This Week in Texas Methodist History January 8

Hereford Says Farewell to Rev. Thomas S. Barcus,  January, 1907

One of the most famous names in Texas Methodist history is that of “Barcus.”  Four sons of the Rev. Edward R.  and Mary Barcus answered the call to ministry.  All four once served in the Northwest Texas Conference.  The youngest Barcus was Thomas who was born in 1877.  

At the 1906 session of annual conference Bishop Hoss informed Barcus that he would not be reappointed to Hereford, but would be sent to the Mission work in Monterrey, Mexico.  

Hereford was little removed from a mission field itself in 1906.  The church had been founded in 1899 and boasted a new sanctuary which Bishop Hendrix had dedicated in 1902.  Hereford was the one of the new cities founded on the plains in the wake of railroad expansion.  By 1907 it was a prosperous county seat town.  

Barcus had made such a good impression that the Christian and Presbyterian churches suspended their Sunday evening services so their members could attend the farewell sermon.  The pastors of those churches even had kind valedictory words for Brother and Mrs. Barcus.  The farewell sermon text, Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed. . .”  was one of the favorite sermon texts of the 19^th and early 20^th century. 

The Hereford Brand reported the disappointment of the Methodists in losing such a fine young preacher.  Believing in the infinite wisdom of the bishop, and that perhaps there were wider fields of usefulness in the foreign field for Bro. Barcus, the stewards of the Methodist church very reluctantly accepted his resignation. 

The mission appointment did not last long.  The 1910 US Census reports Barcus living in Anson.  Other appointments included Clarendon, Dalhart, Beaumont Roberts Ave., and Weatherford.  In 1948 Rev. and Mrs. Barcus were tragically killed by asphyxiation in Fort Worth.   . .