History of the Southern Baptistchurches in Texas: 1822-1845

Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic)

Authors Ray, Ann Smithey, 1916-

Publisher The University of Arizona.

Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this materialis made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona.Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such aspublic display or performance) of protected items is prohibitedexcept with permission of the author.

Download date 27/04/2018 18:35:51

Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/319823

HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CHURCHES IN

' ‘ TEXAS: 1822-1845

by

Ann Smi they Ray

A Thesiiis Submitted to the Faculty of the

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

In P a r t ia l F u l f i l lm e n t of the Requirements -For the Degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

In the Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

1 9 6 4

STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This thesis has been submitted in p a r t ia l f u l f i l l ­ment of requirements fo r an advanced degree a t The Univer­s i t y of Arizona and is deposited in the U n ive rs i ty L ibrary to be made a v a i la b le to borrowers under rules of the L ib r a r y .

B r ie f quotations from th is thesis are a l lowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknow­ledgment of source is made. Requests fo r permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of th is manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the mater ia l is in the in t e r ­ests of scholarship . In a l l other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author.

Si gned:

APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR

This thesis has been approved on the date shown below:

Dr. J.A. Beatson Professor of H is tory

Bite /

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is indebted to a number of ind iv idua ls of Tucson who expressed ah in te re s t in the subject and made t h e i r l i b r a r i e s containing va luab le m ater ia ls a v a i la b le fo r use. Special thanks are due Dr. John Saleman fo r the use of several books; to Rev. T.P. Lo t t fo r the use of a very old book; and to Dr. James.A, Beatson, professor of H is to ry , U n ivers i ty of Arizona, who f i r s t suggested the subject and th e r e a f te r served as thesis d i r e c to r .

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER I . INTRODUCTION.................. 1/■

BAPTIST BEGINNINGS. _______ 4

CHAPTER I I . SOUTHERN BAPTIST ORGANIZATION IN TH1. . . RE.PUBL I C . , . , , . , , , . t . , , . . . . . . 29

CHAPTER I I I . SOUTHERN BAPTIST WORK AMONG THE NEGROES.. . 56

CHAPTER IV. SOUTHERN BAPTIST AND STATEHOOD, 1 8 4 5 . . . . . . 70

L IS t OF REFERENCE'S. . . . . . . . ' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... 90

IV

ABSTRACT

His tory of the Southern Baptis t Churches

in Texas; 1822-1845

The h is to ry of the Southern Baptis t churches is woven

in to every f ib e r o f the h is to ry o f the Lone S tar State of

Texas, Pioneer Baptis ts came to Texas w ith A u s t in ’ s f i r s t

colon is ts to p lan t t h e i r crops and p ra c t ic e t h e i r ideals of

re l ig io u s and p o l i t i c a l l i b e r t y . B ap t is ts , l a t e r c a l le d

Southern B ap t is ts , found abundant opportunity to help lay the

foundation in the wilderness fo r the fu tu re commonwealth of

Texas, Bap tis t Chris t ians became the foremost leaders in

preaching the gospel, organizing B ap t is t churches and Sunday

schools fo r whites and Negroes, and bu i ld ing schools fo r the

education of t h e i r c h i ld re n .

Many Baptists were among the courageous leaders in the

movement fo r Texas’ independence from Mexico, The h is tory o f

Baptists in Texas is in te r la c e d in the s truggle fo r r e l ig io u s

l i b e r t y and the separation of church and s t a t e .

During the e a r ly years of the Republic of Texas, Bap­

t i s t churches increased and B ap t is t m in is ters came to witness

in grea te r numbers. The number of Sunday schools m u l t ip l ie d

and there were more Baptis t missionaries on the f i e l d . Bap­

t i s t churches organized in to Associat ions, then jo in ed with

other Southern Bap t is t churches In the Southern Baptis t con­

vention to promote e vang e l iza t ion on the home f i e l d and

abroad, in 1848 the Texas Bap t is t Convention was organized

to promote a l l Bap t is t work w i th in the s t a te .

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The f i r s t h a l f of the nineteenth century saw tremendous

struggles throughout the world. The world was in ferment po­

l i t i c a l l y , s o c ia l l y , i n t e l l e c t u a l l y , and r e l ig io u s ly . In the

United States these elements of s t r i f e were c u r r e n t „ Westward

expansion and the development of new condit ions and new p o l i t i ­

cal un its in te n s i f ie d these c o n f l i c t s . Re l ig ion is never

wholly f re e from secular inf luences, and the f i r s t h a l f of the

century witnessed many re l ig io u s c o n f l i c t s .

Texas was in the midst of the expansion movement where

the farmer sought r ich er land to grow cotton with slave labor.

Texas o f fe re d the Ch r is t ian w ith a missionary zeal a r ich op­

p ortun i ty fo r work. Baptists could be counted among the f i r s t

three hundred in Stephen F . A ust in 's colony.

In to the region east of the Sabine was the Anglo-Saxon

race in 1836 w ith t h e i r new ideas of re l ig io u s and p o l i t i c a l

l i b e r t y . South of the Rio Grande River was the La t in race

with t h e i r old ideas of re l ig io u s and p o l i t i c a l autocracy

sanctioned by many years of domination. Into th is vast t e r r i ­

tory which intervened pressed the determined vanguard of

these opposing cultures and c i v i l i z a t i o n s . This vanguard

which crossed the Sabine was motivated and impelled la rg e ly

by ind iv idua l i n i t i a t i v e and d r iv e . That group which crossed

the Rio Grande was sent by the centra l a u th o r i ty from Mexico

C ity . The decis ive s truggle of these two opposing forces

occurred a t San Jacinto where the hired mercenaries went down

i n. d e f e a t .

The end of th is m i l i t a r y c o n f l i c t was the beginning

of the re l ig io u s conquest of Texas. The Anglo-Americans were

now in control of Texas and there began an epoch in the s p i r i

tual h is to ry of the race. In the e a r ly 18301s a l l kinds of

people, f re e and s lave , came to Texas. A l l the major denom­

inations of C h r is t ia n i ty were represented. Among these was a

handful of B ap t is ts . Some of them were missionary; others

were ant i missionary; some were educated; some were uneducated

a few had l i t t l e wealth while the most were poor. But these

Baptists had one thing in common - - a b e l i e f in a s p i r i t u a l ,

democratic C h r is t ia n i t y instead of the a u to c ra t ic type.

Texas o f fe re d an equal opportunity in a new country

of immense natural resources and a country blessed with po­

l i t i c a l independence and re l ig io u s freedom. Here was an op­

p o r tu n i ty fo r a set of d is t in c t i v e re l ig io u s p r in c ip le s to

show t h e i r power and t h e i r worth to the social and re l ig io u s

commonwealth. The working formula of the Baptists has been

evangelism, C h r is t ian education and missions. The few Bap­

t i s t s in Texas probably numbered less than one hundred in

1836, but today tha t group makes, up one of the largest evan­

g e l ic a l groups in the s ta te and around the world. This

3

Increase In numbers has been accomplished by vo luntary e f fo r t s

on the part of a l l in d iv id u a ls .

In 1836 there were no Baptists nat ive to Texas. A l l

had come from various other areas. With them they brought

divergent ideas as to the means of accomplishing the Lord's

work. Added to th is was the extreme ind iv idua l ism that char­

a c te r ize d those Baptists tha t came to Texas. Other elements

in the l i f e of Texas Baptists were t h e i r courage and aggres­

siveness. Their doctr ine of re l ig io u s freedom is held only

with reference to man. With reference to God, Baptists fe e l

a holy bondage to obey a l l His w i l l to the uttermost parts of

the ea r th . These two convictions combined to create a t r e ­

mendous dr iv in g power in Texas Baptis t a c t i v i t y .

The Bapt is t record is w r i t t e n in the heart and l i f e

of Texas h is to ry . Baptists helped pave the way fo r the Anglo-

American race to dominate the l i f e of Texas; Baptists came

with Stephen F. Austin to s e t t l e ; Baptists fought and died fo r

the independence of Texas; Baptists played a dominant ro le in

the organiza t ion of the Republic of Texas; Baptists continued

to play an in f luencing role in r e l ig io u s , p o l i t i c a l , s o c i a l ,

and in t e l l e c t u a l l i f e of the Lone Star Republic, even into

her b i r t h in to the Union in 1845.

BAPTIST BEGINNINGS

Baptists had estab l ished themselves in the colonies,

by the close of the colonia l per iod, and had come to represent

one of the largest church organizat ions in America. Their

congregational type of democratic government, t h e i r be l ie f : : in

separation of church and s ta te , and t h e i r b e l i e f in re l ig io u s

l i b e r t y appealed to the common people and helped es tab l ish

t h e i r prominence in rural America and on the f r o n t i e r of

which Texas was a p a r t .

Texas, the drama of our own Baptis t s to ry , has a won­

derfu l h is to ry . Everything tha t conspires to make h is tory

s t r i k i n g , t h r i l l i n g , and fa sc in a t in g has been recorded in

Texas. There were s t i r r i n g episodes of buccaneering, f i l i ­

buster ing , savagery, romance, adventure, tragedy, comedy,

heroism, s a c r i f i c e , rev o lu t io n , wars both in te rn a l and e x t e r ­

n a l , great c i t i z e n s h ip and statesmanship.^ B a p t is ts ' entrance

in Texas was under the Spanish government which was a combina­

t io n of church and s ta te . I t was a government of compulsion,

hence missions had both missions and f o r t , both p r ie s t and

soldi e r .^

1. J.M. C a r r o l l , A H is tory of Texas B a p t is ts , D allas , 1923, p . 2.

5

By the time the Anglo-Americans a r r iv e d on the scene

in Texas in the opening years of the nineteenth century, the

remarkable work of the Franciscans to convert the Indians to

the Catholic f a i t h had dwindled to a l i t t l e more than a mem- 2

o r y . The b e a u t i fu l mission bui ld ings around San Antonio

alone stand as reminders of the consecrated endeavor. ^ Such

was the re l ig io u s background in the region of Texas when the

f i r s t Baptists made a path in Texas w ith t h e i r re l ig io u s z e a l ,

Anglo-Americans began crossing the Sabine River into

Texas s h o r t ly a f t e r the purchase of Louisiana from France in..

3« "Of t h e i r f i r s t mission a t I s l e t a , near El Paso, founded in 1680, very l i t t l e remained. Their mission among the Tejas Indians between the Neches and the T r i n i t y r iv e r s , founded i n . 1690 a f t e r La S a l le 's death, had been abandoned and t ran s fe rre d to San Antonio. Their missions on the Gulf Coast, on the San Saba and the centra l r iv e rs were gone.Only the missions near San Antonio remained, and those had not been wholly successfu l . The nomadic Texas Indians, un­l ik e the sedentary Indians of.New M exico , .d id not respond to the Franciscan zea l ,and d is c ip l in e ^ the Spanish so ld ie rs in the adjo in ing presidios n e u tra l ize d the e f f o r t s of the p r ie s ts in the missions which they were supposed to pro tec t ; and the whole e n te rp r is e was v i t i a t e d by the p o l i t i c a l ends sought by, the Spanish government, which was c h ie f l y in te res ted in keeping the french and others out o f Texas, and used the missions as a scheme to accomplish tha t purpose." (Herbert E. Bolton,The Mission as a Front ! er I n s t i t u t i o n In Spanish-American Colonies, El Paso, I960, pp .T1-13^20)7 "

4, J.M. Dawson, "Missions and M iss io nar ies ," Centen­n ia l Story of Texas B a p t is ts , Chicago, 1936, p . 17.

6

1803. This stream of immigrants increased as the years passed.

I t is reasonable to suppose tha t Baptists were among them.^

As e a r ly as 1812, Baptis t preachers v is i t e d Texas, preached, conducted prayer meetings and other re ­l ig ious services in the country. Of those the e a r l i e s t pa th f inders , i t is deplored tha t the record is obscure and so vague tha t th is statement is in i ts widest sense a deduction. I t is also deeply re g re t ted , fo r the c r e d i t of Baptists and the t ru th of h is to ry , tha t exact dates and precise l o c a l i t i e s cannot be g iv e n .°

There were two reasons other than carelessness which expla in

the obscurity of the e a r ly records: namely, the lordship of

the p r ies ts and the Mexican V ig i la n te s .

Other records show tha t the memorable b a t t l e of New

Orleans,^ in 1815, was the decis ive signal fo r the beginning of

the occupation of the West by emigrants from the older s ta te s .

Up to the close of the American Revolution, few white s e t t l e r s

from the states ly ing eastward had ventured so f a r as M is s is ­

sippi and Louisiana. As ea r ly as 1806, emigrants from the

5. The Union Baptis t Association: Centennial Bapt is t H is tory , 1840-1940, Brenham, Texas, pp .5-17.

6. I b i d .

7. B.F. R i le y , H is tory of the Baptists of Texas, D allas , 1907s p . 13,

)

United States entered Texas. There was the contention of some

tha t Texas was a part o f the t e r r i t o r y purchased from Napoleon.

So a t t r a c t i v e to the venturesome emigrant were the r ich and

wide p la in s , the l im i t le s s woods, and the abounding game be­

yond the great r i v e r , that nothing more than a bare presump­

t ion was needed tha t Texas was a v i r t u a l part of the purchased

t e r r i t o r y . This r ic h f e r t i l e land served as a perpetual

allurement to the emigrant seeking an improvement in his

condi t i o n .

Among Stephen F. A u s t in 's f i r s t three hundred fam i-8 ■ l i e s , there were a number of Baptists which fa c t is well au­

then t ica ted in the Texas Scrap Book. Dr. D.M. C arro l l in his

book. H is tory of Texas B a p t is ts , names eleven of them. I t was

8. These three hundred fa m i l ie s were c a r e f u l l y se lected , a s .were the nine hundred others who came la te r in three d i f f e r e n t groups, because Austin had taken a solemn oath to bring none but. moral, peaceable, law-abiding and industrious men in to Texas. He was never accused, not even by Mexicans,of breaking his promise.

9. E l i j a h A l lcorn and probably his w i fe ; Mrs. J .P. Coles, and probably Judge J.P. Coles; Thomas Davis, David F i t z g e r a ld , Chester S. Corbet, Wil l iam, Harvey,, W il l iamKi ncheloe, Abner Kuykendall, John McNei ,11 (be l ieved by the author of th is paper to be a r e l a t i v e of the fam i ly whose fam i ly record shows him to have fought in the b a t t l e of the Alamo), John M. Moore, John Smith, and probably the wives of several of these men.

8

probably in the home of W il l iam K in c h e lp e ^ tha t t h e . f i r s t

Baptis t preaching occurred, in Aust in 's colony,^ ̂ This section

of Texas was known at tha t time as Western Texas. There were

two main routes then to Texas. One was by the Mississippi

and Red r iv e rs to points between Alexandria and Shreveport,

Louisiana, thence overland to Texas. The other was by the

Mississippi to New Orleans and overland or by way of the Gulf

to Galveston and M ata g o rd a ,^ B ap t is ts , fo l low ing these

t rave led routes, helped s e t t l e south Texas and moved with the

t id e of migrat ion deeper in to centra l and north Texas seeking

b e t te r land and evangeliz ing as they went.

10. Kincheloe, the Bapt is t lay leader, had planted the f i r s t Texas corn crop. This was fo l lowing the massacre of his four guards in the capebrake, near the present s i t e of Wharton, by the murderous Carancahua Indians, said to be the only cannibals in the more^than f o r t y . t r i b e s . A f te r the In d i ­ans had burned the storehouse containing the only tools Kincheloe had, he burned o f f the t a l l sedge grass capebrake from the r ich bottom land and with a sharpened s t ic k with which to penetrate the r ich s o i l planted the seed-corn. The corn grew ancj he harvested a bount ifu l crop.

11. Austin seemed to have had the t e r r i t o r y between the T r i n i t y and Colorado r iv e r s , and from the San Antonio Road through what is now Burleson and Brazos counties to the Gulf in which to locate his co lonies , now included in the Union Baptis t Associat ion, Crossing the Brazos about where,Wash­ington stood, the f i r s t camp was made on a stream about midway between Washington and Bfenham which Austin named New Year 's Creek in honor of the day, January 1, 1822.

12. Union Baptis t Associa t ion, p . 5, The black land of centra l and n^Fth Texas was "'as prFduct ive as south Texas and b e t te r drained. Ip l a t e r years, th is led to the migrat ion of the e a r ly s e t t l e r s in south Texas to the in v i t in g p r a i r ie s f a r ­ther north and west. The e a r ly s e t t l e r s sold t h e i r holdingsto the incoming peoples and moved in to centra l and north Texas,

13. I b i d . , p .6,

As Stephen F. Aust in 's f i r s t colony came through

Camp Sabine, Louisiana, in December, 1821, Joseph Bays, af 1 LlBaptis t missionary and a f r ie n d of A u s t in 's , jo in ed them,

receiv ing an a l lo tm ent of land the same as the others . In

the newly implanted colony in Texas, Bays continued to preach1 c .

contrary to the Mexican law. He was arrested by the Mexican

a u th o r i t ie s and was being sent under heavy guard to San Anton­

io fo r t r i a l , but escaped while encamped on the San Marcos1 jT

River and was never recaptured. During th is escape, he was

befriended in the home of Joe Kuykendall , near Fort Bend on

the Brazos R iver .

14. Bays, l i k e Austin, ha i led from Missouri . O r i g i ­n a l ly the Bays fam ily had come from North Carolina to Boons- borough, Kentucky. Joseph Bays and Daniel Boone were neighbors and f r ie n d s . Bays probably, heard of Texas from men returning from f i l i b u s t e r i n g expeditions in 181$ and 1819. In the la te 1820's Joseph Bays was a t Hugh McGuffin's in Louisiana near Camp Sabine where he began.preaching to several hundred fam i­l ie s in the camp. As soon as the Americans west of the Sabine heard of him, they came over to hear him preach. The preacher returned the v i s i t across the r i v e r and preached in the homeof Joseph Hinds located about eighteen miles from Sah Augustine Mission and Roman Catholic a u t h o r i t i e s . The Texas prov inc ia l government, hearing of th is preaching, forbade any fu r th e r Baptis t encroachments. Under Joseph Bay's preaching, B i l l y Cook, a Universal 1st preacher, was converted,

15. Aust in 's contract fo r sett lement in Texas in 1821 was w ith the new independent government of Mexico ,that had in tha t same month proclaimed i ts freedom from Spain. The Mexi­can government in terms of sett lement s t ip u la te d that; a l l those Anglo-American s e t t l e r s must be Catho lics .

16. Later while the Bays were l iv in g in San Augustine County in 1848, some Mormon missionaries came through the area preaching t h e i r do c tr ine , and Mrs. Bays, who had been married to Joseph fo r f o r t y years, together, wi th the e ldes t son, Harry, fo l lowed them to Utah. This tragedy in the pioneer preacher's l i f e ruined his health and g r e a t ly himdered his preaching in Texas. He died in 1854,

10

Among the e a r ly pa th f ind ers . Freeman Smalley's name

has been recorded, having journeyed from Ohio to Texas on

r iv e r r a f ts and by foot about 1822. Smalley preached his

f i r s t sermon a t Pecan Point on Red River in the home of his

b r o th e r - in - la w , W i l l iam Newman, ^̂ I t is be l ieved by many

that th is was the f i r s t Bapt is t sermon preached in Texas„

Smalley's very strong a b o l i t io n views probably hindered his

a b i l i t y to gain access to the Texas people; however, the

records show that he organized the f i r s t a n t i - s la v e r y church

in T e x a s .^

Thomas Hanks was the t h i r d Baptis t preacher to come■ • 1 9 1 ? 0to Texas. Coming from Tennessee in 1829, he had the d is ­

t in c t io n of having secured and baptized the f i r s t convert

west of the Brazos R iv e r .

