CHURCH BEGINNINGS

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The two oldest religions in Miller County have early beginnings that start before countyhood. They are the Methodist and Baptist churches, respectively.

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According to a committee from St. Paul's School of Theology, 1982, who compiled a list of the Methodist churches, recorded the following dates for the oldest religion in Miller County, "Iberia, 1834; Hite's Chapel near Olean, c/1835; Mt. Pleasant, 1841; Olean, 1881; Aurora Springs, 1882; Eldon, 1882; Tuscumbia, 1887." (Source: MCHS Archives). Other Methodist Churches followed suit in the county - Brumley, c/1890s; Curry near Brumley, c/1907. Today, only Eldon and Iberia have active Methodist churches. (Source: KWS Files)

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According to A History of Miller County, Missouri by Gerard Schultz, 1933 ... The Baptist denomination is represented in almost every town and rural community in the county. The present Baptist churches in the county have been organized in the following order: Iberia, 1843; Blue Springs, 1844; Hickory Point, 1849; Brumley, 1855; New Salem, 1868; Green Ridge, 1868; Tuscumbia, 1891; Eldon, 1892; Olean, 1894; Ulman, 1897; Bagnell, 1898; Central, 1900; Glenwood, 1901; Union, 1902; Mount Carmel, 1904; Elm Springs, 1913; Henley, 1927." (Source: Gerard Schultz). Gilgal Baptist Church, established in 1835 and once located in Franklin Township, was the first Baptist congregation in the county. Today, all the churches listed are still active, except for Bagnell, Central, Elm Springs, Gilgal, Glenwood, New Salem and Union. (Source: KWS Files)

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ABOLISHMENT

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In the 1840s, the Smyrna Methodist Church was torn apart by the slavery question [abolish or not to abolish] and decided to vote for abolishment, causing a rift in Methodism for the entire county. In 1846, Smyrna reorganized and pledged their allegiance to the Methodist Episcopal Church, thus breaking all ties with the Methodist organization and started their own congregation in support of abolishing slavery. However, not long after the Civil War, the Smyrna congregation moved into Maries County and never returned to Miller County. (Source: MCHS Archives)

 

1860 STATISTICS

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"According to the census of 1860 there were at that time three Baptist churches, two Christian, two Methodist, and one Union church in Miller County. In 1890 there were 59 church organizations, 44 church buildings... the Baptists and Disciples of Christ led in the number of church buildings. They had 14 and 13 churches, respectively. The Methodists had three churches, the Southern Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Roman Catholics two each, and the Methodists South, Cumberland Presbyterians, and Christians, one each. In 1926 the total church membership for the Baptist churches was 2256; the Roman Catholics were second, with 1399; the Disciples of Christ followed, with 1236; of the other bodies, the Methodist Episcopal had 209; Congregational churches 187; Churches of Christ, 135; Presbyterian churches, 52; Negro Baptists, 24; all other bodies 626." (Excerpts from History of Miller County by Gerard Schultz. 1933.)

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MYSTERY CHURCH 

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The site of the Church of the Nazarene in Iberia was once occupied by the Methodist Episcopal denomination and the holy house was referred to as the "People's M. E. Church". There is no detailed information to be found about this pioneer edifice, congregation or ministers; only a brief snippet of data exists about the church's name today. However, the Methodist Episcopal rose [in Miller County] as a consequence from the Methodist religion being torn apart over the issue of slavery during the early 1800s. By the Civil War era the Miller County Methodist church completely split and the Methodist Episcopal came into official being ... the original Methodists approved of slavery while the newly formed Methodist Episcopals in the county did not. It is interesting to note the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious congregation in the U.S. to organize itself nationally. In 1939, the MEC reunited with two breakaway Methodist denominations (the Methodist Protestant Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South) to form today's Methodist Church. The People's M. E. Church was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. (Source: MCHS Archives & Wikipedia)

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UNEXPECTED NAME CHANGE

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In October of 1868, a group of Baptists met at Hite's Chapel Methodist Church and organized a Baptist Church and called it "Hite's Chapel Baptist Church". The new church appointed H.B. Roark as clerk, Carroll Neville as moderator and A.H. Roark was chosen to be ordained as a deacon. By 1869, plans were made to build a log building near the Methodist Church and in May of 1870 the congregation gathered in their new building. It has been documented, "according to records the building was not totally finished". From the beginning, when the Baptists first met in 1868, they had agreed upon the name Hite's Chapel Baptist Church for their church, however by 1870 the congregation decided it was to be "thereafter known as Green Ridge Baptist Church." Yet, according to church notes, the meeting reports had always begun as follows, "United Baptists of Christ at Green Ridge".  It will remain a mystery, not only why the church name changed, but the unknown controversy that surrounded the need for a change.

