from USGS 2014 Russellville West, AR Quadrangle map
For many, the name Shiloh brings to mind the 1862 American Civil War battle, also called the Battle of Pittsburg Landing. That battle’s name is derived from a log Methodist church called Shiloh Meeting House, around which General U.S. Grant had established forward camps in early April 1862 that Confederates under Albert Sidney Johnson, subsequently attacked at daybreak on April 6, a Sunday.1
Shiloh, origin of the name2
- Shiloh, Shilo, or Silo (/ˈʃaɪloʊ/; Hebrew: שִׁלוֹ ,שִׁילֹה ,שִׁלֹה, and שִׁילוֹ variably) is mainly known as the name of the biblical city which preceded Jerusalem as the central worship site of the early Israelites.
- One bible verse, Genesis 49:10, might indicate that it was also used as the personal name of a biblical figure, perhaps the Messiah.
Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Russellville, Arkansas3, 4, 5
In Pope County, Arkansas, the Shiloh name predates the civil war, used at least as early as the 1830s when Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church (CPC), the first Presbyterian Church and the third church of any faith in Pope County. The church was established at what was known as the Williamson camp ground.6 The camp ground was on Shiloh Creek was used for religious camp meetings.7
Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church – 1938
The church at Shiloh was formed in the early days of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church denomination—established on February 4, 1810, in Dickson County, Tennessee—and was located on or near the modern-day Faith Lutheran Church site.
Session minutes8 dated February 14, 1886 state that the first name on the church register was Margaret Hlleger in 1833. The last meeting of the Shiloh church Session was on March 4, 1951. In 1952, the clerk of Session reported to the General Assembly9 that Shiloh had a membership of 12, with no minister. The General Assembly declared the church inactive later that year. Many of the church members had left, many of them moving into town, some as early as the 1870s.10
Existing church records begin in 1867 and, continuing to 1952 when the church closed, reflect regular Session meetings. It was believed that the earlier books were lost in a fire either during the Civil War or in a house fire where the home of one of the elders burned. An attempt was made to reconstruct the membership list, which included surnames such as Williamson, Russell, Hamilton, Holledger, Winfield, and Harkey.
The old church building, sold by the Cumberland Presbytery in the mid-1960s, was subsequently torn down and removed.11
Church membership peaked at 95 in 1927.
John Robert Williamson12, 13, 14
Leaving Tennessee in 1830, John R Williamson and a party that included his two sons, their wives, slaves, and other families penetrated the wilderness of Arkansas by wagon train as far as what would become Yell County. Discouraged, they turned back for Tennessee. Stopped by snow, they camped at Point Remove where, following a Sunday service, they voted to stay in Arkansas.
Williamson and his sons received patents for nearly 2000 acres north of Russelville where they and their slaves cleared land and planted corn and cotton.
John R. Williamson was elected to the eighth session of the Arkansas Territorial Legislature in 1833 where he was elected president of the legislative council.15, 16 In that capacity, he laid the cornerstone for the Old State House. He served on the Council until Arkansas statehood in 1836 after which he served as a state senator through 1851. Serving as president pro tempore of the Senate, in 1846 Williamson also served as acting governor for a month during an absence of Governor Thomas Drew.
A devout Cumberland Presbyterian, Sunday services in his home and brush arbor gave way to Shiloh church and Williamson church campground on the banks of Shiloh Creek. Williamson gave seven acres to the church and campground in 1834 and another three acres in 1858. Williamson and his sons helped build the original 1830s log church.
Pleasant View Road crossed Illinois Bayou at Williamson Ford, probably adjacent to Williamson property.
- “Battle of Shiloh.” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed November 14, 2022. https://www.nps.gov/shil/learn/historyculture/shiloh-history.htm.
- “Shiloh.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, September 14, 2022. Accessed November 15, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiloh.
- “Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church Russellville, Arkansas.” The Journal of Presbyterian History (1997-) 91, no. 2 (2013): 98 (1 page). Accessed November 14, 2022. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24463366.
