Smyrna, Georgia and Sandy Creek

The Smyrna Baptist Church of Chinquapin/Redland/
Oak Flat is deeply indebted to a Georgia heritage through its earliest members. The first two pastors and over half of the charter members were born in Georgia – E. S. Parker, Rebecca Parker, Jasper Parker, Georgia A. Parker, M. T. Wells, William J. Parker, C. A. E. Parker, J. F. M. Reid, Robert P. Goldsberry, and Nannie E. Goldsberry. Two other families – Gallaways and McNews – lived in Georgia before moving to Alabama and then on to Texas. Edwin S. Parker is currently the only charter member whose time and place of baptism has been determined. He joined White Plains Baptist Church in Greene Co., Georgia by faith 27 Aug 1843. He was dismissed by letter 26 Oct 1853 – evidently about the time he moved to Texas. White Plains was constituted in 1806, probably from members of Powelton Baptist Church. E. S. Parker’s great-grandparents – Richard and Ann Parker – were charter members of Powelton Church, then called Powell’s Creek, in 1786. Powell’s Creek was organized by Silas Mercer, who was baptized by the Kiokee Baptist Church, the first Baptist church constituted in Georgia. Kiokee’s lineage traces back to the Sandy Creek Baptist Church in North Carolina, a “mother” of many southern churches.

Smyrna Church -- 135th anniversary

Smyrna Baptist Church, a "daughter" of Mt. Carmel, will celebrate its 135th anniversary Sunday August 17, 2008. The church was organized Saturday August 16, 2008. Regular services will be conducted in the morning. Lunch at noon.

Afternoon services include:

Special singing 1:30 p.m.
Church history - Robert Vaughn
Recognition of long-standing families
Memories of Smyrna Baptist Church
Afternoon message - Matt Gholson

Extinct churches P-Z

Pecan Grove was located near the Rusk and Nacogdoches County line, south of Sulphur Springs. I think it probably was in Nacogdoches County. Earlier there was a Hopewell Church in this vicinity, and probably also in Nacogdoches County.

Rhodes, possibly also known as Rhode's Chapel, met somewhere in the Shiloh area. Mentioned as late as the 1951 Mt. Zion Association minutes. After the BGCT and BMAT divided in 1900, the Shiloh Church divided into Missionary Baptist and Southern Baptist Churches. According to 50 Years in East Texas Pulpits by J. W. Griffith, a group met in the Rhodes School House (and later built a church house) north of Shiloh, and was a more progressive element of Missionary Baptists that left the old missionary Baptist division of Shiloh church.

Shawnee Village Missionary Baptist Church was organized as Stone Heights MBC after the ABA/BMA division of 1950. This group organized in 1952 with J. M. Stringer as missionary pastor, and met in the Stone Heights subdivision until building at 1714 US 79 South in Henderson circa 1964. El Cordero de Dios Church, an Hispanic Church related to the Southern Baptists, now meets in this building.

Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church -- off SH 315 in the Shiloh Community. Some who remember it say the building was at the intersection of crossroads, and the Southern Baptists had the building in front of the main gate – but others suggest it was the other way around.. The present Shiloh Southern Baptist Church counts its organization to 1902, so evidently the Missionary Baptists were in the majority when the church divided. Tradition says a Baptist Church existed at Shiloh as far back as the 1840s, and it can be found in minutes of the Judson Association at least as early as 1856. In 1857 Shiloh was in the organization of the Mt. Zion Association. The Shiloh Cemetery dates in origin back to 1853.

Sweetgum MBC met in the Sweetgum Community, probably in the same building that was a school house. Link to online info about Sweetgum, click HERE.

Valley Grove near, possibly south of, the Sulphur Springs Community.