United States / Tennessee Colony, TX

Jemison Quarters Cemetery. Jemison Quarters Cemetery In 1847, settlers from Tennessee and Alabama moved to this area, naming the community Tennessee Colony. Elbert S. Jemison, believed to have come from Alabama Circa 1850, established a plantation in this vicinity. He served as a soldier during the Civil War and profited from cotton production on his plantation. There, he housed his slaves, as well as many from other states, renting their labor to area farms and operations like the nearby Confederate salt works. Following Emancipation in 1865, many freed slaves remained in Tennessee Colony, establishing a cemetery here. Tradition holds that the earliest burials are of slave owners and their slaves; the first marked grave dates to 1880. Several of the men and women buried in the cemetery had been born into slavery. Today, the burial ground, known as Jemison, Jimmison or Jimerson Quarters cemetery, is maintained by a cemetery association. It is the final resting place of generations of area African American residents, including veterans of major 20th century conflicts, and it remains a link to the history of more than a century's work toward freedom, equal rights, community and home. Historic Texas cemetery - 2003 #12953

?, Tennessee Colony, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #12817

Tennessee Colony Order of the Eastern Star No. 102. Tennessee Colony Order of the Eastern Star No. 102 The first Order of the Eastern Star (OES) Chapter chartered in Anderson County, this organization was founded in 1902 for the wives and female relatives of the members of Tyre Masonic Lodge no. 198. Originally known as the Redbud Chapter, it took the name of the Tennessee Colony Community in 1936. Charter members of this chapter, which included members of the Tyre Masonic Lodge, were: Will H. and Annie Calcote, Pete Oldham, Tom Wyley, H.H. Auld, Marcus E. and Tennie Avant, Albert Dupuy, T.F. Wylie and John l. Carroll. Officers elected for the first year were: Bula Graham, W.N. Montgomery, Mamie Dupuy, Fannie Holt, Jesse Graham, Missie Swayze, Maud Montgomery, Emma Swayze, Eva Woolverton, Addie Carroll, D. Welborn Gore, Carrie Carroll, Annie Calcote, Alice Swayze, Vera Vannoy, Mattie Woolverton, E.A. Swayze and Will H. Calcote. The Order of the Eastern Star is always associated with a Masonic Lodge, and its purposes are fellowship and charitable works. Meetings of the Tennessee Colony Chapter were held once a month until 1940-41, when a change was made to hold meetings twice monthly. The chapter met in the Masonic Lodge hall. Membership in the Tennessee Colony OES increased substantially after World War II, with many local and area residents accepted into membership. Members have been active at the district and state level, and their charitable works have played an important part in the cultural heritage of Tennessee Colony. (2002) #12817

?, Tennessee Colony, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #12815

Tyre Masonic Lodge No. 198. Tyre Masonic Lodge No. 198 Until this Masonic Lodge was chartered in 1857, local Masons traveled to Magnolia Lodge No. 113 near the Trinity River. On March 3, 1856, seven Tennessee Colony Masons met at the store of James S. Hanks and adopted a resolution to petition the Grand Lodge of Texas for a new lodge. The Grand Lodge approved the request on January 19, 1857, and Tyre Lodge no. 198, Ancient Free & Accepted Masons, was officially chartered four days later. A.L. Porter served as the first worshipful master. Other officers the first year were John Nelson Woolverton, Dr. W. C. Kenney, John Vannoy, John M. Burns, Thomas Hudson, Joshua Brown Hanks, J. R. Fulton, C. D. Holliman and M. A. Anderson. Members met in a log building, but soon bought a house for lodge purposes. In 1861, a two-story building was constructed and put into use as a community school, a place for Sunday worship and a meeting place for the Masons. A 1949 building replaced the 19th-century structure as the hall. Throughout its history, the members of Tyre Masonic Lodge have sponsored a number of programs and outreach projects for the community, including the Tennessee Colony Masonic Institute, which provided school classes for local children in the late 1850s. Lodge members have served in various armed conflicts, including the Civil War, World War I and World War II. The organization draws members from surrounding communities as it continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of its founders. (2002) #12815

?, Tennessee Colony, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #08818

Tennessee Colony Cemetery. Settlers from the southern United States founded Tennessee Colony in 1838, years before the formation of Anderson County. One of their first community efforts was construction of a log church building on a hill near this site. Located on the Manuel Riondo Land Grant of 1833, the Tennessee Colony Cemetery may include graves dating from the 1840s and 1850s, although no marked stones remain as evidence. A large vacant area in the center of the burial ground once included numerous fieldstones indicating the presence of individual gravesites. Over the years, however, the stones have been moved or misplaced. The earliest marked grave is that of Mrs. Manurva E. Shelton (b. 1831), who died on September 13, 1862. Other interments here include those of pioneer area settlers and their descendants, military veterans, members of local fraternal orders, and community leaders. In 1974, the heirs of M. S. Avant (1834 - 1906) formally deeded this land to the Tennessee Colony Cemetery Association. Still used, the Tennessee Colony Cemetery reflects over a century of the area's history dating from the days of the Republic of Texas. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986 #8818

?, Tennessee Colony, TX, United States

Texas Historical Marker #08817

Tennessee Colony. Founded in 1838 by settlers who came from the Old South by wagons, seeking fertile, watered farm lands. Later their cotton shipped from Magnolia Ferry on the Trinity created great wealth. Early businesses were a general store, blacksmith shop, cabinet shop (which made furniture still found in area). Town was trade center for places as far away as Dallas. The plantation era reached a climax in grandeur on the properties of F. S. Jackson, a settler from Virginia. Circuit riders held religious services in homes until a log cabin church could be built, probably in late 1838; a second log church succeeded this one. Masons attended the lodge in Magnolia for years, but in 1857 obtained charter for Tyre Lodge No. 198, A.F. & A.M., in Tennessee Colony. They then worked to build a 2-story church-school-lodge hall, which was finished in 1860 (and was to be used until 1948). The schools were outstanding, especially those taught by a Mr. Hooker and by Professor Sidney Newsome. They drew patronage from Palestine and other area towns. Remembered students included Addison and Randolph Clark, later to become founders of a college that would be forerunner of Texas Christian University. Descendants of original colonists still live here. (1971) #8817

?, Tennessee Colony, TX, United States