Campground - the community and the church

One of the beautiful things about doing family or regional research is relying on the past work of others.  For Fentress County historians, Mr. Luther Atkinson chronicled a ton of photos and information that we can now refer to.  Additionally, The Mount Union Missionary Baptist Church has a booklet of the church’s history 1870 – 1995 that I am relying heavily upon.  While Luther Atkinson is credited as “helping compile the information for this book,” no specific author or editor is noted.

Last week we talked about a church plant from Mount Union.  So I thought we’d take a little step back and look at the history of this church’s formation.

We’ll need to try to differentiate between Campground and the Mount Union Church.  Many of us will always refer to them as one and the same.  The church is simply an integral part of the Campground community.  But there is a rich history in the forming of the Missionary Baptist church.

The “Campground” seems to have no beginning – there are unnamed graves in the cemetery that no one can date.  Located at a good spring and amid a lush forest, the campground area is said to have been a stopping point for many travelers.  At some point, camp meetings began to take place, undoubtedly as eager preachers sought to spread the gospel among these wayfaring strangers.  Eventually, the camp meetings became regular, annual events and would be known as the “Wilderness Meetings”. 

I can imagine living in a time without telephones, email, or social media – and even in a place lacking regular church meetings – these annual revivals would have been the social event of the year.  People came from all around, set up camp, visited with distant neighbors, swapped stories and sought spiritual rejuvenation.

By 1840, the Campground community had grown and established such permanency that a small log building was erected to serve as church and school.  The school would continue educating the community’s children until the mid-1930’s. 

In the meantime, the little log church building would serve as a center of worship for 3 different denominations.  There was a Presbyterian congregation, a Methodist congregation and a Baptist congregation. 

Four families living in the area in the latter half of the 19th century claimed the Methodist faith.  The Peters, Todds, Normans, Shillings and Crosses would worship at Campground until Bruner’s Chapel was formed in 1882 in Clarkrange.    The Presbyterian congregation disbanded some time later. 

Carson Key records that about 1902 a large, wood-framed church was erected which would be replaced by today’s brick building in 1940.

Now I need YOUR help… The Mt. Union history book refers to “Three Forks (Nether Church)” as being affiliated with Mt. Union prior to the 1870 organization.  In fact, it states that, when the church was originated, “Rev. S.S. Looper, pastor of the Three Forks Baptist Church with deacons of said church… officiated in the organization.”  Do any of you have any information on this Three Forks or Nether Church and how they were affiliated with Mt. Union?  There is currently a Three Forks church in Alpine, TN.  Is that the same church?  I would certainly appreciate if you would click “comments” below if you have any information on this.

Campground - the community and the church

One of the beautiful things about doing family or regional research is relying on the past work of others.  For Fentress County historians, Mr. Luther Atkinson chronicled a ton of photos and information that we can now refer to.  Additionally, The Mount Union Missionary Baptist Church has a booklet of the church’s history 1870 – 1995 that I am relying heavily upon.  While Luther Atkinson is credited as “helping compile the information for this book,” no specific author or editor is noted.

Last week we talked about a church plant from Mount Union.  So I thought we’d take a little step back and look at the history of this church’s formation.

We’ll need to try to differentiate between Campground and the Mount Union Church.  Many of us will always refer to them as one and the same.  The church is simply an integral part of the Campground community.  But there is a rich history in the forming of the Missionary Baptist church.

The “Campground” seems to have no beginning – there are unnamed graves in the cemetery that no one can date.  Located at a good spring and amid a lush forest, the campground area is said to have been a stopping point for many travelers.  At some point, camp meetings began to take place, undoubtedly as eager preachers sought to spread the gospel among these wayfaring strangers.  Eventually, the camp meetings became regular, annual events and would be known as the “Wilderness Meetings”. 

I can imagine living in a time without telephones, email, or social media – and even in a place lacking regular church meetings – these annual revivals would have been the social event of the year.  People came from all around, set up camp, visited with distant neighbors, swapped stories and sought spiritual rejuvenation.

By 1840, the Campground community had grown and established such permanency that a small log building was erected to serve as church and school.  The school would continue educating the community’s children until the mid-1930’s. 

In the meantime, the little log church building would serve as a center of worship for 3 different denominations.  There was a Presbyterian congregation, a Methodist congregation and a Baptist congregation. 

