Early Chapel Cemetery

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's what this ground has seen — and what it's been holding onto since before most folks had a name for this part of Texas. This is Duane, and this one comes straight off the official marker at Early Chapel Cemetery in Lee County. Now, the Methodist Episcopal Church South bought this site in 1850.

That's the official start of the story. But the marker's quick to let you know the ground wasn't waiting around for a deed — some burials had already occurred here before that purchase ever took place. The earth had already started keeping its record.

And what a record it turned out to be. Laid to rest in this cemetery are two men who stood on the field at San Jacinto. Two heroes of that battle, marked by name: Captain Jas.

Shaw — who was also the founder of Lexington — and Wm. Hawkins. Two men who helped decide the fate of a republic, and they ended up here, under the same Lee County sky.

You don't walk past that lightly. There are Civil War veterans buried here as well, men who carried that particular weight through their lives and into the ground. And among the names the marker preserves is Mrs.

R. Y. King — wife of the first judge of Lee County.

The first. That's a woman whose life ran right alongside the formation of the county itself. The marker also notes that Early Chapel Cemetery contains a special section for slaves.

The marker states that plainly, and it deserves to be said plainly. Those lives are part of this place, part of its full account, and this ground holds them too. San Jacinto heroes, a county's first judge's wife, veterans, and enslaved people — all in one small stretch of Lee County.

Some cemeteries hold the past. This one holds a whole complicated chapter of Texas. And it's been doing it since before 1850 even made it official.

What the marker says

Site bought by Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1850, although some burials had occurred here previously. Buried here are San Jacinto heroes Capt. Jas. Shaw (founder of Lexington) and Wm. Hawkins; Civil War veterans; Mrs. R. Y. King, wife of first Lee County judge. Contains special section for slaves. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967