In the following history of Ante Bellum Methodism in
Winchester, Virginia you will gain a feel for the
tension and struggle that people of the Methodist Church
experienced. The tensions were shared by all Americans
during this tragic period and this is what makes the
story important for us all to learn from.
Although the
account takes place in Virginia, there are, no doubt,
similar stories to be told here in Emmitsburg,
Maryland.
Ante
Bellum Methodism in Winchester, Virginia
and the Great Schism
John I. Sloat asks rhetorically, "who, at this
late day, can write an accurate portrayal of those times
that tried men's souls?" With similar sentiment
regarding the divisive development of the era, Elizabeth
Kern speaks of the squall that refused to abate "as
the shaft of red pierced the dawn." It was a fieri
time of trial when the anchoring institution of souls
and a nation, the Methodist Episcopal Church, would be
fragmented and separated into individual pieces by the
same founders and dedicated churchmen who had built it
up. This was the factual situation for the people of the
Border region, the dividing line of the nation in the
years from 1844-1866.
The purpose of this paper is to relate clearly the
reasons for the lamentable schism that occurred at
Market Street Methodist Episcopal Church, Winchester,
Virginia on July 5, 1858. I shall present a detailed
analysis regarding the motivations of the dissenting
leadership as well as present the underlying tensions
between Northern and Southern viewpoints during this
difficult era. The result of my findings is not so much
a conclusive verdict as it is a logical deduction based
on the available written accounts of ecclesiastical life
in Winchester as well as the greater developments in the
Methodist Episcopal church during the Civil War
era.
Within the related historical documents there are
also personalities who tell their stories and
communicate meaning by their life actions as well as the
story of the people caught up in between the strife--the
African slaves and free men and women who also were
passionate about their Christian faith and Methodism.
Thus, an objective historical review is provided as
genuine characters are portrayed in their own words and
actions.
This research has led me to believe that the Braddock
Street group, the seceders from the Market Street
Church, saw that there would inevitably be division over
the slavery issue, and that this would involve their
religious point of view. Therefore, they desired to
withdraw from those individuals who posed a threat to
Methodism's established theology which consisted of a
nonpartisan stance toward the slavery issue. This was
the traditional unified norm in Winchester.
Furthermore, the church records portray the great
lengths that all involved parties went to in order to
avoid conflict, as would be expected of Virginia's
genteel Christian citizenry. However, it may also be
discerned that the church records carefully conceal the
inner turmoil that existed just beneath a thin shell of
Southern cordiality. These inner tensions led to the
establishment of Braddock Street Methodist Episcopal
Church with its affiliation with the Virginia Conference
of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Less than two
years later the breaking point of tensions such as these
would lead to the Civil War.
In order to set the stage for understanding the story
of Winchester Methodism it is important to clarify the
anti-slavery intentions of early Methodism. Bishop
Asbury began his ministry in the new nation in 1784. At
this time it was established that Methodists could not
be holders of slaves. The anti-slavery ruling was based
on the doctrine developed at the Christmas Conference of
the same year (1784) which stated: "'We view it as
contrary to the Golden Law of God...to hold in the
deepest debasement...so many souls...of the image of
God....' These rules, however, were already marked by
the portentous exception exempting those states in which
civil laws forbade emancipation."
The slave trade had already taken such a strong hold
in the newly founded nation that the Church leadership
feared losing a great portion of the newly converted if
the discipline prohibiting slave holding were not
treated in a more lax manner. This policy was given
greater emphasis by the club-brandishing mobs who
threatened Methodism's first Bishops, Asbury and
Cokesbury. By 1808 the General Conference completely
abandoned its attempts to control the "buying or
selling of slaves, leaving the matter to each annual
Conference." Thus, the Methodist discipline, which
was meant to bring about an abstention from slave
holding and trading for professing Christians, could not
be effectively enacted among members of the church.
In 1844 it became apparent that there were such
strongly held opinions on each side of the slavery issue
that the fracturing of Methodism, the nation's largest
Christian denomination at that time, was destined to
take place across the Union. The division of Methodism
was of great significance to the young nation because
the eventual split between North and South and
subsequent Civil War would be physically manifest along
the same border lines as the church division. All of the
heartache and strife were brought about by the
unfortunate circumstances surrounding a certain
Methodist Bishop from Georgia named James O. Andrew.
