HISTORY OF Z ~13'TLOl . "'HODI~T EPI ..~_ L Gm. OR

Zebulon .~ethodipt Church ')uld have ricbneRs of hi~tory

sur RAed by fe rur I churches if its officers h d A...,nreci~'t­

ed the importpnce of keeuing and ~reAerving the recor R of it~ activities for po~terity.~o record of the e rly ye rs of the church could be found.

Early in the nineteenth century "eetin House" as' it ae c~lled, as built on the origin I ot.Pre cher of any

denomination were permitted to hold services in this church. The slaves in the community were admitted to these services and stan the e t in the re r of the house.On October 31,

I19~5)Thom~s Lane ster deeded this cre of land nd the II eet­I I'

lng Rous" hich W R in the middle of it, to illi m Fraley,Peter Rogers,Tuttle H. u as,and ~ibert Rives)ste arae of Zebulon ~ethodist Eoi copalChurch,for the sum o~ 150. 0.

Zebulon Church in the North Geor i Conference,Au~ust District, ancock County is on the Spart -Linton I' d about seven miles south of Sparta. In lB71,the folio ing men anl 'Tomen: Ga.ston Brown, tephen E. Pe rson, J eremi h C. Pe rson, Elliot R. Walker,GeorO'e E. alker,.'ary A. Pe rson,Geor ia

nn Thomas and ry D. alker decided to obtain their churchf

certificates from old Reynolds Chr~el,a church ne r Devereux,Y nd reorganize this church hich BA nearer their homes.~nis

made it aore convenient for them to ttend services as they were most faithful in ttendance.The mode 0 travel was either on horreback or in bug~ies without tops. These ere very de­vout Christi nsmost of hom ere not demonstr tive but on as hat as lflter called a "shouting 1 eth~diRtll.She h d to

give udible e~ression of her religioup h ppiness. :uring the revival protracted meeting PS it aA called then)of th t year the folIo ing members joined the church on proffepsion of ff'li th: Alfred E. Bro n, Tho t :'! r Franks, eaborn~. Hutch ingp,Chprlep. Hutchings,J mes • Herringdinp,,~hom8p. Johnnon,Jpme~

'. Johnson,John Kno.leF.,James LQry,Jr., ..Tohn A,'rtin,l edison Robert ,Thomas P. Rhodes,~reen R. ,artben)Sus~n Herringdine, ~mily utch1ngs,Georgia Ann Jackson,Fannie J ckAon and Fr n­ces Rhodes. enty-fve more memberA ere ad~ed durin? the r~­vival in IS72.on profession of their f ith.~hey evidently had good preachers.

By lSSO, the church had rown so much th t they decilied ,. a larger church building as needed.~lliRon orthy, member of the church,thought they also needed more land sO,on ugust 27,ISSO,he purchs8ed n acre of 1 nd joining tne original lot from rs. ry D. 1Rlker and gave it to the church. on y waS not plentiful in those day~,but they built a fr~me building / in the center of the t a acres and painted it.It AA the cuP-­tom for the men to sit on one p.ide of the church and tnc 0 en on the other,so a 10 partition as built do n the center. v

This ~as I' moved about forty years go(after peo')le disre ar\. ­this CURtOIn and couplef3 s t to- 'ether at pervices.) 'rhe ex­~laveB were permitted to attend the church services. They en­joyed coming to hear the hi te pre cherA nd no doubt tne in­tereet in their spiritual life ~B fetor hieh influenced these ne roes to built themselves a church on the 1 nd that Stephen Pe rsan had Jiven them for buri I purpoPoes.lt is to

i Page 2.

the credit of these e rly church members that they took a very keen intere~t in inptructin +he negro preacher~ nd encouraging them in their labor arnonE their r ce.Stenhen

earson ppent many hours ea.ch eek patient y e lAining p psages of scripture to them and Bsistin~ the in any w~y ne could. This made a lasting imnr ssion on his gr nd­cb ildren. No doubt many other members sho ed tbesame in­tere t in their piritual elf re.The influence of thepe men an omen no" ere courageous enough to reorg nize t biR cnurcb before the ful dayp of reconptruction ere over, is till felt in thi chutch "nd no doubt is one t~ing that urges some of the present members to rene ed ef:ortp to keep it functionin ven -thou n orl ly interest ttrcct so many of the members ;ay from services nd they r of­ten tem ted to give up .The third eneration f the re r­anizers re numbered 8mon~ the member~ to-dAY.

