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Gathering at Sardis Baptist Church draws history, genealogy enthusiasts

By Amy Lewis 

 

The Butler County Historical and Genealogical Society (BCHGS) held its quarterly meeting April 27, at the historic Sardis Baptist Church on Halso Mill Road. Before its founding in 1856, local residents gathered under a brush arbor near the church’s present site to worship.

“We want to celebrate all areas of Butler County,” said Pam Nolan, president of the historical society. “The thing is, this used to be a community. They had a church and everything, and it was an important part of Butler County history.”

Guest speakers included Wetzel Wood, a descendant of one of the church’s charter members, who presented a short history of Sardis Baptist Church. The meeting also featured a program and book signing by Jackson Knight, author of the ongoing series Churches of the Alabama Black Belt.

“I’m in the process of publishing a series of books called Churches of the Alabama Black Belt,” Knight said. “I’ve completed nine counties and I’ve almost completed the tenth. My goal is to publish all of the counties of the Alabama Black Belt.”

Knight, a digital creator and blogger, detailed his work documenting historic churches across Alabama. According to information from Knight’s website, Jacksonsramblings.com, he initially set out to photograph sites across the entire state but realized he was spreading himself too thin. His love for history, photography and the outdoors led him to focus specifically on Alabama’s Black Belt region.

“I felt the need/desire or whatever you would term it to travel and document the various things of our beloved Southland,” Knight wrote. After extensive trips covering hundreds of miles, Knight realized he needed to narrow his focus to truly capture the stories behind the images. Now, his work concentrates on photographing pre-1900 churches and notable historical sites, especially west of Interstate Highway 65.

Knight shares his findings and photographs on his website, offering an indexed archive of churches by county. His goal is to eventually document hundreds of historical churches in the region.

The meeting drew attendees from across the South, including Jason Lowry of Jay, Florida, who traveled in search of his ancestry.

“I came from Jay, Florida in search of my great, great, great granddaddy, John Francis Lowry’s gravesite,” Lowry said. “He was a mason in the area as well as a doctor and a teacher. Apparently in the early 1900s, his grave was decimated somehow and now no one knows where it is.”

The gathering highlighted not just the history of Sardis Baptist Church, but also the importance of preserving Butler County’s broader historical and genealogical roots.