DUANE
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Duane's take
The marker out here tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now settle in, because this story goes back to the very beginning of Fisher County itself. When the town of Roby was laid out as county seat in 1885, the land was fresh and the community was still finding its feet.
Citizens were busy establishing churches, schools, and businesses, all at the same time, all from scratch. And right there in the middle of that organizing and building and hopeful commotion, the Methodists got together. They didn't have a church building.
They didn't even have a plot of land yet. What they had was the home of Captain and Mrs. V.
H. Anderson, and a circuit-riding preacher named J. W.
Dickinson willing to make the ride out to meet them. Now a circuit rider in those days covered a lot of ground, and Roby was just one stop on his route. But something took hold there.
In 1886, the congregation formally organized as the Roby Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and that same summer they held a revival. Eight charter members put their names to this thing. Vachel Anderson.
Melvina Anderson. James Patterson. Barbary Patterson.
Gabie Simpson. Lou Simpson. Jane Roy.
And Fannie Barron. Eight people. That was the foundation.
They worshipped where they could. Until 1889, that meant the Fisher County courthouse, which is a fine and practical kind of arrangement when you think about it. Justice and worship sharing the same floor.
The first sanctuary went up in 1889, on property the church trustees had purchased in 1887 from M. L. and D. C.
Roby, and more land came from E. H. Dowel in 1889.
That same site has held every building this congregation has ever called home. A building completed in 1901. Another in 1926.
And another in 1981. All standing right there. The congregation's name changed over the years, and since 1968 it has been known as the First United Methodist Church.
Membership over the years has included civic and political leaders. Several members have entered the ordained ministry. And through all of it, the oldest active church in Fisher County has kept its doors open, right there on the land where M.
L. and D. C. Roby made the sale, in the town that was laid out the year before any of this began.
Eight charter members started something in 1886 that is still standing. That's the kind of story that doesn't need any embellishment at all.
What the marker says
The oldest active church in Fisher County, this congregation dates to the earliest years of the county's settlement and organization. The town of Roby was laid out as county seat in 1885, and citizens began establishing churches, schools and businesses. Methodists met in the home of Captain and Mrs. V. H. Anderson under the leadership of circuit-riding preacher J. W. Dickinson. The congregation formally organized as the Roby Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1886 and held a revival that summer. The eight charter members included Vachel Anderson, Melvina Anderson, James Patterson, Barbary Patterson, Gabie Simpson, Lou Simpson, Jane Roy and Fannie Barron. Until the first sanctuary was constructed in 1889, worship services were held in the Fisher County courthouse. Later church buildings, completed in 1901, 1926 and 1981, have all stood at this site, on property sold to the church trustees in 1887 by M. L. and D. C. Roby and in 1889 by E. H. Dowel. Throughout its history, this congregation, known as the First United Methodist Church since 1968, has demonstrated its commitment to mission and ministry. Membership over the years has included a number of civic and political leaders, and several members have entered the ordained ministry. Roby's First United Methodist Church serves as an important part of the community's cultural heritage. (2001)