Chapter Three: A New Association (1853-1860)
July
in South Central Mississippi sticks to a person like hot molasses.
It is a hot that clings to a person and just won’t let go.
The 20 or so men who met on July 30, 1853 at the Hebron Baptist
Church in Lawrence County, Mississippi shared the common misery
of the steamy day but they also shared a common vision. Many
had traveled great distances by horeseback and buckboard to
meet together to discuss a new venture for Christ. Most of
the churches they represented were already members of the
Pearl River Association, the second oldest Baptist association
in Mississippi. Now these men had come together to discuss
the idea of forming a new association comprised of churches
in the northern section of the Pearl River Association area.
With no debate, they elected Cader Price to be their chairman
…
 “Brothers,”
Cader Price’s voice boomed with authority, “we all know why
we have made this special trip here today. We all have nothing
but deep gratitude for our beloved Pearl River Association
but the time has come to form a body which can function more
effectively for the cause of Christ. The truth is, it is easier
for guests from Baton Rogue and New Orleans to get to some
of the annual meetings than it is for me at Steen’s Creek.”
…
Steen’s
Creek Church was at the far northern end of the area to be
covered by this new association in a community that had come
to be called Crossroads
[1]. It was a fitting
name for the bustling village in Rankin County. To the north
and west of Crossroads lay the rich delta earth of the Pearl,
Black, and Mississippi Rivers. There cotton was king along
with its plantation economy driven by slave labor. To the
south was the great Piney Woods, with its hills and hollows
and a much different life. The people of the Piney Woods of
Simpson and Lawrence Counties led simple lives and few owned
slaves. Cader Price had come from Georgia in the great migration
to live at Crossroads somewhere around 1820.
When
Francis Walker died in 1846, some thought James Murray would
take up the mantle of leadership among Baptists in the area.
Indeed Murray was a driving force in the years to follow.
But it would prove to be Rev. Price who could fully fill those
immense shoes of service. The men meeting at Hebron Church
knew that no one could lead them as Cader Price could. Not
only had he already pastored nearly 30 years at Steen’s Creek
but Price had also served as moderator in both the Pearl River
and Mt. Pisgah associations. Through tireless efforts this
uneducated man had taught himself God’s Word and helped to
found four churches in Rankin County – Brandon
[2],
Mill Creek, Steen’s Creek, and Dry Creek. Now Price was again
being called upon to give leadership in beginning something
new for the Kingdom of God.
L.B.
Walker, grandson of Francis Walker, took notes as things proceeded
that day. First he carefully wrote the names of the churches
represented. From Simpson County there was Bethlehem, Mt.
Zion, Strong River, Macedonia, Pleasant Hill and New Zion.
From Rankin County there was Dry Creek, Mountain Creek, Steen’s
Creek, and Zion Hill. From Lawrence County there was Hebron
and Harmony. From Copiah County there was Sardis. Walker’s
quill hurriedly dipped more and more ink as the vote was taken.
Of the thirteen churches, only three voted not to form a new
association. They were Hebron, Harmony, and Mt. Zion.
…
James Murray spoke softly as he explained his reasons for
voting against the new association. “Gentlemen, “ he said,
“no doubt this is a much needed thing. I am just not sure
the time is right as of yet. Brother Price, I see your dilemma,
being as far north as you are but our three churches are much
nearer in geography and heart to the Pearl River churches.
At the same time the Lord has led me to follow the will of
this body and Mt. Zion will fully support this new venture.”…
Ironically,
the dissenter to the idea was elected to head a group consisting
of Isaac Bush, Lewis Howell, Styron Brinson and himself to
draft Articles of Faith and Rules of Decorum for the new association.
Murray also would later be moderator of Strong River Association
for six years. It was decided that the new association would
meet at the Palestine church in Simpson County in October
of the same year. So it was that just a few weeks later, the
same men meeting at the Pearl River Association formally withdrew
with the blessing of the other churches. In one night Pearl
River lost 16 of its 34 churches and some of its brightest
stars. It couldn’t have been more the way God intended it
when he said, “Go ye into all the world.”
On
October 8th, 1853 34 delegates from 17 churches
met at Palestine Church in Simpson County to formally charter
the Strong River Baptist Association. Palestine Church was
in the northeast corner of Simpson County within site of the
Pearl River. It lay in just about the only real cotton country
Simpson could claim. It was a diverse group that meet here.
Some came from the borders of Sullivan’s hollow to the south
while others came from the cotton area to the north. They
had all come with a single purpose though; to begin a new
work for the furtherance of the Gospel. This new group represented
569 white members and 104 colored members. Membership by slaves
was common in Mississippi at the time and would remain the
practice until nearly 10 years after the War Between the States.
