The congregation of today’s Lone Mountain Baptist Church traces its establishment back to 1869. It may have been an offshoot of Big Springs Primitive Baptist Church in Springdale, via Mountain Creek Primitive Baptist Church, but I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that after the Methodist Church was built in 1892, the Baptists and the Methodists of Lone Mountain worshipped there together. One Sunday the Methodist Preacher and Deacons would lead the service, and the next week the Baptists would do the same.
Both Paynes and Jenningses were among the congregants of both churches, but my Aunt Bertha Payne told me that my grandmother, A. Jennings Payne, was instrumental in convincing the Baptists to build their own sanctuary. Bertha was married to A’s oldest son, Clarence, and Clarence was running for Justice of the Peace in Lone Mountain. As the story goes, A was incensed when she discovered one of the Methodist deacons was politicking in support of Clarence’s opponent, so she swore the Baptists were going to build their own church
Whatever the reason, by 1928 the church had been built. Both she and Byrd were lifelong members, and Lone Mountain Baptist Church still has a very active congregation. Hanging in the vestibule of the church is a lovely hand-lettered certificate honoring the members of the “Ladies Aid” who helped to pay off the mortgage, and A is among them.
A would, no doubt, be delighted with the picture below:
