First Baptist Church of Canton
Canton, Van Zandt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First organized church in city. Founded under leadership of the Rev. J. B. McDaniel, first pastor, Sept. 21, 1871. Charter members: Francis M. and Sue L. Hobbs; Mary King; Montgomery W. and Nancy Knox; Melissa J. and Silphia McCarthy; Elizabeth, Francis, Robert, and Robert McClellen, Jr.; Allen W. and Martha Riley; Susan Wages; Martha Jane Willis. F. M. Hobbs was first clerk; W. M. Knox, D.L. Riley, W. N. Hale, early deacons. Sunday School was started 1885. A purchased school building at this site was first church; another was built 1906; present plant was completed in 1959. (1971)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded on September 21, 1871 under the Rev. J. B. McDaniel, the First Baptist Church of Canton was the town's first organized congregation, gathering a small band of charter families as its founding members. It began in a purchased school building, added a Sunday School in 1885, replaced its first home in 1906, and completed its present plant in 1959.
Why it matters
As Canton's earliest organized church, its story reflects how frontier-era congregations doubled as the schoolhouses and social anchors of newly settled East Texas towns.
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Related people
- · J. B. McDaniel
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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