Holt Chapel was an historic Black congregation located north of Haddock. Its establishment dates to the late 19th century. Though no longer active, a foundation maintains the property to some extent.
The church building, which replaced an earlier wood frame structure, is typical of second generation structures for rural Black congregations.
Of much greater architectural significance is the Holt School building, adjacent to the church. It is of a common style once found throughout this section of Middle Georgia of which few survive. [I have personally documented examples in Hancock, Baldwin, and Jones Counties]. Upon its construction in the 1930s it served a dual purpose. The first floor was an elementary school for children of the church and surrounding community while the second floor was home to the Sunlight Brothers and Sisters Society, a church-based benevolent society.
Thanks to the Holt School Foundation and Jones County History and Heritage, Inc., it was saved about 20 years ago and appears to be well-maintained.
A wooden schoolhouse served the Black community that remained in the Blountsville community, near Haddock, long after the village disappeared in the wake of the Civil War. The school was first known as Stewart Place, and later, Damascus. Damascus was also the name of the church. It is now known as New Damascus Baptist Church and is a large congregation. The large cemetery beside the church is the final resting place of numerous freedmen and their descendants. There are some fieldstone markers scattered about, and otherwise typical gravestones, but the memorials of Isaac R. and Clara Reid Ammons are of particular interest as vernacular landmarks. Isaac and Clara were born in the first generation after slavery at a time when Blountsville had all but disappeared. They lived well into the 20th century.
Clara Reid Ammons (1877-1950)
Clara’s grave was damaged at some point, as can be seen here, but luckily, someone has repaired it as best they could.
Isaac R. Ammons (1872-1961)
Considering their similarity, it’s likely that the two headstones were created by the same maker.
Ellis Chapel Baptist Church was established by freedmen in 1883. It is variously identified as being in both Ethridge and Haddock, so I’ll just say it’s in Jones County for simplicity’s sake. I don’t have a date for the present brick-clad structure, but would guess 1930s-1950s for the building and a bit later for the commercial brick siding.
Front
Of particular interest and concern is the collapsing structure across the road. It has been identified in resource surveys as a lodge and former schoolhouse, and was still in good condition as recently as 1988.
Side
The cornerstone of the church notes a Prince Hall affiliation. While most Prince Hall lodges I’ve documented have been in towns and cities, it’s not unusual to find them in rural locales, as well. It’s also possible that the Prince Hall affiliation is more recent and the lodge was a church benevolent society lodge.
White Chapel AME is an historic congregation near Round Oak. The present building dates to 1957. Though I haven’t been able to locate much history, the church was likely organized by freedmen of the White Plantation in the years following the Civil War. The plantation was established between 1800-1810 by Virginia-born Thomas White, Jr. (1781-1830), and the area, near the Jasper County line, was historically known as White’s District. White’s son, Joseph Clark White (1810-1887) inherited the estate and owned over 3000 acres and 120 enslaved people.
One of those slaves was Caroline “Aunt Ca’line” White (c.1848-1948). My purpose of visiting White Chapel was to document her burial place, but I was unable to locate it. She was well-known by all the people of the Round Oak community and a local newspaper reported at her death: “She was a slave girl on the plantation of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Clark White at the “old White place,” north of Round Oak before the War Between the States. Her husband, Tillman White, died several years ago. She leaves children, Jackson, 83; Mary, 81; Tom, 80; John, 78; Henry, 72; and also seventy grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Her oldest grandchild is 68.
The day before her death Aunt Ca’line threaded her needle, without the aid of glasses, and quilted; she also helped whitewash the fireplace. She always claimed to be part Indian and certainly had many of the characteristics of the Indian, and so do her children. Henry is known as “Red Man,” and although he is 72, is as agile as most men of 58. Aunt Ca’line was thrifty, and always had a garden, chickens and many quilts pieced up.
