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Hernando Today

A Brief History Of The Church In Hernando County

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By MAUREA SLEESMAN Hernando Today correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 27, 2008

Roger Landers, a noted local historian, listed some annotations of local African-American and white churches.

A few include:

1844 - The first minister in Hernando County was Andrew Jackson Devours, appointed by the Georgia Conference of the Methodist Church.

1846 - Congregations of Lake Lindsay Baptist Church and nearby Methodist Church are founded.

April 1859 - Arthur St. Clair, the slave of Mrs. Matilda May, was received for membership in the Union Baptist Church. St. Clair became the minister for the "colored congregations," later known as the Bethlehem Baptist Church.

March 21, 1858 - The black members of the Union Baptist Church, Brooksville, began holding separate communion from the white members.

1867 - James H. Roberts, an AME Zion minister, attempts to organize a church in Brooksville. The attempt fails.

1885 - Spring Lake Methodist Church begins worship services near the old cemetery overlooking Spring Lake on land donated by Alatha Hope.

Local historian Bob Martinez writes and publishes a monthly magazine called "Old Brooksville in Photos and Stories." His anecdotes echoed Landers, adding that many churches began in private homes and were ministered monthly by traveling preachers called circuit riders.

"The first Catholic Church was St. Anthony's, and the original building is on Oliver Street," Martinez said. "The New Hope Methodist Church and a few others had dirt floors. Some churches were destroyed by fires and hurricanes, but rebuilt."

The small New Hope Methodist Church in Istachatta is in Citrus County today, although the 1830 site was originally part of other counties including Hernando. The church also served as a schoolhouse and guard fortress against possible invasion by local Wahoo Indians.

One can still view some founding members' children's mischievously carved names and initials on the backs of the original wood pews, and the pot bellied stove used to be the sole heat source.

Martinez appreciates the freedom of diversity of religious beliefs in America while wishing that there could be more interest shown in understanding and appreciation of various denominations and faiths.

"That would be a fine Thanksgiving thought," he said.

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