McMahan's Chapel, the first Methodist church in Texas, was organized in 1833 as a "religious class" in order not to run afoul of Mexican law, as part of Texas being part of Mexico time. After the Texas Revolution, this church was formally organized.
An irregularly shaped gray concrete block was placed in man Chapel cemetery by the Texas Methodist Centennial Commission in 1933, commemorating the actions and preserving the names of early Methodist pioneers in Texas.
The memorial reads as follows:
"[W side]
In memoriam
The pioneers establishing Protestant Christianity here July 1833
A Methodist Church organized here and continuing to this day
these all died in the faith.
[E side, top]
Rev. Robert Alexander
General Administrator
Rev. Littleton Fowler
Church and kingdom builder
Rev. Martin Ruter, D. D.
Father of education in Texas
[E side, 1st inset]
PIONEER MINISTERS
James P. Stevenson 1808-1885
Henry Stevenson 1772-1841
Who led the way
And a great unnamed host
who entered into the labors
[E side, 2nd inset]
PIONEER LAYMEN
Colonel Samuel Doak McMahon
Texas first layman
in a great army of unnamed
and unsung laymen who
followed in his steps
[N side]
Erected by the Texas Methodist Centennial Commission"
From the United Methodist Church Archives and History website: (
visit link)
"McMahan Chapel
San Augustine, Texas
Heritage Landmark of The United Methodist Church
Just over the border from Louisiana stands McMahan Chapel, the oldest Protestant church with a continuous history in Texas. In 1831, when Samuel Doak McMahan (1789-1854) emigrated to Texas from Tennessee, that area was the San Augustine Municipality of the Mexican Government, and Protestant preaching was illegal.
The following year, Methodist preacher James P. Stevenson was appointed to the Sabine Circuit in Louisiana, a few miles east of McMahan's home. Stevenson was asked by some Texans to come over the border and preach for them; after being assured of his safety from possible arrest, Stevenson came and held services. McMahan attended the services and then invited Stevenson to come and preach in his home, too.
Stevenson preached at McMahan's home several times; he also held a camp meeting on McMahan's property. In September 1833, Stevenson organized a "religious society" since it was illegal to organize a church.
The Society had at least twenty charter members, including McMahan and his wife and four of their children and spouses. McMahan was named class leader and in 1837 was licensed as a local preacher.
After the Texas War of Independence in 1836, Protestant preaching was no longer illegal, and the little congregation grew as more and more white settlers moved to Texas. In December 1837 Littleton Fowler (1802-1846) was sent as a Methodist missionary to Texas. He was named Presiding Elder (now District Superintendent) of the Texas Mission District and built his home (and district headquarters) near Samuel McMahan's house.
Some months later, the McMahan congregation built its first house of worship, a pine log chapel forty by thirty feet. Littleton Fowler served as the church's first pastor. He died in 1846 and was buried beneath the pulpit, as he had requested.
The log chapel was replaced by a frame church in 1872, which was in turn replaced by a new building in 1900. The present structure, a brick church, was built in 1949 and is the fourth building on the site.
The nearby cemetery contains the remains of Samuel D. McMahan and other early Texas Methodists.
Points of interest at this Heritage Landmark: McMahan Chapel is on a fifteen acre site. The present chapel is the fourth on the same location and is notable for its stained glass windows and the furnishings, all of which memorialize early Texas Methodists. Littleton Fowler's tombstone can be seen in the pulpit area.
In 2002, the Jack & Charlsie Maund Museum/Events Center was dedicated. The museum commemorates Methodism's first presence in Texas and honors the clergy and laity who have served McMahan Chapel. The Events Center is a popular place for confirmation classes, wedding receptions, family reunions, etc.
Littleton Fowler State Park is across the road, and next to the park is McMahan Chapel Cemetery which dates from before 1833 and is on the Old Spanish Trail (El Camino Real-The King's Highway). The cemetery has been charted and mapped with a guide to graves available just inside the gate into the cemetery.
Contributions to McMahan Chapel United Methodist Church can be made by contacting Sandy Newman (see address below). Worship services are held every 1st and 3rd Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
Special events: McMahan Chapel Day is celebrated each year on the second Saturday in October. Beginning at 10:30 a.m., it is a day-long event with hymn sings and preaching, and is followed by a covered dish dinner in the Events Center.
Area attractions: Close by are the Sabine and Angelina National Forests. Shreveport, Louisiana, is to the north, and Beaumont and Houston, Texas are to the south.
To visit: The Chapel is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.(later in the summer months)."