175th Anniversary of FUMC
Welcome to the 175th Anniversary Celebration of the First United Methodist Church Georgetown!
As we mark this significant milestone, we reflect on the profound compassionate impact our church and its people have had on our community throughout the years. Since our founding, we have been steadfast in our commitment to serving others with love, empathy, and generosity. From offering sanctuary and support to those in need, to spearheading initiatives that uplift the marginalized, our church has been a beacon of hope and kindness. Join us this year as we honor our rich history of compassion and renew our dedication to making a positive difference in the lives of those around us.
​
Join us as we explore the rich history of our beloved Church and its people!
History of Compassionate Impact at FUMC
1849-1874
Creation of Georgetown's First United Methodist Church began in La Grange on December 6, 1849, when the Annual Texas Conference assigned James W. Lloyd to organize Georgetown Mission Church (San Antonio District, Josiah W. Whipple, Presiding Elder) of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. By the time Reverend Lloyd reached Georgetown later in December 1849 or early 1850, he was about 36 years old. A native of Tennessee, he was in the household of John Gooch of Georgetown, a gunsmith, according to the 1850 census. Methodist missionaries had been in Texas about a decade. William B. Travis appealed in 1835 to Methodist officials to send preachers to "this benighted land," and the church responded in 1837 with three missionaries for all the inhabited areas of Texas.
​
​
In 1848 Williamson County was formed. The county seat was established on uninhabited prairie land near the San Gabriel River and the town was named Georgetown. The Texas Conference of that era was watchful of Texas' rapidly expanding frontier and made it a practice to designate missions where strong communities were likely to develop. By late 1849 Georgetown was a tiny hamlet with only a handful of hastily-built log houses. No churches were erected there until in the early 1870s. Methodists, like other denominations, gathered in homes, joined with other religious groups for union services in public buildings, or met outdoors if the weather was mild. When the circuit riding pastor paid his occasional visit to Georgetown Mission or Circuit, he held formal religious services, baptized babies born since his last visit, married couples awaiting his arrival, and conducted memorial and funeral services. During his absence laymen or ministers of other denominations were sometimes called on to read the last rites of deceased Methodists. A traveling preacher generally ministered to congregations in two counties and as many as eighteen mission churches.
A Seed Planted in 1849
Northwest Conference, 1865
Throughout its first two decades, which included the Civil War and early Reconstruction, Georgetown developed slowly, its population remaining that of a small frontier village; nonetheless, Georgetown
Methodist Church reported to Annual Conference that it had 115 white members and one "colored" member in 1850, the total gradually increasing to 180 white and 24 black members in 1865. Georgetown
Mission came to life in the San Antonio District, was briefly in the Springfield and Austin districts, but for most of its early years was a member of the Waco District.
Annual Conference records of 1860 recognized that the Texas frontier had expanded well beyond Georgetown, and that year began referring to the local church as the Georgetown Circuit instead of
Georgetown Mission. The Civil "war storms" deeply affected Texans despite the fact that the state was not a battleground. When Reverend Hiram M. Burrows, sent to Georgetown Circuit to preach in 1861, left for the Confederate Army, another minister had to be assigned to replace him. The war ended in April 1865. At the Texas Annual Conference in November of that year, a new North-West (soon written Northwest) Texas Conference was established, and Georgetown was shifted into this new geographical division. 'The war did much towards [sic.] demoralizing the church," the Conference reports for
1867 declare.
​
Population figures showed a marked rise in Georgetown, and the Methodist Circuit membership also increased, beginning about 1870. The church totals reported at Annual Conference were impressive, but apparently far exceeded the number of active members. For instance, in October 1872, 353 were shown on the roll, but when Dr. Francis Asbury Mood arrived the following summer to prepare for the opening of Southwestern University, the good college president and former circuit preacher could locate only fourteen active Methodists in the entire town. He was distressed to find that the University's adopted church was without an enthusiastic and vigorous congregation. If one considers the mission or circuit status of the church, the discrepancy between total membership rolls and the number of active members was probably not unusual. Intermittent religious services, lack of its own meeting place, unheated buildings, poor weather and road conditions, and other frontier problems-all these helped to account for Georgetown Methodist's slight participation in unified church activities, a circumstance which would change shortly.
