Listed in Arkansas Register of Historic Places on 08/03/16
Summary
The Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church was built in 1917 near the center of Crawfordsville, Arkansas, as the third structure to house the local Methodist church. The church was possibly designed by John Parks Almand and is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion C for its Tudor Revival architecture. The church is the best ecclesiastical example of the Tudor Revival style in Crawfordsville, although it has had a large addition that precludes its listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The church’s stained glass windows, as well as the steeply-pitched, modified jerkinhead roof, segmental-arched entrances, and multiple gables are all characteristics of the Tudor Revival Style. The property is also being nominated under Criteria Consideration A as a religious property.
Elaboration
The town of Crawfordsville, Arkansas, is located in central Crittenden County, along U.S. 64, seven miles north of interstate 40 and eight miles west of interstate 55. The county of Crittenden was formed on October 22, 1825, as the 12th county in Arkansas Territory. The county was named for Robert Crittenden, the first secretary of Arkansas Territory. Since its creation, the county’s main industry has continued to be agriculture, due to its rich delta farmland that produces a diversity of crops; such as cotton, soybeans, rice, grain, sorghum and corn.[1]
The community of Crawfordville was first settled in 1859 and eventually named for the local early businessman, Adolphus Fountain Crawford, who fought for the Confederacy as a young man during the Civil War and who served briefly as the area’s first postmaster. The Crawfordsville Post Office was established in 1870.[2] The Swepston family, who arrived in the area at the same time as Adolphus Crawford, became important early business and community leaders. John Swepston became associated with several early businesses and ran the community’s grist mill and sawmill on nearby Alligator Bayou. He also served as county clerk and was elected county sheriff. John Swepston’s children would continue to be important members of the business community.[3]
The early growth of the community of Crawfordsville began as an outgrowth of the timber industry in eastern Arkansas during the post–Civil War era.[4] The local timber industry provided raw materials for thriving local business and encouraged timber related business such as the St. John Rod & Pump Sucker Company and the Gilt Edge Cooperage Company, which produced 50,000 barrel hoops a year.[5] The timber industry dominated the local economy following the Civil War through the early 20th century. The industry also benefitted from the opening of a rail line through the city in 1888, which encouraged the expansion of the timber industry. The opening of the railroad line through the community in 1888 also served to sustain the community’s growth as the local economy transitioned from timber to farming during the early twentieth century. Unlike other communities in Crittenden County that quickly faded once the nearby timber-rich acreage had been cleared, Crawfordsville continued to prosper as an agricultural community after its formal incorporation in 1912.[6] The railroad continued to underpin the commercial success of Crawfordsville throughout the first half of the 20th century as it brought traveling salesmen through the town and provided transport for locally made products to larger markets. The depot was closed in 1962 after passenger service on the rail line was discontinued.[7]
Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was established as a separate denomination in 1844, after a split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church that came to a head during the 1844 General Conference.[8] In 1850, in a small log school house, just west of the town of Crawfordsville, the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized on the banks of Alligator Bayou, by a circuit riding preacher, Reverend James Albert Alexander.[9] The Bethel Church was the second Methodist Church in Crittenden County, the first was located in the Marion community, and was placed under the jurisdiction of the Marion Charge at the 1850 Arkansas Charge Conference of the Methodist Church held in Fayetteville, Arkansas.[10]
Reverend Alexander is credited with doing more than any other person in the organization of the church, as well as serving as the first pastor of the church. It has been noted that he had a powerful way of exhorting his messages.[11] Reverend Alexander died at the age of 84 on December 1, 1898.[12] His great granddaughters, Mrs. Harry Long and Mrs. Susie Landrum became members of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church of Crawfordsville in 1903 by Reverend J. T. Self.[13]
The original small log school and church served the needs of the church until 1857, when the members of the congregation agreed on the need for an official church building. Mr. G. G. McGhee, a local businessman and member of the Baptist church, responded with a deed to the plot of land where the log school was located, which had been serving as a meeting place for the congregation.[14] The deed listed just over three acres which would be used for a church and cemetery. Construction on a new church began immediately and the building was quickly finished and in use for regular church services and Sunday school.
