History of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, AKA the Fellsmere United Methodist Church, and Now, the Fellsmere Historical Church
(Referred to as “Church” herein)
In March 1910, Edward Nelson and Anne Fell purchased 118,000 acres (184.4 square miles) in the northern part of St. Lucie County (now part of Indian River County), Florida.1 After forming the Fellsmere Farms Corporation on May 23, 1910, the firm of J. G. White in New York was hired to do the surveying and engineering work.2 The first order of business was to build the Fellsmere Railroad which was completed by September 1910.3 Once the railroad was completed, the Fellsmere Farms Company concentrated on developing the town. By January 1913, the population of Fellsmere was 503.4 As of July of that year, the population increased to 600.5
In July of 1910, Ida Wade Conkling was holding Sunday School classes in her home on North Orange Street to a group of 60 people that grew to 96 members in September 1912.6 Clearly, there was a need for a church to be built. On December 21, 1912, Reverend Fletcher Baker, along with Ida Wade’s husband R.A. Conkling, and Victor J. Hadin, local builder, were appointed to a committee to consider forming a Union Church, and by May 4, 1913, the Fellsmere Union Church, now the Fellsmere Community Bible Church, was built at the northwest corner of North Hickory Street and County Road 512.7 The Fellsmere Union Church was a non-denominational congregation. However, there were many people in Fellsmere at the time who were Methodists and Episcopalians who desired their own church rather than to meet in the Fellsmere Union Church.
On June 7, 1914, about one year after the Fellsmere Union Church was opened for worship, Methodist District Superintendent, Doctor L. S. Rader, preached at the Union Church in Fellsmere the first Sunday of every month. Along with 27 people, he organized the Fellsmere Methodist-Episcopal Church. He continued to preach on the first Sundays while other ministers of other denominations preached at the Fellsmere Union Church for the remaining Sundays.8
In 1915, the Fellsmere Methodist Episcopal Church became a mission in the Miami – St. John’s District; it only held night services in the Union Church.9
By 1917, the Fellsmere Methodists had acquired a parsonage. The Reverend A. D. Buck served as a supply pastor at both Fellsmere and Eau Gallie.10 The following year, Brother Ira D. Hancock was appointed as a supply pastor for Wabasso and Fellsmere. For the year 1919, Dr. Rader appointed Reverend G. W. Garlin to Fellsmere and Eau Gallie.11 After three itinerant pastors in three years, membership in Fellsmere dwindled down to approximately 15 of the faithful by 1920. Then in 1921, Reverend N.H. Kendall was appointed pastor for the year.
Despite the dwindling membership, the three trustees of the Church (Clayton E. Nourse, Harold Deloe, and James P. Nolen) had purchased an old apartment house across the street from the Church property in 1921. They intended to remodel and make it a place of worship but in January 1922, when Rev. J. O. Jameson arrived in Fellsmere, nothing had been done to the building.12 Reverend Jameson had been appointed as pastor of the Fellsmere Methodist Episcopal Church at the annual conference of the Methodist Church in January 1922.13
Reverend Jameson decided that he had to increase church membership, so he contacted evangelists Reverend David and Mrs. Cox, and made arrangements for them to come to Fellsmere.14 When they came, they brought their big tent to hold revival meetings on the southeast corner of Broadway and South Carolina Avenue.15 The meetings ran for four weeks which resulted in 50 new converts and about 30 new members. Reverend Jameson bought the tent from the Coxes, and a Sunday School was organized and held in the tent.16 Unfortunately, the tent leaked like a sieve on rainy days, so the decision was made to build a church.17
In April 1922, Harold Deloe started tearing down the old apartment building across from the Church. He moved the wood from the old building across the street to construct the Church on its present site at the northeast corner of Broadway and Oregon Avenue.18 C. E. Nourse was a local building contractor who had come to Fellsmere from Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1916.19 Nourse designed the Church, was in charge of construction, and was one of the main carpenters. Harold Deloe and James Jones were also main carpenters. W. S. Cottingham was the electrician, and Robert Green and his two older sons did most of the painting. Construction of the Church was started in 1922, and the congregation was able to hold services in the shell of the building that summer. Work was entirely completed by April 1924.20
