Long Branch Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Long Branch Cemetery in Falls County. Now settle in, because this one carries weight. Out in Falls County, surrounded by farmland on all sides, there are more than three acres of ground that hold something time has done its level best to erase.

A community. A whole way of life. And the cemetery is the last surviving vestige of it.

Long Branch Cemetery is one of the oldest in Falls County, and it was used for the interment of African-Americans for more than a century. It was founded by former slaves, tied from the very beginning to the Methodist Episcopal Church of Long Branch, which later became Long Branch United Methodist Church. The church gave the community a spiritual home.

The cemetery gave it permanence. The earliest names associated with the settlement, and you want to say these names out loud, were Thornton Craig, Jim Furry, Jessie Smith, Edmond Taylor, and Nelson Weatherspoon. All of them were here by June of 1870.

The records don't say whether these men and their families arrived as slaves or came after emancipation. What the records do say is where most of them came from: Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. They came from a long way off, carrying everything they had, and they put down roots.

They built something real at Long Branch. A two-room schoolhouse. They chose educators from their own ranks.

Folks made their living by tenant farming, by working manual labor in nearby towns, by taking in boarders. And several became landowners. That last part is worth sitting with for a moment.

They also answered when their country called. From the Civil War all the way to Vietnam. One name from that service is carved into this story permanently: Anthony Shaw, Company G, 104th U.S.

Colored Infantry. He is buried here. On September 20th, 1883, community trustees bought land from William M.

Stephens to establish a hall of worship and an eternal resting place for those calling Long Branch home. That's the kind of transaction that says: we are here, we intend to stay, and we intend to be remembered. More than two hundred interments are recorded in this cemetery, though some early burials went unrecorded.

Among the decedents are the remains of twenty-five freed slaves. One of them was Silvia King. In the 1930s, before she died at the age of one hundred and thirty-three, she recorded valuable personal and cultural history.

Think about what she had seen. What she carried. What she chose to leave behind in words.

The school at Long Branch closed in 1950. The church closed in 1971, and later it burned. The community it anchored is gone now, except for this ground.

The Long Branch Cemetery is still an active cemetery. The last surviving vestige of the community, yes, but not a relic. Still receiving.

Still honoring. Still here. And that is no small thing.

What the marker says

This graveyard, one of the oldest in Falls County, was used for the interment of African-Americans for more than a century. Founded by former slaves in connection with the Methodist Episcopal Church of Long Branch (later Long Branch United Methodist Church), it covers more than three acres surrounded by farm land. The cemetery is the last surviving vestige of the Long Branch community. The earliest names associated with the settlement, including Thornton Craig, Jim Furry, Jessie Smith, Edmond Taylor and Nelson Weatherspoon, were all here by June 1870. Records do not indicate whether these men and their families were in the community as slaves or arrived after emancipation. Most came from Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Long Branch citizens built a two-room school house and chose educators from their ranks. Many made their living by tenant farming, working manual labor in nearby towns and taking in boarders, and several became landowners. They also served their country in military conflicts from the Civil War to Vietnam, including Anthony Shaw, Co. G, 104th U. S. Colored Infantry, who is buried here. On September 20, 1883, community trustees bought land from William M. Stephens to establish a hall of worship and an eternal resting place for those calling Long Branch home. While cemetery interments exceed 200, some early burials went unrecorded. Among the decedents are the remains of 25 freed slaves. One of these, Silvia King, recorded valuable personal and cultural history in the 1930s before she died at age 133. The school at Long Branch closed in 1950, and the church closed in 1971 and later burned. This important community burial ground remains an active cemetery. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2010