History of Fellsmere Community Bible Church (FKA The Fellsmere Union Church)
The Fellsmere Community Bible Church originally known as the “Fellsmere Union Church” is the oldest church in Fellsmere. It was built by local contractor, Victor Hadin, who completed it for worship by May 4, 1913.1 The church building is and has always been located at the northwest corner of Pennsylvania Avenue (now County Road 512) and Hickory Street. The church has never been moved from its original location.
At the time the Fellsmere Union Church was organized, the Union Church movement was spreading across the United States and Canada.2 The Union Church movement dated back to the early 1700’s in the United States. Simply stated, a “Union Church” occurs when two or more congregations of differing denominations agree to use the same facilities. Using one church building for two or more congregations was more economical than one church having to bear the entire cost of a church building and associated facilities such as Sunday School Rooms and a Fellowship Hall. Also, the costs of utilities and maintenance expenses were shared. If their beliefs were similar, some rural churches even shared pastors. Coincidentally, in sharing some churches, there was increased socialization between the various congregations by using the facilities.3
Out of the more than 500 Union Churches that existed in the United States, the majority of them were in the northern states such as New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Maryland, although there were some Union Churches in Virginia and North Carolina. The oldest continuing Union Church (as of 2024) in the United States is the Old Goschenhoppen Church in Woxall, Pennsylvania, about 38 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Records show that a “Reformed” congregation was started in 1727, followed by a Lutheran congregation three years later. Although both denominations used the church, it had two front doors. One door was used by Lutherans; the other door used by the Reformed congregation.4
In July of 1912, Reverend James A. Liggitt, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church of London, Ohio, visited Fellsmere and purchased a tract of land. He was so impressed with the prospects of Fellsmere that he sent a letter (which he called a “sermonette”) to Mr. Ernest H. Every, the General Manager of the Fellsmere Farms Company.
Reverend Liggitt titled his sermonette “A World Convincing Argument on Church Unity” which was published in the July 25, 1912, edition of the Fellsmere Farmer. The sermonette stated that there was a strong sentiment among residents of Fellsmere, Florida, that there was a need for a church unity organization such as a “Union” church. Reverend Liggitt stated, “This (Union church) is an amalgamation of all those religious bodies, which in their present segregated state, make it necessary to maintain countless churches and employ so many preachers pastors.” He further stated, “This movement has spread all over the United States and recently it has been taken up in Canada where some progress is being made by its enthusiastic advocates. It is just the sort of religious organization needed and no doubt will be established at Fellsmere. It is known that the Fellsmere Farms Company favors such an organization and stands ready to contribute a generous piece of ground for a church building and a preacher’s residence.”5
Reverend Liggitt had planted a seed among the citizens of Fellsmere. There was a need for religious services in Fellsmere because by July 1912, there was a sizable number of people attending Sunday School. In the early months of 1912, Mrs. R. A. Conkling was holding Sunday School classes in the parlor of her home on North Orange Street. She (Ida Wade) was the wife of Richard A. Conkling.6 He was the superintendent of the 15- acre Fellsmere Farms Company Demonstration Farm and had his own nursery, the R.A. Conkling Nurseries Company, in Fellsmere.7 Mrs. Conkling had approximately 45 members enrolled in her Sunday School, making it almost impossible for her to hold classes in her house anymore by the time the new wooden schoolhouse was completed in March 1912. She asked for and received permission to hold Sunday School in the new schoolhouse.8 Mrs. Conkling’s Sunday School class grew to 60 members in June 1912, and to 96 in September of 1912.9 Clearly, there was a need for a church to be built.
