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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEarly Churches Panel Group 06Oral Histories... "The Early Church" Date: July 16, 1997 Room: 107 Moderator: Naomi Shannon Transcriptionist: Pamela Einkauf Camcorder: Elizabeth Carrigan Interviewees: Lurleen Cooner Mack Cooner Felice Klein NS: I'll say my name first. I'm Naomi Shannon. And I've lived in College Station for thirty eight years, and taught school here. So I probably taught some of your children. I taught at College Hills. MC: What's your name? NS: Shannon. Naomi Shannon. MC: I've heard the name, but I don't know. I had two boys, but they might have been out of school by the time you started teaching. I don't know. My oldest boy will be 57 in March. NS: Mrs. Cooner, if you would, introduce yourself. LC: I'm Lurleen Cooner. I was born in Brazos County, and lived here all my life. We went to Rock Prairie Baptist Church during my childhood years. When I got married in `38 we walked to College Station Baptist Church. We moved to Wellborn in January of 1942, and went to Welborn Baptist Church then. NS: Mr. Cooner...? Coe1 MC: Well, Mack Cooner's my name, most of my rearing was done right over here where Luby's Cafe is. That's where my daddy's home, old place, was...and I went to school at Consolidated School. Uh, soon as Lurleen got outta high school...we got married! NS: Did you go to school on campus? MC: Yes, Ma'm, in Phiffer Hall. NS: Ya'll are old timers, then. MC: I mean. NS: Mrs. Klein, would you introduce yourself? FK: I'm Felice Klein, and I've been here since 1949. So most of the information I will give is what I've heard, rather than what I've actually experienced. NS: Okay. Uh, uh, tell the people your name. PE: My name is Pam Einkauf, and I'm the secretary for the College Station Historic Preservation Committee. I also work for the City Parks Department. NS: Talk a little about what your church or synagogue facility was like when you started going to church here. LC: Like I said, I was born in Brazos County, and lived here all my life...during my childhood, I went to church at Rock Prairie Baptist Church. It was a rural church about four miles south of College Station out on Highway Six. It was a one room church. We had Sunday School "rooms" in different parts of the church. It was just an open auditorium, but we'd get in groups and different sections of the church. It was heated with a wood heater, and no air conditioner, only heat. We used hand fans, and raised the windows. I went to church there until I finished high school. Then I got married, and in 1938 we went to College Station Baptist Church. We walked there because we didn't have a car. Then we moved out to Wellborn in January of 1942. Since then we've been active members of the Welborn Baptist Church. NS: Mr. Cooner, Do you have any different memories to share? MC: I went to the same church she did... Rock Prairie, as a youngster. We were baptized in a stocktank, I remember that. In the winter time, we had a wood heater. NS: You grew up in this area, then? MC: Yes. It was almost out in the country back then...that old dirt road that goes by Luby's Cafe. It twisted and elbowed around a few times, and came out at Midway. It's Sulpher Springs Rd., now. In the 30's they built Hwy. 6 over there. LC: Later 30's. MC: I was a deacon for 48 years at Wellborn Baptist Church. I'm fixin' to get on the inactive list, though. I guess I'm getting old and my health's so bad. NS: Felice, what were your first church facilities like? FK: I belong to a congregation called Congregation Beth Shalom, which is a Jewish congregation. I understand that the first Jewish congregation was started in the 1890's. Then a temple, Temple Freda was built and dedicated in 1912. It was built on land donated by Mr. English, who lived in Bryan and was not Jewish. According to the story that was told, uh, a Jewish man lived in one of his rental houses, and Mr. English was in a bank one night, and this man walked in, and he said, " You know it's a shame we do not have a synagogue in Bryan- College Station, and we have to meet in people's homes to have services ". Mr. English said he would donate land for them so they could build a temple. That is Temple Freda. It is still located on Parker St. in Bryan. A great deal of the money that was raised came from non - Jewish people because there were not many Jewish families here at that time. They donated, not only their money, but their labor, and they donated materials to construct the temple with. At the dedication, many local people who were not Jewish participated by singing solos, speaking...ect. Temple Freda was the first temple ever named after a female. There is disagreement among the survivors of Freda. There were two women named Freda. The man who supposedly talked to Mr. English in the beginning, his wife's mother was named Freda. So he says the temple is named after his mother -in -law. However, the Gelber family, who lived here at the time...and Willie Gelber, states that the temple was named after the wife of a man named Kaczar. He was president of the congregation. His wife had died recently, and her name was Freda, and so they say that's who its named after. An article from the local newspaper at the time of the dedication states the Temple was named for Mr. Kaczar's deceased wife. There was a small number of Jewish families here. Probably no more than twenty families. Most of