First United Methodist Church of Bonham

Duane's take

The way I tell it, this comes straight from the official marker for the First United Methodist Church of Bonham, so let the record show I'm not embellishing the facts, just giving them room to breathe. Now, the year is 1844. Texas is still a Republic, barely holding itself together at the seams, and out here in what would become Fannin County, a circuit rider named the Reverend James H.

Graham is making his rounds. Born in 1815, this man didn't wait for a proper building or a settled congregation. He founded a church right here, and when the people gathered, they gathered in a log cabin.

And here's the thing about that log cabin: the Methodists weren't alone in it. The Baptists were there. The Presbyterians were there too.

Three congregations, one humble cabin, everybody making do. Among the charter members were the families of Bailey English, born 1797, who had founded the town of Bonham itself, and his brother-in-law, James P. Simpson.

These were not small names in this corner of Texas. That log cabin served its purpose for nearly three decades before giving way to a frame church in 1872. And even then, sharing was the custom.

The Methodists and the Cumberland Presbyterians split the Sundays right down the middle, alternating, until 1881 when that arrangement finally came to a close. By 1887 the congregation had grown into something more permanent. A brick church went up that year.

Solid. Serious. The kind of building that says we intend to stay.

That same year, 1887, the Women's Missionary Society was organized, and that detail matters. Because out of that society came something remarkable. A woman named Lelia Roberts, born in 1861, lifelong member of this very congregation, took the support of that society and carried it all the way to Mexico.

She opened a mission school. And she didn't do it alone. Her sister Martha was with her.

Together, those two women ran that school for forty-four years, forty-four years, until the Mexican government took it over in 1930. Now, about that brick church. It was destroyed by fire in 1898.

The congregation didn't scatter. They rebuilt, and the rebuilt church was standing just one year after the fire. That's the kind of congregation this was.

Lelia Roberts lived until 1950. The Reverend James H. Graham, who started all of this on horseback in a Republic that no longer existed by the time he died in 1884, set something in motion that outlasted him by a long measure.

The church established a memorial fund in 1950 to carry on the missionary work Miss Roberts had given so much of her life to. An education building went up in 1952 and 1953. The present sanctuary followed, completed in 1960 and 1961.

And by 1975, when this marker was recorded, the congregation stood at 841 members, one of the largest in all of Fannin County. One circuit rider. One log cabin shared among three faiths.

And from that starting point, a church that is still, by any measure, standing tall.

What the marker says

Founded in 1844 in the Republic of Texas by a circuit rider, the Rev. James H. Graham (1815-1884), this church first met in a log cabin, which it shared with Baptist and Presbyterian congregations. Charter members included the families of Bailey English (1797-1867), founder of the town of bonham, and his brother-in-law, James P. Simpson. The log cabin was replaced in 1872 by a frame church, which the Methodists shared on alternate Sundays with Cumberland Presbyterians until 1881. A brick church building was erected in 1887 and rebuilt one year after it was destroyed by a fire in 1898. The Women's Missionary Society, organized in 1887, enabled Lelia Roberts (1861-1950), a lifelong members of this congregation, to begin a mission school in Mexico. Miss Roberts, along with her sister, Martha, operated the school for 44 years until it was taken over by the Mexican government in 1930. A memorial fund, established by the church in 1950, continues the missionary efforts begun by Miss Roberts. An education building was constructed in 1952-53 and the present sanctuary in 1960-61. With a current (1975) membership of 841, this is one of the largest congregations in Fannin County.