Elder William Brittain and Rosanna Wright Brittain

The Baptist association Elder Brittain moderated in 1847 was the Sabine Association, organized in November 1843 at the old Union Church in Nacogdoches County by five churches from Harrison, Nacogdoches and Sabine counties. It was the first Baptist association in East Texas and held both missionary and anti-missionary congregations. In 1847 the missionary-leaning churches were excluded, and their members formed the Eastern Missionary Baptist Association that December. Free-will members were excluded in 1848. The Sabine Association voted to dissolve at its October 1849 session at Mount Olive Church in Cherokee County.

What the plaque says

Elder William Brittain and Rosanna Wright Brittain North Carolina native William Brittain (1774-1850) became a preacher in his home state at the age of 25. In 1802 he married Rosanna (Wright) (1784-1856), the daughter of revolutionary war veteran John Wright, III. Inspired by missionary possibilities in the frontier regions to the west, William and Rosanna Brittain left North Carolina in 1824. After living in Alabama and Arkansas, they migrated to the Republic of Texas in 1837 and constructed a log cabin at this site. One room of the structure served as a classroom and church sanctuary for the pioneer settlers of the Sabine River steamboat port of Hamilton, later known as East Hamilton. A pioneer leader of the Baptist faith in East Texas, Elder Brittain was instrumental in the formation of several Shelby County congregations, including the Hamilton church in 1846. Originally aligned with the predestinarian movement of Daniel Parker, he later joined missionary Baptists of the Sabine Association and served as moderator of the organization in 1847. East Hamilton declined with the end of steamboat traffic. All that remains is this cemetery, the site of the Brittains' early home and chapel. (1981)

Where it stands

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