WALNUT GROVE

                                               Photo by:  Blue Ridge Mountain Genealogy

    According to the history of the Stone Mountain Baptist Association of Wilkes County, North Carolina, church minutes do not reflect the beginning history of Walnut Grove Baptist Church.  Based on county deed records, however, there was a Walnut Grove Church as early as December 29, 1884, and it was a member of the Primitive Baptist Association in 1884.  Its pastor was Calloway Blevins.
   Prior to 1848, there was a church, an arm of New Covenant Baptist Church, located in the same immediate vicinity, and the name of that church is not known.  On April 29, 1848, a new name was given, Mount Zion Baptist Church, which ceased to function in 1873.  Mount Zion was a member of the Primitive Baptist Association.  It seems logical that this is the church from which Walnut Grove Missionary Baptist Church had its beginning.  Walnut Grove was organized on or before 1876, a member of the Mountain Union Association, under the leadership of Calloway Blevins.
  The earliest Minutes of Walnut Grove date to 1895.  In 1897, the church called for a pledge to build a new building, and church records reveal that the present church building was completed on the present site before October, 1908, about one half mile north of the original site.  In May, 1909, a dedication service was preached by Rev. Callie Blevins, assisted by Elder W. W. Myers and Rev. Grant Cothren.  In the 1940s, the church was rebuilt and later Sunday School classes were added.
   In 1897, Walnut Grove withdrew from the Mountain Union Association to become a constitutional member of the newly-formed Stone Mountain Association.  Calloway Blevins was the first Moderator of the Stone Mountain Association, an elected position that he served ten times.
   Some of the ordained preachers at Walnut Grove are these:
   Troy Blevins, 1910; S. L. Blevins, 1916; Callie Pruitt, 1916; Gar Pruitt, 1941; Minter Blevins, 1943; Major Caudill, 1949; Andrew Blevins, ?.
   Former members of Walnut Grove, but ordained in other churches are these: 
   Fred Blevins, Ernest Blevins, Hilary Blevins, Garfield Gambill, Famon Blevins, A. W. Pruitt, Uriah Hanks, Avery Blevins, Jimmy Pruitt, Gordon Joines, WajTie Blevins, and Chelsie Johnson.