The Ravenscroft School in Asheville by Dale Wayne Slusser

Author:Dale Wayne Slusser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2013-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

CANDLER’S MISSION/ST. CLEMENT’S—CANDLER

Mr. William Gaston Candler, for whom the town of Candler was named, was the prime motivator behind the establishment of an Episcopal mission church in the Upper Hominy Valley, southwest of Asheville. An 1883–1884 listing of land owners shows that, at that time, W. G. Candler was the largest landholder in the area, owning over 1,250 acres.84 He also was a lawyer and a businessman, owning a grocery store and a grist mill–sawmill.85

The first account of the start of mission work at Candler (which in the church records was first called “Candler’s” or “Candlerville”) was in 1885. The Rev. George H. Bell, the minister-in-charge of the new work, made the following report: “I have held services irregularly at this place for a little more than a year. There is good prospect for a rapid and healthy growth for the church. A church building is needed here. A beautiful site has been secured for that purpose.”86 Bell was a native from the Haw Creek region east of Asheville, and had been trained by the Rev. Buxton and the Rev. Dr. D. H. Buel in the beginning years of the Ravenscroft Training School (early 1870s). Bell was now a missionary in Watauga County, but was soon to be reappointed as a missioner with the Ravenscroft Associate Mission.

The fledgling church at Candler, during those early years, was meeting in the home of W. G. Candler. On Bishop Lyman’s 1884 visit to the western regions, he visited the new work and reported that on “Monday, September 1st, I continued my journey on to Asheville, and on the way stopped at the house of Mr. Wm. G. Candler, where I was met by the Rev. Mr. Bell, who read Evening Prayer, and I preached, and confirmed two persons, making also an address on the subject of confirmation.”87

The Rev. J. H. Postell, another Ravenscroft missionary, served the Candler church in 1886 as temporary substitute for the Rev. Bell, who had extended duties elsewhere that year. Postell reported not only that the congregation now included 28 families but also that he thought “the prospect good for the success of the church.”88

It is not surprising, then, in light of the rapid growth of the congregation, that in 1887 the Rev. George Bell was ecstatic to report, “The Mission at this place is in a flourishing condition. The attendance is better than it was a year ago and is increasing. By aid kindly given me from various places I have been able to secure house and land formerly owned and used by the Methodists. We are having the building repaired and altered in some respects, and will make it a comfortable and churchly structure.”89 Elsewhere, Bell reported that he had raised the money himself.90 The diocese purchased the 1.5-acre lot and church building in January of 1887 from Dr. W. W. Clark,91 who had only bought it a few months earlier at auction, from the Montmorenci Methodist Church. The Montmorenci congregation had outgrown their church, and had

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