THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Last
week’s column gave a brief review of the history book
produced by
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He and his bride, the former Annis
Grace Ozmer, came to the mountains to Lake Winfield Scott for a
vacation before
they planned to move on to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in
Ranger Arthur Woody met the young
preacher, a graduate of
The report goes that Ranger Woody
talked to Rev. Boynton, telling him of the dearth of good
Bible-teaching
preachers at that time in the mountains (about the mid-1930s). Ranger Woody made arrangements for him to
preach
in revivals at some of the mountain churches in the Suches area. Crowds came to hear the young, enthusiastic
preacher. A harvest of souls and
baptisms were encouraging.
Ranger Woody prevailed up Rev. Boynton
to remain in the mountains. He
supposedly said to him, “You can get enough training right here in
these
mountains where we need a good preacher so badly. You
don’t have to go away to seminary.” Furthermore,
Ranger Woody promised the young
preacher a job working as a supervisor in the Civilian Conservation
Corps, a
job which provided a meager living for the young couple.
That was arranged, and Rev. Boynton worked
with “the boys” of the C. C. C., as a chaplain and also a supervisor as
the
young men built roads and fire towers, put out forest fires and planted
trees. Rev. Boynton preached on Sundays
and Wednesday nights at part-time churches.
Without availability at this writing
of the Notla River Baptist Association minutes to verify just when Rev.
Boynton
assumed leadership of
He often liked to state of his work in
the mountains: “I came here on a
vacation and spent the rest of my life serving God in these mountains.”
He was an apt teacher of the Word of
God, and often led what we then called “study courses” for members of
his
congregation, with the studies focused on particular books of the Bible. He was a lover of young people, and ever
encouraged them to get education beyond high school.
He was good at knowing how to assist them to
apply for and receive scholarships for college studies.
He introduced Vacation Bible Schools as part
of the summer programs of every church he pastored in the mountains. The Georgia Baptist Sunday School Department
had provision for leadership help, a lady they sent to live among the
people
and assist with Vacation Bible Schools until the churches developed
their own
leaders under the encouragement of Rev. Boynton.
He was very active in community
affairs. He served as
When the movement began in the
mid-1940s to establish
He was my pastor at Choestoe from
about 1936 until following my husband’s ordination to the gospel
ministry. He was my counselor and
spiritual advisor
when I became a Christian at age nine.
He baptized me. When my mother
died in 1945, he comforted my family and conducted her funeral. When my brother returned, wounded, from World
War II, he was there to
encourage. He helped me to get a
work-study scholarship to attend
Rev. Boynton died at a young age, 61,
following a heart attack. His call to pastoral work in the mountains
came in an
unusual way—from a visitor on vacation here to a person who became one
with the
churches, people and needs of the mountains.
His tombstone and those of his wife and their beloved daughter
are in
the
Rev. Claud Cole Boynton,
Annis Grace Ozmer Boynton,
Mary Boynton Wehunt,
Updated September
26,
2009
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