Grim, blacked walls are all that remains of Trinity M.E. church. Fire Sunday morning destroyed the church that for more than 40 years has been a landmark of Durham and a source of much pride to Durham people of all denominations. The cracked and smoldering walls bear mute testimony to the disastrous blaze, and the lofty spire that has for years pointed upwards, reminding the people of the Master in whose name the church was erected, and calling upon them to worship Him, is sadly missed when one turns his eyes to the sky to see it.
Many people arose from their beds Sunday morning and began making preparations to attend Sunday school at Trinity only to find when the gazed towards the church from their homes that it was afire. The church could be seen from all sections of the city because of the steeple which was the highest in this section of the country and sorrow struck the hearts of hundreds when they knew that it was being destroyed by the flames. Hundreds and even thousands of people went to the scene of the conflagration and in silence watched the progress of the flames as they rapidly ate their way upward to the steeple. Services in other churches were affected through the presence of many of Trinity’s members at the fire. Hundreds still visited the scene Sunday afternoon after the flames were under control to view the remains of the once magnificent church and to watch the firemen as they put out the last smoldering bits of timber and as they tried to pull down some of the wall.
About 7 o’clock Sunday morning the janitor discovered smoke in the building after the fire had been made in the furnace. He investigated but was unable to determine the origin. He therefore called in a member of one of the fire companies close by who made an inspection of the building. He discovered the fire and immediately sent in a call for the fire equipment. Within a very short time the entire department was on the scene but not in time to save the building, and despite the excellent work of the men who had trained nine streams of water upon it, the building was destroyed. The fire originated, it is thought, in the Sunday school department, at least this theory was advanced by Fire Chief Bennett. The manner in which it caught has not yet been determined. The furnace was located under the church auditorium and the chief has as yet been unable to arrive at any logical cause whereby the fire could have started in the Sunday school rooms. The janitor stated, it is said, that a flue to the furnace had fallen but this was not substantiated.
When the firemen had reached the scene, the Sunday school department was a seething furnace of flame. It quickly ate its way into the church auditorium, despite the tons of water that were being poured upon it from all sides of the building. Soon the building was gutted and the flames began to make their way to the steeple. Upward and on they rapidly crept until the steeple was also a roaring cauldron. Flames burst out in many places on it an their intense heat ignited the slate shingles that covered it an they began falling, a veritable shower of fire. At 9:30 o’clock the girders supporting the steeple were seen to bend at the base where they connected with the brick structure as if the hands of some mighty blacksmith was wielding it into some fantastic shape. The lower part bent towards the west and the top bent outwards, toward the east, when suddenly with a mighty crash it fell. The firemen and equipment had been removed to safety when it was seen that it was about to fall and no one was hurt.
Within three hours from the time of the appearance of the firemen on the scene the flames were under control, the firemen displaying some of the best fire fighting that has been seen in Durham in some time. Fighting under a great handicap because of the headway the flames had gained and the danger form falling walls and the steeple, they fought valiantly and through their work the flames were confined to the church edifice.
Dobson Freeman of Fire Station No. 1 was injured after about 20 minutes of fire fighting when the nozzle of a hose attached to one of the pumps got from his control. He received an injured back and was carried to the hospital but his condition is not thought to be serious.
The church was valued at approximately $125,000 and was insured for $71,000. It is a total loss including the entire equipment. The beautiful memorial windows that have been a source of pride to the members of the church and to the public at large were, of course, destroyed, as was the valuable memorial erected in the church some time ago. The memorial was valued at about $25,000 and was a work of art, begin made of marble and representing the last supper. It was placed on the south wall of the church. A number of beautiful paintings depicting the life of Christ which were painted on the four walls of the church near the ceiling were also works of art in which the people felt considerable pride.
“We shall continue to carry one,” Dr. A.D. Wilcox, pastor of the church to whom the destruction of the building came as a hard blow, stated. No plans have as yet been made for the future, but it was stated that the congregation would probably hold services in one of the public buildings until such a time as a new edifice can be erected. The board of stewards will meet within a few days, it is thought, when plans for the future will be made.
The use of the First Presbyterian and the First Baptist church was tendered to Dr. Wilcox for holding services. Resolutions were adopted by the First Baptist congregation at the Sunday morning service inviting the Trinity congregation to hold services jointly with them with Dr. Wilcox filling the pulpit until such a time when a successor to Dr. J. Elwood Welsh, resigned, shall have been secured. This would allow the Baptist congregation to hold services each Sunday as well as the Methodists.
Trinity church was the oldest Methodist church in Durham. Prior to the time of erecting the building destroyed Sunday, the congregation had worshiped in a wooden edifice. The congregation was formed in 1860 when a number of Methodists moved to Durham from the Orange Grove church. This city was then known as Durham’s. At that time Durham was nothing more than a village with less than a dozen families. The Methodists held a meeting at which an acre of ground to the year of the present First Baptist church was donated by R.F. Morris for the erection of a church. William Mangum was given the contract to erect the little church and his price was $650, he agreeing to furnish both the material and labor.
Work was begun in erecting it when some of the leaders decided that a little grove on Cleveland street, then called the Roxboro road, was a better location, and an acre and a half of ground was purchased from William Green for $150 and the foundation and frame of the church was moved to the present site. The old church, a little wooden building, stood just west of the place where the destroyed building stands, and for a number of years it served the needs of the congregation. The board of trustees was named as follows: William J. Duke, Archibald Nichols, Washington Duke, D.M. Cheek, James Stagg, Z.I. Lion, and John Barbee.
Durham’s first Methodist church was a plain country meeting house. A section of the building was railed off so as to allow negroes to attend worship in it. In the old church a number of important and history-making events transpired. It was in this building that Ex-Governor Graham and Henry K. Nash debated the question of secession from the union. During the Civil war the church was badly damaged by General Sherman’s army. All during these years of privation, however, the church was never without a minister. After the war the church was used as a school building until a school house could be erected. The church made good progress in membership and soon alterations and improvements were made to the building. In 1872 the building was repaired with new pews being installed and the house painted outside. Gen. J.S. Carr repairing the roof.(?) There was a graveyard to the east of the church. In 1875 general Carr purchased two acres of land a half mile from town for a cemetery, and this was the beginning of Maplewood cemetery. Most of the bodies were removed but some few of them still remain under the Sunday school and in the lot.
Many ministers took part in the work of the church. During the pastorate of Rev. H.F. Wood the building was destroyed Sunday was begun. His term of service in Durham began in 1879. The cornerstone was laid in 1880. This marked a new epoch in the life of the church and the community, and its influence was felt in the town’s religious life. A revival was held in Durham by Rev. Sam P. Jones in the old Parrish warehouse in 1888 and 1889, during which 189 new members were added to the church. The main portion of the building was completed under the pastorate of Rev. Jesse A. Cunningham and was dedicated on the first Sunday in June, 1881, by Rev. N.H.D. Wilson, presiding elder of the Durham district. In 1892 Rev. R.C. Beaman promoted the plan to erect a Sunday school addition and while the structure was being erected the congregation held their meetings in the court house. On the fourth Sunday in January, 1894, during the pastorate of Rev. B.R. Hall, the new and enlarged church and Sunday school were opened. That was Trinity until Sunday.
The church has had a wonderful growth until now it is one of the leading churches in the Methodist conference.
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From the front page of the Durham Morning Herald, Jan. 22, 1923.
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