Westminster Presbyterian Church
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On May 16, 1853, the Rev. John Patton and about 20 Cumberland Presbyterians formed the first organized church in Corsicana. Other Presbyterians organized later: The First Church, U. S., in 1868; and an Associate Reformed Church (1895) that in 1908 joined the United Presbyterian church. The Cumberland congregation split, and a surviving group (1912) affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. All these congregations merged in 1949 in the Westminster Presbyterian Church. The Bethel Mexican group joined Westminster in 1968.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1853 the Rev. John Patton and about twenty Cumberland Presbyterians organized Corsicana's first church, in the years when the town was still a young frontier settlement. Over the following decades several distinct Presbyterian bodies took root, split, and realigned, until in 1949 they merged into Westminster Presbyterian Church. The Bethel Mexican congregation joined in 1968, adding another strand to the church's history.
Why it matters
The first organized church often anchored a frontier town's community life, and the tangled mergers here mirror the branching history of American Presbyterianism.
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Related people
- · John Patton
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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