DUANE
Duane's take
The marker's got the word on this one, and here's how I tell it. Out here in Bexar County, there's a little church and cemetery that carries a name — Oak Island Methodist — and a story that stretches all the way back to the days when Texas was still its own republic. The man at the center of it is the Reverend John Wesly DeVilbliss, born in 1818, gone in 1885, and in between those two years he covered more ground — in more ways than one — than most men would dare to try.
He was a circuit rider, which means his congregation wasn't a building, it was a territory. Saddled up and went to the people, wherever the people happened to be. DeVilbliss came to the Republic of Texas in 1842, and his assignment was no quiet country parish.
He was out on the Hispanic borders in the southwest, ministering among immigrants and native Texians alike, working to build something the marker calls harmony in varied cultures. That's a delicate thing to tend in a far outpost, and this was about as far out as it got. Then comes April of 1844 — and here's where the story turns a corner.
DeVilbliss walked into the County Clerk's office in San Antonio and delivered the first sermon in English ever given in that city. The first one. In a place already layered with history and language and civilizations pressing up against one another, this circuit rider stood up and spoke, laying what the marker calls the foundations for a confluence of civilizations.
That's not a small thing. That's a man standing at a hinge point of history, and he knew it, and he did it anyway. Years later, DeVilbliss inspired the organization of Oak Island Church — 1867 or '68, the marker hedges just slightly on that — and then in 1872 this very building went up.
And it holds, to this day, furniture made by DeVilbliss and his son. Their hands built the pews, or the tables, or whatever pieces remain — made by the same man who once rode the borderlands so that people of every background might sit together and find common ground. The cemetery holds him now, the Reverend John Wesly DeVilbliss, right here at the church his life helped bring into being.
Some stories end where they begin. This one does.
What the marker says
Oak Island Methodist Church and Cemetery with Grave of the Reverend John Wesly DeVilbliss (1818-1885) Circuit rider DeVilbiss came to Republic of Texas in 1842 to minister on Hispanic borders in the southwest. He pioneered among immigrants and native Texians to promote harmony in varied cultures in this far outpost. In County Clerk's office in April 1844 he delivered first sermon in English ever given in San Antonio--to lay foundations for confluence of civilizations. Insipred organization of Oak Island Church, 1867 or '68. This building of 1872 holds furniture made by DeVilbiss and his son. (1967)