BETHANY CEMETERY

Sep 20

Site Brief:

Founded: 1893

Location: Austin, TX

Additional name(s): BETHANY CEMETERY OF TRAVIS COUNTY, BETHANY CEMETERY OF AUSTIN

Affiliate group(s): N/A

History:

Bethany Cemetery is located in east Austin on the 1300 block of Springdale Road across from Sims Elementary School. Other than the headstones that bear witness to the people who lived in the Austin community, the land has remained unchanged since the time in 1892; C.W. Jones paid $432.60 for the property that would become Bethany Cemetery.

Whether Mr. Jones had the intent to begin a cemetery for African Americans is unclear. However, during the time of his purchase, two graves of young children were already present on the property. Hellen Moore, an infant, was buried in 1879. Alice Maud Miller, 9 months old, was buried in 1886. Little is known about these two children. Other sources indicate that more burials may be present. The area where the property is located it was known as Hungry Hill.

In 1893, Mr. Jones and his wife, Emma, sold a 4/5ths undivided interest to John M. Holland, William M. Tears, Henderson Rollins and Allen Bradley. These five men formed the Bethany Cemetery Company. Jones was Superintendent; Holland was President; Tears was Secretary; Rollins was Treasurer; and Bradley was Assistant Secretary. These five men responded to a community need. When the Austin cemetery named Oakwood was laid out in 1856, q small section in the northeast 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." Like many of the people who would find eternal rest in Bethany Cemetery, Henderson Rollins, C.W. Jones, Allen Bradley, and John Holland were ordinary folks who did extraordinary things. Mr. Rollins was listed in the City Directory as a laborer. C.W. Jones was a plumber. Allen Bradley was proprietor of a meat market on 1108 East 11th Street. John M. Holland was a real estate agent. Only two men, William H. Holland and William M. Tears reached prominence in Texas history.

In 1849, William H. Holland was born in bondage. Being enslaved, he received a college education in Oberlin College. After freedom, William Holland returned to Texas. He worked in Austin's post office, taught school and was elected as a Wharton County representative in the Texas House. There, he wrote and presented the bill for the establishment of Prairie View University. Through his efforts, the bill was eventually passed and today, William M. Holland is recognized as "the Father of Prairie View." Throughout his life, he supported education. During the time he served as president of the Bethany Cemetery Company, William H. Holland helped found the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind Institute for Colored Youth in Austin.

For thirteen years, he served as its president. Later, he began the Friends in Need, an organization that supported African Americans. Two years after founding the Bethany Cemetery Company, William M. Tears became one of Austin's first African American policemen. He served for six years. Then in 1901, he founded the Tears Mortuary, known as the oldest established business in Central Texas. In 1893, Bethany Cemetery was subdivided into burial plots. The Bethany Cemetery officers granted William Tears power of attorney to conduct all sales of burial plots.

The Bethany Cemetery Association is working to save and preserve this historical African American cemetery. Bethany is the first African American cemetery in Austin, Texas. It has many former slaves and at least two known Civil War Soldiers and many early East Austin residents. Presently, the encroachment of development is threatening the cemetery as it is in an area heavy with gentrification and developers.