Recently the Trappe United Methodist Church named Charles B. Adams, Jr. as their Church Historian. Now that I am 70 years old, I want all to know that I am very pleased to be known as the Church Historian. In this short writing, I want to record some of the highlights of our Church history as I may recall them.

Reverend Daniel Prettyman was the first preacher that I remember serving this Church. His wife played the piano and organ for many of the services and later his son, Dan, became a very successful lawyer and judge.

During 1939, the Southern Methodist Church which was located on West Maple Avenue and the Northern Methodist Church united as one Church in the Town of Trappe. They would hold services in one building on one Sunday and then in the other building on the following Sunday. This arrangement went on for several years until 1943 when they discontinued having services in the Southern building and all services were held in the building we are using today.

Reverend Henry Schauer served our Church from 1941 to 1945. He was young, tall and very able; and since this was World War II days, he was called on to do many things in the community besides serving as the Preacher. He was very active in the Trappe Volunteer Fire Company, sometimes he had to deliver the mail, sometimes he was a substitute school teacher, and he could many times be found in one of the Town stores keeping up with what was going on in Trappe.

Reverend Howard McDade served our Church just one year (June 1945 to May 1946). His lasting gift to our Church was the altar table which he made himself out of a round cheese box and some other materials. His grandson, Reverend Howard Embert, serves the Methodist Church in Queen Anne, Maryland at this time.

My closest friend during school days was W. Rembert Simpson, Jr. He and I had the job of cleaning the Church Sanctuary and having a fire going in the two coal stoves that heated the Sanctuary during the fall and winter months. The coal was stored in a small shed behind the Church and each stove would need about 2 buckets of coal for each Sunday. When the weather became warm and we didn't have to light the fires, the grass started growing and Rembert and I had to cut the grass with push lawnmowers. For all of this work, we each received $1.00 per week for our janitorial services.

Reverend Jervis Cooke came from duty as a Navy Chaplain to serve our Church in May 1946. These were building years for our Church with many people returning from military service. One of the many marriage ceremonies that Reverend Cooke performed was the marriage of my sister, Hilda Jane, to Ralph L Groves.

After the Southern Church had been closed the four stained glass windows that were in the Southern Church were moved to our present Church. These are the two windows in the back and the two windows on each side at the front of the Church. The other three large stained glass windows, the two round rose windows, the stained glass window in the narthex and the two stained glass windows by the pulpit were all placed in our sanctuary in 1947 while Reverend Jervis Cooke was our preacher.

While Reverend J. Gordon Stapleton was serving our Church in the early 50's, plans were made and carried out to add on a two story 36 ft. x 66 ft. building to the back of our Church. This addition had a small office, two bathrooms, four Sunday School classrooms downstairs and Asbury Hall with a kitchen upstairs. This was a very much needed addition to our growing Church.

Our Church parsonage has always been across the street from the Church. It was a typical old two story house and it was getting in very poor repair. In 1958 while Reverend Robert O. Wallace was serving our Church, M. Donovan Adams bought the old house from the Church, moved it around to a location on Greenfield Avenue and built the present brick rancher that is still used as our parsonage. During the six months that this work was going on, Reverend and Mrs. Wallace and their son, Steve, temporally lived in a small bungalow out on Route 50 that belonged to N.T. Nelson. On October 26,1958 the parsonage was presented at a special service and Reverend Wallace and his family moved into the new parsonage.

Reverend Cameron Johnson [1960-61?] and Reverend Dave Paul [1961? -62] were the next ministers to serve our Church. Each only served one year. Reverend Paul was very active in the Trappe Volunteer Fire Company, and I really believe that if the fire siren had blown during one of his sermons, he would have been out the side door, suited up and ready to ride on the fire truck before anyone else!

Probably the most interesting and controversial minister ever to serve our Church was Reverend Don Knight. He served four years, from June 1961 [?] through May 1965. He came as a Student Minister and he came at a time of local unrest. The race riots were going on in Cambridge, and some felt that Reverend Knight seemed sympathetic¹. Also, he told the Official Board at his first meeting with them that he smoked, but that he would not smoke while performing any duties of the Church. Reverend Don Knight spoke with a "Limie" accent since he had been born in England, and he used his speaking skills very effectively. His ability to antagonize many in the congregation was a great asset that he knew how to use to get high church attendance and some very lively Official Board Meetings. While serving at Trappe, he frequently visited at the Robert Mitchum home at Belmont Farm and when he finally left Trappe he moved to California to persue a career in acting with the help of Robert Mitchum. Reverend Don Knight many times either by phone or by letter told me he wanted to come back to see Trappe again, but he never made the trip since he died in August, 1999.

Rev. John Randolph [1965-67] and Rev. Chester Wilcox [1967-70] succeeded Rev. Don Knight.

During the early 70's we had a District Superintendent named Otto Bud Brewer, and he came up with a plan to merge the Trappe Methodist Church and the Oxford Methodist Church into one Charge. At that time, Faith Chapel became a part of the Easton St. Mark's Charge. Reverend Kyle Smith was our Pastor for the four years that we were merged into a Charge with Oxford. Reverend Smith lived in the parsonage at Oxford, and the parsonage at Trappe was rented. Reverend Kyle Smith led a very successful Lay Witness Mission in our Church in November, 1972 and this brought several new families into our church congregation. After four years, Reverend Smith went to a Church in Milford, Delaware, and that meant that a new minister would be coming to the Trappe - Oxford Charge. The people of Trappe told the District Superintendent that since Reverend Smith had lived at Oxford for four years, the next minister should live in Trappe. This was not acceptable to the people at the Oxford Church, and so Oxford and Trappe once again became two different Charges and Faith Chapel became part of the Trappe-Faith Chapel Charge again. Rev. Robert 0. Wallace, who at the time was serving in North Dakota agreed to come back to Trappe - Faith Chapel Charge. He had another very successful two year term of service at Trappe-Faith Chapel. Reverend Wallace is the only pastor who served the two churches at two different times, fourteen years apart.

