Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1951-01-04

AHtn HSCOTy % OJSHeW CHufcH
Wary W. Cla0ett to be read before
Part III
The history of the third church
at Goshen, the present structure,
was brought up to date in 1929 by
the late Miss Annie Waters Mer-
riwether, who after reviewing the
history of the two earlier churches
says in part:
Eat the close of the Civil War,
the first brick church 1.-THE second
church on the site), was by court
action declared the property of the
M. E. Church. Mr.. William
Thompson, of R, noble generous
man, purchased the building and
decided to the trustees of the M. E.
Church, South. The ministers at
that time were Samuel Register,
Presiding Elder; the pastors were
James E. Armstrong and Asbury
R. Martin.
at was soon found that the
church was unsafe and needed ex-
tensive repairs of a new building,
so it was torn down and the bricks
which were sound were added to
the ones bought for the new build
ing which started in the Fall of
1870. The architect was Walter
West, of Washington, D. c., who
gave his services, the master
builder S. G. Henseley, his assis-
tant was Mr.. Lee. The bricklayer
was Mr.. Jones who presented the
church with a handsome large
bible.
an June of 1871, the church was
dedicated by Rev. William Mum
sey. The pastors were Rev. Dab
ney Ball and Rev. Beverly W..
Bond. Rev. Elisha Barrett Pretty
man, a local minister, was present
and assisted with the finances.
an the Fall of 1871, Mrs. Mary
A. E. Dorsey for many years an
honOred member of the first brick
church, passed away and was the
first to be buried in the cemetery
given by William Thompson, of R.
"The stewards at that time were
Richard W. Jones, Nathan Cooke
and William Thompson, of R.
Trustees were Richard Green,
Washington d. Waters, and Rich
ard R. Waters (Uncle Dickey).
Besides Uncle Dickey, others
who had worshiped in all three
churches were Miss Charlotte
Waters, Mrs. Elizabeth Cooke,
Mrs. Emiline Stewart and Mrs.
William Thompson, of R. On
the 23rd of January, 1872; William
Thompson of R. passed away. His
widow, Chloe Ellen Stewart
Thompson, continued to live at the
Thompson home near the church.
I'm the summer of 1872, the sec
ond District Conference took place
at Goshen, Rev. Johnson S. Mar
tin, Presiding Elder was assisted
by the pastors Whisner and Bond.
In the Fall, revival fires burned
again. One Sabbath night, the
Rev. E. Barrett Prettyman filled
the pulpit for the pastors who were
called elsewhere. At this meeting,
his son was converted and later
as the Rev. Forrest J. Prettyman
filled the Goshen pulpit as the pre-
siding elder.
I'm the summer of 1876, the Dis
trict Conference again took place
at Goshen, with Rev. Ezra Busey,
president elder, and Rev. John C.
Dice and Rev. Charles M. Brown
as pastors. Albert G. Meriwether
was appointed steward at this time
and few years later Joseph C.
Higgins was made a steward.
AT this time Goshen was on
the Rockville Circuit. The churches
were Goshen, Brookeville, Rock
vile, Emory, Potomac Chapel and
Concord, Gaithersburg and Darnes-
town. In 1884 under the pastorate
of Rev. Beverly w. Bond and Rev.
Henry p. Hamill the circuit was
divided, leaving Rockville, Emory,
Goshen and Brookeville together,
and Gaithersburg, Jamestown
and Potomac Chapel on another
circuit. Some years later, under
the pastorate of Rev. L. Woolf
and Rev. John c. Copenhaver,
another division of the circuit took
place, leaving Rockville station.
Brookeville was closed, the congre-
CATION going to Emory to worship
and the charge was called Goshen
Emory.
"ln September of 1891, the Dis
trict Conference was again held
at Goshen, Rev. Samuel Rogers,
Presiding Elder, and Rev. Lewis
L. Lloyd and Rev. James w. Beal,
Pastors. Albert G. Meriwether, an
earnest worker at this conference
died one year later and was sue
ceeded by Samuel Robert Plummer
as a steward.
1.-The last District Conference
was held at Goshen in the summer
Of 1916, Rev. Harry M. Canter,
Presiding Elder, and Rev. Frank
r. Neel, Pastor. Bishop Alpheus
w. Wilson was present and de-
livered two fine sermons. He was