CHAPTER 1BIRTH OF METHODISM IN CISCOby Lela Latch Lloyd |
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CHAPTER 1BIRTH OF METHODISM IN CISCOby Lela Latch Lloyd |
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One year older than the town of Cisco itself is Cisco's First Methodist Church. Born in a 10 x 12 log hut at Red Gap in 1880, Cisco's First Methodist Church celebrates its centennial in a three-storied, 90 x 75 edifice in Cisco on the same spot where the other Methodist churches have stood. Organized with four charter members, the membership now totals more than four hundred.
Rev. Lamb Trimble, a pioneer circuit rider, was traveling through the community of Red Gap, forerunner of Cisco, in the early part of 1880 in quest of anyone who might bear the name of Methodist. His search led to a one-room, dirt-floor log cabin owned by a sheep rancher and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. M. W. Mitchell. The Methodist Mitchells offered Rev. Trimble large hospitality in their small quarters. The dirt floor of the Mitchell home was made more comfortable by an overlay of grass, topped with a hand-made rug. They graciously shared their food and a tiny shed room with their minister guest as they told him of two neighbor Methodists, a Mr. and Mrs. Walton (first names not found).
The Walton's came to the Mitchell home and Cisco's First Methodist Church was organized, with M. W. Mitchell as first steward and Rev. Trimble, of the Eastland Circuit, as its first pastor. That historic meeting was in Red Gap in 1880.
Information for this early church comes from Mrs. George Langston's History of Eastland County, J. M. Williamson's History of First Methodist Church, in 1940, and from conference journals of the Methodist Churches in Texas.
In 1881, Red Gap became Cisco, at the junction of two railroads, the Texas & Pacific, and the Houston Texas Central running north and south, both railroads bypassed the settlement of Red Gap, one or two miles west of Cisco. When Cisco was chartered in 1881, all of the people of Red Gap moved to town, bringing their school, their churches, their post office, and their businesses.
The infant Methodist Church had six different pastors the first six years of its life. Evidently, they were strong men of God. Although they could preach only one scheduled sermon monthly to the foundling church, it grew from the Mitchell home meetings at first, to regular monthly meetings in the Red Gap Schoolhouse and then to a church building of its own three years later in the newly-born town of Cisco.
With the help of his three predecessors, the Revs. Lamb Trimble, W. L. Andrews, and Marion Mills, and a small but determined congregation, the Methodists built their first church in 1883 with Rev. John A. Wallace at the helm as pastor. In 1881 the land company which purchased the Railroad Right of Way, donated the present site at Broadway and Avenue H. That one location has had three Methodist churches built on it.
When Rev. Wallace and his flock built the first church in 1883, all labor, lumber and material were donated except windows, which cost $65 cash. Sam House and M. W. Mitchell were the moving spirits for this project. The new church faced east and was parallel to Broadway, now West Eighth Street. Its total cost was estimated to be six or seven hundred dollars, but that included the supplies that were donated. For six years the small church was adequate for the congregation, but by l889 it was bulging at the seams.
At the third quarterly conference in l889, a committee for enlargement of the church was appointed. Named for this task were M. V. Mitchell, D. L. Rogers, and C. H. Fee. Less than a year later, this committee reported to the Third Quarterly Conference in 1890 that the enlargements and improvements had been made. The capacity of the church was doubled, at a cost of $1,703.63. The total cost for the enlargement was paid in full, and it was a great day when Bishop Joseph Key dedicated Cisco's debt-free church, in the year of 1890.
Joy over their remodeled and enlarged church was of short duration. On April 28, 1983, a tornado hit Cisco, killing 23 people, injuring 93, destroying four-fifths of all buildings, including the Methodist and Baptist Churches. "Gone With The Wind" were the newly remodeled church, the new personage, and the homes of many of the congregation.
Stunned by the loss of their $1,200 parsonage, their church and some members, the remaining 330 Methodist rallied around their pastor, Rev. T. C. Ragsdale, and 22 days after the cyclone, appointed a committee to rebuild. The pioneer heroism and hardiness of the members of that first church were evident at the next quarterly conference, when they named a committee to rebuild a larger church and parsonage in the same place. On the building committee were D. L. Rogers, J. M. Williamson, M. V. Mitchell, H. G. Eppler, O.H. Lovelady, C. H. Fee, and J. T. Worthington.
That second church was built with the above-named men steering Cisco Methodists to a bigger church and a larger membership than they had ever known before. When the new church was finished, everyone was extremely proud of it, and doubly happy that the sanctuary and all the Sunday School Class rooms were lighted with electricity!
Born from a tornado, the second Methodist Church was used until 1919. An oil boom had come to Eastland County, and once more the church was too small for its congregation.
When the Fourth Quarterly Conference convened, on November 8, 1919, another building committee was appointed. Its members were: J. H. Garner, William Reagan, G. Fish, J. M. Williamson and George Winston.
