Cleburne County AlArchives Church Records.....History of Bethsaida [Abel] Baptist Church Copyright Date 2022 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Linda Ayres http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00031.html#0007674 October 26, 2022, 12:37 am Abel Cleburne County Alabama [Old Randolph County] Township 17, Section 17, Range 9. Bethsaida Baptist Church predates the Civil War. No record can be found of the church in any Baptist Association before 1862. Sometime after 1935 Bethsaida Baptist Church changed the name to "Abel" Baptist Church. In the 1840 Randolph County census there are: James, John B., Joseph and Thomas Abel listed as head of households. It is said these men were the sons of Moses & Nancy Abel which are said to have also came to Randolph County. There are no census records or land records to document this. Thomas Abel born ca 1808 SC; he died before 1870 in Randolph/Cleburne County. He married Mary E.- born ca 1808, she died after 1880 possibly in Cleburne County. In 1870 Mary E. Abel was living in Township 17, Range 9 of Cleburne County AL. Joseph H. Abel was born ca 1828, died ca 1890 was a member of Bethsaida Baptist Church, he served as a delegate and was also the church clerk at the time of his death. He married Louisa Lee, their sons Jefferson C. Abel, Elijah Thomas Abel, and their son-in-law A.J. Smith were also members of Bethsaida Baptist church and served as delegates at one time. Most of remaining family members of Joseph H. Abel's left Alabama around 1894 for Texas. Until a few years ago, there were several unmarked graves covered with river rocks in this cemetery. Many older people in the area over the years have stated these graves were members of the "Abel Family" they were the first graves in the cemetery. The church and community were named after the Abel family. Stephen Nixon is the oldest marked grave in the cemetery dated 1853. The next is John Morrison who was killed in 1867 in a mine accident. The Morrison and Abel families are related. Some early members surnames were: Abel Birchfield Chandler Chitwood Dover Duffy Dulin Faulk Gann Green Hill Holland Hughes Jones Kennedy McClintock McWaters Morrison Newsome Nixon Pinson Pirkle Prickett Taylor Teague Tennison Thompson Robertson Sealy Shaw Smith Ward White 1862 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Bethsaida Church. Missing. The 1863-1867 Records are also missing. Delegates from Bethsaida Baptist Church: 1868 Boiling Springs Baptist Association Meeting at Christiana Church. James Adams, Pastor Delegates: Rev. P.F. Tennison J. F. Birchfield, James Teague and Ivy Hill. Dismissed by death: 1. Total members: 27. 1870 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Bethsaida Church. James Adams, Pastor Delegates: J. F. Birchfield, Jerry Kennedy and J.W. McClintock. Dismissed by death: 1. Total members: 49. 1871-1874 Records missing 1875 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Good Hope Church. W.O. Jenkins, Pastor Delegates: J.H. Abels, J.M. Ward, and J.W. McClintock. Total members: 50. 1876 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Bethlehem Church. W.O. Jenkins, Pastor, J.W. McClintock, Clerk. Delegates: J.H. Abel, J.T. Pinson, and J.W. McClintock. Total members: 39. 1877 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Christiana Church. F.M. Campbell, Pastor, J.H. Abel, Clerk. Delegates: J.H. Abels, S.T. Sealy, and J.W. McClintock. Total members: 39. 1878 Boiling Springs Baptist Association Meeting at Bethel Church. F.M. Campbell, Pastor, J.W. McClintock, Clerk. Delegates: J.W. McClintock, J.L. Chandler and J.H. Abel. Total members: 28. 1879 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Salt Creek Church. F.M. Campbell, Pastor, J.W. McClintock, Clerk. Delegates: J.W. McClintock, J.L. Chandler and J.H. Abel. Total members: 31. 1880 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Mt. Moriah Church. F.M. Campbell, Pastor, J.H. Abel, Clerk. Total members: 22. 1881 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Union Church Missing. 1882 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Mt. Moriah Church. J.W. Chandler, Pastor, J.H. Abel, Clerk. Delegates: R. Davis, J.L. Chandler, J.H. Abel and A.J. Smith. Total members: 31. 