I was having a talk with my great uncle David E. Reese
(1933-2009) about that I felt like God was calling me to ministry back in the
early 2000s. Uncle David proceeded to
tell me that he felt it was inevitable because Baptist was “in our blood”. David knew this because beginning in the late
1970s to early 1980s he began a quest to trace our genealogy as far back as he
could. A couple of months ago David’s
widow (my Aunt Nancy Reese) passed away, a family member found my uncle David’s
research and gave it to me. I decided to go through it and make a list of my ancestors
that were Baptist ministers, the vast majority of which came out of Madison
county and Mars Hill College. Here is
what I found:
·
Joseph Reese (1745, arrived in Columbia
SC). Organized Broad River Association
in Western North Carolina.
·
William Rees (1800-1863) ordained June 13, 1829,
and pastored the following churches: Sugar Creek Branch Church, Bull Creek
Church (1841-1845, 1850-1862)
·
Thomas Rees (1822- ) licensed to preach in1860 at
Newfound Church
·
Rev. Jasper Reese (1834- ) Pastor of Old Toxaway
Baptist Church in NC.
·
Moses Rees (1838- ) preacher, but not much more
was known.
·
Dr. Martin Van Buren Reece (1842-1895) was a
practicing physician but also helped organize and form the first Baptist church
in Erie, Missouri.
·
Arcemus Reese (1876-1960) Licensed to preach
February 18, 1897, by French Broad Church.
Attended Seminary in Louisville, KY.
Pastored LaCrosse Missionary Baptist Church (Florida) (1902), became a Baptist
missionary to Oklahoma Territory, served as State Baptist Evangelist in Alabama
(1919-1925), pastored Jones Gap Baptist Church in Hendersonville, NC (1913), joined
Home Mission Board of the SBC (1914-1919).
Wrote and composed “Why I am a Baptist” hymn. Final church appointment was at Fairview
Baptist Church from 1939-1941.
·
Dr. Tullius Reese (1878-1967) State Baptist
Evangelist in Florida, also pastored churches in Oklahoma and Florida. A stained-glass
window in the First Baptist Church Apalachicola bears the name of T. O. Reese
1903-1905 as a testimonial to his vigorous work with the new church plant.
·
Bailey Bright Reese (1878-1950) ordained
minister August 26, 1917, at Zion Baptist Church
·
Rev. William Cecil Reese (1885-1953) Pastor of
Old Bull Creek Church (1920s)
·
Dr. Curtis Reese (1887-1961) Baptist State
Evangelist in Illinois, prior to becoming Unitarian minister, authored a book
on Religious Humanism.
·
Thomas Ben Rees (1895-1968) Baptist Minister
·
Robert Harkins Reese (1898- ) Grew up Southern Baptist
but became Free-Will Baptist preacher.
·
Paul McCoy Reese (1909-?) Pastored West Side
Baptist Church in Winston-Salem
·
Wilford W Reese (1911-1979) Pastored churches in
NC, SC, and KY.
·
Joseph John Reese (1920-?) Baptist Minister
·
Elzaba Levi Reese (1930-?) Baptist Minister
·
Christopher Lloyd Reese (1972- ) Baptist
minister in WNC (ME)
The most direct ancestor to me is Robert Harkins Reese, who
was my great-grandfather. You can see
that there is a lot of Baptist, specifically Southern Baptist in my DNA. I hope you found this as interesting as I
did.
