Sharon Church - White County, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 02.110 W 088° 19.785
16S E 383304 N 4210551
"Presbyterian services there ceased in 1987, but in 2008 several residents of the area began an effort to refurbish the old frame church building so that it could be used once again for worship." - Carmi Times September 17, 2010
Waymark Code: WMKEE3
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 03/31/2014
Views: 3
County of church: White County
Location of church: County Rd. 240E, just off county rd. 1650N, ½ mile E. of US-45, Between Norris City & Enfield.
Marker Erected by: Donors of the plaque and friends of Sharon Church, James Graham and Fay Dagley Black; by authority of the Presbytery of Southern Illinois of the United Presbytery Church in the U.S.A.
Date Marker Erected: September 10, 1908
Marker Text: SHARON CHURCHIn the year 1813 a group of Presbyterians migrated from Kentucky to the Illinois Territory was Reverend James McCready their pastor, came to minister to them and in 1816 founded Sharon. It was the First Presbyterian Church in Illinois, although in 1810 an Associate Reformed Church named Kaskaskia had been formed. Ruling elders were Peter Miller, James Mayes, and James Rutledge, father of Ann Rutledge, whose name is immortal because of its Association with Abraham Lincoln. Three miles north of this site on land belonging to Thomas Rutledge in present Enfield Township, a hewed log meeting house was built. It was lighted by one, small four-paned window. A flat stone in the floor served as a hearth for burning charcoal in winter. Three log churches preceded the present church which was erected in the spring of 1864 on an old stage coach road. Land for church and burying ground was deeded to trustees of Sharon Church by John McClellan in 1865. The first grave...that of a son of John and Margaret (Storey) McClellan...dated back to 1817. Men of distinction have supplied the pulpit of Sharon...Among them Benjamin F. Spillman, founder of many churches, whose brother, Jonathan, composed the music to "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton"; John Silliman; and Benjamin C. Swan. After more than eighty years, Sharon's wide field of service who became so constricted by her daughter churches, Carmi and Enfield, that Presbytery dissolved the historic church in 1896. The old meeting house stood deserted for many years. At times interested members of the community have restored the building and beautified the grounds and again the walls of Sharon resound to the word of the Gospel and the singing of hymns.
The ISHS marker ½ mile west of here can be view here: 1st Presbyterian Church in IL
ISHS marker about the Jon Spillman, the song and the 1st Presbyterian Church of Carmi can be viewed here: Flow Gently Sweet Afton