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A History of Hopewell Presbyterian Church,

Lafayette County, Mississippi

(1839-1981)

by Robert Milton Winter, Ph.D.,

Historian, St Andrew Presbytery

On October 7, 1839, the Presbytery of Tombeckbee, meeting at Ebenezer—a congregation,

which after 1841 changed its name to College Hill, took action to appoint “Rev. D. L. Russel &

Rev. A. McCallum and elders Eli Neely & R. H. Buford. . .to organize one or two churches in the

eastern part of Lafayette County.” According to Hall’s Index of American Presbyterian Con-

gregations, the organization was completed under the authority of the Presbytery of Clinton

[Miss.].

The sessional records of the Oxford Church, of which D. L. Russel was pastor, show that a

church was organized in October 1839, called Hopewell, on Woodson’s Ridge, about six miles

east of Oxford, and in those records in December 1840, name members who were dismissed to

form this new congregation.1 These included:

Kenneth Clark Oliver Harper Wiley

Daniel Clark Ann Wiley

Eliza Clark Katherine J. Wiley

Emelia Clark M. Kimmons

George McFarland A. E. Kimmons

Ann McFarland Mary Barringer

Daniel McFarland Elias Rambo

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The other congregation to be organized in obedience to the original directive of Tombeckbee

Presbytery was the church called Lebanon, now located in the village of Toccopola, in extreme

western Pontotoc County.2 At times Hopewell shared a minister with this congregation, and many

members were exchanged between the two churches in the passage of years.

Hopewell Church was briefly under the care of the Presbytery of Clinton (Miss.)—1840-1841—

which then had authority for territory in the northern portion of the state and, in 1842, was placed

by the Synod of Mississippi under the care of the newly formed Presbytery of Holly Springs. The

Holly Springs Presbytery took the name Chickasaw in 1843, and the Hopewell congregation was

a member of this body until transferred to the Presbytery of North Mississippi in 1908. This pres-

bytery was in turn consolidated with parts of the East and Central Mississippi Presbyteries in

1961 to form St. Andrew Presbytery, in which the Hopewell Church held membership until the

congregation was dissolved in 1981.

According to a history of its churches prepared by a committee of Chickasaw Presbytery—the

Revs. Daniel L. Gray and Samuel Hurd (who had organized the Oxford Church in 1837):

“The church at Hopewell on Woodson’s Ridge was organized by Bishop3 A. McCallum, and oc-

casionally supplied by him, till they secured the pastoral labors of Bishop J. Weatherby, who is

now their pastor.”4

Land for the church was given by George McFarland, one of the founding members. McFarland

had, in turn, purchased his land from the Indians.5

The settlers were mostly from North Carolina, of Scots-Irish background and stock. There were

many marriages among the various families. Daniel McFarland (1809-1888), one of the congre-

gation’s first elders, for example, married, May 16, 1839, Abigail Erixna Kimmons (1816-1894),

daughter of John and Margaret Morrison Kimmons. Their son Daniel K. McFarland (1848-1893),

grew up to be one of Hopewell Church’s eleven ministerial sons. Most of the members were

farmers, but one, Hugh Harvey Kimmons (1818-1890), also a child of John and Margaret Kim-

mons, a longtime member of the session, was a physician. H. H. Kimmons married Cornelia Jane

Hope (1829-1863), and their son Levi Hope Kimmons (1852-1898) was another of the church’s

ministerial sons. Sons and daughters of the Kimmons line married McCorkles, Newells, and Wi-

leys, forming an intricate tapestry of kinship and faith. These relationships are too numerous to

trace, but such was the story of almost every country church across the developing Presbyterian

frontier. A child of the covenant had many kinfolk, and the ties of church and family were rich

and unfolded across the generations. In the neighborhood surrounding Woodson’s Ridge, Hope-

well Church occupied a place at the center of it all.

Angus McCallum (1801-1885), Hopewell Church’s organizing pastor, was the new presbytery’s

first moderator. He was born in Robeson Co., N. C., and received his theological education at

Union Theological Seminary—then located at Hampden-Sydney, Va. He was ordained in 1831

by Fayetteville Presbytery in North Carolina, where he served the Euphronia and Buffalo Churches

(1831-1838), prior to coming to Mississippi, where he was stated supply at Waterford (the church

there was originally called Greenwood) and Hopewell at various times between 1839 and 1848.

He was the organizing pastor of the church at Chulahoma in western Marshall County (1839).

McCallum then to the southern part of the state, principal among them the historic congregation

at Union Church, located between Brookhaven and Fayette. He ministered in Mississippi Presby-

tery until his retirement from active service in 1881.6

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Another of Hopewell’s early ministers was James Weatherby, a scholarly man well-known in

Mississippi. A native of Philadelphia, Pa., James Weatherby had been educated at Princeton Col-

lege and Seminary, where he was regarded as one of the most gifted in his class. As was the

custom of the era, wherein the brightest and most energetic were exhorted to go to the mission

fields, he came south, serving pastorates in North Carolina and at and Tuscumbia, Ala., before ar-

riving in Mississippi in 1841. He served the churches at Oxford and Hopewell (1841-1845), also

heading the Oxford Female Academy. A noted educator, he was later principal of the highly re-

garded Holly Springs Female Collegiate Institute (1845-1848), and also served the churches at

Hudsonville, Lamar, and Waterford—all then in Marshall County. He was the first moderator of

the Synod of Memphis in 1847, of which the Chickasaw Presbytery was a part. Elected the first

stated clerk of the Presbytery in 1842, he held that office until 1854. Later he was president of the

Female College in Aberdeen, and died there, January 19, 1856.7

Although always a small congregation, Hopewell Church played its part in the life of the larger

Church. The Presbytery met at Hopewell Church, October 3, 1844, with the Rev. William A.

Gray, who soon thereafter entered upon a long pastorate at Ripley, Miss., as moderator. While

sessional records from Hopewell from the early years have not survived, the early records of

Presbytery reveal these elders among the elders at Hopewell who served the congregation as com-

missioners to Presbytery: John Kimmons, T. W. Kimmons, H. H. Kimmons, O. H. Wiley, D.

Miller, John Foster, Daniel McFarland, and Dr. R. S. Stewart.

The session presented its record book for examination at the presbytery, and it seems to have

been kept in good form, except in the year 1847, when “The committee on the records of Hope-

well Church reported, which report was received and approved, and is as follows, viz:—Your

committee report that the book be sent back to the session8 to be remodeled.”9 Elders were given

little guidance in those days as to how to keep their records, but old church rolls from that era

form an important link to the past. In spite of the loss of the early sessional register, most of the

principal Hopewell names are well known.

Even after he resigned as pastor of Hopewell, James Weatherby seems to have given the church

some of his ministerial attention. From time to time the presbytery assigned him, along with the

Rev. A. W. Young10 to spend an occasional Sabbath preaching to the little flock.

Hopewell in this era was neither the largest nor smallest church in the presbytery. Assessments to

reimburse commissioners for their travels to and from the annual meetings of the General Assem-

bly (usually held in Philadelphia, Pa.), ranged from $2 to $8 per congregation based upon the

financial and numerical health of the congregation. Hopewell was usually asked to contribute

about $5 (later the assessments were raised to as much as $15, with Hopewell assessed about $7).

The records of presbytery show that Hopewell paid its assessments as requested.

