Several townships in Cole County have a deep and abiding connection to houses of worship.
These churches often weathered unique storms and have occasionally outlived the communities in which they were established. Such is the case with the once-thriving settlement in a southwestern section of the county where little remains but a vibrant Baptist congregation.
The story of Hickory Hill Baptist Church began with seven faithful Christians who decided to hold an "unsuspecting meeting," explained a booklet printed for the church's sesquicentennial celebration in 2010.
The booklet said, "William Johnston, William Barr, James M. Ballinger, Elizabeth Johnston, Matilda Ballinger, Sally Bond and Isabella Russell first met in the Sullens schoolroom at Iduma College in Cole County on Saturday, October 27, 1860. The purpose of that meeting was to organize a Baptist church upon the principles of the Concord Association of ... Missouri."
Establishing a church covenant, this visionary group named their new congregation Iduma after the former college where they first gathered. The name later changed to Ebenezer Baptist Church when they erected a church building in a grove of trees in an area now identified as Bethel Cemetery near Hickory Hill.
"Hickory Hill, fourteen miles southwest of Jefferson City, was platted by M.H. Belshe for John Lumpkin in 1867," wrote James E. Ford in "A History of Jefferson City, Missouri's State Capital, and of Cole County."
The church began holding business meetings in 1878 and the following year sent their first delegates to the local Concord Baptist Association. In 1880, the first Sunday school superintendent was elected and a decision soon made about the future location of the church.
As the nearby town of Hickory Hill began to grow, so did the congregation of the church. In the "Illustrated Sketch Book and Directory of Jefferson City and Cole County" printed in 1900, it is noted Hickory Hill boasted a population of 75 in addition to businesses that included merchants, a blacksmith, sawmills, a physician, a livestock breeder, a wagonmaker and a post office.
According to the Miller County Autogram-Sentinel in its October 27, 1960, edition, the church "was later moved to the present site (in Hickory Hill) and (became) known as the Hickory Hill Baptist Church."
Church records indicate after the move the congregation shared a two-story building with Hickory Hill Lodge 211, a Masonic fraternity. The building was situated along a gravel road that became Highway 54. Adjacent to the church building was Hickory Hill Cemetery -- a community cemetery with a burial marker dating to 1870.
"After the present structure was built in 1911 (just east of the old one), the latter was turned over to the Masons, moved to the village of Eugene and is now both the Lodge Hall and the Town Hall," explained a church historical bulletin. "The lot reverted to the ... cemetery for a parking space."
By the fall of 1917, the finances of Hickory Hill Baptist Church had grown to the extent that they could raise the pastor's yearly salary to $250. Several weeks later, the first church budget was approved; prior to this, committees visited members at their homes to request donations for mission work and operating expenses.
Discipline was also an interesting facet of early church history, since members caught engaging in undesired behaviors such as the use of profane language, running a saloon or dancing, risked being excluded from membership in the church.
The stock market crash of 1929, which heralded the beginning of the Great Depression, also signaled a brief period of financial difficulties for the congregation. This resulted in the reduction of the number of worship services held and lowering the pastor's salary.
Highway 54, running in front of the church, was paved in 1932. By 1935, the church appeared to be weathering the Great Depression through increased tithing and offerings.
"There were 24 additions to the church; 9 by letter and 15 by baptism," reported the Word and Way on Nov. 7, 1935, in an article describing a recent "spirit-filled revival." The article continued, "Hickory Hill is fortunate to have a fine board of deacons, real prayer warriors for Christ."
The next several decades were expressed through growth, accompanied by the addition of a basement under the church building, construction of a new auditorium, remodeling of the old auditorium into an educational building and erection of a parsonage. Additional acreage was later purchased for the church and in 2016 a new multi-purpose building was dedicated.
"Hickory Hill had been platted decades ago, and with all of the growth of the church, we had to make sure that we did not cover up any platted roads when we expanded," said Wilburn Hoskins, who has been a member of the congregation since 1951.
"When I was a child, we had a junior choir and sang in front of the church every Sunday," he recalled. "My father was licensed to preach at Hickory Hill in 1955, and he went on to preach at several small churches in the surrounding area while many of my family members were deacons."
The original church site is home to Bethel Cemetery a short distance to the north. Highway 54 passed in front of the church but has since become United Road after construction of the four-lane highway in the early 1970s. Hickory Hill Baptist Church sits off the beaten path, but is a bustling congregation dedicated to outreach and growth.
"The church has been a bigger part of my life and that of my family," Hoskins said. "The multi-purpose building has also been a blessing for our congregation. It brings children and their families together for events, where there are some who do not attend a church. It is here that we are able to share brief devotionals between games and activities."
He concluded, "You never know who is listening when a devotion is shared and that allows us share the church's mission and plant little seeds of faith."
Jeremy P. Ämick writes on behalf of the Silver Star Familes of America.
