The Roots of the Church in San Antonio

by Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist

Most members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are familiar with the stories of hardship and heartbreak that characterize much of the pioneer trek across the great plains and into Utah. Their stories become part of a shared heritage and legacy as we marvel at the many miracles and mercies that helped them start anew in the desert conditions of the Utah territory. 

Seventy-two years after the vanguard company of Saints entered the Utah Valley, San Antonio’s “this is the place” moment was about to begin.

In 1919, San Antonio was part of the Central States Mission. The first converts reported were Rudolph John and Lucia Cord Bremer, along with their son Rudolph on April 13, 1919. San Antonio’s first branch was organized, December 2, 1921 in a member’s home, with 15 members present. Rudolph Bremer became the branch president. The branch then began meeting in a rented hall above a bar. As could be expected, members did some necessary tidying up before Sunday services began. 

José Pedraza, born in Monterey, Mexico in 1900, is believed to be the first Mexican American member of the Church in Texas. José first heard the missionaries preaching in the street in San Antonio and felt the truth of their words. He was unable to get to them because of a crowd of hecklers. Later he received a pamphlet left on his doorstep by the missionaries, which confirmed his feelings. He couldn’t track down the missionaries, so he wrote a letter to the author of the pamphlet in Salt Lake City.

The letter was passed around until it finally reached the missionaries in San Antonio. The missionaries then began their search for José. When they finally got together, José embraced the gospel and was baptized June 24, 1924 in the San Antonio River. José left a legacy of missionary work, he never hesitated to share the gospel.

With the number of Saints quickly increasing, the mission secured two small frame buildings in 1928 that had belonged to the Prospect Hill Christian Church on Buena Vista Street. One building was the chapel with a back room that had a baptismal font and a couple of small classrooms. The other building had a large cultural hall and a small two bedroom dwelling area where the preacher and his family had lived. In order to get insurance on the two structures, the insurance company wanted someone to live on site. The missionaries lived there for a short time, but since they were also serving as district presidents over Corpus Christi and the Harlingen Valley, they were often not home. When a representative of the insurance company stopped by and found it unoccupied, they pressed President Bremer to get it occupied.

President Bremer knew just the family. Leonard Parsons, now 95, said, “I like to tell people that I was raised ‘in the Church’ meaning literally in the church because we lived behind the cultural hall. Our living room and frequently one of our bedrooms were used as Sunday School classrooms.” Parsons’ father, Donnie Parsons was a journeyman steel worker and was gone for long periods of time. His mother, Lilian was rearing their five children pretty much by herself and the small dwelling was a blessing. Parsons said, “President Bremer offered to let us live there and pay ten dollars a month rent; and I can remember that, although we never wasted any money, there was a time during the depression when we were three years behind on rent.” As part of their agreement, Parsons and his older brother Willard, would take care of the grounds and help clean the chapel. The care for the chapel fell on 12 year-old Leonard’s shoulders when his older brother left home. He remembers one Saturday when the Relief Society sisters came. “Sister Turley and Wells and Gladys Bremer and four or five other ladies came to help me with the yard and clean up. They did a super job instead of the haphazard job they usually got from me. The next day when everyone was telling me how great everything looked, I had to confess it was the Relief Society.”

In 1923, Henry Eyring Turley moved into the branch from the Colonies in Mexico. He was attending the Chiropractic college. The environment was quite different with just a handful of Saints in San Antonio compared to the Latter-day Saint colonies in Mexico. After finishing school, he returned to  the colonies and married Louise Robinson. He was offered a job teaching at the Chiropractic school and so he and his wife, and their one year-old son Herbert moved back to San Antonio in 1927. 

In 1931, the San Antonio Branch and the recently formed Spanish Branch became part of the Texas Mission which then consisted of Texas and Louisiana. In 1941, an encampment was held in Glen Rose, Texas. Every Latter-day Saint in Texas and Louisiana was encouraged to attend the three-day event. Elder Charles A. Callis from the Quorum of the Twelve was the visiting authority.

The branch continued to grow until it reached over 200 members and needed new accommodations. In 1942 the Chapel on Bailey Avenue was built and was completed by Roland C. Bremer (second son of Rudolph and Lucia Bremer) who was a general contractor. The chapel was dedicated by Elder Harold B. Lee, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve on November 8th, 1942. Henry E. Turley was serving as the branch president.

Through the years, Rudolph J. Bremer served as the first Branch President, the branch presidents in order, were: Rudolph J. Bremer, R. G. Thomas, John C. Reinhart, Rudolph J. Bremer (2nd time), Henry E. Turley, Roland C. Bremer, Jack B. Wright and Dr. John Cole. In 1954 the Texas Mission was again reorganized with the San Antonio Branch becoming part of the Houston stake. It was soon designated a ward, with Dr. John Cole becoming the first bishop of the San Antonio Ward.

In January of 1958, it was finally time for San Antonio to become a stake. Elders Spencer W. Kimball and Harold B. Lee were in Houston for the stake division. They wanted to interview Roland C. Bremer. Bremer was seriously ill with cancer. The Houston Stake President, President Trunnell told Bremer that the brethren from Salt Lake had prayed for him and that he was needed in Houston. His family packed him up in the back seat and drove him to Houston. President Trunnell had set up a cot for Bremer to rest on between meetings on Saturday. That night he was called to be the Stake President of the new San Antonio Stake. He was able to choose his counselors that night. Sunday morning, January 19, 1958, he was presented as the new Stake President and gave a talk. A number of prayers had been answered. He served until his release on the 29th of September, 1968. He lived for 16 years after being called as stake president. The San Antonio Stake became the fourth stake in Texas.

Shortly after the stake was formed, the San Antonio ward was divided, with the northwestern part of the Stake becoming the San Antonio 2nd Ward and taking up residence in the newly completed St. Cloud Stake Center.

The San Antonio Stake, at one time covered an area comparable on a map of Utah from Richfield on the South to Smithfield on the North (a distance of just over 250 miles) and it had 21 units. The story is told, that when Le Grande Richards, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, saw the comparative map, San Antonio had their first stake division. The division took place on May 31st, 1964 when the Corpus Christi Stake was formed. The second division came nine years later when the Austin Stake was formed on October 14th, 1973.

Leonard Parsons is quickly brought to tears when he contemplates the great growth of the Church in San Antonio in his lifetime. “Our branch was pretty small for a while” he said. The area of the first San Antonio Stake now encompasses 20 stakes, one district and a temple.