Reliance Church Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Reliance Church Cemetery, out in Brazos County. Now settle in, because this one's got layers. It starts — like so many good Texas stories — with a wagon train.

Back in the early 1850s, a group of settlers rolled into this corner of Brazos County, and they came out of Georgia. So naturally, they called their little community Little Georgia. Simple enough.

Honest. Maybe even a little homesick. For a while, that name stuck.

But names, like communities, have a way of evolving. In 1873, a man named David Lloyd — he'd come up from Mississippi — organized the Reliance Baptist Church, and with that act, the community took on a new name: Reliance. That same year, a fellow the locals called Uncle Billy Morgan — his given name was W.H.

Morgan — set up a cotton gin and a general store, and he took on the role of postmaster too. One man, three jobs, one year. Uncle Billy wasn't wasting any daylight.

Then came April 1874. Two Bryan attorneys, M.J. Beale and B.K.

Davis, donated four acres of land right here at this site — for the church, for a school, and for a cemetery. By the late nineteenth century, Reliance had filled itself out into something real: a country store, a post office, a gristmill, a cotton gin, a school, a church, and a community center. More families had been arriving through the 1870s, folks from the southeastern United States, moving west to escape the economic hardships that followed the Civil War.

They were starting over, planting roots — and planting cotton. Now, cotton is a demanding crop, and it has a long memory. Intensive cotton farming eroded the soil here over time, and gradually those farms transformed into extensive cattle ranches.

The land itself was changing shape. Through all of it, the church and the cemetery remained. The cemetery sits among century-old post oak, elm, and hackberry trees — trees that were saplings when the first graves were dug.

The earliest marked grave dates to 1881, though the marker tells us several older, undated graves are believed to exist here too. Unnamed, unrecorded, but present. In 1951 and again in 1995, community members made additional donations of land — nearly doubling the original size of the property across those two gifts.

By the twenty-first century, the land around Reliance was shifting again, transitioning toward rural residential development, but the cemetery held its ground. Today it's maintained jointly by the Reliance Baptist Church and the Reliance Cemetery Association. What began as four donated acres from two Bryan lawyers — a church, a school, and a place to bury the dead — is still here, still tended, still standing among those old post oaks.

Reliance. Turned out to be a fitting name after all.

What the marker says

Two Bryan attorneys, M.J. Beale and B.K. Davis, donated four acres of land at this site in April 1874 for the purpose of establishing the Reliance Baptist Church, School and Cemetery. The community was originally called Little Georgia, taking its name from the state of origin of an early 1850s wagon train of settlers. More families from the southeastern United States arrived in the 1870s, escaping economic hardships following the Civil War by emigrating to Texas. David Lloyd of Mississippi changed the community's name to Reliance in 1873 with the organization of the Reliance Baptist Church. W.H. (Uncle Billy) Morgan established a cotton gin and general store in 1873, and also served as postmaster. In the late 19th century, Reliance included a country store, post office, gristmill, cotton gin, school, church and community center. As intensive cotton farming eroded the soil, area farms transformed into extensive cattle ranches. By the 21st century, the church and cemetery remained historic fixtures in an area transitioning to rural residential development. The cemetery is sited among century-old post oak, elm and hackberry trees. The earliest marked grave dates to 1881, although several older undated graves are believed to exist here. Community members made additional donations of land in 1951 and 1995, nearly doubling the original size of the church and cemetery property. The cemetery property is held jointly by the Reliance Baptist Church and the Reliance Cemetery Association, which governs the operation and maintenance of the historic burial ground. Historic Texas Cemetery - 2007