A Brief History of Smith Chapel

NC Highway 901 exists on paper as early as the 1930’s, but it’s history stretches back much further. If you were to look at it on a map you might note that it takes the only clear east/west path between Long Branch and Dutchman Creek, with both eventually emptying into the South Yadkin River. At the eastern end it meets NC Highway 64 between Cool Springs and Mocksville, and on the western end, NC Highway 115. It’s the western end we’ll be looking towards today, a mere 4 miles from it’s ending at the “Wilkesboro Highway.”

HUMBLE BEGININGS
Smith Chapel (or “Smith’s Chapel” as you may see it in older sources) begins as a dedicated church with a building in 1894, but it’s history is somewhat older than that. No detailed physical records exist of those years before the congregation was properly organized and a building set aside as a church, but we know from a couple oral accounts and a book by the reverend George William Bumgarner that there were meetings taking place on the property sometime earlier after a group of people split from the Union Grove Methodist Church. That church, then called the “Union Grove Methodist Protestant Church” had decided to become part of the North Carolina M. P. Conference after the conference it was a member of (called the Deep River M. P.) folded. Those breaking away chose to establish what would become Smith Chapel as an M.E. church in the Blue Ridge Conference.
Evangelistic or revival meetings were no doubt taking place early, probably put on by itinerant ministers and traveling evangelists, and possibly Methodist “circuit riders”. One written account claims the first meetings of the church were held in the early 1880’s in a local schoolhouse with an actual congregation then “organized” in 1890.
An old map of the original building also tells us that there was a brush arbor on the site, and that arbor was still likely present in the 1930’s-1940s, but in poor condition and rotting. Recollections from M.P. Templeton and his wife Lillie also corroborate that congregation was indeed meeting in the arbor earlier than 1894.

Jesse F Prevett is a name that is important to the story of the Chapel. Prevett was converted at one of the early meetings in the old schoolhouse and would rise to become ordained as the church’s first permanent minister. He may have also been preaching with or learned from his uncle, renowned Baptist minister Iredell Prevett.
We also know that the land the church now sits on was given to “The Religious Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church” in 1892, donated by Prevett. He may have also owned the schoolhouse building where he was converted.

MORE CHANGES
In 1939, the conference that Smith Chapel was a member of and the conference that the Methodist church were a member of unified. This mean that if Smith Chapel stayed within the new conference, the would be expected to join again with the Methodist church and became an independent church instead.

THE BUILDING
Another uncertainty is where the original church building came from. It is assumed now by most that the first building was constructed in 1894, but I have in my possession an undated and unsigned written account that claims the first building was an old school house, and was given by Prevett to the congregation with the land.

I can’t confirm or disprove this, but there are several explanations for why it may or may not be true.
Before the church was ever established, the Henderson school was present in the general vicinity of where the church is now. In later years it would for certain be on the other side of Warren Bridge Rd, opposite the church, where the first private home on the road currently sits.
Some of the early meetings were most certainly in the original school building but I don’t know where that building was. It’s entirely possible that first school building was right where the first church building and the current building now set.

However, the “original” church building from 1894 does not seem to share a lot of similarities with local schools built at the time. In fact, it shares much more with churches from that era, being L-shaped and having separate men’s and women’s entrances and seating. It’s also much larger than many schools of the era and area.
I believe the correct sequence of events is likely that the vey first meetings were under a brush arbor, these transitioned to the old school building, then to the “first” church building in 1894, and then to the current brick building in 1944.

SO WHO IS SMITH?

As to who the “Smith” in “Smith Chapel” is, we can’t be 100% sure. However, the prominent oral tradition is that “Smith” was an early “presiding elder” in the church, as confirmed by the written account above and the reverend Bumgarner’s book. It’s my belief that “presiding elder” was C.W. Smith of the Blue Ridge Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In addition to overseeing churches in the area, he essentially “licensed” Jesse Prevett to preach in the denomination. I believe Prevett and maybe others in the church then named it after him in thanks. However. who is C.W. Smith? I haven’t been able to find out very much about the man outside of the minutes from the M.E. Church. I know he was originally from Wilkes county, and that’s almost the only thing I’m sure of.
There is also another theory that the church was named after a reverend “Adolphus Smith”, a district superintendent and apparent “first pastor” before Jesse Prevett. I’m inclined to believe this is false as no one with that name shows up in the conference minutes and there are several sources citing Prevett as the first “preacher.” I did look for Adolphus Smith other places, and there are several ministers with that name from several far off parts of the state that fit the time frame, but none of them seem to have any ties to the Methodists. There was even an African American “Reverend Adolphus Smith.”

Searching old census and birth and death records, I have come up with a possible match for “C.W. Smith.” A man named Charles Wesley Smith. This C.W. Smith is about the right age and was probably born in the right place, but I can find almost nothing else about him besides his grave. No obituary, no death certificate, no information that he might have been a preacher. If this is the C.W. Smith the church was named after, he must have faded into relative obscurity as an old man in the very rural part of Alleghany county above Stone Mountain where he is buried.

