Greathouse Cemetery
Temple vicinity, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Rev. Early Greathouse (1810-1885) was ordained to the ministry in Georgia in 1846. He moved to Alabama in 1852, where he served in the state legislature and the Constitutional Conventions of 1865 and 1867. In 1870 Greathouse and his family arrived in Texas and bought land south of the present site of Temple. He built the first cotton gin in the area, and soon organized both the Knob Creek and Mt. Vernon Baptist Churches. He also set aside a tract of land to be used for a cemetery, probably in 1871. Though originally used as a family burial ground, other people of the community were later interred here. The oldest marked grave is that of Mattie Lee Clopton (1863-1875), granddaughter of Early Greathouse. Also buried here are several former slaves who came to Texas with the Greathouse family, and veterans of the Civil War and both world wars, as well as one survivor of the Battle of San Jacinto. The Rev. Early Greathouse and his wife, the former Susan Talley, were the parents of ten children. In 1884 the Rev. and Mrs. Greathouse deeded a large tract of land to a daughter, who in turn sold one acre to the trustees of the Greathouse Cemetery Association of Bell County in 1908. (1986)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Rev. Early Greathouse, a Georgia-ordained minister who had served in Alabama's government, brought his family to Bell County in 1870, built the area's first cotton gin, and organized its early Baptist churches. Around 1871 he set aside land for this burial ground, which grew from a family plot into a community cemetery. Among those laid to rest here are former slaves who came to Texas with the Greathouse family, a survivor of the Battle of San Jacinto, and veterans of the Civil War and both World Wars.
Why it matters
A single country cemetery gathers under one fence the intertwined lives of pioneers, the formerly enslaved, and soldiers across generations — a microcosm of the American story written in local ground.
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Related people
- · Rev. Early Greathouse
- · Susan Talley
- · Mattie Lee Clopton
Related events
- · Battle of San Jacinto
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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