The Baptist Church at Clinton ceased to function by about 1890. In 1882 two ladies who were former members of that church extended an invitation to Rev. E. W. Sammons, minister and educator, to preach at Gray. This was the initial effort to establish The First Baptist Church of Gray. A small group met intermittently until the church was organized August 1, 1905.
The two ladies mentioned above were: Mrs. Annie Greaves Stewart--1859 to 1935--wife of James Augustus "Gus" Stewart and mother of Reuben J. Stewart, and Miss Catherine Louise Morgan--1869 to 1897--daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Morgan. Miss Morgan died at age 28 and before the church was organized the following letter was written in 1906 as the first church building was nearing completion.
Rev. Ellis Walker Sammons served as Jones County School
Commissioner Superintendent--1904--1924. He and his family were charter
members of Gray Baptist and his grandson Ellis Walker and wife Mira Sammons are member at present.
Thursday August 3, 1905 Jones County News
A new Missionary Baptist Church was organized at Gray yesterday morning with twenty constituent members. The presbytery was composed of Dr. W. S.McCarty, of Madison, Rev. R. W. Thiot, of Godfrey and Rev. E. W. Sammons, of Round Oak.
Bro. Sammons spoke upon the origin, independence and mission of the church, Dr. McCarty upon the faith of the church and Bro. Thiot the ordinances of the church. These different topics were elaborated upon and presented in straight forward, concise instructive manner, that proved to be beneficial to the new organization.
Immediate steps will be taken to erect a house of worship. The site has been selected and work will begin as soon as practicable. The new church will send messengers to make application for membership in the Central Baptist Association, which convenes with Bethany church, in Morgan County, on Tuesday after the fourth Sunday in this month.
Below is a copy of a document given to me on December 15, 1996 by Lucius W. Allen and I am grateful to him to get this information together, to add to the history of the church.
We here endeavor to record the small amount of information
that we have about events which took place many years before but led up to the actual organization of the Gray Baptist Church
on August 2, 1905.
In a conversation with late Reuben J. Stewart shortly before his death, this writer was given the oral narrative of Mr. Stewart's mother work with the church along with artifacts that she had cherished for many years. These artifacts were: The Jones County News of August 3, 1905 a letter received from Rev. E. W. Sammons and written in 1906; a small picture of Catherine Louise Morgan; and brass uniforms spurs belonging to her brother, Frank H. Greaves, who died at the age 24 on December 21, 1885.
A short time ago, I made a short visit to Clinton, the place where I lived in my early childhood and in my young manhood days. How quiet and sad it appeared to me, and I could scarcely realized that this was the place, once the home of a refined and elegant people.
Was this indeed the same Clinton? One of the old prominent landmarks of Clinton's life was the Baptist Church, of which there is not a sign or trace left. There are not many now living who knew the church, when it had a congregation and was in good repair. It was back in the when this was the case, and long before it was torn down; it stood quiet and desolate, gradually going to decay unoccupied for several years. It stood on the right side of the road to Macon, some 300 yards above where Judge Johnson now lives, and the road or street made a gradual bend where it stood, leaving its side to the street, while its front faced the street below the bend, and looking up from downtown it seemed to stand almost in the middle of the street. It was of good dimensions with a front veranda supported by columns, a high steeple overhead containing a bell. The windows were large and wide with outside blinds to them and diamond-shaped at their tops. It was nicely finished inside. Had two doors, and aisles leading from each of these down to an altar, which surrounded the pulpit. The pulpit was a great high box-shaped affair. On each side of these aisles and next to the walls were long benches, divided in the center by partitions. The ladies sat on one side of the church and the men on the other. The benches or pews were nicely made and were very comfortable. A gallery, which was reached by steps from the front veranda, extended over the front part of the church and was for the use of the Negro slaves. It was a nice and good appearing building and up-to-date at its time. Mrs. R.V. Hardeman was its most faithful member, and by her energy and liberality kept it going for a long while. The Reverend Jessie Campbell, who was one of the leading pastors of Georgia, was its pastor for a long while, and Jesse Mercer, the great light of the Baptist Church, has delivered some able sermons in it. It was torn down several years ago and a new crop of cotton and corn is now growing where it once stood and there is nothing left to mark it sight.
The other old church (the Methodist) still stands, although it has been cut down and remodeled until it does not resemble itself. The cemetery is there and natural as ever, with the exception of the decay and touch of time.
Sherman's army ravaged, destroyed, and burned Clinton from November 19 to November 26, 1864. Northern armies were infamous for their desecration of Southern churches. They had a well-earned dastardly reputation for using pulpits for chop blocks on which they prepared the meat of livestock from defenseless people. Just how much of the church was left, or how long it continued to function after the destruction of Clinton is not known. By 1890, it had ceased to exist. Former members went to other churches such as Elam and Bradley.
