Perry United Methodist Church
Perry, Falls County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1872 west of Perry in home of Theodore Reusse (Rice) by a circuit rider, the Rev. F. Mumme. To 4 charter members, 11 others were added during 1872. This Victorian Gothic Revival building was erected 1884-85 of pine and cypress lumber bought in Houston and hauled here by oxwagons. It was dedicated Feb. 7, 1885. In 100 years, 37 pastors have served the congregation. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Methodist congregation was organized in 1872 in a settler's home by a circuit-riding preacher, one of the itinerant ministers who carried the faith across the Texas frontier. Its Victorian Gothic Revival sanctuary, built in 1884-85 of pine and cypress hauled from Houston by ox-wagon, was dedicated in 1885 and has served the community ever since. In its first century, thirty-seven pastors led the flock.
Why it matters
The church stands as a monument to the circuit-rider tradition and the frontier congregations that anchored rural Texas communities in the years after the Civil War.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Judge Albert G. and Harriet Elizabeth Grimes Perry
Falls County, TX
Albert G. Perry left an Alabama law practice for Texas in 1831, arriving during the tumultuous years before the Texas Revolution and marrying into the family of Jesse Grimes, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. He served as a frontier Ranger officer, sat on the Viesca Committee of Safety, and was a delegate to the Consultation of 1835 that set Texas on the road to independence. Later a county and district judge in Falls County, Perry lent his name to the railroad town that grew up nearby in 1883.
Indian Battlefield
Perry, TX
Near the pioneer home of George Morgan, settlers and Native fighters under Chief Jose Maria clashed on January 16, 1839, in a battle that ended in defeat for the colonists. The fight came during the Republic of Texas era, when settlement pressed hard against Indigenous lands. A treaty struck soon afterward brought a measure of peace to the region.
Site of the Home of George Morgan
Perry, TX
On the night of January 1, 1839, in the frontier settlement of the young Republic of Texas, Indians attacked the home of George Morgan that once stood nearby. The raid killed George Morgan, his wife, Mrs. Jackson Morgan, and Miss Adeline Marlin. The tragedy was one of many violent clashes along the exposed edge of settlement in Falls County.
Battle Cemetery and Community
Mart, TX
The Battle community grew up around 1880 on land tied to Nicholas W. Battle, and by the 1890s it had a school, post office, businesses, homes, and churches. A cemetery was laid out on ground acquired from the McLennan family, its earliest documented grave dating to 1888. After the International and Great Northern Railroad bypassed the town around 1901, Battle went into decline, leaving the cemetery as a memorial to the pioneers who settled here.