Stephen Presley

Stephen Presley, a slave from Society Hill, was owned by Boykin Witherspoon. Presley was a carpenter by trade. He was married to Phyllis McIver Presley. Witherspoon, like many others, migrated West to Louisiana with over200 slaves, including Stephen Presley. Presley and other slaves helped build Witherspoon’s“ Buena Vista Plantation.” After slavery, Presley, founded, built and pastored three churches in Desoto Parish including Bethel Baptist Church in Frierson, Morningstar Baptist Church in Gloster, and Mechanicsville Baptist Church in Caspiana, Louisiana. Mechanicsville Baptist Church was name for the church and town in Presley’s native home of Darlington, South Carolina. All of the churches Presley founded are still active.