Harper Chapel Cemetery

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the official marker on Harper Chapel Cemetery, out in Sabine County. That's the story I'm here to share. Now, it starts with a single acre of East Texas ground and a handshake sealed in ink.

On December 1, 1890, a man named I.H. Pratt deeded one acre of land at this very site to J.R. Harper.

One acre. Doesn't sound like much, does it. But what gets planted in a piece of land sometimes grows well beyond the deed.

J.R. Harper was born in 1838, way out in Hinds County, Mississippi. He made the journey to Texas with his wife Delilah, born a Rice before she took the Harper name, and together they raised six children.

When Harper died in 1896, he became the first person laid to rest in what was then called, simply, Harper Cemetery. His wife Delilah, born in 1836, was buried right next to him twelve years later, in 1908. Now here's where the story gets that particular kind of Texas complicated.

A fire broke out at the Sabine County courthouse, and the original deed went up with it. The only reason we know about that 1890 transaction at all is because it's referenced in a later deed, a 1925 transfer to J.D. Fuller and E.H.

Murphee. Fire takes a lot of things, but it couldn't erase the record entirely. Someone wrote it down again, and the land held.

By 1925, the surrounding community had already grown into something. That community, which had once gone by the wonderfully audacious name of Lick Skillet, had come to be known as Harper Chapel. And in 1934, local Baptists finished building their wood-frame church house right there in the community.

They called it Harper Chapel, same as the community itself. The cemetery took that name too, and it's carried it ever since. Over the years, the burial ground kept growing, not by deed this time but by generosity.

Additional acreage came in from donors, as the community continued to bring its people home to this ground. Among those resting here are United States military veterans, with service stretching back to World War I. Today, the Harper Chapel Cemetery Association, made up of descendants and friends of those buried here, tends the site and keeps the memory alive.

One acre, deeded on a December day in 1890, and it became exactly what a cemetery is supposed to be: a link. A link to the generations of people who built a community out here in Sabine County, starting with a man from Mississippi who came to Texas, put down roots, and never left.

What the marker says

On December 1, 1890, I.H. Pratt deeded one acre of land at this site to J.R. Harper. Born in 1838 in Hinds County, Mississippi, Harper came to Texas with his wife Delilah (Rice) (1836-1908), with whom he had six children. He died in 1896 and was the first to be buried here, at what was then known as Harper Cemetery. His wife was buried next to him 12 years later. Because of a fire at the Sabine County courthouse, the original deed is only referenced in a 1925 deed transfer to J.D. Fuller and E.H. Murphee. By that time, the Harper Chapel community, originally known as Lick Skillet, had further developed. Local Baptists completed construction on their wood-frame church house, Harper Chapel, in 1934. The community continued to utilize the burial ground here, acquiring additional acreage from donors over the years. The cemetery today is a link to the generations of area residents. Among those buried here are U.S. military veterans from conflicts beginning with World War I. The Harper Chapel Cemetery Association, comprised of descendants and friends of those buried here, maintains the site. Historic Texas Cemetery – 2004