Damascus Baptist Church

Damascus Baptist Church, organized July 29, 1820, was constituted by Samuel Cartledge and Widner Hilman. First members were Jeremiah Blanchard, James Ramsey, Jeremiah Roberts, Sara Blanchard, Sara Reid, Dilly Swan and Margaret Wilkins. James Ramsey was the first clerk of the church. Jeremiah Blanchard was the first deacon, elected Sept. 9, 1820. The first pastor, Samuel Cartledge, served from 1820 to 1839. He was the officer who arrested Rev. Daniel Marshall, founder of the Kiokee Church in 1772, who was haled into court in Augusta for "holding religious services not in accord with the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England." Cartledge was said to have been so impressed by the exhortation by Mrs. Marshall upon the arrest of her husband that he was converted, baptized by Rev. Marshall, served as a deacon for several years and was ordained in 1789. He preached for the rest of his long life. For a time after the War Between the States the church did not meet but, under the leadership of Mrs. Jane Harden Embank, it was reactivated in 1875. The present building was constructed in 1901. Several additions have been made since that time.