Cumberland Baptist Church Record Book, 1856-1896, is digitized and available through
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Cumberland County (Va.) Organization Records, 1856-1914, [cite volume or series title]. Local government records collection, Cumberland County Court Records. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia 23219.
The Cumberland Baptist Church Record book came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Cumberland County in 2005 under the accession number 41989.
The Modern Woodmen of America Cash Account Book came to the Library of Virginia in a transfer of court papers from Cumberland County under an undated accession.
Cumberland Baptist Church Record Book, 1856-1896 is available as microfilm Cumberland County (Va.) Reel 88.
Prior to 2025, the various organization records in this collection were originally described as individual records, but they have been consolidated into one large organization record for the locality. Since 2025, these records additionally include identified but not processed records.
Conservation was performed by the Library of Virginia Conservation Lab in 2020 and funded by a donation made by Georga S. Williams to the Library of Virginia Foundation's Adopt Virginia History Program.
Encoded by G. Crawford, 2007; Updated by M. Mason, May 2024; updated by J. Taylor, October 2025.
Cumberland County (Va.) Organization Records, 1856-1914 is comprised of various records created by groups in Cumberland County. These records consist of a record book and a cash account book.
This collection is arranged into two series:
See also: Cumberland Baptist Church Minute Book, 1836-1856, at the Library of Virginia under the accession number 24200 [negative photostats] and accession number 43813 [original volume].
See also:
Records related to free and enslaved people of Cumberland County (Va.) and other localities are available through the
Additional Cumberland County (Va.) court records can be found on microfilm at the Library of Virginia.Consult
Church business activities documented in the volume includes: date and location of meetings; names of members attending meetings; election of church officers; reports of church officers; reports to James River Association providing the number of both white and Black members; resolutions passed by church membership; and decisions made by the church membership related to the activities of the church such as excommunication of members, reconciliation of church members, and baptism of new church members.
The church's membership included Black and multiracial individuals, most of whom were enslaved by white church members. The record book lists the names of enslaved individuals baptized and their enslaver. The volume also records the withdrawal of Black and multiracial members from the church in 1866 for the purpose of forming a Baptist church for the Black community.
The record book includes an index that lists in alphabetical order the names of church members. The index includes additional information such as the year the individual joined the church, the year they were removed from the membership roll, and the reason for their removal (excommunication, death, transfer of membership, etc.)
Families indicated as members of Cumberland Baptist Church include: Jenkins family, Anderson family, Reynolds family, Dowdy family, Dunkum family, Meador family, Nunnally family, Parker family, Sanderson family, and Talley family.