Sometime back in 1830, some travelers stopped on a hillside in Raccoon Valley on the southeastern slope of Flint Ridge. The natural spring in the area was no doubt a good reason for their choice to pause on their way.

It isn’t known where they came from, if they settled nearby or continued on to another destination. Who they were and how many were in their party have also been lost to history. The only evidence of their passing through was a small grave on the hilltop for an infant whose journey had come to an end with no name left behind.

The marker placed on the grave of an unknown infant in Mt. Harmony Cemetery (Photo: Beth Kinnane)

As far as is known, that is the oldest grave in the Mt. Harmony Cemetery that sits above Mt. Harmony Baptist Church on Raccoon Valley Drive in Heiskell. As other families began to settle the area nearly 200 years ago, they continued to use the graveyard where that poor child was laid to rest.

This story was relayed to me by Dan West, a son of Heiskell, graduate of Powell High School and keeper of the history of Mt. Harmony (not to be confused with the church of the same name in Strawberry Plains). He has attended the church his entire life and presently serves as a deacon. He told me that in 1930, a century after that initial burial, a marker was placed for that unknown child by a man who felt that long lost baby deserved something.

The church itself was founded in 1849, one of the many Baptist churches in Knox County whose origins sprang from the “mother church” of Beaver Dam Baptist in Halls (see story here) where its first pastor, the Rev. Bradford DeMarcus, was ordained in 1847. DeMarcus’ primary partner in the endeavor was the Rev. Joshua Frost, instrumental in the beginnings of at least 22 churches in East Tennessee and longtime pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Claxton.

Mt. Harmony Baptist Church in Heiskell (Photo: Beth Kinnane)

Construction of the church began on a piece of land donated by Samuel Williams, part of another prominent Heiskell family, in 1850. According to West, the congregation met in the homes of various nearby church members until its completion. The doors were opened for its first services in 1851.

The church as it stands today could easily be used for a reboot of The Waltons or Little House on the Prairie. Though obviously updated and repaired over time, the sanctuary is the original building from 1851. Bathrooms were added in later years as a well as Sunday School rooms. West said it took a little longer in the beginning to compete the steeple and belfry, but the bell that rings there now is the same one that always has. Smartly, permanent ladders were installed in the steeple as West himself once had to make the precarious trip to the belfry to reattach the bell rope.

The marker for the Rev. Bradford DeMarcus’ grave in Mynatt Cemetery in Halls (Photo: Beth Kinnane)

The church is currently preparing to celebrate its 175th anniversary, the dates of which haven’t yet been set in stone, but West thinks October is a likely time. He explained that at the 150th anniversary there was a call to compile a history, but none of the old records could be found. As it turned out, one member found them in one of her late father’s trunks. He had been the church clerk and held on to them for safe keeping, old churches having the bad habit of going up in flames.

As a side note, part of my interest in writing this story is my own family history. My great great grandfather, Dr. Pleasant M. Hoskins, was a member at the church and is buried in the cemetery along with his parents, Oliver Freels Hoskins and Selena F. Moore. Selena was the daughter of Lemuel Moore and Avarilla Peak. As it turns out, Dan West is also a descendant of Lemuel and Avarilla. So I not only found the answer to all my questions (and then some), I also found a distant cousin.

Beth Kinnane writes a history feature for KnoxTNToday.com. It’s published each Tuesday and is one of our best-read features.

Sources: Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers by J.J. Burnett