Gum Springs Baptist Church

and Cemetery and School

Known historical facts of this Church and Cemetery

Church and School, at least since 1915

Mrs. Lucille (Knee Moon) Law from Commerce, Ga shared the following in 2025:

“My older brothers and sisters went to Gum Springs Church for school. “(Five of her Moon siblings were born between 1907 and 1917 and they likely attended Gum Springs Church School approximately between 1915 and 1925. The school is listed in the 1915 Educational Survey of Jackson County and his author, Mr. Luggan, visited the school near Marcus, and one of 15 schools for Blacks in Jackson County at the time. Gum Springs School had one teacher and 51 pupils, 5 grades, and prioritized “sewing, wood work” and doing so “practically without equipment.” The teacher’s name was Ms. Fannie Wilson.)

“Then my dad built a building over a little hill by our house. It was a two room school house. All of us were in the same room.”

“The land of the Gum Springs Baptist Church belonged to a woman named Hogan. Some of my ancestors * helped name the church Gum Springs when it was given to the Black people. It used to be Methodist. Ms. Hogan, before she died she left the building and 7 acres of land to the Church. (year 19xx) But people did not know that she was planning to do this and everybody was afraid she was going to ask them to move out of that church. So they bought one acre of land and built a church on it. (year 19xx) That’s where the church is now on that land that my daddy and other members bought. Ms Wood was the maiden name of Ms Hogan. Mr. Hogan had a store on Jackson trail road. I was the secretary of the Gum Spring for a while and received the archives, then I passed them on to the next secretary.”

Abner Absalon Moon *(1856-1904) was one of the original deacons of the Gum Springs Baptist Church. He was married to Julia Reynolds Kerbo and had children named Macon Alfred Moon (1885-1969), William R Moon (1879-), Lula C Moon (1881-), Herschel Columbus Moon (1890-1961), Mollie EE Noon (1891-1972), Rory Virgil Moon (1984-1983), Joe Henry Moon (1900-1949) and James A Moon (1896-1988)

Macon Alfred Moon (1885-1969) One of the builders of the new church building

Wilburn Hubert Brooks (1870-1941) was chair of the Board of Deacons of the Gum Springs Baptist Church for many years

John Otis Brooks (1899-1999) was son of Mr. Hugh and a deacon of this church.