USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky Baptists : From 1769 to 1885, including more than 800 biographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 8
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This was the mother church in this region of the State
*Hickman's narrative, pp. 28, 29.
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Rush Branch.
and from it sprang all the early churches of Shelby county. It served well during its period, and left behind it a numerous and prosperous offspring.
RUSH BRANCH was the first church gathered in what is now Lincoln county. It was constituted about two and a half miles from the present location of Stanford, in the year 1785. John Bailey was its founder and its first pastor. It united in
forming South Kentucky Association, in 1787. It went into the general union in 1801, and became a member of the South District Association. In 1803 there was a rupture in South District Association on account of some doctrinal errors, pro- pagated by some of the ministers. One of the factions resumed the name of South Kentucky Association of Separate Baptists. Rush Branch church adhered to this division, and its subse- quent history is not know to the author.
JOHN BAILEY was the founder and first pastor of Rush Branch church. He was a man of superior talent and great energy, and, for a number of years, occupied a high position, both as a preacher of the gospel and a legislator. He was a member of the convention that formed the first constitution of Kentucky, in 1792, as also of that which formed the second constitution of the State, in 1799. He was not a politician, however, but made preaching the great work of his life. The distinguished Judge John Rowan regarded him the ablest pul- pit orator in Kentucky of his generation.
John Bailey was the son of George Bailey, who was of English extraction, and was born in Northumberland county, Virginia, May 4, 1748. His mother's maiden name was Brad- ley. His father died young, leaving a widow and two small children, John and Peter. John received very little education in his childhood, having attended a common school only a few months. But his mother was a strong-minded Christian woman, and carefully trained him up in the fear of the Lord. He professed conversion, and united with a Baptist church in his youth. He commenced exhorting at about the age of eighteen. After preaching for a time in his native county, he moved to Pittsylvania county. Here he gained considerable reputation as a pulpit orator. After having twice visited the Western country, looking about as far West as the Bear Grass settlement, he moved to Kentucky, and settled near the present
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site of Stanford, in Lincoln county, in the fall of 1784. Here he commenced preaching among the people of the new settle- ment. The year following he gathered Rush Branch church, and, afterwards, McCormack's and Green River churches, and perhaps others.
Sometime after the year 1792 he moved to Logan county, from whence he was sent as a delegate to the convention which formed the second constitution of Kentucky, in 1799. Soon after this he moved back to Lincoln county, where he devoted his time to preaching. He refused to receive any compensation for preaching. He traveled and preached very extensively, and was said to be not only one of the ablest, but also one of the most popular preachers in Kentucky.
About the year 1800 it began to be rumored that Mr. Bai- ley had adopted the theory of the Restorationists. He had not yet preached it from the pulpit. It is claimed, indeed, by his especial friends, that he never did preach it from the pulpit at any time. Others of his admirers claimed that he preached the chimerical notion "in such a manner as not to offend the most delicate ear." However, it gained currency among his brethren, and began to cause disturbance in some of the churches. His great popularity in the church of which he was a member prevented the exercise of discipline against him.
When the South District Association met at McCormack's, in 1803, it was known that there was an intention formed to investigate Mr. Bailey's doctrine before that body. Mr. Bailey determined that this should not be done. As soon, therefore, as the association was organized he succeeded in getting the floor. He made a speech of considerable length in his own de- fense. Then making an impassioned appeal to the messengers to guard against the usurpation of tyrannical power by asso- ciations he withdrew from the body, and invited all who adopted his views on that subject to follow him. His personal popularity and the power of his eloquence made the people forget or ignore his heresy, and he drew after him a majority of the association. This caused an immediate division of that body. A majority of the churches adhered to Mr .. Bailey's party. 3 Each party claimed the name and prerogatives of South District Association. The corresponding associations acknowl-
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John Bailey.
edged the minority, and rejected the correspondence of the ma- jority. After this Mr. Bailey's party resumed the name of South Kentucky Association of Separate Baptists.
In connection with Thomas J. Chilton and his son, Thomas Chilton, and some other ministers of considerable ability, Mr. Bailey labored with much diligence to build up the association with which he was now connected. His moral character was unspotted, and he labored abundantly. He retained his popu- larity and the grateful affection of his people to the end. He gave no prominence to his obnoxious doctrine, and the churches among which he labored seem not to have become infected with it to any considerable extent.
