Histories of Three More Local Churches

Madison County Museum is coordinating an exhibit on local churches. Musings has shared histories of several so far, with more below and still more to come.

On August 17, 1856, First Baptist Church of Madisonville was created, though not yet named, when J.W.D. Creath deeded land on which the church now stands to 3 trustees. In the late 1870s, Liberty Baptist Church was organized and met four miles west of town. In 1880 it moved to Madisonville and within a month its members numbered nearly forty. They built the first church building in 1890. It was frame, two story, and resembled a barracks to me. In 1893, the church voted to change the name to First Baptist Church of Madisonville. Membership grew, requiring a bigger facility. The second one was built in 1913, and a parsonage too. By 1929, membership required a third church to be built. Many of us remember that one, facing South Elm Street and with steep steps up to the sanctuary. Do you remember the nursery in the basement? In 1949, Reverend T.R. Wagstaff became pastor and led the church through peak years of both attendance and mission giving. Wagstaff served the church 1949-1955 and 19581974. When he left, membership continued to grow along with the town, mostly due to the oil industry or folks retiring here. With the old sanctuary overflowing, an additional early morning service helped for a while. Dr. Millard Bennett’s ministry here started in 1979, and he led the building program, for a large sanctuary, parlor, office, classrooms, a choir room, and renovations of existing buildings. Ground was broken March 5, 1980, and the first worship service in the new sanctuary was held February 1, 1981! The family life center was added in 1999. A Texas State Historical marker was dedicated as part of the church’s 125th Year Celebration.

First Baptist Church of North Zulch was organized September 13, 1907, in a meeting of eight people at the depot. The first worship service was held 2 days later. Later the church met for a while in the Masonic Lodge building, until finally in the winter of 1928 construction began on the church building. The first service was held there in March 1929. By 1930, membership had grown from eight charter members to eighty members.

In 1945, the first parsonage was built, and the first full-time pastor was hired, Reverend J.A. Hosea, was hired. Structures have been added through the years, and the church family has grown! When Volume 1 of local history was published, the church had 397 members.

The local Methodist ministry traces its origins back to 1842, before Madison County was organized. Circuit riding preachers served the area, one being Preacher Henderson Palmer from the Galveston District of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1856, the church became a separate charge under the pastorate of the Reverend Joseph H.D. Moore. In 1892, members met in a one-room structure located on the northeast corner of the intersection of West Trinity and South Panama. In 1904, members built a larger structure to meet needs of the growing congregation. Additions made that work until it was razed in 1951 when members built the current Methodist sanctuary. The first service was held there on September 30, 1951. In 1968, the congregation changed the name from First Methodist Church to First United Methodist Church. In In 1980, Mrs. Louise Barrett gave monies to add the church steeple in memory of her husband, Talmage Barrett. The most recent additions have been Wesley Hall, a large area that has a good kitchen and works well for receptions and the like, and Wesley Park, a fenced and partly covered playground. In recent years, members voted to affiliate with the Global Methodist Church.

I hope some of you come to view the exhibit and perhaps loan items to add to it!

This essay appears on behalf of Madison County Museum and Madison County Historical Commission. At 201 N.

Madison, the Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10-2. We hope you will write something for Volume 3 of local history. Snail-mail it to MCHC, 101 N. Commerce, #64, Madisonville, TX 77864, or email it to stories@madisonchc. com