(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - [Sonny] In the beautiful Northwest Georgia Mountains, lies Chattooga County, established in 1838.

This was the traditional home of the Cherokee, but in the early 19th century, whites were encroaching in ever increasing numbers.

In 1829, gold was discovered in North Georgia and the rush was on.

In a sad chapter of Georgia history, the newcomers used force to dispossess the Cherokees of their land.

They then distributed that land to white settlers in the 1832 Cherokee Land Lottery.

(gentle music) ♪ Jesus keep me near the cross ♪ ♪ There's a precious fountain ♪ ♪ Free to all the healing stream ♪ ♪ Flows from Calvary's Mountain ♪ - [Jeff] The history of Bethel Presbyterian is the history of the Northwest Georgia Mountains and the sturdy Scotch Irish Pioneers who settled so much of it.

It is the story of the Associated Armucci Academy, the Reverend TC Crawford, and the remarkable educational institution he built on the mountain back roads of Dirt Town.

At Bethel, he established Armucci Academy, the first high school in Chattooga County.

Students came from as far away as Alabama and Tennessee.

♪ Found me ♪ ♪ There the bright and morning star ♪ ♪ Sheds its beams around me ♪ ♪ In the cross ♪ ♪ In the cross ♪ On this gentle sloping hillside was a graveyard already containing internments as early as 1838.

It was the beginning of the lovely and historic Bethel Yard Burying Ground.

It was also on this land that Reverend TC Crawford came to Dirt Town from North Carolina to open a school.

He was a man of letters who had graduated from Davidson College and attended Columbia Theological Seminary.

♪ Beyond the river ♪ - [Sonny] The cemetery, tucked away in these beautiful mountains actually predates the church, and is the home of many early prominent settlers.

The old fieldstone walls give this historic burying ground a majestic presence.

It is a peaceful setting, but not so during the Civil War years.

This was not plantation country and the Civil War dynamic was quite different in this part of Georgia, resulting in much conflict.

Rival bands of self style vigilantes, representing both sides who were very active, and some of the internments here reflect those terrible years.

- The Civil War took a toll on Reverend Crawford's parish.

In the cemetery lie 27 Confederate veterans.

Among them are Earnest and Christopher McSpadden.

In the final months of the war, the McSpadden brothers, one sick, one wounded, sought refuge at a friend's cabin.

(ominous music) (ominous music continues) (ominous music continues) (ominous music continues) (horse neighs) - What are you boys doing out here?

State your business.

- We're here for the McSpadden brothers.

We know they hold up here.

- Those boys are sick and injured.

You need to leave 'em alone.

Just go!

Get on outta here!

- We ain't leaving without them boys.

(suspenseful music) (gun fires) (horse neighs) (gun fires) (suspenseful music) (gun fires) (suspenseful music) - At great risk to his own life, Reverend Crawford insisted on giving the McSpadden's a proper burial.

Reverend Crawford himself would meet an untimely death in 1885.

After 38 years as pastor, he was tragically crushed to death by a log in his own sawmill.

Bethel Presbyterian finally closed its doors in 2013, when its congregation dwindled to just five.

In Floyd County, just a few miles south and east of Bethel in an area known as Texas Valley is Glendale Chapel.

Originally built in the 1870s by freed slaves.

(phone rings) - [Sonny] Hello, Sonny Seals.

- Hello, Sonny, it's Jeff Clarke.

I don't mean to bother you, but I think I might need help finding Glendale Chapel.

Now, I know I'm on the right road.

I'm at a bait shop across from a state park on Texas Big Valley Road.

Can you help me find it?

- [Sonny] Yes, I can.

I know that area pretty well.

You're actually not far.

The way we'll have to do this, I need to call Annie and Pat, make sure they're there.

And if they're there, they will take you on the little tour, which they will be pleased to do.

They're very nice people.

Call you right back and I'll tell you how to get there.

- Oh, Sonny, that would be awesome.

Thank you so much for your help.

♪ Save your cry ♪ ♪ When the fire comes down from heaven ♪ ♪ And the blood through the sea ♪ ♪ I'll be carried home by Jesus ♪ ♪ And forever with Him be ♪ (phone rings) Hello, Sonny.

- [Sonny] Well, you're in luck.

I just talked to Pat, both she and Annie are at home, and they will be glad to give you the little tour.

So what you do is you go about approximately one mile north of where you are and take your first left.

- Okay.

Got it.

- [Sonny] All right.

Then you stay on that road for approximately two miles.

Annie and Pat will be standing out in the driveway and you'll see 'em on the left.

And you can go from there.

I'm looking forward to it.

- [Jeff] Thank you, sir.

Talk to you soon.

- [Sonny] Okay, bye.

- [Jeff] Bye-bye.

♪ Anthem ♪ ♪ And the sound ♪ ♪ Oh, Lord come home ♪ ♪ You know you are ♪ ♪ Baptist go by water ♪ - [Sonny] Annie Shields and Pat York are a retired preacher and teacher who raise horses and enjoy the rural lifestyle in this beautiful part of Northwest Georgia.

