In 1765, tensions between the American colonists and Great Britain were escalating. The seven-year French and Indian War had ended in 1763 with Great Britain being victorious. It was a tremendous financial cost to Great Britain and their national debt nearly doubled. The decision to keep thousands of British troops in America following the war was an additional expense Britain could ill afford. The British Parliament decided to raise revenue by imposing taxes on the colonists.The Sugar Act was passed in 1764 and the Stamp Act was passed in 1765. The colonists protested such taxes as they were not allowed any representation in Parliament and felt the taxes to be unconstitutional. When the Tea Act was passed by Parliament in 1773, the Boston Tea Party would soon follow. The British then resorted to military actions to enforce such laws and the colonists responded by forming militias and replacing colony governors, which were British, with governors of their own.
The British responded by placing Massachusetts under military rule. General Thomas Gage became the Governor of Massachusetts in his role as military commander. In April of 1775, Gage would send troops to disarm the militia. The Militia or "Minutemen" as they would be called, defeated the British troops with ease. The revolution was on.
The Revolutionary War (1775-1783) brought independence to this country but it also brought us a whole new cast of heros. Names like Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Henry and others quickly come to mind. Three such names are those of men whose fame came about not because of a particular battle, but because of a ride on a horse.
It is early in our academic studies that we are introduced to Paul Revere. Revere was a silversmith living in Boston. His silversmith and later, copper business would prove to be quite profitable for him. His metalworking ability would allow him to develop a press that would roll out copper sheets and he eventually became a pioneer in the production of copper plating. Copper from his company was used to cover the dome of the Massachusetts State House. His company still exists today as an employee-owned company. Revere Copper products have headquarters in Massachusetts and New York; and is the oldest manufacturing company in the United States. Any household that contains Reverware cookware has a connection to Paul Revere.
Revere was also involved with militia groups around Boston and kept a watchful eye on British movements. On April 16, 1775, he was given the mission to ride to Lexington and Concord and warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams that the British army was enroute to arrest them and to disarm the citizens. His ride was made famous by the poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow some 85 years after the incident in 1860.
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"Listen, my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere
On the 18th of April in Seventy-Five
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remember that famous day and year?"The poem goes on to list the deeds of Revere that night. The poem has often been understood to be historically accurate but in fact, it is not.
1. Revere was not the only rider that night. There were also two other riders, Samuel Prescott and William Dawes. 2. The original "One, if by land, and two, if by sea" was not a signal for him at all. It was in fact, a signal from him to the patriots. 3. He did not go to the Old North Church that night (nor was he a member as some state, he was a Congregationalist), neither were there any dead bodies lying in the churchyard, as the battle did not start until the next day in Lexington. 4. He did in fact make it to Lexington but never made it to Concord because the British captured him, although, he was soon released. 5. He did not cry out, "The British are coming", because the colonists thought of themselves as British. What he did say was, "The regulars are out," a term referring to the British soldiers. America's quest for independence. In September 1780, British Major Patrick Ferguson set up camp in Rutherford County, North Carolina. He issued a warning to the Patriots to lay down their arms or else he would "lay waste to their country with fire and sword." In doing so he seriously underestimated the mountain militia groups. He had less than a month to live.Martin Gambill left Virginia in 1768 and moved to North Carolina to join the "Regulators," a militia group that provided armed resistance against the British troops. In 1771 he moved to western North Carolina to what is now Ashe County. There he joined another militia group and spent the next few years fighting the British troops as well as the Indians living in the area.
At the close of the 1770's the War of Independence had moved further south to the states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. By mid 1780 things were looking bad for the colonists and their quest for independence. General Cornwallis had stationed his army near Charlotte, North Carolina and was planning to move north and attack George Washington from the rear. His problem, those militia groups in the mountains. They had to be eliminated.
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The job of eliminating these militia groups was given to Major Patrick Ferguson. Ferguson was a very arrogant individual and often overconfident concerning his ability and those of his troops. Ferguson sent two messengers into the mountains to meet with the militia groups with orders that all opposition to British forces cease immediately. He also ordered that two hundred men enlist in the loyalist militia to serve along side of the British troops and gather at a designated place as quickly as possible. Failure to do so would result in him coming into the mountains, lay waste to their home and farms and hang their leaders. The messengers were allowed to return to Ferguson, tarred and feathered with a message from the mountain men that they would have something to say about who was hung.On September 18, 1780, militia commanders, under the leadership of Isaac Shelby and John Sevier, met at Sevier's home near Boone, North Carolina. Shelby would later serve twice as Kentucky's governor and is buried in Lincoln County. Sevier would serve three times as Tennessee's governor and the only individual to serve as governor of the now defunct state of Franklin. Martin Gambill also attended the meeting. While the meeting was underway, word came that Ferguson's army was on the move toward the mountains. A decision was made to intercept him before he reached the mountains. Large signal fires were started on tops of mountain peaks as a way of warning to the mountain people that Ferguson was on his way. Since the signal could only be seen so far, other means of warning became necessary. Martin Gambill volunteered to ride. He left Seviers home late in the evening on September 18,1780. Martin Gambill would ride for over twenty-four hours straight with little food and no sleep. On the morning of September 19, he was crossing the farm of Enoch Osborne when his horse fell dead from exhaustion. Osborne, who was plowing at the time, unhooked one of the horses from the plow, saddled it and gave it to Gambill. He continued his ride but later in the day, the plow horse also fell dead. He secured another horse and continued the ride to Smyth County, Virginia to the home of Col. William Campbell, a militia leader in Virginia who was also married to Patrick Henry's sister. When the ride was over, Gambill had ridden over one hundred miles and had ridden two horses to death in doing so. Col. Campbell would leave with his four hundred militia troops and head south. At Sycamore Shoals, they would join forces with Shelby and Sevier and their troops. On October 1st, 1780, they began their move south with some 1,600 men to attack Ferguson's British troops. The mountains also had its share of British sympathizers who were acting as spies for Ferguson. When word reached him about the size of the militia's army he began a hasty retreat toward Charlotte and the safety of Cornwallis and his troops. When he realized he would not make it he chose a place along the North Carolina and South Carolina border called King's Mountain that he thought he could defend. He could not. In less than two hours, he and five hundred of his men were killed.
