First United Methodist Church of Jasper
Jasper, Jasper County, Texas
Marker Inscription
During the late 1830s, the Rev. Moses Spear came to Texas and organized a Methodist circuit that included the town of Jasper. A congregation soon was established. In 1839, the Rev. Daniel Carl became first pastor. Jasper Methodists held worship services in private homes, in the County Courthouse, and in the Masonic Lodge building until 1859, when their first sanctuary was constructed. Men were allowed to enter the building from the front door, while women came in through the back entrance, and slaves climbed an outside staircase to enter their balcony. The women's Foreign Missionary Society, formed in 1882, began a fund-raising drive in 1903 that resulted in the erection of a new sanctuary. Completed in 1906, during the pastorate of the Rev. M. L. Lindsey, "the church the women built" served the congregation for twenty years. New facilities were added over the years as membership grew. Pastors who have served the First United Methodist Church of Jasper have included noted East Texas circuit rider Francis Wilson; James T. Irvine, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto; and E. L. Armstrong, who also taught school in Jasper County. Descendants of many of the early members still worship here.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Methodism reached Jasper in the late 1830s when circuit rider Moses Spear organized a congregation in the young Republic of Texas, with Daniel Carl as first pastor in 1839. Early worshipers gathered in homes, the courthouse, and the Masonic lodge until an 1859 sanctuary — where men, women, and enslaved people entered by separate doors — served the town. The women's missionary society funded "the church the women built," completed in 1906.
Why it matters
The congregation's story traces frontier circuit-riding faith, the segregated worship of the antebellum South, and the pivotal fundraising role of churchwomen across a century of Texas life.
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Related people
- · Moses Spear
- · Daniel Carl
Themes & tags
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