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A Brief History of Nativity In 1881, Greenwood was a small, unimpressive collection of river wharves, saloons, general stores, and a handful of frame houses. The levee systems that would turn the Mississippi Delta into a cotton-growing powerhouse had not yet been completed. There was little to attract new families willing to brave scorching summers, massive mosquitoes, and the network of swamps and bayous stretching from this Leflore County seat to the Carroll County hills. Without enough individuals to support separate denominational buildings, Greenwood worshipers of the 1880s met in a common center, designated as Union Church and located where the existing Ahavath Rayim Synagogue stands on East Market. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians took turns worshiping in Union Church, and each would eventually break away to start their own building programs. In May of 1881, four Episcopal families asked The Reverend William P. Browne of Canton to travel north and meet with them to discuss a Greenwood parish. Mr. and Mrs. Littleton Upshur, Mr. and
Mrs. Alex Henderson, Mr. and Mrs. Gideon Montjoy and Dr. and Mrs. J.H. Lucas spent the evening of May 24, 1881, discussing that possibility with Reverend Browne, and plans were laid for a new congregation, to be known as the Church of the Nativity. The most pressing need for this new parish was a suitable church building, and Greenwood had nothing to offer. Littleton Upshur donated land a few blocks south of the Yazoo River on Main Street (the current site of Fire Station #1), and Gid Montjoy began delivering lumber from his property. The little group’s groundbreaking was arranged in October of 1882, and by the following March, the new church was complete. Thirteen communicants were on the rolls when the Church of the Nativity was admitted into union with the Diocese of Mississippi in April 1883. Those thirteen souls had a building but struggled to find a full-time rector in this isolated corner of Mississippi. It wasn’t until 1889 that the Reverend Cecil P. Wilson agreed to move to Greenwood, but his tenure was short-lived,
“worship, love, belong, grow and serve.”
