Elder Robert G. Green

I am hoping/trying to identify Robert G. Green, who was involved in the organization of Union Baptist Church in 1838 near Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County, Texas and Plum Grove (Hopewell) Baptist Church in 1839 near La Grange in Fayette County, Texas. Morrell mentions him three times in his book Flowers and Fruits from the Wilderness.

Flowers and Fruits, page 187

At the time of the organization of Union, Reed lived probably 30 miles north of Nacogdoches

Flowers and Fruits, page 141

In this Morrell is quoting from the letter of the church to the Union Baptist Association

Flowers and Fruits, pp. 200-201

This last mention of Green by Morrell is concerning Baptist ministers who were in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas around the time he was trying or organize a church there. It is certainly not complimentary, but perhaps instructive of both from whence he came (Tennessee) and the last-certainly-known place he was living in Texas. He was evidently around Nacogdoches early in 1838, and was living in or near Bastrop when he helped organize the church at Plum Grove. He may have only been passing through Nacogdoches. The Union Church was organized in May 1838, and at least as early as September 1838, Green was advertising as an attorney-at-law in Bastrop. Though Morrell describes Green in Huntsville, he evidently had still been a member of Providence in Bastrop County up to the time he was excluded for drunkenness. The Robert G. Green in the 1830 Tipton County, Tennessee census may well be him. (For example, an R. G. Green filed a Tipton County circuit court legal notice in 1832.) If so, his age range puts his birth between 1781 and 1790.

J. M. Carroll in A History of Texas Baptists (pp. 124-125), quotes from History of the Primitive Baptists of Texas, Oklahoma, and Indian Territory, by J. S. Newman (pp. 37-38, 1906). According to Carroll, Newman had access to the minutes of the Providence Baptist Church, which met on or near the Colorado River in Bastrop County, about 12-15 miles south of the town of Bastrop. The church was organized in 1834, in the district of Mena (Mina) of the State of Coahuila y Tejas – while this still belonged to Mexico. Both Asahel Dancer and R. G. Green were members of this church when they organized the Plum Grove Church. Newman writes:

“Elder R. G. Green joined by letter in December, 1838, and was excluded for drunkenness in February, 1840” (p. 125).

Green is not mentioned as a member of the Union (Old North) Church near Nacogdoches. He served on the organizational presbytery, prayed the organizational prayer, and served as moderator of the conference when the organized church adopted the name Union.

It seems easy to believe – though proof is not positive – that this could be the R. G. Green who briefly edited a paper in Lexington, Holmes County, Mississippi; who served on the Board of Trustees of the Judson Institute, while living in Choctaw County, Mississippi; and who married Mrs. Elizabeth Boren (or Bowen) in Warren County, Mississippi December 25, 1837.

Perhaps because R. G. Green disgraced himself with drunkenness, was excluded from his church, and is left frenzied in the streets of Huntsville in Morrell’s history – no one has bothered to discover what happened to him. Additionally, he may have been estranged from wife and children (the former of which would seem to be suggested by Morrell, assuming domestic troubles means family troubles). However, if he is found to be the R. G. Green, Esq. of Crockett, Texas, he may have recovered at least a modicum of respect.

A proposed outline suggesting a line for further research on Robert G. Green.

• 1781-1790. Birth; guess based on 1830 census.
• 1815. Possible marriage; guess based on 1830 census.
• 1830. Tipton County, Tennessee. (Census)
• 1831. Tipton County, Tennessee (A Commissioner).
• 1834. Ordained by or before 1835, when Z. N. Morrell left Tennessee.
• 1835. Lexington, Holmes County, Mississippi.
• 1836. Choctaw County, Mississippi.
• 1837. Warren County, Mississippi.
• 1838. Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas.
• 1840. Bastrop, Bastrop County, Texas.
• 1842. Huntsville, Walker County, Texas (at least before September 1844).
• 1845. Crockett, Houston County, Texas.

With nothing obvious turning up for R. G. Green after 1845, perhaps his death occurred 1845-1850. The use of “Esquire” after the name R. G. Green in 1835 in Lexington, Tennessee and in 1845 in Crockett, Texas might suggest a man who was an attorney-at-law (which our R. G. Green was) – though not necessarily. This Crockett R. G. Green seems to make a court filing in 1844. It would be good to discover that R. G. Green came to repentance and recovered respectability before the end of his life.

Missions and Anti-Missions

Some people will not allow themselves to believe there is a distinction between being for preaching the gospel and starting churches (missions) and being against mission boards and mission societies. This Southern Baptist pastor studied Daniel Parker and recognized the difference. He concluded:

“When Daniel Parker died on December 3, 1844, after ten years in Texas, he had successfully demonstrated that his opposition was directed not against missions but against the mission society.” 

“Daniel Parker: Politician, Baptist, and Anti-Mission Missionary,” Max Lee (Pastor, First BC, Winnsboro, LA). The Journal of Texas Baptist History, Volume VI, 1986, William L. Pitts, Editor. Texas Baptist Historical Society, p. 8

An Association Dissatisfied

“Upon questions of policy…”

“5th. That we disapprove of the policy of supplementing the Nacogdoches, Wichta (sic) Falls and other churches in their pastor’s salaries, when such churches do not come in the scope of destitution but are able to maintain and support a pastor; for if such churches are not able to afford the luxury of a $1200 preacher alone, we believe that they should be resigned to listen to the words of truth coming from the mouth of a $500 preacher.” 

