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Asbury Memorial is named after Francis Asbury, the
first Methodist
Bishop and the only missionary sent by John Wesley to the new
world. Asbury began what was one of the most difficult and
dedicated Christian ministries in America. When the seeds of
Methodism were sown in America, the area now known as Beaverdam Valley,
was a wilderness.
In October of 1801, Tobias
Gibson, an itinerant
preacher who had been meeting with the societies in the area, invited
Bishop Asbury to visit a meeting at the home of Daniel Killian who had
come to this area in 1793. Killian's home was located on what is
now Elk Mountain Scenic Highway, just northwest of the first house on
the left. Concerning this meeting, Bishop Asbury wrote:
"October 11, 1801, Sabbath Day, yesterday and today held quarterly
meeting at Daniel Killian's near Buncombe Courthouse. I spoke
from Isaiah 7:5-7 and I Corinthians 7-1. We had some
quickenings." On that date Asbury Memorial was officially organized and
thus became the mother church of Methodism in Buncombe County.
. Asbury's
first frame church building (see
picture) was completed in 1881
The need for a
meeting place became
apparent as the years went by. A one-room log building was
erected and called the Methodist Church on Beaverdam.
In the early 1830s, Daniel Killian donated
several acres of land to be used "for a church and burying ground
forever."
Later, in 1879, construction began on a
one-room frame building (see picture). The building was erected on the
original site, on land donated by
Daniel Killian. The construction was
complete in 1881 and the building was dedicated by Bishop Wightman.
Our current church building was completed on
March 4, 1928, at which time the church's name was officially changed
to "Asbury Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
Soon after the Central Bank & Trust
Company collapsed, Asbury Memorial had a building valued at
$50,0000, a debt of $9,500, and contributions had been choked to a
trickle by the economic disaster that struck the community and the
nation. Yet, at the December 3, 1930 quarterly conference, the
difficulty was acknowledged but not bewailed: "Financially, the
church is going through trying times," reported the pastor, J. G.
Huggins. Yet, through this feeling of crisis, there is a definite
determination that the church shall continue its service to the
community as the year progresses."
Motivated by love for their church and
strengthened by their faith in God, the members of Asbury Memorial
struggled to make ends meet. The situation seemed hopeless; the
church building no longer belonged to the congregation but was in the
hands of the Blue Ridge Building and Loan Association until the balance
of the building debt could be paid.
During that time, heroic efforts were made
through faith: one member mortgaged his home in order to pay on
the debt when it seemed the church building might be lost; another
member spent countless hours picking blackberries and selling them for
one dollar a gallon, so that she could add her hard-earned fifty
dollars to the cause. It was a joyful event when a member could
scrape together fifty cents to pay toward the loan. By giving
nickels and dimes, the congregation kept the church alive.
Finally, on August 31, 1938, Pastor W.
H. Groce was able to report to the quarterly conference: "Asbury
Memorial has much cause for rejoicing over the fact that during the
quarter the church property was secured from the Blue Ridge Building
& Loan Association for the sum of $4,000. This was
accomplished by a loan of $3,000 secured from the General Board of
Church Extensions, a liberal donation of $500 from a friend of
the church, and $500 raised by the congregation.
As the 1940s neared, the church and the nation
once again felt the threat of a world war. One of
Asheville's first war casualties was from the Beaverdam
community. The naval merchant ship on which Seaman Second Class
Richard Dewees was serving was torpedoed in the Caribbean Sea.
Even though war was uppermost in
the minds of the people, the church continued to thrive. When the
debt on the church building had been liquidated, a dedicatory service
was held on Sunday, June 14, 1942.
Church attendance was affected in 1948 by the onset
of a major polio epidemic. At the request of the local health
department, all children and young people were kept away from public
gatherings, including church services. A young girl from the
church was stricken with polio but, fortunately, it proved to be a mild
case. She fully recovered and was very active in the church for a
number of years until she married and moved away.
Thanks to those in our congregation, and those who
came before us (too many to mention here) our church has grown and is
thriving.
At Asbury the past mingles with
the present. The huge oak trees on the grounds were saplings when
Francis Asbury held the meeting in October 1801.
There is a tree
dedicated to Professor Horace King, Civil War veteran and school
teacher, who served Asbury as superintendent of Sunday School for forty
years. Automobiles were not common in those days so during most
of the forty years, the professor's mode of travel was by mule.
His mule's name was Kitty. The
professor rode Kitty to school as a saddle steed. When he came to
church, Kitty
pulled a buggy where the reins were always tied to one particular tree
in the church yard. The tree became known as Kitty's tree.
It was just an oak sapling when the society decided to build the log
church. The Kitty Tree was there in 1879 when the log church was
removed to make room for the frame church. By the time the brick
church was built, the oak tree was fully grown and tall. The tree
provided shade for the homecoming picnics for many years.
Unfortunately, in the late 1970s the tree began to
die. It was with great regret that the trustees had to take
action. On June 22, 1979, the Kitty Tree fell to a chain
saw. It was a sad time for those witnessing it. Seasonal flowers
are being planted each year around
the stump, and a beautiful white birch was planted near the spot where
the Kitty Tree once so proudly stood.
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