Eric Reece
In the early years of the Methodist Church in Robbinsville, ministers were often appointed one year at a time.
As some churches used to say, “We get the newly-wed or nearly-dead preachers.”
Rev. Oscar F. Sensabaugh was a young man of 20, with a wife and newborn child when he was called to the Charleston-Robbinsville Mission in 1879.
He had eight preaching places and a number of these were at school houses. In addition to Robbinsville and Bryson City, he preached at Witchers Chapel – which was located at the border of Graham and Swain counties on the south bank of Alarka Creek. It was named after an early Robbinsville Methodist preacher, Rev. William Witcher Jr.
After a long and fruitful life of 94 years, he was called home. We are grateful he wrote Recollections of a Methodist Circuit Rider in his later years and included a number of stories about his time in our beloved mountains.
One thing I noticed was that he was always crossing rivers to get to Robbinsville, or go to his next appointment. If he wasn’t getting wet in the Nantahala, he was getting wet in the Little Tennessee or Tuckasegee. He would put his saddle bags across his shoulders to keep his Bible and Hymnal dry.
After a service, he was implored by a man to visit a dying woman. He asked if it could wait until the morning, but the young man said it was urgent. He asked how the man crossed the river and he said he swam over on his horse. The pastor agreed to go and – following in the dark – he crossed the swollen Little Tennessee River on his horse, Charlie. It was so dark he soon held on to his guide’s horse’s tail to climb the mountain to the home. Once there and warmed by the fire, he read John 14 to the woman and her children and prayed. The woman’s faith touched him and the next day, he found a safe place to ford the river to go home.
One Monday morning – after preaching in Robbinsville on Sunday – he headed back to Bryson City and was stopped by a man who asked him if he was the preacher who had preached at the Swain Courthouse. He said, “Yes” and the man replied, “You slandered me, get off your horse and we will settle this here and now.” The preacher said, “Whoa, just a minute, you must be mistaken. I only described the nature of sin and its effects on a man. I am sure you are mistaken. What is your name? I don’t know you from Adam’s ox.”
The man said, “My name is Adam.”
The misunderstanding was soon cleared up and the man and relieved preacher shook hands.
After a year, Rev. Sensabaugh was sent to Hayesville. From there, he embarked to Colorado, where he was the first Methodist preacher to enter many areas. I know his training in the mountains prepared him for the great western frontier.
Eric Reece is the faith columnist for The Graham Star. He is pastor of Robbinsville United Methodist Church and can be reached via email, ereece@wnccumc.net.