Union Church Presbyterian Church

Founded on the shared faith and resilience of early Scottish settlers in the Mississippi frontier, Union Church Presbyterian Church stands as one of the oldest and most enduring congregations in the state. From its beginnings in 1805, through war, social upheaval, and denominational change, the small country church has remained a lasting symbol of community, worship, and perseverance in rural Mississippi.

In 1805, on land originally inhabited by the Natchez and Choctaw tribes, Laughlin Currie, Robert Willis, George Torrey, and his son Donald Torrey stumbled upon the most fertile farmland the pioneers had ever seen. Deciding to settle there, these four families were soon followed by fellow Scots, whom they had left in Robeson County, North Carolina.

Those who followed not only brought with them their deep Scottish Presbyterian roots but also their Gaelic language. By 1806, Rev. Jacob Rickhow had organized the first church, and this Scottish settlement developed into a thriving town. Being the first establishment of the town, this Presbyterian church set the tone for the years to follow. A handful of the Scots who came to the settlement claimed the Methodist faith rather than the Presbyterian, but due to a lack of resources and finances, these families had no building in which to worship, and in turn they were invited by their Presbyterian brethren to join in worship. This pivotal moment served to not only name the church but also the town Union Church.

Union Church Presbyterian Church was formally organized under the presbytery of Mississippi in March 1817, months before Mississippi’s statehood. Rev. Joseph Bullen was recognized as the first formal pastor of Union Church, guiding the congregation through its formative years. Later, under the leadership of Rev. William Montgomery (1820–1848), the church flourished even more. As the congregation expanded and its influence deepened within the community, the church’s physical and social footprint grew alongside it. For example, due to the financial status of a handful of Scottish families, many had servants who would attend church in the evenings with the elders to receive professions and baptisms, and by 1852 the congregation had outgrown two buildings. In desperate need of a solution, the building standing today was erected.

Union Church Presbyterian Church, a five-by-three-bay, one-story, clapboard-style building, was built on land deeded to the church. Over one hundred acres were deeded by an Irish congregant who saw the church’s need for more space. The church is located off of Highway 28, more than twenty miles from any surrounding town. Directly across from the church is a twelve-acre cemetery where many of the church members now rest. From the time of the Civil War through to the present, the names of congregants have been included on the church rolls.

The Civil War profoundly impacted the Union Church congregation, as many of its members answered the call to military service and witnessed the hardships of war firsthand. When the war broke out, the first company from Jefferson County was made up of 105 Union Church men. Named the “Charley Clark Rifles,” these men gathered at the church to be seen off as they carried a silken flag of the Confederacy. Later in the war, Union Church marked a checkpoint where Colonel Benjamin Grierson’s 1861 cavalry raid was temporarily halted by Confederate resistance. Miraculously, the church itself survived the war with little to no damage, but only twelve of the men who were sent off returned.

In the church’s existence, many pastors have come and gone, helping its congregation survive turbulent times, but one man impacted the church more than others. Serving for sixty-one years, Reverend Dr. Cornelius W. Grafton saw the church through some of its darkest times. In 1905, during a rise of Black resistance, Grafton spoke out against the inequality faced by his African American brothers in Christ, further strengthening the resilience of this small country town.

In the century following the Civil War, the town of Union Church lost up to seventy families to surrounding towns, a loss from which it has never fully recovered. Furthermore, the Presbyterian church, like many others in the nation, experienced detrimental loss in the wake of the PCA and PCUSA split. Union Church Presbyterian Church is now under the leadership of the Grace Presbytery of Mississippi (PCA).

Today, the congregation of Union Church Presbyterian Church still meets every Sunday. Its congregation is only six to ten people, with no permanent pastor. Each week, through the supply of the presbytery, the gospel is shared once more in that small church, surrounded by “venerable oak trees and crowned with blessed memories” holding closely the lives of all who came before.