Ebenezer, Near Montevallo:

A History with Reminiscences and

Reflections of a Former Pastor

By

William C. Davis

A good starting place for a history of Ebenezer United Methodist Church is the name. Anyone familiar with Alabama Methodism will suspect that it relates to Ebenezer Hearn. That is correct. It is well documented, the First Methodist Church planted in central Alabama was south of Montevallo, but early on it was moved five miles north. After a year or two, the site was known as Ebenezer Camp Ground. A church developed there and took the name Ebenezer. The church has survived to this day (5-24-2007). Ebenezer United Methodist Church qualifies to be recognized as a Landmark in the State of Alabama.

In The Heritage of America Methodism, William L McDonald put it succinctly: "Ebenezer Hearn is sometimes referred to as "Father of Methodism in Alabama". It was this veteran of the War of 1812 who, as a circuit rider, crossed the Tennessee River in April, 1818 with a mission to organize churches in the former lands of the Creek Nation. After spending the first night in an Indian trader's cabin, he arrived the next day at Bear Meat Cabin, near what is now Blountsville. From here Hearn began a journey that would open up Tuscaloosa, Centerville, Jones Valley, and Ashville: These areas would become the heartland of the North Alabama Conference. (p. 177)

Here in his study in Montevallo, Dr. M. E. Lazenby penned the following defining statement about Hearn: "When the story of Methodism in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee is completely written, Hearn's name will be found on many pages as a surveyor, an organizer, a builder of churches. He perhaps knew little of architecture, but he knew how to take an ax, a hammer and saw and go out into the forests and with the help of consecrated laymen, build a place wherein the people could sing praises to the Great I Am, and study the word of the Lord". (p. 79)

First Church Tuscaloosa was founded by Ebenezer Hearn. For the Celebration of Founder's Day in 1961, Dr. James B. Sellers wrote a brief biography of Hearn. Sellers was a professional historian. For many years he taught history at Athens College: the last half of his career he taught at the University of Alabama. In the Founder's Day booklet Dr. Sellers declares: "It would be difficult indeed, to find among the array of Pioneer Ministers, a perseverance more dogged in the face of abounding difficulties than that of Ebenezer Hearn. He met and overcame the adversities of the frontier- fatigue, winding trails of the wilderness, fordless

creeks and rivers, Indians, disappointment and even disaster did not swerve him from his purpose. To him more than to anyone else of his time, the Methodist could attribute their hold upon a large part of Alabama. Other ministers of his generation there were in plenty, and their services were most considerable. But in courage and persistence, as well as in the scope of his achievement, Ebenezer Heam towered above them all".(p18)

This is the man the folks around Wilson's Hill were paying tribute to when they called the place "Ebenezer's Camp Ground". It is important to remember in the Methodist way of doing things - behind every preacher sent out there is a Bishop and a Presiding Elder (District Superintendent). In this case the Bishop was Francis Asbury, who spared himself no danger, hardship or sacrifice to advance the Cause of Christ. Asbury moved Thomas L. Douglas from a comfortable, well established work in Virginia to the wilderness of Tennessee. Douglas was Ream's P.E. He sent him first to the Duck River Circuit for the year of 1817. The next year he moved Ebenezer to the Flint River Circuit that ran from about McMinnville, Tennessee, down to Madison County, Alabama, as far south as the Tennessee River. Before three months had passed, Douglas removed Ebenezer and sent him south beyond the Tennessee River to explore the territory recently vacated by the Creeks. He was to explore, survey and start societies among white settlers who were rushing into the newly opened area. West says.. "before 1817 in that territory there were no whites to preach to". Presiding Elder Douglas, knew that Ebenezer, like Andrew Jackson and David Crockett, had been in that part of the world before. (A-1 :)

