The
Paris Christian church was among the earliest of the
congregations established by the Disciples in Missouri
and dates back to the thirties, first meeting in the
old brick house known as the Addison Bodine place, and
later—in 1848—building a brick structure on the
present site. This building was torn down and a new
one erected in 1884, and is in turn demolished and
supplanted by a modern $35,000 structure in 1910.
Among its ministers have been Alexander Proctor,
famous throughout the brotherhood, W. J. Montjoy, .J.
B. Davis, the Rev. Samuel McDaniel, T. W. Pinkerton,
W. N. Briney, ___ Wright, J. R. Perkins and F. W
Allen, all distinguished men and the two latter own
outside their denominational world, Perkins as a
publicist and Allen as a novelist.
The Paris Baptist church was organized at the home of
Eli Bozarth. four miles south of where the town now
stands, in May, 1831, and the Rev. Edward Turner was
its first pastor. He was followed by Anderson Woods in
1836, the name of the body first being Bethlehem
church. It has had a succession of able ministers and
has been a power for good in development of community
life.
Paris Episcopal church was organized in 1832 and was
among the first to join the Southern Association
following the division 1844. Its first minister was
the Rev. James Jameson and among its first members
Thos. Miller, Thos. Noonan, Joel Maupin, Jefferson
Marr, William Stevens, names known still in the
history of the county.
Paris Presbyterian church was organized in 1842, and
its first pastor was the Rev. W. P. Cochran. Among the
charter members were Thos. Barrett, J. S. Caldwell. 0.
P. Gentry, Welthy Applegate, Rosella Vanarsdale and
John Curry.
The organization at Paris followed that at Pleasant
Hill, seven miles south by several years. Pleasant
Hill was organized in 1825, before the county had a
separate existence, and is probably the oldest as well
as most historic congregation in the county. The Rev.
Thomas Durfee, a missionary, was its founder, and the
Rev. Alfred Wright its first pastor. James McGee and
the McKamey family were its charter members, a slave
woman by the name of Marietta also being included in
the number. The church is still very much alive and is
one of the few original congregations to maintain a
continued existence. In its yard sleep many the famous
pioneer men and women of Monroe county.
The Methodist church at Goss, Jackson township, was
organized in 1833, and was founded by Henry Marr,
Samuel West, Susan Austin, John Shearman, David Ashby
and others.
Salem Baptist church was organized in 1857, by the
Rev. Henson Thomas, one of the most noted of the
county’s pioneer preachers, and among its charter
members were a group of Kentuckians, hailing from
Madison county—Lewis Philips, Thomas P. Moore,
Samuel Willis, Richard Thomas and others.
Long Branch Baptist church was organized in 1844, by
John B. Rudasill, James Botts, Edward Goodnight and
others, and its first pastor was Wm. Jesse. For over
twenty-five years W. B. Craig of Paris. most famous of
Monroe county Baptist preachers ministered to it, and
his labors ceased only with his death.
These congregations are singled out on account of
their age and traditions that cluster about them. It
is interesting to note that the names appearing on
their charter rolls continue in their present
membership, illustrating as nothing else can the
degree to which the county maintained its racial
solidarity.
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