The Mount Pleasant Church of Christ was burned Wednesday, August 13* and the Mount Zion Church of Christ on Friday, August 15th. It's not yet known whether the two fires are related, but the second fire was definitely arson and an arrest has been made.

These churches were eight miles apart in the Anna - Richardsville part of Warren County, Kentucky. We visited the area's churches and their surrounding graveyards at our 1993 reunion. Constable Jerry Young, one of our Taylors, found a diamondback rattlesnake in the Mt. Zion lawn and killed it when we were visiting there. The picture is in our first newsletter.

The Mt. Zion church was the oldest existing Church of Christ building still used for worship in Kentucky and the 8th oldest in the country. The building was built in 1852 when the congregation was divided from the Green River Union Meeting House congregation. Allen Taylor & Lavina Cherry's family attended Mt. Zion and son Alfred Taylor and his wife Caroline Matilda Davenport are buried in the graveyard. Many descendants of Joseph Taylor, Jr. & Sarah Best still live in the area and attend the local churches.This area is still rural. The little churches are just as you might have seen in folk paintings, nestled among tall trees and surrounded by tombstones. They are the heart of the community and have been major part of the lives of families for generations. But rural congregations are small, usually around 200, and rebuilding will be difficult. Here's a word from our president, Noel Taylor, who has donated $100 to each congregation in behalf of the Taylor Family Association:

"Some members of our Family Association have already stated that they want to personally make donations.. .they should make their checks out to Mt. Zion Church of Christ, and / or Mt. Pleasant Church of Christ. These are two separate churches just a few miles apart from each other. The checks should be mailed to Lloyd M. Raymer, 405 Austin Raymer Rd., Bowling Green, KY, 42101... I would also suggest that each check be noted, in the lower left corner, something to the effect that it is a donation for rebuilding burned church building. We have many great cousins in this area and they have been very supportive of our efforts to collect our genealogy and they will be deeply appreciative for our assistance."

The Mt. Pleasant congregation met in the Richardsville Elementary School and the Mt. Zion congregation met in the Richardsville Community Center on the Sunday following. (The Taylors met at the Community Center for a dinner and reunion business meeting in 1993) The Mt. Pleasant church records were not destroyed because Lloyd Raymer had them at his house. He is an officer in that church. The oldest records for the Mt. Zion church are kept in the archives at Western Kentucky University, so they were also spared. Lloyd Raymer has Taylor connections. As a professional genealogist and historian for this area, he has helped our researchers in countless ways. It was he who called Shari Franke and told us about the fires. What a tragedy!