She became rather deaf in the last few years and her grandchildren persuaded her to stay off the highway, but before that she came to town every day and was as chipper as could be, liked by all, white and colored.“
Her obituary also noted that “…she was as much a “rebel” as any southerner could ever be. She always spoke of the “good old days” and says that they were well treated, had everything they needed, and they were all happy, before the Yankees came…” Such statements must be viewed with suspicion today, considering their sources in white-owned newspapers which worked overtime to promote the “happy slaves” narrative, to which few Blacks in the Jim Crow era would have ever disputed to any White person at the time.
Vernacular Headstones of White Chapel AME
Though I couldn’t locate Mrs. White’s gravestone, I did document a few vernacular memorials, all of relatively recent vintage.
Annie Hutchings (1908-1986)
A family member or someone in the community made this headstone, with a deeply incised cross.
This is one of several headstones with decorative motifs incised on the back side.
These designs may have been made with metal or plastic strips or even fencing. If I recall correctly they date mostly to the 1980s.
Most of the slabs and headstones feature stenciled names, as seen below.
Lue Ella Odom – Better known as Mrs. Doll
No birth or death dates were given on Mrs. Doll’s memorial.
I have been unable to locate any history related to Saint Paul AME Church but it dates to at least the 1920s, when Lou Ellen Seabrooks (1841-1921) and Henry Seabrooks (1885-1928) were buried in the small adjacent cemetery. Records indicate that at the time of the Seabrooks’s burials, the cemetery was known as the Morton or Martin graveyard. Since there were once many plantations in this area, between Clinton and Wayside, perhaps that was a reference to an early landowner and, possibly, an earlier slave cemetery.
Ruby Ware Graham (1906-1966) was a prominent member of Saint Paul. She served as a teacher at Macon’s Green Street Elementary School for over 40 years and was very active in professional associations throughout this time. She was also a member of the local Phyllis Wheatley Literary Society.
I’m honored to be able to share this photograph by Anne Chamlee; it will be one of several I plan on publishing here and on Vanishing Georgia. Earlier this year, Anne reached out to let me know that she appreciated the work I was doing documenting Georgia’s rural architecture and that she had some photographs of her own that I might enjoy seeing. After several back-and-forth emails and some phone conversations, I’m so glad we were able to make a connection. She’s just as intrigued by the architecture of rural Georgia as I am and by the late 1980s was wandering around the backroads of Middle Georgia, photographing the endangered examples that sparked her interest. She’s also a delightful conversationalist, which is a bit of vanishing thing itself these days.
A Sooner by birth, Anne came South with her family just as the Dust Bowl was coming to an end. They wound up in Florida and she eventually met and married a man with roots in Hancock County, Tilmon Chamlee. Tilmon was a rising architect who had a very successful career in the commercial sector. After many years in Florida and then Macon, Anne and Tilmon eventually settled at Lake Sinclair in Baldwin County, where he continued his practice and indulged in his love for flying. He was also a commercial and instrument-rated pilot. Tilmon passed away in 2015 but Anne remains active in the community. After talking with her on the phone a few times, I still cannot believe she’s 85.
Regarding the structure: This was the school and lodge associated with Jordan Chapel AME Church. It was located near Haddock and is no longer extant. The photo dates to July 1988.
Known at its organization as Round Oak Methodist, and now called Sunshine Methodist or Sunshine II, the church seen here was organized sometime after the burning of a more primitive log structure known as Sunshine Church, which was a Baptist congregation.
That church was the site of the Battle of Sunshine Church (30-31 July 1864), one of the few Confederate victories in the Atlanta campaign. Stoneman’s raiders, attempting to meet up with Sherman’s forces, encountered three brigades commanded by Clinton native General Alfred Iverson. A decisive Confederate victory forced Stoneman’s surrender. Four months later, Sherman’s troops burned the old church as they passed through the area en route to Savannah.
This historic congregation dates to 1921 and is still active today. It grew out of a community Sunday School organized by Miss Maude Childs. The church was designed by Macon architect W. Elliott Dunwoody, Jr.
A Methodist Society was organized at Clinton in 1810 and a permanent structure is thought to have been built around 1821. It remains in use today and is well cared for. A slave gallery, typical feature of many antebellum churches, was removed in 1897. It should also be noted that Clinton Methodist was among the first churches in the area to organize a foreign missionary society.
