USA > Georgia > Bibb County > Macon > Georgia Baptists: historical and biographical > Part 8
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Resolved, That we hold in high estimation the christian vir-
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tues and ministerial talents of our beloved brother Binney, and that he carries with him our sympathies and our prayers.
Resolved, That we set apart one hour this afternoon, to be observed as a season of special prayer to Almighty God for his care and protection over and for the safety and success of our beloved brother and his companion, in the grand enterprise in which they are engaged.
The session for 1844 was in Darien. Josiah S. Law, moderator, William H. McIntosh, clerk. The body was still in a prosperous condition. Amount paid out for various charitable objects, mainly domestic missions, is $917 11. Number of colored mem- bers, four thousand four hundred and forty-four; number of white members, four hundred and ninety-five ; total, five thou- sand nine hundred and thirty-nine. Baptized, three hundred and seven.
[From the "Christian Index." By W. H. McINTOSH.]
Mr. Editor : The announcement, in a recent number of your paper, of the dissolution of this Association, though not un- expected to the writer, was not less sad because it was fore- seen. The scene of his early ministerial experience, the news that it lives only among the memories of the past, is like that of the death of the loved friends who have finished their course, and are to be met no more. Musing upon the past, my thoughts run along through the years of my connection with it, and recall, one after another, the unforgotten forms of Augustus Bacon, S. S. Law, E. P. Postell, W. Conner, J. S. Law, H. O. Wyer, A. Harman, J. O. Screven, and others, who gave life and energy to the body, and, further down in the shadowy distance, Jacob Dunham, Charles O. Screven and John Southwell, all of whom "rest from their labors."
I have thought the reminiscences of the times, and .of the men who acted in them, might not be unacceptable to at least those of your readers who have ever been connected with the Association. The first meeting was held in November, 1818, with the church in Sunbury. I suppose its name was given in compliment of the church at that place. And worthy was she of the distinction. She might be called the mother of churches and of ministers. Of its organization I have no knowledge, but
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Sunbury Association.
think it was built up mainly by the Rev. Charles O. Screven,* to whom I shall refer again. Rev. J. H. Dunham, the Laws, (father and son,) Charles B. Jones, J. H. Campbell, E. A. Stevens, James Shannon, (afterwards a Campbellite,) J. O. Screven and W. H. McIntosh were licensed to preach by this church, and there may have been others unknown to me. A schoolboy in the Academy at Sunbury, under Mr. Shannon, I witnessed for the first time the ordinance of baptism. I had heard of the sect, and was curious to see a baptism, and was among the first at the river side, where, early one bright morning, the solemn rite was per- formed. I was so struck with the correspondence between the description of baptism in the New Testament-which my pious mother had taught me to read-and the act before me, that I became, child as I was, satisfied on that subject. Dr. Screven was then pastor of the church. There was a noble dignity about the man that could not fail to impress even the young and thoughtless with profound respect for him. His preaching, as I remember it, was calm and unimpassioned, but earnest and solemn. * *
The churches composing this body were not strong in pecu- niary resources, and, except in their colored membership, were numerically weak. Hence, in most of them, the support of the gospel rested upon a few members. The churches in Savannah (white) were the only exceptions. It was, nevertheless, active in efforts for the salvation of souls, and maintained almost every year, until the commencement of the war, two missionaries, whose services were given chiefly to the negroes. Covering a district of country in which the slave population was large, the importance of supplying them with the preached word was early felt, and the large increase from this field is the best evi- dence of the fidelity with which it was cultivated. The facts in this connection have a historical value, and deserve preserva- tion.
In 1818, in the organization of the Association of thirteen churches, two were African-the first and second in Savannah, numbering two thousand two hundred and fifty members. How many of this class were members of the other churches, I have no means of ascertaining, but as an approximation, I put down
*See life of C. O. Screven, in this volume.
