Polley Cemetery

Duane's take

The official marker for Polley Cemetery in Wilson County is what I'm drawing from here, and it's a story worth every mile. Now, Joseph Henry Polley was born in 1795 in Whitehall, New York, to Jonathan and Rachel Hubbard Polley. He made his way to Missouri, and it was there he became a friend of Moses Austin — and when Moses Austin traveled to Texas in 1820, Polley went with him.

The very next year, he came back to Texas again, this time riding alongside Stephen F. Austin, as one of the original Old Three Hundred colonists. That's the founding stock of Texas right there, and Polley was in it.

He settled in the Brazoria District, and he married Mary Augusta Bailey — daughter of the pioneer Brit Bailey. The two of them built a home together and gave it a name that carried some personal weight: Whitehall. Same name as the town in New York where Joseph had been born.

The marker doesn't say why, but there it is. Polley served as sheriff, and when the Runaway Scrape came in 1836 — that desperate, chaotic flight of settlers ahead of the Mexican Army — he was out there helping retreating settlers move to safety. Meanwhile, Mary Polley was back home molding candles.

Not just any candles. Candles for the first Texas Congress. That family was woven into the founding of this republic from more than one direction.

In 1847, Polley moved his family to this area, which was then part of Guadalupe County. And in 1848, grief arrived. One of the eleven Polley children — Emeline Elizabeth Polley James — died while giving birth.

The family established a cemetery on this very site to receive her. Two years later, her daughter, given the same name, was laid to rest right beside her. Two Emeline Elizabeth Polleys, mother and daughter, side by side in the ground.

The family completed their Whitehall home around 1850, and life continued to unspool across the generations. Over the years, more family members were buried in that cemetery, including Joseph Henry Polley himself, who died in 1869. The last to be buried here was Mary Bailey Polley, the family matriarch, who died in 1888.

From Whitehall, New York, to Missouri, to the Texas frontier, to this quiet piece of Wilson County ground — the Polleys left a long trail, and this cemetery is where it ends.

What the marker says

Joseph Henry Polley (1795-1869) was born in Whitehall, New York to Jonathan and Rachel Hubbard Polley. He later moved to Missouri, where he was a friend of Moses Austin, with whom he traveled to Texas in 1820. The next year, he returned to Texas with Stephen F. Austin as one of the original "Old 300" colonists. Polley settled in the Brazoria District and wed Mary Augusta Bailey, daughter of pioneer Brit Bailey. The couple built a home that they named Whitehall. Polley served as sheriff and assisted retreating settlers during the Runaway Scrape, 1836; Mary helped mold candles for use by the first Texas Congress. Polley moved his family in 1847 to this area, then a part of Guadalupe County. The family established a cemetery as this site in 1848, when Emeline Elizabeth Polley James, one of the eleven Folley children, died while giving birth. Two years later, her daughter of the same name was interred next to her. The family completed the Whitehall home about 1850. Over the years, several family members, including Joseph Henry Polley, were laid to rest in the cemetery. Mary Bailey Polley (d. 1888), the family matriarch, was the last to be buried here. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2005