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Biographies
Lewis Craig
Lewis
Craig was in born about 1740 in Orange County, Virginia to Toliver Craig
and Mary "Polly" Hawkins, daughter of John and Mary Hawkins. While he was
pastor
of the
Upper Spottsylvania Church, he was on several occasions imprisoned for his
Baptist beliefs. Lewis Craig, led his congregation of Baptist along
with his brothers,
John,
Joseph and Elijah Craig from Virginia to Kentucky. Stopping along the
way to deliver his message, Craig and his followers became know as the Traveling
Church.
They
settled for a while at Craig's Station, located along David's Fork east
of Lexington. The station was established in 1779 primarily to give refuge
to Baptist seeking
religious
freedom.
Reverend
Craig served as pastor of the South Elkhorn Church until 1792. In late
1792 Lewis Craig migrated to the Mason, Bracken county area where he showed
his
talents
as an architect. In 1793 he built the church in Minerva and in 1794 at
Washington, Kentucky, Craig built the first courthouse of Mason County.
Lewis married
Elizabeth
Sanders and had children; Frances, Polly, Sally, Eliza, John, Whitfield,
Lewis, Elizabeth and Catherine. Reverend Lewis Craig died in 1825 and
is buried
in a
private plot near Minerva.
Elijah
Craig was born about 1743 and younger brother of Lewis Craig. He was also
a Baptist preacher and like his brother, was imprisoned in VIrginia for his
Baptist beliefs.
Elijah
purchased land in Scott County where he established the town of Lebanon,
now Georgetown, and became the pastor of the church at Great Crossings.
Elijah
became
interested in the manufacture of paper, rope from hemp and distilling whiskey
from corn. Today the distilling industry finds humor in acknowledging
Kentucky
Bourbon
was invented by a Baptist minister.
Sources:
The Forks of Elkhorn Church, by Ermina Jett
Darnell
The Kentucky Encyclopedia, by
Kleber
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