DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First United Methodist Church of Van Alstyne, up in Grayson County — and friend, this one's got layers. It all starts in 1847, not with a grand cathedral or even a proper church house, but with a Bible class. They called it the Liberty Class, and they met in a log cabin — Jim Creager's log cabin, a mile and a quarter south of where we're standing now — gathered by the Reverend Joab Biggs, riding the Dallas Methodist circuit, and a man named M.
F. Cole. A Bible study and worship group, humble as they come.
Nobody in that cabin could've guessed what they were starting. Now, fast forward to 1855, and here's where the story gets a little too good to rush past. A rainstorm rolls in.
Quarterly conference delegates are stuck — can't go anywhere, can't do much of anything — and so the Reverend Y. S. McKinney figures, well, he's got a captive audience.
He preaches all night long. All. Night.
Long. And apparently that was just the warm-up, because he kept going for three more weeks. Three weeks of preaching.
Sixty conversions by the end of it. Say what you will, that man knew how to use a rainstorm. That enlarged class moved on to Mantua, built themselves a proper frame chapel right on the town square, and took the name Mt.
Zion Methodist Church. Things were looking settled. Then 1873 arrives, and with it the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, and the founding of Van Alstyne.
When a railroad town gets born, people follow — and so did Mt. Zion. They picked up their actual building and moved it right into Van Alstyne, to a site that today sits in the Van Alstyne Cemetery.
By 1890, membership had climbed past four hundred souls. That's not a little Bible class in a log cabin anymore. In 1893 the congregation moved again, this time erecting a larger building at Waco and Jefferson streets, and they changed the name to First Methodist Church.
The following year, 1894, something happened inside that sanctuary that rippled out across the region — the first district Epworth League of the Southern Methodist Church was organized right there. Then in 1912, ex-president Theodore Roosevelt stepped up to give an address in that same building. In 1917, one of Texas' earliest Boy Scout troops was formed there.
And in that same year of 1917, the present sanctuary was completed and dedicated, with the dedicatory sermon given by the Reverend Sam R. Hay. The name you see on the sign today — First United Methodist Church — that came in 1968, after a national ecumenical accord was reached.
One more thing the marker wants you to know, and it's inscribed on the back: this historical marker was given to the glory of God by Mr. and Mrs. Rea A. Nunnallee.
From a rainy night, a captive crowd, and a preacher with no intention of stopping — all the way to a congregation of hundreds, a presidential visit, and a sanctuary still standing. That's a long road from Jim Creager's log cabin.
What the marker says
Outgrowth of Liberty Class, formed 1847 for Bible study and worship, in log cabin of Jim Creager (1.25 mi. S) by the Rev. Joab Biggs, of the Dallas Methodist circuit, and M. F. Cole. In 1855, after a rainstorm that detained quarterly conference delegates to listen to an all-night sermon, the Rev. Y. S. McKinney preached for three weeks and had 60 conversions. The enlarged class moved to Mantua, where it built a frame chapel on the town square and was renamed Mt. Zion Methodist Church. At founding of Van Alstyne on Houston & Texas Central Railroad in 1873, Mt. Zion moved its building into town, to a site now in Van Alstyne Cemetery. By 1890 membership exceeded 400. The congregation in 1893 moved again, erecting a larger building at Waco and Jefferson streets, and changing name to First Methodist Church. In this sanctuary in 1894 there was organized the first district Epworth League of the Southern Methodist Church. Here in 1912 ex-president Theodore Roosevelt gave an address, and in 1917 one of Texas' earliest Boy Scout troops was formed. Present sanctuary was completed and dedicated in 1917, with dedicatory sermon given by the Rev. Sam R. Hay. The present name was given after a national ecumenical accord was reached in 1968. Incise on back: This historical marker given to the glory of God by Mr. and Mrs. Rea A. Nunnallee.