A church is usually the backbone of a community and that was certainly true of Rehoboth Baptist Church at Vineyard, Arkansas.  Vineyard is located along the boundary line of Phillips and Lee counties and once contained several businesses, but today is mainly residential. As then, most people are involved in agriculture and it is a very rural area. Rondo and Poplar Grove are nearby towns. 

       In the winter of 1870 to 1871, a large group of families moved to Phillips County, Arkansas from Union County, South Carolina.  Although there were already people living there, the community had not yet recovered from the Civil War. It was a struggle to survive with few roads or other things to offer. Nevertheless, these hardy travelers made the area home. Most settled on or near the "Old Bogan Gist Plantation" about sixteen miles west of Helena. One of these families was headed by John J. Huckaby, who then moved to the Vineyard community about a year later. Since there was no church at Vineyard, religious services were first held in different private homes. Although Huckaby had no formal training as a minister, he soon became the local preacher at Cypress Valley Baptist Church near Rondo. He was officially ordained in 1874 and continued to serve this church until 1882. The members then voted to move the church organization to a building near Vineyard and decided to name the church "Rehoboth."

       Rehoboth Baptist Church held it's first service in May, 1882 under Reverend J.J. Huckaby. The meeting house was an old store, that had once been a saloon.  Church took place here until members were finally able to build a new structure in 1886. Stephen H. Holtzclaw donated the property and W.H. McGrew gave an acre or more of wooded land directly in front of the church for hitching posts. The first Sunday School was organized in 1883, and reorganized  in 1884, with John F. Langston as superintendent. The Baptist Woman's Society was organized in October, 1886.

       In May 1886, a building committee started to meet. They recommended a building, 30 x 42 feet, that would cost about $450. Through donations and hard work, the new church building was completed that summer and painted white. The pulpit furniture and seats were all made by hand from large cypress logs. John F. Langston made the seats that were used until the church was destroyed by fire in 1922. Only the organ and a few books were saved. Members gathered around the charred remains though, and decided to rebuild on the same spot. 

      Francis M. Hawkins, a wealthy farmer who had come to Arkansas before the Civil War and lived at Vineyard, donated money for a strong iron fence to be placed around the churchyard with double iron gates. A cemetery had also been started around the church and Hawkins chose to build a mausoleum in memory of he and his wife.  He passed away in 1914. The new church would continue on for several more decades, but eventually close. Sadly today, the church no longer exists and the cemetery is badly overgrown and neglected. F.M. Hawkins had left money for the upkeep of the cemetery, but that was lost during the Great Depression. Today, travelers will almost miss Rehoboth because of the trees and brush if they travel down the dusty gravel road out from Poplar Grove. However, it is worth the stop to ponder life and reflect on how nature works. That is the legacy of Rehoboth Baptist Church. #rehobothbaptistchurch 

Sources:

Atkinson, Zora Langston. "Rehoboth Church" Phillips County Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 2. December 1965. Phillips County Library, Helena, Arkansas.