Don Pre-Civil War and even several years following the War, black slaves and whites worshiped in the same churches, but usually seated in different areas. The black slaves were not typically required to attend the same church as the white slave owner and some times attended another church in the area...most slave owners of the period felt it was their duty/responsibility to look after the spiritual health of the black slaves he owned. It was only post-Civil War that segregation of the races began in the churches. I do not recall seeing free blacks on the church registers pre-Civil War, but would not be suprised to find them as well. You will find that the records of Bibb County churches that have been published include both black and white members ... these membership lists can be of crucial significance to those research pre-Civil War slave ancestors. I highly recommend 'Hugh Davis and His Alabama Plantation" by Weymouth Jordan. The plantation was located in Perry County, adjacent to Bibb... Hugh Davis' journals begin in the 1830's and end with his death in 1862. His sons took over the plantation at that time and the book continues into reconstruction until the plantation is finally sold. The original papers of Hugh Davis used for this book are located at the University of Alabama. >From the "Guide to the Hugh Davis papers": http://www.lib.ua.edu/content/findingaids/pdf/ms_1611.pdf BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: Hugh Davis, the son of Nathaniel and Martha Davis, was born on November 22, 1811, in Fayette County, Kentucky. He moved to Marion, Alabama, in 1834 and began a successful career as an attorney. Davis married Sarah Rachel Jones in 1839, and the couple had seven children. In 1848, Davis assumed the management of the Beaver Bend plantation along the Cahaba River, and upon his death in 1862, his sons continued to farm his land holdings. Part of this collection includes: FARM OPERATIONS, 1848-1880 Farm journals consist of six ledgers covering the years 1848-1854, 1854-1856, 1856-1858, 1859-1862, 1862-1866 (the estate of Hugh Davis), and 1880 (N.J. Davis, a son of Hugh Davis). The first five ledgers contain daily entries concerning plantation activities and crop production written by Hugh Davis and his overseers. Also included in the first five books are records of births, sick lists, amounts of cotton picked by slaves, amount of clothing purchased for each slave, records of profits, weather notations, rules for life on the plantation, and other information. The 1856-1858 book includes a list of newspapers taken by Hugh Davis in 1858. The 1862-1866 ledger begins with a detailed explanation of the system of farming at Beaver Bend. The 1880 book, maintained by N.J. Davis, includes notes of purchases made for the plantation, records of cash accounts, and information on individual accounts for workers. Also included is an 1849-1852 large pocket diary containing lists of purchases, lists of accounts, memorandums, and other information and an 1853-1858 large pocket diary that includes daily activities, lists of slaves, lists of purchases, notes on crop production, and records of family births. Also included are bills of sale for slaves and a copy of the 1845 Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology by James F.W. Johnson. Melissa ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:52:14 -0500 From: "Don Logan" <moodylogan@windstream.net> Subject: Re: [ALBIBB] Clark Family in Presbyterian Church thank you for responding to my query. Alaexander is certainly one of the first listed, and he must have been an elder, along with two others: Potts, and Walace (sic). However, there apparently was another Clark family. I am not completely through the document; however, I have already seen where a black...I forget for whom she was enslaved. Still, I thouyght it unbelievable that a black slave could be baptised and accepted into membership in a White Church in the 1830s. don