XLII
HISTORIES OF CHURCHES
"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the House of the Lord."—David.
"There's a church in the valley by the wildwood
No lovelier spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale."
BEAVER DAM CHURCH
The early history of the Beaver Dam Presbyterian church at Grant carries us back to the year 1873, when Wiley Homer, one of the enterprising young men of the community, built an arbor in the timber, and held the first religious meetings among the colored people of that neighborhood.
Parson C. W. Stewart, of Doaksville, the next year held occasional services in the arbor, and in 1875 secured the erection of the first house of worship. It was built of saplings, and at the place previously occupied by the arbor. Wiley Homer continued to serve as leader of the regular Sabbath meetings, when the parson was not present.
In 1881 the church was organized with the following persons as original members: