Earliest names include Carrington, Coleman, Calvin, Ewing and Gray--along with Morgan, Mullinax, Newcomb, Flanagan, Ryan and Varner.  These families comprised the church's first members.  Many of these oldest tombstones extol the virtues of the community's first settlers--making their epistaphs as memorable as they are historical.

According to the extensive history published by the Burleson County Historical Society, an early chronicler of Burleson County events was M. H. Addison, who had come to the area with his parents in the spring of 1835. (1)

Addison stated that those living below the Old San Antonio Road in 1835 included John Echols, W. W. Hill, Mrs. Nancy Chance and her sons, and the Furnash family.  He named many more that lived in the area of Providence.

Though the area was sparsely settled, it appears that every able-bodied man either participated or saw service in the Armies of the Republic of Texas.
George W. Barnett, James, John, and Thomas Early, John Fulcher, John Echols, John Furnash, James and John Harvey, and Andrew J. Hitchock were among those who received bounty land grants for serving the in Armies of the Republic.

These land grants at Providence were among those closest in the state to some of the Republic's most important historical events.

Just 20 miles southeast of Providence  (by horseback) on State Highway 50 is Independence, Texas, a hub of Texas frontier acctivity and thought--as evidenced by its name.

Through here horses thundered--down the old "stage coach road" (2) from Independence to Washington, Texas, where convention delegates had gathered to draft Texas' Declaration on Independence. (3)

It was here that the Independence Baptist Church--one of Texas' oldest and still active churches--was founded in 1839.

It was also here--to Independence--that Sam Houston later moved his family to provide the older children more educational opportunities at the Baylor preparatory school and co-educational Baylor University, chartered in 1845.
Part of the Old Baylor still marks the original university site at Independence.

Among this Baptist congregation, Sam Houston professed religion.  He was baptised two miles south of Independence where two forks of the Little Rocky Creek join.

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