The 2,270 square foot Church is all wooden frame with a brick veneer exterior. According to the centerstone in the front center of the Church, it is a “Livingston Mission Church”, and its architecture somewhat resembles the Livingston Mission Methodist Episcopal Church built in 1912 in Jacksonville.21 Charles Livingston was a wagon maker before the Civil War who became very wealthy. Upon his death, his last will and testament established “The Livingston Mission Fund” to be used for the establishment and maintenance of mission churches.22
Beatrice Pennington, a member of the Church recalled that Lots 18-20, Block 83, in the Town of Fellsmere for the Church were purchased in 1921, and a grant of $2,000 was given by the Livingston Methodist Episcopal Church in Jacksonville to build the Fellsmere Church. Additional funds were raised in town. Lumber came from the abandoned building across the street, and second-hand bricks were cleaned for use in building the exterior walls.23
The Fellsmere Historical Church has a 16-foot-high ceiling, double hung sash windows with weights inside the walls, and pine floorboards. It can easily accommodate 60 members, not counting the available seating in the small pews along the sides of the church.
The Church was wired for electricity when it was built and some of the old knob and tube wiring can still be seen in the attic. Over the years, many improvements have been made to bring the electrical system up to present codes, and smoke detectors and fire extinguishers have been installed.
On Sunday, April 6, 1924, while Reverend Jameson was still pastor, Bishop Ernest G. Richardson of Atlanta, Georgia, and District Superintendent Reverend S.E. Idleman of Miami, Florida, dedicated the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Fellsmere at the 11:00 a.m. service. Choirmaster Milford Weigle sang a solo. The builders of the Church (Clayton E. Nourse, I. C. Deloe and James P. Nolen) made the presentation of the Church.24 Bishop Richardson said that it was the most beautiful small church he had ever dedicated.25
After the Church was built, attendance increased at Sunday School which had large classes. Thomas McCluer was the first Sunday School Superintendent and his wife, Mary, was a Sunday School teacher.26 Sunday School sent quite a few students to the Methodist summer camps in Leesburg, Florida. One of the students, Alfred Lee Brock, became an associate pastor in the First Methodist Church in Miami.27 The longest serving Superintendent of the Fellsmere Methodist Episcopal Church Sunday School was Mr. H. H. Pennington who served for 45 years. He and his wife, Beatrice, were also Adult Sunday School teachers.28
Prayer meetings were held on Wednesday nights. Picnic dinners were held at different homes and usually a party was held at night once a month. There was a Ladies Aid Society, who helped greatly in mission work by quilting and entertaining. Religious plays were performed and enjoyed by all.29
District Superintendent D. H. Rutter, pastor of the Community Methodist Church in Daytona Beach, was responsible for donating his church bell to the Fellsmere Methodist Church because it was no longer needed in the new Daytona Beach Church.30 D. H. Rutter was a good friend of Reverend J. O. Jameson.31 Fellsmere Methodist Church Choir Director Milford Weigle traveled to Daytona Beach in a truck to get the bell which was installed in the Church’s bell tower in 1925.32
After five years of laboring with great success, Reverend Jameson left the Church in June 1926, having increased its membership to approximately 90 people.33 He was followed by a long succession of ministers. In fact, there were 32 of them between 1926 and 1994, the last minister of the Fellsmere United Methodist Church was Reverend J. D. Hill.34 Ministers came from Roseland, Sebastian, Wabasso, Vero Beach, and Ft. Pierce.35
During the real estate boom in Florida in the 1920s, attendance at the Church was very good but after the bust, attendance dropped off. Also, the Great Depression of the 1930s was hard on people. However, after Frank Heiser established the Fellsmere Sugar Company in the early 1930s and built a sugar mill, Fellsmere was the busiest town in Indian River County. Still, older members of the Fellsmere Methodist Episcopal Church passed away, some moved away, and others joined the new Baptist Church on North Magnolia Street and the Church of God on North Pine Street.36
On May 10, 1939, the three branches of American Methodism (the Methodist Protestant Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Methodist Episcopal Church South) reached an agreement to reunite under the name “The Methodist Church”.37
In 1955, a hurricane destroyed the pyramidal spire and bell tower at the Fellsmere Methodist Church necessitating the bell to be removed. It wasn’t until almost 40 years later that the Church was able to have the pyramidal spire re-built and the bell reinstalled inside the bell tower.
