Smyrna United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Smyrna United Methodist Church in Harrison County. Now settle in, because this is a story that keeps going, and going, and going. Some churches get built once.

Smyrna got built five times. Dr. John Chadd and his family arrived in Harrison County from Indiana in 1846, and if you're the kind of person who shows up in a new county and immediately starts founding things, well, Dr.

Chadd was exactly that kind of person. Along with several other men from the community, he founded the Smyrna Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In the early days the congregation met right there in the Chadd home, with Methodist circuit riders coming through to lead services once every three weeks.

Once every three weeks, mind you. You had to be patient and committed both. Then comes 1858, and Dr.

Chadd and another founder, a man named William Knox, deeded two acres to the E. J. Glover Masonic Lodge No. 178, for the use of the church.

A two-story log building went up, shared by the Masons, the church, and the local school. Practical. Economical.

Also, as it turned out, temporary. That structure was destroyed by fire. Its replacement was also destroyed by fire.

Now at this point a lesser community might have taken a hint. Smyrna was not a lesser community. In 1874, Chadd deeded land adjoining the church property, and a new building was erected that very year.

By 1887 the congregation had grown to eighty members strong. The school was moved to land donated by Chadd in 1902. Then came 1905, and a cyclone took the church building.

Just took it. Two years later, Chadd deeded land to the church again. Again.

The man had more land and more resolve than most people have patience for setbacks. The Methodist Conference contributed a hundred dollars toward a new edifice, and a contractor named George Oscar McIntosh took the job. Here's the quiet remarkable part: McIntosh built that church, and then he joined it.

Became a member. And decades later, in 1953, George Oscar McIntosh was still there, serving as head carpenter for the construction of the fifth church building. The fifth.

In 1968 the congregation was renamed Smyrna United Methodist Church, and by 1997 it counted 56 members, still gathering, still holding, still a center of community and religious life in Smyrna. Five buildings. Fires, a cyclone, and more than a century and a half of showing up.

Dr. Chadd and his neighbors started something in Harrison County that just plain refuses to quit.

What the marker says

Dr. John Chadd and his family arrived in Harrison County from Indiana in 1846. With several other men from the community, Dr. Chadd founded the Smyrna Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Chadd home served as the meeting place for the congregation; services, held once every three weeks, were led by Methodist circuit riders. In 1858 Dr. Chadd and another founder, William Knox, deeded 2 acres to the E. J. Glover Masonic Lodge No. 178 for the use of the church. A two-story log building was shared by the Masons, the church, and the local school. The structure and its replacement were destroyed by fire. In 1874 Chadd deeded land adjoining the church property and a new building was erected in that year. By 1887 the congregation numbered 80. The school was moved to land donated by Chadd in 1902. The church building was destroyed by a cyclone in 1905. Two years later, Chadd again deeded land to the church, and the Methodist Conference gave $100 for a new edifice. George Oscar McIntosh, the contractor for the new structure, became a church member. In 1953 McIntosh was the head carpenter for construction of the fifth church building. Renamed Smyrna United Methodist Church in 1968, the congregation counted 56 members in 1997. The church continues to be a center of Smyrna community and religious life. (1998)