03-30-08
Mt. Vernon's Asbury United Methodist Church has historical
ties with St. Paul's Church National Historic Site
This year marks the 173rd anniversary of
Mount Vernon’s Asbury United Methodist Church, located
on 58th West 7th Street. Aside
from the worship services and annual banquet
commemorating the founding of their church held each
year, the members of the church, respecting their past
and building their future, continue to research the
church’s historical connections.
On Monday, March 22, in an effort to do so, with the
prayers of its members, Rev. Gloria King, Pastor of
Asbury United Methodist Church, Ruby Parker, a long
standing member of Asbury, accompanied by a friend of
Asbury, Edwina Handy De Costa, and member of Greater
Centennial AME Zion Church, met with David Osborn, Site
Curator of St. Paul’s Church National Historic Site, and
researched Asbury’s historical connection to St. Paul’s
Church.
It was discovered that Asbury’s connection to St.
Paul’s Church circumvents the Turner-Nelson family, an
African-American family who lived and owned land in the
shadow of St. Paul’s Church, near the Eastchester Creek,
during the 19th and the early part of the 20th
century.
The Turner-Nelson’s family story can be traced back to
1810, when a slave by the name of Rebecca, who worked
for a woman by the name of Gloriana Franklin, was
freed. Rebecca married a man by the name of Benjamin
Turner.
From that union, the Turners had several children.
Their children were enrolled in the “colored class” of
St. Paul’s Sunday School, according to St. Paul’s Church
records.
They eventually left the grounds of St. Paul’s to
worship elsewhere due to ill-treatment circumventing
segregation.
Meetings were held in private houses, school houses,
and in the open. Classes were formed and these made the
nucleus around which the church grew.
In 1835, a building committee was formed and Asbury
Methodist Church was established. The church was named
after Bishop Francis Asbury, a trail blazing horseback
bishop. He was greatly responsible for the beginning of
the Methodist Church in the United States, and preached
on the grounds of St. Paul’s around the time the Turner
family attended that church.
The Turner family helped to establish the nearby Asbury
Methodist Church, today known as Asbury United Methodist
Church. Unfortunately, because of a diminishing
membership roll, during the latter part of the 19th
century, Asbury was obligated to close.
Fortunately, one of the Turner’s grandchildren, Sarah
(Libby) Turner was responsible for the church’s
reopening.
Sarah Elizabeth Nelson married a man by the name of
Samuel Nelson. Nelson, was a runaway slave, who sought
refuge in the Eastchester area.
After Asbury closed, Sarah held Sunday school classes
in her home. With the Sunday school dues, she contacted
W. H. Bard, who was the Superintendent of the Wakefield
Methodist Episcopal Sunday School in 1888. Soon after,
Asbury’s rebirth commenced as a church in 1893.
The church was moved to its current location in 1903,
after its genesis location of being near St. Paul’s
Church.
Asbury United Methodist Church plans to continue to
search its historical connections.
A corner
stone marking the date Asbury United Methodist Church
was founded, and the church's original name.
The
church building's original stained glass is still in
place
A look inside the sanctuary of the current church
