So many times, in life we know so much about so many things, only to wonder what we really do not know about them. I hope that made sense.
For me, I have known of The Bell’s Landing Presbyterian Church all my life. The earliest picture of me that I know of being made was taken supposedly at a wedding at that church. I was a very tiny kid. That would have been in 1957. As a preschooler I stayed with my great aunt who lived right up the lane from it. On a regular basis she would take me out for a walk, and we would walk up to that church. She would always go in and check things out and make sure that everything was ok. I would many times stay out and play on the steps while she was inside. Sometimes I think she would be cleaning up some. Other times I think she was quite possibly be praying. Not totally sure. I was very small. Needless to say, though my earliest memories as a small child contain that old church.
Although I have not been inside of it now in probably close to 60 or so years. As a kid, I went inside of it many times with my auntie when she was making her rounds checking things out.
I do not know the year, but I remember my father and some more men doing something on the top of it. I remember that my dad and Mr. Paul Miles were on top. I remember they had a rope that they were using to pull things up to work with. I remember us walking up to where they were working and putting things in a bucket that they pulled up.
I always knew about it, but recently I started to wonder what the history of it was that I did not know.
Recently I was doing research on some things. I came across a site that had a page titled The McCants Notes. Knowing that the McCants family was a prominent family of the time in that area it jumped out at me so to speak.
These notes start out speaking of two brothers who came to Southern Wilcox County. Their names were John and Thomas McCants. John had a son about 4 years old named Thomas as well. It states that in or “before” 1816 a house was made from hewn logs for a church. This building was used until about 1819.
Apparently in 1819 or there about a dispute started concerning the land on which the log church was located. The land was originally settled by Thomas McCants Sr. Apparently it was not properly recorded. A neighbor by the name of Peter McArthur showed government documents for the property and that brought on the dispute.
At this point in the notes is stated that “tradition states” that there was a “church session”. I interpret that to mean a church meeting. Supposedly this meeting was to determine the ownership of the land. The outcome of the meeting determined that Mr. McArthur proved his title to it and therefore secured his claim.
Then we see that this angered Thomas McCants so badly that he withdrew his alliance to the Presbyterian church and joined the Methodist Church.
The notes say that at that time the log building was torn down and moved across the road to the site of the present Preston Place. It then was used for a few years as a church and then converted into The McCants Inn.
I personally am not sure about that location. I know from being with my great aunt and my grandparents so much as a child that all of the last names were familiar to me. I understand that my great grandparents had moved to this area I am thinking in the 1920’s or 30’s. I am not certain where that would be though. Possibly towards the Vredenburgh area but I am not sure.
Also, this was the first I had ever heard or read of a McCants Inn being in that part of the world.
There is an article in the Spring/Summer edition of Legacy Magazine of the Monroe County Heritage Museum that tells almost word for word the same story up to this point. It does not mention the McCants Inn.
The Legacy magazine states that The Presbyterian Church moved about three miles from its original site and about five miles from the present site. That source goes on to state that they then moved to Magnolia Academy, where they held worship services until they built a building on the present site in 1885.
Again, I do not remember ever hearing of a Magnolia Academy. I am not sure at the time of this writing where it was located but will definitely be looking for that name in anything I find document wise in the future.
Switching back to the McCants notes again I see stated that they moved to a site that is designated as the present site of the Pine Flat Baptist Church. It states that there was a Union church located there that had a slave gallery. It goes on to state that they worshiped there until the 1850’s and from there it went to Magnolia Academy.
Both accounts put the church locating at the present site in 1885. Both writings also state that that building was destroyed by a storm on May 10, 1927.
According to the McCants notes the present building was not yet dedicated at the writing of that document Feb. 12, 1932.
My family lived in that area by the 1930’s. My grandparents lived approximately ¾ of a mile as the crow flies from the Presbyterian Church. My Great Grand Parents lived on the land beside the church.
Another name I saw mentioned in those notes was a Samuel Grace. My grandparents said they got the land they lived on from Mr. Sam Grace.
For me to learn this much about this old church was an awesome experience. I had known all my life but then there was so much that I did not know. There is definitely a long rich history of that area and the community located there. As always, I am only more excited to learn more. Thank God for those that saw fit to write notes of all of this over the years so that we can find tidbits like these to go forward learning more.
Sources: (1) The McCants Letters, https://robertstapleton.tripod.com/mccantsletters.html
(2) Legacy Magazine Spring/Summer 2000, Bell’s Landing Presbyterian Church, page 7.