Pleasant Hill Methodist Church and Cemetery
Mt. Vernon, Franklin County, Texas
Marker Inscription
About 1850, near a spring at the foot of this hill, early settlers of this area gathered for Methodist camp meetings. According to local tradition it was at one of these meetings that a lady's remark that "this is a pleasant place," resulted in Gideon edwards, the owner of the land, calling the site Pleasant Hill. The Rev. Carter (McCarter) organized the Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal Church in 1854. In that year Gideon and Jane Edwards deeded five acres here to the newly formed Methodist Church for sanctuary and cemetery purposes. a log sanctuary was built in 1854. The first recorded burial was that of Robert L. McGill in 1864. In 1874 Texas Governor Richard Coke spoke to about 1100 people who gathered here to dedicate the placement in the church belfry of a bell made in England. The church built a new sanctuary in 1880 and added board planks to its arbor in 1888. A later church building was razed about 1950, the time the congregation is believed to have disbanded. The bell was subsequently repositioned atop the improved arbor. The beloved bell was sold to a resident of nearby Mt. Vernon in 1974. Pleasant Hill Cemetery, which contains the graves of veterans of the civil War, World Wars I & II, and the Korean Conflict, continues to serve the community. (1993)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Around 1850, settlers gathered at a spring below this hill for Methodist camp meetings, and a visitor's offhand remark that it was "a pleasant place" reputedly gave the site its name. Landowner Gideon Edwards deeded five acres for a sanctuary and cemetery in 1854, and by 1874 Governor Richard Coke addressed some 1,100 people who came to dedicate an English-cast bell in the belfry. Though the congregation disbanded around 1950, the cemetery — holding veterans from the Civil War through the Korean Conflict — still serves the community.
Why it matters
Frontier camp meetings and the churches they seeded were the social heart of rural Texas settlement, binding scattered pioneer families into lasting communities.
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Related people
- · Gideon Edwards
- · Richard Coke
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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