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Georgia Baptists-Historical.
the colored membership at three thousand. The minutes of 1857, the latest that I have seen, show thirteen African churches and five thousand nine hundred and fifty-seven colored mem- bers. Many of these were connected with the white churches, as was the case throughout the country, wherever Baptist churches were located in reasonable proximity to them. The labors of the brethren of this Association for the evangelization of these people were not confined, however, to the operations of their missionaries. There was not a pastor who did not de- vote more or less time to their religious instruction. The pas- tors of the white churches in Savannah were deeply concerned for the welfare of the African churches in and around the city. They exercised, with their churches, a kind of supervisory care over them, giving advice, settling difficulties among them, often of a perplexing nature, and instructing them in the principles of the gospel. This was true of Wyer and Binney, and their successors. Some ministers, who were engaged in secular busi- ness, devoted their Sabbaths to preaching to the negroes on the plantations near the city, and on the adjacent islands. One broth- er, I think, (the late A. Harman,) was brought into the ministry by the crying wants of these people, and labored for them with the zeal of one whose heart was aglow with the love of souls. I have been told that the Rev. Samuel S. Law, of honored mem- ory-a preacher of the Apostles' sort, "in season and out of season,"-was accustomed, when he made his weekly visits to his plantation, to have his servants suspend work and assemble, that he might preach Jesus to them. I have, myself, seen Rev. Jacob H. Dunham, after working on his plantation during the week, on Saturday, oar in hand, in a canoe, with a negro boy, on his monthly missionary voyage to St. Catherine's Island, ten or twelve miles distant, with a wide and dangerous river to cross, that he might preach the gospel upon the large planta- tions there. And the next Saturday he would ride forty miles on horseback, in another direction, upon the same blessed er- rand; and the next, and the next, to other appointments. I never heard what his salary was, but from the records of the Association, whose missionary he was, his supplies from that source were exceedingly scant, ranging from $30 00 to $46 00 per annum. Irecollect hearing that a brother gave him $50 00
Sunbury Association. 89
a year to preach to the negroes once a month, forty miles from home. I presume this was all he received at that place. But he was laying up enduring treasure in a safe place, and has long ago gone to enjoy it. The simple truth is, in regard to him and others, their services were mostly gratuitous. Rev. Josiah S. Law, one of the ablest ministers of his day, was consecrated to this work, declining to leave it for positions more lucrative and distinguished. Others could be named among the living and the dead, but what I have written is sufficient to show the spirit of the Association. But not alone by preaching did they seek the black man's spiritual welfare. Oral religious instruc- tion to the children in Sabbath-schools, in houses of worship, and on plantations, by ministers and people, male and female, was at one time common. I do not know to what extent it was continued of late years. Indeed, if there is any class of laboring people in the world whose spiritual interests have been better cared for than the late slaves of the South, it does not come within my knowledge. In our houses of worship, special provision was made for their accommodation, and right-minded people encouraged their attendance at the house of God. Pas- tors gave a part of every Sabbath to them in a separate service, and at a convenient hour, and do so still to the freedmen, where they desire it. Our responsibilities for them did not cease with slavery, nor shall our labors for their welfare. I do not men- tion these things that we may boast of them. If we had reached the full measure of responsibility upon us, exultation would be unbecoming, and would only betray the weakness of our nature. How far short of the mark that duty prescribed we have fallen, God only knows ; but we know enough to humble and abase us, . and to extort the cry of agonizing penitence, "God be merciful to us sinners !" Nor do I state these things in vindication of slavery. It is dead; let it sleep in its bloody grave. Content am I with its vindication by the Bible. I mention them be- cause they are facts-facts by which God is honored, while, at the same time, they may reflect shame upon us, that, with such opportunities as they disclose, they do not stand out in broader and clearer lines.
Some of your readers may be interested to know what was the relation of the African churches to the Association, and
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Georgia Baptists-Historical.
their privileges. They were recognized as independent churches, and entitled to their privileges as such. They were represen- ted by their own members, who voted upon all questions. Some of their delegates were free, and some were slaves. Between them and their white brethren the kindest feelings prevailed. On one occasion the usual harmony of the Association, was in some measure disturbed and its peace threatened by an unfor- tunate difference between two of the most prominent white churches. A question involving much feeling was before the body. So nearly were the parties balanced, that anything like unanimity among the colored delegates would have turned the scale either way, and no one knew with whom these delegates sympathized. Just as the final vote was about to be taken, one of them rose, and in behalf of the rest, stated that as it was a matter in which the white churches were interested, and as they loved the brethren in both of those churches, they respect- fully asked to be excused from voting. The difficulty was sub- sequently, during the meeting, so far adjusted as to remove it from the Association.
