Pride of the Past, Hope for the Future, 1827-1977 : a History of Reynoldson Baptist Church Written in Commemoration of the 150Th
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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL THE COLLECTION OF NORTH CAROLINIANA ENDOWED BY JOHN SPRUNT HILL CLASS OF 1889 C286.09 G25r UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 00043579822 FOR USE ONLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION ^3i8 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from n and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of Cultural Resources. http://archive.org/details/prideofpasthopefOOse Pride of the Past - Hope for the Future Piney Grove - Reynoldson Baptist Church 1827-1977 PRIDE OF THE PAST HOPE FOR THE FUTURE 1827-1977 A history of Reijnoldson Baptist Church written in commemoration of the 15()th anniversary of the church. by Edith H. Freeman Selling Aided by Virginia E. Pittman Freeman her mother Edited by Margaret Seiling Lefler her daughter Cover design by Michael D. Lefler C 1977 Edith Freeman Seiling ' Pierce Printing Co., Inc. Ahoskie, N.C. Dedicated to Pineij Grove and Reijnoldson members, past, present and future, who were, are and will be "Laborers Together With God'' and in special tribute to mij Mother and co-worker, Virginia Elizabeth Pittman Freeman, who chose Christ as her Savior seventy years ago here at Reynoldson Baptist Church. Virginia E. Pittman Freeman CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 4-5 EARLY BEGINNINGS 6-21 Land Gifts Founding Name BUILDINGS 22-42 1827-1877 1877-1927 1927-1977 RELIGIOUS ASSEMBLIES 43-53 Union Meetings Chowan Association State Baptist Convention Revival EDUCATION 54-92 Classical Reynoldson Institute Religious Sunday School Baptist Training Union Library Music FINANCES 93-99 COLORED MEMBERS 101-104 CHRISTIAN LIFE 105-113 Membership Conference and Visiting Brethem Conduct Unbecoming a Christian CHURCH ORDINANCES 114-122 Baptism Lord's Supper Ordination of Pastors MISSIONS 123-158 Early Missions Mission Churches Mission Organizations W.M.U. Sunbeams G.A. and R.A.'s Y.W.A. Brotherhood CEMETERY 159-162 EPILOGUE 163-165 Twelve Down and Counting APPENDIXES 166-199 Church Officers Pastors Deacons Church Clerks Treasurers Sextons Sunday School Superintendents Organization Officers Roster of Church Members 200-239 Early Death and Cemetery Records 240-243 Marriages 244 Recorded Gifts 245-247 Biography of Julius Franklin Howell 248-249 Goodman and Lee Genealogical Charts 276-278 Acknowledgments I am indebted to the present Reynoldson Church members for allowing me the opportunity to collect and write this history. This has been an educational and rewarding experience. I have learned much about the church, the people, their hardships and their achievements as I have endeavored to compile this history. As we move forward toward our second century as a church, it is befitting that we pause on this our one hundred and fiftieth birthday to briefly reflect upon our past and say thank you to God and our forefathers for having guided us this far. This book would never have been completed without the help of many people, church members and others, both far and near. To all I say thank you. I am deeply indebted to my Mother, Mrs. Joseph Ray Freeman, St., for her help with both information and pictures. For more than seventy years, she has been an active participant in the activities of the church, serving wherever the Lord called her. To my daughter, Peggy Seiling Lefler, for attempting to correct my errors. To my son-in-law, Mike Lefler, for the cover design. To Mr. Timothy James Jessup, former deacon, who departed this life 1977, for the use of his book, Delke's History of the Chowan Baptist Association. To Dr. Hargus Taylor and the staff of the Whitaker Library, Chowan College, Murfreesboro, N.C., for their untiring efforts to aid me. To my grandparents, Edmund James and Edith Virginia Langston Freeman, and their daughter, Edith Armecia Freeman, for saving many of the early materials used in this history. To the following who have provided pictures and bits of information: Rev. and Mrs. Billy P. Presley, Mr. and Mrs. B.E. Smith, Mrs. Phyllis Lee Patterson, John Carroll Ellis, Lucy Costen, Mrs. John Lee Smith, Rev. and Mrs. O.S. Edmonds, Mrs. Ethel Eason Taylor, Mrs. Jack Carroll, John Robert Langston, Walter Harrell, Lydia Griffin, Louise Lowe Sawyer, Glenn Smith Benthall, Horace Hayes, T. Beaurie Parker, Blanche Parker, Louise Parker Neble, Myra Pittman Dodd, Mary Lee Savage Harrell, Wallace Ray and Ruth Doughtie, Sidney Cobb, Jr., John R. Woodard, Curator of Baptist Collections, Wake Forest University, Ruth Hayes Eure, Vivian Powell, Elizabeth Byruni, Mar> Edlar Wig^in^ Buck, Vivian Casper, Kah Pittnian Owens, Jean Bracy Eason, Louise Pittnian, \'emon McCall, Virginia White, Jennie Carroll Knight, and The