John Birdwell Isbell, Baptist preacher

John Birdwell Isbell (1830-1904) served Smyrna Baptist Church in southern Rusk County (possibly while they still met at old Chinquapin, or at Redland) as pastor from February 1889 to August 1893. J. B. Isbell was born in Alabama, possibly Jackson County, on February 14, 1830. J. B. and his brother, Allen Richardson Isbell, apparently ventured to Texas because their grandparents John Birdwell (1770–1854) and Mary Allen Birdwell (1780–1840), uncle Allen B. Birdwell (1802-1893), and other members of the Birdwell family had moved here. Their parents and most of their siblings stayed in Alabama. Several are buried in the Old Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery at Asbury, Marshall County, Alabama.

At least some of the Birdwells were in Texas by 1841, and Allen Birdwell purchased property south of present-day Mt. Enterprise in 1843. J. B. Isbell was still in Alabama as late as 1852, when he married Martha Jones. He was in Texas by 1859, when he married Martha E. Battle. Allen apparently came later, between 1880 and 1897. His son Richard was in Linn Flat in 1880.

John B.’s mother, Sarah Birdwell Isbell, was the daughter of John Birdwell and Mary Allen Birdwell. John and Mary settled in 1805 in Madison County, Mississippi Territory (which territory became Alabama Territory in 1817 and the State of Alabama in 1819). Sarah married Levi Isbell on Saturday, August 10, 1816, at Enon Baptist Church, which then stood on the western bank of the Brier Fork of the Flint River. This church is now known as the First Baptist Church of Huntsville. August 10 is the marriage date in their son Elijah Miller Isbell’s Bible. The Madison County Marriage Book Vol. 1, page 257 Index has Aug. 30; the license itself appears to read “3d day of August, 1816.”)

John B. Isbell was a constituting member of the Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in November of 1874. He pastored Locklin Church in 1883 (see Mt. Zion Association minutes). On March 4, 1887, with W. H. H. Hays, M. L. Hines, and J. F. M. Reid, John Isbell formed the organizational presbytery organizing a Baptist Church at Mt. Enterprise with 22 individuals who had been members of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church at Lawsonville. John B. Isbell pastored Friendship at Jumbo in Panola County 1888-1890 (see Mt. Zion Association minutes).

From the Smyrna Church minutes:

“Sat. before the 3rd Sun. in Feb. 1889… On motion the church went into an election of a pastor which resulted in the favor of Bro. John Isbel as pastor.”

“Sat. before the 3rd Sun. in Oct. 1889…After divine service by Eld. John Isbel Smyrna Church convened in conference. Moved and second that we elect a pastor for the year 1890 which resulted in favor of Bro. John Isbel.”

In addition to these churches, associational records show that John B. Isbell pastored Union Springs, near Linn Flat, Nacogdoches County (1879) and Union, Douglass, Nacogdoches County (1883). Isbell must have been ordained circa 1879. He is not found in the lists of Mt. Zion Association licentiate or ordained ministers in the 1878 minutes. He listed as an ordained minister in the Mt. Zion Baptist Association minutes by 1880. It is believed that the Isabel Chapel Church and Isabel Chapel Cemetery (though misspelled) in the Sand Hill Community was named for this family.

John B. Isbell moved to Timpson by 1900, and was a member of the Baptist Church there. Disagreements concerning the work of the Baptist General Convention of Texas divided many associations and churches, and the Baptist Church at Timpson split in 1902, shortly before Isbell’s death. The two churches became known as the “North Side Baptist Church” and “South Side Baptist Church.” The South Side Church affiliated with the recently-organized Baptist Missionary Association of Texas. The fact that Elder John B. Isbell’s funeral was held at the South Side Church suggests that he stood on the BMA of Texas side of the division, and was a member of the South Side Baptist Church at Timpson at the time of his death.

John Birdwell Isbell was the grandson of John Birdwell, nephew of Allen Birdwell, first treasurer of the Mt. Zion Association, and cousin of G. P. Birdwell, first president of the B.M.A. of Texas. In 1874 he was a charter member of Pleasant Hill Church in the Bogg Community of Nacogdoches County. He lived in Mt. Enterprise and later Timpson, where he is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery. His brother Allen Isbell is buried at the above-mentioned Isabel Chapel Cemetery in the Sand Hill Community.

