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Union Hill Baptist Church and Cemetery (first photo, behind church), 2003
These photographs appear courtesy of Nora Johnson
Article from The Eagle Democrat, Warren, Arkansas
Wednesday, March 30, 1966, Page 7
Submitted by Robbie Reaves
The Churches of Bradley County ~ Union Hill Baptist Church -- Near Ingalls
Schedule of Services:
Each Sunday
Sunday School-----------10:00 A.M.
Worship Service----------11:00 A.M.
Worship Service---------- 7:30 P.M.
History:
The historic Union Hill Baptist Church, located a short distance north of Ingalls in South Central Bradley County, was established 110 years ago in 1856.
It had 14 charter members when it was begun some four years before the Civil War. It is one of the oldest Churches in Bradley County, of course, and is one of the most well-established rural Church is Southeast Arkansas.
The congregation of Union Hill Church worships in an attractive concrete block building that is well located in a grove of trees. The large and well-kept Union Hill Cemetery is located next to the Church.
The congregation of Union Hill Church is proud of its attractive Church building and Cemetery and is appreciative of all who have helped make it that way.
NOTE:From: "Gail Isenman" <gisenman@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [ARBRADLE] Union Hill Baptist Church
To: ARBRADLE-L@rootsweb.com
The original concrete block building (which has been remodeled) of Union Hill Church was built by my grandfather (Clarence Elmer Baker) and
great-uncles (Lonzo Vickers, Boyd Baker--to name a few). This information was told at my grandfather's funeral service (during the obituary reading) at Union Hill Church.
In reviewing my family photos, there is a funeral picture of my grandmother (Lula Johnson Sharp) with the Union Hill Church in the background. The
original building was a one room wooden building. My aunt (Dorothy Baker Outlaw) remembers when this building burned. She said the building was one large room. For Sunday School classes, the room was sectioned off into quarters by drapes hung on wires and in the middle of the room was a wood burning heater.
According to my aunt, the church caught fire one Sunday morning during Sunday School class. My Aunt Dorothy was very young and all that she
remembers of the incident was my Mother (Yvonne Baker Sharp) getting her out of the church and taking her home in the truck. She doesn't remember why my grandparents had not attended Sunday School with them that morning. After they got home, my mother and aunt got my grandparents and returned to the church. My grandfather and several other men tried to put it out, but it burnt to the ground being made of wood.
At this time period (which may have been somewhere in the late 1940s), my grandfather and his brothers worked as carpenters on major construction
sites around Arkansas (which included several older buildings at UALR, UAMS, Arkansas River Dam system, Jacksonville and Blytheville airforce bases, the underground missile silos around Searcy, etc.) and the United States. They would work as carpenters during the fall and winter months and would return to their farms in the spring to plant and farm tomatoes. (In writing this information, I have a new question for my aunt--why were all the men home
that fall/winter instead off working?)
The reason that I remember some of the buildings my grandfather and his brothers built is my grandfather would always take us on Sunday ride
excursions. These special Sunday excursions always included a picnic along the road at a roadside park or if the a park was not available, then it was some shady grove in a pasture along side the road. Then, we would head on to the construction site to see what my grandfather was building!
Sorry for rambling on and I hope that I haven't bored anyone with my stories--this "old broad" just got to reminiscing about the good ol' times! ~ Gail Sharp Isenman
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