By Terri Jo Ryan

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Two Central Texas congregations that trace their roots back to the old Onion Creek Baptist Church are preparing to celebrate their sesquicentennials later this month.

One descendant of the early fellowship — known first as the Church of Onion Creek — is Eagle Springs Baptist Church, located off Farm-to-Market Road 107 about halfway between Moody and Gatesville. The other is the First Baptist Church of McGregor, 700 W. Sixth St. in McGregor.

Eagle Springs Baptist

On Nov. 6, 1858, the Rev. John McLain, a Baptist missionary, organized Eagle Springs Baptist Church from the remnants of the Onion Creek congregation.

The church building, constructed in the 1870s, was used regularly for more than 70 years.

A dedicated band of volunteers a year ago arranged to have the 1878 sanctuary hauled about 500 yards from its home of almost 130 years to a new spot for restoration.

The historic church’s fans are now preparing to celebrate its sesquicentennial with a “humdinger of a homecoming,” according to David Scott, one of the facility’s caretakers.

Scott, a co-author of The Land, The Law and The Lord: The Life of Pat Neff, has a special interest in the building as the formative church home of the young Pat Neff, who became the governor of Texas (1921-1925) and also served as president of Baylor University (1932-1947).

First Baptist McGregor

Members of the Onion Creek congregation later organized the Comanche Springs Baptists Church. The Rev. John McClain and the Rev. Martin Isbill and about 30 members of Comanche Springs Baptist Church established the First Baptist Church of McGregor in 1884.

After worshipping in the Presbyterian church’s building on Fifth Street for a couple years, the Baptist church completed its first home, a wooden structure with a tall steeple at Seventh and Adams streets in 1886.

In 1913, the congregation moved into its new, Greek Revival-style building filled with meticulously crafted stained glass windows at the corner of Sixth and Jackson streets. That building had to be razed in 1968 because of structural issues, but the congregation rebuilt on the same site. The new building, still in use today, was dedicated in 1969 and is currently undergoing renovations.

Additional sources: Handbook of Texas Online; McLennan County, TXGenWeb Project, Bill Tye Jr.; www.rootsweb.ancestry.com