Although Reverend Liggitt had planted the seed, he was not personally interested in becoming the first pastor of the Fellsmere Union Church. The first pastor was Reverend Fletcher D. Baker, Doctor of Divinity, from Salina, Kansas. At age 68, Reverend Baker arrived in Fellsmere with his son, Winn W. Baker in early October 1912. Reverend Baker purchased 210 acres of land northwest of the town on which he and his son planned to raise a winter and spring crop of Irish potatoes (on 40 acres on Tract 1127). Reverend Baker also had a cottage built on two lots at the corner of New York Avenue and Orange, spending upwards of $2000 for the house.10 Unfortunately, his wife, Lydia Ella Vanarsdel Baker, died in Salina, Kansas on September 16, 1912, at age 65, before she ever saw her new home in Fellsmere.11 Although Reverend Baker was very busy trying to work his farm, he became very active in forming the Fellsmere Union Church in a matter of a few months from the time he first moved to Fellsmere.12
Reverend Fletcher D. Baker was born on November 25, 1844, in South Bend, Indiana. Later his family moved to Pickaway Township, Illinois, a very small rural farming community approximately 55 miles east of Springfield, the Illinois State Capital.13 During the Civil War, on September 13, 1862, when he was only 17 years old, he enlisted in Company “B” of the 115th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.14 Fletcher Baker served in the Grand Army of the Republic (also known as the “Union Army”) as a private during the Civil War from 1862 to 1865, and fought at the Battle of Gettysburg during July 1-3, 1863.15 He was mustered out of the army on June 11, 1865.16 While in the army, he never missed more than 10 days of duty while serving in his regiment.17 Fletcher Baker’s service in the Union Army had no correlation whatsoever to the Union Church Movement; it was purely coincidence.
On leaving the army, Fletcher Baker decided to attend school at Valpariso, Indiana, and then later at De Pauw University. He entered the Northwest Indiana conference of the Methodist-Episcopal Church in September 1871, and became an ordained Methodist-Episcopalian minister.18
In 1872, Fletcher Baker married Miss Lydia Ella Vanarsdel and set up residence in Concordia, Kansas. Later, he and Lydia moved to Salina, Kansas, approximately 50 miles due south of Concordia.19 They had two sons and a daughter.20 Fletcher Baker’s son, Winn, Baker accompanied Reverend Baker when he came to Fellsmere in October 1912.21 Their other son was away in the foreign missionary field.22
Before leaving Kansas to come to Fellsmere in 1912, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him.23 Lydia and Fletcher Baker’s daughter, Emma, came to Fellsmere prior to April 1913 to open a private school.24
In Fellsmere on Sunday, December 9, 1912, Reverend Baker preached at the morning service in the schoolhouse.25 Twelve days later on December 21, 1912, Reverend Baker, along with R.A. Conkling, Fellsmere Farms Company Demonstration Farm Superintendent, and Victor J. Hadin, local builder, were appointed to a committee to consider forming a Union Church.26 Interestingly enough, there is no record of any Union Church being established after 1913. Therefore, the Fellsmere Union Church is one of the last churches representing the “Union Church Movement.”
On January 7, 1913, Reverend Baker wrote an enthusiastic letter to Mr. W.W. Shurtz, the Fellsmere Sales Company general sales agent in Kansas City, Missouri. Mr. Shurtz in turn sent the letter to the Fellsmere Farmer for publication. It read as follows:
“Dear Sir – I have been so busy and so tired building a house that I have not written as much as I should have liked, or as much as my friends expected. Things here are more and more wonderful to me every day, such crops of onions, cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, beans, peppers, etc. as you see here are beyond anything I ever saw in any country. The climate is a delight every day and the air is so fine and fresh. The water is soft, plenty, and good. I don’t think there is a place anywhere that offers an opportunity to a poor man or rich man as the chance to buy this land on easy payments at such a small price compared with what it will produce.
