urn:taro:utexas.cah.02740 A Guide to the Comanche County Baptist Association Records, 1875, 1884 Original EAD encoding by Evan Usler according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. May 2011 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Comanche County Baptist Association (Tex.) Comanche County Baptist Association Records 1875, 1884 Materials are written in English. 1932 1 in. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin A constitution, newspaper clippings, and a short history comprise the Comanche County Baptist Association Records, 1875, 1884, documenting the Baptist Association in Comanche, Erath, and Hamilton counties, and the history of Comanche County, Texas. Historical Note

Located in central Texas, Comanche County is bounded on the south by Mills County, on the west by Brown County, on the north by Eastland County, and on the east by Hamilton and Erath counties. Covering 944 square miles, the territory was inhabited by the Comanche Indians before a white settlement was established in 1854. Fueled by the production of cotton, Comanche County significantly developed after the Civil War and its population greatly increased.

The first Baptist church in Texas was established in 1834, fifty years before the founding of the Comanche County Baptist Association (1884). During the 1840s, the Baptist Church spread throughout the German communities of central Texas and by the turn of the century, it had become the largest Christian denomination in Texas. Members of the Baptist Church in Texas belong to numerous groups, including the American Baptist Association, American Baptist Churches of the U.S.A., the Baptist Missionary Association, the North American Baptist Conference, among others.

Sources:

Leffler, John. “Comanche County.” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed May 16, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hcc20.

Storey, John W. “Baptist Church.” Handbook of Texas Online. Accessed May 16, 2011. http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ibb01.

 Scope and Contents

A constitution, newspaper clippings, and a short history comprise the Comanche County Baptist Association Records, 1875, 1884, documenting the Baptist Association in Comanche, Erath, and Hamilton counties, and the history of Comanche County, Texas. The constitution includes a preamble, bylaws, and minutes for the first session of the Comanche Baptist Association. Newspaper clippings (1884) written by John T. Harris, the clerk of the association during the first year of its organization, relate to affairs of Comanche County. Additionally, the collection includes an 1884 essay, “A Short History of Comanche County, Texas.”

 Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Harris, John T. Subjects (Organizations) Comanche County Baptist Association (Tex.) -- Archives. Subjects Baptist associations -- Texas -- 19th century. Baptists -- Texas -- Comanche -- 19th century. Places Comanche County (Tex.) -- History -- 19th century. Erath County (Tex.) -- History -- 19th century. Hamilton County (Tex.) -- History -- 19th century. Texas --Religion -- 19th century. Preferred Citation

Comanche County Baptist Association Records, 1875, 1884, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

 Processing Information

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Inventory 3K407 Baptist Association Records, 1875 Newspaper clippings, 1884 “A Short History of Comanche County, Texas,” 1884