September 4, 2000
Writers on the storm...
___"Our church house is wrecked, and our people too poor even to rebuld their own homes without help. I see no prospect of salary from my field, but I must stay. We must have help to rebuild our house of worship. Every church house in Alvin is wrecked. Who will help us?"
___ J.M. Kailin, pastor in Alvin, letter to the Baptist Standard, Sept. 20, 1900
___"The storm has left the people here in such a condition that they are leaving by the carloads. I think I will not have a single congregation left, so I expect I will go back to North Texas."
___ H.T. Money, pastor in Juliff, letter to the Baptist Standard, Sept. 20, 1900
___"The First Baptist Church of Galveston to the Baptists of the country: Our church and chapel are in ruins; a vacant lot would be better .... Thirty-one of our church members among the dead. Those who survived are financially ruined. The question is being asked,'Will Galveston rise from the wreck and ruin of today?' There is here one of the great ports of the country. It is the natural outlet and inlet for Texas and the great Northwest. If there were today not a building on this island, only this great port remaining, Galveston would live again. There is a wave more irresistible than that of the gulf; it is the tide of the world's commerce. We are not going to abolish seaport cities, and if there is a port destined to permanency and greatness, it is this. From the ruins of today there will arise a more beautiful and greater Galveston, with a sea wall and buildings built for wind and wave. Shall we Baptists have a church here? You see our utterly paralyzed condition. We have faith, hope, courage, energy, but no money. Our people are unable to repair the damaged parsonage or their own homes or even to remove the debris from the church lot. We appeal to you. Your response cannot be too quick nor too large for the gigantic situation which confronts us."
___ W.M. Harris, moderator of First Baptist Church of Galveston, and F. W. Eichlitz, church clerk, letter to Baptist Standard, Sept. 20, 1900.
___"The buildings of the South Texas Baptist College are a wreck. If the proper steps are taken immediately, this institution may be saved; otherwise it is lost to the denomination. This is the only Baptist school in South Texas, and our Baptist people cannot afford to lose it. ... Even now while our buildings are unfit for service and our board of directors powerless to relieve the situation, letters are coming to us from students desiring to enter, while other students are already here paying board and waiting for us to resume work. Brethren of Texas, we come to you with this question, Shall we lose entirely all that has already been done for Christian education? The answer rests with you."
___ C.W. Mathews, president of South Texas Baptist College, letter to Baptist Standard, Sept. 20, 1900
___"The Second Baptist Church of Galveston yesterday held a meeting and decided that we should appeal to our brethren for aid to rebuild our church house in this, our time of trouble. We were not strong at first; we are weaker now. Many of us sleep beneath the waves. Those left are destitute; our church is in splinters, scattered far and wide. We must appeal to you now, and we feel that you will respond. Many people are leaving the city. We cannot desert the sinking ship. Our cause is bleeding at every pore. O, brethren! Hear our cry, hear our cry."
___ I.T. Creek, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Galveston, letter to the Baptist Standard, Sept. 27, 1900
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