Liberty Community Cemetery
Independence, Washington County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Tradition holds the first burials here were for enslaved Africans before the close of the Civil War in 1865; the first marked graves date to the late 1860s. When J.C. McCrocklin sold this site to the Colored People's Cemetery Association in 1907, the deed referred to a burial ground long used by local African American residents. Six marked graves are of men and women born into slavery, and more than 20 show military service. Today, the burial ground is a link to the Freedmen and their families who settled here in the late 19th century. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Tradition holds that the first people buried here were enslaved Africans laid to rest before the Civil War ended in 1865, with the oldest marked graves dating to the late 1860s. When J.C. McCrocklin sold the land to the Colored People's Cemetery Association in 1907, the deed already described a burial ground long used by local African Americans. Six marked graves belong to people born into slavery, and more than twenty mark military service.
Why it matters
The cemetery is a rare, tangible record of an African American community's passage from slavery to freedom, honoring the Freedmen who built new lives and served their country after emancipation.
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Related people
- · J.C. McCrocklin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Liberty Baptist Church
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In 1871, just years after Emancipation, formerly enslaved members of Independence's Baptist community founded their own congregation and named it Liberty in honor of their new freedom. Beginning with 150 members, they worshipped in a series of buildings before completing the present cruciform sanctuary — with its central steeple and gabled entry — in 1900. The building endures as an architectural landmark of the town's African American community.
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