USA > Georgia > Liberty County > History of the Midway Congregational Church, Liberty County, Georgia > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
In 1752, after twenty years' management and control, the trustees becoming tired, if not discouraged, surrendered their charter, and the Province became part of the Royal government, and was placed under the control of the Board of Trade and Plantations, who proposed a form of govern- ment which was accepted by the Crown ; and upon nomina- tion of the Lord's Commissioners, Captain John Reynolds, of the Royal Navy, was, on the 6th of August, 1754, ap- pointed governor. He landed at Savannah Oct. 29, 1754. It was during this year that the most of the Dorchester col-
BRAD
RIVER
The State was laid off into 8 parishes
in 1758, viz .: St. Paul, St. George, St. Matthew, Christ Church, St. Philip, St. John, St. Andrew and St. James. Four
others were added in 1765, viz .: St. David, St. Patrick, St. Thomas and St. Marys.
LITTLE RIVER.
ST PAUL
SAVANNAH
BRIAR C
CREEK
RIVER
CAROLINA
SI MATTHEW
OGEECHEE RIVER
CANNOUCHE ---
ST PHILIP
RIVER
CHURCH
ALTAMAHA
RIL
WJOHNS
ST
ANDREW
ST
DAVID
SATILLA RIVER
ST PATRICK
JAMES
THOMAS
ST MARYS
RIVER
FLORIDA
PARISHES OF GEORGIA.
Augusta
SOUTH
ST
GEORGE
1
Savannah
:CHRIST
ST
RIVER R
ST.
ATLANTIC OCEAN
23
NAME OF THE CHURCH.
ony came over to Georgia. Hence the following inscription we find in their Record Book: "On the 4th of Nov., 1754, we first heard of the arrival of his excellency, John Reynolds, Esquire, our first governor."
The population of the Province at the time of the arrival of these people was estimated at 2,381 whites and 1,066 blacks. Total, 3,447. (Jones' History, page 460.)
THE PLACE THEY SETTLED.
The colony settled upon a tract of land between the Med- way and Newport rivers, and upon the headwaters of those streams, in what was afterwards designated as the parish of St. Johns, and still later as the county of Liberty, and some ten miles from the sea-coast islands. Their settlements being located upon and within easy reach of the road from Savannah to the Altamaha, and originally extending nei- ther to the piney woods on the west, nor the salt marsh on the east. The place they settled, like all the lands contigu- ous, was low and swampy, with occasional knolls high and dry, in the midst of low malarial swamps with long moss and stagnant pools. The section embraced the portion where fresh and salt water meet in contest for supremacy, which is always unhealthy. The general culture of rice at first, with its attendant system of canals and ditches, dams and back-waters, only added to its sickness, and which so soon rendered necessary the location of "Retreats" for the temporary residence of the families during the unhealthy months of summer and fall.
NAME OF THE CHURCH.
It seems that at first no name was given either to the church or community. They were known simply as "set- tlers on Medway and Newport rivers," and their house of worship only known as the "Meeting House." As the river was named Medway, and the district soon became familiar- ly known as the "Midway District," the church and com- munity were sometimes called by the one and sometimes by the other. Hence there has always been a diversity of opin-
24
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
ion as to the true spelling and pronunciation of the name, and a similar diversity in the practice of different writers, and even on the tomb-stones, it being put sometimes one way and sometimes the other.
On the original map of William DeBrahm, published by an act of Parliament, by T. Jeffries in London, October 30, 1757, a copy of which is in the Savannah Historical Society Library, the name of the river is Medway, and so spelled. So on the map by William Faden, published in 1780, by au- thority of the state legislature of Georgia, the name is Med- way. It is also so spelled in the letters of Sir James Wright. His. Coll., Vol. III, P. 161. So Bartram, in his travels 1773, speaks of the "branches of Medway and Newport rivers," and also of leaving Sunbury and going in company with several of its polite inhabitants to the Medway meeting house, (pp. 9 and 10.) McCall, in his history, speaks of the church as Medway, though of the district as Midway. So Sherwood in his Gazetteer, White in his Historical Collec- tions, and Arthur and Carpenter in their history, say Med- way. So Jones, in his Dead Towns of Georgia, says that "on the only plan of Sunbury he had been able to procure," "the name was written Medway."
