Black Cemeteries in Austin

 

There are many burial places in Austin where African Americans have been laid to rest.  This study is far from complete, and focuses on the Bethany Cemetery because of its connection to William Tears, Sr.

 

Briefly:

 

  
Eanes Cemetery

The Project in Interpreting the Texas Past has examined the burial records from the Eanes Cemetery.  They have identified 124 slaves and former slaves that are buried in the Eanes Cemetery from 1859 through 1866.[1]  The Project’s report details the name, age and cause of death, as well as the slave owner’s—or former owner’s—name.

 
St. Paul Baptist Church Cemetery

 

Another early cemetery is the St. Paul Baptist Church Cemetery, in north Austin near Highway 183 and Peyton Gin Road.  Leslie K. Wolfenden discusses this cemetery in her 2003 master’s thesis, “Austin’s Cemeteries: State of Preservation and Their Futures.” This cemetery dates from the 1870s, though little remains of the markers.  It is believed that approximately 500 African Americans are buried there.[2]

 
Williamson Creek Cemetery

Wolfenden also discusses the Williamson Creek Cemetery, near I-35 and Stassney Lane.  This cemetery was used by the Mount Zion Williamson Creek Baptist Church beginning in the 1870s.  It is unknown how many graves are in this cemetery, as most of the markers have deteriorated and the cemetery records have been lost.[3]

 

 

The first city cemetery in Austin was Oakwood, on Comal Street.[4]  There was a section set aside for African American burials in Oakwood, beginning in 1866. The Project in Interpreting the Texas Past has examined Oakwood’s burial records and identified 1064 African American graves, dating from 1866 through 1880.[5]

 

Bethany Cemetery was privately funded after Oakwood became full. 
 

 
The City of Austin later opened Evergreen Cemetery in East Austin.

 

From an article by Ada Simond in her Austin American-Statesman “Looking Back” column in the 1980s:

 

“When the Austin cemetery named Oakwood was laid out in 1856, a small section in the northwest corner was designated ‘for colored.’ When the space was filled, as was the section for Whites, the cemetery was expanded across Comal Street to the east, but did not include a section for Blacks.

 

“In 1893, William M. Tears, Austin’s first Black mortician, joined J.M. Holland, Henderson Rollins, Allen Bradley and W.H. Holland, then superintendent of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Institute for Colored Youths of Texas, to buy East Austin acreage for a Black cemetery. The land, located on Springdale Road across from Sims Elementary School, was named Bethany Cemetery.”[6]
  Photo by author
     
 

 

    
  Because Bethany was a private cemetery, each family was responsible for the upkeep of its own plot.  However, as families moved away or died out, many of the graves fell into disrepair.
Monument in Bethany Cemetery. Photo by author    
     
     

 

This cemetery comprises approximately six acres, and includes the graves of former slaves, and two Black Civil War veterans.[7] 

 

 
  Pictured is the backside of the historical marker.  Photo by author.

 

“Historically, family members of the deceased provided maintenance of graves in the cemetery.  In 1914, the association hired a caretaker who worked there until 1930.  Over time, maintenance of the cemetery became sporadic as family members themselves died, leaving few behind to care for the plots.  To further exacerbate the situation, the city of Austin opened Evergreen Cemetery that provided perpetual care in 1928.  Many graves in Bethany were exhumed and the remains transferred over to nearby Evergreen, leaving even fewer relatives to provide care at Bethany.  By 1933, the Bethany Cemetery Company ceased to function, as the founding members had all died.”[8]
 

 
Ada Simond notes that even some of Bethany’s founding families moved their graves to Evergreen, to insure perpetual care.  These included the graves of the Tears family.[9]
 

 

During the 1970s and 1990s groups formed to provide maintenance for the Bethany Cemetery.  The Texas Historical Commission marker was part of one effort in 1997 by the Friends of Bethany Cemetery.[10] In 2002 a renewed effort to clean up the cemetery was initiated by the Bethany Project.[11]

 

Monument in Bethany Cemetery. Photo by author.

 

 
 

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[1] Eanes Cemetery Records Analysis, The Meaning of Slavery in Austin, The Project in Interpreting the Texas Past, Austin, Texas.

[2] Wolfenden, L.K. (2003). Austin’s cemeteries: state of preservation and their futures (Master’s thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 2003), 119-120.

[3] Ibid,147-150.

[4] Ibid, 104.

[5] Oakwood Cemetery Burial Journal, The Meaning of Slavery in Austin, The Project in Interpreting the Texas Past, Austin, Texas.

[6] Simond, A. (1983). “Family Burial Site Holds Special Meaning for Blacks,” in “Looking Back” column, Austin American-Statesman, November 10, 1983.

[7] “The Bethany Project” (1986?). [a one-page information sheet on “The Bethany Project” in the Austin History Center’s “Cemeteries” file].

[8] Wolfenden, L.K. (2003). Austin’s cemeteries: state of preservation and their futures (Master’s thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 2003), 81

[9] Simond, A. (1983). “Family Burial Site Holds Special Meaning for Blacks,” in “Looking Back” column, Austin American-Statesman, November 10, 1983.

[10] Wolfenden, L.K. (2003). Austin’s cemeteries: state of preservation and their futures (Master’s thesis, University of Texas at Austin, 2003), 83.

[11] Ibid, p. 84.