17- Encyclopedia of Southern B ap t is ts , N a s h v i l le ,I I , 1958, P . 1 I7 V • 6 .

1 8 .Freeman Smalley's purpose in coming to Texas was to f in d his s is te r who had married some years p r io r to th is and with whom the fam i ly had lost a l l connection. This e a r ly p io ­neer Baptis t preacher was a man of l im i te d education, but he was blessed w ith a good supply of common sense. (Dawson, op.

19. The Union Baptis t Association: Centennial B ap t is t Hi s t o r y , p . 81,

20. Another Tennessean was Isaac Reed who came to Texas in 1834 and s e t t le d nine miles north of Nacogdoches, He had won a name fo r himself in Tennessee as the moderator of. his associat ion and was numbered among the t ru s ted Baptis t leaders of west Tennessee. This s ta te was a f r u i t f u l f i e l d fo r B ap t is ts , there being about 30,000 communicants in the s ta te by 1835.

Another pioneer who entered in to the making of Bap tis t21h is to ry in Texas was T„J» P i lg r im , a layman, who came from

western New York v ia wagons, the Allegheny, Ohio and M iss is ­

sippi r iv e r s , the Gulf and Matagorda Bay to the town of 22

Matagorda, . thence on foot to San F e l ip e , where Aust in 's c o l ­

ony was l o c a t e d . | n 1829 T .J , P i lg r im organized what is be­

l ieved to be the f i r s t Sunday school in Texas a t San F e l i p e . 24

Concerning the f i r s t Sunday School, T .J . P i lg r im wrote:

21. P i lg r im was born in Connecticut on the 19th of December, 1805. He landed in Texas on a day between Christ mas and New Year 's in 1828, and died at Gonzales, Texas, October 29, 1877.

22. Matagorda was composed of two log cabins in 1828. See C a r r o l l , op. c i t , , p . 19.

23. In w r i t in g fo r the Texas Scrap Book, P i lg r im stated tha t his t r i p from New Orleans to Matagorda.by. boat took twenty-two days. He walked from Matagorda to the home of Daniel Rawls in a dr iv ing storm. A f te r enjoying "good country fa r e " , he walked on to San Fe l ipe de A u s t in : .

. The fo l low ing day I was introduced to the Empresario Stephen F. Austin , whom I found an i n t e l l i g e n t and a f fa b le gentleman, and whom, so long as he l iv e d , was proud to number among my warmest f r iend s and most devoted f r ie n d s ,

24. T .J . P i lg r im , "Report on Sunday Schools,"Texas Scrap Book, p . 69.

12

I soon engaged in teaching, and succeeded in a short time In ra is in g a school of about f o r t y scholars, mostly b o y s . , , . Contemplating in imagina­t ion what Texas.. .must soon become, I f e l t the necessity of moral and re l ig io u s as well as i n t e l ­lec tua l c u l tu r e , and resolved to make an e f f o r t to found a Sunday School. Notice was given through the school, th a t on the fo l low ing Sunday an address would be de l ivered on the subject and I was g r a t i ­f ie d to see at tha t time a large and respectable audience assembled.

The lectures were well attended u n t i l a d i f f i ­c u l ty arose between some Mexicans from the i n t e r i o r and some c i t i z e n s involved in a lawsuit decided against the Mexicans. The Empresario deemed i t prudent to discontinue them fo r a time as i t was s t r i c t l y against c o lo n iz a t io n , which s t r i c t l y pro­h ib i te d Protestant w orship .25

In the fo l low ing summer two other Sunday schools were organized,

one on Old Caney and the other a t M a tag o rd a .^ T ,J . P i lg r im

was a l l his l i f e an en thu s ia s t ic Sunday School worker as shown

by the records. He was most u n w i l l in g fo r any cause to be

absent from the Sunday School in Gonzales where he acted as

the superintendent. In consequence of th a t he r a r e ly attended

meetings a t a distance from his home.^ In th is way he kept

25. i b i d .

26. T .J . P i lg r im , "Report on Sunday Schools," Minutes of Baptis t State Convention, 1856. Z.N. M orre l l mentions the establishment Of th is f i r s t Sunday School in Texas in 1829 in Flowers and F ru i ts in the Wilderness, p .73. Some of the e a r ly Sunday Schools were uni on schools in which Baptists helped. Pi lg r im reported in 1851 that in Colorado Association there were 24 union Sunday schools,

27. J .B. Link, Texas H is to r ic a l and Biographical Maga z in e , Austin , . 1891 ^-1892,. p . 564,

13

up an in te re s t in his Sunday school fo r a long succession of

years, as the fo l low ing report indicated:

. . .Sabbath schools are now considered the necessary appendage of every C h r is t ian C h u rc h . . . , More than th re e - fo u r th s of the members of our churches are now received from the Sabbath schools, and nineteen- twentieths of our missionaries to fore ign f i e ld s received here t h e i r f i r s t impressions.. . . The w r i t e r of th is well r ec o l le c ts seeing one of the judges of our supreme court , on a Sabbath morning, a t the head of his class in a Sunday school, and when such men become teachers, what may we not expect o f t h e i r p u p i ls . Your committee would earnest ly recommend the establishment of a Sunday school in connection with each church. They can and they ought to be m a in ta in e d . . . .a n d should not our deacons, i f they cannot in s t r u c t , a t le a s t , fee l i t t h e i r duty to attend and give them the encouragement of t h e i r presence. . . . 28

T .J . P i lg r im not only be l ieved in the good which Sun­

day schools accomplished, but he bel ieved in the goodness of

the people of Texas as the report below has shown:

1 would here correct one erroneous impression in re la t io n to the character o f the e a r ly s e t t l e r s of Texas, Many be l ieve they were rude and ignorant, with many vices and very few v i r t u e s , and fo r the most part refugees from ju s t i c e and enemies to law and order . That there were some rude and i l l i t e r a t e people among them, is no more than may be said of almost any soc ie ty , and tha t some were v ic ious and depraved is equa l ly t rue; but what there was of e v i l you saw on the surface, fo r there was no e f f o r t a t concealment and no reason to act a borrowed p a r t . Assassins, i f there were any, appeared as such; how they often appear in the guise of gentlemen, tha t they may conceal t h e i r t rue .characters and accomplish t h e i r o b jec t . No one estimates more h ighly than the

2 8 .T .J . P i lg r im , "Report on Sunday Schools," Mihutes % of Seventh Annual Session of Colorado Associa t ion , 1853.

14

w r i t e r the in t e l l ig e n c e , e n te rp r is e and v i r t u e of the present population, and yet he f u l l y be l ieves there were, in the e a r ly h is tory of Texas, more col lege-bred men, in proportion to the population, than now, and as much in t e l l ig e n c e , good common sense and moral and re l ig io u s c u l tu re among the females as among the ladies of the present day.Many had moved in the higher c i r c le s of our large c i t i e s , and some had f i l l e d s ta t ions of honor and r e s p o n s ib i l i t y . Some were in c i te d to emigrate by a s p i r i t of e n te rp r ise and romance, and some, hav­ing been unfortunate In t h e i r pecuniary en te rp r is e s , sought to improve t h e i r circumstances in a new country, and not a few were the vo ta r ies of hea lth , who, unable to endure longer the r igors of a cold c l im a te , sought r e l i e f in the sunny climes of the South . . . .

A kinder and more hospitable p e o p le . . . .n e v e r l iv e d . Their houses were welcome homes to each other , and never was the stranger rudely repulsed or sent away empty. . . . t h e i r fa re was f a r from be­ing meager. Bears, deer, turkeys, geese, ducks and s q u ir re ls .w ere plenty and e a s i ly obtained; and chickens, eggs, sweet potatoes, m i lk , b u t te r , were in abundance on every t a b l e . , . . ,29

There were other Baptists who were assert ing t h e i r

f a i t h before the Texas rev o lu t io n . in 1829 a man whose la s t

name was Shipman opened his home fo r a Baptis t sermon, preached

by Thomas Hanks. James D. A l lc o rn , a f terward a deacon in the

Independence church, made a profession a t th is t ime, and l a t e r 30

was baptized. Mrs. Massie M i l l a r d , l i v in g north of Nacog­

doches in 1832-1833, conducted a prayer meeting in a th icke t

where she and her neighbors had sought sa fe ty from the2 I

Indians.

29. Link, op. e f t . , p . 368. (Although P i lg r im was from Connecticut, he was” a Democrat and espoused the cause of the Confederacy.) .

30. Encyclopedia of Southern B a p t is ts , p . 1375.

31. Ibid,

15

The f i r s t Baptis t church of any kind a c tu a l ly organ­

ized in Texas was, according to the best a u t h o r i t i e s , the

"Providence P r im i t iv e ( 'H a r d - S h e l l ' ) Church", on the Colorado

River, some twelve or f i f t e e n miles below the present town of

Bastrop, March 29, 1834. This church was organized by Abner32Smith, from Alabama, a preacher s trongly opposed to missions.

As ferment fo r the revo lu t ion strengthened. Bap t is ts '

assert ion became more emphatic. A Bapt is t m in is te r , Isaac

R e e d , 33 explained his s i lence thus: " I t probably would have

cost a man his l i f e to have preached other than Catho lic doc­

t r in e s so near to Nacogdoches, the then headquarters in east

Texas,"3^ Although the Mexican government s t ip u la te d tha t a l l

the Anglo-American s e t t l e r s must be Catho lics , the Baptists

protested the denial of freedom of worship. Whatever the ways

of n u l l i f y i n g the co lon ia l con trac ts . Secretary of State

Lucas Alaman declared the s t ip u la t io n was a dead l e t t e r and3f

there was not among the Texas co lon is ts one who was a Catho l ic .

32. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , p . 22.(Daniel Parker, founder of the "Two-Seed" sect o f B ap t is t ,

-brought the e n t i r e church of 7 members, acquir ing .11 more on the way to Texas, in January, 1834. in theory Daniel Parker was opposed.to missions. J.M. C a r r o l l , the Bap t is t h is to r ia n , a t t r ib u t e s to Parker the communicating of an an t i -m iss ion s p i r i t to many Baptis t churches in East Texas, which pers is t to the present day, even though the f in a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of the P i lg r im Church is impossible.

33. Arr ived in Texas from Tennessee in 1834.

34. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , p . 22.

35. I b i d . , p . 19.

This was not due to a one-sided v io la t io n on the part of the

s e t t l e r s , however, because the Mexican o f f i c i a l s did not

themselves begin to comply with t h e i r pledge to fu rn ish ade­

quate re l ig io u s leadership and equipment fo r re l ig io u s worship

and t r a in in g . Most de fec t ive had, been th is prov is ion , and

e s p e c ia l ly hard on the s e t t l e r s , because marriages, unless

celebrated by Catholic p r ie s ts , were not recognized as le g a l .

Among the most notable e a r ly preachers, no name stands

higher than th a t of Z.N. M orre l l in Baptis t h is to ry .

M o r r e l l ' s personal account is interwoven with the s ta te of

society and the r is e and progress of c i v i l i z a t i o n and r e l ig io n

in the e a r ly h is to ry of Texas B ap t is ts , having spent t h i r t y -

s ix years in laying i t s foundation from December of 1835 to

October of 1 8 7 1 .^ To Morre l l belongs the d is t in c t io n of being

the most daring and the most aggressive of the pioneer B apt is t37 38preachers. Several fac to rs helped to commit th is courageous

preacher to spend his l i f e in Texas; one reason being his

36„ Z.N. M o r r e l l , Flowers and F ru i ts in the W i lder ­ness, D a l las , Fourth Edition^ 1886, p.'20'.

37. B.F. R i le y , H is tory of Baptists in Texas,Da l las , 1907,- p.. 18.

38. Upon the recommendation of two physicians be­cause of lung hemorrhage, M orre l l turned his face to Texas in the f a l l of 1834.

17

f r ie nd s h ip w ith another notable from Tennessee, Sam Houston.^9

In the f a l l of 1835, M orre l l and his fam ily were in

Mississippi on the Yallabusha River wait ing fo r the cldud of

revo lu t ion in Texas to 1i f t M o r r e l l jo ined a group of men

on t h e i r way to explore Texas to locate a s u i ta b le spot to41 ■

s e t t l e . Entering Texas on December 21, 1835, M orre l l t r a v ­

eled as f a r west as the "F a l ls of the Brazos". He preached

his f i r s t sermon on Texas s o i l on December 30, 1835, on L i t t l e

39. Sam Houston was a lready in Texas among the Chero­kee Indians, p u l l in g wires by making fr iends w ith a l l the w i ld t r ib e s of red men; intending with t h e i r a id , and with what emi­gra t ion he could draw out from Tennessee and elsewhere, to set in motion "a l i t t l e two-,horse republ ic under the Lone S ta r , " with the fond expectation tha t he would be i ts f i r s t pres ident. Houston had p r iv a te ly prophesied th is would be the case, in a c o n f id e n t ia l in te rv iew w ith his f r ie n d McIntosh, a deacon of the Bapt is t church in N a s h v i l le , about the time he abandoned the gubernator ia l cha ir of Tennessee, McIntosh, knowing th a t Morre l l had Texas on his mipd and in view of the fa c t thatthe preacher,was a f r ie n d and admirer of Houston, committed the above secret to him.

40. M o r re l l , op. c i t », p . 22. (Friends from Tennessee, Chester and Hayes, both nephews by marriage to General Jack­son, President of the United Sta tes , jo ined the M o r re l1 . fam­i l y in December, 1835... Moore and Hunt, deacons of the f i r s t two churches which M orre l l organized here, and Dr. B u t le r , an old f r ie n d , jo ined the group. These men were on t h e i r way to examine the country of Texas, fo r they had recen t ly seen a l e t t e r from General Jackson to Adam Huntsman, of Tennessee,to the e f fe c t tha t Colonel Anthony B u t le r , then m in is te r to Mexico, was instructed by the president to accede to proposi­t ions made by General Santep Anna, and close a t re a ty for a l l the t e r r i t o r y east of the Rio Graprtde. The supposition then was tha t a purchase would soon.be made, and Texas would be f re e from Mexican ru le and the tyranny of p r i e s t c r a f t .

41. The "F a l ls of the Brazos" was the place chosen to found a se tt lem ent. .

18

River in the home of an old Tennessee f r ie n d . Captain Goldsby

Childress, whose w ife was a B a p t i s t . C o n c e r n i n g his de­

c is ion to move to Texas, Morre l l wrote:

Our mission was accomplished, and we were s e r io us ly considering the p ropr ie ty of moving the fam ily e ight hundred m iles , to s e t t l e in the wilderness. The cl im ate was c e r t a in ly s u i ta b le fo r one in my condi­t io n , and as I could n e i ther preach in Tennessee nor Mississ ipp i without endangering my l i f e , i f e l t a strong in c l in a t io n to make the change. A f te r much prayer and meditat ion my mind was made up, and I thank God fo r the d e c is io n .^3

Z.N. M o r r e l l ' s second sermon, a prelude to a m in is try

in Texas destined to r is e to sublime heights, was de l ivered

on the s t re e t in Nacogdoches on the 10th of January, 1836,

as he was return ing to his home in the United Sta tes . A

large crowd of Americans, Mexicans, and Indians of several

t r ib e s had gathered on the s t r e e t . For his p u l p i t , Morre l l

used a foundation which had ju s t been la id fo r a new b u i ld in g .

As he preached, a carr iage and some wagons pu l led up close to

where he was standing, and M orre l l recognized the W il l iam

Walker family from Hardiman County, Tennessee, three of whose• I * - -t. J * j I

daughters he had baptized in the old s ta te . A f te r the

42. M o r r e l l , op. c i t . , p . 44. (Morre l l and his f i v e companions spent about f i v e d a y s here, near where the c i t y of Austin now stands on the Colorado R i v e r . )

43. I b i d . , pp .44-45.

44. j j b i d . , p . 48. (A f te r th is exp lora tory t r i p to Tex­as , M orre l l took a Red River Steamer a t Nachi toches fo r Natchez where he reshipped from there and landed in Memphis. Passing through the western d i s t r i c t of Tennessee, he preached.to his old churches and renewed old acquaintances, having been absent from them fo r about s ix months.)

19

message, the preacher received many hearty handshakes which

added encouragement.

A f te r Morre l l re jo ined his fam ily in Mississippi in

the spring, preparations were made fo r t h e i r journey and

sett lement in Texas. Teams had to be purchased and supplies

la id in fo r a long overland journey which required some t ime.

In the meantime back in Texas the c i t i z e n s had declared t h e i r

independence from Mexico.

The h is tory of Baptists in Texas, as well as in the

United States , is woven in the struggle fo r re l ig io u s l i b e r t y .

Upon the adoption of the Texas Dec lara t ion of Independence a t

Washington-on-the-Brazos, March 2, 1836, in the blacksmith

shop of the B a p t is t , N.T. Byars, the Convention, w ith another

Baptis t layman, Judge Richard E l l i s , p res id ing, emphatical ly

complained of denial of freedom of worship by the Mexican gov­

ernment and set down the fo l low ing b i t t e r protest :

Tt denies us the r ig h t of worshipping the Almighty according to the d ic ta tes of our own conscience; by the support of a nat ional r e l ig io n c a lcu la ted to promote the temporal in te res ts of i ts human func­t io n a r ie s fa th er than the g lo ry of the true and l i v in g God.45

War was coming to Texas, but Z.N. M orre l l had f e l t

God's c a l l to th is land and would not give i t up. Each day's

t rave l from Nachitoches to the Sabine, M orre l l met fam i l ies

running away from Texas who t r i e d to persuade the preacher to

p. 19.45. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , op. c i t . ,

20

turn back, but to no a v a i l . Of th is account the pioneer

preacher wrote:

I was upbraided by everybody I met, and by some cursed as a f o o l , declar ing my fam i ly would be s la in e i th e r by Mexicans or Indians before we would get f a r beyond the Sabine. Seldom in l i f e had I turned back, and t ru s t in g in„God, we t r a v e l l e d on.^°

As Texas' independence was being fought and won in the B a t t le

of San Jacinto near Houston, Z.M. Morre l l began his long

preaching m in is try in Texas and l inked i t w ith the p o l i t i c a l47

destiny of his new adopted land. He proclaimed the gospel

and a t the same time fought against the encroachments of the

Mexicans and Indians:

Z.N. M orre l l be l ieved in work. No one ever knew him to spend a s ing le day in Id leness. He worked because he loved C h r is t , and th a t he might do good.Money did not inf luence him in his t o i l s . He poured i t out l i k e water to help the impoverished sold ie rs of Texas in t h e i r e a r ly struggles fo r l i b e r t y . The poor and our missions found in him a s p i r i t to give a l l he had, when necessity demanded i t . He did not work fo r p o p u la r i ty . He loved his brethren and loved t h e i r approval, as a l l C h r is t ian men ought to do, but when he thought the cause of freedom or the gospel required him to go against the popular c u r re n t , no one ever knew him to waver

46. M o r r e l l , op. c i t . , p . 50.

47. Joseph Bays, who had f le d from the Mexican au­t h o r i t i e s in Texas to Sabine Parish, Louisiana, took an ac­t iv e part in campaign a t the B a t t le of San Jac into withhis son, Henry.

21

as a c i t i z e n , s o ld ie r , C h r is t ian or preacher. He had f a i t h , he had courage, and he had knowledge.He was temperate, p a t ie n t and godly. He possessed a large measure of b ro th er ly kindness and c h a r i ty .. . . His hand, but of love fo r God and humanity sowed unsparingly the seed of l i b e r t y , the f r u i t of which we enjoy t o d a y . . . . The poor and i l l i t e r a t e found in him always an earnest and sympathizing f r ie n d . Though himself uneducated, he put fo r th his hand and voice to help every school based on C h ris t ian p r i n c i p l e s . . . . I can never dwell on his l i f e and character without associat ing w ith him the doctr ines of s o u l - l i b e r t y , s a lv a t io n by grace, experimental r e l ig io n and f ru i tbear i n g . . . . So we have a l l loved him and greeted him in our houses, so and more has he loved us, and w ith fonder g re e t5 ings w i l l he welcome us to his Father 's h o u s e . . . . °

Z.N. M orre l l is c red i ted with d e l iv e r in g the f i r s t sermon ever

preached in Washington-on-the-Brazos, on Tuesday, January 3,

1837? where, a l i t t l e l a t e r , he organized the f i r s t Missionary

Baptis t church on Texas s o i l , and became i t s f i r s t pastor.

