Ebenezer Baptist Church and Cemetery - Headsville, TX
N 31° 16.133 W 096° 30.041
14R E 737962 N 3462096
The former Ebenezer Baptist Church stands with its companion, the Ebenezer Cemetery, about nine miles southeast of Kosse in Limestone County, TX. The old Headsville community is just south of here.
Waymark Code: WM15PP6
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/05/2022
Views: 1
A 1986 Texas Historical Marker at the cemetery gate provides some history:
The Ebenezer Baptist Church was organized in 1865 to serve the Head's Prairie and Headsville communities. Delegates to the Trinity Baptist Association meeting that year were J.R. Bullard, William Samuel Clark, and Thomas Seale Head, with the Rev. J.W. Kinnard as pastor. Membership grew from 41 in 1865 to 210 in 1897, but by 1958 membership had declined so that the congregation disbanded. The adjacent cemetery has served residents in this part of Limestone County since at least 1876, when both B.F. Brooks and Charley Owen were buried there.
A page devoted to the church and cemetery on the
Limestone County Historical Commission's website notes that the church's early years were dominated by some kind of schism that spawned two sets of delegates to the Waco Baptist Association, resulting in the church's not being represented by that organization. By 1871, the issue had been resolved, and as the Baptist movement grew in the area, the church later joined the Little Brazos Association and finally the Limestone Association. Obviously, the sanctuary was constructed prior to 1958: A wild guess is that it dates to sometime between 1910 and 1930.
Visitors will actually be crossing the Limestone-Robertson County Line that runs roughly west to east about halfway through the cemetery grounds. A notable burial here is that of James Alfred Head, the subject of two Texas Historical Markers. While Mr. Head died in 1872, his burial here is fairly recent: In 2012 and 2013, the nearby Head and Adams Cemeteries were relocated here, and there are seven markers near the eastern fence line to commemorate those who could not be identified. The 1962 historical marker that serves as Mr. Head's footstone notes that he fought in the Texas War of Independence, and served the Republic as a congressman. His having been a Mason is noted by the compass and square at the top of his headstone, and the inscription reads:
J.A. Head
Born
June 1797
Died
Sept. 22, 1872.
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Our Father is gone,
But not forgotten.
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Headsville itself was established in the 1870s, but it had seen its best days well over a century ago. The Handbook of Texas Online notes that it had scattered dwellings in 1969, and was still listed on a 1982 highway map. In 2022, you'll still find some homes to the south, and you'll still find Headsville on maps. Pay close attention to the highway signs pointing towards the cemetery: Mapping applications may attempt to route you to the south, but the spur (Limestone County Rd 462) is the only route here. It's a short drive, and you'll know you're in the right place when you drive through the tunnel under the railroad bed.