Historical Marker Program
The Alabama Baptist Children's Home Site
The Louise Short Baptist Widows' and Orphans' Home, consisting of a 10-room brick residence and related buildings on 80 acres of land fronted on Main Street, Evergreen, for more than 1/4 mile.
It was established by the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1891 and was chartered by the Legislature of Alabama in the same year.
The idea had been approved by the Alabama Baptist State Convention in 1863 as a haven for children of soldiers killed in the War Between the States.
The Home opened on March 8, 1893, with the Reverend John W. Stewart as the first superintendent. For 30 years it served on this site.
On June 14, 1923, it was removed to Troy, Alabama, and in 1938 was renamed The Alabama Baptist Children's Home.
[1991: Evergreen]
Richard Thomas Baggett
March 30, 1817 - October 26, 1881
Richard Thomas Baggett was born and buried here on the Baggett family farm, NE 1/4 Section 4, Township 4 North, Range 10 East. According to early local histories, Richard, the son of pioneers Jesse Baggett and Zilla T. Godwin Baggett, was the first child born to white settlers in Conecuh County. Richard Baggett married Octavia Olivia Tippins and fathered four sons: James Augustus, Jesse Pinkney, George W., and Phillip Henry Baggett.
[2001]
Other Conecuh County pages:
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http://www.archives.alabama.gov/aha/markers/conecuh.html
Updated: August 11, 2009
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