DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's what the official marker for the First Baptist Church of Keller has to say, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, there are founding stories, and then there are founding stories; and this one's got the particular kind of grit you only find when twenty people decide that where the rails go, so does the faith. The year was 1882.
Rail lines had just reached the area around Keller, and twenty former members of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church looked at each other and said, in so many words, we're not waiting on anybody. They called their new congregation the Keller Baptist Church, and they got to work.
No building to speak of at first, so they met where they could: a schoolhouse, then the Union Church Building, making do with what the town had on hand, the way Texans have always made do. Leading that early flock was the Reverend Elihu Newton, born in 1845, and the man would go on to live until 1925; long enough to see quite a bit of what he helped start. Alongside him stood the first Deacons: R.I.
McCain, William J. Prewett, and William Crawford. Three names worth saying out loud, because somebody remembered to write them down.
Then came 1886, and the Tarrant County Baptist Association was founded; and the First Baptist Church of Keller was there as a charter member, right from the beginning. Twenty people. A schoolhouse.
A stretch of new rail. Some things get built once and last. This church is one of them.
What the marker says
Founded in 1882 as the Keller Baptist Church, this church was started by twenty former members of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church soon after rail lines reached the area. Early meetings were held in a schoolhouse and then in the Union Church Building. The Rev. Elihu Newton (1845-1925) served as the first Pastor, with R.I. McCain, William J. Prewett and William Crawford as the first Deacons. A charter member of the Tarrant County Baptist Association founded in 1886, the First Baptist Church of Keller continues to faithfully serve God and this community. (1983)