MOUNT ZION BAPTIST CHURCH CEMETERY (N) (1875), Anderson County, SC A.K.A. Version 2.3, 21-Oct-2005, A185.TXT, A185 **************************************************************** REPRODUCING NOTICE: ------------------- These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, or presentation by any other organization, or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Paul M Kankula Seneca, SC, USA Anderson County SC GenWeb Coordinator Anderson County SC GenWeb Homestead http://www.rootsweb.com/~scanderson2/ **************************************************************** DATAFILE INPUT . : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Dec-2003 DATAFILE LAYOUT : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Dec-2003 G.P.S. MAPPING . : Gary L. Flynn at (visit above website) in Feb-2004 HISTORY WRITE-UP : E.E. Vaughn at Pastense2@aol.com Mount Zion Baptist Church at mtzion_secretary@bellsouth.net IMAGES ......... : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Feb-2004 TRANSCRIPTION .. : Paul M. Kankula at (visit above website) in Oct-2005 **************************************************************** CEMETERY LOCATION: ------------------ > Latitude N 34 31.182 x Longitude W 82 29.996 CHURCH/CEMETERY HISTORY: ------------------------ In the Carolina Room, you will find bits and pieces of information collected by me, in my travels in different Counties in South Carolina. Visit http://members.aol.com/pastense2/scroom.htm In the Carolina Room, I have stored many documents that pertain to the State of South Carolina, however, I do have some records that I have acquired from other States, as well. Here you will find a little bit of my Family History, South Carolina Misc. Records extracted, from (wills, deeds, marriage records, deaths records, probate records) Penitentiary Records, Coroner Inquisitions, Church Cemetery transcriptions where to get copies of these books, pictures, census information, surname connections, Mortality records, Slave records and Mortgage Records. Many of the items in my possession, were copied from the original document and later compiled and placed in one of my many databases, for future reference. Keep in mind, that a lot of hard work has been placed in the years of research that I have done. Most of what you will find here I freely share, with the understanding that it is copyrighted material, published either by me or someone else, that I have acknowledged. The following history information was taken from the Inventory of Church Archives of Churches 1935. By: E.E. Vaughn Mt. Zion Bapt. Belton Organized 1875 1st log cabin 1875 - 1882; 2nd frame 1882 - 1911. Dedicated 1914, built 1911, Sunday School rooms added in 1923. Brick 44 feet X 52 feet deep, vestibule entrance, curved top windows, plain glass windows & doors, capacity 375, value of building $14, 500, value of lot $175, total value of church building & lot $14,675.00. First settled clergy Frank Morse, tenure 1875 - 1879. The land was given to the organization by Dr. Carroll Brown, Senior (white), a wealthy man in the community. The members of this church formerly worshipped in the Belton Baptist (white) church prior to the organization. o----------o Mount Zion Baptist Church Kenneth A. Dean, Pastor 206 Zion Street ~ P. 0. Box 862 Belton, South Carolina 29627 Office: (864)338-6890 Fax: (864)338-8195 Trust the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 In 1866, First Baptist Church of Belton followed the example of her sister churches and passed a formal resolution dismissing Colored members and denying them the privilege of rejoining the church. Nevertheless, provisions were made by the church leadership to aid the Colored members in establishing their own churches. Due to conditions of that time, the first church location was in a Brush Arbor in which about twelve to fifteen Christians worshipped. The first four years, the group worshipped with Rev. Peter Walker (a White Pastor) who was the organizer and faithful leader. Rev. Walker gave his service until the church was organized. Then, the church entered the Rocky River Association of Anderson County. On August 14, 1868, Mount Zion was one of sixteen churches, which met and organized the Rocky River Colored Baptist Association. This meeting was held at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church located one and half miles northwest of the Anderson Courthouse. The second session of the Rocky River Association was held at Mount Zion on August 13, 1869. Rev. Frank Morris (a Colored Pastor) was unanimously elected as pastor in 1868 with the following leaders: Hiram B. Greenlee, Perry Acker, Orange Guyton, Dennis Watkins and Elbert Prince, who was elected secretary of the church. The members of this newly organized church began working for improvements and advancements in their religious form of worship. On