Poe Chapel

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Poe Chapel. William Wyatt Poe came to Texas from his native Alabama in late 1870. Just a man arriving in a big state, but give him some time.

By 1885 he had married Jerusha Evaline Cline, and together they raised ten children. Ten. Now that's not a family, that's a congregation waiting to happen.

In 1904 he moved that whole family to Runnels County, and what he did next tells you everything about the man. He gave land for school and church buildings. Not sold.

Gave. He served as school trustee himself, and later, three of his sons sat on the school board. The Poes weren't just passing through Runnels County.

They were building it, plank by plank, acre by acre, Sunday by Sunday, with farming and civic work and church affairs woven together like they couldn't be separated. Then there's son Howard, who in 1930 introduced four-row tractor farming to the area. That right there is the kind of detail that sounds small until you think about what it meant for every neighbor watching that tractor make four rows at once where one used to be.

When W. W. Poe died in 1945, he didn't leave a tangle of disputes.

He left a farm to each child. Ten children, ten farms, carved out of the land he had believed in since 1904. And the marker notes, plain as you please, that the land is still farmed mainly by his grandsons.

William Wyatt Poe came from Alabama with nothing the marker mentions but himself, and he left Runnels County a community.

What the marker says

Named in honor of William Wyatt Poe, who came to Texas from his native Alabama in late 1870. Married Jerusha Evaline Cline in 1885; had ten children. Moved family to Runnels County, 1904. Gave land for school and church buildings. Was school trustee. Three sons were later on school board. Family active in farming, civic and church affairs. Son, Howard, introduced 4-row tractor farming to area in 1930. Upon W. W. Poe's death, 1945, each child inherited a farm. Land is still farmed mainly by his grandsons.