Elder N. Conner

Elder N. Conner probably never lived in Rusk County, but he did pastor at least one church here. He is listed as the pastor of the Mt. Carmel Church in southern Rusk County in 1858.

He served as the first clerk/secretary of the Mt. Zion Baptist Association, formed in 1857 while meeting at the Mt. Zion Church at Lawsonville in Rusk County. He probably was a member and/or pastor of the New Salem Church near Douglass in Nacogdoches County, since he attended the association as a delegate from the New Salem Church. (The pastors are not named in the 1857 minutes book.) In 1859 Conner was pastor of the New Salem Church, as well as the Baptist Church at Melrose (in Nacogdoches County).

His first name remains unknown, as does what happened to him. Early in 1859 he was engaging to go on a trip back to South Carolina to visit his old home, family, and friends. Perhaps he never returned to Texas.

Conner was ordained at the Anderson Baptist Church, by John Scott Murray and Amaziah Rice. The Anderson Church House was located about 1-1/2 miles south of Anderson, Anderson County, South Carolina. The statement that “Conner’s labors as a Baptist minister have been confined to Texas ever since his ordination” implies that Conner was ordained and shortly after left for Texas.

Note: The New Salem Church mentioned below was in Nacogdoches County, not Rusk County.

Tennessee Baptist, Saturday, March 12, 1859, p. 1

There as some minutes of the Anderson Baptist Church online, HERE, 1868-1875.

New Hope Baptist Church at Iron Mountain

J. W. D. Creath wrote in 1850, “From this point [Dallas County, rlv] I travelled about 200 miles South-east, to attend the Soda Lake Association, which commenced on Saturday, before third Sabbath of this month, with the New Hope church, Rusk county. This is, also, a flourishing body, on the east side of the Trinity river, (the other on the West.) [That is, the Trinity River Association which was previously described, was on the west side of Trinity River, and Soda Lake Association was on the east side of Trinity River, rlv].” (“Texas Correspondence,” Sept. 25th, 1850, from J. W. D. Creath. South Western Baptist, Wednesday, October 23, 1850, p. 2)

The New Hope Church of the Soda Lake Association was in southern Rusk County. It is listed in the 1856 minutes of the Soda Lake Baptist Association, with an Iron Mountain post office. The delegates to the association were B. F. Stamps, A. S. Meckeborough, and H. King.[1] New Hope’s pastor was M. M. Wallace, and the church had 50 members in 1856.[2] Wallace mentions this church in 1855 correspondence with The Texas Baptist:

“When this meeting [in Crockett, Houston County, rlv] closed, brothers Paxton and Rowland, and the writer, met at New Hope Church, Rusk county, on Saturday before the third Sabbath in September. We preached four days, and truly we had a refreshing time, for our God came near us. One dear soul professed to find peace in believing in Jesus Christ. Eight members were added to the church during the meeting, by experience and baptism. And thus our meetings ended. To God be all the glory, and we will praise him for ever and ever.”[3]

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[1] Britton F. Stamps attended the formation of the Mt. Zion Association the next year (1857) as a delegate from the Mt. Carmel church. A. S. Meckeborough (sic) was the brother of Mary Ann Mickleborough/ Micklebrough, wife of William Howerton. William and Mary Ann were both members of Mt. Carmel church. H. King might possibly be Harrison King, who is buried at Sacul, which is in the general area.
[2] Southwestern Seminary Library in Fort Worth, which has the 1856 minute, also has a minute from 1854. New Hope Church is not listed in it.
[3] “Letter from Brother Wallis,” The Texas Baptist, Wednesday, October 31, 1855, p. 2. “Brother Wallis” is Milas Milford Wallace (1810-1867), who is buried at the Jacksonville City Cemetery,. The correspondence is dated Nacogdoches Co., September 24, 1855, and reports on protracted meetings in four churches he pastored: Palestine, Cherokee County; Mt. Zion, Rusk County; Crockett, Houston County; and New Hope, Rusk County.

Organization of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 1854

The following newspaper report discloses the year of the organization of the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in the Lawsonville/Concord area of Rusk County. The reporter is M. M. Wallace (spelled Wallis in the paper), who was the pastor, present, and participating in a protracted meeting at Mt. Zion in 1855. Source: “Letter from Brother Wallis,” The Texas Baptist, Wednesday, October 31, 1855, p. 2. “Brother Wallis” is Milas Milford Wallace (1810-1867), who is buried at the Jacksonville City Cemetery, but apparently living in Nacogdoches County at the time (the correspondence is dated Nacogdoches Co., September 24, 1855).

The protracted meeting was held in early September 1855. Wallace wrote that the Mt. Zion Church was organized by Isham H. Lane “about one year past” – making the organization of the Mt. Zion Church sometime in 1854. It was organized with about seven members.

Mt. Zion is significant in its place in the early history of Baptists in Rusk County (and East Texas). The church building was the location of the organization of the Mt. Zion Baptist Association in 1857. Mt. Zion was the mother of several churches, including (I believe) Holly Spring (now named East Holley Spring) and Union Spring near Concord, and the Baptist Church in Mt. Enterprise (now named First Baptist Church). The church building was located in what is now the Campground Cemetery, east of Mt. Enterprise.

The other preachers mentioned at the meeting are John H. Rowland, at the time from Palestine, and who married Agnes Wood from the Bellview/Pirtle Community of Rusk County; Isham H. Lane of Cherokee County; and J. E. Paxton of Louisiana.