To help get this started ER Shipp documented this in the Heritage of Rockdale County, GA book published 1998: Shady Grove Baptist Church was founded in a brush arbor in 1873 by the Rev. Toney Baker. Six years later, Baker and a deacon, James Lindsey, purchased an acre of land to build a more permanent church structure. Baker, who was born in June 1837, lived in Covington, as of 1870, with his wife, Adaline, and their children: John T., who was 8; Sarah F., who was 6; Mary, who was 3; and George, who was 1. He owned real estate worth $325 and personal property worth $150. His great grandson, Eddie Baker, recalls from family stories that "he owned lots of land in the Sand Hill area." How Tony Baker happened to establish a church in Rockdale is unknown, but he led Shady Grove until 1908. He was also pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church for a time. During his tenure in Rockdale , he performed countless marriage ceremonies. Among them: Wesley Shaw and Mary Banks, March 3, 1877; Neal Wood and Fannie Carr, December 19, 1877; John H. Glenn and Amy Wyatt, January 5, 1890; Misco Robinson and Maggie Riley, January 3, 1897. Baker, who died in March 1908, is buried in the black cemetery off Conyers Street in Covington. But he is remembered at Shady Grove in the presence of his descendants, who include his great grandsons: Deacons Richard Baker, Eddie Baker and James Baker. The Bakers and the Gilstraps are among Shady Grove's oldest families. The Rev. George HIll has been pastor since 1989.

Pastors