Liberty United Methodist Church
(Updated Jan 6, 2015 by Gary D. Duke, Historian)
Exactly when the first people joined together to establish a church group that ultimately became the present Liberty UMC, is unknown. The first known record was on July 6, 1881 when John A. Callaway & his wife Emily deeded "in consideration of the love we base for the cause of Christ and from an earnest desire to promote his heritage on earth do give and grant ----- to trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Oak Grove" approximately six acres of their land "for a Church building to be situated upon ---". This land was part of 200 acres John & Emily Callaway had purchased on December 1, 1879, and was situated generally along the north side of present-day State Highway 154 and bisected by present-day County Road 3130. The six acres donated was 1/3 mile north and east of the present-day intersection of SH 154 & CR 3130.
In 1844, due to disputes over slavery, the American Methodist Episcopal Church had split into two factions - the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The "South" church still permitted slavery.
Obviously, the "Methodist Episcopal Church South at Oak Grove" had existed prior to July, 1881, as it is named in the deed along with three existing "trustees". Apparently, the church had not owned its own building before 1881, and we do not know where the meetings had been taking place. The community of Oak Grove, now populated by only about 70 people, had been established in the 1850's (about the time Wood County was created) and is about two miles northeast of the Liberty Church location. Oak Grove initially flourished. In 1872 it constructed a building exclusively to be used as a school, and, by the 1890s, had 122 students.
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oak Grove was established in the late 1860's and the Methodists had probably also established their own Church about the same time as Ebenezer although they may have shared the use of the Ebenezer building. The designation for the MEC South "at Oak Grove" indicates only that it was near the Oak Grove community.
William S. Hardy, John H. Williams and John H. Voorhees were the three "trustees" who were named in the 1881 land donation. William Hardy was born in 1826 in South Carolina, had many children, had lived in Georgia, then Arkansas, and came to Wood County about 1876. John Williams was born in 1842 in Georgia, had three children in Georgia, three more in Arkansas, and came to Wood County about 1877. John Voorhees was born in Florida in 1846 and came to Wood County from Alabama with his father Cornelius Voorhees after 1870 and married here about 1877. All three of these men lived near to the John Callaway family. Because they gave land for a Church Building, it must be assumed that John Callaway and his family were also members of the M.E. Church South before 1881. John Callaway (also spelled "Calaway") was born in 1845 in Alabama. He married there about 1866 and moved to Wood County in 1869. His father was James A. Calaway born in Georgia in 1803 and he had a brother James A. Calaway born in Georgia in 1842. All of them moved to Wood at the same time.
The original minister and other original members remain unknown to us.
After obtaining the land in 1881, a wooden single room Church building was constructed. Unfortunately, no photographs of this building are known. The Methodist Episcopal Church South at Oak Grove met in the original building continuously for the next 62 years.
I am confident that Bishop John Wesley Hardt will allow me to insert here his description of events surrounding the Liberty Church in 1942. At that time Bishop Hardt was a 20 year old college senior and was appointed to the local “circuit”. On the fourth Sunday of May 1942 he preached his first sermon at Liberty. (In April 1939, the "North" and "South" factions of the Church had reunited to become "The Methodist Church" and this Church had changed its name at that time to "Liberty Methodist Church".) Bishop Hardt told it this way: “Liberty had only a few older people left as the young men had gone into military service or left for California or Dallas where there were jobs in the war industries. The old folk at Liberty could see they might have to close their church. A revival that summer, (and the efforts of Bishop Hardt) brought some surprising crowds and instead of talking of closing the church, members began talking of fixing up the run down building, maybe even building a new church. Uncle Charley Malone who was living with his daughter and son in law, the Osborns, took his hammer one day and began tearing loose boards off the wall in order to start that new church building. Others convinced him to stop and replace the boards, but a building fund was started. Jim Malone started a savings account for the church”. (“Uncle” Charley Malone was born in 1865 and had joined the Liberty Church in 1924) By 1943, John and Emily Calaway had passed away and their heirs arranged for a new survey of the property. Then attorney Henry M. Crietzberg (a member of the Church) began proceedings between the heirs to trade the six acres owned by the Church for three acres 1/3 mile to the south so the Church would be located on the new State Highway 154. Bishop Hardt recalls that “the old church was in such a deep bed of sand that in the hot dry summer of revival meeting time cars would get stuck in the sand”. Agreements were reached and the Alba Charge of the Tyler District, on June 25, 1944, authorized the Board of Trustees of the Liberty Methodist Church to make this trade. The trustees at that time were C.A. Malone, G. E. Snodgrass and Arthur Sims. The land trade specified that the Church would retain "all improvements" on the six acres.
After the land exchange, members of the Church dismantled the old Church building and constructed a new building on the new property using the same lumber and materials. Multi-talented attorney Henry M. Crietzberg was one of the men who enclosed the new building in brick. It was heated by a fireplace and was completed in 1945. State Highway 154 was then still a dirt road.
In 1968, when the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to become the United Methodist Church, this small church in Wood County became the Liberty United Methodist Church.
