History of St. Paul's Church in Olney, Texas
by Helen McNutt

In 1997, I am the only charter member living in Olney at the present time.

In December 1949, my husband, Charles McNutt, our daughters, Melinda and Lucy Anne, and I attended services in Wichita Falls at the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. Bishop Mason of the Diocese of Dallas was speaker that day, and Lucy Anne was christened after the services. We talked with Bishop Mason about the possibility of establishing an Episcopal Church in Olney. He said that the following summer he would send two seminary students to Olney to canvass the town for any other Episcopalians living there. There were 11, and one desired to join the Episcopal Church.

Soon after this, a meeting was held in our home for the purpose of signing a petition to the Bishop asking for the establishment of an Episcopal Church in Olney. The petition was accepted, and we named our church, St. Paul’s. Father Riggs from the Holy Spirit Church in Graham was present at this meeting. Others present, who became charter members were – Dr. and Mrs. Ralph Woolsey, Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer Swink, Mr. and Mrs. M.R. Agan, Mr. and Mrs. Charles McNutt, Sarah Cooper, Pete Roach, Helen Thompson, and Melinda McNutt. Only three of these charter members are now living. They are Thelma Woolsey of Copperas Cove, Melinda McNutt Ferrell of Austin, and Helen McNutt of Olney.

Our first meeting was held in the old Wes-Tex Theatre building, now occupied by the Olney  Chamber of Commerce. The next year, we met in the little white American Legion building in the 100 block of S. Grand across from the present City Hall [Young County Sub-Courthouse]. We then met for a while in the office of Dr. Woolsey. Members then decided to have their meetings in their homes, each taking a month at a time.

During these years, Paul Eggers, attorney in Wichita Falls, came each Sunday to conduct morning prayer service, and Dr. Beasley came once a month from Good Shepherd for holy communion.. Women of the church, St. Anne’s Guild, worked to raise money for a church building. They held an annual Christmas Bazaar, had bake sales and garage sales, and conducted the Not New Thrift Shop in downtown Olney in the building now occupied by G.P.’s Leather Shop.

One evening, we received a call from Alfred Evans, Olney radio announcer. He told us that he and his wife, Sybil, owned a lot at the corner of Hamilton Street and Avenue L, and they wanted to give the lot to our congregation as a site for a church building. The church was built and dedicated in 1956. About 1965, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Worthington paid off the indebtedness on the church property and provided funds for the addition of a parish hall and kitchen.

As many members died, and other were transferred to other locations, our membership gradually diminished. The last 18 months those left were the family of Sam and Carolyn Cook and their daughter, Alecia, and two individuals, Minerva Moore, and Helen McNutt.

In the Episcopal Church, old church property is vested on the Diocese in which it was built; and when the decision was made to close the church, all church property was turned over to the Fort Worth Diocese. The Diocese then transferred it to Hamilton Hospital. I am happy this was done, and I know it is in good hands and will always be taken care of. /s/ Mrs. Helen McNutt

Additional information to the above story by Dorman Holub

On January 15, 1956, members of St. Paul's Episcopal Church dedicated their new church building on West Hamilton Street in public services on Sunday afternoon. Leading the service was the Rt. Rev. Joseph Harte of Dallas, suffragan bishop of the diocese. Also taking part was Dr. Claud Beesley, record of the Church of the Good Shepherd at Wichita Falls, and Paul Eggers of Wichita Falls, who is the local church’s lay leader. Broyles Hall, music director for the Church of the Good Shepherd, was organist for the service, playing the instrument that was donated to the church by Mr. and Mrs. John Martin of Houston.  Officers of the Church are Charles McNutt, senior warden; Dr. Ralph Woolsey, junior warden; Marion Agan, secretary; Mrs. W.A. Cooper, treasurer. Dr. Beesley was at the local church Sunday to conduct baptismal services for Marvin Allred Tom, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Tom of Olney. By June 7, 1956, Miss Melinda McNutt was the organist for St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

In 1961, Rev. R.E. McCrary, native of Dallas, has assumed his duties as pastor of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Olney. He is the first resident clergyman the local Episcopal congregation has had in the last several years. Rev. McCrary is curate at All Saints Episcopal Church in Wichita Falls and will work with Episcopal congregations in Burkburnett and Electra.

On February 4, 1965, Father Walter A. Gerth assumed his new duties as vicar of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Olney. He and his wife are living in the church parsonage at 805 W. Howard. Before coming to Olney, Father Gerth served as pastor of St. John’s Episcopal Church at Corbin, Kentucky for five years. He attended the University of Kentucky and Union College at Barbourville, Kentucky. He took his divinity training at Episcopal Theological Seminary in Lexington, Kentucky. Father Gerth will serve also as vicar of Church of St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Burkburnett. On October 14, 1965, Rev. Ralph E. Bible, formerly of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, has accepted the position of Vicar of St. Paul’s. He will serve as Rector in Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in Graham where he will live.

In June of 1966, Rev. Walter Micheal Merriman, who was sponsored through three years of seminary work by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Olney, was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church on June 15. Rev. Merriman is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Merriman of Throckmorton. He received a BA degree from the University of Texas and is a spring graduate of the General Theological Seminary in New York. A minister in the Episcopal Church serves six months to a year as a deacon before he is ordained as a priest.

St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Olney, Texas closed in 1997. - Dorman Holub