Louisiana AHGP

Part of the American History and Genealogy Project

John Q. Burnett

Brother Burnett was born in Edgefield district, South Carolina December 19, 1815. He was baptized into Gilgal Baptist Church by N. W. Hodges in September, 1828 and, with his family moved to Louisiana in 1837. John Q. Burnett served Homer Baptist Church as pastor during a portion of 1852 at the same time he was pastor of Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church. He, along with Mathias Ardis (brother of Henry Z. Ardis), George W. Bains, Jerimiah Burnett, James Canfield, William W. Crawford, Obadiah Dodson (missionary to Claiborne parish in 1840's), Bartholomew Egan, Eldred Hardy, T. D. Pitts, William B. Protho and James Scarborough were the founders of the Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1848 at Mt. Lebanon, Louisiana.

Burnett was elected one of the two vice- presidents at the organizational meeting of the Convention and served the Convention for several years as clerk and as the moderator of the Red River Association. He was ordained to the ministry March 22, 1846 by George W. Bains, R. A. Hargis (first recorded pastor of Homer Baptist Church) and Arthur McFarland . Burnett was one of the charter members of the Rehoboth Church (later known as Mt. Lebanon) and served as pastor in several Bienville and Claiborne churches. He became a state missionary in 1851 and a general agent of the Southern Baptist Convention soon after, serving as the designated book distributor for the. In the late 1850's, he moved to Columbia County, Arkansas.

After the Civil War, he moved his family to Tarrant County, Texas. While in Texas, he served as pastor of Johnson's Station, Little Bethel, Mount Gilead, Five Mile and Grapevine churches. He and his second wife Kittie Harris (daughter of pastor Samuel Harris and wife Sarah) were married September 18, 1856 and were happily married for forty-two years. The union produced three sons, one who became a preacher. He had been married previously and had eight children by that marriage. John Q. Burnett died in 1902 and was credited with baptizing over three thousand persons. He was buried in Bowie, Texas. 8

Biographical Sketches| Claiborne Parish | AHGP

Source: Author's Notice: I hereby give permission for the free dissemination of any and all material included within the book and permit any non profit use of that material. Should any agency wish to use the material in a profit context, permission must be secured from the church body of First Baptist Church, Homer, LA 71040.  By Barbara Smith, Homer, Louisiana.