John Birdwell Isbell married Martha Jones January 1, 1852 in Jackson County, Alabama. After her death, he married Martha E. Battle in 1859 in Nacogdoches County, Texas. It is believed that he had no children who lived past infancy. The following mortuary notice was found in The Galveston Daily News, Sunday, January 31, 1904, p. 6.

ISBELL.—Timpson, Tex., Jan. i—Rev. J. B. Isbell died after several weeks’ illness and was buried by the Masonic fraternity.

His tombstone inscription reads, “God’s finger touched him and he slept.”

Other information.

Military service.

John B. Isbell served in Company A, O. M. Roberts Regiment 11th Texas Volunteer Infantry during the War Between the States (Confederate widows’ pension application filed by Martha E. Isbell).

Some marriages performed by J. B. Isbell in Rusk County, Texas:

• Bode Hammage/Harnage to Milly Thompson August 4, 1866
• Ogean Farlton to Selvey Nichols September 6, 1866
• Wiley Johnson to Tenny Vinson January 21, 1879
• George Moore to Jennie Porter March 20, 1879
• M. W. Stephens to Elizabeth Coats August 31, 1879
• W. C. Reeves to Lula Reed March 2, 1880
• W. P. Matthias to E. M. Stanley August 1, 1881
• J. H. Parker to M. H. Wilson October 10, 1881
• John T. Keeling to Susan Parker November 10, 1881
• J. H. Carroll to Fannie C. Eidson February 2, 1882
• Wyatt Benson to Frances Garland February 11, 1882
• S. R. Smith to Mary Ann Matlock February 22, 1883

As found in: 

• East Texas Family Records, Volume 3, Number 2, Summer 1979
• East Texas Family Records, Volume 7, Number 1, Spring 1983
• East Texas Family Records, Volume 8, Number 1, Spring 1984
• East Texas Family Records, Volume 8, Number 2, Summer 1984
• East Texas Family Records, Volume 8, Number 3, Fall 1984
• East Texas Family Records, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring 1985
• East Texas Family Records, Volume 9, Number 3, Fall 1985

John Birdwell Isbell in the U.S. censuses:

• 1850 Jackson County, Alabama
• 1860 Nacogdoches County, Texas
• 1870 Rusk County, Texas
• 1880 Rusk County, Texas
• 1900 Timpson, Shelby County, Texas

Isbell Family Preachers.

Alabama

• Charles Levi Isbell (1843-1913)
• James Richardson Isbell (1824-1911)
• James Robert Isbell (1900-1973)
• Jesse William “Corn” Isbell (1829-1913)
• John Derris Isbell (1903-1954)
• Levi Isbell (elder, 1770-1850)
• Levi Isbell (younger, 1797-1896)
• William Miller Isbell (1831-1897)
• Zachariah Isbell (1867-1946)

Arkansas 

• John S. Isbell (1848-1923)
• William Dolphis Isbell (1866-1913)
• William Sherman Isbell (1891-1987)

Mississippi

• Albert C. “Elbert” Isbell (1855-1905)

Tennessee

• James Franklin Isbell Sr. (1881-1954)

Texas

• James Owens Isbell (1879-1950)
• John Birdwell Isbell (1830-1904)
• John Winfield Isbell (1876-1942)
• Cousin George Preston Birdwell (1838-1916) was also a Baptist preacher

A Valuable Man Passes To The Great Beyond

“A Valuable Man Passes To The Great Beyond,” who once pastored Baptist churches in Rusk County.

James Anderson Long was born near Clayton in Panola County in the Pineywoods of East Texas, a land of trees and hills and hollers – and home to some of the older Baptist work in Texas. He died in Levelland of Hockley County in the Great Plains region of West Texas, a flat country of grasses rather than trees.[i] Hockley County itself and the Missionary Baptist Church of Levelland were both organized in 1921.[ii] Bethel Church at Clayton was organized in 1843. Quite a change! J. A. Long died in Lubbock after an unsuccessful surgery for appendicitis. His labor in the gospel ministry led him from one side of Texas to the other. (Panola County borders Louisiana and Hockley County is only about 30 from New Mexico.)

In 1883 J. A. Long professed faith in Christ, united with the Mount Hebron Missionary Baptist Church in Long Branch, and was baptized by C. H. Gipson. The Mt. Olive Church licensed Long in December 1896, and ordained him to the work of the ministry in April 1897.

In 1894, J. A. Long married Minnie Ola Lawrence in Panola County, and they were blessed with 12 children – which included one pair of twins. All lived to adulthood, except their first-born son, who died at three months of age. Both J. A. and his wife taught school early in their lives.

