John Burch birth 1770 married Louisiana Thomas. The son of Elizabeth Holt and Samuel Burch was born in the state of Virginia
John at age.22 must not have purchase property. Therefore he was not listed in the Spanish 1792 Census.
Burch burial was Salem Baptist Church near Stampley, Jefferson County, Mississippi.

Children
1. David Stanton Burch
2. William Burch
3. Samuel Washington Burch
4. Betsy Burch
5. Henrietta Burch
6. Missouri Ann Burch

John's tombstone is no longer in the Salem Baptist Church Cemetery.

Information provided by contributor Stanton W Burch

Some researcher list Richard Burch as a son of Rev John Burch. Not the son of John’s brother William F. Burch.

LANIER A Geneology of the family who came to Virginia and their French ancestors in London by Louise Ingersoll 2nd Printing May 1970

AMITE COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI 1699-1890 VOL. 4 FLORIDA PARISHES, LOUISIANA, by Albert E. Casey p. 121 When
Entered: Dec. 29, 1806, No. 7 Certificate Date: December 29, 1806 TO WHOM GRANTED: Washington Burch Name of Original Settler: Washington Burch Quantity Allowed:600 acres Situation: Coles Creek in the Miss. Territory
p. 116 When entered, Feb. 12, 1807, No. 10 Certificate
Date: Feb. 3, 1807, Vol. 4, page 151 TO WHOM GRANTED: John Burch Name of Original Claimant: George Demoss
Quantity Allowed: 640 acres Situation: Cole's Creek
P. 121 Date Entered, Dec. 29, 1808, No. 6 Certificate
TO WHOM GRANTED: John Burch Name of original Settler: John Burch Quantity Allowed:200 acres Situation: Cole's Creek
Inhabitants of the Natchez District--1816.
Head of Family County
Burch, John Jefferson

During the American Revolution Spain seized the Natchez District and the remainder of British West Florida. When the American Revolution ended in 1783 Britain transferred the claim to the territory north of the 31 degree latitude to the United States. But, Spain refused to recognize the American claim to West Florida. It was not until 1795 that the Spanish agreed to the 31 degree north boundary. It was not until 1798 that the Spanish actually relinquished control of the Natchez District to the United States. In the meantime, the state of Georgia complicated matters by asserting a claim to the area. Georgia had actually sold land to three companies of eager speculators. Georgia passports were issued to settlers who would travel by land through the Creek Indian territory to the western Mississippi River settlements.
In 1798 the United States Congress created the Mississippi Territory which included all the land between Georgia and the Mississippi River which was located north of the 31 degree latitude and south of a line running due east of the mouth of the Yazoo River.

John Burch was a messenger to the Miss. Baptist Association at Salem Baptist Church, 1811, 1812, 1813, 1814.( History of Mississippi Baptist Association.)

John Burch minister of Salem Baptist Church, Jefferson County, Mississippi after Richard Curtis, Sr. death.

“Accordingly Burch and James Bolls were recognized as the right messenger “Salem” means “Peace” but Satan disregards all names and places and gets in his work of discord even among the Saints.

“Salem Baptist Church was the first Baptist demonization Church in Mississippi. (History of Mississippi Baptist Association.) The Church was torn asunder by internal divisional. Two letters being sent to the Association this year (1815) A committee of five was appointed which after investigation. Reported that the presented by John Burch was the proper one to receive.

Rev. Richard Curtis, Jr., was Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Adams County, Mississippi (organized in 1800 and was the second Baptist Church in Mississippi), and a messenger to the Mississippi Baptist Association in 1808-1811. Rev. Richard Curtis, Jr., on Beaver Creek in Amite County was granted 320 acres there in 1808. He is listed as a citizen of Amite County in the Census of 1805 and 1810. Rev. Richard Curtis, Jr. died of cancer on Beaver Creek in Amite County, Mississippi on October 28, 1811, about 1/2 mile from Ebenezer Baptist Church, and there is a marble obelisk in the churchyard.

