Long Description:After two years he returned to Maryland to marry Sallie Meredith,
and the day after their wedding they set out for their new home
just over the present day border of Virginia, riding horseback some
six hundred miles. They probably were the first Methodist settlers
in the Holston area.
During the Revolutionary War, Sallie stayed in Tennessee while
Edward served as a soldier. Upon his return, Cox, a local preacher,
began holding Methodist services in their home. The Cox home was
also a welcome resting place for itinerant preachers.
In the late eighteenth century, Tennessee was the wild frontier.
The country was rugged and travel was difficult. Preachers had to
depend on settlers' hospitality for food, lodging, and sometimes
medical attention. Sallie and Edward Cox, and others like them,
played an essential role in the westward growth of the Methodist
movement.
Francis Asbury made his first visit to the Cox home in 1788,
while on his way to Stephen Keywood's in Virginia, where he held
the first Methodist conference west of the Alleghenies. He stayed
with the Cox family at least four other times between 1788 and 1806
on his regular circuits in eastern Tennessee.
Asbury's journal entries help the present-day reader understand
how welcome frontier hospitality was to the circuit rider:
"Saturday, April 1, 1797: The weather was clear and cold: we set
off for brother Charles Baker's. My horse hath the honour of
swimming Holston River every time I visit this country.
Sunday, 2: I felt better than I had done since I crossed the
mountains. I preached on Acts iii, 26, and was for pushing on again
about fifteen miles farther, to Edward Coxe's [sic]: we got lost,
and were an hour in the night.
Monday, 3: We made a stretching ride of about forty miles, and
were another hour in the night, and came to Michael Halfacre's. I
was properly outdone, and my fever returned and held me thirty
hours."
Edward Cox lived in his home until the day of his death in 1852
at the age of 102. In 1966, the Holston Conference purchased the
Cox House from private owners and has restored and furnished the
house to reflect its early nineteenth century history.
Points of interest at this Heritage Landmark: The two story log
home has been restored by the Holston Annual Conference to its
original dog-trot design with a stairway to the upper room.
Special events: Annual celebration (contact pastor at address
below for dates).
Area attractions: Acuff's Chapel is twelve miles away, and the
Keywood Marker is also nearby. The towns of Bristol, Kingsport, and
Johnson City are all close to Bluff City, which is just west of the
Holston, Iron, and Appalachian Mountains.
To visit: To arrange a tour, contact Mr. and Mrs. Luck Blalock
or pastor of Bluff City UM Church (see addresses below).
Location: Within the boundaries of the Holston Annual
Conference, in Sullivan County, Tennessee. The Edward Cox House is
just off U.S. 11E, one mile northeast of Bluff City.
Food and lodging: Restaurants and motels are available in
Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport.
Directions: From Interstate 81 in Virginia, take exit 3 onto
Commonwealth to Volunteer Parkway and U.S. 11E in Tennessee. Go 10?
miles to State Route 37 (Blountville-Bluff City). Go left under the
overpass. Proceed just under a mile on Highway 19 and 34 to Sells
Road to the left. You will see an "Edward Cox Home" highway marker
there, on the left. Go one mile to the Cox House, at left on a
slight rise.
For further information, contact: Pastor, Bluff City UM Church,
P.O. Box 190, Bluff City, TN 37681; 423-538-7822 or 423-538-7677 or
Mr. and Mrs. Luck Blalock, 336 Adams Chapel Road, Blountville, TN
37617.
To learn more about United Methodist church history in this
area:
Holston Annual Conference Archives, Kelly Library, Emory and
Henry College, Emory, VA; 703-944-4121, ext.382.
Wilma Dykeman, Tennessee, A Bicentennial History (New York:
Norton, 1975).
Isaac P. Martin, Methodism in Holston (Knoxville, TN: Methodist
Historical Society of Holston Conference, 1945).
Copied from The United Methodist Church- General Commission on
Archive and History- Website link listed below