The influence of these colored ministers and churches in the communities where they were located, I have no doubt, was most salutary. Such men as Henry Cunningham and Andrew Marshall, who for many years filled the pastorates of the First and Second African Churches in Savannah, could not have failed to impress themselves upon their people. Long may the mem- ory of their good works be fragrant! In matters of doctrine and church polity, while there was no systematic course of instruction afforded these churches, they nevertheless derived , such assistance from their white brethren, ministers and others, as to establish and preserve them in the faith of the gospel. During the last year, a correspondent of the "New York Exam- iner and Chronicle " mentioned with commendation the purity of doctrine and practice which he found in one of the African churches in Savannah, characterizing it (I quote from memory) as a model of apostolic simplicity and truth. It did not, I sup- pose, occur to the writer to inquire who, under God, were theil teachers, or to let the world know that the Baptists in and about Savannah had cared for the souls of the negroes, and
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Tugalo River Association.
had for nearly half a century been diligently planting the seeds of the gospel in their hearts.
It must not be supposed that the energies of the Association were limited to the work of domestic missions. Concern in one department of christian enterprise begets concern in all others. Foreign missions, Sunday-schools, ministerial education, the temperance cause, were all cherished objects of this body. Rev. E. A. Stevens, the missionary to Burmah, was baptized in Sunbury, and was the son of the honored deacon of that church, and Rev. J. G. Binney went to his work in the same field from the Savannah Baptist church. The churches of this Association, came perhaps as near the apostolic rule of giving to, and pro- moting otherwise, all good objects as God had prospered them, i. e., according to their ability, as any churches of modern times.
The noble men who composed this Association in former years have all passed away, but the light of their example lingers around us still, as if to quicken our zeal and stimulate our love to Christ.
[The Baptist meeting-house in Sunbury, in which this body was organized, and which had stood about fifty years, was burned by the Yankees in 1865.]
TUGALO RIVER ASSOCIATION
Was constituted in 1817, of churches chiefly from the Sarepta, some being in South Carolina. The name is derived from the river, on both sides of which the churches are situated. In September, 1819, the session was at Eastannaulee, Franklin county. M. Reeves and A. Sherwood preached on the Sabbath. Four very aged ministers were in the body: F. Callaway, Sr., George Vandiver-but especially Thomas Gilbert and John Cleveland, both over ninety years old. Time had given a snowy whiteness to their locks, which hung over their stooping shoul- ders.
In 1821 the meeting was at Double Branches, Franklin county. L. Meeks and Benjamin Cleveland, officers. Churches, nineteen, (thirteen of these in Georgia,) thirteen ordained and three licensed preachers ; total, seven hundred and seventy-six.
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Several new churches were received at the session at Lime meeting-house in 1822.
For 1829 the meeting is at Conoross meeting-house, in South Carolina. Churches, twenty-seven ; baptized, two hundred and fifty-five ; total, one thousand three hundred and seventy-four. At the recommendation of the body, four ministers, Smith, Ballad, Bramlet and Hymer, agree to ride each three months and visit the churches and destitute places. The session for 1835 is held at Shoal creek, Franklin county. An acknowledg- ment is made of remissness in supporting the gospel, and the churches are recommended to afford such support to their min- isters as that they may give their whole time to the work. Considered the propriety of establishing a manual labor school, and appointed messengers to meet others in Macon county, North Carolina. Light had been creeping in upon this body for years. In 1825 they refused to receive the minutes of the Georgia Baptist Convention ; this year they were read without apprehension. About the same time they refuse a seat in their body to Jesse Mercer-now they grant him that privilege as a messenger from the Georgia Association. The Lord had re- moved by death some of the more prejudiced and ignorant ; others had learned that they were not too wise to receive in- struction. The corresponding letter is full of missions. After alluding to other Associations which take a deep interest in benevolent institutions, and acknowledging that these had not received the grace of God in vain, they continue, "While we glory in God on their behalf, we condemn ourselves, and repu- diate with shame the doctrine of do nothing." A verse of He- ber's missionary hymn is also inserted.
But after this they turn against missions, etc., so that a his- torian cannot tell what their real sentiments are-their posi- tion is undefinable. In 1839 the session is held at Eastannau- lee, Franklin county. The corresponding Associations are the Mountain, Sarepta and Saluda. As the subject of missions has produced much excitement, the churches are recommended to consider what will be the best method to carry into effect the Saviour's commission and report at next session. Ordained ministers, ten ; baptized, seventeen ; total, one thousand and thirty-five.
