Union Communiity

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Union Community, out in Hopkins County. Pull up a chair, because this one goes back a good ways. Before the Civil War even got started, farmers were already finding their way to this corner of Texas, drawn in by rich, sandy soil that promised a decent living.

A settlement took shape, and they called it Union, named after the pioneer Union Church that stood at the heart of this little rural agricultural world. Over the years, that community built itself up piece by piece. A school.

A church. A post office. A store.

Not bad for a stretch of sandy farmland. The Union Church itself was founded about 1850, and here's something worth noting: it wasn't tied to any one denomination. Members from various denominations came together under that roof, which, when you think about it, says something about what kind of people these were.

A circuit preacher rode through and held services once a month, so folks learned to make the most of it when he showed up. For a good while, the church met right inside the school building. Then, in the early nineteen hundreds, they went and built a proper three-room, three-teacher schoolhouse.

That school served the community for decades, until 1946, when it was absorbed into the Sulphur Springs School District. By 1885, the congregation had settled on a name: Union Baptist Church. The general store did double duty for a stretch, housing the post office from 1901 to 1906.

Two men ran that store in its early years, Charles Hamrick and W. A. McKeever, and those same two men served as the only recorded postmasters for the postal station, which was officially called Yesner.

Not Union. Yesner. The community had one name; the post office had another.

Now, communities like this one leave their deepest mark in a quieter place, and that's the cemetery. Many of the first settlers in the area are buried right there on that site. The graveyard was in use at least by 1861, when a man named James Thrasher was laid to rest in an unmarked grave.

No stone. Just the earth. The earliest marked burial belongs to T.

J. Gamblin, who died in 1875. Rich soil brought them here.

Community kept them together. And the cemetery holds them still.

What the marker says

Rich, sandy soil attracted farmers to this area before the beginning of the Civil War. The settlement that developed here was called Union after the pioneer Union Church that served as the focal point of the rural agricultural community. Over the years, the site has boasted a school, church, post office, and store. The Union Church was founded about 1850 and was made up of members from various denominations. In 1885 the name Union Baptist Church was adopted. A circuit preacher held services once a month. The Union Church met in the school building until the early 1900s. Then a three-room, three-teacher schoolhouse was constructed. In 1946, the community school was absorbed into the Sulphur Springs School District. The general store, which also housed the post office from 1901 to 1906, was operated in its early years by Charles Hamrick and W. A. McKeever. These two men also served as the only recorded postmasters for Yesner, as the postal station officially was called. Many of the first settlers in the area are buried in the cemetery at this site. The graveyard was in use at least by 1861 when James Thrasher was buried in an unmarked grave. The earliest marked burial site is that of T. J. Gamblin, who died in 1875.