McCraw's Chapel & Cemetery |
Historical MarkerMethodist Church
and Cemetery Settlers farming the blackland
prairie in this area gathered in the home of Ezekiel Phillips Warren
(1828-1903) in
1859 to organize a Methodist congregation. Warren, a native
of Tennessee who moved
here in 1856, hosted the group for several years. In 1877 two acres
of land for a church
and cemetery were donated by William Bain McCraw (1841-1878)
and others. The Rev.
N. A. Keen was then minister for the Dodd City Circuit, which included
the church here.
McCraw, a native of Kentucky who served in the Confederate Army,
was the first to
be buried in the cemetery. An additional four acres adjacent to
the church grounds
were purchased in 1887. In the late 19th century, 10-day-long camp
meetings were held
on the church grounds in August. John M. Raiden taught school in
the church building
during the same years. A tornado destroyed the structure in 1918,
and meetings were
held in the nearby schoolhouse. A new building was erected
in 1919, serving as an
anchor for the congregation and the community. Membership fell from
170 in 1933 to
38 in 1963, and the church was disbanded in 1966. The building
was razed in 1983, but
the grounds continue to host an annual community homecoming on the
first Sunday in May.
Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 -1986
Photographs byBeth Collyar
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*James Randoph
Blackwood ,notes on family:
Annie Vaughn was his first wife, second
wife was --
Addie Josephine Mason Blackwood. wife
of James Randolph
("Blackwood, Joseph A. wife of J.R."
).