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Introduction (By Nancy Cassada Nelson, November 1999)

 

The minutes of the Big Springs Primitive Baptist Church from December 1800 thru ….1869 are transcribed verbatim from microfilm #557   which is available for interlibrary loan or for purchase from the Tennessee State Archives. I have tried to decipher every word, but there are some that still elude me, and some badly torn pages. The code is as follows: ____means part of the page is physically gone;. ….means a word is there but I can’t read it. (?) after a word means that I’ve typed each letter as I thought it was written, but it doesn’t make sense to me. Given the age and the length of the manuscript, these gaps are few. Most of them occur in the very beginning of the manuscript, so please don’t get discouraged or disgusted early on.

The clerks of the church must have been chosen in part for their handwriting and their spelling ability, for which I am grateful. I have not changed any of their spelling, but in lists of names I have added commas for clarity and searchability. The spelling of names does vary, and I’ve reproduced each one as it is written. Occasional run-on sentences must be excused when viewed in light of the heated discussions that were taking place.

 Although in the handwritten minutes the year is listed at the top of each page, I have added the year to each date.

 These minutes do not contain records of births or marriages, and very few deaths are recorded. Most references are to people joining the church, being “dismist by letter” (to join another church) or being excommunicated or excluded. Reasons for the latter are often quite explicit and may show your ancestor in a very unflattering light, so be prepared.

 The hours of work that I spent on this project are dedicated to my 3^rd great grandfather Richard Hopson and to the Hopson, Bunch and Ritter relatives who are featured in these pages, not always in the happiest of circumstances. 

   “They’ve all moved away, said the voice of a stranger,

   To a beautiful home by the bright crystal sea.

   Some wonderful day I’ll meet them in Heaven

   Where no one will be a stranger to me.”

                                                ………….old gospel hymn

 

Nancy Cassada Nelson, November 1999

Church Minutes by Year

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