On the other hand, DeBrahm, in his history, written 1798, says Midway. The church was incorporated in 1789 under the name of Midway. Dr. Holmes, one of the earlier pas- tors of the church, in his Annals, says Midway. Although Dr. Jedidiah Morse, who was also minister at the same time for awhile, says in his Gazetteer, "Med way or Midway." In the Record Book at the State Archives, where the deeds to lands were recorded in 1756, with one or two exceptions it is always "Midway District." And when we go to the Church Records, the first and oldest volume says Midway, but in the second, which is a copy made in 1791, we find it at first Medway, but in later years Midway.
Of the two sets of opinion the advocates of the one claim that the church was named after the river. and therefore should be called Medway. The advocates of the other main- tain that the church was named after the district, and the district was so named on account of its central position in
25
NAME OF THE CHURCH.
the colony, and that the district was so called and so known before the settlement of the Midway people as evinced from the fact that the district was represented in the Colonial Assembly which met in Savannah January 15, 1751, by Audley Maxwell, who was reported from the "Midway district," and that was the year before the first arrival of any of the colonists; and furthermore that as the church was located on the road which had been opened, and half way between Savannah and New Inverness and thirty miles from either, at the intersection of the Sunbury road, which being half way, furnished a camping ground for trav- elers and soldiers, there being at one time an encampment of soldiers there.
That the river was named Medway, the evidence all goes to show. Was the district then named after the river ?
In 1741, by order of the trustees, the province of Georgla was thrown into two counties, one called Savannah, em- bracing all the territory north of Darien, the other Freder- ica, embracing the Altamaha settlement and the island of St. Simon. Ten years later we find the state divided into eleven districts, represented in the Colonial Assembly at Sa- vannah in 1751, viz .: Savannah, Augusta, Ebenezer, Aber- corn and Goshen, Joseph's Town, Vernonburg, Acton, Little Ogeechee, Skidaway, Midway, Darien. After the most diligent search I have never been able to find out when or by whom this division was made. McCall says, Vol. I p. 254: "In 1758, the land which had been acquired from the Indians and laid off into districts were formed into eight parishes," but does not tell by whom divided into districts. Neither does Tailfer, DeBrham, Stevens, nor Jones, and I am satisfied the thing was never done, and the term "district" is simply to be understood as a neighborhood or community. This appears from the terms of the warrant for an election to that first assembly, issued by Governor Reynolds, viz .: "That any section or community with ten families would be entitled to one representative." Then we find little settle- ments close together called districts, as Abercorn, Joseph's Town, Goshen, Vernonburg, Acton, etc., which utterly pre- clude the idea of the land being divided into districts. Fur-
26
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
thermore, we find that when these so-called districts were after- wards, in 1758, made into eight parishes a different enumer- ation obtained, without any account whatever of any change ever being made, except as the population changed. I must therefore believe that the term "district" is used simply in the sense of neighborhood, and named after some prominent object, as "Ogeechee," "Acton," "Vernonburg," and some- times, as in the land office in Atlanta, as "Midway and New- port" conjointly, and then at other times separately, as "Midway district" and "Newport district," or "Midway and Sunbury," or "District of Hardwicke," of which mention is no where else made.
From these statements it is perfectly obvious that the Midway district represented by Audley Maxwell in the Co- lonial Assembly in 1751, was simply the country on both sides of the Medway river, being so designated by the name of the river just as the district Ogeechee or Newport. If then the river was Medway it was the district or neighborhood of Medway; if Midway, then the district or neighborhood of Midway.
But the river was not Midway, as the old maps show, nor yet was there any reason why it should be so called. It was Midway between no two places. The probability is that it was named Medway after the river of the same name . in England in perpetuation of old memories. If the river and adjacent country on both sides should be called the dis- trict or neighborhood of Medway, it would seem very strange that the same neighborhood and people only a few miles distant should be called the Midway district, and for a different reason.
My own opinion is that the district or neighborhood was named after the river, which was not named Midway, be- cause of any equidistance between any two points, but Med- way after the river of that name in England, and which soon degenerated into the more common and familiar name of Midway, and the church and community soon becoming known by the degenerated appellation, the idea of equidis- tance being an afterthought. It is a very easy matter to account for Midway coming out of Medway, but impossible
27
ORGANIZATION OF THE SOCIETY.
to explain how to get Medway out of Midway. No matter, however, what the real name at first, for several generations the church has been familiarly known as the Midway church, and I have so written it both here and in the published rec- ords.
