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Methodist Church Started First Sunday , Aided Other Churches
Col Cobb
Invited All In
By word handed down and
through information from early
sources, it has been learned that
ve ry soon after 1826 when Fran
cis Asbury held the first Method
ist Conference in Georgia, at
Sparta, a Methodist Circuit rider
was appointed to this section to
begin work.
An article in an early Houston
County paper indicates that in I
about 1827 the first Methodist I
Church was built in Perry on the I
site of the cemetery today, and |
followed the custom of using the I
grounds around the Church as a j
burying ground. The first pastor |
is said to have been James How- I
ard who came down from Macon |
and served the Church. An early I
preacher from this county was 1
William Dunwoody, lovingly call- I
ed “Uncle Dunwoody.”
The early record of the Perry I
Baptist Church tells it was or- I
ganized in the Methodist Church, I
and used that building for wor- I
ship until a Baptist Church was |
built. Sometime prior to 1848, |
possibly about 1844, the second «
Methodist Church built on
half of the present square, and
facing toward Washington St.
The Presbyterian Church his
tory records that it was constitut
ed in this Methodist Church in
1848 and used the sanctuary for
its services for some time. This
sturcture was used until 1860
when additional laid was purch
ased from John M. Giles to make
the square as it is today.
Building Begun in 1860
The present beautiful Colonial
type building has an interesting
history. It was begun in 1860, but
not quite completed when the
boys were called to the front in
1861. The Trustees in 1860 were;
Rufus Felder, Lewis M. Houser,
James L. Turrentine, and John
L. Birch. The architect was a
northern gentleman, D. P. Flan
dreau of Chester, New York, who
had come to this section. He be
came so attached to this com
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To Houston County and Perry
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1010 Ball St. . Phone 286 Perry, Ga.
' 1
:•■. . : s
PERRY METHODIST CHURCH as it looks today, Front view.
munity that he made his home
here, and in the struggle of the
Sixties, he joined the Southern
Rights’ Guard when they were
called to the front. He gave to
this Church his best in training
and efficiency. This building has
been said to be a very perfect
specimen of Colonial architect
ure. It is greatly beloved by the
people of this section.
Stories of the celebration of
certain anniversaries of the or
ganization and early leaders of
the Sunday School establish its
beginning as in the year 1838, un
der the leadership of Col. Howell
Cobb whose home was about two
miles northwest of Perry. In line
of succession as superintendents
we find Col. Cobb’s daughter,
Mary, who had become the wife
of Dr. P. B. D. H. Culler, holding
the place during the War period,
I and saving the very lovely toned
' church bell by having her serv
! ants bury it on her father’s plan
tation.
Remodeled in 1906
In 1906 and 1907 under the
J personal leadership of T. E. Dav
enport and J. W. Arnold, the
Church built in Sixty and Sixty
one had its first remodeling.
About $4,000 was spent on it.
The architect was P. E. Dennis of
Macon, and the contractor was
S. P. Houser of Perry. The
Church was lowered three feet,
the front porch and columns were
added, a number of Sunday
School rooms arranged in the
rear of the auditorium, and at
tractive windows were placed.
The ladies of the Church install
ed circular pews. In the 1920’s
with deep regret for the three
feet that had been taken from the
basement, department rooms for
the elementary grades of the
Sunday School were arranged,
and the Children’s Division of
the Church School taken care of
in the old basement.
In 1932, a new improvement in
the Church plant was made by i
the addition of a building for,
Sunday School rooms with equip-*
ment for kitchen, dining room, |
recreation, etc. This addition was
made during the pastoral leader
ship of Herbert Etheridge. The
expense was kept at a minimum
as it was in a period of depres
sion with conditions growing |
worse in place of better. Almost'
$2,400 was expended. The Church ■
School had been completely de
partmentalized with General Of
ficers. Department Officers and
Class Officers and a strong Work
ers Council. The attendance first
reached 200 in September, 1932. j
Pastor’s Listed
For many years, Perry was,
part of a regular circuit with oth- I
er churches in the County. About ,
1900, Perry and Andrew Chapel at 1
Houston Lake came together for !
several years. Since 1922, PerryS
has been a station and pastors I
have been: W. K. Dennis, ,T. E.
Barnhill, T. J. Christian, Herbert
Etheridge, W. F. Smith, W. P,
Blevins, L. Gray, P. Muse, Roy
Gardiner, J. E. Sampley, J. B.
Smith and H. H. Heisler.
Houston County has always
furnished her share of leaders
for l.he various vocations of life,
and in the realm of religion, she
is not behind. Into the Methodist
ministry from this County have
gone John B. and Howard McGe
hee, John W. Domingoes, Tom
Sistrunk, Jim Foster, Charlie
Clark, Dan Bateman, Robert
Hicks and Bill Whipple, a minis
terial student in 1950. Into mis
sionary service from this County
have gone Mary Culler White,
Bessie Houser Nunn, Nell Cater
Rogers, Clara Howard, Pearl Ed
wards and Margery Short.
