OLD ANTIOCH CHURCH


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Old Antioch Church of Christ once stood in the southwest corner of what is now Chickasaw State Park. Today there is only a small cemetery to remind us of its existence on earth. Yet in the early 1900's approximately forty to fifty people worshipped there regularly and A. G. Freed and N. B. Hardeman preached there many times.
 
The church was built in 1900 through the efforts of Madison Monroe ("Roe") Deming (1846-1936), who had moved his family to Chester Count from McNairy County in 1885. His wife was Susan Frances Naylor (1847-1914), the daughter of George and Martha Dose (Barrett) Naylor. Their children were: James Andrew (1867-1928); George William (1869); Martha Ada Murley (1872-1954); Veronica Cliton Harris (1874-7952); Sarah Ellen Murdaugh (1875); Jackson Monroe (1882-1971 ); Nancy Eliza Hearn (1883-1970); Charles Winchester (1886); and Bedford Forrest (1891). Deming set aside two acres of the farm he bought for a church and a cemetery and proceeded to build a Church of Christ where his family could worship.
 
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His father, James Winchester (1823-1902) had helped start the Cypress Tank Church of Christ in McNairy County. James Winchester's first wife was Nancy Jones (1830-1859), the daughter of Thornton and Nancy (McKerley) Jones, and it was through the influence of his wife' s family from North Carolina that the Demings became Christians.
 
Old Antioch Church of Christ was a large white frame building which would seat approximately 150 people. Inside the building, there was a platform all the way across the front with an "Amen" and an "Awomen" corner on either side. Miss Myrtle Murdaugh of Bemis, TN, who is the granddaughter of Roe Deming remembers that Jesse Hall and an "old man" Bradley helped build the church and are buried in either corner of the cemetery in unmarked graves.
 
N. B. Hardeman preached there as a young man. He rode his horse to Antioch every fourth Sunday and preached following Sunday School. Afterwards he would go home with the Deming family for dinner and remain there until time for the night service. Occasionally, A.G. Freed would come out and preach for the small congregation.
 
On the first, second, and third Sundays, the church would assemble in the afternoon for Sunday School, a short sermon by Roe Deming, and singing.
 
Owen's Free Will Baptist Church had preaching the first Sunday and Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, the second Sunday of each month. They were located nearby and so each group visited the other on the Sunday morning they had preaching.
 
Roe Deming and his son-in-law, John Ward Harris, were the elders at Antioch Church of Christ. Then Ward Harris died on July 20, 1906. N. B. Hardeman preached his funeral there in the little church and Harris was buried in the cemetery.
 
Grandchildren of Ward Harris still live in Chester County including Glenn H. (the son of J.W. and Bernice Harris); Ray; Willie Vergil ("Junior"); Ward; and Frances Grimm (children of Will and Edith Harris). After the death of Ward Harris, a Mr. Patterson from Montezuma became the second elder.
 
Roe Deming challenged Milton Murdaugh, a Baptist preacher, and a son of John Murdaugh, to a debate on "Baptism." Mr. Murdaugh accepted and they debated three days at Antioch. Roe Deming called on A. G. Freed to help him the final day of the debate. There were a number of similar debates held at Antioch.
 
A larger debate was held at Burkett's Chapel Methodist Church between A. G. Freed and Wild Bill Evans, a Methodist preacher, on the "Plan of Salvation." A large bush arbor was built and benches were brought from all the nearby churches.
 
Several hundred people attended from various Methodist churches (Montezuma, Hickory Grove, Pleasant Springs, Hal tom's Chapel, and Burkett 's Chapel ), various Baptist churches (Bethel Missionary, Cave Springs and Owen's Free Will), and Old Antioch and Henderson Churches of Christ. The debate lasted a week from Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day. Each family brought a basket of lunch and everyone spread together for dinner. A. G. Freed debated brilliantly, proclaiming the truth from God's Word. He conducted himself as a gentleman, refusing to acknowledge the rude tactics of Wild Bill. At the end of the debate, the Church of Christ claimed victory. Someone from the audience went forward and pinned a blue ribbon on A. G. Freed, but not to be outdone, a Methodist lady took the sash of f her dress and draped it around the neck of Wild Bill Evans, and the debate broke up in laughter.
 