The other cause for which the presbytery raised money locally—the education of candidates for

the ministry—attracted Hopewell Church’s interest. In 1848, the congregation contributed $25 for

this effort—a not inconsiderable sum in that era.11

In 1845, a tiny congregation called Nazareth, organized in 1841 by the Rev. Thomas C. Stuart,

longtime minister at Monroe in neighboring Pontotoc County, located in the vicinity of Hopewell,

was dissolved by Presbytery, and its members directed to connect themselves with Hopewell.12

On April 14th, 1849, the Hopewell extended a call through Presbytery to the Rev. Franklin Patton

to become their pastor. Because the examinations to which he was subjected were typical of those

4

conducted by presbyteries in that day, the process is recounted here in its entirety, as extracted

from the minutes of Presbytery:

“Bro. Young presented Mr. Franklin Patton to Presbytery, as a candidate for the gospel ministry,

whereupon, Presbytery proceeded to examine Mr. Patton, a member of the Chulahoma Church, on

his experimental acquaintance with religion, and his motives for desiring to enter the gospel min-

istry, which examination being satisfactory, he was received under the care of Presbytery, as a

candidate for the ministry. . . .

“Presbytery proceeded to examine Mr. Patton on English Literature, the languages, and mathe-

matics,13 all of which were sustained as parts of trial. Presbytery assigned Mr. Patton, as a theme

for Latin exegesis “Quomodo probatur Deum existere.”

“Having an exegesis prepared on that subject it was read before presbytery and committed to the

Committee on Languages.

“After recess Presbytery proceeded to business. Six verses of the 6th Chapter of Hebrews from the

first to the sixth verse inclusive were assigned our candidate Mr. Patton as a critical exercise, as a

part of trial. And he was directed to prepare for examination on the first five chapters of the Con-

fession of Faith.14

“The committee appointed to examine the Latin exegesis of Mr. Patton, reported recommending

its approval, as a part of trial, which report was adopted and accepted.15

“Presbytery proceeded to examine their candidate Mr. Patton, who read a critical exercise which

was received and put into the hands of the Committee on Theology.

“The Com. on Theology reported that they had examined Mr. Patton’s critical exercise and recom-

mended that the same be sustained as part of trial. Which report was accepted and adopted.

“Presbytery proceeded to examine Mr. Patton on the first five chapters of the Confession of Faith

which was sustained as parts of trial.

“Resolved, unanimously, that Presbytery recommend Mr. F. Patton to take at least [a] one-year

course in a Theological Seminary and we pledge ourselves to support him while there.16 The first

Psalm was assigned Mr. Patton as a subject for a lecture.”17

After a period of study at the Presbyterian Seminary in Allegheny City, Pa., near Pittsburgh, dur-

ing which Chickasaw Presbytery paid eighty dollars for his tuition,

“Presbytery proceeded to the further examination of Mr. Patton, which was resumed at the point

where it had been suspended. The examination of Mr. Patton in Theology, Church History & the

Hebrew language having been completed, [it] was on motion sustained as parts of trial. Mr. Patton

then read his lecture, the roll was called, remarks made, and on motion was sustained as part of

trial. It was made the order of the day for 7 ½ [o’clock p.m.] to hear the popular sermon of Mr.

Patton from Jno. 17:11, “Holy Father” &c. After hearing the sermon of Mr. Patton the roll was

called, remarks made & on motion, it was sustained.

“Presbytery then proceeded to license Mr Franklin Patton to preach the gospel.”18

In the spring of 1849, when Hopewell presented its call for Mr. Patton’s services as their pastor,

Presbytery used the following procedure to accomplish his ordination and installation:

“Resolved that when the presbytery adjourns it adjourn to meet at the Hopewell Church on Tues-

day before the meeting of Synod at 11 o’clock, then & there if the way be clear to ordain and in-

5

stall Mr. F. Patton. Rev’d W. V. Frierson to preach the sermon. Rev’d T. C. Stuart to preside and

give the charge to the people. Rev’d W. A. Gray, to give the charge to the minister.”19

The presbytery convened at College Hill, where Patton preached a sermon on the topic previously

assigned to him. Next, it was:

“Resolved that Presbytery now proceed to take necessary steps for the ordination of Mr. Franklin

Patton, and that he now preach the sermon assigned him upon the 9th verse of 17th Chap. of Jno.

The sermon having been preached, the roll was called, and it was unanimously sustained a part of

trial. Mr. F. Patton having gone through all the parts of trial preparatory to ordination, it was

Resolved to ordain him forthwith with a view to his installation as pastor of the Hopewell Church.

The Moderator to preach the sermon & preside & put the constitutional questions—Bro. Weather-

by to deliver the charge to the newly ordained minister. Presbytery took recess until 11 o’clock.

“After recess Presbytery resumed business, the sermon being preached, Mr. Patton was ordained

by the laying on of the hands of Presbytery,20 according to the order presented in the book, and

Mr. Patton’s name was enrolled as a member of this Presby. Resolved that Brethren Weatherby

Waddel & Reid be a committee to install Bro Patton pastor of Hopewell Church, on Saturday be-

fore the 4th Sabbath in November—Bro Weatherby to preach the sermon, preside & put the consti-

tutional questions, Bro Waddel [to] deliver the charge to the minister—Bro. Reid [to] deliver the

charge to the people.”21

Franklin Patton (1820-1895), was born in Washington County, Mo., and attended Marshall Col-

lege (1844). He was at the time he first appeared before Presbytery a member of the church at

Chulahoma, Miss., in western Marshall County—probably serving in the town’s male academy as

a teacher. After his time as pastor of Hopewell (1848-1851), and later as stated supply at Sarepta

and Lebanon (1851-1857), he spent the next two years as pastor in Cape Girardeau, Mo., return-

ing to Chickasaw Presbytery to serve once more at Lebanon (1859-1871). He then was pastor in

Tupelo (1872-1880), along with ministry as stated supply at Zion and Corinth during part of this

period. Mr. Patton then crossed the Mississippi to serve at Helena, Clarendon, and Holly Grove,

Ark., and died in Dardanelle, Ark., in March 1895. The University of Mississippi awarded him an

honorary doctorate in 1874.22

The opening of a second generation in the life of Hopewell Church may be marked with the

beginning of a new session book, which began September 1, 1860.23 The pioneer era had closed,

the early settlers were now well-established and had reared families. A younger generation was

making its professions of faith. In the opening pages of this book, the following are found as

elders: Daniel McFarland, R. S. Stewart, H. H. Kimmons, O. H. Wilie, and John Foster. Mr. Fos-

ter was Clerk of Session.

At the first meeting of the session for which we have record, the elders disciplined two members

of the congregation—slaves who were communicant members, reflecting the fact that nineteenth

century Presbyterian churches in the South were interracial assemblies, albeit gathered on a high-

ly unequal basis. By record of the session, acting as a court of the Church:

“Session proceeded to examine Sandy, servant boy of Mrs C. G. Kimmons on breach of the eighth

commandment, and Jo, servant boy of John Foster on breach of the seventh commandment, both

of which acknowledged their guilt and were suspended for an indefinite time.”24

Occasions for discipline, while they did not dominate the session’s work, were nonetheless not

infrequent. Several years later, the session met “To investigate the charge of unchristian conduct

in Mrs. ___.25 The session, after consultation, believing that sufficient evidence could be pro-

6

duced to sustain the charges, issued citations to Mrs ___ and her mother, Mrs ___ to appear be-

fore the session on the 7th day of May, and answer to the charges preferred against them, viz.

