Wood County Churches I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. ***Author unknown. Red Hill United Methodist Church--Organized in 1852 under the leadership of John W. PERRY. The land to be used as a cemetery and for church purposes was donated by my great great grandparents, George W. and Elizabeth Ann (PARSONS) GANTZ along with George F. HOLLIDAY and wife, in September of 1863.First Baptist Church Of Parkersburg--Organized October 11 1817. First building was completed in 1839 and located on Ann St. First Pastor was Rev. James McABOY. St. Paul Lutheran Church--Organized by Germans who came to America and settled in the Red Hill area. First service held in 1884 at the "Conaway House" by Rev. Otto MEERWEIN. Land was donated by my great great grandparents, George and Elizabeth (AFFOLTER) BEORNE for a church to be built on. In September 1887, a church building was erected and dedicated at Red Hill. Bethel Baptist Church--Organized May 9 1847. First pastor was G.C. SEDWICH. Big Tygart Baptist Church--Organized March 30 1850 by Rev. Enoch RECTOR. Kanawha Baptist Church--Located on Rt 47 in Leachtown. Organized April 28 1868. First Pastor was Rev. B.F. BYRD. Charter members were B.H. BYRD, Livinia BYRD, James NICHOLES, Susan NICHOLAS, Delia CORNELL, M.A. ARMSTRONG, Permelia BIBBEE, Margaret BUCKNER, A.V. BYRD, March LEACH, J.C. BYRD, Agnes LOWE, Roda MULLEN, Eliza LOVING, and Nancy BUCKNER. Chesterville United Methodist Church--Mr. Henry PAGE deeded the land for the present building in 1872. This church was formerly called Valley Chapel. First pastor on record was Rev. Francis GUTHRIE. Perry Chapel--Formerly called First Church Of The United Brethren. Erection of the Church began in 1863. Organized in the home of George McHENRY. Pastor in 1863 was Rev. J.W. PERRY. Limestone Hill United Methodist Church--Located in Rockport. Organized in the early 1800`s. First Baptist Church Of Williamstown-- Formerly called Mt. Vernon Baptist Church. Organized in 1832. First Pastor was Enoch RECTOR. Zion Baptist Church-- Organized in 1866. First Pastor was Rev. J.W. CARTER St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church--The building was erected in 1851 on land that was bought in 1847 for $306.00. Hopewell Church Of Christ--Organized in 1874. Trustees were John W. WIGAL, William MARLOW, and Samuel DYE. Land was donated by John W. and wife Mary Jane (SHEETS) WIGAL. Mount Zion Church Of Christ--Located at Walker. Organized in the early 1880`s. Some members were the HENDERSHOTS, Bessie and Jessie WHITEHAIR, CARROLLS, John DEEM, WOODS, ROBINSONS and SPEARS. They met at the Rocky Knob schoolhouse. In 1905 Mt. Zion building was constructed. Those that helped build were Bob SANFORD, Adolphus WHITEHAIR, Cecil SHUTTS, Sylvester SPEARS, John DEEM, Absolum CARROLL, and George STOTLAR. First United Presbyterian Church Of Parkersburg--Organized on Feb. 24 1833. First Pastor was Rev. Fister HANKS. Bethel Presybyterian Church--Organized before 1845. Located at the mouth of Bull Creek. Some early members were INGRAHAM, BURKE, REED, PERKINS, SHARP, CORBITT, RALSTON, HUNTER and POLLACK. First United Presbyterian Church Of Waverly--Organized April 27 1845. Located at Rt 2 and Rt 31. Early members include the names McKINNEY, McTAGGART, DAVIS, POLLOCK, HUNTER, and CORBITT. Trinity Episcopal Church-- Founded in 1843. First rector was the Rev. Thomas SMITH who is buried beneath the church. Rockport United Methodist Church--In 1873 land was donated by Mrs. Stephen Carver for a new church. Some early families were STEPHENS, DEEM, CARVER, ROBERTS, TONCRAY, RUBLE, SHEETS, LYONS, CAPLINGER, FLORENCE, CARSON, TERRELL, REED, DUKE, and BROWN. Slate Methodist Church--Organized around 1854. Thomas P. and Mary BERRY deeded one acre of land for a church. First trustees were Washington BERRY, Jonathon EVANS, William DEEM, Haymond DEEM, and Thomas BERRY. Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church Of Williamstown--Organized before 1805. Commonly known as Burnt Hill because three churches on that site have burned. Murphytown Methodist Church--The church was completed in 1878 with P.J. KING as first minister. First song leader was J.G. WALKER. Lowdell United Methodist Church--On Sept. 15 1885, James M. and Sarah (LOW) SMITH donated the ground. The church was dedicated in 1886. Members inclufed the following families : WHITE, ANDERSON, BOWER, ALLEN, JACKMAN, LOW, BURDETT and BOSO. Lubech Methodist Episcopal Church--Organized in 1845 by Rev. CLARK. First recorded deed was in 1866. Trustees were at that time, John and Robert KINCHELOE, Benjamin ROBINSON, Benjamin EDELIN, Henry COOPER, Thomas MADDOX, and E.B. CHANCELLOR. The New England Baptist Church--Organized in 1851. First Pastor was Elder W.C. BARRETT. Clerk was Asa PEASE. Murphytown Baptist Church--Organized in 1869. First deed for church property recorded Feb 1869 from Henry FARSON to Francisco MURPHY. Charter members were the families of P.C. BARRETT, Robert GRANT, Francisco MURPHY, Charles DOLLMAN, John DOLLMAN, D.T.C. FARROW, Hattie FARROW, Elizabeth MURPHY, Ella GRANT, Jennie MURPHY GRANT, Ida MURPHY, Mary ROBINSON, Elizabeth WHARTON, J.A.GRANT, and W.W. ROBINSON Union Valley Church--Organized in Feb. 1876 by the people of Stillwell, Laurel Creek, Briscoe and Williamstown churches. Charter members were W.A.M. REED, A. CLARK, E.D. BOND, John McKIBBEN, Henry HULTZ, J.T. KINCHELOE, J.D. JOHNSON, V.B. UHL, Eleanor McKIBBEN, Lizzie HULTZ, V.E. BOND, M.P. HULTZ, Sarah JOHNSON, Anna JOHNSON, Hannah DUNHAM, Kitty JOHNSON, Mary JOHNSON, Thomas UHL, J. UHL, Margaret McDOUGAL, Elizabeth McKIBBEN and Marietta UHL. This list does not include every church in Wood Co. today. Only some of the early ones. If you can help make this list more complete, please drop me a line. kbarnett@netassoc.net ------------------------------------------------------------------- This file was submitted for use in the WVGenWeb project. It may not be sold or used in a commercial project. -------------------------------------------------------------------