Belk, Samuel Robinson, 1857-1928.

Samuel Robinson Belk was born in Waxhaw, North Carolina, on March 21, 1859. He was the son of John Wesley and Elizabeth McCain Belk. He was educated at Jackson Forest Academy, received an A.B. degree from Rutherford College in North Carolina in 1882 and an M.A. degree, also from Rutherford, in 1892. In 1909 he was awarded a D.D. from the University of Georgia.

In 1884 Belk was given his license to preach. He was admitted on probation to the North Carolina Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (M.E.C.S.), where he served the Carver's Creek Circuit from 1885-1886. Belk married Joanna Catherine Council on June 3, 1886. The couple had five children: two sons, Paul and Samuel, and three daughters, Mary, Lee, and Ruth.

Belk was ordained elder in the M.E.C.S. in 1888 and was sent to serve a congregation in Pueblo, Colorado. In 1889 he returned to the North Georgia Conference where he served for the next 38 years. His charges included Villa Rica (1890); Payne Memorial (1891-1892); First Church, Gainesville (1893-1894); First Church, Rome (1895-1898); Elberton (1899-1900); Marietta (1901-1902); St. James, Augusta (1903-1906); St. Mark, Atlanta (1907-1910); Park Street, Atlanta (1911-1913); First Church, Athens (1917-1918); Trinity, Atlanta (1919-1924); and Grace, Atlanta (1925-1928). He served as presiding elder of the Gainesville district from 1914 through 1916.

The Reverend Belk served as a trustee of Wesleyan College, La Grange College, and Young Harris College. He died on May 25, 1928, while attending a trustee's meeting at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia.

From the description of Samuel Robinson Belk papers, 1882-1928. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122517784