The History of Ebenezer Church

EARLY METHODISM IN MARYLAND 

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It is good to remember that Methodism was thriving here in rural Maryland in Upper Node Forest (now Harford and Baltimore Counties) for at least two decades prior to the calling of the Christmas Conference in 1784, which officially established the Methodist Church in America. Between 1763 and 1770 Robert Strawbridge and his helpers started three societies (or churches), one of hwihc was the Bush Forest Chapel Society near Abingdon in Harford County. From these early beginnings Methodism spread through the efforts of lay ministers. 

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One of these lay ministers was William Watters, of Thomas Run, who heard Robert STrawbridge speak and was converted at the age of 19. By the time he was 21, in 1772, he started to preach, travelling as a circuit rider until ill health caused him to locate in 1786. Later he returned to the circuit for a few years after 1801 and died in 1827. The William Watters Chapel at Coopstown was named for this first American-born Methodist minister. 

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There is also the Watters Meeting House, built on Watters’ property overlooking Thomas Run where the Conference of 1777 was held. Built in 1773, this quaint stone chapel was rebuilt in 1782 and still stands high on its hill—the oldest church in the Baltimore Conference, and probably the oldest Methodist Church in America. Meetings are still held there twice a year. 

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Into these beginnings of Methodism Francis Asbury arrived in 1771. His ideas clashed with some of those of the lay ministers, particularly Strawbridge, but they continued to build the church in faith. When Dr. Thomas Coke arrived in 1784 with the authority from John Wesley to ordain ministers in the Methodist Church it proved to be the mortar necessary to solidify the bricks already laid. On December 24, 1784 the Christmas Conference, attended by 60 ministers, met at Lovely Lane Chapel in Baltimore. Those present decided to form the Methodist Episcopal Church and the first deacons, elders and superintendents were ordained. 

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At the Christmas Conference it was also decided to form a college in Abingdon to be called Cokesbury after the two leaders. The cornerstone was laid June 5, 1784 for the first Methodist College in the world. It was in existence for ten years when it was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt. The college bell was salvaged and is now on display at the Methodist Museum in Lovely Lane Church in Baltimore. 

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During the first half of the nineteenth century Methodism continued as small societies, ideally no more than 12 members, gathered together under a class leader for spiritual guidance, prayer, Bible study, individual witness and disciple. The Methodists by their very name meant people who lived by the method laid down in the Bible. The early church had no way of confirming members as Wesley believed that anyone who was baptized was part of the church. The Methodists, however, wanted no backsliders in their midst, so class membership was by probation, at first two months, later extended to six months. 

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To these small groups came the traveling preachers, the circuit riders, with their word of God and the sacraments. Since churches were fortunate to be visited once a quarter by a preacher by necessity the tradition of quarterly administration of the sacrament of holy communion was begun.  

 

EBENEZER’S BEGINNINGS 

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From one of these small groups grew our present day Ebenezer Church. Our earliest records show Rachel Rockhold joining in 1804, Lyseas Hitchcock in 1808 and Sarah Parlett in 1822. In 1834 Lyseas Hitchcock was class leader and Averilla Parlett joined. Salem Pocock followed Brother Hitchcock as class leader and continued until his death in 1876. Others who served as class leaders were Hiram Ball, Joshua H. Scarff and J. Edward Beatty.  

The land on which Ebenezer stands was contributed June 8, 1844 by Charles Baker Hitchcock and his wife, Mary, Dr. St. Clair Street and his wife, Ariel, and Lyseas Hitchcock. Given to the trustees of Ebenewzer for the sum of one dollar, it was described as being comprised of three different tracts, or parts of tracts, of land containing one acre and 67 perches. The trustees named on the deed are Lyseas Hitchcock, Salem Pocock, Joshua H. Scarff, Upton R. Maul, John Treadway, Jr., James West and John B. Henderson. 

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On January 23, 1841 the trustees drew up Articles of Incorporation. The Trustees named were Lyseas Hitchcock, Salem Pocock, Joshua H. Scarff, James H. Henderson, Archibald Henderson, John Treadway, Jr., James West, John B. Henderson and Upton R. Maul. The names of James H. Henderson and Archibald Henderson were omitted when the deed to the ground was given in 1844. Six of these brethren were of the McKendree neighborhood, but that was prior to the erection of McKendree Chapel.  

