The archives of the Clay County 1890 Jail Museum have produced another document of
interest,  "The  History  of Joy Methodist Church," written by Leda Roe as part of
the application for a Texas State Marker in 1981:

Clay County was reorganized in 1873 after being deorganized in 1863 and emptied of
white settlers during the Civil War. "More settlers began arriving in the Joy area
from  Fannin  County,  Texas,  in search of cheaper land for farming and ranching.
Because  of  a problem with malaria in Fannin County these people began to move to
this  part  of  the state. As they settled in this area they named it Fannin Town,
after the county from which they emigrated.

"Living conditions were primitive. Dugouts, log cabins, one or two room box houses
were  common  place.  These  conditions,  however,  did  not  seem to hinder these
pioneers.  A  one-room  log  school house was soon erected and it also served as a
place to worship.

"The  first  church to be organized in the area was the Methodist Episcopal Church
South,  Fannin Town, Texas. It was organized in April, 1881 under an oak tree just
west  of  the  log  school  house.  This oak tree still stands big and tall in the
southwest corner of what is now the Joy Cemetery.

"Recorded  in the registry of Reverend W. M. Weaver are these charter members: Mr.
and  Mrs.  J. A. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Fletch Weaver, J. A. Evans, and Reverend and
Mrs.  William  Weaver. "Services were held in the log school house until 1891 when
A.  S.  Hicks  deeded  two  acres  of land to the Methodist Episcopal Church South
members.  A small box type building with a gable roof was soon built in the center
of  the west side of these two acres. The congregation worshiped there for several
years with Rev. G. C. Hardy as pastor.

"In 1894 the charge name of Fannin Town was changed to Mount Castle with Pastor J.
D. Hudgins. In later years the name was changed from Methodist Episcopal Church to
Joy Methodist Church.

"In  1901  the  community had to change the name of Fannin Town because the postal
authorities  wanted  shorter names for the post offices. The community by then was
prospering  and  was a joyful place to live, so the people decided to call it JOY.
As  the community continued to grow, businesses were established: a general store,
wagon  yard,  barber  shop,  gin,  blacksmith  shop  and  later grocery stores and
garages.

"In 1920 the original church was torn down and the material salvaged to be used in
building  a new church. In the years of 1920 and 1921 the church we now worship in
was  built  in the southwest corner of these two acres . Mr. Sam Gill was the main
carpenter and the men and ladies of the community also helped in their spare time.
Every  one  remembers  how they picked cotton for Mr. Sam Gill to help pay for his
labor.  Reverend  Ples  Warren  was  pastor  at this time with a membership of 138
people.

"In the year of 1923 the Joy Methodist parsonage was built by Mr. jack Lawrence in
the  southeast corner of the two acres. A water well was soon dug by hand north of
the parsonage.

"In  the  1920's and ‘30's the church had what we called the Lord’s Acre. A farmer
would  donate  so  many  acres of his land to the church. The church members would
gather  and  sell  the products and the proceeds would go to the church to be used
for  the  Lord’s  work. Some of the members would sell eggs, chickens, or milk and
butter and give a portion of these earnings to the church for the same purposes.

"The  same preacher usually served three churches in the early days and was called
a  circuit  rider. He usually made his rounds on horseback, carrying his pouch and
Bible and would spend weekends with some good family of the church.

"Through  all  the  years,  there  were  singing  schools, vacation Bible schools,
Epworth League, Ladies Aid Society, W.S.C.S. Circles, MYF, quilting bees, revivals
and camp meetings.

"There  would  always  be  a revival or camp meeting in the summers. They would be
held  on  the  church  grounds,  or  perhaps the church building, or maybe in some
farmer’s  pasture  convenient  to  the churches or communities. Wherever they were
held,  the  men  built  a  brush arbor, or sometimes tents were erected. There was
always  a  mourner’s bench, a stage for the pulpit and piano and usually there was
straw  on the ground so it wouldn’t be so dusty. There was always a barrel of good
cold  water  with  tin  cups  to  drink from. The mothers would come prepared with
quilts  to  put  down  on the ground to lay the babies on when they went to sleep.
Sometimes  the  babies  would  be  put  in  the  wagons  and  once in a while some
mischievous boys would swap babies from wagon to wagon and their parents might not
notice  until  they had started on their way home. The worshipers would often have
dinner on the grounds on Sundays. The early pioneers came to church in horse-drawn
wagons  and  buggies  as  well as on horseback. Later they came in Model T’s, Star
cars and Overland cars.