Against Mrs ___: a breach of the seventh commandment, together with a strong suspicion of

infanticide, and against her mother, Mrs. ___ , as an accomplice in the crime above mentioned

and also for non-attendance on the ordinances of God’s House.” A black member was also cited at

the same time to answer the charge of drunkenness and profanity.

The next month, the black member met the session and “acknowledged that he had been drunk

and whilst under the influence of liquor had used profane language.” The session being satisfied

with the reality of his repentance admonished him and exhorted him to a more consistent and

Christian course of conduct. The accused woman and her mother failed to appear, but the elders,

“being fully satisfied from the evidence before it,” that the women were guilty of the charges

against them, “and also for contumacy” excommunicated them from the privileges of the Church.26

Most shocking was a charge, lodged by a female member of the congregation in 1880, that her

father had repeatedly committed incest against her, with intimidation to deter her from informing

against him. The elders cited the accused man, and when he failed to appear, heard the testimony

of witnesses. The matter was grim, so much so the session clerk (responsible for making a careful

record, in case the matter was appealed to the higher courts of the Church) remarked in his min-

utes that, “the evidence is such that I do not care to record it, and will risk the censure of Presby-

tery.”27

Sometimes the session was an agent of reconciliation. In January 1870, the session of Hopewell

Church met at the call of the Moderator. At the request of the session Dr. Waddel (then the pastor

at Oxford) moderated the meeting. The object of the meeting was “to consider the complaint of

Mr Allen Shive in reference to some charges made against him by Mr D. McFarland on the 2nd

Sabbath of Nov 1868 publicly in Hopewell Church and endeavor to reconcile the parties.” The

parties made their statements and the difficulties were amicably settled, with the two men signing

a paper declaring this as fact.28

In reading such proceedings, it should be remembered that the session was not simply an adminis-

trative body, but a judicatory of the Church. In frontier times, the session was a civilizing force.

The elders of Presbyterianism asserted themselves for decency and order. They meted out disci-

pline with a severity that often exceeded that of civil authorities. Moreover, because Church law

required that disciplinary actions be announced from the pulpit, the responsibilities of Church

membership took on a public character, and the loss of privileges became a social disgrace.29

In time, Presbyterians would come to see their ministers as officers in more compassionate roles,

and pastoral counseling and supportive therapy gradually replaced punitive action as the churches

confronted inappropriate behavior among their members. Still, the sessional records of Hopewell

Church indicate that throughout the nineteenth century church membership was not to a casual

undertaken, and that those who assumed the covenantal obligations of a Christian profession were

held responsible both for the sincerity and fidelity of that undertaking. On more than one occas-

ion, for example, the Hopewell elders deferred the acceptance of professions of faith—perhaps

judging the young people involved as too immature to understand the commitments they were

proposing to make.

Reflecting the war hysteria that enveloped Mississippi following the state’s secession from the

Federal Union on January 9, 1861 the Hopewell Session, meeting September 20, 1861, “took ac-

tion on the subject of secession from the General Assembly of the United States, viz., whereas the

question of severing our ecclesiastical relations with the General Assembly of the United States &

7

organizing a new Assembly for the Confederate States, will be considered by our Presbytery at

the next stated meeting of that body:—Therefore resolved 1. That this session is in favor of the

ecclesiastical change & new organization indicated above. 2. Our reasons for advocating such

change is a sincere belief that the peace, unity, and greater prosperity of the Southern Church

demand it, owing to the existence of two distinct governments hostile to each other, within the

limits of the present Assembly’s jurisdiction, and owing especially to the unfriendly, schismatical

and unconstitutional resolutions passed by the last Assembly at Philadelphia, adjourned.”30

Dr. Hugh H. Kimmons of the Hopewell session was elected a commissioner of the Chickasaw

Presbytery to attend the meeting of the Organizing Assembly of the Confederate Church which

convened at Augusta, Ga., December 4, 1861.

The Civil War does not seem to have affected Hopewell Church as such, although as Maud Mor-

row Brown has noted, “when the Federal soldiers came to Woodson’s Ridge, they emptied every

smokehouse and raided the residences except that they left in haste when they dashed into the

home of Mr. H. H. Kimmons and found his family of eight in bed with the measles.”31 J. A. Big-

ger, a member of the congregation, kept a diary during his service in the war, which preserves an

interesting account of events from the perspective of a native son of Woodson’s Ridge.32 Two

sons of John and Margaret Morrison Kimmons served in the war, James McEwen (who later was

pastor of the church) and Robert Hall. Robert died while in the service.

The Hopewell Church—originally constructed of logs—was burned accidentally soon after the

war. According to a history of the church compiled for the Presbyterian Historical Foundation at

Montreat, c. 1934, was erected soon after the fire, near the spot where the old church had stood.33

This church, a simple 30 x 60 foot structure with double doors on the east, and three large win-

dows on each side, and covered with clapboard and a shingled roof remains, serving as the chapel

of Camp Hopewell, preserved very much as it was built. Membership, as reported to by the

presbytery to the General Assembly and published in its statistical reports for 1866 was 159.34

The presbytery convened at Hopewell at the spring meeting of 1868. Meetings of the presbytery

were typically three-day affairs, convening on Thursday morning and extending through Saturday

afternoon. Commissioners were boarded in the homes of church members, with members of other

churches in the neighborhood offering their hospitality in a cooperative effort. At this meeting the

presbytery endorsed a request from the Tupelo Church to the General Assembly’s Committee of

Sustentation for funds to erect a house of worship.35

In the autumn of 1868, John Foster resigned as Clerk of Session and was succeeded by H. H.

Kimmons who served in that capacity for many years.36 In 1869 the church reported eighty-seven

members, with $210 contributed for congregational expenses, $50 for foreign missions, and $213

for “Sustentation,” that is, home missions. N. W. Shive and James Bigger were ordained and in-

stalled as elders on September 24, 1870.

As in many churches across the South, some who had been the property of white slave owners

when they made professions of faith, retained membership in their customary places of worship

after emancipation in the Civil War. Those black persons who were Presbyterian seemed also to

give deference to discipline when it was exercised upon them by sessions in such churches. For

example, on October 15, 1870, the Hopewell session met:

“for the purpose of investigating the fight between Alfred & Elam Kimmons (colored) and was

constituted with prayer. Members present: Rev F. Patton, Jas Bigger and H. H. Kimmons. After

hearing the evidence of both parties the session being satisfied that Alfred acted on the defensive

8

and that Elam was the aggressor and his conduct being very culpable, suspended him from the

privileges of the Church until satisfied with his repentance. After admonishing Alf to a more

Christian course of conduct and exhorting Elam to repent the session adjourned.”

The elders, of course, were white, but over the years, Hopewell Church included a fair number of

African Americans among its membership. Forty-six names appear on a roll of “Colored Mem-

bers.” Names would have been familiar to the wider community: Stewart, Shive, Kimmons, Mc-

Farland, Patton, Borrum, McCorkle, Barr, Mooney, Newell, and Clarke.

