by Linda Mullen
Mrs. Lurline Tisdale recently donated the Post Oak Baptist Church piano to the Freestone County Historical Museum. The piano is a 1904 W. W. Kimball Company upright which graced the halls of the church for many of the church’s 90 plus year existence. The July 23, 1888 issue of the Fairfield Recorder states that Post Oak “is situated about 4 miles southeast of Fairfield on the Fairfield and Buffalo road. There amid a beautiful clump of post oaks, whose towering heads and gnarled trunks show that they have stood the blasts of many winters, stands the picturesque little church of Post Oak.” The road is now known as FM 1580.
Records on file at the Freestone County Clerk’s office show that Mrs. Nancy M. (Philpott) Daviss donated 1.5 acres of land for the church on July 4, 1879 to deacons John W. Wood and R. F. Hatcher. Mrs. Daviss was wife of former Freestone County Treasure, Wm. Riley Daviss who had previously passed away. Her father was General Horatio Philpott. A lot of Freestone County history and numerous descendants are connected with these family trees. Her son Horatio P. Daviss was at one time sheriff of Freestone County.
Records of the Trinity River Baptist Association show that J. W. Wood was the pastor of the “Post Oak Grove Baptist Church” in 1878 and R. J. Hatcher (also seen as Hatter), son-in-law of John Mims (who owned a very large portion of land on the headwaters of the Keechi Creek, now Mims Creek), was church clerk. Wm. Wesley Riley, who donated the land for the nearby cemetery about this same time frame, was a nephew of John Mims. He moved to Freestone County to live near his uncle. The land transfer was made official by Mrs. M. A. Riley, wife of W. W. Riley on May 26, 1905 through a deed of one acre to deacons C. E. Lindsey, Lee Eubank, and J. A. Chavers, recorded in FC Deed Book 20, p. 468.
Other early families of the Post Oak Community were Elbert C. & Jane (Raiford, Dulaney) Lindsey, James A. & Martha (Solomon) Chavers, L. B. Vernon, Clem B. & Sally (Mims) Dulaney, Jesse & Aceneth (Mims) Hicks, W. B. & Cynthia (McClendon) Childs, James D. & Annie (Oaks) Harrison, Mark & Mary (Nichols) Baker, Elmo Joseph Lambert, Nelson & Alma (Williams) Willard, John R. Boatner & Susie (Pool) Cain, William Oscar & Dodie (Dulaney) Cain, Asa & Elizabeth (Bulin) Stroud, Fred & Autie (Stroud) Richardson, Wm. Lee & Fannie (Wallace) Glazner, and C.M. and Maggie (Riley) Middleton—just to name a few. Many of these families later moved to Teague, including the Rileys and Middletons.
Mrs. Tisdale was named after the Middleton’s daughter, Lurline DeSoto, and her mother’s family was the one who had donated the land for the cemetery. Mrs. Burkhart remembered that the Middleton family had a store across from the school and that they also had a stock pond where all of the Post Oak members were baptized.
The community thrived with a grist mill, a cotton gin (once operated by Mr. Glazener), school, and store; but never obtained a post office. In 1893, it was reported that a larger and new church house was being built, and that the present building would be used for a school. The school remained open until it was annexed into the Fairfield School in March 1949. Mrs. Lurline (Chavers) Tisdale attended the Post Oak School until she was in the 6th grade; as did Mildred (Richardson) Burkhart, another still living student.
The Chavers & Richardson families spent many hours in front of this prized piano as a part of the “Post Oak Quartet”, which was quite famous in its day. They traveled around singing at other churches, singing conventions, memorials and special entertainments. The quartet was composed of Lurline’s sisters, Martha (Chavers) Harrison and Ruth (Chavers) Moore; along with sisters Mildred (Richardson) Burkhart, Imogene (Richardson) Orand. Their pianist was Mrs. Fred (Autie) Richardson, mother of Mildred and Imogene; and not to mention that their father was song leader of the church. These teenage girls in the mid-1930s and 40s were urged and encouraged by their Post Oak Pastor, Brother R. L. Ryburn, to sing gospel music. They did just that all over Freestone County and beyond!
One of Mrs. Burkharts favorite memories is the time the quartet was invited by the Stamps Quartet Music Company to sing on their radio program on KRLD, which they did. Webb Hughes, a close friend and music teacher, escorted the quartet and others to the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas for their radio appearance. Webb accompanied them on the piano. Back home, locals were tuned in that day to hear the Post Oak Girls sing on the radio.
In 1968 the Post Oak Church closed its doors as many of the members had moved to nearby larger towns and were attending other missionary Baptist Churches. The church building was used for many years during the annual memorial services held each 1st Saturday in June. One day in the 1990s, a storm blew the building off its foundation. The cemetery association collected enough funds to have the building repaired; however, the following year another storm blew through and again knocked the building off its pilings. The association decided, enough was enough; and the building was dismantled.
Sometime along the way the piano was taken to the home of Ottie (Lambert) and Carmel Blakely. It was well kept in their home until Mrs. Blakely passed away. The piano then made its home with Jack and Lurline Tisdale, and now has been placed in the loving care of the museum to be enjoyed by future generations. It joins the podium, several church pews, and Mildred Burkhart’s painting of the church already on display. The museum encourages everyone to stop by and see the Post Oak Collection.
(Note: There was also a large black population in this Post Oak Community. The nearby New Zion Church and Cemetery is often referred to in the early years as the Post Oak Church and Cemetery. Another community south of Donie was also called Post Oak Grove. These can often be confused by people who don’t know their history.)
