Religion in Stevensburg

Religion in Stevensburg. St. Stevens Baptist Church. Before the creation of independent African American churches throughout Virginia, the enslaved often attended church with their owners. Laws regulating African American gatherings and worship became increasingly strict in the 1830s following "Nat Turner's Rebellion" in Southampton County. After 1832, enslaved an free people of color gathered only in the presence of a white pastor and blacks often outnumbered whites in these congregations. At Stevensburg Baptist Church, to the east on York Road, the large enslaved congregation sat in the gallery while whites sate in the pews below., St. Stevens Baptist Church at this location likely formed out of Stevensburg Baptist Church and is an early African American church in Culpeper County. Records indicate that the enslaved population in and surrounding Stevensburg attended church with their owners until the late 1840s. Independent meeting services for enslaved people were likely the origin of the St. Stevens congregation, which began in 1847 with 97 members documented in Baptist church records., By the late 19th century, the African American community in Stevensburg had begun planning to build a church. The town's doctor, Edwin Barbour, M.D., gave the land for the present church in 1886. Local records suggest that the church was under construction by 1910. That original structure now serves as a dining hall immediately next to the 1990s main building, which functions as the current sanctuary., Sidebar: , Laws Regulating African American Gatherings Prior to the Civil War , A bill passed March 15, 1832 in the Virginia General Assembly, with a vote of 74 in favor and 48 against, further limited the freedom of Virginia's enslaved and free African Americans., 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That no slave, free negro, or mulatto, whether he shall have been ordained or licensed, or otherwise, shall hereafter undertake to preach, exhort or conduct, or hold any assembly, or meeting, for religious or other purposes, either in the day time, or at night; and any slave, free negro or mulatto, so offering, shall for every such offense, be punished with stripes, at the discretion of any justice of the peace, not exceeding thirty-nine lashes; and any person desiring so to do, shall have authority, without any previous written precept or otherwise, to apprehend any such offender, and carry him before such justice.