DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one behind the wheel. Way back in 1853, a missionary by the name of Reverend E.B. Crisman rode into Austin and formally organized the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
Now that congregation needed a place to gather, so they found themselves a frame building at the corner of 7th and Lavaca streets, and for nearly forty years that's where they worshipped. Then came 1892, and the members decided frame wasn't going to cut it anymore — they put up a stone structure in its place. Something built to last.
And for a while, it did. But here's where the story takes a turn. In 1906, a dispute broke out over a church merger.
Not a quiet little disagreement settled over coffee — this one went all the way to the Texas Supreme Court. And when the dust settled, the Cumberland members lost the decision. They had to move out and turn their own stone building over to the Presbyterian USA church.
Think about that for a moment. The building your people put up, the stones your congregation set in place — handed over. Eight years passed.
Eight years of a congregation without its home. Then, through the work of an elder named R.M. Castleman, the congregation was able to buy that building back.
Buy back what had been theirs. Around 1950, the members built a new sanctuary at this very location, and the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Austin just kept on going. In 2003, they celebrated their one hundred and fiftieth year.
From a frame building on 7th and Lavaca, to a courtroom in Austin, to a new sanctuary standing right here — that's a congregation that didn't quit.
What the marker says
In 1853, Missionary Rev. E.B. Crisman formally organized the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Austin. Members met in a frame building at 7th and Lavaca streets until 1892, when they replaced it with a stone structure. In 1906, a dispute over a church merger that led all the way to the Texas Supreme Court forced the Cumberland members to move and turn their building over to the Presbyterian USA church. Eight years later,through elder R.M. Castleman, the congregation was able to buy back its building. Around 1950, members built a new sanctuary at this location. The First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Austin celebrated its 150th year in 2003. (2005)