The beginning of the old Shiloh Baptist Church

Tradition has held that the Shiloh Baptist Church was organized in the 1840s. That tradition is proven correct. The date of the church’s organization is mentioned in a report of a protracted meeting held in 1855, in a letter to the Tennessee Baptist periodical, from its pastor William Guinn and church clerk A. M. McKnight.

“This church was constituted seven years ago, on thirteen members, five males and eight females...”

Seven years from March 1855 would put the organization of Shiloh Church in 1848 (possibly even 1847, if they are using rough rounding). (According to Sarah McKnight’s obituary, the McKnight family arrived in Texas in 1847.)

I was not surprised that the tradition is correct and the church is that early. I was just surprised that I found it! I was looking for something else – and found that and this as well. (Ephesians 3:20)

The pastor, William Guinn, in 1860 lived up the road near Clayton in Panola County (but earlier was in Rusk County; San Cosme, 1856; Mt. Enterprise, 1857). He was from Tennessee. The church clerk, Andrew M. McKnight, was born in Georgia and came to Texas from Alabama in 1847. The McKnights lived in the Shiloh area somewhere (their post office was Minden). Andrew married Sarah Ann Hudman in 1840. In the 1850 census they are enumerated in Rusk County next to Josiah Johnson, the man who gave six acres of land to the deacons and members of Shiloh Baptist Church in 1857. In 1860 they are enumerated between Wiley Astin Parker and G. C. Anderson. Andrew McKnight died between the 1860 and 1870 censuses (some sources give 1860 and some 1862).

Tennessee Baptist, Saturday, March 10, 1855, p. 4.

Debate Held in Rusk County

 

Mount Enterprise Progress, Friday, November 28, 1941, page 1

Note: This debate was held at the Sulphur Springs Community in southern Rusk County, not the city of Sulphur Springs in Hopkins County.

John Sparkman, follow-up

This is a follow-up/update on John Sparkman, from former posts HERE and HERE.

John Calloway Sparkman was born in Jasper County, Georgia, October 27, 1830.[i] He was the son of William Moses Sparkman and Sarah Tate Anthony. When he was 18 years of age, he professed faith in Christ and was baptized by Elder John Dodd into the fellowship of the Bethsaida Baptist Church.[ii]

 

John Sparkman later united with the Flint River Baptist Church in Henry County, Georgia, before moving to Texas. In Henry County, on October 5, 1853, he married Martha M. Buckner Jarrell, the widow of Henry J. Jarrell. When they first came to Texas, the family settled in Pine Hill in late 1853 or 1854. John joined the Holly Springs Church there. He was licensed by Holly Springs in 1860 and ordained in 1861, with Elders William Guinn/Gwin, George Washington Rogers, and Merritt Matthew Melton forming the presbytery. He probably joined the Mt. Carmel Church when he became pastor there, then joined Zion Hill Baptist Church in 1870 (which he helped organize in 1868). He was respected by the Baptists in this area of East Texas, who elected him as moderator of the Mt. Zion Baptist Association from 1872-1881. “The Bible was his dictionary, geography, grammar, rhetoric and logic. He was a man of strong convictions, devotedly pious, and earnest and forceful as a speaker, carrying the masses with him in his plain, scriptural arguments, drawing his illustrations principally from the common field of nature, his leading theme being the doctrines of grace, while he was well posted in the distinctive principles of the denomination, and ably defended them when it became necessary.” 

John Sparkman pastored a number of East Texas churches, including Union (Nacogdoches County); Cool Springs, Holly Springs, Mt. Carmel, New Salem, Shiloh, Smyrna, Zion Hill (Rusk County). He died October 23, 1882. “He was afflicted with cancer of the face, about one year before his death. Amidst his great affliction, which confined him to his room almost continually, his faith was unshaken, and his principal conversation was upon the love of Christ and the fulness of His great atoning sacrifice.”

Mount Zion Baptist Association minutes, October 1883, page 9

The man who baptized John Sparkman was Elder John Sample Dodd. John S. Dodd was born August 3, 1809, in Union, South Carolina. He was the son of Edward Dodd and Jane Langston. He married Elizabeth Harriett “Betsy” Word in 1827, in Fayette County, Georgia.[iii] J. S. Dodd was converted in 1832, and was baptized (1832), licensed (1841), and ordained (1842) by Bethsaida Baptist Church. He pastored Bethsaida Baptist Church in Fayette County at least 1849-1853. (In fact, it appears that this is the same Bethsaida that he pastored for 50, though later listed as in Campbell County.) Additional churches pastored by J. S. Dodd include Antioch, Bethlehem, Flat Creek Baptist churches in Fayette County; Flint River Baptist Church in Henry County; Ramah, near Palmetto; Ebenezer, Fairburn, Coweta County and Bethlehem, Campbell County. He also served as moderator of the Flint River and Fairburn Baptist Associations. He died on February 2, 1892, in Clayton County, Georgia, and is buried at the Bethsaida Baptist Church Cemetery in Fulton County, Georgia. “John S. Dodd was one of the pioneer Baptist preachers of Georgia, and was for fifty consecutive years pastor of Bethsaida church, Campbell county, Georgia.”[iv] He was called to this church in 1843, and continued until shortly before his death. The location appears to be located near the Fulton-Campbell county line, and is the same location Bethsaida where Dodd is buried.[v]

