The Effect of the Restoration Movement of America
on Limestone
County, Alabama
Prior to the Civil
War
By
Andrew B. Ellis
December 15, 2000
In the
scope of religious history in America, no movement has had a greater impact on
the thinking of Bible-believing truth-seekers than the Restoration
Movement. This was a movement to
restore and reform the true application of New Testament Christianity as it was
in the first century A.D. on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.[1] As this study is beneficial to any believer,
it is of particular interest to all Christians today to understand where one’s
faith has come from, and where the future leads him in his walk with God.
The
focus of this particular report is to isolate one sector of the south,
Limestone County, North Alabama. This
area is not only one of deep spiritual roots, but it houses the short life and
history of this writer. Perhaps no area
of the country at the present has more deeply engrained roots than this and the
surrounding counties, as it is commonly referred to as the “Bible-belt” of the
United States. We should note that if
this belt reaching from Virginia & the Carolinas across to Texas is the
“Bible-belt”, perhaps North Alabama and Southern Tennessee is the “buckle” of
such a belt. [2]
Limestone County Alabama most recently has been cited as having 51 Churches of
Christ; that name or a derivation of it being represented to the world having
roots in the Restoration Movement of the Nineteenth Century America.[3] The Lord’s church has endured many a hostile
word and many are the segments of that body here on earth, but the true
spiritual body of Christ remains but one.
Though
much research would be necessary to recount the occurrences of the last 150
years since the Civil War, that is not the focus of the writer at this
time. However, to understand what has
transpired of late, we must revisit the time before the Civil War and the year
1865, when the spiritual foundations of the Lord’s church were being
established in North Alabama.
INFLUENCE OF BARTON W. STONE
The effect of the Restoration Movement on North Alabama
is the result of a combination of efforts.
The lives of many champion preachers and teachers of the restoration
movement directly impacted other parts of the country; while this area of the
country was planted, watered and tended by different ones. Perhaps the one man who had the greatest
initial impact was Barton W. Stone.
Many regarded Barton Stone as Tolbert Fanning looked upon him; as the
“first man, who, to much purpose, pleaded the ground that the Bible, without
note, commentary or creed, must destroy antichristian powers, and eventually
conquer the world.”[4]
Barton Stone was a man who spent most of his life on the
move. Although he settled in Illinois
in his old age, he was born in North Carolina, as were his family, nieces and
nephews. The primary connection with
North Alabama that Stone will have is with his niece, Rebecca Stone. Rebecca Stone married John Baird, another
Carolinian, and in 1818 the Baird’s moved to the southwest corner of Limestone
County Alabama. The Baird’s moved into
what is now referred to as the Ripley community and it was there that they died
and were buried. John Baird’s remains
lie in the Ripley Cemetery.
There are unconfirmed, oral reports of the first congregation of the disciples
of Christ in Limestone county being a Cherokee Indian congregation, having its
foundation by the heavy influence of Barton Stone himself, as he would travel
here from his home in the Carolinas or Northwest Tennessee. Edit* While doing research in 2019, efforts to locate records to corroborate this claim appears impossible to verify. While visiting his niece and her husband,
Stone never sat idly while the Lord’s work needed to be done. As Stone spoke in a fluent Cherokee dialect,
there is no doubt that his influence was strong in the North Alabama area in a
direct way.[5] As mentioned of Stone’s later life in his
biography and also in the reference work of others, he moved to “the land of
the Kickapoo Indians in the ‘far west.’” [6] Perhaps this was because of his ever-present
concern for teaching the saving gospel to all men. Cherokee, Kickapoo, Caucasian, Negro, or some other race of men,
all needed to hear the gospel.
Barton Stone’s influence spread far and wide through the
south, but other regions could not claim closer ties to Stone than Limestone
County. With the baptism of B.F. Hall
by Stone in Kentucky, Hall then moved to Lauderdale County, Alabama, just west
of Limestone. As the influence of the
gospel spread with great momentum, Hall baptized James Matthews, who later
would become an extremely strong light prevailing upon the communities of
Lauderdale County. Later, James
Matthews baptized a young man in Cypress Creek by the name of Tolbert
Fanning.
