The founding family of Wheeling's Home

      This house was built by Ebenezer Zane about 1800. It was located at 11th and Main Streets. The Zane family setteled here in 1769 and founded Wheeling. Ebenezer Zane laid the first lot in 1793.

Where the Program for Keyboards for Christ Began

Interior of the Fourth Street Church. Jenny Lind sang from this rostrum.

Fourth Street Methodist Church was the first Methodist organization, and also the first church of any denomination to be organized in the city of Wheeling.

The Methodist Episcopal Church of America was organized in Baltimore, December 24, 1784, at the historical "Christmas Conference." Sixty of the sixty-three preachers in America attended this conference which elected Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury as bishops; they appointed Rev. Wilson Lee to the Red Stone Circuit, Baltimore Conference. This was one of the first Methodist circuits west of the Allegheny Mountains. In the spring of 1785 the Rev. Mr. Lee became the organizer and first pastor of the church in the frontier settlement of Wheeling. Only three years before, the last battle of the Revolution had been fought at Fort Henry. It was a wild country which at that time knew no organized religion. Savages and beasts roamed the forests, and the Ohio River was the ribbon that separated East from West.

It was to the home of Colonel Ebenezer Zane that the Rev. Mr. Lee came and made known his mission. He was graciously received, and meetings were later held in this home which stood at the southeast angle of Fort Henry (now Eleventh and Main Streets). Mrs. Elizabeth McColloch Zane, wife of Ebenezer, was the first member of the little Methodist class; she became a power for righteousness and was zealous and pious.

The first episcopal visit to Wheeling was made by Asbury in 1808. Bishop Asbury preached in the courthouse from Hebrews 11-2-3 on "The Great Salvation and the Danger of Neglecting it." The Bishop and his party were entertained at the home of Col. Ebenezer Zane, where his youngest sister, Betty, told of carry powder in her apron to the settlers.

For thirty-three years, from the founding of the church in 1785 to 1818, the congregation had no church building. Meetings were held in the homes until the courthouse was built and then services were held in that structure. By 1818 the membership had grown so fast it was deemed advisable to build a new church. Noah Zane, son of Ebenezer Zane, gave a lot on Fourth St. (the fourth street from the river, now Chapline Street) to John McColloch, Asabel Booth, John List, Jr., Abraham McColloch, Richard Carter and Daniel Zane, as the trustees for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Here the society erected a small one-room brick church.

This was the first church built in Wheeling -- at that time a village of approximately 1,300 inhabitants.

The membership of the charge numbered about thirty persons. On Main Street, between Tenth and Twelfth, there were a few houses, log, frame and brick. The river bottom was devoted to corn, grass, and woodland. Some distance from the corner of the present Chapline and Twelfth Streets in a northerly direction and near the hill was McConnel's tanyard, his house and farther back a log house. Where the Market House now stands was a pond supplied from a spring in the hillside. Market Street was not graded and had few houses.

In 1823 Fourth Street appeared on the records for the first time as a separate station. In the winter of 1831 and 1832 a most successful revival was held in the charge under Rev. John Newland Moffitt, a noted evangelist, and the membership was greatly increased. At the close of 1832 the membership numbered 273. The old church became too small for the congregation.

About this time the population of Wheeling was 2,000 and a tremendous effort was required before the ardent Methodists secured enough money to build their new church. The Rev. William Lambden, Capt. Robert Hamilton, John List, Joseph Morrison, and Elijah Day were appointed as a committee to raise subscriptions and procure materials. Prompt payment was the order of the day in those times, as the subscriptions were made on the terms: one-third in hand, one-third in three months and the other third in six months. Rev. Lambden, Daniel Zane, and Capt. Hamilton were appointed a building committee, with authority to build a structure 60 x 80. Very few of members were persons of means and the struggle to meet the indebtedness of the church was increased by the financial stress incident to an epidemic of cholera in 1832 and the great financial crisis of 1837.

The new church and second building, larger than any public building in Wheeling was dedicated February 24, 1836, the year Wheeling was incorporated as a city. It was a large and commodious ediface with side and end gallaries; its auditorium seated 2,000 persons. It became a rallying place not only for Methodism, but for great secular movements.

