DUANE
Duane's take
The way the marker at First Baptist Church of San Marcos tells it, here's the story as Duane sees it. Now, San Marcos had already seen two congregations take root before this one came along, so when the Reverend Milton Caperton — a missionary, mind you — rode into town and organized a new church on October the twenty-fifth, 1857, he was building something the city would carry into a third century of worship. That's not a small thing.
The charter members who signed on that founding day were a determined bunch. J. J.
Barbee, Mrs. Mary Barbee, Major and Mrs. William Barbee — the Barbees showed up in force.
Shadrack Dixon was there. Jonathon Ellison. A Mrs.
Hattax. And then there was Mrs. Claiborne Kyle, who, according to tradition, walked six miles to worship here.
Six miles. On foot. And she kept comin' back.
That detail right there tells you something about what this congregation meant to the people who built it. For years — years — they had no building of their own. They gathered in borrowed rooms, rented quarters, whatever space another soul was willing to share.
But in 1881, under the leadership of the Reverend Barnett Hatcher, the congregation finally raised its first building, their own four walls under their own roof. And that first resident pastor? That honor belongs to the Reverend H.
M. Burroughs, who took up the post in 1878. Once they got started on buildings, they didn't slow down.
A larger church went up in 1892. Another one in 1902. And then came 1909, which is where the story takes a turn — a destructive fire tore through, and the congregation had to improvise.
What'd they do? They converted a skating rink. A skating rink became the Baptist Tabernacle.
If you needed proof that this congregation could adapt, well, there it is. Meanwhile, the Reverend B. A.
Copass was serving as pastor from 1906 to 1914, and during that stretch he led the church to do something that still echoes today. In 1908, the church founded and opened San Marcos Baptist Academy — an institution, the marker notes, that is still prospering. Pioneer in church-related education is how the marker puts it, and the founding of that academy is exactly why.
The present church was completed in 1928 and has been enlarged several times since. And during its first century, First Baptist Church of San Marcos opened its doors to some of the most prominent voices in American public life. U.
S. Senator Joseph Weldon Bailey. William Jennings Bryan, presidential aspirant.
Evangelist George W. Truett. U.
S. Senator Morris Sheppard. Internationally known, popular orators, every one of them, standing in a church that started with a missionary, a handful of charter members, and a woman who thought six miles was a perfectly reasonable distance to walk for worship.
She wasn't wrong.
What the marker says
City's third oldest congregation. Pioneer in church-related education. Organized Oct. 25, 1857, by the Rev. Milton Caperton, a missionary. Charter members: J. J. Barbee, Mrs. Mary Barbee, Maj. and Mrs. William Barbee, Shadrack Dixon, Jonathon Ellison, Mrs. Hattax, Mrs. Claiborne Kyle (who, according to tradition, walked 6 miles to worship here). First resident pastor (1878) was the Rev. H. M. Burroughs. After meeting for years in borrowed or rented quarters, congregation erected first building of its own in 1881, under leadership of the Rev. Barnett Hatcher. Larger church buildings were erected in 1892 and 1902. Under its 1906-1914 pastor, the Rev. B. A. Copass, the church founded and opened (1908) San Marcos Baptist Academy-- an institution that is still prospering. After a destructive 1909 fire, a converted skating rink became the Baptist Tabernacle. Present church, completed in 1928, has been enlarged several times. During its first century, the congregation of First Baptist Church was host to programs featuring some internationally-known, popular orators, including U. S. Senator Joseph Weldon Bailey, presidential aspirant William Jennings Bryan, Evangelist George W. Truett, U. S. Senator Morris Sheppard, and others.