James Matthews, while not preaching the sermon that
convicted Fanning to obey it in baptism, nevertheless performed the immersion
of Tolbert Fanning. Matthews was a
strong man and an avid supporter of the Christian Messenger, the
publication that Barton Stone had established.
In the first edition of the Messenger, in 1828, Matthews entered
a letter to the editor, which reported of a “camp meeting near Athens where
near twenty souls were baptized into Christ.”[7] In 1830, Matthews again would submit his
letter to the Christian Messenger, saying, “In Athens, and 40 souls
confessed Christ.” On numerous other
occasions, Matthews would write in his letters to the Messenger, “23
were immersed and others confessed in Athens,” and again, “in a camp meeting
near Athens, souls were saved.” And
still more entries were listed in various editions of the Christian
Messenger, “In the camp meeting at the Green Hill campground, near Witty
Mill Creek.”[8] Robert Turner, a source for much of the
documentation and writings of these early occurrences, tells of his younger
days preaching for the Hays Mill congregation in the 1930’s – 40’s. There was an elderly member there at the time
that remembered walking up and down the creek bed of Witty Mill Creek. Of those talks with that elderly man Turner
states:
“When you travel north of the road about 100 yards, you
see a clearing where the Green Hill campground hosted the camp meetings of
those days.”
James
Matthews later asked Stone to publish more current growth announcements in the Christian
Messenger. Stone recorded “Next year on August 3, 1833 - the Lord’s
Day, we will meet again,” indicating his strong interest in the work in Athens.[9] In a letter to Alexander Campbell on October
16, 1834, Matthews referenced the meetings that were very prosperous in the
Limestone County area.
There
is no doubt by any who have researched in this local area of the great success
accomplished by the Christian Messenger.
It is easily seen through not only Stone’s direct impact on the
community, but through his writing and reprinting of letters written by
preachers in the area that Limestone County, and specifically Athens, Alabama
was a spiritual soil that was truly bringing forth a bountiful harvest of souls
for the Lord’s army. Certainly the word
was being sown, and as the seed fell on hearts that so often had been sown in
tares of denominationalism, it flourished in the ideology of a Bible-only religion,
free from the will of man and the deterioration of his spirituality.
IMPACT OF OTHER WELL
KNOWN PREACHERS
Perhaps one of the first preachers of the Movement other
than Stone to impact the region was “Raccoon” John Smith. After the war of 1812 and around the year
1814, Smith learned of a homestead act in the North Alabama area that offered
land for $1.25 per acre, Smith soon sold his Kentucky farm and settled five
miles east of Huntsville, Alabama.[10]
In a biography of Smith, he stated that upon moving to Huntsville, he rented a
cabin until he could afford to buy one, and that he walked twenty miles west to
a plantation to work, five days a week.
If this were so, “Raccoon” John Smith would have been working in the
vicinity of Mooresville, Alabama.
Mooresville is the site of the first documented congregation in
Limestone County. Surely Smith would
have influenced the thinking of others while searching for the truth himself,
and so avidly preaching the word from the example of men like Barton Stone in
his life! While it is probable, it is only
speculation that Smith actually had any preaching influence Limestone County.[11] To this present date, “Raccoon” John Smith’s
residence in Huntsville has never been identified.
When the Restoration Movement took on great strides in
the minds of the hearers of the early 19th century, preachers had a
wide degree of listeners. The largest
influence on North Alabama from an early “Christian” foundation was the
Presbyterian and Methodist Churches. These
denominations, which were having a strong impact on the region, but kept the
minds of people open to public speaking, debating and well-reasoned messages.
If the message came from a preacher who was not from the typical denominational
background, this was especially appealing to the public. This “new” way of thinking called the
Restoration Movement was taking the young protestant America by storm.
Unquestionably the work of Tolbert Fanning was a strong
wind of change and growth in Limestone County.