Bishop Andrew had inherited his first slave girl by
the death of his first wife, and a second slave was
gained by his second marriage. The issue of Bishop
Andrew's slave holding became the catalyst of the
squabble which broke out during the New York General
Conference held in 1844. The resulting strife between a
minority of Northern Abolitionists and the Southern
attendees at the New York Conference was a disturbing
revelation. The extent of damaging influence shown by
the Abolitionists signaled that division could not be
hindered no matter which decision was made regarding
Bishop Andrew's slave holding.
If the North had not objected to the Bishop's
retaining of the slaves, there would have been
fracturing among the Northern Conferences. On the other
hand, a decision against continuance of his Bishopric
due to his violation of the Disciplines, rules against
church leadership holding slaves, would automatically
cause the North - South division. History reveals to us
the tragic outcome of the vote, which favored the latter
decision. The Civil War is always sadly remembered as a
war that pitted brother against brother, and the same
was true for the Church as members were pitted against
fellow members.
The Winchester Conference of the Methodist Church has
a long and proud heritage. Francis Asbury himself first
introduced Methodism to Winchester, VA. Actually, he
passed through Winchester several times preaching and
encouraging the fledgling Christian community. He
preached to the colored population as well as the
whites. T.K. Cartmell offers first-hand historical
information regarding the Winchester area in his
treatise entitled Shenandoah Valley Pioneers and Their
Descendants. Cartmell speaks of an old slave woman who
was "one of the original Africans, known as 'Aunt
Chloey'" who recalled her meeting Bishop Asbury,
"I never seen Gen'l Washington, but I see that
other great preacher, Bishop Asbury." Bishop Asbury
records that the Methodist house of worship was
established in Winchester June 6th 1793. There is a long
list of the early circuit riders who rode the Winchester
circuit until the establishment of the Winchester
Station in 1830. The present-day Market Street Church
building was completed in May of 1855.
It is appropriate at this time to address the
internal struggles at Market Street Church, alluded to
earlier in this writing, that relate directly and
indirectly to the breakup of the Church. Here I will
provide pertinent background information that should
enable the reader to gain an understanding of the
difficulties within the Market Street congregation as I
have come to know them.
It has been repeatedly claimed that the reason for
the secession of the 32 individuals from Market Street
Church in 1858, which led to the subsequent formation of
the Braddock Street United Methodist Episcopal Church
South, was the result of the disagreement over the
seating of the Valley Female Academy students. I will
give a full accounting of this incident as described in
Elizabeth Kern's History of Market Street Church,
"The Old Ship," along with other pertinent
commentary. The beginning of the dispute took place in
the first week of April 1858, Kern writes:
At the request of Mr. York, (*see below), the
Official Board had reserved several pews on the
men's side of the church, evidently because there
was more room there, so that the students of the
Valley Female Institute could be seated together at
Sunday services. The plan met with immediate
opposition by the former occupants of the reserved
pews. One occupant even refused to move from his
accustomed place, but sat at the end of the bench on
the following Sunday, crossing his feet in such a
way as to prevent the students from entering. The
girls merely hopped over his feet and filed in. One
of these girls visited Winchester many years later
and reminisced about this happening. Little did the
officials realize that such a seemingly small
courtesy of reserving several pews was to make a
schism in Methodism in Winchester.
Some further explanation about Mr. York and his
Female Academy will enable the reader to appreciate the
context of this occurrence. Sydney P. York was a
Professor of Natural Science and Belles Lettres; he was
also an ordained minister in the Methodist Church. Mr.
York came to Winchester from the North after carefully
researching the area for its potential as a site for his
all-female seminary. The Valley Female Institute claimed
for its students the best liberal arts education
available. And indeed, it had a highly qualified staff
and an excellent facility. The school had moved into the
former Market Street Church building located directly
opposite the current Market Street Church.
