Inidan Outrages X16
Four miles south the first Indian attack in the Upper Clinch Valley took place, September 8,1774. John Henry was wounded and his wife and children were carried into captivity. In 1781, Indians attacked the house of Robert Maxwell, near here, and killed two girls.

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Antioch Missionary Baptist Church TX10597

The emancipation of slaves was heralded by Federal officials in Galveston on June 19, 1865. Antioch became Houston's first African American Baptist Church when organized by nine former area slaves in 1866. Their first sanctuary, built nearby in 1868, served as the site of Texas' first African American Baptist Convention. The Rev. John Henry Yates (1828-1897), elected Antioch's first full-time pastor in 1868, led efforts to improve the education of Houston's African Americans and helped establish the Houston Baptist Academy in 1885.

This sanctuary, built in 1875-79, began as a one-story structure designed by church member Richard Allen. It was enlarged in the 1890s and underwent major alterations in the 1930s. The nationally recognized Gothic Revival masonry building features stained glass windows containing portraits of prominent church figures, steep cross gables, pointed arch windows and doors, and a distinctive neon "Jesus Saves" sign.

Once the center of a cohesive African American community, Antioch served as the mother church for many area African American Baptist congregations. The church continues to provide leadership in religious, civic, and educational activities as Houston's oldest and preeminent African American Baptist congregation.

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Beaumont: Lumber Mill City of the Nineteenth Century TX10496

Beaumont, situated in forests, was a timber town at birth, and marked this site "Steam Mill Square" on its original plat. By 1840, Lucien Hopson had a saw pit on a canal to the south, floating in logs and floating out lumber. Hand-powered shingle and sash mills were soon operating. In the 1850s, steam mills were initiated. Pre-1861 mill firms included Phillips, Ross & Alexander, Otto Ruff, and A.J. Ward.

After the Civil War (1861-65) brought ruin, the mills helped the city recover. Bremer Lumber, Goldsmith & Reagan, Long & Long, and Pipkin & Haltom were operating by 1870. Beaumont Lumber Company, Olive & Sternenberg, Reliance, and the Smyth Brothers (Eagle Mill) were here by 1877. Later came Adams & Milmo, Globe Planing Mill, Industrial Lumber, Miller Vidor Lumber, Neches Lumber, the Southern Land & Lumber Company, and Texas Tram & Lumber Company. About 1900, tycoon John Henry Kirby bought several of the Beaumont mills. By the 1920s nearby forests were depleted. Log-floating on the Neches gave way to hauling by railroad, and the city mills were phased out in favor of mills in the woods.

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Captain John Henry LeTellier TX7394
JOHN HENRY LeTELLIER
(January 21, 1842 - July 18, 1913)

Born in Virginia. Educated at Bethany College. In 1861 he joined Confederate Army, serving in Co. K, 24th Va. Inf. Fought in Battles of Manassas, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Gettysburg and others. Received several wounds, one serious (at Plymouth). Resumed teaching at end of war. Came to Texas and operated the Sherman Private School, 1871-1913. A dynamic teacher and expert in math, he taught many persons who later rose to prominence.

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College Memorial Park Cemetery TX6273
College Memorial Park Cemetery

Founded in 1896, College Memorial Park Cemetery is one of Houston's three oldest African-American graveyards, along with Olivewood and Evergreen. The earliest legible grave marker dates to 1900, but with many unmarked graves and unreadable stones, it is likely that earlier burials exist.

College Memorial Park Cemetery takes its name from its location opposite the Houston College. Its proximity to the Fourth Ward neighborhood, which saw an influx of African-American migration and the establishment of a freedmen's town after the Civil War, made this the primary burial ground for many religious, civic, education and business leaders of that community.

Among those buried here are: John Henry (Jack) Yates, a vital community leader, first pastor of Antioch Baptist Church and founder of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, who encouraged property ownership among black Houstonians; Fort Worth and Houston educator J.M. Terrell, who became principal of Prairie View State Normal and Industrial College, president of Houston College and administrator of the Houston Negro Hospital; veterans of both World Wars; and participants in the racial conflict now known as the Houston riot of 1917. Jack Yates (d.1897) originally was buried in Olivewood cemetery, but was reinterred here after College Memorial Park Cemetery became operable.

Over the years, the burial ground has suffered from neglect and vandalism. Late 20th-century revitalization efforts sought to offset the earlier damage and to bring awareness to the cemetery as an important part of Houston's culture and heritage.

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Comanche Village Massacre TX995

In this vicinity on a bank of the Colorado October 21, 1840; A Comanche Indian village was completely destroyed and much stolen property recovered including 500 horses; 128 Indians were killed; 34 were captured; The expedition commanded by Colonel John Henry Moore; Consisted of 90 citizen volunteers; Mostly residents of Fayette County; Seventeen friendly Lipan Indians under Chiefs Castro and Flacu served as guides; No Texans were killed and but two wounded.

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Dr. John Henry Sears TX1271
JOHN HENRY SEARS
(October 9, 1826 - December 4, 1901)

A native of Virginia, John Henry Sears received his medical education in South Carolina. Moving to Waco in 1854, he began his medical practice. After service as a Confederate Surgeon during the Civil War, he returned to Waco and became a civic leader. Sears was instrumental in the organization of both the Waco Medical Association (1866) and the Texas Medical Association (1869). Dr. Sears and his wife Angie (Gurley) were the parents of three children.

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Ebenezer United Methodist Church TX10825

This congregation was organized at Old Macedonia (3 mi.E) in 1843, three years before the formation of Panola County. It is believed the church was formed through the missionary efforts of the Rev. Littleton Fowler, one of the earliest Protestant ministers in the Republic of Texas. In 1872 John Henry Ross deeded land at this site for the church and a school and cemetery. Known for a short time as Walton Church, Ebenezer United Methodist Church has served as a focal point for the surrounding rural community for well over a century.

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Green Pastures TX6444

This Victorian home, located on the 1835 Isaac Decker Grant, was built in 1894-95 by Dr. E.W. Herndon and sold in 1912 to Judge W.W. Burnett. It became the residence in 1916 of lawyer Henry Faulk (1867-1939), his wife Martha (Miner)(1878-1957), and their children, Hamilton, Martha, Mary, John Henry, and Texana. Naming the home "Green Pastures," Mary and her Husband Chester Koock opened it for public dinning in 1946. It was purchased in 1969 by their son Ken Koock and Lee Buslett.

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Hammel's Branch TX2351

In 1876 a family of German descent, the John Henry Himmels, settled in this area of Hill County. Seven years later, Miss Emma B. Himmel became the first teacher of the Himmel Branch School. The school was the beginning of a town that, through a misspelling, came to be called Hammel's Branch. Other prominent names of early settlers were the Clinkscales, Elkins, Giles, Hall, Haskins, Jennings, Kuykendall, Lynch, McClure, Snow, Thompson, Watson, Wells, White, and Williams families. The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad laid a line through the settlement in 1893-94, and the community began to flourish. Eight business establishments, including a general store, gin, and blacksmith shop, opened along the rail line. In 1903 a post office was established in the depot, and the town legally became known as Hammel's Branch.

After World War I, the town began to decline. In 1920, the last store closed. The school held its last classes in 1925. Evidence of the community can still be found upon close examination.

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