by Deneice Rice of Madison, GA

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Birth – Unknown

Death – November 1886 (about 70 years old)

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Reverend Allen Clark, the first pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Madison’s earliest independent African-American congregation, also served as president of the local African-American education association.  In that role he worked diligently to employ African-American teachers for the Freedmen’s School. 

 

Following the end of the Civil War, many black members of the Madison Baptist Church requested letters of dismission to organize their own church.  In the fall of 1865 the dismissed members organized Calvary Baptist Church and began holding services in an old church building on Academy Street that was no longer used by the Madison Baptist Church.  Rev. Allen Clark was called as pastor.  Calvary paid $8.50 per month to hold worship services in the building, and the Freedmen’s Bureau paid $10.00 per month to hold classes for black students in the building.  The building was relocated to Hill Street in 1867 where Clark’s Chapel, named for Rev. Allen Clark, still serves a Baptist congregation. 

 

The church continued to grow, and in 1873 the congregation purchased the lot where the church stands today.  Rev. Clark oversaw construction of the church, which began in 1876 and took seven years to complete. He served as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church until his death in 1886.

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Resources:

 

Findagrave. www.findagrave.com

 

Church History, Calvary Baptist Church, Madison, GA

 

Freedmen’s Schooling, Historical Marker, erected 2009 by City of Madison Bicentennial Commission, at or near 745 Hill Street, opposite Clark’s Chapel

 

Paper written by Deacon Martin L. Bass, research from old newspapers and old church histories, Morgan County Archives

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Linked to: www.findagrave.com/97766810