Louisiana AHGP
Part of the American History and
Genealogy Project
W. A. Freeman
W. A. Freeman, of Texarkana, Texas, served as pastor during 1900 within the overall tenure of J. U. H. Wharton. His call to the church seemed rather lukewarm, since the minutes state he was 'only minister suggested and present.' This statement is rather harsh since he was then serving as pastor of First Baptist Church of Texarkana and had been leading that church in a massive building program. During this time, FBC of Texarkana often was late paying his salary and appears to have received financial help from FBC of Fort Worth to have even remained active.
He left FBC Texarkana to become a full time evangelist after
having worked with that church to complete their building
program. He also was commended for his support of Sunday School
and for the substantial growth in membership of that church. He
served only from May till October of 1900 in Homer, quite
possibly because of the attitude within the church.
He left the Homer area to return to Texarkana, where he and his
family rejoined the congregation. At that time, the church had
just secured the services of Dr. O. L. Hailey, who was not then
a pastor to "preach until we secured a regular pastor." The
return of Freeman threw FBC of Texarkana into confusion and the
congregation decided to vote between the two. In a secret
ballot, the incumbent Hailey secured forty- eight of sixty-one
votes to the twelve of Freeman. Freeman arose and moved the vote
be unanimous. Everything seemed to be peaceful for nearly two
years until Freeman and his wife asked for letters to join the
church in Hope, Arkansas.
During the church discussion whether to grant the letters, Brother Freeman and Dr. Hailey began a loud and violent argument during the prayer meeting. A hastily appointed committee mediated the argument and succeeded in smoothing over differences. Brother Freeman and his family soon relocated to his home town of Hope, Arkansas. 30
Biographical Sketches| Claiborne Parish | AHGP
Source: Author's Notice: I hereby give permission for the free dissemination of any and all material included within the book and permit any non profit use of that material. Should any agency wish to use the material in a profit context, permission must be secured from the church body of First Baptist Church, Homer, LA 71040. By Barbara Smith, Homer, Louisiana.