1883 Record missing. 1884 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Bethel Church. J.W. Chandler, Pastor, J.H. Abel, Clerk. Delegates: J.L. Chandler, J.C. Abel and A.J. Smith. Total members: 73. 1885 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Bethlehem Church. J.W. Chandler, Pastor, J.H. Abel, Clerk. Delegates: J.L. Chandler, W.T. Gann and J.C. Abel. Total members: 75. 1886 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Ramah Church. J.W. Chandler, Pastor, J.H. Abel, Clerk. Delegates: E.T. Abel, A.J. Smith and W.T. Gann. Total members: 50. 1887-1888 Records missing. 1889 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Christiana Church. W.J. Campbell, Pastor, J.H. Abel, Clerk. Delegates: E.T. Abel, F.M. McWaters, Jacob Pirkle and J.C. Abel. Total members: 57. 1890 Record missing. 1891 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Union Church. J D. Johnson, Pastor, Jacob Pirkle, Clerk. Delegates: Stephen Nixon, A.J. Smith, J.M. Duffy and J.C. Abel. Dismissed by death: 1. Total members: 72. 1892 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Mt. Moriah Church. J D. Johnson, Pastor, Jacob Pirkle, Clerk. Delegates: E.T. Abel, A.J. Smith, J.S. Newsome and J.T. Pritchett. Dismissed by death: 1. Total members: 65. 1893 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Pleasant Grove Church. J D. Johnson, Pastor, J.M. Duffy, Clerk. Delegates: E.T. Abel and J.M. Duffy. Total members: 66. 1894 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Bethsaida Church. J D. Johnson, Pastor, J.M. Duffy, Clerk. Delegates: Stephen Nixon, J.A. Robertson, J.M. Duffy and M.S.C. Dover. Dismissed by death: 2. Total members: 66. 1895 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Mt. Olive Church. J D. Johnson, Pastor, J.M. Duffy, Clerk. Delegates: Stephen Nixon, J.A. Robertson, J.M. Duffy and E.H. Taylor. Dismissed by death: 1. Total members: 71. 1896 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at New Home Church. J.M. Duffy, Clerk. Total members: 85. 1897 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Bethlehem Church. J D. Johnson, Pastor T.J. Dulin, Clerk. Delegates: Stephen Nixon, J.A.J. Robertson, T.J. Dulin and D.R. Duffie. Dismissed by death: 3. Total members: 83. 1898 Boiling Spring Baptist Association Meeting at Christiana Church. W.Z.T. Chatman, Pastor T.J. Dulin, Clerk. Delegates: S. Nixon, E.H. Taylor, M.D. Faulk, T.J. Dulin, J.H. Shaw and D.R. Duffey. Total members: 95. The Boiling Spring Baptist Association disbanded in 1900. Cleburne News Mar-1914: With profound loss we chronicle the death of Oliver White, which came Tuesday, March 17th. He was laid to rest until God shall call for him, in the Bethsadia Cemetery by loving hands on the 18th. He was born April 22, 1892, living only 21 years, 10 months and 22 days. He was married to Miss Gladys Robertson on Nov 9, 1913. This union was destined to last only four months and eight days. His young wife gave him the most kind and tender attention during the last sickness. He only lived twenty days after he took to his bed. He died of typhoid fever. Oliver was a son of William and Mattie White, nee Mattie Duffey. The grandparents raised Oliver and he lived in the home at the time of his death. He joined the Baptist church at Bethsadia at the age of 12 years to which he was a member at the time of his death. On the evening of the 18th at 3 o'clock a large concourse of people assembled in the church at old Bethsadia to pay the last tribute of respect and to hear the funeral sermon preached by Rev. J.D. Johnson the ex-pastor of the church. After reading a part of the 4th chapter of 1st Thessalonians and praying the choir sang a beautiful song after which the text was announced from Luke 23:13, "today shalt thou be with me in paradise." At the close of the sermon Rev. William Haywood led in prayer. We pray god's richest blessings to comfort the bereaved ones and keep us all until we reach that blissful shore where there will be no more sad partings, no more sickness and deaths but one eternal day over among the angels. J.D. Johnson. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/cleburne/churches/historyo189gbb.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 8.8 Kb