Salem Baptist Church was often referred to as the "mother" church for other congregations organized in the Southwest Mississippi Territory.
On the Friday before the third Sunday in August, 1798 Richard Curtis and other Salem males helped constitute the Bayou Pierre Baptist Church built their Meeting House a mile northwest of Port Gibson in Claiborne County, MS.
In Adams County on Second Creek New Hope Baptist Church was organized in 1800.
In Wilkinson County Bethel Baptist Church was organized at Bayou Sara near Woodville. Bethel later moved to Woodville. The "Meeting House" was built about 1815. Although remodeled, embellished and garnished, the church sanctuary is the oldest of Baptist Houses of Worship in Mississippi.
New Providence Baptist Church was constituted in Amite County on July 27, 1805.
On May 6, 1806 Ebenezer Baptist Church was constituted in
Amite County.

John Burch et al, Jefferson County, recommendation to Governor Holmes, recommending John F. Holmes as Justice of the Peace. (Doc Number 1273 Administration: David Holmes Date 6/15/1811 Mississippi Department Archives and History series 488 Administration papers)

Governor Holmes appointing John Burch as Assessor and Collector for the year 1814 in Jefferson County (Doc Number 1912 Administration: David Holmes Date: 1/11/1814 Mississippi Department Archives and History series 488:
administration papers.)

"After the Revolution, Georgia became the State of Georgia and lay claim to all the territory west of them to the Mississippi River In 1795 the Natchez District became a part of the United State and the Mississippi Territory was formed by act of Congress in 1798

There is a direct relationship between the founding of this great nation and the beginning of the Baptist Denomination
in Louisiana.Conditions brought about by the American Revolution caused our ancestors to migrate from what was then Georgia and the Carolinas into the Mississippi
Territory east of Natchez and later into what is now
Washington Parish.
Our ancestors were a rugged group of frontiersmen. By the time of the Revolution in many cases they were several generations old in this country,mostly of Scotch-Irish and English ancestry. In the beginning many of them were Loyalists, usually referred to as Tories. However, England made some serious mistakes #I trying to put down the Revolution in Georgia and the Carolinas, and by the end of the Revolution, most of our ancestors were on the side of the Revolution. The overall plan of England was to land large expeditionary forces at different points along the Atlantic seaboard, thereby cutting up and separating the 13 colonies. Down in Georgia and the Carolinas, not wishing
to get into the dirty fighting to which the Frontiersmen were accustomed to, they hired thousands of foreign troops, mostly German, called Hessians.
This was an insult to our ancestors. Worse still, when these Hessian troops came upon a frontier settlement, they did not differentiate between Loyalists or Revolutionaries. In order to supplement their rations, they took or attempted to take whatever they wanted.
You can imagine what happened - in the end, though, the settler, outnumbered, had to flee to the wilderness. When he returned, his supplies were gone and his buildings
burned, but the Continental Army had a new recruit.
Many historians now agree that the Revolution was actually won in the South. England won most of the battles but the cost of winning those battles in manpower and supplies was so great, they were forced to withdraw.
As a result of the Revolution which had lasted off and on for seven years, our ancestors were destitute and ready to move.
After the Revolution,Georgia became the State of Georgia and lay claim to all the territory west of them to the Mississippi River. Our ancestors began moving into that
territory east of Natchez thinking they were in Georgia.
However, upon arriving in the territory, they found that because of treaty conflicts, the Spanish were yet in control of all that territory east of the river from
the 31st to the 32nd parallel.
They supervised a government which was carried on by a group of English speaking people with an Atlantic Coast
background who were usually referred to as the permanent
settlers.
They were a more cultured people and became very apprehensive when they saw all the rugged frontiersmen from Georgia and the Carolinas pouring into their section.
Friction between the two groups immediately broke out.
The Spanish government recognized only the Roman Catholic religion and permitted no Protestant assemblies. Among the Georgia-Carolina people were Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian preachers who were frontiersmen through
the week and Preachers on the Sabbath.
They were determined to preach regardless of the danger. The Spanish paid not too much attention at first, but when
the preachers began converting some of the permanent
settlers, they moved in, first with threats, and then
an all out effort to capture these preachers. The preachers were forced to flee out into the wilderness where they were cared for by the settlers.A movement then was undertaken by a lady named Aunt Chloe Holt to equip and outfit an
expedition to carry the preachers back to the Carolinas for safety. The expedition was successful. Among the
preachers were two Baptists, Rev. Richard Curtiss, and Rev. John Jones.
In the middle of the night and without notice on March 30,
1798, the Spanish loaded their belongings on flat boats and shoved off from Natchez,floating down to Baton Rouge. The territory was then taken over by the United States.
The Preachers immediately returned to the Mississippi Territory and before the end of 1798 organized Salem
Baptist Church which was located 18 miles northeast of
Natchez. This was the first Baptist Church organized in
Mississippi and it was organized by Rev. Richard Curtiss.