The above is from a resolution adopted by the Mt. Zion Association in 1898, during very stiff dissension on policies and practices in the Baptist General Convention Texas. A resolution was presented by Elder W. H. Hendrix, then a substitute by Judge R. W. Priest. After discussion, the substitute offered by Priest was adopted. After a preamble, there was a “one-point” statement affirming “our allegiance to all time-honored and blood-bought Doctrines of our Lord and master, Christ Jesus, as are taught in his Holy Word and expressed in the Baptist Declarations of Faith and Church Covenants” (p. 13) – and then 15 points discussing state convention policies.

Excerpt from a report on the “denominational troubles” among Baptists in Texas, Minutes of the Forty-Second Annual Session of the Mt. Zion Baptist Association, October 1-3, 1898, p. 14.

He Is Mine And I Am His

I love the song He Is Mine And I Am His by G. T. Speer. Maybe it is just me, but I have always felt it was a good combination of “old school” and “new school” styles.

A recent mention of this song by a friend brought to mind an incident that happened in the 1980s. This was at what we Texans call a “little book” singing (“new book” for some others). We had a Saturday night singing that rotated between several churches. One night we were at an old church called ____ ____. Most of the singing was class/congregational, though “specials” were allowed. A large group from “off summers” were present. (Not far off, but only peripherally connected to the churches that hosted the singing rotation; somebody was kin to somebody at ____ ____.) At some point fairly early in the singing, a person from that group was called by the chair to lead a song. Afterward, that person (not the chair) called another of their people to come up and sing, and then they did this again, and again, and again… This went on probably 15 or 20 minutes, or perhaps the discomfort of the situation made it seem longer than it was. THE singing had become THEIR singing. The chair did not want to be the “bad guy” and put a stop to this, but finally he sensed (and felt) enough discontent in the class that he finally told them, “One more, and that’s all.” They got mad and went outside. They stayed around outside for a good while, vocally complaining about how they had been “mistreated” (even though they were the ones who had infiltrated and changed the format of the singing). I had the grand good fortune of being the next leader called to follow all this disorder!! I led He Is Mine And I Am His.

1. God’s amazing grace, sent down from heaven,
Rescued me from death and from shame;
Opened up my eyes and brought salvation,
Now I’m his, praise his holy name!

2. ’Tis so sweet to know I have Jesus with me,
He will keep me from sin and from strife;
He delivered me from condemnation,
Now I have eternal life!

Chorus:
Now I know (I know) that he is mine (he’s mine)
And I’m his (I’m his forever),
He is leading (leading) me along life’s way (along life’s way);
He’ll be holding (holding) to my hand (my hand)
When I cross death’s river (crossing death’s river),
He will take (he’ll take) the sting of death away (death’s sting away).

A Landmark Southern Baptist Association in Texas

It is curiously intriguing that some modern-day Southern Baptists – particularly Southern Baptists with “anti-Landmark” sentiments – exert energy and effort to rescue their heroes from the charge of being “Landmark Baptist.” (For two quick examples of “rescuing” B. H. Carroll, see the notes below.[i] ) Into this fray steps the Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of Shelby County.

I encountered this intriguing example of “rescue” – or plain old historical ignorance – when trying to ferret out the history of the Shelby-Doches Baptist Association (a local association of Southern Baptist churches in our area). The history of the Nacogdoches Association was clear enough to me. I was already familiar with it. However, I kept running into road blocks, into confusing and contradictory assertions regarding the “Shelby County” Association.[ii] Shelby-Doches Association organized in 1925 as a merger of the Nacogdoches and Sabine River Associations.[iii] So far, however, I have not seen a Texas Baptist historian identify the origin of the Sabine River Association, which obviously existed before it merged with the Nacogdoches Association. I discovered that the Sabine River Association was organized circa 1902-03 as the Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of Shelby County, by a minority of Shelby County Missionary Baptist Association churches that wanted to maintain affiliation and cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.[iv] The 1909 meeting at Clever Creek was called the 7th Annual Session. After 1911 and by 1914, the name was changed to Sabine River Baptist Association of Shelby County.[v]

I suppose that historians have not deliberately suppressed the fact that the Southern Baptist split from the Shelby County Missionary Association was called “Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of Shelby County.” I suspect it is more likely that it has not crossed many minds that this was a group of churches supporting the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention.[vi]

It is provocative that the Southern Baptist minority – denominational supporters of the Baptist General Convention of Texas – on the same side as B. H. Carroll – took the name “Landmark,” a name which detractors say only identifies those who split from the Convention! They were denominational Landmarkers—whether or not it makes sense. In my opinion, this circumstance should give the naysayers pause when they try to separate “Landmark” from “supporting the Convention.”[vii]