Rural congregations generally had a larger portion of their membership in slaves during the ante-

bellum period than did Presbyterian churches in the towns and cities. The Hopewell Church did

not have a gallery for “servants,” as did some country congregations of the Presbyterian Church,

such as Old Philadelphia, near Red Banks and the church at Hudsonville, both in nearby Marshall

County. (White church leaders, conveniently following the wording of the King James New Test-

ament, typically referred to their property in human flesh as “servants” instead of calling their

bondsmen slaves.)

At Hopewell, as in nearby Oxford, black worshipers sat in the rear of the church. The church at

College Hill did have a gallery, the doors to which may still be seen high on the front wall of the

church under the columned porch. Reached by a stair, the gallery was removed when repairs were

made to the church early in the 20th century. Several black persons lie buried in the wooded area

that separates the church from the portion of the cemetery that lies across the Hopewell Road

from the present church grounds, a melancholy reminder of the separations that were enforced,

even in death, among those who had power and those who did not during that long-ago and la-

mentable era.

In many locales, as for example, Pontotoc, black Presbyterians withdrew after the war to form

separate congregations. Some of these were organized under the care of the presbytery, others

affiliated with predominately black denominations. Later entries in the Hopewell session book

indicate that although black persons attended sporadically, gradually congregation’s the black

members died or slipped away, so that by the early twentieth century, Hopewell’s congregation

was entirely white in its racial composition.

Despite the inequalities, all received the Holy Communion from a common cup. Blacks received

a name and dignity in baptism, and the recording of names of black members who received the

sacraments in the session’s baptismal and communicants’ registers, in many instances, provided

one of the few records of these people’s lives, so that Presbyterian session books form a precious

resource for students of black history. The Hopewell elders were careful in recording such infor-

mation.

Communion seasons at Hopewell were held once or twice a year. As was the custom in rural and

Southern town churches throughout the nineteenth century, the occasions involved preparatory

services on Friday and Saturday, culminating in the administration of the communion on the Sab-

bath Day. The session would meet before each service, and this was a customary time for those

interested in church membership to present themselves for examination and reception by the el-

ders. The sessions would remain open throughout the period of the meeting to receive any who

felt ready to present themselves for examination and make their professions of faith. Those who

had disciplinary accounts to settle typically also took opportunity to express contrition and be re-

admitted to church privileges. One may guess that there was a good deal of socializing and visit-

ing, and accounts of these occasions from other sources indicate that there were often large con-

gregations in attendance.

9

Presbyterians of the present era are often surprised to learn that churches did not generally receive

offerings of money during the Sunday services of worship in this era. When a special offering

was called for, gifts might be presented for the cause. But subscriptions for the minister’s upkeep

or quotas to meet the askings of Presbytery were normally paid directly into the hands of the dea-

cons or elders. Indeed, there seems to have been a sense that it was not proper to handle money in

the Lord’s House.

Failure to pay pastoral salaries seems to have been the chief reason ministers moved away. Often

presbyteries forbade congregations to engage a new minister until they settled their arrears with

previous ones. Development of “systematic benevolence” was a major concern of the second half

of the nineteenth century, and offerings of money during the service came to be seen as acts of

worship. Accordingly, in November 1870, the Hopewell session “resolved to introduce boxes into

the church, and to take up collections as often as the congregation may meet for worship.”

It was also resolved to collect and pay over the minister’s salary “semi-annually by the 1st of Jan

and the 1st of July.” Presumably to keep the congregation apprised of their compliance or non-

compliance in subscriptions for the pastoral salary, the Hopewell session made a standing rule,

November 26, 1870, “that the minister be required to read before the congregation the statistical

report to Presbytery at the time it is made out or as soon after as possible” prior to the report’s

being sent up to Presbytery.37

Roads in the vicinity of Woodson’s Ridge were unpaved and often impassible, and Hopewell

Church was not heated or perhaps warmed only by a stove. A heavy rain could discourage even

the most devout. In one instance, the elders had missed two members for quite awhile and

launched an inquiry. “J. A. Bigger was appointed to visit some members of the church and learn

their reasons for not attending the ordinances of God’s House.” Some weeks later Mr. Bigger

reported that Mrs. D___ and Mrs. M ___ , “gave as reasons, their inability from ill health and

want of conveyance at the same time expressing their sorrow in these privations of privilege and

their unabated attachment to the cause of Christ and to the Church.”38 Though the inquiries seem

to have been undertaken with the idea of censure rather than through pastoral concern, it can be

understood that both elder and parishioner understood, even if they did not excuse, the difficulties

that the times imposed on regular church participation.

In the spring of 1871, the Rev. Franklin Patton accepted a call to serve the churches at Tupelo and

Zion, and Dr. John N. Waddel, chancellor at the University of Mississippi, added care of Hope-

well Church to his many duties. When the presbytery convened at Hopewell on May 24, 1872, it

did so to examine Daniel K. McFarland, a son of Hopewell Church and a recent graduate of the

University of Mississippi as a candidate for the ministry and receive him under the presbytery’s

care. Some months later, Hopewell Church extended a call to Mr. McFarland, which he accepted.

Having been baptized and reared in the congregation, he was the first of three of its ministerial

sons to serve as pastor. Daniel Kimmons McFarland was the son of Daniel and Abigail Kimmons

McFarland. His sister Flora was well known as the teacher of the one-room school that stood for

many years next to Hopewell Church.39

10

The one-room school which stood next to Hopewell Church. Flora McFarland stands at right.

The presbytery held an adjourned session at Hopewell, September 27, 1873 to accomplish Mr.

McFarland’s ordination and installation. The day before he preached a trial sermon before the

presbytery, and was sustained in examinations on Hebrew, church government, and the sacra-

ments.40

The young man was gifted and soon gained notice as a preacher. Two years later, on June 11,

1874, Daniel McFarland asked the session to call a congregational meeting to dissolve his pasto-

ral relationship with the Hopewell Church, and on July 2, the presbytery complied with this re-

quest, hearing that the congregation had voted unanimously to concur with their pastor’s desire.

He went from Hopewell to the First Church of Savannah, Ga., where he was highly regarded as a

preacher and pastor, surviving a case of yellow fever during one of the frequent epidemics in that

humid port city. After his recovery, he was recalled to Mississippi to be pastor of the Oxford

Church (1882-1886), after which he went to the historic First Church of Staunton, Va. He died

February 28, 1893. He was stated clerk of North Mississippi Presbytery (1884-1885).

For the next two years, Dr. Waddel again cared for the congregation and moderated meetings of

the session. Beginning in the autumn of 1876 and continuing into the following year, the Rev.

Theodore Hunter, a minister from South Alabama, served the Hopewell congregation, later be-

coming minister of the church at Okolona, after which he was dismissed to the Presbytery of

Central Mississippi.41

The Rev. John McCampbell, D.D., pastor at Grenada, served Hopewell during part of the year

1877, just prior to Grenada’s devastating trial by yellow fever, in which Dr. McCampbell died.

The Rev. James W. Graham, minister at Oxford also conducted services for Hopewell during this

time.

11

The Rev. James Williamson Roseborough (1852-1941), was Hopewell’s minister, part-time, be-

ginning in 1878, and was installed as pastor, for half his time, beginning in 1881. (He also served

the church at Water Valley.) A native of Sardis, Miss., he was educated at Wofford College in

Ohio and Princeton Seminary, and was ordained in October 1878 by the Presbytery of North

Mississippi. He left Hopewell in 1881 for Missouri, where he was pastor at Cape Girardeau and

Jackson, Mo., returning to Mississippi to serve the First Church at Columbus (1888-1894). He

spent the rest of his life in pastorates in Missouri, Alabama, and Florida, always active in evan-

gelistic work and serving small churches.42

In the autumn of 1881 and the winter of 1882, two area ministers, the Rev. E. E. Bigger and E. C.