Mr. York saw to it that the building was a
state-of-the art facility: a learning institution
thoroughly equipped with modern laboratory equipment and
furnished with the first flush toilets in the area. In
essence, Mr. York had established a fully accredited,
Methodist Episcopal Church-approved, northern elitist,
educational institution. Mr. York was "a vigorous
abolitionist [and] made himself obnoxious to the
Confederate cause." One can quickly see that Mr.
York's female students in all probability were not
merely a hindrance to the physical arrangement of
seating in the church, but represented highly unpopular
Northern sentiments which, most-certainly, provoked male
congregants to anger!
Rev. Benjamin F. Brooke was the Senior minister at
the Market Street Church during the time of these
events. He mentions Mr. York several times in his
personal journal. Apparently Mr. York's abolitionist
sympathies were not hidden from General Jackson's army
either. From Rev. Brooke's diary we learn that several
Union men were arrested on March 10, 1862 and presumably
York was taken at this time, along with other Union
sympathizers, to the Confederate prisoner-of-war holding
area at Mt. Jackson. There is a more definite notation
regarding Mr. York's return from Mt. Jackson on March
28. Later this same year York and his family fled
Virginia and returned to their home in the North. He had
suffered bankruptcy from the failure of the school yet
his name lived on as his institution became known in the
Winchester area as the old York Hospital, having
periodically served both Northern and Southern armies.
Returning to the story Kern writes:
The feelings continued to be strained and at a
meeting of the Quarterly Conference on April 7,
1858, James Burnside, in good faith, offered the
following preamble and resolutions which were
unaminously adopted:
Whereas it is of utmost importance to the
prosperity of this station that harmony and
Christian feeling should prevail throughout our
membership, and all causes of disturbance and
dissension be removed: and Whereas some differences
of opinion involving feeling has existed in regard
to the young ladies of the Valley Female Institute:
and, Whereas, as [a] matter of so small a movement
ought not to be deemed sufficient to separate
Christian brethren: and, Whereas all brethren should
be willing to yield their private views and
preferences for the good of the whole station,
therefore, Resolved, First, That as a Quarterly
Conference we most respectfully request the Boards
of Trustees and Stewards to have a joint meeting of
their boards at their earliest convenience, calmly
consider and determine the difficulty and arrange
for the seating of said school, that peace and
harmony be preserved in our station. Resolved,
Second, That we will heartily acquiesce in whatever
arrangement they may make, and pledge our influence
to see it carried out.
Kern continues,
...At the next Quarterly Conference on June 30,
1858, James C. Watson presented a petition signed by
183 members asking for a change in the sittings of
the congregation. This petition was received and
laid on the table. Numerous resolutions written in
very formal and dignified style followed and were
also laid on the table including one submitted by J.
Richard Bowen:
Resolved 1. that this conference approve the
action of the Boards of Stewards and Trustees in
designating seats for the boarders of the Valley
Female Institute in that part of the church occupied
by females.
Resolved 2. That said boards be requested to
change their action assigning seats to the ladies in
that portion of the church originally assigned to
males.
At a meeting held the next day in pursuance of
adjournment, the resolution offered by Mr. Bowen was
again submitted, and with this amendment adopted:
"Any intrusion upon the seats thus designated by
any member of the church with design will be considered
a breach of courtesy and good manners." The vote
was taken and the resolution was adopted. Rev. W.G.
Eggleston, presiding elder, Abraham Nulton, and James
Burnside were appointed a committee "to prepare a
respectful answer to the memorial presented to this
conference, asking a change in the sittings of the
congregation."
...On July 5, 1858, thirty members having been
granted certificates "as being persons of good
report, and consistent members of the M.E. Church"
withdrew from Market Street Church. Under the leadership
of William R. Denny, father of Bishop Collins Denny,
they were organized as a congregation, and applied to
the Baltimore Conference for a preacher. The request was
not granted as the reason for separation was deemed too
trivial in nature. Then the group applied to the
Virginia Conference of the M.E. Church, South, which had
been founded in 1845, and were assigned a minister.
Their church home on Braddock Street was dedicated the
next year (1859) by Bishop Granbury as a station of the
Virginia Conference.