In May 2010, the Baptist History Preservation Society of which I am a member unveiled a painting of Martin Gambill's ride in Jefferson, North Carolina. It now hangs in the Ashe County Museum of History in Jefferson. Afterwards we were treated to a luncheon at the farms of Martin Gambill that is still owned by his descendants.
Farther north in Virginia, another individual would soon make a ride for the cause of America's independence. His name was Captain Jack Jouett.
The name Benedict Arnold has become a byword for treason in this country Arnold served as a
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major general for a number of years on the American side of the revolution. He took command of West Point in July of 1780. Angered by the fact he was passed over for promotion, he offered to surrender West Point to the British for a sum that would exceed one million dollars in today's money. The plot was discovered and Arnold fled down the Hudson River and sought refuge on a British war ship. He then accepted a commission in the British army as a brigadier general. On December 30, 1780, he sailed up the James River with twenty-seven British war ships and 1800 men and took Richmond, the capitol of Virginia. Six days later, Thomas Jefferson, governor of Virginia, fled the city and went to Monticello. By the middle of 1781, Cornwallis had left North Carolina and moved into Virginia. Virginia had now become the hotbed of the American Revolution. In May of 1781, Virginia's Legislature moved to Charlottesville. Early in the morning of June 3, 1781, British Colonel Banastre Tarleton with two hundred fifty soldiers, left Hanover Court House, north of Richmond and headed west toward Charlottesville, a distance of seventy miles, with intentions of surprising and capturing Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and members of the Virginia Legislature. The trip would take them through the little village of Cuckoo.Captain Jack Jouett had finished eating his evening meal and had gone outside to lie down under a tree to take a nap. Sometime, around 10 p.m. he awoke to the sound of horsemen. He was startled of what he saw. Two hundred and fifty British soldiers on the march. It became evident to him from the direction they were heading, that they were on their way to Charlottesville. He had to warn Jefferson. It would be the legislature's only hope to escape. Saddling his horse Sally, he began his forty-mile ride through the Virginia countryside toward Charlottesville. Jack Jouett was a big man. He stood six feet four inches tall and weighed over two hundred twenty pounds. He was from a family of Virginia patriots. Two of his brothers served in the regular Virginia army while he served as Captain in the 16th Regiment of the Virginia Militia. Several years before, he had signed the Albemarle "Declaration of Independence," which renounced any allegiance to King George and allowed only allegiance to Virginia as a free state. This would be his defining moment.
Colonel Tarleton would allow his troops to take a three hour rest at Louisa before continuing on to Charlottesville. After beginning his march again, he encountered eleven supply wagons headed for South Carolina with weapons for the American troops. He burnt the wagons and captured Francis Kinlock, a member of the Continental Congress. Six miles east of Charlottesville is Keswick, Virginia. Somewhere around dawn, Tarleton and his troops stopped at the home of one of Keswick's most noble citizens, Dr. Thomas Walker. Walker was not only a physician but also an explorer. Walker explored Kentucky almost twenty years before Daniel Boone and is considered the founder of the Cumberland Gap. He built the first cabin in Kentucky some five miles southwest of Barboursville where a replica stands today. He also gave the Cumberland River its name as well as being the first American to discover and use coal that he found in Kentucky.
Somewhere around four-thirty a.m. Jouett arrived at Jefferson's home, Monticello. Jefferson, being an early riser, was already awake and in his garden. Jefferson immediately sent his family off while he stayed behind to organize his papers. Later Jefferson would escape just as the British army entered his estate. Jouett headed for Charlottesville to warn of the army's approach.
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Jouett arrived at Swan Tavern in Charlottesville, a tavern that was owned by Jouett's father where most of the Virginia Legislature was staying. Most of the legislators escaped and fled to Staunton, some thirty five miles west of Charlottesville but a few were captured. Recovering from his wounds at the Battle of Guilford Court House, General Edward Stevens was also at Swan Tavern. Knowing his ability to escape would be hindered by his wounds, Jouett rode with him. The British Army eventually caught up to them. Stevens was not dressed in military garb, as was Jouett, so when the Army got close, Jouett took off with the army chasing him and ignoring Stevens who they thought to be a farmer. Jouett was able to elude them.The Virginia legislature, having reconvened in Staunton, passed a resolution in June 15th, 1781, to honor Jouett for his deed. He was rewarded with a sword and a pair of pistols although it took twenty years before he actually got the sword. Most Americans do not realize the importance of Jack Jouett's ride. However, because of what he did, four signers of the Declaration of Independence were able to escape capture; Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., and Richard Henry Lee. Jefferson would become President, Nelson would follow Jefferson as Virginia Governor, Harrison would father William Henry Harrison, the ninth President, Lee who would become a Senator from Virginia, was also the individual who made the motion in June of 1776, calling for the colonies independence from Great Britain.
