HISTORY OF THE PROVIDENCE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

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Written and documented by Reggie Browne and Sherron Gardner-Haggerty

First written in 2010 / Revised: July 25, 2015

Providence Missionary Baptist Church was established on August 13, 1865. This was within two months after the slaves were freed in Texas on June 19, 1865. It was begun with a chartered membership of twenty churchgoers.

 

Rev. Nathan Oggs was the first pastor in 1865.

Providence Cemetery was established in 1890. R. A. Oldham sold 4.8 acres, for the sum of twenty-three dollars to Providence Missionary Baptist Church on January 10, 1890. The church trustees were Marion Baston, Joseph Thomas and Henry Day. The property deed is listed in Property Deed Book - Volume 43, page 281, in the Anderson County Clerk’s office. The cemetery is completely fenced in on all four sides and the grass is maintained very well. It sits on a hill and there is a pond nearby. It is also known as Coleman # 3 or Providence (at Montalba). There is another Providence Cemetery located near Slocum.

A portion of the property was used for the Providence Baptist Church site for many years, until the church was relocated to FM 321 in the 1950s. A school building also occupied part of the cemetery land in the early 1900s. The first burials in the cemetery were Harriett Patterson-Hamlett on November 26, 1893, Lilly Robinson on June 22, 1894, Scott Brown on July 5, 1895 and Mollie Robinson on November 7, 1896.

The church was named for the existence of “PROVIDENCE” that is proved by God’s power, wisdom, knowledge and love. Providence displays God’s omnipresence, holiness, justice and benevolence. “He that denies providence denies God’s attributes, His omniscience which is the eye of providence, His mercy and justice, which are arms of providence, His power which is its life and motion, His wisdom which is the propeller whereby providence is steered. Providence is the basis of religion, especially of revealed religion: “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will” (Daniel 4:32). “So minute is His providential care that “the very hairs of our head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30, Acts 27:34, Luke 21:18, Daniel 3:27).

A group of former slaves from the Oldham and Hamlett Plantations near Montalba, who were Christian believers with spiritual needs and ideas, began to yearn for a place to worship. Members of this group pooled their ideas, talents, and work ethic, which resulted in the construction of a little wooden church on a hill on the present-day ACR 2409. The membership included six deacons and a church mother, Sister Littie Patterson. Some of the deacons at that time were: John Allen Shadrick, Billy Updack, Billy Ingram, Marion Baston, Horace Baker and Allen York. The Charter Members were: Marion Baston; Fannie Duke; Harriett Fowler; Isaac Fowler; Jim Garrett; Florence Hamlett (a former slave on Hamlett Plantation); Billy Ingram; Lizzie Ingram; Kenchin Karo; Mary Lelayvond; Cathie Morrison; Feabie Oldham (a former slave on the Oldham Plantation); Littie Patterson; Mary Robinson; Peter Robinson; John Allen Shadrick; Billy Updack; Kitty Updack; Allen York and Malinda York. John Allen Shadrick was the founder, along with Rev. Nathan Oggs as the pastor, and Green Gardner as the financial backer (he was a former slave on the Oldham Plantation).

Richard Henry Boyd founded the National Baptist Publishing Board in Nashville, Tennessee in 1896. Prior to that, as a former slave, Rev. Boyd went by the name Dick Gray, on the Benoni W. (B. W.) Gray Plantation near Brenham and he also fought in the Confederate Army, alongside his master and three of his master’s sons. The first regional black Baptist association in Texas, the Texas Negro Baptist Convention, was founded in 1870, by Rev. Richard H. Boyd and several other ministers.

West Union Baptist Church in Palestine was organized by Rev. Boyd in 1881. He also helped the Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Association get organized in 1879. Christian education has been important to the training and development of laypersons and youth in the county. Most churches and religious groups of varied beliefs held membership with Christian training institutions, associations, and conventions on a local and national level. It prepared Christian leaders throughout the county. Providence Church was a long time member of the Zion Hill Association.

The church has occupied three different sites and has been rebuilt four times: (1) 1865, (2) 1890 (3) 1938 and (4) 1959. The original site in 1865 was on the Updack property, next to the current cemetery location. The church members constructed a little wooden church on a hill on the present-day ACR 2409. In 1890, after more property was acquired, another church building was constructed on the Providence Cemetery property, west of Montalba, at the intersection of Anderson County Road 2409 and ACR 2411. In 1938, the church was moved to the present site in on FM 321, at the intersection of ACR 2405, four miles west of Montalba. The present church building was built in 1959.

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The church has had 23 pastors, from the beginning in 1865 to the present time in 2015. Elder Nathan Oggs was the first pastor was on August 13, 1865. He was born in 1826 in Georgia and his wife Ellen was born in Alabama in 1842. They had three children, James (born in 1868), Saul (1872) and Sam (1877). Elder Oggs also founded Jerusalem Baptist Church on August 3, 1870; Bethel Baptist Church in 1872 and he established his fourth church, New Hope Baptist Church near Tennessee Colony in 1873. He “loaned” the New Hope congregation 2.5 acres of land for the first site of New Hope Church. When he died in 1896, the land reverted back to his family. He also sold the land for New Hope Cemetery #1, located near Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Tennessee Colony. He died on September 13, 1896 and he is buried in New Hope Cemetery #1.

