KENDLETON, Texas – In honor of Congresswoman Barbara Jordan’s birthday and a former slave that represented Fort Bend County in the Texas House of Representatives, volunteers from the Exchange Club gathered at former slave cemeteries in the area to help with cleaning efforts.
Fort Bend County’s Bates Allen Park is home to the historic Newman Chapel Cemetery and Oak Hill cemeteries, which are located at 630 Charlie Roberts Ln. in Kendleton, Texas. While there, volunteers assisted in cleaning tombstones and removing brush overgrowth that restricted access to the gravesites.
According to a news release, Congresswoman Jordan, whose birthday is Feb. 21, has family ties to Kendleton. Her father, Baptist Pastor Benjamin Jordan, preached regularly in the small town.
Cleaning efforts for the cemeteries began in Feb. 2022 after locals discovered the tombstone of Benjamin Franklin Williams, located in Newman Chapel Cemetery, had fallen into an “unacceptable state of disrepair,” the news release said. Volunteers have made seven visits to Bates Allen Park to clean tombstones, clear access to tombstones from overgrowth, and reconstruct tombstones that had fallen over.
Williams was a slave for the first 46 years of his life, the release said. After becoming a free man in 1865, he became the first African-American to be recognized by the State of Texas as a Methodist minister. He served three terms representing Fort Bend County in the Texas House of Representatives, where he was the first Black man to receive votes to be the Speaker of the Texas House. He died on Feb. 27, 1886.
Members of the Exchange Club said when they first visited Williams’ gravesite, his tombstone had fallen into the mud and was covered with weeds and fire ant beds.
“We righted the tombstone and cleaned it, but maintenance of this tombstone and the 30 other tombstones in both historic cemeteries must be constant,” a spokesperson for the organization said.
Monday was the organization’s second tour and maintenance effort for 2023.