OLD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH ON SOUTH COLLEGE, 1942

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WAS FIRST IN HAMILTON, from June, 1934, Hamilton County News

REV. J. W. CAMPBELL - Pastor in 1934

STEEPLE FOR FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

The First Presbyterian Church was organized on 5 September, 1880, by Rev. John A. McMurray, evangelist of the Central Texas Presbytery. The nine charter member were M. S. Howard, N. C. Howard, D. L. Reynolds, Emma Veridet, Andrew Miller, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Foster, and W. T. Cropper. The Presbyterian congregation built the first church building in Hamilton in early 1882 on College Street. Rough thick floor joists were put together with wooden pegs. The Presbyterians graciously shared their building with the Baptists and the Episcopalians. In 1924 a lot on North Rice was purchased for $300 for a manse and by 1929 a brick manse valued at $1500 was completed. In 1947 Ed A. Perry donated property adjacent to the manse and Joe Schooler with Maude (his faithful, small but powerful, and old truck) moved the First Presbyterian Church from College Street to North Rice Street in May, 1947. Following the move the church was refinished on the inside and brick-veneered on the outside. The old church remained the sanctuary and additional space was added on two levels on the east side.

Some of the other members have been Nathan Abernethy, J. E. and Ann Alexander, Walter Anglin, Willis Arnett, George H. Boynton, Jr., Mrs. Harry (Lucille) Boynton, Mrs. Lou Brunk, Main Brunk, Q. Brunk, William Guffie Barkley, Mavis Olivia (Doggett) Barkley, William Wood Barkley , Ada A. (Mariott) Barkley, James W. Blackwell, Bill Boyd, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Boynton, Q. Brunk, Sam Butler, Jr., C. C. Carlton, Elizabeth Stiles Cathey, E. F. Catterton, George Chambliss, Ovid Dill, Mrs. John Duffy, Mr. and Mrs. H. E. Chesley, Mrs. J. Ted Chesley, Ed Craig, H. E. Craig, E. H. Davis, C. R. Edgar, Carl Emmett, Mr. and Mrs. George R. Golightly, Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Gordon, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Gordon, Mary Scott Gould, Wesley Hall, Hal Havens, A. C. Hayes, W. A. Haynes, Frank Holmes, J. G. Jones, W. Lee Jones, Carl Knelly, Dr. Robert A. Kooken, Jr., Dr. and Mrs. R. A. Kooken, Sr., Judge and Mrs. Hal A. Leaverton, R. W. Loyd, Mrs. Leila Main, M. M. McInnis, Mrs. Anna McKinley, T. S. McKinley, Sr., W. H. McKinley, Mrs. Della May, James Robert Miller, John Hardy Morgan, Lew Nichols, Ed A. Perry, Frances Pulatti, Gilbert Rabbe, J. M. Roddy, Mitchell Sauer, Mrs. R. F. (Maggie) Scoggins, Mr. and Mrs. George B. Scott, Harry Smith, E. B. Stiles, Harold H. Stroud, Jr., Cecil Robert "Bob" Tate, C. R. Taylor, Horace Taylor, Mrs. W. F. Taylor, A. L. Vick, Ronald Wenzel, Jake and Lillian Wilhelm, Dr. and Mrs. Sterling Price Williams, Dan and Maurine Wilkerson, R. L. "Bob" Wilson, and Mr. and Mrs. Leon York.

The original portion of the First Presbyterian Church is the third oldest structure in Hamilton. The residences at 201 West Ross Street and 200 West Main Street are the oldest structures in Hamilton. In 1923 the Women’s Auxiliary of the First Presbyterian Church organized a worship circle at Leesville (Union.)