The Yorkville Enquirer contained an ad on Jan. 6, 1876 for Marks and Reid, a Rock Hill Furniture Store with partners, S.K. Marks and W.G. Reid. The store offers furniture and coffins. Later on June 8, 1876 the YK Enquirer reported – “The dedication of the new ME Church was held on the first Sunday in June. The keys were delivered to the officers.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Jan. 20, 1876 – “The Grange mentions that active efforts are being made by the people of Rock Hill to obtain a town clock.” Later on Feb. 10, 1876 the Yorkville Enquirer reported – “The Methodist house of worship is rapidly approaching completion and will be a fine edifice, in the tower of which will be the town clock.” Later on April 27, 1876 the Enquirer reported – “the town clock is now being erected in the steeple of the handsome new Methodist Church edifice which is nearing completion. The church is in modern style of structure, not massive, but neat and elegant in design.”
Historian Wm. B. White, Jr., recorded from the Herald on Aug. 19, 1880 – “The old M.E. Church building was sold at auction recently to Capt. Allen Jones for $150.”
The Rock Hill Herald on April 15, 1886 reported – “The town clock in Rock Hill has run properly only two days this week. The town council is paying a man to wind it and the public must expect this work to be done properly.” The Yorkville Enquirer added on April 22, 1886 – “Public complaints have led the town council to secure the services of Capt. L.M. Davis to manage the clock.”
The Herald reported on June 3, 1886 – “The Methodist of Rock Hill have just purchased a new organ for $125., it is a Standard Organ and equal in volume and power to a pipe organ. The purchase was made through Mr. J.P. Caston, agent for the Standard Organ Company.”
“Former location of the Toole Building…..” The YV Enquirer reported on Sept. 6, 1895 – “The Methodists are having their church building repaired. They have painted, laid new carpet, and placed a beautiful chandelier in the center of the ceiling.”
City Directories and History: Lot #7 – North—Purchased from A. T. Black on March 9, 1854, by Robert McElroy of Fairfield District, S. C. for $60. On January 29, 1856,
McElroy sold the lot to David B. Miller (see receipt for hauling below), of an old local

David B. Miller, a neighbor of Mrs. Ann H. White hauled goods for her in 1849, including rice and salt. Courtesy of the White Family Collection – 2008
family, for $79.28. For the next decade or so the ownership and occupancy of the property are not set forth in the extant public records. The attractive cottage that stood there was built between 1856 and 1861, it is thought. Joseph Adams and William Hamilton were associated in some way with this lot, since their names are mentioned in deeds to adjoining property. Well before June 8, 1870, Captain Robert M. Kerr, a native of North Carolina and a master builder of carriages and

An 1895 image of St. John’s Methodist Church. Courtesy of the YC Library. The RH Herald reported on May 27, 1880 – “Our Methodist friends of Rock Hill have bought an organ for the church.”

Courtesy of the Allen Postcard Collection – R&R
buggies, acquired the property. It is likely that he lived there for several years. On the date cited above, Captain Kerr (late of the Confederate Army) sold the property to James M. Hinkle and Thomas Whitesides, trustees of the local circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, who wanted the house as a parsonage for the Reverend Minton A. Connolly, pastor of the Methodist Church of Rock Hill (now St. John’s Church). The house on the south side of Main Street that had been lent to the Methodist pastors by Major Richard Austin Springs since 1858 was too small to accommodate ministers with large families. For the next eight or ten years Lot 7 North was known as “the parsonage lot.” It was an excellent location for a minister. It was opposite The Gordon House, the town hotel, which was the well-known
geographical center of the growing town of Rock Hill. It is possible that the house was used both as a parsonage and as a school before the circuit trustees bought the place. One known resident there was Mrs. Margaret (Button) Marks. She and her family may have lived there and shared the house with the local pastor and his family. We know that Mrs. Marks used one of the rooms for her classroom. She was one of Rock Hill’s early teachers. The late S. T. Frew recalled that “she would parade all over the town leading the line, ringing the bell and singing.”
In 1876 the congregation of the Methodist Church voted to build an new church structure, a brick building, to replace the original building which was put up in 1857 on a lot on the southwestern corner of Church (now Black) Street and Hampton Street, where the present city hall stands. The old frame parsonage structure was rolled down to the lot whereon the original church has stood. The new brick church featured a tower made of wood, where the town clock was installed in 1876 and rang the hours for all of Rock Hill to hear for the next twenty-one

Image courtesy of the Connie Morton Collection and AFLLC.
years. There were some red faces among the congregation when it was realized that the church had been built on property that belonged to the circuit, not to the local congregation. The matter was rectified by an exchange of deeds.
As mentioned above, the brick church building was damaged by fire in 1897, when the nearby residence of Mrs. John R. Allen was destroyed. The insurance company awarded the Methodist Church $2350 to cover the damage to the building and its

