Olivewood Cemetery

Directions: Heading east on Hwy 10 (west of 45), exit at Studemont Street or exit 767A.  At light of exit ramp and Studemont Street turn right.  Go underneath railroad bridge, and at first light is Center Street, turn right. Go down to 4th street and turn on Harvard Street.  Go over railroad tracks, and turn right onto Hicks Street.  (There is an Olivewood Cem. sign too)  Go down Hicks and turn left on Court Street (5th street down, and next to grocery supply company). Go to end of street and cemetery is on the right.

This was recorded by Chad Roye on 8 May 2010 for his Boy Scout Eagle Project.  This is the eastern half of the cemetery, from the fence to the middle. See history at the end.  There are a lot of missing tombstones and some are unreadable now.
Any questions please email at [email protected]

History of Olivewood Cemetery

     Olivewood Cemetery, in Houston Texas, lies near a bend in White Oak Bayou, along the rail line to Chaney Junction, where the First and Sixth wards meet just northwest of downtown Houston.  The 6-acre cemetery is an historic resting place for many freed slaves and some of Houston’s earliest black residents.  This cemetery served the early African-American community in Houston for approximately 100 years.  The Olivewood Cemetery Association incorporated in 1875 and purchased 5.5 acres of this property that same year from Elizabeth Morin Slocomb. The organization brought two adjacent acres in 1917.  Also know in its early years as Olive Wood, Hollow Wood and Hollywood, it is one of the oldest known platted cemeteries in the city.  The original 444 family plots comprising over 5,000 burial spaces were laid out along an elliptical drive.  The burial ground contains several hundred marked graves, in addition to an unknown number of unmarked graves.  In 1875, the land which had previously been used for slave burials, was purchased by Richard Brock, Houston's first black Councilman.  It opened as a cemetery for black Methodists in 1877. When Olivewood was platted, it was the first African-American burial ground within the Houston city limits.
     This cemetery features examples of pre-emancipation burial practices, including upright pipes (symbolizing the path between the worlds of the living and the dead), ocean shells as grave ornaments and text containing upside down or backwards letters (as used in some West African cultures to signify death).  Today, Olivewood Cemetery remains as a key historical site in Houston, serving as a testament to the foresight and perseverance of the cemetery founders.
     Many of Houston's post-emancipation African-Americans community are buried in the cemetery including: Reverend Elias Dibble; first minister of Trinity United Methodist Church, Reverend Wade H. Logan; minister of Trinity, James Kyle; a blacksmith, Richard Brock; bought the property, James B. Bell; businessman, J. Vance Lewis; attorney, James D. Ryan; educator, Russell F. Ferrill; physician, Milton A. Baker; dentist.  Also buried here are ex-slaves, laborers, fraternal organization members, and military veterans.
     The cemetery includes more than 700 family plots around a graceful, curve drive that was an ornate entry gate. It contains graves of the well-to-do and those who died in poverty.  The grave markers go from elaborate Victorian monuments to simple handmade headstones.  Burials at Olivewood continued through the 1960's.
     In 2003 after decades of neglect and abandonment the "Decedents of Olivewood" a nonprofit organization was established to take guardianship of the cemetery, "to provide care and to protect its historical significance. Olivewood is a Historic Texas Cemetery.

Copyright 2010 Chad Roye All Rights Reserved

Name

Birth Date

Death Date

Information

Adams, Joseph 

d.22 Jun 1919

Alberta, Calvin

Allen, Oliver 

b.19 Aug 1938

TX Pvt KL:412 Res Labor BN OMC

Allen, Richard  

b.10 Jun 1831, 

d.16 May 1939

Allen, 

wife  no dates or tombstone

Alexander, Helen 

b.29 June 1909,  

d.30 Oct 1928

Baker, Milton A. 

b.1839(Raleigh NC), 

d.30 Nov 1905

 (age 67)

Bailey, Pros P. 

b.14 June 1909 

(age 36)

Bateman, Hattie   

b.18 Aug 1869, 

d.14 Feb 1920

Bell, Mrs. V.N.A.  

d.19 Feb 1928

Bell Plot

no tombstones 

Beuchley, Mary 

(b.1842), 

d.29 Jan 1897 (age 55)

Black, Delpha   

b.14 Sept 1907 

(age 66)

Blasher, Joe   

b.1864, 

d.10 Feb 1938 

(hand written)

Bledso, H.D. 

b.1929, 

d.1935

Blount, Clara E.  

b.30 Jun 1846, 

d.19 Jun 1905

Bonner, Alic   

d.22 Mar 1917

Bowman, D

Bowman, Octavia

Bradley, Ewd.  