-
CHAPTER III.
ORGANIZATION.
MEETING AT THE LOG HOUSE.
Soon after the arrival of the families in 1754, a log house was erected for religious worship, services being held at pri- vate houses for four preceding Sabbaths.1 The first sermon in said house was preached June 7th and the first commun- ion held September 8th. On the 20th of August of this year, they held a meeting at that place for the purpose of forming a covenant and subscribing to the same, and also consider- ing the propriety of putting up a more substantial and com- modious house of worship.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SOCIETY.
In order to understand what follows, it is necessary to bear in mind that this church was of the Congregational or Independent form. According to the genius of this organi- zation the government consists of two co-ordinate branch- es, viz .: the church and the society ; the former consisting of the male communing members, the latter of all males who
1. Mallard's account.
28
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
would subscribe to certain articles of incorporation, whether communing members or not. All required of those who would be members of the society was that they would pledge themselves to aid in the support of the minister and ordinances of religion, and attend the annual meetings. To the former was given the spiritual government and manage- ment of the church ; to the latter was entrusted the manage- ment of all its temporal affairs. The Session consisting of all the male members of the church, received and dismissed members, and dealt with disorderly ones, whilst the society at its annual meetings arranged for the call and support of the minister, the construction and preservation of the meet- ing house, and managed all the temporalities of the church. In the call of the minister, however, the church members were entitled to two votes. At each annual meeting the pastor and clerk were elected, and also a board or executive committee termed "select men," to whom the execution of important matters were usually entrusted.
At the above mentioned meeting, articles of incorporation were adopted and presented for signatures. Who were then present and how many signed said articles at that time, we have no means of determining. We have the names of all the subscribers from first to last, but as the dates of the sev- eral signatures are not given, it is simply impossible to tell how many, or who were original signers. The society has, during the entire period of the church's existence, and even since, down to the present time, had its annual and occa- sional or called meetings. The account of these meetings is full and complete, contained in two manuscript volumes, one of which I have had recently published.
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.
Below we give the articles of incorporation referred to above, together with all the subscribers thereto till the year 1865, when the society ceased to hold its meetings, leaving the account of its reorganization in 1887 and those who have since subscribed, for a future page.
29
ARTICLES AND RULES OF INCORPORATION.
ARTICLES AND RULES OF INCORPORATION AGREED UPON BY A SOCIETY SETTLED UPON MIDWAY AND NEWPORT IN GEORGIA,
28th OF AUGUST, 1754.
We, the subscribers, settled on Midway and Newport in Georgia; being sensible of the advantages of good order and social agreement, among any people, both for their Civil and Religious Benefit ; and especially its necessity amoung us as a Christain Society, being mostly a dissenting or congregation- al church, that doth not ordinarily come under all the privileges of the estab- lishment; and being willing to lay a foundation by the Blessing of God of peace and harmony among ourselves, and inoffensiveness to all our neighbors, and considering the necessity of forming ourselves into a corpo- ration, by some certain and explicit rules and covenants, in order to obtain these good ends proposed ; do accordingly come under the following articles of agreement, jointly among and with each other :
I. We promise that we will each of us cheerfully contribute a reasonable part, according to our ability and circumstances, for the support of a stand- ing Ministry of the Gospel and its ordinances amoung us, viz: By assisting in the building or necessary repairs of a meeting house or place of public worship ; and raising a suitable salary for such Minister or Ministers as shall at any time be chosen and settled among us, or any other expenses that may be needfull for the due support and comfortable enjoyment of Gospel Ordinances.
II In order to do this, and for the better management of our public affairs we agree to meet annually at our usual Place of Meeting for Public Worship on the second Wednesday of every March (or if prevented by Rain or other- wise, upon some other day in the same month to be occasionally appointed by such person or persons as shall be deputed thereto) to consult about the necessary business of the Society.