On April 4, 1818, starting at Ditto's Landing, Ebenezer headed due south. On his first night he found lodging with an Indian trader (this must have been on Brindlee Mountain). Here he "offered his first sacrifice of prayer and praise in the wilderness". (West p.120) At daybreak the next morning he continued southward. Fifteen miles more brought him to the dwelling of Joseph H. Mead. Mead and his family were new from Virginia. Five miles more brought him to Bear Meat Cabin (near Blountsville). Here he found a number of settlers; some were Methodists, some were Baptists, others were Stonites. This was where Hearn preached his first sermon", "in the unorganized field" and here he agreed on an appointment for the next month. Bear Meat Cabin would be a regular appointment and preaching place of the mission. (A-2, painting by Dan Round tree, 1984)

From Bear Meat Cabin, Hearn advanced to Jones' Valley (Birmingham). He found a small settlement there. Rev. David Owens received him warmly. Owens' dwelling became "a house of worship and a preaching place". Hearn deposited a few personal belongings and agreed to return soon. Owens' place became a "preacher's home" for Ebenezer. He used this as a pivotal location as he formed a circuit. Early Methodism in Jones Valley grew up among families like Owens, Prudes, Saddlers and the McAdorys-all related by blood or marriage.

From Jones Valley, Ebenezer continued southward via Roupes Valley, Hill's Settlement and on to the Falls of the Cahaba River (now Centreville). He turned back in the direction of the northeast. On Sunday he attended a "love feast and sacramental service" at the residence of Obed Lovelady (Obediah) near Wilson's Hill (Montevallo).

In the Wilson's Hill settlement, Hearn found four Methodist local preachers- the Rev. Joseph D. Lee, the Rev. Drury Powell, the Rev. Joseph Walker, and the Rev. Joshua West, M. D. Lee, Powell and Walker were

from Georgia, and West was from Tennessee. Ebenezer recorded in his journal: "Here I organized the first Society I formed on my mission, and here I had my first quarterly meeting". (West p. 121)

This was his first sure success. Of all the places where Ream organized Societies, he might well have looked more fondly on his accomplishment at Wilson's Hill(Montevallo ). Several Factors converged to contribute to the successful results. (1) He doubtless found a kindred spirit in Jesse Wilson, the natural leader of the settlement that took his name. Like Ream, Wilson was a veteran of the War of 1812 against the Creeks. Ebenezer, Jesse Wilson, David Crockett and Andrew J ackson had battled their way through Alabama and back again. They had a lot in common. It is likely the two could have found they were cousins. Ebenezer's Grandmother was a Wilson. (2) Surely a big factor that made for success was the four preachers who were there when Hearn arrived. (3) More important than anyone can measure is the fact that there he found a young woman who would become his wife, Mary Walker, a daughter of one of the preachers. A society that would continue and become a strong center of Methodism was planted. The Society at Wilson's Hill started a Camp Meeting that found a permanent location five miles north. The name Ebenezer was perpetuated in the church at the same site which has been in continuous service for over 180 years.

The Camp Meeting was an important instrument (model) in the outreach and spread of Christianity on the American frontier. Growing out of the Great Revival in Kentucky and Tennessee, the format and practices of the Camp Meeting were replicated all over the Southland. The preachers and the people at Wilson's Hill were borrowing a proven instrument and method of outreach when they instituted Ebenezer Camp Ground.(A-3): The Methodist Camp Meeting)

Remembering More Recent Times

Fast forward from ca. 1820 to 1944 (124 years). In the fall of 1944, I was a student at Birmingham-Southern College, committed to becoming an ordained minister. I was appointed Pastor of the Aldrich Circuit. Ebenezer was one of the three churches. Aldrich was a mining village (where the mines were closed) about three miles west of Montevallo, Sessions Chapel was five miles southeast (toward Calera). As we said in those days Ebenezer was "half-time". The other two were "quarter-time". That is, the preacher was at two of the churches one Sunday a month, and two Sundays at Ebenezer.