THE KENTUCKY CONNECTION In 1782, Jouett moved to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and he served as a Virginia Legislator from Mercer County while Kentucky was still a part of Virginia. Later he was a Kentucky Legislator from Mercer County and later from Woodford County when he moved to Versailles.
Jouett married Sallie Robard while in Mercer County. They had twelve children. One of his sons was the famous portrait painter Matthew Jouett whose portraits of Jefferson, George Rogers Clark, Marquis de Lafayette and other, grace the walls of museums and state houses around the country. Matthew's son, James Edward Jouett was a famous naval officer who served with Admiral Farragut. Another of Matthew's sons, George Jouett, served two terms as Lexington's mayor before he was killed at the Battle of Perryville.
Jack Jouett would spend much of his Kentucky life at his farm on Craig's Creek Road in Versailles. His house is now opened to the public. Here he became an agricultural leader in Kentucky. He also imported cows and horses. He died March 1, 1822 at his daughter's house in Bath County and is buried in an unmarked grave.
How important was Jack Jouett's ride may never be determined, in 1926, Stuart Gibbony, president of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation was quoted as saying "But for Captain Jack Jouett's heroic ride, there would have been no Yorktown and the Revolutionists would have been only unsuccessful rebels."
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Bibliography for Captain John "Jack" Jouett 1. americanrevolution.org
2. williamdbailey.wordpress.com
3. ancestry.com
4. Harrishancock family tree
5. Jack Jouett House Historic Site - Versailles, KY
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JEREMIAH VARDEMAN
By Mickey WinterBorn - July 8, 1775- Wythe County, VA.
Died - May 28,1842 - Rails County, MO.
Second Pastor of Crab Orchard Baptist Church, Crab Orchard, KY. 1802-1810"Probably the most affective pulpit orator and the most successful
preacher that ever lived in Kentucky" - J. H. SpencerJohn Mason Peck writes of Vardeman in his book, "Annals of the American Pulpit", (1860) - "he had then baptized a greater number than any Baptist minister in the United States - the exact number can not be ascertained; but it probably exceeded eight thousand."
The Vardeman family immigrated to America from Sweden in the early part of the eighteenth century. They would eventually move to South Carolina where Jeremiah's father, John, would marry Elizabeth Morgan. That union would produce twelve children of whom Jeremiah was the youngest. In 1767, they would move to Wythe County, Virginia where Jeremiah was born in 1775. John Vardeman would be a part of the Daniel Boone expedition that cut the trail from the southwest corner of Virginia to Boonesborough, Kentucky. In 1779, John would take his family and settle in Lincoln County near present day Crab Orchard. This was two years before Lewis Craig would leave Virginia with the "traveling church" and settle on Gilberts Creek near Lancaster, Kentucky and some four years before Joseph Bledsoe would start the Gilberts Creek Separate Baptist Church.
In Kentucky the older Vardeman men would take part in defending the settlers against the Indians. They then joined militia groups and some would serve in the Revolutionary war. Others would serve under George Rogers Clark and also served as scouts under William Whitley.
In 1783, there were only five Baptist churches in Kentucky and only eight preachers. The Gilberts Creek Regular Baptist Church, the "traveling church" of Lewis Craig, which had settled on Gilberts Creek in December, 1781, had pretty well dissolved into other churches. Many of the members moved further north with Craig across the Kentucky River. Others would join the Gilberts Creek Separate Baptist Church organized by Joseph Bledsoe in 1783. Joseph Bledsoe's son, William, would become the first pastor of Crab Orchard Baptist Church and another son, Jesse, would become the Secretary of State in Kentucky. Later, Jesse would serve in the Kentucky House of Representatives as well as having served as a senator. Eventually he became a judge and taught law at the Transylvania University.
John Vardeman and his wife, being active Baptists, were probably members at Gilberts Creek Separate Baptist Church. In 1812, they moved to Missouri. In 1791, Gilberts Creek dismissed forty active members for the purpose of starting a church in
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Crab Orchard. William Marshall who was himself a very active Baptist preacher organized the church. Among the fruits of his ministry would be John Taylor and Joseph Reading. The Crab Orchard Church would be called the Cedar Creek Baptist Church. It was not until 1809 that the name was changed to Crab Orchard Baptist Church.William Bledsoe, son of Joseph Bledsoe, was called as the first pastor. It is recorded that he was an intelligent man but not a very consecrated preacher. He would soon leave the Baptists and become a Universalist. Later still, he became indifferent to anything of a spiritual nature and died a practicing horse racer.
It was an outbreak of revival in the Gilberts Creek area that led to the organization of the Crab Orchard Church. The revival lasted from 1789 to 1792. It was during this time that Jeremiah Vardeman and two of his brothers, Amaziah and Morgan, would profess faith in Christ and were baptized, probably by William Bledsoe, and joined the Crab Orchard Church. Jeremiah was seventeen years of age and said he had been under conviction for three months. He immediately felt the need to preach but because he was timid and lacked any formal education, he suppressed it. For the next few years he was active in all the meetings but never really became involved in anything, choosing instead to remain in the background. His friends were most certainly not the best influence on his life. They convinced him that there was nothing wrong with dancing and having a good time. He soon became a regular visitor to the third floor of the William Whitley house where Whitley permitted a dancing school to be taught. He even bought a violin and became a popular fiddler at the dance school. He also met a young lady by the name of Elizabeth James. Not being a professing Christian, even though her parents were active members of the Crab Orchard church, she saw nothing wrong with Jeremiah's lifestyle. However, the church did and he was excluded.