Davidson moderated the Hopewell session and conducted services for the congregation. Bigger

was, of course, a son of the congregation, and served his home church prior to his departure from

Mississippi to serve a congregation in Memphis.

In the spring of 1883 the church engaged the services of the Rev. William I. Sinnott (1855-1936),

a native of Mobile, Ala., who had received his education at the University of Mississippi and

Princeton Seminary. As a licentiate he had served at Mt. Hermon and Durant Churches in Central

Mississippi Presbytery. Upon his reception into the care of Chickasaw Presbytery, calls from

Hopewell & Tallahatchie Churches were presented, the former for half his time, at a salary of

$350, the latter for one-fourth his time at a salary of $100.43 He served at Hopewell and Talla-

hatchie (near Etta) for three years, after which he went to the Second Presbyterian Church of

Birmingham, spending the rest of his ministry in Alabama and South Carolina.44

No reference to a Sunday school appears in the early extant records of Hopewell Church, and if

the omission reflects fact, the congregation was not unusual among rural Presbyterians of the day.

As time passed greater emphasis was placed on the Christian education of the young, and on May

25, 1884, the Hopewell session chose J. M. Kimmons Superintendent of Sunday school and J. A.

Bigger his alternate.

Sessions of this era were expected to submit an annual Narrative of the State of Religion their

congregations for review by Presbytery. These were in turn submitted to the Synod and General

Assembly. One such narrative from the year 1886 is preserved in the minutes of the Hopewell

session and is printed in its entirety.

“We have had preaching twice a month (except when hindered by Providential events) and Sab-

bath School has been held every Sabbath. During August there was a special blessing bestowed

upon the church in the addition of seven persons to church membership upon confession of their

faith in Christ. Two others have been added on examination since & two by letter which makes

nine in confession & two by certificate. No intemperance or worldly amusements have been ob-

served in our midst & Sabbath observance is very good. In the grace of worshiping God with our

substance there has been little change in either direction. Family worship is observed in a number

of families & perhaps more than half observe this custom. There are twelve colored persons in full

communion with the church, though their attendance at worship is irregular.”45

Throughout this period the church was very isolated. The session was careful in its efforts to elect

commissioners to meetings of the presbytery and synod and received reports from the delegates

as to their fidelity in attendance. Still, the trips on horseback or in a buggy must have been ar-

duous, and sometimes impossible. In an undated entry from the session book in the spring of

1867, it was noted that, “Session in their deliberations concluded not to elect any members to

Presbytery owing to the bad state of the weather, roads, and other circumstances.”

12

By the following autumn, conditions had improved, and Dr. Stewart was elected delegate to

attend Presbytery at Pontotoc, with Daniel McFarland alternate, and John Foster to attend Synod

at Trenton, Tenn. Some years later, on September 17, 1874, the session recorded that “The dele-

gate appointed to attend Presbytery last spring [O. H. Wiley] reported, that he was unable to

attend the meeting of Presbytery, account of high waters. His report was received and approved.”

photo from The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi

N. L. Lowrance

Those added to the eldership in the second half of the nineteenth century included J. A. Bigger,

W. L. Lowrance, J. M. Kimmons, N. L. Lowrance, J. M. Saunders, and W. H. Wiley. Minutes

from May 8, 1886 give a sense of the sort of business that sessions transacted, as well as re-

cording the solemnities connected with the installation of the new officers:

Hopewell Church, May 8, 1886

Session met & was constituted with prayer. Present Mod. W. I. Sinnott and Ruling Elders D. Mc-

Farland and J. A. Bigger; absent H. H. Kimmons. Mary Dale Kimmons, a baptized, non-com-

municant of this church upon examination & confession of her faith in Christ was admitted to the

full fellowship of the church. Louisa Ray (col.) upon examination & confession of her faith in Christ

was baptized & received into the fellowship of the Church. Session took recess until after night

sermon.

Night Session

Session resumed its sitting in the presence of the congregation. J. M. Kimmons & N. L. Lowrance

who had been elected ruling elders by the congregation on the previous day were ordained with

laying on of the hands of Presbytery [that is, the Session], & installed. J. E. McCorkle who had been

elected deacon on the same day was ordained & installed. J. S. Furr deacon-elect was installed only,

as he had been ordained deacon previously in another congregation. Session closed with prayer.

H. H. Kimmons, C. S.

13

photo from The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi

The W. H. Wiley family, 1913. (left to right, front row) Hugh Christopher, Mittie Mae Wiley Black,

William Henry Wiley, Mattie Lou Wiley, William Oliver Wiley. (second row) Dinkie Etoy Wiley,

Lawson Waddel Wiley, Daniel Elton Wiley and Baxter Julian Wiley.

In small congregations, the office of deacon was filled usually by only one or two persons at a

time. Those who served at Hopewell were: Dan McFarland, Arm Shives, J. M. Kimmons, J. E.

McCorkle, J. S. Furr, W. L. Kimmons, Baker Cromwell, and H. L. Kimmons.

John Foster became Clerk of Session in 1860, and was succeeded by H. H. Kimmons on October

24, 1868. N. L. Lowrance was elected clerk on February 26, 1888, and J. A. Bigger on November

8, 1891.

In this era, virtually every church in the presbytery shared its minister with one or more congrega-

tions, and Hopewell was always linked with some other—in most cases, Lebanon, at Toccopola.

This meant that preaching was had only on those Sundays the minister was available and, since

travel on the Lord’s Day was prohibited by strict interpretations of the fourth commandment,

ministers customarily resided with a church family on both the night before and night following

their appointments at outlying preaching points. Moreover, each minister was required to spend

one or two Sundays between each meeting of Presbytery furnishing “destitute places” with a sup-

ply of preaching. Thus Hopewell Church was often quiet more Sundays than it was filled, except

when classes in the Sabbath School were kept up, or the elders convened the people for divine

service. At Hopewell, as in most locales, this effort was minimal, though on May 6, 1876, the

church record reveals that, “Session determined to comply with the requirement of our Con-

fession of Faith and convene the congregation every Sabbath for worship.”

In 1887 the following Narrative on the State of Religion in Hopewell Church was approved:

14

“Our Pastor has discharged his official duties with commendable earnestness & fidelity. . . .The

other officers and private members are harmoniously performing their relative duties, without any

unbecoming zeal for S.S. or other church work. We have not been blessed with any special out-

pourings of the Holy Spirit, having had but two additions to our communion upon confession of

faith in Christ. Our church members are punctual in their attendance upon the duties of the

Sanctuary—their Christian deportment is good & their growth in grace, we hope, healthy, if not

vigorous. We have no weekly prayer meeting and the family altar is not erected in every house-

hold. All the various enterprises of the Church have been presented & responded to with an in-

creased liberality of eight & a half per cent. The Sabbath is well observed. Our community is re-

markably exempt from intemperance & sinful amusements. We have no special services in behalf

of the colored people. The deacons were instructed to employ some one to do the duties of a sex-

ton at a salary of $5.00 per annum.”

