Barne's Methodist Episcopal Church of Southampton County, Virginia

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Southampton, Virginia, United States
Surname/tag: Barnes Jordan Methodist Southampton Virginia Turner

The website http://www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/Docs/BARNESBenjamin(W).htm provides an excellent, in-depth presentation of the history of the early years of Barne's Methodist Episcopal Church. I will summarize some of the main point here:

1790: Benjamin Barnes was ordained a minister in the Methodist Church. He had already been serving as a circuit preacher since the previous year. From 1789 to 1793 he served in several circuits: Orange, Bedford, Sussex, Brunswick (all Virginia) and Bertie, N.C. After his time as a circuit rider, Benjamin Barnes married and settled in Southampton County, Virginia, where his father and family lived.

“1793, Benjamin Barnes and Exum Everett were ministers with a church (the congregation), but without a church building. Looking about the neighborhood they found an ideal site for a meetinghouse. The point selected was where the Fish Road (now Statesville Road), the Boone Road (now Rochelle’s Swamp Road) and the Cypress Road (now Sands Road) converge. The land was owned by Benjamin’s father, Old Jacob Barnes." (Source: Drake, Joe. "The Founding of Barnes Methodist Church: A Probable Scenario." Quoted at http://www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/Docs/BARNESBenjamin(W).htm.) However, Jacob had previously willed that land to his son "young" Jacob in 1790, and died without changing his will. When young Jacob reached the age of 21, and the will of the elder Jacob Barnes was settled, young Jacob deeded the land to the church trustees.

1803 was the date of the deed, so the official founding is counted from that date, although it is believed the church had already been congregating for several years. The five original trustees were Benjamin Barnes (minister and son of the elder Jacob); Exum Everett, minister; Nathan Britt; Evans Pope (son-in-law of the elder Jacob), and Benjamin Barrett (also related to the elder Jacob’s). The deed says that "preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church...have and enjoy the free use and benefit of said premises that they may therein preach and expound Gods Holy Word from time to time and at all time forever...." (Source: Deed Book 10: 119. Quoted at http://www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/Docs/BARNESBenjamin(W).htm.)

By 1830, Benjamin Barnes had died. Two of his sons became Methodist Ministers. One of them, Robert Barnes, was an assistant minister at Barnes Church for 18 years.

On June 21, 1819, my ancestor, Jesse Jordan, married Disa Woodard, daughter of Samuel Woodard / Woodward. (His second marriage.) Exum Everitt was the minister, so I believe they must have been married in the Barnes Methodist Church. A John Jordan was security/witness. I believe John was Jesse's older brother. Exum Everitt was also the minister for Jesse's third marriage in 1827.

Other Jordans married in the Methodist Episcopal Church included Rebecca Jordan who married John Browne in 1801, and Sarah Jordan, who married Samuel Glover in 1803. I have DNA connections to descendants of both Rebecca and Sarah, so I believe they were Jesse Jordan's sisters.

Between 1827 and 1830, Jesse Jordan and his family had left Southampton County, VA, and moved northeast Ohio, as had the John Jordan family. Although the Jordan family apparently was anti-slavery, I wonder what might have happened to them if they had been in Southampton County in 1831.

Barnes' Methodist Church had long been an integrated church. Southampton had a large population of free negroes in addition to slaves, and many black families attended the Methodist Church.

In 1801, Hark Jackson and his wife Rose were listed as free negroes and farmers on the land of John Jordan in Southampton County, Virginia. An article written in 1892 (many years later, so events may not be entirely accurate) said, that John Jordan "became disgusted with slavery and gave his slaves free papers, bringing them with him on his removal to Ohio." (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141185828/catherine-jordan)

There was another Jordan family in Southampton County that were largely Quakers, and also very anti-slavery. This patriarch of this family was Benjamin Jordan. As far as I can determine, my Jordans are not related to them. However, they seemed to have ran in similar circles. For example, Hark Jackson, who had lived on John Jordan's land, later lived on the land of the Quaker Benjamin Jordan. This Benjamin Jordan emancipated his slaves. One of his sons, Jacob Jordan, was security/witness at the weddings of Merritt Bowser and Elizabeth Hurst in 1828 and Lemuel Whitehead and Narissa Hunt in 1836. (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Jordan-15846) Both of these couples were free people of color and both must have been married in the Barnes Methodist Church, because Everitt Exum was listed as the minister for the first and Robert Barnes was the minister for the second. (https://www.brantleyassociation.com/southampton_project/gallery/mr_1750_1853/index7.html) It makes me wonder if Jacob Jordan was also a Methodist, rather than a Quaker.

Yet, while most Quakers and some Methodists opposed slavery, there were many who did not. Benjamin Turner was a Methodist. He was married by Benjamin Barnes to his second wife in 1807(?). Turner owned several slaves, including a boy named Nat, who was about seven at the time. (Nat Turner and the Rising in Southampton County by David F. Allmendinger.)

In 1831, the church was experiencing the impact of the Second Great Awakening. In August, Nat Turner preached at one of the church's revival camp meetings. As the church's deed stipulated that only Methodists should preach at Barnes' Church, Turner, a Baptist, did not preach in the building. He preached outside while Reverend Richard Whitehead preached indoors. (http://www.coffey.ws/FamilyTree/Docs/BARNESBenjamin(W).htm.) The meetings attracted many people, including from other counties. However, there was a noticeable and unusual animosity sensed between some of the whites and blacks. Followers of Turner wore red bandanas. Likely as a foreshadowing, Turner preached on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The following Sunday, Turner's plans were carried out and about sixty people were killed, including Rev. Whitehead, who was a slave-owner. Source: Hinks, Peter P. To Awaken My Afflicted Brethren: David Walker and the Problem of Antebellum Slave Resistance. GoogleBooks.

My Jesse Jordan's third wife was Elizabeth Williams....or Elizabeth Turner. Her name is given differently in two different records. I wonder if she was related to Benjamin Turner or to any of the several Williams who were killed in the Rebellion?

2013: Barnes' United Methodist Church celebrated their 210th Anniversary. Source: Monahan, Merle. "Barnes United Methodist Church marks anniversary with events." The Tidewater News. https://www.thetidewaternews.com/2013/06/15/barnes-united-methodist-church-marks-anniversary-with-events/. June 15, 2013.