There is some debate among members of Lebanon Methodist Church in Cherokee County about its exact age and origin. The building is a fine example of a 19th-century rural Georgia church, standing beside a large cemetery that now counts 698 interments, according to Findagrave. Several graves date to before the Civil War. One of the most notable markers honors “Aunt Minnie,” a freed slave with no family who became a beloved member of the nearby Bascomb community, about five miles from the church.

While records show that significant interior changes were made around 1906, evidence suggests the church was built shortly after the Civil War, likely in the early 1870s. The original deed, dated December 1869, shows the property was owned by Frederick Freeman. It is signed by his son, John W. Freeman, with the notation that the donation was his father’s “dying request.” Frederick had passed away in 1866, making this a posthumous fulfillment of his wishes.

The deed records Frederick’s words: “In consideration of the love I bear for the cause of Christ... I give and convey unto Lebanon Church, Methodist Episcopal Church South, for the use and benefit of said church... two acres of land containing the graveyard and the house thereon... to have and to hold free from the claims of myself, my heirs, my executors, or administrators, and from the claim of all others whatsoever.” Witnesses included W.W. Hawkins, Jacob Haney, and J.S. Haney. The document formalized the transfer of the land containing both the church and its graveyard.

It is possible the congregation’s roots predate this deed, but no earlier documentation has yet been found. For now, the evidence suggests that Lebanon Methodist was built shortly after the war, serving a rural corner of Cherokee County. Today, the church is no longer remote, modern development has reached its doorstep—but Lebanon Methodist still stands proudly as a reminder of the area’s post-Civil War past, the faith of its founders, and the generations who have worshiped and been laid to rest in its care.