THE

BEGINNING

OF

BAPTIST WORK

IN

HAMILTON COUNTY

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ 
is the same yesterday,
and today,
and forever

John 3:16-18

16 For God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; 
but that the world through him might be saved.

18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed 
in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Early settlements in northern Hamilton County were on the banks of Honey Creek at the Honey Creek Trading Post (Old Hico) eighteen miles north of Hamilton in 1856. The first Baptist church in Hamilton County was Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church (1861-1891). Mt. Zion Baptist Church was located at Old Hico. Rev. L. D. Stringer and Rev. A. D. Maroney, ministers from the Leon River Baptist Association were instrumental in founding Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church. In conjunction with founding this church, Isaac Reed was ordained and became its first pastor. Mt. Zion and Honey Creek Baptist Churches were members of the Leon River Baptist Association  prior to the formation of the Bosque River Baptist Association. In 1864 Daniel S. Babb was licensed as a Baptist minister by Mt. Zion. Honey Creek Baptist Church was established in 1867 and again in 1871. The Leon River Baptist Association, the twenty-second Baptist Association to be formed in Texas, had been established September 24, 1858. The thirty-sixth Baptist association created in Texas was the Bosque River Baptist Association on November 10/13/1869.

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church became Hico Baptist Church when the town moved to the railroad on the banks of the Bosque River. Mt. Zion Baptist Church was admitted to the Hamilton County Baptist Association on September 9, 1888, and was dissolved in 1891 being replaced by Hico Baptist Church.

The Baptists in the village of Hamilton trace their beginning to 1873. Dr. Donavon Duncan Tidwell recorded the history of a ten day revival held during the Fall of 1873 by Daniel S. Babb, Edmund Eldred Sellers and R. S. Underwood. As the result of this revival three people were baptized into the nearest Baptist Church, the Leon Baptist Church, seven miles from Hamilton.

Leon Baptist Church at Snowville was founded in the spring of 1873 by Rev. Daniel S. Babb, and Rev. J. M. Wright, missionaries of the Leon River Baptist Association. The location of this Leon Baptist Church was Snowville--near the spot where Hwy. 22 crosses the Leon River. Messengers from this church attended the organizational meeting of the Hamilton County Baptist Association on July 4, 1877. After being dismissed from the Leon River Baptist Association on August 10, 1877, the Leon Baptist Church became part of the Hamilton County Baptist Association on October 12, 1877. This church was active from 1873 until 1883 and was the first of three different churches bearing the name--Leon Baptist Church.

The Hamilton Missionary Baptist Church with eighteen members was admitted to the Leon River Association in 1874. At this time the 1874 minutes of the Leon River Association are not available; however, the Hamilton Baptist Church was enumerated as a member church of that association in 1875 without a notation that a petitionary letter was received from Hamilton. Furthermore, Hamilton Missionary Baptist Church was not included in the roster of member churches of the Leon River Association in 1873.

Many churches have been a part of Hamilton Baptist Association (HBA) originally named Hamilton County (TX) Baptist Association (HCBA), and then Hamilton County Missionary Baptist Association, since its founding in 1877. There exists variances about the time and place HCBA was formed. Since records of the organizational meeting have not been found, all available accounts of its organization are included, although now there is more evidence to support July 4,1877, as the day on which HCBA was formed.

The title page of the 1878 minutes of Hamilton County Baptist Association which met September 7, 1878, with the Pleasant Valley Baptist Church bears the title "Minutes of the SECOND Annual Session of the Hamilton County Baptist Association." This would give the impression that the first session occurred in 1877.

Chronologically the first report in Minutes of Annual Associations meetings about the establishment of Hamilton County Baptist Association occurred in the Sunday School report in 1898 at the Annual Session held at Mt. Olive Baptist Church at Pearl.

"Your committee on Sunday Schools beg leave to make the following report:

"Since the organization of the Hamilton County Association at Cottonwood Springs near the town of Evant on July 4, 1877, we have watched with interest the progress of the Sunday School work. Much has been done in the past, but a vast deal needs yet to be done to establish Sunday Schools where there are none, and to make more effective those now in existence. ... ..."

Respectfully submitted,

J. C. Rodgers

J. C. Rodgers of Hico was clerk of HCBA in 1899, 1900, 1901, and 1903.

The next historical information in Associational Minutes was presented in 1913 when Wade D. Vinson, Associational Missionary recounted this history of the formation of the Hamilton County Baptist Association.

"In May, 1876, there were messengers representing several churches met [sic] with the Old Sweet Home church at Evant and organized a new association called the Hamilton County Baptist Association, its territory to consist of Hamilton County. The object of which was to cultivate a spirit of union and fellowship among the churches, to arouse an awakening of Christian education, and the spread of the Gospel to the destitute places of the earth, and especially to maintain a missionary on her own field. Among the dear old saints who are now in Glory many had hard fought battles to preserve and maintain the spirit and object of its organization. Hamilton County has been a denominational battle ground. All of our struggles did not come from without or from other denominations, but from within our own camps. Along through the nineties there were hard struggles with the Martinites, which lasted several years and which resulted in the exclusion of several preachers from the Association in order to have peace and harmony among the churches. Again, the cause of missions was greatly hindered by the influence of the Hardshells, Anti-Missionaries and Gospel Missionaries, and during these wars and rumors of wars Christian education was almost altogether neglected. But God has tenderly and steadily led His never tiring and faithful ones through the dark wilderness of wars and struggles until they now stand on Canaan’s Shore of peace, harmony, missionary and Christian educational endeavors. The history of Hamilton County Association is very interesting. It is one of the oldest association in Middle Texas. The old preachers and laity too, many of whom are dead and gone to their reward, deserve much credit and honor for the manner in which they stood for Baptist polity and doctrine. They laid well the foundation of education and missions on which we should build as wise master builders. Again, it is interesting because of its territory and population. Its territory consists of 858 square miles, with fertility of soil that is calculated to double its population within the next twenty years. Our population is not so great as some of our neighbor counties which were organized long after ours. Some of the causes of the same have been removed and now our population is increasing rapidly. We have about 16,000 people in the county, of that number there about 1000 foreigners with very little efforts to help them religiously. There are 2,238 Baptist in our association, a mighty host, and if they all had a mind to work in a very short time old Hamilton County Association would take her place among the most active of progressive Associations of the State."

