Biography/History:

The community of Pine Grove, Mississippi, was settled in 1852. It is located between Ashland and Hickory Flat, in what was then on the border of Marshall and Tippah counties, and is now Benton County, Mississippi. It may be the community where Pine Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church was located. The church was active as early as 1863.

Meeting in session on September 6, 1890, the Pine Grove Church authorized a delegate to petition the Bell Presbytery, Mississippi Synod, to change its name to the Hickory Flat Church. The presbytery approved the name change one week later. The Hickory Flat Church session voted to transfer legal title to its property to the Bell Presbytery in 1893.

Thadeus Augustus Anglin, son of Polly Anglin, was born in Mississippi in July 1838. Anglin joined Company B, Twentieth Regiment, Mississippi Infantry, Confederate States Army, on June 25, 1861. His regiment was captured at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, on February 16, 1862, and sent to Camp Douglas, Illinois. About seven months later, his regiment was involved in a prisoner-of-war exchange and sent to Vicksburg, Warren County, Mississippi. Anglin continued to serve with the unit until being wounded near Atlanta, Georgia, on July 22, 1864. He rejoined the unit but later became ill. A thirty-day furlough was granted to him and later extended on February 28, 1865.

In 1870, Anglin was residing in Lee County, Mississippi. He joined the Pine Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church on May 13, 1871. Anglin became an elder in the church on September 23, 1871. He attended presbytery and synod meetings at various times.

Anglin married Flora A. Horton at Pine Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church on June 8, 1871. The couple had seven children: John (b. June 1873), Lenora (b. August 1875), Clinton (b. November 1877), Minnie A. (b. ca. 1879), Maggie (b. December 1881), Eula (b. July 1884), and Eva (b. March 1887). The Anglins, six surviving children, a grandson, and a daughter-in-law were residing on the family farm in Benton County in 1900. The date of Thadeus Augustus Anglin’s death is unknown.

Scope and Content:

The Pine Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church session book is a mixture of original pages and photocopies and is incomplete. The book is divided into five parts: registers of communicants, marriages, elders, and infant baptisms; and church session minutes. The pages of these registers are all photocopies, as are some pages of the session minutes. Some pages of the session minutes are also missing.

The pages of the register of communicants (1864-1897) give the name, date of admission, and the means by which the communicant was received. Occasionally, the date and reason for dismissal or the date of death are noted. The register of marriages (1868-1876) records the names of the bride and groom, the date of the marriage, and the name of the official performing the ceremony. The register of elders (1863-1897) gives the name of the elder, the date of ordination, and the date he ceased to act as an elder. Occasionally, the date of the elder’s death is noted. The register of infant baptisms (1868-1882) records the child’s name, the names of the parents, the date of the baptism, and the name of the person performing the baptism. The session minutes (1867-1894) record the election of elders, admission and dismissal of members, punishment of members, and the appointment of delegates to the presbytery and representatives to the synod.

Series Identification:

1. Session Book. 1863-1897; n.d. 2 folders.

   Box 1, folders 1-2