Kaufman Pioneer Cemetery

Interment Places of African-American Persons in Kaufman County Texas

Donated by: Kathey Hunt, Co-Coordinator of Kaufman Co., Texas TXGenWeb Project

The following are all known marked burial sites that contain the remains of African-American persons buried in Kaufman County Texas. The words *FORMER SLAVE on any of the Kaufman County cemetery records denote persons proven to have lived a portion of their lives in bondage. We have so noted them as to pay homage to those individuals and as

a reminder to all who see these pages that they will never be forgotten.

**NOTE: These burials all have tombstones or some type of inscribed marker – those graves of persons in

Unmarked Graves are in another section

____________________________________________

The Kaufman County Historical Commission placed the Texas State Historical Marker, shown below, on the site in 1999. The historical marker denotes the significance of the burial of African-American T J Johnson in the burial place of white citizens .

Kaufman Pioneer Cemetery in the city limits of Kaufman

History: This is probably the oldest cemetery in the town of Kaufman . It is located on the C. A. Lovejoy Survey. The land was purchased by William Love in 1848. The site contains burials of some of the county's first settlers, and ironically, descendants of some of their slaves. This unusual occurrence was discovered while researching the genealogical history of the interred persons of the site.

From the turn of the century until the late 1960's the site had become forgotten, then when the Texas Highway Dept. was putting the Hiway 175 Loop around the town a tombstone was unearthed and the cemetery was re-discovered. It is not known how many graves had become completely lost in all that time, or how many graves and/or markers had already been destroyed by the highway excavation.

Condition: Good, in a quiet setting next to the Kaufman Church of Christ, under old oaks trees.

ENUMERATION – Note: all burials except the one in BOLD PRINT are Caucasian persons.

~ Row 1 ~ - closest to the street ~ enumerized from east to west

*stone-gray cement, standing
Martha Jane Rayel
Born July 9th, 1833 - Dec 19th, 1857
Inscription: "Wife of James T Rayel"

1 unreadable tombstone - appears to be hand-made cement

*stone-white granite, broken, laying flat, encased in concrete when repaired
John D Baleew
Born (unreadable) Died April 2, 187__
Footstone: "J D B"
Inscription: "Husband of M H Baleew", "Farewell"
Masonic Symbol at bottom
(Note: Name is possibly Baleen, but it looks as though the stone mason made an error when making the inscription and tried to correct it, but not too successfully)

*stone-gray cement, standing (facing west, for some reason)
Ann G Burge
Born Aug 15th, 1817 - Died Jun 17th, 1857
Footstone: plain
Inscription: unreadable

~ Row 2 ~ from east to west

*stone, white/gray marble podium, draped, once had a lamb, which now is headless
T J Johnson
June 9, 1872 - July 7, 1891
Inscription: "5th Child of Isabella Carter"
(Note: this is Toney Joe Johnson, the African-American son of Isabella Carter & Dick Johnson, both former slaves in Kaufman County. Isabella was a mulatto woman who was the daughter of pioneer William M Peters and the sister of Martha Jane Carter, who is buried here ( From records it is believed Isabella Stuart Johnson Carter is also buried here.)

*stone-white, standing, broken in middle, but repaired
Alfred Alonzo LaRoe
Born & Died 1873
Inscription: "Son of M & A LaRoe"

*stone-white, tall, broken, but repaired, standing
James S LaRoe
Died March 18th, 1854
Aged 52 Yrs, 6 Mos, 15 Dys
Footstone: plain
(He was one of the county's first settlers and recorded his journey from New Jersey to Kaufman in 1846 in a Diary)

*Gray stone marking grave

*Large red rock marking grave

*stone-gray cement, hand-chiseled
Robert Hendley
Born May 26th, 1855 - Died May 12th, 1857

*stone-gray cement, hand-chiseled
Amanda E Hendley
Jan 12th, 1835 - April 3rd, 1857
Inscription: "Wife of B P Hendley"
(Note: the "Y" at the end of her name is very tiny compared to the other letters, as if the mason ran out of room on the stone to complete it)

*stone-gray cement, hand-chiseled
James A Hendley
Born F'b 4th, 1854 - Died Nov. 5th, 1857

*stone-white granite, standing
M N Love
Born July 5th, 1856 - Died Nov 16th, 1869
Footstone: plain
Inscription: "Daughter of J W & E J Love"
And at bottom: "our Darling's Gone to Rest"

*stone- white granite, double marker, standing
James W Love
Born Dec 2d, 1820 - Apr 15th, 1865
Footstone: "J W L"
&
L F Love
no dates readable
(born 1855 - died 15 Apr 1865 )
Inscription: "Daughter of J W & E J Love"
(James W Love was the son of William & Nancy Kirk Love. He married Eliza Jane Stephenson in Kaufman on 30 June 1854 . Laura Francis - F- & Mary Nancy -M N- were their daughters - they also had a son)

~ Row 3 ~

1 gray cement stone, standing - unreadable

1 dark gray stone, standing, but broken & very short - unreadable
(looks like slate)

~ Row 4 ~

4 tombstone bases, 2 small, 2 large

Enumeration: May 18, 1999 Donald & K K Hunt