Preserve church history

I appreciate the latest edition of the ABN article on the history of the magazine. P.S.G. Watson is mentioned as having edited a previous magazine in 1859. Rev. Watson came to Arkansas in 1853 and pastored the Liberty Baptist Church in Lee County, east of Marianna. He wrote an article for the American Baptist Memorial (I haven’t been able to find out much about this publication) in 1855 that Liberty was the oldest Baptist church in the county and was organized on June 25, 1848 on the St. Francis Road, northwest from Helena, 25 miles. It had 40 members, four of whom were black. This church belonged to the Rocky Bayou Association. Because of a distance of 160 miles, the Mt. Vernon Association was organized. I believe this might have been Missionary Baptist at that time.  

Recently, an old Liberty Church minute book was found at Tri-County genealogy in Marvell. Of course, Rev. Watson is mentioned. The minute book for present-day First Baptist Church in Marianna begins with this statement dated September 1868: “Marianna Baptist Church was organized from the scattered membership of what was formerly known as the Liberty Church located a few miles from this place. Our little village, promising to become a thriving inland town, was considered a much better location ... as the war had left us in a torn and broken-up condition.”  

The Liberty minute book mentions several votes taken to publish members’ obituaries in the Tennessee Baptist that is also mentioned in your article. Rev. Watson was in Kentucky in 1840, Independence County, Ark., in 1850, and in Pulaski County in 1860 and was back in Kentucky in 1870. He died in 1889 in McGregory, Texas. Our plans at First Baptist in Marianna are to celebrate our 165 years in June 2013. I encourage all churches to preserve their history. Your article is helping to do that.

Sue Moore
Marianna