OUR LEGACY FROM THE PAST - NCCUMC

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He was at the Williamston church for two years in 1876and 1877.
He became famous after leaving Williamston when in 1893 he
published a book entitled SPIRITUAL LIFE. This book was a protest
against the movement within the Methodist Church to promote
the extreme view of the second blessing theory of Sanctification,
and it almost caused an irrevocable split in the church.
Another book written by Reverend Nash was REOOLLEOTIONS
AND OBSERVATIONS. This book was a collection of stories
about his experiences in the various churches in which he served.
(See APPENDIX for his recollections of Williamston.) Reverend
Nash died in Hamlet, North Oarolina in 1917after giving forty-four
years of service to the Lord.
In 1878,a young minister named William H. Watkins came to
Williamston. He stayed for two years and was beloved by all the
people he served. He left Williamston and went to the church in
Plymouth, the last one in which he would be able to serve, because
his health had begun to fail. He knew death was imminent, but
showed no fear of it. He died in 1886at the age of 32and was buried
in Albemarle, North Carolina.
Reverend William B. Doub came to Williamston in 1880and
stayed until 1883.He was born in Raleigh in 1852and came from a
long line of Methodist preachers. It was said that he possessed a
sweet spirit and was gentle to all with whom he came in touch. He
died in Durham in 1896.
In 1883, James E. Bristowe received the call to Williamston
and it was during his ministry that the first parsonage was begun.
It was built on a site about one lot removed from the church. Prior
to this time, the pastors had lived with parishioners or in rented
rooms. The C. D. Carstarphen family provided a room in their
home for the minister, and a particular one was known specifically
as the' •Preacher's Room." Reverend Bristowe was born in 1846
in Northampton County, and he died in Washington in 1911after
giving thirty-three years of Christian service. He requested to be
buried at Bethel, a community to which he had become attached.
In 1885,Reverend J. O. Guthrie was sent to Williamston, and
he and his family were the first to occupy the parsonage, which
has been described as a simple one-story yellow cottage sur-