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Baptist Church Collinsville, Texas The Collinsville Times
Friday, October 12, 1934 pg. 1 BANKER SON PAYS DEBT OF CHURCH FOUNDED BY HIS PREACHER FATHER Eloquent Appeal of Pastor for Funds to Clear Obligation Brings Quick Response From Visitor Who Give Check for Full Amount - Incident of Sixty-Eight Years Ago Recalled As Will Rogers would say, "This story is a rare bird." It is a real sob story and it has in it real sobs from real people. But first comes a brief history so that facts to follow may be understood, and not mistaken for the fantasy of a blase reporter who must fill in a column. Back in 1850, before there was a trading post, a Baptist preacher brought his wife and 3 small children to settle on a little creek 4 miles east of what we now proudly call Sherman. The nearest trading post was Jefferson in east Texas, which meant a week's trek by ox wagon for supplies. Like most preachers of that day, this one preached for the glory of doing good, and was forced to make his own living by farming. And yet he prospered. In 1864 he moved to Spring Creek, one mile east of what is now Collinsville in Grayson County. By this time his brood had increased to an even dozen children, which we pause to remark is not the present day style in families. Another of his "peculiar" habits was to hold family prayer, and as the day's work progressed, certain passages of holy scripture were the subject of discussion. As a result of his teachings, together with a noble example set in every day life, each of his 12 children became devout followers of the lowly Carpenter from Nazareth. As a highlight on the way Grayson County pioneers transacted business in 1866, the following incident is given. This backwoods preacher needed $200.00 and he sent his 8-year-old son on an old gray mare to a Mr. Chisom's house, a neighbor who only lived 5 miles away. The lad told this to Mr. Chisom, "Pa said he would like to have $200 if it be so you-all can spare it." The neighborly Mr. Chisom replied, "Yes, son; you just climb that ladder and on the north sill you will find a stack of yellow rings. Bring me down 10 of the largest pieces you find." When the boy came down the ladder gingerly holding the 10 biggest pieces, the neighbor remarked, "Yes, son, you have the right amount, and you tell your Pa that if he needs any more I still have some of the "yellow boys" left." Now, in the language of Bret Harte, those pioneer ways are peculiar - not to the heathen Chinese but to present-day culture. Exit history, enter story. Rev. C.E. Fite, pastor of the First Baptist Church at Collinsville, on last Sunday ended an excellent sermon with an eloquent appeal to the membership to pay off the church debt of $58.19, or else - - - In the midst of an especially oratorical sentence there arose from the congregation a tall, slim man, who might, 40 years earlier, have been mistaken for Schoolboy Rowe, who raised a hand to signify that he wished to speak. He said, "Mr. Pastor, my father was also a Baptist minister, and he organized this church 54 years ago. At that time it was called the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, there being no town here then. God has prospered me, and if you will permit the privilege I will give you a check for the full amount of the debt as soon as services are dismissed." Whereupon the tall, dignified man sat down, and the pastor almost sat down too. He stood there a moment, speechless and shaken. Then, in a awed whisper, with tears coursing down his cheeks, he said: "God bless this dutiful son of a noble father." After the bombshell reactions were varied to meet the demands of temperament,...women members cried aloud, others seemed too paralyzed for speech, but to the glory of unashamed manhood we saw many tears coursing from the cheeks of men who thought they were hard-boiled and impervious. The Good Samaritan is identified as W.E. Miller, a retired banker of Goldthwaite, Texas, but the hero of this story is one Noah Miller, backwoods preacher of Grayson County in the early fifties, who labored for love and who set an example of piety. He was the father of N.J. Miller and W.E. Miller.  Collinsville Baptist Church History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |