"Give your children these two things - one is Roots, the other, Wings" – This is the Story of John and Cordelia Neal (Early Texas Settlers) Fifteen miles northeast of Goldthwaite, Texas there is a little farming community called Mount Olive. Its history dates back to 1887 when John A. Neal and his family settled on a section of rolling hills that residents would later call "The Mountain". Coming from Johnson County, Texas, the Neals were the first permanent settlers in this prairie wilderness that seemed so far from the nearest civilization. The land around Mount Olive was covered with post oak and briars, but underneath all this was fertile soil with tall grass. Here is where in 1886 John Neal and his father, Allen Brooks Neal Sr., drove two hundred head of cattle to pasture near the mountain where they found plenty of running water from the underground springs. John and his father were farmers and part time ranchers. They considered farming more stable than the cattle business so they put in a farm near the mountain, first to sustain the family and then later to produce a cash crop of cotton and sweet potatoes. In order to farm the land, the land had to be cleared, a job for the strong and hardy as the brush on the nearby flat lands was thick and covered with flint rock. The whole Neal family set about clearing their land, putting in orchards, fields and vegetable gardens with the few tools they possessed, a pick-ax, chopping ax, brush axes and hand plows. John's wife, Cordelia, and his Mother and Dad, A.B. and Pernessa, and all the older children worked in the fields carrying out flint rock that was used to make boundary posts and fences. In the year of 1890, the community of Mount Olive started to grow. J. J. Wilcox and family became neighbors of John and Cordelia Neal. Other families who would become prominent citizens in Mount Olive included John's children, A. B. Neal, Jr. and Granville Neal, and one of the local men from the Pleasant Grove community near Jonesboro. His name was John Frank Henderson, and he would marry one of John Neal's daughters, Eva Lee. THE PRIMITIVE BAPTIST CHURCH As these pioneer families were building their homes and clearing fields, they all sensed that something was missing - a place to worship God in a real church. On July 28, 1899, a group of men and women from Mount Olive and the nearby community of North Bennett got together to establish and organize a Primitive Baptist Church. John's father, A.B. Neal Sr. and John's son, nineteen year-old Almer B. Neal, Jr. were key members of this planning group. A.B Neal Sr. rose to be the spokesman, and with the help of the membership was chiefly responsible for the founding of the Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church. Nineteen folk presented letters for membership in the new church including Brother J.D. and Elizabeth Calloway, Sister M. A. Wilcox, Brother A.B. Neal, Sr. and wife, Brother John Neal and wife, Brother A.B. Neal, Jr., Brother J. S. Hodge and wife, Brother J. M. Smith and wife; Sister Mary Caraway, Brother Thomas Huckabee and wife; Sister F.L. McDonald, Sister Martha Parker, Brother C.H. Koen, Brother, J.R. Ferguson and Sister Katie Calloway. Another pioneer citizen of the community and church was Dr. S. F. Roberts who would become Almer Neal's father-in-law. Dr. Roberts was born in Alabama on August 16, 1847 and died March 13, 1932. He moved to Mills County in 1900 and lived in the Mount Olive community until his death. He was an ordained church Elder and was also a medical doctor in the community. He served the Mount Olive church as assistant minister while he and his family engaged in farming. The Neals and the Roberts were families closely intertwined in those days. LIFE ON THE MOUNTAIN Life on the mountain held many hardships, but even so during church services shouting and praising of the Lord could still be heard. When it was raining, John Neal would put wagon sheets on the wagon to keep the family dry as they made their way to church. Mud often accumulated on the wheels until the team couldn't pull another step so sticks were kept handy to clear the spokes of mud. If the weather was cold, a roaring fire was built in the big stove that stood in the home where the congregation chose to meet. In those days, people went to church regardless of the hardships they endured to get there. In the year of 1901 fifteen acres were purchased from C. Y. Roberts to build a church building, thirty by forty feet in size. It was used as a school as well as church until 1912. The original deed to the church property states the land was transferred "from C.Y. Roberts to A.B. Neal Sr". The new church was described as the loveliest location of any graveyard, church or school in Mills County. The ground was high, well drained and surrounded by fine old oak trees, while all the surrounding ground was densely covered by brush. In the fall and winter, natural springs in the area would run until mid summer when their flow was reduced to a trickle. Among the Neals, the Roberts, and the Hendersons there were many precious memories of their church at Mount Olive; the meetings under brush arbors, the wonderful fellowship with church members, the visitors, singing, prayers and all the many worship services held through the years. These were simple people, living simple lives connected by land, family, and congregation. BAPTIZINGS AT MOUNT OLIVE In the year 1910, Haley's Comet came into view in the southern night sky of Mills County and could be seen for many months. It was a beautiful sight, with a circle of large stars around it and a tail of smaller stars spraying out behind. In those days, people knew little of astronomy, and after a few months, word spread around Mount Olive that this might just be a sign from God that the end of the world was near. Not many would admit they really believed this, but when the summer revivals came along, there were more conversions and baptizings than had ever been recorded in Mills County up to that time. Now a baptizing in those years was a thing to behold. All the women to be baptized made white flannel dresses for themselves especially for the occasion, putting the soft fuzzy side of the material out. The men usually wore work breeches and a white shirt. It was one of the most beautiful and impressive services you'd ever want to attend as the voices of the choir echoed along the river banks, and the people all dressed in white came down into the water to be baptized. CAMP MEETINGS AND BRUSH ARBOR REVIVALS Camp