Main Street image courtesy of the Couick Collection. Note the location of Brownie’s Studio and the Blue Mirror Grill.
furnishings. At that point the church officers decided to erect a larger church building rather than to repair the damaged one, which had become inadequate to the needs of a rapidly growing congregation. Accordingly, an investigation was instituted to determine the costs involved and also to find a place to build. After a great deal of discussion the officers voted to erect their new church on the northwestern corner of Main and Caldwell streets –just a few feet to the east of the location of the damaged building. Getting possession of the property at the new site was not easy. There had to be a deal of swapping and exchanging and wheedling and cajoling. The leader in the project appears to have been Dr. J. B. Johnson, who was married to a daughter of the parsonage and who later became a beloved mayor of Rock Hill. But more of this matter in our discussion of Lot 8 North.
The Rock Hill Herald reported on March 22, 1883 – “Henry Toole has placed a billiards table in the rear of his barber shop.”
Lot 7 North after 1897 was divided into several parts which were sold several times. The property (40’)
ultimately came in to the hands of Mrs. Louise Owens Rhea; it was here that in later years Rhea- Warner and a shoe store were located. The other part (28’) was owned by J. Henry Toole, mentioned above; in recent times Langston’s and a yarn outlet were in business at this site.
At this point we would like to point out, by reference to ‘Squire Roddey’s plat of Main Street, that a twenty foot alley was provided for between Lots 7 and 8 North—an alley that was to become Hampton Street. In the following pages we hope to give an explanation of the events that resulted in the moving of the alley on the northern side of Main Street about one hundred feet to the east—the chief culprit being local politics, of course. To use an informal expression of today’s culture, “So, what else is new?”
The Herald reported on Jan 14, 1891 – “the Town Council met and heard two candidates for the position of winder and repairer of the town clock. This position pays $35. per year, J.W. Westerlund and George Beach applied, and Mr. Beach was elected unanimously.”
The Rock Hill Herald reported on March 7, 1889 – “The Rock Hill Board of Trade held its meeting in its new quarters, over Toole’s Barber Shop. It is furnished in elegant style and has a large hall with folding doors, so it can be divided into two rooms. The building is owned by Henry Toole, our enterprising barber.”
The Rock Hill Herald reported on March 18, 1889 – “Mr. Paul Workman contemplates making improvements on the building now occupied by Henry Toole’s Barber Shop.”
[Information provided via Along the Land’s Ford Road – Vol. I, 2008 by William B. White, Jr.]
The Herald reported on Nov. 13, 1895 – “Last Saturday J. Henry Toole, exchanged his brick building on Main St., now occupied by his barber shop, Watts and Wood’s Exchange, and by the Council Chamber (Chamber of Commerce – 2nd Floor), for the Holler and Anderson premises on the corner of Main and Caldwell Streets, including the two buildings and the J. J. Hagins lot in the rear.”
The RH Herald reported on June 7, 1899 – “That the building next door to the Herald Office is being torn down to make room for a new building. The back part of the storehouse on Main Street, where Henry Toole had his barber shop is being torn down to permit the enlargement of the building. When remodeled, it will be 100 ft deep and will be two stories in height, the front being of pressed brick and plate glass. The building is the property of the Estate of A.E. Smith.”
The Herald reported on Oct. 20, 1900 – “Mr. A.D. Holler is erecting a brick building for Mrs. Louis Rhea on Main Street, opposite the central hotel. It will be one story in height with two store rooms, each 19-60 feet.”
The Herald reported on March 30, 1901 – “The Herald will be published after this issue at the store building opposite the Central Hotel, which was recently occupied by the R.M. Andrews Furniture Store. And Mr. Ned Marshall has secured the services of an experienced harness maker and opened a repair shop in one of the room opposite the Central Hotel. (R&R has placed this information at this location but is unclear.) On April, 3rd Mr. Ned Marshall has bought the stock of saddles and harnesses from the shop of the late Miles Johnson and has moved them to his shop opposite the Central Hotel. This is the last chance to secure one of the splendid saddles made by Uncle Miles.”
On Jan. 4, 1902 the Herald reported – “Mr. S.S. Plaxico has moved his harness shop from the Henry Toole building to the stand formerly occupied by the late Miles Johnson.”
The Herald reported on Jan. 14, 1903 – “C.S. May has moved his office from the room over the Supply Company to the Toole Building, three doors above the Herald Office.”
The Record reported on Jan. 3, 1907 – “That the Catawba Power Co., will move their office from the Roddey Building and will occupy the rooms in the Toole Building now occupied by Dr. Pressly. Dr. Pressly will move to one of the rooms on the second story. Jan. 7, 1907 – Dr. Pressly is moving into the rooms previously occupied by Mr. Workman who will shortly move in to his new telephone building on Record Place.”
