|
GIVE
THANKS TO MR. FRANK WARD
The
Brantley County Historical and Preservation Society gives a “SPECIAL
THANKS” to, MR. FRANK WARD
for a project started in 1998, emphasizing Brantley County's
church heritage (If you enjoy this contribution,
tell Mr. Ward, Route 1,
Box 209AAA
,
Waynesville
,
Ga.
,
31566). Other photographs have been added since that time,
but it was
Mr. Ward that
started this project, donating his time, paying all expenses, and
traveling all over
Brantley
County seeking out churches, old and new,
of
which some were inactive.
For
his love of church history we say thanks to Mr. Frank Ward.
PREVIEW
In the early pioneer
days of
Brantley County
,
Georgia, the words "church and cemetery" were almost synonymous.
You didn't find one without the other. The people of
Brantley
County
have always taken on a special interest in their churches.
They donated land, lumber, and their building talents.
These old settlers recognized early that it takes a church to make
a community the right kind of place to live.
They knew that churches take care of their own,
explaining the reason for so many cemeteries being located near old
churches.
A great many
of the earlier settlers belonged to the
Primitive
Baptist
Church
faith. They were God-fearing men and women, who believed in
obeying the laws of God. The
name "Hard-shell" came from their staunch adherence to
principle. At one time, the
Primitive
Baptist
Church
was one of the predominant denominations in
Brantley
County. In 1920-21, at
the time
Brantley
County
was created there were at least seven primitive Baptist Churches in a
sparsely populated community, making up of about 250 members.
Today
the number of churches in Brantley
County
has grown tremendously. A
recent survey identified over 50 church congregations.
There are fewer active Primitive Baptist Churches today, but the
Baptist faith is still predominate among other varied beliefs, such as Methodists,
Church
of
God, Advent Christian, Holiness, and
Pentecostal.
Thomas Earl Cleland
|