This church sent out the f i r s t appeal fo r m iss ionar ies . I t

e l i c i t e d the f in a n c ia l backing of Jessee Mercer which resu lted

in the coming of some preachers who w i l l be named in la te r

chapters. Z.N. M orre l l preached in Houston, Sunday, March 19,

1837j the f i r s t sermon heard in th a t c i t y so fa r as the

records show.

48. Link, op. ci t . , pp.396-397. ( Extracts from a memorial sermon by Rev. M.V. Smith de l ivered a t Kyle, Texas, in 1884, one year fo l lowing M o r r e l l ' s death.) .

49. Z.N. M orre l l had many Tennessee f r iend s already in Texas; some were Baptists and others, p o l i t i c i a n s . He and t h e . ex-congressmah, David Crockett , from Gibson County ,Tennes­see, had planned to meet on the "F a l ls o f , th e Brazos" fo r a bear hunt during the preacher's f i r s t t r i p in to Texas, but the meeting never occurred. Crockett and the preacher had l ivedin the same county fo r e igh t years and had jo in ed together on several occassions in the chase. Sam Houston and Z.N. M orre l l

22

Combining preaching w ith m i l i t a r y serv ice , Z,N. Mor­

r e l l united his e f f o r t s to protect the homes and l ives of

the new s e t t l e r s w ith tha t of seeking to win them to C h r is t .

He t r a v e l l e d more ex ten s iv e ly , preached more f re q u e n t ly , and

suffered more severely than did any of the preachers who pre­

ceded or fol lowed him in the great work of e s tab l ish ing Bap­

t i s t roots in the v i r g in fo rests and on the r o l l i n g p r a i r ie sc t 50 .of Texas.

The f r u i t s of Baptis t witnessing were beginning to

r ipen in the foundation of churches in the more populated

areas of Texas. Four miles north o f Nacogdoches, Isaac Reed

and Robert E. Green organized Union Church, l a t e r cal led Old

North Church, known to be the o ldest Bapt is t church in the

s ta te having continuous existence since May, 1838.

v i s i t e d in San Augustine as the preacher's fam ily was e n te r ­ing Texas and Houston was recuperating from a leg wound re ­ceived in the B a t t le of San Jac in to . Houston held no doubt of the success, of the " l i t t l e two-horse rep u b l ic " , and M orre l l agreed tha t th is land would have " f r u i t s and flowers in the w ilderness". The destiny of these,two men is w r i t te n in the h is to ry of the Lone Star Republic and is interwoven in the h is tory of the Bapt is t beginnings.

5 0 . Dawson, op. c i t . , p . 8 1 .

23

Among the Baptis t witnesses, George Webb Slaughterr I

should be named,D He is said to have baptized 2,509 converts

during his m i n i s t r y , w h i c h la rg e ly centered around and be­

yond Mineral Wells and old Palo Pinto and was c a r r ie d on in

conjunction with s tockra is ing from which he accumulated a

modest fo r tu ne . Slaughter was d is t inguished in tha t his mar­

r iage l icense was the f i r s t to be granted by the new Republic

of Texas and his was the f i r s t marriage to be solemnized a f t e r5 3

Texas' independence was secured.

Most notable among the Bapt is t leaders is the name and

record of Robert Emmet Bledsoe Bay1 o r . He perhaps deserves

more recognit ion than others fo r his u n t i r in g e f f o r t s fo r the

government of Texas and fo r his own Baptis t denomination. He

was born on May 10, 17919 in Bourbon County, Kentucky. His

fa th e r was Colonel Robert B a y l o r ^ of Revolutionary War famei ■ ,

having served as an aide to General Washington, At twenty-

three R.E.B. Baylor was serving as congressman in the Kentucky

l e g is la t u r e . Later he moved to Alabama and prac t iced law and

51. He came to Texas in 18301 s frofn Louisiana and was at f i r s t united with t h e , Methodist church. A f te r having made a thorough study of the New Testament s c r ip tu re s , he united with the Bap t is ts ,

52. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , op. c i t . , pp.90-91.

53. I b i d . (Slaughter served under Houston as one of his most t rusted l ieutenants and rendered inva luable serv ice as a s c o u t , )

54. This fam i ly was re la te d to the Samples, Ch il tons, and Bledsoes..

24

served two terms as Alabama congressman from Tuscaloosa.

Baylor was converted under the preaching of his cousin,

Thomas C h i l ton , and was licensed to preach in 1838. The f o l ­

lowing January or February of 1839, he was located a t LaGrange,

Texas, and began teaching school. At Plum Grove church*. . 5 5

Z.N. Morre l l c a l le d on Baylor to preach. From th is time f o r ­

ward, Bay lor 's l i f e was w r i t te n in the record of j u d ic ia l

proceedings in Texas, the Baptis t church growth, and the r e ­

l ig ious education of h.i s denomination.

Baylor served on the Supreme Court Bench and was Judge

of the C i r c u i t Court fo r f i f t e e n years in Washington, McLennon,

Leon, Limestone, and Fayette, c o u n t i e s . ^ He served in the

Congress of Texas and was a member of the Const i tu t iona l Con-57 - 58vention under which Texas entered the Union. As was the

custom of Baylor, he always preached wherever he held court;

tha t is , he judged the court proceedings during the day and

preached the gospel a t n i g h t . O f t e n the services were in the

same b u i ld in g . Baylor added to the standing and r e s p e c ta b i l i t y

55. Link, op. c i t . , p . 194.

56. I b i d . , p . 195,

57. Baylor signed the Annexation Resolution as is shown on Document on Annexation in Archives D iv is io n , Texas State L ib ra ry . , .

58. Link, op. c i t ,

59. Ib id ,

25

of the Baptists in Texas. I t was said of him, "His profound

re l ig io u s convict ion and consistent walk aided him no l i t t l e

in his o f f i c e as Judge among a people accustomed to v io len ce ,

lawlessness and crime and to whom r e s t r a in t seemed degradation^

This C h r is t ian judge helped draw up the charter fo r Baylor

U n iv e rs i ty tha t bears his noble name, and gave to the un iver-61s i t y one thousand d o l la r s . Although R.E.B. Baylor was over

f o r t y - f i v e when he was converted, he l e f t a great record in

the Baptis t denomination of Texas. Judge Bay1 or always a r ­

r ived a t his place to hold court on Saturday evening and some­

times e a r l i e r . This gave him and Z.N. M orre l l an opportunity

to preach together on Sunday, a n d , i t was qu ite common fo rS 2them to have preaching at night through the week. Thus the

judge wielded a great inf luence on the bar throughout the day;

and a t night urged unregenerate men to accept the gospel, an­

nouncing in the very outset that "the scr ip tu res are t rue and

there is a r e a l i t y in r e l i g io n . "

Although the women of the e a r ly days in Texas were

not outspoken, many c a rr ie d on a noble work fo r t h e i r church.

Among the Baptis t women of the e a r ly period was Annette Lea

Bledsoe, s i s t e r of Margaret Lea, w i fe of Sam Houston. Mrs.

Bledsoe moved to Independence, w ith the Houstons, in 18-41,

60„ I b i d . , p . 196.

61. R.E.B, Baylor never married.

62. M o r r e l l , op. c i t . , p . 229,

26

"The moral and re l ig io u s d e s t i tu t io n of the people so touched

her heart that she became a home missionary. She v is i t e d

fa m i l ie s and, g e t t in g them together , taught them in a Sunday

school which met every S a b b a t h . I n the book. Centennial

H istory of Baptis t Women of Texas by Mrs. W.J.J. Smith, th is

t r ib u t e was given Annette Lea Bledsoe: ' * '

Annette Lea Bledsoe did what few women of her day could do. She t rave led ex ten s ive ly in th is new land, working her way from sett lement on horse­back and by ox-wagon. She spoke Spanish which put her in touch with the Mexican people. She belonged to a d ist inguished fam ily and th is gave her contact with colonis ts of c u l tu re and p r o m i n e n c e , 64

Another outstanding women, Margaret Lea Houston, must

be recorded because of her con tr ibu t ions and inf luence in the

progress of B a p t i s t s . H e r C h r is t ian example and inf luence on

63. Link, op. c i t . , pp .294-296, ( In th is sketch Mrs. Bledsoe is known as Mrs. A.L. Robert, h e r . l a s t husband being Rev. W.H. R o b e r t . ) ..................... . . . .

64j|-iere were other examples of courage by Chr is t ian women where evangelism outside of Catholicism was once f o r ­bidden. Sometime previous to the dec la ra t io n of Texas' inde­pendence, .a pious Bapt is t woman, l i v in g near Gonzales, named Echols, had opportunity to reveal or conceal her f a i t h . This woman loved to read her B ib le , but the p rac t ice was proh ib ited and severe pena lt ies were prescribed by the Mexican government under Catholic r u le . This woman on one occasion, seeing the Mexican ju s t ic e approaching, was tempted to conceal her B ib le , tha t was then open by her s ide. Committing her way to God, she determined to r is k the consequences. Witnessing her devo­t io n to the book, the heart of the Mexican j u s t i c e f a i l e d him, and he allowed Mrs, Echols to keep the Bible and enjoy i t . (M p r r e l l , op. c i t . , p . 7 3 . )

65. Minutes of Fourth Annual Session of State B aptis t Convention of Texas, Independence, June, 1851, p . 20. (Margaret Houston made many $25.00 con tr ibu t ions as the t re a s u re r 's reports showed.) ,

27

her husband led him to a ttend the preaching services and in

l a te r years led him to accept C h r is t .

Sam Houston made his profession in the church at Inde­

pendence and was baptized in L i t t l e Rocky Creek by Dr. Rufus

C. Burleson. He cred i ted Margaret 's inf luence on him as the

reason fo r his turning to C h r is t ia n i ty : " . . . r e s p e c t for his

w ife , one of the best Chris t ians on earth had brought him

th e re ." Houston championed the cause of r e l ig io n through his68Baptis t denomination fo r the remainder of his l i f e . When

Houston made his home in H u n ts v i l le , he became a member of

the Bapt is t church there and used his inf luence and co n tr ib u ­

t ions to f u r th e r the cause of his church and his denomination.

66. A f te r Margaret M o f fe t te Lea of Alabama married Sam Houston on May 9, 1840, she influenced him g re a t ly in r e ­l ig ious matters where he had had l i t t l e concern prev iously . Margaret had been baptized by Reverertd Peter Crawford and had been a member of the Baptis t church in Marion, Alabama. She was a cu ltured and educated women, having received the best of an education fo r her day.

6 7 . A f te r embracing C h r i s t ia n i t y , Houston became a generous con tr ib u to r to the churches, Baylor U n ive rs i ty and other Bapt is t causes. He was a strong champion of temperance. He was a leader in missionary work among the Indians fo r the State Bapt is t Convention of Texas fo r a number of years.

68. John A. Held, Re l ig ion A Factor in Building Texas, San Antonio, 1940, p .145. ( there were many other Bap- t I s t s who helped to b u i ld an em pire . in Texas: Wilson Simpson escaped the massacre a t Goliad to f i g h t . a t San, Jacinto; A'iC0 Horton, escaped Goliad, subsequently e lected l ie u te n a n t -g o v ­ernor of Texas; Thomas Anderson of Webbervi1le , physician;G a i1 Borden, J r . of Galveston, e d i to r of the f i r s t Texas news- paper, Texas Telegraph, 1835, and onward, famed as manufactur­er of condensed milk; and Jesse Mercer, cousin of E l i Mercer, fought a t San Jac into and la te r became a member of^the Baptis t church a t Wharton. He and his w i fe t rave led f i f t y or s ix ty miles to a t tend the q u a r te r ly preaching services and despite th is distance they were never absent or l a t e . )

28

To Sam Houston more than to any other man in Texas

was due the seal of public condemnation set on dueling.

While President of the Republic, or about tha t t ime, someone,

perhaps Lamar, sent Houston a chal lenge. He handed the paper

to his Secretary and to ld him to mark i t number th i r te e n and

deposit i t in a c e r ta in place. The bearer inquired i f he did

not wish to return an answer, whereupon Houston answered there

were twelve s im i la r documents in ahead of h is , and he would69attend to i t in i ts turn .

The t id e of immigration continued to pour in to the

country. Texas had won the B a t t le of San Jacinto tha t "set in

motion the Saxon supremacy toward the P a c i f ic and was indeed

one of the two decis ive b a t t le s of the w o r l d . T h e r e were

many obstacles to conquer before the Republic would be a com­

monwealth w ith " f r u i t s and flowers in the w i lderness ," but

there were on the f i e l d pioneer Baptis t preachers and Baptis t

laymen helping to lay the foundation of r e l ig i o n , education,

and p o l i t i c a l s t a b i l i t y . There were twenty Bapt is t preachers,

three Sunday schools organized by B ap t is ts , and two Baptis t*7 1 'churches. Baptists had spied out the land and had begun to

take root .

6 9 . Li nk, op. ci t . , p .3 60 .

70. This was a statement by. J.B, C r a n f i l l i n ' i n t r o ­duction to J.M. C a r r o l l ' s A H is tory of Texas B a p t is ts .

71. C a r r o l l , p.p. c i t . , p. 17.

CHAPTER I I

SOUTHERN BAPTIST ORGANIZATION IN

THE REPUBLIC

With the v ic to r y of the Texans at the B a t t le of San

Jacinto , the days of the co lon ia l empresarios were over. Re­

l ig ious l i b e r t y was now made secure. The fa l lo w ground had

been broken, and the time had come fo r the widespread p lanting

of Bapt is t evange l iza t ion and organ iza t io n . The Baptists who

had fought to bring re l ig io u s l i b e r t y and freedom of conscience

to Texas were prominent in laying the foundation fo r the new

government and in laying the cornerstones of the Baptis t1churches in the new Republic.

The f i r s t regular missionary Bapt is t church in Texas

was organized w ith e igh t members a t Wash?ngton-on-the-Brazos2

by Z.N. Morre l l In 1837. Morre l l served the church as i ts

1 .Judge Richard E l l i s who served as the President of the Const i tu t iona l Convention was e lected to the f i r s t Texas senate and was a member of the Board of Managers of the.Texas Baptis t Educational Society. Sam Houston, who l a t e r in l i f e became a Baptis t leader, served as, the f i r s t president of the Republic.. Joseph Bays became Commissioner to the Indians. Gail Borden, a layman wait ing to be baptized, l i f t e d the r e ­mains, of his p r in t in g o u t f i t from the San Jac into River and revived his Telegraph and Texas Register to t e l l the news of the dec is ive~batt1e .

2. By 1838 most of th is group had moved elsewhere and th is church was dissolved.

29

30

f i r s t pas to r„ The charte r members were J„R„ Jenkins^, N.T.1*. -

Byars, A„ Buff ington and w i fe , H,R. Cartmel1„ Soon a f t e r

the church was organized, a committee was named to "correspond

with mission boards North and East and request tha t Texas be

taken in to considerat ion as a mission f i e l d . " Among the pa­

pers endorsing the appeal tb the American Baptis t Home Mis­

sion Society was The Chris t ian Index of Georgia, whose e d i to r

was president of the board of the T r ie n n ia l Convention ( f o r ­

eign missions) in Boston and in te res ted in es tab l ish ing Bap-

t i st churches in Texas. The strong appeal fo r m in is ters from

th is f i r s t Bapt is t church can be noted in the fo l lowing l e t t e r6by the appointed committees

Washington, Texas November, 1837.

To Baptis t Board of Foreign Missions in U.S.

Dear Brethren: I t has pleased God in His providenceto cast our l o t s , i n th is vast wilderness of the West.We are from various parts of your happy land, the United Sta tes , We look on you as our mother country.As a son to the fa th e r , we present our complaints to you. W il l you hear us? I t is our cause, i t is your cause, and i t is the cause of God to which we in v i te your c o n s id e r a t io n . . . .

3. Mr. Jenkins was the fa th e r of Mrs. R.C. Burleson. See Texas H is to r ic a l Magazine, p. 33.

4. Encyclopedia of Southern B a p t is ts , p . 1375.5. C.D, M a l lo ry , Memoirs of Elder Jesse Mercer,

New York, 1844, p . 242,

6. F i f t h Report of the Executive Committee of Ameri­can Bapt is t Home Mission Society, P h i lade lph ia , A p r i l 27,1837, p . 5. L e t te r published a lso in The C h r is t ian Index,February, 1838. . .

31

There is but one organized church in our c ou ntry / and tha t consist ing of only 9 members; two B apt is t m in is te rs , and they are necessar i ly confined a t home in discharge of duties they owe t h e i r f a m i l ie s .There is not one i t in e r a n t Baptis t m in is te r in our whole country. Perhaps o n e -h a l f of our people do not hear preaching once in s ix months, and many of them have never heard a gospel sermon since they have been in Texas.

Moreover, brethren , there are 1,000 souls e n te r ­ing our government as emigrants every w e e k , . . . We need men of understanding, of deep research, of g ian t i n t e l ­l e c t , c lothed w ith the s p i r i t of the gospel as a gar­ment, th a t they may confound a l l our opposers, disseminate l i g h t , e s tab l is h the church, and be a means of pu l l in g down the stronghold of Satan and bu i ld ing up the Kingdom of God.

Dear bre thren , tha t th is great and desi reable ob­j e c t may be accomplished we ask your a id and assistance. We want m in is ters of the gospel sent among us, true men; men who can r ig h t l y d iv ide the word of Truth , and give to each his port ion in due season, and rather men of fa m i l ie s , tha t they may s e t t l e amongst us, help us to give tone to soc ie ty , and give themselves wholly to the m in is t ry . We do not wish you to bear a l l the bur­den. We are w i l l i n g to act in conjunction w ith you,. . . We simply suggest that missionary posts be estab­l ished a t San Augustine, Nacogdoches, Washington, and San Antonio. This w i l l pass through near the center of our c o u n t r y , . . . Dear Brethren, we ask you again,"Come over in Macedonia and help us."

Signed by order of the church,

Z.N. M orre l l A . .B u f f ing to n

J„R. Jenkins Committee

This earnest plea fo r help in es tab l ish ing B ap t is t work in

Texas was heard, but missionaries did not reach the area fo r

327a few more years„ Bapt is t papers and the American Baptis t

Home Mission Society began publishing news of Texas and the

need fo r m in isters to labor on th a t f i e l d as the fo l lowing

excerpt shows:

We are happy to lay the subjoined document.. . before our readers. Whatever v a r ie t y of opinions may e x is t on some p o l i t i c a l questions r e la t in g to Texas, there should be none among good men as to i ts importance as a f i e l d of gospel labor. I ts s o i l and c l im ate insure, under a wise government, i ts immense populousness and wealth , and now is the favoured hour to cast in the s a l t of d iv ine grace. A Texian [s ic ] correspondent in Natchez Liminary says '"an. in te l l igent Methodist m in is te r , who is ex ten s ive ly acquainted in the country, informed me tha t in his opinion, the Bapt is t de­nomination was more numerous than any. other in the Republic ." We were not prepared to hear t h is , but i f so, then so much the more need of a B apt is t mission t h e r e , °

Although no m in isters a t th is date had been found who could

serve Texas, the cause was not fo rgo tten but was kept before

the people as shown the fo l low ing year in a quotation on Texas

in the Mission report:

To the inhabitants of th is new country, we have not been permitted to o f f e r the gospel, but they have c a l le d upon us fo r i t . . . . The committee regards th is as a moral f i e l d tha t should not l i e waste. The country is ra p id ly f i l l i n g up by immigration; vast

7. Jessee Mercer of Georgia in his w i l l bequeathed tw e n ty - f iv e shares in the Bank of Georgia (presumably $2500) to the ABHMS, c h i e f l y to a id in t h e i r operations in Texas, (R e la t ives contested the w i l l , but the Society did receive about $1331.87 in 1846.)

