Sugar Grove
By Paula Mitchell
Does anyone recall the Mt. Olive Lutheran Church which was once located about eight miles south of Franklin on U.S. Rt. 220? The church deed for 5/8 acres was given on April 27, 1908, by Henry Judy, Solomon Howard Rexrode and Floyd Rexrode to the church trustees (Howard Rexrode, George D. Hammer, Kenna Judy, Kenna Simmons and Floyd Rexrode) for the church to be erected there. This church needed to be erected within a two-year period, otherwise the land would revert back to the granters.
A Professor Spielman of Tennessee gave the Mt. Olive name to the church which was dedicated Nov. 6, 1908. He gave the dedicatory service. Families attending this church were Moyers, Rexrode, Judy, and Hammer. Rev. Kuhlman officiated at the wedding for Paul Rexrode and Virginia Judy. The Mt. Olive Cemetery, presently owned by Barbara Rexrode Dolbec, has the following members buried there: Catherine Eye, Bessie Fleisher, George, Henry, Ida, Rachel and Valeria Hammer, Hannah and Harvey Hoover, Henry, Myra, and Sarah Judy and Mattie Propst.
Records of Rev. Kuhlman state that Henry Dice Hammer was buried in the cemetery on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 1939. Harry Lee Knicely II was baptized Oct. 23, 1939. The Lutheran Standard subscriptions were for Phoebe Rexrode, Mrs. Floyd Rexrode, Hugh Moyers, Lizzie Judy, and Kennie Simmons.
In February 1940, the following church officers were voted: Leslie Moyers and Ray Eye, (joint vestry), Leslie Moyers (elder), T. Floyd Rexrode and Kennie Simmons (deacons) and Ray Eye (secretary/treasurer).
Mt. Olive seeded to be the logical successor of the old “Judy Church” which was located very near this location. The age of the church is unknown. Remnants of this church were visible until about 1945.
Pastors having served this congregation were Abraham Reck, John P. Daggy, George Henry Reimenschneider, and Orville Lueck. The congregation then moved to Faith Lutheran Church in Franklin, following its closure in 1950. The church was then disassembled with pieces numbered so that they could be reassembled correctly to become the Friends Run Church of the Brethren. This church holds a sizeable congregation and is situated on U.S. Rt. 33 west.
Life’s little instructions include the following:
- Use the right tools.
- Set reasonable guidelines.
- Give hugs.
- Laugh often.
- Avoid clutter.
This week’s clickety-clacks for the chin waggers are as follows:
- Horseradish was once thought to be a cure for baldness.
- A newborn blue whale gains about 200 pounds a day.
- American Indian folklore held that water lilies were fallen stars.
- There are 5,000 different kinds of ants.
- Gloves were once worn as a social rank.
Quotes for the week are as follows:
“Learn to say no; it will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin.” — Charles Haddon Spurgeon
“The greatest homage we can pay to truth is to use it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together.” — Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
“Service is the rent we pay for our room on earth.” — Unknown
“A man’s true wealth is the good he does in this world.” — Bendixline
Concerns for this week are many. They are as follows: Bob Adamson, Charles Anderson, Roger and Joan Ashley, Mercedes Aumann, Lynn Beatty, “Bo” Boggs, Boyd Kimble, Kim Kline, Marie Cole, Jeff Craig, Norma Propst Cunningham, Christian Dasher, the family of Ina Jean Evick, Bethany Eye, Isaac Eye, Marie Eye, Mary Eye, Neal Eye, Donna Fleisher, Lola Graham, Jordan Greathouse, Marlene Harman, Marvin Hartman, Steve and Armanda Heavner, Grace Hedrick, Jackie Hill, Edsel and May Ann Hogan, Virgil Homan, Jr., Adelbert Hoover, Myrtle Hoover, Debbie and Enos Horst, Alice Johnson, Richard Judy, Ruthlene Judy, Marsha Keller, Danny Kimble, Dennis Kincaid, Kim Kline, Tracie Knight, Melissa Lambert, Robert Lambert, Rex Landis, Angela Lung, Linda Malcolm, Betty Mallow, Roger and Skip Mallow, Willard May, Neil McLaughlin, Rose Miller, Bruce Minor, Barbara Moats, Melvin Moats, Aaron Nelson, Ruth Nelson, Don Nilsen, Cheryl Paine, Barbara Parker, Sutton Parrack, Shirley Pratt, Alda Propst, John O. Propst, Kathy Propst, Linda Propst, Harley Propst, Sheldon Propst, Mary Puffenbarger, Charles Rexrode, Jason Rexrode, Jimmy Rexrode, Pam Rexrode, Donna Ruddle, Annie Simmons, Phyllis Simmons, Erin Simmons, Eva Simmons, Robbie Sites, Connie Sulser, Rosa Tichenor, Sandra Vandevander, Evelyn Varner, Amy Vaus, Sheldon Waggy, Judy Williams, Ann Wimer, Junior Wimer, Margaret Wimer, Dana Yokum and the Israeli nation.