Luxuriant crops are growing right here in midwinter and we have not needed a fire more than three or four mornings, and not a day that a man needed to wear a coat in the middle of the day. I surely shall never spend another winter in Northern States, and I believe a little investment in this land will make a man many times more than it costs to buy it now. This is better land than I supposed it could possibly be, and is surely going to be a great place to raise grapefruit, oranges, and other tropical fruits. I would be glad to see all my friends invest here, as I believe the returns would soon be many hundred percent on the money invested. Tell all the people to come and see. Yours fraternally, F. D. Baker”.27
On January 18, 1913, the regular bi-monthly meeting of the Fellsmere Farmer’s Fraternity was held at the Fellsmere Farms Company Farmhouse. Reverend Baker, chairman of the special committee in charge of ways and means for providing Fellsmere with a church, made a very flattering report. He reported that $100 had been collected the previous Sunday towards construction of the church. He read aloud a letter dated January 14, 1913, from General Manager Ernest H. Every stating that the Fellsmere Farms Company would donate Lots 10 to 17 in Block 77 to the Union Church. The lots comprised a frontage of 200 feet and a depth of 125 feet for a total of 25,000 square feet or 0.57 acres. Reverend Baker then announced that he had a subscription list for donations and invited those present at the meeting to announce what they were willing to donate. In addition to the Fellsmere Farms Company donating $500, twenty people including Reverend Baker, builder Victor Hadin, General Manager Ernest H. Every, and Superintendent R. A. Conkling made personal contributions. All total, by the end of the meeting, $1,125 had been raised. The committee set a target of $2000 before recommending that the church be legally organized, trustees and officers be elected, a preacher be selected, and a contract established to construct the church building.28
By February 1, 1913, Reverend Baker reported that an additional $200 had been pledged. Despite the fact that the building fund was still $675 short, the order for lumber to build the church was placed with the saw mill.29 By February 20,1913, another $149 had been pledged to the church fund, and it was expected that construction for the 40-foot by 60-foot church would soon be underway.30 Victor Hadin, the contractor, said he could not haul materials to the site until the lots were fully cleared. The committee agreed that by March 19, 1913, the lots would be fully cleared.31
In the beginning of March 1913, Reverend and Mrs. Henry Arlan from Nashville, Indiana visited Fellsmere and were so impressed that they bought farmland and decided to relocate soon to Fellsmere on a permanent basis. Reverend Arlan preached on Sunday, March 9, 1913.32 After relocating to Fellsmere, Reverend Arlan became the associate pastor in assisting Reverend Baker at the Fellsmere Union Church and preached at the Sunday evening services.33
On Sunday, March 31, 1913, a business session was held to elect church officers for the coming year, immediately following Sunday School services. The officers elected were as follows: Frank Hale as Sunday School Superintendent, James Harper as Secretary and Treasurer, Miss Jettie Harper as Librarian, Troy E. Harper as Chorister, Miss Nonie Hamlin as Organist, Mrs. F. E. Hale as Teacher of the Bible Class, F. W. Zook as Teacher of the Young People’s Class, Cecil V. Harper as Teacher of the Boy’s Class, Mrs. R. A. Conkling as Teacher of the Girl’s Class, and Mrs. Nield as Teacher of the Primary Class.34
Having missed the March 19th deadline for clearing the lots, the palmettos and stumps were burned by the end of March, so the building materials could be deposited on site.35 On April 1, 1913, Mrs. Emma Kelly of Concordia, Kansas, (daughter of Reverend Fletcher D. Baker and now a resident of Fellsmere), opened a private school starting with 15 pupils in the school house. It continued until the fall opening of the public school.36
Once the building materials were on site, Victor Hadin didn’t waste any time. By mid-April 1913, construction had progressed to the point that Mr. Hadin said the building would be under roof within a week. Arrangements were made for a supply of pews so that everything would be ready for Sunday School and church services at the earliest possible date.37
On Saturday, April 12, 1913, at 5 p.m., the women of Fellsmere held a church festival for the benefit of the building fund at the suggestion of Mrs. R. A. Conkling. Besides the home-made ice cream, cake, and candy items for sale, there was a sale of one cake through votes cast for the most popular young lady of Fellsmere. Votes sold for 10 cents each and at the end of the first ballot Miss Emma Hall and Miss Ida Green were the top contenders. A runoff vote was held and Miss Ida Green won by 26 votes. The popularity contest raised a tidy sum of $15.55. Unfortunately, the total net receipts for the entire festival were only $74.00.38
By May 1, 1913, less than one month after construction started, the one-story wood frame 40′ x 60′ (2,400 square foot) building with a 10′ x 10′ square bell tower was almost completed. Most of the interior work had been completed and the roof was nearing completion. Victor Hadin promised that the church would be ready for use on May 4th. The building committee, knowing that it would take time for the pews to arrive and be permanently secured, bought 150 camp chairs for the service. Both Reverend Baker and Mr. F.G. Green, Treasurer, said that during the first week in May they would call on subscribers who had not fulfilled their pledge to send in any outstanding monies.39
The church building, an example of a type of architecture known as “Frame Vernacular”, was a prevalent style of religious architecture in rural Florida where the common wood frame construction technique was used by self–taught builders. It is likely that Victor J. Hadin, the builder, was also the designer because the church could not afford an architect.40
The interior of the church building today is basically the same as it was when the church was built in 1913. There are several steel rods overhead with turnbuckles that are painted white. These are tension rods that span from the north wall to the south wall to prevent the weight of the roof from pushing out the building sides because the church was not built with roof trusses.