them were merchants in Bryan - College Station, and a few were on the faculty at Texas A &M. The local Jewish people interacted with the students. I know one person was on the faculty in the 20's. Two more came in, in the 30's. was on the There was one man who faculty named Taubenhaus. He and his wife would have the Jewish students for services. They first started in their home, and later met at the YMCA on campus. When he died, his wife, Esther Taubenhaus, took over continuing the services for the students, and they also started a club which was called the Hillel Club for Jewish students. They met once a week, on Wednesday nights, and had different speakers give a program. It was just a local organized club. We now have a national organization which sets up Hillels at all Universities. Usually a Rabbi is the director of Hillel. When the national Hillel Foundation formed, they heard of the Hillel here, and wrote to Mrs. Taubenhaus. They told her she was going to have to change the name of the one here because it was their name. She wrote back and said," I'm sorry, but we had the name first, and we will continue to use that name. So what I suggest you should do now, is to allow us to become a member of the national Hillel Foundation ". And they did. NS: Do you still have the church in Bryan? FK: Yes. It is still there. It's a small Temple with a sanctuary that seats about fifty people. Behind the sanctuary, originally was one long room, and two small ones in the back. Of course, we had a very small congregation at that time. In 1957, the Hillel building was built at A &M, which is on the corner of George Bush Dr. and Dexter St. When that occurred, the Jewish members of Temple Freda, started going there for services with the students because it was air conditioned and had central heating, and it also had more rooms. Temple Freda is now rented to smaller congregations. We use it for special occasions. In Judaism, there are three groups: an Orthodox group, a Conservative , and a Reform is a member of The Union of American Reform Congregations group. Our congregation belongs to the reform organization, even though many are from a Conservative background. Our Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday night, and continues until sunset on Saturday. It's customary to have services both Friday nights and Saturday mornings. TheTemple Freda Building is in very poor condition, and we've never been able to raise enough money to fix it up, but there's talk about trying to do that again. There has been vandalism. The stained glass windows were broken. The candelabras by the alter were stolen. A donation was made to put Plexiglas on the outside over the stained glass windows, so we did. NS: Where is Parker St? FK: It's on the same street as St. Anthony's Catholic Church, and also St. Andrews Episcopal Church. It's in between them. We're between 27th and 28th street in Bryan. The lot is quite small. The train goes around the temple. I remember when the children would have Religious School, they would all go hang out the windows and watch. It was, of course, noisy! The Gelber's, Willie and Faye Gelber, lived right across the street from the Temple, and one of Willie's brother's was the custodian. On Yom Kipper, which is a religious holiday, the day of atonement we fast all day. We eat nothing, and have no water for 24 hours. Then we would always have a break - the -fast, and have food. I remember everyone putting their food into Faye Gelber's refrigerator. Because there wasn't enough room inside, we would set up chairs and tables outside. The weather is usually pretty warm. The holiday is either in September or October. The Hillel students met at the YMCA on campus, but when I came here, there were no regular services held at Temple Freda. On special holidays, we would have services at the Temple together. So when we went to Friday night services, we would go out to the YMCA. NS: Mrs. Cooner, did another church start your Welborn Church, or did you all start it yourselves? LC: Years ago, in the 1800's, they started in Millican with the railroad. And there were two men there in Wellborn with a construction group, one was named E.W. Wellborn, and the other Mr. W.W. Wilbur. They were the ones who named Wellborn. They got it from a well. In 1890, Wellborn Baptist Church bought some land. In 1896, someone shot the station master through the station window, and that same year of 1896, someone set Joseph Barrow's widow's house on fire and burned it down. The family was able to escape, but Mrs. Barrow dies soon after because she inhaled too much smoke. Well, the same year, someone burned down the Wellborn Baptist Church. The people at Wellborn worked and saved their money to build another church. Years ago, they might have met upstairs in the school building to discuss building another church. They took all the money they had, and appointed two deacons to get a mechanic lean from Howell Lumber Company of Bryan. They built the second church - 1910 -1911. It was just one big auditorium. MC: It had dividers. LC: Finally, we bought wire and hung curtains to draw off rooms. In the early 1950's, we built an educational building for Sunday School rooms. In 1958, we tore down the church built in 1910 -12, and the members worked under the oak tree to clean the old wood. They used the old lumber for part of the construction of the new church. Then in 1990, we built another larger educational building. It