Like other antebellum towns, churches were a central part of Liberty County life. African Americans–both enslaved and free–attended church with Whites and were admitted into membership. This did not mean that they were on an equal status with the white members, but the process was the same. African Americans also did not necessarily attend the same churches their enslavers attended. For example, in 1846, Toby Ashmore, held in slavery by my 4th great-grandfather John Ashmore, attended the North Newport Baptist Church, while John Ashmore attended the Pleasant Grove Church, where Toby had originally been baptized. 

How do I know that? Antebellum records of the Pleasant Grove, Midway Congregational, Walthourville Presbyterian, and Jones Creek Baptist churches have survived. Even more than that, however, a local minister named Charles Colcock Jones, who had what he considered to be a mission to “the Negroes,” made a census in 1846 of all the African Americans in the 15th District (where the larger “plantations” were) who were church members. He included the name of their enslavers and the name of the church. 

C.C. Jones also established African American watchmen on each plantation. They reported to him about disciplinary infractions and the “state of religion” on the plantations in regular meetings, some of whose minutes have survived (see below). There are two books about Rev. Jones that explain his “mission”: Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic by Erskine Clarke and Children of Pride by Robert Manson Myers. 

The North Newport Baptist Church separated into two parts along racial lines prior to the Civil War. The White members moved their church to Hinesville, while the African American members took over the old building in an area known as “Crossroads” and called it the First African Baptist Church. Although the photo opposite is of the newer building, the First African Baptist Church is believed to be the oldest African American church in Liberty County. 

The Midway Congregational Church is the oldest church in the County, established in 1752 by White planters settling in the area from Dorchester, South Carolina. They brought with them three times their number in enslaved people, and the place names Dorchester and Beech Hill, the locations in South Carolina from which they came, are used in the African American community (Dorchester Academy and Beach Hill Missionary Baptist Church). 

The Midway Church kept records from its earliest days, including the names of African American members. The church disbanded after the Civil War, and its White members moved to other churches (Walthourville Presbyterian, Dorchester Presbyterian, Flemington Presbyterian), while the Black members took over the church building for themselves. The records are what we are concerned with here. Below you will find a spreadsheet containing every mention of an African American in the records from 1756 (when Scipio and Judy became members) to 1867. You will also find a transcription of the 1865-1867 records showing the church’s dissolution and the full names of some African American members. 

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