Duck River
Tennessee
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Tottys Bend Church of Christ
The "Church Book" of Totty's Bend records that the Church of Christ was established by G. W. Cone and J. K. Spear in A.D. 1846 in Totty's Bend. There is no further written record until 1876. A list of names as they appeared in the original "Church Book" is given with 129 people listed. Obviously there were records kept during those thirty years that are not to be found today.
When Ella Williams Harvill, an aunt of Totty's Bend's Miss Louise Williams, started to school in approximately 1873, "the combination church and school was located in that corner on that little rise on the John A. Jones property." Today, Billy Mac Maddox's house sits on the approximate location.
As the community continued to grow, the church/school building was moved to be nearer the center of things to the property of L. Berry Totty, an ancestor of Fred Mitchell Totty, now owned by Albert Coleman. The log building is part of Mr. Coleman's barn today.
Mrs. Audrey Meadors, Totty's Bend's oldest resident, remembers being handed out of one of its tall windows by her father to someone else after a service through which she had slept in his arms. This would have been in 1897 or 1898.
As the need for a larger church building and a cemetery became apparent, Berry Totty and wife Adella deeded land for such on November 2, 1900. Joe Holderfield, grandfather of Mrs. Edith Holderfield Sandefur Winkler, a resident of the Church of Christ Home for the Aged in Nashville, was the main carpenter on the new building. There was one room with poles supporting the roof and a partition separating seats for men and women up the middle. Coal oil lanterns hung from the ceiling. The "Church Book" stated the first sermon in the new house was on April 4, 1901.
In 1954, two classrooms were added. Ten years later, the baptistry, two additional classrooms and two restrooms were added and the building was bricked.
During the church's history in Totty's Bend and before the baptistry, baptisms were performed in Swan Creek, Duck River and Ward Mines Hollow Creek. Over the years the "Church Book" has kept a record of this church helping other congregations build their buildings in which to worship, supporting the Orphans' Home and doing other good works. Careful records demonstrate charity beginning at home, by listings of help given those in need in the community, examples being medicines such as quinine, blankets, coffee and boots. The congregation continues to support mission and benevolent programs worldwide and locally.
When Ella Williams Harvill, an aunt of Totty's Bend's Miss Louise Williams, started to school in approximately 1873, "the combination church and school was located in that corner on that little rise on the John A. Jones property." Today, Billy Mac Maddox's house sits on the approximate location.
As the community continued to grow, the church/school building was moved to be nearer the center of things to the property of L. Berry Totty, an ancestor of Fred Mitchell Totty, now owned by Albert Coleman. The log building is part of Mr. Coleman's barn today.
Mrs. Audrey Meadors, Totty's Bend's oldest resident, remembers being handed out of one of its tall windows by her father to someone else after a service through which she had slept in his arms. This would have been in 1897 or 1898.
As the need for a larger church building and a cemetery became apparent, Berry Totty and wife Adella deeded land for such on November 2, 1900. Joe Holderfield, grandfather of Mrs. Edith Holderfield Sandefur Winkler, a resident of the Church of Christ Home for the Aged in Nashville, was the main carpenter on the new building. There was one room with poles supporting the roof and a partition separating seats for men and women up the middle. Coal oil lanterns hung from the ceiling. The "Church Book" stated the first sermon in the new house was on April 4, 1901.
In 1954, two classrooms were added. Ten years later, the baptistry, two additional classrooms and two restrooms were added and the building was bricked.
During the church's history in Totty's Bend and before the baptistry, baptisms were performed in Swan Creek, Duck River and Ward Mines Hollow Creek. Over the years the "Church Book" has kept a record of this church helping other congregations build their buildings in which to worship, supporting the Orphans' Home and doing other good works. Careful records demonstrate charity beginning at home, by listings of help given those in need in the community, examples being medicines such as quinine, blankets, coffee and boots. The congregation continues to support mission and benevolent programs worldwide and locally.