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Apr 01, 2020

African American Genealogy: The Dothan Eagle Has Notice of A.M.E. Conferences

Negro Conference, Dothan Eagle, Dothan, Alabama, 20 November 1908, Friday, Page 1, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12210840/

I want to really encourage those of you with Alabama ancestry that you need documentation for to search the Dothan Eagle in Dothan, Dale County, Alabama.  I heard from James Morgan III again last week. He let me know that there was another article in the Dothan Eagle that documented Bishop William H. Heard:

Negro Conference, Dothan Eagle, Dothan, Alabama, 20 November 1908, Friday, Page 1, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12210840/
Negro Conference, Dothan Eagle, Dothan, Alabama, 20 November 1908, Friday, Page 1, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12210840/

Dothan, Alabama was where the A.M.E. Church held the conference for the church in 1908. One hundred thirty-six ministers with delegates and several hundred members attended this event. We know were they met according to James Morgan III

“This event took place at Cherry Street A.M.E. Church, where Rev. Hightower pastored. This would have taken place right about the time when the new church building was completed,” said James Morgan III.

“The Conference will meet for their deliberations today in the new church, which is nearing completion in the eastern part of the town, and which is the most costly negro churches in the state.” Without Morgan’s help with this article, I would not have known it was about Cherry Street A.M.E Church.

Neither would I have known about Bishop William H. Heard being present at this conference because his name was misspelled, “Haerd.” This is a great example of how much we need our audience to communicate with us.

We now have another piece of information to add to Bishop William H. Heard’s timeline because of this article. Bishop Heard was a member of Cherry Street A.M.E. Church on 20 November 1908, and his was soon to leave for Africa for his work in that place.

Sharpen the Saw

It would be nice to visit Cherry Street A.M.E. Church. It is the Alabama’s oldest A.M.E. Church. It was the original Colored Methodist Church in 1877 with a cemetery next door. Can you look it up in Find A Grave? Let us know in our Facebook Group.