Hickory Grove Church (8)
Hickory Grove Church (8)
Dr. Joe Sutton
FREE WILL BAPTIST (Cont.)
The 1841 meeting minutes of the annual Bethel Free Will Baptist (F.W.B) Conference held in Sampson County, NC, included a letter from Hickory Grove Church of Bucklesberry. Considered the earliest known reference to Hickory Grove, this letter not only documented the Church's ministry that year, it provided definitive proof that Hickory Grove was organized as an F.W.B. church by 1841. Conference meeting minutes for 1842 and 1845 also identify Hickory Grove as an F.W.B. church.
Oddly, nowhere in the Hickory Grove Church history book (https://t.ly/Vr2Ho) are the Church's F.W.B. roots acknowledged. Rather, a lifelong Methodist association is indicated. The book states, "This church has had three different names: Hickory Grove Methodist Protestant Church, Hickory Grove Methodist Episcopal Church South, and Hickory Grove United Methodist Church." To infer that the church has always been a Methodist work, however, would be factually inaccurate. The Church's rightful first name is indisputably Hickory Grove Free Will Baptist Church.
Later meeting minutes of the F.W.B. Conference confirm Hickory Grove operated as an F.W.B. work for upwards to twenty years prior to the construction of its building in 1860. For example, the 1857 meeting minutes of the North Carolina Original F.W.B. General Conference named Hickory Grove along with four other Lenoir County F.W.B. churches, including Bethel, Louson Swamp, South West, and Wheat Swamp. Rev. Alfred Moore, a Kinston area F.W.B. preacher associated with the Conference, likely provided pastoral service to Hickory Grove during its F.W.B. years.
Interestingly, the 1857 Conference minutes recorded a Hickory Grove Church membership of 66, with 13 received, 4 baptized, 0 dismissed, 0 excommunicated, 3 died, and a $2.00 donation that year. The membership of 66 closely aligns with a more probable membership of 69 that was presumably recorded incorrectly as "169" years earlier in the 1845 Conference meeting minutes.
The two delegates who represented Hickory Grove at the 1857 Conference were Richard Hill, Jr. (1827-1904) and Samuel Ivey (S. I.) Sutton (1834-1904), both Bucklesberrians. Of significance, Richard's brother, Levi Hill, Sr. (1830-1893), and S. I. were two of the six known charter members of Hickory Grove Church.
S. I. was a man of many talents, indicative of a true nineteenth century Renaissance man. Nothing lends greater support for this claim than the numerous and varied positions he held over his lifetime, all with success. None were more historically important than his work as a freelance journalist with several nearby newspapers. S. I.'s local news columns documented happenings at Hickory Grove Church over many years. Descendants of S. I. Sutton are residents and landowners in Bucklesberry today.
Next month's article will discuss Hickory Grove Church's first Methodist leanings. Interested readers may enjoy reading a previously published Bucklesberry article titled "Basics of Life" available at https://t.ly/vK17S.
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