Bell Cemetery
Palestine, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Confederate veteran Uriah Jasper Bell (1839 -1915) brought his family to northeast Texas in 1871. An ordained Baptist minister, he relocated to this area to lead the Ft. Houston Baptist Church. He and his wife Nancy (d. 1918) were the parents of seven children. Their only daughter, Lula Bell Kent, died in a fire in January 1890, three months after her marriage to Will Kent. She was buried on the family farm, and hers is the first burial in what became the Bell Cemetery. Also buried here are the Bells' six sons, as well as several generations of Bell family descendants. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Uriah Jasper Bell, a Confederate veteran and ordained Baptist minister, brought his family to Anderson County in 1871 to lead the Ft. Houston Baptist Church. The family cemetery began in sorrow when his only daughter, Lula Bell Kent, died in a fire in January 1890, just months after her wedding, becoming its first burial. Bell, his wife Nancy, their six sons, and generations of descendants rest here.
Why it matters
Family burial grounds like this one preserve the intimate history of the Reconstruction-era settlers who built rural Texas communities congregation by congregation.
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Related people
- · Uriah Jasper Bell
- · Lula Bell Kent
Themes & tags
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