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.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Rev. Sam Horton
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
An Early Presbyterian Church in Texas
San Augustine, TX
Founded as the Bethel Presbyterian Church at the Goodlaw School House by the Reverend Hugh Wilson on June 2, 1838, this early Republic-era congregation drew together settler families of San Augustine. Its charter roll named more than two dozen members, including the enslaved couple Jack and Hanna Sharp, recorded among the founders.
William Garrett House
San Augustine, TX
William Garrett (1808–84) bought this San Augustine County land soon after coming to Texas in 1830 and in 1861 raised a two-story house from pine milled at his own nearby sawmill. Built by enslaved laborers, the home featured unusual free-standing columns and carved mantels over its six fireplaces, and it often sheltered travelers on the Old San Antonio Road. The property passed to the Parker family in 1904.
Inlow and Jeanette Mathews House
San Augustine, TX
Inlow and Jeanette Mathews came from Alabama to San Augustine County in 1849, bringing their family and enslaved workers to establish a prosperous plantation. A leading planter, Inlow also served as county commissioner, and the family built this frame house before the Civil War in a vernacular style touched by Greek Revival—its symmetrical form, gabled central porch, and transom-and-sidelight entry. The home has stayed in the family ever since.
Haley Bush Cemetery
San Augustine, TX
Haley Blount Bush, born into slavery in Shelby County in the 1860s, donated land in 1889 from her husband's grant to create this cemetery on the San Augustine county line. Among its 300-plus marked graves is Isom Biggers, a well-known African American Civil War veteran whose service was vouched for by neighbors also thought to rest here. The burial ground holds many people born into slavery and veterans of every war from the Civil War through Vietnam, cared for today by a cemetery association.