Founding Site of First Baptist Church of Goliad - Texas Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The First Baptist Church of Goliad in Goliad, TX began in May of 1849 when 12 Baptists gathered under a large Live Oak tree to organize the first Baptist church in the area. Rev. John Freeman Hilyer was not only the pastor of the First Baptist Church, he was in the region to teach women attending the Hillyer Female College where women learned "Greek and Latin, piano, drawing, painting, needlework, and other "branches of Female Education usually taught in this Country in the English Language." Besides teaching at his Baptist college and preaching at the Baptist church, Rev. Hillyer was also teaching at the Aranama College for men which was in Goliad. This was Rev. Hillyer's work from 1848, when he was hired to teach until 1861 when the Civil War began.

More about Rev. John F Hillyer:
Aranama College - (visit link)
Hillyer Female College - (visit link)

In the present day, the First Baptist Church of Goliad is located about 1.3 miles north from the location of this historical marker. The FBC sanctuary is at the street address of 332 E. Ward Street. This is at the NW corner of the intersection of East Ward Street with US 183.

This link below is the About Us link from the FBC website. It continues the history of this church from its earliest history on the Texas historical marker near the City Hall and Fire Station to how the church has grown and moved (through time and place) into its present location.
Current church history: (visit link)

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Marker Number: 11896 Marker Text: A group of twelve Baptists met under an oak tree one block west of the Goliad town square on this site in May 1849. The Rev. John Freeman Hillyer officiated at the meeting, during which the twelve organized the first Baptist church in the area. The charter members included the pastor's wife, Mary, and their children Ann and Hamilton B. Hillyer; Hillyer family slaves Jacob and Eliza; Pryor and Mary Lea; George Brightman and his daughter Emeline Russell; and William and Philania Crow. The group established membership in the Colorado Baptist Association by 1852. After fifty years of meeting in borrowed facilities, the congregation's first permanent home was erected in 1899. The First Baptist Church of Goliad continues to serve the area. (1999)

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Date Logged Log   12/01/2018 WayBetterFinder visited it