Mount Gilead Baptist Church
Keller, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The earliest religious meetings here began in the late 1840s as part of Lonesome Dove Baptist Church. The Mt. Gilead Congregation was chartered in 1850 under the direction of the Rev. John Allen Freeman (1821-1919) with 8 members, including 2 slaves. It was the first church started after the formation of Tarrant County in 1849. Early services were held in homes and in a log schoolhouse at this site on land owned by Daniel Barcroft (1812-81). Except for a time in the late 1870s and early 1880s when meetings were held elsewhere, the church has worshiped at this site. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Religious meetings began near this Tarrant County site in the late 1840s as an offshoot of Lonesome Dove Baptist Church, and in 1850 the Mt. Gilead congregation was chartered under Rev. John Allen Freeman with eight members — two of them enslaved. It was the first church founded after Tarrant County itself was organized in 1849, worshiping in homes and a log schoolhouse on Daniel Barcroft's land. Apart from a few years around 1880, it has met at this spot ever since.
Why it matters
That a frontier congregation's founding roll counted enslaved members among its first eight is a stark reminder of how deeply slavery was woven into the settlement of antebellum Texas.
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Related people
- · Rev. John Allen Freeman
- · Daniel Barcroft
Themes & tags
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