III. We agree that in these, or other occasional meetings (said occasional Meetings being publicly advertised, or notified in our congregations two preceding Sabbaths before the day appointed) every common matter of a Secular Nature shall be determed by a majority of Voices or Votes of such convened persons of the Society, who according to their circumstances and capacities, both have been, and continue to be, supporters of, and attenders on a Gospel Ministry among us, and who are agreeable to these our articles of agreement, members of our Society. But in things more immediately respecting religion, such as judging of the soundness, Orthodoxy and due qualifications of ministers, and consequently in the approbation and choice of such as shall, or may be settled among us, the members of our church in full communion, being also supporters and attenders as above said, shall have a double vote.
IV. We agree to choose annually, three or more Select Men, immediately to manage our Public Business, according to the instructions, powers, restric_ tions that shall be given them by the Society.
V. We agree that we will annually choose a Clerk, being a member of the Church in full communion, whose business shall be to keep an exact Record
30
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
of our determinations and accounts of things secular, in our annual or occa- sional meetings ; and also a Church Book or Record of the Acts and proceed- ings of the Church of things of a Religious Nature ; and furthermore, a re- cord of births, baptisms, marriages that shall be within our Society, and any other memorable events that may be usefull to be transmitted to posterity, in Distinct Books provided by the Society ; and that a reasonable consider- ation be annually allowed to said clerk for his trouble.
VI. Finally, that these Articles may be a standing rule and bond of our Constitution, we agree that they be proposed to our children as they grow up to a capacity of being members and supports of our Society, and to such other persons as may from time to time be disposed and admitted incorpo- rate with us; to be also signed by them, and that no person be deemed a member of our Society, so as to have a vote or voice in determining and manageing our Social Affairs, that doth not also join with us in observing this our agreement, and in Testimony thereof, signing these articles when proposed to them.
Josiah Osgood, Sen'r.,
Samuel Burnley,
William Way,
William Graves,
Edward Sumner.
Joseph Way, Sen'r,
John Baker, Sen'r,
James Stuart,
Nathaniel Baker,
William Baker, Sen'r,
Thomas Sumner,
John Andrew,
William Quarterman, John Bacon,
Joseph Stevens,
Thomas Graves,
Thomas Bacon,
Nathan Taylor,
William Bacon,
Robert Quarterman,
Isham Andrews.
John Peacock, Robert Sallet,
Benjamin Baker,
James Maxwell,
James Girardeau,
Benjamin Andrew,
Richard Baker,
Joseph Law,
Parmenas Way,
David Anderson,
Thomas Bradwell,
Audley Maxwell,
Peter Winn,
Phillip Low,
John Winn, Sen'r,
Abraham Lewis,
Daniel Stewart,
John Winn, Jun'r,
Jacob Lewis,
James Wilson, Will H. Cassels,
John Stevens,
William Bacon,
John Lambright,
Gideon Dowse,
Joseph Baker,
John Quarterman,
John Elliott,
Edward Ball,
John Mitchell, Jun'r,
William Norman,
William Baker, B,
George Law,
William Baker, Jun'r,
Edward Sumner,
William Denney,
John Goulding,
Daniel Roberts,
Thos. H. Oswald,
Thomas Baker,
Jonathan Bacon,
Josiah Bacon,
Samuel Stevens,
John Way, Elijah Lewis,
Henry Wood,
John Mitchell,
Joseph McGowen,
William Bacon,
Moses Way,
Lazarus Mallard,
Joseph Quarterman.
Thomas Way,
John Norman,
Jonathan Bacon,
Joseph Andrew,
Joseph Oswald
Richard Girardeau,
John Baker, B,*
Samuel Baker,
John Way,
Thomas Peacock,
Samuel Saltus,
Judah Lewis,
John Stacy,
Edward Way,
Thomas Stephens,
Thomas Quarterman,
John Whitehead,
* We frequently meet in the Records of the church and even of the county courts, with the letters B and R after the name of John and William Baker. As there were two of these names, one John, the son of John, and another the son of Benjamin; and one William, the son of Benjamin, and another the son of Richard, these letters were used to distinguish them. Thus John Baker B, or William Baker B, was the son of Benja- min, whilst William Baker R was the son of Richard Baker.
31
SUBSCRIBERS TO THE ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION.
