Page 89 - History of the United Methodist Church in Rockingham County
P. 89
History of Congregations of Winchester District June 12, 2024
time in Washington, D.C., observing the workings of Congress and ice skating on the Potomac. This
exposure aided his scholarly temperament, as he used every opportunity as one of education. He was
every moment the scholar. The 1870 U.S. Census lists George A. Newman as living in Washington
Township, Richmond, employed as a laborer. Family history maintains that his purpose in Richmond
was to hone his educational astuteness under the charge of another benevolent individual. Newman
came to Harrisonburg sometime between 1872 and 1875 as a teacher and principal of the “colored”
school. He married, Margaret Dallard, the oldest daughter of Ambrose Dallard. His young wife died
after only 10 years of marriage and left behind four children. Mary, her younger sister, cared for the
children and later married George Newman; 10 children were born of this union. While Newman
worked as teacher, principal, sheriff, insurance company manager, and notary public to support his
family, he played a strategic role in organizing the U.B. Church, and most importantly, recorded the
process.
Ambrose Dallard and his twin brother, Reuben, had been born into slavery in Rockingham Co.
They escaped that plight, fled to Anne Arundel Co. in Maryland, and enlisted in the Union Army during
the Civil War. They returned to Rockingham Co. after the War, collected their respective families,
bought property, built homes, and lived their lives as responsible citizens. It was Ambrose and Reuben
Dallard, along with a relative, William Johnson, who bought the initial property in the Northeast section
of Harrisonburg and founded the community known as Newtown.
It was here in Newtown that the Dallards, the Johnsons, and eventually the Newmans bought and
sold property among themselves for approximately 30 years. Ambrose Dallard gave to each of his
daughters upon her marriage the gift of property on which he constructed a home. It was at the home
which he built for George and Mary Dallard Newman that the early organizational and planning
meetings and services of the UBIC Church were held.
The 186 members of Kelley Street U.B. Church were the following [Toliver 1998, pp. 145-147]: Jane
Anderson, Isaac Atkins, Josephine Atkins, Jackson Banks, Amanda Bibbs, Carter Bibbs, Louisa Bibbs, Annie
Bilhimer, Reuben Bilhimer, Vergie Blake, Harriet Bradford, Addie Branch, Wallace Branneman, Bettie Dallard
Brown, Andrew Bruce, Belle Bruce, Ella Bruce, Rachael Bruce, William Bruce, Annie Byrd, George Byrd,
Maggie Byrd, Rachael Byrd, Jane Carter, Llewellyn Carter,, Mary Carter, Nimrod Carter, Fred Clifford, Howe
Clifford, James D. Clifford, Maggie Clifford, Nannie Clifford, Orpha Clifford, Sarah Clifford, Rev. Theodore K.
Clifford, Vergie Clifford, William Clifford, Charles R. Cochran, Lucy Dallard Cochran, James Cochran, Shirley
Cochran, Brown Colbert, Georgie Colley, W. W. Colley, Willette Colley, Fannie Conley, Bertie Cooper, John
Cooper, Josie Cooper,, Sydney Cooper, Ambrose Dallard, Charles Dallard, Clemmie Dallard, Cora Dallard,
Harriet G. Dallard, Howard M. Dallard, Laura Dallard, Maggie Dallard, Margaret M. Dallard, Reuben Dallard,
Robert W. Dallard, Julia Ferrell, Curtis Fields, Arlena Clifford Francis, Henry Francis, J. Walter Francis, Jerah
Campbell Francis, Maggie Francis, Mallie Francis, Mrs. D. Francis, Sigourney Francis, Walter Francis, Kittie
Franklin, Lewis Franklin, Melinda Franklin, Hannah Frazier, Jacob Frazier, Jane Frazier, Josephine Frazier,
Esther Frye, Violet Frye, Cleophus O. Gaines, Louisa Gaines, Rebecca Gaines, Charles Gant, Flinton Gasway,
Martha Gilmore, Viola Gilmore, Maggie Givens, Thomas Givens, Rebecca Hall, Rev. A. S. Hammack, Samuel
Harris, Richard Harvey, A. C. Harvey, Edward Holly, Hattie Wilson Holmes, John C. Holmes, Cordelia Howard,
Katie Irvin, Robert Irvin, Roberta Irvin, Dennis Jackson, Jane Jackson, Beulah Johnson, Henry Johnson, Joshua
Johnson, R. P. Johnson, William Johnson, Andrew Lewis, Nelson Mack, Edward Madden, Allan Mansfield, John
Markham, Edward Matson, G. A. Rev. McGhee, Nellie Mealy, Henry Minor, C. C. Moore, J. Arthur Moore,
Mildred Morris, Minnie Moton, Fred Newman, George A. Newman, George A. Newman, Jr., Hattie Newman,
Maggie V. Newman, Mary F. Newman, Louisa Nickens, Frye Ovelton, Emma Painter, Author Payne, Rachael
Payne, Susan Pence, Mary Pollard, John Rainbow, Annie Rhodes, Preston Rice, George Richardson, Mary
Richardson, R. Rooper, Benjamin Sampson, Ella Scott, Henry Scott, Samuel Scott, Julia Shepherd, Mary Simms,
Bessie Sirks, Bertie Smith, Fannie Smith, Louisa Smith, Delia Snyder, John Spencer, John Henry Stephens, Sallie
Stevens, P. Elder Steward, Charles Strother, Edgar Strother, Lucy Strother, Alex Stuart, Hattie Swann, Henderson
Taylor, John L. Temple, Laura Temple, Mary Temple, Julia Terrell, Thomas Terrell, Jackson Tolliver, Laura
II.B.4 Kelley Street Freedmen’s Mission Church 77 Volume 5
time in Washington, D.C., observing the workings of Congress and ice skating on the Potomac. This
exposure aided his scholarly temperament, as he used every opportunity as one of education. He was
every moment the scholar. The 1870 U.S. Census lists George A. Newman as living in Washington
Township, Richmond, employed as a laborer. Family history maintains that his purpose in Richmond
was to hone his educational astuteness under the charge of another benevolent individual. Newman
came to Harrisonburg sometime between 1872 and 1875 as a teacher and principal of the “colored”
school. He married, Margaret Dallard, the oldest daughter of Ambrose Dallard. His young wife died
after only 10 years of marriage and left behind four children. Mary, her younger sister, cared for the
children and later married George Newman; 10 children were born of this union. While Newman
worked as teacher, principal, sheriff, insurance company manager, and notary public to support his
family, he played a strategic role in organizing the U.B. Church, and most importantly, recorded the
process.
