History of Antioch Baptist Church

49 Pages·2008·2.62 MB·English

History of
Antioch Baptist Church
of Alexander County, Inc.
In Celebration of
182 Years
July 29, 2008
A Solid Foundation Builds an
Everlasting Future
580 Antioch Church Road
Taylorsville, NC 28681
[phone]
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No beginning history of Antioch Baptist Church would be complete without a brief sketch of thehistory of
theNewMeetingHouseBaptistChurch.
AccordingtoDr.W.R.Paschal ofWakeForest inhisHistoryofNorthCarolinaBaptists,thiswasoneofthe
first Baptist churches to be built in the entire state. The building was located at what is now known as the
Teague Munday Memorial Cemetery (formerly the Munday Graveyard) on North Carolina State Highway
127 leading from Taylorsville to Hickory. The church was organized June 7, 1797, under the leadership of
eldersEdwardTeague,BenjaminAustin,andHenryHolsclaw.EdwardTeaguebecamethefirstpastorand
continuedassuchuntilhis deathin1810.ItisbelievedthatWilliamAustinservedaspastorfrom1810until
thechurchbuildingburnedintheyear1825.
The church building was a log structure and served practically all of the people living in this section of the
country atthattime, as acenterof worship forapproximately 28years.Followingisacopy oftherecordof
itsorganization.
"On June 7, 1797, at a meeting held at the New Meeting House in Burke county (now
AlexanderCounty),MiddleLittleRiver,aPresbyterybeingcalledfor,toconstituteachurch
and ordain officers, and found prepared the members’ names as follows: Edward Teague,
Benjamin Austin, and Henry Holsclaw, elders. William Sherrill, and Nathan Austin,
deacons; Charter members are as follows: George Payne, George Thompson, John
Barnes,JamesOxford,SarahTeague,MaryAustin,RebeccaAustin,ElizabethThompson,
Nancy Payne, Rebecca Foster, Ruth Pressley, Elender Dockery, Tabitha Spradling, Elijah
Austin, Harry - a Negro, Lurana Barnes, and Mary Austin, Sr. Then, one year later,
February 28th, on the reverse side of the document, in a different handwriting was:
RichardBarnes, ElijahAustin(dismissedby letterabout October1, ofthesameyear,) and
NancyAustin."
This church was built in the area to serve the people who moved westward to escape the tyranny of
Governor Tryon after the Battle of Alamance. Edward Teague came from Orange County, North Carolina
and settled in this section, one mile west of Barretts Mountain. He was born in 1720 and died in 1810. He
andhiswifeSarahwereburiedinthecemetery,nearwheretheNewMeetingHousestood.GeorgePayne,
JohnBarnes,andprobably Henry Holsclawcamefrom OrangeCounty.James Oxford,WilliamSherrill and
theNegroHarry,werebornneartheCatawbaRiverandlivedinwhatisnowCaldwellCounty.Itisbelieved
that most of the charter members of the New Meeting House Baptist Church, who had come from Orange
County,wereformerlymembersoftheOldSandyCreekBaptistChurchinthatcounty.
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After much discussion and some differences of
opinion, former members of the New Meeting
House Baptist Church decided to build a new
church building upon the grounds near the
present site of Antioch Baptist Church. This
building was located on the old Lovelady Road
whichranfromSalisburytoMorganton.Thissite
is some two miles west of the site of the former
NewMeetingHouseBuilding,justnorthofNorth
Carolina Highway #127 on state road #1002 in
what is now Ellendale Township. The building
was made of logs, hand hewn by William A.
White,Sr.Thewallsweremadesufficientlyhigh
to accommodate a balcony in which the slaves
met to worship along with the white settlers of
the area. The land upon which the church was
built was entered by the Patriarch William
Austin, about 1781. Later, whenthechurchwas
organized, Nathan Austin, youngest son of
William, deeded five acres of this land to the
trustees for the use of the church. Since then
the church has acquired, through gift or
purchase, approximately 30 additional acres. A
recent survey shows that the church now owns
34.92 acres, having acquired more recently the
adjoining Julian property. The Old Antioch WilliamA.White,Sr.