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Rev. Lewis M. (L. M.) Harris followed Elder Oggs as the pastor of Providence Church. He was born on October 1, 1876 and died on October 27, 1929. He is buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery, near Brushy Creek, Texas. Rev. Mack Thomas followed Rev. Harris. He was born on April 1, 1850. He also served as the pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church in the 1890s. He died on January 27, 1910 and is buried in White Rock Cemetery in Dallas, Texas. Elder S. R. Robinson followed Rev. Thomas. He was born in December 27, 1892 and died October 25, 1952. He is buried in Dorie Miller Cemetery in Waco, Texas.

Rev. Frank B. (F. B.) Lakey followed Elder Robinson. He was born on September 15, 1877. He also served as the pastor of South Union Baptist Church in 1899-1902. He died on December 26, 1933 and is buried in Woodland Cemetery in Dallas. Rev. James M. (J. M.) Barnett followed Rev. Lakey. He also served as the pastor of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church on South Sycamore Street in Palestine in the 1890s. He was born on May 10, 1864. He died on April 25, 1942 and is buried in Lawrence Cemetery. Elder Robbins followed Rev. Barnett. Elder Robert Goulsby followed Elder Robbins. He was born on January 28, 1918. He died on July 27, 1954 and is buried in Athens, Texas. Elder Sidney A. (S. A.) Keels followed Elder Goulsby. He was born on October 6, 1883. He also served as the pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church in 1913. He died on February 5, 1935 and is buried in Price Cemetery near New Canaan Baptist Church.

Rev. William M. (W. M.) Thornton followed Elder Keels. He also served as the pastor of Beulah Baptist Church from 1907-1910. Rev. H. W. Webb followed Rev. Thornton. He also served as the pastor of Beulah Baptist Church in 1918 1925 and as pastor of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in 1925-1929. Rev. Uriah S. (U. S.) Sloan followed Rev. Webb. He also served as the pastor of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church in Tucker, Texas; Ebenezer Baptist Church in Tucker, Texas; Oak Grove Baptist Church in Elkhart, Texas and Pilgrim Hill Baptist Church in Palestine. He was born on April 1, 1899. He died on January 22, 1949 and is buried in Fort Houston Cemetery in Palestine. Rev. A. R. Reece followed Rev. Sloan. He also served as the pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Tennessee Colony, Texas. He was born on November 1, 1855. He died on August 19, 1960 and is buried in Jasper Cemetery in Crockett, TX. Rev. Thilbert followed Rev. Reece. Rev. W. F. Jackson followed Rev. Thilbert.

Rev. Alfred D. (A. D.) Duncan followed Rev. W. F. Jackson. He was born on April 2, 1898, in the Providence community of Anderson County. He also served as the pastor of South Union Baptist Church in Palestine from 1929- 1939, Mount Rose Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, from 1942-1945 and as pastor of Beulah Baptist Church near Elkhart from 1946-1960. He died on October 20, 1973 and is buried in Dorie Miller Cemetery in Waco, Texas. Rev. Essex L. (E. L.) Littlejohn followed Rev. Duncan. He served as the pastor at Providence from 1969 to 1971 and also served as the pastor of Brown Springs Baptist Church near the Tyler highway from 1946 to 1960. Rev. Littlejohn departed this life on November 4, 1980, and he is buried in Tyler, Texas. Rev. Edgar Eugene (E. E.) Jackson followed Rev. Littlejohn. He served as the pastor of Pilgrim Hill Baptist Church from 1966 to 1987 and as the pastor of Providence Baptist Church from 1972 to 1987. He was born on July 29, 1908 in Marquez, Texas. He graduated from high school in Jewett, Texas and served in the U. S. Army from 1942 to 1945. He died on January 20, 1987 and is buried in Foster Cemetery, near the Foster Community. Rev. Daniel B. Keys followed Rev. E. E. Jackson. He was born in Easton, Pennsylvania on October 11, 1948. The future pastor had graduated from Ohio State University and married Deborah K. Williams, from the Jerusalem community, on September 7, 1984. Rev. Josephus C. (J. C.) Delley followed Rev. Keys. He served as the pastor at Providence from September 1989 to January 1990 and also served as the pastor of Evan Spring Baptist Church in Neches, Texas from 1944-1950 and as pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Tennessee Colony from 1947 to 1949. He pastored more than 30 churches in the East Texas Baptist Association. He was born in Ruston, Louisiana on June 17, 1910. Hedied on July 12, 2007 and is buried in Tyler, Texas. Rev. Jesse J. (J. J.) Johnson followed Rev. Delley. He was born on November 4, 1950 in Athens, Texas. He came to Providence in February 1990 and served continuously for more than twenty-two years, until May 2012. Rev. Freddie L. Crawford followed Rev. Johnson. He served from September 2012 until his death on March 4, 2014. He is buried in Magnolia Cemetery, near Tucker, Texas. In June 2014, Dr. Autry L. Williams followed Rev. Crawford by serving as the interim pastor. On September 20, 2015, Dr. Williams was installed as the 23rd pastor of  Providence Missionary Baptist Church.

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Churches That Were Founded by Rev. Nathan Oggs

 

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