The congregation met at the Cisco City Hall for worship during the construction of the new church. The committee ordered the old church torn down and salvaged, and began their work on a new more ornate and spacious building. It would be erected on the site of the two former Methodist churches, and its cost would exceed $1 00,000.
The congregation moved into the beautiful new church in early l920, with Rev. Lewis N. Stuckey holding the first service in the sanctuary with its exquisite stained-glass memorial windows.
In the middle and late twenties, Humble Town workers were moved away. That took some of our strongest supporting members. The oil bubble burst in the twenties. The depression came in the thirties. World War II in the forties. It was many years before we finished raising the remainder of the building indebtedness.
Pay it we did! It was a glorious day in the mid forties when Mrs. George Winston struck a match to burn that note and said, "From the depths of our hearts, let's all sing 'Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow'."
Since the roll of the founders was not alphabetized, it is assumed it is a chronological order of unions with the church as compiled by the J. M. Williamson Committee in 1940. This roster of the church members covered the span from 1880-1890.
Two members, George Boyd and Lela Latch Lloyd of the Historical Commission, have sought information concerning the direct descendants of these founders. Their information revealed that a few of the children and grandchildren are members of the First United Methodist Church at present.
The Mrs. Nancy Emily Donovan who was listed as the mother of Jonah Donovan is the great-grandmother of Robert and Richard Donovan, who are on the present day roll. Their lineage is easily traced via Jonah and Vivian Donovan.
Crigler Paschall is the son of Mr. and Mrs. M. D. Paschall, Sr. Mrs. M. D. Paschall, Sr., was a member of the church for more than fifty years, and she and Mr. Paschall were married in the First Methodist Church that was built on the present lot - the building that was destroyed by the tornado in 1893.
M. M. Parmer, of West Seventh Street, is the son of Will Parmer, who ranched west of Cisco near Dothan for many years. Another pioneer Methodist family who had sons and daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to unite with this church, was Mr. and Mrs. M. H. McCanlies. At various times, all of their eight sons and six daughters were members. The sons who united with the Cisco church were Jess, Hiram, S. H., Sump, Virgil, Ed and Hub. Their daughter members were Mmes. Gertie Fullerton, Essie Stone, Myrtle Lamb, Ola Bacon, Evelyn Mobley and Eulaia Huestis. All of the sons are deceased save Hub, who lives in California.
Two of the daughters, Mrs. Ola Bacon and Mrs. Lala Huestis, are still members of the Cisco Church. Two grandsons, Hub Harwell and Jim Bob McCanlies, are members of the Cisco church now.
Jim is the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. S. H. McCanlies. Hub and Sheila Harwell Walton are the son and daughter of the late Mrs. Evelyn Mobley and great-grandchildren of the M. H. McCanlieses. Sheila was once the church secretary. Jane Huestis Womack, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Smitty Huestis is also a granddaughter of the M. H. McCanlieses and was the church's youngest organist. She began playing for the choir when she was only a twelve-year-old sixth grader, who served for eight consecutive years, until she finished Cisco High School and Cisco Junior College. At that time she went away for further study.
It would require another history to trace the various services of the descendants of Mr. and Mrs. M. H. McCanlies to Cisco's Methodist Church.
If the church register were made according to uniting date, the bride and groom, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Wilson, were the third couple to join the church at Red Gap. All of their eight children have been members of the Cisco Church. Mr. Wilson sat on one end of the third pew on the east side of the church; Mrs. Wilson occupied the other, and their eight children filled the intervening space. Mr. Wilson's pockets always contained mints for the restless little ones. After their daughter Laura Faye was old enough to be a choir member, she wrote me a little note reading: "Papa used to bring mints to keep us quiet. Look at him! He still brings them and slips them in his own mouth when he gets tired!" Only Mrs. Laura Faye Duncan of Roscoe and Ernie Wilson of Knox City survive of the eight Wilson children.
In the beginning, Cisco was a part of the Abilene District and a member of the Northwest Texas Conference. The Rev. J. D. F. Williams, in the Texas Methodist of February 20, 1976, tells the story of the organization of the Central Texas Methodist Conference in 191 0 with Bishop James Adkins as the first bishop, and Rev. John W. Barcus as first secretary of the new annual conference. J. Sam Barcus was the first to serve as presiding elder of the newly-formed Cisco District. The new conference began with the following districts: Brownwood, Cisco, Cleburne, Corsicana, Dublin, Fort Worth, Gatesville, Georgetown, Hillsboro, Waco, Waxahachie and Weatherford. Eventually, the number of districts was lessened and Cisco was transferred to the Cleburne, the Weatherford, and then once more a Cisco District was formed. The late Floyd Johnson was the last District Superintendent of the Cisco District. Once again, the conference saw fit for additional consolidation, and Cisco became a part of the Brownwood District in 1974 and there it remains today.
In its one hundred years of existence, First Methodist Church of Cisco has been a member of two conferences and six districts, with Cisco being a district twice.
