A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church in Cherokee County. Now settle in, because this story starts way back before Texas was even a comfortable place to settle.

Circuit riding preachers were already working this community as early as 1845. Think about that. Men on horseback, covering ground, bringing Methodist faith to folks scattered across the East Texas pines.

No permanent home. No weekly schedule. Just the circuit, and the calling.

The first written records of this church come from 1852, when the Reverend Andrew Cummings, born in 1817 and gone by 1882, organized the fellowship as a station of the newly established Rusk circuit. It started as a Methodist society. Then in 1866 it became the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Alto.

Early on, the congregation didn't even have a building of their own. They held services in the schoolhouse. That's how it was done.

You made do with what the community had. Now, 1887 is where the story starts to get a little more interesting. A.

C. Harrison, born in 1841, and his wife Virginia, born in 1843, stepped up and donated land at the site of what is today the parsonage. That was the ground for the congregation's very first church building.

And here's a detail I enjoy: Mrs. Harrison's brother, a Dr. C.

W. Fisher, designed the one-room spired structure himself, and he didn't just draw it up on paper. He built a scale model of it.

A miniature church, right there in hand, before a single nail went into the real thing. The building eventually needed more room, and it was enlarged under the leadership of the Reverend J. W.

Johnson, who was named pastor in 1909. That was also the year Alto became a full-time station with weekly services. No more waiting on a circuit rider.

A new sanctuary went up on the present site in 1921. And then in 1935 it was dedicated, at a ceremony led by Bishop A. Frank Smith, born in 1889 and passed in 1962.

Now here is the part that makes you stop. That bishop who presided over the dedication of the sanctuary, the man whose name this congregation would eventually carry, he had begun his ministry right here, as interim pastor of this very church. In 1960 the present building was erected, and the congregation renamed itself to honor Bishop Smith.

A church that helped launch a man's ministry, and then, decades later, took his name. Some stories know how to come full circle.

What the marker says

Circuit riding preachers served the Methodists of this community as early as 1845. The first written records of this church date from 1852, when the Rev. Andrew Cummings (1817-1882) organized the fellowship as a station of the newly established Rusk circuit. Originally a Methodist society, it became in 1866 the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Alto. Early services were held in the schoolhouse. In 1887 A. C. Harrison (1841-1924) and his wife Virginia (1843-1912) donated land at the site of the present-day parsonage for the congregation's first church building. Dr. C. W. Fisher, Mrs. Harrison's brother, designed the one-room spired structure and built a scale model of it. The building was enlarged under the leadership of the Rev. J. W. Johnson, who was named pastor in 1909, when Alto became a full-time station with weekly services. A new sanctuary was built on the present site in 1921. It was dedicated in 1935 at a ceremony led by Bishop A. Frank Smith (1889-1962), who began his ministry as interim pastor of this church. In 1960 the present building was erected and the congregation renamed to honor Bishop Smith.