In 1763 Mississippi Territory became a province of England, known as West Florida, and province of Spain in 1781, the seat of government being Natchez.
"The American Revolution caused our ancestors to migrate from what was then Georgia and the Carolinas into the
Mississippi Territory east of Natchez and later into what is now Washington Parish. Our ancestors were a rugged group of frontiersmen. Scotch-Irish and English ancestry. Many
historians now agree that the Revolution was actually won in the South. England won most of the battles but the cost of winning those battles in manpower and supplies was so great, they were forced to withdraw. As a result of the Revolution which had lasted off and on for seven years, our ancestors were destitute and ready to move. After the Revolution, Georgia became the State of Georgia and lay claim to all the territory west of them to the Mississippi River.Our ancestors began moving into that territory east of Natchez THINKING they were in GEORGIA. However, upon
arriving in the territory, they found that because of treaty conflicts, the Spanish were yet in control of all
that territory east of the river from the 31st to the 32nd parallel.They supervised a government which was carried on by a group of English speaking people with an Atlantic Coast
background who were usually referred to as the permanent settlers.
They were a more cultured people and became very apprehensive when they saw all the rugged frontiersmen from Georgia and the Carolinas pouring into that section. Friction between the two groups immediately broke out. The Spanish government recognized only the Roman Catholic
religion and permitted no Protestant assemblies. Among the
Georgia-Carolina people were Baptist, Methodist and
Presbyterian preachers who were frontiersmen through the week and Preachers on the Sabbath. Many of them had little or no education, while others had a surprising amount.
They were determined to preach regardless of the danger.
The Spanish paid not too much attention at first, but when
the preachers began converting some of the permanent settlers, they moved in, first with threats, and then
an all out effort to capture these preachers.
The Spanish had declared that any of the preachers caught would be carried as slaves to the silver mines in Mexico. Ambushes were set up and raids were made in an effort to stamp out the preaching. The preachers were forced to flee out into the wilderness where they were cared for by the settlers.
A movement then was undertaken by a lady named Aunt Chloe
Holt to equip and outfit an expedition to carry the preachers through the wilderness back to the Carolinas for safety. The expedition was successful. Among the preachers were two Baptists, Rev. Richard Curtiss, and Rev. John nes.
In the middle of the night and without notice on March 30,
1798, the Spanish loaded their belongings on flat boats and shoved off from Natchez,floating down to Baton Rouge. The territory was then taken over by the United
States.
The Preachers immediately returned to the Mississippi Territory and before the end of 1798 organized Salem Baptist Church which was located 18 miles northeast of Natchez. This was the first Baptist Church organized in
Mississippi and it was organized by Rev. Richard Curtiss.
The first known settlers came into Washington Parish in early 1799. Most of them came from Mississippi and settled
on Spanish land grants known as Spanish Headrights which
they obtained from the Spanish.
These land grants were usually 640 acres per head of family plus a small allotment per child and per slave. They were bought on easy terms at the rate of $2.00 per acre and were located on the creeks and on both sides of the rivers. Almost all of these settlers were Protestant. This was known to the Spanish. However, this was a desperate as well as doomed effort on the part of the Spanish to erect a
barrier or cushion area between them and the United States.

