Watts Chapel Methodist Church and Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here in Johnson County, a lot of places carry somebody's name like a badge, and this one earned it. The Watts Chapel community takes its name from the family of Nathaniel Franklin Watts, who was born in 1851 and came to this part of Johnson County in 1872.

He wasn't just passin' through. In 1875, Nathaniel married Rachel Ann Bennett, and the two of them bought a small farm near this very site. Over the years they added acreage, ran a cotton gin for farmers across the region, and Nathaniel eventually served as a Johnson County commissioner.

By any measure, these folks put down roots deep enough to hold. Nathaniel and Rachel had twelve children together. Five of them died at an early age.

Let that number sit with you a moment: five children. That kind of grief was a fact of pioneer life, but facts don't make it lighter. The cemetery here began in 1879, when the youngest of those losses came first; an infant daughter named Sallie, buried on the family farm.

That ground became sacred ground. Over the years, other family members followed, and then friends and neighbors from the surrounding community. The cemetery grew the way communities do: one person at a time.

Then, in 1892, the Watts family deeded three acres of that land to the Methodist church. The Reverend B. F.

Badget stepped in as the first pastor of the new congregation. And what did they name it? Watts Chapel, in honor of its benefactors.

Seemed only right. Nathaniel Franklin Watts lived until 1919. Rachel and he had built something that outlasted them both.

The congregation is still active today, still hosting an annual homecoming celebration. The church and the cemetery, standing side by side, together they hold the pioneer heritage of rural Johnson County. Some legacies you carve in stone.

Some you pass down in a pew.

What the marker says

The rural Watts Chapel community is named for the family of Nathaniel Franklin Watts (1851-1919), who settled in this area of Johnson County in 1872. Watts married Rachel Ann Bennett in 1875, and they bought a small farm near this site. They acquired additional acreage over the years and operated a cotton gin for farmers in the region. Mr. Watts later served as a Johnson County commissioner. Nathaniel and Rachel Watts were the parents of twelve children, five of whom died at an early age. The Watts Chapel Cemetery began as a family burial ground in 1879, when their infant daughter, Sallie, died and was buried on the family farm. Over the years other family members also were interred here, as were friends and neighbors in the community. IN 1892 the Watts family deeded three acres of land to the Methodist church. The Rev. B. F. Badget served as first pastor of the new congregation, which was named Watts Chapel in honor of its benefactors. The congregation continues to be an active part of the community and hosts an annual homecoming celebration. Both the church and the cemetery reflect the pioneer heritage of rural Johnson County.