The death of church is always a great tragedy, but in a sense the Baptist Church of Clinton experienced a rebirth in the organization of The Gray Baptist Church some quarter century later. It began in this manner. Two ladies who lived in Clinton and were former members of that church found themselves molded in a bond of friendship engendered by mutual personal tragedy, grief, and sorrow. Frank H. Greaves, brother and only sibling of Annie Greaves Stewart, graduated from the U.S.M.A., West Point, class of 1885. He returned to Clinton intent on marriage to his hometown fiancée’, Catharine Louise Morgan, fondly known as Kate. By the time he reached Clinton he was gravely ill with typhoid. The wedding never took place. He died on December 21, 1885, only four days before Christmas. There is not doubt that both women sought comfort in their faith and in each other. "Miss Kate" never married. She became a teacher. She taught at a one-room school in Gray where she organized a Sunday school that soon became well attended. It grew into Bible study and adult devotionals.
As the attached letter written by Rev. E.W. Sammons in 1906 states the initial effort to organize a Baptist Church of Gray came when Mrs. Annie Greaves Stewart and Miss Kate Morgan extended to him an invitation to preach at Gray in 1892. A small group continued to meet irregular intervals. However, Miss Kate Morgan did not live to see her dream of a new church realized. She died December 2, 1897 at the age of 28; perhaps as much from grief as from physical ailment. Mrs. Hattie E. Chiles, who knew Miss Kate Morgan and attended her school, writes of her "she was a young Christian girl who died when quite young."
Through the efforts of Mrs. Annie Greaves Stewart, and others who joined her, the movement grew. It became necessary for meetings to be held in a brush arbor to accommodate the numbers who came for preaching service. On August 2, 1905 a new missionary Baptist Church was organized at Gray. Immediate steps were to be taken to erect a house of worship.
The following excepts from the Jones County News. Thursday August 3, 1905 provides additional information.
A new Missionary Baptist Church was organized at Gray yesterday morning with twenty constituent members. The presbytery was composed of Dr. W.S.McCarty, of Madison, Rev. R.W. Thiot, of Godfrey and Rev. E. W. Sammons of Round Oak.
Bro. Sammons spoke upon the origin, independence and mission of the church; Dr. McCarty upon the faith of the church and Bro. Thiot the ordinances of the church. These different topics were elaborated upon and presented in straightforward, concise and instructive manner, which proved to be beneficial to the new organization.
Immediate steps will be taken to erect a house of worship. The site has been selected and work will begin as soon as practicable. The new church will send messengers to make application for membership in the Central Baptist Association, which convene with Bethany church, in Morgan County.
Various members pledged themselves to giving items such as pulpit, pews, doors, and windows. As Rev. Sammons letter states Mrs. Annie Greaves Stewart gave the stained glass window in remembrance of her brother Frank H. Greaves and her friend and co-worker Catharine Louise "Miss Kate" Morgan. This house of worship served the church until Sunday, February 28, 1943. On that date the building and its contents, including minutes, records and furnishings were destroyed by fire.
Charter members were:
Listed below are the Pastors that have served at Gray Baptist Church:
Gray First Church received a building fund offering May 26
that totaled $196, 804, a phenomenal amount for a church of about 500 resident members. "This was the largest single offering in the history of our church," said Richard McMillan, chairman of the finance committee. It represents the final amount needed to build a
$600,000 fellowship hall and Sunday School classrooms addition. James N. Griffith is interim pastor.
Before I begin, I would like to thank Mr. Bobby Bentley for the wonderful job that he has done in compiling our church history. I used information from the late Mrs. Hattie Chiles, the late Mrs. Louise Morton, and the late Mr. Lucius Allen. All of these writings were found in Mr. Bentley's compilation.
Also, I apologize for not mentioning everybody and everything that should be mentioned, but we don't have enough time. However, that may be possible at a later date. As you probably already know, our church is 95 years old, and as Dr. Griffith as said, we are "going on a hundred." In five years, when we celebrate our one hundredth anniversary, he has suggested that we use the whole year leading up to that anniversary to give information or facts about our church, tell about the people who have given of their services, and tell what some of our members have done in our community. I challenge you to begin thinking about this and helping us to plan for this celebration.
Gray Baptist Church was organized on August 2, 1905. Two ladies who had been members of the Clinton Baptist Church are credited with the initial efforts to get our church started. Their church had ceased to exist in 1890.
Miss Katherine Louise Morgan and Mrs. Annie Graves Stewart were friends. They shared their faith, and they shared their grief. Miss Morgan had been engaged to marry Mrs. Stewart's brother, but he passed away before they could marry.
Rev. E.W. Sammons, the grandfather of a present member of our church, Mr. E.W. Sammons, III, wrote in a letter that these two ladies has asked him to preach in Gray as early as 1892. This was the initial effort to start the church.
