Original Stone Association
of Free Will Baptists
Established
1865
Our History - Church Histories
Free Union
The following church history was written by the late Judge Ernest
Houston Boyd Sr. as part of a series of historical articles in the Putnam
County Herald.  It was published December 31,1953.  The articles were
compiled by Christine Spivey Jones into a book called Nuggets of
Putnam County History.

The Free Union Baptist congregation is one of the oldest Baptist congregations
in Putnam County. Its church building is located on the head of Martin’s Creek,
in the 18th District of Putnam County.

From 1865 until 1918 this was a Christian Baptist congregation, but since 1918
it has been affiliated with the Missionary Baptist denomination.

In the early history of the Free Union Church it was a large congregation, but on
account of the building of other churches and the organization of new
congregations in the section in which this church is located, its present
membership is much smaller than it was in former years. This is also, partly due
to deaths and removal from the community of a number of families active in this
church in former years.

In its early history, when the congregation was a large one, the annual sessions
of the Stone Christian Baptist Association were frequently held at this church.
The old minutes of that Association show that both the 1891 and 1892 annual
sessions of that Association were held with the Free Union Church. It seldom
happen in the history of that Association that a second annual session of the
Association, in succession, was held at the same church.

Among the pioneer families of that section actively identified with the Free Union
Church in its early history were the Gillen, Carrington, Rodgers and Brown
families.

Among the early pastors of this church were T. J. Clouse, J. L. Kinnaird, F. M.
Flatt, Benjamin Clouse, W. B. Gentry and J. W. Stone.
This church was located in Putnam County and was a member of our
association from at least 1889.  It is no longer in existence.