Reverend Ray F. Graham [1976-80] was the next minister to serve the Trappe-Faith Chapel Charge and he served for four years. Sunday, November 18,1979 was a very important day in the history of Trappe United Methodist Church, for on that day, after months of discussion and planning, a congregational vote was held to determine if the Church would purchase the adjoining property, which was then owned by the Town of Trappe. By a vote of 22 to 16 the Church voted to purchase the property for $30,000. Reverend Ray Graham was the minister when the vote was taken, but it was left to the era of the "E's" or Pastor Kevin English, Pastor Tom Edwards and Pastor Dale Evans to see the project of Wesley Hall move from plans to completion. At the beginning of the project it was agreed to only move as fast as money was available for the job, and to not create a debt of approximately $250,000 that would have been needed to build the hall by the services of a general contractor. The first activity on the project came when Rumsey Seymour bought the house that was on the lot and moved it about 300 feet over to his lot on Ross Avenue. This cleared the lot, but it was at least another year before the 48 ft. x 120 ft. concrete slab was poured for the building. Ira C. Nelson took the lead in organizing the volunteer work teams that literally built the building. Much of the block laying was done by Bill Hickman and again after the cinder blocks were set, probably another year passed before the roof trusses were set and the roof was completed. Once the building was closed in, the work proceeded faster with many days and nights of volunteer workers doing many different jobs. Henry Outten did all of the plumbing work for the bathrooms and kitchen as well as installing the heating and cooling systems. Many others donated materials and work. As we look back on this project, you wonder how all of the work was completed, and how all of the bills were paid, but many people with many different talents came together and got the job done. The building was first used by the Trappe United Methodist Women when they held their Christmas Bazaar on Saturday, November 21,1987 in the new hall. The interior paneling was not complete and I am not certain whether the bathrooms were in service, but it was a joyous day for our United Methodist Women! While Reverend Dale Evans was our Minister Wesley Hall was completed and dedicated by Reverend Bob Whitlock, District Superintendent, on Sunday, May 7,1989.

Earlier I mentioned the era of the "E's" and by that I mean the time of July 1980 when Reverend Kevin English [1980-85] began his five years of ministry, followed by the three year ministry of Reverend Tom Edwards [1985-88] and finally the four year ministry of Reverend Dale Evans [1988-92]. This was a time of active Sunday School programs, Strawberry Festivals, Sunday School campers, Vacation Bible Schools, and Christmas Programs. The activities of our Church also included programs of United Methodist Women and United Methodist Men.

On July 1, 1992, Reverend Henry Charlton [1992-98] came to serve the Trappe-Faith Chapel Charge while continuing to live at his retirement home in St. Michaels, Md. The Trappe parsonage was rented for $600.00 per month which made meeting our annual budget easier. Reverend Charlton while not living in the community soon got to know the church families at Trappe and Faith Chapel and he fostered a time of cooperation between the two congregations. In early 1998, Reverend Charlton decided due to health reasons that he must retire. At this time the Charge requested a full time minister that would live in the parsonage. On July 1, 1998, Pastor Ruthann Simpson [1998-2004] and husband, George, began their ministry to Trappe-Faith Chapel Charge. On July 11, 2002, Pastor Ruthann and George welcomed the arrival of a daughter, Abigail Ruth Simpson.

There are several things needing additional explanations:

1. The Evelyn 0. Carter Room is the room in the southeast corner of the Church School building and it was dedicated to the memory of Evelyn 0. Carter who lived from 1902 to May 4,1975. She was the first grade teacher at Trappe Elementary School for many years, and she was a long time teacher in the Trappe Sunday School, in the room that bears her name.
   
   
2. The Gary Metz Room was refinished and dedicated to the memory of Gary Metz, son of Jane and Kirby Metz. Gary died in 1973, while serving in the Navy. This room is located on the east side of the sanctuary and it is now being used as our Archives Room and Church Museum.
   
   
3. The Upper Room was finished in 1964 as a Sunday School room and used as a meeting place of the Sunday School Youth Group. h is located on the third floor above Asbury Hall. I venture to say that there may be some in our Church who do not know that there is a third floor room in our Church.
   
   

There are many other items in our Church that have been dedicated in memory of loved ones, and I hope to some day make a list of these memorial gifts to our Church and add it to this record.

I want to close this writing about the history of the Trappe United Methodist Church by relating the funniest thing 1 ever remember happening in Church. It happened about 1940 when I was about 8 years old and services were being held at both Churches on alternating Sundays. The Southern Church sanctuary had benches about six feet long attached to each side wall and then an aisle on each side with a 16 feet bench between the two aisles. A rather heavy set man named Mr. Harvey Slaughter always sat by himself on one of these short benches about half way up on the right side. One Sunday, about midway through the service, the short bench just tore loose from the wall and went completely down to the floor. Poor Mr. Harvey Slaughter went down with the bench, and with as much composure as possible, got himself up and moved to the next bench. Nothing was said, as I can remember, but I can assure you all of us children were laughing, and many times after that we would talk about the time when the bench collapsed with Mr. Harvey Slaughter sitting on it!

This is a good place to end this "History of the Trappe United Methodist Church". It is my hope that there will be many more pages of history added by me or by someone else in the future.

Charles B. Adams, Jr.
January 17, 2003

¹ Edited for web page.
Updated 10/18/2005