Presented by Rev. Charles Jones, “Tinsawattee: Searching for Georgia’s Lost Baptist Mission to the Cherokee” tells the dramatic story of Tinsawattee Baptist Mission to the Cherokee and the recent rediscovery of its location in the Dawson Forest WMA. In 1821, the Sarepta Baptist Missionary Society of Georgia commissioned William Standidge to establish a Baptist mission in the Cherokee community of Tinsawattee along the Etowah River, near present-day Dawsonville. Rev. Duncan O’Bryant would assume leadership of the mission, which consisted of a church and day school, in 1824. The mission thrived among the local Cherokee of Tinsawattee. Converts found many parallels between the Baptist practice of believers’ baptism by total immersion and Cherokee purification rites. By 1830, O’Bryant taught up to thirty Cherokee students a year and the mission church had thirty one members from among the local Cherokee populace. Sadly, the success of the mission would be threatened by debates over Indian Removal which swept the nation in the late 1820s. Experiencing constant harassment from white encroachment, O’ Bryant and his Cherokee followers emigrated to join the Arkansas Cherokee in the Indian Territory of what is today Oklahoma. Thus, O’Bryant’s congregation formed an early chapter in the tragic story of Trail of Tears. After their removal, the Tinsawattee mission site would be abandoned and its location faded from memory until recent events led to its remarkable rediscovery.

Rev. Charles Jones received a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, TX. For over forty years, he has been a minister with the Southern Baptist Convention and served pastorates in Ohio, Virginia, and Georgia. Charles has also been a historical researcher and writer with the Georgia Baptist State Mission Board. He has been a regular contributor and columnist for newspapers and magazines such as Georgia Backroads, The Christian Index, and the Athens Banner Herald. Additionally, Charles has been a researcher for major public television productions such as Finding Your Roots and the Georgia Public Broadcasting and Historic Rural Churches of Georgia co-produced series Saving Grace. His current research focuses on further uncovering the story of the Tinsawattee Baptist Mission as well as elucidating the history of Baptist stewardship, Baptist women and African-American Baptists. When not pursuing research, Charles can be found emulating his backcountry minister forebears by section hiking and ministering to the travelers on the Appalachian Trail.