Homer C. Arnett and Tessie Louise Haden

Homer C. Arnett, Sr. - (1902-1978). Section F, block 4, lot 7 grave 1.

Tessie Louise Arnett - (1908-1968). Section F, block 4, lot 6, grave 4.

Homer Clinton Arnett was born in Kentucky, the son of Thomas E. and Blanche Elizabeth Moody Arnett (November 4, 1880—July 5, 1945). The 1910 U.S. Census of Henderson, Kentucky shows that the family included Thomas, Blanche, Homer, and Homer’s older brother. Thomas listed his occupation as a farmer.

According to the 1920 U .S. Census, the family had moved to Jacksonville, Florida and was living on Riverside Avenue. Thomas listed his occupation as carpenter. The family included the parents, Thomas and two younger sisters, Elizabeth and Louise.

Tessie Louise Haden was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1908. She moved to Jacksonville Beach in 1935 and soon married Homer Arnett in a ceremony officiated by Reverend Ernest Dieffenwierth. Their daughter Betty Tess was born in 1940. Homer listed his occupation as "Playground" on his 1942 WWII draft card.

The 1945 Florida Census lists Homer and Tessie Arnett as living at 233 South First Street in Jacksonville Beach with their daughter. That year, Homer listed his occupation as a carpenter.

According to the 1956 Jacksonville Beach City Directory, he was working as a janitor at Jacksonville Beach Elementary School #50 and the family lived at 608 Barbara Lane in Jacksonville Beach.

Tessie Louise is remembered in her obituary as a member of the Beach Methodist Church and a member of its Women's Society of Christian Service. J.T. McCormick, mayor of Jacksonville Beach from 1953 to 1955, was a pallbearer at her funeral. Tessie Louise was known as "Aunt Tessie" to Jean and J.T. McCormick's youngest children.

The church that Tessie Louise belonged to, Beach Methodist Church, is notable for its formation occurring during the latter years of Methodist reunification.

In 1844, with the Civil War looming on the horizon, the Northern and Southern Methodist church fractured over diverging opinions within the church on the topic of slavery. The resulting branches of the church remained estranged for decades until the schism finally healed on May 8th, 1939 with the Declaration of Union, a full seventy four years after the abolition of slavery in 1865. While the church still had progress to make on the front of integration, the reunification illustrates the long-lasting impact of the Reconstruction and Progresisve Eras on religious politics in America.

Beach Methodist Church was established as Rising Tide Methodist Church in 1937. Local Methodists felt there was a need for a Methodist Church at the time there were no other Methodist churches at the Beaches then: the other churches

The cornerstones of its original coquina building, which unfortunately no longer stands today, were laid on the corner of 7th Avenue and 4th Street North, Jacksonville Beach on May 27th, 1939, just nineteen days after the Declaration of Union, making it one of the first Methodist churches to be established after reunification--if not the very first, as newspapers alleged at the time.

Renfro, Blake Barton, "The reunification of American Methodism, 1916-1939: a thesis" (2010). LSU Master's Theses. 400. 

Harmon, George. "Beach Church To Mark Its 25th Year." Jacksonville Journal. 13 October, 1962.