Career
He moved to Montgomery by way of the Federal Road where he founded the Antioch Baptist Church (organized on June 5, 1818), one of four churches that went on to form the Alabama Baptist Association (American Bar Association). McLemore, who built a reputation as a "famous white evangelist", founded three of the four churches that made up the American Bar Association—in addition to Antioch, he founded the Elim (also known as Old Elam, June 19, 1819) and Bethel churches (February 13, 1819). He was described as a "holy man and zealous herald of the truth, although afflicted in body".
After his death, the execution of his will was contested in the Alabama Supreme Court.
Specifically, how two of McLemore"s slaves were to be distributed among children "of the whole blood" and those "of the half blood" was challenged, with the court deciding that those "of the whole blood" were to be favored. The McLemore bible, more than a hundred years old, was read from at a ceremony celebrating the continued unity of the four original Baptist churches in 1923.
The latter"s family continues to be a prominent family in Montgomery: the campus of Auburn University at Montgomery is built on 500 acres of the former McLemore plantation.
