Lives of Our Founders
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Lives of Our Founders of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta Founded 8 January 1848 February 27, 2013 1847 Schoolhouse and Sunday School Rev. John Simpson Wilson, Founding Pastor Please contact any of these members of the Archives & History Committee if you have any questions or any information to add. Please contact any of us for more information, or with further information to offer. Bill Lyons, Chair & Editor Mary Lou Oppenheimer Karna Candler (Former Chair & Member Emeritus) Moncure Crowder Susan Daugherty (Former Chair) Jason Cherry (Historian Member) This booklet is a companion to the series of booklets History and Stained Glass Windows of First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. This document continues to be a work in progress.. We hope that the material in these papers will make the history of our church, our windows, and the material held in our Archives, more accessible to our members and friends. Bill Lyons can be contacted at [email protected] or 770-805-9017. To offer comments or ask questions use Bill’s email, or his Blog at http://sermonsinwindows.blogspot.com Plans are underway to update this Blog and Web Site. As soon as this report is completed that will be our next priority. Your suggestions are welcome. © William W. Lyons. This material should not be used, copied, or reproduced without permission from Bill. Dedicated to Our Friend, Member, and Pastor Dr. George Wirth, Senior Pastor, 1990 - 2013 The Archives & History Committee dedicates this publication, with affection and appreciation, to our pastor, Dr. George Wirth. He revived the History Committee when he arrived in our presence, participated in our activities, and urged us on. Without his longstanding support and enthusiastic participation, much of the achievements of the committee would not have occurred. Thank you from the Archives & History Committee Members, past and present. Table of Contents Explanation of footnotes, references, and abbreviations. 4 Lives of Our Nineteen Founders and Others. 5 Signers, Spouses, and Wilson by Family.. 5 Other Early Members.. 6 Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church. 7 Background. 7 Atlanta in 1848: An Imaginary Ride to Found a New Church.. 7 Boyd, Kesiah and Margaret. 10 Brockman, Henry and Ruth A .. 11 Caldwell, Charlotte J... 12 Cone, Lucinda (and Reuben) . 12 Davis, James and Jane. 13 Fraser, Hugh Alexander and Julia M. L.. 14 Gill, Jane (and Archibald B.). 15 Houston, Oswald and Annie L. .. 16 Kelsey, Joel and Diana.. 17 Norcross, Harriett (and Jonathan) . 19 Thompson, Dr. Joseph, Mrs Mary Ann, and daughter Mary Jane. 21 Wilson, Rev John Simpson, Founding Pastor. 23 Other Early Members.. 25 Earnest Family - Researcher is Bill Lyons.. 25 Glen Family - Researcher is Bill Lyons. 27 Healey Family. 30 High Family - Researcher Needed. 31 Hoyt Family . 33 Logan Family - Researcher Needed. 34 Luckie Family - Researcher Needed. 35 Markham Family. 35 McGinley Family - Researcher Needed. 36 Pitts Family - Researcher is Owen Braun. 36 Rhea Family - Researcher Needed.. 37 Robinson Family - Researcher Needed. 37 Shumate Family. 39 Wilson (A. N.) Family. 41 Sermons in Stained Glass Booklets. 43 Founders Lives of Our Founders Printed February 27, 2013 (2:29pm) Page 3 of 43 Condensed Table of Contents for Booklets Booklet 1 History - 1847 Thru 1919 Booklet 2 Sermons in Stained Glass Booklet 3 Plan and Design Booklet 4 Installation Booklet 5 History Windows - Elements & Counting Booklet 6 Organs, Crosses, Stone of Ephesus, Sanctuary, Handbook, Floor Plans, Gardens, etc Booklet 7 Other Factors Booklet 8 Two Bill Lyons Booklet 9 Correspondence with Artists Booklet 10 Appendices A document describing Winship Chapel is also available. A document describing the Lives of our Founders is in development Please send Bill your comments and suggestions for additions. Contact Bill to be added to a notification list of significant updates or for notification of plans for presentations based on this material. Any errors this document are the responsibility of Bill Lyons. Explanation of footnotes, references, and abbreviations A number of notations and abbreviations are use here for simplicity. Some of these are common in census records, and others come from genealogy habits. abt - about c - circa (meaning the approximate year) date notation - November 12, 1952 is written as 12 Nov 1952 state abbreviation - the two character notation is used (GA, SC, NC, etc) A list of references with abbreviations