Sweetgum Missionary Baptist Church

Used by Permission of the Rusk County Historical Commission

Submitted by : Gloria B. Mayfield

Coordinator: Dolores I. Bishop

  As I try to record the history of old Sweetgum Missionary Baptist Church, the most of which has been passed onto me by my family and my personal memory of the days when the Church was trying to carry on the work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

  The land for the Church was given by the Grunday Shipp family. My Uncle Charlie Watts told me just a short time before he passed away, that the church building was built in the 1880’s. I believe it was about 1887. My grandfather, John W. Watts, along with other men of the community, built the building.

  I remember my Father and Mother, Walter and Ada Watts, attending Church there when I was a very small girl in the early 1920’s. Two things stand out in my memory as a small child: they were my Uncle Bro. Ellis Wolverton baptizing two of my great aunts, Aunt Lela and Ella Allen and a girl Jusie Hinson in my Grandfather Watts pasture. The creek was known as Old Mill Creek. I remember there being a large crowd of my relatives and community members being there. Another event I remember is on a Christmas tree for anyone that wanted to attend. It was a huge holly tree with red berries. The people hung their gifts on the tree. There wasn’t any fancy Christmas decorations or electric lights that we see today.

  In those days there wasn’t any electricity. The rural communities used coal oil lamps and lanterns for light. There wasn’t any indoor plumbing or gas heating either. The building was heated with wood burning heaters. For cooling in the summer the people used cardboard fans placed there by different firms, or they used a fan brought from home.

  We moved away from the community in the 1920’s, but returned again in about 1931. In the 1930’s the church took on a new period of growth. Several of the members got the Sunday Schools reorganized and worship services going again. Sunday School and B.T.C. were held on Sunday morning and Sunday night while worship services were held about one week in each month. Sometimes preaching was on Saturday night.

  During the 1930’s the depression days were being felt all over the nation; and money was very scarce. So in order to help supplement the pastor’s salary, the membership would give him a pounding, as it was called. This was a “get-to-gether” or people just bringing food, or whatever they needed to the church, and put it in the pastor’s car. People gave homegrown vegetables, syrup, lard, dried fruit, milk, butter, eggs, or whatever the pastor and his family could use.

  During the 1940’s World War II came. This called many of the young men into the service. Many of the elder men and women moved to other cities to work in Defense Work, This took its toll in the church, but it kept on trying to carry on. By this time I had moved away from the community, but would visit from time to time. During this time the building had gotten in a very bad condition. In the late 1940’s the school had been consolidated with Minden and Laneville, so the church was moved from the old building to the school building. By the 1950’s, they finally quit having services at the church  By: Sudie Watts Goodwin