CHURCH HISTORY.....
Rev. and Mrs. Albion Fellows
Rev. Albion Fellows was born in New Hampshire in 1827, his family moved to
Illinois in 1836.He Joined theMethodist Episcopal Church in 1846 and graduated
from Ashbury (DePauw)University in 1854. His wife wasMary Erskine. He taught at
Fort Wayne College and moved into the Indiana M. E. Conference where he served
at Boonville, Mount Vernon and Evansville.
Rev. Albion Fellows was the preacher at the Mount Vernon M.E. church in
1862 and 1863.
He earlier served Boonville M.E. from 1860 to 1862. In 1864 he became
Presiding Elder (now District Superintendent) and served the Evansville,
Locust Street M.E. church (now Trinity UMC) until his death in 1865.
(Rev. Fellows served these churches during the stressful years of the Civil War.
Mount Vernon and Evansville were “border towns” during which people’s lives were filled with fear and conflict.)
During Rev. Fellow’s service to the Locust Street M.E. church in Evansville, he was instrumental in founding the building program for a new church. This new church was begun on May, 1864; it was named Trinity M.E. Church. On January 16, 1865 Rev. Bacon wrote “the past quarter has been one of the heaviest labors to me of any since
I entered the field of pastoral labor.” He died on March 3, 1865 at age 38. He left behind 2 young children (Laura and Annie) and his expectant wife Mary. Shortly after his death, a daughter was born; she was named Albion Mary Fellows after her father and mother.
Mary Fellows moved her family to McCutchanville which was home to several of her relatives, and under a strong Methodist influence of Blue Grass M.E. Church.
The Family of Rev. Albion Fellows
Albion Fellows married Mary Erskine of Evansville in 1855. Their children were: Ella (born 1856-died 1865), Erwin (1856-1856), Laura Charlotte (1858-1942), Wilber (1859-1860), Annie Julia (born in Mount Vernon 1863-1931) and Albion Mary (1865-1933).
Annie Julia Fellows Johnson
Annie Julia Fellows was born in Mount Vernon Indiana in the Methodist Episcopal parsonage at Sixth and Walnut Streets. This church and parsonage was directly across the street from St. Matthews Catholic church, one block east of the present First UMC church.
Annie was a prolific author of children’s fiction. She wrote the popular “Little Colonel” series which was the basis for the 1935 child actor Shirley Temple film titled “The Little Colonel.” Annie wrote at least 21 books; several of which are on local library shelves.
Albion Mary Fellows Bacon
Albion was quite a devout child, joined the church at age 11, and learned a deep sense of responsibility from her mother who gave her the feeling that she "must amount to something." She lived in a house full of books in a
family of voracious readers and became a writer and a poet. Upon her marriage she returned to live in Evansville and one day toward the end of the 1890's, she happened upon an alley from which emanated disagreeable sights and smells as well as the sound of children playing. Albion was amazed that there were slums in Evansville and was stunned to visit "Old St. Mary's," a tenement housing hundreds of families in one room each. She returned home with "a bowed head and lagging feet, seeing before me all the time those awful rooms, those babies of the slums."
This was the beginning of a lifetime of service to her community in the fields of juvenile probation, housing laws, public health zoning, city planning, and woman’s suffrage. Albion became known as "Indiana's Municipal
Housekeeper" and spent many years of her life speaking, writing, lobbying, fundraising, and organizing citizens of Evansville to follow Christ's will "to save and to heal and to bless."
Albion Fellows Bacon Center in Evansville
It is no surprise that in 1981, a nonprofit center dedicated to helping women and children, specifically those
victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, became a namesake for Albion Fellows Bacon. The Center's
mission is to prevent domestic and sexual violence and empower those victims. The center is located in Evansville and offers shelter (up to 45 days) for female victims and their minor children, 24 hour crisis lines to receive help, legal advice and counseling, support groups, and education for the general population to develop healthy believe and behaviors. They offer many support services and collaborative partnerships to help victims overcome and
return to a healthy lifestyle. The center serves 11 counties in Southern Indiana and is only a phone call away for those finding themselves in desperate situations.
The Center is governed by a volunteer board of directors and by 20-40 employees, some of whom are former
victims. The center will provide speakers and workshops for groups on the subjects of domestic abuse, dating relationships, and sexual abuse. Albion Fellows Bacon Center is supported by the United Way, fundraisers, and donations.
To get involved, there are training sessions for volunteers, special events that need workers, and even a need for knitted blankets for the children at the center. The Evansville Courier lists needs of the shelter as diapers,
towels, paints, washcloths, paintbrushes, and easel paper, journals, and pocket calendars- all mundane items which we take for granted.
Albion "Annie Julia Fellows Johnston 
Albion "Mary Fellows" Bacon 
Rev Albion Fellows 
