Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Mount Zion Presbyterian Church (Choctaw County) History (Z/2411).
Creator/Collector: Mount Zion Presbyterian Church.
Date(s): 1873-1966.
Size: 0.33 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, 1988; Reprocessed by William Smith, 2024.
Provenance: Gift of Mildred Dempsey Grissom of Germantown, TN, on March 29, 1988; Z/U/1999.035.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Mount Zion Presbyterian Church (Choctaw County) History (Z/2411), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

Mount Zion Presbyterian Church

Bethsalem Presbyterian Church, which organized in 1839 by Reverend James Martin near Tollison of Choctaw County, may have been the “mother church” of Mount Zion Presbyterian Church. The history for Bethsalem states that twenty-five members were dismissed in 1873 to help organize Mount Zion in the southern part of Choctaw County, near the town of McCool. Session minutes from 1874 through 1885 recorded the first pastor and moderator of Mount Zion as Reverend M.J. McLean, and the elders were listed as William Stevenson and Andrew Caldwell. Reverend McLean arrived over a year after the construction of the church. Some of the earliest families included Caldwell, Stevenson, Gordon, Smylie, Ford, Kennedy, and Romedy. There may have been twenty-two charter members. Sunday School was formed in 1885 with twenty-three children being taught the Catechism for Young Children: Being an Introduction to the Shorter Catechism.

In June 1965, a vote was taken on whether to repair the old church or build a new one. By August, plans for a new church building were approved and shortly afterwards construction began. The Mount Zion Presbyterian Church Cemetery is located beside the church. It is noted in the Choctaw County Cemeteries book that several founding members of Mount Zion are buried in the Bethsalem Presbyterian Church Cemetery, which further supports that founding members of Mount Zion originated from the Bethsalem Church congregation.

In later years the church defied the fate of many other small country churches in that it has withstood closure and while it does not seem to grow as it had been, it has been able to keep itself stable. It has continued to be a pillar of the surrounding communities and a proud member of the Presbyterian Church Association.

List of Pastors
Reverend M.J. McLean (1874-1885)
Reverend A.H. Mecklin (1886-1890)
Reverend J.H. Hammett (1891-1892)
Reverend J.H. Alexander (1892-1896)
Reverend F.L. Banks (1897-1901)
Reverend R.L. Nicholson (1902-1903)
Reverend W.F. Tims (1904-1909)
Reverend D.M. Hawthorn (1911-1923)
Reverend Ludwig Armstrong Beckman (1924-1928)
Reverend W.E. Morreau (1929-1931)
Dr. O.G. Jones (1932-1936)
Reverend C.C. West (1937-1941)
Reverend Louis R. King (1942-1944)
Reverend J.V. Cobb (1945-1946)
Reverend J.M. Looney (1947)
Reverend B.H. Wiggins (1947-1953)
Reverend John Russ (1954-1957)

 

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains a copy of journal pages of the Mount Zion Presbyterian Church of Choctaw County, Mississippi. The volume contains 114 pages, beginning with a note from the donor explaining how it had been found before donation. It is followed by a history of the church listing the founding members of the church and naming all the pastors as well as detailing some of their accomplishments during their time serving the church. It is followed by a list of the officers of the church and another list containing all the infant baptisms overseen by the church. Other lists include Communicants on Roll, the women of the church, the work of the young people, and pages dedicated to the goings on and operations of the Sunday school. The final pages are a handwritten history of the church much like the first folder.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: History of Mount Zion Church, 1873-1949.
One volume speaking about where the entirety of what will be archived was found and who they had belonged to previously. Another volume recording the monthly meetings of the church along with budgets and other small records about the on goings of the church. It consists of 29 pages in total.

 

Series 2: History of Mount Zion Presbyterian Church, 1949-1956.
One volume continuing the history of the church by continuing the monthly meetings and what went on in them. 11 pages.

 

Series 3: Officers of Church, 1874-1957.
Consists of a list of church officers, including years active. 7 pages.

 

Series 4: Infant Baptisms, 1874-1956.
A list of all infant baptisms, the children’s parents or guardians, and the date when the baptism took place in the church. 5 pages.

 

Series 5: Church Roll, 1873-1956.
A Church Roll listing the church membership. List includes the date members joined, how they joined, where they came from, and when deceased. 13 pages.

 

Series 6: Communicants on Roll, 1949-1956.
List of the church membership who took communion when it was given in service. 11 pages.

 

Series 7: Women of the Church, 1930-1956.
List of the church women’s group presidents and monthly meeting minutes. 17 pages.

 

Series 8: Sunday School, 1873-1956.
A list of the Sunday School monthly meetings and meeting minutes. 8 pages.

 

Series 9: Young People’s Work, 1947-1956.
A list of the descriptions of and goings on an unofficial group and the programs the group undertook for the youth of the church. 7 pages.

 

Series 10: Handwritten History, 1957-1966.
A list of handwritten notes that contains the monthly meetings and acts as a continuation to the previous histories earlier in the box. 6 pages.

 

Box List:

Box 1, Folder 1: Introductory Page, “History of Mount Zion Presbyterian Church,” March 29, 1988.
Box 1, Folder 2: History of Mount Zion Church, 1873-1949.
Box 1, Folder 3: History of Mount Zion Presbyterian Church, 1949-1956.
Box 1, Folder 4: Officers of Church, 1874-1957.
Box 1, Folder 5: Infant Baptisms, 1874-1956.
Box 1, Folder 6: Church Roll, 1874-1956.
Box 1, Folder 7: Communicants on Roll, 1949-1956.
Box 1, Folder 8: Women of the Church, 1930-1956.
Box 1, Folder 9: Sunday School, 1873-1956.
Box 1, Folder 10: Young Peoples Work, 1947-1956.
Box 1, Folder 11: Handwritten History, 1957-1966.