The history of Christ Church, therefore quiet properly begins with a tribute to Mrs. Henderson, to whom the congregation is indebted. The building in which we worship is both a memorial, and a monument to her, and it is, as well, largely her creation.

Frances (Cox) Henderson was a daughter of John Cox of Philadelphia where she had many relatives who were lifelong Episcopalians. Mrs. Henderson reportedly was the master of 17 languages as well as being accomplished at playing the piano and organ. While she was studying abroad, she met General Henderson who was in Paris serving as minister from the Republic of Texas. General Henderson asked her to marry him. She accepted his proposal, but, as a measure of Frances Cox’s strong opinions and her devotion to the Episcopal Church, she insisted that they be married in London in accordance with the rites of the Church of England.

After the two returned to Texas, Mrs. Henderson wrote repeatedly to the Secretary of the Committee on Domestic Missions of the Episcopal Church asking for a missionary to be sent to East Texas. No one could be found, however, who was willing to venture into the new, raw country where there appeared to be only one member of the communion.

Finally at the beginning of 1848, The Rev’d. Henry Sansom was appointed to begin missionary work in San Augustine and Nacogdoches. He reached San Augustine on May 23, 1848, and on the next day, his first-born, and only son, died of malignant scarlet fever contracted on his journey to Texas. The Rev’d. Mr. Sansom’s first service was the burial of his son as there was no other ordained minister of any denomination within reach of San Augustine. Some years later, after the present building was built, the son’s remains were reburied under the altar. The burial site is marked by a marble slab behind the altar.

The Sunday following the burial of his son, Mr. Sansom began his ministry holding services as the guest of the Methodist Church, which was then the only church building in San Augustine. Later Episcopal services were held in the Masonic Hall.

When General Henderson returned to San Augustine after an absence on professional duties, he formed a vestry of 12 men, with himself acting as the senior warden. Vestry members were not required at the time to be communicants of the Episcopal Church or even members of the congregation. Many who served on vestries were merely well-wishers of the church, and friends of the Hendersons. General Henderson included himself in this capacity. It should be noted that to become a communicant of the Episcopal Church requires confirmation by a bishop, and at the time there were no bishops closer than New Orleans and therefore being confirmed would have been difficult if not impossible.

Mr. Sansom was an Englishman, a good preacher, an excellent reader and a "very sweet singer." Under his leadership the church grew and prospered. For more than a decade it was the most prominent religious body in San Augustine. Almost all the teachers in the Masonic Institute were Episcopalians, and a number of subsequent priests who served the parish were Masons.

Very early in his ministry, Mr. Sansom began to take steps for erecting a building of their own for the congregation. In his book, Dr. Crockett states that Mr. Sansom was strongly aided and encouraged by Frances Cox Henderson–perhaps even led by her in the matter. Her friends in Philadelphia provided architectural plans for a Gothic building as a gift. Mrs. Henderson volunteered to raise the necessary funds to complete the church, gave liberally to the project from her own funds, and obtained several hundred dollars from friends and relatives in Philadelphia. She was successful in raising enough money through subscriptions to finish the building within a very short time, probably in less than three years. The building was erected and occupied in 1851.

The Gothic-style building had stained-glass windows and an open ceiling. It was furnished with home-made furnishings and fixtures, including the pews that are still in use in the present building. These pews show evidence of being planed, cut, and assembled by hand. Reports are that the church had an excellent clear-toned bell that could be heard for miles around. The church also had a small pipe organ which Mrs. Henderson played. She also added vocal music to the liturgy by organizing a choir.

The records of Colonel Elijah Price, treasurer of the parish at the time, show that over $2,250 was spent on the building itself. Unfortunately the building was constructed by either a dishonest or an incompetent contractor, and contained such serious defects that it stood for little more than 10 years before it was in ruin and had to be pulled down. During a storm in 1859 the stained-glass windows and organ were lost. Fortunately the altar plate, fair linens, altar, lecterns, and pews were saved. The site of the building, however, was lost in litigation. According to research in the county records, the original site as on the southwest corner of Main and Congress streets near the Cullen House. At the present time, a medical facility occupies the property at that corner.

The original altar was later improved by Dr. Crockett with his own carvings of grape leaves and wheat, symbols of Communion bread and wine. He also carved the hymn boards, the processional cross and the baptismal font. The later can be seen at the baptistry in the rear of the building on the right as one enters through the front door. Dr. Crockett was self taught as a wood carver and began his career while recuperating from a broken leg. He continued carving as a avocation and hobby for the rest of his life. He shows a keen sense of religious symbolism in representing the Virgin Mary with her traditional symbol, the fleur d’lis. Traditional Gaelic interlacing is also very much in evidence on the hymn boards and baptismal font. Oak was his preferred medium, a difficult wood to carve, but much more enduring than softer woods, such as walnut. His carving also appears in Christ Church (Episcopal) in Nacogdoches.

The Hendersons left San Augustine when the General was reassigned to Marshall in 1856, and upon arriving there, she set to work establishing and building Trinity Episcopal Church in that city. She was also instrumental in establishing Episcopal Churches in Nacogdoches, Rusk, and Palestine.

