Methodist Church

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the Methodist Church in Ben Franklin, Delta County. Back in 1854, two local preachers named Dan Clower and John B. Craig set about founding a congregation in this corner of Texas.

Now, John B. Craig is worth a second look, because he had been the law partner of John B. Denton, the very man for whom Denton County was named.

So Craig carried some notable history on his shoulders when he walked into this community and started building something meant to last. He and Clower did the foundational work, the kind of unglamorous, door-to-door, talk-your-neighbors-into-it labor that rarely makes headlines but makes churches. Then the circuit rider arrived.

On December the fifth, 1854, a Reverend Bennett Elkins was named to serve the Sulphur Forks Mission, and this church fell under his charge. A circuit rider covering that much Texas ground had to be part preacher, part endurance athlete, and Reverend Elkins had the territory to prove it. Now, a church needs more than a minister.

It needs walls. It needs a roof over the faithful. And for that, this congregation turned to a settler by the name of Greenville Smith, who ran the local sawmill.

The log walls, the roof shingles, the rafters, all of it came out of Smith's mill. Neighbors cutting timber for neighbors, a building rising from the land itself. That original structure stood where it stood for decades.

Then in 1898, the congregation raised a new building, eight hundred yards from the old site. Not a world away, just far enough to be something new. Same faith, same community, new ground.

What the marker says

Ben Franklin; Founded 1854 by efforts of "local preachers" Dan Clower and John B. Craig (former law partner of John B. Denton, for whom Denton County was named). A circuit rider, Rev. Bennett Elkins, was named Dec. 5, 1854, to serve Sulphur Forks Mission, including this church. Log walls, roof shingles and rafters were cut in sawmill of a settler, Greenville Smith. Present building was erected 800 yards from old site, 1898. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966