A Methodist University
Events from 1870 to 1873 were to have long-lasting significance for Georgetown, for the local Methodist Church and for Methodism throughout Texas. Early in 1870 a group of Georgetown citizens decided that their town should have facilities for higher education and by summer they were constructing Georgetown College in the 500 block of East University Avenue, just northeast of the present First United Methodist Church.
The college's plain, two-story stone structure was completed in 1871. In August of that year, William Monk, circuit pastor of Georgetown Mission, attended a conference in Waco during which the Bishop asked Monk to look around in his Waco District to locate a desirable site for a proposed new Methodist University. Church officials sought a Central Texas location, farther inland than previous Texas Methodist colleges which had been plagued by yellow fever and Indian raids. As Reverend Monk rode horseback from Waco toward Georgetown, he mused about his task. Upon reaching Georgetown he met Colonel William Cornelius Dalrymple, a leading citizen and supporter of Georgetown College. Monk suggested to him that the community offer the new Georgetown College building and the property on which it stood to the Methodists for their institution of higher learning. Georgetown College stockholders considered and then approved the plan, and Reverend Monk, Captain J. C. S. Morrow, a local merchant, and Dudley H. Snyder, a cattleman, formally presented their proposition to the Texas Methodist Conferences.
After an intensive study and investigation of possible sites, including Georgetown, Austin, Belton, Salado, Waco, Kosse, Corsicana, Owensville, Fort Worth, Fairfield, and Calvert, the Methodist Conferences selected Georgetown on August 21, 1873. 'When the news . . . reached Georgetown the citizens expressed their great satisfaction by firing a hundred anvils." Dr. Mood, Regent (President) of the new institution, promptly arrived in Georgetown to make necessary arrangements for the opening of "Texas University” scheduled for Monday, October 6, 1873. The name of the school was changed to Southwestern University in February 1875 when the State Legislature informed Methodist officials that it required the other name for a proposed new state university. Late that year Georgetown Methodist had 347 members and 205 Sabbath School scholars.
State of the Church, 1873
The fourteen active Methodists Dr. Mood found in Georgetown late in the summer of 1873 were loosely organized and met infrequently, and a Union Sunday School was "rather thinly attended." There was a flourishing temperance society called The Band of Hope, which was the most popular moral or religious organization at this time and, along with all other towns in Texas, Georgetown needed some temperance influence since saloons were running wide open day and night, according to Margaret Mood McKinnon's church history. There were no church buildings in town. The denominations were Methodist, Presbyterian (in the process of building a church), Cumberland Presbyterian and Baptist. They had been sharing or alternating services in the courthouse or Price's Hall (second floor of the Lockett Building at Seventh and Austin Avenue).
Organized Church, 1874
​
As the Presbyterian church neared completion in 1874, their officers proposed dividing Sundays of each month among the denominations, and offered to allow Methodists a Sunday once a month for $30 a year. Dr. Mood called the members of the Methodist Church to meet on Sunday, January 11, 1874, to organize and to consider the Presbyterian proposition. Thirty-seven enrolled their names and a petition was forwarded to the trustees of Southwestern University asking permission to hold services in the University chapel, a request that was promptly granted by the trustees.
The church commenced weekly prayer meetings every Thursday and organized a Sunday School to meet afternoons so they would not interfere with a Union Sunday School held mornings. Thirty scholars enrolled in the Methodist Sunday School. Mrs. Belle Chrietzberg was church organist, using the small, portable, old-fashioned organ with a foot pump such as was commonly in use in churches. The Mood family had brought it with their other household goods from Chappell Hill, Texas, where Dr. Mood served a brief appointment before corning to Georgetown. Georgetown Circuit in 1874 consisted of twelve churches, including Georgetown, Brushy Creek, Round Rock, Circleville, Easley, Berry's Creek, Corn Hill, Cook, Macedonia, Willis Creek, Marrs School House, and Avery, all served by one minister.