One of the most historic events was the appearance of the world renound  singer, Jennie Lind in 1851. The famous showman P. T. Barnum was paid $5,000. for this one recital. [ Jennie was paid $1,000 a night (plus expenses] She arrived by steamboat and performed then to travel up river to Pittsburg PA. Remember this was 1851, and she was paid $1,000.    Seats were sold at auction and Michael Imhoff, a tailor, made the first bid of $250. J Who was Jennie Lind? "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind was born in Stockholm, Sweden in1821, the daughter of a teacher of languages. She is said to have been able to repeat a song that she had heard but once at the age of three. At ten years of age she sang children parts on the Stockholm stage. After turning 12 years of age, her upper notes lost their sweetness, and for four years she did not do much singing. Her love fo music continued and these years were devoted to the study of instrumental music and composition.

At the end of this period her voice had recovered its power and purity and for a year and a half she was the star of the Stockholm opera. Next, she gave a series of concerts to obtain the means to go to Paris for further study, but the French teacher did not appreciate her powers and Jenny returned to her native city. When she was twenty-three years old, Jenny went to Dresden and when Queen Victoria visited that city the following year, she sang at the festivals held in the queens honor. This opened the way to astonishishing success in other German cities. In 1847 she went to London and was enthusiastically received. Here she sang for the first time in concert. Because of the influence of P.T. Barnum, Jenny Lind visited America in 1850. In 1850 40,000 people showed up to greet the arrival of her ship in New York harbor . Mr. P.T  Barnum because of his great influence and his power as an advertiser he roused the wildest enthusiasm. Tickets sold for fabulous prices in New York. But she did not disappoint the wildest expectation. Jenny Lind traveled to Paris to study with Manuel Garcia, a famous Spanish vocal coach, who eventually agreed to train her. Her husband, Otto Goldschmidt, was a famous German pianist who trained with Mendelsson  they married in Boston while on tour in the US. After her marriage, she appeared on the stage only at intervals and usually at concerts given for charitable causes. She was deeply interested in these charitable causes and we can easily add to her title of singer that of philanthropist. Her later years were spent in London where she died in 1887. Her life and songs are a sweet memory.

Prior to 1825 Fourth Street Church was the principal place of worship for Methodists for ten miles on each side of the river. Sixteen Methodist Churches were established from the original society, giving Fourth Street the name of the "Mother Church."

In 1839 the need of a church for German Methodists became imperative. The result for the erection of the first German Methodist Church in the world. In 1951, this church now called Central Methodist Church, merged with Fourth Street.

In 1866, Zane Street Church was formed, growing out of a Sunday School founded in 1859. Zane Street Church merged with Fourth Street in 1926.

While repairs were being made on the building in 1866, it was discovered that the walls and the foundation of the church had settled and that it would be necessary to rebuild. During the construction of the new building services were conducted for 18 months in Washington Hall, "the Birthplace of West Virginia," located at Twelfth and Market Streets where the Laconia Building now stands.

Fourth Street's third church building was dedicated on May 15, 1870 by Bishop Edmund S. Janes; Dr. Henry C. Westwood was the pastor. The design of the building was Norman, distinguished by the presence of the semi-circular arch. A few days after a successful opening, members of the church met to select seats and rent pews, and such was the enthusiasm that a handsom income for current expenses was provided.

Unification of the three major branches of American Methodism occured in 1939, during the pastorate of Dr. Arthur J. Jackson, and the name of the churhc was changed to Fourth Street Methodist Church, dropping the word Episcopal.

In 1948, to ease the limited education facilities of the third church building, $30,000 was spent in extensive improvements during the pastorate of James T. Browning. A generous gift by Mrs. Mary Alderman made this work possible and Alderman Chapel was named in her honor. In 1949 serious damage to the building was incurred during the erection of business premises on the adjacent lot to the south. During the ministry of Dr. William Knox the building was declared unsafe and the congregation worshipped in Clay Junior High School Auditorium from August 20 to October 15, 1950. Several plans were considered to meet this emergency. Finally, by an overwhelming majority of both Quarterly Conference and congregational assembly, the trustees were authorized to purchase the Fidelity Building which was being offered for sale. Erected in 1937, this building not only afforded ample facilities for a modern church program, but was readily convertible to ecclesiastical usage. The purchase price was $215,000, including Board Room furnishings, Venetian blinds, some carpeting, draperies and equipment. Worship services and church school were conducted in the new church home on Sunday, October 22, 1950. Fourth Street Church came into full legal possession of this building on January 1, 1951, and the structure was renamed The Methodist Building. The beautiful Alderman Chapel was installed in a new Alderman Hall in the new building, and the recently purchased kitchen equipment, sinks and cabinets fitted perfectly into an efficient church kitchen.