On the 3d of July, 1816, he left the walks of men and went to give an account of his stewardship to Him who is the right- ful Judge of all men. Those who knew him best reckoned him a good and great man .*
HEAD OF BOONE'S CREEK CHURCH, according to Asplund, was constituted in 1785. It was located in Fayette county, and is supposed to have been gathered by Joseph Craig. It united with South Kentucky Association, either at its constitu- tion or the year following. In 1790 it contained 74 members. This is the last account we have of it, except that it was soon afterwards dissolved.
JOSEPH CRAIG is supposed to have been the first and only pastor of the Separate Baptist church on the Head of Boones creek. Mr. Craig, though a preacher of small gifts and marked eccentricities, was a man of zeal and piety, was among the early pioneers to the great West, and deserves to be remem- bered by those who love the cause he aided in establishing in the face of danger and death, in the savage-infested wilderness of the Mississippi valley.
Joseph Craig was the seventh child, and fifth son, of Toli- ver Craig, and a younger brother of the well-known Lewis and Elijah Craig. He was born in Orange county, Virginia, about the year 1747. In early life he, with all his father's family, was converted to Christianity, and was baptized under the ministry of Samuel Harris and Dutton Lane. He commenced exhorting
#For the facts of Mr. Bailey's life the author is indebted to his grand- son, Judge W. G. Bailey.
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
sinners to repent soon after his conversion. With other Bap- tist ministers of his day, he was called on to endure hardness for the Master's cause. At one time, he, with several other preachers, was arrested at Guinea's Bridge church, in Spottsyl- vania county, Virginia, by virtue of a warrant issued by a magistrate. On his way to the magistrate's house, in custody of an officer, "Mr. Craig, thinking it no dishonor to cheat the divit, as he termed it, slipped off the horse and took to the bushes. They hunted him with dogs, but Asahel like, being light of foot, he made good his retreat."* Chasing Baptist preachers with dogs, as our sportsmen chase foxes now, seems tohave been a favorite amusement of the Episcopalian Vir- ginians of the last century. Speaking of Joseph Craig, his bio- grapher says: "I do not recollect, though a zealous preacher, that his persecutors ever got him into prison. He had a method to baffle them. He was once preaching at a place, and the officers came after him. Stepping out at a back door he ran into a swamp, supposing he was safe, but they took his track with a gang of dogs. To evade the dogs, he betook himself to a tree, from which his pursuers shook him down as if he was a wild beast, and demanded his going with them to court. After reasoning with them awhile he refused to go. But they forced him on a horse, and perhaps tied his hands. On the way he reasoned thus: Good men ought not to go to prison, and if you will put so good a man as Jo Craig in prison, I will have no hand in it, and threw himself off the horse, and would neither ride nor walk; behaving perhaps as David did, before Achish, King of Gath .- 1 Sam. xxi: 10. They let him go."i
Joseph Craig came to Kentucky at a very early date-per- haps with his brother Lewis and his traveling church, in 1781. He was never more than a moderate exhorter, but he maintain- ed an unblemished reputation, and was zealous and diligent in his calling. "No man in the bounds of our acquaintance," says his biographer, "manifested more zeal in the cause of religion than Joseph Craig. At times his zeal seemed intemperate, as if the man had not common sense, and yet there was some- thing in him more original than was found in other men." He was unsuited to the pastoral office, and probably occu-
*Semple's His. Va. Bap., p. 156. +His. Ten Ch's, p 281.
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Joseph Craig.
pied but little time in that position. But he was a faithful "helper to the truth" according to his ability. He labored in the ministry about fifty-nine years, and, at the age of about eighty years, went to receive his reward.
Mr. Craig avoided speculation, but was prudent and dili- gent in his temporal business, and acquired a good property. He raised six sons and four daughters, and "taught them all the laudable habit of industry. Find a child of his where you may, he is surrounded with affluence, and is of respect- able standing among men. Nearly all of them have also a place in the church of Christ."*
Many anecdotes, some of which are still familiarly re- peated, have been related of the eccentric Joseph Craig, of which the following appear. to be well authenticated. On one occasion when pack-saddles were in much demand for conveying goods along the narrow traces through the wilder- ness, on pack-horses, Mr. Craig was preaching to a congre- gation assembled in the woods, when casting his eyes up- ward he said: "Brethren, there is a fork that would make a good pack-saddle," and then continued his discourse with- out making a pause. Once, after crossing a stream in a ferry-boat, and offering to pay the ferryman, the man of the oar said, "I will charge you nothing but to pray for me." Mr. Craig invited him ashore. "Not now," said the ferryman, "I am busy-pray for me at some other time." "No," replied Mr. Craig, "I will not go away indebted to you." The ferryman yielded, and Mr. Craig offered up a fervent prayer for the sa !- vation of his soul.