has six rooms and a kitchen with a nursery and two bathrooms. We needed it because of the growth and everything. We had to take out the two rooms in the back of the sanctuary to make more room in the church auditorium because of growth in the church. MC: Our new educational building has those sliding dividers, you know...kinda like an accordion. They can open it up to have meetings. It's a real nice building. LC: Prior to 1958, the baptisms were held at the stocktanks, also known as the claypits. In 1958, we had a baptistery built. We had a revival that year, and twenty -seven people were baptized. The majority were adults. It caused the church to grow. We would have covered dish luncheons on Sundays after church. NS: Are you all Southern Baptists? LC: Southern Baptists, yes. NS: What's your membership now? 362 total (221 residents) (141 nonresidents) LC: I knew you were going to ask me that. I don't know. MC: It's between 200 and 300. That's about all I can tell ya. NS: How often do you all meet Mrs. Klein? I don't know anything about the Jewish religion. FK: After the Hillel Building was built, we began meeting, at the Hillel Foundation with the students for services which were held every Friday night. The population was growing. We needed to get out and get our own building. So in 1990, we bought a building on Coulter Dr. It used to be a Baptist Church. In 1968, we formed a congregation named Congregation Beth Shalom. We paid dues and gave a contribution to Hilel every year. We've had our own Temple or Synagogue since 1990. We have always conducted our own services, because we haven't had a Rabbi. My husband was the lay leader, and also Frank Kahan before he died. He and Sol both helped, and were considered the spiritual leaders. Three years ago we decided we would have a student Rabbi here. We decided that we needed professional religious leadership. The students are trained in Cincinnati, and they go out once or twice a month to lead services in small congregations. This year we decided we needed someone closer because a lot of our money was being spent to fly these student Rabbis here. We have been fortunate to locate a retired Rabbi. He will come two weekends each month. We are looking forward to his coming. We have around forty -five families in our congregation. NS: Do you all baptize? FK: No...we don't baptize. Babies are named. There is a naming ceremony. The male babies are circumcised in a ceremony. We have men who are trained to perform the circumcision, but are usually not doctors. Some people choose to have doctors perform the operation, but it's all a matter of choice. This usually takes place eight days after the baby is born. During the ceremony, the babies are named. We have a Bat Mitzvah for boys, and a Bar Mitzvah for girls. The difference in the terms are just gender differences. This is done when a child is thirteen. They study for this for about three years. They learn Hebrew, and how to read from our Torah, which is our scriptures containing the first five books of Moses. It is a scroll handwritten on parchment paper. They are kept in The Ark on our altar. We read from The Torah everyFriday night or Saturday morning. You start at the beginning of the year, September or October, and end it at the end of the year, September or October. Then you start over again for the next year. The Jewish calendar is based on the Lunar year. After this ceremony, the child is believed old enough to participate fully in synagogue life and he pledges to live up to the highest ideals of his Jewish faith. NS: So, before you had your place on Coulter, you just met in homes? FK: No, we met at Temple Freda, then at the Hillel building, and for three years after we left the Hillel Building we met at the College Staiton Community Center and then at the Unitarian Church. We had our religious school in South Knoll School. In Judaism, in addition to our Sabbath we celebrate holy days, historic holidays and festivals. Our Passover in March or April is a historical holiday. Jesus was attending a "Sedar" which was the beginning of Passover. At that time, we go through the story recalling when the Jews were slaves in Egypt and later freed. We always have a lot of historical symbolism with our holidays. We have Hanukah in December...sometimes in November. It's a holiday commemorating religious freedom. In the fall, we celebrate a holy day known as the new year called "Rosh Hashanah ". Ten days later is the Day of Atonement. Ten days later we have a holiday called "Succot ", celebrating the harvest. We build booths which are wooden canopy structures. We decorate them with branches and fruit, and we eat outside in the booth for eight days. And then we have a holiday called "Simchat Torah ". This holiday celebrates the day our Torah was first given to us. We have another holiday called "Tu Bishvat ", which celebrates planting trees. These holidays are being thankful for all of the things that God has provided for us. Much of our religion is home and family oriented. NS: Mr. Cooner, when you were growing up here, as a young boy, where did you all go to church? MC: Rock Prairie Baptist Church. NS: Rock Prairie? Where was that? MC: It's on Rock Prairie Rd...the old church is still standin' there. They built a new church. The old church has a historical marker at the present time. LC: It's below the overpass of Rock Prairie Rd...go one half of a mile down on the left. NS: Did you all have