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{db-u1}}Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church (NR) 218 E. 8th St, Columbia Before 1840, a small group of African Americans attended services at the white First Baptist Church in Columbia. Unable to participate fully in services and allowed only the balcony, the group decided to form their own congregation. In October 1843, Rev. Elijah Hanks, the white minister of First Baptist, met with seven African Americans: Rev. Edmond Kelley, Rev. Richard Sanderson, Dyer Johnson, Reuben Polk, Dempsey Cherry, Anna Cherry, and Eliza Webster. This meeting established Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church. Rev. Kelley remained pastor until 1845, at which time he became a missionary under the Concord Baptist Association. Historians consider Mt. Lebanon the “oldest National Baptist Church in Tennessee.”

Maury County’s African American History A Driving Tour