School which served the community for many
years as a grade school (grades 1-7) was
locatedonthisproperty.
This newly organized church was called Antioch Baptist Church, a name brought from Orange County
some years before when some of these people had moved westward. The new church was organized on
July 29, 1826, approximately one year after the New Meeting House had burned. The history of Union
Baptist Church, (Caldwell County) written by J. Caswell Sherrill, states that 17 of their members were
granted letters of dismissal in order to assist in the constitution of this new church. Among those coming
from Union were: Alexander West, Sr., Alexander West, Jr., William Sherrill, James Oxford and William
Dodson, Sr. Dodson (also spelled Dotson and/or Dobson) who had served as pastor of Union Baptist
Church from 1814 until 1822, became the first pastor of Antioch Baptist Church, serving from 1826 until
1830. Dodson had also served Union as its first pastor. Other members serving on the Presbytery of the
newly organized church were: William Dodson, Jr. (also probably from Union Baptist Church), William
Hines, Richard Wallace, and John Swain. Other names listed as charter members were: Rachel Brown,
Mary Austin, Sarah Teague, Nancy Payne, Rebecca Austin, Elender Dockery, Nathan Austin, and
BenjaminAustin.
Records of the church from the time of its organization were more or less incomplete. However, according
to available information, William Dodson served the church as its first pastor until April of 1830. In all
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probability, Nathan Austin and William Sherrill were the first deacons of the Church. Later on, Elijah
“DRUMMER” Teague and S.P. “PICKENS” Austin were made deacons. It is not a known fact, but a
probability, that Benjamin Austin was the first clerk, since both his name and the name of Christian Baker
appear as clerks before that of James Reed in 1847. It is also apparent that Merritt Austin and Daniel
Austinwereamongthefirsttrustees.
For some reason, it was a common practice for a church to have two men serving as pastor at the same
time. So in 1830, William Richards and J.F. McCall succeeded William Dodson as pastor. These two men
served together until August 1832, when William Richards assumed full responsibility as pastor, serving
until 1835. Then in June 1835, William D. Holder became pastor, serving until 1847 a pastorate of
approximately12years.
Beginning with May 22, 1847, a record of the church’s progress is available through preserved minutes of
thechurch.AtthistimewefindthatWilliamGoforthhadbecomepastorandJames Reedhadbeenelected
clerk.Asearlyasthis dateweknowthatworshipwas heldtwiceeachmonth,onSaturdaybeforethefourth
Sunday, and on the fourth Sunday. At the Saturday meeting all business was conducted. Each member
was expected to be present for the Saturday meeting. The roll was called in order to check attendance.
This action is certified in the minutes by the statement: “The Church in Union”. At almost every meeting
newmembers wereaddedeitherbyletter orexperience.Duringthisperiodofour history,churchdiscipline
was muchmorerigidthanthat exercised today. Members wereoftenexcludedfor intoxication,falsehoods,
andmanyotherformsofmisconduct.OnSunday,September6,1847,accordingtotherecords,thechurch
held a joint Communion and Foot Washing Service. In October of this same year, the churches of the
association met with Dover Baptist Church for their annual associational meeting. It is not known which
association this was, as the church has belonged to the Brier Creek, the Catawba, the Lewis Fork, the
Brushy Mountain, and the Alexander BaptistAssociation. E. Teague, Burton Reed, and James Reed were
chosendelegatestothis meeting. AttheNovember28meetingtwoofthesemen, James ReedandBurton
Reed,wereordainedasdeacons.
On January 22, 1848, Robert L. Steele and J.H. West were selected as pastors.
For some unknown reason, the Church of Antioch met at Bethlehem February 12,
whereElderJacobCrouchservedasmoderator andMerrittAustinaschurchclerk.
At this meeting, a black woman, named Lucy, joined the membership. On April 22,
1848, the church clerk was also made treasurer. According to the records, this is
thefirstaccountofthechurchhavinganelectedtreasurer.InOctober1849,James
Reed, whowas serving at this time as a deacon, was ordained to the ministry, this
being the first person ordained as a minister of the gospel by this church. In
Novemberofthesameyear,RobertH.Teaguebecamechurchclerk.InJanuaryof
1850, James Reed was elected to the pastorate; Robert L. Steele and J.H. West
JamesReed were re-elected. It seems according to the records, that the church paid Brothers
Steele and West $3.50 for their services that year. In January of 1851 William
Poolewas electedtoassist James Reedas pastor,thus replacingRobertL.Steele
andJ.H.West.