The appointment was my first; an eighteen year old student with little preparation for being a Pastor. You can imagine how ill prepared and what the people were accepting when I was sent as their Pastor. There were some qualifying experiences. I grew up in a loyal Methodist family. We went to Sunday school and Church every Sunday. The example of our Pastors had provided some role-modeling. One year of college in Emory at Oxford, Ga., was an exceptional advantage. We had daily Chapel services and worship and S.S. at the town Church on Sunday. One course in Bible 101 under Dr. William R. Cannon (who became Bishop Cannon) was a real plus. The summer between my freshman and sophomore year, I was a Youth Caravaner for eight weeks. Just before entering B.S.C. I was licensed to preach by the Tuscaloosa District (Dr. W. Nelson Guthrie, D.S.). Dr. Guthrie asked me on the same day if I would be available to "take a work". It would be a big help to him, he told me, and stated that he could put me on a charge near enough to Birmingham that the distance would not be a problem. World War II was going on at that time. Gas and tires were rationed; so were sugar, coffee and a lot of things. To be sure my memory would not exaggerate; I read some of my old letters to my Mother. This is quoting, and you will get a picture of the situation. I had been on the circuit since October, Christmas was approaching. I wrote to Mother; "You have asked me (in her letters) several times what I want for Christmas. I really don't know of anything I want. What I need is not available. I need a typewriter and a car."

This is not a "poor me story". Really, I thought of myself as well-off. It did not occur to me that I was at any disadvantage when I agreed to take an appointment. Youthful arrogance perhaps, but it did not register on me that being a Pastor and student at the same time was going to be too much. Others did it. So far as I knew the people did not complain, - "how can he serve our church without a car?" It was a time when people made do with what they had and did without if they had to. I had three means of transportation - train, bus, and thumb. If I could stay ahead of the bus and/or the train, getting to and from was free. For two years as a B.S.C. student and Supply Pastor in Shelby County, I traveled with very little expense.

Something I remember helps me realize how little I knew about Early American Church History. One Sunday after church the Pitts, an older couple, invited me to go home with them for dinner. They were renters; lived in an old farm house near Ebenezer church. We walked to their place together (they didn't have a car). Mrs. Pitts put a fine spread on the table and called us "Come, dinner is ready". It was a warm day. The doors and windows were open-no screens. As we were enjoying our meal, a big red Pullet flew up and landed on the window seal. On impulse, I almost jumped, up to shoo the chicken away. Manners restrained me. The host would do that. Neither Mr. or Mrs. Moved - until the chicken hopped on the table.

That I remember, but what is more important and relates to Ebenezer history - After we finished eating, Mr. Pitts invited me to walk outside with him. As we strolled in the yard and chatted, he said, "You know" and waved his hand around in the direction of the church "all of this area in here used to be a Camp Ground." I had no idea what he was talking about. I know now. During the 60 plus years since then I have learned in school and study how important the Camp Meeting was to the spread of the Christian movement in this country and especially in the South. Mr .Pitts knew and he was telling me what he had learned by way of a fading oral history of our church at Ebenezer. I was there for two years, and to my recollection nobody else

ever mentioned it.

If I had been there with Dr. Joshua West and the others who started that Camp Ground, I would have agreed; this is where we should hold our Camp Meetings. This place was made for a Camp Ground. It's all there - a large flat, wooded area, a spring giving water for the people, and a running stream for watering the horses. (A -4: Methodist Camp Meetings)

I have not been able to figure out how long the annual Camp Meetings continued at that site. Ebenezer Church has marked the place. It's been a long time now since they had a Camp Meeting there, yet much of our heritage relates back to that era.

The annual summer Revival Meetings, Camps and Assemblies. I was not old enough to go to the Assemblies held every summer at Montevallo for years. They quit having them about the time I reached the right age. Children's and youth Camps were held at Cook Springs and other places before we had Camp Sumatanga.

