Jerusalem Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Blacks in San Augustine worshiped together as early as 1845 when two slaves known as Sutton and Bartlett were granted licenses to preach in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They built a place of worship, referred to as the "Church on the Branch," on a lot thought to belong to local landholder George Teel. After the Civil War the fellowship declined invitations to join independent groups such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and remained part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. In 1866 the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, formed a separate conference for its black members, which was known as the Colored Methodist Episcopal (C. M. E.) Church. The San Augustine "Church on the Branch" joined the conference in 1870 under the pastorate of the Rev. Sam Horton but was not officially known as Jerusalem C. M. E. Church until 1946. The name Christian Methodist Episcopal Church was adopted in 1954. With its earliest history dating to the pre-Civil War era, Jerusalem memorial C. M. E. Church is considered one of the oldest black congregations in the state. For over a century it has played an important role in the growth of Methodism in San Augustine.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Black worshipers in San Augustine gathered as early as 1845, when two enslaved men, Sutton and Bartlett, were licensed to preach and built a "Church on the Branch." After the Civil War the fellowship stayed within the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, whose Black members were organized in 1866 into the Colored (later Christian) Methodist Episcopal Church; the San Augustine congregation joined in 1870. With roots reaching into slavery, it is considered one of the oldest Black congregations in Texas.
Why it matters
Its unbroken life from enslaved preachers to a freedpeople's denomination traces the emergence of independent Black churches, the central institutions of African American community after emancipation.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the 1840s, San Augustine was one of the oldest Anglo-American towns in Texas. It sat in the piney woods of the far east, close to the Louisiana line, on the old road settlers had followed into the region for generations. Cotton was the main crop, and like much of East Texas the local economy rested heavily on the labor of enslaved people. Texas had just passed from independent republic to American state, and slavery was written into its law.
Religion in that world was complicated. White Southern churches wanted enslaved people inside the faith, but they also wanted to control how that faith was taught. In 1844 the national Methodist Episcopal Church split over slavery, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was born. Black Methodists in the South often worshiped under its authority, sometimes in separate gatherings and always under close watch.
The Civil War and emancipation changed everything. In the years after 1865, freedpeople across the South left white-controlled congregations in large numbers. Some joined independent Black denominations from the North. Others formed new bodies of their own. The Reconstruction era was the time when the Black church became the strongest institution in African American life.
People & events
The story begins with two enslaved men known to history only as Sutton and Bartlett. In 1845 they were granted licenses to preach, which was a remarkable recognition in a slaveholding society. We know almost nothing else about them, and that silence is part of their story. Enslaved people's lives were rarely recorded in their own words. What survives is the fact that their community trusted them to carry the Gospel.
The worshipers built a meeting place that came to be called the Church on the Branch. It stood on a lot believed to belong to a local landholder, George Teel. The name suggests a spot near a creek, or branch as Southerners say. It was a modest place, but it was theirs to gather in at a time when gathering was itself a fragile freedom.
After the war, independent groups such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church invited the congregation to join them, and the fellowship said no. It stayed with the Southern Methodist tradition it had grown up in. When the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, created a separate body for its Black members, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, the San Augustine congregation joined in 1870 under the Rev. Sam Horton. The name Jerusalem C.M.E. came officially in 1946. In 1954 the denomination changed Colored to Christian, a quiet sign of a changing century.
Its place in the American story
Jerusalem Memorial traces one of the great movements in American history: the rise of independent Black churches. Before emancipation, enslaved Christians often built a hidden or semi-hidden religious life of their own. After freedom, that life came into the open and became the base on which whole communities were built. Schools, mutual-aid societies, political organizing and, later, civil rights work often began in church sanctuaries.
The congregation's choices also show that this movement took more than one path. Many freedpeople joined the AME Church or Black Baptist bodies. Others, like these San Augustine worshipers, chose to build a Black-led church out of the Southern Methodist tradition. The C.M.E. Church became one of the major Black Methodist denominations in the United States, and congregations like this one are its roots.
It is rare for a Black congregation to trace its history back before the Civil War, especially in Texas, where slavery lasted until news of emancipation arrived in 1865. That is why this church is considered one of the oldest Black congregations in the state. It is living evidence that faith communities survived slavery and outlasted it.
If you visit
San Augustine is a small, quiet town in deep East Texas, surrounded by pine forest and old farmland. Take your time here. The pleasure of this stop is in imagining layers of history in a place that looks, at first glance, like any other small-town church.
As you stand near the church, think about the Church on the Branch: a plain meeting place near running water, and two licensed preachers whose names are nearly all we have. If you are traveling with children, it is a good moment to talk about how people kept their faith and community alive when they had very little freedom.
Remember this is an active congregation and not a museum, so be respectful of services and private gatherings. San Augustine has several other historic sites and markers, and it pairs well with a slow drive through the East Texas piney woods and the old towns along the historic road toward Nacogdoches.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Rev. Sam Horton
Themes & tags
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