Rev. William Marion Lee (1865-1939) - Grandfather of the late Rev. Henry Sapp

Rev. Lee was a carpenter by trade and a minister by calling.  He spent forty-five years in the ministry.  Around 1900 he came to Hortense and held a tent revival.  Out of that tent revival came the Hortense Camp Meeting.  Besides being the founder of the Camp, he also did the greater part of the early construction - the Tabernacle (a covered open-air site for all services) and wooden cabins for folks to stay in while the Camp Meeting was being held. 

He attended in succession the first thirty-four annual camp meetings.  He died in June of 1939, just two months before the 35th annual meeting in August.

Arlington (Arnton) and Addie Scott Lewis

Arnton and Addie married in May 1905, before the first camp opened in August of that year.  The time for the wedding came.  The bride was ready, the guests were present, the minister was prepared, the reception foods were all set out, but no groom was anywhere in sight.  Needless to say, concern ran high.  Lewis, a sawmill owner, was stopped on his way to his own wedding to estimate the amount of lumber needed to construct the Tabernacle.  Even though the construction of the Tabernacle delayed their wedding, the Lewises were life-long supporters of the camp and attended camp meeting every year as long as they were physically able.

R.C., Jr. (Bob) and Odessa (Dessie) Harrell

R.C. Harrell, Jr. served as Secretary and Treasurer for the Hortense Camp Meeting Association for many years, and he took an active role in securing camp evangelists and musicians.  He supervised the construction of at least five block buildings that are still in use today: the old dining hall (currently the youth building), the old workers' building (currently provides lodging for campers), the Spaulding building, and the two block buildings that replaced the Days' wooden cabins.  He put a high priority on maintaining the camp facilities.  He and his wife were both hard workers and loyal supporters of the camp.

Their daughter, Dot, served as camp pianist for several years.