John S. Dodd

From History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia, p. 193

When reading about John S. Dodd, it sounds as if John Sparkman imbibed deeply from his ministry, and followed in his footsteps. He was doubtless also influenced for good by the three men who ordained him, two of whom were from Tennessee (Guinn and Melton) and one from Georgia (Rogers). Though Sparkman left a long and lasting influence in East Texas through churches he organized and pastored, as well as the ministers he influenced, his ministry only covered a period of 22 years (from the time he was licensed to preach until he died), and he was only 51 years old at the time of his death. There is no known photo of John Sparkman.

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[i] This year is based on Sparkman’s tombstone. J. B. Link gives 1831 as his year of birth. census
[ii] J. B. Link gives the name as Bethesda, but this probably rather should be Bethsaida. The late Robert G. Gardner, a Georgia Baptist Historical Society member and Senior Researcher in Baptist History at Mercer University, wrote to me: “The only Bethsaida church was in Fayette County, with J. S. Dodd as pastor in at least 1849-1853. His post office address was Fayetteville (1849-1850) and Fairburn (1852-1853).” This is the right names, as well as the right time and places with reference to John Sparkman.
[iii] The Dodds are enumerated in the Fayette County, Georgia census 1830-1870, and are found in the Campbell County census in 1880.
[iv] Baptist Biography, Volume II, Balus Joseph Winzer Graham, editor. Atlanta, GA: Index Printing Company, 1917, pp. 101.
[v] See https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=44063 Campbell County no longer exists, this part of it being taken into Fulton County. For more on Dodd, see also History of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia: with Biographical Compendium and Portrait Gallery of Baptist Ministers and other Georgia Baptists (pp. 193-194) and The Preaching Dodds of Old Campbell County.

Nobody knows the troubles our churches have seen

…Elder N. Conner offered the following preamble and resolution, prefacing the same with the following remarks—to wit:

Central Baptist Association minutes, September 1859, page 7

According to a witness provided on page 7 of the 1859 Central Baptist Association minutes, the New Salem Church at or near Douglass in Nacogdoches County had been “legally dissolved” – but afterward a portion of the church assumed the name and authority of New Salem Church and had received as members some who had been justly excluded. Additionally the Red Land Church, also in Nacogdoches County, had received as a member one who had abandoned his family and had been excluded from his church.

The Mt. Zion Association met beginning September 16, 1859 (starting Friday before the 3rd Sunday).

New Salem delegates that year were: William L. Eddings, N. H. Morgan; they had received 15 by baptism and 3 by letter; total members 37. (The previous year’s messengers had been N. Conner, E. P. Spivey, and T. J. Sanders.)

Red Land delegates that year were: L. B. Ward, Robert Watters, Thomas Jones; they had a total of 20 members. (The previous year’s messengers were Robt. Waters, John Brewer, J. W. Ashly.)

The Central Association met beginning the 24th of September 1859 (so, about a week after the Mt. Zion Association had met).

Central Association minutes, 1859, Page 9: “Elders J. L. Mills, J. D. Williams, J. T. Millstead and Brother R. J. Alexander and Thomas L. Stewart were appointed a special committee to set in proper shape, and lay before Mt. Zion Association, for her consideration, the apparent disorder existing in two of her constituent members, at her next session.”[i] (This was the disorder in the Red Land and New Salem churches, which were members of the Mt. Zion Association. Elder N. Conner was concerned that the association did not have general knowledge of the actions of these two churches.) This committee would have attended the 1860 session of the Mt. Zion Association. However, no 1860 minutes of either the Central or Mt. Zion Associations are available to indicate how this situation was resolved. We can assume it was eventually resolved to the satisfaction of the Central Association (and Mt. Zion), since the next minutes I find – 1866 of Mt. Zion and 1869 of Central – show (1) these two churches are not represented in the Mt. Zion Association, and (2) the two associations are in fellowship and correspondence. 

Loudon Bailey Ward married Mary W. Johnson in Middletown, Connecticut in August of 1844. By 1853 he was in Texas, without his family (Central Association minutes; The Texas Republican, Saturday, May 28, 1853, p. 2; and The Texas State Times, Saturday, January 26, 1856, p. 3).  He was a member of the Douglass Lodge No. 43, in 1859 (Nacogdoches Chronicle, Tuesday, March 29, 1859, p. 3).[ii] Ward is found in the 1860 Nacogdoches County census.[iii] He served as a private in Company E of 7th Regiment, Texas Cavalry (CSA), and wrote a poem during this experience. He also served as a postmaster of Douglass, Texas. He is probably the Loudon B. Ward in the 1870 census at Brenham in Washington County, Texas (at that time a railroad employee). At that time he is married to Ellen/Helen Ward (born circa 1831; no children listed).[iv] In the 1880 census they are living in Austin, Travis County, Texas, and his occupation is listed as “Farmer.” Loudon B. Ward died in Austin, Texas in 1883.