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[i] “…the only movement that Carroll did support which had Landmark influences was the Whitsitt Controversy; and although that controversy dealt with successionism, it was only a secondary issue for Carroll. Carroll did share some theological and historical views with the Landmarkists, but there were too many areas of disagreement to consider him a true Landmarker.” (Fighting the Good Fight: the Life and Work of Benajah Harvey Carroll, Alan J. Lefever, Austin, TX: Eakin Press, 1994, p. 75)
“If he was a Landmarker, he was a denominational Landmarker—and that doesn’t make sense.” (“B. H. Carroll defies narrow theological labels, historians assert,” The Baptist Standard, November 13, 2014) Alan Lefever is director of the Texas Baptist Historical Collection
“While Carroll agitated for Whitsitt’s removal, he never fully embraced the Landmark understanding of Baptist origins as championed by his younger brother J. M. Carroll.” (The Worst Decision B. H. Carroll Never Made: Southern Seminary, the Whitsitt Controversy & the Quest for Institutional Accountability, Jason K. Allen; President of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Kansas City, Missouri)
[ii] Perhaps exacerbated in part by several associations including the word “Sabine” in their names (Sabine, Sabine River, Sabine-Neches, Sabine Valley – and also some people confusing the words “Saline” and “Sabine.”
[iii] “Texas Associations,” J. D. Brandon, Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists, Volume II, Norman W. Cox, editor. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1958, p. 1397. “According to previous agreement messengers of the churches of what had formerly composed the Nacogdoches Baptist Association of Nacogdoches County, Texas and the Sabine River Association of Shelby County, Texas met here at the Baptist Church of this village [Martinsville, Nacogdoches County, Texas] to organize the Shelby-Doches Baptist Association, to cover the territory of the two counties.” (Minutes of the First Annual Session of the Shelby-Doches Missionary Baptist Association, October 8-9, 1925, p. 3)
[iv] “Circa” because I have not found the organizational minutes. 1902-03 is based on the dating of the annual sessions.
[v] See minutes held in the collection at the A. Webb Roberts Library of Southwestern Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas.
[vi] Thereby never bothering to make the connection.
[vii] It is my understanding that the entire ministry of Landmarker “J. R. Graves” was spent in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of Shelby County

 

Cover, Minutes of the Landmark Missionary Baptist Association of Shelby County

Constitution of the Shelby County Landmark Association (beginning)

Constitution of the Shelby County Landmark Association (completed)

Bit-O-Baptist History

Here are some interesting bits of Baptist history from the “Rules of Decorum” of the Ebenezer Church of United Baptists in Smith County, Texas. In October 1849, the church had only recently been organized with nine members by Elders Boley Conner Walters (1802-1856) and Zachariah Rose (1809-1886). They composed a letter to present as a petitionary letter to the Sabine Baptist Association meeting at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Cherokee County, October 6-8, 1849. The letter included a statement of their abstract of principles and rules of decorum. I believe that this Ebenezer Church probably met just south of Arp, Texas, near the location of the Ebenezer Cemetery.

“9th. The members of the church will not commune with any other church who are not our faith & order. Any new or strange preacher coming amongst us will be required to Exhibit his credentials before he is invited to the stand – or satisfactory vouchers of his standing.”

This rule demonstrates strict communion and rejection of non-Baptist preachers for preaching in the church (as well as not rushing to receive Baptist preachers who were not yet known to be sound in the faith). I particularly liked the old phraseology we probably wouldn’t use today, about a “strange preacher coming amongst us. Additionally, the 7th article demonstrates the practice of feet washing was not at all uncommon in our early Texas Baptist history.

“7th. Church meetings shall be held once a month at least for the transaction of Business & shall attend to the Lords Supper & the Example of feet washing as often as she may appoint from time to time.”

This letter was adopted by the Ebenezer Church “August 3rd Saturday 1849.”

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Note 1: Both of these ministers mentioned above soon left the churches of East Texas. Zachariah Rose returned to the state of Tennessee. B. C. Walters apparently died in 1856.

Note 2: The name “United Baptist” developed out of the union of Regular and Separate Baptist Associations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Many churches and associations adopted the term “United” to express this unity. Therefore, many Baptists who are now Missionary Baptists, Southern Baptists, and even Primitive Baptists may have once called themselves United Baptists. It is my inclination (based on “educated guessing”) to think that most of the earlier churches in Texas that emphasized they were “United Baptists” tended toward being pro-missionary but anti-missionary society. Or perhaps they just held on to the name longer than others. However, that is only a generalization that cannot be universally recognized.

God and the Sand

Read God and the Sand: 50 Year History of Old Prospect Baptist Church.

Happy Anniversary, Old Prospect

Tomorrow is the Fiftieth Anniversary of Old Prospect Baptist Church, organized October 6, 1974. Anniversary services at 2 p.m. Please join us.

Old Prospect Baptist Church is an independent unaffiliated missionary Baptist Church in the Sand Flat Community of southeastern Rusk County, Texas. Stafford Harris came to the community as missionary pastor in December of 1972. The Old Prospect believers were constituted as a church on October 6, 1974, by 44 charter members with letters from Landmark Missionary Baptist Church in Mt. Enterprise, Texas. At that time the church affiliated with the Mt. Zion Baptist Association and American Baptist Association. Brother Harris remained at the church until September 1975. Following a brief pastorate by Charles Miller, Old Prospect called Glenn Matlock as pastor with the agreement the church would no longer affiliate with the American Baptist Association. Other former pastors include Clyde Stephens, James “Harry” Matlock, and Joe Fulton. The current pastor is R. L. Vaughn.

Feet washing history

Miscellaneous notes concerning the practice of washing the saints feet.

It must be confessed, That if exact Practice be required, and clearness in Gospel-Institutions before Communion; who dare be so bold as to say his hands are clean, and that he hath done all the Lord Commands, as to Institutions in his Worship? and must not confess the Change of Times doth necessitate some Variation, if not Alteration either in the matter or manner of things according to Primitive Practice, yet owned for true Churches, and received as visible Saints, though ignorant either wholly or in great measure, in laying on of hands, singing, washing of feet, and anointing with oyl, in the Gifts of the Spirit, which is the Urim and Thummim of the Gospel?

