Bates Allen Headstone Hunt
Date – Time
March 3, 2024
– 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Location
Bates Allen Park
630 Charlie Roberts Ln
Kendleton, TX 77451 US
Additional Information
It took a large group of caring people, armed with a few chainsaws, brush cutters (loppers), hand saws, scrub brushes, buckets of water, sweat, perseverance, pride, and love, but the sacred resting places of mostly former slaves are now free from dense brush and at least fifty years of neglect. Five efforts in 2023 mean visitors can now see and touch these graves in both the Newman Chapel Cemetery and the Oak Hill Cemetery in Bates Allen County Park in the freedman’s town of Kendleton. The Exchange Club of Sugar Land, newly elected Fort Bend Commissioner, Precinct Four, Dexter McCoy, Kendleton Mayor Darryl Humphrey, Sr. (three relatives buried in Newman Chapel), the Kendleton City Council, the Kendleton houses of faith, the Missouri City-Sugar Land Jack and Jill of America, The Daughters of the American Revolution, and hundreds of volunteers led this community-wide effort. Our work allowed Commissioner McCoy to stand by the Newman Chapel Cemetery and announce that he had secured FOUR MILLION dollars from the Fort Bend Commissioners Court to start design and construction of Texas’ first African-American Memorial. Dexter made this announcement in sight of the final resting place of Texas State Representative Benjamin Franklin Williams. After forty years of being enslaved, Representative Williams became the first African-American representative of Fort Bend County in Austin. He was the first black man in Texas history to receive votes to be the powerful Speaker of the Texas House. Commissioner McCoy made history by announcing the Memorial on the day Representative Williams was called home 137 years before. We all witnessed and made history in 2023. We’re going to do in again in 2024!
WHEN: Sunday, March 3, 2024, 1:30 to 4:30pm
WHERE: Bates Allen County Park, 630 Charlie Roberts Lane, Kendleton, Texas
WHO: Exchange Club of Sugar Land (former U.S. Congressman Pete Olson), Fort Bend Commissioner Dexter McCoy and staff, all elected federal, state, county, and municipal officials in Fort Bend, the Missouri City - Sugar Land Jack and Jill of America (Fort Bend County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson), the Boy Scouts, and volunteers who don’t mind getting dirty in the woods.
NEW PLAN FOR 2024: We were extremely successful in finding and clearing nearly thirty gravesites in the two cemeteries. With increased daily maintenance by the county in 2023, we can now focus on finding other gravesites that have been swallowed up by Mother Nature. History awaits!
CLOTHES AND TOOLS: Long pants, long sleeves, and hiking shoes appropriate for walking in the woods, weeds, and sticker bushes. Water, insect repellent, and sunscreen will be provided. We have limited loppers and cutting tools, so personal equipment is welcome.
CONTACTS. Exchange Club of Sugar Land (Former Congressman Pete Olson, 281-216-0842, [email protected]) or Commissioner Dexter McCoy, 832-216-3250, [email protected].
WHY: To build upon our historic progress in 2023 and to prepare for the future.