After Mr. Craig had been trying to preach about a score of years his brother Lewis, fearing that he would only injure the holy cause he was advocating, attempted to dissuade him from making any further effort to preach, saying to him: "You have been trying to preach twenty years, and I have never known of your being instrumental in the conversion of but one person." "Thank God," said Mr. Craig, "if Christ has saved one soul by me, in twenty years, I am ready to labor twenty more for the salvation of another." Being called to see a sick niece, after offering a fervent prayer for her recovery,
History of Ten Churches, p. 282.
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
he took her by the hand and said: Now, Hannah, don't die. You have a good husband and many fine children, some of them yet to raise. If you die now it will be the meanest thing you ever did in your life." When Mrs. Graves recovered she asked her uncle what he meant. "Well," said he, "I was afraid you would become willing to die, and I feared if you did the Lord would take you away, and I did not want you to die and leave your husband and children."
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CHAPTER VIII.
GREAT CROSSING AND TATES CREEK CHURCHES.
GREAT CROSSING CHURCH was the third organization of the kind on the north side of Kentucky river. It was located in what is now Scott county, near the present site of Georgetown. Colonel Robert Johnson, who had moved from Bryan's Station, in the Spring of 1784, was probably the chief mover in procur- ing the organization of a church at this point. There, were at this time, several active preachers living north of the Kentucky river, and it is probable that different ones preached in Colonel Johnson's fort, before the church was organized : so that the gathering of this body can not be attributed to any one preach- er. We may be sure, however, that Lewis Craig, John Taylor and William Hickman were always at the front.
Great Crossing church was constituted, May 28, 1785, by Lewis Craig and John Taylor. The following persons went into the constitution : Wm. Cave, James Suggett, Sr., Robert Johnson, Thomas Ficklin, John Suggett, Julius Gibbs, Robert Bradley, Bartlett Collins, Jemima Johnson, Susannah Cave, Sarah Shipp, Katy Herndon, Jane Herndon, Hannah Bradley, Betsy Leeman and Betsy Collins. The next year after this church was constituted, Elijah Craig came from Virginia. and settled on the ground now occupied by Georgetown. He was immediately called to the partoral care of Great Crossing church. This position he occupied for a period of about five years, when a difficulty arose in the church, which resulted in his exclusion. The church was divided in this affair, which grew out of a con- tention between Mr. Craig and Joseph Redding, a very popu- lar preacher, who had recently come from South Carolina, and settled near Great Crossing. After causing much disturbance in that and the surrounding churches, the difficulty was finally adjusted. Mr. Craig was restored, and entered into the con-
[85]
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
stitution of a new church, then called McConnel's Run, but since known as Stamping Ground.
In 1793, Joseph Redding was chosen pastor ot Great Cross- ing church, and continued in that office till 1810. During this period the church had general prosperity, though it had some seasons of coldness. During the great Revival of 1800-3 Mr. - Redding baptized, for the membership of this church, 361 converts,
In 1810 James Suggett became pastor of the church. The church continued to prosper under his ministry, about fifteen years, during which it enjoyed several precious revivals. Jacob Creath succeded James Suggett, but preached for the church only one year, when he was succeded by Silas M. Noel.
Mr. Noel took charge of the church the first Saturday in January, 1827. There were twenty-seven additions to the church by experience and baptism, that year. During the year 1828, a very remarkable revival occurred, under the preaching of the pastor, Ryland T. Dillard, and others. During the year Mr. Noel baptized for the fellowship of this church, 359 mem- bers. Among them were seventeen Indians, students in the Choctaw Academy at Blue Spring. After this revival, the church numbered 588 members. From this time to the pre- sent, it has had many pastors, and has enjoyed a good degree of prosperity. It has been served by many able ministers, among whom may be named John L. Waller, John Bryce, Wm. F. Broadus, James D. Black, Howard Malcom, Duncan R. Campbell, and Basil Manley, Jr ..