8. F i f t h Report of the Executive Committee of the American Baptis t Home Mission Society , P h i lade lph ia , Apr i l 27, 1837.

33

numbers of whom are doubtless mere adventurers, who are pleased with t h e i r residence only the b e t te r fo r i t s d e s t i tu t io n of re l ig io u s in s t ru c ­t io n and r e s t r a in ts ; but some there are who love the Lord Jesus; and among these, a very respect­able- proport ion, i t is sa id , of our own f a i t h . °

The desire fo r Baptis t m in is ters to come to the new

Republic to s t a r t work among the Baptis t immigrants came a l ­

so from laymen who recognized the urgent need of the moment.

The fo l low ing l e t t e r was w r i t te n by a gentleman resid ing in

Shelbyv i11e, Texas, and expresses his hope tha t help w i l l

soon be on i ts way:

March 25th, 1838

. . . . O u r p r a i r ie s now present the appearance of a vast f lower g a r d e n . . . . Wi l l not you, Mr.E d ito r , and some of your brethren preachers come over th is summer or f a l l , and take a ramble through our b e a u t i fu l p r a i r i e s , and hunt up some of the los t sheep of the house of I s r a e l . I as­sure you tha t you would be very welcome v i s i t a n t s , and I th ink might accomplish much fo r the i n t e r ­est of your denomination, which is qu ite numerous in th is country, as well as fo r the general i n t e r ­ests of the c h u r c h . . . . Is the Baptis t church asleep in regards to Texas? The Methodists have several pious ta le n te d preachers here who are succeeding admirable [s ic ] in bu i ld ing churches and organizing s o c i e t i e s . . . . b u t what are the Baptists - - which are said to be more numerous in the Republic than any other denomination - - what are they doing? Nothing - - a t least in pro­port ion to what they ought to do, and what they hope w i l l d o . . . . Now, Mr. E d i to r , I th ink th is an e x c e l le n t idea; and as Baptists should not be slow to learn of s is t e r denominations, I would suggest the p rop r ie ty of three of t h e i r most ta le n ted

9. S ixth Report of the Executive Committee of the American Baptis t Home Mission Society , New York, Apr i l 27, 1838, pp .50-51. ' ... . 7.

34

m inisters v i s i t i n g Texas during the summer or f a l l , and holding protracted meetings, preaching the gos­pel from house to house, and doing good in every p ra c t ic a b le way. I f you th in k i t expedient, we w i l l get up a p e t i t i o n to th a t e f f e c t . Almost any number of signatures can be obtained. Perhaps a few suggestions from you would answer the same purpose. W i l l you t r y i t ? '0

I t is evident from th is l e t t e r th a t many people in the area

known to th is layman were in te res ted in Baptis t preaching andi

many were concerned as to the reason th is denomination should

be tardy in sending min isters on the f i e l d .

The Baptis t leaders were not unmindful tha t Texas had

s o l i c i t e d t h e i r a id since the f i r s t c a l l had reached them.

In the autumn of 1838, i t had been arranged tha t a well-known.

and experienced pioneer, David Orr, of Arkansas, should v i s i t11

Texas; but he was hindered in making the journey , and Tex­

ans had to wait longer fo r an answer to t h e i r c a l l .

Four miles north of Nacogdoches, the second missionary

B aptis t church was organized on a Saturday in May, 1838. At

f i r s t known as the Union Baptis t Church, i t was to be c a l le d

l a te r the Old North Church. Pr io r to i ts o rgan iza t io n ,

prayer meetings had been held under the spreading oaks fo r a

number of years. The members of th is church were as fo l lows:

10. This l e t t e r was addressed to Rev. Ashley Vaught, la te o f Natchez, and was published in the Q uar te r ly Paper, ABHMS, New York, May, 1838.

11. Seventh Report of the Executive Committee of the American Bapt is t Home Mission Society, P h i lade lph ia , Apri l 26,1839. ■ ,

35

John Eaton and w i fe , Charles H. Whitaker, Sarah Tipps, Mary. , 12

Drain, Emily Knight and Ruth Anderson. Three united w ith

the church tha t day upon profession and were baptized the, 13same day.

On the West side of the Colorado River and above the

town of LaGrange, a t h i r d Baptis t Church in Texas - - Plum

Grove - - was organized in March, 1839, by Z.N. M orre l l who

also pastored th is congregation. Nine were received by bap­

tism a t th is organ iza t iona l meeting.

The r o l l i n g p r a i r ie s of Independence were the s i t e of

the fourth Bapt is t church to be organized 4 n the new Republic.

The surrounding region was one of surpassing beauty and f e r ­

t i l i t y and had a t t r a c te d many s e t t l e r s . The Independence

Baptis t Church, "Cradle of Texas B apt is ts" , was organized on

Saturday, August 31, 1839, by Thomas Spraggi ns of M is s is s ip p i ,

while on a v i s i t to T e x a s .^

12. A l l of these charter members had moved t h e i r l e t ­ters from Tennessee except the l a t t e r , and she came from Missouri . .

13, Li nk, op. ci t . , p .33.

14, ' itlbljd. , p .34. (This congregation grew very slowly, fo r by 1842 there were only tw enty -e ight members.)

15. Those presenting themselves for membership w ith l e t t e r s i n hand were as fo l lows: John and Ivy McNeese, J , J . Davis, Thomas Tremmier, Mary McNeese, Jeannette McNeese, Biddy Davis and Martha Tremmier. These were.soon re in fo rced by. a layman, O.H.P. G a r r e t t , and two preachers, J,L„ Davis and Jeremiah Vardeman, w ith t h e i r f a m i l ie s . I n t o . t h is church were baptized James D, and Lydia A l lc o rn , both.having been converted under Rev. Hanks1 sermon a t Shipman's home back in 1829 and having.waited ten years fo r baptism.

36

The Independence Baptis t Church s te a d i ly forged to

the fo r e f r o n t of a l l the churches in missionary, educat iona l ,

and denominational l e a d e r s h ip . ^ Reverend T,W„ Cox served the1 n

church as i ts f i r s t pastor . This church was the home of

some of Texas' g rea tes t Bap tis t lay m e n .^

In 1839 the f i r s t Congress of Texas issued a charter

fo r the Independence Academy as a g i r l s ' school, and another

for Washington College, The c h ie f name in both charters was

Alcalde John P. C o l e , ^

The year of 1839 was s t i l l more important fo r another

reason. In January or February of tha t year the Honorable90

and Reverend Emmet Bledsoe Baylor emigrated to Texas. At

the age of f o r t y - e i g h t , Baylor was a lready a g ian t among men

when he came to Texas. A d ist inguished lawyer and j u r i s t ,

Baylor became a f laming preacher in Texas. He made his

16. Seven out of the f i r s t members had emigrated to Texas from South Caro l ina , From 1839-1891 s ix hundred and f i f t y were baptized in to th is church, and three hundred and f i f t y jo in ed by l e t t e r .

17. Cox served as pastor from 1839 to 1841.

18. O.H.P. G a r re t t , A.G. Haynes, John McKnight, and General Sam Houston,

19. Cole had married a Baptis t g i r l in Georgia and a large fam i ly was born to them:, f i v e daughters and one son. The desire by th is fam i ly fo r educational opportunity a t Independence played an important part in the o r ig in of Baylor U n iv e rs i ty , f i r s t located a t Independence.

20. Link, op. c i t . , p . 194.

37

l i v i n g s however, as a lawyer and not as a p r e a c h e r ,^ requi r -

ing tha t a l l money o f fe red to him be paid to some hardworking,22underpaid, consecrated country preacher. B ay lor 's profound

re l ig io u s convict ion and consistent walk aided him no l i t t l e

in his o f f i c e as Judge among a people "accustomed to v io lence ,

lawlessness, and crime and to whom r e s t r a in t seemed degrada- 23t i o n „11 He was t r u ly one of the foundat ion- layers in Texas

9UB aptis t h is tory and a master b u i ld e r .

On February 14th, 1839, an a r t i c l e appeared 1n The

Ch ris t ian Index concerning the work of the American Baptis t

Home Mission Society and introducing James Huckins as an ap-■ 25

pointed agent of th is Board fo r the South. During a port ion

of the year 1839"1840, Huckins was act ing agent in the Repub­

l i c of Texas, where he t r a v e l le d ex tens ive ly and obtained

21. This f a c t was probably the reason tha t he was permitted to serve in the Texas Congress fo r the C onst i tu t ion forbade preachers to serve in Copgress. The Texas Scrap Book on page 530 said: "The C onst itu t ion of 1836 declared that. ministers of the gospel being, by th e i r profession, dedicated to God and the care of souls, ought not to be d iver ted from the great duties of t h e i r funct ion . Therefore , no m in is te r of the gospel, or p r ie s t of any denomination whatsoever, shal l be e l i g i b l e to the o f f i c e of the executive of the Republic, norto a set in e i th e r branch of Congress,"

22. C a r r o l l , op, c i t , , p . 196.

23. Link, op. c i t . , p . 196.

24. Baylor remained a bachelor a l l his l i f e .

25. The Ch r is t ian Index, ed. Jesse Mercer, Vols. V I I ,V I I I , 1839-1840, p . 997 “ “ . ... . . .

38

much va luable information respecting the moral condit ions and

prospects of the people, and various other in te res ts essent ia l

to the commencement of missionary operations there . The r e ­

su l ts of his observations were communicated to the churches

through the medium of the p e r io d ic a ls , and e s p e c ia l ly by hi s

own preaching from the p u l p i t , . o n many occasions during a

recent v i s i t t o the United Sta tes . Jesse Mercer recommended

tha t the churches hear th is missionary preacher and give l i b ­

era l contr ibu t ions to support missions in Texas.^James Ruckins set out fo r Texas in January of 1840

aboard the steamer Neptune as the f i r s t appointed missionary

of the ABHMS a t a sa la ry of four hundred d o l la rs per year.28

He was a lready past t h i r t y and was married. This f i r s t

Southern Bapt is t missionary-preacher a r r iv e d in Galveston on

January 25th, 184-0, and upon leaving the Neptune met immedi­

a t e ly an old f r ie n d whom he had baptized two years previous- 29ly . This f r ie n d soon introduced Huckins to other Baptists

who desired tha t he remain among them and preach on the com­

ing Sunday, January 27th. He remained and preached three

26. Report of the ABHMS, Balt imore, A p r i l 27, 1841.

27. Mercer, op. c i t . , p . 86.

28. Journal of James Huckins.

29. I b l d . (Galveston was a town of 600 houses and 3,000 in h a b i ta n ts . ) .

. . .3 9times on that Sunday, consenting to stay longer among them to

30organize them in to a Baptis t church. On the la s t day of

January, 1840, having been in Galveston only one week, the

missionary had already examined candidates fo r the purpose of

organizing a church. At the serv ice January 31 s t , 1840, Hr.

and Mrs. Gail Borden presented themselves as candidates fo r

baptism. The fo l low ing Sunday, February 3rd , 1840, Huckins

preached in the court house of the c i t y and the church was

organized. Concerning th is day, Huckins said: "This has been

the happiest day of my l i f e . God has given me the p r iv i l e g e

of bap t iz ing three in d iv id u a ls . Never before since the c rea ­

t io n of man have the waters of the great g u l f th is side of31Mississippi been v i s i t e d for the performance of such r i t e . 11

th is was the beginning of the h is to ry of the F i r s t Bapt is t

Church of Galveston. How long the Baptists of Galveston had

waited fo r a m in is te r can be seen in a l e t t e r which Huckins

wrote of his a r r i v a l and of the church's organ iza t ion:

Galveston, Texas Feb. 6, 1840

My dear Father Mercer:

Arr ived a t th is place on 25 u 1t . , and have been detained u n t i l n o w . . , . My determination was

30. The congregation numbered about 200 a t the serv ­ices, and many were turned away fo r lack of room. Huckins said: "Never did 1 preach to a company fo:whom the gospel appeared more g r a t e f u l , "

31. Journal of James Huckins.

40

to spend one day only In th is piace, but on touching the wharf I was seized by an old ac­q u a in t a n c e . . . , I was urged to spend one Sabbath.. . . I preached.. . .when Thursday came.. .one o f the most reputable men in the republ ic accompa­nied by his w i fe , came forward and desired the ordinance of baptism. The w i fe of th is brother was a Mercer a granddaughter o f the la te Rev. Thomas Mercer. This brother and his w ife have been w a it ing and praying fo r more than ten years fo r some servant of Chris t of t h e i r own f a i t h to come and preach to them the word of l i f e and to bapt ize them, and I was the f i r s t they had seen or heard. For f i v e years they never saw a m in is te r of C h r is t , or had the p r iv i le g e of a t ­tending a re l ig io u s meeting, but they have spent these years in so l i tu d e and a f f l i c t i o n , as many who are members of churches in the United States in hunting and f is h in g on the Sabbath and in open v ice during the week. Though they could not f in d a s ing le ind iv idua l to jo in them, yet they have been accustomed to spend t h e i r Sabbath in reading and prayer, to consecrate the day most sacredly to the Lord and to maintain prayer in t h e i r f a m i l y . .

On the Sabbath the services were a w fu l ly solemn. . . . Tuesday la s t a t three was set for baptism. The ordinance took place on the south side of the is land. . . . The candidates present were Gail B o rd e n . . .h is w ife , and her s i s t e r . . . .

Next week 1 leave fo r the i n t e r i o r . But how can I do it? A congregation of from 400 to 600 might be c o l le c te d in the course of a few weeks amongst whom are some of the most respectable and in f lu e n t i a l fa m i l ie s in the R e p u b l i c . . . . A congregation, too, which would bear a comparison fo r in t e l l ig e n c e w ith almost any congregation in the United S t a t e s . 32

32. L e t te r of James Huckins to Jesse Mercer pr in ted in The Ch r is t ian Index, January 7, 1 8 4 1 , ,p p .136-137 » In theI ndex is'sue of February 27, 1840, a notice was pr in ted .on page 134 regarding the need of workers in Texas asking the churches in the East and in. the South to wake up to t h e i r duty in th is day.of opportunity .

Hucki ns l e f t Galveston fo r Houston, e igh ty mi les d i s ­

ta n t , in February,: 1840. In th is c i t y o f 3,000 the Baptists

were numerous but unorganized.^^ Hucki ns asked fo r f i f t e e n

missionaries to send out on the f i e l d s , fo r he be l ieved tha t

no denomination had a wider door of inf luence than did the

B a p t is ts . "None, in my opinion, has a la rger representat ion

of p r iv a te members than ours . When you remember Burma, do

not fo rg e t Texas. And may God d i r e c t some of your members to

th is in te re s t in g f i e l d .

The report of Hucki ns1 missionary endeavors was a lso

c a r r ie d in the journal of the ABHMS and support of the work

in Texas was of great concern on the part of the Baptis t

leaders of the East as the fo l low ing notice showed:

To th is in te re s t in g port ion of the American cont inent , [Texas], the eyes of a l l the world are now t u r n e d . . , ,A .considerable number of the residents of Texas are s ent im enta l ly B a p t is ts . . .a n d desirous of the estab­lishment of churches there . Indedd, the labors of Bap t is t m i n i s t e r s . . . a r e u r g e d , . , . There is now a missionary of the Society on the shores of Texas; and his success, and the resu l ts of his observation thus f a r , fu rn ish assurance th a t the people are prepared fo r any e f f o r t our denomination can make in t h e i r f a v o r . . . . t h e organ iza t ion of a church at Galveston consist ing of 16 members« Who Among Them A ll Wi l l Go To Texas? Your Committee make the in ­quiry because they be l ieve i t is the duty of some to go; tha t the Society is ready to send s u i ta b le m e n . . . . 35

33. L e t te r from James Hucki ns to Mercer Un ivers i ty Mission Society , dated February, 24, 1840, from Houston, Tex­as, pr in ted i n The Chr1st i an i ndex. May 14, 1840, pp.311r 3 12.

34, Ib id .

35. Report of ABHMS, New York, Apr i l 23, 1840, p . 16.

42

In the spring of 1840 a Bap t is t church was organized

some f i v e miles d is ta n t from LaGrange with James Huckins and

Thomas W, Cox superintending the o rgan iza t io n . This was f o l ­

lowed by another appeal fo r m in is ters in T e x a s , w i t h g r a te ­

fu l expression fo r sending of Huckins:

Republic o f TexasLaGrange, A p r i l 1st, 1840

Dear Brother in the Lord,

In making th is communication we cannot help expressing our g r a t i t u d e . . . f o r sending James Huckins among us: his z e a l , his t a le n ts , and above a l l his moral and re l ig io u s worth have endeared him to every one w ith whom he had become acquainted. Could you not, my Dear s i r , do something fo r us in th is part of C h r is t 's moral vineyard? But why stand the Baptists a l l the day i d le . . . s e n d us clergymen of the r ig h t stamp, men of v i t a l p ie ty ; none other can do much good h e r e . . . . I have been c a l le d upon as the humble instrument of our church to make th is com­munication to y o u . . . .

Robert E.B. Baylor 37

Texas Baptists were fo r tu n a te in th a t strong men of f a i t h

came to work on the f i e l d and they sought the a id of others.

By August, 1840, many Baptis t churches had been organ-38

ized in Texas and were desirous of obtain ing q u a l i f i e d pastors.

Three young m in is ters had been recen t ly appointed by the

ABHMS to work in Texas.

36. L e t te r from R,E.B. Baylor to The C h r is t ia n Index published May.7$ 1840, p . 296.. . '

37. I b i d .

38. Q uarter ly Paper of the ABHMS, New York, August,1840. ‘ . .

In 1840 there was a desire among the missionary Bap­

t i s t s to organize the churches in to a general body fo r s o l ­

i d a r i t y and strength in Texas:

Among B ap t is ts , while there has always been in s is te n t ind iv idual church independence, th is independence has not as a ru le ser ious ly in te r fe re d with general co­operat ive organ izat ion and u n i f ie d endeavor. Texas Baptists have been and are no exception to the.general B aptis t ru le . While our Texas Baptis t pioneers were few, were badly sca tte red , and were v i r t u a l l y w i th ­out roads, w hi le they were possessed of but poor and inadequate means of t ra n sp o r ta t io n and were con fron t­ed w ith serious dangers which lurked beside every pathway^ and w hi le there were frequent raids and in ­vasions by Indians and Mexicans, i t is an amazing f a c t th a t very speedily they witnessed the inception of organic systematic and cooperative denominational a c t i v i t i e s .

