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Which Murfreesboro church served as the state capitol?



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By: MIKE WEST, Managing Editor
Posted: Sunday, August 9, 2009 7:42 am
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Which Murfreesboro church served as the state capitol? | Heritage, What's in a name?, First Presbyterian Church

A monument, erected in 1933 by the DAR, marks the originaal site of Murfreesboro's First Presbyterian Church. The chuch was demolished by Union Troops during teh Civil War. TMP/Mike West
How many churches in Murfreesboro had the distinction of serving as the state capitol building?

Uh, the answer is one ... First Presbyterian Church.

Unfortunately, that church building no longer stands. It was destroyed during the Civil War by Union troops who used its brick for fireplaces and other structures.

Organized in 1812 by Dr. Robert Henderson, the church first met at a log schoolhouse located near Murfree Spring, near the current location of the Discovery Center at Murfree Springs.

By 1820, the church had its own home on Vine Street. Said to be Murfreesboro’s first brick structure, First Presbyterian stood impressively over the rest of the little town’s buildings.

First Presbyterian church was “a brick building forty by sixty ft, two storys, windows, painted shutters, three doors in front, two leading to the gallery, finishing off with a cupaloe, about seventy feet high, neatly finished with painted shutters, a large golden ball on the top, a hundred and twenty five pounds bell,” wrote prolific diarist John Spence.

“The inside work, a gallery on two sides and end, pannel work all round, also three rows seats round the gallery. The whole supported above and below with turned pillars, standing at proper distance apart. The lower story, all pewed, closed with doors. An elevated pulpit, about three feet from the floor, stair way either side for entrance with doors, seating three men. All well finished and neatly painted. Pews all numbered on the doors. This, the general appearance. The work of the whole building was undertaken by Benj. Goldson, at a cost of about four thousand dollars,” Spence said.

Built originally for slaves, the gallery was soon remodeled in 1822 to accommodate the members of the Tennessee State Senate.

You see, Murfreesboro was state capitol then and both the state House and Senate had to be relocated when an unexplained fire destroyed the Rutherford County Courthouse, which was the official meeting place of Tennessee’s General Assembly.

Rutherford County’s first courthouse was completed in 1813 and served as the capitol of Tennessee from 1818 to 1826. In the 1840s Murfreesboro could have become the permanent capital, but local public officials undercut state Democrats by refusing to pay the $100 necessary to move the official records of Tennessee from Nashville to Murfreesboro.

It was an appropriately designed church for what was then Tennessee’s state capital. At the time, it was the largest building in Murfreesboro with the exception of the courthouse, where the Tennessee General Assembly met.

Just before the 1822 legislative session began, the courthouse burned. First Presbyterian Church was quickly remodeled to house the legislature. The state House met on the second floor and the Senate convened on the ground level.

The 1822 session was an important one historically. It marked the beginning of Andrew Jackson’s rise to the presidency with the Tennessee legislature, meeting in Murfreesboro, nominating Jackson for the post. Future President James K. Polk was clerk of the Senate. Sam Houston was adjutant-general and frontiersman David Crockett was a member of the House.

With the completion of a new Courthouse, the Presbyterian Church returned to its original use and Murfreesboro continued to grow. By 1830, the town had 786 residents.

In 1837, Murfreesboro officials purchased the land adjacent to First Presbyterian with the idea of expanding the church’s burial ground into a community cemetery. Many of the town’s prominent leaders would be buried there.

Dr. William Eagleton, a Blount County native, became the most famous early pastor of First Presbyterian. By 1853, he had raised the church’s membership to more than 300 members and he organized churches at Sulphur Springs and on the Manchester Pike. He established a mission on the Woodbury Pike.

But the Civil War wrecked the church’s growth.

The building was demolished. Only the church’s bell was saved by members of the congregation.

After the war, a new church was built in 1867 on the site of the current First Presbyterian. In 1913, this church was destroyed by a tornado. A new church structure was completed the following year.
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Tags: First Presbyterian Church, Heritage, What's in a name?
Member Opinions:
By: acdsrool on 8/9/09
If we had read about this kind of history in school I would have been more eager to learn! All histories are important as they are the foundation for our future. Great article, Mike! Keep 'em coming!


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