Not long ago I ordered a film from the LDS church that was about Baptist churches in Laurens County and in particular along River Road. There were churches from other counties on this same film. I thought some of you might like to have some info from this document. It was written by Walter M. Lee, A. M. Th. D., First Baptist Church, Cochran, GA. It was written in March of 1923. He talks about what church services were like at first. Then he says "The approximate dates of the earliest churches are as follows: Buckeye, 1794; Poplar Springs, 1804; Cool Springs, 1809; Rocky Creek and Whitehead's, 1810-1812. They were formerly members of Hepsibah Association, which extended (practically) from Augusta to Eastman, and from Macon to Millen, a territory of nearly 10,000 square miles. In 1813 the sourthern churches were formed into the Ebenezer Association." "The first evangelists of the region came from neighboring counties and from sections to the north east. Revs. V. A. Tharp and M. Fulghum, of Twiggs, John Ross, of Wilkinson, Charles Culpepper, Joseph Baker, Benjamin Manning and Alexander ARmstrong were among the earliest heralds of the gospel. To these may be added Dr. Adiel Sherwood, for a time a missionary of the Savannah Missionary Society in this section, and Dr. Buchannon, James Williams, a Scotchman, J. McDonald and D. G. Daniel, who later f! ounded the First Baptist Church of Atlanta." He tells stories about life in general that I found enlightening. Here are some things I thought you might enjoy. "A twenty mile ride after the doctor was by no means out of the ordinary, ten or twelve hours sometimes intervening before he finally arrived at the sick home. Many local practitioners sprang up with nostrums, ointments, balsams, and cordials galore. The large spoon with a lever attached, with which to pry open the unwilling jaws of the patient, is yet seen among the sheltered nooks in the pine barrens. ....... as late as 1830 a member of a certain church presented charges against a brother for drawing a picture and driving a nail through, and as an apparent result his slave died a few days thereafter. Whether this be witchcraft, judge ye." "Grown men and women went barefooted even to church meetings. At the associations held annually by the churches, it was common, after dinner on the grounds, to see men standing around under the pines picking their te! eth with long bladed knives, as they watched horse races by the piney woods riders coursing up and down the roads on their little Texas ponies." "The Baptists and Methodists have been co-laborers in this unceasing war against sin." He really presents a nice picture of life in general during these early days. Sandy