FIRST -- Burial in Wesley Chapel Cemetery, Watkins TX
N 32° 33.841 W 095° 59.968
15S E 218377 N 3606925
John I. Sewell is the first person buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery
Waymark Code: WMRJZ0
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 07/01/2016
Views: 3
The distinct rock-covered grave of John I. Sewell is marked with a modern red granite plaque proclaiming him to be the the first person buried in Wesley Chapel Cemetery, in rural Watkins TX.
The graveside plaque reads as follows:
"JOHN I. SEWELL
Born 1849 in Alabama
Died 1870 in Van Zandt County, Texas
First burial in Wesley Chapel Cemetery"
Mr. Sewell is also mentioned on the official state historic marker for the cemetery, which reads as follows:
"WESLEY CHAPEL CEMETERY
The Watkins community was settled in the mid-1800s. M. Crosby and his wife Isabell Crosby deeded land for a church and cemetery to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1872. The first recorded burial in this cemetery is that of John I. Sewell, who was buried on the site in 1870 before it was officially designated as a cemetery.
A new Wesley Chapel Methodist Church was built near the Watkins school in 1922 on land deeded by Thomas G. and Carrie Barfield. They, along with early church trustees O. M. Norman, S. A. Sewell, Sr., and H. L. Paschall are buried here. A new frame chapel was built at the cemetery in 1957 by local residents.
The five-acre cemetery contains about 400 graves. Among those interred here are more than 50 young children and infants, some of whom were buried with their mothers who died in childbirth. Also buried here are veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II.
The Wesley Chapel Cemetery Association maintains the site and hosts annual reunions with memorial services and picnics for descendants of pioneer settlers. The cemetery remains in use and continues to serve the area as it has for more than a century. (1997)"
FIRST - Classification Variable: Item or Event
Date of FIRST: 01/01/1870
More Information - Web URL: [Web Link]
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