The “Unsung Hero” of Old North Baptist Church

Someone might find this interesting.

To Elders Isaac Reed and Robert G. Green go the credit for organizing the Union Baptist Church (now called Old North Baptist Church) four miles of north of Nacogdoches, Texas on May 6, 1838. To Elder James L. Bryant goes the, the, well…inattention? That may not be so much the fault of historians as it is the lack of information about James L. Bryant. All we know of him fits in a five-year window, mostly from the minutes of the Union Baptist Church. So, what do we know about Elder Bryant? From whence came he? Where did he go? Where was he born, and when did he die? We may not be able to answer these questions satisfactorily, but perhaps we can mine and discover small bits of gold.

J. L. Bryant is probably the same Elder James L. Bryant of the Mt. Zion Association of Separate Baptists in Tennessee and Alabama. The Baptist, a periodical edited by Matthew Lyon of Nashville, Tennessee, on January 16, 1837 carried a report of four associations. One of these was “Mount Zion, a new association formed of part of Duck River.” The new body was formed at Pond-Spring in Coffee County, Tennessee in September of 1836. They planned the next association meeting for September 1837 at Friendship Church in Jackson County, Alabama, and “Elder James L. Bryant is appointed to preach the introductory sermon.”[ii] The Duck River and Mount Zion Associations were Separate Baptist – the kind of Baptists as Daniel Parker identified “Mr. Bryant” and the Union Church in Nacogdoches County.[iii] Elder Bryant could have possibly even kept his appointment to preach at Friendship and still arrived in Texas to teach school, as S. F. Sparks said, prior to the death of his father Richard Sparks.[iv]

J. L. Bryant was possibly the first pastor of Union Church, though that position is traditionally ascribed to Isaac Reed.[v] The compilation of the First Book of Church Minutes 1838-1872 gives Isaac Reed as pastor from 1838 to 1847 (page iv). This conclusion seems to originally come from that given by A. J. Holt in A Brief History of Union Baptist Church (Old North Church). Isaac Reed’s name does not appear again in the Union minutes after the first entry (First Sabbath in May 1838, p. 1) until February 1840.[vi] On the other hand, the name of James or J. L. Bryant appears July 1838, August 1838, September 1838, January 1840, February 1840, March 1840, April 1840, May 1840, June 1840, July 1840, August 1840, October 1840, January 1841, February 1841, April 1841, May 1841, and June 1841 – every recorded conference minute from July 1838 through June 1841, except December 1839.[vii] In July of 1838, “James L. Bryant commemorated the Lord’s supper on sabbath.” According to S. F. Sparks, Elder Bryant also baptized the first candidates – some 20 in all.[viii] These facts suggest he may have been the pastor rather than Isaac Reed....

Click link below to read the entire article:
Elder James L. Bryant: The “Unsung Hero” of Old North Baptist Church

i. I found three men named James Bryant in the 1830 census in the general vicinity of the Mount Zion Association of Separate Baptists – two in Lincoln County and one in Marion County. One of the two in Lincoln County seems to be in Lincoln in 1840 and Franklin in 1850, so he can probably be discounted. “Our” James L. Bryant might be one of the other two. This assumes, of course, that he was already in that area by 1830 – which we actually do not know for sure.
[ii] The Baptist, Monday, January 16, 1837, pp. 3-4.
[iii] The Baptist (Sunday, May 1, 1836, p. 4) prints the 13 articles of faith of the Duck River Association of Separate Baptists. The 4th article states, “We believe that Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, tasted death for every man, and through his meritorious death, the way of salvation is made possible, for God to have mercy upon all that come unto him on gospel terms.” This was a serious deviation for Parker, and even some of the United Baptists in Tennessee (who desired to reunite with the Separates) thought the fourth article owned “a want of perspicuity” and “is not so definite as might be desired.” (The Baptist, Sunday, May 1, 1836, p. 3).
[iv] “Recollections of S. F. Sparks,” July 1, 1908, The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, p. 76.
[v] At least one other reader interpreted Parker’s words and actions to mean Bryant was the pastor of Union. “Sometime later, Hopewell Baptist church had some trouble with Union Baptist Church pastored by Elder Bryant of the Separate Baptist order.” – Authorized Church Constitution Versus Direct Authority, Mark W. Fenison, 2013, p. 146.
[vi] To be fair, there are several conferences either not held or not recorded between May 1838 and February 1840. However, of those in the record – June 1838, July 1838, August 1838, September 1838, December 1839, January 1840 – the name of Isaac Reed is not mentioned. The minutes only specifically state he was chosen as pastor in February 1842. No specific mention of choosing as pastor is noticed again until December 1844, when David Lewis was chosen. However, the 1844 minutes of the Sabine Baptist Association lists Lemuel Herrin as pastor, suggesting he might have been chosen in the previous year (1843).
[vii] J. M. Carroll writes, “Concerning Elder Bryant, we could learn very little. He seems to have become a member, soon after its organization, of Union (Old North) Church and to have assisted Pastor Reed in some of the official work of that church. The only definite record we find of him is in the minutes of Parker’s Pilgrim Church.” (A History of Texas Baptists, p.113) Apparently Carroll means any definite record other than the minutes of the Union Baptist Church.
[viii] “Recollections of S. F. Sparks,” July 1, 1908, The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, pp. 77-78.

 

Found this while looking for something else. Thought I would bump it up for those who might not have seen it.