For several years after the destruction of the first building built in 1851, the congregation again met in the Masonic Lodge, but in 1869 a movement began to erect a new building. Although at the time, Mrs. Henderson was living in East Orange, New Jersey, she sent the congregation a gift of $150 towards the project. The women of the church raised another $280 by giving fairs and other entertainments. The rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio contributed plans for the building, and work on a new home for the congregation began soon afterward. The land on which the present building and Crockett Hall next door stands was donated by Mr. George F. Crockett, whose son is the same Dr. George Louis Crockett who figures so prominently in the history of Christ Church. Crockett Hall was originally the rectory when the building was built. Colonel Stephen W. Blount, a prominent early settler of San Augustine donated the lumber and shingles.

The first service in the new building was held on December 23, 1870 and it continues to be the present home of the congregation. At the time of the first service in the building, the windows and doors had not yet been installed and the temperature had fallen to near zero degrees. The Right Reverend Gregg, first Episcopal bishop of Texas preached at the inaugural service and he notes in his diary: "This will long be remembered as the coldest day of the year and the congregation suffered intensely." Presumably, so did the right reverend bishop. Dr. Crockett, (who was born in 1861) in his history, writes that he also remembered the service. He says: "Indeed the writer has a keen recollection of how long it took him to get his feet warm after his return from the service." He later wrote, "The house was a frame structure with boxed walls, thoroughly braced in both sides and has stood constant use for half a century without signs of decay." One can still make the same observation about the integrity of the structure now, more than 134 years after that first service.

In 1891 the roof was replaced and a Gothic-style tower added to relieve the building of the strain on the structure caused by vibration from the bell, previously housed in a small belfry over the front gable. The present bell was cast in 1871 by the Troy Bell Foundry of Troy, New York. In 1904, the wooden foundations were replaced by brick pillars and a stained-glass window was set in the east wall of the chancel above the altar.

Christ Church, San Augustine is one of the most important and authentic ecclesiastical buildings of its time in Texas, as well as in the country. Of particular importance is the fact that the church has been kept simple and unadorned beyond what was typical of mid 19^th-century church wooden Gothic-style churches. The architectural style, best known as "carpenter Gothic," is rendered in simple hand-hewn lumber and in the configuration of board and batten walls, moldings, tall, clear-pane windows, and sharp angles. The tower added in 1890 completes the simple rectangular structure with a whimsical adornment in perfect keeping with the style of the building.

The interior of the building was repainted in 1990 through a gift from the estate of Mrs. Summerfield G. Roberts whose relatives worshiped in Christ Church. The lighting fixtures were installed in 1991 through a gift from the Edward Clark family and dedicated to the Glory of God in memory of Anne Metcalfe Clark.

These fixtures are interesting in their own right. They are very similar in appearance to the originals installed in the church in 1869, 122 years before. Because of the need for modern electric wiring the modern fixtures replaced the originals, parts of which survived to serve as models for the reproductions.

The original lighting was fueled by kerosene ("coal oil" in the 19^th-century vernacular) a petroleum product introduced for lighting in the United States just before the Civil War after the discovery of petroleum in Pennsylvania. Kerosene was relatively safe, unlike gas lights it was not likely to explode or cause asphyxiation. In addition, it gave strong light. By the time the present building was built in San Augustine, mail order catalogs and hometown mercantile stores alike featured a wide variety of kerosene fixtures for lighting.

The fixtures in Christ Church were very modern at the time they were installed. They featured brass fonts to hold the oil, tall chimneys, and etched-glass shades that diffused the light and minimized glare. The fixtures had a spring apparatus for raising and lowering them for cleaning and refilling the fuel fonts. The design was known as "Anglo-Japanese" at the time. The same sort of decoration is carved in the wood in the center of the historic altar. Kerosene lamps were available in a variety of colors, including the mixed green and brass of the Christ Church fixtures, which was very popular. Noteworthy is the "lamp hook" at the ceiling above each chandelier. The originals were missing, so a very unusual antique was located and copied. It shows a squirrel with an acorn clinging to a tree trunk, his crooked tail forming the hook from which the chandelier below is suspended.

The reproduction fixtures in Christ Church were crafted by Mr. Teri Jefferson of the Jefferson Art Lighting Company of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They are of the highest quality and historical accuracy and were custom made for the church. The 1700 watts of interior illumination they provide at the present time is probably twice as bright as the original fixtures which burned kerosene. Because Christ Church is not a museum but a building where regular worship services take place, the added light is necessary to meet modern standards. At the same time, the new fixtures complement the antique nature of the building while making it suitable for modern activities.

Overall, the interior of Christ Church is a fine example of high Victorian taste as interpreted by its carpenter builders working in the materials most readily available to them from the virgin forests of East Texas. It echoes and keeps faithful witness to the flavor of San Augustine’s famous Greek revival buildings that were popular during the Texas Republic and the early days of statehood. The views through the ripply, hand blown glazing of the windows look out on lingering vistas of the historic town.

More important than its historical significance, however, Christ Church continues to shelter an active congregation. We come together in San Augustine week after week to worship in the tradition of the Episcopal Church, keeping faith with those who have worshiped here for so many years in the past. Both the building, and the Christians, past and present, who gather to worship here, bear historic witness to the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.