Our History
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURG METHODIST CHURCH
Middleburg Methodist Episcopal Church (South) was founded in 1878 in the newly established Town of Middleburg NC, in what was then part of Warren County. But, our roots and heritage run much deeper.
The Anglican Clergy in the American Colonies had been recalled to Great Britain at the beginning of the American Revolutionary War; leaving congregations without Clergy to administer the Sacraments. It has been well documented that the Methodist preacher Francis Asbury traveled through our area in 1780. He visited the existing Churches and inspired the establishment of many others. These new small congregations initially met in private homes and under brush arbors. Francis Asbury was very successful in maintaining existing congregations and planting new ones. This culminated in the founding of “The Methodist Episcopal Church” in 1784 with Francis Asbury & Thomas Coke as our first Bishops.
The Twitty family, who were part of an agricultural community in what we now know as Manson/Soul City NC, built a small one-room building that was used as a school during the week and a church on Sundays. It became known as Twitty’s School & Twitty’s Chapel. This building was located beside the Twitty Family Cemetery which is now part of the Soul City Community. Twitty’s Chapel was provided circuit-riding clergy by The Methodist Episcopal Church South denomination.
The Town of Middleburg was established in 1875. The town founders decided that a church was to be built at what was intended to be the center of the town. As a temporary measure it was decided that Twitty’s School/Chapel would be disassembled and moved to Middleburg, and it would be used as the Town Hall, School, and Church. On January 10, 1878, William Wallace White sent his laborers and a four-horse wagon to begin the disassembly and moving of the Twitty’s structure. On January 12, 1878, the Town Council decided the location where the new church would be built, and that the former Twitty’s building would be reassembled on the adjacent lot. Due to bad weather it took till January 15, 1878, to complete the move.
The new church building, that we worship in today, was built over the Summer of 1878. Bishop John Cowper Granbery eventually visited us November 20, 1888 and dedicated the building. It was not unusual for it to take 10 years for a Bishop to make his first visit to a new building. The Scripture text for his sermon was Psalm 46:7 - “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”. At the time of this dedication Middleburg Methodist Episcopal Church had 71 members. The one-room former Twitty’s building, next door, was used for many years as Middleburg Male Academy (Founded 1878), and briefly as a Medical School. It was badly damaged in a fire, but a portion of that building still exists, as of 2022, as part of the Edwards Family home.
The Methodist Episcopal Church split in 1828 and The Methodist Protestant Church was formed. In 1844 The Methodist Episcopal Church split again into North and South factions over the issue of slavery. These three same denominations recombined in 1939 to form “The Methodist Church”. In 1968 The Methodist Church merged with The Evangelical United Brethren Church to form “The United Methodist Church”. Our Church in Middleburg has modified our name accordingly with the change of the denominational name.
Middleburg UMC disaffiliated from The United Methodist Church on December 31, 2022. We are a fully incorporated 501c3 with the legal identity of "Middleburg Methodist Church". Now, a member congregation of The Global Methodist Church.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS
List of Pastors for Middleburg Methodist Church.pdf
Our WWII Veterans
1874 Map - Original Location of Twitty's Chapel
Train Schedule: May 31, 1883
Old Map Before Kerr Lake
Georgia "Tiny" Broadwick
1893-1978
She was the first woman to jump from an airplane. Between 1913 and 1922 she completed over 1,100 jumps. She invented the ripcord and is the only female member of the Early Birds of Aviation. In 1914, she demonstrated parachutes to the U.S. Army, which at the time had a small, hazard-prone fleet of aircraft. The Army, reluctant at first to adopt the parachute, watched as Tiny dropped from the sky. On one of her demonstration jumps, the static line became entangled in the tail assembly of the aircraft, so for her next jump she cut off the static line and deployed her chute manually, thus becoming the first person to jump free-fall. This demonstrated that pilots could escape aircraft by using what was later called a ripcord.
Bishop John Cowper Granbery
Rev Junius P Moore
The Gold Leaf 12-01-1887
Albert Anderson: From 1883 to 1887 he was an instructor at and the principal of the small Middleburg Male Academy in Vance County, of which he is said to have been the founder. While at Middleburg an interest in the sciences led him to the study of medicine under private instruction, probably with a doctor attached to the Middleburg Medical School, which was reputed to be the first in the state.
Hattie F Plummer - 1925
Middleburg High School - 1925
Middleburg High School - 1961
E. O. Young, Jr - 1961