Written by Clay Riley – Bibles and six-shooters made their appearance simultaneously in Brown county, and the frontiersmen, while exceedingly busy in building their log cabins, clearing their lands, setting up civil government and combatting all the hardships incident to life on the edge of the wilderness, did not neglect organized religious activities.
The Methodists were the pioneer organizers of churches here, although the first preacher whose visit to the county is of record was a Baptist, a Rev. Mr. Ainsworth, who performed the first wedding ceremony here in 1857 when Mary Ann Chandler and James H. Fowler were married. Before regular churches were organized and afterward, too, for a long time-religious services were held periodically in the homes of settlers, as itinerant ministers came into the country.
Professor Havins in his “History of Brown County” records the fact that the first church established in Brown county was organized by two Methodist ministers George Vest and William Mayberry, both of Comanche county, in 1863, in the Hanna Valley community. These preachers did missionary work in Brown and Hamilton counties, both of which were large in area.
The next church organized here was on Jim Ned Creek, above the present town of Thrifty, and was also a Methodist congregation founded by the Rev. Elisha Childress. Services were held at the home of Charles Mullins, and this became one of the regular appointments on the long circuit established by the Methodists of that day.
Rev. F. M. Cross, who settled in Comanche county in 1855, a year before that county was organized, was a frequent visitor in this county, and in his book “Early Days in Central Texas,” tells of the circuit of Mr. Childress, whom he accompanied occasionally. The appointments were: “First at the Beasley crossing on Colorado River; from there down the river to Hanna Valley that is now called Regency; then down to a private house near the old Williams Ranch; from there by Blanket Springs; then up the Bayou to the Clements’ house above Brownwood, and from there to the last appointment at the Mullins house.” Describing Mr. Childress, who was known as the “bear hunter preacher,” and his work, the Rev. Mr. Cross wrote: “Just after the close of the war I went with him the whole round of his circuit. As the Indians were often passing through the country and everybody had to carry guns, the old preacher always carried a shotgun and a six-shooter. I saw him often go into a house where he was to preach on Sunday and set his gun against the wall and lay his six-shooter under the table, get out his Bible and go to preaching. It did not seem to embarrass him in any way.”
Professor Havins recites that “it was not until 1875 or 1876 that the third church in the county was organized. This was also a Methodist church and Mr. and Mrs. T. D. Harriss and four of their children were among the charter members. (Curiously enough, most of the Mullinses and the Harrisses of later generations became Baptists.) The Mount Zion Methodist church located on Hog Creek about two miles northeast of Byrds was founded in 1882.
Another church was established a year or two later but united with Mount Zion after about a year. The Mount Zion church was a great center for camp meetings. Baptist missionaries from Comanche County and elsewhere were active in the county in the early days. The first Baptist missionary ever to preach in the county was the Rev. William Robinson, who lived in Comanche county and operated a saw mill there. Other early Baptist preachers were Ben Wilson, J. M. Perry, John May, D. J. Cook and Noah T. Byars. A monument in honor of Mr. Byars has been erected on the campus of Howard Payne college, and his grave in Greenleaf cemetery is one of the Texas shrines because it was in his blacksmith shop at Washington-on-the-Brazos that the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed March 2, 1836.
The Baptists organized two churches in the county in 1875, the New Prospect church and the New Hope church. Rev. John May was pastor of the first, which forty-one members, and Rev. J. M. Perry (father of Jesse M. and Nat Perry) was pastor of the other, which had 19 charter members. The years 1875 to 1877 were fruitful of the organization of several churches by different denominations. The Baptists organized five churches in 1876, including First Baptist church of Brownwood; Live Oak Baptist church 10 miles south of Brownwood, Feb. 20; Elm Baptist church, later named Pleasant Valley church, August 11; Blanket Baptist church August 12; and Mount Zion Baptist church August 12. First Baptist Church of Brownwood was organized under the leadership of N. T. Byars and J. M. Perry, and Rev. Ben Moore was the first pastor. Charter members were G. I. Goodwin, Mrs. Sallie Goodwin, John W. Goodwin, G. R. Patterson, Marl L. Patterson, Susan Grady, William Keene and W. A. McIntosh.
First meeting of Pecan Valley Baptist Association, Mr. Havins continues, was held with New Prospect church September 6, 1876, with J. M. Perry as moderator and G. I. Goodwin as clerk. A second meeting was held Sept. 13 and 14, 1877, at Live Oak church, at which time four churches in Coleman County were received and five new Brown county churches were added to the original seven. A reorganization of the association was effected in 1907 when the Brown County Baptist Association was formed.