Great Crossing has been a leading church in Elkhorn As. sociation from the constitution of that old fraternity to the pre- sent. It has, since the disturbance between Craig and Redding in its early years, had fewer troubles from factions, than most of the old mother churches. During the stormy period that gave birth to Campbellism, out of a membership of nearly 600, it only lost sixteen by that turbulent faction. Its numerous daughters now cluster around it, and it is not so strong as in the days of yore. *
#For the facts in the history of this ancient fraternity, the author is in- debted to Professor J. N. Bradley's excellent "History of Great Crossing Church."
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Great Crossing and Tates Creek churches.
ELIJAH CRAIG was the first pastor of the "Old Crossing" church, and, while he was not as useful to the cause of Christ in Kentucky as many others of the pioneers, he deserves to be remembered for his eminent services among the early Baptists of Virginia. He labored and suffered much amid the fiery per- secution that tried men's souls in the old mother State, and few preachers in the Old Dominion were more laborious and useful than he.
Elijah Craig was the son of Toliver Craig, and a brother of the famous Lewis and the eccentric Joseph Craig. He was born in Orange county, Virginia, about the year 1743, was raised up in his native county, and like his brothers, received but a limited education. He was awakened to a knowledge of his lost con- dition, under the preaching of the renowned David Thomas, in the year 1764. The next year, he and others were encour- aged, by Samuel Harris, to hold meetings in his neighborhood, for the encouragement of the young converts, and their mutual edification. Elijah Craig's tobacco barn was their meeting house, Here Mr, Craig began his ministry, as did several other young men, who afterwards became valuable preachers. As has been related elsewhere, Elijah Craig traveled into North Carolina to get James Read to come and baptize the young converts, himself being one of them. Mr. Read returned with him, and baptized as many as were approved for that ordinance. Elijah Craig was among those baptized: this was in the year 1766, and a year after Mr. Craig began his ministry, He now devoted himself to preaching with great zeal. He was ordain. ed, in May, 1771, at which time he became the pastor of Blue Run church. Some time after this, the sheriff came to where he was plowing, arrested him, and carried him before a magis- trate, on the charge of having preached the gospel contrary to law. He was committed to jail, where he was fed on rye bread and water. He preached to the people through the grates dur- ing his imprisonment. It was during the trial of Mr. Craig, that a certain lawyer, advising the Court to release him, said in substance : "The Baptists are like a bed of camomile ; the more they are trodden the more they spread." This proved true ; their preaching through prison grates enkindled their own en- thusiasm, and produced a greater effect on the people than if the preachers had been at liberty. After remaining in Culpeper
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
jail one month, Mr. Craig was released. After this he was ho- nored with a term in Orange county jail, for a similar breach of the law. His constant labor in the ministry, and his close ap- plication to the study of the Bible, in a few years, developed the tobacco-barn exhorter into one of the most popular and in- fluential preachers in Virginia.
During the fierce and long continued struggle for religious liberty, Mr. Craig was frequently sent by the General Associ- ation, and General Committee of the Virginia Baptists, as their delegate to the Legislature, to aid in forwarding that object.
Another, and perhaps the greatest evidence of his popula- rity, was evinced in electing him to a singular and exalted office, among modern Baptists. In the year 1774, the question was sprung in the General Association of Virginia Baptists, as to whether all the offices mentioned in Ephesians 4: II ; were still in use in the churches of Christ. After a long and heated debate, the question was decided in the affirmative, and the As- sociation proceeded at once to elect and consecrate two Apostles for the north side of James river ; the lot fell on John Waller and Elijah Graig. Samuel Harris was appointed an Apostle for. the south side of James river. These Apostles exercised no real authority, and their office was about equivalent to that of an Evangelist, appointed by our modern General Associations. It had however a pretentious name, and found so little favor among the churches, that it was discontinued at the end of one year's experience. These three men were the only Baptist Apostles who have lived since the death of the original twelve. Elijah Craig continued a career of eminent usefulness till 1786, when he removed to Kentucky. This move was unfortunate, both for the cause of Christ and himself. He was an enterpris- ing business man. The new country offered excellent facilities for profitable speculation. The temptation was too strong. He was soon overwhelmed in worldly business. He bought one thousand acres of land, and laid off a town on it, at first called Lebanon, but afterwards, Georgetown. The speculation succeeded. He erected a saw and grist mill, then the first full- ing mill, the first rope works, and the first paper mill in Ken- tucky. It seems that he had no intention to abandon the min- istry, but vainly imagined tnat he could serve God and mammon both. He became irritable, and indulged a spirit of fault find-
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Great Crossing and Tates Creck church.
