Rev. John McFail Hendry

John M. Hendry was converted at old Mount Zion Campground and soon after experienced a call to the gospel ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1847 he was admitted to the Florida Conference, of which Southern Georgia was then a part. He then began an active ministry of nearly forty years. He was considered a powerful preacher.

John M. Hendry, a 27-year-old minister, wife Abigail, age 29, and children, Salome, Sophronia, William A., were enumerated in household 2/2 of the 1850 census of Alachua County, Florida, dated "15th day of June 1850."

Rev. Hendry interested himself early in Christian education. Charles Tinsley Thrift, Jr. in The Trail Of The Florida Circuit Rider wrote:

“The Florida Conference in session in Tallahassee in January, 1852 designated John M. Hendry as the financial agent for the East Florida Seminary [at Micanopy] and elected the following board of trustees: Robert H. Howren, Thomas N. Gardner, Thomas W. Cooper, John M. Hendry, William M. Kennedy, W. J. Turner, George W. Boston, John Lewis and George E. McClellan...Funds were not as readily secured as the trustees might have desired. The financial agent was forced to solicit many varied gifts, and on one occasion the seminary purchased a slave for one hundred dollars with the expectation of disposing of him for a considerable profit. This transaction is one of the most interesting of those recorded in the minutes of the trustees. The slave deal was recorded in this manner: ‘Brother Jno. M. Hendry submitted a proposition from Brother Bernard to the Trustees, proposing to give to said Board of Trustees a Negro man valued at five hundred dollars, said Board paying Bro. Bernard one hundred dollars, upon which the following order was issued, viz., that Brother John M. Hendry, be and is hereby authorized to take said negro man, upon the conditions above stated, and dispose of him to the best advantage of the East Florida Seminary.’ John M. Hendry remained financial agent until 1855, when the seminary was left without an agent...Like most other institutions, the Seminary was forced to close late in 1860 and after the war it passed to local ownership, and it was never again operated by Methodists. While not the first educational venture of the Florida Methodists, the East Florida Seminary did have the distinction of being their first Florida institution, and furthermore, it antedates all other Florida educational institutions of similar rank.”

The East Florida Seminary is considered the forerunner of Florida Southern College at Lakeland. The cornerstone of its first educational building, constructed at Micanopy, has been preserved in the archives of Florida Southern College.

Rev. Hendry served as presiding elder of the Jacksonville District in 1863 and 1864, and of the Brunswick district in 1867. In 1867 the South Georgia Conference was established, and he was a member until his death. His later pastorates included: the Spring Hill Circuit, 1885; Blackshear, 1886; Lowndes Circuit, 1887-1888. In November 1883, he moved to a farm back near Morven; however, he was readmitted in December 1884. In 1888 he again located to his Morven home where he lived quietly with some occasional preaching until his death.

John McFail Hendry married (1) 8 August 1842 in Lowndes County, Georgia, Abigail Campbell, daughter of Alexander and Flora (Morrison) Campbell. She was born in 1820 in Telfair County, Georgia, and died 13 June 1857, Micanopy, Alachua County, Florida. He married (2) 12 November 1858 in Hamilton County, Florida Caroline Matilda Bell, daughter of James S. and Matilda (Johnson) Bell of Bellville, Hamilton County, Florida. She was born 6 October 1835 in Hamilton County and died 9 February 1908, Morven, with burial at Mount Zion Campground Cemetery.

Issue of John McFail and Abigail (Campbell) Hendry:

1. Salome Hendry, born 16 Sep 1843, Brooks Co., GA; died 11 Feb 1931, Brooks Co., GA; married in Brooks Co., GA on 22 Dec 1859 Enoch Hall Pike, son of John and Nancy (Hall) Pike. Enoch was born 13 Oct 1836, Lowndes Co., GA and died 1 Mar 1915, Brooks Co., GA They are buried in Mount Zion Campground Cemetery.

2. Sophronia Hendry, born 24 Apr 1847, FL; died 13 May 1906 Morven, Brooks County, Georgia; married by her father at the First Methodist Church at Quitman, Georgia on 12 Jul 1866 to William Alexander Edmondson, son of David Adam and Dicy (Tillman) Edmondson. W. A. was born 25 Dec 1847, Tallokas District, Lowndes County, Georgia and died 27 Oct 1930. Sophronia and W. A. are buried at Mount Zion Campground Cemetery, near Morven.

3. William A. Hendry, born 10 Feb 1850, FL; died 28 Mar 1851, Micanopy, FL.

Issue of John McFail Hendry and Caroline Matilda (Bell) Hendry:

4. John McKinstry Hendry, born 2 Dec 1859, Madison Co. FL; died 3 Feb 1928, Brooks Co., GA ; married on 17 Mar 1889 Susan Martha Wilkins, daughter of John and Susan Ellen (Taylor) Wilkins. She was born 27 Feb 1861; died 23 Mar 1936, Brooks Co., GA They are buried in Mount Zion Campground Cemetery.

5. James Edward Hendry, born 1 Nov 1863; died 20 Jul 1924, Brooks Co., GA; buried Mount Zion Campground Cemetery married Alberta Holsendorf.

6. Carrie Belle "Minnie" Hendry, born 30 Sep 1867; died 26 Mar 1954, Morven, Brooks Co., GA; married on 12 Mar 1889 in Brooks Co., GA, William Lucas Folsom, son of Berry Jones Folsom and Sarah Ellen (Wilson) Folsom. He was born 22 Sep 1857, Lowndes Co., GA; died 11 Aug 1934, Brooks Co., GA They are buried in Mount Zion Campground Cemetery.

7. George Pierce Hendry, born 26 Jul 1874, Bellville, Hamilton Co., FL; died 7 Apr 1964, Tampa, FL; married (1) 29 Aug 1909 at Pavo, Brooks Co., GA, Sallie Lou Pittman, daughter of William Bluford Pittman of Pavo, GA and Georgia Tallulah Felder Pittman. Sallie was born 8 Feb 1889, Sumner, Worth Co., GA; died 25 Jun 1924, Quincy, Gadsden Co., FL They are buried in Mount Zion Campground Cemetery, Morven, GA. George married (2) Iva Gaston, summer of 1929, divorced 1931. He was a Methodist minister.

8. Marvin Eugene Hendry, born 25 Jun 1878, Brooks Co., GA; died 16 Aug 1966, Tifton, Georgia; married (1) Margaret Mitchell; (2) 31 Jul 1912 at Tifton, GA, Ethel D. McCormack, born 5 Aug 1884; died 16 Aug 1922, Tifton, GA; (3) Ethel Ault, born 9 Oct 1887; died 19 May 1980.

The church and cemetery are located on the north edge of Morven, Georgia in Brooks County, off roughly one block from GA state hwy 76 (the Morven/Adel Highway). Mt. Zion Campground Church is also just west of Hahira, GA (in Lowndes County) and is in the greater Suwannee watershed (a mile or so west of the Little River). Northbound travelers on I-75 may take the N.Valdosta Road exit or the Hahira exit to reach Morven. Southbound travelers should take one of the Adel exits to reach Morven.


Rev. John McFail Hendry (1822-1900)

Rev. George Pierce Hendry (1874-1964)

Rev. E. Pierce Hendry (1911-2001), son of Rev. George Pierce Hendry

Photos, courtesy of Rev. Tom Johnson and Betty Tidwell

January 2, 2008

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