Jasper County GaArchives News.....Jasper Reflections - Bethlehem Baptist Church 1970's ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Suzanne Forte suzanneforte@bellsouth.net July 2, 2004, 10:14 pm Monticello News JASPER REFLECTIONS BY JOHN HARVEY "Bethlehem Baptist Church" PART I Bethlehem Baptist Church is located in the northwestern section of the county on Georgia Highway 221, and attracts the attention of the passerby by its freshly painted buildings and well kept grounds. This church was originally organized as a Missionary Baptist Church in 1821. During the 1830's and 40's the church prospered though it was the only Missionary Baptist Church in the immediate area. The only other Missionary Baptist churches in the area being Towliga in Butts County and Rehobeth in DeKalb County. An early list of original members shows nineteen men and eight women as members in 1821 with thirteen new members added in 1825. Families on the original list were Taylor, Lynne, Ramsey, Miller, Wilson, Flagg, Dunn, Lane, Reaves, Brook, Stone, Chesser, Martin and White. The later list added Holmes, Dennis, Thompson, Lane, Byars, Strickland, Mercer, Glover, Gilcomb and Reeves. The first minister was C. White who served from 1823 to 1833 and was followed by B. Strickland. It is not clear how long the Rev. Strickland's ministry continued. In the late 1830's the family names of Aiken, Smith, Clark, Hardy, Cornwell, Key and Dodson appear on church rolls. THE EARLY RECORD shows that on May 19, 1823, Stokley Morgan deeded to the deacons of Bethlehem Church one acre and 140 poles more or less and a 20 foot wide walk from the church to a spring at the head of the branch. This is the property on which the present church stands and the spring is still used by the church. Deacons signing the deed were John Reeves and Francis Martin with Aaron Brooks and John Hutchinson as witnesses. This deed is recorded in Book C, Page 28 at the Jasper County Courthouse and is dated Dec. 9, 1835. The first clerk was P. Reeves, who served until June, 1835. He was succeeded by G. W. Cornwell, 1834-41; James Lane, 1841-46, William D. Lane, 1846-56, William T. White, 1856-77, and James P. Hardy, 1877- ? Church records for a period of 16 years (1879-1895) have not been located. Sometime during the early years the church voted to join the United Baptist Denomination, but at a called meeting on May 14, 1904, after a prayer by N. H. Leverette, the membership voted to return to the Missionary Baptist Denomination. This is followed by a list of male and female members of the new church, and a list of those asking for and receiving letters of dismissal. The church is still Missionary Baptist. ANOTHER MEETING took up charges that a brother had been seen drinking and fighting in a public place. At another time one of the members was charged with allowing a dance to be held at his house. One of the women members was charged with having attended the dance. Both asked the conference for forgiveness and promised that it wouldn't happen again. They were forgiven. In November, 1833, a conference looked into the ordination of a Mr. Whatley who was serving in the county as a lay minister and wished to continue his work. In August of 1840 a new set of Rules of Decorum was adopted by the congregation. Later that year Brother Clark had made what was considered by the church as an "unreasonable request" of the church and had been turned down. He asked to take the request before the Association at Towliga. Clark P. Reeves was appointed to accompany him to the Association meeting, where the request was also turned down. The records do not say what the request was. In December, Brother Clark asked for a letter of dismission. The church in conference voted to delay action until the case could be investigated. In January, he and his wife were given their letters of dismissal. BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHURCH PART II Last week we described some of the records of Bethlehem Baptist Church, including actions on members apparently errant behavior. At other times baptismal services were held and the names of new members were entered in the beautiful script of Clerks G. W. Cornwell and William D. Lane. There was a separate page listing slaves who were members during the 1840’s and 50’s. The slave’s name and “the servant of” followed by the master’s name was the way these members were recorded. During these early year, the area around Bethlehem Church was one of the most heavily settled sections of Jasper County. The river was the main means of transportation and there were crossroad communities and riverboat landing, each having its own name. After the railroad came to Monticello in the 1880’s the center of population shifted toward the center of the county. Many of these sites disappeared without leaving a trace. Many of the people moved to surrounding county seats or to new lands opening up in the west. In September, 1869, after a four-day series of meetings, a baptismal service was held, which was typical. At that service the evangelist, the Rev. James M. Bledsoe, baptized the following: Virgil A. Chaffin, Andrew J. White, Zimsewda J. Deason, Lana A. Tucker, Julia F. Hardy, Martha E. Edwards, Sophia C. Price, Sarah P. White and Mary F. Cornwell. He was assisted by Brothers J. G. Weaver and William Weaver. Received by letter were Zemma Fedders, Martha Campbell, Elizabeth White, John W. White Thomas J. Leverett and Mary Jane White. In 1878-9, Bethlehem Baptist Church was experiencing one of its most active periods of growth. In may of that year Clerk James P. Hardy listed the names of the members. His list showed 15 of the original members still living, nine of them women and six men. Original members must have included both 1821 and 1825 lists. There was a total of 124 active members. Four men had been excommunicated for intoxification and fighting, four other members had been excommunicated, though no charges were listed. Between 1821 and 1969 a total of 1322 people had held membership in the church. Family name appearing most often included Cornwell, Lane, Hardy, Clark, Smith, Thompson, Brown, White, Martin, Trammell, Leveritt, and Price. Other names which appear frequently were Kelly, Edwards, Hooper, Perry, Stone, Pope, Polk, Satterwhite, Parker, Strickland, Key, Byars, Bishop and Campbell. When the church records resumed in 1895, the pastor was the Rev. W. B. Cook and the clerk was Brother W. W. Leverett, Succeeding clerks were J.L. Moore and T. E. Hooper. Clerk pro tem at the time of reorganization in 1904 was A. J. Thomason. After the church had reorganized as Missionary Baptist, Brother J. L. Malone was elected clerk. On October 8, 1904, the Rev. J. N. Pounds was elected pastor for the next year. He resigned on December 10 of the same year, and from other records it seems he resigned in order to accept the post of home missionary in Jasper, Newton, Morgan and Putnam Counties. He was killed when a train struck his buggy near Shady Dale in 1910 and his obituary said that he had been home missionary in the area for five years. Bethlehem Church elected the Rev. Z. M. Leveritt as its pastor for 1905 and T. J. Chaffin and C. A. Lumsden were ordained deacons. For the next few years the church had one of the largest Sunday schools in the county and prospered generally. R. G. Chaffin was Sunday school Superintendent for about 20 years. From 1930 to 1938 the church had no Sunday School and preaching was held only once a month. Attendance was very poor. In April 1938, the Rev. O. S. Patrick came to the church and preached to a small group. On request he returned during the following months and was eventually elected pastor. In September, 1938, E. L. Chaffin was elected and began a long service in that capacity. At about this time a new Sunday School was organized and money was collected to repair and paint the buildings. Several new members were added, showing moderate progress. More recent times have seen real growth for the church. A new piano was bought in the early 1960’s, with Mrs. Frank Wild and Mrs. Hugh Cook contributing a large portion of the funds needed. The church building was painted in 1968 and 1975 and a new roof put on in 1970. New pews were also installed in 1970. The new fellowship building was dedicated on August 11, 1974 and was completely free of debt when dedicated. A new air conditioning and heating system was installed in 1975 and the present pastor, Brother Joseph Franklin, gave a new light fixture for the church. In 1976 the church chose as a project the installation of a new ceiling and paneling the sanctuary and this work is scheduled to begin soon. Mrs. Harold (Pauline) Morris is the present church clerk having been elected in 1975 when E. L. Chaffin resigned due to illness. MINISTERS OF BETHLEHEM BAPTIST CHURCH 1821-?: 1823-1833 - C. White; 1834 - B. Strickland; 1835 - P. Reaves; 1836 - B. Strickland; 1837 - William Thompson; 1838-1839 - B. Strickland; 1840-42 - W. Byars; 1842-48 - W. Jarrell; 1849-1850 - Field, Mc Michael and Pitts. Also, 1851-53 - W. Jarrell; 1855 - B. Strickland; 1856-58 - John Skipper; 1859- 60 - W. Jarrell; 18683-63 - Elisher Norris; 1864-65 - Tidwell; 1866 - Adam Allison; 1867-68 - John Weaver; 1869 - James M. Bledsoe; and 1870 -78 - T. J. Leverett. (Church records for 1879-95 are missing) Also, 1896-97 - W. B. Cook; 1898-1903 - H. M. Pitman; 1904 - J. E. Pounds; 1905 - Z. M. Leveritt; 1909 - E. W. Sammons; 1910 - S. N. Hannie; 1911-12 - J. J. Winburne; 1921 - Gilmore; 1922-37 - J. L. Miblet; 1938-43 - O. S. Patrick; 1944 - Paul Gresham; 1945-53 - Troh Hollingsworth; 1953-61 - C. B. Wells; 1969- 69 - unknown; 1970 - 76 - C. B. Wells, and 1976 to present Joseph P. Franklin. Sources: Bethlehem Baptist Church minutes, 1821-1925, Mrs. Harold Morrow, Church Clerk, and Mrs. Joseph P. Franklin. Additional Comments: Transcribed by Suzanne Forte (suzanneforte@bellsouth.net) from copies of articles contained in the Monticello News. There articles were prepared by Mr. John Harvey and published in this newspaper during the 1970's time frame. Permission has been granted by Mr. Harvey for use of these very valuable and informative articles. 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