The plain, two-story, stone building of Southwestern University, where the Methodists met, measured about 60 by 75 feet, contained six classrooms and a chapel-auditorium which seated about 400. Professor S. G. Sanders of the University faculty wrote that he felt he was entering a cave as he went in the front door of the building, so rough was the appearance of the unplastered rock walls. There was no indoor plumbing, no well nor cistern, and no heating system. The damp condition in the building severely aggravated bronchial ailments suffered by Dr. Mood. He and his family occupied rooms on the first floor of the college building for a while because of early financial strains on the new University. During church services the mothers brought their babies and put them to bed in Mrs. Mood's bedroom
downstairs and then, in peace of mind, they attended services above, Mrs. McKinnon recalled. Small birds nested in the inside crevices of the rockwalls and chorused their songs during worship. As the Sunday School grew, classes convened in classrooms and even in the Mood apartments.
The church’s growth brought other changes. The Circuit was reduced from twelve to two churches at Annual Conference for 1876, Georgetown and Round Rock sharing a pastor. This created a need for a parsonage, which Georgetown Methodist furnished to Reverend George W. Graves (1876-1878). It was located in the 800 block of Walnut Street. Changes at Southwestern University were of considerable interest to the church membership. Almost since the University’s opening, several young ladies had been requesting admittance as students, but the Curators declined to admit them until one summer when it was rumored that another denomination planned to open a female school in Georgetown. Reversing their previous decision, the Curators rented the basement of the new Presbyterian Church, and classes for women started September9 , 1878.
By 1879 the University had completed a "sightly," frame, two-story building with "well furnished” dormitory and classrooms to house the Young Ladies' School/ Normal and the Young Ladies' Department, in the 1100 block of Main Street (later site of Annie Purl Public School). It was also called the ''female institute. The school was placed about four blocks west of the men's campus at what was described as a "discreet distance to prevent embarrassment in discipline. Although the same faculty served Southwestern University's male and female students, all classes were separate and even different catalogs were issued.
1875-1899
A New Chapel, 1882
The congregation soon began to discuss building its own church, and, on April 12, 1881, it purchased one-half of the 1000 block facing east on Church Street, near the Female Institute, "on which to erect a Church and a Parsonage." J. N. Preston, architect of Austin, was engaged to draw the plans and bids were solicited for construction of the church in June 1881. Meanwhile, at the same time, Southwestern University was improving its two-story college building, plastering the inside walls and adding a third story with stylish bell tower. The church had met there since 1874. Within the next few months, however, the Methodists had changed their plans and only a parsonage was put up on the Church Street site. Mrs. McKinnon wrote that 1881 was in "the dreadful Reconstruction Period" when money was hard to get. Church membership had dropped to 185. The congregation decided to build a low, one-story, flat-roofed structure, partially below ground level, to which an upper story could be added as needed.
The new "Chapel" would face University Avenue, just northeast of the 1893 sanctuary, on the southwest corner of Southwestern University’s original campus. It would cost about $5,000. Ground was broken for the Chapel on April 3, 1882. The church was apparently delighted to have its own place of worship, no matter how simple and unadorned the building was, for it seemed to thrive during its years there. Each member furnished his own wooden bench, which was often long enough to seat the entire family, Dr. J. Sam Barcus, and 1890 graduate of Southwestern University and its president from 1924 to 1928 wrote in his history of the church. The ladies of the congregation improved the worshipful atmosphere by pasting pastel paper over the pointed windows designed in the Gothic Revival style of the time. Such prominent men in Methodism as John M . Barcus, John R . Nelson, Bishop H . A. Boaz, J. Sam Barcus, Emmitt Hightower, Frank Onderdonk and W. B. McKeown entered the ministry in the Chapel. Dr. Barcus recalled that the Chapel was the scene of precious memories and great revivals, and said that it was here that a collection of $20,000 for missions and $33,000 for building the Ladies Annex was made. Many college debates and orations were delivered here. When the Northwest Conference met in the fall of 1882, the local church could report a substantial increase in membership after the 1881 slump. Delegates at this conference heard church officials stress the urgent need for practicing temperance in the use of alcohol and tobacco. A few wits joked good-naturedly about the unpretentious Chapel, including a traveling orator who, in about 1890, described the only one he knew where the minister “could stand flat-footed on the ground and lick salt off the top.” If it were his, the speaker declared, he would “get a yoke of oxen and a turn plow, run furrow around it and cover it up, or simply take a shovel and hide its flat, dugout-like appearance,” Dr. Barcus and Mrs. McKinnon remembered. Dr. Francis Asbury Mood died in 1884 and was buried in a clump of trees between the new Chapel and the University building. He was later reinterred in the Georgetown I. 0. 0. F. Cemetery. His family continued to live in Georgetown, but the Methodist Church, as well as the University and the community, had lost a dynamic force as a result of his premature death.
