Abraham and Polly Emmons Church, Great Grandparents of Isabell Church

 Parents of Hayden Wells Church, Grandparents of Robert Robbins Church, Great Grandparents of Isabell Church,

Abraham Church was born to Thomas Church and Elizabeth Betsy Collett on October 16, 1790 in Burke, North Carolina.  He married Mary Jones “Polly” Emmons on September 14, 1816 at the age of 25.  Polly was born on October 1, 1875 to Isaac Emmons and Christiana Wakefield in Burke, North Carolina. Abraham and Polly Church moved from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to Williamson County, Tennessee some 300 miles away.  Later they moved a few miles west to Shady Grove in Hickman County.  Their log home was one of the first built in the county as it was wilderness at that time.  The following children were born to them:

Haden Wells Church, August 29, 1817

Isaac Emmons Church, June 13, 1820

George Brown Church, July 18, 1822

Thomas Holiday Church, January 20, 1824

Robert Robbins Church, May 21, 1825

Christine Elizabeth Parthena Church, December 15, 1827

Nancy Carolina Margaret Church, June 17, 1830

Sarah Ann Martha Church, September 18, 1833

Charles Houston Church, June 20, 1836

The Church family first heard about the gospel in 1840.  Their son Haden Wells Church went to Nauvoo, Illinois to meet the prophet, Joseph Smith and was baptized there by him.  Other members of the family that joined the Church were Robert Robbins, Isaac Emmons, Thomas Holiday, and Charles Houston.  Some of the family stayed in Tennessee, others moved to Utah.  I don't think Abraham and his wife joined the Church while they were alive.  

There never was an LDS church in the area so the Church family home was a gathering place and headquarters for the Church in Tennessee.  For years, members met at the house for Sunday Services.  Missionaries received their mail there.

Abraham Church died on July 17, 1851.  Polly died 18 years later on September 12, 1869.

Click on Church Family Home to read my post of what happened to the home.

The following was taken from the history of Abraham’s son, Haden Wells Church, (1991) compiled by Hyrum B. Ipson.  Appendix A:  Church Family Burial Sites. 

“The community of Shady Grove is presently known as Duck River.  In 1878 there was a population of about 125, and the three churches there were the Methodist, Christian, and Mormon.  The Church Family cemetery is just outside the town.  It is located on what is known as the "Old Shelby Place" and the land is now owned by the Hooker Chemical Company.

Some of those buried in the cemetery include Haden's father and mother, his Aunt Nancy Emmons, his brothers:  Isaac Emmons and Robert Robbins, and his sister Nancy C. Nichols.  His brother, Charles Houston Church, is buried across the Duck River in the Charles Church Cemetery (which is locally called the "Grainfield Bin Cemetery").  Also in this cemetery are the graves of Charles' wife and their daughter Elliza Snow Church.

Another brother, George Brown Church, is buried close by in a small cemetery located on the Sam Church farm.  One writer wrote the following in a book about cemeteries in Hickman County:  "George B. Church was baptized into the Mormon Church by his brother, Haden Wells Church who had two wives, Anne Arterberry from Ala. and Katharine Gardner of Utah.  H.W. Church was baptized by Joseph Smith at Nauvoo, Ill. and he made the trek to Salt Lake City, Utah with Brigham Young in 1847.

Haden's brother, Thomas Holiday, came to Utah in 1877 and settled in Deseret and Oasis, where he died in 1917.  Eight of his children were born in Tennessee and four were born in Utah.  Haden's other two sisters, Christine Elizabeth Parthena and Sarah Ann Martha, married Hoover brothers and moved to Cedar County, Missouri, where they later died and were buried.  With the exception of these two sisters and one brother, all of Abraham and Mary Jane's children were buried close to each other in Tennessee.  The epitaph on Haden's brother, Robert Robbin's headstone engraves his and the family testimony as:

"Shed not for him the bitter tear nor yield to sore regret

 Tis but the casket that lies here, the gem is sparkling yet"

Abraham Church Headstone
Picture from staylor5109 on Ancestry.com

Inscription on the headstone:  Sacred to the memobry of Abrahm Church born Oct 16, 1790 died July 7, 1851 aged 60 years 8 months and 21 days

Abraham’s son, Haden Wells served five missions for the Church. He died on his last mission at the home of his family.  Both his father and his mother were dead by this time, the home must have belonged to someone in the family.  I read that it probably belonged to his brother, Robert Robbins.  Haden was buried in the family cemetery.  Some years ago, the original headstone was replaced and the old headstone was moved to the Panguitch Cemetery where his wife is buried.

Many, many members of the Church are descendents of this family.  

Click on Church Family Cemetery to read a blog post about the family cemetery today.