Before leaving East Texas, J. A. Long pastored at least the following churches, in Panola County: Bethel (1903-1907), Mount Hebron (circa 1906); in Rusk County: Smyrna (1901-1904), Zion Hill (1906-1907); in Shelby County: Buena Vista (1898-1900), Good Hope (1898-1900), Pleasant Grove (1898).

Based on available newspaper reports, J. A. Long was pastor of the Missionary Baptist Church in Paducah, Texas circa 1914-1919. According to his obituary, J. A. Long also pastored or preached in the following West Texas towns: Farwell, Lubbock, Morton, and Sudan. He was a very active minister in the work of the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas.

“Reverend James Anderson Long came to Levelland to pastor the Missionary Baptist Church in February 1925. In March he helped build the First Baptist Church in Levelland, a 28 x 40 building at Fifth Street and Avenue L. Prior to this the congregation met at the school with the other denominations. He also pastored churches in Sudan, Morton and in Terry County...In 1909 the family moved from Carthage to Hall County and lived near Memphis, where Reverend Long pastored a church. In 1910 they went to Donley County, where Reverend Long farmed and pastored a church at Lelia Lake…In 1914 they moved to Paducah where Reverend Long bought a farm…He sold this farm in 1919 and the family moved to Hollis, Oklahoma. Here they bought a farm and Reverend Long was pastor of a church at Dodsonville, Texas and several other churches nearby. They remained there for several years until Reverend Long accepted the pastorate at West Camp, near Farwell, on the state line between Texas and New Mexico…Reverend Long and family arrived in Farwell in the fall of 1922…In early 1924 Reverend Long was called as a missionary preacher, which meant he could hold revivals anywhere he was asked to preach. So, he moved his family to Lubbock, to be more centrally located. He was away from his family so much he decided to accept a church at Levelland…”[iii]

When J. A. Long died in 1927, the Smyrna Church in Rusk County (my home church) elected a committee to write a memorial resolution for him, as was their custom for their deceased church members – even though Brother Long was not and had not been a member of the church (demonstrating the love and respect they still held for him long after he had removed from the area).

James A. Long, Minnie Ola Long, and their two oldest daughters, Dora Margaret and Lola Belle.

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[i] Several years ago, a man who lived in Levelland told me, “There is not a bridge in our county.”
[ii] Though Hockley County was created in 1876, it had no organization as a county until 1921. All judicial business was transacted in Lubbock. In 1921 county officers were elected, a county seat selected, and a courthouse built. Hockley City (now Levelland) was chosen as the county seat, probably mostly due to its central location in the county. (Hockley County 1921 – 1971: The First Fifty Years; Epilogue 1971-1976, Lillian Brasher. Canyon, TX: Staked Plains Press, [n.d., circa 1976], pp. 74-76)
[iii] Hockley County 1921...1976, Lillian Brasher, p. 93. Note that some sources say that Long came to Levelland in January 1926. The resolution to the discrepancy may be that he came to the church as pastor in Feb. 1925, and moved to the city of Levelland in Jan. 1926. He pastored there until his death in January 1927. Note also that First Missionary Baptist of Levelland, organized in 1921, still exists under the name Fifth Street Baptist Church, which it adopted in 1946. Fifth Street Baptist Church affiliates with the Plains Baptist Association, Baptist Missionary Association of Texas, and the Baptist Missionary Association of America. Oddly, the Southern Baptist Church calls itself “First Baptist Church,” but was not organized until three years after the first Baptist Church in Levelland! See Brasher, page 285.

Elder M. Lepard

Mathias Lepard pastored the Baptist Church at Henderson.

In 1850, Mathias Lepard was possibly living in or around Franklin County, Alabama. He reported a meeting with J. H. Rowland at Harmony Church in Franklin County in December 1850, and that he and Brother Rowland were spending their time riding and preaching within the bounds of the Big Bear Creek Association (Tennessee Baptist, Saturday, January 18, 1851, p. 3).

“Elder M. Lepard…had then [1853] but recently entered the State. As a preacher he was earnest, and a bold defender of the principles of that sect everywhere spoken against. The churches in Rusk County felt the power of his ministry only a short time, until a cancer claimed him as its victim. While absent from his family, in Tennessee, seeking medical aid, he passed to the upper sanctuary, in January 1859, and rests from toil and suffering.” Flowers and Fruits, Morrell, pp. 328-329.

