Briartown

Briartown Church Cemetery photo - 1930
ront Row                                 2nd Row                    3rd Row                             4th Row
                                                                                                                                 52 Vernel Grant                                                                                                                                                                         37 Dave Owenby               53 General Owenby     
                                            13 Etta Shields                  38 Olsen Grant                   54 Rev.Robert Barker
                                            14 Eula Wishon                 39 Jim Grant                       55 Frank Wilson               
1 Lillian Wishon                      15 Jessie Wilson                      (Daphne’s bro)                 56 Jeffie May
2 Carleen Grant                      16 Amanda Deweese          40 Beuford Owenby             57 Mark Cochran
3 Christine Dalrymple              17 Lola Cochran                 41 Rev.Mose Woodard         58 Fate Owenby
4 Doris Grant                          18 Wade Boone                 42 Beulah Owenby               59 W F Will Cross
5 Arnold Wilson                      19 Verless Wishon             43 Beulah Owenby               60 Kermil Dalrymple
6 Jennette Owenby                  20 Ruby Shields                              ( Dill’s dau)            61 Ted Cochran
7 Francis Owenby                   21 Carlene Owenby            44 CB(Tump)Owenby           62 Clint Dalrymple
8 Pauline Owenby                   22 Halena Dalrymple          45 Myrtle Owenby                63 Oscar Cross
9 Newell Owenby                    23 Grace Owenby                   ( Lester’s dau)
10 Carl Cross                              ( GW”S sister               46 Myrtle Owenby
11 Fred Grant                         24 Faye Duvall                            ( GW’s sister)
12 Burzell Mason                    25 Exie Owenby                47 Murill Owenby
                                            26 Gladys Cochran            48 Lonnie Caylor
                                            27 Eulene Grant                49 Frank Cross
                                            28 Wilma Cochran             50 Jeff Hampton
                                            29 Geneva Wishon            51 Morgan Owenby
                                            30 Gladys Owenby
                                            31 Vera Owenby
                                            32 Catherine Ayers
                                            34 Mone Deweese
                                            35 Bernice Deweese
                                            36 Daphne Grant

Notes By Arthur Howard Cross

Briartown was a community with a church, which was established in 1863 near the present Briartown Baptist Church. (Bethel Hill Baptist Church was established in the late 1930’s). The first Briartown Church building was built of logs and served as both a church and a school. My mother Allie Dalrymple Cross attended this school. (She was born in 1886). At one time there was also a school on the Winding Stairs Rd. approximately ½ mile above the intersection of Partridge Creek, known as the Owenby School, and the other on Otter Creek, known as Otter Creek School. At first this school was in two buildings, near the intersection of Otter Creek, Otter Mtn. and Vestal Cochran roads. The school was later moved up Otter Creek Rd, just across from the intersection of Otter Creek and Brairtown Church road. This was in the mid 1920’s. There were finally three buildings. This became the first high school in the Nantahala area. This school was moved to the present location of Nantahala High School in 1951.

Briartown has three cemeterys: Briartown Church Cemetery, Bobbie Hill Cemetery and Bethel Hill Cemetery, which was once called the Owenby Cemetery.

Flats Post Office was on Otter Creek. The first Postmaster was Palmer (Uncle Parm) May. At one time there was a Duvall Post Office. It was located in the John Wikle Store building. John Wikle was the postmaster.

Over a period of time Briartown had at least 9 stores. They were owned by Milton Jeff May, Samuel Jefferson May, William (Uncle Bill) Jones, John Wikle, John Wishon, Frank Wilson, Harley May, George Douthit and Weaver Cochran; also Mose Duvall.

There were also 8 cornmills. They were owned by John Duvall, Mark Shields, John Wishon, Dave Owenby and William F. Cross. Later there were 3 more, owned by W. Frank Cross, Dill Grant and George Douthit.

The Shields cornmill was one of a kind. It was water driven, but the gear wheels were all made of wood. It made a terrible noise when it was operating, but it worked.

