In 1860 the East Texas Conference met in Jefferson on October 24-30. A
half dozen young preachers were admitted on trial at this session who
were to go out and make history in the state and church. Among these was
one, John H. McLean, who served in Jefferson for two years, (being sent
to Jefferson in 1863) and who in 1874 and 1875 served as Presiding Elder
of the Marshall District, of which Jefferson was a station. He became an
influential figure in Texas Methodism and education.
There was excitement in Jefferson and Texas in those October days over
the national presidential election. Portents of civil conflicts were
plentiful, and when news that Abraham Lincoln had been elected President
reached Jefferson during the conference session, many declared that it
meant WAR!
When the next session of an Annual Conference met in Jefferson ten years
later (1870) Jefferson was in the North Texas Conference, the Civil War
having come and gone. But its effects very present. Some of the honored
names of 1860 were missing. Among these was the name of Rev. W. B. Hill
who was pastor in Jefferson during 1860. He was killed at Fort Donelson
in 1862.