abilenet August 8th, 2011
The following account of a church of Christ congregation in Taylor County and the later move to Abilene comes from a book written by Walter Adams on the occurrence of the 80th anniversary of the University Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. The quote is from a Mrs. Niblack, the daughter of Albert and Cornelia McDonald. The McDonald’s were instrumental in the establishment of the churches of Christ in Taylor County and the Abilene area and were deeply involved in the start of Childers Classical Institute, today known as Abilene Christian University.
“It was November 1890 that my parents, Albert and Cornelia McDonald, left their east Texas home and settled at what is now Tuscola [,Texas]. Papa and mama were happy together and found two families in nearby Buffalo Gap with whom they visited and worshipped God on the Lord’s Day. The first place of meeting was a blacksmith shop and the preachers who visited were a brother Gibbs and brother Walker from Jones County. Brother McCarock held a meeting and baptized some. Brother A.J. Burford and his wife, Honey, visited and helped wonderfully in this meeting. Minnie was with them. She was fourteen, but I was only two years old, so she loves to tell me about that visit to our home. My father and brother Deaver were elders in the little church. These men were later chosen to serve as trustees at Abilene Christian College.
“After moving to Abilene to be near good schools, papa met a preacher who had come to plant the cause in Abilene, a mission point, but the court house was denied our use as a meeting place. After all, we (members of the church of Christ) were not known – so the preacher left town with his wife and two grownup daughters, shaking the dust off his feet against the place and urging papa to do the same.
“Our neighbor, Mr. Norwood, came when we had preaching in our home. It was a few years before brother Billingsley came, and the local congregation was organized. We worshipped with the First Christians for a time, then papa sectured a house for brother Billingsley to preach his first sermon.”
Walter Adams goes on to note that the validity of this house being the first place that Billingsley preached his first sermon is in question. As noted by Walter Adams, Mrs. Niblack was very young at the time of these events and she may not have perfect recollection of these events. But even Dabney Harvey’s record of events mentions that the church met in the courthouse on October 4, 1903 and that they very next week a house was purchased for the church to meet in.
Additionally, Price Billingsley notes in his diary that his first sermons were in a “digressive house”. What that term means is still being researched and yet to be decided but I suspect it is a reference to worshippers that held views not in common with Price Billingsley, the McDonalds and others of their faith.
One legacy of the McDonald’s faith and work in the Abilene area can be seen on the campus of Abilene Christian University. On the south end of the campus stands a 3-story building, McDonald Hall, named in honor of the McDonald’s legacy to the town and the university.
