The Rev. G. W. Bounds

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. There's a man buried in the memory of Freestone County, and his name was the Reverend G. W.

Bounds. Born January 25, 1854, in Hickory, Mississippi. Now, the family came to Texas in 1864, and whatever that journey looked like, Texas is where the story takes root.

He didn't step into the pulpit overnight. He preached his first sermon in 1880, and then a full ten years passed before he was ordained in 1890. Some men take the long road to a calling, and maybe that road is what seasons them.

By the time Bounds was workin' those communities, he had already been livin' among the people he served. He helped organize the Wortham Methodist Church and stood as a charter member, one of the hands that laid the foundation. And he didn't stop there.

The marker says he was instrumental in organizing area churches and serving their people. Not one church. Churches, plural.

He moved through that part of Texas building something that would outlast any single building. And then there's that last line on the marker. Short and plain and harder to argue with than any sermon.

Beloved for good works. G. W.

Bounds drew his last breath on November 13, 1944, ninety years after he first drew breath in Mississippi. The marker doesn't need to say much more than that. When a community carves those four words into stone, beloved for good works, that's the whole testimony right there.

What the marker says

(January 25, 1854 - November 13, 1944) Born in Hickory, Miss. Family came to Texas, 1864. Preached his first sermon in 1880. Was ordained in 1890. Helped organize and was charter member of the Wortham Methodist Church. Instrumental in organizing area churches and serving their people. Beloved for good works.