Antioch Baptist (Taliaferro County, Ga.)

In November of 1886, a group of former slaves and their children from the nearby Powelton New Hope Baptist Church, led by Deacon Willie Peak, Deacon Abe Frazier and Deacon Philic Jones came together and founded the Antioch Baptist Church. The board of deacons purchased two acres of land from the Veazey family estate and two acres were donated to them for a cemetery. Shortly after the church was dedicated, a one room school was built on the premises. The church appears abandoned, but there is a strong support group of church descendants who attend an annual reunion on the church grounds every August. These efforts have been led for many years by George Turner, whose father was the last Deacon of an active Antioch congregation. They have been able to make some repairs and keep the grounds neat but more support will be required to save this important part of Georgia's history. In the cemetery, there are 75 recorded interments, but Deacon Turner also documented 71 interments in unmarked graves that are located in the little yard.