Skewarky Union Meeting Records, 1800-1892
(Microfilm Collection #MF0030)
Descriptive Summary
| Title: | Skewarky Union Meeting Records |
| Creator: | Skewarkey Union Meeting |
| Repository: | ECU Manuscript Collection |
| Languages: | English |
| Extent: | 0.02 Cubic feet, .5 item, cubic feet, reel, minutes of Primitive Baptist church conferences. |
Administrative Information
Accessions Information
October 10, 1977; Primitive Baptist church records (1800-1892) of Flat Swamp Union Meeting (1800-1826) and its successor Skewarkey Union Meeting (1826-1892). Loaned for copying by Mr. Joe Leggett, Stokes, N.C.
Access Restrictions
No restrictions
Copyright Notice
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Preferred Citation
Skewarky Union Meeting Records (#MF0030), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
Acquisition Information
- Gift of Mr. Joe Leggett,
Processing Information
-
Processed by V. Jones, Jr., April 1991
-
Encoded by Apex Data Services
Description
In May 1800 delegates from Flat Swamp, Skewarkey, Conoho, and Great Swamp churches of eastern North Carolina organized to form Flat Swamp Union Meeting. The union continued to grow until August 1823 when several of the churches left the union. Three years later, Flat Swamp Union Meeting changed its name to Skewarkey Union Meeting. A decline in religion throughout the 1830s forced a suspension of union meetings from 1837 to 1841. During the 1840s and 1850s, however, Skewarkey Union Meeting grew in the number of member churches, with twenty-two churches in several eastern North Carolina counties by 1892.
The minutes of the union meetings contain general information: who was selected to preach and what text he used; admission of new members; acknowledgement of correspondence and messengers from other unions; appointment of messengers to attend other union meetings; and setting a time and place for the next union meeting. Only in one instance was a letter from another union kept: in August 1829 Bertie Union Meeting wrote requesting that a difference of opinion be settled between the sister unions. The early minutes (1800-1830) begin with a brief history of the creation of Flat Swamp Union Meeting, a confession of faith, and rules for conducting meetings. Answers to queries about theology and Christian lifestyle are also given in some of the early minutes. For example, a query of November 1800 questioned whether a Christian should powder his head and a second query asks if a church should receive a member who was excommunicated by a sister church (September 1804). A decline of religion is discussed throughout 1803-1804.
Omissions in the minutes occur between October 1837 and August 1841; July 1843 and October 1848; and August 1862 and December 1865.
Online access to this finding aid is supported with funds created through the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). These funds come through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services which is administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. This grant is part of the North Carolina ECHO, Exploring Cultural Heritage Online, Digitization Grant Program.