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OnSaturday, May22, 1852, another CommunionandFoot Washing Servicewas conducted. InDecember
ofthatyearHenryMorganJulianreplacedRobertH.Teagueaschurchclerk.On Saturday,April 23,1853,
the church extended a call to George Swain to become pastor. It is not known whether it was a sign of a
changing society or the new preacher, but almost immediately, opposition to the use of alcohol as a
beveragebegantoappear.Thisoppositionsoonbecamefairlyorganizedintoanorderknownasthe‘Sons
ofTemperance’.
The controversy became so heated and widespread that church members were called to account for
belongingto the organization.Under the leadership of Reverend Swain in thesummer of 1853, thechurch
was persuaded to pass a resolution resolving that its members refrain from the use of spirits of liquor
exceptformedicinalpurposes.However,oppositiontothismovementwasverystrong,notonly inthelocal
churchbutseeminglythroughoutalargearea.
These differences led to the organization in 1854 of Center Church whose membership was made up, at
least in part, by members of the "Sons of Temperance". This church building stood near the bridge on
Highway #90 over Middle Little River, not too far from the present Oxford Memorial Baptist Church. This
church was dissolved January 29, 1876, after the building had been burned, presumably, by the hand of
man. A more complete history of Center Church can be found in A History of Alexander County by W.E.
White. Most of the members of Center Church were absorbed by Antioch, Little River, Union, and other
BaptistChurches.
In April of 1854 Houston Holsclaw was called as pastor. About two months later, the church voted to
promotethe Cause of Temperance, thus alleviatingsomeof thetensioncreatedby the useof alcohol as a
beverage among the membership of the church. In April of 1855 W.S. Poole was appointed church clerk.
During the administration of these men, the minutes gave an account of the church excluding one of its
membersfordancing.
In 1856, George Swain was again called as pastor, this time to assist Brother Holsclaw. In April of 1857,
J.B.Powell was called to assist Reverend Swain, thus relieving Reverend Holsclaw. During the year 1857
GeorgeSwainwaspaid$12.50forhisservicesaspastor.InDecemberof1857DanielAustinwasordained
to the ministry. Then in March of 1858, H.M. Julian, T.W. Smith, and W.S. Poole were ordained as
deacons.
Forsomereason,theservicesofGeorgeSwainwereterminatedin1858.SoJ.B.Powellbegan1859alone
as pastor. However in February, Daniel Austin was called to assist Reverend Powell. In April of that year
Merritt Austin was ordained to the ministry. That autumn, Daniel Austin, Merritt Austin, and W.S. Poole
wereselectedasdelegates toaconventiontobe heldatZionHillforthepurposeofunitingtheTaylorsville
Association, the Lewis Fork Association, and the Lower Creek Association into one. The minutes of later
meetings shed no light on the results of this convention. The following year, Reverend Powell received a
salaryof$14.90forhisservices.InNovember,H.M.Julianbecamechurchclerk.
Inthespringof1861,JamesReedandJ.B.Powellbecamepastorsofthechurch.Thechurchhadgrownin
its 35 years of existence to approximately 100 members. However, due to its own rigid rules of discipline,
the differences of opinion relating to alcohol and other reasons, progress had been hampered. During the
year of 1862 it seems that several months passed by with no meeting held. However in October of 1862,
JacobCrouchbecamepastorandthesituationbegantoimprove.
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Thenduringthelatterpartof1863BedfordBrownwaselectedtoassistJacobCrouchaspastor.According
totherecords,thesemen werepaid$115.00fortheirservices duringthefollowingyear.Thesetwoserved
as pastor until the beginning of 1868 when Jacob Crouch was replaced by William Poole. H.M. Julian was
stillservingas churchclerk.Itseemsthatatthistime,thechurchwasagainshowingsignsofrecession,as
there were no services held during July through October of 1869. Reports show that they were unable to
raise enough money to pay the preachers. Then in early 1870 Smith Ferguson was called as pastor. In
SeptemberofthatyearanotherjointCommunionandFootWashingServicewasheld.
