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Mt. Moriah celebrates 191 years Part 4

By Mary Alice Beatty Carmichael

 

History, long ago and recent

 

These remaining “Records” remained safely unknown in the Luckie safe for decades until the late 1990’s when vandals broke into the home, and thinking there was something of monetary value, broke open the ancient safe and found … only the records of a Faith filled church … of no value to them.

The break in was soon detected and Hal Grimes, Jr. of Pine Apple and a descendant of many of Mt. Moriah Church former members and of those buried in its cemetery, along with a few other descendants rescued them.

They were shortly afterwards taken to the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission, housed at that time at Samford University, where they were microfilmed and two Xerox copies were made for transcribing purposes, then the original records were returned to a true bank vault in a nearby town where they remain today.

Also noticeable in reading the last book of Records was that during the early decades of the 1900’s there were fewer members being baptized or joining, and more and more letters written to dismiss a member or family to other churches in other locations.

And just as in the tumultuous middle 1860’s when there was no mention of being at war (with one exception: in 1865 in the month after the Yankees came pillaging and destroying all in their path, it was quietly noted that in the previous month that the church had not had the Lord’s Supper “for want of wine because the Enemy is among us.”)

There was no mention from 1914 to 1918 of World War I in any way in the Record.  Only a dullness and lack of energy and weariness seems to seep through.

 

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