Bethel Baptist Church
Maysville’s Bethel Baptist Church is the oldest continuing church organization founded for an African
American congregation in Mason Co. Its early history is linked with history of its founder, Rev. Elisha Green. Green was a former slave who established the church in 1844 to serve the slave and free black populations of the town. He was granted official permission to preach on May 10, 1845, 18 years before the abolition of slavery in 1863. There were 385 free blacks and 4,000 slaves living in Mason Co. in 1850. For some 50 years, Green pastored the congregation; it first met in homes and then in a frame building that also served as the African American school in Maysville. Baptisms were conducted in the Ohio River. On May 17, 1875, an impressive brick meeting house, built by the members, was dedicated on Fourth St. in Maysville, along what was once part of the original buffalo trace followed by pioneers traveling in and out of the area. Donnard Morrison helped lay the foundation for the building, and while the men primarily did the construction work, the ladies helped and prepared food. Sunday School was organized in 1845, under the management of such leaders as Beatrice Jackson Lewis; she and other leaders at the church stressed serious study, with exercises, and gave diplomas for the completion of the course of study. Lizzie Mundy was the first to be married in the church; her wedding took place on December 8, 1875.
Herson, James Mundy, who left Maysville in 1912 and became a nationally renowned choir director in Chicago, was an organist for the church. Bethel Baptist Church supported him in his education at Simmons University in Louisville.
After Green’s death, a succession of pastors served the church for brief periods until Robert Jackson arrived in 1911 and stayed until 1925. During this time the church held two revivals each year, and a baptistery, new windows, pews, and an organ were added to the church. The 1925 revival, led by Dr. W. H. Moses of New York City and organized by the new pastor, A. F. Martin, was so popular that it was moved to the county courthouse.
The church’s parsonage was destroyed by fire on February 6, 1940, and a new parsonage was built and dedicated on September 12, 1940, at a cost of $2,800. The church sponsored many organizations, including the Baptist Training Union, the Bethel Missionary Society, the Church Aide, the Fidelis Club, the Lily of the Valley Club, the May Flower Club, and the Sewing Circle. The Church Aide is still in operation.
Bethel Baptist Church was a strong supporter of the African American schools in Maysville. The principal of the John G. Fee Industrial High School in the 1940s, Professor W. H. Humphrey, was a deacon of the church, and the Fidelis Club gave assistance to needy children of the school. From the late 1950s until his death in 1964, Rev. M. L. Jackson was the pastor of the church. His community activism and outreach work was important to the church and community during the changing racial climate of the times.
The church building that had served the congregation for a century was destroyed by arson on January 19, 1977, along with all the church records. The congregation purchased the Forest Avenue School building in Maysville and, after remodeling was completed, dedicated the new facility in 1978. Bethel Baptist Church is affiliated with the Consolidated District and the Kentucky General Association.
Centennial Celebration of Bethel Baptist Church. Booklet. Maysville, Ky., Bethel Baptist Church, 1945.
Vicki Bolden and John Klee