While the interior of the church has nearly remained the same since 1913, the exterior of the church has changed considerably. The original wooden clapboard siding had to be replaced in 2009 due to dry rot and weathering over time. Instead of wood, the exterior received a stucco finish that demonstrably changed the original appearance of the church and greatly reduced maintenance costs. The 10-foot by 10-foot square bell tower located at the southeast corner of the church still remains, although its wooden exterior has also been replaced with a stucco facade as well. Being that the original wooden exterior of the church was altered by using stucco, the Church became ineligible to be placed on the National Historic Register.41
On Sunday, May 4, 1913, at 11 o’clock in the morning, the 125-seat Fellsmere Union Church opened its doors to over 100 parishioners for its first non-denominational worship service. Sunday School had 67 members present. It was stated by the Fellsmere Farmer newspaper that Dr. Fletcher D. Baker, as pastor, gave a great deal of his time to the spiritual welfare of the people of Fellsmere, and he was untiring in his determination to build up and maintain a fine church organization. He was most ably assisted by Reverend Henry Arlan.42 From that time worship services have been held on a continuous basis ever since. However, over the years since the church was built, there were many ministers but during some years in between, services had been suspended for several months due to the absence of a minister.
According to the church’s membership roll, early members included Frederick Trimble (architect of the Fellsmere Public School and many other buildings in Fellsmere) and his wife, Rena Bowker; Richard A. Conkling ( Fellsmere Farms Demonstration Farms Superintendent) and his wife, Ida Wade; Ida Dixon, Clerk of the Town of Fellsmere; Murray E. Hall (Traffic Manager of the Fellsmere Railroad) and his wife; J.T. Snodgrass (salesman for the Fellsmere Sales Company) and his wife; Clayton Brown (he along with Frederick Trimble, architect, were co-Scoutmasters of the second Boy Scouts of America troop in Fellsmere); Helen Piffard, wife of the founder of the State Bank of Fellsmere; Mrs. Arthur F. Sanders, wife of the builder of the Fellsmere Public School; and Mrs. W. B. Nipson, wife of the Master Mechanic of the Fellsmere Railroad. The church minutes of January 8, 1941 (page 157) show that Walter Siewert, (Assistant Manager of the Trans-Florida Central Railroad Company and office manager/paymaster for the Fellsmere Sugar Company) was the Moderator, and his wife, Mary, was the Treasurer. The church minutes of January 20, 1943, show that Stella Heiser, wife of Frank Heiser, the founder of the fertilizer (muck) plant in Broadmoor and the Fellsmere Sugar Company, was the Treasurer.43
On June 8, 1913, Reverend Fletcher officiated at the funeral for Mrs. Delitha B. Boswell (wife of John Boswell) of Kansas who was the first person to die in the newly formed Town of Fellsmere. Mrs. Boswell, age 55, had just arrived in Fellsmere on Friday, June 6th from Washington, Kansas, to join her husband who had come the day before. She had heart trouble for many years and decided to come to Fellsmere to better her health. Ironically, the very next day, Saturday, June 7th, Mrs. Boswell died suddenly from an apparent heart attack. Officials of the Fellsmere Sales Company made every necessary arrangement for the funeral which was held on the following day, Sunday, June 8th at the Fellsmere Farms Company Farmhouse. It was reported that Reverend Baker of the Fellsmere Union Church delivered an eloquent eulogy.44
At the time, Fellsmere did not have a cemetery and Mrs. Boswell’s husband, John, did not want to return her remains to Kansas. Therefore, John decided to bury Delitha in the City of Sebastian Cemetery in Row 12 in the Park Section on the east side of the cemetery. Her grave is on the north side of the south entrance road leading into the cemetery from North Central Avenue and is the closest tombstone on the north side of the road. The tombstone is white marble in the shape of a heart with the word “Boswell” on the base. Delitha was the first person from Fellsmere to be buried in the Sebastian Cemetery.
