Old Liberty Cemetery and Site of Enon Primitive Baptist Church
Queen City, Cass County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Enon Primitive Baptist Church was organized near Old Havana on June 7, 1845. Like many new churches of its day, this one met in members' homes, schools, and brush arbors. In 1861, Anderson Miles deeded four acres of land on this site to church trustees W. Griffin, W. Burkhalter, and W. Knight. Here the congregation erected a wood frame building on the east side of what may have been an existing cemetery. The oldest marked gave in Old Liberty Cemetery is that of William Hill (1790-1850) of Tennessee. There are approximately 200 marked graves in the cemetery; the same number is estimated for unmarked graves. Many graves are indicated only by piles of rocks. Oral legend suggests that the northwest corner of the cemetery was set aside for slaves, possibly black members of the church. Records dating from the Civil War show at least two black members. The Baptist congregation moved to Queen City, probably in the 1880s. A Pentecostal group occupied the building for several years; the structure was torn down in the 1940s. Veterans, both men and women, of six wars are interred in this cemetery: The War of 1812, the Blackhawk War, the Civil War, the Spanish American War and World Wars I and II. (1997)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Enon Primitive Baptist Church was organized near Old Havana in 1845 and, like many frontier congregations, met in homes, schools, and brush arbors before Anderson Miles deeded four acres here in 1861. The wood-frame church stood beside a cemetery of roughly 200 marked graves and as many unmarked, many shown only by piles of rocks. Oral tradition holds that the northwest corner was set aside for enslaved people, and church records confirm at least two Black members during the Civil War.
Why it matters
The burial ground preserves the layered history of a rural southern community — its faith, its enslaved and free Black members, and the veterans of six American wars laid to rest here.
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Related people
- · Anderson Miles
- · William Hill
Themes & tags
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