The Record reported on Feb. 4, 1907 – “The Postal Telegraph Co., have move their office into the same building with the Catawba Power Co., next door to the Methodist Church.”
The Record reported on May 6, 1907 – “Overseer Wallace is putting down a rock walk across Main Street from the corner of Lindsays’ Market to the pavement in front of the Catawba Power Company Offices.
The Record on May 9, 1907 reported, “The board of Stewards of St. John’s Church have requested that plat glass “covers” be placed on the town clock and other improvements to the clock to cost $90.”
Click on the More Information > link found below the picture column for additional data.
EARLY METHODISM IN YORK DISTRICT by Louise Pettus While it is true that Scotch-Irish Presbyterians were the dominant group in early York District, the Presbyterian dominance was diminished by the effects of the revival movement known as the Great Awakening which was at its height in 1800-1802. The older well-established churches found some of their members joining many who had never known the “benefit of clergy,” in open-air week-long marathon meetings There is no record of such a revival in York District but no doubt many people from York attended the large revival at Old Waxhaw in Lancaster County and took part in the protracted meetings in neighboring counties in North Carolina. As the Presbyterians wrangled over whether to allow only psalm-singing or not, the more open churches gained numbers. In York District, the Baptists were major gainers. It would be a quarter of a century before Methodism would make any inroads in the District. Yorkville’s first Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1824 by Rev. William Gassaway and Rev. Joseph Holmes, according to church history. The first congregation consisted of nine members: James Jeffries, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Jeffries, Col. Thomas W. Williams, Dr. John E. Jennings, John Chambers, Mrs. Margaret Chambers, Mrs. Sarah Beaty, and Mrs. Tabitha Wilkerson. The first church building was erected on College Street in Yorkville in 1826. It was described as a plain wooden structure. Until 1852, there were only three church buildings in York District.Even the official histories of the Methodist Church are uncertain about a precise date for the establishment of Methodism in the District outside of the village of Yorkville. The date 1828 is most often mentioned because the minutes of the Lincolnton, North Carolina circuit listed Joseph Holmes as the minister in charge of York District. For many years most of York District was served out of North Carolina and most of the Methodist activity centered on the area from Yorkville to Kings Mountain. However, there is some evidence that the earliest York County Methodist church may have been Philadelphia Methodist in Fort Mill township. In 1815 Methodists met at Thyatyrah Society, whose leader, William Felts reported to Sugar Creek Circuit in Mecklenburg. Thyatyrah was an early name for Philadelphia. Rev. A. M. Chreitzberg, author of Early Methodism in the Carolinas, seems to support an earlier date—around 1824—based on statements made by an early minister who believed that his father-in-law, John Chambers, was preaching in the Philadelphia community at that time. By 1831 there were 15 “preaching places” listed in the Quarterly Conference minutes. These were: Yorkville, Zion, Bethel, Walnut Grove, Schoolhouse, Unity, Siloam, Sardis, Prospect, Mrs. Howell’s, Captain Jameson’s, Ed Feamster’s, Cove Spring, Mount Hebron, and Cross Roads. All of these were in the circuit ministered to by Joseph Holmes. Joseph Holmes, and other Methodist preachers like him, rode their large circuits on horseback, carrying their sermons, bibles, and a change of clothes in their saddlebags. They were housed and fed by the Methodist brotherhood who lived along the circuit. The Methodist minister’s stipend was not known as a salary but was divided into traveling expenses, family expenses, and quarterage. As Dr. Chreitzberg described the three phases of the stipend: “the first seen at once, the second far off, and the third only in rarest instances seen at all.” When Holmes’ successor, James J. Richardson, 28 years of age, died in his first year of his ministry, his widow received $10.62. Money was scarce. Early Methodists were generally characterized as poor in worldly goods. The same could be said for their meeting houses. The land was generally donated and the first buildings were small and drafty, often with no way to heat them. More often than not, the services were held in homes or in the open. Few records survive to document the pre-Civil War history of York District Methodists. We cannot know, for instance, how many blacks in York District were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Across the state of South Carolina, the black membership outnumbered the white but York had a smaller proportion of blacks than lowcountry counties. It can be assumed that blacks attended the Methodist services with the whites just as they did at Fint Hill Baptist Church.The largest number of Methodists recorded in York District during the pre-Civil War period was 408 in 1844. (Information courtesy of and from: YCGHS – The Quarterly
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