History of Big Island Baptist Church
According to the Jefferson Davis family tradition the first Baptist in the Big Island area may have been Natheniel Davis, an ancestor of the Confederate President. In 1680 he married Elizabeth Hughes, the daughter of the first white man to settle in this part of Virginia. The Davis family was from Wales and they were Baptists.
However it was not until 1886, six years after the James River and Kanawaha Canal ceased operations, that there were enough Baptists in the area to form a church. For a number of years before 1886 there had been a community church in Big Island erected on one-half acre of land given by John Burford. In 1872 the Methodists of Bedford City had a mission here with Rev. E.D. DeWitt as pastor. This group built their own house of worship in 1884. The Baptists continued to use the old one room building which was located just below where our present educational building now stands.
On Sunday night October 24, 1886 an invited presbytery consisting of S.A. Major and R.N. Hobson from the Hunting Creek Baptist Church; Rev. J.H. Harris, G.E. Sanderson and W.G. Putt from the Chestnut Hill Baptist Church and Rev. Gabriel Grey from the Cornerstone Baptist Church met with interested persons for discussion. After due deliberations the Big Island Baptist Church was constituted. B.M. Page was elected clerk, J.B. Cox treasurer, R.H. Cox, Geo. T. Snead and B.F. Cox deacons; and Rev. Gabriel Grey was called as the first pastor. By the end of 1886 there were 29 members. From the records of teh Hunting Creek Baptist Church dated December 1886 the following “were granted letters to join the Big Island Baptist Church.” G.T. Snead, B.M. Page, W.M. Dejarnette, James Oliver, James Reynolds, Mrs. Martha Spinner Snead, Miss Gracie Page, Mrs. Martha Arthur McDaniel, Mrs. Geo. Going, Mrs. Peachy Hawkins, Mrs St. John, Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Jas. Reynolds, Mrs. B.M. Page, and Mrs. Martin. Other charter members were J.B. Cox, B.F. Cox, R.H. Cox, Mrs. J.B. Cox, Mrs. Jennie Jordan, Miss Occola V. Hawkins, and Miss Goergia Snead.
At the first meeting after organization, Brother Grey made some very appropriate remarks in condemnation of the usual worldly amusements of the day. Brother Snead offered the following query to be answered at the following meeting: “Is it right for church members to engage in dancing, if not, should we not discountenance its practice?” The minutes of the next meeting noted: “After discussion of Brother Snead’s query propounded at the last meeting, the same was withdrawn unanswered.” It is not unusual to read in the early history of the church such statements as this: “Rumors contrary to the Christian character of some brother has caused to be appointed a committee to see him and cite him to the church if his conduct warranted it.” In most cases, the straying brother would acknowledge his transgressions with “regret and sorrow” and was forgiven to be fully restored. A few, however, were not repentant and continued their “unchristian conduct.” In these cases their names were removed from the church roll.
The year 1889 brought a new way of life to the folk along the James. The first paper mill was started and the community began to grow. The church now had 49 members. The men did not always attend in sufficient numbers to have a quorum for the conducting of business so the word “male” was erased from the second clause of the “rules of order” in order to give the female members the right to vote. Big Island, Hunting Creek, Mt. Hermon, Ivy Crek, Chestnut Hill and Cove churches formed a field this same year. A few years later Big Island, Cornerstone, and Hunting Creek formally organized the North Baptist Cooperative Union with a code of laws. Mt. Hermon later joined this Union.
The members did not always pay their “dues” or attend church with great regularity. In 1894 the minutes note: “Resolved that one or more collectors be appointed to receive the monhly dues of the members and to pay the same to the treasurer, also to report the names of all who failed to pay. That all members who fail to pay their dues or attend church for three consecutive months shall be cited by the church for discipline.”
The school and the church have alway sshared the comon interest of the community. On February 22, 1890 a committee was appointed from the church to confere with the district school trustees in regard to a proposition for building a school on the church lot. The next month they reported to the church that the trustees thought that the proposition was impractical and recommended that the plan be abandoned. The need was so great for a school in the community that three citizens, R.G. Turpin, W.B. Watts, and H.A. Jordan gave the funds and a two room school was erected on the church property. This school building stood at about the place where the present educational building stands.
The frame building seems to have met the needs o fthe congregation until about 1914 when a building committee was appointed. However, nothing was done until 1920 when a new building committee was appointed. On June 10, 1921 ground was borken for a new building. September 11, 1921 services were head in the new structure an dit was dedicated October 9, 1921. The building, lot and furnishings cost $17,337.65. The members became all too familiar with the “church debt” until 1936. The old union church was sold, torn down, and two homes were built for the materials. Today one of these homes is occupied by a Baptist and the other house is occupied by a Methodist family.
By 1940 the Sunday school had outgrown the building, so at a cost of $3,685.00 the present lower floor was added. The next building project took place in 1956 when on October 8, ground was borken for an educational building. This building and its furnishings cost $40,000. A parsonage was purchased in 1958 at a cost of $20,500 for the first full time pastor to live in. These two debts were all paid by 1961. In 1962 an extensive remodeling program was started on the 40 year old sanctuary unit and was finished in 1963 at a cost of $60,000. More money and a better sense of stewardship has made the business of paying debts easier than in the earlier days.
Not all of the interest has been at home. As early as 1896 there was an organized missionary society with B.F. Cox as president. There is no mention of women taking part in missions until 1918. Miss Georgie Snead, who was one of the charter members, served with our Home Mission Board (now the International Mission Board). Mr. Herman Reynolds, who belonged to the Big Island Baptist Church in his youth, served as a missionary to India for over 35 years under the mission board of the Christian Church. In 1952, Miss Edith Vaughn, daughter of the pastor Rev. E.S. Vaughn, went to Brazil and Miss Zula Humphreys (later Mrs. Almos Shelly) went to India. In 1955 the church licensed Paul Bryant, Jr. to preach.
Figures do not always give a total picture of the life of a church. Because of the close relationship of the paper mill and the members of the church who worked there, the activities of the mill have been reflected in the church. Working schedules, changing personnel, and economic conditions all have become a part of the community way of life.
We do feel that the church has made Big Island a place where Christian love is manifested, where Christian care is ministered to the needy, and where Christian memories are cherished when you are gone.
(History to this point submitted by a church historian in 1967, following will be an update from that time on)
Check back soon for the rest of our church history up to 2008!
