History
Benjamin Burke
(1793-1863) Pioneer farmer Benjamin Burke migrated to Texas about 1829 and received an 1834 land grant from the Mexican government in what is now Tyler County. He served in the Texas Army during the war for independence. About 1859 he moved to the Centralia Community in Trinity County. He married Susan (Ogden) Burke (1808-1890) and had nine children.
History
Bennett Cemetery
Georgia native Mycajah Y. Bennett arrived in Texas with his family by 1850, when he is listed in the census for Rusk County. According to family tradition, he and others were clearing trees from this hill when he remarked that upon his death he would like to be buried here, under a particular large tree. When he died in 1856, they honored his request.
History
Calvary Cemetery
Sometime between 1865 and 1874 Alexander and Jane (Tucker) Smith moved from Alabama and settled here in the community of Nogalus Prairie with their daughter, Ann, and sons Thomas, Rederick, Kirby, and NAthan Marion. The Cemetery site was originally part of 156 acres acquired by Nathan M. Smith on June 2, 1874.
History
Carlisle Cemetery
This cemetery originally served residents of the Vaughns Mill community (later Bold Springs and then Carlisle). The settlement was named for Moses Bond, who donated property for this burial ground after coming here with family in the 1870s. The oldest marked grave here is of Civil War veteran William Cooper (d. 1867).
History
Cedar Grove Cemetery
The first documented burial in the cemetery, that of Phebe A. Martin, took place in 1875, three years after the town of Trinity was laid out on the George W. Wilson survey. Nearly 100 graves, many of them from an 1897-98 diphtheria epidemic, date to the 19th century. In 1914, a cemetery association was chartered to manage and maintain the public burial ground.
History
Charles Nesbitt "Charlie" Wilson
Born in Trinity on June 1, 1933, Charles Nesbitt "Charlie" Wilson served as a United States naval officer, a state legislator and a United States Representative from Texas' Second Congressional District. Growing up, Wilson attended Trinity public schools.
History
First Methodist Church of Groveton
First Methodist Church of Groveton This sawmill town was founded in 1882, followed by the establishment of a Groveton Methodist congregation in 1883. Begun as a mission church, the first services were held in the school building. A Sunday school was organized by Mrs. M.L.T. Sloan. A church lot was purchased in April 1887, And a church building and parsonage were constructed.
History
George Washington Carver School
In 1881, the town of Groveton was established near the Trinity and Sabine Railway and Timber Company. With the availability for work, the area attracted settlers seeking employment. With the rapid increase in population, the need for services such as schools became apparent. By 1886, the Groveton Colored Community School operated within the school district but was underfunded.
History
Glenwood Cemetery
The Glenwood Cemetery has served the residents of Groveton for more than 100 years. The Trinity County Lumber Company established the town of Groveton by the spring of 1882. In the fall of that year, the town became the seat of government for Trinity County. Groveton grew swiftly, and residents soon needed a place for burials.
History
Hedrick House
Originally located on Tenth Street in Huntsville (30 mi. SW), this house was built for J.E. Coldwell in 1900 by Elias Jones. Walter Gibson Hedrick (d. 1944), the owner of a grocery store and meat market, bought the home in 1919 and members of his family owned the structure until 1978, when it was moved to this site.
History
I. N. Parker House
Built about 1888, this was the home of local merchant Isaac Newton Parker (1841-1918) and his family. Parker, a Confederate Civil War veteran, and his first wife, Mary C. Ashley (d. 1905) reared eight children here. After Mary's death Parker married Lou Palmer, who lived in the house until her death in 1955.
History
Jacob Pope And Elizabeth Ann Barnes
Mississippi natives Jacob Pope Barnes (1832-1877) and Elizabeth Ann Rankin (1834-1912) were wed on June 12th, 1860. They moved to Texas in 1866 and came to Trinity in 1872. Jacob opened a mercantile store in partnership with Frank Lister and was serving as county treasurer at the time of his death.
History
John Henley Hill House
Sitting proudly on a hill surrounded by giant southern magnolia, oak, cedar and crepe myrtle trees, the John Henley Hill house is situated on one of the earliest plantation sites located within the Elisha Roberts Survey. John Henley Hill was born on November 30, 1839, in Richmond, Indiana. Following the death of his first wife and the mother of his two children, Phoebe E.
