Nestled among the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in beautiful
Cheohee Valley, stands Cheohee Church, which was organized in 1830, as an arm
of New Hope Church.  Cheohee Church was established the same year as the
Twelve Mile River Baptist Association of which it was a member until 1966, when
it joined the Beaverdam Association.

Though not factually known, it is probable that the first building was
a log structure.  A second building, erected in the mid-1860 decade on the
same site, and perhaps on the same huge log sills of the first church, was
referred to as "The White Church."  A one-room frame building (painted white),
with beaded ceiling and walls, it contained plank benches, kerosene wall lamps
with a piece of tin behind each for reflection, and a large stove.

The men sat on one side of the church, where there was a one-foot wide
space never completed, through which the older men spit tobacco juice.  The
women sat on the opposite side.  A water bucket with dipper was placed near the
pulpit, from which the pastor drank, and mothers brought their children all
during the service.  Worship services were held only once a month until 1872,
when two services were held.  Only the women joined in hymn singing.  Adding a
steeple in 1918-1920, this church stood until 1960, when a spacious brick
edifice was erected.

A Sunday School was organized in 1867, with two superintendents, six
teachers and 46 students.  Sunday school rooms were added to the church in 1940.

A Woman's Missionary Union was organized in 1954; a Girl's Auxiliary
and Sunbeam Band were organized in late 1960's.

In its beginning years, this congregation was a community of persons
with a deep concern for the well-being of each resident.  In case of misfortune,
neighbors would assist families by doing household chores, nursing the sick, or
gathering the crops.  Today, members take time to reflect on their history, to
be thankful for all blessings, and to appreciate the struggles of the founding
fathers.

Some charter members were the Moody, Alexander, Hudson and Lay
Families.  Early pastors were:  B. Head, 1831; Thomas Morgan, 1832; B. Head,
1833; B. King, 1834; and Francis Crow, 1836.

The July 31, 1840 record of the Twelve Mile River Baptist Association gives the
following account:

On the 10th of July 1829, the New Hope Church of Pickens District agreed to
establish an arm and receive members at Cheohee muster ground. In November 1831,
the Cheohee Church called a presbytery to examine and ordain B. Head. On the
12th of May 1832, Thomas H. Garrett was ordained the first deacon of the Cheohee
Church.

Cheohee Church was established the same year as the Twelve Mile River Baptist
Association of which it was a member until 1966. The minutes of the
associational meeting of September 22, 1832, lists 13 member churches with a
total membership of 554. At this time, Cheohee listed 38 members. The names of
the charter members are unavailable, but many believe that the Moody, Alexander,
Hudson, and Lay families, as well as others, were associated with the Church
from its beginning. It is believed that the Church at this time was a log
building near the same site as the present building, because when the "White
Church" was torn down, there were log foundations under it.

On September 10, 1836, an arm of the Cheohee Church, the Mt. Pleasant Church,
was constituted, which later became the Baptist Church of West Union in Pickens
District.

In 1836 the association was divided into three unions. Union One consisted of
New Hope, Antioch, Mt. Pleasant, Keowee, Cheohee, and Six Mile Churches. The
first Union meeting was held at Cheohee on Friday before the 3rd Lord's Day in
July 1837. The delegates from Cheohee were Francis Crow and Abram Leyday.
Records indicate that these Union meetings were held through about 1914 or 1915.

Until 1867 Cheohee apparently held only one preaching service each month, with
no Sunday School. During the 1860s, however, the association direction its
efforts toward encouraging the churches to establish Sunday Schools, with the
result that on September 25, 1863, the first Sunday School report appeared in
the minutes of the association. Five churches had organized Sunday schools by
this time, but the Cheohee Church was not one of them. A Sunday School board was
appointed in 1866, and the following year the first report from that board
appeared in the minutes. It was in that same year, 1867, that Cheohee Church
reported the organization of a Sunday School with two superintendents, six
teachers, and 46 students. This Sunday School met every week, but the Church
continued with only one preaching service per month through 1871 or 1872, when
this increased to two services each month. This schedule apparently continued
through the late 1880s.

Sometime around the Civil War period Cheohee built a new church building. This
was the "White Church" that was torn down after the brick building was
constructed in 1959-1960. At the time of construction, it was only a one-room
building with no steeple, containing plank benches and a pot-bellied stove. The
steeple was added sometime between 1918 and 1920, and the bell was purchased and
installed in the steeple through the efforts of Mart Hopkins in the late 1920s.
Several individuals were bell ringers: Mart Hopkins was probably the first, then
members of the Lewis Reese family, Arthur Nichols, and more recently, Hosea
Abercrombie. The bell was removed from the White Church and installed in the new
Church where it now hangs.

