The formation of autonomous black Baptist churches in the South continues unabated. Today in the deep South town of Albany, Georgia the Mount Zion Baptist church is established in a blacksmith shop on the corner of State and Jackson streets. The Rev. R. R. Watson is the church’s founding pastor. Within six months a second…
David L. Bryant, born 1843 in Jackson, Pennsylvania, was one of three brothers to fight in the Civil War. One brother died and two survived, including David. Enlisting in September 1862, David’s living through the war defied the odds, as he fought in roughly 100 battles, including at Seven Pines, Murfreesboro and Petersburg. A Baptist…
Churches in the South often suffered during the recently-ended Civil War, many closing their doors during the war, in some instances never to open again. Few Baptist churches in the North were so drastically impacted by the war. In the case of abandoned meeting houses, the more typical scenario is that of a congregation moving…