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Note: 1941 Atlanta City Directory Owen D (Nannie G; Beardon & Duke) h1238 North Ave NE
Dated 1982 Decatur Church of Christ 1677 Scott Boulevard Decatur Georgia 30033 Our Rich Heritage (+ Picture) On Monday, August 9th, a special service and ceremony was held on the campus of David Lipscomb College in memory and honor of Brother and Sister 0. D. Bearden, the parents of our beloved "Aunt" Katie Davis. Aunt Katie has established a special trust fund with Lipscomb in appreciation of Brother and Sister Bearden and a classroom has been dedicated to them. The Beardens moved to Atlanta around the turn of the century and discovered there was no Church of Christ in the area. They began meeting, along with their children and one other family, in the living room of the Bearden home. Brother Bearden arranged for a Gospel Meeting in the West End section of Atlanta, and later borrowed the money to build a small meeting house there. They later helped establish the Seminole Avenue congregation which later became the Druid Hills Church of Christ. In 1958, 64 members of the Druid Hills congregation established the church in Decatur as the property on Scott Boulevard was purchased by the Druid Hills church and given to the new work. The church in Atlanta has its roots closely connected with Brother and Sister Bearden. The Decatur church is blessed to have Aunt Katie, as well as other descendants of the Beardens, as members. Others include "Chick" Hammond (granddaughter), Carole Demonbreun and Becky Vickery (great-granddaughters) and Bryan and Tasha Demonbreun and Laurie and Julie Vickery (great-great grandchildren). We look back with deep appreciation on the Bearden's faith and work - a rich heritage for all of us. (Note by Ed. Many, many others in the family were there including me but not mentioned in the article.)
Bearden family honored in chapel, dedication (appears to have been in a Aug 8, 1982 issue of Lipscomb Newspaper)
"What do you do when you move to a city and do not find a congregation of the church?" The answer for Mr. and Mrs. O.D. Bearden, as Lipscomb President Willard Collins related in chapel Aug. 9, was to start one. Then another. And another. "Every faithful congregation of the church which exists now is there because people loved the Lord enough to start the church. It might be a Barton W. Stone, who left Kentucky and came to Tennessee and started congregations here, or it might be a person like Owen Bearden," Collins said. Bearden and his wife moved to Atlanta in 1901 and did not find a congregation of the church. After going other places for a time, they began meeting with one other family in their living room. "In 1905, they were ready for a tent meeting. They rented a vacant lot two doors from where they lived and Green Street in Nashville sent brother F.W. Smith to hold that first tent meeting. "The nucleus was established. They had a number of additions. From that tent meeting, they borrowed a thousand dollars and built the old frame building where the West End church began to meet in Atlanta, Ga.," Collins related. Later, they built a brick building. B.C. Goodpasture later became one of the church's located ministers. "Today, there are more than 30 congregations in Atlanta, and all of these go back to a living room meeting with Owen Bearden and his wife in the early years of this century," he said. As a businessman, Bearden was a partner in Bearden and Duke leatherworkers, which did a considerable amount of work with the railroads at the time. After the church was firmly established in Atlanta, Bearden began to help start congregations in other areas of North Georgia. "He would lead singing, he would go with preachers, he would preach himself and he would start congregations all over that area of Georgia. You go to Bremen, Georgia, they'll tell you of O.D. Bearden. You go to East Point, Georgia, they'll tell you of O.D. Bearden. You go to North Georgia, it's O.D., Bearden who helped start the work there." Collins was speaking on the occasion of honoring the late Mr. and Mrs. Bearden with the hanging of a portrait and the dedication of room 324 in the Burton Administration building to them. Some 40 members of the Bearden family were present, including Mrs. Ruth Collins, one of the granddaughters. Mrs. Katie Davis, Mrs. Collins' aunt who established a trust fund in memory of the Beardens with a significant gift, was also present.
Nashville TN City Directory 1885 Bearden, Owen D trunkmaker wks 144 N Market bds 30 Washington Nashville TN City Directory 1886 Bearden, Owen D trunkmaker, wks 146 N College, bds 482 S College Nashville TN City Directory 1887 Bearden, Owen D wks144 N Market, bds S College nr Carroll Nashville TN City Directory 1891 Bearden, Owen D, Trunk-maker wks 127 N College bds 46 Maple Nashville TN City Directory 1895 Bearden, Owen D, wks 200 Public Square, h 70 Washington Nashville TN City Directory 1898 Bearden, Owen D, trunkmaker Hill Trunk Co, h 5 Decatur.
O.D. Bearden began his Preaching early: Nashville Tennessean 23 Oct 1898 Church of Christ, Green Street. Preaching at 11:00 am and 7:30 pm, by Owen Bearden.
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