23 comments

    1. I agree.

      Here is information on another Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL

      “It is not known exactly when John & Mary Williamson Pruett left Jones County, GA but it is believed that they went first to Pike Co., AL, probably around 1819/20, settling in that part of Pike County which in 1832 became Barbour Co. Many of their descendants settled in Barbour & Bullock counties, Bullock having been formed from part of Barbour Co. There they reared large families.”
      Source: ‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982, p. 20, part of 21

      1824 Mary Pruit [sic] was listed as one of the “Founding Members” of the Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL, founded 25 April, 1824.
      ‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982

      “The Bethlehem Baptist Church was located on the Clayton-Louisville road, about three miles from Louisville and seven miles from Clayton. The 13 founding members were James [Matthew] Cadenhead [Jr.] and his brother William Cadenhead, Warren Jackson, William Anglin, Randol Jackson, William Cox, James A. Head, Elizabeth Jackson, Elizabeth Cox, Elizabeth Head, Mary Pruit, Elizabeth Warren, and Anna (a woman of color). The First Presbytery consisted of James McLemore, ordained minister, Richard Head, ordained deacon, and Francis Baker, clerk of presbytery. James Cadenhead was the first preacher and moderator and in 1825 the moderator, and James A. Head was the first church clerk and in 1825 chosen deacon.”
      Source: ‘Pike County, Alabama, Bethlehem Baptist Church Records,’ contributed by Mrs. B. W. Grandrud, Tuscaloosa, Alabama – The Alabama Genealogical Register, Vol. V, No.’s 3 & 4, September-December 1963 (Willo Publishing Company, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1962), pp. 192-193.

      Would like to hear from anyone researching Pruetts.
      Eugenia Hobday [email protected]

    2. Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL

      “It is not known exactly when John & Mary Williamson Pruett left Jones County, GA but it is believed that they went first to Pike Co., AL, probably around 1819/20, settling in that part of Pike County which in 1832 became Barbour Co. Many of their descendants settled in Barbour & Bullock counties, Bullock having been formed from part of Barbour Co. There they reared large families.”
      Source: ‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982, p. 20, part of 21

      1824 Mary Pruit [sic] was listed as one of the “Founding Members” of the Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL, founded 25 April, 1824.
      ‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982

      “The Bethlehem Baptist Church was located on the Clayton-Louisville road, about three miles from Louisville and seven miles from Clayton. The 13 founding members were James [Matthew] Cadenhead [Jr.] and his brother William Cadenhead, Warren Jackson, William Anglin, Randol Jackson, William Cox, James A. Head, Elizabeth Jackson, Elizabeth Cox, Elizabeth Head, Mary Pruit, Elizabeth Warren, and Anna (a woman of color). The First Presbytery consisted of James McLemore, ordained minister, Richard Head, ordained deacon, and Francis Baker, clerk of presbytery. James Cadenhead was the first preacher and moderator and in 1825 the moderator, and James A. Head was the first church clerk and in 1825 chosen deacon.”
      Source: ‘Pike County, Alabama, Bethlehem Baptist Church Records,’ contributed by Mrs. B. W. Grandrud, Tuscaloosa, Alabama – The Alabama Genealogical Register, Vol. V, No.’s 3 & 4, September-December 1963 (Willo Publishing Company, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1962), pp. 192-193.

      Would like to hear from anyone researching Pruetts.
      Eugenia Hobday [email protected]

  1. My great grandfather Ashley Bartow Metcalfe was an attorney in Dale County, Al in the 1880’s…then received his Doctor of Divinity and became a Baptist preacher in the 1890’s. He was a pastor in Al an Ga until 1940. He Moved Back To Montgomery where he lived until his death in 1947. His father Rev Henry J Metcalf was a Methodist preacher until 1887.

  2. The article would lead readers to believe that Baptists are a traditionally Calvinistic body, but in fact they were historically a blend of both predestinarian and free will elements. The initial missionary split came with the free will Baptists (also called general Baptists because of their belief in general atonement offerd to all mankind) arguing for evangelistic missions, while predestinarians (also called particular Baptists because of their belief that God desires to save only certain people) argued that mission work was pointless since God would save whomever He wanted.

    Also, there are several references to “the Baptist church.” Baptists, though, do not conceive of themselves as a church, but as an association of many churches (each local congregation being completely independent of all others).

  3. Three of my ancestors were Baptist ministers, and one of them became a missionary as he grew older. Two were father and son, James Harvey Reuben Carden was a minister in Shelby County, Alabama, and his son, Llewellyn Judson Carden also preached the Gospel in Shelby County. JHR Carden is mentioned numerous times in the Shelby County Baptist Association Annual Meeting Minutes, and L.J.Carden’s biography was included in “Notable Men of Alabama.”

    Reverend Phillip Belcher, originally from Georgia, worked as a minister in Sumter County, Georgia, and then moved to Barbour County, Alabama, where he founded the Belcher Beulah Baptist Church in Baker Hill. He continued to perform the Lord’s work in a variety of churches in Henry County, Alabama. His last known address was Franklin, Alabama, now covered by the waters of Lake Eufaula and directly across the river from Clay County, Georgia and the town of Fort Gaines.

    Reverend Belcher was mentioned numerous times in the Judson Baptist Association Annual Meeting Minutes as a missionary whose income was subsidized by the member churches of the Association. He died in 1874 or 1875, prior to October of 1875. We do not know where he is buried; to date, no Belcher descendant has found his grave, or the graves of his two wives: Mary Causey Belcher who died prior to the family moving to Alabama, and his second wife, Annice Albritton Belcher of Macon, Georgia.

