History of the Rurh Church of Christ written by J. I. Parham in the 1970's
"In those days, before the turn of the century, the members of the church of Christ in that area did not have a place to meet for worship. Finally arrangements were made with the Trustees of the Farmers Branch school to use the school building for this purpose. For the benefit of many in Coryell county and elsewhere, I would like to give the names of some of the ones that were responsible for the beginning of the Church of Christ in the Ruth Community. I am not depending on memory alone, for we have some records that were kept, without which we could not make much of a story. The records were kept by Juber and Viola Brown, a very prominent family in this particular community. The records relate the names of preachers who had preached at Ruth from the beginning. Having secured the Farmers Branch school building for a meeting place, the church began to grow. They met each first day of the week for worship and to commemorate the dath, burial and resurrection of our Lord. Following are the names of the ones, according to the records, that were there before the turn of the cnetury and had an active part in the development of the church.
First, I will name: John N. Brown, who had many descendants in Coryell county. And then Mistress Lucinda Medlin. She was known as 'Grandma Medlin'. Her knowledge of the Bible was excelled by none in her day. Others, were Mistress Newman, Mistress Betsy Todd, Alex and Mattie Pruitt, Will and Mary Pruitt, Ab and Ada Pruitt, Mr. and Mistress E. P. Denny, Miss Betty Todd, Miss Jo Brown, Miss Bertie Brown, Mr. and Mistress John Gates, Robert and Jenny Jackson, Miss Annie Medlin, Virgie Bird, Juber and Viola Brown, Richard Wicker, Tom and Fannie Woolard, Mistress (Grandma) Wicker, Mistress Sergent, Mr. and Mistress Silas Wood, Sillis Carroll, Mr and Mistress Tom Baldy, Mr. and Mistress Calvin Furgeson Tom and Rena Beal, Cora Beal, Mr. and Mistress Dick, Mr. C. M. Brown, Miss Janie Evans, Miss Ellie Brown, Miss Clema Brown, Miss Mary Denny, Miss Mattie Denny, Mr. Ed Wood. There are others of course, of which we have no name. But these were the ones who were active in the development of the church of Christ in the Ruth community."
Preachers: "According to the record, the names of the preachers that have preached at Ruth are as follows: J. J. Moye, H. F. Oliver, A. R. Lawrence, T. R. Burnett, W. D. Black, J. N. Cowan, J. S. Hall, Ernest Christian, W. M. Carter, J. T. Bentley, W. A. Bentley, Kirby Bentley, Frank Coleman, D. F. Draper, U. R. Forrest, J. W. Kelley, W. T. Kidwell, A. J. McCarty, Dr. Truitt, Sam Smith, John Straton, J. M. Ussery, T. B. Clark, Joe Sprott, Brother McGann, John W. Hedge, Brother Tripp, Frank Cox, Brother Brandon, brother Courtner, Ira Grantham, D. J. Whitten, Mike M. Young, Sylis Howell, Flavil Colley, Fred Ross, Charlie Watkins, Alfonso Bezoni, Sylvester Graham and Bud Alford."