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This meeting of the trustees was held in a log building located on ground that has become part of the present day cemetery. From the language of the Articles of Incorporation it is evident that the log church was built before 1841. There is also mention, among the papers of Charles W. Pocock’s father, of a temperance meeting held in the “new” Ebenezer Church in 1842. The log church is now part of the Veri-Glad Thrift Shop at Hess Corner. 

Before the existence of the log meeting house, Lyseas Hitchcock held class meetings in his home. Brother Pocock led the class meetings from 1841 until his death in 1876, a service of 35 years. 

 

BUILDING THE CHURCH 

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In 1861 the present church building was constructed. The building committee was comprised of Salem Pocock, Joshua H. Scarff, Hiram Ball, John L. Hagley and William Galloway. Later Brother Hagley moved away and became a preacher. He was appointed to the West Harford Circuit in 1869. The labor needed to build the church was provided mainly by older men, women and children as so many of the younger males were conscripted into military service after the outbreak of the Civil War.  

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The church was dedicated in September of 1861. Dr. J. McKendree Riley preached the sermon from Psalm 16:2--”From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” The worship at that time was conducted with men on one side of the church and women on the other, the two gropus being divided by a partition about shoulder height. The slaves were confined upstairs in the gallery. The separation of men and women continued until the church was remodeled in 1905. 

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The design of the church to include a slave gallery (the pulpit/chancel area and the belfry were added later) indicated that although the Civil War was just beginning, the slave owners in the congregation were confident that things would continue as they were. Although a slave state, Maryland did no seceded from the Union, and President Lincoln at the time was declaring that the war was to save the Union, not to settle the question of slavery. 

 

At the 1844 Conference of the Methodist Church there had been much dissension over the issue of slavery and the next year the Methodist Episcopal Church South was formed. Its existence did not exert much influence on the Ebenezer community until 1866 when the Reveren Walter W. Watts arrived in Jarrettsville. He gathered enough supporters from both the Methodists and the Presbyterians (including the pastor at Bethel Presbyterian Church) to start his own church. Begun in May of 1868 it was completed in 1869. This was the beginning of Watts’ Chapel.  

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In that same year land was purchased, containing a house and a wheelwright shop, for use as a parsonage for the West Harford Circuit. The shop was moved back from the road, remodeled, and used by the members in Jarrettsville for worship. This was the beginning of Asbury Church. Salem Pocock and Joshua Scarff are listed among the trustees on the deed given February 16, 1869. Joshua Scarff must have been either very generous or divided in his loyalties, for he is also listed as a contributor in the building of Watts’ Chapel that same year. 

 

REMODELING 

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A committee consisting of the Reverend James L. McLain, pastor, C.C. Carman and J.E. Beatty were instrumental in the extensive remodeling done at Ebenezer Church in 1905. This included the construction of the bell tower and the recessed chancel/pulpit area, installation of the bell, repainting and carpeting the sanctuary, and providing new pulpit furniture and new pews. The 500 pound bell was cast of pure copper and tin at the McShane Bell Foundry Company. In 1964, the value of the bell was $1,234.00.  

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In the summer of 1905, after the renovations were completed, a re-opening was held. The men and the women now sat together.  

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“Substantial horse sheds” were built in 1912. These were used for more than horses, however. Some of our present church members can remember when they were used for the annual Strawberry Festival in early June and the Chicken Supper in early August given by the Ladies’ Aid Society. Each lady was given an extensive list of food items to prepare at home and bring to the church on the day of the supper. Water was brought in cans and the food heated on a woodstove in one of the sheds. In later years a portable kerosene stove was used. Meals were served on tables set up outdoors. Other tables held fancy goods, baked goods, candy and ice cream for sale. This tradition continued until the early 1970’s and was a major fund raiser for the church as well as a community social event. 

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In the summer of 1915 Ebenezer celebrated its 75th anniversary while the Reverend George W. Evans was serving the West Harford Circuit. 

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During the time that the Reverend E.L. Hudson was pastor, in 1921, the church was painted inside and out, the floor carpeted, a wood or coal burning furnace installed as well as an acetylene light plant, at a total cost of $1,322.82. Prior to this, coal oil lamps were used and resulted in at least one fire. This occurred at the wedding of Ada Carman and Latimer Ely on November 16, 1899.  

 

THE DEPRESSION YEARS 

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The Reverend Raymond Hunter Brown and his wife arrived in 1929, at the very beginning of the depression. This was his first charge and he brought a swallow-tail coat to wear in the pulpit. The West Harford Circuit was not quite that formal, as he soon found out, but the congregations of all the churches welcomed him and his wife with pantry showers and many chickens. 

