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 The New Hope Baptist Church and St. Elmo Cemetery
N 31° 56.389 W 096° 11.142
14R E 766046 N 3537223
Texas Historical Marker in front of the New Hope Baptist Church and St. Elmo Cemetery, on FM 416 in the St. Elmo community, providing some history of the community and the cemetery that continues to serve it.
Waymark Code: WM10BPC
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/08/2019
Views: 8
Marker Number: 9896
Marker Text:
This locality was settled about 1849 by pioneers from Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Cotton and corn plantations thrived. A school was opened in the 1850s, but closed during the Civil War (1861-65). A site on the centrally-situated Manning land grant became a public burial ground. Earliest documented grave is that of J.W. Darden, who died in 1869.
The Little Hope Baptist Church was organized in the community in Aug. 1872, by a Freestone County missionary, the Rev. J.M. Gambrell, who served as the first pastor, with R.B. Anderson as church clerk.
In 1875 a schoolhouse was built near the burial ground on the Manning grant. The school was called "St. Elmo", probably for a popular 19th century novel. The Baptist held services in the schoolhouse until 1886; then they adopted "New Hope" as the church name, bought a 6-acre tract that included the cemetery and school grounds, and built a church. Present sanctuary, which replaced that original building, was remodeled in 1954. St. Elmo Cemetery Association administers the affairs of the cemetery, which now (1974) contains about 850 graves. (1974)
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Visit Instructions:
Please include a picture in your log. You and your GPS receiver do not need to be in the picture. We encourage additional information about your visit (comments about the surrounding area, how you ended up near the marker, etc.) in the log.
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