"With  the  beginning  of World War II, sixty-five men from the Joy Community left
for  service  to their country. This was the beginning of the decline of people in
the community as they began to move to cities and towns to replace workers who had
gone  to  military  service.  After  the war the community continued to decline in
population as the returning service men chose to remain in more populated areas.

"The Joy Methodist parsonage was sold in 1968 because of declining membership. The
United  Methodist  Churches  all belong to a conference to assist one another when
help is needed. The Joy United Methodist Church is in the North Texas Conference.

"The  United  Methodist  Churches  are  made  up  of charges or circuits, each one
consisting  of from one to three churches working together with one pastor serving
them. For instance, the following churches have worked together through the years:
Joy,  Shannon  and  Antelope;  Joy,  Buffalo  Springs and Shannon; Joy, Vashti and
Bellevue  now  with  Reverend  Norman  Cornelius  as pastor. All these charges, or
circuits,  are  under  the  supervision  of a district. These churches have served
under  the Districts of Bowie, Archer City and Henrietta through the years. We are
now  in the Wichita Falls District with Dr. Earl Kifer as District Superintendent.
He had been pastor of this church from May 1, 1946 to May 1, 1950. In 1968 several
conferences  combined  to  form  the  United Methodist Church so we became the Joy
United Methodist Church.

"In 1973, Joy United Methodist Church almost closed. This was during the time that
Reverend  John  Dillard  was  pastor.  We  were few in number and felt we were not
financially  able  to  keep  going.  Every  Sunday we met we would wonder how much
longer  we  could carry on. One Sunday morning, November 25, 1973, we met and were
awfully  blue.  We  had  another  discussion.  Mrs. E. Dan Pruett got up and said,
‘Folks,  let  us not give up, even if we are few in number. Let us keep our little
church  going.’ We said it needed repairs so badly we just couldn’t see any way of
fixing  it  up.  Again  Mrs.  Pruett  said, ‘We can do it. I will bear most of the
expenses  if  you will help me.’ We who were there said we would do what we could.
Those  present  were  Reverend  John  Dillard,  Mrs. Lillie Slaughter, Mrs. Almeta
Spivey,  Mrs.  Dollie  Dillard, Mrs. E. Dan Pruett, Mrs. Nell Howell, and Opal and
Revis  Seigler. Soon the word got around and the whole neighborhood was willing to
do  what  they  could  to help. Word spread over the world, for donations began to
come from California to New York and different places around the globe.

"Friends  and  neighbors of all faiths donated their time, money, and prayers. The
project  began  to  grow.  We all had faith that it could be done. Reverend Donley
Culbertson,  a  Methodist  minister  at  Chico  heard  about  our project. He made
arrangements  with the Rock Island Rail company to donate enough cross ties to put
under the church for the support and our members arranged to get them.

"Then  our  work really began. From the foundation to the roof, paneling, walls, a
new  ceiling,  new  doors, new windows, wall-to-wall carpeting were needed. We had
our  piano  tuned,  purchased new folding chairs, installed siding on the outside,
and  put in new cement steps with hand rails. Different people donated most of the
improvements.  We  all  gave  our  love  and  thanks to Mrs. E. Dan Pruett for the
courage, determination and the faith she had that it could be done.

"This  was  all finished and we had our dedication service on April 25, 1974, with
Dr.  H. Noel Bryant, District Superintendent, presiding. Reverend John Dillard was
still  our pastor. From the four or five members at that time, we have grown to 21
members.  We celebrated the Centennial birthday of our Joy United Methodist Church
on  April  12,  1981,  in Joy, Texas, Clay County. As of April 1, 1982, forty-five
pastors have served the church.

"We  give  our  thanks  and  praises  to  our early pioneers who had the faith and
courage to keep the Methodist Church going all through the years. We are sure they
had many trials, temptations and hardships along the way. But somehow God saw them
through.  We  all  owe  our  love  and gratitude to them. And to the oldest active
member,  Mrs.  Lillie  Slaughter, who is 92 ears old and has been a member of this
church  for 55 years, serving as church secretary, Sunday school teacher, steward,
and  Sunday  school  superintendent. -----From all the survivors of the Joy United
Methodist Church”

The church was closed officially in 2009. The end of an era had come.