| Jonathan Griffin and Rachel Sharp were married in 1806, in Bath County, VA, by Jeremiah Burns, Methodist Episcopal Minister. "1810 - Methodism appeared in (Bath Co. Va.) present Highland County, Virginia [and Pocahontas Co. West Virginia] at least as early as 1797, and probably earlier. Private homes of Methodist zealots were homes for the circuit riders as well as places of worship for the people of the neighborhood. Among these were the DAVIS and CURRY houses on Bullpasture, the WADE house on Back Creek, and the SEYBERT house at Forks of Waters. In 1810 the Methodist classes in Highland were those of DAVIS, BURNER, STEPHENSON, WILSON, MATHENY, SEYBERT, WADE, and MOORE. From "It's About Time… Chronology of Bird Family" http://www.rootsweb.com/~vabath/bird-2.htm We know that there were Moores and Seyberts near the Griffins in census records, and that William Griffin, son of Jonathan was a Sunday School teacher. Jonathan's daughter, Rachel Griffin, married Charles Ruckman, a teacher and Methodist Episcopal Minister. He took his family to Sharon, Ohio at the beginning of the Civil War. Members of the Young family were Methodist ministers. [Our Samuel Young Griffin, grandson of Jonathan, was named for a member of this family.] Also, Samuel's brother, Adam Bland Griffin, was named for a very well known Methodist minister of the area. The Old HAMRICK Barn is located in what is now Webster County (formerly part of VA). In the early 1830's it was a meeting place for Methodist Church services, but when new church buildings began to appear in the remote mountain hollows, the HAMRICK Barn reverted to its former status as a shelter for livestock. Today it has been restored for historic purposes. The Old HAMRICK Barn is located about 6 miles from Webster Springs on the Bergoo Road, just off Rt. 15 in Webster County. When more & more settlers came to the Elk Valley, the Methodist Church took note & sent the popular Rev. Addison HITE to administer to the isolated congregration here. Since there was no established church building, Benjamin HAMRICK offered his new barn as a meeting place & in 1833 the first organized church meeting took place. When new church buildings cropped up, the barn fell back to its former use & so it remained until 1983 when Miss Portia HAMRICK, a great-granddaughter of Benjamin HAMRICK deeded the barn & 1 1/4 acres of surrounding grounds to the Methodist Historical Society. The Methodist Historical Society, Inc. has spent years restoring the Old Hamrick Barn & on Oct. 3, 1992, celebrated the 5th anniversary of its restoration & the construction of a new amphitheater at the site. [Daneille’s notes: The owner of Hamrick Barn, Benjamin Hamrick had a niece, Nancy Hamrick, who married Benoni Griffin (our Jonathan’s son). Benoni was the first school teacher in the log school (not church) that Hamrick built for the community. Benjamin’s grandson, Isaac Hamrick, married Margaret Griffin (our Jonathan’s daughter). So you can be pretty sure that our ancestors visited this barn at some time during their lives, if not attending regular worship services there.] |
| EARLY METHODIST CHURCH IN WEST VIRGINIA |
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