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Reverend Brown was quite a prolific writer and his quarterly reports are an excellent source of information on rural life during the depression as well as the church life of the West Harford Circuit. The passages in this chapter which are in quotes come directly from his reports. 

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In the first year he initiated a new form of worship. The winter was very severe, with impassable roads, but there was still a good attendance at church. In 1930 the Epworth League was organized from a group of about 33 young people. In March, for the first time, church bulletins were published each week. About this time sheet metal roofs were added to the horse sheds. 

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During Holy Week in 1931 envelopes were distributed and people were asked that those who were Christians deny themselves something during Holy Week and contribute that sum to someone less fortunate. At Ebenezer over 50% of the envelopes returned were from children. 

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The Epworth League was growing and the pastor and his wife gave instruction in “leading” to the young people one night a week. Reverend Brown then laments that once they are trained the young people leave for the city. Not all did, however, and many of these “young people” are still serving Ebenezer with their leadership.  

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At the wedding of Anna Ely and Arthur Nelson on August 1, 1931, the wooden steps in front of the church collapsed under the weight of the guests waiting to enter the sanctuary. Makeshift steps were improvised that day and later replaced with ones made of concrete. 

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In April of 1933 electricity was installed in the church at a cost of $83.50. “In addition to this, Miss Mary Thompson and Brother James L. Ely had installed at personal cost, the three-way switch at the side door. Mrs. Anna Thompson personally contributed the extra outside light on the side entrance to the church.” Reverend Brown also mentions that two wealthy members of the Hunt Club also assisted them financial in this project and he writes of their generosity on other occasions of need at Ebenezer. 

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Many repairs were also needed to the church sanctuary and in July money was raised for this by the Epworth League. Reverend Brown suggested that the balcony of the church be enclosed for use as a Sunday School, but apparently someone had a better idea. Part of the hose sheds were enclosed for this purpose, which indicates that at this time most of the congregation must have traveled by car rather than by hose and buggy. 

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The work was begun on September 1, 1933. Jonas Staniford, a carpenter, and the pastor supervised the world and all the labor was donated. The total cost was $326.12, most of which had either been paid or subscribed by the dedication on December 3. The District Superintendent, Dr. Clarence E. Wise, dedicated the unit and the Reverend Ralph W. Watt, pastor of Mt. Olive Church in Randallstown, gave the address. 

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The women of the church also wanted the building extended to include a kitchen. “This is to be done, but work has been delayed due to the conditions under which corn has to be harvested, on account of a disastrous storm this summer.” This reminds us, if we have forgotten, that all the labor was donated and most of the congregation were farmers. Still, the women did not get their kitchen until more than 20 years later and they continued to use the remaining horse sheds for their chicken suppers. 

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Throughout Reverend Brown’s quarterly reports he repeatedly stresses the need to consolidate the six churches within five miles of Jarrettsville. He could see that times were changing: 

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Churches are growing less in numbers, laymen seem to be moving to more thickly—populated centers, and the one-room church with its musty odor, its inadequate equipment, heating, teaching, social and devotional, can no longer endure. Our sentiment will not keep up with a church where there are no young people. Our modern youth is not contented to be faithful and loyal to a one-room church that does not meet his spiritual needs. Most of our boys and girls are attending a consolidated school or high school. They go five and ten miles to a movie, or to see a girl. They do not hesitate to go fifteen miles to Belair to do their shopping, or to Baltimore, 33 miles to see and do other things. With good roads, our people are no longer content to travel hub-deep in mud to worship God in a cold, uninviting church, with a few members, when within a few miles more on all good road, they can worship God in a warm church, with better equipment and more inviting surroundings and larger social gatherings. Christianity is social as well as spiritual. 

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Almost every year he observes that the worst of the depression is over yet the Spring of 1936 found him preaching at the CCC camps at Black Horse and Pretty Boy Dam. In November of 1937 services were curtailed at Ebenezer due to the work on the road past the church. The congregation temporarily worshiped at Providence and Friendship and repairs to the church were postponed until Spring because of this. 

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The much needed renovation was done, including painting the outside of the building, lowering the sides of the ceiling thus creating an arched rather than a square ceiling, replastering, laying a new floor, installing new window glass and new carpeting in the chancel and runners for the aisles. The total cost was $1,008.00. After the renovation, on June 12, 1938, with the Reverend Elmer J. Benson as pastor, the church held a celebration.