The Glastonbury Thorn Window

The Nativity

The first window nearest the back of the church contains Glastonbury thorn blossoms, a peculiarly English symbol which represents the events attending our Lord's birth.  According to tradition, the ancient thorn-tree which stands just within the gates of the ruined abbey at Glastonbury, Somersetshire, is a descendent of the thornwood staff planted by St. Joseph of Arimathaea, who is said to have introduced Christianity into England in the Year A.D. 63.  The Glastonbury thorn bursts into bloom about Christmas Day each year, and the blossoms have become a symbol of our Lord's Nativity.

This window was given by the Log Cabin Bible Class of Brandon Memorial Methodist Church in memory of Lugene ("Gene") Bryant Hamby.

Lugene Bryant Hamby

1879 - 1942

            Lugene Bryant Hamby was an active member of Brandon Memorial Methodist Church for many years.  He was a member of the Board of Stewards and served as Chairman of the Board.  He was proprietor of the Hamby Barber Shop on Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa.  Mr. and Mrs. Hamby and their eight children lived on 10th Street, right across from Brandon Memorial, and the whole family was involved in the work of the church.

          Lugene Bryant was born October 20, 1879, one of seven sons of George Hamby, a Confederate veteran, and Laura Clark Hamby.  There was also one daughter. His parents were also members of Brandon Memorial.  His great-grandfather, Isaac Taylor, was a Methodist Circuit Rider, and two of his brothers, William T. and Charles P., were ministers in the North Alabama Methodist Conference.  His father-in-law John Alexander was a Methodist Circuit Rider in Mississippi, and his son Gene Malcolm (Mack) Hamby was a minister and conference evangelist in the North Alabama Conference.  Many other family members served the Methodist Church, both as ministers and as lay people

          Mr. and Mrs. Hamby were the parents of four sons and four daughters.  The tragedy of their lives was the death of their youngest son Bobby in 1937 at the age of 15.  Bobby was an honor student and an active member of the church youth group.  A scrapbook made by one of  Bobby’s sisters showed the love and support the family received at that time from the good members of Brandon Memorial. 

          On March 24, 1942, Lugene Bryant Hamby died unexpectedly of a heart attack while visiting a neighbor near his home on 10^th Street, and is buried with other family members at Evergreen Cemetery.   Honorary pallbearers were the members of the Board of Stewards of Brandon Memorial Methodist Church.