Original Site of St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Back in the 1850s, in the town of Bellville, a handful of Anglicans weren't yet meeting in any grand building. They were gathering in somebody's front parlor.

Specifically, the home of a Bellville attorney by the name of Nehemiah Holland. Informal worship, neighbors coming together, nothing official about it yet. But something was taking root.

Then comes 1861, and Bishop Alexander Gregg arrives to hold the first official service, and he's not doing it in a church, mind you. He's doing it in the Masonic lodge building. You work with what you have.

The following year, under the leadership of the Reverend Daniel Shaver, St. Mary's was admitted to the Diocese of Texas as a brand new congregation. The charter members read like a founding document of the community itself: Nehemiah Holland, Mr. and Mrs.

Benjamin T. Harris, Charles H. Harris, Mr. and Mrs.

Samuel Reese Blake, William and Sarah Paine Thompson, and Robert and Rebecca Chambers Paine. Now, a congregation admitted to a diocese needs a place to worship, and the 1870s brought a period of marked growth. Under the Reverend Lindsey P.

Rucker and a group of dedicated lay members, the congregation purchased property right here at this very site and set about building Bellville's first church building. And they didn't build plain. They built a wooden structure with Gothic Revival features, and here's the detail that stops you cold, stained glass windows brought all the way from Munich, Germany.

That building was consecrated in 1881. And the first funeral held inside those walls was for Nehemiah Holland. The man who had opened his home in the 1850s, the man listed among the charter members, the man the marker calls St.

Mary's founder. Sometimes a story circles all the way back around. That original building served the congregation for eighty years before being replaced with a new structure on the adjacent lot in 1961.

A parish hall and education wing followed, built to accommodate the growing ministries of the parish. St. Mary's Episcopal Church is still there in Bellville, still part of the religious and cultural life of the community, carrying forward a tradition of worship, education, and outreach that started in a lawyer's living room more than a century and a half ago.

Not a bad run for a congregation that began without a building to its name.

What the marker says

Original Site of St. Mary's Episcopal Church Anglicans in Bellville began gathering for informal worship services in the 1850s at the home of Bellville attorney Nehemiah Holland. In 1861, Bishop Alexander Gregg held the first official service in the Masonic lodge building. Under the leadership of the Rev. Daniel Shaver, St. Mary's was admitted to the Diocese of Texas as a new congregation the following year. Charter members included Nehemiah Holland, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin T. Harris, Charles H. Harris, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Reese Blake, William and Sarah Paine Thompson, and Robert and Rebecca Chambers Paine. A period of marked growth during the 1870s under the leadership of the Rev. Lindsey P. Rucker and dedicated lay members led to the purchase of property at this site, and the congregation constructed Bellville's first church building. Described as a wooden structure with Gothic Revival features and stained glass windows from Munich, Germany, the building was consecrated in 1881. The first funeral in the new church building was for Nehemiah Holland, considered to be St. Mary's founder. After 80 years of service to the congregation, the original building was replaced with a new structure on the adjacent lot in 1961. Additional facilities, including a parish hall and education wing, were built to accommodate the ministries of the parish. St. Mary's Episcopal Church remains a significant part of the religious and cultural history of Bellville as it continues a strong tradition of worship, education and outreach activities. (2002)