History
Moore Cemetery
South Carolina native John W. Moore (1810-1898), his wife Rosella Meredith (1811-1878), and their family migrated to East Texas in the 1850s. From their initial 320-acre land grant on Mossy Creek, the Moores donated nearly six acres of land for a community cemetery. The earliest recorded burial was that of Sidney Craddock in 1860.
History
Mount Zion Cemetery
Mount Zion Cemetery, in the J.J. Warren Survey, originally served early dispersed communities, including Crib Creek, Alabama Creek, Trevat, Helmic, Crecy, Centralia, North Cedar and Apple Springs. The earliest marked stone, that of Sarah A. Womack, dates to 1856, and there are others dating to the 1870s. Many veterans are buried here, including those who served in the U.S.
History
Nigton Community
Following emancipation, African Americans in the northeast part of Trinity County formed the freedom colony of Nigton, east of Apple Springs. Many stayed close to their former plantations, working as farm laborers, engaging in share cropping or owning their own farms or ranches.
History
Pennington Baptist Church
In 1860 eight settlers began the Salem Baptist Church. Elder R.A. Clifton served as the first pastor. After landowner Daniel Dailey laid out Pennington in 1866, the congregation bought this land. They moved from the original church house near the cemetery and erected a structure. The name changed at the conference in 1869 to "Pennington Baptist Church". A third building was completed in 1913.
History
Ranald McDonald House
Married after 1876 to Mollie Turner (1857-1919), daughter of an early Trinity pioneer, Ranald McDonald (1846-1931) settled on his land along the Trinity River. He bought this lot in 1890 and hired John Denton Gibbs to erect this victorian structure, which stands on stone piers, McDonald kept bees, honey, buggies, and wagons. His son Alexander (d.
History
Scrub Creek School
Settlement of this area of Trinity County began after the Civil War. The farming communities of Scrub Creek and Crecy grew gradually, and as people moved into the area they established homes and community gathering places. The Scrub Creek Baptist Church was in operation as early as 1870. It was followed by the Scrub Creek School and Crecy post office, located in Chapman's General Store.
History
Site of the Town of Sebastopol
Site of the town of Sebastopol, an important shipping point established in the late fifties. Named in commemoration of a naval station of Russia. Declined in importance after railroads reached this region.
History
Site of the Town of Sumpter
Site of the Town of Sumpter First county seat of Trinity County ? ? ? Land granted in 1850 ? ? County seat located here, 1854 ? ? Town was laid out November 20, 1855 ? Incorperated 1862 ? ? Courthouse and records were destroyed by fire, 1872 ? ? In 1873, the county seat was removed to Trinity Erected by the State of Texas 1936
History
Taylor Cemetery
Georgia natives James T. Durdin (b. 1819) and his wife Sarah Washington Ricks (b. 1819) and their five children settled here on a land grant they purchased from Joel Clapp in 1851. Two of their three sons, Washington Bruce and James Francis, died in 1852 and were buried on their property at this site. In their sale of this property to James E. and Mary E.
History
Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company
In 1907, Thompson Brothers Lumber Company built a mill and 37-acre pond at Trinity. Texas Long Leaf Lumber Company, which started at Willard in 1912, bought Thompson Brothers' Trinity Mill in 1922. Under management of Paul Sanderson for 22 years, the company was one of the nation's most successful manufacturers of yellow pine and southern hardwoods.
History
Thornton Church Community
James D. Thornton (1807-c.1870s) came to this area with his family in 1858. Traveling in a wagon train with other families from their Mississippi home, the Thorntons joined friends and relatives who had preceded them to Trinity County. A farming community was established, and much of life was centered around the Thornton Church and School, built on land donated by James D. Thornton.
History
Trinity County Courthouse
The Trinity County and Sabine Pass Land and Railway Company laid out the new town of Groveton in 1881, when the I&GN Railroad came through the area. The following year, Trinity County voters chose it as their seat of government. The company constructed a temporary courthouse for the county, and the fram structure, located at what is now Main at First streets, served the county until 1884.
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