Amy Muse wrote, "On the lot between the burial ground and the colored church stood 'the house appointed for a Court House.' It had been deeded to the Wardens of the Parish of St. Johns by Richard Rustell in 1724. In it during the middle years of the seventeen hundreds, the service of the Anglican Church was read.
"A church building was erected on the same lot some time after 1774 so was practically new when the Methodists began using it. L.A. Potter, born in 1844, remembered the old church which, he said, stood until a short time before the Civil War. Robah F. Bumpas said this building was purchased by John White who moved it to the lot on which his residence stood on Water Street, now Front, and used it as a storehouse and shop. It was blown down by the storm of 1879 when the Atlantic Hotel went to pieces.
"A church building was erected on the same lot some time after 1774 so was practically new when the Methodists began using it. L.A. Potter, born in 1844, remembered the old church which, he said, stood until a short time before the Civil War. Robah F. Bumpas said this building was purchased by John White who moved it to the lot on which his residence stood on Water Street, now Front, and used it as a storehouse and shop. It was blown down by the storm of 1879 when the Atlantic Hotel went to pieces.
"According to the 1820 deed registered in the Court House one half acre, lot 101, corner of Craven and Broad Streets, was purchased from the town 'to be erected and built thereon a house of worship for the use of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America.' The trustees to whom it was deeded were: James Chadwick, Samuel Chadwick, Elijah Canaday, Culpepper Pigott, Freeman Ellis, Peter Noe, Dillins Ellis, Jechonia Pigott and Anson Chadwick. Those who filed into the new church on Sundays were the Bells, Forlaws, Reads, Arendells, Halls, Lovetts, Rumleys, Murrays, Whitehursts, Barnes, Manneys, Perrys, Mansons, Leecrafts, Dills, Merrits, Fullers, Davises, Pivers, Thomases, Canadays, Langdons, Fulfords, Buckmans, Gabriels and many whose names are lost to us.
"In 1821 when Robert Wilkinson was here the church was dedicated by Lewis Skidmore who was one of the leading ministers of the Conference. Even then it was neither completed nor paid for. Still incomplete, January 2, 1830, 'It has never been plastered consequently is decaying fast.' It was repaired in 1836, not out of debt until 1840.
"In 1821 when Robert Wilkinson was here the church was dedicated by Lewis Skidmore who was one of the leading ministers of the Conference. Even then it was neither completed nor paid for. Still incomplete, January 2, 1830, 'It has never been plastered consequently is decaying fast.' It was repaired in 1836, not out of debt until 1840.
"In 1863, A.M.E. Zion missionary James Walker Hood established the first permanent A.M.E. Zion congregation in the South in
During the Civil War, Purvis
Chapel saw considerable usage for church, school and community purposes
under the supervision of the Union Troops."
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| Purvis Chapel circa 1900 |
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This image was published in 1941 in
The Story of the Methodists in the Port of Beaufort by Amy Muse. |
The old church was named after a popular revivalist
minister,
Reverend James Purvis, who visited in 1834. (see below)
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| Purvis Chapel Parishioners - Carteret County High School Collection Image scanned from Beaufort Album of Memories by Jack Dudley |
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| Purvis Chapel's bell, a gift from Bishop Francis Ashbury, was cast in Glasgow, Scotland. It originally hung in the north tower, but now resides inside the church. Image courtesy Carteret County News-Times' Cheryl Burke 2013 |
In 1998 the Purvis Chapel was recognized with a second Kathryn Cloud Historical Preservation Award.
Rev. James Purvis was born in Bertie County, NC in 1800 and died in 1857 in Wilkesboro, NC. Purvis joined the Methodist Conference in Norfolk, Virginia in 1832. On 4 Oct 1837, in Rowan County, he married Eliza Jemima Warne Baker, born in London, England 1 Dec 1816. (ancestry.com story: "Eliza left England for America as a young girl. She had never seen a black person before she landed in New York City. There was a young African American boy at the dock, and she went up to him and rubbed his skin with her finger to see if the color came off.
Of James and Eliza's children, several died young and two sons died during the Civil War. Their youngest daughter Lula Eliza was born 13 Sept 1852. Her 1894 obituary, written by her mother, was sent to the NC Advocate. Her photo was originally submitted to ancestry.com on the Norville Family Tree 2 Jan 2010.
Messrs Editors,
I send you the obituary of my youngest daughter, which you will please publish. Her father belonged to our conference for a quarter of a century. I enclose a dollar to pay for it. If this is not enough, please let me know.
Yours truly,
Mrs. E.J.W. Purvis
Departed this life on Saturday night, Dec. 15, 1894, Mrs. Lula Eliza, wife of Dr. James E. King of Snow Creek, Iredell County, NC. They were married Jan. 2, 1879. She was the youngest daughter of Rev. James P. and Eliza, his wife and was born Sept. 13, 1852. She became a Christian when but a little child and joined the Methodist Church and never have we seen in the daily walk and conversation of anyone more of the spirit of Christ exemplified; ever kind and tender in her feelings and words, and always striving to promote the happiness and welfare of family and friends and in fact of all within the sphere of her influence. In all the relations of life as daughter, sister, wife, and mother, she was a lovely Christian faithful and true to her God and her friends. She left five lovely and interesting little daughters, one of them but two years old. Her third child, little Willy, had been taken to Heaven some years ago and he was watching and waiting to welcome her home. Her illness was of less than two weeks when the beloved Lord said to her, "It is enough! Come up higher!" She remained a devoted and consistent member until death.
_______________________
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| Lula Eliza Purvis King 1852-1894 |
Of James and Eliza's children, several died young and two sons died during the Civil War. Their youngest daughter Lula Eliza was born 13 Sept 1852. Her 1894 obituary, written by her mother, was sent to the NC Advocate. Her photo was originally submitted to ancestry.com on the Norville Family Tree 2 Jan 2010.
Messrs Editors,
I send you the obituary of my youngest daughter, which you will please publish. Her father belonged to our conference for a quarter of a century. I enclose a dollar to pay for it. If this is not enough, please let me know.
Yours truly,
Mrs. E.J.W. Purvis
Departed this life on Saturday night, Dec. 15, 1894, Mrs. Lula Eliza, wife of Dr. James E. King of Snow Creek, Iredell County, NC. They were married Jan. 2, 1879. She was the youngest daughter of Rev. James P. and Eliza, his wife and was born Sept. 13, 1852. She became a Christian when but a little child and joined the Methodist Church and never have we seen in the daily walk and conversation of anyone more of the spirit of Christ exemplified; ever kind and tender in her feelings and words, and always striving to promote the happiness and welfare of family and friends and in fact of all within the sphere of her influence. In all the relations of life as daughter, sister, wife, and mother, she was a lovely Christian faithful and true to her God and her friends. She left five lovely and interesting little daughters, one of them but two years old. Her third child, little Willy, had been taken to Heaven some years ago and he was watching and waiting to welcome her home. Her illness was of less than two weeks when the beloved Lord said to her, "It is enough! Come up higher!" She remained a devoted and consistent member until death.
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| Purvis Chapel circa 1999
Image: Beaufort's Old Burying Ground
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