On November 8, 1833, Benjamin Hooker sold six acres of land for one dollar to Wilson County Trustees to build a school and a church affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The establishment of the school and church helped solidify this area in Wilson County as the Gladeville Community. The church and school have been in continuous operation since 1833. John Rice, a Methodist circuit rider, was the first preacher of the church built on this land. Methodists had been meeting in this same area since 1810.