Law's Chapel Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'm taking it from there. Way out in Cass County, the story of Law's Chapel Methodist Church goes back to 1853, and it starts with two people who hauled their faith all the way from Georgia. George Law and his wife Martha, pioneers both of them, put down roots in this corner of Texas and did something nobody else in the area had managed to do yet.

They founded the first Protestant church around. Now think about that for a second. First one.

In the whole area. That's not a small thing. That's a statement.

That's George and Martha Law telling the land itself, we're here, and we're staying. Now, when you're starting from scratch in 1853, you work with what the country gives you. And what the country gave them was brush.

They worshipped under a brush arbor first, which, if you've never stood under one, is exactly what it sounds like. Branches and limbs woven overhead, the sky peeking through the gaps, the wind doing whatever it pleased. Church without walls.

Faith without a roof. Then came the log structure, a step up, four walls and some permanence. The congregation was growing into something real.

By 1859 they had joined the Methodist Conference, which is the kind of news that travels and means you're no longer just a gathering, you are an institution. And then, in 1869, they began the present building. Started putting up something meant to last.

Something that would still be standing long after the brush arbor was a memory and the log walls had gone back to the earth. George and Martha Law came out of Georgia, built a church from nothing, and gave this part of Texas its first Protestant house of worship. The building they started in 1869 is still the story.

That's how you leave a mark.

What the marker says

First Protestant church in area. Founded in 1853 by George Law and wife Martha, pioneers from Georgia. Members first worshipped under a brush arbor, then in a log structure. In 1859 joined Methodist Conference, began present building 1869. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1968