Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery marker has to say — and friends, this one's worth your full attention. In 1878, the Reverend Lawson Reed arrived in Nacogdoches and found something that must have struck him like a cold wind: not a single organized Baptist church serving the black community in the whole town. For a time, he did what a practical man of faith does — he made do.

He attended the Union Church alongside other Baptists, and Presbyterians, and Methodists too, and sometimes he stepped up and led services right there himself. But making do isn't the same as doing right, and Reverend Reed knew the difference. He prevailed upon local Baptists to organize their own church.

Now, "prevailed upon" is a polite way of saying he pushed until they moved, and in 1879 they began to meet under a brush arbor. Just open sky and woven branches between them and the Lord. The charter members of that new congregation read like a roll call of quiet courage.

Frank and Ellen Walton. Annie K. McClain.

Jim and Annie Rigsby. Harriet Moore. Hattoe Vaughns.

Velma Williams McCullough. And the Reeds themselves. That's the founding company, right there.

Now, a brush arbor is fine in June. It is not fine in November. When winter started knockin', the congregation needed a roof, and it was Frank and Ellen Walton who answered — they gave two acres of land for a building.

Two acres. That's not charity; that's commitment. The church grew.

By the 1890s, the congregation had grown large enough that they needed a bigger structure altogether. That's what steady faith looks like — you outgrow your walls. And alongside that growing church, there was a cemetery taking shape.

The presence of unmarked and undated graves suggests people were buried at this site even earlier than the records show. But the earliest marked grave belongs to Julia Harris, who died on February 8, 1897. Hers is the only marked grave from the entire 19th century.

One stone standing sentinel for a whole era. Early members continued to be laid to rest on this ground for decades. The last burial the marker notes is that of Charley Blakey, in 1945.

In between those two dates, the cemetery received some remarkable souls. The Reverend Lawson Reed himself — the man who started all of this — rests here, his grave marked by two stones, died 1924. John B.

Liggins, died 1919. Amiel Rivers, died 1932. And Jim Smith, died 1938, who had served his country in World War I.

There are also several markers denoting members of fraternal organizations — men who built community not just inside the church walls but in the wider world beyond them. Over time, though, the cemetery fell into disrepair. That's a quiet kind of heartbreak — a place holding that much history, grown over and forgotten.

But in the early 1970s, a movement began to have the city assume custodianship of the ground. People decided it was worth fighting for. And it was.

The burial ground at Zion Hill remains, as the marker puts it, a chronicle of the African American pioneers of Nacogdoches. From a brush arbor in 1879 to two acres given in faith, to that lone 19th-century stone for Julia Harris — it's all still there, if you know where to look and you're willin' to stop long enough to listen.

What the marker says

The Rev. Lawson Reed came to Nacogdoches in 1878 to find no organized Baptist church serving the black community. For a time, he attended the Union Church with other Baptists as well as Presbyterians and Methodists, sometimes leading services there. The Rev. Mr. Reed prevailed upon local Baptists to organize their own church, and in 1879 they began to meet under a brush arbor. Frank and Ellen Walton, Annie K. McClain, Jim and Annie Rigsby, Harriet Moore, Hattoe Vaughns, Velma Williams McCullough and the Reeds were the charter members of the church. The approach of winter forced them to seek other accommodations, and the Waltons gave two acres of land for a building. Though the presence of the church and a number of unmarked and undated graves suggest earlier interments at this site, the earliest marked grave is that of Julia Harris, who died on February 8, 1897. Hers is the only marked grave dating from the 19th century. The Zion Hill Baptist Church grew steadily from its inception and by the 1890s the congregation required a larger structure. Early members continued to be buried on this site until the burial of Charley Blakey in 1945. Among those buried here are the Rev. Lawson Reed (d. 1924), whose grave is marked by two stones; John B. Liggins (d. 1919), Amiel Rivers (d. 1932), and Jim Smith (d. 1938), who served in World War I. There are several markers denoting members of fraternal organizations. Over time, the cemetery fell into disrepair. In the early 1970s a movement began to have the city assume custodianship of the cemetery. The burial ground remains a chronicle of the African American pioneers of Nacogdoches. (2000)