Guided by Reason: The Golden Age of Freethought in Texas

by Steven R. Butler, John E. Remsburg (Contributor), Samuel P. Putnam (Contributor)

The “Golden Age of Freethought” was an approximately fifty-year-long period, from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of U.S. involvement in the FirstWorld War, during which time American atheists and agnostics who calledthemselves “freethinkers,” “liberals,” or “infidels,” sought to strengthen the “wallof separation between church and state” and to reshape American society by appealingto their fellow-citizens to abandon their religious faith and to embrace a culture ofscience, reason, and rational thought instead.During this era, in which a vibrant freethought press flourished and “liberal” associationscould be found in towns and cities all over the country, Texans were among not onlysome of the most active and enthusiastic participants but also leaders in the movement.Shortly after one of the first (and perhaps the very first) “liberal” associations in theUnited States was formed in Bell County in 1873, the respected physician that served asits leader was brutally horse-whipped by Christian zealots who objected to his “infidelity.”Undeterred, other groups of “liberals” or “freethinkers,” many of them highly respecteddoctors, lawyers, and businessmen, began meeting regularly in towns and cities allacross the Texas, such as Austin, Dallas, Denison, Houston, San Antonio, and Waco,just to name a few.For nearly two decades (1875-1894), there was even a town in East Texas calledIngersoll, named in honor of Robert G. Ingersoll, America’s celebrated “Great Agnostic”lecturer, who toured Texas twice, in 1896 and 1898. Periodically, otherprominent freethought lecturers, such as John E. Remsburg, Mattie P. Krekel,Samuel P. Putnam, and Charles Watts also toured the state.In 1890, the formation of a Texas Liberal Association was spearheaded by one ofthe movement’s foremost freethought publishers, J. D. Shaw of The IndependentPulpit. Other Texas-based freethought publications included Capt. RichardPeterson’s Common Sense and Dallas printer John R. Spencer’s The Agnostic.Many intelligent, well-read Texans, such as Denison’s T. V. Munson, Austin’sJames P. Richardson and Randolph’s J. M. Gilbert, were regular contributors tofreethought periodicals.In Guided by The Golden Age of Freethought in Texas, historian Steven R. Butlerhas combined original research with first-hand nineteenth century accounts to narratethe previously untold story of a little known but noteworthy era in Texas history.

302 pages, Paperback

Published May 19, 2017