Forward

     To the reader of this little work. It is with no small task that this has been undertaken, not for any glory for self, but that our Sovereign Lord, Jesus Christ may be glorified and praised for allowing the strength to accomplish it. It is not intended to justify or condemn any person or persons named herein, nor to raise them above what they truly are.
     This little work then is dedicated to God our Father, to our Elder Brother Jesus, and to the Holy Comforter, they being one and the same; for the better understanding by our members, the edification of the church and in remembrance of the dear old saints gone before.
     May we always cling to those tried and true old paths, never lowing anything worldly or unscriptural among us.
     Done by consent of the church at their regular business meeting on November 19, 1997, and humbly submitted......
In Brotherly love,
Wayne F. Baldwin

HISTORY OF
THORNTON GAP
PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH
1787 to 2000

The First Years
         From the oldest church record is the following notation,"The constitution of the Baptist Church at Thornton’s Gap, Culpeper County, which took place November 12, 1787. This church was composed of a considerable number of persons baptized by immersion on profession of their faith, the greater part of whom had never been members of any other Baptist Church and a few had been dismissed from other churches". We find in the minutes that several came from Mount Poney in Culpeper County and several others from Poison Fork.1
         "The church was constituted on the principles generally received by the Baptist. Elders William Mason, Henry Goodlow, John Pickett and John Coons (sic), being present, declared them an orderly Baptist Church of Christ, at which time the church made choice of Elder John Coons for their pastor" 2
1 Minutes of Thornton Gap Church, page 1.
2 See Deed from Byrans and Church Records.