Old Salem Church (Salem Baptist Church)

Old Salem Church sits along a lonely dirt road in Moniteau County.  It is a typical small, one room, frame building church like many that used to dot the Missouri countryside.  

This church was organized on July 14, 1843.  Charter members were: Nathan Cooper, James Martin, Reuben Jobe, Logan Jobe, John Scott, Dedrick Yows, Joseph Henry, Bartholamew Jobe, Lydia Yows, Esther Sailing, Mary Suster, Katharine Martin, Mrs. Reuben Jobe (Mary), Mrs. Logan Jobe (Mary), Mrs. Bartholamew Job (Mary), Nancy Sailing, and Mathilda Scott. The first building was of log construction.  

"Record books show the families of Reuben Jobe, Polly Beard and John W Beard deeded land for the purpose of building a church. Membership was seventeen. McCajah Duncan was pastor. The church building served as the first meeting place of the County Court after Moniteau became a county in 1845.

"In January 1879, the members voted to build a new church on a track of land donated by Anderson Hodge. This land is northeast of California on what is now Hwy 87. A frame building 30X44X14 feet was constructed at a cost of $861.98. The church was dedicated in 1879.

"On November 6, 1969, the building was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin. The building was ninety years old at the time of destruction. On November 12, the members voted to rebuild on the same site. Additional rooms were added in 1984 and a new sanctuary, baptistry, pastor's study and church library were added in 1988." ~ From the History of Moniteau County, Volume 2, published in 2000

I am not sure when the current church building was built, but it sits well preserved. It overlooks the cemetery across the street.  

Shiloh Baptist Church

A quaint, one room church, Shiloh Baptist Church sits well off the beaten path.  

The church was established on the second Saturday in May, 1869.  Constituent members were: George H. Rager, Bedford Brown, Ann E. Brown, Elizabeth A. Brown, Lucinda Brown, George C. Brown, Vincent C. Nicol, Elizabeth Neel, Robert A. Todd, Elizabeth Todd, Nancy Vanskike, Martha Latimer, Herbert Bloom, Jennett Bloom, George Elgin, Ducebelle Elgin, Addie Elgin, Henrietta Hewitt, Elizabeth Graves, Lucy Graves, Eliza Graves, Allen Wright, Matilda Wright, Nathan Martin, John Finney, Ann Finney, Margaret Finney, Jesse Vanskike, Martha Vanskike, Robert Lankford, Rebecca Lankford, W. Cochran, Monroe McIlhaney and Edmonia Moore. 
(https://shelby.mogenweb.org/church.htm) 

The church building was built in 1870.  It is a frame construction.  When it was built, it was valued at $1,200.  There is reason to believe this church was named for the Battle of Shiloh, fought in 1862 in Tennessee during the Civil War, which the battle was named for a church located where the battle was fought.  

Shiloh Baptist Church was part of the Mt. Salem Baptist Association.  The members of the Mt. Salem Association believed in missionary work, both at home and in foreign countries. They supported a Baptist hospital located on Taylor Ave., St. Louis. They also supported the Missouri State Baptist Association, formally educating young ministers; and, helped their own struggling churches and pastors as well as indigent "old broken-down pastors" who came to their notice. Each church held a scheduled service once a month, weather permitting, so the churches were able to share somewhat among the pool of pastors.  (http://sites.rootsweb.com/~moknox/cemeteries/c-mtsalemassoc1897.pdf)

In 1884, the pastor was Rev. Thomas Smoot.  The congregation consisted of 103 members and a Sunday School roll of 60 members, with the superintendent being Marion Houghland.  (History of Monroe and Shelby County Missouri, Vol 2. 1884). 
In 1938 the church was still active.  Sometime before 2008, the building had ceased being used for services. 

Former pastors of Shiloh Baptist Church included: D. V. Inlow, James P. Griffith, Thomas Smoot (1884), O. N. Collins (1891) and J. A. Day (approx 1894-1897).

Shiloh Baptist Church has been well kept and is in amazing condition.  The grounds of the graveyard that surround the church have been very well kept. 

If anyone has any information or has any information on the church, please do not hesitate to comment or reach out to me. 

 

Looney's Creek Old School Baptist Church

While researching old, historic and abandoned churches in Missouri, I came across a photo and post on Looney's Creek Old School Baptist Church.  The name immediately caught my attention.  In my opinion, that has to be one of the most unique and cool names for a church that I have yet come across (though Bacon Chapel, which I will be writing about in a future post, is probably the coolest church name I've yet seen).  

Looney's Creek Old School Baptist Church has its beginnings very early on in Missouri history.  Originally founded as Looney's Creek Mt. Zion Church, it formed out of the membership of the Baptist Church at Pleasant Hill in Marion County, Missouri, on 14 May 1836 and met in the home of Caroline Looney on Looney Creek.  Robert Hendren and Charles L. Turner were elected church elders. A log meeting house was erected in 1837 and Henry Louthan became the pastor at the at time.  Louthan opposed the "Mission System" and the church became divided.  Louthan and his followers split off and formed Henry Louthan Baptist Church (which would later be called Looney's Creek Old School Baptist Church) and the other church continued on as Looney's Creek Mt. Zion Church.  Louthan pastored Looney's Creek for 34 years and was known as the man "who preached without charge and labored with untiring energy." F. M. Turner took over as pastor after Louthan.  The church was organized before the Baptist split into two factions, the Old School and the New School. 
Looney's Creek Old School Baptist Church was still in active in 1938.   

Throughout its existence, the church has been known by many names including: Primitive Baptist Church, Hardshell Baptist, Old School Baptist.  (Interesting note concerning the name "Old School", within Baptist circles there were churches that stressed being "old school" or "new school" in response to the First Great Awakening in the 18th century.  In Presbyterian circles they were called "Old Path" or "New Path".  The old school/path churches opposed the revivalism and new fads that grew out of the First Great Awakening and stressed a simple, more traditional and conservative approach to church services and Christian life. New school/path churches embraced revivalism and the new trends (including Sunday School, missions societies, experiential services) and adapted their church services and life to include such.

The Old School Baptist denomination used to be quite prominent in northern Missouri.  It is now currently known as Primitive Baptists and the denomination as a whole is much smaller and nowhere near as prominent as it used to be.  The name "primitive" simply means that the church or denomination sought to mirror as closely as possible how the church is described in the New Testament of the Bible.  No alter calls, no fancy "concert-like" musical service, etc, but rather the simple style of church service as seen in the Bible itself.  

In typical Baptist fashion, the church building is a simple, unadorned structure.  It is a wooden frame, single-room building with a gable style roof.  Inside there is a small, slightly raised platform at the front of the building for the preacher.  There is a door on the back and the main two doors on the front of the building.  There is also a graveyard associated with this church.