Ebenezer Academy, Bethany Presbyterian Church and Cemetery is a historic

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

building,

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, and

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

located six miles north of Statesville in Bethany Township,

Iredell County, North Carolina Iredell County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 186,693. Its county seat is Statesville, and its largest town is Mooresville. The county was formed in 1788, subtracted from Ro ...

. The

log building Log buildings and structures can be categorized as historic and modern. A diverse selection of their forms and styles with examples of architectural elements is discussed in the following articles: *Log cabin – a rustic dwelling *Log house – a ...

was constructed in 1823 and housed Ebenezer Academy. The church building was built about 1855, and is a one-story, three bay by five bay, vernacular

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style frame building with a low gable roof. Also on the property is the contributing church cemetery with burials dating to about 1785. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980.

Bethany Presbyterian Church and cemetery

The Bethany Presbyterian Church was an off-shoot of the

Fourth Creek Congregation The community of the Fourth Creek Congregation was a group of Ulster Scots people, Scots-Irish Presbyterians who first arrived in the Province of North Carolina in the mid to late 1730s and established a congregation by 1750 under pastor John Tho ...

, located about six miles north of

Statesville, North Carolina Statesville is a city in and the county seat of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and it is part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. Statesville was established in 1789 by an act of the North Carolina Legislature. The population was r ...

. After William Sharpe created his map of the Fourth Creek Congregation in 1773, it was decided to create two additional church congregations-- Concord Presbyterian Church and Bethany Presbyterian Church. Members of the Bethany congregation were organized in 1775 and built the initial church building in 1777 along Fifth Creek north of the Fourth Creek Congregation. Dr. James Hall was appointed the pastor of all three churches on April 8, 1778. Dr. Hall lived in the area of the Bethany Church. After serving the three churches for 12 years, he decide to devote himself to Bethany, where he served for an additional 26 years and retired as pastor in 1816., No. 91, Bethany Presbyterian Church The first black Presbyterian church in Iredell County was organized at Bethany by Rev. Murkland in October 1866. It was named Freedom Presbyterian Church. The existing Bethany Presbyterian Church was built in about 1855 to replace the one built in 1777. While it has undergone remodeling and additions, the exterior is similar to the initial building. The cemetery includes burials of many of the founding members.

Ebenezer Academy

Ebenezer Academy was founded as a preparatory school by Presbyterian leaders in Iredell County in 1822. It was chartered by the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

. Several nephews of James Hall, an early Presbyterian scholar and founder of Clio's Nursery in Iredell County that closed in 1787, were the first principals and teachers. The curriculum at Ebenezer focused on English, grammar, and geography. An 1823 newspaper advertisement for the school stated "all branches of education required for admission into college, will here be taught. The Academy is in a rural situation, six miles from Statesville, so that students will be measurably free from temptations to vice." Notable alumni included Thomas L. Clingman and

Joseph Pearson Caldwell Joseph Pearson Caldwell (March 5, 1808 – June 30, 1853) was a Congressional Representative from North Carolina; born near Olin, North Carolina, March 5, 1808; attended Bethany Academy, near Statesville, North Carolina; studied law; was admitte ...

. The academy closed temporarily in 1856, due to the death of the principal James Crawford and lack of funding. It was reopened after the U.S. Civil War as a subscription school. The school was closed in 1903 after Iredell County public schools were built.*

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ebenezer Academy, Bethany Presbyterian Church And Cemetery Presbyterian churches in North Carolina

Protestant Reformed cemeteries Cemeteries in North Carolina Defunct schools in North Carolina Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Churches completed in 1855 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Churches in Iredell County, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Iredell County, North Carolina