The remarks about “unbecoming zeal” may reflect a debate then under way in the Presbyterian

Church over the propriety of pursuing Sunday school and other church work outside the control

of the session. It had been decided by vote of the General Assembly in 1879 that all church

activities must be subject to the review and control of the elders, and that the session had the right

of appointment of all superintendents and teachers in a congregation’s Sabbath school work. Ac-

cordingly, on August 28, 1887, the elders recorded that, “Our Sabbath school is small, but regu-

larly attended. It is under the supervision of the session and three of our elders are constant at-

tendants.” The following spring H. H. Kimmons was elected superintendent of the Sunday school.

Report of Deacons of Hopewell Church for 1888 Monies Received

Sustentation $16.50

Evangelistic 9.25

Invalid Fund 6.80

Foreign Missions—regular collection 26.70—free will 14.00 40.70

Education 2.65

Colored Evangelistic 12.25

Presbyterial 9.00

Pastor’s Salary 385.00

Congregational 14.00

Respectfully submitted,

J. E. McCorkle and J. S. Furr, Deacons

A son of the church was engaged as Hopewell’s pastor in the spring of 1888, as noted in the fol-

lowing call:

“At a congregational meeting held on the above day a unanimous call was made for the pastoral

services of Rev. J. M. Kimmons.

Call

“We the Church of Hopewell being well satisfied of the ministerial qualifications of you Mr. J. M.

Kimmons and having good hopes from our past knowledge of your labors, that your ministrations

in the Gospel will be profitable to our spiritual interest, do earnestly call you to undertake the past-

15

oral office in our congregation, promising you in the discharge of your duty, all proper support,

encouragement and obedience in the Lord. And that you may be free from worldly cares and avo-

cations, we hereby promise and oblige ourselves to pay you the sum of three hundred dollars

annually during the time of your being and continuing the regular pastor of this church.

H. H. Kimmons and N. L. Lowrance, Elders

“This 8th day of April 1888.

“Attested by J. A. Bigger, Moderator of Meeting.

“I do hereby certify that I presided at the above congregational meeting at which a unanimous call

was made for the pastoral services of Mr. J. M. Kimmons and that the persons signing said call

appointed for that purpose by a public vote of the church and that the call has been prepared as

directed by our form of government.”

The Rev. James M. Kimmons

James McEwen Kimmons was one of the three Kimmons men who entered the ministry from

Hopewell Church. He was born at Rocky River Church, near Concord, in Cabarrus County, N.C.,

April 27, 1828, the son of John and Margaret Morrison Kimmons, who were pioneer founders of

Hopewell Church. John Kimmons served in as an elder in the congregation for many years. The

family moved to Yalobusha County, Miss., in 1837, coming the next year to Lafayette County.

James was graduated from Hanover College, Indiana in 1851, and returned to his home where he

combined teaching with farming for many years. In 1854 he married Miss Martha Falls McCor-

kle. He was in the Confederate army. After the war, he was elected a deacon in Hopewell Church,

which office he filled faithfully, also taking an active part in the Sunday school as teacher and

superintendent. He was then elected an elder, and after a time, sensed a call to the ministry. He

16

was licensed to preach, December 15, 1887, and ordained to the full work of the gospel, April 21,

1888, by Chickasaw Presbytery, subsequent to his call as pastor in Hopewell Church. For the

remainder of his life he served Hopewell and, in addition, at various times he supplied Spring

Creek, Lebanon, and Tallahatchie Churches. He was called “Jimmy,” and his wife “Bright.” They

had four sons, one of whom, Willie Walt Kimmons, was an elder in Hopewell Church. James M.

Kimmons died March 9, 1905.46

photo from The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi

Martha Falls McCorkle Kimmons

By 1890, as the country entered a serious financial panic, the elders noted a serious decline in the

church’s membership and activity. The elders noted:

“Congregations smaller than ever before. 4 additions by certificate. 3 dismissed and 5 or 6 moved

far beyond our bounds without letters. Gradual growth in grace without any marked zeal. We have

8 [colored] members but they scarcely ever attend Church.”

A trend was beginning, whereby church families moved to larger towns nearby in search of em-

ployment and better schools for their children. In the year following, fourteen members were

dismissed to other churches, including the entire family of W. B. Newell. Not one united with the

church during this time. Such was the case in rural congregations all through the region. The

country church’s survival was a point of great concern.

For its part, the remaining Hopewell members were faithful in the best ways they knew. Even

though most churches in towns and cities had begun to celebrate the communion at least quar-

terly, the members of Hopewell continued their old sacramental seasons, usually held in the warm-

est months of the summer. In time, the occasions became less an opportunity for evangelism as

for the reunion of old friends and the reception of the church’s own young people into the full

privileges of communicant membership.

17

The church retained and strenthened a strong concern for interests beyond its bounds. As the el-

ders noted on March 24, 1889, “We think the congregation liberal in their contributions to the be-

nevolent schemes of the church, an opportunity being afforded every day of preaching.” Among

these “benevolent schemes” were sustentation, education (church colleges as well as candidates

for the ministry), evangelistic work in the presbytery, foreign missions, publication, the General

Assembly’s invalid fund (for disabled ministers and their widows and orphaned children), and the

Tuscaloosa Institute (now Stillman College), for the education of black ministers. In 1889, the

congregation contributed $122.35 to causes in the wider church in comparison to $342.85 for the

support of its pastor and other local expenses.

The congregation took special pride in the fact that Dr. J. N. Waddel, former pastor at Oxford and

chancellor of the University of Mississippi, and lately chancellor of Southwestern Presbyterian

University in Clarksville, Tenn., who had come to Hopewell’s aid on many occasions, was mak-

ing a return visit to the area. On June 9, 1889, the session minutes report that, “It was moved and

carried unanimously that we have no preaching on the 4th Sabbath of June that Pastor and congre-

gation may go in to hear Dr. Waddel preach the commencement sermon at Oxford.”

It may be assumed that these Presbyterians sang, but accounts of their worship are scanty. As

with most country churches, the hymns were probably raised a capella, as theological opposition

to instrumental accompaniment remained strong well into the 1890s. But on May 7, 1892, the

session “ordered a congregational meeting immediately after service for the purpose of electing a

leader of the ch. music,” and Mrs. W. B. McFarland was chosen.

The congregation’s one admission of neglect was in its responsibility to its black and neighbors.

The presbytery made a yearly inquiry of all its churches as to what each was doing “on behalf of

the colored people,” and yearly Hopewell’s elders replied as they did in 1895, that: “There are yet

a few colored people that are members of our church and attend the preaching service, yet the

most of them seem to prefer their own churches of their own color.”47 Moreover, they went on to

say: “We do not feel that there are any spiritually destitute in our vicinity, all are in reach of some

church and generally attend.” It was an era of seeming religious conformity enviable in a later

age. Hopewell Church reported forty-nine communicants that year.

Some clues about church life are gained from the 1900 church narrative. “Our members that live

convenient to the church attend well.” A few non-members from outside the bounds of the church

family also attended. Family worship, much-stressed in the injunctions of the church’s higher

governing bodies, was observed “by probably a majority of our members or households.” The

Sabbath school program stressed memorization. “Scriptures are repeated at roll call and the cate-

chism taught in our School.” Finally, “The fidelity of God’s people in worshiping the Lord with

their substance and giving to the support and extension of the Gospel is comparatively good.” In

fact, the congregation was remarkable in the level of its financial contributions. This was attrib-

utable to the relative prosperity of the members, but also to the fidelity of the pastors in encour-

aging the grace of giving.