An interesting story is told about Edeline A., the fourth wife of John Murdaugh, a well known Baptist preacher in the area. He had "pastored" churches at Bethel, Palestine, Cave Springs, Maple Springs, and Piney Grove. He and Edeline had a son named Charley, who married Sarah Ellen or "Sally," the daughter of Roe Deming. The Deming family had converted Charley and he was worshipping a t Antioch. His mother, Edeline, became involved in a feud over a cow with a Baptist sister in the congregation where her husband preached. John asked each lady to apologize, but Edeline refused because she felt she was right and so John "turned her out" of the Baptist Church. Charley and Sally then taught her God's plan for salvation and she was baptized into the Church of Christ. When she died in 1904, she was buried at Antioch and then in 1908, he was buried " within a stone's throw" at Bethel Baptist Church.
 
On Nov. 24, 1908, Roe Derming sold his farm to J. F. Thomas, bought the William Hearn farm, and moved to the community of Hearn's Chapel. The church continued to meet at Antioch but its membership began to decline. Many people feel that the decrease was caused by two factors: strife and hard feelings engendered by the debates and the fact that a number of Roe Deming's children married and began to attend their spouse's denomination.
 
Then on April 29, 1909 about 10:00 p.m., a tornado swept through the Chickasaw Park area and on through Montezuma. Mrs. Velma Roland, the daughter of H. C. and Martha Ada (Deming) Murley and the granddaughter of Roe Deming remembers as a teenager, sitting at the window of her home and hearing the terrible roar of the tornado. After the storm subsided, her father got on his horse and rode over see the destruction. When he returned, he told his family, "Antioch Church was blown all to pieces." Besides the damage done to the church, acres of timber were swept down and a number of houses were destroyed, including the home of Austin Frye, who died a few days later from wounds incurred during the storm.
 
'The members of the church took the lumber from Antioch and rebuilt it over near Owen's Baptist Church and Cemetery on what is now Hinkle Trail in Chickasaw Park. This building was not as large as Antioch. The church worshipped there for a number of years. Then a forest fire burned it to the ground. Roe Deming's wife died in 1914, and N. B. Hardeman preached her funeral. Roe Deming remarried a few years later, sold the Hearn place in 1920, moved to just outside the city of Henderson, near Sanford Hill, and began worshiping with the Henderson Church of Christ.
 
Deming loved the Lord's church and spent a large part of his life carrying the great commission to his part of the world - "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15-16). His grandchildren remember his routine each night before going to sleep - he would sit down in his rocking chair by the light of a kerosene lamp, read the newspaper, his Bible, get down on his knees and pray to God. What better way is there to remember a man? Deming died in February, 1936, at the age of ninety, at peace with his fellowmen and with God, whom he had served all his life. N. B. Hardeman preached his funeral at the Henderson church of Christ.
 
His youngest son and the last surviving child, Bedford Deming, lived on Second Ck as W n a member of the Henderson Church of Christ for Glenn Howard Harris, is a faithful member of the Henderson Church of Christ, and Glenn's wife, Sylvia (Johnson) Harris has taught for twenty years at Freed-Hardeman College. A son, Charles Winchester, was a student at Freed-Hardeman College at one time. James Andrew, another son, served as Sheriff of Chester County (1900-1904), a member of the State Legislature (1905-1909), Chief of Police in Jackson, TN (1915-3919), and Chief of Police of Bemis, TN. (1921-1928).
 
This Christian man's influence and memory have lived on through his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, neighbors, and fellow Christians, who remember his good example, instruction, and dedication to the cause of Christ.
 
And we remember his labor of love at a small church in the southwest corner of Chickasaw - Antioch Church of Christ.
 
Mrs. Glenn H. (Sylvia Johnson) Harris
829 0' Neal Lane
Henderson, TN 38340
March 25, 1981