In August of 1799, Jeremiah married Elizabeth and moved to Pulaski County. Elizabeth would be the first of his three wives and she would bear him twelve children. They would remain in Pulaski County for several years.
Living in Pulaski County at that time, was a preacher by the name of Thomas Hansford. Hansford helped organize the Sinking Creek Baptist Church in Somerset in 1799 and would become its first pastor. Sinking Creek would later become First Baptist of Somerset. Vardeman and his wife would often attend his meetings. At one such meeting, Hansford preached from II Peter 2:22- "But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing hi the mire." He applied the text to those who had professed Christ but afterwards returned to their old way of life. Vardeman became deeply convicted as well as his wife. For several days he could not work and spent the time in the woods seeking the face of God. He repented, not only of his sins but also for his refusal to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in surrendering to preach.
He later attended a prayer meeting at one of his neighbor's house. There was no preacher present and someone asked Vardeman to speak and he did. For the next few weeks, similar meetings were held and he was asked to speak. Soon, word reached Lincoln County about his preaching and the Crab Orchard Church restored him to membership and licensed him to preach. In a short time, many of his frivolous friends professed Christ as well.
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Vardeman moved back to Crab Orchard in 1801 and was ordained by the church. In 1802 he accepted the pastorate of Cedar Creek Baptist Church and remained there until 1810. During his pastorate, the church changed its name to Crab Orchard Baptist Church. Vardeman was pastoring other churches as well, plus doing revival work around the state. This may be a bit confusing to some as to how a preacher could pastor more than one church at a time since it is generally not the mode of our day. One must remember that churches would often meet just once a month and sometimes even on Saturday. This would allow a preacher to preach in more than one church at a time. Later we would find that churches would meet more than once a month and have a different preacher for each service. That is why we read that different preachers often pastored the same church at the same time but on different Sundays.In 1810, Vardeman resigned Crab Orchard and took the pastorate of David's Fork Baptist Church in Lexington. Within six months, one hundred and seventy souls were added to the church. One of those individuals was James Welch who became a successful Baptist preacher in Missouri. Vardeman was pastor at David's Fork for over twenty years while pastoring several other churches at the same time. In 1811, he accepted the pastorate of Bryant's Station Baptist Church and pastored there until 1830 when he moved to Missouri. During this period he also was pastor of Lulbegrud and Grassy Lick in Montgomery County. He was also busy conducting revival meetings throughout Kentucky. In 1820, he preached in Nashville, Tennessee and as a result of that meeting the First Baptist Church of Nashville was organized. In 1828, he held meetings in Cincinnati, Ohio and one hundred and eighteen people were baptized during the meeting.
In the fall of 1830, Vardeman resigned all his churches in Kentucky and moved to Ralls County, Missouri. His first wife Elizabeth, who bore him twelve children, died around 1818. His second wife Elizabeth Bryant, bearing one child, died in 1822. His third wife, Lucy Bullock, whom he married in 1823 when he was forty-eight years of age and she was twenty-one years of age, would bear him four children and travel with him to Missouri where he would buy a 200-acre farm.
His work did not cease when he moved to Missouri. He constituted Salem Baptist where he served five years. He also started or helped start Bethel, Mt. Pleasant, and the church at Palmyra in 1834. In 1834, he presided over a meeting, which eventually led to the organization of the General Association of Missouri Baptists. On Saturday morning, May 28, 1842, after calling his family to his bedside and bidding them farewell, he moved to his heavenly reward. He was sixty-six years of age. He is buried on the family farm in Ralls County, Missouri. The grave is hard to find and requires the crossing of several fences to get to it. In May of 2008, the Baptist History Preservation Society erected an eight-foot tall marker in his memory at the Salem Baptist Church in Canter, Missouri.
Jeremiah Vardemen and the Jesse James - William Jewell College Connection
Recently I had the privilege of having lunch with Eric James. Eric is a former actor and international real estate broker. He currently lives in Danville, Kentucky, and is working on a
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four-volume history of the family of Frank and Jesse James. He is president of the James Preservation Trust, which deals with the heirs of the James Family. Eric and Judge James R. Ross, who was the great-grandson of Jesse James founded the non-profit trust in 2002. I highly recommend his very informative website, EricJames.org. Eric helped fill in the blanks on the Jeremiah Vardeman - Jesse James connection.John M. James came to Kentucky from Virginia in 1781, probably with the "traveling church" of Lewis Craig. They settled near Crab Orchard, Kentucky. John M. James was not only a preacher, he would later become a judge as well. He and his wife had eight children. Three of the boys would be preachers. Several of them would pastor at Flat Lick Baptist Church in Pulaski County, Kentucky and First Baptist of Somerset, Kentucky. His daughter, Elizabeth, would marry Jeremiah Vardeman. The family would relocate to Pulaski County and buy a farm. Vardeman and Elizabeth would live there for a few years until Vardeman moved back to Crab Orchard. The farm was located on Highway 80 east of Somerset. If you take Hwy 461 from Mount Vernon toward Somerset, turn right at Hwy 80, go approximately 3/4 of a mile, the old farm is located on the left side of the road. There is a gravel company located there now. There are no remains of the house left. On the right side of the road up on the hill is the old family graveyard. A number of the James family is buried there including several preachers.
