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MT. TABOR: A COMMUNITY HISTORY







Founded on October 11, 1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution sprung into being during a period of increased patriotism coupled with an interest to preserve the history of the fledgling United States of America. Over the next few decades, the seed that germinated in our nation’s capital would continue to spread, creating a network of women proudly claiming ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War. On May 19, 1904, the DAR established a branch of their sisterhood in Morgantown, West Virginia, known as the Elizabeth Ludington Hagans – Colonel John Evans chapter. The Elizabeth Ludington Hagans – Colonel John Evans chapter, founded over 100 years ago, continues on a mission to honor revolutionary ancestors by sharing their history with present and future generations today.

Colonel John Evans, Lieutenant John Dent, and Benjamin Wilson are all among ancestors claimed by Morgantown’s DAR members, and recently, the DAR has made a plan to remember these men, along with their wives, Eleanor Wilson and Margaret Evans Dent, and to physically mark their places in history for many years to come. On May 12, 2018, a marker will be dedicated to Lieutenant John Dent and Colonel John Evans, Revolutionary War soldiers, Margaret Evans Dent, who was both the wife and daughter of soldiers, and to Benjamin Wilson, a wartime patriot, and his wife, Eleanor Wilson, on the former site of Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, whose congregation they were a part of.

Mt. Tabor: The Church and its Congregation

The Mt. Tabor Baptist Church congregation, a church which would also come to be known as “Old Zoar,” was established in 1788 and was among the earliest churches founded in Monongalia County, Virginia. It is difficult to identify a single Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, as new branches of the Baptist faith broke off and established themselves frequently during this time period, but the church most often identified as “Old Zoar” was a small log structure, which stood on Dent’s Run near Laurel Point. The deed to the land that this incarnation of the church’s physical structure stood on was donated by Mr. Benjamin Wilson and Mrs. Eleanor Wilson, members of the church and among those buried in the cemetery, in 1801. The land that comprised the cemetery was part of the parcel donated by the Wilson family, as well.

In the early 1800s when the Mt. Tabor congregation flourished, the Baptist religion was a dynamic, ever-evolving, and widespread faith. Different factions split from already-established Baptist sects, and new churches broke off or branched off from older congregations rather frequently. The Mt. Tabor Baptist Church was not an outlier, and was subject to similar splits as its congregation grew and evolved over the years.

The Mt. Tabor Baptist Church belonged to the Redstone Baptist Association, a faith community initially organized in 1776 by pastors Isaac Sutton, James Sutton, Joseph Barnet and John Corbly. 121 individual members and four preachers were members of the first incarnation of this association, which stretched from Pennsylvania to Virginia and likely even into some parts of Ohio. Other prominent members of the association, which had grown in size by the time Mt. Tabor joined, included Little Bethel, Forks of Cheat, Short Creek, Cross Creek, Mt. Olivet, and Antioch. By 1810, 24 years after its founding, the Redstone Baptist Association not only endured, but flourished, boasting 1,335 members and 13 or 14 preachers. Mt. Tabor itself had 47 members when its congregation joined the association, and was led by minister J.W. Patterson, who also served Little Bethel and Antioch Baptist Churches. The Redstone Baptist Association and other similar networks were a testament to the popularity of the Baptist faith in Virginia and the surrounding region, an area in which a multitude of sects sprung up.

Members of the Redstone Baptist Association identified as Regular Baptists, rather than Seventh Day Baptists, who observed the Sabbath on Saturday instead of Sunday, though other central tenets of their faith remained consistent across denominations. Both set themselves apart from some other Christian denominations with their belief in believer’s baptism, or baptism of a person after they professed their faith in Jesus Christ, rather than infant baptism. Regular Baptists also adhered especially firmly to their beliefs—believer’s baptism, the existence of one God, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the need for salvation, and evangelism and missions—in contrast to some other, more relaxed Baptist sects.