  4. My great great grandfather did not accept a salary at his Baptist Church in Alabama. He was a surveyor and a farmer.

  5. I talked with a DOM ( Director of Missions s

  6. As far as I know all of my family were “Missionary Baptists” but Mary’s family were Primitive Baptists ( or “Hardshell Baptists ” as my Dad used to call them). They were extremely Calvinistic in doctrine and practice and most churches met once or twice a month. They are still around but are small because of their doctrine of predestination. They do little outreach but they were the leaders in providing care for widows and orphans.

  7. I cannot find a connection between the picture above and this particular story. The building in the picture looks a lot like the old Huntsville Bank on the courthouse square. I would post a picture of it form the same angle, but this comment box apparently does not allow for pictures (why is that?)

  8. more than 43000 Christian denominations world wide.

  9. Isaac Kervin you might enjoy this

  10. And the members of the church would follow along in their Bibles with the minister. If they disagreed or didn’t understand something they met the preacher after church with their questions!

  11. Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL

    “It is not known exactly when John & Mary Williamson Pruett left Jones County, GA but it is believed that they went first to Pike Co., AL, probably around 1819/20, settling in that part of Pike County which in 1832 became Barbour Co. Many of their descendants settled in Barbour & Bullock counties, Bullock having been formed from part of Barbour Co. There they reared large families.”
    Source: ‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982, p. 20, part of 21

    1824 Mary Pruit [sic] was listed as one of the “Founding Members” of the Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL, founded 25 April, 1824.
    ‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982

    “The Bethlehem Baptist Church was located on the Clayton-Louisville road, about three miles from Louisville and seven miles from Clayton. The 13 founding members were James [Matthew] Cadenhead [Jr.] and his brother William Cadenhead, Warren Jackson, William Anglin, Randol Jackson, William Cox, James A. Head, Elizabeth Jackson, Elizabeth Cox, Elizabeth Head, Mary Pruit, Elizabeth Warren, and Anna (a woman of color). The First Presbytery consisted of James McLemore, ordained minister, Richard Head, ordained deacon, and Francis Baker, clerk of presbytery. James Cadenhead was the first preacher and moderator and in 1825 the moderator, and James A. Head was the first church clerk and in 1825 chosen deacon.”
    Source: ‘Pike County, Alabama, Bethlehem Baptist Church Records,’ contributed by Mrs. B. W. Grandrud, Tuscaloosa, Alabama – The Alabama Genealogical Register, Vol. V, No.’s 3 & 4, September-December 1963 (Willo Publishing Company, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1962), pp. 192-193.

    Would like to hear from anyone researching Pruetts.
    Eugenia Hobday [email protected]

  12. Or as my father–Grover Carpenter of Oxford, Alabama– a longtime deacon and adult Sunday School teacher would do (oft to my mother’s dismay), clear his throat loudly and say “Unh. unh, unh. Let’s get it right now.” Right during the preaching!! My dad was usually correct about Bible teaching as he read the Bible often and deeply. I got my nerve, or as some might say “gall,” from him. No bashfulness allowed. I think a forthright attitude, a “straightshooter” personality, was and is common among country, old-way Alabamians. But always with good manners.

    We attended Bethlehem Baptist in Friendship community (Oxford). Years ago it was WAY out in the country, near where Hillabee heads toward Cheaha. Now it’s all built up. I hardly know it. I haven’t been back for 8 years as we live in Wilmington, NC.

    I very much enjoy your writings about the strong Indian influence and presence in Alabama. Most of what I’ve learned about Indians has been through my own reading and study. Native Americans were given little to no attention all through my school years. What a shame. I do hope it’s better nowadays.

    Can anyone tell me about the hill at Oxford that was destroyed for fill dirt to build the Walmart there. I believe it was a mound with NA graves and that some people didn’t care if it were removed . Roughly to the south of the hill is where Bethlehem BC is located. I lived in Friendship community for over 20 years and must say I never heard a peep about that hill/mound being Indian related.

    Thanks for all your wonderful information.

    Carolyn Funderburk

    1. Yes, we did a story about the Indian mound being destroyed here. http://alabamapioneers.com/choccolocco-9622/#sthash.DiK9p140.dpbs
      Thanks for your comment! We enjoy finding these stories.
      Donna

  13. My great, great grandfather, Philip Sieber, Jr. came to Benton Co.,now Calhoun Co. In the early 1830’s. They settled in what is now the New Liberty Baptist Church community. I understand that he was a Baptist preacher and help found several churches in the Jacksonville area. Has anyone aware of any historical articles about Baptist churches in this area of Ala.? I am interested in furthering my knowledge about this area in the 1800 hundreds.

  14. My Great Grandpa, Asa Iley Jones, became a Missionary Baptist Preacher. This article was helpful in learning the differences between Primitive and Missionary Baptists. He was living in AL when he married in GA in 1872 and was on the 1880 Floyd’s Mill, Lee Co., AL census. He and his wife and children moved to MS around 1888.

  15. Classify this under “It is my understanding” …

    3G-grandfather Hezekiah Moorcame to the Alabama territory as a staunch Scots/Irish Presbyterian, but in the years leading up to the Civil War, the Presbyterian Church ruled that members could not be slaveholders, so Hezekiah, a slaveholder, became a Baptist. The Baptists in Alabama eventually split between “Hard Shells” and “Soft Shells,” the Hard Shells not believing in paying preachers or mission work. The Soft Shells did. It appears ol’ Hezekiah was as staunch in his beliefs as they come, and he gave part of his land near Leeds to found a new Hard Shell church now known a Cedar Grove Baptist Church, located just off I-20, where Hezekiah and many members of his family are buried.

  16. I’ve always liked all of the missionary positions

  17. My granddaddy was a Baptist preacher in north Alabama in the early years of the 20th century ❤️

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