Differences in Judgment about Water-baptism, No Bar to Communion, John Bunyan, Henry Jessey, London: Printed for John Wilkins, 1673, pp. 116-117

Art 8 Wee believe that washing the Saints feet is A duty that Should Bee Practiced By the Churches of Christ Jesus Christ gives us the example.

Article 8 of the Articles of Faith of Isbell Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, Rusk County, Texas; organized November 25, 1900

“Called for resolutions, when the following was presented and adopted:

“Resolved, That we do not regard the observance, or non-observance of feet washing a test of fellowship; but is open to conviction of each church and each individual member.” (page 3)

“On motion, the Association agreed to refer Liberty Church to special resolution passed by the Body on feet washing, as an answer to query sent up from that church.” (page 6)

Minutes of the Fourteenth Annual Session of the Mount Zion Baptist Association, held with Shiloh Church, Rusk County, September 16th 1870, p. 3, 6

Cumberland Presbyterians in Rusk County

My primary church history interest is in the Baptists, of course. However, I have other historical interests. One is my county, region, and state. As we have gotten involved in trying to preserve the oldest church building in our county – which was built and owned by the Cumberland Presbyterians – my interest in the Cumberland Presbyterian churches in Rusk County, Texas has been stirred. I have been surprised to find that the Cumberland Presbyterians were once much stronger in the county.

Before I began researching the history of the Pine Grove Cumberland Presbyterian Church near Pine Hill, I believed there were (had been) four Cumberland Presbyterian churches in Rusk County – Mt. Hope, Pine Grove, Pleasant Springs, and Willow Springs. I also knew there had once been a Presbyterian Church meeting near the Maple Grove Cemetery at Minden, but did not know to which branch of Presbyterians it belonged.

After starting this research, I have discovered that at least twenty Cumberland Presbyterian churches have existed in Rusk County at one time or another: Brachfield, Grandview, Henderson, Hickory Grove, Leverett’s Chapel, London, Maple Grove/Minden, Mt. Enterprise, Mt. Hope, New Harmony, Oak Flat, Overton, Pine Grove, Pine Grove # 2, Pleasant Hill, Pleasant Springs, Saint Bettie’s, Sulphur Springs, Union Grove, and Willow Springs. A few of these were probably short-lived. There may have been more than these. (There was also a church at Linn Flat in Nacogdoches County, with family connections to the Watkins family in the Patrick/Pine Hill area.)

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church originated in a schism from the older Presbyterian Church, over predestination, revivalism, centralized authority, and ministerial credentials. An independent Cumberland Presbytery was organized in Tennessee in 1810, which became a fully new and distinct denomination in 1829.

The Cumberland Presbyterian Church had become the third largest Presbyterian & Reformed denomination in the USA by 1900. Around this time the Northern Presbyterians (Presbyterian Church USA) revised their Confession of Faith to moderate its statements on Calvinism, predestination, etc., and invited the Cumberland Presbyterians to unite with them. The majority of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church General Assembly voted for the union, which became official in 1906. However, at the local level many Cumberland Presbyterians were not in favor of the merger, rejected it, and continued as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. (The Texas Presbytery opposed the merger by almost 2 to 1, though a majority of its ministers voted for it.)

Here is a little historical information I have discovered and put together about the Cumberland Presbyterians in Rusk County. (Some of the links are quite random, and there is a lot here that needs to be fleshed-out. I do not think I have posted anything that is incorrect, but it really needs to be gone over again at some point, with references attached.)

Cumberland Presbyterian Churches in Rusk County, Texas

Pleasant Hill, organized 1845-1856, Pleasant Hill community between Henderson and London. In 1845, Captain Robert Washington Smith donated land in the Pleasant Hill community for a church and cemetery. It is uncertain how soon afterward the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized, but at least before 1856 (and likely much closer to 1845). The Trinity Presbytery met “in March, A. D. 1847, in Col. R. W. Smith’s neighborhood, in Rusk county, Texas.” This suggests a church was likely in existence by that time. R. W. Smith was a brother-in-law of Cumberland Presbyterian minister Archibald H. Watkins. Some traditions hold that Sumner Bacon organized this church. There is some discrepancy over Bacon’s time of death (1842 vs. 1844), but it seems this church could not have been organized likely before his death. At least two churches came out of the Pleasant Hill Church, formed of members of Pleasant Hill church at the end of the 1850s. The Cumberland Presbyterians exchanged properties with the Baptists at London (now Old London) around 1859, and another CP church was formed at Mt. Hope about 1860.

• “Pleasant Hill Rests, Silently Relating Memories Of Ages,” Elton L. Miller, Henderson Daily News, Friday, July 22, 1938, p. 2
• Our Church in Texas, Texas Presbyterian, November 3, 1846
• Trinity Presbytery, C.P.C., Texas Presbyterian, June 26, 1847

London (Old London). This is where the congregation from Pleasant Hill moved after swapping locations with the Baptists. It is currently unknown to this writer what happened to this congregation.

