At the 13th Session of the West Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, held at Leesburg, Texas, Alejo Hernández was ordained Deacon by Bishop Enoch Marvin on December 24, 1871, becoming the first person of Mexican descent ordained by the Methodists. His first appointment was to the Mexican Mission in Corpus Christi, with Rev. John Wesley DeVilbiss as presiding Elder. In 1873, with Bishop John C. Keener, Alejo organized the first Methodist congregation in Mexico City. He is regarded as the father of Methodism in Texas and Mexico. On the night of September 27, 1875, he died in Corpus Christi and is buried there.