The Rev. Paymus Nutt (ca. 1817-ca. 1899)

O-72

The Rev. Paymus (Pyramus) Nutt, born into slavery, helped organize four African American churches in Northumberland County after the Civil War. In 1866 he co-founded First Baptist. Shiloh Baptist, established in 1867, called him to be its first (interim) pastor. He was ordained there and served about 10 years. In 1867 Nutt also became the first pastor of Zion Baptist, Lottsburg, where he served for 25 years. He helped establish Lively Hope Baptist Church in 1880 and was the Northern Neck Baptist Association's first moderator. The Freedmen’s Bureau identified Nutt as one of seven local African Americans qualified for officeholding under military Reconstruction.

Department of Historic Resources, 2015

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

“The Abiding Influence of a Faithful Minister: A Profile of the Life and Ministry of Reverend Levi Reese Ball, D.D., 1854-1917” Gallery of former Pastors at Shiloh Baptist Church Founders’ Plaque at First Baptist Church Gayl Fowler, “The Rev. Paymus Nutt: From Slavery to Servant of the Lord” (pamphlet) Jeffrey S. Cordrey, “Upon this Rock: The History of Fairfields Baptist Church” (150th Anniversary booklet) Lively Hope Baptist Church, 1880-1995 (Callao, VA: Lively Hope Baptist Church, 1995). “Northern Neck Baptist Association, Inc., and its Commissions, 50th Anniversary, Annual Joint Session” Northumberland County local records, including personal property tax, marriage licenses, estate records, deeds. Richard Lowe, “Local Black Leaders During Reconstruction in Virginia,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 103 (April 1995): 181-206. Richard Lowe, “The Freedmen’s Bureau and Local Black Leadership,” Journal of American History (Dec. 1993): 989-998. Thomas Wright Morris, “Shiloh Baptist Church, 1867-1992” (125th Anniversary booklet) W. Preston Haynie, “A Matter of Loyalty,” Bulletin of the Northumberland County Historical Society, 2004, pp. 66-77. U.S. Census, 1870, 1880, 1900.