Mt. Tabor and the Revolutionary War

The parishioners buried in the Mt. Tabor Cemetery who are remembered by the DAR today bear a direct connection to the Revolutionary War, which would have forever changed their lives as Monongalians and Americans. Benjamin Wilson and Lieutenant John Dent are both recognized today as ancestors by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Dent for his military service and Wilson for his patriotism in contributing crops towards war efforts. Another member of Mt. Tabor’s congregation, though she did not fight in the war, also holds a special connection with the war, which extends to the present day. Margaret Evans Dent was both the wife of a Revolutionary War soldier and a Daughter of the American Revolution, as well.

Margaret Evans Dent and the DAR

Margaret Evans, later Margaret Evans Dent after she married the Lieutenant, was not only the wife of a soldier, but a Daughter of the American Revolution, as well. Her father, Colonel John Evans, served in the Revolutionary War and was among the pioneers of the Monongahela Valley. Lt. Dent’s and Col. Evans’ service helped to establish them both as community leaders, and they would continue to play a prominent role in the county for years to come, including roles as the first clerk of Monongalia County for Col. John Evans and Sheriff of Monongalia County, justice of the peace, and a member of the Virginia Assembly for Lt. John Dent.

Mt. Tabor Today

Originally, the Wilsons and the Dents found their final rest in the cemetery alongside their place of worship; However, their graves did not remain undisturbed for long. Today, the gravestones of Mt. Tabor’s flock have been dispersed to multiple remote locations, distant from the prominent resting place they found at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church Cemetery. Thanks to groups like the Daughters of the American Revolution, though, West Virginia’s Revolutionary War patriots are remembered, and their role in early Monongalia County is still recognized. A monument to the Dent family currently stands in Oak Grove Cemetery, right next to Morgantown’s Chancery Hill neighborhood. Additionally, another monument to the Dents, the Evanses, and the Wilsons will soon be installed at their former place of worship, a concrete reminder of their legacy in an ephemeral, ever-changing world.

Bibliography

Boogher, William Fletcher. Gleanings of Virginia History. Washington, D.C.: W.F. Boogher, 1903.

Butcher, Bernard L. Genealogical and Personal History of the Upper Monongahela Valley, WV. Repressed Publishing LLC, 2012.

Callahan, James Morton. History of the Making of Morgantown, West Virginia: A Type-Study in Trans-Appalachian Local History

Core, Earl L. The Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History I. Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing, 1982.

Core, Earl L. The Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History II. Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing, 1982.

Daughters of the American Revolution. “DAR History.” Last modified 2017. https://www.dar.org/national-society/about-dar/dar-history.

“Evans Chapter to Honor Pioneer at Meet”. The Dominion Post. 24 November, 1951.

“Mt. Tabor Baptist Church (1788) and Cemetery Marker”. The Monongalia Chronicle. November 2017.

Rogers, George Truett. West Virginia Baptist History: The Early Years: 1770-1865. Terra Alta, West Virginia: Headline Books, 1990.

Semple, Robert B. A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Pitt and Dickinson, 1894.

West Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution. “Chapters.” Last modified December 2, 2017. http://www.wvdar.org/chapters.htm.

1. Daughters of the American Revolution. “DAR History.” Last modified 2017. https://www.dar.org/national-society/about-dar/dar-history.
2. West Virginia Daughters of the American Revolution. “Chapters.” Last modified December 2, 2017. http://www.wvdar.org/chapters.htm.
3. The Monongalia Chronicle
4. “Evans Chapter to Honor Pioneer at Meet”. The Dominion Post. 24 November, 1951.
5. The Monongalia Chronicle
6. Core, Earl L. The Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History II. Parsons, West Virginia: McClain Printing, 1982, 373-374.
7. Semple, Robert B. A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Pitt and Dickinson, 1894, 340.
8. Ibid, V II, 373.
9. Ibid, V II, 373.
10. Core, 374.
11. Rogers, George Truett. West Virginia Baptist History: The Early Years: 1770-1865. Terra Alta, West Virginia: Headline Books, 1990.; Semple, Robert B. A History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. Richmond, Virginia: Pitt and Dickinson, 1894.
12. Butcher, Bernard L. Genealogical and Personal History of the Upper Monongahela Valley, WV. Repressed Publishing LLC, 2012, 1310, 1319.
13. Ibid, 1310, 1319.