Since these settlers were settling in Spanish Territory (West Florida) as Spanish citizens, the ban of Protestant assembly was to prevail and did prevail until the "Rebellion of West Florida" in 1810, in which the settlers were successful in taking over West Florida.
About Christmas of 1799, the same year they came into what is today Washington Parish, almost all of the settlers were burned out in what appears to be a series of almost
simultaneous raids staged by the Choctaw Indians. Due to
the wilderness nature of the country and the time of the
year, the settlers were forced to get out immediately.
The year of 1806 was a very significant year. Five Baptist
Churches in Southwest Mississippi had been organized, and in that year the Mississippi Baptist Association was
organized under the leadership of Rev. Ezra Courtney. This was also about the time when the first settlers began returning to our section. In addition to them, many others
came directly from Georgia and the Carolinas by obtaining permits to cross the Creek Indian Territory. Others came
from Tennessee and Kentucky. As said before, the Spanish were overthrown in 1810. After a few weeks under the
Republic of West Florida this area became a part of the Territory of Orleans under the United States. It would be reasonable to speculate that church activity began at the Half-Moon Bluff site very shortly after the Spanish were overthrown. The congregation had two messengers at the
Mississippi Baptist Association October 1811, asking that
someone be sent to Half-Moon Bluff on the Bogue Chitto River to constitute the church. The two messengers representing the congregation were Joseph Erwin, on whoseland the church was located, and Joseph Lewis. It seems that Joseph Lewis at the time was from just east of
Tylertown in the New Zion Community. Sometime between the meeting of the Mississippi Baptist Association in October 1811 and the meeting in October 1812, two preachers, Rev.
Thomas Mercer, and Rev. Dr. David Cooper, were sent to constitute Half-Moon Bluff Baptist Church. On October 12,
1812, Half-Moon Bluff Baptist Church was admitted to the Mississippi Baptist Association.

Based on information from Mrs.. Zuma Magee and Mr. Delos R. Johnson, Sr. information. On the early history from Zuma Magee father's copy of "The History of the Mississippi
Baptist Association, 1806-1906", written by T. C. Schillings. Mr.. John A. Fendlason served as Clerk of the
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church for many years. Mr. Delos R.
Johnson, Sr., was a member of an old and prominent
Washington Parish family. Very likely this accounts for his knowledge and interest. In 1911 he was a young Franklinton Attorney.
"HISTORY OF FRANKLINTON FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH" By Daunton Gibbs 1976-1977

In 1795 the Natchez District became a part of the United
State and the Mississippi Territory was formed by act of
Congress in 1798

"The History of the Mississippi Baptist Association, 1806-1906", written by T. C. Schillings. and The History of Franklinton (LA) Baptist Church by Dauton Gibbs, 1976 1977

(Accession # 21086104). Jefferson County, Mississippi. William Thompson, administrator of the estate of William Sellers, states that William Sellers was the owner of “a
certain slave named Jonathan of dark complexion about 46 years of age a blacksmith by trade of great value to wit:
of the value of $1800.” In addition, he was in possession of a $1,100 promissory note signed by Robert Sellers.
The slave was levied to settle a suit brought by John Burch against William Sellers.
On 12 October 1859, William Sellers, while in a state of intoxication, executed a bill of sale for the slave
Jonathan and the promissory note, for about $800, to attorney Robert Duncan.
William Sellers died intestate and now William Thompson, questioning the aforementioned transaction, seeks to
cancel the 1859 bill of sale.
Excerpts of the Court of Jefferson County, Mississippi

There is so much forgotten history that had a tremendous impact on the lives of our ancestors.