DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Val Verde Baptist Church in Milam County. Now, most churches get their names from a saint, or a river, or maybe just the road they sit on. But this one — this one got its name from a battlefield.
And the man who gave it that name had walked that battlefield himself. The story starts in 1875. Eight members of the Baptist Church over in Davilla decided the time had come to organize a congregation a little closer to home.
Eight people — that's it. But eight determined souls with J. S.
Mullins as their first pastor, and that was enough to get something started. Among those eight charter members was a man named James Putnam Whittington. Born in 1830, died in 1909.
A veteran of the Civil War. Whittington had served in H. H.
Sibley's brigade during the New Mexico Campaign, and he had stood on the ground at the Battle of Val Verde. Whatever that battle meant to him — and you can only imagine what it meant — he carried it with him for the rest of his life. So when the time came for this new little congregation to choose a name, Whittington spoke up.
He suggested Val Verde. And the other members agreed. Now here they are, this fresh young church, and they've got a name with some history behind it.
What they didn't have yet was much of a building. For those first years, the congregation met in a small schoolhouse. That'll do when you're getting started.
But by 1884, they were ready for something more, and Whittington — the same man who gave them their name — donated this very property for a larger sanctuary and a community cemetery. A building was erected on that land, and it served the members for the next sixty-five years. Not bad for a congregation that began with eight.
Then came 1949. The world had just finished a long and costly war, and all across the country there were surplus army chapels sitting idle on bases that no longer needed them. The congregation at Val Verde saw an opportunity.
They had a surplus chapel moved here all the way from Brownwood. Church members rolled up their sleeves and worked to rebuild that structure into something worthy of a Sunday morning. It was dedicated in January of 1951.
And the congregation has kept the memory of all of this alive. Since 1982, present and former members have gathered each year for an annual church memorial day — a living thread connecting the people who are here now to the eight who started the whole thing back in 1875. Out on the church grounds, the Val Verde Cemetery holds the graves of many area pioneers.
Some of them no doubt remember a time before the schoolhouse, before the sanctuary, before any of it. One man suggested a name from a battle he'd survived. The rest said yes.
And somehow, that was enough to build a community around — one that's still standing.
What the marker says
Val Verde Baptist Church traces its history to 1875, when eight members of the Baptist Church in Davilla joined together to organize a congregation closer to their homes. J. S. Mullins served as the first pastor of the new church. One of the charter members, James Putnam Whittington (1830-1909) was a veteran of the Civil War. A member of H. H. Sibley's brigade in the New Mexico Campaign, he had participated in the Battle of Val Verde. When the time came to name the new church, Whittington suggested Val Verde, and the other members agreed. The congregation met in a small schoolhouse until 1884, when Whittington donated this property for a larger sanctuary and community cemetery. A building was erected which served the members for the next sixty-five years. In 1949 a surplus army chapel was moved here from Brownwood to serve as a new sanctuary. Church members worked to rebuild the structure, and it was dedicated in January 1951. An annual church memorial day has been observed by present and former members of the congregation since 1982. The Val Verde Cemetery on the church grounds contains the graves of many area pioneers.