On March 21, 1960, Fellsmere City Councilman Joe Bussey made the motion that the City of Fellsmere sell Lots 21 and 22, Block 83, for $150 to the Fellsmere Methodist Church. The City Council approved the motion. Thus, two lots were added to the Church property which gave it a 50 foot buffer north of the existing three lots upon which the Church was built.38
During the five year pastorate of Reverend Parsons between June 1962 and June 1967, considerable money was spent on Church repairs. The interior of the Church was painted in 1963, termites were exterminated in 1964, a new roof was installed in 1965, and the sanctuary floors were sanded and varnished.39
A baby grand Knabe piano from the disbanded Holleman Park Methodist Church in Miami was presented to the Fellsmere Methodist Church by former members Vivian and Willet Sanborn in 1965.40 The same year, the Church celebrated its 50th Anniversary on Sunday, November 14, 1965, commemorating when the Fellsmere Methodist Episcopal Church became a mission in the Miami – St. John’s District back in 1915; 147 people attended. After the morning service, the congregation had dinner on the grounds and then assembled for an afternoon program.41
At the 50th Anniversary celebration, Methodist District Superintendent Raymond Alley conducted the worship service and the Church’s first permanent pastor, Reverend J. O. Jameson, preached the sermon.42 Former pastor David Cathcart, who had been the pastor in 1933, attended, gave comments, and played his flute.43 Special music was provided by Lulu Nourse Barkoskie who was the musician for the Church.44 Lulu was the daughter of Corydon E. Nourse who was the designer and principal builder of the Church.
As of March 1968, active and inactive membership enrollment was 51.45 Also, in 1968, bishops of The Methodist Church and Evangelical United Brethren Church consolidated the two churches in a Uniting Conference to form “The United Methodist Church” which became the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States.46
Between 1972-1982, an organ was procured, a microphone and loudspeakers were installed, the nursery room was refurnished, and new hymnals were purchased. In 1983, Church enrollment had decreased to 44 members.47
In June 1984, during the time Reverend Stuart Godfrey and his wife, Estelle, were at the Church, a social hall was built just behind the Church at the northwest corner of Oregon Avenue and North Pine Street.48 Luncheons were held there every second Sunday after the worship service.49 Second Sunday luncheons is a tradition that still occurs to the present day. In September 1989, the Redland’s Christian Migrant Association entered into a contract with the Church to lease the social hall for a child day care center for $400 per month.50
The 75th Anniversary Re-dedication Service of the Church was held by Reverend W. S. Godfrey on November 4, 1990, to commemorate the original establishment of the Fellsmere Methodist Episcopal mission in 1915.51
Only three years later, on September 5, 1993, the Methodist Conference dissolved the Fellsmere Church as a United Methodist Church because of declining membership and concerns that the congregation could no longer afford a full time pastor.52 However, Luella (Lu) Cosner and Phyllis Boisvert, long standing members of the Church, saved the Church from closing. An agreement was worked out whereby the social hall in back of the Church was sold and proceeds of the sale went to the Methodist Conference in exchange for the congregation keeping the Church. The exchange also included the transfer of lots 7-10 and 26-32, Block 83, in the Town of Fellsmere to the Fellsmere Historical Church that had been deeded to the Methodist Church in years past. Lots 7-10, Block 83, were deeded to the Methodist Church on May 25, 1982; Lots 26-29, Block 83, were deeded on August 14, 1979; and Lots 30-32, Block 83, were deeded on June 17, 1982.53
On November 12, 1994, the Church was re-dedicated as the Fellsmere Historical Church, a non-denominational church answering only to God as its higher authority.
