Recollections of Mrs. Gertie Denton Collins
on Cedar Grove Baptist Church
Marshall and Margaret Webb Denton
Gertie Collins' parents, Marshall Boykin Denton and Margaret Webb Denton, charter members of Cedar Grove Baptist Church.
I remember very well going to church at Cedar Grove. We had two rows of pews and a big aisle down the middle of it. In the middle, we had a big wood stove that would keep us warm in the wintertime. My dad would always take a load of wood to use in the church's stove. We went all the time to church and to Sunday school. At one time we didn't have any Sunday school down there, so we all went to the MethodistGertie Collins' parents, charter members of Cedar Grove Baptist Church Church. Everybody went to the same church for Sunday school, just like a community thing. We would have church in the afternoon when we didn't have a full-time preacher. The preacher from Central would come down and preach in the afternoon. It was just a little church. In fact, part of the original church was still there until they moved it away just a couple of months ago. Remember how the ceiling was curved in the corners? I always thought that was pretty. (Mrs. Gertie's parents, charter members of Cedar Grove are shown in photo.)
Instead of revivals, we had Protracted Meetings that would last a week at a time. In the evenings before the church time of the revivals we would have a prayer meeting. Different ages, you know, would be in different prayer meetings. There were a bunch of us little girls, say about nine or ten, that were led by Mrs. Emma Marshall. Mrs. Emma would lead us in prayer and discussion. During the previous day, we would have all tried to read as many chapters as we could, and then we would gather together to pray about it and to tell just how many chapters that we had read. So, we would just sit out in a little circle, beside the church, on the grass and recite verses and pray.
I was baptized when I was twelve. I was baptized in what we call the "wash hole". It was a water hole where we all went swimming down in the creek. Brother Willingham was the pastor and he baptized me. It seems that I was sitting at home, thinking about my age. I remembered that Jesus was twelve when he went to the temple, and it stuck in my mind. It struck me as beautiful.
Then I remember Christmas time at the church. We always had a big Christmas tree. My daddy was the one chosen to get it. He would bring it in a wagon or something, you know. It was great big and touched the top of the church. And for decorations, I don't remember much that we had other than candles. We had little candles on a clipper, and we would clip that on the limbs of the tree. It would light it all over. And of course, everybody who took a present would get a present. Christmas time is a good time to remember.
Note: Marshall Boykin Denton and Margaret Webb Denton are my great-great grandparents. This was taken from the Cedar Grove Baptist Church History & Memories 1905-2001 Dedication on April 22, 2001. Aunt Gertie passed away on May 23, 2001.