Lenoir County NcArchives Church Records.....Sandy Bottom Church-Croom Meeting House
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Sloan S. Mason http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00016.html#0003873 October 9, 2020, 9:41 am

Sandy Bottom Church-Croom Meeting House

These records are housed at the genealogy library, Heritage Place located at 
Lenoir Community College in Kinston, NC.

The Croom Meeting House or Sandy Bottom Primitive Baptist Church, sits at 
the Sandy Bottom Crossroads on the north side of NC Hwy #55 about 10 miles 
west of Kinston, Lenoir County, NC. The building is still standing today, 
but not in the original location. It possibly was moved in the 1850's from 
it's original location one mile east on the north side of Hwy 55 & in the 
1970's it was moved away from the road due to widening, but not moved from 
the location. 

The early church records which are transcribed date from Jan. 15, 1803. This 
is the earliest known church in Lenoir County, NC and one of the best 
preserved pre-Civil War meeting houses in eastern NC. It operated until the 
late 1950's. The church was part of the Contentnea Primitive Baptist 
Association. 

The meeting house was originally established by Lott CROOM (1761-1830). 

The meeting house is a frame rectangular building. It holds only a single 
room. According to tradition, the rear door was the slave entrance. Slaves 
were accepted into the church as early as 1804, in this transcribed record.

There is a small cemetery "Williams Cemetery" behind the church but does not 
seem to be associated with the Church itself, that I can find.

In 1964, the Trustees of the Contentnea Association of the Primitive Baptist 
Church, sold the church & it's small parcel to the CROOM Family Reunion 
Association; which is still used for reunions, weddings & events. 

Sources: "Coastal Plain & Fancy" by Ruth Little
https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/historic-preservation-office/PDFs/ER%2009-
1307.pdf


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