Facts and figures that might be found in books and records are a resource for history, but memories convey a picture of what it was like at Ebenezer in other years. I remember the "Crusade for Christ." That was the title given to the church-wide program adopted by the General Conference of 1944. One goal was to raise $25,000,000 for reconstruction that would be needed after the war was over. The challenge trickled down to Ebenezer. The D.S. told me he had talked to a neighboring pastor about helping me meet our goal. Ebenezer was apportioned $100. Harold C. Martin at Suluria was a real neighbor. In his car, we went to the homes of members. We raised $90.00 the largest gift was $10.00, given by an elderly gentleman, MR. W. M. Burgin. I remember where he lived- "The American Village" is there now.

More Snapshots of Church and the Pastor

This comes from letters to mother. I wrote: "Sunday, I took with me to Ebenezer a new student from Tennessee, Dick Allison. He and I have become good pals. I let him preach for me at the night service. Dick got a kick out of carrying on with the girls. One thing he told them, "You don't really know your pastor; you should see him as a student on campus rather than your pastor at church." In another letter I wrote: "We are raising money to do some much needed repairs on the church. We have fixed the roof. Now we want to do some painting and wiring the church for lights. We hope to be ready when the power company runs lines down to the church."

Again I wrote home (This is the second year when the Charge has been upgraded to two churches. Aldrich and Sessions Chapel were put with another Circuit and now I had two half-time churches - Camp Branch and Ebenezer.) When the Sylacagua District was formed, the Charge was moved from the Tuscaloosa District and placed in the Sylacagua. I wrote: "I stayed over Monday so I could go with the youth to the Sub-District in Montevallo. I want to get the young people at Ebenezer involved.

The youth at Camp Branch are already into the Sub-District. I think the people at Camp Branch expect their Pastor to be active with the youth."

Once more (and this will be the last of the letters home ). "I could not find a ride into Birmingham Sunday night so I stayed over till morning. (At Ebenezer when necessary I would spend the night at the home of Anna and Nathan Frost. He worked at Conner Steel in Birmingham.) Before daylight Anna knocked on the door and said "Get up. You are going to have to catch the bus. Nathan has a migraine. He doesn't feel like going to work. "I was late getting home; had to miss my first two classes, after that I was on schedule for the rest of the day."

So I have shared some memories and reflections on Ebenezer, as it was 60 years ago. Many years before and years after are not reflected in this account. Some data submitted to the Alabama Historical Commission will expand the picture. The form was submitted in May of 1978. This is 30 years after I had moved on and it has been 30 more years since this data was compiled:

"The existing building, so the report states, was built in 1891. "What other building or buildings (1820-1891) were there since the tabernacle or brush-arbor is unknown. In 1977 the church was painted inside and out, carpet was added to the Sunday school rooms. The original benches were given to the Mt. Era UMC and replaced with new pews.

In 1978 Mrs. Anna Frost donated a steeple in memory of her husband, Nathan W. Frost. A kitchen was added. There is a Chimney on the south side of the sanctuary that once served a potbellied stove. The stove was removed and the chimney sealed in 1948. The church building consists of a sanctuary, two Sunday school rooms, a nursery, a kitchen, and a dining/fellowship room. "The condition of the building is excellent." Recent statistics indicate that the church has struggled to hold its own.

Year 2002: Membership-69

Average attendance at Sunday School-23

Average attendance at Worship-36

Evaluation of building fixtures-$230,000

Year 2006: Membership-55

Average attendance at Worship- 32

Property value and other assets-$265,000

Total expenditures-$39,701

The Small Membership Church

From the beginning to this day, Ebenezer has been a small membership church in a rural setting. I affim the small membership church in our Methodist Connection. I have been there and I know for myself. Much like it was when I was the Pastor, it has been for 180 years; precious to the people who were there and are there now. Ebenezer has been a faithful Christian presence where it was planted. It has been one more church helping to make a Circuit (Charge). Helping to provide a place of service and support for a Pastor. Sometimes this was a retired Supply, or a part-time lay pastor. Many times it was a student starting out (I was one of four-Charles Adams, Carl Tollison, Dennis Mays ahead of me - all B.S.C. students). My successor was a retired Supply (R.L. Dill Sr.). For a change, the churches deserved a Pastor with experience and maturity. (A-5: Ebenezer UMC)

Men and women who grew up there have moved to cities and towns and joined other churches. Some have become leaders for the church and society. Many who I do not know, but some I can name. Arthur H. Nabors for one, became a minister. People told me about him when I was there. They could point out for me the farm where he grew up.

