According to Dawn Daley, via present pastor Vernon Edenfield, this is the oldest church in Screven County, and thought to be the second oldest Baptist church in Georgia. Robert Peavy writes: Oliver native Miss Pauline Smith (1885-1963) indicated in her three-page historical sketch of the town of Oliver that the present building was erected about 1912 (when the old Methodist Church was built and when the town was incorporated—the School House, now gone, had been built in 1910). An old photograph of the short-lived Lutheran Church shows rather dimly, in the distance with the cemetery separating them, a not-overly fancy church with a neo-classical porch roof supported by four square columns, which would have replaced the original log building of the Little Ogeechee Baptist Congregation; thus, the present structure is at least the third building for this congregation, which dates to 1790. Robin Robbins also notes that the church was used as a set location for the 1974 movie, Buster and Billie.
Gravestone Art at Little Ogeechee Baptist Church Cemetery
Little Ogeechee, like many old cemeteries, is a beautiful showplace for the stonemason’s art. I’ve chosen a few of my favorite decorative headstones to share.
Stephen T. Newton (29 May 1829-6 December 1882)
Naomi Morton (1806-16 October 1887)
Bernard Horton Huggins (25 August 1906-26 March 1908)
Daughter of W.V. & L. O. Lanier (14 March 1917-2 February 1918)
Florie A. Brewer (12 August 1845-17 September 1891)
Oscar W. Brewer (17 October 1872-8 March 1889)
Levina Morton (20 May 1825-16 June 1899)
Martha A. Dugger (14 June 1829-13 February 1897)
Miriam Lee (22 February 1908-22 November 1910)
