Connecticut to Texas: The Universalist Ministry of
Mary Ward Granniss Webster Billings
Mary Ward Granniss Webster Billings
Connecticut to Texas: The Universalist Ministry of
Mary Ward Granniss Webster Billings
by Rev. Dr. Barbara Coeyman, Austin, Texas
History matters to me. In 1998 when I started seminary a few years after arriving in Austin, I
wanted to learn more about early Unitarians and Universalists in Texas. I had learned that
Universalists settled in Texas as early as 1850, so I was surprised that I could find little about
Texas in published histories of our religious heritage. However, in scanning archival materials, the
name 'Rev. Mary Billings' kept popping out. Even from the few details I was able to find, I began to
feel some resonance with her: we both hailed from the northeast and were transposed to Texas in
mid-life, and we were both doing ministry in a region culturally, socially, and geographically
removed from what we had grown up with. Mary succeeded well in Texas: in fact, she was the first
woman ordained to Universalist ministry in the state. One difference between us: Mary lived here
over a century ago, her ordination occurring in 1892, by the Texas Universalist Convention that
she helped organize. Even though separated by over a hundred years, I felt spiritual kinship from
Mary that often kept me going during my own ministerial formation. Knowing she succeeded as a
minister here gave me hope that I could too.
During her twenty years here in the Lone Star state, Mary and her new husband Rev. James
Billings, the Universalist missionary to Texas, did much to spread liberal religion. They established
the state Universalist church, All Souls, in the small town of Hico (about fifty miles southwest of
Dallas/Fort Worth) and played key roles in the Texas Universalist Convention. Mary was also a
prolific writer and was well networked with women Universalists and writers in Texas and around
the country. A kind, generous woman, her entire life Mary was devoted to serving her Universalist
faith.
I have been writing the story of Mary's life and ministry. She and countless other
nineteenth-century women of liberal faith who have been left out of the historical record can
inspire UUs in the early 21st century. Mary faced and overcame many challenges.
During the Billings' ministry, Universalism not only survived but thrived here in Texas. Mary had
much to teach me as I grew into ministry. For one, Mary represents the transition from the private
to the public sphere made by many women across the nineteenth century. Mary really was a
minister her entire life, but in the days before it was common for women to occupy the public
pulpit or produce theological tracts, Mary expressed herself theologically through her fiction and
other writing: short stories, poems, hymns, even travel logs. Furthermore, researching her life
also illustrates the importance of using historical methodology appropriate to women's history. For
example, initially I had a hard time finding much about Mary in surviving sources until I realized
that, having been married three times, she appears with four different last names in documents
recording her life events. Once I had her timeline of name changes straight, the life events began
to fall into place.
Universalism as Mary and James introduced it to Texas was clearly influenced by their
experiences as Universalists in the north. James had ministered in New York state and the
midwest, and Mary lived her first sixty years in central Connecticut. That the structure of the
Texas Universalist Convention looked a lot like the Connecticut State Convention is not at all
surprising. What Mary learned and how she lived the first sixty years of her life as a Universalist in
Connecticut had much to do with how she developed this radical religion on the Texas frontier
during the final quarter of her life.
Mary Ward was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1824, the fourteenth of sixteen children. The
fourth largest town in Connecticut during Mary's youth with a population around 4000, Litchfield
was located in one of the most culturally rich areas in the state. The country's first law
school---Tapping Reeve--- opened in 1784 and the Litchfield Female Academy opened in 1792.
Girls were nurtured well in Litchfield. After several older siblings died young, Mary was pulled from
school to learn on her own through reading great literature and being allowed to 'roam free' in the
beautiful countryside around Litchfield. Helping to care for her large family, Mary also learned
caregiving as a way of life.
Although the Presbyterian church was the official church of Connecticut after the Revolution,
Mary's family were members of the Episcopal church, in which Mary's great-grandfather, Rev.
Solomon Palmer, was an influential minister in the mid-eighteenth century. Sometime around
1830 Mary and an older brother (probably Henry) were converted to Universalist ideas by Rev.
Menzies Rayner, minister at Hartford's Universalist church. There being no Universalist
congregation in Litchfield, the Wards practiced their new faith privately.
Mary's first marriage, in 1845, was to a wealthy silk merchant, Frederick Granniss, also of
Litchfield. They moved to Hartford, where they were active members of the Hartford Universalist
congregation. The couple lived a comfortably. Having no children, Mary had much time for writing.
Her first book, Emma Clermont, appeared in 1849; the Universalist periodical Ladies Repository
published her travel log of the Granniss' extended tour of Europe, 1859-60; and her hymns
appeared in many sources. Although Mary's life as Granniss' wife was situated in the domestic
sphere typical for women at mid-century, she also developed strong ties to other women
Universalists such as Caroline Soule. Mary's domestic responsibilities were re-enforced by the
need to care for
her ailing husband, who died in 1866.