The old must give place to the
new, and now, in 1951, a larger,
more adequate, more beautiful
Education Building is being dedi
cated for service. The Church
School still grows with larger
teaching force, better equipment
and with a high of attendance at
375. Marion L. Brown is General
Superintendent. This beautiful
building has been planned and
built under the pastoral leader
ship of J. B. Smith and H. H.
Heisler. The Building Committee
was as follows: Mayo Davis,
Chairman, W. V. Tuggle, Geo. C.
Nunn, Floyd Tabor, A. G. Hen
drick, G. F. Nunn, Edward Mason, (
E. P. Staples, Paschal Muse, C. E.
Andrew, S. A. Nunn, J. C. Mat
thews, W. W. Gray and T. C.
Rogers.
Picnic Grounds
At “Factory”
Still Humming
Thousands of Houston coun
tians associate picnicking, swim
ming and other recreation with
Houston Lake or Houston Fac
tory, so named because many
years ago it Was the site of a
major cotton mill and grist mill.
The largest body of water in
the county, Houston Lake has
long been the scene of outings
ranged from the big an
nual Sunday School picnics of
yester-year to the family parties
which still use the covered picnic
tables.
The Davis family former
County Commissioner J. Alva
Davis, his father before him and
his son, Jerry, after him op
erated all of the lake’s facilities
for many years, but more recent
ly have leased these concessions.
Goodmans Now Operators
Dave and Art Goodman of At
lanta are currently operating
these facilities which include, be
sides swimming and boating, a
bowling alley, dance floor, shoot
ing gallery and other attractions.
Large crowds from Perry,
Warner Robins, Macon and cities
much farther away have been en
joying these recreation activities
this spring and sumpner season
as they have for many years.
The Davis family still operates
an ice plant which has long made
use of the cool, clear water that j
is available from springs and!
spillways from the big lake.
Clean, comfortable and happy 1
cows produce more milk.
I
REV. H. H, lIEISLER
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IN THIS COMMUNITY!!!
....
jfhere must be reasons;
here they are
Talk about power . . . ask for a demonstration
\wj on your own farm—see how the Ford Tractor
handles a 12" or 14" two-bottom plow. This power
* S ava ‘.^ a^ e rou B* l a four-speed forward
ECONOMY
Weight and traction are added to the Ford
'aaiMßl. need for excess built-in weight in the tractor
itself. This saves you money on both light and
LONG LIFE
i?ti Treat the Ford Tractor right and it will “stay
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. EASY HANDLING
s’ S
ESKnPx JR Automotive type steering and duo-servo brakes
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CONVENIENT
The Ford Tractor is a convenient tractor to
\ mßm ' jtff . * service and overhaul. Parts are reasonable.
WyT9 JM CL What’s more, our mechanics are specially .
ZrJw \4y# trained to work on Ford Tractors.
Qn j yo U ’U buy it,f *li
YOUR HEADQUARTERS I
FOR FORD TRACTORS AND PR|| DEMONSTRATION
. tARBORN FARM EQUIPMENT
Davis Whse. & Tractor Co.
HARRIS RAPE, Mgr.
Phone 266 Perry, Ga.
|
Early Business
And Industry
Flourished
As suppliers and financers of
Houston county’s plantations and
farms, business in Perry flourish
ed from the start in the 1830 s.
Some of the early merchants in
Perry were M. B. Thompson &
Son, E. L. Felder, T. J. Cater,
F. S. Cater, C. F. Cooper, William
Brunson, Arthur Watson, George
W. Killen, W. A. Hobson, William
Kufferman and Batemaa & Fel
ton.
Solomon Henderson was a lead
ing merchant at Henderson for
more than 50 years. B. C. Ken
drick had a mercantile business |
there for many years and later
J. W. Hodge was a prominent
HOME JOURNAL, PERRY, GA., THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1951
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merchant.
In the upper part of the county,
at a place once called Bushyville,
D, F. Gunn operated a general
store in addition to large planting
interests. On the road from Hous
ton Factory to Macon was Josiah
Bass and Mitchell Etheridge, at
what is now Centerville; and
at Powersville, Reubin English.
At Hayneville merchants have
included Isaac Moreland, Thomas
Oglesby, and Joe C. Ellis. At
Houston Factory, store owners
have been Joseph Tooke, E. L.
Dennard and later Jerry Davis.
In the Fort Valley area there
were Gray Brothers, C. G. & J.
(Monroe, A. W. Murray, B. F.
Avera, W. M. Kersh, J. T. Gantt,
S. B. Brown, A. B. Greene, Geo.
P. Greene, W. A. Wiggins, Dom
i inich Burns, A. J. Long, John A.
Houser, Duke Brothers, Sommer
Brothers and Albert Evans.