Cottage Hill Methodist Church
Historical marker application.
...Reverend John Culwell organized a congregation in the home of his brother, Andrew Culwell..., located near Honey Creek, east of the present Pafford Bridge near the present day town of Weston. The Pafford Bridge, named for a pioneer family, is on County Road 170 north and east of the church and cemetery. For several years the home of Andrew J. Culwell was a “preaching place.”....
In the minutes of the Dallas Circuit Quarterly Conference of the Methodist Church of March 4, 1848 is a listing of a church called Honey Creek Campground with Samuel Brown as an attendant. (Samuel Brown was a member of the John D. Brown family who came to the area in 1845 from Missouri. John D. Brown and his wife helped the Reverend John Culwell organize the church in 1846.) The Second Quarterly Conference met May 10, 1848; another conference met on October 14,, 1848 and a Fourth Conference met at Honey Creek on September 13, 1851 with A. Caldwell (Culwell) steward and John Caldwell (Culwell) as Local Preacher. The Church is listed in the Trinity Conference in 1874, ninth session, meeting in Plano with John Noble, H. Miller, deacon; R. H. Brown, steward....
In 1859 the Reverend James Marshall, a teacher, a Methodist minister (pastor of the church there and also a medical doctor) established a school about 500 yards south of the present day Cottage Hill Church and Cemetery. A school known as Possum Trot, located about one mile northwest of the present site of Cottage Hill Church, had been built in 1854. It took its name from the many opossums which fed on the red and black haws that grew on Haw Branch, a tributary of Honey Creek. In 1859 six yokes of oxen were used to move the building to land owned by the Reverend Marshall. Several cottages were built near by and a boarding school was operated. It was called Marshall College. About 1860 the community began to be called Cottage Hill, a name suggested by the cottages around Dr. Marshall’s school.
In 1889 a register of the Cottage Hill Church lists James Marshall having been pastor in 1859; J. R. Bellamy, 1860; Wm. E. Bates, 1861; Wm. Shaw, 1862; J. L. Angel, 1863-1864.
F. F. Morrill had married Nancy Jane Stone, stepdaughter of Samuel Brown in 1856 and bought land from Thomas Culwell. Mrs. Morrill is listed as a church member in 1889, dating from 1854. In 1879 Mr. Morrell deeded land for a church to be built on the present site. The building was dedicated on the Saturday before the fifth Sunday in May, 1881. A card dated April 2, 1881 from Brother John Noble at Pilot Point, Denton County, Texas to F. F. Morrill said to have the church finished and to publish an appointment for himself (Reverend John Noble) and the Reverend Tom Sherwood for that date. The Reverend John Noble had lived in the community and his home had been a “preaching place.” He was a pastor of the Cottage Hill church in 1869. The church register shows that H. H. Sullivan was the pastor; Washington Eller, Henry Harrison and Wm. M. Pafford were the church trustees. Lumber for the building was hauled from McKinney and Sherman.
This building, erected in 1881, served the congregation for sixty-six years... [The building was renovated in 1946, with additions made to the original structure.] So the building is new on the outside, but the 1881 building is still there wearing a new dress....
...Reverend John Culwell organized a congregation in the home of his brother, Andrew Culwell..., located near Honey Creek, east of the present Pafford Bridge near the present day town of Weston. The Pafford Bridge, named for a pioneer family, is on County Road 170 north and east of the church and cemetery. For several years the home of Andrew J. Culwell was a “preaching place.”....
In the minutes of the Dallas Circuit Quarterly Conference of the Methodist Church of March 4, 1848 is a listing of a church called Honey Creek Campground with Samuel Brown as an attendant. (Samuel Brown was a member of the John D. Brown family who came to the area in 1845 from Missouri. John D. Brown and his wife helped the Reverend John Culwell organize the church in 1846.) The Second Quarterly Conference met May 10, 1848; another conference met on October 14,, 1848 and a Fourth Conference met at Honey Creek on September 13, 1851 with A. Caldwell (Culwell) steward and John Caldwell (Culwell) as Local Preacher. The Church is listed in the Trinity Conference in 1874, ninth session, meeting in Plano with John Noble, H. Miller, deacon; R. H. Brown, steward....
