"There are three churches which have been built up by members of this church and have been given the name of St. Mark. The first was in Georgia, near or at what is now called Plains, Georgia. The most of the members that organized this church were children, grandchildren and great grandchildren of John Wise and all were members of St. Mark Church. All of this was arranged around their camp fires, that is, the building of the church, and the name it should have, while they were trailing on in their covered wagons to their new home in Georgia. The Rev. Margart, their first pastor, in writing about the first years of this church, which he did very often to the Lutheran paper, always referred to it as 'the little church around the corner of Georgia'."

Compiled by
Rubye E. Riser
from the memory and actual experience of her father,
J. Elbert Riser.

The members of St. Mark's in SC transferred their letters of membership to the new church in Georgia, when it was built in 1870. The following members were listed as being members of the SC church before 1870 but have transferred written next to their names. Many of these people are buried in the St. Mark Cemetery, located 4 miles south of Plains, Sumter County, GA on hwy 45.