In 1846, the Rev. Charles Colcock Jones conducted a census of African-American members, both free and enslaved, of the churches in Liberty County’s 15th District.  He documented the names of the plantation owners, the names of the African Americans, the church names, and comments, including whether the member had been excommunicated (“excomm.” or “ex.”). 

This document was preserved in the Charles Colcock Jones papers, Louisiana Research Collection, Tulane University. The eminent historian Dr. Erskine Clarke used it in his remarkable 2005 book “Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic,” which documents and interprets the lives of Rev. C.C. Jones, his family, and his enslaved people. Dr. Clarke very kindly provided me with a copy of the original, which I have transcribed here. (Dr. Clarke gave his permission to use his copy for this purpose if Tulane University agreed. In October, 2018, the head of Tulane University’s Lousiana Research Collection confirmed via email that Tulane no longer gives nor denies permission to publish based on its holdings. My very deep gratitude to Dr. Clarke for allowing this information to be published online for the descendants.) 

The document is transcribed as is, except that the first and last names of the plantation owners have been reversed for sorting. For the enslavers’ names, common abbreviations are Jos. for Joseph, Jas. for James, Thos. for Thomas, and Rich. for Richard.  “Est.” stands for “estate.” Note that the middle initial “Q.” is usually an abbreviation for Quarterman in Liberty County. For the African Americans, “(L.) stands for “Little,” “(B.)” stands for “Big,” and “(O.)” stands for Old. Sometimes occupations are placed in parentheses after the name; these were in the original. 

For more information on Liberty County churches of the time, please see Dr. Clarke’s book “Dwelling Place” and also his book “Wrestlin’ Jacob: A Portrait of Religion in Antebellum Georgia and the Carolina Low Country.”  The North Newport Church mentioned here later became the First African Baptist Church, the oldest African-American church still standing in Liberty County, according to its historical marker.