In order to further supplement Kern's recording of
the events already disclosed, it will be helpful to
learn more about the personality of Col. William R.
Denny. He was a native of the Winchester, Virginia area
and had been extensively involved with the affairs of
the Methodist Episcopal Church throughout his lifetime.
He had multiple business interests in the Shenandoah
Valley, as well as up and down the Eastern United States
where he dealt in mercantile goods. Col. Denny became a
colonel in the Virginia militia in 1858 and was present
at the capture of John Brown in Harpers Ferry, West
Virginia, in 1859. In 1861 he married Margaret A.
Collins, "sister of the well-known pulpit orator of
the Methodist Church, the Rev. John A.
Collins."
During the Civil War Denny was taken prisoner twice.
He was first captured at Point of Rocks, Maryland by
Union forces and imprisoned in Baltimore where he became
very ill. A story has been told that he flashed the
secret sign of a "Mason in distress" to the
prison doctor who, subsequently, made arrangements for
his release. Denny's second arrest was at Fort Monroe
closer to the end of the war, after which he was
returned home.
Of further interest about the Colonel was his
undercover business and war-related transactions in and
around Winchester during this time. It seems that Col.
Denny was in the habit of meeting in his vegetable
garden with a certain woman of ill repute, Ms. Belle
Boyd, who would pass on to him covert information
regarding movement of troops and other military
information about the North, much to his wife's dismay.
She was herself a Northern sympathizer and
vigorously opposed to the woman's presence at the Denny
estate (see footnote-Kern p.68). Another item of
relative importance is the Colonel's brother, James
Denny, who was also a member at Market Street Church and
sided with the North. It is most likely that the
consequent enmity between brothers, William and James
Denny, led to the incident referred to by Rev. Brooke in
his journal entry dated Jan.8, 1861. Rev. Brooke writes:
...Charges of enmity were made by the members against
each other in very bitter terms, and I bound them over
to keep the peace. I found that animosities had existed
for years in this church and proposed [a]...covenant.
[Four admonitions are given]. All present took the
pledge on their knees except for one man, who said he
could not speak to a certain brother!
Although the Civil War era is typically remembered as
a war in which families found themselves fighting
against their own kin, seldom is consideration given to
the related church splits which caused equally grievous
situations. Interestingly, Roy White, descendant of Col.
Denny, has said that James Denny protected and looked
after the Colonel's business and property interests
while the Colonel was imprisoned.
Col. William Denny had obviously established his
personal allegiance to the Southern cause based on his
actions. And so there is a more convincing case made for
the Braddock Street group's desire to be separated from
the many brothers and sisters remaining at Market Street
who were more readily aligned with the Union. Rev.
Brooke's journal reveals that several congregants (in
addition to York) were arrested and held in Rebel
prisons. And yet, to muddle a clear verdict that the
Market Street Church is completely committed to
abolitionism, there is the account disclosing that Rev.
Brooke himself owns a Negro slave. The Reverend's
journal reads:
March 15, 1862 - Federal chaplains called to see me,
four of them from New England,...one of them was Alfred
Chenowith, a minister who used to travel the circuit in
this county....He said that he was not a chaplain but a
map guide. "Worse for that," said I, you, who,
as a circuit rider know every bridle-path in this
Valley, have come...to guide the bayonets...."
While I was talking to him Rev. McRhea slipt into my
kitchen and was trying to persuade my Negro cook to run
away and put herself under the protection of the
army....
To add to the conflicting testimony I shall now
present the first-hand account of Mr. T.K. Cartmell,
introduced earlier as an author, but who also served for
numerous years as Clerk of the County Court, Frederick
County, Virginia in the mid-to-late 1800's. From his
unique position within the court system it is readily
apparent that Mr. Cartmell could access inside
information. Cartmell writes of the division of
Methodism--North and South, then goes on to give his
perspective on the Market Street Church schism. Here is
Cartmell's account:
The Southern [Methodist Episcopal Church] membership
was slow to become too distinctive, desiring to cling to
the Mother Church for many reasons; and this is why we
find the one church, [Market Street] in Winchester until
a year or two before the impending Crisis came. While it
was well known for many years that differences existed
in the Winchester congregation, no overt act occurred to
produce a separation. All were disposed to worship
together; but it finally became apparent that harmony
was affected, and although many regretted the necessity,
yet all felt there was a principle to stifle if this
condition continued.