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FIRST CATHOLIC LANDOWNERS

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Peggy Smith Hake wrote, "The first Roman Catholic landowners to patent land in the county were Thomas and Nicholas Browse in 1837." Most likely brothers, their land was located near the Osage River south of present-day St. Elizabeth. The next year, two brothers, Owen and Calvin Riggs, patented land in the same general area in 1838. Owen Riggs, of Irish descent, was responsible for the establishment of the first Catholic Church in Miller County. Built of logs, the church was built in 1870 and was located at Old St. Elizabeth on the south side of the Osage River. This historic Roman Catholic church relocated its congregation when Old St. Elizabeth moved its small settlement to its current location; a new frame church structure was built there in c/1882-83 and became known as St. Lawrence Catholic Church. The current cathedral at St. Elizabeth was built in 1907. Early family names of who helped to build the county's first Catholic church included: Buechter, Boedecker, Borgmeyer, Doerhoff, Heckemeyer, Kemna, Koester, Liebbert, Schell and Whalen. (Source: Peggy Smith Hake)

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GOSPEL ROOTS

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Brays Advent Christian Church (aka: Brays Union Church) near Iberia once housed the Advent Christians from the early 1870s until after World War II. The Advent Christian Church is one of Missouri's original founding faiths and the community of "Brays Mill" contained the only Advent Christian church in the state of Missouri until the founding of its sister Advent Christian church in St. Louis during World War II. Brays Advent Christian Church continues to remain the only Advent Christian faith to have placed their gospel roots in Miller County. (Source: MCHS Archives)

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A PRIVATE RESIDENCE

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​​​​In the mid-late 1800s, the People's Methodist Episcopal Church once stood where the present-day Church of the Nazarene in Iberia now stands. The old church conducted services in this locale until c/1903 when the church disbanded, and the property was sold to Dr. George R. Mace. It has been recorded that Dr. Mace remodeled the old church into his private residence and built a small, divided clapboard building in front of it where he set up a doctor office on one side and a grocery store on the other side. By 1926, the piece of land was sold to the Church of the Nazarene and soon after the old church was torn down to make way for a new Nazarene church. The present Nazarene church was built in 1947. (Source: MCHS Archives)

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NO CHURCH?

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A building for the Christian Church at Tuscumbia was completed and dedicated in August of 1889. For quite a while Tuscumbia had been the only county seat in the state of Missouri without a church building. In the mid-1800s Miller's county seat had had a Methodist Church for a couple of decades, but the church house was disrupted during the Civil War and turned into a saloon! For the two intervening decades after the Civil War ended, religious services were held in the courthouse and other local buildings. But in 1889, Tuscumbia finally built a Christian church house; three more church buildings soon followed around this era: Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian. (Source: MCHS Archives)

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CHURCH LAWSUIT

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In 1899, the designated trustees of the Concord Baptist Church deeded a parcel of land to the trustees of the Christian New Light Church of Miller County with the stipulation they build their church building within one year of the agreement and allow the Baptist congregation the free use of the building twice a month. By 1904, the trustees of the Baptist Church brought a lawsuit against the Christian Church when the latter church had not yet built the holy structure as they had agreed upon. Peggy Smith Hake wrote, "Isaac Tinsley, one of the original trustees of Concord Baptist Church, with five other citizens of the community, erected a church house on the said lot with aid contributed by other citizens of the area. So, the three trustees published and declared under sanction of their solemn oaths that they were not duly authorized by the said church to make that original conveyance of the property to the Christian Church or any other persons. With this statement, they re-claimed the property for the Concord Baptist Church." Ironically, in the early 1920s, the Christian New Light Church moved into the Baptist church building [erected c/1904] after Concord Baptist Church disorganized and abandoned their church. The Christian New Light church was known as Gott Christian Church. (Source: MCHS Archives)