Briartown consisted of Otter Creek, Partridge Creek and several homes on the lower end of White Oak Creek. Fairview, Happy Top, as it was once known, had a church, which was established in 1909, a school, and at different times, at least three stores. One was owned by Joeph Bars Mason, Bry Lowery and a fellow Chambers who also had a “gasoline station.” They also had a post office and two cornmills. These cornmills were owned by Ervine Grant and Leonard Mashburn.

Camp Branch had a Baptist Church, which was established in 1892. It is now known as Union Hill Baptist Church. There was also a school, and at various times, four stores, two corn mills and a cemetery.

Beechertown, which is now considered to be in the Topton community, had a school. It was located where the present Rowlands Creek Church now stands. Nantahala Power Plant, which is operated by water from Nantahala Lake, is located in this community; also Queens Creek Power Plant.

      The Briartown Baptist Church, located on Briartown Church Rd.approximately two miles from the Nantahala School,is still searching for information about its beginning. There seems to be a connection between the Western Mt.Pleasant Baptist Church and Briartown, but at this time we lack the facts needed to clarify the relationship.
        On March 15, 1863, a meeting was held in the neighborhood of Briartown, and a presbytery comprised of the Reverends Merritt Rickman, Samuel gibson, Mark May, and William M. Deweese conducted the meeting. The Reverend Rickman was moderator and Reverend May, clerk. The purpose was to organize a church, and the minutes of that meeting show the following membership: Reverend William K. Adams, Nancy Adams, Johnston K. Adams, Elijah Wilson, James Forrester, Martha Forrester, E. Forrestor (female) , John Quween, Martha Quween, George W. Burnett, Sarah Burnett, Mary Mason,and Mayy W. Hampton.  These people are first linked with Western Mt. Plesant, and later some of them at least were members of Briartown Church.
         We would be grateful for any information that someonecould offer us about the start of our church. Our sources are the above mentioned sheet of minutes, but no other Briartown Church minutes prior to October 1897 are in our possession. We have been in the Southern and State Baptist Archives, Macon Baptist Association of which  we became a member in 1904, church minutes from 1897- 1998, and by various indidvduals. Briartown was a member of the Tuckaseige Baptist Association until 1904.

Pastors who have served the Briartown Church beginning in 1867 are:

Mark May 1867-85
Francis Marion Morgan 1885-88, 1891-93, 1896-97, 1902-05, 1914-16
A.A Justice 1889
J.S Woodard 1890, 1900-02
J.T Barnes 1894-95
W.C.Hamrick 1897-1900
A.S.Solesbee 1906-07
J.S Kinsland 1908-09, 1922-23
H.J.Hogue 1910-13
W.T.Truitt 1916-19
J.S.Stanbery 1919-22, 1935-40
J.M.Woodard 1924 – 25, 1927-30, 1945-47
Alga West 1925-26, 1932-34
Robert Barker 1931, 1943-44
T.D.Denny 1940-43, 1948- 51
C.C.Welch 1943

Carl Denny 1951-52
John Freeman 1952-58
France Postell 1958-61
T.A.Slagle 1961-62
S.J.Waters 1962-67, 1969-71
Carl Roper 1967-69
Johnny Raby 1971-73
Kenneth Jenkins 1973-75
Charles Leatherman 1976 (interim)
Frank James 1976-81
Tom Wells 1982 (interim)
Lennox Hedrick 1982-83
Jimmy Millsaps 1984-88
David Williams 1988-90
Shane Kirby 1993-94
Larry Icenhower 1990-93, 1995

