The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946 Page: 39
717 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Forerunners of Baylor
on foot is not known. He camped wherever night overtook him,
lived on wild game, and frequently had to cut small brush and
build up from the ground a bed sufficiently elevated to be above
the slush and water of the river bottoms. Often, he made rafts
of logs, lashed together with grapevine, in order to cross
streams. At long last the Newmans were located between the
Red and Sulphur rivers in what is now Lamar and Red River
counties. While resting from his travels, Smalley was invited
to preach. Other Protestant groups in the locality had for
several years conducted services in the homes of the settlers
in the belief that they were living in the Arkansas territory
and that Sulphur River was their southern boundary. Thus,
the second Baptist minister in Texas was not conscious at that
time of preaching on Texas soil.
After a quarter of a century, Smalley did return to Texas,
settling on Brushy Creek in Williamson County, where he is
said to have organized the first anti-slavery church in Texas.
This venture soon passed into oblivion, and its history has not
been traced. It is known definitely, however, that Smalley left
Texas permanently in 1866.
In 1828, there came to Austin's colony a Baptist layman
whose life and work influenced the entire colony far beyond the
confines of his denomination. It was not adventure, new lands,
nor lost relatives, but the quest for health that brought Thomas
J. Pilgrim to Texas. Born in Connecticut on December 19, 1805,
he became a member of the Baptist Church early in life and
seriously considered the ministry as a lifework. Upon gradua-
tion from Madison University, New York, he was confronted
with the necessity of restoring his health. In the fall of 1828,
in the western part of the state of New York, he attached
himself to an emigrant group of approximately sixty men,
women, and children, who, under the leadership of Elias
Wrightman, had Texas as their ultimate goal. From the head-
waters of the Allegheny the group proceeded to Pittsburg,
where reorganization was effected after their craft capsized.
In Cincinnati Pilgrim purchased a set of Spanish books and
began a diligent study of the language, thus unconsciously
equipping himself to become later Austin's official interpreter.
During a two weeks' delay in New Orleans, the Wrightman
party struck a bargain with the owner of a twenty-ton craft
manned by a crew of three to land them on Texas soil for a39
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 49, July 1945 - April, 1946, periodical, 1946; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146056/m1/48/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.