The late 19th and early 20th centuries are a fascinating time – nationally, internationally, and in the Presbyterian Church. From about 1890-1930 Presbyterians were embroiled in what has become known as the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy. This was true in both the northern and southern branches. During this time there were some strong Presbyterians throughout the church, both northern, southern, and Cumberland. The “Great Commoner”, William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925), had a conversion experience at a Cumberland revival and remained a Presbyterian the rest of his life (although in the northern branch of the Presbyterian Church). Among other things, he is remembered for his testimony at the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925.
Then there’s Henry van Dyke (1852-1933), writer (“The Story of the Other Wise Man”), pastor (Brick Presbyterian Church in NYC), professor of English Literature (Princeton University), and diplomat (ambassador to The Netherlands, 1913-1917).
Of course, there’s Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) who came from a strong Southern Presbyterian Church family (his father was one of the organizers of the Southern Presbyterian Church in 1861 and served as the stated clerk of the PCUS for 37 years). Woodrow served as president of Princeton University before becoming governor of New Jersey (1911-1913) and then serving as president of the United States from 1913-1921.
Presbyterians were strong in the south and the southwest as well. In the 1840s through the efforts of Daniel Baker revivals were held throughout Texas and churches were started (for example, churches in Galveston and Austin, among others). After the Civil War some members of First Presbyterian Church in Austin decided to stay with the Southern Presbyterian Church. Today that church is Central Presbyterian Church, but before reunion in 1983 it had gone by various names – Austin Presbyterian Church, Southern Presbyterian Church, Free Presbyterian Church, and First Southern Presbyterian Church.
In addition to having several distinguished pastors, at the turn of the 20th century there were several distinguished members of that congregation. One of them was the famous short story writer William Sidney Porter (also known as O. Henry), while another was Rebecca Kilgore Stuart Red (founder of the Live Oak Female Seminary at Gay Hill in Washington County as well as the Stuart Female Seminary in Austin, the building of which was located at 9th and Navasota and was given to what eventually became Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary).
Another member of that congregation in the early 1900s was Thomas Watt Gregory (1861-1933). Born in Crawfordsville, Mississippi, Gregory graduated from Southwestern Presbyterian University in Clarksville, Tennessee. After a year at the University of Virginia, he moved to Austin where he entered the University of Texas in 1884 and earned a law degree a year later. In addition to serving on the UT board of regents from 1899-1907, he also served on the board of trustees of Austin Seminary from 1908-1913. The gymnasium on the UT campus is named for him.
His success as a lawyer led Gregory to enter local politics, serving as assistant city attorney of Austin from 1891-1894. In 1914 he became attorney general in Woodrow Wilson’s administration. According to the Texas State Historical Association, “In 1916 President Wilson wanted to appoint Gregory to the United States Supreme Court, but the attorney general declined the offer because of his impaired hearing, his eagerness to participate in Wilson’s reelection campaign, and his belief that he lacked the necessary temperament to be a judge.” Gregory resigned his position as attorney general in March, 1919. He died in Houston of pneumonia in 1933 and is buried in Austin.
Further mention should be made of one other notable Presbyterian in Austin in those years. From 1876-1905 Dr. Richmond K. Smoot served as pastor of First Southern Presbyterian Church (now Central). While serving as pastor, in 1884 Smoot along with Robert Lewis Dabney began the Austin School of Theology to train students to become Presbyterian pastors in the southwest (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas). The school lasted until 1895. However, there was momentum for theological education to continue in Austin, and in 1902 Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary opened. Neither Smoot nor Dabney were compensated for their teaching. Smoot died in 1905 and is buried in Austin’s Oakwood Cemetery.
Clearly, there were other distinguished Presbyterians in Austin, the south, and southwest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but these are just a few who were part of what is now Central Presbyterian Church in Austin. They made history in their day by being faithful to God’s service, sometimes to their community, sometimes to their country, and often to their church.
The late Jerry Tompkins once wrote, “The task of the historian is to make coherent a story which already exists in time – past and present. His or her tools include a voracious curiosity, a perpetually listening ear and a love of language and its power to inform and to inspire.” As we make history in our own day, Tompkins’ words serve as a helpful reminder of the challenge and the joy of discovering – or being reminded of – our past, so that we have a clearer understanding of the path that others have paved for us.
