“Wildcat” Baptist Preacher, Z. N. Morrell  

   
by Betty Dunn

Nicknamed “Wildcat”, travelling Baptist preacher Zachariah (sometimes called Zenos) Nehemiah Morrell, is a legend in Texas and Grimes County history.  He crossed the Sabine River in 1835 a few months before the Alamo. For the next forty years Morrell rode horseback preaching across the Brazos region of Texas before age and his health stopped him.

In Grimes County, Preacher Morrell helped establish in 1844 the Anderson Baptist Church.  Records show that Morrell, Elder Thomas Horsely, Minister Benjamin Fry and seven members organized the church in a small community on Rocky Creek under the name of Antioch with the understanding it would be moved to nearby Fanthorp – Anderson’s early name.  Within months services were held in the Fanthorp Masonic Hall. 
In 1848 Morrell was instrumental in a Fanthorp meeting establishing the State’s Baptist Convention.  Today’s existing church was built 155 years ago in 1855.   

Born January 17, 1803 in South Carolina, at age thirteen his family moved to Tennessee.  Not formally educated, he became a Baptist minister by the age of twenty.  Married, and with four children, he suffered ‘lung hemorrhages’.  Doctors suggested he move south.  After exploring Texas in 1835 he moved his family to the Brazos area in early 1836.  Indian raids forced them to move to Washington-on-the-Brazos.  Morrell’s wife, Clearacy Hayes, died in 1843.  He married widow Delia Harlan in 1845, but that marriage, due to his long absences, ended in divorce.  By 1870 his health restricted his travels and he lived his declining years with parishioners and church elders.  During this time he devoted his time to writing his well known historical memoirs first published in 1872 – “Flowers and Fruits in the Wilderness.”  Six months later, due to demand, a second edition was published.  Ten years later Morrell updated a third edition shortly before his death.

Morrell died in December 1883 in the home of R. J. Sledge in Kyle, south of Austin.  Buried at the First  Baptist Church in Kyle, his body was moved in 1946 to the State Cemetery in Austin.  Morrell’s book was
republished in 1966 by the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Betty Dunn may be reached at bdunn@mssblue.net