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In February and March of 2005 I was able to spend more time reviewing the early minutes on the microfilm roll loaned to me by Pat Saupe. I have finally figured out some of the handwriting that has been bothering me since last year. Some of the early writers had a style that is unlike anything I've previously seen in old handwriting. Anytime there was a double letter, such as "ee", they wrote the first letter as a "w", like "we". For example, "Freemon" was written as "Frwemon", "Reede" was written as "Rwede", "Cross" was written as "Crows", etc. Once I realized this, I started seeing it EVERYWHERE in the minutes.
I am now able to read through these minutes and understand much more. Many people have taken the "1807 Membership Roll" and have transcribed Aaron and Alley Freeman's names as "Frivemon". That's what it looks like. That's how I transcribed it until March, 2005. But it's really written like "Frwemon", which to the writer meant "Freemon". The "w" in that case really did look like "iv", but without the dot over the "i". Now it makes sense.
I have spoken to the Pastor of Newfound Baptist Church (NBC) this month (March, 2005). He has given me the name of their church historian and I am looking forward to chatting with her regarding the transcription of these early years. It sounds like some of these early years have been transcribed already, so we'll see what comes of it. NBC has a web site at http://www.newfoundbaptist.org/. More later...
In early 2004 I was made aware of the level of detail contained within
the minutes of Newfound Baptist Church, as maintained by the early
church leaders some 200 years ago. Apparently, one of the founding
leaders was a distant uncle of mine, Daniel
PONDER. Mr. Ponder
was married to Elizabeth PATTERSON, a younger sister of Thomas
Patterson, my 5xG-Grandfather. Thomas Patterson died in Buncombe
Co NC between 1807 and 1810. His oldest son was John
Patterson, born
ca. 1765 in York Co SC. John married Margaret BLACK in Pendleton District
SC ca. 1788. Their oldest son was named Joseph
Black Patterson,
born 1789.
John and Margaret Patterson's family were members of Newfound Baptist
Church in the early 1800's. In browsing the notes regarding this
church's meetings' minutes from 1802 and later, as well as a membership
roll in June 1807, as transcribed by Pat Saupe for inclusion in her
1983 book titled KENTUCKY PONDERS, it is obvious that John Patterson's
family attended this church in 1806 and 1807 for certain. I am in
the process of obtaining a microfilm roll of the church minutes to
search more closely for records on the Pattersons, Blacks, Willsons,
Dunkins, and a few other families, perhaps.
As I collect these notes, I will make them available on this page,
as time allows. For now, I am starting off with the membership
roll which is dated as June, 1807. Mary Ann (Duncan) Dobson states
on her excellent web page that this list was NOT actually compiled
in June of 1807, but later. I quote her now: "Post
1807; Newfound Baptist Ch. Mins, V. 1: Pages 17 and 18 of the minutes
(which were copied in 1853 from the originals) contained a list
of 123 [should be 113] members of the church (although not so identified,
or dated) including Jane Dunken, Elizabeth
Addington, Delila Addington as well as Huckaby, Plemons, Ponder, Pippinger,
Patterson, Black, Gudger, Triplett, Worth, Wm Neighbors. The
list excluded early members and included members who joined as late as 1820,
so its provinance and significance are unknown." Ms. Dobson's web page
regarding this is at http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~dobson/nc/ncbuncom.htm.
Ms. Dobson also stated that the original minutes are not in good shape but have
been scanned and are maintained on microfilm at "the Baptist Historical Collection
at Wake Forest University Library in Winston-Salem [NC]." It just so happens
that I live in Winston-Salem, NC, so I plan to go soon to start reviewing these
records.
This list contains
114 records, with one name having been "lost",
leaving 113 names to display. The list may be sorted by first
name, last name, or by the original order in which it was recorded.
If you view it by last name or first name, some additional comments
by Wes Patterson will show up. These comments are subject to change
at any time.
Please contact
me if you have any questions
regarding this membership roll. Thank you.
Pat Saupe obtained a personal copy of the microfilm of the Newfound
Church minutes by permission from the pastor of the church at the
time (1980's). Pat has loaned the microfilm to me to review (March
16, 2004) and has given me permission to use the notes accordingly.
Thank you, Pat.
Wes Patterson, 5 March 2004 (Last Revised: 16 March 2004) |