a regular pastor? Or did he just come? LC: We didn't have a regular pastor. He came from Grimes County. MC: He came only half the time...every other Sunday. But he finally went full time. NS: Was it a small congregation, then? MC: I don't know. I'd imagine the resident members was about a hundred or so. I don't know. NS: Did you ever go to a Brush Arbor meeting? MC: Yes. NS: Did you? Tell us about that a little bit. MC: Not at Rock Prairie, but at Wellborn. We built a Brush Arbor and had a meeting in it up at the old schoolhouse. We had a lot of people converted during the revival. And, then we had another one similar to it, in a tent. NS: Was that before you had a church in Wellborn? MC: No. There was a church. It was about in the 1940's. NS: Well, how many churches were in Wellborn? MC: At one time, the Methodists had an active church there, but it's been inactive for years. Everybody would go to the Methodist Church one Sunday, and the Baptist Church the next. That way we always had a big congregation. NS: Oh really? LC: That's the way it was. NS: Did your church always have the same name? Or did you ever change names? MC: Ever since I know...it's always been Wellborn Baptist Church. NS: Did you always have an inside bathroom? Or did you have to go outside? LC: We had an outside privy. MC: We went outside until 1958. That's the first time we had an inside bathroom. NS: Did you have a woodshed, too? LC: I think they had the wood stacked outside the building. NS: Well, how did you all get your money to build the first church? LC: You mean the one in 1910 -1911? They saved their money. They paid up front $726.50 for the new church. And then the two deacons that were appointed went to Howell Lumber Company to get a mechanic lean on the balance of the cost. They paid eight percent interest and paid it off by 1912, in full. NS: You all got your money through the community too, didn't you? FK: Yes...with community donations of money, as well as material. Everything was contributed. The Hillel Foundation was built with donations from all over the state of Texas. A sum of $75,000 was donated by a family in Dallas. Their names are on the building, and their pictures are hanging inside. Our present Temple was funded by pledges from the congregation. We also had a loan. We have a building fund, and every member has to contribute to it once a year. NS: What were your nursery facilities like? Did you have a nursery, or did people just carry their babies to church with `em? LC: In the early church, we did not have a nursery. The families took their children to the church service. The majority of them were disciplined. NS: Uh -huh. Yeah. LC: If they had to be carried out of church, they were usually punished. NS: Okay. LC: They learned that they had to be quiet...but, now, the nursery...they stay in the nursery now until age five. MC: I think they started the nursery and they use the educational building. LC: I think they stay in the nursery until five, then they hafta go to main church. NS: Do you all carry all of your children to church, Mrs. Klein? FK: Friday night services, usually very young children don't come to services. Parents will get a baby sitter. We have had a sitter for young children, but usually there aren't enough children there worth paying for it. So usually parents will leave their children at home, or have a sitter. Sometimes some of our teenagers stay with them; particularly on our Holy days. We try to get somebody who's not Jewish, so the Jewish people can attend the services. NS: What about church choir? Did you all have a church choir in the early days? LC: Probably in the 1940's we had our first church choir, and, we have one now. MC: We didn't have a church choir...until we built the second church in 1958. I don't know, but I know they had an organized choir, though in 1958. NS: Do you remember people makin' pallets for your kids in church? LC: Yes, at Rock Prairie Church, when we went there. MC: Oh, yes. I've seen children sleep on the pallets. The little ones especially and the small ones. NS: I can remember a pallet for me when I was growin' up. (laugh) MC: I remember a lot of times on pews...if they had a baby they'd just lay it there on the pew, close to its mother. LC: Yes. NS: Now you all don't have Sunday School, do you? FK: We have religious school on Sunday. Technically its supposed to be on Saturday. When I was a child, I went to what was called Sabbath School. I hated it! I was born and grew up in a small town. There were only five of us in our whole class. The whole Sabbath School was, I think, only twenty or thirty children. There were 75 members of the congregation then. I hated going on Saturday, because there was nobody my age that was Jewish that lived around me. So all the kids would be home playing with each other on Saturday, and on Sunday, they'd be in Sunday School...and there I was at home. So they finally changed it from Saturday to Sunday. And now, I think most of the Reform Temples have religious school on Sunday, and some even have classes during the week. You mentioned choir....most of the larger Reform Temples have choirs. NS: Oh really? FK: We have what's called a Cantor. A Cantor goes to the same seminary as the Rabbis do, and the first year or two is the same, and then the last three years, they are trained as Cantors. We have, of course, never had a Cantor. We tried to form a choir several times, but it seems like we can never get