Saberet Rich was born March 31, 1808, in North Carolina to William and Sarrah Rich. He married Rebecca, who was born Jan. 8, 1809, also in North Carolina. Four children were born to this marriage.
In 1836, Saberet and Rebecca were received by experience into the Clear Branch Baptist Church. The church met in the new log meeting house located in Northwest Anderson County, Tennessee. Saberet became a leader in the church and was a delegate to the Powell Valley Association.
Rebecca passed away sometime after their son Noah was born in 1843. On October 17, 1847, 39-year-old Saberet, who had become an ordained minister, married 20-year-old Mary Ellen Spessard. She was the daughter of Michael Spessard who was the first deacon of Clear Branch Church.
Association records list Saberet as an ordained minister of Cain Creek Church in 1855 and he performed 70 marriages in Anderson County from June 1846 until September 1865. Old text books with Saberet’s signature as well as an old copy book written by him from 1830 to 1848 indicate that he was a school teacher before and during his ministry.
Association records list Saberet as an ordained minister of Cain Creek Church in 1855 and he performed 70 marriages in Anderson County from June 1846 until September 1865. Old text books with Saberet’s signature as well as an old copy book written by him from 1830 to 1848 indicate that he was a school teacher before and during his ministry.
Association records list Saberet as an ordained minister of Cain Creek Church in 1855 and he performed 70 marriages in Anderson County from June 1846 until September 1865. Old text books with Saberet’s signature as well as an old copy book written by him from 1830 to 1848 indicate that he was a school teacher before and during his ministry.
Rev. Rich continued to lead the Cain Creek Church up to and during the Civil War. He and Mary Ellen had five children, all born before the Civil War, with one, Calvin, dying before his first birthday. A total of eight Rich children were born before the Civil War and two more children were born after the war.
When the war came and Tennessee seceded from the Union, many churches in Anderson County ceased to operate. The people of East Tennessee were intensely loyal to the Union, but they were occupied by the Confederate Army.
On the other hand, Rev. Rich and his family, which made up of most of the Cain Creek Church, were sympathetic to the Confederacy. His two oldest sons, two sons-in-law, a brother, and Mary Ellen’s two younger brothers all joined the Confederate Army, but the war brought great loss to Rev. Rich and his family. A grandson, father, a son, a daughter, and both of his sons-in-law all passed during this time.
Having suffered such great losses to their family as well as the Cain Creek Church family, Rev. Rich, his family, and a few additional church members decided to move from East Tennessee. Family oral history related the story of a small wagon train that departed from East Tennessee and traveled west for about two weeks before arriving in Tipton County. Records show that Rev. Rich’s last recorded marriage in Anderson County was on Sept. 6, 1865 and the first marriage he performed in Tipton County was on Sept. 16, 1866. Over the next 19 years, he performed over 50 marriages in Tipton County.
While records are missing that would show the churches he pastored in Tipton County, marriage records indicate that he performed marriages west of Covington in Holly Grove, Burlison, Garland and Owen. Rev. Rich and his family settled in the Owen Community on a farm he bought with his brother-in-law, John Spessard.
Rev. Rich and his family were members of Smyrna Baptist Church, and when Oak Grove was organized on Nov. 4, 1883, he and Mary Ellen brought their letters to be read. Rev. Rich was elected pastor of the newly constituted Oak Grove Baptist Church and served until his death on March 26, 1885.
