Sentimental Sunday - Southern Baptist Preacher Connection

As it happens, there was a couple of Southern Baptist Preachers in my Family Tree.  Now mind you, I had to go way back to find them....all the way back to 1776.  During the American Revolutionary War era, it seems my 5th Great Grand Uncle James Pittman was arrested and thrown in jail for preaching and holding a Baptist Bible Class in his home. (History of the Rise and Progress of Baptists in Virginia by Robert B. Semple)

All these years I've been a Baptist, and figured I was because my Mother was and her Mother was and so on.  Imagine my surprise to find out that Dad's Baptist Roots were older than Georgia Dirt.  It seems that my 5th Great Granddaddy John I. Pittman...a good Biblical name...his wife Mary Polly Rowe Pittman...another good Biblical name...and their ten chldren moved from Virginia to Georgia to escape Religious Retrictions placed on Baptist activities.  They joined the Colony of Baptist headed by the celebrated Reverend Daniel Marshall whom they met at church in Virginia.

The Colony settled in Georgia on Kiokee Creek, St. Pauls Parish which later became Columbia County.  The church established by Reverend Marshall was the first Baptist Church in Georgia of which 5thGreat Granddaddy was a founding member.  The drawings shown above are of Reverend Marshall and the Kiokee Baptist Church.  Reverend Marshall went on to establsih other Baptist Churches in Georgia.  His life and contributions to the Baptist faith are well documented.  You can see The Marshall Monument in Elijah Clark Memorial State Park in Lincolnton, Georgia  HERE...at the bottom of the page.

It was my experience as a young girl going to our small community Baptist Church that if you made it to Sunday School, paid attention and could recite your Bible Verses that you earned the right to sit on in the Back Row Pew for Church Services.

Two things about The BRPew...One...distance from the pulpit where Hell Fire and Damnation didn't scare the Bejesus outta of ya...and Two...the Preachers Son...or in the case of my 4th GreatGranddaddy John Ichabod Pittman...the Preachers Daughter. 

You see Reverend Daniel Marshall had a daughter...Lucy Eunice...she was very good at Reciting Bible Verses.  I must say, though, that  the Bible Verse Recitation Gene of my 4th Great Grandmother Lucy Eunice Marshall Pittman was not passed down to me.  On most Sunday's I sat in the Third Row Pew, got 'Shushed' alot, got 'The Bejesus Scarin', and got a good view of the Preacher's Son's Cowlick. 

You'd think he'd have the good sense to study his Sunday School lesson and memorize all those Verses so we could sit on the BRPew so I might have had a 'Closer Southern Baptist Preacher Connection' than  Fifth Great Grandfather Reverend Daniel Marshall.

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