The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-15
wAYoRoss, NEW cHURcH.
An Interesting History of the Metho-
dist CONGREGATION.


Of the new Methodist church tomorrow
viii be a memorable event in the history
Of Waycross. The building has just been
completed and is an ornament to the
town. 1t is situated on the southwest
corner Of Reed and Gilmore streets
and is within 100 yards of the passenger
depot. The ground is high and dry,
which adds greatly to the appearance of
the church. The building is a gothic
structure built of Waltertown brick. The
facing brick are from Columbus, Ga. 1t
is on a solid foundation, dug down TO the
natural clay The brick work and super
structure re built altogether of cements.
The stone used in the building is granite
from Stone Mountain, Ga. The plinth
is built in cOursed ashlar: all quarry
faced The window sIlls and lintels are
treated in the same manner
The entrance steps. landings and all
weatheriuEs are of No. - cut work. On
the southwest corner. a handsome tower
is built. 1t is 80 feet high from the grade
level to the top of the spire. The bell
chamber is open traccry work. The
| spires and all roofs except the Sunday
school room, are covered with Virginia
slate from the buckingham quarries
The plan Of the roof proper is cruciform,
consequently the building has four ga bles
handsomely finished with pressed brick
and galvanized iron.
The lecture room, adjoining the church,
has a gable facing Gilmore street, carried
| OUT in the same manner as the church.
! The class rooms are covered with TaylOr's
! Old Method tin. There is a small tower
over the central entrance on Gilmore
street highly ornamented in galvanized
| iron There is a heating chamber built
under the choir room with an entrance
| from the outside. 1t is a fire proof con-
struction. All the cornices, ridge cap
! ping, gable cOpings, rain water leaders
and heads are executed in galvanized
| iron.
THE MAIN BUILDING.
The main church building is 55x54; the
! lecture room is 45X26; the class rooms are
! 42Xl3 feet. The interior of the building
can all be thrown in one large room, as it
! is divided by Wilson's rolling partition
| There is a circular front gallery in the
main body of the church, with two well
! lighted sJairways for access to same. The
| floor Of the church proper is on the ampi-
! theater plan. The ceiling Is paneled
with heavy mouldings 1t is "a feet from
| the floor to the apex of ceiling The
| whole interior of the building Is vans
I coted to the height OF 4 feet, with Geor-
| gia yellow pine.
The altar rail. circular pews and read
| ing desk are all of quarter oak The
! ends of the pewS are handsomely carved
| The seats in the lecture room are of pol
! ished maple and iron standards. The
| pews, altar rail. reading desk and lecture
| room seats were bought by the ladies of
| the church at cost of about 81 400. A
! handsome carpet was also furnished by
| the ladies' All the interior wood work is
! finished in hard oil. The building has a
| seating capacity of 1000 All the win
| dows throughout the building are
| of special design, and are
| glazed with stained cathedral
! glass, in loaded lights, after geOmetrical
| patterns. All the interior plastering is
| executed with Kings window cement and
adamant, and sand-finished to admit of
trescO decorations in the near future.
There is a thorough system of ventilation
throughout the building. Air shafts are
built in the walls and the outlet is furn-
ished with automatic registers. The
building will be lighted by electricity, in
very handsome chandeliers and wall
| brackets of special design, fitted with
lusters and redcctOrs of cut glass
The plan is somewhat similar to the
Methodist church at New Haven, Conn,
having been improved upon in the way of
stability by Mr.. George Fetham, the
experimenting architect, whose reputa-
ton as an architect is established The
cost of the building Is $1S,5O0.
THE FIRST CHURCH.
In 1871 Waycross was laid off by DR..
Daniel Lott and Rev. w. Thomas. The
Rev w. II. Thomas preached the first
sermon in Waycross in an old
schoolhouse which stood fifty yards
from the site Of the old
Methodist church. A church was or
gained by Rev. Thomas and Rev Herbert
=. Myers. There were eleven charter
members. The following is a partial list
of the first membership: Rev. w. H.
Thomas, Mrs. w. H. Thomas, Mrs Daniel
Lott, Miss Ida Remshart, DIR. William
Folks, Mrs. William Folks and Mrs
Cotingham Mrs Lott and DIR. Folks are
dead. In 1874 Rev. Howard w Key was in
charge of the church. Revs. S. n. Tucker,
George G. Thompson, d. G.. Pope J. w
Weston, N. ID. Moorehouse, J. S. Jordan
and l.. A. Dorsey were in charge of the
church from 1875 until 1885, when Rev e.
| M. Whiting was sent here. It. was dur
ing the fall of 1886 that the South Geor-
gia holiness convention was held here
The result of this meeting was that
glorious revival was commenced in the
church Rev. Whiting conducted a pro-
tracted meeting and there was great
| revival and about eighty persons pro-
fessed conversion.
Rev w. II. Thomas says that one day
there were twenty conversions and il was
tlG must lliCLlOIdblt udS III Gue history OF
the spiritual growth of the church. Rev.
Thomas then began the Tuesday night
holiness meeting, which has been kept up
ever since, increasing in power and effect
ual work for the good of holiness in the
church. Shortly afterward ten class
leaders were appointed by Rev
Thomas. They held meetings once
week for while, but all of
them except the class led by MIR
William Parker soon died out and have
never been revived. Tarker's class con-
sisted of a few of the poor people in the
vicinity Of Lott cemetery and was known
as the graveyard class" or Parker's
class The poor people, who had scarcely
attended church, were regular in their at
tendance at the meetings of the class
Mr.. Parker was encouraged by this to
take certain active members of the class
TO places in the country where the gospel
was almost unknown for the purpose of
| holding services, which consisted of Bible
| readings prayer, singing, eXortations and
| relating experiences.
The result of these meetings was very
| gratifying TO Mr.. Parker. There were
| many conversions and several people re-
! consecrated themselves to Christ. The
| class received many invitations from COM
munities throughout South Georgia TO
| hold meetings, which were accepted. The
| expenses attached to this work were met
/ by the persons making the expense and
! l1zs.s "a