[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 187 (Friday, November 7, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1043-E1044]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CELEBRATING THE 175TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF 
                             QUITMAN, TEXAS

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. LANCE GOODEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 7, 2025

  Mr. GOODEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the First Baptist 
Church of Quitman's 175th anniversary. Organized on November 16, 1850, 
the First Baptist Church of Quitman, commonly known as FBCQ, is the 
oldest church in Wood County. It was established just nine months after 
the Texas Legislature voted to create Wood County in February of that 
same year, and it was the home church of James Stephen Hogg, the first 
native-born governor of Texas.
  At its founding, the Baptist congregation met in public buildings, 
homes, and in the open air before finding a permanent location on the 
first floor of the Quitman Masonic Lodge. The church resided in 
multiple buildings in the early 20th Century. Tremendous growth in the 
late 1940's led to the construction of FBCQ's fourth and current 
sanctuary, located on Lane Street, where the congregation still gathers 
to worship today. I am deeply grateful to the First

[[Page E1044]]

Baptist Church of Quitman for its long and storied history of service 
to the Greater Quitman area. I congratulate them on this incredible 
milestone.

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