Rev. P. S. L. Hutchins, Pastor Churches at Newberne and Gallion, Ala.
WILL’S CREEK ASSOCIATION.
Organized in 1873, and operating in “Will’s Valley” and St. Clair county, reports the following churches and ministers:
At Collinsville Post Office—Pleasant Grove Church; Lebanon—Lebanon; Fort Payne—Fort Payne; Valley Head—Bethlehem; Attalla—Mt. Zion, Pilgrim, Bethlehem; Keener—New Hope; Beaver Valley—Pleasant Hill; Ashville—Mt. Zion; Springville—Springville; Whitney—Evergreen; Guntersville—Bethlehem and Hooper Chapel; Trenton—Trenton; North Alabama—Clogville. Rev. G. Neeley, Ashville, is moderator; Mr. J. R. Dean, Ashville, is treasurer; and Prof. P. R. Sibert, Keener, is secretary. Their pastors are: Revs. N. Kerley, R. Berry, M. Edwards, of Fort Payne; G. W. Brewton, of Alexandria; H. Massey, J. Griffin, A. Jackson, and James M. Stevens. They have about 1,500 members.
Elder A. Kerley and his brother are the chief founders of this body. They greatly need an infusion of light from without. Rev. James Kerley, the pastor at Springville, is an ex-student of Talladega College. While they were in session in Ashville in 1892 the white people gave them the use of their church, and pastors, mayor of the city, and other leading people, turned out to encourage them and to financially strengthen their enterprises. While there, a white minister related to the writer the following story: “When the late Dr. Renfroe was a young man he was very poor, though, as later in his life, he was a powerful preacher. In the height of a glorious revival, the grass in his crop called him to his field. A colored brother who wanted the meeting to continue, requested his master to allow him to prolong the meeting. His master replied: ‘Jim, you can’t read, you can’t preach.’ The slave replied: ‘I can plow and kill grass—can do these for Brother Renfroe.’”
Gleaning from the associational chapter, we obtain:
1. The origin and field of each Association.
2. The names of the pioneers in each section in the State.
3. The location and something of the history of churches and communities.