First Union Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm passing every word straight on to you. Now, if you want to talk about a church that came into this world already standing at the center of a storm — and I mean that both figuratively and literally — pull up a chair, because First Union Baptist Church in Galveston has a story worth the telling. It started in 1870.

The church was founded that year as the First Union Free Mission Baptist Church, and it didn't ease into existence quietly. A delegation representing the American Baptist Free Mission Society of Boston — an interracial antislavery group — came down to Texas and planted this thing right in the middle of some fierce territory. First Union was the first church organized by that society in the entire state of Texas.

And why did any of that matter? Because the air down here was already thick with competition. There was an intense rivalry going on — the newly arrived Northern Free Mission Society on one side, the established Southern-based Missionary Baptists on the other — and both were working hard to recruit former slaves in Texas.

First Union didn't just land in that rivalry. Its founding resulted from it. And then it turned around and kept right on stoking it.

But this church wasn't content to simply exist. Almost immediately, First Union launched an ambitious missionary effort that produced results you can count. By 1871, just one year in, they had helped establish the Texas Free Mission Eastern District Baptist Association.

By 1873, a Western District Association. And all across the region, Free Mission churches were taking root. Then in 1882, those two districts — East and West — united to form the American Baptist Convention of Texas.

One church. Twelve years. A convention.

Now, a story like that needs a steady hand guiding it, and First Union found theirs in the Reverend Benjamin J. Hall. He became pastor in 1878, and with only a four-year gap from 1892 to 1896, he stayed in that role until his death in 1914.

That is a long tenure, and he filled every year of it. He earned praise for his leadership. He worked to rebuild the church sanctuary after its destruction in the storm of 1900 — and if you know anything about Galveston, you know exactly what storm that was and what it did.

He also worked to strengthen the congregation's role as mother church of its Texas state convention. The church carried on. And in 1955, a new brick sanctuary was erected on this very site.

So here stands First Union — born out of rivalry, built by mission, battered by one of the deadliest storms ever to hit this country, rebuilt by the hands of its pastor and its people, and still here. Some institutions just refuse to be finished.

What the marker says

This church was founded in 1870 as the First Union Free Mission Baptist Church by a delegation representing the American Baptist Free Mission Society of Boston, an interracial antislavery group. First Union was the first church organized by the society in Texas. Its founding resulted from and continued a period of intense rivalry over the recruitment of former slaves in Texas between the newly arrived Northern Free Mission Society and the established Southern based Missionary Baptists. First Union promptly began an ambitious missionary effort that resulted in the establishment of the Texas Free Mission (Eastern District) Baptist Association in 1871, a Western District Association in 1873, and numerous Free Mission churches throughout the region. The Eastern and Western Districts united to form the American Baptist Convention of Texas in 1882. The Rev. Benjamin J. Hall, First Union pastor for all but four years (1892-1896) from 1878 until his death in 1914, earned praise for his leadership, efforts to rebuild the church sanctuary after its destruction in the storm of 1900, and for enhancing the congregation's role as mother church of its Texas state convention. A new brick sanctuary was erected here in 1955.