JACOB ELDRIDGE & ELIZABETH ELDRIDGE ALPINE BAPTIST CHURCH Talladega County, Alabama Only twenty-five days after the Creek Treaty was ratified and eight months before Talladega County was established, a group of five people, at the home of John Lawler, organized a Baptist Church. this home was located on a road that runs through Mardisville, west, converging with the Alpine Road west of the P. A. Duncan home. The first minutes are concise and give a full record of the meeting: "On the Twenty-ninth day of April, A. D. 1832, the following named persons (viz) John Lawler, Jesse Millinder, Margaret Lawler, Abner Lawler and Sarah Lawler met at the house of John Lawler (Talladega Co., Ala.), when and where they were by James M. Scott and Joab Lawler, a Presbytery of ministers called for that purpose, regularly constituted a church by the name of the "Talladega Baptist Church", as also appears by the following certificates: We do hereby certify that we have been called upon by several brethren in this vicinity, to attend as a presbytery for the purpose of constituting them into a church; we have attended agreeable to their request, and after inquiry as to their wishes and order, proceed to constitute them a Gospel Church by the name of Talladega according to the following Constitution of Abstract of Principles." It is signed by James M. Scott and Joab Lawler and dated April 29, 1832. The Abstract of Principles and Rules of Decorum followed. The church doors were opened and Elizabeth Barny joined by experience. In June of 1832, Joseph Ray and Thomas J. Foster joined by letter. In August, John McDaniel joined by letter; in September, JACOB and ELIZABETH ELDRIDGE joined by letter. In October, Henry and Martha Hinkle joined by letter; Elizabeth I. Lawler, Elizabeth Lawler, and Nancy Sawyer joined by experience. In November, James Barney, James Drennon, Thomas S. Drennon, Amelia Drennon, Susan Drennon, Grizzelle Drennon, and Amelia E. Drennon joined by letter; Mary Millinder, Benjamin Hubert, Edward D. Cross, and Rebecca joined by experience. In December, Robert Hubbard joined by letter; Peggy Hubbard, Shadrach Drennon, Anna Drennon, and Isaac Hudgins joined by experience. Thus the church had thirty-two members before Talladega was declared a county. In November of 1832, a committee was appointed to select a site for a meeting house. The committee was composed of John Lawler, B. Mattison, James Barney, S. McGahey, and JACOB ELDRIDGE. This building was to be 36 x 44 feet with a twelve-foot pitch. It was erected about three-fourths of a mile west of the P.A. Duncan home, near the Alpine highway. In March of 1833, a portion of the members petitioned for permission to establish another church. It was granted and twenty-four members withdrew to form the Tallasahatchee Church. Twenty-three members were left. The Weowoka Camp Meetings were started in 1835. In 1839, these were added to the church: Nathaniel W. Mallory, Adam W. Smith, Tyron Fuller, John Kendall, Lucy J. Mallory, William S. Jenkins, Albert G. Sims, Isabel McAdams, George W. Allen, Allen T. Fenn, Edna Cross, Julia C. Mallory, Ann Welch, John W. Mallory, Nathaniel Welch, Nathan Spiller, LaFayette Wilson, Isaac Hudson, John B. Phurrow, and Pleaant King. In January of 1872, the congregation first worshipped in the new building at Alpine. In 1867, the colored members withdrew and formed a church of their own. The Rev. Oliver Welch served this church as pastor from 1836 until 1868 without pay. He asked that the money that would have been paid as salary be used for missions. On the premises o the Alpine Baptist Church is a boulder placed there in 1933 in commemoration of the Hundredth Anniversary of the Coosa River Association, which was organized "on Nov. 8, 1833, near this spot." TALLASEHATCHIE BAPTIST CHURCH Talladega County, Alabama The Tallasehatchie Baptist Church was organized by members of the Talladega Baptist Church and Brother George Hill and his wife, who asked for permision to constitute another church. On April 27, 1833, according to the church minutes, "a Presbytery consisting of Elder Philip Archer, a regularly ordained Baptist minister and Brother John Laler, a regularly ordained deaon constituted the following Brethern and sisters into the Tallasehatchie Baptist Church: Philip Archer, Benjamin Hubbert, Thomas S. Drennan, Lorenzo D. Stover, Jesse Hill, John Foster, Timothy Foster, JACOB ELDRIDGE and John Barnett; Sisters Artemesia Archer, Nancy Foster, Elizabeth Stover, Rebecca Hubbert, Peggy Hubbert, Amelia Drennan, Susan Drennan, Griscilla Drennan, Amelia S. Drennan, Ann Drennan, Jane Hill, ELIZABETH ELDRIDGE, Mary Barnett, Nancy Hill. Elder Philip Archer was elected the first moderator and first pastor with James Drennan as clerk. George Hill was elected the first deacon." In July of 1833, the church agreed that a meeting house be built near Brother James Drennan's spring, but by June of 1835, the church decided "to meet on the fourth Monday in July for the purpose of moving the meeting house" and directed that subscriptions be solicited to aid the church in furnishing the meeting house. The minutes of July, 1835, suggest that the building had been on the property of Dr. Heacock, since he gave the church members permission "to remove the meeting house off his land." Later in the same year, the following were appointed: Allese Gibson, James Drennan, Benjamin Hubbert, James Taylor, and Robert Taylor as trstees to select a suitable site on which to build a meeting house. the final debt on this house was paid January 27, 1838, by Trustees Zedekiah Boaz and James Adair. Later benches, tables, etc. installed. Subsequent minutes indicate that the land for this chuch was purchased froom James Taylor because, in 1847, the church purchased additional land from James Taylor. This church has been served by some of the outstanding pastors of this area. The first pastor, Philip Archer, served seven years and resigned to go to Arkansas. He helped organize most of the Baptist churches of this area. Rev. Oliver Meech was in and out as pastor for the greater part of eleven years, by which time he was advanced in age. Rev. J. J. Bullington became pastor in 1857, serving for about eight years. He resigned to serve as Chaplain in theWar between the States. He became ill of exposure and died of penumonia at the residence of Col. George Hill. The congregation joined the Mt. Zion Church at Sylacauga in erecting a tombstone to his memory in the Old Cemetery at Sylacauga. Rev. E. T. Smyth served the church from 1864 to 1882. This was the longest service of any of the ministers. He resigned on account of poor heatth and went to Texas. The Tallasehatchie Church claimed among its members some of the most outstanding citizens in the county. Among those who officiated as deacons wre: Col. George Hill, James Drennan, Zedekah Boaz, John Browning, Eliae Mathis, Jabez Fluker, Wiley B. Boaz, etc. James Drennan was the first clerk, followed by James Adair and John Balfour. Walter B. Funderburg served for a number of years before he moved to Texas. Sion B. Gazener served longer than any other for a total of about twenty years. Rev. Philip Archer, James Drennan, and George Hill were the delegates from this church in 1833 at the organization of the Coosa River Baptist Association. It was also instrumental in the organization of several new Baptist congregations. In May of 1833, permission was granted to a group of members to form an arm of the church in the neighborhood of Brother George Hill. It was organized on June 3, 1833, as Hill's Church. It became the First Baptist Church of Sylcauga. The church at Sycamore was formed in 1854 and the one at Winterboro in 1880. Like all churches in this area, the War between the States brought critical times, irregular meetings, loss of members and friends by death, yet this church maintained a semblance of order and continuity. The Tallasehatchie Baptist Church still exists today with that first log building incorporated in a new and modern structure. The Rev. Tom Coleman is the present pastor. Source: "Some Early Alabama Churches (Established before 1870)" Published by the Alabama Society Daughters of the American Revolution. Commemorating the Bicentennial of The United States of America. Compied by Mabel Ponder Wilson, Chairman, Dorothy Youngblood Woodyerd, Rosa Lee Busby. Pages199-203