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The earliest African Americans in northern Hunt County came as enslaved people in the 1840s. The area was sparsely populated until after the Civil War, when a settlement formed around Lemuel Pinckney Wolfe's mill on Oyster Creek. In 1882, Wolfe City received its post office, and in the same year, White citizens organized a Baptist church. Although few records exist to document the early years following Emancipation for African Americans in Wolfe City, oral tradition conveys an atmosphere of alliance and cooperation. Wolfe City's Baptist church members assisted their African American neighbors in establishing a congregation. On Sunday, June 9, 1889, Brother Harrison Loftin, a former slave, brought together E.D. Royal, Arthur Clark, M.H. Wolfe, Calvin Bomar, Melvin Wolfe and Rev. R.C. Pender from the Baptist church, along with Nash Higgins, Turner Dean, Jane Loftin, Lydia Loftin, Mollie Higgins, and Louise Loftin from the African American community. Notably, four African American women were at this organizational meeting; Louise Loftin suggested the name Ebenezer Baptist Church, from its Biblical association as God's "stone of help." Rev. A.C. Brown was the first pastor of Wolfe City's first African American church. The first church services were held in a one-room dwelling on this site, replaced by later sanctuaries. Beloved Reverend John Williams has the honorable distinction of shepherding the church for fifty-six years (1941-1997). Annual homecoming celebrations have been held on the second Sunday of June. Although most written records such as church minutes, photographs and other memorabilia have been lost or destroyed over the years, Ebenezer Baptist Church remains a significant part of Wolfe City history and a testament to the faith of its citizens. (2018) |
