Near Livingston in Overton County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Heart of Controversy
Bethlehem United Methodist Church
Photographed by Don Morfe, July 22, 2013
1. Heart of Controversy Marker
Inscription.
Heart of Controversy. Bethlehem United Methodist Church. In 1861, as the secession debate raged across Tennessee, Mary Catherine Sproul taught school here on the church grounds. She was excited to learn that pro-Union leader Horace Maynard would give a speech in Livingston. Then she overheard local secessionists claim they would “riddle his hide” if Maynard spoke. Sproul, shocked, wondered aloud to her students whether their parents were not “heathens and cutthroats? Surely a civilized nation will never tolerate such a course. My God! Are you going to prohibit the freedom of speech in this free, enlightened and blood bought land?” Residents branded Sproul a “Lincolnite,” and longtime friends abandoned her. Others threatened her, and a man offered to tighten the noose if local women decided to hang her. The secessionists prevented Maynard from giving his speech. Sprouls school somehow continued, but she wrote that students were “casting reproachful glances at me as though I had committed a terrible crime.”, Alvin Cullom, a local leader who was a Tennessee delegate at the unsuccessful Washington Peace Conference that met in February 1861, is buried in the cemetery. Former President John Tyler of Virginia led the conference, which submitted a compromise plan to the Senate, where it was ignored., Sam Cullom, a slave who belonged to Alvin Cullom, is also buried here. Sam Cullom accompanied his owners son, Jim, during the Civil War. Decades later, Cullom was among the 280 Tennesseans who applied for and received a state pension under a 1921 law to support former slaves “who served as servants and cooks in the Confederate army.”, (Inscription under the photo on the lower left side) , Horace Maynard, 1859-Courtesy Library of Congress., (Inscription under the photo on the lower right side) , Peace Conference, Washington, D.C., February 1861, from Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper, February 16, 1861
In 1861, as the secession debate raged across Tennessee, Mary Catherine Sproul taught school here on the church grounds. She was excited to learn that pro-Union leader Horace Maynard would give a speech in Livingston. Then she overheard local secessionists claim they would “riddle his hide” if Maynard spoke. Sproul, shocked, wondered aloud to her students whether their parents were not “heathens and cutthroats? Surely a civilized nation will never tolerate such a course. My God! Are you going to prohibit the freedom of speech in this free, enlightened and blood bought land?” Residents branded Sproul a “Lincolnite,” and longtime friends abandoned her. Others threatened her, and a man offered to tighten the noose if local women decided to hang her. The secessionists prevented Maynard from giving his speech. Sprouls school somehow continued, but she wrote that students were “casting reproachful glances at me as though I had committed a terrible crime.”
Alvin Cullom, a local leader who was a Tennessee delegate at the unsuccessful Washington Peace Conference that met in February 1861, is buried in the cemetery. Former President John Tyler of Virginia led the conference, which submitted a compromise plan to the Senate, where it was ignored.
Sam Cullom, a slave who belonged
Click or scan to see this page online
to Alvin Cullom, is also buried here. Sam Cullom accompanied his owners son, Jim, during the Civil War. Decades later, Cullom was among the 280 Tennesseans who applied for and received a state pension under a 1921 law to support former slaves “who served as servants and cooks in the Confederate army.”
(Inscription under the photo on the lower left side) Horace Maynard, 1859-Courtesy Library of Congress.
(Inscription under the photo on the lower right side) Peace Conference, Washington, D.C., February 1861, from Frank Leslies Illustrated Newspaper, February 16, 1861
Location. 36° 19.983′ N, 85° 18.55′ W. Marker is near Livingston, Tennessee, in Overton County. It is on Bethlehem Road west of Monterey Highway, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Livingston TN 38570, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau and in the Highland Rim. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Hartsaw Cove Farm (approx. half a mile away); Crockett's Camp (approx.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on September 2, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 1,361 times since then and 33 times this year. Last updated on April 9, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on September 2, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