In the years during and following the Civil War, the Marion Methodist Circuit, which included Crawfordsville, was supplied only by traveling circuit riders, whose names were not recorded in surviving records, as they were appointed after the state conference adjourned. The church on Alligator Bayou was very much in a state of disorganization following the war, and there followed a long period of inaction by the congregation. Shortly after the Civil War, new business began to develop in the Crawfordsville community. A small business district was developed and several new structures were under construction. The church’s congregation felt that the current structure was too far removed from the new center of town and investigated finding a new location closer to the central business area. Under the leadership of the pastor Brother M. M. Smith, a deed of conveyance was made on November 14, 1883, by Dr. and Mrs. J. R. Jenkins to the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for the sum of $50 for a plot of land where the current church building now stands. [15] This new property was much nearer to the heart of the town of Crawfordsville, located only a block and a half off Main Street.
Construction began on the new church in 1884 with the congregation members providing almost all of the labor. By 1902, the structure was in such bad condition the church was completely remodeled. This third church structure was sold in 1917 to a local congregation of the colored Methodist Church and was moved to property on the south side of town. Elements of this 1884 structure may still exist in the current, renovated structure used by the New Home Missionary Baptist Church in southern Crawfordsville.
The cornerstone for the new brick building, built on the land provided by Dr. J. R. Jenkins, was laid by Bishop Hiram A. Boaz on November 11, 1917. The structure was noted for its beauty both inside and out.[16] Reverend O. D. Langston was the pastor at the time of the construction. The Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church in Crawfordsville was possibly designed by John Parks Almand, an important Arkansas architect who started his architectural career in 1911 after graduating from Columbia University. Almand came to Little Rock, Arkansas, to practice with Charles L. Thompson in July of 1912. He then opened his own practice in 1915. Almand continued to practice architecture until his death in 1969.[17] An almost identical church, attributed to John Parks Almand, was constructed in 1919 by the First Presbyterian Church of Lonoke, Arkansas. This structure still exists and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September of 2004. There are no surviving documents that have been found to date that link the Crawfordsville church directly to Mr. Almand. The church in Lonoke is listed on a list of projects completed by John Parks Almand compiled by his son after his father’s death.
Both the Crawfordsville and Lonoke churches were designed in the Tudor Revival Style. The Tudor Revival Style was a popular early 20th century style for residential structures, rivaling only the colonial revival style in popularity.[18] The style particularly exploded in popularity after World War I, when returning soldiers designed and built structures that were loosely based on structures and historic sites they had seen in Europe.[19] The Tudor Revival style was popular with John Parks Almand, he even chose the style for his own home at 324 West 14th Street in Little Rock. [20]
One of the early settlers, Annie Wash, the half-sister of Adolphus Crawford, who Crawfordsville was named for, was instrumental in getting a plaque placed on the front of the church showing the early organization of the Methodist Church in Crawfordsville by James Albert Alexander in 1850. Brother W. J. Leroy assisted her, and along with Brother Alexander’s descendants, his great granddaughter Susie Hart Landrum and his great-great granddaughter, Esther Mae Landrum Walker, finished the plaque dedication on November 5, 1939. It is, to this day, located on the right side of the main entrance to the church. Mrs. Wash also gave the deed to the church for the land on which the parsonage stands. She did so with the intentions of preventing a parsonage from being built on the bank of Jenkins Lake, next to where the church stood, in fear of the possibility of parsonage children drowning.[21] The present parsonage was constructed on a lot located on Haden Street, just south of the present building, which was donated by Mrs. Wash in 1962 and dedicated in 1968.
Before the new educational building was erected, a Centennial celebration was held at the present location of the church on June 4, 1950. A Building Committee was elected on November 28, 1948, to organize the construction of the adjacent educational building; composed of J. W. Young Sr, G. P. Harmon, L. T. Garner, S. O. Bond, V. E. Gilchrist, Mrs. J. A. McKnight, Mrs. B. J. Wallace and Mrs. G. B. Britton.[22] This was the first and only recorded mention of the educational building until June 29, 1954, when the Quarterly Conference authorized the election of a new building committee, the acquisition of land, and the raising of funds for the new building. The new building committee was composed of L. T. Garner, G. B. Britton, Paul O’Neal, John M. Swepston, and B. J. Wallace.[23] Jack W. Glass was the pastor at this time.
In the fall of 1955, a meeting of the Building Committee was conducted and the Official Board elected a Finance Committee to raise the funds.[24] L. T. Garner donated land for the building for $1, although the land initially appraised at $2000.[25] Wiseman and Bland were the architects and were contracted with church member James Howard Taylor to erect the building.
