PATRON – Families were split apart when the Baptist congregations separated over missionary work

My great grandfather Ashley Bartow Metcalfe was an attorney in Dale County, Al in the 1880’s…then received his Doctor of Divinity and became a Baptist preacher in the 1890’s. He was a pastor in Al an Ga until 1940. He Moved Back To Montgomery where he lived until his death in 1947. His father Rev Henry J Metcalf was a Methodist preacher until 1887.

Three of my ancestors were Baptist ministers, and one of them became a missionary as he grew older. Two were father and son, James Harvey Reuben Carden was a minister in Shelby County, Alabama, and his son, Llewellyn Judson Carden also preached the Gospel in Shelby County. JHR Carden is mentioned numerous times in the Shelby County Baptist Association Annual Meeting Minutes, and L.J.Carden’s biography was included in “Notable Men of Alabama.”

Reverend Phillip Belcher, originally from Georgia, worked as a minister in Sumter County, Georgia, and then moved to Barbour County, Alabama, where he founded the Belcher Beulah Baptist Church in Baker Hill. He continued to perform the Lord’s work in a variety of churches in Henry County, Alabama. His last known address was Franklin, Alabama, now covered by the waters of Lake Eufaula and directly across the river from Clay County, Georgia and the town of Fort Gaines.

Reverend Belcher was mentioned numerous times in the Judson Baptist Association Annual Meeting Minutes as a missionary whose income was subsidized by the member churches of the Association. He died in 1874 or 1875, prior to October of 1875. We do not know where he is buried; to date, no Belcher descendant has found his grave, or the graves of his two wives: Mary Causey Belcher who died prior to the family moving to Alabama, and his second wife, Annice Albritton Belcher of Macon, Georgia.

My great great grandfather did not accept a salary at his Baptist Church in Alabama. He was a surveyor and a farmer.

As far as I know all of my family were “Missionary Baptists” but Mary’s family were Primitive Baptists ( or “Hardshell Baptists ” as my Dad used to call them). They were extremely Calvinistic in doctrine and practice and most churches met once or twice a month. They are still around but are small because of their doctrine of predestination. They do little outreach but they were the leaders in providing care for widows and orphans.

I cannot find a connection between the picture above and this particular story. The building in the picture looks a lot like the old Huntsville Bank on the courthouse square. I would post a picture of it form the same angle, but this comment box apparently does not allow for pictures (why is that?)

Isaac Kervin you might enjoy this

Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL

“It is not known exactly when John & Mary Williamson Pruett left Jones County, GA but it is believed that they went first to Pike Co., AL, probably around 1819/20, settling in that part of Pike County which in 1832 became Barbour Co. Many of their descendants settled in Barbour & Bullock counties, Bullock having been formed from part of Barbour Co. There they reared large families.”
Source: ‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982, p. 20, part of 21

1824 Mary Pruit [sic] was listed as one of the “Founding Members” of the Bethlehem Baptist Church, near Lewisville [later Louisville], AL Pike (now Barbour) Co, AL, founded 25 April, 1824.
‘Pruett Past & Present with Feagin Johnson Connections’ Compiled by Dorothy Sturgis Pruett 1982

“The Bethlehem Baptist Church was located on the Clayton-Louisville road, about three miles from Louisville and seven miles from Clayton. The 13 founding members were James [Matthew] Cadenhead [Jr.] and his brother William Cadenhead, Warren Jackson, William Anglin, Randol Jackson, William Cox, James A. Head, Elizabeth Jackson, Elizabeth Cox, Elizabeth Head, Mary Pruit, Elizabeth Warren, and Anna (a woman of color). The First Presbytery consisted of James McLemore, ordained minister, Richard Head, ordained deacon, and Francis Baker, clerk of presbytery. James Cadenhead was the first preacher and moderator and in 1825 the moderator, and James A. Head was the first church clerk and in 1825 chosen deacon.”
Source: ‘Pike County, Alabama, Bethlehem Baptist Church Records,’ contributed by Mrs. B. W. Grandrud, Tuscaloosa, Alabama – The Alabama Genealogical Register, Vol. V, No.’s 3 & 4, September-December 1963 (Willo Publishing Company, Tuscaloosa, Ala., 1962), pp. 192-193.

Would like to hear from anyone researching Pruetts.
Eugenia Hobday [email protected]