At last the momentous step was taken, when on July
5th, 1858, thirty members withdrew....This band of
thirty, who stood for the principles as they viewed the
situation, were no laggards--they proceeded to organize
a separate Church, and on the 24th of the same month,
Rev. W.W. Bennet, Presiding Elder of the Washington
District duly organized them as a Congregation under the
Virginia Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church South.
The writer remembers the reception given their first
Pastor, Rev. George H. Ray....
Cartmell does not even mention the incident with the
girl's school, and this leads me to believe that the
contentions leading to the schism were more accurately
related directly to the slavery issue. The incident with
the Valley Female Institute was merely the last straw.
However, I would like to present one last question over
the issue before moving on, and this is the attempt by
the schismatics to secure a minister from the Baltimore
(North) Conference. Does not this demonstrate Denny's
desire to remain affiliated with the North? I'm not sure
how to answer this, but we can only wonder what would
have happened if the Baltimore Conference had sent them
a New England preacher, especially with the subsequent
Southern Conference's dropping the "slave
disciplines" altogether in mid-1858. Therefore, it
seems most logical to assume that either Denny had a
specific (and familiar) Northern candidate in mind or he
was merely carrying out a procedural mandate, all the
while knowing that his next appeal to the South would
not be turned away, and therefore, strengthening his
position. It is possible that Denny knew Bishop William
Capers, of the Southern Church, who actively sought out
Northern congregations along the border region to
convert them over to the Southern Conference, as is
attested to in William Warren Sweet's account --
(Virginia Methodism--A History.249).
It becomes apparent from Rev. Brooke's diary that the
Market Street Church must have considered itself
detached from the Baltimore Conference (North) as of
March 7, 1860. This must be true because Rev. Brooke
reports that the Conference in Winchester unanimously
passed the following resolution:
This Conference disclaims having the least sympathy
with Abolitionists--on the contrary, we are determined
not to hold conexion [sic] with any ecclesiastical body
that makes non-slave-holding a condition for membership
in the church.
Reverend Brooke's declaration is a direct
contradiction to the ruling of the Baltimore Conference
which had simultaneously re-affirmed and updated its
anti-slavery prohibitions in 1860. The "new
chapter" that was officially adopted by the
northern Baltimore Conference read: "We believe
that the buying, selling or holding of human beings, to
be used as chattels is ...inconsistent with...that Rule
in our discipline which requires...us to do no
harm."
Although the language of this rule was threatening
for the border Conferences, it was somewhat repressed by
an overriding clause that expressed the "advisory
and admonitory...character" of the document.
The Northern Conference had delayed the institution
of more stringent slavery Disciplines in order not to
alienate or provoke the Border Conferences. This was
also characteristic of the Southern congregants who
delayed their abandonment of the anti-slavery
disciplines until 1858 when they did just that.
Nevertheless, the Winchester Conference, adhered to the
Baltimore Conference-North right up until the
aforementioned decision of March 7, 1860. Note that Rev.
Brooke was not adopting the Southern Conference agenda
but was participating along with many other Border
church members in their own independent Border
Conference. The Border region was a confusing and
difficult place for the faithful.
The history of African American Methodism in
Winchester apparently dates back to Francis Asbury's
earliest preaching engagements in 1772 as is explained
in the John Mann United Methodist Church History. The
earliest mention of a Methodist house of worship for the
"colored people" is noted by Cartmell who
refer's to 75 years of Negro church involvement within
the Winchester area, I presume he is referring to black
Methodism. This would date the predecessors of John Mann
Methodist Episcopal Church to 1833 as a "separate
organization" from the Market Street congregation.
