A Concise History
Hickory Withe Presbyterian Church (PCA)
Prosperity Presbyterian Church, which was the parent church to present day Hickory Withe Presbyterian Church was located not far from Oakland, Tennessee. It is believed that it was named Prosperity because many of the charter members came from Prosperity, South Carolina. Prosperity was formed on the fourth Sabbath in December, 1834 by 29 believers. Later the congregation moved to the southeast corner of the intersection of State Route 196 and Donelson Drive. The Prosperity Church soon became the congregation of the Presbyterian Church of the United States (PCUS).
About 1838, a Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established on Ivy Road at the site of Mt. Pleasant cemetary. The name was later changed to the Hickory Withe Cumberland Prebyterian Church and it moved to the location on Donelson Drive where the present day Hickory Withe Presbyterian Church is located.
On May 10, 1907, the congregation of the Cumberland Church at Hickory Withe voted to dissolve and the membership was received into the Hickory Withe Presbyterian Church (PCUS). The Cumberland Church had a large church building so the congregation united. Some of the prominent families through the years in the Hickory Withe Presbyterian Church were the Webers, Russells, Lucks, Morrissons, Hodges and Webbs.
There was a school located on the west side of the church, and in the 1930’s it was determined that there was a need for the old school to be torn down and a new school built by the WPA (Works Progress Administration). The story is told that Will Weber, great-grandfather of Billy Whitworth and Elizabeth Whitworth Carnathan, was chairman of the School Board, and he prayed alone all night asking God’s will on where the school should be built. The next morning he announced that the front of the school should be at the edge of the church property. It is clear that God was at work because in 1978, Alfred Hodges (at the time a county commissioner) and Mayes Webb (a member of the school board) helped in an effort for the church to buy the building for use as the church’s fellowship hall.
For more than 50 years, the Hickory Withe Church shared a minister with the Oakland Presbyterian Church, and would have Sunday School each Sunday but would have worship services only twice a month. In 1980, with the recommendation of the session and a 100% vote of the congregation, the church withdrew from the Presbyterian Church of the United States denomination and joined the more conservative Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We now have church services each Sunday morning at 11:00 am, Sunday school at 10:00 am and a Wednesday night fellowship dinner and Bible study at 6:15 pm and 7:00 pm respectively.
The name Prosperity was certainly appropriate as God’s hand has blessed Hickory Withe Presbyterian Church for 178 years. To God be the Glory.
The Present Church Sanctuary
This is the present structure of the church building as located on Donelson Drive just west of Route 196 in Hickory Withe, Tennessee. The structure is built on the original site of the town of Hickory Withe which once boasted a post office, a general store, a mortuary and several other businesses which have since disappeared.
The Church Sanctuary As It Stands Today
The present structure is now accompanied by a Fellowship Hall containing a full kitchen, parlor and meeting room. Built on to the Sanctuary is the annex which contains Sunday School Rooms, the nursery and offices. New steps and doors were recently installed as well as extensions to the sidewalks. Better access to the handicap ramp in the rear was also implemented.
Pastors of Hickory Withe Presbyterian Church (PCA) (in ascending order)
Douglas Barcroft (February 2010 – present)
John Edgar (Ed) Eubanks, Jr. (October 2007 – October 2011)
James E. (Jim) Hayes (1997 – February 2007)
Cecil Wells (1996 – April 1997)
Kenneth Lee (Ken) Camp (November 1981 – October 1996)
Curt Crenshaw (Interim 1981 – November 1981)
Charles Robert (Chuck) Coe, Jr. (October 1980 – 1981)
Charles E. (Chuck) Swann (September 1975 – December 1978)
Ben W. Baker (April 1972 – August 1975)
C. V. Crabb (February 1967 – February 1972)
Dr. Samuel Edgar McFadden (October 1961 – November 1966)spacer
Robert Hyatt (April 1959 – July 1960)
Algernon Killough (June 1954 – June 1958)
George H. Totton (July 1952 – October 1953)
Charles H. Hamilton (June 1939 – June 1941)
Dr. Walter S. Swetnam (April 1931 – July 1935)
P. P. Dawson (January 1927 – September 1928)
Haller Shelton Henderson (February 1921- March 1926)
O. W. Wardlaw (November 1915 – September 1920)
J. D. Hemming (April 1911 – September 1913)
G. H. Kirken (July 1906 – January 1910)
S. S. (Sid) Gill (January 1861 – April 1905)
J. H. Waddell (September 1860 serving as moderator)
Robert McCoy (April 1858 – January 1860)
A. D. Metcalf (February 1854 – April 1858)
Louis McNeely (February 1854 – April 1858)
Robert McCoy (May 1848 – January 1854)
T. L. Newbury (September 1846 – December 1846)
M. T. Alien (October 1841 – April 1846)
Peter Randolph Bland (November 1840 – April 1841)
Henry W. Kerr (February 1836 – April 1840)
Peter Randolph Bland (December 1834 – August 1835)