This Week in Texas Methofist History May 28, 2022 Advocate Editor Slams Proposed Dallas Bull Fight, June 1, 1936 One of the most events of the 1930s in Texas was the celebration of the centennial of Texas Independence in 1936. Reminders of the celebration are all around us such as historical markers along the route of the Old San Antonio Road, plaques on historic structures and especiall the San Jacinto Monument and Buildings on the Fair Grounds in Dallas. Perhaps you did not know that the local architect for the San Jacinto Monument was Alfred Finn who was also the architect for St. Paul’s UMC in Houston. He was the architect for Jesse Jones, a member of St. Paul’s. He was also Secretary of Commerce and Director of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation. Although Houston got the San Jacinto Monument, Dallas got the big Centennial Prize---new buildings on the grounds of the State Fair Grounds. One of those buildings was a Hall of Religion paid for by the Lone Star Gas System. Part of the donation was an air conditioning system fueled by natural gas. The Hall of Religion featured an assembly hall with 200 seating capacity and a 70 foot tower. As the the Centennial prepared for its grand opening scheduled for June, 1936, the Southwestern Christian Advocate editor, A. J. Weeks, both praised the centennial and condemned the proposed bull fight----Yes, as hard as is for us to grasp, a bull fight was planned as part of the opening ceremonies. The proposal was for an exhibition in which the bull would not be killed—as was usual in French and Portunguese bull fights until the more widely-known Spanish bull fight in which the bull was killed. Weeks wanted no part of a bull fight—either Spanish or Portuguese---but not necessarily on the grounds of opposing animal cruelty.. No, Weeks objected because he did want the Texas Centennial Exposition contaminated with European diversions---We didn’t have a Texas tradition of bull fights, so he opposed it. Ironcially, there was a Texas custom involving animals that did have deep roots---that of horse racing. Weeks had led the fight to overturn the legislation that had legalized pari-mutuel betting on horse and dog racing.

This Week in Texas Methodist History May 22 Bishop Holt Dedicates Dallas Church, Announces Grueling Summer Travel Schedule, May 10941 Ivan Lee Holt was one of the bishops who served Texas Methodists in the mid 20th Century. Albea Godbold, Methodist historian, describes him as the most-travelled Methodist bishop of his era. He claimed to have visited 90 countries. He was born in Arkansas in 1886 . His father died in 1892 and his mother was determined to give Ivan and his younter brother a good education. That resulted in a move to Nashville so Ivan could enter Vanderbilt at age 15. He distinguished himself as a scholar and sought a graduate degree in Semetic languages at the University of Chicago. He had numerous academic offers, but felt his place was in the local church ministry until Edwin Mouzon enticed him to SMU as the founding chair of the theology department and university chaplain. He became a major figure in Dallas as a popular speaker at many clubs, churches, and associations. When he left to go back to the local church ministry in Missouri after only three years, fifty-six organizations combined to give him a farewll party. Holt served in Missouri until his election to the episcopacy in 1938. There had been no bishops elected by the MECS General Conference of 1934 because of economic conditions and only three in 1930 (Smith, Moore, and Kern). Everyone knew merger was on the horizon and the MECS elected 7 bishops in 1938 in anticipation of that event. Holt was elected on the first ballot. W. C. Martin was elected on a subsequent ballot. Holt came back to Dallas from Missouri in 1938, this time as bishop of the Dallas area which included the North Texas, Northwest Texas, Central Texas, and New Mexico Conferences. This was a vast geographic expanse, stretching from Red River County, Texaas to the New Mexico-Arizona state line. His penchant for travelling was powerful, and in the six years he was bishop in the Dallas area, he vowed to visit the parsonage of every one of the 750 churches in his episcopal area. He did so by asking the District Superintendent to drive him to all of the parsonages. Inn 1944 he was able to move back to Missouri as bishop and spent the rest of his career in St. Louis. The Southwestern Advocate for May 29 reported on Holt’s travel for the coming months, starting with a new church dedication in Dallas (Wesley), On June 1 he was to preach a commencement sermon in Macon, Georgia, and on June 2 another one at Texas Tech in Lubbock (one shudders at the flight arrangements to make that possible in 1941). By June 4 he would be addressing the Ecumenical Conference in Toronto, On June 9 he was to be in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, for another commencement address and June 11-13 back in Texas for Pastor’s School at Southwestern University in Georgetown. Sunday June 15 he would preach at First Methodist Fort Worth in support of Dr. Score’s fundraising campaign. Later than week he would be speaking at another pastor’s school at SMU. He would round out the month of June by going to Mexico on June 30 and then on to Central America. After spending July in Central America, in August he would go on to Peru and Bolvia. We have to agree with Godbold’s assertion---he was the certainly the most travelled bishop of his era.

