Our History

Our history begins in the late 1880s with a remarkable teenager named Fannie Milikin.

In 1883, the Milikin family moved from Appling County to Jesup and later bought a home from Mr. J. L. Bohannon, an English lawyer and Episcopalian. Through their friendship with the Bohannons, Fannie became interested in the Episcopal Church.

After graduating from high school in Jesup, Fannie attended Shorter College in Rome, Georgia. Her roommate Laura Hume was also an Episcopalian. Together they attended the Episcopal Church in Rome for two years. When she graduated in 1891, Fannie became the first woman from Wayne County to earn a college degree!

Though Fannie herself had benefitted from a private education in Wayne County, she was profoundly concerned by the lack of education for girls in Wayne County, because though boys were sent to public school, girls were not (unless like Fannie they could afford private education). Fannie solicited the help of her college roommate Laura Hume and another graduate from Shorter, Bettie Ledbetter, in to open the Milikin School for Young Women in Wayne County.

In addition to establishing the school, these three ladies also established a Sunday School Class to study about God and specifically the Episcopal approach to God. They met in the school. It was the first organized effort of an Episcopal Church in Jesup. This Sunday School Class would continue as a weekly group until 1967.

In 1893, Bishop Cleland Kinloch Nelson confirmed Fannie along with Captain Harry Whaley. The following year, five students, including three of the Milikin sisters, were baptized.

Over the years, the unorganized mission met at the Milikin School. They also were invited to meet in the Baptist and Methodist churches and in the home of Benjamin & Martha Milikin, Fannie’s parents.

Fannie also turned her attention to the major issue of illiteracy in Jesup. She looked at the many books that had been sent to her school to support her students and came up with a plan. She decided to share the school’s books with the community and established the first lending library in Wayne County.

An unintentional outcome of Fannie opening her doors to the public was that the people coming to borrow books also encountered the church group. The community became curious about those folks called Episcopalians and what they believed.

The numbers grew as a result, and in the fall of 1904, Bishop Cleland Kinchloch Nelson celebrated a service in Jesup and discussed with church members the possibility of building an Episcopal church. A committee was formed, land was donated by W. H. Whaley, Sr., and St. Paul’s was constructed in the fall of 1905. This church building, located on Cherry Street, remains there today.

In the early 1900s, St. Paul’s grew slowly and steadily. Membership reached 44 baptized members. A wonderful two-story Parish Hall and classrooms were added in 1947. In the 1950s, St. Paul’s experienced dynamic growth. This was attributed to Rayonier moving in so many employees who just happened to be Episcopalians plus the energy around the church brought in people from other denominations. The 1950s found St. Paul’s confirming 179 new members!

In September 1961, St. Paul’s on Cherry Street was overflowing, and plans were made to build a new church. The Milikin family donated the land at 745 South Palm Street. A building committee was formed, and the current church building was consecrated on June 14, 1964.

St. Paul’s has been a part of the Jesup community for more than one hundred and forty years and continues to be an active, growing community seeking to deepen our understanding of God and how to be the hands of Christ to each other and the community.

We have a grand past that was ignited in the spirit of a remarkable young girl, Fannie Milikin. We look at the future with the understanding that the best is yet to come.