In the fall of 1880, P. T. Mitchell and his wife, Sarah Roller Mitchell, moved their family from Scott County, Va., to a farm in Kingsport.

Sarah Roller Mitchell had inherited land on Orebank Road — then the main road from Kingsport to Bristol.

“My parents were deeply religious, and greatly concerned not only for their six children, but for the community in general,” wrote their daughter, Anna Mitchell, who became a significant figure in the life of the church.

Anna Mitchell noted a saloon existed within a quarter mile of their new home and the family saw many men spending their Sundays drinking and lying around drunk.

“My father succeeded in breaking up the sale of liquor,” Anna Mitchell reported.