Aged 62 Years (Husband)

Bradley, Hawthorn  

Aged 19 months (gone but not forgotten)

Britton, Donna   

b.1848(St. Martinville LA), 

d.22 Nov 1909

Bron, C.  

(Handwritten)

Brown, Rosa 

d.24 June 1927 

(age 50 years)(this stone is outside the Brown plot)

Brown plot 

(no stones)

Bruge, Annie   

b.1850, 

d.8 Apr 1908

BMJ plot 

(no stones)

Burton, Berry 

(b.1886), 

d.27 Oct 1938 

(age 52)

Byers Plot

Carver, George   

b. 1864, 

d.15 Apr 1912 

(age 48, My Husband)

Cook, Lawrence   

d.26 Nov 1936

Cook, Allen Jr.   

d.28 June 1925

Cook, Florence   

b.1877, d.1951

Chatman, Ella 

b. 1832 

d. 1921

Chester, Ella W   

b.9 Sept 1885, 

d.9 Nov 1913

Christie, Pink   

b.2 Mar 1860, 

d.9 Nov 1911 

(my mother)

Clark, James   

b.26 Nov 1894, 

d.30 Jan 1927 

(at rest)

Cobb, Miss E.E.  

d.30 Nov 1934 

(at rest)

Coleman, Joe   

1880-1926

Coleman, Mary   

d.23 Nov 1921

Coleman, Prof. S.E.  

d.22 Mar 1887

Conley, Willie   

b.12 Dec 1880, 

d.30 Nov 1897

Coprell, P.  

b.1865, 

d.1921

Clemons, Willie   

b.1898, 

d.28 Aug 1920

Corden, Roxie Ponder  

b.15 Sep 1882, 

d.12 Aug 1918

wife of W.M. Ponder, dau of Chas & Henriette Ponder

Curtis, Priscilla   

b. 1890, 

d.1935

S. Daniel Plot

no tombstones

Davis Family Plot:

Davis, A.S. 

(footstone)

Davis, J.D. (Rev) 

b.Kingston West Indies, 

d.5 Feb 1922

Davis, Mary E.C.  

b.7 Apr 1867,  

d.28 Mar 1930

Davis, WE

Davis, Katie D. Jones 

b.1868, 

d.1925 

MOTHER (Weep not, they are not dead)

Davis, Ceaser   

b.1848, 

d.1902 

FATHER (same stone as Katie Jones Davis)

Dickerson, Ann 

(Broken Tombstone) Mother-Home-Heaven

Doswell, Ada M. 

b. 1896 

d. 1922

(Wife of EJ Doswell) (Ada Dear) under Hicks plot

Duncan, Eva Estelle 

b.30 Nov 1877, 

d.1 Oct 1897

Dyles, Johaie   

b.1897, 

d.9 May 1944 

(Hand Written)

Edwards, Maria 

(b.1855)

(under Godfrey plot)

Edwards, Isom)

(b.1864 Texas)

(under Godfrey plot 1900 Harris Co TX census-lists Isom, wife Maria, dau Selina Hardy, dau Irene, dau Octavia Jackson, son-in-law William, boarder Madeline Jackson(b.1886), mother-in-law Jane Caldwell

Ellaeasi 

stone

Elliot, Elmoe Edwin  

d.3 May 1932 

(Texas Sgt 165 Dept Brig )

Esse, W.

no dates

Etta, Fannie 

b.8 Jan 1866,  

d.27 Dec 1896 

(wife of F.W. Robinson, daughter of Miss Annie Mae-Woodley)

Emma 

1885-1926 

(near Moore family w/ tilted tombstone)

Esley, Mary   

b.2 Mar 1870,   

d.28 Sept 1926

Ferrill, Susie F.   

14647

(DEATH OR BORN?)

Ferrill Plot

Ferrill, Dr. D.G.   

b. ? , 

d.14 April 1902

Ferrill, Russell F. (DR)   

b.18 Oct 1863, 

d.6 Feb 1947

Ferrill, Vinnie H. 

b.5 Oct 1890, 

d.4 Apr 1894

Ferrill, Ida H.  

b.5 March 1870, 

d.19 Oct 1905

(on same stone as Vinnie H.)

