It is February and there is still one house in my neighborhood with a Christmas tree in a front window. But most of us long ago stored our Christmas decorations to await another season. The glow of certain Christmas memories…
HERITAGE: Climbing mountains
She called herself “a plain Jane.” She insisted — rightly and proudly so — that she was a housewife. True enough, she was devoted to her husband, “Greg,” and to her three sons — Harry, Gene and Joel. She did…
HERITAGE: A Virginia gentleman
Mary Rives Black, a resident of Lakewood Manor, remembers watching young Lawson Pankey, about age 4, padding down the aisle of Elon Baptist Church at Pamplin where her father was pastor. The little boy was headed to the most enticing…
HERITAGE: Glad times in Charlotte
When court is in session, there must be some folks walking about in Charlotte Courthouse, Va.; but otherwise there are not many reasons to produce a crowd. There’s a drug store, a convenience store, a large public school, a few…
HERITAGE: Reflections of a journey
Lloyd F. Jackson Jr. has been on a long journey since his boyhood days in Jacksonville, N.C. Pathways led to two North Carolina Baptist schools, Mars Hill and Wake Forest, as well as to Southeastern Seminary. In 1959 he married…
HERITAGE: Celebrate the journey
Abingdon has long been regarded as one of the most charming towns in Virginia. It sits near the end of the long ribbon of highway known as I-81 and just above Bristol. It is known for historic buildings and houses,…
HERITAGE: A lily for Dr. Taylor
For the past year I have been engrossed with researching and writing the life of George Braxton Taylor, who is best known in Baptist history for founding in 1886 the Sunbeams, the earliest organization to teach Baptist children about missions….
HERITAGE: On to Hampton
In 1755 some 1,100 Acadians came in exile to Hampton. They remained on their ships while negotiations ensued. Governor Dinwiddie thought that “it was unkind of the Governor of Nova Scotia to send such a number of people here without…
HERITAGE: Beneath the oaks
When my automobile rested under the oak trees at Antioch Baptist Church in Charlotte County, Va., it was pelted with giant acorns. They rained like bullets and a person had to run fast to avoid a crack on the head….