Louisiana AHGP

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Richard Allen Hargis

Brother Hargis served as pastor of Homer Baptist during 1850 to 1852. Unfortunately, the minutes of the church during his term have been lost, though we can reconstruct some of his service from other sources. He was born on May 2, 1801 in Smith County, Tennessee and moved to Lawrence County, Mississippi at the age of eighteen or nineteen. He served as a senator and as a justice of the peace while living in Mississippi. He later served as a member of the Louisiana legislature from the parish. Brother Hargis married Pennicia Mitchell on the eighth of June in 1823 and had five children in the next seven years.

The children of Pennicia and Richard Allen Hargis were Launcey, Quincy, Angelina, Sarah and John D. After the death of his first wife, Brother Hargis married again, this time to Susannah Neyland and had six more children: Alphous, Fary, Susan, Richard D., Franklin Courtney and Balus S. He was ordained at Holly Grove Baptist Church in Union County, Arkansas November 2, 1842 by Samuel Larkin and John Meeks and served in Union county as a preacher for some time. Dr. Hargis was also a medical doctor and supported his family as a medical practitioner.

He was a member of the presbytery that ordained John Q. Burnett, the preacher who succeeded him at Homer Baptist Church. Brother Hargis was a charter member of the Board of Trustees of Mt. Lebanon University and was quite likely a pastor of our church earlier than 1850, since he, along with Arthur McFarland were listed as the messengers to the Concord Association from Claiborne Parish in 1845.

Dr. Hargis was the first pastor of Friendship Church and Hebron Church in Claiborne parish. Brother Hargis organized the Baptist Church of El Dorado in the winter of 1845 along with S. D. Worthington and John Meeks and served as pastor of Rocky Springs Baptist Church. He had previously organized Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church near Cornie Township in 1844 with S. D. Worthington. Hopewell Missionary Baptist was also served by J. U. H. Wharton, another Homer pastor. Other churches he may have pastored include Gilgal, Mt. Lebanon (then known as Rehoboth), Holly Grove and Walnut Creek.

He was known as a preacher of "more than ordinary abilities," and considered to be well-liked. Brother Hargis died May 23, 1883 and is buried in New Hope Cemetery at Old Athens, Louisiana. 7

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.