Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
At the close of the Civil War, local African Americans, newly freed from slavery, formed the Mt. Pleasant Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. The Rev. M.F. Jamison served as the first pastor for the group, which was part of the East Texas Annual Conference. Members built a brush arbor and peace camp in this area and were led by the Rev. Frank Rabb, Major Sanders and Parson Choice in the early years. They formally organized as a congregation in 1871. As more settlers moved into the area over the next two decades, the need arose for a community cemetery. In April 1891, trustees for the church purchased two acres at this site, adjacent to the sanctuary, from J.C. and S.S. Barnett. The earliest marked grave in the burial ground is that of a seven-year-old boy who died in July 1890. There are also several unmarked graves, believed to date to the early 1870s. Today, Mt. Pleasant Cemetery continues to be linked to the church, although it has moved. A church committee maintains the burial ground, the final resting place for generations of area pioneers and families, including military veterans, Freemasons and community leaders. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As the Civil War ended and slavery collapsed, newly freed African Americans in this corner of East Texas gathered under a brush arbor to worship, forming a Methodist Episcopal congregation that formally organized in 1871. As families put down roots, the church bought two acres in 1891 for a burial ground beside its sanctuary, with graves that trace back even earlier. Generations of pioneers, veterans, Freemasons and community leaders now rest here, still tended by a committee tied to the church that founded it.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the story of a freedpeople's community that built its own faith, institutions and permanence in the uncertain first decades after emancipation.
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Related people
- · Rev. M.F. Jamison
- · Rev. Frank Rabb
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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