VA-ROOTS Archives

January 2003

VA-ROOTS@LISTLVA.LIB.VA.US

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Reply To:
Date:
Mon, 6 Jan 2003 23:54:23 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (199 lines)
> I tried to access the Union County TN page but was told I needed a
> userid
> and password but not how to register for one???
> John in Virginia
 http://www.carthage.lib.il.us/community/churches/primbap/Index.html

I tried it again, John, and although I got no request for userID or
passwords, apparently nothing has been submitted for Union Co., Tenn.  My
interest was primarily Kentucky, (Fayette & Bourbon Counties) as well as
Illinois where Crawford, Clark & Lawrence Counties have quite a bit,
including families from Virginia, which I'm including.  I'm guessing here
that your best bet would be to click on the oldest counties in the State
you are interested in.  The history would likely be there.

Church and Family History Research Assistance for Crawford County,
Illinois
CHURCHES:
LAMOTTE
Lamotte Church was organized in 1811 or 1812, at Fort Lamotte, at or near
present-day Palestine. The records of Maria Creek Church, near Vincennes,
Indiana, for June 1811, state, "At this meeting a request by Thomas
Kennedy to meet with some brethren at Lamotte in Illinois to see if it
were advisable for them to organize as a church." It is believed that
Thomas and Elizabeth Kennedy, Samuel and Phoebe Allison, and John Morris
(a man of color) were among the charter members, but the records of Maria
Creek Church do not show which members were dismissed for that purpose.
Thomas Kennedy, a licensed preacher, joined Maria Creek Church in June
1810. Lamotte Church sent him to Maria Creek Church to be ordained, in
August 1817, due to lack of ordained help near them and the poor health
of Elder Isaac McCoy. Elder Daniel Parker moved to the vicinity of
Lamotte Church late in 1817, and probably joined soon thereafter. Elder
Kennedy served as pastor at Lamotte until September 1826, when the church
divided. After the church divided, the members of Lamotte Church who were
recognized by the Wabash District Association, were served by Elder
Daniel Parker. The other members, served by Elder Thomas Kennedy (who had
openly opposed the modern mission system and also the two-seed doctrine),
sought sympathy and support from those who had favored the modern mission
system and who had recently formed the Union Association of Indiana.
Lamotte Church had a meeting house (probably made of logs) at the time of
the division, and after the division the part of the church led by Elder
Parker erected another log meeting house.
In 1821, Lamotte Church had 39 members; in 1822, 34; in 1823, 70 (47 were
baptized this year); in 1824, 66; in 1825, 54; in 1826, 37; in 1827, 33;
in 1828, 29; in 1830, 31; in 1839, 26; in 1840, 30; in 1841, 20, in 1842,
15.
In July 1833, seven members of Lamotte Church, including Elder Daniel
Parker, were organized into a new church, called Pilgrim, which a few
weeks later began the long and difficult overland trip to Texas territory
in a covered wagon train. Elders John Wood and Nicholas S. Smith
apparently served Lamotte Church after the departure of Elder Daniel
Parker to Texas.
SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:
Brown, Cheek, Christy, Greenwood, Hearn, Hicks, Kennedy, Little, Low,
Markley, Marshall, Montgomery, Parker, Patrick, Ryan, Smith, Wood (very
incomplete list due to loss of records).
GRAND PRAIRIE
Grand Prairie Church was organized on May 15, 1819, probably by Elder
Daniel Parker and others, but the names of the presbytery have been lost.
Elder Parker was elected pastor of the church in January 1821, and served
most of the time until he moved to Texas in 1833. The names of the nine
charter members, which are (barely) legible, on the inside cover of the
record book, include Richard Eaton, Jesse Page, David Shook, Stephen
Eaton, Benjamin Eaton, Phoebe Eaton, Charity Eaton, Polly Page, and
Elizabeth M. Eaton.
Elder Thomas Young was ordained by this church in October 1828. Ministers
who held membership here included Elders Thomas Young (1826), Joseph Neal
