HISTORICAL MARKERS

RELATED TO BAPTISTS IN GEORGIA

January 6, 2006

(Supersedes all Previous Editions)

Robert G. Gardner

Senior Researcher in Baptist History

Jack Tarver Library, Mercer University

Macon, GA 31207

gardner_rg@mercer.edu

 

This document is divided into two major parts:

I. Historical Markers

 

II. Index

 

Apart from personal observation by the compiler and others, these sources have

been consulted:

 

(1) Georgia Historical Markers (Helen, GA: Bay Tree Grove, 1973) (hereafter

often cited

as GHM [1973], followed by page number[s])

 

(2) Georgia Historical Markers erected by the Georgia Department of Natural

Resources, 1976-1998 (Macon: Mercer University, Jack Tarver Library, Special

Collections, 2000; F287 / G46/2000)

 

(3) http://www.georgiahistory.com/NewMarkers.html

 

(4) http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/gahistmarkers/

 

(5) http://www.hcc-al-ga.org

 

(6) http://www.visitnortheastgeorgia.com/roadside_historical_markers.htm

 

Because of their wide availability, the texts for markers included in these

sources are not usually reproduced in this list. Complete texts for all markers are located at the  Georgia Baptist History Depository.

Several abbreviations are used in this document: BA = Baptist Association; BC =

Baptist Church; Co = County;

FBC = First Baptist Church; GA = marker placed by an agency of the State of

Georgia; GHS = marker placed by the

Georgia Historical Society; PBA = Primitive Baptist Association; PBC = Primitive

Baptist Church; (*) = text not

yet seen by editor.

Abbreviated entries show the following information: Name of Marker (Source and

date of Marker): Location of Marker (Explanatory note, if needed) (Location of Marker’s text).

Because this list is subject to change, the index refers the reader to county

locations, rather than to page numbers, in Part I. When a numeral follows a county designation in the index, this indicates  the number of markers, if more than

one, on which a name appears in that county.

 

 

 

Columbia County

City: Appling

Location: Downtown Appling

Date: Granite monument dedicated September 4, 1950; monument damaged by an

Automobile accident in 1972 and later replaced (Viewpoints: Georgia Baptist History 6

[1978]: 83)

Subject: Kiokee Baptist Church, constituted 1772 as the first continuing Baptist

church in Georgia

Text:

Kiokee Baptist Church

The oldest Baptist church in Georgia, constituted in

the spring of 1772 by Daniel Marshall and served by

him as pastor until his death in 1784, was originally

located a few yards southwest from this marker as described

in courthouse records of Columbia County.

Church was removed in 1808 to brick building three miles

away which still stands. Present church located in Appling.

This marker erected in 1950 by

GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION

Source: Committee on Baptist History, Georgia Baptist Convention

Additional Information: Waldo P. Harris, III,  Locations Associated with Daniel

Marshall and the Kiokee Church,@ in Waldo P. Harris, III, and James D. Mosteller, Georgia’s First Continuining Baptist Church (Appling, GA: Kiokee Baptist Church, 1997), 268-291, where much of the information on this marker is demonstrated to be false.

 

City: Tubman Road, near Appling

Location: Marshall Historical Site

Date: Markers dedicated November 12, 1984; dedicatory address by James N.

Griffith (text in Viewpoints: Georgia Baptist History 10 [1986]: 9-12)

Subject: Marshall Historical Site, Daniel Marshall, Marshall Homesite, Kiokee

Baptist Church, Georgia Baptist Association, Abraham Marshall, and Marshall Cemetery

 

Texts:

MARSHALL

HISTORICAL SITE

DEDICATED NOVEMBER 12, 1984

DEVELOPED BY

HISTORY COMMITTEE, GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION

IN COOPERATION WITH

KIOKEE BAPTIST CHURCH

AND THE

GEORGIA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

-----------------------------------------

DANIEL MARSHALL

BORN IN WINDSOR, CONN., 1706.

