HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Salem Cemetery

Teague, Freestone County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Established circa 1853. Historic Texas Cemetery-2001

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Established around 1853, this burial ground dates to the first years of Anglo settlement in Freestone County, when small family and community cemeteries were among the earliest permanent marks a pioneer settlement left on the land. Recognized as a Historic Texas Cemetery, it preserves the resting place of the area's early residents.

Why it matters

Pioneer cemeteries are often the oldest surviving records of frontier settlement, mapping the families who first put down roots in a place.

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Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryLandmark

Nearby & related markers

Salem Predestinarian Baptist Church and Cemetery

Teague, TX

One of the oldest congregations in Freestone County, Salem Predestinarian Baptist Church was founded in December 1853 by the Lee families, with elders Thomas Dossey and C. T. Echols certifying its constitution. A five-acre site donated by the McSwane family held first a log meetinghouse, later a frame building, and eventually the present chapel raised in 1961. Elder Dossey gave the church its name.

Captain Richard B. Haley

Teague, TX

Richard B. Haley was among the Anglo colonists who took up arms in 1835 as Texas moved toward revolution against Mexico. He fought in the Grass Fight in late November and in the capture of San Antonio that December, service that earned him six land grants. Born in Tennessee, he had settled in the Shelby County area in 1824 and later lived in Leon and Freestone counties.

The Dr. Emmet Headlee House

Teague, TX

Built in 1906 in the town then called Brewer, this is the oldest home in present-day Teague. Its builder, Dr. Emmet Headlee, came to Texas in 1866 and became a fixture of local life—planter, druggist, banker, peace officer, church and school leader, and the town's first postmaster—part of a family line of physicians spanning three generations.

First Baptist Church of Teague

Teague, TX

This congregation began in 1877 among Baptists in the village of Brewer Prairie and took its present name when the town was renamed Teague in 1906. Settled on the corner of 6th Avenue and Walnut Street, it has worshiped in several buildings on the same site — a first sanctuary, a 1929 replacement lost to fire, and a brick sanctuary completed in 1948. Its long continuity mirrors the growth of the town around it.