Minutes of the Session of the Presbyterian Church of China Grove, Harnett County, No. Car., organized in March 1836

Scope and Contents note

Printed record book of 1859, containing the manuscript minutes from 1836-1894 of the Session of the Presbyterian Church of China Grove, North Carolina, and the church register for the same dates. In 1859, the Presbyterian Church Board of Publication in Philadelphia printed a ""model volume"", containing blank pages for keeping Session Records, and a church register as well, in order to promote neatness, legibility, and uniformity among records kept by Presbyterian Churches. Minutes for the China Grove Session begin on May 27, 1860, and run through Nov. 11, 1894. The Sessions were mainly concerned with the acceptance and transfer of members, with an occasional censure. Following the minutes is a church register, which, as the printed instructions make clear, is to be kept carefully and punctually by the pastor of the church. The register is arranged in seven parts, with pages designated for the register of elders, deacons, communicants, colored communicants, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. Admissions of both white and black members of the congregation are recorded between March 1836 and Sept. 30, 1894. White members are listed in alphabetical order, along with additional information such as date of admission, method of reception, dismissals (often transfers to other congregations), deaths, and remarks; while black members are listed by first name and the name of their owner, with the exception of the last three, admitted in 1870 and 1873, for whom both given and surnames are listed. Some baptismal records are included for 1862-1894, although the sections for marriages and deaths are blank."