| The
history of St. Mark’s Episcopal
Church, Coleman, is a saga of rugged
frontier
individualism inextricably bound up
with the person and character of one
man - Alexander Charles Garrett,
Bishop of Dallas from 1874-1924.
Bishop Garrett’s diary records his
first encounter with the “primitive
frontier” of Coleman City on July 25,
1877. His records show
missionaries
from Dallas ministering to the church,
often meeting in the homes of the
communicants, some of which were: Mrs.
Nancy Ledbetter, Mrs. J. F.
Boog-Scott,
Mr. and Mrs. Jack Babbington, Billy
and Frank Anson, Mr. and Mrs. W. N.
Hawkins, Mr. Gould Busk, the
Paddleford family, and Mrs. Clow.
In
1911, the Rev. F. Cecil Seaman began
a regular pattern of worship, first
at the Cumberland Presbyterian
Church, then later at the Odd
Fellows’ Hall
and a hall above Garrett’s Drug
Store. That facility was
leased for
a year on the condition that the
interior be renovated.
In
December, 1915, a frame chapel, the
Church of the Holy Spirit, was
constructed
at the corner of Cedar and Neches
Streets on land given by a member of
the congregaton, Mrs. Elizabeth
Adams Clow. The church house
was
remodeled in 1930; and a parish
house was built. In 1962, the
exterior
was brickstoned and renovation of
the parish house completed several
years
later by church members under the
direction of Wardens Ross L. Jones
and
John Dale Lewis. In the late
1940’s, the congregation was renamed
and became St. Mark’s Episcopal
Church.
Clergy
serving St. Mark’s, Coleman: The
Rev. F. Cecil Seaman, 1911-1916; the
Rev.
W. T. Allan, 1916-1921; the Rev.
Percy W. Jones, 1923-1925; the Rev.
F.
A. Parsons, 1925-1926; the Rev. Hall
Pierce, 1927-1929; the Rev. Alex B.
Hanson, 1929-1937;The Rev. D. J.
Williams, 1945-1947; the Rev. W. S.
Walthall,
1950-1952 (also Trinity Church,
Albany); the Rev. Frank R. Myers,
1953-1957;
the Rev. William R. McDuffie,
1960-1965 (also Trinity Church,
Albany);
the Rev. James P. Haney,
1965-1968. In July, 1973,
Bishop Willis
R. Henton appointed the Rev. Stephen
R. Weston, Vicar of St. Mark’s,
Coleman,
the Rev. James Porter served as
Vicar 1976-1977; the Rev. John
A. Holmes, 1977 to 1982. The Rev.
Robert Manning Maxwell arrived
August 14, 1983. During the
interim
the congregation was served by the Rev.
James L. Considine of Sweetwater,
twice each month for Holy Communion
and
the Rev. Edward Dentzer, Rector
Emeritus of the Episcopal Church of
the
Heavenly Rest, Abilene.
Earlier interim ministers were the
Rev. T.
Robt. Ingram, the Rev. Lee Adams and
the Rev. Nicholas Mayer.
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Church
of the Holy Spirit - 1950
Church
of the Holy Spirit Interior -
1950
St. Mark's
Episcopal Church - 1962
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