Longstreet United Methodist Church: A History
Written by Jane Armstrong Newell
| Beginnings | Pastors |
| Church Building | |
| Schoolhouse | Cemetery |
| Longstreeters | Sunday School Teachers |
| Charge | Sources |
Longstreet United Methodist Church was organized c. 1810-11. The building, the oldest in Bleckley County, was built around 1812. It is located north of Cochran, off U.S. 2 on the Longstreet-Jeffersonville Road.
In 1804 the Creek Indians made a treaty with Benjamin Hawkins ceding the lands between the Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers to the whites. The treaty was signed at Washington in December 1804 and ratified in June 1806. Thus it can be said of Longstreet that the area was opened to the whites about 1806.
Pulaski County was laid out in 1808 with the Ocmulgee River as the western boundary. The Creeks still owned the lands across the river, and the early settlers probably traded with them.
In January 1809 the South Carolina Annual Conference, which included all of Georgia, created the "Oakmulgie Circuit." Within a month after Pulaski County was created, the Methodist Circuit Rider was preaching in the county. The services were held in the homes until churches were built.
By 1818 three Methodist churches had been established in Pulaski County, one at Hartford to serve the people of the southern end of the county; another located up the Milledgeville Road from Hartford in the corners of land lots 249, 261, and 262 of the 21st District; and Longstreet, located in the northern portion of the county.
As the state gained new lands, a land policy was adopted to, as Governor Troup said, "Plant men the faster on the soil." The lottery system divided the land into parcels of 202 1/2 acres, and these tracts were offered to the public in form of a lottery, in which each citizen had one chance, and the head of the family had two.
George Walker II settled in the northern portion of what is now Bleckley County, near Shellstone Creek.
Four of his five sons built homes on the three-and-one-half mile stretch called Longstreet. Longstreet was originally two words: "Long Street," but at some time was made into one word. The road followed an original Indian trail that became a federal stage and post road, connecting Milledgeville, the capital; and Hartford on the Ocmulgee.
Charles Walker, one of George Walker's sons, gave two acres of land for the Methodist Church, and a school, Longstreet Academy. One acre was on the east side of the road, and one acre on the west side. The church is located on the west side. Longstreet Academy served the youth of the area for many years.
When a new school was built at Evergreen, the Longstreet school was abandoned. The school was then used as a dwelling for some time. Older residents remember Bob Sanders' and Norman McGriff's families that lived in the schoolhouse. Some of the children attending the school in the late 1800s were Julian Southerland, Mary Southerland, Jessie Newman, Rodolph Mathis, Dora Mathis, Julia Killen, Celia Clark, Ruby Clark, Zollie Lawson, Luther Lawson, Johnny McNeel, Reba Jordan, Janie Meadows, Lucian Meadows, Frank Frazier, Lucinda Wade, Bessie Wade, Snell Coley, Mary Coley, "Shugie" Coley, Marion Lee, Rose Lee, James Armstrong, Edward Armstrong, Robert Armstrong, Stephen Armstrong, Clara Fann, Alma Fann, Isham Fann, and Bessie Spear. Carolyn Jordan was too young to attend the academy but would go with her sister, Reba.
Some of the teachers of this same era were Birdie Barksdale, Carrie Chambers, Willie Williams, and Minnie Young.
Others who taught there at an earlier day were the Rev. George R. McCall, W. C. Singleton, John Brantley, and Moses McCall.
When the school was abandoned, the land reverted to the church. In 1921 the land was sold and a piano for the church purchased with the proceeds.
The early history of the church is uncertain, but it is known that some of the Walkers married Methodists. Also the family of Charles Edward Taylor, who built the Beaton House where the Cranford House now stands, was Methodist and active in Longstreet.
John C. Dunham, who was reared by his grandmother, Mrs. Thomas Duhart Walker on Longstreet Road, was member of Longstreet. As a child, he played the violin in the church. This was during or about the years of the War Between the States. His granddaughter, Mattie Lee Baxley, now owns the violin.
In the early 1900s, some of the active Longstreeters were Mr. And Mrs. J. P. Wimberly, Sr. (Miss Belle and Mr. Jim), Lee Howard, the Hardy family, the Burch family, and the Spear family. Mrs. Belle Wimberly taught Sunday school, and Mr. Hardy was the Sunday School Superintendent.