Under the wise leadership of Dr. Knox, not only was a new church home secured, but the merger of Central Methodist Church wth Fourth Street was effected. The united congregations held their first service on June 17, 1951.

Since becoming pastor in June, 1953, Dr. J. M. Helm has liquidated the remaining debt of $49,000 on the new building. New chancel furniture and pews have been place placed in the sanctuary, the parsonage has been remodeled and redecorated, Wheat Youth Center and other rooms of the church have been remodeled and equipped. The mortgage was burned and the new building dedicated by Bishop Lloyd C. Wicke on Easter Sunday, April 21, 1957.

Owned and operated by the Fourth Street Methodist Church, the Methodist Building is valued at more than one million dollars. Over fifty per cent of this four-story building is now being used for the program of the church.

Carefully selected limestone, marble and granite have been used in the facings along the lower front entrance. Outstanding from the standpoint of beauty in design is the front lobby with its walls of Tennessee Tavernelle marble set on a base of green Tinos marble from Greece. A panelled effect is achieved by the use of both light and dark marble on all walls of the foyer. Visitors should look closely above the inner lobby door. Visible in the marble are two fossil shells preserved through countless ages from the era of prehistoric sea life. The floor, and that of all corridors, is terrazzo.

The staircase has a specially designed, pressed bronze railing with silver-like Monel metal ships spaced evenly along the hand rail. The green Tion marble is used in the newel post and base borders, while Tennessee marble is used for all stairway walls to the third floor. The steps of the stairway are of Roman Tavertine, a lighter colored volcanic lava of indestructible hardness. The risers of the staircase are tile blocked of an original Moorish design, executed in blue, cream, and red.

Rare woods -- American black walnut, prima vera from Guatemala and Central America, and African and Phillippine mahogany -- have been used extensively throughout the building. The corridors of the second and third floors are panelled in rich blond mahogany. Wainscoting and doors in the various rooms are of mahogany or walnut.

Along with its beauty no building could be more complete in its mechanical conveniences. It is air-conditioned throughout the first three floors by a central unit. The passenger elevator is automatically controlled and was the first of its kind in Wheeling. The building has its own incinerator, a hot water tank with a 900-gallon capacity, and a freight elevator. The two gas boilers are able to heat the entire building without the aid of the other. A general plan of sound-proofing has been used, with all corridor ceilings made of acoustic plaster. Special cork tile is used to cover 17,000 square feet of the floor area. Many other rooms are carpeted.

Designed by the late Rowland M. Johnson, one of the nation's outstanding architects the Methodist Building was completed in 1938. Mr. Johnson also designed Commencement Hall at Bethany College. The George A. Fuller Company nationally famous for their construction work built the Methodist Building and they regard this as one of the most complete and artistic structures of its size that they have ever erected. The most beautiful buildings in the nation's capital have been constructed by Fuller Company including Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Memorial, and the U. S. Supreme Court building. This was the second building that the Fuller Company built in West Virginia, the first being the state capitol in Charleston.

Mr. Andrew Sweeny brought Electric to Wheeling and was our Mayor.

