Rev. Samuel A. Williams

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some men leave a mark on a place so deep you can still feel it a century and a half later. Samuel A.

Williams was one of those men. Born in Tennessee around 1804, he took up the calling of a Methodist minister, and once he did, he did not slow down. He was admitted to the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Church in 1834, and from there he carried his work into Alabama as well.

But East Texas, that was where history had something waiting for him. In 1838, the Republic of Texas was made an official district of the Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Church, and with that, Williams rode in as the first Methodist minister regularly stationed in East Texas. Let that land for a second.

The first. The very first. That same year, the first informal conference of East Texas Methodists met right here in San Augustine, and they assigned Williams to the Nacogdoches circuit.

He had a territory to cover, and he covered it. In 1841 he married Terisa Kellogg, and by 1843 he was assigned to the newly created Lake Soda District, a stretch of country that took in Shelbyville, Harrison, Lake Soda, Henderson, and Nacogdoches. That is not a small piece of ground to tend.

The marker calls him a powerful speaker and a well-respected minister, and the record backs that up. He was elected chairman of the annual meeting of the East Texas Methodist Conference in 1850, and again in 1851. His peers chose him as their delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and they did it not just once but for several years running.

He retired in 1863 and died in 1866, buried at his home right here in San Augustine. In 1936, a grave marker was placed at this spot. So next time you pass through San Augustine, you are passing through ground that a Tennessee preacher helped shape before most of this country even had a road to ride.

What the marker says

Born in Tennessee about 1804, Samuel A. Williams became a Methodist minister. He was admitted to the Tennessee Conference of the Methodist Church in 1834, and also served as a minister in Alabama. Williams became the first Methodist minister regularly stationed in East Texas in 1838 when the Republic of Texas was made an official district of the Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Church. The first informal conference met in San Augustine that year and assigned Williams to the Nacogdoches circuit. In 1841 Williams married Terisa Kellogg, and in 1843 he was assigned to the newly created Lake Soda District that included Shelbyville, Harrison, Lake Soda, Henderson and Nacogdoches. Williams was elected chairman of the annual meeting of the East Texas Methodist Conference in 1850 and 1851. He was chosen as their delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for several years. A powerful speaker and well-respected minister, Williams retired in 1863, and died in 1866. He was buried at his home in San Augustine. A grave marker was placed here in 1936. (1997)