Bell's Chapel Cemetery
Rockett Community, Ellis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded 1875. Site for church cemetery was given on Dec. 27, 1875, by local landowners John and Elizabeth Gibbons. This tract and some later purchases were deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Church and cemetery were named in honor of confederate war veteran Jodie M. Bell, a church and civic leader in Rockett Community, and first person to be buried here, 1877. Red Oak Masonic Lodge No. 461, chartered in 1876, helped build 2-story chapel and meeting hall. The lodge moved to Red Oak in 1894.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1875 on land given by John and Elizabeth Gibbons, this cemetery and its associated church took the name of Confederate veteran Jodie M. Bell, a church and civic leader in the Rockett Community and the first person buried here in 1877. The Red Oak Masonic Lodge helped raise a two-story chapel and meeting hall on the deeded ground. The lodge later moved to Red Oak in 1894.
Why it matters
It reflects how church, cemetery, and fraternal lodge grew together as the civic backbone of small post–Civil War Texas communities.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Jodie M. Bell
- · John Gibbons
- · Elizabeth Gibbons
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Parsons' Cavalry C.S.A.
Waxahachie, TX
In September 1861, men from Ellis and neighboring counties mustered at Rockett's Spring to form Parsons' Cavalry under Col. William H. Parsons, a Mexican War veteran, newspaper editor, and noted duelist. Joined with other Texas regiments into a Confederate brigade, the horsemen ranged across Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Indian Territory. They won renown for daring strikes on federal ironclads during the 1864 Red River Campaign.
Rawlins Homestead
Lancaster, TX
The Rawlins family settled this stretch of Dallas County in 1845, and in 1855 Roderick A. Rawlins — who had married his teacher, Virginia Bledsoe, daughter of Lancaster's founder — began building here. After serving as a Confederate officer during the Civil War, Captain Rawlins rebuilt his home in the fashionable Greek Revival style. Standing halfway between Dallas and Waxahachie, the house became a welcome stop where travelers drew water and camped by the well.
Site of a Confederate Powder Mill
Waxahachie, TX
Erected in 1862 by William Rowen, this Confederate powder mill was part of the South's scramble to manufacture its own munitions after war cut it off from Northern industry. On April 29, 1863, the volatile works blew up, killing Rowen and a man named Joshua G. Phillips. The blast is a stark reminder of the dangers borne by those who supplied the Confederate war effort far from any battlefield.
Site of Confederate Arms Factory
Lancaster, TX
In 1862, with the Confederacy scrambling to arm itself, a partnership of Dallas-area men set up a small factory here to manufacture pistols for the State of Texas. Frontier Texas had little heavy industry, so improvised arms works like this one were vital to supplying troops far from the Southern manufacturing centers of the East.