Filder, Alice 

(hand written)

Ford, James William   

b. 18 Jan 1920,  

d.20 Mar 1922

Ford, James Allen  

b.5 Dec 1902, 

d.13 Feb 1951 

(Texas Pvt Field Artillery )

Ford, Getrude R.  

b.1879, d.1947

FL plot 

(3 stones, no writing on stones)

Godfrey Plot

Godfrey, Irene Edwards 

(sis to Octavia Jackson lives with her in 1920)

Godfrey, Oscar   

b.25 Dec 1896, 

d.6 Aug 1934 

(his WW1 draft card says born 26 Dec, in Wharton TX, his dad born in AL, and his wife is Lela. There is an Oscar Godfrey(age 3), and Alex Godfrey(age 6) with grandparents Orient & Dilse Tyler in 1900 Wharton Co TX)

Giton, Elizer 

(b.1834) 

d.10 May 1900,

(age 66, mother)

Giton, Henry 

(b.1818) 

d.9 August 1900, 

(age 82, father) 

GMW plot 

(just stone with initials)

Grandfather

Grandmother

(that is all this grave says)

Grant, Paul 

16 years (hand written)

Gray, M.E.  

b.25 Aug 1920, 

age 65

Gray, Mary C. 

b.1881, 

d.1920

(same plot area as Sidney Isles)

Gray, Pink   

b.10 May 1861, 

d.15 Feb 1930

Gray, Lucy   

b.8 Mar 1863, 

d.13 Nov 1932

Gray, John 

d.22 Sep 1855 

(age 20, brother of Ellen Vance, son of Lucy Gray)

Gray, Lucy 

b.12 Mar 1800, 

d.18 Sep 1867 

(mother of John Gray & Ellen Gray Vance) these two grave on the same stone as Frank & Ellen Vance

Grives, Bettie Onitt   

b.6 Jan 1860, 

d.18 May 1915

Haley, John W.  

d.29 Sept 1918

Haley, Phyllis   

d.19 March 1917

Haley, Lucy   

d.23 Jan 1906

Haley. Pattie   

b.14 Oct 1870, 

d.19 Nov 1915

Hardeway Plot 

6 Spots

Rodney, 

infant son of RD & OB Hardeway (2 years 28 days)

Haley Plot

Haley, John W.   

d.29 Sep 1918 

Haley, Phyllis   

d.19 Mar 1917 

(Tender Mother & Father)

Hall, Camille   

b.8 Nov 1899,   

d.5 Sept 1901

Hardy, Laura   

d.10 Aug 1952

Hardy, Selina 

(b.Dec 1878)

(under Godfrey plot)

Harris, Cora  

b.20 Oct 1892, 

d.27 Jun 1930

Harris, W.A. 

(name is written backwards as SIRRAH A.W. and is missing a reflection mirror)

Henderson, Theola   

b.1914,  

d.1929

Henderson, D.H.   

b.1880, 

d.1927

Henderson, Willis   

b.1850,  

d.1927

Hicks Plot

Ada M.   

b.1896,  

d.1922 

(Wife of EJ Doswell) (Ada Dear)

Hooper, Julia  

b.1888, 

d.1908

Hunter, Bertha   

d.10 Nov 1904

Isles, Sidney C.   

b.5 Aug 1871, 

d.16 Mar 1930

Jackson, W M Plot

no tombstones 

Jackson, Octavia   

b. 1 Jan 1881, 

d.25 Dec 1945

(under Godfrey plot, her sis Irene E. Godfrey lives with her in 1920 census, 1900 Harris Co TX, she is with her parents Isom & Maria Edwards and husband William Jackson, he has died by 1920)

Jenkins, Juanita M.   

d.Oct 1913 

Age 71

Johnson, Chas.  

d.30 Dec 1922, 

age 70

Johnson, T.J.   

b.1900,  

d.1922

Johnson, Hattie   

d.14 Feb 1916 

(age 76)

Johnson, Rebecca   

b.10 June 1858

Jones Family: 

(new stone, no dates) Henry, Sarah, J. Will, Maggie, Mathew, Harry

Jones, Nancy   

b.1836,  

d.1910 (age 74)

Jones plot:

Jones, Fred 

1889-1926 

(Gone but not forgotten)

Kinson, Abram   

b.1910,  

d.1923

Kirven, Estella   

b.10 Jun 1896, 

d.21 May 1918 

(may she rest in peace)

Lunnon, Henry   

b.4 Jul 1892, 

d.13 Sep 1916

Larner, Calvin   

b.11 Feb 1876,  

d.27 May 1926

Larner,  Alberta   

b. 18 Jan 1873, 

d.7 Jun 1911

Long, Adm (Adam)? 

d. 5 Jul 1935 

Age 24

Lyons, Maggie 

b.1875, 

d.12 Oct 1906

wife of Dr. S.M. Lyons 

Moore, Charley   

d.16 Sep 1919 

(Age 3 Years) (asleep on year???)

