Facing Tomorrow, Understanding Yesterday, A History of Orange ...

One possible result of these meetings was a growing desire on the
partof Methodists in Chapel Hill proper to organize their own church,
whichthey did in the early 1840s.When Deems transferred from the New
JerseyConference to the North Carolina Conference, he was assigned to
theChapel Hill congregation, which was then meeting in a house on
RosemaryStreet behind the present University Presbyterian Church. As
thecongregation grew, it moved to the upper level of a store on Franklin
Street.The first Chapel Hill Methodist Church was built at the northeast
comer of Rosemary and Henderson streets. Dedication services occurredon
July 3, 1853. 10
TheMethodistchurches in the area were quite small atthe beginning
andoftenwere joined together in a circuit that was served by one minister.
Althoughthe records relating to Orange Church are not complete, what
wedo know indicates that it was joined to a variety of neighboring
congregationsover the years. Early church records did not list the names
ofthe churches that pastors were assigned to until 1926, but church
historiansare fairly sure that R.C. Maynard, who was assigned to Orange
Churchin 1840, had to serve at least the Mount Pleasant and Orange
churches.In 1899, Jacob H. McCracken's assignment included Duke's
Chapel,Massey's Chapel, McMannens, Mount Bethel, Mount Sylvan,
PleasantGreen, Orange Factory, Orange, and Fletcher's Chapel MethodistChurches.
With such assignments, preachers were primarily circuit
riderswhoreached churches irregularly. Perhaps there would be official
worshipservices conducted by an ordained minister on Sunday and
perhapsnot. At times parishioners could count on having services led by
theminister only once or twice a month. Sometimes the services would
beinthe morning, sometimes in the afternoon. If the assigned minister
couldnot reach the congregation for Sunday morning services, the
congregationcarried on as best it could without him.
Since these early circuit riders had to travel long distances on
horsebackover unpaved and difficult roads in order to reach the churches
ontheircircuit, other people stepped forward to provide spiritual nourishmentforthe
congregation. William (Uncle Billie) ]. Duke (1803-1883),
fromthe Bahama community near Durham, was one of these special
people.
Althoughhe was not an ordained minister, Uncle Billie called himself
an"exhorter"and was much in demand by area churches without regular
pastors.Among the congregations making regular use of his services
wereOrange Church, Massey's Chapel, Pleasant Green, Mount Hebron,
andFletcher's Chapel. Residents recalled that Duke "used to be a faithful
attendantat all of the revival services at Pleasant Green. He would come
tothechurch immaculately clothed in a white linen 'duster', and when his
wearingapparel became soiled, he left the services, mounted his horse,
androdeawayin a cloud of dust. "11Uncle Billie ran a large farm during the
weekand often preached several times each Sunday. According to tales
ofUncleBilliethat have passed down through the generations, "he could
outpreachanybody in Orange County." In addition, members of his
audiencefervently testified that Uncle Billie "knew the Lord, and he
believedin letting everyone know it."12
To a certain degree, this lack of a full-time minister hindered the
growthofOrange Church, butin another way, it helped build the devotion
tothechurch that members have long held and increased the willingness
ofchurch members to take on all sorts of assignments.
Asthe influence of Orange Church continued to grow in the community,its
impact on its members increased as well. The first half of the
nineteenthcentury, for instance, saw the first Orange Church member
enter the ministry as a result of his religious experiences. Alexander
Gattis,Jr.,(1818-1859),13son ofAlexander Gattis, Sr., the donorofthe land
FACING TOMORROW, UNDERSTANDING YESTERDAY 9
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