THE QUILT
Smith Chapel started from humble beginnings and even though it was associated with the Methodist Evangelical denomination in the early years, was really a result of the people in the community deciding they wanted a church and were going to have it. And this is especially true of the current brick building that replaced the old wooden one in the 1940’s. No help was sought from any organization or denomination. People just came together and raised the funds using whatever means they could. Families bought windows, members worked on the building, and other means of raising the money were devised.

The most memorable of these was a very special hand-sewn quilt made by the ladies of the church from pink and purple Rayon satin. For a mere ten cent donation, you could have your name or the name of your loved one put on this quilt.
When the quilt was finally finished, it was auctioned off to further help with the building costs. Bertha Templeton was the winning bid at $50 (or almost $700 in today’s money when adjusted for inflation). It remained in her family for decades until her children donated it back to the church after her death. In 2014 a local man named Joe Sloan built the current box it rests in.
This quilt contains names of people who are mostly from the local community, their family members, and people who they wanted to honor. This is almost a literal census for the Union Grove and surrounding towns but also includes names from people who have seemingly no ties to the area. Many were likely made aware, paid their 10 cents, and were included due to word of mouth within the denomination.
Some of the names are hard to read, some are phonetically spelt, either by the people who sewed them on or else the people who submitted them.

I am not able to take the quilt out of it’s case, so I was only able to photograph the front side. It’s assumed there are no names on the back.
I do have a list of what seems to be all the names that was handed out during a past homecoming at the church in 1994 for the 100th year anniversary. I include that here as a scanned, searchable PDF.

In addition to the quilt, there’s also a list of people who simply contributed money to the new building. There is some overlap in names with the quilt, but I’m including it anyway.

When I took it out of the frame to scan it, I found another little surprise.

Besides the quilt names and the printed list, the church is also covered in the names of those who have helped in one way or another. Each stained glass window was the result of a family pledging money, and so each one has a name or names attached to them.

---

MORE RECENT TIMES
The Chapel joined the Evangelical Methodist Conference just a decade after the new building was completed in 1955.

A parsonage was constructed next to the church in 1980.
Smith Chapel voted to leave the EMC and become an independent church in 1983 and has remained independent since.

PRAYERS ANSWERED, 1986
During the latter half of 1986 the area (and much of the state and southeast) experienced a prolonged drought, the worst in 100 years or more. Ponds dried up, crops failed, and livestock were short on feed and hay.
The first Sunday of September of that year, as was the custom, was always set aside for Homecoming Sunday at Smith Chapel, and a program was planned. This included preaching in the morning, a lunchtime meal outside, and then singing at 2pm. No doubt during 86’s homecoming, the drought must have been on the minds of everyone, and no doubt some special prayers were made for rain.
As the day’s activities were drawing to a close, Leslie Templeton decided to step outside to smoke. Noting the storm clouds brewing, he also pulled his car around closer to the front door so his wife Clara would be able to exit the church without getting too wet if the rain did start before everyone was dismissed. About 2:45, as Leslie was sitting in the car listening to the radio, the storm hit. Peals of thunder, flashing lightning, and a heavy deluge of rain.
In 1986, the parking lot was not paved like it is today but was gravel. The space below the church where the picnic shelter now sits was full of cars that afternoon, lined up between the church and the road, and as the water began to collect, it ran down from the church towards the ditch near the road, turning the parking area into a wet mess.
As Mr. Templeton was waiting in his car near the front door of the church, a bolt of lightning slammed into a tree somewhere near the picnic shelter, traveling down into the wet ground and across the parking lot.
Inside the church, the sound was no doubt heard as the power flickered out and then the smell of something burning was noted, with congregants at the back of the church opening the windows to see what was happening, some thinking maybe the church had caught fire. And indeed, there was smoke rising from places in the parking lot.
But what had actually happened is that the lightning strike had traveled through the parking lot, striking numerous vehicles before it ran towards the church and killed the power. Mr. Templeton’s car was just one of many that lost one or several tires that had burst when the electric charge hit them. In total, Leslie Templeton had three flats.
This of course meant that many people were stranded at the church. Most had a spare tire, but who had two or even four of them in their trunk? No doubt a flurry of phone calls went out for rides, no doubt some people were at the church much longer than they meant to be.
The church suffered no real damage but in addition to the tires, some people’s vehicles were hard hit. Mrs. Edna Cox in particular, who had just purchased a new car suffered dearly, as the vehicle’s newfangled electronics were damaged and never again worked properly despite several trips back to the dealership. In the end, the dealer decided to replace the car altogether.

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS
-A “fellowship hall” was built in 1988 and dubbed “Templeton Hall” in memory of Bertha Parker Templeton, a prominent member, deaconess and author. Bertha was born into the church the year it was organized and was a lifelong member. She died in 1984.

-As I have written about previously, there was a famous murder that took place in front of the church in 1896 when Will Bolin was stabbed by his cousin, Edward Clinton Van Hoy.

-An interesting burial took place in 1942, that of a woman who had just died and her son, a WWI bugle boy who had died in Europe and was buried a second time.

---

It has taken quite awhile to gather this information into an intelligible narrative, but I have a feeling this (like many things I write about) will continue to be edited as the years go on and new information or stories surface.
If you have any recollections, photos, or information about Smith Chapel not included here, I’d love to hear from you. Please see the “About” page for contact information.