The Indian Creek Church and Cemetery land was given by James Martin McGuire “Uncle Mart”, 3 acres for the church site, and Robert Collie (RC) Coker, “Col”, 5 acres for the cemetery. This was out of a 160 acre tract of land made up by preempting this amount of land down on the Indian Creek to make this tract of land back to 160 acres of land. Those making up the trustees of the early church were the early community fathers of large religious homes: Mart McGuire, R.C. “Col” Coker, Tom Holcomb, Andy Stewart, and Dan Pinkard (Uncle Dan Pinkard was raised by the Watsons in the community from an ophan boy).
The first school was held at Double Pens north of the cemetery across the creek on the Stewart Place. Doc Stewart bought the home place and lived on it many years. It was south of the V.F. Bowman Place across the Old Dublin Road. There were two schools taught at Double Pens before school was taught at Indian Creek Church. Mr. Wilson taught the first school (another source has R. W. Welborne as the first teacher). He had two very young girls and lived in the V.F. Bowman Gin lot house, north of the church about a quarter of a mile. This was the first gin built in the county and 8 bales of cotton was a big days run. Jim (JH) Bowman and John Albin were the first school trustees. The school term was from 3 to 6 months. The tuition was $1.00 per pupil and the teacher’s salary was $35.00 per month, and, if they ran out of money, the teacher boarded with the families. The top class was the dictionary for the older boys and girls. Recess games were “Town Hall”, “Stink Base”, “Stealing Sticks”, “Tops”, and “Marbles”. The large boys pitched Dollars 21 or bust. The girls brought their dolls and played house.
The Indian Creek Methodist Church was formed in 1880 with the Reverend H. B. Henry as pastor. The church was noted for its summer camp meetings held yearly for two weeks after cultivation of the crops was finished. The campers, from a wide area, would bring chickens for eggs and meat and cows to supply milk. The Indian Creek Church was known for the large number of preachers it produced. The first burial took place in 1880
The annual meeting, as set in the Organizations By-Laws, is held the first Sunday in June. While the Indian Creek Methodist Church and Tabernacle were still standing, as many as 200 would attend. Along with a business meeting, a fellowship service and a “homecoming” gathering would take place with old and new friendships immerging. Food was provided by those attending and ranged from meat of all kinds to vegetable dishes to deserts. No one left hungry. A tour of the cemetery would occurr at sometime to educate the younger generations of their ancestors and stories to remember them by.
Following the historical recollections, there is a listing of all known burials at the cemetery. We do know that there are a few buried there unknown but to God. If you have information of a loved one buried at Indian Creek Cemetery and they are not listed, please contact me and they will be added to the list.
Today, we are fortunate to have thirty people attend the business meeting. It is my sincere hope that those who visit this site will be enlightened to start caring and either donate or join us at our next annual meeting. The care of our ancestors rests with us. The following pages contain a brief history of the Indian Creek Methodist Church and Cemetery. I have tried to be as accurate as possible by taking from historical facs and personal interviews. If an error is noted, please advise and it will be corrected as quickly as possible.