CONGREGATIONALIST WHO BECAME

SEPARATE BAPTIST DURING GREAT

AWAKENING. ORDAINED, ABBOTTS CREEK,

N.C., 1757. LEADER IN ESTABLISHING BAPTIST

WORK IN VIRGINIA, THE CAROLINAS, AND

GEORGIA. SUPPORTED CAUSE OF RELIGIOUS

LIBERTY; ARRESTED FOR PREACHING IN

GEORGIA. LED IN ESTABLISHING GEORGIA=S

FIRST CONTINUING BAPTIST CHURCH ON

THE LITTLE KIOKEE IN 1772. ONLY PASTOR

TO REMAIN IN GEORGIA THROUGHOUT THE

REVOLUTION. HELPED TO FORM GEORGIA

BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, FIRST IN STATE,

SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH, NOV. 2, 1784.

GEORGIA BAPTISTS ARE INDEBTED TO HIM

FOR NURTURING MANY MEN WHO

CONTRIBUTED TO THE MOVEMENT=S EARLY

GROWTH.

 

 

MARSHALL HOMESITE

THE AHOUSE WHERE THE REV. A. MARSHALL

LIVED  STOOD HERE. PURCHASED FROM HIS

FATHERs ESTATE (COUNTY DEED BOOKS

Z.P. 449 & C.P. 102). BAPTIST HISTORIAN

DAVID BENEDICT WROTE: AI SPENT SOME

TIME WITH HIM [ABRAHAM MARSHALL] AT

HIS OWN HOME AT KIOKEE, IN 1810, WHERE

HIS VENERABLE FATHER [DANIEL MARSHALL]

DIED.  SITE IS PART OF ORIGINAL LAND

GRANT TO DANIEL MARSHALL (GEORGIA

PLAT BOOK E.P. 269). REMAINING TIMBERS

OF HOUSE WERE DISMANTLED IN 1981 AFTER

DOCUMENTATION. DANIEL MARSHALL SAID

TO HIS WIFE SHORTLY BEFORE DEATH: AGO

ON, MY DEAR WIFE, TO SERVE THE LORD.

HOLD OUT TO THE END. ETERNAL GLORY IS

BEFORE US

 

 

 

KIOKEE BAPTIST CHURCH

MORGAN EDWARDS, 1772, WROTE:  AT

LITTLE KIOKA IS A MEETINGHOUSE.

ERECTED IN 1771 DAN. MARSHALL  THESE

SEPARATE BAPTISTS, BRANCH OF BIG

STEVENS CREEK, S.C., BECAME A CHURCH,

SPRING 1772, WITH DANIEL MARSHALL,

PASTOR. THEIR BUILDING, EAST/SOUTHEAST

OF THIS MARKER, WAS ALSO FIRST

VOTING PLACE FOR RICHMOND COUNTY,

1777. SECOND BUILDING ERECTED 1792

AT NEW SITE CALLED  MARSHALL’s

MEETINGHOUSE ; THIRD, 1808, STANDS

ON SAME SITE CALLED AOLD KIOKEE

MILE WEST OF THIS MARKER. CHAPEL,

BUILT IN APPLING ABOUT 1828 AS ARM,

DESTROYED BY TORNADO 1875. FIFTH

STRUCTURE MOVED TO APPLING 1907,

USED UNTIL 1937, WHEN SIXTH

BUILDING WAS ERECTED ON PRESENT

SITE. MOTHER OF CHURCHES. MOLDER

OF PREACHERS. PILLAR OF THE

ASSOCIATION. PROMOTER OF MISSIONS.

GEORGIA’s  FIRST CONTINUING BAPTIST

CHURCH.

-----------------------------------------

GEORGIA BAPTIST

ASSOCIATION

ORGANIZED AT KIOKEE, OCTOBER 1784,

BY BEST EVIDENCE. FIRST CHURCHES:

KIOEE, FISHING CREEK, GREENWOOD,

ABILENE, LITTLE BRIER CREEK. FOUNDING

FATHERS: DANIEL MARSHALL, ABRAHAM

MARSHALL, SANDERS WALKER, PETER

SMITH, SILAS MERCER, LOVELESS SAVAGE,

WILLIAM FRANKLIN, ALEXANDER SCOTT.