Markham, Rosa D.J.   

b.9 Apr 1874, 

d.15 May 1900 

(on Wilson Plot)

Markham, Rosa A.M.   

b. 14 May 1900

d. 14 May 1900

(infant)

Marshall, Lula   

b. 13 Sept 1887, 

d. 31 Aug 1912

Marshall, Leo (Baby)  

b. 25 Sept 1915, 

d.25 Jan 1918

Note: In memory of our darling baby age 3 years and 4 months.

May, Benjamin H.   

b.Oct 1890, 

d.May 1932

Mayes Plot

no tombstones says "but our darling daughter"

McClaine, Josephine   

d.22 Jan 1916 

Age 42 ( My Hallowed Wife )

McCray, John   

d.2 Apr 1937 

(Texas Corp 322 Serv. BN)

Miles, Lee   

b.1860, 

d.1927

Miller, Benjamin H.   

d.7 March 1929

Miller, Dallie E.  

d.9 Jul 1949

Mills, John   

d.18 Aug 1919

Mills, Annie   

d.29 Jan 1920

Mitchell, Isaac G.  

b.27 Sep 1861, 

d.27 Oct 1894

Mitchell, Maggie R. 

Moore, C.E.  

1856-1921

Moore, Mattie   

1893-1913

Moore, Willie   

1884-1912

Moore & Washington families plot 

(no stones)

Nelson, K.W.  

d.16 Feb 1894 

(age 50)

Nelson, Mary E.  

b.17 Dec 1854, 

d.14 Nov 1891

Nelson, George   

b.10 Aug 1844, 

d.5 June 1919

Nichols Plot

no tombstones

Norton, Lenora   

b.1878 

d.1913 

(In memory of our dear sister)

Overton, Johnnie B.  

b.19 Dec 1891, 

d.4 Aug 1925 

(son on top)

Overton,  Dr. Timothy B.  

b.1869,   

d.1949

Parker, Mary   

d.16 May 1907 

(age 36)

Patten, Donovin 

1908-1927 

(tombstone broken up)

Patten, Pauline   

1872-1930

Peters, Jennie 

d.10 Nov 1921 

(My Dear Sister)

Perry Plot 

no headstones

Phelps, Lawrence Oscar   

b.31 Mar 1920, 

d.16 Oct 1922 

(Infant Son of Mr. & Mrs. C.N. Phelps)

Phillips, Matilda B.   

b. 1834,   

d.6 Apr 1894

Pikins, Alfred  

(b.1829), 

d.16 Jun 1889,

age 60

Pork, A. 

d. 1922

Price, Wilford   

b.1865, 

d.1911 

(Loving Memory Of Our Dear Father & Husband)

Reed, Willie   

b.30 Sept 1848,   

d.5 Sept 1901

Rhodes, Lizzie 

d.21 Apr 1897, 

age 42  wife of Lewis Rhodes

Richards, A. Ida   

b.27 Nov 1852, 

d.20 Jun 1885

Robinson, Fannie Etta 

b.8 Jan 1866, 

d.27 Dec 1896

wife of F.W. Robinson, dau of J. Adams

Roscoe, Alphonso   

b.19 Nov 1890,   

d.21 Sept 1935?

Ryan, James D.   

b.25 Oct 1872,

d.14 July 1940

Sasser plot: 

(3 stones not readable anymore)

Sasser Berry Bryan Jr. 

b.9 Sep 1876, 

d.4 Mar 1896 

(Gone but not forgotten) Note: Berry's stone is outside the plot on the ground, but foot stone with B.B.S. is in plot

Scott, Charles W. 

d. 26 May 1910

Scott, Eliza T.  

b. 1861 

d. 1935

Selders, Rachel   

b.1894, 

d.18 Ma(__) 1927

Shelton, Ada  

d.29 Nov 1916

Simms, Willis   

b. 6 Apr 25 1845 

d. Dec 4 1986

Simms, Sallie Simms   

d. Dec 10 1918 Age 67

Smith

(sunken in ground)