William Goulding, James Stacy. William Baker, R, Thos. Burnley,
J. Fabian, Jacob Wood,
Thos. Sheppard,
Thos. Baker, jun'r,
Robert Oswald,
James Moore,
Jas. A. Cole,
Robert Stacy,
Royal Spry,
Joseph Way, jun'r,
Sam'l Lewis,
Thos. Quarterman,
James Graham,
Benjamin B. Winn,
John Lambert,
John Shave,
Jno. Stewart,
William Girardeau,
George Hughes,
Joseph Norman,
John B. Ruston,
Wm. Spencer,
Daniel Miller,
Samuel Bird,
Thos. Shepar.1,
R. H. Baker,
David I)uncan,
Dan'l Sillavant,
Robert Sallet,
Thos. Goulding,
Lathrop Holmes.
John Winn,
Joseph Plummer,
Edward Stevens,
Oliver Stevens,
Jas. McCollough,
Jno. Bacon,
Benjamin Mell,
Jonathan Scarth,
Jas. Holmes,
Richard Quarterman,
William Shepard,
Joel Walker,
James Mell,
James Wood,
Richard Norman,
Robert Quarterman,
John Stacy,
John Osgood,
John Martin,
Audley Maxwell,
WVm. Girardeau,
John Dunwoody,
John P. Mann,
Francis Ross.
Edmund Bacon,
Artemas Baker,
Elijah Baker,
Peter F. Winn,
Mathew Bennett.
John Fulton,
Jesse Ham,
Palmer Goulding,
John Way, jun'r,
Joseph Wilson.
Phillip Wooters,
Thos. Cox,
Thomas Goulding, Samu'l Dowse,
Robert Iverson,
Thos. Mell,
Francis Wells,
Jesse Warren,
Wm. McGowen,
John Winn,
M. Andrews,
William Wilson,
Samuel Spencer.
Sam'l Jones,
Jno. Kell,
Elias Cassels,
Josiah Osgood, jun'r,
L. Le Conte,
Gideon Dowse,
P. H. Wilkins,
John Wm. Wilkins,
Joseph Law, Jun'r,
Liberty Holmes,
J. O. Baker,
Joseph Winn,
John Mell,
Wm. F. Ladson,
William Stacy,
John S. Quarterman,
Wm. Robarts,
Benjamin Smallwood, John Bettis,
Wm. Lambright, Zak Gaulden,
Kinla Keep,
Wm. Plowden,
John Mallard,
Uriah Wilcox,
Jno. Jones,
Jonathan B. Bacon,
Nath'l Law,
John Warren,
Hugh McCollough,
Morgan Ward,
Will. West,
Thos. Mallard,
Peter J. Goulding,
William J. Baker,
William Fleming,
Jno. Stevens,
William Sillavant,
Thos. Baker,
James Lambright,
Daniel Sillavant, James James,
Josiah Osgood. jun'r,
Thos. S. Winn.
Jas. Witherspoon,
John Osgood, jun'r,
Jos. E. Morris,
Simon Fraser,
John Sheppard,
Ad. Alexander,
William Way, John Foster,
Thomas Baker, Thomas Stevens, jun'r, William Mell,
C. Hines, Jos. Jones,
Wm. Willson,
Sam'l J. Axson,
John Robarts.
John I. Baker,
John Croft,
John Elliott, Thos. Bacon, Jun'r,
Sam'l Stevens,
James Robarts, Ben Baker, John McGowen,
T. M. Kallender, Moses Way, Jno. Maxwell, William Fraser,
Joseph Stevens,
Sam'l Sanders,
John Couper,
Wm. N. Way,
J. LeConte, Wm. Norman,
Wm. McGowen,
William Baker,
Sam'l Jones, jr., Jas. S. Bradwell, William H. Mell.
James ( arter,
Nathaniel Varnedoe,
Donald r raser, Thomas H. Oswald, John Coke, H. C. Baker,
James M. Stuart,
Benj'n Raynes, James Wilkins,
Joseph Bacon,
Daniel McL. Stewart,
Alex'n Martin,
32
HISTORY OF MIDWAY CHURCH.
Wm. Anderson,
W. B. Fleming,
Jas. D. Stevens,
Matthew Bennett,
Joseph F. McGowen,
H. M. Stevens,
William Norman,
Geo. W. Walthour,
B. B. King,
Joseph Quarterman,
Robert Q. Andrews,
J. C. Wilkins,
William Thomson,
William Spencer,
C. H. Heywood,
J. D. Hathaway,
John B. Mallard.