Elizabeth James, who married Jeremiah Vardeman had a cousin, Robert Sallee James. James, was a Baptist preacher who graduated from Georgetown College in Kentucky. Vardeman was at one time a trustee there and founded the Vardeman School of Theology at Georgetown. Robert Sallee James married Zerelda Cole who was a student at a Catholic convent in Lexington. They would later move to Missouri where Zerelda would give birth to Frank and Jesse James. Robert would pastor in Missouri and was one of the original trustees of William Jewell College. He helped establish the school with money supposedly given to him from Jeremiah Vardeman. Robert James would travel to California in 1850 to preach to the men who worked the gold mines. He contracted cholera soon after his arrival and died. He is buried in an unmarked grave in Placerville, California. Zerelda would remarry and Frank and Jesse James would grow up to be outlaws.
It is often said that Frank and Jesse would come to Somerset during their outlaw days and visit with their relatives. This is more family lore than anything. They may have come to Somerset but it cannot be established as truth. However, they most certainly were in Kentucky at different times. They rode with Quantrell and his raiders when they came through Kentucky, and robbed a bank in Logan County in 1868.
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Bibliography for Jeremiah Vardeman 1. Spencer, J. H. - A History of Kentucky Baptists
2. Duncan, R. S. - A History of the Baptists in Missouri
3. Semple, R. B. - History of the Baptists in Virginia
4. Nolin, W. D. - Kentucky Baptist History
5. Christian, J. T. - A History of Kentucky Baptists
6. Taylor, J. B. - Virginia Baptist Ministers
7. Elkhorn Association Circular Letter - 1828
8. Ancestry.com
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ANDREW TRIBBLE
by Mickey Winter
Born - March 22, 1741 - Caroline County, VA.
Died - December 30, 1822 - Madison County, KY.Caroline County, Virginia lies northeast of modern day Richmond, Virginia. It was named for Caroline of Ansbach, wife of King George II of Great Britain. During the Revolutionary War it was the third most populous county in Virginia. Rich in history, it was in Guinea that "Stonewall" Jackson died after being shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville. John Wilkes Booth, the man who shot President Abraham Lincoln, was shot to death on April 26, 1865, on the Garrett farm just south of Port Royal. Garrett's son, Richard, who was an eleven year old eye-witness at that time, would later become a Baptist preacher.
Caroline County also gave birth to William Clark of Lewis and Clark Expedition fame. He was the younger brother of Jonathan Clark who served during the Revolutionary War, and George Rogers Clark of Kentucky fame. Jonathan and George are buried in the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky and William is buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. Caroline County also gave birth to Andrew Tribble. Tribble was a cousin to the Clark brothers. His mother, Elizabeth, had been a Clark. She died when Andrew was four years old. Little is known about his early years prior to his conversion and baptism around 1765 by James Read.
In Virginia, the established or "state" church was the Anglican Church. The Anglican Church is similar to the Church of England which would be also similar to the Catholic Church. The Anglicans hated the Baptists because the Baptists believed the scripture was their sole authority. The Baptist preached baptism by immersion only and only to those who were old enough to profess Christ as Savior. They also preached against infant baptism. The Anglicans referred to them as dissenters. Dissenters were required by law to register their meeting houses and could not preach without a license. A number of Baptist preachers would suffer for their disobedience to this law. They were often physically abused and imprisoned. Among them were the Craig brothers, John Waller, James Childs, John Weatherford, Elijah Baker, Andrew Tribble, James Ireland, and many others.
Soon after his conversion hi 1765, Tribble began to preach. He often said he was the fifty-third Baptist north of the James River. He began to preach in the surrounding counties and in 1771, he became a member of Goldmine Church in Louisa County. The church sent him as a messenger to the first meeting of the General Association of Virginia in May, 1771.
In January of 1773, a church was organized in Albemarle County on the farm of David Lewis. It would be called Lewis' Old Meeting House. Later it used the names Albemarle County Baptist Church, Chestnut Grove, and Buck Mountain. It began with 48 members. John Waller, Elijah Craig and Lewis Craig would often preach there. In 1777, Andrew Tribble was called as pastor and ordained by Lewis Craig. In 1783 he bought a 175 acre farm not far from the church.
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While at the church in Albemarle County, Tribble would often have a distinguished visitor who lived nearby at Monticello. He was Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson would later become the third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence.Jefferson would occasionally have Tribble dine with him at Monticello. It was on one such occasion that Jefferson remarked that the government of the Baptist church struck him with such force that he considered it would be the best plan of government for the American colonies.
Although this account is often questioned by the liberal and anti-God movements of this country, there are at least five separate references to such a meeting. Dolly Madison, wife of our fourth president, confirmed this meeting took place. Dr. James Fishback also gave an account. Fishback was a medical doctor who practiced in Lexington, Kentucky. He united with the Bryant's Station Baptist Church in November, 1816, after being baptized by Jeremiah Vardeman. He was licensed to preach the following month. Ordained by Jeremiah Vardeman, he began to pastor the new church at Lexington. He pastored the church until 1827, at which time, coming under the influence of Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell, he led a small group out of the church and became involved with the Church of Christ movement. In 1836, he again returned to the Baptist movement. He later again would return to the Church of Christ.
Fishback's account appears in the July 14, 1826 edition of the "Christian Watchman," of Boston, Massachusetts. Fishback was a friend of Tribble when Tribble was the pastor of Tates Creek Baptist Church. It might be noted that although Jefferson was not a Baptist, he was sympathetic to their cause.
When Jefferson returned to Monticello in 1809 after his second term as President, the following letter was sent to him by the Buck Mountain Baptist Church.
