Union Church, Mississippi
| Union Church, Mississippi | |
|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Union Church, Mississippi
Union Church, Mississippi
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| Coordinates: 31°40′59″N 90°47′15″W / 31.68306°N 90.78750°WCoordinates: 31°40′59″N 90°47′15″W / 31.68306°N 90.78750°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Jefferson |
| Elevation | 479 ft (146 m) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| Zip code | 39668 |
| Area code(s) | 601 & 769 |
| GNIS feature ID | 695045 |
Union Church is an unincorporated community located in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States.
The community of Union Church was formed primarily by a group of Scotch settlers who left North Carolina around 1805 for the promise of fertile land to be farmed on the eastern banks of the Mississippi River. The town was originally called Scotch Settlement. The founding families were headed by George Torrey, his son Dougald Torrey, Laughlin Currie and Robert Willis.
The heavy Scotch influence is evident in the early member roles of the Presbyterian Church established there: McArn, McArthur, McBride, McCall, McCallum, McCure, McClutchie, McCormick, McCorvey, McDonald, McDougald, McDuffie, McEachern, McFatter, McIntyre, McLaurin, McLean, McMillen, McMurchie, McNair, McPherson, McQueen, Galbreath, and McRae. Many of these names can be found today on headstones in the Union Church Cemetery.
The community's name bears witness to its history as a "union" of two church congregations. While most of the earliest settlers were Presbyterians, there were a few Methodist families, who, lacking resources to start their own church, worshipped in union with the Presbyterians. There are a number of small country churches in and around Union Church proper, but below are a few of the key congregations in the community's history.
The Presbyterian Church, the third oldest Presbyterian church in the state of Mississippi, was formally organized on March 2, 1817 by Reverend Joseph Bullen, although he began preaching to the community around 1810 or 1811. The first church building was a small log house located about 3 miles from the current church building, on the property of the Buie family, who were founding members of both the church and the town. Some years later, an old Irishman, having no descendants, donated 100 acres to his church, on which the second building was erected. When the congregation outgrew this building, the present sanctuary was built and dedicated by Reverend Angus McCallum in 1852, and the Presbyterians worship there to this day.
Hickory Block is the oldest African American church in the community, believed to have been founded shortly after the close of the Civil War. Prior to that time, many of its members were baptized into the faith to become members in full communion with the Presbyterian Church. There were two services held at the Presbyterian Church on Sundays; a morning service for the white members, and an afternoon service for the servants. Presbyterian Church membership records list by name a number of the "servants" of white church members, baptized into membership between the years 1827 and 1864. Many of the names recorded in those rolls can be found on headstones in the Hickory Block cemetery today. Hickory Block still has an actively worshiping congregation today. It is likely that after receiving emancipation, the black members chose to form their own congregation at Hickory Block.
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