DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says, right there in San Augustine. Now if you want a story that starts with a horse, ends with a church, and covers about as much Texas history as one block of Main Street can hold — well, settle in. The Rev.
Littleton Fowler arrived in San Augustine in October of 1837. The marker tells us he was one of the first Methodist missionaries sent to the Republic of Texas — and he didn't waste a minute getting to work. Within two weeks of setting foot in town, a lot had been given across the street from this very site, trustees had been named, money had been raised, and a man named Augustus Phelps had a contract in hand to erect a Methodist church building.
Two weeks. You think about that. Then comes January 17, 1838 — the laying of the cornerstone.
Masonic Lodge officials supervised the ceremony, and the crowd that gathered numbered somewhere between five hundred and eight hundred people. Out on the frontier of a brand-new republic, that is a congregation. The Rev.
Fowler spoke that day, and so did General Thomas J. Rusk, and from the sound of it, nobody left early. Fowler himself wrote about it in his journal.
He called it the first cornerstone laid for a Protestant church west of the Sabine River in the infant Republic. And it wasn't just a local milestone — it was also hailed as the first cornerstone laid in a foreign mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. That little church in San Augustine was carrying some weight in the history of American Methodism.
Now, fast forward to 1897, and here is where the horse comes in. A man named Columbus Cartwright went to church one Sunday, and while he was inside worshiping, somebody turned his horse loose. We are not told who did it.
We are not told what words Columbus Cartwright may have said upon discovering this. What we are told is that he was angered — the marker uses that word deliberately — and that he responded by donating an entire city block for a new sanctuary. The new space, he made sure, would provide room for hitching horses and parking buggies.
Columbus Cartwright was a man who solved problems permanently. The present structure was erected on that donated property by 1911. And here is the detail that makes the whole story feel like it was written by someone with a flair for symmetry: the pastor serving at the time was the Rev.
Littleton Morris Fowler — son of the founder. The same name, the next generation, the same block of Main Street. The marker notes that Methodists have worshiped in that same block of San Augustine's Main Street for more than a hundred and forty years.
One cornerstone, one angry man, one loose horse, and a congregation that never moved. Some roots go deep enough that nothing shakes them loose — not even the horse.
What the marker says
The Rev. Littleton Fowler (1803-1846), one of the first Methodist missionaries sent to the Republic of Texas, came to San Augustine in October 1837. Within two weeks, a lot was given across the street from this site, trustees named, money raised, and Augustus Phelps given a contract to erect a Methodist church building. Masonic Lodge officials supervised the laying of the cornerstone on January 17, 1838. The Rev. Fowler and General Thomas J. Rusk addressed the 500 to 800 persons who gathered for the occasion. In his journal, the Rev. Fowler called it the first cornerstone laid for a Protestant church "west of the Sabine River in the infant Republic." It was also hailed as the first cornerstone laid in a foreign mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States. Angered when his horse was turned loose while he was in church, Columbus Cartwright in 1897 donated an entire block for a new sanctuary, providing space for hitching horses and parking buggies. The present structure was erected on the donated property by 1911, when the Rev. Littleton Morris Fowler, son of the founder, served as pastor. Methodists have worshiped in the same block of San Augustine's Main Street for more than 140 years. (1978)