Madison Square Presbyterian Church was founded on Feb. 19, 1882, 12 years after Texas was readmitted to the United States following the Civil War and Reconstruction
Buchanan
The Rev. William Howell Buchanan was sent by the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions of New York and commissioned by the Presbytery of Austin to organize a church in San Antonio.
It was a mission he had handled before, founding, and becoming the first pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Mo., in late 1873.
Brackenridge
From 1880 to 1881, Buchanan served as pastor of the newly renamed First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown—the church moved from Round Rock earlier that year—but he left that post to head south and start another church.
He arrived in San Antonio on Dec. 1, 1881. Legend has it that one of the first persons he contacted was banker and railroad man George Washington Brackenridge. A civic power in the San Antonio of the late 19th century, Brackenridge was a large landholder locally and owned a water utility and a bank. The land he donated later became the present-day Brackenridge Park and the site of the University of the Incarnate Word.
After several conversations, Brackenridge agreed to support Buchanan in his mission. Although the banker never actually joined the church, he guided its financial dealings, and his mother and sister became founding members.
But Buchanan didn’t wait for Brackenridge’s support to materialize. Immediately after arriving in the city, he rented a room over the fire station at Avenue C and advertised in both the San Antonio Express and the San Antonio Light, and announced services for a new church on Sunday, Dec. 4, 1881.
That day was cold and stormy, and only a single potential parishioner showed up. Major Daniel N. Bash was a paymaster at Fort Sam Houston. The two conducted a brief service and agreed on a second for the following Sunday.
Buchanan held the Dec. 11 service at the Odd Fellow’s Building, located at the corner of Houston and St. Mary’s streets, across from the Gunter Hotel, a central spot in town. There is some confusion about whether Major Bash suggested the location or Col. Brackenridge arranged it, but that site served as the headquarters for the growing congregation.
On Feb. 19, 1882, after services, the congregation of 14 voted to organize a formal church. It was a varied group comprising the Buchanan family, Baptists, Episcopalians, and at least one military couple. A week after the vote to organize a church, a group attending a second meeting established a constitution and bylaws and called Rev. Buchanan as the new church’s pastor.
Buchanan, presumably with Brackenridge’s help, secured three lots of property immediately west of Madison Square Park and, with the Board of Trustees and a Ladies’ Aid Society, built a temporary structure for the fledgling church.
Plans called for building a permanent structure that didn’t cost more than $12,000, and Brackenridge immediately donated $4,000 toward the effort.
But even as construction plans were being developed, Madison Square Presbyterian Church almost ended its brief existence at that location. In August, the new church leadership was offered a new site, a lot on the northwest corner of Milam Square, which would be donated if they built the church there. The lot was near the Santa Rosa Hospital, constructed in 1869 and, although considered to be on the western edge of town, was a lot closer to City Hall and the fledgling business center of San Antonio.
After lengthy discussions, the church’s Board of Trustees, representing the congregation of 14, decided “that Madison Square is a better location for our church than Milam Square and the best site that we can obtain without considerable delay and disadvantage.”
The board voted to have the church’s building committee have the Madison Square lots surveyed “and proceed immediately to have our church edifice erected on those lots.” The cornerstone was laid on Nov. 30, 1882.
Rev. Buchanan served as the first pastor of Madison Square Presbyterian Church until he left the pulpit—and San Antonio—in May 1885
Events in San Antonio:
1881:
- The first issue of the San Antonio Evening Light newspaper was published.
- San Antonio Exchange (the city’s first public telephone company) opened.
- B. Frank Company opened, dealing in wood and hides.
- William Richter opened a bakery.
- San Antonio Electric Co. incorporated, furnishing electricity in 1882.
1882:
- Main Avenue High School was built.
1883:
- The cornerstone of Paine (Travis Park) Methodist-Episcopal Church was laid.
- Construction of the H. Kampmann Building began (it was the first four-story building and first with an elevator in San Antonio)
- San Antonio City Brewery (Pearl) was established.
- First polo match in San Antonio was held.
- Lucchese Boot Company was established.
- The Alamo was purchased by the State of Texas.
Events Around the World:
1882:
- The Standard Oil Company trust of John D. Rockefeller begins when Rockefeller places his oil holdings inside the new legal entity.
- Future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt is born at his home in Hyde Park, New York.
- The practice of polygamy is outlawed by legislation in the United States Congress.
- Western outlaw Jesse James is shot to death by Robert Ford, a member of his own band, for a $5,000 reward.