This wonderful little church is on the winding road to Crabtree Falls. The address is Tyro, VA, but I was unable to find out when it was built. For some reason it reminded me of the old hymn, 'Little Brown Church in the Wildwood." It was precious church and in my mind a wonderful place to have a wedding.
I decided to see if I could find a photo of the church for which the hymn was named and this is what I found. "The Little Brown Church" is a historic church located at 2730 Cheyenne Avenue in Nashua, Iowa that was made famous by a song, The Church in the Wildwood. The structure was completed in 1864. Wikipedia
One bright afternoon of a day in June 1857, I first set foot in old Bradford, Iowa, coming by stage from McGregor. My home was in Wisconsin. The spot where the “Little Brown Church” now stands was a setting of rare beauty. There was no church there but the spot was there waiting for it. When back in my home I wrote the song ‘The Little Brown Church in the Vale.’ I put the manuscript away. In the spring of 1862 I returned to Iowa and settled at Fredericksburg…
In the years of 1859 and 1860 the good people of Bradford were determined to build a church…By the early winter of 1864 the building was ready for dedication. While I was holding the singing school, near its close in the spring, the class went one evening to the church. It was not then seated, but rude seats were improvised. My manuscript of the song I had brought with me from Wisconsin. It had never been sung before by anyone but myself. I sang it there. Soon afterwards I took the manuscript to Chicago [Illinois], where it was published by H. M. Higgins. It won a speedy recognition locally and with the years won its way into the hearts of the people of the world.
Soon after its publication the church at Bradford, which had been painted brown (for want of money to buy better paint, some say), became known as “The Little Brown Church in the Vale.” My hope is that it will stand for a thousand years and call the old man and his descendants to worship.
There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood,
No lovelier spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale.
No lovelier spot in the dale;
No place is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale.
Refrain
Come to the church in the wildwood,
Oh, come to the church in the dale,
No spot is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale.
Oh, come to the church in the dale,
No spot is so dear to my childhood,
As the little brown church in the vale.
How sweet on a clear, Sabbath morning,
To list to the clear ringing bell;
Its tones so sweetly are calling,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.
To list to the clear ringing bell;
Its tones so sweetly are calling,
Oh, come to the church in the vale.
Refrain
There, close by the church in the valley,
Lies one that I loved so well;
She sleeps, sweetly sleeps, ’neath the willow,
Disturb not her rest in the vale.
Lies one that I loved so well;
She sleeps, sweetly sleeps, ’neath the willow,
Disturb not her rest in the vale.
Refrain
There, close by the side of that loved one,
To trees where the wild flowers bloom,
When the farewell hymn shall be chanted
I shall rest by her side in the tomb.
To trees where the wild flowers bloom,
When the farewell hymn shall be chanted
I shall rest by her side in the tomb.
Refrain
From the church in the valley by the wildwood,
When day fades away into night,
I would fain from this spot of my childhood
Wing my way to the mansions of light.
When day fades away into night,
I would fain from this spot of my childhood
Wing my way to the mansions of light.
Refrain
