Wesleyanna Methodist

Screven County
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Org 1868
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Photography by John Kirkland

A truly significant fact about this church is its absolute authenticity. It stands today as it did the day James Bazemore and the others put all their tools aside and entered the church for its first service. Being in heart pine country, the church was completely constructed, inside and out, of pine wood sawed and shaped by the locals. The decorative elements, furniture and pews within are all pine. The exterior is distinctive because of the use of horizontal siding on the front and back but employing board and batten techniques for both side walls. Wesleyanna is a perfect example of a rural, 19th century meeting house in the back woods.

Wesleyanna Methodist is a sweet little church in Screven County that has been well cared for by the ancestors of the original founders. Unfortunately the only history we can find for the church is listed on the historical marker copy. We are certain there is some more history out there and we will post it as we come up with it. Any input from our readers would be appreciated. The interior of the church has been beautifully kept and is a great tribute to the old South Georgia rural church architecture. A truly significant fact about this church is its absolute authenticity. It stands today as it did the day James Bazemore and the others put all their tools aside and entered the church for its first service. Being in heart pine country, the church was completely constructed, inside and out, of pine wood sawed and shaped by the locals. The decorative elements, furniture and pews within are all pine. The exterior is distinctive because of the use of horizontal siding on the front and back but employing board and batten techniques for both side walls. Wesleyanna is a perfect example of a rural, 19th century meeting house in the back woods.

The copy on the marker reads below.

Organized 1868 under bush arbor on Stephen D. Lewis farm by Elder Theo. A. Pharr, John Hardy Bolton, Julia Wells Bolton, Stephen D. Lewis, Martha Howard Lewis, Paul Jenkins, Temperance Jenkins, Fulton L. Oglesby, Mary Bolton Oglesby and Mary Lewis Frawley. Built 1870 by James Allen Bazemore and others on land given by Alexander James Wells and Isaac Thomas Bazemore. Original Trustees: John W. Boston, James Allen Bazemore, Green Berry Waters, Alexander James Wells and Abisha Humphrey Bazemore. Among early preachers: John Jenkins, W.D. Smith, Abisha Humphrey Bazemore, A.F. Ellington, Emory F. Dean, Jacob Perry Bazemore, David Matthews Bazemore, A.M. Johnson and John W. Roach. June, 1957, church and cemetery set aside as perpetual memorial to founders by deed from Methodist Conference to Trustees, all of whom are descendants: Dora Bazemore Brooker, E. Lampkin Bazemore, I. Thomas Sanders, James Eugene Bazemore, Charles Thurman Hopkins, Sr., Lilla Sanders Smith, John W. Gross, Palmer A. Bazemore and Bertha Hoffman.

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