Corticelli Baptist Church (1905

Corticelli Baptist Church (1905 - Present)

Above, at left the old church building; at right, the present church.

From an undated manuscript in possession of the Moniteau County Historical Society:

Corticelli

In the late 1890s, "Uncle" Bill Short built a general merchandise store that once was a center of trade in the Burris Fork township. The small hamlet, located in southeast Moniteau County, once consisted of a general store, blacksmith, thread factory, post office (1895-1911), church and school. "Uncle" Bill decided to call the town Corticelli after the Corticelli Spool and Thread Company. A plat was laid out and recorded at the courthouse in California in 1898. The town was made up of 34 lots and three streets: Main, Bond and Washington. The California Road made up the surveyors plat.

Soon after Short opened the store, George Hoffman built a blacksmith ship directly across the street from the store. In the early 1900s, Bill Short moved his business to the booming town of High Point when that settlement began expanding. A second store was opened in 1909 and operated by M. S. Hines.

The Corticelli Baptist Church was organized from Cole Spring Baptist (Cole County) in 1905. Twenty charter members held a meeting at the old Hickok School on May 7, 1905 and soon the building committee (Enoch Amos, George Cyrus and Wade Miller) was erecting a community church. Corticelli Baptist, built on land donated by Wade Miller, was completed on February 3, 1906. Associational Missionary E. M. Lumpkin led the constituting of the church. The church's first deacons were A. M. Slation and Wade Miller. Sunday School was established in March 1906 and the church was dedicated in July 1906.

Originally the church only practiced part-time services (two Sundays a month) until 1968 when Rev. Eldon Myers made it a full-time congregation. The present church structure was built in 1950 and the Sunday School rooms were added in the 1970s.

Over the many years of the church's operation, Corticelli Baptist has become a mission-minded congregation. In November 1985 and February 1986, the church embarked to Buenos Aires, Argentina with a 10-member mission team where they assisted in building a 2700 square feet brick edifice for a Baptist Mission at Jose C Paz. The mission is still in existence today. The present pastor at Corticelli is Rev. Richard Phillips.

Today, all the businesses are gone from this once-thriving settlement. The thread company (which the author was unable to obtain information about) and the general store buildings have been gone for many decades. The town of Corticelli, presently located along State Route C between Russellville and High Point, disappeared completely, except for the church, in the early 20th century.

From History of Concord Baptist Association (Cole, 1973):

A group of twenty people met at the Hickok school house, about mid-way between High Point and Russellville, on Sunday morning, May 7, 1905 for the purpose of organizing a Baptist Church.

Associational Missionary E. M. Lumpkin led in the constituting of the church, and Mr. Wade Miller gave 1 acre of ground for the building site opposite the store building in Corticelli. At that time, there was a post office and a blacksmith shop in the little village, in addition to the store, and at this first meeting, the name "Corticelli" was selected as the name of the church.

The twenty charter members were: Jessie L. Slaton, Ella W. Slaton, A. M. Slaton, Missouri C. Slaton, Hattie Slaton, Rose Suggs, B. W. Allee, Elizabeth Clark, Wade Miller, Minnie Miller, Adde Cynus, J. M. Amos, Cecilia Amos, Sarah Amos, Laura Calhoun, James R. Enloe, Mary E. Enloe, Cathrine Seybert and Annie Amos. (Apparently the missionary placed his membership with these, as only nineteen names are listed.) Only Rose (Suggs) Smith survives, and she resides in Texas.

The church voted to meet on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month, and pledged itself to send fifty cents to the Association the first year. The building was evidently erected the following Fall, because on February 3, 1906 the church voted to release the building committee, and the completed structure was turned over to the trustees. The total indebtedness was $322.69. A Sunday School was organized in March 1906, and dedication of the new building was held in July of that year.

On April 11, 1942, a motion was made and seconded to. have "half-time" preaching services - the second and fourth Sundays of each month. The motion carried and this practice continued until June 1968 when under the leadership of Pastor Eldon R. Myers, the church went on a full-time basis. A basement was added to the building in 1960, while in 1971 a vestibule was built on the front which greatly added to the appearance of the structure. Thus the gradual growth and success of this church is typical of that of many of our open country churches.

The following is a list of pastors who have served at Corticelli: E. M. Lumpkin, W. F. Wisdom, T. R. White, W. D. Scrivner, S. H. Carter, R. L. Hood, G. M. Baker, J. S. Price, S. M. Petty, Norman Williams, T. J. Deakins, R. L. Hood, Jr., G. Elmo Purvis, Rollin Burhans, Robert W. Pratt, Stewart McDaniel, Roy Martin, Lou Weinstead, Earl Nester, Farrie Cole, Jr., Donald Reed, John Spindler, Wilbur Helle, a Mr. Hixson, Joe Dodgen, Jack Foley, Richard Abington, Charles Register and Eldon Myers.

From the History of Moniteau County 2000:

On Sunday morning, May 7, 1905, a group of twenty people met at the Hickok (Harmony) schoolhouse about midway between High Point and Russellville for the purpose of organizing a Baptist church. Associational Missionary E M Lumpkin led in the constituting of the church, and Wade Miller gave one-fourth acre of land for the building site across the road from the general store in Corticelli. Bill Short, who owned the store, had named the town for the Corticelli Spool and Thread Co. whose thread he sold. At that time, there was also a post office and a blacksmith shop in Corticelli.

At the first meeting, the name "Corticelli" was selected as the name of the church. The church voted to meet on the first Saturday and Sunday of each month. The building was evidently erected that same year because on February 3, 1906, the church voted to release the building committee, and the completed structure was turned over to the trustees. A Sunday School was organized in March of 1906 and the new building was dedicated in July of that same year.

In 1960, the church building was moved back from the highway and placed on a full basement. In 1971, a vestibule was added on the front, and in 1976, six classrooms were added to the back of the church. In 1982, five large classrooms with full basement were added on to the east side of the building. That same year, the church was incorporated with the following officers: Darvin Shikles, president; Freman Fahrni, vice-president; Betty Parker, secretary; Margie Fahrni, treasurer and registered agent; Bill Schaffner, member.

As the congregation grew, it became obvious that a larger auditorium was needed, so on April 16, 1989, the church voted to build a new house of worship. The building of the 4400 sq ft structure began in July 1990. In addition to the 235-seat worship center, the new facility includes a large fellowship hall in the basement. Once again, as in the early history of the church, the land was donated - for the first expansion by Darvin Shikles and for the last one by Gerry Smith.

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