Buck Mountain Church March 19,1809
Albemarle Buck Mountain Baptist Church sendeth greetings to our much esteemed friend, Mr. Thomas Jefferson.Dear Sir,
We congratulate you in your return home, from your labor and painful service of eight years. Now to take some sweet hours of retirement and rest -- Enjoying at pleasure the company of your loving friends and neighbors. Not that we were weary or dissatisfied with your conduct, but were well pleased; for which we be pleased to accept of these our kind thoughts, in a work, we wish you health, wealth, and prosperity through life everlasting.Signed by the Order of the Church
George Tyman48
Mr. Jefferson responded:Monticello, April 13, 1809Did Thomas Jefferson get his ideas for our country's democracy from Andrew Tribble and the Buck Mountain Baptist Church? Only Thomas Jefferson knows for sure. One thing is certain however, the Church and Mr. Jefferson were on speaking terms.
I thank you, my friends and neighbors, for your kind congratulations on my return to my native home, and of the opportunities it will give me of enjoying, amidst your affections, the comforts of retirement and rest. Your approbation of my conduct is more valued as you have best known, and is an ample reward for any services I may have rendered. We have acted together from the origin to the end of a memorable Revolution and we have contributed each in the time allotted to us our endeavors to render its issues a permanent blessing to our country. That our social contribution may, to the evening of our days, be cheered and cemented by witnessing the freedom and happiness for which we have labored, will be my constant prayer. Accept the offering of my affectionate esteem and respect.
TH. JeffersonAndrew Tribble arrived in Kentucky hi 1783 and settled for a short time on the Dix River in what was then Lincoln County. With him, he brought his wife, the former Sarah Ann Burrus whom he married in 1768. Sarah would give birth to twelve children. One of their daughters, Tandy, would marry Michael Stoner, a long hunter, who was friends with Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. In 1767, Stoner, Boone, and James Harrod spent some time at Crab Orchard, Kentucky. He served with George Rogers Clark at Vincennes in 1779. In 1797, he moved to the Cumberland River area of Pulaski County, Kentucky and later to Wayne County. In 1810, he went to Missouri to visit his friend, Daniel Boone who had married there in 1799. After a long hunting trip of some two years, he returned home to Wayne County where he died in 1815. He is buried near Monticello, Kentucky.
One of their sons, Peter, married Mary Boone, daughter of George Boone, who was the brother of Daniel Boone. Peter also became a Baptist preacher. He and his wife are buried near his parents on the old family farm some three miles from Richmond.
Another daughter, Nancy, married David Chenault. Chenault pastored a number of churches including Unity, Cane Spring, White Oak Pond, Mt. Tabor, and others. He also acquired quite a fortune.
Tribble soon left the Dix River and moved to Clark County where he joined the Howards Creek (later Providence) Baptist Church where Brother Elkin was Pastor.
Elkin's church was also a type of traveling church. A number of Baptist families from Orange and Culpepper County met at Black's Fort in Virginia in December, 1780 which is near present
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day Abingdon, Virginia. They would remain at the fort almost three years. When Lewis Craig and his church passed through the area in September, 1781, Craig helped constitute them into a church and Elkin was elected Pastor. They moved to Kentucky in September, 1783, and settled for a year at Craig's station near Lancaster, the site of the original travelling church, on Gilberts Creek. Many of the buildings were empty because Craig and a number of his followers had moved further north. Elkin and his church would eventually move north, to Clark County and form the Howards Creek (Providence) Church. Tribble would join the church in January, 1786 and serve as co-pastor. In 1790, a revival broke out and the church grew in numbers. There arose a problem and it caused a division in the church. Tribble took a group and formed the Unity church while Elkin remained at Howard's Creek. The church changed its name to Providence and Elkin pastored until his death in 1822. He was married twice and his wives gave birth to a total of twenty-two children.Tribble founded Tates Creek Baptist Church in Madison County in 1786. In 1790, this church had a membership of 212. In 1793, Tates Creek and four other churches formed the Tates Creek Association of United Baptists. Tribble would help organize a dozen churches in his lifetime. He would remain at Tates Creek for many years until his health would force him to retire.
It is said of Tribble that he was a preacher of good ability. He labored in Kentucky for over thirty-five years. His son said he baptized some two thousand persons. He died in December of 1822.
In July, 2009, the Baptist History Preservation Society of which I am a member erected a memorial to Andrew Tribble at Tates Creek Baptist Church in Richmond, Kentucky. The church is located on the Boonesborough Road, just east of Interstate 75 at Exit 95.
Tribble bought a 373 acre farm while at Tates Creek. It is located about three miles south of the church on the road that runs parallel with Interstate 75. He and members of his family are buried in the family cemetery on the farm. You can see the cemetery from Interstate 75. Going north on 75, almost two miles north of Exit 90, on the right hand side of the road, off in the distance, you will see a house and stone walled fence around a small group of trees. Tribble and some of his family are buried behind the fence.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Bjomstad, Rebecca - Thomas Jefferson - The Freedom of America
Little, Lewis Peyton - Imprisoned Preachers and Religious Liberty in Virginia
Semple, R. B. - History of the Baptists in Virginia
Spencer, J. H. - A History of Kentucky Baptists
Taylor, J. B. - Virginia Baptist Ministers
Elkhorn Association Circular Letter - 1828
Ancestry.com
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BOOK REVIEW
Re-thinking Baptist Doctrines
Edited by V.I. MastersWhat does it mean to "re-think" Baptist doctrines? To answer this question we must under-stand who the editor of this book was and when it was first published. Victor Irvine Masters (1867-1954) served as editor of the "Western Recorder" newspaper in Kentucky from 1921 until his retirement in 1942. While serving in this capacity, in 1937, Masters edited and published the book "Re-thinking Baptist Doctrines."
