Mt. Homer Baptist Church Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and here's how I'll tell it to you. Out here in Milam County, there's a piece of ground that holds more history than its quiet appearance lets on. The place is known today as Mt.

Homer Baptist Church Cemetery, but it didn't start out with that name. It started out as Watson Cemetery. That was its identity first, a burial ground for members of the Watson and Williams families.

Then, in 1866, the site transferred to the trustees of Mt. Homer Baptist Church, and a new chapter opened up. Somewhere on the northeast side of the property, a church building went up, one that pulled double duty as a schoolhouse.

Two kinds of learning happening in the same walls. The kind you carry in your heart, and the kind you carry in your head. Now, the diaries of a man named Robert Thomas Williams, along with other records, tell us something important about the southeastern part of this same ground.

That portion was used for burials by local African American residents. Williams kept those diaries, and because he did, that history didn't disappear into silence. But here is where the story gets heavy, and it deserves to be carried carefully.

The earliest marked grave on this site is dated 1863. It belongs to Zachary, Robert Thomas Williams' brother. Zachary was fatally wounded during the Civil War, at a place called Chancellorsville, Virginia.

He was brought home to this ground, or at least his memory was, and that marked grave has stood as the oldest on the property ever since. A cemetery that began as a family plot, became a community anchor, held the records of the living and the memory of the dead, and carries in its oldest corner the name of a man lost at Chancellorsville. That's the ground beneath Mt.

Homer Baptist Church Cemetery, and now you know what's in it.

What the marker says

This site was originally known as Watson Cemetery and used for burials of Watson and Williams family members. It transferred to trustees of Mt. Homer Baptist Church in 1866. A church building that also served as a schoolhouse was located on the northeast side of the property. The diaries of Robert Thomas Williams and other records indicate the southeastern part of the site was used for burials by local African American residents. The earliest marked grave, dated 1863, is that of Williams' brother Zachary, fatally wounded during the Civil War at Chancellorsville, Virginia. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2004