Mathias Lepard may have lived in Cherokee County, Texas in 1853. At least he wrote a letter to the Tennessee Baptist from Cherokee County  in November of 1853. He reported a meeting at Ebenezer Church in Smith County in which 31 members were added to the church. (Saturday, January 14, 1854, p. 4).

M. Lepard preached the introductory sermon at the newly organized Texas Baptist General Association in 1853. This general Baptist organization was formed at Larissa, Cherokee County, Texas, in 1853. It met only two years; in 1853 at Larissa and in 1854 at Tyler G. G. Baggerly and M. Lepard – both of whom pastored the Baptist Church at Henderson – were active in this short-lived organization.

Elder M. Lepard was one of the presbytery ordaining John Whitmore to the ministry, at Ebenezer Church in Smith County. (Tennessee Baptist, Saturday, August 5, 1854, p. 3).

In 1854, Matthias Lepard wrote to the Tennessee Baptist: “The Baptist Church at Bellview, Rusk co., commenced a meeting Saturday before the 3rd Sabbath in August. I arrived there Monday. We continued seven days, during which time the good Lord revived the work in the church, many anxious persons crying for mercy. That, with the meeting in September, resulted in the addition of twenty odd. Fifteen followed Christ in baptism. Among that number was the wife of Bro. J. R. Wood, of Tenn., and one son and daughter. May the Lord still revive his work in Bellview.” (Saturday, November 18, 1854, p. 4).

M. Lepard married Almeda Wood in 1855. She was a daughter of John Rucker Wood and Agnes Payne Harris, and a sister of Agnes Wood who married a Baptist preacher, John H. Rowland. John R. and Agnes P. Wood donated the land for the Harmony Baptist Church at Bellview. In 1870 widow Almeda and son Mitton (or Milton) Lepard, were living with John & Agnes Rowland – who would have been her sister and his aunt and uncle. In 1860 they were living with her parents. In 1878, she married Charlie C. Owen or Owens. In 1880 they were living in Overton.

Mathias Lepard died in January of 1859 (according to Z. N. Morrell, while in Tennessee). At the time of his death, he was a member of the Harmony Baptist Church at Bellview (now called Pirtle). The following resolution of respect was adopted in their church conference in February of 1859 (though the paper has a typographical error of 1858). Since he died in Tennessee, a burial in Tennessee is assumed.

The Tennessee Baptist, June 11, 1859, page 4

Rusk County Baptists, 2020

Number of Baptist Churches in Rusk County, Texas in 2020: 49 or 97?

In researching for my Rusk County Baptist history, I became interested in the religious makeup of the population. I looked at the information from the data collected by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB) for 2020. This is reported at the Association of Religious Data Archives site. A comparison of the number of Baptist churches I have located in Rusk County versus the data compiled by ASARB shows how far off our understanding of religious bodies in the United States is or can be. For 2020, ASARB identified 49 Baptist churches in Rusk County. I have identified 97 Baptist churches in Rusk County, that I believe existed in 2020 (even that is tricky, until I have contacted every one of these churches). I do not blame ASARB; they do not have the personnel and financing to do “boots on the ground” research for every county in the United States. They depend on reporting. However, the Rusk County Baptist History Project shows almost twice as many congregations and adherents as the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies found. [Note: I used estimation based on known numbers in order to come up with the number of adherents (church members) in each group for which I did not have statistics.] The ASARB count had 5 Baptist categories. I have added two that were missed. I have also changed National Missionary Baptist Convention (which is one specific convention) to National Baptist Conventions, in order to represent several conventions that have the name “National” in common.

Details and Explanations.

American Baptist Association. Total 16; count off by 6 churches. [Two of these have disbanded since 2020, and there is one new Hispanic church/mission, which I do not know whether it existed in 2020.] I estimated the total membership based on the average membership of the churches that were counted.

Baptist Missionary Association of America. Total 4; count off by 1 church, and no member statistics were given. I obtained my church member statistics from the 2017 BMAA Directory & Handbook, the closest date that I had to 2020.

Independent unaffiliated Baptists. Not counted. I identified 7 unaffiliated Baptist churches in Rusk County. One has disbanded (not sure whether that occurred before or after 2020). One of these may be in the BBFI (it used to be). I estimated the total membership based on the average membership of the similar churches (ABA, BMAA) in the county, but the total is probably high. I suspect that some of these churches tend to remove non-attending and non-resident members more so than the ABA & BMAA churches.

Primitive Baptists. Not counted. Even I did not know this church still existed until I started the Rusk County Baptist History Project. I thought they had disbanded, but the church simplyy changed meeting locations. I estimated the total membership based on the attendance.

