source: Pope p. 87 The Methodists As Chapman notes, the early history of the Methodist churches in Newberry County has not been accurately preserved, largely because itinerant preachers organized churches generally in private homes. Methodism made its first appearance here after the Revolution. The Broad River circuit was organized in 1787; it included the area from the Dutch Fork to the Pacolet River in Spartanburg District. The preachers on this circuit in that year were Richard Ivey, the elder John Mason and Thomas Davis. The circuit then consisted of a membership of 200 whites and 10 colored. The great Bishop Francis Asbury traveled through the Carolinas and Georgia in the infancy of the Methodism, keeping a journal which is invaluable for its information about the Methodists. On January 24, 1786, he crossed the Saluda and made this entry in his journal: "...at Weaver's ferry we crossed the Saluda. Here once lived that strange, deranged mortal who proclaimed himself to be God. Report says that he killed three men for refusing their assent to his godship; he gave out his wife to be the Virgin Mary, and his son Jesus Christ; and when hanged at Charleston, promised to rise the third day." He refers to the Weber heresy. Jacob Weber in 1760, near the mouth of the Saluda, was deluded into believing that he was God. Naming the other members of the Trinity, he led them into murdering John George Smithpeter whom they thought to be the devil. He was executed for the murder in 1761. The South-Carolina Gazette for April 25, 1761, carries the account of the trial in Charleston. Asbury visited often in the homes of Edward Finch and Colonel Benjamin Herndon in Newberry District. Others with whom he stayed were Colonel Levi Casey, Thomas Hardy, Stephen Shell, and Frederick Foster in the Enoree section and with Dr. W. M. Moon in the Little River section. He proposed the establishment of Mount Bethel Academy to the Finches, Crenshaws, and Malones, and Edward Finch gave thirty acres of land as a site for the institution. Asbury suggested that the house be guilt for preaching conference, and school. The building was commenced in 1793 but not completed in time for the united session of the South Carolina and Georgia Conferences in 1794. On his annual visit on March 20, 1795, however, Bishop Asbury dedicated Mount Bethel, preaching a sermon from 1 Thess. v 16: "Rejoice evermore." Probably the first Methodist church in Newberry County was organized in the home of Edward Finch. Here Bishop Asbury preached and held a quarterly conference in 1788. Finch lived near Mt. Bethel Academy, about ten miles northeast of Newberry Courthouse and near Brown's Crossroads.... more coming... ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com