OUR LEGACY FROM THE PAST - NCCUMC

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many friends in Williamston and though he was here for only one
year, he was greatly admired by all. During his last days, the only
regret he expressed was that he could not preach at least one
more time. He died in Wilmington in 1930at the age of sixty-nine.
Reverend J. R. Sawyer received the call to the Williamston
church in the fall of 1893. During his ministry, he kept very detailed
records. He recorded six weddings and six infant baptisms.
The first marriage he performed was that of John W. Crowell and
Miss Sallie Asbel, who were married December 31, 1893.The first
baby he christened here was Annie Elizabeth Jones, daughter of
David and Bettie Jones, on August 26,1894.Like Reverend Harley,
he was also concerned with the whiskey traffic in this area and he
constantly fought to rid the community of it.
Reverend Asa Joseph Parker was born in Hertford County in
1867.He came to Williamston in 1895and served a two-year term.
His preaching was fearless, uncompromising, but stimulating.
His sympathetic, sunny disposition made him the ideal pastor to
whom the church members could go for comfort and support, and
he was always welcome in the homes of the community. He had a
beautiful singing voice and it was said he could not only preach the
Gospel, but could sing it as well! His talent earned him a place
with the original Conference Quartette. The last months of his life
were ones of intense suffering, and he died in 1932 in Raleigh,
where he was buried.
The present church building, the third house of worship, was
begun during the pastorate of George Washington Fisher, but it
was not completed until 1902,at which time the old building was
torn down. Reverend Fisher was born in Catawba County in 1859.
He came to Williamston in 1898and stayed for two years. It was
said by those who knew him that he was a true Christian, living
the life he so ardently preached about. He reached out to every
person in Christian love, regardless of their station in life, and was
loved by rich and poor alike. Most of the churches in which he
served were in the rural areas that he loved so much, and for forty
years he spread the Gospel on horseback, in a buggy, and in an
automobile. He died in Garner in 1926and was buried in Zebulon.