Although Fanning later spent most of his time in the Nashville area, he
frequently traveled the 100 miles south to Athens, and upon reaching the city
on July 4, 1868 he stated, “I could hardly recognize the war torn town.”
However before we see Fanning’s North Alabama work in
detail we must look at the effects of preachers such as J.H Hundley and W.H.
Wharton. Wharton baptized Hundley and
Hundley moved to North Alabama from Virginia.
Influenced by Wharton, who also was a subscriber to the Christian
Baptist (Alexander Campbell’s first publication)
J.H.
Hundley preached the first sermon for the Mooresville church. Because of Hundley’s impact on the
community, it was only natural that he would come to preach the first sermon in
the new meetinghouse. The story of the
Mooresville church, as it is the first “known” congregation in Limestone
County, Alabama, is a very unique and yet humorous chronicle.
In the years from 1833 to 1834 several mentions of Athens
and Limestone county Alabama were made.
Speer mentioned in a letter to Campbell that the Athens community was
growing steadily. W.H. Wharton also
mentioned Athens, as he certainly had a tie with the area in J.H. Hundley, whom
he had baptized.[12]
From
1835 to 1840 there were many camp meetings in the Southeast corner of the
county. As mentioned previously, John
Smith may well have influenced some thinking here, but nevertheless believers
of the scripture in general were sure to come to the meetings. Hundley continued living here in North
Alabama and worked hard to start a congregation of Christians. When the group had attained several in
number, they had a congregation, but nowhere to meet. A relatively new one-room building was the meetinghouse for both
the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches in the Mooresville community. The Presbyterian and Methodist preachers,
after splitting their time in the building on the Lord’s Day, agreed to allow
Hundley and the Disciples to meet at yet a third scheduled time in the “Union
Church Building.” What an interesting
community, that allowed the diversity of thought and ideology pertaining to
salvation, yet they warmly embraced one another and divided their worship time
in the building![13]
For
five to six years the Christians, or Disciples as they were known, met together
on a scheduled time in the “Union Church Building.” During this time, meeting after meeting was held and the
congregation was growing. John T.
Johnson, who carried great rapport with the brethren in the south came and held
a meeting with David Morton. Johnson
held so great a reputation among brethren that it is said of him “there was
probably no preacher in the days before the war so widely loved, highly
admired, and so exuberantly eulogized as John T. Johnson.”[14] After 6 years, the church here in
Mooresville was attaining too large a membership, or so thought the Methodist
and Presbyterian preachers. With the
dilemma of the “Christian Church” growing much more rapidly than they and
gaining stake as it were on the building.
At this point, the story takes a somewhat humorous twist as the
Presbyterian and Methodist preachers covertly changed out the locks on the
Union Church Building door. This they
thought would solve the problem and discourage the members from continuing to
grow.
Upon
discovering this predicament, the brethren were at an impasse in regard to
their growth. On October 29, 1851, the
Christians at Mooresville purchased one acre of land for $20, and built the
building for worship & meeting purposes.
Sixty-eight members signed the note to cover the debt.[15]
There were three elders serving the congregation at the time.
In
an article by a man named Allen, the editor of the Athens Post in 1854,
it is reported of the strange relationship between the Presbyterian and
Methodist ministers and the Christian Church in Mooresville. He stated in his article that the preacher
at the Christian Church, Carroll Hendrick, was preaching a sermon heartedly and
heatedly, when during the sermon the now adversarial ministers proceeded to
ring the “Union Church House” bell over and over, until the worship service of
the Christian Church was completed.
“Those scoundrels!” The
Christian Church had taken far too many of the members from the Methodist and
Presbyterian Churches! After
understanding that this was the reasoning behind the preachers’ ringing, he
praised God, and stayed in Mooresville as a full-time evangelist for a span of
ten years from 1845-1855. The Christian
Church had become a loud voice of reason crying out from the darkness of
religious tradition and formalism. The
Bible alone as the authority for the salvation of mankind had taken a
stronghold in a community of Limestone County.
