Mr. Hunter, a Presbyterian minister preached in Greensboro, Alabama before 1822

GREENSBORO, ALABAMA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH¹

(Published 1908)

The first sermon ever preached in Greensboro by a Presbyterian minister was some time prior to 1822 when Mr. Hunter delivered a discourse.

Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, Ala ca. 1890 (Alabama Department of Archives and History)

Presbyterian erected a house of worship in 1823

In 1822, Rev. James Hillhouse came from South Carolina and delivered his first sermon in a small house used as a tavern. The next year (1823) he organized a church of twenty members, and the same year a house of worship was erected where Mrs. Mary G. Pickens now resides.(1908)

On the first roll are the names of Norris, Knox, Hall, Hunter, Hillhouse, Darragh, Bell and Barron. Except during the period from 1830-1832, Mr. Hillhouse served as pastor until his death in 1835. Such was the growth of the church under his administration that the congregation was able to offer in 1836 a salary of $2,000 per year.

Presbyterian ministers over the years

In 1837 Rev. T. R. Witherspoon became the pastor of the church and held the position until 1843. The following ministers subsequently served the church either as stated supplies or as regular pastors, VIZ. Rev. L. D. Hatch, spring of 1843; Rev. R. C. Yale, 1843 and 1844; Rev. R. H. Chapman, 1845 to 1850; Rev. J. C. Mitchell, 1850 to 1859; Rev. F. H. Bowman, 1859 to 1860; the church pastorate was vacant 1861 and 1862; Rev. J. M. P. Otts, D. D., 1862 to 1867; Rev. D. D. Sanderson, 1868 to 1871; vacant 1871 and 1872; Rev. W. J. Frierson, 1872 and 1873; Rev. Thomas Ward White, 1874 to 1879; Rev. J. J. Anderson, 1880 and 1881; Rev. W. C. Clark, May 1882 to 1886; Rev. W. G. Keady, 1889 to 1902; Rev. J. P. Anderson, 1902 to present (1908).

The church has numbered among its membership some of Greensboro’s most honored and prominent men. On the roll will be found such names as Witherspoon, Kerr, Locke, Lowry, May, Strudwick, Webb, Carson, Castleman, Boardman and others. The number of persons brought into the church since its organization has been something over six hundred. This church has furnished seven or eight ministers, and there have been associated with it, as pastors, Seven ministers: Witherspoon, Chapman, Mitchell, Otts, Clark, Keady and Anderson; and as stated supplies, nine: Hillhouse, Murphy, Hatch, Yale, Bowman, Sanderson, Frierson, White and Anderson.

Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, Ala ( HISTORY OF GREENSBORO, ALABAMA From Its Earliest Settlement by William Edward Wadsworth Yerby, Montgomery, Alabama)

Three houses of worship

Three houses of worship have been built—1823, 1841 and 1859, in the latter year the present edifice was erected.

Miss Emma Boardman, a member of this church, went as a missionary to China in March 1894 and is yet at her post of duty. (in 1908)

1Excerpt from HISTORY OF GREENSBORO, ALABAMA From Its Earliest Settlement by William Edward Wadsworth Yerby, Montgomery, Alabama

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About Donna R Causey

Donna R. Causey, resident of Alabama, was a teacher in the public school system for twenty years. When she retired, Donna found time to focus on her lifetime passion for historical writing. She developed the websites www.alabamapioneers and www.daysgoneby.me All her books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. She has authored numerous genealogy books. RIBBON OF LOVE: A Novel Of Colonial America (TAPESTRY OF LOVE) is her first novel in the Tapestry of Love about her family where she uses actual characters, facts, dates and places to create a story about life as it might have happened in colonial Virginia. Faith and Courage: Tapestry of Love (Volume 2) is the second book and the third FreeHearts: A Novel of Colonial America (Book 3 in the Tapestry of Love Series) Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) is the continuation of the story. . For a complete list of books, visit Donna R Causey