Dixie Baptist Church
Jasper, Jasper County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded about 1850 under beech trees at this site, by a Negro slave, Rev. Richard ("Uncle Dick") Seale (1798-1875), a respected, beloved leader of his people. Church built 1853 by his master, Joshua Seale, veteran of American Revolution, early settler. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Around 1850, an enslaved preacher known and loved as Rev. Richard "Uncle Dick" Seale gathered a congregation beneath the beech trees at this spot. In 1853 his enslaver, Joshua Seale—himself an American Revolution veteran and early settler—built the church a permanent home. That a Black minister led worship here in the antebellum South makes this ground quietly remarkable.
Why it matters
Dixie Baptist Church testifies to the faith and leadership of enslaved African Americans who founded lasting congregations even under bondage.
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Related people
- · Rev. Richard "Uncle Dick" Seale
- · Joshua Seale
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Dixie Freedom Colony
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After Emancipation in 1865, formerly enslaved African Americans across the South built their own independent "freedom colonies" where they could own land and govern their own community life. The Dixie colony near Bevilport grew from the 1853 founding of Dixie Missionary Baptist Church — built jointly by planter Joshua Seale and the man he enslaved, Richard "Uncle Dick" Seale. After the war, Richard Seale became a community leader, establishing the Dixie School so the colony's children could be educated. The church, school, and nearby Indian Creek Cemetery anchored a life organized around faith, learning, and self-reliance.
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Adam Byerly came to Texas from South Carolina in 1834 and received a Mexican land grant on Sandy Creek, where the site became a Methodist camp meeting ground known as Byerly Campground. Byerly sold ten acres to the church in 1843, and a cemetery for the area's African American residents took shape to the south. Its earliest marked grave is that of Tom Limbrick (1827–1908), and many former slaves, community leaders, and veterans rest here. Ties with nearby Armstrong C.M.E. Church give the site its alternate name, Armstrong Campground Cemetery.
First United Methodist Church of Jasper
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