In the early 1900s, Cheohee apparently went back to one preaching service each
month. The pastor usually served three or four churches at the same time. In the
1920s some recall Wednesday night prayer services which were conducted by a
deacon and which met in the home of members, especially in the winter months.
Sunday School was held regularly every Sunday, except in winter months when
roads and transportation were bad and heating the Church was difficult. For
these reasons, there are several references in the minutes to Sunday School
being organized or reorganized at various times. One such reference occurs on
September 12, 1920, when J.L. (Joab) Hudson was elected superintendent.

Baptismal services were held in Cheohee Creek just above Cheohee Bridge, an old
iron bridge that is still in use. The practice was discontinued when the present
sanctuary was built and the baptistery was built. Opal Snider Orr was the last
member to be baptized in Cheohee Creek in October 1958. * On a special note a few other members were later baptized in Cheohee Creek by personal choice instead of the church baptistery*

During the early history of the Church, on through the Depression years and
later, there was no church budget, as such. The major expense was the pastor's
salary and, usually, it was no very substantial. In 1886 this salary was listed
in the associational minutes as $8.00 per year. The next year it increased to
$25.00, and in 1888, to $50.00. Apparently, there was no predetermined amount
for the pastor's salary; he received the excess over other necessary expenses.

There were times when the Church building needed repairs. In such cases the
Church would have what they called "subscriptions", or pledges, from the members
and in this manner would raise whatever money was necessary. On July 11, 1919,
the Church elected D.O. Shephard to assist him in collecting the money
subscribed to replace the shingles on the roof.

In September 1923, the Church bought a second-hand organ from George Pike of
Salem. On August 2, 1924, the Church appointed a finance committee. Said
committee is to look after the finances of the pastor, collect all monies due
him, take a receipt for the same. The committee is, Bessie Hudson, Rebecca
Abercrombie, Estelle Alexander, Pearl Nichols, and Ophia Alexander. The pledges
to the above committee amounted to $66.65 to our pastor for the year 1923-1924.
The said pledges are to be paid to the committee and said committee to the
pastor.

The Church cemetery dates from about the year 1900. The oldest grave with a
dated marker is that of Freeman Lee, son of J.J. and M.E. Lee, born June 6,
1899, died 10 Aug 1900.

In 1959, under the leadership of the pastor, the Rev. Roy R. Littleton, the
church embarked on an ambitious building program. Early in 1960 a new brick
Church building was completed and dedicated on May 15, 1960. Almost immediately,
the Church began construction on a parsonage which was completed in 1962. In
March 1968, the Church voted to build a fellowship hall and the building was
completed that same year.

Cheohee Baptist Church has been served by more than sixty pastors in its more
than 170-year history. There are several years for which the name of the pastor
is unknown; the others are listed below.

1830       Unavailable
1831       B. Head
1832       Thomas Morgan
1833       B. Head
1834       B. King
1836       Francis Crow
1838       Martin Moody
1839-40 Josiah Powell
1841-42 Bennett Moody
1843       Solomon Wood
1845       W.M. Morton
1846       Bennett Moody
1849       W.M. Morton
1851-53 Bennett Moody
1854       S. Smith
1855-61 J. West
1862       W.M. Morgan
1863-64 J. West
1865-68 W.M. Morton
1869-70 Bennett Moody
1871-72 J. West
1873       J. Owens
1874-76 J. West
1877       S.C. Owens
1878       L. Butler
1879       J. West
1880       L. Butler
1881       J. West
1882       John Owens
1883       S.G. Sloan
1884       W.C. Seaborn
1886       D.B. Murphree
1887-88 W.C. Seaborn
1890       J.W. Head
1896       D. Littleton
1898       D.F. Murphree
1910-14 Frank Murphree
1914-19 C.R. Abercrombie
1920-24 Wade Nicholson
1924-26 Paul Burts
1926-28 Pick Alexander
1928-29 W.T. Land
1930-34 W.I. gray
1934-36 Lloyd Pace
1937       O.F. Owens
1938       W.I. Gray
1939-42 Herbert Stephens
1942-45 Hovie Murphree
1946-53 Roy Murphree
1954-55 W.W. Lesley
1955-68 Roy R. Littleton
1969  F.M. Julian
1970-72 Kenneth McDonald
1973-75 F.M. Julian
1975-85 Robert L. Harden
1986-89 Bill Evans
1990-99 Kenneth Hood
2001-02 Greg Cope
2003-06 Micheal Bell
2006-07 Edward Bryson
2008-10 Grady Long
2010-Present Joe Pace