March 20, 1868, Mrs. Caroline Holland (a White Citizen) of Belton sold two and one-half acres of land to the Freedmen of Belton to establish a Freedmen's Baptist Church. During the time from 1866 - 1874, the Freedmen's church operated under the name of Mount Zion without a charter. Then on April 16, 1875, the charter was granted. Mount Zion Baptist Church became a reality. The first building was erected near the present site. The church still stands on this site today. It was a one-room log cabin. White citizens of Belton donated the logs and other materials for the erection of the cabin. Members and others who volunteered their services constructed this building. The second church built was a wood structure that was erected when the log cabin became too old for use. The White Citizens of Belton also donated the timber for this building. In 1886, the Rev. Stewart Oliver was elected as pastor. The church membership grew; however, this building was later destroyed by fire. On June 25, 1911 during a church conference, a resolution authorizing the deacons to borrow certain sums of money for the building process was agreed upon. The sum for construction was set not to exceed $2,500. Mrs. Corrie Watkins in 1892 organized the Woman's Missionary Society with Luiza Greer serving as the first president. Mrs. Corrie Watkins also organized the Women's Missionary Society to the Rocky River Association and served as its president for over 50 years. On August 11, 1911, the first brick structure of the Mount Zion Baptist Church was completed at a cost of $3,000. Rev. Oliver was still the pastor and served until 1933. The pastors of Mount Zion from 1933 until 1968 are as follows: Rev. S.C. Campbell - 1933 Rev. C.H. Brown - 1937 Rev. M.T. Coker - 1938 Rev. J.D. Hicks - 1938 Rev. L.R. Best - 1943 Rev. W.J. Marshall - 1965 In 1968, Rev. Earl F. Mathis of Florence, South Carolina was elected as pastor. Under Rev. Mathis the church membership began to grow and the church building began to age considerably. In 1977, a modem brick building with Sunday School rooms was erected on the same site where the old church building stood. In addition, a church parsonage was built on Cedar Lane Drive in Anderson County just a couple of miles from the church. During the construction of the new church, which is still used to this day, the church membership occupied the old Geer Rosenwald School Building on Zion Street. In 1990, the Mount Zion Church Family held a mortgage burning ceremony. Rev. Mathis gave thanks to God for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon the church. In 1996, Rev. Alfred D. Nelson became the pastor after Rev. Mathis retired from full time ministry. Rev. Nelson led many youth to Christ and the youth became very active in ministry at Mount Zion. In 1998, Rev. Nelson felt led by God to return to St. Louis, Missouri with his family and did so with the church blessings. In 1998, Rev. William L. Cowan became the interim pastor of Mount Zion while the church looked for a new pastor. Rev. Cowan serves now as Assistant Minister and he is a member of the church. In 1999, Pastor Kenneth A. Dean became the pastor of Mount Zion at the age of 29. Mount Zion is Pastor Dean's first senior pastor church. His love of Jesus Christ and exuberance for the Word of God has moved Mount Zion into the twenty first century and solidified its place in the Belton Community. Thus, the church has adopted the following Statement of Purpose. It is our goal that all church ministries represent at least one of the bullet items below: Our Statement of Purpose "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28: 19, 20 As a progressive church proclaiming the Word of God, we propose to make Disciples of Christ by: • Exalting God (Psalm 95:1-7) • Encouraging Christians toward spiritual maturity (Hebrews 10:24, 25) • Equipping Christians for ministry (Ephesians 4:11, 12) • Evangelizing the world for Christ (Acts 1:8) Because the Mount Zion Church Family continues to grow spiritually and in size each year, Mount Zion is currently in the process of examining all possibilities for enlarging the church to cover the growing membership and ministries. As Paul wrote in Philippians 3:14 (New Living Translation), we "press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward". Pastors 1886 - 2003 Rev. Frank Morris - 1886 Rev. Stewart Oliver - 1886 Rev. S.C. Campbell - 1933 Rev. C.H. Brown - 1937 Rev. M.T. Coker - 1938 Rev. J.D. Hicks - 1938 Rev. L.R. Best - 1943 Rev. W.J. Marshall - 1965 Dr. Earl F. Mathis - 1968 Rev. Alfred D. Nelson - 1996 Rev. William L. Cowan - 1998 Pastor Kenneth A. Dean - 1999 to present TOMBSTONE TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: ------------------------------ a. = age at death b. = date-of-birth d. = date-of-death h. = husband m. = married p. = parents w. = wife