Hickory Grove Church (14)
Hickory Grove Church (14)
Dr. Joe Sutton
BAPTIST INTERLUDE (Cont.)
Hickory Grove's Baptist years were well documented by journalist Samuel Ivey (S. I.) Sutton (1834-1904), a Bucklesberry resident and charter member of the Church. His local news column often reported Church happenings that were picked up and carried by other newspaper outlets. The Church was routinely named in conjunction with Rev. Bushrod Washington (B. W.) Nash, agent of the Union Baptist Association (U.B.A.), who served as pastor for a short period. News items published from 1881 through 1883 provide indisputable evidence that Hickory Grove was a solidly Baptist work at one time:
1881, August 25: "Elder [Rev. William] Byrd has just concluded an extensive visitation among the churches of the Mount Zion Association [affiliated with the U.B.A.], holding protracted meetings....At Hickory Grove there were twenty-five accessions to the Church." (Goldsboro Messenger)
1882, January 26: "Rev. B. W. Nash, editor of the Baptist Review, was in town Saturday. He preached at Hickory Grove on Saturday and Sunday." (Kinston Journal)
1882, June 28: "Rev. B. W. Nash, editor of the Baptist Review, was in town Saturday on his way to Hickory Grove, where he preached Sunday..." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
1882, July 27: "Rev. B. W. Nash, held the quarterly Association of Baptist [i.e., U.B.A.] at Hickory Grove last Saturday and Sunday. His services as pastor [are] appreciated by a large number of the congregation at that place..." (New Berne Weekly Journal)
1883, January 30: "Rev. B. W. Nash passed through town [La Grange] on his way to Hickory Grove on Saturday. He filled the monthly appointment at that place on Saturday and Sunday." (New Berne Weekly Journal)
1883, March 19: "Rev. B. W. Nash, editor of the Baptist Review of Goldsboro, was in town Sunday. He served the congregation at Hickory Grove Church on that day." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
1883, April 24: "Rev. B. W. Nash passed through the village Friday evening en route to his appointment at Hickory Grove on Saturday and Sunday." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
1883, May 30: "Rev. B. W. Nash passed through here Saturday, on his way to fill an appointment at Hickory Grove." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
1883, July 25: "Rev. B. W. Nash preached at Hickory Grove in Bucklesberry last Saturday and Sunday." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
1883, August 29: "Rev. B. W. Nash filled his regular appointment at Hickory Grove last Sunday." (New Berne Weekly Journal)
1883, October 10: "Large crowd in attendance at the 'Union [Baptist] Association' at Hickory Grove on Sunday." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
Next month's article will share more about Hickory Grove's Baptist years. Interested readers may enjoy a previously published Bucklesberry article titled, "Accidents Happen," available at https://bit.ly/4tWDadJ.
