Family History by Robert Monroe Fleming (Sr.)
Unidentified letter to Iva Fleming, Number 1
Transcribed by Robert M. Fleming Jr.
This is our church work - we lived 2½ miles south of Decor. this is a small county town. all around where we lived was thick settled & nearly all of them members of the Christian Church. so they build a church 2½ miles south of my Fathers place. It was called the Franklin Creek church. & I was baptized when I was 12 years there at church by B B Tyler. he married my cousin Sallie Burton. his picture in in the Nance Memorial. my father was decon in that church ever since I could remember. & Mo baked the bread. & they took the bread & wine every Sunday. & when they couldnt go your Uncle Frank & I went horse back & carried it. some times in the Spring the roads were so muddy we couldnt go in a buggy. & when Frank left home I went lots of times alone & carried it. there isnt many girls that would. & so many members the school house got to small. then they built a large church the largest in the county. & we had our county meetings there every fall. & your Pa gave his time & some of the other members helped him build the church. but he did all the nice work. & we were leaders in singing all the time we lived there. then when we went to Texas, to Graham, there was no church. & I began to fuss right away. about organizing a church. & mr Weeks after we reached there we org. with 14 members. 20 children in Sunday school. & that winter 35 more united. then the next fall Brother Clement came out there & held a meeting. & about 35 were joined. then they built a church. & Pa did the same gave his time & did the most of the woek too. Mr Mabry gave a lot. we had the nicest church in town. well then we left there & went to Cheney. & they had a good church there. then when we went to Spokane there was no church. & none org. the first Sunday we went they had a Sunday school. About 15 children. Mrs Wright was surprise. After it was over I talked with Dr Major & Mrs W. & I told them if they didnt org a church I would go back to Cheney. so he said he would go around that week & see how many he could get. we didnt go that day. but next Sunday we both went & org. with 17 in a little room over a store. the steps went up on the outside. in two weeks we moved to a larger room. then that fall we got a hall. & I think they kept that until they built a church. I think it was on Post & 3rd where that church was built. that was the first christian church ever built in Spokane. & your Pa did the same. He took the church to build. & gave his time & there was several carpenters in the church that helped him. & gave their work. I cant remember how long he lived after he got that church built. well you see that was 3 churches we helped org. & he helped built the churches and I worked a lot in all of them helping the aides. & helping give dinners. then when we went, I went to Clarkston I helped org. & we had it in the school house. until we were able to build a church. not very large. but they have built a find one there since that. well that is 4 churches that I am charter member of. & all of those churches in Spokane have started from the one we org. in the Spring of 1887. that is part of my church work. but dont you remember every time we gave a dinner & supper the rest would go home all of them about 8. & Mrs McCoy & I had to give up that helping. but I hope I will get some good marks for what I did do any how.
you ought to have seen the dinners we gave at those state meetings there at Roanoke. we would take the tubs not full but as much as we could get in them with out mussing it up. & Aunt Nela would do the same. & Miss Gipson & Aunt Sally McCord & Nan Sindow & every body else in the church. it was understood that people off out a distance wasnt to bring any thing to eat. I never enjoyed myself so much in my life as I did there at those meetings every fall.
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©2009 Robert M. Fleming Jr.
This page was last revised on 25 December 2009.