AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY
OF
ZION HILL
(PARADISE) METHODIST CHURCH
Zion Hill is the home of the oldest religious congregation in this section of the country. Since the history of Zion Hill and the settlement of the Paradise vicinity are so closely related, a brief outline of the settlement of this area is included.
Coles County is believed to have been the
first settled, about 1824, in what is now Hutton Township. The first settlers in the Wabash Point area,
Daniel Drake and James Nash, came in 1825 or early 1826. The Drake cabin was on the banks of the
Little Wabash about a mile south of the site of the village of Paradise.
In the fall of 1826, Mr. Charles Sawyer came
and settled in what is now Mattoon Township.
The first permanent settlers in Paradise township were three Hart
brothers, Miles H. (known as “Old Jolly”), Moses and Thomas, Jr., who also came
in the fall of 1826, followed in short time by their parents, “Uncle Tommy”
Hart and his wife, and two other brothers, Silas and Jonathon. The Hart families built cabins about a mile
west of where the Dry Grove Church was later to be built. In 1827, ’28, ’29, and ’30 many pioneer
families came here from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, many of them settling
in the Dry Grove area. Among these
early settlers were the following families:
Alexander, Apperson, Boles, Bryant, Champion,
Cole, Coleman, Cunningham, Curry, Gannaway, Graham, Hanson, Radley, Slover,
Tremble, Turner, Yocum, Young. Graves
of many of these pioneer settlers are to be found in the Dry Grove Cemetery
today.
For a long time the entire area, including
Dry Grove and Paradise settlement, was known as the Wabash Point
settlement. Wabash Point and Muddy
Point were the two most populous and important settlements in Coles County in
those early days.
The word “point” was commonly used as
denoting a tract of timber bordering on a small stream and usually coming to a
point near its source. The term “Wabash
Point” to the early pioneer meant the place where the timber along the Little
Wabash pointed out into the prairie. In
its early state Paradise Township was comprised of three fourths woodland and
one fourth prairie. Dry Grove was a
tract of timber several hundred acres in extent and where it got its name is
not known.
Coles County was divided from Clark County in
1830 and at that time was divided into three sections—Charleston, Woodbury and
Paradise. At that time Paradise
included not only its present limits but also all territory now in Mattoon,
Pleasant Grove and a portion of North Okaw Townships, as well as a large part
of the present Cumbersland County.
The village of Paradise was not laid out
until the year 1837. In 1828 Joseph
Smart had settled temporarily near what is now Paradise but did not remain
there long. A post office called paradise had been established in
1830, the first in Coles County, which was, for a time, kept in the home of
George M. Hanson, the first postmaster, then at Slover’s store and at other
places before the village was founded.
George M. Hanson, a preacher, also was influential in the creation of
the new county of Coles, was a member of the first Board of County
Commissioners and later served as a representative and senator in the State
Legislature.
In 1836 a village to be called Paradise was
laid out on the Old State Road by Mr. Charles Sawyer but nothing further came
of it. In 1837, in order to procure a
steam mill on the Little Wabash, Thomas Brinnegar and David Moore deeded 40
acres of land to Miles W. Hart (not the first settler, Miles H.) and Lemme
Goar, who erected the mill. This was
the first of its kind in this part of the country. The boiler, engine and burr stones for it were brought by wagon
from Cincinnati. It burned down but
through donations from the citizens of the community was rebuilt and operated
for 8 or 10 years then was moved to Charleston.
But on a portion of the 40 acre tract
mentioned above, adjacent to the mill site, the town of Paradise was surveyed
by Joseph Fowler, with the original plot containing 54 lots, 42 of which were
located south of Main Street, as it was called at the time—now the
highway. There were two east-west
streets, the foregoing Main Street, and another south of it called Mill
Street. There were two north-south
streets, the one to the west called Water Street, the other one Meridian
Street. A public sale of lots was held,
with $500-$600 being realized.
There are two recorded versions of how the
village acquired its name but the one most frequently mentioned is that
Paradise was the name of the home town of George M. Hanson, who came from
Paradise, Virginia (now West Virginia).
