Edward Everett Sullens

Rev. Edward Everett Sullens, M.G. (1865-1940) -- Circuit Rider. Edward was born July 3, 1865 in Brazito, Cole County, Mo. to Peter Washington Green and Sarah Ann (Johnston) Sullens. Edward began preaching for the Lord when he was about 19 years of age.

He married Viola Catherine (Loveall) (1866-1940), daughter of Daniel David Loveall and Frances Ann "Annie" (Sweaney), May 18, 1887 in Tuscumbia, MO. They had 9 children. He performed two of his children's marriages and two of his daughters married ministers – Alva married Rev. Harrison Gordon Butler and Flossie married Rev. Clifford Moody.

Edward organized the Jim Henry Methodist Church in the late 1800s. The church and furniture were built by himself and his brother, Enos Asbury Sullens (1867-1934). James M. Rush donated a hilly part of the Rush land for the church and cemetery. It was known as the Jim Henry Methodist church for many years because of the location – Jim Henry was an Osage Indian who lived in the area between Tuscumbia and Mary's Home. The township now carries his name. Later the name of the cemetery was changed to Rush Chapel in memory of the early Rush pioneers who are buried there.

The Jim Henry church was one of Rev. Sullen's early pastorates. The rickety building was torn down about 1962. All that remains is the cemetery and a small picnic shelter that was built in the 1980s. The Rush family continues to meet there on Decoration (Memorial) Day once a year to decorate their loved ones graves and celebrate with a picnic lunch. A descendant of Ephraim, James M's brother, continues to care for the cemetery and picnic grounds.

Edward died August 26, 1940 in Hitchcock, OK and Viola died 3 months and one week later the same year in Eakley, Ok. Both are buried in Hobart, OK.

More to Read:
!. Peter Sullens and Mary Carson & Two Hundred Years of Descendants. By Maude Sullens Hoffman, 1971.
2. The Rush Report. Compiled by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore. Research Assistance: David W. Rush. March 2003.
3. The Loveall Report. Compiled by Gaynelle Jenkins Moore. April 2010.
4. Walt Eis' Wiki-tree page for Rev. Sullens. 
5. Findagrave #23903612

Places to Visit in MO.
1. Rush Chapel Cemetery, Jim Henry or Rush Road, Mary's Home, MO.
2. Miller County Museum, 2005 Highway 52, Tuscumbia, MO.

Thomas Roy Musick

My husband's grandmother had this newsletter tucked away inside a scrapbook. The first page mentions a State Evangelism conference at the Fee Fee Baptist church in St. Louis and the second has an interesting Christmas tree illustration.

The Fee Fee Baptist church is one of the oldest Baptist churches in Missouri and was organized by the following minister:

Thomas Roy Musick (1757-1843) = Baptist minister. Thomas was the son of Ephraim and Isabella (Roy) Musick, members of the Church of England. Thomas became a Baptist at the age of 17. He came to Missouri in 1801 before the Louisiana Purchase (1803) and began the Fee Fee Baptist Church in 1807, named for the nearby creek, at the present town of Bridgeton in St. Louis County and served as its pastor for 30 years.

Two of his charter members were John (1730-1808) and Virginia "Jane" (b. 1735) (Childress) Sullins. Two of their children married Musicks, first cousins to Thomas. Edward married Susannah and Elizabeth married Uriah (1782-1851). My husband's line of descent comes through Peter Sullins, a brother to Edward and Elizabeth.

When Mr. Musick first came to the area of the Spanish-held territory where a Catholic official, M. Trudeau, governed, he was consistently refused permission to preach there and was told not to put a steeple on his house, nor ring a bell, or baptize infants unless a priest was present or he would be sent to the calaboza (jail). He was also told that if some friends, like Mr. Clark, came to his house to visit, sing songs and pray, that was all right, because they were all good Catholics.

More to Read:

1. As A Tree Planted: History of Fee Fee Baptist Church 1807-1970. By Ruth E. Abraham. 1957. Revised 1970. (online index)

2. Peter Sullens and Mary Carson and Two Hundred Years of Descendants. By Maude Sullens Hoffman, Oklahoma. Printed by J.W. Brown. 1971.
3. Historical timeline signage at Fee-Fee Baptist Church (org. 1807), see below.

4. Primitive Baptist Library website, Carthage, Illinois

5. See the "Leaf" labeled biographies for more information.
6. "A Tardy Pardon and Other Buried Treasures" By Kyle Schrader.
7."A History of the Pioneer Families of Missouri, with numerous sketches, anecdotes, adventures, etc., relating to Early Days in Missouri" by William S. Bryan and Robert Rose, Published by Bryan, Brand & Co., St. Louis Missouri, 1876. 8. "Rev. Thomas Musick" Missouri Baptist Biography: A Series of Life-Sketches Indicating the Growth and Prosperity of the Baptist Churches as Represented in the Lives and Labors of Eminent Men and Women in Missouri. By J. C. Maple & R. P. Rider. Western Baptist Pub, Co., Kansas City, MO, 1914. Vol. 1, pp. 20-24. Free e-book retrieved from Google Books website. 9. "Fee-Fee Baptist Church." History of St. Louis County, Missouri. By William Lyman Thomas. S. J. Clarke Pub Co, St. Louis, Mo; 1911.p. 72-73. Free e-book retrieved from Google Books website, https://books.google.com/ 10. Diary of William Joseph Clark, Being an Account of His Trip from Clark County, Kentucky, to St. Louis, MO, To take the Deposition of Col Daniel M. Boone for the Widow Swinney in 1804. RKHS,(May 1927) 25:193-206. p. 6, 8, Henry Enoch.

11. Missouri Baptist Ministers. Click here.

12. Findagrave #12452929

Places to Visit:

1. Fee Fee Baptist Church, 11330 St. Charles Road (corner of Fee Fee and St. Charles Rock St), Bridgeton, MO.

2. Musick Memorial Drive, St. Louis
3.  American Revolutionary War Veteran Marker, Fee Fee Cemetery, 11210 Old Saint Charles Road Bridgeton, Mo.



This is obviously not the original log church
but is the oldest sanctuary building on the
property.

First Hundred Years:

1807 = First church est. in the home of Mrs. Jane Sullens. 

1815 = First log building erected on Fee Fee creek on three acres donated by Major James Richardson to be used for a church & cemetery.

1828 = First brick bldg. erected on Old St. Charles & Fee Fee roads incorporating the logs from the previous building. This building still stands on cemetery property.

1842 = Fee Fee Baptist Church began sharing the church bldg. with the Presbyterians & the Methodists. Baptists used the church on the 2nd & 4th Sundays, Presbyterians on the 1st & 3rd Sundays, & the Methodists on the 5th Sunday.

1870 = Fee Fee Baptist Church was erected at the current location & dedicated in July. It was built on 5 acres of land donated by Erastus Post on the newly rocked St. Charles road. It was at this time that the "Creek" was dropped from the name of the church.

1877-1882 = These were dark years for Fee Fee. Many members died or left for cheaper land out west. The debt was heavy and the church was discouraged.

1882 = On the 75th anniversary (Jubilee Yr.), the debt was paid off with help from other Missouri Baptist churches.

1904 = Parsonage was erected on the east side of the church bldg. A great deal of the funds was raised by the Ladies Aid Society.

1907 = Centennial celebration of the Fee Fee Baptist Church.

Biography written by: Dolores J. Rush, Updated: 10/27/2020.