The firm of Wiseman and Bland was created in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1950 through the partnership of John Dietrich Bland and Chester Leroy Wiseman. Both architects had a long string of previous projects across Tennessee before working on the education building in Crawfordsville, Arkansas.[26] A. Ralph Knapp, also a member of the church, was employed to install the plumbing and electrical work. The work began on June 1, 1956, and the new educational building was open for use in the latter part of October, 1956.[27]
The summer of 1966 brought sadness to Crawfordsville as the town saw the local high school building, built in 1911, burn to the ground. With the school year encroaching ever so closely, there was nowhere for the children to attend school; however, like so many times in the past when the town folks pulled together, this time of tragedy was no different. Without interruption for church services or Sunday school classes, the Methodist Church offered to house the first, third and sixth grades in the educational building for the entire school year.[28]
The Crawfordsville Methodist Church became the Crawfordsville United Methodist Church in April of 1968, when the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren merged at a conference in Dallas, TX.
In the early 1980s, church member Odie Pennebaker, along with her daughter, Ann, had seen needlepoint altar kneelers on a trip to Florida. Upon their return to Crawfordsville, Odie described the kneelers to the ladies of the Wesleyan Guild. The Guild engaged Indie Cockerham, a well-known needlepoint designer, to design and paint the patterns on the canvas for the church kneelers and pulpit chairs for a cost of $2800.[29] It took the ladies quite some time to complete the project, as some would start and for various reasons, give it up, but another person would take up where one would leave off and carry on. After eleven years, the needlepoint kneelers and pulpit chairs were completed with beautiful patterns of the Methodist Church symbols. The Guild members who participated on the project were Marilyn Howe, Frances Wallace, Jean Springfield, Iris Cole, Clytee Griffin, Libby Briggs, and Virginia Wallace. Arthur Townsend of Memphis blocked and finalized the kneelers and chairs for a cost of $1230. In 1997, the Needlepoint Kneelers and Pulpit Chairs were dedicated and to this day, grace the altar and pulpit.
In June of 2000, a Sesquicentennial festivity was celebrated on the grounds of the current location with a host of current and former members gathering for a grand gala of fun and memories. Today the Crawfordsville United Methodist Church is nestled among gracefully tall trees and is one of the oldest landmarks in Crittenden County.
Statement of Significance
The Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church in Crawfordsville, Arkansas, is being nominated to the Arkansas Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criterion C for its Tudor Revival architecture. The church is the best ecclesiastical example of the Tudor Revival style in Crawfordsville, although it has had a large addition that precludes its listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The church’s stained-glass windows, as well as the steeply-pitched, modified jerkinhead roof, segmental-arched entrances, and multiple gables are all characteristics of the Tudor Revival Style. The property is also being nominated under Criteria Consideration A as a religious property.
Appendix 1:
The most notable interior features of this church are the gorgeous stained-glass windows that embellish the interior rooms of the 1917 church. The middle window located in the south facade of the church is dedicated in honor of Reverend O. D. Langston, the pastor of the church at the time of the construction of the building in 1917. The ten largest windows adorn the sanctuary and each window has a dedication embedded within the pattern of the window. These windows were funded in memory or in honor of prominent members or organizations of the Crawfordsville Methodist Church and include various Christian scenes and symbols.
- Window 1: In Memory of Guy Eugene Blann – b. 10-18-1909; d. 03-25-1914; son of Guy Adolphus Blann, brother to A.D. Blann (Window 2); Guy Eugene’s father was a merchant and farmer, married to Clair Wash, daughter of Annie Wallace Wash of Vincent, who donated the lot for the church parsonage; Guy Eugene’s parents had a daughter in 1915, Catherine “Cooder” Eugene Blann, who married Cliff Britton; their son Guy Blann Britton still lives in Crawfordsville with his family.
- Window 2: In Memory of A.D. Blann – b. 01-17-1864; d. 10-30-1913; Arthur Dealer Blann came to Crawfordsville in 1876 when his father moved to Crawfordsville as a cotton buyer; A. D. was in business as a stock dealer and store keeper from 1883 on; he married Mary Winifred Spicer, who came to Crawfordsville from Bartlett, TN, as a school teacher; they had 5 children.
- Window 3: In Memory of Mrs. Willie Denton Swepston – b. 1864 in Crittenden County; married Willie Wise Swepston in 1882; they had 7 children: Edith, Neely, Pierre, Lee, Clyde, John, and Jo; Pierre’s son, John was a long-time mayor of Crawfordsville and his daughters, Sharon Hardin and Julie Alpe and their families still live in Crawfordsville.
- Window 4: In Memory of Dr. S. J. Knott; d. in 1912; Simon J. Knott practiced medicine and lived on a farm about 2 miles west of Crawfordsville and 1 mile north of Highway 64; he and his 1st wife, Mollie, had 2 children: Mary and Jack; Dr. Knott served as postmaster at Crawfordsville from 1899-1902.