They bought the property that bordered on the chapel's land.

And while looking for more space to exercise the horses one day, Annie came upon Glendale Chapel, founded by freed slaves shortly after the Civil War.

♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ To the land ♪ It was organized in 1875 by Reverend Green Johnson and his wife, Rachel.

Members of the Johnson family were always active in the congregation.

And in fact, three of Green's great-granddaughters lived not too far away.

The church was located off the beaten path in the woods on the other side of a small creek.

It was still standing, but just barely.

Annie and Pat decided they would find the owners of the land, buy it and set about saving the chapel.

The old structure was in bad shape, but Annie and Pat were determined to save her.

During the renovation, the structure literally fell apart and that was when they discovered the original church had been unpainted and was constructed in the board and batten style.

It had been covered with siding and painted in the early 1900s.

♪ Oh, Jesus is on the mainline ♪ ♪ Tell Him what you want ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus is on the mainline ♪ ♪ Tell Him what you want ♪ ♪ Oh, Jesus is on the mainline ♪ ♪ Tell Him what you want ♪ ♪ Oh, call Him up ♪ After emancipation, for many African American congregations, their churches served the additional purpose of being the local schoolhouse.

Indeed, the only school facility available for many of these rural black citizens.

The chapel school served the community up until grade five.

For two years, no formal schooling was available for Jenny Johnson.

Eventually her parents arranged for the children to attend the only elementary school open to African Americans in Floyd County.

However, it was 25 miles away.

- We took a course down in Rome on the history of Floyd County and Roman Floyd County.

And we were amazed at the fact that there was not one mention of anything that had to do with the black people.

It's like they didn't exist.

- Every time that yellow bus went by my house I cried, because I couldn't get on it and go to school.

And it still hurts.

I went on to school.

I got a college degree I got a graduate degree, but it still hurts.

So you ask how I feel.

That's how I felt.

They continue to sell their eggs and to send out letters and to get donations from people all over the world.

I don't even know how they financed it, because I know the amount that I gave them certainly didn't do that much.

But I am just so proud of them for wanting to do that, because they wanted to do that out of love, I suppose.

That's all.

And she says to me, "It's your church."

I said, "No, it's not."

I said, "You did this.

"It belongs to the world."

What will happen to it and what it would be used for, I don't know, 'cause she's talked about that.

She said, "What happens when Pat and I are gone?

"What do we do?"

I said, "I don't know what to tell you."

I said, "But I know that it's divinely ordained.

"It's going to be what it is going to be.

"It's going to be Glendale Chapel forever."

♪ If you're sick and can't get well ♪ ♪ Tell Him what you want ♪ ♪ If you're sick and can't get well ♪ ♪ Tell Him what you want ♪ - And so, when we talk to people about this place, it's all positive.

And you don't have to think about the ugliness of the war or slavery.

It's all good.

- This is going forward.

- Right.

- Not backward.

And that this community could do that, that they could see a future out of a pretty rough past.

- [Sonny] Glendale Chapel Methodist Church stands today because two communities came together, black and white, to save it from a fate that has befallen so many of our rural churches, whose disintegrating remains dot the Georgia back roads.

It is a story of respect for the people who labored to build our agrarian heritage.

It helps us all form a more complete narrative of Georgia's early rural history that tells us where we came from and how we got here.

But more importantly, Glendale Chapel can help us join hands and go forward.

(gentle music) ♪ Out of the darkness ♪ Let's head down to Southeast Georgia for some living history.

In this remote corner of Georgia, there exists a sect of Baptists known as the Wiregrass Primitives.

They have practiced their faith and rituals and sanctuaries, unchanged for over 150 years.

Few people outside the faith are aware of them, even those that live nearby.

The Wiregrass Primitives were prolific in this part of Georgia in the early 1800s.

And they continue to the present day.

Although in much diminished numbers.

♪ Reveal your name ♪ ♪ The sun will rise with healing its wings ♪ ♪ When I leave earth, you remain the same ♪ ♪ The sun will rise with healing its wings ♪ ♪ Take us all home ♪ ♪ Oh, glory hallelujah ♪ Nothing could be more representative of this all pervasive conservative approach to life and religion, and the architecture and design of their churches.

All of these what is known as Crawfordite meeting houses were built with native materials and local church labor.

And therefore, will vary slightly from church to church.

However, the basic design was always the same.

No paint, no steeple, no winded treatments, no distinct doors or entry points, nothing to distract from the business at hand, including pianos and organs.

Music was important, but it was always acapella.

No machines or devices allowed.

At one time, there were over 20 Crawfordite meeting houses in this part of Georgia.

Today, only four active ones remain.

- I am 43 years old.

I have been a Primitive Baptist all of my life, as long back as I can remember it.

Our family has been in South Georgia for generations.

In fact, going back probably seven generations is best I can tell have been members or affiliated with the Primitive Baptist Church.

