Clayton Baptist Church

Rabun County was organized, according to the 1820 census, with a population of only 524 people, these being men, women, and children. The county is named for William Rabun, a devout Baptist, who was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate; he served as president of the Senate from 1812 - 1816. He also served as the twenty-ninth governor of Georgia from his election in 1817 until his death in 1819. He died while in office.

On Saturday, August 14, 1819, Clayton Baptist Church was constituted as Stekoah (aka Stecoah) United Baptist Church. Only a handful of scattered settlers lived in the rugged wilderness area, an area inhabited by the Cherokee Indians. Written notes indicate that ten men founded the initial church. Though no official list of charter members exists, some early men mentioned in Rabun County and Its People, Vol. I are Stephen White (the first pastor), Cleveland Coffee, General Edward Coffee, William Jones, Isaac George, Ruffran Gin, Joel Coffee, William Jackson, Jeremiah Webb, J.T. Woodall, J.W. Singleton, A.J. Smith, J.W. Whitmire, J.L. Coffee, J.S. Coffee, and R. Dixon (sometimes spelled Dickson). Less than one month after its organization, Stekoah United Baptist Church became a member of the Tugalo Association. The Mountain Baptist Association grew out of the Tugalo Association. Fourteen churches constituted this association.

The church’s location was in the area east of the city of Clayton, on what was known as Old Chechero Road (“being the road which leaves the Warwoman Road east of the residence of M.L. Keener”) close to where Carver’s Chapel is now located on Hwy. 76 E between Screamer and Little Screamer Mountains (“at a point in the flat about one-eighth of a mile near north of the ford of the branch at the intersection of the Harve Penland Road with said Old Chechero Road”). The church stayed at that place and went by the constituted name until 1870 when the church moved to Clayton, literally. Around the turn of the century, two services were held at two churches only once a month. Methodists had their Sunday School in the forenoon, and Baptists had theirs in the afternoon. The conditions of the churches were primitive. Colonel Joseph T. Davis taught Sunday School at the Methodist church in the forenoon and at his own Clayton Baptist Church in the afternoon. Part-time pastors marked the early days of the church. Three ministers founded the Constituting Presbytery for the church: Humphrey Posey, Joseph Byers, and David Qualls. Qualls regularly attended sessions of the Tugalo Baptist Association “as a fraternal messenger from another association.” Nothing else is known about him. Joseph Byers was a minister serving churches in North Carolina: Henderson, Buncombe, and Haywood Counties. In 1827, he was “probably the first pastor of the Head of Tennessee Baptist Church, Rabun County, Georgia.” In 1817, Posey had been appointed as a missionary to the Cherokee Indians in Western North Carolina and North Georgia because “the Triennial Convention… began to consider the spiritual condition of the aborigines of this country.” He began his appointment “in December 1817, making a tour among the Indians and preaching to the whites on the frontier.”

Records of 1828 indicate that the membership of the Stekoah Church was the first in the Tugalo Association to report a membership of more than one hundred. During that year there were 49 baptisms, and 16 others were received by letter. The following year, 23 people were baptized, and 6 were received by letter. That same year, members of the Stekoah Church realized the need for a church in the Timpson Creek area. Twenty-two members of the Stekoah Church withdrew in order to form that church. The Timpson Creek Baptist Church was the third Baptist church in the County; Head of Tennessee had been organized into a church in 1827 and was a member of Tuckaseegee Association in North Carolina.

As for Clayton Baptist Church, the first pastor was Rev. Stephen White. He held the pastorate from 1819-1823. In 1824, the membership was 34; in 1835, membership totaled 42. In 1838, forty-nine people were baptized; the total membership was more than one hundred members. The longest pastorate was the stint of Rev. John Coffee who served for forty-one years, from 1845 until his death in 1886. Other men were named as pastor of the church during the last two years of his life, but Rev. Coffee was probably still considered pastor until his death. Stekoah United Baptist Church was considered “quarter-time” for most of its history. That fact left three Sundays a month available for Rev. Coffee to preach in other churches. One of those was Head of Tennessee Baptist Church. At this point in time, the Stekoah Church was a member of the Mountain Baptist Association. Rev. John Coffee was its moderator for many years. The grave of Rev. Coffee who died, according to the inscription on the tombstone, on June 3, 1886, is located in the northeast corner of the cemetery which adjoins the church today. He died at age 69 years, ten months, and ten days.

