This Week in Texas Methodist History July 25

Why Historians Depend upon Documents Instead of Memory, Old Preacher “Misremembers”, July 25,  1935

Historians and lay persons should both know that human memory is quite fallible and should always be double checked with documents. 

In July 1935 the Southwestern Christian Advocate published the memories of Rev. J. David Crockett, a retired preacher living in Stamford.  Crockett had been licensed to preach in 1879 at a camp meeting on Oak Branch in Ellis County.  His ministerial career brought him into contact with several old time preachers including Andrew Davis, Joseph Sneed, and James Porter Stevenson. 

Crockett read Macum Phelan’s History of Texas Methodism, and that volume prompted him to send some of his memories to the Advocate.  One of those memories was about James Porter Stevenson who died in 1885 in Breckenridge where Crockett was his pastor.

Stevenson’s career is well known in Texas Methodist history.  In 1833 he was appointed to Natchitoches, Louisiana, and was invited to cross the Sabine and preacher to immigrant families who had recently come from the United States.  That invitation eventually led to the establishment of McMahan’s Chapel, the oldest Methodist church in Texas in continuous existence.

According to Crockett, Stevenson was arrested since Protestantism was prohibited in Mexican Texas.  He was then brought before Santa Anna for disturbing the peace.  Santa Anna questioned his purpose in coming to Mexico, and Stevenson replied, “to get good men to become better and bad men to become good.”   Santa Anna then told him “Go in peace.  You will not be disturbed any more.”:

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You probably already know that Santa Anna was not anywhere close to East Texas in 1833—the story could not be true.  A. J. Weeks, the Advocate editor, knew that and printed a correction and disclaimer that there is no record of Stevenson ever being arrested.