In 1873, Erasmus Johnson founded the Johnson Chapel Baptist Church in the North Redland community of Mahl. The congregation worshipped in a house in the community until 1924 when a church building was constructed. Erasmus Johnson, called "Ras", was born a slave in Georgia in 1820. When he was 13 years old, he was sold to the Johnson family and was brought to Texas. Ras Johnson married Mary Hill in 1867 and they were the parents of twelve children. Their youngest son, Elie "Nib", married Matilda McQueen, and they became the parents of twelve children. Mrs. L. E. Johnson Sadler, the daughter of Elie and Matilda Johnson and the granddaughter of Ras and Mary Johnson, married Otis Sadler in 1947 and they built the Sadler Funeral Home of Nacogdoches in 1950. (Sadler, Mrs. L. E. "Sadler Family." Nacogdoches County Families. Dallas Texas: Curtis Media Corporation, 1985. p. 586).