In 1993, Lu Cosner spearheaded a campaign to apply for grant funds from the state to rebuild the bell tower and spire that had been damaged by the 1955 hurricane. Ruth Stanbridge, president of the Indian River County Historical Society at the time, wrote the grant application. A year later, in 1994, the Church was awarded an $11,600 state historical matching grant which enabled the spire and bell tower to be rebuilt, the roof replaced, the windows repaired, and the trim fixed and painted. The contractor, Conrad Mora, said that other than rain and a few bothersome owls who had nested in the bell tower, the work went well. The finishing touch was using a crane to install the bell in the bell tower.54
The first minister in the re-dedicated Church was Reverend Billy Ferguson. He and his wife, Frances, drove from Ft. Pierce every Sunday from August 7, 1994 to September 28, 2003, when Billy had to retire from the pulpit due to declining health. As of November 1994, there were 25 active members and 9 associate members.55
In April 1995, a 12 foot by 16 foot aluminum storage shed was installed at the rear of the Church which is still there today.
Lu Cosner served as the organist until 2005. Phyllis Boisvert served as the Treasurer until 2019. Lu was instrumental in having the Fellsmere Historical Church placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 27, 1996. On February 23, 2002, the Church held a dedication and unveiling of a historical plaque on a brick monument designed by member David Van Auken proclaiming that the Fellsmere Historical Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.56
The second minister of the Fellsmere Historical Church was Reverend Jack Hiott. He and his wife, Janet, drove to Fellsmere from Port St. Lucie every Sunday beginning in October 2003, to conduct the Sunday worship service after Reverend Ferguson retired. A graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Reverend Hiott was a highly educated theologian and a Bible scholar. He was also an accomplished pianist and his wife, Janet, was a fine vocalist and exceptional calligrapher. Reverend Hiott retired after almost 19 years of service on June 5, 2022. He had the distinction of having the longest tenure in the history of the Church.
Lu Cosner, co-founder of the Fellsmere Historical Church and self-taught organist, was tragically killed in an automobile accident on July 25, 2005. Her car was broadsided by an Indian River County truck when she was attempting to cross 58th Avenue travelling eastbound on 77th Street in Indian River County. Linda Votapka, an organist, and Richard Votapka, a pianist, volunteered to play the music for Lu Cosner’s Celebration of Life Service in 2005. They have voluntarily played the music for the Church ever since. During times when Linda and Richard were on vacation or away for any reason, Reverend Hiott substituted for them by playing the hymns and special music on the piano. Phyllis Boisvert led the congregation during the service.
In 2011, repairs were made to the bell tower. Also, the bell had severely corroded and was badly pitted inside and out. Chairman of the Board of Trustees Steve Lantz, and Church members Larry Springer and Roy Winchell had the bell removed. Steve Lantz wire brushed the entire bell and re-painted it with two coats of Rust-o-leum paint. The bell was re-installed in June 2011.
In March 2016, a new wheelchair ramp was constructed on the south side of the Church to replace the old short and very steep ramp that did not meet the American Disabilities Act standards. Richard Votapka, a civil engineer and member of the Church designed the ramp. In October 2019, a new kitchen sink and cabinets were installed. The following March, a tankless hot water heater was installed by Steve Lantz and Richard Votapka, marking the first time in its history that the Church had hot water.
Billy and Frances Ferguson’s son, David, who was a pianist himself and who collected pianos, donated a Kawai electronic piano to the Church. On October 4, 2021, the new piano was moved from David’s home in Port St. Lucie to the Fellsmere Historical Church. The Church’s old Knabe piano was donated to the music education teacher at the Fellsmere Elementary School.
