On Wednesday, December 2, 2009, the Union Historical Society will host its final
meeting of the year at the People's United Methodist Church in Union. That happens at 7:30 P.M. and features
Mark Alan Leslie, the author of the recently published story of Francis Asbury.
Born at Hamstead Bridge, Staffordshire, England of Methodist parents, Asbury became a local preacher at eighteen
and was ordained at age twenty-two. His boyhood home still stands and is open as a museum in West Bromwich,
England. In 1771 he volunteered to travel to America. When the American War of Independence broke out in 1776,
he was the only Methodist minister to remain in America.
In an exciting time in American history, Asbury was reported to be an extraordinary preacher. Biographer Ezra
Squier Tipple wrote: "If to speak with authority as the accredited messenger of God; to have credentials which
bear the seal of heaven ... if when he lifted the trumpet to his lips the Almighty blew the blast; if to be
conscious of an ever-present sense of God, God the Summoner, God the Anointing One, God the Judge, and to project
it into speech which would make his hearers tremble, melt them with terror, and cause them to fall as dead men;
if to be and do all this would entitle a man to be called a great preacher, then Asbury was a great preacher."
You are invited to join your colleagues and friends for dinner together before the meeting. The owner of Come
Srping has very generously agreed to host our group there at 5:30 P.M. that evening, even though the restaurant
is officially closed in the evenings at this time of the year. That is very nice indeed! Today's question is:
Will you be joining us on Wednesday, December 2, at 5:30 P.M. at Come Spring Cafe for dinner together? If your
answer is Yes, please call (speak with us and/or leave a message) or e-mail a reply; tell us your name and the
number of 'your' people that expect to come to dinner. Replies must happen before 5
P.M. on Monday, November 30. We'd be happy to have you there to visit with each other and to meet and
get to know our guest speaker.
The old Town house, located on Town House road just north of the Union common, has only recently been added to the National Registry of Historic Buildings. It is furnished with many antique "deacon's benches" with spindle backrests, contemporary with the building. There is a stage which is usually concealed by a painted hanging showing a composite depiction of Union and its surroundings. Antique quilts hang on the walls and a display cabinet dedicated to the veterans of Union contains memorabilia from the Civil and other wars in which Union citizens fought.
