The Van Wert Baptist Church of Paulding County, Georgia closed its doors in late 1864 due to the battles raging in and around Atlanta. Reassembling in January 1865, the congregation since has struggled. The minutes of a church conference (business meeting) held this day refer to post-war realities. “After the opening of conference as usual,…
In Galveston, Texas, this month the Baptist-supported American Missionary Association and the Freedmen’s Bureau conduct “Sunday schools and church services in addition to regular school.” One Sunday school among Freedmen, touted as the largest in town, boasts some fifty students who are reading the Bible, an impressive achievement in the context that only a few…
Today Texas Baptist layman, lawyer and former slaveowner Jacob Eliot takes “the oath of allegiance to U.S. government.” Eliot, however, yet often refers to black individuals with the phrase, “belongs to.” Many other white Southerners also continue thinking of black persons as property, rather than free persons. In many instances, local Baptist church records employ…