Stepping Back in Time: A Look at the Churches

Submitted by Rebekah Sheats

If you stepped back in time to the 1920s and 1930s, you’d find many differences between the Monticello of that day and the one that exists at the present. However, you’d also find much the same. Many of the buildings and institutions of the early twentieth century still exist and flourish today. Among them are the local churches. A hundred years ago, the main churches in town were those that mark the landscape to this day, including the Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Catholic. These churches were located on or near the same ground they currently cover, with the exception of the Catholic Church. Originally built along West Washington, the building was later sold when the church built a larger structure east of town. The original building now houses the Jefferson County chamber of commerce.
No matter the denomination or creed, each church holds its own special history in the local community. Take the Presbyterian church, for example. In 1937, several files of papers were discovered in an old vault of the county courthouse. Among the papers were records pertaining to the building of the Presbyterian church. According to these records, the sanctuary on East Dogwood Street was originally constructed in the early 1800s. Because there were no nearby brickyards at the time of construction, bricks were hauled in wagons and ox carts from South Carolina for the erection of the church. This first building burned in 1865 and was rebuilt (with as many of the original bricks as possible) in 1868. A bell was installed in 1872.
The beautiful pews adorning the inside of the building were crafted out of cypress logs which carpenter Jack Bozeman hauled in from the swamps located in outlying regions of the county.
In the 1920s, the Presbyterian pastor was Henry Holmes. The mode of baptism was one of the main points of dissention between his church and that of the Baptists. In 1924 people around town noted of Mr. Hughes, a Presbyterian, and the Baptist preacher John Hutchings:

H stands for Hutchings
and also for Hughes;
They both love the water,
but have different views.

This friendly rivalry existed only in ecclesiastical matters. Hughes and Hutchings were fast friends, enjoying fellowship at the local Kiwanis club and other civic organizations.
In June of 1924, Reverend John Hutchings exhibited his “love for the water” when he joined a group of Monticello couples for an out-of-town fishing party. The group put out from Newport Springs and fished fifty miles offshore at the snapper banks. By the end of the day, the party had brought in a haul of 500 pounds of red snapper and grouper. Pastor Hutchings pulled in perhaps the largest catch of the day when he hooked a four-foot shark. The Monticello News recorded that the shark “put up such a fight that [the] preacher called for help” to bring the shark in.
All in all, it didn’t matter to locals which church you attended, but one thing was perfectly clear: if you lived in Monticello, you ought to be in church when Sunday rolled around. No stores were open on Sundays. Even gas stations were forbidden from selling gas on the Lord’s Day. For those who didn’t attend a service of any kind, the local city government asked that respect be paid to the sanctity of the day. A request from Marshal R. H. Kilpatrick, issued in August of 1924, read:
Complaints have been made to me that parties driving automobiles past the Baptist and Presbyterian churches seem to make undue noise, disturbing the services on Sundays. All automobile drivers are asked to detour to other streets during services at these churches.
Unfortunately, the “undue noise” of traffic wasn’t the only trouble that plagued church-going families. In February of 1928, the J. R. Cooksey family drove to the Methodist Church as usual to attend the Sunday evening service. While the family was inside worshiping, the sheriff of Duval County passed through town with a carload of boys on their way to a reform school in Marianna. One of the smaller boys managed to slip out of the car as it passed through Monticello on Highway 90. Walking a block down the road to the Methodist Church, the boy slid behind the wheel of the Cooksey vehicle and skipped town in the opposite direction.
At the conclusion of the evening’s church service, the startled Cooksey family immediately notified the police of their missing vehicle. Sheriff Allmon sent a description of the automobile to every law enforcement agency in the state, and the vehicle was located in Jacksonville the next day. Allmon and J. R. Cooksey motored east to pick up the vehicle, which was found to be “in good shape” when recovered. After this disquieting incident, it is assumed that locals took greater care to secure their cars while they were busy attending divine services. Even the Lord’s Day, it appeared, was not exempt from the waves of crime sweeping the nation during the Roaring Twenties and the Depression that followed.
Doctrinal differences made each Jefferson County church distinct, but these differences in no way separated the members of the community. When a family at the Methodist church was struggling to make ends meet financially, Reverend Russell Carleton, the episcopal rector, kept the children clothed with hand-me-downs from his own children. When young men traveled overseas during World War Two, J. P. Devane, the Catholic priest, spent hours writing letters of encouragement to the local boys fighting in Europe or the Pacific theatre. Denominational ties made no difference to Devane. His letters would be kept and cherished by these men and their families for generations to come.
“By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if you have love one to another” (John 13:35). No matter the century, no matter the culture, no matter the denominational upbringing, some things never grow old. Love for God and love for one’s neighbor, the fellowship and joy of a Christian community, and the unchanging truths of the Word of God are a few of these ageless treasures. They stand as glistening gems throughout all history. May they continue to stand in our community for generations to come.