meetings in Mills County took place in summer, usually August. People drove their wagons and buggies over treacherous roads to get to them, and when they finally arrived at the shady retreat, they were in no hurry to leave. Some camp meetings lasted as long as two weeks, and preaching was almost continuous throughout the day. All denominations came together for the revivals. Ministers from all Protestant faiths preached at various times. The social importance of those camp meetings cannot be overstated. Camp Meetings relieved the loneliness and isolation of frontier life in Central Texas, and they satisfied an eagerness people had for religious services. After a week or two of reassuring and soul- searching sermons, people could go home and take up their daily struggles with a song in their hearts and strength to face their uncertain future. The camp meetings in central Texas gradually faded away, replaced by smaller, community based worship services known as brush arbor revivals. It was natural for this to happen as more churches were built, and people wanted to be able to go home at night. For the Mount Olive Community, brush arbor meetings were important events that took place every summer. For a week ahead of the scheduled revival, men of the church would cut brush from their pastures and pile it in deep clumps on the already standing frame of the brush arbor. The ground was covered with freshly threshed straw to combat the boiling dust. As in the days of the camp meetings, the month of August was the month set aside for revivals. Some revivals included a morning service but the main service was in the evening. Just before the evening service started, a dozen strong men would carry the old church piano to its resting place on the outdoor rostrum. Coal oil lanterns were filled and the preacher's pulpit was moved into its place. In the soft, yellow-orange glow of sunset, darkness would gradually close in around the congregation, setting the stage for a really dramatic and dynamic service. Now, the key to a successful brush arbor revival was the visiting Preacher. He had to be a different sort of man, with a voice that would carry across the pasture. He had to stand firm on both feet, look the people in the eyes and catalogue their sins one by one. He would raise his voice to a pitch five times its regular volume, shaking the entire arbor structure with his words of damnation. Then he would suddenly become silent, a short meditative respite, only to thunder down upon the people once again until he finally brought them to submission and a searching of their souls. From the audience came the loud "Amen" and "Amen" over and over, as he finally calmed his voice to the quietness of a spring breeze, and with that, he would bring the sermon to a close. At the Mount Olive brush arbor meetings, after the morning service, everyone would go home for lunch and a nap. Some worked during the afternoon until time to return that night for another meeting. The visiting preacher would go home with the Neals or the Roberts or another family for lunch or supper and a night's lodging. Late in the afternoons before time to go back to church the host family and the minister would gather on the front porch where it was cooler, and conversation would come around to the Bible and its teachings. Just before the evening service, people returned to the grounds for prayer meetings in small groups according to age. At the appointed time, all converged once again under the arbor for the evening sermon. Quilts were spread over clean straw for babies to sleep, lanterns were lit, and when all became quiet, just before the service started, night sounds would begin to close in as the little congregation listened to the song of the crickets, owls hooting on the nearby creek and the hum of insects buzzing around the lighted lanterns. A cough could be heard here and there among the congregation. All was ready for another night's spiritual drama. AN NEW GENERATION OF EMIGRANTS Out of the John Neal family grew a new generation of emigrants. Even though the families and communities where they grew up were prosperous and supportive, some of the younger children had an itching for new adventure summoned by the lure of cheap land. In 1895, the Texas legislature passed the "Four-Sections Act" by which public lands in northwest Texas would be placed on the market and a homesteader could file on any amount up to four sections and could purchase the land for one to two dollars per acre. It could be financed at 3% interest for forty years. One of the new counties that was set up in northwest Texas was called "Dawson". The town that took a leadership role in the county was named Lamesa, an Anglicized version of the Spanish term "la mesa" meaning "the table". The Neals would know it as the place where John and Cordelia's most promising daughter, Eva Lee, would go with her husband, John Frank Henderson, in 1924. Now, John Frank came from a family of restless men who saw adventure just over the next horizon, so it was not surprising when he caught the "land fever" that blew in from northwest Texas. After his Mom and Dad passed away, John Frank acted on his idea to move north where he and Eva could afford a big farm and a better life. Eva was probably not so eager to leave her Mom and Dad, her brothers and sisters, and most of all her church family at Mount Olive Baptist. But move she did with one or two stops along the way to John's dream farm situated squarely in the sand fields of Dawson County. Eva's brothers didn't have the same wanderlust as John Frank. They all remained in Hamilton County later to be named Mills County. THOSE WHO KNOW JESUS NEVER SAY GOODBYE FOR THE LAST TIME John and Cordelia Neal lived at Mount Olive for more than 37 years. They are at rest there today in the peaceful cemetery of the Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church, once described as the loveliest location of any graveyard in Mills County. Cordellia preceded her husband to Glory in August 1924. John must have been lost without her for he too passed just three months later on a Saturday afternoon, November 29, 1924. The next day was Sunday. It was a cool, bright morning with a strong sun that warmed the little congregation of the Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church as they came together for the Sunday morning worship service. The talk that morning was of the passing of an old friend and founding member of the church, John Allen Neal. The Life of John and Cordelia Neal Page 5