(1828), Jonah H. Price (1850), Lorenus Baker (1857), William H. Smith
(1864), Levi H. Biggs (1889), and W. J. Lewis. In December 1833, Elders
Richard M. Newport and Nicholas Smith were chosen as pastors of the
church. In October 1840, Elder Daniel Doty was chosen as pastor. Other
Elders who served as pastor or often preached for the church included
Jonas H. Price, Jesse Eaton, Lorenus Baker, and William H. Smith.
In February 1829 the church dismissed members to organize the North Fork
Church in Jasper County. In July 1830 the church dismissed members to
organize Mt. Zion church in Crawford County. The church also assisted in
constituting Bethlehem church near Paris, Ill., and Honey Creek church,
in Vigo Co., Indiana, both in the year 1830.
In July 1822, "the church ordered that Jesse Page the present deacon to
receive a deed for the land that the meeting house stands on in his own
name or his successors in office in behalf of this church." In August
1822, the church requested the next Association to be at "our meeting
house." This was probably a log building. The Church apparently allowed
the "Christian society" to use their meeting house part of the time, and
it appears that by 1827 the church had lost this property because of
problems with the deed. The records show that by April 1831, after many
efforts to agree on and obtain a site and build a meeting house, another
log structure was finally raised.
SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:
Alley, Arnold, Baker, Barbee, Barlow, Beachem, Bennett, Biggs, Boyd,
Broadstone, Broadus, Brown, Buskirk, Cable, Cheek, Coble, Cochran,
Conrad, Coonrod, Cooper, Cox, Darnell, Dawson, Disfennet, Dodson, Dorr,
Dosier, Downey, Eaton, Ellington, Ellis, Gilbert, Gill, Goodson, Goodwin,
Graham, Grant, Gregg, Griggs, Grigsby, Hackney, Haddock, Hanby, Hawkins,
Holmes, Howard, Johnson, Johnston, Jones, Kennedy, Laws, Laygo, Laygow,
Lewis, Linton, Lockhart, Love, Lyles, Mars, Merriman, Miller, Mise,
Morris, Moses, Neal, Ogden, Page, Price, Scull, Shook, Smith, Taylor,
Thompson, Weldon, Wiggins, Wolcott, Wolf, Wright, York, Young.
MT. ZION
Mt. Zion Church was organized at Joshua Barbee's home, on July 16, 1830,
by twenty-two members who were dismissed for that purpose from Grand
Prairie Church, viz., Elder Thomas Young, Lucy Young, William Barbee,
Sally Barbee, Nathan Mars, Elizabeth Mars, John Wright, John L. Buskirk,
Lawson Lynton, Sarah Lynton, William Greggs, Acseh Greggs, Elizabeth
Barbee, Lucy Lyles, Thomas Laygow, Sally Laygow, Elizabeth Laygow, Abel
Alley, Courtney Alley, Lydia Goodwin, Jane Barlow, and Celia Frakes. The
presbytery was composed of Elders Joseph Thompson and Simon Billings,
from Turmans Creek Church, in Indiana; Elder Richard M. Newport, from
Glady Fork Church; Elder Daniel Parker, from Lamotte Church, and Deacon
Thomas Mills
SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:
Alley, Barbee, Barlow, Buskirk, Frakes, Goodwin, Greggs, Griggs, Laygow,
Lyles, Lynton, Mars, Piper, Wright, Young (very incomplete list due to
loss of records).
PILGRIM
Pilgrim Church was organized July 26, 1833, at Lamotte Church, by the
following members, viz., Elder Daniel Parker, Patsy Dixon Parker, John
Parker, Pheby Parker, Julius Christy, Rachel Christy, and Sallie Brown.
The following formed the presbytery, to wit, Elders Richard M. Newport
and Richard M. Highsmith of Glady Fork Church; Elder Thomas Young and
Deacon William Griggs of Mt. Zion Church; Elder Joseph Neal and Deacon
Jesse Page of Grand Prairie Church; Elder John Wood and Deacon Frank
Marshall of Lamotte Church. The next meeting of the church was held at
the home of Elder Daniel Parker in Crawford County, Illinois, on August
11, 1833. On October 20, 1833, the church met as a body (enroute to Texas
territory) in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, and received seven members by
letter. On January 28, 1834, they held their first regular conference
meeting in the Austin Colony in Texas. This was the first non-catholic
church in Texas territory.
Pilgrim Church still exists, near Elkhart, Texas. The State of Texas has
erected a memorial to the church and to Elder Parker in a nearby State
Park.
CANAAN
