Our History

  • Florida was a rural Territory, with large farms and plantations. 
  • John A. Sutton was born on February 8, 1818 in Hamilton County, Florida.
  • 1845 - Florida became a State (considered a slave state)
  • 1845 - The Methodist Florida Conference was organized.
  • The State's economy was based on cattle and crops.
  • John A. Sutton married Mary Caroline Law April 4, 1849 in Brooksville, Florida.
  • January 10, 1861 - Florida seceded from the Union
  • American Civil War - 1861 to 1865
  • John A. Sutton served in the Florida Volunteers, under Captain Law.
  • Sutton served as a Hernando County Commissioner in 1864 and 1866.
  • Florida - acted as the "Supplier of the Confederacy"
  • Estimated 16,000 Floridians fought in the war, and 5,000 Floridian soldiers died.
  • July 25, 1868 - Florida rejoined The United States.
  • Sharecropping sustained both freed slaves and plantation owners in Florida during this time.
  • 1869 - Curlew Church was organized by John A. Sutton.
  • Nov. 16, 1869 - The first Curlew Church building was dedicated.
  • 1882 - The Church building burned to the ground.
  • 1883 - The second building was completed after worshiping for a year under the oak trees on the East side of the cemetery.
 
1902 - The second building was torn down in favor of a third building, which is still on the property and currently used as a Thrift Shop.









The Curlew Pioneer Cemetery is the final resting place for many local founders of this area, as well as most of the founders of Curlew United Methodist Church and their families.
The Sanctuary in which we are currently worshiping, the fourth building, was completed in 1969, just in time for our 100th Anniversary!










Sutton Hall was named after John A. Sutton, who organized the original church, donated the land upon which the church is built, and gave the timber with which the original building was raised.  His only request was that he be allowed to name the church.

He named it after the beautiful pink or white Curlew birds which were in abundance on the west coast of Florida in 1869.  Since that time, Curlew Road and Curlew Creek, as well as the surrounding area, have  taken their names from the church.