The church, founded in 1786 was originally known as the Black Swamp Baptist Church. It has been a faithful member of the Savannah River Baptist Association for almost 200 years. Though it is now in its third structure and worships as the Robertville Baptist Church, the congregation remains active with members residing in present-day Hampton and Jasper Counties.
This is the first comprehensive history of the church's past drawing on research materials held by state and county governments, church archives, and special collections in the Carolinas, including our own Beaufort District Collection. The author understands that his job as a historian is to gather, analyze, and evaluate the evidence available and to place historical people and events within the context of their times. This can be challenging not only for the historian but also for the listener.
The concluding paragraph of the afterword sums up his thoughts about some of the more difficult and problematic aspects of the church's history this way: "What I know with certainty is that the history of the Black Swamp Baptist and Robertville Baptist Churches is fascinating, filled with all of the complexities one might expect of a community that was often rich in diversity of ethnicity, wealth, education, social standing, and experiences of the world." Here! Here!!
Dr. Eric Plaag is well suited to the task put before him by the church's congregation to write the church's history. From his ten page curriculum vita, here are a few items directly relative to his work on this book:
- B.A. in Religion, College of William and Mary
- M.F.A. in Creative Writing, George Mason University
- Ph.D. in History specializing in United States History to 1877, Public History, and Culture, Identity and Economic Development
He is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Carolina Historical Consulting, LLC., genealogist, and author of a dozen commissioned histories, including Means of Grace, The Case for Port Royal: Interpreting the Reconstruction Era National Monument, and Sherman's March Through South Carolina. He has researched and submitted more than two dozen National Register of Historic Places applications included several located within the confines of the former Beaufort District. He has taught for American Public University, the University of South Carolina, Franklin Pierce College, and a number of other institutions of higher education since the mid-1990s. Dr. Plaag lives and works in Boone, North Carolina which honored him by declaring February 25, 2018 "Dr. Eric Plaag Day."
We plan to open the Zoom Room for guests about 20 minutes before the lecture begins at 2 pm. There will be 90 or so slots available for live viewing. My job is to introduce the speaker and keep track of the questions coming in through the chat box so that I can relay the best ones to Dr. Plaag to answer at the end of his prepared remarks. Your job is to be attentive, 
practice good Zooming behavior, and offer feedback. We are asking that you mute your microphone, turn off your video camera, and use the chat box for interactions with fellow attendees and questions for the presenter.
practice good Zooming behavior, and offer feedback. We are asking that you mute your microphone, turn off your video camera, and use the chat box for interactions with fellow attendees and questions for the presenter.
If you sign up for the BDC's email distribution list, you'll get the proper URL sent to your email a few days before Dr. Plaag's presentation
It's easy-peasy to sign up for the Grace.Notes list. Go to the library's Subscribe page, enter your email address, first name, last name, check the box beside "Beaufort District Collection" and press the Subscribe button as shown in the illustration above. I promise that I will not inundate your in-box with lots of messages. If you are already on the distribution list, the software will let you know.
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