CHAPTER TWO Emily Osborn Founder, Greenwood Methodist Church Greenwood, South Carolina 22 May 2022
I. Who Emily Was and What She Did “It might seem strange to many that Greenwood never had an organized church until about the commencement of the war, and although the Baptists and Presbyterians were numerically and financially stronger than the Methodists, yet it was left for the latter to organize and dedicate the first house of worship. . . . new comers . . . first conceived the idea of forming a church. . . . The first members were Mrs. Annie Turpin, Mrs. Annie Calhoun, R.H. Mounce and wife, Miss Emily Osborn and probably Mr. and Mrs. Milton Osborn.” 1 Photo: Emily Osborn’s nephew, Leonard Augustus “Gus” or “L.A.” Osborn Courtesy: L. Brabham Dukes, Jr. Others who wrote about founders of Greenwood Methodist Church generally agreed with the women on the author’s list, except one, Emily Osborn. The author was the only one to name Emily a founder. But consider this. When the author wrote about Emily and other founders, he wrote about women he knew. Mrs. Annie Calhoun was his sister-in-law. Mrs. Annie Turpin was Annie Calhoun’s mother. She lived with her daughter. 2 Emily lived and worked near where the author’s sister-in-law lived. Also, she was postmaster Milton Osborn’s sister. Their family name was well-known because the postmaster position put him in regular contact with most residents. The Osborn and Mounce families operated businesses near the railroad depot, which became the village center. Wives in the families were working women, active in business and visible in the everyday life of the village.
1 C.M. Calhoun, History of Greenwood and History of Greenwood County (n.p.: privately printed, 1903), 40. 2 Margaret Watson, Greenwood County Sketches: Old Roads and Early Families (Greenwood, South Carolina: The Attic Press, Inc., 1970), 176. Also, “Turpin,” obituary, Southern Christian Advocate (Charleston, South Carolina) , 26 June 1880, p. 7, col. 2, South Carolina United Methodist Collection, Wofford College, Spartanburg.
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