Mt. Hope, Gaston/Joinerville, organized 1860. M. J. Kelley may have led in the organization. He is buried at Mt. Hope. Some of the Pleasant Hill Cumberland Presbyterians organized here because it was closer for them than going to London. Original building was located near the northeast corner of the cemetery. Presently existing building was built in the 1930s. Mt. Hope CPC officially closed in September 2022. However, it is not clear that they continued to be supplied by Cumberland Presbyterian ministers up until its closing.

• Mt. Hope Sunday School Has Seen Rapid Growth, 1932

Pine Grove, organized 1849, near Pine Hill, Texas. Originally met in a log cabin. The current building was built in 1870, and is the oldest existing church building in Rusk County, Texas. Pine Grove disbanded in 1905-1906, around the same time of the Presbyterian/Cumberland Presbyterian merger. The demise of the church may have been partly due to members who were forming new churches nearer their homes – but it is likely that this denominational struggle over merging with the Northern Presbyterians was involved. A Quitclaim Deed (1990) giving the property to the Pine Grove Cemetery Association states that when the church dissolved “all of its members became members of either the Willow Springs Presbyterian Church, P. C. (USA), or Pleasant Springs Presbyterian Church, P. C. (USA), both formerly Cumberland Presbyterian churches…”

Pleasant Springs, at Patrick Community, near Brachfield. Organizers probably attended Pine Grove before constituting a new church in the Patrick Community. Pleasant Springs was organized September 23, 1881, and petitioned the Texas Presbytery to receive them. I. W. Hill was an early moderator. Other ministers include J. A. Hornbeak and A. A. Swain.

Brachfield, at Brachfield between Minden and Pine Hill. Possibly started after the merger, especially if Pleasant Springs joined the older Presbyterian group.

Minden/Maple Grove, at Minden, central Rusk County. Organized January 3, 1875. “At the December Session [of the Texas Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church] in 1874 passed an order dividing Mt. Enterprise congregation and ordered a new congregation to be organized to be known as Minden congregation…” Archibald Watkins was the first pastor. Apparently left the Cumberland Presbyterians in 1906.

Willow Springs, Chapman/Pine Hill. This church was organized by members from Pine Grove, October 15, 1905 – first session meeting November 19, 1905. L. E. Tipps was pastor and moderator, with F. M. Wylie & J. B. Wylie, elders. 16 charter members (notes from a session book and information supplied by Robert Wylie).

• Photograph of Willow Springs property

Mt. Enterprise, at Mt. Enterprise in southern Rusk County. Existed before 1874, when the Texas Presbytery voted to divide the congregation and start another church in Minden. Apparently still existed in 1900.

• Program of Texas Presbytery (at Mt. Enterprise)

Hickory Grove (Hickory Flat), organized 1872, probably south of Henderson. “April 8, 1883…the persons whose Names are hereinafter Subscribed do desire that there (sic) membership be transferred from Hickory Grove Church the which was organized A.D. 1872 to New Harmony Church and that the church be known as New Harmony Church in the place of Hickory Grove and we petition the Texas Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church to take us under her care and jurisdiction.”

New Harmony, The New Harmony Church was received under the care of the Texas Presbytery of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church July 8, 1883. The first session minute is dated August 7, 1883. The New Harmony Community was about 3-1/2 miles southwest of Henderson. Based on newspaper mentions, this church still existed in 1942. People mentioned minutes tend to be related to the Bethel, Davis, Compton/Pone, and Hickory Grove communities/cemeteries.

In 1937, the Alexanders describe their farms as located “In the New Harmony Community, about three and one-half miles S. W. Henderson.”

• New Harmony Revival
• Revival Meeting Will Open Today

Overton, in the city of Overton, northwestern Rusk County. Organized as Piney Grove, moved to the city in 1872, becoming the first church in Overton. As members moved and died, the Overton congregation disbanded. It was reorganized in 1926, through the labors of G. F. Harris and J. D. Potts.

• Assembly Program, 1937
• Overton C.P.C., 1938

Pine Grove (African-American), near Brachfield, organized date unknown. Pine Grove # 2 belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America. That predominantly African-American denomination separated from the predominantly white Cumberland Presbyterian Church in 1874.

• A Brief History of Pine Grove C. P. C.

Saint Bettie’s (African-American), in Henderson on Harkless Street, organized in the 1800s. When the church was relocated in the early 1900s, the name was changed from the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Henderson to Saint Bettie’s Chapel. This was in honor of Sister Bettie Session, the oldest member of the church and the mother of C. P. minister George Session. Saint Bettie’s belongs to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America.

• Some History of Saint Bettie’s C. P. C.

Leverett’s Chapel, at Leverett’s Chapel in northwestern Rusk County, organized 1935.

• Leverett’s Chapel C. P. C., 1951
• Pastor Enters Mission Field, 1979

Henderson. The Cumberland Presbyterians organized a church in Henderson in 1859. The congregation met at the corner of West Main and Van Buren Streets. In 1906, the Henderson Cumberland Presbyterian Church joined the Presbyterian Church USA, and became Central Presbyterian Church.

• History of the Presbyterians in Henderson

Grandview. Listed in the 1890, 1892, and 1894 minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, pp. 254, 284. Pastors L. E. Tipps and J. M. Cocke.

Oak Flat. Listed in the 1894 minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, p. 294. M. C. Hays, pastor. D. S. Wallace of Laneville was clerk of the session.

Sulphur Springs. Listed in the 1890, 1892, and 1894 minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, pp. 254, 284. Pastors J. S. Norvell and M. C. Hays.

