History of Eden Methodist Chruch, LaSalle Parish, Louisiana
Contributed by Patti Greer
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This is a history of the Eden Methodist Church that was published in the Jena
Times in December of 1975.  The article was taken from a program that was
written by members of the Eden Methodist Church to add to their history
archives.

Eden United Methodist Church History
Eden Community, LaSalle Parish, La.


"In, the year 1788 the Eden Wesleyan Society met in the home of Mr. Wiggins
where Rev. Whatley and his wife and Mr. Gelvin organized and put into being
the Eden Methodist Episcopal Church."  Thus reads the earliest reference to
the founding of what the residents in the Eden Community, LaSalle Parish,
Louisiana believe to be the oldest Methodist Church west of the Mississippi
River below the Mason-Dixon line.

About the year 1730 a number of colonists came from England to Georgia under
the leadership of Gen. James Oglethorpe and settled near the city of Savannah. 
Among the passengers on the ship "Symmonds" were John Wesley, father of
Methodism and missionary to the Indians, and Phineas Whatley together with his
wife Amy Hobbs Whatley and other members of his family.  William Whatley, son
of Phineas and Amy, left Georgia about 1780, joining a group of persons
headed westward toward Texas.  One of those whom William Whatley joined in
Louisiana was Daniel Wiggins.  William Whatley may have spent some time in
North Carolina during this period as a religious leader.  He was married to
Elizabeth Wiggins, daughter of Daniel Wiggins, by Rev. Tobias Gibson of
Natchez in 1801.  Kilpatrick gives the date of William Whatley's arrival in
the Eden area as 1797 when he debarked from a steamer on Little River at a
point now known as the Arch Whatley place near the mouth of Trout Creek. 
William Whatley purchase land from a man named Mock in the Catahoula Parairie
(Prairie) Territory which he then sold to Isaih Slayton on May 19, 1804. 
Records also show that William Whatley bought land from Joel Lockett located
on Trout Creek on October 25, 1815.

L.H. Whatley writes in 1901 that the Eden Society was the first organized on
Louisiana soil in the house of Daniel Wiggins by Rev. Elisha Bowman, early
Methodist missionary to Louisiana, in 1806, and William Whatley was appointed
the first leader.


In the year of 1806 in the home of Daniel Wiggins, Elisha Bowman organized the
first Christian Society west of the Mississippi River, appointing William
Whatley... as first class leader who was afterwards licensed to preach.


It was in 1806 that Elisha Bowman established the original Methodist circuit
of Louisiana, the Attakapas.  The field had thus been surveyed, it was now
time to "form a circuit" which was done in the next year, 1807, by Bowman's
successor, rev. Thomas N. Lasley.  Lasley writes of establishing an
appointment in the home of Brother Wiggins in the "Catahoola" settlement, and
on his return trip of forming a class here.  The Attakapas Circuit thus laid
out was more than three hundred miles in circumference taking some three weeks
to travel.

Early members of the Eden Society included the families of Wiggins, Whatley,
Bowie, McCoy, Meyers, Turnley, Downs, Greer, and Gelvin.  The Eden community
attracted these and other early settlers because of its natural beauty.  As
the story goes, a wagon train with a large number of families and their
belongings was enroute from the East to Texas.  Stopping to rest on beautiful
Trout Creek near what is now Eden, they were so favorably impressed by the
place that they decided to end the journey to Texas and establish homes here. 
These pioneers brought with them deep religious convictions and soon joined
the Eden Wesleyan Society which for years met in the homes of its members. 
The activities of the entire community revolved around the Society and later
the Church.

The first meeting house for the Society, located on Haw Branch, was a rough
log cabin with clapboard roof, oak "punching" floor, split log pews, wooden
windows; but there were no kneeling pads, picture windows, or musical
instruments.  Light was furnished by coal oil lamps and bonfires.  This Church
building was first served by the circuit rider, Rev. Uriah Whatley (1802-1864)
who is buried in the Eden cemetery beside his wife, Jane Walker Whatley.

Some Years later the congregation decided to move near the public road leading
from Harrisonburg to Alexandria, and a new Church was build on Bay Branch.  A
short time later misfortune overtook the building, and it was destroyed by
fire.  To this day this branch is known as the Burnt Meeting House Branch,
located near White Rock, about ten miles south of Jena.

The next building was located on Raleigh's Branch, again near water, and was
known as the Aunt Ruth Riley Meeting House.  It was one mile from where the
present building now stands.  A mammoth White Oak tree still stands to mark
the place where Sunday Worship was conducted.

In the year 1850 the present building was erected some eight miles southwest
of Jena.  The new church was a frame building with stone pillars and
hand-drawn shingles.  Extensive remodeling of the Church was carried out about
1900.  While the structure has undergone repairs and some alterations, it
remains today essentially as it was in 1900.

The Eden Cemetery behind the church tells many tales from generations of
Whatleys, Wiggins, Gelvins, Grays, Volentines, Greers, Daytons, Toverys,
Turnleys, Rileys, Thomas' and many more.


 Quote taken from the Eden Church records, no longer extant.
L.H. Whatley memoir, dated October 4, 1901.
Abstract of letter, data written in 1910 by Rev. Sam H. Whatley.
Obituary of Virginia Whatley Bogan, N.O. Christian Advocate, 1953
L.H. Whatley, op.cit.
De Bow's Review of the Southern and Western States, vol.12, 1852.
Conveyance Record #1, p.1, LaSalle Parish Courthouse.
Conveyance Record #1, p.12, LaSalle Parish Courthouse.
L.H. Whatley, op.cit.
Abstract, op.cit.
Harper, Louisiana Methodism.
McTyeire, History of Methodism, p. 554.
Lou Halle memoir, granddaughter of Rev. Uriah Whatley.