HISTORICAL COMMENTS BY GEORGE CHEVALLIER 4-6-13

Salisbury’s Methodist Churches

No history of Methodism in Salisbury is complete without the history of both Asbury and Trinity Churches.

Asbury was built first in 1801. This was called the “red meeting house”. A new white frame, green shuttered church was built in 1856 and outgrown by 1886. In 1872 it had been named Asbury United Methodist Church in honor of Bishop Francis Asbury, who had visited the congregation in 1805 and again in 1810. All structures have been built at the same location which is on the East side of Division Street near Broad Street.

The congregation of Trinity Methodist Church was formally organized in 1866. The secretary of this organization was Nannie Rider, who later became the wife of Elihu E. Jackson. They married in 1869 in the small chapel on what was once was the corner of Bond and Old Water Streets, where the present government office building now stands. This structure was destroyed by fire in 1884. They worshipped in the courthouse until they built a new a new church in 1886.

When Asbury built their stone church in 1886, the building committee consisted of William H. Jackson, T. H. Williams, James T. Truitt and James E. Ellegood. William H. Jackson told them if they built it out of stone he would pay for any shortfall in their building fund. This is the building that stands today, but is occupied by Faith Community Church. A new Asbury was built onCamden Avenue and has been in use since 1963.

Back to Trinity. When the church burned in 1884, they built a new church but outgrew it by 1904. Since Nannie Rider had married E.E. Jackson and he had made not only quite a name for himself but a considerable fortune, he completely paid for the building of a new church in that year across Division Street from Asbury. One of the leaders of Asbury was William H. Jackson, E.E.’s brother. William H. was also a staunch Republican and E.E. was a Democrat. Not because of their political differences, but because Trinity was the church his wife was very much involved with did E.E. finance the new Trinity Church. The members of Trinity continue to worship in that building to this day.

I haven’t forgotten Bethesda. Their history is just not as colorful as the other two. Their first church, built in 1872, was across from the Presbyterian Church on Broad Street. When they opened their new church on N. Division St. the entire congregation marched from the old church to the new one.