Maud United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the Maud United Methodist Church in Bowie County. Now settle in, because this congregation has seen some things. It started out, as many good things in Texas do, on somebody's farm.

August 10, 1874. The Reverend Thomas Jefferson Milam, riding out from Old Boston, organized a mission right there on Jesse M. Ball's property in the Three Springs community.

And they didn't waste a minute. That original meetinghouse went up immediately, right on Ball's land. Now, one of the charter members of that little mission was a man named Samuel D.

Knapp. Born around 1841, gone in 1922. And here's the thing about Samuel D.

Knapp. He didn't just join a church and go home. He founded the town of Maud.

He served as its first postmaster. And when the congregation needed a permanent home, he donated the very site it stands on today. The building was moved to that donated ground in 1880.

The mission grew into a full church by 1897, which is the kind of patient, steady progress that tends to mark institutions built on good soil. Then came 1914, and with it a tornado that razed the second building. Just leveled it.

The congregation kept going, the way congregations do. They built again, and again. The present sanctuary, the fourth building this church has called its own, was erected in 1940.

That happened thanks to funds given by Miss Jennie Tapp. And the congregation wasn't finished. In 1956 they enlarged it.

One farm, one August afternoon, one circuit-riding reverend. And one hundred and some odd years later, that little mission is still standing in Maud. Some things, once rooted, just don't let go.

What the marker says

Organized as a mission by the Rev. Thomas Jefferson Milam of Old Boston, on farm of Jesse M. Ball, Three Springs community, Aug. 10, 1874. Original meetinghouse was built immediately on Ball's property. Samuel D. Knapp (1841?-1922), a charter member, founded town of Maud, and was its first postmaster. He donated present site, and the building was moved here in 1880. The mission became a church in 1897. A tornado razed second building in 1914. Present sanctuary, fourth for the church, was erected in 1940 with funds given by Miss Jennie Tapp, and was enlarged in 1956. (1974)