23

Church,3 was founded in l866 by the Rev. Matthew Alston and was moved

to its permanent location, what is now the corner of Ashe and Lee

Streets, in 187l.L+ In this church, the small day school later known as

Bennett Seminary was organized.5

The freedmen of the Greensboro—Warnersville area were very eager to have a local school, as one can conclude from the following June l8, l873, newspaper notice:

The colored citizens of Greensboro, and as many of the whites who are interested, are requested to meet tomorrow, (Wednes- day) night, at the warnersville Church, to consider the ques- tion of the establishment in Greensboro, of a colored Normal School or College. This institution will be established under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church North, some where in the State. The object of the meeting is to advocate the claims of Greensboro. The citizens of Wilming- ton, High Point and Thomasville are all desirous of having the school located within their boundaries.

The Rev. Mr. Alston, founder of the Warnersville Church and a member of

the North Carolina Conference since 1870,7 was especially strong in

3Unidentified handwritten essay about the history of St. Mat- thew's Methodist Church, no date, found in vertical file of Caldwell- Jones Room, Greensboro Public Library.

ANorth Carolina Conference, Methodist Church in Celebration of Its One Hundredth Session, June lO-lS, l958, at Bennett College, Greens- boro, North Carolina, unnumbered page. Numerous newspaper references in 1873 and 1874 support the indications that 11the Warnersville Churchu was the Methodist Episcopal Church. Nell Craig, author of the l94l Dail News article, in Speaking of a man's visit to Warnersville about 1890, had the same opinion.

SGreensboro New North State, May 28, 1875. 6

Greensboro New North State, June 18, 1873.

7N. C. Conference, Minutes, 1915, last page.