In starting this thread, I had in mind outlining the origins of the Jeffersonton Baptist Church in Jeffersonton. The origins are complicated and so it was necessary, and still is, to give some of the background leading to the origin of the church. It actually started some distance away in another county.
Jeffersonton, as it now exists, is in Culpeper County in the Little Fork, on land originally owned by Germans. Across the Hedgeman, or Rappahannock, River lies the county of Fauquier. Carter Run Baptist Church is in Fauquier County and it was founded by John Pickett. Elijah Craig was preaching in Orange County (1760s) at Blue Run Church. His work spread to Culpeper County, where he encountered much opposition and was jailed. His jailers, after hearing him preach from his cell for a month, released him on his promise of good behavior and his promise to leave the county.
On the eastern or northern banks of the Rappahannock River, i.e., in Fauquier County, the work of Craig and Pickett came together. Craig organized a group and Pickett assumed the responsibility for their care as a branch or daughter church of the Carter's Run Church. At first there was no church, but they met in private homes. The general locality is pegged at Freeman's Ford which is about two miles north of the start of the Little Fork.
The Fauquier County Court Records show that land was conveyed in 1790 to Trustees for the Hedgeman River Baptist Society. Whether a church building existed already or not is unknown, though the church had been functioning for some time. The important point that survives is that this fixes the location of the church. There is no information about what the early church might have looked like, but it has been reported that the meeting houses of the early Virginia Baptists were commonly plain weather-boarded structures, with no paint on either the outside or inside. There was no heat. The seats were crude benches without backs. Occasionally, the building was expanded outward on the sides by the addition of "sheds".
By 1819, the majority of the members of the church lived in the Little Fork on the opposite side of the Rappahannock River. Crossing the river was an inconvenience for them and they desired a church which was closer to them.
The source of my information is "
Bicentennial Sketch, 1773-1973, Jeffersonton Baptist Church
", a booklet which was the gift of Marylee Newman. This was written by Woodford B. Hackley, a friend of B. C. Holtzclaw, as they seemed to engage in some projects together.
(07 Apr 03)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.