by Keith Bassham
DeVilbiss looks like a somewhat French name, but it comes from two words: devil and biss, or in the German (and spelled in various ways), “devil biter” which seems appropriate.
The great grandfather of Harold DeVilbiss on his father’s side, came to Texas from Ohio as a Methodist circuit rider missionary. His name, believe it or not, was John Wesley DeVilbiss. Sent in 1842 to the frontiers of the newly formed Republic of Texas, he arrived in San Antonio in 1844 where he preached the first Protestant sermon in south Texas. Two years later he founded what is now called Travis Park Methodist Church, building the original structure using stones removed from the crumbling walls of the old nearby Spanish fort known as The Alamo.
Preacher DeVilbiss ministered and rode the circuits in Texas, winning people to Christ and establishing churches, retiring in 1881. He passed away in 1885, and one year later his grandson, Tom DeVilbiss, was born.
Tom grew up, married, and accepted the Lord himself in a Methodist revival meeting. Times were not bad during the oil boom, but the depression years were more difficult for a couple and six children, one of whom was Harold DeVilbiss.
About the time Harold was ordained and off to college, Tom DeVilbiss and his wife, Mabel, moved to a 613-acre farm near Pearsall. A flood nearly wiped them out in 1946, but Tom persevered, and he learned new farming methods so he could cooperate with nature rather than fight against it. He experimented with conservation techniques that earned him some minor fame in the farming and ranching community. And he rededicated his life to the Lord and joined Grace Baptist Church in San Antonio where Bernie Rodgers was pastoring at the time. His missionary son, Harold, made a trip home to baptize his father.
If anyone doubted the reason for Tom’s newfound success as a farmer and rancher, he was quick to give credit to God. West Texas Livestock Weekly carried a story about Tom and his ranch in November 1957, and in the article Tom was quoted, “The secret of success in ranching is to take the Good Lord in as a fulltime partner, work hard, and be sure to deposit a just amount of income in your partner’s name.”
When Tom died at the age of 84, the family gathered at Oak Island Methodist Church, a church John Wesley DeVilbiss had established in 1868, and not far from a historical marker that bears his name and a bit of his story. Harold DeVilbiss preached the funeral. Devil biters indeed.
Reminiscences of a Superannuated Preacher by John Wesley DeVilbiss, available digitally at https://archive.org/details/reminiscenceseve00grav