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Submitted by Janet Blair
A non-denominational church stands six miles north of Guthrie today as a mute reminder of a church that was once there to enable the people of the area to share their faith.
Known today as Lawrie Cemetery, the burial grounds were begun as a necessary adjunct to the church. Started in 1890 as "Charity Church," under auspices of Baptist missions.
Named for the Quaker Indian Agent Lawrie Tatum, Lawrie was established around a Santa Fe Railroad stop of the same name. In time, the stop became a freight point with cattle loading facilities and a dock for shipment of peaches and apples from orchards in the vicinity, as well as grains grown in the area.
Such activity naturally led to a village growing up around the stop. In 1890, a post office for the community was established and a general store, among others, opened.
The growth into a city was not to be, however, and the post office closed its doors in 1900 despite the freight business which continued to grow into the early years of the century.
But there were still people in the community, and on July 13, 1890, a number of them gathered in a home a mile west of Lawrie itself to form a congregation.
Early records of the church are in the possession of Dusa (Mrs. Norval) Gooch, resident of Lawrie.
These early records show that the group which gathered were known as Missionary Baptists, and the call for letters of previous membership was made. J. W. Black was clerk for the meetings.
After adoption of various tenets of the Baptist Church, the group voted to be known as "Charity Baptist Church." They elected L. E. Walters as clerk and J. W. Black as moderator. Others signing the roll were A. G. Walters, E. V. Walters, N. P. Walters, R. Ellison, M. E. Ellison and Fannie Ellison.
A meeting in December of that year recorded a letter from Sugar Creek Baptist Church testifying that Sarah Wingard was a member in good standing with them and that she desired to affiliate with the Charity church. Meetings in 1891 told of additional transfers of membership and the decision that the Lord's Supper would be taken quarterly.
In 1892, 11 persons were baptized in the church, with Brother Ward appointed to assist the pastor in the baptisms. In the summer of that same year, the pastor was released to go to the Pleasant Valley Church, and J. W. Black took up the preaching duties. Joseph Gooch was elected Clerk pro-tem. James B. Gooch, N. M. Remington and A. W. Berry were elected as delegates to the association. Joseph Gooch, A. K. Walters and R. Baer were chosen as alternates.
A committee solicited funds to pay the preacher, and the $42 collected was given to J. W. Black, who accepted the pastorate for another year. A December collection netted $1.20.
Black resigned in February 1894 and a Methodist, Brother Shepperd, preached the second and fourth Sunday nights in the church. In 1895, Wash Savage was noted as preaching, followed by Brother Horner as pastor in 1897. Savage returned to the job in 1897.
In 1896 a committee was formed to collect funds for building a church edifice, but no results were obtained and the committee wa disbanded. The actual building effort met with success in 1915 or 1916, when a church structure became a reality for community on the land where the cemetery is now.
The edifice burned as a result of a lightning storm in the summer of 1920 and was not rebuilt. The burial ground, adjacent to the church, was expanded in the early 1940s and continues as a community project, with an association dedicated to its care and upkeep.
While the church was in existence, it not only paid its own expenses but also made contributions to wide causes. In 1917 and 1918, the church gave $10 to the orphans home; christian education, $20; Home and foreign missions, $20; hospital at Muskogee, $5; and state missions, $20.
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