The village was located on the
Palestine-Shelbyville Road. It was also
near the line of what was the old stage route from Terre Haute to St. Louis and
for a time it was one of the most thriving villages between those two
cities. At one time it had hundreds of
citizens, four good stores, and various other businesses of different
kinds. In the very early days mail came
to the Paradise post office by horseback and stagecoach, but after the building
of the Illinois Central Railroad and the establishment of the Etna post office,
the Paradise post office became a star route out of Etna and continued thus
until 1902 when it was closed. The
earliest houses in Paradise were of mud.
These early settlers were people of deep
religious convictions and the typical faith of the frontier was Methodist. The Methodist Church had developed a plan
especially suitable to frontier conditions and historians say that this played
a large part in Illinois’ pioneer history, through the influence of the circuit
riders in the settlements they visited, where they exercised a powerful
influence in maintaining law and order.
The Methodist system of church organization was well-ordered and efficient
and the introduction of such a system in a more or less disorganized community
had a far-reaching influence upon the widely scattered settlements of the early
pioneers.
Methodism is believed to have been introduced
into Illinois near the last decade of the 1700’s. In 1800 the population of Illinois was roughly estimated at 2500,
largely French. By 1809 there were
settlements on Shoal Creek as far up as where Greenville now stands and the
Shoal Creek Circuit was formed in 1818.
In 1827, Thomas Randle, traveling the Shoal Creek Circuit, formed a
class in Shelbyville.
The earliest groups of Methodists were called
Classes and when a circuit of several classes was formed it was known as a
Society. Many small societies scattered
over a large territory would be included in one large circuit and this made
possible the continued existence of small societies. Every circuit had its minister, or was combined with another
circuit, and all societies were looked after.
The circuit riders journeyed into the community occasionally. Several of the early settlers were local
preachers, exhorters, or class leader.
The classes usually chose a leader from their group, and they usually
met once a week. If there was a local
preacher in the group they conducted the meeting, otherwise the class leaders
did so.
On October 22, 1828, from Vandalia, Illinois,
Samuel H. Thompson, formerly the presiding elder of the Shoal Creek Circuit,
wrote a letter to Miles H. Hart. (The
original of this letter is in the Library at Springfield.) In it he referred to a discussion he had had
with Mr. Hart in August of that year about the large number of Methodists in
Wabash Pint and eastward. He stated
that he had discussed the matter with Peter Cartwright, then the Presiding
Elder of Shoal Creek Circuit, and that he and his newly-appointed assistant,
William Deneen (grandfather of the late Governor and U. S. Senator Deneen)
would arrive at the Hart home on October 30th and he asked that
preaching places be arranged.
This visit marked the establishment of the
Wabash Point Society, a part of which was, years later, to become the Zion Hill
Methodist Church. Wabash Point became a
regular point of call on the Shelbyville Circuit (Charleston was the east end
of the circuit) and it is listed as a preaching appointment on the Shoal Creek
Circuit in 1828, with S. H. Thompson and Wm. L. Denneen as co-pastors.
The Shoal Creek had become very large and in
1829 it was divided and the northeastern part of it became the Shelbyville
Circuit. In 1831, Barton Randle, the
preacher for the Shelbyville Circuit, closed his year with a camp meeting at
Wabash Point, at which he reported much good was done.
In 1833 the Shelbyville Circuit had a mileage
of 150 miles and 423 members. The
circuit rider’s report and circuit plan for that year listed the following
classes at Wabash Point:
Geo. M. Hanson at
what is now Magnet
15 members
Miles H. Hart
between Paradise and Dry Grove 24 members
Fuller’s
east of Hart Home 29 members
Sawyer’s
20 members
Wm. Williams
vicinity of Lerna not given
Elisha Linder
near Wabash School not given
During these first years meetings were held
in the woods in warm weather and in the winter services were held in the homes
of class members. Homes frequently
mentioned as meeting places were those of Dr. John Apperson ( the first
practicing physician in Coles Couty), Deniel Bryant, Clemme Goar, Geo. M.
Hanson, William Gannaway, Miles H. Hart, Hiram Tremble, and others. Two of these pioneer leaders, Clemme Goar
and Miles H. Hart, were two of the first trustees of the Mattoon Methodist
Church when it was established in 1855.
In 1837 the first West Paradise School
building was erected and it is recorded as having served thereafter as a place
for class meetings also.