for them is in the appendix Footnotes N refers to Garrett’s Necrology with Roll and Frame # G A&E refers to the multi volume Atlanta and Environs by Garrett with volume and page 150th refers to our 150th publication, “A Church on Peachtree” Founders Lives of Our Founders Printed February 27, 2013 (2:29pm) Page 4 of 43 Lives of Our Nineteen Founders and Others The names of our Founding Pastor, Rev. John Simpson Wilson, and nineteen signing members have ben celebrated many times. Some information about Dr. Wilson has been offered, but little has been told about the nineteen signers, their spouses, related families, and other early members. This document is a beginning effort to inform our members and friends about these brave people, where they came from, and what they accomplished. Your help in adding to these records is welcome. Many records, and various celebration, have told us the names of the signers. In some cases records were lost. In other cases errors crept in. Now, years later, the Archives & History Committee, with the help of other friends, has created this document, Lives of Our Founders. We have included spouses who were involved but not present for the signing. We have corrected some errors which crept in, and documented some other early members. The traveling Pastor from First Presbyterian, Decatur, who inspired this group was Rev. John S. Wilson. Here are the names of the nineteen Signers as listed in our 150th anniversary book, A Church on Peachtree, (this will be referred to throughout this document as “150th”): Joel Kelsey Jane Davis Mary J. Thompson Jane Gill O Houston Keziah Boyd Julia M. L. Fraser Henry Brockman James Davis C. J. Caldwell Annie L. Houston Harriet Norcross Minerva Kelsey [Diana] H. A. Fraser Joseph Thompson Ruth A. Brockman Mary A. Thompson Margaret Boyd Lucinda Cone Signers, Spouses, and Wilson by Family Grouped into families, and with names corrected and partially expanded, they are: Boyd Kesiah and Margaret Brockman Henry and Ruth Ann Caldwell Charlotte J. * Cone Lucinda (and Reuben) * Identifies families with current Davis James and Jane living generations found. Fraser H. A. And Julia M. L. * Gill Mrs. Jane (and Archibald B.) * Houston Oswald and Annie L * Kelsey Joel and Diana (Minerva) Norcross Harriett (and Jonathan) Thompson Dr. Joseph and Mrs. Mary Ann Thompson Mary Jane (Daughter) Wilson Rev. John Simpson (later Dr.) Mary Jane Thompson married Richard Peters in 1848 and joined his Episcopal church. Henry Brockman and Reuben Cone died in 1851 Margaret Boyd, Julia M. L Fraser, Mrs. Jane Gill, and Dr. Joseph Thompson left to join the new Central Presbyterian Church in 1858 Founders Lives of Our Founders Printed February 27, 2013 (2:29pm) Page 5 of 43 The earliest source we can find for the names of the Signers is an old newspaper article, Rare Old Papers, published in 1882 (described elsewhere),which gives a list of names from a damaged scrap of paper which is difficult to read. The article mentions that there are nineteen names and lists only sixteen. This list is the earliest source we have found for the use of “Minerva” as the first name for Diana Kelsey. This author’s theory is that this may be the source of this error. The other names missing from the ROP list are Charlotte Caldwell, Harriett Norcross, and Mrs. Mary A. Thompson. Other spouses and members were obviously involved before and through the founding who are not in the list of nineteen (sixteen), We have included two spouses of Signers in this report. Both were very involved before the founding. We hope to find other sources which will help to clarify these mysteries. Other Early Members In addition to the Signers and their immediate families there are many other individuals and families, some intertwined with the Signers, who we were involved in our early years. The individuals or families who are discussed in this document are (* indicates that living descendants of relatives have been identified, some are current members, EOC indicates early officer or contributor, but not Signer): Earnest * High Markham EOC Robinson * EOC Glen EOC Hoyt * McGinley EOC Shumate * Hayden EOC Logan EOC Pitts EOC Terry EOC Healey * Luckie EOC Rhea * EOC Wilson, A N EOC Many of these families had members who were involved at the time of the founding, or immediately after, as Elders, Deacons, Trustee, and/or contributors. Several of those included came to our congregation later and are mentioned here due to their significant contributions. We apologize for leaving out so many, and welcome assistance in adding their life stories.