In 1869 Mary married again, this time a Universalist minister, Rev. Charles Henry Webster, state
missionary in Connecticut. They lived in Rocky Hill, a village south of Hartford. During this
marriage as a minister's wife, Mary expanded her connections with other Universalists, especially
women ministers. Mary preached her first sermon as a lay minister in 1873 in the pulpit of Phoebe
Hanaford's church in New Haven. Mary was active in the Women's Centenary Association and the
Women's Ministerial Conference started by Julia Ward Howe, and in the 1880s her biography was
included in E. R. Hanson's Our Women's Workers, and eleven of her hymns were published in
Women in Sacred Song. Her husband died in 1877.
Perhaps by joining James Billings in Texas, Mary took advantage of the opportunity to move into
public ministry. They married in Waco in 1885 and settled in Hico, then a fledging cotton town on
the westwardly expanding Texas Central Railway. Mary and James made sound real estate
investments in Hico on behalf of the church. They were personally active in All Souls Church in
Hico, with the children, women's groups, preaching, and care of the building and parsonage.
Together they also occupied most of the offices in the Texas State Convention. Mary was
particularly dedicated to the job of corresponding secretary, taking full advantage of the potential
of the post office to spread the liberal gospel in a land as large as Texas. Indeed, there were
many challenges in the southwest beyond anything the Billings may have experienced in the
north: stark weather, great distances and cumbersome travel, unpredictable agrarian economy,
and religious conservatism perhaps as staunch as it is today. In spite of these challenges,
congregations grew in numbers and Universalist membership increased during their ministries.
Mary's death in 1904 six years after James died was in fact a death-knell for Texas Universalism,
as one writer of an obituary claimed. Universalism hung on in the state for another twenty-five
years, but never with the same focus or vigor as during the Billings' years. The final Texas
Universalist Convention was held in 1929. We owe the Billings much. Nearly a hundred years
later, Unitarian Universalists in Texas are still enjoying the benefits of the groundwork for liberal
religion laid down by Mary and James. Mary certainly inspired my journey to ordination, which I
celebrated in early March, 2005. I know that I did not take this journey to ministry alone.
BIO
Barbara Coeyman was recently ordained to Unitarian Universalist ministry. She graduated from
Austin Presbyterian Seminary in 2001, completed an intern ministry at First Unitarian Church of
Portland, Oregon, and currently serves as Chaplain of PlannedParenthood of the Texas Capital
Region and Consulting Minister of Community Unitarian Universalist Church of San Antonio. Prior
to ministry, Dr. Coeyman was professor of music history at West Virginia University. One facet of
her research on early Universalism in Texas is her current book- in-progress on Mary Billings.
Mary Ward Granniss Webster Billings
by Rev. Dr. Barbara Coeyman, Austin, Texas
History matters to me. In 1998 when I started seminary a few years after arriving in Austin, I
wanted to learn more about early Unitarians and Universalists in Texas. I had learned that
Universalists settled in Texas as early as 1850, so I was surprised that I could find little about
Texas in published histories of our religious heritage. However, in scanning archival materials, the
name 'Rev. Mary Billings' kept popping out. Even from the few details I was able to find, I began to
feel some resonance with her: we both hailed from the northeast and were transposed to Texas in
mid-life, and we were both doing ministry in a region culturally, socially, and geographically
removed from what we had grown up with. Mary succeeded well in Texas: in fact, she was the first
woman ordained to Universalist ministry in the state. One difference between us: Mary lived here
over a century ago, her ordination occurring in 1892, by the Texas Universalist Convention that
she helped organize. Even though separated by over a hundred years, I felt spiritual kinship from
Mary that often kept me going during my own ministerial formation. Knowing she succeeded as a
minister here gave me hope that I could too.
During her twenty years here in the Lone Star state, Mary and her new husband Rev. James
Billings, the Universalist missionary to Texas, did much to spread liberal religion. They established
the state Universalist church, All Souls, in the small town of Hico (about fifty miles southwest of
Dallas/Fort Worth) and played key roles in the Texas Universalist Convention. Mary was also a
prolific writer and was well networked with women Universalists and writers in Texas and around
the country. A kind, generous woman, her entire life Mary was devoted to serving her Universalist
faith.
I have been writing the story of Mary's life and ministry. She and countless other
nineteenth-century women of liberal faith who have been left out of the historical record can
inspire UUs in the early 21st century. Mary faced and overcame many challenges.
During the Billings' ministry, Universalism not only survived but thrived here in Texas. Mary had
much to teach me as I grew into ministry. For one, Mary represents the transition from the private
to the public sphere made by many women across the nineteenth century. Mary really was a
minister her entire life, but in the days before it was common for women to occupy the public
pulpit or produce theological tracts, Mary expressed herself theologically through her fiction and
other writing: short stories, poems, hymns, even travel logs. Furthermore, researching her life
also illustrates the importance of using historical methodology appropriate to women's history. For
example, initially I had a hard time finding much about Mary in surviving sources until I realized
that, having been married three times, she appears with four different last names in documents
recording her life events. Once I had her timeline of name changes straight, the life events began
to fall into place.