Reverend Hiott retired on June 5, 2022, and on the following Sunday, June 12, 2022, John Ross (better known as “J. R.”) Crooks took his place as pastor. J. R. Crooks is only the third pastor since the Fellsmere Historical Church was dedicated 30 years ago. J. R., his wife, Brianne, and their five children, Ella Mae, Gracie, Amelia, Margot, and John (Jo Jo), brought new, younger life to a dwindling adult membership in the Church. The Crooks family also brought with them the Ciechanowski, Ferguson, and Lyda families, all who have children and dramatically altered the average membership ages from an older adult congregation to a younger one literally overnight.
In 2023, the Church embarked on making a memorial garden on the north side, a work that is still in progress but expected to be completed in 2024. Also, development of a nature trail is in progress in the three lots north of the Church that were acquired in January 2023.
On April 7, 2024, the Church celebrated its 100th Anniversary with a special commemoration dinner at Master’s Stable Wedding Barn at 10675 141st Ave, Fellsmere, Florida. Pastor J.R. Crooks gave the Opening Remarks, Invocation, and Blessing of the Food; Richard Votapka was the Master of Ceremonies and presented the History of the Church; Linda Votapka directed the Fellsmere Historical Church Youth Choir on two special songs during the ceremony, and Reverend Jack Hiott gave the Closing Remarks and Benediction. Janice Sellers completed the scrap books of photos and memorabilia for the Church. There were 60 people in attendance from 12:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. The dinner was catered by Woody’s BBQ Restaurant in Roseland, Florida.57
In the past, the Church has helped in supporting various missionaries. The longest serving missionaries were Don and Doreen Nelson. They served in San Ramon, Bolivia, since 1984, among the Chiquitano ethnic group in the Amazon basin. They were with SIM, which stands for “Serving in Missions” from 1982 to 2016. From 2017 to the present day, Don and Doreen serve with HELP International. They lived full time in Bolivia for 37 years and became Bolivian citizens. Due to Don’s health, they haven’t lived in Bolivia since January 1, 2017, but do return to Bolivia once a year to the village they once lived in for almost four decades.58
Despite all the hurricanes and storms that have occurred over the last 90 years, the Church still stands and is open for worship. Members of the Church are grateful for the builders for having the foresight to elevate it by constructing the first floor on concrete pylons. Thus, it has remained above the high-water marks caused by floods in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s; on October 15, 1956; on September 11, 2017; and most recently on November 17, 2023, when Fellsmere experienced almost 14 inches of rain. Although the Church was not accessible during those events, except by canoe or wearing hip waders, it nevertheless remained dry inside.
On June 18, 2024, the Church received notice from the Florida Department of State Division of Historical Resources that the Special Category Grant funds were approved for the Church to receive $86,000 beginning in July 2024, to repair the roof and the bell tower during 2024 and 2025.59
Services at the Fellsmere Historical Church are still held every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. since 1994, and the old bell is faithfully rung by younger members of the congregation signifying the start of the service. Communion is celebrated the first Sunday of every month and a potluck luncheon is held every second Sunday of the month in keeping with tradition started 40 years ago in 1984. The Church still welcomes newcomers as it did when it was completed in 1924, and those who step inside will no doubt marvel at the craftsmanship of its beautiful wood interior made possible by early Fellsmerians who built it to worship their Creator.
To paraphrase a quote from Reverend C.H. Rasmussen, Pastor of the Fellsmere Methodist Church from 1967-1968, “The history of the Fellsmere Methodist (now the Fellsmere Historical) Church has been of courageous struggle for existence because of a small membership but a faithful few, aided by prayer, contributions by members, and donations from friends have managed to keep the Church in operation”.60 Hopefully, the same may be said 100 years from now for the second centennial celebration.