On June 16, 1901, young Howard C. and Fred S. McCorkle, sons of John E. and Willie Kate

Kimmons McCorkle, came before the session to make their confessions of faith. They would play

important roles in Hopewell Church, Howard as one of its respected elders and Fred as a minis-

terial son.

18

photo from The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi

The John E. McCorkle family.

Front row: Fred Stewart, Mrs. John E. McCorkle, John E. McCorkle holding James Bright, Mary

Wirt McCorkle, Howard Crawford McCorkle. Back Row. John E. McCorkle and Samuel McCorkle.

On June 18, 1905, in an endeavor to attract a minister, the congregation voted to build a manse,

which was erected on the north side of the church building, near the spot where the Camp Hope-

well swimming pool now is located. The following September, the Rev. R. L. Nicholson was

called as pastor, also serving the nearby Tallahatchie Church.

The Hopewell manse, c. 1950

Robert Lee Nicholson was born in Newton County, Miss., March 3, 1870, and was educated at

Mississippi A. & M. College and Southwestern Presbyterian University, where he engaged in

theological studies at its divinity school. After evangelistic work in Texas, where he was ordained

to the ministry, he returned to Mississippi, serving at Ackerman and Pontotoc, before assuming

charge of the Hopewell group of churches, of which he was pastor from 1906 to 1909. Later he

served the Black Jack Church near Batesville, before going to fields in Arkansas, Missouri, and

Texas. He retired at DeKalb, Miss., where he died, May 20, 1951.48

19

Hopewell Church had long lain on the boundary between Chickasaw Presbytery to the east and

North Mississippi Presbytery to the west. In particular, the church had been separated by the

judicatory line from its closest neighbors, the First Church of Oxford and College Hill Presbyter-

ian Church. A proposal came before the Synod of Mississippi in November, 1907, to transfer the

congregation from Chickasaw to North Mississippi Presbytery, which was done, April 14, 1908,

opening the way to more fruitful groupings for future pastoral service.

Through the years, most who joined Hopewell from other churches were Presbyterian, with the

odd member from the Methodist (then known as the Methodist Episcopal) Church. The Methodists

and other mainstream churches recognized each other’s ministries and granted letters of transfer

as, of course, Presbyterians always do. However, on March 28, 1909, a report came before the

elders that a member and his daughter had joined church whose practice it was not to recognize

other communions, and hence no letter of transfer from the Hopewell session had been requested.

When it became known, that Mr. P ___ , and his daughter, “having on their own accord without

letter or advice from Session united with the Primitive Baptist Church,” the clerk reported that

“their names are hereby erased from our ch. roll.”

Hopewell did its part to help with the organization of a new congregation on the outskirts of

Oxford, called Central Church, which was enrolled in Presbytery April 14, 1909. Mr. Nicholson

was pastor of this congregation as well as Hopewell. The little church, which began with twenty-

five members, two elders and a deacon, faltered during the Great Depression, and on April 18,

1939, it was dissolved and its members transferred to the Oxford Church.49

Meanwhile, Hopewell’s life continued apace. On March 13, 1910, Howard McCorkle, who

farmed the land next to the church was appointed Superintendent of the Sunday school, with J. M.

Saunders as assistant. Miss M. M. McFarland was appointed teacher of Ladies Bible Class, with

Mrs Willie McCorkle as assistant. J. M. Saunders was appointed Clerk of Session. Two years

later, June 16, 1912:

“at a Congregational Meeting at the call of the Session, Elder W. H. Wiley was elected chairman

& J. M. Saunders, sec. Mr W. W. Kimmons & H. C. McCorkle were duly elected elders of Hope-

well Church. D. B. Cromwell was duly elected Deacon of Hopewell Church.”

photo from The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi

The J. M. Saunders family. (from lest) Roy Saunders, James M. Saunders, Helen Saunders,

Corinne Baird, Paris, Tex. (niece of J. M. Saunders), and Mary Saunders.

20

1 See Maud Morrow Brown, History of the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford, Mississippi, July 15, 1837-March 31,

1950 (Oxford: First Presbyterian Church, 1952): 8. Cf. C. W. Grafton, “A History of Presbyterianism in Missis-

sippi,” unpublished manuscript, commissioned by the Synod of Mississippi, 1927. 2 According to the records of Presbytery (March 23, 1842), “A Presbyterian Church organized by Bishop Weatherby in

the S.E. part of Lafayette Cy. called Lebanon was on application taken under the care of Presbytery.” The church

was moved some distance from the original site on property owned by Tobias and Allison Furr, who moved to

Toccopola, a Chickasaw Indian settlement built on land owned by Betty Love Allen, a Chickasaw woman who had

married John L. Allen. Soon after the Furrs arrived, a number of Scots-Irish families arrived from Cabarrus County,

N. C. and settled south of Yocona Creek. Their first consideration was a church and school, and soon they built a log

church and a less pretentious schoolhouse nearby. The congregation was formally organized and received under care

of Presbytery in 1841. In 1850 ten acres of land was deeded to the church, part of which is still rented and cultivated,

bringing a small income to the church to the present day. About 1882, the church was moved to its current location

in the village of Toccopola. 3 Presbyterians in this era used the term “bishop” as a sign of their rejection of the Episcopal and Roman Catholic dis-

tinction between presbyters and bishops, and to insist that their ministers, also being bishops, were properly equipped

to receive members into the church, even though the parish clergy of the Episcopal and Roman Churches were not so

authorized. It was the refusal of some Episcopalians in the era previous to recognize the validity of Presbyterian or-

ders that occasioned this defensive behavior. After 1846 the Form of Government deleted the term, and the General

Assembly recommended that Presbyterian clergy be referred to as “ministers” not bishops. See Minutes of Chicka-

saw Presbytery (October 2, 1846). 4 Ibid. (March 24, 1842). 5 Margaret G. Jones, “McFarland Family,” The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi (Oxford: Skipwith Historical

and Genealogical Society, 1986): 450. 6 Ministerial Directory of the Presbyterian Church, U. S., 1861-1941, compiled by the Rev. E. C. Scott, D.D., Stated

Clerk of the General Assembly, Published by Order of the General Assembly (Austin, Tex.: Von Boeckmann-Jones,

1942): 446; Robert Milton Winter, Shadow of a Mighty Rock: A Social and Cultural History of Presbyterianism in

Marshall County, Mississippi (Franklin, Tenn.: Providence House, 1997): 128-29 7 Southwestern Presbyterian (July 23, 1891); Biographical Catalogue of Princeton Theological Seminary (1909);

Alumni Records of Princeton Theological Seminary; “Presbyterians Build Early Churches,” Oxford Eagle, 90th Anni-

versary Edition (August 22, 1957): 5; History of the First Presbyterian Church of Oxford, Mississippi, 48; Shadow of

a Mighty Rock, 52. 8 The presbytery was not reticent to assert is prerogative to see that the churches conformed to basic standards for

recordkeeping. Several years later the book belonging to the Ebenezer Church session was rejected on the ground

that it was “defective.” 9 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (April 3, 1847). 10 Young’s first assignment was at Philadelphia Church in Marshall County, after which he was pastor at Chulahoma