In the latter part of June 1913, Reverend Baker took leave to attend the 50th reunion of his regiment at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, held during July 1, 2 and 3rd, the dates when the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in 1863. In his absence, Reverend Henry Arlan served at the Fellsmere Union Church. According to Fellsmere Farmer edition of the July 10, 1913, Reverend Baker was glad to get back to the pleasant breezes and cool nights of Fellsmere.45
A month after his return in August 1913, the Fellsmere Union Church was lit by electricity which was much appreciated by the congregation at every Sunday evening service.46 The Fellsmere Electric Light and Ice Company Manager, Mr. Weymouth, had agreed to install the necessary equipment of poles, wires, etc. for the church at a cost of $125. However, the church was required to wire the interior of the building and install the light fixtures which would be furnished by the company at cost. Furthermore, the company agreed to supply electricity to the church for $50 per year.47
In August, Reverend Baker traveled to Daytona, Florida, where he went to fill the pulpit of Reverend H. H. Bowen, who returned to Kansas for a visit to his former home.48 This must have influenced Reverend Baker to quite an extent, because two months later, in October, he went to visit his old home in South Bend, Indiana. While he was away, Reverend Henry Arlan filled the pulpit of the Fellsmere Union Church on Sundays, both the morning and evening services (except on the evening of October 30th.)49 Reverend Clay F. Gaumer, pastor of the Christian church at Alvin, Illinois, occupied the pulpit of the Fellsmere Union church on Sunday evening of October 30th.50 When Reverend Baker returned home to Fellsmere on November 8, 1913, he brought some-one else with him – his new bride.51 (Unfortunately, no record has been found to date that mentions her first and maiden name, who she was, her age, and where she had lived.)
On December 15, 1913, the all-time high Sunday School attendance record was broken with 140 people in attendance.52 By 1914, church membership totaled 101. Between 1914 and 1916, the Fellsmere Union Church grew its membership to more than 125 people.