enough people to do it. We have no organ or piano. All the music is done without accompaniment. Most of the music during the service is done in Hebrew, because our services are in Hebrew and English. You read the Hebrew, if you know it. I don't happen to know Hebrew. It's translated into English, so we can either read it aloud, or to ourself. There are a lot of Hebrew prayers that are sung. So, we always hope that the Rabbi we get can lead us with the singing. We do have a person who is part of our congregation now, who is very interested in music. NS: Did you all ever have singing conventions in your churches? MC: I've been to singing conventions in Baptist churches. NS: Oh, I have too. MC: I don't remember us having one at Welborn. We used to have singing get togethers once a month. LC: They used to have a singing a Rock Prairie, too. MC: It was on Saturday night or Friday night. I don't remember which. I've been to them in Baptist churches. Sure have...my daddy loved singing. NS: My mother did. MC: Yes, mine too. She didn't play at any of the singing conventions, but she did at Rock Prairie Baptist Church sometimes. Anyway, my daddy wouldn't miss one if it was in traveling distance between there and back home, and didn't take all day...cause he had to go to work on Monday morning. But, I enjoyed them too. I really enjoy music. I sure do. Our church has never had anything except a piano...until, I guess, twenty -four years ago when we got an organ. Didn't we? LC: In 1973. MC: We don't have an organist right now, and I sure miss it! But we do have a flute and a bass guitar, and some other guitar. And we have a pianist. We're still missing an organist, though. NS: Do you have a steeple on your church? LC: Yes. MC: Yes, we do. We have one. It's a metal. I think it's supposed to be shined ever so often, but it don't ever happen...I don't think. It's made out of copper. It's supposed to be shined, I'm sure. NS: Do you have bells in it? MC: We did in the old church. But it wasn't in the church. It was outside. NS: Oh. Okay. MC: They rung it for services. That bell was given to us by a big cotton farmer. LC: He loaned it. MC: He had several families. They rung it at noon. NS: Can you tell us about your pews? MC: Our pews were donated. LC: Yes, and each pew had a nameplate on the end. MC: I think it would say something like in memory of a loved one. NS: Did the early church have a wood heater? LC: Oh yes. We did. NS: What about ceiling fans? Did your church have them? LC: Those didn't get put up until later. NS: Did you have the hand fans from the funeral homes? MC: Yes. They were advertisements NS: Did you all have stained glass windows? LC: No. NS: Is there a cemetery in the churchyard? LC: No, in the community. NS: Where do you all bury those who have passed away? FK: We have a Jewish Cemetary in the Bryan City Cemetary in Bryan. The outside is surrounded with a wrought iron fence and we have 2 sections, the older one is named the Jewish Cemetary and the newer one, dedicated in 1957 after the first one was filled, is called Temple Freda Cemetary. NS: So, how do ya'll pay the pastor? MC: Let me tell you, when I was a kid...we had a collection during the service. Ten percent went back to help out the church, which would amount to five to ten dollars. During cotton time...about forty to fifty dollars. NS: There was a lot of money back then. How did you get to church? MC: The Pastor took Highway 30 through Bird Pond Rd. to Rock Prarie Baptist Church, and hope it don't rain on those old dirt country roads! NS: About how old were the pastors? MC: We had the hell, fire, and brimstone preachers. NS: I grew up with that. MC: We used the stocktanks to baptize. NS: How about church socials? LC: Oh. We'd have dinner on the grounds on Sunday afternoons after services. MC: I remember parties. NS: What would you do? MC: We'd set up tables and gather up groups to play card games and dominoes. LC: We had musical games sometimes. MC: Yes. We sang a lot and played the piano. My daddy would lead the church in singing. I remember one was called "Red Wings. NS: Me too. MC: There were several others I can't recall the names of right now. LC: We'd have parties at different people's houses, but we wouldn't dare dance! NS: Oh no! Not in the Baptist Church. (laugh) Can you talk about the revivals growing up? MC: We had one every summer. LC: They usually lasted all week. MC: The best one... LC: In 1958. MC: Twenty -seven people accepted the Lord. MC: We had a big baptism in the church baptistry. LC: I remember Ray Head witnessing to a group of grown men while they were fishing. NS: What year did you get your baptistery? LC: Had it since 1958. NS: Mrs. Klein, did you all have a rabbi when you met at the YMCA on campus? FK: We had visiting rabbis come from all over to Texas. They were employed by congregations in other cities. They would give a program there, but did not come on our Sabbath or holidays to conduct services. We did not have a Rabbi other than the visiting ones. It seems like all the cities in Texas have a good r elationship with College Station and Texas A &M. NS: Talk about the effects of WWII on your church. MC: In a short time, a lot of young men left. NS: Oh yeah. MC: We lost some prominent people and young boys. It was a time of mourning...but it was also a time of rejoicing all the ones still alive. It's a different world, now. NS: It is that. MC: I remember folks hitch hiking, Aggies. NS: