This Week in Texas Methodist History December 18
Texas Conference Convenes fro Second Session, December 23,
1841`
The second session of the Texas Conference of the MEC met in
San Augustine on December 23, 1841, with Bishop Thomas A. Morris
presiding.
In spite of economic problems facing Texas and Texas Methodists, the preachers
were able to report significant accomplishments. The membership had grown by 917 members so
the rolls now showed 2795 members. The
conference college at Rutersville boasted an enrollment of between 70 and 80
students. Successful camp meetings were
conducted at Montgomery, Rutersville, and Waugh Camp Ground (then in Milam County,
now in Burleson County).
T. O. Summers had done great work in Houston, strengthening the small society of
Methodists in that city. J. P. Sneed was
able to report new organizations in Victoria,
Gonzales, Port Lavaca, and Seguin. John Haynie had established churches on the Upper Colorado on the Austin Circuit. The geographic footprint of Methodist had
expanded in Texas both northwest, southwest,
and along the Red River settlements.
The conference was strengthened by the addition of transfers
and admissions.
The transfers included John Clark, J. W. Whipple, and
Orceneth Fisher from Illinois,
all of whom were to play major roles in the Texas Conference. William Craig transferred from the
Mississippi Conference. The ordinands included Henderson Palmer,
Daniel Carl, Robert Crawford, John Haynie, and J. W. Whipple. .
The conference included three districts whose Presiding
Elders were among the most renowned in Texas Methodist history.
Robert Alexander was Presiding Elder of the Galveston
District which stretched all the way from Brazoria to Franklin
in Robertson County.
John Clark presided over the Rutersville District which included
Austin, Washington
County, all the way to Victoria and Matagorda.
Francis Wilson had the San Augustine District, basically Liberty, Crockett, and Jasper, all the way to Marshall. In addition to traveling his district
conducting quarterly conferences, he also devoted much time to the
establishment of a college in San Augustine.
One of the most consequential appointments was that of
Littleton Fowler as Agent of Rutersville College. The appointment freed him from the
day-to-day administration that had been his life’s work since the death of
Martin Ruter in May, 1838. Upon Ruter’s
death, he became head of the Texian Mission, and after the Mission
became part of the Mississippi Conference, Presiding Elder for most of East Texas. In
addition he had married, acquired a family, tried to start a farm, and worked
to obtain a college charter. The job as
Agent allowed a break in the hectic life he had been living. He used the opportunity to travel to Ohio and recruit preachers from the two Ohio Conferences
for Texas. Some of those transfers, especially DeVilbiss
and Thrall, were to cast giant shadows over Texas Methodism for decades.
At the conclusion of the conference Bishop Morris did not
return directly home. Instead he went on
a long, difficult winter tour of Texas. He went by Washington
on the Brazos to visit the grave of Martin
Ruter. He stopped at Rutersville to
preach to the college students. He then
went to Austin where his son, Thomas Asbury
Morris was in the process of vacating the office of Attorney General of the Republic of Texas.
The younger Morris had assumed the office when President Lamar appointed
Attorney General Webb as a special negotiator to Mexico. Morris finished out the term and did not stay
for the incoming administration of Sam Houston’s second term. Instead he
accompanied his father to Galveston
and then home.