G st0n Era n as most active member being 1 aYB illin~ to serve in any y that he could. JameR B, H~yes

s the fir t Sunday School uperintend nt and per red until nis death in 1996.He _ s succeeded by John D niel ho also served until he died in 1901.Gaston Bro n then served until ne ras strick n ith p r"lysis in the church in 190?He li )n y ;> short time Bfter" rd.John A. Sasnett SA sU>"lerintpn nt 'fro:n 1902 to 1907. • d1"vis,! rs. James ". Boyer, J mes

P. Soyer loy 1 men nd women have served f ithfully in this caracity.ln thoRe dAvR,the church AS blesQed ith 1 rge ~unday School nd ita inf uence as felt for m~ny ye ra. ar­ents brou~ht their children to und y School ~ then bec~upe they ere ise enou..:.h to c.;ppreci te the v 1ue 0 re ' .iOUR tT~ining to the chi d's life. .

t' one time, the c~urch observed chi14reh'~ d y one Su daY e C11 ye~r hen "ley ere exoecteci to present a ro rrl:1m of readingB,song~ and verses of ~cr pture. This cu~tom ~ ~

iAcontinued many years go.Ze~llon oes not h ve ~un y . crool rt tnis time. hen the rural eeculflT qcnoo ('! Ere con­A lidnted ith the to n system,the tren~ eehe to be to to to n for everything. to n un y School of Ano her' non­inA t i a , , t b R tot 1'1 e rur "1 c a munit i e~ tot ke the chi1 "ren into their church.Thi e the be~innirg of the en of Zebulon :-'undAy "'chool f sit h~F bef'n imnoe c:i":lle- to keep a un ay chool in operation lon~at time 8ince then. TheRe

oU8eR re not operated no • Tne clurch iR feeling tois 10RS wore each ye .r.

Until recent yearp, ",'U~rterly Conference as held '1 e different church e·ch tine. The Dirtrict ~unerinten' bt preached t eleven o'clock an tne nostess church Ber~ • basket lunch folIo ing the morning service. Conference Was held in the ~fternoon.The p ople enjoyed this opportunity of Chriati n fel10 A~ip D representatives of all tne churcheR ')n the char e . ttended theSe conference"'.

,om n' ~ociety Jf Chri~tinn Service haA bpen orp~n­ized in our church several times but,after functioning nice­ly for a fe ye' re,inv riab1y s diBcontinued becauA of 1.ck of intere~t on the art of the members. The officerR ere fRith­ful and mode every ef ort pOP-Aible to keen it one'r t.ing.

For m~ny years ,Preyer eet ingR pre nE;ld r e ~ul' l'ly i th­f'r TueF:dny or un1sy evening-Po and meant much tot he church.

pa e 3.

Zebulon a mn the 01 H ncock Circuit until it s ls­c ont lnue • In 1923, it Po place ·01'\ the Devereux Ch r e. h.e p r-tors of this church have' truly been ll olcHerEl of the CroRs" They were zealouR,con ecrated men ho did the best they could. They n8ver com lained even hen they receive 8uch small s

rieEl th t it as pften difficult for them to sunnort their large f··milies.

The community has received many blessings as the result of the annual revivals. Numerous visiting mini ters ht=lve lab­ored untiringly ith the p~otors on these occ ::lions And their

'-lnfluence s felt for yearp..Theirs s truly 1 bor of love-and the people of the community ere bles::lE'd by having had their lives touched by tnese good men.

To tne consecrated men ho have serve the church an Dist­rict Superintendents end paRtors,Zebulon Church members 0 e an enormous debt of love nd preci tion, your He venly F th­1

er rew~rd them richly for th~1r m ny s crifices and years of fuithful service.

Lay Go rrp,nt to the memberp of Zebulon Church revival of church loyalty nd help the faithful fe ho are endeavor­ing to keen the p~rk of life glo i~g in the 014 church,to h ve the isdom and Aoiritual vision to follo in the train of their predecessors ith un aunted spirits.

