Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church
Winnsboro, Wood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Led by Elder Jacob Ziegler and Deacon P. M. Gunstream, the five charter members of this congregation held their organizational meeting in 1881 under a nearby arbor. Legend holds that the church was given its name because there was little hope the church would survive more than a year. In spite of the skepticism, the fellowship began to grow steadily. Early members were received into the congregation following baptisms held in J. A. Stinson's mill pond. A portion of the land on which the church is located was donated in 1881 by J. D. Cox. Near the end of the nineteenth century, Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church purchased three additional acres. In later years other small tracts of land, including the site of an old schoolyard, were added to the church property. For more than one hundred years Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church has provided service and leadership to this area of Wood County. Soon after its own organization, the congregation helped establish the nearby East Point Missionary Baptist congregation. The growth of Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church reflects the ideals and religious dedication of its founders, while the historic congregation is a reminder of the area's rich heritage. (1983)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Five charter members gathered under a brush arbor in 1881 to organize this Wood County congregation, which by legend earned its name from doubts it would last even a year. Early converts were baptized in a neighbor's mill pond, land was donated by local settlers, and the fellowship not only survived but helped found a nearby sister congregation, serving the area for well over a century.
Why it matters
Small rural churches were the social and spiritual backbone of frontier East Texas communities, and this one's endurance mirrors the settlers who built it.
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Related people
- · Elder Jacob Ziegler
- · Deacon P.M. Gunstream
- · J.D. Cox
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Captain Henry Stout
Quitman, TX
Henry Stout arrived in Texas from Tennessee in 1818 and lived through nearly every chapter of its early history. He served in the Republic of Texas Army in 1836, captained a Texas Ranger company from 1839 to 1845, and later helped organize Wood County, becoming its first sheriff and a state legislator before serving as a Confederate officer. He is buried in a family cemetery beside this site.
East Point Missionary Baptist Church
Winnsboro, TX
When I. F. Taylor donated land for a church and school in 1878, the East Point settlement gained an anchor for community life. The Missionary Baptist congregation formed in 1893 with twelve charter members, worshipping in a schoolhouse and brush arbor until a sanctuary rose in 1909. Church and school shared the site until 1953, and the congregation still serves the area today.
Shady Grove Cemetery
Winnsboro, TX
One of the oldest burial grounds in Wood County, Shady Grove served the pioneer community of the same name, whose leading settler Reuben Elledge arrived around 1845 and helped organize the county as a commissioner and judge. In 1850 he donated land for a school and Methodist church, and an acre was later set aside for this cemetery, where young Bobby Scoggins—drowned in 1855—may be the earliest burial. Rock cairns, obelisks, Woodmen of the World stones, and graves of Civil War veterans mark the site of early settlement.
Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church
Mineola, TX
One of the oldest fellowships in Wood County, this church began in 1853 as the Holly Springs Baptist Church of Christ, meeting first in the home of pastor J. D. J. Davis with a tiny circle of charter members. Early worship moved from a log building to a chapel at Liberty Hill, now Pine Mills, and a new sanctuary went up here by 1860. The congregation, renamed Mt. Pisgah in 1865, counted many of the county's early leaders among its members.