By Felecia Shelor
One of Meadows of Dan’s most historic buildings is in peril because of a leaking roof.
Concord Primitive Baptist Church, built in 1912 primarily from American chestnut, serves as a Primitive Baptist place of worship and a spot for special events such as weddings and family reunions. The church is located on Concord Road behind Toy Time and Poor Farmer’s Market.
The roof will cost a total of $10,000. To help fully fund the project, Concord Church will hold a fund-raiser on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. Admission is free and donations are encouraged. Event organizers ask those attending to bring a covered dish to share after the program.
The program includes information about the church, music by Sammy Shelor and the Mountain View Methodist Singers, and a presentation by Primitive Baptist preachers Alan Terry and Tim McGrady about what it means to be a Primitive Baptist.
Ralph Lutts will talk about the historic chestnut, from which the church was built, and give an update on the application process for Historic Landmark status. Ruth Zien, daughter of Virginia Hodges, who wrote the book History of Concord Primitive Baptist Church 1833, will speak about her mother, the book, and her family connection to the church.
Approximately 80 books remain; everyone who donates at least $100 receives a free book.
Historic gem
Established in 1833, Concord Primitive Baptist Church is a reflection of the earliest settlers in Meadows of Dan. Most of the historical information for this article came from Hodges’ book.
In the beginning of her book Hodges writes, “With all the modernization, the human soul has not changed. We all need to feel a part of a community, a sense of pride in our surroundings, and a bond to the past and to the future. Then we will realize who we are and what we are to become.”
The sign above the door of the Concord Primitive Baptist Church says the church was established in 1833 but old letters mention meetings taking place as early as 1818.
In 1854, a motion was made to “elect a site” for a new meeting house. The deed states that in consideration of love and respect for the church of Primitive and Regular Baptist Order, Heron Boyd grants a parcel of land estimated to be three acres on Tuggles Creek, including the good spring to the east.
In December of 1858, the church paid John C. DeHart $430 for the church building that stood west of the current meeting house. The previous meeting house was made of logs. In the first church, black members sat in the balcony separate from white members. All church members are listed in church records. Black members were listed only by first names.
Land donor dies
On Election Day 1876, Heron Boyd, who donated the land for the Concord Church, went to the store near the church. His mission was to buy coffee and soda and find out how the election turned out.
When Boyd stepped up on the platform of the store, store owner Jeff Lawson called out to him, “Our man got elected!” Boyd replied, “I thought he would. You can’t keep a good man down.”
A man standing in the road yelled out, “I can knock one down!” and threw a rock at Boyd. The rock hit him at the base of the skull and he fell into the store door. The man ran in the direction of the Dan River and was never found. Heron was carried to the church, where he died at midnight.
Church and law
In those early days in the mountains, services such as social security, medical care, and local and state agencies were non-existent. The rule of law was often non-existent. It was the role of the church to take care of all the needs of the community.
If a problem arose between members or neighbors it was brought before the church. When a family was in need, the church provided. Members were cited to come before the church for drinking too much, adultery, fornication, falsehood, bad language, and being absent from church.
In the minutes are recorded the names of the individuals and their transgressions. One father was brought before the church for punishing his daughter too harshly. If the guilty party asked for forgiveness, fellowship was restored.
New meeting house
Church records do not mention a church division. However, local historians said there was a division due to differences in belief. Steptoe Langhorne, an early settler and holder of the largest land grant in Meadows of Dan, began teaching Sunday school in his home. Others embraced the concept. The members who followed the “missionaries” were excluded from the Concord Primitive Baptist congregation.
In 1855, Sycamore Baptist Church helped to constitute what would become Meadows of Dan Baptist Church. The split between the Primitive Baptists—which means “original” in this context—and the new Baptist church was over a confluence of issues surrounding the fact that the Primitive Baptists were against Sunday schools and missionary work. There is also a divide due to the Primitive Baptist doctrine of predestination.
On March 16, 1912, all members were asked to attend an April 19 meeting where they would decide whether to build a new meeting house. The new church was dedicated on Saturday, July 19, 1913.
The ceiling and walls were finished in chestnut lumber and to this day they boast the original, unpainted finish. The pews are made from the same thick oak, which shows little wear after 103 years. There are two front doors.
The men sat to the left of the pulpit, and the women to the right. A large woodstove divided the middle row of pews and was used until electricity became available after World War II. Church records state that a committee had the church “wired for electricity” in 1956. In April 1967, a new baptizing pool was agree upon, probably due to creek pollution.
Association visits
The church belonged to the New River Primitive Baptist Association in the early 1900s, but records state that the church later withdrew because of “how they were lording it over the various churches”.
In 1965, the church “adopted the works” of the Indian Creek Association; in other words, they joined the association. In 1973, the church voted to remain an independent church with no membership in any association.
Evidently, the church was a participating member of a Primitive Baptist Association in 1926. A letter by Annie Eunice Burnett Quesinberry, daughter of John and Orpha Burnett, contains a vivid account of one family’s effort to take care of visitors for the 1926 Association at Concord Church. (Incidentally,) Orpha and John Burnett are the great-grandparents of the writer of this article.
For the 1926 association, Orpha Burnett and her family baked 17 cakes and 18 pies. They butchered one of their own cattle, and bought a quarter of another. They killed 37 young roosters. All cooking was done on a wood cook stove using laurel wood because it makes a hot fire.
One hundred pounds of flour was made into biscuits. One hundred eight visitors spent the weekend at the Burnett home. All the women slept in the house. The men slept in the barn. All visitors arrived by horse and buggy. The horses were fed corn and oats. Everything was provided by the Burnett family.
When Orpha Burnett was asked by her daughter Eunice, “Why are you doing so much for the church?” Orpha told her daughter it is because she knows she will not be here for the next one. And she wasn’t. She died January 27, 1928.
There are two remaining members of the Concord Primitive Baptist Church: Barbara Knowles and Evan Cassell. All former elders, deacons, trustees, and everyone else associated with the church have died.
Since 1991, Elder Floyd South has made the two-hour trip from West Jefferson, N.C., to conduct the service each month on the third Sunday. The third Sunday has been the meeting day for the Concord Church since its foundation. Traditionally, Primitive Baptists travel to different churches each Sunday. This custom goes back to the days of horse and buggy.
For more information on Concord Church and its fund-raiser, call Felecia Shelor at (276) 952-5697. Please mail any contributions to Concord Primitive Baptist Church, C/O Barbara Knowles, 394 Dan River Road, Meadows of Dan, Va., 24120.
Everyone is cordially invited to attend the monthly services held on the third Sunday of each month at Concord.