In the early part of the 1830’s, as the
number of settlers increased, they began to have camp meetings in the summer or
early fall, to which people came form miles around, bringing their families and
camping out as long as the meeting lasted.
Circuit riders, when passing through the community, would stop for a few
days at such meetings. Camp meetings
had originated about 1800 in Kentucky and Tennessee.
The earliest place established for worship in
Paradise Township was in a woods midway between the present Camp Ground
Cemetery and the Dry Grove Church site.
It consisted of a heavy wooden pulpit (built by Local Preacher Hiram
Tremble), which in early pioneer days were made high above the congregation,
under a clapboard roof and surrounded by wooden tents. This served as a summer meeting place from
1831 to 1833.
A few years later a wooden tabernacle was
built about one and one-half miles northwest of the first building. It was about 50 feet square, with a log
house adjoining. Here also wooden tents
were built. Until 1855, thousands came
here annually from spring until fall.
Just across the ravine on the west side of the river was the site of a
second camp ground which for several weeks each year, for many years, was a
tented city where services were held under the auspices of the Methodist
Church.
In the course of these meeting some deaths
occurred and a few graves were placed in an adjoining plot of ground known as
“God’s Acre.” This is now known as the
Old Camp Ground Cemetery.
The services at these early meetings lasted
two to three hours, depending on the preacher.
They did not have any song books so a leader would read two lines of a
hymn in solemn, monotonous tones, and lead the congregation in singing two
lines, then read and sing two more lines, until the hymn was finished. They sang all verses, no matter how many
there were.
In 1846 the Wabash Point Society was on the
Charleston Circuit and Rev. J. C. Rucker, the preacher, referred to it as a
“good Society of about 60 members, among the leaders being Hiram Tremble, a
local preacher, Dr. Apperson, Geo. M. Hanson and Miles H. Hart.” He continued that “Methodism was strong at Wabash
Point in militant spirituality and knowledge of Methodist theology.” At that time the Charleston Circuit
membership was shown as 287, with 10 local preachers and 7 Sunday Schools.
Eventually, because the settlers were so
widely separated, the original Society at Wabash Point divided into three
congregations and each organized churches in their own neighborhood. One of these became the Paradise Methodist
Society, later to be Zion Hill, and another became the Muddy Point Church.
The Methodists began organizing churches
about 1850-1852. A Baptist Church was
built in the Paradise vicinity about 1840 a short distance northwest of the
present Zion Hill Church, Samuel Pullen being the first minister. The first Methodist Church was built in
Paradise in 1853. It was located across
the road south and slightly east of the present home of Wesley Easter. It was constructed from bricks which were
made on land adjoining the church site.
A parsonage was built in Paradise at the same time. In 1874, when the Wabash Church and parsonage were built, preachers went there to live and the parsonage in Paradise was sold for use as a residence. It is presently the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Matthews.
It is not known just when the Sunday School
was organized. But there is in
existence a Secretary’s Book of Paradise Sabbath School (as it was known at
that time) dating back to 1855. From
that book we give the following typical report dated April 4, 1858. W. Adams was the secretary at the time.
“This morning the Paradise Sabbath School met
for the first time in the year 1858.
The school was opened with prayer by Bro. Wm. Gannaway. Closed with prayer by Bro. Richard B. Tate.
This being a beautiful day, quite a
congregation of children and parents
were present. The children all behaved
well and manifested a great desire to learn and a willingness to be
taught. We hope the number of scholars
may rapidly increase in order that the precious youth of our country may become
wise in that wisdom, the beginning of which is the fear of the Lord.
Parents, encourage your children by taking
them by the hand and leading them to the Sabbath School.”
In 1869, W. F. Lowe, the preacher at the
time, assisted by Peter Wallace the Presiding Elder, started a movement to
build a new church on the hill west of the village. The old church was torn down, the mortar scraped off the brick,
and the bricks carried to the new site and used in the present building. The cost of the new building was $3,000.00.
