Dedicated to the Members of the Binnsville
United Methodist Church, Past, Present and Future.
From "Kemper County, Mississippi - A Pictorial History", placed here
with permission by the Kemper County Historical Commission.
The old Binnsville Methodist Church building
after the Sunday School annex was built in 1964, showing the door
that led into the chancel area.
Story submitted by: Binnsville United Methodist Church
It is not certain when the Methodist Church
was first organized in Binnsville, Mississippi. The most complete
information available indicates that a Chatam (Chapman) Church was
organized about 1840 in the community. After several years the
church apparently changed it's name to Prairie Church. The
denomination of this church is not known, but there is good reason
to believe that it was the forerunner of Binnsville Methodist
Church.
It is difficult to obtain early information
about the Methodist church in Kemper County was in the Alabama
Conference until 1870 when it became a part of the Mississippi
Conference.
It is also not certain when the Methodist
church in this community was named Binnsville Methodist; for that
matter, it is not certain when the town itself was named. One source
claims that the town got its name from a William Binns, who settled
here in the early 1830's. According to information gathered by the
late Magie Briggs Aust, the town was not named until 1872 then the
post office was established in Mr. George Binn's store. Whenever the
town got it's name, it is obvious that there was a Methodist church
in the community at least as early as 1870, one of as many as 11
churches on the DeKalb Circuit. In late 1879 Binnsville became a
station charge, as this is the first year it appears in the
conference journal as a separate appointment.
Construction on the new church started in 1971 when Walter Hughley
was pastor. After the foundation, floor and plumbing was completed,
Billy Ray Baty did the blacking-out process and Joe Crowson of
Louisville laid the bricks. Members of the church, led by Ellis
Vaughn, did the rest of the work completing the church on November
10, 1974. The first wedding in the new building was on May 20, 1973,
when Becky Vaughn, daughter of Ellis and Mamie Lois Vaughn, married
Charlie Tempkovits. The present pulpit is the same one that was used
for many years in the old building, and the alter rail, the marble
top table and the piano in the fellowship hall were all used in the
old building as well as the Sunday School attendance board.
Many pastors have passed through our doors since this church was
founded in the 1800's, and many, many memories were made.
There are five people buried on the Binnsville Church Property
itself, not in the cemetery. Those people are:
1. Honeycutt, Leroy Jackson Dec. 27,1852 - Dec. 9, 1881
2. Moss, James H. Nov. 3, 1850 - Nov. 24, 1881
3. Stewart, William C. Oct. 23, 1846 - Jan. 9, 1886
4. Stuart, Mary M. Ethridge May 2, 1842 - Dec. 10, 1876
Wife of W. C. Stuart
5. Stuart, W. H. Feb. 7, 1807 - Mar. 30, 1884
Gene Allred
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