Dr. John Chadd and his family arrived in Harrison County from Indiana in 1846. With several other men from the community, Dr. Chadd founded the Smyrna Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Chadd home served as the meeting place for the congregation; services, held once every three weeks, were led by Methodist circuit riders. In 1858 Dr. Chadd and another founder, William Knox, deeded 2 acres to the E. J. Glover Masonic Lodge No. 178 for the use of the church. A two-story log building was shared by the Masons, the church, and the local school. The structure and its replacement were destroyed by fire. In 1874 Chadd deeded land adjoining the church property and a new building was erected in that year. By 1887 the congregation numbered 80. The school was moved to land donated by Chadd in 1902. The church building was destroyed by a cyclone in 1905. Two years later, Chadd again deeded land to the church, and the Methodist Conference gave $100 for a new edifice. George Oscar McIntosh, the contractor for the new structure, became a church member. In 1953 McIntosh was the head carpenter for construction of the fifth church building. Renamed Smyrna United Methodist Church in 1968, the congregation counted 56 members in 1997. The church continues to be a center of Smyrna community and religious life. (1998)
This page last updated: 7/15/2008 |
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Related Themes: Texas Freemasons, Masonic Lodges, Freemasonry
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