Williams Chapel
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
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WILLIAMS CHAPEL (1845)
(CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH)
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Williams Chapel is the oldest and only antebellum house of worship surviving in Front Royal. Built by the Presbyterians, the exact dates of its completion and dedication are not known, but as records show, under construction in 1844 it has shared our history for almost one and a half centuries. It has served as church, courthouse, school, and civic center, echoing not only praise, prayer, and preaching, but the voices and footsteps of judges, magistrates, teachers, and pupils.
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The Front Royal Presbyterian congregation was organized in 1794 by the noted Rev. William Williamson, but it shared houses of worship with the Old School Baptists and Methodists for nearly 50 years before erecting this church. Under the ministry of the Rev. Robert T. Berry, the congregation was reorganized in 1839 with Col. Robert Turner and William Randolph as elders. There were only seven members, but as with David,' "it was in their hearts to build a house for God." The lot, donated in 1840 by John Stephenson and deeded to Robert Turner as trustee, was enlarged in 1844 by an adjoining piece of land given by William S. Thompson. Apparently the church was under construction for several years, but was' completed about 1845 through the zealous efforts of ladies whose names have been passed down to us as Mrs. Jane Buck, Mrs. I. N. Buck, Mrs. Catherine Blakemore, Mrs. Mary Cunningham, Mrs. Elizabeth Cook, Mrs. Catherine Gardner, Mrs. Mary Lovell and her -daughters, Mrs. Beverly Randolph, Mrs. Robert Turner and the Misses Eliza Brown, Mary and Martha Lane, Betty LeHew and Susan Randolph.
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Susan Randolph, a brilliant lady of great charm, was then teaching in a local private school. A social highlight of ante-bellum Front Royal was her marriage in this church March 11, 1852, to Samuel Richardson Millar, scion of several prominent Warren County families. They were the parents of Col. Samuel Rolfe Millar, Sr. (See chapter on Belle Boyd Cottage for the Randolph and Millar families.)
This church was the seat of Warren County government during the first year of the War between the States when the courthouse was being used as a military hospital. On November 18, 1862, the sheriff was ordered to "pay ...to Giles Cook, one of the Elders of the Presbyterian Church, the sum of $25 in consideration of the use of the church for the holding of Court for the past year." The Justices of the Peace then composed not only the County Court, but also the county government, an executive, legislative and judicial body responsible for all the business now conducted by the Board of Supervisors - - - roads, taxes, schools, law enforcement, etc. Thus, within these church walls were made the momentous decisions of that critical period of transition from Federal to Confederate government, under the jurisdiction of some of the most honorable men in local annals appointed by the governor to serve as "gentlemen justices." They included Robert S. McKay, Presiding Justice, John B. Petty, Col. Edward B. Jacobs, William Beaty, John L. Hockman, Col. I. N. King, Thomas F. Buck, Daniel H. Spengler, James Leith, John W. Marlow, Lafayette Updike, John S. Davison, Marcus C. Richardson, John Churchill, Thomas B. Massie, James Conrad, Charles H. Green, Samuel P. Rogers, Jesse H. McKay and Tarlton Carr.
Local diaries tell us that in this church the community joined in the observance of days of national fasting and prayer, hearing the revered Mr. Berry preach "edifying sermons on the present troubles of the country" and offer ‘prayers for the dear absent ones in the army." Other denominations worshipped there when their own churches were taken over for military use, notably the Episcopal and Old School Baptist buildings. So completely did the Federal army dismantle the latter church that its members accepted the offer of the Presbyterians to use their church for worship until 1882, when lie Baptists completed their new building.
Sometime after the War, extensive repairs were made to the Presbyterian Church. The windows were reduced in size and the interior redecorated. However, the balcony was retained, so typical of ante-bellum Southern churches in which they were provided for seating the colored members, who did not have separate churches until after the War. These Negro members were a respected and beloved part of the congregation, brought to God through the labors of white ministers and members, at white homes and altars, and their spiritual welfare zealously nurtured by their white pastors.
In 1885, during the pastorate of the scholarly and eloquent Rev. C. W. Hollis, the Presbyterians bought a site for a new church at the corner of South Royal Avenue and Jackson Street, selling their Chester Street church for $600. to the Trustees of the Front Royal School District. For some years it served as a center for public affairs, as noted in the Warren Sentinel issues of the 1880's when it is referred to as "the old Presbyterian Church." The annual meeting of the lot owners of Prospect Hill Cemetery was held there June 9, 1888, and the taxpayers of Front Royal were called to a meeting there August 11, 1888, to decide whether there should be a tax levied to complete and pay off the debt on the building of the Relief Hook and Ladder Co. It was called to order by W. P. King, Mayor, Col. I. N. King was elected Chairman and John T. Lovell as Secretary. It was decided since the building of the Relief Hook and Ladder Co. belonged to the Corporation of Front Royal, "the Trustees of said Corporation should increase the- levy on property from 25 to 35 cents on $100., which would yield $254.79", enough to pay the debt.
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It was in that summer of 1888 that the fabulous Belle Boyd, on a lecture tour, performed before a large crowd in this Church, costumed in a full-dress uniform that left a more lasting impression on some of her younger audience than did her dramatic recital of her adventures as a Confederate spy.
Her appearance was reported by the Sentinel: "Madame Belle Boyd, a resident of this town during the first two years of the late war, 'ex-Captain and Aide to Stonewall Jackson, and famous the world over as "The Rebel Spy", told in a most interesting and often thrilling manner her experience on land and sea during those four years of blood and devastation. Despite her imprisonments and sufferings for the Confederate cause, she closed with an eloquent appeal for a burial of the memory of all wrongs and a stronger affection for a restored Union."
