The origins of the United Methodist Church in Mississippi are preserved behind the walls of a seemingly ordinary-looking house just north of Natchez.
Within the structure are the intact walls of a log cabin where the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church was first established.
Virginia Salmon, a former educator, Adams County Supervisor and a member of Kingston United Methodist Church was honored last week for her efforts to save and preserve this important piece of history.
On Sunday, Salmon was presented with the Tobias Gibson Award, named for the first Methodist missionary sent to the Natchez Territory in the Western Conference in 1799.
Award recipients have made significant contributions to the preservation of United Methodist history in the Mississippi Conference. The award, which is sponsored by the Commission on Archives and History, is traditionally given at the annual Mississippi Conference meeting.
However, because Salmon had a prior commitment and could not attend, it was presented at a reception at Kingston UMC.
“It was ever humbling,” Salmon said. “I never thought about it, never dreamed about it or imagined it. It was a total surprise. We had a joyus celebration at Kingston on Sunday and honored the day with a reception afterward.”
During the award presentation, Lindsey Robinson, District Superintendent of the Mississippi Conference, recalled when Salmon called him to tell him the remarkable story of where the first Mississippi Conference was established.
“She told me passionately about a place called the Foster House, about William Foster, and about how they were involved in organizing and launching the Mississippi annual conference.
I said, ‘Wow wee,’” he said. “She reminded me of how important our history is and those responsible for where we are today.”
In 1799, Gibson made the journey from the Carolinas to establish Mississippi’s first Methodist church near Natchez.
Appointed to go on this Natchez mission in the newly formed Mississippi territory in 1794, Gibson sold his horse in Nashville, Tennessee and descended the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi rivers by canoe and flatboat, arriving in Natchez in 1799, said David Stotts, Mississippi Conference Treasurer.
Gibson traveled an estimated 100,000 miles in his tenure as a Methodist circuit rider, visiting small settlements and holding camp meetings and spreading Wesleyan theology.
“Because of that, here we stand,” Stotts said. “It’s because of people like Mr. Gibson and Mrs. Virginia who make this happen — this good work of understanding our roots.”
Rev. Dayna Goff, UMC Mississippi Conference Director of Connectional Ministries, said she first knew Salmon from her days of pastoring Grace Methodist Church when it was Grace United Methodist Church.
“It didn’t take long for me to realize that Mrs. Virginia was a force, and I mean that in the best of ways,” she said. “She’s a force for good. A force for managing her own historic home. A force for repairing things that are broken rather than discarding them and buying something new as so many people tend to do. A force for good at the church and a force for good across the community … and certainly a force for preserving history.”
Marcus Thompson, president of Jackson State University and pastor of Seven Springs United Methodist Church thanked Salmon in a recorded message that was played on Sunday.
“I want to begin by thanking her for helping us to secure one of our greatest treasures in the Mississippi conference, the Foster House where Methodism began in our state. Without her, we would not have that wonderful and precious jewel in our possession and we thank her for her leadership and her guidance. (I have) served many years on the Commission on Archives and History. She has done such great work preserving the history of our conference.”
The attention given to the house thanks to Salmon may be the beginning of more as plans to further preserve and relocate the historic log cabin are being discussed.
“The remarkable thing is that the house has stood all these years,” Salmon said. “Each generation that has lived in it added to it what they needed for their families and all of that adding on has protected it.”
Salmon said she has known for a long time about a painting displayed inside the Washington UMC church of the original log cabin but didn’t know much about the house until she learned from a friend, a Foster descendent, that the house was in danger in 2017.
“The owner at that time was about to push it over to build another building on that lot,” she said. “I knew I needed to do something about it.”
Salmon said the first call she made was to Heather Hensarling, who like Salmon was “excited and couldn’t believe that the house that the Mississippi conference was conceived and organized in still stood,” but couldn’t do anything about keeping it that way. She encouraged Salmon to keep trying and gave her a list of others to call, Salmon said.
She next called Mimi Miller, director of emeritus of the Historic Natchez Foundation for a more detailed history of the house.
The District Superintendent, Robinson, called Salmon back and told her to be prepared to make a presentation about the house to a districtwide committee.
Salmon researched the history, copied some excerpts from a couple of books and provided them to the committee along with the picture from the Washington church and a picture from the Historic Natchez Foundation.
“It was well-received,” Salmon said. “Marcus Thompson approached me and said, ‘I’m a real good fundraiser. Let’s stay in touch.’”
After the fundraising efforts from Thompson and the Mississippi Conference, enough was secured to purchase the house from its current owner and the lot where it sits. The Rev. Jim Beam-Ingram, pastor of Kingston and Lovely Lane UMC, has also been instrumental with helping keep the property cleaned up, she said.
Efforts continue to find a pathway to restore the log cabin to its original being, which Salmon said isn’t feasible unless the house is relocated. There has been some conversation about moving it to the historic Jefferson College property. However, there have been some financial setbacks, Salmon said. COVID-19 and church disaffiliation in the UMC denomination “have taken a big bite.”
The next step, she said, is to have the house added to the National Register of Historic Places, which would open the way to other funding opportunities.
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