From past to present

The Rock Church Community of Hood and Erath Counties in Texas has a way that not only brings people of all ages, from 90- to 2-year-olds, together in a celebration of their families' histories but also preserves that past and this present for future generations, as well.

Each October, the Rock Church Homecoming takes place. At that time, people from all over meet together for fellowship, worship, the renewal of family ties and friendships, and the event concludes with a dinner.

I felt very privileged to have been a part of this year's celebration at Rock Church which began with a welcome from Olive Morris, the co-chairman of the Rock Church Homecoming. Later, everyone was asked to stand and introduce themselves and tell how they are related to the Rock Church pioneers.

The Rock Church community began in 1859. They built the Rock Church from 12 to 18 inch rocks quarried from the adjacent hills. The two-story structure was completed in 1872, and school began that year with Gene Williams as the first teacher. At one time the school served over 100 students each year in its one room. The building also served as a Masonic Hall upstairs with the school downstairs and church downstairs on Sundays.

At the homecoming, Dr. R. B. Caraway, who was very knowledgeable about the history of Rock Church, recalled that one of the school teachers, Christine Ballentine, was brought up in Bluff Dale where her father was a grocer. He sent her to New York University for her education, but she came back to Rock Church to teach. Nettie Baccus was another of the teachers.

Caraway told of the time when the young men of the school had a habit of making rubber guns from tree limbs and rubber cut from tires. One day one boy decided to use his gun while the schoolmarm was bent over the chalkboard. After she was hit, the teacher turned around and slowly walked up and down the rows with her hand held out. Every boy put his rubber gun in her hand. She walked over to the stove and tossed them into the fire ... lesson learned!

Of course, in those days, students either walked to school or rode horses or donkeys to school. One donkey was named Old George, and when he began to bray, school would have to stop.

The first burial in the Rock Church Cemetery was that of Sarah Brooks in 1873. In 1906, a clapboard building was built for the church. It, as well as the rock building, still stands.

For a while, the new structure was knows as Marvin Chapel Methodist Church. It was said that one of the ministers could be long winded, and on those hot summer days in Texas before air conditioning, they would describe the reverend's sermons as either two, three or four handkerchief sermons ... depending on how much he sweated!

The Old Bridge was built at Rock Church so that families could get from one side of the Paluxy River to the other when the river was in flood. Building began on January 30, 1917, and it was completed on April 20, 1917. The bridge, now a landmark, was truly indispensable to the residents of the area. It was on old County Road 2870, which, until the bridge was built, had to count on the low water crossing.

This area of Hood and Erath Counties holds rich Texas history. Many of the residents now live on land which was Spanish Land Grant land and has passed to the descendants of the grantees. Please visit Rock Church's new Web site for more information.