Samuel
B. Mullen from Sardis Church in Copiah County became the first
moderator and $58.70 was collected for missionary efforts
in the Association. Church life was quite different in pre-Civil
War Mississippi. All of these churches were half-time or quarter-time
churches. Most shared a pastor with several other churches.
No church at the time had a Sunday School or a Bible School.
While some of the pastors supported the fledgling Southern
Baptist Convention which had formed eight years earlier, none
of these men had ever attended the national convention. Their
concerns were much more immediate for the moment. All of the
monies collected for missions were for use within their own
borders. William Carey and Luther Rice had picked up the mantle
of foreign missions years before but to these pioneer Baptists,
this was the mission field. Samuel Mullen was asked to also
be Associational missionary and the next annual meeting was
set for Dry Creek Church in Rankin County.
…
“We must do this thing now brethren. God knows we must!” The
speaker was Colonel G.W. Williams, owner of a mercantile store
in Westville and delegate from Strong River Church in Simpson
County. Colonel Williams had fought in the War of 1812 and
the Indian Wars with Old Hickory Stick himself, Andrew Jackson.
The things he had seen during those years were beyond description.
From the great Battle of New Orleans to the signing of the
treaty at Doak’s Stand near Madison, Mississippi with the
Choctaw nation, old Colonel Williams had seen it all. Most
people at Dry Creek Church knew these things and there could
have been no better man to address the association on the
subject. “Why?” “Why, do we need to do anything for those
heathens,” someone asked from among the gathered delegates
at Dry Creek Church. It was really more of a statement than
a question. “Read the resolution again and you will know why,”
was Williams’ simple reply.
E.E.
Steen, the associational clerk stood and once again read the
proposed resolution. It went as follows: “We consider the
Indian Mission of paramount importance to any before the American
people … We occupy their former country; we have our wealth
from the soil once owned by them; and, by treaties an purchase,
we have possessed it at a very low rate. 2nd We are strongly
under obligations to the Indians because of their priority
to us. 3rd The Indian is literally begging us for the Gospel.
4th They have no one else to look to for the Gospel. 5th What
we do we must do quickly, for they are declining, and soon
will pass away, unless they are civilized – and nothing but
the Gospel will civilize any heathen people.”[3]
As
Steen sat down a quiet came over the group. While some there
had profited greatly from the subjugation of the Native Americans,
most knew they really did owe much to the Choctaw nation.
Colonel Williams exhibited was is true of all mankind, we
are a fallen people who can be transformed by the grace of
God. What had been done could not be taken back but they could
now at least do what was right for the present. With that,
Strong River Baptist Association passed its first resolution
on record and collected its first designated mission offering
in the amount of $36.00 for taking the Gospel to the Indians.
…
Those
Strong River Association delegates proved to be ahead of their
time on the issue of aiding the Choctaw nation. In 1861, seven
years later, the Mississippi Baptist Convention moved to spend
a large sum of money in evangelizing the Indian nations within
Mississippi’s bounds and passed a resolution encouraging the
Federal Government to set aside territories for the Indians
for the express purpose of making it possible to carry the
gospel to them. [4]
The
second annual meeting of 1854 also was a time to report some
great movements of revival among the people of the area..
Over the course of the previous year Elder Mullen had spent
at least two days with each of the seventeen churches receiving
$1.50 per day for expenses. Mullen gladly told the gathered
assembly of the mighty work God was doing in their midst.
Pleasant Hill Church, pastored by Alexander Murray (James
Murray’s son) had just experienced revival resulting in 21
baptisms. Mississippi Baptists had been experiencing a tremendous
increase in baptisms and membership during the decade leading
up to the formation of Strong River Association. From 1843
to 1853 the number of Baptists in the state doubled from 16,305
to 34,270 and Strong River Association wasn’t being left out
of this great touch of God.[5]
…”For
as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works
is dead.” William Toler read the words of James 2:26 with
all the majesty a frontier preacher could muster. He looked
out at the brothers and sisters gathered for the 3rd
(1855) annual session of Strong River Baptist Association.