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Yellow River Association.
YELLOW RIVER ASSOCIATION.
" The committee appointed by the Sarepta and Ocmulgee Associations, consisting of brethren Isham Goss, Reuben Thorn- ton, Edmund Talbot, James Brooks, Iveson L. Brookes, Richard Pace and Cyrus White, convened at Harris' spring, Newton county, on the 18th of September, 1824, when an introduc- tory sermon was delivered by Rev. John Sanders, from John xvi. 7; then repaired to the house, and finding thirteen churches in order, assisted in forming them into an Associa- tion." Opened correspondence with the Georgia, Ocmulgee and Sarepta Associations, and Bennet, Hale, Sanders Moore and Colley were appointed messengers to the General Association, (now the Convention.) Ministers, eleven ; total, one thousand six hundred and sixty-two. Joel Colley, moderator, and Thos. J. Hand, clerk.
The session for 1825 was held at Sardis, Walton county. Joel Colley preached the introductory discourse. No business of interest is reported in the minutes. The year following it convened at Richland, Gwinnett county. Luke Robinson preached the introductory. In 1827 the body met at Mace- donia-went through the usual round of electing moderator and clerk, receiving and appointing correspondence, agreeing upon the places of general meetings, and then adjourned.
The Association met at Covington in 1828. The revival spirit which had been enjoyed in the Ocmulgee and Flint River had spread into the bounds of this body ; the increase had been considerable, the meeting was a happy one, and the crowd on the Sabbath was immense. Brethren Jonathan Davis, A. Sher- wood and E. Shackelford preached on the Sabbath with great effect.
In 1833 the body met at Bay creek, Walton county, when A. Sherwood, from the Georgia Baptist Convention, was refused a seat. Twelve churches report no baptisms. The ensuing S session is at Camp creek, Gwinnett county. The baptisms are C two hundred and eighty-one hundred and thirteen from Mon- roe, Walton county. A protracted meeting had been held there d by Jonathan Davis, V. R. Thornton, J. E. Dawson, etc., when many had been added unto the Lord. Churches, forty-six;
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ministers, twenty ; members, two thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight. The session for 1835, at Utoy, DeKalb county, drops correspondence with the Georgia Association, because the Georgia had opened correspondence with the Central, deemed by the Yellow River " a disorderly body of people," etc.
The meeting for 1836 was held at Salem, Newton county, where a committee is raised to meet with Monroe church. The year following, at Mount Parau, this committee report a failure of meeting at Monroe ; but the case is tried in the As- sociation, and Monroe church is put out of fellowship. Her fault is choosing a minister from the Central Association. The Yellow River thus decides that a church is not independent in se- lecting her own pastor.
Like some others, this body fulminated resolutions against missions, Bible societies, etc,, and against all those who approve them. On this account several churches withdrew and formed the Rock Mountain Association. Some joined the Appalachee. Joel Colley was the moderator for about twenty years or more.
FLINT RIVER ASSOCIATION
Was constituted at Rocky creek meeting-house, Monroe county, on the 16th October, 1824. Preparatory sermon by Edmund Talbot, who also sat as moderator pro. tem. The pres- bytery were J. Nochols, E. Talbot, D. Montgomery, J. Calla- way, J. Milner, V. A. Tharp and T. Pierce. Fourteen churches joined in the new organization. Robert McGinty, moderator, and Robert Kelton, clerk. Churches, fourteen; ministers, five; total, five hundred and twenty-five.
The second session was at Mount Pisgah, Monroe, in 1825. Introductory by Robert McGinty. Refused to correspond with General Association. Eleven new churches join. The follow- ing year the body met at Bethel meeting-house, Butts county. William Mosely preached the introductory. No business of in- terest is reported in the minutes-nothing more than receiving and appointing correspondence, etc. In 1827 the body meets at Sardis, Pike county, near Barnesville. Eight new churches join. Granade, Callaway and Henderson preach on the Sab-
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Flint River Association.
bath. Shiloh, in Bibb county, was the seat of the session, 1828. John M. Gray preached the introductory ; J. S. Callaway and A. Sherwood on the Sabbath. About $60 were raised for Do- mestic Missions. "About nineteen hundred baptized !" The pow- erful revival, prevailing in other parts of the State, is advancing gloriously within the bounds of this body likewise. Agreed to observe the monthly concert for prayer. Men, in a state of revi- val, will not oppose the missionary cause. Seventeen churches dismissed to form the Itchaconna.
