A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE LORD'S CHURCH IN TRENTON, GA

    The Lord's church that would become the Trenton Church of Christ began meeting in Dade County, GA in 1837 near the community of Union. It is by most accounts the ond oldest continuing congregation in the state of Georgia. It was established by "two men from a town north of Savannah" who came to Salem (which was the name of the town until 1840), held a gospel meeting and baptized several in a local creek. Leroy and Elizabeth Sutton were members of the church of Christ before they moved to Dade County in 1838 or 1839. They located near New England and finding there was a church already at Union started attending there. This is positive proof for if there had not been a congregation available, they would have started one in their home at New England, as was the custom in those days. George Sutton and his son, Leroy, and Silas Wakefield were listed as heads of households in the 1840 Census of Dade County, GA. An evangelist, James J. Trott conducted revivals in Georgia late in 1844. Reporting on them, he wrote that there was one congregation of about 20 members in Dade County.

The Christian Register published a record in 1855 that stated there was one congregation in Dade County with 200 members. In August 1859 there is a record of a meeting at Union by preachers M. Love, T. Witherspoon, and A.P. Seitz with 30 confessions. Washington Bacon worked with them in this meeting and it is assumed he was the local preacher. In 1860, in a general meeting of the "Christian churches" in the state of Tennessee, Joseph Wheeler from Chattooga County, GA pled for more aid "for the distressed brethren and sisters in a most deplorable, destitute and suffering condition-no money, no meat, or bread in the county to be obtained for labor or anything else with the greater portion of the community to destitute to get away from the county." The Tennessee brethren made appeals outside the State by inserting information in the American Christian Review, Christian Standard, Millennial Harbinger, and the Gospel Advocate. As true Christians do, there was a good response and our people in Dade County survived the Civil War and post war devastation. Services continued in frame building at the Union site until the 1920's when an effort was made to move to Trenton.

Arrangements were made with a then existing Presbyterian group, where by one would meet in the morning and the other would have evening services. Before long, conflicts and disagreements put and end to this arrangement and the church returned to Union. In 1937, a building was erected at the present location on the southeast corner of the town square across from the Courthouse. Members of the church here did most of the labor.

This building served well until 1975 when a new Auditorium was built and completed. The original building was torn down and a new classroom building and fellowship hall were built the next year. The building was completed and furnished at a cost of about $100,000.00. After this new building was completed, in the early 1980's Cordell Holloway, who the minister here at the time, with help of several other men in the congregation, took rocks from the old Union building foundation and used them to build the base of the sign that presently sits in front of the building on Church Street.

Twice the church has allowed the use of their buildings by Dade County for schools. It was done at Union and again in 1975, the school system was allowed free use of the classrooms as Kindergarten rooms until the completion of the new Northwest Georgia High School (now Dade County High School).

Among the many preachers who have served this congregation are: G.B. Stone, William Howard Sutton, Washington Bacon, J.D. Floyd, John T. Smythson, Peter Ramsey, Lige Martin, Flavil Hall, R. C. Coleman, Max Hamrick, Charles Holder, Hugh Price, R. C. White, Joe Weir, Sr., F. H. Green, Andrew Pilgrim, James Pilgrim, H. C. Geer, Ken Rhodes, Bob Edwards, Gerstle Slatton, I.H. Wheeler, John Hicks, Verrlen Carroll and Donald F. Walker.