In February of 1871 Christopher C. Poole was elected as pastor. In May of 1871, R.W. Munday was
elected church clerk, with S.P. "Pickens" Austin being elected assistant clerk. In June of that year, 16
members were granted letters of dismissal to aid in the founding of Bethlehem Baptist Church, which is
nowaprogressiveneighboringchurchofthearea.
According to the dates given in the minutes of the church, records for the years of 1872 to August 1874
were lost. However, according to other sources of history, the Rev. Poole served the church as pastor
duringthistime.Uptothistime,thechurchclerkhadalsoservedaschurchtreasurer.InAugustof1874,H.
MorganJulianwaselectedasthefirsttreasurerofthechurch,asapartfromanyotheroffice.
In February of 1875, a delegation was appointed to attend a Sunday School Convention to be held at Cub
Creek Baptist Church which was locatedinwestern Wilkes County. Thenin March ofthat year,thechurch
began to move toward the organization of a Sunday School at Antioch. About this same time, some of the
members began to feel that the log building which housed the church was inadequate and out of date.
Therefore on Saturday, August 25, 1875, a building committee was elected to build a new frame building.
Thiscommitteewastoobtainthenameornamesofoneortwomenwhowerenotmembersofthechurch.
The old building was later sold to E.C. Oxford for $15.00. The material for the new building was cut from
nearby forests,andsawedintolumberattheoldupanddownsawmilloperatedby waterpowerattheLige
Reedmillplace.
Thenewbuildingwasaoneroomstructure36ft.by 60
ft.withaseatingcapacity of approximately 250people.
It had two doors in the front facing north, with three
large windows on each side and two smaller windows
back ofthepulpit.Thebuildingwaslocatedjustinfront
of the old log structure (a little to the left or just
northeast), along side and parallel to the old Lovelady
Road. The new building was lighted for night service
withoillamps.
AntiochBaptistChurch1876-1941
The exact date of thefirstservice inthenew building is not known. However, from informationgiveninthe
church minutes, the time appears to be the fourth Saturday in May1876. By this time the membership of
the church had grown to about 160. It is also believed according to this source of information, that W.T.
Davis preached the first sermon in the new building since he and J.B. Poole had been elected to the
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pastorate on April 22, 1876, and that Christopher C. Poole had preached the last sermon in the old log
building.
S.P. "Pickens" Austin was still serving the church as clerk during this transition. The above mentioned
source of information also tells of the organization of the first Sunday School at Antioch with W.E. White
and John Munday serving as superintendents, Moses A. Teague as assistant superintendent and W.E.
WhiteastreasureroftheSunday School.Theseminutesalsogiveinformationconcerningthefirst useofa
musicalinstrumenttoaccompanythesingingofhymns.
In September of 1876 James B. Poole was called as pastor, with William Poole as his assistant. The
following year William Poole was called as pastor, and served until September of 1878 when he was
succeeded by the Reverend L. Parks Gwaltney. In October, J.C. Bell succeeded H. Morgan Julian as
churchtreasurer.
As the congregation grew larger, some of the
members began to see the need of a more
spacious building to accommodate summer
attendance, especially during Protracted
(Revival) Meeting. Thus on January 26, 1879
plans were brought before the church for the
erection of an open air arbor. W.E. White, W.F.
Munday, E.T. Austin, and Elijah Reed were
among those elected as a building committee.
The arbor was completed in the autumn of
1880.Itcoveredanareaapproximately 80ft.by
100 ft., with a seating capacity of approximately
1000 people. The walls were left open; the roof
wassupportedbylargewoodencolumns placed
approximately 15 ft. apart. The roof was sloped
four ways coming to a point near the center.
The pulpit was located on the north side near
the back. It was a large wooden platform
approximately 8ft. by 10ft., made of boards and
supported some two or three feet above the
ground by several square posts. It was
enclosed on all four sides to a height of WilliamE.White
approximately four feet, with an opening and
steps at each end for an entrance. The Bible
standwasawideboardalongthetopofthewall
facing the audience. Seating for the arbor was
made by laying rows of logs north to south then
placing long 2" x 14" boards about 30" apart
across them. The use ofthe arbor as a place of
worship was discontinued sometime around
1920. It was sold in 1934 to E.P. "Lige" Keller
for $5.50 and was torn down and moved away.
