was Edward
Turner, followed successively by:
-
Anderson
Woods, 1836;
-
Norman
Parks, 1841;
-
W.
Keach, 1844;
-
Jacob
Bower, 1847;
-
Bartlett
Anderson, 1849 ;
-
Henson.]
Thomas, 1851;
-
W.
Mitchell, 1858;
-
S.
A. Beauchamp, 1860;
-
G.
W. Robey, 1866;
-
George
C. Brown, 1867;
-
H.
M. King, 1869 ;
-
James
S. Green, 1873;
-
G.
T. Colvin, 1874;
-
W.
W. Kone, 1875;
-
William
E. Chamblis, 1877;
-
William
Green, 1880,
-
J.
T. Williams, 1881.
The
first church building was built of brick in 1833, it being
succeeded by a frame house in 1859. In 1858 a Sabbath school
was started and has had six superintendents since then:
-
W.
B. Craig
-
R.
D. Woods
-
Charles
Dawson
-
T.
B. Gannaway
-
Jere.
B. P. Smith
-
J.
T. Williams
It
now numbers 100 scholars. The church has a membership of
150.
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