FOREST GROVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Historical marker, 1992.
FOREST GROVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
THIS CHURCH TRACES ITS ORIGIN TO
INFORMAL PRAYER MEETINGS HELD
IN 1847 AT THE HOME OF WILLIAM
AND MARY (SYNDUSKY) SNIDER. AMERI-
CAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR VETERANS
AND ORIGINAL SETTLERS OF THE
PETERS COLONY ARE COUNTED AMONG
THE EARLY MEMBERS OF THE CON-
GREGATION. JOHN M. McKINNEY, JR. AND
J. BEN FAULKNER SERVED AS THE
FIRST MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH. ALL
CHURCH STRUCTURES HAVE OCCUPIED
THIS SITE ADJOINING HISTORIC FITZ-
HUGH CEMETERY WHICH HAS GRAVES
DATING TO 1852. ALTHOUGH SERVICES
ENDED IN 1984 CHURCH BUILDINGS
REMAINED THE SITE OF VARIOUS
COMMUNITY PROGRAMS AND EVENTS.
FOREST GROVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Historical marker application.
...The founding of this old Forest Grove Christian Church
dates back to 1847 when William Snider and his wife, Mary Syndusky, opened their
small home as a meeting place for Sabbath worship services. They had been part
of the Reformation Movement back in Illinois.... As the first group was small –
with the Snider family, the George Fitzhugh family and that of Gabe Fitzhugh,
and any other who wished to come....
While we may safely say that William Snider and his wife founded the Forest
Grove Christian Church, John M. McKinney, Jr. may be called its “guiding light.”
...
On July 23, 1858, a reaffirmation of faith was made by the following members:
Elder J. B. Wilmeth as the organizational minister, the William Sniders, John
Lovelady and wife, James Anderson and wife, and Mr. and Mrs. John M. McKinney,
Jr.
1875 Membership
Elders of the Church: Aaron Snider, William Snider, John M. McKinney, John King
Deacons of the
Church: James Wetsel, A. J. Lewis, William Coffey, Mary Warden
Members: Jonathan Bellew, Sarah Bellew, Ruth Boroman, John Bowman, Amanda Brown,
Arthur Brown, Martha Brown, Mrs. Samuel Brown, Samuel Brown, Catherine Coffey,
Daniel Coffey, Mary E. Coffey, Sarah E. Coffey, Jonathan Cook, Martha E. Cook,
Isaac J. Faulkner, Emily Fitzhugh, Harriett Fitzhugh, Jane Hall, Jesse Hall,
William Hall, Sally Heifner, George Ann Henson, Fannie Hunter, Sarah Ingram,
Florence Johnson, Anjaine King, Texoma King, John Lovelady, Mary Lovelady, Julia
Ann Marshall, Mary Ann McKinney, Margaret Ann Myers, Sally Scott, William Scott,
William Smith, Dan T. Snider, James M. Snider, Uatus (Aunt Kate) Snider,
Missouri Sparlin, Margaret Jane Spurgin, Susan Turnbow, Candice Warden, James
Wetsel, Sarah Wetsel, Mary C. Wright, Moses Wright.
In the history A. H. Snider wrote of Forest Grove Christian Church, he stated
that John M. McKinney, Jr. and Elder J. B. Faulkner were the first ministers of
the Church....
According to the book Men of the Peters Colony by Seymour Conner, “William
Snider came to Collin County prior to 1850 and was issued a Certificate, No.
821, for a 640 acre headright.” His is listed as “a 43 year old family man from
Kentucky.”
Another of the first members was Sarah Bellew who came with a family member –
John Abston, the only American Revolutionary War soldier who is buried in Collin
County....
Sarah Wetsel was another charter member of the church; she was the wife of Peter
Wetsel.... Their home near Allen, Texas, was an early stage stop which still
stood until last year when it was burned by the Allen Fire Department to make
way for developing the beautiful. Peter Wetsel was issued Certificate No. 992
for 640 acres of land from the Peters Colony....
James Wetsel was also a charter member of the church. Coming as a single man to
the Peters Colony, he claimed a headright of 320 acres of land.
.... The Rev. John Snider, who preached there in early times, was an American
Revolutionary War soldier with the 8th Army of Virginia.
Aaron Snider, a pillar of the church, served in Fitzhugh’s Company in the
Confederacy – Johnson’s Brigade. Before the War, he operated a mill and cotton
gin in Forest Grove that were powered by two large steers.
The list of preachers who served the church through the years includes some of
the best preachers of the denomination – such as John M. McKinney, Jr., Ben
Forbes, J. J. Hall, John King, J. B. Wilmeth, Jim R. Wilmeth, Robert C. Horn,
Frank C. Wilmeth, Dr. A. Cartright, Will Scott, William McKinney, J. S. Muse,
Caleb Burrus, Charlie Carrolton, W. B. Stinson, T. J. Hunsaker, J. Ben Faulkner,
D. W. Pritchet, A. P. Terril, S. W. Crutcher, B. F. Hall, J. G. Jones, Kirk
Baxter, J. F. Skiles, Mack Cook, Ed Bowman, Ben Snider, A. M. Snider, Albert H.
Snider, and Cord Spurgin. The last ministers were Richard Hartman and Donald
Railford. Although church services were held for the last time in the church on
April 8, 1984, the church still serves the community.
The Forest Grove Christian Church stands at the west end of the ancient Fitzhugh
Cemetery where many of the Earliest pioneers of Collin County are buried. The
first burial there was of the twin daughters of Robert and Katherine Fitzhugh
who died in 1852. Here, too, lies Eliza, the wife of the Church’s founder John
M. McKinney, Jr.; She died at age 23 soon after the first land was purchased for
the church in 1857. Near the east end of the Cemetery lies Gabriel Fitzhugh who
donated the land for a cemetery with the request that he be buried under the big
trees near the gate....
Fitzhugh Cemetery
Forest Grove
Churches Index
- Recommended citation:
- "Forest Grove Christian Church,
Collin County Churches," Collin County, Texas History and Genealogy Webpage
by Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries, Inc., <http://www.geocities/genfriendsghl>
[Accessed Fri February 13 13:37:28 US/Central 2004 ].
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