Joseph S. Eddins was another. He was from the community. Until the merger of 1939, he was prominent in the Methodist Protestant Church. After the merger he was a leader in the North Alabama Conference. In 1948, both Eddins and Nabors were in the delegation of the General and Jurisdictional Conferences.

One layman you may know - I knew him well. He may have excelled all of us in Christian service to society and to the Methodist Church. Remember the Mr. Burgin who gave the largest gift for the "Crusade for Christ"? He and Mrs. Burgin gave to the world a son who belongs in the Methodist Hall of Fame (if we had such). Thirty years passed after I was Pastor at Ebenezer before I met T.M. (Marshall) Burgin. When he came home at the end of World War II, he began a "House Wrecking" business. He prospered; his business

grew. The name was changed to "T. M. Burgin Demolition Company - The South's Largest" (his sign stated). Marshall was a prosperous business man, a dedicated Christian and a committed churchman. In his lifetime he was a member of three different churches, Ebenezer, Bluff Park, and died a member of Vestavia Hills.

To the credit of Ebenezer, I want this to go on record. When Marshall and his wife, Virginia moved to Birmingham, they joined Bluff Park. In time they built their home on Shades Crest Road - just under the Vestavia Temple. As their children came along and the area was growing, they longed for a church nearer their home. Marshall in his own mind had the property picked out, where the church should be located. He talked to friends and neighbors about his dream. He talked with his Pastor at Bluff Park and the District

Superintendent. All agreed that would be great. One afternoon when Marshall came home from work, as he drove by that land, he noticed signs "For Sale". Immediately, he got on the phone to Huey Hudson, his Pastor. "Bro. Hudson, that property I have told you about - where we should build a new church is going to get sold! What can we do?" Hudson advised him; "Go tonight and talk to the realtor (Charles Byrd) tell him you want to put a hold on that land. Pay him earnest money. Whatever he has to have. And tomorrow go tell the D.S. what you have done." Marshall acted promptly as the Pastor advised. When he talked with Dr. Henry Chitwood (the D.S.) the following morning, Marshall was direct. He told the D.S. in so many words, "Dr. Chitwood, we are going to have a church in Vestavia." If the Conference is not going to help us we will do it on our own. We want a Methodist Church. But if not, we will have a church of some kind!"

That caused the D.S. to get moving. B.S.C. student (Tom Ogletree) was made an assistant Pastor at Bluff Park for the specific mission to "Start an outpost S.S. in Vestavia. "The S.S. boomed. On Easter, April 15, 1953 a worship service was held at the site Marshall Burgin secured. Dr. Chitwood was the preacher that morning. The Demolition Company provided a flatbed truck for a platform. The invitation for membership was extended. Thirty-five people responded. Now 114 people were committed. A new methodist Church was chartered! (A-6: Vestavia Hills UMC)

For 180+ years Ebenezer, Marshall Burgin's home church, has been in a sparsely populated setting. But in recent years a whole new situation has developed. Shelby County is the fastest growing area in Alabama. You drive up Hwy .119- five miles north of Montevallo, look to your right. In the distance you will see a white church, it's steeple pointing to the sky. Out in front of it are acres upon acres of freshly scraped ground in preparation for new homes. Ebenezer is sitting in a population explosion.

New occasions teach new duties. Oh, Ebenezer Hearn where are you now? Is there among our contemporary leaders a presiding Elder (a D.S.) like Thomas L. Douglas? A church organizer, builder, and Pastor like Ebenezer Hearn? (A- 7)

The question is open-ended...