Chesterfield Baptist Church
Baptist Church Side View
Back: Jean Greer, Raymond DeArmond, Chester Molpus, J. D. Hughey
Front: Kirk Smith, Ryan Eklund, and John Cann
Methodist and later Baptist Church
Former Baptist Parsonage
Current Baptist Parsonage (Constructed 1951)
Church Banquet-Do you recognize these young people-They are a bit older today.
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[Copied: Historical Sketch of The Chesterfield Baptist Church]:
The Chesterfield Baptist Church was organized in 1877 with the following names as charter members: Reverend and Mrs. A. B. Hursey, William A. Mulloy, Mrs. Laney Redfearn, Mr. and Mrs. Green Catoe, John Catoe, Mary Catoe, Mr. and Mrs. Phillip Sellers, James Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Myers. Reverend A. B. Hursey was the first pastor. This organization met for worship in the samll building belonging to A. B. Hursey. The building was erected as a drug store for Dr. Ned McBride. This building was located across the street from our present parsonage property. The building had no flooring and one side was without weather boarding. Mr. W. D. Craig furnished the material for the floor and siding at no cost because of his friendship with A. B. Hursey, W. A. Mulloy, and Green Catoe.
William Mulloy, a Baptist, was for sometime the Superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School, but he became the first superintendent of the Baptist Sunday School when it was organized. Some years later the organization moved to the present location, purchased the old Methodist Church building for a sum of $400. The church had been used as a Court House since Sherman burned the Court House in March of 1865 and it was not rebuilt until 1884. The Baptist, after using this building for a few years sold it to the Trustees of the School who moved it to the lot now occupied by the residence of S. M. Jackson.
The present building was begun and the minutes show that Reverned A. B. Hursey, tendered his resignation. Reverned F. Hickson was elected to take his place as pastor. On January 20, 1884, R. A. White, J. Catoe, A. F. White, Dudley Evans, and W. W. Mulloy were appointed as a committee for purchasing church property. This committee seemed to have continued for some time. The responsibility for the erection of the present building rested largely on E. J. Kennedy, Robert E. Rivers, Julian Redfearn, and Elijah Redfearn, although the later was never a member of this church.
It was during the efficient ministry of B. S. Funderburk that the church out grew its quarters, which made it necessary to add Sunday School rooms at the rear of the present church. For a number of years this church remained in the Welch Neck Association,as it was through the Association the church received aid from the State Mission Board. During these years, the church has always been loyal to the denomination and cooperated in the Baptist Seventy-five Million Campaign for the spread of the Gospel throughout the World, and is now the only church that has full time preaching in the Chesterfield Association.
At the close of B. S. Funderburk’s pastorate, the church was without a parsonage, and had no home in which to locate a new pastor. Under the leadership of the present Board of Deacons, the church bought the property on the corner of Craig and Main Streets. The ladies of the Church deserve much credit for their splendid cooperation in helping to pay for and remodeling the present parsonage property in the past two years. The Church constructed a modern parsonage on Park Drive in 1951. It remains in use today.
Dr. William Perry: John Craig owned this property and his daughter inherited the property all the way to the by-pass. I went to see Mr. Craig about buying the lot were Julian Curtis had a station on the Bypass, but he would not sell it. The church bought this property from Mr. Craig’s daughter who inherited the property from her father.
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