The First United Methodist Church of Crockett

A treasure trove of history

By Jan White and Jolene Renfro

Houston County is well known as the rst county created under the newly minted Republic of Texas. But what you may not know is that the First United Methodist Church of Crockett, established in 1839, is the oldest protestant church in the town and the second oldest Methodist church in the state of Texas.

It was Colonel William B. Travis who rst initiated interest in establishing Methodist churches in Texas. In 1835, Travis wrote to the Advocate, a New York newspaper, lamenting the lack of religious instruction for “upwards of sixty-thousand destitute souls.” Travis chastised the church, saying that they had sent “pioneers of the Gospel” to almost every destitute portion of the globe,” but neglected “this interesting country.” He concluded his letter with the plea, “In sending your heralds to the four corners of the Earth, remember Texas.”

Colonel William B. Travis didn’t live to see his request ful lled. Seven months later, he was killed at the battle of the Alamo. But in 1837, the rst Methodist missionaries rode into the piney woods of East Texas — Martin Ruter, Littleton Fowler, and Robert Alexander. Fowler, who established several other churches in East Texas, was the founder of the Methodist Church in Crockett.

How it all began

In his recollection of the church’s history written in 1954, Jim Foster, who was 95 at the time, said, “ e rst church was a long wooden building. It was a one-room structure across the street from the present building on Goliad and Seventh Street. In yesteryears, it was called Church Street because all of the churches were on this one street.” Foster joined the church in 1870, and in September of that year, the wooden building was destroyed by re. e congregation built a second wooden church, which they occupied until 1901, when the current brick church was built.

e auditorium of the new brick building was constructed using the ‘Akron Plan,’ a popular layout found in many 20th-century churches. Named for its city of origin, the design was similar to a renaissance theater, with semi-circle seating and no center aisle. It was meant to allow children to move from large groups into small separate Sunday School rooms located around the periphery of the auditorium. e building’s white marble cornerstone reads “M. E. Church South Erected 1901.” In 1968, the church was recognized with a Texas Historical Marker, and it is also listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings.

The Meneely bell

In 1859, the church purchased a tower bell from Meneely’s Foundry in Troy, New York. e founder of the company, Andrew Meneely, was just 15 years old when he apprenticed for Julius Hanks, one of the earliest bellfounders in America. In 1826, Meneely founded his own company, described as “casting some of the most important bells, pads, and chains used in this country and abroad.” Meneely’s most famous creation was the replacement for the original Liberty Bell that now hangs in the bell tower of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

The Estey Organ e church’s pipe organ is over a hundred years old. It was speci cally built for the church by Estey Organ Company in Vermont. e organ, installed in 1915, contains more than 800 pipes. A quick search in the online Pipe Organ database shows that at the time, only 23 organs were located in Texas –six were in theaters, two were in schools, one was in a residence, and 14 were in churches. But there was only one pipe organ in Houston County – and it was located at the First United Methodist Church in Crockett.

Almost a decade ago, a water leak damaged some of the original bellows used to supply air to the pipes. e organ underwent repairs and upgrades and now has a modernized pumping system. While many contemporary churches have replaced organs with a piano or other musical instruments, the Methodist church still enjoys the rich sound that only their treasured pipe organ can create.

Stained glass windows e tradition of using stained glass windows in churches dates back to the early Middle Ages. e windows not only o ered color and light to the houses of worship, but they also served a practical purpose. Many members of the congregation had little to no formal education. So to reach the primarily illiterate crowd, religious lessons were illustrated in the church’s stained glass windows. Obviously, that’s not the case today, but the tradition has continued in churches of all faiths. e windows in the Methodist church were made in Bavaria around 1902, shipped to Great Britain, and then on to Galveston before being carried by rail to Crockett. ere are 19 windows in all, and they are insured for over half a million dollars. e South East window is a patriotic window given in memory of 26-year-old First Lieutenant Edward E. Downes, who died in 1901 in the Spanish-American War in the Philippine Islands. He believed that his mission as a Christian was to share the gospel. e Lieutenant was such an in uential gure that Camp Downes, on Ormoc, Island of Leyte in the Philippines, was named a er him.

In keeping with a practice common to the stained glass trade at the turn of the century, the three largest windows in the sanctuary each have hand-painted sections. Many of the windows were memorial gi s from family members of the church; each tells a story, not only of the Bible reference but of the faith of those who donated them.

George and Gary Burnett donated the South Central window in memory of their mother, Catherine, who perished in the devastating hurricane of September 8, 1900. While the brothers were saved by clinging to oating timers, their mother, wives, and children died. e image of Christ clinging to the wooden cross might have been chosen to represent how clinging to their faith helped the brothers survive their terrible loss. e West Central window was given in memory of Pattie Smith and little Ernest Smith, wife and son of Ellis Smith, pastor of the church from 1900-1902. Both mother and child passed away in 1901. e window reminds us of Jesus’ words, “Su er the little children to come into Me.” e North East window was given in memory of William and Mary Isabella Johnson, great-grandparents of Charles Edmiston and Florence Arledge King, whose families have been actively involved in the church for over 100 years. e window reads, “In memory of our mother and father. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

“Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden” is the theme of the North Central window. is beautiful window was given in memory of John McConnell, Sr., who le his homeland in Ireland at 21, eventually making his way to Crockett, where he settled around 1847. He owned a blacksmith shop and a hardware store and was highly regarded by his fellow citizens. McConnell died in the u epidemic of 1918. His sons, Robert and John Jr., were active church members and gave the window in memory of their father.

Other windows were given by their families to honor W.J. Foster, Nora McCarty, William and Mary Isabella Johnson, and Mary Jeter Murray for their years of service to the church.

Over the years, some of the windows have sustained damage, and portions had to be replaced, which might be seen by some as an allegory for the broken lives that have been put back together by the grace of God.

Currently, the Crockett Garden Club o ers private group tours of the Bible garden and the historic Methodist church. To arrange a tour, contact Jolene Renfro at 936-687-2917 or email her at jrenfro@hcecwildblue.com.