Forsyth was the place of meeting in 1829. Here an act was perpetrated that did much injury and caused great grief, in the case of the Sharon church. For several years, the body passed through a scene of affliction, over which the historian would gladly cast the mantle of christian charity, and suffer these things to die with the passing generation. The meeting for 1835 is at Shiloh, Fayette county. J. S. Callaway, moderator, T. Langly, clerk. Nothing of importance transacted. Churches, forty-one ; baptisms, one hundred and nine; ministers, eighteen ; total, two thousand four hundred and sixty-four.
In 1837, the session is at Holly Grove, Monroe county. The subject of benevolent institutions had been some time on the carpet; but a majority of the delegates, instead of declaring non-fellowship with such institutions and their adherents, " Re- solved. that we are unwilling to go into any new declaration of fellowship or non-fellowship, but feel disposed to continue in the same old Baptist path of faith and practice, which the As- sociation has heretofore pursued." Whereupon fifteen churches, with Rev. William Mosely at their head, withdraw from the house-hold a meeting in the grove, and agree to have a con- vention at County Line meeting-house, in July, 1838.
After Mr. Mosely and his party have left the body, they agree to open correspondence with the Rehoboth and Central in about 1840. Since that time, she has become a component member of the Georgia Baptist Convention. Missions and Sab- bath schools are encouraged. Her ministers are laborious and self-denying men, "ready unto every good work." Many of their churches have experienced seasons of glorious "refreshings from the presence of the Lord." The Lord smiles graciously
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upon the body from year to year. Rev. J. D. Stewart, of Griffin, is now the moderator.
Of late years, this body has been actively engaged in the work of missions. Its mission to the Indians dates from Octo- ber 1st, 1872. During the first year, Benjamin Baker and Wil- son Nail, native Indians, were employed as missionaries, who did efficient service. They reported twenty-four baptisms, the establishment of two Sabbath-sehools, numbering in the aggregate over one hundred pupils and teachers, and a satis- factory amount of other labor. This year there are three In- dian missionaries employed-Benjamin Baker, Solomon Baker and Wilson Nail. They have reported for the first quarter, nine baptisms, two natives lieensed to preach, and the eom- mencement of one or two church buildings. These missiona- ries have been paid promptly at the end of each quarter. The Association has also engaged two home missionaries to labor a portion of their time within her own bounds-Jonathan Milner and J. M. DeFoor.
CHATTAHOOCHEE ASSOCIATION.
This body was formed at Hopewell church, Hall county, Mareh 1st, 1826, of eight churches. A committee had been appointed by the Tugalo Association to assist in the formation, but all failed to attend. Finding cight orderly churches, three hundred and thirty-eight members, seven ordained ministers and eight lieentiates, it was judged best to constitute, after an introductory sermon by James Whitten. James Riley was ehosen moderator, and James Whitten, elerk ; so the body was organized without a presbytery of ministers delegated from an- other Association for this special purpose. The churches which united in the constitution were Hopewell, Wauhoo, Mount. Sa- lem, Yellow Creek, Tessentee, Dewberry, Flat Creck, Mossy Creek and Chestatec, chiefly in Hall and Habersham counties.
Minutes of October, 1826, at Wauhoo church. Silas King preached the introductory sermon, and four new churches were reecived, and correspondence from French Broad, S. C., Yellow River and Tugalo Associations.
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Chattahoochee Association.
This Association convened on the 13th October, 1827, at Mount Salem, and Mr. Willson preached the introductory. Two churches joined. Anslem Anthony, moderator, and James Whit- ten, clerk. These officers were continued till after the session of 1835, when the clerk removed to Harris county, except one year, the moderator was prevented by death of his wife from attending. Messrs. More, Roberts and Gunn preached on the Sabbath. Tensewattee, one of the churches which joined this year, had been organized in the Cherokee Nation, and was rep- resented by Duncan Obriant, a missionary, who labored several years among the Cherokees, and then, in 1832, removed with them west of the Mississippi, where he continued to instruct till his death, in 1834 or 1835.
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