Rev. S. M. Lewis of Little River Presbytery organized the Cumberland Presbyterian church Sept. 18, 1875. Charter members included Rev. W. C. Sparks and Mary E. Sparks, W. E. Crane and Samuel Sparks. Rev. R. W. Lewis was first pastor. The First Presbyterian church (southern) was organized in the home of John Ross Sept. 10, 1876, under the guidance of the Rev. B. T. McClelland, who was also founder and first president of Daniel Baker College. Among the charter members were Elders John Ross, Samuel T. Frazer, F. M. Saunders, and J. P. Brightwell, with Mrs. C. A. West, Mrs. Lydia Brandenburg, Mrs. Mary E. Lowe, Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Allcorn and others.
The Episcopal church was organized in 1882 with Mrs. Wm. H. Scott, Mrs. Charles Bean, Herbert Stone and Brooke Smith among the charter members. The church was served first by W. W. Patrick, missionary, and Rev. Peter Wagner was the first rector. For a year Brooke Smith served as preacher for the congregation, so that the sum ordinarily applied to the pastor’s salary could be used in paying for the church property.
Two other denominations, the Christian and the Catholics, organized churches here in 1888 and 1889. Rev. F. M. Cross, who was the father of J. L. Cross and other children, was a native of Mississippi and was brought to Texas in 1846 when he was 12 years old.
The family finally moved to Bell County, which they assisted in organizing. The Rev. Mr. Cross moved to Comanche County in the fall of 1855 and settled near the town of Newburg. He enlisted in the Confederate army, but after Texas’ participation in the war was practically ended he returned home, and in 1863 moved with his family to this county. After three years here Mr. Cross moved to Navarro County, and in 1871 went back to Bell County, but in the winter of 1875, after his wife’s death he came back to Brown county and worked for his brother, G. B. (Uncle Burney) Cross who served for many years and until his death as justice of the peace, making a unique record which did not parallel that of Judge Roy Bean but was based upon homely philosophy and an unerring sense of justice. His oldest son, J. R. Cross, came from Bell County with F. M. Cross in 1875. A brother, W. B. Cross, had bought 2,500 acres from Greenleaf Fisk and also moved here at about this time. The Cross family has been prominent in the county since that time. It is to the Rev. Mr. Cross that Brown County is indebted for much information about the early days here. In his little book, “Early Days in Central Texas,” he incorporated many stories which he had gained at first hand, together with excerpts from Henry Ford’s booklets, ‘”Cotton Calculators.”
The first hotel in Brownwood, Mr. Cross wrote, was erected and kept by Mr. Hodge, whose wife, ‘”Granny” Hodge, is remembered by a great many people. It was called the Star Hotel. A story of his attempt to attend a session of court in Brownwood is described by Mrs. Cross:
“The court house was a little log cabin about 200 yards from Billy Connell’s house (east of Pecan Bayou, second location of the structure). The judge and the attorney and lawyers all went out to Mr. Connell’s for the night, and the rest of us who were summoned to attend court camped at the court house. We took our horses across a slough and hobbled them in a low valley. We thought we had them hidden from the Indians, but next morning found that the Indians had been among them and had stolen my horse and Mr. McCullough’s. Those two horses had gotten out on high ground. So Mack and I borrowed horses from Brooks Lee, and Dan Moseley and David Lee (Baugh?) went with us. We hit their trail and found they had crossed the Bayou and were making down the divide toward Indian Creek and the Bayou. After about six miles the trail turned west and we then knew they were going down country to steal more horses. So we kept the trail and it went straight down that high bluff by Dick Grady’s house. Dan Moseley was almost equal to a bloodhound on the trail and thought that here they began to scatter, so we did not seek them any further. The party continued to ramble around trying to find the Indians, and Mr. Cross finally got back home and either forgot or neglected to ascertain what occurred at the term of court which he had been summoned to attend.”
From: The Promised Land, By James C. White, Publisher of the Brownwood Banner,
Secretary and Historian of the Brown County Pioneer Association – 1941 – No copyright.
Image: Early 19th century sketch, by author unknown.
This and many other stories are available at the Brownwood Public Library – Genealogy & Local History Branch at 213 S. Broadway.
Volunteers from the Pecan Valley Genealogical Society are there to assist you in your family history research.
Clay Riley is a local historian and retired Aerospace Engineer that has been involved in the Historical and Genealogical Community of Brown County for over 20 years.
Should you have a comment, or a question that he may be able to answer in future columns, he can be reached at; pvgsbwd@gmail.com.