Primitive Baptist churches in the area have seen a lot of history throughout their existence.

Some of the earliest Primitive Baptist churches in the area date back to around the turn of the century, around the early 18 teens or so.

Shiloh has been in this area since 1819, I believe, High Bluff is around the same time period.

Sardis, a little bit below us in Charlton County was a witness to the Indian wars of the time, the Seminoles outta Florida.

In fact, the pulpit at Sardis still has a bullet hole in it from the Indian wars at that time, it just was never covered over.

It's the original pulpit in the original meeting house.

♪ Glad you're coming too ♪ ♪ Oh, glory hallelujah ♪ ♪ Give the old ship a flying hallelu, hallelu ♪ ♪ Give the old ship a flying hallelujah ♪ Across the countryside in Southeast Georgia, you will come across Primitive Baptist churches dotting the landscape.

And many of them, you may not even know that it's a church, that a church meets there, because typically there's no signage out front.

Generally, the only thing that gives it away is a large cemetery or the basic structure of the meeting house.

Most Primitive Baptist churches are built on the same floor plan.

There generally is a large seating area in front of the pulpit.

And then the membership seat sits on either side of the pulpit.

At the time that they were constructed, the meeting house was made of the finest materials that were available.

The wood that was handcrafted.

Everything was made by the membership and built.

And of course, a lot of that goes back to the nature of the Primitive Baptist and that they don't want anything that distracts from the worship of God.

So it's all natural.

There's no ornamentation to it.

And of course, they refer to it as the meeting house.

And part of the reason that they give that is the church itself is the membership, not the building.

So they tend to focus more on the relationship between the brothers and sisters in the church than the meeting house.

So on Saturday, typically at conference, items that came up, offenses that the members may have committed were handled by the church.

My grandmother often referred to it as, "They'll go down there on Saturday at conference "to tell 'em one another."

♪ Amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ Amazing grace how sweet the sound ♪ ♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ That saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ I once was lost, but now I'm found ♪ ♪ I once was lost, but now I'm found ♪ ♪ Was blind but now I see ♪ - [Sonny] The definitive history of the Wiregrass Primitives was written by Professor John G. Crowley, who himself was raised in that faith.

♪ 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear ♪ ♪ 'Twas grace that taught ♪ - Dr. Crowley, what are the origins of the Primitive Baptist faith?

- Well, the Primitive Baptists originated from the Puritan movement in England and particularly the Separatists.

♪ My fears relieved ♪ Most of the early Baptists were from what in those days they would've called the lower orders of society.

There were black Primitive Baptists, most of them enslaved in the colonial and early republic period in the South.

And there were always more Primitive Baptists in the South pretty much than anywhere else.

Sometimes the slaves would be Primitive Baptists when their masters were not.

♪ 10,000 years ♪ ♪ Bright, shining as the sun ♪ ♪ Bright, shining ♪ There's a joking expression a lot of people use, "Stop the world, I want to get off."

There is a quality, and it's something they're very much aware of and that they appreciate very deeply.

The Primitive Baptists refer to their churches as heavenly places.

It's sort of like the idea of an earthly heaven.

I had a friend who was fascinated with the concept of predestination, and she went with me to a Primitive Baptist church.

And the service was unexceptional.

It was very much what they always do.

But when we left, I said, "What did you think?"

And she said, "The world outside those walls "doesn't even exist for them, does it?"

And I said, "You're really good."

I said, "Most people would've had to have gone "two or three times to have realized that."

The 1870s, the Crawford's and the other Primitive Baptists split from...

In fact, their association divided into two factions.

One led by Richard Bennett and the other led by Ruben Crawford.

And when you say a Primitive Baptist around Waycross, Georgia, you still have to specify if you're talking about a Benedite or a Crawford.

I'm a Benedite, by the way.

♪ Pharaoh ♪ ♪ Pharaoh ♪ ♪ Pharaoh, it's You, God ♪ ♪ Pharaoh ♪ ♪ Pharaoh ♪ ♪ Pharaoh ♪ - [Sonny] This part of Georgia was a forbidding environment in the early 1800s.

Great wealth had been created by the rice kings on the coast just a few miles away.

And King Cotton was rapidly rising in middle Georgia due to the invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793.

But the Wiregrass country was sparsely populated and not very friendly to agriculture.

These early settlers were tough people, who kept to themselves and made a living any way they could.

This environment gave birth to the Wiregrass Primitives, who practiced their religion with no compromises, and still do.

As we said at the beginning, living history.

♪ Go down ♪ Georgia's landscapes are stunning.

From the Blue Ridge Mountains in the north to the Wiregrass in the south.

Yes, Georgia's geography is rich, but so is her history.

And that history takes on a different light when told through the eyes of her rural churches.

♪ Go down ♪ ♪ Pharaoh ♪ ♪ Pharaoh ♪ ♪ Pharaoh, it's You, God ♪ ♪ Pharaoh ♪