"Thei​r DNA is BURIED in your SOUL"   ~  "WE are the HOPE and the DREAM of the SLAVE"

           This church’s history is in the Henderson Community.    Henderson had broad Indian Trials leading from the camps on the Ocmulgee to the Flint rivers. Those trails were located where Grovania and Hawkinsville road now stands and used by Indians when hunting from river to river. The lands were stolen by the white settlers and the Indians were forced southward to the Everglades of Florida.    Henderson is one of the oldest towns of Houston County, located 9 miles south of Perry.

             William M. Davis came from the Santee River S.C. area to Houston County (Henderson) in 1815 with hundreds of slaves and his stock. He acquired over 17,000 acres of land on Mossy Hill. The Davis slaves worked this land during slavery and continued to do so after slavery as sharecroppers. Today, there are still descendants of the Davis slaves living on a portion of that land. Peter Davis, the builder of the Davis Plantation Home on Felton Road, was a slave on this plantation, as well as the ancestors of the well-known late James “Drum Beat Man” Davis.

               This church originated as the African Methodist Episcopal Church from the bush arbor place of worship on the plantation. On October 22, 1874, two acres of property on Felton Road was purchase from Calvin Till to Joe Davis, Adam Williams, Isaiah Davis, Washington Davis and Barcas Brunson. These men were the trustees of the church that became known as The Davis Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

          In May 1890, the members of the church constructed a new church building just opposite where the old one stood. It was dedicated on July 27, 1890, by the pastor, Rev. W. M. Stancel.

          Davis Chapel was also used to educate the children in the community. The teacher in 1929 was Ms. Annie F. Miller. The cemetery is directly behind the church and is the resting place of many Davis slaves and their descendants.

Please contact the Houston County Black Heritage if you have history on this church.