The present chapel building, made of native
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stone, stands on the exact spot where the old
arbor stood. When used as a sanctuary, the
pulpit stood in nearly the same place as the
pulpit of the arbor, as well as could be
ascertained.
OpenAirArbor1880-1920
WilliamPoolehadreplacedS.P.Austinas clerkin1878.In1879,J.B.PowellreplacedL.ParksGwaltney
as pastor. In 1880 delegates were sent to a convention meeting at the Beaver Creek Baptist Church
(Wilkes County) for the purpose of reorganizing the association. Reverend Powell declined the pastorate
after being re-elected in 1880. Reverend L. Parks Gwaltney again became pastor. The policy of calling a
pastor for only a year at a time seemed to be customary during the early history of the church, as was the
policy of changing the meeting hour for the Saturday service. In the summer of 1880, a committee was
appointedtorevisethechurchroll.However, from the records, itis impossibleto tell just what this revision
revealed,orifitwasevercarriedout,asthereisnofurthermentionmadeofit.Noneofthechurchrollsare
dated,thereforeitisverydifficulttodeterminetheexactmembershipatanyparticulartime.Afinalfinancial
reportoftheexpensesforconstructionoftheframebuildingisgivenonpage65,Book#2oftheminutes.
Up to this point in the church’s history, it seems that payment of the pastor’s salary was more or less a
once-a-year affair. Then, on May 21, 1881, a resolution offered by J. C. Bell, the treasurer, to pay the
pastor’s salary quarterly was approved by the church. In July of that year, the call of L. Parks Gwaltney to
the pastorate was renewed for anotheryear. Reverend Gwaltney servedthatfull year and was recalled for
yet another year. For some reason, presumably his health, he was unable to serve. So in October 1872,
W.A.Poolewascalledtosucceedhim.
Aroundthis time, the peoplebeganto become aware of the needforeducationin thepastorate. Sofor the
first time in the records, an offering was made on January 22, 1882 to Wake Forest College in the amount
of$3.28.Itseems thatthecongregationwas alsobecomingmissionmindedasthefirstmentionedoffering
for state missions was made in October 1882 in the amount of $5.00. The first offering for the Southern
BaptistConvention,amountingto$3.11, wasmadeonApril6,1884.
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W. A. Poole served as pastor until April 1884 when he
resigned. L. Parks Gwaltney became pastor for the
third time. This time, Brother Gwaltney served only a
few months until he was again forced to give up the
pastorate due to his health. He was succeeded this
time by J. B. Poole. This was also Reverend Poole’s
third non-consecutive time to be called to serve the
church. Rev. Poole served as pastor until his
resignation on October 24, 1885. The Reverend H. D.
Lequeuxwascalledtofillouttheyear.Lequeuxserved
until August of 1886 when he was succeeded by
Reverend Gwaltney, this being Gwaltney’s fourth non-
consecutive time to serve as pastor. He continued in
this position until autumn of 1889, when he was
succeededbyDanielW.Poole.
DanielW.Poole
Minutes from August 1886 to April 1887 were
either lost or misplaced. However, April 10,
1887 minutes show that L. Parks Gwaltney had
replaced H. D. Lequeux as pastor. In June of
1887, the church passed a resolution stating its
willingness to confer with other churches
concerning the formation of a new association,
namely "The Alexander Baptist Association". In
July, a delegation consisting of: J. C. Bell,
Elkanah Fox, W. E. White, L. L. Teague, E. C.
Oxford, W. F. Munday, and S. P. Austin was
appointed to meet with other churches for this
purpose.
L.ParksGwaltney
While Gwaltney was pastor, on December 22, 1888, the church made its first offering to the Orphanage at
Thomasville, In 1889 Gwaltney was given another call by the church to serve as pastor. This time he
declined, and was succeeded by D. W. Poole, in January of 1890. In his first sermon Rev. Poole made
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