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[i] I am assuming J. T. Millstead is supposed to be the same as J. S. Milstead.
[ii] In 1850, they had one daughter, Mary M., aged 3 (1847-1867). They had a son Merrels who lived from September 1850 to September 1851.
[iii] In the 1850 census, L. B. Ward is living in Middletown, Middlesex County, Connecticut, and he was a “Mason” in the construction industry. In 1860 he was enumerated in the home of Felix Luther and Cora McKnight, and his occupation was merchandising. To the left of this household, the census taker wrote “Hotel” – suggesting the Johnsons had a hotel or were renting rooms to the others living there.

[iv] The 1870 census has her name as “Ellen” but the marriage certificate, 1880 census, and 1895 city directory has “Helen.”

Elder Tully Choice

Tully Choice was Georgia-born and educated (Mercer Institute). He was born February 22, 1834 in Hancock County, Georgia, and died 18 May 18, 1897 at age 63 in Gregg County, Texas. By 1860, the Tully Choice family had moved to Rusk County, Texas, where they are found in the 1860 census (post office, New Danville). They probably came around 1856-57. This was probably in area that later became part of Gregg County

Choice was an ordained Baptist minister. He organized and pastored several churches in East Texas, laboring mainly in the churches of the Cherokee Baptist Association. I did not finish a short article I intended to write about him, so instead (for now) offer these links of Elder Tully Choice in the newspapers (unfortunately, you will need access to Newspapers.com to read them). I will hope to finish the article and post it at some point.

• 1878 Speaks at 4th of July celebration in Longview: https://www.newspapers.com/image/210294466/
• 1878 Democratic convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/23824828/
• 1878/1892 A murder on his farm https://www.newspapers.com/image/320130576/
• 1883 Board of ETBC https://www.newspapers.com/image/21063123/
• 1884 Wife dies https://www.newspapers.com/image/588936029/
• 1884 Minister’s conference https://www.newspapers.com/image/99504422/
• 1884 East Texas Baptist Convention corresponding secretary https://www.newspapers.com/image/21308911/
• 1885 Baptist Church organized at Kilgore https://www.newspapers.com/image/588936986/
• 1885 Providential open door https://www.newspapers.com/image/76477717/
• 1886 Nominated for VP BGCT https://www.newspapers.com/image/76516902/
• 1886 Vice-President of BGCT https://www.newspapers.com/image/68285647/
• 1887 Baptist Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/168435840/
• 1891 Injured in boiler explosion https://www.newspapers.com/image/30158134/
• 1891 Delegate to the Southern Baptist Convention https://www.newspapers.com/image/1000540323/
• 1894 East Texas Baptist Institute cornerstone https://www.newspapers.com/image/71159343/

Smyrna and The Sacred Harp

The people of the Smyrna Baptist Church and the Oak Flat Community of Rusk County, Texas, have a long and full connection to singing from The Sacred Harp, going back to the time of the constitution of the church – and before (likely as long as people have lived in this area). When W. M. Cooper released his fourth edition of The Sacred Harp in 1907, the then pastor of Smyrna served on the revision committee. Elder John Franklin McLendon was the pastor of Smyrna from 1904 to 1910, and he served as moderator of the Mt. Zion Baptist Association from 1890 to 1917, longer than any other man. In 1890 McLendon was president/chairman of the East Texas Musical (Sacred Harp) Convention. McLendon came to Texas from Barbour County, Alabama (already an ordained minister) and might have personally known W. M. Cooper.

Near the end of Elder McLendon’s ministry at Smyrna, Benjamin Lewis Vaughn confided in his pastor of feeling a call to preach the gospel. He was later liberated by the church to preach on September 17, 1910. Just a few months previous to this (July 1910) he wrote a song titled A Golden Crown to Wear. This song was published in the eighth edition of The Sacred Harp by W. M. Cooper, probably circa 1915-16.

T. M. Kinsey

Trammel Trace Tribune, April 22, 2005, page 3

Thomas Marshall Kinsey was born 14 January 14, 1879 in Ellis County, Texas and died May 5, 1960 in Rusk County, Texas. He and his wife are buried at the Tatum Cemetery at Tatum in Rusk County. After some members of the church in the Harmony Hill Community moved to Tatum, beginning in 1915 T. M. Kinsey preached to them once a month in the Methodist Church facilities – until the Methodist Church asked other denominations using their facility to find another place or other places to meet. This initial group would later found the Baptist Church at Tatum in 1917.

He pastored the Baptist Church at Whitney circa 1907, and perhaps up until the time he moved to Rusk County. At the time of his death. T. M. Kinsey was a member of the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in the Stewart Community.