Campground Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Jasper County, along Sandy Creek, a story took root that's still being tended to this day. It starts in 1834, when a man named Adam Byerly immigrated to Texas all the way from South Carolina.

The very next year, he received a Mexican land grant on Sandy Creek, and that stretch of East Texas land would end up meaning more to more people than Byerly probably ever imagined. The area became a gathering place for the Methodist Episcopal Church. Folks called it Methodist Campground, or sometimes Byerly Campground, and it carried the quiet importance that meeting places do when people don't have many of them.

In 1843, Byerly sold ten acres to the church. A building went up not long after, and by 1858, a cemetery had been established on the grounds. Now, to the south of that cemetery, another burial ground took shape.

This one was for African American residents of the area, and it became known as Campground Cemetery. The date of the first burial there is unknown. Records were lost, early headstones disappeared, and time did what time does.

The best anyone can say is that the first burial was most likely in the late 1800s. For many years, the cemetery had no fence around it. Livestock roamed freely through those grounds, damaging headstones and burial sites, and that's a particular kind of loss, the kind that chips away at names and dates and the very proof that someone was here.

The earliest marked grave that survives belongs to Tom Limbrick, born in 1827, died in 1908. His stone still stands. Then came 1960.

Family members of those buried in Campground Cemetery came together and formed a cemetery association, committed to caring for the burial ground. A fence was erected. The place that had been left open to the wandering of livestock was finally enclosed and protected.

Among those buried there are former slaves, community leaders, and veterans. One mile north of the cemetery stands Armstrong C.M.E. Church, and that church has close ties with the cemetery association, opening its doors so the association can hold its committee meetings there.

Because of that bond, the cemetery is sometimes called Armstrong Campground Cemetery. The marker puts it plainly and well: this site and this cemetery are important reminders of early African American development in the area in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and of the perseverance they inspire. A community that tended its own, even when the records were gone and the stones were damaged and the ground had been left unguarded, came back.

Fenced it in. Named it. And kept on meeting.

What the marker says

Adam Byerly immigrated to Texas from South Carolina in 1834. The next year, he received a Mexican land grant located on Sandy Creek in Jasper County. This area was frequently used as a meeting place for the Methodist Episcopal Church and was known as "Methodist Campground" or "Byerly Campground." In 1843, Byerly sold ten acres to the church. A building was soon erected and a cemetery established by 1858. To the south of this cemetery was a cemetery for African American residents, known as "Campground Cemetery." The date of the first burial is unknown due to the loss of records and early headstones but was most likely in the late 1800s. For many years, the cemetery was unfenced which allowed livestock to roam freely, damaging headstones and burial sites. The earliest marked grave in the cemetery is that of Tom Limbrick (1827-1908). In 1960, family members of those buried here formed a cemetery association to care for the burial ground and a fence was erected. Many former slaves, community leaders and veterans are buried in the cemetery. The African American Community Church one mile north of the cemetery, Armstrong C.M.E. Church, has close ties with the cemetery association and allows them to hold committee meetings at the church. For this reason, the cemetery is sometimes referred to as "Armstrong Campground Cemetery." This historic site and cemetery are important reminders of early African American development in the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the perseverance they inspire.