Served North End – 1951-1953
Uncle Tom was born in 1903 in Shawnee, Ohio. His brother George, also a
preacher, was my grandfather. Tom’s first wife drowned in the Ohio River in a
car crash. He later married Martha Dotson. You may be familiar with his chil
dren, Leona Grear, Alverda Stanley, Tom D., and Bill Butterfield. Tom was pri
marily an evangelist, which meant he was continually holding gospel meetings
up and down the Ohio Valley. Three week meetings were very common in those
days. He was also a located preacher at Vienna’s 34th Street, Southside, and
North End from 1951-1953. He preached his first sermon at North End in 1944.
During his time here, the church built our present building (now the MPR). Does
anyone know where the Mountain Flower Church of Christ was in Wood Coun
ty? Tom held meetings there in the 1920’s. He died in Parkersburg in 1994 after
70 years in the pulpit.