First Presbyterian Church of Maysfield
Maysfield, Milam County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in August 1873 by the Rev. Levi Tenney (1823-1907), with nine members. One of two original ruling elders was early settler T. N. Mayes (1812-1891), donor of townsite of Maysfield, which was named for him. The congregation erected this building, its first, in 1883; it was dedicated in 1884 by Dr. S. A. King of Waco. The first resident pastor (1886) was the Rev. J. K. P. Newton (1843-1898). This church has furnished three ministers to Arkansas, Georgia, and Texas Presbyteries: The Rev. Henry M. Bailey, Dr. C. Edgar Newton, and the Rev. James W. Newton.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Rev. Levi Tenney organized this Presbyterian congregation in August 1873 with just nine members, among them early settler T. N. Mayes, who donated the townsite that took his name as Maysfield. The members raised this first building in 1883, dedicated it the following year, and welcomed their first resident pastor in 1886. Over the decades the small church sent three of its own into the ministry across several states.
Why it matters
The congregation shows how frontier churches and the settlers who founded them knit together new Texas communities in the years after the Civil War.
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Related people
- · Rev. Levi Tenney
- · T. N. Mayes
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Maysfield United Methodist Church
Maysfield, TX
Area Methodists were meeting as early as 1847, but this congregation was not formally organized until 1854, served by itinerant circuit-riding preachers who first gathered worshippers in a schoolhouse. A separate Maysfield circuit came in 1885, and a sanctuary was built in 1897 that stood until fire destroyed it in 1933. The congregation worshipped in the local Presbyterian church until 1952, when its present building was donated and moved in from Ben Arnold.
New Providence Primitive Baptist Church
Maysfield vicinity, TX
Constituted in 1866 with eight charter members just after the Civil War, New Providence Primitive Baptist Church first met in a Maysfield schoolhouse under its founding elders. Members received this property in 1899 and built a white frame sanctuary the same year, worshipping in it into the twenty-first century. The grounds still serve as a family gathering place, and the congregation continues to follow its founders' doctrines.
John Hobson
Cameron, TX
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, John Hobson came to Texas in 1835 and was received as a colonist in Sterling Robertson's colony, earning a league of land. When the Texas Revolution broke out he enlisted under Captain Jesse Billingsley and fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, then served on as a Texas Ranger. Rewarded with further land grants, he became one of Milam County's largest landowners, one of its first commissioners in 1846, and helped choose Cameron as the county seat.
Little River Baptist Church and Cemetery
Maysfield, TX
Organized in 1849 with just eight members meeting in local homes and a small log cabin, Little River Baptist Church grew quickly as settlers poured into Milam County—seventy people joined after a single three-day revival in 1855. Like churches across rural Texas, it was the heart of community social life, with prominent members seated in the front "Amen Pews" and separate sides for men and women. The present building, finished in 1873 with the local Masonic lodge and enlarged in 1909, still stands beside its early cemetery.