THE SMYRNA METHODIST CHURCH
Smyrna Church gets a facelift
2001
Smyrna Church Restoration
2002 Smyrna Church
receives winter coat 31 Oct 2003
Armstrong descendants pledge funds for
Smyrna Church restoration 26 Jun 2004
WHITE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY TOUR
DATE: Sunday Afternoon, June 23, 1963
SPONSORS: Mr. & Mrs. William Welch
Narrator- Mrs. Lucille Irwin Glass (Mrs. E.V. )
This church has stood on the Searcy Valley Road for more than a hundred
years unchanged in its exterior as a
reminder of the God-fearing settlers of frontier
days. It has served as a church home for many who are life members
and to its members it
is truly "The Little Church In The Vale". Services are held regularly and the
building is kept in
a remarkably good state of repair. Many of the original members and
their families are buried in the cemetery adjacent
to the church building.
When in 1856, it was decided to organize a Methodist Church the
location decided upon was Smyrna, about half
way between Joy Mountain and Searcy. This was
a few miles east of the Union Church of this vicinity. The spot selected
was a beautiful one for a house of worship and there was a spaciousness, which allowed for
the burial ground also. The
three acre tract was bought from John F. Black and his wife,
Jane, for the sum of fifteen dollars. The Trustees of the new
church to whom the
deed was made were, Jacob Armstrong, T. B. King, Joseph Fortner, and W. C. Petty.
Descendants
of these four men still attend this historic old church.
Those who contributed to the organization of the church and who became
charter members were- T. B. King, Sr., Joe
Grammer, William T. Key, James Haney, William
C. Pettey, J. Douglas Armstrong, T. B. Ellis, Tom Key, William T.
Dowdy, John Herrington,
Albert Gilliam, John J. Peebles, Nelson Black and William Irwin. It is possible that there
were
others whose names are not found in the records
For about a half century it was known as the Smyrna Circuit, there
being six other churches served by the same minister.
Among these we find John W. Boswell,
R. G. Brittain, George A. Dannely, James M. Talkington, Z. T. Bennett, and
John H. Dye.
