William McKendree the famous Methodist preacher and bishop, for some years had his home if it can be said that he had a home in Sumner County. He was born in King William County, Virginia, July 6, 1757. He was converted at the age of 30, and soon afterwards entered the ministry, preaching in Virginia, Maryland, and the Carolinas. In 1801 he was appointed presiding elder of the Western Conference, embracing East and Middle Tennessee. Southwestern Virginia, Kentucky and portion of Ohio. He came West in the fall of 1800, and from that time on until his death March 5, 1835, he was probably the most prominent figure in the Methodist Church in Tennessee. He continued to hold the position of presiding elder until 1808, when he was elected bishop. His father's family had removed to Sumner County and settled near Fountain Head, and there the bishop called his home, and there, at the house of his brother, Dr. James McKendree, he died and was buried in the family graveyard beside his father.