Following is a copy of the minute of a
meeting of the Society prior to the erection of the new church:
“TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: At a meeting of the Society known as the
Methodist E. Church held in Paradise in the County of Coles and State of
Illinois on the 31st day of May A.D. 1869 for the purpose of
electing the trustees of the said Church, Richard Champion, Miles W. Hart,
Michael Rominger, Calvin Mayhew, John H. Wood, Adam W. Hart, and Joseph B. Hart
was duly elected trustees of said Church for the term of three years. This election is held prior to the erection
of a new house of worship (or Church) which said Church is named Zion Hill
Church. James Sawyer, Chairman; A. Y.
Hart, Jr., Secretary.”
There is a tradition that the name “Zion
Hill” came through the singing of the hymn, “Were Marching to Zion” by the
congregation on their way to the new church.
However, the foregoing minutes give evidence that the church was named
prior to its erection. Notes of the
late J. H. Deckard (who became a member in 1867) state that the name was
selected by Adam W. Hart.
In the early days there were two amen
corners. The pulpit was in the center,
on a platform. There were rows of seats
on either side, with two aisles, and two tiers of seats down the center, with a
partition between. The men sat on one
side of the church, the women on the other side. During early days, tallow candles served as lights, then wall
lamps took their place. Originally,
there was a vestibule which was removed about 1900. At one time there was a balcony, believed to have been added not
long after the church was built. The
roof was raised, presumably at the time the balcony was put in. The church was remodeled in 1882-3 but
whether the balcony was removed at that time is not known, however it did not
remain long. The church was papered for
the first time about 1901, the work being done by Ed Chamberlin and Joe
Williams. This was the first project of
the newly-organized Ladies’ Aid Society.
Prior to that time the walls were whitecoat plaster.
For many years there was a stile in from of
the church. There were no trees except
native trees for many year.
In the early 1900’s a basement was put in, a
furnace was installed, a new floor laid and new seats put in. In 1931 a new roof was put on and a few
years later, electricity installed. A
new oil furnace was acquired in 1952.
This year the interior of the church and the basement have been
completely redecorated.
Camp meeting were held in the grove by the
church in the early 1870’s. After the
building of the Wabash Church in 1874, annual camp meetings were held at the
Wabash grove.
Various methods have been used through the
years to raise funds for special purposes.
One, about 1885, was what was called a “Jug Breaking.” To raise funds to purchase an organ, little
brown pottery jugs, four inches high, were given to the children who went
around and got the jugs filled with coins.
When the jugs were broken there was a large laundry basket of
coins. Prizes were given to the children
having the largest collections. There
was a large Sunday School at that time.
At about this same time, there were held
annual picnics with the other churches of the Circuit, at the Wabash Grove,
with prizes given to the Sunday School with the largest attendance and the best
singing. Prizes won by Zion Hill at
these event were for years displayed.
The picture of John Wesley which presently
hangs on the church wall was painted by E. Cavins, an instructor at Illinois
Wesleyan College, formerly a resident of this vicinity.
When the first organ was purchased for the
church there was a division of opinion among the members, some of them not
wishing to have any kind of instrument in the church. The first organist was Miss Alvaretta Tremble.
In the year 1910 on of the Mattoon variety
stores held a contest, with a piano as the prize. Each purchaser of goods was allowed votes in proportion to their
purchase, which votes could be cast for anyone they wished. Several organizations worked for this
prize. Many of the Zion Hill members
worked diligently, speaking to the people as they left the store and asking for
their votes if they had no other preference.
Zion Hill won and in this way a fine piano was obtained for the church,
which has given excellent service during the past 45 years.
The Ladies Aid Society, now known as the
Women’s Society of Christian Service, was organized in August, 1901, with Mrs.
Robert Mayhew taking a leading part in this organization, assisted by the Rev.
C. W. Casely. Always an enthusiastic
organization, they observed their 50th Anniversary on August 21,
1951 with appropriate program.
A week’s celebration , for the 106th
anniversary of the founding of the church, was held August 13-19, 1934, with
daily services conducted by visiting ministers and singers. Rev. Robert Evans was the minister at that
time. Trustees at that time were;
George Alexander, Ernest Chamberlin, J. H. Deckard, John Dieffenbaugh, Zack
Fox, John Hart and Frank Payton.
