Mount Enon Cemetery Cleanup effort continues conservation

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Faith Family Church gathere volunteers to clean up the Mount Enon Cemetery, off of CR 294, on Saturday, May 15. This cemetery is the final resting place of many members of Wyatt and Beverly Houston. Wyatt, in a history of the property which he wrote, said his great-great-grandfather, Henry Stevens, purchased the land from Cattle Baron R.A. Houston — no relation— in 1885.

Stevens purchased 101.38 acres of land from Houston, and paid it off over the course of several years, Beverly said.

The cleanup effort is being spearheaded by Scott Humphrey, who is a neighbor of the Houstons. He said the cemetery actually borders his property. 

Cleanup

She and her husband, Beverly said, are “it” as far as conservation of the cemetery goes.

“We’re it,” Beverly said. “We thought, it is not fair for us to leave all of this history and not document and not share it moving forward. If we don't do it, this is where we've come to, if we don't do it at this moment, it's not going to get done.”

The Mount Enon Cemetery has been under the care of Wyatt’s family for decades. Not only are many of his own family members buried there, but members of the Mount Enon Church are there too. The church originally sat on one acre which Stevens set aside for it, Wyatt said.

Beverly said she and her husband arranged for a controlled burn with the county, as the church had become too dilapidated to restore, and it was razed several years ago.

Beverly said she and Wyatt had been maintaining the cemetery until 2014, when they both fell ill and required surgery and recovery time.

“And then you know, we were off, we were rehabbing and getting stronger, and all of that the next several years,” Beverly said. “Well, while that was happening, the cemetery was just out of control.”

Beverly said the cleanup efforts for Saturday, May 15, will bring the cemetery to a condition that she can maintain.

Family History

A written history produced by Wyatt states that in 1908, members of the church bought a church bell from Sears Roebuck & Co. This bell could be heard throughout the community providing notice of church services and other activities. At one point, the historic bell was removed and hasn’t been found, despite search efforts.

“As a toddler and growing up, I have fond memories of attending the church and playing on the grounds while visiting relatives living in the area,” Wyatt said.

In addition to Wyatt’s own family in the cemetery, he said there are veterans, such as PFC U.S. Army David Holmes, born in 1914 and WWII Veteran Auvoray Campbell. Callie B. Washington, who lived from 1895 to 1996 and taught herself to play the piano, sharing the technique with others, is also buried there.

There are also many unmarked graves, which Beverly said

“Every unmarked grave that we find, Wyatt’s going to put down a cross, not necessarily a name, we won't know. But at least we'll give them a cross marking.”

The cemetery was designated as a Historic Texas Cemetery in 2018 by the Texas Historical Commission.

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