Bethesda Presbyterian Church and Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. Picture 1879, somewhere back in Alabama, and William Lee Henderson, born in 1808, looks around at his wife Eleanor Shelby, born in 1817, and their nine children, and says, in so many words: Texas. So off they go, the whole Henderson outfit, by wagon train, rolling west out of Alabama and into East Texas.

Nine children. One wagon train. The kind of commitment that doesn't leave much room for second-guessing.

They settled, and before long they'd built themselves a shelter, and church records tell us worship services were being held in it shortly after they arrived. That's the Henderson way, apparently. Build something.

Gather people. Pray. The East Texas Presbytery took notice, and in March of 1881 officially recognized the new congregation as the Lindale Presbyterian Church.

Then in 1885, the name changed to Bethesda, after a church the Hendersons had established back in Perry County, Alabama. They carried the name with them across hundreds of miles, like a seed they'd been meaning to plant. Now, 1881 was a year that gave and took in the same breath.

The congregation got its official name, and then William's son, Franklin Smith Henderson, was buried on the family land. Other interments followed near Franklin's grave site, and when William himself was laid to rest there in 1883, the cemetery had already begun to take shape around him. From its very beginning it was a community burial place, not just a family plot.

A cemetery association was organized in 1905, and the grounds came to hold veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. The congregation erected a new sanctuary at this site in 1895, enlarged it in 1959, and the church kept right on going. And here's the thing that might get you: descendants of the original Henderson family, and of other area pioneers buried in that cemetery, have gathered here every summer for many decades for a reunion, along with other religious and social activities.

William and Eleanor loaded nine children into a wagon in Alabama, and what they started is still calling people home.

What the marker says

In 1879 William Lee Henderson (b. 1808), his wife Eleanor Shelby (b. 1817), and their nine children moved from their Alabama home to Texas by wagon train. Church records indicate worship services were held in a shelter built by the Hendersons shortly after they settled here. At the Hendersons' request the East Texas Presbytery officially recognized the new congregation as the Lindale Presbyterian Church in March 1881. Its name was changed to Bethesda in 1885, for a church the Hendersons had established in Perry County, Alabama. William's son, Franklin Smith Henderson, was buried here on family land in 1881. Other interments near Franklin's grave site, including that of his father William in 1883, formed the nucleus of this cemetery, which from its beginning had been a community burial place. A cemetery association was organized in 1905. Among those buried here are veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. The congregation erected a new sanctuary at this site in 1895 which was enlarged in 1959. Descendants of the original Henderson family and of other area pioneers buried in the cemetery have gathered here each summer for many decades for a reunion and other religious and social activities.