ing. He wrote two pamphlets, one to prove that a settled pastor of a church is not entitled to any compensation for his services in that capacity. The other was titled "A Portrait of Jacob Creath." They were both written in a bad spirit, and the latter is said to have been exceedingly bitter. This not only involved him in much trouble, but threw the whole of Elkhorn Associa- tion into confusion, and resulted in much harm to the cause of Christ. But it would be unprofitable to follow him through his varied and annoying conflicts. He continued to preach till near the time of his departure. He was accused of no im morality except his petulant fault finding ; and it is confidently believed that he was a child of God, and a sincere man ; but he allowed satan to take advantage of the weakness of the flesh, and do him much harm. After saying he was considered the greatest preacher of the three brothers, John Taylor pro- ceeds to speak of him as follows :
"In a very large association, in Virginia, Elijah Craig was among the most popular, for a number of years. His preach- ing was of the most solemn style, his appearance, as a man who had just come from the dead, of a delicate habit, a thin visage, large eyes and mouth, of great readiness of speech, the sweet melody of his voice, both in preaching and singing, bore all down before it ; and when his voice was extended, it was like the loud sound of a sweet trumpet. The great favor of his preaching, commonly brought many tears from the hearers, and many, no doubt, were turned to the Lord by his preaching. He was several times a prisoner of the Lord for preaching. He came to Kentucky later than his brothers. His turn for speculation did harm every way. He was not as great a peace- maker in the church as his brother Lewis, and that brought trouble on him. But from all his troubles he was relieved by death, when perhaps he did not much exceed sixty years of age, after serving in the ministry, say forty years."*
JOSEPH REDDING was the second pastor of Great Crossing church. He came to Kentucky in the prime of life. An orator of no mean ability, possessing great force of character, and in- spired with a zeal that never flagged, "he at once," it has been said, "became the most popular preacher in Kentucky."t
*History of Ten churches.
+History of Great Crossing church.
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
Joseph Redding was born in Germantown, Fauquier county, Virginia, about the year 1750. His father was of Welsh extrac- tion, and his mother a native of Germany. His parents both died when he was young, and left seven children to be raised by their uncle, William Redding. This uncle being poor, could afford thom but little opportunity to obtain an education When Joseph arrived at manhood, he could barely read a little "by spelling the words as he went." He could also write some. He was raised an Episcopalian, and was intensely bigoted. At the age of about eighteen years, he married Anna Weakly, "a prudent, sensible and very industrious woman." Although so young, he weighed about two hundred pounds, and was ready and willing to defend his religion with his fist. Not far from the time of Mr. Redding's marriage, the Baptists, then derisively called Newlights, began to preach in Fauquier. Mr. Redding held them in great contempt, and would by no means go to one of their meetings. "But God had marked the young man for his own," and found means to reach his heart, in an unexpected way. Mr. Redding lived on a public road. On a stormy night, about the time of which we speak, a young wagoner, named Joseph Baker, obtained leave to stay over night at Mr. Redding's- As the young man started out after supper to look after his team, he was heard to groan. Isaac Redding, an older brother of Joseph, remarked that the young wagoner was a Baptist, and that he intended to confute him when he came in. As Isaac was regarded the better scholar of the two, it was arranged that he should conduct the argu- ment, and, as Joseph was much the larger man, he was to do the fighting, if this became necessary. Wholly unconscious of the arrangement, Baker came in, and Isaac began the assault. Baker meekly responded, and the argument continued to a late hour. Isaac was so much worsted in the argument, that Joseph became irritated, and, to avoid insulting his guest, went to bed. Isaac and Baker continued the argument till the former was silenced, and began to weep and tremble; for the spirit of the Lord found way to his heart. The disputants went to bed, but Isaac could not sleep, for the pungency of his conversion. Jo- seph's anger was so hot that he could not sleep, and he resolved to whip his brother Isaac, in the morning, for not defending his religion better. When the brothers got up in the morning, the
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