ALPHARETTA FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
There was a Methodist organization in what is now Alpharetta, Georgia, before there was an Alpharetta. It was called New Prospect Campground. That statement and some of what follows is based upon information passed down by the word of mouth.
However, when we consider that the four gospels, recording the birth, life, teachings, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus was written from information passed down by word of mouth for about the same number of years that have transpired since the town of Alpharetta was founded, we should not discount these statements too much. Our great regret is that many interesting, and probably valuable facts are unattainable, no record of them having been preserved by the church. The knowledge of them died when our ancestors passed on.
The arbor of New Prospect Campground stood back of where Dr. J. L. Morris lived. The grounds and tent buildings covered what used to be the homes of M. E. Thompson, Charles Baader, Dr. J. L. Morris, John M. Martin and R. D. Manning, and extended back west almost to the W. H. Weatherford home. There was also a schoolhouse on the grounds. Methodists have always believed in education; and when they built a church in the early days, they would either build a schoolhouse or use the church building as one.
The date this campground was discontinued as a place of worship is buried in the dim mists of antiquity, but we have a record of the date of the present site the Alpharetta Methodist Church was acquired. This site was given to the church by Mr. Isham Teasley under deed dated April l, 1871, the consideration being “For and in consideration of the love and regard he has and bears to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South”. This deed is recorded in Book “C”, Page 157, in the office of the Clerk Superior of Fulton County, Old Milton Records, Atlanta, and is for one square acre of land.
The grantees to whom this deed was made: S. N. Haygood, R. W. Smith, B. F. Roberts, Isham Teasley, Wm. P. Brown, O. P. Skelton, E. J. Camp, J. M. Dodds, Hampton Smith, and their successor in trust.
The first pastor we have a record of having been sent to this church was in 1867. His name was J. R. Gaines, and the presiding elder was H. J. Adams. We were then in the Atlanta District, but were put into the Marietta District in 1869, then the Dahlonega District in 1870, then changed to the Gainesville District in 1874, then back to the Marietta District in 1901, where we stayed until 1941.
Of course, this church was on a charge during most of this time, with several country churches belonging; and in the early years we had preaching services on the First Sunday in each month, and at 11:00 o’clock on the Saturday before. We were then a half station for several years, and were made a full station in 1945.
There was a wooden building built on this site farther back than our oldest members can remember. It was a fine church for its day and was a credit to those who built it.
Probably the most prominent person to speak in our church was a young Chinese lady, Miss Eling Soong, a school mate of Mrs. Blanche Rucker Maddox at Wesleyan College. Miss Soong is a direct (76th) descendant of Confucius and married H. H. Kung. One of her sisters married Sun Yat Sen, the first president of the Chinese Republic. Her youngest sister married Chiang Kai Chek, who was a member of the Methodist Church. Miss Soong spent a week with Mrs. Maddox in1909 and gave a reading in our church.
The greatest revival was during the pastorate of Rev. E. M. Stanton in 1908, he doing his own preaching. About 100 people were added to the membership of the church during this revival.
In 1897, Mrs. E. C. Marks, the pastor’s wife, organized the Ladies Parsonage Aid, which was changed to Woman’s Home and Foreign Missionary Society in 1905 with a charter membership of eight. Out of this society what was first called the Business Women’s Circle was organized. After unification was completed the name was changed to the Wesleyan Service Guild.
The first Sunday School we have a record of was in 1859, and the only record we have of that is a banner which was used (as) our older members remember in what was called the “Sunday School Celebration.” This was held annually in August in the court house grove. It was interdenominational, and the Sunday Schools from anywhere in the surrounding territory participated. They would line up at the church in marching order in ranks of two and two with the banner of each school carried at its head, march to the grove, have addresses by prominent visiting speakers, then dinner on the grounds, then the schools would compete with two or three numbers each of songs and children’s speeches in the afternoon.
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Copyright 2007-2009 by Betty Turner