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.