The Big Creek Baptist Church of South Carolina today issues its first formal statement pertaining to freedpersons: Should “colored members” leave “their former owners without leave, they shall notify the church.” They then “must apply for letters of dismission within the space of six months or their names shall be erased from the church book.”…
Gilead Baptist Church of South Carolina’s Grindal Shoals community dates to September 27, 1804. Revolutionary veterans comprised six of the founding members. Upon the commencement of the Civil War, many members joined the Confederate Army, including pastor Philip Ramsour Elam. William Lee took Elam’s place as pastor for 1861 and 1862. During Lee’s pastorate, three…
This month reality begins setting in among the freedmen of the Sea Islands along the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia. The land they were promised, the land upon which they are now trying to make a living and support their families, is imperiled. In January Union General William T. Sherman signed an order turning…