“Good judgment comes from experience,
and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”
~ Will Rogers
After mom, dad, and I visited Cane Ridge, we went back to Mt. Sterling. We stopped at the Keas Tabernacle C.M.E. (Christian Methodist Episcopal) church on Queen Street. Reinette Jones and Miles Hoskins took me to this church two years ago, and that’s when I first learned about it. Keas was a particularly important church in the African-American community in post Civil War years. Former farming slaves moved to urban centers such as Mt. Sterling, and with them came the need for a place of worship. The church was founded in 1878 in a small building in this same location. It took its name from the first minister, Samuel Keas, a minister before the Civil War, “…serving as a beacon to the black community in Montgomery County.” The thriving congregation outgrew the space, and plans to enlarge began in 1880. This building was funded, built, and completed in 1893 by the congregation. And that’s just the stories from the outside. I’m certain there are many wonderful stories to be heard from the inside, too. I hope someday to hear them.
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