DAR #A086660

When the Reverend Micajah Paulk Sr was born on 7 October 1733, in Tolland, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America, his father, Jonathan Paulk, was 30 and his mother, Rebekah Stearns, daughter of Shubael Stearns II, was 25. They were married in Toland, Conneticut, in 1729. Jonathan became a Baptist minister after Rebecca’s brother, Shubael Stearns was ordained. They left Tolland and traveled to Opequon, VA, and then down to Sandy Creek, NC. There they founded an early Baptist church. After the death of Rebecca, Jonathan sold his land and followed his sons down to GA (Baptist History by Morgan Edwards).

Micahjah married Sarah Stearns, daughter of Ebenezer Stearns, in 1757, in Orange Co., NC, British Colonial America. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 4 daughters, Thomas, William, John, Margaret, Jonathon, Elizabeth, Micajah Jr., Patience, Rebecca, and Samuel. He died on 18 March 1812, in Louisville, Jefferson, Georgia, at the age of 78, and was buried in Union Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery, Douglas, Coffee, GA. Sarah was born 11 May 1732, Sutton, Worchester Co., MA, and died 18 December 1803, in Jefferson Co., GA. She was the daughter of Ebenezer Stearns, Sr and Martha Burnap. According to Micajah and Sarah Paulk’s Bible, Coffee Co., GA, Bibles, Micajah and Sarah Paulk children were John borned 1765, Johnthan (this is the way it is spelled) 1768, Elizabeth borned 1770, Micajah Jr. borned 1772 Jan 10th, Patience borned 1775, Rebecca borned 1778. Father‐Micajah Paulk was borned 1742, Oct 7th 1742 in Tolland, CT.

Micajah spent his life farming but contributed to his community, spiritually and publically. He was to be a Baptist minister and helped to establish the first Baptist Church in Georgia, at Kiokee, in 1790, along with his uncle, the Rev. Daniel Marshall, a Baptist leader in Georgia. It is the oldest continuing Southern Baptist congregation in Georgia. The building was built in 1808 and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Records show that Micajah was drawn as a petit juror, in Jefferson County, Georgia, Aug. 11, 1797, and that he also served at the succeeding October term of the court.

During the American Revolutionary War Micajah served as a Pvt, in the Georgia Militia. He and many of his fellow countrymen were driven from the state when the British overran Georgia. Following the cessation of hostilities He returned to Georgia. He requested, and received bounty lands in 1774. He received certification for his Revolutionary War service by Colonel James McNeil, on Februay 20, 1784, and as a bounty received 287.5 acres of land in Washington County, Georgia The land was in St. Paul’s Parish, Washington County, Georgia. During the 1770s and 1780s Micajah lived in Richmond County, Georgia. He had served as a soldier of the Georgia Line (pg. 389 Knight's Roster of the Revolution).

Huxford's Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Vol. 1, pg. 222‐223 states: Micajah Paulk, a Revolutionary soldier, was born in Georgia, as though, about 1763, and grew up in what is now Jefferson County, where he married Mary C. Young, daughter of Jacob Young, R.S. She was born about 1773, in South Carolina, and grew up in Jefferson County also. Micajah Paulk and family moved with his brother, John Paulk, R.S., to Wilkinson County, GA, very soon after its creation. John remained there but Micajah and family a few years later moved to Laurens County. Upon the creation of Irwin County he moved to that county and settled on the eastern side of the county in territory now in Coffee County near where Oscar Paulk, a descendant, lived a few years ago. The 1846 tax‐digest of Irwin County shows him the owner of 3430 acres (lot numbers not given) in the 5th District where he lived. He died there in November, 1847, and his widow died August 9, 1848. Huxford Correcion, Vol II states‐ Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia‐Vol. II "The tombstones on the graves of Mr and Mrs Paulk in Irwin County, show that he died Nov 18, 1847 "age 75 years," and that she died Aug 9, 1848, "age 70 years." This being true, the approximate dates of birth used in Vol I., and which were based on the 1840 census, should be changed to correspond with the tombstone dates, and the Revolutionary War service ascribed to him (Micajah Paulk Jr.), should be credited to his father of the same name." The above evidence supports the service of Micajah Sr. as opposed to Micajah Jr. as Micajah Paulk, Jr., could not have served in the American Revolution if he were actually born in January of 1772. Yorktown was 1781, and Micajah Jr. would have been only nine years old. Even if he could have participated in some of the post‐Yorktown skirmishes, he would not have been of age.