The
Church of Christ and the Missionary Baptist Church established
a 'union' church in 1887 near the present site of the Liberty
Church of Christ in Boldo. Montgomery Calloway was the minister
for the Church of Christ and Leroy Williams was the pastor of
the Union Baptist Church. J. H. Hardin, better known as Jim Hardin,
was the church clerk. Mr. Hardin split boards with a froe to
cover the building. It was a small crude structure. It was said
that the Church of Christ members sat on the front benches on
their preaching days and the Baptist sat on the front on their
preaching day.
It isn't known how many years they worshipped in one
building but the church was not kept in good repair. There arose
some controversy. Some time after 1901 the Church of Christ began
having services in the Calloway home. The Union Baptist Church
erected a brush arbor in the field across from the Calloway house
and Leroy Williams ran a revival. Berta Barton (who later became
Mrs. Dan Hardin) said she attended the revival when just a child
and the pastor, Leroy Williams, hauled a small organ in his wagon
and Mrs. Dowdey, his daughter, played the organ for the revival.
The Baptist began to worship in a two-room house
on Mr. Sam Robertson's property and in the two-room school house
across from the old Robertson home which is cemetery property
now. It was voted by the church to build a child building but
the pastor, Leroy Williams, died September 11, 1908 and Jimmy
Drummond became pastor. While the church was being built Jimmy
Drummond and A. J. Huggins put up a tent and ran a revival. Mollie
Haridn (later Mrs. J. W. Barton) joined the church at this time.
The building was finished in 1910. It was just a hull with no
ceiling, a small flat top stove for heat, kerosene wall lamps
for light, crude benches and no musical instruments.At the first
meeting in the new house, the members wanted a name for the church.
Mrs. Katherine Robertson stood with one of her babies in her
arms and said, 'We are going to name it Leroy Baptist Church'.
All agreed. Jimmy Drummond was the first pastor of the new chruch.
The church had services once a month, every third Saturday,
Saturday night and Sunday. Sometime later a new school was build
alongside the church and they had church in the school while
the church was finished on the inside. A pump organ was bought.
At the end of each year it was voted on to call a pastor
for the coming year. Brother Sammy Gardner served the longest,
which was 14 years. They then began having preaching the first
and third Sundays. The Methodists met with them on these Sundays
and the Baptists met with the Methodists on the second and fourth
Sundays with a joint Sunday School. When the Methodist started
having their own church the Baptists started Sunday School every
Sunday. About 1945 the church called Clayton
Shaw as pastor to have full-time services but to let him work
at secular jobs to supplement his income. He did farm work. Wednesday
night prayer meeting, Sunday night Training Union and WMU was
organized. In the 1990s the church's name was changed from Leroy
Baptist to First Baptist Church of Boldo.
History
of LeRoy Baptist Church of Boldo
