Hickory Grove Black Cemetery
Petty, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This historic burial ground is the resting place of former slaves, freedmen and descendants of African Americans who came here in the 1800s. Samuel and Dicie Lucinda (Lee) Swann bought 153 acres, including this cemetery site, from W. T. and Cornelia Booth in 1881. Dicie’s mother Cherry Lee (d. 1883) is the earliest marked burial here. She came to Lamar County from Alabama with Herbert Lee and his family and slaves. In 1899, Samuel Swann deeded three acres to the Methodist Episcopal Church as a burial ground. Among those buried here are military veterans, a preacher, several masons and eastern star members, community leaders and families who have called this area home for generations.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Hickory Grove is the resting place of former slaves, freedmen, and their descendants who made Lamar County home in the 1800s. Samuel and Dicie Lucinda Swann bought the land including this site in 1881, and in 1899 Samuel deeded three acres to the Methodist Episcopal Church as a burial ground; the earliest marked grave, from 1883, belongs to Dicie's mother Cherry Lee, who had come from Alabama in bondage. Among those buried here are veterans, a preacher, Masons and Eastern Star members, and families rooted here for generations.
Why it matters
This ground traces the passage from slavery to landowning freedom, preserving an African American community's roots across the very generation that emancipation transformed.
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Related people
- · Samuel Swann
- · Dicie Lucinda Lee Swann
- · Cherry Lee
Themes & tags
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