First United Methodist Church of Cameron
Cameron, Milam County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation began as part of the early Methodist missionary effort in Texas. A camp meeting was held in Milam County in 1841, four years after the first Methodist preachers came to Texas. By 1847, the Rev. Josiah Whipple had helped to organize this church. Until 1885 the Methodist congregation in Cameron was part of a preaching circuit. Early ministers included the Rev. Pleasant M. Yell and the Rev. John W. Devilbiss. By 1885, the church had grown so that it was given a full-time pastor, the Rev. J. E. Green. Four years earlier, in 1881, the congregation had constructed its first church building, during the pastorate of the Rev. J. H. Collard. Larger facilities were needed by the end of the nineteenth century, and a new brick sanctuary was completed in 1901. The current building was first used for services in 1923. Over the years, First United Methodist Church of Cameron has provided significant service and leadership to the community. The congregation has been host to the Texas Annual Conference of Methodist Churches and has produced several ministers from its membership. Today the church continues to reflect the ideals and traditions of its founders.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This congregation grew out of the first wave of Methodist missionary work in Texas, tracing its roots to an 1841 camp meeting in Milam County—just four years after the earliest Methodist preachers reached the young republic. For decades a circuit rider served Cameron until the church earned a full-time pastor in 1885, raising a succession of buildings that culminated in the sanctuary first used in 1923.
Why it matters
It marks how itinerant preaching and camp meetings carried organized religion across the Texas frontier, knitting scattered settlements into lasting communities.
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Related people
- · Rev. Josiah Whipple
- · Rev. John W. Devilbiss
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Milam County
Cameron, TX
Carved from Robertson's colony and the Mexican municipality of Viesca, this land was renamed Milam County in December 1835 to honor Benjamin Rush Milam, killed leading Texian forces at San Antonio. Once a sprawling district, it was whittled down as Burleson, Robertson, Williamson, Bell, McLennan, and Falls counties were cut from it. Cameron has served as the county seat since 1846.
First Baptist Church of Cameron
Cameron, TX
Founded in 1853 by itinerant preachers, First Baptist of Cameron grew alongside its Milam County town through the second half of the 19th century. In 1914 it extended membership to the community's Mexican-Americans and later helped establish the Mexican Baptist Church of Cameron in 1925. Its history reflects both frontier faith and the shifting social fabric of Central Texas.
Milam County Courthouse
Cameron, TX
The fourth building to serve as Milam County's seat of justice, this courthouse rose in 1891 with its cornerstone laid by the local Masonic lodge on Independence Day. Designed by Austin architect A.O. Watson, it once wore a fashionable Second Empire roof and a four-faced clock cupola, both lost when the Works Progress Administration remodeled the building in 1938. For more than a century it has stood at the center of county government in Cameron.
Ben Milam
Cameron, TX
Kentucky-born Benjamin Rush Milam fought in the War of 1812, traded with the Comanche, and became an empresario recruiting settlers to Mexican Texas before joining the fight for independence. In late 1835 he rallied hesitant Texian volunteers with the cry 'Who will follow Old Ben Milam into San Antonio?' and led the assault that took the town—though he was killed by a sniper on December 7 before it fell. The State of Texas raised this monument in 1936 for the independence centennial.