History of the First Baptist Church, Austin, Texas Page: 8
31 p. illus. 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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to Austin, where he was joined by his family who had
been during his absence with Mrs. Taliaferro's parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Washington Anderson, at Round
Rock. He bought the Morris House, just north of the
capitol, where Amelia Barr once lived. As the church
was in debt and the people were impoverished by war,
Mr. and Mrs. Taliaferro taught a private school to
maintain themselves, while he again preached for the
church free of charge. Surely his heavenly mansion
will be well furnished with good deeds done in the
name of his Lord.
First Church Building
During the years from 1847 to 1856 the First Baptist
Church had grown from seven to seventy-two
members; so though thirty-seven of these were negro
slaves, it seemed desirable to build a place of worship
On March 13, 1855-the date of the deed on record in
the Travis County Court House-Mr. Taliaferro
bought from Thomas and Nancy Puckett, who had
procured it from the State of Texas in 1848, the lot
on the northeast corner of the present Colorado and
Tenth Streets, a part of the plot now occupied by the
present church building. He then sold the same to the
church, who through her trustees, K. L. Harelson,
Joseph Harrell, Alfred Grooms, MI. Perry, and G. R.
Freeman, paid him $310.00.
There is a very pretty story current that Sam Houston,
after locating the spot for the Capitol and the
Mansion, stepped across to this place, and driving a
peg, remarked: "I am a Baptist and right here we
will build a Baptist Church." I can find, however, no
authentic basis for the story. From 1846, the year
before the church was organized, until 1859, more than
two years after the building was completed, Gen.
Houston was a member of the United States Senate
and presumably spent his time in Washington.
The next year, 1856, they began to build the old
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Brooks, Mrs. V. L. History of the First Baptist Church, Austin, Texas, book, 1923; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth33019/m1/9/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.