DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Liberty Methodist Church — and friends, this one's got storms, a sunken steamboat, and a bell that just refuses to quit. Late in 1840, the Reverend Hugh Fields came rolling in from Mississippi, made his way to Liberty, Texas, and stood up inside the log courthouse to preach the first Methodist sermon the town had ever heard. Now, Liberty wasn't alone in getting that kind of attention.
When the Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held its meeting in December of 1840, they handed out ministerial appointments to seventeen communities across the Republic of Texas — seventeen — and Liberty was on that list. Come spring of 1841, the Reverend John C. Woolam was named to serve this congregation, which holds the distinction of being the oldest church organization in Liberty County.
For years, the faithful made do with what they had — the courthouse, somebody's home, a brush arbor out under the open sky. That was the situation until 1846, when they finally built themselves a proper log church. And here's where things get interesting.
That log church didn't last. A storm came through and destroyed it. Just like that, gone.
So the congregation picked themselves up, moved to their present location, and put up a one-room frame structure in 1854. They were building something that intended to stay. Then comes 1873, and one of the finest details in this whole story.
The church acquired a bell — from the steamboat called the Black Cloud, which had sunk in the Trinity River. A bell rescued from a sunken steamboat, put to work calling folks to worship. And here's the part that'll get you: that bell is still in use.
Still ringing. By 1904, the congregation had grown enough to raise a new two-room frame edifice. That one served its time, and then in 1930 it was replaced by a two-story brick structure — solid, serious, the kind of building that means business.
And even that building found a second life, becoming an education building after a new sanctuary went up in 1953. Through all of it — the log courthouse, the brush arbors, the storm, the sunken steamboat, the building and rebuilding — this congregation kept showing up. They've been sponsoring the Brotherhood Banquet through the men's Bible class since 1927, and folks of all faiths have supported it ever since.
A bell from the bottom of the Trinity River, still ringing after all these years. That's Liberty Methodist Church.
What the marker says
Late in 1840, the Rev. Hugh Fields, migrating to Texas from Mississippi, preached the first Methodist sermon in Liberty in the log courthouse. Liberty was one of 17 communities in the Republic of Texas to receive a ministerial appointment from the newly organized Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church meeting in Dec. 1840. The Rev. John C. Woolam was named in the spring of 1841 to serve this congregation, the oldest church organization in Liberty County. Members worshiped at the Courthouse, in home or brush arbors until 1846, when they built a log church. After it was destroyed by a storm, the congregation moved to its present location and built a one-room frame structure in 1854. The church acquired a bell in 1873 from the steamboat "Black Cloud", which sank in the Trinity River. This bell is still in use. In 1904 a new two-room frame edifice was constructed. It was replaced in 1930 by a two-story brick structure, which became an education building after a new sanctuary was erected in 1953. This congregation participates in many community events, including the "Brotherhood Banquet", sponsored by the men's Bible class since 1927 and supported by persons of all faiths.