Three political parties, the Democratic Republicans, and Prohibitionists, held County conventions in this Church in 1888. E.H. Jackson, Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee of Warren County, called a meeting of the Democratic voters on April 16, to elect six Delegates and six Alternates to attend the State Convention in Norfolk. The Hon. S. S. Turner was elected Delegate at Large, with L. R. Steele as Alternate; the Front Royal District elected The Hon. H. H. Downing and E. H. Jackson as Delegates, with Judge John T. Lovell and M. M. Johnson as Alternates; the Cedarville District elected H. E. Naylor as Delegate and John R. Rust, Alternate; the South River District chose Win. Robinson as Delegate, John G. Brown, Alternate; and the Fork District sent Geo. W. Cone as Delegate, Henry N. Richards, Alternate.
John T. Silman, Chairman of the County Republican Committee, called a meeting at "the old Presbyterian Church" to elect one Delegate and one Alternate to the Republican State Convention at Petersburg May 17, 1888. C. L. Pritchard was elected Delegate and C. B. Fristoe as Alternate. On October 21, "Col. S. Brown Allen, Republican Elector for the 10th Congressional District, addressed about 60 voters in the old Presbyterian Church."
On October 6, 1888, eighteen citizens met at the Church "to organize the Prohibition Party of Warren County." After the singing of a Prohibition song and a prayer by Rev. J. E. Armstrong, a permanent organization was affected with Z. T. Reeves, Chairman, J. F. Forsyth, Secretary, and T. B. Winters, Treasurer. Working committees of three were appointed in each magisterial District as follows: Front Royal-J. W. Lewin, M. D. Edmonds, and Henry Cooper; Fork-J. W. Brewer, W. R. F. Putnam, and H. Rowzee; and Cedarville-G. W. Settle, Joseph Hammock, and A. W. Cauthorn. The South River Committee was to be announced later. The Convention closed with singing the Doxology and a benediction by Rev. J. E. Armstrong.
The Sentinel of June 22, 1888, reported that “The old Presbyterian Church is being thoroughly renovated by Messrs G E Roy, J.T Silman and D.C. O’Flaherty, preparatory to the opening there on July 2nd of their Normal School, for which a hundred or more teachers are enrolled. "This was one of the "Teachers' Institutes" initiated by Mr. Roy, Supt. of Warren County public schools, to provide teachers six .weeks of "special training in HOW to teach WHAT they know, for no teacher in this day of progress," said Mr. Roy, "can afford to ignore the fact that, however much knowledge he may have, tact and skill in the executive work of the school room are valued higher and measure more than any other qualities possessed."
One such Institute was attended by Misses Maude Brock, Jennie Compton, Josie Kidd, Mollie Jones, Ella Trout, C B. Trout, Alice Walter, Susan B. Wharton, Kate E. Weaver, Mollie Palmer, Laura Sheaff, Mary M. Simpson, Susan B. Marshall, Lucie J. Stuart, Cora Shepherd, and Eleanor McCartney; and Messrs. Clarence Rudacille, Larkin Rudacille, L. B. Moore, C.A. Simpson, J. T. Silman, E.A. Maddox, T. R. Lake, John A. Bushong, C.M. Anderson, W.A. Baker, P.F. Sheaff, C. E. Byrd, W. H. Landes, A. Richardson, C.A. Bellinger, C. M. Chiles, J. W. Henson, and Ashford Lake. They heard L. R. Steele "deliver an interesting, instructive, and eloquent address upon the Public School system." P. F. Sheaff gave his method of teaching division; Ashford Lake a model recitation in grammar, C. M. Anderson one in percentage, W. E. Jenkins one in language, Miss Eleanor McCartney one in primary reading illustrating the word, object, and phonetic methods, L. Rudacille one in history, and W.H. Landes one in common fractions. Much time was devoted to discussion of primary reading, Mr. Steele opposing the “Word Method" and Miss C. B. Trout "exemplifying the efficiency of the alphabet method." J.W. Henson gave "an address, practical and beautiful, on the Importance of Music in School."
In 1890, the church was bought from the school trustees by M. C. Richardson, who sold it nine years late/ to the Methodist Episcopal Church, Colored, John W. Cyrus, Samuel Redman and Samuel Holbert being named as trustees. This denomination now has worshiped in the historic little church for nearly a century, naming it Williams Chapel in honor of their Bishop and revering it as a hallowed landmark. Despite limited means and membership, the congregation has maintained and preserved it in polished cleanliness, observing its anniversary annually with a week of special services.
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Numbered among the officials who have served the Williams Chapel faithfully through the years are some of the most respected citizens of their race in Warren County - George and Paul Washington, John and Garfield Jackson, Daniel Butler, J. B. Jeffries, George Pines, John Mansfield, Thomas Burrell, Edward Carroll, Eugene Watts and Henry Owens. The Rev. Willie F. Butler and the Rev. Hanson Robinson have served as local preachers. Mrs. Alice Gaskins was a faithful presence in the congregation for many years, lovingly referred to as "the mother of the church," and although her octogenarian years were spent in Pennsylvania, she continued her prayerful and financial support of the Williams Chapel.
To those with eyes and ears attuned, these walls are resonant with the solemn sounds of both litany, and law, sacred and scholastic chant, divine and temporal justice. The radiant faces -of saints, solons, and students" people the pews, and overall hangs the imperishable mystique of Belle Boyd.
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At the present, the CME Church has been worshipping in this edifice for over 100 years. Williams Chapel is currently under the divine direction and leadership of Reverend Tonia Leavy . Williams Chapel recognizes the awesome responsibility to continue the legacy and history of the Front Royal community and the life of the church.
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We at Williams Chapel C.M.E. Church have a saying, "We are more than Conquerors". We ask for your prayers as the Williams Chapel Church Family goes forward in the name of the Lord. Thank you and May God bless you.
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