Where was the place to hitch hike? Was there one? LC: Eastgate, College Station, Texas. MC: Mostly train depots. They would stand around with wagons, suit cases, and trunks. NS: It's changed, hasn't it? Thank you. You were a good group. END OF TAPE A HISTORY OF WELLBORN BAPTIST CHURCH 1890 - Present The Wellborn Community Wellborn, Texas is located seven miles south of College Station on farm to market road 2154 (originally old Hwy. 6) The best we can decipher is that the community of Wellborn was was founded in 1867 as a railroad construction camp of the H &TC. Wellborn is located in the A.M. McMahon grant and its name was derived from a well at the railroad construction camp, a foreman named E.W. Wellborn and W.W. Wilburn who owned the land in the area before the Civil War. Wellborn grew but was never incorporated as a town or city. The son's of Adam Royder of Rock Prairie were early founders of Wellborn and some of the Royder clan live in Wellborn to this day. By 1990 the community had a community center, a post - office, Wellborn Water Utilities, two grocery store /gas stations, Wellborn Baptist Church, a Masonic Lodge, and a Justice of the Peace Office and curently has other assorted businesses as well. The History of Wellborn Baptist Church (As We Know it) On February 28, 1890, one acre of land was purchased for a church site for Wellborn Baptist Church. A. Hill and his wife Anna Hill conveyed the acre of the land to the trustees of Wellborn Baptist Church. The trustees were: J.M. Atkins, P.L. Barron and George F. Lee. The Trustees paid $40 for the land in the McMahon, Stephen subdivision. (See the Benjamin Graham Map, Vol. 12, page 394 in the deed records in Brazos County). The land conveyed to Wellborn Baptist Church Trustees, is a true copy, found in the Deed of Records in Vol. 11, page 172, 173 in the Brazos County Courthouse. We have no dates when or how soon the first Wellborn Baptist Church was built after the land was purchased in 1890. At this time in history there were quite a number of stores in Wellborn. The community grew very quickly. Wellborn had a cotton gin, jail, stores, and a lumber yard which was operated by Joseph Barrow and his father Thomas Barrow. Joseph Barrow was H &TC station master. In April of 1896 Joseph Barrow was killed by a shot fired through the station window. A few months later his parents, his widow and four children narrowly escaped from their burning home in the middle of the midsummer night. Mrs. Thomas Barrow, however, inhaled a considerable amount of smoke and died of pneumonia. The Barrow family had contributed to the erection of the Wellborn Baptist Church. Mrs. Joseph Barrow had been the organist of the church. The first Wellborn Baptist Church building was destroyed by fire in 1896; the same year the Joseph Barrow home was destroyed by fire. The Barrow family moved to Bryan, abandoning the lumber yard business. It was reported that Thomas Barrow died a year later of a broken heart. The murder of Joseph Barrow, the burning of Thomas Barrows home with his family in it and the burning of the Wellborn Baptist Church were never solved. In 1910 we have recorded the official organizing (or reorganizinjof The Wellborn Baptist Church by Isiah Watson. The people of Wellborn were hard working people and immediately began saving their money to rebuild a church building. In a called business meeting on August 18, 1911 Isiah Watson was chosen as moderator. W.E. Graham as church clerk pro -tem. The Building Committee was called upon to report how much money had been collected and how much money had been subscribed for erecting a new Baptist Church in Wellborn, Texas. It was moved by George F. Lee second by W.E. Graham that the Wellborn Baptist Church authorized two of its deacons, Bro. George Gilbert and Bro. Enoch Holland to contract with Howell Lumber Co. of Bryan, Texas for material to erect a Baptist Church at Wellborn. This was done by order of the conference. The deacons appointed to negotiate with Howell Lumber Co. contracted building materials for $726.50 cash in advance. The balance of the cost was made in a promissory note at 8% interest with the total to be paid October 1, 1912. Howell Lumber Co. took a mechanics lien on the one acre of church property. These proceedings were witnessed by G. W. Gilbert and Enoch Holland and was filed in the Deed of Records, 12/11/1911 signed by W.S. Higgs, BCC, page 161 & 162. Some of the charter members of the church were: Mae Wilson Williams, P.L. Barron, Dr. George F. Lee, Mrs. Bernice Goodyear Lee, Enoch Holland, George Gilbert, Isiah Watson, Mrs. J.J. Jones, J.M. Alkins, W.E. Graham, Herbert Knox, Benjamin Graham and many others totaling 80 charter members in all. In a written statement given February 23, 1958 Gladys Dowling tells us only two charter members were living as of that date: Mrs. Lee and Mrs. J.J. Jones. Others that were part of the fellowship were Laura Wade, Thomas Harvey Royder, Jeff Royder, John Royder. Rev. J.J. Pipkin preached the first sermon in the new church. Mrs. George F. Lee played the organ. Dinner was served at the church On April 29, 1918 additional land was purchased from B.J. Lloyd for the Wellborn Baptist Church. The land joined the one acre of land purchased February 28, 1890. Trustees at that time were J.M Atkins, P.L. Barron and Dr. George F. Lee. The church paid B.J. Lloyd $100.00 for the land. (Recorded in The Deed of Records in Brazos County, Vol. 49, p. 591. On