The title of the book comes from the fact that Masters believed that distinctive Baptist doctrines had long been neglected and needed to be reemphasized to the current generation. Masters thought a book was needed to strengthen Southern Baptists from the two extremes which were threatening to undermine his denomination. On one hand Masters saw a growing theological liberalism which was already creeping into Southern Baptist seminaries, colleges, and large city pulpits. However, on the other hand, he noticed an aggressive fundamentalism which was largely interdenominational and downplayed the Importance of Baptist distinctives.
In putting the book together Masters asked eleven well-known Baptist preachers to author chapters on various Baptist doctrines. To help the volume have an all around appeal, Masters used an ingenious combination of local and national authors. M. P. Hunt, T. D. Brown, and S. F. Dowis were pastors in Louisville, while J. E. Skinner and C. C. Carroll had pastored in the western part of Kentucky. (J. E. Skinner actually pastored the Farmington Baptist Church where I currently serve.) W. T. Conner and L. R. Scarborough were both professors at Southwestern Baptist Seminary and C. C. Carroll (B. H.'s son) was a professor at the newly formed Baptist seminary in New Orleans. I. J. Van Ness was associated with the Southern Baptist Sunday School board in Nashville, while R. K Maiden was editor of the state Baptist newspaper in Missouri. Of the remaining two authors, J. B. Cranfill was a noted pastor in Texas and T. F. Callaway was a leading pastor in Georgia.
The book discusses such important Baptist doctrines as salvation by grace, the act, subject, and administrator for baptism, the nature and participants in the Lord's Supper, church membership, church officers, the nature, responsibility, and perpetuity of the church and much more. With eleven different writers, one would think there would be some contradictions between them, but in the introduction Masters noted, "no single writer has differed at any point from doctrinal teachings which are developed by his fellows. Our writers reinforce each other."
If this was a book that was badly needed in 1937, how much more is it today? Thankfully the Bryan Station Baptist Church (3175 Briar Hill Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40516) reprints this historic book for only $5 a copy. (176 pages, paperback) At the beginning of each chapter Masters inserted a series of questions, so the book could be used in church study classes. At least one J. H. Spencer Historical Society member purchased enough copies for his Sunday School class and taught the book over one quarter. I heartily recommend "Re-thinking Baptist Doctrines" and hope it will have a wide readership among individuals and churches.
Reviewed by Ben Stratton, pastor of the Farmington Baptist Church, Farmington, Kentucky.
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BOOK REVIEW: Baptist Succession
by D. B. RayMy first exposure to Baptist history was a volume already old when I was a youngster in southern Illinois. My grandfather, whom I never met, had left several books. Most, other than a full set of Charles Dickens, were on the Bible or Christian themes. I had opened all of them, and was fascinated with history, so I tried to read D. B. Ray's Baptist Succession, but a 10 year-old found the Dark Ages pretty tough going, so it was set aside for a while. Then our home church, like many other Southern Baptist churches, had a study on "The Trail of Blood" by J. M. Carroll (the year was 1948 or 1949), and I recognized that we were covering the same material as the Ray book, so I dug it out again and began to compare them. Soon the broad outlines of our long Baptist story became fairly clear, if many details remained obscure. I still have that Ray book, printed in 1912 by Foley Railway Printing Co., Parsons, Kansas, and my first copy of Carroll's work, and can honestly say they set me on a lifetime study of the hidden years and the issues of those parts of our Baptist story which are a bit better documented but still hold controversies.
The type face of that old volume is still a bit difficult, and especially as it begins to fade, so it is a real joy to know that a new edition, priced quite reasonably, is now readily available. This new edition of Ray's Baptist Succession is published by the Christian Book Gallery, c/o Larry Harrison, P.O. Box 8, St John, Indiana 46373. It is a 488 page nice paperback with an index, a new foreword, a short biography and picture of the author. The cost is only $7 plus $2 for shipping.
-Ray was a west Kentuckian, born in Hickman County, which was the first county in the Jackson Purchase. He was led to Christ and baptized by Elder Willis White, founder of Clinton College, in Graves County (at Little Obion Baptist Church, which was then in the association), and before going to Missouri, served as pastor of what are now the First Baptist Churches of Fulton and Mayfield. His "landmark" views were those of virtually all Southern Baptists until the ideas of W. H. Whitsitt were first broached and some felt they had to change "to be scholarly" and in tune with the rapidly changing world. Like the notions of Darwin and Freud, Whitsitt's actual theory is seldom held by any today, though his name is used to justify continuing change while ignoring old, established facts. One feature of Ray's work which might be open to debate is his interpretation of the 1,260 years of the Revelation ("a time, and times, and half a time," or 3 1/2 years). In Chapter 30, "The Waldensean Period - 1260 Years", Ray argues that "the true church, under the symbol of a woman, was driven into the wilderness after the great apostasy, where she was "nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. . . ." He calls this "the obscure period of church history," and traces the New Testament kind of churches from 325 to the Reformation through those mountain fastnesses of the Alps, where "the earth helped the woman" and, by various names and with varying issues, true Christianity was preserved. Before we reject this interpretation to hold a yet-future tune of great troubles as the only possible idea of these years, it would be well to recall that though a given passage of Scripture has only one interpretation, it may have multiple applications, and even if a yet-future tribulation tune is to come before the visible appearing of our Lord, that does not mean no persecution and protection ever took place before.
