Sources and further reading

Where this entry comes from

Preston County Historical Society, Preston County, West Virginia, History, 1979, 3rd printing (Kingwood, W.Va.: Preston County Historical Society, 2001), p. 24; Preston County Deed Book 74, p. 259, Jacob and Clarissa E. Cale to Evangelical Association church trustees, deed dated February 24, 1893; The Dominion-Post, “Mason-Dixonland Churches: Mt. Zion United Methodist Church,” January 2, 1972, p. 7-D

Research notes

What the evidence establishes

The entry is dated 1883 because the Valley District church table in Preston County, West Virginia, History, 1979, page 24, lists “Mt. Zion United Methodist — Rohr” with an establishment year of 1883. The photographed copy is the third printing issued in 2001.

The January 2, 1972 profile described the church as having been built 102 years earlier. Its statement that Calvin Rohr was nine during construction and was born in 1861 also points to circa 1870. This may represent construction or religious use preceding the church's formal establishment, but it could instead be an error in the retrospective account. The evidence presently available does not resolve the difference.

The February 24, 1893 deed places the parcel in Valley District, south of the county road from the Ices Ferry Pike to Friendship Schoolhouse and north of the junction with the road to Jenkins Mill. It describes the lot as bounded on the north and west by those roads and on the east and south by previously fixed boundaries, containing approximately one-half acre.

The deed names Emory Cale, I. J. Blaney, Christopher Cale, Jacob Cale, Oliver Jenkins, K. Jenkins, John W. Radabough, Jacob Radabaugh, and John L. Moore as trustees and their legal successors. The property was to be maintained as a place of worship for the ministry and membership of the Evangelical Association of North America.

The 1972 caption describes the church as formerly belonging to a Brethren denomination, while the 1893 deed specifically identifies the Evangelical Association of North America. The timeline preserves the deed's more precise contemporary denominational identification rather than treating the two descriptions as equivalent.

The 1972 article attributes its historical information to William H. Huff and credits Shelby Young for the accompanying photograph. It describes the church as standing between Rohr and Bull Run; the timeline classifies its location as Rohr in accordance with local geographic usage.

The deed confirms that Jacob and Clarissa E. Cale legally conveyed the parcel in 1893 after the church had been built. Because its stated consideration was the church already erected on the land, the record supports the newspaper's account of donated church ground while showing that the formal conveyance occurred after the 1883 establishment date.