FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF ALPHARETTA
There is some evidence that there had been a Baptist church in Alpharetta at some time prior to 1905, but no one knows what became of it. In the year 1905 there was no Baptist church in the town. Living in the town in the early 1900’s was an attorney, Colonel Lewis, who practiced law in Milton County. He and his wife, Cora, lived in the stately brick house on Cumming Street, which was later to become the Manning family home. Mrs. Cora Lewis was a godly woman and a Baptist, but because there was no Baptist church in the town, she attended the Methodist Church were she taught a Sunday School class.
One summer during those years, a powerful Baptist preacher, whose name nobody knows, preached in the New Prospect Camp Meeting. A great revival broke out, and many people were converted. The preacher got to know Mrs. Lewis and asked her why she was teaching a Bible class in the Methodist Church. She replied, “Because there is no Baptist church in Alpharetta.” His words of admonition to here were “Why don’t you start one?”
The words of that preacher took lodging in Cora Lewis’ heart, and in 1903 she led in the formation of a society of godly women whose main purpose was to start a Baptist church. They met regularly for prayer and Bible study. They gave of their meager means and solicited other monies from men as they attended court in the Milton County Court House. With these funds they purchased a lot of land, 60 x 100, on Academy Street from Mr. Bob Dodd for $200. Joining Mrs. Lewis in her efforts were Mrs. Jennie Shirley. She, her husband, Benjamin Newton Shirley, and their two daughters, Minnie and Clyde, where charter members of the church. In years to come the Women’s Missionary Union was organized, and circles were named for Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Shirley.
The spirit of concern found lodging in the hearts of some good men who led in the conducting of services in the court house. On June 10, 1905, the Alpharetta Baptist Church was constituted. Rev. George L. Barnwell, a prominent North Georgia minister, preached the doctrinal sermon and read the articles of faith upon which the church was established. Charter members of the new church were as follows:
L. Barnwell
John Goswick
Dr. W. D. Martin
J. B. Martin
A. N. Shirley
B. Shirley
Mrs. Harriett M. DeVore
Mrs. Margaret Goswick
Mrs. Lucy E. Hood
Mrs. Cora Lewis
The presbytery for the constitution of the new church was composed of Rev. R. D. Deweese, Rev. George Barnwell, J. M. Upshaw, N. H. Broadwell, Sr., John Redd, Eli Broadwell, John Webb and W. D. DeVore. That meeting was on a Saturday and it was agreed that the congregation would meet again on the following Lord’s Day for worship with the Rev. Deweese preaching. The same month the church extended a call to Rev. T. T. Twitty to be its first pastor. He accepted and served faithfully, with services once a month, until 1909. He returned in 1911 to serve again until 1914.
Rev. Twitty was born near Statham, Jackson County, Georgia, on August 5, 1859. The family moved to Gwinnett County in 1866 and to Gainesville in 1872. He attended public school and Martin Institute in Jefferson. Deprived of the advantages of a college education, he read extensively and acquired a rich knowledge of the Scriptures.
Ordained to the ministry at Corinth, near Chamblee, in 1892, Rev. Twitty became known throughout North Georgia as a powerful preacher and evangelist. In August 1919, he was the evangelist in a revival in the Harmony Hall Church near Gainesville. It was a glorious meeting with services twice daily. On Saturday morning Rev. Twitty had preached and extended the invitation for people to come for prayer. When one young man came forward and took the preacher’s hand, Rev. Twitty slumped to the floor and was dead in a matter of minutes. He and his wife are buried in a cemetery at Norcross.
Immediately upon the constitution of the new church in June, 1905, the group of ladies, led by Mrs. Cora Lewis, presented the deacons with the deed to the lot on Academy Street where construction began immediately on a one-room meeting house. The minutes of the conference on December 9, 1905, recorded the following statement: “Moved and carried that the Building Committee procure lumber and seat the meeting house. Moved that the clerk make a request to the State Board for their donation to our church through Brother Twitty. An entry in the minutes on January 20, 1906, stated, “The church received a two-hundred donation by the State Board through Brother Twitty.”
It is interesting that the history of the Alpharetta Methodist Church carries the following entry: “On April 1, 1871, Mr. Isham Teasley deeded the land on which the present Methodist Church now stands. There was a white frame church on this site beginning in 1905.” Thus the two congregations were able to occupy their separate new meeting housed at about the same time.
Back to Churches of Old Milton County
Back to Old Milton County History and Genealogy Page
Copyright 2007-2009 by Betty Turner