Excerpts from Minutes of Cullman Baptist Association of Cullman County, Alabama and surrounding counties, 1883-1946

The Cullman Baptist Association of Cullman County, Alabama was organized in July of 1883 with eleven charter members. For six decades, until 1946 when the organization divided in two, there were as many as one hundred twelve churches represented at its annual meeting. Lillie Crawford has carefully extracted excerpts of the minutes from this event and the end result is a generous and reliable source of information for genealogists; and for historians, a time capsule of early life in this still thriving community. Statistical tables from each year record data about the attending churches, pastors, clerks, post offices and membership numbers. Hundreds of surnames are represented in the various lists of attending delegates, ministers, committee appointments, petitioners, and even deceased members. Glancing through the years, the reader can observe the church community evolve steadily from a young organization concerned with personal survival to a large outreaching community with missions abroad and opinions on the leading issues of the day. There are insights into concurrent historical events such as when the church records endorsed the education of women in 1893, showed support for prohibition in 1919, and resolved to help alleviate the suffering of those living in war torn countries in 1945. A ninety-one page, full-name index completes this abundant resource. Anyone seeking ancestors in Alabama or surrounding states would benefit from browsing in this unique reference book.