As
mentioned before, Tolbert Fanning had a fairly strong impact on Limestone
County. On a trip from Nashville down
to Athens in the summer of 1866, it is stated in his biography that on a
southbound trek before the rail was repaired from war troubles, Fanning
commented that he could not believe the damage that had been done to the Athens
area. At this point in time although
there is much evidence to show that Fanning spent a good deal of time in the
region, there is not much more detail of his specific accomplishments in aid to
the cause of Christ in Athens. However,
it is sure to say those who lived, worshipped and worked here felt his
influence.[16]
It
is said that Fanning often visited the county and frequently attended camp
meetings of the day, preached meetings on several occasions at the Mooresville
church, and later would encourage brethren with his publication from Nashville,
the Gospel Advocate. On one
excursion through Limestone County, the editor of the Athens Post, Mr.
Allen, would make public reviews and stories on the teachings of
preachers here in Athens. Recorded in
the Post issue of October 8, 1869 is an account of how “Elder Tolbert
Fanning was preaching at the Baptist Church.”
Fanning preached the gospel, and upon his exit out of town, the Baptist
preacher, T.B. Espy promptly attempted to refute the doctrine taught by
Fanning. In those days of course, the
visiting preacher was given an ear regardless of what his religious
affiliation, as long as he was a “Christian Preacher.” Although Fanning was welcomed at the Baptist
Church in Athens, Mr. Espy presumably refuted him the following Sunday.[17]
It
is noted, however, that upon Elder Fanning’s repeated efforts to contact and
engage in written debate with Espy, Fanning later found out that the renowned
Baptist preacher had left the Baptist Church and now presided in Arkansas. Apparently the preacher couldn’t defend his
doctrine. As an editor, Allen especially
liked the challenge of going and listening to the visiting preachers who came
in from out of town. This occurrence is
cited after the close of the Civil War as antebellum Athens was rebuilding,
nevertheless it gives us an indication of the involvement that Fanning had in
the Athens, Limestone County area.
In
the steamy month of July 1862, James Garfield, Brigadier General of the Ohio
Militia was in the Huntsville area.
Although Garfield was in Huntsville to preside over the court marshal of
a General Turchen, it is noted in Garfield’s diary that he was “invited to
preach at the local Christian Church Next Sunday.” His comments in his diary lead us to believe that Gen. Garfield
preached there at Mooresville, because his men camped at the nearby creek
between Belle Mina and Mooresville.
However, the fact of whether or not he preached may never be known. Garfield also mentioned in his diary that
although the court marshal was complete and Turchen was found guilty, Garfield
himself was a bit under the weather, and was not certain that he would “take up
on the offer” to preach the next Sunday.[18]
There
is some indecision as to Garfield’s convictions during this time. In a letter written to his mother, Garfield
indicated that he was seriously thinking of reclaiming his Catholic
heritage. This letter is recorded in
Garfield’s memoirs, but it is fairly certain that he never actually moved on
those convictions. Garfield appears
later to rely on the same convictions he held earlier, as he was a convert to
the Christian church. The war and life
in those days cast many doubts on many things, and certainly Garfield was not
immune in his searching. This influence
was probably made by of Garfield’s commandant in the army, who was a devout
Catholic.
After
leaving North Alabama, General Garfield returned to his home in Ohio where he
went on to serve in Congress and in 1880 was elected President of the United
States where he served until his assassination. As the Civil War had such a large impact on so many, so it also
inclined Garfield to put on his political hat.
At this time in his life we have no way of knowing whether or not he
remained a faithful preacher per se, but he was quoted later in his early
presidency as having stated “I resigned from the highest office known to man to
be president;” the office to which he was referring was the office of an
elder. Nevertheless, Garfield himself
had perhaps a small degree of encouragement to the brethren of Limestone County
Alabama in the year 1862.