Miss Morgan taught in the one-room schoolhouse in Gray. She began having Sunday School there, before there was a church. However, she died at the age of 28, never having seen her dream of a church come true. Mrs. Stewart continued the effort. In the summer of 1905, a brush arbor revival was held on the land where the Conn-Hungerford house now stands. Rev. R.W. Thiot did the preaching, and at the end o the service, a presbytery, or committee, composed of Rev. Thiot, Rev. Sammons, and Rev. C.S. McCarty of Madison completed the establishment of the church. There were 20 or 21 charter members.
Rev. Thiot was the first pastor, but the first called pastor was Rev. J.B. Pounds, who was called in 1906. The Jones County Land and Improvement Company gave one acre of land to the Baptist, one acre of land to the Methodists, and one acre of land to the county for a courthouse. Plans for a building were started.
On February 14, 1907, the new pastor met with an untimely death. However, in March of the same year, the first service was held in the new church. That summer, 23 members were added during a "stirring revival." Rev. W.H. Dodd was the new pastor. By 1910, the $2600 note was paid off and the church was dedicated in June.
From 1912 until 1941,our church was known as a half-station church, with preaching only two Sundays a month. In 1941, we became a full-time church.
Rev. J.J. Bennett was the pastor from 1928-1932. His wife was the county's first Home Demonstration agent and went out into the county teaching ladies to can and preserve.
In 1933, Rev. Fred Eden became the pastor. He was said to have a dynamic personality and went out into the county visiting the sick and the poor. He helped to start Plentitude Baptist Church as a mission. He died during a prayer service in the Antioch Community. His wife stayed on here and was credited with having started the first Welfare Office in Jones County.
On Sunday morning, February 28, 1943, the church building burned and services were held in the high school until the present building was built.
In the 1940's, Mrs. Lucille Brooks directed a group of 20 lady singers. She gave of her time and professional training without the benefit of a salary, as many of our musicians have done through the years. She was responsible for the purchase of an organ and spinet piano.
In 1955, our church called Rev. James Griffith, who is now Dr. Griffith and is serving his second interim in this church at the present time. As a five year-old, I excitedly anticipated his arrival. However, I am sorry to say that it was not because I knew of his wonderful preaching ability. I knew that he had two little girls that could be my playmates. I lived in the next house past the pastorium. One of his daughters and I have continued that friendship to this day. During his tenure, he and Mrs. Griffith help us to start our Family Night Supper custom. He led us to accept the Co-Operative Program idea, and we hired our first music director. Dr. Griffith later became the Executive-Director, Treasurer of the Georgia Baptist Association. He and Mrs. Griffith have been so wonderful to help us during the two interims.
Rev. Bill Mendum followed next. He and his wife started our first church library, and we started the traditional homecoming at this time.
Rev. J. Leonard Cone, our speaker for today, served our church from 1962-1986. Mrs. Cone was hired as sour Director of Music and Youth in 1970. During Rev. Cone's time here, we added our Sunday School Annex and our "little white building." We had Children's Church in the little white building for a while. We started a jail ministry, and the effort to begin a mission church along with Elam Baptist Church was begun. Mrs. Cone laid the foundation for mission trips and started the Young at Hearts. I feel a special part of their history because Rev. Cone baptized me, performed our wedding ceremony, and baptized my children.
Dr. Michael D. Reynolds, known as Dusty to most, is our speaker for our revival services this week. He was our pastor from 1987-1992. He received his doctorate while serving as pastor in Gray. An early service was started while he was here. We experienced a lot of growth during this time. His wife, Audrey, was very active in Sunday School, Big A Club, mission trips, and many more activities of our church. One night, during his tenure, my husband and several other men were still at the church after their deacon's meeting. As they were about to leave, lightning struck the church, tearing off shingles and damaging the organ. We all wondered just what had gone on in that deacon's meeting!!!!!!!!
Many more things have happened in the past 95 years. We have completed another addition with Sunday School rooms and a nice, large fellowship hall and kitchen. We have installed an elevator, and we have acquired land all around the church. We have plans for the future to build a new sanctuary.
We have had 30 pastors and Dr. Griffith has served two interims, the late Dr. Duane Partin serviced two interims, and Rev. Napp Granade serviced one interim. Our present enrollment is 722 members.
Now we would like to recognize our oldest living member, Mrs. Lizzie Ida Greene. (96 years young-one year older than the church.)(Mrs. Lizzie Ida Greene was the oldest living member when this presentation was made, but now she has passed on to be with the Lord.)
I appreciate Carol Ann for letting me have a copy of her address at the homecoming 11 AM service October 1, 2000, homecoming day. I am sure a lot of people will like to have this to "look back," during the days ahead.
This is a very short history of the beginning and where we are now. If you would like to "fill in the blanks," go to our church library and check out a copy of the church history there. Copies are available if you would like a personal copy.
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