The Missionary Baptist Church of Bastrop
1850 – 1909
On August 3, 1850, under the leadership of Elder G.G. Baggerly, who was at that time
pastor of the First Baptist Church of Austin, organized the Missionary Baptist Church of Bastrop with
eleven members. On September 5, 1850, the young church sent its first messengers to the Colorado
Baptist Association's Fourth Annual Session, in Seguin. S. Johnson and J. Allen reported a membership
of ten, three members having been added since its organization the month before. By 1853, the church
enrollment had grown to thirty-four.
In that year, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Masonic Lodge, and the
Missionary Baptist Church, together, acquired on-fourth of Block 8 in the town of Bastrop. Their lot
lying at the corner of Pecan and Chestnut Streets to the north of the present day Catholic Church.
The Presbyterians built a frame building on this lot with the Baptist sharing the
expense. The Masonic Lodge used the building's upper floor for their meetings and the two churches
used the lower floor for their services, an arrangement which was possible because of the fact that
both churches had part-time pastors and held services only once a month, if that often.
In 1858, the Baptist Church's congregation had increased to ninety-five members with
the Reverend J.A. Kimball as pastor. Of this number, there were sixty-two whites and thirty-three
blacks. From the beginning of Baptist mission work in Texas, there had been concerns for the spiritual
welfare of blacks, as well as whites. The blacks had joined white churches and continued to worship
with them, even through the Civil War years.
In the same year, the Bastrop Church withdrew from the Colorado Association and joined
sixteen other churches in forming the San Marcos Baptist Association. Messengers were sent to meetings
of this association for three years; but after 1860, there were no reports from the Baptist Church
until 1880.
Little is known about the church during these years of change: Civil War and
Reconstruction. The censuses of 1860 and 1870 were not helpful, either. They reported only one Baptist
Church in Bastrop County but did not say where it was. From other sources, we know that the building
used jointly by the Baptists, Presbyterians and Masons was struck by lightning and burned in 1863.
The churches did not rebuild. However, there was apparently a remnant of Baptists in Bastrop during
these years. We pick up their story again in 1879 when the Bastrop Advertiser stated in one edition
that the Baptist Church met on the fourth Sunday of every month and that their pastor was the Reverend
George Lane, who also served the Hills Prairie, Perryville, and Elgin churches.
There was evidently a building of some kind (probably rented), which was knows as the
Baptist Church. In another issue, the Advertiser announced that the Methodists would meet in the
Baptist Church the following Sunday because the new paint on their building would not be dry in time
for services.
In 1880 and 1881, the Bastrop Church reappeared briefly in the San Marcos
Association's records, with only twelve members in the latter year. There were probably no blacks
listed in this number.
From that time on, there were no reports from the Bastrop Church to the San Marcos
Association , but the church was still active, however small. In 1881, the women of the church
solicited funds to buy and organ. The cost, including the freight, was $265.00. The organ purchased
from a firm in New Orleans, was the "talk of the town".
In 1887, the Bastrop church joined the Austin Baptist Association. It had no pastor
at the time, and only twenty members. Mrs. Sarah J. Orgain was the church clerk and A.T. Morris,
the Sunday School Superintendent.
The next year, 1888, according to Associational records, the Bastrop Church had a
pastor, R.A. Sublett, who was also pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Austin. The members of
the Missionary Church at this time were: Mr. and Mrs. A.T. Morris, Mrs. Sarah Jan Orgain, Mr. and
Mrs. A.S. Dyer, Mrs. K.M. Trigg, Mr. and Mrs. James Moore, E.W. Hubbard, Miss Annie Hubbard, Mrs.
R.A. Brooks, Mrs. Bettie Price, Mr. and Mrs. C.L. Moncure, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Norment, Mrs. Kate
Turner, Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Craft, Preston Dyer and E.T. Gibson.
In 1888, the Baptists began construction on a church building, a one-room frame
structure , which they erected at 908 Pecan Street , on a part of the same lot which they had
co-owned since 1853 with the Presbyterians and the Masonic Lodge. Apparently it was some time before
the building was completely finished. On May 2, 1891, the local newspaper, the Bastrop Advertiser,
wrote the following:
"The new Baptist Church building presents as pretty an appearance as any in the city,
although incomplete, the membership is proud of their little church and have worked diligently and
faithfully in its construction, asking but little, if any, aid from the outside."
In the following decade, the church's membership increased to thirty , and by 1909,
to forty-five. It had a frequent turnover of pastors, which was not surprising since it was still a
quarter-time church, with preaching services on the fourth Sunday of every month. The Saturday evening
preceding the "Preaching Sunday" was a Conference night, when the business of the church was
transacted.
In 1909, Bastrop's Missionary Baptist Church became the First Baptist Church of
Bastrop . When the Mexican Baptist Church, which had been organized in 1903, began sending messengers
to the Austin Baptist Association, the older church was designated on the Associational records as
the First Baptist Church . From then on, it was known as the First Baptist Church of Bastrop.
