Burial site of Rev. John McCullough

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the burial site of Reverend John McCullough, right here in Caldwell County. Now settle in, because this man covered some ground. John McCullough was born on April 3, 1805, in Pennsylvania.

He got himself educated at Princeton, which is no small thing, and then in New Jersey in 1835 he was ordained a missionary. That was the beginning of something that would take him a long, long way from where he started. By 1838 he had come to Texas.

And Texas, back then, was not exactly a comfortable posting. It was the Republic of Texas, newly independent, rough around the edges, and hungry for just about everything civilization could offer. McCullough showed up ready to provide some of it.

In 1839 he was elected chaplain of the House of Representatives for the Third Congress of the Republic of Texas. Think about that. The Republic had a Congress, and that Congress had a chaplain, and that chaplain was this Pennsylvania-born Princeton man who hadn't been in Texas quite a year.

In 1840 he founded the First Presbyterian Church in Galveston. Then in 1841 he moved to Columbia-on-the-Brazos. He wasn't the kind of man who stayed put, but he always left something standing when he left.

Now here is where the story gets a texture you can almost feel in your hands. In 1846, McCullough loaded his ministry into an ox-drawn Conestoga wagon. He called that wagon "Little Church in the Wilderness," and he drove it to San Antonio.

Once he arrived, he helped build what they called the "Old Adobe," the city's first Protestant church. A man who had preached from a moving wagon helped put down the first permanent Protestant roots in San Antonio. That is not nothing.

He wasn't finished founding things either. In 1849, he established the Galveston Seminary. Then in 1859 he moved to Burnet County.

And in 1869, he moved again, this time to Prairie Lea. The marker says he continued to preach and teach. Not slowed down, not winding down.

Continued. He died on January 7, 1870, and his burial site is right here. Born in Pennsylvania, educated at Princeton, ordained in New Jersey, and laid to rest in Caldwell County, Texas.

He moved churches by ox wagon and he never really stopped moving. The ground he's buried in is about as far from where he started as a man could get, and by every account he earned every mile of it.

What the marker says

(April 3, 1805 - January 7, 1870) Born in Pennsylvania; educated at Princeton; in New Jersey, 1835, ordained a missionary. In 1838 came to Texas. Elected chaplain, House of Representatives, Third Congress, Republic of Texas, 1839. Founded First Presbyterian Church, Galveston, 1840. Moved in 1841 to Columbia-on-the-Brazos. Driving an ox-drawn Conestoga wagon, "Little Church in the Wilderness," moved 1846 to San Antonio. Helped built "Old Adobe," city's first Protestant church. Founded Galveston Seminary in 1849. Moved to Burnet County in 1859, and to Prairie Lea, 1869. Continued to preach and teach. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967.