The Church of Christ in Rockwall
Rockwall, Rockwall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Before establishing an independent republic in 1836, Texas settlers were expected to support the Mexican state religion. As Mexico's rule waned, residents and new arrivals to Texas organized non-Catholic churches. Among them was "the church on horseback and wheels." a group of approximately 300 members traveling from Tennessee to Texas. Led by noted preacher and physician Mansil (Mansell) W. Matthews, the members were part of what became known as the American Restoration Movement, which launched the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Church of Christ. Matthews' traveling church crossed into Texas at the Jonesborough crossing of the Red River on January 17, 1836 and became what is believed to be the first Church of Christ congregation in Texas. Matthews and his family moved to Rockwall in 1853. They only stayed a few years but during that time helped establish a local Church of Christ. Beginning with the strong leadership of Matthews in 1853, Rockwall's Church of Christ congregation grew during the next century. Members built their first meeting place in 1880. In 1895, a disagreement began over the use of instrumental music in worship, and the congregation split. The progressive faction became part of the Disciples of Christ and the conservative group formed a new Church of Christ congregation. Their first meetinghouse was completed in 1910. A later rift led to the formation of Lakeside Church of Christ, but the two groups later reunited in name, number and purpose. Known today as Eastridge Church of Christ, the congregation maintains the traditions of Texas' early religious pioneers through service, worship and study. (2005)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before Texas won its independence in 1836, settlers were expected to uphold Mexico's Catholic state religion—so the arrival of a 300-member "church on horseback and wheels," led by preacher-physician Mansil Matthews, marked a turning point. Crossing the Red River in January 1836, the group is remembered as the first Church of Christ congregation in Texas. Matthews later helped plant a congregation in Rockwall in 1853, and through splits over instrumental music and later reunions, that church endures today as Eastridge Church of Christ.
Why it matters
The congregation carries the story of the American Restoration Movement into Texas and of the religious freedom that arrived hand in hand with the young republic.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Before 1836, Texas was part of Mexico, and settlers there were expected to support the Mexican state religion, Roman Catholicism. In practice many Anglo-American newcomers were Protestant, and as Mexican authority over Texas weakened, they began organizing their own congregations more openly.
In the same decades, a powerful religious movement was spreading across the American frontier. Often called the Restoration Movement, it aimed to set aside denominational creeds and restore what its followers saw as the simple pattern of the New Testament church. Leaders such as Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell are widely associated with it. It took root strongly in places like Tennessee and Kentucky, and went west with the people who moved there.
North Texas was still a thinly settled frontier in the 1850s. Rockwall became a county in the 1870s and is famously the smallest county in Texas by area. Churches were often among the first institutions to give these communities shape.
People & events
The central figure here is Mansil (also spelled Mansell) W. Matthews, a noted preacher and physician. He led a remarkable migration: about 300 members of a congregation who traveled together from Tennessee to Texas, a group remembered as "the church on horseback and wheels." They crossed into Texas at the Jonesborough crossing of the Red River on January 17, 1836, just weeks before Texas declared independence. They are believed to have formed the first Church of Christ congregation in Texas.
Years later, in 1853, Matthews and his family moved to Rockwall. They stayed only a few years, but in that time they helped found a local Church of Christ. The congregation grew over the next century and built its first meeting place in 1880.
Then came division. In 1895 a disagreement over instrumental music in worship split the church. The progressive side joined the Disciples of Christ; the conservative side formed a new Church of Christ, completing its first meetinghouse in 1910. A later rift produced Lakeside Church of Christ, but the two groups eventually reunited. Today the congregation is known as Eastridge Church of Christ.
Its place in the American story
The Rockwall congregation's story reflects a much larger American religious history. The Restoration Movement grew into some of the largest homegrown religious traditions in the United States, including the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the Churches of Christ.
The split over instrumental music was not a local quirk. The same disagreement divided congregations across the country in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and it helped define the separation between the Disciples and the Churches of Christ. Rockwall's experience is a local window into that national parting of ways.
The arrival of Matthews' traveling church on the eve of Texas independence also captures a broader shift. Newcomers brought their own religious traditions with them, and the end of an official state religion opened the way for the free and varied church life that came to define Texas and much of the American West.
If you visit
Today this story lives on in a working congregation, Eastridge Church of Christ. Treat the site as a place of worship: visitors are best off coming at a respectful moment and keeping in mind that services and activities may be underway.
As you stand at the marker, think about the journey behind it: hundreds of people moving together by horse and wagon from Tennessee, crossing the Red River in the middle of winter, carrying a whole church community with them. Rockwall's later history of building, splitting and reuniting is a very human story of faith, conviction and reconciliation.
Rockwall sits just east of Dallas near Lake Ray Hubbard, so this marker is an easy stop on a North Texas drive. It pairs well with other local history in a county whose small size hides a long story.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Mansil W. Matthews
Related events
- · American Restoration Movement
Themes & tags
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