Local settler William Skanes
wanted to start a Masonic lodge and Jay Philip Stiles wanted to start a
Methodist Society. A crude meeting place was set up in 1796.
A building was constructed in 1807 to hold both groups, though Stiles died
that same year. In the early 1800s, circuit riders were assigned
to the Ouachita Circuit and are said to have held services at Bartholomew.
[Although this information was found by Dr. Houston Roberts in Masonic
records, it cannot be verified.]
The first recorded pastor to
preach in the Bartholomew area was Rev. John G. Jones in 1826. According
to a paper found in Mrs. Matilda Johnson’s Bible, the first frame church
building was dedicated on June 25, 1835.
The current building was constructed
in 1853 by the Methodists and the Masons. There were two doors in
the front and one behind the pulpit. The Masons would access the
upper floor by an exterior stairway. The Masons later surrendered
their charter in 1899. In 1859 the church acquired the deed to the
13 acres of land occupied by the church and cemetery.
In the 1940s, an inside staircase
was built to the second floor, which was converted to a fellowship hall
and Sunday School rooms.
The church was renovated (which
included new pews) in the mid 1950s. A major change was the
larger vestibule added in 1957 (replacing a smaller one added in 1950),
which had a classroom on one side and restrooms on the other.
In 1960, the second floor was remodeled and the sanctuary floor covered
with new oak flooring. Two years later, the youth bought a lighted
cross for the sanctuary and the Pings donated a new organ.
In 1986, the church was listed
as a National Methodist Historical Site. In 1989, a new fellowship
hall was built near the church and dedicated the following year by Bishop
William Oden..
Source: Bartholomew United Methodist Church: 1796-1998,
Vera Lee Hedges |
