Sandy Creek Baptist Church

The Mother of all Separate Baptist Churches - " More than a thousand churches existing which arose from this beginning"
Elder Sylvester Hassell, author of History of the Church of God From the Creation

Located: in Northeast Randolph County at the intersection of Ramseur-Julian Road and Sandy Creek Church Road.

Founded in 1755, Sandy Creek Baptist is possibly the oldest church in the county and is located on land originally owned by Seymore York, son of the Jeremiah York who brought his family to North Carolina from Chester County, Pennsylvania in the 1750's.  Current research is leading us to believe the Allred men traveled with the York family from Pennsylvania and documentation proves the two families were very close, living near each other once they arrived in North Carolina.

The original meeting house was built in 1762 and was 26' X 30'.  The 2nd building, an old log meeting house built in 1802 by the growing congregation, is being faithfully restored, giving us a wonderful glimpse into 18th century life.  Inside is a balcony where, some say, the slaves sat during the worship service. The pulpit is raised and pinned together in "old fashioned way" with wooden pegs.

Church founder Shubal Stearns is buried in the church cemetery.  His original "head rock" was removed many years ago and a modern monument marks the grave now.  Most of the older graves in the cemetery are no longer marked, and the early church records were destroyed, so we may never know how many of our ancestors are buried here.

Sandy Creek Baptist is also the site of an Allred Mystery tombstone.  Take a real good look at this stone.  On one side is the writing:  T Y D AU 7, 1790 which is the death date Thomas York, son of Jeremiah York, died.  But, look on the other side of the stone.  You'll find the writing:  W A AP 1783.  Who was this?  Was Thomas York sharing a tombstone and a grave with one of the Allreds?  If so, which one?  An Allred man or woman?  We don't know of any Allred woman living in that time period with a name starting with the letter "W", but that doesn't mean she didn't exist.  Research shows the mother of Thomas York's children was his wife Eleanor Fruit.  Could "W A" have been a first wife of Thomas York?  Or was this an Allred man, maybe named William?  Maybe a father to one or more of the 4 "original" Allred men who came to North Carolina in the 1750's.  Is this tombstone another clue as to who those men were? 

We already know Jeremiah York was in Chester County, Pennsylvania, living next door to Solomon Allred in the 1720's.  We already know Jeremiah traveled to North Carolina and lived on land "next door" to the land owned by John, Thomas and Solomon Allred.  So, the connection between the York and Allred families has been established.  But, would one of Jeremiah's sons (Thomas York) share a tombstone and grave with one of the Allred men?  Who was "W A"?