Through the years most of the antebellum homes went up in flames, and families moved away. Only one of the original Walker homes is left. As a result, the church has had a difficult time. It has become inactive on several occasions but always manages to gather forces and members again and keep going. The last inactive periods was in the late 1920s as the present record beings in 192227, stating that the church was reorganized after a four-night meeting, conducted by T. F. Waller. Another notation recordds that a five-day meeting was held in August 1933.
Longstreet has been on the Oakmulgie Charge, the Empire Charge, the Mary Chapel Charge (including Centenary, Longstreet, and Mary Chapel, which was located near Westlake in Twiggs County), the Cochran Charge, the Friendship Charge, and is presently on the Cochran Charge.
A complete list of pastors is not available. Some remembered are W. C. Embry and J. N. Sarette. Since the reorganization in 1927, pastors have been: T. F. Waller (1927-28), A. C. McLendon (1928-29), T. O. Lambert (1929-33), G. Reid Smith (1933-36), W. M. Haywood (1936-38), A. W. Quillian (1939-42), J. I. Surnmerford (1943-46), M. Spivey (1959-61), Ted Griner (1961-65), Dewitt Shippey (1965-68), Emmett Davis (1968-69). The dates on the following are not certain but follow Emmett Davis in this order: Quay Cook, Woody Roberts, Charles Cravey, Mike Piazza, Danny Collins, and Paul Mosser. John McGowan pastored the church for a two-month interval between Danny Collins and Paul Mosser. In recent years the pastors were Dr. Clarence Knight, Dr. Rudolph Grantham, Dr. Bob Herrington, Leland Collins, Huie Holloway, Dr. Terry DeLoach, and the present Alwyne Hutchings.
Very few architectural changes have been made. As late as the 1890s, the pulpit was at the opposite end of the church with the pews facing the two doors. One can wee where a window was closed in on the front of the church.
In 1955 the church added Sunday school rooms which also serve as a social hall, wedding receptions, church suppers, etc. In 1974-75, a deep well, pump, and rest rooms were added. Years ago the wood heater was replaced with gas space heaters, and the flue removed. In 1995 central heat and air conditioning was installed.
In 1996 Charlie Mahaffee installed a wheelchair ramp, thus making the church accessible to the handicapped. This was part of Charlie's work toward his Eagle Scout Award.
The handcrafted pulpit and most of the pews are original. The pulpit is put together with pegs. The church once had a divider down the center, which separated the males from the females, a common practice in the South years ago.
The doors are handcut, the hinges handmade and probably forged on a nearby plantation. Each plantation had its own cotton gin, blacksmith shops, and some kind of commissary. Each plantation was self sufficient.
The windows are of the old time, nine over nine, many still having bubbly panes. A ceiling of modern materials has been placed below the old, the falling plaster walls replaced with sheetrock, and the old wide board floor covered over with tongue and groove flooring.
CemeteryThere is a cemetery at the rear of the church. The two oldest stones are side by side. One has the inscription, "Erected by Jane Ann Walker in memory of her father, Burwell Jordan." Jane Ann Walker was the first wife of Charles Walker, according to a descendent. The other has this inscription, "In memory of Susan Mary, daughter of Jabez and Rebecca Curry, who departed this life September 20, 1821. Age 1 year and 11 days." The latest marker is that of Pansy Deese, whose family lived on or near Longstreet for over 70 years. This marker reads, "Pansy Deese, March 6, 1879-March 28, 1967."
Sunday School TeachersSome of the Sunday school teachers since the reorganization are Mary Blackshear Wimberly, Grace Purser Wright, Carrie Wimberly Jones, Jackie Stokes Harper, Helen Jones Coody, Jane Armstrong Newell, Ann Wimberly Holder, Mary Wimberly, and Willene Wimberly Foster.
Sources
History of Pulaski County, Georgia.Hawkinsville DAR Chapter. History of Bleckley County, Georgia. Harris. History of Twiggs County, Georgia. Faulk & Jones. From the writings of the late Joel T. Deese. From the writings of the late Ivy Collins. Interviews with the late Ivy Collins. Interviews with the late James F. Armstrong. Interviews with the late Mary Blackshear Wimberly. Interviews with Mattie Lee Baxley.