Four families living in the area in the latter half of the 19th century claimed the Methodist faith.  The Peters, Todds, Normans, Shillings and Crosses would worship at Campground until Bruner’s Chapel was formed in 1882 in Clarkrange.    The Presbyterian congregation disbanded some time later. 

Carson Key records that about 1902 a large, wood-framed church was erected which would be replaced by today’s brick building in 1940.

Now I need YOUR help… The Mt. Union history book refers to “Three Forks (Nether Church)” as being affiliated with Mt. Union prior to the 1870 organization.  In fact, it states that, when the church was originated, “Rev. S.S. Looper, pastor of the Three Forks Baptist Church with deacons of said church… officiated in the organization.”  Do any of you have any information on this Three Forks or Nether Church and how they were affiliated with Mt. Union?  There is currently a Three Forks church in Alpine, TN.  Is that the same church?  I would certainly appreciate if you would click “comments” below if you have any information on this.

Priorities of Yesteryear

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas – we are all so blessed and this season should really emphasize that for each of us.  Today I want to share some history and a bit of social commentary which is not our normal theme here but perhaps you’ll have thoughts about it as well.

Two interesting things came before me over the last week that have driven the topic for today’s post.  First, a comment from last week’s story about the mountain midwife mentioned that the people of that era and area were very poor.  It’s pretty easy for us to start feeling sorry for ourselves and think we too are impoverished (especially if we accidentally compare ourselves to other people in our affluent society) but compared to the mountain people of yesteryear we are all living in splendor.

The second interesting point came when researching a little church in Rinnie, Tennessee -  Clear Creek Baptist Church.  It was founded in 1897 as a missionary  outreach of Mount Union Baptist Church – perhaps better known as Campground.  The earliest preachers were circuit riders and I have to wonder if Campground’s preacher made regular trips there to speak. 

One of Campground's earliest church and school buildings

What a wonderful testimony for that little church that almost 117 years ago they stepped outside of themselves, saw a need to spread the gospel and made it happen!  Their offspring has survived all these years and today still stands spreading that same message of truth to their little corner of the Rinnie Community. 

Most of our churches today have some type of missions program – at the very least, our Southern Baptist congregations contribute to the Cooperative Fund and send money to foreign missions.  And most mission boards have some level of US based outreach.  But how many of us are personally looking around our region and ferreting out dark spots that need The Light then actually doing something to shine the light out there?

I’ve tried to imagine what life would have been like for the members of Campground’s little church in 1897. They eked out a subsistence living behind a mule or a hoe.  They lived in drafty houses, often wore home-cobbled shoes, read by coal-oil lamps and walked most places they went.  Yet these were the people who reached out to a community 15 miles away and founded a new place of worship.

Today we drive to church in air conditioned cars, sit on plush upholstered pews and make our living in relative comfort.  And yet, the Southern Baptist Convention reports that 3500 – 4000 churches are permanently closing their doors each year.  Contrary to Campground’s efforts 100 years ago, we seem to be moving backward!

Over the next week many of us will be thinking about 2014 and planning resolutions.    This information will certainly still be in my mind as I think about my own goals for the coming year and I hope you will think about them too. 

The history of Mount Union Missionary Baptist Church is too fascinating to cover in one small article.  We’ll have to talk more about them.  In the meantime, I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts – just click “comments” below.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Mountain Midwife

                I’ve just finished reading a book written by Karen Cecil Smith entitled Orlean Puckett:  The Life of a Mountain Midwife (Parkway Publishers, Boone, NC, 2003).  While it’s not a new book and therefore wouldn’t need a review, the information was so relevant to my research on rural, historical medical care that I thought I’d share some of my impressions from the book.

This is essentially a biography of Mrs. Puckett who lived in the Virginia Mountains from 1844 until 1939.  As I learn about and reflect upon the history of the Cumberland Plateau, the stories of our past are so familiar to me that the hardships don’t often overwhelm me.  But the depiction of life in those rural mountain communities seems so much more severe than our own region.  Certainly they were even more remote and isolated.  Their farms were rockier and steeper and their weather more severe. 

Mrs. Puckett lived through the Civil War and her husband was a Confederate soldier for a while.  He and a lot of other mountain-borne soldiers opted to check out of the war early.  We know that the young man’s dream of gallantry and excitement is quickly burst in battle.  These men returned to care for families that struggled to survive in the best of times; The War, however, brought some of the worst of times as marauding troops robbed them of the little food they had and searched tirelessly for deserters. 