February 5, 1922 Rev. Robert Koller of Waco, Texas came to our church and Sunday School was organized with 25 charter members. Mrs. George F. Lee was the Sunday School Superintendent and W.E. Graham assistant Superintendent. The Wellborn Baptist Church has always supported the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. In the 1930's the church sent gifts to an orphans home at Thanksgiving: -- September 28, 1931 the church sent 33 chicken hens - -In 1932, 33 chicken hens and 3 quilts - -In 1933, 30 chicken hens and 5 quilts valued at $25 Through the years the church had W.M.U., G.A.'s and R.A.'s. Some of the members that attended the church in the 1930's were: Beatty and Verna Ferguson Barron, Rosie German, Guy and Eulalior Neelley, Mae Foster Yager, Mary Frances Yager, Katie Robinson Hensarling, Miss Ruth Smith, Mr. & Mrs. C.E. Hudnall, Thomas Yager Jr., Martha Williams Bullock, Pearl Eden Arrington, Thomas Wade, Elaine Redman, Mrs John Koerth (Gladys German), Otha and Essie Williams, B.T. Yager, Curtis and Velma McCu11oCH Williams, J.H. Wade, Dorothy Wade, Thelston Williams, Louise Glenn, Wingate and Byrdie Chenault Cooner, Milton Williams, Mr. & Mrs. Wayne Cody. The church building was a big one room auditorium heated by a big wood heater in the winter and cooled by raising the church windows in the Spring and Summer. The members also used cardboard fans furnished by a Bryan business for advertising purposes. The church was lit with gasoline lamps until 1937 when the church was provided with electricity. There were no Sunday School rooms. Classes met in different places in the large church room. Later the church put in sliding cloth curtains hung on a cloths line to section off classes. The church had a faithful woman member who walked through pastures with her children to church (five miles one way) every Sunday. In the Winter they brought sack lunches and would stay warm by the big wood heater until the evening services. Church members would take turns carrying them home after the evening services. On May 20, 1945 ten people and Pastor Ed Smith went to Peach Creek to help organize a Sunday School called "The Wellborn Baptist Mission ". The organization was formed and set to work. The following were elected for officers and teachers: Mrs. H.L. Allen - Superintendent Mrs. L.S. Barker - Secretary Treasurer Mrs. Tom Barker - Teacher Junior Class - 6 enrolled Mrs. H.L. Allen - Teacher Primary Class - 8 enrolled Mrs. Crenshaw - Teacher Adults - 8 enrolled Mrs. Greer - Teacher Young People - 1 enrolled There were 10 visitors present from Wellborn and an offering of $7.63 plus $4.00 for song books was collected. Mi$S Francis Dowling contributed $5.00 for the mission. The church minutes show that the mission secretary- treasurer will handle all the funds. On July 22, 1945 Wellborn Baptist Church voted to extend its support to the Peach Creek Mission. Mr. and Mrs. Jim Barker were received for church membership by statement. Mr. and Mrs H.L. Allen came for baptism. The church approved Louis Barker for baptism and afterward into church fellowship. (The baptizing in those days was done in stock tanks and rivers because the church did not have a baptistery) In 1945 a propane gas system was installed in the church building for heating. Some of the members in the 1940's were: Hugh and Gladys Dowling, Mr. & Mrs. L.F. Blair, Lucille Haste Alexander, Mr. & Mrs. Jimmie Parsons, Mr. & Mrs. A.N. (Bob) Carroll, Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Nolan, Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Redman Jr., Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Neelley Jr., Mr. & Mrs. Guy Neelley, J.D. and Minnie Williams, Dan Williams, Milton Williams, Mr. & Mrs. Joe Norwood, Mary Jane Norwood Ryan, Mrs. Lorene Robinson Calvin, Clyde & Catherine Royder Ubernosky, Mack & Lurleen Cooner and J.O. and Nan Ingram Alexander as well as many others... In the year 1950 the church voted to give 10% of the total offerings to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. The church also purchased new pews for $2700. Church members paid for the pews by purchasing a pew in memory or honor of a loved one and the names were put on the pews and remain to this day. In the early years of the 1950's Jesse Fletcher was pastor and because of church growth and space was needed for more Sunday School an education facility was built on the north side of the church. A large Fellowship Hall, nursery room, kitchen, bathrooms and more Sunday School rooms. The space had air conditioning and heating installed when the building was built. The Church had a large church bell on a tall post in the church yard. The bell was rung fifteen minutes before church services to remind all members from the community of worship. In the year 1958 Ray Head was pastor and again because of growth in the church, it was voted by the church members to tear down the church building that was built in 1911- 1912 and build a new church building with a larger sanctuary, a pastors study, a library room, and more Sunday School spaces, a choir loft, central air conditioning and heating as well as an indoor baptistery. Members of the church and community people tore down the building, cleaned up the lumber and stacked the lumber that could be used in the new church building. They met under the trees in the church yard to accomplish this project. The church materials were furnished by Woodson Lumber Company. The new