THE
CULMINATION OF EFFORTS IN STARTING CHURCHES
We
mentioned earlier the effect of J.H. Hundley on the cause of Christ in
Limestone county. Hundley was not only
a strong preacher as a young man, but came to be a stronghold for the cause, as
he grew older. He had seen a good start
of the preaching of the gospel in Mooresville, but with a strong congregation
in Mooresville, and three elders in that church, there was more work to
consider, and the effort arose to evangelize the area. We should also mention that apparently
Hundley had no idea what his influence would render in the North Alabama
region. One never knows the extent of
his influence, but the example Hundley set in the county would prove contagious
to other Christians. As time went by
with the Mooresville church, Hundley decided to move north, to the portion of
the county around where Holt Road now exists.
There
was a portion of land in that was where Hundley had now moved that was made
available, and it remained a target site for a meetinghouse to Hundley. When Hundley moved and began with the
community meetings, camp meetings and his reputation was introduced in the
community, J.H. Hundley helped begin the Reunion congregation. As this work would prove to be rewarding,
unfortunately it would never see the excitement and growth that the Mooresville
church had gained in its infancy.
Steady growth and dedicated service characterized the Reunion
congregation, as it is one of the few remaining congregations still meeting
today from that era.
The
land where the Reunion church meets today was purchased in 1858, and recorded
in the County Courthouse Records on November 23, 1859.[19] Transactions in that day were enacted under
different circumstances: a handshake was all a man needed to give his
credibility for a deal. The record was
entered roughly one year later, and the Reunion Christian Church was an
official membership in the county.
Still today, it is nostalgic to drive down “Old Reunion Rd.” and to find
one’s way to the old meetinghouse. A
cemetery is there alongside the building as was customary for those days, and
it dates back into the pre-Civil War era.
Another strongly influential preacher is buried there, J.H.
Dunn, who reportedly “died with his armor on” while preaching a sermon when he
was in his Nineties.
After
the Reunion church had recorded the deed, there was good growth and prosperity
in the church as all records indicate.
Today as one drives around old Limestone County, the old Mooresville
Church building can still be seen down the street from the old brick structure
readily recognized as the “Union Church Building.” The Mooresville building was still in use up into the 1960’s,
however sometime afterward closed its doors to the weekly assembling of the
saints. The building has been used off
and on by the saints there over the recent years. The second Reunion building is still standing, and more
importantly it is still a living church of God’s people.
EFFECT OF THE WAR ON LIMESTONE COUNTY MOVEMENT
There
were many barriers that were laid in the path of the Lord’s church during the
Civil War. Not only did men enlist to
fight, but also the church-houses across the south were looked upon as places
of refuge for those who were on the move and on the run. With the war changing the thinking of Americans,
there is much to consider when looking at those who were once strong preachers,
yet digressed into men of political dedication, many of them putting the Lord
on hold and allowing the flame of truth grow cold in their hearts.
As
can be seen in the life of B.F. Hall, some men held stronger to the sword of
the Confederacy or the Union than they held the sword of the Spirit. Hall was a man whose influence was great in
Lauderdale County. He baptized James
Matthews and history has seen Matthews’ great impact on Limestone County. Hall was a man who had become embittered
against the U.S. Army, and saying to some brethren who came in contact with him
that he had “no brethren in the North; they are all infidels.” [20]
James
Garfield, a faithful Christian and president of Hiram College in Ohio, gave up
his status and led his Ohio Militia into battle, landing in Huntsville, Alabama
as we have already mentioned. His
influence was documented at least, and certainly felt by some of the members in
Mooresville, if perhaps he didn’t even preach there.
There
are some stories of the poverty of the county through the war, noting of times
so tough – the dirt would be dug up under the smoke house, boiled and the salt
would be retrieved.[21] Times like this were difficult not only on
families losing their men and boys to war, but on the Lord’s Church throughout
the country. Limestone County and
Athens were proven no exceptions to this phenomenon. Civil War was not good for much in the south, especially the
negative impact it had on the church of God.
The Civil War years demonstrated a sad commentary of spirituality in our
country.
The
city of Athens and Limestone County at large have a great deal of history
dating back to before Alabama was established as a state. Though the church of God rules in the hearts
of men, it must be established in local places, and the gospel must be preached
at all costs to a lost and dying world.
