Jones County Texas Archives - New Hope Baptist Church - 1927 *********************************************************** Submitted by: Dorman Holub Date: 19 January 2020 Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/jones/jonestoc.htm *********************************************************** The Stamford American Thursday, June 30, 1927 New Hope church turns to farming as most dependable means of paying preacher and retiring church debt by Essie Mae Sorrell The New Hope Baptist church is making a crop this year, this making the third year, the church has made a crop. Not only the people of the church have helped work the crop but others of the community. The first year the land was rented from Mr. Starkey. It consisted of 47 acres. J.M. Mickler was manager for that year. Twenty-three bales of cotton were made. The planting, plowing and chopping was the donation work, but the picking was hired. After paying expenses of the crop, there was a total of $1700 left. This went to pay for the building of the church house, which was built a year before the first crop. The second year the land was rented from W.F. Bean, consisting of 60 acr es, under the management of H.L. Hager. Just as the first year, the work was donated except the picking. Twenty-four bales of cotton was made, and the church cleared $890. This was used in installing a light plant for the church. During the year there was about 108 days of work. This year the land was rented from W.F. Bean, J.M. Mickler being manager. There is about 50 acres. The cotton had been plowed and is now ready for chopping. The yearsŐ money will go to buy seats for the church house. So far there has been 29 days of work. The first church building was built in 1895. It was just a small building. In 1924 the old building was torn down and a modern church was erected at a cost of $5,000.