Jonesborough United Methodist Church is a church in Jonesborough, Tennessee

Jonesborough, Tennessee

Jonesborough is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The population was 4,168 at the 2000 census...

. Its building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 as a contributing property

Contributing property

In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...

 in the Jonesborough Historic District

Jonesborough Historic District

The Jonesborough Historic District is a historic district in Jonesborough, Tennessee that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Jonesboro Historic District in 1969....

.

History

The church was formed in 1822 under the leadership of a layman from Nashville, H. R. W. Hill. The church's first building was located behind the town courthouse, on the public square. Later, due to the planned coming of the railroad, land was purchased at the present location, in 1847, for the construction of the current building, which was opened late that year. Notable members of the congregation in the early years were Elbert F. Sevier, a grandson of Governor John Sevier

John Sevier

John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...

; Parson William Gannaway Brownlow

William Gannaway Brownlow

William Gannaway "Parson" Brownlow was an American newspaper editor, minister, and politician who served as Governor of the state of Tennessee from 1865 to 1869 and as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 1869 to 1875...

 (later governor of Tennessee during Reconstruction); and Elijah Embree Hoss

Elijah Embree Hoss

Elijah Embree Hoss was an American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, elected in 1902. He also distinguished himself as a Methodist pastor, as a college professor and administrator, and as an editor....

 (who became a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South). The building was tied up in a legal battle immediately following the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, as members loyal to either side of that political battle tried to gain control of the property. The property issue was settled in 1869, as recorded in the Washington County Court records. Major renovations were made in 1945 and 1959. The exterior of the church building is much like it was originally.