First United Methodist Church of Jasper

The circuit rider the plaque names, Francis Wilson, left papers at Stephen F. Austin State University. Its finding aid says he lived from 1790 to 1867 and rode circuits that included West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and Texas, based mainly in San Augustine and Newton counties from 1839. He and his wife, Elizabeth Kountz, had ten children. He estimated that he traveled 150,000 miles and preached more than 7,000 sermons. He and his sons ran a store at Belgrade and Sabine Pass until it went bankrupt in 1856.

What the plaque says

First United Methodist Church of Jasper During the late 1830s, the Rev. Moses Spear came to Texas and organized a Methodist circuit that included the town of Jasper. A congregation soon was established. In 1839, the Rev. Daniel Carl became first pastor. Jasper Methodists held worship services in private homes, in the County Courthouse, and in the Masonic Lodge building until 1859, when their first sanctuary was constructed. Men were allowed to enter the building from the front door, while women came in through the back entrance, and slaves climbed an outside staircase to enter their balcony. The women's Foreign Missionary Society, formed in 1882, began a fund-raising drive in 1903 that resulted in the erection of a new sanctuary. Completed in 1906, during the pastorate of the Rev. M. L. Lindsey, "the church the women built" served the congregation for twenty years. New facilities were added over the years as membership grew. Pastors who have served the First United Methodist Church of Jasper have included noted East Texas circuit rider Francis Wilson; James T. Irvine, a veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto; and E. L. Armstrong, who also taught school in Jasper County. Descendants of many of the early members still worship here. (1984)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Martin Dies, Jr. State Park — 13 mi
  A 705-acre state park on Steinhagen Reservoir at the meeting of the Neches and Angelina rivers, with about 14 miles of paddling trails through sloughs and more than 200 campsites.

More markers nearby

• Jasper County Courthouse — steps away
• Jasper County, C. S. A. — steps away
• Jasper "News-Boy" — steps away
• Jasper Public Schools — 0.4 mi