DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passin' it along — here's the story of the First Christian Church of Fort Worth. Now, picture north Texas in 1855. Fort Worth was six years old, sittin' on the Trinity River, and by all accounts it was a riotous little hamlet — the marker's word, riotous, and I'll let that one speak for itself.
Into that hamlet rode the Reverend A.M. Dean. And here's the detail that'll stay with you: he came carrying a hymn book and a revolver.
Both of them, presumably, loaded. Reverend Dean held his first services in a log house that had been built for the post surgeon of the 2nd Dragoons, U.S. Army — the soldiers stationed at the fort that gave the city its name.
That log house stood at what is now the corner of Belknap and Houston streets. Not exactly a cathedral, but it was a start. The charter members who signed on with Dean read like the founding roll of the city itself: Mr. and Mrs.
James K. Allen, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin P.
Ayres, Mrs. Francis M. Durrett, Mrs.
Alfred D. Johnson, Mrs. Florence Peak, Mr. and Mrs.
William A. Sanderson, and a man named Stephen Terry. Nine families and souls planting something permanent in a place that wasn't sure it wanted to be permanent yet.
Their first regular meeting place was a one-story concrete house over at what is now Belknap and Lamar. And here's where it gets interesting — on weekdays, that same building served as the home of the first public school established in Fort Worth, run by Colonel John Peter Smith, who happened to be a member of the congregation. One building, doing double duty, for the soul and for the mind.
Reverend Dean was a frontier farmer — not a professional preacher in the polished sense — and when he moved on, the congregation kept finding leaders who defied easy categories. His successor was Dr. B.F.
Hall. A dentist. After Hall came Dr.
Mansell Mathews, who was a physician, a judge of Red River County, and the head of a large family that was grazing cattle in this area. The church that started with a revolver-toting reverend was now being shepherded by a dentist and a cattle-grazing judge. Fort Worth was that kind of place.
Then, after the Civil War, Confederate General R.M. Gano of Grapevine began preaching regularly at this church. A general in the pulpit.
The congregation had seen some things. And then, in the later 1860s, came the Reverend Joseph Clark, along with his sons Addison and Randolph. Now those two young men — raised in this church, on the edge of the frontier — would go on in 1873 to found Add-Ran College.
The marker calls it the forerunner of Texas Christian University. That's a thread worth pulling: TCU's roots trace back to a log house built for an Army surgeon, at a riotous hamlet on the Trinity, where a preacher walked in holding a hymn book in one hand and a revolver in the other. The First Christian Church of Fort Worth is the oldest church in the city.
And now you know how it earned that title — one unlikely pastor at a time.
What the marker says
City's pioneer congregation. Organized by the Rev. A.M. Dean, who with hymn book and revolver came in 1855 to the riotous six-year-old hamlet on the Trinity. He held services (at present Belknap and Houston streets) in a log house built for post surgeon, 2nd Dragoons, U.S. Army, stationed at fort that gave the city its name. Charter members were: Mr. and Mrs. James K. Allen, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin P. Ayres, Mrs. Francis M. Durrett, Mrs. Alfred D. Johnson, Mrs. Florence Peak, Mr. and Mrs. William A. Sanderson, and Stephen Terry. First regular meeting place, a one-story concrete house at present Belknap and Lamar, was used on weekdays by Col. John Peter Smith (member of congregation) for sessions of the first public school established in Fort Worth. Rev. Mr. Dean, a frontier farmer, was followed as pastor by Dr. B.F. Hall, a dentist, and by Dr. Mansell Mathews, physician and judge of Red River County, and head of a large family grazing cattle in this area. Confederate General R.M Gano of Grapevine after the Civil War preached regularly at this church. In later 1860s came the Rev. Joseph Clark and sons Addison and Randolph, who in 1873 founded Add-Ran College, forerunner of Texas Christian University. First Christian is the oldest church in Fort Worth. (1970)