Conn's Creek Baptist (Cherokee County, Ga.)

The story of Conn's Creek Baptist is primarily the story of the founder, Samuel Conn, and the continuing saga of Georgia's growth through acquisition of more and more of the Cherokee nation. The exact history of Samuel Conn is not certain but what is certain is that he and his wife Elizabeth acquired land in the early 1830's in what is now Cherokee county near the community of Ballground. Several stories mention that he got along well with the local Cherokees and may have been part Cherokee himself. According to one version, "While in Georgia, Samuel traded a pack of ponies to an Indian chief for a tract of land, dissected by a creek, upon which he built a cabin, then later a house. He also donated part of the land for a school and a church—both of which are still in existence." In the beginning, Samuel built a one room log house on a high knoll about two miles from the present location of Conn's Creek Baptist Church. Later, he expanded the house to include 2 stories and 2 fireplaces. He was quite an entrepreneur and was a stalwart of the community, farming the land around Conn's Creek and also owning a grist mill in Pickens Co. Samuel was also a deacon of Conn's Creek Baptist Church and was a member for 26 years. He and Elizabeth had 13 children that lived into adulthood, including 6 sons that served in the Confederacy. In 1873, Samuel Conn had an accidental death in which the barn loft full of corn caved in on him and he was buried beneath the corn which caused him to smother to death.