The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-21
One Hundred Years of Baptist
 History in Alabama, 18O8-19O8

ed. They brought with them the prin- ciples that had so long been distinct i've with them. They came from the Virginias, the Carolinas and Georgia. and we can never know the circum- stances by which they found them selves surrounded in their primitive homes and the causes that led to their forming themselves into separate churches.
 During the year 1908 two great bodies of Christian people were represented in the work planted in Alabama. A Brother sturdivant, riding 400 miles on horseback from South Carolina to a point on the Bigbee River, began his work for the great Methodist broth- erhood; five years before this time Lorenzo Dow, the eccentric Georgian, had preached at some point near St. Stephens, in Washington County. The first Baptist Church in the State of Alabama was organized in the home of James Deaton, a few miles northeast of Huntsville. Madison County, Octo- Der 2, 1s0S John Nicholson, John Can | terbury and Zadok Baker were the ministers assisting in the work of set- ting up this first Baptist Church.
 Thus began our work in The Yellow Hammer State" the second Baptist Church in the State was set up in the then town of Huntsville, and is now
 
 The same preachers assisting in the work and two of the number. Canter- bury and Baker. serving as pastors at different times. One of the next churches planted was Bassett's Creek in Clarke County near Choctaw Cor ner.
 The preachers of a hundred years ago were not men of education; they knew their Bibles and hymn books, fhAaa fhaxy 1aPriad fhAiP eaAdIa ha which they always carried into the pulpit with them. The pulpit was placed high up against the wall, being boxed in and a door to it which was securely buttoned to when the preacher went into it.
 The songs of those days were lined out and then the leader pitched" the tune and they sang the lines through. Often the preacher would sing a solo while waiting before the sermon, many times moving the congregation to tears.
 The great split among the Baptists on the mission question occurred about the year 1883. and was the culmina- tion of a long and bitter controversy tions "Baptists'' and Primitive Bap- lists" were unknown and came into use long afterwards, as the separation came in different churches at different | times the terms were not so used till long afterwards.
 The first Association, the Flint River, was formed in 1874, it was an anti-mis- sionary body, a large number of the churches making up this body being in Tennessee. In 1916 the Beckbee, after ward the Bethlehem. was organized; then the Cahaba in 1918, the Alabama a year later, the Bethel and Muscle Shoals in 1920. In 1921 there were seventy churches and 2,50O members three or four years later they num- bered 12s churches, and 5000 members In 1923 a preacher named Ronaldson, late of Louisiana, by correspondence, requested those favoring the organiza- tion of a convention to meet at Salem Church. near Greensboro. in October, 1923. only about twenty met Riley's history gives us a bit of interesting information with reference to the part our sisters played in the early work of Baptists in Alabama: "of the twenty who came nearly half were sent by seven missionary societies in different parts of the State. The fol- lowing extract from a letter from the Ladies' Aid Society of Jonesboro, sign ed by Harriet Harrison and Classy Hol- comb Is interesting: Being fully con- vinced of the importance of mission" ary operations for the spread of Di- 
 abundance are casting into the treas- ury of the Lord, we wish to bear some humble part in so glorious a work. Among the contributions was that of Miss Elizabeth Stark who gave her watch and chain. another by a member of the society at Monticello. who gave two pair of socks knit by her own hands"
 The first convention gave $325 to missions and employed fifteen men to travel as missionaries at Sl per day and travelling expenses Many hard strug- gles were had in the work. The tenth session of the convention was held at | Grants Creek Church in Tuscaloosa County. Only four members were | present.
 We will now look little at our local work: "The year 1929 was sig nalized by the organization of the First Baptist Church of Montgomery. This, however, was not the first Baptist Church organized in Montgomery coun- ty. Film Church, six miles from Mont- gomery, was organized in 1919 by James
 McLemore and Electus Thompson. To this the Baptists of the town belong
 ed It was the first church of any
 kind in this county. From these hum-