John Strong and Mary Ann (Whatley) Strong
Henderson, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Georgia natives John (1806-1854) and Mary Strong (1809-1898) migrated to Texas about 1849 and were pioneer settlers of eastern Rusk County. They helped set aside land for the local Methodist congregation, the Church Hill Male and Female Academy, which operated in the 1850s, and this cemetery. Their home was located near a spring east of this site.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Georgia natives John (1806–1854) and Mary Ann Strong (1809–1898) came to Texas about 1849 and became pioneer settlers of eastern Rusk County. They helped set aside land for a local Methodist congregation, for the Church Hill Male and Female Academy that operated in the 1850s, and for the community cemetery, while making their home near a nearby spring. Their donations seeded the schools, churches, and burial grounds that gave the settlement its shape.
Why it matters
The Strongs exemplify the pioneer families whose land gifts turned raw East Texas settlements into organized communities with schools and churches at their center.
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Related people
- · John Strong
- · Mary Ann Whatley Strong
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Wright's Cemetery
Henderson, TX
Hansel Wright (1773-1856) came to East Texas in 1836 and received land for his service in the army of the Republic of Texas. A decade later he settled his family in Rusk County and set aside part of his grant for this cemetery, whose oldest marked grave belongs to an infant who died in 1852. For years it served the adjoining Wright's Meetinghouse, a Methodist church that doubled as a schoolhouse.
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Born about 1793, Isaac R. Youngblood moved from Georgia to Texas before 1846 and became a Panola County pioneer, helping lay out local roads as an overseer. In 1858 he deeded two acres here for a school and church, granting use of a nearby spring as well. Tradition holds that he died after falling into his 90-foot well and was buried in an unmarked grave.
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