Hi all again, Here is a post on the Duplin Co., NC GenConnect board that may be of interest. Carol REV. SAMUEL NEWTON, BAPTIST PASTOR IN BULL TAIL (WELLS' CHAPEL) 1760's RELIGIOUS LEADER OF HIS TIMES Posted by Mary Meyer <meyerma@webtv.net> on Sat, 22 Jan 2000 Surname: NEWTON, HOWARD, FANE, ALDERANTHY, ABERNATHY, HUFHAM, WELLS, HIGHSMITH, DeVANE, ROGERS, McADEN, BROWN Rev. Samuel Newton organized Bull Tail (Wells' Chapel) Baptist Church in 1756, and served the church as pastor until he died during the Revolutionary war. He was buried near his old home in present-day Duplin County, NC. His widow then married a [Mr.] Howard and moved to GA. Rev. Samuel Newton had a son Moses Newton and a daughter Miriam Fane. According to George W. Paschal (HISTORY OF NC BAPTISTS, Vol. I 1663-1805), as to the organization of "old Bulltail" [Baptist] church, "No one ever questioned the fact that it was organized by Rev. Samuel Newton in 1756. It had been the home of the Newtons, the Alderanthys [misprint for Abernathys ?], the Hufhams, the Wellses, the Highsmiths, the DeVanes, the Rogerses, and many other families known there to this day. It was said of him, Samuel Newton, that he was a 'great preacher' and the religious leader of his times. He was pastor till the time of his death, which occurred during the Revolutionary War" (p. 322). Another Rev. Samuel Newton, who was the first pastor of Bush River Baptist Church in SC, died in November 1771. According to Morgan Edwards (author of SC BAPTISTS), this SC pastor was "called [to preach] and baptized in North Carolina." According to Hon. J. T. Alderman, who made a study of the Newton family in NC, he was not the same Rev. Samuel Newton as the one in Duplin Co., NC. Paschal, author of HISTORY OF NC BAPTISTS, states (p. 392) that he was personally advised of these facts by Hon. J. T. Alderman. Paschal states that Black River Baptist Church was "probably connected" with the Baptist church on Bull Tail: "Black River [Baptist Church] is on the list of churches given by Semple [author of HISTORY OF VIRGINIA BAPTISTS] as having delegates at the Sandy Creek [Baptist] Association in the year of its organization in 1758. This church seems to have been situated somewhere on Black River in the present county of Duplin, and was probably in some way connected with the [Baptist] church on Bull Tail, which is a creek emptying into Black River. On March 7, 1757, Rev. John Newton was ordained as its [Black River Baptist Church] pastor, and probably served it in that capacity until his departure for South Carolina in 1765." This Rev. John Newton, according to Morgan Edwards [author of SC BAPTISTS], was born in PA August 7, 1732; was baptized in 1752 by Rev. Isaac Potts in Southampton County, Virginia; was instrumental in the conversion of Rev. Philip Mullky near Roanoke in Halifax County, North Carolina, about 1756; was ordained in 1757; and after going to SC in 1765 he was again ordained [Feb. 1868 by Rev. Oliver Hart and Evan Pugh] as colleague of Rev. Joseph Reese in the ministry of the Congaree [Baptist] church in 1768. Edwards stated that this Rev. John Newton had preached many years before in North Carolina where his labors had been much blest. [This information was taken from Paschal's book on p. 322; note the name Rev. Isaac Potts above. On p. 390, Paschal quotes Edwards as stating that Rev. John Newton was "bred a churchman" and "baptized by Rev. Joshua Potts about the year 1752." The submitter does not know if Rev. Potts' given name was Isaac or Joshua.] The submitter does not know if Rev. John Newton, pastor of Black River Baptist Church (in present-day Duplin County NC) in the early 1760's, was related to Rev. Samuel Newton, pastor of the Baptist church at Bull Tail (Wells' Chapel) in present-day Duplin County NC in the 1760's. Perhaps those answers could be found in the writings of Hon. J. T. Alderman "who has made a study of the Newton family in North Carolina" (Paschal p. 392). Paschal cites evidence that the churches in this area were depleted and became extinct even before our nation had its first President: "We do not know what Separate [Baptist] minister first preached at Black River, whether Stearns and Marshall or some of their early itineraries to the east, or [Rev. John] Newton himself. As early as 1756 Rev. Hugh McAden found many people in all this section eager to have the gospel preached among them. Some were doubtless the converts of Rev. Edward Brown, a Gerneral Baptist of the Kehukee [Baptist] Church, who began preaching on the Great Cohara as early as 1749. Morgan Edwards (author of SC BAPTISTS) seems not to have visited this section of the Province and says nothing of this church and does nothing more than mention the names of the churches at New River and Lockwood's Folly. It is probable that before Morgan Edwards's tour in 1772 the church at Black River had been brought to extinction by the removal of its members to other provinces to escape the unjust taxation and extortion of officers under [Governor] Tryon's administration. Such migration had reduced the once large Great Cohara church to eight members, and doubtless greatly depleted all the churches of this section" (p. 323). This information was taken from Paschal's book (published 1930 by NC Baptist State Convention), pp. 390-392, 322-323. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" Proverbs:29:18 *************************************************************************** QUEENSCASTLE BRANCHES AND BOUGHS http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~donegaleire Homepage/Donegal, Ireland, Poland & Russia Information http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/6587 Home of Donegal, Ireland Information Site Also Poland & Russia