In June, 1840, a small company of tw e n ty - f iv e Baptists

including preachers, Baylor, Cox, Smith and Dancer, met a t

Independence, Washington County, to form a Bap t is t associat ion

Two of the m in isters were missionary and two were a n t i -m is ­

sionary. Because the four could not agree upon a c o n s t i tu t io n

and a r t i c l e s of f a i t h , th is f i r s t e f f o r t to organize a general

Baptis t body in Texas ended in dismal f a i l u r e , ^

A second convention was c a l le d immediately by the

leaders of the missionary group fo r October 8, 1840, a t the41town of T ra v is , Austin County. Messengers from three small

39. C a r r o l l , op. c i t . . Chap. 26.

40. The Union Baptis t Association: Centennial H is tory 1840-1940, p .T . "

44

churches out of the, possibly , seven churches in the Republic

met on the appointed d a t e . ^ A temporary organ iza t ion was

set up tha t f i r s t a fternoon, the fo l low ing paragraph is

taken from the minutes of tha t f i r s t meeting:

Fr iday , October 9 th , the meeting met according to adjournment; opening prayer by Bro. Eox. Le t te rs then were received and read from several churches, and the names of t h e i r messengers e n ro l le d . The Association then proceeded to e le c t io n of o f f i c e r s by b a l l o t . Whereupon the Rev. T.W. Cox was chosen moderator, Rev. R.E.B. Bay1 or , corresponding secre­ta ry , and J.W. C o l l in s , c l e r k . 43

The Union Association adopted a Const i tu t ion and A r t ic le s of

Fa ith which were l a t e r approved by the churches. The three

churches composing th is associat ion were Independence with

seventeen members, T.W. Cox, pastor; J .J . Davis, J. M cNeil l ,

and Thomas Tremmier were messengers; LaGrange w ith f i f t e e n

members, T.W. Cox, pastor; T.W. Cox, R.E.B. Baylor and J .L .

Davis, messengers; Travis w ith t h i r t e e n members, T.W. Cox

pastor; W il l iam H. Cleveland, J.W. Co ll ins and James H a l l ,■ . 44 ■ - •

messengers o

42. D.R. Peveto, The Union Bapt i s t Associa t io n ; Centennial H is to ry , 1840-19^oTZBrenham, 1940, pTS".

43. I b i d .

44. A l l three of these churches were organized in 1839 and had the same pastor, T.W. Cox.

45

One matter of business taken up by the Union Associa­

t io n concerned the dearth of l i t e r a t u r e among them and the

fo l lowing reso lu t ion was adopted;

Resolved, tha t th is Association recommend.,„R.E.B. Baylor, of LaGrange, as a s u i ta b le agent to manage a Book and Tract Depository, and th a t we request him to use his e f f o r t s to es ta b l is h such Depository of Books and Tracts as w i l l meet the wants of our denomination, Resolved f u r th e r , th a t we request the various s o c ie t ies and f r iends in the United States of the North to give us t h e i r a id in th is important work, and that the reading public g e n era l ly , and our brethren in p a r t ic u la r , be requested to sustain and patronize the said Depository. 45

The Association also designated The Bapt is t Banner and Western

Pioneer, published in L o u is v i l l e , Kentucky, as the o f f i c i a l- LAorgan fo r them.

Another item on the agenda o f the Union Association a t

i ts f i r s t meeting was the e t e r n a l l y troublesome l iquor ques­

t io n . R.E.B. Baylor o f fe red and the Association adopted the

fo l lowing reso lu t ion ;

Resolved, tha t th is Association earnest ly and most solemnly recommend to the members of the various Baptis t churches throughout the land, the formation of Temperance Societ ies in t h e i r neighborhoods, so tha t the stream of l iq u id f i r e which has desolated other countr ies , may not b la s t and w ither the r i s ­ing prospects of th is young and in te re s t in g repub l ic , and fo r carry ing the object of th is reso lu t ion in to e f f e c t , we pray Almighty God to bless every e f f o r t of the kind made by the pious and p h i la n th ro p ic . 47

45. Peveto, op. c ? t », p .9.

46. i b i d .

47. Ib id .

46

The Uni on Association continued to meet annually each f a l l

with new churches added showing an increased membership.*1"®

In January of 1841 the second missionary, W il l iam

Helton Tryon, a r r iv e d in Texas, having been sent by the ABHMS

fo r the same purpose as Huckins e a r l i e r . He remained some

time in Alabama making c o l le c t io n s , then proceeded to the Re­

public by the way of New Orleans.

Huckins1 l e t t e r to The Ch r is t ian Index spoke of Tryon‘ s

a r r i v a l and the prospects of organizing a church in Houston:

March 28, 1841 Galveston, Texas

. . . . T r y o n a r r iv e d , I th ink , about the 18th of J a n u a r y . . . . A f te r consult ing w ith f r i e n d s . . .Tryon arid myself [ s ic ] both concluded tha t independence was the more Important l o c a t i o n . . . . h e , l e f t about the 12th of February fo r th is s t a t i o n . . . I have j u s t received a l e t t e r from a f r ie n d who,gives a most g r a t i f y in g account of the impression which , . „ T . is making. He preaches a t T ra v is , independence and.Washington. At the l a t t e r place he organized a Church two weeks s in c e ; . . . .Balor [s ic ] ass is ted in the work.

The prospect in Houston is very encouraging, congregation la rge , a t t e n t iv e and solemn; and the morals of the people are constantly im p ro v in g . . . .The second Lord's day in A p r i l , I expect to organ­ize a Church, administer the Lord's tab le and bapt ize .I th ink there w i l l be about f i f t e e n members who w i l l united w ith us.

Houston is in a th r iv in g condit ion . But Galveston is s u f fe r in g a most severe revulsion; more than one

48. For fu r th e r information, see The Union Baptis tAssociation: Centennial S tory , 1840- 1860. .

49. Tryon received his education a t Mercer U n iv e rs i ty ,

50. Ninth Report of the ABHMS, Balt imore, Apri l 27,1841, p,28.

.................................. 47

t h i r d of the population have l e f t . Hence our l i t t l e church has s u f f e r e d . . . .

1 have confined my a t te n t io n as yet to the re ­l ig io n in these two places, wishing thereby to give permanence and character to our denomination. To hold on to the public opinion and fe e l in g s u f f i c i e n t l y long enough to give i t something of a Baptish charac­t e r , and to do what I have to do thoroughly. I am constantly rece iv ing c a l ls to v i s i t desolate places and neighoorhoods. . . . But my judgment teaches me th a t in order to accomplish much for the cause of C h r is t , in T e x a s , , . . Tryon and myself [s ic ] must give our main a t te n t io n t o , th e c i r c u i t s which we have a l ­ready se lected . Have souls in Texas no f r iend s amongst Bapt is t ministers? 51

The F i r s t Baptis t Church of Houston, Texas,^^was o r ­

ganized on Apr i l 10, 1841, by James Huckins, w ith s ixteen53 •members. The church met i r r e g u la r l y fo r some t ime, with

Huckins supplying the p u lp i t as often as his other duties

would permit fo r a period of two years. At the organ iza t ion

S.P. Andrews and 1 .B. Bigalow were selected to serve as

deacons. ^

W il l iam Tryon began his missionary work immediately

upon his a r r i v a l in January, 1841. One month l a t e r , he and

51. The Ch r is t ian Index, Vol . IX, P e n f ie ld , Georgia, May 28, 1841 ,

52. The f i r s t Baptis t sermon was preached in Houston, a c i t y of Tents, in the spring of 1837, by Z.N. M o r re l l ,

53. Those c o n s t i tu t in g the church were as fol lows: Barnabas and Abigai l Haska l l , S.P. and Mary A. Andrews, Martha Mulryne, Louisa Jane Schroder, E l izabeth Ainsworth, Piety L. Hadley, Obedience Smith, Mary George, Israe l B. Bigalow, Sarah L. Robinson, and Gardner Smith. The other three, members who promised to hand in t h e i r , l e t t e r s as soon as possible were Hannah Towns, Mary H, Bigalow, and E l izabeth Wilson,

"54. Link, bp. c ? t . , p . 174."

Baylor had reorganized the church a t Washington, the c a p i t a l ,

with twelve members. Serving as pastor , Tryon a lso re -e s ta b ­

l ished the Sunday school which became quite a f lo u r is h in g one„^ At the summer meeting in Ju ly , 1841, th i r ty -o n e persons had

been received in to th is church. In the same summer month,

Tryon baptized the f i r s t person ever to be baptized in the

Brazos, He s tated tha t in four meetings held in the summer

a to ta l of e ighty persons had been b a p t i z e d . ^7 th is time,

Tryon could report only four a c t iv e Bapt is t m in is ters serving

in Texas so fa r as he could a s c e r ta in , those being T.W. Cox,

James Huckins, R.E.B. Baylor, and h im self . He fu r th e r s tated

tha t Bay 1 or had ju s t been appointed as D i s t r i c t Judge by Con­

gress and consequently could be in the f i e l d but part o f ’:the 58time. Although Tryon bel ieved tha t southern men were the best

adapted to labor successful ly in Texas, his own m in is try could

not be equalled by many. Dr. J .H. S t r ib l i n g said of him,

" . . . n o man ever had a grea te r power over the hearts of theeg

Baptists in Texas than he." Tryon la id the foundation fo r

much of Bapt is t success In Texas.

55. Tryon's l e t t e r to Sanders, dated Ju ly , 1841.

56. I b i d .

57. Tryon's l e t t e r to Sanders, dated August 21, 1841, and published in The Chris t ian Index, Vo l . IX, S e p t .2 4 ,1 8 4 1 ,p . 619.

58. I b i d . " '

59. Cink, op. c i t . , p . 191.60. He served as missionary pastor of the F i r s t B ap t is t

Church in Houston from July 21, 1845 to Nov.16, 1847, when he died of yellow fe v e r , leaving a widow, two sons, and one daughter

49

The second session of Union Association met October

7, 1841, a t the Clear Creek church in Fayette County, having

nine churches representing 384 members. At t f i is meeting the

Texas Baptis t Education Society was organized. W il l iam Tryon,

the moving s p i r i t in th is e n te rp r is e , was emphatical ly the

leader in the cause of education among Texas Baptists from61 . •

that day u n t i l his death. Judge Baylor, e lec ted correspond­

ing secretary in the f i r s t meeting of the Associat ion, had

as one of his functions the making of a report a t th is sec­

ond meeting. Among other recommendations, he included

"That steps should be immediately taken to provide education

fo r our p e o p l e . A society was organized fo r th is e n d . ^

The purposes of the society were to found a school,

to help support young men studying fo r the mi n i s t r y , and to

act as a s ta te wide organ iza t ion so as to place the e n t i r e

body of Texas Baptists behind one s ing le in s t i t u t i o n and the

education of a nat ive m in is t r y .^ "

61. M o r r e l l , op. c i t . , p . 134.

62. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , p . 131.

63. The o f f i c e r s were R.E.B. Baylor, president;S.R, Andrews,. secretary; W.J. C o l l in s , , t re a s u re r . The Board of Managers were James Huckins, Z.N. M o r re l l , J„L. Farquhar, Gail Borden, Stephen W il l iam s, W.H, Ewing, and. L.L . .Les te r .

64. I bi d . , p . 132.

50

At th is same meeting of the Union Association in 1841

the zealous pioneers began the Texas Home Mission Society,

a u x i l i a r y to the New York agency, and designated M o r re l l ,

Byars, and Buff ington as t h e i r m is s io n a r ie s .0 ̂ The society

also received subscriptions to the amount of f i v e hundred d o l -66lars and Huckins was entrusted to head the agency. Of the

work and progress made a t th is meeting Huckins wrote:

Thus you w i l l perceive we are making some headway.We have now an Association of nine churches. . . „a Home Mission Society , and Education Society , one missionary in the f i e l d sustained wholly by our f u n d s . . . . We have as yet been confined to a small spot - - s a y s ix or seven counties. Do send us two strong men - - men of God - - one to preach and one to teach.

In th is same year, 1841, a matter of controversy

arose in the Baptis t churches of Texas over the so -c a l le d re ­

form movement headed by Alexander Campbell. A few able and

i n f l u e n t i a l men in Texas espoused the cause of Campbell ism and

sought to commit t h e i r churches to the movement. Of the most

i n f lu e n t i a l was T.W. Cox whose plan was to remain a Baptis t

in name and continue in the pastorate of Bapt is t churches67while he c a r r ie d on his " h e r e t ic a l" propaganda. Cox and

65. Encyc1 opedla of Southern B a p t is ts , p. 1376.

66. L e t te r from Huckins to Rev. V.M. H i l l and pr in ted in The C h r is t ian Index, Jan. 21, 1842,. p . 165.

67. C a r r o l l , op. c i t . , p . 134.

. 51

Tryon served as j o i n t pastors of Independence church because

Cox, who l ived a t LaGrange, could not meet re g u la r ly to f i l l

the p u lp i t . Here a t the Independence church the controversy

was brought out in the open. Members were received into the

church who bel ieved in Campbell ism. In the absence of the

pastors, a deacon by the name of Clow had baptized one, L.P.

Rucker. In March, 1841, a f t e r a message by Tryon, a motion

was made to declare Rucker's baptism in v a l id . This brought

matters to a d e f i n i t e issue or as C arro l l sa id , "a b a t t l e

royal was fou gh t ." In the f a l l a t the Association the matter

of Cox's heterodoxy was brought up p r iv a t e ly fo r serious con­

s id e ra t io n . The preachers present, besides Cox, were Huckins,

Tryon, M o r r e l l , Byars, Baylor, Buff ington, and Woodruff.

From M o r r e l l ' s book one gathers th a t a sort of conference

was held and i t was agreed th a t M orre l l should remain over

Sunday and submit the whole matter to the church. Link said

of Cox:

By th is time serious report of bad conduct had f o l ­lowed him from Alabama. But he was a man of great eloquence and power and knew well how to plead his own cause, and was so p lau s ib le that many never took . in the c r a f t and tendency of his teachings, o f the "Reformation". He afterwards became more in te res ted in horse-racing and gambling than in preaching. 68

Cox was excluded from the church and from the m in is t ry as a

res u l t of these and other charges tha t were brought against

68. Link, op. c i t . , p . 12,

52

him. Thus Cambel l ism received a death blow among Texas. 69

Bapt is ts .

One of Tryon's reports to the ABHMS contained a very

in te re s t in g account of a fam i ly a t Eagle Lake who was most

eager to hear the gospel. The only fam ily on the Lake, i t

included a fa th e r , mother and two c h i ld re n . They had heard

no preaching fo r many months and they had no B ib le , but they

had obtained one New Testament. This they had cut from the

binding and d iv ided between them, as personal property; thus

allowing them a l l to read, as opportunity presented, and by

exchanging with each other , enjoyed the p r iv i l e g e of reading

a l l tha t book. From t h e i r reading of the New Testament,

without note or comment, they were brought to the knowledge

of t ru th in Christ and wanted to be baptized . The preachers

upon learning of th is experience of the fam ily were s a t i s f i e d7 0that they had become C h r is t ian s .

Organizat ion of churches in Middle Texas did not be­

gin u n t i l 1844. The church a t H u n ts v i l le was the o ldest ,

outside of Houston and Galveston, in Middle Texas between the

T r i n i t y and Brazos r iv e r s , having been organized by Thomas

Horse!y and Z.N. M o r re l l , w ith e igh t members, on September 16,

1844. Anderson Church, Grimes County, organized in 1844 by

Horsely and M orre l l w ith seven members, became a prosperous

6 9 . Huckins1 l e t t e r to H i l l .

70. Report of the ABHMS, P h i lade lph ia , Apr i l 23,1844,

• .... . . \ 53and a c t iv e church due to the surrounding r ich l a n d s . The

Post Oak Grove Church was organized in the same year.

The Education Society met and held meetings from 1841

to 1844 concerning the establishment of a Baptis t school, but

due to the Mexican invasion of 1842 progress had been retarded.

In 1844 Baylor and Tryon were appointed to a committee to go

before the Texas Congress to secure a charte r fo r a school.72

There was no time to consult others on a matter of a

name fo r the school unless the committee postponed securing

the c h a r te r . Baylor wanted Tryon's name used as the idea fo r

the u n iv e rs i ty had o r ig in a ted with him, but Tryon feared th a t

the people might th ink he was working fo r his own honor.

W i l l iam Tryon took the charter and wrote in Bay lor 's name in . 7 3

the blank. Now i t was Baylor 's turn to protest les t his one

thousand d o l la r g i f t be misunderstood and he did not th ink

himself worthy. To receive the char te r without fu r th e r delay,

Baylor 's name stayed and the char te r was granted February 1,

1845.

There were four bids fo r the locat ion of the u n iver ­

s i t y , each s i t e agreeing to pay the amount set opposite i ts

name as a bonus fo r the school:

71. M o r r e l l , op. c ?t . , p . 195.

72. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , p . 132.

73. C a r r o l l , op. c i t . , p . 229.

5 4

I independence...................................... .. $7 ,925.00T ra v is , Austin C o u n t y . . , , . .$3 ,586 .25Huntsvi l l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,417.75Shannon's P r a i r i e . ...................................$4,725,00 74

None of the bids were in money, but were in w i ld lands, t o ­

gether w ith some town l o t s , A l l the lands except the town

lots were valued a t s e v e n ty - f iv e cents per acre and the town

lots valued a t whatever pr ice they would br ing . There were 7 5ten votes from the Board of Trustees fo r Independence and

one vote fo r H u n ts v i l le . The U n iv e rs i ty was located a t Inde­

pendence. Part of the Independence bid included a two-story... 76

frame bu i ld ing which became the f i r s t bu i ld ing of the in ­

s t i t u t i o n . The school opened May 18, 1846, w ith twenty-four

students who increased to seventy before the f i r s t year7 7ended.

Thus, Baptists had founded the o ldest surviv ing

in s t i tu t io n s in the State - - Baylor U n iv e rs i ty and Mary

Hardin-Baylor College, which became a part of Baylor Univer­

s i t y in 1845. Another Baptis t d is t in c t io n was they were the

74. South of Brenham.75. There were f i f t e e n members of the Board of

Trustees; Baylor, Mercer, Drake, Farquhar, T a y lo r , Huckins, Lester , Armi stead. Shannon,. Horton, Kavanaugh, Haynes, Thomas, Jarman, and Tryon,

76. For f i v e years th is was the only bu i ld ing fo r both male and ..female departments.

77. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , p . 169.

f i r s t to o f f e r courses in re l ig io u s education fo r col lege

c r e d i t , not only in Texas but a lso in the S o u t h .

78. I b i d . (H.F. G i l l e t t was the f i r s t teacher.H.L. Graves became the f i r s t president in 1847. Sam Houston loaned to the i n s t i t u t i o n his large and w e l l -s e le c te d , l i b r a r y , and sent his son, Temple, to the Baylor Un ivers i ty law school. ) .

CHAPTER I I I

SOUTHERN BAPTIST WORK AMONG THE.NEGROES

The laws of Mexico p o s i t iv e ly proh ib i ted s lavery , but

a scheme of the American colonis ts represented them simply as

servants $ ̂ and Negroes were brought into Texas in great num­

bers „ In a d d i t io n , during the years of Mexican sovereignty,

and to a l im i te d extent a few years l a t e r , smuggling slave

traders brought in and sold others d i r e c t l y from A fr ic a or' ' 2

Cuba. S i r T .F . Buxton stated tha t i n i 837 and 1838 , not less■ ■ " 4

than f i f t e e n thousand had been imported.

1. Mario G i l l , Nuestros Buenos Vecinos, 5th e d . , E d i to r ia l Azeteca, „.S,A., Mexico, D.F.7 1259. ''La s i tuac ion se agravcf cuandb la legj 6 la tu ra del ..estado (Coahui la y Texas) proclamd' su const; tuc ioh . Eh el A r t ic u lo 13 se es tab lec fa :1En el estado nadie nace esclavo desde se publique esta con- s t i t u c i b n ^ . . . Tampoco se permite la i ntroduccio'n (de esclavos) bajo ningun p r e t e x t © .1"

2. Austin was responsible in considerable degree fo r the l ib e r a l terms of the co lo n iza t io n law; his arguments pre­vented the c o n s t i tu t io n a l a b o l i t io n of s lavery in 1827 and secured the labor law of 1828 perm it t ing the continued i n t r o ­duction of slaves as indentured servants. See The Southwestern H is to r ic a l Review, XXI I , Ju ly , 1918, p . l l . In a l e t t e r to Mrs, Holley dated July 19, 1831, Austin stated; "Negroes canbe brought here under indentures, as servants, not as s laves, . . .something between s lavery and freedom, but n e i ther the one or the o th e r . . . .which is best? Quien sabe?"

