Pinckney Baptist Church
The Early Years (1838-1862)
By Harold Graham
Pinckney Baptist Church was organized on September 25, 1838, with Rev. Goss as pastor, according to records of the Mt. Pisgah Baptist Association. No church minutes exist for the first nine years of its existence; therefore little is known about individual membership. According to associational records, in 1840 the church had 19 members. In 1843 the church had grown to 50 members with Rev. A. Goss as pastor. S. Wall and J. McCullough were sent as messengers to the annual meeting of the Mt. Pisgah Baptist Association. Pinckney sent no messengers for the year 1846 and it appears that the church may have been discontinued.
Pinckney Baptist Church was reconstituted in 1847 with the Rev. Nathaniel L. Clarke presiding over the church until a permanent pastor could be found. Other pastors who served prior to 1862 were Reverends Lee P. Murrell, Morehead, Moses Thomas, David Killen, and Henry Gill. Bro. Jenkins was appointed as Church Treasurer in 1847. David Gill and Benjamin B. Martin were selected as Deacons in 1852 and Bro. Patterson in 1855. Serving in the position of Church Clerk were H. I. Hill (1847-1848), Benjamin B. Martin (1849-1855) O. F. Breland (1856-1857), John M. Gates (1858-1859), and Benjamin B. Martin (1860-1862).
According to the late Odell Loper, church clerk, the church met initially in the private home of a member near the present location of Stratton. Church members made so much noise in their meetings that a private homeowner objected and the church was moved to a public building in the town of Pinckney and near the present location of Stamper's Mill Pond. Apparently the following minutes are in reference to this incident:
December 4, 1847Appointed Brothers Lewis Jenkins, Gill & Odom to ascertain whether the church could occupy the present house any longer.
January 7, 1848Committee to wait on Mr. Raibon with regard to the future occupancy of the present place of worship reported it could not be used any longer by the church. On motion, agreed for the future to meet in one of the houses of East Pinckney.
The first burying ground was located near their second place of worship. Apparently no permanent grave markers were ever set and the location has been long abandoned.
Somewhat later, the original protester again objected to the location of the church and the church was moved to its present location, approximately one mile northwest of the early town of Pinckney and adjacent to Highway 489. This town, which flourished briefly before the Civil War, later came to be known as Stamper. A post office once existed at Stamper, but today the lone remnant of the town is the millpond.
The original Pinckney Church Minutes for Book A cover the period from 1847--ca 1871, with approximately 110 pages and with many pages missing or out of order. From the minutes, we present membership lists for the certain years along with other notes of interest. Spellings are used as in the original.
It is apparent from these early membership rolls that the church population included members not only from the immediate vicinity of Pinckney, but from southern Neshoba County as well.
Membership List for the Year 1847 (Total of 34):
Male
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Lewis Jenkins
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James Nickols
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Jacob Rowel
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John Cooksey
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John Cooksey
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H. I. Hill
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Owen Pinson
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Francis Austin
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H. Lasley
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Thomas Sessums
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Henry Walton
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Amariah Land
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Shadrack Odom
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Henry H. Johnson
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William C. Sessums
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Harrison Johnson
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Female
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Sarah Jenkins
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Sidney Nickols
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Fany Rowel
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Jemima Johnson
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Alice Speer
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Martha Hill
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Elizabeth Johnson
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Elizabeth Spear
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Margaret Smith
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Caroline Smith
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Rachel Coran
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Martha Ann Smith
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Mary Walton
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Mary Martin
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Lucinda Pinson
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Lavina Land
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Susan Lashley
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Elizabeth Odom
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Membership List for the Year 1848 (Total of 44):
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Lewis Jenkins
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Sarh Jenkins
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Jacob Rowell
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Martha Miller
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John Cooksey
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Elizabeth Johnson
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Henry Gill
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Margaret Smith
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H. I. Hill
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Caroline Smith
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Owen Pinson
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Rachel Coran
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Thomas Sessums
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Martha Ann Smith
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Henry Walton
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Mary Walton
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Harison Johnson
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Mary Martin
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Amariah Land
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Lucinda Pinson
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Shadrack Odom
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Henry J. Johnson
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Lavina Johnson
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Zilpha Cooksey
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Jesse Miller
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Zilpha Sessums
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Rheuben Price
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Rosannah Hutto
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Benjamin Martin
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Mary Martin
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Isaac Gorhan
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Clark
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David Gill
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Catherine Gill
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Lewis M. Patterson
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Elisabeth Gorhan*
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Elen Price
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Delaney Barfoot
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Leah Martin
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Elizabeth Martin
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Sarah Miller
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Fanny Gill
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Elizabeth Odom
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Fanny Rowell
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*Eliserbeth Price crossed out and Elisabeth Gorham substituted.
Membership List for the Year 1850(Total of 59):
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Lewis Jenkins
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Sarah Jenkins
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John Cooksey
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Mary Martin
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Shadrach Odom
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Mary Jane Martin
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Henry Gill
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Mary Walton
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Thomas Cessoms
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Zilpha Cooksey
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Henry Johnson
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Elizabeth Odom
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William C. Cessoms
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Catherin Gill
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Jacob Rowell
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Zilpha Cessoms
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Lettice Rabun
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Mary Ann Jackson
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Lewis M. Paterson
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Eveline Cooksey
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Harrison Johnson
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Henry Walton
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Elizabeth Parks
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James B. Bedgood
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David Gill
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Leah Graham
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John Ishee
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Lucinda Pinson
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James J. Jones
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Ann Johnson
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William Kenedy
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Margaret Davis
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Phanuel Gill, dead
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Caroline Smith
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Owin Pinson
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Malinda Ishee
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James Miller
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Elizabeth smith
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Jesse Miller
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Nancy Davis
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Tamsy Clark
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Hannah Price
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Isaac Cohran
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Lavina Johnson
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Delaney Gill
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Elin Price
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Hugh Smith
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Sarah Ann Kenedy
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Sarah Miller
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Matilda Bedgood
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Elizabeth Jackson
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Luiza Smith
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B.B.Martin
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Caroline Miller
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Martha Ann Smith
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Fanny Rowell
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Emaline Germany
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S____y Cohran
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Elizabeth Cohran
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The Civil War brought many difficult times to the church. Most of the young men were sent to the war, leaving the church stripped of much of its leadership and vitality. Many of these young men did not survive the war. Church clerk B. B. Martin addressed some of these issues in the minutes, as follows:
"Remarks of the Clerk on the Annual Meeting
"1862--This year the brethren and sisters met, and with the Apostle each one might have said, 'I have great heaviness, and emotional sickness in my heart'. Many had either lost near relatives upon the field of battle or by disease in the camps, and moreover nearly all the brethren was absent in the Confederate Army. On Sunday, Lord's Day, Bro. William Butler preached the funeral sermon of our beloved pastor, Bro. Henry Gill. His discourse was founded on Romans 13 & 13. 'And Now Abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, these Three, but the Greatest of These is Charity'. The church was filled with ladies, so that not even the few gentlemen present could all obtain seats.
In addition to Henry Gill, the church also lost, either to battle or illness, members Hiram Parks, G. W. Smith, and George T. Stamper. Thomas Parks died in 1866, apparently never fully recovering from illnesses incurred during the war.
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