“The first Presbyterian to come to Texas was a curiosity to the Spanish authorities. This was in 1794, when Texas, being a part of Mexico, was still a Spanish province. A young man had drifted down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers until he reached New Orleans; thence he entered Texas and lived among the Indians, mending their firearms and going on their hunting expeditions. After fourteen months, he was arrested by a detachment of soldiers from Nacogdoches, because it was unlawful for a Protestant to enter Texas. He was handcuffed and taken to San Antonio de Bexar where he was cast into prison.

Seventy days later he was arraigned before the governor, who propounded the following questions: ‘What is your name ?’ ‘John Calvert.’ ‘What is the Spanish meaning of the word Calvert?’ T do not know.’ ‘What is your age?’ ‘On the 12th of October next, I will be 28 years of age.’ ‘Where were you born?’ ‘In the Province of Pennsylvania.’ ‘What is your religion?’ ‘Presbyterian.’ ‘What do you mean by “Presbyterian"?’ ‘Presbyterian is the same as Protestant.’ ‘What do you understand by the “Protestant religion"? What are its tenets? Explain them as far as you can.’ I cannot explain them well, but I am a Christian as well as all those who follow the Protestant religion; I have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Our belief is like that of the Catholics with the exception that we do not acknowledge the Vicar of Christ on this earth'. The young man was then expelled from Texas.”

— William S. Red, A History of the Presbyterian Church in Texas (1936), p. 1