HISTORY
Of
UNION PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH
Union Church was founded in the year 1825. The first meeting was
held on November 12th, 1825 with Elder Jonathan Neal serving as the first
preacher and John Blackstone as clerk. The land on which the church and cemetery
now stand was donated by Mr. Jasper Taylor, a very wealthy farmer and slave
owner. He had a big part in helping build the church. With the help of his
slaves and the other men in the community with their slaves the material used in
the building was cut and hauled by the use of oxen. Most every piece of material
used was hand hued and the building was put together with wooden pegs. They used
shutters made of plank for windows in the unsealed church. The records show that
some slaves joined the church and attended the meetings along with the white
people. The half
wall which used to separate the two can still be seen in the church. After the
war many changes were made. The community which had been so thickly settled grew
thin and not many church members were left but the few that were left put in
glass windows and kept having their little meetings. Finally the church went
completely down and the cemetery grew up but in 1925 the community had a
centennial and collected enough money to cover and paint the church and clean
the cemetery. In 1940 the church was reorganized but the members were still very
few. They cleaned the cemetery about once every year or so and continued to meet
each month. Since the Friendship Community Club was organized the church has
been repainted, wired, and lights added. A new pulpit has been installed as well
as rug and runners, seventy-five new song books, two pairs of stone steps, and
the cemetery has been
cleaned, cleared, and sprayed. The baptizing pool has been cleaned out and
gravel put around it. Plans are now being made for a church sign to be painted.
Preaching is now held twice a month at Union with the Elder W. H. Hancock
serving as preacher. The total number of members to date is twenty nine. In the
cemetery stands a statue of Mr. Jasper Taylor's son. Some of Mr. Taylor's
great-grandchildren still reside in Friendship Community.
Transcribed by Kim Gordon
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