National Association of Free Will Baptists. I used and repeated the ASARB count, but wonder if the Mt. Olive Church at Compton had already closed by 2020.

National Baptist Conventions. Total 36; count off by 31 churches. The African-American Baptist churches were severely undercounted. I lumped all these in one category since ASARB had only one category, but some of these churches probably participate in different National or General bodies than others. I estimated the total membership based on the average membership of the churches that were counted.

Southern Baptist Convention. Total 29; count off by 2 churches. Southern Baptists usually collect statistics diligently and accurately (as best we Baptists can). The count difference between mine and theirs might occur for any number of reasons. For example, two Kilgore churches are just barely in Rusk County and participate in the Gregg Baptist Association. They might have gotten counted with Gregg County (it takes a bit of carefulness to determine which county these two churches are in). One SBC church in Henderson merged with another church. I estimated the total membership based on the average membership of the churches that were counted.

According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the total population of Rusk County, Texas was 52,514 in 2020. If my estimation is reasonably accurate (which I think it generally will be) and if my math is correct (which it often is not), Baptists make up about 38% of the population of Rusk County.

Note: This is a preliminary finding, which I may need to adjust as I move this work forward.

Book review of Smyrna history

A History of Smyrna Baptist Church, 1873 – 2008. By James W. Griffith and Robert Lee Vaughn. Mt. Enterprise, Texas: Waymark Publications, 2009. 115 pp. 

In the words of that old song “brighten the corner where you are,” the church at Smyrna has been fulfilling its mission in south Rusk County, Texas for well over a century. First, the authors show proper deference to the congregation’s Georgia roots, home of half of the charter members coming from the Powell Creek church dating from 1786. Organized in 1873 at Chinquapin Spring, Smyrna’s initial action was to launch into a protracted revival meeting for several days, which added more new members. A spirit of local cooperation ensued from the start with fifth Sunday meetings and association and district meetings. Smyrna even invited visiting brethren to monthly business meetings. 

For its first fifty years, frequent mention is made of church discipline for sins great and small. Nevertheless, these were the days of ALL day church sings, dinner on the grounds, free will offerings of money and food for the needy, and visits from overseas missionaries from as far away as Syria. Since Smyrna evolved slowly into becoming a missionary Baptist church, the authors devote some time to the controversy of the day between the Board Party Faction and the Mission Party Faction. To students of Baptist history, this book opens a small window into how missions were funded and the controversy between R.C. Burleson and B.H. Carroll and those who opposed mission boards. The authors conclude that “unended bitterness” resulted from the early twentieth-century schism between Baptists. In 1892, the church moved a few miles and by 1907 had located in the Oakflat community where it is today. Over time it has often shared its facilities with the Methodists. 

Several customs and policies are worth noting such as the first women on committees about 1910 and one long-serving pastor between 1910 and 1930. Traditionally, pastors were recalled once a year by a church vote. In 1921, John Waller was so beloved that he was called to serve as pastor indefinitely. Other customs included the annual cemetery day, church reunions, third Saturday night church sings (including Sacred Harp music), and writing resolutions of respect for deceased members. In 1918, a resolution of support was offered for all their soldier boys in the Great War. 

In spite of strong emphasis on local control, Smyrna church was a key player in the Mount Zion Baptist Association and a big advocate of the associational missionary concept. Several young men were “liberated” (called) for the ministry in those early days. Shifting demographics saw a decline in church numbers as well as church discipline after World War II. Death and urbanization reduced membership, but these did not diminish the zeal for missions and the gospel. 

The research is good, and the writing flows fairly well. Leaders and church programs are covered equally well, and the appendices contain lists of former members, pastors, clerks, deacons, and current members. There is also a good historical representation through photographs. As the book of Revelation records, “To the Angel at the church in Smyrna write, ‘Keep the faith and pass on your traditions.’”—Reviewed by Don Brown, Adjunct Professor of History, Dallas Baptist University

Texas Baptist History: the Journal of the Texas Baptist Historical Society, Volume XXXII, 2012, pp. 87-89

Church naming conventions

When looking at our Rusk County history through the lens of Baptist history, one interesting feature is the church names – that is, the names by which one local Baptist congregation identifies itself as distinct from other local Baptist congregations. By far the most common are names based on Bible places and names based on the location of the church building (by town, street, etc.). Some names may incorporate more than one feature. For now I have categorized the church names into 9 divisions.

