Buckingham Churches: Mt. Zion Baptist
Photo by Joanne Yeck
Mt. Zion Baptist Church was founded in 1838 and is one of nineteen churches in Buckingham alluded to in Thomas Baldwin’s Gazetteer of the United States (1854). According Rosa G. Williams’ 1937 entry in the Virginia Historical Survey, “Mt. Zion is said to be the second oldest Baptist organization in the country. . . . Funds were raised and the new church was erected and dedicated in the year 1856, a much larger and better church than the first. The pews are said to have been brought from the old church, and are of the old box type. The present pastor says they are the most uncomfortable seat he had ever tried to sit on. . . .
“The first pastor that served at this church (the new building) was known through the country as ‘Parson Taylor.’ He served there for forty years, and requested that he be buried in front of the church he had served so faithfully. His request was granted and one may see his grave today, marked with a plain slate marker, directly in front of “Mt. Zion Church” and only a few feet from the door. In the church is an enlarged picture of “Parson Taylor.”
slate river ramblings . . . . 
Thank you, Linda.
I beleive Rev. William Taylor was a relative of my Jordan Taylor . My 3rd great grandfather. Jordan Taylor.