In 1859 the Reverend James Marshall, a teacher, a Methodist minister (pastor of the church there and also a medical doctor) established a school about 500 yards south of the present day Cottage Hill Church and Cemetery. A school known as Possum Trot, located about one mile northwest of the present site of Cottage Hill Church, had been built in 1854. It took its name from the many opossums which fed on the red and black haws that grew on Haw Branch, a tributary of Honey Creek. In 1859 six yokes of oxen were used to move the building to land owned by the Reverend Marshall. Several cottages were built near by and a boarding school was operated. It was called Marshall College. About 1860 the community began to be called Cottage Hill, a name suggested by the cottages around Dr. Marshall’s school.
In 1889 a register of the Cottage Hill Church lists James Marshall having been pastor in 1859; J. R. Bellamy, 1860; Wm. E. Bates, 1861; Wm. Shaw, 1862; J. L. Angel, 1863-1864.
F. F. Morrill had married Nancy Jane Stone, stepdaughter of Samuel Brown in 1856 and bought land from Thomas Culwell. Mrs. Morrill is listed as a church member in 1889, dating from 1854. In 1879 Mr. Morrell deeded land for a church to be built on the present site. The building was dedicated on the Saturday before the fifth Sunday in May, 1881. A card dated April 2, 1881 from Brother John Noble at Pilot Point, Denton County, Texas to F. F. Morrill said to have the church finished and to publish an appointment for himself (Reverend John Noble) and the Reverend Tom Sherwood for that date. The Reverend John Noble had lived in the community and his home had been a “preaching place.” He was a pastor of the Cottage Hill church in 1869. The church register shows that H. H. Sullivan was the pastor; Washington Eller, Henry Harrison and Wm. M. Pafford were the church trustees. Lumber for the building was hauled from McKinney and Sherman.
This building, erected in 1881, served the congregation for sixty-six years... [The building was renovated in 1946, with additions made to the original structure.] So the building is new on the outside, but the 1881 building is still there wearing a new dress....
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COTTAGE HILL METHODIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY
COTTAGE HILL METHODIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY ACCORDING TO LOCAL TRADITION THIS METHODIST CHURCH TRACES ITS ORIGIN TO PIONEER RELIGIOUS GATHERINGS ORGA- NIZED BY THE REV. JOHN CULWELL AND HELD IN THE HOME OF HIS BROTHER, ANDREW J. CULWELL, ABOUT 1846, AND TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF METHODIST CAMPGROUND MEETINGS HELD AT NEARBY HONEY CREEK ABOUT 1848. THE FIRST DOCU- MENTARY MENTION OF COTTAGE HILL METHODIST CHURCH IS CONTAINED IN THE MINUTES OF THE TRINITY CONFERENCE HELD IN PLANO IN 1874. A CHURCH STRUCTURE WAS BUILT ON LAND DONATED BY F. F. MORRILL AT THIS SITE IN 1881; H. H. SULLIVAN SERVED AS PASTOR. THE SIZABLE NUMBER OF EARLY HEADSTONES BEARING THE NAME CULWELL AND THE MANY UNMARKED GRAVES SUR- ROUNDING THE GRAVESITE OF MARTHA CULWELL (D. 1870), THE CEMETERY’S EARLIEST RECORDED INTERMENT, SUGGESTS THAT THE COTTAGE HILL CEMETERY BEGAN AS A FAMILY CERE- TERY. ALTHOUGH LOCATED ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER AND BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN CONNECTED AS PART OF LANDS DEEDED TO THE COTTAGE HILL CHURCH DURING THE 1880S AND 1890S, THE CHURCH AND CEMETERY HAVE NOT BEEN FORMALLY ASSOCIATED SINCE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COTTAGE HILL CEMETERY ASSOCIATION IN 1890. THE CHURCH STRUCTURE, RENOVATED IN 1946, CONTINUES TO SERVE THE COTTAGE HILL METHODIST CHURCH. |