The building constructed by the members in 1945 is still in use today although central heating and air conditioning have been added and the interior has been remodeled. A steeple was added in the mid-1990's. In 1959, a house was purchased by the congregation for $800 and placed on the east side of the Sanctuary, to be used as a Fellowship Hall. In 2004, the old Hall was moved away and a new, much larger, Fellowship Hall was constructed in the same spot. In 2014 an addition to the Hall was completed, doubling its size.
There have been many additional upgrades to the Sanctuary building in the last few years.
Since 1902, records list 51 different Ministers serving the Liberty Church. In June 2010, Dr Dick White became the Minister. The Liberty Church is thriving. Membership is now at 115, finances are in good shape and Sunday services are well attended. There are two adult Sunday Schools, a young people’s Sunday School and a separate Bible Study Group.
We Give All Thanks To GOD for HIS Blessings on our Church!
(Updated Jan 6, 2015 by Gary D. Duke, Historian)
Exactly when the first people joined together to establish a church group that ultimately became the present Liberty UMC, is unknown. The first known record was on July 6, 1881 when John A. Callaway & his wife Emily deeded "in consideration of the love we base for the cause of Christ and from an earnest desire to promote his heritage on earth do give and grant ----- to trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church South at Oak Grove" approximately six acres of their land "for a Church building to be situated upon ---". This land was part of 200 acres John & Emily Callaway had purchased on December 1, 1879, and was situated generally along the north side of present-day State Highway 154 and bisected by present-day County Road 3130. The six acres donated was 1/3 mile north and east of the present-day intersection of SH 154 & CR 3130.
In 1844, due to disputes over slavery, the American Methodist Episcopal Church had split into two factions - the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The "South" church still permitted slavery.
Obviously, the "Methodist Episcopal Church South at Oak Grove" had existed prior to July, 1881, as it is named in the deed along with three existing "trustees". Apparently, the church had not owned its own building before 1881, and we do not know where the meetings had been taking place. The community of Oak Grove, now populated by only about 70 people, had been established in the 1850's (about the time Wood County was created) and is about two miles northeast of the Liberty Church location. Oak Grove initially flourished. In 1872 it constructed a building exclusively to be used as a school, and, by the 1890s, had 122 students.
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Oak Grove was established in the late 1860's and the Methodists had probably also established their own Church about the same time as Ebenezer although they may have shared the use of the Ebenezer building. The designation for the MEC South "at Oak Grove" indicates only that it was near the Oak Grove community.
William S. Hardy, John H. Williams and John H. Voorhees were the three "trustees" who were named in the 1881 land donation. William Hardy was born in 1826 in South Carolina, had many children, had lived in Georgia, then Arkansas, and came to Wood County about 1876. John Williams was born in 1842 in Georgia, had three children in Georgia, three more in Arkansas, and came to Wood County about 1877. John Voorhees was born in Florida in 1846 and came to Wood County from Alabama with his father Cornelius Voorhees after 1870 and married here about 1877. All three of these men lived near to the John Callaway family. Because they gave land for a Church Building, it must be assumed that John Callaway and his family were also members of the M.E. Church South before 1881. John Callaway (also spelled "Calaway") was born in 1845 in Alabama. He married there about 1866 and moved to Wood County in 1869. His father was James A. Calaway born in Georgia in 1803 and he had a brother James A. Calaway born in Georgia in 1842. All of them moved to Wood at the same time.
The original minister and other original members remain unknown to us.
After obtaining the land in 1881, a wooden single room Church building was constructed. Unfortunately, no photographs of this building are known. The Methodist Episcopal Church South at Oak Grove met in the original building continuously for the next 62 years.
I am confident that Bishop John Wesley Hardt will allow me to insert here his description of events surrounding the Liberty Church in 1942. At that time Bishop Hardt was a 20 year old college senior and was appointed to the local “circuit”. On the fourth Sunday of May 1942 he preached his first sermon at Liberty. (In April 1939, the "North" and "South" factions of the Church had reunited to become "The Methodist Church" and this Church had changed its name at that time to "Liberty Methodist Church".) Bishop Hardt told it this way: “Liberty had only a few older people left as the young men had gone into military service or left for California or Dallas where there were jobs in the war industries. The old folk at Liberty could see they might have to close their church. A revival that summer, (and the efforts of Bishop Hardt) brought some surprising crowds and instead of talking of closing the church, members began talking of fixing up the run down building, maybe even building a new church. Uncle Charley Malone who was living with his daughter and son in law, the Osborns, took his hammer one day and began tearing loose boards off the wall in order to start that new church building. Others convinced him to stop and replace the boards, but a building fund was started. Jim Malone started a savings account for the church”. (“Uncle” Charley Malone was born in 1865 and had joined the Liberty Church in 1924) By 1943, John and Emily Calaway had passed away and their heirs arranged for a new survey of the property. Then attorney Henry M. Crietzberg (a member of the Church) began proceedings between the heirs to trade the six acres owned by the Church for three acres 1/3 mile to the south so the Church would be located on the new State Highway 154. Bishop Hardt recalls that “the old church was in such a deep bed of sand that in the hot dry summer of revival meeting time cars would get stuck in the sand”. Agreements were reached and the Alba Charge of the Tyler District, on June 25, 1944, authorized the Board of Trustees of the Liberty Methodist Church to make this trade. The trustees at that time were C.A. Malone, G. E. Snodgrass and Arthur Sims. The land trade specified that the Church would retain "all improvements" on the six acres.
