First Presbyterian Church
Lampasas, Lampasas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The First Presbyterian Church in Lampasas originated from Presbyterian missionaries in 1877. The congregation was officially organized on October 28, 1881, with seven members. On September 29, 1882, the First Presbyterian Church called its first pastor, Reverend John Giffen, and erected a worship building. Over the years, several pastors would serve the church and community, including Reverend E. C. Leeper who helped the congregation gain state recognition as a religious institution and guided their growth in 1907 and 1908. In 1915, Reverend J.M. Brooks oversaw the construction of a new sanctuary on Chestnut and Third Streets. A parsonage, fellowship hall and Sunday School building were added by 1954. The congregation became the beneficiary of the Ida and Pauline Senterfitt Estate, and with this support, a new sanctuary was built in 1959 to replace the 1916 building. The congregation grew and extended its missionary outreach around Texas, other states and foreign countries. This congregation has always supported missions of mercy and ministries that nurture the faith of the congregation, and has assisted in the development of new churches. The Centennial Celebration in 1981 included publishing the history of the church. The congregation continues to serve the community of Lampasas through ministry and outreach.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Growing out of Presbyterian mission work in 1877, this Lampasas congregation formally organized in 1881 with just seven members and called its first pastor the following year. Across the decades it built and rebuilt sanctuaries, gained state recognition, and, aided by the Senterfitt estate, erected a new sanctuary in 1959. The congregation marked its centennial in 1981 by publishing its own history.
Why it matters
Frontier churches were often a community's first enduring institution, and the century-long story of this congregation mirrors the growth of the town around it.
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Related people
- · Reverend John Giffen
- · Reverend E. C. Leeper
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Matt and Rebecca Smith House
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Matt Smith came to Burnet County as a boy and built a career on the Texas frontier as a deputy sheriff and deputy U.S. Marshal. After marrying Rebecca Wells in 1891, the couple moved to Lampasas in 1896, where they ran the Lampasas Hotel with its restaurant and saloon. Around 1902 they built this Queen Anne cottage, with the scrolled brackets and cross gables typical of the style.
Gunfight at the Lampasas Saloon
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In 1873, Lampasas was a raw frontier town where authority was thin and firearms were everywhere. When Governor Edmund J. Davis's Reconstruction-era State Police tried to enforce a ban on carrying sidearms, a confrontation inside Jerry Scott's saloon erupted into gunfire, leaving four state policemen dead. The killings drew in Texas's Minute Men companies and a manhunt for the Horrell brothers, who fled to New Mexico before returning to stand trial and win acquittal in 1876.
Horrell-Higgins Feud
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Four years after the saloon shootout, Lampasas County exploded into one of the most notorious blood feuds in Texas history. Beginning with cattleman Pink Higgins's 1877 killing of Merritt Horrell over accusations of rustling, the feud raged for six violent months of ambushes and street battles until the Texas Rangers forced a written truce. The reconciliation held on paper, but the feud's true end came in 1878 when a vigilante mob killed Tom and Mart Horrell in their jail cell.
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