Wilson Chapel Cemetery
Hearne, Robertson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
John Riley Sadberry moved from Burleson County and settled in the Benchley area ca. 1896. Because of his desire to establish important social and educational resources for the community's African American population, he purchased property in 1909 for the creation of a school, and also purchased adjacent property in 1919 for a community church and cemetery. The three entities all came to be called "Wilson Chapel," although the origins of the name are unknown. When the cemetery was established in 1919, Sadberry served as a cemetery trustee, along with Will Sheets and William Kimble. After Sadberry's death in 1926, his son, Heslip Riley Sadberry, continued to oversee the cemetery and donated additional land to the site. The school was reloacted in 1929, and the church congregation moved down the road after World War II. Since that time, the site has been used exclusively by Wilson Chapel Cemetery. Sadberry descendants formed a cemetery association during the late 1960s, and the association continues to oversee the cemetery. The cemetery was used almost exclusively by tenants or sharecroppers of the Sadberry Farm. Although the cemetery was formally established in 1919, there are no recorded burials at the site prior to 1931. The first known burials were those of sisters Jessie and Bessie Lee (d. 1913), and their graves are unmarked. The oldest marked burial at the site is that oof Janie Dunn, who died in 1940. Wilson Chapel Cemetery serves today as a reminder of the many hard-working individuals whose efforst helped to develop Benchley and Robertson County.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Determined to give his community's African American families a foundation, John Riley Sadberry bought land in 1909 for a school and, a decade later, for a church and cemetery—all of which came to bear the name 'Wilson Chapel.' The burial ground, established in 1919, served largely the tenant farmers and sharecroppers of the surrounding Sadberry farm. His descendants formed an association in the late 1960s that still cares for the site.
Why it matters
The cemetery preserves the memory of Black farming families in the Jim Crow-era South and one man's investment in their education, worship and dignity.
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Related people
- · John Riley Sadberry
- · Heslip Riley Sadberry
Themes & tags
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