Cornelia Alice Kirkley was born November 14, 1904, in Norphlet, Union County, Arkansas, to James and Willie Murphy Kirkley. When she was six years old, her family moved to Grady, Arkansas, which is located along the Choctaw Bayou in Lincoln County, about twenty-five miles south of Pine Bluff.In the

Centennial Missionary Baptist Church in Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas, was established on July 4, 1876. In August 1876, Reverend Robert Caver of Alabama was called to serve as the first pastor. Caver was followed by two other pastors who served brief periods. However, the church flourished under

Born on June 1, 1875, in Canada Peter McWilliam immigrated to America in 1880 and on September 7, 1896, became a naturalized citizen of the United States in Stark County, Illinois. He married Nelly May Jackson in Illinois on June 1, 1899, and by 1920 Peter moved his family to Polk County, Arkansas.