Rhode Island Cemetery

by Carol McGee Anthony, Wilbur Thirkield (Bill) Bonner-Titus, and Eric Bonner Wood

Status: Still Active

Location: North of Fairfield. Near Stewards Mill.

Directions: Northward on I-45 down from Fairfield towards Dallas. Go right FM 833 (about 7 miles north) going eastward and
the first cemetery on the right next to a trailer is the Rhode Island Cemetery. The cemetery is at the corner of FM 833 and county road 161.

Cemetery Description: There is no sign. It is enclosed with a chain-link fence and is on an irregular shaped lot.

Background: Written by "Bill" Bonner-Titus, "The Rhode Island Cemetery of Fairfield is located in the Stewards Mill Community on FM 833 and CR 161, and has been in existence since the late 1800s. The exact date of its establishment is not known. However, on March 20, 1891, G. T. Bradley deeded the Rhode Island Methodist Episcoal Church an acre of land for the church. Albert Cyrus, Jesse Averhart and Dave Clark were the church's trustees involved. At the time of this writing, research hasn't found the date of the beginning of the cemetery site. Thus it is assumed that the cemetery was established after the founding of the church.
During this period of our history, it weas custom for the church to take leadership in the affairs of the African American community. Rhode Island Methodist Episcoal Church was no exception. Following Emancipation, the cemeteries of the freed slaves were simple imitations of the cemeteries of their former masters. Each grave was kept with a mound of soil heaped over it. Few had tombstones. Stakes were placed at the the head and foot of the grave and large objects, such as a wagon or buggy wheel, a peculiar large stone or whatever the family could think of was used to mark the spot where the person was buried. Smaller beautiful objects were placed on the grave to decorate it. Most cemeteries were fenced with barbed wire.
The care of the cemetery was a community social affair, and the people of the community looked forward to it. Church officials would choose a day to "work the cemetery" and every household would prepare a "dinner", carry hoes and other tools and flock to the cemetery. They would remove the ornaments, chop the weeds and remove fallen leaves, then they would replace the
ornaments. The day ended with a feast. In the mid nineteen hundreds, we note a chnage in the care of Rhode Island Cemetery, brought about by the movement of people in search of better jobs, and by use of machines in cemetery care. In order to use machines in the cemeteries, the graves were flattened and the decorative artifacts were eliminated. Headstones became more
affordable. Upright ones became popular. Later, flat ones became fashionable. Some graves that had no headstone were lost.
Rhode Island Cemetery was partically fenced with chain link fencing and the remainder with barbed wire. When Rhode Island Methodist Church was merge with Jones Chapel United Methodist Church of Fairfield, Texas, the Rhode Island Cemetery Association was formed to administer the affairs of the cemetery. Some of the leaders of the church and presidents of the association were Albert Cyrus, Ned Craw, Gertrude Gabriel Land, James I. bonner, Eulasea Perkins, Minion Bonner Jr., Carlton R. Rischer, and Wilbur Thirkield Bonner-Titus.
Ruby Jean Keeton Ford served more than twenty years as the secretary of the association, and Boykin Lee served the same number of years as treasurer. He has served as mover of the cemetery lawn for nearly as long."

Oldest Marked Grave: 1889 Andrew Jackson

Transcription Date: July 4, 2006

Notes - I would note that this graveyard has an unusual number of headstones covered with dirt that obsure dates or other data. It is almost like the cemetery is on sinking land, even though it looks stable. Could be dirt that is blown in from the nearby dirt country road.

Ones indicated as "unmarked" are recorded in the History of Freestone County, Vol II, but the marker was not found. It could have been overlooked. Ten unknown markers were found.

Other unmarked grave known of by death certificates:

Know unmarked graves
Unmarked graves recorded in History of Freestone Co., Vol II
Averhart, Manuel
Averhart, Reuben
Bonner, Clara
Bonner, Euclide
Coleman, Cora Belle
Coleman, J. D.
Cyrus, Abb Jr.
Cyrus, Abb Sr.
Cyrus, Cy Jr.
Cyrus, Cy Sr.
Cyrus, Harry
Cyrus, Tommy
Daniels, Izora
Goolsby, Reb. Billy
Helm, Rev. G. S.
Jones, Al
Jones, Alfred
Keaton, Carl
Keaton, Kirven
Kelley, Kittie
Kelley, Samuel Sr.
Lampkin, Amanda
Lampkin, Lady
Lampkin, Lieutenant
Lampkin, Mitt
Lampkin, Montgomery
Lampkin, Nathaniel
Lampkin, Nora
Lampkin, Phenia
Lampkin, Willie
McCrary, J. C.
McCrary, West
Presley, Jack
Presley, Jane
Presley, Johnny
Presley, Johnson
Presley, Milton
Presley, Rosie
Rischer, Babe
Rischer, Fannie
Rischer, Leora
Roberts, Everett
Roberts, Nathan
Thurman, Jim
Thurman, John
Thurman, Kittie
Thurman, Robert
Williams, Catherine