Church History
For a quarter of a century following its formal organization in 1869, the Leading Creek congregation worshipped in the restored White Church building. Although not completely renovated when the congregation began to use it, the White Church was one of the two buildings then existing on the site of the present city of Elkins. Also it was the first Presbyterian church in the Lower Valley to be rebuilt after the Civil War. As the population of Elkins rapidly increased, so did the membership in the Presbyterian Church. By the mid-nineties it was apparent the "Old White" Church building was no longer adequate for the needs of the growing congregation. Senator Henry G. Davis, though then not a member of the Elkins Church, learned of the congregation's needs. On April 10, Senator Davis noted in his Journal:" I am thinking of building a stone Church at Elkins in Memory of Mother Davis." Senator Davis had given meticulous attention to every detail involved in the planning and construction of the building. He wrote more than 90 letters between July 13, 1894 and November 18, 1895, to the architect, to furniture, glass, lumber, tile, hardware, and other companies. Senator Davis conferred with his favorite brother, Colonel Thomas B. Davis of Keyser, about the project and decided to allow him to participate. The Senator confided to his journal that "we are arranging to build a Memorial Church to our mother - it is to be of stone."
On Sunday, September 29, 1895, former Senator Henry Gassaway Davis, sitting in the privacy of Graceland, his mansion on the hill above the Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church, noted in the Journal that, "Today Rev. Dr. Hoge of Richmond, Va., Dedicated the new Church & Sunday School at Elkins donated by my brother Thomas and myself to the Presbyterians in memory of our parents - especially Mother." He added that there were 800 to a 1,000 people present.
This historical excerpt was taken from the book, The Davis Memorial Presbyterian Church 1895-1995: A Century of Service by Thomas Richard Ross, a member of DMPC.