KNOWN MEMBER CHURCHES, 174, IN 28

GA. AND 5 S.C. COUNTIES. PARENT OF

ASSOCIATIONS: HEPHZIBAH, 1794;

SAREPTA, 1799; OCMULGEE, 1810.

CHURCHES HELPED FORM: 15 OTHERS.

MAJOR INFLUENCE IN FORMING

GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION,

POWELTON, 1822, AND STRONGLY

SUPPORTED FORMATION OF SOUTHERN

BAPTIST CONVENTION, AUGUSTA, 1845B

BOTH IN MEMBER CHURCHES. LEADER IN

FOUNDING MERCER UNIVERSITY. STRONG

MISSIONARY INFLUENCE. TERMED

AMOTHER,   MODEL,  AND ACRADLE OF

GEORGIA BAPTIST HISTORY

---------------------------------------

ABRAHAM  MARSHALL

BORN IN WINDSOR, CONN., APRIL 23, 1748,

THE FIRSTBORN OF DANIEL AND MARTHA

STEARNS MARSHALL. ORDAINED, KIOKEE

BAPTIST CHURCH, 1775, WHERE HE

FOLLOWED HIS FATHER AS PASTOR, 1784 B

1819. PREACHED TO THOUSANDS ON NEW

ENGLAND TRIPS, 1786 AND 1792.

ASSOCIATED WITH CONSTITUTING OR

RECONSTITUTING ABOUT 39 CHURCHES,

INCLUDING FIRST AFRICAN BAPTIST

CHURCHES, SAVANNAH AND AUGUSTA, AND

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, AUGUSTA.

AFFECTIONATELY CALLED ATHE FRIEND OF

BLACK PEOPLE  TRUSTEE OF FRANKLIN

COLLEGE (UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA).

CHAIRED GENERAL COMMITTEE OF GEORGIA

BAPTISTS, 1803. MODERATOR, GEORGIA

BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, 19 YEARS. DIED

AUG. 15, 1819.

 

MARSHALL CEMETERY

 

SOME MARSHALL FAMILY GRAVES MAY HAVE

PURPOSELY BEEN LEFT UNMARKED.

ABRAHAM MARSHALL WROTE ABOUT HIS

FATHER, DANIEL:

NO MONUMENTAL PILE OR LETTER=D STONE

HIS VIRTUE TO POSTERITY REVEALS:

HIS NAME AND CHARACTER ARE BETTER KNOWN

BY HOLY TRUTH AND MINISTERIAL SEALS.

ABRAHAM=S SON WROTE ABOUT HIS MOTHER:

I=LL RAISE NO STONE HER MEMORY TO RETAIN,

SINCE MY SORE LOSS IS HER AETERNAL GAIN

ABRAHAM MARSHALL IS KNOWN TO BE

BURIED HERE, AUG. 15, 1819. CIRCUMSTANTIAL

EVIDENCE INDICATES OTHERS: DANIEL

MARSHALL, NOV. 2, 1784; MARTHA STEARNS

(MRS. DANIEL), 1793; ANN WALLER (MRS.

ABRAHAM), NOV. 14, 1815; TWO SONS OF

ABRAHAM AND ANN MARSHALL, ABRAHAM

WALLER, OCT. 15, 1800, AGE 7 YEARS, AND

JUBAL ORION, AGE 5 MONTHS. GENERAL

COLLINS AND MARY ANN (MRS. GENERAL)

COLLINS, BLACKS, ONCE OWNERS OF THE

PROPERTY, ALSO BURIED HERE. NUMBER OF

UNIDENTIFIABLE GRAVES.