He studied their faces and continued “I know you are all hard
workers,” he proclaimed. “Not a one of us could have made
it long in this land without plenty of hard work. But just
as we are willing to work hard to till our land and herd our
cattle, we must be willing to work hard to build the Kingdom
of God. There is much to do and Providence placed on us the
duty and joy of doing it here where we live!” Amens echoed
across the clapboard walls and floors of the plain little
church building. Indeed there was much to do and there were
believers to do it. …
William
Toler didn’t speak of hard work for the Lord as a theory but
rather as a fact of his own life. For a number of years Toler
pastored both the Strong River and Pleasant Hill Baptist Churches
in the Southwestern corner of Simpson County. Just the travel
between those two congregations every other week required
a full day's journey on horseback across the roughest terrain
in the region. There were high hills and gullies around which
to maneuver and Spring brought flooded creeks to ford. Every
trip was a new adventure and a test of Toler’s determination
to carry out his calling from God. Because of his dedication
to the cause of Christ, the Association later asked William
Toler to be their missionary. In 1860 alone he reported traveling
3,780 miles, preaching 220 sermons and baptizing 40 people.
In gratitude the Association gave Toler $358.60 for his efforts.
His real reward was His Father in Heaven’s and that was all
that really mattered.
1855
saw a number of changes in the work of the Association. Samuel
B. Mullen’s health had steadily decreased and in spite of
his young age of 44, Mullen was called to a better country,
whose builder and maker is God, the following year. As a result
James Murray at last stepped into those shoes of his father-in-law,
Francis Isaac Walker and served the next five years as moderator.
Robert Bridges from Bethlehem church assumed the mantle of
Treasurer and held that position for 13 years. Over in Rankin
County, Cader Price was completing the last of his 35 years
as pastor of Steen’s Creek.
…
James Murray called the 1856 annual meeting of the Strong
River Baptist Association back to the order of business. A
moment was taken to remember the great work of Elder Mullen
and to offer condolences to his widow and the members of Sardis
Church in Copiah County where he had pastored for a number
of years. It was fitting that the association met that year
in Copiah County at the Hopewell Church. Murray turned to
the first presenter of a resolution and asked him the nature
of that business. E.E. Steen, the Associational clerk and
member of Steen’s Creek Church, took notes.
“It
is time for all of us to get serious about this matter of
spirits and their undue consumption in our midst,” the brother
addressed the congregation. I present a resolution a follows:
“Resolved, That, whereas, it is rumored that there are members
of Baptist Churches who retail ardent spirits, which we regard
as a very great evil, that we earnestly recommend the churches
composing this body to discountenance, in all reasonable ways,
both the use and traffic of intoxicating drinks.” A number
of “amens” could be heard in response. “We know that our
County Seat in Simpson County, Westville, has become somewhat
notorious as place of drunkenness and such.” The speaker continued,
“Some of you have read the words in a local paper about the
race track there and how every kind of animal ‘from a plug
mule to a thoroughbred is trotted out.’ Why Westville alone
has five saloons.” It was obvious that the great majority
of delegates there agreed and the resolution passed overwhelmingly….
Alcohol
and its abuse remained a matter of concern for both the Strong
River and Simpson Baptist Association throughout the years
to come. Whether they called it spirits, “Blind Tiger,” or
just plain booze, Baptists of the Association saw alcohol
as a great enemy of society. Resolutions concerning alcohol,
its sales and consumption, appear on no less than 25 separate
annual meeting minutes.
By
the time the Association met again in 1857, Cader Price had
moved from Steen’s Creek to become pastor of Mt. Zion Church.
His coming to Mt. Zion ended 33 years of the combination of
first Francis Walker and then James Murray as pastors of that
fine church. Murray had just moved his family from Silver
Creek to Westville to avail his children of a school and to
pastor Palestine Church. As the annual meeting began, Palestine
Church announced a new thing for these folks, a Sunday School.
Another twenty years passed before the idea of having special
emphasis for children and youth would catch on. It was reported
that the work was moving along well for Baptists in the four
counties of the Strong River Association. There were now 1600
members in their 20 churches. There were successes and failures.
The Association had an on again off again relationship with
the larger General Association and the State Convention. Like
all believers, these Christians struggled between the sublime
and the sometimes ridiculous. They needed Christ to hold them
together as much as any do and they would surely need that
most in the immediate years to come!
…James
Murray listened intently as his son, Alexander rose to bring
the annual sermon in 1859 at the 7th Session of
the Strong River Baptist Association. Together, father and
son pastored Palestine Church in the far Southwestern corner
of Simpson County. James already knew what his son intended
to preach on and could not help but think back to a conversation
he had with his father-in-law, Francis Walker. They had sat
together discussing the actions taken against followers of
Alexander Campbell at the General Baptist Association meeting
of 1829. Those thirty years earlier Father Walker had wisely
warned his son-in-law that more spiritual wars would be fought
among Baptists. While the Campbellite controversy[6]
led to the defection of many churches in North Mississippi
to become Churches of Christ, it had little effect on the
churches in the Strong River area. But now, there was a new
problem brewing and it was close to home …
Alexander
Murray rose to speak at the Copiah Church in Copiah County.
