The Rev. William Stevenson

Stevenson's life ran well past Pecan Point. Born in South Carolina near Cherokee land, he converted to Methodism in 1800 and moved to Missouri in 1809 with his wife Jane and eight children. In 1815 he ran for the Missouri Territory's general assembly and lost to Stephen F. Austin. After a preaching tour in Arkansas in 1813-14, he served there as presiding elder from 1818 to 1825, apart from a couple of years of poor health. He died in 1857 in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, and lies in a family plot east of Homer.

What the plaque says

The Rev. William Stevenson (October 4, 1768 - March 5, 1857) Frontier minister; friend of Stephen F. Austin, father of Texas. A circuit rider in Missouri Conference, Methodist Church, Mr. Stevenson in 1815 made a pastoral trip to Pecan Point, home of Claiborne Wright, member of newly-arrived Anglo-American colony on Texas side of the Red River. Records indicate that his preaching to Wright and friends in 1815 constituted the first Protestant sermons ever given in Texas, then part of Catholic "New Spain." He thus established a beachhead for religious freedom in Texas at this point of entry. (1972)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lennox Woods Preserve — 10 mi
  A Nature Conservancy preserve of mature East Texas forest north of Clarksville, kept by the Lennox family for four generations, with a 1.5-mile loop under post oaks more than 300 years old.

More markers nearby

• Stagecoach Stand, C. S. A. — steps away
• Five Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Red River County — steps away
• Members of Confederate Congresses — steps away
• The Northern Standard — steps away