The First Baptist Church of Fincastle, Virginia was started in October 1831 by slaves in Fincastle, Virginia in Botetourt County, Virginia.
During this period, slaves were only able to meet for religious services, and often only under the eyes of a white observer. "Father Dempsey gathered three blacks, one of whom was a slave, and allowed them to sit in the local all-white church's balcony. In accordance with the laws of the time, they could listen to the service, but they could not fully participate. Black membership quickly grew, and on July 22, 1848 Benjamin Ammen suggested that an African Church be formulated in Fincastle. The Fincastle African Church was admitted under the watchful care of the white church in the Valley Baptist Association on June 23, 1849, and in 1866, the watch care was discontinued.
After the Civil War ended, the following freemen acted as trustees for the new African Baptist Church: Rev. John "Jack" Jones; William F. Bannister; Edmund Gilliam; Jefferson Gilmore; Samuel Pogue; Anderson Miller and John Foster. "In 1866, freedmen purchased for $50.00 cash in hand, a parcel of land from John and Lucy Linkenaugher." [1]
The first church framed building was destroyed by fire, and under the direction of Rev. Jack Jones' leadership, the present church building was built. With the assistance of the Freedmen Bureau of Philadelphia, the First African Church of Fincastle was built by the freed slaves. The bricks were handmade, and the walls are between 8-11 inches thick. In addition to the services of the Captain Charles S. Schaffer, a Baptist missionary from the north, and donations given by the nearly penniless ex-slaves, the church construction began. The Botetourt School Board helped build the church foundation with the stipulation the basement would be used for 20 years as a school for the black children of the town.
The African-American Baptist Church of Fincastle [2] was named the First Baptist Church, and was part of the Valley Colored Association, first formed by Elder Jack Jones. [3]
As the black community began to disperse following World War II, six new churches from the Fincastle Baptist Church sprang up in Botetourt County, Virginia: Lapsley's Run Baptist Church, Springwood Baptist Church, Amsterdam Baptist Church, Gravel Hill Baptist Church, Hardy, Virginia, Midway Baptist Church [4] and Lily of the Valley Baptist Church.
In 1980 the church choir participated in a video cassette production of a history of African American music. [5]
In 2017, the grave of Private Pleasant Richardson was decorated by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War in a Memorial Day observance. [6] "He was a consistent member of the First Baptist Church of Fincastle, Virginia. He was a soldier par excellence and next to his religion prided in this fact. It was very appropriate that he answered his last bugle call on Memorial Day." [7] Both he and his wives are interred in the First Baptist Church of Fincastle, Virginia's graveyard. [8]
Botetourt County is a US county that lies in the Roanoke Region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Located in the mountainous portion of the state, the county is bordered by two major ranges, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains.
Fincastle is a town in Botetourt County, Virginia, United States. The population was 755 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Botetourt County.
The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments in the United States Army composed primarily of African-American (colored) soldiers, although members of other minority groups also served within the units. They were first recruited during the American Civil War, and by the end of the war in 1865, the 175 USCT regiments constituted about one-tenth of the manpower of the Union Army. About 20% of USCT soldiers died, a rate about 35% higher than that of white Union troops. Many USCT soldiers fought with distinction, with 16 receiving the Medal of Honor and numerous others receiving other honors.
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, usually referred to as simply the Freedmen's Bureau, was an agency of early Reconstruction, assisting freedmen in the South. It was established on March 3, 1865, and operated briefly as a U.S. government agency, from 1865 to 1872, after the American Civil War, to direct "provisions, clothing, and fuel...for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children".
The black church is the faith and body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as their collective traditions and members. The term "black church" can also refer to individual congregations.
Nutbush is a rural unincorporated community in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States, in the western part of the state, about 50 miles northeast of Memphis. It was established in the early 19th century by European-American settlers who bought enslaved African Americans to develop the area's cotton plantations. The houses and churches that were built during this time still stand.
Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery, also known as Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church, is a historic building in Nutbush, Haywood County, Tennessee, in the United States. It is on Woodlawn Road, south of Tennessee State Route 19.
Religion of black Americans refers to the religious and spiritual practices of African Americans. Historians generally agree that the religious life of black Americans "forms the foundation of their community life". Before 1775 there was scattered evidence of organized religion among black people in the Thirteen Colonies. The Methodist and Baptist churches became much more active in the 1780s. Their growth was quite rapid for the next 150 years, until their membership included the majority of black Americans.
A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission, emancipation, or self-purchase. A fugitive slave is a person who escaped enslavement by fleeing.
Eagle Rock is a census-designated place (CDP) in Botetourt County, Virginia, United States, located along the James River between Iron Gate and Buchanan. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 209.
First Baptist Church was the first Baptist church in Petersburg, Virginia; one of the first African-American Baptist congregations in the United States, and one of the oldest black churches in the nation. It established one of the first local schools for black children in the nation.
The civil rights movement (1865–1896) aimed to eliminate racial discrimination against African Americans, improve their educational and employment opportunities, and establish their electoral power, just after the abolition of slavery in the United States. The period from 1865 to 1895 saw a tremendous change in the fortunes of the black community following the elimination of slavery in the South.
The western part of Virginia which became West Virginia was settled in two directions, north to south from Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey and from east to west from eastern Virginia and North Carolina. The earliest arrival of enslaved people was in the counties of the Shenandoah Valley, where prominent Virginia families built houses and plantations. The earliest recorded slave presence was about 1748 in Hampshire County on the estate of Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, which included 150 enslaved people. By the early 19th century, slavery had spread to the Ohio River up to the northern panhandle.
First African Baptist Church is a Baptist church at 264-272 E. Short Street in Lexington, Kentucky. The congregation was founded c. 1790 by Peter Durrett and his wife, slaves who came to Kentucky with their master, Rev. Joseph Craig, in 1781 with "The Travelling Church" of Baptists from Spotsylvania, Virginia.
The First African Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia is a prominent Black church. Founded in 1841, its members initially included both slaves and freedmen. It has since had a major influence on the local black community. At one point, it was one of the largest Protestant churches in the United States.
The Reverend Richard R. Jones was a noted African-American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and orator in Roanoke, Virginia.
Pleasant Richardson was a noted resident of Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia, where he was a former slave, a property owner, and Civil War veteran.
Thomas Shanks was an American slave owner and politician who won three elections to represent Botetourt County in the Virginia House of Delegates.
The Black Belt in the American South refers to the social history, especially concerning slavery and black workers, of the geological region known as the Black Belt. The geology emphasizes the highly fertile black soil. Historically, the black belt economy was based on cotton plantations – along with some tobacco plantation areas along the Virginia-North Carolina border. The valuable land was largely controlled by rich whites, and worked by very poor, primarily black slaves who in many counties constituted a majority of the population. Generally the term is applied to a larger region than that defined by its geology.
Coordinates: 37°29′52″N79°52′17″W / 37.497717°N 79.871487°W