Irwin Rahn,
John Way, jr.,
Jno. S .. Law,
Abiel Winn,
Moses W. Way,
James McIntosh,
Wm. W. Winn,
Edward Way,
Samuel Spencer
C. S. Mallard,
Wm. W. Baker,
Ezra Stacy,
Jos. R. Bacon,
James Wilson,
P. W. Fleming,
John Mallard,
Benj. Mell, jun'r,
W. M. Maxwell,
Henry Way,
Thos. McL. Stone,
J. H. Hardee,
R. Y. Quarterman,
Simon Fraser,
Thos. G. Way,
Jos. W. Robarts,
Samuel Jones,
Q. Way,
John E. Fraser,
Josiah Goodson,
Samuel Way,
Ch. B. Jones,
B. A. Busby,
James S. McCollough,
Henry H. Jones,
W. E. W. Quarterman,
Wm. S. Baker,
E. K. Delegal,
Jno. Girardeau,
J. W. Quarterman,
J. Wilson Winn,
R. C. McConnell,
James S. Bullock,
A. Wilkins,
W. P. McConnell,
J. M. B. Harden,
B. W. Allen,
William Jones,
W. Maxwell,
E. L. Winn,
John W. Stacy,
W. G. Martin,
William S. Norman,
Robert McIntosh,
John S. Norman,
J. Thiess,
Robert Laing,
Artemas Baker,
j. B. Way,
R. F. Baker,
Wm. Le Conte,
L. L. Varnedoe,
Eugene Bacon,
Thos. Q. Cassels,
John Cassels,
William Osgood,
Charles W. West,
N. L. Barnard,
W. P. Girardeau,
John E. Mann,
W. L Walthour,
Henry N. Butler,
S. A. Fraser, James S. McCollough,
R. F. Jones,
M. L. Jones,
S. S. Moody,
J. E. Baker,
Thos. J. Shepard,
S. M. Varnedoe,
W. J. Fulton,
Robt. Laing,
Thos. Mallard,
R. Harris,
Robert P. Burton,
Thos. W. Fleming,
R. A. Varnedoe,
A. Maybank,
John S. Fleming,
J. S. Cosby,
Jo. Hargreaves,
Chas. C. Jones,
E. H. Wright,
William L. Baker.
I. N. Miller,
CHURCH ORGANIZATION.
It is very much to be regretted that we are unable to say as much concerning the organization of the church as of the society. Of the former, we have no account whatever. In- deed it seems to have been no new organization at all, but simply a transfer or continuation of the Carolina church, with its officers and members. Hence we find no mention of pastor, deacons, or elders at the first meeting ; no mention of election of select men or clerk. At the second annual meeting, in 1755, it was voted that Mr. Benjamin Baker be continued clerk, and Messrs. John Stevens, John Elliott, Wil- liam Baker and Parmenas Way, be continued select men.
33
DEACONS.
The first direct intimation in the Midway Records of the existence of a church is the mention of the administration of the sacrament of the supper and the reception of certain members into its communion. We know who was the pas- tor, the clerk and the select men, but who the original mem- bers, we are left largely to conjecture. These, together with the account of the organization, might have been upon the first leaves of the Record, quite a number of which are now lost. This much, however, might be said to the contrary, that in the paged Index to the volume which we now have, nothing is said about those things there. It might be that the organization of the society was considered sufficient, es- pecially as there seems to be a mixing up at times of spiritu- al and temporal things in the proceedings of the society ; they, in many instances, considering questions pertaining solely to the spiritual life of the church. If we only had the records of the Carolina church, this deficiency could easily be supplied. But we have no account of them even after the most diligent search. As we have a list of all who have ever joined, a list of the members in 1776, and also the baptisms of the children, and the names of parents, by a comparison and computation we can somewhat approximate to the number, and no doubt give a majority of the names with a tolerable degree of certainty, but after all, it will be but con- jecture with regard to quite a number. As the removal of the families continued for several years, I seriously doubt whether the church at any time during the first three years of its existence had a membership of over seventy-five.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.