James M. Spurlin (Georgia Baptist preacher)
Rev. James M. Spurlin (1802–1887) was a Baptist preacher, ordained in Chambers County, Alabama, who served churches in Randolph County, Alabama, and Troup and Fayette counties, Georgia. He is buried at Antioch Baptist Church in Fayette County, Georgia.
Sourcing: mixed 4 genealogy · 1 social · 2 book
James M. Spurlin (15 April 1802 – 30 July 1887) was a Baptist preacher in eastern Alabama and western Georgia. He is buried at Antioch Baptist Church near Woolsey, Fayette County, Georgia.[1] Most of what is known about him comes from genealogical and church-record sources.
Life and ministry
A blog post by the cemetery writer Traci Rylands says Spurlin was born in North Carolina in 1802. It says he married Mary "Polly" Ann Williams in Jasper, Georgia, in 1826, and that the couple moved to Chambers County, Alabama.[2] His Find a Grave memorial says he was at some point a missionary to the Creek Indians. It says he was ordained to the ministry by the Antioch church in Chambers County in 1842 and later served as pastor of High Pine Baptist Church in Randolph County, Alabama, State Line Baptist Church in Troup County, Georgia, and Whitewater Baptist Church in Fayette County, Georgia.[1] A membership directory of Antioch Baptist Church in Chambers County, reprinted in a Genealogical Society of East Alabama publication, lists "Rev. Jas. M." Spurlin and his wife Mary.[3]
By 1856 the family was in Fayette County. The Sunday school minute book of Antioch Baptist Church there, transcribed on the county's GenWeb site, records that "the Reverend J. M. Sperlin" opened the school on 13 April 1856. On 13 March 1859 James M. Spurlin was appointed superintendent of a newly organized Sunday school, with a "Miss Mary Ann Spurlin" as its female teacher.[4] The pastor list on the same page does not include him.[4] A letter of dismission dated 11 July 1874 from the Baptist Church of Christ at Whitewater in Fayette County certifies that "Elder James M. Spurlin is an ordained Minister in good standing".[5]
The Find a Grave memorial names his parents as Elijah Spurlin (1771–1845) and Susanah Spurlin (1773–1845). It lists eleven children born between 1827 and 1849.[1] Those dates match the ones a 1982 family article in The Heritage of Cleveland County gives for Elijah Spurlin, a son of John "Big John" Spurlin of Lincoln County, North Carolina, and his wife Susannah: Elijah was born in 1771, Susannah in 1773, and both died in August 1845.[6] See "Big John" Spurling and the Spurlin DNA Project.
His memorial is flagged as that of a veteran. The blog names Company F, 13th Georgia Infantry, as his Civil War unit and says some of his sons also served. He would have been 59 when the war began, and the blog cites no service record.[1][2]
Death
According to the blog, Rev. Isaac G. Woolsey, pastor of Woolsey Baptist Church, preached at Spurlin's funeral. Spurlin is buried beside his youngest son, Reuben, who died on 16 October 1887, and his wife, who died on 6 April 1892.[2] His memorial gives her dates as 1807–1892.[1]
A namesake
Another James Spurlin with nearly the same dates is buried in Old Hebron Cemetery, Pike County, Georgia. His memorial gives his dates as 20 June 1802 – 18 November 1887 and his birthplace as Greene County, Georgia.[7] The two should not be confused; see Spurlins of Old Hebron Cemetery.
See also
- Spurlins of early Georgia · Genealogy mixed
Spurlins were in Georgia from the late 18th century, around Warrenton, Greene County and Macon, and several were children or grandchildren of "Big John" Spurlin of North Carolina. From there branches moved into Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Florida and Texas. - Spurlins of Old Hebron Cemetery, Pike County, Georgia · Genealogy weak
Old Hebron Cemetery near Concord, Pike County, Georgia, holds the family of William Spurlin or Spurling (1769–1835), whom genealogists describe as a son of "Big" John Spurling of North Carolina, together with his son James Spurlin (1802–1887) and later descendants. - Spurlin clergy and ministries · Culture mixed
A roundup of ministers, preachers and religious workers surnamed Spurlin, from nineteenth-century Baptist and Presbyterian pastors to present-day ministries, drawn from church histories, denominational records and local news. - "Big John" Spurling and the Spurlin DNA Project · Genealogy mixed
John Spurlin (or Spurling) Sr., known to researchers as "Big John", lived in Orange, Chatham, Richmond and Lincoln counties, North Carolina, and left a will in 1822 naming 23 children. Y-DNA testing places a descendant in the same paternal line as the Jeremiah Spurling family of Virginia, but no document yet found names his parents. - Spurlin family lines by state · Genealogy weak
A state-by-state guide to the main Spurlin and Spurling family lines in the United States, from colonial Virginia and North Carolina to Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas and Indiana, with the sources behind each link. - Notable Spurlins · People strong
An index of notable people surnamed Spurlin, with related Spurling-surname figures listed separately as variants. - Spurlin Family History in America · History mixed
An overview of Spurlin and Spurling families in America, from colonial Virginia and New England through southern and western migration, Civil War service, and published genealogies.
References
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Rev James M. Spurlin (1802–1887) — Find a Grave Memorial — Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery, Woolsey, Fayette County, Georgia; biography and family links Genealogy
- ↑ ↑ ↑ Close to Home: Visiting Fayette County, Ga.'s Antioch Baptist Church Cemetery — Adventures in Cemetery Hopping (Traci Rylands), 28 August 2024 — personal blog Social
- ↑ Four Rural Church Centers: Antioch, Fredonia, Milltown and Rock Springs (Chambers County, Alabama) — Genealogical Society of East Alabama — Antioch Baptist Church history and membership directory Book
- ↑ ↑ Antioch Baptist Church, Fayette County, Georgia: Sunday School Minute Book 1846–1873 (transcription) — Fayette County GAGenWeb, RootsWeb Genealogy
- ↑ Miscellaneous Personal Church Letters (transcriptions) — Fayette County GAGenWeb, RootsWeb — 1874 letter of dismission from the Baptist Church of Christ at Whitewater Genealogy
- ↑ "The John Spurlin Family" (article 1011, by Norman Kent Spurling), in The Heritage of Cleveland County (1982) — Internet Archive — Elijah Spurlin (born 1771) and Susannah (born 1773), Lincoln County; he died 3 August 1845 and she three days later Book
- ↑ James Spurlin (1802–1887), Old Hebron Cemetery, Pike County — Find a Grave Memorial Genealogy
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.