In the Beginning: Isham Chapel

Mar 2, 2020 | by Rev. Beth Stuyck

The story of First United Methodist Church of Hurst begins in 1866 when newlyweds George Franklin “Frank” Reeves (1831-1886) and Elizabeth Caroline Brewer “Caroline” Reeves (1836-1908) leave war-ravaged Floyd County, Georgia, and settle in northeast Tarrant County on two hundred acres of land, near the banks of the Trinity River.  Reports back home to their families in Georgia must have been favorable because in 1869 Caroline’s sister and brother-in-law, Rosamond Brewer “Rosey” Isham (1838-1924) and Washington Marion “Marion” Isham (1831-1904) also made the journey from Floyd County to Tarrant County and settled on a farm nearby.

Rev. Marion Isham had recently been ordained an elder (clergy) by the Georgia Annual Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church.  It may be that Rosey Isham was pregnant for part of their trek west, as their daughter Mary Jane was born in Tarrant County in January 1870.  In any event,  in 1870 Rev. Isham organized a Methodist Protestant congregation, which became known as Isham Chapel. 

The congregation initially met in a log cabin school house, near the northeast corner of present-day Precinct Line and Trammel-Davis Roads.  On September 16, 1876, the church officially purchased the property where they had been meeting from B.H. and Victoria Ross for one dollar.  Shortly after purchasing the property, plans were made for a wood-framed building to be constructed.  Frank Reeves and other members of the congregation hauled lumber in their wagons from Eagle Ford (near intersection of Loop 12 and I-30), which was the closest rail station, so that the sanctuary could be built.