3» G i l l , op. c i t . , p . 19.4. "S ir T .F . Buxton dec la ref que en 1837 y 183 8, no

menos de 15 mi 1 negroes han side importados de A f r ic a a Tex­as, otras estamaciones f i j a n un numero todavia mayor,"

56

57

President Burnett issued a proclamation in 1836 pro­

h ib i t in g the in troduct ion of slaves in to the New Republic^

"excepting from the United States of America". However3 the

Texas c o n s t i tu t io n , coupled with B urnett 's proclamation, did

not prevent the entry of slaves in to Texas. There was a

slave-mart in Houston which held a large number of l i k e l y -

looking negroes who waited to be purchased. In shop windows,

on doors, and on columns of hotels were w r i t t e n advertisements

as "A l i k e l y negro g i r l fo r sa le"; "two negroes fo r s a l e ; "

"twenty negro boys fo r s a le ."

From the f i r s t entry of the s e t t l e r s in to Texas w ith

t h e i r "servants", the h is to ry of s lavery has been in te r l in k e d

with tha t of Bap t is t h is tory and one cannot be w r i t te n w i th ­

out the o ther . Relig ious h is tory during the period of s lavery

5. "Whereas, the eighth a r t i c l e of the general pro­v is io n of the Const i tu t ion of the Republic of Texas provides tha t the importation or admission of A f r i c a n s , o r Negroes, in ­to th is Republic, excepting from the United States of America, is forever p roh ib i ted and declared to be a p i r a c y . . . ."Whereas, the A fr ican s la v e - t ra d e is equa l ly re v o l t in g to the C h ris t ian f a i t h , is equal ly d e s tru c t ive to nat ional moral s., and ind iv idual humanity, and"Whereas, the most enlightened and powerful nations of C h r is t ­endom are exert ing both t h e i r moral in te l l ig e n c e and physical power to suppress tha t odious and abominable t r a f f i c . . . . "

6. In 1850, Texas, according to the United States census, had a population of 212,592 and one fo u r th of these (58,161) were Negro slaves. Five years l a t e r , the number of slaves was doubled. .

7. Arthur M, Schlesi nger, ed„, The Cotton Kingdom, New York, 1962, p .3,12. . ^ ,

58

is a matter of pecu l ia r in t e r e s t . What of slaves as Bap t is ts ,

and what did Baptists do fo r slaves? Baptis t m in is ters be­

l ieved tha t s lavery was amply and f u l l y sustained by the 8B ib le , and tha t they had a r e s p o n s ib i l i t y to make provision

9fo r t h e i r s p i r i t u a l w e l fa re .

The e a r l i e s t records show tha t negroes were members of10white Bapt is t churches. In the church meetings the Negroes

were assigned special seats, or some special hours of worship11on Sunday afternoon were given to them. In c e r ta in sections

of Texas, notably on the Brazos and Colorado River p lan ta t io n s ,

there was a large number of Negroes. The p lanters were gener­

a l l y in favor of evangeliz ing t h e i r s laves, and some would

con tr ibu te from $50 to $100 annually to the preachers who

preached to them. In a few cases, pious owners o f slaves c o l ­

lected them on the Sabbath morning and read to them the s c r ip -

tures and gave ora l in s t ru c t io n to the colored c h i ld re n .

8. James Huckins, f i r s t Bapt is t missionary sent to Texas, owned.one household servant. See Texas H is to r ic a l Hagaz?ne, p . 185.

9. Carrol 1, op. ci t . , p . 254.10. This was the case u n t i l a f t e r the C iv i l War.11. The f i r s t Negro Baptis t church in Texas was organ­

ized at Galveston in 1865 by I .S . Campbell, a Negro Baptist m in is te r sent by the Consolidated Convention (wh ite ) of Ohio and ad jo in ing s ta te s . This church was organized as the Freed­man's Baptis t Church and was the f i r s t church in Texas whose membership was e x c lu s ive ly Negro B apt is ts . (See Centennial Story of Texas Bapt?s t s , p .42 . )

12, C a r r o l l , op. ci t . , p . 255,

59

The f i r s t a v a i la b le d e f in i t e records are the minutes

of some of the older churches which s ta te simply the facts of

the regular preaching to the colored people, and many of them

being received and baptized into the white Baptis t c h u rch e s .^

In the Old North Church, near Nacogdoches, in May, 1838, one

colored man and woman, property of B.H. Whitaker, were bap-1 ii’t i z e d and united w ith the church, 1 '

James Huckins records in his Journal on February 7 th ,

1840, tha t two persons of color were added to the F i r s t B ap t is t15Church a t Galveston:

Their examination took place a t two o 'c lo ck th is e v e n in g . , . th e y to ld in t h e i r own way the work of the Holy S p i r i t on th e i r hearts . And so c le a r , so graphic and so f u l l of pious fe e l in g was the nar­r a t i v e of old Reuben that many jiearts were melted,Reuben had been taught of God. There was great d ig n i ty - - the d ig n i ty of t rue hum il i ty - - in his manner. Every movement of the old man was grace personif ied; his voice r ich and his enunciation c le a r , and what added to the in te re s t - - he is p e r fe c t ly b l i n d , . . .

"Reuben, have you a w i f e , " asked Huckins.

VYes, Massa."

13. I b i d . , p . 253.

14. Link, op. c i t . , p .33.

15. Journal of Huckins published in The Chr is t ian £ndex, January 7 S 1841, p . 144.

60

“ Is she a Christ ian?"

“No, MassaI No, Hassa, but I pray every day and night fo r h e r»“

The number of colored members in th is church continued to

grow ,^and fo r p ie ty and consistency of C h r is t ian character

they were seldom exce l led by any o th e rs „

Just as the Baptis t churches were being organized in

Texas and C h r is t ian work was beginning among the slaves, a

controversy arose in Bapt is t organizat ions over s lavery tha t

would e ventua l ly lead to separat ion, in a c i r c u la r l e t t e r

w r i t te n by Secretary Benjamin M. H i l l of the American Baptis t

Home Mission Society dated February 16, 1841, he urged the

Baptis t to remain in the Convention and continue to carry on

the missionary work in lands adjacent to the United States:

A question has of la te been most ea rnest ly a g i ta te d , tha t awakens, , , the deepest fe e l in g s , e s p e c ia l ly a t the Sou£h, We need not say we a l lud e to the act ion of the A n t i -S la v e ry Societ ies formed a t the North.Our brethren a t the South, w ith great unanimity, deprecate the discussion as unwarranted, the measures pursued as f a t a l to t h e i r s a fe ty , and complain of the language...employed as cruel and s la n d e ro u s . , . .

Against the d isp os it ion of some beloved brethren to withdraw from tha t union so dear to the Society , and as we humbly t r u s t to tha t of God, we, p ro tes t a f f e c ­t io n a t e ly , re s p e c t fu l ly , and w ith earnestness and Vehemence. We need union as a denomination. And as p a t r io t s , we must cherish re l ig io u s union as one

16. P.B. Chandler reported to the Texas Baptis t Convention in 1850 tha t the colored membership at, Galveston Baptis t Church numbered 65. See H istory of Texas B a p t is ts , p. 255. ,, .. ' - . .

61

among the s trongest , although not the most prom­inent , of the bands tha t hold together the union of these States ,

. . . . th e ,C o m m it te e implore most f e r v e n t l y , . . . t h a t peace may be s t i l l in the w a l l s . . . r e t a i n the union of hearts , even where they may not be an e n t i r e unison of v iews..

By order of the Executive Committee,Spencer H, Cone, Chairman Benj. M. H i l l , Cor. Sec, ABHMStFeb, 16, ,1841 _ . . . . . . . 1 7

When W.M. Tryon and Baylor re o rg a n iz e d ^ the Baptis t

church a t Washington in February of 1841, two blacks, John19and M a t i ld a , slaves of J .L . Farquhar, were taken as members,

A short time l a t e r , a f t e r Baylor had preached to a large

congregation, on a Saturday afternoon, a servant g i r l presented

h e rs e l f fo r church membership and was received in to the church.

At th is time two more colored, w ith church l e t t e r s , asked fo r

membership. One the next day, Sunday, a f t e r le c tu r in g on

baptism to those assembled on the banks of the Brazos, Tryon- O f )

baptized the f i r s t person in the Brazos, a servant g i r l .

17# C irc u la r l e t t e r of B.M. H i l l fo r ABHMS to Bap­t i s t churches in the South, pr in ted in The C h r i s t i an index, Apri l 9, 1841, p . 226.

18. This church and Sunday school a t Old Washington had been estab l ished in 1837 by Z.N. M o r re l l , but fo r lack of a preacher had disbanded.

19. C a r r o l l , op. c i t .

20. L e t te r of Tryon to Sanders dated Ju ly , 1841, and published In The Ch r is t ian Index, September 17, lo 4 l ,pp.605-6o6.

62

In the F i r s t Baptis t Church of Houston, organized by

James Huckins in A p r i l , 1841, four colored persons - - K i t t y

Mulryne, Isaac League, Melvina Gray and Inda Schroder - - wereO ]

added to the membership* There was s im i la r success among

the colored at the Bapt is t churches elsewhere as well as a t

Houston. Huckins told, of an in te re s t in g experience of one

colored man, George, the Fisherman whom he had baptized:

I have today baptized George, the Fisherman. He is the servant of Mr. C, w h o , . , , i s . a very kind, and moral man, but does not regard the S a b b a th , , . .Mr. C. is fond of f is h in g , and on Saturday he had made arrangements fo r a large f is h in g pa r ty . But when the day came, the weather was unpleasant. . . . , they ( the party) agreed to postpone t h e i r excursion t i l l the next day - - S a b b a t h . . . . j u s t r ig h t fo r f is h in g , George was sent f o r , he being the f i s h ­erman. . . .When summoned by his master, he said:

"Can11 go, Massal Can't go, Massa."

"Why not?"

"Dis de Lord's day, and me t e l l you, Massa. dat no good come of dis here f is h in g , or doing anything else on de Lord's d ay ,11

. . . . t h e conscience of Mr, C. was touched, and as he would not force his servant to v i o l a t e his con­science, the party was broken up.

The fa c t is enough to show what moral in f luence may obtain even in the case of a slave who is e n t i r e l y subject to the w i l l of his master. That o f George was s u f f i c i e n t to f r u s t r a t e the plans and to change the purpose of a large party of ungodly men.

ooJames Huckins

21. Link, op. c i t , , p . 174.

22. L e t te r of Huckins to Wychoff published in The Ch ris t ian Index, July 16, 1841, .

The Baptis t m in is ters of Texas were concerned about

the s p i r i t u a l w e l fa re of the colored as shown in the f i r s t

general organ iza t ion of Baptis t churches in assoc ia t ions . In

1843 when the Education Society was formed, Gail Borden, one

of the o r ig in a l members of tha t Board of Manager, was placed23on the committee to represent the colored populat ion. From

th is time forward there were reports on the evange l iza t ion of

slaves and c a l ls fo r more missionaries to work among the

colored a t a l l the annual meetings u n t i l a f t e r the C iv i l War.

Noah H i l l worked as a missionary among the slaves in Wharton,

Matagorda, and Brazoria counties, devoting one h a l f of his

time to t h e i r re l ig io u s in s t ru c t io n . A. Buff ington was a lso

appointed to work among the slaves in Grimes county without_ 24

any s a la ry .

An Englishman, W il l iam B o l la e r t , world t r a v e le r ,

adventurer and occasional w r i t e r , spent the Christmas season

of 1843 in H u n ts v i l le , Texas, and reported on the happiness

he witnessed among the Negroes:

23. Centennial Story of Texas B a p t is ts , p . 247.

24. Minutes of Annual Session of Texas Baptist State Convention, (M a rs h a l l ) , June, 1852, p p .15-16. This report s tates th a t ,H i 11 was re?appointed a t th is t im e . to devote a considerable port ion o f his time to work among the slaves. He reported the baptism of 36 servants and re jo iced tha t p lanters were anxious to co-operate in improving the moral condit ion of t h e i r s laves, some having b u i l t housesof worship fo r them.

64

the day was spent in v i s f t i n g s . . . .d inner and merrymaking. The Negroes, having a week's holiday during the Christmas season, were very gay, s o c ia l is in g , s inging, and dancing, decked in t h e i r b e s t .25

A servant o f James White, by the name of Ned, was

received in to the Baptis t church a t Rock Creek on the day of

o rgan iza t io n , November 11, 1844, along with the white members.

At the next meeting of the church, on the f i r s t Sunday of

December, two more servants, having a lready been baptized by

Rev. Horse!y, presented themselves fo r church membership and.. . 26 were received.

James Huckins ra re ly f a i l e d to mention his colored

f r iends in his l e t t e r s to the American Bapt is t Home Mission

Society, always r e la t in g some a f fe c t in g incidents as the f o l ­

lowing one;

I was deeply a f fe c te d , on reaching the p la n ta t io n of a good s i s t e r , near Columbia, by the joy expressed by an old negro man. He came running across the f ie ld s as though he had something important to communicate; and when he got w i th in speaking d istance, he c r ied out,

"Massa, 0, Massal11

"What do you wish, man?" I inquired .

"1 want to know i f you be preacher?"

"Yes."

"Bless de Lord fo r dat . You Baptist?"

25. Henderson S h u f f le r , "How Christmas Came to Texas. The Houston Chronicle , Sunday, December 22, 1963, p p .12-13.

26. Link, op. c i t . , p . 403.

65

"Yes,"

"Bless de Lord, Dis what 1 and my old woman been praying fo r many years ,"

"Are you a member of a Bapt is t church?"

"Yes, Massa, I is one, and so is old woman and Tom and Sarah ,"

"Do you pray any?"

"0 yes, Massa every day. Couldn't l i v e w ithout dat; we a l l pray God to send preacher and ra ise up church, but most get out o f heart sometime. But now you come, we hold out good heart l i t t l e longer,"

On the next Sunday I preached to the blacks, near Gov, Reynolds' residence, i t was the f i r s t sermon they have heard since they have been in th is country,A great number were present, and they could not re ­s t r a in t h e i r f e e l in g s , and I could not f in d i t in my heart to attempt to r e s t ra in them from t h e i r shoutings a l i t t l e . I f they had not known my views upon th a t sub jec t , they would have made the a i r r ing with expressions of t h e i r jo y . At the close of the services s ix came forward and gave me t h e i r hands and requested baptism,2/

Another m in is te r , Jesse W i t t , working with the colored

in the area of M arsha l l , Texas, wrote tha t he was devoting

more a t te n t io n than before to the re l ig io u s in s t ru c t io n of the

slaves. He f u r th e r re la te d tha t he was g r e a t ly encouraged to

prosecute th is work because large congregations had been a t ­

tending the preaching services and l is tened w ith becoming28seriousness and decorum. W it t found tha t those who professed

conversion seemed to have correc t views of themselves and the

plan of s a lv a t io n .

27, Twelf th Report of the American Bap t is t Home Mis­sion S o c i e t y ,P h i l a d e l p h i a , A p r i l 2%, 1844, p ,59 .

28. C a r r o l l , op. c i t , , p . 301.

66

Some of the m in is ters be l ieved tha t one could f in d

among the slaves more anx ie ty and a grea te r w i l l ingness to

hear the gospel than among any other people, and i ts t ru ths

were more genera l ly cherished and i ts precepts as well obeyed

by them as by the more i n t e l l i g e n t w h i t e s . T h e r e were a

few places w i th in the s ta te of Texas where the colored had

separate organizat ions presided over by white m in is te rs ,

in these places t h e i r d is c ip l in e was s t r i c t l y gospel and

peace, union and love abound. " In other places they had

th e i r own colored m i n i s t e r s . . . . A goodly number of them are

t r u ly and deeply pious, and t h e i r exhortat ions and prayers

would e d i fy any who might hear. The convict ion has been i r ­

r e s i s t i b l y forced upon our minds tha t t h e i r p ie ty and zeal

would compare favorab ly with tha t o f our white brethren.

Some eleven of the Bap t is t d i s t r i c t associat ions had• 3 1

important information on r e l ig io n among the Negroes.

29. Carrol 1, op. ci t . , p . 257.

30. Ib id .

31. Colorado Associat ion , in I ts s t a t i s t i c s fo r 1851, showed a to ta l membership of 286 whites and 145 negroes.Wharton church showed a membership of 94 negroes and only 24 whites . Austin church showed 16 negroes and Gonzales had 22 negroes, in 1854, in Matagorda County, on the p la n ta t io n of J.H. Jones, a colored church p e t i t io n e d fo r membership in the assoc ia t ion . Noah H i l l and J .J . Loudermi1k, white preachers, were t h e i r chosen messengers. .The church was received, in 1855, a colored church in Anderson, Grimes County, p e t i t io n e d fo r membership in Union A s s o c i a t i o n . T h e a p p l ic a t io n was re ­fe r red to a committee composed of such,men as J.B. S t i t e l e r , Henry L. Graves, James Huckihs and J.W.D. Creath - - a l l preach­ers : and Col . A.S, Broaddus and M, McClanahan; d is t inguished laymen. This committee f i n a l l y recommended th a t the church be

S p i r i t u a l concern of the white Baptists fo r the r e l ig io u s

condit ion of the slaves permeated a l l the reports with strong

appeals fo r more preaching among the blacks. One m in is te r

s tated tha t 11 In some counties where we have most blacks, we

have no preacher. Perhaps i t would be well fo r us th a t we

cease to enlarge the book of Resolutions and Reports, and

open the Book of Acts, th a t these immortal beings may have32

the bread of l i f e . "

There were many thousands of Negro slaves in Texas

p r io r to the beginning of the C iv i l War and they continued

to worship w ith and jo in the white Baptis t churches up to the

end of th is ca tastroph ic s t ru gg le . The r e la t io n between the

whites and the slaves in the churches remained almost normal,

with many instances of b e a u t i fu l devotion on the part of

servants toward t h e i r masters. The usual custom was for a l l

pastors, whether in c i t y , town or country, whenever they

preached to whites on Sunday morning to give a special ser ­

v ice to the colored people in the afternoon. To large

not received "because the establishment of independent church­es among the colored people would be inconsistent with t h e i r condit ions as servants, and w ith the in te res ts of t h e i r masters," but during the same year Colorado Associat ion, by a res o lu t io n , recommended "separate churches fo r the colored people". The act ion of the two associat ions was exact ly contrary .

32. C a r r o l l , op, c i t , , p , 258.

. 68

p la n ta t io n s , and e s p e c ia l ly fo r those tha t grew cotton and

cane, where there were very few whites and many Negroes,

sometimes hundreds of them, e i th e r volunteer or regular 1y

employed missionaries had to go. As a ru le owners not only

raised no ob ject ion to th is re l ig io u s work among the s laves,

but made special arrangements fo r i t and co-operated with i t .

The Negroes themselves were e a s i ly accessib le . There seemed

to be few in f id e ls among them. H is tory seems to show no other33

race of people more ready to accept the r e l ig io n of C hr is t ,

The B ib le , as be l ieved and taught by the Baptis ts ,

most r e a d i ly appealed to the s laves. There were more Baptists

among them than possibly belonged to a l l other denominations

combined. The genuinely converted among the slaves did the

part of m iss ionar ies . During the days of s lavery , the ne­

groes saw l i t t l e money and owned less, but they were always

ready to c o n tr ibu te part of tha t to missions, e s p e c ia l ly to

missions in A f r ic a , I t is a remarkable fa c t tha t the very34

f i r s t c o n tr ib u t io n made to A f r ic a was made by these people.