Cottonwood Springs which is the more frequently identified site of the organizational meeting for Hamilton County Baptist Association was located on the east side of the Lampasas River and west of the current Fairview Baptist Church. It was near where Hwy. 84 crosses the Lampasas River.

Arvord M. Abernethy, noted historian of both Hamilton County and of Hamilton County Baptist Association recorded the following in "Centennial History of Hamilton County Baptist Association" which he wrote for the 1976 HCBA celebration:

"The population of Hamilton County grew from 733 in 1870 to 6,385 in 1880, so this was a decade of rapid expansion among many church groups. With the organization of several Baptist churches, and since the Leon River Baptist Association included churches from seven counties, there came a need for a new association. On July 4, 1876, a group of interested Baptists met at Cottonwood Springs, which was in the Evant vicinity, and organized the Hamilton County Baptist Association."

Mr. Abernethy served as Clerk of HCBA longer than any other person--from 1953 through 1979, and later served as Treasurer of HCBA.

Another able historian of Hamilton County Baptist, Dr. Donavon Duncan Tidwell, recorded the founding date as July 4, 1877.

"There was some discussion of forming an association in Hamilton County in the fall of 1876 but since Brother Byars was the only ordained Baptist minister residing in the county at that time it was thought best to postpone the matter until the following summer. Accordingly on July 4, 1877, representatives from either seven or nine churches (accounts vary) met at Cottonwood Springs a mile and a half from Evant, and organized the Hamilton County Baptist Association. Rev. Noah T. Byars presided over the convention as president and Rev. D. I. Haralson served as secretary. Brother Byars stated that since the devil did so much work on the Fourth of July that he thought it would be well to do some work for the Lord that day!"

Minutes of the organization convention and the first annual session are not available but the following churches were apparently represented at the Cottonwood Spring convention: Bennet Creek (now Center City in Mills County), Coryell, Cottage Hill, Friendship, New Providence, Pleasant Valley, and Sweet Home (now Evant). All of these were newly formed churches and unaffiliated with any association. Since there are eight of these churches it is possible that one may not have participated in the organization and affiliated at the first annual session three months later. Three churches of the Leon River Association were also represented but did not enter into the formation of Hamilton County Association as letters of dismission were granted them on August 12, 1877. These three churches, Hamilton, Leon and Plum Creek, then affiliated with the Hamilton County association when it met with the Plum Creek Church in its first annual session beginning on Friday, October 12, 1877.

Hamilton County native, Dr. Tidwell, pastored churches in Hamilton County during his early years before he became a Bible professor at Howard Payne College in Brownwood, TX.

Two churches-- Pleasant Valley and Sweet Home (now First Baptist Church, Evant) were founded after July 4, 1876, but before July 4, 1877, adding evidence that Hamilton County Baptist Association was not organized on July 4, 1876. Pleasant Valley Baptist Church was organized September 10, 1876, and Sweet Home Baptist Church was founded April 12, 1877.

According to all accounts the first annual session was in the Fall of 1877-- October 12, 1877. Both the July 4 organizational meeting and the first annual associational meeting occurred in 1877. The Hamilton County Baptist Association became the fifty-sixth Baptist association to be formed in the state of Texas when it was established on July 4, 1877.

Hamilton teacher, Captain Alfred Haynes Watson (who had lost an arm in the Battle of Gettysburg), invited the church which was to become First Baptist Church to hold monthly services in the school building in the 500 block of East Henry until after 1880 when the Presbyterian Church invited the Baptists to share their building. On August 24, 1888, Alfred Haynes Watson, W. W. Kilpatrick, George H. Robbins, S. J. Allen, and G. R. Freeman, trustees of the Baptist Church in Hamilton purchased Lot No. 3, in Block No. 11 of the original town of Hamilton from Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Walker for $30 for the church. It was not until 1896 that a church building was erected on this property on South Bell. The first church was a native stone edifice constructed by James Malcolm "Jim" Tomlinson. After this building was destroyed by fire in 1924, the Baptists met in the courthouse until a brick building could be completed in 1925. Following the construction of the second church building, George Morrow Carlton gave a pipe organ to First Baptist Church in memory of his first wife Fronia Adams Carlton who had died in 1921. Mr. Carlton’s second wife, Mrs. Marcie (Wysong) Carlton, was organist for many years. In 1970 fire again destroyed the First Baptist Church and the current building was constructed the following year.

I Corinthians 2:9-10

9 But as it is written, 
Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither have entered into the heart of man, 
the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:  for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH OF HAMILTON

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 1896-1897

YEAR BY YEAR, 1873 - 1899

YEAR BY YEAR, 1900 - 1925

YEAR BY YEAR 1926 - 1950

YEAR BY YEAR 1951 - 1975

YEAR BY YEAR 1976 - 1998

A HISTORY OF FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, HAMILTON

TABLE OF CONTENTS