1. Auxiliary names.

Names that are auxiliary, that is they help distinguish with a simple identification often in reference to chronology, such as being the “first” church, “new” church, or “original” church.

First, Second, Greater, New, Old, Original. 

2. Bible names.

These names can be found in the Bible one way or another – most often from a place mentioned in the Bible. 

(Bible places) Antioch, Bethel, Calvary, Corinth, Ebenezer, Emmanuel, Enon, Macedonia, Mount Hebron, Mount Zion, Sardis, Smyrna, Zion; (Bible concepts) Grace, Middle Cross, Providence, Trinity; (Bible people) St. John, St. Paul.

3. Geographical feature names.

Features such as creeks, flats, hills, and valleys. There are quite a few “mount” names, but generally they are from Bible names (and may or may not relate to a “mountainous” land feature). Sometimes the geographical features become location/place names.

Beech Creek, Cool Springs, Gum Springs, Hickory Flat, Hickory Grove, Pine Grove, Valley Grove; (geographical feature + Bible name) Zion Hill.

4. Location or place names.

Just as described, the name is based on the where the church meets.

(communities and towns) Arlam, Glenfawn, London, Millville, Minden, New Salem, Stewart, Turnertown; (streets and roads) Longview Drive, Tyler Road, West Main; (neighborhoods) Highland Park, Shawnee Village (general direction/location) Eastside, Southside, Midway, County Line.

5. Personal/family names.

These are names that is based on the name of a person or family. There seem to have been only a few of these. St. Clark in Henderson may be one of these, but I do not yet know the origin of their church name.

Jameson Memorial (former name of First Free Will Baptist, named in honor of E. S. Jameson), Isabel Chapel (variant spelling of the Isbell family name), Mount Homer (former name of Henderson Primitive Baptist), perhaps after Homer Phillips or Homer Pool).

6. “Pleasant” names.

This is a term I am using for names often based on a biblical concept – such as “unity.” Some names combine the “pleasant” concept with another feature, such as geographical: Forest Home, Good Hope, Pleasant Grove, Pleasant Hill, Union Grove, and Union Spring.

Fairview, Fellowship, Friendship, Greater Love, Harmony, Heritage, Liberty, Maple Grove, Open Door, Unity, Victory. 

7. “Chapel” names. 

Chapel is a very common designation for Baptist meeting places in the United Kingdom, but it does not seem to be used as much in the U.S. 

Chapel Hill, Christian Chapel, Crims Chapel, Isabel Chapel, Jacobs Chapel, Owen’s Chapel, Smith Chapel.

8. Miscellaneous/uncategorized names.

(Texas history) Fredonia, Lone Star; (denominational/theological) Bible Baptist, Landmark; (patriotic?) Mount Vernon.

9. Spanish names.

The Spanish church names currently are “auxiliary” (Primera/First), “Bible” (El Cordero de Dios/The Lamb of God; El Camino/The Way) and “pleasant” (Nueva Esperanza/New Hope).

Another aspect of church names is the “sub-denominational” name (a name that tells what kind of Baptist). Many Baptist churches in their church names identify and denominate themselves within a certain type or affiliations of Baptist – Bible Baptist, Free Will Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Primitive Baptist. Southern Baptists usually give a clue on their signage as to their being Southern Baptist (SBC initials, the SBC logo) and churches in the ABA and BMAA sometimes do that as well. The group name “Primitive” was first a designation after an 1830s division of Baptists in the United States, “we are the original or primitive Baptists.” It came to be used as a sub-denominational identifier. Some earlier group identifiers are no longer used in Rusk County, such as Colored, Free, Predestinarian, Separate, and United.

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Note: A sub-denomination is a “subordinate denomination or class,” that is, Baptist being the denominational name of churches holding a common denominator of beliefs, and the sub-denominations being those who diverge from one another because of other distinct doctrinal differences.

Big Spring and Mount Vernon Anniversaries

The following announcements give us an idea of how old Big Spring Baptist Church and Mount Vernon Baptist Church are. 

In 2014 Big Spring was celebrating its 117th Anniversary, meaning it must have been organized circa 1897. Mount Vernon was celebrating its 100th Anniversary, meaning it must have been organized circa 1914.

Henderson Daily News, Sunday, November 2, 2014, p. 3A

Both of these Baptist churches are predominantly African American. Big Spring meets in the Big Spring Community in west central Rusk County. Mount Vernon meets just north of Henderson on Highway 43.