Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/260

 200 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI use by the moderator of the general associa- tion. The other of the two gavels made at the time remained in tlie possession of Dr. Maple until the year 1910, when it was pre- sented by him to the moderator of the Cape Girardeau Baptist Association at its meeting in Crosstown, Perry county, in September of that year. The old house as rebuilt still stands. The site on which it was erected has been purchased and is now owned by the Bap- tist General Association of IMissouri; In 1906 this association held its annual nieetiug in Cape Girardeau. This was the one hundredth anniversary^ of the founding of Bethel church. One reason for the selection of Cape Girardeau as the place of meeting was to hold appropriate exercises in commemoration of the foimding at the site of the old church, and to unveil a monument which had been erected on the spot. One day during the meeting of the body was set aside for a visit to the site. After a session held in the Baptist church in Jackson on the morning of October 24th, the Associa- tion adjourned to meet in the grove of trees on the spot where the old church stood. This is about two miles from the town of Jackson and was reached after some difficulties. The meeting was called to order by E. W. Steph- ens of Columbia, the moderator of the Gen- eral Association. After prayer and singing, E. W. Stephens delivered an address on the subject, "The Reason for Baptist Existence and Baptist Work One Hundred Years Ago and Now." The monument was then un- veiled by ]Irs. E. W. Stephens and ]Miss Mae Brown of Jackson. The monument which was erected by the association is four feet high of granite and bears this inscription: "Here stood Bethel Baptist church, the first permanent non- Catholic church west of the Mississippi river. Constituted July 19, 1806, with these mem- bers: David Green, Thomas English, Will- iam ]Iatthews, Leanna Green, William Smith, Jane English, Agnes Ballou, Thomas Bull, Clara Abernath.y, Catherine Anderson, An- derson Rogers, Edward Spear, Rebecca Ran- dol, John Hitt, and Frances Hitt. What Hath God Wrought ? ' ' The membership of the church had grown to eighty by the year 1812 and in 1813 it was one hundred eighty-six. In June. 1814, forty- five of its membei-s were dismissed to organize a church in what is now St. Francois county, but even after this dismissal there remained one hundred seventy-three members. In 1809 Bethel church became a member of the Red River Association, which held its meeting that year at Red River church, near Clarksville, Tennessee. It remained a member of this association luitil 1816, when it was decided to form a new association of the churches in Missouri. One thing which distinguished the members of Bethel church from the very day of the or- ganization was their fervent missionary spirit. They were untiring in their efforts to have the gospel preached in every possible place within the bounds of Upper Louisiana. To this end thej' contributed money and encouraged their ministers to visit the different parts of the dis- trict. We find them organizing congregations wherever that was possible. The.se congrega- tions remained for a time as members of Bethel church, and were looked after, as much as possible, by the pastor of that church. As soon as these congregations became large enough they were organized into regular churches and their direct connection with Bethel church ceased. The first of these in point of time was or- ganized in the Bois Brule Bottom in what was then Ste. Genevieve coimty, but what is now