Pilot Grove Church and Cemetery
Yoakum, Lavaca County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The community of Pilot Grove was named for a landmark grove of trees. One of its first settlers was John Wesley Vick, who brought his family here about 1875. When the need for a community cemetery became evident, Vick donated one acre of his land for that purpose, provided that it was maintained as a free burial ground. The first adult buried in the Pilot Grove Cemetery was Mary C. Williams in 1880, although it is known that several children of early residents were buried here before that time. In 1889, J. Wesley Vick and E. J. Vick deeded one acre of land adjoining the graveyard to the Mt. Herman Baptist Church, which had been organized the same year. The congregation built this wood frame sanctuary on the land in 1891. Descendants of the church's charter members continued to worship here until 1948, when the lack of a regular pastor and regular worship services caused the membership to dwindle to five. Descendants of early Pilot Grove residents have cared for the cemetery and church building over the years. The original cemetery association that formed in 1906 combined with the remaining members of the Mt. Herman Church in 1962 to form the Pilot Grove Church and Cemetery Association.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Named for a landmark stand of trees, Pilot Grove drew settlers like John Wesley Vick, who arrived about 1875 and donated an acre for a free community burial ground. The first recorded adult burial came in 1880, and in 1889 the Vicks deeded adjoining land to the newly organized Mt. Herman Baptist Church, which built its frame sanctuary in 1891. As membership dwindled after 1948, descendants of the early families kept the church and cemetery alive, forming an association to care for them.
Why it matters
The site preserves the deep continuity of a rural Texas community, tended across generations by the descendants of its founders.
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Related people
- · John Wesley Vick
- · Mary C. Williams
Themes & tags
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