Clear Creek Baptist Church
Kempner, Lampasas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
According to oral tradition, this congregation was organized in 1872 as the Clear Creek Missionary Baptist Church by six families who resided in this area of east Lampasas County. The church petitioned for membership in the Leon River Baptist Association in 1876 and sent delegates to the associational meeting the following year. The Rev. Ambrose W. Elledge (d. 1884) served as first pastor and is buried in the nearby cemetery. In 1889 Joseph M. and Alice Carnes formally deeded land at this site to the church deacons, although a sanctuary had been here since the late 1870s. During the last few years of the 19th century, the congregation joined the newly formed Lampasas Baptist Association and grew to a membership of 66 under the leadership of The Rev. C. C. Greer. In 1912, a tornado and then a hailstorm caused damage to the sanctuary, but repairs sufficed to keep the building standing until the decision to rebuild was made in 1940. Over the years a brush arbor and later an open air tabernacle were used for revivals. Baptisms were held in the Lampasas River (5 mi. S) until 1975. The oldest legible tombstone in the nearby church cemetery is dated 1872.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Oral tradition holds that six families organized this Missionary Baptist congregation in east Lampasas County in 1872, worshipping in a sanctuary on this site by the late 1870s under the Rev. Ambrose Elledge. Storms battered the building in 1912, revivals filled brush arbors and open-air tabernacles, and members were baptized in the Lampasas River until 1975.
Why it matters
Congregations like Clear Creek were the social bedrock of frontier settlement, often outlasting the pioneer generation that founded them.
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Related people
- · Ambrose W. Elledge
- · C. C. Greer
Themes & tags
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