facility was finished and dedicated on November 23, 1958 in a dedication ceremony at 2:30 p.m.. Ray Head lead a revival meeting in early 1959 and 27 people (quite a few adults) accepted Christ and were baptized in the new baptistery. On October 5, 1964 a letter came from the Houston Baptist College asking for help. The church voted to send them $44.40 a year for ten years. During the 1970's the church recommended and supported James Parish and Larry Driggers as they attended Southwerstern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. They were students at Texas A &M and attended Wellborn Baptist at the time. They both felt called to special ministry and have gone on to missionary work in the home and foreign missions area. In 1972 Bill Ubernosky and his sister, Grace Ubernosky Holsomback gave the church an organ in loving memory of their parents Clyde and Catherine Royder Ubernosky who had recently passed away. In the 1970's the church bought a mobile home and place it near the church building for a parsonage. Later, it was sold because it was not satisfactory for that purpose. In the late 1970's the church bought some land, 10 acres from Mrs. R. Guy Neelley for $3,000 to build a brick house for a parsonage. This also did not prove out to be satisfactory. After that time the church voted to include in the budget a housing allowance for the pastor of the church. Between 1987 - 1990 the church was one of the first participants in the "Adopt A Highway" program. The church took a segment of Wellborn Road for a three year period. Church members volunteered on Saturdays to keep the highway clean of litter. On February 10, 1988 the church voted to help a new mission church named Southwood Baptist Chruch which would later be called Faith Baptist Church. Wellborn gave $1,000 initially and pledged $100 per month for one year. In 1989 the church members in a business meeting agreed to build a new fellowship hall/educational facility that would house a new nursery, three restrooms, a large kitchen and large fellowship hall that could be divided into six temporary classrooms. Brother Vaughn Manning, The Director of Missions for the Creath- Brazos Baptist Association came to our church in January of 1989 and directed us in using the Texas Baptist fund raising program "Giving to Grow" to raise the money for the new building. The church and its members and friends raised $98,000 in cash and pledges toward the purchase price of the new building. Much of the success of the financial campaign can be attributed to the work and management of J.O. Alexander who worked tirelessly with the finance committee. Marek Brothers construction Co. built the building at a cost of $140, 270.00. The construction and long term loan was taken from First City Bank in Bryan, Texas. The building was completed in March of 1990 and was dedicated at that time. The loan was paid off in full January 1, 1992 and the note was burned May 24, 1992. To aid in the financing the Church became incorporated on March 12, 1989. The Finance Committee for the building consisted of Matt Medlock, Roxanna Boyle, Rev. John Boyle, Florence Neelley, Mack Cooner, and Shirley Willingham. The Building Committee consisted of Evelyn Mediock, Ann Watson- Carnes, Robert Williams, Lurleen Cooner, Robert Beal and Tom Willingham with Clayton Hall as chairperson of the committee and construction foreman. On March 20, 1994 the church voted in a business meeting to aid in paying the indebtedness of Highland Lakes Baptist Encampment. The church chose to pay the equivalent of the cost of one acre of land ($3600) over a three year period ($1200 per year) In August 1994 Mack and Lurleen Cooner gave land located next to Wellborn Grocery and joining the land the Masonic Lodge owns. The lot was a gift to the church to use for church parking, activities, or whatever the church needs the lot for. The transaction is recorded in the Deed of Records, Vol.2193, page 259 in the Brazos county Courthouse. In 1996 a new sound system was purchased for the church sanctuary from donated funds. In 1997 the church sanctuary was enlarged due to the need for more room for worship. The Pastor's Study and Church Library /Secretaries office were opened into the main sanctuary and thirty seats were added. The Churches first Youth Minister was called in 1996. Jason Cupak answered the call. Our pastor at this writing is Rev. John David Boyle. His wife is Roxanna Boyle and they have one daughter, Christine Boyle House. Brother John has been at Wellborn ten years. Our Music Director is Matt Medlock. He and his wife Evelyn, who plays the piano for our worship, have three sons Tony, Alex and James. Matt and Evelyn have been at Wellborn for fifteen years. At the time of this writing we have other faithful members that aid us in worship: Mark Briles on guitar, Jett McFall on bass guitar and Ginny Hobson on flute. Wellborn Baptist gives 13.5% to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention, 3% to Creath- Brazos Baptist Association, 1.5% to Baptist Student Ministries at Texas A &M and 1% to Save Our Streets Ministries. Other mission offerings are made yearly to the Lottie Moon Offering for foreign missions, Annie Armstrong and Mary Hill Davis mission offerings. Funds are provided from private donations for kids to go to camp every year and we also take up food collections for the Brazos Church Food Pantry. 1997 This historical document compiled by Lurleen Cooner, July,