Wallis Hill Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Wallis Hill Cemetery, out in Chambers County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a long way. We're talkin' 1824, when Elisha H.

R. and Sarah Wallis, she was born a Barrow, loaded up their family and made the journey from Nachitoches Parish, Louisiana, into this part of Texas. By early 1825, they had put down roots on Wallis Hill. And their home, it didn't stay quiet for long.

Travelers found it, and it became a familiar stop. You can imagine what that meant on the Texas frontier. A known place.

A reliable one. Then, in 1830, their son Elijah died. He was buried near the house.

His grave is unmarked today, but the marker tells us his was probably the first interment in what would become known as the Wallis Hill Cemetery. Probably. That word does a lot of work out here, where the land has had nearly two centuries to keep its secrets.

The cemetery as a formal thing, that came later. Sarah died in 1841, and after losing her, E. H.

R. Wallis marked off land specifically for the family cemetery. A deliberate act.

A man drawing a boundary around grief and calling it sacred ground. He himself was buried there when he died in 1846. Over the years, the cemetery opened itself up to extended family members and other early residents of the area.

Among those buried here, there was at least one veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. Think about that. Someone who stood on that ground, on that day, and then lived out the rest of their years nearby, and came to rest on Wallis Hill.

The cemetery grew to hold approximately twenty-five known graves, though many of them are unmarked. Most date from the nineteenth century. And here is where the story takes one of those turns that only Texas can give you.

By the 1870s, large colonies of ants had rendered the land nearly useless for further burials. Not time, not distance, not some grand civic decision. Ants.

The land itself pushed back. Area residents moved on, and in 1879, that abandonment led to the establishment of the Wallisville Cemetery. Only a few burials appear to have occurred at Wallis Hill after that time.

What remains is one of the oldest Anglo cemeteries in what is now Chambers County. Elijah's unmarked grave, Sarah's, Elisha's, a San Jacinto veteran whose name the marker doesn't give us, and about twenty-five souls in total, many of them anonymous to history. The marker calls this place a reflection of the heritage of the area.

I'd say that's about right. Some reflections are just quieter than others.

What the marker says

Elisha H. R. and Sarah (Barrow) Wallis brought their family to this part of Texas from Nachitoches Parish, Louisiana, in 1824. They settled on Wallis Hill in early 1825; their home became a familiar stop for travelers. When their son Elijah died in 1830, he was buried near the house. His was probably the first interment in what became known as the Wallis Hill Cemetery, although his grave is unmarked. When Sarah died in 1841, E. H. R. Wallis marked off land for the family cemetery. Wallis was buried here upon his death in 1846. Over the years, the cemetery was used for extended family members and other early residents, including at least one veteran of the Battle of San Jacinto. There are approximately 25 known graves in the Wallis Hill Cemetery, many of them unmarked. Most date from the 19th century, since by the 1870s, large colonies of ants rendered the land nearly useless for further burials. Abandonment of this graveyard by area residents led to the establishment of the Wallisville Cemetery in 1879. Only a few burials appear to have occurred here after that time. One of the oldest Anglo cemeteries in what is now Chambers County, Wallis Hill Cemetery serves as a reflection of the heritage of the area.