By 1869 the official membership had increased to 23, and the number peaked for the 19 th century at 155 in the year 1888. In 1900 there were 101 members, and the highest total ever was 281 in 1928. Currently [the time of this writing was approx 2004] there are 187 members ( less than 70 are residents of the local area.)
Barring inclement weather weekend worship included both Saturday and Sunday services until around 1940. Often a visiting preacher would help the pastor in the services–on Sunday August 20,1910 there was preaching by Reverend Mashburn followed by Pastor Hogue. Saturday preaching hours were changed to
2:00 pm,on May 23 , 1914 . Also until the middle decades of the 1900,s, an elected pastor would only be at the church on alternate weekends. The other weekends would often find different preachers presiding over the services. For instance, Reverend Robert Barker conducted services the weekend of October 12, 1927, when Pastor J.M.Woodard was elsewhere.
From its early history on ,special revival services have been conducted yearly, smoetimes more so. Possibly the last such series of meetings for the 1800,s lasted 16 days beginning on Saturday July 25,1899, with twelve members added by their professed “experience of grace” and baptisim. Pastor W.C.Hamrick was assisted by Rev.M.A.Leon and Rev.F.M.Morgan. August 12, 1900 beganthe first revival meetings of this century. Rev.J.S.Woodard, after helping at least three other ministers, was elected pastor near the end of the month.
The meetings of 1940 and 1946 each resulted in 28 professions of faith. The first was lead by T.D.Denny and Rev.George Cloer, and for the 1946 meetings Rev.Denny returned along with Rev.Floyd Sitton at the request of Pastor J.M.Woodard and the church. Woodard was also the pastor in 1925 when Rev.W.W.Marr ran a five- week revival. Thirty-four professed their hope in Christ and were baptised.
BYPU and WMU were approved on Oct.8,1933. The work of the BTU was supported by the church beginning in Feb. 1946.
For many yeary a collection for the pastor or guest preacher was taken after each service and often included both cash and produce. Cash collections usually ranged from $2-$8.00 and might be as low as 54
cents. On a Sunday in 1932 the pastor’s offering was $7.20 cash and &1.00 produce. On Dec.26,1937 the
collection amounted to $9.96 cash and $21.70 produce. Besides these weekly love offerings, there were occasional pledges for a yearly salary. A motion was approved in August, 1900 to pay the pastor $50.00
for the years services. In May of 1929, the deacons recommended that the church pay the pastor $150.00
for the year. By the 1930’s a transportation collection was sometimes given also.
A special offering was taken in August 1918 to buy Reverend W.T.Truitt a horse. It ammounted to $17.75
and a committee of ladies was appointed to collect additional money— a few monts later they had an additional $37.65.
Briartown has long been among the churchs that support home and foreign missions. Selected examples are: (1) November 2, 1902–$3.49 collected for home and foreign missions;(2) August 21,1910–$2.00 for an orphanage(apparently supported the one at Thomasville for many years); (3) July 19 19– $28.20 for missions; (4) May 1, 1920– raised $93.00 for the Baptist $75,000,000 program; (5) January 9, 1921–
an unknown ammount sent to suffering Armenians; (6) May 26,1939–collected $93.30 for three local sick and needy people; (7) July 28, 1952—adopted a precentage plan in joining the Cooperative Program;
(8) Active support for the Broyhill Children’s Home and many other efforts throughout the years.
Tradition says that origional Briartown meeting House was a log building. It was followed by the building that some of our present members can recall and was used until another one was completed by 1943. In April 1943, the following 5th Sunday in May was set aside for the dedication of the new building.The dedication sermon was preached by Reverend C.C.Welch. Thie was the beginning of our current church house.Organ music was replaced by the first piano in 1946, and one year later electric lights were installed. Three years after this a new roof was built.
Coal heating was replaced by oil heat in 1965, and 1974 saw three major changes– a brick exterior, front porch, and stained glass windows.
The building sits on property acquired or donated primarily in the year 1871,1911,1937,and 1981. From slightly more that ten beginning members, Briartown’s history has seen 663 or more interred in its main cemetery and 86 in the nearby Bobby Hill Cemetery. This cemetery came under the care of the church in 1940. The longest tenures amoung elected officials are believed to be: Mark May–pastor; Oscar Hamilton–clerk; Weaver W Cochran–Sunday School Superintendent;and Dave L. Owenby–deacon.
The first delegates on record to the annual association convention were J.M.Forrester, Thomas Caler, and J.B.Morgan ( Tuckaseige Assocation 1870). The first delegates from Briartown to the Macon Baptist
Convention in 1904 were J.M.Cochran, J.R.Wikle, and F.M.Morgan.