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Early RepublicReconstruction & Gilded Age

LaGrone's Chapel

Hallsville, Harrison County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Situated on land owned by a pioneer, Jacob LaGrone (1785-1868), who settled here in 1837, as a citizen of Republic of Texas. Chapel was built about 1866, of timber sawed by Harleton's Mill (12 mi. N) and hand-dressed at construction site. T. B. McFarland supervised the work; neighbors donated their labor. Property was deeded Aug. 17, 1870, to Methodist denomination by David McKinney, purchaser of 200 acres from LaGrone's estate. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1973

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Jacob LaGrone, a pioneer who settled here in 1837 as a citizen of the Republic of Texas, gave his name to this chapel, built about 1866 from timber sawed at Harleton's Mill and hand-dressed on site under T. B. McFarland's supervision with donated neighbor labor. The property was deeded to the Methodist denomination in 1870 by David McKinney, who had purchased land from LaGrone's estate.

Why it matters

LaGrone's Chapel embodies the pioneer settlement of East Texas, where frontier neighbors pooled timber and labor to raise the churches that became the first community institutions.

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Related people

  • · Jacob LaGrone
  • · T. B. McFarland
  • · David McKinney

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

William Delafield

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At sixteen, William Delafield served in a Virginia militia company during the Revolutionary War in 1779, then joined the great westward migration — moving to Georgia in 1785, Alabama by 1832, and finally to Harrison County, Texas, by 1850. Awarded land for his war service, he was remembered by neighbors as an old man in a rocking chair, one leg lost in frontier fighting, who spun tales of times long past.

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Winterfield Cemetery

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