Union Grove. At or near Chapman; listed in the 1899 minutes of the General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, p 146a. No pastor listed. G. E. Wylie of Chapman was the clerk of the session.

1894 and 1899 Sessions

1890 and 1892 Sessions

Some Cumberland Presbyterian ministers mentioned in Rusk County.

Archibald H. Watkins, Pine Grove, et al. Watkins died in 1881 and is buried at Pine Grove. Early minister at Pine Grove and first Chief Justice of the court in Rusk County. His brother R. O. Watkins was also a minister.

Thomas H. Campbell, Brachfield (Thomas Hardesty Campbell, who later served at Bethel College and Memphis Theological Seminary 1943-1972).

Orville H. Gibson, Mt. Hope.

S. Q. Proctor, Overton, Leverett’s Chapel.

I. W. Hill, Pleasant Springs, Maple Grove, Mt. Enterprise.

M. J. Kelley, Pine Grove.

L. E. Tipps, Hickory Flat/Grove, Mt. Hope.

J. T. Jopling, Henderson.

Jeff D. Potts, last minister assigned to Pine Grove.

G. F. Harris.

Oran Hatch. Oddly, in the 1850 Rusk County census, he identified himself as an “M. E. (Methodist Episcopal) Clergyman” even though he had already joined the Presbyterians.

S. A. McPherson, died in Waxahachie and is buried in Dallas.

Joseph Jones Weems, buried at Pine Grove. Lived near Pine Grove and was possibly its last pastor, according to family sources.

T. T. Thornton (probably returned to the Methodists). His obituary is in a Methodist periodical and only mentions him being a Methodist preacher. His tombstone apparently has the wrong year on it, since the Texas Christian Advocate probably did not print his obituary a year before he died! (1908 vs. 1909)

• Thornton, Texas Christian Advocate, June 25, 1908, p. 11

J. S. Norvell. Norvell’s wife came back to Nacogdoches County after he died.

Moody Cunningham Hays. Joined the Methodists, probably about the time the Cumberland Presbyterians united with the Northern Presbyterians. (He was a first cousin to my maternal grandmother.)

J. A. Hornbeak. Went with the Northern Presbyterians in 1906.

G. W. C. Self, New Harmony.

J. M. Cocke, Henderson, Grandview. Ordained in Marshall in 1890.

W. H. H. King, Overton.

H. B. Milner. Son of Arnold and Mary Milner, who are buried at Pine Grove.

J. G. Braly, Mt. Enterprise, 1892. His brother S. H. Braly may have also preached in Rusk County.

A. G. Matlock, Mt. Hope (Arleigh Glenn Matlock, who later served as Executive Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions from 1950 to 1962).

Licensed Rusk County ministers and candidates in 1891.

• W. C. Chadwick, Mt. Enterprise
• Sidney Clinton, Pine Hill
• J. F. Hays, Minden
• B. A. Hodges, Minden

Some newspaper clips:

Sins of our fathers revealed in local church records
Henderson Daily News, Wednesday, July 26, 1939, p. 7
Henderson Daily News, Sunday, August 16, 1942, p. 5

Texas Presbyterian newspaper, at Portal to Texas

History of Tennessee Community (in Shelby County, Texas), Timpson Weekly News, January 2, 1948 (served by Archibald Watkins, I. W. Hill, and L. E. Tipps))

C. P. C. links to “Our Senior Soldiers” (might contain some bios of ministers who preached in Rusk County)

History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, by B. W. McDonnold, 1888

Encyclopedia Britannica.

Early in the 20th century the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. revised its Confession of Faith and included interpretations of predestination that the Cumberland Presbyterian Church found acceptable. Negotiations for union resulted in a majority of the Cumberland Presbyterians rejoining the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. in 1906. Members who rejected the merger elected to continue as the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. In 2005 the Cumberland Presbyterian Church reported about 82,000 members and more than 700 congregations. Headquarters are in Memphis, Tenn.

In 1874 a separate Colored Cumberland Presbyterian Church was established for African American members. This group, now called the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America, in 1996 reported more than 15,000 members and about 150 congregations and is headquartered in Huntsville, Ala.

An East Texas song in an East Texas book

Julian H. “Sharp” McNiel and Bernard N. Richards formed the McNiel-Richards Music Company in 1908. They published in 1909 Soul Songs and Sonnets: A superior collection of Songs and Hymns for the Church, Revival, Sunday-school, Prayer Service and Convention. This book includes a song by Methodist preacher Charles L. “Charlie” Hamill, Are You On Your Way. I have not seen it elsewhere.

The note under the song title indicates the melody was sung by Charlie Hamill, memorized by Margaret Ann Cox Day, and later written down & harmonized by Joe R. Day.

“Words and melody as sung by Rev. Charlie Hammel, on the Melrose circuit in Nacogdoches County, in the year 1860. Copied and committed to memory by my mother when a girl, and recalled Jan. 10, 1909.—J. R. D.”

The poetry leans toward the Wesleyan Arminianism of Methodism (as might be expected). Nevertheless, I think the song worth preserving for its historical value. The music (tune) is intriguing as well.

1. Oh! brethren, are you on your way, And truly bound to watch and pray?
Go on thro’ all your trials sore; We’ll meet on that delightful shore.
Hard trials we have to pass thro’, And tiresome they are it is true,
But Jesus says He’ll go before, And land us on that happy shore.

