was made a Bishop at the Quadrennial Conference of the denomination held 

at Cincinnati in 1856. He was the most distinguished citizen who has ever 

lived in the neighborhood, if not in the county. After his marriage in 

1814 he built his home on a farm near Howell's Mill which had been given 

him by his father. This home he called Spice Flat Cottage, for which he 

held a fond attachment as long as he lived. It was built on a swell of 

ground on the McCorkle farm about two hundred yards south of the house now 

owned and occupied by Mrs. Lawrence Adkins. 

In the year 1814 Rev. Henry B. Bascom was the minister on the circuit, and 

he frequently held services and classes of instruction at Spice Flat 

Cottage. During that year the first Methodist society, or church, was 

organized in the neighborhood, presumably at the home of Thomas A. Morris. 

The next minister on the circuit after the organization of the church was 

the able and eloquent Rev. John Dew, who appointed Thomas A. Morris as an 

assistant circuit rider. For many years after this local Methodist society 

was established, the Methodists continued to hold revival services at the 

homes of its members, where it was convenient for neighborhood gatherings. 

One of the places where such revivals were held was at the home of Robert 

Poar, on Poar's Hill where the Bradley family now live. For many years 

afterward one of the revivals held at this place was the subject of 

favorable comment among the older citizens of the community. The house in 

which it was held is one of the oldest in the valley, a stone from the 

chimney that formerly stood at the end of the house bears the date of 

October 7, 1829. The first Methodist church in the neighborhood was 

organized before the denomination was divided into the Methodist Episcopal 

Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, The site of the Bethesda 

Methodist Church was deeded to trustees for the Southern Church by the 

heirs of Thomas Maupin under date of May 6, 1839. 

Incidents of the Civil War

This valley had its share in the great Civil War, 1861 to 1865, and it did 

its part so fully that there was no appearance of cowards or slackers. 

Most of the young men of military age were enlisted in the Union or 

Confederate service. A number of them paid the extreme sacrifice on field 

of battle and never returned to recount their deeds of daring. Most of 

those who did return at the close of the war have since passed to the 

great beyond, and only a few remain like sentinels of a vanished army. 

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