This Week in Texas Methodist History May 15 Meethodist Church Sponsofrs Fund Raising for Orphan’s Home, May 17-20, 1870 The Methodist Church (MECS) in Houston sponored a fund raiser for the Bayland Orphange on four weeknights during the middle week of May, 1870. The speaker was Professor Westmoreland from Brenham who brought his apparatus, presumably magic lantern slides for the four nights. The orpahange began as the Confederate Orphan’s home in 1866 and was located near Morgan’s Point on Galveston Bay, near what later became the Goose Creek Oil Field. While researcing Robert and Eliza Alexander, I found they lived in the same census tract as the home, and the US Census of 1870 lists the names of the residents. Although the charter was nonsectarian, it received a great deal of its support from Methodists. The founding director, Henry Gillette, was well known in Houston where he operated a school as early as 1840, having come to Texas from Connecticut. His cousin was Ashbel Smith another distinguished citizen of the Republic of Texas. Like most orphanges of the era, the institution had acres of farmland upon which the residents were expected to work thereby providing for themselves and learning agricultural skills. After the regular packet service between Houston and Galveston was replaced by rail connections, the orphanage was moved to Houston. The name was changed to Bayland Orphan’s Home. In 1888 Mrs. Kezia Payne Depelchin was named Matron and the connection to Houston Methodism was reinforced as Mrs. Depelchin was a faithful member of Shearn Methodist Church for years. Tickets to the fundraiser were sold by Sunday School classes of the various churches, and there was a special prize for the class that sold the most tickets---a T. S. Arthur library. Few of you would know the name of T. S. Arthur, (1809-1885), but he was one of the best selling novelists of the era. The novels presented the evil of alcoholic beverages in great detail. The best know works were Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, and What I Saw There and After the Storm. He reached an even wider audience with his short stories which were publiced in periodicals such as Godey’s Lady’s Book.

This Weeik in Texas Methodist History May 8, 2022 San Marcos Methodists Announce Near Completion of Parsonage, May 1879 Most Methodists who do not serve on the Board of Trustees of a local church don’t think too much about parsonages. They are so much a part of our churches we on’t think about them. In the early years of Methodism, parsonages were very rare. That was something of an irony since John Wesley’s childhood and youth were spent in a rectory, the same thing as a parsonage. Circuit riders usually stayed with Methodist families on the circuits they served. They were mainly unmarried young men who lived out of their saddlebags. When a circuit rider married, it often meant that the preacher had to “locate” to provide a home for his family. Francis Asbury lamented about losing preachers “to the marriage bed.” His words carried the weight of personal experience. He never married andf never had a permanent home. After the Civil War, as Texas became much more urbanzed, the demand for parsonages increased, but the denomination did not mandate that churches supply a parsonage. In the MECS much of the effort of parsonage construction fell upon the women of the community. The Home Missionary Society actually changed it name to reflect the trend. It became the Home Missionary and Parsonage Society, thereby the reflecting the prevailing attitudes of the era of “separate spheres” for the sexes. When a station church did provide a parsonage, it was a big deal, so the construction of a parsonage in San Marcos was a newsworthy event in May 1879 when the local paper covered the event. Although parsonages became standard in the towns and cities, the situation in rural circuits was a patchwork. When my grandfather served the six point Keltys circuit in 1920, there was a parsonage, buty since he was unmarried; he was expected to rent one of the rooms and providfe the rent money to the church. Sometimes the parsonage was rented. Sometimes it was owned. As late as the 1920’s an unmarried preacher might stay in a hotel. Such was the case in Tomball where the preacher, a Rev. Vance, died in a hotel fire. When my father served the Dekalb Circuit in 1940, he spent every night in the home of a church member. Most Texas Methodists churches still have parsonages. Specifications for the quality of those parsonages are clearly outlined, but a trend to return to the days of not having parsonages is also strong. Some churches have gone to a housing allowance which may be used for rent or mortagage payments as the pastor sees fit.