Henderson history: The Old Union Church – a mixture of faith and doubts
Henderson’s first house of worship was built in Central Park roughly 200 years ago. I can write that sentence with complete faith in its accuracy.
The exact year, however, has me perplexed. I also have doubts, although minor, about the location. This must be one of the most frustrating columns I’ve ever written because I’m dealing with so much conflicting information. The best I can do is lay it all out for you, gentle reader, and let you decide for yourself.
Even the information on the bronze plaque in Central Park is suspect. That plaque has problems, which I’ll explain later.
My philosophy in dealing with conflicting information is to go to the primary source. If that’s not available, I use the oldest secondary account, unless I have reason to suspect its veracity.
The oldest secondary account in this instance is E.L. Starling’s 1887 “History of Henderson County, Kentucky.” But it’s not particularly helpful because Starling contradicted himself.
On page 274 he wrote, “The old Union Church, the first church ever built in the town, stood upon its graceful hillside, from its building, away back in 1825, to the time of its tearing down.” Eight pages later, however, he placed its founding under the 1826 listing.
“The old Union Church, the first house built exclusively for religious worship, was erected this year on the Public Square, and stood on the hill almost opposite the present residence of Nick Becker, on Lower First, between Main and Elm Streets.”
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That location appears to be in error. Becker lived at the corner of Washington and Elm. (The plaque is across the street from 222 Washington, so it’s probably in roughly the right location.)
OK, so we’ve got either 1825 or 1826 as the date. That is, until you go to the historical article written by Spalding Trafton that appears in The Gleaner of Jan. 11, 1925. That article says it was built in 1821. I don’t lend too much credence to that, however, because it’s included in a list of other Henderson “firsts,” several of which I know to be mistaken.
The Henderson County Public Library has a few typewritten pages about the Old Union Church, which I suspect came from the files of the defunct Henderson County Historical Society. They possibly were written by Susan Starling Towles, longtime librarian and one of the society’s founders.
One undated document praises the “spiritual courage as well as physical” of Henderson County’s pioneers. “It took both of those qualities to travel many miles afoot or on horseback to attend a religious service.”
That document says the church was built in 1825. “The funds for the erection of this one-room brick building were raised by private subscription. The Rev. J. Poindexter officiated at the dedication; hundreds of people were present, some traveling a distance of 20 miles.”
Another library document says it was built in 1826 and razed sometime in the 1840s.
That document calls it a “municipal church” that was “ideal in spirit but difficult in its use.” You can imagine the problems that accompany multiple congregations using the same facility. Nevertheless, “All sorts and conditions of religious people were welcome to worship there.”
A typewritten copy of a Gleaner article, purportedly dated Jan. 25, 1892, expands on that theme, and notes it was built opposite of what is now First Missionary Baptist Church on Elm Street: “Here the Gospel was preached by all denominations of the time. The circuit rider was the equal of the bishop and the howling extorter (exhorter?) preferred to the educated man of God.”
(I went to the library’s microfilm to find the original of that article but was unsuccessful; Jan. 25, 1892, was a Monday and The Gleaner consistently has not published on Mondays.)
The library also has a typewritten copy of a Jack Hudgions article, which says the church was built in 1825, but I could not find that one either. It’s dated April 28, 1940, but in the microfilm the first page is missing from the second section. The article appears nowhere else in that edition.
By now, I’m sure, you’re beginning to see why researching this has had me frazzled. Time for me to quit complaining, though.
So, why did they call it the Old Union Church? A union church, for those who don't know, is one built by different faith traditions who agree to share facilities – and sometimes the minister. The information I’ve gathered indicates a handful of Henderson’s oldest bastions of Christianity were probably organized in the Old Union Church. They include the earliest congregations of the Presbyterian, St. Paul’s Episcopal, First United Methodist, First Baptist, and possibly First Christian churches.
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Henderson County has a rich heritage of congregations working together, according to a census dataset I obtained years ago from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. It shows that Henderson County had seven union churches in 1860. The only other county in Kentucky that came close to that number was Adair County, which had five union churches.
OK, I’ve dragged you through my moaning and complaining, capped with a little lecture about union churches. Perhaps I should explain what prompted all this?
The Gleaner of May 16, 1948, reported the culmination of a 26-year effort to place a marker recognizing the historical significance of the Old Union Church. The Henderson County Historical Society had been working on that project practically since its founding May 1, 1922.
Susan Starling Towles appointed a committee to oversee the effort, but 26 years later only one member was still alive -- Flora Overby -- when the plaque was placed on its concrete base May 6, 1948.
So why did it take so long?
“For many years it was not ascertained surely just where church stood, although it was known that it was in the vicinity of the present courthouse,” The Gleaner reported. Records of Walter A. Towles, Miss Towles’ father, had only in the past few years made the location clear.
The problem was that the original description of the site referenced a hill that had been leveled in the 1850s to fill in a ravine that stretched into the park. That landmark was gone.
Contributions funded the effort, but World War II intervened and made it impossible to obtain the necessary bronze. Not to be deterred, the historical society dedicated a concrete base April 6, 1945, “with appropriate ceremonies.”
The bronze plaque, designed and crafted by George Hoenig of Rockford, Indiana, wasn’t installed until May 6, 1948.
The original concrete base, placed in 1945, has since been replaced by a granite stone.
Long story short: The plaque contains at least one wrong date (1945) and the other date (1826) is open to debate.
100 YEARS AGO
Mayor Clay Hall wrote a letter to superintendent of the Henderson division of the L&N Railroad, asking that a crossing gate be installed at the Second Street crossing of the railroad tracks, according to The Gleaner of May 13, 1923.
“Since we have paved Second Street from the river to the railroad crossing, and have passed a resolution to pave from the railroad to the city limits, we feel that this crossing is a dangerous one. As a means of safeguarding life and property, we think it advisable that you erect a safety gate at this point.”
50 YEARS AGO
The Henderson Water and Sewer Commission, for the first time, approved the use of plastic water pipe in a subdivision, according to The Gleaner of May 15, 1973.
Up to that point, plastic pipe had not been authorized because of lack of information about its performance.
Richard Branson and Bobby Priest were granted permission to install about 8,000 feet of plastic pipe in New Frontier subdivision. Later in the meeting C.C. Royer was given permission to install 900 feet of plastic pipe in an addition to Green Acres subdivision.
Board members Fielding Jones and Arnold Williams voted against the authorization. Chairman Charles R. Brown, Tom Glover and Jackie Bentley voted to approve it.
25 YEARS AGO
A candidate forum attended by eight magisterial hopefuls saw more agreement than dissension about whether the county should back the extension of water lines in rural areas, according to The Gleaner of May 14, 1998.
There was general agreement that building Interstate 69 was a good idea, that combining city and county governments was a bad idea, and that the county should continue to fund non-profit agencies that provide services the community needs.
But there was no consensus when candidates were asked about their second-ranked priority. Solid waste problems were cited by four of the candidates, while two of the incumbents said they would opt for better roads.
Incumbents attending, all of whom were reelected, included Joe Pruden from District 1; Jimmy Hicks from District 2, Charles Alexander from District 3, and Bev Key from District 5. District 4 Magistrate Hugh McCormick was unopposed that year.
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @BoyettFrank.
This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Henderson history: The Old Union Church – a mixture of faith and doubts