2. Go on dear brethren in the Lord, And put your trust in Jesus’ word,
He says He’ll help you on your way, If you will truly watch and pray.
Oh! Sinners, we’ve a word for you; Your case is awful it is true,
The gospel you have heard in vain, Will surely add unto your pain.

3. We’ve tried to lead you in the way, That leads to everlasting day,
But, if with us you will not go, Your way will lead to endless woe.
The time will come when we no more Will preach the gospel to the poor,
Poor sinners then will weep and cry, And call for mountains as they fly.

The composer/harmonizer of this song was Joseph Randolph Day, who was born and died in Nacogdoches County (1873-1957). His mother was Margaret Ann H. Cox, daughter of John Randolph Cox and Louisa Louvinia Chapman. Her father was a Methodist minister. Cox and Charlie Hamill labored together in the San Augustin District of the East Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South – at least in 1860. Margaret Ann Cox married James Absalom Day in 1872.

It is uncertain whether Charles Hamill might have composed the words and music of Are You On Your Way, or whether he simply sang a previously known song.

Charles L. Hamill was born June 9, 1830 in Tennessee, the son of Charles (approx. 1786-1870) and Jane Hamill (d. 1846). In 1850 Charles (a student) was living with his father, stepmother (Sophia Blakemore Hamill), and two stepsisters, in Desoto County, Mississippi.

Hamill married Mary A. Garwood July 26, 1853 in Carroll County, Tennessee. It appears they had no children. They were in Texas by 1855, when Charles was accepted on trial in the East Texas Methodist Conference. In 1860 Charles and Mary were living with the Dan Atkins family in Nacogdoches County near Melrose. He is listed as a Methodist Episcopal South minister.

 

Charles L. Hamill died February 14, 1865 at age 34. He was buried in the Marshall Cemetery in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas. After his death, Mary married F. A. Schluter in May 1865 in Harrison County.

Known ministerial career

• 1855: p. 377-78. One of several men “admitted in trial” at the East Texas Conference held at Marshall, November 1855. (A History of Early Methodism in Texas)
• 1858: p. 79. “Ques. 6. Who are the deacons of one year? ...Charles L. Hamill...Joseph W. H. Hamill.” (Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South)
• 1858, p. 81. Serving in the Linden Circuit in Marshall District. (Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South)
• 1859, p. 176. “Ques. 9. What travelling preachers are elected and ordained elders? Chas L. Hamill, Joseph W. H. Hamill, William T. Melugin.” (Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South)
• 1859: p. 178. Serving in the Melrose Circuit in the San Augustin District. (Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South)
• 1860: p. 281. Serving in the Melrose Circuit in the San Augustin District. (Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South)
• 1861: p. 353. Serving at Jefferson Station in the Marshall District. (Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South)
• 1864: p. 9. Pastor at Marshall Church. (“Methodists Play Major Role in Early HC,” Marshall News Messenger, Thursday, November 9, 1989, p. 9)
• 1865: p. 484. Pastor at Marshall Church. (A History of Early Methodism in Texas; also The Life and Labors of Rev. E. M. Marvin, p. 190)

Hamill may have possibly served parts of the years 1862-1864 as a chaplain or soldier during the War Between the States.

The Texas Republican, February 17, 1865, p. 2

Bibliography

• A History of Early Methodism in Texas, Macum Phelan, Nashville, TN: Cokesbury Press, 1924
• Marshall News Messenger, Thursday, November 9, 1989
• Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South 1858-1865 (Nashville, TN: Southern Methodist Publishing House)
• The Life and Labors of Rev. E. M. Marvin, D. R. McAnally, St. Louis, MO: Advocate Publishing House, 1878
• The Texas Republican, Vol. 16, No. 23, Friday, February 17, 1865

* A special thanks to Bill T. Whitis of the Harrison County Historical Museum’s research library for help in finding information about Charles Hamill.

On Smyrna’s 150th Anniversary

A Poem.

On the sixteenth day of August
In Eighteen Hundred Seventy-Three
A church was constituted
By a neighboring presbytery.

From Zion Hill, Sparkman and Deason
Called with an urgent plea.
Seventeen souls with letters
Came forth in covenant to agree.

Elder Sparkman offered prayer,
For preservation and unity.
One hundred fifty years later
Some in covenant still agree.

May God bless these people,
May God be their light—
The Bible be their practice
God’s Spirit be their guide.

Death and Sacred Harp

Researchers have written about “death and Sacred Harp.” They focus on the lyrics of the songs. Sometimes it can be more literal. Tuck Fulmer was a well-known and beloved singer who was born in Alabama, had lived in Nacogdoches County and Frio County, and taught singing schools. He said he loved Sacred Harp Singing so much he had just as soon “die singing.” He did. April 13, 1952.

Tyler Morning Telegraph, Monday, April 14, 1952, p. 1

Sacred Harp, a Fair Attraction

At the Central East Texas Fair held in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas, September 18-22, 1928, Sacred Harp singing was one of the attractions.

Timpson Weekly Times, Friday, September 14, 1928, p. 4

Singing in Tatum, 1981

Back in 1981, our Sacred Harp Convention met at the Cafeteria at Tatum High School. Ed Craig was the chairman and Alcie Craig was the secretary. Old singers from my grandparents’ generation were still around then.

