Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#M-3724
SAWYERS CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH RECORDS
Inventory
Abstract: Sawyers Creek Baptist Church, Camden County, N.C.,
founded ca. 1790, was affiliated with the Chowan
Association and later with the Baptist State
Convention of North Carolina and the Southern Baptist
Convention.
Primarily minutes, 1815-1937, of church
conferences held every month in the early years and
quarterly in later years, with special called meetings
as needed. The minutes record transactions of church
business and finance; matters relating to the
admission, discipline, expulsion, or removal of
members; the calling of pastors and the election of
church officials; the care of church property; and
relations with other Baptist churches. Also included
are lists of members with indications of gender and
race, lists of contributions, and the church covenant
and rules of decorum.
Online Catalog Terms:
Afro-Americans--North Carolina--History.
Afro-Americans--Religion--North Carolina--History.
Afro-American Baptists--North Carolina--History.
Baptists--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Baptists--North Carolina--History--20th century.
Camden County (N.C.)--Church history.
Church records and registers--North Carolina--Camden County.
Sawyers Creek Baptist Church (Camden County, N.C.).
Slaves--Religious life--North Carolina.
Slavery--North Carolina.
Size: 6 volumes (1 reel of microfilm).
Provenance: Lent for filming by Sawyers Creek Baptist Church
in Belcross, N.C., by the pastor, Irvin H. Acree,
and clerk, Mrs. Walter L. Midgette, in December
1965.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: This collection was processed with support
from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers,
or their descendants, as stipulated by United
States copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Description
DESCRIPTION
Six volumes of records of the Sawyers Creek Baptist Church and
described as follows:
Volume 1: 31 July 1815-13 November 1853. Minutes of monthly and
quarterly meetings of the church, and also preparatory
meetings every quarter, dealing with church business,
discipline of church members, deaths, new members
received by transfer from other churches or by
baptism; relations with other Baptist churches;
calling a pastor; granting letters of dismissal to
members wishing to join other Baptist churches; and
election to church offices (few in number). There are
references to African-American members, whose status
is not usually specified, but probably includes both
slave and free. In February-March 1846, there are
references to the sale of pews. The last entries for
8 October and 13 November 1853 are duplicated in
volume 2, which also includes other entries for
October 1853. Several loose papers enclosed in this
book include lists of ballots for persons nominated
for church office and items dealing with discipline
cases. At the back of the book, an account of a
meeting "at the new meeting house on Sawyers Creek" on
11 September 1790 to "form an abstract of our
principles" is recorded under the title "Rules for the
Government of the Church at Sawyers Creek." There is
also the church covenant, lists of male members,
female members, male African-American members, and
female African-American members (undated). Sometimes
the writing is difficult to read with poor spelling.
The disciplinary cases show concern on the part of the
church for the conduct of members.
Volume 2: 8 October 1853-12 March 1872. Loose papers from
volume 2 include lists of female members of the
church, 1853, 1859, 1869, and lists of contributions
for "general benevolence" to 10 June 1871, male and
female members. Early entries in this volume, in
pencil and very dim, are out of order. There are
minutes of 7 October 1854; lists of members, some
received in August 1873; unidentified list of women;
minutes for 21 September 1866; an item, 2 January
1854, wherein the trustees of Wake Forest College
granted Sawyers Creek Church a scholarship until 1904
in return for a gift of $500; covenant of the church;
rules of government; list of male members in 1854;
list of female members in 1860 and in 1854; and in
1864, list of African American members, male and
female. Conference minutes begin with 8 October 1853,
which is a duplicate of that in volume 1, and include
others for October and an entry for 13 November, which
is also a duplicate. Business for the period of this
volume is much like that recorded in volume 1 except
that it includes the awarding to an individual of the
Wake Forest scholarship. For the early part of the
Civil War period, the minutes make no mention of the
war, though it may have been a reflection of unsettled
conditions that an unusually large number of members
were expelled for immoral conduct. In September 1862,
the entries are kept in pencil and continue to be so
through the rest of the volume. In September 1864, a
member gave $10 for the benefit of soldiers, and, in
December, a committee appointed to determine if any
persons on the church roll had joined the U.S. Army
reported that none were found. Towards the end of the
war, financial arrangements, especially the payment of
the pastor's salary, showed the influence of
inflation. In September 1866 the African American
members were granted letters of dismission to join
other churches. On the end pages, there are lists of
contributors.
Volume 3: 7 March 1872-1 July 1882, 6 June 1886. This volume
includes the church covenant, rules of government, and
minutes from 7 March 1872 to 1 July 1882 and one entry
from 6 June 1886, also located in volume 4 under 5
June 1886. On the end pages are undated lists of
members and amounts they contributed.
Volume 4: 5 August 1882-3 November 1900. The first pages of
this volume contain undated lists of members and
contributions. The minutes are concerned, to a large
extent, with the personal conduct of members, but
disciplinary cases also deal with members who have not
paid their dues, which were usually assessed by a
committee of deacons, and with person who do not
attend the conference. The church also displayed
concern for the prohibition of the sale of liquor.
Volume 5: 1 December 1900-May 1928. The minutes in this volume
are similar to previous ones, but many of the
practices of the church had changed. Dues were still
assessedm and there were many special collections to
take care of rather small expenses. In late 1901, the
committee on assessments was told to make the total
amount large enough to cover all incidental expenses,
but there were still rather frequent special
collections. In April 1902, the church defined
revelry, which was forbidden to members by the
covenant, and there was emphasis on efforts to stop
members from dancing. On 30 September 1905, the
church passed a resolution disapproving the running of
trains on Sunday. In 1911, the church agreed to
change the practice of calling the pastor annually to
calling him for an indefinite period. On 4 November
1911, the church received a gift for an individual
communion service. On 6 September 1913, the church
gave a member permission to go to court in regard to
some land in controversy. On 6 June 1914, the church
appointed a committee to investigate the envelope
system for missions, expenses, etc. In January 1915,
a committee was appointed to investigate charges of
dancing and drinking against some of the members. By
1917, the church was apparently working on a system of
pledges supplemented by assessment of those members
who did not pledge, but the transition to the new
system is not entirely clear from the minutes. In
September 1918, the church got a telephone for the
parsonage and began to dispense with the calling of
the roll at some conferences. In 1920, electric
lights were installed in the church and parsonage by a
private system. By this year, regular conferences
were held quarterly only with short called ones for
special purposes. In the 1920s, members were expelled
for failing to pay dues and for immorality. There are
no minutes recorded for 1923, and pages 328-331 of the
volume are blank. The roll was called at conferences
in 1926, but nothing was said about absentees or
excuses for absences. From 1927 on, there were no
roll calls and no cases of discipline for personal
conduct. The minutes in this volume end 31 March 1928
and are followed by reports of the Sunday School
superintendent for April and May 1928. There is also
an undated loose copy of the church covenant.
Volume 6: 30 June 1928-22 September 1937. The minutes of this
volume are concerned, to a large extent, with
financial matters; in 1929, members were expelled for
non-payment of dues. In 1933, the pastor was
authorized to canvass members to contribute chickens
as a means of getting money to buy batteries for the
electric plant. Members cut wood for use by the
church in heating. In January 1926, a committee was
appointed to visit some of the members in regard to
their church relations, but no details were given.