The church you see here was built in the late 1890s and was bricked over in 1970. The congregation remains very active but relocated to a more accessible location when ten acres were purchased in 2003 closer to the highway. This historic African American church is well maintained by the present congregation, who deeply appreciates its heritage on this remote dirt road in rural Oglethorpe County. Such churches are scattered throughout rural Georgia—appearing modest yet holding profound stories about Georgia’s history. Oconee Baptist stands as one such example.
Among its notable congregants was Reverend Parker Poulain, the first minister of Oconee Baptist. Rev. Poulain served several churches in the area and, in 1884, converted and baptized A.D. (Adam) Williams at Bethabara Baptist church in nearby Greene County. A.D.’s father, Willis Williams, had been enslaved in Greene County and died there in 1874. A.D. moved to Atlanta in 1893, where he successfully built up the congregation of Ebenezer Baptist. His grandson was Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ebenezer later became Dr. King’s home church.
The church cemetery appears unassuming at first glance, but closer examination reveals significant historical narratives. According to Find a Grave, there are 216 recorded interments, twelve of them born into slavery. However, older congregation members estimate there are approximately 300 unmarked graves, many likely belonging to emancipated slaves.
Of the 12 documented graves of people born into slavery, three have death certificates posted on Find a Grave. These certificates provide insights into 19th-century Georgia history. State law mandated statewide death registration in 1919, and county officials implemented this requirement gradually over several years. The death certificate process requests the name and birthplace of both parents of the deceased. All three certificates of these formerly enslaved people answer these requests with the designation “Unknown”—a poignant but common occurrence prior to 1865.
James Sims’ death certificate is particularly noteworthy, and is posted below. Born around 1828, he died in 1930 at the remarkable age of 102. The Oglethorpe County 1860 slave schedule records a large slave owner named Dr. James Sims (owning 52 slaves with 10 slave houses). James was likely enslaved by Dr. Sims, as the 1860 slave schedule lists a Black male belonging to Dr. Sims that matches his age. When emancipation came in 1865, James would have begun his life as a free man in rural Oglethorpe County at age 37—unable to read or write, without knowledge of his parents, and without a last name. The census of 1930, taken just before he died, confirms that he remained illiterate for life.
Like many emancipated slaves, James adopted the surname of his former enslaver. From these humble beginnings in 1865, James and his contemporaries began to build new lives for themselves and their children. Adjacent to the church once stood a church-sponsored school, now gone. These small schools often provided the only educational opportunities available to many of the first generation of freedmen and their children in rural Georgia. The freedmen may have been illiterate but they carried deep educational aspirations for their children. These church sponsored schools emerged throughout the state in the early 1900s, though few remain today. Today, 23 of the documented interments in the cemetery carry the Sims surname. We honor Oconee Baptist’s history and its place in Georgia’s heritage, and we appreciate the congregation’s devoted stewardship of this important legacy.