Wright's Cemetery
Henderson, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Hansel Wright (1773-1856) came to East Texas in 1836 and was granted land for service in the Republic of Texas Army. In 1846 he moved his family to this area and used a portion of his land to establish the cemetery at this site. The oldest marked grave is that of an infant, Neva Richards, who died in 1852. For many years the cemetery served nearby "Wright's Meetinghouse," a Methodist Church also used as a schoolhouse. As the burial ground of a pioneer area family, Wright's Cemetery serves as a reminder of early settlers of Rusk County. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Hansel Wright (1773-1856) came to East Texas in 1836 and received land for his service in the army of the Republic of Texas. A decade later he settled his family in Rusk County and set aside part of his grant for this cemetery, whose oldest marked grave belongs to an infant who died in 1852. For years it served the adjoining Wright's Meetinghouse, a Methodist church that doubled as a schoolhouse.
Why it matters
The cemetery marks the arrival of the Republic-era veterans and pioneer families whose land grants and log meetinghouses first knit frontier Texas into settled communities.
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Related people
- · Hansel Wright
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
John Strong and Mary Ann (Whatley) Strong
Henderson, TX
Georgia natives John (1806–1854) and Mary Ann Strong (1809–1898) came to Texas about 1849 and became pioneer settlers of eastern Rusk County. They helped set aside land for a local Methodist congregation, for the Church Hill Male and Female Academy that operated in the 1850s, and for the community cemetery, while making their home near a nearby spring. Their donations seeded the schools, churches, and burial grounds that gave the settlement its shape.
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Born about 1793, Isaac R. Youngblood moved from Georgia to Texas before 1846 and became a Panola County pioneer, helping lay out local roads as an overseer. In 1858 he deeded two acres here for a school and church, granting use of a nearby spring as well. Tradition holds that he died after falling into his 90-foot well and was buried in an unmarked grave.
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