Universalism as Mary and James introduced it to Texas was clearly influenced by their
experiences as Universalists in the north. James had ministered in New York state and the
midwest, and Mary lived her first sixty years in central Connecticut. That the structure of the
Texas Universalist Convention looked a lot like the Connecticut State Convention is not at all
surprising. What Mary learned and how she lived the first sixty years of her life as a Universalist in
Connecticut had much to do with how she developed this radical religion on the Texas frontier
during the final quarter of her life.
Mary Ward was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in 1824, the fourteenth of sixteen children. The
fourth largest town in Connecticut during Mary's youth with a population around 4000, Litchfield
was located in one of the most culturally rich areas in the state. The country's first law
school---Tapping Reeve--- opened in 1784 and the Litchfield Female Academy opened in 1792.
Girls were nurtured well in Litchfield. After several older siblings died young, Mary was pulled from
school to learn on her own through reading great literature and being allowed to 'roam free' in the
beautiful countryside around Litchfield. Helping to care for her large family, Mary also learned
caregiving as a way of life.
Although the Presbyterian church was the official church of Connecticut after the Revolution,
Mary's family were members of the Episcopal church, in which Mary's great-grandfather, Rev.
Solomon Palmer, was an influential minister in the mid-eighteenth century. Sometime around
1830 Mary and an older brother (probably Henry) were converted to Universalist ideas by Rev.
Menzies Rayner, minister at Hartford's Universalist church. There being no Universalist
congregation in Litchfield, the Wards practiced their new faith privately.
Mary's first marriage, in 1845, was to a wealthy silk merchant, Frederick Granniss, also of
Litchfield. They moved to Hartford, where they were active members of the Hartford Universalist
congregation. The couple lived a comfortably. Having no children, Mary had much time for writing.
Her first book, Emma Clermont, appeared in 1849; the Universalist periodical Ladies Repository
published her travel log of the Granniss' extended tour of Europe, 1859-60; and her hymns
appeared in many sources. Although Mary's life as Granniss' wife was situated in the domestic
sphere typical for women at mid-century, she also developed strong ties to other women
Universalists such as Caroline Soule. Mary's domestic responsibilities were re-enforced by the
need to care for
her ailing husband, who died in 1866.
In 1869 Mary married again, this time a Universalist minister, Rev. Charles Henry Webster, state
missionary in Connecticut. They lived in Rocky Hill, a village south of Hartford. During this
marriage as a minister's wife, Mary expanded her connections with other Universalists, especially
women ministers. Mary preached her first sermon as a lay minister in 1873 in the pulpit of Phoebe
Hanaford's church in New Haven. Mary was active in the Women's Centenary Association and the
Women's Ministerial Conference started by Julia Ward Howe, and in the 1880s her biography was
included in E. R. Hanson's Our Women's Workers, and eleven of her hymns were published in
Women in Sacred Song. Her husband died in 1877.
Perhaps by joining James Billings in Texas, Mary took advantage of the opportunity to move into
public ministry. They married in Waco in 1885 and settled in Hico, then a fledging cotton town on
the westwardly expanding Texas Central Railway. Mary and James made sound real estate
investments in Hico on behalf of the church. They were personally active in All Souls Church in
Hico, with the children, women's groups, preaching, and care of the building and parsonage.
Together they also occupied most of the offices in the Texas State Convention. Mary was
particularly dedicated to the job of corresponding secretary, taking full advantage of the potential
of the post office to spread the liberal gospel in a land as large as Texas. Indeed, there were
many challenges in the southwest beyond anything the Billings may have experienced in the
north: stark weather, great distances and cumbersome travel, unpredictable agrarian economy,
and religious conservatism perhaps as staunch as it is today. In spite of these challenges,
congregations grew in numbers and Universalist membership increased during their ministries.
Mary's death in 1904 six years after James died was in fact a death-knell for Texas Universalism,
as one writer of an obituary claimed. Universalism hung on in the state for another twenty-five
years, but never with the same focus or vigor as during the Billings' years. The final Texas
Universalist Convention was held in 1929. We owe the Billings much. Nearly a hundred years
later, Unitarian Universalists in Texas are still enjoying the benefits of the groundwork for liberal
religion laid down by Mary and James. Mary certainly inspired my journey to ordination, which I
celebrated in early March, 2005. I know that I did not take this journey to ministry alone.
BIO
Barbara Coeyman was recently ordained to Unitarian Universalist ministry. She graduated from
Austin Presbyterian Seminary in 2001, completed an intern ministry at First Unitarian Church of
Portland, Oregon, and currently serves as Chaplain of PlannedParenthood of the Texas Capital
Region and Consulting Minister of Community Unitarian Universalist Church of San Antonio. Prior
to ministry, Dr. Coeyman was professor of music history at West Virginia University. One facet of
her research on early Universalism in Texas is her current book- in-progress on Mary Billings.
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