Hooper’s Creek Baptist Church Cemetery

Hooper’s Creek Baptist Church was organized in 1856. Rev. William Mintz was the first pastor.
Early members were David Garren, James Garren, William Garren, Pulaski Rymer, Francis Rymer, David Garren Jr., Jesse Rhodes, Ferdilla Rymer, Nancy Garren, Caroline Garren, Rachel Garren, Susan Garren, Sarah Lanning, Malinda Rymer, Mary Rymer, Martha Pinner, Arena Mintz, Eve Garren and Nancy Mote.
The first church building was a log church. Later a weather-board church was built. The church building standing today was built in 1979.
Families with grave sites in the cemetery include the surnames of Bagwell, Ballenger, Barnwell, Beddingfield, Clark, Fowler, Garren, Gosnell, Huntley, Israel, Lanning, Maxwell, Merrell, Plemmons, Pryor, Rhodes, Russell, Souther, Towe, Townsend, Wilkie, Youngblood, and others.
The oldest grave is that of Sophronia Clark Barnwell ((1832-1863) who was brutally murdered and raped during the Civil War. Her older sister, Sophia Clark (1811-1882), is also buried in the church cemetery. For more information on her death, visit the Hooper’s Creek community under the “Communities” section of this web site.
A sheriff of Henderson County has a grave site in the cemetery. James Hamilton “Ham” Ballenger (1874-1940) served as sheriff from 1922 to 1926.
The grave site of Gordon James Stepp (1922-1944) who died in World War II is at the cemetery.
Two men who died in the Korean War have grave sites within the cemetery: Charles M. Gentle (1930-1952) and Green Berry Mayo (1923-1951).
Lonnie Joseph Youngblood served during the Spanish-American War.
Confederate grave sites include those of Joshua David Barnwell (died 1881), Frederick J. Israel (died 1918), Joseph Henry Townsend (died 1919), Jasper Newton Youngblood (died 1918) and William M. Youngblood (died before 1883, unmarked).
One man who served with the Union in the last few months of the war has a grave site within the cemetery, Anderson Garren who died in 1877.
There should be numerous unmarked or undecipherable field stones within the cemetery as family records, courthouse records and early surveys note burials currently with no marked graves.