About the Book
About the Book
Cross on the Rock
Cross on the Rock tells the inspiring story of Louisa, Kentucky’s historic Hilltop Methodist Church and the people whose faith shaped its legacy. Through the stained glass windows that line its sanctuary, author William H. Jackson reveals powerful stories of devotion, community, and Appalachian heritage. Blending history, genealogy, and faith, this book honors generations who built their lives around God and service. A heartfelt journey into Kentucky’s Christian roots and the enduring light of small-town faith.
What’s Inside the Book
01
A History Rooted in Faith and Community
Cross on the Rock begins with the rich and often challenging history of Hilltop Methodist Church, tracing its beginnings in the early 19th century through denominational changes, the Civil War split, and its transformation into the Hilltop Methodist Church in 2024. The book explores how the church grew alongside the town of Louisa, how early leaders shaped its direction, and how its people remained devoted through every era. It is a story of a community built on perseverance, faith, and a deep love for God.
02
The Meaning Behind Every Stained-Glass Window
At the heart of the book are the stories of the magnificent 112-year-old stained-glass windows that line the sanctuary. Each window is connected to a family, a life, or a moment etched in the history of Louisa. Inside the book, the reader meets donors whose lives were marked by love, devotion, or tragedy—stories such as the loss of young Margaret Yates, the enduring faith of Mary Wallace, or the service of community leaders like Rowland Tiernan Burns. These windows are not only works of art, but memorials that continue to shine the light of those who came before us.
03
Genealogy and the Families Who Built Our Church
The book offers detailed genealogical histories of the families who shaped the church: the Wallaces, the Yates, the Burgesses, the Roffes, the Burnses, the Crutchers, the Hughes family, and many others whose names are woven into the fabric of the sanctuary. Through birth records, marriages, photographs, and family stories, the generations come alive. These genealogies help readers connect the windows to the people behind them and reveal how deeply Appalachian families are rooted in faith, tradition, and service.
04
Personal Memories, Photographs, and Appalachian Heritage
Alongside historical records, the book includes the author’s personal recollections of growing up in Louisa—memories of the church by the courthouse, childhood Sundays, local shopkeepers, community leaders, and the relationships that made small-town life remarkable. The vivid descriptions, rare photographs, and heartfelt stories capture the character of Appalachian heritage. Together, they create a warm and intimate portrait of a community that has cherished its church for generations.
About the Book
The Unusual Life of Young Billy Jack
The Unusual Life of Young Billy is a coming-of-age memoir set in small-town Appalachia. Told with raw honesty and vivid imagination, it recounts a childhood shaped by strict rules, public humiliation, quiet endurance, and unexpected grace.
Billy Jack’s story blends memory with exaggeration, poetry with prose, and faith with doubt. Everyday moments, schoolrooms, church services, playgrounds, family rituals, become vivid scenes that reveal how identity is forged under pressure.
This is not a story of nostalgia. It is a confession, an exploration of how shame and laughter coexist, and how resilience is forged long before it is recognized. Humor runs throughout the narrative not as escape, but as survival. Spiritual reflection appears not as instruction, but as a quiet companion to suffering and growth.
At its heart, The Unusual Life of Young Billy is about becoming: learning to endure ridicule, stand alone, and claim one’s own voice. It is for anyone who has ever felt out of place, underestimated, or shaped by forces beyond their control, yet carried forward all the same.
What’s Inside the Book
01
A Childhood Told Without Filters
An unflinching account of growing up different in a small Appalachian town—filled with awkward moments, public humiliations, strict expectations, and the quiet pain of not fitting in.
02
Myth, Memory, and Meaning
Real-life events are transformed into mythic storytelling, where childhood experiences become symbols, and memory bends into something larger, truer, and more enduring.
03
Humor That Survives Hardship
Laugh-out-loud scenes sit beside moments of deep embarrassment and sorrow, showing how humor becomes armor—and sometimes salvation.
04
Faith, Resilience, and Identity
Spiritual reflection weaves through the narrative, revealing how belief, doubt, and endurance shape a boy into someone strong enough to survive—and remember.