Separation o f the races in the churches did not come u n t i l

a f t e r the War, and the Negroes of Texas were less disturbed

than those of other southern s tates due to the distance of the

war from Texas,

33. I bi d , , p,2S9.34, In 1848, a t the f i r s t meeting of the Texas State

Convention, the Matagorda Church sent up $23 fo r Foreign Mis­sion, $11,50 of which was sent by the white members for China and $11,50 by the colored Ch r is t ian s laves, fo r A f r ic a ,

69

Although the Mexican law proh ib i ted the entry of

slaves in to Texas, Americans brought t h e i r slaves in as s e r ­

vants, and slave t raders smuggled in to Texas some 15,000 in

1837 and 1838, notwithstanding the p ro h ib i t io n of slaves byo r

President B urnett 's proclamation of 1836, The slave-mart

in Houston showed the i n s t i t u t i o n of s lavery ex is ted in the

new Republic, Although the record revealed only one Baptis t36 ■m in is te r who owned a servant. Bapt is t preachers held the

view tha t s lavery was supported by the B ib le , Bapt is t

preachers had a concern fo r the s p i r i t u a l w e l fa re of the

negroes as had been shown in t h e i r urgent pleas tha t preach­

ing services be provided fo r the colored people e i th e r in con­

jun c t io n with the whites or th a t separate services be held.

The fa c t tha t many negroes of Texas are Baptis t is a re s u l t

of the sincere concern on the part of Southern Baptists tha t

the gospel be given to the colored a lso .

35, In the new republic slaves could be brought in from the United S ta tes ,

36. James Huckins had one household servant.

CHAPTER IV

BAPTISTS AND STATEHOOD, 1845

With the annexation of Texas to the Union in 1845 and

the triumph of the United States in the war w ith Mexico,

there began a great in f lu x of ordained m in is ters from the

other s ta te s , who supplied the m u l t ip ly in g Texas churches 1

with pastors.

The Texas Home Mission Society tha t had been recognized

in Ju ly , 1842, was a u x i l i a r y to the American Bapt is t Home Mis­

sion Soc ie ty .^ Although Texas never made any c o n tr ibu t io n to

the ABHMS, the Society continued to l i s t Texas in reports up

to the C i v i 1 War.

The Minutes of the ABHMS of 1843 l i s t e d one mission­

ary , W il l iam Tryon. He had served three mission s ta t io n s ,

baptized f i f t e e n , and had preached rev iv a ls a t several places.3

Sunday school pupils numbered f o r t y . The Associational

1. Encyclopedia of Souther n B a p t is ts , p . 1375. (J.W.D. Creath of V i r g in ia went to HuntsviTTe.; P.B. Chandler of - . ,Georgia went to LaGrange; R.H. T a l i a f e r r o . o f Kentucky went to Austin; W il l iam M. P ic k e t t ,o f Kentucky labored in various places in Texas.) ..

2. Report of ABHMS, Brooklyn, N .Y . , May 13, 1846, p .36. (O f f ic e rs l i s t e d were R..E.B. Baylor , LaGrange, President;W.M. Tryon, Houston, Corresponding S ec re ta ry . )

3 . Report o f ABHMS, A p r i l 29, 1845, p . 26.

70

Table in the ABHMS showed one associat ion* twelve churches*

twenty baptized, w ith a to ta l membership of three hundred and

e ig h ty - s ix . From the Baptis t Register o f 1844*^ two associa­

t ions* twenty-four churches* and nineteen m in is ters were

l i s t e d . One hundred tw e n ty - f iv e had been baptized making a

to ta l membership in the Baptis t churches of seven hundred

t h i r t y - t h r e e .

The Associationa 1 Minutes fo r 1845-46*'* Statehood

year, show there were s t i l l two associat ions composed of

twenty-four churches, th i r te e n ordained m in is te rs* and one

l icensed m in is te r . The to ta l membership numbered s ix hundred

and seventy-two* showing a loss o f t h i r t y - s i x . In th is year

one hundred and fourteen had been baptized.

R.W. T a l i a f e r r o organized a church a t Austin tha t met

fo r public worship in the c a p i t o l . ^ His work here was r ic h ly

blessed; a number of persons were converted and baptized . He

wrote of his work:

I came here expecting to f in d but very few Bapt is ts , scattered over an extensive t e r r i t o r y , w ithout preach­ers , w ithout church connection and p r iv i l e g e s , without houses of worship, disorganized and ignorant of a l l benevolent in s t i tu t io n s and operations of the present age, lukewarm, worldly-minded* without much f a i t h or good works, and in d i f f e r e n t to the promotion of the cause, A few such 1 have indeed found* but w ith the m ajo r i ty i t is otherwise.

4. Report o f ABHMS* May 13, 1846* p .41.

5. Report o f ABHMS, May 10, 1847, p .43,

6. Report of ABHMS, May 11* 1848, pp .54-55.

72

A short time since I v i s i t e d two Associat ion, and was much g r a t i f i e d to meet brethren there of a very d i f f e r e n t charac ter . I dare say there are but few Associations in the U.S. presenting more i n t e l l e c t and p ie ty in proport ion to the number of members, nor more benevolence in proport ion to t h e i r wealth .Never have 1 seen a more e f f i c i e n t de legation of p r iv a te members in a l l business matters , nor a m in is try b e t te r adapted to t h e i r f i e l d and circum­stances surrounding them. The supporters of the Home Mission Society may have pleasure of r e f le c t in g that t h e i r l i b e r a l i t y has aided to produce these happy re s u l ts . Our churches here ought to fee l g ra te fu l fo r th is a id .

In other parts of the State Our operations are in t h e i r infancy. A new Association has j u s t been organized in our region. I he prospects of our church are encouraging. When I a r r iv e d here a l l was new, h a l f dozen sermons had never been preached by our m in is ters here, and I was obliged to combat prejudices and misrepresentat ions on every s ide , but we are now prospering, I expect to organize a new church next week, about twenty miles from th is place. 7

The Baptis t work continued to prosper and grow in the

e a r ly years of Statehood;for the Association Report showed

twenty-four churches, t h i r t e e n ordained m in is te rs , one hun­

dred e ighty-two bapt ized , w ith a to ta l membership of seven8hundred and seventy-two.

As Statehood came to Texas, a Bapt is t o rgan iza t io n ,

the Southern Baptis t Convention, was being formed tha t was to

play a great ro le in the h is tory of Baptis t b u i ld in g in Texas

a t tha t time and fo r the fu tu re years. That s lavery was an

7» L e t te r of R.W, T a l i a f e r r o to ABHMS, dated December 1, 1847. ...

8. Sixteenth Report of ABHMS, New York, May 11, 1848, P * So« ’ ■..... ,.

73

underlying cause fo r the formation of the SBC is an accepted

fa c t :

i t is a question admitt ing no debate, that the T r ie n n ia l Convention was formed on the p r in c ip le pf a per fec t e q u a l i ty o f members, in the South and North. And what is a l l important, the very q u a l i f i c a t io n s of missionaries are prescribed by the o r ig in a l c o n s t i tu t io n of tha t Convention, the f i f t h a r t i c l e providing tha t "such persons only as are in f u l l communion with.some regular church of our denomination, and who can furn ish s a t i s ­fac to ry evidence of genuine p ie ty , good ta le n ts and fe rvent zeal fo r the Redeemer's cause, are to be employed as m is s io n a r ie s .9

Now while under th is ru le the s laveholder had been, in his

tu rn , employed as a missionary, i t was not a l leged tha t any

other than those above described had been appointed. Moreover,

the important post of superintendent of the education of na t ive

missionaries had been assigned, w ith universal approval, to

the pastor of a large slaveholding church.

Besides t h is , too, the dec la ra t io n of the Board, tha t i f "any one should o f f e r himself as a .m is ­s io n a r y ,h a v in g slaves, and should in s is t on r e ­ta in ing them as his property , we could not appoint him," is an innovation and a departure from the course h i th e r to pursued by the T r ie n n ia l Conven­t io n , (such persons having been appointed). And l a s t l y , the decision of the Board is an in f r a c t io n of the reso lu t ion passed the las t spring, in Philade lph ia ; and the General Board at t h e i r la te meeting in Providence, having f a i l e d to reverse th is d e c is io n . . . . 10

9. Minutes of Southern Baptis t Convention, Augusta, Georgia, 1845, p . 12.

10, I b i d . , Action taken by Board a t Boston in Decem­ber, 1844. The South did not move ,i n the matter o f a new organ izat ion u n t i l the l ib e r a l States had refused to send northward any more con tr ib u t io n s .

74

Resolved, That fo r peace and harmony, and in order to accomplish the grea tes t amount of good, and fo r the maintainance [s ic ] of those s c r ip tu ra l p r i n c i ­ples on which the General Missionary Convention of the Baptis t denomination of the United Sta tes , was o r i g i n a l l y formed, i t is proper tha t th is Conven­t io n a t once proceed to organize a Society fo r the propagation of the Gospel, 11

The South blamed the Board which had met in Boston in

1844 for placing i t s e l f in d i r e c t opposition to the Constitu­

t io n of the T r ie n n ia l Convention, On such a s l ig h t show of

a u th o r i ty , th is Board undertook to declare tha t to be a d is ­

q u a l i f i c a t io n in one who should o f f e r himself as missionary,

which the Convention had said sha l l not be a d i s q u a l i f i c a t io n .

I t had also expressly given i ts sanction to a n t i - s la v e r y

opinion, and i m p l i c i t l y f ix e d i ts condemnation on s lavery .

And f u r t h e r , i t forbade those who should apply fo r a mission­

ary appointment, to "express and promote elsewhere" th e i r

views on the subject of s lavery . The Board acted from a s e n t i ­

ment they f a i l e d to prove according to the Baptists of the

South: th a t s lavery is , in a l l circumstances, s i n f u l ,

11, The committee which drew up th is reso lu t ion was composed of two from each State represented in the meeting,Wm„ B„ Johnson, D„D,$ of S ,C , , was chosen Pres ident, H.W,Lumpkin, of Ga,, and J„B„ Tay lor , of Va„, were e lec ted as, V ice-P r e s i d e n t s , A , J , Hartwell and James,C, Crane were e lected as S ecre ta r ies . ( . See page 11 o f Minutes of SBC, 1845), TheSame committee, w ith the add it io n of W.B, Johnson, J, Dagg,J , Hartwel l , T. C u r t is , Jas, C. Crame.,, T, S t r in g fe l low,. S. Furman, and J .S , Baker were appointed to prepare a Const itu ­t ion fo r the proposed o rg a n iza t io n .

12, Minutes of Southern Baptis t Convention, §845,p . 18.

75

The Southern Baptis t Convention was duly organized and

o f f i c e r s of the Convention chosen. The Convention appointed

a Board of Managers fo r Foreign Missions to be located at

Richmond, V i r g i n i a , and a lso one fo r Domestic Missions to be . 13located a t Marion, Alabama. A committee was named to appoint

the members of such Boards„^ The Convention resolved to per­

mit a u x i l i a r y s o c ie t ies a f f i l i a t i o n in SBC and encouraged the

State Conventions to forward funds fo r Foreign and Domestic

Boards to the Treaurers of the respective Boards, The Conven­

t io n fu r th e r resolved to continue evangeliz ing the Aborigines

of America and ins tructed the Board of Domestic Missions to

take a l l prudent measures for the re l ig io u s in s t ru c t io n of thei r

colored population.

The SBC adopted a C onst i tu t ion p re c is e ly l i k e tha t of

the o r ig in a l union of Baptists of America. The purpose and

ob je c t ive of th is group of Baptists was to evangelize the

homeland and do missionary work in fore ign lands. This Con­

vention expressed a strong desire to answer the c a l l for help1 A

in America from such places as Texas.

13. I b i d . , p . 14,14. The committee was composed of the fo l low ing men:

E. B a l1 , , H. Keeling, W. Sands, R. McNab, A,J, B a t t l e , S. Furman, J .L , Reynolds, S. Blanding, J.H, Campbell, B.M.. Sanders, C.D. M allo ry , H. T a lb i rd , A. Trab is , T, C u r t is , I . T . Hinton, R. Holman, W.. Crane, J.Q. MqKean, T.W, Cydnor, , and I . McCoy,

15. Minutes of Southern’ Baptis t Convention, Augusta, Georgia, May, 1845, p . I S ­

IS. Address of W.B. Johnson, D.D, to the Convention,Augusta, G a , , May, 1845.,. p p .17-20 of Minutes of Southern Bap­t i s t Convention,

76

Joseph Warner, Dossey Creath and Jesse W it t o f fe red

themselves as missionaries to Texas in open session of the

SBC at the Second Bapt is t Church, Richmond, V i r g i n i a , in■ ' • I T1846, Creath served as pastor a t Anderson and H u n ts v i l le ,

Texas,

The F i r s t Bap tis t Church a t Marshall was organized1<

in May, 1847, by John Bryce and G„W, Baines w ith e igh t members.

Organization took place in the Masonic I n s t i t u t e which con­

t inued to be the meeting place of the church fo r two more

years u n t i l the church bu i ld ing was erected in the f a l l of

1849, John Bryce served the church as pastoral supply fo r

two years and was succeeded by Jesse W i l l , of V i r g i n i a , thei q

f i r s t regular pastor of the church,

James H, Wells was appointed an an i te n era n t mission­

ary to Texas in 1848 to labor among the German population.

His reports to the ABHMS showed tha t he worked around Lock­

hart ihnCal dwel 1 County, Texas. He supplied s ix s ta t io n s , had

t h i r t y Sunday school pup i ls , and baptized one convert a f t e r a

17, Texas H is to r ic a l and Biographical Magazine, p , 203,(Creath contr ibuted, $2,00t) to Baylor Uni vers i t y wnFcTTTti 11draws i n t e r e s t , )

18, The membership included Dr, W» Evans and his w ife , Mrs. Nancy Evans, and t h e i r daughter, Martha, afterwards Mrs. Governor Ed Clark; Nelson Trawick and his w i fe ; James D, Scott and his w ife ; and Mrs. F.C. Van Zandt. (L ink , p .566 .) ,

19, L ink, op, c i t . , p;566.

year 's la b o r„ His f i e l d embraced four county s e a ts „ Le t te rs

to the ABHMS showed tha t he was encouraged by his reception?nin the communities and the resu l ts were g r a t i f y i n g .

The F i r s t Baptis t Church of T y le r was con st i tu ted

A p r i l 8, 1848, by W.H. Ray and W.B. Langston, w ith only s ix21 ' .. .

members. Preaching in the church was the t h i r d Sunday and

the Saturday before the t h i r d Sunday in each month. The hour

of serv ice was s ig n i f i e d by blowing a large horn.

As more Bapt is t churches were organized and the mem­

bership grew, much thought was given to the organiz ing of a

Baptis t s ta te convention. The f i r s t step toward organ iza t ion

came in Houston, 1847, a t the meeting of the Union Association

when a committee was appointed to determine i f the churches22

wanted to organize. As a favorab le response was reported,

the time of organ iza t ion was set fo r September 8, 1848, a t

Anderson, in Grimes County. At th is time there were four

D i s t r i c t Associations: Union, Sabine, Colorado, and T r i n i t y- ‘ , / . 23

River . Twenty-three churches set delegates to the o rgan iza t io n .

20. Seventeenth Report o f ABHMS, New York, May 10,1849, p.14« , . ......

21. Stephen Reaves, Georgia A. Reaves, W.S. Walker,Amy W. Walker, Hampton E. Hudnal and J.G., Adria. were the charter members. ' . . *

22. Link, op. c ?t . , p . 256. ,23. R.E.B. Baylor served as presiding chairman; J.G.

Thomas acted as secre ta ry . James Huckins and J.W. C reath , were appointed by the cha ir as reading c le rks when letters '* ' were c a l le d , Z.N. Morre l l preached the in troductory sermon.The churches and t h e i r re legates th a t were represented at

7 8

[Continuation of footnote 23]

th is meeting were as fo l lows;

Independence; H.L. Graves, R„E„B„ Baylor, James Huckins,JoH, S t r i b 1ing, and A .G ,Haynes ,

Washington; B„B, Baxter* , J .L , Farquhar, J ,G, Heard*.Dove Church; . H, Ryan, W,G, Rowland, W.A, Chance, E.L. Chance,

and J.G. Thomas, ' . ,, ' ' „Providence (Washington C i ty ) ; H. G a r r e t t , J.M. H i l l ,

J.W, Brooks, W, Jackson, and J .L . Smith..F i r s t Baptist . Church, Houston; R.C. Burleson, R.S. Blount,

. E.B. Noble*, D,S. Terry , J . N . J o i n e r , and H., Bowles, Rocky Creek; A.M. Tandy, MyB. Bennett* , B. S t r ib l i n g . .Plum Grove; W. Seallorn*, G.W. T u t t l e , - Pr ice .Post Oak Grove: J.W, Creath, McRae*, J , King, N .H .D . ,

v i s i t o r . . ~ , .. .Antioch: A. Buff ington, O.H.H., A.G. Perry, J.W. Barnes,

Camp. .. .. ,Concord: B.F. E l l i s and L .L . E l l i s , •New Year's. Creek; D. F is h e r* , J. A l lc o rn , and G. Viezey,Matagorda: N. H i l l , A.C. Horton, V, Baxter and J, Yeaman.Bethany: R. Andrews, R.B.,Jarman, S.S. Hosea, S.E. Wright* . Gonzales: R. E l l i s, B. Weeks, J .J . Johnson, and J „ Mull in , Austin: R.H. T a l i a f e r r o . . . ; •Cuero; J. Stephens*, D.B. D i l l a r d .Bead; T. Davis, W. Stone*, .C.S, Gorbet.Mt. Gijead: R.D. Hick, W.P. Darby*, G.W. Buchanan, and

W.W. Buster. .F i r s t Baptist. Church, Galveston: J.G. Hi 1 Iy e r , Gail Borden, J r . ,

. and D.B. M o r r e l l . . .Hamilton: J. W i t t , J. Goodwin, Saunders*.Wharton: E l i Mercer,LaGrange: P.B, Chandler,Providence Church: (This church In Burleson County sent a

l e t t e r by the delegates from Dove Church. )

The v i s i t i n g men were in v i te d to a seat in the meeting.. M orre l l Z. Werley accepted the i n v i t a t i o n . Those men marked w ith an .as te r isk were absent. The Baptis t State Convention of Texas, 1848-1888, p . 1.

79

A committee was appointed to d r a f t a c o n s t i tu t io n

fo r the organ iza t ion of the Baptis t State Convention of Tex­

as at the meeting in the Antioch Baptis t Church of Anderson,

September 8 -12 , 1848. With the Convention duly organized,

the Baptists of the s ta te began promotion of missionary and

educational o b je c t iv e s . Several committees were appointed

by the Convention to carry out the work of the organ iza t ion26and to promote the Baptis t work in c e r ta in s p e c i f ic areas.

24. The committee was composed of Hosea G a r re t t , R.C. Burleson, James Huckins, L .L . Graves, J.W. Creath,J .L . E l l i s , P.B, Chandler, R.S. Blount, A.C. Horton, andJ.G,' Thomas.,.. . .

25. The o f f i c e r s e lec ted were as fo l lows: HenryL, Graves, President; J.W.D. Creath, Hosea G a r r e t t , James Huckins, Vice-Presidents.;. R.C. Burleson, Corresponding Sec­re ta ry ; J.G, Thomas, Recording Secretary; and J.W. Barnes, Treasurer. . ... " . .. ■

26. On the motion of James Huckins the President appointed the fo l low ing:Education: James Huckins, J .L . E l l i s , and A.C. Horton;P r? nt i ng: J.W. Barnes, R.C. Burleson, J.G. H i ! I y e r , GailBorden, R.S. Blount, and B.F.. El 1is ;Foreign Missions: Z.N. M o r r e l l , R.H. T a l i a f e r r o , P.B. Chand- 1.er", and A. Buff i ngton; (Southern Baptis t Convention was supporting 20 missionaries to China and 16 to A f r i c a . )Home Missions: J. W i t t , J .W .0 . Creath, H. G a r r e t t , J .J , Johnson, Efi Mercer; . . . „Finance: A .G / Haynes, J .L . Farquhar, and j . M u l l ins ;Pistr'i'b'ution of. B ib le s : . D.S.. Te rry , R. Andrews, A.G. Perry, "WorleyY and J.N., Joiner;Re1i qious C ond it ion of Black Populat ion: N. H i l l , R;S. Blount, Gajl Bor dd n7* B "77" Weks"^ " ™ . . .

