Georgia:  Elbert County:   Concord United Methodist Church

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This file was contributed by:
Chandler Eavenson
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00030.html#0007294

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Church Records

Concord United Methodist Church

The following data is from a History of the church which
was prepared and distributed by the church. 

Concord Church was established in 1836. The first worship
service was held under a "Bruch Arbor". The first real 
structure was a log cabin 24 by 36 foot which was built in
1837. The cabin held log benches on a dirt floor with a huge
tree trunk for a pulpit stand. Elijah B. Norman and his wife
Jane Higginbotham Norman gave four acres of land for the 
church to be built on. Mrs. Norman is credited with starting
the first Sunday School in the community. She held it in her
home and didn't let the lack of literature discourage her. 
She used the Bible and the 'blue back speller'. After the 
white children went home she invited slaves in for Bible
reading, prayer and songs. 

A few years later a more formal Sunday school was 
established under the direction of Sarah Thornton Eavenson
because, one Sunday some boys went home with a string of fish.
Now fishing on Sunday was unheard of, so she chided her son 
who excused himself saying, "Why, Mama, we weren't fishing,
we were just wading in the creek, muddying up the water, and
when the fish came to the top for air, we just caught them."
His mother decided that this school she had heard about being
held on Sundays for the Study of the Bible was the solution.
She inquired about it and had one organized there. 

The second meeting house of Concord was built in 1845, the 
lumber for it was sawed by water power that pulled a saw which
worked up and down. The building was erected by Sim Hall, a
contractor who used slave labor, hiring slaves trained as 
carpenters from their owners. This building served until 1894
when it was replaced with the present building. 

In 1924 an annex was added onto the back of the church to be
used as a church school building. In the 1940's the sanctuary
was remodeled. In 1954 the fellowship hall was added to the 
left side of the building. New pews, stained glass windows, 
carpet, pulpit furniture, alter, piano and organ were added
in the 1960's. A brick vestibule was added in 1972. Lowering
of the ceiling and adding new light fixtures was completed in
1975. 

Concord Church was for many years part of the Bowman charge 
and the pastor lived at the parsonage in Bowman. In 1965 
Concord members built a parsonage next to the church and 
became a fulltime station church. 

Concord Church has a rich background over the years, the
earliest records of members of Concord were destroyed by fire
but some of the earliest members we have records of are Ms.
Sula Pulliam, Tarrence Maxwell, T. Jesse Maxwell, Arthur L.
Adams, Earley Eavenson, William Q. Eavenson, Roxie Eavenson,
Jeptha Bond, Ms. Vesta Clarke, Lou M. Brown, Ben Eavenson, 
Pope Bond, Fannie Carter, Singleton A. Adams, Jr., Ms. Essie
Ray and Miss Laura Norman. She has sent out a number of 
preachers. The first recorded preacher to go out from Concord
was Rev. Park Smith, son of Rev. Burgess Smith. Rev. Smith 
was a prime mover and liberal contributor in the building and
the growth of Concord Church. He preached the first dedicatory
sermon in 1845 and was the first person buried in the large 
cemetery in back of the church. 

Other preachers that have gone out from Concord are Albert 
Maxwell, Harper Maxwell, Marvin Maxwell, John Maxwell, Harold
Maxwell and Richard Kellum. There may be others that we don't 
know of. Today, Concord is still meeting the needs of people 
in the community. 

Some of the early preachers were:
1870-1872 Rev. W. T. Norman
1872-1874 Rev. W. A. Farris
1874-1875 Rev. A. G. Worley
1875-1876 Rev. Daniel Kilsey
1876-1877 Rev. C. A. Mitchell
Rev. J. W. Quilliam, Jr.
1877-1879 Rev. W. A. Florence
1879-1883 Rev. W. T. Norman
1883-1884 Rev. W.M.D. Bond
1884-1886 Rev. H. Z. Glenn
1886-1888 Rev. R. P. Martin
1888-1889 Rev. M. W. Arnold
1889-1890 Rev. G. T. King
1890-1892 Rev. F. D. Cautrell
1893-1894 Rev. B. Sanders
1895-1896 Rev. J. H. Gibson
1896-1898 Rev. J. W. Quilliam
1900-1901 Rev. S. H. Dinnon
1902-1903 Rev. J. W. Gober
1903-1906 Rev. J. D. Milton
1907-1908 Rev. J. C. Atkinson
1908-1909 Rev. A. A. Sullivan
This list is available through 2004. 

[Submitter's notes: Sarah Smith Thornton (1824-1863) was
the daughter of John Thornton and Frances Adams. She married
on 1 Aug 1839 in Elbert Co. to George W. Eavenson (1817-1898).
Other early members of Concord were Sexta Eavenson Strickland
and her father John William Eavenson (1840-1935). The contractor
Sim Hall was Simeon Hall (1805-1859), son of William Hall and
Sarah Blake.]

Submitted by: Chandler Eavenson