The idea of hiring architect J. N. Preston to plan a second floor for the Chapel was generally the intention of the church until about 1890. Mrs. McKinnon supplies the narrative from that point 'but Mr. J. T. Sneed and Mr. M. B. Lockett, members of the building committee, had a vision of the future [and] insisted that new ground be purchased and an entirely new building be planned and erected. [This] handsome church [the present sanctuary] has been pronounced by out-of-state visitors as one of the most distinctive church buildings in Texas. It has been remarked on more than one occasion that it really has the atmosphere and appearance of a church and not a theater, as so many modern church buildings have. Its beautiful stained-glass windows, and the spire reaching up toward the heavens, the cool, restful interior, its dignified lines, its ivy-covered walls, are all conducive to the spirit of worship as soon as one enters." To provide a site for the new structure, the Board of Trustees on July 3, 1891, paid $1200 for the east half of Block 2, Hughes Addition, belonging to Sue R. Mood, widow of the late Francis Asbury Mood. Construction began soon after the purchase and would cost approximately $25,000, including the stained-glass windows and some of the furnishings.
A New Church, 1891-1893
.png)
​
The cornerstone was laid March 9, 1892. The local newspaper for Thursday, March 3, 1892, reported the story. "Rev. H. A. Boaz, of the Jonah circuit, occupied the pulpit at the Methodist church last Sunday night, preaching an excellent sermon . . . Bishop Joseph S. Key will reach here to-night on the 11:20 train. He will remain a week . . . , will preach on Sunday morning, lecture before the Epworth League Sunday afternoon and address the Alma Norwood Missionary Society Sunday evening at 8 o'clock p.m. On Tuesday the Alathean Society will tender the Bishop an informal reception, and on Wednesday at 11 a.m. he will preside at the laying of the corner stone of the new Methodist church.” The land on which the church stands was patented by the Republic of Texas and the document was signed by President Sam Houston on August 19, 1844. It was then granted to a colonist, Clement Stubblefield, who sold 1476 acres to Thomas B. Huling, a developer, for $150, October 10, 1848. George Washington Glasscock for whom Georgetown is named, became Huling's partner and eventually acquired this acreage, selling about 17 acres to Thomas p. Hughes for $221.87. Hughes sold Block 2 to Dr. F. A. Mood on January 19, 1874 for $250, and the Mood family residence was built on the west half shortly after.
ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION The Gothic Revival theme of the sanctuary's architecture is established by a prominent, corner bell tower and spire reaching four-and-one-half-stories, visible for several miles, and by the structure’s perpendicular lines. Pointed arches and lancet windows of leaded, stained glass accent the style. Native limestone covers the exterior, with dressed, cut stonework in a rough-faced ashlar. The cruciform floor plan takes its shape from that of a Greek cross, with its equidistant upright members and arms providing a space for the altar and choir on the west, and seating in the other three sections.
A balcony hangs from the east arm of the nave. Master builder C. S. Belford, owner of the well-known Belford Lumber Company, was in charge of the construction crew composed primarily of skilled Swedish carpenters. Waterston Brothers Stonecutters, of Austin, who had done the stonework on the present Texas State Capitol and would do similar work on Southwestern University's Main (Cullen) Building, were the stonemasons on the church. The stone was hauled by mule team from quarries west of Georgetown and hand cut and dressed by the Waterstons. The overall design is credited to Dr. Robert Stewart Hyer, professor of natural science at Southwestern University and a member of the church’s building committee. Dr. Hyer built a three-foot scale model of the proposed structure of wood and tin to demonstrate his ideas to the building committee and work crew. Construction spanned 1891 and 1892, with completion of the interior and installation of fixtures and furnishings in 1893. "Some the memorial windows for the new Methodist church have been placed in position, and make quite a pretty effect," the Williamson County Sun reported June 15, 1893. A week later, the paper noted that "the room in the southwest corner of the church, intended for the pastor's study, has been furnished, and is in use by the pastor." The July 13, 1893, issue described the marriage of Miss Anne Montgomery to S. A. Hodges on Wednesday afternoon, July 12, believed to have been the first wedding solemnized in the new church. Dr. Hyer was something of a creative genius, an aesthete, loved woods and woodworking. He carved the pulpit and the communion table for the church and was reimbursed by the church for his travel expenses to Austin and San Antonio where he purchased other furnishings for the sanctuary. A stylized ichthus or fish, an important symbol in the Christian religion, decorates the finial on top of the tall church spire. Four large, composite sets of leaded, stained-glass windows of Gothic Revival characteristics and a number of small, high windows where space permits were installed in the sanctuary. They are in muted, often pastel, tones instead of the vivid, deep colors generally expected in traditional stained glass. The place of manufacture has not been determined, but this kind of stained or art glass was produced by a number of companies in this country during the nineteenth century. Several of the church windows were purchased as memorials.
