Shiloh Primitive Baptist Church and School
Kirvin, Freestone County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Area slaves used a brush arbor for informal church services held by white minister Jeremiah Seely in the early 1850s. The congregation formally organized as Freedmen in 1866; Boney Moffett was elected first elder. Shiloh School, which was inspired by the church, began about 1867. Shiloh Church served as the "mother church" of the Zion Rest Primitive Baptist District Association. Prominent benefactor Minyard Harriss deeded two acres here to the church in 1891. The fourth sanctuary was built here in the 1920s. Shiloh School closed in 1949 but the church continues to serve the local community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the early 1850s, enslaved people in this part of Freestone County worshipped under a brush arbor at informal services. After emancipation the congregation formally organized as Freedmen in 1866, electing Boney Moffett their first elder, and a school inspired by the church followed about a year later. Shiloh became the "mother church" of a wider Primitive Baptist association and still serves its community today.
Why it matters
Shiloh embodies the way freedpeople across the South turned independent churches into the first institutions of Black self-governance, education, and community after slavery.
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Related people
- · Jeremiah Seely
- · Boney Moffett
- · Minyard Harriss
Themes & tags
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