The Columbus Baptist Association was organized on November 22, 1829, at Mulberry Meeting House, then called New Hope, at Mulberry Grove ten miles from here. Twelve churches reporting from Talbot, Harris, and Muscogee Counties formed the association. The Harris County churches included Bethesda, Mulberry Meeting House, Mount Olive, and Hamilton Baptist Church, then called Lebanon. Anderson Smith, the only minister in the group, was elected moderator of the first meeting, and Clark Blanford of Hamilton was elected clerk.