C»ates Countv Index. To photographers, Sally Mathias and Joseph R. Freeman, Jr. To txpists, Sandra Parker, Beck\ Harrell Williams, Barbara Harrell Parker, Frances Ann Goodwin Langston, Joyce Cale, Elsie Tyler, Joan Lille\ , and others. To \()ii, I oiler m\' sincere gratitude and hope that von will find this histor\ interesting, informatixe, and oi greater value as time marches on. In the northwestern section of Gates County, North Carolina, appro.ximately one mile south of the North Carolina-Virginia dividing line, Re\ii()ldson Baptist Church stands on a rise. Early members from Factor\- Hill, Wyanoke, Cleophus, Somerton and Pittmantown, in \'irginia and Drimi Hill, Gates, Sarem, Roduco, Ariel, Cool Spring and Re\ noldson sections of North Carolina came here to worship. Many came and lingered but a short while. Others came and stayed to worship and labor for years. Man\- of our present members are descendents of earlier members. Some can even identify with the charter members. May this Pride of the Past, ll()])e of the Future - 150 \ears at Piney Grove- Rexnoldson Baptist Church, enable us to better understand the past which has shaped our present as we plan and anticipate the future for God's work. Psalms 126:.3 "The Lord hath done great things for us; whereofWe are glad." EARLY BEGINNINGS Land Gifts Would you be surprised to leam that the Piney Grove Church land gifts paralleled the actual beginnings of Gates County itself? Several local family deeds and William Byrd's Histonj of the Dividing Line substantiate this fact, as well as provide unusual and amusing facts about the original settlers of the area. When Byrd surveyed the dividing line between North CaroHna and Virginia in 1730, he was in territory that later became Gates County for more than a month and from his reports one is led to believe that there were a good many inhabitants at that time; he writes that the priest accompanying the expedition married a few people and baptized many children. The impresssion one gets from reading Byrd's History of the Diiiclin^ Line is that these early people of the section were very primitive and for the most part very idle. He records that they had adopted the Indian custom of letting the women do all the work in the fields while the men sat around and smoked. The people lived in log huts and showed no signs of being discontented with their lot. Their only ambition was not to live in Virginia; to live in North Carolina meant less, and often no tax.' When the first post route in North Carolina was established in 1758, the area which became Gates County was making much progress. This route gave the inhabitants of this area an opportimity to come in contact with the outside world. The stage coach route probably ran through Summerton, (Somerton) Sarum (Sarem) and by Pipkin's store. "Summerton was quite a trading place and there must have been several houses at Sarum"^ The country was opening; things were progressing by leaps and bounds. In fact all evidence leads to the belief that the period from 1740-1780 was the period in which the country that later became Gates made great progress. By 1790 the people of the county compared favorably with those that lived in wealthy counties of the state. It was during the period tnat the log hut was abandoned and a more comfortable structure erected; slavery was introduced; lands were opened up; roads were laid out; churches established, in short it was during this period that the countrv took on all of those things that go to make up southern culture of the eighteenth century. Tnere were a number of substantial people who were recognized throughout the section, men had begun to build up considerable fortunes and from all evidences they were intensely interested in local and national issues. The first federal census taken in 1790 shows the county had a population of 5,372 people. Of this number 3,080 were free white, 73 free negroes, and 2,219 were slaves.'* Gates County came out of the Revolutionary War with as good prospects for development as could be desired. One can create his own mental picture of this area during this age from the following description. The country for more than 60 miles from the coast is a low plain, with many swamps and inlets from the sea. The greater portion of this district, except along the water courses, is a vast forest of evergreens. The rich lands near the swamps and rivers are insalubrious. The soil of North Carolina resembles that of Virginia, in the level parts it is generally poor, in the hilly country more fertile, and the productions are much the same as in the more northern states. Wheat, rye, barley, oats and flax are cultivated. Indian com is abundant throughout the whole state, and cotton is raised in considerable ciuantities, tobacco, rice and sweet potatoes abound, and the soil and climate are favorable to the growth of the grape and mulberry.