Page:History of Southeast Missouri 1912 Volume 1.djvu/527

 HISTORY OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 467 Thomas Joyce, Mr. and Airs. Thomas Ander- son — (Mr. A. was a half-brother of the late Dr. W. B. Wilson), Mr. and Mrs. Baker Gorden, ]Irs. Clark, a sister of Mrs. Gorden. This Mrs. Clark's son, John Henry Clark, Mr. Clark's sister, Mrs. Samuel Gorden, JMrs. Smarr, another sister of J. H. Clark, Mrs. Al- fred Ellis, Jlr. and Jlrs. Sutton, Mr. and Mrs. Case, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Juden, ilr. and jMrs. G. W. Juden (the father and mother of Mrs. J. C. Maple, who wrote this sketch), Mrs. Wathen who was one of the early teach- ers in this community, and her daughter, Mrs. Wheeler, Sirs. Captain Watson, ilr. Porter, who came from Hickman, Kentucky, and after a few years residence here returned to Hickman. Joseph Gorden and wife, William SIcKnight and wife, parents of Mrs. Emma Kimmel. and others whose names I do not now recall. "There were some things in connection with the building of the house of worship, which I remember to have heard discussed that make me quite certain that Mr. Ander- son and Mrs. Ellis came into the church at an early date, if they were not constituent mem- bers. "Captain Ellis, though not a member of the church, was a staunch Baptist in principle and a man of large means. He made a liberal contribution to the building fund and offered in addition a lot on the east side of Lorimier street north of Broadwa.v for the use of the church if they would build thereon. Mr. An- derson was a man of limited means, but of- fered the lot on which the house was built, stating that this was all he was able to give. The church accepted this offer, hoping that Captain Ellis would increase his contribu- tion, at least, to the value of the lot. Per- haps he was a little sensitive over the matter; at any rate, he did not increase his contribu- tion. The choice proved to be an vuifortu- nate one, for after some years it cost the church large sums of money to prevent the house from being undermined by the con- stant washing away of the earth forming a deep ditch. That ravine offers a lesson of the importance of taking things in time. A lit- tle ditch was formed by the rains in the gar- den of Mr. Ollar which joined the church lot on the west and ran towards the east. The people were used to hills and hollows, and were unconcerned about the small ravine thus formed. "The church had preaching every Sunday. Each family had its own pew, and it was the custom for parents and children to sit to- gether. The pews were also supplied with Bibles and hymn books. Another custom, which we would do well to follow today, was when the pastor read the scripture lesson, the congregation was reading it too ; thereby im- pressing it upon their minds, through two channels, the eye and the ear. "A Sunda.y school was established at an early day. I have no recollection of the time when I first went to Sunday school, but I re- niember my father going with me every Sun- day. He took his children to the Lord's house, and after school closed, he usually took us for a little walk, but returned and we were all seated in the family pew before the preaching service began. In those daj's it was not optional, with the children, whether they attended church services or not, at least I never learned it. I do not remember the name of the superintendent. "As has been said Thomas P. Green was the first pastor. I think it must have been shortly after his death that Dr. Russell Hol- mon of Alabama visited the church and preached for a few weeks, to the delight and edification of the membership. He received