Mrs. Orlean Puckett

1844 - 1939

When she was 45 years old, Mrs. Puckett began midwifing out of necessity.  There were few doctors and none that lived out in the most remote parts of the mountains.  When she first started attending births, it was 1889 and everyone was traveling by foot, horse or buggy so calling a doctor from town was a very slow process.  But Aunt Orlean as she was known to her whole community was right there among them and she knew well the mountain paths.  So she would arrive very shortly after being called no matter what hour of the night or in what extreme weather conditions.  Doesn’t it always seem that babies come at the most inopportune time that way?

She was very well respected in her own and all of the surrounding communities.  Because of this, she was often called upon for medical issues beyond childbirth.  She knew mountain herbs that would ease the pain of joints swollen from arthritis; and yes she knew the medicinal value of whisky.  Aunt Orlean carried a satchel like a doctor’s bag and a standard item in it was always peach brandy.  I can’t quite imagine the use of alcohol in childbirth but I’ve certainly watched enough westerns and Civil War movies to appreciate its value before surgery when no anesthetic was available as would have been the case in most rural situations. 

The mountain people also had a fair amount of superstition and Mrs. Puckett was among them.   She put a knife under a laboring woman’s pillow to cut the pain and unlocked every door in the house to provide an easier delivery. 

So once again I find myself contrasting modern medicine with yesteryear.  While I’m certainly partial to anesthetic and pain control, there is also something very comforting in the idea of a local healer.  To have someone at your side who you’ve known most of your life and who cares for you as a person and not just a patient seems like a wonderful idea, don’t you think?

If you have memories or family stories about the local healers, please share them with us.  Just click “comments” below.  Also, please be sure to click “Like” if you enjoyed the story – thanks so much!

Mountain Medicine

Chamberlain Memorial Hospital, Rockwood, TN

I’ve been learning about health care on the Plateau from a historical perspective and it’s very humbling!  Today, we take for granted the excellent medical care we can reach in a 30 mile radius.  Drive a bit further to Nashville, Knoxville or Chattanooga and you’ll be in world-class medical facilities.  But how feasible was a drive to Nashville in 1930?  What about 1910 or before?  Not until 1917 was a hospital built within any reasonable driving distance of the Plateau communities.  In that year, Chamberlain Memorial Hospital was erected in Rockwood – a nearly 50 mile drive from Clarkrange.  That same year, Dr. May Cravath Wharton arrived with her husband in Pleasant Hill and realizing the community’s great need for a doctor began seeing patients in their homes.  By 1921 Dr. Wharton had opened a tiny 2-bed clinic, in Pleasant Hill, which she shortly expanded to 30 beds.  That clinic is the origin of The Cumberland Medical Center.   A 15-bed clinic also opened in Cookeville in 1921.  But Pleasant Hill and Cookeville were still 30 and 25 mile drives, respectively.  There was always the question of transportation; I know some seriously injured miners were put on the train in Wilder and sent to Rockwood’s hospital

So, what was the solution of these hardy mountain-folk of yesteryear?  Self-sufficiency reigned supreme.  There have always been gifted ‘healers’ in our communities.  From midwives to herbalists, these were people who were willing to use their gifts to serve their neighbors.  Admittedly, the death rates were high but they were high in the best of hospitals in that day.  Remember that we didn’t really understand antiseptics and the extreme importance of sterile conditions until the end of the 19th century.  Think of how many women died following childbirth, how many soldiers died or lost limbs from relatively minor wounds simply because germs were introduced to their bodies by unsanitary conditions. 

For many years, it was almost safer to take care of all but the most serious injuries and illnesses at home.  As the Consumption (Tuberculosis) epidemic raged, mothers and wives knew they were powerless against that genteel killer, but they were also sure they could care for their loved ones better than any stranger could.

Now I’m in favor of good medical care – I’ve certainly availed myself of skilled doctors and will do so again when needed.  Still, I hold an incredible respect for these healers of old that steadfastly loved their brother and cared for their neighbor in need.  We can learn much from them.  A number of books have been written on some of these folks and I think we should visit some of those books. 

In the meantime, I’d love to hear any stories you have of people who were taken to those distant hospitals, how they got there, any details of the trip and the care.  Just click “Comments” below.