These records of the Baptist Church of Christ (Harmony) — the Old Texas Church — have been preserved through the years by the A. W. Gray family, the Ernest Thurlow Herring family, and others. The pages are loose sheets, having come unbound, with no front or back cover. They are brittle, some are torn, some are missing. They were in possession of Lola Herring Kennedy, Quitman, Arkansas — a granddaughter of Baaylis Earl Herring, one of the church clerks.
To ensure preservation, the records have been transcribed and bound. The format is essentially the same as in the original, as both spelling and punctuation were not altered except for capitalization of a few surnames.
The location of the church is believed to be in the vicinity of the Old Texas Cemetery, less than one mile north of Arkansas Highway 25 near Quitman, in Faulkner County. Within the papers reference was made to Harmony and Conway County, Arkansas. Faulkner County was created in 1873 from sections of Pulaski and Conway Counties.
A missionary Baptist church in the Union Association, the church held services at several places throughout its years of existence. These include the Texas Schoolhouse, Perkins Schoolhouse, the New Schoolhouse, The Arbor, and Hartwicks Mill for baptizing. Other churches briefly mentioned by name in the papers include Mount Mariah, Siloam, Sulpher Spring, and Wolf Banch.
Box 1
File 1 – Information Letter – Old Texas Church
File 2 – Typescript – Partial Records of the Baptist Church of Christ – The Old Texas Church 1869-1897
File 3 – Covenant, Articles of Faith, Rules of Decorum – September, 1869
File 4 – Minutes, 1870-1886, 1895-1897
File 5 – Membership Role, 1876-1884
End of Box 1
End of Collection