In the year 1850, on the 12th day of September, Mr. Thomas “Red” Kelly deeded approximately three acres to what was then the Inferior Court of Rabun County. The ground on which the church now stands and also the cemetery were given by Mr. Kelly, according to Andrew Ritchie in Sketches of Rabun County History. The deed “was recorded on the 13th day of September 1850, in Record of Deeds Book D on page 53, which deed calls for three acres of lot no. 80 in the 2nd Land District of Rabun County. The number eighty (80) is either a mistake of the Clerk of the Superior Court in recording the deed or else a mistake in the maker of the deed as to the number of the lot. The description of the land conveyed by the deed shows that it could not have been lot 80 but should have been numbered as lot 8 in the second Land District. The deed conveys “a certain piece or tract of land for a burying ground for the dead, containing three acres, more or less.” (Actually, burials were probably being made on this land long before the date of the deed.) It was about twenty years before church moved to the site. The tract description reads as follows: “Beginning on the southwest side as a before beginning corner; running a straight line to a Red Oak on the southwest side of the ridge; thence north to a straight line to a Spanish Oak; thence a west course to a pine; thence a south line to the beginning corner, which said land and premises the said Thomas Kelly doth hereby warrant and forever defend against himself, his heirs, and assigns forever, and the said Kelly further gives the right of way for a road from the town back of Tennessee Street to the before-mentioned deeded tract, and the said Kelly reserves the right to build a meeting house for the Baptist denomination.” So Mr. Kelly gave the land for the purpose of building a Baptist church in Clayton and establishing a burial ground. The southern portion of the land would be used as a place to bury the dead, and the northern portion would be used as a church lot. A wire fence would divide the two areas. Said fence extended east and west in back of the present church building. “The north part of the land would be occupied by the church for the building and parking and hitching ground, and for whatever purpose.”

In spite of the hardships of the Civil War, around 1870, a new church was built on the new property. Said property is the location of Clayton Baptist Church today. The structure built on the new land was wooden with a steeple. After this move to Clayton, membership changed the name to Stekoah Baptist Church of Clayton. The wooden structure was located immediately west of the present brick structure.

A record of deacons is found in the minutes of April 14, 1900, “when the Moderator appointed the three Deacons, J.H. Coffee, W.R. Coffee, and W.R. Whitmire and the present clerk to meet for the purpose of revising the church book.” By 1904, the number of deacons had dropped from three to two. On July 25, J.H. Coffee, one of the deacons, stated that “there were but two deacons…and they were getting very old and feeble and asked that the church should select and ordain some young men who might aid in the great work.” Brethren Joseph T. Davis and W.P. Palmer were put into nomination. They were then unanimously elected. On August 18, 1906, J.F. Earl was elected as deacon. He was not ordained. The Minute Book, beginning March 3, 1929, and ending June 15, 1941, lists deacons’ names who served during parts of this period: L.P. Cross, James F. Smith, W.R. Cannon, W.S. Bearden, P.D. Queen, J.T. Davis, J.J. Kimsey, J.A. Scruggs, F.F. Earl, Dr. W.L. Cason, A.D. Story, J.B. Parker, E.W. Hiott, J.W. Cooper, A.W. Higdon, J.L Thomas, John G. Davis, James L. Smith, R.D. Massee, and R. Edwin Cross.

Interesting to note, the first train arrived in Clayton in 1905, when the Tallulah Falls Railroad extended its line from Tallulah Falls to Franklin, North Carolina. It remained in operation until March 25, 1961; remnants of it can still be found in several areas. The railroad brought prosperity to the area: tourism became a large industry. Tallulah Falls became a popular resort, thanks to the railroad; today, thousands of visitors still come to see Tallulah Gorge, the largest canyon east of the Mississippi. Rev. Bell, who lived in Gainesville, came up once a month to preach. Rev. Bell was succeeded on September 22, 1905, by Rev. Frank Lloyd of Hiawassee for the remainder of 1905 and part of 1906. He was succeeded by Charles L. Ledford. From church minutes, August 18, 1906: “A motion was made and carried to change the name of our church from Stekoah (Stecoah) Baptist Church at Clayton to the Clayton Baptist Church. Minutes quoted from September 15, 1906, refer to the church as “Clayton Baptist Church.” The name had been changed the month before.

