History of First Methodist Episcopal Church

One of Denison's earliest churches, a Methodist Episcopal ("M.E.") Church later known as the First Methodist Church, was launched on February 23, 1873. That day, a few persons assembled in the Town Hall to organize a Methodist Episcopal Society. W. L. Shepherd and A. B. Bowman were named to ask Bishop I. W. Wiley of Cincinnati, Ohio, to appoint a missionary. Rev. Alexander Jamison of the Home Mission Work in Cincinnati came to Denison and on March 16, 1873, organized a Methodist Episcopal Church with eight charter members.

In a rift over slavery, in 1845 the nation's Methodists had been split into Northern and Southern denominations. The First Methodist Church (North) was part of the Northern M.E. Church and reflected the large numbers of northerners who settled Denison after its founding.

Two newspaper articles tell the history of the First Methodist Church: the Sunday Gazetteer of March 1, 1903; and the Denison Daily News of July 7, 1938. 

Initially the group purchased the former Town Hall, painted it, and seated it at a cost of $962. The church was paid for in a short time and was dedicated on June 2, 1873. This white frame church occupied lots donated by the Denison Town Company on the north side of Woodard Street and east of Rusk Avenue (a site later occupied by George Carver's coal yard and then the U.S. Post Office). This church burned.

In November 1875, Rev. M. A. Daugherty of the Michigan conference became pastor. Rev. Dougherty was admirably equipped for pioneer church work. A most energetic man, he knew how to pass the hat better than any preacher in Denison. He did not appeal to any particular class. The saloon men and gamblers contributed liberally. A number of churches in Texas were built by his missionary labors.

According to the Sunday Gazetteer, "Everybody used to meet on a level in this little church, and now and then one got mixed up with strange company.... It was pretty hard to be religious in those early days. You could stand in the little church and hear the rasping fiddles in the dance hall not a block away. This was not, as the preacher would say, a God-fearing community." The first religious revival was held in this church. "There were a great many conversions, but as a general rule they did not 'stick." In any case, the M.E. Church was a social focus. At that time there were so few women in Denison that nearly all of them could be gathered in this little edifice. There used to be oyster suppers, societies meeting there, and once a quilting party.

First Methodist Church
501 West Woodard St

A later structure stood at 501 West Woodard, across Fannin Avenue from St. Luke's Episcopal Church. In April 1876, a building committee was appointed, including A. J. Poff, J. Vinson, M. Cleghorn, J. Lowden, E. C. Clifford, and Rev. Daugherty. The new church was completed late in 1877. This building, with some additions in late years, for many years was the city’s oldest extant church building.

The following pastors served the church: Alexander Jamison, M. A. Daugherty, R. E. McBride, A. W. Decker, C. W. Hargitt, J. R. Wolf, P. H. Bodkin, W. S. Falkenburg, T. E. Corkhill, W. A. Cooper, J. B. Bollman, J. L. Miller, D. G. Murray, G. P. Fry, A. J. Taylor, C. F. McGaha, G. M. Jeffrey, J. A. Johnson, R. E. McBride, Simpson Hamrick, J. A. Branson, J. L. Patterson, D. W. Brashear, R. I. Aitkin, J. R. Thomas, W. C. Heaton, R. E. Alstead, J. E. Burt, J. L. Hobbs, R. E. Harvey, W. I. Smith, C. L. Elliot, E. F. Williams and Don L. Harwell.

In 1939, the split between the two branches of Methodism (Northern and Southern) was overcome, and in the wake of that reconciliation, the First Methodist Church merged with Waples Memorial Methodist Church.

Longtime Members of First Methodist Church, 501 West Woodard Street, Denison:

Mrs. T. W. (Cora L. Griffin) Dollarhide is the oldest member, having joined January 15, 1878.

C. M. Eldridge, 93, is the oldest member in age. He has been a member 48 years.

Mrs. Suzan Bozarth, 81, is the oldest active member, serving forty-six years.

Mr. and Mrs. H. W. Clarke are probably the oldest couple members, married by one of the former ministers, Rev. W. S. Falkenburg, on Dec. 24, 1885. (Denison Daily Herald,  July 7, 1938).