(1846-1848) and Edmiston (1849-1852), after which he was Stated Supply at Ebenezer in DeSoto County (1854-

1856), and Panola, now Batesville (1857-1859). He then was a teacher in Memphis (also serving the church at

Raleigh, Tenn. during the Civil War years). He served other churches in the Memphis Presbytery, and died in Mem-

phis in 1878 or 1879. Ministerial Directory (1941): 802-03. 11 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (April 14, 1848). 12 Ibid. (October 3, 1845). 13 Before the emergence of standard colleges with an accredited curriculum, presbyteries had to satisfy themselves as to

the scholarly qualifications and attainments of their probationers for the ministry. As typically the most learned

member of a rural community in the pioneer era, a Presbyterian minister was expected to be a scholarly person, and

so knowledge of English literature, mathematics and philosophy, as well as the natural sciences, was considered a

foundational prerequisite for entry into the specialized studies of scriptural exegesis and theology. Knowledge of the

arts and sciences was also essential in the pioneer setting that nineteenth century Mississippi was, because in addition

to their preaching duties, Presbyterian ministers of that era often kept a school—hence, the examinations in algebra

and astronomy before Presbytery detailed frequently in presbytery minutes of this period. Knowledge of the Bible’s

content in English translation was assumed, and courses on the actual content of the Bible were not added in either

collegiate or seminary curricula until the late nineteenth century. 14 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (October 2-3, 1846). 15 Ibid. (October 29, 1846). 16 During this period, except in extraordinary situations, ministers were required to have a theological education,

although they did not have to attend a seminary to obtain it. Ministerial directories of the era often note that certain

persons had “studied theology privately”—that is under the tutelage of a learned person and at the direction of Pres-

bytery. Most candidates did pursue at least a year’s course in a standard theological seminary of the Church. See

21

Elwyn A. Smith, The Presbyterian Ministry in American Culture: A Study in Changing Concepts, 1700-1900 (Phila-

delphia: Westminster, 1962). 17 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (April 2-3, 1847). 18 Ibid. (April 14-15, 1848). 19 Ibid. (August 31, 1849). 20 Typically, to emphasize that ordination was an act of Presbytery, the ceremony of the laying-on-of-hands was per-

formed in sessions of Presbytery. Installations of pastors could, however, be carried out by an administrative com-

mittee. 21 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (October 17-18, 1849). 22 Ministerial Directory (1941): 560. 23 These are the oldest sessional records of Hopewell Church known to the present writer. 24 Sessional Records of Hopewell Presbyterian Church (September 1, 1860). 25 The use of a courtesy title assures the reader that the person in question was white. Mississippi’s Blacks were denied

such respect, and by the same token, white persons, even if held in low regard by the community, were accorded

such courtesies in the written records of white-controlled churches of this era. 26 Ibid. (April 23, 1868); (May 15, 1868). While modern readers are often startled to read that Presbyterians once pro-

nounced sentences of excommunication upon their members, it should be remembered that the Church, after due

process, had (and has) this power. Unlike medieval practice, the use of excommunication in Reformed Churches in-

volved only the suspension of participation in the Lord’s Supper and other like privileges, and did not presume to

judge whether the person being punished would be barred from blessing in eternity. Indeed, since the sentence was

executed to prompt repentance, it may be assumed that such judgments were not implied. 27 Sessional Records of Hopewell Presbyterian Church (July 23, 1880). 28 Ibid. (January 22, 1870). 29 For example, in the minutes of the Hopewell session (October 13, 1872), “The charges of drunkenness and profanity

having been presented against him and the fact of his guilt being fully and legally established, it was, on motion,

resolved that K ____ C ____ be and he is hereby excommunicated from the Church, and that the sentence and action

of the Church Session in the case be this day made known to the members of the Church in public by the Moderator

in accord with the directions laid down in the Directory of Worship, Chapter X. Italics added for emphasis. 30 This minute, dealing as it does with political matters, is rare in the ecclesiastical records of Mississippi Presbyterian-

ism. Except for early records dealing with the Indians, one seldom saw references to the government for matters

other than, say, resolutions calling for legislation forbidding the operation of railroad trains or the delivery of mail on

the Sabbath. Thus, the uniqueness of the proceedings dealt with at the October 1861 meeting of Presbytery cannot be

overemphasized. By the time the Old School Assembly had convened, May 16, 1861, nine states had withdrawn

from the Union and war had been under way for a month. Thirty-three of the sixty-four presbyteries in the South and

border states were unrepresented in the Assembly. Not a single commissioner came from the Carolinas, Georgia,

Alabama, or Arkansas; though sixteen attended from the deep South. Some commissioners cited the war as a reason

not to travel, others had already subscribed to the idea of a separate southern church. Thomas C. Stuart, of Monroe,

however, represented Chickasaw Presbytery at this Assembly. In earlier years he had been a commissioner at meet-

ings of the Assembly, but surely this was the most memorable. When the Assembly began its deliberations, there

was effort to defer discussion of slavery and sectional issues, for most Old School Presbyterians took pride that theirs

was the last great American institution to remain united at this critical moment. The Rev’d John N. Waddel, who had

recently left Oxford to teach in the Presbyterian Synodical College in LaGrange, Tenn., addressed an open letter to

the Rev’d Gardiner A. Spring, D.D., pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in City of New York, who sponsored

resolutions calling on all church members to support the Federal government, “deploring the introduction of “a set of

resolutions of the most incendiary nature” in an hour which demanded forbearance. At the Assembly the venerable

and highly influential Dr. Charles Hodge, of Princeton, with fifty-seven others, protested the Spring Resolutions. But

the Spring Resolutions were passed by a seventy per cent majority, and this settled the issue for many. The resolu-

tions urged by the elders of Hopewell indicate that this was also the case for them. 31 Maud Morrow Brown, “Lafayette County, 1860-1865: A Narrative” (unpublished typescript), John D. Williams Lib-

rary, University of Mississippi, Special Collections, 35. 32 The diary is preserved in the John D. Williams Library, University of Mississippi. 33 No reference to the burning or replacement of Hopewell Church appears in its sessional records. 34 See R. Milton Winter, Thy Dwellings Fair: Churches of St. Andrew Presbytery (Lafayette, Calif.: Thomas-Berryhill

Press, 2000): 10, 39. 35 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (April 18, 1868). 36 Sessional Records of Hopewell Presbyterian Church (October 24, 1868). 37 Ibid. (November 26, 1870). 38 Ibid. (August 15 and August 24, 1872). 39 Margaret G. Jones, “McFarland Family,” The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi, 450. 40 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (September 4-5, 1873 and September 26-27, 1873). 41 Ministerial Directory (1941): 340.

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42 Ibid., 621. 43 Minutes of Chickasaw Presbytery (January 28, 1884). 44 Ministerial Directory (1941): 654. 45 Sessional Records of Hopewell Presbyterian Church (April 11, 1886). 46 Margaret G. Jones, “Kimmons Family,” The Heritage of Lafayette County, Mississippi, 402. 47 As late as 1901 the congregation reported four black members. The congregation’s last black member, Welley Clark,

was granted a letter of dismission in 1910. He was dismissed to Central Church… 48 Ibid. (1941): 538; (1967): 416. 49 Fred R. Graves, North Mississippi Presbytery: A History (Sardis: Southern Reporter, 1941): 18.