Reviewed by R. Charles Blair, D. D., Pastor of the Poplar Grove Baptist Church, Hickman, Kentucky
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[Note: The following Circular Letter reporting the spiritual condition of the association, tells of some revival among the churches, then refers to "the common pestilence" that was afflicting many of the churches. In this case it was not a medical epidemic, but the intrusion of Campbellism that was disturbing the churches; not only in this association but throughout the State. Pastor Warder's reference to "covenant breaking" means the new group was insisting that the Baptist churches not have any written Biblical doctrinal beliefs or "creed" that explained their faith and practice. At this time, it was often just a few members of the churches who were influenced by Alexander Campbell's followers to disturb "the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace." Pastor Warder warns of this distraction that takes away from the churches' purpose: to preach the gospel. - Jim Duvall, editor, www.baptisthistoryhomepage.com]
Circular Letter, 1831
Bethel Baptist Association, KY
A Brief History of the State of Religion in the Association
By William Warder, PastorBeloved Brethren: Having received intelligence from all the Churches composing our body, we propose giving you a brief history of the state of religion in the bounds of our association.
Since the last annual meeting there have been but few additions to the churches by a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus, and submission to the ordinance of baptism. The few who have been brought in we regard as evidences of divine presence, and manifestations of the work of the Holy Spirit. Of late, there has been a pleasing appearance of a revival of religion in the neighborhood, between Mt. Gilead and Mt. Pisgah churches, eleven have been baptized and the work appears to be progressing. How desirable it is, that the little cloud should gather strength, and water all the garden of God. For this let us be fervently engaged in prayer. In the abscensce [sic] of revivals it is pleasant to have it in our power to say, that the churches enjoy "the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace" but alas! this has not been our condition, during the past year; at least not of all the churches. The common pestilence, which has afflicted the Baptist society generally, and particularly some of the associations in Kentucky, has afflicted us. It is true there are but three of our churches, where the votaries of reform (so called) [Campbellism] even sufficiently numerous to form a body capable of self government, yet many of the churches have had the subject before them, on account of one or more of their members having adopted their doctrine and thereby became troublesome in the house of God. Indeed where no member has been carried astray by it, such has been the deleterious effects, which it has had on society, by diverting the mind from better things, that it has operated as a mildew on the prosperity and of Zion.
Covenant breaking (and such is the design and tendency of this reformation) is an evil most likely to sour the temper and produce impatience. Society rarely if ever passes under a scourge of this kind, without the temper's being thrown of[f] its proper equilibrium, some, from an
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ill-directed zeal for the maintenance of truth are ready to say, "master shall we command fire from heaven and consume them as Elijah did" and others from a morbid state of judgment, do not discriminate between right and wrong, and would abuse charity by casting it as a mantle over error; which is as pernicious to the church, as poison to the human constitution. These like Aaron would have a golden calf in the camp; and those like Jehu would drive on furiously and say, "behold my zeal for the Lord." We are happy to have it in our power to say, that but little of the above named spirits have manifested themselves in the management of this evil amongst us. The churches considering themselves "built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" and trusting in the divine aid of Him who says, "on this rock will I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."From Bethel Baptist Association Minutes, 1831, pp. 6-7. From microfilm records at the Logan-Todd Association office, Russellville, KY.
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The Shelton-Wright Family Preachers The ten preachers pictured and listed here span history from the middle 1700's to the twenty-first century. As men of the gospel they touched 2865 churches in eight states.
The first four used horses and traveled the countryside as circuit riding preachers. For instance, Gabriel Thomas Shelton helped six churches join into an association in central Kentucky. He then moved to central Kentucky near Richmond, and was killed later by Indians as he returned to Virginia to report his success. Richmond Thomas Shelton left Virginia and traveled into North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, traveling by horseback starting churches, Sunday Schools, preaching in brush arbors and meeting houses. Actually they both functioned as a Director of Missions does now. These preachers were pioneers!
Thomas Lemuel Shelton, Richmond's son, started eight churches in what was called Land Between the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, now Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake.
Since that time, T. G., T. H., R. G. and myself, T. L., served a total of 50 years as District Missionaries, Superintendent of Missions, County Missionaries, Directors of Missions, and now Associational Director of Missions, (I have served 25 years so far). The four of us pastored 57 churches as well. The reason the number of churches is so high is that T. H. (Hicks) Shelton served as Director of Evangelism for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, traveling the whole state.
All eight Shelton preachers served in what is now called the Director of Missions role, and started about 53 churches, helping each church organize itself with Sunday Schools and all other programs as they developed in Southern Baptist life.
Two Wright preachers, my mother's (Helen Virginia Wright Shelton, a 1937 Campbellsville graduate) father, Leslie Thomas Wright (my grandfather), and her uncle, Abner King Wright, served as pastors for a total of 104 years. Helen's uncle, Denton James Wright, served as President of Campbellsville University from 1930-1941. He made it possible for her to attend the college. Altogether, ten of us have attended Campbellsville University, and five of us have graduated.
~ Bro. Thomas L. Shelton http://sheltom.com/SHELTOM/preachers/
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How to become a Member of the J. H. Spencer Historical Society
Membership in the J. H. Spencer Historical Society is open to anyone who has an interest in preserving and promoting our Baptist heritage and historic distinctives.
The JHSHS operates solely on the dues of members as we receive no funding from the Cooperative Program of the Kentucky Baptist Convention for our operating costs. The officers are unpaid volunteers.
The membership dues are as follows: 1 year ... $10.00 - 2 years ... $17.00 - 3 years ... $27.00
If you are interested in becoming a member, fill out the application, enclose your dues and mail to: Ben Stratton
P. O. Box 26
Farmington, KY 42040
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Kentucky Baptist History