Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church was founded in 1831, and William J. Denson became its first pastor. His brother, Jesse Denson, was a deacon and church treasurer for a number of years, and he apparently kept the minutes for the church, at least during its first decade. The church first met in the home of another brother, Nathaniel Denson, Jr. A few years later, William Denson donated six acres of land near Sand Hill, Rankin County, Mississippi, and he helped build the first church on the site in 1836, which became known as "Old Pisgah." It was the second Baptist congregation to be formed in the county. The original church was built of bricks made by yet another brother, Joseph Denson. It was a one-story building with a balcony for slaves. The Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church building was moved four miles south to its present site in 1857.

William Denson served on the board of directors of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church for many years. He represented the church at the Mississippi Baptist Convention in December of 1836. Denson also organized the Harmony Baptist Association, composed of Hinds, Madison, Rankin, and Scott counties, before the Civil War.

Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church had one hundred fifty members in May of 1981, and the church was still in existence in 2001.

The Reverend Nathaniel Denson, Sr., of English descent, was born around 1763 in Anson County, North Carolina. He married Charity Colson around 1784, and they had eleven children: James (1791-1839), Isaac (b. 1793), Joseph (b. 1795), Jesse (b. 1797), William J., Thomas C. (b. 1802), Mary (b. 1804), Katharine (1807-1878), Shadrach (b. 1809), Nathaniel, Jr. (b. 1811), and Madison (b. 1815). The Densons settled in Alabama in the early 1800s, and they moved to Rankin County, Mississippi, in 1827, founding Denson Town, which later became known as Denson’s Landing. Nathaniel Denson, Sr., used the Reverend Dr. John Gill’s Sermons and Tracts as reference material for the sermons he preached. He died in Rankin County around 1838, and he is buried in Mt. Pisgah Cemetery.

The Reverend William J. Denson, known informally as "Parson Bill," was born in Alabama on August 9, 1800. He married Mary Jane Williams on December 13, 1826. After moving to Mississippi, the Densons had two children: Mary Jane (b. 1830) and David W. (b. 1832). Denson owned a farm near Sand Hill, Rankin County. His wife, Mary Jane, died on January 8, 1858, and he married his second wife, Amelia Lyle, in 1862. They had three children: William L., Shadrach, and Jesse Rufus. Denson was elected to the Mississippi legislature in 1860. He was also a member of the Masonic Order. Denson died in a horse-and-buggy accident on October 8, 1873.

This collection includes the minutes of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church, Rankin County, Mississippi, and a book entitled Sermons and Tracts by the Reverend Dr. John Gill, with annotations by the Reverend Nathaniel Denson, Sr.

The minutes of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church are bound and partially hand-paginated. The name of David W. Denson is written on the inside front cover. A number of pages throughout the volume are torn or missing. The minutes were primarily recorded by Jesse Denson, Sr., and they were apparently later transferred to a larger volume now preserved by the Mississippi Baptist Historical Commission in Clinton.

The minutes primarily record quarterly and annual church meetings from 1831 to 1851. For many early church meetings, Denson summarized key areas of discussion in the left-hand margins, and he occasionally wrote explanatory notes at the bottoms of pages. The first few pages contain the articles of faith of the church. Listed in the minutes are the founding church members in 1831. Also listed are about thirty church members with annotations by a few names regarding membership status or death date. Baptismal records, including those of church members who were slaves, are included. Two pages near the middle of the volume are written in what appears to be a different hand, recording purchases of such staples as bacon, beef, and tobacco in 1874.

Dr. John Gill wrote Sermons and Tracts as the third volume of a series of treatises on the Bible. The prefatory note is dated November 10, 1778. The book contains 631 pages, but the front cover has been reattached, and the back cover is missing. There is a bookplate bearing the name of Richard Riley that is affixed to the inside front cover, and the name of Nathaniel Denson, Sr., is penciled underneath it. Denson listed the names and birthdays of his children on pages 560 and 561 of Sermons and Tracts. The last page of the book has some additional, but only partially legible, genealogical information on the Denson family.

1. Minutes. 1831-1851; 1874. 1 folder.
2. Sermons and Tracts. 1778. 1 folder.