Primitive Baptist Church and Family History
Research Assistance for JoDaviess County, Illinois

CHURCHES:

LOWER APPLE RIVER (HANOVER/ELIZABETH)

Lower Apple River church was organized in the home of James Pilcher, a pioneer who came to the area of Hanover in 1839, from Fayette County, Illinois, where he had been a member of Four Mile Prairie Church. The Lower Apple River Church was probably located at Elizabeth, on Apple River, on the road from Buffalo Grove to Galena. Elders Richard S. Allison, Joseph P. Allison, James Craig, and Moses Morehouse, and brethren William Hunt, George West, James Pilcher, and J. K. Beer, were among the members of this church who are known.

The minutes of the First Northwestern Association for 1848 and 1849 show that 21 members were excluded, 19 in 1848, and 2 in 1849, which undoubtedly was the result of trouble over the modern mission system. The church was reduced to 17 members by this trouble, in 1849. John P. Parsons is specifically named in the minutes for 1848, as being an advocate of the modern mission system, and Lewis A. Pilcher also appears to have become a missionary preacher.

SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:

Allison, Beer, Craig, Gibson, Hunt, Morehouse, Pilcher, West (very incomplete due to loss of records).

BETHEL

Bethel Church, with Elder John P. Parsons as its pastor, was one of the churches which constituted the First Northwestern Association, in July 1841.

COLORED UNION (GALENA)

The Colored Union Church was organized in April 1842, and held services at the Galena Academy. Elder Henry Smith was pastor of this church as early as 1843, and probably from the beginning. Elder Walter Baker also preached here.

Location: In Galena. Lot #20, in Block #9, on west side of Galena River.

EAST FORK OF FEVER RIVER (1843 or earlier)

This church is named as the host of the 1844 session of the First Northwestern Association, in their Circular Letter, which was republished in the Western Predestinarian Baptist. East Fork (on Fever River) was a very early settlement and site of lead mining. Elders Alexander Conlee and Moses Jones were early ministers who were members of this church; the minutes of Buffalo Grove church show that these two brethren were from East Fork of Fever River Church, and that they composed the presbytery which constituted Buffalo Grove church, in May 1843. Elder Moses Jones was a son of Elder William Jones, founder of the Wood River Church in Madison county. Elder Moses Jones moved to Texas a few years later.

LITTLE FLOCK (SCALES MOUND)

Little Flock Church, near Scales Mound, about twelve miles northeast of Galena, was an early member of the First Northwestern Association, being listed in the minutes of 1848. Elders Josiah Conlee, James Gholson, William Long, Andrew Gregg, and Henry Smith (colored), and brethren Fleming C. Maupin, Levi Day, and W. Conlee, were among the members of this church whose names we could find. Elder Josiah Conlee came to this area in 1836, so the church may have been organized prior to 1840.

SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:

Conlee, Day, Gholson, Gregg, Long, Maupin, Smith (very incomplete due to loss of records).

KENTUCK'S GROVE

Kentuck's Grove Church was already a member of the First Northwestern Association, in 1848 (the oldest minutes which have been found), but the location of the church was not stated. It may have been located in another county in Illinois, or in Wisconsin.

ZION (1855)

Zion Church joined the First Northwestern Association, in 1855, Elder Walter Baker being the messenger who represented the church, which reported 12 members that year. The location is not given.

MILLVILLE (RUSH TOWNSHIP)

A church called Millville is mentioned in the records of the Buffalo Grove church (of Ogle county), in 1864. Millville was the site of an early grist mill on the Apple River.

MT. TABOR

A church called Mt. Tabor is mentioned in 1864, in the minutes of Buffalo Grove Church (near Polo, Ogle County, Ill.), and Elder William Long was named as the pastor at that time. The location of this church has not been determined.

NEW HOPE (EQUAL RIGHTS, RUSH TOWNSHIP)

New Hope Church was listed as a member of the First Northwestern Association in 1880, and was evidently organized several years earlier, probably by members from Providence Church. When the Mt. Pleasant Church in Wisconsin dissolved, some of its members joined New Hope Church. The church was located about four miles south of Warren, Illinois, (near the Wisconsin line) but we have not been able to determine whether there was a meeting house owned by the church, or whether meetings were held in homes or schools. Among the members of this church were Elders Benjamin Sallee, Lafayette A. Chaddock, Walter Baker, Henry Smith, and his sons, Robert and Joseph Smith (the last four named brethren were all negroes). A majority of the members of this church were probably negroes, but there were several white brethren also. Elder Lafayette A. Chaddock (white) and Elder Joseph E. Smith (black) were ordained here on the same day, at the church meeting of June 1894, by a presbytery of white brethren, viz., Elders W. A. Thompson, Thomas Davey, and Benjamin Sallee. Elder Chaddock died in the year 1900. The church was probably active until at least 1900, and perhaps several years afterward.

Elder Benjamin Sallee served this church as pastor, and Elder Walter Baker was his assistant part of the time. Others of the above named Elders undoubtedly also served this church as pastor.

SURNAMES OF MEMBERS:

Arnold, Baker, Chaddock, Parmwell, Richardson, Sallee, Smith (very incomplete due to loss of records).

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE MATERIAL IN THE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST LIBRARY:

Minutes of the First Northwestern Association; Obituaries in the Signs of the Times and other periodicals.

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