The Baptis t State Convention of Texas, 1848-1888, p . 4.

80

The Convention was to be composed only of members of Baptis t

churches in good standing and any assoc ia t ion , church, or

society was e n t i t l e d to one rep resen ta t ive in the Convention

fo r every f i v e d o l la rs contr ibuted to i t s funds while any

church belonging to an assoc ia t ion was e n t i t l e d to one repre­

sen ta t ive without a c o n tr ib u t io n .

The C onst itu t ion s tated th a t the "Convention shall

never possess a s ing le a t t r i b u t e of power or a u th o r i ty over

any Church or Association avowing tha t card ina l p r in c ip le th a t

every church is sovereign and i n d e p e n d e n t . ^7 Ne ither shall

any o f f i c e r of the Convention receive a compensation for

serv ices .

The Convention resolved th a t "the corresponding

secretary be required to use a l l d i l ig e n c e in ascerta in ing

the number of Baptists and Baptis t churches in th is State andt pO

report a t the next meeting of the body." James Huckins and

J. W it t were appointed to represent the Bapt is t State Con­

vention of Texas a t the Southern Baptis t Convention to be held

in N a s h v i l le , Tennessee, in the spring of 1 8 4 9 . ^

27. Minutes of Baptis t State Convention of Texas a t Fourth Annual Session, p . 24.

28. C a r r o l l , op. c i t . [Population of census by counties showed the foTTowTng: Whites - - 105,508; Negroes - - 35,267 ( a l l s laves); Indians y- 30,000 (est imated) in 1847.] World Almanac, 1964, shows the census of Texas i n , 1850 to be 212,552 anTTn i860 to be 604,215.

29. The Baptis t State Convention of Texas, 1848-1888,P ” 5.

81

A report by Board of D irectors of the State Baptis t

Convention of Texas by R0C„ Burleson made a t Independence,

September 30, 1848, showed*that one hundred f i f t y do l la rs

were appropriated fo r Home Missions and that twenty- three

d o l la rs were appropriated fo r Foreign Missions, eleven do l ­

lars and f i f t y cents fo r China Missions and the same for the

Afr ican Missions.^® The Minutes of the State Baptis t Conven­

t io n of Texas showed tha t the Board of D irectors held regu­

l a r l y q u a r te r ly meetings which were well attended and

harmonious,31

The State Bapt is t Convention of Texas (soon a f t e r

organ iza t ion) began appointing missionaries to labor on v a r i ­

ous f i e l d s in Texas, N„T„ Byars was appointed in October,

1849, to labor in Navarro County fo r three m onth s;^ Luther

Seward was appointed a t the same time to work p r i n c i p a l ly in

Burleson County,^and in the fo l low ing years other

30, L ink, op, c i t . , p„268„

31, Minutes Fourth Annual Session, SBC of Texas, Independence,June, 1851,

32, I b i d , , p„17, (The report showed th a t th is mis­sionary preached 20 sermons, co n s t i tu ted 1 church, baptized3 persons, t ra v e le d 500 m iles , and received a compensation of $25,00 from the Board of the SBC of Texas fo r his labors . )

33, Ibi d , (This missionary t rave led 700 miles, preached 19 s e rm o n s ,d e l iv e re d 2 exhorta t ions , con s t i tu ted 1 church, v i s i t e d 9 f a m i l ie s , and received $100 fo r his la b o r . )

82

missionaries were a p p o in t e d , C o m m u n ic a t io n s were received

which c l e a r l y showed the great importance of the Convention's

sending missionaries immediately to work in and around Rich­

mond, the county seat of Fort Bend County, and Cameron, county

seat of Milam County and also Austin , the Capital o f the s t a te .

There were some i n f lu e n t i a l Baptists l iv in g near each of these

places, "Each place presented a wide f i e l d of usefulness and

should be occupied by i n t e l l e c t u a l , pious, and energet ic

preachers„" L e t te rs were received from Baggerly of Austin and

Wombwe11 of Brownsvil le concerning the great need fo r mission­

a r ie s in t h e i r f i e l d s , Wombwe11 was supported by the Domes­

t i c Board of the Southern Bapt is t Convention, in Brownsvil le

there was no church belonging to the Bapt is t denomination,

but there were some Baptists in the town who longed for a35church of t h e i r own.

34, David Lewis was appointed in October, 1850, to work in Houston and.Anderson Counties, His f i r s t report showed th a t he had t rave led 645 m iles , preached 162 sermons, de l ive red 7 le c tu res , organized 1 church, baptized 5 persons, ordained 1 deacon, v i s i t e d 97 f a m i l ie s , had 14 conferences, attended 16 prayer meetings, d e l ive red 7 Sunday school ad­dresses, A, Ledbetter began his missionary labors on January 1, 1851, in D a l las , E l l i s , Navarro, and Tarran t count ies ,He preached 39 sermons, baptized 2 persons, received 5 by l e t t e r , and t ra ve led between 700 and 800 m iles ,

35, Minutes of Fourth Annual Session of State Bap­t i s t Convention of Texas,. Independence, June, 1851, p. 19,

83

The f i r s t Sunday school report by the s ta te committee

found in the Colorado Associat ion, the most western associa­

t io n in the s t a t e , twenty-two Sabbath schools in operat ion ,

with an aggregate number of one thousand pu p i ls . These schools

contained s ix thousand volumes in t h e i r l i b r a r i e s , exclusivep /*

o f B ib les , Testaments, hymn books, and question books.^ In

the eastern section of the s ta te , the committee found rine

counties in which only one Sunday school ex is te d . The com­

mittee^^ recommended th a t such ac t ion be taken by the State

Convention as would enable them to obtain accurate s t a t i s t i c s

of Sunday schools throughout the State by the next meeting of

the Convention.

Your committee f u l l y b e l ieve th a t in no department . of Chr is t ian bepevolence can the same amount of

labor and money be expended with a f a i r e r prospect of success. . . . The l i t t l e Sabbath school scholar may, in t ime, become a Morrison or a Judson, and thousands converted through the in s t ru m e n ta l i ty of God's blessing upon his labors be, in t h e i r tu rn , the means of conversion of m i l l io n s .

. . . . W h i l e every other benevolent organ iza t ion has i ts agents and advocates, w hi le our missionaries are t ravers in g almost every section of our country to proclaim the g lor ious t ru ths of the blessed Gospel, not a s ing le agent, a t present, advocates the Sabbath School cause. I t receives but l i t t l e a t te n t io n a t our great annual meetings. Our min­i s t e r s . . . f r e q u e n t l y give i t up a passing n o t ic e ,

36. i b i d . , p p .11-12.

37. The chairman of the Sunday school committee was T .J . P i lg r im who from his f i r s t entry in to Texas urged the establishment of Sunday schools.

8 4

and too o ften i t is looked upon w ith cold in d i f fe re n c e .

And your committee would earnest ly recommend to the m in is ters and brethren o f th is body to re-double t h e i r e f f o r t s to e le v a te the standard of Sabbath School in s t ru c t io n , u n t i l they have a t t r a c t io n s fo r our young,gentlemen and ladies as well as l i t t l e c h i ld re n , and to increase t h e i r numbers u n t i l a school be organized wherever there are ch i ld ren to be ins tru c ted , 38

Besides T„J„ P i lg r im , there were other prominent leaders

among the Baptists who sounded a strong note fo r the empha-39sis on Sunday schools.

The State Baptis t Convention of Texas showed concern

fo r the colored brethren by appointing a t the time of organ­

iz a t io n a committee to report on the re l ig io u s condit ions

among the colored. The f i r s t report of th is committee showed

tha t a l l the Baptis t preachers in the Convention except

38, Minutes of State Baptis t Convention of Texas,1856, p p ,16-17. .

39. in the Minutes of the Annual Session of SBC o f Texas, H u n ts v i l le , 1857 / we f in d Rufus C, Burleson, Chairman of the S,S, committee, urging: ■ '

1st, That every church organize a Sabbath school,2nd, That preachers and parents co-operate w ith teach­ers by t h e i r counsels and presence, to awaken and increase the in te re s t o f t h e i r Sabbath school in s t ru c t io n s , 3rd , Let us, as B ap t is ts , not only send our ch i ld ren to the Sabbath school, but indoctr ine [s ic ] them e a r ly and f u l l y in the pecu l ia r and heaven-born doctr ines of our venerable church, so tha t when we are gone they may stand l i k e the ocean-beaten rocks amidst a l l the dash­ing b i l low s o f e r ro r and i n f i d e l i t y , and become polished p i l l a r s in the Temple of God,

85

three or four had given special a t te n t io n to the colored peo­

ple and held separate meetings fo r them with many good r e s u l ts .

The committee recommended tha t every Baptis t preacher in Texas

give a separate port ion of every Sabbath to expounding the doc­

t r in e s of the B ible to the servants and that Ch r is t ian s lave ­

holders f req u e n t ly read, or have read, the Holy Scriptures to

t h e i r slaves; and, i f possib le , have the negro ch i ld ren in ­

s tructed “o r a l l y in the great t ru th s of the B ib le , but we do

not recommend the plan of teaching them to read under e x is t -„40

mg circumstances,"

Noah H i l l , missionary to the colored people, worked among

the slave population in Wharton, Matagorda, and Brazoria

Counties w ith notable success, report ing th i r te e n servants41

baptized in one year, “ Experience teaches us almost every

means used fo r the good of these people has been blessed.

They seem to apprecia te the e f f o r t th a t is made in t h e i r 42b e h a l f « . . . “

40, Minutes of Fourth Annual Session of State Bap­t i s t Convention of Texas, independence, June, 1851, p , 14,

41, J_bid,, ' p, 17« (He t ra v e le d 567 mi les , v i s i t e d 16 f a m i l i e s , gave"TT"lectu res, .preached 19 sermons, gave 6 ex­h o rta t io ns , He received $100 from the Texas Convention and $200 from the Domestic Board of Southern Baptis t Convention a t Marion, Alabama, w ith the remainder of. his support from the churches at Wharton and Cedar Lake , )

42, Comment by Noah H i l l ,

86

The Committee on Foreign Missions reported the f o l ­

lowing words of encouragement;

. . .w e re jo ic e tha t the Antimissionary s p i r i t is fas t passing away, and soon the “hardshelIs" as they c a l l themselves, w i l l l in g e r in our midst as the fo s s i l remains of an e x t in c t race of B aptis ts . The Baptists are act ing a noble part in the cause of missions.Indeed i t almost seems tha t God "predestined" and "e lected" the Baptists to be missionaries without t h e i r " f re e agency".

in reviewing a l l these fa c ts , resolved 1st; , That th is Convention fe e l g ra te fu l to Almighty God, fo r the suc­cess of modern missions, and fo r ra is in g us as the c lay and s p i t t l e in opening the eyes of the b l inded heathen, and leading them to the cross.

2nd, That we recommend our brethren to c u l t i v a t e the missionary s p i r i t by holding monthly missionary prayer meetings, and reading and c i r c u la t in g the missionary Journal published in Richmond, V i r g i n i a .

And l a s t l y , th a t th is Convention a n t ic ip a te w ith joy the time when we sha l l be able to a id th is cause, not only by our prayers, but by men and money.

4 3Rufus C. Burleson, Chairman

The question of temperance was brought up before the State Bap­

t i s t Convention of Texas for several years w ith the Baptists

taking a strong stand against the dr inking of a lc o h o l ic bev­

erages as the fo l low ing quotation showed;

Whereas, the subject of Temperance is now to a great extent a g i ta t in g the world, we fee l th a t i t should e n l i s t the a c t iv e cooperation of every p h i la n th ro p is t and C h r is t ian [ s i c ] , and we,the Baptis t State Convention, be l ie v in g i t to be our high and sacred duty to a id in a l l measure

43. Minutes of F i f t h Annual Session of State Baptis t Convention of Texas, Marshal l , June, 1852, p p .19-21, ,

87

c a lcu la ted to suppress v ic e , ameliorate the condi­t io n of mankind, and advance the spread of the Gospel, th e re fo re . Resolved, That we do most h e a r t i l y sympathise [s ic ] w ith the great temper­ance movement of the day, and tha t we, as a body, recommend to our m in is ters and brethren g e n e ra l ly , to use a l l laudable means to suppress the v ic e , abolish the t r a f f i c and expel the monster intemper­ance from our land. Resolved, That i t is the sense of th is body th a t i t is incompatible w ith our C h r is t ia n [s ic ] character fo r a Baptis t to v i s i t a grocery fo r the purpose of dram dr ink in g , and tha t i t is in d i r e c t variance w ith the teachings of the word of God, fo r our members, to be allowed to t r a f f i c in poison.

J . V, Wright, Chairman ^

The Baptists of Texas did not fo rge t the Indians on

t h e i r f r o n t i e r , fo r a Special Committee on Indian Missions had

been appointed by the Convention and from i ts report one

1 earns:

There are now portions of seventeen d i f f e r e n t t r ib e s of Indians, s e t t le d near Fort Belknap, who are now under the supervis ion of Agents appointed by the Executive of the U.S. They are provided bread and beef by our government. , . the government takes no oversight of t h e i r r e l ig io u s in t e r e s t . Nor should i t . This duty is binding on C hris t ians [s ic ] as s uch , . Owing to our proximity to them, i t seems to be our duty under God, to do what we can fo r t h e i r re l ig io u s c o n d i t i o n , . . , . We recommend tha t the committee or Board appoint some brother whose duty i t sha l l be to v i s i t those t r ib e s , w ith the permis­sion of the agent, and a scerta in the p ro p r ie ty of

4 4 ,Minutes of Seventh Annual Session of State B apt is t Convention of Texas, P a les t ine , 1854, p p .16-17. The fo l lowing year a Committee was appointed by the Baptis t S ta te Convention to memorial ize the next Leg is la tu re of. Texas, to pass a special act to p r o h ib i t the sa le of in to x ic a t in g s p i r i t s w ith in two miles of the town of Independence.

88

e s tab l is h in g a Mission among them, and the p r o b a b i l i t y o f f in d in g in te r p r e te r s , such as w i l l enable a m in is te r of Chris t to commence e a r ly preaching to them. 45

N.T. Byars v i s i t e d both agencies as a r e s u l t of the

in te re s t of the Convention in the evange l iza t ion of the In ­

dians. He reported tha t in both agencies there was a great

desire on the part of the Agent in favor of establishment of

missions and schools among the I n d i a n s . ^

That Baptists were an important fa c to r in bu i ld ing

Texas cannot be doubted. B ap t is t leaders played a dominant

ro le in forming the government, e~̂ i n founding and maintaining

45, Minutes of Eighth Annual Session of State Baptis t Convention of Texas, Independence, 1855? p,23 , .

46, At the Brazos Agency there were f i v e t r ib e s com­posed of Caddoes, Anadahkoes, Wacoes, Tawaccanoes, Tonkawas, a l l of whom had gone to farming. In the upper Agency, there were only Comanches, numbering about 420, Captain Baylor pur­posed to fu rn ish a room and board the teacher u n t i l Baptists could get a bu i ld in g and get the work es tab l ished . Nothing had been done about the establishment of Missions as la te as1858, but the Chairman on Indian Missions, N.T. Byars, re ­minded the Convention th a t there were 600-800 Indian ch i ld ren susceptib le of being taught, :

Same Houston always showed a great in te re s t in the In ­dians of Texas and a t times served on the Committee of Indian Missions, "Could these ch i ld ren be gathered in to schools, and t h e i r young minds raised from t h e i r present channel of degrada­t io n and shame to the paths of v i r t u e and knowledge, then might t h e i r parents and the whole nation be reached by the gospel, and the g lor ious resu lts e t e r n i t y alone can f u l l y deve lop.11

47, Sam Houston, R, E. B. Baylor, and A.C. Horton (a great and r ic h Baptis t who served, as L t , Governor In the f i r s t period of. S tatehood). . "

schools, and in es tab l ish ing a r e l ig io n based upon democratic

p r in c ip le s , emphasizing the evange l iza t ion of a l l races - -

w hite , colored, and Indian - - a n d p a r t ic ip a t in g in mission

enterpr ises around the world. Max Mueller has said that- . . 48"The real h is to ry of man is the h is to ry of r e l i g i o n ; " so the

h is tory of Texas is woven in the s tory of the coming into the

land of the Baptists and th e i r establishment of churches to

proclaim the redemptive message of the gospel to the heathen

in that w i lderness.

President Pat M. Neff of Baylor U n iv e rs i ty , eminent

Baptis t leader and lawyer, and former Governor of Texas,

stated:

Our Texas fo r e fa th e r s , in e s ta b l ish ing e a r ly the church and the school, la id f i rm the foundation which rap id ly changed a wi l d wilderness in to a commonwealth. In the conquest of Texas r e l ig io n has been our most important f a c t o r , 49

48, John A. Held, R e l ig ion a Factor ? n Building Texas, San Antonio, 1940.

4;.; 49. Ib id . ( In t r o d u c t io n ) .

BIBLlOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

Books

M al lo ry , C0D0 Memoirs of Elder Jesse Mercer* New York: John Gray, 1844, ~ ! ” ~

M o r r e l l , Z e N«, Flowers and F ru i ts in the Wilder ness»Dal las : WoGo S c a r f f and Company,. ,1886,

Per iod ica ls

Mercer, Jesse, ed» The C h r is t ia n Index* P e n f ie ld , Georqia:i839-i84oP * ; :------

Minutes of American Bapt is t Home Mission Society , New York,1814-1860. .

Minutes of B a p t is t Convention Annual, Augusta, Georgia, 1845-1846.

Secondary Sources

Books

Barker, Eugene, ed®, A H is tory of Texas. D a l las : The South­west Press, 1929. . .

Barnes, W.W. The Southern Bap t is t Convention: 1845-1953. Nashv i l le : Broadman. Press, 1954. T

C a r r o l l , James M i l to n . A H is tory of Texas B a p t is ts .Da l las : Bap tis t Publishing Company, 1923.

Centennial Story o f Texas B a p t is ts . Executive Board Baptis t General Convention of Texas. Chicago: Hammond Press, W.B. Conkey Company, 1936.

Encyclopedia of Southern B a p t is ts , Nashv i l le : Bap t is t Press, 195K----------------------- ------

90

91

Gil 1 $ Mario* Nuestros Buenos Vecinos* Mexico, D«Fi»:. Edi­t o r i a l Azeteca, 1959. ... . , _ _

Held, John A d o l f * R e l ig ion a Factor in Build ing Texas*San Antonios Naylor Company, 1$4o.

H o l t , A>J, Pioneering in the Southwest * Nashv i l le : SundaySchool Board of the Southern Baptis t Convention, 1923,

Olmsted, Freder ick Law and Schlesinger, Ar thur , ed. The Cotton Kingdom, New York; A l f re d A, Knopf, 1962,

Peveto, D*R* The Union Bapt is t Association: Centennial B a p t is t H is to ry , . 10ifO-i94O* Bren ham, 1940,

Ri l ey , Benjamin F ra n k l in , H is tory of Texas B a p t is ts .Dal las: published by the author, 1907, ""

(

Per iod ica ls

L ink, JoB. Texas H is to r ic a l and Biographical Magaz ine , ^ust j n; 1891 -1892. ,

The Southwestern H is to r ic a l Review, Vol . XXI 1. Austin; Texas 'State' H is to r ic a 1 Associat ion , Ju ly , 1918,

Newspaper

S h u f f le r , Henderson, "How Christmas Came To Texas," The Houston C hronic le , December 22, 1963,