In its early days, the Paradise Church was on
the Paradise Circuit, other churches being Muddy Point and Kickapoo Point. The Paradise Circuit ended about 1865. For years it was on what was known as the
Five-Point Circuit, with Wabash, Dry Grove, Etna and Gays. About 1901 this was made a three-point
circuit, with Dry Grove and Etna.
Undoubtedly many people will remember the annual Four of July picnics
which these three churches held in Baker’s Grove, between Zion Hill and Dry
Grove. Zion Hill was again put on the
circuit with Gays in 1922, and on with the Lerna Church in 1933. In 1934 the five churches on the charge were
Zion Hill, Lerna, Trilla, Farmington and Mt. Tabor; at present, Zion Hill,
Lerna, Farmington.
In 1876, Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose Hart sold one
acre of land to the Wabash Masonic Lodge at Etna, to be used for the Zion Hill
Cemetery. In 1892, the lodge conveyed
the Cemetery to the Trustees of Zion Hill Church. Additional land has been acquired from time to time. In 1906, the cemetery was incorporated as
the Zion Hill Cemetery Association, at which time the trustees were: J. Z.
Butler, D. W. Chamberlin, J. H.
Deckard, A. W. Hart, D. A. Michael and R. T. Mayhew.
August 28, 1955
Author Unknown
Following are the preachers who have served
Paradise—Zion Hill Church since the first church building was erected in 1853.
1854/5 Allen
Buckner (a presiding elder living in Paradise) and assistant, Bradley
Hungerford. Mr. Buckner was a Colonel in the Civil War.
1856/8 W.
R. Howard (The late J. H. Deckard recorded this preacher and the year
as
his first recollection of camp meeting preaching.)
1859 Stephen
Huckstep (Captian in Civil War, killed in 1862.)
1860 William
C. Blundell
1861/2 Joshua
C. Baker
1863/4 Benjamin
F. Lodge
1865/6 Isaiah
S. Aldrich. Last preacher of Paradise
Circuit.
1867/8 Daniel
E. May
1869 W.
F. Lowe. With the assistant of Peter
Wallace, Presiding Elder, he
started
the movement to build new church west of the village.
1870 William
Rutger and Richard B. Tate
1871 J.
H. Holloway. Held camp meeting in the
grove around the church.
1872 P.
F. Thornburg. Held camp meeting in the
grove around the church.
1873 Arthur
Bradshaw
1874 William
Mitchell. Built Wabash Church.
1875 G.
R. S. McElfresh
1876 Uriah
Warrington. Held a camp meeting at
Wabash Grove.
1877/8 George
S. Miller
1879/81 William
M. Poe. Held a camp meeting at Wabash
Grove.
1882/4 Mitchell
H. Ewers. Remodeled Zion Hill Church.
1885 Ezra
J. Dunham
1886 J.
Wesley Miller
1887 Thos.
L. Hancock. Built the Etna Church.
1888/90 Thos.
H. Fierce
1891 H.
H. Goad
1892/3 Jacob
E. Scheer
1894 Albert
G. Blunk
1895 D.
V. Gowdy
1896 J.
W. Hill
1897 J.
P. Morton
1898/9 Jesse
Thorp
1900 Charles
L. Caseley
1901/2 George
L. Burton. Built second Etna Church and
Parsonage.
1903/4 E.
L. Darley
1905 C.
L. York
1906/7 J.
L. Bell. 1 ½ years.
1907 Walter
Ewing. ½ years.
1908/9 Harry
E. Crane
1910 David
T. Black
1911 George
E. Pennell. ½ years.
1912 James
E. Reynolds
1913/4 Samuel
F. Balch
1915/6 Alvin
R. Wassell
1917 Charles
W. Haney
1918 W.
D. Russell
1919 Charles
E. Hogue
1920 Rupert
A. Illk
1921 L.
James Kindig
1922 W.
A. Schell
1923/4 W.
H. Stephens
1925 Frank
H Byrne
1926/7 M.
Louis Cooper
1928 J.
T. Hendrix
1929/37 Robert
Evans
1937/9 Paul
Meredith
1939/42 R.
N. Montague
1942/4 George
McCumber
1944/5 Edward
Nickerson
1945/7 Frank
Nestler
1947/50 Gene
Gehres
1950/53 Rueben
Tingley
1953/ James
E. Reynolds