This was the spirit of the Restoration Movement, and with a message in
hand stating “Let’s get back to the Bible,” and Thomas Campbell’s
ever-so-popular quote, “where the Bible speaks, we speak; where the Bible is
silent, we are silent,”[22]
the church grew in Limestone County by leaps and bounds. The people in North Alabama were reverent
and open to the commands of God, and subject to his will as the ultimate
authority for the actions of mankind.
This
brings us the Civil War and the times surrounding it in Limestone County. The years have been magnificently productive
in some areas and highly traumatic in others, but the Lord’s church remains
today. Barton W. Stone and his
influence upon others truly left its mark on Limestone County Alabama, which is
the subject of our attention in this report.
The Lord has brought about great things by the hand of Godly men, and
truly the history of the church here is one that affects every resident of
North Alabama today. With nearly fifty
churches of Christ in Limestone County alone, how would the years affect the
Lord’s work? From one group of
believers, who for their explosive growth in spirit and dedication to the word
of God were locked out of the Union Church Building in Mooresville, to a
multiplicity of local churches and their shadow on the community today, the
church of Christ remains.
The
church of Christ in this area owes a wealth of love to the men who first
brought the gospel. The duty for those
of us who remain but observers of that history is to analyze it, preserve it,
and continue to hold to the truths of God’s word in the future, while continuing
the effort to restore New Testament Christianity in a post-modern world of
parallelism. There is unspeakable worth
to taking a look at the experiences and wisdom to be gleaned from the past, and
applying it to our knowledge.
[1] Acts 2 - When the Apostles of Christ brought the fully revealed gospel to mankind.
[2] Chamber of
Commerce, Athens, AL December 2000.
[3] Chamber of
Commerce, Athens, AL December 2000.
[4] Tolbert Fanning, “A Good Man Has Fallen,” Christian Review, Vol. I, No. 12 (December,
1844). P. 288. Reference taken from “The Search For The
Ancient Order. Vol. I” Earl I. West, p. 35.
[5] Robert Turner, Historian & Preacher. Athens,
AL. Personal Interview December, 2000.
[6] Earl I. West, “The Search For The Ancient Order.
Vol. I” p. 33.
[7] Christian Messenger, Barton W. Stone Edition I,
1828.
[8] Christian Messenger, Barton W. Stone, Editions from
September 24, 1827; November 30, 1830, 1831.
James Matthews reported and supported the Christian Messenger until
around 1948Ö and for a period of nearly 20 years from 1829-1848 Matthews
mentioned the gatherings and camp meetings in Athens, AL. Green Hill campground, Witty Mill Creek
still stand, however no current remnants are there from the era mentioned
above.
[9] Christian Messenger, Barton W. Stone August 18,
1832.
[10] Earl I. West, “The Search For The Ancient Order.
Vol. 1” P.245.
[11] Robert Turner, Historian & Preacher. Athens, AL. Personal Interview December, 2000.
[12] Letters to Alexander Campbell, Millennial
Harbinger, October 24, 1834. p.
605. Speer, Wharton.
[13] Robert Turner, Historian & Preacher. Athens, AL. Personal Interview December, 2000.
[14] Earl I. West, “The Search For The Ancient Order. Vol. 1” P. 228.
[15] Limestone County Courthouse Records, October 29,
1851.
[16] Robert Turner, Historian & Preacher. Athens, AL. Personal Interview December, 2000.
[17] Athens Post, October 8, 1869.
[18] Notes from General James Garfield’s diary & biography. Robert Turner, Historian & Preacher. Athens, AL. Personal Interview December, 2000.
[19] Limestone County Courthouse Records, November 23,
1859.
[20] Earl I. West, “The Trials Of The Ancient Order.
Vol. I” p. 327.
[21] Robert Turner, Historian & Preacher. Athens,
AL. Personal Interview December, 2000.
[22] Earl I.
West, “The Trials Of The Ancient Order. Vol. I” p. 47.