The lower center section of the west window behind the altar was covered by the pipe organ about 1906 and the entire west side of the church by the Religious Education wing on the exterior about 1930. West windows still visible depict religious symbols, including a scroll upon which "Holy Gospel" is inscribed, a Bible and wreath, crossed palm branches, the sun and its rays, a sickle and sheaf of wheat, and a grape vine and grapes, and are filled in by other patterns added for ornamentation. The glass is in rich autumn colors.
The round section of the large north window originally pictured a cross upon a rock, which was replaced by a menorah decades later when the symbolic design was broken during a restoration attempt. The two center windows contain an anchor cross and a Latin cross with crown superimposed. One of the side sections features a descending dove, the sun and its rays, and lilies. Clear, cool colors, especially a light, bright blue, and soft pastel shades dominate the north windows. The interior view of the east windows is partially obscured by the balcony, but the center of the large, round window shows a dove with olive branch executed in deep shades, pastels in the lower center sections, and deeper tones in the side windows. The southside circular unit displays a lamp upon a book. One of the side panels is adorned with a dove over a Latin cross and a book between a pair of inverted torches, symbolizing the light of God's word. These windows are in radiant colors.
The religious symbols and additional decorative designs are employed by artists to enhance the beauty and tranquillity of the glass and to transform the light or reflect the brilliance of the sun as its rays strike the glass. The floors, beaded ceiling, large beams and braces, and beaded wainscoting are of hard pine; the pews, altar pieces, communion rails, pulpit, and other furnishings are of oak, some of it hand carved. Walls above the wainscot are plastered and painted. Dr. Hyer selected the furnishings in Austin or San Antonio, including the hanging kerosene lamps that originally provided light in the sanctuary. The old footpump organ continued to supply the music until during Reverend John M. Barcus' pastorate (1906-1909) when a splendid pipe organ was installed. Most of the original furnishings and materials survive and are still in use. A full-page photograph of the new church was featured in the Northwest Texas Conference Journal for 1893, captioned “Our Church in Georgetown, Texas." It gives a rare west view of the sanctuary and the west windows before the Religious Education Building covered that side, and also shows the picket fence which outlined the west half of the block occupied by the Mood residence.
Art historian Claude L. Kennard, professor at Southwestern University, declared that early Georgetown structures form three outstanding groups, each dominated by an architectural gem: one located around the courthouse square, a second marked by the tower of Southwestern University's Main/ Administration (Cullen) Building, Formal dedication of the sanctuary was postponed until all indebtedness on its cost had been retired. It took place the third Sunday of October in 1896.
Industrial Era Reaches Georgetown
A railroad "tap line" was completed late in 1878 from Georgetown to Round Rock, where it joined the I. & G. N. system and provided an important economic asset to the community. The University mentioned this new facility in its catalogs, and newspapers of that period indicate that people rode the tap line from Round Rock to Georgetown to attend the Methodist services in the chapel. However splendid the improvement of train travel was instead of riding a horse reported that “the train due Monday at 12 did not arrive until after dark. The engine ran short of water at Round Rock and had to wait until it could be supplied.” A month later two clergymen, G. W. Graves and W. F. Gillespie, had to wait several hours in Round Rock for the Georgetown-bound train. They finally despaired and chartered a hack to drive them to the county seat, but were overtaken by the train before they reached Georgetown.