Canaan Church was organized in about June 1841. The records of Grand
Prairie Church, June 19th, 1841, state: "1st. Brother Benjamin Ogden
reported to the church that he met at Little Village Church and after
they was brought into order by the request of the church they was
desolved."
Canaan Church petitioned for admission to the Wabash District Association
on Friday, October 2, 1841, and the matter was referred till Monday's
business. On Monday, the minutes state: "Took up the case of the Canaan
Church, and it appearing that said church is composed in part of members
lettered off at the dissolution of the Little Village Church, and a part
of the members then lettered off are now claiming themselves to be the
Little Village Church, alledging that said church was not legally
dissolved. Both churches are therefore involved in the difficulty. On
motion, it is agreed to refer the matter to the churches for adjustment;
and request each church to send three members to meet at the Little
Village meeting house on Friday before the fourth Sunday in November
next, and examine into the orderly standing of those two churches. It is
also requested that as many of our corresponding brethren as can, meet
with us." - Minutes, Wabash District Association, 1841. (The statistical
table lists both Little Village and Canaan this year.)
The Wabash District minutes of 1842 state: "6. The committee who met at
the Little Village meeting house to enquire into the situation of that
church, report that they found that church legally dissolved, and the
Canaan church legally constituted; which report was received by the
association, and the right hand of fellowship given by the Moderator to
the messengers of the Canaan church as in the table."
Canaan Church continued to represent in the Wabash District Association
for many years after this; and much later (1891), became a member of the
Central Association, for a few years, later becoming an independent
church. It is now part of the Patoka Association of Progressive Primitive
Baptists, and is one of only two such churches in the state of Illinois.
SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:
Allison, Bird, Calvin, Cannon, Clapp, Cunningham, Danser, Darnell,
Dickey, Doty, Ellis, Felton, Ford, Fuller, Gillaspie, Goodridge, Grimes,
Hale, Harris, Heath, Highsmith, Hodges, Houk, Huff, Ikler, James, Jennie,
Johnson, Johnston, Kent, Lackey, Lindsay, Linkhart, Listen, Maddox, Mauk,
McCarter, McCullough, McIntosh, McNeeley, Meeks, Mickey, Miller, Mock,
Montgomery, Neal, Norton, Parker, Pasley, Patterson, Pettijohn,
Pinkstaff, Polk, Querry, Rich, Rush, Seaney, Skinner, Smith, Snider,
Stevenson, Toby, Todd, Torrence, Trainer, Warren, Wesner, Weyls, Wilbes,
Wolf, Wright, Yeoman, Young (incomplete list).
OBLONG
Oblong Church was organized in about 1869 by the following members, viz.,
Elder William H. Smith, Salina Smith, D. W. Odell, Agnes Odell, Joseph
Smith, Nancy Smith, S. R. Mock, Amelia Mock, Sister Burling, Elder
Dawson, William Brown and Jane Brown. The presbytery was composed of
Elders Daniel Doty, Albert C. Lewis, J. C. Biggs, Lorenus Baker, Alonzo
Norton and Richard Highsmith, together with Deacons George Trowbridge and
William D. Eaton.
The church chose Elder Harrison Smith as their first pastor, who remained
in that position until his death. He was followed by Elders J. F. George,
B. F. Querry and H. A. Todd up to about the year 1900. Elder Levi Biggs
was then chosen and continued to serve.
The church was located on East Main Street in Oblong, and it was the
first church building erected in the town of Oblong.
SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:
Baker, Baughess, Berlin, Biggs, Bloom, Boyd, Brown, Burrough, Dolton,
Doty, Eubank, Gill, Hopper, Irwin, Jones, Mock, Odell, Payne, Perkins,
Purcell, Scull, Shumaker, Smith, Terry (incomplete list due to loss of
part of the records).
ADDITIONAL REFERENCE SOURCES IN THE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST LIBRARY:
Minutes of Grand Prairie, Canaan and Oblong churches; minutes of the

To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-roots.html
Wabash District Association.

ATOM RSS1 RSS2