Sources: Committee on Baptist History, Georgia Baptist Convention; Kiokee

Baptist Church;

Georgia Baptist Association

Additional Information: Viewpoints: Georgia Baptist History 5 (1976): 51-64; 6

(1978): 25-46

 

 

City: Near Appling

Location: At 1808 Kiokee Baptist Church building

Date: Granite grave cover dedicated 1995

Subject: Jabez Pleiades Marshall

Text:

JABEZ PLEIADES MARSHALL

BORN IN COLUMBIA COUNTY, GA., C.1794, THE SON OF ABRAHAM AND ANN (WALLER) MARSHALL; FOLLOWED HIS FATHER AS PASTOR OF THIS CHURCH, WHICH HE SERVED UNTIL HIS DEATH.  HE WAS

EDUCATED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. NOTABLE POSITIONS INCLUDE CLERK, GEORGIA ASSOCIATION, 1821-1831; A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE ASSOCIATION AT ORGANIZATIONAL  MEETING

OF THE GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION, POWELTON, 1822 (ELECTED FIRST CLERK); PASTOR  OF SHARON (COLUMBIA COUNTY) AND FIRST PASTOR OF SALEM (LINCOLN COUNTY). HE WAS A "THOROUGHGOING MISSIONARY," AND HIS SERMONS WERE "CLEAR, ZEALOUS, AND TOUCHING." DIED

MARCH 29, 1832, AND BURIED HERE.

ERECTED BY

THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION

GEORGIA BAPTIST CONVENTION

1995

Source: Committee on Baptist History, Georgia Baptist Convention

 

 

City: Appling

Location: U.S. Highway 221, at site of new Kiokee Baptist Church building

Date: Marble monument dedicated September 14, 1997

Subject: Religious Liberty in Georgia

Text:

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN GEORGIA

THIS BUILDING, KIOKEE CHURCH  SIXTH

MEETINGHOUSE, WAS ERECTED IN 1937

WITH THE HELP OF MANY GEORGIA

BAPTISTS AS A MONUMENT TO DANIEL

MARSHALL. NOT LATER THAN 1770 HE WAS

ARRESTED FOR PREACHING IN COLONIAL

GEORGIA AT A SITE EAST OF THIS MARKER.

AT A TRIAL IN AUGUSTA BEFORE COLONEL

EDWARD BARNARD AND PARSON EDWARD

ELLINGTON OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND,

HE WAS ORDERED TO ADESIST FROM

PREACHING IN THE PROVINCE  HIS WIFE

MARTHA DEFENDED HIM AWITH SOLEMN

DENUNCIATION OF THE LAW, QUOTING

WITH FLUENCY PASSAGE AFTER PASSAGE

OF SCRIPTURE.@ MARSHALL ALSO REPLIED:

AWHETHER IT BE RIGHT TO OBEY GOD

RATHER THAN MAN, JUDGE YE.  HE

CONTINUED TO PREACH. HIS ARRESTING

OFFICER SAMUEL CARTLEDGE WAS

CONVERTED, BECAME A MEMBER OF

KIOKEE CHURCH WHICH MARSHALL BEGAN

IN 1772, WAS ALSO ORDAINED, AND

ORGANIZED AND PASTORED CHURCHES

IN THE AREA. COLONEL BERNARD [sic] BECAME

A CLOSE FRIEND. THEREAFTER RELIGIOUS

PERSECUTION ENDED IN GEORGIA. THE

MARSHALL HISTORICAL SITE, WHERE

MARSHALL LIVE AND DIED, IS EAST OF

THIS SITE ON TUBMAN ROAD ONE MILE

PAST OLD KIOKEE CHURCH.

Source: Georgia Baptist Historical Commission

Columbia County (GA, 1956): At courthouse in Appling (mentions Kiokee Baptist

Church)

(Georgia Historical Markers [1973], 154; http://www.cviog.uga.edu).

Damascus Baptist Church (GA): In Leah Community, one mile from Ga 104 about ten

Miles north of Appling (GHM [1973], 154).

First Baptist Church in Georgia (GA): On Ga 304 at Greenbrier Creek (Kiokee

Baptist

Church) (GHM [1973], 154-155).

Sharon Baptist Church (GA): On Ga 150 at Winfield (GHM [1973], 154).

Cook County

Reed Bingham State Park Bridge (GA, 1977): About eight miles west of Adel, at

the bridge

(mentions Jimmy Carter) (http://www.cviog.uga.edu).

 

 

 

Transcriber’s note:  This is a very long document, over 100 pages total covering many counties in Georgia.  I have only taken that part pertaining to Columbia County and used it here.

 

Suzanne Forte, Jan 2006