- Window 5: In Memory of Mollie R. Knott- 1st wife of Dr. S. J. Knott (Window 4).
- Window 6: In Memory of Dr. J. T. Haden – b. 12-06-1852 in Huntsville, AL; d. 07-21-1917; John Tate Haden was a Vanderbilt Medical School graduate and moved to Crawfordsville around 1878 to practice medicine with his uncle, Dr. J. R. Jenkins (Window 7); he and his wife had 8 children: Hugh, Carrie, Thurman, Irene, Roy, Effie Louise, Evalena and Willy Bernard.
- Window 7: In Memory of Dr. J. R. Jenkins – Dr. Jenkins and his wife provided a deed of conveyance of land for the present building in 1883 for $50, adjacent to Jenkins Lake; they had 5 children: John Tate, James Mills, Maggie Jenkins Wall, Carrie Jenkins Hanna and Jennie Jenkins Givens.
- Window 8: In Memory of Mrs. Fannie Smith Gibson – b. 06-06-1846; d. 05-10-1899; Mrs. Gibson had 7 children: Kate, Dolph, Andrew, Charles, Montie, Ethel and Daisy.
- Window 9: Presented by the Davis Family, Vincent, Arkansas – b. 1855 in Helena, AR; d. 1936; Mrs. Sam (Sarah Augusta) Davis lived most of her life in Vincent, AR; Her son, Claude W. Davis, 1886-1967, also lived in Vincent, and was a very active member of the Crawfordsville Methodist Church, serving on the Board of Stewards and as the Sunday School superintendent; his wife, the former Essie Salmon, taught Sunday school, played the piano for Sunday School and church, and was an active member of the Women’s Missionary Society.
- Window 10: Junior Auxiliary Society 1917 – later called Epworth League or the Methodist Youth Fellowship or United Methodist Youth.
Note: All of the biographical information was provided from the files of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church of Crawfordsville, Arkansas.
Bibliography:
Fox, Thomas. “School Scatters All Over For Crawfordsville Pupils.” The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, TN. Oct. 25, 1966.
Historic Church Record Collection. Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. Crawfordsville, Arkansas. Consulted in 2016.
History of the Crawfordsville Church. Centennial CelebrationCommittee: Crawfordsville, AR. 1950.
Koyl, George S.,
McAlester, Virginia, and A. Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Knopf, 1994.
Miller, Adam. “Crawfordsville (Crittenden County).” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. November 15, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2016.
Orr, David (Pastor). First Handbook of the Crawfordsville United Methodist Church, 1981.
Property Deeds.Book 294, Page 287. Crittenden County Courthouse, Marion, AR; 11 Feb 2016.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Crawfordsville, Arkansas: 1913-1930.
Stockley, Grif. “Crittenden County.” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. February 26, 2016. Accessed June 1, 2016.
“The Slavery Question and Civil War (1844-1865).” United Methodist Church. Accessed June 1, 2016. http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/the-slavery-question-and-civil-war.
Watson, Terri. Member of Crawfordsville United Methodist Church, 02 Feb 2016.
Wilcox, Ralph. First Presbyterian Church (Lonoke, Arkansas). National Register Nomination Form. Files of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
Wittenberg, Gordon and Charles Witsell. Architects of Little Rock: 1833-1950. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2014.
[1] Grif Stockley, “Crittenden County,” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, February 26, 2016, Accessed June 1, 2016.
[2] Adam Miller, “Crawfordsville (Crittenden County),” The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture, Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, November 15, 2011, Accessed June 1, 2016.
[3] Miller, “Crawfordsville”.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] “The Slavery Question and Civil War (1844-1865),” United Methodist Church, Accessed June 1, 2016, http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/the-slavery-question-and-civil-war.
[9] Historic Church Record Collection, Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, Crawfordsville, Arkansas.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Gordon Wittenberg and Charles Witsell, Architects of Little Rock: 1833-1950, Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2014.
[18] Virginia and A. Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, New York: Knopf, 1994. p 358.
[19] Ralph Wilcox, First Presbyterian Church (Lonoke, Arkansas), National Register Nomination Form, Files of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Historic Church Record Collection, Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, Crawfordsville, Arkansas.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Ibid.
[26] George S. Koyl,
[27] Historic Church Record Collection, Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, Crawfordsville, Arkansas.
[28] Thomas Fox, “School Scatters All Over For Crawfordsville Pupils,” The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, TN, Oct. 25, 1966.
[29] Historic Church Record Collection, Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church, Crawfordsville, Arkansas.