March 20 was a day for memories at Refuge Baptist Church, Lincoln, as members gathered to celebrate the past and remember the Coosa River Baptist Association church’s most notable deacon.
Col. Pleasant “Riggs” Crump, who served the church as a deacon for 71 years, was the last surviving Confederate soldier in Alabama. He was 104 years old when he died in 1951.
As part of its Old-fashioned Day, celebrating its 160-year history, Refuge Baptist held a memorial service for Crump and unveiled a plaque from the Alabama Historical Association recognizing its Halls Cemetery, where he is buried between his first and second wives, as a historic site.
In fact, Crump plotted the land for the cemetery, Pastor Joel Davis said.
“This man lived through the toughest times this country has ever seen,” said Randell Thrasher, second lieutenant commander for one of the Birmingham camps of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Thrasher worked on the Crump project for two years before the historical association agreed to place the marker.
Crump was just 16 when he left for the war in 1863. Just two years later, he stood with Robert E. Lee as he surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Va.
When he came home, Crump became Refuge’s longest-serving deacon.
He lived in the same house across the street from the church until his death. (TAB)
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