Unfortunately, in 1914, Reverend Baker’s health began to fail rapidly because he had chronic Bright’s disease (a disorder of the kidneys). From January 1914 on, Reverend L.E. Osgood occupied the pulpit on Sunday mornings and Rev. N. S. Barlett preached on Sunday evenings. Reverend Henry Arlan sometimes preached on Sunday evenings as well. Reverend Baker died on October 8, 1914. The funeral was held at his residence and was conducted by C.W. Talmudge, an old friend and co-worker of Rev. Baker’s in the church back in Kansas. C. W. Talmudge, encouraged by Rev. Baker, had moved to Fellsmere in October 1913, and resided with his wife at their residence at the corner of New York Avenue and Elm Street. Reverend Baker’s body was taken back to Kansas under the charge of his son, Winn.53 Reverend Baker was buried with his first wife, Lydia Ella, in the Gypsum Hill Cemetery in Salina, Kansas.54
On December 30, 1916, the Fellsmere Union Church first published the “Notice of Intention to Apply for a Charter” that contained nine articles within the “Articles of Incorporation of the Fellsmere Union Church.55 Several other notices were published in 1917 in the Fellsmere Tribune. In 1920, the Fellsmere Union Church was incorporated.56
On August 31, 1920, the Fellsmere Company (the re-organized Fellsmere Farms Company) deeded lots 14-17, Block 77, on which the Fellsmere Union Church is situated to the Church for the sum of one dollar.57 On January 6, 1926, since the “Union” church movement had ceased by then, the congregation voted to change the name of the church to the Fellsmere Community Church at its annual meeting.58 On July 8, 1926, the Fellsmere Union Church quit-claimed Lots 14-17, Block 77, title of church property and fire insurance to the Fellsmere Community Church.59
On Saturday, March 14, 1948, as a special workday, the construction committee for the Fellsmere Community Church began work on the foundation for the fellowship hall known as the “Moore Building” – so named after Dr. Moore, the pastor at the church at the time. The building was 30 feet by 70 feet (2100 square feet) in size. The cost for the entire foundation amounted to a grand total $140.15.60 The labor was free because it was done by volunteers. The Moore Building was dedicated four years later in 1952.61
Not until September 14, 1953, 27 years after the congregation voted to change the name from the Fellsmere Union Church to the Fellsmere Community Church, was the church officially incorporated under the name “Fellsmere Community Church”.
Church member Ernest H. Everett signed the incorporation papers on behalf of the church.62 Ernest H. Everett is not to be confused with Ernest H. Every, the General Manager of the Fellsmere Farms Company, who was instrumental in conveying the property to the church in 1913.63
On April 14, 1982, the “Gold Cross” was donated by John Duel and dedicated on the same day.64 A year later in 1983, the Sunday School rooms were constructed, and in 1984, the covered porch was added on the front of the church.65 On January 9, 1985, the outside water fountain was installed and the very same year on October 9th, vinyl siding was installed on the exterior walls of the church. On January 15, 1986, the library was opened and in 1993, the storage shed was built by Vero Beach High School shop class students.66 On September 28, 1993, the name of the church was officially changed to the “Fellsmere Community Bible Church, Inc.”67
During 2001, when the Church celebrated its 90th Anniversary, under the leadership of Pastor, a complete renovation was done. This included spraying all the interior and exterior walls to kill mildew, painting all the inside walls, covering all the windows in the sanctuary with bronze polycarbonate” over glaze, recovering floors in all the buildings, rebuilding the exterior walls of the Sunday School Room building, and landscaping the entire facility.68
In September 2004, Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne hit Fellsmere, and tore off all of the vinyl siding installed in 1985. After the hurricanes, the original wood on the church was painted but the paint peeled off. To correct the problem, all the exterior walls were stuccoed in 2009. Church members Ernie and Jan Wilson painted all of the stucco including the bell tower.69
Regardless of the name, the church remains non-denominational just as it was more than a century ago. Attendance on Sundays usually varies between 50 to 60 congregants. As late as 2013, the Fellsmere Community Bible Church was still in keeping with the spirit of the “Union Church Movement” because there were three different Christian faiths using the church facilities. The United Church of God, a Seventh Day Adventist congregation consisting of people from Titusville to West Palm Beach, met in the Fellowship Hall every Saturday. On Sundays at 5:00 p.m., the Iglesia Bautista de Fellsmere (The Fellsmere Baptist Church), an Hispanic Church under Pastor Franklin Godoy, met for worship.
When the historical marker was unveiled in 2015 for the Fellsmere Union Church, the Moderator was former Mayor of Fellsmere Joel Tyson, who was also the Vice-Mayor of the City of Fellsmere at the time. The pastor of the Fellsmere Community Bible Church was Reverend Ian Crawshaw. Both he and his wife, Margaret, came to the church in 2007; coincidentally they both came from New Zealand, the same country where Edward Nelson Fell, founder of Fellsmere, was born.