Ambrose Dallard and his twin brother, Reuben, had been born into slavery in Rockingham Co.
They escaped that plight, fled to Anne Arundel Co. in Maryland, and enlisted in the Union Army during
the Civil War. They returned to Rockingham Co. after the War, collected their respective families,
bought property, built homes, and lived their lives as responsible citizens. It was Ambrose and Reuben
Dallard, along with a relative, William Johnson, who bought the initial property in the Northeast section
of Harrisonburg and founded the community known as Newtown.
It was here in Newtown that the Dallards, the Johnsons, and eventually the Newmans bought and
sold property among themselves for approximately 30 years. Ambrose Dallard gave to each of his
daughters upon her marriage the gift of property on which he constructed a home. It was at the home
which he built for George and Mary Dallard Newman that the early organizational and planning
meetings and services of the UBIC Church were held.
The 186 members of Kelley Street U.B. Church were the following [Toliver 1998, pp. 145-147]: Jane
Anderson, Isaac Atkins, Josephine Atkins, Jackson Banks, Amanda Bibbs, Carter Bibbs, Louisa Bibbs, Annie
Bilhimer, Reuben Bilhimer, Vergie Blake, Harriet Bradford, Addie Branch, Wallace Branneman, Bettie Dallard
Brown, Andrew Bruce, Belle Bruce, Ella Bruce, Rachael Bruce, William Bruce, Annie Byrd, George Byrd,
Maggie Byrd, Rachael Byrd, Jane Carter, Llewellyn Carter,, Mary Carter, Nimrod Carter, Fred Clifford, Howe
Clifford, James D. Clifford, Maggie Clifford, Nannie Clifford, Orpha Clifford, Sarah Clifford, Rev. Theodore K.
Clifford, Vergie Clifford, William Clifford, Charles R. Cochran, Lucy Dallard Cochran, James Cochran, Shirley
Cochran, Brown Colbert, Georgie Colley, W. W. Colley, Willette Colley, Fannie Conley, Bertie Cooper, John
Cooper, Josie Cooper,, Sydney Cooper, Ambrose Dallard, Charles Dallard, Clemmie Dallard, Cora Dallard,
Harriet G. Dallard, Howard M. Dallard, Laura Dallard, Maggie Dallard, Margaret M. Dallard, Reuben Dallard,
Robert W. Dallard, Julia Ferrell, Curtis Fields, Arlena Clifford Francis, Henry Francis, J. Walter Francis, Jerah
Campbell Francis, Maggie Francis, Mallie Francis, Mrs. D. Francis, Sigourney Francis, Walter Francis, Kittie
Franklin, Lewis Franklin, Melinda Franklin, Hannah Frazier, Jacob Frazier, Jane Frazier, Josephine Frazier,
Esther Frye, Violet Frye, Cleophus O. Gaines, Louisa Gaines, Rebecca Gaines, Charles Gant, Flinton Gasway,
Martha Gilmore, Viola Gilmore, Maggie Givens, Thomas Givens, Rebecca Hall, Rev. A. S. Hammack, Samuel
Harris, Richard Harvey, A. C. Harvey, Edward Holly, Hattie Wilson Holmes, John C. Holmes, Cordelia Howard,
Katie Irvin, Robert Irvin, Roberta Irvin, Dennis Jackson, Jane Jackson, Beulah Johnson, Henry Johnson, Joshua
Johnson, R. P. Johnson, William Johnson, Andrew Lewis, Nelson Mack, Edward Madden, Allan Mansfield, John
Markham, Edward Matson, G. A. Rev. McGhee, Nellie Mealy, Henry Minor, C. C. Moore, J. Arthur Moore,
Mildred Morris, Minnie Moton, Fred Newman, George A. Newman, George A. Newman, Jr., Hattie Newman,
Maggie V. Newman, Mary F. Newman, Louisa Nickens, Frye Ovelton, Emma Painter, Author Payne, Rachael
Payne, Susan Pence, Mary Pollard, John Rainbow, Annie Rhodes, Preston Rice, George Richardson, Mary
Richardson, R. Rooper, Benjamin Sampson, Ella Scott, Henry Scott, Samuel Scott, Julia Shepherd, Mary Simms,
Bessie Sirks, Bertie Smith, Fannie Smith, Louisa Smith, Delia Snyder, John Spencer, John Henry Stephens, Sallie
Stevens, P. Elder Steward, Charles Strother, Edgar Strother, Lucy Strother, Alex Stuart, Hattie Swann, Henderson
Taylor, John L. Temple, Laura Temple, Mary Temple, Julia Terrell, Thomas Terrell, Jackson Tolliver, Laura
II.B.4 Kelley Street Freedmen’s Mission Church 77 Volume 5