A Full Time Minister, 1879
Great advances characterized the 1870s for both Georgetown and First Methodist Church. An important time in the church's history was its elevation to a full station by the Northwest Annual Conference held in Ft. Worth, October 29-November 3, 1874. James Campbell, one of the four men in the first graduating class (1876) at Southwestern University, was Georgetown Methodist's first full-time pastor. By the next annual conference, $600 had been collected locally for his year's salary. The Presiding Elder's residence for Georgetown District was located in Georgetown from 1879 to 1966, when reorganization created Temple District and established the residence in Temple.
Ladies Aid Society Organized in 1884
The earliest detailed records of Georgetown First United Methodist Church include the minutes of the Ladies Aid Society dated 1884 to 1890, and the Woman's Horne Mission Society from 1899 to 1904, which provide invaluable insights into the church's history. The Ladies Aid Society was organized at the call of the pastor on October 21, 1884, in the Chapel. Thirty-four ladies met, elected officers, set their meeting time "at 3 1/2“ each third Tuesday of the month, and appointed committees to "visit the sick and strangers" and to arrange decorations in the church. They fixed dues at 10 cents a month after an initial 25-cent initiation fee. Attendance for regular meetings at the outset was extremely small, and the first group of officers failed to show up for the second meeting; apparently they were unable to serve. A faithful group persevered, however, and in less than a year they could boast good attendance and a lively interest in the society’s programs of study and devotionals, and in the work of raising funds and taking action relative to the needs of the church and community.
The money accumulated by the women's groups seems trivial by later standards, but the volume of their accomplishments suggests otherwise. To raise funds they practiced regular collection of dues, held ice cream, watermelon, and strawberry socials, sponsored concerts, lawn parties, and sold handmade articles such as quilts, knitted gloves, "angel wings and Christmas dolls," the latter costing them 55 cents for flannel and 15 cents "for cutting and making." The quilt project was suggested soon after their organization, but the idea was not immediately undertaken. Minutes of September 15, 1885, note that the quilt subject was again agitated," and from then on for many years, the piecing, quilting, and selling of quilts occupied much of their time and provided most of their funds They made worsted and patchwork calico quilts, a crazy quilt which sold for $4, and a silk one bringing $10. A signature quilt was described in a “flattering report” which stated that it had already brought in $12.10 from signers, “with others to be heard from.”
The Ladies Aid frequently attended to the requirements of the parsonage on the Church Street property, which was apparently built soon after completion of the Chapel in 1882. In September 1885 the society's minutes recorded .that "the new parsonage room was agreed upon as the most appropriate place for quilting as the room would probably be ready for use by the middle of next week." They had already spent $18 for "a new cooking stove" for the pastor's house in December 1884, and had bought carpet, dishes and a $10 wardrobe soon afterwards. This parsonage stood beside the Presiding Eider’s residence (Georgetown District). Early in 1886 the ladies empowered the pastor to act as their agent to have a plank sidewalk built across the front of the lot from one parsonage to the other. They negotiated with Whittle and Harrel Lumber Company to enlarge the parsonage kitchen six feet, adding shelves and a table, all to cost $47.50. They saw to the cleaning of both homes and yards before newly-assigned preachers and Presiding Elders arrived in Georgetown soon after annual conference appointments. They took on such varied tasks as sewing during one meeting for "one who was unable to aid herself because of illness in the family"; provided help needed by the sick and poor families; located children of the church who were not attending Sunday School; repaired altar chairs and cushions for the Chapel; prepared a special supper for Dr. John Wesley Heidt, who came to Georgetown late in August 1885 to assume the presidency of Southwestern University after Dr. Mood's death.
The ladies' organization met in homes, the Chapel, Helping Hall (a Southwestern University dormitory, later named Giddings Hall), or in the Ladies Annex at the University. Meetings opened with a devotional, followed by a business session. Occasionally a social hour enlivened the gatherings. Severe weather, such as cold, heat, dust, and rain was mentioned in the secretary's minutes because it invariably affected attendance. A Juvenile Missionary Society existed as early as January 6, 1888, when their first known records were dated.
The possibility of a new church was discussed at the April 10, 1888 session of the Ladies Aid, “and ALL present expressed themselves enthusiastically in regard to having one.” The society was likely envisioning the addition of a second floor to the Chapel, as the congregation did at that time. Late the next year, the ladies considered the possibility of tearing down the old parsonage and erecting a new one, but no definite conclusions were recorded.