Perryville Methodist Church
Winnsboro, Wood County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This rural congregation was organized in 1879 by 38 charter members as the Marvin Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. The Reverend A. K. Hughes served as the first pastor. J. D. Hallonquist donated land to the church in 1887, and church buildings were erected here in 1887 and 1915. The church building became a focal point for the area and the site of many revival meetings, Sunday "singings" and community gatherings. Descendants of charter members continue a long history of service to the area of Perryville. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Thirty-eight charter members organized this rural East Texas congregation in 1879 as the Marvin Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church, with the Reverend A. K. Hughes as first pastor. A donation of land in 1887 gave it a permanent home, and church buildings rose in 1887 and again in 1915. For generations the church anchored the Perryville area as a place of revivals, Sunday singings, and community gatherings.
Why it matters
Congregations like this were the social glue of the rural post-Reconstruction South, where the country church doubled as the community's meeting hall, school of morals, and center of neighborly life.
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Related people
- · A. K. Hughes
- · J. D. Hallonquist
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Perryville Baptist Church
Winnsboro, TX
In June 1884 five Wood County neighbors gathered to organize the County Line Missionary Baptist Church, calling their first pastor a month later. For years they worshiped in the local schoolhouse until a church building was raised, and the congregation took the Perryville name in 1908, revised to Perryville Baptist Church in 1925. Descendants of the charter members remain active in the church today.
Soules Chapel Methodist Church
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Named for Bishop Joshua Soule of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, who toured East Texas in 1846, this congregation grew from settlers worshiping in a log cabin by the 1850s. The cemetery was already in use by 1856, and in 1871 local landowners deeded acreage to the church's trustees. The present sanctuary rose after a fire destroyed the earlier building in 1977.
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.
Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church
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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.