Soon after writing about my ideas for learning more about
Rhoda Caroline Richardson, I sent away for her daughter, Maude Womble Cudworth’s marriage
certificate. After receiving it, I did
a bit of digging on J. B. Erwin M. G. the person who married Maude and her
husband, Frank and learned that he was a minister at Elm Street Methodist
church in Nashville, Tennessee.
In the case of Rhoda’s son, Albert’s marriage certificate, I
researched the person who married him and his wife Mattie. I found that E. T. Brantly V D M was pastor
of Edgar Chapel in Nashville, which was a Presbyterian Church.
Once learning the religious affiliation of J. B. Erwin, I then began to try
and determine how I could go about obtaining records from Elm Street Methodist
Church. I learned that records for the church unfortunately aren’t available at the Family History Library, so I
can’t order any microfilm from them. I
discovered a website for the Tennessee Conference and this led me to another
website for their Archives, History Depository and Library.
I also found that rolls of microfilm can be ordered from the
Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA).
They also have records for Elm Street Methodist Church, so are a
possible repository for me to use.
In the past, I’d had similar success when I contacted the
Drew University Library when I wanted a copy of Warren Womble’s obituary that
was published in a Methodist magazine.
So I sent an e-mail inquiring as to what records for the Elm Street
Church are available to the archivist at the Tennessee Conferences Archives,
History Depository and Library early last month, but haven’t received any
response yet, perhaps my inquiry was too broad. I’m considering sending another to the archivist’s direct e-mail
and see if I get a quicker response.
While considering this option, I ordered the Elm Street
Methodist Church records on microfilm from the TSLA. It’ll be interesting seeing if I can view the microfilm at my
local public library, I see another blog post about this subject in my future!
The interesting thing I noticed while placing my microfilm
roll order with the TSLA, is that they have other Methodist Church records
available to order on microfilm.
Hopefully, these records will help me further my Womble family research.
I’m still not sure that Rhoda Caroline had any connection to
the Methodist religion either before she married or afterwards, but at least
this is a place to start my search. I
think it’s a pretty good guess at least during the years she was married to
John Washington Womble, because so far I’ve found that at least two of their
children had some connection to this religion. In both Albert and his sister’s, Maude's obituaries their religion is
mentioned and states that they were members of a Methodist church where they
lived or had lived.
Previously, I had
discovered that Albert’s wife, who may have been Presbyterian before she
married must have converted to Methodism afterwards. The reason being is that she’s listed as being a member of the
Fountain Avenue Methodist church in Paducah, Kentucky both in her obituary and in
records from that church. Also John
Washington Womble’s brother, Warren became a Methodist minister and relocated
to southwestern Tennessee with a number of family members both from his family
as well as his wife, Mary McDade’s family.
I don’t know if finding Rhoda Caroline listed in records for
the Elm Street church will lead me to learn what her religious affiliation was
prior to her marriage and further the paper trail on her, but I feel that this
is my best course of action to learn more about her.
