Simple white church with two entrances

Little Union Primitive Baptist Church-Roberta, Georgia

Founded on November 19, 1825, the Little Union Primitive Baptist Church sits just outside Roberta, Georgia, in what was known as the Friendship Community. The land for the church and cemetery was given by Jasper Taylor, a local farmer and enslaver. The church was built with enslaved labor. Like many white churches at the time, enslaved men and women attended the same church services as their white enslavers. Unlike many churches, there was no slave gallery, but a wall was built to separate the Black parishioners from the white ones.

Marker for siblings, Ruth (1882-1883) and Clyde (1884-1884) Hays

The church cemetery is unusual because most Primitive Baptists believe in a simple, unadorned look. This applies to their cemetery, too. This cemetery has three Victorian monuments of note, which is a rare find in the state of Georgia.

This is the marker for Mary Ann Smith Hays (1850-1904), Ruth and Clyde’s mother.
James Taylor, 1836-1913. Taylor was the son of the man who donated for the church and the cemetery. This monument is listed on the Smithsonian’s Outdoor Sculpture database.

A brief history can be found here.

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