A Remembrance

Of Belles Chapel Free Will Baptist Church

by L. B. Hayes, Georges Creek, Lawrence Co., KY

(See Editor's notes at the end for more detail.)

The life of this old building, as I know it:

The site for this building was deeded to the church by Rev. E. E. Maynard and sister Jenny Maynard, his wife, in the year of 1937.  This same year some faithful servants began to quarry stone to build this house.

Some said it would never be finished.

But the faithful servants, with tired weary hands that wouldn't give up when the task got hard, finished this building, and in September 1940 this house was dedicated.

There have been many great revivals in this old building, many of our people and friends have found the Lord here.

It has stood many a storm and Satan has raged from without and within but it still stood as a great monument to the community and we dearly loved it.

Many of the faithful servants who worked on this building have been wheeled in before the rostrum of this building for the last service, where their friends and loved ones looked on their pale faces for the last time, and have now gone on to their great reward.

In this year of 1967 the State Highway Department said that they had to have this precious plot of ground where this building so humbly stands, so now it doesn't belong to the Belles Chapel Church any longer. It is gone from us forever, but with sad hearts we will always remember it and the many times we have met with our friends and loved ones and the Lord in our midst.

On September 24, 1967 we met in our last Home Coming in this old building and had a great time.

So now we have no place to call Home for the church, but praying that some day in the future we will have a place near by this precious spot that we can meet again.

This is the 2nd day of October, 1967.  With a sad heart as I begin to wreck this old building, I can see the marks of the stones that was put there by tired hands as they worked on this building, but we know their work was not in vain.

October 9, 1967. The job is finished; the building is no more.  The last stone has been thrown down so only a pile of stones remains where the old building stood.  Knowing that in the near future big machines will come and plow down this lovely spot and change it to a highway, although the speeding cars may travel over it unaware, and it may be hard to discern just where it is, but it will always be remember by one who cares.

Yours always,

L. B. Hayes

Editor's Notes:  The E. E. Maynard mentioned was Elliott Maynard who lived across Highway 23 from this church. Now (2003) his house still stands, behind the newer home built closer to the highway. His house is the one that is white with dark green trim. My grandfather's Bible was placed in the cornerstone of the old Belles Chapel Church when it was built. A new, modern, brick building was built a short distance north of the old church and a framed copy of the above narration hangs in that new church.