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HOG WALLER CHURCH

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The Pleasant Grove Church came into being as a result of Benjamin Conner, a deeply religious Baptist minister. Around 1909, Mr. Conner got a calling to build a church. Thats exactly what he did by selling books and soliciting donations. The community came together and donated their time and labor to build Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, named in honor of the school where services took place until the church was completed. This church also had a nickname: Hog Waller Church. It was started when a group of young men, from across the river, began making fun of it. There was a clear spring branch nearby, waist deep, where the preachers did their baptizing. But downstream were some mud holes where the hogs would wallow. So, the boys started calling it "The Hog Waller Church". (Source: MCHS Archives)

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HAUNTED CHURCH

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While not a proven fact, Gageville Christian Church is supposedly the locale of where a horrendous double murder took place. Vicki Wood, with the Lake Sun Leader, wrote, "... the abandoned church on Gageville Road in Etterville. The story tells of two small children running around the small church building that is no longer in use. The sightings occur at night, with the children kicking and throwing rocks. Legend tells that these two were beaten and killed by their parents in that church. They say that if you go in this abandoned place in the middle of nowhere, the children will call your name, and turn your flashlights off and on." From personal experience, I can testify this old church does have an extremely spooky feel to it, but no children kicked me, threw rocks at me, called my name or turned my flashlight off and on. But this was at dusk and not completely dark yet. (Source: Lake Sun Leader & KWS Files) 

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RELOCATED CHURCH

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Riverview Baptist Church, located at Osage Beach, had a new church built on the present site by the Union Electric Company when Lake of the Ozarks was being developed in the early 1930s. The old church, established in 1887, was first known as Antioch Baptist Church and once sat high on the bluff overlooking the Osage River valley [that later would become Lake of the Ozarks] in Camden County. In August of 1902, the name was changed to Riverview Baptist Church. The old Riverview Cemetery is still located in its original location off Horseshoe Bend Rd. The old church is gone today. Since 1932, Riverview Baptist Church has had 17 pastors. (Source: rbclake.org)

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FIRST IN THE STATE

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Honey Springs Baptist Church, near Brumley, was organized in 1962. An interesting fact about Honey Springs Baptist ... it had the first deaf ministry in the state of Missouri in 1976, with seven enrolled in the ministry. Pastors who served the mission during this time were: Jess Stone, Marvin Davis, C.R. Morgan, Mr. Enloe, and Frank Shuler. (Source: MCHS Archives). Honey Springs' dedication and commitment paved the way for supporting the deaf community in the state of Missouri. Today, some Kansas City and St. Louis churches offer a range of services to support the deaf community, including sign language interpretation, deaf-friendly worship services, community outreach programs and much more. (Source: Bing)

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OLDEST CHURCH IN THE COUNTY

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The oldest, continuously operating church in Miller County since its founding is the First Baptist Church of Iberia. This historic church was organized in 1843 and was first called Big Richwood Baptist Church of Christ. Peggy Smith Hake wrote, "Before the Civil War, the First Baptist Church held revivals in brush arbors or in homes."  By 1858, a log building was erected on a tract of land donated by Samuel Tucker (near present-day Iberia Cemetery) and soon after some of the locals referred to it as "Sulky Baptist Church" due to the dissension that arose among the different denominations sharing the old Smyrna Church at that time, Big Richwood Baptist Church of Christ included. In May of 1885 it was decided to move the Baptist congregation into town (Iberia) and by 1886 a new church building was completed and once located near the present-day Church of the Nazarene. Peggy Smith Hake wrote, "The church, in keeping with the village incorporation, changed its name from Big Richwood to First Baptist Church of Iberia on October 5, 1889." Almost one hundred years later, First Baptist Church purchased land northwest of Iberia, along Highway 17, and groundbreaking for a new building was held in July of 1988. The old Baptist church building in Iberia burned down in 1990. Today, the First Baptist Church of Iberia continues to offer weekly services after 181 years of religious longevity. (Source: Peggy Smith Hake)

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