The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-07-19
HISTORY OF THE BAPTIST
 DENOMINATION IN STATE
By DIR. A. J. DICKINSON.

The S7th annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist state convention at Roanoke, Ala, on Wednesday next, to- gether with its subsidiary bodies, the Ministers Conferepce and Woman's Missionary union. Is of peculiar inter- est in that it is proposed to celebrate the centennial of Baptist churches in this state.
 At the house of James Deaton, on Flint river, Madison county, October 2, 1908, dozen Baptist immigrants or ganized the Flint River church, the first Baptist church in what is now known as Alabama. The church Is still
 in existence as Primitive Baptist church. The pastor was Rev. J. Nich-
 olson. Within a year from this time
 the body now known as the First Bap-
 tist church of Huntsville was consti-
 tuted, and 1t was followed by several
 others. On September "A, 1914, these
 churches along the Tennessee were or
 ganized into the Flint River associa-
 ton.
 About the year 1909 Rev. James courtney Cd1ile lllO lnt oCttiSiASAte
 along the Bigbee river, where Clarke
 county now is, and began to preach.
 On March 31, 1910, was organized ont
 of the fruits of his ministry the Baa-
 setts Creek church with 20 members.
 By the year 1916 several other church es
 had been constituted in this settle
 ment, and organized into the Bethle-
 4l.s |, a-a
 were only two settlements in this land,
 one on the Tennessee river, the other
 along the Bigbee; but upon organiza :
 tion of the territory of Alabama in the year 1877, and the securing of the In- Han lands during the years following, immigrants poured into all parts of. the territory. Many of these were Bap- lists, and churches sprang up in every settlement
 When the state of Alabama was con stituted in 1920 the population Was 127 ,o0O, and among them were about 250O Baptists organized into 7G oh urches and five associations. In >Oc- l tober. 1923 at Salem church, near | Greensboro, these churches and asso- | citations were organized into state convention. At that time they num- bered about 5000 members, 12S church es and 70 ministers.
 Owing to the difficulties involved IT | travel the state convention was ve:y poorly attended for the next score or years, but the denomination greatly | prospered in the churches and the asso | citations. By the year 1883 the numb ,r 1 of the churches had increased to 25o | with Il, 400 members; and in 1886 to ] 333 churches with 15,60O members; and l in 1889 to 300 churches organized int | 30 associations and with a membersh lp l of 25,000, served by 300 ministers. | Camp-meetings were then in vogue, an more than 400 were added to tho 1 churches in that year. Thus, long be- 1 fore there were Baptist churches Iil 1 any cities in this state the Baptists | leayened it's rural life, and have since | been the predominant religious in- l huence. Last year there were 19 | | churches, with 16140S members among | the white people, and about as many more among the negroes. One man In every six of the population holds membership in Baptist church The denomination has branched off l into three organizations. each in- l dependent and separate. the Mis-
 sionary, the Negro Missionary and the Primitives. There are about 15,00a Primitive Baptists in this state or : l ganized into about 360 churches. As | they make no report in such matters | accurate statistics are difficult to gs- The 1e1,4oS Missionary Baptists con