Early Settlement of Northwestern Anderson County

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the early settlement of northwestern Anderson County. Now settle in, because this is a story about places that rose up, did their work, and faded back into the land, and about one man whose property seemed to attract just about everything a frontier community needed. When Anderson County organized in 1846, the land west of Catfish Creek was about as sparsely populated as you can imagine.

Wide open, waiting. But things were already starting to stir. Back in the 1840s, a Georgia native named Charles Gilmore, born in 1796, owned a stretch of that land, and his house became the unlikely center of everything.

The first polling place in the area. The first school. The meeting spot for Gilmore's Chapel Methodist Church, which was the first church in that part of the county.

Now that is a lot of weight for one man's house to carry. And Charles Gilmore wasn't done. He donated land for the church's cemetery, and for its sanctuary too.

Then in 1854, local Baptists gathered right there and organized Judson Baptist Church, which would later move to a site about a mile to the north, and eventually make its way to Cayuga, three miles to the northwest. Communities don't stay still, and neither did this one. Out to the northwest, about seven and a half miles, sat a place called Wild Cat Bluff, near where Wildcat Creek meets the Trinity River.

Settled in the 1840s as well, it grew into an important ferry crossing and flourished for years. It kept on going right through and past the Civil War, until the river became unnavigable and the traffic that had fed the place simply dried up. Just over the line in Henderson County, settlers had come as early as 1846 and founded a masonic lodge.

And then in 1852, Bethel Post Office opened, the first post office in the area, with Charles Gilmore himself serving as postmaster. That man's name is on just about everything. But here is the quiet turn in the tale.

As Bethel Post Office opened and activity gathered near what is now the community of Bethel, two and a half miles to the southeast, Gilmore's Chapel Community began to disappear. The center had shifted, as centers do. Not every community in this story survived to see the twentieth century.

Some of these places and institutions faded out before most folks alive today were ever born. But the marker standing here makes the point plainly: short-lived does not mean unimportant. These settlers built schools and churches and businesses, leaned on one another, and laid down the patterns that shaped Anderson County.

Charles Gilmore, who lived until 1880, gave his land, his house, and his name to a community that eventually moved on without him. And that, right there, is how a frontier gets built.

What the marker says

Early Texas settlements were often centered around institutions such as churches and schools. Even those that were short-lived played significant roles in the historical development of the state. When Anderson County organized in 1846, the area west of Catfish Creek was only sparsely populated. Community development began in the 1840s on land owned by Georgia-native Charles Gilmore (1796-1880). His house served as first polling place, first school and location for early meetings of the Gilmore's Chapel Methodist Church, the first area church. He then donated land for its cemetery and sanctuary. In 1854, local Baptists met there and organized Judson Baptist Church, moving later to a nearby site (1 mi. N) and then to Cayuga (3 mi. NW). Wild Cat Bluff (7.5 mi. NW), near the confluence of Wildcat Creek and the Trinity River, was also settled in the 1840s. It was an important ferry crossing and flourished until after the Civil War, when the river became unnavigable. Just over in Henderson County, settlers came as early as 1846 and founded a masonic lodge. In 1852, Bethel Post Office, the first in the area, opened with Gilmore as postmaster. Soon the center of activity moved near the present-day community of Bethel (2.5 Mi. SE), and Gilmore's Chapel Community disappeared. Although some of these communities and institutions did not survive, their stories demonstrate early settlement patterns and reflect the goals and needs of area pioneers, who established schools, churches and businesses, relying on mutual support and effort to develop Anderson County. (2002)