I dug a little deeper into the findagrave details about Rocky Fork Church. It was organized about 1832 by Lemuel Branson and a few others. This Baptist church was a hewed log structure about 20 by 28 feet, with a clapboard roof, a batten door midway in one side of the building, with a high pulpit opposite the door. A wood burning stove in the center warmed the room.
Located in Section 9 in the southeast part of Jackson Township, Parke County, Indiana, the building also served as a school. It’s listed as a Predestinarian Baptist church in the book listed below. (In his obituary of another ancestor, David Jordan, he was “babtised [sic] into the fellowship of the church of Jesus Called Sharon of Regular Predestinarian Baptists.” I’d never heard that term before.
Lemuel and Jane (Watson) Branson and Levi and Elizabeth Moore were some of the members. Lemuel Branson died in 1838. Five years later, his widow Jane married Levi Moore, who had also been widowed. Jane Watson Branson Moore was widowed a second time after she and Levi were married only four years.
Jane stayed behind with other family members in Indiana while son John Branson’s family took off for the new State of Iowa, followed by John’s sister and family, Emilia and Ephraim Moore in 1855. During the 1850s, the population of Iowa nearly tripled. Ohio and Indiana contributed more settlers than all other states.
Google estimates the trip from Parke County, Indiana, to Guthrie County, Iowa, of about 500 miles, would take a little less than 8 hours. It took Ephraim and Lucy Moore and their family, in two covered wagons, about a month in 1855.
Rocky Fork church was disbanded in 1863. It, like other churches, “did not survived the controversies incident to the Civil War,” according to a history of Indiana churches.
Nevertheless, the legacy of that little church was nurtured through my motherline and woven into my own inheritance, that of lives lived with faith in the God, family, community, and the hope of heaven.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. – Psalm 100:5
Archaeological and History Survey of Parke County by George Branson, Indiana History Bulletin, August 1927, page 109f.
I’ve always found church histories fascinating.
I’ve never thought about looking at them before, but there were a couple of fascinating tidbits in this one!
I’ve never heard of a Predestinarian church!
I hadn’t either! There were a dozen listed as Predestinarian Baptist and another dozen listed as Missionary Baptist Churches, then lots of other denominations in that one county.
Fascinating history, Joy!
It sure is! Thanks, Tim! You never know what you’ll find when researching. Maybe that’s the lure.
Like you, I have never heard of that slice of Baptist titles. When established, there must’ve been a big divisive split going on concerning “Free-will” issues. Love old church and community history.
Same here!
Oh my goodness. An eight-hour trip today that once took a month — to cover those same 500 miles. Thanks for sharing, Joy. I love all of these slices of history. xo! 🥰
Thanks, Vicki! I’m amazed at the little details you can learn about that past.
Me, too – and every time I learn from you, I’m instantly grateful for the generations of dear ones I’ll never meet — those who made our lives possible. So endearing. xo, Joy! 🥰
So the two covered wagons travelled a little more than 16 miles per day. The terrain must have been rugged. The details you include enhance your historical accounts beautifully. I can picture the little Baptist church very clearly from your vivid description. Thanks, Joy! 🙂
Thanks, Nancy. I never thought to calculate their “speed.” Wheels with no tires or springs. Yikes!