The congregation of Ridgeway Baptist began under the name New Bethel, though the exact founding date is unknown. The first building was constructed in 1865 by a handful of Confederate veterans returning from the war, including Wiley Pankey, J. C. Worley, Frank Nelson, and Leander Corbin. This one-room log structure had a dirt floor, later replaced with planks, along with two doors and three shuttered windows. An extension was added in 1940, electricity in 1949, and a new church was built across the street in 1982.

Early rural churches reflected the resources of their communities, often evolving from a brush arbor to a log building and eventually a framed sanctuary. Very few log churches have survived in Georgia, making Ridgeway a rare link to that era. Built at the end of the Civil War, it speaks to the hardships of mountain families who lived far from plantation wealth. In the 1940s, services here were still held without electricity. The nearby cemetery tells the story of these families, with many burials of Pankeys, Quarles, and Scots-Irish settlers like McArthur, McClure, McElrath, and McPherson.

The graveyard also holds stories of the Civil War, moonshining, and murder. In this rugged part of Georgia, cotton was not a viable crop, but liquor was. Federal taxes on whiskey brought revenue agents to shut down stills, sparking violent resistance. In Gilmer County, a vigilante group called the “Whitecaps” enforced their own mountain code, which included protecting moonshine operations. One tragic case involved Henry Worley, suspected of aiding federal agents. He survived a failed hanging attempt, only to be shot days later in his cornfield. Several Whitecaps were indicted, with John Quarles Sr. and David Butler sentenced to prison. Quarles died in prison in Ohio, while Butler served his term and returned home.

Atlanta newspapers at the time told of how the Whitecaps had terrorized the area until this trial broke their power. Today, all is peaceful in the shadow of the little log church, where Henry Worley’s daughter Kemmie rests beside her parents and her husband, whose uncle was the same John Quarles convicted in the case.

http://genealogytrails.com/geo/murray/white_caps.htm

https://www.murraycountymuseum.com/on_64.html