The Call To Worshipby Claudia Smith
When I was a child the bell of Beatrice Baptist Church rang every Sunday morning. I can remember hurrying to dress on Sunday morning and rushing down to the church hopefully to be allowed to pull that rope and ring the bell. It must have been Robert Adams who came and rang the bell but for some reason I think I remember Mr. Joe Mason ringing it also. I'm sure there were many others who had the honor of ringing the bell and calling our congregation to worship.At some point and time the Wiggins brothers, Robert and Newton, developed a mechanical and electrical device that would ring the bell and not require someone to pull the rope.
There is some interesting history and a little mystery associated with the bell of Beatrice Baptist Church.
In the summer of 1960 we had a terrible thunderstorm and torrential rain here in Beatrice. It turned out to be one storm that most everyone in Beatrice remembers because lightning struck the church and soon the church was engulfed in flames. The town of Beatrice had a volunteer fire department and the fire truck was brought to the scene. At that time the truck carried its own supply of water and when that was gone that was it. We apparently did not have a water system or fire hydrants then. Soon the water in the truck ran out but the men of Beatrice showed great ingenuity by using water from a nearby rain filled ditch to fight the fire and soon extinguished it.
I recalled that I stood on the front porch of my Aunt Mae Black's home across the street from the church and cried. I was afraid because our church was burning and there was so much chaos. The men of our church were running back and forth and shouting to each other as they fought to save the church. I was crying also because I saw my father enter the church while it was still burning. Praise God, the church was saved without too much damage and all the men that fought the fire were protected from injury.
After the fire was completely extinguished I remember the members of the church going inside to inspect the damage and I recall that many were crying for joy because the damage seemed to be relatively minor. I believe that most of the fire was contained within the attic and that the steeple was damaged. At the time of repair to the church the bell was removed from the belfry for safety purposes. The church history indicates that the bell was placed in the yard near the church and that it later disappeared.
On Monday May 19, 2003, Hammer Construction arrived at the church and started to remove the old steeple. It was disassembled and removed in three pieces. And as a surprise to many there was a bell in the steeple! Evidently the bell was not missing but had been returned to the steeple following repairs to the church. The electrical and mechanical device that rang the bell was still attached.
By Wednesday, May 21 Hammer Construction had completed the installation of the new steeple and bell. The new steeple is fiberglass and the new bell is brass. The new bell will be rung by a rope as was the original bell. This past Sunday the membership was treated to the ringing of the bell by the pastor's daughter, Maury Harden.
The old bell has a crack on one side and this causes the tone to be flat. The crack could have come from the fire or possibly from a lightning strike. Plans are to have the old bell restored and display it in the courtyard of the church.
Do you have recollections of the fire and the church bell? I would love to have your comments and add them to the history of our church.
I am always searching for information about members of our church and interesting bits of church history to add to the newsletter. I would love and appreciate input from our readers. If you would like to contribute an article to the newsletter please contact me at 251-789-2588
Addition to Newsletter, June 2003:
Patricia Steele related that on the day of the fire our Pastor at that time, Robert Edge, was not in his office as was his usual practice. His office was the area of the church that was struck by lightning. Patricia believes that he had been called away that day for a speaking engagement or otherwise he would have been there when lightning struck his office. God intervenes in our daily lives, often not so dramatically, but it is a wonderful testament to our faith to recall the big and small ways he protects and shields us.
My Aunt Frances Watson recalls that along with others in the church who believed that the church bell was missing, Maysie Wall worried about the bell and the fact that it appeared that someone had stolen it until the time of her death. Aunt Frances said that when she gets to Heaven that one of the first things she will do is to tell Maysie that the bell was in the steeple all the time!
Wilma Harris recalls that she and my mother, Rebecca Black, took towels and soaked up the water on the floor of the sanctuary. She remembers wringing the water from the towels and continuing to soak up the water hopefully to prevent the floors from sustaining too much damage. She also recalls that someone put a bucket under one of the white globe light fixtures in the ceiling in order to catch the water leaking around it from the attic. Momentarily the globe itself filled with water and fell with a loud splash into the bucket, busting the seams of the bucket, but the light globe was miraculously unharmed !
Wilma also recalls that Brenton had quit as Fire Chief but was home on the day of the fire and helped to fight it. She also recalls that the Monroeville Fire Department came to help fight the fire. She remembers that one of the Katz brothers was the chief at that time and he came from work in his suit to help fight the fire.
Edward Wiggins recalls that he was helping his Daddy (Robert Wiggins) and his Uncle Newton install the motor device that rang the bell in the bell tower. Uncle Newton was driving in the nails to hold it in place, when he missed the nail and hit the bell. Their heads rang for 30 minutes.