The old frame building fell into a state of disrepair, and church members began to talk of building a new structure. A motion to build a new structure passed on January 21, 1923. On April 6, 1924, a committee was appointed to examine the titles of a tract of land known as the “Hamby-Felder property” on Main Street. The committee was also to secure a group of twelve members to purchase the property. The land was bought for a total price of four thousand dollars, and on June 18, 1924, a motion was made that the Clayton Baptist Church accept the lot for the new church site. The motion was unanimously accepted. By 1925, however, the church had changed its mind. On February 22, 1925, the vote was to rescind the past action on changing location. It was then decided to buy additional land next to the church and to have the street widened. This action was done. The old wooden church was “rolled westward” to make room for the present sanctuary. Colonel J. T. Davis, in his historical sketch, states that the Hamby-Felder property was held for a year or more, and then it was sold for six thousand dollars; the profit over and above interest was donated to the church by all the group of buyers except one who had moved from the community. Rev. Charles Brown became pastor again in March 1929, and continued in that position until December 1930. The building project started again. Workers rolled the old building westward a little way, the site for the present building was graded, and the excavation for the basement was made. The fund from the sale of the Hamby-Felder property was increased by donations from members and friends, and the foundation of the church was laid in 1925, all at a cost of about six thousand dollars. After the foundation was laid, Mr. Davis stated, “The project had a long rest.” The church was built as funds became available because the decision of the church was not to go into debt to build.

On April 5, 1925, Rev. Gaither A. Briggs was chosen as pastor at a salary of $100.00 per month for full-time services, and he continued as pastor until around September 1, 1928. Members became seriously determined to raise funds to make the dream of a new brick church a reality. Additional property was purchased on the east side of the lot, and land was purchased and exchanged for a strip of ground on the east side of the street approaching the church lot, thus widening said street. On November 18, 1929, less than one month after the stock market crashed (Black Friday), fifty individuals, families, and Sunday School classes signed an agreement “to pay the amount set opposite our names for the purpose of the same being applied toward constructing a new Baptist church in the city of Clayton.” Our forefathers’ dream of a new brick church, because of their devotion to the Lord, came to fruition.

Two centuries—the length of time is a testament to the faithfulness of God to this congregation we call Clayton Baptist Church and to the dedicated people who came before us who knew that the cornerstone of the church is Christ Jesus alone. It’s the “faith of our fathers, living still.” We cherish the founding and growth of Clayton Baptist Church, a church that seeks to preserve the heart, soul, and mind of a determined and courageous people who walked daily with the Lord, a people who, because of their unwavering, abiding faith, and despite personal hardships, built a beloved church that would promote taking the Good News to “the uttermost parts of the world”; preserve biblical, godly values; and strongly espouse the truth of the eternal world to come, a new world promised by God’s gifts of grace and mercy before the beginning of time.

Pastors of Clayton Baptist Church

1819 – 2019

Rev. Stephen White 1819-1823

Rev. James C. Garrard 1832-*?

Rev. John Coffee 1845-1884

Rev. W.W. Eller 1885

Rev. J.W. Hall 1886-1887

Rev. J.S. Dickson 1889

Rev. R.S. Sanders 1890-1892

Rev. J.S. Dickson 1893

Rev. R.S. Sanders 1894

Rev. G.A. Bartlett 1895-1896

Rev. W.S. Whitmire 1897

Rev. R.L. Whitmire, Asst. 1897

Rev. R.S. Sanders 1898

Rev. R.L. Whitmire 1899

Rev. S.B. Yoder 1900

Rev. Z.J. Edge 1901-1902

Rev. George R. Brown 1902-1904

Rev. J.A. Bell 1905

Rev. Frank Lloyd 1905

Rev. Charles Ledford 1906-1909

Rev. Turner Swanson 1909-1910

Rev. T.C. King 1910-1912

Rev. J.T. Kendall 1912-1913

Rev. H.P. Bell 1913-1915

Rev. Charlie Brown 1915-1917

Rev. C.A. Strickland 1918-1920

Rev. L.T. Weldon 1921-1922

Rev. J.W. Kesterson 1923-1924

Rev. Gaither A. Briggs 1925-1928

Rev. Charles T. Brown 1929-1930

Rev. E.E. Keen 1930-1932

Rev. J.W. Farmer 1933-1936

Rev. J.B. Brown 1937-1940

Rev. Judson G. Jackson 1940-1942

Rev. Roy Davis 1942-1945

Rev. D.D. Harris 1945-1949

Rev. J.V. Pittman 1949-1953

Rev. J.E. Dillard, Jr. 1953-1967

Rev. F.M. Chapman (Interim) 1967-1968

Rev. Samuel H. Letson, Jr. 1968-1979

Rev. Judson Jackson (Interim) 1979

Rev. Alec F. Thompson 1979-1989

Rev. Philip Mike Campbell 1990 -2005

Rev. Robert Anderson (Interim) 2005

Rev. Kenneth Keene (Interim) 2005-2007

Rev. Joey Thompson 2007-present

*Complete records unavailable