Tom's Creek Free Will Baptist Church

Established 1876

Then and Now

The first building was built of logs and served as a house of worship until about 1915.
July 2, 1877 a deed was secured from George and Mary Daniels for a tract of land that was to extend for 2 feet on each side of this log building. The deed was made to the trustees of the Free Will, Missionary and United Baptists churches and their descendants. The United Baptists were to have the first and second weekends, the Missionary Baptists were to have the third and the Free Will Baptist to have the fourth weekend. Small additions of real estate were donated or purchased until they acquired six different deeds encompassing the land the church currently owns.

The first 25 members listed of the Free Will are T.S. Williams, Malissa Williams, E.P. VanHoose, Freelove VanHoose, Jasper Daniels, Rejoina Daniels, Marcum Castle, Catherine Castle, Nancy Castle, Martha Stambaugh, Susan Meadows, Levi Mead, Nancy Mead, Fredrick Scarberry, Henry Scarberry, Sarah Wiley, Lucinda Castle, Lois Ward, William Witten,  Mary Daniels, James Dills, Sarah Daniels, Hanah Castle, Mary Castle and John Castle.

Jasper Daniels my great great uncle 
Marcum & Catherine (Penix) Castle my grgrgr grandparents

The above pictures and information was taken from a book 

Johnson County, Kentucky History and Families

FREE WILL BAPTISTS

The Free-Will Baptists organized in Johnson County the second of the denomination in 
Kentucky- sometime previous to 1885. Reverend Thomas Williams became their pastor, and several of the most influential people of the vicinity of Paintsville joined the church, among them Daniel Walker, Wiley Williams, John Richmond, the VanHooses, and other noted people.

The first church of this faith in Johnson County was organized at the mouth of Rush Fork of Tom's Creek. The organizers had been members of the United Baptist Church at the place now called Mingo. In this United Baptist Church some question of discipline had arisen creating quite a dissension among the leaders. The question itself was perhaps of minor importance, no doctrinal principle being involved, but, as frequently happens, the rivalry between the factions became greater as the discussion progressed and it was soon evident that the church itself must take a position on the question. The minority party was fully convinced of the correctness of it's position, and, rather than sacrifice opinion and possibly some exercise of free-will, it withdrew from the church membership.

This ended the controversy so far as the Mingo Church was concerned, but the church suffered the loss of some of it's most valuable members. The party withdrawing intended to organize another Baptist Church of like faith and order and of the same denomination. Efforts along this line were duly made, but it soon found that "organization" was more powerful than at first supposed, and that the principle of worshipping "according to the dictates of conscience" was more of an idea than a reality. This came about when recognition by the association was sought

Under the rules of the Paint Union Association recognition could not be granted until the newly organized church made reconciliation with the Mingo Church. This eliminated all hope of organizing a United Baptist Church. Some of the party became discouraged and returned to the old church but others were determined to stand by their principle of free-will in matters of worship. They communicated with some Free-Will Baptist Church in the state of Ohio, which more than likely was a branch of the regular "Free-Will" Baptist Church that originated in Wales in 1701, and the result was that this denomination was organized within Johnson County.

The rightness or wrongness of the question involved is not considered in these statements. The purpose is merely to outline briefly some of the initial steps that led up to the organization of the first church of this denomination. It might be said, however, that the founders were consecrated to the belief that each individual should be permitted to worship under the guidance of his own conscience. They were among the best citizens of the community. They were sincere in their convictions and the new church was dedicated on the principle of free-will in all matters religious.

Some of the noted preachers in this church were James, Nathan, and Eliphus VanHoose, who were among the organizers of the church above mentioned on Tom's Creek. Both Nathan and Eliphus were influential in pulling away from the United Baptists, but Eliphus was the backbone of this church for many years. Some of the Butlers on Mud Lick were backers of this denomination for a period.

Of the present ministers in this church, mention should be made of H.B. Conley, John Elliot Conley, Millard VanHoose, S.F. Williams, Wise Reed, F.S. VanHoose and Irvin Rice.

A beautiful church building was erected on Third Street in Paintsville by this denomination in 1926. They are becoming very strong in Johnson County.

Over the years, through dedication and faithfulness to the teachings of the Holy Bible, the people of this church and community have seen Tom's Creek grow from a membership of 15 or 20 to a regular attendance of several hundred. As atten­dance increased, new build­ings were built to accommo­date the growing congrega­tion. The present building was built in 1976 with the old sanctuary converted to a kitchen and fellowship hall. Classrooms were added in 1981 and the sanc­tuary enlarged in 1988.

The oldest existing Free Will Baptist Church in Kentucky, Tom's Creek has been instrumental in the establishment of numerous churches throughout the state. The Tom's Creek FWB Church also played a large role in establishing the Johnson County, Kentucky State and National Associations of Freewill Baptists.

The Johnson County Quarterly Meeting was organized in about 1879. The churches joining at that time were Tom's Creek, Hager Hill and Little Blaine (now Spencer). Tom's Creek hosted the first Kentucky State Association meeting on May 6, 1939. Rev. Millard VanHoose from Tom's Creek was the first moderator of the State Association and was a delegate to help organize the National As­sociation of Free Will Baptists in Nashville, TN at the Coffers Chapel Church on November 5, 1935.

"Through the years this church has been blessed with faithful, God-fearing, dedicated men and women. Many sacrifices were made by these early pioneers that we might comfortably worship in this church. We thank the Lord that we are able by his mercy and grace to walk in the footsteps of our forefathers and to build on the same foundation with Christ being the chief cornerstone. May we continue to be part of the great commission; offering a living Christ to a dying world."

Pastors

Thomas S. Williams 1876-1891
James Lee VanHoose 1892-1893
Sep. 1912-Sep. 1913
H. B. Burns Conley Sep. 1893-Jan. 1912
Sep. 1914-Feb. 1941
John Elliot Conley Jan. 1912-Aug. 1912
W. Williams Sep. 1913-Sep. 1914
Millard VanHoose Feb. 1941-Jun. 1952
Sep. 1963-Sep. 1972
Nathan P. VanHoose Jun. 1952-Jan. 1953
C.C. (Chick) Hall Jan. 1953-Sep. 1962
Claude Preston Sep. 1962-Sep. 1963
Sep. 1972-Sep. 1973
James Kelly Caudill Sep. 1973-

sources "History of Johnson County" by Mitchel Hall 1926 pages 312 & 315
and from the book
"Johnson County, Kentucky History and Families" pages 34 & 35 published 2001 
 

Then

Now

Martin's Branch Free Will Church located in Floyd County Kentucky-Then and Now

Members of my family on both my Mother's and Father's side attended here - Martins - Castles and VanHooses

The "Then" pic is a picture my Mom took with her camera of her copy of the early painting and  how the church looked back then, the "Now" picture is courtesy of Larry VanHoose.

Left Rev. Ray Fannin, Edward Van Hoose, Clifford Castle, Rev. Green Boyd, Rev. Douglas Burkett (m.Gertrude Van Hoose) Rev. Harry Ratliff behind Doug, Jimmy Castle, John Boyd behind Jimmy, Everett McCloud, Hugh Hinegar behind Everett, Stumbo Patton.This pic was taken in front of the Martin's Branch Freewill Baptist Church in Estill, Ky. They were on their way to a Free Will Baptist Convention.  Edward VanHoose was the grandfather of 
"Connie Cecil Anderson" & "Larry Van Hoose" who supplied the information and the photo.

Jean's note* Clifford and Jimmy Castle 
were my great uncles, Edward VanHoose was my great great uncle

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