HENDERSON Henderson Church, near Rio, the first church of any faith organized in Knox county, was constituted August 14, 1830, with fourteen charter members, at the home of John D. Roundtree, in the northwestern part of Knox county, in or near Henderson's Grove, near present day Rio, by Elders Stephen Strickland Jr. and John Logan. The charter members' names were Elder Jacob Gum, Rhoda Gum, James Goff, Martha Goff, Daniel Fuqua, Martha Fuqua, Obadiah Fuqua, Reuben Nance, Ruth Nance, Dariah Roundtree, John D. Roundtree, Mary Roundtree, Nicholas Vailes, and Deborah Vailes. Henderson Church was one of the founding members of the Spoon River Association in 1830. The first white person born in the county, Elizabeth Robertson Reed, later became a member of this church, her father being one of the earliest pioneers. In 1839, this church dismissed sixteen members to organize the Edwards River Church in Mercer County. It also helped organize a several other churches. The meeting house was located on the east side of what is now known as the Baptist (or Robertson) Cemetery, on land given to the church by Larkin and Polly Robertson. It was 1 1/2 miles south and 1/2 mile east of Rio. The building was moved after the church dissolved, and used as a residence, at the northwest corner of the intersection of U. S. Route 150 and the North Henderson blacktop. The cemetery is maintained by Rio township. Pastors of Henderson Church included William Kinner, Joseph Jones, John Roberts, Rowland M. Simmons, John M. Brown, Isaac Vanmeter, Smith Ketchum, and S. H. Humphrey. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.
Hi Robert, Thanks for the updated information about Henderson Church. I have used it to update the Rio Township information on the Knox County USGenWeb site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilknox/histories/rio.htm#HendersonChurch. Best wishes, Bob Miller Site Coordinator Knox County, Illinois, USGenWeb http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilknox/ Share your genealogy research with others! Upload your GEDCOM file to RootsWeb at: http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/ -----Original Message----- From: Robert L Webb [mailto:bwebb9@juno.com] Sent: Friday, March 30, 2001 8:06 AM To: ILKNOX-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [ILKNOX-L] Henderson Church, Rio HENDERSON Henderson Church, near Rio, the first church of any faith organized in Knox county, was constituted August 14, 1830, with fourteen charter members, at the home of John D. Roundtree, in the northwestern part of Knox county, in or near Henderson's Grove, near present day Rio, by Elders Stephen Strickland Jr. and John Logan. The charter members' names were Elder Jacob Gum, Rhoda Gum, James Goff, Martha Goff, Daniel Fuqua, Martha Fuqua, Obadiah Fuqua, Reuben Nance, Ruth Nance, Dariah Roundtree, John D. Roundtree, Mary Roundtree, Nicholas Vailes, and Deborah Vailes. Henderson Church was one of the founding members of the Spoon River Association in 1830. The first white person born in the county, Elizabeth Robertson Reed, later became a member of this church, her father being one of the earliest pioneers. In 1839, this church dismissed sixteen members to organize the Edwards River Church in Mercer County. It also helped organize a several other churches. The meeting house was located on the east side of what is now known as the Baptist (or Robertson) Cemetery, on land given to the church by Larkin and Polly Robertson. It was 1 1/2 miles south and 1/2 mile east of Rio. The building was moved after the church dissolved, and used as a residence, at the northwest corner of the intersection of U. S. Route 150 and the North Henderson blacktop. The cemetery is maintained by Rio township. Pastors of Henderson Church included William Kinner, Joseph Jones, John Roberts, Rowland M. Simmons, John M. Brown, Isaac Vanmeter, Smith Ketchum, and S. H. Humphrey. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.