Follo~in£ re the nAmes of the District Su erintendents nd fit ore of Zebulon Church from 1871- 95·2:

!ame of District Supt. fame of estor YeRrf> I"'erv L

"

Rev.··C leo( • Key Rev.E.G. urrah & .,ev.9. H. Sannet 1871 11 II II II " Felix P. Bro,;"n- II 'i'.F. Pierce U';72

It II II II II II" II J.~. Pervis lS73 II "II II II "" II ~. Ne ell 1874" II 91 .....:arm II JR.mes L. Pierce-" II II 197~

It• •II 1II II II "" 11 II II 1876" II II tI "" II II _ G.H. Prtillo 1'677II

u ~homa~ F. pierce G. i. prti 10- "G•• Kendrick'" lS7S II II II" " /I I' II lS79

" " " IIIt II tI It II G. Kendrick-" J. • King 13$ II H.H. P'rks " II II I! lLP.R• .'-iller 1981 D It II " II 11 II II _ It Fe1i x P. Bron ISS2 II If II It I! ..... eorge nner-I! Fr n 8. Hudson 1853 II J.E. Ev ns :F. II II " II _ m.!3. rnold 1,,(;4It'

It II II .1 -RAV. lng I Felix P. Brown- II " II 1865 " JesRe Boring J. i.. King 1 g56 II ·.P. Lovejoy • LamBkin IS57 -1 ~8 II I! If II p. • L. Timmons 10'9 -1~90 II J. n. Baxter J.:.G.~adkine-Rev.J.~. Russell 1891 It \\.' • vardsworth J. G. orley - "J .R. Le is lS92 Ii

G. N. Ya.rborough C. S. Owen 1£,9­II" II It

I J. L. oon 189 II J. F. i:xon II rt. Farris 1895-lc95 II J •• Kin' It .illiam Dunb'r 1599- 9 1

IIII " II II Elias H. 'load l0f)('.' '. l1~bin It .: II "j1 " ... ' 10 - 1 fl4')1

• • ft: • •• . ' , ... ... :>-.... ylit .. III . ',+­

• I' oJ• ·J~R. L. ~alJpington 1905-191)6 II J. • Heidt II II It" II 19f)7-1~ ng II 3. ii". Frazier II A: D. Echolls 1,,09-1010 II " " " II J.A. Be ell-Rev. A.J. Hutchinson' 1911 r t.T• • Ekes II C. A Norton 1012 ?ev• .'. F. rirmby II II " II -" J. F. v'Jun j;! 1 13

Pa e 4. , /0

i role of DiRt. eVe • F. H<>mby II " II /I

II 'fl. Irvine• " II " It

" " " " II " " " f J. ~illi n•

" II " J. -. Ellie..t.

" " II

llrt. N me of P r,tor eVe .' . G ineR-Rev. II ills•II L• cott•" A. E. SilveyII ~T Hamrick.. •II J. R. Le is " Je8Ae C"r iok " L. or n•II C. V. .eathers II J. S. 111

J. F. Youn Ye r rv Ii

Ie' 19 -16 1917 19l5 19 Q

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H. H. L. •II II

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T. Hind•II I' .. G. H. Stone

~ 1: 2e;- 31 1532-35 1936-3g15 "'9 19 0

" II " II J. Griffie'" 1 H­~. J ..... 0 c lbKilbhen II II " 1011.-:-4

" " " II " 1111 <fo. L. Kin II " II II

" " II .. " II II " II ~ D, Rudieill

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Jenkins, r. eelis- .ev.

Stokes T. • T ylor

19 5- 6 19 1)7 1°''''

'"10 ",-50, 1951 1952.

7/ Foreword.

To Mrs. .• • Davis, James P. Boyer, i s Bl nohe Boyer and ". B. Dickens , e are indebted for the material that appe rs in this article.

Other sources of information are:Zebulon Church records as Stephen pe rson and his descendants have pre~erved them and record~ of dee B in the H ncock County Clerk's Office.

This 1s by no mean history of Zebulon Chu~ch.lt can only set forth fe facts concerning tne chu~ch, mo~t of them i~ce

1~7l.However, the good that men nd omen do live after them and we feel sure that this is true in our community.

Some of the information in from the nerson 1 observations of the riter made during her own life s member of the church.

trs. George L. Bro n-rlistori n.

Dedication.

If such brief record of Zebulon Churah 1s worthy of dedica­ion, this 1s ffectionately dedicated to the memory of my gr nd­f ther,Stephen E. Pearson who as one of the organi~ers of the present church and served faithfully a~ n ctive steward for 32 years; and to my mother, rs. JRmes • Boyer, ho labored in

. the service of the church for year .·~nd miniFteTPd to the Ruf­fering or neery of the community ree rdle~s of their co or.