Original Site, Burkeville Methodist Church
Burkeville, Newton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1850 John R. and Mary W. Burke sold for one dollar to the local Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a tract of land at this site for a church building and cemetery. The oldest known grave here is that of Burke (d.1855), a Roman Catholic who founded Burkeville. In that era, circuit riders served the congregation, which included both black and white worshipers. A simple frame church with bell tower and steeple erected here doubled as a schoolhouse in the 1870s and served all faiths as a funeral chapel. The structure was removed from this site in 1948.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1850 John and Mary Burke sold a dollar's worth of land for a Methodist church and cemetery in Burkeville, the town founded by the Roman Catholic Burke whose 1855 grave is the oldest known here. In an era served by circuit-riding preachers, the congregation included both black and white worshipers, and the simple frame church doubled as a schoolhouse in the 1870s and as a funeral chapel for all faiths. The building was removed from the site in 1948.
Why it matters
This modest church-and-school records how frontier congregations, shared across races and denominations, anchored community life in antebellum East Texas.
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Related people
- · John R. Burke
- · Mary W. Burke
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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