Carmel Baptist Church, in eastern Texas near the town of Lindale, is one of the oldest Baptist churches in the young state. Founded in 1853, the church began in a vacant house on Duck Creek with six charter members. During the remainder of the decade the church grew in numbers as more people moved into…
Today Jacob Eliot, a Baptist layman, lawyer and former slaveowner from Corsicana, Texas, is not entirely happy about the end of slavery. Nonetheless, today he uses his legal position to help four freedmen who apparently had not been his slaves. “I procured license for Joe McCullough and Charlie Thomas, two old freedmen – to get…
Throughout the South many black Baptist churches are now hosting schools for freedmen, both children and adults. White Southerners for generations prevented slaves from obtaining education via state and local laws. Many insisted that blacks were simply unable to learn. Now, against the wishes of many whites who believe that blacks should remain in servitude,…