TWIGGS COUNTY, GA - CHURCHES Stone Creek Baptist Church Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: "James O. Harrison" Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm The following was published in The Macon Telegraph and News, Sunday Morning, April 19, 1953. jrh By JIM CHAPMAN Nearly a century and a half ago a small group met in Wilkinson County and decided to undertake the ambitious task of founding a "frontier" church. Choice of a site that would provide some semblance of accessibility to all families in the sparsely settled area was one of the first hurdles. The founders - two elders and 10 members - on Sept. 3, 1808 held the first services in the Stone Creek Baptist Church near the location of the present Dry Branch postoffice. One of the elders, Henry Hooten, occupied the pulpit at the services and at all worship hours for the following three years. His congregation consisted of Elder Michael Fulgham, Stancil Barberee, James Powell, Theo Pearce, James Rodgers, Lucretia Powell, Susanna Pearce, Mary Barberee, Ann Farmer, Mary Rodgers and Rachael Collin. SITE CHANGED Two years later, on Nov. 24, 1810, the church moved across the county line a distance of five miles into what was known as the Stone Creek Academy. The founding pastor stepped down and Vincent T. A(llen)Tharp received the nod of the congregation to carry on Mr. Hooten's duties. In the next two decades the church underwent a transition. Its roll swelled and its spiritual influence took on a far-reaching appearance. By the early 1830s the church was the most prominent in Missionary Baptist circles within a radius of 100 miles. Church custom dictated that each member's slaves were to be added to the congregation. Galleries were installed around the ceiling of the auditorium for the "blacks." Sundays would find plantation owners, farmers and their families in the lower pews and their slaves worshipping in partially enclosed balconies above. PETITION RECEIVED During this period a request came from a group of Baptists in the newly-chartered city named Macon. The Maconites' petition asked assistance in setting up a mission in the Ocmulgee River town. The Stone Creek church's membership pitched in and helped form what today is called the First Baptist Church here (Macon). Even 100 years ago churches faced the now-too-common problem of cramped quarters. So on Jan. 26, 1850 plans were drafted and timbers cut for a new building. So on Jan. 26, 1850 plans were drafted and timbers cut for a new building. Of colonial architecture and with the same slave galleries the church went up. Today the structure still stands. But Wilkinson County was divided* and the church became a part of the new Twiggs County. Some 300 members worship there now with the Rev. Earl M. Thames, who recently accepted the pastorate. The passing of time has had little effect** on the aged structure. Its foundation is laid with brick from the original building. Inside, the thick, sturdy panels were hewed out timber from the first church and many old fixtures adorn today's church. Despite the enduring qualities, the 20th century has made a few contributions in the form of a modern heating plant and electric lights. *On April 30, 1953, only a few days after the above article was published, the 1850 structure described was completely destroyed by a tornado. According to one observer, "the age old timbers and planks were just a pile of sticks." jrh **Twiggs County was created in 1809 which means that the church building of 1810 was in Twiggs County. jrh A book, History of Stone Creek Baptist Church, by Billy Walker Jones, Dec. 1961, can be found in the genealogy department of Washington Library in Macon.