Reverend S. R. England was the organizing pastor of the Johnstonville Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Early meetings were held in a brush arbor and an old schoolhouse [no longer extant] until the church was constructed. Among the earliest members were Professor George W. Merritt, Mr. & Mrs. E. Rumble, Mrs. R. H. Banks, Mr. & Mrs. Will Banks, and Mr. J. W. Banks.
Johnstonville-Goggins Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was first established at Milner in 1870 by Reverend William H. “Uncle Billy” Graham in a one-room schoolhouse which stood just a few feet away from the present structure. Charter members were: William T. Arnold, steward and secretary; Mrs. Mary E. Arnold; Mrs. Eliza E. Bolton; Thomas A. Bolton; Mrs. C. A. Carter; Miss Georgia Crawley; Mrs. Elizabeth Clark; Miss Sarah J. Clark; J. Sherrod Clark; Miss Jennie Ford Shockley; Miss Lizzie Ford; Miss Permelia Fields; Mrs. Emily Fields; Amanda Hamilton; Sarah J. Hamilton; Seley Hamilton; Luther Holmes; Mrs. Sarah A. Holmes; Mrs. Lucinda R. Howe; Winnie Rush; Luisa Spencer; Mrs. Mary A. Sims; Margaret S. Singleton; and Lizzie E. Singleton. Dr. John P. Hunt was an important early booster and patron of the church.
The congregation worshiped in the school house until building a permanent home, west of the railroad line, in 1874. It was replaced by the present structure in 1917.
According to the 150th Anniversary Bulletin of Ebenezer United Methodist Church, compiled by Lenora Ginn in 1990, it is thought that the church building dates to 1840, but the congregation was organized many years earlier. Further research is needed to confirm this date. The community was then known as Stewartsville, but has long disappeared from maps.