The Marshall News Messenger, Sunday, August 2, 1981, p. 3A

The anti-missionary missionary

My attention was recently brought to the article about Elder Daniel Parker on Wikipedia. Last year I warned how that “Wikipedia” is now “Woke-ipedia” – propelled by political correctness to expel historical exactness. Nevertheless, the historian in me struggled to ignore and not call attention to this problem concerning Parker, and will hope it is corrected.

Under the section “Religious Leadership” in the Parker article, at least two places need attention and correction. The article states:

“Parker believed that the non-white races who were the targets of foreign missions were people who were descended from the wicked seed of the serpent. He stated that since ‘God would save His own children, and since the children of Satan were predestined to eternal punishment, any kind of mission plan would seem ridiculous.’”

1. “Parker believed that the non-white races who were the targets of foreign missions were people who were descended from the wicked seed of the serpent.”

I am skeptical of this claim. It is unsourced. If it comes from a statement by Parker, it needs to be substantiated. Though it may appear that the footnote refers it back to Max Lee’s thesis “Daniel Parker’s Doctrine of the Two Seeds,” I found no such claim in Lee’s work. The practice of the Pilgrim Church belies such a doctrine. The church received non-whites into membership by experience & baptism, by relation, and by letter. The early minutes of the church, during Parker’s lifetime, are still accessible. Here are some examples from the minutes:

“Saturday, June 13th 1840. The Church met and in order proseded to business. 

“1st. A Black man by the name of Thom. Presented a letter to the Church of recommendation from his master Mr. Wm. J. Hamblitt, and informed the Church, That he was receved in to a Baptist Church at Barefeet meeting House, and was Baptised by Elder Luster, in the State of Tennessee, which some of the members of the Church knew, That he took a letter from that Church, and joined a Church in the western district Called Spring Hill Church, from which he took a letter, but from some cause, left his letter, and some of his close behind, with an expectation of getting them, but as yet has failed, The Church being satisfied, Received him into Fellowship, as by Relation, yet claimes the right to his letter should it come to hand Ajorned”

“On Sunday, 23d [August 1840], Received a Black woman by the name of Hannah by Experience, and Baptised her.”

“Friday September 3d 1841...3d. Granted a letter of dismission to Sister Hannah a Black woman living in San Augusteen County”

These examples show the church receiving and dismissing black members, which seems unlikely if the Wiki-page claim is true.

2. “He stated that since ‘God would save His own children, and since the children of Satan were predestined to eternal punishment, any kind of mission plan would seem ridiculous.’”

This quote is in error. “God would save His own children, and since the children of Satan were predestined to eternal punishment, any kind of mission plan would seem ridiculous” is a quote from Max Lee’s thesis (p. 13). It is not a quote of a statement made by Parker. This is an assessment of what people said about Parker, or thought about what he believed – “it would seem according to the traditional understanding of Parker’s two-seed views that no mission plan whatsoever was needed.” Lee considered the “the traditional understanding of Parker’s two-seed views” to be deficient.

It is true and correct that Daniel Parker opposed the missionary system devised by the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions. However, he did not oppose the preaching of the gospel. In fact, if one reads the entire thesis without cherry picking, we find that Max Lee concludes that Parker’s views have been misunderstood (for several reasons, some of which were Parkers own fault).[i] On page 85 Lee writes, “Lest these non-elect have an excuse for their unbelief, Parker urged that the gospel be preached to men everywhere, including the non-elect.”

All told, my opinion is that Daniel Parker’s doctrine of the two-seeds is his attempt to explain the existence of evil without making its origin come from God.

Max Lee concludes that “an examination of Parker’s writings reveals, contrary to the traditional view, that Parker was not opposed to missions. Rather, he was opposed to any mission plan which was not under the government and direction of the churches, an example of which was the societal mission plan of the Triennial Convention. Parker’s opposition was against this plan of the Triennial Convention and not against missions proper.”

Where Pilgrim Church meets is a little over an hour’s drive from where I live. I have visited there several times. The church no longer holds the “two-seed” doctrine as taught by Daniel Parker, but identifies itself as and fellowships with Absolute Predestinarian Primitive Baptists.

---

[i] Lee proposes three factors contributing to the misunderstanding: (1) “Parker’s critics ordinarily attacked him instead of his doctrines. As a result, Parker was belittled, while his doctrines remained relatively unknown,” (2) “Parker contributed to his own misunderstanding by resorting to sarcasm and ridicule, particularly in the pages of the Church Advocate,” and (3) “the scarcity and unavailability of his writings, which has forced a reliance on men such as John Mason Peck and R. B. C. Howell, both of whom opposed Parker’s antimissionism.” He further reasons that “the descriptions of Parker and of his antimission motivation presented by Peck and Howell respectively have discouraged further investigation.”

Sacred Music

At modern singings most of our time is taken up in singing. The exceptions are breaks, prayers, and memorial lessons (and sometimes a brief welcome). In older times it was common include a lesson or lecture by a music teacher. Near the close of the North East Texas Sacred Harp Convention (August 30-September 1, 1940), Professor Bob Bartlett lectured on “Sacred Music,” followed by his leading The Crucifixion, The Resurrection, and Weeping Mary.

The convention that year was held at Pleasant Hope Church in Cass County, Texas, near Huffines, Robert Edmond Bartlett, President, and Herschel Grady McLeod, Secretary.

The Citizens Journal (Atlanta, Texas), Thursday, September 5, 1940, p. 5