- Shiloh is currently part of the name for a large number of churches. In the U.S., there are at least 14 existing churches bearing the name Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
- “Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church.” Article. In History of Pope County, Arkansas, 94–96. Pope County Historical Society. printed Winston-Salem, NC: Jostens Pub. Co., 1999. Accessed November 14, 2022.
- West, D. Porter. Early History of Pope County, 1903.
- Parcell, Debra. “Bound for the Promised Land: Camp Meetings and Their Impact on Antebellum Religion and Society.” IUSB Undergraduate Research Journal of History. November 27, 2016. Accessed November 18, 2022. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/iusburjh/article/view/22857. “Camp meetings were the only large-scale gatherings on the southern frontier. With no established churches, they provided an opportunity for people to pray and sing together, as well as perform baptisms and weddings. The effort that was put forth to attend these meetings, packing up family and provisions, leaving their farms, travelling great distances, and camping outdoors, proved how vital they were in filling a need for fellowship and spiritual teaching. The struggle of daily life, living in small cabins lacking privacy, the constant threat of illness and death, and the effort expended to meet basic needs required frontier men and women to constantly guard their emotions. The camp meeting setting, away from home and responsibilities, often lowered inhibitions, resulting in the emotional and dramatic style of southern revivals.” “Camping on the grounds was an important factor in the overall experience. This allowed the participants to be fully involved in religious activities for days on end, without the distractions of everyday work and living. Camping also eliminated social and economic distinctions, creating a temporary unified society.”
- “Session (Presbyterianism).” Wikipedia, last edit November 4, 2022. Accessed November 16, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Session_(Presbyterianism). “A session (Presbyterianism) is a body of elected elders governing each local church.”
- “General Assembly of the CPCA.” Facebook. Accessed November 16, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/cpcaga/. “The General Assembly is the highest judicatory of this church and represents in one body all the particular churches thereof. It bears the title of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church/Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America and constitutes the bond of union, peace, correspondence, and mutual confidence among all its churches and judicatories.”
- “Early History of Pope County, Arkansas.” Article. In History of Pope County, Arkansas, 15. Pope County Historical Society. printed Winston-Salem, NC: Jostens Pub. Co., 1999. Accessed November 14, 2022. “The First Presbyterian Church (in Russellville) was an offshoot of the old Shiloh Church, as the charter members were for the most part people who had moved into town. It was established in 1871, and was originally a Cumberland Presbyterian Church. It was located on the east corner of the block across Main Street from the Forestry Building. The church was later moved to Denver and Main Streets and today is the Central Presbyterian Church.”
- “Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church.” Article. ibid, page 94, “The movement of the population from the rural areas to the cities depleted (the Shiloh) neighborhood and resulted in no congregation to serve the Lord from its sanctuary.”
- Governors of Arkansas (2nd) (c). p. 251.: University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville. 1981 (n.d.).
- “The Williamson Family History.” Article. In History of Pope County, Arkansas, page 482. Pope County Historical Society. printed Winston-Salem, NC: Jostens Pub. Co., 1999. Accessed November 18, 2022.
- “Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas : Comprising a Condensed History of the State, a Number of Biographies of Distinguished Citizens of the Same, a Brief Descriptive History of Each of the Counties Mentioned, and Numerous Biographical Sketches of the Citizens of Such Counties : Southern Publishing Company (Chicago, Ill.). Internet Archive. Chicago : Southern Pub. Co., January 1, 1891. https://archive.org/details/biographicalhist00sout_0. Accessed November 19, 2022
- The Arkansas territorial legislature had two houses, the house of representatives and the legislative council. Each member of the council represented one of the territory’s counties.
- “General Assembly of Arkansas Territory.” Wikipedia, most recent edit December 23, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Assembly_of_Arkansas_Territory. Accessed November 19, 2022. “Members of the eighth General Assembly were elected August 5, 1833. They met in regular session October 7, 1833. John Williamson was elected president of the council; William F. Yeomans, secretary. John Wilson was speaker of the house; James B. Keatts, clerk. The session lasted until November 7, 1833.”