Smith, Estell   

b.1872, 

d.8 Apr 1925

Stanhope, Willie  

b.2 Nov 1894,  

d.28 Mar 1935

Stafford, Mrs. Viola   

d.3 Oct 1928, 

age 33

Stepherson, John Arthur   

b.1929, 

d.1959

Stewart Plot

Bell, Josephine   

b.1879, 

d.1951

Stewart, Archie   

b.1867, 

d.1915

Stewart, Cora   

b.1874, 

d.1922

Stewart, Margaret   

d. 1918

6 months old 

Taylor George    

b.1866, 

d.1910 

(Our Brother)

Stinson, John   

b.2 Nov 1872, 

d.10 Jul 1958

Stinson, Susie    

b.1875, 

d.1913 

(Our _____?)

Spriggs, Elizabeth Ann 

d.9 Feb 1922 

(My Dear Mother)

Simms family plot 

no tombstones)

Stafford, Miss Viola 

(b.1895), 

d.3 Oct 1928, 

age 33 (hand carved stone)

Stone, baby 

(unreadable, this has a lamb carving on top)

Smith Plot 

NO STONES

Smith, Clo C.  

42067

(BORN OR DEATH?)

Snell, Italy   

d.26 Sept 1937 

(Texas Pvt 8 Engr Serv Co. )

Tarver, Nettie   

d.12 Oct 1906 

(A True Friend)

Taylor, Emma   

b. ??? 

d. 1900

Taylor,   H.   

b.June 1848, 

d.9 Nov 1913

Temple, Bethesda 

(b.1858), 

d.2 Jan 1926, 

age 68

Tibbitt, James Reed   

b.2 Aug 1891, 

d.13 Sept 1904

Tibbitt,     

b.7 Sept 1888, 

d.25 Feb 1904

dau of J.S. & E.W.Thomas

Thompson, Lee W.   

b.8 Aug 1906, 

d.14 July 1943

(served in WW1)

Thompson, Edward   

d.6 Sept 1906

Turner, Lewis

Vance, Frank   

b.12 Nov 1833, 

d.24 Dec 1910

Vance, Ellen  

b.1 Feb 1840, 

d.5 Jun 1897

(see Lucy Gray for her mother) married 1 Dec 1855

Vance, Sarah B.  

b.25 Oct 1876, 

d.13 Jul 1932

also on this stone is John & Lucy Gray-see above

Ward, Eugenia   

d.10 Apr 1921 

Age 54 (Mother)

Williams, Matilda   

b.3 Feb 1823, 

d. 18 Dec 1918/1913

Williams Plot

Williams, Julia   

d.1 Dec 1929 

MOTHER

Williams, Lorenzo   

d. 19 Jun 1916 

FATHER

Williams, Lorenzo   

b. 

d. Mar 24 1932 

BROTHER

Williams, Zeke   

b. 1878,   

d.1928

Woods, Mrs. L.W.  

(b.1866), 

d.2 Jun 1926 

(age 66) (sacred to memory Delphia Black)

Warren, Eugene   

b.15 Oct 1903, 

d.18 Nov 1948 

(Ck 3 C USNR World War II)

Washington & Moore families plot

(no stones)

Washington, Annie   

b.1859, 

d.1919 

(Mother)

Webb Plot

Smith, Olive Webb   

b.1885, 

d.1919 

(Wife of Porter E. Smith)

Westbrook 

no tombstones

William, Effie P.  

1905-1927 

(gone but not forgotten)

Williams Plot 

no tombstones

Williams, Zeke   

b.1878, 

d.1928

Williamson, James 

b.1829, 

d.1916

Williamson, John   

b.1867,  

d.1927

Wilson, Caucious A. 

b.14 Nov 1888, 

d.4 May 1954

TX Pvt. 165 Depot Brigade World War I 

Wilson, Pauline 

b. & d. 28 Dec 1990

(dau of F.J. & Amy Wilson)

Wilson, Sam   

b.5 Oct 1860, 

d.13 Nov 1930

Witherspoon

Woodley, Annie Mae   

d.11 Feb 193?? 

(broken off)

Wordfox, Theodore 

1877-1930 

(handwritten) 

Wren, Theodore 

b. Houston Texas 1866, 

d.7 Aug 1910

Wren,  Lula  

b.7 Apr 1867,  

d.27 Jan 1912 

(buried under olive branch No. 27)