(from the book, Roots of Roane County, TN, by Snyder E. Roberts; page 106)

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was founded in 1810 after a split with the Presbyterian Church as an outgrowth of the Great Revival of 1800-4. It attempted to steer a middle course between Calvinism and Arminianism. By 1824, the denomination was strong enough in Roane County to organize New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church at a “camp ground” (probably in Bear Creek Valley). The minutes of this Church are extant for 1824-25, and the membership rolls contain such outstanding family names as

• Magill
• Rogers
• Evans
• Young
• Davidson
• Welcker
• Ladd
• Taylor
• Gammon
• Freels
• Roberts
• Wyatt
• Gallaher
• Fritts
• Wright
• and others

(See Dorothy Moneymaker’s, We’ll Call It Wheat, pp. 78-79 for greater details.)

From the above beginning sprang such churches as: Crawford Memorial at Wheat, Mt. Carmel, Mt. Horeb, Oliver Springs, Russell’s Chapel, Shiloh, and Youngs Chapel.

(from the book, The Story of Oliver Springs, TN, Vol. II by Snyder E. Roberts)

The Oliver Springs Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established in 1888, with a building erected in 1892. Although the first minute book is missing, official records contain a list of the eleven charter members of the church and is dated November 11, 1888:

• Mrs. Myrtle Hackworth
• Mrs. E. J. Mitchell
• E. B. Hudson
• J. W. Hudson
• Mrs. Sallie M. Doyle
• Mrs Deitrich Kreis
• Alice Deatherage
• Samuel Russell
• Mrs. Nancy Hudson
• Mrs. William C. Walker
• David Mitchell

The first mention of a pastor is made in the minutes of a Building Committee meeting on March 12, 1892, in which it was stated that pastor J. H. Henry was present.

On May 21, 1890, the Building Committee voted to build a solid stone foundation. The contract for the foundation was let to Thomas McNamara and Thomas Gorman. Thomas McNamara was the father of “Uncle John Mack.” On June 19, 1890, the old Clinton Gazette announced “The cornerstone of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Oliver Springs will be laid by the Masonic Fraternity on June 24, 1890. Reverend A. W. Hawkins, pastor.”