After the land exchange, members of the Church dismantled the old Church building and constructed a new building on the new property using the same lumber and materials. Multi-talented attorney Henry M. Crietzberg was one of the men who enclosed the new building in brick. It was heated by a fireplace and was completed in 1945. State Highway 154 was then still a dirt road.
In 1968, when the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to become the United Methodist Church, this small church in Wood County became the Liberty United Methodist Church.
The building constructed by the members in 1945 is still in use today although central heating and air conditioning have been added and the interior has been remodeled. A steeple was added in the mid-1990's. In 1959, a house was purchased by the congregation for $800 and placed on the east side of the Sanctuary, to be used as a Fellowship Hall. In 2004, the old Hall was moved away and a new, much larger, Fellowship Hall was constructed in the same spot. In 2014 an addition to the Hall was completed, doubling its size.
There have been many additional upgrades to the Sanctuary building in the last few years.
Since 1902, records list 51 different Ministers serving the Liberty Church. In June 2010, Dr Dick White became the Minister. The Liberty Church is thriving. Membership is now at 115, finances are in good shape and Sunday services are well attended. There are two adult Sunday Schools, a young people’s Sunday School and a separate Bible Study Group.
We Give All Thanks To GOD for HIS Blessings on our Church!
SOME FOUNDING FAMILIES
Our best knowledge to date is that Liberty Church was founded not long after the conclusion of the Civil War. Many southern families left the destroyed southern economy and moved west. Some of them came to Wood County, Texas, and some of their descendants are still members of the Liberty Church.
Eva Marie Harris Swann, Marie Osbourn Folmar, Alice Fay Harbin Lee, Mary Harbin Halbert, James "Buddy" Clanton, Neva Harbin Potts and Ronnie (Clanton) Taylor are all present members and all are direct descendants of some of these founding families. There are others who are members now but are a little further down the line of descent.
First to come were several families named Harris who were all brothers & sisters and who came to Wood County from Georgia in 1859 in a large wagon train. There were two subsequent groups also named Harris who came later. They were all, at least remotely, related to each other. John P. Harris came with his family from Georgia in 1879. John W. Harris, born in Tennessee in 1867 & married to Mary Holleman, brought his family from Tennessee in 1880.
The Malone family came from Alabama in 1868.
The Callaway family came to Wood from Alabama in 1869.
The Chrietzbergs came from Alabama in 1875.
The Harbins came from Alabama in 1876.
The Clantons came from Alabama in 1895
The Osbourn family came from Alabama in 1905.
Wood County had just been created in 1850 and, considering transportation and communication in those days, it is not surprising that children from these families met and intermarried.
John A. Callaway, born in 1845, married in 1865 to Sarah E. Malone when both families still lived in Alabama. Also still in Alabama, Harriet Malone (sister to Sarah) married John H. Voorhees, he born in 1846.
And still before they left Alabama, John H. Malone, born in 1845, (brother to Sarah & Harriet) married Emily A. Osbourn. John & Emily Malone were the parents of Charles A. Malone who married in 1885 to Mary Day. Mary Day's mother was Christina Chrietzberg. A daughter of Charles & Mary Malone was Euna Pearl Malone who later married Harvey L. Osbourn. A son of Charles & Mary Malone was John Clifton Malone who later married Ida Mae Harbin.
Arthur Sanford Harris, born 1895, was a son of John W. & Mary Harris, and he married Rosa B. Harbin. Alta E. Harris, a daughter of John W. & Mary Harris, married James W. Harbin (brother of Rosa). Arthur Sanford & Rosa Harris were the parents of Arthur Sanford Harris Jr and Eva Marie Harris Swann. James W. & Alta Harbin were the parents of Alta M. Harbin, Alice F. Harbin, and Mary Harbin. Mary Harbin later married John Halbert. Alice Harbin married Clarence Lee. Alta Harbin married J. W. Dopson and they were the parents of James D. Dopson.
Henry Miles Chrietzberg, born in 1869, married Naomi Callaway.
Harvey L. Osbourn, born 1887, married Euna Pearl Malone. Their son Rupert Osbourn, was the father of Marie Osbourn Folmar.
In 1881, the Callaway family donated six acres of land on which a Methodist Church could be constructed and The Liberty United Methodist Church (after some subsequent name changes) came into existence. In 1944, the heirs of the Callaways, at the request of Trustees of Liberty Church, traded the original six acres for three acres located on the south side of the six but the new three were adjacent to the new State Highway 154. Using the same materials from the old church building erected 64 years earlier, church members constructed the present Sanctuary.
There were other founding families, such as Voorhees, Williams, Hardy, and others but I am unaware that any present members are direct descendants of theirs.
Gary D Duke, Historian, April 2011