“My text today is taken from Amos 3:3. “Can two walk together,
unless they are agreed.” A nervous silence enveloped the white
frame church sitting almost within sight of the Pearl River.
Most of the delegates gathered there knew that Murray, undoubtedly,
was thinking of the growing controversy over what was being
called the “Landmark” movement. Many copies of the Tennessee
Baptist had found their way into Mississippi and those
who hadn’t been reading the writings of J.R. Graves had certainly
heard about them. In a nutshell, Graves was teaching that
Baptists were the only New Testament denomination. In his
zeal to purify the church Graves also taught that only the
local church had any Biblical authority.
 J.R.
Graves was highly respected in Southern Baptist circles and
in many ways was the best of what Baptists had to offer. His
emphasis on the old landmarks, however, had begun to divide
associations and congregations. Others had picked up his words,
“I am a Missionary Baptist, as was John, Christ, Paul, as
were all the apostles, and as well all Baptists until within
the last century.”[7]
Over the following years, while Graves remained loyal to Southern
Baptists, many of his followers did not. Many of the Missionary
Baptists Churches in the counties in and around the Strong
River area formed during the mid 1800’s.
Alexander
Murray’s sermon was followed by a resolution emphasizing Biblical
church membership and the Lord’s Supper. It read as follows:
“Resolved … that a Gospel Church is a congregation of believers,
who have been immersed upon a credible profession of faith,
by a proper administrator, who have given themselves to the
Lord, and to one another in brotherly covenant to keep up
a godly discipline; agreeable to the rules of the New Testament.”
Several tracts were also recommended for churches to distribute
that refuted some of the stronger Landmark teachings. The
following year in 1860, the Mississippi Baptist State Convention
passed a strongly worded resolution concerning the matter
and elected five representatives to go Nashville and speak
with J. R. Graves, with the hope the matter could be reconciled.
If only they could have looked ahead and seen what really
ended the controversy all parties may have considered spending
more time in prayer together than in debate!
When
James Murray preached the Sunday sermon of the 1859 annual
meeting, the Landmark issue was spoken to and it was time
to thank God for what He was doing in their midst. Three new
congregations were welcomed into the association; Oak Grove
and Gum Springs in Simpson County and Polkville in Smith County.
7 years earlier they had begun with 17 church and a little
over 600 members. Now there were 24 churches with 1550 members.
Things were looking better all the time for Strong River Baptist
Association and the cause of our Lord in the churches it represented.
When
the Association met in 1860 at Antioch Church in Rankin County
the spiritual climate seemed better than ever. William Toler
served as missionary the year before traveling 3780 miles
and preaching 220 sermons. Mississippi had grown dramatically
and so had the Association. Mississippi’s population grew
from 375,651 in 1840 to 791,305 in 1860. It was the second
fastest growing and fifth richest state in the entire Union.
Likewise Strong River Association jumped in one year from
1550 members to 1895. Mission giving was at an all time high
and churches reported almost 300 baptisms.
…
No wonder enthusiasm was high as James Newman, pastor of Mt
Zion Church, prepared to bring the annual sermon. Who could
have guessed how prophetic his text was; “And I looked and
behold, a white horse. He who was on it had a bow; and a crown
was given to Him, and he went out conquering and to conquer”
(Revelation 6:2). Before Newman rose to preach he noticed
a young man take his seat near the back of Antioch Church.
It was A.G. Berry. “I wonder what he is doing here?” Newman
mused to himself. “That young man  can’t
get serious about anything. I don’t guess he will ever be
willing to give up anything for anyone besides himself.” Perhaps
politicians and military strategist could have guessed but
no one at the 8th Session of the Strong River Baptist
Association could have known what lay in store for young Mr.
Berry. Who could have known that four long years later Berry
would return from a terrible war, minus his right leg and
all of his innocence? Who could have known that some of these
people sitting here at this meeting would not even be alive
two years from now, victims of what some would later call
The Lost Cause?…
1
Crossroads community later became Florence, Mississippi
and Steen’s Creek was renamed First Baptist Church Florence.
Back to Text
2
Brandon in Rankin county became First Baptist Church
Brandon. Back to Text
3
Boyd p.6. Back to Text
4
Mississippi Baptist Convention Minutes, 1861, pp. 25-26. Back
to Text
5
Roy J. Fish, When Heaven Touched Earth,
Need of Times Publishers: Azle, TX, 1996, p. 257. Back
to Text
6
See chapter two for an explanation of the Campbellite controversy.
Back to Text
7
Timothy George, Baptists Theologians,
p. 229 Back
to Text
|
