DUANE
Get the App
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best by the story. Way out in Franklin County, in the town of Mount Vernon, there's a congregation with roots that go all the way back to October the fifth, 1849. That's the date Baptist missionary William M.
Pickett led the organizing of what would become the First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon. Now, the Mount Vernon Post Office had only been established a year before that, so this was still very new country, and these folks were already gathering to worship. They didn't have anything fancy.
Early services were held in a log building sitting about one half mile east of the Franklin County Courthouse. Just imagine that, settling into rough-hewn pews, the smell of pine sap and East Texas air, building something meant to last. And it did last.
The congregation went by the name New Liberty in those early years, which has a ring to it, doesn't it. Then in 1870, they adopted the name Mount Vernon Baptist Church, and that name carried forward. Over the years the church counted a number of outstanding members and pastors among its own.
One of those was the Reverend Joshua F. Johnson, a man who went on to serve as a member of the 1861 Secession Convention, held in Austin. That's the kind of detail that reminds you a congregation isn't just a building or even a name.
It's a gathering of people, and the people carry the story with them, wherever history leads.
What the marker says
Led by Baptist missionary William M. Pickett, this congregation was organized on Oct. 5, 1849, one year after the Mount Vernon Post Office was established. Early worship services were held in a log building located about one-half mile east of the Franklin County Courthouse. Originally known as New Liberty, the congregation adopted the name Mount Vernon Baptist Church in 1870. The church has had a number of outstanding members and pastors, including the Rev. Joshua F. Johnson, who later served as a member of the 1861 Secession Convention in Austin. (1984)