Sloat gives an account of the Market Street church
property records as follows: "From the records we
learn that the church property in 1844... [included] a
house of worship for our colored people in good order
and free from debt." The following account of the
church comes from Frederick Morton who explains that the
John Mann Church was originally "a log cabin built
on the present site of the brick building which stands
on Cork Street" in Winchester -- the John Mann
Methodist Episcopal Church.
There are numerous references to the rebuilding of
the John Mann Church in 1858. On November 20th of that
year the Winchester Republican and General Advertiser
provides a glimpse of the determination and joyous
spirit engendered by the people of the John Mann
congregation: "Gas has been taken into the Colored
Methodist Church on Cork street....The trench was dug
Thursday and filled up Friday night, the preachers of
the church leading the way with joyful hymns."
However on a more sobering note, one has to wonder about
the reason for these church members having to do this
work at night. Presumably their services were required
by their white owners during the day.
The question arises as to the presence of Negroes in
the congregation at Market Street Church. There is no
record of any animosity between whites and the Africans
who worshiped at Market Street Church, although it had
always been required that the blacks sit separately from
the white congregants and not commune until after the
whites had partaken. Kern's account notes that on March
6, 1861 there were 9 "Colored Member
Preachers" in addition to 3 "Colored Exorters."
Considering that these men must have had their families
with them the black members of the congregation might
have numbered 30 to 50 people.
A matter of vital importance to the development of
African American Methodism is the dissolution of the
Slave Code Law in 1864. Prior to this date "...it
was a requirement of the slave code that two [white] men
should be in attendance at any religious meeting of the
Negroes." The two white preachers from Market
Street who worked with the John Mann congregation were
J.R. Bowen and Joseph Nulton. There were also two
colored preachers, Rev. Scott of Delaware (present at
John Mann church dedication Dec. 26, 1858) and Rev.
Martin Spriddle from Baltimore.
As the war progressed and Union troops flooded into
the South, there were emancipated slaves exercising
their new found liberty. They are gathered and have
organized themselves in order to gain complete control
of their church. Once again Rev. Brooke has recorded the
historic moment in his journal of the events which took
place on March 15, 1862. He writes:
I looked out and hundreds of Negroes were in the
streets shouting: "Massa Abe has set us free!"
At night, the colored people held a meeting at the
church and passed resolutions that "no white man
should preach to them who did not go in for President
Lincoln and the war for the liberty of the slaves!"
The following morning, March 16, 1862, the New
England (abolitionist) chaplains had gathered in Market
Street Church with many Union soldiers. Rev. Brooke
writes, "Rev. McRhea was in my pulpit - he said he
'was going to hold forth' - and commenced with a hymn,
and then, such a prayer I never heard. 'Crush! Crush!
Crush!' was his only idea." Obviously Rev. Brooke
was not pleased about the Yankee Reverend stealing into
his pulpit, to say nothing of the Northern rhetoric
being prayed down upon Brooke's own congregants of
Virginia! In another entry of Rev. Brooke's journal
dated May 3rd, 1862, he writes: "Saw Col. McDowell
- Provost and got colored church shut up on account of
insubordination of Negroes...."
Rev. Spriddle was the first pastor of John Mann
Church able to preach independently of the white
ministers in 1864. Kern notes that the colored church of
Winchester, John Mann, was given the authority to
conduct its own worship services without the required
white leadership presence in 1864. This was a provision
of the General Conference. The John Mann Methodist
Episcopal Church subsequently "became a
congregation under the Washington Conference and had
[its] own preachers."
Here ends my contribution to an understanding of
antebellum Methodism's transition to the post-Civil War
era. No one who has followed these developments can
question God's divine hand working toward the
emancipation and liberation of the oppressed. It was a
time when the Church struggled with its theology and
God's people wrestled, hurt, and killed one another for
lack of understanding, selfishness, and pride. And yet
the Church remained faithful to its call. Whether it was
right or wrong the Church sought to provide refuge and
rest for spent souls and wounded bodies. Most engraved
in my mind are the sounds of joyous singing, shouting,
and the clanging of picks and shovels as the people of
the John Mann Methodist Episcopal Church worked into the
cool November night to install their new gas line. For
they had a hope in the Gospel and a vision of freedom
which only the God of the Exodus could bring forth.
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