Volume 9 , Issue 9

Green Valley School & Church Legacy

"The following information tells a bit more of the history of the Green Valley School and Church. The following information is from my great-uncle Alva Martin and great-aunt Helen Van Meter. They were the eldest son and youngest daughter of Thomas Jefferson and Adda Keffer Martin, who were my great-grandparents. All of them, except Alva Martin are buried in the Pleasant View Cemetery.

"It was important to the homesteaders in this area to have a place to worship. Their first services were held in homes and in the sod schoolhouse. Sometimes there were tent meetings lasting one or two weeks. The Free Methodist Church was organized with only four members, in March 1901, at the close of a revival meeting. Two of the members were Parkinson and Mary (Mollie) Irons Keffer. A frame schoolhouse was built later that year. The group continued to worship in the schoolhouse until 1929 when the present Free Methodist Church was built on the northwest corner of Mollie Keffer's farm. Park Keffer had died in 1917. Thomas Jefferson Martin had married Adda Keffer, Park's sister, and spent many hours working on the new church. An old church in Helena was torn down and used in the new church. In 1950 the schoolhouse was moved onto the church property and still serves as a fellowship hall. The school house was also known as Punkin Hollow." -- Marvin Henry - EMAIL: figment1@comcast.net - nmfigment@yahoo.com
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