Louisiana AHGP

Part of the American History and Genealogy Project

William C. Moreland

William C. Moreland served Homer Baptist Church as pastor from 1864 to 1867. Though the church minutes from October, 1867 to October 1871 are not available for study, Brother Moreland had been invited to stay as pastor through 1868 and he had accepted. Therefore, it is certainly possible that during some of the "missing time" from 1867 to 1871 Brother Moreland was the pastor of our church. He was born in Clark County, Georgia on September 30, 1824 and was converted and united with the Methodist church and a boy. In 1845 he joined the Georgia Conference and traveled several years, preaching in Methodist churches.

He settled in the Homer area in the early 1850's and preached in local Methodist churches. In 1864, he accepted a challenge to debate Ephesians 4:5 by a Baptist preacher in the area and, in studying the passage, decided the Baptist preacher was right and that he, in good conscience, could not take the opposite view. Brother Moreland immediately went to Antioch Baptist Church and was baptized. He sought ordination as a Baptist preacher and the congregation immediately ordained him as such.

In short order he became pastor of the Antioch Baptist Church, Homer and Rocky Springs and continued to preach in Claiborne Parish until 1870, when he and his family moved to Bienville Parish. He continued to preach and was the pastor of Arcadia Baptist Church for ten years. Brother Moreland was active in civic affairs and a member of Athens F & A. M Lodge, serving as Worshipful Master in 1907.14

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.