He served as mayor of Wheeling longer than any other man but Andrew J. Sweeney's greatest claim to fame was in the fact that be brought electricity to the city. By the time Thomas Edison's experiments with the incandenscent light bulb bore fruitition, arc lighting was already an accepted technology in the United States as the result of the pioneering inventions of Charles F. Brush. In the summer of 1876, Mayor Sweeney, a prominent Wheeling businessman, was selected by President Ulysses S. Grant as a commissioner for West Virginia to the Philadelphia Exposition. Earlier, he had been appointed a commissioner to the Vienna Exposition in 1873 and subsequently was picked as one of the representatives of his nation at the Paris Exposition in 1878. While in Paris, Sweeney saw electric arc lighting in actual service on the city streets. He returned to Wheeling with enthusiasm for this form of illumination and when Brush Electric Co., of Cleveland, formed a local lighting company, Sweeney was named as its president. However, after receiving permission from city council to use the streets and alleys of Wheeling to convey electricity, some of the shareholders in Brush Electric Light Co. of Wheeling became apprehensive and eventually the company was dissolved without ever becoming operational. However, Sweeney -- a man of innovation and foresight -- refused to give up. He rekindled the enterprise with the help of his son, John, and W. P. Hix, superintendent of the Sweeney & Son Machine Shop at 12 Twelfth St., where the new organization, the Wheeling Electric Co., set up its first generating plant. On Sept. 13, 1882, just nine days after Edison lighted lower Manhattan, Sweeney provided electric lighting in actual service for the first time in four business establishments in Wheeling. The cost was 75 cents per night for each light, with the charge including installation of the lamps. Born in Pittsburgh, Jan. 1, 1829, the son of Irish immigrants, Sweeney was brought to Wheeling by his father, Thomas, a year later. The elder Sweeney acquired the properties of North Wheeling Manufacturing Co. and as A. J. Sweeney grew up, he worked in the family business, which produced engines, mill machinery, foundry castings and steamboats. He took over control of the enterprise in 1875. Sweeney was first appointed mayor in 1855 and served until 1881. In addition to being head of municipal government, he served as colonel of the militia during the Civil War. Mayor Sweeney was one of the incorporators and a director of the Citizens Railway Co. and was instrumental in organizing the paid fire department and fire alarm telegraph system. Sweeney fathered 13 children. He was married in 1848 to Mary H. Moore and they had four children before she died at age 30. In 1861, he married Marie E. Hanna, of Washington, Pa., by whom he had nine children. Sweeney died in his North Main St. home on the night of Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 1893. He remained head of Wheeling Electrical Co. until his death.

Doc WIlliams   Doc has been a family friend for since I was 12 years old. I have performed with his family and watched his grandson grow up to be a WV Senator and now the mayor of our town.

He was born Andrew John Smik on June 26, 1914, in Cleveland, Ohio. However, he has become known to thousands upon thousands of country music fans as Doc Williams. Associated with the WWVA Jamboree since 1937, Doc is an institution in Wheeling and a living symbol of pure, basic country music. Moreover, he is a familiar and beloved entertainer to loyal fans as far away as England and various parts of Canada, where he has made personal appearances, as well as in the United States -- from Maine to Florida and a lot of places in between.

He and his wife Chickie have been made honorary citizens in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. In 1983, Doc was one of the entertainers enshrined in WWVA's Walkway of the Stars. The oldest living member of Jamboree USA, he has been by gubernatorial proclamation hailed as "West Virginia's Official Country Music Ambassador of Good Will." When he was only two years old, the Smik family moved from Cleveland to Kittaning, Pa., area. Young Andrew went to school in Tarrtown, Pa., learned to play cornet by note from his father, taught himself to play guitar, harmonica and accordion by ear, and began playing at square dances. Eventually, he dropped out of high school to work as a coal miner at something less than $1 a day. Returning to Cleveland, Doc launched his career as a country music performer in 1933. Two years later he appeared on his first radio broadcast, an amateur hour on station WJAY. That same year he moved to Pittsburgh and performed with groups on radio stations KQV/WJAS and WHJB, Greensburg, Pa. Soon he adopted the name under which he has become so well known and organized his own group, Doc Williams and the Border Riders. Williams first appeared on the Jamboree in 1937and decided to make Wheeling his home. His first fan letter, addressed to "Buck Williams and the Border Riders," was from Jesse Wanda Crupe, a native of the Bethany, WV, area who wanted to hire the group to play for a square dance. When Doc saw Jesse Wanda, he nicknamed her "Chickie" because he thought she was a "cute chick." They were married in 1939.

In 1946, after the births of the three daughters, Chickie Williams joined her husband's radio act. In '40, Williams and his wife moved to Memphis and he appeared on WREC radio there while touring through Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. He was asked by founder Harry Stone to join the Grand Ole Opry but then Chickie was on her way back to Wheeling to have her first child. Doc soon followed. From 1940 to '42, Williams operated the airport at Yorkville, Ohio. During World War II, he worked for a time at Frederick, Md., and spent a short hitch in the Navy before the war's end. Then it was back to WWVA, back to touring and "selling 200,000 guitar courses on the air." The song most closely associated with Doc is an old English folk song, "My Old Brown Coat and Me." One of his biggest hits was "Roses are Blooming."